A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed! I really enjoyed hearing from you all! ^^

For those who haven't noticed and have seen the movie, I have indeed started a Rise of the Guardians fanfiction! I spiffed up the idea and worked out the kinks, and I think that it's going to be a really good story. Hopefully it'll be as popular as this one seems to have become! :D

And if you guys could boost me up to reach 600 reviews, you have NO idea how happy I would become. It'd be my most-reviewed story, and it'd be just amazing. I have high hopes for this story, as well as my Rise of the Guardians one ^^

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Toothless was curled up beside Shadowclaw, the younger dragon smiling as he played with Ludi. The little cat was roughly the size of his paw, and yet she held no fear as she bounced around him happily, tail sticking straight up into the air. She weaved around quickly underneath him, flashing away like lightening as Shadowclaw tried to pin her tail to the ground. The cat had been weary the past couple of days, moping around the island when she wasn't sleeping off her tiredness. But after she had recovered as much as she could without Hiccup, she was mostly back to her old self. The cat was getting under everyone's feet again, being noisy and causing a ruckus. Just like she always did. It was almost good to have her back, it gave a sense of normality to the island.

Toothless turned to survey the slowly-recovering island, giving a small nod as he did so. It was coming along quick, actually. It's probably been almost a week since Hiccup had returned back to the island, the village was mostly recovered by now. More and more Vikings were being released from the Elder every day to help with repairs, most all of them having a new scar etched deep into their skin. But they seemed to pay no heed to it, diving right into the work they were assigned without complaint. Most of the buildings were rebuilt now, all they had to do now was the decorations that gave Berk its spirit.

There had been no signal of the Night Furies coming back. Not that Toothless could tell. He had Mistyeyes -who had begun to change back to her normal self as well- do laps around the island every day to check for signs that would say otherwise. He would do it himself, but he couldn't fly anymore. At least not without Hiccup. And the boy hadn't reappeared from the Elder's house yet. As soon as he was carried into the Elder's house, it was like he didn't exist anymore. Nobody brought him up, Toothless wasn't able to see him. He would have thought the whole thing to be fishy, if he didn't see Stoick walking into the Elder's house so much.

Sometimes at night, Hiccup used to turn around to him and confide in his dragon how he felt. How some days his father didn't seem to care about him, or even make an attempt to notice him. Toothless used to nod along with the conversation, understanding. Sometimes he even agreed privately with what the boy was saying. But Toothless perked as he caught sight of Stoick. He had just finished supervising the work done on Snotlout's house, and was now turning back around and walking away. Toothless followed him with a careful look, tail twitching. The chief glanced over the village one last time before heading back into the Elder's house.

Toothless wouldn't agree with Hiccup anymore. And he reminded himself to contradict his human next time he tried to undermine the relationship between him and his father.

Because that was the fourth time that Stoick went into the Elder's house.

In the last hour.

He'd been watching.

"Hey!" Toothless straightened, turning and looking over to who had called out. Mistyeyes swooped down from her flight, landing on the grass with a neat little thump. Her ears flicked, and she panted a moment before going on. "It's all clear." She paused, then added. "Again." Her blue eyes glimmered at the last part, reaching over and prodding Toothless playfully at his indignant look. "I'm only joking." She sighed, turning and sitting down neatly beside him. She eyed Ludi and Shadowclaw, the cat launching herself over and crashing into the dragon's nose, twisting around and falling back clumsily to the ground. She tilted her head to the side, "Shouldn't they be doing something productive?" She mused.

Toothless shrugged. "The whole thing is done, more or less." He replied simply, observing the island yet again. "We've made quick work on rebuilding it all."

"Yup." Mistyeyes said, smiling despite herself. "We've rebuilt the island, and we haven't seen even a flash of another Night Fury in ages." She said, eyes flashing as she spoke. Toothless blinked, sensing the small change in her tone as he looked over at her oddly. But she had recovered so smoothly, Toothless even wondered if she messed up in the first place. "Has Hiccup been out, yet?" She asked, craning her neck so that she could see over to the Elder's house. Toothless followed her gaze with a shake of his head. Stoick hasn't come out yet, either. Usually his visits were short.

