Astrid and Snotlout burst into the camp, bruised and pale faced. The twins exchanged a look, both confused.

"Hey, firewood? We kind of need it?" Ruffnut grumbled, a hand on her hip. Her brother stood and crossed his arms, chuckling.

"Were you two busy smooshing faces to get firewood?" He guffawed, but stopped when Astrid fixed him with a deadly look. Snotlout sat by the fire, crouching in on himself quietly. He looked terror stricken. Fishlegs looked between the two roughed up teens, but before he could ask anything, Astrid spoke.

"Get your weapons. We're all heading out." She ordered, voice cold. Snotlout rose, looking almost frail. His eyes were glassy and he kept sniffling. Astrid patted his arm, then walked across their camp to grab bolas and her extra hunting knife.

"W-what's wrong?" Fishlegs asked, desperate for answers. The two returning teens looked so rattled. And earlier they had heard yelling. They assumed Astrid was just finally beating up Snotlout for a stupid comment. Snotlout wiped his nose with a snuffle, finally blinking back his tears.

"We have to go save Hiccup." He said, solemnly.

A sleek black dragon prowled through the undergrowth, his eyes as green as leaves in the sunlight. He peered around, curious to see the cause of the uproar earlier. The Nadders roars had shook the tree tops and scared off a deer he had been stalking. Miffed, he followed the Nadders scent to a cliffs edge. Other scents, faint from hours of sitting there, caught his attention. The familiar, musty scent of Viking. The dragon blinked, then glanced around. He had to stay more alert, then. Vikings often visited this island once every few seasons. Other than that, they left the island be, thankfully. It was great refuge, and far from the Queen.

The Night Fury made his way to a steep drop off. In the mud there were the giant prints of the Nadder, but smaller ones mixed in as well. Looking closer, he saw one then no more. The human may have been picked up and flown away...or... The dragon peeked over the edge, seeing boulders and loose stones gathered at the bottom. Mud and dirt on the face of the drop off clearly had something impact it. The dragon tilted its head and glided down to the bottom.

Hiccup blearily opened his eyes, wincing at what felt like a sledgehammer pounding behind his eyes.

"Ow, ow, ow..." He croaked, slowly sitting up. Sadly that hurt intensely, so he just laid back down again. The rocks and mud under his back didn't do much for comfort, but it was hard to notice the rock digging into his back when his head felt cloudy with pain. His shoulder was defiantly badly damaged, and ached with every small movement. Breathing made him cringe. Groaning, he forced his eyes all the way open. Blinking against the harsh light of day, he looked around. Well, there's the slope he didn't see until the last moment. The Nadder was gone, thankfully.

Was he out for long? It had been late morning when he was chased right? He looked around for the sun, but thin clouds and pine trees obscured most of his view of the sky. Exhaling, he let his head rest again. It felt heavy. He still couldn't feel his legs, or more specifically, his left one. Maybe shock hadn't worn off yet. He couldn't have been knocked out for more than five minutes.

Great. First day of proving himself to be a Viking, and he had already tumbled down a cliff from running fearfully away from a dragon. But really, what was he expecting? Everyone knew it wouldn't end well. For those few moments earlier, he had felt just a little proud of himself. Now he was back to his usual mindset. He closed his eyes, allowing a moment to wallow in his own self pity.

A large whoosh of wind ruffled his hair. He stiffened. There was a thud, and sniffing sounds not too far away. Oh for Thors sake, had he not suffered enough? Another dragon? Or was it the same, coming to finish him off? He highly doubted he could get away in this condition. Maybe he could just play dead? Deciding that was his best option, he promptly slumped in a supposedly dead looking position.

The snuffling stopped, followed by a 'chuff' noise. The footsteps got closer. They didn't sound huge and heavy like the Nadders. So another beast? Hopefully this one wasn't clever or anything...

Hiccup heard rocks shifting under the weight of the dragon, and soon he could hear the dragons breathing. He prayed it couldn't hear his heart racing in his chest. It sounded very loud in his ears. He held his breath, because dead things didn't usually breath (and he was so afraid he couldn't breath properly anyways). The dragon smelt like fish and burning wood, and he tried to not scrunch his nose up at the scent.

