-Chapter: XX-

-Philosophy and Demons-

"Sticks and stones can only break bones, but words may slice a spirit in two"

...

That is what a great, big dragon told me when he finally came to terms with what I had in mind. What does it mean? I have no idea. I assume it has something to do with showing myself to people who think I am dead...

...

`Hiccup paused from his writing as he looked up from his book. Toothless was curled around the boy, eager eyes watching his every stroke and scratch made on the book. A 'book' as Hiccup came to describe it when the Night Fury piped up his question of 'reading and writing'. Was it true to say that the dragon was interested in the small humans form of language and knowledge bound to solid form in the leather encased object? Indeed it may be.

Was the dragon curious as to Hiccup's desire to confront the people who believed him dead? Indeed he was.

"Toothless?" Said dragon turned his gaze to the boy asking the question. "What do you mean by that? 'Sticks and stones can only break bones, but words may slice a spirit in two'. What does that mean?" Hiccup asked with a titled head, looking intently on the large being curled around him.

"A body can be broken, beaten, cut, wounded, and bled. Those are simple attacks on the form, attacks that will heal with age. The spirit itself is far stronger, and may be damaged far greater by things far simpler." Toothless finished his clarification with a small prod to the book's open page.

"Meaning?" Hiccup asked, not sure of what to put down. He was still completely confused by the phrase. Toothless let out a grumble at the boy, before continuing.

"It means, if you confront the people who believe you dead, you may cause them more grief than if you let them live on with their lives. Being confronted and spoken to by the dead could have a strange and dangerous affect on ones mind."" Toothless finished with Hiccup looking thoughtfully at the page under his hand.

"But, I'm not dead." Hiccup piped up. He was very much alive and well, living happily.

"You are to them. I know it seems dark, but in their mind, you are no longer living. You went into the forest, and never came back. A small youngling like yourself would never survive on their own for as long as you have."

The thought frightened Hiccup, to know that there are those he wished to call friends and family, that believe him to be dead. To them, he is nothing more than a dead memory, a person who once was and is no more.

"I think I'm beginning to understand your point." Hiccup mumbled to himself.

"Also, how would you come to explain surviving for so long? I would not expect you to outrightly say that you are related closely to a most dangerous and savage dragon, now would you?" Toothless brought an important question for the boy to think about.

"You're not savage though. Dangerous, yes. Savage? Not at all." Hiccup looked up at the pale yellow eyes staring back at him.

Toothless shook his head lightly at the boys comment.

"What?" Hiccup was slightly confused with the shaking of the head.

"Again, you are forgetting to think of what they believe." Toothless clarified, equally confused as to how the boy is forgetting this again.

"I don't want to think like that though. Now that I know it's wrong, I don't want to put myself in that mind-set again." With clarification, Hiccup replied.

"Why?" Toothless asked, with a tilted head.

Hiccup shifted his legs and got up from the dragon-chair. He placed his journal on the rock slab aside to the cave entrance and looked outside to the setting sun and glistening, melting snow, capped upon the needle-trees.

"For four whole passings, I have defended myself, hid myself, and secluded myself from the people who wished to make me in-existent, to be just 'gone'. I held onto what I thought, and tried. I taught myself to defend myself with words because I couldn't swing a punch even if I fell on someone, which happened a lot."

Toothless sat himself up at hearing the boys sudden outburst of words. He sat beside the fire that crackled lowly in the hearth lined of flat stones. He let slip a small glob of viscous green gel from his own mouth, into the tongues of flame, which immediately exploded and spurted into new life with the presence of the dragons flammable gel. Satisfied, he looked back on the boy who was pinching the bridge of his nose, slumped against the rock wall.

Hiccup took in a small breathe before continuing.

"I taught myself to block out all of the rejection, and denial of being a Viking. I taught myself to hold firm, and not be bent down by those around me. For sixteen years, I was the lone being of a little world which I lived in, to protect myself from the world out there."

He jabbed a single digit towards the opening of the cave, which at present sounded out with the distant calling of a Raven.

Hiccup paused as he stared out at the setting sun that sent beams of light through filtering clouds and shadowy birds. Snow was melting quickly in the orange and red heat. The sound of water gently trickling weakly through the half-frozen creek made to his ears with dull effect, barely shaking his mind from it's current state. Toothless had appeared at his side at some point in his lack of attention, with him also gazing out into the vast forest beyond the clearing.

