Hello! Sorry for the delay all. As I have been asked, no I do not have an upload schedule currently. I am a busy girl and have school to attend to. That comes first, then this story. But, I will have a long break in February where I will be able to get many chapters of this sorted and written out, so I will begin a more stable schedule then. For now, it just comes when it comes.

To make up for the long delay though, I have written a longer chapter. Next chapter will have a bit more of Toothless' POV. So, enjoy until then!

Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD.

Chapter Four: Bond

On the way back from the forest, Hiccup had been too caught up in her thoughts to know where she was headed, so she easily got herself lost in the confines of all the trees. After several wrong turns and actually walking in a complete circle, Hiccup finally got back to Berk. By then though, it was already getting dark and had started to pour rain.

In the forest, she had been covered from the oncoming wetness, but in the village she would not be. She would have loved to just head home (odd for her to say that), but she was expected in the Great Hall to go over that afternoons training.

Yippee… Because I really want to go there so I can be bullied and picked on more. She thought. Wonder what they'll say today!

The brunette girl ran through the village, trying to duck under as much cover as she could, but in the end it didn't really help. By the time she arrived, her damp hair was sticking to her freckled cheeks and she was out of breath. Luckily, her oversized furry vest kept her field journal protected, and the most of her body… Though it did smell a bit weird when it was wet.

Hiccup paused outside the door to the Great Hall and sighed. She could hear them talking about how everyone did. Why was it always such an internal battle for her to actually face any of her peers? Though the answer was simple; Hiccup still wanted the approval from them. She still wanted to fit in.

The girl shook her damp hair and pushed the big doors open with all her might. She had to face them.

Gobber and his students were all sitting around a table near the large fire place. There was torches hung on the support posts nearby; giving them enough light to be able to see their food. Plates of chicken and lamb were on the table, along with some vegetables that looked like they had yet to be touched.

"So, what did Astren do wrong today?" Gobber asked.

Astren nodded and leaned back. "I mistimed my summersault dive. It was sloppy, and could have gotten me injured. It threw off my reverse tumble."

Snotlout snorted, "Duh. I mean, I totally could have done it better."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes at the other boy. "What are you talking about you barf bag? Astren was perfect out there. You were shot out so easily!"

Snoutlout huffed and grumbled, "Says you…"

Gobber hummed and slapped a hand on Astren's shoulder. The boy didn't flinch, though it seemed like a hit that would have sent Hiccup sprawling on the ground. "Astren is correct. His dives were off, but with some practicing he could easily fix that up. You need to be able to be hard on yourselves if you are going to make it as a Viking."

Hiccup, who had approached the table, grabbed her plate of chicken that had been set out and made to sit down, only for Snotlout to slide into the spot. She sighed internally. So now she wasn't even allowed to sit with them now? Great.

Then again, I was never allowed to eat with them before… She thought.

She had always sat quietly in a corner, reading. Or her father just let her stay home and eat their salted fish. She preferred the latter.

Gobber, as if always knowing how to make her situations worse, opened his big mouth and asked, "So, what did Hiccup do wrong today?"

Ruffnut leaned over to her twin and chuckled, "She showed up?"

"She didn't get eaten?" Snotlout jeered.

Astren, the ever studious one, answered the question properly. "She was never where she should be."

Gobber nodded. "Thank you Astren!" He exclaimed as he watched Hiccup grab a cup of water and sit down at an entirely separate table. She looked at her food with disdain; she had no appetite. The man hobbled past her and set a book down on the table in front of the other kids.

"You guys need to live and breath this stuff. Thats why I am going to entrust you with this book: The Dragon Manual." He nodded to it.

It was an old leather bound book that had become faintly orangey after the many years it had seen. It was scratched and beat up, and smelt faintly of ink and parchment. On the front of the book was an insignia burnt into it, of a dragon coiling around itself in a circle. Surrounding the dragon was a circle of braid like designs. The corners of the leather had been burned with designs as well.

Gobber looked at it like it was an old friend. "Everything you need to know about the beasts is in this book. There is age old knowledge in these pages about every dragon known to Berk." He patted the front of it. "Well thats that… Since there is no attacks tonight, you can study up." The moustached man hobbled by, heading towards the door.

Tuffnut stood. "Wait, you mean that you want us to read this thing!?" He yelled after him.

