Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD

A/N: The theme song for this chapter is 'You'll be in My Heart' by Phil Collins.

Chapter Three – The Impossible Bond

Toothless snarled and leapt at the wall of his prison, his claws digging into the dirt. He beat his wings to give himself more lift, and heaved himself up to the dragonfire proof grate that barred his escape. It creaked under his weight as he dragged himself underneath, hoping to loosen it with his weight. Yet no matter how much he clawed and tugged, it wouldn't give way. He lost his grip and fell back to the ground, twisting in mid-air like a cat to land on his paws.

He'd finally managed to break the leather muzzle that had been binding his mouth shut, about an hour ago. Heat flooded his mouth as he charged a plasma blast and fired it up at the grate…the damn metal briefly vanished in a cloud of smoke, but when the smoke cleared, it was only burnt, not broken. That was his last shot. A roar of frustration issued from his throat; a rock flew through the air and hit the grate. "Shut it, yer wretched lizard!" a hunter yelled gruffly. Toothless snarled and roared even louder, shouting *I'll shut up when you stop hurting my rider!*

The hunter appeared at the edge of the pit, aiming a crossbow at him. A bow with a green tipped arrow….Toothless snarled at him, but reluctantly backed away. He knew what those arrows could do, and as much as he'd like to tear all of these hunters limb from limb, he couldn't risk being shot with one. The wretched excuse for a human guffawed and sneered at him. "Yeah, I thought this lil' beauty would shut yer up. Now pipe down, or it'll turn out nasty for that precious rider o' yours."

*I won't give up. I will get to Hiccup. I will never let him down* Toothless challenged the man as he left, not caring that the stupid human couldn't understand him. He knew that humans could be good, kind creatures…but these hunters, they were less than human, they were monsters. He'd heard Hiccup's shouts and screams of pain, and he'd been enraged, fighting tooth and nail to escape his bonds and then the pit they'd literally shoved him into.

When the screams stopped his heart had filled with dread, fearing the worst. It was only by roaring to get the attention of the caged dragons that Toothless learned that no, his rider wasn't dead – thank the Moon – but he was badly hurt. From what the other dragons had told him, Toothless gleaned that the hunters wanted Hiccup to train the captured dragons for them, so they could set the dragons against their enemies. It was Alvin and Dagur all over again – though those men had reformed in the end, but Toothless didn't hold out hope for this wretched lot.

Fifteen minutes later, as he was digging at the dirt in a futile attempt to tunnel his way out, Toothless heard booted footsteps approaching. He looked up at the grate…and growled angrily at a man he loathed; the leader of the hunters who had captured him and hurt his human. Hauke simply stared down at him, and then crouched down to slide open a hatch. Then he stood up again, and beckoned to someone behind him.

Two more hunters came forward, dragging a third person between them. Toothless' eyes widened and he yelped in alarm – it was Hiccup. By the Moon, what had they done to him?! His leather armour was gone, his tunic and trousers torn all over, his breathing laboured. Even from down there, Toothless could smell the blood and tears and sweat and misery that rolled off his human in waves, and it nearly drove him mad. He roared furiously at Hauke, mentally swearing vengeance on the man for daring to hurt Hiccup.

Ignoring the dragon, Hauke took out a dagger from his belt, turning it over in his hands. "I've been thinking" he began, almost conversationally, "that you'll be too much trouble. If threatening your precious dragon doesn't convince you, I doubt anything will. Now I could break you, but you'd just keep fighting, wouldn't you? Unless of course, you've changed your mind" he remarked.

Despite being in pain, Hiccup found the strength to raise his head and glare defiantly at Hauke. "You…got one thing right…" he panted, "I'll…join you…when Ragnarok comes round."

"I was afraid you'd say that. You would have been so useful, but I can't be bothered to break you in when I can break in your dragon so much more easily."

*No-one can break me, you eel-eating worm, and no one ever will!*

Without knowing it, Hiccup was in complete agreement with his dragon. "He'll…fight you. We'll both…fight you."

