Reading Ledger:

"Normal Speak"

-Dragon Speak-

'Toothless&Hiccup Telepathy' [This telepathy has no limit distance-wise, but only Hiccup and Toothless can hear it.]

*All Dragon Telepathy* [This version of telepathy is not long distance, but can still be used if individuals are close enough even when they are not within each other's vision. Has around a 100-meter distance.]

Chapter 3 - Inganno

After staying with Toothless for a while he had learnt so much about dragons, and what he learned was breath taking. Toothless had also taught him a lot about bonding, and about how their bond had mostly stabilized now. So, his emotions shouldn't go out of control like they had the first day when his dad was screaming at him. Hiccup still wasn't ready to go home because he knew that his father would freak out at him again. Being with Toothless was the only place he'd ever felt that he belonged, and it made him reluctant to leave from his place at the dragon's side. He was scared that he'd be forced to stay in the village if he left, which would make it so that he wouldn't be able to be with Toothless. Even worse he was scared that someone would find out about the dragon and that they would both be killed because of it.

(-Hiccup3Toothless-)

Toothless made cooing noises when he felt the emotional distress that Hiccup was feeling through the bonds emotional link. Soon the boy began to calm down when Toothless heard rustling from nearby, and suddenly someone was yelling, "HICCUP!" The boy instantly stiffened in the dragon's paws and began to panic, 'OH NO!, that sounds like my dad.'

(-Hiccup3Toothless-)

Hiccup was definitely panicking as he heard his name being called out by a number of voices. He hadn't expected them to come looking because no one in the village cared about him so why would they even send a search party out. He looked up at Toothless worry showing all over his face, 'What do we do?'

Toothless and Hiccup both watched as a young girl walked through the brush. She looked at Hiccup getting ready to lecture him as she normally would but stopped moving instantly when she noticed the dragon. She looked back at Hiccup before she looked behind herself for anyone she could call for help. Hiccup looked at Toothless, 'Run before she gets help. I'll be fine.'

Toothless blocked him from Astrid's view, 'Get on my back Hiccup.'

Toothless stretched his wings out to make a ramp as he leaned sideways. Hiccup felt conflicted as he looked at his dragon, 'I can't just leave.'

(-Hiccup3Toothless-)

Toothless could feel a number of emotions coming through the link from his other half. Among these emotions fear, and reluctance were the strongest, but Toothless could also tell that Hiccup was starting to feel anxious and overwhelmed, which was clearly causing him to panic. Toothless wasn't going to force the boy to leave his family and everything he'd ever known in his life, but he also wasn't going to just leave his boy alone if he didn't think he would be safe. After a moment of thought Toothless turned and licked Hiccup's face, 'I'll stay nearby in case something happens. We will still be able to talk so you won't be lonely, okay?'

Hiccup gave him a quick hug, 'I'll be fine, so go before they get here.' Toothless licked Hiccup's face one last time before turning and running, he was gone in a flash.

(-Astrid-)

Astrid like many of the Vikings who'd been forced to hike through the forest with their Chief in search of his "Hiccup" of a child, was seriously annoyed. She didn't see why they were making such a big deal over Hiccup having been gone for only a week. The boy was basically never in the village, so was it really that big of a deal if he spent a few nights in the woods. Astrid didn't see a difference between the boy being in the village and not. He was a loner that avoided being with the rest of the village as much as he possibly could. Astrid groaned out in annoyance as she smacked a branch out of her way and continued walking. She could hear adults calling out his name from all around her. She laughed to herself when she remembered Snotlout joking about the boy probably having accidentally walked off a cliff while he was zoning out. Astrid only found it funny because she didn't think even he was that useless. She didn't pay that much attention to him usually, but that didn't change that she'd grown up with him and figured that he was probably off doing his own thing on the island somewhere without much thought to how long he'd been gone. The whole search would probably end up being an entire waste of time for everyone involved.

They'd been searching for hours through the woods and at this point she just wants to find Hiccup so she can go home to do something actually useful. She pushed her way through a thicker area of brush to see hiccup standing right in front of her causing a smile to sneak on to her face. She was about to lecture him when she saw the large black creature beside him. She stared at it before looking back at Hiccup who was looking at her terrified, before she glanced behind herself to look for any help that she could see nearby. When she looked back forward she could only see the black dragon that wasn't even looking at her. She quickly turned and took off in the opposite direction hoping she could fine some help in time. She ran as fast as she could and bumped into Stoick, and instantly started screaming, "DRAGON!"

Stoick looked down at her, "Calm down lass, and tell me where?"

She pointed in the direction as she spoke, "Back there. It has Hiccup."

