"Now you've done it." I groaned. The man flinched at the sight of Toothless, his eyes widening as Toothless regarded him.

He took a wary step back, fists in front of him as a series of expression flitted over his face before he clenched his jaw. Even in his injured state I was a bit surprised when he began to stalk over towards Toothless, jaw set and eyes hard.

Instincts immediately took ahold of me and without a second thought I darted forwards and stood between him and Toothless. I was wearing my mask and hood so it was impossible to see my eyes, which was good.

For a second he didn't see me, but when he did, he stumbled backwards, surprise etched on his features.

"W-who are you." he tried to steady his voice but I could hear his fear and I smirked. Though he seriously needed to get back to bed. I could see the wince on his face as he took a step back and he wasn't going to help his side doing so.

I began to walk towards him but he only stumbled back further until he tripped over his own feet and fell onto the ground with a yelp. Humans are idiots.

— Aster —

It was bad enough that he'd woken up alone, in the middle of the woods, shirtless and with gauzes wrapped around his side. He honestly didn't think it could get any worse.

So now, he had a strange cloaked figure leaning over him, way too close to be comfortable and a beast not too far away. He was in deep trouble.

His side was throbbing and he felt clunky and tired and hungry. He couldn't see under her black cloak and then she had on a black and leather mask on. But he knew it was a her. She carried herself with extreme grace and she was a bit too short to be a man, with narrow shoulders which what looked to be two dragon scales sat atop of to serve as shoulder pads. Natter scales. He wondered if they were spoils of war.

She leaned over him and he felt her eyes picking him apart and assessing everything about him.

"Where's my axe?" is all that he can force himself to say.

She doesn't respond, she didn't before, and instead straightens up, turning and sweeping around to stalk towards the dragon.

"Wait- don't!" he yells after her but he's too late. He expects the dragon to snarl or bite off her arm but it actually inches closer. He sees a hand reach out to nuzzle the dragon's face and a low growling sound. Though the beast's large green eyes haven't laid off of him.

And then he catches sight of what most surprises him. A saddle. It's infused with a strange type of light gray metal and leather with a small pack resting on the back of it.

He watches in awe and fear as she easily picks her way across the back of the dragon all while it refuses to take it's eyes off of him.

Her sudden choice to clamber onto the dragon snaps him out of his frozen state and he struggles to stand up. His side burns and stretches with each movement and it's almost as if his skin is ripping open. When she jumps off of the dragon, she holds a small package.

She sits down by the small fire that he'd noticed when he'd woken up and then her masked face turns to him. He almost feels as if a glint makes it's way through the shadows of the hood but he can tell that she's expecting him to sit down.

He eyes the dragon, still unwaveringly staring at him and she seems to sense his unease and surprises him further by turning around to face the dragon. He assumes they're having a silent battle and that the girl wins when the dragons dragon seems reluctant to go but not before he gives the boy a growl that clearly says 'hurt her and I'll kill you' before he flies off. The small camp is surprisingly empty without the dragon and only silence. He pauses before making his way over to the fire, wincing as he sits down.

She ends up handing him several pieces of what looks to be some sort of dried meat and several berries that he's never seen before. The girl begins eating so he's sure they're not poisonous so he eats along with her.

Her guard seems to be down a little bit, though he can feel the unspoken rule hanging in the air: Do something threatening and he's dead. Though, he does have to admit she looks nice in… her armor?

It's very strange, a breastplate made of a light metal along with armbands with several different types of gadgets decorated across them. Two buckles find their way across her thin waist and one more at her hips which a sword sheath and several other things hang from. Her knee pads are also Natter scales that gleam in the light, though her boots aren't really like a regular viking's, or anyone else's for that matter. They're slim and have several cords wrapped around the top of them. She seems to be wearing black leggings with what appears to be brown, cloth dragon scales making their way down the sides of them as well as under her breastplate and across her waist.

She looks intimidating, even without the mask which he can't see much of. A clasp is situated on the left side of the mask, the flap open so that she can eat, but she's almost being cautious to not let him see most of her face. The rest of the mask is black and fairy normal looking, though he swears her black hood pokes up at two points almost as if she has horns.

