OH, P. S., I JUST SAW ENDER'S GAME. EPIC. IT IS NOW LIKE MY SECOND FAVORITE MOVIE.

"Uh, huh, umm..." I laughed. My cheeks were smoldering red, I could feel it, but the rest of me was cold and pale and shaking.

Toothless. Toothless.

"Get behind me," Astrid said through gritted teeth. She held her arms out, hands posed in case of an attack.

Toothless roared. Roared loud, loud enough for-

"HICCUP!" shouted a voice, my father's, from the porch.

All of a sudden, I was thrown on the ground, slumped on the dirt behind my father, who had joined Astrid's side. They both stood in I-will-seriously-kill-you-because-I-want-to-look-c ool poses, "protecting" me.

Toothless got on his haunches, teeth bared, ear plates up. A thousand questions swirled through my mind in an interrogative tornado. For starters, how and why was Toothless here?

Those would have to wait, though. All three entities were ready to kill.

I jumped up in between them.

Astrid didn't notice me move, and so she was lunging towards Toothless. Using the only defense I knew, which involved dancing (pathetic, right?), I threw her away from Toothless. The way she held herself, the way she fell- I could see panic.

I turned and held out my hands, in what I hope was a comforting manner, to Toothless, who was now rearing up in confusion and panic.

"It's- It's okay, Toothless," I whispered, "They're friends."

He shot an annoyed glare at me and then sat down, fidgeting under my palm. His eyes stared daggers at my father and Astrid. If looks could kill...

Astrid stood up and warily- and somewhat angrily- put her hands out beside her in a defensive manner.

My father lunged out at my dragon, hands posed to either rip off his head or strangle him (I couldn't decide which; the finger positions of the two are very similar).

I moved my neck in the way of his hands. Dad's meaty hands stopped just short of my neck. I stared him down. I told him with as much confidence and finality as he'd ever heard me use, "NO."

Although I've never been good at reading eyes (How in the world do they show emotions as specific as traumatized sadness? I don't get it!), I could see plainly that his were dipped, shaken, and stirred- positively drowned- in confusion and fury.

"What do ya mean 'no?!'" he shouted. He tried to move me out of the way.

I did not budge. "I mean NO. You will NOT touch this animal as long as my lungs have the capacity to take breath and my heart has the ability to pump blood into my body. You won't touch him, or think about him, or anything about him until the Twentieth of Never. If he dies, I will die, I promise you this."

Their eyes widened. I felt Astrid's, didn't see it. I could feel the shift, the shift of my senses. That always happened when she was around, I suppose. An over-acuteness of the senses. (A/N REFERENCE TO "THE TALE-TELL HEART" BY EDGAR ALLAN POE, IF YOU DIDN'T CATCH THAT)

"What the heck is wrong with you?! Move out of the way!" Dad said.

"Did you not just hear me?" I glared, "I will protect this dragon with my life."

By the way Dad shifted, I could tell that he had just come across a startling piece of information.

"How... How is it not attacking you?" he asked warily.

"First of all, it is a he. Second of all, uh... I have no idea." My confidence was slipping away. I had to get Toothless out of there fast before anything else could happen or my resolve slipped for good.

As both of them looked like they were seconds away from killing both Toothless and I, I sighed with resolution.

"Toothless, Astrid. Astrid, Toothless. Dad, Toothless. Toothless, Dad."

With a firm stare and not another word, I leapt onto the saddle, and we took off.

I HAVE A SPECIAL THANK-YOU TODAY: StorSpeaker IS NOW MY BETA! WOOP, WOOP! SO ABOUT MAYBE A FIFTH OF THE CRED GOES TO HIM?

IT HAS OCCURRED TO ME THAT I SHOULD LIST RELATED TITLES. THIS STORY WAS INSPIRED BY:

"Roses and Silver Scales" by ObsessesEasily

"The Beat" by Emiko Sora

AND THAT'S IT! GOOD DAY, FOLKS, GOODBYE!