This was an idea that came to me after rewatching the third film. I adore little Hiccup and so I wondered what the story would be like if the main gang were younger in the story. I couldn't help it as I wanted to write about little children and dragons.

I also added in a few more elements to make the story a little different to the movies, like a certain power Hiccup hasssss (Bit of a references to the books.)

I hope you like, sorry if there are any mistakes, can blame my dyslexia!

Characters:

Hiccup

Toothless

Stoick

Little bit of Gobber

Warning: Some slight graphic details

Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD, despite how much I love it!

It's always strange to have a secret about yourself, that not even you knew about. For one small boy, living on the isles of Berk, held a rather special gift that no one knew about. Expect for the grand beasts called dragons…

The first sign everyone should have taken more notice was the day he was born. The heir to Berk had been premature, his mother unable to hold him in. Everyone was just relefted the boy had made it. He looked like any normal baby, sharing features from his parents. His warm and gentle auburn hair, forest green eyes that held innocence, his cute little freckles that painted his face. However, he had a feature from neither parent. On his back was what looked like markings in the shape of dragon wings.

Now, many thought it was just a strange birthmark, while others thought it could be hinting to his future. His father proudly expected this to mean he would be the greatest dragon hunter to ever live, but he couldn't be even further from the truth.

They should have noticed how dragons acted around him. They never sought to harm him, seemingly ignoring the little child. The tribe assumed that since he seemed harmless, they didn't bother killing him. They missed the glint in every dragon's eyes as they saw the boy, the gaze of curiosity or the protective stare when people came near him, even the times one dragon would growl at another, warning them and reminding them not to attack this one. For he was something special to them all, something they had waited for a long time…

The boy, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock lll, hadn't notice either, but he knew something wasn't right. Sometimes he swears he could hear voices coming from the fire breathing beasts, and he knew this wasn't normal. Or how he could somehow sense what the creatures were feeling, always feeling sick when a dragon was slain in front of it, thus he never got the drive to want to kill them, much less harm them. But he never said this to anyone. They already shunned him for being a runt, different and he pacifist personality, saying he could hear voices and felt sympathy for the monsters that attacked his home would only make things worse.

But there was one night where he almost learned the truth, however, it only ended up sparking the events of his destiny and legendary adventures to be held. All thanks to an eventful night.

Hiccup's eyes flared open, his senses snapping him out of his dreams. But it wasn't his sense of hearing, smell or even touch, it was a sense deep within.

The eight-year-old gazed around his dark room, only hearing the sound of wood creaking lightly from the harsh winds from outside, along with the muffled noise of his father snoring downstairs. But he knew something was different, as he always got this feeling when dragons were near.

With a look of panic, biting his lip to not let out a gasp of fright, he slipped out of the furs he slept with, feet dangling off his bed before he plopped onto the floor. He fumbled around the edge of his bed briefly, looking for his stuffed toy for comfort. Once he found it, he held it tightly and made his way to the stairs.

Thanks to his lightweight, he barely made a noise. He made no sounds when stepping and the wood barely creaked. Though he was regretting on not taking one of his blankets with him, as the cold winter night was already affecting him. He hated the cold, he didn't have enough fat and muscles to resist it, despite his Viking heritage.

Once he reached the bottom floor, he glanced around the room. The eerie silence didn't fit right, as if it was the calm before the storm. Briefly looking over to his father's room, he questioned whether he should wake his father or not. But he didn't expect his dad to believe him, just would tell his son go back to sleep. But still, he didn't want to go out alone if there were dragons, he was barely allowed to be alone, especially during an attack. But he did have a trait he gained from his parents that always overtook him, his stubbornness.

He looked down at his dragon plushie and frowned lightly, a look of determination and putting on a brave face. He nodded to the toy before placing it by his side again and wandered over to the door.

Standing on his tiptoes, he barely managed to reach the door handle. The moment he got the door open, it swung open from being pushed by the harsh winds that made themselves welcomed in Hiccup's home, even a couple of snowflakes popping in. Shuffling in his little boots, he stepped out into the outside world, thankful the snow covering the ground wasn't heavy.

He took a couple of cautious steps, that feeling still deep within him, never leaving. He eyes scanned the area, gazing out at the village, sky and even some nearby hills, but everything was too dark to see anything, minus the small amount of light coming from the village, most likely from people still awake or guards on night patrol. But even though he couldn't see anything, he still felt it and it would not go away.