"So, you aren't much of a talker." he observes. The meat is very good and the berries are really juicy, which kind of surprises him. She bobs her head in agreement and the corners of her mouth tilt up.

"Who are you?" he asks again. Over the past few minutes he'd become a bit more comfortable around her, even though he could tell she was very intimidating.

"Who are you?" is what she replies with and he smiles. Though, she speaks a bit weirdly. It's not that her voice is deep, it's actually fairly high pitched, but it's rough. Almost as if she's used to talking in a much gruffer tone. And the way she speaks is a bit choppy, not as fluid as how others speak.

"Aster." he replies. Two can play the silent game.

"Hm." she hums before snapping the mask closed and standing up.

"Where are you going?" he asks. Okay so maybe he's not too good at keeping silent. He tries to stand up but winces. She continues along to where a pack lays on the ground. After digging around in it for a bit, she stands up with a container in hand.

"Lay down." she tells him.

"What?" he stares up at her in confusion as she extends one of her hands towards him. Apparently she's not in the mood for repeating herself as she just continues to stare at him. Finally he obliges and shoves the rest of the berries in his mouth before grasping her hand. It's callused, from what, he doesn't know, and she pulls him up with ease. It becomes very clear to him that she's much stronger than she should be. Much, stronger.

She then proceeds to walk over to where a fur blanket is laying in the grass, where he woke up.

"What are you going to do?" he asks and walks over anyways. He gathers that she could've killed him while he was passed out, and even as he moves to sit down in the grass so he knows she's not going to harm him.

Instead of replying she places a hand on his chest and pushes him down so that he winces. He's very proud of his muscles, though not boastful as Snoutlout is. Gods she's irritating.

She begins to work, pulling back the bandages and tenderly poking him with her slim fingers. He hisses in pain as she nears his side and he looks down to see the wound. It's a purply red but only a bruise, though he suspects it used to be more.

Her fingers dip themselves inside the dark purple paste in the container and begin to apply it to his wound. It burns wherever it touches and he hisses and reaches out to clutch the blanket in pain. After what seems like forever she leans back and rewraps his chest again.

"Thank you." he says as the pain subsides to a dull throb. She pauses for a moment before standing up again and pressing him towards the ground again, pulling the blanket over him.

The message is clear; Sleepy time. Now.

"You really need to work on communicating." he observes but she just remains silent and walks away from the camp.

The last thing he sees before he closes his eyes is her slipping into the shadows of the forest. He falls asleep faster then he'd like to admit.

— Hicca —

"Toothless?" I call. I'd told him to go down by the creek knowing that he was scaring Aster. That was the human's name.

"How did it go with the viking?" Toothless uncoiled from where he was resting in the shadows. While most dragons preferred the sunlight, Toothless in particular loved to sit in the shadows.

"Um, well?" I said and sat down on the bank. "I honestly don't know. This is the first time I'd actually tried to interact with someone and I think I failed." I smirk and he nudges my hand over his head and curls around me.

"You're fine. I think I'd be more concerned if you didn't have a problem interacting. It's only natural." he hummed, the vibrations rippling through me in an attempt to calm me down.

"Thanks bud." I say and leaned further into his warm body.

Eventually I began nodding off, my mind wandering through topics and mulling over the situation I'd gotten myself into. And my mind came up with a decision before I even knew it.

I was going to take him to the nest.

"What?" Toothless bolts to alert and I instantly jump up and unsheathe my sword, the flames sparking to life.

"What's wrong?" I asked after I realized that there was no danger and turned around to face Toothless.

"You were mumbling. You said something about bringing the human back to the nest." he informed me and with a sudden start I'd realized that I had been thinking about that, and that it wasn't that bad of an idea.

"Really? Well, it might not actually be that bad of an idea." I defend myself, my mind already planning the journey ahead.

"I'm not sure some of the dragons would like it if you brought a human to the nest. Even if you are the Princess." he snorted at the title.

It had only been a few years ago when an old Skrill named Bolten had given me the nickname. When I'd asked him why he'd told me that me and mom were technically descendants of the King and so we were technically princesses. Ever since then it was almost as if mom and I had been given a bit more power. We were already considered dragons at the nest, and all dragons were equal save the King (and the hatchlings), but ever since the title had given we were listened a bit more to than others occasionally and I guess it made sense. The King had loved the title for the two of us, as he loves all of his family, but he has a soft spot for mom and me.

