This is edited version for better language. Updated 22.10.2017. Unfortunately my original comments on reviews did not copy here.

Original version was beta-/proofread by 3DPhantom.

.

Hiccup flinched as Gothi poked his chest: It was still sore from his injuries. The elder apparently had decided to remind him that he hadn't completely healed yet. Hiccup knew from experience to just sit silently and not interrupt. That was the quickest and least painful way to deal with the deceptively harmless-looking woman. When you entered her hut with any injury you were at her mercy. She took off the old bandages that Fishlegs had put on the previous day. Afterwards, she kept looking at the wounds below, sliding her finger along the skin. Her expression seemed thoughtful, which made Hiccup a bit uneasy. He knew full-well that those wounds normally shouldn't have been healing that quickly, or at least so cleanly with just some bandages. Toothless really did wonders to them.

It took some time for Gothi to put on new bandages. Hiccup's nose was assaulted by the smell of whatever they were covered in. It actually made dragon saliva seem a more attractive treatment method, on top of being more effective. Afterwards she let him stand up and started writing on a box of sand on the floor. Many didn't understand the symbols she used, and fewer knew that Hiccup did. Gothi had noticed the strangely good condition of his wounds, but didn't push the matter. She did, however, tell Hiccup to be careful, saying that his head was still injured too. Maybe that hellish headache wasn't just because of his separation from Toothless' mind; it still touched him to think that the dragon had held that pain for him earlier. To think that someone was willing to voluntarily suffer any pain for him was foreign, but not unwanted.

Hiccup stepped carefully as he walked down the steps from Gothi's hut. Only other thing he paid attention to was the sound of hammering coming from Gobber's forge. He had gone back to work after Gothi chased him out of her hut. Hiccup didn't feel like talking to the one-legged man. There would just be questions and he wasn't sure how to answer them without getting into more trouble, in one way or another. He started walking the other way. It would be easiest to just return to Toothless.

"Hiccup," Fishlegs' familiar voice came from behind him.

"So you got back to the village. Did anyone see you in the forest?" Hiccup asked, keeping his voice quiet.

"I don't think so. Everyone came back when they found you, but where are you going?"

"Back to the cove. I don't really have any other place to go to and I don't want to talk with Gobber right now."

"Hiccup, I know you don't want to be here, but I don't think you should go now. You are away constantly and people might pay more attention to it now since they had to search for you."

"I doubt that. They've never cared before."

"They might… not care that much… for you… but eventually people will start asking where you go. At least they should see you in the village every day, especially today. It's safer for Toothless too."

"You are right," Hiccup agreed almost instantly. "I should stay, for a while."

His voice lowered with the last words. Hiccup looked around the village, thinking of what he could do without running into Gobber.

"Guess I'll go around the village, maybe clean the house before dad returns, but then I'll leavev. That should be enough that people don't come looking for me immediately. You know where to find me after sundown."

"Are you going back to the ring?"

"Of course. I still haven't met the Zippleback and Nightmare, and dragon training won't last much longer. The Nightmare is going to be killed if I don't do something before then."

"So you are you going to free them?"

"I have to do something. They don't deserve to be tortured to death just because the Queen forced them to do bad things."

After that Fishlegs seemed to be deep in thought. He wasn't as simple-minded as the others, but the idea of helping dragons was new to him. Hiccup left him to consider the issue and headed back into the village. He walked through it, keeping a good distance to the forge.

It didn't take long for Hiccup to notice the looks. Most of the time people just ignored him. It was twice as bad with the stares that he got every time he messed up or did something un-vikingly. This time Hiccup couldn't avoid noticing every single pair of eyes on him. It was worse than ever, and Hiccup hadn't been in a cheery mood to begin with. Had he truly become that separated from everyone around him?

At least he had now been seen by the people. Hopefully they would go back to ignoring him and his disappearances now. Remembering his earlier plan, Hiccup headed home. Though he wasn't sure if he really thought of it as a home. Sure his room on the second floor was one of the two safest places he had in the village, the other being his small personal room at the forge, but it was missing that something that made a home. Hiccup hadn't even been in the house for a couple of days. At least he should change clothes and make the place look like he still lived there, starting with making a small fire, cleaning away some dust and eating away a dried up bread that he had forgotten. The bread didn't compare to fish cooked on dragon-lit fire and eaten with an actual friend, though.

That was it. Swallowing the last mouthful of bread, Hiccup looked out of the hatch on the roof of his room as the sun approached the horizon and Gobber walked out of the forge. Hiccup had been in the village long enough, and didn't want to be questioned by the smith. He rushed downstairs and left through the back door. Hiccup ran until he reached the forest. There he had to slow down. He didn't want to stumble on a root again. Hiccup's head and ribs hurt enough already and running hadn't helped that. The pain made him move slower than usual, but he kept pushing forward. His mind stretched out in numerous tendrils, seeking the familiar presence of the single Nigh Fury mind on Berk. Toothless was awake and Hiccup could feel worry from the dragon. He didn't like making his friend worry about him, but it was comforting someone did.