He held his toy closer for comfort. It was like someone could see him through a wall, but he didn't know which wall they were behind. He hated this feeling, but he never knew how to control it.

He huffed, the cold air making his breath visible. He told himself it was nothing, that he was being stupid again, some people might even describe it as being crazy. He sighed and stepped back a bit, ready to head inside. When something other than the winter night made him freeze.

It was a large huff, followed by a quiet growl. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stick up, feeling a large amount of warmth suddenly flowing over him. He flicked around, making a quiet squeaking noise of fright. His eyes widen in fear and shock, seeing the source of noise on top of his house, glaring down at him.

The monstrous nightmare looked down at the boy, it's blue and dark red body blending into the darkness. Its sight was on the tiny human, for this was his first time seeing the one his nest talked about so much. He might not look like much to human standards, but to dragons, he was something marvellous, and, well, adorable. His light red eyes stared deeply into the rich green eyes of the human, but not with a look of hatred, but with a soft and paternal look at the child.

Hiccup wanted to scream for his father, but he already lost his voice, making failed attempts at speaking. But as the dragon crawled down from his roof and dropped onto the snowy ground, he managed to make a noise.

"AH!" He yelped, nearly falling over as his knees were shaking with fright.

The nightmare pulled it's head back, having not wanted to scare the boy even more. It grumbled softly as if trying to see less threatening, but it only made Hiccup even more scared. Said boy covered his face and turned away, poorly shielding himself. His ears perked up when hearing it speak again, but this time, he heard those strange voices again, all jumbled up.

"Don't...Grahh, har….rust, hraaa."

He pulled his head out of his arms and looked at the dragon, eyes now wide with confusion. It was about to take another step closer to him, when they both heard a roar of anger from the house. The nightmare turning to see Stoick The Vast dashing out, swinging his axe madly.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" The Viking chief screamed.

The nightmare's attitude change immediately, hissing and baring its teeth, sliding back to dodge the axe, while also knocking over Hiccup by mistake.

"Oof!" Hiccup exclaimed, collapsing into the snow and began crawling.

"GRAAA!" Stoick bellowed and rammed into the beast.

The dragon stumbled back before getting a grip on the ground, pulling its head to the side before slamming it against the human, smacking him away. He lifted his head and roared out the sky, signalling to the other dragons that hid in the clouds and night sky. Stoick stumbled to his feet in time to see the rest of the nest diving in to attack and steal. His eyes narrowed dangerously and turned back to the nightmare.

Said dragon huffed at him, flaring its body on fire as it jumped, wings opening and taking off to join the rest of its kind. Stoick was already pissed off with not having got the chance to kill it, but he had more pressing matters to worry about, hearing the horn being blown the distances, warning everyone that a dragon attack was happening.

He eyes darted around before spotting his son, leaning against their house as he shook with fear. He jogged over and placed a hand on his son's shoulder for some form of comfort.

"Hiccup, what were you doing out here?" He questioned, almost in a demanding tone.

Hiccup flinched, already knowing how mad his father was. "I-I thought I heard something!" He stuttered, taking deep breaths.

"Then you should have woken me up." Stoick shook his head but looked down at his village, seeing and hearing the fight going on. He looked back at his son. "I'm taking you to Gobber and you stay with him this time."

"B-But daddy, can't I stay here?" Hiccup pleaded. He didn't like being in the middle of the action, given the forge had front row seats to see all the destruction and murder. He knew he would be safe with Gobber, but he could hardly bare it.

"We are not discussing this, come on." Stoick countered, kneeling down and taking his small child in one arm, while the other held his axe.

Hiccup latched onto to his father as he raced down the path, towards the village. The moment they entered, they saw all the chaos going on. Seeing members of the village dashing out of their homes, already baring their weapons to defend their home and supplies. Dragons perched on houses or landing on the ground, hissing and roaring violently as they either attacked people or began stealing food. Hiccup buried his face into his father's beard, unwilling to see the mayhem, but he could always hear the violent actions happening around him, along with those voices as well.

"Foo….need, Hraaa!"

"More….mor, GRAAA!"

"Narrr, we….Craaaa!"

