Well, this chapter marks the end of my backup supply of chapters. Meaning if there are any delays, the story might be late. However, it came at the perfect time! With my sports over, and the play finished, I can commit more time to the story!

mr abomination: If you want an answer, Google! But also, a site called 'Hurstwic' has a HOARD of information on everything Viking! As for the idea, I'm not too keen on the idea, but I'll give it some thought.

xMidnightAurorax: Yes, I have OCRD, Obsessive Compulsive Replying Disorder. I feel obliged to respond to every review I get. In this chapter, there will be Hiccup-Toothless interaction, and next chapter will most likely be more on Hiccup's past.

Guest (4/21): Probably not, however if that idea interests you, a fanfiction called 'The Outcast Returns' has something similar.

Argon: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and you can be sure that Astrid will be changing her view a lot!

Saienai: Wow... when I saw your name, I had to click on your profile, just to reassure myself it was THE Saienai. Honored doesn't even begin to describe what I feel! The pictures will be making appearances throughout the story, no I'm not too fond of Stoick, yes I love 'I Hear Him Scream' as well, and the Stoick part is mostly because I see him as impulsive, stubborn (of course), and the type to hold a grudge.

Dragon Spirit: Similar to mr abomination's idea, I'm not eager to take on the idea, but I will think about it.

Anyways, enjoy!

The next week was what Toothless nicknamed 'Learning Week', and what translated into 'Living Hel' for Hiccup. Torin and Toothless were working him from first light to sundown, with small breaks for meals and snacks. Hiccup learned everything a dragon should know; hunting, stealth, formalities, and even healing (Which Hiccup found incredibly peculiar). However, the one thing he had yet to learn, and that he begged for throughout the week, was flying. He had carefully observed Toothless and Torin, taking mental notes on everything. However, simply watching couldn't help him do everything. Now it was Freya's day, and Toothless had finally relented.

"Don't be discouraged if you fall. It's expected. And are you sure you remember the steps? Wait… I think we forgot breakfast, you can't fly without eatin-"

"Toothless! Stop fretting over me!"

Torin was off to the side of the cliff, snickering at the scene before him.

"Keep in mind we'll catch you if you fall, so don't worr-"

"TOOTHLESS!"

"Ok, ok, just making sure."

Hiccup sighed, and walked to the edge of the cliff. He nervously looked at the water far below, watching it crash into the cliff face. Wonder if that'll be me soon… Hiccup dispelled the morbid thought with a quick shake of his head. Now was not the time to let doubt in. Ok, let's see. Extend all fins and wings… Hiccup slowly stretched them out, making sure they were all in place. Ok, now, crouch, lean back a little…and here we go…

With a powerful thrust of his legs, Hiccup shot into the air. Exhilaration filled him as he felt the air whip past his head and under his wings. Seeing the ground drop away, without falling, was intoxicating. Hiccup decided then and there that flying was his new favorite thing to do.

The victory was short-lived, however, as Hiccup started to plummet down to the water. He could hear the frantic cries of Toothless, who was probably speeding after him now. Even while the sea was rapidly advancing, Hiccup couldn't help but roll his eyes at Toothless' antics. He was grateful to have somebody care for him, but Toothless took that to an entirely new level.

Hiccup's wings curled inwards as he rolled over in the air, the water fast approaching as the wind threw the ocean spray into him. Ok, stay calm, stay calm... and there goes the calm. Fear started to creep in, threatening to make him lose his concentration, but he kept it at bay. Almost… NOW!

With a loud WOOSH, Hiccup extended his wings and all his fins, the sudden resistance pulling at his wings viciously. A low grunt escaped him as he forced his wings to stay out, and at last the wind relented as Hiccup settled into a steady glide across the water. The fear and adrenaline started to fade away, elation replacing it, and with a joyous cry, Hiccup did a back flip, celebrating his victory. Toothless, however, did not seem to share in Hiccup's enjoyment.

"Hiccup! Are you ok? You almost died! I knew you weren't ready for flyi-"

"Toothles-"

"You cut me off a lot, you know."

"Toothless, calm down!"

"How can I be calm!?"

"I had it all under control."

"It didn't look like it."

"But I was," Hiccup grinned mischievously, "That was payback for scaring me."

"What do you mean, scari…" Toothless trailed off, realization dawning on him. "What!? You mean you still remember… HICCUP!"

