Here we go, another chapter. Enjoy!

~.~

15. Self-Explanatory

It was conversations like these, Toothless decided as he sat in the forgery watching the lesson unfold, that he found immensely amusing.

"Okay. We'll go over it again. For the seventh time. You set the machine like this. Got it?"

"I got that the first time, lad. It's the rest of this gizmo I don't get."

"Fine, just—just listen, alright? You set the machine like this. This little thing here is what you use to aim where you want to shoot the—"

"This thing?"

"No. That's. . . I don't know what that is. It isn't supposed to be there. Ignore it, alright? This is the thing you use to aim. See?"

"Got it. What's that thing on the end?"

"We're getting there. Give me a minute. So, this is what you use to aim. Which means that this spot back here is where you—"

"What's it made out of?"

"What's—huh? What's what made of?"

"This lever thing!"

"I don't—who cares what it's—look, I have to teach you how to use the machine first. Then we can worry about what it's made out of."

"Alright, lad. Hey, what's that thing on the end again?"

". . ."

Toothless couldn't help but smile. It was times like these when he realized just how much more advanced Hiccup was than the majority of the Viking population. They had been in the forgery for over an hour, and Gobber still hadn't figured out how to use Hiccup's newest—and simplest—weapon.

"Wait, what's this button thing for? Ya lost me again, lad."

". . . I kind of expected that, actually."

"Just start over again, would ya? I'll get it this time."

"Okay, why don't we—"

Toothless sighed. As amusing as this conversation was, it needed to end sooner or later, otherwise all three of them would be here for another week. The dragon reached out with his tail and slapped the button on the side of the weapon with his fin. He effectively fired the thing—and blew a hole in the wall.

Hiccup groaned and leaned his forehead against the table. "For the love of Thor. Why can't this ever be easy?"

Gobber, on the other hand, had a different opinion.

"Hey, I get it now!"

See? Toothless knew exactly what he was doing.

16. News

Toothless had seen Hiccup coming from quite a ways a way, staggering and tripping as he ran full-out up the hill towards the dragon. Toothless watched with mild amusement; he hadn't seen his best friend so clumsy on his feet since he had lost his leg, and that had been over ten years ago. What on earth was up with him?

"Toothless!" Hiccup lurched to an unsteady halt beside his friend before collapsing onto his back to lie spread-eagled in the grass. His chest was rising and falling rapidly as he gasped for breath, struggling to recover from his wild dash through Berk. "Oh, man—Toothless—"

The dragon stood up and leaned over the panting man. He had the oddest expression on his face, Toothless noticed; he was grinning like a mad man and his face was flushed, but his eyes were wide and a little bit scared looking.

"I'm gonna be a father."

There was a long moment while the two friends stared at each other. Toothless should have seen this coming. He had expected it years ago, when Hiccup had gotten married. He had been waiting for this for a long, long time. He shouldn't have been so surprised.

Ha, so much for that.

Toothless fainted.

17. Scars

It was very, very hard to wound a dragon. They're scaly skin was so thick and strong that breaking through it was nearly impossible.

Nearly impossible. Not impossible—nearly.

Toothless had scars to prove it. Quite a few, actually. The biggest one, his lack of a second tail fin, was the most obvious, but there were others too. They were very subtle, but once you noticed one, you started seeing them all over the dragon's black body.

He had one on his left foot. Another on his chest. There was a tiny notch in his ear. One more on the underside of his right wing. Toothless had more or less forgotten about those scars. Until Hiccup noticed them, that is.

Toothless knew that Hiccup hated those scars. He never looked at them for long, if he could help it, but every once and a while he would see one that he had never realized was there before, and he would frown. Just like now.

Hiccup reached out and traced the long gray line that ran along the inside of his dragon's leg. He was frowning. "Now where did that one come from?" he asked quietly, more to himself than Toothless.

The dragon turned away uncomfortably, his ears flat against his head. He could remember all too well where that one had come from. Hiccup didn't need to know.

18. Promise

There she was.

The dragon touched down in the grass next to a small lake placed in the very center of a deep, crater-like ravine. Memories flooded back. This was where he had been trapped for those first few days after he had lost his tail. This was where. . . where he met. . .

He stopped thinking about that.

And there she was. Toothless approached Astrid cautiously from behind, watching her as she sat on the bank of the lake with her face buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Putting his head close to hers, he made a soft noise deep in his throat. She looked up, piercing him with her bloodshot eyes. "Toothless. . ."

She leaned back against him, and the dragon curled around to lay his head by her legs. For a moment neither moved as they stared at the beautiful sunlight flickering off the glassy surface of the lake. Even the weather was mocking them today. It should have been raining.

Without warning, Astrid blew up. "He promised, Toothless!" she cried, unable to hide the tears that ran down her cheeks. "He promised that he would be okay! He promised! And he lied!" She drew her knees up to her chest and hid her face. "He knew, Toothless, he knew what was going to happen! Why did he do it?"

Toothless didn't know.

Astrid's voice was softer now that her rage had given way to grief. "Why did he do it, Toothless? Why did he have to die?"

And that was all that mattered, wasn't it? It didn't matter how or why or what, all that mattered was that he was dead. Toothless knew that the reality of it hadn't fully hit him yet. He didn't really want it to, either.

Because Hiccup was dead.

19. Immaturity

Stoick stared at them, his mouth hanging open ever so slightly. Toothless didn't blame him. They did make quite a scene, after all.

"So who wants to explain to me exactly what happened?"

All he got in response was a smattering of smothered giggles. The seven of them stood in a line before the Viking chief, heads lowered politely but barely concealed grins on their faces.

"Do I want to know?"

Hiccup spoke up. "Probably not."

More giggles. Toothless cast a glance down the line at his comrades in crime. The dragon himself was covered from head to toe in a thick layer of black mud, along with Tuffnut and Snotlout. Fishlegs was covered with leaves and twigs and some kind of unrecognizable substance. Astrid was sopping wet. Hiccup had soot and ash smeared across his face, Ruffnut's braids were smoldering, and both had burn marks on their clothes.

Stoick was still in shock. "And what are we going to do about this?"

Snotlout burst out laughing, and the twins followed suit. Within a second, all of them were howling with mirth.

"How about this," Astrid suggested through her laughter as she clung to Hiccup for support. "We tell you, and you disinherit Hiccup from the family and ban us all from Berk forever—"

"Or," Snotlout continued, clutching a stitch in his side and gasping for air, "we don't tell you, and we clean everything up and hide the bodies, and you never hear about this again."

Toothless growled in agreement to this wise statement, still shaking with silent laughter.

Stoick stared at them. "Just. . . just go. Go on! I don't want to see any of you again for the rest of the day, do you hear me?"

He turned away, shaking his head in bewilderment, while Toothless and his friends staggered off, leaning on one another as they struggled to control their hysterics. The failed, and not one of them made it farther than ten steps before they had all collapsed once again, leaving streaks of mud, ash, and water on the ground.