AN: This is what you voted for, so here it is.

CHALLENGE

"You did your family proud," Dad smiled down at me, telling me that he didn't mind giving the medal to Snotlout in the only way he could without showing favouritism in front of the entire village.

Yeah, it would have been nice to beat the Jorgensons, but not at the price of ruining Snotlout's relationship with his dad. There wasn't anything except pride at stake, and it wasn't dishonourable to lose to the reigning champion, even if it was on purpose.

I smiled as Snotlout ran a victory loop, his cries of "Oi, oi, oi!" echoing round the ring.

A fist connected solidly with my shoulder and I turned to see Astrid standing next to me, a hint of a smile on her lips.

"What?"

"I know what you did," she said, approval radiating from her words.

"Yeah, I lost," I complained, then added bitterly, "As usual." Just like always, Hiccup the Loser, but by choice this time. That was actually worse than normal.

"No," she said pointedly. "You threw the race." Well, if that got out then I would be the laughing stock of the village.

"I—I have no idea what you're talking about, Astrid," I lied, not able to meet her eyes. "Snotlout was just the better Viking today."

"No, Hiccup," she shook her head. "No one was a better Viking than you, today."

Then she pulled me close and pushed her lips against mine. If that was a second place prize, then I definitely didn't mind losing. It was over far too quickly, and Astrid walked away to start clearing the ring ready for tomorrow's classes. Toothless came and stood at my shoulder.

'I like you much better now.'

It still amazed me every time I heard him speak, and I smiled. The other riders and I were the only Vikings who'd bothered to learn the dragon's language—which we'd called Dragonese before we fully understood how it worked—and though there were times when I'd wanted to throw a book across the room in frustration, it was worth it to understand my best friend.

There was a general language, rough and rudimentary, that all dragons shared and understood, and then there were species-specific languages that were often a lot more complex. Fishlegs had already learnt the general language—the original Dragonese—and he'd mastered Gronckle Speech. Just yesterday, I saw him trying to persuade a friendly Zippleback to teach him Zippleback Speech. Astrid was struggling to learn Nadder speech, and I had to force the twins and Snotlout to learn even basic Dragonese. I was content with knowing Dragonese and Night Fury Speech.

"Yeah, me too. I don't know what I was thinking," I muttered, ashamed of my attitude.

'You were thinking that you finally had a chance to beat Snotlout at something. But you don't need to, Hiccup. You already surpass him in everything that matters,' Toothless crooned, ducking his head under my arm. 'Now, let me look at those hands.'

"How did you—?"

He rolled his eyes. 'Please, like you can hide anything from me.'

I obediently held out my hands, wincing at the movement. Toothless' eyes widened, and he gently took them into his mouth, cleaning them with his tongue. My hands had been scraped raw and bloody as I tried to grab hold of something, anything, to stop myself from falling down the cliff, and I knew that I wouldn't be doing any smithing for a few days. My heart melted as Toothless continued to lap at the grazes and ripped skin. I knew that he didn't like the taste of human blood, especially mine, but he was putting up with it to make me more comfortable, and I loved how much he cared for me. Night Fury saliva contained something that Gothi knows about, but no one could translate. Apparently it numbed pain and prevented infection, because my hands were almost feeling normal, if a bit wet, by the time Toothless was satisfied.

"Are you coming to the after-party, son?" Dad boomed behind me, and I jumped. I'd completely forgotten about the after-party, mainly because no one had invited me to one since I'd become old enough to participate in the Thawfest games and it became clear that I was a rubbish Viking.

Apparently, I was going whether I wanted to or not, because Gobber snagged my arm and started dragging me along. Toothless followed, excited at the prospect of food, and Dad followed behind him.

"Oh, you'll love it, Hiccup," Gobber enthused, "There's singing and dancing and eating and drinking. Well, after a while it's mostly drinking, but it's still fun!"

The party was in full swing by the time we arrived, and Dad heaved the massive doors open easily. Astrid sauntered over casually, then grabbed my arm and pulled me out into the large space that had been cleared in the middle of the room. I stiffened. I had no idea how to dance and was afraid of embarrassing myself, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Isn't this great!" Astrid shouted as she steered me forcefully in a circle, and I realised that she was already a little bit tipsy. I'd never touched alcohol—I'd seen what it did to grown men—but the other teens must have sneaked a tankard or two. I could see the twins standing by a table nearby, throwing chickens at each other. Silent Sven joined in, and I knew he was drunk enough to really regret it tomorrow.

"Hey! What if we attach saddles to Terrible Terrors, and then put the chickens on them, then throw the whole thing!" Tuffnut yelled loudly, and the whole room stared at him.

"I'll get a Terror!" Ruffnut yelled back, and ran off, bumping into Vikings and walls as she went. Fishlegs had passed out in a corner and Meatlug stood protectively over him, stopping any Viking who looked like they might step on him.

