REVIEWS:

Silver Sentinel: This challenge isn't only to groom the heir into a leader, it's also to teach them how to work with others. Most of the time, the people who go on the challenge with them end up being really close friends later in life. For example: Stoick took Valka, Gobber, and Spitelout on his challenge.

Chapter 3

We followed a pattern devised by Astrid: walk for half an hour; rest for ten minutes; then the person at the front, who had the hardest job of breaking through the snow, would ride with me on Toothless' shoulders. It worked fairly well, but after four rotations, we were all exhausted. My leg kept getting worse, and I faded in and out of consciousness, sometimes waking up to cry out and clutch desperately at my stump, drunk on pain.

'We need a longer rest, Astrid,' Toothless warbled at one point, and I forced my frozen fingers to stroke his ear in a wordless act of gratitude.

"Let's set up camp under those trees," she said, and Toothless' walking rhythm changed slightly, speeding up momentarily. Even through my closed eyes, I could tell that it was getting darker. Snotlout's thick arms awkwardly circled my chest, but I shivered anyway, the cold sucking my energy as quickly as the awful phantom pain did. Then he was gone and I forced my eyes open, taking in a small circle of pine trees, snow covered shadows against a dark purple sky. Snotlout was sprawled in a small snowless space under one of the trees, Fishlegs was leaning against another tree, and Astrid was swaying lightly on her feet.

"We'll build a fire, get Hiccup warm." She cast around, searching for dry branches, and Toothless twisted so that I slid off his back and onto the ground. I'd barely shivered once when I was scooped up by wings and legs and gently held against Toothless' warm belly. I looked up at his concerned face and tried to press closer to his chest, chilled to the bone. Frowning, he made a wordless worried sound and covered me with his great wings. I felt his scales heat up and noted the concentration on his face as he increased the fire in his core, the way all dragons could when they were cold.

"Th—thank you," I shivered, since it always cost energy to create warmth, and I knew he'd used a lot today.

'It's nothing.' Gently turning me around, he started to lick his stump carefully, tracing the jagged scar with his tongue. As the flexible muscle eased into every crack and crevice of my skin, I sighed and slumped against his side, boneless with pain.

'How bad is it?' he asked between licks, and I buried my face in his scales.

"W—worse than n—normal, but Gobber s—says I should expect that during the colder weather." I shuddered, and he kept licking, knowing that it helped. "Do you ever get ph—phantom pains?"

'A few, but not nearly as bad as this.' I clung to him as another wave rocked me and a small whimper escaped my mouth. Still, the pain was getting better with every careful lick, my icicle limbs started to thaw, and I was suddenly realising how much the attack had drained me. His warmth and comforting presence were lulling me slowly to sleep, and though I tried to stay awake, it was impossible.

Even when I woke again, I didn't want to move, suspended in the soft fuzzy stage halfway between sleeping and awake. Toothless' soft breathing revealed that he was asleep, wrapped around me like a living blanket. Heavy footsteps crunched nearer and I assumed it was Fishlegs. He must have touched Toothless, because my dragon snapped awake and surged forwards in an explosion of motion before jerking to a stop.

'Sorry,' he muttered sheepishly. 'You startled me.'

"It's alright," Fishlegs said, his voice shaking. "I should have known. Sometimes I forget you're a Night Fury, the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself."

"Yeah, waking him is deadlier than waking Stoick the Vast," I joked from beneath Toothless' wings, feeling far better than when I went to sleep.

He bent down and nuzzled my face. 'How are you doing?'

"I'm fine, stop worrying," I laughed. "Is there a reason you risked your life, Fishlegs?"

"Oh, yes," Fishlegs remembered. "Dinner's ready."

I poked my head out in time to see Snotlout prick up his ears and sit up straighter. "Finally!" He kicked Astrid and she bolted awake, drawing her axe in one fluid movement despite her shivering. Snotlout held up his hands in surrender and shrieked, "Pleasedontkillmeitsdinnertime!"

Astrid dropped her battle stance and relaxed. Toothless opened his wings, exposed me to the frigid air, and twisted so that I could sit close to the fire, yet still lean against his side. Astrid walked over and joined us, pressing herself against Toothless and me. Even Snotlout joined in, huddling close and passing me my prosthetic.

"I wish Hookfang were here," he sighed, in a rare show of affection. "That heated seat would be wonderful right now."

Fishlegs' face fell as he pulled the hares off the fire and started to tear them apart with snow covered hands. I hoped he'd remembered to wash his hands. "I miss my Meatlug. It's not as bad as the time we had to leave them on Dragon Island, but I still wish she were here."

