CHSHiccstrid: Stoick does love his son; he just doesn't understand that Hiccup is doing this out of his free will.

InuYoiushi: Thanks, a lot will change for them in the upcoming chapters.

Thanks to all who favored and followed.

Once again, huge thanks to Deer Flower for helping as a beta reader.

This chapter took a while to get out due to complications, but other chapters hopefully shouldn't be affected like this one was.


"Dragonspeak"


Hiccup POV

"When did you notice you were being followed?" I asked, finding myself scouting the clearing.

"While I was scouting the island. I had landed when it caught my eye and I chased after it. However, it escaped me near some cliffs." Throughout the short explanation, Toothless kept darting his head around, obviously expecting something to pop up. The lack of something did calm him a bit, but I could tell the mystery of the thing's identity and its ability to escape his detection was putting Toothless on edge.

Taking a deep breath and forcing myself to stifle my fears, I said, "Alright, that doesn't sound good. Did you at least catch a glimpse of what it looked like?"

"It was white and could move quickly. That's all I saw. There are prints where it was last seen, though. They appeared human, but nothing like I've seen before."

"Well, then that's where we are going to start," I stated, carefully standing up. My leg quickly burned at the shift in weight, but after a few deep breaths the pain became tolerable, almost nonexistent. "Staying here leaves us open to attack, and I don't have anything right now to defend myself. This way, our 'admirer' will know we won't be intimidated by them and maybe I can find something to use as a weapon."

Toothless didn't seem convinced I should go, but he couldn't argue a better option at this moment. "Alright, I'll take us to the place I first saw it and where I followed it. Stay on guard in case something happens."

Nodding, I slipped my tunic back on and did my best to ignore the faint scent of blood now clinging to the material. The leg wound was mostly closed, so I would just have to make sure I didn't reopen it. Carefully jumping on Toothless's back, we both looked around one last time.

Not seeing anything, Toothless stretched out his wings and in a blink, we were up in the air. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but feel relieved at the familiar feeling of viewing the ground from above. The mystery figure didn't appear to fly, so at least we didn't have to worry about an aerial attack. If it shot from the ground, hopefully one of use could catch the attack in time to dodge. If not, then at least we'll be getting some answers one way or the other.


Toothless POV

With Hiccup riding on my back, I found myself feeling a little calmer. He may have been human, but there was something about his ease with flying that made him seem almost like a dragon. If he saw something, I know he would have the instinct to react quickly.

However, I honestly don't know what to do with Hiccup… He was creative and could think quickly, but his lack of fighting skills would get him killed out here. He wouldn't have to worry about protecting himself while I'm around... But now that I think about it, that's a really poor way to react to this situation. If he relies solely on me as some hatchlings do with their parents, then he'll never be able to fend for himself if we become separated.

If he learns how to fight, then he can become much more independent and have a way to survive, if we become separated. This figure won't be the only obstacle we'll face out here, and there's tons of dragons and situations that I know of that can be alot worse.

Thinking it over, I told him, "You know, you need to learn how to fight for yourself, Hiccup." There wasn't any reaction to my comment, so I carefully turned my head. Hiccup was turned the other way, but I could tell he had heard me and was thinking something over. Deciding to go with the obvious, I added, "If you can't fight, you won't be able to survive. This mystery figure won't be the only thing we'll see, you know."

Facing forward, I spotted the spot that initially grabbed my attention and began descending. We were a few meters up when Hiccup finally answered, "You're right, of course. We'll work on that after we investigate this figure."


Hiccup POV

Once Toothless landed I stepped off, stumbling a bit and holding back a small gasp of pain. Toothless turned to me, looking extremely concerned, "Hiccup, are you okay?"

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, counting down. "Y-Yeah... I just need a minute.." Toothless cast me one last look before turning back to our surroundings. So far, nothing stuck out from the usual trees and other vegetation we saw by the river.

The dragon nodded where he originally saw the figure, and I willed the last traces of pain to go away.

"Okay, time to start exploring now.." Toothless was a bit wary, no doubt by how I was still shaking a bit, but he merely sighed and slowly stalked to the spot. I slowly followed him, calming myself so I could better study everything.

He halted a step away from the exact spot, allowing me to step in front of him as he stood guard. I crouched down and could faintly make out something in the ground, though it wasn't clear if it was a print made by some creature or just some shifted dirt. A quick study of the foliage revealed something had brushed harshly against it, but it was also too faint to point towards anything concrete.

