Arriving back at Dragon Island, we went back to the caves and slept. The Monstrous Nightmare lit a small fire for me to keep warm. Toothless slept hanging, bat-like, at the entrance of the cave. Protecting me.

I tried to keep myself from thinking. I would not think, I would not think, I would not…

Groaning in frustration, I wrapped myself tighter in my blanket. I just wanted to sleep.

I heard the Gronkle coming closer to me. It lay next to me. It felt really comforting. Dragons have a way of doing that. Dragons cared. Dragons….

I woke up, with the gleam of the late morning sun shining into the cave. So I had managed to sleep.

Sitting up, I saw Astrid sitting near the cave entrance, with the Deadly Nadder by her side.

"You're finally up," she said.

I yawned and stretched. "Yeah, a night full of… work… really tires a person out."

She dropped her eyes. We both know what I meant by "work."

"I told the others that I saw a herd of wild boars they can hunt on the other side of the island. They'll be gone for awhile. You can get out of this place for a few hours."

I threw the blanket off me and pulled on my boots. "Come on, Toothless," I said. "Let's go… fishing, again." Toothless jumped down from his perch.

"You don't have to do that today," Astrid said. "I caught enough fish for the dragons. They're at the camp. You need to come there, too. How long has it been since you've had a good meal?"

"Umm… remember the morning before you met Toothless?" She nodded, puzzled. "Yeah, it was that morning."

"Then it's been over a month. You're looking even thinner than ever, and that's saying something. Come on, let's get some food in you."

"You don't have to. I'm the enemy of your tribe."

"Are you really?" she asked. She stood up. "You're coming with me, and I won't take 'no' for an answer. C'mon, Stormfly, let's take Hiccup to get something to eat," she said, motioning the Deadly Nadder to follow her.

"Stormfly?" I questioned.

"Well, I have to call her something," Astrid responded, nodding toward the Nadder.

Earlier that year, I never would have guessed it. Astrid had made friends with a dragon.

We followed her through the forest, to a spot near some waterfalls. There, they had set up camp.

Astrid opened a bundle and revealed a wheel of cheese. She cut out a large chunk for me, and I sat on the ground, eating with vigor. Food had never before tasted so good! Seeing how hungry I was, Astrid also gave me some biscuits.

"Why are you doing this for me?" I asked. "I'm the enemy."

"I don't think you're the enemy," Astrid said. "And I don't think dragons are the enemy. But I also don't think vikings are the enemy."

"Then who is the enemy?" I pondered aloud.

"I don't know," she admitted. "Or, actually, maybe I do."

She was about to say more when a shout sounded through the woods. "Astrid!"

We froze. It was Snotlout. Then I scrambled to my feet and jumped on Toothless. "Go, go!" Astrid whispered. "I'll make sure Snotlout stays back here."

She turned to the Deadly Nadder, hesitatingly reaching out to touch her. "You go too, Stormfly. I don't want him to see you." Stormfly rested her head against Astrid's hand for a second, then turned close to Toothless.

We took off, flying low to the ground to avoid being seen above the trees. We dropped lower to the ground after going over a cliff. We skipped off the ground, then circled ninety degrees and flew up again. We kept flying until we reached a meadow a long way away from the camp.

We landed in the woods near the edge of the field. Stormfly and Toothless eagerly dashed to some tall dragon nip, rolling around in it. I wandered over to the last trees of the forest, just ambling around.

I looked out of the trees and saw Fishlegs, sitting on a log at the edge of the field. He sat with his back toward me. I stared at him.

Fishlegs was never like the others. He was always just as scared of facing dragons as I was. He never liked to rush into the thick of the fights. He was a thinker.

But he wanted to kill dragons.

Then again, so had I.

I circled around the corner of the field so I was in front and to the side of him, about fifty feet away. Fishlegs was looking down, drawing or writing in his notebook.

Quietly, I stepped out of the trees, being careful not to rustle the tall grass. I approached him, stopping about five feet away. I saw that he was sketching some leaves from a plant near him.

"Is that Meadowsweet?" I asked.

Fishlegs jumped up, screaming, and stumbled over the back of the log. Scooting backwards, he grabbed his knife and held it out with both arms, trembling.

"I-I don't know what you want with me, but you won't have it, Hiccup!"

"Relax," I said. "I'm not going to cause trouble."

"Why are you here?" he shouted, terrified. "Didn't you do enough damage on Berk?"

I pulled my knife out and dropped it to the ground and kicked it to the side, just like I had done with Toothless. I held my arms out to the sides, showing that I had no other weapons. "I'm unarmed," I said. "And my dragon is a ways away. I can't hurt you." I looked into his eyes. "And I'm defenseless."

His chest was pumping up and down from his breathing, and I could see him beginning to sweat.

"Maybe you should turn me in. There's nothing stopping you."

Still, he made no move forward. He just continued to stare at me.

"Remember all the times you got excited about something," I said, quietly, "and the others didn't care?"

He slowly nodded. "You cared, though."

"Yeah, I did."

"And it really made me happy that you cared." He slowly lowered his knife. "But I wouldn't show it, because… well…."

I nodded in understanding. "Because I was too much of a loser."

He shifted his eyes away from me. "Well..."

"I know, Fishlegs. That's why I wanted to kill a dragon so badly. I wanted to be one of you guys."

"You had the chance," he said.

"I know. But I discovered that I wasn't one of you. I was something else. I wasn't a dragon killer."

Fishlegs stood up. "You were always different," he said. His eyes clouded over. "But look what that's caused."

"It has, hasn't it? But I need to protect the dragons. They're… they're my friends. They're loyal to me. And my own tribe… my own father…" my voice trailed off. I was afraid that my voice would crack if I continued.

"But the Outcasts? You're better than that. They would love to overrun Berk."

"It- it's only temporary. Just long enough to save the dragons."

Fishlegs sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Look, Snotlout's angry at you. He's likely to hurt you if he knows you're here. But… he won't know. At least, he won't hear it from me."

"Thank you," I said, gratefully. I returned to the dragons, mounted Toothless, and sped away.