AN: No cliffhanger for this chapter as a make up gift for taking so long to update.

READ END NOTE.

Disclaimer: Neither I nor hiccup haddock Dragon own HTTYD.

Worry.

No.

Worried wasn't the word to describe what he was feeling.

Panicked!

Yes.

Panicked was exactly what he was!

Toothless whined, glancing longingly at the entrance of the cave.

His mate, his Hiccup, was in danger.

Toothless knew not if Hiccup was safe from the witch or if she was safe at all. He cursed the Gods for letting this happen. He cursed them for being injured and not being able to help his mate.

He had told Hiccup to run, and she had. There was an explosion and Toothless knew not if it meant his mate's death or her safety. All he could do was lay here in this cave and wait for the human to return.

Toothless whimpered, then turned to growl at his injuries. It hurt to move them too much as the plummet had left him worse for wear, but he was a dragon and dragons had extraordinary healing powers. It wouldn't take long for his wounds to heal and when they did, he was out of here.

He wouldn't sit a minute longer in this cave, worrying and only hoping that his mate was okay.

The very thought of Hiccup hurt or even worse left him berating himself.

As her mate it was HIS job to protect her.

Protect. Provide. Love.

Every male had those three duties to his mate.

A male dragon was to protect his mate from all harm.

A male dragon was to provide his mate with anything they needed and wanted.

A male dragon was to love his mate above all other things.

Toothless had broken two of those duties.

He hadn't protected Hiccup. He had failed her. If he had seceded, they would be together, safe and away from all danger. If he had protected her like he was supposed to none of this would have happened.

Now that they were separated, he couldn't provide for his mate. He couldn't take care of her and for a dragon to not be able to provide for their mate was unspoken of. A dragon cannot be considered a good mate if they fail to provide and care for their bonded one.

Toothless frowned, growling softly.

As soon as he found his mate, his Hiccup, he was going to ensure that he would protect her from now on.

He won't fail her again.

The wind whipped around her and through her hair as she and her armored dragon shot through the skies.

Narrowed eyes scanned the air and land, searching for any clues that would lead her to the object of her intentions.

The Night Fury had been insufferable, unable to calm. It had gone mad with panic and worry for its rider and the only way it would settle down was to promise to go looking for said rider.

Heather groaned.

She may have not known Hiccup for very long and she hardly knew anything about him, but one thing she did know was that trouble followed the poor boy like a lost puppy. He was a walking accident magnet just waiting for trouble to come along.

Knowing Hiccup, the boy could be anywhere. Heather nearly groaned from exasperation.

Sure, she was at least the tiniest bit worried for his safety, but Heather knew that Hiccup was smart boy and could most likely get himself out of any sticky situation that didn't require brute strength.

Heather was startled by a sudden explosion that left her ears ringing and her dragon stumbling in flight. She whipped her head around, frantically searching for the source. Her eyes widened at the sight of smoke rolling upwards towards the skies and she pointing in its direction.

"There, Windshear!"

Windshear followed its rider's direction and dove towards the smoke, eyes scanning for any possible danger.

Coughing, Heather pulled her scarf up and over her mouth and nose, raising a hand to swat at the smoke. As they descended and came closer to the ground, the smoke started to thin out and clear, giving her watering eyes a chance to focus. Though the haze, she managed to spot a black shape. Her eyes narrowed and her breath hitched. Was that...was that Toothless?!

She spotted several human figures surrounding the Night Fury and her lips pulled into a tight, thin line.

"Take us in, Windshear."

The silver dragon nodded and dove faster towards the earth, swooping up just in time to startle the vikings that resided below it. Heather jumped from the back of her dragon and hit the ground in a rolling somersault before she came up to stand protectively in front of the Night Fury, her double ax gripped tightly in her hand. She twirled it and swung, its blade coming to rest just inches from the neck of a blonde haired viking.

Said viking gasped and watched her through wide, blue eyes.

Heather looked up at the girl and her eyes widened. "Astrid?" She slowly pulled the blade away before looking around.

Astrid's brow furrowed in confusion as she gripped her own ax tightly, ready for a fight if necessary. "Do I know you?"

Heather laughed, startling the gathered vikings. The dragons there growled loudly at her and she smiled, reaching up to pull the hood from her face. The vikings gasped as they instantly recognized her.

"Hey babe, did ya miss me?"

Heather looked over to see Snotlout leaning against his dragon, a smirk on his face and his eyebrow raised.

Heather snorted as Hookfang moved from his spot causing Snotlout to face plant on the ground. Heather rolled her eyes and muttered, 'Typical', under her breath.

"Heather! What...what are you doing here?!" Astrid all but exclaimed, looking at the girl with wide eyes.

Astrid had to admit, she used to be jealous of the girl. After all, Heather was good looking and a threat to her "claim". Though Astrid realized now that Hiccup was no longer hers and she had no claim left to own, she still felt weary towards the girl. Heather was very pretty and any girl would feel threatened by her.

