A/N: This started as a one-shot idea I gave thepurplewriter333 for her story Through the Hurts... two years ago? Wow, this is an old plot. XD Anyway, she gave up TtH soon after, and I decided it still needed written. The plot has really grown since then, because Hunters got involved (Dagur has a dragon brother now) and I had too much fun with Stormfly in this. And Heather. And Toothless.

Anyway, this is why Hiccup really shouldn't be left alone around new dragons. XD

Hiccup trotted through the island's forest, keeping an eye out for Toothless in the sky. As a "training exercise," he'd had the Riders and dragons switch around for patrols. He'd flown Meatlug that morning, then had Astrid take Toothless for a flight.

He'd been sure to send them in the opposite direction of his destination, but there was always the chance that they'd catch onto the plan and check on Hiccup.

He grinned to himself, eyes widening as a brilliantly-colored Edge Nadder swooped overhead. Hiccup came to a stop and tensed, but the Edge Nadder didn't respond to his presence, and he was able to watch it vanish over the trees.

There was something about watching dragons that Hiccup couldn't resist. Whether they were playing, sleeping, or flying, Hiccup couldn't take his eyes off them.

It wasn't just Toothless or the other Riders' dragons, either. There was something different in watching wild dragons. They acted the same for the most part, but their attitude was more wary and cautious. It was trickier to get close enough to watch them, but Hiccup just found that to be a personal challenge.

Then, Hiccup had noticed a group of Edge Nadders settling on the far side of the Edge a few weeks back. Jumpy and territorial, trying to invade their space was just asking to be impaled.

And yet, Hiccup was there every other day, watching. Even when he was spotted and Toothless had had to come to his aid before his Rider was a goner wasn't enough to deter him.

Hiccup knew it was dangerous to keep returning. Astrid had been furious after the last incident, in which Hiccup had found himself short one prosthetic. Toothless had made it clear in his own way that he really didn't like having to keep saving Hiccup from his own curiosity.

Nevertheless, Hiccup's ploy had been successful and he managed to reach the edges of the roost without incident.

The Edge Nadders had made their nests on the steep cliffsides of the far side of the island. The cliffs were tricky to reach in that area, due to the high stone walls that separated the forest from the cliffs. The only approach was to fly in from the ocean.

Unless one happened to be a particularly scrawny Viking boy small enough to slip through the cracks in the stone.

And thus, Hiccup was able to creep through the stone walls and crouch at the cliff's edge. He was nearly invisible from above, and the nesting dragons below wouldn't notice if he was quiet.

As Hiccup crawled the last few feet and peered down, he was delighted to see a half-dozen babies flew and crawled clumsily amongst the roosting area. Hiccup hadn't seen them before, so they must have been hidden further in roost cave. The new additions led to twenty-three Edge Nadders.

Hiccup was content to lay quietly sketching, until a scratching noise caught his attention. He squirmed forward and peered further into the roost.

A couple of the bigger babies had started wrestling. High-pitched snarling came from toothless mouths, while chubby paws batted harmlessly at each other. They went ignored until their fighting sent them rolling into an adolescent male with black-speckled scales. The male growled and shoved them away, causing a green-and-red females to leap up with a roar. The male immediately shrunk back with a sheepish rumble. The female glared and turned away, then the male lifted his head. He started to strut away, but a growl from the female made his tail tuck and he scurried out of the roost.

"Kind of like Astrid and Snotlout," Hiccup thought with a chuckle.

It never ceased to amaze Hiccup how similar of personalities he could find between the dragons and Riders.

Since finding the group, he'd noticed a pair of dragons with enough trouble-making habits to compare to the twins. Pretty much any time he saw the dragons, the pair did something destructive, like the pile of fish they had just scattered.

The Astrid-like female squawked at them and shoved them toward the edge of the roost, where she proceeded to snarl at them. A larger male with muted scales stepped up to frantically fix the fish pile.

Hiccup had to bite back a laugh. "Definitely Fishlegs."

The largest, brightest male that none of the other dragons challenged was easily compared to Stoic. Another male with ragged wings kept an eye on the youngest dragons with a gruffness that reminded Hiccup of Gobber. Even Heather had a "dragon twin," that dark red female standing on an outcrop with a very Heather-like scowl directed at… him.

"Oh, Thor."

Hiccup threw himself backward as the Edge Nadder shot a magnesium blast. The blast hit the ground under Hiccup, making the ground shake and throwing Hiccup to the ground.

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Hiccup yelled as roaring began to rise from the roost.