"Not quite the world I would expect you to hide from." Toothless spoke quietly, not wishing to disturb too much the peacefulness of the view. Hiccup averted his gaze before moving back inside.

"You know what I mean though." He laid himself down on his make-shift bed of furs, staring up at the ceiling. The light from the fire mixed with the swirling smoke made figures dance gracefully across his vision. He could see pictures of the Great Hall, filled with Vikings cheering and dancing to songs. Feet padded across the floorboards in quick succession, each voice calling out happily to each other, with Hiccup happily dancing in the center. Music filled his ears and people gathered too and forth to congratulate the young Viking on being, well, him. A small smile snuck its way onto Hiccup's lips as the vision continued on in the back of his mind. A slow beat of the drums echoing in his ears.

Hiccup closed his eyes to listen to the steady beat of the drums, feeling the rush of warm air that came with flying through the sky with his friends. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted with the presence of a Night Fury staring down at him in curiosity, waves of warm breathe rolling down on him, backed by the steady beating of his heart.

Hiccup let out a slight gasp at the sudden appearance before calming down, as is usual with the dragon. Toothless however did not reflect his smile.

"I clearly do not understand. One moment you are as sad as can be, the next you are smiling happily."

"I was just thinking about something." Hiccup answered, his smile slowly disappearing.

"What were you thinking about?" Toothless didn't need to be told that he was thinking about something. It was most obvious enough on his face.

Hiccup's smile came back slightly as he thought on it more.

"Being accepted into the Village..."

"Is that what you want, to be accepted into the Village without sacrificing who you are?"

"I guess. To be honest, I don't really know what I want. Being accepted for who I am, I guess is just wishful thinking."

"Then what do you want?" Toothless moved back, allowing the boy to sit himself up and face the crackling fire.

"I don't know." Hiccup huffed as he stared into the green-blue flames tipping the top of the flaming circle. Hiccup eyed the strange flames, confused as to why they are slightly off-coloured. He turned to Toothless in question. The Night Fury looked back over the flames, of which the discoloration now nearly gone. Even with the questioning look he was getting, Toothless simply gave his best impersonation of when Hiccup shrugs his shoulders, and laid back down comfortably.

Both stared into the swirling pyre, each thinking on what to make of the situation. Hiccup got up and dragged a small log onto the fire-pit, eliciting a crash of ash and sparks that danced upwards to the collapsed back onto his soft rug and stared emptily into the new flames.

"Curious." A quiet voice poked inside Hiccup's head as he sat there on his carpet. He blinked wearily before turning to the dragon beside him.

"Curious? About what?" Hiccup asked quietly, his voice bouncing across the walls quickly.

"It is curious how the flames always grab my eyes. I find myself staring deeply into them from moment to moment. They are like...questions, that I ask myself; answers that I need to know." Toothless averted his gaze from the flames while settling on the silhouette of the boy. "Do they grab your eyes too?"

Hiccup looked over the dragon before falling back on the pit of flame. "Yeah, they do. Not the first time I have found myself like this." The dragon stared down at the stone floor, eyes quick in thought.

"I don't know why, but they always bring back memories or at least what I assume to be memories. Things that have happened, or things that could have happened. I don't really know what to think."

"Perhaps you don't remember them, because they have not been." Toothless inquired, his voice slightly firm.

Hiccup tilted his slightly slightly at the comment.

"What do you mean? If they are memories, then I must remember them, right?"

"Not in all sense. They can be memories, but memories of something that could have been, not things that have been. They can be memories, thoughts on what could have been and what could have not been." Toothless earned a far more confused look from the boy, with his comment.

"That doesn't make any sense. How can they be memories if they never happened. They would have had to happen for them to be memories." Hiccup stated simply. He was tied of having to attempt to understand the dragons strange messages.

"In most times, yes, but things do not always work so simply." Toothless got up from his pads to move beside the boy quietly.

"You remember those events. You, the young-ling before me, may not remember them, but the one in there remembers." Toothless ended with placing a claw against the forehead of the boy, earning a slight flinching on the boys end.

"See, the thing is, memories are just that; memories. They are memories because they have happened, and you remember them. You don't have memories of things that haven't happened." Hiccup let loose quickly, almost stuttering on multiple words. This conversation was not the most ideal for him.

Toothless emitted a slight sigh, aware only just to the boy. His words were gaining no hold; simply bouncing. He lowered his eyes to the crackling hearth, fire-light dancing in the black abyss of his yellow orbs. Sparks popped as he stared on, no thought on the boy beside him.

