A/N: I'm sorry for such a big delay. There was a lot going on with my family, with the holidays, with my personal life. But I won't give this up, though. I have plans for this.

Aster had been part of the royal guard since he was sixteen years of age. He fought many battles, guarded gates for endless nights, and even became the personal guard of the royal family when the prince was just born. And even now, after being retired for the past few years, he is still seen as gentle to his friends and ruthless to his enemies. As young Hiccup trotted up the path to the front gates where Aster stood, the guards on duty began wondering which one the prince was in the man's eyes; was he a friend still or an enemy based on the glare he gaze the boy?

Toothless glared slightly back, his chest bumping against the back of Hiccup's shoulder. As the gray haired man began walking toward them, he swung a protective arm around the brunet's shoulders, his ears pressed back and his lip curling into a snarl. The very few people who had ever given his friend that look had always meant to cause harm on him. Sometimes, it was physical and others, it was emotionally and usually had to do with his father. It was more than likely the later but he didn't want to take chances this time.

"Where've you been?" Aster asked, his southern kingdom accent showing greatly. "Your father heard first so he's had time to cool off. What in the hells were you thinkin'?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I just wanted to go outside." He said softer than he had intended to. "I had Toothless with me, nobody would have hurt me."

"Ya think a mutant pet would have stopped someone from kidnappin' you?" He scuffed and shook his head, crossing his arms as he turned and lead them past the opened gates. "No offense, but do ya really think, in that body, he would burn them to death by breathing fire?"

They both frowned and looked at each other before looking down. The youngest began playing with his fingers and thumbs while the oldest slowly and shamefully swung his tail in front of him, playing with each vein he could feel in his tail fin. It was a very tough subject for the both of them, something that had plagued their thoughts both asleep and awake. Hiccup could still remember that grotesque form his friend was forced to take on and Toothless could still hear the others screams and cries when he turned away from him. Aster frowned as silence took over them and followed all the way into the castle where nothing else was known. Their footsteps echoed slightly and every few minutes, they could hear someone cough but other than that, it was almost as if they walked right into an abandoned fortress, stone walls and tapestries everywhere with hardly any light.

Hiccup glanced over at Toothless as they walked down the very familiar hall that lead to the very personal study of Stoick, his father. The half dragon was looking up at the paintings that lined the walls the closer they got. They were all personal paintings of the royal family and whom else they considered family. Some had guards standing and sitting by them, others had kids from the village sitting with royal children. The brunet looked up and around until his eyes caught a single painting. It was tall like the others and all new to him, a tapestry laying underneath on the ground. He stopped in his tracks and stared. The king was grinning, crazy red hair pointing out at every end. His wife, the queen, stood next to him, her hand on his shoulder, looking much calmer. On either side of her were guards, high standing knights, both smiling, clearly trying and failing to be as calm as the queen. And just at their feet sat two well dressed boys. One kept the crown on his head, shoulders back and posture the same as they taught Hiccup to do everyday. His clothes were warm and shined just at the ends of everything, his face as straight and boring as a stick. The other boy, though, had poor posture, bore the biggest grin of all, had cooler, much lighter clothes that seemed to blend well with his pale skin...and white hair. His blue eyes glittered slightly and they were much more natural than the dye used to try and make his clothes the same shade. Hiccup's eyes widened as he stared at this much younger, much happier version of the beast in the woods. Looking at the golden plaque that was placed on the frame, he began to wonder more questions. The painting was nearly three hundred years old. Everyone should be dead. Perhaps this was the beast's relative, his greatest grandfather.

Before being able to ask, though, Aster walked over and wrapped an arm around the young prince's shoulders, pulling him away from the painting while mumbling about the horrible mental state the maids might be in. The closer they got, the smaller the extended considered families became. The last one, the one closest to the door was his own, his father standing with an ax, the tips of the blades on the ground. His mother sitting in a chair next to him, Aster behind her, and himself sitting on the ground by their feet, Toothless happily grinning as he sat behind him in complete dragon form. The sounds of shouting came from the door and Hiccup knew that he was in a world of trouble. The visiting king's voice stopped him from ranting, keeping as calm as he could, his accent thick like chowder. Once the door opened, the words were made clear and they weren't simply just voices anymore.

