Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD

A/N: The songs for this chapter are 'Pieces' by Rob Thomas, and 'I'll Stand By You' by The Pretenders (the Glee version is pretty good too :)).

Chapter Eleven - All These Doubts

Once they'd eaten, Hiccup and Toothless turned their attention to the piece of torn sail left near the saddle and harness. It was too big, but they could find a way to cut it to size. The material was of good quality, and the black colour matched Toothless' living tail fin. Really, there was nothing wrong with using this piece of sail as a temporary replacement.

*I don't like it* Toothless remarked bluntly, wrinkling his nose at the innocuous piece of fabric. It wasn't even half as good as his smart scarlet tail fin, embossed with the Hooligan insignia. Hiccup pulled a bit of a face too as he looked it over. "Yeah…I'm not thrilled about using a piece of their sail either; but what choice do we have?"

With a snort of disapproval, Toothless reluctantly agreed that they didn't have much choice. Hiccup reached to pick up the fabric and unfold it properly; as he gathered it up, he spotted something underneath it; Hiccup froze, staring, and then dropped the sailcloth and scrambled backwards, eyes wide, panting. *Hiccup?* Toothless asked with a worried croon, *what's wrong?*

Hiccup didn't reply; he stared at the piece of sail with fear in his eyes, one hand reflexively pressed to his left side. Toothless crooned worry again and moved closer, but Hiccup didn't respond. Then he nudged his snout against his riders arm, and Hiccup gasped, flinching away and cowering, arms over his head as if to protect himself from blows. He was shaking like a leaf.

Now Toothless was very worried, not to mention confused. Why was Hiccup so upset? He'd been fine until…Toothless looked at the piece of jet black sailcloth. Hiccup had picked it up and then flinched from it as a dragon would flinch from an eel. The sailcloth had upset him somehow…Toothless suddenly felt his inner fire surge up into his throat, but he quickly forced it back down. That was odd…normally that only happened when he felt threatened, his instincts took over and he readied his fire to defend himself.

What about this piece of cloth could make him see it as a threat? True, it bothered him a little that it was part of the hunter's sail, the people who had hurt Hiccup so badly…

Once again, he felt an overwhelming urge to torch the horrid cloth, and just barely resisted. He had to lap up some water from the stream to get rid of the heat in his mouth. Toothless just didn't understand, and he struggled to work it out. The sailcloth was bad and it had frightened Hiccup, it had somehow made Hiccup frightened of him. He wanted to destroy it, but he couldn't, because they needed it to replace his lost tail-fin.

Toothless wracked his brain; if he just thought hard enough, maybe he'd remember something that would explain what was going on. He couldn't think of what it might be, so he had to rely on what he knew. In his mind's eye he saw Hiccup stare at something on the ground as he gathered the cloth into his arms – and right after that, his rider had felt threatened. So…was it something beneath the cloth that had upset him? Toothless wasn't really sure, but it couldn't hurt to check…

Very cautiously, he moved towards the sailcloth, pausing to glance at Hiccup. He whimpered sadly, he wanted to comfort his rider but Hiccup had flinched away from him and Toothless didn't want to frighten him more. When dragons were spooked they often lashed out, attacked any creature nearby even if it wasn't who or what had startled them…Hiccup was a human, but from what Toothless had seen, humans tended to lash out when they were alarmed as well.

He sniffed at the sailcloth, and then gingerly closed his jaws over a fold, keeping his teeth in so he didn't damage it. He pulled it back and looked underneath it. There was a small blade lying on the dirt, glinting in the light from the glowing algae that grew on the cave walls. What was it doing there? Had the blade frightened Hiccup?

That made a little more sense, blades were scary, but Hiccup had seen blades before and not been so scared. Toothless dropped the cloth and turned back to Hiccup, edging as close as he dared. *Hiccup? Hiccup, can you hear me?*

Hiccup didn't reply. What was wrong, what was happening to him?

