Hello, to all of you Merricup fans! I hope you like my story, please review if you want. I've already started writing the next chapter, so it should be up in 4-6 days. I try to make the chapters extra long for your enjoyment but they take a little bit longer to post because I want them to be perfect! Anyway have fun and tell me what you think!

As the ground flashed by in a whirl of all things green, brown and well, rocky, Hiccup soared across Berk, fleeing the deserted wasteland as fast as he possibly could. It wasn't that he wanted to leave his cold and barren home but what he was choosing to leave behind for a period of time would not be something he missed. The responsibilities of being the chief of all Berk were not particularly something Hiccup had a knack at or desire to be no matter how many times his mother told him so. In fact all he really wanted to do was fly Toothless and explore the new worlds all around him unlocked by the power and freedom he felt when riding upon a dragon's back.

Of course, it was enough to make anyone never want to return, and such feelings flooded through Hiccup especially strongly because whatever he might face before him in flight could most certainly not be worse than anything he chose to leave behind on the island. The only thing that he might feel some resentment about leaving would be his friends, but he had to get out and the options were go alone or don't go at all. Especially after Astrid, the thought of which sent dark shudders through Hiccup in remembrance. He had to take a moment of deep concentration before he finally was able to salvage his mind from the cruel place it was heading to and decided to focus on the horizon beckoning him forth ahead. The icy wind that would leave you breathless if inhaled too sharply beat down upon him almost trying and succeeding to convince him to go home. But as he crouched down lower upon the dragon, the more it let up, and the more determined he was to continue his aimless journey.

The dragon let out a moan, almost as if to ask "where to?" but Hiccup didn't respond. Maybe if he didn't move, he thought, he wouldn't exist and wouldn't have to answer any more questions. Maybe the world would carry on without him. The dragon however did not share the same feelings and continued to pester him with constant noises and jostling so that Hiccup really had no other choice but to give him a point to fly to or be thrown off.

"Just… Anywhere but here bud."

Another moan proceeded to gurgle out from beneath the hide of dark scales.

"You're a dragon! You know how to get to places, just go somewhere, anywhere but Berk."

The moaning continued and vibrated the place where Hiccups hands rested comfortably.

"Toothless…"

The dragon looked up at him eyes wide and clear. It was like this they stayed for a moment until the larger of the two decided to look away. Almost with fake sarcasm did he gurgle back noises that sounded too close to actual mocking words to be taken seriously and at this point did Hiccup let out a laugh, a laugh that rang out in the sky and didn't seem to end for eons. It was he realized, the first time he had laughed in over a month, since his father died. So he decided to laugh and laugh and laugh until it felt like he was going to fall over and spew all of his intestines and still be chortling.

It was a feeling that Hiccup realized to be true and utter freedom. While he was flying, he was free. Over the past weeks he had forgotten that. In fact, flying had almost become a chore, a burden of going from to and from to fix this or mend that or solve this problem and make everything better. Toothless was always great and all but it just wasn't the same as being free in the wide-open sky, no responsibilities to weigh them down. So, slowly and steadily did he raise himself up, bad leg first to his full height on the saddle of the dragon.

Toothless lurched forward a little in surprise at the sudden weight change but was otherwise unaffected. This obviously wasn't the first time he'd lost it. It was time to do something so stupid that it could be nothing other than mind-numbingly fun, so he cracked a very crooked smile that looked especially goofy with the mess of brown hair flying every which way in the wind, took one last deep breath and jumped leaving only Toothless to roll his eyes and dive down after him.

As he fell whoops of terror and joy mixed together escaped his swirling form until he found himself entangled in a mass of dark wings as the clouds flew by. After what seemed like hours just enjoying the feeling of falling Hiccup looked down and realized the quickly approaching danger of the ground becoming closer than he would have liked. In his moment of small panic he tried to remount himself only to find his bad leg caught on one of the jumble of leather straps. He heaved, only to see the trees beginning to quickly pass him by. Toothless shrieked in fear, only to be saved at the very last second by the click of metal landing into place and the ground just brushing his very long and dark tail.

Hiccup a little blustered from his fall, which ended up being very much less graceful than he would have liked, dusted himself off and patted his companion on the head.

"We need to work on our landing skills bud."

