Toothless woke me up with a low rumble. He was licking the side of my face. I blearily opened my eyes and slowly focused to find my dragon staring back at me. He made eye contact with me and moaned softly. Probably asking me to wake up or something like that.

I tried to move at first, but quickly found his right front leg wrapped around my waist. I distinctly remembered falling asleep near his wing. Not his neck. But at this point, I didn't care. Little gestures like this helped me to forget there was an actual world out there. He was making sure to keep me nearby. Toothless did the same thing when I stupidly went looking for him in the waist-deep snow during our short time with a pack of Speed Stingers.

Without thinking, I turned toward him and wrapped his neck in a tight hug, thankful he was okay. And thankful he still loved me. All of my pent-up guilt, worry, and fear from the last week escaped in a sharp burst of air from my lungs. Several tears escaped my eyes as I felt the world lift off of my shoulders. Toothless barely even had to do anything, and he could still work his magic.

After a minute or so, I pulled away from Toothless and looked him in the eyes again. Stroked his cheek with my left hand. "Thanks, buddy," I whispered. He blinked. I still wasn't sure if his responses were in understanding, or if he was simply aware of me talking to him. I chose to believe the former for now. It sounded better that way.

Toothless leaned slightly into my hand, telling me to continue what I was doing. He was lying on the floor, my back propped against his side and just forward of his right wing. I still felt the slats of his ribs, but that would take time to recover.

I took a deep breath, the area around me smelling like fish, and exhaled. For the first time in about a week, I felt truly happy.

Several footsteps announced themselves as someone was ambling in our direction. To my right, Astrid crouched down and looked at me from almost eye-level.

"You won't believe what he did last night," she said quietly.

I stared at her for a moment. "Try me."

"You fell asleep right after you fed Toothless. It didn't take him five minutes to move so that he was holding onto you. And he stayed like that the entire night."

I smiled a little and glanced back at Toothless. I did believe Astrid, but the magic wasn't lost on either of us.

"He's not gonna let you go," Astrid told me.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that," I said with a hint of sarcasm.

As I adjusted my position to get a little more comfortable, I realized Toothless didn't eat or drink because I was gone. I had left him, and he pretty much lost his will to live. I just hoped I wouldn't have to leave him again in the near future. Next time, I probably wouldn't get so lucky.

I tried to get out of his grip again, all to the same result. Toothless wouldn't move. Maybe I could slither my way out of his grasp, but it would take too much effort. Instead, I tried a different tactic.

"Let's go flying, bud," I suggested to him.

Immediately, Toothless' eyes brightened. He sprang up, letting me go, and began nudging me using his snout. His way of showing excitement.

Astrid giggled as I pushed Toothless away just long enough to stand. As I found my footing, he continued to nudge me with his snout, pushing me toward the door.

"Does Stormfly ever do this to you?" I asked comically as Toothless herded me closer to the door.

Astrid laughed. "Never."

I reached the door and pulled it open. Toothless bounded out and turned around with an urgent grunt. Astrid was out next, me bringing up the rear.

"C'mon, Hiccup. Race ya," Astrid said.

I got onto Toothless' back just as Astrid climbed on to Stormfly. Without warning, they took off. Toothless hunkered and jumped, getting air underneath us.

I leaned forward in the saddle, making my position more aerodynamic. Toothless took that as a cue and sped toward Stormfly. It barely took him a few seconds, and I was already feeling tears in my eyes from the rushing wind.

Astrid turned around in her saddle and nudged Stormfly with her right foot. They were off again, several yards in front of us. I kept my attention on Stormfly and followed Toothless' lead. I felt when he wanted to turn or slow down through subtle cues in his neck and midsection. And it took no thought to adjust to what he wanted.

I lost myself in the flight, simply keeping my attention on Astrid and Stormfly. But it didn't take long for Toothless to begin to wear down. I had expected this, after not eating or drinking for three days. I could only ask Toothless for a short flight at the moment.