*It's okay* the dragon crooned reassuringly, fretfully shifting on his paws, *I'm here. Hiccup, please talk to me. I…I don't know what's wrong, I'm not as clever as you are* he admitted, *You're frightened but I don't understand why. Is it the blade?*

Hiccup flinched. *It can't hurt you* Toothless tried to reassure him, *It can't move on its own…are you sick?* he guessed, starting to feel desperate, *Do you need to see Ekeren?* Surely the older and wiser Night Fury would be able to tell what was wrong with Hiccup.

*Please don't be scared. You're safe, no-one's hurting you. Hiccup, I don't understand! You're scaring me!* Toothless cried with an anxious whine, ear-fins pinned back. At last, Hiccup uncurled a bit and raised his head, still trembling. "T-Toothless?" he asked uncertainly, reaching a hand out, and then shifting so he could sit up and hug his dragon properly. Relieved to have him back, Toothless wrapped a paw over his back and returned the hug.

Then Hiccup sat back on his heels, and Toothless lay down in front of him so they could look one another in the eye. Hiccup's eyes softened as he met his dragon's deep, soulful gaze. "I'm sorry I worried you" he murmured apologetically.

*It's okay…but I still don't understand what was wrong.*

"I…I think I'm…a little bit battle haunted" Hiccup explained, running his hand over Toothless' head. The familiar sensation of warm, smooth scales beneath his palms helped him calm down. Toothless was confused; Hiccup hadn't been in a battle, at least not recently. "What I mean is…sometimes your mind plays tricks on you.

"There are stories, of warriors coming back from raids or wars and sometimes…their wounds would heal, and they'd seem fine for days or weeks or even months…but then they'd see or hear something and suddenly freeze up, or lash out, or scream…and they say afterwards, it was like they were back in the battle, watching their friends get killed or their limb being lost."

Hiccup sighed and looked down at his lap. "We've had a lot of close shaves…and I've been captured before, but I…I've never been torturedbefore" he murmured, shuddering. He could only think of a couple of times he'd even come closeto being tortured. "I was stabbed" he whispered, "I can't forget how much it hurt, how scared I was…I thought I was okay, but when I saw that knife…suddenly I was back there, about to be killed…and when you nudged me, in my head I was getting beaten again…"

*But I wasn't trying to hurt you!* Toothless protested, *The hunters are gone, they can't hurt you anymore. You're safe!*

"I know" Hiccup reassured him, with a half-smile, "I know bud, I just mean…y'know how I've been having nightmares?"

*Yes…*

"Well, it's sort of like I was having a nightmare whilst I was awake."

Toothless still didn't really understand…all he knew for certain was that Hiccup had been frightened, that the blade had frightened him. Unconsciously, he looked at the piece of cloth that hid the knife and snarled.

"Buddy?" asked Hiccup, "What's wrong?"

He blinked and came back to his senses. *Sorry…I don't know why, but…I just got this urge to get rid of the knife. It happened before with the sail…if I didn't know we needed it, I think I might have burned it.*

That was odd, but neither of them could think of why he'd reacted like that. *Are you…okay now?* Toothless asked cautiously.

Hiccup gave him a proper smile and replied, "I'm better…thanks for being here for me, bud. It means a lot."

*Anytime* Toothless purred, his eyes closing blissfully as Hiccup scratched him under the chin. Hiccup sighed and looked over at the cloth. He didn't want to go near it…or rather, he didn't want to go near the knife underneath it. *Do you know why it's there?* Toothless asked suddenly.

"The knife?" guessed Hiccup, "Well, I did say we needed something sharp to cut the sail with."

*Black Fire didn't say they'd left a knife here as well.*

"He probably just forgot; it was pretty hectic last night. It's not as if they knew I'd freak out…I didn't think I'd freak out."

*What do we do now?*

Hiccup took a deep breath. "We start fixing the tail fin" he said determinedly, getting to his feet. He refused to let what Hauke did to him haunt him…besides, Berk was full of swords, daggers and the like (they were Vikings, after all) and it would do no good for him to panic at the sight of sharp objects. It was just like Toothless once said; when you couldn't run from a threat, you had to face it and stare it down until it surrendered, and no longer frightened you.

