Clang!

Hiccup looked up from the magnifying glass he held the tiny brooch under and saw his eldest brother leaning against the workbench near the door, the shield he'd knocked off the wall at his feet. A shrill "Hubert, get out here!" penetrated the concentrated silence from the courtyard and the youngest prince suddenly had a very good idea about what had happened.

He gestured to the underside of the workbench. "I won't tell her you're here." Hubert smiled at his younger brother and slid under the bench, pulling the shield he'd knocked off the wall over the open end to shield him from sight. Clarice stormed in, glowered at Hiccup, took one look around, and stormed back out. A few moments later, Hiccup sounded the all clear and his brother emerged from behind the shield. "What was it this time?"

Hubert walked over and looked at what his younger and happier brother was working on. "She wanted me to investigate the kitchens. What are you working on?"

Hiccup snorted. "She's still mad about what happened two months ago? And it's a pin with our crest for Toothless. Our four month anniversary is tomorrow."

The man held out a callused hand. "Can I see it?"

"Sure." Hiccup picked up the tiny piece of jewelry and dropped it into his brother's palm.

Hubert held the piece up to his eye. "How did you get all these details in? It's so much smaller than the ones you made me and Hamish."

The youngest prince picked the pin back out of his hands and slipped the magnifying glass into it. "Take a look."

Hubert did, and gasped at the improved vision. "That's amazing!" He offered the instrument back to Hiccup and sat down next to him on the bench. "So how're you gonna give it to her?"

The teen blushed slightly. "I'm taking her back into the woods. There's this meadow full of wildflowers. I was planning to get a packed lunch from the kitchens and take Toothless out for the day. She doesn't like being inside all the time."

"So where is she today?" Hubert teased, elbowing his little brother.

Hiccup whacked him gently on the arm with a small hammer. "I'm making my preparations, she's making hers. Are you going to celebrate with Clarice?"

"You've got to be joking," he replied, horrified at the very idea. "I'm not spending a moment more than I have to around that harpy. I'd almost trade her in for a dragon at this point."

"HUBERT!" The shrill voice was even more insistent this time.

Hiccup shoved his brother off the bench. "Go out there before she tears apart my poor ears. I don't need that in here."

His older brother left reluctantly, and Hiccup screwed the magnifying glass back into its holder, placed the pin back under the lens, and returned to chiseling the fine details of the lion's mane into the gold.

Back in their shared chambers, Toothless bounced around on the bottom of her wardrobe, knocking aside the different sets of cuffs and capes the seamstresses made for her. Really, why did they bother making things she never wore? Dressing up as a dragon was just humiliating, especially since she already had a fabulous green coating. She stomped hard at the absurdity of it and knocked loose one of the floor boards.

Finally! She pounced on the small cubbyhole the board had hidden and clutched its contents in a claw. Carefully, she drew out the small pendent she'd been working on for her husband. It was one of her scales with a hole bored in the top from one of her claws and threaded on a string of leather she'd combed the forge for, a leftover from when Hiccup was cutting the laces for his arm guard. She put the string in her mouth and flew it out of the wardrobe and right into a startled Mark's face.

She squeaked in surprise, and the action opened her mouth and released the necklace, but Mark caught the string on the tip of his finger. "Sorry about that, Milady," he apologized to the now perched Toothless. "I just thought you'd be with Hiccup. What were you doing in there?" She flew up and took the scale pendant from him. "Oh. Right." Then he looked again. "Is that for Hiccup, by any chance?"

The skin between her scales turned a vivid green. Mark's face lit up. "It is, isn't it? Oh, that is so sweet of you. But," she looked up at the teasing tone, "I think you can do a bit better than some leather." He reached into the wardrobe and grabbed one of the silk ball dresses. "Why not put it on some of this?" He proffered the dress.

The little dragon let out an excited trill and grabbed the piece of fabric, quickly detaching a small strip with her claws. She grabbed the end and tried to force it through the hole, but silk was flimsier than leather, and the end refused to fit through the pendant. "Here," offered Mark. "Let me help." He wetted the end of the strip in his mouth. As he lined up the end of the strip, Toothless flapped down onto his arm and watched as he lined up the silk and scale. A poke later, the silk was sticking out the other end.

Toothless grabbed the other end and pulled the silk through the hole so that half the strip hung from either side of the pendant. Mark tied together the ends and handed the new necklace to the scaly princess. "Your gift, Milady." Toothless snorted at him and flew to the top of the bed, present firmly clutched in her talons. Mark laughed at the sight and went back to his cleaning.

That night, gifts safely hidden, Toothless was woken when Hiccup's side crashed into her wing aa he rolled from side to side in their bed, hands grasping at something below the covers. She leapt out of the bed and flew around the chamber, roaring for help. Mark burst in from the servant's room across the hall and immediately took stock of the situation. "Get the blankets off him!" he yelled to the panicking princess and began pulling at one corner of the sheets wrapped around the teen. She grabbed the other corner and began pulling with everything she had, wings and all. But those blankets were wrapped tight. How long had he been thrashing before he woke her?

Finally, Mark and Toothless gave up on the blankets. "Okay. Toothless?" She chirped in attention. "Can you wake him up?" She warbled at him, confused. "He's having phantom pains again. We have to wake him up so he can ride it out without hurting himself." She nodded and dove for the rolling figure. She tried to coo in his ear and got hit on the nose for her troubles. Swats with a tail or leg missed. Finally, she grabbed both sides of his head with her forepaws and head-butted him.

He woke with a shout. "Ah, it hurts!"

Toothless roared to get his attention and Mark yelled, "Open your eyes, Hiccup!"

But they stayed shut tight. "It hurts!"

Mark took another look at his friend and decided it was too much for him to handle. He bolted out of the door in the direction of the physician. The minute he left, Toothless pulled off the green dragon skin, grabbed Hiccup by both shoulders, and shouted, "Look at me!" The sound of a new voice startled him into doing just that. "Now you are going to listen and do what I tell you. Let go of your leg."

Tears fell from his cheeks. "But it hurts."

"I know, love," she whispered soothingly, "But you have to let go of it. Grab my hands instead." She held out her hands, covered now in human skin and with long tapered fingers. Hiccup slowly relinquished the death grip he had his stump in and wound his fingers on one hand into hers, using the other to support himself. She smiled at him. "Good. Now keep holding on and I'll get us both back under the warm covers. We'll ride this out." She untangled the covers from his sweaty, pain-wracked body and slid her own beneath them, letting Hiccup wrap his arms around her waist. "There, love. Is that better?"

He nodded. "I think the pain's starting to decrease."

"Good." She kissed the top of his forehead. "Now just keep holding onto me until it's gone." She started humming the song he'd taught her the day after the dinner competition, the one they'd danced to that night outside the forge. He was asleep in seconds.

Toothless would have loved to stay in the bed with him, but no one could find her like this. Not yet. She slid out into the night air and folded herself back into the green dragonskin. Again a beast, she wiggled her way into the bed and slid her paw into Hiccup's curled fingers. When Mark came in with the healer, both marveled at how the little dragon had quieted a pain that would usually have taken hours to die down enough to let the boy sleep.

Aha! Our first hint that Toothless may be more than she seems. What did you think?

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