AN: If you haven't seen it already, I posted a Snoggletog oneshot yesterday. I hope everyone enjoyed the festivities as much as I did. Last chapter today!

REVIEWS:

Whiskerface: Well, what else would test how well humans handled fire? Also, Bucket's great at suggesting strange ideas.

Tim2060: Hiccup and Toothless couldn't afford to waste a shot, but who knows, Snotlout may have tried to shoot at Astrid and Fishlegs.

Silver Sentinel: Well, one of Snotlout's supporters suggested it, so of course it was going to be unfair. They took Toothless' disability and used it against him. I'm glad I seem to have taken most people by surprise with the human challenge. Your question about Hookfang? It might be answered in this chapter.

SPEED

Standing nervously at the start line on the beach on Dragon Island, I cast my eyes up to where Toothless was waiting, hidden from view by the thick forest between us.

"So, does everyone understand the rules?" Dad yelled, and I nodded.

It was an endurance race more than anything else. We'd run from one end of the island to the other, then mount our dragons, and fly to Berk and back again. First pair to arrive wins. I knew that Snotlout would gain a large lead while I was on foot, I just hoped that Toothless would be fast enough to make it up.

"On your marks…" My heart was pumping fit to burst, I wouldn't be surprised if it burst out of my chest. Whoever won this one, won the whole thing.

"Get set…" Snotlout glanced at me, and I looked away, trying not to be distracted..

"Go!" I saw an arm heading straight for my side, so I ducked suddenly and Snotlout tripped over me as he tried to shove me sideways, like he'd done during the Thawfest tiebreaker. Before he got to his feet, I was sprinting into the forest, chest heaving and legs pumping.

As soon as I was out of sight, I slowed to a steady jog, one that I could hopefully keep up for a while. I was pretty fit, but Dragon Island was a large island, almost half the size of Berk, and covered in plants. It was hard to see which direction the dragons were in the dark tangle of forest, so I just kept running as straight as I could. I could always use my dragon call, but I didn't particularly want Snotlout to know where the dragons were. If he got lost, it was a welcome advantage for us.

The thick vegetation pulled at my legs, and I was soon panting as I forced my legs through vines and bushes. There was a crash next to me, and Snotlout overtook me easily. Even though I'd expected it, despair threatened to drag me down.

It became harder to breathe after a while, so I opened my mouth to allow more air to enter my lungs. I was dripping with sweat, the cool air brushing against my burning skin.

When I was halfway there, my throat was completely dried out, making it agony to breathe. My legs were getting tired too, making them clumsier and more likely to be snagged by tree roots. Several times I almost stumbled into trees, only just twisting past them.

After two and a half hours of running, I wanted to throw up from exhaustion. Dragon Island was far too big, and my stump was starting to burn and throb, making each step agony. I stumbled and limped, barely moving faster than a walk, until the trees spat me out onto the beach at the other side of the island, and I saw that I had gone a little off course. Toothless was about a hundred metres to the left, and I pulled up one last effort from somewhere and started running towards him. He saw me coming and bent down, ready to take off the moment I arrived. Curse the soft sand! It made keeping my balance almost impossible and sucked at my feet, making each step seem a dozen times harder than it should.

I finally reached Toothless, and threw myself onto his back, letting my face fall forwards onto his head. He took off the moment my foot clicked into the pedal.

"How—how much of a lead do they h—" I gulped desperately for air, "Have?" Gods, I would kill for a drink. My legs felt like floppy sheep wool, and I couldn't have sat up straight if I wanted to.

'About an hour.' Toothless flapped his wings at an incredible rate, driving us forwards faster than I'd ever gone before, even during the Thawfest tie breaker. It was amazing, and if there wasn't so much at stake I might have enjoyed it. But an hour? That was enough time to get halfway to Berk, and even with Toothless' supernatural speed we might not make it. My sweat soaked clothes soon chilled me to the bone, and I pressed close against his back to try and conserve heat. My fingers grew numb, and my teeth chattered. I couldn't stop shivering.