He started to move towards the piece of cloth, but Toothless stood in the way and tried to nudge him back. *It'll scare you again!* he protested.

"No, it won't" Hiccup promised, "I was caught off guard before, but I know what's coming now. Besides, I need to face my fear…and I wasn't going to pick up the knife just yet, anyway."

*…Oh.*

Hiccup chuckled, and stepped past him. First he picked up the tailfin – or rather, what was left of it – and laid it on the ground in the middle of the cave. Then he picked up the sailcloth – pointedly not looking underneath it – and spread it out over the metal rods. Hiccup hummed thoughtfully; then he snapped his fingers and went to the nearest wall, smearing his hand across it. When he'd gotten his palm caked in glowing algae, he went back to the cloth and traced out lines along it, making an outline to cut out.

Toothless sat and watched him work with fascination and pride. Night Furies were particularly clever, by dragon standards, yet Toothless could admit – if only to himself and his rider – that Hiccup was far more intelligent than him. No dragon would think to use the algae for more than lighting up the cave…even that had been a lucky accident, not planned.


A shadow falling across the cave floor made them look up and see two dragons, one with milky blue eyes and one with very dark blue eyes, gingerly step into the cave. "Oh, hi, Misty-Onyx" Hiccup smiled at them, beckoning, "Come on in. Can you give us a hand? Err, paw? Help?" he floundered a bit.

*Hello, Toothless-Hiccup* Misty greeted, as she and her mate moved further into the cave, *Yes, we can help…what are you doing?*

"Trying to get Toothless' tail-fin repaired" Hiccup explained as he put the finishing touches on his outline. "Okay…Toothless, can you hold this corner in your mouth, please?" he asked. Toothless grasped the corner of the cloth in his jaws. "Misty, if you take that corner, and Onyx, you take this one…right, now keep holding it and step back" he instructed, when all three dragons were holding a corner of the cloth. They stepped back and the cloth pulled taut, lifting off the ground. "Perfect!"

Well, I guess it's now or never… Hiccup turned his attention to the knife, lying there, harmless. He crouched beside it and reached out…but pulled his hand back at the last moment, twitching. His throat felt dry and rough as stone. *Is something wrong?* Onyx asked, able to see Hiccup hesitate in picking up the blade. Neither he nor Misty believed Hiccup was going to use it on them – he'd proven to them last night that he wanted to help dragons, and hated to see them hurt.

*He's scared of the blade* Toothless explained, *I think it reminds him about being stabbed.*

"I'm not scared" Hiccup insisted. He whispered again, "I'm not scared…" and reached for the knife once more. Face your fear, don't let it beat you, don't let them win…he took a deep breath, steeled his nerves, and wrapped his fingers around the hilt. He picked up the knife, looked it over…it was in good condition, and sharp enough for what he needed. He tried very hard not to think about exactly how sharp it was.

He took it over to the sailcloth, still held taut by the three dragons. "This might take a while" he said apologetically, "If I cut too fast, it'll snag and get all frayed". He leaned down and dug the point of the knife into the cloth. With care, he sawed through the fibres, running the blade along the inside edge of his algae outline. As he worked, for the sake of making conversation, he said curiously, "So um, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you two been heart bound?"

*Sixty two years* Onyx replied, glancing over at Misty with a loving croon, *and worth every moment.*

"It must have been a pretty big decision to make."

*Oh, I suppose…we actually heart bound because of a similar reason to the two of you* Misty revealed, *We were already mates, and one day, Onyx was badly injured fighting a particularly vicious Fire-Spinner. When I caught up the tables turned, but he was so badly hurt…* she whined a bit at the memory as she explained, *He wouldn't make it back to the nest to be healed in time, and we just couldn't bear the thought of saying goodbye...we've been heart bound ever since.*

Hiccup smiled. "That's so sweet…it's funny, I didn't think there were any other heart bound pairs in the nest" he admitted.

