Again, huge thank you to EchoMoonstone for betaing this! Also, is anyone else watching season four of Race to the Edge? Because it's awesome. It's making me regret not writing RTTE in this story. In other news, I just found out this site has polls you can make! So, if you wanted to participate in the vote I brought up a few chapters back, go to my profile and you should be able to vote there rather than jumping through hoops. Let me know if it isn't working, since I've never used it before.

The next five days were amazing. Hiccup visited Toothless every day after training, always with a full basket of the uncooked, unsalted fish the dragon preferred. Toothless was quickly losing his remaining suspicion, and rapidly regaining his weight. He looked much healthier now, with his back flat with his wings and a renewed energy. The dragon never seemed able to keep still. He bounded everywhere he went, and wiggled like an overexcited puppy whenever anything caught his attention. Hiccup loved to watch him. Toothless no longer objected to Hiccup touching him, as long as he didn't sneak up on the dragon. So he got the unique experience of petting a Night Fury. The dragon's scales were as hard and smooth as an ocean-polished stone. But they were as hot as a boulder in the sun. With Berk's chilly climate, the dragon was like a living furnace, pumping off heat and warming Hiccup's cold fingers.

After several days of visiting Toothless, Hiccup had to go back to the village early for a campfire Gobber had planned as a 'bonding session'. In other words, a 'listen to Gobber talk' session. Hiccup was reluctant to leave, but even without Gobber's campfire, Toothless was asleep. Judging by his vertical pupils - and the fact that he was a Night Fury - he was nocturnal, and Hiccup was definitely messing with his sleep schedule. So he slipped out of the cove and started back towards the village. He felt like he was walking on air. Toothless was incredible. He was smart and kind and strong and brave and all Hiccup wanted to do was go back to him and just bask in his presence. But stupid Dragon Training was eating up his time. And it wasn't helping him connect with the other teens like he had hoped. Once Hiccup had said goodbye to who he used to be, he had been - and still was - eager to really embrace the Viking life and try to improve his situation. But the dragons were the kink in his plan. He had already known he wouldn't be able to kill a dragon, but once he had befriended Toothless, he had known he wouldn't even be able to raise a hand against them. Toothless may be unique in his non-violence, but Hiccup wasn't able to see anything but soft green eyes every time he tried to take an axe to the dragons in the Dragon Arena. Obviously, the other teens couldn't understand, so Hiccup's failures and seemingly cowardness just made him a bigger target for them. But he still held out hope that someday, with time, he could get the other teens to accept him.

The other teens were already at the fire with Gobber. Hiccup didn't interrupt. Instead, he just grabbed a fish to roast and let himself sink into thought as Gobber launched into the story of how he had lost his limbs. Hiccup had heard it many times before.

Hiccup didn't know why Toothless had spent the past several years tormenting Berk. He clearly didn't enjoy killing, since he had spared Hiccup so many times. But he was a Night Fury, and there were no other dragons around Berk like him. He was smart, much smarter than the dragons in the Dragon Arena, so maybe he was able to learn from Hiccup once he was forced to the ground? But that didn't explain why he had spared Hiccup the first time. Maybe he -

"-downed dragon is a dead dragon."

Hiccup's attention snapped back at Gobber's words. The Viking sounded nearly smug, which was pretty common. But his words sent a chill over Hiccup's skin, and he felt his whole body freeze up. His fingers tightened around the stick holding his cooking fish. A dead dragon. A dead dragon. Downed. Dead. Downed. Toothless. Hiccup dropped his stick and bolted, ignoring the other teens and Gobber. They were so caught up in their conversation they probably didn't notice him anyway. He went straight to the forge. He was nearly panicked at this point. Toothless was his friend. His only friend. He couldn't die. He couldn't. Hiccup wouldn't let him.

He fumbled for his journal and hurriedly yanked it open it to the page that held the drawing of Toothless. The tailfin looked pretty simple. He quickly drew the missing fin back in, his mind already working through the construction of the prosthetic. He wished he knew more about how the fins actually worked. He had a vague idea just from the physics of it, but he had never seen them in action. He heated the forge. But when he collected some metal to begin forging the skeleton of the fin, he hesitated.

