Yeah, I'm sorry that this is late and i'm not going to give any excuses but know this. I am not giving up.

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captian of my soul.

It was the arena that haunted him the most out of all of his time on Berk. The bruises and beatings that snotlout had given him, the disappointment to that came with being weak, the laughter that came from his father when he first told him he didn't want to be in dragon training, all of it paled in comparison to what happened in that day.

The gates opened once again and without his mind telling his body to do so he walked in and looked at the stands of people waiting for him. Even now, their stares weighed heavy on their shoulders. After a few seconds of silence, the gate of the battle scarred pit slammed shut behind him. He turned in shock for the hundredth time and looked through to meet Astrid's gaze of hate that she shot through the iron. He often wondered what it would have been like if she had ever found them in that cove but he knew that his crush was nothing more than overactive hormones and teenage idealism.

A few eternities later and the gate to the dragon's den opened , he hadn't even taken the shield and the dagger in this reality. Hiccup glanced back up at the crowd again as the dragon came rushing to him, afraid more of their judgement than the dragon's fire. When he heard the wave of screams wash over him he turned back to the dragon that had moved within inches of him.

"I'm not like them..."

"It's working!" hiccups brain screamed as his hand came closer and closer to the now calm horned dragon. A second before his hand touched the dragon's snout his memories came flooding back.

"Stop the fight!" his father yelled.

Knowing what he knew know, he would have easily been able to put the panicking dragon down but the memory played out without change. The characteristic wail pierced the air and a a flash, a single blast of fire burned through the area's bars . Hiccup mind did not recall how Toothless had gotten there or when he had escaped the cove but in the blink of an eye toothless had dived passed everything in his way to stand in front of him. Another blast clouded the arena in smoke and put the fighting dragon down, neither of them would ever know if it would survive or not.

"Nightfury!" someone shouted, seconds after the Nightmare was out . Hiccup resisted the urge to respond with something witty like, "No, it's a puppy." and instead gave into his panic and jumped into the saddle.

"Hiccup! Get out of there!" his father shouted while he and the rest of the crowd rushed to the gate, weapons raised.

"Kill it!"

"Get its head!"

Hiccup produced a sound somewhere between a sob a giggle. Out of the rioting crowd now flowing into the arena, only two voices called for him, his father and gobber.

He tried yelling into the crowd but the roars of the vikings stop any of his frantic pleading from escaping the kill ring. The gate opened. Instinct took over his legs when they came rushing into the smoke and toothless followed their lead. Only one person got a good look at them before they disappeared through the same hole they entered from.

"Hiccup?" she squeaked, staring at the dragon rider.
"They aren't monsters, Astrid," was all he could force out through the wall of tears.

Toothless hated when this happened. Hiccup lashed out in his sleep again, kicking him in the side. It wasn't painful without the heavy boots or the prosthetic on but it did make the dragon sigh. It was unfair how the world burdened him with so many skeletons at such a young age. While under the queen's control, he was always an outcast but that was different. All of her servants were there for a mission. No one had time to worry about friends or loved ones; They only worried about getting enough food to survive the queen. Though it was no place for a youngling, Toothless would have rather hiccup live in terror of that monster than his own people who were so much worse. When they first learned how to send each other memories, Hiccup had to beg on his hands and knees to stop him from flying back to the village and laying the revolting place waste. Hiccup often compensated for his lack of strength compared to him but it was nothing compared to how hard it was to even get out of bed some days for his human. He had endured the ruthless abuse of his peers for years, only escaping to his work in the forge when he was lucky. When he wasn't, the girl that he had foolishly fallen in love with and his own cousin took turns making his life hell. Worst of all, his own father would not believe the stories of abuse, dismissing the bruises and occasional scars for simple childhood competition. Toothless had been making a list for quite some time of the people he would personally thank for hiccups treatment, starting with that vile girl, Astrid.