"I've been living on this island here for awhile. Windshear and I," Heather pointed to the dragon that was now circling them, "found a Night Fury not too long ago. It's obviously Toothless."

Hiccup, having been silent for the entire duration of the conversation, suddenly perked up at her mate's name. Toothless?! What he alright?! Was he okay?!

She whined, warbling and growling unintelligible things to the group of vikings who could for the life of them understand what she was saying.

Heather raised an eyebrow. "Of course, Toothless is supposed to be resting in the cave and I won't have you guys threatening his recovering. So if you don't mind, I'm gonna take Toothless here and continue my search for Hiccup. The dragon has been restless and wouldn't stop growling until I complied to go search for the dunderhead."

Hiccup's heart fluttered and soared with relief over the information that her mate was safe and okay. Toothless was bound to be worried about her. Hiccup had to get to him.

"What? Take Toothless..." Astrid's eyes widened. "No! That's not Toothless, Heather!"

Heather whipped around to glare at the blonde. "Toothless is probably the last remaining Night Fury on this planet and you mean to tell me that this dragon is not him?"

Astrid returned the glare with such intensity that caused Heather to frown. "That dragon there is Hiccup."

Heather gaped, jaw dropping as she quickly looked back and forth from the viking girl and to the Night Fury.

Astrid smirked, crossing her arms. "You'll catch flies like that."

Heather quickly snapped her mouth shut before looking at Astrid with distrust. "So you're telling me that this Night Fury, this dragon, is Hiccup?!"

The teens all nodded in confirmation and were startled as Heather suddenly burst into laughter.

She clutched her sides, holding them tight as her shoulders shook from the force. She laughed and howled, reaching a hand up to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Nice one, but I'm not falling for it." She laughed.

The teens only stared her, mouths all pulled into a frown. They weren't laughing and they weren't smiling. Their posture only screamed complete and total seriousness.

"Wait! You're serious?!"

Astrid nodded. "The Gods have turned Hiccup into a dragon. We don't know how or why, but they have."

Heather turned to look at the Night Fury who had been observing in slight mirth at the situation. Hiccup turned for Heather to see the missing back left leg and the girl blanched. Heather looked up into emerald eyes and recognition shot through her.

"It really is you."

Hiccup nodded, giving the girl a goofy, toothless grin.

Heather shook her head, clearly still in disbelief and slight shock. "I...what?"

Fighlegs rushed into the situation, directing it to the main goal at hand. "A witch is after Hiccup and Toothless. She wants to turn Hiccup back."

Heather turned to the bulky boy and frowned, though if one looked closely, a pink tinge could be evident on her cheeks. Astrid smirked knowingly, placing a hand over her mouth to still her giggles.

"A witch?"

Fishlegs nodded, pointing to Hiccup. "Stoic has paid the witch to turn his son back, but Hiccup doesn't want to be human again. We assume the witch found them here as we found Hiccup trapped in this cave and the beach was covered in blood. We came here to help them."

Heather nodded, still not taking her eyes off the boy.

Astrid smiled inwardly, knowing all her distrust and weariness of the girl were long gone, washed away by the rivers of intuition. It was evident that Heather liked the book nerd of a viking and Astrid couldn't wait to meddle her way into helping their relationship.

"Where is Toothless?" She asked, though her mind was secretly plotting.

"He's back at the cave that me and Windshear stay in." Heather stated, glancing back at the jittery Hiccup who was whining with impatience at the prospect of seeing her mate.

She laughed at the dragon before calling her own down to her. "I'll take you to him."

Berk

Gothi was furious.

Oh no. She was beyond furious.

When she got her hands on that thick headed, stubborn bull of a chief she was gonna wring his neck.

The Gods...Oh the Gods will be furious!

The man had intervened in their plan! This was not going to be taken lightly and Gothi feared for the future of berk.

Gothi had spelled it out to Stoic that it was the God's plan for Hiccup to be this way, for his son to be turned into one of the beasts he cherished so much. It would be Hiccup's choice as to whether or not if she wanted to be restored to her former human self, not her father's.

And even if the witch succeeded in turning Hiccup back to his former self, who's to say that Hiccup would stay? If the boy truly wished to remain as a dragon, he wouldn't stick around after being betrayed by his father in one of the worst ways possible. Gothi knew that Stoic what stoic had done had cost him his son's trust, something she feared he would never be able to get back. She knew Hiccup loved her father, but if the man refused to see reason because of his own pitiful conflictions, Hiccup wouldn't forgive him.

The boy and his dragon would be long gone if they weren't already and Gothi knew that it would be a long while before Hiccup or his Night Fury showed their faces around here once more. She shook her head, pitying the chief who frustrated and infuriated her to no end.

However, what Stoic had done was simply unforgivable. It was one thing to simply disregard your child's wishes and look only towards your own, but to seek the witch?