Rocks shifted, bigger ones. The dragon made a low noise, and Hiccup tried to not jump as he felt the brush of scales near his ribs. Another dull thud of rocks falling, this one sounding louder. Then another, sounding way closer. After a moment, Hiccups eyes flew open as white hot pain flew through the nerves in his left leg, then focused about mid shin, remaining there. It pounded in time with his heart, and he gasped at the burning sensation. Panic filled his head along with the pain, as he turned his head only to meet eyes with acidic green ones. A large, black dragon stood much to close for comfort, staring at Hiccup intensely. It looked a little startled, it's eyes wide and legs awkwardly far apart, wings opened.

Not quite knowing what to do, Hiccup squeaked a small "Hello..."

Why did he say hello to a bloodthirsty, fire spewing monster from hel? He blamed it on shock. Either that or all the pain in his head wasn't letting him think clearly.

The dragon backed up a step, eyeing the human dirtily. Hiccup pulled his knees to his chest, not liking the sound of bones shifting under the flesh of his left foot. It was really messed up. He was so screwed. And he couldn't run, or play dead. The dragon calmed down and creeped closer, baring its teeth. Hiccup stayed still, not wanting to give it a reason to snap at him. So far the dragon just seemed defensive. And it had knocked that rock off his foot. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Dragon fighting training said that he should scream, and roar. To make himself look as big as he could, and throw whatever he could at the beast. But something in himself ignored all that. He made himself look as small as possible, and the only noise was his laboured breaths.

The dragon came even closer. Hiccup flinched, shutting his eyes. He heard snuffling in his ears, and his hair being messed around with it. What was it doing? What did it want? The dragon drew back, and Hiccup peeked open one eye. It's teeth weren't bared anymore. It's gaze didn't seem so threatening, the pupils rounder in its eyes. Hiccup didn't dare move, however. He meant to squeeze his knees closer for some kind of comfort, but let out a grunt of pain and threw his arms away from his injured leg. He covered his mouth and looked to the dragon. It tilted its head, not looking startled. The weird ear flaps on its head were perked, like a dogs ears.

It crooned, stepping even closer. It leaned down and sniffed at his injured leg, even nudging it.

"No!" Hiccup piped, then bit his lip. Oh gods, that hurt. The tiniest movement hurt. The dragon flicked its tail, then snuffed. Hiccup stared at the creature. He had never seen this species before. It was odd...walking around on four legs like an ox, it's wings not attached to its arms. Even folded up, the boy could tell they were large. The dragons scales were fine and so close together it was hard to tell if it even had scales.

It didn't seem too aggressive. It hadn't eaten him yet, so that was good. Now if only it would stop bothering his leg!

They both stared for awhile. Making intense eye contact.

It huffed and leaned away, licking its armpit like a bored cat.

"What do you want?" Hiccup asked. Yes, he was talking to a dragon. It didn't seem hungry, and it had moved that stupid stone off his foot. The dragons ear flap things shot up again, and it bobbed its head at Hiccups words.

"Whaat. Doo. Youuu. Wannnt?" Hiccup said, slower. The dragon bobbed its head again, and stepped up so close Hiccup could see the reflections of trees on its round pupils. "You don't seem to want to eat me, yet. Or slaughter me. But now you're just staring at me." Hiccup further explained, chatting with the beast like it was another human.

Back on Berk, when he wasn't failing at dragon training or burning the forge down, he had been following around a little Terror. After awhile when he fed it fish, it had let him touch it before squawking and flying away. Terrors were common, like rats. Hiccup had always been weary of them, but after that he realized they were more like greedy kittens. This realization sadly made him sick when he saw Vikings splatter the poor little things with their axes. So yes, he had a little idea of how not all dragons wanted to kill. But this was a large, sharply toothed monster. Who was dark as the night, and acting quite oddly. More like that terror, just curious and weary.