"I told you not to call me princess." I growled and he only chuckled as we made our way back to the camp. Making sure my helmet was secure, I adjusted my hood before we broke through the clearing.

Aster was sitting up and staring into the dying fire. He'd put on his red shirt and the white fur vest. He looked less like an injured person and more like someone who was extremely bored. Which, I guessed, he was.

He regarded us with wide eyes but otherwise remained still and silent. I felt Toothless glaring at him and wanted to chide him but couldn't so I just flicked his ear. He growled and shook his head as I smirked behind my mask. The day had passed pretty quickly and the sun had already disappeared behind the tops of the trees.

"So, are you going to tell me who you are? Possibly remove your hood?" he asked, staring straight at me as I paused. Toothless growled deep in his throat and his tail came to loosely wrap around my feet.

I honestly wasn't sure how to reply. I mean, mom had taught me how to read and write in Norse, and I can speak the language with ease. She'd also taught me other things like a bit of math but most of the time she taught me about the forge. So, you could just say that while I had a fairly normal vocabulary, I don't really know how to interact.

Even when trading I barely spent more than an hour in the presence of humans, most of it spent trading with merchants and shop keepers. I don't know how humans interact, their customs or what is friendly and what is more. I know absolutely nothing. None, zip. Zero. Honestly, I'd thought that I'd never need it. Clearly I was wrong.

Finally I come up with a response. Not necessarily a good one, but a response nonetheless,"In time."

Toothless gives me a look of 'nice one' and I want to tackle him but know I can't in front of the human.

"So that's it? I'm just supposed to be content with not knowing who you are yet supposed to trust you?" he replies sharply. The trust part got to me more than his rage.

Trust was a key thing with dragons. If you weren't considered trustworthy, then you got nothing. Everything was based off of honestly, family, and trust being the biggest one. I internally wince and Toothless growled, sensing my unease.

"Yes." I snarled before settling down on the ground.

"Wow, thanks. That helps so much." he replied sarcastically. Toothless curled around me as the sky darkened.

Humans are a piece of work.

—

It was almost funny, as I lived with dragons I had to be a heavy sleeper. Many types of dragons are nocturnal so they were often loud during the hours that they were awake. That and a lot of times hatchlings would sometimes snort fire while they slept. And yet, I awoke to footsteps.

I immediately reacted, jumping out of Toothless's embrace and grabbed the intruder by the arm. Shoving his socket up, I brought his hand around his back in one swift move and shoved my thumb into the pressure point at their neck.

He then yelled loudly which alerted Toothless.

"What in Thor's name are you doing?" Aster yelled. Oops.

Quickly releasing him I stepped back and pulled out my sword. While I could see just fine by the moonlight, I knew he couldn't.

"What was that for?" he complained and held a hand up to his eyes to block the light radiating off of my sword. I shrugged.

"Go lay back down." is all I told him before beginning to walk back to where Toothless was curled again, eyes half opened in annoyance and sleepiness.

He took a step towards me, a hand outstretched towards my hood, but I was already a step ahead of him. Dodging to the side I zipped around to his back. For a second he was baffled before he whipped around, his hand going to an empty belt.

His eyes spark in realization of something and he paused. "It was you!" he exclaims.

I cock my head in confusion.

"For the past couple of years there has been a dragon raiding ships. No one has ever caught the dragon as it moves too fast and creates large bursts of light. They named it the Bright Shadow as all it looks like is a black blur, but it's you!" he explains and it stuns me for a second.

And then I laugh.

I hadn't meant to, but I did and I instantly covered my face with my hands, even though it did no good as I was only covering my mask.

Now I remember him. He was the small boy that had almost caught me that one time so many years back. Also, they had named me the Bright Shadow, which I kinda liked.

Toothless began to snore but I'd have to tell him about this in the morning. Forcing the laughs down, I stood up straight.

And in an instant, his hands reaches towards my hood. Again. Vikings never learn.

I duck out of the way, stepping to the side.

"Odin's beard you're fast!" he says and steps back.

