I can't wait for the weekend…then I can write all day. It's my stress reliever! Don't own HTTYD. Sorry if it's a slow chapter…and if its rough. I submit it as soon as I write it! Hope it's good…

~Hiccup~

"Fate has been altered." Her voice washed over me like water, pushing away the pain I had been feeling. Toothless' steady beat rocked me to sleep and I barely fought the darkness. And then, there was her voice.

"You have changed your path forever." I wanted to ask a question, but I didn't know how. I was half awake, half asleep. My body was numb, but I wasn't dreaming…was I?

"Listen, young Rider." There was a pause. "The trail ahead is lengthy, and strenuous. But by taking a leap of faith, you altered yourself the moment you chose to defend your friend with your life." This must be a dream. It had to be! What else could it be? And why was she rambling? "Point is, you made a difference, a change Fate had not anticipated. From now on, everything is in the wind. And up to you." She laughed; her voice was like wind chimes in a storm. "You are special, young one. And with this change in fate, you will finally grow to your full potential. You have a gift, rider. Use it well…" Her voice trailed off.

I groaned and tried to move. It was hard, my body still unbelievingly numb. There was a hard thump and it rattled me so I opened my good eye blurrily. My other eye seemed to be glued shut and crusty, and I didn't want to risk the pain of opening it. What a weird dream, I thought as I sat up slowly. Wait, what was it about anyway? There was just someone talking…what had she said? I shrugged off the dream and looked around as best I could.

Toothless had just landed us in the small clearing we had met at. It was dark now, the sun well gone. No doubt they would still be looking for us though…I tried to move my leg and groaned in pain. My leggings were stuck to me, and I could feel a hot liquid pouring from my thighs. Oh god…Toothless moaned and tried to see me to make sure I was okay. He probably smelled the blood. And with the realization, the pain came back like I was hit with Thor's hammer.

My eye ached, and stung and was on fire. My thighs were torn, pain ripping through my body. "Toothless…" I muttered. "I need your help getting off…" Suddenly, Toothless sat down and when I didn't move, he tilted over. He fell along with me, hitting the soft ground with a thunk. The grass smelled of dirt…but I guess it was really the dirt that smelled like dirt and the grass just smelled like grass. I struggled to move into a sitting position, legs out and spread before me.

"Toothless…bring the pack." My voice sounded hoarse. He sniffed for a moment, coming closer and putting his nose to my head. His breath ruffled my hair and I chuckled. Toothless stood slowly, walking away and causing the ground to shake a little.

'wooly-headed human…' he seemed to say as he turned and eyed me with a yellow-green eye.

I groaned and I tried to stay awake. "You're Loki's spawn! Useless reptile…" I smiled as he seemed to raise an eyebrow at me. He huffed into the air and began to drag the wicker basket towards me. My head was light…I guess from lack of blood. I was really; really lucky I left my pack here with my stuff in it. Toothless scuffled before me and before I could stop him, tipped the basket over on the good part of my legs. We stared at each other for a second before I smiled weakly.

"Thanks for dumping my shit out for all to see. That's great."

He cocked his head and pressed down an ear. I swear I could hear him say, 'what's shit?' I just chuckled and began to search through my things. The pile consisted of the essentials really: A money bag filled with bronze and a few silver pieces, an extra pair of clothes, including a thicker pair of pants and a coat, which were mostly green and brown. A fishing pole, plain and small with two flint rocks; though I doubt ill need them when with Toothless. My journal and my charcoal pencil were there also. I had some bread and fruit in another small bag. A dagger was settled between a small hammer and a few pieces of leather for Toothless' saddle in case it broke. And then, the first aid kit. Gods am I lucky. I grabbed it and pulled out some gauze as Toothless plopped beside me on the right.

So, I got to work. I brought out some alcohol I had taken from dad and poured it on my eye. Yes, it was stupid. And it hurt like a bitch. I screamed as I did so, causing Toothless to look up in alarm. I tried to reassure him through clenched teeth and he finally set his head down again. Then I grabbed the wrap and pulled it around my head and across my eye tightly. I sighed as I tied it off in the back. The pressure was good, and my eye had stopped bleeding finally though it leaked a little. I wondered if I would ever be able to see from it again as I pocked my leg and hissed.

