The Mating Dance:

Night Fury Island, 2 hours after Toothless left...

Spin and Finn tumbled along the beach, roughhousing and giggling as they tried to pin each other to the sand. They came to an abrupt halt when they rolled right into thick black legs and a large shadow loomed over them. Scrambling to right themselves, they looked up at their father with innocent green eyes from identical faces.

"We weren't doing anything bad, Daddy," Spin said.

"Honest," added Finn.

Longwing smiled at them gently. "Aside from being really late for dinner? I suppose not. But I'm looking for Toothless too. Have you seen your brother lately?"

"Ummmm," the boys thought together, scrunching up their muzzles.

"We were playing tag with him a while ago," Spin said.

"Over the ocean," Finn added helpfully.

"And then he heard something and told us to come back home."

"And he flew away," Finn finished with.

Longwing sighed, shaking his head. "That boy is always off exploring something. Come on then, my wee sons. It's practically dark, ten minutes past your bedtime, and you haven't even had your dinner yet. Your mother is not pleased that all of her children are not where they're supposed to be, so you better be awful good when we get home. As far as your wayward brother is concerned, we'll give Toothless till morning to get back before I get worried about him."

"Okay," the twins said, unconcerned, as they bounced along the beach beside their father for a couple steps before they all spread their wings and took off for their nesting grounds near the middle of the island.

The next morning, on an unknown deserted island...

Luna woke up confused for a minute, opening her eyes to an unfamiliar location and finding herself nearly snuggled up beside a virtual stranger. No one would have blamed her if panicking had been her first reaction, but instead, the only thought in her head was, Stars, Toothless is freaking cute when he's asleep. Not that he's not also very cute when he's awake, but… look at him!

Toothless was lying on his back, one wing outstretched and the other covering his belly. The first glimmers of sunlight glinted off of his scales, bringing out a sheen of dark purple and blue. Such a beautiful colour. So different from a Light Fury, and yet the similarities are quite apparent as well. I wonder what my parents would think of him?

Thinking of her parents made their multiple warnings about boys and strangers come rushing back, causing her to bound onto her feet in a rush. She eyed his sleeping form warily as her parents' voices resounded through her mind.

"Boys only want one thing, Luna. And it's not friendship."

"Don't talk to strangers, sweetie, it's not safe."

And then there was the conversation they'd had that had sent her flying away from home in a huff and had her getting trapped in that hypnotizing call that had eventually led her to meeting Toothless:

"You're not dating until you turn fourteen, and that's final. If I catch you gallivanting with a boy before then, you'll be in big trouble. And don't even think about mating with one until you're sixteen!"

"But Daaaaad," she'd whined, thinking of the super cute, fifteen year old Light Fury called Lightning who'd asked her to go fishing with him yesterday.

"No!"

"Fine!"

Luna winced as the memory haunted her. If only I hadn't acted like such a child, I would be at home right now. So what if I have to wait another quarter year before I can go on a date with Lightning? If he's truly interested in me and not just after that 'one thing' that Dad has never actually been specific about, then he'll wait for me to grow up a little more.

Growling at herself under her breath, Luna turned to towards the water, and then turned right back when she heard her companion call out the mental equivalent of a mumbled, "Luna."

"What?" she answered, only to realize that he was still asleep. His eyes were still closed, his tongue still peeked from the corner of his mouth, and his breathing was still deep and even.

Toothless rolled over, wings moving as though they were hugging something. "So hot. Hold you forever."

She gasped and stumbled backwards, eyes bugging out in surprise. Holy Dragoness! He's imagining us together! As mates!

And then he shifted again, his hips rocking slightly against the sand, "Luna. So perfect." His hips twitched once again and then a snore emerged from his mouth.

Holy Great Dragon. Her eyes bugged out and he didn't seem quite so harmless and cute anymore. With one glimpse – long, gawking look - of his unconscious desires, Toothless had gone from adorable boy dragon to potential mate material.

Not that she was looking for a mate or anything; she was still much too young to have children of her own. But the thought had been planted, easily usurping Lightning in her mind, which left her feeling incredibly confused.

I thought Lightning was the one for me, but… this black dragon is making me rethink everything I ever thought I wanted.