*Oh, there are a few. I suppose no-one mentioned it because it's not a big deal for us…well, it is, but…what I mean is…* She huffed through a mouthful of cloth, frustrated.

Hiccup smiled and assured her, "It's okay, I know what you mean."

She nearly tilted her head curiously before catching herself and asked, *Why did you pull your lips back like that?*

"It's how humans smile; Toothless can do it too. We'll show you later. So, uh, what's it like being heart bound?"

Misty and Onyx glanced at one another. *What is it like to you?* asked Onyx.

A few moments passed before Hiccup answered. "It's…hard to describe, but it's nice. It's like this warm heaviness in my chest. When we became friends, Toothless filled a space I didn't really know was there. I've never thought Toothless would let me down, but now, I know he wouldn't let me down, that he couldn't let me down."

*I feel that too* Toothless agreed, before adding, *Hiccup, the sail?*

Hiccup blinked, realising that he'd stopped cutting the sail. "Huh? Oh, sorry! Guess I got distracted" he muttered, starting again.

*Heart binding is wonderful. You know that you can tell each other anything without judging each other* Misty remarked wistfully.

*Even if it hurts to say or hear, and you argue, you'll always work things out. Eventually you won't even need to say anything, you'll just know how your other half is feeling* Onyx continued, with barely a break in between.

*You won't want to be apart for long, and if you're forced apart, that warmth disappears and it hurts* Misty warned them.

*And you'll fight to reunite as soon as possible, and it feels so wonderful when you do. Heart bound pairs have a really strong instinct to protect each other and be there for each other* Onyx finished.

Hiccup smiled fondly. "I'm definitely seeing what Ekeren meant when he said it seemed like Toothless and I were already heart bound" he remarked as he worked on carefully sawing through the sail. It was taking longer than he'd like, but rushing would make the edges tear and fray, and it would be that much harder to fly with.

*I suppose it is rather like our friendship* Toothless agreed; he and Hiccup were quite inseparable anyway, and would do anything for each other. You save me, I save you defined their relationship. *Only…Hiccup and I aren't exactly normal for a heart bound pair* he pointed out.

*It is strange that the heart bind worked…Hiccup, can humans have magic in them?* Misty asked thoughtfully. Hiccup shrugged and replied, "There are stories about humans with magic…but I always thought that's all they were, just stories. Now I'm not so sure…" he sighed and apologised, "Sorry this is taking so long. I can't mess this up, if I do we're done for."

*Don't worry about it* Misty said kindly, *You saved our lives, this is the least we can do.*

Hiccup still wasn't sure if they'd have really died from the dragon root, but he smiled nonetheless and replied, "You're welcome."

*Is there anything else you'd like to know?* offered Onyx.

"Um, actually, now that I think about it…Toothless said he got this urge to get rid of the sail, and the knife, when he thought they'd upset me. Is that the protective instinct you mentioned?" he wondered.

*Oh, that does happen at first, when you're new to it. You want to get rid of anything bothering your other half* Onyx confirmed. Then Misty chuckled through a mouthful of sail and cheekily remarked, *Remember when you blasted that briar patch to ashes after I got scratched a little bit by the thorns?*

Onyx's ear-fins went back and he groaned in embarrassment. *Misty, dearest, I thought we weren't talking about that.*

*We were talking about heart binding* Toothless reminded them, scratching himself with a hind leg, *and getting bored.*

"Hey! Don't complain, you overgrown lizard" Hiccup mock-scolded, "You know this is important. Or do you want to try flying with a frayed tail-fin? Besides, I'm almost done" he insisted. He just needed to saw along the shortest line; and a good thing too, his arm was getting tired.

*I can't wait until we get it fixed; it'll be so good to get all four paws off the ground again.*

"Tell me about it; I feel loads better, and not being able to fly's been bugging me to no end" Hiccup agreed emphatically.

*Do you two fly a lot, then?* asked Misty.