The dragon was waiting for him at the entrance to the cove. Unlike some previous times, he didn't tackle Hiccup to the ground to greet him, clearly conscious of his injuries. Instead the dragon approached more carefully and grimaced after sniffing Hiccup's new bandages. He seemed to forget the smell when Hiccup put his hand on the black scales above Toothless' snout. The tendrils of his mind met the dragon's, which welcomed them with an open mind. The feeling of acceptance, friendship, and safety, was from different world compared to mere moments earlier. Toothless' worry was only stain on that feeling, one that was growing now that the dragon could access Hiccup's memories of the day.

'It's okay. It was pretty much what I expected,' Hiccup explained gently, rubbing the black scales.

'That doesn't make it better.'

'Not really, but if I survived it before we met, I can handle it now.'

'You're lying. It feels worse to you now,' Toothless corrected.

'Maybe… can we focus on something else?'

'You should rest. You are hurt and haven't taken a break since you met the old female human and still want to go to see the other dragons.'

'Fine, you mother hen.'

Of course, they both knew that it was the best thing to do. They both could feel Hiccup feeling better after he settled down, leaning on Toothless' side. His left hand was scratching Toothless behind the ears. It helped to calm both of them, and Toothless liked it. Hiccup didn't really need other reasons to do anything. Eventually he fell asleep.

Hiccup woke up quickly with a gentle slap from a tail.

'Sun just went down. It will be completely dark soon,' Toothless told to sleepy, groggy Hiccup.

'Thanks; good that at least one of us can stay awake.'

'I rest when you aren't here, and I didn't hurt my head.'

'Okay, okay. Want to fly a bit before it becomes completely dark? Helps me to wake up.'

'Yes, but nothing fun until you have healed enough.'

An uneventful flight later, Toothless glided quietly towards the kill ring. The dragon's sharper eyes confirmed that it was safe before finally coming down to land by the entrance. Hiccup slid down from his back before they went in.

'I think we should let the others out first and then try to handle the Zippleback and Monstrous Nightmare.'

'You have to be careful. Ziplebacks can be strange. You never know what they'll decide to do.'

'They sound a bit like the twins. I'm most worried about the Nightmare.'

'You don't want to have one as an enemy. They like to think themselves as the greatest warriors in the nest. Most dragons don't usually question that.'

'I assume that you mean greatest after yourself.'

'I think it's one of the few things that Vikings got right about dragons.'

'Yes. Only the strongest Vikings fight Nightmares, but even the strongest and bravest Vikings duck in fear every time they hear you.'

'It's too late if they can hear me.'

Hiccup petted Toothless on the head. At least the dragon could think about his past without being depressed, and even be confident while doing so.

'If only they knew that the mighty Night Fury is mostly just a mix of puppy, kitten, and a hen.'

Toothless puffed smoke from his nostrils, pretending to be offended by Hiccup's comment.

They started by letting Sharpshot and Meatlug out of their cages, since those two were the friendliest and easiest to handle. The little terror instantly flew to greet them and settled on Toothless' head. Meatlug acted calmer and tried to keep some distance from Toothless, still a bit wary of the infamous dragon. When Hiccup let Stormfly out she was her normal arrogant self, but still wary of Hiccup. At least she didn't cause problems. Both Hiccup and Toothless kept a watchful eye on her for a while to make sure of that. Then was the time for the tricky part.

Hiccup and Toothless stood in front of the heavy gates holding back the Zippleback. Hiccup was holding his hand on the cool metal, trying to reach inside with his mind. He could feel the dragon, and tell it was awake, probably listening what was going on. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get anything coherent through to the dragon he had never met before.

'Ready?'

'Ready,' Toothless answered Hiccup's question. He was slightly crouched next to the boy, ready to defend him in case the other dragon was hostile. Sharpshot had flown out of the way.

'Here goes,' Hiccup pulled the heavy lever and waited as the log holding the gate closed rose, allowing the Zippleback to push the gates open.

He instantly jumped back as a cloud of gas poured out from the partially open gates. Toothless followed him, growling. They both knew how explosive and dangerous that gas could be. Hiccup placed his hand on Toothless' head, trying to keep his friend calm as he extended his thoughts once again. He could feel the other dragon's presence better now, actually better than any dragon before that he hadn't directly connected with, and was able to tell where it was even without seeing the Zippleback.

'We aren't going to hurt you. We just want to help,' There was no answer. Hiccup turned a bit to the right, following how the dragon as it moved in the cloud. At last, it came closer, and didn't feel like it was about to attack. The dragon felt more like it was curious, but conflicted.

'Who are you?'

'How can you do this?' Both of the heads tried to ask their questions at the same time.

