"Uh, no offense, Hiccup, but you really stink."

"Shut up, Toothless."

"I'm just saying. What happened?"

"The twins happened," I explained. "They set up a prank in the woods and I just happened to be the unlucky one to find it."

Toothless burst out laughing. I was usually really good at avoiding the twins' pranks, but this time I'd been caught in the crap, literally. And the worst part: I'd been expecting this reaction from Toothless when I found him, which was what I'd been doing in the forest in the first place.

"I think you need to go wash up… just saying."

"Yeah, I was going to. But you know I have to be careful when I do that. Nobody knows about Lightning, and he always leaves his tattoo when I bathe; he hates the water."

"I'm not too fond of it either, and yet I'd be okay with it."

"You're different. You've been living among Vikings for two years, he's only been around for one.

"I'd go back to the village and just wait a couple hours for it to be dark, but I'm not willing to give the twins the satisfaction of having Loki'd me. They'd never let me live it down." I sat down on a log that was nearby. "Guess I'm sitting out here till dark. Hopefully Dad doesn't start to worry."

"He shouldn't, you've come back late before. As long as you're not too late."

"Fair enough." I replied, laying down on the log. I was gonna be here for a while; it was just after high noon.

Nightfall

"Hiccup!"

I bolted upright. "I must've fallen asleep, bud. Sorry 'bout that."

"No big deal; I didn't realize you were that tired. Anyway, it's dark now. And I wandered back to the village; everyone's in the Hall. You're good."

"'Kay, thanks for checking for me."

"Not a problem," Toothless replied, as we started walking towards the springs.

When we got there, Lightning left his tattoo, and I went to wash up.

Fifteen Minutes Later

"Hey, bud."

Toothless turned around, and seeing me soaking wet, blew on me to dry me off.

"Ew, you have fish breath," I said, gagging on the smell.

"You would too, if you ate raw fish for every meal. Right, Lightning?" He turned towards where Lightning normally laid. Lightning wasn't there. "Lightning?"

"Lightning? Where are ya, buddy?" I called, walking over there. There was no sign of him ever having laid here, not recently anyways. Where could he be?

"Do you have any idea where he could be, Toothless?"

"I know as much as you do, Hiccup," he replied, walking over to me.

"You weren't paying attention to him?!"

"He's a grown dragon; I don't have to babysit him, Hiccup. He's actually older than me, if we're gonna get technical."

"You used to watch him."

"That was a year ago, when he was still getting used to living with the Vikings. He's fine now, and wouldn't have run off on his own, at least I don't think he would've."

"Well, it seems like he did. Or he flew off, since there's no tracks."

"Yeah." We sat there in silence for a couple minutes, before Toothless spoke again. "Why don't we go home? We're not gonna find him yet tonight; it's too dark."

"Really? We can both see in the dark. We're finding him tonight." I started into the forest. Toothless groaned. "Oh, come on, bud. You're worried about him, I'm worried about him, so let's just go look for him, so we can both get some sleep tonight.

Back in the Village- 30 Minutes Later
Stoick

"I'm sure he'll be home soon, Stoick. And, besides, you know he doesn't like it when you worry about him."

"Yes, I know, Gobber. But he should have been home by now." I glanced up at Hiccup's room, it had been quiet since he'd left the island this morning to go exploring.

"Well, I'm gonna head home, Stoick. Let me know if he doesn't turn up." With that, Gobber left the house, leaving me alone with my worries.

Suddenly, there was a soft thump in Hiccup's room. It sounded like a dragon landing. I went upstairs only to see a small, black figure disappearing into the night.

Hiccup

Gods, that had been close. I thought as I flew away. I'd gone home to grab my staff and Toothless's extra saddle but had made a little too much noise when I'd landed. I'd heard Dad start coming up the stairs, so, making sure I had what I needed, got the Hel out of there. Dad may have seen me fly away but it couldn't have been enough for him to know it was me.

"Hey, bud," I said, as I landed in the cove, where Toothless had been waiting for me.

"Hey. So, where we flyin' tonight?" he asked, while I changed out his saddle and tailfin.

"Still tryin' to figure that out."

Toothless shook his head. "You want to go after him, figure out where he is, yet you have no idea where to start."

"Uhh… yeah. That sounds about right."

Toothless sighed, "Do you ever have a plan?"

"Yes!… during the day, at least."

"But never at night. This oughta be good."

We took off into the night. I let Toothless see if he could find Lightning's scent, and once he did, we were off.

Five Hours Later

"Hiccup, we're never gonna find him in one night. Why don't we just call it a night, go home, and get some sleep? Or else, we're both going to be falling asleep while flying tomorrow."

"Fine, we can go home. But tomorrow night, we're coming back out here."

"Hiccup. Listen to me. We haven't found any sign of him tonight, and if I'm being honest, I lost his scent a couple hours ago. It just vanished.

"I hate to say this, but we may never find him. We might just have to wait for him to show back up."

I sighed. I knew Toothless was right, but I just didn't want to accept it. I knew I had to though, so we headed home.

Two Hours Later- Stoick

I woke up to the door closing to the house. I hadn't meant to fall asleep, but I usually did while waiting for Hiccup.

"Hiccup."

Said teen froze with his foot on the stairs. "Dad! Uh… hi."

"You're home late."

"Uh, yeah. I got sidetracked." I stood up from my chair and walked over to him. "But I'm fine, Dad. Really."

"You sure?"

"Yep.

"Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, son."

Hiccup walked the rest of the way up the stairs to his room, Toothless following him. Something had been bothering him, but I hadn't asked him about it.

Hiccup

I will never understand why Dad waits up for me like that. He always falls asleep and then, when I get home, asks why I was late. He never used to worry about me, but since the Red Death, it's almost nonstop worry. Not that I mind it, I'm just not used to it.

I sat down on my bed, watching as Toothless went over to his and laid down to go to sleep.

"Goodnight, bud." I said, as I laid down.

"Goodnight, Hiccup. And don't worry about Lightning; he'll turn up."

"Yeah, I know."