"Hey!" called Hiccup, standing near the wall of the training arena. They were in the middle of lesson two, and the arena was set up like a maze. "So I couldn't help but notice that the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there like another book? Or a sequel? Or maybe… a little Night Fury pamphlet-"

A sudden blast melted the axe head off of Hiccup's axe handle.

"Focus, Hiccup!" yelled Gobber, "you're not even trying!"

Hiccup saw a Deadly Nadder as it leapt down from the top of the maze wall and charged her.

As the Viking girl sprinted for her life, Gobber briefly explained, "Today is all about attack!

"Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter."

Fishlegs looked up at the Nadder. The dragon launched poisonous spines from its tail, and Fishlegs barely blocked them with his shield. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!"

"Look for its blind spot," instructed Gobber, "every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it and strike!"

The Nadder stopped in front of the Thorston twins. The twins seemed to be in the dragon's blind spot because the dragon moved as if trying to see them.

"Ugh," groaned Ruffnut in disgust, "do you ever bathe?"

"Don't like it just get your own blind spot!" suggested Tuffnut."

Ruffnut pressed her face against his, "How about I give you one?"

Both snapped their focus back to the dragon, that had spotted them while they were distracted. Both ran away just before the dragon shot its fire at them.

"Blind spot, yes!" said Gobber, "Deaf spot, not so much." He chuckled at his clever joke.

Hiccup stopped to asked Gobber, "So how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale. Now get in there!"

"I know-I know!" repeated Hiccup, "But hypothetically-"

"Hiccup!" whispered Astro, "Get down!"

Astro peered around a corner, making sure the Nadder was distracted. Once sure it was, he summersault-dived across the corridor. Snotlout followed in a similar fashion. Hiccup ran after them, but tripped.

"Ow-" she exclaimed.

The Deadly Nadder saw her, and charged at her growling something along the lines of, "I got you now!" Hiccup heard the dragon's voice and determined that the dragon was female.

The dragon tried to catch Hiccup with her mouth, but missed by inches.

Hiccup took the chance to run away.

The Nadder climbed over a wall, and landed on the floor in front of Astro. Snotlout took the chance to impress him and shoved him out of the way saying, "Don't worry, bro, I got this!" Snotlout threw the axe but missed the Nadder by three feet.

"The sun was in my eyes!" said Snotlout.

The Nadder tried to blast them with her fire, but they ran away.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Snotlout, "Block out the sun? I can do that! But I just don't have the time right now!"

Astro violently pushed Hiccup out of the way as he sharply turned to his left. The Nadder crashed into the maze wall, causing it to tip over and knock down the ones behind it.

As the dragon chased after the boy, quickly demolished the training site. Within a matter of seconds, the entire arena was full of piles of knocked over walls.

Astro ran up a wall as it fell over and leapt off the edge, landing on Hiccup.

The twins saw Astro on top of Hiccup and teased him saying, "Ooh! Love on the battle field!"

"He can do better!"

"L-let me-why don't you-" stammered Hiccup. Astro pushed himself back onto his feet. He saw the Nadder running towards him. He grabbed his axe that was stuck in Hiccup's shield. It wouldn't budge. Instead it was hurting Hiccup's arm.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Hiccup screamed.

With one great heave, Astro violent used his foot to hold Hiccup down and pulled the shield off Hiccup's arm.

Astro drew the axe and shield back and slammed them hard against the Nadder's head.

Hiccup heard the dragon screeching in pain as she trotted back to her cage.

"Well done, Astro!" exclaimed Gobber.

Astro glared at Hiccup. "Is this some kind of a joke to you, Hiccup? You can't help both sides. You'd better figure out which side you're on!" He pointed his axe threateningly at Hiccup's neck. He turned and walked away.

That's just it. thought Hiccup, I don't know which side I'm on..

Hiccup went home, grabbed a fish and a shield and went to the cove.

She stopped at the small entrance to the cove, and threw the fish out in the open. She waited.

Nothing.

Hiccup peered around a boulder.

Nothing.

She tried to walk into the cove, but the entrance was so narrow that her shield got stuck at the rim.

Hiccup crawled under the shield and tried to pull it out. But it was no use. The shield was stuck fast.

Hiccup gave up and grabbed the fish, cautiously walking through the cove, looking for the Night Fury.

Still, nothing.

Where was this dragon? Did it climb out?

"I just don't understand you," hissed a voice. Hiccup turned and saw the Night Fury jumping down from the top of a boulder. The dragon continued, "you just keep coming back. Do you even know what I am?"

"Night Fury." answered Hiccup, "The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself.

The only dragon no one's ever described."

"Smart kid." commented the dragon, "Yet still dumb enough to keep putting your life at risk. Again, and again, and again. If I wanted to, I'd have killed you when you found me in the woods."

"Yet…….. you didn't."

"No….. I didn't."

"…….Why?"

"You're a dragon."

"Half dragon."

"Doesn't change a thing. You're still a dragon. And when one dragon prevents the death of another, that dragon owes the other dragon his life."

"So…. Since you let me live…. I kind of owe you now?"

"Some may say that."

"Then... here." Hiccup held out the fish.

The Night Fury hesitated, then edged toward Hiccup, but stepped back and growled, "Get rid of it."