Ruffnut nodded in agreement. "While we are still alive? Are you insane!?"

"Yeah, why would I want to read some words when I can just kill stuff the words tell you about instead!?" Snotlout grumbled and shoved the book away from him.

Fishlegs looked at the rest of the group, a bit of a sparkle coming into his eyes. "Oh! I've read it so many times; like over seven for sure! There is this one dragon, it has a water element, and it can spray boiling water all over your face! And theres this other one that can turn you inside out with its claws! And then, and then…"

Hiccup was sure that the boy could have kept going on and on for ages about all the dragons he had heard about, if it weren't for the uninterested looks on the others faces.

"Yeah, that sounds great and all." Tuffnut said loudly, making the boy go quiet. "Y'know, there was the slim chance I was going to read it… But now.."

Ruffnut smirked. "Naaah."

Snotlout laughed and stood. "How about you guys read, and I go kill stuff?" He called as he ran to the entrance.

Tuffnut stood up, pushing his sister down. "I'm with yah!" He called. Fishlegs got up as well and ran out with them, following the pack as usual.

Ruffnut stood, threw her helmet back on and rushed after them. "Hey you fish heads, get back here!"

Hiccup slowly got up, ignoring her food for the moment and padding over to the book that was sitting near Astren. She wrung her hands together. "So I guess we can share, don't worry though… I read fast." She murmured to him.

The blonde boy didn't even give her a look as he stood and began to head out of the Great hall. She thought he wasn't going to say anything until he called, "Read it," over his shoulder.

Hiccup blinked. "Oh, uh… All mine then, huh? Guess I'll just hafta read it and then talk to you about it later, right? How about tomorrow? Astren…?" She hollered, but he was already gone. "Yep… I guess it really is all mine." She sighed and took the large book back over to where her food was. She tried to finish her meal the best she could and by then the rest of the Vikings who had been lingering around the Hall (left behinds from the mission at sea) had left, leaving just her and a darkening room. She lit a few candles around her so that she could read what the book had to say.

The brunette girl threw the books first page open and read out loud, "Dragon classifications… Boulder Class; for tough dragons associated with the earth element. Stoker Class; for the most fearsome of the fire breathers… May also be able to set themselves on fire. Sharp Class; for dragons who's edged body parts alone could cut you down…" She whispered softly. There was a few others, but one stopped her. "Strike Class. For dragons with striking speed, pin-point accuracy and strong jaw power. These dragons also have extreme intelligence and strength."

That sounds like the Night Fury… She thought to herself, but tried to shoo away the thought so that she could concentrate.

Flipping the page, she was met with a picture of a large dragon with a large circular mouth and many teeth. It had a long tail that flew behind it. Down the page were many more detailed pictures of its body parts.

"Thunderdrum… This dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools." She read, then looked at the picture of a man with his head fallen off and the Dragon right by him. "When startled, the Thunderdrum induces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range."

Wouldn't that be a pleasant why to die? She thought dryly and winced.

The last words on the page were, "Extremely Dangerous. Kill on sight." As Hiccup went on though, she found that at the end of every dragon's information it would say the exact same thing. She flipped through the book faster, trying to find a least one that didn't have it, but they all had the same thing.

Extremely dangerous, kill on sight.

There were over twenty species known to Berk in this book, and as the girl went on looking, she could tell they had been intensely researched. That was until she came to the page labeled 'Night Fury'.

Where a picture was supposed to go was just blank space, which was reasonable because before Hiccup, no one else had seen the Fury and lived to talk about it. Below the blank space was writing.

"Speed: Unknown. Size: Unknown." She whispered softly. "This dragon is the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance: Hide and pray it does not find you."

The words sent shivers down her spine, and she couldn't help but yell when there was a boom of thunder behind her. Luckily, no one else was there to hear it. She let out a breath and pulled out her field journal, opening it to the page of the drawing she had done earlier.

"How come you didn't kill me?" She murmured to the dragon who was not present. "I engaged you, I didn't run and hide… If this book was right, I should be dead right now… But I'm not."

Stoic stood over a map, contemplating quietly.

He and his men had been at sea for a few days now, and had been quite lucky. A few storms had hit and their boats banged up, but they hadn't lost any people or had many casualties. They had yet to even sight a dragon. This last part made Stoic confused. Usually on trips like this, they would have spotted a few already.

Being on the water normally made him calm, but ever since they left all he could do was worry. He worried about not being able to find the nest, not being able to destroy it. He worried for the upcoming winter and the supplies that they didn't have… Most of all though, he was worried for the little girl back home that he called his daughter.

Hiccup was going into Dragon Training, and as much as he should have been proud of this moment, thinking of her to do well, all he was doing was hoping she would be in one piece when they returned home.

Ever since she had been little she had been different. He remembered leaning over her crib, watching Valka play with the child and her saying, "This one is not like the others Stoick… She's got a stronger spirit and smarter mind." When Stoick had asked how she knew this, Valka had looked at him and given him her sweet smile and said, "A mother knows." He had thought that had been a good thing. But when her mother was taken away from them, Stoick soon learned that the kind of different she had been talking about wasn't exactly positive.

When Hiccup was growing, around her fifth winter old, he had brought her to play with other kids while he did Village business. They had been given all sorts of toys to play with, and while other kids played with toy swords or got to shoot practice arrows at targets, she sat away in a corner, building things with blocks. She was a created rather then a destroyer… And that just didn't fit in their society.

She was different, but he loved her still. He just couldn't show that weakness to her or any other villager.

The Chief looked at the map, trying to get his mind away from the worrying, and pointed at the pictures of the dragons. "I can nearly smell it… They're close." He murmured to the two men waiting by his side.

When he stood up, he looked over and saw a thick wall of fog. They knew the den was in there somewhere, they had just yet to pinpoint the direct location. It was seemingly quiet this time around. Usually they could hear roaring in the distance.

"Hm. Take us in." He called to the Viking who was manning the boat.

"Hard to port!" He yelled, turning the lever that brought them to a turn. The other boats followed suit.

When they entered the fog, Stoick got a chill. His chills never meant anything good… He just hoped everything would finally work out in his favour.

"Y'know, I realized something last night Gobber, the book didn't have anything on Night Furies…" Hiccup pressed and looked at the man. "Is there like another book or a sequel or something? Anything on Night Furies at all?"

The girl jumped though when something hot got close to her hand, almost enveloping it. She looked to the side to see the axe her father had given her smouldering in flames from a fire ball. "Ah!" She called and waved it around to try and get the embers off.

Right… Dragon training. She thought.

"Focus Hiccup! You aren't even trying!" Gobber called to her from his spot outside of the ring and the girl chuckled nervously.

Today in training, the arena had been set up in a maze of sorts with high walls made of wood. They were supposed to all be able to manoeuvre through them, trying to flee the dragon of the day; the Deadly Nadder. The one that had currently locked eyes onto Hiccup and was charging her way. Hiccup squeaked at it and ran for her life through the maze's walls.

"Today is all about attack!" Called Gobber. "Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter!"

Hiccup turned to look behind her to see if it was still there. She gasped when she realized it had hopped onto of the barrier. She ran down the length of the maze and took a sharp turn. The Nadder tried to follow after her, hopping on the tops of the walls before becoming distracted and loosing her sight.

The small brunette thanked the gods that she had been born small now. She was very fast due to all her running away as a child and could outrun Fishlegs and Snotlout for sure.

Thinking of Fishlegs, she heard his screams from across the ring where he was running away from a barrage of the Deadly Nadder's tail spikes. The boy was using his shield to cover his body as he scrambled through the maze. "I am seriously beginning to doubt your teaching methods here!" He yelled.

Gobber rolled his eyes at the kid. "Just look for its blind spot, every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it and strike!"

Hiccup groaned. How were they supposed to do that when the thing wouldn't stop moving? She continued to dart down a corridor, almost slamming into Ruffnut and Tuffnut as they came down another one. "Watch where you're going dweeb!" One yelled at her, but she wasn't sure who. She would have warned them that they were going the wrong way but they probably wouldn't have taken her advice.

She looked back to see them both run straight into the face of the dragon. They slowly tried to move back and forth, seeing if the Nadder would let them go, or lose its attention. Something Ruffnut said must have bothered Tuffnut, as he shoved her and she shoved him back. They began to yell about something, making the Nadder seemingly angrier. Ruffnut luckily pulled her brother out of the way just in time to not be sprayed with molten fire.

They ran past Hiccup as the girl stopped by the spot Gobber was leaning over. "Hey!" She yelled, trying to get his attention. "So, uh, theoretically, how would one go about sneaking up on a Night Fury?"

Gobber looked at the girl, annoyed. Would she ever let this Night Fury thing go? "No ones ever met one and lived to tell the tale. Now go get in there!"

Hiccup nodded and backed up. "I know, I know, but if you were to think of something, what do you think would work-"

"Hiccup!"

The girl looked behind her to see Astren and Snoutlout crouched down near the edge of a wall, spying on something around the corner (she assumed it was the Nadder). They had been trying to get her attention, whispering for her to get down.

"Oh!" She whispered back and got in line behind them.

Stren peeked out the side of the wall and let out a breath before he flung himself forward, placing his shield down on the ground, rolling over it and bringing it with him behind the next wall he used as cover. Snotlout followed suit.

It would have been a genius plan if Hiccup didn't go and screw things up as usual. As she went to try the roll, she got over her shield, only not able to pull the shield with her due to her minuscule strength. Her shield clattered on the stone ground, alerting the Nadder. Hiccup was on her feet and running, just in time to avoid its snapping mouth.

"Oh god!" She cried as she ran, hearing the Dragon fly to the top and follow after her movements.

She ran past Astren and Snotlout who were still close together. Hiccup had realized that Snotlout wanted to be the best, but was jealous that Astren was far more of a natural than he. It had spun a one-sided rivalry. Astren, who had been about to throw his axe at the heart and probably wound it, was shoved aside by HIccup's fool of a cousin.

"Don't worry pretty-boy, I got this." He hissed and threw his mace. It would have made him seem cool, if the mace had hit of course. But instead, it had flung right to the side of it, hitting a wall and further alerting the Nadder. Astren gave the other boy a deadly glare.

"What!? The sun was in my eyes!" He declared to his arch nemesis, trying to defend himself. He ran after Astren when the boy turned to go, narrowly missing another spray of the Nadder's fire. The Nadder then decided to make a beeline after Astren himself.

The blonde boy ran down the corridor that Hiccup was down. As he passed her, he grabbed her by the back of her vest and pulled her along. "C'mon you fool!" He hissed and pulled her sharply down the next turn. Hiccup would have said something if she weren't so out of breath (or in shock that her crush was defending her). Hiccup made the mistake to look back, seeing the Nadder knocking over the walls and bringing down the maze.

Astren lead them back over to where Gobber was, and shoved her away from him. "Stay here. Away from the rest of us. And don't cause trouble." He growled and ran back off in the opposite direction.

Hiccup blinked and looked up at Gobber. She chuckled awkwardly at the mans knowing look. "Wh-What?" She stuttered. Trying to get him off that topic, she looked at him and asked, "So uh… Night Furies. Ever seen one napping? Has anyone actually? Could you point me in their direction?" She asked.

"Hiccup!"

Hiccup turned around with a groan, thinking, What now? She froze though, when she saw the Nadder coming her way, about to dive at her. Astren, who had been the one yelling at her, jumped in the nick of time and pulled her out of the way. The impact was hard and made Hiccup hiss in pain. She would definitely have bruises after this.

When Hiccup opened her eyes again, the sun was bleared out by the figure over her. After a few blinks, her vision cleared enough to show that figure as Astren. She swore her face must have turned over ten shades of red. It only further made her embarrassed when Tuffnut saw and cooed, "Oooh, lovers on the battlefield." Ruffnut rolled her eyes and then stated, "Nah, he could do better. Far better."

Astren looked disgusted as he got up and tried to grab his axe, which had seemingly embedded itself into her shield. He pulled at it, used her shoulder as leverage to push.

"Ow, Astren, why don't you let me- oof!" She had been trying to help, when Astren covered her mouth and shoved her head to the side. The boy looked over and gasped when he saw the Nadder coming towards them, the rest of the maze destroyed. He hopped up and grabbed the handle of his axe, pulling at it harshly. Hiccup yelped in pain as it tugged at the shield that was attached to her arm. She quickly pulled her arm out of the holder.

Astren, having felt the sudden relief, turned to the Nadder, shield still attached to axe, and smacked it in the side of the head. The shield broke around the axe, but the blade hadn't gone through to cut the beast. The hit had been hard enough to throw the Nadder's body to the side.

