Chapter 6

"Toothless!" A young boy called out as he walked out of a large wooden home that was decorated with intricate dragon carvings. The boy looked about 15 with auburn hair, forest green eyes, fair skin with freckles, he had on a long sleeved green tunic, brown leggings, and had only one foot with a brown furred boot while the other was missing fitted with a metal prosthetic. The boy walked to a sleek black nightfury who had deep emerald eyes and a red prosthetic tail fin and was acting like a cute innocent puppy. "You ready to fly bud?"

The dragon, who was known as Toothless, growled playfully. "No duh!" He said knowing that the boy could not understand him. "Let's get going already Hiccup!"

The boy, Hiccup, strapped on a specialized looking saddle to Toothless' back and hopped on and as soon as he was buckled in, Toothless took off into the air, shooting himself into the clouds doing maneuvers and flips for a few minutes before calming down and gliding around peacefully around their home, Berk.

As Toothless flew with Hiccup, he spotted a dark shape flying towards Berk's forest and got curious. He slowly glided his way towards the shape appearing like he didn't notice it as to not alert the thing that he was aware of its presence. "What is that?" He heard Hiccup whisper quietly as he noticed the shape as well. Toothless growled quietly, signaling for Hiccup to be as silent as possible as they flew closer.

The figure disappeared into the trees and away from sight but the scent on the wind was what revealed to Toothless on what it was. 'A female….Aglovale Helmar?' He though questioningly. He suddenly dove towards the cove as they passed overhead, extracting a short yelp out of Hiccup, and landed onto the ground, waiting for Hiccup to get off before pacing around in confusion mixed with hope.

"Bud?" Hiccup asked worried as his best friend paced. "What's wrong?" Toothless looked at Hiccup then away towards the forest. Hiccup followed his gaze and had a realization. "It's another nightfury isn't it?" Toothless crooned. "Well then," Hiccup took off Toothless' saddle. "I know that this must be a big opportunity for you so how about I get that tail-fin prosthetic into self flying mode, that way you can try and connect with it first."

Toothless stared at his best friend and growled appreciatively. 'This will be hard I suspect…' he thought.

Hiccup then started to walk away. "I'll let you come to me in the village when you are ready. I don't want to intrude on anything so I'll see you later." Then he disappeared out of the cove through the human sized crevice.

Toothless was grateful for Hiccup to be so understanding of the situation and thankful he built in a double use prosthetic. He jumped up onto the cove ledge and started to walk into the surrounding forest, looking and scenting around for the female. He didn't call out in case she might be startled off the island but gave soft croons here and there to let her know that he meant no harm and that he was a friend.

He had no idea that the female was watching his every move as he walked through the forest though.

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Sky blue eyes belonging to Azora watched as the male went through the forest after exiting the cove and let out a silent sigh as she figured that he was probably hoping to find her. 'So this is why you wanted me to come here as well papa….' She thought sarcastically. She observed the male closely noting not only the red tail-fin on him but the scent of a human male around him as well.

She followed the male as he tried to find her for two hours before deciding to reveal herself to him. "Why are you following me?" She asked loudly causing the male to jump in surprise which in turn caused him to stumble over a log and fall over onto his back. She nearly fell over in giggles but contained herself as he tried to regain some of his dignity.

"God you scared the scales off me!" The male exclaimed when he finally got up shaking off the dirt and leaves from his scales.

"Then you shouldn't follow females around randomly." Azora quipped back as amusement danced in her eyes.

The male chuckled awkwardly then cleared his throat. "I guess I did deserve that scare then." He said. "I'm Toothless."

"I'm Azora."

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Toothless gazed at the female, Azora, before him. Her eyes were a sky crystal blue and they spoke more clearly than words ever would. They showed Toothless that this female has been through a tough past with how much sadness and ager was there but also happiness showed covering up the harsher emotions. To see all that tore at Toothless' heart but he stayed calm and relaxed. 'What could have caused her such pain?' He thought to himself.

"You smell like humans." She stated bringing Toothless out of thought.

"Yes. We ended a war and one of their own taught the rest of the humans that dragons were friends not foe." He said.

"I was told that humans ride you."

"Yes, they do ride us. Hiccup is my rider and best friend."

"And this Hiccup is….nice?"

"Yep. Even repaired my tail to where I can fly on my own at times."

"He sounds….innovative."

"Yeah. Would you like to-"

"No." She cut Toothless off before he even finished. "I don't like too many humans."

"Oh." He whispered as she looked away. "May I ask why?"

"Let's just say that I have too many bad memories of them and leave it at that."