After a moment of lost thought, he turned to the boy.

"Why do you wish to be part of those who shunned you?"

Hiccup stopped his humming, of which he was caught doing unawares.

"Why do I want to be with the people who gave up so easily on me, without giving me a chance to prove myself? Why do I want to maybe help them, or at least give some form of assistance?"

Hiccup look intriguingly at his hands in thought. There was something that interested him.

"Well, then answer this. Why would you go out of your way to raid my village and defend other dragons, even if you say that you never had any friends among them? Why put yourself at risk for those who rejected you."

Toothless gave a small toothless grin as he heard the words.

"That is what I am asking you. You wish to go to your people, to make peace with a long-fought foe. Your people will undoubtedly not give you any chance of thought, and all your efforts would be for naught. You can talk and talk, but as shown clearly, your people only listen to what blood may be spilt." Toothless added slight scorn, with his last words.

His words did not fall unheard by the boy sitting across from him, whom of which was thinking clearly on what he meant. After a minute of silence between them, Hiccup was first to speak up.

"Is it wrong to have hope though?" Hiccup asked, hopeful in getting a good answer. He would have much false hope.

"No. It is not wrong to believe that things may get better. What is wrong, is attempting to see the shimmering light that presents itself in the deepest of caves. Hope is an illusion, a belief that things will get better. Whether you believe in it or not, what may come will be, and you must be prepared to let what come may." Toothless looked at the crestfallen face of the boy far from him. At what point did the child there begin to see the wrongs in the world?

"Brother, at what point in your life did you realize you were different from those around you?" It was but only a slightly off-putting question, with regards to previous inquiries.

"I'm sorry?" Hiccup could give a modestly surprised response to such a question.

With clarifying click, he cleaned up his speech. "When did you begin to think differently from those around you, when you realized you were not the same? How old were you?"

Hiccup pursed his lips slightly in remembrance of his darker times. "Well, my mother always told me when I was young that I was different from everyone else, but I guess I never really understood what she meant until I was barely eight."

Hiccup gave a small sigh as he went back on his distant memories.

"I remember the nights when I would come home, and she would be there to let me know that I was special and not to be beat down by those around me."

"So, for two passings, you understood that you were vastly different from those around you."

"You could say that." Hiccup answered the question-less words.

"...and for those two passings, you continued to try and show everyone that you were capable of something more, that you were not a failure." Toothless continued his account of Hiccup's life.

"I was nothing but a runt, an outcast who resided on the wrong isle. There were many nights where I would hide myself in my room to keep away from the people that laughed at me. What would you do when nothing you did seemed right." Hiccup thought slowly on going back on these memories, on the memory of the last song-night that he actually remembered. A night sung with a twirling bola.

"The only thing I was good at was thinking, and where I come from, thinkers don't prosper. Those who took action, and then maybe thought about things, were the ones on top. My father is like that. He always takes action first, and then goes back to think on the consequences."

Toothless shifted in his posture to look longingly out the cave entrance, with bare light streaming in from the sparse light of dusk's twilight. A silent echo of the wind seeping into the bare cave home ruffled the flames that popped timbers... It was a quiet moment where the Night Fury thought on the boys words, but a moment only.

"...and it was this strength in thought that drove you to take a dragon out of the night sky, to let fall into the wooded lands." His words were slow, coming from just beyond the boys own thoughts. A slight frown made it's way on the boys face as he was reminded that he himself was responsible for taking down his good friend and brother.

"It was this steady, ever-thinking way that drove you to seek that creature out of the woods, and make something of yourself." Hiccup cringed slightly at the thought of actually going through with his plan that morning, that morning so long ago. He only had a moment to think on it, before Toothless' words beckoned his attention once more.

"It was this thinking mind of yours that drove you to wonder of far stranger possibilities. To think of the unknown, to create a friendship stronger than oak." Hiccup began to realize at this point that the dragon seemed to be summing up the recent events in his life.

"...and with constant thought, you find yourself living not in peace with your kind, but with the very same being that you once sought to destroy." Toothless gave the boy a slight toothy grin with his last remark. "Did I miss anything?"

"Thank you, for summing that up." Hiccup replied slowly and sarcastically at the dragons biography of his life most recently.

Toothless' expression immediately changed from his signature grin, to a flat face despising the boys remark. "You should thank me, because I seem to be the only one here that actually sees who you are. I am trying to help you here."

