So this is not my longest chapter ever but I've been feeling drained lately. School work, karate, and trumpet lessons have me all caught up. I am truly sorry that these updates are not coming out as fast as they should. I will try my best to get these updates out sooner or later. Now onto business Toothless' POV. This chapter came to me while I was in school when I realized I missed the whole "drawing thing." These events are all over the place. *sigh* So here it is. Enjoy! ;)

Almost Caught

The Next Day

I was still smiling from last night even though I had no idea what I did or why I did it. But it was still the best feeling in the world. I would have to ask her or Risandera about it later. I stretched my wings out and looked around the cove. Hali wasn't back yet so I guessed she was still asleep. My thoughts were proven wrong when I saw her walk into the cove, the saddle and tail fin with her. She was also wearing something around her and carrying a basket of fish. Her hair was tied back but she let some of her bangs into her face.

"Toothless!" she called, setting the tail fin and saddle down, as well as her journal. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" I called back. I bounded over to her and her smile widened.

"Hey there, Toothless." She stroked my head lightly. I nuzzled her and noticed a strange scent on her. A scent that wasn't hers. I started sniffing her as I tried to place the scent.

"What?" she asked.

"You smell different." I looked her in the eye, waiting for her explanation.

She seemed to be thinking hard until she snapped her fingers. "Ashter," she said. I growled lowly at the mention of the male's name. Alright, I'll admit it. I was a bit upset and I wasn't sure why. Maybe I did know a little bit at the time.

"He hasn't bothered you has he?" I asked.

"No, not really," she said, sitting down. "It's just... he hasn't really left me alone either."

"You aren't hurt, are you?" I sat down beside her.

"I'm not hurt. He just keeps coming up behind me and he's become a little nosy about what I'm doing. But you've got nothing to worry about." She smiled softly at me and I smiled back.

"Now what are you wearing?" I nudged the thing on her.

"Well, since I kept falling off the saddle, I thought I would make a harness to keep myself from falling. But before we do that I want you to eat." She grabbed the basket of fish and dumped its contents on the ground. Then she let me eat. I gobbled down the fish and turned to where Hali was. She was sitting on a boulder, drawing in the dirt with a stick. I walked up to her and looked over her shoulder. What she was drawing surprised me.

"Are you drawing me?" I asked, making her jump. She looked behind her and sighed with relief when she saw it was me.

"Yeah, but I'm not finished." She told me. She went back to drawing. She added in my eyes and my ears. I wanted to try drawing too. So I grabbed a dead tree, pulled it out of the ground and started drawing lines in the dirt. I wasn't sure what I was drawing, but I knew I was impressing Hali. I moved around her, dragging the tree behind me. I also accidentally hit Hali in the back of the head with the tree.

"Sorry," I said. I stopped drawing and threw the tree behind me. Hali looked around in amazement. She started walking forward and stepping on a line. I wanted her to avoid the lines. I voiced my thought to her and she nodded. I watched her as she walked, or rather danced, through the lines, not stepping on a single one of them. Her graceful form weaved through the little make and stopped in front of me.

She turned around, giggling. "Thanks, Toothless." She stroked the side of my head. "That was fun." I nuzzled her gently, causing her to giggle a bit more. "What do you say we test of the tail fin?"

"Definitely," I said. She led me over the the things she dumped on the ground. I saw her journal open to a page with I guessed Norse runes written on it. Obviously I couldn't read it. Hali grabbed the saddle and tail fin and started to put them on me. She tightened the straps on the saddle. Then she adjusted the tail fin but this time there was no rope attached to the tail fin. There was a rope, but it was placed to the side.

"Don't you usually use the rope to control the fin?" I asked. She hummed, confirming it. I felt wires attach to the side of my tail and metal circles wired around the bases of my forearms.

"I felt like the rope was too hard to use," Hali explained. "So I made a stirrup which allows me to control the tail fin from your back with my foot. This way, I wont have to worry about jerking the tail too hard. The rope is actually going to help us in testing the tail fin." I nodded, recalling the last time she used the rope for the tail fin. At least this way would be safer.

"So what do those... things on your journal say?" I asked, nudging her journal.

She picked it up. "These say 'tail fin positions.'" She ran her finger under the runes as she read. "I always title my journal entries. It's more organized. Anyway, this is how I am going to learn how to control your tail. But we need to make sure that I do not do one thing and you do another at the same time. Make sense?" I nodded. Being in sync would probably help.

"So when do we start?" I looked at the modified saddle. She must be amazingly good at building things.