"No, you won't. I am going to kill two dragons with one axe, so to speak; get rid of you and break your Night Fury at the same time. Besides…my boss doesn't really like competition" Hauke remarked far too casually. Without warning, he thrust the dagger into Hiccup's left side; the young man threw his head back and screamed, and his dragon screeched in horror. *NO!*

The hunters dumped Hiccup unceremoniously through the hatch and walked away; he landed with a thud and collapsed on his back, clutching his side and groaning in pain. Panicked, frantic, Toothless whined and nuzzled him, trying to keep him awake. *No, no, no! Don't go! Stay awake, you'll be alright!*

Hiccup whimpered, tears leaking out of his tightly closed eyes. Feeling like Thor's Hammer was on his chest and Odin's Sword in his side, he forced his eyes open and gazed up at his dragon. "I…I'm s-so sorry...All my…fault…I let you...down…I…" His vision grew dark; the hand pressed hard against his side to stem the blood went limp. Goodbye, Toothless…dad…Astrid…he lost consciousness.

*No! No please, not him! I can't – I can't!* Toothless was nearly beside himself. He had to save Hiccup, but he couldn't, even with the healing properties of his saliva there was no way he could heal such a deep injury, he felt utterly helpless…

Out of nowhere an idea, a memory burst to life inside his mind. It was impossible, it could never work – but Toothless leapt on it like a spot of light he loved to chase but could never catch. *Forgive me* he whimpered, biting down hard on the tip of his own tail. His scales weren't as thick there…when he tasted blood, he carefully rested the tip against Hiccup's wound, watching his chest rapidly rise and fall. He needed to be alive for it to work – he just needed to stay alive for a little bit longer.

Their blood mixed together – his darker blood dripped into Hiccup's wound, and Hiccup's blood seeped under his scales into his veins. Knowing he didn't have much time, and hoping it would be enough, Toothless pulled his tail away and pressed his paw against the wound. He craned his neck back, looking up at the full moon high above him. It was at its apex in the sky – midnight. *By the Moon, I swear my life and my love to Hiccup Haddock the Third, and bind my heart to his, so he will not die. I don't want him to die!*

He continued to stare pleadingly up at the moon…the great white orb stared back impassively, and Toothless despaired. He hung his head, sadly nuzzling his unconscious, dying rider. Their friends would surely come looking for them…he hoped Stoick could forgive him for failing to save his son. Part of him almost hoped Stoick would be angry, would even kill him out of rage…it would hurt in more ways than one, but at least then he'd be with his best friend….

Toothless gasped, his eyes flying open. He'd felt the blood flowing from Hiccup's wound…until now. Cautiously, he lifted his blood stained paw and stared at the wound…it had healed up, leaving only a dark scar. Hiccup's breathing had evened out, his skin regaining its colour. Toothless couldn't believe his eyes…he hardly dared hope…he nuzzled and licked Hiccup's face, trying to wake him up.

A few more nudges, and Hiccup groaned….his eyes fluttered open. Toothless was looking down at him, warbling with worry…confused, Hiccup raised his hand…and saw blood staining his fingers. Toothless pressed his snout against his human's palm, quivering in sheer delight. *You're alive!*

Hiccup froze, eyes widening in shock. He'd heard a voice, clear as day, only it had been coming from his dragon (but Toothless' mouth hadn't moved; it was like he was hearing his dragon's thoughts)… "Did you…did you just…talk?!" he whispered hoarsely.

Toothless pulled back a little, hesitating. He looked away from Hiccup and quickly licked the blood from his paw. It tasted awful, not the good-to-eat taste of blood from fresh meat – it tasted like death. *We need to escape* he said at last. Dazed, Hiccup nodded, and tried to sit up. Toothless helped him to his feet, and let Hiccup stand on his shoulders so the young man could reach up and climb through the still open hatch. The metal was freezing cold, and nearly sticking to his fingers. Hiccup struggled with the lock, sliding the bolt open – he winced as it scraped – and heaving the grate open.

It was all he could do to hold it open, but Toothless quickly scrambled up the dirt wall and wriggled out. He helped Hiccup lower the grate back down as quietly as possible. *Climb on* he prompted, crouching down a bit so Hiccup could climb onto his back. He looked over at the nearest cage, with a Nadder trapped inside it, and wished they could help her.*Sorry. I have to…he's hurt.*

*Run, go. We will be okay* she replied; Hiccup's jaw nearly dropped, still getting used to hearing the dragons speaking. Were they speaking? They weren't opening their mouths, but he could still hear voices coming from their…foreheads? It was hard to tell in the dark. The Nadder tilted her head to get a better look at him and chirruped kindly. *Thank you for trying to help us. We're sorry you were hurt* she told him. Hiccup could only swallow and nod, and then Toothless was carrying him past the cages and through the forests towards the mountains.

