Shoot! Has it been two months?! Sorry! I was focused on other things!

Anyways. I have NO idea when I'll end this thing. Guess until I get stuck?

Oh well, never hurts to have a project that limps along.

Enjoy!

~Silverleone

I snapped awake at the sound of heavy footsteps. My eyes locked onto the person making the sound, spotting Hiccup's father stepping out the door. He glanced over at me before sighing and stepping out. My shoulders relaxed as soon as the door shut. A few small cracks allowed the pale morning sun between the door and its frame.

I leaned my head back against the Woolly Howl's shoulder as a whimper attempted to escape. Waking up like that was normal.

I was tired of normal.

I slowly twisted my body to the right so I could run my hand down the fur covered shoulder. The Woolly Howl was sleeping peacefully. Her breathing was quiet. I simply watched her, enjoying the peace I was feeling. The past few days with her had dismissed even the subconscious thought of her harming me. I was less scared of her than Toothless.

Speak of the devil…

The Night Fury quietly came downstairs, his eyes on both of us. I noted just how sturdy the house was built to survived a literal dragon living in it. The stairs hardly made a sound. He stepped around the chair that faced the fireplace, his green eyes wide in rapt attention. His foot came down on a floorboard. The squeak was astonishingly loud in the dead silence.

The Woolly Howl was standing over me with a growl in her throat. Toothless let out a sound of surprise and reared back, nearly falling into the chair behind him. He scrambled away, giving us some distance before he was met with a breath of ice.

My rapidly moving lungs told me I was as surprised as Toothless. I pushed myself up onto an elbow and patted the Woolly Howl's side. She glanced back at me before snorting at Toothless, who ducked his head. She curled back around me, nosing my shoulder. I ran my hand between her eyes.

"Thanks." My eyes fell to the ground, then trailed across the floor until they met twin green orbs. Toothless looked a little hurt that he was pushed away. I sighed, giving in.

"Come here…" He perked up, only to wince when the Woolly Howl peeled her lips back a little. I didn't feel the need to reprimand her. Toothless slowly stepped closer until he laid down in front of me. I reached a hand out, placing it on his nose.

"She's protective after the way you grabbed me," I explained. A grunting snort came from my right. I rolled my eyes as Toothless nuzzled my hand. "Think you two can get along?" I asked.

"Looks to me like they're doing just fine." I started at Hiccup's voice. He was standing at the highest step that allowed him to see into the room. He held his hands up. "Sorry." He came down the rest of the steps.

"How you can sneak around like that, I'll never know." I shot a look at his leg.

"When you're the hiccup of the village, you learn to avoid attention."

"Ironic, given that you ride the most dangerous dragon alive." He smirked as Toothless walked over and rubbed against him.

"Nah, that was just a lucky shot. Come on, I've got something I need your help with." My shoulders hunched.

"I never said I was staying."

"I know. It'll help you out in the future, whether you stay or not." He held out a coat. I raised an eyebrow before involuntarily removing myself from my warm spot. I took the coat and wrapped it around myself. It was a good fit. Better than the rags I was wearing. Hiccup tipped his head towards the door.

"Can she come?" I asked.

"I already told you, I would never separate a rider and his dragon." I looked at the Woolly Howl as she stood up. "Granted there might be some places where she won't fit, but that's a given. Not even Toothless fits in every building in Berk." Toothless huffed in his face. Hiccup pretended to gag as he waved his hand in front of his face.

"Come on, bud! You know that's gross!" Toothless rumbled, pleased to see that he got the barest hint of a smile out of me. We stepped outside and I tugged the coat tighter around me. There had to be almost three feet of snow on the ground.

Thankfully, the weather had cleared. Not so thankfully, the sun was rising in front of us, nearly blinding me as it reflected off the snow like a frozen lake. I blocked it with a hand while grunting. The Woolly Howl brushed shoulders with me before bending a knee. I hesitated for a short second before getting on. She stood up. I looked at Hiccup, who had settled into Toothless' saddle.

"Alright, follow us." Toothless lurched forward, bounding through the snow. The Woolly Howl and I both shook our heads in exasperation as she trotted after him. For as big of a beasty as she was, she had a smooth gait to her.

The four of us found ourselves at a painfully familiar building.

"Um. Hiccup…?"

"Yeah?" He grew concerned when he saw my hunched form. "What's wrong?"

"I…might have…stolen from this guy." His brow pinched before shrugging.

"Gobber's not one to hold a grudge. Come on." The Woolly Howl bent her knee again, almost forcing me to get off so I didn't flop sideways into the snow. She righted herself and nuzzled me. I patted her neck and sighed, resigning myself to my fate. Hiccup stepped inside and I stopped at the doorway, just out of the snow.

"Mornin' Hiccup!" I flinched at the shout.

"Gobber," Hiccup acknowledged. "I've got someone I want you to meet." The large man turned and looked me over.

