CHAPTER 2

It was at the crack of dawn when Hiccup awoke and left the safety of the tree. He silently make his way through the woods, listing to the bird songs and dragons snores through the trees, snapping his head at every little sound. It was just after dawn when he made it to the dragon crash site.

It was much worse than what Hiccup had first seen. Trees had fallen in every direction, splintered wood littered the worn path, and there was a deep trench in the dirt where the dragon had skidded as he hit the ground. And as Hiccup walked farther he could see the occasional midnight black scale plastered to a rock or tree, adorned with just a touch of green blood. He couldn't help but feel a little nauseous as he continued, and he screeched to a halt when he saw a patch of transparent black leathery skin hanging from one of the broken branches.

"Oh Odin…" Hiccup made his way through the rocks and dirt, carefully picked it off the branch. It felt dry and warm in his hand, and as he turned it over he couldn't help but pale at what he saw. Dark patches of blood littered the torn edge of the skin, and a ragged hole was torn in the middle. Hiccup couldn't help the bile that rose in the back of his throat. He had always loved dragons, as his mother would always tell him stories when he was a child, even before the capital made them real, and seeing the torn tail fin of one…

Hiccup swallowed, then, dropping the skin, took off running.

He was sure the cameras would be on him soon if they weren't already. The whole nation would want to know what he was running too, and when they found out what it was, they would want to know why. So, even though he was slipping and sliding and scraping and bruising his skin he held his head high. Because gods be damned if he wasn't going to try to save the creature that he had loved since birth.

Hiccup felt his heart stop when he reached a sudden drop off. He stopped as quickly as he could, flinging his arm into a tree to stop his moving body from pitching it's self down the 15 foot drop off. Loose dirt and rock fell to the bottom as his foot slid of the edge, landing in the pond in the center of the small clearing with a soft 'plunk'. Hiccup took a deep breath as he slid his foot back onto solid grown. He took a few more deep breaths, and once he was relatively calm, he looked down.

A small black dragon was lying at the bottom in a patch of wild flowers, tangled up in bola to the point he was immobile. Long gashes littered his body, green blood oozing out and dripping onto the flowers with a quite hiss. Its eyes were closed and it was breathing deeply and letting out soft moans, and when Hiccup saw the missing tail fin he had to bit his lip to keep from screaming.

He recognized the dragon instantly. The Night Fury. Very few of its kind had been made, and for good reason. It was a dangerous and deadly beast. It held no fear, never hesitated in battle and wouldn't think twice about ripping you to shreds. Whenever it used it's fire it never once missed, and no one, not even the capitals finest soldiers, had been able to kill it. Take it down, yes, but never kill.

But, despite that, Hiccup still went down.

"Hiccup Haddock!"

Every head turned towards him as the peppy woman on the stage called his name in an even peppier way. A few looked sad for him as he slowly walked up to the stage with shaky steps. Others held pity in their eyes as he passed, and some even had the guts to look happy. Hiccup tried to pay them no mind as he walked onto the stage. He tried to ignore them when he got on the train.

He tried to stay emotionless as the trainers talked to him and gave him tips, tried to keep his face blank as they watched the re-runs of the other tributes.

When everyone had gone to bed late at night and the moon was the only thing watching Hiccup, did he finally break down. He hugged the pillow close to his shaking body as silent tears ran down his cheeks. He could taste the saltiness of them as he ran his tongue along his lips.

And for the whole night, Hiccup just cried.

Hiccup furiously cut at the ropes bounding the dragon with a knife that had been in his backpack. He was looking around franticly at every little sound, and then looking back at the dragon every time the rope snapped.

The dragon's eyes had snapped open when Hiccup started, and was now watching him intently.

When the last rope came away with a final snap, the dragon unfurled its wings and launched its self at Hiccup. It had happened so fast that he hadn't had time to doge, and the dragons paws pushed him back, causing his head hit the back of a rock with a loud crack. He let out a yelp of pain, which was quickly turned into a gasp as the dragon moved its paw to his neck, flexing its claws and forest green eyes narrowed.

Hiccup was positive the cameras were on him now. All of Panam would be at the edge of their seats, the Capital thinking bitterly that this was the end of their favorite tribute, the game makers hoping for a gory death. And he was sure they was going to get it.

But Hiccup held his gaze with the dragon. His own eyes were wide with fear, and as the two gazed at each other Hiccup couldn't help but notice how alike they were. And then the dragon's eyes slowly widened, and then he backed away. It went to the edge of the pond, then sat back on its haunches and stared, its eyes now full and wide.

It was looking at him with surprise, like it had seen what Hiccup had seen.

