Oh my gods, 50 reviews? Wooohooo! Haha! I never thought that this story would make it this far, and it's all thanks to my wonderful readers. So, thank you all so very much. Also, sorry about that tiny little cliffhanger last chapter...well, not really. But seriously, thanks again. (50 whole reviews!) This chapter is for you guys. Enjoy!

Merida's POV

The dragons claws were clamped around my shoulders, almost painfully tight. I continued screaming in fear as we soared above the treetops. It's head swiveled down to look at me as it soared, continuing upwards. It's eyes searched my own as it continued ascending towards the heavy hanging clouds.

"Put me down you awful beastie!" I yelled. The dragon didn't respond. I clawed at it's powerful talons, futily trying to pry them away from my shoulders.

Suddenly, we began to descend. I looked below us and noticed how high up we were, higher than I've ever been before, even on a broomstick. I stopped clawing at it's talons and instead gripped them tight, holding on for dear life. We came closer to a clearing in the forest, one very well lit. The dragon swept in close and released me, leaving me to find my footing while it perched itself in a huge tree. The tree groaned under it's weight, but it still held.

I fell onto my back, scrambling away from the beast in a mad panic. My back struck the trunk of a tree. I sat there, frozen, eyeing the powerful beast as it observed me from it's perch.

We sat there, at a standstill.

"Your eyes..." I muttered, unaware the words had past my lips.

The dragon suddenly tensed up, tearing it's gaze away from mine. It leaped gracefully from the tree and came slightly closer, then stopped. It closed it's eyes before whipping around, it's wings raised. It backed up, closer to me and I shut my eyes, fear once again coursing through me.

After a moment passed and the beastie hadn't attacked me, I opened my eyes. I saw the dark black hide of the dragon as it stood in front of me, it's wings stretched wide, blocking my view of it's front. It's wings blocked out the sun completely, making me feel like I was surrounded in a shadow. I heard a faint rumbling sound come from the dragon and assumed it was growling.

Was it trying to...protect me? But from what?

I stood slowly, and silently began making my way past the dragon, finding a way to skirt around it so I could see what exactly it was blocking my view from. I finally reached the edge of it's immense wingspan and peered past it, into the trees.

I saw familiar icy blue eyes, and shocking white hair. It was Jack.

"Back away slowly, Merida." Jack whispered.

I nodded. The dragon lowered it's wings slowly and turned to look at me, it's green eyes confused. I dashed over to stand behind a tree and with fumbling fingers, I tried to pry my wand from it's holster on my hip.

"Stay away from her." I heard Jack growl at the beast. The dragon crooned and I almost felt...sympathy?

The dragon kept staring between Jack and I. I vaguely noticed Jack had a staff now, instead of a wand. The dragon turned to me and Jack yelled.

"Move!" He said. I leaped out of the way and rolled, my fight instincts taking over. I turned and saw Jack shooting an icy blast at the dragon. The dragon scrambled away in a very un-dragonlike fashion, it's forest green eyes flashing in surprise as it continued backing away. Jack shot another blast at the beast, and this time, the dragon retaliated. It shot a small black blast of fire at Jack.

"Jack!" I cried, fearing for his safety.

Jack was knocked back. He hit a tree with a solid thump and was knocked onto his knees. The dragon warbled and froze in it's place. It took a step forwards, then stopped. It looked concerned, like it hadn't meant to do that. With a final look of uncertainty and a sorrowful glance at Jack's crumpled body, it stretched it's wings open and took off, leaving me and a still recovering Jack behind.

Hiccup's POV

I landed in the cove, stumbling forward in my human form. I walked over to Toothless to check on him as I had left him to deal with Merida, hoping it would not take long. That is, before Jack showed up. I had checked on Toothless's wounds before I left, which had already healed. They were only small scratches and had already faded into scars.

"Come on Toothless. We're leaving. For good." I sighed.

Toothless crooned and cocked his head at me, asking a silent question.

I walked over and cast a charm over his artificial tail fin. I had found a certain spell which I had altered only slightly to allow him to operate his fake tail fin with his remaining one. It mimicked his right, copying it's movements, allowing him to fly on his own. At least until the spell wore off.

"I...attacked Jack and then there was Merida...oh, this just so messed up." I said. I sat down on the ground and held my head between my hands. "Though, to be fair Jack did attack me first."