"Help me? How is summing everything that has gone wrong with me, going to help me?"

"Because I want you to make your own decisions. To choose your own path."

"Make my own decisions." Hiccup exasperated at the message behind those words. "I've been making own decisions since I was eight years old! My father had no significant presence in my life since my mother died, so it has been up to me to survive. Alone!"

Toothless closed his eyes slowly, letting the words fall on him. That didn't stop Hiccup and his pent up feelings of being misunderstood.

"You think I havn't made any decisions lately. I wouldn't be here if I didn't make my own choices. I, chose to wheel my contraption outside and take down a Night Fury! I, chose to go into the woods in search of that dragon!" Hiccup collapsed as he felt his knees give way from under him, a stance he didn't realize he was in. Unbeknownst to him, Toothless had placed himself beside the boy, letting him fall into his open limbs.

The dragon simply held his head level, with closed eyes as Hiccup panted for breath as the fire continued to crackle brightly. In his heavily breathing state, Hiccup did not notice that a small Terrible Terror had returned from the outside, with an apparently full belly. Toothless made a slight noise, followed by a gesture at the boy. Puff understood soon enough, and made himself comfortable on the far side of the cave, letting the boy have his moment.

By the time Hiccup's breathing had returned to normal, and he could think straight, the first words out of his mouth were an apology. "I'm sorry, I should not have snapped like that."

"You should never apologize for doing what is needed most." The message surprised Hiccup enough to make him turn around and face the dragon.

"I lost control of myself. I snapped, and yelled. I never yell, least of all to my brother." He spoke his last words quietly at the flames that warmed his body.

"Sounded to me like you were angry at someone else." Toothless spoke with a slight tone of comfort. Something the boy needed desperately. "So, who are you upset towards." Hiccup got up from the dragons limbs for the second time that evening, as the question fell on him.

"I don't know. I'm just angry. I don't know why though." He began pacing across the cave, his hands in his growing hair. He took his hands from his head as he looked at the palms, before feeling the length of his hair again. It was longer than he remembered, nearly brushing his bony shoulders. He let his shoulders droop again as he leaned against the rock wall, his eyes scanning the scene before him.

"You are angry, but you must be angry at someone. Who are you angry at?" Toothless piped up the question for a second throw. Hiccup gripped his hair again as he refused to answer the question.

"I don't know." He sighed, desperate to not have to think on it.

"Who are you angry at?" Toothless asked for the third time, with no change in tone from his previous presses.

"I don't know." Hiccup nearly yelled in his squeaking tone, but the volume was enough to get the emotions across the gap between the two.

"That is not an answer, that is an excuse! It is a weak attempt to hide from the truth!" Toothless rose from his position to face the boy opposite the flames, a boy who was gripping his head when the message came in with such force.

"Who are you angry at?" The Night Fury echoed his own question with significantly less force.

Hiccup soon found himself resting on his knees, staring emptily at the fires burning bright.

"Hiccup." He didn't need to give any question for the boy of the same name to give in to his plight.

"I'm angry at myself!" Hiccup finally cried out as he pounded his fists into the dust of the stone floor as he snapped at himself.

"I'm angry at myself because I let myself be pushed into doing things that I never intended to happen! I am angry at myself because I am confused at what I am supposed to do. I'm just so confused." Hiccups ragged breath caught up to him as he barely made out the last sentence.

Toothless padded slowly over to the still boy who stared at the flames, flames that exploded into sparks and danced in the dark of the night. The dragons eyes scanned the tongues that whipped and slithered across the air, burning with intense, white light. As his eyes rolled over the slowly receding flames, he let them descend into a slow crackle and a warm, comforting orange glow.

"You were right." The boys voice was the only thing that brought him from the lull of the flames. The dragon's words had seeped in enough to the point where Toothless needed to only lay down and listen as the boy finally accepted the truth.

"I never really did make my own decisions." Hiccup's voice was frail as he spoke, each word forced to come out. "My father, my family, my people. They all had their part in shaping me into doing the things I've done, even if what I have done was the opposite of what they wanted, they still shaped me into who I am."

"Then who are you, and what will you do" Toothless increased his emphasis by nudging his snout against the boy to signify the sole entity that would be responsible for all his choices to come.

"I do not know..." Hiccup answered the question as truthfully as he could. His honesty did not go astray on the ears of the dragon.

