Alright people. This is basically Toothless remembering some things as he and Hiccup explore the Crystal Cove. Also, if you haven't read Terrors in the Dark, one of my one-shots, I suggest that you do, because I am referring to it here.

So this is something that popped into my head today, although I did have the idea to write something like this. I put it here, because I found it fitting. It's a one-shot, so after this we go back to Crystal Light.

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

A Dragon's Tale

It feels good to be home again. That's all that is going through my head as I walk behind Hiccup, seeing the crystals glow around me. The last time I have seen this place is nearly 14 years ago, when I left. I was very young when both my parents died, barely an adult, but that wasn't why I left the island. I had always had a sense of adventure, a feeling like I didn't belong there, like my heart was somewhere else.

I remember the first time I saw Berk, a small village nestled on a rock. After seeing Dragoncity, learning that humans were kind and would leave a dragon alone if they were left alone, seeing the vikings of Berk kill dragons, and seeing that the dragons were raiding them, came as a shock. The idea that people and dragons could hurt each other for seemingly no reason, was something I couldn't grasp. I landed, staying in the shadows and away from the men with weapons, creeping around the village, when I suddenly heard crying. It sounded like a young child, and curious, I crept closer to the sound. The boy I found was barely three years old, hiding under a cart. When I came closer, he turned around and I was stunned by the fear on his face. Every human I met, the one time I had gone to Dragoncity, had never been afraid. So seeing the fear in this child's eyes, was something new for me. I tried to show him that I wasn't a threat, but he hid under his arms, crying. I tried to reassure him that I wouldn't hurt him by crooning softly and the boy looked up, his green eyes shining with tears. I saw so much emotions in those eyes. There was something new now, something that wondered, that longed for knowledge, and I felt a strange connection to this child.

He doesn't remember it now, but that was the first time I saw Hiccup.

The moment didn't last long, because I felt something enter my mind with force. It was such an enormous power that I couldn't resist it, no matter how hard I tried, and the next thing I knew I was flying away from that village, away from that delightful child that had stared at me with wonder, and towards a foggy island with a creature I knew all too well. I had heard stories about the mind control of Titan Wings, but never had I experienced it. Whatever this dragon was, she had to be old and very powerful.

The next 12 years I spent in her den, raiding the village. I never liked it, not once, and despite her efforts, I could never steal anything. The only thing I did was attack the catapults the vikings attacked us with. I never expected to see that child again.

That was until that one faithful night that changed my life forever. It was a raid like any other, just the usual orders. Bring me food. That was all she ever though about. And if we didn't bring her enough, she would eat us. A dragon eating dragons. She was the worst kind to ever exist.

The village was peaceful until we attacked, then all hell broke lose. I flew over the village, shooting at the catapults, her mind in the back of my head, controlling my actions like I was a puppet, but not enough to make me take the life stock. All I remember is firing at another catapult, then something wrapped around my body, pinning my wings to my sides, instantly knocking me from the sky. I scream, it's all I can do. The moment I hit the ground there is a searing pain in my tail, shooting through my body before dying down, and I lay panting for a moment before the world blacks out.

When I wake up again, the first thing I notice is that I can't move. The ropes have bound me tightly, pinning my legs and wings to my body, cutting into my skin. I move my head, the only thing I can move, but all I can see are trees. Laying my head back on the ground, I close my eyes. I am completely helpless, at the mercy of any viking that finds me and wishes to kill me.

It takes a while before I realize that I no longer feel her in the back of my head. For the first time in over a decade, my mind is mine again. The realization brings a little peace to me. If I die, I will die under my own control, as myself, not as a mindless puppet.

The moment I hear footsteps, I feel my muscles tense. They found me. The vikings found me. But when I open my eyes, I see him. The boy from all those years ago has grown into a taller boy, lanky built, much smaller than most I have seen, and he has a dagger raised over his head. I stare at him, fear swirling within me. What has happened to him? What has happened to that child that stared at me in wonder, that wanted to know more? He clenches his eyes shut, and grips the dagger tighter. He's struggling, I can see it, but there is also determination in his face. With a sigh I close my eyes and let my head fall back to the ground. I can't fight back, I might as well accept my faith. But the killing blow, the piercing pain I had expected, doesn't come. Instead, I feel the ropes falling away and my eyes fly open.

