VORE STORY: The Island of the Skullions Part 1

This was definitely not Berk.

The wind that echoed through the red–rock quarries here was warm and dry, there was little shade to speak of, and Hiccup was almost sweating in his flight harness as he sat perched up on a stone by the sea, watching Toothless dive in the ocean for fishes not far off. Probably not so great for his flight equipment, but it was never a good plan to argue with a hungry dragon. He might eat your boots out of spite.

Well, the one boot, anyway…

Hiccup bit his lip, scanning the horizon again, charcoal hovering idly over a few halfhearted notes on the weather (hot) and really not much else. For a supposedly “forbidden” and “dangerous” island, this place was rather quiet and uninteresting. Evidently there were a LOT more old Viking mantras and myths that needed debunking.

Really, Death’s Head was a nice enough place, if you liked your places quiet and rocky and almost entirely without trees. It was almost eerie in its silence, and occasionally Hiccup found himself wondering if anything lived here at all, besides the gulls.

Hiccup was not here to watch gulls, after all. You could do that to your heart’s content on Berk.

He had been hoping for a little dragon–spotting.

Death’s Head was legendary for its particular breed of flightless dragons, known as the Skullion. According to the stories, this thing was nearly blind, but a merciless hunter nonetheless, relying on sound, smell, and sheer speed on foot, hunting in packs to catch prey. Apparently, it also had specially developed talons for slicing the Achilles tendons of its victim, crippling it, before devouring it slowly, alive.

Ouch.

Completely ridiculous, of course. What little reference he had came from the same stack of outdated dragon manuals that said things like “the Hideous Zippleback is capable of inducing hypnotic trances” and “the Night Fury is said to subsist on souls, which it sucks from the ears of its victims.”

Extremely dangerous; kill on sight.

Completely unreferenced, unobserved, unconfirmed; it practically hurt to read.

Hiccup sighed and scanned the coast for the one hundred and forty–seventh time.

It was completely possible, in fact, that these creatures didn’t exist at all– that they were created one night by some drunk tale–telling Hooligan, and had somehow wormed their way into the common sagas. Stranger things had happened. Perhaps it was a grand cover–up for some failed journey, or a hidden secret…

It would make sense. Viking law actually forbade travel to Death’s Head, because of those creatures.

Hiccup was kind of not supposed to be there. But, he figured, he had learned so much from breaking one old Viking law. Imagine how much there was to gain from breaking a few more!

Right?

Certainly, this was always a bit more complicated when your own father thought up half the law book– but obviously that had never really stopped Hiccup before. Thanks to his rule breaking, he had acquired a dragon that could take him anywhere in the Archipelago at a whim– the capability was motivation enough. Who knew what fabulous beasts lived out there? What secrets did these old, superstitious laws hide?

Maybe it had been a little rebellious of him, but Hiccup was feeling pretty good about this. He wouldn’t be in trouble, if he learned something useful while he was here. Probably. And if the expedition turned out to be a complete bust (which he was strongly suspecting, by now), he would just slip discreetly back to Berk, and no one would even have to know he’d ever gone.

Well, okay. Astrid would know. She’d probably be pretty mad, too. She hadn’t been too happy with the idea of him going off on his own like that in the first place, when she had caught him at the docks.

“Death’s HEAD? Are you crazy?”

“Um… I think we’ve already discussed the general state of my sanity. Multiple times.”

She had glared at him. Gods, she could be horrifying. Light her on fire and she’d pass as a decent Monstrous Nightmare. “Does your dad know?”

He had been reluctant to answer that question.

She had been evidently flustered, her cheeks red. She’d bitten her lip and clenched her fists, taken a deep breath and sighed. “Fine. I’m going with you. We’re not going today, though– I’ve got all this stuff to get done– they’d kill me if I didn’t finish.”

In as much open defiance as he had dared to muster, Hiccup had tightened a satchel of supplies onto Toothless’ back. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for a clear flying day like this? If I don’t go today, I’ll probably be rained in and stuck doing absolutely nothing of consequence again for who knows how long.”

“Well, you’re NOT going alone, Hiccup.”

“I know. I’m not.” He had gestured pointedly at his dragon. “I’ll have Toothless.”

“…A dragon.”

“A dragon who saved my life.” Astrid had given him a look. Hiccup had returned it, before ducking behind Toothless to make sure all the straps were taut. “He can take care of me, if anything happens.”

He had said it so flippantly at the time.

“If anything happens…” Astrid had mumbled, considering Toothless carefully.

“I’ll be all right.” He’d peered around one of the great wings, patting the dragon’s neck. “It’s only about an hour or two flying there and back– I’ll be back sometime tonight.”

Astrid had scoffed. “You’d better be back, or your dad’ll find out.”

Hiccup had hefted himself up onto Toothless’ back. “Oh, Dad won’t find out.” He’d glanced at Astrid, pleadingly. “You won’t tell him…?”

She sighed. “Fine.” She’d given him one of those astonishingly clear glares of hers, in which he could almost see a spark of… something, winking in her eyes. “Just promise me you’ll be back.”