"Sleep." is all I reply before I dart around him and sit against Toothless. I watch as he pauses for a moment, catching up with my actions and turning around, his jaw set as he then stalks over to the patch of grass that was his bed and yanks the blanket over him to fight off the cold.

I try to fall asleep, tucking myself under Toothless's front paws and tuning myself into his heart beat but it does not good. This often happens to me, whenever I wake up I usually can't fall back asleep. Most of the time I'd go back down to the forge and begin hammering away. Maybe working on a prosthetic for a dragon or maybe something as small as a door hinge. The forge was one of my favorite places. The smell of the fire and the musk scent of ore made me feel right at home and I loved being able to create things. It was also one of the only things that almost connected me to Berk.

Mom's father had been a blacksmith and that was how she'd learned how to work in a forge. She'd become an apprentice of sorts but when her father died she stopped working in there. I'd never asked why.

Soon I watched the sun rise over the treetops and light up the world again.

"Morning." Toothless grumbled hours later.

"Hm." I grunt and stand up. "I was thinking we could maybe go back to the nest today."

"Good. It's been at least three weeks and I miss everyone." he yawned and stretched which then made me yawn.

"Let's get packing then." I say and pick my way across the camp. There really isn't much to to do, the only things to be done were to attach the packs to the saddle and wake up Aster.

Since when did he become Aster and not the human, or the man?

Hm, whatever.

Leaning over him I shook his shoulder. He mumbled and flipped over, wincing as he rolled onto his side. His eyes cracked open before he jumped at seeing me hunched over me. I pulled back and stood up, extending a hand which he took and winced again.

"Why did you wake me up?" he asks and stretches. He's seemed to grow at ease around me, though I can still tell by the way that he occasionally eyes Toothless that he's still wary of him. Toothless probably likes that.

"We're leaving." I say and grab the blanket, bundling it up in my arms.

"Why?" he asked but I just didn't respond. The small fire had gone out yesterday so I kicked the ashes around so that it was a bit harder to tell we'd been here. The only evidence of a camp was the small patch of burnt grass and the divot where Aster slept.

"Where are we going?" he asked, his voice becoming harder as I walked towards Toothless. He probably knew he wasn't going to get anything out of me and that he wouldn't be able to force the information out of me, so why was he still trying?

It didn't matter.

"He's going to have to ride you bud." I inform Toothless, no longer caring if Aster hears it.

"What was that?" Aster asks, suddenly tense.

"Really? Does he have to?" he complains and I smile behind my mask.

"Get on." I say and point to Toothless's saddle.

"No, there's something in the area." he protests.

"Get on." I grit my teeth. Why does he have to be so stubborn?

"No, I'm not getting on a dragon!" Aster exclaims, his voice anger filled and violent.

"On."

"No."

"On."

"No."

"O-N." I point to the saddle and Toothless snickers. "Oh shut up."

"Wait, you can talk to them?" Aster asks. Why are humans so curious? Forcefully grabbing his arm, I yanked him over to where I was standing. Toothless growled in the close proximity but Aster doesn't scream or run so that's a good start.

He jerks his arm away from me, sticking out his chin and clumsily climbing onto the saddle.

"At least he's amusing." Toothless huffs as I quickly jump on, settling myself at the front of the saddle and as far away from Aster as possible. I can tell the feeling is mutual as he's scooted himself as far away from me as he can. I should be offended, but I'm not. I don't care. If anything it boosts my pride, to spread fear into the eyes of a viking is an accomplishment only the highest ranking dragons can boast.

But, as soon as Toothless was in the air Aster grabbed onto me like a dying leaf to a tree. His hands wrapped their way securely around my waist as he hollered for his life.

"WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!" he screamed right in my ear and I wanted to push him away but then he'd fall off as we climbed up and up into the sky until we were above the clouds.

Even once we levels out his hands maintained their grip around my waist, though he wasn't too scared.

His hand timidly reached out and brushed the clouds and I heard a small breathy laugh which was good, but he still had his other hand wrapped around my waist. I cleared my throat which made him pull his hands away so quickly as if he'd been burned.

"Um, sorry." he mumbles before going back to his cloud watching. It isn't until an hour later that I become restless. Usually when flying Toothless and I entertain ourselves by practicing rolls or new tricks. Just recently I'd been practicing my own flying but I couldn't do that now.