'I'm Hiccup, and I don't really know,' Hiccup focused on showing the memories from how he had discovered his abilities with Toothless.

Those were cut short when one of the heads emerged from the smoke. Hiccup wasn't quite sure which one it was. Toothless stepped forward threateningly. That made the Zippleback head stop. Its eyes darted between Hiccup and Toothless.

Hiccup lowered his hand to Toothless' head to calm the dragon as he stepped forward, towards the other dragon. He held up his other free hand while closing his eyes. Toothless backed up unwillingly after a mental request from Hiccup.

'Can you trust us, so that we can help you?'

Even with his eyes closed Hiccup actually knew every move that the Zippleback made, thanks to Toothless, who didn't take his eyes off the other dragon. The Zippleback didn't need to know that yet, not that Hiccup could react faster than Toothless, if the Zippleback did something.

The dragon's snout brushed against his hand. It was enough. Tendrils of his thoughts pushed through, down to the deepest parts of the dragon's mind to push out the Queen. He could feel the dragon… Barf? ... Truly realizing what the Queen had done.

The moment was cut short when the other head suddenly appeared on Hiccup's side and hit him hard. He got thrown to the ground, grimacing from the pain on his already abused body. His eyes were wide open again, though they still couldn't see the Zippleback from behind the black scaled growling dragon standing right over him. He wasn't sure what had gone wrong, but there was a more urgent matter now. Toothless was really short-tempered in terms of his protectiveness, and Hiccup didn't want a dead dragon on his hands.

Hiccup brought his right hand to Toothless' back leg. With their close bond it wasn't really necessary to touch the dragon to stop him, but Hiccup didn't want to impose on his friend's mind, even if that was what Toothless would have wanted. Hiccup's grip was just strong enough for the dragon to notice it.

'Hiccup, he attacked you.'

'And I want to know why. Everything was going fine and he didn't even think about attacking me… or one of them didn't.'

Hiccup could sense Toothless coming to the same realisation that he had had. Suddenly they both became aware of the fact that the two heads of the Zippleback seemed to be arguing with each other.

'I was only in one of their minds. The other must have thought that I was attacking Barf or something. At least it seems I got the Queen out of his head.'

'What are you going to do now?'

'Hopefully they don't get too noisy, but it is probably best to wait and see how their argument ends. If he won't trust us, you might have to pin the other head down so I can help it,' Hiccup answered. He got up to stand next to Toothless.

'I could do that right now,' Toothless answered a bit too eagerly.

'It seems you don't need to.'

Hiccup could sense the silent argument between the two Zippleback heads calm down a lot. He took a step forward to stand next to Toothless' head. Hiccup could still feel the previous impact on his already abused body so he was more careful and stayed close to his infamous protective Night Fury friend. Other dragons in the ring stayed further away, but all eyes were on the two dragons and a human.

'Barf?'

The first head turned to look at him.

'Our thoughts aren't completely free. You did something to one of us. Both are no longer the same. You must correct it.'

'I will if both of you let me. You won't attack me?'

'No. We now know you didn't attack us.'

'That's a relief. Okay, let's do this,' Hiccup held his hand up for the dragon, then he brought up also a second hand.

Barf touched his hand first and Hiccup could feel the deeper details of one of the dragon's minds. The other head approached more hesitantly, but as soon as it came into contact with Hiccup's second hand, the combined Zippleback mind truly opened to Hiccup. There were separate minds with many common parts and the Queen's influence lingered in all of them. It took Hiccup a while to figure it all out or even separate the two personalities. His mind started calling the one that had attacked him as Belch.

'Do you feel different now?' Hiccup asked when he could feel the Queen's presence anymore.

'Yes.'

'We were…'

'Tricked by her.'

'No. She just brainwashed you. I don't think there is anything you could have done against her power.'

'But you…'

'Did.'

'Yes, at least this far from her.'

Suddenly both Barf and Belch ignored Hiccup, staring at the ring entrance. Other dragons did the same.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup noticed that he was surprisingly happy to see Fishlegs. It was good to have at least one other human start seeing the dragons for what they were. Meatlug was already walking to greet the second nice Viking. Fishlegs was a bit surprised when the dragon came to him, but his face soon softened. Barf and Belch seemed confused.

'Take it easy guys. He's a friend. Probably the only other Viking you don't need to fear.'

'You made him…'

'…not want to kill dragons?'

'Yeah, I guess so, but he wasn't that bad to begin with.'

Hiccup took a moment to enjoy the sight of Fishlegs walking towards them with Meatlug, and neither one tried to kill the other. If only the others could understand and accept the truth… The war wouldn't end as long as the Queen was around, but it would make Hiccup's life easier if he had more Viking allies, and he would be able to help more dragons…

Yeah, not anytime soon, if Hiccup knew anything about Berkians… maybe not.