Toothless simply nodded in a slow fashion as he thought on what could be done.

The long silence that fell on the two, with Puff still unclear on what had happened, was broken like stones to pond water as a slow rumble emanated from Hiccup's abdomen. Toothless tilted his head in quiet humorous reason as he slowly grinned at the innocence of it all.

"Come on. I am going to take you hunting." Toothless stepped up as he padded to the entrance. Hiccup's mind was still in the dark as the message fell on him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"What was that?" Hiccup asked the dragon that had fallen from his hind legs as he gulped in the air that flowed in from the threshold of the cave.

"Get your saddle and fin. We are going hunting." Toothless repeated, involving the need for Hiccup to attach the required items for flight.

The boy jumped from his seated rump as he stumbled towards the items collected at the entrance. He hastily moved to and fro as he connected and set straps and chords into place, setting the fin into position as quickly as he could. He was all to allured by the joy of silently gliding through the night sky, and the clear and crisp winter evening did nothing but push him further to getting in the air. The prospect of hunting and securing something to eat was also on his mind.

The air was empty. Devoid of any clouds.

The waning moon rose steadily over the treetops as a silent shadow gleaned across the star-studded sky. The occasional whoop of joy, or growl of enjoyment could be heard, but that was only if one happened to be at the tops of the tree that was soon shaken of snow from the turbulent wake of the passing duo.

"Oh, and here I thought you had all the fun in hunting." The boy who flew with the dragon let his voice rise in no fear of being shunned as he basked in the cold air that blasted past him. The night was as successful as could be. Two young doe secured with minimal claw marks, and a basket brimming of fresh fish from the freezing waters off the pebbly west coast beaches. They had deposited their cargo at the their home, only to return to the skies to revel in the unbroken feeling of flying free in the winter-night sky.

Their journey had taken them across the entire expanse of the island. Only in the dark of the night can the duo gain such unparalleled freedom so as to fly even above the dimly burning torches of Berk.

"The village looks so small from up here." Hiccup quietly reminisced to himself as he gazed down at the village beneath him now.

"Looking at anything from another's eyes really changes how things look; does it not?" The large dragon beneath rumbled up, following the boys gaze down at the village unaware to the shadow circling above them.

"This is what you saw every time you attacked, right?"

"Every time." Toothless answered smoothly.

Hiccup didn't bother going further into the topic, but Toothless had other plans.

"Some times, when I would circle the village, I would think about just leaving and going back to my nest." Hiccup sighed in his failure to avoid going further into the little hole he brought up.

"You never did though, did you?" He may as well go along with it, as he would never be able to change that dragons mind.

"Some times, but I would always see something that would change my mind." Toothless spoke with a slight hint of remorse.

"Like what?" Hiccup had a slight idea as to what he was getting at.

"Death." The answer was a single word, enough to make Hiccup want to just turn around and leave.

"When you see one of your brethren fall in battle, or get captured, you can not help but feel anger towards those that have taken them away."

"Even when they waved you off, or did not bother to get to know you?" Hiccup felt a sense of echoing in the conversation. Did he not just have this conversation earlier?

"Yes. They are my family, and I will do anything to protect my family." Toothless stated proudly.

Hiccup remembered something that happened long ago, something that stuck with him strongly. "Is this about what happened to your parents, your guardians?" He received a dropping of the head from the dragon as he asked the small question.

"I keep telling myself that it is not about them, but I always fail to believe myself."

"Did you even know of the existence of humans when your family- when the 'incident' happened?" Hiccup caught himself at barely too late a moment. He did not wish to use specific words in regards to the dragons long-lost family.

"No I did not." Toothless admitted.

"Then why take your feelings out on the humans, when it was not even humans that did it."

"Please stop treading lightly with regards to speaking of my families death. I have accepted it for some time now, you do not need to be careful about speaking of it." Toothless

"It isn't about being careful, it's about respect. I don't want to speak of their memory in vain."

The two slowly circled above the village for a minute longer, both in their own little memories. Toothless snorted once before glancing back at the boy on his back.

"I do not like the feelings we get here, we should leave."

Hiccup nodded in reply, "I agree." With that, he twisted his foot and snapped his fin into a slow bank out of the space above the village. They slowly glided out of sight of the village, not peering back until the lights were blocked out by the rising spires.

The flight into familiar space above their home was quick, but felt drawn with the recent conversation.