Suddenly he realised something and tugged on the handles of Toothless' saddle. "Wait, we…we have to go back" he protested weakly, "Toothless, stop. The other dragons…we can't leave them with…with those…argh" he cried out in frustration, "Toothless, we have to help them."

*We can't!* Toothless nearly roared at him. In a quieter tone he said apologetically, *I'm sorry, but we can't. You're too weak, I can't fly. We can't risk it, I'm sorry.* He felt sorry for the captured dragons, but they had no choice. He would not risk his rider being captured and hurt all over again...they just had to find somewhere to hide and wait for the others to come.

Hiccup knew his dragon was right, but it still made vines of guilt twist in his stomach and around his heart to think of abandoning them all. He tried to push the thoughts from his mind; it was taking all his energy and concentration just to stay on Toothless, and they were running over pretty even ground. Thor knew what he'd do when the ground rose up towards the mountains.


Toothless thought he was running towards the mountains to find caves, and that was true, but he was starting to realise that the pull, the homing instinct that had led him there in the first place, was also leading him to the mountains. It felt right to follow it…and yet at the same time it felt wrong. This instinct had led them to Myrkr and gotten them into this whole mess to begin with…he felt dread building up in his heart, the crawling feeling of unseen danger creeping over his scales.

His pace slowed from a swift, nearly panicked dash to a slow jog, and then to a walk. Finally he came to a stop in a clearing, looking back over his shoulder and panting hard. Hiccup was panting as well, but he could tell something was wrong, from the way Toothless looked all around them, his ear-fins erect and alert, his pupils slitted and eyes wide. "What…what's wrong?" he asked breathlessly, "Toothless?"

*I don't…know…I sense…danger…I don't know…where to go* Toothless replied, his thought-speak broken up as he looked all around, trying to fight the urge to keep going towards the mountains, but not knowing where else to go. His sharp hearing picked up the sound of swooping wings; he tensed, and felt Hiccup tense too, the man not knowing what had spooked his dragon but instantly assuming they had to run again.

Hiccup rubbed his ear, thinking he'd heard a raspy, sort of high pitched voice saying their names over and over. There was a rustling sound above them as twigs snapped, and they both looked up in alarm…to see a little green and brown Terror fly down to them, squeaking happily. *Hiccup! Toothless!*

In spite of everything, Hiccup couldn't help but grin in relief. "Sharp-Shot! Hey, little guy!" he greeted happily, petting the little dragon nuzzling his cheek. "I thought you'd flown off, where did you go? You can tell me, I…I can hear you." That was bizarre to say, but exciting at the same time.

*I hid!* Sharp-Shot answered, not even questioning why Hiccup could suddenly understand him, *I waited! I knew you'd escape, I waited!*

And you didn't think to get help? Toothless felt bad for thinking this; Terrors could be rather literal minded, and Hiccup had said he wanted to use Sharp-Shot to deliver a message. Perhaps the little guy could fetch Hiccup's friends, but first… *We need to hide* he said, getting ready to run again.

Before he could however, a dragon dived between the trees and blocked his path, growling threateningly. Toothless yelped in shock, and then growled right back at…at the Night Fury, who was glaring at them both with emerald green luminous eyes. Four more Night Furies, all with eyes in yellow shades, swooped in and surrounded them, backing Toothless up against a tree.

Hiccup held Sharp-Shot in his hands, ignoring the pricks of tiny claws, to calm him down. He took his feet out of the stirrups, just in case Toothless ended up fighting the other Furies (oh Thor, please don't let it come to that) and he had to climb off in a hurry. "Shh, it's okay" he whispered.

*Trespasser!* the green eyed Fury snarled – his voice sounded strangely familiar - , *who are…you?* His eyes narrowed, he took a few steps towards Toothless (who snarled warningly) and sniffed…then the Fury's eyes widened, and he pulled back, one paw raised. He looked shocked. *Midnight?!* he demanded, staring at Toothless.