I stare at the boy as he cuts the ropes that bind me, muttering under his breath as he does so. The moment I am free I jump up, with one paw on his chest as I stare down at him threateningly. He stared back in fear, gasping for breath as I push down on his chest.

I could kill him. I could kill him right now.

Something in me tells me I should.

But another part of me, the part that still remembers home, tells me I shouldn't.

I narrow my eyes as I stare down at the boy. I can still see the child I saw all those years ago. I can still see the wonder, the thirst for knowledge, but it has been buried under a layer of pain.

I could kill him.

I didn't.

Instead, I just roar in his face, then I turn around and spread my wings. I don't even look back to him, I don't really care. He spared my life, I spared his. We were even, I was free. Free from her, free to go home.

But the moment I try to fly, I realize something is very, horribly wrong. I can't gain altitude, I can't keep my balance, and before I know it, I crash into a tree. Shaking my head, I try again, only to fall to earth like a stone. Wailing, I try a third time, and this time I manage a little distance, before I plummet to the ground once again, hitting it hard when my head knocks against the grass. I lay dazed for a while, then I manage to get up and look around.

It doesn't take long for me to realize that I am trapped. I am trapped because I can't fly. And I can't fly because one of my tailfins is ripped off. I can't help but howl when I see the left side of my tail. Where once was a tailfin, sleek and black, now is covered in bloodied shreds of skin, and it burns. Not just the physical pain, but also knowing that I was free, for such a brief moment.

I never gave up. I tried. I really tried. If only I could get out of this cove... I would run. Maybe I couldn't fly, but I would still be able to get somewhere. But the walls were too high and slippery, my claws kept slipping away, and time and time again I fell to the ground. I even failed to catch the fish in the small lake. I was almost ready to give up, resting my head on my paws, when I hear a small clatter and I perk up. Looking up the walls, I spot the boy, and my eyes widen.

He followed me.

One part of me is overjoyed and filled with hope, while the other is angry, skeptical. It was his fault. He was the one that shot me down. Granted, thanks to him I am free from her, but I now realize that I would rather spend the rest of my life in her nest, then die a slow painful death trapped in some cove. I watch him leave, only slightly sad.

He is back the next day, and this time he's not staying up on that rock. He comes down, carefully, cautiously, taking slow steps through the cove. I watch him, my tail twitching and I wince at the pain. I allow him to come a little closer, then I creep over the rock and jump on the ground. Startled, he backs away, hugging a fish close to his chest, and the moment the smell hits me, my eyes widen.

He brought me... food?

I slink closer to him, and he holds out the fish, keeping as much distance between me and himself as he possibly can. I already have my mouth opened, to take the fish, when I remember his knife, and I growl. He takes the fish in one hand, and folds open his fur vest with the other. I growl again when he takes out the knife and drops it on the ground, but that's not enough for me. I need it totally gone, where he can't snatch it from the ground and kill me.

After the knife has disappeared into the lake, I dare come closer again, and before he realizes it, I have snatched the fish from his hands. The tasty creature goes down fast, but doesn't still my hunger, and questioningly, I come closer. He backs away, tripping over a twig and falling on the ground, but he keeps crawling backwards until he's backed up against a rock.

"I don't have anymore," I hear him say, and I cock my head. He must be hungry then.

Before he realizes it, he has a fish head in his lap and I walk back a few paces, before plopping on the ground, my wings limply at my sides. I watch him, see his confusion as he stared from the fish to me, then to the fish again. When I look from the fish and back to his face, he finally seems to get it and a disgusted look flashes over his face. He takes the fish, and takes a reluctant bite, before nodding and holding it up to me.

I make a swallowing motion, and his face drops. With great effort he swallows the raw fish, then shudders and smiles. My lips twitch and I pull them up to mimic his smile and he puts the fish aside, standing up with his arm stretched towards me. That is too much and I growl again, before turning and running from him.

He is back again the day after that, this time with more fish and bandages for my tail. After a lot of convincing from his side, a lot more fish, I let him dress the wound. He is careful, his hands feel strange on my skin and the moment he is done I dash away from him. I haven't forgotten yet. It's still his fault.

But when he keeps coming, day after day after day, sometimes just sitting on the grass watching me, I can't help but grow fond of this boy. I don't know how much time has passed since he shot me down, but my tail has healed. It still hurts, being unable to fly, but at least I won't starve to death. When I see him sitting on a rock, not far from me, my curiosity gets the better of me and I slink closer.