Astrid, always demanding these promises. How could you promise something like that? Any Viking who ventured off of Berk was taking a major gamble— it was simply an occupational hazard.

Still, Hiccup had promised.

And now, it was looking like he would be able to stick to it. On the way over to this forsaken island, he had had his doubts, but now…? It was beginning to look like he would have nothing more than a kept promise to show for it. Nothing of note, no strange artifact, not even a fistful of interesting wildflowers.

Hiccup sighed. Frankly, he had been expecting anything, anything more exciting than beach and seagulls. It was all looking like much ado about nothing, now. He turned his eye to the sea and watched Toothless flip back his head and gulp down one last fish as he finally waded back to shore, swishing his tail in a satisfied sort of way through the water.

Hiccup grimaced. He wished he would’ve had a chance to get the tailfin off, at least, before Toothless had gone plunging in. That salt water would probably be pretty hard on the joints, if he didn’t get to them right away. He eyed the supply basket he had brought, which was some way away, now, and sighed, shuffling his legs awkwardly beneath him as he tried to raise himself up to a wobbly crouch. He kept forgetting how difficult it was to get back to a standing position from the ground when one of your legs was a steel peg. It seemed like he’d never get used to this.

Toothless easily ambled up to him, and with a gentle, amused gurgle, pushed him back over.

“Oh thanks,” muttered Hiccup, as Toothless keened softly in his throat and affectionately settled in behind him. The dragon looked very pleased with himself, as he often did on a belly full of fish.

“Basket,” commanded Hiccup. “I need it.”

The dragon blinked back contemplatively, and then gripped the travel basket easily in his teeth and lifted it over.

“Thanks.” Hiccup took the basket in his arms, propped it between his legs, and began sifting through it, gathering up oil and brushes and things he could use to service the tailfin.

He reached out awkwardly toward the far end of Toothless, grabbing meaningfully at the air. “Toothless,” he sang impatiently. “Lemme see the damage, here, Bud.”

The dragon, who had just closed his eyes to take a nap, made an exasperated moan. Hiccup yelped as the dragon wrapped him affectionately in one huge forepaw and pulled his human close to his chest with a low, pleased, defiant sort of rumble.

Hiccup sighed, wriggling a bit to try to get free, but unable to keep from smiling. “Bud,“ he laughed. “This isn't really... helping!”

Toothless replied with a fishy, loving lick up the back of his head. The warm smelly sogginess made Hiccup wriggle and chuckle and gag in disgust. “Toothless! Oh, you… You'd rather just cuddle, huh, Bud?”

Toothless squeezed him harder and grumbled, nibbling more delicately at his hair, as if trying to groom it. Hiccup's nose wrinkled. Eventually his hair would constantly be peaky and solid with fish–proteiny dried dragon saliva, probably.

Hiccup relaxed, consigning himself to his fate, and wriggled to stroke Toothless' underside. For a scaly beast, his skin was surprisingly soft and pleasant to the touch, like leather, smelling distinctively salty and spicy. On this side of him the scales were so tiny that the dragon was quite smooth. It felt good and warm, firm with flight muscles but also slightly squishy with a layer of wintery dragon fat. Hiccup kneaded it playfully. “You're such a spoiled dragon, Toothless. We let you eat too much, huh? Soon you won't be able to take off!”

Toothless gurbled in response, vibrating thickly with purrs that shook through Hiccup's whole body. Hiccup felt something else, too.

“What was that?” Hiccup felt it again, a weird deliberate twitching from deep inside the beast. He peered up to the dragon's face.

Toothless cast a glance down at himself, then laid his head back down, squinting happily.

Hiccup explored, finding that the lower he stroked down the dragon's body, the stronger the twitching was. Soon he found his hands over the dragon's stretched–tight belly, and the source was quite obvious; the generous pile of fish wrapped snugly within.

Hiccup hesitated, then kneaded curiously.

“Are they still alive in there, Bud?”

Toothless vibrated pleasantly, apparently not caring in particular.

Hiccup rubbed some more, reverently. “Does that… feel good like that?” He wrinkled his nose.

Toothless squinted in predatory delight, and let out a heaving sigh. Then he swung his head back and gummed playfully at Hiccup's middle.

Surprised, Hiccup cackled, which only spurred the dragon on; the beast gripped him in his paws like a supper and gobbled him gooily, painting his clothes with thick swipes of loving dragon spit.

Hiccup writhed. “Toothless! Hah – You have to let me, ahh!! C'mon! That tail isn't gonna take care of – baHA!! Itself – Itself!!”

Just as suddenly, the dragon let him fall back with a thud.

“Ow, Bud!” Hiccup complained, reaching to continue playing with the beast.

Something made him pause.

Maybe it was the lack of Toothless' warm happy rumbles filling the space; the dragon had stopped. His head was raised attentively, black throat rippling uncertainly.

Hiccup followed his gaze inland, towards the reeds.

They were being watched.

