AN- Heres chapter 5. enjoy :)

Disclaimer - i don't own HTTYD

Ruffnut walked down into the cove with a small basket of fish on her back and a satchel of medical supplies attached to her waist. She hoped he was smart enough no to just come bounding out towards her. If she was the hunting party, he'd be a goner.

She made sure the coast was clear of any vikings before making her way towards the cave she'd first found him in. A perfect hiding spot.
She looked inside and couldn't see anything. A wave of anxiety rushed over her. Had he left or worse, had something happened to him?

"Come here Blacky, it's me Ruffnut. It's safe to come out." She said gently. She'd come up with a rather simple name from the top of her head, but it seemed fitting. He was pitch black and the name sounded cute, like him.
She heard some movement from in the cave and his big green eyes appeared in the darkness. She was so happy he was okay.

"I got some fish for ya." She said trying to encourage him out.
He slowly came out limping on his injured leg.
"That's a good boy."

She gave him a hug when he finally emerged.
"i told you I'd come back"
He started to sniff at the basket on her back. The raw fish smelt rather good. He was so hungry.

Ruff took off the basket and took out a fish.
"Here,"she offered.
It did smell nice for some reason. As a human he'd have found the smell of it repulsive. Fish were meant to be cooked, not eaten raw.

But as a dragon, only the sight of it seemed gross. Seeing it's dead white eyes looking at him creeped him out.
He wasn't gonna eat it head first that's for sure. So he reached round to the tail. Ruffnut seemed to understand what he wanted and turned the fish around.

"I always thought dragons ate fish head first,you sure are strange Blacky" she wondered aloud.

Blacky? so she had named him. At least it wasn't a silly over exaggerated name like deathbringer or floppywings. So he didn't complain about it.

He took a bite out of the fish...it..it tasted amazing. Before he got a chance to chew on the half piece of fish he bit off though, his throat muscles automatically reflexed and swallowed it whole. He stepped back in shock. It felt so weird, yet so right to swallow it whole like that. His stomach growled for more of the delicious meal.

To his embarrassment, Ruffnut heard it."Aww, you really are very hungry huh."
If dragons could blush he would be beat red right now. But his expression gave it away anyway. Head down, trying to look away from her while hiding his stomach with his paws.

"No need to be so shy," she laughed. She poured the rest of the basket out onto the grass.
"Right, you eat that while i treat your wound okay?"
He gave a hesitant nod before approaching the fish.

Ruffnut took off the temporary wrapping and began washing the wound with salt water, causing him to wince slightly. Then she got out some paste and began spreading some in the cut.
"This is gonna hurt quite a bit," she said as she took out a needle and thread.

Hiccup jolted. She was gonna stitch him up? Did she know what she was doing? Was the needle even sharp enough to pierce a dragons hide?
"Hey it's okay. I've practised on my brother before while playing operation." she grinned.
He didn't want to think about the horror that game entailed.

"I'll be as quick and gentle as i can okay? Completely opposite of when i stitched up Tuff." She giggled.
The twins sure did like hurting each other.

With reluctance he let her do it. It would heal alot faster closed up after all and he didn't have any other way of stitching it.
Surprisingly it wasn't as painful as he thought it would be. Just an annoying stabby achy pain, but it didn't take too long and she was soon applying more paste on top of it.

"Almost done." she said as she began bandaging the leg.
"I also brought some painkiller. Just eat this herb. I can put it in a fish if you want"
He gave a quick nod and she put it into one of the two fish remaining. He never could stand the taste of medicinal herbs.

He proceeded to eat the medicated fish. He'd gotten over the heads. they tasted the same as the rest of it so he just closed his eyes to escape the creepiness.
But before he could eat the final one, he heard a branch snap in the near distances.

His head perked up, pupils narrowed and his frills moved back and forth trying to pinpoint the sound.
"Blacky whats wrong?" asked Ruffnut. Worry filled her. Had the party come this close already?

Hiccup listened closely, he could hear muttering and clunky footsteps. It was a bunch of vikings. The hunting party he'd expected had arrived.
He started to whine and panic.
"Y-you've gotta hide." She said shakily.