Hiccup had already sped off, flapping his wings for all he was worth. But even with the certainty that he was going to get caught and probably punished, Hiccup laughed, enjoying the sweet taste of revenge.

-ToothlessGoesBerserk-

Hiccup seemed to be a natural at flying, and was able to hold off Toothless for a full minute. After that, Hiccup was dragged to shore by the scruff of his neck, all the while with a lopsided grin on his face. Torin was bemused by the events, watching it with a raised eyebrow; or as best as he could do one. Of course Toothless, as Hiccup feared, was not very cordial to him.

"What were you THINKING!? What if you didn't pull out in time? And you scared me half to death! And then you had the audacity to run away from me!"

"And he held you off for a full minute," Torin interjected, getting bored of the tirade Toothless had been carrying on for far too long. "not to mention the strain and control that maneuver would have taken."

"That's beside the point! Don't do something like that ever again, Hiccup, ok?"

"Yes, mother." Hiccup said, his voice laced with his hallmark sarcasm.

"I certainly feel like one. I have to constantly watch out for you."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

"No, you're not."

Hiccup glowered, but he knew Toothless was right. It was his namesake, after all. He messed nearly everything up. His tracking was horrendous, his fireballs never cooperated with him, and his fighting skills were close to non-existent. The only things he had some amount of proficiency in were stealth and, as he just found out, flying.

"Fine, you parental reptile, I won't do it again."

Toothless growled slightly, anger still coursing throughout him.

Hiccup growled back, "I said I won't do it again! What more do you want?"

"To get a sense of self-preservation!"

"I have enough self-preservation!"

"It didn't look that way when you jumped in front of the axe!" Toothless snapped.

Silence gripped the small beach in a death hold. Hiccup was staring at Toothless in shock; not quite believing Toothless had gone that far. Toothless couldn't believe it either.

"No, no, I didn't mean that Hiccup, I'm sorry, I overreacted…" He crooned.

Hiccup didn't respond, instead giving Toothless a look filled with sorrow. Hiccup turned around and trudged back to the cave; his shoulders slumped, head downcast and paws dragging slightly.

"I really didn't mean it…" Toothless whispered.

Torin didn't reply, instead glancing towards Hiccup, "I'll go talk to him. See if he needs anything."

Toothless only watched as Torin chased after Hiccup.

-HiccupContemplates-

Hiccup barely noticed Torin walking beside him as he wandered aimlessly through the forest. The old action brought a small amount of comfort to him, but hardly enough to placate the storm of emotions going on inside him. His mind couldn't stop returning to what Toothless had said. Was that really how Toothless saw it?

A lack of self-preservation?

While the rational side of him screamed no, his heart said otherwise. Hiccup's thoughts drifted to other times. How had he met Toothless? Right, he was drawing him. Hiccup now realized that if Toothless weren't so inquisitive, he'd be long dead. If Toothless accused him of an absence of self-preservation then, he would have acquiesced. He remembered the drawing he had made that day. He had scrapped it a few days after his second meeting. He had tried to capture the dragon's 'ferocity' and 'ruthlessness'. Toothless' teeth were fully extended, wings flared, and his mouth curled in a predatory snarl.

The next few weeks he had filled half of his journal with drawings purely of Toothless, the drawings slowly starting to reflect the kinder, more playful side of Toothless. The paper he was using up was astounding. His room in the forge had a few pictures to help lift his spirits when things got particularly bad in the village. One look at any of the pictures and his troubles fled, leaving only a smile. However, his bedroom was more discreet. The papers were neatly stashed inside his closet. It was probably one of the safest places in his room. He would have put them under his bed, but that's where he kept a few of his journals. If he put the drawings there, it'd be a mess.

Hiccup could also remember when he hadn't met Toothless. The majority of his drawings were centered on landscapes. He never really drew the village, or any of the villagers. The one exception, of course, was Astrid. She never really cared for him, but next to Fishlegs and Gobber, she was the kindest to him. Of course, 'kind' meant not beating him up, and only scorning him when he had one of his 'hiccups', so to speak. And not to mention he had a crush on her. Then again, most people did. He was pretty sure even Fishlegs had some feelings for her.

Astrid… Hiccup started wondering about how she was doing. Most likely not too well, considering she had nearly killed him. Then again, she probably thought he was dead. So did the entire village. Besides… even if he went back…

He wouldn't be recognized…

It suddenly dawned on Hiccup what his new form fully entailed. Nobody would ever recognize him. He would simply be another dragon, and a rare one at that. If he was ever seen again they would certainly try to kill him. As far as anybody else was concerned, Hiccup was, in fact, dead.

