Hiccup

I assessed the stranger that Toothless had decided to jump on. I felt sure I had never seen him before. Our village was a big one, but being the chief's son, I had met everyone at least once, and I was positive I would have remembered someone as odd-looking as this. He looked around my age, maybe sixteen or seventeen. His hair was fairly long for a man and was black, darker than anyone's on Berk. His eyes were a startling, even unnatural, shade of gold that slightly unnerved me, even if they belonged to a guy being pinned down by a multi-ton dragon. His clothes were long and an unfamiliar style to me. Everything about this boy was a little bit off, but the most intriguing thing by far was his scar.

The stranger's left eye was seared with an old, severe burn scar that looked almost too deliberate and precise to have been left by a dragon. It was so bad that I was surprised he looked as if he could still see out of it. Both eyes were flickering from myself to Toothless, looking as shocked and confused as I felt.

With a stab of embarrassment I realized that we'd just been staring at each other for over a minute without saying anything, so I cleared my throat and tried to sound like my dad—all authoritative and bossy.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded of him, well aware that I sounded very corny.

He looked me in the eye, which I appreciated, and grimaced. "That...I'm not entirely sure of. Do you live around here? I could use your help."

I was surprised but also still suspicious. "Hmm." I silently debated whether to bring him back to the village. I couldn't just let him go, but I didn't know if my father would appreciate me bringing a complete stranger into the village. I couldn't exactly get Toothless to fly back and get him.

I came to the conclusion that I really had no choice. "I'll take you to my father," I informed him. "He's the chief. He'll know what to do with you better than me."

The guy nodded, so I backed Toothless up and allowed him to stand. His jaw dropped a little as he got a better look at my dragon.

"That thing has wings!" he exclaimed. "What is it?"

I stared at him oddly. He had to know about dragons, didn't he? "Of course he does," I replied. "He's a dragon."

The scar guy's face morphed into confusion. "That's not a dragon," he informed me.

"Of course he is," I said, slightly irritated. "He's a Night Fury. What else would he be?"

Scar Guy looked extremely confused but didn't argue with me any more. "Come on," I said. "We're going."

Toothless lifted off the ground and did a quick loop, then snatched Scar Guy's arms in his claws and shot up through the canopy.

"Get ready to fly!" I shouted gleefully to Scar Guy, whose face was a mixture of fear and shock.

This would be fun.

Zuko

The "dragon" took off into the sky, taking the other person and me with it. I was still puzzled by that piece of information—this looked nothing like the dragons that Aand and I had faced at the Sun Warrior Civilization. I didn't have time to think about that, though, because I was flying but could fall at any moment if the dragon decided to drop me.

It was both exhilarating and terrifying, though I'm sure the person in the dragon's saddle (who would dare put a saddle on one of the greatest firebending masters in the universe?) was far from scared. My own fear probably had something to do with hanging from the creature's claws like its freshly caught meal. I certainly felt like it.

I shivered as the icy wind brushed me with its cold fingers. My Fire Nation robes were clearly not the right attire for living in this place. The dragon boy had been wearing a furry brown vest over his shirt, which probably helped.

My arms felt as if they were being pulled out of their sockets. The dragon creature had a strong grip on me, but I attempted to hold on to its legs too, just in case I fell.

I chanced a look at the dragon's long tail. Two finlike parts adorned the end of it, and the left one was seemingly artificial—it was red and coated with cloth. The artificial fin had also seemed connected to the saddle somehow when I had seen it earlier.

Hmm. Maybe I'll learn more about it later.

After a long flight, I could spot a village nestled by the cliffs of the island. It looked very...not-modern; the houses were all old-fashioned and there was no sign of the industrialization that my own nation prided itself on. A large fleet of wooden, sail-powered ships was rocking slowly with the waves at the docks, and I noted that it must mean they had an army...or maybe they were just fishermen's boats. I assumed I would find out soon enough.

The dragon and its rider flew me towards the most enormous building in the village. The massive doors were flanked with even more massive stone statues of giant men with strange hats holding swords in their mouths. I frowned. This place is strange.

The dragon dropped me on the hard stone just outside the building right before it landed. The rider got off, opened the doors, and looked back at me with what I thought was the tiniest of smiles, though I couldn't tell if it was kindly or a smirk.

"Come on," he said. "It's time for you to meet my dad."