Ladipretender, my beta, thanks so much for your amazing work editing this story for me!

Thanks so much for the reviews, guys! I'm so very happy!

Sorry if I won't reply to all of the reviews, but I do answer the ones that needs some answer. One reviewer said that it's good, but didn't like the flashback thing. Well, I'm sorry but I do intend for almost all the chapters to have flashbacks. It's not like the fic goes back and forth in time too much, there's the story five years in the future and then there's a flashback in the end that actually tries to explain what happened that leads to the present, also, I intend to show character development in those flashbacks, instead it being a distraction. I'm sorry, but I can't take the flashbacks off.

Enjoy and Review! :D

Chapter 5

To Find What He Searches For

He left the book on the bedside table, feeling bored as ever. Toothless was lying on the ground by his side, Hiccup reached his hand to gently touch the dragon's scales as he petted him. The dragon was probably as bored as he was.

"I'm sorry, Bud, but we won't be able to fly for a while… You don't need to stay here with me, even though you can't fly on your own, you can go and play with Shimmer or something…"

Toothless crooned in response, like he was saying 'Don't be stupid, I'm your bud and we're on this together, I know you'd do the same for me.' Hiccup smiled and continued to pet him as the door opened. He took his attention from the dragon to the person who entered.

"How are you doing?"

"I've been worse." Hiccup gestured to his left leg. "I'll be fine, Toothless and I can't wait to fly again. Did Camicazi send you, Bork?"

"She didn't have to do that, I came on my own." The slim young man answered, with one of his Terrible Terrors perched on his shoulder, the dragon was a light brown one he called Horrorcow, because he was slow, big and slept a lot.

Bork was as scrawny as Hiccup, though not as tall. They met around 4 years before, when Bork was going through a rough time, and because of that he'd always be thankful for Hiccup. He got a chair and sat next to the bed.

"Your book." Hiccup showed the object sitting on the table. "I've read it twice already."

"Thanks, but it's nothing new. It's basically a compilation of your work. You know, you wrote so many things about dragons in different journals, I just thought it would be easier to put it all in order in one book. I added the velocity flight measure, though."

"I saw that, it's very interesting." Hiccup sighed. "I guess we'll never know how fast a Night Fury can really be, right? Since dragons are faster by themselves than when they're with a rider…"

"But usually it is a matter of seconds. And I'm noticing that the more the dragon gets used to flying with a rider, the faster they can go. Who knows, maybe Toothless is just as fast as he should be without you."

"Maybe, you're right. It doesn't matter; Toothless likes to fly with me, that's what it's important, right, Bud?" The dragon squeaked in response. Hiccup had made a prosthetic tailfin that Toothless could manipulate by himself, however, the dragon broke it, showing he wanted to fly with the harness and tailfin that Hiccup needed to manipulate.

"I know you must be bored, right? You both hate to stay indoors for too long…"

"Don't remind me about it. But what is bugging me is that the Berserkers could come at any minute."

"Cami told me. Don't worry about that, we'll handle it, just like we did when they came before, trying to 'conquer more territories' and stuff…"

"This time is different. They'll be coming more prepared. People will be counting on Toothless and me. We have the best fire power and experience to defend us."

"I know…"

"By the way, do you think you can bring some cod? I bet he is hungry for some."

"Sure. I'll get a basket right away." Bork answered as he stood up and walked out the door with quick steps.

Flashback 5

All Hiccup could feel when he woke up was pain. Lots of it. He was sore all over. He tried to shift to get more comfortable, but didn't have the energy. Soon, he felt a hot breath on his hair and face. Hiccup knew it was Toothless, and just because he knew it was his best friend, he forced himself to open his eyes.

"Hey, bud." His voice was a bit husky, like he hadn't used it in days. Moreover, his throat was dry, in desperate need of water. The excited dragon started licking him so eagerly that he almost stepped on the skinny human. Hiccup winced in pain and Toothless backed away. "I'm in a house? What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Whose house is this, by the way?" He wondered as he watched Toothless play and bounce from side to side. "Wait, bud, what are you doing? You're going to break something soo-"

When he was about to get out of the bed, he noticed something was weird right below his knee. Taking away the covers, he saw what was different: the lack of part of his left leg. He sighed heavily, running a hand through his auburn hair, feeling a bit lost and incomplete.