After five more minutes gliding off on my own seemed a bit more of a better idea. I just couldn't sit still, especially since it was extra nerve wracking with Aster on the back.

Not that he was being particularly bad or annoying, in fact he seemed to be calm and… happy? I'm not good at reading emotions. But it was just strange, having someone I hadn't known for all of my life flying with me. I was used to that being the case with other dragons, but humans? A clump of dirt was probably more social than me.

So, I slipped off.

Vaguely I heard Aster scream but I fell fast and the wind whipped by my ears so it was impossible to hear.

Slipping my hands into the rings, I spread my hands out and stopped my descent, catching a gust of wind so I flew up past Toothless before settling just in front of him.

I could hear Aster's yells muffled by the wind and I could tell he was angry. I smiled.

"A boost please?" I called to Toothless who smiled. Using his snout he pushed me forwards and up a bit before blasting a bolt under me, bumping me up. Even though Aster was still sitting on Toothless's back I let out a whoop of joy as I flew up again before settling down in front of Toothless.

It might've been an hour that I was gliding next to Toothless, it's hard to tell time when I'm flying, but eventually my arms and legs crap up from being clenched so long so I let myself drift back to where Aster is still clutching the seat, his eyes closed and his jaw clenched.

Pulling my wings in I land gently on the saddle, yet still waking Aster who jumps at the sudden jarring. His eyes skirt away from mine and I shrug and turn around, sitting down on Toothless again.

"We're almost there. Wanna pick up the pace?" I ask as we pass a small island that signifies only a few more miles until the nest. Until home.

"Heck yeah!" he barks back before putting on a burst of speed. I smile, it's hard not to when flying. My hood had been thrown back long ago by the wind so I was enjoying a bit of fresh air that wafted through the air behind me.

I jerked to the side, holding the saddle to keep me on. Just beside me was Aster's outstretched hand, reaching as if to pull off my helmet. The urge to growl deep in my throat and show him who's boss is almost overwhelming, but I tame myself and turn around.

His jaw is clenched even tighter and light blue eyes have narrowed on me.

And so I do the only logical thing to do. I stare him down.

His stare is like a cold dagger, trying to bury itself in me. But my gaze is a sword which parries his swipe and knocks it from his hand. But also, what I find in his gaze is something that I'd never expected from a viking.

Curiosity and awe.

Of what?

My question is easily answered when I hear a roar behind me. "Welcome home!"

I pivoted around to see the dragon in question, a beautiful blue Nadder sidled alone beside us.

"Good to see you Stormfly!" Toothless calls as I also greet her.

"Why's there a human?" she asked, eyeing him up as he did the same to her.

"Eh, spoils of war." I joke. "Nah, there was a raid and he was injured. I couldn't just leave him there because long story short we were falling off a cliff so we had to take him with us. Plus, he seems to like you."

"Nah, Hicca just likes him." Toothless says and I instantly feel a burning on my face. It's similar to the feeling I'd gotten whenever I'd do something stupid or strange that every hatchling did. But it was different, more fluttering.

"I'd suggest you shut up Toothless?" Stormfly snorts

"I second the suggestion." I growl and dodge a hit from said dragon.

"Anyways, yeah. I'm not really sure what to do with him. Any ideas?" I turn to her.

"We should tell the King and Valka. For the mean time I can watch him in the forest." she offers and I smile.

"Thanks."

"How about down by the glow fish lake?" Toothless offers and we both agree. Moments later the nest is in sight. It's still just as magnificent, small blue and yellow flowers covering anywhere they can as spring is approaching. Nowhere I've been and nothing I've ever seen -and I'd seen a lot- could ever compare to the Nest. Ice and rock wove together beautifully, creating a mashing effect as green plants overflowed wherever they could. Most of the dragons were inside the huge island but occasionally a scaled and colored figure would slip out of the nest and fly off on duty.

"Whoa." I heard behind me. Yep, this viking was different. In a good way, of course.

We veered to the left, brushing over the pine trees that made up the small forest. In the center of the area of pines was a crystal clear lake which long, pale fish slithered in, just barely cutting the water above them. Green algae also took over much of the pond and banks.