To consult the witch, a woman who indulged herself in nothing but the dark arts was madness! The magic she used was tainted purely with darkness. There was a reason black magic was forbidden by the Gods. All magic came with a price and the price will always be paid. Dark magic, however, was worse when it came to this rule. It was strict, demanding.

The caster risked their very life when preforming such spells as it fed solely on their magical energy and life force.

The witch was indeed powerful. Very powerful.

She could preform the most wicked and difficult spells known to man. However, the harder and more difficult the spell, the more dangerous it was to cast it. If the caster's magical core energy and strength did not match up to the demanding spell, the caster would be wiped of their magic and energy, leaving the person as nothing but a mere shell of their former self.

This was why dark magic was forbidden.

For Stoic to turn to such evil...it was if he had thrown all sense of caution out of the window.

Gothi frowned as she walked along the dirt path though the almost deserted village. She stopped and turned to look up at the dark, omniscient clouds looming in the distance. The wind caressed her graying her and a foreboding feeling of dread lay deep in her gut. Berk would soon face the wrath of the Gods...very soon it would.

She forced herself to continue her journey and slowly made her way to the house beside smithy. The closer she drew towards her destination, her nose began to catch scent of a beautiful aroma that wafted throughout the air which caused her stomach to practically purr. Her mouth watered against her will at the thought of the blacksmith's famous stew and she pushed her lips into a thin line.

Yes, she would dine with the blacksmith and Chief tonight. However, she would not enjoy it.

When Gothi walked into the home of the blacksmith, she found him humming over an iron pot, merrily shaking a small vial of pepper into the seemed happy and acted as if everything was perfectly fine in the world.

Gothi instantly saw through his facade. This man was not a happy man, at least not anymore. This Gobber was a fake, a mascaraed of his former self.

Gobber nodded in greeting to the elder as she walked in before turning back to his pot of stew. As he reached for the vial of the rare salt he had received in trade, his eye caught sight of a crinkled picture pinned to the wall.

It was a terribly drawn picture of a stick man Gobber in his forge, holding a sword and pounding it with a hammer on the anvil while a smaller stick figure watched. Gobber felt his lips turn slightly upwards as he remembered the day that Hiccup had given it to him as a birthday present. He had looked so proud of his drawing and of course Gobber had said nothing but praise to the small five year old, thinking that it was worth the huge smile on the kid's face.

His small smile quickly turned into a frown as he remembered that it was the only time he had ever seen Hiccup smile like that before the verbal abuse of the villagers had started.

A beefy hand on his shoulder startled him from his thoughts and he turned to see Stoic watching him through glistening eyes.

"It'll be alright, Gobber. I've hired the best sorceress around to find him."

Gobber offered his chief and best friend a small smile, internally glaring at the man he wasn't very fond of at the moment.

Shaking his head, Gobber focused his attention on the stew. "Alright! Stew's done!"

Gathering three bowls, Gobber carefully scooped out three servings and handed Stoic two of them. The two men brought the bowls to the table where Gothi sat and all three started to eat in silence. Gothi glanced at the men and knew something must be said.

She sat her spoon down and gave the Chief a hard look.

It was time to beat some sense into the man.

Island

The short flight back to the cave in which Toothless resided didn't seem short at all. In fact, it felt like an eternity in which she couldn't reach her mate soon enough.

The steps into the cave seemed even more prolonged, everything occurring slowly. She let out a breath which she hadn't known she'd been holding as her gaze set upon her mate, sound asleep and looking a little worse for wear.

Sighing and smiling in relief, Hiccup silently hobbled over to her sleeping mate and lent down, delivering a gentle, yet loving lick to his snout.

Toothless jerked awake, eyes blinking furiously as they came to rest upon her.

Hiccup giggled at his confused yet dazed look before realization suddenly hit him.

"Hiccup!"

Hiccup suddenly found herself being tackled by the larger Night Fury, pinned to the ground and being smothered in dragon kisses.

She laughed, leaning up to lick his cheek. "I missed you too." She breathed.

"I thought I had lost you." Toothless whispered, leaning down to nuzzle into her neck.

Hiccup turned her head to nuzzle him back, rubbing her head against his. "I'm not going anywhere."

It was at that moment that Hiccup knew that she could not live without her mate. Toothless completed her and she completed him. They were matching pieces of a puzzle, two sides of the same coin.

She loved this dragon and she didn't plan to let go of him.

She was his, forever.

AN: "EGG TALK"

It is confirmed! Hiccup and Toothless WILL be having an EGG!

So a lot of people said that yes, they would like to have little Night Furies running around in this story.

HOWEVER.

hiccup haddock Dragon and I have decided, following advice from reviewers, to wait until the danger has passed for the egg to come. It will happen near the end of the story and there will possibly be a sequel revolving around the new family. We've come up with some great ideas, but I can't say less I spoil the surprise!

Now the question is this:

How many eggs?

I'm hoping for two, but we'll probably set up a poll and ask for your opinions. We'll just have to wait and see.

~Scarlet