Limbs.

Smells.

Fear.

Many-Sky-Scales could smell the humans over the smoke, hear the crunch-crunch-shlop of their stupid little feet pounding against the wet leaves and mud. They were quick and darty, like sunlight on fish scales, but Many-Sky-Scales was quicker and faster, and it was only a matter of time. She would be pleased. The Queen loved humans, even though their meat was stringy and foul and Many-Sky-Scales would rather be swooping through the open air, twisting after seabirds in flight–

The Queen comes first.

Of course. As always.

The memory of seabirds vanished beneath that familiar comforting hum, and the smell of human filled the nostrils.

Hiccup ducked under a branch, barely keeping it from whipping him across the face. A rattling roar echoed out behind him, evidence that his pursuer was gaining ground. A blast of hot air washed across his back, the great whuff-whuff of massive lungs bearing down on him. Jaws opened.

Whoooosh!

A stream of orange fire crashed into the Nadder's nose, knocking it off-course and making it stumble. Hiccup was given a few moments to gain ground, and he sent a glance over his shoulder to see the Nadder shatter a tree against its head, shaking itself up and down to clear its eyes. Azula twisted smoothly in front of it, picking up her own pace and staying on Hiccup's tail.

So far, their escape from the Nadder had gone as so.

1: RUNRUNRUN
2: NADDERS ARE FASTER THAN VIKINGS
3: FIREBALL IT ALREADY
4: NADDERS CAN STUMBLE IF YOU HIT THEM ON THE NOSE
5: RUNRUNRUN
6: REPEAT

"Why won't this thing leave us alone?" Azula hissed, weaving around a bush as she caught up with him. She was fast when she wanted to be, as he knew from their earlier scuffle, and she had an uncanny ability to traverse obstacles without seeming to ever slow down. Unlike him, who seemed to be being caught by every snag or thorn in his path.

"Dragons–" Hiccup swallowed, his lungs burning. "Dragons always go for the kill! It's what they do!"

Azula sent a worryingly venomous glare behind her. "I'll show it going for the kill-"

But to Hiccup's relief, she maintained her course, apparently not liking her odds against a reptilian horror of unknown powers by herself. So far her fireballs were the only things keeping them alive, but they were more knocking the Nadder's face around than doing any real damage. So for now they'd just keep running, ducking around branches and around bushes and past that narrow valley–

Wait!

Hiccup would fully admit that there were a lot of things he didn't know much about. How to fight. How to get along with girls. But there was one thing he was pretty knowledgeable about, something drilled into him by always being the smallest kid around; he did know how to spot a hiding place. So when he passed that dark shape to his right, he turned and dived in without really thinking about it, gripping Azula's wrist and yanking her along too.

She gave only a slight resistance before realizing what he was doing, and in seconds the two of them had squeezed up against the insides of the ravine. The thundering footsteps of the dragon approached, and Hiccup tensed, barely daring to breathe. Maybe it would go past and leave them alone?

But of course, the dragon spotted them immediately and jammed its face in the cleft after them. FORTUNATELY, its head was far too big; instead of a mouthful of delicious children, it instead got a mouthful of un-delicious rocks. It tried again and again, jumping around and trying to get at them from another angle, but it was no use.

YES!

Then it gave a huffing roar directly in their faces and then sat down, staring at the cleft. Waiting.

Yeeeeesss.

"Shouldn't it be able to burn us to death?" Azula whispered, eyes fixed on the Nadder.

Hiccup nodded, panting heavily. "Yeah, but it probably doesn't want to overcook us. Everyone knows a Nadder's breath can turn a man to ash in seconds."

"It's a magnificent creature," Azula continued, not taking her eyes off it. "Let's kill it."

"W-what?"

"You heard me. Imagine, no-one would ever remember that you failed to rescue Snotface–"

"Snotlout."

"–That's what I said, Snotlout, from a dumb tree. That failure would be forgotten, swept aside in the face of glorious accomplishment. Your name would go down in history! Isn't that what you want?" she turned back on him, and that crazy intense light was in her eyes again. The last time he'd seen that was when, oh yeah, it was right before she decided to ATTACK HIM OUT OF THE BLUE. Good times.