Hiccup could feel his state of mind rolling downhill. He needed to divert his mind. He shifted his focus to what he could hear; a few birds, his own heavy breathing, the crunching of leaves next to him... Next to him?

Hiccup glanced over, finally becoming fully aware of Torin. He was thankful that Torin didn't try to initiate a conversation while he was thinking. Hiccup looked back down at the ground, his reflection broken. The sounds of the forest reigned, the void between them that was once comforting now becoming stifling. Hiccup asked the first question that came to mind, "How exactly did I become a dragon?"

Torin was caught slightly off-guard from the random question, before replying, "It's a complicated process that we don't fully understand. However, I can tell you what we do know if you like?"

Hiccup nodded, and Torin continued. "First, I had to remove a scale from Toothless. Scales contain a dragon's Life-Print (1), which dictates how a dragon looks, their personality, everything about them. Next, I had to add my acid. What you don't know is that the acid of a Ripped Wing first breaks down the cell wall, then removes the Life-Print of the creature. So by adding my acid, I was extracting the Life-Print into the acid. I reopened your wound and pressed Toothless' cut against your wound. Using my klösa, the longest claw on my paw, I delivered an electrical impulse via nerves that fooled Toothless' body into releasing basophil. Basophil releases histamine and heparin, the former drawing blood to the area, and the latter hinders clotting. After that, I added some new acid to your blood to remove your Life-Print, and mixed in the modified acid to replace it. Once this process was done, you now had enough blood in you to survive. The next step, bringing you back to life, was much easier. I used my klösa to pierce the skin right above your heart. I delivered a much stronger impulse that restarted your heart."

Hiccup blinked owlishly at Torin, not having understood half of what he said. Hiccup normally prided himself on being the most intelligent Viking in the village, but this was something else! "I'm sorry… but that made no sense. What are nerves, and what about bas...bassofill? And most importantly of all, why did you have to make me a dragon? You said you can bring me back to life, why not omit the 'Turn-Hiccup-into-a-dragon' and do that?"

"Excellent question!" Great, now Torin was in one of his teaching moods. "Now, first, if I were to simply restart your heart right away, you would not have had enough blood to survive. You'd lost too much from that axe, so immediately reviving you is out of the question. As for the dragon part, if I were to simply add Toothless' blood into your bloodstream without you having the necessary antigens, or lack thereof, your body would hav-"

"Can you please put this in plain, simple to understand Norse?"

"Actually, your not speaking Norse anymore, but that's beside the point. In simple terms, Toothless' blood would have killed you if you weren't a dragon."

"So the only solution was to turn me into a dragon?"

"More or less."

Hiccup frowned. While it would have been nice to stay human, he would rather live. Other questions came to mind, but there was one in particular he wanted to ask.

"Torin, what exactly is the shot limit of a Night Fury?"

"Ah, this is were it gets interesting! The shot limit varies, and it depends on three main factors. The first is the diet. Basically, the more you eat, the more you have to react, and the higher your shot limit. The second is age, and ties into the first. If you're older, you naturally have a larger stomach, so you can eat more. The third is most peculiar though. Night Furies, in times of great need, can destroy their own bodies for more sho-"

Hiccup recoiled away from Torin, shouting, "WHAT!?"

"Calm down, the Night Fury has to consciously do it. Toothless hasn't taught you it yet, and it's not a complete destruction. The Night Fury can tell their bodies monocytes to eat their own cel-"

"Basic language."

"Right, think of the monocytes as the bodies bottomless pits. They eat foreign objects that get into the body. However, as I was saying, the Night Fury can redirect these to eat their own cell… body, and release the necessary ingredients to create a plasma blast."

Hiccup scrunched up his face. "How do you know all this stuff?"

"Us dragons have been around a lot longer than you humans. In that time, we've discovered a lot, about ourselves, the world around us and, recently, humans."

"You… you've been studying us?"

"Yes, for as long as there's been human-dragon contact, hostile or not. Occasionally we send Changewings into a village to observe human interactions and behavior, and when we find a dead human we often cut it open to observe the inner workings and… Hiccup? What are yo-Oh dear, I may have gone too far with my explanation."