"Well, something may have been here, but it didn't leave much clues to go off of," I concluded, stepping back carefully. "Why don't you retrace your steps and see if we can find anything along the way."

"Fine, but stay close to me and stay alert." With a nod, we carefully trekked through the trees and kept our eyes peeled for anything. Given the speed the figure had run at to avoid Toothless and the dragon's close pursuit, the only thing I could pick up were slightly bent branches and small impressions of flung dirt. Whether from the figure or Toothless didn't really help in revealing more clues about their identity.

Following him, I realized that this island was actually pretty small as we passed through a thick bush and came upon the cliff Toothless had cornered the figure to. The cliff also wasn't that far up, no doubt only 200 feet tall and smooth all the way down its side. If the figure hadn't flown away or sneaked off the side, then the only option would have them take a nice, quick dive into the ocean. That idea satisfied, I focused on the track's Toothless had seen. Sure enough, the outline of them was human. The impressions matched for an adult and implied they had pressed their weight down suddenly, as if preparing for a jump. Given the closeness of the cliff, it wasn't a big surprise for what.

What did catch my attention was the shape itself. Human for sure, but spread out as if there was some sort of foot covering that didn't look like boots. Either they had very deformed feet, which given the Viking and other lunatic human spirits wouldn't shock me if it was the case, or they wanted to keep their identity secret.

Sighing, I looked to Toothless and said, "Well, it's definitely some crazy human, though I can't make out much else."

"Well, I don't smell anything new, so they have either moved on or have retreated until they can come up with another way to surprise us."

"I hope it's the former, but knowing our luck it's the latter." Looking around and still not seeing anything, I regarded the cliffs for another few moments. "Why don't we move on then? If it can't fly then that means we'll avoid it a while longer. If it swims, at least it won't follow us right away."

Toothless nodded at the idea and without another word, I climbed on his back and we took off.

The flight ended up being a lot more enjoyable this time around, so long as I pushed the thought of a mysterious stalker to the back of my mind. My rest had calmed most of the adrenaline in my body, the leg pain was much more manageable, my stomach was comfortably full, and the general freedom of flight was clearing away some of my worries. Oh there was still a long list of them to go over, but they could wait a while longer.

However, there was one that I definitely couldn't put away at the moment. "Toothless, you were saying earlier how I needed to learn how to fight, right?

"Of course," he answered, slightly smug with a large dose of annoyance. "I am quite strong and have handled countless threats on my own. However, I can't be there every minute of the day to protect you from everything. If we get separated, or something happens to me, I don't see the odds in your favor."

"Wow, thanks for that, you useless reptile." I lightly grabbed the base of his ear plate, chuckling a bit when he shook his head to escape my grasp. He harshly flicked his ear at my hand and I didn't bother holding back a 'hiss' at the sting.

As the feeling faded, Toothless turned his head back to stare at me, his eyes serious. "You know I am not joking with this, Hiccup. You are going to need to learn how to better defend yourself. Not every dragon is as nice as me towards humans."

"True, and you're the pinnacle of 'Nicest Dragon to ever Meet a Human.' If I recall, it was your welcoming growl that caused me to ditch my knife and not take up another weapon. You think my learning how to calmly defeat a dragon would come in handy out here." My memories wandered to that first time meeting Toothless, and those days spent learning more about each other and dragons in general. I'm sure that Hideous Zippleback is still cursing my name, even though the eel had been removed quite quickly after that incident.

Toothless huffed at the idea, going back to focus on flying. "Not every dragon can be soothed by pets and dragonnip. They will take one whiff of you and have no issues burning you on the spot. Though with your thinness, they probably won't eat you for fear of getting bones stuck in their teeth."

"Showing off your great human skills as always, Toothless," I muttered darkly. "... Maybe I'll actually learn something I can actually do, though. Charging forward with a spear and scream was never effective with me. Most swords were too heavy for me to lift. Same with bolas. Crossbows had too much kick. Heck, even the shields did me little good since my arms slipped through the straps too easily. I don't even want to think about jumping at a dragon's head and wrestling them down that way."

As I finished, another island came into view and Toothless cautiously adjusted our course in that direction. He took several minutes studying part of the island and taking in the scents it gave off. Once he was satisfied at the small study, he landed on a cliff similar to the one we had taken off from.

I slid off his back carefully, glad when my leg barely signalled a snap of pain. Nothing immediately jumped out from the trees to attack us, nor did anything reach out from the cliff and snatch us up. We were alone at the moment.