Toothless let his focus drift away from the hatred he felt for the people of Berk and back to the boy in front of him. That boy was his life. There was no way he could deny that now and he doubted he would ever want to. After minutes staring at the boy between his talons, light started to trickle in from outside the warm cave.

"Hiccup, wake up," he warbled softly, holding the shaking boy with his soft paws. He didn't. Hiccup, he called, shaking him slightly. His fear filled eyes shot open and his arms reached out to strike before stopping just before they made contact. He brought the shocked boy closer to his chest, wrapping his arms around the youth as the sobbing started. They didn't need words, they both had been here enough times to know what had happened and both still didn't know how to cope. The sobbing filled the cave for a few minutes as toothless rocked his human back and forth. "I'm here hiccup... I'm here... They can't hurt you anymore... no one can hurt us anymore..."He tried to hide it but a few tears of his own were crawling over toothless's scales.

Hiccup took a deep breath and wiped the tears streaming down his face, "Thanks bud... I know I can rely on you..." Hiccup's mind started to process the world around him and the distant chirping of the birds that signaled a new day. Growing on the walls, moss covered most of the ceiling but the fire that someone had lit in the corner of the room had dried out their surroundings quite nicely. The floor was still littered with tanned animal hides of different shapes and sizes which Hiccup found interesting given normal dragons distaste for human hunting practices. His body felt bad in a completely different way on this specific morning, with the totally empty stomach roaring loudly to be fed.

"Let's go get some food, Bud."

Hiccup felt the soft snickering rise from the chest he was pressed aginst.

"What's so funny," he demanded.

"I don't have my saddle, your naked and missing a still missing a foot," Toothless replied matter of factly.

Hiccup looked down at himself when toothless unfolded his wings to let him get a look. "Damn," he muttered, earning another chuckle from his dragon. Toothless got up and stretched. Hiccup was still amused at how dragons moved and acted like cats most of the time.

"Stay here, I'm going to go get our stuff back."

"If you can't get our weapons or your fin at least come back with my foot and my change of clothes. Its cold here without you. "

"You could come with," he offered.

"Stumble naked through a forest that I don't know while an island worth of dragons get their full view of a naked human. No thanks"

Before he turned to leave his eyes caught the soft red that stained the furs under both of them. "Hiccup, turn over."

He obliged. "How bad is it?"

Toothless's jaw fell wide open upon first admiring the three closed cuts along his back but it stayed open when he looked closely at how the mysterious dragon from last night had closed them.. "How….," he stuttered blinking a few times.

"Toothless, spit it out" hiccup snapped.

He cleared his throat nervously, "I don't know."

"Toothless," he growled.

"Remember when you fixed my wing when I tore it a few months ago?"

"Are you telling me that she was able to stitch up my back?"

"I think so but that can't be right. I've never seen any dragon that good with their paws."

Hiccup turned back over and painfully up to face his friend. " We can ask her about my back later but for now can you please go get my clothes."

Toothless leaned in and nuzzled his human along the side of his face crooning softly in his ear, " Be more careful next time. I couldn't bear to lose you."

Hiccup reached up to his face and pulled it away " I promise I'm not going anywhere without you bud."

Keeping that in mind, he walked softly out of the cave. The harsh sunlight that sliced through the fog blinded him for a split second but his vision cleared quickly revealing the surroundings. If he wasn't internally panicking about their lack of equipment he would have appreciated the misty forest that surrounded the cave. It looked so much like Berk's he could hardly tell the difference. Their thick, dark branches looked thick enough to support his weight yet far enough away from each other to make gliding through the canopy possible, the trait he had missed the most when exploring outside the archipelago.

"Greetings brother…" Caliban warbled softly, perched on a ledge above him. Toothless couldn't stop himself from twitching slightly.

"I'm the only one allowed to be that quiet" he whined internally, unintentionally making hiccup giggle from the cave behind him.

