Toothless scented the air, blinking sleep out of his eyes. His- the human was still fast asleep, tucked against his side. He couldn't help but stare at the rise of its chest as it slept, and the peaceful look on its face. He liked it better when it wasn't so wound up or sad like it has been for the past two days. Toothless liked the human in general, despite its occasional brattiness. It didn't fling pointy things at his hide, or shoot wing-breakers. He was interesting and smart. Almost like him. Snuffing at his patch of soft hair, he slowly got up. But there was a problem.

His bright eyes locked on one of its back legs. He padded over to it, sniffing it again, then retracting with a small snarl. He knew that smell, and it wasn't a good one. Death. The human had wrapped his leg feebly in its weird little leaves, foolishly thinking he could stave off the death. Naive human. If he didn't get rid of the dead leg, he would get sick, then suffer from death. Toothless found himself unable to even think of his human dying. Every time he tried to help, the human would push him away, stubbornly. He knew the human was in denial, and it was probably sad to have a dead leg. Toothless knew it was dead since the moment he moved that rock aside. Toothless rumbled in concern, pacing around the slumbering human. He then growled in frustration.

He didn't want to hurt the little human, but he wasn't aware of another way to save him. Snuffing, he shook his head, then spread his huge wings, and took off into the sky. He would mull it over after breakfast.

/:/

Astrid rubbed her eyes, then stumbled out of her temporary shelter. The boys were yelling something, and she wasn't sure what exactly. Her hands locked around her ax as she stepped into the wavery light of early morning. The trees were tall and thin, and the terrain was much more rockier. They were dangerously close to the mountains now. So she had no idea why in Thor's name anyone would be yelling.

She nearly screamed herself as cold hands dragged her into a nearby bush. She pulled herself out of their grip, and nearly axed them, before she saw Ruffnut's wide eyes and crooked nose. The twin shushed her quickly. Astrid blinked and looked around, seeing Fishlegs and Tuffnut hiding as well.

"Snotlout's distracting one head, we're taking down the gas one." Fishlegs whispered, gripping his hammer tightly. Now that she was wide awake, she heard the loud growls of a dragon dangerously close. Ruffnut elbowed her and gestured for her to follow her and Tuffnut, while Fishlegs sneaked around to help Snotlout. Astrid prowled through the greenery, ducking behind boulders as she went, as her and the twins stalked the snapping gas head. She signalled for them to stay low, then waited for the sparking head of the Zippleback to completely turn.

As soon as it snapped towards a shrieking Fishlegs, she burst forth from the bush and landed on its back. The dragon screeched and the sparking head turned to snap at her. The twins changed its mind, as they started trying to pierce its hide with their spears. It roared in pain and anger, bucking and snapping wildly. Astrid lifted her ax, and used her whole body weight to slam it down into the soft spot where the heads met. It sunk into flesh and split scales. She was soon thrown off as it spread its wings.

"Get away!" She screamed, seeing the gaseous head release clouds of green smog. She herself wildly backed away, throwing herself behind a squat rock, as she heard the angry sparking of the other head. The heat of the explosion singed her hair and seemed to broil her skin, and made her ears ring as a result. Coughing up smoke, she hoisted herself to her feet and looked up. The dragon had flown away. Thank the gods...

The outsides of her hands were burnt a bit, as well as her hair. Luckily only the ends, and some small sections. Wincing a little, she picked up her ax and looked around.

"Guys? The coast is clear." She called, a little worried. Luckily the twins came out from a thick grove of trees, while Snotlout coughed as he gathered himself off the ground. Fishlegs rushed to the group a few seconds later, looking as pale as a ghost. For a moment they all tried to catch their breath, weary eyes scanning the area carefully. Fishlegs squinted at Astrid's face, with an expression of worry.

"You got a pretty nasty looking burn on your cheek." He tutted. Looking at the rest, he frowned. "We all got pretty beaten up. That was one dragon guys..." He sighed. Astrid knew what he was going to say next. While most would call Fishlegs cowardly, she knew he was just too cautious for his own good. Unlike most Vikings, he was born with a flight response, instead of just fight. "The closer we get to those caves, the more dragons."

"What are you suggesting, Fishface?" Snotlout grumbled. He didn't sound as angry as he would've yesterday, as the gravity of the situation set into his otherwise thick skull. Fishlegs eyebrows furrowed, as he looked wearily into the thick woods.

"I'm suggesting that we slow down." He sighed. Snotlout swallowed his fury, knowing deep down that he was right. But then again, his cousin may be up in those mountains, in those caves. His little cousin, whom he never got to apologize too. He decided on wiping ash from his face and stalking off to poke at their blown apart fire. Ruffnut rolled her eyes then grabbed her brother, probably to fix up the many scratches along his arms. Astrid touched the wound on her cheek with a small hiss.

