Arrival, draft three

Camikazi was charging Hiccup, planning to knock him to the ground when Toothless launched, hitting the girl squarely in the chest. Camikazi, heiress to the Bog Burglar tribe, landed on the dock with a loud whomp. Toothless’s tackle knocked the wind out of her. He was new to tackling, but found it more satisfying than simply pouncing.

The girl was tiny, dressed in black, with snarled blonde hair and seven different knives tucked away on her body. Camikazi was like Hiccup, the person who was next in line to run the tribe on her island. As Berk’s guest, she was treated with all courtesy—as a visitor on another island, she must be equally polite and thoughtful.

She wasn’t, especially not to his rider Hiccup. Toothless had decided to teach her manners.

“Ow.” She rubbed the back of her head and tried to push herself to her feet, failing. “What is this thing in my way?” Toothless tilted his head back and fired a plasma blast into the sky. “Oh, Sif’s tits, it’s the...”

“Unholy offspring of lightning and death itself?” Gobber stumped his way to Camikazi. “Aye. The dragons live here now. That there,” Gobber pointed to the dragon, “is Hiccup’s best friend.”

Toothless sniffed her, then licked her face, using his entire tongue. Hiccup often complained that his dragon’s spit doesn’t wash out, and Toothless began coating her in the slimy substance. Camikazi probably thought Toothless was a stupid dragon, and had no idea licking people was bad. He was just welcoming Hiccup’s old friend who tried to knock his rider to the ground and hurt him. Toothless had no understanding of vengeance.

Toothless began slobbering in her ears, filling them with saliva. “Will you look at that, Hiccup. Toothless likes your friend, and is making her feel at home, isn’t that right?” Gobber ran his hook over Toothless’s scales, removing a loose scale. Toothless grinned and bobbed his head up and down. Gobber knew and approved.

“Hiccup, get your beast off of me.” Camikazi’s right ankle was pinned beneath her left leg, and she shoved at the dragon above her. Toothless responded by running his tongue from her left ear over to her right, pausing to drool on her hair. She began hitting Toothless.“Make it move, or I’ll kick your scrawny ass.”

“Toothless is a he,not an it. Night Furies are one of the most intelligent breeds, and he understands every word you’re saying. If you want to get up,” Hiccup’s grabbed her wrist, “stop calling him names like beast.”

While Hiccup tried reasoning with Camikazi, Toothless began chewing her hair. It tasted disgusting, like the girl never washed it. The snarls and mats in it revolted him, and Toothless took a deep breath.

No turning back.

He grabbed a clump of hair in his mouth and yanked. The girl screeched; Toothless lifted a paw and raked his claws through Camikazi’s hair. The mats, thick as they were, could not resist his claws. She screamed and cursed and threatened, aiming invective at Hiccup and Toothless. There was a growing crowd, and a chant rose up from one of the women.

“Comb. Comb. Comb. Comb.” Others picked up the word, and Toothless kept at it, separating mats into clumps, and clumps into strands. He teased the knots with his teeth, cheered by an appreciative audience. He flicked an ear flap at Gobber. The man came over, and Toothless, by creative use of body language, instructed Gobber to put his hook right there. Toothless wrenched, and further strands of hair fell out of the twisted knot in the center of her scalp.

Camikazi wailed at the snatch, and a woman’s voice rose over the chants and jeers.

“You’re a Bog, Camikazi Bertha’sdoitter, a fine fighter and the sneakiest burglar of your generation. Are you going to let of bit of hair defeat ye, daughter?”

“‘Nothing,” Hiccup said in a high-pitched voice, ‘keeps a Bog-Burglar down, Hiccup. Nothing and no one.’

“Right.” Toothless had paused after that yank. He wasn’t a cruel dragon, and the girl’s pain was horrible. He looked at her and lowered his head. She looked at him. “Did you just apologize to me?”

Toothless nodded. “Roo,” he responded through a mouthful of hair.

“You can talk? I didn’t think dragons knew how.”

He nodded again, and indicated her hair. He could stop, and leave it alone. It was better. She reached back and ran her fingers through her it, for the first time in years able to feel a few strands at a time.

Maybe it was time for something new.

She grinned at Toothless, who was waiting for an answer.

“Comb my hair!” She laughed. “Do it, Toothless. Comb, comb, comb!”

Toothless released Camikazi. “Hur, hur, hur,” he laughed, throwing back his head. “Hur, hur, hur!” He flicked her gently on her left ear, and started to pry the few remaining clumps into thick strands, and the strands into smaller groupings until five or fewer hairs were stuck together.

Toothless examined his work. Camikazi’s hair smelled of raw fish, and his saliva had made it cleaner. Much of the dirt was gone. Spread out on her shoulders, the blonde hair was like a garment. She touched it gently, as if some of her wild nature had gone the way of her wild hair.

Hiccup handed his friend a shield, and she looked at her reflection. “Do I really look like that?”

“Yeah, Cami, you do. The long hair makes you look more grown-up than before. Even,” Hiccup hesitated, “pretty.”

Camikazi let the word sink in, then turned to the Night Fury. “Thank you, Toothless. I haven’t worn my hair like this since I started burgling. I like it. I’m sorry,” she said, “I called you a beast. Can we be friends?”

Toothless nudged against her, then rose onto his back legs. He opened his mouth, preparing to lick her in happiness. They were friends now, and it was okay to lick your friends. He waddled over to her, turned, and swiped his tongue up Hiccup’s face.

“Oh, Bud, no.” Hiccup tried pushing his dragon backwards, as Toothless persisted in licking him. “Toothless, stop. Come on, you know that doesn’t wash out.”

The crowd laughed at the predicament, then drifted away. Toothless abandoned Hiccup, laying down on the ground.

“Berk has dragons now. Your tribe used to fight them all the time, and now you’re friends.”

“Pretty much. So, no more wild hair?”

“For now, anyway. I like this. Maybe Toothless can fix yours next.”

Toothless shook his head. “Nih, nih, nih.”

“Thanks for that, you useless reptile. Come on,” Hiccup said, holding out his hand. “We can get something to eat, and I’ll tell you about my year.”

They left for the Mead Hall. Hiccup, bolder than he used to be, led his friend to eat, as Toothless had led Camikazi to let go.