Stoick looked over with a relived sigh. "Thank you, Aster." He walked over, giving a slight glare to his son as he walked them in, closing the door behind them. "Hiccup, what were you doing on the other side of the castle walls?"

"I was just looking around." He shrugged, looking down and scooting closer to Toothless. "I'm going to rule this kingdom someday, I might as well know who I'll be ruling over."

"It is dangerous out there, son!" Stoick was a large man whom moved his arms around when he was frustrated and talking. This 'gift' of sorts was passed down to his son who moved his arms around whenever he talked. "You could have died! You could have been kidnapped! Turned into some sort of monster or been sold into slavery! You know I've been talking a lot about the slave trade these past two years, why can't you just listen?"

"But I'm not hurt, dad!" Hiccup's voice wasn't as angry as his father's more so as it was begging for him to listen. He stood up, gesturing out the window as he talked. "Those people are good people. They didn't once hurt me or touch me or anything else. I was fine!"

"And the monsters!" He didn't bother to bow to his son's begs let alone acknowledge he spoke in the first place. "Ever since you were little I told you about them! How there are dangerous beings out there! And those dangerous things, those...those monsters, they'd attack without a second thought! And you just threw yourself into harms way because you were curious?"

"Stoick." The visiting king stood, walking over to the man. His beard was long and more tamed than anyone other Hiccup had ever seen. It was white with age, reminding him of the painting and the beast and the snow.

He placed a hand on Stoick's shoulder, his thick accent rolling off his tongue as he spoke. "He is just a boy. Only one friend. Maybe letting him in the guard barracks to socialize with the trainees would be good, yeah?"

The air stood heavy and silent, tension so thick that both boys were too afraid to move or breath, possibly breaking everything. Stoick glared at his ally before shaking his head, scuffing and looking his son over. After a second, he shook his head again and scuffed, glancing back at the man with a lighter glare. But the visiting king didn't stop. He smiled and nodded slightly whenever the actions were repeated, gesturing toward the two stiff teens standing before them. It wasn't long before Stoick gave a long, heavy sigh and dropped his arms to his sides.

"Fine. But I do not want to hear that you've been playing around with the weapons yourself, Hiccup. Or I swear, you won't come out of your room for a week." That was the biggest punishment he could give to his son. He never went outside the castle gates and never even explored the barracks on the other side of his home. The halls were his playgrounds, the garden was his park, and every room he treated as a shop when he was much younger.

Hiccup nodded quickly. "I won't touch anything. I'll just talk."

As they began walking out, Toothless grinned, his tail swinging slightly behind him. "Sir is very kind today." He whispered, his tongue flickering slightly.

The brunet chuckled and scratched behind one of his ears. Even after all that has changed about him, behind his ears and around his neck were still the same sensitive spots Hiccup always knew. He smiled as the purring noise he had known since the very first day they met escaped Toothless' throat. It gave him a type of nostalgia that made his eyes heavy and his body relaxed. What the sound of an old and almost forgotten lullaby does to others, the same happened with him and the purrs. He could remember it clearly almost as if it was happening at that moment; him laying in bed, his head resting on the space between belly and chest of his then fully dragon friend. The others black wings encasing him, allowing the warmth to be traveled from toes to forehead. Some nights, his tail would wrap around his ankle as a sort of reassurance that he was safe and there were no boogeymen in the world. They still slept in the same bed but it wasn't the same. Toothless was no longer a dragon and yet he wasn't a human, either. He was some sort of in between that would both terrify and intrigue anyone's mind.

The two stayed silent as they walked around just for the joy of walking around. Hiccup would look up at paintings and search for the beast's image or something similar to it but every other painting was a depiction of war or a wedding. One was even just of the palace many, many years ago when people were allowed on the grounds for celebrations. There was royalty dancing with common folk and nobles talking with merchants in the painting and he frowned as he looked it all over, seeing the differences of yesterday and today. A guard coughed down the hall and he jumped quickly, backing away from the painting and continuing his way down to one part of his home he'd never been down before.