Hiccup rubbed the remains of his now near-nonexistent breakfast off some leaves. "Yeah… it's slightly disturbing, to think that you've been studying us and we've never known it. Not to mention the fact that you… you know…"

"Cut you open?"

"Yeah… let's not talk about that again."

Silence returned, hundreds of questions running through Hiccup's head. His thirst for knowledge was teased, and now he wanted to know more.

"Hey Torin, where are Night Furie-"

The rest of the sentence was drowned out by a loud, sorrow-filled roar. Torin hardly deigned to raise his head. "That would be Toothless. Are you ready to go back to him?"

Hiccup looked down at the ground. He would have to face Toothless sometime, and the sooner they got this over with, the better. "Sure, lead the way."

-YayForUnderstandings!-

The trip back was silent, Torin leading the way towards the cave. Hiccup felt anxiety well up inside him. The only other time he had this feeling was during their first couple of meetings. When they finally reached the cave entrance, Toothless was franticly pacing in front of the entrance. Hiccup halted, doubts assaulting his mind. What if they got into another argument? Would their friendship be over? Torin, meanwhile, nonchalantly walked towards Toothless, stating, "You know, I'd rather not have a giant rut at the entrance of my cave."

Toothless whirled around to face Torin, quickly asking, "Where's Hiccup? Is he..." Toothless trailed off as he saw Hiccup near the edge of the forest. Hiccup nervously approached Toothless, not sure what to do. Hiccup would've sworn that he could feel the fragile ground their relationship was standing on. If either of them made one wrong move, the entire thing would vanish.

Hiccup glanced at the worried eyes of his friend, apprehensively approaching. "Hey Toothless. I'm... sorry. I know I probably scared you half to death, and you were most likely about to kill me, but, well, you know... it's been hard, adjusting to these changes." Hiccup was about to say more, but was interrupted as his friend tackled him to the ground. Hiccup's eyes instinctively shut, not wanting to see his friend observe his inner workings. After a couple of seconds, his eyes snapped open as a wet, slimy appendage slid across his face. He saw Toothless above him, a gummy grin on his face and his tongue lolling out.

Hiccup stared up at Toothless, before exploding into hysterics. That simple act that was so, completely... Toothless, helped strengthen the weakened friendship. Toothless stepped off Hiccup, allowing him to get up. "I should be the one who's sorry. I overreacted, and you were right; I have been a bit overprotective. I was scared, I guess. Nearly every dragon falls during their first flight, and with you being...well, you, I was worried something was going to go tragically wrong."

Hiccup rose to his feet as well. "So, we both agree never to do anything like that again?"

"Yes."

Torin, seeing the problem was resolved, happily walked over. "So, how about some dinner?"

Hiccup glanced at Toothless, who nodded. "Alright, so what should we have?"

Toothless pounced on the opportunity, "I vote cod!"

"Come on, you always want cod, what about some rabbit?"

"They're too fast!"

"Deer?"

"Too stringy."

"You're insuperable."

"I really am, aren't I?"

"Why is it always cod?"

"It's perfect, besides, if we go for cod, we can go flying!"

"That...That's blackmail!"

"Flyyyinggggg!"

Hiccup smirked, "Alright, first to get a cod, wins. ReadysetGO!"

"Hey! Come back here!"

Torin grinned as he watched the two playfully fight, trying to throw the other off course of whatever fish they may have spotted. But while they were fighting... Torin glanced at his talons, noting with satisfaction that he did, indeed, have a cod there.

(1): DNA, although I decided to keep most of the other science stuff the same. However, unlike last time, not all of it's true. Histamine and heparin do the functions listed in the story, but it's for inflammatory purposes. Also, think of the Ripped Wing's acid like a virus. However, instead of forcing the host cell to produce copies of its RNA, it destroys the nucleus, picks up the DNA, and leaves the cell to die. If it finds an empty cell, it injects the DNA into the cell. However, the DNA won't be perfect, because there would be remnants of the acid, and if the acid is diluted with anything then it won't completely kill the cell... I could go on about this all day. Final science note, monocytes are phagocytes, so they do eat foreign debris, however I do not think they release the nutrients from it. They might, because of the Conservation of Matter, but I ran out of time to study that so as of right now I do not know.

Fun fact, this chapter steals the title of longest chapter, beating the previous one by a whopping 500 or so words! WOW!

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and there will be another one next week!