"Don't get like that Hiccup." Toothless warned. "It's not as bad as you think. And eventually enough time will pass and enough generations will be born, that what I did to the people who are here now will only hear of that version of me in stories. I'm lucky that Color, Dusty and that old Nightmare have seen passed it."

"His name is Care."

"Hmm?"

"That old Nightmare. The one that goes around and talks with everyone. His name is Care." Toothless couldn't help but laugh a little.

"I'm sure he loves that name."

"Well if he didn't go around and worry about how everyone was doing all the time he wouldn't have gotten that name." Toothless huffed and sighed.

"Maybe what happened messed him up more than we thought."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"It was a couple years before I was able to escape. I was firmly seated as The Queen's right hand and Care was just another drone. I guess that's what you'd call us.

He'd been getting unlucky in raids and not bringing back food for The Queen and she began to notice. She tasked me with following him out on the next one and what I saw was, he'd have something targeted and just as he would start to close distance, someone younger and faster would swoop in and take it out from under him. It would happen every time without fail. I tried to explain that to The Queen but she wasn't having any of it.

This led to an odd power struggle between him and other dragons when trying to fight for The Queen's graces for even just a spot to sleep. He had a mate and two younglings and he'd never let them fight. You could tell that he took great pride in the fact that his mate and children didn't have a scratch on them. While his hide was torn up, scarred and tough. This started a game amongst the others.

Whoever could scratch his family wouldn't have to get food for The Queen. This led to his family being constantly attacked. Two or three would gang up on him. But what they didn't realize was that those scars all over him weren't from losing fights. A lot of young, capable dragons died by his maw. And there were still no marks on his family. Now I was just as young as the others when this was happening. But I guess I had a unique view of the situation he was in. I could see the wrong with what was happening.

So with the added exhaustion of having to fight off others, it caused him to fall even further behind on raids, and it was getting noticed. The game was being strung on too long and dragons were being injured left and right. So I took it into my own paws.

To put a bit of context to this, I didn't have to get The Queen food. My job was to enforce her will and make sure everyone else was doing theirs. So when I entered the game there was no benefit for me, other than ending Care's suffering and really make everyone else realize all the losses they'd taken to him without getting any closer to their goal.

So one day I saw a group of them get together and plan an attack, I listened in and took advantage. That group set out to act on their idea and I followed them. And in the chaos of the fight I snuck passed them and spoke with his mate and kids. I told them that I wanted it to end and the only way for that to happen was if someone won.

She agreed to let me win. We came out of the little hole that they lived in. Probably the same one that he sleeps in now. I announced our presence, stopping the fight, hooked a claw under the scales on her chin and made the tiniest cut I could.

The game was over and almost everyone was angry at me about it. I'd walked up to them and said that a new game was starting and the target was me.

No one came after me.

There was a problem though, he still wasn't able to help during raids. Especially with the game ending and people having a grudge against him. This led to a decision that no one could stop. The Queen ate his mate and children as punishment for failing to provide for her.

That messed him up really bad. For a long time he didn't speak to anyone and moved out to the edge of the spires where no one could find him. And that's where he lived. In the least hospitable place for a Nightmare.

When I found him he was near death. Not eating, couldn't stay dry. It was hard to look at. So I started bringing him food and dry wood for a fire. And we became friends. He taught me a lot. The most important being how to protect your mate. Which turns out that most of what he told me carried over and I'm sure even more would if my mate wasn't as crazy as they are." Toothless laughed.

"Oh. So he's the one I should thank for making you as claustrophobic as you are. I'm glad you learned it from somewhere and aren't just like that."

"I'd probably still be like this, Hiccup. Even without him. Maybe it wouldn't be as intense but it would be like this regardless. It turns out that when you make a lifelong bond with someone you want to be there with them for most of it. Or at least that's how dragons do it.

From what I know of humans, they typically separate for a portion of the day before coming back together. But you've adapted well. Even before you were changed. Maybe you're an outlier and naturally like this style of relationship. Or when we had to run away, you learned and adapted to it because we were all we had. If the other wasn't there, there was a problem.

Plus it's not just me. You seek me out too. So don't put this all on me."

"Yeah well it turns out that when you make a lifelong bond with someone you want to spend most of your time with them. Or at least that's what I hear." Hiccup chuckled.

"Sounds like a wise person." Toothless said smugly.

"Wise beyond his years for sure."