Toothless gave me a sad look again, as if saying 'sorry'

I smiled at him. "Not your fault. Just…" I paused and looked at my legs. "Help me pull my leggings off?" He rolled his eyes and stood, walking to my feet. He grabbed my leggings with his teeth and I grabbed my end. "Ready?" He nodded. "Go!" He pulled, and I pushed. Unfortunately, it didn't end the way I wanted. My leggings ended up ripping and tearing off of me, revealing my bleeding thighs. I sighed and Toothless gave me a funny look. "Hey, I happened to like these things!" He rolled his eyes again and came back to lie at me side. Well, at least they were off. I did the same, pouring alcohol and then wrapping my thighs tightly. I was banged up, and I was sure I had some gnarly bruise on my arms after that hit from the axe…I pulled on my other pants gingerly and threw the leggings away, them being useless now. As I was pulling on my thick jacket, (it got cold up there!) I looked to Toothless.

"Leg." He looked at me, and then back to his left leg. I narrowed my eyes. "Come onnn!" I whined and he finally stuck out his black limb. I glanced to him and got to work on tying the rest of the gauze around the wound. As soon as it was done, Toothless reached down to sniff it. "Don't touch." I muttered as I lay back, eyeing the stars.

'Why not?'

"Because if you touch it, it might come off. And I don't have any gauze left…" I had even packed extra! Well, I hadn't expected us to be so wounded. I looked over t Toothless, who had the same worried look in his eyes as I probably did. "It'll be okay, right?"

He looked over to me and smiled in his weird way. 'Of course' I imagined him saying. 'I'm a dragon! I'll take care of us.' I smiled at my weirdness. Maybe I was still hallucinating a bit; I had lost a lot of blood. I struggled to get up and Toothless followed me.

"We have to get off the island." He seemed to agree, so I grabbed the saddle and hobbled over to him, sliding it on his back and buckling it in place. It was night, but we had to get to another island. I can stay awake enough for that, right? I began to pack my things up, feeling nostalgic. Maybe one day we can come back, at least to see if they had stopped being so prejudiced. Was it like that everywhere? Judging people or animals on what they looked like?

I put the lid on the basket and struggled to walk to the impatient dragon. He huffed at me, and I groaned. "I'm injured here!" Not to mention, it was unbalancing using only one eye. I strapped the basket to the side of his saddle and swung onto is back, sliding my feet into the rests. He flicked me with his ear and I leaned against his back. Ready, I thought.

Toothless once again took off into the sky, leaving behind the only home I had ever known. I turned around as we leveled out in the blackness, watching the flickering of Berks' lights. This was it. We were leaving, going farther than either one of us ever has. It was so easy; I almost expected an invisible wall to crop up suddenly. But this was all. I turned back to the front, flinching as the leather saddle rubbed against my thighs. We rode in the night sky, silent and dark as the clouds above us. Stars glittered in the sky, reflecting off the sea as I looked down. We were free now. It was just Toothless and I, striking off to places unknown.

I felt elated, in a sense. We were free! We could go anywhere, I know it. I put my hand on Toothless' black scales in front of me. "We're doing it buddy." I felt him hum in happiness. He probably felt pent up, grounded because of me most of the time. And now…we could go anywhere. It didn't mean I wasn't sad. Of course I was. I left behind everything I ever knew. But you know what? I gained something more important than that. Toothless was okay, and we were here together, flying like always.

I shifted my foot down a position as Toothless went higher into the sky, brushing the dark clouds with his wings. But, where would we go? We had the whole world to explore. Where first?

'Wherever we want.' Toothless' voice echoed in my head. Right, wherever we want.

~snore~

I groaned and moved to my side, trying to block out the sudden brightness that was attacking my good eye. For a moment, I was comfortable. Until I realized I was no longer warm as I was earlier. What the heck happened? I opened my eye and glared at the huge shadow above me. Toothless stood, eying me with a surprised look, his wing hovering over me. Oh, yeah that's right.

