This chapter is up quick! I had a free period and all my homework was done so i worked on this instead of doing anything more productive. I hope you enjoy it.

Warning: Blood. Lots of it.
I honestly have no clue what was going on in my head when I wrote it. But it was raining and my least favourite class was up next. So I guess that sort of explains it. Or I just like blood more than I originally thought.

Disclaimer: I own none of this


Hiccup decided to stay in the cove. Oddly enough, he felt safer with a dragon that just threatened him than with the other villagers. That said something about all three parties.

He looked over to where the Night Fury had burned a patch of ground and lied down on it. They were probably sleeping. Hiccup didn't know whether to be honoured or hurt that they didn't consider him enough of a threat to even have to keep an eye on. He wasn't that helpless!

Although… if they were asleep, he could try to touch them. As quietly as he could, Hiccup edged towards the prone dragon. Once he was close enough, he reached a hand out towards their tail.

However, before he could make contact with the scales, the tail was thrown up, revealing bright green eyes looking at him in annoyance. Hiccup shot up, spun around and walked lopsidedly away from the dragon. Behind him, he heard the dragon get up with a huff and walk away. He turned around at the sound of creaking. What was that dragon doing?

As it turned out, they were climbing a tree. Hiccup watched as they dug their claws into the trunk and heaved themselves up. Once they were level with a relatively strong-looking branch, they moved their claws to cling to it. Then, they swung their body up to wrap their tail around the branch. When their tail was secure, they let go and let themselves hang down like a bat. They shot him a look before wrapping their wings around themselves and going still. Huh.

Considering the dragon was preoccupied –and Hiccup wasn't going to dare try to touch them again-, he decided to do his own thing. But what to do?

Hiccup remembered the cave system under the island, the one he spent most of his free time in before he met the dragon. He also vaguely remembered the tunnels coming out in this cove. Only problem was, he didn't remember where. If he could find it though, he'd be able to sneak between the village and the cove in nearly half the time and without getting caught.

Getting up, Hiccup made his way to the edges of the cove. Dragging both his hands and his eyes across the rock to search for an opening. It was half an hour before he found it. Behind a giant tree, whose roots covered the rocks surrounding it. Looking at it, Hiccup recalled pretending the hollow made by the roots was a dragon's nest, and he the dragon. He would scratch at the ground and growl at random intervals. He had scared dozens of bugs when he jumped on anything that moved.

Hiccup crouched down to look inside. It was smaller than he remembered –big enough to hold both him and the Night Fury, with more room left over, not that that meant anything-. He was also bigger than he was then. There were still bite marks from when he wanted to know if his jaw was strong enough to break the roots. The answer was no. there were extra scuff and burn marks that weren't there the last time he was there. Some Terrible Terrors had probably moved in at some point.

With his mission over, Hiccup stood back up and wondered what to do next. The sun was just below the horizon, casting half of the cove into shadows and the other half into a soft orange light.

The dragon… actually, he couldn't keep calling them 'the dragon' or 'the Night Fury', he would have to name them something. Something unique. Something that implies character and individuality. Something descriptive so he wouldn't forget. Something like… Toothless. Yes, Toothless was a good name. No one would ever think to name a dragon Toothless, even if the dragon was toothless. He really was a genius.

Anyway, Toothless was still asleep. He could try getting close to them again. They looked comfortable though –even in that weird position- and he didn't want to wake them. He took a step forward and his foot bumped against something laying on the ground. He looked down. It was a stick. Well, he could always practice his drawing skills.

He picked the stick up and walked over to a large rock sticking out of the ground, not far from where the dragon was sleeping. He sat down and put his stick to the sand. What could he draw? What was there to draw? Drawing from reference was always easier, but there wasn't really anything to draw. He could only really draw faces from memory, so that's what he did. First he drew Gobber, the Stoick, then Astrid, the twins, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Gothi. After he had finished drawing each face, he rubbed it out so he could draw the next one. After he erased Gothi's face, he ran out of ideas.

…He could try to draw Toothless from reference. He picture the dragon's face in his head. Sharp, elegant, this would be the first time he drew a Night Fury's face, with or without reference, so he was probably going to be wrong somewhere. Oh well, he would just have to try his best.

Carefully, he dragged the stick through the dirt at his feet. Trying to get the lengths and angles right. He was doing reasonably well. He hunched when he heard heavy footsteps coming up behind him. Pretending to ignore Toothless, Hiccup continued to draw the dragon behind his shoulder.

Toothless made a low croon. Was he curious about what Hiccup was drawing? Did he recognise it as himself? When he finished his drawing, he turned to face the dragon, but they were walking away on their hind legs. What were they doing?

