AN- Welcome to chapter 11. I had this finished a day ago but I've been sorting out a beta to read through my chapters since I make a lot of grammar mistakes and that. My beta is GodofGreed. They have already gone through chapter 10 and now also this chapter. I think they have done a great job and I hope you guys think so too. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

The cavern was deeper than they first thought. They'd been wandering into its depths for over an hour now and yet it never became too dark. The topaz and ice inside, reflected light that came from an unknown opening. The only sounds that could be heard were the drips and dribbles of water cascading down the walls and the sounds of their footsteps as they padded along the damp floor. There were also the occasional pools of water that were so deep, you couldn't see the bottom.

"I wonder if there's an end to this thing." Said Ruffnut, voicing her thoughts out loud.

She was feeling chilled due to the lack of clothing and cool air inside the cavern, but compared to outside it was quite insulated.

Soon they came to a dead end. It wasn't exactly the end of the cave, rather they had ended up at a steep icy incline. The topaz had been gradually reducing in number as they came to this spot and from the looks of it, this one way slope may very well lead to a different one or back into the open island.

Toothless gave a snort and turned to go back only…Hiccup had tried to take a closer look and slipped. Ruffnut went to grab him only to also end up falling. They both screamed as they plummeted onto the slope and went sliding down at an alarming speed.

Toothless gave a cry of fear and immediately jumped after them. They were all now whizzing down this iced death slide, moving in-between passing pillars of ice.

Toothless was trying desperately to slow down by fanning out his wings but it wasn't helping much. Ruffnut was yelling out in pure joy, which just made him think she was crazy. How could she be enjoying this when they could all very well die at the end of it – if they didn't smash into a pillar first.

Hiccup was also scared but at the same time elated. He knew it was a dangerous situation they were all in but he couldn't help but enjoy the rush of it. He began laughing and screaming with Ruffnut.

Toothless then realized they were both probably crazy. Those damn reckless hatchlings. They swerved left and right sometimes falling through the air. Sometimes the slope spiraled upside down. It was one big roller-coaster without the safety belts.

Eventually it came to an end and they found themselves high in the air with a large drop into an iced over lagoon. Hiccup opened up his wings and grabbed Ruffnut before trying to glide down. Of course he ended up spiraling out of control again and plummeted into the water like a torpedo. Toothless glided down far more majestically, even with the missing tail fin.

"Woooohoooo, again, again." Cried Ruffnut as she broke the surface of the water. She was completely pumped from the excitement along with Hiccup who let out shrieks of joy as well. Until she realized how freezing cold the water was and started shaking badly.

"I-i-it's fr-fr-freeezing," She shivered. Hiccup quickly swam over to her and let her use him as a crutch before she froze and drowned.

He and Toothless looked around for somewhere to climb onto but unfortunately there wasn't anywhere. They were trapped in the lagoon. They were all going to freeze and drown at this rate. Hiccup and Toothless were okay for now due to their inner fire heating them, but that would only last so long in these circumstances.

Since Hiccup was supporting Ruffnut, Toothless dived down to see if there was an opening to escape through. The water was murky, so he had to swim around the sides for a while before he finally spotted somewhere.

Ruffnut wasn't doing too good, her skin was white as snow and her lips were blue. The tips of her fingers were going a light shade of purple.

"Come over here, I found an opening. I'll just check how far it goes." Cried Toothless.

Hiccup swam as fast as he could, making sure Ruffnut didn't fall off. He kept crooning at her to stay awake.

They had to hurry, he was also starting to feel the cold. Toothless resurfaced when Hiccup arrived at the location.

"It's quite far, I don't think she'll be able to hold her breath that long," panted Toothless, clearly panicked.

Hiccup was scared but they didn't have a choice. If they didn't take this opening and wasted any more time looking for another one, she'd die anyway. He had to take the risk.

"Let's go, we don't have much time." Replied Hiccup.

He looked over to Ruffnut, luckily she was still awake. He puffed out his cheeks a few times to her hoping she'd get the message.

Her mind was slowing down and her vision was getting blurry but she could just make out what he was telling her. She took a deep breath before hiccup turned around and grabbed her. He then dove after Toothless into the opening.

Toothless was right, it was far and Ruffnut was clearly in pain from holding the air in her lungs. He was also starting to feel a slight burning. His lungs were clearly better as a dragon but he still had his limits.

He kept on swimming as fast as he could even when his lungs were burning intensely and Ruffnut had passed out. Toothless however didn't seem to be struggling at all. He was worried the older dragon had misjudged the distance and didn't think he had enough breath to go on.

Just as his vision started to blacken though they finally reached the surface. Hiccup gulped in hair hungrily. He'd never felt so grateful to breath.

He quickly ignored his wonderful relief to look back at the unconscious girl on his back. He needed to get her to land, fast.

