Merida woke up the next morning nervous. Her stomach knotted as she slipped into a green dress, and butterflies fluttered around when she stepped into a pair of leather hiking boots and headed down the hall to the kitchen. Dinner the night before had been boring; Hiccup had retired to his room with no food claiming he was extremely tired, and Merida had barely eaten a thing because she was so angry.

But now, the dining room was full and cheerful. The triplets were all sitting on one side, babbling to each other and laughing, her parents each sat at one end, smiling at each other and talking to...

Hiccup.

He sat opposite the triplets, grinning and talking away as if he belonged there. He froze slightly when Merida entered the room, but resumed his conversation after giving her a polite nod. Merida sat coldly next to him, and accepted a plate from a servant wordlessly.

"Good mornin', Merida." Fergus said with a smile. Merida glanced at him and smiled, but kept on shoveling eggs into her mouth.

"Merida!" Elinor scolded. "Do you really think that's lady-like?"

"Nope." Merida replied nonchalantly.

Hiccup pushed his plate away, and a servant carried it away. "You ready to fly, Merida?"

"Don't even talk about it!" She snapped.

Hiccup sighed. "I've been here less than 24 hours," he said, "and you are already one of the most-"

"-Beautiful people you've ever met." Merida finished for him with a smirk. Hiccup nodded.

"Yes, and annoying."

Merida didn't know what to say. He called her beautiful. He also called her annoying. Instead, she shot

him a glare and took a swig of water.

"Wait a minute." Elinor interjected. "Flying? Merida, are you flying?"

"Yes, mum!" Merida rolled her eyes. "It's the best way to find the dragon. We'll need my archery skills in case we do find it, and Hiccup can fly Toothl- his lizard."

Elnor set her fork down and gazed at Merida with her pretty brown eyes. "Well, be careful."

"We will." Hiccup assured her. He shot her a lopsided grin, a grin that caused all the female servants (and maybe a few male ones) to swoon. But Elinor just gave him a calm smile and shot a look at her servants.

"Good."
_

A few minutes later, Hiccup was waiting for Merida at the castle gates. She approached carefully, eyeing Toothless suspiciously.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She asked Hiccup. He nodded and leaned on his fake leg. She seemed to notice it for the first time. "Erm... What happened there?"

Hiccup sighed. "It's a long story, quit stalling." He carefully mounted Toothless and held a hand out to Merida, who completely ignored the gentlemanly gesture and leaped on. When Toothless felt the weight of the girl who called him a lizard on his back, he was not happy. He began to pace in front of the castle yard gates, his tail lashing back and forth.

"Toothles!" Hiccup hissed. "You're not helping the situation."

He urged Toothless into a lope, shoved his feet back in the stirrups, and let Toothless's wings catch the air. They flew vertically a hundred feet, Merida gripping Hiccup so tightly he could barely breathe.

"Just-hold-on!" He gasped. "I mean, wait until we get above the clouds... You'll see."

A flash of deja-vu plagued him. He remembered Astrid, how she'd been wary of Toothless and he took her up into the clouds. She'd fallen in love with him. Hopefully that wouldn't happen here.

Merida squeezed her eyes shut. There was no way she was going to look down. She didn't trust the dragon. She just knew that with one flick of his tail he could whip her off his back and send her plummeting to the ground below.

But Toothless wouldn't do that.

He levelled off gently as they broke through the cloud cover. It was freezing, of course, but Merida found that burying her head into Hiccup's warm fur vest heated her up slightly. She finally had the sense to look around, and when she did, she gasped.

The couds were beautiful, all piled on top of each other like the fluffy mashed potatoes Cook made so well. They were a creamy white, far larger than any mountain, and surrounded the threesome.

Toothless let out a joyous roar, and Hiccup laughed. Even Merida let a small smile appear, and she gave Toothless a hesitant pat. He turned his head and grinned at her.

"This... Maybe this isn't so bad." Merida said with a breathless laugh. She let go of Hiccup and let herself relax. It was beautiful.

"So." Hiccup said. "We're gonna get fast, here. Hold on tight."

She obeyed, once again burying her head into his vest. Hiccup guided Toothless into a nosedive, and they spiraled to the ground below, once again levelling off at the last second and flying low over the tried to regain her composure from the terrifying drop, frantically smoothing down her curls.

When they reached the burn sight, Hiccup let Toothless choose where to go, or wherever the scent of the myssterious dragon led. Toothless veered them off to a southerly direction, towards the woods.

"I know these woods like the back of my hand!" Merida called up to Hiccup. It was difficult for him to hear as they were going against the air currents now, but he nodded and urged Toothless to go faster.

Above the heart of the huge forest, Toothless let out a growl. Hiccup circled him over the spot that Toothless was glaring at, and glanced at Merida over his shoulder, nodding slightly.

She got her bow out and strung and arrow, ready to shoot at anything that threathened them.

"Now remember," Hiccup said, "You do not kill it unless I say. For now, we observe. If we do see it, you may shoot at a limb, preferably a front leg or one of the wings." He turned around and stared at her right in the eyes. " .Kill."

Merida rolled her eyes. "Aye, I got you. Just hurry up and lure the thing out."

Hiccup leaned down close to Toothless. "You know what to do."

Toothless opened his mouth and shot one of his infamous blue-green balls of energy into the forest, the sound waves so strong that they bounced off the trees and almost knocked Merida off the dragon.

She was saved by Hiccup, who grabbed the hem of her dress and yanked her up.

"Thanks!" She gasped.

After a few seconds, something happened.

The dragon was enormous. Not as big as the one that had taken Hiccup's leg, but still big. The bright blue eyes contrasted deeply with its purple scales, and the sun glinted off of them as it flew vertically out of the forest, three times as big as Toothless. Its powerful wings cast a strong wind across the trees, sending birds into terrified twirls of flight.

"Shoot!" Hiccup bellowed. Merida took aim and let the arrow go. It hit its mark perfectly, embedding itself in one of the wings. She whot 6 more times, finally bringing the beast down. They heard it land, and they heard its bellows of rage.

Merida stared down, her body shaking with adrenaline. "What now?"

Hiccup looked grim. "I have no idea."