The blue, white and yellow dragon rose from the ground with a caw and skittered away dejectedly, as if it truly felt hurt.

Gobber nodded. "Well done Astren."

Astren paid the comment no mind, instead he turned to Hiccup who was slowly sitting herself up. He frowned at the girl and glared at her.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you? You could have gotten one of us killed!" He growled at her, making her flinch. She could feel the eyes of the others on her. "Our parents war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on." He turned and walked away, the other kids following his suit, though Fishlegs did stop to look at her for a moment before hurrying on.

Hiccup sat there and looked up to see Gobber shaking his head and turning to the village elder that had shown up sometime during the fight. He spoke soft words with her before she walked away slowly.

The brunette looked up at Gobber. "I didn't mean to… I swear." She called to him, feeling useless.

Gobber sighed. "I know kid. Why don't ye head home now and I'll clean this up."

Hiccup sighed and got up. She felt defeated, yes. But would she be going home and staying there? No.

Somehow, during watching the Night Fury before, Hiccup had gotten an idea.

After training, the girl had gone to her home to drop off the remnants of her father's axe and her beaten up shield. She in turn, grabbed her field journal, something to write with, a new shield and a fish. She then headed into the forest again.

Luckily, Hiccup was becoming more familiar with the woods, and it didn't take her as long to find the spot which held the Night Fury. She had also successfully found another crack in the stones that would lead her directly to the bottom of the cage-like place. This one was more narrow though.

As Hiccup walked down it, she slowed when she got close to the exit. She help up her shield and removed the fish from the satchel she brought.

She had the most brilliant idea the night before. If she wanted to get close to the Fury, she would have to cater to its needs. If it had been trapped in here for days, and wasn't able to catch its food, then it would be starving. Thus, her fish idea. Maybe with it, she could lure the Night Fury out so she could get a better look.

She took the grey scaled fish and threw it into the opening, then hid behind her shield, expecting the dragon to come put and get it as soon as she did so. After a few seconds though, that didn't seem to be happening.

Hiccup sighed and began to walk out of the small crack, only to stop when her shield got fought between the two rocks. She sighed and blew the hair from her face and ducked underneath it, trying to pull it from the other side. When it wouldn't budge, she just gave up on it.

The brunette slowly came forward and picked up the fish. She had to be cautious. The dragon hadn't killed her last time but it could be less kind this time around.

She crept through the area slowly, looking around curiously. She made it up to the pond and looked into it, wondering if it could possibly hide there, but no. She then continued to look by the vines and leaves but came up with nothing. When she was finally about to give up, thinking that maybe the Dragon had found its way out of the hole in the ground, she felt a presence behind her.

Hiccup slowly turned, fish in hand, to look at the rocks behind her. There, creeping over the ledge of the rocks was the Night Fury. It always seemed to look blacker than she remembered. Its wings were slowly spreading, and it looked like it was about to attack. It climbed lethally to the ground, sniffing at Hiccup, but staying cautious. It growled at her softly.

Hiccup bit her lip nervously and extended her hand with the fish in it. She felt like she was breathing too hard, so she tried to hold her breath as the Night Fury slowly stalked forward. It opened its mouth curiously at the fish, pupils becoming wider as it made a soft coo. Hiccup thought she was home safe until it recoiled and growled.

The girl didn't understand until she saw its eyes on her vest. She opened it up to reveal the dagger that was attached to her belt. The dragon growled at it angrily. Hiccup nodded softly. Okay, okay… Just remove it slowly Hiccup… She thought to herself.

When she reached for it, the Fury snarled at her and became more defensive; hunching back. Hiccup gasped and backed up a little bit. She reached for it again and grabbed it. This time, she pulled it out and held it out to her side, dropping it away from her.

The dragon still didn't seem impressed. It snarled softly and jerked its head to the side, as if saying, "Yeah right human, throw it away farther."

The freckled girl slowly scooped the knife up on her fur boot, balancing it there before she kicked it away. It fell into the water with a splash. The dragon looked at her carefully before suddenly sitting down, pupils widening, ears flicking up. Those green eyes stared at her expectantly.

Hiccup blinked. It's so smart…

She held out the fish again and watched its ear twitch curiously. It lowered itself to the ground again and began to creep forward. As it got closer to her, it reached out its neck and opened its mouth expectantly. Its gums were pink in its round mouth, and there were indents where teeth were supposed to be.