Up among the underbrush, shadowy dark shapes crouched. Ten, fifteen… Hiccup struggled to count them. There were too many, stalking together, weaving among themselves.

They were dragons, he thought; it was difficult to tell for sure. It didn't look like they had wings, and if it weren't for their longish necks and beaky faces he might've guessed closer to mountain lions from their long–legged slink. They were so black it was like light couldn't touch them, with no eyes Hiccup could see from here.

Unconsciously, Hiccup pressed close to Toothless, instinctively hiding himself. He swallowed hard. There were so many.

And Toothless' posture was not particularly encouraging; he was stiff and flattening himself, completely still like a suspicious deer. These weren't the kind of dragons you could shoo away with some snarls and threatening flaps of the wings, Hiccup gathered.

Were these… the Skullions?

Hiccup swallowed hard. If it had been just one or two, he might've tried to befriend them no matter what Toothless thought. But Toothless was a brave dragon; too brave sometimes. If these beasts had him petrified….

Hiccup had a really bad feeling about this.

Boy and dragon remained stock still.

“...We should go,” Hiccup hissed softly, hands tensing on the saddle. “We should – let's just… get out of here, bud.”

Toothless exhaled sharply, apparently the only affirmation he had the courage to express.

Hiccup hesitated, then leaped into the saddle as quickly as he could, Toothless pushing up underneath him.

All at once, the beasts surged forward, ungodly quick, erasing all doubt in Hiccup's mind that they needed to get away, FAST.

“Go, Bud!” shrieked Hiccup, “Go, go, go!!”

Toothless leaped skyward.

Hiccup's heart sank, hearing a bitter screech as he pulled at the tailfin. Not now.

Toothless faltered with a scream of frustration, wings beating frantically to keep himself elevated. Hiccup threw a glance backward at the tail as he worked it in a panic, but it was catching and sticking ineffectively.

If only he'd got a good look at it before –!

This couple of seconds of floundering was all the beasts needed to close in.

Hiccup felt a disheartening YANK as a Skullion seized Toothless by the lame, flailing tailfin and pulled him from the sky, ripping apart the leather in a single beastly snap; oh, if that had been Toothless' own fin—!

Toothless tore himself free, giving the beast a panicked slap in the face and whirling with a scream, pounding the sand with his front paws and stretching out his wings to try to scare the others back.

Hiccup noted that where their eyes should be was nothing but menacing hollows in their streamlined heads. But they might as well have had eyes; he wondered how the other senses served them. Had he and Toothless been smelled? Heard? Felt as foreign blobs of heat through sensitive organs of their crests?

He didn't have long to think about it, as he felt a hot, fetid breath singe the back of his neck; a beast had pounced from behind.

Hiccup impulsively threw himself from the saddle in such a panicked jerk that his leg came loose from where it stuck in the stirrup, even as Toothless' wings whipped back to throw the creature off and immediately stepped protectively over him.

Sprawled on the ground, Hiccup could see clicking paws all around him, each black, each studded with one long, eagerly twitching saber-claw, ready to snip his and Toothless' tendons and leave them helpless to be torn apart.

Hiccup gaped soundlessly, thoughts sprawling like a tempest, heart thrumming in his ears as he tried to enunciate some brilliant idea, some plan–

As Toothless pulled his wings protectively up and around, and their shadow blocked out the light and the claws, Hiccup blinked at the tough hide of the powerful body inches from his nose, and longed to be somehow… wrapped up… down… IN… surrounded– Toothless couldn’t keep this up much longer…

Toothless thrust back his wings again, agitated, snapping wildly at a thick–scaled neck, paws dancing carefully over and around Hiccup’s body as he moved to defend, the beasts steadily closing in around them.

Hiccup scrabbled helplessly upward with his hands, sometimes touching things, sometimes not– Toothless ducked back in around him again, and Hiccup felt his own fingernails fumble up at the dragon’s neck, up the wide flat panting jaw, searching for something– SOMETHING–

He shivered, feeling hot saliva as his knuckles slipped in over Toothless’ lips– he hadn’t really meant to... Toothless’ eyes rolled wildly, narrowing as he swished his tail at the feet of attackers unseen by Hiccup. Then the reptilian pupils flashed into focus, down towards the fingers tracing his scaled jaws, then again to his little rider’s terrified face. Toothless grunted inquisitively.

Hiccup gaped back, hastily curling back his fingers and pulling his hands away. “Don’t look at me like that! I don’t know– I really don’t know– I’m just...”

The pupils in the great green eyes shifted contemplatively in size, even as Toothless winced under the pounce of another creature. Hiccup saw the black slits narrow into focus, right before Toothless whirled on their attackers again. Hiccup grit his teeth and curled up on the ground, feeling incredibly exposed– the dragon had teeth and tail and muscles and claws, but that would only buy them a little time…

Toothless, however, seemed to have a plan.

When he whirled back, he unceremoniously seized Hiccup around the waist and lifted him up.