The largest crowd surrounded Snotlout and Spitelout, and Snotlout was standing on the table and telling everyone an exaggerated tale of how he'd won the final event.

"…and I finished the cliff climb miles ahead of Hiccup. We would have crushed him, if my dragon hadn't been so slow!"

Spitelout laughed, his head lolling from side to side. "The winner of the Thawfest games shouldn't have an inferior dragon," he whispered loudly to Snotlout. The crowd around them laughed good naturedly, slapping each other on the back for a good joke. Snotlout seemed to sober a little, and he glanced at Hookfang, a dissatisfied look on his face.

"Yeah, but how—oooooh," his face brightened, and he laughed drunkenly. "I just had an idea! Hiccup!"

I continued dancing with Astrid, hoping that if I ignored him, he would get bored.

"Everyone! Remember that old law," Snotlout yelled, drawing himself up as tall as he could. My feet stumbled as the world flickered beneath me. He wouldn't… "The one that says anyone can challenge anyone for a dragon?"

Dad got to his feet, and the voice of a Chief rang out across the hall. "Now, now, Snotlout. That was an old law, from back when we still killed dragons. Why, your dad won a whole skull off Gobber, if I remember correctly. But things have changed now. Dragons are people, and you can't just—"

"What does the law say?" Spitelout challenged, excited at the prospect of humiliating his brother's family in front of the whole village.

"If anyone deems another unworthy of a dragon related prize, then that person may challenge the owner for ownership in a series of challenges," Gobber recited.

Snotlout leaned heavily to one side and slurred, "Well, Hiccup shot the Night Fury down, didn't he? That makes it a prize, and it's dragon related."

"He does have a point," Gobber said, then added, "I'll just shut up now," as Stoick glared at him.

I stared at Dad across the room, surrounded by drunken Vikings who were all calling for a challenge. I knew he couldn't go against the law, and my heart sank. I let go of Astrid's hands and left her pouting as I ducked through the couples to get to my father. Toothless joined me, pushing his head under my hand, and crooned worriedly.

'They're not going to do this, are they, Hiccup?' he asked, uncertainly.

"Dad, you're not actually going to let Snotlout take Toothless, are you?" Dad looked down at me, and I could see the pain in his eyes as Father and Chief fought against each other.

"You know the law, brother," Spitelout spat, and Dad sagged. I knew that the Chief had won.

"I know the law," Dad muttered.

"Then I, Snotlout Jorgenson, challenge Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third for his Night Fury!"

I swayed, dizzy and heartsick, and the world vanished, leaving me spinning in an endless void. Astrid crept up behind me, and laid a hand on my arm. "Hiccup, I'm so sor—"

I ripped my arm away and choked back a sob, then tore out of the Great Hall and up the hill to my house, tears blinding me.

I fell head first on the bed and wept, clutching tightly at my pillow. I was nothing without Toothless, the Thawfest games had proven that, and now he was going to be ripped away forever. I didn't have the strength for log carrying, tug-of-war or single combat, nor the stomach for mead drinking or the stupidity for bludgeoning my own head. All the odds suggested that Snotlout would win, and he'd take Toothless, and name him something stupid and Vikingly, and I'd never fly again—and Toothless would never fly again, there was no way Snotlout would bother to learn how to operate the tailfin—and I was back to being Hiccup the screwup, Hiccup the useless, Hiccup the runt. I'd be the only Dragon Rider without a dragon, they'd probably kick me out of the academy—

Something wrapped around me from behind, and I instinctively kicked out, trying to escape from my attacker.

'Hiccup!' A warm croon stopped me, and I melted into Toothless' embrace, clinging to him and shaking with sobs as he wrapped his wings around us and carefully lay down on his stone bed. I could hear the slow thump of his heartbeat, the whoosh of air in and out of his massive lungs, the gentle purring as every inch of him focused on comforting me.

A wave of shame washed over me as Toothless' purring stuttered and he made an odd gulping sound. I was crying over something that hadn't even happened yet, and being comforted by someone who was just as affected as I was. I squirmed slightly, and Toothless let me lean back to look at him. There were tears swimming in his emerald eyes, and I blinked in surprise.

"I didn't know dragons could cry."

He smiled, but it was obviously fake. 'Me neither.'

"What are we going to do?" I moaned in despair.

'I don't know. I don't want to be Snotlout's dragon,' he blinked hard, trying to keep it together. 'You're my rider, I'll never have another one.'

Toothless pulled me close again, cocooning us both in darkness with his large black wings. I didn't say anything as wet drops fell into my hair and Toothless trembled slightly. I knew that the best comfort for both of us was just being together for however long we had left, and I pressed closer, as desperate to be held as Toothless was to hold.

We both jumped as the door slammed downstairs as Dad came home.