"Why is it that every time we are enjoying ourselves we always end up talking about things that bring up bad feelings?" Hiccup quietly asked the dragon currently fixated on a distant spot in the land. Hiccup waited for the reply that he did not get.

"Hey, bud?" He rubbed the base of his friends neck to try to bring about a response from the dragon. Said dragon suddenly shook his head before glancing back.

"Why is there a light at the base of that mountain?" Toothless asked as innocently as he could, pointing his head in the direction he was previously drawn too. There, at the base of a spire, was a dim light not unlike that which came from their own nest. That would not drawn any suspicion from the boy had it been their own home, but it was not. As such, it immediately drew great suspicion from both party members.

"That's not our home." Hiccup answered quietly, confused to the reasons why a cave that was not their own was emitting a light similar to a small fire being burned. "Toothless?" Said dragon removed his eyes from the suspecting light, and looked back at the boy. "Should we take a look?"

"I do not like the idea of drawing attention to ourselves, but you will most likely not forget about this if we return to our nest." With that, both worked and slipped themselves into a descending dive that brought them within closer distance to the cave.

They scanned the ground beneath them, before settling for a slight opening in the canopy. A snap of the fins brought the two to a quick glide across the settling snow that caked thinly over the needles and grass.

"I don't know who or what exactly it is, so we are going to go quietly. Alright?" Hiccup hushed his voice, as the light from the cave was barely seeable through the packed woods around them. The mountain of rock rose above the treetops, giving them an idea of how close they were to the suspicious light.

"You do not need to remind me of when to go unnoticed." Hiccup mentally smacked himself for momentarily forgetting that his brother was a legend of the shadows, not but a silent wanderer in the night. "Right, Night Fury." He mumbled to himself.

The two gingerly padded through the rough woods, clear signs of activity in the area. Trees with missing limbs and foot prints were everywhere.

"Foot prints." Hiccup spoke to himself as he inspected the outline of a boot in the snow. He picked himself up as he looked onwards to the cave ahead of him. It too was set high up in the rock wall, making it impossible to see inside from ground-level. Hiccup was just moving his feet ahead of each other when the Night Fury slipped in front of him suddenly.

"Toothless. I want to see who is in the cave." Hiccup hushed his voice, barely audible to anyone within ear-shot. He didn't need to speak at tones audible for the dragon to pick-up his voice. Toothless dipped his head at the request.

"I know you do, but just remember what I said earlier. Follow me, I would like to speak about this before you do anything." With that, the dragon slowly guided the boy out of the bare clearing and into the woods; plenty of space between the cave and their voices.

With first a cautious glance back to the light of the cave, Hiccup looked back at the dragon, "I don't see what the problem is. I have the perfect opportunity to speak to another Viking." Hiccup waved his arms in the direction of the cave, hopping to gain some ground in this.

"I am not stopping you." Toothless emitted calmly, his haunches on the ground.

Hiccup looked up confusedly at the being before him. "Then why bring me back here to talk about it, if you aren't stopping me?" It was a strange thing indeed.

"I want you to think about it first, before going up there. I want you to remember my words, but no matter your choice, I am right behind you in this." Toothless bowed his head slowly, as a sign that he respected the boys wants and views.

"Are you sure thats okay, being right behind me? That might cause some problems." Hiccup eyed the dragon like he had forgotten his own messages.

"I will not show myself, but if there is a problem, I will act." Toothless emphasized his intentions of acting if anything got out of hand.

With that, Hiccup turned slowly towards the clearing and starting treading slowly up to the slope leading to the opening in the cliff. He could feel his knees shaking as his hands flailed for something to hold onto. The prospect that he would be able to see, and speak with another human being since the last month was numbing his head. He felt far too shaky in the knees to continue any further, so he settled onto the graveled slope quickly.

"Shaking. Rapid breathing. Darting eyes." Toothless called out the symptoms showing on the boys body. Hiccup looked up at him with a frown. He mouthed the word 'nervous', but the message didn't get across to the dragon.

"You fear this. This confrontation." Toothless pointed to the cave entrance with his snout, breathing in the scents that descended from the opening. Hiccup nodded his head at the statement. Oh his nerves, how they shook so viscously!