Hiccup watched as Toothless walked up to the tree he was sleeping in before, grabbed a low-hanging branch with his teeth, and pulled. The branch detached from the trunk with a sickening crack. And Toothless walked back to where Hiccup was sitting. Was Toothless going to draw something too?

Toothless dug the branch into the sand and began dragging it around in looping circles in front of Hiccup. Occasionally they looked back at him in a scrutinising way before continuing to draw. They were trying to draw. They were trying to draw him!

Eventually, Toothless sat back on their haunches and nodded proudly at the mess of scribbles in front of them. Hiccup stood up to get a better look. It didn't look anything like him. But it was a drawing! That was amazing! He took a step to exit the mass of scribbles but froze when Toothless growled at him.

He looked down to seen that he had stepped on one of the lines. He lifted his foot. The growling stopped. He put his foot back down. The growling continued. He lifted his foot. The growling stopped. He put his foot back down. The growling continued. He lifted his foot. The growling stopped. He put his foot down without touching the line. Toothless purred. Hiccup purred back.

Following Toothless' instructions, Hiccup weaved across the lines in an odd dance of spinning and twisting movements. Once he left the scribbles, he let out a breath and looked up. Hang on. Where was Toothless? Hot breath on the back of his neck answered his question.

He spun around to face the most dangerous creature on Midgard. Toothless looked down at him curiously, their eyes soft.

Maybe….

Hiccup reached a hand out to Toothless' snout. They growled a warning.

Hiccup decided something in that moment. He didn't just want to spend time with Toothless. Didn't just want to learn about him. He wanted to be friends with them. He wanted them both to trust each other and play and learn things about each other. He wanted a place where wars and fighting didn't exist. And he knew he could get that with Toothless, who right now, was just as alone as he was. He had a feeling Toothless felt the same way too.

So, decision made, Hiccup closed his eyes, turned away from Toothless and reached out his hand. He trusted them, with his life. Now it was up to them to trust him too. It was their decision. Hiccup tensed at the feeling of breath on his palm. Then, he felt scales, they weren't how he imagined them to feel. He though they would be cold and hard. But they weren't. They were warm, soft, and grooved. He could feel each individual scale and the strength and protection they offered.

He relaxed, letting out a shaky breath, and opened his eyes. Toothless, realising the spell was broken, stayed pressed against Hiccup's hand for another second before pulling away. They hesitated, as if considering something, before taking a deep breath, like they were drawing strength for something, and gently taking the edge of his thumb in their teeth. Do You Trust Me?

Whatever they were planning on doing, it would obviously hurt, or they wouldn't involve teeth. He had already trusted Toothless with his life, and they trusted him back. If Toothless wanted to do this, he would let them. He nodded and relaxed his hand. Yes, I Do.

-Blood starts here-

Toothless purred, eyes showing an expression that Hiccup recognised as grateful –you don't see it often in Vikings-, before they bit down on Hiccup's thumb. He felt a flash of pain and he whimpered as blood began to spill from the wound. Toothless purred reassuringly and started lapping at the wound. They licked until the blood clotted and dried inside the cut. Once there was nothing left to drink, Toothless turned to their tail and began clawing at something on the end.

When Hiccup looked closer, he saw that there was a massive wound, on the opposite side to their tailfin. It looked about a couple of days old. They must have got it when he shot them down. Hiccup crooned sadly. 'I'm sorry I hurt you.' Toothless stopped scratching at the wound to nuzzle into Hiccups side; it was as if he knew what Hiccup was thinking. With one final, scratch, the wound burst open and blood began pouring from it.

Toothless looked back up at him and gestured their head towards the flowing blood. Hiccup growled, confused, and a bit grossed out. 'You want me to drink it?' Toothless nodded and gestured again. Okay, that dragon definitely knew what he was thinking. If they wanted him to do it…

Hiccup kneeled next to Toothless' tail and cupped his hands beneath the wound, letting the blood fill them before bringing it to his lips and drinking. When his hands were empty, Hiccup looked back at Toothless. They nodded encouragingly at him. 'This is really not a normal thing to be doing.' The dragon chuffed, clearly their version of laughter and lifted their tail so it was easier to reach.

Hiccup continued like that, cupping his hands under the wound and bringing them to his lips too drink, until the blood stopped running and the wound finally clotted and dried out.

-Blood ends here-

He looked down at his hands. They were red. Dragons bled red. It was obvious to any dragon killer, but at this moment, it made Hiccup realise something.

Dragons were considered something dark and evil. Something undead, not quite right. In all the stories, they bled black, like the giants, or Nidhogg. They bleed red. The same colour as every other animal. Like wolves and sheep and humans. They had families, friends. Every single one of them was an individual. And for 300 years people had been treating them like monsters.

'You're not monsters, you're just like us.'

'You're right, we're not monsters, I can see now that neither are humans'


You guessed it folks, I'm cliche as hell. See you next chapter.