"Oh, yeah, as much as possible" he smiled, "Sometimes I don't know how I coped before I met Toothless. I know flying is second nature to you guys, but the freedom I feel when we're up there, that never gets old. My girlfriend, desired, Astrid; she sometimes jokes that I prefer dragons to people because I'm secretly a dragon myself". At last, he cut through the last piece of sail, and the triangle of material fell to the ground.

"Thanks for your help, Onyx, Misty" he said gratefully, as the dragons dropped the rest of the cloth and he set the knife aside. "I really appreciate it."

Misty purred at him; she cautiously took a few steps forward and stretched her head forward. Hiccup slowly and gently raised his hand and held it out so Misty could press her snout to his palm. *You're welcome…could we spend the day with you?*

"Of course; the more the merrier" he smiled, scratching her under the chin; like most dragons she loved it and purred. "I'll finish fixing the tail-fin later. Let's go to the gathering place, there's more room there."

They all got to their feet, Hiccup wincing as his limbs protested being made to stand upright. He stumbled as he took a few steps forward, but of course Toothless caught him. "Thanks, buddy" he smiled gratefully.


Later that evening, after dinner, Hiccup took the stick he'd been roasting the rabbit meat on and began to doodle on the floor of the cave. Toothless was dozing, but soon his curiosity got the better of him and he came over to have a look. Hiccup was making a series of lines in the dirt…he did this a lot, on the thin yellow skins he called 'parchment', but Toothless never understood what they were supposed to be. He tilted his head and circled around to look at it from other directions, but the lines still didn't look like anything he recognised. *What is it…supposed to be?*

"It's our names, our shared name" Hiccup explained, as he scratched out the last few letters. Toothless crooned confusion. *How do you draw a name? Names don't look like anything, they're sounds that mean people and things. Toothless means me and not having teeth, and Hiccup means you and that funny clicking noise you make sometimes.*

"I'm not drawing, I'm writing" Hiccup told him.

*What's 'writing'?* Toothless asked curiously. The dragons 'magic translator', as Hiccup had half-jokingly named it, only meant that human speech didn't sound like unintelligible babble to them. It didn't mean they knew what every word meant, unless it was a word the dragons themselves used.

"It's another way humans tell each other things, without having to speak. Each letter makes a different sound, and when you put them together, it makes a word. Look". He pointed the tip of the stick at each letter and spelled it out. "Tuh – ooh – thuh – ul – ess – Hik – kup. Toothless-Hiccup, see?"

Toothless stared at the lines, obviously thinking hard. Then his eyes widened and he exclaimed, with a small yelp of surprise, *You can draw sounds?!*

"I suppose you could see it like that" Hiccup smiled, amused at his dragon's fascination. Toothless scratched in the dirt with his claws, making a series of random criss-crossing lines. He looked so pleased with himself that Hiccup didn't have the heart to tell him he hadn't actually written anything. Of course then he had to ask, *What word is that?*

"It says 'we're friends'". Hiccup really was a bad liar; Toothless picked up on it straightaway and pouted, narrowing his eyes in a sulk. *You're lying.*

"Ah…okay, no, it isn't quite that simple. But you know…maybe I could teach you to read one day" Hiccup mused thoughtfully, "It should only take the next century or so" he added with a teasing grin. Toothless huffed and lay down, sulking, but he didn't protest when Hiccup leaned back against him.

Hours later, Toothless stirred awake and felt like something was wrong. There was no weight against his side…he looked around and purred in relief and amusement when he spotted Hiccup, sprawled on his back and snoring. Toothless' purr dropped in pitch until it became a sad croon, the longer he gazed down at his beloved human.

He was so young. Now, because of Toothless, he would stay young for decades, whilst his friends and family would age…Hiccup seemed okay with being heart bound now, but what about five decades from now, or a century, or two? Most dragons didn't think about the future. They didn't see the point. Toothless decided he shouldn't think about it either; he closed his eyes and fell back into an uneasy sleep.


Toothless was in the middle of Berk's square. This seemed a little odd, but he thought nothing of it. What was stranger, really, was that the square was empty, of humans and dragons alike. Where were they all? Had the Speed-Stingers attacked again?

