Oh. My. Goodness. I am SOOO sorry that this is so late in coming! My internet was down for a while, and then I completely lost my inspiration…hopefully this makes up for some of it. Please don't kill me! I'm hoping to update more soon!

Anyways, I got a few ideas from people that commented, so I'll be incorporating those into some separate one-shots later on, but for now I just wanted to get this out before I forgot about this altogether. I have more animal prompts up and coming, I promise!

So…if you really want me to update this faster, I would suggest commenting and giving me more ideas to work with, since I write faster when I have a set goal in mind…so comment on this and TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO READ MORE OF! Thanks, and hopefully you like this long-overdue prompt!


Horse

If there was one thing that Hiccup found beyond irritating in Berk, it was the Viking's stereotypes.

After all, for the past fifteen years Hiccup had been classified as useless and bothersome because of his size. It was perfectly natural for him to dislike the methods of cataloguing in which the Viking race organized everything living. Astrid was considered perfect because she was a good warrior, Fishlegs was considered a nerd because he read books, Snotlout was considered brave because he was too stupid to know anything better…

And dragons were considered murderers because they were misunderstood.

Even now, after the Vikings had come to terms with the fact that the dragons were on their side, that they were no longer enemies- Hiccup knew that it wasn't perfect. Nothing ever was in a Viking society, and he knew that he should be happy with what he had now. In any case, Hiccup knew that the upcoming generations would think differently- once children were born into a world with dragons living with them side-by-side, it would be inevitable that it would become natural. Who knows, maybe in a few hundred years people would look back on this time and wonder, "How did they ever believe that dragons were bad?"

But for now, dragons were still thought of as a novelty.

And Hiccup hated it more than anything- more than the years he had spent as an outcast, more than the battle of the Red Death, more than even his own missing leg. He felt guilty, even though the rational part of his mind knew that nothing was his fault- he felt guilty because he was now a hero, while the dragons that were the real heroes were considered pets.

Hiccup truly did not understand how the Vikings of Berk managed to mistake these incredible creatures as pets. They were allies, they were friends, they were family- but they were not domesticated animals. Even the Terrible Terrors weren't tame- though he could understand that mix-up. For dragons, the Terrible Terrors acted a lot like puppies. Really, really temperamental puppies.

With razor-sharp teeth and claws. Hiccup shivered, remembering his last run-in with an angry Terror- it hadn't been pretty.

Anyhow, the dragons were not simple little pets. They were something more than that- they were creatures in which people could relate to, could talk to, and could trust with everything. The bond between Hiccup and Toothless ran deeper than anything, deeper than friendship, deeper than blood- there wasn't any way that Hiccup could describe in words how much Toothless meant to him. Nobody would ever understand how much Hiccup loved that dragon, how far he would go for him. Even Astrid, who was the closest one to understanding the bond between the boy and his dragon, would never fully know.

And now, some idiot was trying to tell Hiccup how to ride his dragon.

"See here, you're doin' it all wrong, lad. You gotta lean back, so you can go faster…"

Hiccup gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the saddle to refrain from punching this guy in the face. He didn't know the man, thank the Gods, but Hiccup was just about ready to smack him as hard as he could. Did this guy even know who he was talking to? Hiccup was the first Viking to ever even ride a dragon. This man, whoever he was…there were no words for how irritating Hiccup found him.

"No, no, leave your arms hangin' down by your side, that way you're lighter and the mount doesn't tire out. Then you can-"

Toothless growled, the sound a low rumble deep in his chest as he glanced at Hiccup, his eyes narrow and his pupils narrower. Hiccup agreed with him wholeheartedly- this man was an idiot. A thick headed, arrogant idiot.

Now, don't get him wrong- Hiccup wasn't adverse to advice from others. He'd been an outcast in his village for too long to not come to terms with the fact that there was always going to be somebody who knew more that he did, and he knew that he would never know all there was about the art of riding a dragon. Even with Toothless, the fastest dragon on Berk and quite possibly the fastest in the world, Hiccup knew that he couldn't learn everything. There were simply too many things to know, to study, to experiment. Dragons were as versatile as humans, as Hiccup was finding out, and there were many, many different species- and with every specie, there was a different style of flight, of aerodynamics, of posture, of techniques.

"…and make sure to stay real tense, that way if you start to slip, you don't fall off all the way. Wouldn't want to fall off your mount now, wouldja?"

The man laughed, and Hiccup trembled in anger. Mount?