Hiccup yowled in horror and discomfort as the powerful jaws squeezed him, his limbs flopping heavily from either side– suddenly, he could see quite vividly the dark beasts all around them– and they could see him.

“TOOTHLESS!!” he wailed, pulling his arms and legs in as much as possible, wrapping himself around the great scaled head in sheer terror.

Toothless made a low noise, tensed, and began to run.

“TOOTHLESS!” Hiccup howled, voice jarring with the footfalls. “What are you doing?! You’re going to– AAAGH!”

With incredible strength Toothless leaped, scaling the rock face of a beach cliff in two swift jumps and diving into a narrow outcrop, out of reach of the beasts–

For now.

Hiccup hugged close around Toothless’ head, hardly noticing the hot saliva soaking in around his body, hearing the incredible discord of the violent creatures howling in frustration, screaming, snapping, hissing and clawing, pacing as they tried to find a way up after. They wouldn’t be long.

“Toothless–” Hiccup spluttered, shaking hard as he stared back towards the edge. “They’re coming– what are you–?!”

Toothless dropped him, slimy and steaming, onto the ground, and gazed at him pointedly.

Very pointedly.

For some reason Hiccup felt inclined to back away, the peg of his loose leg slipping and scrabbling awkwardly at the gravel. “What, Bud? I don’t…”

There was a terrifying scuffle beyond as a set of claws scrabbled at the outcrop’s edge, nearly finding purchase.

Hiccup swallowed hard. Soon the beasts would find their way up– and now, up here– up here, they were as good as cornered.

Toothless chuffed impatiently, his ears and eyes flicking towards the noise– he whirled, and brought his head down closer and closer to Hiccup, who cowered now against a wall.

“B–bud, what…?” His “foot” slipped and slid on the stones– he couldn’t go back any further, and his eyes were wild and wide with terror–

Toothless gurgled softly, and opened his jaws wide.

Hiccup flinched, gagging on the sudden moist heat and strong fishy smell that was breathed out onto him, eyes watering a little. He raised an arm to shield his face. “Ugh…”

Toothless grunted impatiently and pitched his head a little, mouth still stretched open wide… Hiccup could see right down his wavering throat, watch the flat glistening tongue tremble… it was all so very, very red inside…

Hiccup turned his face away from the sight and the smell, shivering hard. “I don’t– I don’t know what you think…”

He did know. He thought he had a very clear idea.

It was pure CRAZY.

They both jumped as a gigantic head poked over the edge, snapping wildly, before sliding back again– followed by another, and another– they were learning the nooks, finding their way up, SOON….

Toothless rumbled, jaws held opened wide, blinking impatiently down and then straight at Hiccup.

Hiccup cringed, pulling his knees in closer. “No, Bud! No, I’m not just going to–“

Toothless glared.

Hiccup glared back, trying to sit up a little and have a bit more dignity and control, though his entire body was heaving with his terrified panting. “NO, Toothless! Really! I–I can think of something better– I’ll–”

Well, you’d better think quick–

One of the predators suddenly leaped into the alcove. Hiccup yelped and pressed himself against the wall, and Toothless whirled, snarling, to defend him. The Night Fury arched his back and hissed like some nightmarish cat, leaping at their attacker with incredible ferocity, and after a few short violent seconds of rolling and snapping, drove the Skullion back down over the lip of the cliff. Toothless took a deep breath and screamed, firing blazing blue warning shots down among the other creatures, hopefully dissuading them for a few precious minutes.

Then he whirled back to Hiccup.

He did not open his jaws.

He paced forward, glaring, making an ominous sound deep in his throat.

Hiccup straightened more. “NO,” he stated flatly, with all the finality he could muster.

But this time the dragon did not listen.

Hiccup yowled in shock as Toothless seized him by the metal leg and pulled, tugging him flat onto the ground– his head thudded hard onto the stone, dizzying him.

“HEY! What are you– DON’T!”

Toothless yanked violently, and Hiccup’s heart dropped into the pit of his stomach as the already–loose device was pulled clean off, exposing the stark and jarring reality of the axe–hewn stump and empty space that was his left leg.

He was helpless.

“No! Buddy, please –!” He tried to scramble backwards again, but it was even more awkward with one foot– there was a certain terror in trying to kick with a leg that was no longer there– falling through thin air where there had always been support... “Don’t! Really– trust me– I can– just don’t– I REALLY don’t think–!”

Toothless gurgled softly, letting the metal leg drop as he glanced towards the lip of the cliff, hearing shrieks and howls– he whirled on Hiccup again, slurping…

“Don’t– please don’t–”

Hiccup yowled, horrified, as Toothless ducked with frightening speed and seized his good leg firmly in his gums– Hiccup didn’t even have time to scream “Let GO!” before Toothless swallowed, pulling him inside.

Hiccup opened his mouth to shout again, but choked and could only squeak in horror as the implications of his situation came crashing down– Toothless was going to try to swallow him alive!

There was another tug, another swallow– he was drawn deeper, and he was made incredibly aware of how very hot it was inside the dragon. Hot and wet… He gagged, feeling the thick saliva and the nauseating pulse of slick, powerful muscle twisting up around his leg, tighter and tighter– “Let go of me! SPIT ME OUT!”

He tried to kick, futile with one pinned leg– and he threw himself to his side, twisting his foot in Toothless’ gullet, trying to pull himself forward and out on his belly, fingers scrabbling at the dust.

“Stop it! Bud, I mean it– PLEASE– let go–! PLEASE–!”

He tried to keep his left leg out of Toothless’ reach– but the dragon would not have it– a great paw came down heavily on his lower back and pinned him in place, and Hiccup shuddered deeply as he felt the great jaws close on his thighs– and felt his legs slide with the powerful swallow, jammed into the tightness of the firm gullet around him. And there was another swallow, engulfing his hips– and another– he could feel the lower jaw pushing into his soft middle, just beyond the edge of the flight harness…

It was deadly quick. It had to be.

Chin sunk into the gravel, Hiccup grit his teeth, feeling tears coming to his eyes. Toothless, his Toothless, was (and probably always had been) perfectly capable of swallowing him, in all his smallness, whole.

Great thing to find out when you were already in deadly peril.

“No, no, no, no, no….” he moaned, grabbing the edges of Toothless’ jaws and pushing, with some half–formed idea of pulling himself out.

Kind of funny actually– moments ago he had touched Toothless’ gums with some half–formed inkling of wanting in, plagued in his panic by visions of being totally hidden, entirely shielded behind black–scaled hide…

(Isn’t fate ARTISTIC?)

Hiccup, of course, being a mostly rational individual, had not entertained those thoughts for long, knowing full well how ludicrously stupid they were.

But, Toothless, being a dragon, was blissfully ignorant of any of the knowledge that might, you know, dissuade him, and very OBVIOUSLY thought that it was a perfectly practical proposition.

–––

Toothless was going to hide poor Hiccup away where the monsters couldn’t hurt him.

This was a bit trickier to carry out than the dragon had expected it to be. Sure, Hiccup wasn’t too much bigger around than a nice thick salmon, and really, he was surprisingly easy to swallow, despite the fact that Toothless couldn’t use his teeth on him at all– but poor Hiccup was scared and didn’t want to be inside, and he struggled desperately to be free, even though it meant he’d be eaten up by the Skullions outside instead.

The Skullions would definitely use their teeth.

Toothless gave another jerk forward, squeezing Hiccup’s soft belly gently but firmly between his toothless jaws, pressing up with his tongue to try to keep the poor human from twisting so much, and to funnel more of him down into his throat.

As his tongue soaked Hiccup’s tunic, Toothless couldn’t help but notice…

As much as he wriggled like one, his Hiccup did not taste like a fish...

–––

Hiccup squirmed and twisted, still struggling to wriggle free from the powerful jaws advancing steadily up his thin body in quick, thick, irresistible squeezes– “STOP! STOP it you STUPID REPTILE– It hurts– you’re gonna hurt me– can’t you – just LET GO OF ME RIGHT NOW OR I’ll–!”

Toothless gurgled sternly and swallowed him again, yanking him in up to his waist. Hiccup gagged– he could feel his thin body sliding inside, being sucked so easily down…

“Or I’ll…”

…What?

He shut his eyes tight. Oh, really. Threaten something ten times your size. That tactic ALWAYS works.

Particularly when you happen to be rather deep in the something’s mouth.

“Ohhh come on…”

The flesh around his middle was so crushingly tight now he could hardly breathe– his body was clenched in unyielding muscle all the way down to the toes of his remaining foot– then the gullet loosened and massaged him forcefully downward with a rippling wave as Toothless swallowed again, up to his ribs, forcing his elbows out to the sides.

Toothless began to raise his head up, tilting it back, gravity causing the smallish Viking to slip down into his gullet with shocking ease…

“Don’t, don’t, don’t, PLEASE don’t–” Hiccup gasped, choking as he was swallowed deeper with a pitch of the dragon’s head, the hot saliva now too close to his face for comfort. He could smell its sharp, hot fishiness with disturbing clarity– feel it creeping up and soaking in, coating him entirely– and his body heaved bitterly as he tried not to gag, or worse.

Toothless rumbled, more softly now, sliding his broad flat forked tongue up over Hiccup’s chest and lapping at his face gently, pleadingly, his neck muscles shifting around Hiccup as he turned his head to watch the edge of the cliff. Hiccup winced, feeling those tears again.

He trembled, biting his lip. “Bud… Bud– I REALLY don’t think you know what you’re doing, here…”

And then another of the beasts leaped into the alcove.

Toothless could not listen– he started in surprise, shuffling backwards towards the wall, tipping his head back high and growling deeply, ominously.

Somehow Hiccup knew the discussion, however futile, had ended.

He wailed in horror, feeling the powerful slippery muscles of Toothless’ gullet sliding up over and around him as Toothless began to hastily swallow the rest of him, so quickly, too quickly– his arms were forced out in front of him, and he gagged again at the horrible sliding–backward–through–slime–and– softness sensation and the damp thick smell as his chin slid onto Toothless’ hot wet tongue, and constantly, quickly back, deeper and deeper through flashing light with every pitch of Toothless’ head.

Peering out through the dragon’s pitching jaws, he could see flashes of the creature advancing– oh, what was worse, being out there with those savage flesh–ripping monsters, or going down, like he was now? He couldn’t decide, and it was making him dizzy and nauseous with panic.

“B–bud, PLEASE....!” he whimpered, his chin on the very back of Toothless’ tongue, arms stretched out towards the light, only his wrists able to reach beyond the jaws.

I really hope you know what you’re doing…

There was a twitch under his cheek, like Toothless was licking at him reassuringly one last time– but maybe he had imagined it... Everything around him was in throes of rippling motion…

His narrow chest, tightly clenched, shuddered with half–formed sobs as Toothless swallowed again, forcing him down, the silky red curves of flesh now squeezing shut over his face and blocking out the light completely. He squeezed his mouth shut in displeasure, trying to keep himself from being sick, his head squashed tightly now between his shoulders and incredibly firm, slick surfaces that rippled and shifted under his cheeks, sopping with pockets of thick dragon saliva.

Above, he felt Toothless’ hot mouth close around the very last of him, his fingers. The tongue squeezed up on his hands, and he felt Toothless pause in his growling to murmur softly before gulping them down, too.

I guess that’s that, then…

–––

Toothless’ mouth was empty.

Now he lowered his head, slurping uncomfortably, to stare down the Skullion pacing cautiously before him.

Ugh.

He shivered, making a face, feeling poor Hiccup wiggling unhappily down his throat, hearing his frightened little chirps inside– oh, oh, that was weird– felt… ODD... Really very distracting when he was trying to face down the enemy…

Enemies.

Another Skullion found its way up, and leaped into the alcove with a shriek.

Two of them now, pacing from side to side, dribbling with bloodlust but craftily hesitant– the Night Fury, after all, was a force to be reckoned with, even outnumbered, and without the security of the whole pack, neither wanted to be the first to pounce… but the hunger boiling in their black guts would soon so easily, so quickly, win out over any inklings of self–preservation…

–––

Now that Hiccup was so deep inside, Toothless seemed to have an easier time forcing him down– the boy’s head gave the slippery muscles of the dragon’s gullet something to push against from above, and to Hiccup’s great dismay, he found himself sliding along down with disturbing ease as Toothless’ throat closed tight above and opened up below, funneling him down the very same passage that had brought so many fish to their dooms. Then it all squeezed shut again, and he was stuck, unable to breathe, or move– every inch of him pressed possessively between layers of oozing hot muscle…

Not every inch of him.

He poked around with the toe of his boot.

Nothing. Nothing around his foot.

He kicked his leg, experimentally, terrified.

Nothing around his ankle, or his shin.

There was an open space below.

(Obviously. What were you expecting??)

He didn’t have much time to wrap his mind around it before Toothless swallowed him again, and Hiccup struggled madly as he was shoved along inside, feeling his foot touch the opposite wall quite quickly–

It wasn’t a very big space.

In a dizzy panic, he tried valiantly to push with his foot to keep himself from sliding inside, but the swallows were too strong. His boot skidded on the mucus–drenched surface, forcing his knee to bend as the rest of him shot down after, and before he could even gasp in surprise, he found himself all curled up inside a smooth, shuddering, sticky wet chamber of eerily squishy flesh, stronger–smelling and slightly smaller than your average fish–basket.

For a long moment, all he could do was lie there and shiver, petrified, in a shallow pool of hot liquid, wheezing in shock, horror, and disbelief as the slimy walls and floor rippled and shifted around him. This can’t have happened. This wasn’t happening. He wasn’t–

Inside Toothless’ stomach…

“Oh no…” Hiccup breathed, or rather, choked. The air here was warm, moist and stuffy, and stank of blood, digestion, and fish.

“No… No, no, no, NO– TOOTHLESS–!” he wailed, scared and confused, his heart sinking wildly– impulsively, he pushed out with his hands and elbows and foot, trying to open up this hot, dark, wet space–this was Toothless’ stomach!– it seemed so small, TOO small...

–––

Toothless winced as he carefully tucked Hiccup’s wild, squirming body into the safety of his first–tummy, where the dragon could store special food for later. The poor human didn’t seem so little when he was curled up in there– especially when he started pushing and kicking and tossing around…

The Night Fury’s eyes lit from Skullion to Skullion, nostrils flaring nervously as he huffed… Ow, Hiccup! He stumbled as a sudden movement inside threw off his balance, and grunted, chopping his jaw– he could feel the poor human pounding and pushing under his ribs, bruising up his soft insides. He knew Hiccup was frightened, but they were in a bit of a jam here, and ow, that wasn’t helping…

–––

H–he ATE me–! Toothless ATE me–!

Hiccup shuddered in shock as he heard Toothless grunt in discomfort– it was extraordinarily loud, and he could feel the vibration of it all around him as he buried his hands in the soft gooey flesh above, which writhed disconcertingly under his touch.

“Toothless– Bud– PLEASE– Let me out!” howled Hiccup, his voice breaking. “Spit me out! Please–!”

–––

Of course, much as it wrenched his heart to hear Hiccup scared, Toothless refused. Poor Hiccup was so frightened at being swallowed up, he had forgotten about the bloodthirsty monsters waiting to rip him apart outside.

Poor Hiccup didn’t understand that he was safe inside.

Toothless bared his teeth in a snarl at the silkily pacing Skullions, his back arched and wings raised threateningly, his body completely tense. One of the Skullions snapped back, hissing– then retreated– unsure. The other chuffed at him, and they gurgled at each other, chopping their ugly jaws.

Apparently reaching a consensus, they both turned and boldly began to advance on him, together, mouths dripping blackly with deadly desire– their comrades clawing at the cliff–face not far behind...

Toothless needed to GET OUT OF HERE, NOW.

But Hiccup’s terrified struggles HURT, and the sudden jerks and shoves kept throwing off his balance and making him stumble.

And to stumble now, with the Skullions in hot pursuit, would be fatal.

For both of them.

So he made Hiccup stop.

–––

“TOOTHLESS–! I’m– I’m serious!” Hiccup pushed hard with his foot, slipping and sliding easily in the confusing soft wet of the dragon’s stretchy stomach. “You’re– GOING– TO– HURT– ME–!”

He gave another fierce shove at the wall over his face– then winced, hearing Toothless rumble with discomfort.

“Look– I’m sorry–! But–!!!”

He let out a yowl as the flesh suddenly jerked beneath his fingers… and then the powerful walls started getting firmer, tighter… and tighter…

“HEY!” Hiccup yelped in horror, scrabbling madly to stop the flesh from closing in– “Ohhhh, no… STOP!– STOP! STOPPIT!” But it was simply too strong. Soon the space was so small that it would’ve crushed the bones of any proper Viking, and even scrawny little Hiccup was in extreme discomfort, smashed into a tiny curled ball so tightly he could barely breathe, much less push and kick.

–––

There.

Now Hiccup was just a faint twitching inside.

Toothless forgot about him, tensed, and leaped.

The pouncing Skullions hit each other mid–air and sprawled in a mad tangle of snapping teeth as the Night Fury burst between them like a bolt of lightning and sprang from the lip of the cliff with such power and grace that he nearly cleared the pack of demons below.

He hit the ground running, and felt teeth immediately at his tail, claws at his back– could hear the shrieks and howls of ravenous beasts so close behind him he could hear the clicks of their black teeth, smell their rotten–meat breath–

He held his wings tight to his body, ducked his head low– and RAN with a focus he’d run with only once before.

All for the life of a human.

–––

Hiccup couldn’t feel his toes.

It had been horrifying enough being eaten, trapped inside his dragon’s belly– but now he shuddered hard, feeling the secret tense wet flesh of his very best friend folded in firmly, intrusively, all over, all around him, squishing his elbows awkwardly into his ribs, pushing his chin to his chest and forcing his knees practically to his ears.

“Toothless…!” he whimpered weakly, tears mixing with the slime on his cheeks. “Let me move… Oh, please, just let me move… or, or, breathe, for Thor’s sake– you’re crushing me…” He stubbornly tried his best to wriggle, but the dragon would not acknowledge him.

The world just began to jar violently up and down.

This terrified him, and he tried wildly to twist and squirm and struggle in the slippery fraction of an inch at his disposal, trying to assert some authority, maybe even hurt Toothless, as terrible a thought as that was– but it was no use. He gasped bitterly; the muscles squeezed him too close and tight, and the dragon around him refused to loosen them up again.

The shaking and pounding steadily continued, making his head feel numb.

Moaning helplessly, Hiccup finally gave up and went limp, shivering uncontrollably and sobbing hard through his grit teeth even though it hurt his poor tightly–squeezed ribs.

He was trapped here, deep inside… squished inside Toothless…

He was curled up tight inside of his best friend’s dark slimy stomach, like a supper of limp mackerel– squeezed so tightly he could do nothing but howl, being shaken so hard his teeth rattled…

—But… the walls enveloping him wet and close were so strangely soft, hot and pulsing, and the air so thick, and damp, and warm…

It was horrifying, Hiccup realized, swallowing hard– how easy it would be, despite everything, to just… fall asleep in here…

He was thankfully snapped out of a daze as the shaking paused, and changed to a series of sharp thuds.

Thud.

Thud.

Th–Thud.

Gods…

Oh, gods– how could this happen?

–––

The Night Fury was a creature of might, speed and stamina. He could jog for miles, leap up mountains, fly across oceans, summon the breath to incinerate after hours of hunt and chase.

Though, to be frank, small as he was, he was not accustomed to being the quarry.