Then, he looked at Toothless, who was there, looking at him like he was trying to support him and be by his side. The dragon must have felt like that, vulnerable and incomplete when he lost his flight. But he didn't give up, and neither would Hiccup, because neither one was alone. They had each other, and that was the thing he was most certain of in his life. Both were incomplete, but together, they could overcome anything.

"Hey, bud, will you help me stand up? I was already clumsy enough when I had two feet, I don't know how am I going to stand with just one. I think I'll need to make a prosthetic for me, one that will allow me to maneuver your tailfin, what do you say?"

Toothless grinned his gummy smile and got close enough to help him stand up, serving like a crutch. Hiccup balanced himself on his right leg, his body was still sore, and he just realized how tired he was when he was out of the bed. Soon, he got dizzy; he had to support himself by almost laying on Toothless's back so he wouldn't fall.

"I think we need to take it nice and slow. Very slow."

Suddenly, he heard a noise at the door, only then did he take the time to realize he was next to the entrance, on the first floor. The wooden door opened to reveal a girl with long blondish hair tied up in a ponytail. There was a purple terrible terror on her shoulder. Camicazi's blue eyes sparkled in happiness the moment she saw him.

"Hi…" He said, waving a hand while trying not to fall over.

Camicazi almost dropped the water bowl was carrying to the floor, she managed to leave it on the way without breaking anything before she ran up to him and embraced him. Hiccup almost fell with her action, but Toothless supported them both.

"You are awake! Finally awake! For a moment I thought you might not wake up again."

"What? How long have I slept?"

"Almost a week…" She answered, letting him go and helping him keep steady, while Stormcloud landed on the bed, observing the humans with curiosity.

"A week!?"

"Nearly a week, actually, it's more like six days. How are you feeling?"

"I think I've never felt worse, but I'll be fine." Her eyes looked down.

"I'm sorry about your leg. There was nothing we could do."

"Cami, you saved my life, you don't have to ask for forgiveness."

"You don't know what happened. And Toothless is the one who saved you. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to save you entirely, your leg was much too damaged."

"I remember his tailfin was destroyed, he couldn't have brought me here and taken care of me. You must have gone to Dragon Island to find me."

"Yeah, I did. What the hell were you thinking when you went there?"

"In fact, I only wanted to research a bit more, but then the Red Death managed to get out of her nest and I kinda had to improvise…"

"Okay, but never do anything as stupid as that again, otherwise I'll have to bring you back from the dead just to kill you myself."

"Okay, okay…"

"Now, sit down, you need to rest." She helped him sit back on the bed and Stormcloud got out of there, flying away. The girl kept looking at where his left foot should be, it was almost invisible, but she had a bit of guilt in her eyes.

"Cami? Are you okay?" He asked, noticing her tension and then she sat by his side.

"How are you going to fly Toothless now?"

"Come on, I made a prosthetic for a dragon. I think I can do the same for me as well. Actually, I already have some ideas, where is my sketchbook?" He wondered and she took it from her furry vest, she was taking care of his things while he was unconscious. "Thanks. And, Cami, I know that if you had a choice you'd do it differently. I'm alive and that's what matters. I'll always be grateful for you. Besides, I have Toothless, right, bud?" The dragon crooned happily. "I don't know what will happen, but I know we'll be fine. By the way, is that water? I'm really thirsty."

"Here" She gave him a cup full of water and he drank it in one gulp. "Well, I guess I'll just start sketching some prosthetic ideas so I can make them as soon as I'll be able to get out of this bed without feeling too dizzy. I bet Toothless is dying to go flying, and I don't want to keep him waiting."

Camicazi smiled seeing the 16-year-old boy excited, opening his book and starting to draw what was in his mind. The dragon crooned as he heard his name and the word 'flying', though he knew his human was in no condition to fly yet.

