A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! I'm still not sure how regular updates are going to be, but I have got a little more steam behind this story for the moment, so I'm optimistic I'll have some good stuff to write for a while yet. Enjoy this chapter, and please fave and review! Feedback keeps me motivated even when the writing is hard :)

Chapter Ten: Freedom

A great splash of water jarred Hiccup from her sleep. She gasped and bolted upright, both panicked and groggy. The girl came face to face with the culprit: Toothless was standing above the pallet she lay on, laughing at her with a few drops of water hanging off his chin.

"Toothless!" she reproached, mouth hanging open.

This only made the Fury laugh harder, deep rumbling warbles coming from his chest.

"Alright, that's it, you're going down, bud!" Hiccup threatened despite the grin on her face. Without further warning, she lunged at the great black dragon. "You're no match for the might of the fearsome Hiccup!"

She crashed into the dragon's hide, wrapped both arms around his neck, and then flung them both to the ground. Or, she tried to, at least. What actually happened was she tried to use her weight to drag them both down, but of course the attempt was ineffective. Her father, largest and strongest of all Vikings on Berk, was unable to overpower Toothless; scrawny Hiccup didn't even stand a chance. Still it was fun to roughhouse with Toothless even if it meant she never won.

So, instead of successfully tackling the dragon, Hiccup's mismatched feet scrabbled against the ground until they lost grip and slid out from under her. Hiccup was left hanging awkwardly off of Toothless' neck, and she heaved a long suffering sigh.

"You appear to have won this battle, worthy foe," she quipped, craning her head to look at Toothless' face. He met her gaze with his deadpan expression – mouth flat, eyes half-lidded – and huffed exasperatedly at her.

"Oh, don't you snort at me!" she scolded, still dangling sideways off of the dragon. "You didn't even try. Its no fun when you don't play back, killjoy."

Toothless narrowed his eyes at her, pupils narrowing to slits. Hiccup could practically hear him thinking 'oh, you want to play?' at her.

"Oh no," she muttered, just as Toothless struck. He grabbed a mouthful of the back of her tunic (long and woolen, purposefully designed for sleeping in while she was off adventuring), effectively hoisting her legs off the ground. Hiccup released her grip on his neck, arms contorted to too much of an awkward angle. Even though she dangled helplessly by the back of her nightshirt, the rider fought back, flailing her limbs as wildly as possible.

"You'll never take me alive, fiend!" she cried as he started walking, laughing when she managed to clip Toothless' jaw with the back of her hand. He groaned and chirped reproachfully at her.

"You started it," she replied petulantly, pausing in her flailing to fold her arms across her chest. Hiccup liked to think she had mastered the art of looking stubborn and defiant despite clearly being at Toothless' mercy while they played.

Toothless grumbled smugly back at her as they continued moving, and Hiccup narrowed her eyes in response.

"What are you planning?" she asked, side-eyeing him.

Toothless didn't respond, but a few seconds later, he paused. Hiccup turned her gaze away from him, curious. Why had he stopped.

She looked down, only to see nothing but open air below her.

And some waves crashing over the rocky coast, a hundred feet below.

"Aaaaeeiiiii!" she screeched, flailing brought back in full force as she tried to grab ahold of the dragon's neck once more. "Put me back, I surrender, I surrender!"

Toothless giggled (giggled!) around his mouthful of wool, and gently backed up until they were well away from the cliff edge. Then he dropped Hiccup unceremoniously, and she landed with a thud on the young spring moss.

"Ooof," she grunted, rolling from her stomach onto her back so she could glare at her best friend. "You played dirty, you sneaky reptile."

Toothless settled on his haunches, giving her his best gummy grin in victory.

"You may have won the battle, but the war isn't over!" she cried, playfully shaking her fist at the Fury. He smirked, and without warning dropped on top of her. His scaly head landed on her chest, knocking the wind from Hiccup's lungs.

"Oh gods," she wheezed, pinned underneath a few thousand stones' worth of dragon muscle and scales. "Alright, alright, you've won the war," she admitted weakly.