We had found another island. It was small, but it had enough game on it to hunt, which is what Toothless wanted most of all. I had settled down in a camp, making a small fire. The dragon had drug back a deer and began to munch on it as I fished. I caught one, ate it and lay down on the cold dirt. I had forgotten to pack a blanket, of course. After a few minutes of shivering trying to sleep next to the fire, Toothless had scooted closer to me and wrapped his wing around me. Immediate warmth spread over me, and I slept like Gobber.

And now, I was awake! I growled at Toothless, trying to look intimidating with only one eye. "Hey!" The dragon just seemed to smile at me as he curled his wing into his body.

'You sleep too much. Sunrise was almost three hours ago.' I groaned and began to stand slowly. Then I stopped, half crouched and stared at Toothless. I was still hallucinating?

"What?" Toothless just cocked his head at me. Okay, right. Dragons can't talk. Silly me. I scolded myself as I stood on shaky legs. I began to tip over and black scales stopped me abruptly. "Thanks, Tooth." I pushed myself up and the dragon watched me with wary eyes. I stretched and yawned loudly. As I did, I brought my hand above my head and turned to the side. Yuck…I lowered my arm slowly and looked to Toothless.

"I'm going to go take a bath. You okay to wait?" He nodded and looked to the woods. I got the feeling he was going to go hunting and I smiled, sliding off my jacket. "I'll be back." I felt his eyes on my back as I walked away towards the lake or pond I had spotted while we were flying over.

'Be safe' I raised my hand over my shoulder in a goodbye wave and I felt Toothless turn to the forest in preparation for the hunt. Time to go wash in a lake (hopefully) not too far from here.

~break~

I looked at my reflection in the water. I had taken my clothing off, including my wraps, and was now eyeing myself in the lake. My eye was a mess. I was lucky, I guess, that the axe didn't hit right on. The red, puffy line ran from just above my eyebrow to my cheekbone, and it was far enough to the right that it barely passed over the corner of my eye. Still, my eye was swollen and I couldn't peel my lids off each other. It hurt like a mother too. My thighs were in bad shape as well. They were rubbed raw, and in several places they had started to bleed.

I lowered myself into the cold water, hissing at the temperature and the touch on my wounds. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself, trying to get used to the cold. Then I realized the more I stayed, the colder I would get. Taking a big gulp of air, I dived underwater, shutting my good eye. I floated for a moment, reveling in the serenity. It was quiet below the surface, quiet and serene. For a moment, it was dark and safe, like a womb and my thoughts strayed to Berk.

We had left, just got up and left. It was sudden, and I was still getting over the shock, not to mention my own dad hit me with the sharp side of an axe. We were gone. It took a while to sink in. Everything I knew…Nothing out here I knew about. Maybe I could remember a bit of the stories from the north east, but Toothless and I were going the opposite way, south west. The world could be huge, and so much to explore. What would we do though? Where would we go?

My lungs began to scream for air and I burst from the freezing water, flinching at the air hitting my right eye. I quickly scrubbed my skin as best I could, trying to wash off. I shuffled over to the shore as my feet began to go numb and grabbed my wraps. They were bloody and I washed them as well, scrubbing each side together with shaking hands. Finally, I could stand the cold no longer. I leapt out of the water and grabbed my clothes, not bothering to put them on as I walked through the forest. All I wanted was to get the fire started…

When I emerged from the forest and into camp, Toothless was already eating another identifiable animal. He stared at me for a moment as I stood, shivering and naked. Then he puckered his lips and with a high scream, blew a puff of fire at the stack of wood I had gathered yesterday. I sighed with happiness and draped my wraps across a tree branch, letting them dry as best I could. I crouched near the fire, warming my numb hands first.

The black dragon across from the fire eyed me for a moment before turning back to his breakfast. I smiled and motioned to the fire.

"Thanks for the warmth Toothless." One eye looked up at me and blinked while he munched. I hummed for a moment. "We should get a map somewhere…we need to know where we're going at least." He ate passively, giving no sign he even heard me. So how did I know he agreed? I bit my lip. This has been going on for a while, this weird…sense. I didn't know what it was, and it was freaking me out. At first, I could barely read the dragon. And now…I eyed the black form. He seemed to realize my distress because he chewed slowly, perking his head and ears up as he caught my gaze.