Panting heavily, Toothless set down near the forge. I dismounted and slowly walked him up the steps into the great hall. I never pushed him or tried to get him to hurry. I played by his rules, and in return, I got his friendship. I didn't want it any other way.

We were about to enter the great hall when Stormfly landed next to us. "What happened to you?" Astrid asked. "Too scared to race us?"

I shrugged and decided to give her an empty victory. "You shoulda seen me shaking before we took off," I said in complete sarcasm.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right, Hiccup. What happened?" she asked with more emphasis than last time.

"Toothless can't keep up with you until he's healthy again," I explained.

"He's healthy n…" She stopped herself. "Oh. How long is it gonna take?"

I shrugged. "Guess we'll find out," I said cryptically. "We're gonna keep trying until Toothless can keep up with you and Stormfly."

Astrid smiled as she dismounted Stormfly's back. She walked up to the doors and pulled them open.

I sat Toothless down near an empty table and walked to the back of the great hall. Filled a basket with fish for him and selected one that was cooked for myself. A bucketful of water caught my attention, so I grabbed it as well. When I returned to the table, Stormfly was waiting there.

I approached Toothless, who was still panting. Put the bucket in front of him. He sniffed at it, then started lapping the water. He drank slowly, taking the occasional break to breathe. I waited for him to finish with the water before offering him any fish to eat. I opened the basket for him, and he stuck his head in. Pulled out a single fish and looked at me. Swallowed it with a grunt and then returned to his meal.

I felt like I was seeing everything Toothless did for the first time, even though we had been through all of these productions and routines hundreds of times before. I ate slowly, watching Toothless work through his basket of fish. He was generally oblivious to anyone nearby, only focusing on his meal. And he was enjoying it. I knew he'd soon shove his head into the basket, looking for any morsels that evaded him. Then he'd get the basket stuck on his head for a few seconds and have to work it off.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for Toothless to bring his head up, fully stuck in the basket, just like normal. He used a front paw to push the basket off, where it fell to the floor. He looked around himself for a second or two, licking his lips and then padded over to my side. He sat back on his haunches, watching me. Guarding me. And on my other side, Astrid and Stormfly were enjoying their own meals.

Moments like this reminded me of how lucky I was to live on Berk. Something like this would never happen on Berserker Island.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone sneaking up behind Toothless. He had a helmet that was way too big for his head, so it sank down about halfway over his eyes and rattled around every time he took a step. Before I could say anything, Toothless glanced in his direction and returned to all fours. He hunkered down and began growling slightly at Gustav.

"Someday, I'll get him," Gustav called to me.

Fat chance, kid, I thought.

The magic of the moment ruined, I sighed as I gathered our plates and baskets. Took them to the back of the great hall for cleaning.

I walked back toward Toothless, but decided to try something today. I wouldn't have time to coax a random dragon into the arena, so I'd have to trust I could do this with Toothless. I walked up to Gustav, who was sitting by himself, staring at the table in front of him.

"Gustav, we're going to the Academy. Meet us there in half an hour," I told him.

As I turned away, I saw his eyes brighten. He sprang up from his seat, shouting something excitedly, but I didn't really pay attention to him.

I walked back to Toothless and guided him out of the great hall, Astrid and Stormfly in tow.

"You're gonna give Gustav another chance at the Academy?" she asked.

"Yeah. Why not?" I replied.

"He's a mini-Snotlout," she said in disgust.

"I'm gonna try something different with him today," I said.

We walked into the arena, where I left Toothless with Astrid. "Keep him company," I told her. "I'll be back with another dragon."

"He's not gonna like you for that," Astrid pointed out.

I didn't say anything as I returned to the great hall and grabbed a fish as bait. I walked into the plaza, holding the fish near my chest and waited. We had several dragons who were generally used to the Vikings around Berk, and within about five minutes, one of them wandered up to me. It was a muted green Monstrous Nightmare. I grinned slightly. Gustav would be excited about this.