Toothless chirped happily at her, and Hiccup couldn't help but grin back. Then he licked her face, and she laughed even as she pushed his scaly snout away.

"Ew! Gross!" she complained, swiping at the dragon saliva left behind. "I'm gonna smell like dragon breath for the rest of the day."

Toothless only chortled at her.

"Alright, you little snot, lets see how you like it!" and with that, Hiccup gave chase after the Fury, her hands still sticky with dragon spit. Toothless danced out of her reach, and she chased him back to their packs.

It was midmorning by the time the pair had ceased their goofing off and actually gotten ready for the day ahead. Hiccup was freshly washed, and had taken advantage of the tranquil location to wash some of her dirty clothes. As they didn't plan to leave the small but comfortable island until the next day, she'd hung her wet clothes off some low-hanging branches to air dry while she and Toothless took the day to adventure.

"Ready, bud?" Hiccup asked. Toothless bounded to her side, eager for the exploration to begin. She laughed, patting her dragon's snout, and the two left their campsite.

Late in the afternoon, Hiccup and Toothless found themselves on the shore of their little hideout. Hiccup lounged in the sand, delighting in digging troughs with her prosthetic and letting the cold, early spring seawater spill through the designs in the sand. Toothless lazed by her side, a bit worn from crashing through the brush all day. The island was almost completely overgrown – there were trails here and there that were worn down, but Hiccup assumed these came from whatever wildlife was around. Toothless had forged their trails all day long, as his size and strength made it much easier for him to push through the undergrowth than Hiccup. The past four days had been devoted to exploring the surrounding area via flight, but Hiccup wanted one day to explore their sanctuary on foot. Toothless had grumbled discontentedly and rolled his eyes at this, but only in half-seriousness. He was much more graceful in the air, but he could manage a day on land.

While they trekked around the island, Hiccup had been surprised to see no sign of other dragons. There were no burn marks around, or large swaths of crushed plant life. Toothless left the largest trails by far, and he wasn't even close to being considered a large dragon. She supposed it wasn't that unexpected; they'd been here for days now, surely if another dragon was nearby Toothless would have seen signs of it, or it would have picked up Toothless' scent and sought the Fury out.

Hiccup sighed, letting the cold water rush up her sand designs. She would have liked to see more dragons, but this just clearly wasn't the place. They'd move on tomorrow anyway.

She frowned. She knew where she wanted them to go next, but wasn't sure how Toothless would respond. It was a tricky subject to broach, that was for sure.

"Hey, Bud?" she called. Toothless perked up from his lounging at the sound of her voice. Hiccup beckoned him over with a tilt of her head, and he obeyed willingly, black paws completely noiseless on the soft sand. He stood by her at the edge of the gentle lapping waves, his own head tilted in curiosity.

"I've been thinking; while this aimless wandering is fun, and we've explored so many cool places, I thought it might be nice to have a goal. Not a long-term one or anything, but something that might, like, take a few weeks or something. Um. And it obviously would need your approval because it's kinda sorta completely about you. Well not about you, but up to you because it concerns you most. I mean, I'm obviously interested but it's not the same. That is, it wouldn't affect me the same way, I guess, and – "

Toothless nudged her with his snout, clearly taking pity on her as she got more and more flustered. 'What is it?' was the clear sentiment in his eyes, his curiosity tempered with kindness to soothe Hiccup's nerves.

"I want to find other Night Furies," she blurted in one fast breath, then paused, heart pounding. It seemed so selfish to say aloud: as far as she could tell, Toothless had never given any indication of wanting to find more of his kind. She didn't know his history; perhaps he was the only Night Fury around for a reason, perhaps he had a bad past with others. Or – oh gods, what if he didn't know if there were other Night Furies, what if he was the last and she'd just reminded him of that fate. Hiccup could feel the blood drain out of her face, and she glanced at Toothless: he looked just as frozen as she felt.

