Why did he agree to do this, again?
It had all started a few nights ago. One minute he’d been sleeping, and the next, his companion had been chittering on about “the best idea” and “it’d be so useful for both of us”, and then, before Nott could even ask what Hiccup had been talking about, the little hare had zoomed away. The lion had chosen to ignore whatever it was that was so exciting - Hiccup often came up with ideas and “inventions”. One of his more recent ones had even been a hefty satchel to hold their things, a handy little bag that they’d used... until now.
Now he was sort of regretting not questioning it.
A saddle. He didn’t care if Hiccup called it “a carrying device that he could conveniently ride on so Toothless wasn’t slowed down by him”. It was as good as a saddle to him. Oh, he’d refused at first, of course. Who wouldn’t? He was a strong, former Captain who bowed to no one! There were some who trembled at the sight of him, streaming out of the shadows like lightning!
... But Hiccup had saved him. The hare was like a brother to him.... and for some reason, that meant that he would occasionally cave to his whims.
The black lion sulked from his perch, huddled up atop a tree like the panther he most certainly was not. He could faintly hear Hiccup somewhere far away, calling out in vain for him to come back, but the boy should’ve known that Nott would come back only when he felt Hiccup had learned his lesson.
(He ignored the little voice that said that the hare would just assume he was having a hissy fit - he was NOT - and would come back when he got lonely)
With a huff, he shuffled himself around so his hind legs were strewn on either side of the thick branch he was laying on, trying to ignore the evidence of his soft-hearted ness.
Yes, he was indeed wearing the stupid saddlebag. It was even already holding their belongings and the now-useless satchel they’d been using. They’d have to get rid of it, since it was only taking up space....
It wasn’t like wearing something was entirely new for him. His leg and tail had had to be bandaged up for the longest time, and even now, his back right foot twisted weirdly and he sometimes needed to have a wrap around it. He could walk and run, yes, but he would always have a limp in his step now. Not to mention the crooked tail. There was nothing that could be done about that.
Not that it really bothered him much. He wasn’t the type to dwell on things like that. Hiccup was more torn up about it than he was.
At that point, Toothless paused and lifted his head at the new sound of.... humming? Who would be humming out here? A quick glance down had him narrowing his eyes and curling back into the trunk of the tree.
It was a hybrid. He’d come across them before, and knew how to identify one. He could see the lion traits in them too... which immediately put him on edge. Other carnivores had to be watched when they were this close to his hare friend. It didn’t help that she was heading... straight towards where Hiccup was.
He glared with sharp green-yellow eyes, and then growled as he slipped down and landed in front of them with a thump.
Meera has been having a great day. Warm sun, pretty green trees, a soft breeze that blew through her fur - oh, what a day to be alive!
Now if only she could hold these belongings a bit easier.... she certainly wasn’t regretting her adventures thus far - the hot deserts, the salty ocean, they were each so amazing! - but... she needed a better system. Carrying these things haphazardly on her back and in her teeth wasn’t the best.
It hadn’t been a problem at first. The Dumanne gave her pelts, easily draped on her back, and the others were small knick-knacks that she just carried around in her mouth. But now she’s decided that she wanted a keepsake from everywhere... but how would she carry them?
As it stood, being unable to talk prevented her from doing anything but jumping at the sight of the black lion falling from the sky. Was he one of those gods Ragn mentioned, she wondered with a glance upwards. No, she didn’t think so.
He certainly had quite the glare on him though, not that it intimidated her any. Instead, the Cheetos mumbled cheerfully around her load. “Hewwo! Wh’re yghou?”
Which resulted in Toothless blinking and staring at her in silence. What had she said? His curiosity piqued, he observed her and her strange gaggle of trinkets before sitting back and tilting his head to the side. (He would deny it being “cute” later. Meera would later confirm that it had been adorable)
“Um...” She’d... she’d asked who he was, right? Or was that a ‘where are you’? He wasn’t entirely sure. “I’m Nott.” All the better that Hiccup wasn’t here to claim he was Toothless.
The lion narrowed his eyes at her, “Are you...” he frowned, “do you... need help carrying that?” Not that he would carry it, but... god, Hiccup was wearing off on him, wasn’t he?