'Do you want to—'

"No." I didn't want to see my father right now, he was the one who'd let Snotlout do this! Even if the logical part of my mind told me that he was the Chief and he had to obey the laws, the rest of me wasn't listening. Then I heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs to my room, and I stiffened. Toothless crooned shakily, and I wrapped my arms around as much of his black chest as I could.

"Hiccup?" Dad's booming voice was slightly quieter than normal, which meant he was trying to be gentle.

Toothless refused to let go, but he opened his wings a fraction to let Dad see me. I turned away, burying my face in the comforting blackness.

"I'm so sorry about that, son." He sat down heavily on the bed, and I groaned inwardly. This wasn't just a quick visit; he was going to stay for a while. "The law is the law, but I've done what I can." I looked up apathetically, and he continued, "Since the dragons are personally involved, the council is letting them help you, and they're going to change the set of challenges to suit dragons."

Toothless tensed in interest, and gently turned me around to face Dad. 'What are the new challenges?'

"What do we have to do?" I repeated his question, and Dad stroked his beard.

"Now, let me see. There's the agility event, the strength event, the fighting event, the fire event, and the speed event. The first person—sorry, team—to three wins. It's agility tomorrow, and you need to be in the arena at noon. That'll give Snotlout and the other villagers a chance to recover from last night." He chuckled awkwardly, trying to boost the mood. I didn't.

It didn't really matter, what Snotlout said was true. Losing was what I did, every single time I went up against him. Even if the odds were slightly better, it was only a matter of time before Snotlout won. Dad sighed and left the room, then paused by the door. "Son, you'll win this. You took down a dragon the size of a mountain, for Thor's sake! Snotlout has lost already." I heard his words, offered a half-hearted smile, but I still found it difficult to believe them.

Toothless' ears, however, perked up. 'So we just have to beat Hookfang and Snotlout in three or more of the events? Hiccup, we can do this.'

I stared at him, struggling to wrap my head around his words, but I slowly realised he was right. Night Furies were the best fliers in the world, so speed and agility were definitely events we could win. The fire could be focused on accuracy or destruction, so that was one that could go either way. Hookfang was a lot bigger than Toothless, so they'd probably win in the strength category, but fighting? Toothless totally kicked his butt before, in the Kill Ring. As long as I could beat Snotlout, we'd stay together, and never be challenged by him again.

"You're right," I sighed, not happily but a little hopefully.

He gave me a look. 'Of course I am. I'm Toothless.'

I was ninety percent sure he was joking, but I started laughing, sheer relief making everything seem hilarious for a moment. Toothless chuckled too, the huff huff huff ruffling my hair. Then he bent down and licked at my face vigorously, obviously trying to clean something off it. When he was satisfied, he dumped me back on the bed and vanished downstairs. After I'd towelled the slobber off my face, I peeked curiously over the edge and saw him taking a drink from the bucket of water we kept downstairs. Mystified, I waited for him to come back.

"What was that about, Bud?"

'Your tears are salty.'

I smiled, then spontaneously leapt at him again. Taken by surprise, Toothless stumbled backwards, but he was still on the edge of the stairs, and there was nothing but air under his feet. I was surprised at how quickly he reacted; the moment we started falling, he wrapped his strong black legs and wings around me and held me securely, somehow landing on his back so that I was cushioned against his belly.

'Omph!'

I'd knocked the wind out of him, and if it had been a Viking then I would have been carelessly dumped on the floor again, but Toothless just lay there for a moment, catching his breath.

"Sorry."

'It's fine. You're not that big, anyway, you can't do much damage.'

I waited, perfectly content to just cuddle with my dragon for a bit. His scales were soft, unlike the other dragons, and his muscular belly somehow managed to be both firm and strong, yet as welcoming as those foreign beds, the ones with something called a "mattress" on them.

"Hey, Hicc—oh my Thor!"

Astrid stuck her head around the door, only to jump in surprise as she saw us lying on the floor. Toothless and I were pretty much the only dragon-human pair who showed so much physical affection and I always felt a little awkward when we were caught, so I blushed as I leapt to my foot, being careful to not stab Toothless' stomach with my prosthetic.

"I just wanted to wish you luck for tomorrow."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"What are you going to do if you lose?" Astrid asked seriously. My good mood evaporated, and my head drooped.

"That's not an option. We have to win, and I'm not throwing the race this time."

Toothless nudged my hand with his head, inviting attention, and I scratched him the way I knew he liked.

"Let's go to bed early, huh?"

AN II: I actually wrote this a while ago, and though I've brushed up some of the grammar since then, the content isn't as angst/hurt comfort heavy as some of my other stories. This chapter is the only time Hiccup sinks into despair, and the rest is mostly just the events. It's more humorous, I suppose, but I'm not confident enough to use that as the second category, so I'd appreciate feedback.