"Alright." He said. "I will respect that."

"How did you lose your tail-fin may I ask?"

Toothless hesitatingly chuckled. "Umm…Hiccup actually." At her startled look his way, he quickly continued. "It was before we got to know each other and when the queen still had dragons under her control. He shot me down during a raid and when he found me, he spared my life. After a few months of getting to know one another we just connected." He looked into her eyes. "Besides he had payback when he lost his foot in the great battle."

"He lost his foot?" She asked.

"Yeah but it doesn't stop him or slow him down a bit. He is still the clumsy, danger seeking, and the first best friend I will ever know."

Toothless noticed that Azora just looked away from again and towards the direction of the village. "Must be nice…" she mumbled.

"Huh?"

"You having human friends that are nice."

"Well there is one that isn't but even the humans don't like him. He lives in a small home away from the rest of the villagers so he is a bit of a loner but he is really rude to dragons and Hiccup."

"Well then I'll avoid him more that the others then."

"Can Hiccup at least see you?" At her look Toothless restated his question. "I mean, can he be able to try and gain your trust. He will go at your pace."

He saw Azora's face flash with fear before she sighed. "Last time I did that, the human still betrayed my trust."

Toothless smiled. "I promise you he will not." He said encouragingly.

"Fine. As long as it is on my terms."

Toothless jumped up in excitement and said, "Meet us at the cove! You won't regret it!"

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Azora watched the male, Toothless, as he talked to her and when she agreed to have his human, Hiccup, come to the cove to earn her trust, his happy reaction set off a feeling in her that left her heart pounding. Azora shook her head in confusion and bewilderment as the feeling slowly passed so she ignored it for now and paid attention to Toothless once more as he spoke.

"When would be good to let him come see you?" He asked after he calmed down.

"Um," Azora hesitated a tiny bit but continued. "I guess now if you would like."

Toothless nodded at her then got ready to fly out of the forest. "I'll be back soon then." He shot up into the air and disappeared over the trees.

Azora sighed deeply as she was left alone. "This will be interesting." She said.

As she sat there, Azora noticed the direction that the cove was in and headed that way. She took in the sights, sounds, and smells as she walked and paused a few times for the wildlife around her, which were mostly rabbits and deer. Azora never attacked land animals purposely due to the sheer beauty and magnificence of some but kept her distance as she didn't want disturb them.

Soon she arrived at the cove where she first saw Toothless and hopped down into it. She took interest in the little etchings in the dirt and the big one next to it. She huffed in amusement as she realized that Toothless probably tried to imitate the etchings. Azora gave up trying to draw and write years ago after messing up terribly with a sadly drawn figure of her papa. Maaran laughed it off that day and still kept it somewhere in the cavern, probably to look at it to remember happy times most likely.

Azora gazed at the drawn figure of Toothless' head in the dirt and admired on how accurate the drawing was but shook it off quickly, not liking how she was admiring a humans work of art. It wouldn't change how she felt about most humans, especially the ones who had kidnapped her. It was getting slightly darker, indicating that the sun was setting but she agreed to stay and observe this Hiccup that Toothless was so fond of and to give him the chance to prove himself to her.

Soon, the signifying sound of wings came to her ears and she turned just in time to see Toothless land on the far side of the cove in order to make her feel more relaxed as the human, Hiccup, got off his back. "He doesn't look like much." Azora said to Toothless as she took in Hiccup's looks.

"Well," Toothless said as Hiccup took out his journal and started jotting down stuff. "He may not look like much but he does have a big heart."

"Wow bud!" Hiccup exclaimed startling Azora a little bit, making her go into a defensive pose. "I can't believe that it's another nightfury! I wonder if it's a male or female?" Hiccup looked up at Azora and started to sketch her. "And this one has blue eyes! This is one of the best discoveries ever!"

Azora was majorly confused with his reaction with her appearance. "Why is he so happy?" She asked as she forced herself to try and relax.

"I'm the only other Aglovale Helmar he has ever seen." Toothless said. "He has been searching for more but you're the only one he has seen other than me."

"How do I find out if you're a female or male?" Hiccup murmured quietly. "And what should I name you?"

Azora froze at that sentence. "I will not be named." She said narrowing her eyes at Hiccup growling.

Hiccup looked up at Azora nervously before looking at Toothless. "Why is she looking at me like that?"

Toothless rolled his eyes at Hiccup and shook his head before turning to Azora and saying, "He is going to have to call you something Azora. We can't exactly talk to humans."

"My papa can." Azora said looking away from Toothless. "I want to keep my name."

