Disclaimer: Still don't own it. I'm seriously used to it by now. I just like taking established characters and playing around with them.

AN: While poking around, I found a Viking Name generator. Just input some basics (first name, gender and some other stuff) about yourself, and it gives you your Viking name. Mine came out as Álöf Björnsdottir. Fun. Here's the site, so you guys can give it a try. www. thequarter Media/ (just take out the spaces!).


She barely heard Gobber's lecture about being late, her mind still focused on what had happened earlier. Everyone else had already gotten there and grabbed seats to cook their food. Idly taking a fish and skewering it, she sat and kept an eye on it as she cooked it over the brazier. It was a remarkably clear night, the stars bright above them, and she had a stray thought about what it would be like to soar among them.

"And with one twist, he took my hand and swallowed it whole," Gobber was saying, but Hiccup was barely paying attention. The story he was telling had gotten old after the twelfth time she'd heard it, so she allowed her mind to wander to what had happened earlier. Idly cooking a fish on the fire in front of her, she instead wondered what that spark was and what it might mean for her and the dragon. One thing was sure, the dragon needed to tell her its name or she'd have to give it one because she couldn't keep calling it 'the dragon' or 'it'. "I could tell by the look on his face: I was delicious. He must have passed the word because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg."

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon?" Fishlegs asked, two enormous legs clutched in his hands. "Like if your mind was still in control of it, you could have killed the dragon from inside by crushing its heart or something."

"I'm so angry right now," Snotlout growled, trying to sound impressive but failing. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop of the legs of every dragon I see . . . with my face." Hiccup scoffed, adding it to the already long list of reasons her cousin was an idiot. Did he expect to bite the leg off or something? Sucking up, she told herself with a shake of her head. Anything to look good to those above him.

"No, it's the wings and tails you really want," Gobber told him, prying a wing of his chicken loose and waving it for emphasis. "If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon, is a dead dragon." Hiccup gasped, realizing that the missing tailfin was the reason the dragon was still in the cove. If it could have flown away, it would have. With a little ingenuity, she could fix something up to allow it to fly again. Gobber yawned, stretching his arms above his head. "All right, I'm off to bed," he said, lowering his chicken and gesturing at the teens with it. "You should be, too. Tomorrow, we'll get to the big boys, slowly but surely working our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honor of killing it?"

Hiccup could hear the other teens talking, but she didn't notice what they said. Getting to her feet, she left her untouched fish leaning against the brazier and made her way down the ramp. She had work to do, and the sooner she got started, the sooner she could correct her mistake.

Anstred looked up when he heard footsteps going down the ramp to see Hiccup's fish laying to one side of the fire but no Hiccup. Getting up, he looked down to see her heading down the ramp at a run, disappearing into the darkness, and only shook his head at the odd girl. Ignoring the twins bickering and Snotlout's sucking up, he sat back down and thought about what had happened earlier. Hiccup had been gone when he went to the smithy to apologize for touching her . . . Hoping the fading light hid his blush, he clenched that hand into a fist. What he'd said to her still stood, but it was only right that he apologize for touching her inappropriately. It was too late to do it now, as they all had to get to bed and rest before training tomorrow, so he reminded himself to do it either before or after training.


Hiccup worked long into the night on the replacement tailfin, scavenging broken weapons and shields for the parts she needed. Mentally thanking Anstred's mother for teaching her how to sew, she quickly attached the leather to the spokes of metal that would hold the fin in position. She opened it and compared it to the drawings she'd made, nodded once in satisfaction and closed it. Hiding it for tomorrow, she went home to get what sleep she could before heading back to the cove to try it out.

She got up early enough the next morning that she could get a basket of fish for the dragon, test the fin and make it to training. The basket was heavier than she'd thought, and only seemed to get heavier the farther from the village she got, while the tailfin was awkward to carry under one arm. Heaving a sigh, she knew she couldn't go back yet. She needed to test the fin to make it sure it worked properly and the dragon was probably starving. He'd probably eaten the other half of the fish after she left, but one wasn't enough for a dragon his size.

