Chapter Eleven

A/N: A semi-humorous chapter (although it's anything but light-hearted), including one very stubborn "useless reptile" and his total lack of ability to keep Hiccup from leaving the island... XD But it does serve to further the plot, so just bear with me.

Toothless coos curiously from where he's perched in the rafters of Hiccup's room. The black dragon tilts his head, eyeing Hiccup with bid, emerald eyes. What is his Rider doing...?

Hiccup finishes strapping on his riding gear, fumbling with the sometimes-awkward shoulder guards. He then drags Toothless's saddle out from under the bed and turns to face his dragon. "Come on down, bud." He says, marveling at how his voice doesn't break that time. Although it still hurts quite a bit... At least it's improving.

Toothless coos again but remains out of reach, his tail flicking back and forth as he watches with mild confusion.

Hiccup arcs an eyebrow. "Toothless," He says, exasperated. For some reason, he's feeling increasingly irritable. Maybe it's the fact that they have to sneak out because his father is so short-sighted. Maybe it's because of the obnoxious pounding in his head. Or maybe it's something else entirely. All he knows, is he wants to leave as soon as possible so they can just get the Book and get home before anyone notices they're gone. So why won't Toothless move? "Come on, Toothless!" He groans. "Down!"

The Night Fury only drones and recedes further back out of his friend's reach.

Hiccup sighs. "What's the matter with you?" He demands. "We need to go! Astrid is waiting for us so we can go retrieve the Book of Dragons!"

Clearly, Toothless doesn't care. He lays down, resting his head in his paws before letting out one, long-and oddly annoying-yawn.

"Toothless!" Hiccup hisses, glaring at the dragon. "What's gotten into you?!"

Suddenly, the Night Fury lets out a growl. He drops down to the floor with a thump and snakes over to his Rider. His pupils are mere slits, conveying the irritation the dragon is feeling as well. He growls again as he looms over Hiccup, glaring him down.

"Toothless...?" Hiccup squeaks.

Without warning, the dragon opens his huge jaws to reveal toothless gums. He bites down on Hiccup's riding gear and tugs him, hard. Hiccup stumbles for a few steps and Toothless yanks him again. After one more tug, Hiccup trips over something and falls backwards, landing on his bed.

Only then does Toothless let go and back off, his pupils growing wide with satisfaction. He purrs and lays down again, on the floor this time.

Hiccup is bewildered. What was that all about?! He frowns as suspicion pokes at the corner of his mind. "Oh, don't tell me..." He murmurs. "Not you too, Toothless! Come on, I feel fine! We need to get that Book back!"

Toothless drones and wraps his tail around to cover his face. With his back leg, he shoves Hiccup down onto the bed, telling him-in his own way-to get some rest.

"Come on, Toothless! Who's side are you on, here?!"

Toothless doesn't respond.

Hiccup pries himself off the bed and sinks to the floor, kneeling beside his dragon. "Listen," He begins. "I don't think you understand the severity of what will happen if we don't get the Book back from Dagur."

At the sound of his enemy's name, Toothless snarls.

Taken aback, Hiccup recoils for a moment. He doesn't want me to be near Dagur again...in his own, stubborn way, he's trying to keep me safe... "If there's a war, more people will die! It doesn't have to be that way." He continues, regardless. "We could stop it before it begins! All we need to do is-"

Toothless wiggles himself down to the floor and closes his eyes, no longer listening. He cares more about Hiccup than some silly war that they would win anyway! They have dragons, for Thor's sake! Dagur just has human soldiers.

"UGH!" Hiccup jumps to his feet, more than frustrated. "Fine then!" He barks. "You stay here. I don't like the thought of Dagur finding you anyway..." He pauses but shakes his head. "I'll just ride with Astrid on Stormfly." With that, he turns and runs for the door before Toothless can stop him.

Toothless's eyes snap open. He said what-now?

Hiccup is already halfway down the stairs when his dragon grabs him again. Only this time, when Toothless forces him upstairs, he sits down and lowers his head, obediently. No way is Hiccup going anywhere as dangerous as Berserker Island without him... Besides, this way, he might get another chance to toast Dagur...

Hiccup stares at him for a moment. "Wait...are you...?"

Toothless growls, angrily and swats his Rider's head with his tail. Yes. He's agreeing to go. Now, could he just hurry up so they can get this over with?!

