Wow. That was a really fast update; I think that might be a record for this story. And even better yet I already have a lot written out for the next chapter so that one could be updated very soon as well.

School's ok, I guess, but oddly enough I don't wish that it was summer again.

Nothing to report except some language but it's only one word. Enjoy!

Chapter #14: Touch

Hiccup's POV

I was probably as surprised as anybody was when I heard that Merida was heading to MacInroy castle in the north. She had left early this morning and, though I'd never admit it, I was sad that she was gone. She'd only be gone temporarily but, gods, would I miss her.

I tried not to think about her because every time I did my hands got sweaty and I'd start to daydream and that was something I didn't want to do right now; I wanted to keep my balance. I was on my way back to the cove. With me I had a fish. I had seen the way the dragon had been biting at the fish in the lake. He was hungry and he must like fish.

I was hard to retrace my steps from yesterday but after at least an hour, I had found where I had fallen and rolled down the hill.

I walked into the cove with the fish in my hand. I climbed down the rocks and landed ungracefully on the grass, dropping the fish. After getting up and retrieving it, I was surprised to see no Night Fury anywhere. I kept walking, looking only ahead of me. I heard something move behind me and there was the dragon, hiding on a large rock. He climbed down with much more grace and walked around me, smelling the air.

"What did you bring? Grubbings?" I held the fish out to him carefully,

Saltswimmys!" He slowly approached me, opening his mouth slightly to take the fish but suddenly he snarled and became vicious, "PRICKER!" His outburst scared me and caused me to jump back, "Get rid of da pricker or me'll kill you!" He yelled, snarling louder and baring his teeth, digging his claws into the earth

Out of fear, I reached for my dagger but as soon as my fingers brushed the hilt, a thought jumped into my mind. I took the dagger out, earning a loud snarl from the dragon. I held it up for him to clearly see.

"Pricker?" I asked

"Yessee" He replied; that could mean 'yes'. I dropped my dagger, my last bit of defence, and kicked it into the water. As soon as the metal hit the water, the dragon sat up straight, completely docile. I held out the fish again and slowly, step by step, he approached, sniffing. He stood in front of the fish, opening his mouth. I was surprised to see nothing but pink gums,

"Toothless? I could've sworn that all dragon have-" Suddenly, teeth shot out of the gums and he snatched the fish out of my hand, gobbling it in seconds, licking his lips gleefully when he was finished. He looked at the flabbergasted me, "Teeth." He dropped to all four and approached me, looking up and down as if he expected me to have more food. I backed away, tripping on my prosthetic onto to my rear. I continued backing away until my back hit a boulder; the dragon's face was so close I could feel his breath, "I don't have any more." I tried. To my relief, the dragon stopped his approach. We stared for a moment when he suddenly made a weird noise. He bobbed his head up and down and his chest moved in an odd way. He lowered his head to my lap and dumped a half-carcass of the fish I had just fed him onto it, covered in his stomach fluids. He moved to sit on his hind legs and looked at me. Holding the fish in my hands, I felt awkward

staring back, often averting my gaze.

At least a minute was spent like this before the Night Fury looked from the fish to me, "Eat," he instructed. I looked at the carcass and letting out a sigh of defeat, I took a bite. It tasted revolting. No. Worse than revolting. It was so disgusting that I didn't swallow. I held up the fish for the dragon to see but he still didn't look happy.

He swallowed.

I let out a loud grunt and with even more reluctance, I swallowed. It tasted worse even worse in my throat and it took all my inner strength to not throw it all up. The dragon, seemingly happy, smacked his lips.

I replied with a crooked, slightly forced, smile. He looked at me and slowly twitched the corners of his mouth up, revealing his toothless mouth; he was trying to imitate me. Did he trust me now?

I got up and reached out my hand, trying to touch his muzzle. The Night Fury growled, flashed his teeth, and flew away into a corner of the cove. Once there, he walked in a small circle, burning the ground, and lay down in it to go to sleep.

Meanwhile, I stood and watched, feeling disappointed. I had the opportunity to touch a dragon, maybe gain its trust, and I ruined it.

Rapunzel's POV

I was probably more surprised than Jack was when I heard that his next assignment from Aileen was none other than Hendry himself. I never would've thought of him as a Viking; I couldn't see any Viking qualities in him. He wouldn't be as difficult as the others me and Jack had sheltered. Unlike all the others, Hendry was the only one that could actually go out into the public view. Even so, I don't think that we could've kept him cooped up in the hidden room for too long; he had once again disappeared from the smithy, not that he was behind on work or anything.