"You know Hiccup, I think you're one of the strongest guys I know."

He raised an eyebrow. "I know the Bog Burglars are a group of female warriors and all, but I think you really don't know many people, do you? I'll introduce you to my cousin, Snotlout, he is the perfect example of what a young Viking should be and everything that I'm not.

"I didn't mean only physical strength, Hiccup."

Suddenly, he stopped sketching to look at her with confused eyes. He always had been seen as a wimp, useless. To be seen as a strong young boy was something new. It took a few seconds for him to understand what she meant, and when he did, he smiled shyly before turning back to his drawings. She stood up and left him and his dragon in peace for a while.

Two weeks passed since Hiccup woke up. During that time, he recuperated and managed to build a prosthetic for him and his dragon. He thought it was funny how people stared at him and the black-scaled beast following him whenever he went. Usually, few Bog Burglars approached him when Toothless was around at first, but they were soon getting a little more comfortable with the Night Fury around.

Both started flying again doing tricks, spinning, going up and then falling until they almost reached the ground or the ocean. Hiccup was actually relieved that he managed to keep doing the same things as before with their prosthetics. Ad then, one day, he announced he'd leave.

"But, why, Hiccup? You like it in here, people like you and we're fine with Toothless around. Why would you go?" Camicazi asked sadly.

"I still dream that peace is possible. Peace between humans and dragons. I dream of a place where we can live peacefully and cooperating with one another. I know Bog Burglars are more open to dragons now, but that place is not here. Maybe, someday they can truly accept them, but I want to go out there and change people's mind. I want the whole archipelago, or better, the whole world to understand what it is to earn a dragon's loyalty. I want a place where Toothless and I can call home. To be accepted for who we are. You might not understand because you were never looked down on like I've been my entire life." He paused for a second and then continued. "Wouldn't you want to come with me?"

"I can't go, Hiccup…" She was proud to be a Bog Burglar, and she was the heir, she couldn't just leave.

She didn't like it, but she couldn't really stop him from going. Camicazi almost cried the morning he was going to leave. She liked him, it was obvious, and her mother, Bertha, noticed it.

"Camicazi, my daughter, I don't want you away from me, but I want even less to see you so sad. I know you really like that boy."

"What are you saying, mom?"

"That, maybe, you should go with Hiccup. If he promises to take care of you." The girl laughed.

"Oh, mom, you know he can't take care of himself. Wait, are you serious?"

"Yes. But you have to promise me that you'll visit constantly. And maybe send notes with Stormcloud."

"Thanks, mom!" Camicazi hugged Bertha and dashed out to give him the news, she was not the kind of girl to ask if she could go or not, besides, he did ask if she wanted to come. He agreed and she ran to pack her stuff.

Then, the chief of the Bog Burglars went to find the boy and his dragon, as usual, they were at the forge, he was sharpening the last sword he got to work and was preparing to leave on Toothless.

"Good luck and good flight, boy." She said as he thanked her, so she got a little bit more serious. "Take care of my daughter, Hiccup. Don't you dare let anything bad happen to her."

"No offense, Bertha, but I think she can take care of herself better than I ever could…" He laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Just promise me you'll do it."

"Okay, I'll do my best. I promise."

"Thanks."

Both left on Toothless, with Stormcloud following right behind. They landed on an unknown island around noon.

"It seems to be a good place to stay for a while." Hiccup said. "We can eat lunch and rest a little, what do you think about staying here for the night?"

"I guess it's fine. What are we gonna eat?"

"Well, we do have some potatoes and carrots your mother gave us and we can fish a little. I have a net I usually use to catch some fish with Toothless. Wait here a little bit, we'll be back with them. Oh, and hold the food for a while. We can cook some soup for dinner with what's left."

He handed her the potatoes and carrots they had and they took off. Camicazi wandered around looking at the place, searching for fruits so they could stock up for later. Then, she found some apples on a tree, Stormcloud, who stayed with her, got a few of them for the girl so she wouldn't have to climb up.