Hiccup stood and tried to run for the gap in the wall, only for the black-speckled male to crash down in front of him. He flailed to a halt and spun around to find the dragon twins right behind him. Desperately, Hiccup dove between the pair. As both tried to snatch him up, they only succeeded in knocking head, buying Hiccup some time.

Hiccup tugged at the Dragonfly, rapidly unfurling the fabric wings and hooking his fingers into the straps. Jumping right past the roost was risky, but he hoped the dragons wouldn't be expecting that and he could find safety lower down.

Roaring from behind prompted Hiccup to leap without checking which dragons were watching from below. He dove, then saw the green-and-red female clutching the stone wall halfway between the top and the roost. He jerked his wings out and they caught air, pulling him abruptly out of the dive and right into the dark red Nadder's path.

Hiccup only had time to duck his head, then he crashed right into the Nadder's side. Squawking, the Nadder snapped her wings down.

Dark spots danced across Hiccup's vision as a thick wing joint caught him in the side of the head. Everything spun out of control, and it took Hiccup several seconds to realize that he was falling. He flailed to find which way was up, but landed -headfirst, of course- on something warm and hard.

Hiccup flopped limply off whatever he'd hit, sprawling on rough ground on his stomach. He struggled to keep his eyes open as large, blurred shapes moved back and forth in front of him. Dragons rumbled over him and -he had to be hearing things- Hiccup heard voices.

"Human!"

"Get! Attack!"

"Strange," Hiccup thought blearily, blinking against the confusion of colors. "I don't know those voices…"

Something hit Hiccup in the side, flipping him onto his back. A cry escaped him from the jarring, and his eyes fluttered shut. A loud crash from close by made him twitch, then another unfamiliar voice called out.

"Stop!"

Something rough touched Hiccup's cheek, then he gave up on consciousness and everything turned black and silent.

"When I find that one-legged little…" Astrid let her threat trail off.

Toothless grumbled in agreement. Astrid had to smile a bit at Toothless' irritation matching her own. It hadn't occurred to her -or Toothless, most likely- that Hiccup might have been up to something that morning when he suggested the training exercise. It wasn't such an unusual exercise, so Astrid had gone along with it.

As soon as she realized that Hiccup was missing from the Clubhouse upon her return, however, she knew exactly what had happened. Toothless, having come to the same conclusion, had spun on the spot and taken off again.

"Hey, Astrid!" Snotlout shouted as Hookfang pulled up beside Toothless. "What's the rush?"

"Hiccup's about to get himself killed," Astrid gritted out.

Hookfang slowed briefly, then caught back up. Snotlout didn't look impressed as he called, "Isn't that normal?"

"Yeah, Hiccup's almost died, like, every day," Tuffnut said as Barf and Belch joined.

"That's more than the average Thorston," Ruffnut added.

Astrid glared at the twins. Meatlug -her wings straining to keep up with the angry Toothless- buzzed in between Toothless and the twins, and Fishlegs lifted his hands in a calming gesture.

"There's no reason to jump to conclusions," Fishlegs said. "Maybe he's… forgotten about them?"

Astrid's glare turned into an exasperated look. Fishlegs' expression of hope faded to defeat, and Meatlug dropped back again.

"This is Hiccup," Astrid reminded the group. "He's not going to just ignore dragons, no matter how dangerous they are!"

Toothless roared, making Astrid look at him. The Night Fury's face was clenched in a snarl and facing down. Astrid followed his gaze, then gasped.

Hiccup was sprawled on the ground in the forest. Hunched over him was a large Edge Nadder. His ragged wings were spread wide as he roared a challenge at the Riders.

"Protect Hiccup!" was all Astrid yelled before urging Toothless into a dive.

Toothless eagerly complied. He dove at the Edge Nadder, launching a plasma blast. The Edge Nadder dodged away, then, roaring, spun and rushed off into the forest. Toothless landed hard in front of Hiccup, tense and ready, but the Edge Nadder continued to flee.

"Odd," Astrid said, still on edge.

"Nadders aren't known for ambushing or tricks," Fishlegs said. "He must have been scared off when he saw how many dragons there were. Still, we'd better get out of here."

"Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, watch for the Edge Nadders," Astrid said, not wanting to take chances.

While the named Riders moved their dragons between Toothless and the direction of the roosts, Astrid climbed off of Toothless and went to Hiccup.

The young man was unconscious, but had no burns or claws marks like Astrid had feared. The only injury she could find was a bump and gash on his head. The gash was oozing blood, and Hiccup's hair was spiky from drying blood.

"It could be a lot worse," Fishlegs declared.

"He's wearing the Dragonfly," Astrid observed. She crouched and touched Hiccup's face, but he didn't respond. "He must have flown too close to the roosts."