"So, are you like, an oversized Terror?" Hiccup thought aloud, still gazing at the beast. It actually looked somewhat offended, and showing it by blowing hot air in Hiccups face. Which smelt like old fish. Hiccup almost gagged. The dragon seemed to smirk, but focused again after shaking its head a little. Slowly, it leaned forward and pressed its broad head into Hiccups chest, folding Hiccup's upper body over it. In one smooth movement, it rose, straightening Hiccup into a standing position.

The human gasped in pain, stumbling. White spots danced in his vision, and he clacked his teeth together in a hiss. He had accidentally let weight on his foot. Seven realms, that hurt! He couldn't help but glare at the dragon who had helped him stand, who drew away. "Um, ouch!" Hiccup protested, face pale. He felt like throwing up, preferably all over the stupid nosy dragon. It, in return, crooned and bumped its face into Hiccups middle.

"No! Stop!" Hiccup cried, as pain filled his nerves from shifting his feet. The dragon shot back at his loud voice, but circled back with a low grunt. Catching his breath, he hugged himself, leaning heavily on his only good leg. "What do you want?!" He uselessly yelled, like the dragon would answer the question. It hadn't the last thousand times. Hiccup limped away from the beast, gritting his teeth. Everything ached, and his head felt light headed.

"Go away!" Hiccup shooed, waving his arms around. The weirdo dragon looked annoyed and kept walking alongside him.

Ok. So there's a crazy dragon following him. His foot is messed up, he might pass out soon/bleed out, and he's separated from everyone. Just great. Wonderful. What could Hiccup The Useless do next? He miserably trudged on.

Astrid walked through the forest, ignoring the cold biting into her skin. It was sprinkling now, but she knew the rain would get heavier. She desperately combed the landscape with the other teens, retracing her steps from earlier. Soon, just as the rain started pouring, they found a small hunting knife. Hiccups, one he kept in his vest. Ruffnut called the group over. Footprints. Small enough to be Hiccups, as well. They followed them tirelessly. They all looked worn out, and weighed down heavily. Snotlout was probably the least put together. Despite the group mostly exiling Hiccup...none of them really wanted him hurt, or even dead.

He was just a harmless, weird, kid. Astrid personally was getting fond of him. He was clever and sassy, and painfully sarcastic. Sure, he really sucked at combat against anything, and Astrid was tired of constantly having to shove him out of harms way. Now he was probably injured, alone, or even dead. She groaned in frustration.

Snotlout didn't look good. Astrid guessed it was because he might've lost his cousin. Even though the boy tormented Hiccup relentlessly, he surely didn't want his little cousin harmed. Only she knew, but he had beaten up a Bog Burglar when he found out she was shoving Hiccup around. She could tell Snotlout cared, but sadly his ego and pompousness made it very hard to tell.

"Astrid, down there!" She ran over to where Snotlout was pointing. A steep drop off, full of big rocks and stones at the bottom. Carefully, one by one, they slid down.

"The footprints ended at the edge." Ruffnut reported. "He may have slid down to avoid the dragon." Astrid nodded.

"Look around!" She called, but the teens were already scanning around. Astrid followed the trail of overturned rocks and broken branches of small trees. She stopped, gasping slightly. Her stone cold exterior melted a little, as she kneeled down. On a large rock, a small pool of dried, rusty red blood stained. There wasn't much more, and any other pools were being rapidly washed away from the rocks by the rain.

She rose, gripping her ax tighter. Her expression was one of worry and anger. She was angry at herself. She could have protected the Chiefs son better, like she had before. But it had been jarring, when her feet were swept from underneath her. Facing a wild, energy filled dragon was terrifying. Not that anyone knew she had been scared...

((Hello again! Thank you for the wonderful reviews, so kind! Well here's chapter two! D'ya like it? I do. Despite the kind of dark beginning, I want this story to be a lil cute. But there may be some angst...I'm not sure yet :3 well, thank you so much for your favourites and follows, and I'm glad you like it! Next time: we figure out why Toothless is acting so odd, Hiccup gets more frustrated with the 'overgrown terror', and Astrid and the gang continue their search...))