Needing to think, and turn off her mind at the same time, Luna bolted for the questionable safety of the ocean to mindlessly chase some fish. It was as she was diving after a rainbow trout that she had a sudden epiphany about what her father meant when he said boys only wanted one thing from females; they wanted to stick their penises inside of girls and MATE. Not just form a bonded companionship pair, but MATE.

The disturbing thought had her looking at Toothless, still sleeping on the beach, with narrow eyed suspicion. He better keep his snake to himself, or he is going to find himself seriously hurting.

The realization that boys weren't quite as safe as she'd assumed them to be was an unwanted shock that she wished she'd received in a somewhat gentler fashion. Surely Mom could have said something? How hard could it be? All it would take would be a, 'Luna, sweetie, the reason your father doesn't want you to date yet is because boys can't be trusted. They have an unfortunate lack of control of their bodies and will try and hump you at any and all opportunities. DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON THEM!'

Luna snorted at her own imagination. Surely they're not as bad as all that. But I think I'll keep Toothless at wing's length from now on, just in case.

Stars, if I hadn't left home in a snit, I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

I am SUCH an IDIOT!

Luna turned her frustration on the poor fish, pursuing them with single-minded determination.

She was so mad at herself right now. It was her own fault she was lost. Her own fault she spent the night cuddled up beside a strange dragon boy on an island who knew how far away from her home. If her stomach wasn't growling at her like she hadn't eaten for a week, she'd take to the sky this instant and start searching for home. But even in her frustrated state, she knew better than to embark on a possibly very long journey without proper nourishment.

It didn't take long for the rush of doing her favourite activity to lull her out of her bad mood. She loved swimming. She loved chasing fish through the ocean. She loved playing with the waves.

Her mom had always joked that she'd been born into the wrong class of dragons. Luna sort of agreed with her. Except for the little fact that she was happy she didn't look like a Thunderdrum or Submaripper. It may be vain of her, but she liked her sleek, pearlescent body. She happened to believe that Light Furies were the most beautiful of the dragon species and had no rivals for the title.

That is, until she met Toothless. There had been stories about a black version of the Light Fury, but no one in her homeland under the sea could remember seeing one. Now that she had, she had to admit the Night Fury was every bit as striking in looks as the Light Fury was. Toothless might be a stranger, a boy with questionable intentions, and maybe a bit younger than her, but he was awfully nice to look at, she'd give him that.

As far as his personality was concerned, and whether she would actually like him once she got to know him better? That was a question that she decided it was probably best not to explore further. She should just go home and forget she ever met him. It was better for her mental health anyway. She knew her dad would have a fit and half if he ever found out that she'd actually spent the night cuddled up against him, so she was going to have to be very careful to keep that part of her adventure shielded.

And then, as if her musings had called him to her, Toothless appeared beside her in the water with a cheerful greeting and tried to lick her cheek.

Upon waking, Toothless found himself alone and possessed of a grumbling empty stomach. Gah, I'm hungry enough to eat a whale! Not that I'd ever eat a whale - too blubbery – but maybe a whale's worth of cod or trout would be nice. I wonder what the fishing's like around here?

He rose to his feet and stretched, arching his back and spreading out his wings as far as they would go before curling them back up against his body and giving himself a shake to divest himself of the last dregs of sleep.

The sun was just rising over the highest part of the island, sending steamers of golden light over the beach and making the ocean sparkle merrily.

And bounding through the waves like a streak of moonlight, opalescent scales gleaming in the sun, was an incarnation of the Great Dragoness herself as Luna fished with angelic grace. His heart thumped like a drum in appreciation and he panted with breath stealing desire and awe. He watched her dive for fish for a few minutes, sensing her pleasure in the act as she played with the waves more than anything.

Oh, stars above! She's so beautiful. I could watch her all day, every day. I might have gotten myself hopelessly lost to do it, but that dragoness right there, she was worth it.

Toothless finally shook himself out of his mesmerized stupor and bounded across the sand and then splashed into the ocean with the dragon version of an excited chortle. The cold water had the thankful affect of shocking his hormones into submission, since he'd be very embarrassed if Luna caught him lusting after her.

