Hello there! This is my second HTTYD fanfic, but the first long one, so I'm pretty excited. Constructive criticism is always welcome and greatly appreciated.

CHAPTER ONE

"Almost there, hold steady..." Hiccup cautioned as he reached above him.

"Are you sure about this Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked.

"Not the time, Fishlegs," Hiccup said, standing on tiptoe and tip-metal, "Just a little higher..."

"Hiccup, I don't really think you should be-"

"Later Fishlegs," Hiccup said, "I'm really close now. Hold on, here's another one. Almost got it...nope, missed..."

Toothless sighed underneath him, but Hiccup ignored him.

"Drats! Missed again. Come on, come on, a little closer..." he said.

"Hiccup," Fishlegs said, sounding nervous, "Um, Hiccup-"

"I almost have it, Fishlegs!" Hiccup shouted, "Almost...got it..."

"HICCUP!" Shouted a voice. But it wasn't Fishlegs. "Get DOWN from there before ya hurt yourself."

With a cry of surprise, Hiccup lost his balance and tumbled off of Toothless. Which normally would have been fine, if Toothless wasn't hovering in midair.

Thankfully, that was why Hiccup had brought Fishlegs along. Crashing into the boy and his Gronckle had a much more pleasant outcome than crashing into the bottom of the sea cliff. Even if the landing was not as soft. Meanwhile, Toothless slowly glided down to the bottom of the cliff, where he perched on a rock that was jutting out of the ocean.

"DAD!" Hiccup cried out as Fishlegs and Meatlug landed on the beach near Toothless.

"Well at least you're off," said his father, landing next to him on his own Thunderdrum, "What in the name of Pete were you doing there, son?"

"He was trying to get one of those flowers from the cliff," Fishlegs helpfully supplied.

"By standing on the back of a dragon who can't fly?" Chief Stoick asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Toothless can hover," Hiccup defended as he hopped off of Meatlug, "Trust me, Dad. I was fine."

"Well then, did you at least get the flower?" Stoick asked.

"No," Hiccup sighed, hoping his father wouldn't ask him why he wanted it so badly, "Ready to try again, Toothless?"

But the dragon, still perched on the rock, was busy looking for fish in the ocean and didn't bother to answer.

"He's probably tired," Fishlegs said, "He can't hover too long when you're not using the tailfin, it uses up a lot of energy."

Hiccup sighed, and looked at his night fury friend. "Alright, then. We'll try again tomorrow."

Toothless apparently heard him this time, because he glided from the rock to the beach and began furiously licking Hiccup.

"Ew, Toothless, stop it!" Hiccup laughed, trying to push the slobbering dragon away from him. Toothless lost interest and began investigating a tide pool.

"You know, son, there's more than one way to reach the flowers on the cliff. I'm sure you can think up a better way to get the job done." Stoick said.

"Um, thanks for the advice. So Dad, what brings you here?" Hiccup asked, mentally debating whether he should jump into the ocean to clean himself off.

"The Hard Folk are coming for a visit in a few hours," Stoick began.

"We know, it was announced in the Great Hall yesterday." Fishlegs said.

"I still don't understand why they're coming," Hiccup said, "Didn't they use to be our enemies?"

"They may be great friends of the Bersekers," Stoick said, "But they've never actually been to war with us. And we could use a treaty between them to help stave off Berserker attacks."

"So, what does your being here have to do with the Hard Folk?" Fishlegs asked.

"Good question," said Stoick, "The chief of the Hard Folk requested a dragon ride. As proof, you know, that we trained dragons. And that we can properly handle them."

"O-kay," Hiccup said.

"You see, this is actually very delicate work," the chief explained, "One wrong move and we're at war, simple as that. So you see, I can't refuse him the ride, even if I wanted to."

"I get it," said Hiccup, "I'll round up some of the most trained dragons Berk has to offer, and you can choose which one he should ride."

"Eh, that's not quite what I'm getting at," said Stoick, "You see, the chief already asked me if he could fly Thornado here." He patted his Thunderdrum.

"So, if the chief already has a dragon to ride, what do you need me for?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, why do you think? I need to ride an impressive dragon myself, or he'll think I'm weak." The chief said.

