I LIIIIVE! I am alive and on fire baby! Sorry about the long wait, but here it is! Another beautiful chapter posted! Maybe now Toothless won't try to eat me or set me on fire anymore. It was really awkward to explain to my landlord why my apartment was on fire when I don't even own a stove. (I live in a place with a shared kitchen down the hall.)

Anyway, ON WITH THE SHOW!

~o0O0o~

It took several hours to convince the injured Night Fury to come to the village for help. Toothless couldn't carry both the girl and the dragon and the dragon refused to leave the unconscious girl's side. So Hiccup and Toothless flew to the village as fast as they could for back up when they met Astrid and the group walking towards the Dragon Training stadium. Toothless came in for a less than perfect landing and Hiccup scrambled off the black dragon.

"What's going on?" Astrid was the first to speak. Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut and Fishlegs murmured in agreement. It wasn't everyday they saw Hiccup like this. After a quick explanation, the group set off to Raven Point.

When they found the clearing, the injured dragon had moved the girl off the rocks and was cradling her, good wing draped over her like a protective blanket. It growled menacingly at the sight of the other dragons, tightening its hold on the girl as the humans approached. Fishlegs could barely contain his excitement.

"It's a female Night Fury! Hiccup, it's a female Night Fury!" he all but squealed at the Chief's son, who looked at him in shock.

"A female? How do you know?" he looked from the female Night Fury to Toothless. Fishlegs puffed up his chest.

"Females are always smaller than the males and they have noticeably longer tailfins," he smiled happily, "see the size difference?" It was true. The injured Night Fury was much smaller compared to Toothless.

"What's that she's holding?" Snotlout wondered out loud taking a step back as the female dragon growled low in her throat.

"A girl. I think she might have been the rider," Hiccup inched closer, Toothless at his heels just in case the female thought to do something stupid, like attack. She growled but that was all.

"Alright dragon, I'm gonna need you to help us out okay?" he ease the wing open revealing the girl. She was bleeding from a cut on the head, the red life mixing in with her red hair. She was covered in dirt, bruises and scratches and her middle was soaked with blood. The dragon whined low in her throat and nudged the girl's head softly. Hiccup smiled and reached forward, grabbing the girl gently and gave her to Fishlegs to hold. He and his Gronkle, Meatlug would fly the girl home. Hiccup and Snotlout would carry the injured Night Fury home while the rest made sure to catch anyone on case they fell.

The female Night Fury whined as Fishlegs hovered, holding the girl close. She was clearly worried about the safety of her rider. Hiccup mounted Toothless and Snotlout hopped on his Nightmare, Hookfang. Together the whole group made their way back to the village where the people sat high alert. The famous Viking Heroes didn't just disappear without warning unless something had happened. The female Night Fury immediately began growling at anyone who came too close, attempting to stand but failing miserably.

"What's all this here?" Stoic roared as he made his way through the crowd. The injured Night Fury sent a small blast of fire at Stoic's feet as he got too close to the red-headed girl, stopping him in his tracks. She growled low in her throat and crawled over to the girl, still held by Fishlegs. Hiccup ran to his father, stepping in between him and the female dragon.

"They're both injured. This dragon is afraid for her rider," he said as the village healer came running forward, ignoring the growling dragon before leaned over the unconscious girl. She stroked her face, measured her breathing and checked her pulse. The female Night Fury growled louder this time and the healer took her staff and bonked the black dragon on the head with a loud 'bonk!' The dragon blinked and stared stunned at the old woman.

"Oh hush up! She's alive but needs me'ical attention right now! Fishlegs, if yeh'll take her to mah house," the old lady motioned Fishlegs to follow but stopped at the panicked roar of the injured dragon. The healer eyed the black, bleeding dragon before shrugging and pointed to Stoic and Gobber standing in the crowd with a wrinkly old finger, "You two! Carry de poor beast to mah house as well. If dis one 'ere is anythin' like Toothless, she'll wanna stay by her rider's side," she smiled and hobbled her way to her house as Stoic and Gobber carefully carried the injured dragon; Hiccup ran along saying calm things to the spooked dragon but her attentions were on the girl in Fishlegs' arms.

The dragon had not moved since the girl had been taken care of and was now resting next to the unconscious girl's bed. She lay curled around the bed, black head resting beside the girl's arm. After they had brought her in, the old healer had shoo'd all the men out to care and clean the young girl. Astrid had been allowed to stay and help, fetching the water, sending for more bandages and holding the dragon down as the healer stitched up several of the larger cuts.

Never had Astrid, in all of her dragon training from before dragons were friends, seen so much blood. The bandages soaked up the red liquid and the water had to be changed regularly. The room stank of the coppery stench and it was so thick in the air, Astrid could have sworn she tasted the iron on her tongue. But the healer either ignored it or was so used to it she didn't notice for she continued to work, smearing healing balms of different colors on the cuts, stitching up the larger wounds and bandaging them, all in less than an hour.

After the healer had finished her work, she stepped out and let in Hiccup and Toothless. The male Night Fury inched forward and nudged the girl slightly. The female growled quietly but made no move to stop them. Hiccup took a seat beside Astrid and silently watched the dragons watch the unconscious girl.

She had blood red hair tied back into a thick plait, courtesy of the healer, that hung over her shoulder down to her waist. What skin wasn't marred by dark bruises was pale, dusted lightly with freckles across her button nose. Bandages wrapped around her forehead and most of her arms. The blanket covered everything else so Hiccup didn't know what sort of injuries the girl had.

"What do you think happened to her?" Astrid broke the silence, staring at the sleeping girl in the bed. Hiccup shrugged.

"She had to get 25 stitches across her stomach," Astrid continued, "and 19 on her back. Because of three long claw marks. Three!" Astrid sighed and held her head in her hands, "There was so much blood." Hiccup looked shocked, from Astrid to the girl lying in bed.

44 stitches total?! Hiccup looked to see the female Night Fury nudge the girl's arm, looking like a kicked puppy.

It was the next day before the girl finally woke up. And the first thing she'd done was attack the first person she saw, Gobber. Poor Gobber had just come into the healer's house to get some medicine for his stump of a leg. She'd awoken and promptly grabbed the fire poker and banged Gobber over the head with it. Luckily he was wearing his helmet but it still sent him to the ground, dazed as a new-born babe. The girl ran for the door, her dragon on her heels and yanked it open only to be blinded by the sudden sunlight. The people walking around doing their own thing stopped and stared at the girl holding a poker. Hiccup was among the spectators.

"Hey you're finally up? How are you fee-Whoa!" he stepped back just in time to keep his head. The girl swung the poker at him, falling into a defensive stance he didn't recognize. Her moment didn't last long as Toothless bounded out from wherever he'd been hiding, knocking the girl flat on her back; the poker flew out of her hands and slid beyond her reach. The girl froze under the Night Fury, staring up into its green eyes, pupils slit like a cat's. Her dragon growled at Toothless but lowered herself to the ground. This seemed to calm the girl and Hiccup pushed Toothless off her.

"Hey you ok?" Hiccup offered the girl a hand up but she leaned on her dragon as she stood. She nodded and looked around petting her dragon absentmindedly.

"Where am I?"