"Huh, you're toothless… I could have sworn you had-"

Suddenly, from the indents in the Fury's mouth, teeth surfaced and it quickly snatched up the fish from her hands. She gasped and reeled back as it finished the fish in a few short bites. It licked around its mouth with its forked tongue and looked at her.

"-teeth…" She finished with a squeak.

The Night Fury blinked at her before coming forward again, looking at her with curious eyes. Hiccup backed up nervously. "Uh, uh… I don't have any more. I only brought one w-with me." She continued to back up until she tripped on a rock, stammering. She fell on her behind, but that didn't stop the dragon from advancing. She pushed herself back until she felt a boulder behind her, stopping her path. "No, no, no.." She stammered as it's face came inches close to hers. "I… I don't have any more…"

The Fury stared her down before its eyes rolled back into its head and its body began to heave. It sounded like it was sucking wind up as its body jerked forward. Hiccup had no clue what it was doing until it opened its mouth and spat up part of the fish that had stayed whole, right onto her lap.

"Aw man… Ugh…" she muttered.

The dragon rose onto its back legs, almost like a human, before sitting down on his tail. It would almost be comical, a dragon acting like a human, if she weren't so scared out of her mind. She sat up a bit more slowly, watching the dragon curiously, as it looked at her expectantly. What did it want?

They sat there, staring at one another; Hiccup rather awkward as she held the bottom half of the regurgitated fish, and the Night Fury, waiting for her to do something. When she didn't seem to understand, the Fury looked at the fish and then back to her face, almost indicating something.

Hiccup looked down at the fish and frowned. What? Was she supposed to do something with the fish? Why in gods name would it barf it back up for her? This is when Hiccup remembered something she had read when she was little on a species called the wolf. When the wolf had young, the babies weren't strong enough to get food for themselves. Instead, the mothers would go out, kill their meal, eat it and then come back to the pups to regurgitate it into their mouths. Was this just like dragons, but instead of being something for babies, was she supposed to eat it in respect?

"Ugh…" She frowned. I suppose its worth a try…

She raised the fish to her face and opened her mouth, trying not to gag. It smelt worse now then it had when she had originally brought it here. The dragon looked at her, expecting her to bite, and she did, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"Mmm!" She hummed, trying to seem pleased as she ate the slimy, raw fish. She held it in her mouth, not wanting to actually let the fish get into her stomach. She held the fish out to the dragon, but it didn't take it. It emitted swallowing, watching her with wide eyes. She moaned softly. So it did want her to swallow it. Why was it so smart?

When she swallowed she almost puked it back up, and had to hit herself on the chest to make it go down. When she finished she took a breath and shuddered. That was disgusting.

The dragon looked almost pleased as it licked its lips with a slurp and then smacked its lips together. Hiccup sighed and then gave it her best smile, still trying not to feel disgusted.

The Fury narrowed its eyes at her before making odd guttural grunts. Its mouth twitched at the corners, trying to pul upwards until it was showing a gummy smile, teeth having been retracted.

Hiccup let out a soft, amazed breath. It was trying to smile at me…

She slowly started to stand up after she set the fish aside, reaching a hand to the dragon. She wanted to touch it. The Fury seemed to realize this too, as its teeth came out, it snarled at her and turned away quickly, jumping and gliding away. Obviously dragons weren't all that touchy.

Hiccup watched as it made its way to the other side and began to walk around in a circle, blasting fire on the ground as it did so. It then laid down in the toasty warm spot.

The brunette crept closer and sat down near the dragon, watching as it lay there contently. They stayed like this for a while until a bird chirped in a nearby tree, drawing the Fury's attention to it. It watched as it flew by with wide eyes, big pupils and upturned ears. That was until it realized the human girl was right there. It let out a low groan as Hiccup waved at it and turned to lay so that its wing covered its body and tail came up to shield its face.

Hiccup almost giggled, but slowly scooted forward. She was determined to get the dragon to let her touch it. She reached out slowly, almost able to reach its tail before the tail suddenly flew up and the dragons face looked at her unhappily from behind.

She bolted up, walked away quickly and acted as though nothing really happened. She even let out a soft whistle as she went. The dragon let out a chortle and walked away from the girl further.

