He waited in the clearing for Hiccup's return for what seemed to be forever. He couldn't hunt due to his missing tail fin and he almost never caught any of the little fish in the pond. Even if he did manage to catch one, it wasn't enough to fill his belly. After a week, Toothless started to starve, his plump belly now shriveling up to the point of his ribs showing through his black hide. He became incredibly sluggish and only lived on the fading hope that Hiccup would return. Another week passed and Toothless was on the brink of death. He had lost all hope and was losing the will to live. He wondered what the afterlife was like for a dragon almost every waking hour of the day and wished that his life would end soon.
One day, Toothless was lying in the shadows of his rock, barely breathing. His green eyes were closed and his weak body was almost lifeless. The sounds of pebbles tumbling to the ground made him stir. He weakly lifted his head and opened his eyes. Was it Hiccup coming back to see him in his weak state? He weakly rose to his feet and peeked around the rock. There was a young boy in the clearing, but it did not appear to be Hiccup. This one was shorter and had blonde hair. His eyes narrowed; he was a stranger to him, but seemed nice because in his hand was a big, fat haddock. Widening his eyes and licking his lips in greedy delight, he silently crept closer to the boy. When he got close enough, he snatched the haddock from the boy. The boy recoiled in terror as Toothless ate the fish. It felt wonderful to be fed real food again, and he wanted more. However, when he looked down, the boy was gone.
Panicking, he searched the clearing high and low for the boy, but to no avail. The boy had climbed to the edge of the clearing's top and hid behind a tree while he was eating. The boy's heart raced as he listened to the Night Fury's wails, but he felt sorry for the poor soul. He had been out in the woods for a week, sent by his father to find a dragon to tame and bring home. He decided immediately to bring him home, even if he couldn't tame him first. Creeping up to the edge of the hole, he gave a slow, gentle whistle. Toothless turned to look at the boy and they stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, Toothless crouched down, ready to try to climb up and out of the hole. He leaped and grabbed the edge of the hole with his front claws. Scrambling to climb up, he almost fell, but the boy wrapped his arms around his waist and attempted to pull him out. Toothless's wings flapped frantically and because of this, he finally got a back foot onto the edge and climbed out.
He lay on top of the boy, gasping for air. After a few moments, the boy crawled out from under him and dusted himself off. He turned to face Toothless, who was staring up at him. The boy took a few steps back, and Toothless took a few steps forward. The boy smiled and walked away, with Toothless close to his heels.