Hiccup stumbled around pretty much absentmindedly for the next hour and a half, looking for the Night Fury he had shot down. He was beginning to doubt whether he'd actually brought it down or if it had escaped and was hunting him. He marked another "X" on his quickly drawn map of the location he'd fired, where the bolas had impacted, and where he expected it to be with an arrow pointing to Raven Point.

He growled and scratched his charcoal across it all in frustration. "Oh, the gods hate me," he groaned. "Most people lose a mug or knife; but, no, not me, I managed to lose an entire dragon!" He smacked a branch angrily and was hit in the face by the same branch. He looked up after rubbing the soreness for a bit. The tree he'd hit was split at about ten feet off the ground. He followed the way it was leaning with his eyes and saw a massive dark mark in the dirt. It looked as though it had been burned. He slid down the embankment and crawled up the other side, cresting the hill on his hands and knees.

An enormous black scaly beast was laying on its side, not moving. He yelped and ducked back down behind the hill, out of sight of the dragon. He gulped and tried to gather his courage, peeking over the embankment. He patted himself around the waist until he found his little dagger that he always had with him for protection. Ever since the incident with the Terrible Terror in Nina's forge, he'd learned that he wasn't strong enough to wield a sword. So he carried a pretty pathetic looking knife. He pulled out his weapon and skittered down the other side, hiding behind a large rock that was situated between him and the creature he'd brought down.

He puffed out his cheeks a couple times, trying to calm his racing heart and jittery nerves. He inched slowly around the rock before realizing the dragon wasn't moving. "Oh, I did it? I have brought down this mighty beast!" He put a foot on the nearest limb triumphantly until it flicked him off like ridding itself of an annoying fly. He staggered back against the rock, heart in his throat.

"Herby, stay down," Nina hissed. They had secretly and silently tailed Hiccup through the woods, trying to figure out where he was going. "We can't be spotted." Herby rumbled his throat slightly and peered through the leaves of the bush he and Nina were in.

They watched Hiccup's every move. He seemed to be talking to himself. He rolled his shoulders back, both hands on the knife in his grasp. "I am a Viking!" they heard him shout. He took a steadying breath and then paused, looking back at the dragon. It was an odd sort of stand-off between the helpless, trapped dragon and the small Viking boy. Hiccup raised the knife over his head then met the eyes of the majestic beast before him, and he growled loudly in frustration before letting the knife fall harmlessly to his head. He ran a hand down his face and looked at the blade once again.

Herby poked Nina in the shoulder and she glanced over at him. He pulled out a little notebook and scribbled on it like she had taught him, and then showed her his note. "Think he's not going to hurt the dragon."

She glanced at the two in the glade and then back at him, nodding. "I agree," she whispered in a tone so hushed it could be mistaken for the wind slithering through the trees. Their attention was drawn back to the meadow when the Night Fury pinned Hiccup against the large rock. "But I think the dragon's gonna kill him." He shook his head.

"Life debt," he wrote. "Boy spared dragon, dragon spares boy. Dragon Law."

Her mouth opened in a silent "Oh" of understanding. They looked back and cringed when the Night Fury roared loudly...right into Hiccup's ear. "And he's probably deaf from that," she murmured to him. He gurgled as the dragon turned tail and flew away. Or tried to. They heard it crashing into rocks and trees and giving pained howls as it disappeared into the fog. Hiccup got up and turned from his ordeal, only to promptly faint, dropping his knife in the process. They winced in sympathy and looked at each other. "He's not a threat. Do you think the others would be willing to share the secret we've been keeping?"

"Not know," he said. He grinned with pride and purred as he scratched his chin. Ever since she had begun teaching him how to speak, she had figured out that his motivation is attention. He'd all but mastered writing and reading, now he was going to learn to talk in the language of the Vikings.

"Let's bring him back to the bunker," she suggested. He nodded and flew over to Hiccup. She approached and cast a quick habitual glance around to ensure there was no other threat before shaking Hiccup's shoulder to see if he would come to. He didn't and she gave a small smile. Then she rolled him over and picked him up in her arms.

Herby grabbed his knife and carried it as they headed back to their hideout. He opened the hatch for her and she somehow managed to get an unconscious Hiccup down the hole and safely into the shelter where he could rest and come to. Nina set him down in the bed the Terrors had surprised her with. It was a much larger version of the hammocks she had strung together for them, which hung from various posts and places around the bunker.

Nina sat down at her desk, working on her journal while waiting for Hiccup to come to. About an hour later, he began to stir. He sat up groggily and blinked in confusion. She heard him sit up and smothered a smile. She looked at him. "Good morning, sleepy head," she said to him.

"Hey, uh...where are we?"

"In the bunker," she said. "I followed you to the Night Fury, and when you didn't kill it, I kind of hoped you'd be willing to listen."

"What do you mean?"

"Years ago I told you that everyone has secrets that they're never going to tell anyone? Well I'm ready to share one of them with you." She faced him and looked at the ground, trying to focus and calm her nerves.

"Nina, you're scaring me, what's going on?"

"Remember the first dragon raid after my parents died, when you insisted I come to help protect the village?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"There's a reason I didn't go with you that night. And it's not just because I felt differently because of my mother and father dying. It's because I befriended some dragons."

"You what?"

"The first night I spent out in the woods on my own, I befriended twenty Terrible Terrors, one of which you saw in my forge while they were setting it up, which I scolded him when he guiltily looked at me," she said. He looked at her with a bewildered look and her heart began to sink. "I see...I'll have everything packed and I'll be gone by sundown. You're just like them: judging without trying to understand."

Hiccup stood up, alarmed. "That's not what I mean," he protested. "I- you have to understand that it's a lot to take in at once. I just spared a dragon's life because it didn't deserve to die on the ground."

"So you still hate dragons, then." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes-I mean no- I mean, I don't know," he said. "I don't know how to explain it. And I'm confused as to why that Night Fury didn't take advantage of my vulnerability and blast me to Valhalla."

"Herby was there with me. He explained that it didn't because it's in Dragon Law. If you spare a dragon's life, they'll spare yours. It's called a Life Debt," she said. His inquisitive look said it all. "Right, you haven't met Herby formally." She reached to the opposite side of the desk and pulled out a slightly tense Terrible Terror.

Hiccup's eyes lit up in recognition. "The Terror helmet!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I knew that no one would even give me a chance to explain if we walked into town with him looking around animatedly, so I tied his paws to my chin and he rode on my head. It was...unique to say the least," she said. Herby gave a coughing growl, his way of laughing.

Curiosity shone in Hiccup's eyes as he looked at Herby. The two studied each other for a spell. Nina tossed her dragon into the air and he hovered on his own.

"Heeeccup," Herby said. Hiccup flinched back, stumbling and tripping.

"Oh, right. I forgot to mention that I'm teaching him to speak. He's learning his 'I' sounds next. He's all but mastered writing, so he can write notes and letters," she said. He gave her a worried look. "I wanted to have an intelligent conversation about dragons, but no one in the village would have even tried without either boring me to death with facts that I could easily find out on my own, or going on about the glory of killing them."

"Wow," Hiccup said. He relaxed and leaned forward, elbows on his knees and hands clasped before him. Herby landed and approached, still a little cautious, but also curious. He sniffed Hiccup's hand before bumping it with his nose.

"Pet, please," Herby said sitting down with his tail curled around him. Hiccup looked at him before hesitantly reaching out a hand and running it down the small dragon's back. Herby purred and pressed into the touch. Pretty soon, Herby felt comfortable enough to crawl into Hiccup's lap and curl up, purring happily.