"You can do this, but only if you want to." The dragon placed himself on the same level as the boy, so that he could look him in the eye. "Ask yourself if you want this, then act. I will be right here with what you choose." Hiccup smiled innocently at the dragons gesture, something that he felt he needed to share with his own people. He looked ahead of him towards the black forest, dimly illuminated by the wanning, white orb floating over the tree-tops. He could run off again, and hide from everything that was thrown at him, or he could act on the opportunity that presented itself. It also did nothing to waver his courage, that there was a mighty dragon that was by his side in this.

Giving a slow nod to his companion, but more likely to himself really, Hiccup picked himself up to his feet and padded slowly up to the glowing entrance in the cliff-face.

"Perhaps a silent approach would be un-wise. Startling whomever is inside the cave may not work out well." Hiccup nodded in agreement at the advice given by the Lord of Stealth. Hiccup paused to chance a glance back at his friend. He pointed a single hand to the light of the cave overhead, then jabbed a digit at his chest to attempt to ask his silent question. Toothless eyed the boy with intrigue as to this strange behaviour. 'Is it a dragon or a human? I should have asked this earlier. The signs say human, but a dragon could have easily taken over.' Hiccup silently thought to himself over his obliviousness to the situation. Desperately, he pointed once more to the cave then jabbed a digit to his chest. He then pointed a finger towards Toothless with as questioning an expression as he could give a facade to.

Toothless eyed the pointing fingers, then the cave again, before settling on the boy once more, "Human, if that is what you are asking." Hiccup let out a barely audible breathe he didn't realize he was holding, only to abruptly cover his lips.

"Are we going silent, or well-noticed." Toothless asked as the boy turned back up the slope. A hand was raised up to signify that the dragon was in-fact not to approach. Hiccup looked back sternly to tell the complexity of the situation should the dragon come up as well.

Toothless slowly backed down from the gravel slope and settled on the bare grass and snow that covered the clearing off the cliff-face, continually looking back at the boy as he laid comfortably in the crook of two large trees that had their lowest branches picked off.

Hiccup had bent down to his knees as he crouched at the corner of the opening, listening to the sounds of voices emanating from within. The were too mixed up from bouncing across the walls, and mingling with other voices that sounded out as well. To his ever good fortune in life, the cave had a slight angle to the opening, allowing the boy to slip inside without being immediately noticed.

Bending at the very edge of the wall, he thought back on how he should go about going inside. He was thinking on the best method to gain the attention of whomever was inside, when one of the voices spoke out again.

"Astrid, what are you going to do for the festival?" Hiccup's eyed snapped wider than they were before, as the name was uttered. He nearly choked on his breath when he realized he would be stepping in on potentially the teens that were part of his class so long ago. His mind starting churning at the idea of confronting Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Astrid, and Fishlegs out here, alone. It was just like him to get cold feet just because he might know the people around the bend. Then he remembered what Toothless had said, 'I will not show myself, but if there is a problem, I will act'. The words echoed in his head again as he thought about what could go wrong. Snotlout and the Twins used to torment him so much when he was younger. What could they do now, with him alone? Again, thinking back on what Toothless had said, Hiccup swallowed the lump that had made itself in his throat and picked up a small pebble from the dirt at his feet.

He rubbed the dust off it and felt it in his palm. 'Toss it, make a noise. You can do it.' He closed his eyes as he prepared himself to toss the small stone against the opposite wall, an act that would surely gain attention to his being there.

'One.' He brought his hand to his side to do a simple act.

'Two.' He breathed slowly out his nostrils.

'Three.' He tossed his arm forwards and made to release his tiny missile.

He counted out silently to himself, but refused to release on his own mark. He glanced his eyes open, ignoring the continuation of the voices talking about things he cared less about at the moment. His worst known enemy was currently resting in his clenched fist, refusing to be let loose from his grasp. This was even worse than trying to climb up the slope. This time, he didn't have his trusted ally next to him to give him comforting and possibly confusing advice. He silently cursed lightly to himself for being so weak all the time.

Taking a steadying breath, he gripped the pebble lightly and slowly tossed it across the empty space to let it bounce against the far wall. With a both quiet and loud bounce, the small stone settled noisily amidst a pile of even more small stones. Just as it stopped, the voices inside stopped too.

"What was that?" He couldn't quite place the source of the voice, but he could give a sure guess that it wasn't Snotlout or Tuffnut. It sounded boyish still. 'Fishlegs?' Hiccup took to a guess, only to stop and remember what he had planned.

Standing up, he slowly placed a single booted foot into the direct light, waiting for any reaction that might be elicited. The suspected reaction of a quiet gasp and hushed voice was enough to tell him that he was known for being there. Not him exactly, but some one. That part came soon enough, in all it's frightful notion.