Camicazi was counting the fruits with Stormcloud when suddenly a red dragon appeared by her side out of nothing. Startled, she jumped the other way and ended up falling down because of the tree roots. Stormcloud crooned protectively, trying to put herself in front of her human. The red dragon was a Changewing, and it seemed to be curious to why that tiny terrible terror was trying to protect the human.

Remembering everything Hiccup had said about gently approaching a dragon, she slowly raised her hands showing she was unharmed, making sure to leave her sword and dagger on the ground when she stood up, walking away from her armory to be completely vulnerable.

"It's okay, dragon. I'm not here to harm you, okay? Please don't throw acid on me…" She got a red apple from the forest floor and showed it to the Changewing. "You like it? Do you want some?" The red snout got closer to sniff the fruit; finally, she opened her jaws to eat it, being careful to not hurt the mysterious girl.

Slowly and carefully, Camicazi gave some other apples to the Changewing. Stormcloud, relieved that there was no danger anymore, landed on her shoulder. When the red dragon seemed to be at ease, she dared to reach and touch the dragon. The Changewing was a bit startled at first, but then accepted Camicazi's soft touch and closed her eyes with pleasure as the girl put another hand on her scales to pet the creature. Hiccup had taught her how the dragons liked to be scratched, so she did just that.

"You know, dragon, you'll like my friend, Hiccup, he's the one who showed me how to do that. By the way, you are a girl, aren't you? Just like Stormcloud. Should I name you?" The dragon closing her eyes was another sign it trusted that Camicazi wouldn't hurt her.

Meanwhile, Hiccup and Toothless caught a bunch of fish with their net and then came into shore.

"I think we've got enough, right, Bud? Now let's go get Camicazi, this place is wonderful, I think she'll like the view here. I'm gonna go get her, bud, stay here, but don't eat the fish yet. I'll be back soon."

Hiccup said after hanging the net of fish in a tree with the dragon lying next to it, tempted but complying. There was a beach with smooth golden sand; he left Toothless just a bit farther up, where there was a place he could see the whole beach and the sea beyond, perfect for a calm, peaceful lunch. He had left Camicazi somewhere inside the not too deep forest, he turned to search for her, when he heard a noise coming from the beach.

Curiously, he looked down to see what was going on. He could see a few guys and a small skinny boy like him. The buff young men were laughing hysterically; the same could not be said of the smaller one. Hiccup felt his blood boil with anger. He knew what that boy was going through; he had been laughed at his whole life for being too much of a wimp.

Hiccup couldn't stand watching that, so he drew the sword he made in the Bog Burglars' forge and walked down towards the beach. He had trained at sword fighting for a few months with Camicazi and he had improved a lot, but was he good enough? He didn't know.

When he was close enough, he started to hear what was going on without being seen.

"Dogsbreath, give my journal back!"

"Oh, is Dork gonna cry now?"

"Stop being stupid! We have training to do…"

"Shut up, Dork. We don't have to listen to you. When they come back for us, let's see if you're still gonna be standing. I bet you won't last a day! We're finally gonna get rid of you! And don't even think of asking for help. It's every one for themselves here."

"I wouldn't do that! Now give it back."

"Why don't you come and get it?" And so they started throwing the journal from one to another, laughing as the skinny boy tried desperately to catch it in the air.

"Hey, you!" Hiccup yelled, approaching. "Stop and give it to him." The five buff guys turned to see who said that and then began laughing as soon as they saw the insignificant, puny kid bossing them around.

The one who seemed to be the leader, Dogsbreath, reached behind his shoulder and withdrewn his sword, causing the others to do the same. Hiccup gulped, almost regretting his outburst, but standing strong with the sword in his left hand. Dogsbreath advanced on him to attack and Hiccup managed to block it perfectly, surprising both him and the attacker.

Dogsbreath tried again and again to use his strength to impale the thin body that dodged or blocked his sword easily. Then, Hiccup dared to attack, his opponent had difficulty blocking the blows so he asked for help. Suddenly, Hiccup was having a really hard time blocking the attacks of five cowardly strong guys around his age.