Toothless dipped down and landed near the banks in the clearing that faced the large mountain of a nest.

Slipping off, I flipped my hood up before rubbing under Stormfly's chin in greeting. When I heard both dragons chuckling I turned around to see Aster unsteadily climbing off of the saddle. His legs wobbled and shook and I couldn't understand why.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked Stormfly. She'd once been captured by some vikings before Toothless and I had rescued her and several others, so she'd know more about humans that I would.

"He's tired and I'm sure he's not used to flying for hours on end so it's probably normal." she shrugs. "Wait, why am I answering the question, you are the human." she pointed out and I just smile and shake my head.

"So you really can talk to them." Aster observes and I nod. "How?"

Now that one catches me off guard.

"Always have." I say before hopping onto Toothless again. "Stay here."

I don't wait for a response before we're already shooting off towards the nest.

"Great social skills. I'm sure mom's proud." Toothless says sarcastically and I just swat at him.

"Mom! Cloudjumper!" I call through the tunnels as we weave our way through the rock tunnels, half gliding, half jumping from rock to rock as we make our way towards the center of the nest.

"Welcome home!" a couple dragons call and I yell back but continue on, jumping from ice to rock to back on Toothless who's flying throughout the huge space.

"Here!" I hear a voice behind me and I push myself onto Toothless as mom and Cloudjumper appear beside us.

Mom had changed over the years, adopting an outfit similar to mine only with a brown and blue coloring. Plus, her mask was different with four large horns sprawling outwards from the back instead of two like mine which were made to look like Toothless's horns. Her eyes were also covered with a thin cloth and so was the hole for her mouth. She also had a staff that served as almost leverage so that she could grasp onto talons, swing around on horns or use it as a weapon with the pointed edges. Designed and made by yours truly.

"Where have you been missy?" I ask but Toothless spreads his wings and I reach towards the end of mom's staff, pulling myself onto it and stepping on the end as she pulls me up. Both of us are much stronger than we should be, and I don't really weigh that much, especially for someone who's pure muscle.

"Oh, yanno. One of Dagger Wing's gears broke so I've been repairing it. Usual stuff." she said and hugged me. I buried my face into the furs that flopped on her back, smelling the familiar scent of ash and ore, plus a hint of pine.

"So! I have a couple of design ideas-"

"Mom."

"Also, Cinder's leg is rusting so we should probably take care of that-"

"Mom."

"Oh, and a couple of Spitters hatched so we need to go see them-"

"MOM."

"What?" she asked and paused. "Oh, sorry. We've just missed you." she says and pulls me into another hug.

"Yeah, I know. I missed you too, but I have… news." I said and pulled back from the hug as she furrowed her brows.

"Hicca has a pet human." Toothless snickers and I wheel around to face him.

"Well you're not helping." I glare at him before turning around to mom.

"Human?" she asks and I nod shyly.

"The thing was, we were flying, and there was a raid, and people looked like they were in trouble so I went down to help. And then I saw this guy, and he was backed against a cliff with a bunch of Nightmares surrounding him, and they were pretty pissed. And so yeah, he got injured and then we kind of fell off a cliff?" I say and mom laughs.

"It's alright kiddo." she says and ruffles my hair. I sigh at the familiar gesture. So she's not mad.

"Where is he now?" she asks and begins turning around, eyes scanning the nest.

"I'm having StormFly watching him for now down by the glow fish pond." I inform her with a smile. "So, what should we do with him?"

"Well," she pauses. Something flashes across her face, a mix between pain and sadness but she shakes it off quickly.

I'd learned that she did that whenever unwanted memories came back. They used to happen a lot more, but this is one of the rare occasions when a frown graces her face and her eyes cloud over. "how about you talk to him. Introduce him to dragons, then we'll go from there. I can inform the King."

"Should I go now? Just me?" I gulp. At least mom had lived some of her life with humans, while I over here had spent my days not touching any living creature besides dead fish and dragons. And occasionally mom and I hug but that's usually when one or the other comes home from a trip.

"Yes just you. I think we should go one person at a time. Once you're sure that he's okay, you may bring him to the nest." she smiles and I smiles back.