Toothless lay down beside me and wrapped his tail around my body.

"Thanks bud." I murmured. "It's just too much, Toothless. After this summer and now...this...I have nowhere left to go."

Toothless snorted and stood. He poked me with his head insisting I stop moping around. I stood up. He began pushing me towards the exit of the cove.

"What? Toothless, no. We have to get going-"

"Hiccup?" I heard a familiar voice call. "Hiccup? Answer me you daft Viking!"

Merida.

"Toothless, come on. We really need to go now-"

Toothless became more insistent, shoving me closer and closer to the exit of the cove. Towards Merida's voice. Realization struck me.

"You want me to call her?" I asked him.

Toothless rolled his green, reptilian eyes.

"Fine, but you need to hide. I want to ease them into this. Can't have another reaction like Dad..."

Toothless snorted, but left anyways, hiding behind a large rock that hid him completely when he crouched down.

I took a deep breath. "Merida!" I yelled. "Over here!"

I heard crashing footsteps. "Come on, Frost. I heard him over here." I heard Merida's voice, muffled by distance.

"Hiccup?" I heard Jack call.

"I'm in the cove." I called back. They were closer now, and I stood waiting. They crashed through the underbrush with Merida taking the lead. She saw me and ran, flinging her arms around my neck in a tight hug. I stood there, not quite sure what to do when Merida pulled away and punched me in the arm.

"What did you think you were doing, you bloody idiot!" She yelled.

"Well I-"

"You run off the quidditch pitch like a madman, then you prance through the forest on a mad chase for a 'Toothless'. Then, a bloody dragon attacks and you're sitting here, in a cove, perfectly fine. You scared me nearly half to death!" Merida finished her rant with a huff.

"Are you done?" I asked her quietly.

Merida crossed her arms but nodded.

"Good." I sighed. "Jack, you should probably go let Rapunzel know we're safe."

Jack paused, and looked between Merida and I before nodding and walking back into the woods.

"So...nice afternoon we're having." I stated awkwardly. Gods, how was I supposed to do this?

"Start explaining, Haddock." Merida said.

I hesitated slightly before whistling, signalling Toothless to come out from his hiding place.

"Merida, meet Toothless. Toothless, Merida." I said. I stood between the two, just in case either one got any ideas. Toothless growled and Merida took out her wand. "Toothless, easy." I warned.

Toothless continued growling at Merida, but stopped advancing.

"Tha-that's one of the dragons." She said. She raised her wand a little higher.

"Uh, yeah. You know, uh, magic doesn't really work on dragons. They just absorb it." I told her.

"You have a bloody dragon." Merida said, ignoring my comment about magic and instead observing Toothless closely. "Where's the other one?" She said, turning around.

"Uh, what other one?" I asked, playing dumb.

"There was another dragon, darker than this one and he shot black fire. He attacked me and Jack-"

"Oh. Well, as far as I know Toothless is, uh, the only one." I cut her off. I walked over to pet Toothless and Merida watched with a hunters eye.

"You wanna pet him?" I asked her.

"It's a bloody dragon, of course I want to pet it." She scoffed. She slowly lowered her wand and placed it back into it's holster on her hip.

I grabbed her hand while gently leading her closer to Toothless. I kept my right hand on Toothless's snout, while using my left to guide Merida's. I reached over with my left hand and placed Merida's hand on his nose. Merida gasped and Toothless's pupils dilated.

"See, not that hard." I told her.

"I thought Vikings killed dragons." Merida whispered.

I winced. "Well, yeah. And that's kinda why I was disowned anyways."

"Tell me." Merida said, while still stroking Toothless.

"Oh. Tell you. Well, uh you know, I met Toothless in the forest after, shooting him down." I mumbled the last part, kicking a stone on the ground. "To sum it up, Toothless got into the village and defended me, Dad caught him. I defended Toothless, and the villagers went berserk. I also accidentally gave away the location of the dragons nest after keeping it secret for months. Betrayed the village and whatnot." I deadpanned.

Merida cast a final, wistful look and Toothless before walking closer to me. She stood on my right, her arms crossed defiantly across her chest.

"What are you going to do?" She asked, fire flitting through her eyes.

I paused. What was I going to do?