"Come on Toothless, let's call it a night."

The two of us soared as one through the dark, mysterious night. Toothless never made any sudden or jerky movements when he flew, as he often enjoyed gliding and enjoying the ride. I can thank that to his handy tail fin I created last year for him. Surprisingly it's still doing us good. Occasionally Astrid will tag along for our nightly rituals, but not tonight. It was a guy's night out; I guess you could call it.

Toothless slowed as we landed on the edge of Berk, a walk's distance through the village from where we live. As we pass the local homes, we witness many a party. One included Gobber with his changeable hand holding a frothy beer having a right good time with his drunken, beer bellied buddies. Another included the village viking teens blasting the "in" Celtic music. Astrid was among them.

That's strange. Astrid never appeared to any of Snotlout's "so called" parties. Toothless knew something was wrong, so he nudged me towards the house. As I approach the shabby residence, the sound of Snotlout's father's fiddle grew louder. I myself do not enjoy that kind of music, but basically all we were exposed to. Astrid saw me creep up the stone path towards the large oak door, so she gestured for me to stay put. She made her goodbyes to everyone and made her way towards me. She too saw my facial expression and looked quite troublesome. (I must have a sign on my face that flashes my emotion as sees fit.)

"Hiccup, what's wrong?" she asks.

"Since when did you start going over to Snotlout's place? Especially without me in your presence?" After saying this, I knew I sounded kind of whiney.

"Don't worry. We were just making some changes to our map of Berk. Apparently there's a whole other side of the island opposite Highest Point we've never even been to! We've got to check it out!" She always talked fast when she was thrilled about something.

"That's amazing, Astrid, but couldn't this have been done tomorrow, or during the day at least? I really wanted to ride with you tonight." I step towards her, grab her soft hands and kiss them. I looked up to her crystal clear, blue eyes.

Toothless started to become a little anxious, as he often does when Astrid and I share a tender moment.

"Ugh. Hiccup, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was a big deal to you. Tomorrow you, Toothless and I will ride as long as your heart desires, okay? I promise," she blushes bright pink.

"It's a date," out of habit, I lean in slowly and kiss her lovely, rouge lips. She breaks her hands free from mine and wraps her long, slender arms around my body, pulling me close.

"Wait, wait," I manage to gasp. I whisper into Astrid's ear, "Let me bring Toothless home, then I will meet you at our spot." I kiss her on the nose and Toothless and I make our way home.

We walked along the narrow path made of different assortments of rock. Toothless stayed near because he knew that my metal foot doesn't always want to work with me, so he lends a hand whenever. Tonight was a cool, breezy night here in Berk. The only thing about Berk that hasn't changed is the damn weather. We've grown to deal with the cold, but we all hate it. It still snows nine months of the year. It's the beginning of June though, so I guess it should be progressively improving.

As we approached our home, I stroked him lightly on his side. I kept my hand on him and moved towards his front and faced him.

"Okay, Toothless, I'm going to be home a little late tonight, alright buddy?"

Toothless looked up anxiously and stopped making that low, rumbly noise when he was at ease. He did not hesitate to give me my own space, though. He leaned his head into my broad chest and I smoothed his scales until I let go and led him inside. As he approached my bed to start snoozing, I reached into a wicker basket I had made for him and threw him some of his favorite fish: Atlantic Cod. It was my way of praising him. After he seemed satisfied, I left him to himself and wished him goodnight.

I stepped into the fresh summer night again, and noticing the moon was exceedingly bright tonight, surprisingly not seeing it before. It seemed to light the way as I limped on my way into Ridgeway Forest.

Now i mentioned that I would meet Astrid at our spot. Do you remember lasy year when Astrid found out about Toothless becoming my pet dragon? Remember that rock she was sitting on when she nearly scared me half to death? Well, that's our "someplace only we know". We don't go there as often as we did when we first started going out, so I thought tonight would be a great revival in order to bring it back.

As I made my way towards the huge rock, I stopped and watched Astrid as she tossed her axe hand to her other hand. Her hair was not in her usual braid. I found it kind of hot, it suits her. I sneak up behind her and silently climb on top of the rock and wrap my arms around her waist. She crosses her arms to lay on mine and drops her head towards the ground. I kiss her neck.

"You don't have to be alone, you know." My thumb simultaneously strokes her stomach.

"I know, but everyone needs time to themselves. Let's just forget about tonight, okay?

"Sure." I kiss her cheek and close my eyes. The thing I love about resting with Astrid is that I forget every problem in my life. I can stay and just think about us. I don't have to worry about my dad, Alvin, or...

"Toothless?!" I peeked over Astrid's shoulder and sure enough Toothless had followed me into Ridgeway Forest. *Ultimate cock block* "Give me a sec, Astrid." I leap to the ground and approach Toothless rather quickly.

"Toothless, what's up, buddy?" I put a hand on him. It was my way of telling him he's going to be okay. He started violently shaking. He didn't seem like he was going to calm down anytime soon. "Astrid, I think something's wrong with him."

Astrid rushed over and placed a hand on him as well. "Why don't we take him home first, then we can figure it out from there."

"Alright."

I didn't want to impose by asking him to fly us home, so we each took a hold of him and kept him balanced as we walked further away from the forest.

Our home was no more than 50 feet away from where we stood now. Toothless crouched low to the ground and froze. We all knew something was very wrong.

"You two stay there." I approached my own home in which I myself began to fear. As I crept closer to the front, the bright moonlight revealed that our door already stood ajar.

I started to ponder on the whereabouts of my father. Probably with Gobber on another night raid, oblivious to anything going on in his own home.

I poked my head into my home. I found a match on the floor which would have to suit the situation for now. As I lit the match, I found my personal lantern was sitting on a table near the entrance of the house, as though someone knew I would need it at a moment like this. As the flames flickered from the lamp, I was dazed from what I saw.