Toothless was not excited as he led Lightning to the cliffs. He absolutely refused to feel anything at all.

Lightning walked behind him in silence, her ears drooping and her tail dragging on the ground. She avoided looking at the other dragon walking in front of her, oddly disappointed for someone who had decided not to like the bigger Fury. She wouldn't think of how her heart had lifted when she had seen him enter the arena. She wouldn't think of how he didn't react at all when she flirted with Hookfang. She wouldn't think of his green eyes, or his stupid smile, or… Stop right there. This is going too far. You don't know who you are and you don't know how you got here. What interest would he have in you? He probably can't wait for you to get your strength back so he can kick you off his island…

In front of her, Toothless was still struggling with his thoughts as well. He wouldn't think of her surprising resilience in the face of all that had happened to her. He wouldn't think of her bright, curious eyes. And he definitely wouldn't think about how much he wanted to blast Hookfang in the face when she had smiled at the arrogant Nightmare… Possessive, much? The little voice in the back of his head remarked. Toothless involuntarily growled, startling Lightning behind him.

Did he just growl at me? Right as she was about to ask, he stopped walking and cut her off.

"We're here."

Lightning moved around his unmoving form and took in the view. The sun was high in the cloudless blue sky, and the ocean stretched on forever, interrupted by nearby tree-dotted sea stacks. Gulls flew high in the sky and she became re-energized, ready to soar up there with them.

She peered over the edge and immediately became nervous. They were awfully high up; it would be a long fall to the ocean below. "Um… are you sure we should be doing this here?"

Toothless watched her as she looked out at the sea with wonder, and he saw when her nerves kicked in. No, I'm not sure. "Yes, I'm sure. You'll be fine." With that, he spread his wings and launched himself off the cliff, spiraling upwards into the sky before diving down, flapping his wings to stay level with the cliff's edge.

Meeting his gaze, Lightning hesitated. He looked so strong as he flew, and she felt so weak. She looked at the ground between her paws, trying to decide whether or not to take the leap.

"You can do it… I won't let you fall." Toothless's voice was unusually soft, and she looked back up, to see him gazing at her evenly, his face betraying none of his thoughts or emotions. When she didn't respond he landed, moving around to stand behind her. She crept up closer to the edge, once again looking at the waves crashing up against the rocks at the bottom.

"I don't-" She barely said two words before something shoved her, hard, and she toppled over the edge. "Whooooooaaaaa!"

As she fell she righted herself, trying not to panic. What do I do what do I do what do I- Right as she was about to crash onto the rocks, she spread her wings wide and the wind caught her, sending her soaring over the water. She looked behind her in amazement to see Toothless right at her tail, and he was- laughing! How dare he?

"YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!"

"You don't look dead to me," he said teasingly, and her racing heart seemed to fill up her chest.

"Maybe not, but you will be soon!"

"What's that supposed to-" Toothless barely had time to duck before she shot a plasma blast back at him. "Hey!"

She laughed out loud, and flew higher, increasing her speed. Toothless chased her through the sky, both of them firing small blasts in each other's direction without actually hitting them. They lazily dodged the sea stacks, barely moving as they changed directions.

Lightning flew toward a puffy white cloud, and disappeared into it. Maybe he won't find me and I can sneak up on him… She emerged from the other side and looked around. Maybe he didn't-

"BOO!"

She screeched and dropped a few feet. Above her was Toothless, cracking up. "You jerk!"

Seeing the expression on her face, Toothless immediately shut up and fled, but she was close behind him. Time to show her what real speed is. He raised his wings and brought them down, hard, creating a sonic boom as he exploded forward.

Lightning was shocked. She was pretty sure she had never seen any dragon do that before. "Hey, wait up!" In the distance, she saw the other dragon blast into a larger cloud formation, and she flew harder, determined to catch him in it. Finally she entered the white space and slowed, listening carefully. From out of nowhere a strange noise sounded, and she felt something travel over her. What was that? She dove down to get out of the cloud. As she slipped from the cloud, flying straight down, she thought she was staring at a larger reflection of herself, until two vivid green eyes appeared and she realized that it was Toothless, flying identically across from her.

They were close enough to touch; how had she not noticed him in the cloud? How did he find me so easily?

Toothless looked at Lightning as they dove from the sky. He knew he was dangerously close, that if they collided they could both die. But he was confident in his flying skills, he and Hiccup did this all the time.

She was beautiful. The thought came out of nowhere as his green eyes met her blue ones. Tiny beads of moisture from the cloud slipped off of their hides as they hurtled towards the blue sea. She must have been thinking along the same lines because she shyly broke their eye contact, instead staring straight down.

Somewhat disappointed by this, Toothless decided it was time to break out of the fall. They were approaching land, and it would be unfortunate if either of them happened to hit it. "Alright," he said, somewhat roughly. "Time to take it down a notch."

He pulled away from her and spread his wings wide to slow his descent, and Lightning went to do the same. But something was wrong, only one of her wings was opening- the other must have become too weary. Fear rose in Toothless's throat. This was all his fault.

Lighting spun uncontrollably, the wind buffeting her one functioning wing. She was going to die. "Lightning!" she heard her name called, and she did her best to turn on her back so she could look skyward. Toothless had pulled his wings close to his body and was diving to catch up to her, his face determined. "Close your wings!" he ordered her. Terrified, she pulled them close to her back as Toothless came even with her. "Turn sideways!" What? "Now!"

She did as he said and he came so close he was almost touching her. He held his legs out and shouted, "Grab hold of me!" Quickly she intertwined her legs with his until they were one object, tearing through the wind. "Hold on," he said, and slowly opened his wings. Lightning fearfully buried her face in his neck, shutting her eyes tightly.

With a loud whoosh the wind caught under Toothless's wings, straining them as they stretched to slow their uncontrolled fall. They clung to each other, Toothless once again praying to the gods that his wings would hold up against the pressure. Lightning turned her head to peek behind her and saw rapidly approaching land. They were both going to die. Unless...

Toothless desperately tried to flap his wings, once, twice… gradually, they slowed to the point where he was influencing the speed of their descent. The thought strayed through his mind- they fit together perfectly. He aimed at the forest, hoping that the trees would break their fall. Until he felt his grip on her loosening, why was-

"I'm sorry, Toothless!"

She was letting go.

The trees were getting closer and closer. But if she fell now she could die, or be seriously hurt. No.

She was almost completely out of his grasp when he shifted, caught her, and wrapped his wings tightly around her. She blinked at the sudden darkness. What… was her last thought before they crashed into the forest.