He sent out a 'looking roar'; the echoes bounced back and built up a picture in his mind. There was nothing moving out there. Feeling uncomfortable, he broke into a run and roared loudly. *Hello?! Is anyone there?! Hiccup, where are you?!*

Surely Hiccup must be here somewhere. This was his home too. Toothless searched his house (Hiccup had explained that's what humans called their wooden cave-nests). No Hiccup. He pushed his way into the Great Hall, the forge, and Astrid's home. Still no Hiccup, or Stoick, or Gobber, or Astrid…he looked over the edge of the cove. It was deserted. The fog that filled the air swirled around him and distorted the sound of his roars, unnerving him.

He looked around the village once more. How he was getting from place to place, he barely knew, and it didn't seem to matter. Then he scented smoke on the wind, and looked towards the sea. He was down at the dock, and there were boats on the water, all on fire. Standing at the edge of the pier, looking out at the conflagrating vessels, there stood a very familiar silhouette.

*Hiccup!* Toothless exclaimed with a joyful, relieved warble. He bounded towards his rider, rambling *I'm so glad I found you! I've been looking for you everywhere, where have you been? Where is everyone? What's going…Hiccup?* His claws scratched the wood as he skidded to a halt. Hiccup hadn't moved; he hadn't even acknowledged Toothless was there. *Hiccup?* Toothless crooned worriedly, stepping forwards more cautiously. *Hiccup, are you okay? What happened? Why are all these ships on fire?*

Still, Hiccup didn't answer, and Toothless started to feel nervous. Was Hiccup still battle haunted? *Hiccup? Please say something* he whined, ear-fins pinned back. He was close enough now to look up at his rider; Hiccup's face was impassive, a cold mask staring out at the horizon.

At last, he spoke. "You did this" he muttered icily.

*I…did what?*

"You did this…to me."

*I…I don't understand. I can't find anyone, I think something's happened to them. We need to find them, Hiccup, they could be in danger*-

"They're dead. All of them."

Toothless' eyes slitted and he yelped in alarm. *Dead?!*

"They all died. My father, Astrid, my family, my friends…they're all gone."

How could that be, what had happened? Had there been an attack? Then Toothless remembered… *You said I did this…but I couldn't have! Hiccup, I would never kill anyone on Berk!* he protested, leaping over to the other pier to look at Hiccup better.

"You didn't kill them" Hiccup told him, much to his relief, but then Hiccup continued, "Time killed them. Time made them age and death took them away, and left me behind…and that. Is. All. Your. Fault" he said bluntly, still refusing to look at Toothless.

The dragon cringed at his tone. *But…but you said you didn't blame me…* he whimpered.

"Well, I do now" Hiccup said cruelly, turning away from him. Toothless' heart began to break. *Hiccup…I had to. I had to save your life…I'm sorry!*

"I don't need your apologies!" his rider shouted suddenly, rounding on him with a glare. "They won't bring everyone back to life. They won't undo what you've done to me. Do you have any idea what you've put me through, you useless reptile?!" he demanded angrily. The usually playful mock-insult felt like the harshest of blows.

*Hiccup…*

"Three hundred years, Toothless! Three hundred years of watching everyone around me age and wither away whilst I stayed young!" Hiccup advanced on him menacingly, and Toothless' claws scraped on the wood as he backed away. "I had to say goodbye to my wife, and my children. I couldn't get close to anyone because I knew they'd be gone when I turned around. But worst of all, I had to live with knowing the one creature I wouldn't outlive, was the same damn creature who forced this torment on me in the first place!"

Toothless yelped as his back paws slipped off the pier, and he scrambled to get his balance back. Hiccup towered over him as he practically flattened himself, whimpering in fear and sadness. *I…I…*

"Is that all you have to say? Typical, as usual you're only thinking of yourself" Hiccup's lips curled in disgust and Toothless whined miserably, protesting *No! Hiccup, please, I never wanted this! I didn't want to hurt you, I just wanted to save your life!*

Hiccup looked out at the burning ships – the funeral ships – and back at the cowering dragon, his eyes hard and cold as stone. "I'd have rather died than suffer like this."