"Well I hate to burst your bubble," Hiccup mumbled, drawing his shoulders up closer to his head. "But I'm pretty sure most of the people in Berk have killed a Nadder. They're not exactly a Night Fury if you know what I mean."

"Oh." Azula deflated, looking disappointed. She frowned, then crossed her arms. "How many dragons are there? That thing should at least count for something." Hiccup followed her eyes to the Nadder's nose, still soot-stained from her repeated blasts. "It definitely would have eaten Zuko."

"What?"

"My brother," she explained. "He's older than me, but a real dum-dum. That dragon would definitely have eaten him. It probably would have eaten you too, so you can thank me for saving your life."

"Thannnnkkksss..." Hiccup said uncertainly, swallowing. Something about that whole sentence, the way she said it, just seemed off. "You're pretty good at that fire thing."

It was dark, and the situation was quite cramped to say the least. It was also wet and muddy and gross. Yet Hiccup could feel the pride in Azula's voice, feel the way the practically crowed. "Yes I am, thank you for noticing. I am going to be the youngest firebending master in Fire Nation-" she trailed off, the pleased edge vanishing from her voice. "But you wouldn't even know what that is, would you?."

The dragon shifted, turning its head so that it could watch them with its other eye.

"Anyway..." Azula huffed, turning back to face him. "You forgive me now, right?"

Hiccup groaned, and the Nadder perked up. He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Oh gods..."

"I saved your life!" Azula said, indignantly. "Multiple times!"

"Yeah, and that's great! But that has nothing to do with getting me and Snotlout stuck in that tree!" Hiccup said, trying to throw his arms up but finding that the situation prevented it. "AND you attacked me! What, am I supposed to just forget all that?"

"Puh-lease. That was hardly an attack. You ran, I chased. Besides, the thing with the tree was for your own benefit. I was trying to help you. I didn't exactly see you selling me out at the time, you seemed perfectly fine with going along with my plan until things went wrong."

"That's..." Hiccup cut himself off. She did have a point. It would be a bit hypocritical of him to say that it was all Azula's fault. He couldn't really deny that a part of him had hoped that he'd have been able to save Snotlout in front of everyone. Maybe then they'd have stopped saying he was so useless.
"Alright, I guess I can give you that..."

"See? Hah," Azula crossed her arms, her expression shifting to a triumphant smirk. "You're not really any better than I am. Anyway, now that that's out of the way...I suppose we need to find a way past that dragon–you called it a "Nadder?"

"Yeah..." Hiccup huffed dejectedly. He could still feel the warm spot on the back of his neck where she'd nearly burned him, and she seemed to want him to just forget that had ever happened. Glumly, he considered the fact that it wasn't the first time he'd been chased down and attacked, and all things considered, Azula's attack hadn't even been as bad as what Snotlout would do on occasion...but Snotlout had never immediately tried to be his "friend" again right afterward. There were things he wanted to say, but Azula made words dance around and do backflips. It all left him feeling very confused.

"It's a Deadly Nadder," he continued, voice low. "I mean, if we could kill it,"–his insides squirmed for some reason at the thought– "it'd be better than nothing, but, I don't know if you noticed that your fireballs aren't really affecting it and I don't have a weapon besides my raw Viking strength–"

"That strength that couldn't pull me up a rope," Azula interjected accusingly, and Hiccup almost imagined a slight shudder run go up her arms in the waning light. Well, she might be cold. She still didn't have her jacket.

"Yeah exactly," Hiccup continued, unaffected. "So I don't know, I was thinking we avoided the giant flying death-beast. For now."

"Fine, you're the expert, right?" said Azula, the exasperated frown obvious in her voice. "But I'm still getting muddy, and it's freezing out here. Let's go."

The idea of focus let his always curious mind escape the gloomy situation. His eyes grazed back over the darkness, peering further along the cleft behind them. Maybe they could squeeze through and see where it came out? It seemed worth a shot. It was also, coincidentally, the only option since their other exit was blocked by two tons of scale and muscle.