He said nonchalantly to himself, almost planning ahead to the practice once they found an adequate place to stay. But when the dragon didn't turn back, or roll over to snicker and crush him he knew something was wrong. Toothless had gone into full protector mode, back straight, ears pricked, eyes dilated, he was ready for anything to sweep out of the forest and Hiccup was ready in an instant to assist in the defeat of anything that did. A silence more quiet than Hiccup had ever known quiet to be possible crept over the clearing in the trees almost visually darkening the place. Toothless let out a low grumble of disapproval, it was becoming very still, making it too easy for anything to readily pounce and destroy its prey. But what did come was more unbelievably scary than anything that could have inflicted pain upon the two.

A single orb of blue light appeared, almost out of nowhere and filled the darkness and silence with a beckoning gesture. For a moment Hiccup sat transfixed, just staring at the orb, which was in some ways more beautiful than anything he'd ever seen and in other ways just as frightening. He felt his curiosity begin to nag him, wanting to touch it and figure out just what could be so real and yet so supernatural at the same time. He felt his legs move themselves, his eyes never leaving the thing once and as he slowly made his way off the dragon and over to the orb, he could feel himself beginning to forget everything, why he was there, who he was and what he was doing. All that mattered was that he touch it and do anything that it might command of him.

He was hypnotized completely by the glow of the blue flame and as Toothless watched him make his way over, he sensed something. A new feeling came across him, a feeling that sinks to the bottom of your stomach like a rock and just stays there reminding you of why you're feeling that way but you don't know why. And then almost in an instant the feeling was gone as Hiccup reached out and grazed the creature with his hand. With the strange feeling gone came another to Toothless and he felt himself being pressed in against by imaginary walls, walls that confined him to a single position and immobilized him forever in one place. The dragon thrashed and kicked and sputtered as Hiccup moved to reach out and touch the others that appeared behind the first in a trail.

It was he decided the creatures that were causing this feeling of unbearable pressure and were the reason Hiccup was steadily making his way over and away from the clearing. So Toothless pushed and ran and grabbed Hiccup from around the legs and dragged him up and outwards to the sky and away from the eerie magic that the forest held.

"Toothless! Toothless! Those things were leading me somewhere, somewhere important. You have to take me back bud, I need to find out what they are!" Yelled Hiccup from his position down low.

When the dragon didn't respond and continued to fly on his path, this time over an ocean just about as far as you could get from the forest, Hiccup tried again and this time started hitting Toothless, trying to beat his point into him that he needed to go back.

"Toothless! Put me down! We can't just leave those things out there and ignore them. We have to go back!"

This time the dragon did show some form of obedience by landing them on a tall rock that jutted out in the sea like a spire climbing up and up until it reached the sky. It was dark now and even though Toothless had night vision and could figure out where they were, Hiccup was as lost and confused as a blind person being kidnapped.

"Toothless!"

Hiccup landed with a thump and smacked his head against the hard and unforgiving stone. The dragon alighted down next to him in a single easy movement.

"What was that for?"

Hiccup looked over at the dragon expectantly as if he had some obvious reason for dragging him into the sky and then throwing him down on a rock. The dragon himself just walked in a circle and dropped down to prove his point that they, were in fact not leaving and going to settle in for the night.

"Aw come on!" he cried rubbing the back of his head were it had absorbed the most impact and moved to stand up.

Once on his feet he tried to shove the dragon in an attempt to get him to move once more but ended up being the recipient of a slash from the long black snake of a tail and landing straight back down on his back in a very similar position to the one from his landing. Finally succumbing to the notion that Toothless was not to be moved on this one, Hiccup muttered to himself.

"Good for nothing dragon, you'd think they'd be able to do one thing you ask them to but noooo… nooo it's all about what they want to do. Listen to me Hiccup, listen to me or I'll slap you with my tail."

He let out a huff of frustration and moved to make the most comfort of what you could on a rock in the middle of the ocean. As he began to drift off to sleep he felt two large wings enclose around him forming a makeshift sort of blanket and after a while he finally fell into what may have been the best sleep he'd had in a very long time.

