A/N: Gee, sorry about that. It took a while, but I'm glad you all are sticking to it. Thanks to the many favorite story/story alert additions, and I love all of your reviews! I'd like to see a little bit more about what I'm doing well, though, so as an incentive, I'm going to respond to the more interesting ones here.(Also because I'm too lazy to send PMs and they clog up my inbox.) BTW, you guys cracked me up.:)I had no idea you guys would like this so much!

Anyone who told me to hurry up: I did, I did! Here it is!

Prototron MJ Tornada: Hang onto your onions and car battery, there. If you kill me, you won't get to hear the rest of the story, and I don't think everyone else would like that.

Dragonwing325: Mwahahaha, you vill have to wait like everyone else! I'm a cliff hanger person, watch out.

Nova Bucker: Toothless does make everything awesome, doesn't he? Enjoy!

bystanderwitnessing: No, what do you mean?, probably scholar, it takes place about a week after the movie, he's still a teenager, there's no more dragons (unless I decide to throw Stormfly in there, see bottom), HICCUP IS NOT A DRAGON SLAYER, nope.

The orange light of the fading sunset was quickly fading into lavender dusk. Shadows made every surface look deeper and more craggy than it actually was.

In the coming night, it was all Will could do to keep up with the boy from the woods. Despite the fake leg, he was still pretty fast and had an enormous head start. Hiccup would sprint for a few hundred meters, stop and yell "Toothless!" and then dart off in a different direction. Finally, as he repeated the pattern again, Will was able to lurch forward and cover his mouth.

"Shhh!" he hissed, as Hiccup struggled. "Trust me, screaming at twilight is not what you want to do around here." He stopped moving and nodded; Will released him. "Sorry," Hiccup said softly. "I just—"

He stopped and the pair turned as a horse trotted up to them. Halt reined in his mount, Abelard, and stared at the boys in exasperation. "What were you thinking?" he huffed. "It's dangerous out here. Between the Wargals and the boars, I'm surprised you're still alive."

"But I was only looking for—" Hiccup was interrupted yet again as Abelard began to whinny and shy away from the boys.

"What—" Will tried to ask why Abelard had spooked, but Halt silenced him with an upraised hand. Above the neighs of the horse, Will could hear a roaring screech, like the sound of metal scraping over metal.

Will glanced at Hiccup in a panic. Was that…was that a smile? "Night Fury," he said under his breath. Will didn't know what that was, let alone why the boy was grinning. If anything, the beast sounded savage and starving. "Get down!" Will urged, tugging at Hiccup's arm. "Come on!"

Halt dismounted and drew his bow, searching the surrounding forest for any sign of the creature. "NO!" Hiccup shouted, leaping forward. "Don't shoot!"

Halt stepped back. "Get under cover, Hiccup!" He pulled the bowstring taut. The screeching grew louder, and the sounds of snapping branches and leaves began to emerge. Apparently, the whatever-it-was was smashing straight through trees and undergrowth with ease.

Hiccup seemed on the verge of a panic attack. He whirled around, cupped his hands near his mouth, and yelled, "Toothless! Get clear!"

Will's jaw dropped. "Hiccup, what are you doing?" he cried out.

The crashing and roaring stopped with one last flump. The boy turned and glared at the two of them.

"Don't tell me you two are dragon-killers, too."

Halt lowered his bow and threw an exasperated look at Will. "I hate to break it to you, but dragons don't exist."

Hiccup crossed his arms and stood defiantly. "If you'll stop trying to shoot him," he said accusingly, "I'll show you."

He'd come a long way from the trembling child in the forest. Hiccup stood with his feet spread apart, his chin out and his green eyes flashing under a mop of unruly brown bangs. Had he been any taller, Will might have mistaken him for a man. There was no hint of madness or jesting about him.

Will stepped closer to the grizzled Ranger and muttered, "Halt…I think we should hear him out."

Halt sighed. "Oh, all right then." He replaced the bow and arrow in his quiver. "This should be interesting."

Satisfied, Hiccup turned about face and called into the trees again. "Come on out, bud. It's safe." He paused. "And don't scare them, for Thor's sake."

Will heard the barest trace of a footstep. Then another. Despite Hiccup's confidence, he felt himself tense. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to run or defend himself. A dark shape moved among the trunks of the trees. Twigs snapped, louder and louder, and Will thought he saw an eye gleam in the darkness. His heart beat wildly.

Finally, the last ray of the sun touched upon a creature that should not have been standing there. But there it was.

A dragon.

The beast was long and sleek, cloaked in black. Two huge wings were tucked in at its sides. It used its emerald catlike eyes to regard the group cautiously. A myriad of differently-sized flaps rustled around the dragon's face. Will automatically looked down at its claws, short but wickedly sharp and the color of ash. It could kill any of them with a single blow.

"Halt, Will," Hiccup said, "this is Toothless."

Will found his voice. "Doesn't he have any…teeth?" he said, curiosity overcoming his fear. He noted that the dragon wore a leather saddle made of crosshatching straps sewn around the edges.

"Well…yeah," he said sheepishly. "But he can retract them."

Will glanced back at Halt. He was shaking his head in awed disbelief. "By all the gods above and below," he said quietly. He shifted his gaze to Hiccup. "Boy, I still don't know where you're from, but you're out of your element here." Halt looked around. The woods were dark and still. "We've got to get you inside. Now."


Will drummed his fingers on his leg nervously, checking the windows every so often. On the other side of the table, Halt marked on a set of papers and muttered to himself. The bone Toothless was gnawing on cracked, making Will jump.

Hiccup had just finished telling Halt about his so-called home of Berk. He had woven a vivid image of an island where humans—or Vikings, as he called them—lived in isolation, recovering from a long feud with the dragons that lived across the sea by bonding with them.

He had also told them a fascinating tale of how he had found Toothless and why dragons were his allies. Something called dragon training, a girl named Astrid (from the sound of it, Will did not want to cross paths with her), and a fifty-foot tall monstrosity holding every lower dragon hostage for want of food.

As it was, Will found it quite hard to believe.

Halt tapped the map lying on the table. "You say none of this looks familiar?"

Hiccup nodded. He fingered his helmet mindlessly, which lay in front of him.

"And nothing happened before you found Will?"

He shrugged. "As far as I could tell, one minute I was on Berk, and the next…"

Halt nodded. "Now," he said, "before I tell you what I think, I'm going to be completely honest with you." His eyes flicked between Will and Hiccup. "I don't believe in magic. Never have. But then, I've never believed in dragons, either. So, right now, I think we should go out on a limb here. Wherever you come from, Hiccup, it's not here. I don't even think it's on the face of this earth."

"Well, then how—?" Will asked.

"I'm getting to that," Halt interrupted, before Will could go on another one of his endless question crusades. "I have no idea. Right now, I think our best chance is to look around for records of this happening before, if at all."

Hiccup nodded, and Will noticed his exhaustion. Halt did, too. "Get some rest," he said. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Why do I keep ending each chapter with a dramatic statement from Halt? Help!

So, I was thinking about throwing Astrid into the mix. Thoughts? Please review, you might get endless fame upon the next chapter of the story!

Oh, by the way, who heard about Brotherband Chronicles? SO EXCITED! It's an amazing story, go read it! And while you read it, keep HTTYD in mind. IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME FREAKIN' THING.

I'll stop blabbing. Go review.