Chapter 14

I made my way through the forest to the spot where I had first seen the Night Fury. The grotto was a few paces a way from it. After I found the broken tree, I knew that the grotto was not far away. I hiked over the mound of dirt that was left behind after the Night Fury crashed here. I saw what remained of the bolas from my machine and walked right past them. I found a place in the grotto walls where I could get down in, and not have to climb in all the time, but I would still have to climb back out. I took off my bandage and put it in my pocket then made my way down the passage into the grotto. I held my shield in front of me and walked through the passage. I stood a few feet from the grotto entrance. I peeked over the shield and tossed the fish I had been carrying in. When nothing happened, I walked a little further and my shield got stuck in between two rocks. I tried to pull it out, but it wouldn't budge. I crawled under and gave it a tug. Still stuck. I gave up and just picked up the fish and looked around for the Night Fury.

(Night Fury's POV)

I watched as my hatchling made her way around the grotto in front of me. When she was in front of me, I made my way down the rock I had been sunning on when I heard her coming. She didn't see me at first but she caught sight of me, I heard a gasp escape her lips. She looked at me with very little fear than she had when she had found me in the woods. Instead, what I saw was curiosity and a very intelligent longing to learn more. But I was too distracted by the fish she carried to notice. I got closer to take the fish, but then I notice something glint off of her belt. I pulled back slightly and started to growl. She flinched pulled back her vest to show she had a knife.

"Why did you bring that? Get rid of it." She didn't answer. She just took the knife out of her belt, held it arm's length away and dropped it.

"No I mean get rid of it." I said gesturing my head toward the water.

She picked it up with her foot and kicked it in to the water. I relaxed and looked at her again. She looked a little startled, but not ready to run just yet. She held out the fish again and I walked closer to her. I opened my mouth to take in the fish with my teeth hidden so that I wouldn't scare her.

"Huh, toothless. I could've sworn you had…" she started to say, then I unsheathed my teeth and grabbed the fish careful not to take her fingers with it. I bit the fish in half and swallowed licking my gums feeling much better.

"…teeth." My hatchling finished sounding startled.

I thought she would have remembered. But then I realized that she was too young to remember anything about us ever meeting before now.

I slowly walked toward her.

"Uh, uh. No, no, no. I, I don't have any more." She said as she stumbled and backed against a boulder that sat behind her.

"Silly. I don't want more." I started to bring half the fish back up. I dropped it in her lap. She didn't seem to enjoy the sight of it. "I just want you to eat. You're so small even for your age." I said as I sat back on my back haunches. I watched her for a few seconds but she wasn't eating. She looked like she was trying to contemplate whether or not she should.

"Go on. Eat." I said gesturing with my head. She looked at the fish and then at me again. She sighed and hesitantly took a bite. She held it in her mouth and looked at me again.

"Mmmh." She mumbled nodding at me and held the fish toward me again.

"Swallow it. You can't hold it there forever." I said swallowing myself. She gave me an 'you've got to be kidding me' look and swallowed while trying not to have come back up again. She shuddered and then sighed giving me a smile that even when she was a baby, I couldn't understand why. I tried to smile back, but I hadn't had a reason to smile in long time so I'm guessing I looked pretty silly to her.

She reached out to touch me with her left hand.

"No. Either touch me with your marked hand or don't touch me at all." I growled. I wanted her to not be afraid of her mark. The mark of the bond was nothing to be ashamed of. I glided over to the other side if the lake and burned a patch of grass for a nap. I heard a bird chirp. I looked up and saw a bird in a nest. It flew away as I watched it.

'Enjoy it while you can little one.' I thought. I looked down and saw my hatchling sitting a few feet away from me. She gave me a small wave and I turned my head to lie down.

"Later Young One. Just let me take a nap for a little while." I told her folding my tail in front of my face. I could feel her hand a few inches away. I pulled my tail up and she quickly stood up and walked away.

"Oh for Father Thor's sake. I just want to take a nap." I grumbled as I walked to an exposed but still rooted down tree root. I hung upside down and closed my eyes. I dozed off into dreams.

I woke up a few hours later and looked around for my hatchling. I saw her sitting on a rock a short distance away. 'So she stayed after all.' I thought as I walked to her. I watched as she continued to drag the stick she was holding in the dirt. As she continued to drag it, I noticed the image she was creating looked familiar. It was me. She was drawing me. It gave me an idea.

I walked toward another tree and pulled one of the branches off. I walked back toward my hatchling and started to drag it through the dirt around her. I paused a moment to look at her. Then I continued to drag the branch through the dirt. When I was done, I stopped and looked at my work.

"Not bad huh? Now try and find your way out." I told her.

She apparently wasn't listening cause she was too busy looking at my work. I had created a maze for her to find her way out. For fun. When she was a baby I did this for her all the time in the year I got to take care of her. It was always so much fun to watch her stumble in and out of the maze. I also did this for Keena. It was our favorite past time when we weren't exploring outside the nest.

As she walked forward, she stepped on the border of one of the curves. I started to growl. My way of telling her wrong. She lifted her foot and I started to purr. She stepped on the border again. I started to growl again. This repeated once more and she stepped over the border. As she made her way through my maze, it looked like she was dancing. The way she moved, I could've sworn I saw that smile creeping across her face. I stood right behind her when she came to a stop.

I breathed ruffling her dull brown hair slightly. She turned to face me. I looked at her hoping this time she would show me her mark. She reached for me with her marked hand this time, but I still needed to know that she could trust me. I snarled lightly. She pulled her hand back and I stopped. She thought about it for a second then closed her eyes and turned her head away. She held out her hand and I watched for a second. She knew how powerful I was, that I could easily kill her while she wasn't looking. Yet she trusted me enough to look away and hold out her hand to me.

That was what I had been looking for. I touched my nose to her palm. A warm pulse shot through my body. She let out a breath as if she had been holding it. She turned to look at me. I looked at her again. I snorted and ran to the other end of the grotto. She watched as I took off. She may not have talked much this time, but she will in time.

"I take it, we can trust each other now right?" I heard her call after me.

"Yes. I already trusted you. I just wanted to know if you trusted me." I replied.

"I came here cause I was hoping you could give me some answers about what has been going on with me. I can talk to dragons, I have this weird mark on my hand where my scar used to be, and every time I hear a loud noise my head and ears hurt and I see things in blurs. What is going on with me?" she asked as she walked toward me again.

"I'll answer your questions next time we meet. But there is something I want you to do for me."

"What is it?"

"I want you to give me a name. Me and all the other dragons don't have names and I want to be remembered by a name. Not just as 'Night Fury'."

"A name, huh? Okay, uh, how about Toothless?"

"Toothless?"

"Because of the way you can hide your teeth. I think it matches it pretty well."

"Yeah. I guess it does. Toothless it is. Also, I'd like to know your name. I've known you for a long time but have never known your name."

"My name is Hiccup. And how long have you known me?"

"Another story for another time." I replied, "You should be heading back to your home. Your family will be looking for you."

"Your right. I'll see you tomorrow." She called as she turned and headed for that little opening in the grotto. Too small for me to squeeze through, but just small enough for her. She tugged at the shield she had brought with her and finally got it free then she climbed up the cliff side and out of the grotto.

"Good-bye." She called. Then headed back towards her home.

"Good-bye Hiccup. Please be safe." I pleaded in a whisper.