What have I done…I did this…I'm a monster….Despairing, Toothless closed his eyes and hung his head in shame.

"Can you do me a favour?"

His head raised straightaway. *Yes! Yes, anything* he promised. He'd do anything to earn Hiccup's trust and forgiveness; he couldn't bear the thought of his beloved other half rejecting him….

"When we get to Valhalla" Hiccup began, much to Toothless' confusion, "I want you to spend the eternity leaving me alone. I don't want to see or hear you ever again. I hate you" he declared harshly. Toothless' eyes widened, a pained cry emerged from his gaping jaws as his heart broke. Before he could protest, Hiccup suddenly slashed at him with a sword.

Toothless shrieked in fear and leapt backwards, right off the pier. The wood crumbled to ashes beneath his paws and he plunged into the icy depths. Hiccup's blurred silhouette stared down at him for a moment before vanishing. The water became biting flames…he heard Stoick shouting…

"How could you do this to my son? I trusted you to take care of him and you failed, devil! I hate you!

And Astrid…

"We were supposed to grow old together and you ruined that for us! I hate you!

And further away, Hiccup…?

"Toothless! Toothless! Toothless!"


"Toothless!" Hiccup cried in alarm, having woken from a restless sleep when Toothless began to squirm and thrash. He was still unconscious, but making the most heartrending whimpers and moans Hiccup had ever heard. Skylancer rushed into the cave, teeth bared in the face of a threat…then he saw Toothless writhing and Hiccup looking frantic with worry. Helpless, the young man looked up at the other Night Fury and begged "Help, I, I can't wake him up!"

Skylancer hurried over and bit down on Toothless' nearest ear-fin. The effect was immediate; Toothless sprang to his feet with a roar and streaked across the cave. He hunched down on the other side, eyes wide in fear, cowering.

Hiccup and Skylancer glanced at one another, worried. "Hey, it's okay bud, you're okay. You were just having a bad dream" Hiccup said soothingly, getting to his feet and taking a step towards his dragon. To his utter bewilderment, Toothless whimpered and cringed as if he were scared.

*Sorry about biting you like that – it's the fastest way to wake a dragon, after all* Skylancer said apologetically. He crooned worry and asked *Toothless, are you okay? It was only a nightmare.*

"Uh, it's okay, Skylancer" Hiccup decided, "I'll take care of him."

*Very well…shout if you need anything* the older Fury advised as he turned to leave.

"Will do" Hiccup nodded, before turning back to Toothless. He'd never seen his dragon in such a state, and he now knew how Toothless must have felt when he'd flinched away, lost in his own mind. "It's okay, it's alright. I'm here, buddy. I'm right here" he murmured as he slowly moved towards his best friend. Toothless closed his eyes and curled his tail around himself. *Stay back* he whimpered, and Hiccup pulled up short.

*I'll just hurt you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't want this. It's all my fault* he moaned. Hiccup frowned, bewildered and more than a little concerned. "Toothless? What's wrong?" he asked, walking closer and kneeling down. "I don't understand. You're scaring me" he said quietly. Toothless' tail raised slightly and he peeked out at his human. What was Hiccup doing? Shouldn't he want to be as far away as possible from the one who had ruined his life?

Yet here he was, smiling kindly. "Mind if I join you?"

Slowly, Toothless pulled his tail back. Hiccup settled himself at his best friend's side, hugging him and murmuring comforting nonsense. "You must've had some nightmare" he whispered, rubbing soothing circles over Toothless' scales. "You wanna tell me about it? Like Misty said, we can tell each other anything. I'll understand."

There was a long silence. Then Toothless gradually told him about the terrible nightmare. When he'd finished, a few tears were trickling down Hiccup's cheeks. "Oh, Toothless…"

*You should have killed me that day in the woods* Toothless whimpered brokenly, *It would've been better that way.*

"Don't say that, don't you dare. Toothless, I don't blame you, and of course I don't hate you. I could never hate you...how you can even imagine…I thought you knew me better" he murmured sadly, dismayed.