When she finally reached the cove, she knew she wouldn't have much time for the test as she'd like, but she'd do what she could. "Hey, Toothless," she called, having decided on the name as she trudged through the forest. Unless they found a better way to communicate, Toothless would have to do for now. He was curled by the wall in the shade, but looked up when she dropped the basket. "I brought breakfast. Hope you're hungry." With a grunt, she shoved the basket over with one foot so the fish spilled out. "That's disgusting. We've got some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel."

He jolted back when he spotted the eel. With black and yellow stripes, it looked harmless enough to Hiccup, but when she picked it up, Toothless backed away warily, snarling and with a fearful look in his eye. "No, no, no," she told him, tossing the eel away, unconsciously reaching out to calm him. He growled at her hand and she wiped it on her vest, realizing it still smelled of the eel. "Yeah, I don't really like eel much, either." With the evil eel gone, Toothless dug into the pile of fish at his feet. "That's it. Don't mind me," she murmured, circling around behind him while he was distracted by the feast. "I'll just be back here, minding my own business." She set the tail on the ground beside his, but every time she tried to attach it, he'd shift his tail away. Finally, she grabbed on and held it down with one hand while reaching for the prosthetic with the other. She got it almost in place when she was jerked forward by Toothless as he drove his head into the basket, looking for more fish.

Straddling his tail, she kept it in place while she attached the prosthetic, not noticing that Toothless was spreading his wings and preparing to launch himself into the air. Opening the fin when she was finished buckling it in place, she compared it to the real one. "Not too bad," she muttered to herself, one hand on her chin while she studied it. "It works." She was reaching to undo it when Toothless took to the air. Holding on to his tail for dear life, she only hoped that the crash that was sure to follow wouldn't hurt too badly.

Toothless started to fall, roaring in frustration at once again being denied flight and definitely not looking forward to crashing into the ground again. Suddenly, instead of going down, he was going up, back into the sky he adored.

Hiccup had opened the tailfin, knowing it wasn't doing either of them any good just flapping in the breeze, and was stunned when they didn't crash. "It's working!" she cried, watching the ground get farther away as Toothless continued to climb. Shifting the fin a little, she was shocked when he banked in a wide turn, heading back to the cove. Paying more attention to the prosthetic than her surroundings, she didn't notice they were over the pond now. "Yes, I did it!"

Toothless glanced back, saw her and whipped his tail around hard in annoyance. She lost her grip and splashed into the water after skipping like a stone twice before sinking. Only seconds later, he was in the water himself. He realized then that if he wanted to fly, he would need the hatchling. His tailfin hadn't grown back, she'd made one for him. The only way to fly would be to work together. As he surfaced, shaking the water from his nose, he saw her pop up with an excited expression on her face.

He helped her back to shore, barely registering the fact that she promised to be back later and settled in the sun to warm up after shaking off most of the water. Looking up at the blue sky above him, he only hoped they would fly again soon. He did have to admit, though, that she'd handled her first flight rather well . . . once she finished screaming.


Remembering Toothless' reaction to the eel, she had picked it up on her way back to the village, not sure what she'd do with it, but hoping it would come in handy. The day was warm enough that by the time she made it to the Kill Ring, she was almost completely dry. Unfortunately, though, she was late and got a lecture from Gobber about being on time while the others, especially the twins and Snotlout, laughed at her. He led them into the ring, handed everyone a bucket and paired them off: Anstred and Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout and Fishlegs and Hiccup. "Today is all about teamwork," he told them as the cage holding the Zippleback opened with an explosion. "A wet dragon head can't light its fire." Grayish green gas began pouring out, obstructing their vision. "The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breaths gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which."

"Razor-sharp serrated teeth inject venom for pre-digestion," Fishlegs muttered, clearly nervous and spouting dragon statistics to keep his mind off it. "Prefers ambush attacks, crushing its victims-"

"Will you please stop that?" Hiccup hissed, only getting more nervous with each word out of the larger boy's mouth. They stood back to back, and Hiccup could feel him shaking a little at the knowledge the dragon was somewhere in the gas.