Looking back up from the cliffside, I commented, "Well, this seems a decent spot for a make-shift base. Once we explore the interior, I say we come back and use this spot as a marker. What do you say, Toothless?"

Turning, I frowned when I saw he didn't look like he was paying attention to what I was saying. He kept looking into the air, carefully sniffing and studying our surroundings. He glanced back at me, saying, "There's definitely more activity here, but I can't decide by what. This place has some smell that's masking other scents up."

"Do you think we should leave then?"

"... No, we should be fine for now. Just be on your guard and don't do anything stupid."

"Do I ever?" I joked, smiling when he continued looking at me in exasperation. Throwing my arms in mock surrender, I started walking along the cliff side with him following beside me.

We walked for a good while along the edge, ready to fight or fly at a moment's notice. However, the only things we saw were birds and small forest life. Nothing dangerous yet, though we would need to scout out a resting place at some point while we had the energy and light.

As if reading my thoughts, Toothless suggested, "You wouldn't mind if I took a better look in the air? This edge can go on for a while and we should focus on resting soon."

I smiled, saying, "I won't stop you. I'll stay in this area and promise not to get attacked right away. But hey, maybe I can talk the threat down."

Toothless rolled his head, but he did let out a gummy smile. I grimaced a bit, still taking a while to get used to it. "Do remember what we talked about." Without another word, he rushed over and jumped off the cliff, gliding, then flying upwards where he went out of sight.

I walked around the edge a bit longer and when nothing appeared out of the ordinary, decided to head a bit inland. Breaking off a few branches, I laid them on the ground so Toothless would have an idea where I went and slowly entered the forest. As I walked through the trees, carefully leaving a light trail, a small breeze blew through and I caught a faint whiff of something.

Stopping, I took another breath and was barely able to pick up on a sharp, stinging scent. It wasn't enough to aggravate my nose and there was something very familiar about it, but I couldn't pin down a possible source.

When the breeze brought the smell back, I focused a lot more and realized it seemed to be coming ahead of me. "Strange island, strange smell, stalker on the loose, injured leg, no weapon, and no Toothless," I muttered to myself, already moving forward. "Not like my life can get any worse anyway."

As I walked further inland, I stumbled upon a clearing and just on the other side, was a large cave. The base was crowded with rocks and shrubs so I couldn't make out anything right away. The wind picked up again, revealing the origin of the smell was coming from the cave. "Strange clearing, still no weapons or Toothless. Let's see what else the gods have in store for me."

I cautiously creeped forward, glancing around the clearing. Once I made it to the other side and stood at the cave's entrance, a cold wind beat against my back and I found myself considering turning back. Any sane person would at this point, but then again, a sane person also wouldn't be out here anyway since they wouldn't be a dragon-friending traitor.

"All or nothing, I guess."

Without sparing another moment, I carefully cut through the shrubs and stepped over the rocks until I passed the cave's entrance. Immediately, a chill swept through my body as I realized the light from outside barely illuminated a few meters in front of me. Looking around, I picked up a hand's sized rock and made my way further in until I passed the light's edge.

I took a few more steps and barely managed to hold back a scream when my foot pressed down into something that emitted a loud crack. Unable to hold back my morbid curiosity, I crouched down to feel along the object's outline and felt my blood run cold.

At the end of my fingertips, brittle and smooth, was a bone. A human bone. Dreadfully, my eyes decided now was the time to better adjust to the low light, so I couldn't avoid seeing more bones scattered about in front of me, weapons and armor lying alongside them.

Not good. Not good. Not good, my mind chanted as I stood up and took a step back. Another loud crunch sounded beneath my feet. I looked wide-eyed down at the pieces of a crushed skull surrounding my foot.

"I can smell you, Human..." a voice hissed from the darkness, its tone so deep it almost seemed to blend with the dark shadows, Shuddering in fear, and I backed away slowly as some of those shadows shifted from the cave's interior.

In slow motion, a Monstrous Nightmare poked his head out from the darkness, it's bright eyes locked onto me. It stalked forward, its body still blanketed in darkness so all I could make out was its spikes and claws.

When it noticed I was slowly backing away, and it laughed, the noise bouncing against the walls in chilling echoes. "Scared, Human? Good." It took another step and I flinched when it didn't flinch at stepping over the other bones. "It's been a while since I've hunted your kind."

I was so focused on the dragon I didn't pay attention to my footing and one wrong step back caused me to trip over a bone."W-Wait, please!" I frantically called out, crawling away as much as I could.

