Hiccup somersaulted through a patch of charred bushes and tried to hide behind a large rock. When he'd woken up that morning and headed for the oak with the chest on top, he'd thought that, once he got close enough, he'd be able to see which type of dragon was guarding it and use what he knew to get it not to kill him as he climbed the tree. That idea had gone out the window as soon as he clearly saw the beast.

He knew of no dragons with silvery-white plate armor instead of scales, and the lightening that shot out of its maw every time something came within striking distance, even if it was only as small as a mouse, didn't help identify it. That just made his heart pound. The other dragons he'd encountered on the way had been easy to deal with, since he knew facts about them. All he knew about this thing was it had a hair trigger temper and very effective weaponry.

He put a hand on the ground next to him to steady himself and nearly had it blasted off when its sudden appearance startled the dragon into firing. He pulled it back and stared at the blacked patch of earth where it had rested only seconds before. Now he was terrified.

A snail appeared in the scorched patch and Hiccup braced himself for another blast. But it didn't come. The prince watched as the dragon watched the snail get closer and closer without firing on it. Could it be that the dragon attacked sudden movement and not everything as he had thought?

Untying the frying pan from his pack, he slowly moved the frying pan out past the shelter of the rock and waited to see if the dragon would attack the pan. It didn't. Hiccup let his hand extend past the safety of the boulder. Still, no attack. Shaking, he let the rest of his arm into the dragon's field of vision and hoped to high heaven he didn't end up with another missing limb. Still, the dragon did not attack.

He took a shaky breath and let his shoulder and some of his torso into the danger zone, listening with dread for the crackle of a white lightening attack. But it didn't come. Finally, he took the plunge and let his head out of the safety of the boulder.

The dragon was watching him intently, but not as if waiting to pounce. It was more the look that Toothless used to give him when he was inventing something completely new in the forge and he was wondering about its function. Was this huge white beast actually curious?

Still moving slowing, Hiccup stepped out from behind the rock and gave the dragon a good look. Once you got over how frightening it was, the animal was actually quite beautiful. He took a step forward and the beast growled at him. He froze. The beast stopped growling. Hiccup stood very still, afraid that if he moved again, the beast would shoot. Instead, when it saw he was no longer trying to get close, it turned its attention to its own armor, polishing it with its tongue.

Hiccup slowly sat down to watch. It was funny how the animal groomed itself like a cat, even though it didn't look a thing like one. Hiccup scooted forward a little.

The dragon's head snapped up and stared at him. He stood absolutely still for a few moments and the dragon dismissed him, going back to its grooming. After a few more minutes of sitting still, Hiccup scooted forward again. This time, the dragon stared at him for a slightly shorter amount of time before it resumed polishing its armor.

After about two hours of peaceful coexistence, Hiccup rose to his feet and took a step forward. The beast didn't even raise its head. Hiccup took another step forward and the dragon looked up, but not in a particularly hostile manner. Hiccup decided to give talking a shot. "Hey. You look amazing, you know that?" The dragon visibly preened in front of him. Flattery would get him somewhere, it seemed. Making sure the dragon was watching him; Hiccup brought up a hand and held it out to the dragon. "Maybe I could help polish that armor of yours?" The beast stretched out its neck armor in response and Hiccup tentatively laid a hand on it. When the dragon didn't move, he started rubbing the area and bringing it to a gleaming finish. This could work.

As Hiccup polished, he got a better look at the dragon as a whole. The neck was long and elegant, and the head built along strong curves. The wings and body were not so beautiful, but powerful-looking. He was almost finished with the neck when he saw the shackle on the dragon's back leg. He needed to get a closer look at that.

Still polishing, the prince made his way down the dragon's body until he was right beside the chained leg. The shackle was worn on the inside, and the chain links had seen a great deal of wear and tear as well. This dragon didn't like being chained up, and would probably fly away the second it had the chance. And Hiccup planned to give it just that.

The white dragon watched with some interest as the brown and green thing that helped it polish itself walked back to where it had first appeared with a strange object that looked nothing like a weapon. Perhaps it was a better way to make the armor gleam. So the dragon ignored the boy as he aimed the head of the hammer and hit the lock of the shackle dead on. He looked up to see if the dragon was still watching.

Terrified green met with very angry and slightly pained blue.

Thor help him.

I got a very interesting review from a Guest, so bear with me while I answer their very funny critique. The animals are not dead, as we will see next chapter. And it's a folk tale, it's not supposed to make sense. The coal is a live ember, like you would get out of a campfire, and you'll see how it works on the Red Death in a few more chapters.

Oh, and don't tell Kaiba I stole his dragon.

Thank you for the encouragement! Please keep reviewing!