Hiccup could hear Panam gasp and shriek as he slowly pushed himself off the rock, holding out his hand for the dragon to sniff as he slowly approached it once more. The dragon itself slowly slinked forwarded, and when there were at a standstill, it cautiously sniffed his hand before bounding off to the other side of the cove.

He walked back into the training room, alone. It would be the last time he was here, and Hiccup couldn't be happier.

The game makers nodded to him as he slowly walked to the archery station, their eyes following his every move.

So they wanted to watch him. Lovely.

He would have gone to the swords, but Gobber wanted him to wait till he reached the arena. People already knew he was good with the bow, and he had refined his skills enough that he could get by just on that. He chose the bow he picked up the first time he came, and pulled the string. It was a little tight, but after a few pulls, it loosened up just enough. He then grabbed a quiver of arrows, and with the bow loaded, started blankly at the target area.

He shrugged, and then began to shoot.

He didn't really care what he was shooting at, as long as he hit what he had been aiming for. And when he finished, arrows were sticking out from the most randomness of places, all the way from the ceiling down to the floor.

Hiccup then turned to the game makers, who were staring at him, shocked.

"Can I go now?" He asked, placing the bow back on the rack and dropping the now empty quiver. Shooting had been nice, but he wished he could have messed around with the sword. He had actually come to love swinging it around. One of the game makers nodded, and without a second thought, Hiccup walked out.

Time seemed to pass quickly now. Hiccup had made a makeshift fishing rod and had been feeding most of what he caught to the dragon. It had eagerly gobbled them up, and at one point, once he had backed Hiccup up against a rock again, regurgitated half of it for Hiccup to eat. He took one bite, swallowed, and then threw up when the dragon bounded away.

He deiced to name him Toothless,

He had found out about the retractable teeth when he had had fed him a fish for the first time (he had just been throwing them over to the dragon before), and when Toothless opened his mouth to take them fish, there had been no teeth (this was also when the regurgitated fish happened). He also had the goofiest toothless grins.

Toothless was sitting beside him, watching Hiccup as he sketched in the sand. Hiccup had always loved to draw, and it was something he did when he was under stress or just needed to calm down. Toothless was moving his head with every stroke Hiccup did with the stick, and then he then slithered away. Hiccup looked up when he heard a loud snap, blinking when Toothless came back with a small sapling, then he too started to drag it around in the sand.

Hiccup watched in shock and awe, as the Night Fury did his own form of art, and when Toothless finished, he nodded his head and then looked at Hiccup, as if asking for approval.

At this point Hiccup had stood from the rock he had been sitting on. He went to walk over to Toothless, and the dragon growled as he step on one of the lines. Hiccup drew back suddenly, his mouth drawn in a tight line. Toothless went back to humming.

Hiccup blinked, and then stepped on the line a few more times, and every time his did, Toothless growled at him. When Hiccup stepped over the line, Toothless continued humming, and for the first time in 2 weeks, Hiccup let the first real smile cross his lips.

As he started a strange dance over the lines, he was sure the cameras were back on him. The game makers were probably still hoping that the dragon would jump him, and when Hiccup bumped into said dragon's chest, he was pretty sure they would get their wish.

He turned around slowly, and Toothless blinked once at him, cocking his head ever so slightly.

Hiccup, feeling slightly brave, slowly held out his hand. The dragon growled, and Hiccup quickly drew his hand back, blinking when he stopped. Their eyes met, and they stared at each other for the longest time. And then Hiccup took a deep breath and looked down, extending his arm ever so slowly. He held his breath, and when a smooth, warm muzzled hesitantly pressed into his palm he flinched, and then slowly looked up.

Toothless hummed and pulled away, nodding at Hiccup as he locked eyes with him again, and then both dragon and human froze as a high pitched scream rang out.

A string of please followed, but they were quickly drowned out by a cold and cruel laugh. Hiccup and Toothless dashed towards the cave hidden in the cove where he had stashed his things earlier, and then listed in utter fear and horror as the owner of the laugh joyfully murdered their victim.

A sickening squelch was herd as the body was pushed into the cove, followed by the loud bang of the cannon.

It grew deathly silent, and Toothless and Hiccup pushed themselves father back into the cave as a hovercraft materialized in a sudden burst of noise, lowering its claw to collect the body.

Hiccup didn't know how he had reached the wepon.

But now he was holding it, and a tribute that Hiccup didn't bother to get to know was charging at him, a look of pure venom on his face.

Hiccup could run. He had the weapon he needed, and he had even managed to snag a backpack. But if he ran, the tribute would go after him, and Hiccup knew he couldn't out run him forever. He may be fast, but he wasn't that fast.