His mother had taught him to respect females, and his father had taught him to keep his male appendage to himself until the female invited him to use it, or he might end up losing it due to a female's wrath. He had no desire to have body parts bitten or slashed off, thank you very much.

He shot through the waves to join her with a called out, "Good morning, Luna!" and reached out with his nose to give her a good morning lick against her cheek just like he'd seen his parents do a thousand times.

Luna reared her head back like he'd just done something vulgar and gave him a shocked look. "What in the stars are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.

He blinked at her in confusion as he paddled in the water to stay afloat, wondering what had changed. We nuzzled noses yesterday, didn't we? "Saying good morning?"

"Haven't you ever heard of the personal space bubble?" she huffed.

"Well, yes," he'd admitted. "But I didn't think that applied anymore."

Luna rolled her beautiful blue eyes at him and turned her back to him as she scanned the water for a fish to chase, clearly saying she was done with him. He was pretty sure he heard her think, 'idiot' just loud enough that he was convinced she'd meant for him to hear the insult.

Maybe I am. How could I have been so stupid to assume such a beautiful dragoness would just fall for me? Toothless whimpered softy and watched her dive for a fish before he turned back towards the pale sand beach, his appetite gone.

He swam listlessly through the water, letting the waves push him as they wished, eventually hitting the sand with a slump to his shoulders, a droop to his wings, and his head hanging low. Toothless trudged back to the spot they'd slept together in last night and sank back to the sand. He curled up, tucking his head under his wing to block out the sun, and felt sorry for himself.

He was lost and the girl of his dreams that he didn't even know he wanted until he met her had rejected him. Toothless felt like indulging in a pity party was more than appropriate at the moment.

Luna was horrified with her behaviour.

Not because she didn't want him to lick her cheek, but because she DID.

Unfortunately, she hadn't been very nice about turning him down. And now she felt like pond scum.

As she pretended to chase fish, and pretended to ignore him as he swam away like she'd just murdered his family, she cursed herself for being such a mean bitch.

But she'd been so surprised at his sudden appearance, and had just finished giving herself a talking to about not letting him get close.

And his warm tongue on her cheek had felt so NICE.

Stars, I'm in such trouble right now.

She tried to ignore him as he curled up on the beach in clear dejection. Tried to ignore the voice in her mind that said she should go apologize. Tried to pretend that fishing was the only important thing right now. But the longer she stayed in the water, the more her own words of disdain haunted her. He hadn't deserved that. Perhaps he'd been a little forward and assuming, but he obviously had done it out of the joy of seeing her and not in any way meaning to be pushy or like he was going to jump on her in the next second.

Sighing in defeat, Luna gulped down one last fish, and then swam back towards the beach.

The sight of him all huddled up in their sleeping spot and radiating pathetic hopelessness made her heart literally hurt in her chest. Well, Gronckle droppings, now I just feel worse.

Slinking over to him, she clenched her stomach a couple of times and then regurgitated half of the fish onto the sand in front of him.

Toothless unburied his head out from under his wing and blinked at her and then the pile of fresh fish.

"I'm sorry I was so mean," she thought before she stomped away. Glancing around her, she spotted a nice looking grassy hill above the beach that looked like a nice spot to soak up some sun before she left to go find her home.

As Luna landed on the hill, she studiously ignored the fact that she was stalling and lying to herself about actually wanting to leave Toothless behind.

Toothless watched her fly off, making sure she wasn't going far, before he looked at the pile of fish and his appetite came roaring back as his previous joy filled him. She hasn't completely rejected me! Thank you, Great Dragon! Hope filled him again as he slurped up the fish eagerly in less than a minute.

Then he looked up at the hill she'd settled on with her back to him and her face turned to the warm summer sun. It was close to the time of year where the sun stayed up all day and all night so they got a lot of it right now, but it was still cold enough that he could appreciate basking in it as well.

Toothless took a minute to close his eyes and feel the warm rays seep past his iridescent black scales and warm him from the inside out, much like his heart felt right now.

Wanting to show how much he appreciated her apology, Toothless turned and bounded into the water. She'd given him a present of half her fish, so he thought it was only fitting to return the gesture. It also seemed like the perfect way to earn her affection back.