They were mostly in the background, blocked out from people giving their battle cries, or the clashing battles that were spread around the place. Hiccup didn't understand and it always made him more scared. He felt his heart beating, sweat dripping down his face and he felt sick for some reason, his head hurting as if he has a sudden migraine.

"Stoick!" A familiar voice called out.

Hiccup finally took a peek and saw they were finally at the forge, Gobber already repairing weapons and handing them out. Stoick slid to a stop and placed down his son in one quick motion.

"You already know what to do." Stoick reminded his friend, trusting the man with his son's life.

Gobber nodded and gave his famous crooked smile. "Got it, chief. Go, they need you out there!"

Stoick turned to rush out into battle, ignoring the whimpers from his son as it whispered for his daddy. He hated to be so tough on his little boy, but in times that this he had to. Hiccup needed some tough love to understand his father was needed elsewhere. But the child already knew that, it was just hard to admit that to himself.

His lip quivered but he looked up at Gobber, as the man tapped his shoulder with his prosthetic arm, which was currently a hammer.

"He'll be fine, boy. You can go distract yourself in the back." Gobber offered.

While many disliked and didn't understand the boy's view around fighting, Gobber didn't pressure him about it and allowed Hiccup to hide away during such times. He was one of the few people in Hiccup's life that cared about him, and the only one who was actually gentle around him. People like Dagur, Gothi and even his father could be pushy or harsh on him sometimes, so he appreciated his older friend.

Making sure he still held his plushie, he nodded and quickly vanished off to the back, grabbing the spare paper and pencils he often left about to take his mind off things. He finds drawing and thinking of ideas the best way to distract himself, like shutting his brain off from the outside world.

Gobber waited until the boy was deep in thought, drawing out some weird idea about a flaming sword, before going back to tending to the weapons. As he did so, he took notice of what was happening outside the forge, seeing a couple of Nadders and Zipplebacks around, lighting up some houses and stealing meat that had been left out to bleed. It wasn't a pleasant sight, not that anyone thought it would be. But they all stayed strong, barely letting up their defences and never dropped their war face.

Meanwhile, Stoick had reached one of the defence towers that was currently being swarmed. He knocked off a couple of Gronckles and nadders before finally reaching the top. Three men and two women stood their ground, glad to have their chief arrive to help.

Stoick called out to the lead man. "Report?"

The man slashed at a Nadder that fly away from the damage it took. "Nadders, Gronckles, Zipplebacks, couple of Terrors and some Nightmares."

"Any Nightfuries?" Stoick questioned, deeply dreading for the answer.

"We haven't seen any." He replied, hopeful it wasn't just hiding and waiting to strike.

"Good…" Stoick grumbled, flicking off a burnt piece of wood from his shoulder.

The ground shook as something broke through the wood, a blazing Nightmare out to kill. It snarled deeply, snorting smoke out of its nose. Pulling itself up, it was tasked with breaking down the tower. The humans, however, were not going to let that happen.

The Nightmare struck first, knocking one of the men off the tower with his tail, while another man rushed in and jabbed its side with a spear. Blood spills from the wound, causing it to roar in pain before it's amber eyes locked onto the culprit. It snapped at him, teeth barely missing the man who slides back, releasing the spear to be able to dodge.

Stoick swung his hammer, smacking the animal in the jaw. A large crack was heard but the beast refused to give up, now locking onto the chief.

Stoick locked eyes with it, hatred and rage burning in his eyes. "I'll take care of this one…" He stated in such a cold tone, that the dragon briefly felt unsure about fighting him.

Stoick dove forward and swung his hammer, aiming for the jaw again. The beast saw it coming, pulling its head back before firing out a blast of fire. Stoick rolled the side, the fire striking part of the tower instead. Stoick looked behind him and huffed in annoyance before facing the creature again. It leaned in to snap a bite, but the chief rolled to the side and slammed it's hammer down on its claw, breaking its nails off and injuring a part of its wing.

It cried out in deep pain and backed up a bit, looking at the damage. A damaged wing was bad, as a down dragon could mean a dead dragon. But to its luck, it didn't have to stick around. It looked up to the sky, Stoick following its gaze as they all heard the familiar shriek made by the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself.

The Nightmare huffed with a smirk and dropped off the side, climbing down the tower to move out of the blast zone. Stoick knew what exactly was going to happen as one of his men screamed.

"Nightfury!" They yelled out, warning everyone.