The larger black dragon floated down from his perch and landed on the mossy ground in front of the cave that was dug into the mountain.

"Shadow?"

" Oh, yes. Sorry," Toothless quickly said, shaking himself out most of his frustrations. However, hiccup was still giggling.

"Is something wrong with the human?" Caliban asked. Toothless didn't expect genuine appearance of concern in his voice.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Its making a noise, I thought it might have been injured."

Toothless sighed, trying not to snap at the dragon claiming to be his brot er. A few short years previously he had made the same mistakes he was currently. "No, he is just laughing at me." He interrupted his brother before he could say anything that might have frustrated him more. "Do you know where our equipment went?"

"Ah, yes, that… During the night Moonseeker took it to father. If you want I can ask for it back."

"Do that. I'll be waiting in the cave," Toothless ordered. He tried to make the words come out without the distaste for him that had grown over the previous day but it was still noticeable.

Caliban turned to leave before his eyes caught on his tail. "How did it happen?" he asked meekly. To his surprise his brother smiled as if reliving a happy memory from a time long ago, not the life altering catastrophe that many on the island had assumed.

" It was the only way to save me."

There was more to the story but Caliban didn't want to go digging any farther. Shadow was in good spirits this morning and he didn't want to go ruining that so soon. "Don't worry about it," He consoled. "Moonseeker has mended worse. She might still be able to fix that too. "

Toothless chuckled. despite the boy in his head prodding to ask questions about how that was possible; he just responded with the answer he gave hiccup months prior when he had given his flight back with a new fin. "What makes you think I want it back?"

"What?!" He roared, unable believe what he was hearing.

"Get our stuff, then we'll talk." He said, turning to leave so his brother wouldn't get in another word. Luckily, caliban was too aghast to bark out a response.

Hiccup had wrapped himself in one of the furs that padded the floor by the time he got back. Hiccup found himself laying against his friends warm, scaly, torso once again.

"So what do you think bud?"

"What about?"

"Your home, your family, other nightfurys, all of this," he waved his hand towards the front side of the cave. "What is your opinion?"

"I don't like them. They tried to hurt you."

Hiccup shook his head and chuckled, "Bud, you and I both know that first impressions aren't our best skill. "

"I know," toothless huffed.

"Just give them a chance, please? I don't want you to be an outcast too." Toothless wrapped his body around the human.

"I'm worried about you, Hiccup... I don't want them to hurt you…"

Hiccup jammed his elbow into his friend's side. " I'm not some hatchling you have to take care of."

"Then stop acting like it," toothless shot back.

" that's rich coming from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?! "

Hiccup curled up closer to the warm black dragon, chuckling. "It's gonna' be fine bud, don't worry."

Letting out a sigh, Toothless relaxed and curled his wings around the small naked boy. "I love you hiccup."

"Me too bud. Me too."

Without even meaning to they both drifted back to sleep.

About an hour had passed before the beating of familiar wings stirred up the first layer of dirt outside the cave. The did not stir when he entered.

"Shadow?" Caliban called from across the mossy cave. His sleeping brother gave no response. "Shadow, I have the stuff…" He slowly approached the sleeping dragon, leaving the requested items at the cave's mouth. His claws made little sound on furred floor as he entered. "Brother?" He asked again but in his frustration the dragon didn't twitch. In truth both Toothless and the hidden Hiccup were already awake but they waited for something else. Caliban sighed before choking out the word he guessed the sleeping dragon would react to, " Toothless?". Stirring, Toothless slowly opened his eyes and pretended to yawn.

"Thank you Caliban, Hiccup and I will be out shortly."

"Where is that human anyway?"

"I'm right here," came a tired response from under toothless's wings. Suddenly Caliban turned to leave, trying to stop himself from saying anything about the human's closeness. No dragon was that close to a human, it just didn't seem right to him.

After he left, Hiccup stumbled over to the pile of stuff and started to go through the unkempt heap of leather and dragon scales.