"If that dragon shows either of it's faces," Snotlout stated, trying to sound tough even though he was shaking inside, "I'm going to- There!" A shadow had appeared in the gas, the shape distorted enough that he mistook it for the dragon. He and Tuffnut tossed their buckets, only for the gas to clear just enough to show Anstred and Ruffnut.

"It's us, idiots!" she said, dripping wet and spitting mad at her brother.

"Your butt is getting bigger," Tuffnut replied, making Snotlout look at him in disbelief. "We thought you were a dragon."

"Not that there's anything wrong with a dragonesque figure," Snotlout hastened to assure Anstred, but was cut off by Anstred's fist to his face as Tuffnut got his sister's bucket to his. As he sat up, something grabbed him and dragged him back into the gas. Ruffnut stepped toward where he'd been, intent on going to find him, but Anstred held her back.

"Wait," he told her when she looked at him, listening hard for movement, but it was covered by Tuffnut's cries. They were both knocked flat when the dragon's tail took their feet out from under them, spilling Anstred's bucket. Tuffnut went running passed them, trampling his sister on his way by.

"I'm hurt! I'm very much hurt!"

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now," Fishlegs said with a definite quiver in his voice. Out of the gas came one of the heads, the horn curving sharply back towards its face. Moving almost like a snake, it drew closer, focused on Fishlegs. Gripping his bucket, he doused the head only for it to open its mouth showing it was the gas head. "Whoops. Wrong head." It breathed the gas at him and he ran with a girlish scream of fear.

"Fishlegs!" Gobber hollered to bring him in the right direction before he smashed into a wall and knocked himself out. The other head emerged, teeth sparking as Hiccup stood alone, bucket clenched tight in her hands. "Now, Hiccup!" She tossed the water, but the head pulled back out of reach and she was drenched . . . again.

"Come on," she groaned as the heads looked at each other, a laughing glint in their eyes before coming back down. She backed away as the spark head growled and its wings flared as it drew closer. Tripping over her own feet, she went down hard on her butt.

"Hiccup!" Gobber called, rushing forward to intervene only to stop in shock when the dragon suddenly backed away from Hiccup. She stood and held her hands out to the dragon.

"Back," she commanded and it backed up, almost as if afraid of her. "Back, back, back! Don't make me tell you again!" She kept going until it was back in its cage, practically climbing the walls to get away from her. "Now think about what you've done." She tossed the eel she'd hidden under her vest into the cage and shut the doors. Turning, she saw the others staring at her like they'd never seen her before. Fishlegs dropped his empty bucket in shock. "So, are we done?" she asked casually, as if what had just happened was no big deal. "I have some things I need to do, so yeah. See you tomorrow!"


She went straight to the forge to begin work on a saddle for Toothless. Hiccup had reached the same conclusion as he had, and knew that if they were going to fly together, she couldn't keep holding on to his tail. They needed something better, and the first thing that came to mind was a saddle. Working through dinner, she finally finished around midnight. Setting it on the floor, she studied it. Simple enough to be adjusted or added to if necessary, it would do for now.

Taking it with her the next morning, she wound up chasing Toothless around the cove. He'd taken one look at the saddle and taken off running, leading her on a merry chase until she finally managed to convince him that wearing it would help him fly. Once it was on, she tied a rope to the tailfin and they took off. They both wound up in the pond when the tailfin opened too far, causing Toothless to twist out from under her. Hiccup took the saddle back to the forge and added hooks, one on each side and made a belt for herself with tethers on either side to keep her attached.

Their next flight wasn't much better. She'd tied the rope to her ankle this time, but Toothless' flight was uneven and jerked her around. Trying to smooth them out, she pulled her foot closer to her body, only for them to crash in a field of tall grass. Somehow, she landed on her feet and came to a running stop. Looking around, she spotted Toothless rolling in the grass like a dog, moaning in bliss as he sniffed the grass. Taking some, she sniffed it and noticed it smelled a bit like catnip. Putting it in her pocket for later, she managed to drag him out of the grass and back to the cove where he promptly fell asleep.