Not that he understood how he'd lost it in the first place, but females were strange creatures sometimes, so it was easier on his peace of mind to not try and overthink it.

Fifteen minutes of superspeed fishing later, Toothless was back on the beach. He shook the water off his scales and wings and then flew up to her hill. He regurgitated a pile of fish at her feet and then beamed at her, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth as he panted from his exertions. "For you, my beautiful drop of moonlight."

Luna turned her head slowly and stared at the fish and then at Toothless. "Thank you, but I didn't ask for this and I'm not yours, so get that thought out of your head before you regret it. I'm not in the mood for dealing with you right now." She refused to be swayed by presents and pretty words, no matter how happy and tingly they made her feel.

"I'm sorry." Toothless slumped a fraction before his eyes lit up as another idea struck him. He raised his wings and started hopping around like a possessed bird, dancing to the beat of the ocean's waves below.

Luna gawked at the boy dragon, fairly certain that he'd lost his mind. What in the name of all the stars is that supposed to accomplish?

When he hopped within range a minute later, she bopped him on the nose with a paw, careful to keep her claws sheathed. (He might be insane, but she didn't want to actually hurt him.) "What in the frigid depths of the ocean are you DOING?"

Toothless froze, his nose smarting, and then tucked his wings back against his body, hanging his head in embarrassment. "The mating dance?" he said tentatively. "It always works for my dad when Mom is mad at him. It makes her laugh every time."

Luna snorted. "I imagine it would. I don't know where you got the idea that I'd be interested in a mating dance, ridiculous or otherwise, but I can assure you that I'm most definitely not looking for a mate right now. I'm too young to have children, and Dad would kill me anyway, even if I was interested."

Toothless blinked at her as his jaw dropped. "Ummm. I'm way too young to have kids of my own too, so that wasn't my intention. I was just trying to make friends with you and make you happy. That's all. I swear."

Luna rolled her eyes at the black dragon boy despite how sweet that was. "While I appreciate the thought, you really need to work on your timing. I'm leaving soon, anyway, so just let it be. I need to find my home. My parents must be sick with worry by now."

Toothless hung his head as he realized his own parents must also be very worried. They were used to him flying off and exploring the area around his home island, but he was rarely gone for a whole night. And even if he was, he made sure to get home in time for breakfast. "Mine too," he admitted.

He sighed and shuffled away down the hill. "It was nice meeting you, Luna. Good luck," he thought to her despondently.

Luna stared after him, somewhat surprised he was walking away just like that. "Good luck to you too," she called back. "And thank you for the fish," she tacked on.

Toothless fluttered his wings at her in a shrugging gesture just before he dropped below her line of sight. Luna sighed and ate the fish, knowing she'd need the nourishment. Then she curled up on the grass and closed her eyes to let the fish digest for a few minutes before she took off.

Toothless reached the beach and wandered back to his sleeping spot, plunking his haunches down and curling his tail around his feet as he looked up at Luna's hill. His green eyes were sad and thoughtful as he wondered where he'd gone wrong.

He hadn't lied to her; he really hadn't even considered trying to mate with her. All he'd wanted was to win her friendship and see where it went from there. He had just recently reached the age where female dragons had started to look intriguing to him and become sexually mature. After meeting Luna, he knew he'd measure every other dragoness against her. Somehow, he knew they would all come up wanting in comparison. None could ever be as luminescent in colour or perfect in form. And when she wasn't being grumpy with him, her personality was wonderful.

She was right though, he should just go try and find his family, but he found that he was head over claws infatuated with her and he didn't want to leave her vicinity until was forced to.

He also drew hope from the simple fact that she hadn't left yet, either. Surely, if she didn't return my interest, she would have flown away instead of keeping up this pretence of indifference?

He shook his head and sighed at his own stupid wishful thinking. He didn't know what had drawn him away from home, but for now, he didn't regret it. Meeting Luna was worth it. And even if she did leave him, perhaps he could seek her out when he was older and she was more receptive to taking on a life mate. How hard could it possibly be to track down a clan of Light Furies?