I slowly walked backward, holding the fish in front of the dragon's snout. The dragon followed until we got to the opening of the arena. At this point, I had to let the dragon decide. The arena, to a Monstrous Nightmare, was an enclosed space. The dragon knew I could keep it hostage there. There was no way for me to explain that wasn't my intention to the dragon. I just had to trust it would follow me.

I backed into the arena, where Toothless grunted in curiosity. The dragon eventually made the decision to follow the fish. I moved across from Toothless, making sure to position the dragon so that it could see Toothless with its peripheral vision.

The dragon finally took the fish out of my hand and swallowed before it noticed the presence of two other dragons nearby. It looked around, and I immediately felt a change in the atmosphere. The Nightmare was sizing up Toothless and Stormfly.

I made a show of slowly walking back to Toothless and put a hand on the back of his neck. I rubbed behind his head, and he quickly relaxed.

The Nightmare must have seen what happened to Toothless, so it slowly approached to investigate. This was where I absolutely had to trust all of the dragons here. I couldn't predict whether the Monstrous Nightmare was gonna fly into a rage.

The Nightmare came within a couple yards of Toothless' face, trying to figure out whether to attack or defend itself. Toothless simply looked at the dragon, waiting for it to decide. Even though I had trained him well, he was still a dragon, and he still had instincts.

Eventually, the Nightmare figured it was generally safe and relaxed. It turned its focus toward Stormfly and went through the same production, although this time the interaction was much quicker. Soon, the Nightmare turned away from our two dragons, exposing its backside for attack. It began exploring the area, slithering around and looking at the different objects nearby, in some cases trying to smell them.

"That's always difficult," Astrid said with a sigh of relief.

I nodded at her. "Hopefully, the dragon stays long enough for Gustav to arrive."

As if on cue, Gustav announced his presence by barging into the arena and shouting, "I'M HERE! Let's begin, oh, Master Hiccup!"

The Monstrous Nightmare jumped in surprise, whipped around and glared at Gustav. I stepped between the two of them, my back to the dragon.

"You ready?" I asked, trying my hardest not to admonish Gustav about his behavior. My goal was to have him figure out what to do if he wanted a dragon so badly.

"What kind of question is that!?" he shouted.

Some things just never change, I thought. "All right. Let's try this," I mused. "Do you think you can get this dragon to trust you by the day's end?"

"Hiccup, are you stupid?" Gustav shot back. "Of course I can." He made to walk toward the dragon.

I stopped him before he could get past me. "Warning: You have to figure it out yourself," I said.

That seemed to register in Gustav's mind. He looked at me. "What happens if the dragon flies away?" he asked.

Inside, I did a fist pump. He was listening to me. "That wouldn't be good, would it?," I said quickly. I made eye contact, making sure my question to him sank in.

"Oh." He paused in thought. Gustav knew this dragon could be a good replacement for Fanghook, but he must have also been aware of how his former dragon had so abruptly deserted him. "How do I start?" he asked carefully.

"Give it something to eat, like a fish," I suggested.

Gustav grumbled slightly. "I've gotta go back to the great hall, right?"

I nodded.

He paused for a moment, then made his decision. He took off running toward the great hall.

I backed away from the Nightmare until I reached Toothless. And stroked his neck gently, feeling him relax under my touch again. The Nightmare watched Toothless again and approached, this time a lot more confidently. As soon as the dragon got near us, I slowly broke off from Toothless and scratched under the Nightmare's chin. The dragon relaxed, just like Toothless did. I didn't think it was too difficult to gain a dragon's trust when it was already primed for human interaction.

"This is gonna be fun," Astrid said. She had a mix of sarcasm and anticipation in her voice.

I nodded again. "Telling Gustav what to do didn't work, so this time I'm gonna let him figure it out. Even if he gets hurt."

Astrid giggled slightly. "Wanna bet on how many bandages he'll need?"

"Both arms and a leg," I said quickly. I paused. "Right leg," I clarified.

We smiled at each other. And broke down in a fit of laughter.

Author's note: Thanks to everyone who commented, favorited or followed this story. As always, comments, reviews and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading!