Thank you for the follows and faves, and reviews. I really appreciatet it. I have two people, not on the site, also reading the story, and they love it. It really means a lot to me when someone like my stories, and I hope you will like this chapter as well.

Guest. You will find the answer to some of your questions in this chapter. And a sequel. Wow. I haven`t even thought about that. I`m still just in the beginning of the story.

The next morning Hiccup got ready to fly to that island with Toothless. He told his mother he was going to be gone for a little while.

"Where are you going?" Valka asked.

"There`s something I have to do", Hiccup said. "I`ll be be gone for a little while, a few days."

"Where are you going?"

Hiccup got upp n Toothless and put his left leg in place.

"I`ll be back soon."

Toothless turned around and spread hi swings and took off.

"Hiccup!" Valka called after them. "You can`t just leave!" No reaction. "You are chief now!" she tried, but they kept going.

Eyla`s mother asked her to check the traps she set out the day before. The sky was grey, so she didn`t want Eyla to be gone too long in case there would be a storm. She didn`t want Eyla to be out in the woods if it started to flash.

The first traps were empty, and she continued further into the woodss. The next two traps had one rabbit each and she took them with her to check the last traps. She had walked for a while when she realised she could smell smoke. She had mostly been looking at the ground or to the sides, but now that she looked up and saw straight ahead, she saw fire. It hadn`t been raining for a while and the ground was dry, so the fire moved fast. She hadn`t heard any thunder or seen any lightning yet, and no one was stupid enough to let a fire burn uncontrollably when it was this dry. And on the other side of the woods, and the fire, was the coast. So how did the fire start?

She realized the fire moved closer and she better start moving. There was no way she could put it out, and she definitely could not stay there. She turned around and started running. But her ankle still hurt a little and she couldn`t run as fast as usual.

She turned left and came out of the woods. She kept running but suddenly had to stop to not fall off the edge. She forgot about the ravine. The gap was maybe 20 feet and it was a maybe 100 feet drop. Even if she was no longer among the trees, it was grass on the ground, almost up to the edge, and grass burns. She couldn`t jump 20 feet. She was trapped. Even if the fire wouldn`t kill her, the heat would.

"Help! Someone!" she screamed though she knew it was useless. "Someone please help me!"

She looked around again. If she went back into the woods, the fire would get her, she couldn`t outrun it.

"Help!" she screamed as she turned around.

She had no choice. She had to jump. She walked towards the trees and turned around. She took a deep breath and ran towards the edge.

Just as she was about to jump, something grabbed her shoulders and she was lift up. She screamed. They flew over the ravine.

"Put me down! Please! Put me down!"

"Hold still and we`ll put you down in a few seconds."

Hiccup.

When her feet hit the ground she ran a few steps and then turned around and looked at Hiccup who was standing next to Toothless.

"I never wanna do that again!"

"We just saved your life", Hiccup said.

"I was just about to jump."

"I don`t think you can jump that far", Hiccup said.

Eyla put her hands over her eyes and then sat down on a big rock.

"Can you at least warn me next time?"

"So you do want a next time?

"No!" She did not want to do that again.

It started to rain. It only took a few seconds before it was pouring down. It began to thunder. Hiccup said they could take her to her village.

"No, you can`t. They will kill him", Eyla said and looked at the Night Fury. "And I´m not flying in this weather", she said when they saw a lightning in the sky. "And neither should you. Come. I think there`s a cave not far from here."

It took them a few minutes to get to the cave. They were soaked and cold when they got there. But they could only wait for the rain to stop.

Hiccup looked at Eyla.

"So what were you doing on that cliff?"

Eyla looked at the ground, then she raised her eyes and looked at the rain.

"I`m afraid of heights", she said. "Always have been. I`ve tried climbing trees, but that didn`t really work. And I got stuck on the way down, more than once. Hanging on a branch 10 feet off the ground is not that much fun. Especially when everyone else thinks it hilarious."

That could have happened to me, Hiccuo thought.

Eyla told him she decided to climb that cliff to provet hat she could do something that took come courrage. She had been kind of a coward growing up.

"So you climbed that cliff just to provet that you could?" Hiccup asked after a little while. "With no plan on how to get down."

"Yes, pretty much. I just… I needed to know that I could. The others, they don`t think much of me, and think it`s fun to make me look clumsy."

Toothless had come closer to Eyla, curious about her. He sniffed her and nudged her. Eyla put his hand on his head while she was talking. HIccup thought it was quite fascinating. She didn`t really seem aware of what she was doing, and it was almost like it was a natural gesture, like she was petting a cat or a dog. But then she realised how close the dragon was and pulled back her hand and stood up. She told him about the time she tripped on the docks and a hamper almost rolled into the water. And when she got all the fish over her.

Hiccup looked at her. He knew how she felt. That`s something that could have happened to me. Maybe if…. Maybe if we would have met when we were younger….

It stopped raining. They both sat there for a little while before they started to move.

"I need to get home", Eyla said. "My parents must be worried. Especially my mom."

"Sure you don`t want us to take you there?"

"They will kill you. I`m serious. I was told dragons are dangerous before I could wak. Believe me. They hate dragons. They are dangerous."

Sounded like his father and the rest of the village until six years ago.

"Not all dragons are dangerous", Hiccuo said.

"No, I guess not. But they do not want to know that. It`s best if I go alone. It`s really not that far."

They said good bye and Eyla started waling towards the village. Hiccup looked at her. I`m starting to like her, she`s interesting. And she`s… He didn`t finish the thought.

When Eyla came home, her mother came as soon as she stepped through the doorway.

"Where have you been? I was so worried."

"I`m fine. I waited for the rain to stop in a cave. I… forgot the rabbits though." She had probably dropped them when she ran from the fire.

"We saw the smoke, I was afraid there was a fire."

"There was a fire, but the rain put it out. I`m fine!" She said when her mother looked for injuries.

"Sigrid!" Eyla`s father said. "She says she`s fine."

"Okay, okay", Eyla`s mother said. "Are you hungry?"

Eyla nodded. It was a few hours since she had eaten, and she was a bit hungry.

On the way back, Hiccup decided to stop and stay the night, instead of going home, and go back to the island the next morning. They flew a while longer and then landed on the beach of an island. Hiccup and Toothless checked the surroundings and decided to spend the night on the beach.

It was dark. Hiccup sat in the sand with his back against Toothless. His wing covered Hiccup`s body like a blanket. He looked out on the dark water. The sky was dark and the stars were shining. Somehow it made him feel small.

Hiccup thought about his father, like he had done so many times lately. Maybe because it was almost a year since he died. Maybe because he was still wondering if he could be the kind of chief his father had been. He had changed a lot in the last six years. Much of it thanks to Toothless. Now he was the chief, and Toothless was the alpha. Hiccup sighed. One day he was gonna make his father proud. He looked up at the stars and blinked away some tears. Then he closed his eyes, but it took a while to fall asleep.