He looked quickly and spotted a snow bank. He swam over and hefted his tired self up onto it. He lay Ruffnut down and placed his ears to her chest, his own heart pounding in his chest in hope she was still alive.

Seconds felt like hours until finally he heard it.

*babump...babump*

She was alive! Although it wasn't the time to celebrate, it was a weak beat and she wasn't breathing. She was also deathly pale and cold.

"Toothless! Light a fire, we need to get her warm!" He yelled desperately.

Toothless ran over and dug into the snow until he came to dirt. He quickly burnt the ground and moved onto another patch of snow to clear. There weren't any sticks to light so this would have to do.

While he was doing that, Hiccup was doing chest compressions on Ruffnut. Toothless didn't know what an earth he was doing but he trusted that Hiccup did.

It was going to be awkward but he couldn't think about that right now. He pushed his embarrassment aside and tried his best to give her mouth to mouth. His dragon mouth didn't really fit right but he was able to blow some air into her lungs regardless.

It took a painful fifteen minutes before she finally coughed up the water. Hiccup almost passed out in relief. He had started to give up hope and had tears pouring out his eyes.

"Wha'? What happened?" She croaked out. She started to shiver again and looked down to see Hiccup crying into her chest, just like the first night they'd spent together.

Toothless, now finished with warming the ground around them, came over to lie next to them. He pulled Ruffnut into his warm hide and cloaked a wing around them both.

He'd been terrified. He thought he'd lose his two hatchlings from the moment they fell onto the ice slide and was only just calming down. They were safe for now, that was all that mattered to him at that moment. He didn't care that he was cuddling a Viking girl any more. She was like a hatchling to him now and he'd protect her like one of his own.

When they woke up, it was cold. Apparently the water had risen during the night, coming over the land they were resting on and washing out the burnt ground. They were laying in a shallow covering of the freezing water, some of it had even started to ice over.

Toothless' inner fire couldn't keep them fully protected. He was struggling to keep himself warm. They had to get out of here before they all froze to death.

Ruffnut stayed as close to Toothless as she could since it was still warmer next to him than wandering around in her underwear.

So Hiccup was the one to start looking for a way out. He was shivering lightly as he walked along the shallow water. He couldn't see any openings in the walls. There was only the gaping hole above them. If only they could fly.

Instead, he'd have to dive into the freezing water again to look for more underwater openings. He reluctantly lowered himself in, trying his best to ignore the biting cold. He searched for a long while, with no luck. They were truly trapped, they were going to die.

"There's no way out," Muttered Hiccup sadly when he'd returned to Toothless' side. Toothless looked downcast, if only he could fly, he'd be able to get them out of there. But...there was a way. It would be difficult since it wasn't the easiest way however, they didn't have a choice.

He'd have to teach Hiccup to fly. Hopefully he'd be strong enough to carry the girl out too. There wasn't any hope for him but that didn't matter. He'd make sure his hatchlings got out of this alive with or without him.

"There is a way." Toothless stated, causing Hiccup to look up at him.

"There is? But I didn't see anything. Where did you see an exit?" Toothless looked upwards at the huge hole in the ceiling.

"But we can't fly."

"No, I can't fly but you can. You just need to learn."

"You'll teach me? But I thought you said I couldn't learn unless you could also fly."

"It would have been the best method. This method of training I'll be giving you is a lot harder and may not work. But we have to try."

Hiccup looked at the fragile form of Ruffnut in Toothless' embrace.

"We don't have any other options, we need to try. How do I start?" Asked Hiccup in a determined tone.

"You've been practicing to move your wings and fins correct?" He asked, continuing when Hiccup gave a nod.

"I want you to run as fast as you can and leap as high as you can before spreading out your fins and wings into a glide. Then touch down as balanced as possible. Don't try turning yet, just go straight. Keep doing it until I say it's enough."

Hiccup gave another nod before running away and leaping. Since he wasn't too far in the air when he leaped it made it incredibly more difficult to glide than when he'd leapt and fell off greater heights. He kept on falling forward and smashing his face into the soaked ground.

After several more tries he stomped up to Toothless in a frustrated pout. "I can't do it! It's too hard. There must be a better way to do this." He cried. His face hurt and he was freezing, he just wished he could magically fly straight away without the practice.

"There is an easier way, but as I told you, it's not possible in these circumstances. You just have to do it the hard way unfortunately."

"But I can't even get into a glide, I keep falling on my face."

"You need to run faster, leap higher and catch the air the second you're off the ground." He stated.

"But I'm already running as fast I can and leaping as high as I can! I can't get my wings and fins out that fast, I'm still not too good at controlling them. The wing span is too large!"