Mistyeyes gave a small sigh, but she didn't complain. Instead, she looked up at the sky, eyes narrowing slightly as she looked up at the sun. It was at its highest point, it was some time around noon. Toothless flicked his ears with faint surprise, he hadn't realized it was this late. Mistyeyes spoke up, sounding a little bit more thoughtful than she had been a moment before. "I think I'm going to do another lap around the island." She mumbled, getting to her feet and starting away from the island's edge. Toothless started, turning back to look at her, confused.

"Why?" He asked, looking back out over the ocean. "Did you see something?" He asked.

Mistyeyes turned, looking innocent. "Of course not." She said, tone clipped. "I just need something to do other than sitting around here doing nothing." She glanced over at Shadowclaw and Ludi, who were now trying to race each other from one end of the island to the other. Her eyes flashed once more, and Toothless's gaze hardened slightly. Before now, Mistyeyes would have leapt at the chance to play with the two, it was something she tried to do as much as she could. Something was bugging her, something was off. But she seemed to shake herself out of it, turning around and heading over to the other side of the island. Toothless's eyes narrowed.

"Where are you going?" He questioned, tilting his head to the side.

Mistyeyes straightened, turning around and eyeing him almost angrily. "What, you don't trust me?" She demanded, eyes flashing with fury and a little frustration. "I can't take a walk around the island without alerting you as to where I am heading?" Toothless blinked, a little surprised by her rapid change in mood. She was growling underneath her breath, and she started to turn away again. "When are you going to finally realize that I just might be actually loyal? Hiccup knows it! So why don't you?" She paused a moment before grumbling, "I'm going to check on Astrid and Stormfly down at their house. Stormfly figured out that she'll never be able to fly again yesterday. I want to comfort her." She started to go away once more, when suddenly, she halted, looking back.

Toothless was laughing.

The Night Fury was doubled over a moment, eyes closed as he shook with silent giggles. Shadowclaw straightened, as surprised as Mistyeyes was, it seemed. Ludi crashed into his leg, batting at it with sheathed claws. But when she realized that he wasn't paying attention anymore, she huffed, wrinkling her nose in a small pout. She turned, following his gaze as she looked at Toothless oddly. The dragon didn't seem like the one to crack up. Or as long as Ludi had known him, that is. But then again, she had been given to Hiccup at the worst time, it seemed.

When he finally got control over himself again, Toothless gave a huge sigh, looking back up at Mistyeyes, eyes glimmering with amusement. The gray dragoness looked miffed and confused, a mix of the two emotions. She looked at a loss of what to do, looking around awkwardly. Toothless grinned before saying, "Mistyeyes, have I ever told you that you are a terrible liar?" His words were laced with amusement, and Mistyeyes had to fight back a smile herself. Instead, her ears flattened in an embarrassed sort of way, ducking her head aside in case she did smile.

"No." She snapped, words sparked with irritation.

"Well you are." He said simply. Shadowclaw smirked where he stood, as if agreeing.

"Oh…" Mistyeyes searched for something to say, but couldn't. She huffed out a frustrated sigh, sitting down where she was and looking over at Toothless skeptically. "I give up then." She said, clawing out a wavy line in the dirt. Toothless watched her make the line longer and longer, not speaking for a moment. He curled his tail over his paws, switching his gaze as he looked at her closely. Something seemed to be sticking to her, bugging her. But she didn't seem to want to talk about it.

He remembered what she had said before. "You'd better wait for Hiccup to tell you, I don't even know what's going on myself." He cast another look back at the Elder's home, blinking slowly. Stoick was just making his way out, looking like a load had been lifted off from his shoulders. Toothless sat a little straighter. Did that mean that Hiccup was better? Was he awake? He wouldn't be surprised if Hiccup had managed to get Mistyeyes led on a big escapade. After all, he did the same with Toothless.

He would find out sooner or later. He wouldn't bother Mistyeyes. She seemed bothered enough already.