"Jump!" Stoick ordered, falling down the side of the tower, roughly landing on a lower ledge.

The shriek came to a halt as a purple blast struck the tower, exploding the top of it in a mass of fire. The Nightfury swiftly passed the damage, a blur of black spotted briefly in the light, before blending back into the darkness. Stoick was not pleased, but deep down he was fearful, knowing full well what this dragon was capable of, already having destroyed one tower, with one blast…

Gobber had stuck his head out when he heard the shriek. His eyes widen at the sight of the tower collapsing, burning down. He had a feeling he'd have to join in soon, now with that shadow dweller around.

But in his state of shock, he hadn't noticed the boy he was babysitting peering out of the hidden backroom. Hiccup clutched onto his dragon plushie. He too heard the shriek. Nightfuries scared him the most out of any dragon he had seen, despite no one here having seen what it looks like. But that's what scared him the most. He found knowing about something made it less scary, as he can understand it and point out ways to deal with it. But this thing was the stuff of deep dark nightmares, a phantom that stalked the sky and strikes when you least expected it. He knew that it was smart, and something that smart should be scary.

He jogged over to Gobber and pushed up against him. "It's here…" The boy whimpered, almost in a ghostly tone.

Gobber looked down at him, trying to put on a brave face. "And your father will take care of it. He's not scared of it."

It didn't calm Hiccup. His father wasn't scared of anything, at least to him, but that never made him feel better unless his dad was around. His breathing started to quicken. Gobber, sensing this, placed a hand on the boy's back and rubbed softly.

"I want my daddy…" Hiccup shivered, something not sitting right with him.

"Hiccup, you know he's busy trying to-" But Gobber never got time to explain.

A Zippleback, that had been running down the dirt path from some warriors, tumbled into the forge, unable to stop itself. The roof collapsed halfway and startled the two. Gobber yanked Hiccup away from the rumble, saving him from any damage. One head of the dragon looked up, the other stuck under the rumble and starting to panic and shriek. In its fright, it started to spew out its gas. Gobber's eyes widen and acted, shoving Hiccup out of the forge before the other head sparked it.

Hiccup fell onto his back as the forge lit up, Gobber barely dodging the burst of fire and being blown out a different side of the forge. Despite there being other Vikings around, Hiccup knew he was alone, and he started to panic.

Shakily pulling himself up, he picked up his toy and tried to run back to his house, though he stopped right away, sliding in the dirt when a Nadder appeared around the corner and blocked him. He gasped in fright, his breathing becoming unsteady in his panic.

The Nadder's eyes landed on him and looked at him in surprise, knowing full well who he is. She was worried about how the boy was somehow caught up in the battle, but her acute hearing heard a wall breaking down. She saw the house right next to the child falling apart, parts of the roof slide off and were about to crash onto him. She reacted and flicked her tail, spines flying off and knocking the flaming wood away. Hiccup didn't know this though, and thought she tried attacking him.

He screamed and turned the other way to run, almost tripping every moment from how weak his legs were feeling. He had to find a way out of here, somewhere away from here, he didn't care where. He blindly ran around the battle zone, dodging fights and both Vikings and dragons in terror. Some people tried to stop him, but he didn't listen and they got caught up in their fights.

Many dragons did try and stop him, to calm him and try and get his attention, but the poor boy had no clue of their real intentions, thinking they were hunting him down and cutting him off every step of the way. He just wanted to be somewhere safe and for it all to stop. His eyes watered, a mixture from his panicking state and the thick smoke in the air. He coughed and felt himself becoming light-headed, but he didn't want to faint around here, not with those creatures looking for him. But, to his luck, he somehow found an opening leading out of the village into the forest. He knew it was dangerous to go in there, but he knew it was safer than sticking around.

On a roof nearby, A Nightmare watched as the human child dashed into the forest, disappearing into the shadows and fog. She wanted to follow, but she was too busy collecting food. She also had a feeling they wouldn't be able to find him or could cause more panic. They needed someone who could sneak away from the battle undetected and possibly interact with Hiccup differently. She knew who would fit that purpose and lifted her head, calling out to the moving shadow that blended into the sky.

Hiccup wasn't sure how long he had been running for, it was most likely just a couple of minutes, but it felt like hours in his state. He wasn't even noticing how cold he felt or even the fact he had no idea where he was going. He was glad that he did sneak into the forest often, as he learnt how to dodge most trees, bushes, roots and rocks. Most of the time.