"Well bud, he'll have to learn to trust humans slowly I gue-" Hiccup was cut off as Azora growled. "What?"

Azora rolled her eyes and looked around. "Help me find a damn flower to show him I'm a girl."

Toothless looked around and wondered to the tree nearby, noticing the little blossoms on the branches. He grabbed onto a branch and pulled it off the tree taking it to Hiccup. "What's the branch for bud?" Hiccup asked. Toothless pointed a claw to the blossoms and then to Azora. "So the nightfury likes….blossoms?"

Toothless huffed. "Really Hiccup?" He grumbled as he shook his head to Hiccup's sentence and gestured to the blossoms again.

"Blossoms and the nightfury….Oh! It's a female!" Hiccup exclaimed after several minutes.

Toothless nodded. "Finally you got the idea." He said in amusement.

Azora just watched the exchange with a bored look and sighed. 'Should have asked papa to come and at least interpret my gender and name to the humans.' She thought.

"Now we know a gender, we have to think about a name." Hiccup said alerting Azora immediately.

"No." She said with a growl, alerting the two across from her.

"He needs to establish trust between you and him." Toothless said. "A name is the first way to do it."

Azora huffed and looked away from them before picking up a twig and carefully, yet slowly, writing out her name in slightly legible letters for Hiccup. She then dropped the twig and walked to the side of the cove. "There, he can read that." She told Toothless.

Toothless nodded then went over to the etchings and barked at Hiccup to follow. When Hiccup went over, he bent down and observed the etchings for a long while before looking up. "Azora…" he murmured to himself before looking at Azora. "Is that your name?" Azora nodded but did not look at him. "It's pretty. Better than anything I can come up with!" He laughed.

Azora huffed and looked at Toothless. "Is he really that bad at names?"

"Well, he came up with mine…" Toothless grumbled.

Azora stared at him before smirking. "That answers that then." She said.

Toothless pouted and looked away from her in embarrassment. "At least it wasn't worse."

Hiccup watched the exchange between Toothless and Azora and suddenly startled both of them as he suddenly started to burst out in laughter. "Oh, Thor, Toothless!" He said laughing harder at his friends expression.

"Why is he laughing?" Azora asked.

"My expressions from a humans point of view are seemingly amusing. Hiccup usually says that I look like an adorable puppy."

Azora contemplated this for a minute before slightly chuckling. "I guess that is true."

Toothless gave her a deadpan look. "Thanks." He sarcastically said as Hiccup calmed down.

"I have to go." Azora said turning and opening her wings.

"Wait!" Toothless said making Azora look his way. "Will you return?"

"I'll give this place a chance." Azora said before taking off and disappearing into the sky.

Toothless stared into the sky where she disappeared and sighed.

"So," Hiccup started making Toothless look at him. "I guess you really like her, huh bud?" Toothless snorted and knocked him down playfully with his tail. "Hey! At least you two got along and didn't fight."

Toothless shook his head and waited until Hiccup got on the saddle before taking off.

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Azora flew over the ocean, not too far from Berk but enough distance to fish and eat in peace. She tried to ignore the storm clouds as she fished but after she landed by a cave and started to eat her catch, the sudden clap of thunder startled her so badly she tripped over a loose rock that was in the cave which in turn started a cave-in.

Azora tried to run out of the cave as the rocks and boulders came down but a large boulder caught her tail then another fell on her side and wing and another on her back left leg, trapping her near the entrance and making her roar our with pain. Fear coursed through her as the cave-in finally stopped but the lightning flashed dangerously and thunder grew louder and louder, making her whimper and squirm under the weight of the rocks. The last thing she saw was a dark figure flying towards her, coming closer before her world finally went dark.

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Toothless heard the pain filled roar as thunder cracked through the sky and sharply turned to the area where it pinpointed from. Hiccup yelled at him in surprise but Toothless ignored him and focused on where that roar originated from.

He flew fast and hard, scenting the air and soon saw Azora's half crushed figure in the entrance of a collapsed cave just in front of him. As he grew closer, he saw her eyes slowly close and he feared the worse as he landed. "Oh, gods!" Hiccup exclaimed seeing Azora and quickly getting off to examine her closer as rain started to pour down onto them. Hiccup analyzed the rocks and quickly deduced that they had to be blasted apart slowly and carefully. "Toothless," he said looking to his friend. "You need to carefully blast the larger rocks that are pinning her then we have to quickly pull her out."