He's drawing in the sand, and he's drawing my face. I watch him for a while, before I leave, taking a tree and doing the same. From the corner of my eyes I can see him stare I amazement, and when I'm done, he stands up.

When his foot touches the line, I snarl. How dare he ruin my work! He does it again, as if testing, then he steps over it and smiled lightly. Carefully, he steps over the lines, almost dancing towards me, and he stops right in front of me. I stare into his eyes, he stared back into mine, and then he reaches out to me, his face turned to the side. Carefully, very carefully, I press my nose against his palm. It fits perfectly, like it was meant to be there, and his hand is warm and soft against my skin. I wriggle my nose and he chuckles before he leaves again.

The days go on like that, until that moment when he made me a prosthetic. I couldn't believe my eyes, couldn't understand what he was doing, but in a few short moments, I had gone from helpless to being able to fly again. I didn't even mind when I found out I needed him. It felt right to have him control my tail, and with that my flying. It felt right to have him on my back, as if he was meant to be there, and in that first flight together, I realized that this was what I had been missing. This boy was meant to be my rider from the moment I was born.

That first time flying again, with him on my back, was the best flight I had in years. We learn, we both do. I have to adjust to the prosthetic, but man, does it feel good to fly again. And we fly a lot, always going back to the cove. It gets harder and harder to let him go as our bond grows, because I love him. He belongs with me, not those people that kill dragons. He belongs on Night Fury Island, in Dragoncity. He belongs with the other dragon riders.

One day, I promise myself, one day I will take him there.

I never expected that day to be much sooner than I thought. The moment he walks into the cove, I can sense something is wrong. He seems sad, down, even though he assures me everything is alright, but I know something is different. We go flying, as usual, but we linger around the village, and this time we don't go back to the cove when the dark sets in. That is when I finally understand.

We leave, and I am the only one to see his tears. He sleeps under my wing that night, after we have landed on a small island, and he cries himself to sleep. It breaks my heart to see him sad, it breaks my heart to see him hurt, and I do everything to cheer him up a little.

It just us now, him and me, and I see him change. From the sad little boy I met, to a more confident young man, still unsure of what to do with his lanky limbs, but getting stronger, adjusting to flying and adjusting to living in the wild.

Slowly, unknown to him, I make my way towards Dragoncity. I will take him there, but we are in no hurry. We have time, all the time in the world. We are completely free.

For eight months, our lives were perfect. Then we were captured. For a week they kept me in a cage, for a week I had to listen to his cries, knowing they were hurting him, and I was powerless to do anything.

I hated it.

And what I hated more was that by the time I finally broke free, I was too close to being to late. I found my boy on the floor, bleeding from a bad wound in his back. I took him, and ran. He was almost too weak to control the tailfin, but he did, and there was just one place I wanted to go now.

I wanted to go home.

So I took him home.

We never quite made it to Dragoncity, but we made it to the island. I hid him, in a cave, but I knew I had to get help. If I wanted him to survive, he needed help. But as it turned out, help had come to us, in the form of a boy and a white Night Fury.

As I watch them now, nearly three months later, I can't believe how lucky we were to be found by these two. All the trouble Wrenlou went through, going as far as learning Norse just to understand Hiccup, it really warmed my heart. And Snowflake, Snowflake was an amazing girl. When Wrenlou had stayed with Hiccup, she had stayed close to me, helping me get accustomed to the island again.

But only now, walking through the Cove, do I really feel at home again. This is where I was born, where I grew up. But at Hiccup's suggestion to find my parents, I wave him off. How do I tell him that they are already dead? How do I tell him that all I need is him?

But deep down I think he knows. Deep down he realizes how much he means to me, and I know how much I need to him. I also know how thrilled he is to be here, with people that regard him with respect and treat him as a equal.

Yes, I am happy I brought him here, and I am happy we met Wrenlou. I no longer care about my tail, I have Hiccup to fly with me, and that's good enough for me. And now he has new friends, I have new friends, we can be happy here. And I know he is happy. I can see it in his face.

Snowflake nudges me gently and I realize I have fallen behind. In all my contemplation I stopped walking.

"Are you alright," she asks, and I croon assuringly.

"I am alright," I tell her, and she bounces off again.

She is young, energetic, and I can help but feel affection to this strange white dragon. I quickly run after her. All these memories... I push my nose against Hiccup and he turns, rubbing my nose affectionately.

Yes, we will be alright.