"Ah, you're the one I caught the other day stealing from my forge." He folded his arms. "Not one for speaking, aye? Ah, that's fine. What'd you bring him here for Hiccup?"

"We're getting his Woolly Howl outfitted for a saddle," He said while digging through a pile of leather. I did a double take and stared at him. That was news to me.

"Hiccup…" He looked over his shoulder. "What if she doesn't want it?" My voice was nearly drown out in the noise of the forge.

"It might take some adjusting to, but it's not like she has to wear it all the time. Toothless only wears his so much because of his tailfin. It's a bit more of a hassle to put on and take off. Plus, he likes it." He hauled an armful of leather to a table and began organizing them.

"Luckily, your dragon is similar to Toothless, so I can use the plans for his saddle. Just need to make it a little larger and lose all of the extra bits." He glanced at me with a smile. "You mind calling her in here so we can measure her?"

"Um, sure." I stepped back outside. Toothless was wiggling in place, trying to get her to play with him. She wasn't having it. I gestured to her. "Hey, Hiccup needs to measure you." She tilted her head at that. Her tail sailed through the air and clipped Toothless in the back of the head. Toothless shook his head before staring at her, aghast. She ignored him and walked over, curious as to what measuring her meant. I stepped back inside and held the door open for her. She sniffed the air before letting out a small sneeze. She gave me a look before we both turned to Hiccup.

"Alright, if you'll just stand right there, I'll get you all measured up." He walked over with a rope that had knots in it, and a notebook. She watched him with just a hint of wariness in her eyes as he wrapped the rope around her front leg.

Hiccup muttered to himself around his charcoal pencil before plucking it out of his mouth and writing something down. I stood next to her head and kept running my fingers through her fur to keep her calm. Hiccup wrapped the rope around her neck next.

*Snap* I jumped when he shut his book with a smile.

"Alright! I got everything I need." I glared a little at the offending book, begrudging the fact that I had zoned out enough to be caught off guard. Hiccup didn't notice as he got to work. I stayed where I was, not wanting to get in the way.

His work was methodical. There wasn't a movement he made that was unnecessary. Any slip-up was quickly fixed. It was fascinating to watch. The Woolly Howl grew bored and sat down. A few minutes later, she let her front paws slide forward so she could lay down. I sat next to her, careful not to bump one of the many, many weapon racks in the area. After another moment, she wrapped her front paw around me and dragged me over, putting me between her front paws.

Then she proceeded to give me a "bath." I squirmed as the thick saliva ran down my neck.

"Eugh! That's so gross! Stop!" I flailed. She was probably ten times my weight, and most of that was pure muscle. I didn't stand a chance. Eventually she let me go, revealing Hiccup trying not to laugh and mess up his work.

"Laugh it up, fly boy." I dragged my fingers through my hair, trying to remove the slime. The Woolly Howl simply lapped at my hair once, making me cover my head with a shout of protest. She purred before resting her head next to me. I leaned back against her shoulder, rocking back and forth a little to get comfortable. Hiccup glanced over from his seat.

"You know, if she's going to stick around, you're going to need a name for her." I perked up a little.

"A name?" I glanced at the dragon who was relaxing with me. I felt a subtle flinch run through both of us when Gobber struck something at the anvil. I grimaced, my lip twitching slightly at the sharp sound.

"Well, yeah. You can't just go around calling her a Woolly Howl the rest of your life."

"Fair…" I ran my hand through her fur as I thought. Hiccup went back to work, sewing and cutting the leather with a well trained hand.

"Don't rush it. The name will come to you," He added after a minute. I couldn't help the snort.

"What, like 'Toothless?'"

"Hey! He likes the name! And it came very naturally!"

"After ya almost lost yer arm to the dragon!" Gobber chipped in.

"He wasn't going to hurt me!"

"Tell that to yer undies back then!" I snorted again, swallowing a laugh. "Sides, Grump is a much better name. Fits the big lump perfectly." He gestured with his hammer arm to a large orange-ish brown thing in the corner I hadn't noticed before. The lump snorted and moved at the name. I stared at the ball of lard covered in scales, wondering how a beast could stay so large.

"What are you feeding that thing?" I asked, half in awe, half in repulsion.

"E'came like that. Decided he liked the heat of the forge. Helps light the thing when it goes out, so I don't have a problem with it. 'Cept when he lets it go out…" He shot the dragon a look, which went ignored. "If you want any suggestions, feel free to ask." Gobber tossed over his shoulder before going back to his work.

"Yeah…I'll…consider it. Mm…" I glanced at the Woolly Howl, who was eyeing "Grump" with a healthy amount of concern. Whether it was how fast would she have to fly in order to keep it from flattening her, or the choice in name, I couldn't guess. I continued petting her to pull her attention from it.

'A name, huh…'