Unformatted text is Norse, or narration.

Italicized text is Irish.

Underlined text is Dragonese (which no humans will learn to speak, it's just fun to see what the dragons are saying sometimes).

Bold text is used for emphasis (and author's notes).

"Okay there, bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow." Hiccup stated as he patted Toothless on the neck. Aran smiled at the two of them as he glided nearby on Méaróg. He'd promised Hiccup that he wouldn't interfere unless the situation was dire enough. How Aran would determine that? He wasn't sure.

It seemed Hiccup had finally crafted the perfect saddle for Toothless, and after a number of much less dangerous test flights, he'd decided it was time. The two of them were by a cliff, above the great blue sea. Clouds were so close, one could almost reach out and touch them. It was a pretty safe location, in terms of obstacles being far off, but Aran had no doubt in his mind that they would run into some sort of trouble. Hiccup was checking his cheat sheet as he changed the position his foot was in. As the two flew around, testing the waters (so to speak), Aran noticed how much more flimsy the artificial tailfin looked when compared to the real one. The subtle frown on Hiccup's face either meant he had seen it too, or he was just nervous. Or both? They flew down, closer to the water, and Méaróg followed as they flew between two pillars of stone jutting out from the water. Aran took the pleasantly safe (for now) moment to think back to Méaróg's official meeting with Hiccup and Toothless.

The striped dragon had been so eager to finally meet the two of them that his immediate course of action was to tackle Hiccup. Obviously not used to such energetic approaches from dragons due to Toothless, he'd gotten the wind knocked out of him. Toothless had been on edge, growling at the slightly larger dragon. Upon noticing the night fury, Méaróg had excitedly bounded off of Hiccup, moving to sniff at Toothless. Not having been prepared for Méaróg's sheer friendliness, Toothless had shuffled away. Méaróg couldn't condone such behavior, and wound up chasing Toothless around the cove as their riders laughed. The night fury's whines of confusion fell on deaf ears, and Toothless attempted to take to the sky, ultimately ending up in the water. He was quickly followed by Méaróg, who splashed in after him, flapping his wings around and creating splashes of incredible size. Toothless sent both Hiccup and Aran unamused looks as he resigned to his fate, and Méaróg plopped himself on top of the other dragon.

After Toothless walked to shore, Aran supposed Méaróg must be the younger of the two. The pink dragon went back to Aran, nudging and rubbing against him, getting his clothes wet. He laughed at him, until the dragon decided it was time to lick his human brother's freckled face. Needless to say, Aran didn't appreciate that, and after a moment, he was chasing his brother around instead. The chase ended with Méaróg tackling them, and evolved to a wrestling match which Méaróg, predictably, won without too much trouble. Aran put up a pretty good fight though. Hiccup's green eyes met Aran's brown ones with some form of surprise as he laid on the ground, dragon resting on his abdomen. The look Aran returned, with one of his thick eyebrows raised, almost seemed to ask him if he thought it was weird. Hiccup laughed, deciding it was just different. He himself was definitely not strong enough to wrestle with Toothless, but he supposed Méaróg was probably holding back when fighting Aran.

All of them had ended up lying around for a while after Méaróg got off of Aran. Hiccup noted that the desert wraith didn't enjoy tucking his wings in, and acted younger and more immature than Toothless. While Toothless had seemed genuinely annoyed by the younger dragon, Hiccup gradually began to realize that he was just acting annoyed for fun. There was a glint of mirth in his eyes as he batted Méaróg with his tail. The two humans talked about Méaróg's saddle, which had needed to be made with the large base of his wings in mind, while the dragons messed around. For some reason, the younger seemed overly fond of wrestling, and he dragged Toothless into a play battle. The night fury won, and Méaróg seemed shocked. Before the two could have a rematch, Hiccup announced that he was ready for his test flight.

And that brought them to where they were now, with Aran reminiscing on events of only an hour ago. After having idly watched Hiccup crash him and Toothless into some stone pillars (with no injury), he watched them climb higher and higher into the sky. He let the younger boy get rather far as he paused to adjust his hair, wishing his bangs would stop hitting him in the face. Maybe he should get something to keep the red strands pulled back. It was at that moment that he saw Hiccup begin to fall through the air, Toothless flailing around in panic. Aran moved closer, but before he could have Méaróg pull them to safety (the assumed plan was to get Hiccup on his back before diving after Toothless), Hiccup shouted at him.