"Hey." He said suddenly, turning back to her. She blinked, as if roused from her thoughts as she met his eyes. They locked eyes, and he didn't speak for a heartbeat, savoring the moment. But then he smiled. "You remember the time that we were taught to fly for the first time?" He asked. Mistyeyes looked surprised by the question, but then grinned, immediately going from what had been troubling her to her memories. Her hard barrier melted, and she was the dragon that Toothless loved again.

…Loved?

…He meant loved to see. Better than her moping all the time.

"Yes." She snorted. "And I remember how long it took you to get it right!" She laughed. "We were up from dawn until dusk trying to get you to catch the wind, but you always slid too far to the right, or something went wrong." Her blue eyes filled with humor. "I remember the way that you crashed into Nightflight and caused both of you to go into a tailspin. And then how you stayed up till midnight after we all left trying to work it out."

"You remember all that?" Toothless asked, smirking.

"…" Mistyeyes flushed. "Of course I did. It was torture, waiting for you to get it right." She sniffed, turning her nose. "Boring too, you were so irritating. Even back then." She looked him up and down. "You haven't changed much, have you?"

Toothless nodded. "I guess not." He said. Mistyeyes paused a moment, casting a glance over the sea almost uncomfortably. Toothless's ears twitched. She really wanted to do another lap. Getting to his feet, Toothless jerked his head over towards the direction the dragoness was staring. "Go ahead." He said, turning towards the Elder's house. "I'm going to see if the Elder will let me in to see Hiccup."

Mistyeyes looked confused. But Toothless turned, bounding over to the house that was on the peak of the hill. And when he looked back over his shoulder, Mistyeyes was gone. She was flying around the island again, slowly making her way across the ocean.

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Everything hurt. But then again, it didn't. It was like the perfect combination of pain and comfort, which he guessed was better than it was before. He couldn't really remember much, the last thing he remembered was leaving Nightflight back on the rock. Was she still there? Was she waiting for him? Or had the others already found her and killed her? He forced his eyes to open, no matter how much his body was screaming at him to stay still. He pushed himself up, blinking slowly as he dragged himself (with difficulty) out of the haze that swamped his mind. Where was he?

He tried to stand up, but as soon as he shuffled to the side, pain lashed up his arm. He winced, looking down to see it firmly bounded to his chest. It was wrapped up tightly, the binding oddly cool against his skin. It was like it put out the fire and was now keeping it kindled to a small flame. He tried to move his arm once more, but the binding was too tight. He grimaced at the action, immediately regretting the decision. He should just leave things where they lie.

It was then that he realized he wasn't alone. Looking around the room (head spinning as he did so) he could see a few Vikings like him resting. Some were starting to stand, as if preparing themselves to leave. But a few were in bed, eyes closed as they snored softly. They all shared wounds close to Hiccup's. Claw marks, scratches, bruises, gashes. He guess that it was all from the battle with the Night Furies. And he wondered dimly if anybody had died.

"Hiccup?" His name broke his concentration, the boy turning around to look towards the voice. Astrid stood off the side, sitting on the ground beside Toothless, who was curled around her like a snake, asleep. Small snores came from the Night Fury. Which was a relief. If he snored like he usually did, the whole village would probably wake up. Carefully stepping out from Toothless's hold, Astrid went over, leaning down and looking at him with concern. "Are you okay?" She asked. "You still look a little fuzzy…"

Hiccup blinked rapidly, shooing the clinging fog out from the back of his mind, forcing himself to concentrate. The images around him became less fuzzy, and he let out a small sigh of relief. "I'm fine." He said, reaching up and rubbing the side of his head with a grimace. He looked back over at Astrid, and suddenly remembered everything. He gasped slightly, Astrid jumping at the sudden noise. She made a move to try and help him, but Hiccup recovered, closing his eyes and looking away. "Astrid, I'm sorry. For everything. I wasn't myself, I didn't know what I was doing….I-"

Astrid reached over quickly, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him up so that their noses were touching. She looked SO much more than infuriated. Her blue eyes glared daggers into his own frightened ones, and her grip was so tight that Hiccup was sure he'd never be able to pry her off no matter how hard he tried. She looked so mad that Hiccup was actually expecting her to explode right on the spot. His green eyes flashed over to Toothless, pleading for help. But the Night Fury was still sleeping. He deadpanned. I hate you.