He ran to the cave. He went inside as far as he could and tucked himself into a shaking ball. He was so scared, was this it, was he gonna die?
Ruffnut threw the satchel, remaining fish and some rocks into the fish basket. She tied it tight and threw it into a deep part of the pond. Then she begun rubbing out the paw prints. She had to get rid of the evidence.

Blacky was well hidden for now, but any trace he'd been here would have them scour the cove until they found him. She knew they'd get here before she'd have time to leave, and she wasn't leaving him alone to face them anyway. So she began creating a believable alibi in her head. After checking for prints for the third time and dotting her own everywhere, the group were at the top of the cove and saw her.

"Ruffnut? what are you doing down there?" Boomed the chiefs voice. He was clearly enraged. Not with her though, It was directed at the night fury. But she'd never seen him so mad before, he couldn't have gotten that upset from a burn could he?

"I-I'm e-exploring," she stuttered. The rage he was giving off frightened her.
"How did you get down there?"
"I jumped." It was pretty much a normal thing for her and Tuff. and she did pretty much fall in here at first.

"JUMPED! Whats wrong with you! Are you trying to get yourself killed. How do you even intend to get out?"
"I discovered a path down here. It's rather narrow though." She shouted up to them.

"Stay there, I'm coming down."
"But your too big for the path."
"We'll see about that."

He was determined to get down there, the cove looked like a perfect hiding spot. If he couldn't fit in the narrow path, he'd jump down like she did. He'd worry about getting back up later.
But she was right, it was too narrow. So he walked back to where he was above the water and jumped.

Ruff was panicking on the inside,she wasn't expecting him to just jump down. How determined was he to kill Blacky? She began begging the gods he'd believe her alibi and not find him.

He swam to the shore, the weight of his now wet furs not bothering him in the slightest.
"W-why did you want to come d-down here so badly chief?" She asked, trying desperately to keep her nerves under control.
"I'm looking for the night fury. That...THAT DEMON KILLED HICCUP!" He shouted.
Ruffnut was shocked.

"H-Hiccups dead?" She stuttered in disbelief. Hiccup always seemed so invincible. Sure he was weak, but whenever he was close to getting killed he'd somehow live through it. It was like the gods wanted him alive for some reason.

"We found his clothes torn to shreds," Stoic continued."Stained with blood in the forest. That night fury is the only dragon out here. And only a demon like that could have mauled him till there was nothing left but his blood and shredded clothing." His voice broke a bit at the last part.

No. That couldn't be it? From what she'd seen, Blacky was practically harmless. He wasn't some fierce deranged wild beast! Something else had to have killed him.

Back in the cave, Hiccup was panicking even more than before. He could hear the conversation between his dad and Ruff.

His dad had found his torn clothing and his blood. It must of happened when he'd transformed. The fact there wasn't even a body left made it even worse. And now his dad was giving Ruff doubts.

What if she gave him away? Maybe he should have told her who he was after all.

"Have you seen the night fury at all?" He said grabbing her Small shoulders in his strong hands.

Ruff's mind was racing. She could lie and protect Blacky, but what if he really was dangerous? What if he had killed Hiccup in such a horrific manner. She could be putting herself in danger of being torn to shreds.

But if she gave him up, he'd be killed and she'd never know the truth. Blacky could be innocent and she'd be responsible for his death. She wouldn't be able to live with herself. Not after she'd told him she'd protect him and she'd grown so attached already.

Stoics grip was getting painful.
She made her decision and answered.

"No i haven't. And it's definitely not in this cove either."
"How can you be so sure?" He said as he let go of her.

"I've been searching this place for hours now. I've looked in every nook and cranny and there isn't even a terrible terror to be found."
"Why were you searching this place? I hope you weren't planning on taking that night fury on by yourself."

"N-Not at all sir. I only recently discovered this place and thought it would be a cool new hang out spot for me and Tuff. I was looking for some good places to set up traps before i showed it to him so he wouldn't know what hit him when he explored it too." There, she'd gotten her alibi out. Now hopefully he'd fall for it.

"Tch, just like you to do something like that."
She grinned, he bought it.