Midnight? That's…that's my… Toothless winced, shaking his head. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a long-shut door creaked open… *Shadow?* he asked, staring at the Night Fury…who had eyes like he remembered his father having…a strange mix of apprehension and joy filled him as he tentatively added… *You're…Shadow? My…brother?*

*Yes, it's me! Where have you been all this time? And why…* Shadow's gaze was drawn to Hiccup, and he started to growl again, *Why is there a human on your back? Is that a saddle you're wearing?*

*You have a brother? Cool!*

*His left tail-fin is gone!* One of the other Furies exclaimed. Shadow moved to get a better look, but Toothless just swept his tail around to display the shredded remains of his prosthetic tail fin.

*Hunters did this; we just escaped from them. We need somewhere to hide!*

*They're mean!*

*Then throw that human off, and*-

*NO!* Toothless shouted, punctuating it with a small roar, *I won't abandon him!*

*Hiccup's our friend* Sharp-Shot insisted, crawling onto Hiccup's shoulder and nuzzling his cheek.

Shadow first looked shocked, and then angry. The female closest to him said cruelly, * It's a human, Midnight. If you hadn't been in the way I could have killed it.*

Toothless shot a plasma blast at her front paws and snarled at her, furious. Shadow snarled and leapt between them, facing Toothless. *Don't you dare attack my mate!*

*Don't you dare attack my rider!* Toothless growled threateningly, *Hiccup is not an 'it', or a threat, he's my best friend. I will fight you if I have to* he declared, muscles coiled, charging a plasma blast – but he cut it off when he felt Hiccup press a hand to the top of his head.

"No, bud, you…you don't have to fight" Hiccup protested; he looked at Shadow and implored him, "It…it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you…I don't hurt dragons…it's okay…" all his confidence in his abilities to tame the Night Furies of Myrkr was dwindling rapidly. Stupid Hiccup. Stupid, stupid, stupid…!

*Look at him, does he look like a threat?* Toothless demanded, feeling desperate. The longer they argued and fought, the more chance there was of the hunters who might be chasing them catching up, and then he and Hiccup would be doomed.

*It's too weak to hurt us, but it still has to die. It's seen too much* Shadow's mate proclaimed harshly, her slit-pupiled lemon yellow eyes glaring daggers at Hiccup.

*Wait* Shadow's eyes narrowed suspiciously, *You said you would fight us, but the human told you not to, as if…it understood you?*

*Yes, he can…* Toothless realised where this was going. *I had no choice* he insisted, *He would have died if I hadn't done it!*

Hiccup swallowed hard and hesitantly asked, "Err…hadn't done… what?"

Now was not the time to try and explain what he'd done to Hiccup, but Shadow and his hunting party were expecting him to answer. *Hiccup and I are heart-bound* he revealed, and they hissed in shock. He was so desperate to get his best friend somewhere safe that he put his pride away and pleaded, *Shadow, please. We're brothers. If you still care about me, at all, you will help me help Hiccup. He means everything to me.*

One of the other Furies, a male with orange-yellow eyes asked, *What should we do with them?*

Shadow looked away with a snarl of frustration. He ought to leave the human to die, and if Midnight wanted to stay with the fireless weakling then so be it…but as angry as he was, he couldn't bring himself to reject his long-lost brother. *We take them to the nest* he stated at last, *The Queen must know of this – a heart bound human. She will decide their fate.*

*We can't bring a-*

*We have no choice, Eclipse!* Shadow snapped at his mate, literally, before telling Toothless, *Bring the human and follow us. We'll have to go on foot.*

"Wait!" Hiccup gasped; he'd gotten yet another crazy idea, and he knew it was crazy, but he'd come this far… He tugged a broken charcoal pencil and folded piece of paper from his tunic, spreading the paper out on Toothless' saddle and writing as fast as he could.

*What is it doing?* Eclipse asked suspiciously.

"Writing a letter" he mumbled in reply, "Can you take this to my friends, Sharp-Shot?"

*Yes, yes, yes.*

*Are you telling them where we are?* Toothless asked hopefully, looking back at his rider.

"No."

*What? But they can take us home! We found Night Furies like you wanted.*

"Exactly; there's so much more I could learn, and…maybe I can change their minds about humans. I changed yours, didn't I?" Hiccup smiled at him briefly.

