Toothless's eyes are narrowed as he waits high above the District 7 village, trying to spot a certain redhead. And the Master of Stealth swoops silently across the night sky, waiting for the perfect moment to dive down upon his oblivious prey – now!

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" Hiccup's cry fades from the village as he heads straight up again, leaving everything behind. Toothless does not feel guilty in the least.

"This is for leaving me!" Toothless snaps as he carves sharp turns on his wingtips, Hiccup's body flapping like a flag during hurricane season, held only by Toothless's iron grip.

"Who-OA! Ah-Oh gods…oh gods…"

Toothless ignores Hiccup's spluttering and flailing, diving down once again with all the fury that gave him his name. "And this…is for not telling me anything!" he roars as he pulls up, nearly clipping the tips of the pine trees as they shoot just over the canopy.

"Fwu-AIII!"

Wings pumping furiously, Toothless climbs up the sky like a maniac. Then he spins, letting gravity grasp them. "This is for nearly dying!" he yells above Hiccup's grunts.

"And this is for scaring me to death!"

Hiccup doesn't scream this time. He just falls, wide eyes flicking around in the hopes of catching a glimpse of his black hide in the midnight sky.

Toothless, however, is far below him, waiting as Hiccup falls closer and closer.

He sideswipes the boy mere meters from the ground, muscles screaming as he cancels out Hiccup's terrific velocity and tosses him up so the boy can land safely on his back. Immediately two arms cling to his neck and Toothless is careful to glide up smoothly because Hiccup isn't in a saddle and has absolutely nothing to hold on to.

Now he's maybe a little bit guilty as he hears Hiccup's quick gasps and feels his racing heart pressed against his back.

"This," he croons, "is for coming back."

He makes sure to treat Hiccup to the best night views he's ever seen, away from the dragons and the districts and everyone else. The sky seems to hear his thoughts because there are more stars out tonight than he's ever seen before and not a cloud in the sky that can block their view. The wind is gentle, even a little warm. It's nice. It's peaceful.

They've both been short on peace lately so they silently seize the opportunity to enjoy this moment.

But when Hiccup starts to shiver and hugs Toothless tighter, he knows their short escape is over. He begins to circle his way around the warm thermals, slowly losing altitude.

Hiccup speaks up for the first time.

"Hey, bud."

"Hey yourself," Toothless purrs back, absurdly pleased.

"Thanks for the ride. I…needed that."

"Any time, Hic."

"No, really. I needed that. I guess you don't know…I didn't tell you, but…well. Each year, twenty four people get selected at random to fight each other to the death. It was me this year."

"…I know. And?" Toothless prompts after a few moments.

"It was me. Gods, I…Toothless, please don't hate me."

Hiccup sounds close to tears and Toothless hums sympathetically, waiting.

"I…please understand, I couldn't be merciful. Or forgiving. I couldn't look at people and see people, you know? I had to look at people and see…animals."

He's definitely crying now.

"And it's so hard to go back to seeing people. I feel so disgusted with myself because I look at people now and it's like I've forgotten how to care. I'm so wrapped up in me, me, me, and I can't reach out and feel anything but-but apathy…Toothless, if we met like we did that first time? In the woods, where you were a-all tied up? If w-we had met, r-right now? I would kill you. I would have killed you."

It's now that Toothless realizes that the Capitol has injured Hiccup – and possibly countless other people – in ways even medicine and magic can't heal.

He lands softly in their cove but Hiccup doesn't slide off him. He clings and Toothless, as gently as he can, swings him around so that they're face to face, the boy kneeling on the ground with his arms around the dragon's neck. Hiccup won't meet his eyes and Toothless's worry grows as he hears the broken tones in his sobs and sees the shivers racking his friend's frame. He slowly coaxes him to the little overhang in the cove's side, murmuring assurances as Hiccup buries his head into Toothless's neck and Toothless settles down, forcing him to let go.

Hiccup stands there for a moment, hands rubbing the tears away from his pale cheeks before he looks up at Toothless.

Toothless is ready. He pulls the corners of his lips back and up, revealing a very toothless smile. Then he raises a wing, letting the smile drop. "Get in here."

It's like a dam has broken. With a watery smile of his own, Hiccup scrambles into his embrace and curls up against Toothless's side

And maybe neither medicine nor magic can heal him, but Toothless is confident that he can.