"No- no, no, wait I almost-!" He got whacked by Toothless's tail.

Somehow the hit changed the angle of both of them in a way that allowed Hiccup to grab hold of Toothless's saddle, pulling himself back on and slipping his feet into place before latching himself back onto the saddle. He pulled back, Toothless's wings billowing out and catching the air to slow their descent as Aran and Méaróg chased after them. They were quickly approaching a stretch of stone pillars, and Hiccup tried to look at his cheat sheet, but to no avail. The wind was blowing too hard, and he wound up letting it fly away as he trusted in his instincts.

The gamble paid off, and the two of them were twisting and turning, avoiding obstacles and weaving between pillars as if they were made for each other, and had never been complete until that very moment. It was an incredible thing to see, and after a split second, Aran had determined they were safe, so he instructed Méaróg to fly above the pillars. They watched from above, Aran in awe of the speed the two were going at. He had never worked much on his speed with Méaróg, as the pink dragon seemed very content with not flying quickly. They could probably pull it off if they really tried, but there had been no real need to as of yet.

After Hiccup and Toothless made it to safety, Hiccup let out a yell of triumph, Toothless following up with a blast of fire. Aran laughed at Hiccup's groan as his face got singed, and the four of them landed on a nearby island, Aran immediately checking to make sure Hiccup didn't get a serious burn. Luckily, by the time the flames had reached his face, they'd cooled down considerably, so there was no real damage save for the soot on his hair and face. Aran thought it looked funny, seeing him with his hair blown back like that, so he didn't bother to fix it, instead working on helping Hiccup to build a fire as he sent Méaróg off to go get them all a nice pile of fish. Méaróg brought the pile in several short trips, bringing about six fish back with them each time.

They wound up with two piles of fish; one for Toothless, because he didn't want to share with Aran or Méaróg, and one for the rest of them. Hiccup and Aran were in the process of cooking their fish while Méaróg gobbled away at his own pile. Toothless regurgitated a fish head for Hiccup, who was leaning against him. He politely declined, as he already had his fish. Aran laughed, as he told Hiccup he had been watching when Toothless made him eat the raw fish before. Hiccup's cheeks flushed red as he silently took a bite out of his fish, which might have not been fully cooked. It was better than the raw, slimy thing he'd had to eat to gain Toothless's trust, however.

At that point a small group of terrible terrors ("Mischievous bravesnouts!" Aran insisted) flew in, intending to steal fish from them. They left Méaróg alone, because he had already almost finished his pile and Toothless's seemed to have more promise. Toothless growled protectively, covering his fish up with his front legs. He glared at the two who fought over the regurgitated fish head intended for Hiccup before his attention was caught by one sneaking away with one of his fish in its mouth. The night fury snapped forward, playing a short game of tug of war before winning and devouring the fish in front of it and letting out what seemed like some attempt at a laugh. Mischievous bravesnout seemed to be an apt name for the creature as it dug its claws into the ground, as if preparing to charge, before sucking in a breath, letting the gas build in its mouth to let out a breath of fire. Toothless thwarted its plans by shooting a small blast into its mouth. The poor thing fell over before woozily wobbling away. Hiccup laughed as Aran smiled at the scene, biting into their own cooked fish.

"Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?" He asked the small dragon, tossing a fish over to it. "Here you go." He watched the small dragon devour the fish before looking at him with wide eyes and crawling over to nestle against him, situating itself under his arm. A look of wonder entered his green eyes as he spoke his next words, voice soft. "Everything we know about you guys is wrong…"

"They're kinda like weird cats." Aran commented, a smile on his face. "So, what do you think of my name for 'em?"

"What did you call them again?"

"Mischievous bravesnouts!" Hiccup thought back to the small dragons trying to steal fish from Toothless, and how the one had tried to fight the much larger dragon despite the obvious disadvantages.

"I gotta hand it to you, that's a pretty accurate name."