If Toothless regained his flight, he would leave. Hiccup would lose his new friend as quickly as he had gained him.

Hiccup shook his head. Stop being selfish. He told himself. At least this way, he'll be alive. He forced the thoughts of Toothless leaving out of his mind, and got to work.

It took him all night. He was careful to make no mistakes that might cost the metal some structural integrity, and used thick, strong leather to coat the ribs of the fin. Once it was completed, Hiccup took one last look at the diagram, then at the fin, and nodded. He swung by the docks to grab some fresh fish for Toothless, grabbed the tailfin from where he had stashed it, and set off for the cove.

Toothless was napping when he heard the now-familiar sound of Hiccup's heartbeat approaching. He stood up from his napping place and stretched out his wings with a sleepy yawn before trotting over to where the little Viking was dropping the basket of fish. Toothless was about to dig in to his meal when the stench of the snake-fish caught his nose.

He made certain Hiccup knew exactly how big of an error bringing repulsive creature was. He wouldn't even let the boy touch him until he'd wiped the worst of the stench off on his strange, detachable fur. Then Toothless eagerly dug into his food.

The fish was freshly killed, and Toothless hungrily devoured the meat. It would be better if he had killed the food himself, and knew exactly where it had come from. But the food didn't smell bad, and he trusted Hiccup.

He was so distracted by his meal that he didn't keep track of Hiccup. As a result, he didn't notice anything strange until he had finished the fish and had been about to locate the boy. Only then, did he realize there was a familiar weight on his tail. Toothless blinked in surprise, and flexed his fin. He couldn't feel his left fin. But the weight, it was there. There was no denying that.

Excitement built in the Dark Scaled's chest. He slowly spread his wings. His ears were filled with buzzing, as if he has stuck his head into a hive of bees.

He leapt into the air.

He beat his wings hard, but no, despite the weight, the air shuddered under him and he was falling falling falling -

Suddenly the air evened out and he was flying flying flying, the skies were his again and Toothless's world seemed to right itself on its axis. But then the air went off balance again. But differently. It was a familiar off balance, one he knew how to compensate for. So he banked sharply, until he found himself flying low over the pond of his prison again. Only then did his head clear enough to become aware of the familiar voice shouting in excitement from behind him. He looked back, and there was Hiccup, the foolish Viking, clinging to Toothless's tail. The boy was as reckless as a hatchling. Didn't he realize how dangerous it was? It would have taken just one wrong move, and Toothless would be responsible for the death of the one who had named him. The thought was unthinkable.

Toothless had to get the boy off his tail and back to the safety of the ground. So he twisted sharply, throwing the boy into the gentle grasp of the water. But the air instantly started to shudder under him. Toothless cried out in dismay and twisted to look at his tail. To his shock, there was a human-made contraption strapped to it. One that was currently flapping in the wind. Toothless crashed into the water, same as Hiccup had just done. He snorted in frustration and shook water out of his ears. But Hiccup whooped with excitement. It made sense. It was probably the first taste of the skies the little Viking had ever had. Pride welled in Toothless's chest. He gave Hiccup that. But Hiccup had certainly given him something as well. Toothless pulled his tail around to study it. The thing strapped to his tail was definitely Viking-made. It was shaped like his fin, but was light-brown and made from the dried skin of dead mammals, much like the coverings on Hiccup's legs. Toothless listened to Hiccup talking about something called a saddle, and a rope that he would tie to the false-fin Toothless wore. Then he realized, and he was shocked it had taken him so long to understand. Maybe because it was unprecedented. No dragon had ever been able to return another's flight. But Hiccup could. And he did, even if only momentarily. That's why the boy had been on his tail. He was helping Toothless fly.

Toothless looked at the Viking. His Viking. Nothing would happen to this amazing creature, Toothless vowed to himself. No matter what, Toothless would protect this little human. Hiccup was putting himself in danger to give Toothless the skies, and Toothless would not allow anyone to take advantage of the kindness Hiccup offered the world.

Hiccup felt like an idiot for not anticipating this. Of course Toothless couldn't control the fin himself. Hiccup had been so focused on the construction of the fin, that he didn't think of that. But he was selfishly excited about it. He had just wanted to help his new friend fly again, but now, Hiccup would get to be apart of that.