He skipped down the stairs, his hand hovering over the railing as he did. The sound of his footsteps didn't reach the walls or even his ears until he stepped off the stairs and his shoes clapped against the stone floor of the palace's entrance hall. The light dribbling of the fountain in the middle of the floor clashed with his footsteps as he turned down the unfamiliar hallway, leading to the barracks of the guards that had been watching over him almost his whole life. Toothless walked closely behind him, keeping his eyes on the doors while Hiccup looked up at the paintings and tapestries. Great Captains of the Guard were shown in shinning armor and abused armor. Some were outside while others sat with family or friends inside. It was surprising how many actually smiled in their portraits and he smiled back before turning to glance at the doors.

Bronze plates were nailed into each wonderfully crafted oak door, names and titles etched into the metal. The Captain, the head of the night guard, the head of the day guard, the head of the village guards and so on. The last door at the very end was more simple than the rest, almost like a fitted board that came from the sea. The plate on it was made from copper and the lettering wasn't nearly was sophisticated and lovely as the others. 'Barracks' it read. No names or titles or anything fancy, no designed border on the edge of the plate. He raised an eyebrow and looked around, expecting someone to pull his hand away from the doorknob or for a guard to tell him to leave the hall at once. Even though he was allowed down there and allowed passed the door, he still felt as if he was doing something horribly wrong. Just as he went to turn the knob, someone on the other side opened it quickly and glanced at him as they walked out.

He had seen that guard a few times, staying by his father's side and almost always doing jobs for him. She was silent and when he looked down the corridor, watching her leave, he could see the swords attacked to her belt; short and thin, just like herself. Toothless glared and slightly growled until he turned to the barracks' door, opening it all the way for him and his friend. Together, they walked in and were intently hit with the sounds of fighting shouts and drunk laughter, the smells of different types of alcohol burned their eyes. Hiccup coughed slightly and walked in, looking around with watery eyes. They were in a very simple room, beds bunked on top of each other and pressed against the walls. In the middle of the whole room was four more, held together like a square. On the wall across from them was an open door leading outside where most of the guards were. Walking toward it, the two saw a wooden ramp that split in two; one side going down to the closed off courtyard, the other going up to the towers that stood above the walls of the castle.

One girl about his age hopped from foot to foot in the grassless training grounds beneath them. A sword twirled in one hand and her shield was held up high in the other. Her braid bounced side to side with her movements and was suddenly flung over her shoulder as she lunged toward her sparing companion. The companion in turn lifted his own shield and tried to swing his own blade. She stopped his quickly and tapped the top of his helmet with the handle of her sword, jumping back as he dropped to the ground. Hiccup glanced up at Toothless as two other guards advanced toward the girl, attacking her only to get tapped on the head.

Toothless nodded. "No one touch Hiccup." He said in a whisper, nudging Hiccup to go down the ramp to the plain training field.

"I know, Toothless."

"No weapons, Hiccup."

"I knooowww." He rolled his eyes and carefully walked down, his shoes slightly sinking into the overly used land.

A few people glanced over at him, some whispering to their friends, others pointing as he leaned against the wall and watched. Slowly, the shouts turned into whispers, the cheering turned into stares. The sparing in the middle of the grounds stopped and the girl with the blonde braid looked over with her companions.

Hiccup quickly focused down on his feet as she walked up to him, his right foot moving to cover the left. He swung his arms to hide behind his back and hung his head until he felt the hood of his tunic would come and swing over his head. Over her footsteps, he could hear guards whispering about how he's the prince, and what was he doing here.

Finally getting to him, she placed a hand on her hip, shifting over to one leg. "What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice half filled with curiosity, the other half sounding like she didn't care one way or the other.

"My father said I could come down here." Hiccup glanced up at her, slightly moving closer to his best friend. "He said it would be good for me to be around someone my own age."

She nodded and looked him over. "Oh..." She muttered. "What weapon do you hold?"

"Weapon? No, no. I play instruments and practice magic." It wasn't a lie, he did play instruments and he did practice magic with the new court wizard, but he slaughtered tunes and disgraced magic every time he tried. The only thing he really knew how to do and do well was create something useful from bits and pieces of other useless things.

She scuffed and threw her head over her shoulder to get her bangs out of her face. "Then come on. We'll show you."

"Hiccup not touch weapons." Toothless objected and put a protective arm over his shoulders.

"He won't touch anything. Not yet, anyways."

A/N: He gonna die. - ADAM

Reviews = Motivation = Chapters