The waking up bit was however not nearly as pleasant. The sunlight streamed down in gigantic rays through the clouds right onto Hiccups face, unbearably cheerful for such an early hour. He rolled over and over again in an attempt to block said light, but it refused to be ignored and eventually had Hiccup rising back up in defeat after his attempts to regain sleep. When he had eventually come completely too and once again remember that he was in fact, on a rock in the middle of the ocean, did he notice that Toothless was missing.

He looked all around for him, underneath the rock, called his name, and almost jumped into the sea looking for him, trying and just hoping for him to appear somewhere, anywhere. Unfortunately though he was nowhere to be found, leaving Hiccup in a worried, exasperated and very hot heap in the middle of the rock. He had no way out and the only thing that Hiccup could try and do was get the bearings for his location. For what seemed like hours did he sit and look around at the seemingly endless sea awaiting his dragon while drawing with his finger in the dust. The heat seemed to beat straight down, forcing him to shed most of his furs and leather leaving just his plain green shirt and simple brown pants.

And then, he waited, and waited and waited until the night fell once again and a storm brewing in the sky unleashed its fury. As the wind began to pick up, and from what Hiccup could tell at about 3 o'clock in the morning, the waves began to worsen and with each crash they grew in size and strength. Eventually the only thing Hiccup had left to keep were the clothes on his back, even the fake metal leg he had made had been carried away by the storm. Hiccup clung to the rock with his fingers, silently counting the minutes as they passed by.

So when the morning came and the clouds began to part to reveal yet another cheerful day, the happiness of which began to grate on Hiccups nerves, did he eventually begin to lose hope that he might never find his way back. Maybe Toothless had flown off to catch breakfast and been shot down, or maybe he'd lost his way and plundered at sea out of exhaustion. It were these thoughts that kept him occupied, the positive ones too annoyingly cheerful for someone in his situation to help at all. And it was in these thoughts that he was so consumed that he did not notice the three large vessels begin to approach from the horizon. The ships continued forward until Hiccups ears were filled with the rhythmic syncopation of oars hitting the water and cheers being bellowed. He pulled himself onto his one leg, balancing on his right foot and yelled with all his might, jumping ever so slightly and then halting for fear he might loose his only footing.

From the boats it was rather hard to hear anything at all, yet alone the squeals of a young and skinny boy. But as they approached the rocks it was Lord Dingwall that spotted the Viking.

"Wha is tha?" he bellowed mostly to him but also for the benefit of his clan members too.

"Looks like another wee lamb's been left o here again." Called Lord MacIntosh from the boat beside the original spotter.

"Why would they leave a lamb on a rock?"

"I seen it happen before wit me own eyes!"

"Nae, it's too tall to be a lamb, and look a it, it's jumpin!" interuptted Lord MacGuffin on the third boat refusing to be excluded from the conversation going on.

"Aye, he's right! It mus be a gigantic fish." Agreed Lord Dingwall, happy that someone had finally agreed with him on a subject of conversation, be it Lord MacGuffin or not.

"A gigantic fish? Now tha's just crazy talkin right there, tha's wha it is." Said Lord MacIntosh while simultaneously giving the signal to speed up the pace, causing a chain reaction of racing boats as each tried to prove their clan the best.

"And a wee lamb in tha middle of tha grea wide sea is nae?"

And on like this did the conversation continue as they sailed closer to the approaching rock, each giving their changing observations of what the "wee scrawny thing" could possibly be until they pulled up beside said rock, two boats on the right, two boats on the left.

"Who goes ther?" cried all three Lords at varying times, making it impossible to distinguish in between them. Hiccup tried to maneuver himself to a position where he could address all three boats at one time, but finding such a position impossible continued on anyway.

"Uh… The names Hiccup, and I could probably use some help right about now, if you know, you don't mind."

He sputtered, his throat cracked and dry. Rubbing the hair on the back of his head, he waited for their reactions. These were Scottish people, judging by the tartans and his people weren't exactly on fantastic terms with them. So when they each gave a shout of approval and began to barter him with questions about which boat he should ride, he was completely shocked. Couldn't they tell just by the way he looked, the brawn, the fur, the studs, even the metal leg?

Hiccup continued to be dazed at their lack of recognition as he boarded the Dingwall boat (since he was the one to spot him first shouldn't he be the one to account for him?) that was until he looked down at himself and realized that all of the telltale pieces of Viking had been washed away in the ocean and he looked like a genuine country lad, plain and simple. Plus he was much too skinny to look anymore Viking than a bunny.

