DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING

Author's note: Whoa. This chapter's wayyyy longer than I wanted it to be, but I just couldn't find a good place to break it up into two parts.

Anyway, we're now starting more of the cute Hiccup/Toothless interactions, which is pretty much the whole reason why I wrote the story.

I just really want a dragon, okay? Toothless is adorable, and I wish I were Hiccup.

But with my outlandish hopes aside, I hope you enjoy this chapter! And if you get the chance, tell me how I'm doing!

And thanks to all the lovely people who left me reviews, favorites, and follows! I'm glad you like the story! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! :D

ALSO, one of my reviewers requested that I do a similar story based on Gift of the Night Fury. That definitely sounds like something I'd be interested in, and I'll get around to that when this one's done.

Well...continue on intrepid readers!


The next time the boy came around, The Dragon was prepared. He had heard the clumsy treads of the boy's feet, and smelled his strange, livestock/metal/human scent before he was barely a quarter-mile into the forest.

Ever since the child had surprised him, The Dragon had remained cautiously attentive with ears, eyes, and nose out for any more intruders. He couldn't afford to let anyone or anything sneak up on him again, whether the boy meant him harm or not. If he couldn't remain vigilant, he would become an easy mark for a hostile dragon or Viking.

But if the agonizing pain in his stomach was any indication, he was a dead dragon no matter what. It had been almost two whole days since he had eaten anything, and his hunger was unbearable. In truth, The Dragon wasn't sure how long his species could last without food, but he certainly didn't want to find out. Still, he couldn't imagine the pain in his stomach worsening, so he suspected that he was already on the brink of dying from starvation.

As the Viking boy approached—apparently squeezing through some rocks that were far too small for any larger creature—The Dragon hid behind a rock formation.

Last time, the boy had stayed safely out of The Dragon's reach. However, his close proximity suggested that he actually intended to interact now. This made The Dragon skittish, and he was fearful that the Viking boy might have reverted to his people's violent tendencies.

Normally, it would have been truly ridiculous for a dragon as fierce as this one to fear this tiny boy. He suspected that the child was a runt, even among his own people. But without so much as a fish in days, The Dragon was unsure whether he could fight off even someone as scrawny and defenseless as the Viking child.

So he hid, waited, and watched.

He saw the boy squeeze between the rocks, struggling with even the most minor physical activity. Another Viking contraption accompanied him—a round, wooden object of some sort. He recognized that the Vikings used those in combat, and became immediately distrustful. Before he could prepare to attack, the boy quickly wedged the flat object between two rocks. It appeared accidental, seeing as the boy fought to pull it free. Unfortunately for him, it was too tightly stuck for him to remove. So he abandoned it, and The Dragon decided to withhold his attack.

It was not long before Toothless smelled a different aroma—something very familiar and appetizing. He quickly identified a fish's odor, and its origin was the boy's hand. The child held one as he cautiously staggered into the ravine, his fear as apparent as ever. His head swung from side to side, obviously keeping an eye out for The Dragon. He had yet to see him hiding behind the rocks.

The smell of the fish was so tantalizing that The Dragon subconsciously left his cover, foolishly advancing toward the boy. The action went against his better judgment, of course, but right now, his stomach was controlling his body instead of his brain.

It wasn't long before the boy spotted him prowling over the rocks. At the sight of the dark creature, the child gasped and froze in fear. The Viking stood still as The Dragon continued moving toward him, the latter sniffing the air to catch the smell of that precious fish—though he still regarded the boy with suspicion. It could have been a trap of course, and The Dragon wanted to be prepared for that.

But he was also determined to eat that fish at any cost.

The boy's eyes were still wide with fear, but instead of retreating, he extended the fish out to The Dragon.

He wondered why the boy had brought him food. Was it a trap, like he feared? Or was it something else? A gesture of goodwill, perhaps? The boy's motives confused him greatly, and he tried his best to seem as intimidating as possible. If he meant The Dragon ill, then maybe he could scare the child out of his determination-and maybe he would drop the fish as he bolted.

But even if the child was a harbinger of danger, he did not flinch from The Dragon's stare.

Any inner willpower that The Dragon possessed was simply melting away. After all, the fish was right there-almost begging him to devour it. His body continued to move toward the boy without his permission, opening his salivating, hungry mouth with anticipation.

Suddenly, The Dragon spotted a metallic glint, peeking out from underneath the fur dressings that the child wore-most surely a weapon. At the sight of the sharp object, The Dragon was overwhelmed with an instinct of self-preservation that momentarily masked the pain of hunger. He growled, stiffening his body in a defensive stance, ready to attack the boy if necessary.

The reason behind the sudden change of mood became apparent to the Viking child, and he revealed the weapon concealed under his livestock skins. His hand went toward it, and The Dragon flinched-ready to protect himself.

The boy immediately moved his hand away from the sharp object, flinching with even more terror than the dragon had betrayed. His hand went to the weapon again, and it crossed The Dragon's mind that he should protect himself. But he didn't. Something about the boy's curt body language suggested that he didn't intend any harm toward The Dragon.

Instead, the boy grabbed the shiny item by its uppermost point, lifting it up and away from the Dragon. Then, he let the weapon slip out of his hands, and it fell to the ground.

Another gesture of goodwill, The Dragon supposed. But it was still within arm's reach, and that was anything but comforting.

Still on the defensive, he used his head to motion for the boy to kick the weapon away, and the human complied quickly, using his leg to actually toss it into the pond.

For a moment, The Dragon wondered why the child was risking his life this way. He was, quite literally, going defenseless into a dragon's den. If the situation were reversed, The Dragon certainly wouldn't have forsaken his weapon in the face of a deadly animal.

Actually, he had no need to reverse the situation. The Dragon was in the face of a potentially deadly animal-the human boy. And even The Dragon had his defenses. But the boy had nothing-just a fish, and that provided very little protection.

Why did the boy trust him so much? It made no sense.

A sort of warmth filled The Dragon's stomach, but it was not an indicator of a coming fireball. It was more gratitude, he supposed-and maybe not as unwelcome this time. He sat up, looking at the boy with an affection that The Dragon had never experienced before. Never before had someone been generous and trusting toward him.

The boy saw this as an invitation, and he held out the fish once more. In response, The Dragon continued approaching with an open mouth, his teeth already retracted. No need to scare the human more than he already had. In fact, retracting his teeth may have been the most trusting thing that The Dragon had ever done.

He was now close enough to touch the boy, and he waited with an open jaw, hoping that the child would drop that delicious fish into it.

But the boy was stalling, gazing with interest at The Dragon's gummy mouth. The human then made a guttural sound, and spoke a string of words from the Viking language.

"Toothless?" he began. "I could've sworn you had-"

Unfortunately, The Dragon was far too hungry to let him finish his foreign phrase. The fish was too mouth-watering, and as much as he wanted to avoid scaring the boy, satisfying his hunger was his first priority.

He let his teeth shoot back out, and he snatched the fish from the boy's grasp, hopefully avoiding his strange little human fingers. Chewing quickly, he allowed the fish to slide down his throat. As it did so, he closed his eyes, simply enjoying the feeling of eating again. The food instantly made him feel better, and he licked his lips.

"-teeth…" the boy finished, his voice nearly as small as his stature. The Dragon's sudden attack on the fish had obviously startled him, seeing as his arms were pressed to his chest protectively.

The Dragon suddenly felt bad. The boy had brought him the fish, yet he had done nothing but frighten the boy. In truth, The Dragon was unsure of how to interact with other creatures, especially in a generous manner. It seemed to him that he should give the boy something in return.

He stalked toward the boy again, and this time, the child panicked. He made all sorts of nervous sounds, but The Dragon just continued approaching him. Soon, he had pressed the Viking against a rock, their faces mere inches apart.

Time to be generous, The Dragon decided. He allowed part of the fish to slide back up his throat, promptly dropped it into the boy's lap after a variety of gagging noises. The boy made a face-one that The Dragon did not understand very well. He hoped it was excitement.

Perhaps The Dragon's behavior was discomforting to the boy. Maybe he should try to act more human.

So he sat up, sitting on his hind quarters with his torso erect, just like the Vikings were often seen doing. He then gazed down at the child, hoping that the new position eased some of the tension between the two. It was a selfish thought, but if the Viking stopped fearing The Dragon, it was possible that he would bring more food.

The boy didn't seem very inclined to eat the fish, which made The Dragon worried. So, he used eye movements to gesture to it, hoping the boy would understand that he was supposed to eat the fish remnants. Eventually, the child understood, and he took a tentative bite out of the food. However, he did not swallow it, which was concerning.

It crossed his mind that the boy did not even know how to eat. After all, he was awfully skinny.

So he pantomimed the action of swallowing, trying to teach the silly, naive Viking. The human obviously had some trouble learning, and it took some coaxing before he would even try. Finally, the child succeeded, and The Dragon was content. He didn't try to make him eat the whole thing-he simply didn't have enough patience.

What kind of creatures were Vikings, anyway? Why didn't they know how to eat, especially with all that livestock available?

Suddenly, the boy contorted his face into a strange expression. He was lifting his lips away from his jaws, exposing the teeth underneath. The Dragon hadn't really seen such a look before, but it did not seem threatening. Maybe it was some sort of human mannerism?

Intrigued, The Dragon narrowed his eyes at the boy, wondering whether his own mouth could make the same shape. With trouble, The Dragon lifted his lips off of his jaws, exposing the gums underneath.

The boy took this as an invitation, and he extended his hand-perhaps to touch The Dragon. That, of course, was not what the latter wanted, so he proceeded to growl. Mimicking the human's expression was obviously a mistake. He had probably accepted some sort of Viking request to be petted by accident.

So The Dragon did his best to fly away from the boy, bringing their little interaction to an abrupt end. He was only in the air for a few seconds before he tumbled to the ground, disappointed-as always.

His ears pricked up with the sound of a bird's song, and he spotted its nest in a nearby tree, automatically becoming overwhelmed with envy. Why could those slow, stupid birds fly while he was grounded? It wasn't fair. They were probably too dumb to even properly enjoy the thrill of flight.

When he looked back down, the boy was sitting right beside him, quickly becoming a nuisance. It wasn't an option to scare the boy away, seeing as he was The Dragon's only food source. So he tolerated his presence with difficulty, trying to block the child from view with his damaged tail.

For some reason, he felt the boy trying to pet him again, so he flicked his tail out of the way while giving the boy a pointed look. Finally realizing that physical contact was unwelcome, the Viking child sauntered away.