*You won't enslave us like you've enslaved my brother* Shadow snarled.

*I'm not enslaved.*

"I can prove you can trust me; just give me a chance" Hiccup murmured, finishing the letter. He rolled it up and pierced it on Sharp-Shot's claws. The little dragon licked his cheek and flew off.

Hiccup watched him go, his head spinning with the metaphorical bricks that kept being dropped on it. Toothless…his real name is Midnight? I guess it does suit him better. Will he want to be called that? He said we were heart-bound but…what does that mean? He wondered. It was clearly the reason he was still alive, and he had so many questions, but he was so tired and it was probably a better idea to wait for now.


Shadow and the other Furies led them towards the mountains, over increasingly rougher terrain. At last they reached the foot of a towering mountain; when Hiccup craned his head back, he could just make out the outlines of jet black dragons flying overhead, briefly blocking out the stars. Shadow led the way to a jagged tongue of ancient lava, grey and cracked, that snaked down the side of the volcano.

Behind it there was a tunnel, half filled with dirt to make a rough slope. *Wait here* Shadow ordered, before going inside the tunnel. They waited, and waited, and at last he re-emerged to say, *I've warned the sentry. He won't attack the human, now come on.* He disappeared back down the tunnel.

Eclipse swooped down it; Toothless skidded on his paws, down five or so feet into what looked like a Screaming Death tunnel. Hiccup nearly fell off the saddle. *Are you okay?* he asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine" Hiccup answered. Well, he was as fine as he could be, with six hostile Night Furies escorting them into a nest full of more hostile Night Furies. Talking Night Furies…Hiccup was scared, exhausted and still in a lot of pain, but somewhere inside he was ecstatic by this newfound ability to understand what dragons were saying.

*Hurry* Shadow called impatiently. Two of the other Night Furies in the hunting party moved on either side of Toothless, with the final one bringing up the rear. Away from the light that filtered in through the entrance, the tunnel swiftly became pitch black. Hiccup couldn't see a thing; he and Toothless were putting their lives in the…claws, he supposed, of creatures that had threatened to kill him. What had Shadow's mate…Eclipse…meant when she said he had seen too much? What was so bad about seeing other Night Furies?

*I'm going to fly ahead and warn the Queen. The rest of you, keep an eye on my brother and the human* Shadow declared, before taking a running leap into the air. Eclipse continued to lead the way, Toothless following her scent and the sound of her footsteps.

Every so often, the Furies let out familiar, high-pitched roars that echoed down the tunnel. Hiccup was very glad they could navigate in the dark, and glad that apart from one turn the tunnel seemed to be more or less straight. Though he got the sense that they were passing more tunnels and this was just the quickest route to…wherever they were going. He felt his head nod, eyes falling closed; then he jerked and rubbed his temple. The touch stung, and he winced and yawned.

Toothless glanced back at his rider, able to see him indistinctly even in this darkness. *Just lie down if you're tired* he prompted with a reassuring croon. Hiccup was very tempted to take him up on the offer, but…he felt uncomfortable letting his guard down. "I…I'm okay…" he lied, and Toothless knew he was lying, but the dragon didn't say anything.

At last, the darkness lifted as light filtered down from other tunnels. Shadow was waiting for them beside another tunnel. *You're lucky, Midnight* he remarked, flexing his wings, *Queen Phoebe is allowing the human to remain here for the night. When it wakes, she will decide what to do with it. For now, you can both sleep in there.* He jerked his head at the other tunnel, as Eclipse moved to his side.

Toothless didn't feel like thanking his brother if Shadow kept calling Hiccup 'the human' and 'it', so he merely gave a brief purr – the dragon version of a smile – and padded alone into the tunnel. It led to a medium sized cavern, the floor covered in dirt that had long been pressed smooth by many paws. The others didn't follow him, but he still went right to the back of the cave before he stopped to let Hiccup climb off.