The Nightmare was suddenly above me, pinning me down under its claws that still contained traces of old bones. My mind went blank as its eyes bore into mine, and I could barely breathe as its burning scent (Oh, now's a great time to remember where that came from!) flooded my nostrils.

"You are an Absolutely Pathetic excuse for a Human," it screeched, pressing its weight minutely down. "Of all the humans that came here, not one backed down, even in the fear of death. And yet here you are, cowering like a hatchling!" Well, there's something to be said about being able to disappoint both humans and a threatening dragon within a day's time. "After all, aren't your kind supposed to be dragon killers?" The last part was laced bitterness and venom, no doubt he hated humans. "It's only fair you die by what you spend your whole life trying to kill."

"I-I'm-" The pressure was crushing, but I managed to wheeze out. "not a killer. Nev-ver cou-cou-ld do it."

The Nightmare froze, its eyes widening as it took enough pressure off so I could draw in much needed breaths. He regarded me for a moment, before narrowing his eyes once again. "You... Understood me?"

Tentatively, I nodded, carefully stating, "Yes. Every word."

It brought its face closer to mine, roaring, "How?!"

Still terrified and now partially deaf, but glad I wasn't being chewed on yet, I answered, "I-I... Don't know."

The nightmare snarled angrily, "You don't know? What kind of answer is that?! You should know!"

"I just don't know… It's something I've had since I was born. No one knows I have this ability, and it's why I'm here now." The Nightmare snorted angrily at my response, his skin beginning to heat up, as I tried to worm my way out of its grasp.

Just a second before it burst into flames, a primal shriek rang through the air and something crashed into the Nightmare.


Toothless POV

Finishing up my scouting and coming across a few potential spots, I made my way back where I left Hiccup. I found a single cave, just below the cliff near where I took off. Nothing stuck out to me, but it wouldn't hurt to look later and give Hiccup something to do. Learning how to properly explore instead of running in head first with no plan would do the human some good

When I didn't see him along the cliff's edge and saw some foliage deliberately places, I could only shake my head as I followed his trail. At least he was slowly learning. It was a few meters into the forest that I picked up on the strange scent once again.

However, I immediately froze when I realized what I was smelling. Oh no! If Hiccup went this way th-

I was contemplating what to do when the sound of a dragon, a Frightful Horror, drew my attention. This isn't good!

I dove down towards the sound and quickly came upon a cave, where the scent of Hiccup and the Frightful Horror were emitting from. I darted into the cave and let out a shriek as I collided with a large form towering above a pinned Hiccup.

The Frightful went crashing into the wall as it proceeded to flame up, the cave lighting up brightly as the other dragon burst into flames. The Frightful stood up in a rage, roaring out, "How dare you!" I quickly put myself between it and a still panting Hiccup, who was attempting to get back on his feet. It stood up, high flames smothering down, and raised an eyebrow at me, "A Midnight Storm? I thought he killed all of you?" The mention of him made me snarl, and the Frightful nearly took a step back. The mere mention of his name made me charge up a shot, and the Frightful immediately assumed an offensive stance once again.

Before it could make another move, I readied my release when I saw a form move past me, shouting, "Toothless, no! Stop!" Hiccup! I barely managed to divert my shot to side as Hiccup stepped between me and the Frightful.

As the shot streaked through the air, its energy lightly grazed against Hiccup and caused him to fall back down as his balance gave out. The shot blasted against the wall a few inches from the Frightful, who flinched away as small debris dusted his snout.

"Hiccup?!" I bounded over to him, making sure to shield him from the Frightful's sight. Horror coursed through my body that I had nearly shot Hiccup. "What were you thinking?! You could have been killed!"

I looked back at Frightful in contempt, his eyes wide as he realized who had kept him from being plastered against the cave wall. "You.. tried to save..." it muttered, looking past me to the being slowly returning to his feet.

Hiccup shakily stood up, wincing when he put too much pressure on his injured leg, which was giving off a faint smell of fresh blood. Despite his less than strong stance, Hiccup locked eyes with the Frightful and stated, "I don't want anyone to die, Dragon or Human..."

Silence boomed in the cave, broken only by Hiccup's light panting and creaking of bones and rock. The Frightful stared on at us, appearing neither angry or happy. Finally, it looked away, saying "I have never met a human, that would say anything close to that… Though most aren't foolish enough to approach a dragon weaponless." The Frightful seemed to be too proud to say something nice, or hated humans too much to admit Hiccup could be a nice human.