My hopes rose as we drew closer and closer to Berk without seeing Hookfang. Maybe we were catching up fast enough. Then, about two thirds of the way there, after a full hour of clenching my hands around the saddle so hard that my knuckles turned white, a red and black blur shot past on our left, almost knocking us out of the sky. I turned around in time to see Snotlout sticking his tongue out at us as he passed. Real mature.

"C—come on, Bud," I encouraged Toothless with chattering teeth, even though I knew he was already putting everything into this. "We n—need to catch t—them."

He was panting too hard to answer me, but he gently slapped my hand with his ear plate. His wingbeats increased slightly in tempo, updownupdownupdown faster than I could keep track of, and the sea blurred beneath us.

Berk approached at an incredible speed and Toothless started to angle upwards a little, not enough to slow us too much, but noticeable. I was confused, but he definitely knew more about flying than I did so I followed his lead. Waving to Gobber, we turned one hundred and eighty degrees in a vertical loop, and hung upside down briefly before Toothless flipped back over. It was slightly sloppy, and I noticed that he'd slowed a little. My heart sank. Flying for ninety minutes at top speed was too much, even for a Night Fury's stamina. But he never gave up, never stopped doing more than his absolute best, and by the time Dragon Island was in sight, I could see Hookfang, far below and ahead of us.

Toothless stopped flapping, gasping desperately for breath, and I thought he'd finally given up, until I realised that our speed was still increasing. Now I understood why he'd been heading upwards. We dove towards the beach at a steep angle, gravity carried us faster and faster. His head drooped limply, his wings threatening to collapse inwards, and for a moment I thought that he'd passed out in mid air. My heart in my throat, I shook his shoulder desperately.

"Toothless, we're coming in too fast!" I screamed as the land flew towards us. But Hookfang was still a few precious metres ahead of us, and we couldn't slow down to land safely. He suddenly jerked so that I flew out of the saddle, and wrapped his legs and wings around me. Everything went dark, and I felt an enormous impact that knocked the air out of me and left me unsure which way was up. Since I wasn't being crushed, I assumed that Toothless was beneath me and had taken the fall again. His heartbeat was an almost consistent purr, his lungs desperately clutching at the air, and he didn't seem inclined to move his wings and let me out anytime soon.

"Are you alright?" I asked, scared that he might have been hurt.

Relief poured over me when he managed to gasp, 'Just—just tired.'

"You did so well," I crooned, hugging as much of him as I could reach. He lay there, utterly spent, and I laid my head against his heaving chest. It would be so easy to just fall asleep right there…

A mangled voice drifted through from the outside, and Toothless groaned.

'They—they want to know—know that you—you're okay.'

I pushed gently against his wing. "Let me out, then."

'C—can't…'

I heaved at his large wing until it lifted high enough for me to roll out, coughing up sand. Dad stared at Toothless in awe, shaking his head in disbelief.

"That dragon…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Snotlout interrupted. "Just tell us who won."

"Well, it was very close," Dad pronounced, and I rolled my eyes. Understatement of the year. "But the winner of this round is…" I didn't think I'd ever been this nervous, not even before the final test in the Kill Ring. My hands felt clammy and my pulse thundered in my ears, so loud I could barely hear Dad. "Hiccup and his Night Fury: Toothless!"

The weight of relief drove me to my knees next to Toothless. Gasping for air, he smiled up at me.

"No!" Snotlout screamed, sounding terrified for a second, before tamping down on it. Hookfang tried to nuzzle him, but Snotlout pushed him away. "Come on, Hookfang! Couldn't you have flown just a tiny bit faster?"

"Right, you lot can go home again," Dad said magnanimously, and I stared at him in disbelief.

"Let's go, Hookfang!" Snotlout kicked Hookfang's neck as he climbed on, and the poor dragon took off and started flying laboriously around Dragon Island. I shuddered, imagining Toothless being forced to fly after such a hard race. He didn't look like he could even stand up right now, his wings spread limply on the ground, and his tail motionless. He was only just catching his breath! Thank Thor, we won the challenge.

"Well done, son." Dad mounted Thornado, and they started flying back to Berk. I yawned, feeling my own tiredness creep in, but I was still achingly thirsty. Toothless must be too, I realised with a jolt, and leapt to my feet.