The moment Toothless came to a halt, Hiccup unhooked himself from the saddle, climbed off and sank to his knees. He was shaking from the adrenaline of their escape…except it felt like they hadn't really escaped at all. They were still prisoners, and these dragons wanted him dead…oh gods…he'd nearly died. Now that he had a chance to rest, it all came rushing in on him like a tidal wave. He'd been stabbed. He remembered the shocking, agonising pain of the dagger plunging into his side so vividly…and it was his own fault…

His eyes filled with tears, and when one spilled over, the others quickly followed, trickling and streaming down his cheeks. Toothless, who had been suspiciously watching the entrance, quickly looked round when he heard Hiccup sniffling. *Hiccup?* he asked worriedly, crooning, his head-fins pinned back. He nuzzled the young man and Hiccup twisted around to hug him, burying his face in the black dragons' scales and sobbing in earnest.

Dragons couldn't cry, but when Toothless had first seen Hiccup crying (after the time they had gone to Breakneck Bog to find the gift from his dead mother, he'd cried that night whilst holding it) and sensed his distress, he'd worked out that humans leaked from their eyes when they were very sad. For a moment he wasn't sure what to do, but then he remembered that Hiccup could understand him now. *Don't be sad. Don't cry. You're safe now. I'll protect you, I promise. You're safe now, don't cry. Go to sleep. You can rest now* he told Hiccup, purring and crooning as gently as he could.

Hiccup let go and wiped at his eyes and nose with his sleeve; Toothless decided to help him clean himself up. "Eugh" he grimaced, his face now covered in dragon slobber. Still, he could tell what Toothless had been trying to do, and he appreciated the gesture, so he smiled a bit. Taking this as a thank you, Toothless gave him a gummy smile back, and lay down so Hiccup could rest against him. He spread one wing over his rider and tucked his tail around Hiccup in an almost hug. It wasn't long before Hiccup was fast asleep, exhausted as he was, but Toothless stayed awake for a long time.


Stoick and the others had reached Nott's Gate at last; the dragons were resting, exhausted from the long flight. The riders were sleeping as well, all but two. Stoick and Astrid were wide awake, the chief staring out in the direction of Myrkr. Astrid walked over to him and said quietly, "We will find him, Chief. We'll bring him home."

"Odin, I hope you're right. Why would he do this?"

"I don't know…I get the feeling he's trying to prove himself again. You know what he's like, with his pride and everything" Astrid pointed out. Stoick sighed…surely his son knew by now that he had nothing to prove? Yet here they were…

From somewhere in the sky, they heard a squawking sound, and looked up in bewilderment. A terror came swooping in, flying a bit lopsidedly, and landed on the grass at their feet. Astrid recognised the dragon straightaway. "Sharp-Shot?"

"The Terrible Terror Hiccup trained that one time?"

"Yeah…wait, there's a note stuck on his claws. It must be from Hiccup!" Astrid quickly scooped the little dragon up, placing him on her shoulder and unfolding the note. It was too dark to read clearly, so she picked up a stick and let Sharp-Shot light it on fire, forming a small torch. "Safe. Don't come, hunters, leader crazy. Do not fight them, too dangerous. Found Night Furies, want to study them. Give us a month. I will come home. Love, Hiccup. P.S, I'm sorry" she read aloud. Then she looked up at Stoick and asked, "Chief? What do we do now?"

Stoick frowned, though not at Astrid; he felt torn. All his fatherly instincts were telling him to go to Myrkr, find his son and drag the boy back to Berk. On the other hand…he knew how stubborn Hiccup was, how much he'd want to stay and learn about the Night Furies – so Toothless wasn't the last one after all – and if there were really hunters in Myrkr…well, he didn't doubt they could take the hunters on, but for Hiccup to warn them in advance…

He gritted his teeth. "That boy will be grounded for a month when he gets back" he said at last.

Astrid's eyes went wide. "You're not saying…"

"Yes, Astrid, I am. If Hiccup wants to act like a stubborn child, and run off to Thor knows where then…then on his own head be it!" Stoick snapped. It was obvious he was still worried about his son, though. "Maybe trying to survive out there will teach him a lesson."

"Or get him killed" Astrid said quietly.

Stoick sighed, and added, "If he hasn't come to his senses and come home in a week, we'll go in search of him again."

Astrid sighed…she wanted to find Hiccup right now, just so she could yell at him for being a complete idiot and then kiss him senseless…but the chief's tone of voice wasn't one for arguing with. Please Hiccup, please don't get hurt she thought desperately, looking out towards the western horizon.