He supposes it was because he wasn't focusing, just wanting to get away from the danger, but he ended up tripping over a rather large tree roof and it flung forward, face planting into the dirt, rolling down a slight hill and settling into the thick grass and light snow. He winced and whimpered, feeling some bruises and cuts already forming. But it snapped him out of his fearful state.

He laid there, breathing deeply through his mouth, seeing his misty breath vanish after a few moments. The adrenaline was settling and then he noticed the cold. Shivering, he hugged his body and slowly sat up, flinching to the damage on his body.

Sitting there, in a moment in silence, once he was sure he was somewhat safe, he started to cry. He was yelling at himself mentally at how stupid he was being. Running away from the village and getting so scared like that, it really was pathetic, it wasn't hard to see why the other kids picked on him for being weepy. He just couldn't take it though. The sounds, smells, feelings and sights were just too much.

He allowed a couple of tears to fall from his cheeks before wiping his eyes and noses. He wishes he wasn't like this, really. He never asked to be weird, different and so scared, it's just who he ended up being sadly. It wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't meant to be the heir to berk. Something his cousin loved to rub in whenever he could.

Sniffling, he rubbed his arms before he realised he was missing something. Eyes widening and head flicking around, he couldn't find his plushie. He must have dropped it when he tripped. It was about to start panicking again, it was made his mother, it's all he really had of her.

Biting his tongue, he pushed himself to his feet, limping a little as his left ankle was really badly bruised. He began searching, looking around where he tumbled down in hops to find it. But he knew that in this lighting and forest, he might not be able to find it.

"Please...no…" He lamented, whimpering and sniffling, feeling his eyes welling up with tears again.

His hand brushed past the grass and bushes, eyes squinting to try and spot it in the dark. He couldn't lose it, he loved that toy. But as it got colder and colder, he knew he had no chance of getting it back. He refused to give up and kept searching, however.

"Mummy…" He wept, as if calling to her spirit within the toy.

Then he heard it, the faint snap of a twig and rustling of something walking through the brush of the forest. He tried telling himself it was just a deer or boar, but that strange feeling was coming back. He sensed the presence of a dragon.

Hugging his own body, his eyes looked around at the dark scenery, hoping to spot it before it spotted him. Shuffling around on his feet and breathing through his mouth, he tried to stay as quiet as possible. His strange sixth sense was pounding his brain, as if trying to point out where the creature was, but he still couldn't control this feeling.

It was then that his gaze made eye contact with bright shining pale green eyes. They looked like floating eyes, given he couldn't see the rest of it. He failed to hide a loud gasp and he stumbled back, the grass rustling thanks to his movement.

The strange shadowy creature stared at him, eyes and body not moving. It grumbled softly before finally looking the child up and down. It narrowed its eyes at the sight of cuts and bruises, but he knew nothing could be done about it. Lifting a paw, it started stepping towards the boy.

Hiccup noticed how the glowing draconic eyes were getting closer and began to freak out again, heavily panting and stumbling back again. However, thanks to his limp, he couldn't run, in fact, he just tripped over again, falling onto his back. He hissed in pain, gritting his teeth.

The dragon stopped in its track, lifting its head from the sudden distress of radiating off the child. He didn't mean any harm, far from it. But judging by what he heard about this kid, he knew he was not a fan of dragons. So trust had to be built slowly. He already had his first step on doing so. Stepping ever so slightly closer, he leaned his head over the boy.

Hiccup starred at its eyes, lost in its gaze. He was so scared he froze, unable to move and already thinking about how he was going to die, that this thing would bite his head off or set him on fire. He had seen other dragons to people he knew, scarring him forever. Curling up on himself, he sobbed into his arms and awaited the painful death.

To his surprise, he didn't feel anything painful, rather something soft dropped onto him. He didn't dare move for a minute, but when nothing else happened, his curiosity got the better of him. Lifting his head up a little, he looked to his stomach. His eyes widened, but in shock rather than fear. The dragon had just dropped his toy on him. It must have found it for him.

Briefly forgetting about the black beast standing there, he sat up in a flash and pulled the plushie close.

"Mummy…" He whined, nuzzling it.