Meera jumped and glanced down at everything, before looking up with a muffled grin. “Oph, m’f’ne! J’st neegh toh, m’be, fin a nghew-“
Toothless cut her off then. His expression had been dropping into a dead-pan look as she spoke, and he finally couldn’t take it anymore. “Please put all of that crap down, and then talk.”
She paused at his words, then let out a huff and lowered her head to drop her goods. “It’s not crap!” She said with a pout, “They’re very, very important.” That sentence was punctuated with a nod, “Meera’s knick-knacks, you could say!”
Then Meera took a closer look at this new black lion, eyes going wide with curiosity at the thing on his back, before she glared and smirked at him. “You have something you’re carrying around too! I just... have more that I have to carry, that’s all.”
She deflated then, sighing and looking down at her paws, “Though it does make talking kind of difficult.”
He snorted, about to comment that what he had was forced on him, and then he paused. “Why don’t you carry it all in a bag then? It’s not unheard of for travelers to do so.”
A bag? She hadn’t... she hadn’t even considered that. Oh, that’d be perfect!
But where would she get one?
As soon as she perked up, she deflated once more. That was a good question. Would the next pride she visited have one? She sort of doubted it.
Maybe Nott knew of somewhere? He’d been the one to suggest it, after all, and there was no reason not to ask.
So, licking her lips, she turned pleading eyes towards him, causing the lion’s ears to go flat against his head in response. “Do you know where I could get one? That sounds like a great idea!”
Nott’Modr blinked at her in silence, and then responded, “Well, normally you need to have them made for you.” He thought absentmindedly to himself for a moment, “I got mine from my friend, for example.”
Oh. OH! That thing he was wearing was a bag, duh! That was PERFECT!
The cheeton seem to glow with enthusiasm, “Could your friend make me one? Oh, I can pay him back with, with-“ she looked frantically around her, trying to think of something.
“I could- I could help hunt up some food, or-“
Toothless snorted, “I doubt he’d go for that.”
“Then, then maybe I can sing or, or play a game, or-“
“Really, he’s not goin-“
“OH! I could tell him some great stories!”
“Why would anyone-“
“Or maybe I should just ask him myself. Best to appeal to him in person, righ-“
“NO!”
Like hell he’d allow a random predator anywhere near Hiccup. She could decide to eat him, or worse, become friends, which is exactly what Hiccup would try to do. Nott would prevent that as long as he could.
Of course, after his outburst, the two felines stared with wide-eyes at each other. Toothless with panic written all over him, and Meera with pure surprise.
Finally, taking a deep breath, he tried to think of what he could say to deter her. A bag... she needed a bag....
.... and thanks to Hiccup’s not-saddle, he actually did have an extra bag.
Diving his head into one of the saddlebags, he snatched the satchel and practically threw it at her.
“Y-you can just have this one. We were just going to throw it away anyway.” Well, maybe, but Nott was taking that decision out of Hiccup’s paws.
Meera eeped as the bag smacked her in the nose, rubbing it with a paw before staring down at the innocent looking brown satchel. Poking at it with a paw, she lifted the top and stared at the wide space.
Slowly, a huge smile broke across her face, and she looked up at Nott. “Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!” She tackled him, ignoring the yowl that erupted from him, and snuggled against his side. “It’s perfect!”
And then she jumped away to start shuffling her items into it. Even with everything stuffed into it, there was still a lot of room. She could keep getting more keepsakes now!
Lowering herself down, she wiggled her way into the straps until it lay hanging from her neck, then shot Nott another gleeful look as if asking what he thought.
In return, the male nodded slowly, wary of her tackling him again. She was lucky he hadn’t claws her ears off for that.
“There, you have your bag. Now just... go bother someone else.”
He didn’t need to say any more. So excited as she was, Meera hopped in place a few circles, and then tore off in the other direction. She wanted to show off her new bag!
Meanwhile, Nott was debating how he would explain the disappearance of their old satchel. Aw, and now he’d have to use the saddlebag, at least until he could convince Hiccup otherwise.
With a sigh, the lion shifted back a pace... before deciding to go mess with Hiccup. He deserved it for forcing him to go through this.