"Alright, this is probably a terrible idea," he sighed, signaling Azula. Once he had her attention, he began to wiggle his way back along the cleft, step by step.

The two made their way along, though the going was so narrow that at times they had to turn sideways and push with their chests against the wall in front of them and their backs against the hill behind them. The rattling roars of the Nadder echoed behind them, gradually becoming fainter. One thing Hiccup hadn't thought about was how much rainwater would get funneled into a ravine like this. Very soon, they were both extremely wet and shivering, though water that hit Azula's skin seemed to steam away quickly. She was like a living fireplace behind him, which was actually pleasant to have around.

At one point there was a horrible rattling above them, and he looked up to see the Nadder scuttling around atop the ravine. But it passed them quickly, apparently not realizing they were there.

Finally, after what felt like hours, they emerged from the ravine into a little clearing. The clouds had disappeared, and the moon shone down on them, bright and full. Azula gazed up at it, blinking as her eyes adjusted from the continued darkness of the ravine. This was the first time she'd really seen it in its full glory since she got here, it had always been cloudy before.

It was a different moon. The craters, the contours, they were all just wrong in some way. It was a completely different sphere than the familiar one she had grown up with. Azula had never been sentimental, but the thought made her close her eyes. It was final, definite proof that she was impossibly far from home. The icy wind blew against her face, stinging. It was almost enough to elicit tears. The wind, that is. Definitely the wind.

"Oh, yes! Yes! Do you see that!?"

Her eyes snapped open, and she turned to look at her gangly minion. He'd been quiet the entire journey, which was uncharacteristic of him. But now he was grasping the sides of his head and looking at a broken stump like it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

"An old friend I presume?" she asked, trotting up alongside him.

The excitement was palpable. It was almost hard to remain detached and focused, but she had to come up with a strategy. She still wasn't sure what Hiccup was going to say when they had to explain the story to his father. What would she do if he sold her out? She hated to admit it, but she needed someone on her side here. But even though her plan had been technically for his benefit, it had ended with him nearly being eaten by a dragon and dumped in a forest. She'd thought that she could cow him into silence with the reliable threat of mortal terror, but he was surprisingly stubborn. What she should have done was simply act contrite, she realized. But it was too late for that now, such a ploy would be far too transparent.

But what were her options? She had no sway here, no reputation, and the whole situation was sending her into nervous shivers that had nothing to do with the cold.

"Well, you could say that," Hiccup said in response to her earlier statement, rolling his shoulders. "Come on, we're almost there."

He darted off, all flailing limbs and lanky movements, and she had no choice but to stalk after him.

It was actually only a short walk until Berk was in view. The village lights, flickering in the near distance, were the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. That was obviously the effect of exhaustion speaking, and a violently patriotic thought insisted that normally her own city was a million times more beautiful than this fishing village with some of its houses still on fire. But that thought was almost crushed by her freezing shoulders, aching feet, and the myriad of cuts across her face that were quite insistent now in telling her that they hurt.

Hiccup jogged down the hill, the eagerness almost making him seem to forget his own exhaustion, and she followed, slipping and sliding in the wet soggy grass. However, her mind was only half on the terrain. It was gross, yes, and there shouldn't exist a world where a princess like herself would have to walk on it, but the real conundrum was that if they were this close to the village, then the crucial time was fast approaching. She didn't know Stoick, the boy's father, all that well. But he was still a father, and a chief besides. She was certain that this embarrassing failure of an expedition would be met with harsh consequences if he was at all like her own father(the very pinnacle of how a proper father should behave, in her unbiased opinion.)

What would her father do if he were here?

Burn the whole village to the ground, probably. Then get the surviving peasants to construct him a glorious ship upon which he'd sail home, perhaps keeping some of the stronger men as slaves or trophies to be brought back to the Fire Nation. He'd definitely kill a few of these dragons, earning TWICE the recognition that Uncle had when he killed the supposed 'last dragons.' Perhaps, she allowed herself to think a truly audacious thought, he'd bring back one for her, so that she would have the chance to kill one in front of the assembled crowds. She'd succeed, of course, and lay its head at Father's feet. And then he'd smile, and everyone would know that she was the perfect child.