"Yes, that's a problem our species has. Unlike others who have smaller wings when they are young, we have a long wingspan the moment we hatch. Just getting off the ground can take a couple of years. Full control takes a few more years after that. We have to carry our young over long distances a lot until they are about five years of age. Given the look of you I'd say you were about four years old but your experience makes you seem more like two. How long were you separated from your parents?"

"I -" Hiccup stopped himself. What good would it do to lie now? At the rate he was going, he doubted he'd learn to fly before he succumbed to the cold. It would be better to just get the truth out. toothless might end up killing him and Ruff, but it would at least be a faster death than the one awaiting them.

"I...I don't know how to tell you this."

Toothless looked at him in confusion.

"I haven't always…been a dragon!"

"What an earth does that mean?" Toothless remarked. He didn't understand what Hiccup was going on about. Hasn't always been a dragon? How could he have been anything else? Maybe the cold was making the hatchling delusional.

"I got turned into one by witchcraft. It was a curse. I used to be a human. A Viking!" Hiccup cried. He was shaking, no longer from the cold but from the fear of how Toothless would react.

Toothless was at a loss for words. What was he saying?

"The cold is getting to you, your losing your mind! I've never heard such an unbelievable tell." He shouted back. The sudden roars alerted Ruffnut awake. Seeing Toothless pissed and so close too her terrified her and she scrambled away from him.

She didn't know what they were arguing about, but she didn't want to be near the sharp teeth and claws when she had nothing to protect herself with.

"I'm not lying, it's the truth," Hiccup shrieked. "You questioned why everything seemed so new to me like the feeding, the flying and the bathing. I used to be a human, I never knew this life before."

As much as Toothless hated to admit it, it did make sense. A hatchling his age shouldn't have been so inexperienced even if he had lost his parents at a younger age. But he just couldn't accept it, his hopes for the company of one of his kind blinded his reason. The only Dusk-striker he finds in the years he's been banished happens to be a human cursed to look like a dragon? That was unacceptable, it was unfair.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I was afraid. My village, my own father saw me as the enemy. They were going to kill me until you jumped in. You were protecting me at the time so I played along, so I could survive. But even when we escaped I couldn't bring myself to tell you because I couldn't survive on my own. Not to mention Ruff. You would have killed her if I didn't show you she wasn't a threat. She'd protected me and cared for me before you arrived, she really is different. I know you see that yourself now."

Tears ran down his cheeks as he continued to give his plea to Toothless. The truth was finally out and he wasn't going to stop until he'd said all he could.

"Does she know?" He seethed. "Y-yes. Since I used to be a Viking I could write down words to communicate with her."

"Why did you tell her before me? Were you plotting something together? Planning to kill me when I wasn't looking so you could escape the real dragon?"

"N-no of course not."

"Then why?"

"She was scared of you and I needed her to trust and befriend you. I hoped that you would trust her in return. Then my plan would work."

"Plan? You just said you weren't plotting to betray me." He growled

"I'm not, honest."

"Why should I believe you when you've been lying to me this whole time?"

"I plan to help you fly again."

Toothless looked shocked at this. It wasn't possible for him to ever return to flight. He'd lost his fin.

"How?"

"I'm going to make a prosthetic fin that will need a human rider to control it. That way you will be able to fly again."

"Rider?! Why would I let a human ride me. I'd look ridiculous."

"Stop letting your pride get in the way. Being able to fly is better than being grounded isn't it?"

Toothless didn't know what to say. It was true he'd give anything to be able to enjoy the freedom and joy of flight again, but having the girl ride him? He couldn't stand the thought of how he'd be mocked by the other dragons. A powerful dragon like himself needing the help of a Viking, the enemy of dragons.

He turned away from Hiccup, a look of anguish on his face.

"I need time to think, don't talk to me," he said before running and gliding over to the far end of the bank.

"W-wait, Toothless." Yelled Hiccup.

He was about to run after him but stopped himself. He shouldn't have kept his secret from him for so long. Toothless was upset and his heart ached knowing he was the cause. He'd give Toothless the time to sort out his thoughts, even though they didn't really have the time to spare.

There was only one way out of this place and he was the only one who could get them out. He had to learn to fly without Toothless' help. Ruff came over to him, clearly shaken from the recent argument.

"W-what was t-that about? She shivered. Hiccup wanted to tell her but the ground was flooded. She soon realized this as well.

"T-tell me later t-then okay?"

He gave a nod.

She went to snuggle into his warmth but he pushed her away.

"Wha'?"

He knew she needed the warmth but he needed to learn to fly now! Just sitting around keeping her warm would only delay the inevitable.

He flapped his wings a bit to let her know why he'd refused her, but her mind had slowed down some in the cold and she tried to hug him again. He yet again pushed her away and this time ran off.

