"Toothless! You know Dad hates when you get on the roof!" Hiccup yelled up to the shiny black ball of energy bounding down off the top of the hut. The Night fury had had a bit of cabin fever lately, as the constant winter storms had kept the dragon riding Berkians from exploring the skies. Now, as there seemed to be no storm today, Toothless was itching for a flight, and Hiccup wasn't going to deny that he too wanted to soar.

"Okay, bud, you got me, we can go flying," He paused, watching the black dragon's extreme excitement boil over as he catapulted around the blacksmith's, "But you have to promise me that we come back in at the first sign of a storm."

Toothless's bright green eyes drooped halfway, and he moved his mouth in a sarcastic, copying manner as he grudgingly complied. Hiccup understood his excitement, but he wanted to make sure they were safe. He could never live it down if something happened to his Night Fury.

The two walked out towards and overhang that overlooked most of the quaint but sturdy village. Hiccup sighed, looking out at the quiet scene, snow blanketing everything in a soft sheet of white. Toothless shifted impatiently, his black claws sending up flurries of perfect white flakes as he pawed the ground, waiting for his rider.

Hiccup cast one last glance at the village, then at the sky, clear, with the sun illuminating the snow as the clouds hastily made way for it. He climbed on the dragon's back, securing his false leg in the contraption that Gobber had made for him, and as he spread the red tail fin, the bright white skull catching the sunlight, the two shot off into the sky.

Neither Toothless nor Hiccup ever felt as alive as when they were flying. They loved the vertigo, the air whirling past them in a rage as they entered its domain. Toothless surged upwards, his muscles rippling with the effort to pull them into the sky. Hiccup held on with every muscle in his slowly strengthening body, the force of the air around melding them together, pulling them through the skies as one.

Toothless rose high in the air, floating over the village with his wings vibrating from the wind. Hiccup could see everything. The huts seemed large and strong when you were among them, but from up here, they seemed mere specks of life compared with everything that could be out there. Hiccup looked out away from the village, towards the sharp crags and steep rocks a little ways over the sea. That would give them some fun without straying too far from the village.

Hiccup angled the tailfin, letting Toothless know they would be going that way. He nodded and with a shake of his wings they plunged towards the rocks, unafraid, everything about them just aching for the thrill. They landed on the first rock, which overlooked the obstacle course perfectly carved by wind and rain and all the harsh but beautiful forces of nature.

In their minds, Toothless and Hiccup scouted the perilous course they would take through the rocks. A dive there, a twirl there, they were sure they'd be safe. Well, even if they weren't, that was what made it fun, right? Hiccup crouched low over the controls, his voice barely a whisper as he spoke to his dragon.

"You ready bud?"

Toothless looked ahead in agreement, his muscles tense, his wings ready to snap open. Hiccup cocked open the tail fin and Toothless lifted in the air, soaring over the collision course. Then, with a jubilant sound that only a Night Fury can make, before closing his wings and letting gravity take him, he dove straight down towards the crags.

Down, down, down, the gravity was pulling them towards the center of the earth, their muscles and reflexes screaming for them to pull up, before it was too late. But the dragon and his rider knew better than that. The sharp crags were coming at them it seemed, like the fanged jaws of some almighty predator bringing them to the dark and the death below.

Just as the razor tipped fangs were an inch from Toothless's muzzle, the dragon rider snapped open the fin, the air billowing beneath as Toothless spread his wings, twirling out of reach of the sharp crags, towards the rocks ahead, their minds speeding with adrenaline, their reflexes keeping them from befalling the fate of a lesser creature.

Toothless's wings whirled around as they dodged a rock stack to their left, then plummeted down and rose back up again as they swerved through an opening in a rock face. They swung this way and that, their whole bodies and minds whirling with the thrill of the chase, only focused on the rocks in front of them, until they claimed victory over every single one.

Suddenly Hiccup spotted a swirl of darkness billowing towards them from high up in the sky, the center of the black and grey glowing with green. He motioned to Toothless, who saw it, but they were both focused on the obstacle ahead of them. That was Hiccup and Toothless; Always living in the now.

Suddenly the pair dropped, pushed towards the ground by a downdraft. Toothless righted himself, and swerved to the right to avoid a stack, only to look up to see that it was falling, the whole thing plummeting downward as a strike of lighting exploded at the top. They swerved again, hurling to the side and escaping just as it fell behind them, crashing and sending a small explosion of dust and wind toward them.

Toothless tried to push upwards, but suddenly the wind was all around them, buffeting them, shaking them, tossing them in the air like leaves in a fall breeze. Suddenly Toothless cried out, his balance fading and plummeting down to earth with him. Hiccup turned, and could see a rent in the tail fin. They were helpless in this storm.

Suddenly the wind carried them towards the center of the storm in an updraft, the darkness pulling in and around them, but lightening up ahead as they were pulled into the pulsing green vortex. The gray clouds swirled around them, the wind howling in a wickedly mocking manner as the green sucked them in. Toothless was still flapping frantically even though he was useless against the wind with his tail fin broken. Hiccup fumbled with the controls until he was just pulling random levers and switches for no apparent reason except to save his Night Fury.

Suddenly the laughing green vortex shoved them down, pushing them until they were falling through the green light, everything crashing around them.

The last thing Hiccup was aware of was his safety line snapping, a bolt of lightning, and Toothless's scream fading away.