Hiccup woke to an empty cave. "Huh. Guess Nadders start the day early." He dug a hunk of hard cracker and some dried fruits out of his pack and ate breakfast as he found his bearings using the device Alpha had given him before setting off. The woods thinned around him until Hiccup was standing on the shores of a beautiful lake, with a tall oak on the other side. Squinting, he looked hard at the top of the tree and saw something too blocky to be a branch and too still to be a bird. "Yes!" He yelled, exited. That was the tree with the coal! He'd made it. Now he just had to get around the lake and he'd be within striking distance of the beast that took his beloved.

But of course fate wasn't through with him just yet. After about two hours of walking around the shore, his way was blocked by a massive water dragon spread out over the entire beach, which was unluckily narrow at this point. From his position at the dragon's tail, Hiccup couldn't see much besides the massive wings spread over the sand, so he climbed the boulder next to him to get a better look at the situation.

Well, the good news was that he could just walk into the woods to get around the dragon. The bad news was that, with its wing claw stuck in a crack in the boulder he currently perched on and its wings spread out like that, the Scauldron would dry out and die in a few more minutes. The beast had already passed out. Now that he knew the dragon's fate, that annoying voice that sounded a lot like Toothless wouldn't leave him alone. "Fine!" he said to no one in particular. "I'll go and help."

He slid down the back of the boulder and tiptoed his way along the narrow strip of sand between the wing and the rock until he got close enough for a good look at the claw. It was actually pretty simple. The dragon had stuck its hook-shaped claw into the slit and turned it to try and get something, but it didn't remember to turn it again to get it back out. So all he needed to do was turn the hook, ease the claw out of the crack, wake up the dragon, and get it into the water without getting bitten or sprayed with boiling hot water. Okay.

He walked carefully back to his pack and unhooked the long-handled frying pan from where it hung at the bottom of the pack and unstrapped his bow from the side. He looked at the two items. Which would work better? The small hole in the end of the frying pan caught his attention. If worse came to worse, he could hook the end of the Scauldron's claw in that hole. So he strapped the bow back onto the pack and headed off with the frying pan. He walked back along the boulder, praying that the dragon didn't wake up just yet. But it's completely relaxed muscles told him it was still out for the count. Whew! He eased the handle into the crack and pressed his eye to the hole as he maneuvered the handle into place. With a twist, he flipped the claw into from its horizontal position to a vertical one and drew the frying pan out of the hole. Gently, he pulled on the bon of the wing and eased the claw out of the hole, folding the joint slightly and walking around to where the dragon's head was.

Now came the hard part. He had to wake the beast without making it think he was a threat. Maybe, if he used something the dragon liked to wake it up… he looked down at the frying pan in his hand, then at the lake just feet away. This would work.

He filled the pan with lake water and stood to the side of the huge creature. He'd fling the pan towards the dragon and the water would hopefully hit its face and wake it up enough for it to realize it was free and get back in the water. If it didn't wake up, it was dead. If it went for him instead of the shore, HE was dead. "Toothless, help me out here," he muttered to the heavens as he brought the full pan back and flung the water sky high.

It was an excellent shot. The water landed right on the dragon's nose and its eyes snapped open. Tugging experimentally on its wing, the dragon roared its pleasure at being free again and dove into the water. Hiccup collapsed against the boulder. He was never doing that again. He walked back to his pack, tied up the frying pan, and started off again.

As he hiked along, he wondered how Toothless was doing. What was that man doing to her? Did he have her in chains? His steps quickened.

Was she getting enough to eat, was he letting her fly? Was he…no, Hiccup would not think of that. No one would stain Toothless that way. Hiccup didn't notice how every thought increased his speed until he was flat out running for the tree. But the sounds of splashing and squeaking brought him out of the worried train of thought and he looked over at the lake.

"For the love of-What is it with me and dragons?" There was a baby Gronkle a few feet offshore, struggling to keep its head up amidst the waves. Hiccup removed his pack and dove in, walking out a few minutes later with the struggling beast in his arms. He practically threw it back on the land. "The gods must really love playing around with me.

He looked up at the sky and cursed his dragon-loving heart. It was almost dark, and he didn't want to come across the beast guarding that tree at night. So he set up his camp and after a meager dinner of cheese and dried meats, curled up underneath his blanket next to the warm coals. Hopefully there wouldn't be any more needy dragons tomorrow and he could actually do what he came here for. Although he had no idea how to get a coal in a rock, in a goose, in a hare, in a chest at the top of a huge tree guarded by a massive and probably very hostile dragon. Hopefully he'd think of something in the morning.

Even when I was writing the second to last sentence, I couldn't stop laughing at it! And don't worry, all the dragons will have their chance to help. Please visit my profile page and vote on the poll, since I will be writing the chapters about that very soon.

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