The dragon cooed at the sight. The plushie smelled just like the boy, so it was obviously important to him. Shuffling back a bit, he sat down and gazed at the boy, awaiting for his next reacting.

Hiccup took a few more moments to fawn over his recovered plushie before finally acknowledging the dragon again. It was still hard to make out what it looked like, given how perfectly it blended into the darkness. Sitting up properly, he just stared right back at it. Fear was still present on his face, but he was mostly confused. It hadn't attacked him, instead, it seemed to have helped him, but why?

He opened his mouth a few times, but always closed them. He wasn't exactly sure what to say or do. He had a feeling no one had ever been in a situation like this. For a while, he juggled around the ideas of either being nice to it, or mean. It was a quick decision in the end.

"...Ah...Hi?" The boy mumbled, tilting his head.

The shadow mimicked and tilted his head too. It purred and grumbled at him. Hiccup's ears perked up again, as if he vaguely heard it speak, but the words were too distorted to make sense.

"T-thank you, mister dragon…" Hiccup fiddled with his fingers, looking away for a moment.

It nodded at him, purring again. It made the tiny lad smile softly, he had never heard a dragon purr before. He tried to stand, but he winced and sat back down, his ankle flaring up. He started to fear he might have twisted it.

The dragon huffed and lowered its head, Hiccup felt it's warm breath blow out of its nose as it sniffed his foot. Nervous, he pulled his foot back, cause the dragon to pull it's head back.

He wanted to go home, but Hiccup knew he couldn't walk back like this. He'd either fall back down or lose energy to the cold temperatures. Speaking of which, he shivered again and rubbed his arms again. He heard the shadow huff again and move. Looking back up, he saw it slither by his side before laying down. He wasn't sure what it was planning, until it flared open a wing and hovered if over the boy, protecting him from snowflakes and a bit of the harsh wind.

The boy was utterly at a lost for words. This dragon was basically acting like a parent, seemingly worried about his health and wellbeing. He was wondering if he had already fainted and was dreaming all of this, but a gut feeling was telling him it was all real. Were all dragons like this? But how can that be, he's seen them act so savagely during the fights. But then again, so did his people. Both sides did scare him during the fights.

"Cold…" A voice softly spoke.

Hiccup flicked his head about to look at the sharp green eyes in fright. The voice had been so clear this time. It was deep but yet so warm and caring. Had he been mistaken again? Dragons couldn't talk, at least that's what he thought. But he had a feeling it wasn't all in his head, given how often he heard those muffled voices in the background. Perhaps, since it's so calm and quiet, nothing was distracting him from understanding it.

He wanted to ask questions, hoping the dragon would know what was wrong with him. But his teeth were starting to chatter, making it impossible to talk. He groaned and rubbed his arms before looking back at the dragon, who eyes had not moved from staring at him.

He didn't want to trust it, but that strange sense within him told him it was ok, that he wasn't going to hurt him, that he was here to help. So, finally falling to those feelings, he shuffled over to the large and scaly shadow, hesitantly leaning against him. Instantly, it's warm body calmed all of his nerves, it felt so nice, reminding him of those times he'd sit by the fireplace.

Pleased with itself, the dragon lowered it's wing to cover the child, blocking out the cold world and laying his head down. Hiccup yawned and rested his head on its side, pulling his plushie close and eyes shutting. After this event, he found it easy to fall asleep. But before he did, he muttered out softly.

"Thank you…"

And he was dead to the world...

When he finally awoke, he immediately noticed a few things. First off, the big black dragon was gone, nowhere to be seen. Second, it appeared to be day time, the sun shining through the trees. Third, he wasn't in the same spot of the forest from last night, instead, inside an open tree stump. Luckily, he still had his toy.

Taking a moment to fully awake, Hiccup rubbed his eyes as he peaked out from his shelter. He was slightly aware of where he was in the forest, recognizing some of the rock formations. He knew he was near the village.

His eyes widened, remembering the events in the village last night. Glancing around in a slight panic, he crawled out of the hole and tried to stand. His ankle was still badly damaged, but thanks to the tree he hid under, he had something to lean on.

He looked around to see if he recognized anything else, hoping to remember which way the village was. But his state of mind wasn't processing things right, mostly because he was still tired from all that happened. But he did notice two things. One was dragon tracks leading to and away from the stump he slept under. They weren't massive, like a Nightmare or Nadder, more somewhere between a Gronckle and Zippleback. He followed them with his line of sight, but they sadly lead deeper into the forest, leading to nothing that he could see. The other thing was a black spot on the ground. Leaning down, careful not to put pressure on his left foot, he picked it up. It appeared to be a slick black scale.