"Who's there! Show yourself!" A stern voice, yet feminine just, sounded out to him around the bend. 'That must be Astrid.'

Only one person, that he knew of, had that tone of voice, attached to a young girls body as well. He looked down to see his right foot still balanced on it's heel. He connected his toes to the stone as he steeled himself for what was to come. He took one last intake of air from the silent wandering that he had, made his hood over his head, and slowly moved into the opening.

He kept his head faced down but his hands outstretched to show the lack of weapons as he moved quietly into the open gaze of whomever was silently staring him down.

"Who are you?"The female voice, potentially Astrid, spoke out. In truth, it would be better described as a demand than a polite question.

"I think it would be more polite to introduce oneself before making demands on the stranger, no?" He couldn't help but be reminded of the aggressive behaviour

"Do we know you?" The male voice asked. Hiccup placed it with being somewhat questioning, like someone he once remembered to always ask questions.

"Yes. Yes you do. I would not expect you to remember so well, but you may know me as one who was 'Useless'." Hiccup spoke quietly, hoping not to spook whomever he was speaking with. He of course had many a good guess as to who he was in fact speaking with, if one would call it pleasant speaking.

"I still do not believe that is a name fit for you..." The dragons tone edged into his mind as he uttered his lesser title. Hiccup smiled slightly under his hood at the understanding that someone, besides him, did not like that name.

"Hiccup?" The Astrid to be, spoke softly, in a tone that was laced with disbelief. To be fair to himself, Hiccup was not sure if he would believe it true that he could wander into a cave that happened to house two young Viking teens that came from the same village that he himself derived from. It was a convoluted coincidence that could not be believed once, but he had to make them believe or the questions that would befall upon him would lead to the discovery of the relationship he shares with dragons.

"Hello..." He waved his weak right hand in an equally weak attempt to feign his innocence of stumbling as he looked up with a forced smile at the two utterly shocked and, perhaps, horrified faces of the young teens that claimed the cave as shelter.

"Hiccup?" Fishlegs, as Hiccup now clearly could tell, echoed Astrid's question. They were the only two occupants of the cave, a point that helped ease Hiccup's heart. The lacking of the twins and Snotlout was a benefit. The boy currently being question simply nodded his head and bowed gracelessly in answer to the question that need not be answered. He shuffled his feet uneasily forward and sat noisily down on a warm patch of stone, opposite the two ghost-sighted faces.

He opened and rubbed his palms together before failing an attempt to stifle a small chuckle. Cupping his cheeks he began thinking on his current situation and how wonderfully horrible and frightful it must be. It was only a half-moment later where he was soon giving no attempt to stop himself from laughing at himself and his fright.

"Are you alright?" Hiccup heard from his laughter, the one who was Astrid , ask. He brushed a hnad limpy across his eyes to remove the tears that had developed in his fit.

He brushed his hands against his leggings, struggling to control himself. He managed a hand to his mouth, holding back the wave of feelings that had cropped up. When it felt manageable, he chanced a look up from his position.

"Oh, Never better..." He smiled through his teeth at the two Vikings sitting across from him, small bubbles of a chuckle rumbling up from his throat. He couldn't help but laugh at the innocence of it all. He was never a glorious hero, he was never a nefarious evil-doer. He was just Hiccup, and Hiccup means...him. He was gone and then back again. If he was ever missed, it would be a short mourning. There was never truly any need to place fear in confronting those not seen for ages. It was only a month, and a month is hardly a grande venture.

Hiccup leaned his head against the wall with sigh, lazily watching as the wood smoke drifted through the currents into the outside world. The other two occupants had shared no word that he had heard, since his coming, so he slowly closed his eyes and listened to crackle of the flames.

"I could use some sleep right about now, long day you know." He cracked a single eye on the left of his head to give a quick glance at the two still faces. He didn't bother looking for peculiar signs of fear and shock, as that was no longer important to him right now.

He just wanted to rest from a long day of walking and bathing, talking and arguing, with some hunting and flying for what it was worth.

In the dark shadows that danced across his eyes, he quietly started humming to himself as he drifted off into sleep.

'Let the questions come, I do not care about that anymore'

...

He was not aware to see Fishlegs opposite him also fall, if a tad far more abruptly and fiercely, to the ground in a backwards tumbling heap of confusion and shock...