The next several weeks were spent learning what kind of rig would be best for them to fly with. Hiccup made a simple, but lovely saddle, which Toothless used to play with Hiccup. He had to spend nearly twenty minutes chasing the playful dragon around the cove until Toothless had suddenly turned and tackled Hiccup to the ground. The dragon was careful, and didn't put any of his weight on Hiccup. He kept his claws carefully away from skin, and bit with his teeth retracted. They wrestled around in the dirt, both laughing like loons - and wasn't that an incredible discovery. Toothless could laugh - until the dragon finally let Hiccup put the saddle on. The saddle had taken a lot of thought. He had had to throw out every pre-existing idea of saddles he'd had, and think of something new. He had ended up with a thin leather pad that would rest on Toothless's sturdy neck and shoulders, and iron stirrups for the dragon to put his front legs through and hold the saddle in place. There were two main straps. One was around Toothless's neck, but it had taken some thought to redistribute the pressure so when Hiccup shifted, he wouldn't choke Toothless. The other strap was connected to the Night Fury's shoulder stirrups and the saddle, keeping everything together. Hiccup was pleased with the end result of the saddle, but the connection to the tailfin needed work. The rope was not a good way to control it. He couldn't tell how open the fin was without looking back at it, and the rope just pulled on the corner of the fin, without giving Hiccup control over the entire thing. It also meant he had to have a hand on it at all times. So he got to work on something better. He carefully drew up the rig he had in mind, that would connect to the artificial tailfin through a series of cables and a control rod that would run down the dragon's tail. It was great in theory, but would take a ton of work. Hiccup could only work on it at night, after Dragon Training and visiting Toothless, and when Gobber wasn't there. Then there was actually learning how to use it.

During all this, he was also using the knowledge Toothless had given him in Dragon Training. As a result, he was doing even better than Astrid. And that meant that for the first time, Vikings, including the teens, actually wanted to talk to him. It was everything he'd wanted. Whenever he sat at an empty table in the Great Hall, everyone, teens and adults alike, rushed to talk to him and ask what his secret was. Some even thought he was using some Southern techniques, but considering how bad he was in the beginning, most thought he was learning from Training. Which caused a lot of Vikings to puff out their chests and brag about how the Viking way of life could even make a warrior out of a Southerner. But Hiccup was hearing less and less of that kind of talk. The better he did in Training, the less the Vikings seemed to think of him as a Southerner. It should have been perfect. Other than Astrid, who seemed to be the only one who found it strange that he could become so skilled so fast, everyone suddenly liked him. But instead of making him happy, he just felt fake in a way he never had on Berk before. They didn't like him for him. They liked him because of a lie. They thought he possessed skills he didn't and thought that he would be able to fight dragons with them. There was also the constant fear that they would follow him back to Toothless, now that they were paying attention to him. Hiccup knew it would be smarter to do poorly in Dragon Training and keep his head down. But when he watched Astrid charge at a Deadly Nadder with her axe raised, and he knew he could prevent any injuries to the dragon, he couldn't just stand there.

It was only a day after that, when the new flight rig was half constructed, that he and Toothless were flying, low and slow over a field and as usual, they crashed. He had improved the tailfin so that rather than tugging on the corner of the fin, the rope went down the length of it and pulled its ribs, to open it more evenly. Didn't stop them from going down though. Hiccup landed pretty smoothly on his feet, but before he could feel good about it, he became aware of the dragon-sized thrashing going on behind him. His heart got stuck in his throat as he sprinted over to Toothless, because he was hurt, he was hurt, oh god, Hiccup fucked up with the fin and now Toothless was hurt, he was -

Hiccup stopped and stared at the dragon. He was not hurt. He was rolling around in the grass, groaning happily and splaying out his wings to get as much contact with the grass as possible. Hiccup pulled off a couples blades of the stuff to study it closer. It was stiff and unbending, snapping off in his hand rather than having to be ripped. It was yellow and smelled like garlic. He'd never seen anything quite like it. It seemed to affect Toothless similar to how catnip affected cats. He knew that catnip contained nepetalactone, which gives cats the high the plant was famous for. He wondered what chemical the strange grass - which he's already named Dragon Nip - contained that did this to Toothless. He pocketed the grass to test on other dragons later. It took him most of the evening to convince Toothless to leave the field, and they had to walk back since Toothless was swaying drunkenly and Hiccup doubted he could fly.