But instead of exploding, Astrid yanked Hiccup forward a little too harshly, mashing her lips together with his own. Hiccup's eyes widened, caught way off-guard. He thought she was about to kill him, punch him in the face, and throw him into the ocean. Not necessarily in that order. It was what he deserved, it was what he almost wanted. He'd been so angry at everybody, surely he wasn't going to get off this easily? Even if Nightflight had been the cause of it…

When Astrid pulled back, her grip loosened. Her eyes became soft, a bittersweet sort of emotion overcoming her face. "You made me think that I was going to lose you." She sighed, looking at him fixedly. "Please don't do it ever again. This is like the millionth time. I'm going to get sick of it soon." Hiccup blinked rapidly, unable to reply. But then he smiled, eyes stinging as he grinned back at her. He didn't deserve her. He never did, really. Astrid seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, leaning down and wrapping her hands loosely around him, being careful as to not hit any of his injuries. Hiccup hugged her back awkwardly with his one hand, holding onto her as tightly as he could.

She was real this time.

"What happened to you?" She asked, pulling back and looking at him in concern.

Hiccup opened his mouth to reply, but snapped it shut, starting. Nightflight. He couldn't tell her yet. Not yet, he had to find a way to describe how she had changed. To clear her name somehow. And he knew that it would be nothing short of impossible. He reached up, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Astrid…" The blonde blinked, looking worried as she let her arms drop slack to her sides. "I can explain. Okay? I can explain everything." Astrid looked a him a little oddly at this. "But…you just gotta let me figure out how to. It's…complicated." The last word ended in a small mumble. That was an understatement.

"You can tell me anything, Hiccup." Astrid said, sounding almost hurt.

"Yeah, I know." Hiccup said uncomfortably. "But…trust me. I'll tell you when I sort it all out." He glanced over to the door. The Elder seemed to be nowhere, she'd disappeared. That was when she was most dangerous. "Can you help me to the door?" He asked, nodding in its direction. "I need to go find Mistyeyes." Where was the gray dragon? Was she with Nightflight? Where was Nightflight? Obviously the Vikings haven't found her yet, otherwise Astrid would have told him already in triumph. That meant he still had a chance. However small it was, he was going to do his best to take it.

"…Sure." Astrid said, still looking at him worriedly. She leaned down, putting one hand around Hiccup's waist and the other around his wrist. He pulled him up as quickly as she could, silently thanking the gods that Hiccup wasn't nearly as heavy as Snotlout. That way they would have a problem. But he was light, he leaned heavily against Astrid as he grimaced in pain. "You okay?" She asked quickly, startled. Did she cause him that? But he shook his head, smiling weakly.

"Let's go." He grunted, hopping off of his bad foot with a wince.

Toothless chose this time to wake up. The Night Fury perked at once, getting to his feet and weaving his way quickly in front of them. His green eyes were wide as he looked at Hiccup. He trembled, as if just managing to hold himself back from leaping at him. "You're okay! You're alive! Thank goodness! You had me so worried! Don't do it again!" He rambled on like that, Hiccup smiling despite himself. He felt a fresh wave of relief at seeing Toothless, knowing he was okay. At least some things he didn't have to worry about.

Suddenly, Toothless became serious. "Mistyeyes said something was going on. She said that it was something to do with you."

"Awh." Hiccup gushed. "I love you too, Bud."

"Hiccup, I'm being serious!"

"Oh, you missed me! That's cool, I missed you too~!"

Toothless glared at him, all happiness from before melting at once.

Hiccup threw him a look, sticking his tongue out at the Night Fury as he started forward once more. Astrid jumped slightly, walking slowly beside him, helping to prop him up. She helped open the door, the two heading outside at an agonizingly-slow pace.

Toothless blinked, eyes slowly narrowing before jumping to his feet, following the two.

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A/N: Hope that wasn't too short! I was really procrastinating on this one. XP

Knock-Knock!

Who's there?

Procrastination!

Procrastination who?

I'll tell you later ;3

OLD JOKE ALERT! Lol Please review~! ^^