Hali looked up, probably judging how much time she had before she had to leave. "Let's start now." I watched her scan the area before locking in on a cliff with a broken tree stump. She pointed up there. "That is a good place to start." So we headed up there, her almost slipping a couple times. Eventually we made it up.

She looked over the cliff, then at the stump. She grabbed the rope and tied it tightly around the stump. She stared at it curiously. "Why do I get the feeling that I will doing something similar to this later on?" she asked. I figured it was a rhetorical question. I shrugged anyway. She shook her head and stood up, the other end of the rope in her hand. She walked over to me, tying the other end of the rope to the saddle.

"Why?" I asked, knowing she would understand what I meant.

"I need to know how to get the tail fin positions without the fear of falling," she explained. That explained it. She scanned the rope once more, then hopped onto the saddle, her journal in hand.

We started off slowly, just for Hali to get the hang of the stirrup. After that, she was writing down positions like crazy. I thought we were doing just fine... until the rope snapped. See, this is what happened: a large gust of wind picked up when I wasn't ready. It was all downhill from there. Literally. We were actually falling down hill into a patch of grass.

Hali groaned and got up on all fours. She looked around; she noticed the cord attached to her harness. She tugged it in an attempt to get it loose, but to no avail. "Oh boy," she sighed. "We need to go to the village." I huffed and I put my head on my paws.

"Toothless, we have to." She flipped herself onto her back. When I didn't respond, she added, "You realize we won't get anything done while we're like this, right?"

"Oh fine," I muttered. "When do we go?" She looked up.

"Let's go at nightfall. That way we can use your scales to your advantage." I nodded.

THIS LINE IS ONLY FOR A TIME BREAK!

Hali lead me into the village. She looked around cautiously in case of any villagers. Then she tugged me along using the cord. We walked a few steps before she put her arm out, stopping me in my tracks. A villager with a torch, I guessed was a night patrol, walked passed us, giving a curt nod to Hali who returned it with a wave.

She looked around the house she was leaning against, then pulled me along. We went rather quickly to a building. Hali tugged me inside, giving me a good look at the place. There were weapons hanging on the walls, a fire pit, a bucket of water, and a counter top. I stuck my head inside a bucket to see if there was anything in it. Seeing as there was not a thing in the bucket, I tossed it aside and it landed with a loud rattle.

"Sorry," I whispered. She didn't respond as she reached for a tool bag. She pulled out a tool that looked slightly strange.

"Pliers," she said, holding up the tool. She took the pliers and started working on the clasp that kept her attached to the saddle. She stopped abruptly, however, when a voice sounded from outside.

"Hali?" the male voice asked. "Are you in there?" Hali almost dropped the pliers.

"Ashter!" she hissed under her breath. She quickly threw on an apron, tied it around herself, and pushed the shutters open, closing them swiftly behind her.

"A.. Ashter! Hi.. hi uh.. w.. what are you doing here?" she stuttered as I listened intently. That must be the person who was messing with my Hali.

"Normally, I don't care about what people do, but you are acting weird," Ashter said. I got a bit angry at him calling Hali weird. I tugged on the cord, hoping to tell her I wanted to leave. Hali chuckled nervously. "Well... weirder." That was it. I tugged the rope and Hali lurched through the shutters and onto my back.

Hali nodded like, yeah, let's go. I ran out of the building and back into the woods. I took a glance behind me and Hali had managed to grab the pliers before we left. She was already working on the clasp. Just after we were in the cove, Hali was able to detach herself from the saddle.

"Well that was productive," she said as she took the saddle off me. "I really hope that doesn't happen again."

"Agreed," I said, stretching my wings out.

"Okay, I need to get back or else Ashter's gonna get a bit suspicious. I'll be back tomorrow, alright?" I nodded as she stroked my head. She laughed. "I'll see you in the morrow." She kissed my cheek then walked out of the cove, making a mad dash for the village. I heard footsteps behind me and nearly jumped out of my scales. Risandera was standing right behind me.

I heaved a sigh of relief. "Hi Risandera." By the smirk on her face, I could just tell she knew about Hali and I. "Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Make your quips."

"I think I should do that later," she said. I shook my head. Same old Risandera. "You're one step closer to finishing the prophecy."

"And then what?" I pressed. "What happens when the prophecy is completed?"

"Then you and Hali can show that dragons and humans can work together. Unfortunately, you have to figure that part out yourself." I sighed. This is going to be a lot more difficult than I imagined.