The Dragon Nip did affect other dragon, but differently. Where Toothless had become playful from it, the Gronkle's eyes had dilated and it seemed become more sleepy than anything. It was fascinating. The scientist in Hiccup was jumping with excitement from it. But the glare from Astrid wilted his joy.

The rig was finished! It was finally finished! Hiccup could barely stand waiting though Dragon Training to test it that evening. He was more careful with testing the new rig than he was with the rope, both because it was harder to use and because it had a lot of small parts and would be harder to fix if it got damaged. So he and Toothless practiced low to the ground, with Toothless tied to a tree stump to keep him in one place. The Night Fury seemed as excited as Hiccup, but thankfully he seemed to understand and did not protest the slow pace. But despite their best efforts, the rope holding them in place snapped and sent them crashing. Thankfully, there was no damage to the rig, but the hook that held Hiccup in place was bent closed. Hiccup cursed. He had to wait until it was dark before sneaking Toothless into the village. He had never been more grateful for Toothless's dark scales. But Toothless was a lot less concerned than Hiccup about staying hidden, and they were nearly caught by Astrid.

Time seemed to speed by for Hiccup, and the end of Dragon Training was quickly approaching.

He and Toothless were finally ready to try their first, real flight. Hiccup was almost as nervous as he was excited. But it was amazing. He moved Toothless to the far side of the island to keep anyone from seeing them. As invisible as Toothless was in the dark, he stood out like a sore thumb in the daylight. Toothless could barely stand still by the time Hiccup hopped on his back. Hiccup's heart was pounding with a mix of adrenaline and mind-numbing terror. He checked the tailfin, then the petal, then the control rod. Then checked them again. And once more. He rubbed his hands over his pant legs to dry them, and took a deep breath.

"Come on Toothless," he murmured. "Let's do this."

He pressed down on the petal and it opened to position two. Toothless barked in excitement, and the dragon's powerful muscles tensed. Hiccup crouched with the dragon, preparing. Toothless leapt from the ground with a deep sweep of his wings, but it wasn't the wild take-off Hiccup had prepared for. Toothless seemed to be aware of the need to take it slow, and once again Hiccup was amazed at the intelligence if his dragon.

"Okay bud," Hiccup called over the wind. "We're going to take this niceeeeeee and slow."

Hiccup switched the tailfin position, and Toothless banked deeply. The thinness of the saddle really was the trick in all this, and Hiccup was grateful for it. He could feel Toothless's muscles flex, and it helped him judge the dragon's movements before Toothless executed them. So when Toothless began to drop into a dive, Hiccup was ready. They dove down, and the air rushed past Hiccup's ears, deafening him. The speed stole the air from his lungs, or else he would be whooping. It was incredible. They dropped until they were skimming the water. The ocean splashed up to lick at his face, and Hiccup stared in astonishment at the huge sea stacks they were flying under. He had flown before of course. In airplanes, with the smoothest flight and best service in existence. It didn't compare in the slightest. He could feel the bite of the air, the rush of it all. In a plane, the flight doesn't even feel real. You're just a passenger. But now, perched on the shoulders of his best friend, Hiccup was flying.

Toothless roared along with Hiccup's cheer when they started climbing back into the sky. It felt so good to have air pushing under his wings again. He had been grounded for far too long. But even though their flight was slow and careful, Toothless didn't think he'd ever enjoy a flight so much. Getting to share the joy of the sky with Hiccup was so much better than flying alone. His little Viking whooped in excitement and leaned with Toothless's every move. Hiccup turned an already enjoyable activity into art. That was something the boy was prone to doing.

But suddenly the excitement in Hiccup's voice turned to fear.

"My cheat sheet! Stop!" Hiccup cried.

Toothless obeyed immediately, letting his wings pause and his body slow to a float. But something was wrong. Toothless's stomach sunk with horror when he felt the comforting weight of his Viking leave his shoulders. His head snapped up, and his horror-struck eyes met the identical expression in Hiccup's.

Then they were falling.