Hiccup reached up, trying to shake the soot out of his hair and return it to its usual position. There was a moment of quiet as the bravesnouts ate their fill of fish, most of them happy with just one fish. Toothless refused to share, despite his pile being the largest, and despite Méaróg's pile being much smaller, he wound up being the one to feed the tiny dragons. By the time all of them had eaten their fill, Méaróg's pile was gone. The desert wraith didn't seem to mind, however, and after an energy filled day of tackling Hiccup, chasing Toothless, being chased by Aran, and wrestling with both of the later two, he was rather exhausted, electing to take a nap. All of the bravesnouts, save for the one that was now crawling onto Hiccup's lap, nestled up under his large, striped wing. Smiling at them, Aran turned their attention to Hiccup, who was looking at the small dragons. Aran stifled a laugh at Hiccup's failed attempts to fix his hair, and the younger boy's cheeks flushed as the redhead sat closer to him to take matters into his own hands. A rain of soot fell from his brown locks, and Aran noted that the hair was surprisingly soft.

That was before he remembered that the vikings were a lot more clean than he'd expected when he first arrived on the Isle of Berk. Most of them tended to bathe at least once a week, compared to what he was used to in terms of bathing once or twice a year. Oftentimes, he would glance around and notice one of the villagers brushing their hair or beard, and there were all kinds of soaps around despite the hard times and constant dragon raids. Aran thought of his own hair a little as he ran his fingers through Hiccup's. It was kind of matted and tangled, and not very soft. Though his bathing habits had become more regular since arriving on Berk, he still only bathed maybe two or three times a month. Back in his hometown, he'd been called a clean freak for bathing once a month, so it was rather strange to feel so dirty despite this. After a while, he realized Hiccup's hair had more than returned to its normal state as he had let his thoughts escape him. The viking boy seemed rather content having Aran card his fingers through his hair though, so he didn't feel bad for having gotten distracted.

"The sunset is beautiful from here." Aran commented as he retracted his fingers. Hiccup's eyes had been closed, and he opened them, blinking a few times.

"Yeah…" He looked relaxed, almost as if he never really wanted to leave the small, dry island the two of them had found. Aran glanced over at Toothless, who seemed to be drifting off to sleep, before looking at Méaróg and the bravesnouts, who had already reached dreamland.

"Come on!" Aran clapped his hands loudly as he stood up, kicking dirt onto the fire. Hiccup and Toothless seemed startled out of their drowsiness. "Today has been really fun, but as much as I love this island, people are going to wonder where we've been all day." He knelt down by Méaróg's head, smacking his snout hard enough to wake him up, but not hard enough for it to really hurt. As soon as he stood up, the small flock of dragons that had buried themselves under his wing began to stir.

"Gods, that's the last thing we need." Hiccup nudged the bravesnout on his lap, waiting for it blink its large eyes open before standing up and brushing dirt off of himself. Toothless stood up as well, and Aran noted that he didn't even finish his fish.

"Yeah. You guys can take the rest of the fish." He spoke to the small dragons, who let out their funny little high pitched cries as they dashed towards the fish, grabbing all of it in their small claws before flying away. Aran and Hiccup laughed. "Oh, and I know you're probably dying to get back to the forge so you can figure out how to make Toothless's tail more sturdy." Aran smiled.

"You know me too well." He shrugged, mounting Toothless as Aran did the same with Méaróg.

The flight back to Hooligan Village was pleasant, spent mostly in a content silence, or idle chatter about Toothless's tail. Méaróg seemed to be having some sort of conversation with Toothless as well, and their riders wished they could understand what they were talking about. As the four of them touched down in Toothless's cove and dismounted, Toothless immediately burned a circle in the dirt and settled down, ready to fall asleep. Aran noted that it was a cute habit of his, and Hiccup had to agree. Méaróg nudged Aran lazily, cocking his head in a questioning manner before Aran told him he would probably hang out with Hiccup in the forge until they decided they wanted to head to sleep. The sun had just barely finished setting, so they had some time. Aran and Hiccup left the cave, and Méaróg elected to stay and nap with Toothless. The two humans had a very Irish conversation about their dragon friends, and couldn't help but enjoy their 'secret code' that made sure nobody could decipher their conversation.