Toothless was thunderstruck. He stared with wide eyes at his human, completely at a loss. Finding other of his race? He didn't know what to think.

Sure, he knew of other Night Furies. He had hatched in a litter with two siblings (both female), and his sires had other litters before his. In fact, his birthplace had been something of a haven to Furies. It was an island, north even of Berk, surrounded by hundreds of miles of ocean in every direction. That was part of what made it a preferable location for litter-raising; Night Furies were one of the few species of dragon with the flight speed, power, and endurance to cross hundreds of miles of ocean in one continuous flight. Most other airborne dragon species would fatigue and eventually drown due to the lack of any resting space. In addition to the safety it provided to hatchlings, it also provided solitude to the proud race of Dragons. Toothless' kind preferred to keep to themselves; isolated, aloof, distinct from the rest of dragon-kind.

It was part of the reason why he left, only a few decades into his life. Most hatchlings didn't leave Jan Mayen until well after their fifties. Some spent anywhere from decades to a century or two away from the nest, but most ultimately returned. Night Furies needed excitement and adventure and the chance to truly put their powers of flight to the test, and as such it was common for Furies to intermittently take decades-long trips and explore the world all through their long lifespans, but almost everyone came back to Jan Mayen, spent time at their origin between such sabbaticals.

But Toothless, even at the young age of thirty-eight, craved for something besides the proud posturing of his people. It was stifling – already he craved the challenge of flying hundreds of miles to a new landmass for the first time. He had always known his flight was exceptional, even amongst his kind. He had proven this many times over amongst his peers, and he was ready to leave them all behind, to show how truly great he was.

Of course, this caused conflict with some of his companions. Pride ran strong in their race, and no one took well to being outdone. While he was not afraid of conflict, the constant animosity from a select few over his talents had rapidly become tiresome.

Besides, though he'd never admit it, Toothless was vain. He had a beautiful hide, scales that perfectly struck that black-blue balance, and wings so graceful the winds should be envious. He didn't want to risk marring these features by fighting his discontent peers because they were jealous.

So he'd left. He'd left, and within two decades, his naivety had cost him the freedom he desired so much. He got caught up in the Queen's draw because he was young and foolish and cocky, and and for over two hundred he'd been under her control. He hadn't lost himself to her the way other dragons had, protected somewhat by the fierce independence that his race cultivated, but ultimately his adventures were cut short, his actions dictated by the Queen. He never had the chance to explore the way he'd wanted, to find out who he was and what he wanted to become. It had taken the painful loss of his tailfin to jarr him out from under the Queen's control.

While his original plan had been derailed, and he was still humiliated that he lost himself to the control of another dragon, he'd found Hiccup as a result of the whole fiasco. And no adventure could compare to the joy of them learning who they wanted to be, together.

So while he had his reservations about going back to Jan Mayen, and admitting all his naïve mistakes and personal failings, he was proud of who he'd become. He was a little curious to see if some of the Furies hatched around the same time as him were at Jan Mayen, and he did want to get word on his litter mates and sires. He had friends, way back before he left, it would be good to hear word of them.

His biggest worry, however, was Hiccup's safety. No human, as far as he knew, had ever befriended a dragon before, let alone a Night Fury. He wasn't sure how other Furies would take to the bond he shared with Hiccup, and the fact that he let her ride him. He wasn't sure they would understand, and he worried they would attack her for what could be perceived as a slight to their entire race. They would have to land in a very remote, deserted part of the island, and Toothless would have to approach his kind with caution. But he had to admit he was tempted.

Alright, he crooned at Hiccup, pressing his snout to her forehead. The tension that kept her small frame so rigid suddenly eased at the comforting gesture, and they both relaxed. Toothless looked straight at her and nodded once, clearly giving his consent to her plan. We start tomorrow.

A/N: And there it is! You got a little more backstory to Toothless' life this chapter, I hoped you liked it! As always, I look forward to your reviews, and I'm interested in your suggestions and what you would like to see in this story. Your feedback is my guide!

Love, Rays