The saddle bags were still full of the set of emergency clothes he kept to avoid catching hypothermia again and the many journals full of ideas but as he dug in further he started to smile. Flush with the side of his extra boots lay a tiny well hidden knife that they had missed. What wasn't so good was the lack of any of his other weapons or his shield and the shredded state of his armor. It would take hours to patch the large claw marks back up but he carried the materials to do so. He let out a deep sigh while got dressed.

"Its that bad?" Toothless warbled, looking over the armor and tools he still didn't really understand.

"No, not really but I was hoping to flying this morning and I don't really feel like doing it without the wing suit," he said with a sigh. He grabbed the needle and thread from the very bottom of the leather satchel and started to patch the holes. He could have sworn that it had not been this bad when he collapsed after their encounter with the alpha.

"Why can't you just wear the back up?"

"If it was just us, sure, but it's not. Even if it's unlikely I don't want to risk getting pulled off again," he said with a sigh.

"I won't let that happen again," he growled back.

" I promised you that I wouldn't let you get captured again but look where that got us."

"I…" 'I hate when your right,' the thought slipped out without his knowledge .

"Look on the bright side bud. When I get this done we can show off to your relatives. That or grab a front row seat to you losing for the first time. "

"I won't loose," he chirped arrogantly.

"Give me an hour, then you can prove it."

"What do you want me to do?"

Hiccup shrugged, " You can go and talk to your family if you like... Try to figure out more about your past."

"but I don't want to leave you alone."

Hiccup dropped the needle and looked at his friend in annoyance. "How many times have i told you that i don't need you constantly watching over me."

"Not enough times to make me listen,"

Hiccup shook his head and got back to it, trying to ignore the dragon eagerly watching him but after awhile he started to smile. The boredom emanating from toothless after just a few minutes was tangible. Hiccup tried not to look smug as a very bored toothless wordlessly got up and walked out of the cave. his options toothless left. He may not have liked to face his people but the dim silence of the cave was unbearable. Looking out to the verdant forest for the time, he easily traced the game trails weaving back and forth beneath the trees. A tune that hiccup often played made with his lips came to mind and putting his fears behind him for a moment Toothless let his mind take over, leaping his way through the trees.

'Maybe I have lived here before' he thought, ducking out of the way of a tree he didn't look at.

The forest fell back behind the galloping dragon as the soft incline of the forest floor dropped off in front of him. Extending his wings to stop his momentum, toothless found himself looking over the chaotic sea . The Berk-like cold blue spray that touching the bottom of his feet and the sea stacks that littered the back of the island reminded him of home. Smiling, he remembered the chaotic first flight the two had taken through the similar stone pillars. By the end of their stay he had memorized every conceivable route through that labyrinth, or made his own when they were in really in trouble. The serene silence was cut off by the repetitive flapping of unfamiliar wings wings. The delicate good mood that Hiccup had built came crashing down in an instant

'don't panic, I'm here.'

Toothless turned to face the new arrival, trying to keep a hold of the small voice at the back of his mind.

"Shadow!" she barked, landing heavily besides him with longing eyes. "Your home." she breathed in relief as she nuzzled the side of the now frozen dragon. He racked his brain, scanning his memory for any trace of the alluring dragon. She backed away slowly letting him get a better look a the deep red pools centered in the dark face. He screamed at himself internally. The black serpent that he found himself gawking over knew him very, very well so why couldn't he remember anything.

He turned away from the familiar ruby night fury, "I'm sorry... I really am." Her sharp face sunk with despair. "I don't remember you... I'm sorry".

He could see the tears welling up in the side of her normally stoic eyes. "Oh... ok then," she said meekly , flying off quickly in order to avoid any more heartbreak from the dragon she used to know .

'How do I know what her eyes normally look like?'