They hung out in the back room of the forge, where Hiccup bounced ideas off of Aran as the heavily freckled boy tried his best to give his input. While Hiccup wasn't in the mood to really make anything, he wanted to figure out the best course of action ahead of time. After a while, their discussion trailed off to friendly banter as both of them sketched things out in their respective sketchbooks. Aran's drawing was one of Hiccup and Toothless, while Hiccup's was, quite predictably, different design ideas to improve Toothless's artificial tailfin. The conversation died down to a pleasant silence, interrupted only by the sounds of the night. Aran dozed off on the stool he was sitting on, back leaned against the wall. He had hung his jacket somewhere nearby, as it wasn't a particularly cold night, and Hiccup found himself putting his head down at the table, face angled towards his older friend.

Aran's shirt exposed his shoulders for some reason, going straight across instead of having a neck scoop down. Said shoulders were covered in freckles, just like his face and hands. It seemed every part of his skin was covered in the small dots, and Hiccup vaguely remembered the time that he had seen him shirtless two years ago when he'd first arrived on the island. Most of his skin did have freckles, if he remembered correctly. The thick straps of the dark tank top were the only things to interrupt the landscape of freckles, save for the bit in the middle that clearly showed the scar from the burn on his chest. Only a small bit of the scar was visible, but Hiccup often found himself glancing down at it, wondering what he'd done to himself to get it.

Suddenly embarrassed to be staring at his friend's chest, Hiccup brought his eyes to his face. Long lashes brushed against his cheeks, closed lids bearing freckles as they hid his warm brown eyes. Aran had very kind eyes. They were kinder than his eyebrows were thick, and Aran had some surprisingly thick eyebrows. It was a good look for him, though. A lock of his red hair was perpetually wrapped in a metal spiral that had a coin bearing some sort of Irish symbol on it (Hiccup remembered Aran calling it a Triskelion once, but he couldn't be sure he was remembering that correctly). His red hair, which had previously been tied back with a thick leather strap, fell loosely around his shoulders. Part of Hiccup wondered if Aran liked any of the girls in the village.

He'd called Astrid cute before, but often said he hated her personality and constantly argued with her. The only other girl around their age he could think of was Ruffnut, and while Aran did get along swimmingly with Ruffnut (the two tended to joke around a lot, and Hiccup honestly wouldn't be surprised if the female twin had a thing for his foreign friend), he found himself not wanting such a thing to be true. Though, Aran did call Ruffnut cute too… Hiccup wondered why he even cared. He supposed it was because Aran was his only human friend around his age, and if Aran got a girlfriend, he probably wouldn't want to hang out with him anymore.

Frustrated by his thoughts, he focused his gaze on some notch in the desk as opposed to Aran's face. Hiccup flicked his stick of charcoal up the desk, waiting for that unknown force to bring it back down the slanted surface. He let his eyes focus on his charcoal, and the sound it made against the wood, readjusting its position every time it went askew. With Aran asleep, he really should be waking him up so he could go home, but he didn't really want to. It was nice having him there, instead of staying alone. Hiccup wasn't really fond of being alone, because that's all he ever had been until Aran had come along two years ago. As he righted the charcoal for what seemed like the hundredth time, he glanced to the left, startled by the sight of his father standing in the dimly lit area. He immediately stood up, standing in front of the desk as he tried to shove all his papers together and out of his sight.

"Dad, you're back!" It would be really bad if his dad saw those papers with Toothless's tail designs on them. And the saddles? Hiccup almost shivered, stammering over his words slightly. "I, uh, Gobber's not here, so-"

"I know." Stoick sent a glance at Aran, who was starting to stir awake after the large man bumped his head against something. "I came looking for you."

"You did?" He closed his sketchbook, wishing he hadn't left all of his stuff lying around. He hadn't exactly been expecting his father to return that night and come to the forge, though, so he couldn't really blame himself. Not too much, at least.

"You've been keeping secrets." The image of Toothless attempting to smile popped up in his head, and panic shot through him.