When Toothless saw his human was in peril, he didn't hesitate to jump in there and help him. One of the guys saw the black scaled beast approaching, guessing it was the 'unholy offspring of lightening and death itself' and ran away yelling. The other ones stopped suddenly to look at what he had seen and all of them froze to see those toxic green eyes with slits as pupils. They all turned around yelling something that seemed to be 'run for you lives' as they vanished from sight fleeing as fast as their legs could carry them.

Hiccup sighed, putting his sword back and rolling his eyes. He didn't need to turn to see Toothless approaching, his eyes not slits anymore, they were round and cute, relaxing nowthat the peril was long gone.

"Bunch of cowards…" He muttered jokingly to himself.

"Thanks, you didn't need to help me." The boy said, grabbing his journal on the sand, he seemed to be confused. "You must be very scary to make them just run away like that, I've never seen it before."

"Or you're very brave, I mean, you haven't even yelped or anything. People usually can't stop staring at him with fear the first time."

"Him? What are you talking about?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow and exchanged confused looks with Toothless, who was right behind him.

"Don't tell me you can't see the huge Night Fury just a few meters behind me."

"Yeah, I don't really have a good sight… Wait, did you just say Night Fury?"

"Yep." The boy squinted his eyes and looked behind Hiccup. With his bad sight and Toothless's scales blending in with the dark rocks behind him, it took a while to spot the dragon.

"Oh Odin, please protect me!" He yelled, stepping back until he fell onto his butt in the sand. "Please don't eat me, my taste must be awful, I'm just skin and bones, really!"

"Don't worry, Toothless won't eat you, right bud?" The dragon crooned in response. "Besides he likes fish. Especially cod."

"Wait, why are you not scared of that beast?"

"Don't call him that, he doesn't like it. His name is Toothless, and he is my best friend. I'm Hiccup, by the way, who are you?" Hiccup asked, extending a hand in front of the boy's face to help him stand up. Apprehensively, he accepted the help to get on his feet.

"I'm Bork. I know, stupid name. People call me Dork. Or Bork, the Dork. You can call me whatever you want, it's not like I care anymore."

"Well, I'm going to call you by your name. And where do you come from?"

"The Meatheads tribe. All the 15 year olds have to pass through a stupid test. They're gonna leave us here for two weeks and then come back later to get us. It's supposed to build our strength or something like that. It's not like I have muscles, though."

"I know what you mean…"

"What about you? And how did you manage to befriend a dragon without getting killed?"

Hiccup grinned and started explaining his whole story. From being the joke of the Hooligan tribe to killing a giant dragon-eating monster the size of a mountain. The young boy was mesmerized by it all, almost not believing the Red Death existed, after all, nothing could be that huge. But he couldn't pretend he didn't see the confidence and assurance in Hiccup's green eyes.

Bork also told him about how his parents died when he was really young and how the village helped support him because he had no family left. How they quickly started to get tired of him because he was scrawny and weak, was soon bullied with no parents to help or defend him. Hiccup was a bit sad hearing this; he knew quite well what he was going through, with the difference that he knew his father wanted him to be more than he was and that usually he was his cousin's favorite target.

Then, they went to find Camicazi, she was enjoying herself playing around with her purple Terrible Terror and a red Changewing.

"Do you all just have no fear of these beasts?" Bork asked.

"Dragons are lovely once you got to know them. And stop calling them beasts, they don't like it." To prove his human's point, Toothless raised his tail till it hit Bork's head from behind.

"Ouch! Okay, okay, I understand!"

"Who is he?" The girl asked.

"Camicazi, this is Bork. Bork, this is Camicazi. I found him on the beach, he got curious about all the dragon stuff."

"Okay. And this is Stormcloud and Shimmer." She gestured to the dragons, "By the way, Hic, do you think you can teach me ride her? She could be my own riding dragon. I think she likes me. Besides, her camouflaging skills are perfect for a Bog Burglar."