She was gone and toothless was alone again as he stared out at the ocean. His entire body was shaking with how wrong he felt and it wasn't just the lack of his saddle or tail. It wasn't like the phantom pains that often plagued both him and his rider when it grew cold. He could still feel his tail but he knew that was just a trick played by his mind. This was not. Even in death, the queen haunted him giving him that the fog that laid over his mind like the scales on his hide. He looked down at his front paw looming dangerously over the crashing waters below, knowing one step was all it would take.

He stepped back.

Hiccup was looming over his mind. He didn't say anything but his message was clear as the blue sky above him. He was not alone. He would never be. A crack made its way past the sound of the crashing ocean and Toothless tuned his senses to the tree line. He didn't most of them but he could tell that there was a group of dragons observing him. He chuckled to himself

'Amatures'

'Do you want to show them how it's really done?'

'I take it that the suit is done?"'

' yep.'

'On my way now'

His green eyes glanced over the forest behind him and made out the shapes clinging to the shadows, twelve in total, before he started to gallop back. He couldn't beat them back without his tail but he didn't make it easy. The pounding of his paws flowed through the air, drawing more dragons to join the group .

He stopped his sprint when as came closer to the cave. The fully dressed hiccup was crouched at the exit of their cave prodding every piece of their flight gear ensuring that every seam was in its correct place. He was glad the saddle had survived their previous ordeal without damage. Among the many tools and weapons he had made after meeting toothless, the black saddle brought him by far the most pride. The black leather flowed seamlessly from the harness onto toothless's scales. Anyone who wasn't looking for it wouldn't even be able to tell that it wasn't part of him. From his position, hiccup was not able to see the dragon coming.

Caliban as well as the rest of the dragons spying on them from the depths of the forest froze in an instant when toothless left his playful demeanor and dropped into a low stance. Many, including the heartbroken bloodshot, thought for a brief moment that he had finally decided to rid himself of the human that had enslaved him. None of them tried to stop him when he pounced. Black scales flew through the air and Hiccup, once again, found himself face up facing his giggling friend. He let out a bloodcurdling scream but struggling against the heavy dragon did nothing. The dragons behind Toothless shifted, trying to get a better line of sight that was coming. No one was able to see the human under the imposing black dragon but the silence that followed shortly after the human's scream told them all when the deed was done.

A sputtering noise came from under the now laughing dragon as toothless rolled over, exposing the human to the crowd of looming dragons.

Jumping to his feet the dripping human glared menacingly at the dragon who was now on his back in laughter. " You know that doesn't wash out!" he accused, flicking some of the saliva in his direction.

"Haven't you ever thought that's the point?" Toothless gloated, undeterred.

Hiccup unclenched his fists, shook his head, and let out a deep breath " Just stand here you useless reptile and let me get your saddle on you," hiccup sneered, still dripping.

Toothless obliged and they exchanged some more jokes before either of them noticed the stunned caliban standing in front of the stunned crowd. Hiccup and toothless looked at each other and back to the larger dragon. "What?"

"You.. you marked…" he couldn't stop himself from stuttering.

"Think you might have broken some kind of taboo bud," hiccup guessed.

Toothless shrugged it off , "are we going flying or not?"

Hiccup didn't need to respond but instead decided to leave the crowd awed with how fast they could get off the ground.The forest fell behind them as the two partners shot off into the sky. The land that had imprisoned them fell back behind them as they roared through the air. Furiously, they climbed higher and higher until the island was just a speck upon the blue disk below them. It did not take them long before they found themselves surrounded by the sky and nothing else. Toothless relaxed and started to glide.

"What do you want to do bud. About all of this."

"I don't know... We could leave…" He offered halfheartedly

Hiccup looked down to the island and the black specks above it.

"I don't think that's a good idea... We could use a home for awhile. That and I don't want you to be an exile too. "

"I don't care if I'm an exile."

"That's what I said too when we left berk."

Toothless was quiet for a moment, thinking back on the sleepless nights his hatchling spent with his nightmares.