Hiccup sighed. It would take some time, but she was sure she could do it.

Hiccup had stayed in the little valley until the sun was setting. She had tried multiple times to touch the dragon, but none of them had been successful. Eventually, the Night Fury had climbed the rock wall and decided to sleep, hanging upside down by its tail on one of the thicker roots coming from a tree. She hadn't been able to reach him, no matter how hard she tried, and decided to take a rest. She was now sitting on a rock by the water, using a stick to draw in the dirt. What she didn't realize though, was that she had caught the beasts attention.

She had drawn a few lines in the beginning, not knowing what to make, but before long it had seemingly turned into a drawing of the dragon. She paused when she heard a low growling purr behind her. She tried to hold back a smile at the dragons interest. Instead of acknowledging it, she continued to draw, adding in the eyes and its ears and little antennae.

Behind her, the Night Fury got up and walked away. Hiccup sighed softly, thinking the dragon had lost interest. Then she heard the snapping of a tree branch, and looked back to see the dragon walking about on its hind legs a branch with some leaves still on it, in its mouth.

The black dragon pressed the end into the dirt and began to drag it around, making lines in the earth like Hiccup had. It walked around on all four legs, pulling the branch to make lines. It curled around itself to make swirls in the dirt and finally finished its creation by dotting the earth once with the stick.

Hiccup stood and laughed happily, looking at what the dragon had done. It was by far no picture that made sense, but it was still so magnificent. The fact that this being was so intelligent to pick up on the things she could do and tried to imitate them itself was astounding.

You really are an amazing creature…

She stepped away from the rock, only to freeze when she heard the dragon growling at her. She looked up to see it leaning down in a crouch, looking about to pounce. Its eyes were narrowed at her feet. Hiccup looked down to see her foot was on one of the lines the dragon had created and slowly pulled it off of it. She watched the dragon relax and purr.

Hiccup hummed and looked at the line, wanting to try something out. She placed her foot on the line again and watched as the Night Fury growled again, eyes narrowed. She lifted her foot and got a purr as the dragon relaxed. She tried this a few more times and got the same result.

It doesn't want me to ruin its picture… This is… Hiccup smiled. This was beyond words. Somehow, without her knowing, the Night Fury had weaselled its way into her thoughts. And somehow, no matter how many times she tried to deny it, the dragon just seemed to human, so intelligent. Yes, so very much like herself.

Hiccup raised her arms to balance and slowly stepped over the line, onto the earth that was untouched. She looked at the dragon expectantly, but it stayed relaxed. She laughed softly and began to slowly twist and turn, treading light around the lines so she wouldn't anger the beast, until she was fully outside of the picture.

She smiled happily until she felt hot air blast down on her head, blowing her cropped locks around wildly. Hiccup slowly looked up to see the dragon towering above her, watching down on her small body. She turned slowly so they were face to face and slowly extended her hand out, pausing when it growled softly and pulled back slightly.

Hiccup let out a soft breath and looked at her hand and then the dragon. She closed her eyes and slowly reached her hand out. She couldn't see, couldn't protect or defend herself. She was doing what every Viking was born and raised not to do; trust a dragon. It could surely bite off her arm, or eat all of her… But yet, Hiccup only hoped it would trust her back.

When something touched her hand, Hiccup almost jumped away, but she stayed where she was.

What was beneath her hand felt smooth and warm. It was almost hard, but yet a bit squishy at the same time. It certainly wasn't wet, so it wasn't a mouth, which meant it wasn't eating her.

Her green eyes cracked open, only to met with lighter green ones. Her hand rested on the Night Fury's nose, and for an instant they stared at each other before it pulled back, nose wiggling. They looked at each other for one more second before it turned and went off.

Hiccup let out a soft breath. One instant was all it took.

Through that brief stare and that quick touch, Hiccup had felt a connection ever stronger than she had for a human. Looking into its eyes, she could see her own eyes reflecting back at her. No, not physically, but emotionally. They shared the same emotions.

Hiccup didn't know what was scarier, the fact that she had touched a dragon willingly, or that she had actually enjoyed doing it. There was one thing for certain that stood out now, that scared her the most.

They were two of the same soul, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Remember to review please, as it helps me and fuels me to write the next chapters faster.

Thanks!