Fear and rage showed on Stoick's face before being hidden away, and then they quickly started running in the direction that Astrid had just come from. When they got back the dragon was gone and Hiccup was sitting against a tree. Stoick moved towards him and knelt down to touch his shoulder, "Where did it go Hiccup?"

(-Hiccup3Toothless-)

Hiccup looked up at his father, "It took off right after she ran to find you."

Stoick took another moment to take a good look around clearly making sure that the dragon wasn't still lurking and using Hiccup as bait to lure out bigger prey, before he looked back at Hiccup, "Are you okay?"

Hiccup nodded, "I'm fine. It didn't try to hurt me, but instead wouldn't let me leave. It was stalking me around and wouldn't let me go more than a few feet from it. I don't know what it wanted, but you guys appearing must have been enough to chase it off.

Astrid and Stoick both looked at him clearly confused and suspicious from his explanation because it seemed fishy, why would the dragon just leave like that? Yet, they couldn't come up with a better answer themselves so they let it go instead of pushing the issue. Hiccup knew that there was absolutely no way that they could ever even imagine what actually happened because if he hadn't lived it himself even he would have a hard time believing it. Stoick reached out and Hiccup took his hand which helped pull him up from his spot on the ground, "Time to head back to the village, it's been a long day and we still have a long walk to get back."

Hiccup nodded and followed behind his father with Astrid right next to him. Astrid kept glancing at him suspiciously, which made it obvious that she didn't believe his story. Well he was walking he wasn't focusing very much instead choosing to talk with Toothless, 'They seemed to accept my story...mostly? I'm not sure if they actually believe it though.'

He got a quick response from his partner, 'Good, I'm following behind your group far enough back that they shouldn't notice me.'

'Okay,' Hiccup responded before he felt Astrid grab his arm and whisper to him, "Was that black dragon a Night Fury?"

"Maybe, but it never attacked me so I don't know for sure. I wasn't given the chance to hear what noise it makes," was Hiccup's response. He didn't think anyone would believe him if he tried to say that it was a Night Fury, and he would rather not bring up Toothless if he could avoid it anyways.

(-Hiccup3Toothless-)

Hiccup had received the longest lecture of his life when they had returned the night before, and then proceeded to go straight to bed after having a quick conversation with Toothless. Hiccup woke up the next morning both hungry and thirsty, as well as, feeling a strong need to see Toothless. He felt the pull coming from a place deep within himself, 'I miss you already, without you I feel like a piece of me is missing.'

'I miss you too, and the loneliness is probably being amplified by our bond. If it gets too bad I can try and see you later on tonight to lessen the pull,' was Toothless's response.

Hiccup's response was a simple, 'Okay,' as he smiled feeling a burst of energy within his body after simply talking to Toothless. After basking in that energy for a while he climbed out of bed and decided to start going about his day. He got dressed before heading out of the house in search of something to eat, as well as, something to quench his thirst. Breakfast was a rambunctious event that wore him down a small degree before he managed to escape the Great Hall. He only managed 3 steps out the door before his arm was hooked and he was pulled off to the side, before he cried out annoyed, "What the Hell?"

"Shut up. I just want to talk," Astrid said continuing to pull him to a secluded place. She didn't speak again until she could finally guarantee that they were totally alone. So that no one would be able to hear their conversation, "Why were you and that Night Fury so close together when I found you?"

Hiccup sighed trying to sound annoyed and put out by the whole situation, instead of anxious like he really was inside. If any fear showed on his face she'd know instantly so when he responded to her he covered his anxiety up with sarcasm and annoyance "I don't know why it was so close, because it's a dragon and I was only focused on staying alive. Why do you even care to begin with?"

She responded quickly, "I don't care. I just want to know why such a strong dragon would leave someone as pathetic as you..." she gestured to all of him, "alive." How ticked off she was by his earlier comment was shown clearly by how snappish she was with her response. Before she turned and walked away she looked him right in the eye, and said, "I know that you're lying about something, I'm not sure what but I promise you I'm going to figure it out."

Hiccup watched her stomp away as he laughed to himself quietly. He felt a sudden breeze as a thump sounded behind him. He turned right as Toothless nuzzled against him, 'It's dangerous for you to be this close to the village.'

Toothless simply continued to rub up against him, 'You were projecting a lot of distress so I got worried about you. What happened?'

Hiccup gently scratched the sensitive spot under his other half's chin, 'Thanks, buddy. Astrid is just being her suspicious self. She doesn't believe my story and is trying to find out the truth. I'm more annoyed about it than anything else.'

'You're okay then?' Toothless asked still slightly worried about him, 'The she hatchling won't cause any problems, right?'

Hiccup shook his head, 'I'm fine, and Astrid can't do anything without a lot of evidence, and we won't leave any evidence behind for her to find.' He smiled calmly before hugging Toothless tightly, which calmed all of his nerves instantly.