'Where are—' Toothless shuddered with a dry coughing fit, groaning tiredly. 'You going?'

"To get some water, Bud. I don't know about you, but I'm parched."

I grabbed a small drinking bowl I always kept in my satchel, and walked over to a small spring, hidden behind a few rocks, and filled the bowl. Bringing it to my lips, I drank and drank, soothing away the last aches from my dry throat. Then I filled the bowl to the brim and walked back to Toothless. He was almost asleep, but he made an effort to stay fully awake when I got back.

"Here you go, Bud."

He swallowed the whole bowl in one go, and looked at me pleadingly for more. I forced my limp legs to carry me back to the spring for water a total of ten times before he was finally satisfied.

'Thank you,' he crooned wearily, and I found myself on the ground next to him with no idea how I'd got there, face pressed against the sand. It would be so easy to fall asleep right there, I thought, until the sand prickled against my neck. I rolled over, and it rubbed against my arm. Sand wasn't nearly as comfortable as people seemed to think it was. Eventually I gave up and moved over to Toothless.

"Hey, if we're gonna nap here then can I sleep on you, please?"

'What's wrong with the sand?' Toothless murmured, almost asleep already.

"It scratches," I complained, then shivered as a sudden breeze blew in and cut through my clothes like paper. The sweat still coating them didn't help either.

'Come here.' He rolled his eyes. 'I can't have you freezing to death.'

He rolled over and winced as he spread his wings, trying to hide his pain from me. Lying on his back with his wings spread wide open, he looked ready to fall asleep within seconds. I clambered onto his belly and reached for his chest. The large flight muscles were already starting to stiffen up, so I dug my fingers in and felt him freeze.

"It's okay, I'm just trying to help."

'It feels good.'

It was always nice to be able to do something for Toothless, because normally he was the one helping me, and I smiled. The large wing muscles had been used vigorously (I still felt an adrenaline rush when I thought about that incredible flight) and I massaged them thoroughly, squeezing gently and smoothing out the tension little by little.

He fell asleep while I was working, his massive lungs rhythmically lifting me up and down on his chest.

It was late evening when Toothless woke up again, and begged me for more water. My legs were more or less recovered by now, so the trips to and from the water hole were quicker and smoother.

"How're you doing?" I asked when his thirst was satiated, and he yawned.

'Still tired, but getting better. I've never flown that fast for more than a few minutes at a time before.'

"Do you want to go back to sleep?"

He shook his head, and got to his feet. 'We need to get back to Berk before morning.'

I pursed my lips. "You're in no shape to be flying right now."

'I'd rather fly now and get some more rest at Berk than start tomorrow exhausted from flying home.'

I remembered we had dragon training classes as normal the next day, and groaned in exasperation.

"Fair enough." I climbed onto the saddle, and clicked the tailfin into take off position. He drew in a deep breath, then leapt into the air. We hung in the air for a moment as he struggled to gain height, then we headed for the clouds. Easing into a glide, he closed his eyes and tried to conserve energy. I pushed my fatigue away, and stretched my eyes wide open. If we both fell asleep then we would definitely crash.

I blinked.

I blinked, and fell forwards onto Toothless' neck in the time between closing and opening my eyes.

I blinked, but couldn't force my eyelids up again. Maybe a few moments… my mind whispered as I slipped away.

I jerked awake seconds before we hit the unwelcoming surface of the sea, and slapped Toothless' head hard. He jolted awake, and I snapped the tailfin into the climbing position. We skimmed the water and swooped upwards again, heading for the clouds.

"How are you doing?" I asked him, and he shook his head in an effort to wake up.

'I can get us home,' he groaned, and my heart ached for him, 'But then I'm going to sleep till Ragnarok.'

"I'm so sorry, Bud."

'It's not your fault, it's Snotlout's. Try to stay awake this time?'

I rubbed my eyes frantically, and yawned. "I can't promise anything. Gods, I'm exhausted."

Berk approached, slowly but surely, and Toothless gasped in relief. Flaring his wings a few feet above the slope above our house, he ploughed into the ground. He didn't bother to fold his wings, just lay as he fell on the ground.