"Fine... We will stay for now."

Hiccup's tone lightened and he changed topics, "So what did you say about sea sacks?"

Toothless chuckled and he felt the weight of his rider drop off of his back and a shadow fall infront of his snout.

' You know I don't have to catch you when you surprise me like that.'

"But you will." Toothless could taste the smug self importance that he was oozing but he knew he was right.

Toothless sighed and rolled over the to catch the falling human. They plummeted together and the wind howled past them. The warm black shape fell next to hiccup and both of them tumbled to the churning sea below. The large stone spires approached quickly and the two fell into a trance. Toothless rolled over allowing hiccup to lock himself back into the saddle. The wall of spires approached them and they dove in head first into the field of stone.

'vector angle 2 '

They banked through a hole scarcely larger than themselves.

'Position 4'

They barrel rolled past another tower, growing faster as they did so.

'bank left'

They did so, both of them smiling when they noticed a fearful dragon clinging desperately to the pillar they passed within inches of. They kept at it.

"position 5"

'Bank 3'

'Vector angle 2'

They moved as if the pillars of deadly rock were just flecks of dust floating on the gail.

'position 4'

With a roar from both of them, they exited the field with hiccup only slightly charred. Only now did they care to notice the horde of dragons which gawked at them from the coast line.

"you said you wanted to show off," Hiccup taunted.

"Yeah but i didn't think it would actually work…"

"Do I hear humility, wow, that's new?" hiccup joked. A few seconds later toothless banked around to a sea stack and landed on the top of it.. Without stopping for the now laughing Hiccup stood up on his hind legs , Hiccup still on his back, and gave a deep bow like hiccup had taught him to the gawking crowd. Most of them didn't get it.

The alpha's nest the night earlier

"You are all dismissed... except you Moonseeker."

She cringed as the intimidating shadow called her name. With that, the wave of dragons flapped their wings and flew to flee the tirade they knew was coming. After the cyclone that the dragons had caused died down she sighed and walked up closer to the center of the crater.

"Moonseeker…" he said in a voice that she could have mistaken for sorrow.

"...Yes?"

"I need your help…"

She blinked a few times and tried not to smile. "What!?"

It was his turn to sigh, " You heard right. I need your advice on what to do with my son…"

"Oh…" She paused for a second recalling her interaction with the human. He wondered how desperate the stuck up fool needed to be in order to ask her. "From what I have observed of the two, it appears that your son really cares about the human. I don't think it is a trick... "

"Do you think they will stay?" he asked

"... No... I don't …" she choked the words out, dreading what his response would be.

Do you think he will stay if the human is killed"

She felt her heart skip a beat as the low rumble cut through the air.

"If you kill him, he won't." she warned, while despratly trying to hide the fear in her voice.

"I don't have to. the next raid should be here by tomorrow. The slight smile that she could hear in his deep voice disturbed her almost as much as the idea that he had came up with.

Present

Toothless and hiccup sat calmly on one of the island's only beaches. The crackling of roasting fish filled the salty air and both hiccup and toothless felt at ease as they looked over the horizon. It was peaceful watching the evening sun loom ever closer to the water, it almost made hiccup forget about his exile. Almost.

Do you know you are the best thing that ever happened to me? Toothless said in response to the nagging guilt he could since from his friend.

"What?"

It's the truth.

"But if you didn't meet me yo-"

Would be enslaved to a tyrannical queen and probably dead by now, he interrupted, meeting his friends eyes with dogged determination. Hiccup leaned back against his friend and gave out a sigh.

" I just feel guilty for keeping you from your family."

Don't .

"But-"

There was a reason why I left. I can't remember it but I know it was bad.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" hiccup asked, now sitting straight up and body frantic.

To many sharp ears. I couldn't risk it. Sorry.

"Don't be. I know you care for me. You wouldn't still be using that manual tail fin if you didn't."

I'm glad you can see that.