Somehow, the monsters were keeping stride. How could they do that? Toothless had never met a creature who could keep up with him at such a sprint– and here there were at least five of them, snapping at his tail– wingless brutes that could do nothing but run.

He wished he could fly– his instincts begged him to fly–

He jumped instead.

He took off on down the quarry, leaping from rock to rock.

Thud.

Thud.

Th–thud.

The Skullions were canyon–sprinters, not rock–jumpers. They had no wings to balance with, and their overlong talons fumbled to seize the rock. As the stones became blurs beneath his pounding feet, the Night Fury heard one or two of the monsters stumble and fall, shrieking, into the rubble below.

Toothless never looked back.

–––

Toothless… Toothless, don’t forget about me…

Hiccup panted hot shallow breaths, feeling the soft heavy wetness of Toothless’ body shuddering and pulsing and rippling all around him, feeling the powerful heart beating loud and fast, the great lungs heaving, and Toothless’ muscles working in endless rhythm as he ran and ran and ran.

Hiccup shivered, his breath beating back on him from the wall less than an inch from his face.

Toothless had swallowed him up… to protect him.

Hiccup knew this. He’d always known it. He supposed if Toothless had ever really wanted to eat him, the dragon could’ve easily gobbled him up long ago– quick and easy, just like this had been; his whole tiny living body pulled and crushed into the dragon's belly with a few big greedy swallows. He’d certainly had ample opportunity to do so. It didn’t make sense for Toothless to nearly die saving Hiccup’s life a couple months earlier, only to make a quick Viking dinner out of him today.

But Hiccup was still terrified.

Toothless had swallowed him up quite decisively, and Hiccup was sure that the dragon was squeezing him on purpose. But there were so many other things Toothless had no control over.

Digestion, for one.

Hiccup didn’t really know how digestion worked in a dragon, but it couldn’t be that different from how it worked in him, right? Eat a nice meal, forget about it for a few hours while it turns into vomit– then mysteriously be hungry again?

Completely involuntary?

Hiccup had an unsettling feeling that he’d just been eaten and forgotten about, like a light snack of unremarkable mackerel.

After all, Toothless had more urgent things to worry about than the contents of his stomach.

Who didn’t?

Hiccup swallowed hard.

He could feel Toothless’ body jarring all around him– hear the dragon’s powerful heart beating almost as fast as his own little human one– what was happening out there? Was Toothless being chased?

And what exactly was going to happen to him in here, while the dragon was distracted?

–––

Toothless ducked his head low and streaked over the field of stones, the offspring of lightning and Death itself.

His tongue lolled, his mouth foaming, his pupils narrow slits of pure focus, his body a virtual dragon blur–

And they were still, somehow, coming after him.

Get away.

Get away.

Get away.

–––

Gods…

Oh, gods…

Hiccup lay there helplessly in the dark, shuddering under the heavy press of flesh and a thick rank blanket of Toothless’ juices, his terrified thoughts racing.

His breath caught in his throat.

It suddenly occurred to him that the dragon’s belly was completely empty– apart from a sloshing pool of hot fluid and his own curled–up body.

But hadn’t Toothless just gobbled up a whole bellyful of fish, not an hour before?

It was almost like a dream now– but yes, Hiccup remembered– being outside, rubbing the dragon’s softly–scaled tummy– how warm and lumpy it had felt, stretched tight with freshly–caught fish…

Not anymore.

In less than an hour, every scrap of meat, every scale, fin, bone and tail had disappeared without a trace.

A dragon, evidently, could digest a meal very quickly.

…Oh no.

OH NO–!

–––

Get away.

Get away.

How could he shake them?

Toothless had run out of perilous rock and was back on the flat bed of a canyon again, being chased by the best and brightest Skullions of the pack, the battle–scarred alphas who would never relent until they sank their claws into victory.

This land was so red and ominous and inhospitable, like Toothless was running through the guts of Death already…

Toothless noticed a patch of dry weeds.

The fire rose up behind his heart and he leaped, releasing it into the brush below. There was a vibrant flash, a hiss, as gauntlet of violet flame burst into life beneath him.

He could hear the Skullions shrieking, spinning away, skidding to a stop– but he did not stop running– running–

Somewhere to hide– somewhere to hide–

Only a bit of dry brush– wouldn’t keep them back long…

Toothless didn’t notice the small dark gap beneath the fallen boulders until he was nearly past it–

Perfect.

His wings shot out as he skidded to a stop, turning so quickly he nearly fell to the ground. In a few leaps he vaulted the rock and shot inside, immediately collapsing to his chest in the sand.

He had gotten away. He was safe. The Skullions were far behind and would never think to find this little lean–to of fallen rock…

He panted hard, exhausted, every limb thrumming horribly with the aftershock of exertion.

Now that he was still, he could feel little squirms and hear tiny whimpers deep inside his body.

Hiccup was safe and alive, too. But he didn’t sound happy.

Toothless rumbled remorsefully.

Poor, poor Hiccup…

–––