Hiccup was still shaking a bit, but was calming noticeably down now that no one was flying to attack each other. "As my father and everyone else would say, I'm not like most Vikings. Even if I had something to fight you with, I probably end up hurting myself more. All Toothless had to do was growl and I was ready to toss my knife away when we met."

"Toothless?" the Frightful repeated, staring back at me in confusion. "That's what you choose to be referred to as by this weak little human? Pathetic." I didn't say anything, but a noticeable growl full of teeth and extended claws was enough to prove my point to the other dragon.

Ignoring my action, Hiccups continued, "I asked, and he didn't mind. He's my friend, and the reason I'm out here anyway. Turns out, my Village doesn't like the idea of humans and dragons becoming friends."

"For once, I will have to agree with a human sentiment," the other growled, though more at the thought than at Hiccup. "Your kind does nothing but cause trouble and bloodshed wherever they stumble to. It's ridiculous to imagine any sort of truce between us."

"You're right. This is gonna take time, but at least Toothless and I are starting now. Maybe, we can put our differences aside and become friends instead of enemies?"

The Frightful's eyes shifted instantly to rage, "You me want me to just forget what happened to me, by your kind?! The battles and losses I've suffered from you humans! Throw it away in the name of 'friendship'?! " I snarled in response and made a more protective stance, but a hand on my back made me stop. I glanced at Hiccup, his eyes pleading with me to let him handle this. Begrudgingly I backed down, but kept myself ready.

"No, I don't expect you to just forget about what they've done to you... But I won't do what they've done to you." Hiccup kept his eyes locked on the other dragon, whose rage was once again subsiding into study. The Frightful took a step forward and looked me in the eye, attempting to find something that would assist him in figuring out if Hiccup's words carried any meaning.

Whether he found what he wanted or not, he snorted and turned around, gesturing the entrance with his tail, "You should leave before I change my mind. You're obviously not a threat to me, human, and you're more likely to die by your own actions anyway. That is the only reason I'm letting you leave, so don't think this will make us friends..."

Hiccup held his hand up, shouting, "Wait!" The Frightful stopped and took a glance back at Hiccup, annoyed but still curious enough to entertain my human, "Do... you have a name?"

The Frightful looked confused, "A name?"

Hiccup gave a small smile, his fear evident but not too obvious. "Uh, something someone would call you Or how I address Toothless" He gestured to me for emphasis.

The Frightful looked down, before responding coldy, "No."

"Can I give you one then? So I can remember which dragon decided not to kill me." The Frightful still seemed confused, but nodded slowly at the strange request. "Well, you seem to like using your claws, I guess? So how about a simple name, like Claws?"

The Frightful narrowed his eyes dangerously, obviously finding the name lacking. He struck me as a dragon that would prefer a stronger, more menacing name, but Hiccup's quick thinking did not translate to naming

Hiccup held up his hands in defense, adding, "Ok, ok, we can try a different one! Maybe, Raker?"

The Frightful Horror pondered for a moment, shrugging in a way I couldn't tell was acceptance or dismissive, before walking back into his cave, calling out, "Just leave before I decide to add your bones to my collection."


Unknown POV

Normally, I would laugh at the many contacts I've gotten about a vengeful parent wanting me to kill a particular dragon, but this one was one I could not refuse. Especially at the request of an old acquaintance. Stoick knew I wouldn't refuse as soon as he brought up the Night Fury... Though his phrase about the Dragon 'tainting' his son's heart made me laugh the first time I saw it.

However, something seemed off about it. A Night Fury would always grab my attention, but his wording definitely played a role in convincing me to head out here personally. Something told me this hunt wouldn't be like the others I've led.

A chitter made me come back to the real world, and I looked over at the growing Isle of Berk from the deck of my ship. One of my smaller, more mobile vessels meant for quick travel and scouting. Once I had more information, I would decide how to direct the rest of the fleet.

I whistled sharply, and the craft turned toward the town square, raising the suspicions of the already gathering villagers. The Berkians had catapults already sighted against me as other Vikings stood around with notched arrows and readied bolas. Descending onto the town, the people prepared to launch their weapons, but a booming voice ordered, "Hold your fire!"

I saw Chief Stoick the Vast standing in the middle of the group, focusing on me as my ship landed, and his people looked to each other in confusion. Ignoring his people's confusion, his eyes narrowed as I stomped onto the ground with a smirk.

"You're here earlier than expected, Grimmel."