"It's going to be fine toothle-" before he could finish the sentence toothless ears shot up and his body went rigid and the flapping of wings could be heard in the distance. No words were spoken but they each sensed the others groan of disappointment. The soft golden sand sprayed in the air when Caliban landed. Hiccup supposed that he was the elder brother of the two but the only real difference between the two was the shorter spines on caliban and his slightly longer length.

Brother... he said with a the ghost of a snarl as he began to pace around them. Hiccup and Toothless kept their eyes on the ocean, not allowing the angry dragon to see that they were bothered by his intrusion.

Yes?

Why did you mark him?

Hiccup looked up to meet the tired green eyes staring at him, "Toothless? What is he talking about?"

You haven't told it?! Even though they didn't flinch when the dragon roared hiccup still felt the growing rage from his friend.

Toothless sighed, desperately trying not to rip his brothers throat out for calling hiccup an it. He decided the conversation would be better held without company.

Hiccup... I don't just lick you because I find it funny

"So you don't find it funny?" He thought back.

oh no, I do.

Hiccup scoffed, shaking his head. " So what is it for?"

Umm... caiban crooned, wondering why the two had just gone deathly silent. Neither hiccup nor toothless noticed.

It marks your sent as mine so other dragons know that you are protected. Traditionally its done between mates but I made an exception.

after a short pause hiccup snorted to himself and leaned back against his friend. "I love you bud."

And I you

Hiccup looked up to the furious dragon who was still pacing around the dragon resting on his side. looking into his eyes, hiccup tried to make out whether or not he could be trusted. He wanted his friend to have a better relationship with his family than he did but he also didn't want to die. Officially everyone told them they were guests but it was clear to both of them that it was closer to prisoner. The silted green eyes were the same but the dragon behind them was not and he had learned the hard way that a dragon that mad could do some nasty things.

Caliban disappeared behind them while pacing. The uneasy feeling that eminated off of him spiked when he heard the soft padding of his paws on the sand suddenly stopped but he reasured himself that it was nothing. A split second later hiccup felt through their bond a quick spike of pain and then silence. Normally the gateway in the back of his mind let off ambient noise like the sea aginst the coast but now there was nothing. It terrified him . He wasn't going to let caliban know that. Glancing over to his friend confirmed his suspicions, he was limp againt the sand. Letting out a breath, hiccup pushed himself up from the sand and confronted the angry lizard, smirking as he usually did. Even though he was screeming internally he kept repeating the same words to himself to keep himself calm. He was also morbidly curious about what pressure point he had used.

" He is Snotlout. He hurt toothless. Your smarter, smaller, and meaner. Use that. You have the knife."

He looked over his motionless friend to the still snarling dragon. "What now. Huh?" Hiccup asked as smug and as antagonistic as he could. It didn't seem to be working.

Now you go with them. He hissed, throwing his head to the three small sails that had appeared over the horizon.

"well fu-. Stop. out think him. The bad guys always spout their pans when they think they've won."

" And what are you going to tell him?" Hiccup asked, lightly kicking his friend. To his relief toothless twitched at the contact.

That he was hit hard enough to forget the entire dragon attack, including the part where you were killed and dragged to the bottom of the ocean.

Hiccup thought it over and scouled. It was the stupidest plan he had heard sence his fathers idiotic attempt to find the nest but if he could fool him...

Caliban grabbed onto toothless's arms and positioned himelf ontop of him and turned back to hiccup. Come back and die, human. You live only for the alpha's mercy. He pounded his wings kicking up enough sand to foce hiccup to cover his eyes. when he removed his arms they both were gone and he was alone for the first time in years. He turned to the longships approaching the coast and muttered the proverb he had learned from a hermit he and toothless had ran into.

"We are the few, the bold, the burning... yet we do not burn alone, do we?"

He smiled, hearing a very ghostly responce come from his unconscious friend.

No, we do not