Hiccup grumbled as he walked through Scottish countryside, going as far as he could away from the castle. He needed a break from his dad, from Gobber, from everyone. They were always telling him what he was doing wrong, what he had to do, that he had to change. He didn't want to change, see, he liked being himself, he liked inventing things for his people, he liked building them, he liked having some peace and quiet. Sure, he was the scrawniest boy in the clan, and he could fight, but he really didn't want to. He liked talking things out, he liked finding solutions to problems through communication instead of war. What was wrong with having a few allies, a time of peace? Why did being brave mean facing one's foe in battle without running in the other direction? He grumbled some more before he had to pause, there they were again, the wisps. He saw them on his walk last night and ignored them for the most part, but now, maybe he should follow them, let them lead him to his destiny. He let out a huff, as long as it meant that things might change in Scotland for good, then absolutely. But there was only one way to find out, and Hiccup followed the trail of the wisps. They disappeared as he got closer to each one, but he had seen them close enough to think that they were kind of cute, for something supernatural. He followed them to a ring of stones, the last one fading away as the stones came into view.

"What? Why would . . ." He paused, he thought he heard something.

"Well, Toothless, what do you think?" Hiccup ducked behind one of the stones as the female voice laughed. "No, no, I don't think they used this to scratch their armpits, I think they'd be a little too small for that. Maybe as part of a rock-climbing competition?" Hiccup heard a snort and a huff. "Oh come on! Well, maybe we just have to ask them." He peeked around the stone, there stood the blackest dragon he had ever seen, the first dragon he had ever seen. The girl with the dragon looked to be about his own age, her fiery red hair pulled back into a braid, her brown Viking outfit making her sky blue eyes pop. The dragon paused and sniffed the air, causing Hiccup to duck back behind the stone, hoping against his worst of luck that the wind wasn't traveling in that direction. "Hello?" Hiccup glanced up, she was standing over him, looking right at him. He yelped as he jumped up, the dragon quickly stood between the two, growling.

"Toothless! Stop it! This is his land, technically, we're trespassing!"

"Uh, uh, yeah, you're right, you technically are trespassing," stammered Hiccup.

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to explore for a bit, see something new."

"Oh, yeah? Where are you from?"

The girl shrugged, "A little island north of here called Berk. It's not exactly the best, but it's home, and having the dragons do help." She smiled warmly at Toothless. Toothless nuzzled her as she petted him.

"Wow, uh, having a pet dragon must be a lot of fun."

"Mm-hmm, you wanna say hi?"

"Uh, may I?"

"Of course! Toothless, be nice." The dragon huffed, but he nudged closer towards the Scot. Hiccup paused and simply out out his hand, palm up. Toothless blinked, and touched his nose to the palm. She gasped, "Why, you're good at this!"

Hiccup blinked, "But, I only just put out my hand!"

"But that's just it! You have to earn the dragon's trust, and you just did the best thing to start!" she grinned.

"Really?" She nodded. He turned to Toothless, grinning, "Great!" He petted Toothless some more.

She chuckled, "He likes ya. You wanna go for a ride?"

Hiccup lit up, "Really?"

"Sure, come on!" She climbed on and helped him get on Toothless. "Hang on!" Toothless took off, and Hiccup whooped for joy. He could so see himself doing this a lot, he was having so much fun! More fun than he had had in a long time. He soon learned the girl's name was Merida, and she was the princess of Berk, basically, just like he was the prince of Scotland. After their little flight, Merida and Hiccup parted, promising to get their families to meet so they could forge an alliance. Even though Hiccup did have quite a bit of work to do on the Scots, he promised he would get through. Not only did he want to ride a dragon, and maybe even have one, he also wanted to see a pair of blue eyes again.