"But the Edge Nadder roost is far from here," Fishlegs said.

Astrid stood. "We'll ask Hiccup what happened once he wakes up."

Astrid mounted Toothless and gestured for Fishlegs to give Hiccup to her. Fishlegs carefully slid his hands under Hiccup and picked him up. Hiccup gave a slight grumble, but didn't rouse. Fishlegs handed their unconscious leader up to Astrid, who carefully cradled him against her. Hiccup made the same odd grumble. Toothless made a similar sound. Astrid looked at the two of them, then shook her head.

"Let's go," Astrid said, urging the other Riders to mount and take off.

A bit later, the Riders and Toothless were gathered in Hiccup's hut. Hiccup's head had been cleaned and bandaged and he seemed to be sleeping easily, but he still wouldn't wake up.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Astrid asked after a few minutes of silence.

"He should have woken up on his own by now," Fishlegs fretted. "Hold on. I just need to get something from my hut…"

Fishlegs left quickly. With nothing better to do, the other Riders followed. Toothless watched them go, then turned back to the bed as the door to the hut closed behind the Riders.

A moment later, Hiccup sat up. Immediately, he curled over himself and grabbed his head. Toothless pricked up his ear flaps and crooned. Hiccup, without lifting his head, gave a distressed mew.

"Hurts…"

Toothless blinked and reared his head back. Not at the admission of pain, but how it had been given.

"Calm," Toothless crooned back, nudging his Rider.

"Head hurt."

It wasn't Toothless' imagination. Hiccup was speaking Dragonese. The Night Fury shook himself and stood.

"Stay. Toothless find help."

"Stay…"

Toothless crooned comfortingly, then turned and dashed from the hut, trusting Hiccup to stay put.

Pained green eyes tracked his path down the ramp and out the opened launch door. He slowly hauled himself to the floor. Rising to unsteady limbs, he shakily followed Toothless' path until he reached outside.

Squinting in the bright light, he found himself facing a cove. Beyond the steep-walled cove was an endless ocean, broken only by stone pillars and an odd, triangle-shaped object on the horizon.

He turned his head back and forth until he spotted the forest. Still on all fours, he made his way toward the trees.

Astrid was impatiently waiting for Fishlegs to stop mumbling and fumbling around in his medical supplies. She was about to go back to Hiccup alone when Toothless, making startled growls, barreled into the hut.

"Toothless?" Astrid said, confused. Toothless grabbed onto her skirt and tugged, causing her to worry. "What is it, boy? Is it Hiccup?"

Toothless growled in agitation. He spun and darted from the room.

"Something must have happened," Fishlegs said, scooping up an armful of supplies.

The Riders hurried back to Hiccup's hut and to the second level. Toothless was circling Hiccup's now-empty bed, crooning worriedly.

"Oh, not again!" Snotlout exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

Just in case, Astrid checked the floor around the bed in case Hiccup had simply rolled off. But he wasn't anywhere on the floor, and Toothless was only growing more agitated.

"He must have wandered off," Fishlegs said.

"But why?" Astrid asked. "He has to know that we would be worried. Not to mention, why did he leave Toothless?"

"If his head's been hurt, he might not know what he is doing," Fishlegs said.

"Oh, yeah," Tuffnut threw in. "Remember Uncle Cuffnut, Ruffnut?"

"How could I forget?" Ruffnut grinned. "A beam hit him on the head, and he talked backward for the whole day!"

"But Hiccup isn't even here. How do we know which way he is talking?" Snotlout asked.

Astrid decided to not respond to either of the trio's comments. She looked at Fishlegs for possibilities.

"He could have forgotten what happened. He could just be looking for us," Fishlegs said. "But the sooner that we find him, the better."

Toothless grumbled in agreement and ran outside. He sniffed frantically, while the Riders called their dragons to help search. Meatlug, Hookfang, and Barf and Belch showed up quickly, but Stormfly didn't come no matter how much Astrid whistled.

"She must be upset about me leaving her here earlier," Astrid finally decided. "Hope she didn't wander too far."

Astrid shook off the thought. Stormfly could take care of herself. Just then, there was a certain fishbone Viking that Astrid had to track down and knock some sense into.

"Fishlegs and Meatlug, check the huts," Astrid said. "Snotlout and Hookfang, check to the west. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Barf and Belch, go east. I'll stay with Toothless and see if he can follow Hiccup's trail."

That decided, the group split up to find their missing leader.

A/N: And the search is on! New chapters every Thursday!And don't worry about me stalling halfway through; this story is actually fully typed and edited! For once.

Unlike my Rescue Riders stories, Dragonese in this story isn't in complete sentences.