I knew he was gone because I had gone by the smithy in between my duties; Merida may be gone but my list of work doesn't stop. I wasn't allowed to go with her to MacInroy castle because Anglo-Saxons hadn't set a foot on that land for 15 years and William wanted to keep it that way. My duties were mostly laundry; the princes, the king, and the queen had stayed behind. They had decided that this was a trip that Merida should do on her own, her chance to represent her clan. I was heading for the laundry room with a basket filled with clothing from the princes; they had decided to prank someone and it involved mud, a lot of mud.

As I walked, I had an uneasy feeling, like someone was following me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Artair; he had stayed behind as well, probably to keep William informed about what was happening in DunBroch.

I faced the front and took a turn into an empty hallway. I was suddenly roughly turned around and pinned to the wall, two arms blocking an escape,

"You know," The seductive voice of Artair cooed, "I never associate myself with Anglo-Saxon whores." he ran his knuckles over my cheek. I flinched away from his touch, "But there's something about you that I like." I heard a tone in his voice and hearing it scared me. From his tone I could hear that he was aroused. He lifted his knuckles again but I slapped his hand away, dropping the basket,

"Keep your filthy hands off of me!" I snapped and I tried to duck under his arms but to no avail. He had me trapped,

"Come on, you know you want to." No, I don't want to. I don't love Artair. I love Jack and he's the only one with whom I'd want to, "Don't deny it. I can assure you that what your husband doesn't know can't hurt you." He leaned closer to me, closer to my lips; he wanted to kiss me. I took this moment, the moment he was distracted, to push him away from me. He flew to the opposite side of the hallway,

"I said keep your filthy hands off of me!" I snapped louder, pointing a finger. I picked up the basket and continued to the laundry room, ignoring for the rest of the day what had happened.

Hiccup's POV

The dragon had been asleep for a few hours now but I hadn't left the cove. The dragon fascinated me; there were so many question buzzing through my head but what stubbed me most him was why I could understand what he was saying. As far as anyone was concerned, dragons spoke in growls and snarls, not words.

During the quiet hours of the cove, I decided to give him a name; I couldn't always call him 'the dragon' or 'the Night Fury'. I decided on Toothless, after his toothless mouth when he's docile.

Out of boredom, I sat down on a boulder with a stick in my hand and started to draw into the soft, grainy dirt. With the image in my mind, I started to draw the lines, so focused that I didn't hear Toothless until her was right beside me, his shadow engulfing me and the drawing. I didn't look up and kept drawing,

"Pretty." Toothless cooed when he saw what I was drawing: him. He watched me draw then suddenly walked away on his hind legs. I looked up when I heard the snap of wood and there was Toothless, with a tree in his mouth, drawing lines in the dirt. He'd walk here, give a twirl there, nearly hitting me with the branches and the leaves a few times. I watched him do his creative dance around me until he dropped the tree and cooed proudly at the finished result, which consisted of random lines and loops.

I looked amazed around me and took a step, which resulted with my foot standing on one of the lines

"Na." Toothless growled, flashing his teeth. I immediately lifted my foot; a crazy yet fun idea came, causing a small grin. I put my foot down,

"Na!" Toothless growled again, louder and a bit more vicious than last time. I lifted my foot and waited for a second before putting it down again,\

"NA!" I lifted my foot but placed it this time on the ground beside it. Toothless was docile and I smiled again. So he didn't like it when I stepped on the lines? I looked around and placed my steps carefully as I continued to walk, trying to exit the circle. Step left, right, turn a bit there and step left, two more to the right and I was out of the circle, only to feel a hot breath on my head and a shadow on me. I turned around and stumbled back at the sight of Toothless.

I reached for his muzzle again, much slower than last time, but the closer I got, the more he showed his pointed teeth. I retreated my hand and he was docile again. He always snarled when I tried to touch him, like he was scared. It's not the speed of my hand or me as a person. Maybe it was something else.

A theory popped into my mind; when you want a dog to sniff your hand, you'd usually hold it out and wait for him to approach you. Maybe it was the same with Toothless but if I did it and it went wrong, I'd cost me my hand. I looked at Toothless then turned my head away and shut my eyes, my hand reached out for him.

Toothless didn't growl, didn't snarl, didn't say anything. Seconds passed, each one feeling like a minute until I felt something against my hand, something hard but warm. My first reaction was fear and I dared myself to glance. My hand was on Toothless' muzzle. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be in a trance, one that was rather short-lived. He opened his eyes, moved away from my touch and flew away.

I stood still in my spot, the warmth of his scales still emanating from my hand, only now realizing what had happend. I had just touched a Night Fury.

And there you have it folks! Review, favourite, follow.