Astrid nodded. "It's not the same without Stormfly."

My heart twisted for them. For me to force them to leave their dragons and families was cruel, especially since I'd brought my own dragon. No matter how much of an honour it was, they had to be reconsidering right now. "I'm sorry," I said, looking down. "That's my fault."

There was silence for a moment.

Then Snotlout, of all people, spoke up. "Idiot. We don't blame you."

"It's exciting," Astrid told me. "It's an honour. And it's hard work. We're tired and cold and hungry, and you shouldn't listen to anything we say until tomorrow morning."

I grinned weakly. "Where'd you get the food?"

Fishlegs waved a massive hand in my direction. "Toothless caught them." He passed out chunks of steaming meat, and we hurriedly scooped snow into their hands and took it. They were rich in flavour, juicy and dark, and I got incredibly sticky while eating. I ate till I couldn't eat anymore, and scrubbed my face with a handful of partially melted snow. Fishlegs had served everyone generously, and Astrid couldn't finish hers either.

"Hey, do you want this, bud?" I asked, holding out my leftovers. I didn't know if he'd hunted anything for himself, but I was pretty sure he'd never refuse food if it was offered. Sure enough, his tongue completely covered my hands in sticky saliva as he plucked the meat from my hands and licked the juice off my fingers.

'You're a good cook, Fishlegs,' he complimented Fishlegs, who blushed.

Astrid nodded, patting her stomach. "It's really good, I just can't finish it. Toothless can have the rest of mine."

She tossed it in front of him, and he snapped it up. Snotlout wiped his mouth and stifled a belch.

"Well, I'm going to sleep now."

"Wait," I said, remembering Dad's most important piece of advice. "We should build shelters, it'll get colder as the night goes on."

Snotlout made a big show of looking around for something to build with. All the fallen branches were already in the fire, though it was starting to die down. "With what? Snow?" he asked incredulously, and I nodded.

"Just pile up a big mound and hollow it out. Like this."

I gathered armfuls of the thick powder and patted it down firmly until it became solid. Once I had made a large mound, I dug my fingers into the side and started scooping out snow. Piling the loose stuff on top, I gradually made a small cave, big enough for me to sleep in. Blowing on my frozen hands, I stiffly stood up.

"See." I bowed and held out a hand. "Milady, would you like this humble abode?"

Astrid blushed, and I smirked. It wasn't often I could make Astrid Hofferson react like that. "I'll build my own."

'Hiccup doesn't need a shelter,' Toothless huffed and I smiled, amused that anyone could forget how deep our friendship was. There was no way he would let me sleep under a pile of snow, not as long as he had wings.

Snotlout grumbled, then started piling up his own shelter. Astrid wriggled feet first into the shelter, so that only her head was sticking out the end.

"It's surprisingly warm," she remarked, squirming slightly to get comfortable. I silently breathed a sigh of relief, since I'd never built one of those before, and glanced around. Fishlegs was still struggling to make a pile of snow big enough for him, and I gathered an armful of snow to my chest and dumped it on his pile.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Toothless swept a massive wave of snow towards us with his tail, and we hurriedly patted it into a mound firm enough to tunnel into.

"Thanks, bud. This should be enough for now."

We dug in and slightly downwards, so that it would feel more natural to sleep feet first in the shelter. Dad had emphasised the need for precautions, and I didn't want anyone to suffocate if their shelter collapsed partway through the night. It took nearly an hour, and our fingers were tinged blue from the cold by the time we were finished.

"Th—there you go, Fishlegs," I finally said, standing up and brushing the snow off my cold hands. "That should be b—big enough."

It was a tall cave, almost comically round, and Fishlegs gladly slid into it. "Thanks, Hiccup."

Swaying slightly, I turned around to see Snotlout already snoring in his shelter.

'Come here,' Toothless invited, opening his wings for me.

I gladly took off my prosthetic and hopped towards him. The moon was already high in the sky, but the storm clouds I'd seen earlier were closer, hovering between us and the village. Yawning, I crawled across his wing as the last flame of the fire flickered and died. His eyelids fluttered shut, but I was soon drawn closer by his strong legs, the scrape on his foreleg coated in his healing saliva, and I wrapped my small human arms around as much of his chest as I could reach. He flinched when I put my freezing hands on my skin, then forced himself to relax and shifted slightly to get comfortable.

"Thanks, Toothless," I murmured sleepily as I fell asleep.