"But even so, what were you thinking? Coming out into the forest with a night fury on the loose?"
"I wasn't thinking sir, I'm a reckless idiot."

She knew the villagers saw her and Tuff as a bunch of idiots. But she didn't mind. People were easier to trick if they thought you were stupid.

Stoic let out a sigh, "Well I'm still gonna have a look around in case you missed something. Stay here. I'll have someone take you back to the village when I'm done. Make sure you actually do go home.

Dam. She thought she had him, but he was gonna look anyway. She could only hope he didn't find Blacky.

Hiccup was relieved she hadn't ratted him out. He'd make sure to thank her plenty if he got out of this alive.

He heard his father making his way towards the cave. He meshed himself close to the walls and floor the best he could. Spreading himself out to blend with the walls. He closed his bright eyes and stayed frozen still.

Instinct had kicked in to help him stay as well hidden and still as possible, despite how terrified he was.

Stoic looked into the cave. It was pitch black so he couldn't make out anything. It was also too small for him to climb all the way into. He turned away to face his fellow vikings on top the cliff face surrounding the cove. He signalled for a torch. If the night fury was in there, he didn't want to startle it into attacking again by shouting for one.

One of the vikings through a lit torch towards him. It came spiralling at great speed, but he caught it by the handle easily.
He focused back on the cave and shoved in the torch as far as his arm could reach inside. He still couldn't see anything. The cave was deep.

"Ruffnut get over here." He beckoned.
She jogged over quickly. "What is it chief?"

He clearly hadn't seen Blacky yet or he'd be more enraged and stabbing his sword in there she was sure.
"I'm too big to see any farther in there. It's quite dangerous but since you clearly enjoy danger, go in there and have a look for me."

Relief filled her, she could easily lie about it being clear. she just hoped Blacky wouldn't make a sound when she went in there.

"With pleasure," she replied as he passed her the torch. She sauntered down into the depths of the narrow cave. When she reached the end, she could just barely see him blending into the walls, dead still.

"There's nothing down here." She called back to the chief. She could see Blacky's tense form relax abit from her report.
She heard the chief give a frustrated sigh at the entrance.

"Come back up then." he said in disappointment. She could tell he was certain Blacky would be down here. He was right of course, but thanks to her he didn't know that.

She exited the cave and Stoic continued to search the cove.
She put out the torch since it was no longer needed. There weren't anymore caves to explore in the cove.

Eventually he gave up and announced he would carry on with the search elsewhere.
His men walked along the cliff abit until they were over dry land and hung down a rope for Stoic to climb.

"I'll just meet you at the top then," suggested Ruff as she started to turn towards the narrow path out.

"Oh no you don't," he said as he grabbed her left shoulder and turning her around. "I'm not letting you out of my sights. I need to make sure you get back to the village. We can't..." He trailed off for a second. A pained look on his face.

"We can't risk another death by that night fury, you don't even have a weapon on you. You're climbing the rope with me."

She nodded in understanding and followed him to the rope. The chief was clearly under alot of grief. He'd lost his son. She still couldn't believe Hiccup was dead though. Maybe he was still alive. Only his clothes and blood was found so maybe he was injured and naked somewhere.

She didn't know how right she was.

Hiccup didn't move from the safety of the cave. Ruff had left with his dad some time ago, but he was too afraid to leave.

What if someone was keeping watch? He couldn't risk it.

He moved his position only slightly so his leg felt more comfortable. The painkiller was wearing off and the wound was achy and sore. He'd wait till Ruff cam back, she'd be able to check if the coast was clear.

It was a whole week before she returned.

AN- well i hoped you enjoyed it, tell me what you think.

also a small note on Hiccups size, his body is the size of a wolf incase you were trying to vizulise it.

flame101 - thx for reviewing. your post motivated me to finish this chapter. the lack of response from chapter 4 disheartened me a bit. i think somethinng was wrong with the site or something. i couldn't see my story at the top even hours after updating it. hopefully it won't happen with this chapter. :)

next chapter will be up in 1-2 days. milling out how to advance and sorting out the plot in my head currently.