With nothing to do until Toothless woke up, and not ready to go back to the village, she sat down against his side and sketched about how to improve the saddle and fin to make it easier for them to fly. Pedals, maybe, she thought, idly stroking the leg closest to her as she tried to work out just how it might be made. She gasped in surprise when a feeling of extreme happiness washed over her. Knowing she wasn't the one feeling that way, she looked down at the hand that had frozen on Toothless' leg. Closing her eyes, she focused on the feeling.

He climbed higher and higher, reaching for the stars, the Dragoness of the Moon shining with an ethereal light. No dragon he knew of had ever reached them, but it was fun trying. The stars glittered like the rocks he sometimes saw in the nest as they caught the light from the fires of the earth. He didn't even feel the cold wind that blew around him, or even notice the dragons that flew with him. He was flying again! Nothing was better than that, except maybe a full stomach and a warm nest to sleep in after flying all night.

Hiccup lifted her hand and the feelings and images stopped immediately. "What was that?" she asked herself, almost afraid to touch him again. Toothless shifted behind her and she looked up at him. His pupils were still slightly dilated, thanks to the dragon-nip, but he was aware of where he was again.

I miss flying, he told her, touching his nose to her cheek in gratitude that she'd stayed with him. She jumped up with a startled cry. His 'voice' was lighter than she expected, but what scared her the most was that she could understand him.

"Did you do that?" she demanded, backing away from him a little. If he could do that, what else could he do?

You felt the spark when we touched the first time, didn't you? Toothless asked, getting to his feet and stretching. She nodded warily, unsure of where he was going with this. We're bonded, Hiccup.

"Bonded? What does that mean?"

We're family, hatchling, he growled as he saw a look of horror cross her face, not mates. The bond we have only forms between family and only rarely between mates. This doesn't feel like a mate-bond to me.

"What's the difference?"

I feel no urges towards you. Dragon of the Sun, Hiccup, he grumbled, exasperation heavy in his tone, do you really think I'm that kind of monster?

"Never!" she cried, horrified at the thought that she had offended him in some way. "I just don't understand this, Toothless."

Sit down and I'll try to explain. She sat down on a rock and he settled not far away, keeping his eyes on her to watch her expressions. It wasn't really necessary as he could feel her conflicting emotions, but he thought it would help ground her a little. She was afraid of this connection between them as she didn't know what it meant, and worried that it could change into a mate-bond without her knowing about it. Bonds deepen, but never change, Hiccup, he assured her, making her gasp at the realization that he could feel her emotions. You're not a dragon, so the mate-bond wouldn't form between us. We seem, however, to be kindred souls. I am alone among dragon-kind.

"I didn't know that," she whispered, feeling his loneliness wash over now. "Are you sure?"

I search each new nest I came across, but have never found another Night Fury. Even my nest-mates are gone now. He felt her sympathy flow over him like a warm current of air and basked in it. Do not worry so, little one, he told her with a burst of amusement. I'm sure there are some out there, and will continue to look, but not yet.

"Sorry, bud," she replied with a sigh. "Maybe we can look together sometime, after we get better at flying."

You have a big heart, my Hiccup, he laughed gently, reaching out with a wing to ruffle her hair, but we'll be here all night if we don't talk about this. She laughed too, and straightened the hair he'd just messed up. He explained that he didn't know much about bonds like theirs, as it had never happened between a dragon and human before, but that it allowed them access to the other's thoughts and emotions. It wouldn't work over large distances, but it could be done if they worked at it. Certain things could be locked away if they wished, but the feeling of there being secrets would give them out to the other half of the bond. She asked about the eel, and he shuddered at the reminder, explaining that it made dragons sick, sometimes causing them to see things that weren't there or not see things that were.

"What's your name?" she asked as she got ready to leave. "I don't want to keep calling you Toothless if you have another." The impression she got as an answer was a bit hard to put into words: scale-dark-fast-screech-hot was the best she could do. It seemed dragons used impressions of themselves and their particular breed as a name, instead of words as humans did. She wondered what her name might be if Toothless ever thought about it, but decided to wait until another time to ask him.

I like Toothless, Hiccup. Feel free to call me that. He nudged her in the direction of the cleft in the rock face. Go. You need to sleep, my Hiccup. I'll be here in the morning.

"Good night, bud," she said, brushing a hand along his nose in farewell.

Good night, little one.