Spotting a length of driftwood a few steps away, Toothless ambled over to it and picked it up in his teeth. He then proceeded to doodle, using the length of rough wood to dig shallow grooves in the sand. This was something he'd found out he could do by accident years ago. It had soon become a deliberate hobby that made his little brothers giggle when he drew pictures of them or made caricatures of other dragons on the island in silly poses; especially their dad.

Smiling around the stick from thinking about his family, and happy with his decision about Luna, the doodles took on a more deliberate focus. A few long squiggled lines reminded him of waves and he was inspired to draw the scene he'd woken up to.

Hearing a pleased purr coming from Toothless and strange scratching noises, Luna opened her eyes and turned her head over her shoulder to see what he could possibly be doing now.

Her body quickly followed her head and she was suddenly sitting up and staring down at the beach in amazement.

Toothless is drawing a picture! Of me! Swimming! It was upside down from her angle, but she could easily make out what was being sketched into the sand.

Her feet moved of their own accord as she walked down the hill, completely mesmerized by the image taking shape right in front of her. She'd never seen a dragon draw before but she knew the concept existed because the humans were said to make images on cloth, planks of wood, or thin sheets of tree bark.

Luna wandered onto the beach and carefully traversed the edge of the large drawing that was at least twice her real size until she stopped beside Toothless and just admired the picture as he finished her face by making a swoop in the sand to represent her smiling mouth.

She couldn't help but wear that expression now as she looked at her picture and then at Toothless. "This is amazing. Absolutely amazing."

Toothless spit out the stick and grinned widely as he retracted his teeth, demonstrating where his parents had come up with his name. "Thank you, Luna. I made it for you so you wouldn't forget me."

Luna sucked in a breath. There is absolutely no chance of that ever happening now.

Despite how goofy and immature Toothless had seemed at first, it was now blaringly apparent that he was special. He had to be vastly more intelligent than an average dragon to teach himself how to draw, and she was finding him suddenly ten times more attractive than before.

Which had been a lot, if I'm being honest with myself.

Lightning completely faded from her mind and Toothless became the only dragon she could ever see herself calling her life mate. Yes, it was a little vain to want the most intelligent dragon in the world for her own and as the father of her future children, but she didn't care. But it wasn't just his talent that had drawn her to him. She hadn't wanted to leave his side even before he'd shown her his artistic skills, so she felt perfectly justified in letting herself claim him here and now.

Sorry, Daddy.

Growling ever so slightly, Luna pounced on him as his eyes widened in alarm. She knocked him over onto his back and pinned him down with her front feet.

"What...?"

"Shush." The growl faded into a purr and she rubbed her cheek against his, blending their scents. "I hereby claim you as my future mate, Toothless Night Fury."

Toothless was so astonished at how good it felt to have her weight holding him down and her cheek rubbing against his that it took him a moment to understand the thoughts being sent into his mind.

He opened his eyes in shock and met hers, wondering if she was playing a cruel joke on him. The sincerity he saw in her beautiful blue eyes reassured him and he purred in return.

I always knew my drawing would be good for something more than making my brothers laugh.

He wrapped his front legs around her and reversed their positions so he was now on top of her and he was the one doing the cheek rubbing. "I accept your claim, Luna Light Fury."

Luna smiled up at him and then pushed him off her so she could rise to her feet. "Good. Now we just have to break the news to our parents. I vote we do yours first, since I know my Dad won't be happy about this. Maybe your parents can come talk some sense into him?"

Toothless chuckled as he rolled off the sand and stood, shaking the sand out of his wings. "I don't know how happy mine will be about it either, but I'm all for it."

Luna gave him a wide, tooth filled smile. "Excellent." She looked up at the sky. "Shall we?"

Toothless nodded once, regally. "After you, my moonlit Queen."

Luna paused as she spread her wings and looked at him. "Oooooo. I like that one. And to be honest, I liked the first one you called me, too."

Toothless smirked to himself as he spread his wings and launched off the ground. "I'm glad, my breathtaking Luna, because I'm going to shower you with compliments until we're too old to fly and beyond."

Luna giggled as they powered up into the sky. "I'm holding you to that, my clever Toothless. A few more pictures wouldn't hurt either."

"I can do that," he thought back eagerly.