"I guess so. Though now I think Toothless and I will need to catch more fish…"

"That would be a good idea, I'm starving."

"Okay, then. Wait a minute, we'll be back soon."

He said mounting his dragon that quickly was airborne with the net, his stomach also calling desperately for food.

Hours later, Bork was looking at the flames dancing in the bonfire, the only light to illuminate the night. That was a very interesting and amusing first day of Survival Test. At lunch and dinner, he ate fish that the 'unholy offspring of lightening and death itself' had caught. He was sure he'd wake up soon and find out none of it had happened.

How could it be? How could he just go and befriend a scrawny little kid like himself who somehow managed to be 'besties' with a dragon? That was unthinkable. Unbelievable. Yet, completely awesome. And the kid not only let him stay around his friend and dragons, he also helped him with the bullies at the beach.

"So, still too scared of them?" Hiccup asked sitting by his side. Toothless (Bork couldn't understand why name a Night Fury toothless) was lying down happily with his stomach full of fish on the other side of the clearing.

"It's gonna take some getting used to. Are you sure… Toothless is not gonna eat me or something during the night?"

"Positive. Really, he likes fish. Besides, he won't attack if he's not threatened. Or Camicazi and I".

"Okay, then…" Bork replied watching the girl carelessly sleep with a Changewing as a pillow and a purple Terrible Terror on her lap. "It is just so… mind-blowing…"

"Yeah, I know the feeling."

"And… Why did you help me?"

"I know how it is like to be the 'runt of the litter'. And probably because I can´t stand to watch injustice and do nothing, with humans or dragons."

Hiccup said right before a small pack of Terrors approached, searching for food. They probably smelled the leftover fish beside Bork, because they landed next to him. The 15-year-old boy jumped in surprise and crawled backwards. Hiccup was trying not to laugh, but failing miserably.

"Don't worry. And don't do anything stupid like sudden moves or aggressive gestures."

"I'm too afraid to move any further." Bork said, his voice almost like a squeak.

"Are you gonna eat the rest of it?"

"Not really, I'm satisfied."

"When approaching a dragon, you must be patient and gentle. Show them you're not trying to harm them and they won't want to hurt you," Hiccup explained to Bork, then, he turned to the small pack of dragons grabbing the left over fish and saying softly, "Hey, little guys. Are you hungry? You can have this."

He handed him the food and the dragons stared at him in confusion for a second before accepting.

"Thank my friend Bork, later. He was the one who owned this." He scratched the dragons and they purred happily, then he motioned for his friend to get closer, he went very slowly. "Now, gently raise your open hand and let the dragon come near you. When he does, you'll know you're trusted."

"So, he won't bite my hands off?" He asked in desperate need to be reassured. Hiccup chuckled.

"Nope."

Bork boldly extended his hand towards the nearest Terrible Terror, which was a light brown one with red details on his back and wings. The dragon was a bit big for his species, and he stopped eating when he saw the boy's hand coming in his direction. He looked at it, analyzing and smelling it until he got brave enough to raise his head towards the soft skin.

Bork stood there, not even moving or breathing in amazement. Then, the dragon turned away to continue eating his portion of fish with the other ones.

"I take it this is something you do very often, right?"

"Definitely."

"Would it be too weird for me to join in?"

"Wait, what?"

"It's just… I don't know, I think it seems quite amazing and wonderful and I want to see more of it…" Bork trailed off feeling awkward to want a type of life that actually seemed dangerous; he was usually the kind of scrawny nerdy kid who avoided any sort of trouble. He was very interested in dragons, though.

"Are you sure? I mean, do you really want to leave your whole village and everything you know, maybe permanently?"

"Do I have to repeat my story? Deceased parents, misfit of the tribe and often punching bag of big fat bullies, remember? I don't really want to stay there anymore; I just didn't have anywhere else to go until now. By the way, where are you guys going?"

"That's the thing, we don't really know. We´re looking for a place where we can live peacefully with the dragons."

"Okay, then. So, may I join you?"

"Sure. You re very welcome to, Bork."

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Itban Fuyu