Hiccup smiles, warmly. "Thanks, bud. I knew I could count on you." With that, leads the dragon downstairs and hops into the saddle. "Let's go. Astrid should be at the beach by now."

Toothless growls a little and smacks Hiccup's cheek with his ear before fanning open his wings and ascending into the sky, rather quickly. Once they've reached the cloud level, he straightens out...but only for a moment. Apparently, if Hiccup is going to be stubborn and masochistic (not to mention suicidal), Toothless is going to make sure he knows just how 'happy' he is to be the one carrying him off to certain death...

Hiccup screams as Toothless suddenly whips around into a nose-dive, barreling straight toward the water. He doesn't slow down until they're inches above its glossy surface. Even then, the icy ocean swallows them for a moment before Toothless jumps back out.

Hiccup shakes his head, freeing his eyes from the water. "Toothless!" He gasps. "What are you doing?!"

Toothless growls.

Hiccup stares at him in immense confusion. "Oh, I get it!" He grumbles, crying out in shock as Toothless splashes under the surface again before twirling back into the sky. But the viking only smirks, accepting the challenge. He sits forward in the saddle, white-knuckling his grip. "Fine! Have your little tantrum. Just make sure we get to the beach once you're done."

Toothless drones, a little dragonesque smile curling the corners of his mouth. Tantrum? Thor, is he gonna regret saying that...

Nearly twenty minutes later, Toothless has just finished another dead-fall straight into the water from the highest peak he could find. That makes a total of...seven times he's done that? Or maybe eight. He's lost count. And at this point, his Rider's exhaustion is nearly tangible. Maybe he's gone a little overboard... After all, Hiccup did just wake up from being strangled into unconsciousness... Great. Now he feels guilty...

Deciding to finally give it a rest, Toothless glides up to the beach, as gently as possible. As they approach, he finds Astrid and Stormfly's figures waiting for them, just as Hiccup had said. Astrid sees them and waves.

"Took you long enough!" She shouts as they grow closer. "I was beginning to think you left us...behind..." Her eyes grow wide once they fall on Hiccup. "Hiccup!" She gasps, rushing over him.

Toothless flinches at the panicked sound in her voice. Yeah. Maybe just a little overboard. He obediently lowers his head, allowing her to help Hiccup out of the saddle. And, by the look of him... boy, does he need the help.

"Hiccup," Astrid says as she wraps an arm around his waist and supports most of his weight as he steps off the dragon. "You look terrible! What happened?!"

He sighs, wearily and passes an irritated look at Toothless. "Someone decided to 'punish me' for trying to leave Berk..."

Astrid whips around and glares at Toothless. "You did this?!" She barks. "Toothless! I thought, of all people, you would want to help him recover! Not make it worse!" She lowers Hiccup's weakened, pale body to the ground so he can catch his breath. "What were you thinking?!"

Toothless flinches, feeling awful for what he did to Hiccup. And here, he thought he was protecting him...

"No." Hiccup says, suddenly. "Don't be mad at him. I get why he did it..."

"Huh?" Astrid eyes him, suspiciously.

"He doesn't want me to find...him again." For some reason, saying Dagur's name always sends chills down his spine and makes it hard to breathe. So now he's avoiding using it... "He was only trying to show me that he was worried..."

"By exhausting you to the point where you can't even stand!? He's got a funny way of showing you he cares..." Astrid grumbles.

Hiccup shakes his head. "I'll be alright." He assures her. "Just no more stunts for a while, please."

Toothless whimpers and crawls over to him, nudging his shoulder, apologetically. Despite what just happened, Hiccup smiles at him. As well as scratches his chin.

"I probably would have done the same thing if it were me..." He confesses. "Toothless and I both have stubbornness issues..."

"I'll say." Astrid agrees under her breath and Stormfly squawks, bobbing her head in a nod. "But I still think you should rest a little after all that. This will be a waste of time if you're too tired."

Hiccup nods in agreeance. "I'll be okay in a few minutes. For now, let's talk strategy." He says, sitting up to attention.

Toothless takes this opportunity to curl up behind him and wrap his tail around his Rider's body, allowing Hiccup to lean against him while they wait.

Astrid scoots over and watches while Hiccup draws out a map of the island in the sand. Apparently, he was there once before. Something about Stoick wanting to visit his friend, Oswald the Agreeable. The plan seems pretty fool-proof. But, for now, all they can do is hope nothing goes wrong...