"So how did you end up ou there on tha rock?" asked the Lord, turning down from his post at the front of the boat once they had set sail.

The men moved as one, rowing the boat forward and changing speeds as commanded by their leader. Every so often would the Lord yell for them to keep pace with the other boats, lurching them in front of the other boats ever so slightly, sending all three into frenzy again. Hiccup sat on a bench in the back, hoping just to be overlooked as a simple minded boy as he watched the muscles in the back of the man in front of him flex, he answered after a moment of grasping for a viable statement.

"Umm well, you know, boat, rock. It wasn't very pretty."

He stumbled, ending the statement with his face screwed up and his eyes closed, realizing as it came out just how unconvincing it sounded. The Lord moved back down from his position at the front and came over to where he was sitting. It was there he stood and gazed down upon Hiccup with wide eyes and an unreadable expression that passed across his face. The shouts of the oarsmen died down for a minute as they waited for their chief to make a decision, would he be welcome, or would it be back to the sea with him.

Then after the unbearable and rather uncomfortable silence did Lord Dingwall's face break into a hearty grin and he grabbed Hiccups hand, shaking it firmly. After being thoroughly introduced and with his hand still aching did the Lord respond in words,

"Well, it's good ta hav ya Hiccup! I myself am Lord Dingwall, the chief of the grea clan. Those two ninnies in the other boats are Lord MacIntosh with tha flowin mane and Lord MacGuffin, the rather large bear o a man."

Hiccup nodded furiously to acknowledge that he understood, still thanking the gods that he had been welcomed so easily.

"We are headed to DunBroch, to present our first born lads to the princess and to compete for er hand in marriage. I'm sure you'd like to meet my lucky fellow who will in fact be the one to win!" he said, pride inching across his face at the thought of showing off his own blood.

As he yelled at two oarsmen to accompany him to go get the legend of a son from down below Hiccup thought about the princess he spoke of. It must be terrible to be forced to marry someone who only wants to because their dad put them in a competition to win it. Berk might be bad at times, and he might not want to be chief but it measured nothing in comparison to being forced to marry someone for eternity, someone that you didn't love. He pondered on this for a minute, while gazing out into the racing sea that passed below them and at the water flashing by, holding all sorts of various fish that Toothless would have loved.

The thought of love brought an image of Astrid to his mind, which in turn dissolved all feelings and turned bitterness towards the woman he'd never met. Love, he thought was just another way for someone to hurt you. Maybe it was better to have some benefits from marriage to a person you don't know than love them and lose everything. In fact, he thought maybe it's better just to not love at all. But then he remembered his dragon and how their bond had changed everything he'd ever known and how much better things had gotten since he'd taken him into his family. Hiccup clenched his fists into balls and dropped them heavy into his lap with a sigh.

He didn't know where he stood on love really; all he knew was not to get tangled up in it because it could get real ugly, real fast. As he continued to watch the horizon for any signs of upcoming land, his thoughts wandered to his dragon and where he might be. Maybe he'd flown back home to Berk by now and alerted the others, or maybe he was still out looking for him. Or maybe… No he thought, that wouldn't happen not to Toothless.

It had been quite some time now since the chief had last left to get his son, and Hiccup began to wonder where they were until they finally emerged, hair as spikily blond as ever. The son was rather squat with eyes that seemed to glaze over and stare at nothingness. He was short, and awkwardly so for the length of his arms and legs didn't seem to match the way his torso was built and Hiccup couldn't help but just stare. In some ways, even though he'd spent the last few minutes going back and forth on whether true love was good or not, he certainly did feel bad if the princess was forced to marry, well him, just based looks, if he could even lift anything to win a competition.

"I present ta yew Hiccup, the grea and legendary, Wee Dingwall, who felled an entire army with the stroke of one sword!" Lord Dingwall yelled, almost as if he said it loud enough, than it might actually become true. Hiccup cleared his throat and moved to stand, only to realize all to quickly he was missing his left leg forcing him to lower back down slowly.

"Hi, uh Wee Dingwall."