"But- I- uh- I have?" He hoped his stammering wasn't too bad, even though he knew it was pretty bad. Aran made eye contact with him, and Hiccup wasn't comforted when he saw the same panic in his friend's eyes that he was feeling himself.

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?" His voice sounded so quiet and intimidating that Hiccup felt himself sweating.

"I-I-I don't know," He paused, swallowing a lump in his throat. "What you're-"

"Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it." His voice was firmer, louder, and Hiccup almost flinched. "So let's talk about that dragon."

"Oh gods," Hiccup accidentally pushed a paper off of the table as he leaned his weight on it. "Dad, I'm so sorry, I-I-I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how to uh…" Stoick started laughing, and Hiccup was then confused. Him and Aran shared equal looks of confusion, and he laughed awkwardly along with his father. "You uh, you're not… upset?" He felt extremely relieved. His dad knew about Toothless and was laughing so jovially with him? Was this a dream?

"What? I was hoping for this!" Aran almost walked out, but Hiccup sent him a pleading look, so he just stood awkwardly behind the chief.

"Uhh, you were?"

"And believe me, it only gets better! Just wait til you spill a nadder's guts for the first time," Oh. Oh no. "And mount your first gronkle head on a spear? What a feeling!" He gave Hiccup what was likely supposed to be a gentle and friendly punch, but the force of it sent him back down in his chair. "You really had me going there, son. All those years of the worst viking Berk has ever seen!" Hiccup felt his heart drop to his stomach, and he felt sick. "Odin, it was rough, I almost gave up on you, and all the while you were holding out on me. Thor almighty!" He sighed, and Hiccup wanted to die. "With you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about."

He pulled the chair Aran had been sitting on closer, and father and son stared at each other. It was a tense silence, and Hiccup avoided his eyes. The dim lighting surrounded them, and a few sighs escaped them as they failed to start a conversation. It was incredible to be looking at his father at eye level, but all it did was remind Hiccup that the only reason that was possible was because his father was slouching on a short stool as Hiccup stood at his full height. He felt scrawny, weak, and pathetic. His father wildly misinterpreted, though that was really no surprise, and he was so excited to talk to someone Hiccup just couldn't be. His father's words were just a confirmation of Hiccup's fears. That he saw him as the worst viking to ever exist, and really, Hiccup supposed it was true. He was the worst viking to ever exist. After what felt like years, Stoick spoke.

"Oh. Yeah." He sounded awkward as he picked something up. "I-I brought you something." It was a helmet, and the horn squeaked as Stoick twisted it into place. "To keep you safe. In the ring." He handed it to Hiccup, who held it by the horns, unsure that he really wanted it.

"Wow… Thanks." While he wasn't sure he really wanted it, he couldn't deny that the craftsmanship was top notch, even if it was simple.

"Your mother would have wanted you to have it." He explained as Hiccup rubbed it in appreciation. "It's half of her breastplate." He immediately took his hand away, laughing awkwardly. "Matching set." Stoick tapped his finger on his own helmet. "Keeps her close, you know? Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held up your end of the deal." Hiccup made some odd noises as he put the helmet on the desk, not sure what to say, before yawning in such an exaggerated manner he wasn't sure how his father couldn't tell it was fake.

"I should really get to bed-"

"Yes."

"Right about now." He finished.

"Good. Okay. Good talk."

"Yeah, I'll-I'll see you back at the house. Great, uh, thanks for stopping by, and for the, uh, the breast hat."

"I'll uh, yup. Goodnight."

Stoick turned to walk away, Aran stepping out of the large man's path before staring at Hiccup. Aran heard Stoick sigh through the door in unison with his son before hearing a large crash that signified that he'd knocked a box of weaponry over. Groaning as he registered that he would have to be the one to clean that because Hiccup's strength wasn't best, he walked over to Hiccup, asking if he was okay. Hiccup avoided his eyes as he claimed he was fine, so Aran decided this was one of those times Hiccup decided he was too proud to admit was he was really feeling. He pulled the younger boy into a hug, which lasted a decent length of time. It wasn't that the two didn't usually hug, it was just that their hugs weren't usually very long, or they were one-sided with Aran initiating, or they were from the side with one arm while sitting on Aran's couch. Aran's mother always said a good hug could lift anyone's spirits, and he'd taken this philosophy to heart, so that was probably why he was the one who usually hugged Hiccup, as Hiccup had never even known his mother and his father wasn't exactly the most caring and hands on parent. That was why it sort of surprised Aran to feel Hiccup return the hug, burying his face into his hair as he did so. It suddenly made Aran wish his hair wasn't tangled. They stayed like that for a long while, Aran rubbing his back soothingly. Hiccup was the one to pull away, and Aran vaguely noticed that his cheeks were flushed pink. He was probably embarrassed by the hug. Hiccup wasn't a very touchy person, all things considered, so it wasn't surprising.