Fishlegs was right. Maybe they were in over their heads? This couldn't end well. From her prior knowledge, Hiccup probably couldn't have survived three days all alone, let alone injured. There was a lot of blood on those rocks. Maybe he was already gone? Her hands tightened into fists, and she ignored the burn of her fingernails digging into her palms. No. He has to be ok...he's smart, smarter than all of them combined. But on the other hand, she didn't want to harm the others trying to save just one.

She fumed silently, and stomped into the woods. It probably wasn't the smartest move, but she needed to kill something. Astrid was used to being in control, always being on top. This...this was out of left field for her. Furiously she threw her ax into the trunk of a tree. Yanking it out savagely she threw into another. The blade sunk deep into the bark, and it took her several hard tugs to get it out. She was about to toss it again, when a dark shadow crossed from above. Her head snapped up to the sky just in time to see huge black wings gliding up towards the mountain. The faded, familiar whistle of a Nightfury filled her ears, as the noise reverberated through the woods. She felt her jaw drop a little, before she ran back to their cobbled together camp. This wasn't good.

/:/

Hiccup yawned, stretching awake. He blearily looking around, spotting Toothless by the mouth of the cave. Cracking his back, he stood and walked over to the dragon, patting his flank in greeting. Toothless crooned, lifting his head to help Hiccup limp out into the early morning light. The dragon nudged a slightly charred fish into his hands, careful not to get his slobber on it. Hiccup looked at it in surprise, then smiled fondly.

"Oh, thanks. You learn fast." He chuckled, pulling off a small piece. It was a little dry, but he couldn't complain much. A dragon did prepare it, so it was impressive in that aspect. Hiccup leaned against the beast, at ease. After three days, he was finally feeling more and more trustful of the dragon. Toothless was proving to be gentle and quite thoughtful, after all. Much different than what Hiccup usually thought of dragons. He had a healthy fear of them, but his stubborn dregs of curiosity often found him sketching a wild Nightmare, or trying to train his Terror friend to get apples from a tall tree. He thought dragons were fascinating. He much rather observe them from afar than tangle with one.

"I wonder how the others are doing." He pondered, smiling a little. They probably forgot about him at this point. One less mouth to feed. No one ever wanted Hiccup around, anyways (mostly because he was an accident magnet). Toothless chattered back then swallowed another fish whole. Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I wonder how I'm going to explain this." He gestured to the current peaceful scene, giggling a little. Toothless's ear flaps perked at the sound, and he sniffed at Hiccups face curiously.

"What, you nosy dragon?" He continued to laugh, squeaking as Toothless pressed his nose into his chest. "Stop it!" He grinned, shoving his head away. Toothless chirped and parted his lips. Hiccup's laughs dissolved into a look of amazement. "Are you...are you trying to smile?" He gasped, smiling back. Toothless preened and licked his hair, making his bangs stick straight up to the clouds. "Hey!"

/:/

Toothless hummed and laid back down, content that his human was happy. His eyes still fixated on the dead leg, though. He looked up to the twinkling eyes of the small human, and he wrinkled his nose. His human wouldn't like it, but it had to happen. He didn't want it to hurt any longer than it had too. Deciding to put it off, he looked away, out to the forest. Smoke still rose from the loud boom this morning.

Toothless had heard the explosion from the coast with his sharp ears, and had quickly flown inland. Luckily it was far from his cave. Dragons usually didn't fight or blow fire on this island, but aggressive males sometimes clashed. Huffing in thought, he settled his big head on his humans lap, who made that happy little sound again that he liked.

He wasn't worried about leaving the tiny human alone for hunting trips. While he didn't like being feared by his own kind, sometimes it had its perks. Like for example, he got this whole mountain peak to himself, since other dragons were too afraid of his very scent to even rest nearby. However there was that bold Nightmare who sometimes slept in a nook further down the face, when he was feeling daring. He liked that dragon, but he never wanted to tackle or play. Though he had his human now for companionship.

The human yawned, then patted the dragons head. Toothless blinked up at him, noticing his half lidded eyes. "I'm going to nap a bit, I'm not feeling good." The human hummed, while glancing down at his leg. Toothless followed his gaze. His ear flaps folded flat on his skull, but he just crooned in answer, watching the human hobble further into his cave. Toothless steeled himself with a deep breath, then stalked in after his little human.

/:/

Hello hello! Thank you all for all the helpful reviews! I can get scatter minded easily, and while I try my best to catch most mistakes, I appreciate the extra help! You guys are awesome, and I love reading your reviews, they make me happy, lol. Also the well wishes for my personal problems are inspiring. It's getting better, and I'm feeling a lot better too (writing helps, haha). Don't be afraid to yell at me if I mess up, or share what you think of the story so far. Anyways,

Have a wonderful day/night!