The boy around the same age as Hiccup gave a slight wave, with the same expression never leaving his face, his eyes not truly seeing and his mouth slightly ajar. If it was so easy to down an entire army that this guy could do it, than the people here must not be as tuff as they make themselves out to be, or he's got some mad battle skills he doesn't show, Hiccup thought to himself as he sat with them staring down upon him, an awkward silence spreading in between the three.

"Well, I hope you youngins get along!"

Lord Dingwall made a move to leave only to stop short in his tracks to turn back around.

"Oh, and if you don't mind me askin Hiccup, I'd like to know wha clan yer from?"

Hiccup sat for a minute, unsure how to answer the question. Back on Berk, there was only one clan and he was pretty sure they wouldn't be welcome to accompany the Scots on their journey to marry a princess.

"I'm from… Clan Night Fury."

"Clan Night Fury?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Tha's a strange name. I don't think I've heard of tha one yet."

"Well, you know we're still kinda of a small group and are a very humble sort of people, who don't really like to talk about…"

"Who's yar leader?"

"Umm… The Great Toothless."

"His name is Toothless?" The Lord couldn't help himself, but was over come in a series of hysterical fits. Hiccup waited until he had finished before continuing.

"My name's Hiccup."

"Aye it is."

"Well why is Toothless so funny then?"

"Because," he said gesturing to Hiccup as a whole, "yer so funny lookin that it's natural for ye to be called somethin like Hiccup, but for a leader of an entire clan to be called Toothless, well it just tickles me right!"

"Oh thanks."

"It's not an insult Hiccup, it's jus funny!"

"Yeah, because being called a Hiccup and having your clan leaders name made fun of is hilarious." Hiccup tried to deadpan but only found himself cracking up at his undeniably funny story.

"Well I best be on my way Hiccup, we're gettin closer to shore an I have to help navigate through the waters. I'll leave Wee Dingwall here with yew to help keep company."

The smaller of the two Dingwalls didn't move at first, but finally came over to sit next to Hiccup as the larger moved back to his original position a moment later. As they sat, no words passed in between them for what felt to be like quite a long while, until finally the other spoke.

"Hi."

His face never changed as he said it and continued to stare out into nothingness. Hiccup almost flinched as the words passed across them, because it obligated that he get involved in a long, drawn out and awkward conversation. It had happened to him enough times that he could tell from the signs.

"Hi." The silence was almost unbearable now that they'd started something, so Hiccup couldn't help but continue. "What do I call you?"

"You can call me Wee Dingwall. That's my name."

"Yes, I understand that, but isn't it a lot to say at one time?"

"Yup."

"Okay, well um, that's a pretty bird over there I guess."

"You can call me Wee if you wan't."

"As in, pee?"

"Yup."

"Doesn't that bug you that your name sounds like pee?"

"Yup."

"Okay. Um, this boat's got some nice woodwork."

"Yup."

"Is that all you say?"

"Yup."

And so did their conversation continue, with Hiccup asking questions and Wee answering with yup. It was like this that they continued for hours, neither one noticing the approaching landfall or the gigantic castle beginning to loom over the horizon, until each leader gave a shout of success on their journey. They raced towards the docks and when Hiccup did finally take a long look at the castle, it was the most magnificent thing he had ever seen. The stone climbed into the sky for what seemed like forever, and with the sun shining high in the sky, the water glistened from down below like diamonds shining back up. He took in a small breath as they approached, the people pooling into the streets trying to catch a glimpse of the ships. From up higher he could see the king and queen heading down, the king bigger than anyone else with flaming red hair that seemed to fly out in every direction under his metal helmet with one wooden peg leg quite like himself, and the queen with her long green robes and majestic braids that came down from her head in a rope.

Everyone seemed to clear and make a path for their two rulers as they proceeded down the docks. When they finally reached them, Hiccup found himself holding his breath, awaiting for what they were going to say, and if by some chance they were going to see him and recognize him for what he was. It was after a long moment and the queen deciding they had held them all in suspense for long enough did she finally say,

"Welcome to DunBroch clans, Lords and there sons! I hope you will find everything to your liking. You will all be accommodated in the castle with your clansmen, and at 2 o'clock this afternoon we will be holding a ceremony in the great hall to introduce our daughter Merida to your sons and officially start the games! I hope you are all as excited as I am. Now if you would please follow me and I will show you to your rooms."