Another chapter already! That was pretty fast. Most of this chapter was taken from episode 14, "What Flies Beneath", which was also the very episode that inspired me to write this fan fiction. Come on, how Toothless kept refusing to allow Hiccup to help him. I'm sure there's got to be a better reason for that than pride, so this fan fiction was born!

This chapter is still pretty short, but it's likely to get longer afterwards! Or at least, the story itself is going to be pretty long.

Chapter One: Old Acquaintance

"Toothless!"

The shouts of a young boy echoed at a canyon on the Isle of Berk. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third watched in horror as a Whispering Death sent rings of fire towards his dragon, a Night Fury, forcing it backwards. Hiccup felt his heart sink.

"He's going to knock Toothless into the canyon!" he exclaimed, turning to his friends, his face filled with worry and a tinge of panic. The Whispering Death fired again, continuing to force the Night Fury back. Toothless' hind legs slipped on the ledges of the pillar. Quickly, Toothless managed to climb back up. The dragon roared at his rider.

Seeing his, Hiccup narrowed his eyes. Carefully, he stood right at the edge of the newly made cliff. His friends watched behind him, wondering what he was going to do next. Astrid's eyes widened when Hiccup took a single tread forward, closed his eyes and willingly stepped forward right off the ledge.

"Hiccup!" Astrid cried, watching her friend fall down into the canyon below. The other viking teenagers stepped closer the edge, barely peering over in an attempt to look at Hiccup's descent.

With a quick reaction, Toothless leaped right off his pillar just as the Whispering Death breathed out another fuming ring of fire, following the young boy. Hiccup felt the wind against his back as he fell. He managed to make out a dark shadow coming below him.

Reaching out, Hiccup managed to grab Toothless' saddle. Pushing himself onto the dragon's back, Hiccup swung his legs over it's back, his left prosthetic foot clicking as it locked with the customized metal stirrup.

With his heart bashing against his chest, Hiccup pulled Toothless up, just a split second before the duo smashed into the ground. The surrounded rocks rained down, creating a giant cloud of dust and debris.

To the amazement of his friends, Hiccup and Toothless flew right out of the cloud. The viking teens managed to exhale in relief.

"Yes!" Astrid exclaimed. Fishlegs, who was standing beside her, looked just as happy. Hiccup clutched the saddle and looked down at his dragon. "I save you, you save me," he said. "That's the way it is."

Toothless looked back up towards his rider, grinning as he did. Hiccup adjusted the angle on the dragon's metal stirrup, turning Toothless to the left before pulling upwards. The Whispering Death was now in sight. Lashing out it's tail, three waves of spikes flew towards the boy and his dragon.

Tugging hard, Hiccup pulled Toothless to the left and right before proceeding to dive and quickly ascended. Toothless pulled out his wings, turning hard and charged forward. The Night Fury shot a blast of fire from it's mouth, straight at the Whispering Death. The dragon curled out of the way.

The sun's rays poked through the clouds. The Whispering Death let out an agonizing screech before quickly turning away and heading underground once again. Confused, Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows. The boy directed Toothless over to his group of friends.

Fishlegs was the one who stepped forward. "The sunlight, Hiccup!" Fishlegs said proudly. "That's his weakness!" Inside, Fishlegs felt pride well up inside of him. He figured out the weakness of a dragon that supposedly had no flaw. And he was sure that he was going to be the one who adds that fact to the book of dragons.

"Okay, bud," Hiccup told Toothless. "Let's keep that Whispering Death above ground." Hiccup turned Toothless back towards the direction of the Whispering Death's giant holes. Firing several shots, Toothless aimed them all at the holes. The force of the fire spread throughout all the underground tunnels, occasionally blowing up dirt as pillars into the sky.

"This...is...amazing..." breathed Ruffnut, who was now sitting on her head of the Hideous Zippleback she shared with her brother.

"We've got to find you and arch nemesis," said Tuffnut, astonished while placing a hand on his dragon's neck.

From one of the holes, the Whispering Death was pushed out. With a massive force, it was sent flying out from the hole and into a solid rock wall on the surface. It dropped onto the ground, still screeching. It turned up to face Toothless, roaring.

The Night Fury suddenly shot forward, without the command of it's rider. His claws immediately pinned the Whispering Death to the ground. Toothless roared threateningly towards the downed dragon. 'For the last time, tell your Master "forget it"! I am not participating in the Games!'

"Toothless, no!" Hiccup yelled. The Night Fury wanted to ignore his rider's words. You don't know the half of it, thought Toothless.

'But I'm supposed to have you accept Master's challenge!' the Whispering Death bellowed in reply. Toothless could make out the small hint of fear in the dragon's voice. His eyes narrowed. 'I decline his challenge! Now leave!'

'Alright, alright! I'll go!' the Whispering Death replied, scared for it's life. If he wanted to, the Night Fury could easily finish him off, especially in the situation and stance they were in. Slowly, Toothless' expression softened. His grip on the Whispering Death loosened and the dragon quickly ripped free from the Night Fury's grasp before diving back into the ground.

To Hiccup, all he heard was a series of roars and screeches. He thought all his dragon and the Whispering Death had was a grudge. Toothless knows of his rider's ignorance, but there was nothing he could do to explain it to him.

The other viking teenagers landed beside Toothless and Hiccup on their dragons. "Aw man!" said Snotlout in his typical arrogant tone. "Toothless could've just finished him off!"

Hiccup smiled. "It seems that all dragon grudges aren't to the death," he replied.

"I'm going to have to change that in the book," Fishlegs told the others before flying off into the sky on his Gronckle, Meatlug, intent on updating the Book of Dragons on their latest dragon discoveries.

Following Fishlegs, Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut also took to the skies on their dragons. Grinning, Hiccup looked towards Toothless, the Night Fury having a smile on his face.

"What do you say we go home, Toothless?" suggested an exhausted Hiccup who has been chasing his dragon around the island since morning. Toothless responded by leaping off into the sky, heading for the Hairy Hooligan village.

During the flight home, Toothless didn't notice that his rider knitted his eyebrows for a second. Questions were flying all over Hiccup's mind. What did Toothless do to become enemies with such a fierce dragon? Will it ever return? Pushing the thoughts to the back of his brain, Hiccup patted Toothless.

But Hiccup, likewise, did not notice that for a moment, his dragon frowned. Toothless did admit he was happy that the Whispering Death won't be bothering them for at least some time. However, the matter with the Whispering Death's Master is a different story. Toothless clenched his jaws. I can't get Hiccup involved. I just can't.

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Luckily for the Whispering Death, the sky was cloudy for most of his journey back towards his comrades. Had it been sunny, he would have hung around Berk for a much longer period of time. Not that it would've been safe with that Night Fury around.

Upon reaching a familiar island, the Whispering Death entered the cave. Inside, the rest of his party was already waiting. His Master was curled up in the center of the cave. 'Ah, Midgard. I see you've returned.'

'Yes...' Midgard replied in a slightly ashamed tone. The Whispering Death took a small move backwards. 'About Turlough, he refused your challenge.'

'He what?!' the Lead Dragon roared, infuriated. His colleagues all shook in fear of their leader's ferocity. 'How could Turlough refuse such a challenge?'

'It appears that he was trying to protect that human boy,' Midgard answered, trying to remain calm. 'I believe his name was Hiccup.'

The Lead Dragon glared at no one in particular. 'No matter. Our preparations are almost complete. Once they are, I'll be able to challenge Turlough myself...'

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Like I said, pretty short, since my chapters usually hang around the two thousand word count length.

Thanks for reading so far!

~Kyra