Hiccup panted. "Get rid of what?"

"The knife." explained the dragon, "I know you have it. Get rid of it."

Hiccup slowly reached for her knife.

"And remember," added the dragon, "try anything, and I'll kill you."

Hiccup pulled the knife out of her belt, held it out an arm's-length and dropped it.

"Farther." instructed the dragon.

Hiccup lifted the knife off the ground with

Her foot and kicked it into the pond.

"Huh," said the dragon, "guess you're not so dumb after all."

Hiccup forced herself to keep silent, and held the fish out again.

The dragon came closer, and opened its mouth. Hiccup looked into the mouth and saw….. no teeth.

"Toothless." she figured, "I could've sworn you had-"

The dragon sprouted teeth right out of his gums and snatched the fish right out of Hiccup's hands.

Hiccup jumped backwards in surprise.

The dragon age the fish quickly.

"-teeth." finished Hiccup.

The dragon looked at Hiccup and walked toward her, "Where's yours?"

"What?" questioned Hiccup as she stumbled backwards.

"The other fish?" said the dragon, "Where is it?"

Hiccup lost her footing and fell over. She crawled backwards until she hit a large rock. The dragon kept coming closer until his head was six inches away from hers.

"I-I…." stammered Hiccup, "I don't have anymore."

The dragon stopped. Then forcefully pulled the fish out of his throat, out of his mouth and dropped the remains of the fish right onto Hiccup's lap.

"Ugh…." groaned Hiccup.

"What?" asked the dragon, getting into a sitting position, "That's how we dragons share our food."

"Huh?"

"When there's not enough food, we vomit the leftovers for the others who haven't eaten."

"I ate an hour ago."

"Look, if you keep coming to me, you obviously chose to join our side. And in order to do that, you need to do what dragons do. And this is how dragon's eat. So eat."

Hiccup looked at the fish, then the dragon, hoping that he would say he was joking. But he wasn't.

Hiccup sighed.

She took a bite out of the fish. "Mmmm.." she said, trying to sound like she was enjoying the fish.

"You like it?" asked the dragon.

"Mmmhmm."

"Good. Then you won't mind swallowing it."

Hiccup hesitated. But she forced herself to swallow the fish, nearly vomiting in the process. She shuddered when her mouth was empty.

"You hate it. Don't you?" asked the Night Fury.

"Honestly? Yes." Hiccup smiled.

The dragon looked at Hiccup. Then slowly he impersonated Hiccup's smile, showing his gums.

Hiccup reached out her hand for the dragon to let him sniff it. But the dragon growled and glided clumsily to the other side of the pond.

He burned a large circle in the ground to heat it up and laid his body onto it.

That kid is crazy. the dragon thought, She grew up being half dragon and yet she doesn't know the first thing about being one.

"Is that how you go to sleep?" asked Hiccup, who was now sitting on the ground a few feet away. The dragon glared.

"Don't you have anything else to do?" asked the dragon, "Burn a building to the ground?"

"No!" answered Hiccup, "I hate doing that."

The dragon ignored her and put his tail between them, hiding his face.

Hiccup quietly moved closer. She slowly reach over to touch the dragon's tail. But the dragon moved his tail so he could see her, "What?"

"Nothing!" said Hiccup as she quickly got to her feet and speed-walked away.

The dragon hung himself like a bat on a large tree branch and tried to sleep. But he couldn't.

After a few hours of hanging upside down , he got down and scanned the cove for Hiccup.

He saw her sitting on a rock.

Hiccup was drawing the dragon in the dirt with a stick.

"What do you call that?" he asked.

"It's called drawing." explained Hiccup.

"Drawing?"

"Yep."

The dragon stood up on his hind legs like a human and walked over to a small tree. He ripped it out of the ground and began to drag it through the dirt.

"What are you doing?" asked Hiccup.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" asked the dragon, "I'm drawing?"

After a few moments of scribbling, the Night Fury dropped the tree and examined his work.

Hiccup looked around. This dragon found interest in her talent.

She took a few steps until the dragon growled at her. She looked down and realized that she had accidentally stepped on the dragon's drawing.

She lifted her foot.

The dragon began purring.

She stepped over the lines. Carefully she avoiding every line as she walked to the edge.

When she reached the edge, she felt a small wind on the back of her head.

She turned around. She was standing right in front of the dragon. The dragon looked at her.

She reached out her hand. But the dragon turned his head away.

"Not until I know I can trust you." he said.

Hiccup sighed. She turned her head away, so that she couldn't see him. She slowly reached her hand out again. She had a theory that if the dragon knew she trusted him, maybe he would trust her back……. or just kill her.

She waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

Then, she felt the dragon's nose press against her hand.

She sighed with great relief.

She looked to the dragon.

The dragon's eyes were closed.

The dragon drew his head back, and opened his eyes, "I gotta give it to ya, kid, you're just as stubborn as any dragon I've met. Definitely not a coward."

"Does this mean…….. you trust me?" asked Hiccup.

"It's a start." replied the dragon. "If you want, you can call me Toothless. I'll call you Kid."

"…. Am I…… can I keep coming?"

"As long as you let me teach you to be a dragon. And work on getting rid of that human smell! Will you?" Toothless said as he glided away.

Hiccup smiled. She finally had someone that trusted her.