"Do you want anything?" I asked, and he shook his head.

'J—just slee—sleep.'

I scrambled off his back and removed the flight harness to make him more comfortable. It was starting to get dark, and I could barely see anything more than silhouettes.

A voice floated towards me on the wind.'Try.' I frowned. Wasn't that Hookfang? Who would he be talking to?

"Yeah, but—it's Hiccup. You know how soft and goody goody he is."

'Snotlout still sorry.'

"And did you see that Split in Two or whatever it's called? I really hurt him."

Then why had he continued with the challenge?

'More reason say sorry.'

"But he'll want to know why, and then—Hooky, what if he finds out about—" his voice dropped to a whisper. "About Dad?"

'Hookfang think good. Snotlout father bad father.'

"Don't say that! He loves me… In his own way."

'Snotlout father hurt Snotlout hatchling!'

"It's to make me stronger!"

'Snotlout already strong. Why need Night Fury to make stronger?'

"I don't know, okay! It was Dad's idea, you know that—"

Sickened, I tried to block their voices out. I wasn't meant to hear this, I was sure, but pieces were starting to slot into place. How desperate my cousin was to make Spitelout proud. How scared he was of losing. I'd even seen him lean tiredly against walls or start limping when he thought no one was looking. I wanted to go to Dad, to tell him what I knew and get him to stop it—but Snotlout was too proud for that. It might destroy him for his secret to be exposed.

I yawned, still desperately tired even after the shocking news I'd heard. One problem at a time, I supposed wearily. But I needed to get Snotlout off Berk as soon as possible. I'd also try to be a better cousin, if he'd let me. Thor knew it was going to be difficult, but I was nothing if not persistent.

Tomorrow, I'd start.

THE END

AN: You should know the drill by now. There are six options this time, choose the one you like best and tell me, either by PM or in a review.

1) Cold—15k words, sixshot. For centuries, the Hooligan heir has travelled from one end of Berk to the other on their sixteenth birthday, with nothing but a pair of flint stones and four companions. Typical Hiccup luck, he was born in the middle of Devastating winter. An encounter with wild boars sends Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout and Toothless over the tall mountain in the middle of a devastating blizzard.

2) Crash—2.5k words, oneshot. Built into a mountain on Berk, the Great Hall has stood proudly against the dragon raids for centuries. However, an unexpected earthquake could spell disaster for anyone trapped inside it, protective dragon or not.

3) Fix Yourself First—4k words, oneshot. I savagely swiped my sleeve across my face, swallowing hard. I was a chief now, Thor curse it! I was strong, I was immovable, I was hard working, I was loyal, I was fierce, I was—I was— Not my father. I choked down a sob, feeling the absence by my side more acutely than ever. I needed my dragon, and he needed me, but he wasn't here.

4) Lightning? Yes. Death? Hopefully not.—4.7k words, oneshot. Unholy offspring of Lightning and Death, meet lightning. Shot out of the sky by a summer storm and separated from his dragon, Hiccup fights for his life against the heaving waves.

5) Stay With Me—5.7k words, oneshot. It had all happened so quickly. One moment, the Dragon Riders were gliding easily over the sea, looking forwards to arriving at the Edge and relaxing after a hectic five days—I hadn't slept for thirty six hours, and neither had Astrid—and the next, we were completely surrounded by more of Krogan's fliers than we'd ever seen before, easily outnumbered four to one.

6) You're Mine—3.5k words, oneshot. The gas in his mouth lights. Three seconds until someone dies. Three. The Alpha thinks it will be Hiccup, but if he was given a choice between saving his life and Hiccup's, he'd choose Hiccup's in a heartbeat. Two. The hot hot hot ball of fire slides down his throat. One. If Alpha lets him die, Drago will be angry. Zero. He arches his back and screams.

Update: I'm proud to announce that Growing Flame, the first book in the Fire Trilogy, is now 105k words long. I've completed 23 out of 26 planned chapters, and it shouldn't be long till it's finished!

~JustAnotherRandomPoster