Hiccup glanced down. He and Toothless were flying over Scotland. Hiccup didn't want to meet anyone just yet. Right now, he just wanted to get the lay of the land, see what it was like, maybe even try to eavesdrop on a few of the locals and get an idea of the way the Scots worked. He was a Viking, and he knew that Vikings weren't very well liked in these parts. Could they blame them? When all the Vikings these guys have ever encountered were of the pillaging and looting kind, it was only natural that they wouldn't trust the first Viking who wanted to spread peace. Especially when that Viking was riding the unholy offspring of lightning and death. He smirked. Yeah, they really wouldn't trust him with Toothless around, at least not at first. Maybe if he could show them how to bond and work with dragons, they could work things out. But first, he had to talk to a Scot, which he was avoiding at the moment. He was just wanting to see Scotland right now. It was beautiful, and green. So green. Trees everywhere! Sure, there were trees on Berk, but not as many as in Scotland, or the variety. He could see a few fruit trees, the fruit just beginning to grow among the green foliage. He breathed in the woody scents. Autumn must be beautiful here with all the trees changing colors.

Toothless let out a grunt.

Hiccup patted him. "What is it, bud?" Toothless nodded towards the horizon. "What in the name of Odin is that?" Below, a ring of stones jutted out between the trees. "Let's land and take a look." Toothless snorted, but descended, landing near the stones. Hiccup dismounted and walked up to the stones. He passed his fingers over the carvings in the stone. "Wow, there must be a whole history here. I wish I could read it." A rustling occurred in the bushes to Hiccup's right. He quickly turned, his hand instinctively reaching for the hilt of his sword. "Who's there?" The rustling continued. Toothless let out a low growl as he stepped closer to Hiccup. A young woman stepped out from behind the trees with a bow and arrow aimed at them.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" she asked in a thick Scottish accent.

Hiccup quickly threw up his hands. "My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, I'm just exploring."

The bow lowered slightly. "Hiccup is your name?"

Hiccup winced, here it comes. "Yeah."

She burst out laughing. "What kind of a name is that? Did your parents think you were small and annoying?"

"Well for a time I was, I'm not that small any longer."

Her eyes flitted over his form. "I can see that. Can you not change your name?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Haven't thought about that, I've been known as Hiccup for so long it wouldn't make sense to change it now."

"Fair enough. So you're just exploring, huh?"

"Yes."

"With your dragon?"

"Oh, yes, flying's a lot of fun, and faster than a boat."

"Where are you from?"

"A little island north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death."

She blinked. "Wait, really?"

"Well, considering how cold it gets there . . ."

She laughed. "Oh, oh I get it. Those aren't names of islands, are they?"

"Well, no, not really." Hiccup rubbed the back of his head. "Why would you think that?"

"With a name like Hiccup, I wouldn't put it past you."

"Hey!" He paused. "Though, you might be right."

She chuckled. "But I've never heard of Berk."

"Oh yes, a well kept little Viking secret . . ." Wrong thing to say. The bow went back up.

"A Viking? You're a Viking?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that. See, I'm not here to loot or pillage. We've gotten a whole lot of that on Berk too, we get it, it's pretty annoying."

"Pretty annoying? More like downright horrible! People have lost their lives!"

Hiccup winced. "Right, sorry, we Berkians have dealt mainly with the dragons. We managed to make peace with them though, and, well, we were thinking of trying to meet some new people and extend a hand of friendship."

"And you thought befriending Scots is about the same as befriending your dragons?"

"Well, yeah! I mean, thanks to the dragons, we have found out that not everyone is bad, mainly just a few. And we've had our fair share of dealings with bad Vikings. So I get that you don't want to trust any, but I am hoping we can come to an agreement."

"What would it mean for us?"

"Well, for one thing, we'd help you out with any further Viking raids. And we could teach you how to work with dragons." The bow went down a lot as the redhead glanced at Toothless. Hiccup held out his hand. "Would you like to pet him?" Toothless and the woman glanced at him in shock, Toothless huffed.

"Can, can I?"

"Sure, he won't bite. He just doesn't like it when I'm in danger."

The woman glanced at her bow. "Oh, right." She placed the arrow back in her quiver and placed the bow over her shoulder. She took a step forward. Toothless growled.

"Toothless! She put away her bow. She's willing to give us a chance, you need to give her one too." Toothless stopped growling, but he eyed her approach suspiciously. She stopped a couple of feet away from them. "Hold out your hand and close your eyes. Let him come to you." She glanced at him. Hiccup smiled. She smiled nervously back before holding out her hand and closing her eyes. Toothless glanced at Hiccup. Hiccup motioned him to go through with it. Toothless rolled his eyes and let out a huff before touching her hand with his nose. She opened her eyes and gasped.

"Aw, you're not so bad are you? You're a good boy!" Toothless panted and nodded.

"Hey, what? Well you changed your mind pretty quickly," mumbled Hiccup. Toothless chortled. Hiccup grunted and crossed his arms. "Stupid reptile."

The woman laughed as she continued to pet Toothless. "I don't know, I think he's pretty smart. Aren't you?" Toothless nodded enthusiastically. She threw her arms around his neck. "Aw, you are a very good boy!" She looked at Hiccup. "What's his name?"

"Toothless."

She blinked. "Seriously?" She opened Toothless's mouth. "However did you come up with that one? He's got all his teeth!"

"Well, he can retract them," said Hiccup. As he said that, Toothless did retract them.

The woman's mouth dropped. "That's awesome."

Hiccup grinned. "Isn't it? Oh, I don't think I got your name."

The woman held out her hand. "Merida DunBroch."

Hiccup shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Merida. Mind if I ask you a few questions about Scots?"

"Sure, but I can't stay for long. I have to get home for dinner."

"That's fine. We can meet back here tomorrow, if you'd like."

Merida smiled. "I'd like that."

The three met up every day after that, chatting about the similarities and differences between Vikings and Scots. Eventually, Hiccup wanted to try talking to the clan chiefs and try to form an alliance. Merida persuaded him to let her try to talk to them about it first and get an audience. She didn't want him to go into a room full of Scots and nearly get killed because they're just itching for a fight. She got him the audience, and eventually a new school for dragon training was opened.

…

Merida urged Angus to go faster. She didn't want to be late. The horse just about threw her, again, as they neared the ring of stones.

"Hiccup? Hiccup!" She glanced around the ring. She couldn't see the Viking nor his dragon. "Hiccup! Toothless!" She let out a soft shriek as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I missed you."

Merida giggled before turning around and wrapping her arms around Hiccup's neck. "And I missed you, you silly fish."

"Ugh, what is it with that nickname?"

"What? You mean you prefer . . ." she gave a small hiccup.

He groaned and rolled his eyes. "Fair point. But please come up with something else."

Merida chuckled. "Fine, how does husband sound?"

"A bit better." He cupped her chin and pulled her into a kiss. Which was then rudely interrupted by Toothless licking them. "Ah! Thank you, you useless reptile." Toothless laughed. "You know that doesn't wash out! What were you thinking anyway? You totally ruined the moment!"

Merida guffawed. "A useless reptile and a silly fish, you two really are meant to be together."

"Ha ha, very funny. Come here." Hiccup pulled her back and they kissed.