Unfortunately, Father was not here, and she couldn't pull off something like that. What would Mother do?

Ugh. She'd just run away without saying goodbye.

The thought soured her mood even further, and before Azula really had time to mentally prepare, they were here. She could see houses looming up on either side of them, Vikings staring at them open-mouth as they trod past. No-one had approached them yet, but Azula could feel the questions in their eyes. Some of the buildings still smoked, others were straight-up blasted open by bolts of dragonfire. At the very fringe of the village lay the skeleton of a massive catapult, blown to bits. Several of the metal components were melted away, and Azula found herself impressed; what kind of fire melted steel?

"Hiccup!" a voice called, and she looked around to see a chubby boy staring at them like they were ghosts. Muddy, soaked ghosts. Wait, she knew this boy. Fishlegs, was it? They had such stupid names here, but she remembered Fishlegs because Hiccup had told her he'd have rather paired with Fishlegs than her. Hmph. What was so great about him?

"Hey..." Hiccup said, trying to look casual despite his exhaustion. "Yeah, I just thought I'd drop by."

So far so good...Azula thought, looking around at where other Vikings were gathering. But the real test is when the Chief makes his appearance.

"How are you...oh gods, how are you still alive? We saw you get taken by the Nadder!"

"Well," Hiccup grinned, and Azula suddenly knew that he had been practicing in his head for this exact question. "You could say we–"

"Nadders have incredible speed," Fishlegs interrupted. "We thought you'd be halfway to the Nest by now!"

"Yeah, well you could say we–"

"Once their talons grip onto something, they will keep holding it even after they die!"

"Yes, well, you could say we–"

"They can track a scent over several miles, and once they have prey in their sights, there's no way to escape!" Fishlegs interrupted AGAIN, and at this point even Azula had to suppress a chuckle at Hiccup's expense.

"FISHLEGS!" Hiccup burst out, finally. "FOR THE LOVE OF THOR!"

Fishlegs finally stopped talking, looking them up and down again. "I'm sorry Hiccup, I'm talking and you must be exhausted, and your dad–OH! Chief Stoick was so worried! He'll be so happy! Follow me!"
And then he bustled off, clearly expecting them to follow without waiting for a response.

Hiccup stepped forwards, but he only made it a few feet before there was a sudden commotion among the Vikings who were gathered around, and then–

"HICCUP!" a loud booming voice rang out, and Chief Stoick suddenly pushed his way past two other Vikings to stand at the fore.

Any humor that Azula had been harboring before disappeared, vanishing beneath a wave of ice that numbed her veins. She was again struck by how large that man really was. She wasn't scared, obviously, but the fact had to be taken into consideration that Stoick the Vast was in fact a mountainous man.

This was it. This was the moment. Her eyes flew to Hiccup. How would he try to spin this? He'd want to get himself out of trouble first, right? Maybe he'd start with the escape from the Nadder to distract from the situation that got him there first. That wouldn't be so bad. But what if he brought up that she'd attacked him? Would he admit that he had been weak enough to be taken down with no resistance?

"Hey, Da–"

But that was all Hiccup got out before he was suddenly swallowed in a hug that looked like it should have crushed him, sweeping the boy straight off his feet. What was this? There weren't even any questions. No explanations or anything at all. Stoick just up and hugged his son, just like that.

As Azula watched this display of utter deviancy in silence, she decided this was the strangest thing she'd seen since she'd arrived.

Author's Note: Hmmmmm. I'm thinking I may write longer chapters, so I can get these "episodes" into a more concise format without having them drag on. In any case, here we are. I always thought it was clear that Stoick loved his son a lot, which was why Hiccup was so driven to be a son worth loving. It's an interesting parallel to Azula, who also wants nothing more than her father to be proud of her (she named a CITY "New Ozai" for crying out loud) but never received any real love. Hiccup over there is more like Zuko, but his father loves him, what's with that?

Also feel bad for that Nadder, it probably got eaten by the Red Death for not bringing back any food.