"Uh, I- sorry, I just-" Aran smiled kindly at him, warm brown eyes crinkling at the corners.

"It's fine. I get it, that was pretty hard to hear. There's no shame in needing a hug, you know. My mother always said-"

"A good hug can lift anyone's spirits, I know." Hiccup smiled back, cheeks still pink. "You only say it every time you hug me." Aran laughed.

"I guess I do, huh." Hiccup noticed his smile turn bittersweet, as if he'd remembered something.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, it's fine." He sighed. "Your dad hasn't let me take a boat back home, and I don't want to just disappear with Méaróg and no explanation, so I just have to hold onto the hope that she's still alive." Aran forced the smile back onto his face. He didn't need Hiccup trying to comfort him. Hiccup needed someone strong to help ground him and keep his anxiety down and reassure him. He had to be that person for him.

"Hey, at least you had a mom!" Hiccup laughed, and Aran frowned. Hiccup must have read his mind, because he kept talking. "I didn't know my mom, it's- it's fine. I can't really miss someone I never met." A strained smile was on his face, and Aran felt his curiosity grow about something.

"So… About that song that, well, got me kicked out of your house…" Hiccup tensed, and though Aran knew he didn't want to talk about it, he wanted an answer more than he wanted to allow Hiccup to avoid the subject. "I know it was important to your dad." Hiccup bit his lip, fidgeting with the hem of his tunic slightly. "And I know you don't want to talk about it, considering that you've avoided the subject for two years."

"It was their song." He blurted out. "I-" Hiccup averted his eyes. "It was their song." Aran nodded. His suspicion was correct. "He didn't- Dad didn't tell me that, though. It was Gobber. I asked him about it when I was like, eight."

"Well, that's all I wanted to know." Aran picked up one of the papers that had fallen on the floor, gathering them up for Hiccup before handing them to him. "Do you want me to walk you home?" Hiccup's cheeks flushed slightly as he took the papers, putting them away and slipping his sketchbook into his vest as he shook his head.

"No, that's fine." He blew out the candles as they left the room.

"Stoick knocked some weapons over when he was leaving." Aran warned. "Make sure you don't trip. I'll clean them up and head home, so don't worry about it." He said as he lit a candle.

"Right. Goodnight, Aran." He felt a little awkward still, but Aran's smile betrayed no such feeling.

"Night, Hiccup."

As the chief's son left, he heard the telltale signs of someone arranging weapons. He couldn't help but agree with Aran's possibly dead mother. The hug really had lifted his spirits, even if he felt a little awkward.

Word Count: 4,979

Okay so I think I said the Green Death instead of the Red Death in one of my previous author's notes. That was a mistake. I've been playing Rise of Berk a lot tho and I'm working on releasing the Green Death so can you really blame me?

On another note, I took this chapter to describe Aran in great detail, because I haven't really done that before, and you know what every other character looks like. Even with Mearog, you can just like, google 'desert wraith dragon' and see what they look like, so... Anyways, if you care, I also went back to previous chapters and updated them to fix some typos and add some more descriptive words. It's not too big of a change, especially because of how much detail I tried to describe Aran in with this chapter as Hiccup slowly realizes that he's maybe not straight, so you don't really have to go back and read the updated chapters, but you can if you want.

I'm actually at my dad's house right now, so I don't have access to my trusty desktop that I love so much, and that's why I didn't update sooner haha... Anyways, stay tuned for me to continue to rewrite already existing scenes with like barely any twist to them whatsoever :^) One day I'll do more original things. That day is not today, but really. One day.