Toothless and Hiccup both cried out in fear. Hiccup was giving Toothless instructions, telling him to turn, to come closer. Toothless tried, but he was off-balance and when he tried to beat his wings it just sent him spinning out of control. He felt the impact on his tail and heard Hiccup's cry of pain and despair tore through him. I hurt him. I failed him, we're going to die, and I hurt him. He twisted to get his tail away from Hiccup's face. And Hiccup, clever, brave little Hiccup, managed to drag himself back into the saddle. The air suddenly evened out again, and Hiccup threw himself back, helping Toothless fight the drag of the wind. But the danger was not gone. Toothless shrieked as they approached the sea-fangs. They were going too fast. Hiccup was still pulling back, he couldn't handle these speeds while weaving through that maze, they were going to crash, they were -

Hiccup's weight changed. Toothless heard the sound of the little piece of paper flying away, and suddenly Hiccup was crouching over Toothless's shoulders. Toothless borrowed some of the boy's courage, and prepared to face the sea's fangs together.

It was incredible. It was like nothing Toothless had ever experienced before. He and Hiccup became one. They read each other as smoothly as a two-headed dragon and flew through the maze together.

What do you know? Toothless's sweet disposition wasn't so unique after all. Hiccup stared at the purring Terrible Terror he was petting and his perspective on dragons changed yet again.

Hiccup was so wrapped up with Toothless, that he didn't even realize that it was nearly time for Stoick to come back until the Chief walked into his workroom. Hiccup frantically scrambled to keep him from seeing the drawings and diagrams over his desk without the Viking noticing what he was doing. Thank God he had left the saddle and flight rig in the cove with Toothless. He thought he was done for, but thankfully Stoick had just heard about how well Hiccup was doing in the ring and wanted to talk about it. But it still wasn't good. Hiccup had managed to slip away every time someone had tried to talk to him about his 'technique' for fighting dragons, but Stoick was between him and the door, and there was no logical reason for why Hiccup wouldn't want to talk about it. So he and Stoick just sat in awkward silence, with Stoick staring expectantly and Hiccup avoiding eye contact.

After several long seconds of silence, Stock said, "Oh!" and reached for something he'd brought with him, out of Hiccup's sight. Hiccup stared in confusion as Stoick pulled out a Viking helmet.

Stoick cleared his throat nervously. "Um, I made you this. To, keep you, ya know, safe. In the ring." He offered it to Hiccup, but Hiccup just stared dumbly. He couldn't wrap his head around it. Vikings gave their children helmets. And yeah, Hiccup knew Stoick had some protective feelings towards him that might extend to being slightly paternal, but this was different from teaching Hiccup how to shave. A helmet was a statement. It was a way of publically saying that the child belongs to that Viking and that family. It was almost a heritage thing. All Viking families had helmets with the same basic design. They were all unique, true, but all of the helmets belonging to a family were similar enough to be obvious. And the helmet Stoick was offering was definitely close to the one the Chief wore. The horns were different, but both had round bumps that ran around the circumference of the helmet, and down the center of it. Hiccup swallowed nervously and raised his eyes to Stoick's without moving his hands from where they were lying limp on his lap.

Stoick could only hold his eyes for a second before looking at the helmet. "Look, Hiccup. I know we haven't always gotten along. But, this past year with you, it was … well, it was nice. I've never had children. Valka was taken too soon for us to extend our family. I've never wanted to remarry. And yes, I've had Astrid, but we've never been closer than mentor and apprentice. She'll be a fine Chieftess one day, but she still calls me sir and she has parents of her own. But you, you've breathed life back into my cold house, and given me something to look forward to at the end of the day. I'm not saying this just cause yer doing so well in Dragon Training. I just thought that, because of that, we had somethin' to celebrate. And I understand if ya aren't comfortable with this. I know ya lost yer family, and maybe you don't want to -"

Hiccup interrupted Stoick by snatching the helmet out of his hands. His own hands were shaking so hard he wasn't sure he could manage to keep his grasp on the helmet. His throat felt tight, and he could feel the sheen of tears that matched Stoick's. He kept his chin down until he could rub a hand quickly over his face, then gave Stoick a shaky smile.

Stoick's own smile was like the sun breaking out of the clouds.