Toothless looked at Hiccup as if he was crazy but he knew that his friend was right and for the next few hours, the rocks slowly became smaller until finally, they were able to free Azora from the cave in thankfully not making anymore rocks fall. Toothless quickly made a shelter out of some trees nearby to protect Hiccup and Azora from the wind and rain. Hiccup immediately tried to tend to Azora's injuries but couldn't do very much with the limited supplies he had.

"Well bud," Hiccup said. "We will have to wait to get her the proper help until the storm passes." He looked at Toothless sadly. "And in this darkness, I can't assess her injuries well enough to determine if she can even make it to Berk."

Toothless huffed in slight disappointment but he understood the position they were in. He would most likely have to call for help from other dragons to even get Azora off the ground safely. 'This is just a great way to get her to be comfy with humans…' he thought sarcastically.

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Morning came with the sun shining and the storm nowhere in sight. As Toothless stood watch, Hiccup was finally able to get a better look at her injuries with the better light and sadly, the prognosis wasn't at all what he wanted. Azora had fractured ribs, a broken wing, scrapes and torn off scales, a badly injured left leg, and her right tail fin looked ready to split in half. They had to be very careful when they would transport her and that would require lots and lots of help. "Do the emergency call and signal bud." He said to Toothless who was watching Azora sadly with sorrow filled eyes. "This is a code red."

Toothless nodded and ran off to find a clearing. He ran though the trees finally coming upon a cliff. From there he did a long screech followed by short ones and three plasma blasts straight into the air. He knew that the Fenrisaahba Jusamah that were on Berk would probably hear the call first and Bhimasara Egill would be the ones to see the signal. Toothless figured it would be a couple hours wait time but he continuously did the calls and signals. He couldn't lose a potential friend after only meeting her, it wasn't fair to her to never know kindness of humans and be a friend to dragons.

He would get her help, no matter what.

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After an hour of doing signals, Toothless finally spotted 4 dragons with riders on the horizon. He screeched in slight joy at recognizing the riders along with the dragons and jumped up and down in excitement and to let them know where he was exactly. Soon, all the riders got to the island and landed in front of Toothless as he patiently waited for the riders to get off their dragons and to let the the dragons get settled from flying.

The first to land was a 10 foot female Morte Nader whose top scales were a light blue and her bottom scales a cream color, her spikes on her large head and tail told enemies to beware, and her large eyes showed wisdom. She was named Stormfly. Her rider was a female who had long blond hair tied in a braid and she had fair skin, her eyes were an ocean blue but held determination and stubbornness, her clothes consisted of a blue shirt with armored shoulder pads and a spiked skirt with tan fur boots. Her name was Astrid.

The second to land was a 12 foot male Fenrisaahba Jusamah, his fire red scaled with unique black markings all across his body, his horns on his head were as long and graceful as his slender neck, and his yellow eyes showed irritability and stubbornness. His name was Hookfang. His rider was a slightly short and stocky male with short brown hair covered by a helmet that had small curled horns on it, his skin was tan and he had dull green eyes that showed arrogance, his clothes consisted of a green shirt and tan pants with a fur vest, brown fur boots, and cloth arm cuffs. His name was Snotlout.

The third to land was a 15 foot Attauadel Tzipobakah whose two heads kept bickering back and forth between simple things, their green scales covered the entirety of their one body, their heads only being told apart by one shooting sparks and the other spitting gas, and their eyes showed playfulness and mischievousness. Their names were Barf, the gas head, and Belch, the spark head. Their riders were a male and female that were twins that were tall with long light blond hair, blue eyes, and argued all the time, they wore similar dragon tooth necklaces and helmets but their outfits were different. The female wore a lighter brown long shirt with a belt and brown pants with a brown vest, black fur boots, and green arm cuffs that went to her elbows. Her name was Ruffnut. The male wore a light gray long shirt with a belt and dark gray pants with a black long fur vest, brown fur boots, and light green arm cuffs that went to his elbows. His name is Tuffnut.

The fourth and final one to land was a stocky 5 foot Gronckle, her scales tan and brown with tiny wings, a large jaw, and eyes that told of kindness. Her name was Meatlug. Her rider was a tall and large boy that had fair skin, sandy blond hair covered with a tiny helmet with tiny horns, brown eyes, and his outfit consisted of all brown fur and brown boots. His name was Fishlegs.

As soon as they all got settled he quickly explained the situation to the dragons and led them and the humans to the place where Hiccup was tending to Azora. When the riders saw the situation, they immediately started planning with Hiccup on how to bring Azora safely back to Berk without risking more injury. It took them several more hours to come up with a safe plan but soon, they all were on their way home.