She'd understand soon when she saw him practicing. It didn't stop him from feeling bad about it though. Toothless was meant to be keeping her warm but he was currently trapped in his conflicting thoughts. It was too dangerous for her to go over there in case he changed his mind about being friends with a Viking.

He knew he needed to get his speed and strength up to perform the low glide, so he just ran back and forth leaping here and there until he ran out of breath and slowed to a walk. He kept repeating this for a couple hours before flapping his wings and stretching out his tail fins all at the same time.

After another couple hours, he was aching and fatigued but he knew he didn't have time to rest. Ruff was curled in on herself still shivering. Her fingers and toes were going purple again. He wanted to keep going, but she came first. He jogged over to her and let her cuddle into him. He draped his wings over her the best he could but he wasn't as big as toothless so couldn't do it as well.

The water surrounding them also didn't help, it just kept sapping their heat. He briefly wondered if the water would continue to rise and whether they'd still be alive by tomorrow to experience it.

Once some colour had some back to her skin and he purple colouring was gone he again pushed her away.

"W-wait, please stay. It's s-so cold," She begged. But he persisted, it hurt to ignore her pleas but now that she had warmed up some, It was time to get back to the priority of flight training.

He practiced the running and leaping some more and flexed his extra limbs to get ready to try the gliding again. Hopefully he'd improved his skills to pull it off. He ran to his top speed and leap and used all his strength to leap as high as he could, then he quickly fanned out his fins and wings. However he was still just a bit too slow on the wing reflex.

His face met the ground yet again. He wouldn't give up now though, he tried again and again, learning from his mistakes. He found it better to open the wings halfway before taking the leap. He learnt to keep his tail and back straighter and his wings at a slight angle to catch the air better.

After hours of trying he finally did it. He practiced a few more times to make sure it wasn't a fluke. He pulled it off another two times. He'd done it! He'd learnt to glide the hard way.

He had a quick drink before heading back to Ruffnut to top her up on some warmth and take a deserved rest.

He didn't know what to think. The little hatchling he'd grown to love wasn't really a dragon? He looked like a dragon, he ate like a dragon and he spoke like dragon. Yet his mind wasn't dragon. It was Viking.

He didn't think such things as magic existed, but if Hiccup was telling the truth, then he feared it. If it could do something like turning one creature into another, what else could it do? Then again, he remembered that women. The way in which she was able to fire blasts at him like a dragon. Was that magic? Could all humans do it? No, if they could then the Vikings would be using it instead of their iron weapons. It was far more powerful.

If it was a rare skill then perhaps it was that same women who turned Hiccup into a Dusk-striker. She was dead now so she couldn't do any more harm, but she also couldn't return Hiccup to the way he was. But why would he want to turn back anyway?

Being a dragon was far better, and a Dusk-striker at that. He had strong fireproof scales, sharp claws and teeth, he could fly and he could create fire at will. Dragons were far superior than those mindless beasts.

But then he thought about it being the other way around. What if he'd been turned into a human. His fellow dragons would attack him and he'd be defenceless. He wouldn't be able to communicate with them to tell them he was one of them, If they even believed him. There were most likely some perks to being a human he wasn't aware of but he'd still want to change back into the form he was born as.

Hiccup had said his own father had tried to kill him. He must have been so scared and heartbroken. He'd been forced to flee the only home he'd ever known, just like him.

Hiccup wouldn't turn on him, he realized that now. He was scared and lonely and Toothless was the only dragon around that would actually give a shit about him. He knew this because that nightmare had clearly not cared enough about him to stay and defend him from the Vikings.

How horrible it must have felt to not only be attacked my your own nest, but for one of the creatures you'd turned into to leave you to die as well.

Plus that Viking girl, she didn't want to kill dragons any more. That meant she had sided with the enemy and would be branded a traitor to her kind. She could no longer return either and the love she showed for Hiccup led him to believe she wouldn't harm him either.

Hiccup had offered him a great favour. He wanted to help him fly again, and he'd just shrugged it off as embarrassing. He really did let his pride get in the way sometimes. So he'd go through with it. If they got out of this place alive then he'd allow Hiccup to make him a prosthetic and let the girl ride him.

Finally organizing his thoughts he looked toward the other two. He was amazed by what he saw. Hiccup had done it! He was gliding. Had he been practicing all this time while he had been over here doing nothing but sulk in his own selfish depression?

Guilt washed through him. Hiccup had his priorities straight, he was trying to get them out of here while he himself had all but given up and was ready to accept death.

He needed to apologize.

AN- So now Toothless knows.
I'm already half way through the next chapter so expect that up within the next day or two.

Thankyou everyone who reviewed, followed and faved. I'm not going into detailed reviews this time since it's 5.40am. The reason I'm up so late is because I saw GodofGreed hadd finished beta-ing this chapter and I wanted to get it posted before I went to bed.

Tell me what you thought and look forward to the next one.