He wouldn't have minded the man's words as much if he had actually been right- but this guy was dead wrong on everything. A rider was supposed to lean forward while riding a dragon, to allow for better speed- he was supposed to keep his arms close to the body, to get a more streamlined flight- he was supposed to relax while flying, to move with the dragon, to keep his body language casual so not to make the dragon uneasy- nothing he was talking about was true. How had he learned to ride a dragon- by pretending to be a rock?

Hiccup cleared his throat to get the man's attention, and sat up as straight and regal as he could- which wasn't much, but he didn't really care at the moment.

"Your information has been most illuminating," he said stiffly, his shoulders tense from holding back the fists that desperately wanted to flatten this guy's face in. "I'll be sure to use it in the future."

And then Toothless bounded forward a few steps, and rocketed off into the sky- Hiccup made sure to lean forward and keep his arms pulled in close, just to annoy the man as they flew away. Wind whipped through his hair and clothes as they shot up into the air, and he relaxed slowly- flying always made him feel better, but he was still furious.

Hiccup wasn't one for violence; after all, if he was, Toothless wouldn't even be here right now. Hiccup shied away from the thought. Still, that guy- whoever he was- had brought out the ugly side of him, the over-protective side that didn't take out his anger by using sardonic humor. Normally Hiccup just went into a quiet, mutinous state of mind when he was angry- this was something completely different, and Hiccup didn't like it at all.

Toothless glanced back at him worriedly, his eyes round once more and his pupils back to their normal size.

"Could you believe that guy?" Hiccup shouted over the whistling wind as Toothless leveled out high above the ocean. "He actually thought that he was right about all that- it's a total load of fishguts if you ask me!"

Toothless snorted in agreement, tossing his head condescendingly.

"And all that about mounts- you're more than just a common horse, aren't you buddy?" Hiccup teased, leaning forward to scratch behind Toothless' ear. Toothless closed his eyes in approval, humming happily. Hiccup smiled.

He'd been telling the truth he told the man that his information had been helpful. Hiccup was going to use it- he was going to use it to make sure that the entirety of Berk knew just how special, just how privileged they were to have dragons as their friends. He wanted them to realize that only an insane amount of luck had gotten them this far- taking advantage of these creatures would be just plain stupid, and by the Gods, if it was the last thing he did, Hiccup was going to make them understand that they couldn't take them for granted, that this was a blessing-

And then they were falling.

Hiccup screeched at the sudden drop, his heart seizing in sudden panic, but the sound was cut short when Toothless plunged beneath the waves of the freezing ocean before Hiccup could close his mouth. Complete darkness invaded his vision for a spilt-second, the cold gripping at him immediately, and then Toothless was shooting back into the air with a sudden explosion of speed that snapped Hiccup's neck back. Toothless wiggled happily, a large fish caught in his jaws. Hiccup coughed, his eyes stinging, his nose and throat burning from the salty water he'd swallowed in his surprise, and shook his head like a wet-dog, water droplets spraying in a sparkling arc around him. Toothless laughed his strange little echoing laugh, and sped off towards the forge, water sliding from his scales as easily as it would from a duck's feathers while Hiccup was stuck in his soaking wet, frigid clothes.

Hiccup glared at the dragon weakly, heart still pounding, and spat out more water, wiping his face off on his sleeve and only managing to get more wet.

So much for the dramatic moment. Well, the dragons were a blessing in disguise, really.

…a very, very deep disguise.


Well…that was longer than I expected. Hopefully that makes up for my unexcused absence…so sorry about that. This one wasn't as funny as all the others, but I've had this idea in my head for a while now- I've read a lot of stories where the writers made Toothless out to be nothing more than a really cool pet, and I think it's just wrong…Toothless is the reason why any of this happened, and he deserves way more credit. Besides, the movie clearly shows that Hiccup and Toothless are as close as brothers, if not more- Hiccup was willing to die for Toothless, and Toothless was willing to die for Hiccup, so I really don't understand where all this pet stuff is coming from. Dragons are far too intelligent to be pets!

Anyways, I'll stop ranting now. This is kind of my tribute to the Hiccup/Toothless brotherly bond that is TOTALLY THERE NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY, and I just wanted to make it very clear how I saw their relationship. –ahem- Sorry for my preaching…

So, comment, tell me what you think, yell at me for being late, mention whether or not you agree with this…seriously, I will respond to any comments if you have your PM thingy activated. If you don't, I'll mention you in the A/N next chapter. I'd love to hear your opinions on this chapter, since I happen to really like it…part of the idea came from Starr for her comment and her questioning about a one-shot with Horse as the prompt.

PLEASE REVIEW!

(Also, you should check out my new HTTYD story…it's called Ragnarok Rising, and you can find it on my profile.)

See you for next chapter! Which I promise will be posted much sooner this time!