He was so, so close now, right to the point were he could see the scowl on his torn face. So Hiccup did the only thing that seemed logical to him. He waited until he was in striking distance and then swung the sword that was balanced perfectly in his hands in a graceful arch.

The world went silent as he stuck his target.

Hiccup was breathing hard, and every tribute who wasn't dead was staring at him, their mouths open with shock and eyes wide with something he could only describe as fear. He himself looked around the arena, and then grabbed the backpack he had dropped and took off into the woods.

It was mid afternoon by now, and Hiccup had laid a claimed the cave/cove. He had laid down the sleeping bag in the back of the cave that was in the backpack, and had started a small fire in the cave to provide some light and warmth.

Now he was inspecting the damage to Toothless' tail, as it was the only thing he could do to get him mind off the body that had fallen only a few hours before.

The left tail fin had been ripped clean off. The scales were already starting to scab where the membrane had once been, but even then there was no way it would grow back, and without it, Toothless couldn't fly.

Toothless let out a small roar as Hiccup looked back up, his forest green eyes full of sadness at the loss of his flight.

"I'll find a way to fix this." Hiccup promised, running his hand over the dragon's warm neck. Toothless nodded, glancing at Hiccup as he pulled his backpack close and started rummaging around, trying to find something to use.

There was a pack of dried fruit and meat strips, a bottle with water in it, a extra coat, some other items he probably would never use, and-

Hiccup blinked as he pulled out a large patch of leather. Toothless sniffed it curiously, and then looked at Hiccup his lips pulling back into a grin as Hiccup grinned with him. He supposed the Game Makers had to throw some useless things in the backpacks, but right now, that leather was the most important thing there.

"Well bud, I think I'm going to have to make a quick trip to the Cornucopia."

oOo

Toothless had refused to stay behind when Hiccup went to leave. It didn't matter how many fish the teen threw into the cave, the dragon simply refused.

And Hiccup found it oddly comforting.

Finally he allowed Toothless to come. He wasn't that worried about anyone finding the cove, and even if they did, they wouldn't stay. It was too secluded, and you could get trapped easily. Hiccup supposed that's the exact reason he chose it. Because nobody else would.

He still took the now empty backpack (as he had placed everything under the sleeping bag), to help carry some on the things he was hoping to retrieve.

Toothless had difficulty climbing out of the cove, what with his missing tail fin, but when they made it out the dragon gestured to his back, as if saying hop on.

Hiccup had no trouble staying on Toothless as he bounded through the forest. In fact he found it oddly…free. But it was uncomfortable with the black scales rubbing against his legs, and the auburn haired teen decide that if he had enough leather left over, he would try to make a saddle.

When the duo reached the Cornucopia, Hiccup stared at in awe.

"Their either really confident or really stupid." He mumbled to himself as he climbed off Toothless.

No one had made camp next to the giant gold structure. All the food had been cleaned out, as well as the deadly weapons. That was no surprise, really. Hiccup had come to in fact expect it. But a few of the smaller swords were scattered about, along with dull spears and knifes. Hiccup could spot a axe and large coil of wire in the back (why anyone would leave that, he didn't know), and-

"Shields!" Hiccup breathed.

They were what Hiccup was used to. Wood and metal. And Hiccup knew that the metal could be put to very good use for what he had in mind.

Hiccup and Toothless crept silently down to the Cornucopia. As soon as they reached it, Hiccup grabbed a shield, and double checking to see if it had what he needed, flung it across his back. He then moved to inspect the coil of wire. It was larger than he had first thought, and he knew he could get a large amount of metal from it, so he threw it in the backpack. Hiccup could get 2 to 3 rod's from the swords, so he chose 2 and placed them in his belt. He then threw a few more knives into the bag, then hopped back onto Toothless, and just like that, they were gone.

oOo

Afternoon had slowly turned to dusk, and Hiccup had wasted no time in getting to work on Toothless' tail fin. As he worked, the cannon went off 2 more times, bringing the total of tributes still alive to 12. Hiccup had jumped every time.

When Hiccup had all the metal rods forged and cooling in the pond (it had been rather difficult, as he didn't have to proper tools) the anthem began to play. The girl he had seen die earlier had been from district 3, and both tributes from district 12 had died. Then the anthem ended as the last face faded out.

Hiccup sighed, and then looked back at Toothless, who was curled up in the cave asleep. He let a small smile cross his lips, and then snapped his head to the right as the sound of a twig snapping rang around the cove.

He slowly grabbed the swords still strapped to his back, pulling it out with a quite hiss as a figure slowly emerged from the foliage.

"Don't swing! Please!" Hiccup's eyes widened and his arm went limp as a teen stepped out from the brush, his hands held up in surrender, sapphire blue eyes wide.

"…Jack?"

A/N:

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