Now up high in the air, they hovered with slow flaps of their wings as they turned around in circles, looking out across the unfamiliar ocean, and then stared at each in dismay.

"Umm, I hate to ask this, but do you happen to know which way your home is? Because I sure don't," Toothless admitted with a wince.

Luna shook her head slowly, eyes wide as the reality of their predicament came crashing back to the forefront of her focus. She'd conveniently forgotten just how lost she'd been when she'd come out of the random daze of yesterday. Now, she honestly didn't know what to do.

All she knew for sure was that she was beyond happy that she wasn't all alone right now,

Toothless sucked in a big breath and forced himself to concentrate. "Okay. Logically, I should be able to figure this out. When I left home the sun was in the second half of its trip across the sky and I flew away from it. The sun is currently in its rising pattern, which means that to get home, I should fly away from it again. With any luck, we'll eventually encounter an island I'm familiar with and then we'll soon be at my home."

Luna flew a little closer and rubbed her head against his neck. "You continue to impress me with how smart you are. You keep this up and I think I'll fall in love with you."

Toothless grinned at her and nudged her fondly. "Then I shall strive to continue to be your clever Night Fury with the utmost dedication because you have some catching up to do in the falling in love department."

Luna giggled as she chased after him as he flew away from the eastern sun. "You aren't seriously admitting that you love me already? We've only known each other for half a day."

Toothless flew a circle around her with a few joyful flaps of his wings. "That's exactly what I'm saying. I liked you last night, but when I saw you play in the ocean, you caught my heart. I've never seen such pure joy and grace in a dragoness. And your unique beauty doesn't hurt either."

"Oh. Oh my. Thank you." Luna was essentially speechless at his confession. She had a feeling she would never regret picking Toothless as her future mate no matter what her daddy said, whenever she did manage to get home.

Watching the black dragon fly with graceful ease around her hovering position, warmth filled her from muzzle to tail fins. I think… getting lost might just be the best thing to ever happen to me.

A few hours of dedicated flight to the west, the sun was just beginning to rise on Night Fury Island, but Toothless' family was already wide awake. His parents hadn't slept well, plagued with worry for their son.

Longwing gave his mate a reassuring lick on her cheek despite his bad feeling. "I'm just going to go for a quick flight of the area. I'm sure he's fine and we'll be back in no time."

Ebony sighed. "I hope so, dear. I really hope so." She gathered Spin and Finn under her wings and they watched as Longwing took off for the nearest island a two minute flight to the south. 'Please bring them home safe,' she prayed to the Great Dragon in the sky. 'Please.'

Ebony had never felt so worried about Toothless before, not even the first time he'd disappeared on his first 'adventure'. There was a sinking feeling in her gut that just wouldn't leave her alone.

Pushing the worry to the side for the moment, Ebony smiled at her young twins. "Come on, boys. Let's go fish up some breakfast for your father and brother for when they get back."

"Yes, Mom," they replied in unison, little wings flying after her much bigger form as she took off for the fishing cove.

Four hours later, Longwing's voice was hoarse from calling for Toothless and his wings were starting to get tired. He'd flown ever expanding circles around his home island and he wasn't sure how much further he dare go before he lost his sense of where home was.

He was just about to give up for the morning and go report back to Ebony when he spotted another island in the distance. Finding a new surge of energy, Longwing picked up his speed and flew for the island, once again calling for Toothless.

Toothless didn't answer, but his sensitive ears did catch the sound of something calling back. Sort of.

He rounded a corner of the island and found a human longship docked in the small harbour. On the boat, multiple hairy humans were exclaiming as they looked up at him with pointing appendages.

Longwing hovered in the air with great flaps of his wings as he studied the boat carefully, sending out a loud mental call for Toothless one more time, just in case the humans had captured him. But he didn't sense his son in any fashion. Not by smell or sight or sound.

Feeling defeated, Longwing turned around and flew for home at a fraction of his maximum speed, reluctant to return to his mate and tell her that he'd failed. He could only hope that he'd somehow missed Toothless and that his son would already be home and waiting for him when he got there.

Unfortunately, his thoughts were too worried and preoccupied to notice that the longship followed him.