*I know* Toothless reassured him, *I know you don't, but I….I'm scared one day you will* he admitted guiltily. That, by far, was what bothered him most about the heart bind…the thought that one day, it would all get too much for Hiccup, and his closest friend in the world would come to despise him. It was harder to believe now, with Hiccup warm against his side and hugging his shoulders.

"I won't. I promise I will never hate you" Hiccup replied immediately, reaching out to pet Toothless' muzzle, "I couldn't even begin to do that. Dragons only heart bind if they love each other enough that they can't live without each other. We're heart bound, against all the odds, so what does that tell you?"

It was true…neither of them could imagine a life without the other, not after everything they'd been through together. *I know it was the only way, but…you'll suffer because of this, because of me.*

"How long have you been feeling like this? Why didn't you tell me?"

*I was trying not to think about it. I didn't want to worry you.*

Hiccup sighed; he could hardly scold, when he'd been doing the same thing. They'd talked about heart binding, but they'd not talked about it. Not with each other. They'd avoided the topic because talking would make it real…but no more. Hiccup shifted onto his back and rested his head against Toothless' shoulder, gazing up at the stalactites on the cave ceiling. After thinking for a while, he began to speak.

"When it started to sink in, what the heart bind meant…a tiny part of me did blame you. And when I realised that, I felt absolutely wretched, because it's not your fault. It was never your fault…it's mine" he confessed. Toothless whined in protest and replied *It's my fault, I'm the one who heart bound to you.*

Turning his head, Hiccup looked down to meet the gaze of Toothless' eye. "It's my fault you even had to make that choice. If I hadn't tried to come here alone, if I'd just pretended to train dragons and stalled until the others came….we would have been rescued, and none of this would have happened. What's worse is I never apologised. I'm so sorry, Toothless. I never meant for this to happen to us."

*Neither did I…Hiccup, I don't blame you* his dragon replied with a reassuring croon.

"I don't blame you. What do you say we blame that jerk instead?"

In spite of himself, Toothless gave a brief chuckle. *Works for me.*

Hiccup smiled, but soon grew serious again. He sat up and moved to kneel in front of Toothless, who raised his head and tilted it a bit, inquisitive. "Toothless, buddy, I need you to promise me something."

*Anything.*

"I know this is going to be hard, for both of us. There might be days where it does get too much, and I try to send you away…I need you to promise you will always come back, and if I ever say anything like I did in your nightmare, promise me you'll snap me out of whatever insanity I'm in. I need you. I can't do this without you" Hiccup told him earnestly.

*I promise* Toothless agreed at once, without hesitation. Hiccup smiled and pet him in gratitude, and suggested "Let's try and get back to sleep, eh? It's late." He just barely managed to stifle a yawn.

*Good idea, but…* Toothless fidgeted in embarrassment, *could you maybe…sleep between my wings? Just for tonight.*

Hiccup smiled fondly. "Of course I can" he agreed. He'd slept in Toothless' embrace before, after either of them had nightmares, just for the added reassurance. Whilst Toothless shifted and made himself comfortable, Hiccup tugged off his prosthetic; it was more comfortable to sleep with it off, especially like this. He lay with his back against Toothless' chest, resting his head on a foreleg as the other wrapped over his shoulder and collarbone, and was perfectly comfortable. When the other wing draped itself over him like a leathery blanket, Hiccup sighed in contentment.

He'd almost drifted back to sleep when he heard Toothless say *Hiccup?*

"Yeah, bud?"

*Thank you for being here for me, and for being my best friend. I love you* Toothless crooned, craning down to nuzzle affectionately at Hiccup's outstretched fingers. "You're welcome…and I love you too."


A/N: Just so it's clear, 'battle haunted' is implying PTSD or possible mental trauma, but Hiccup doesn't have them. It's just the closest frame of reference he has to what happened. Seeing the knife unexpectedly made him flashback to being stabbed and made him have a minor breakdown. Now that he knows about it, he can deal with it.