"Awesome!" I yell and jump on Toothless.

"Be back before sunset!" she calls and I nod before we're out through one of the hatches in the ceiling. Conversations held while flying were normal for us.

Toothless and I quickly whip towards the pond, flying silently into the line of trees surrounding the dirt clearing. Crouching low, I slid off of Toothless and edged towards the clearing, observing as pulled on my helmet and flicked my hood up.

Aster was sitting on the ground, a stick in front of him as he drew in the dirt. StormFly was curled up in a ball a bit aways from him, steam occasionally rising out of her nostrils.

Creeping my way towards him, I leaned over his shoulder to see what he was drawing. It seemed to be a crude drawing of StormFly, though the face was off, it was good. He still hadn't noticed me so I backed up before grabbing a small pebble and flicking it right at him.

He whipped around, a hand flying to his belt and groping for what I assumed was his missing axe.

"Oh, it's just you." he sighed before pushing himself up. StormFly's head snapped up, taking in us.

"I assume you've got it?" she asks and I nod as she takes off.

There's a loud pause. I'd never thought pauses could be so loud. The sun is beginning to sink towards the horizon. Living with dragons, quiet moments were rare and peaceful. Not this… awkward.

"So," he begins and kicks the dirt of his drawing around. "you have kidnapped me. What are you gonna do now?" he asks and his pale blue eyes lock with mine which are hidden to him.

What was I going to do with him? Let's figure that out later.

"So you're saying you're a kid?" I ask and he looks at me in surprise before protesting.

"NO! It's just, that's what it's called. You, kidnapper." he says and swiftly lunges at me. There was no anger in his words, as I could tell that he only meant to catch me off guard as to maybe unmask me.

Sadly, Toothless didn't know this. He leapt from the edges of the forest, snarling and growling, his eyes narrowed into slits and he whacked Aster back with his tail and sending him stumbling backwards.

"I knew this was a bad idea." he growled as he wrapped himself around me.

"This was not a bad idea! He wasn't going to hurt me, and do you think I couldn't handle him on my own?" I ask and tap my foot as he relaxes.

"Sorry." he mumbles and looks down like a kicked dog.

"It's fine." I crouch next to him and scratch behind his ear. "I just don't want to see him hurt as we both know he'd be as good as dead if he tried wrestling." I told him as he smiled and flicked his tail.

"Fine, I'll go back to the nest, but just send up a flare when you need me." he says as he sends one last glare to Aster before taking off.

Aster is left sitting there awkwardly, eyes wide as he observed us.

"He's protective." I explain as Aster chuckles.

"That's putting it lightly." he nods his head and a hand reflexively goes to rub my neck. Some of the tension is drained from the air.

"So Dragon Girl," he says. "you live with them?"

I nod.

"Why?" he asks.

"Always have. Always will." I shrug and shift my weight. His eyes were practically boring holes into me and I couldn't say that it wasn't making me nervous and fidgety.

More silence. Sometimes I would long for silence like the silence I would get with flying or when the rare times when no one in the nest is making a sound. I would never long for this silence. That, is guaranteed.

"Can you take off your mask? I'd like to know who my captor is without being blasted to the next island." he says and I stop myself from recoiling or growling.

"You wouldn't like what you'd see." I reply, crouching down beside him so that my cloak fanned out around me.

"What, are you scarred or something? I've got a few scars myself, but it can't be that bad." he raises an eyebrow which I take as a challenge.

Standing up straight I flick off my hood and unbuckle the mask before pulling it off. At first I shake out my hair, leaving my eyes closed. But when I open them, they're instantly attracted to his gaze where they're locked.

The silence is back. Ugh, can't I just slice it up into pieces and throw it in the pond? The fish would probably like it.

AN: Sorry for the bit of a late update (to be fair it's still the 14th here) but yeah! Thanks for the comments and encouragement and please R&R.

Toothless lover 13: Well the King kind of gave Valka and Hicca part of himself (sounds wrong I know shut up) which then integrated into their appearance and mind, hence giving them the ability to talk.

And sorry if I don't respond to your comment, I just think it's a bit easier to answer just the questions. Also, if you do have a question or critique (be nice) I'd love to hear it! Hope you enjoyed reading!