He knew who it belonged to and stared at it. Seems his guardian from last night moved him to a safe spot near his home. Lifting his head, he glanced around, but didn't see the dragon. He sighed, knowing he was probably long gone.

It was then that he heard voices, but this time, human voices. He perked up and called out, voice a little croaky from only just talking today.

"Hello?" He called out, hoping they would hear him.

Thankfully, they did. As the voices stopped briefly before he heard the rushing sounds of footsteps coming to his positions. Spitelout, Mrs Hofferson and his father come out from the pushes just as he pocketed the scale.

"Hiccup!" Stoick exulted, relief washing over him. Ever since he was told his son was last seen running into the forest, he had not stopped dreading the worst.

"D-daddy!" Hiccup cried out, trying to hop over to his father.

Mrs Hofferson quickly reacted and come to his side. "Easy there, sweetheart." She took his hand and helped him over to his father. "Looks like he's twisted his ankle, but otherwise alright…"

Stoick knelt down and picked up his son with ease, holding him close. "Are you ok?..."

Hiccup nodded tiredly and rested his head against his dad, having messed the feeling of his big beard. "I was scared…"

"I know boy, I know...But we're gonna go home and have Gothi look at you, then you can come home and rest." Stoick reassured him.

"Is the village ok?" Hiccup had to asked.

Spitelout's eyes glanced away, trying to think of the right words to say to his nephew. "Ey, it needs repairing, but she'll be fine and back to normal in no time…"

Hiccup, pleased with the answer, snuggled into his father's embraced. Despite his father's harsh parenting, Hiccup always latched onto these caring moments and knew his dad loved him. But his tiny yawn made his father chuckle softly.

Mrs Hofferson smiled. "I think we should be heading back down, I'll go ahead and tell everyone the search it over."

"If you could." Stoick hummed, nuzzling his son's hair.

With that, the adults began their trek home, the tiny boy resting in his father's arms. Though, they didn't notice how the child slipped a hand in his pocket, brushing his fingers against the scale he stashed away. He mind wandered in his sleepy state. Was that dragon different from the others, or were all dragons, deep down, like that?

"We will meet again, little one…" A deep and familiar voice could be heard.

Hiccup's eyes widen and he shuffled a little, resting his chin on Stoick's shoulders to look behind them. At first, he saw nothing, then his eyes spotted a long black tail swishing in the grass, disappearing in the bushes.

The boy stared, deep in thought. He glanced at his dad secretly before looking back at bushes and waving his tiny hand. Despite his original fear of dragons, he really hoped they would meet again.

The Nightfury strolled through the forest, happy that the boy was now safe in the hands of his people. He had done his task, along with finally meeting the child he had heard so much about.

If he were completely honest, he was unsure about these stories he heard. Yes, someone who could understand dragons could be rather helpful and the answer to their prayers, but that could backfire with how this human acted.

His troubled thoughts, however, had been put to rest when finally meeting Hiccup. He was the most innocent, kind and gentlest human he had ever laid his eyes upon. Those bush green eyes held wonder and hope, the way he laid against the dragon to sleep somehow made him feel relaxed and his high pitch yet quiet voice held no negative tones to it.

When the boy finally trusted the dragon to sleep against him, somehow relaxed the beast, as if he unconsciously wanted nothing but to protect the child. He wasn't sure if it was because of the boy's abilities or just how he acted, but no dragon would ever want to harm such a creature.

But to him, he felt a connect with Hiccup, something he couldn't explain. The way other dragons talked about him was interesting, but nothing as deep as it been between him and the boy. So, yes, he deeply hoped they would meet again.

His ears started to twitch as a voice spoke within his mind, grabbing his attention as he stopped atop a hill. He gazed out at the village as he listened.

"If he safe?..." The voice calmly asked.

"...Yes…" He replied to his Queen.

"...Thank you...Now come home." She orders, but not in a harsh tone, a rather gentle one.

Straightening his body, he turned away from the sight of the village, looking out at the ocean. Spreading his wings and feeling the sea breeze, he took off to return to his nest and think about what had transpired.