He seemed to be asking what I was doing. How did I know that? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The air smelled of pine needles and sap, and salty sea air. Toothless…I thought for a moment. He was my best friend, right? So it would be natural that I could understand him a bit, after all, he couldn't talk…I opened my eyes and smiled at Toothless. For a moment, he seemed confused, and then he just rolled his eyes and began to eat again.

"So, a map. To get a map, we need to find civilization. Maybe I can see a healer about my eye…" Toothless grunted in agreement. For a few minutes, the only sound was Toothless crunching on bones and meat. I sighed and stood up, grabbing my clothes and slipping them on. Sure, I was still a little drippy but it was better than being naked and cold. I shoved my brown boots on and tucked my pants in happily. We were free. I walked over to the other side of the fire and sat down, my back resting against Toothless' form as he ate slowly. The sun was rising in the sky, shining it's light down on the creatures and plants of the earth.

I don't know how long we sat there. It could have been minutes, or weeks. I felt like I could turn to stone in this position. It was peaceful, the breeze blowing through the trees gently. I was here, with Toothless. The dragon had finished eating too, and was gazing around lazily like me. We breathed together, we shifted together, I even felt our hearts beating as one. His warm scales rubbed against my back, but not uncomfortably. It was safe here. No one was trying to kill Toothless in these woods, no one would be searching for him. I didn't have to pretend to be someone or something I'm not. In here, I wasn't Hiccup Haddock the third, or Hiccup the Useless. I wasn't a Viking in these woods, or a dragon killer, or the disappointing son of the chief. I was Hiccup, and I was with Toothless. Just me and my best friend.

The sun had moved the next time I looked. It wasn't above us anymore, it was behind us a bit. I guessed it was about two in the afternoon. Time had no grasp here though, and I leaned against toothless once more, enjoying his company. He hummed deeply in his throat, peaceful.

The peace was shattered by a loud growl. I fell backwards on the ground as Toothless jumped up, his head swinging side to side, searching for the enemy. For a second, all was quiet. Then I started to laugh from my place on he ground, arms spread wide. Toothless glanced at me, back to the woods and then relaxed a bit. His yellow eyes glared at me, questioning why the heck was I laughing. I smiled at him as he leered over me.

"It was my stomach, Tooth." I smiled as he pulled his head up in disbelieve.

'What? Your stomach wants to fight?' I laughed more, closing my one good eye as it started to water.

"I'm just hungry." He paused for a moment, and then darted down, shoving his nose against my stomach.

'Why'd it make that noise?' I laughed and pushed his black nose away. I smiled for a moment, worried about my sanity. Toothless was…talking? Kind of? Not really though, it was more like…

I snapped out of my confused thoughts. Why did it matter anyway? I sighed. "I'm going to eat the bread and apple I brought, then we should leave." Toothless looked at me, almost like he was saying something, but it didn't come through. I didn't hear anything, which was good I guess. I mean, hearing voices is bad I know that much. Toothless seemed to agree though, so I stood slowly on shaky legs. My thighs hurt so much! I felt them crack and Toothless whined as I made my way to the pile of basket and saddle. I couldn't keep toothless in that thing all day long, not to mention he got really itchy and grumpy when we did. I grabbed out my small bag of food and slid to the ground.

I was banged up pretty bad, and I knew Toothless hurt too. My leg was still throbbing, which I was really curious about. The dragon would often be seen limping in a sorts, although I'm sure with time it would heal. He got that wound defending me though. I felt a bit of guilt from that. I bit into a piece f bread, the sun lowering itself in the sky.

It was very peaceful here, and I liked it. We didn't have to do anything, just eat and make sure we didn't freeze at night, which toothless took care of well. We could lounge all day long if we wanted. I smiled at the Toothless, and for a moment he just stared at me. Then he rolled on his back and eyed me from upside down. I laughed loudly, scaring some birds into taking flight. Toothless made a laughing sound as well, almost like he was gasping for air and whining at the same time.

I like it here. And every day, toothless and I were getting closer and closer together.

We needed to travel more though, and put distance between us and the Vikings. And Toothless and I can explore the world to the west. There was sure to be some interesting things there…