"But," Fishlegs began, "Nobody can hold a candle to Thornado, except for maybe Hookfang. Where are you going to get an impressive dragon that is already trained?"

"Oh no. No no no no!" Hiccup said, "Dad, we've already talked about this. Toothless is my dragon."

"Come on, Hiccup," Stoick pleaded, "It'll only be for the afternoon. Possibly into the evening. Worst comes to worst, I'll have him back for you by five in the morning."

"Argh!" Hiccup said, throwing up his hands.

"Listen, Hiccup. The chief is a guest. And what have I always taught you about guests?"

"Fine," said Hiccup, "I'll have to put on the other foot pedal so you can ride him, but remember to be gentle."

"Oh, and before I forget," the chief said, acting as if he hadn't heard his son, "You're invited to join me and the Hard Folk chief if you want, Hiccup. After all, you're a future chief yourself."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Hiccup said. The prospect of sitting behind his father on Toothless for hours was not something he felt would be enjoyable.

"Have it your way," the chief said, shrugging his shoulders, "Well, I'm off. I have to be at the docks to greet them soon. Have Toothless ready within the hour. We can't waste any time when we're impressing neighboring tribes, you know!"

And with that, the chief of Berk and his Thunderdrum took off into the air.

"Argh!" Hiccup said, packing a lot of meaning into that guttural word, "Come on, Fishlegs. We'd better start heading back."

"I know, I know," Hiccup said to Toothless as he adjusted the foot pedal, "I don't like this either."

Toothless dramatically flopped his head onto the ground.

"Look on the bright side," said Hiccup, "At least Dad is the one flying you and not the Hard Folk chief."

The dragon didn't look all that impressed.

"Yeah, small comfort," Hiccup said, "There. I think that's done."

He tested the new foot pedal just to make sure, and once he was satisfied he turned to the dragon again.

"Sorry about this bud," Hiccup said, rubbing the dragon's neck, "But it's just for the night. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Toothless rolled his eyes.

"Well, we'd better be going," Hiccup said, "We're running late as it is."

The two of them walked together from Gobber's forge to the docks, where the Hard Folk ships were already beginning to dot the horizon. One of them, the main ship, was already in port. It had reached Berk long before the rest, as per the custom of the Hard Folk. A giant crowd was gathered around the ship, and Hiccup realized that not everyone in the crowd were Berkians.

"...And this is Toothless! He's going to be my stead tonight," Stoick said, jumping out of the middle of the crowd and laying his large hand on Toothless' head.

"Really?" asked a new voice, and as the owner of the voice walked up to Stoick, Hiccup recognized him as the Hard Folk chief. "Why isn't the Night Fury your permanent dragon?"

"Well, you see," said Stoick proudly, "THIS dragon is my son Hiccup's."

"Is that so?" the Hard Folk chief asked, turning his attention to Hiccup, "Congratulations, Hiccup. I see you've tamed the beast at last!" Laughing at his own joke, a joke which Hiccup didn't even pretend to understand, the Hard Folk chief turned his attention back to Stoick.

"So when do we leave for our flight?" He asked.

"Now," said Stoick, getting on Toothless, "Hop on Thornado and we can be outta here."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Hiccup said, "Um, no offense or anything, but you should probably wait for a few flying lessons first."

"Lessons?" asked the Hard Folk chief as he sat heavily on Stoick's dragon. In all reality, Thornado probably only let him sit there because Stoick requested it.

"Who needs lessons?" Stoick repeated, "Vikings like to learn on the job. Ready, Reckless?"

"Ready," said the Hard Folk chief.

"Then let's go!" Stoick shouted.

To the delight of the Hard Folk who were watching, both chiefs took off quickly and soared into the air. Toothless gave Hiccup a sorrowful parting look just before they disappeared across the island.

"I'll make it up to you later, Toothless," Hiccup whispered.

"Now everyone, listen up!" Gobber shouted, standing on top of an overturned barrel, "As soon as all the Hard Folk ships are in port, I want everyone to go to the Great Hall. There will be a FEAST tonight!"

The crowd erupted in cheer and hurried to the docks, praying that the wind would pick up and bring the ships in faster.

"Hiccup, you can come too," said Gobber, patting the boy on the shoulder with his hook hand.

"No thanks," said Hiccup, "I think I'm just going to head home and go to bed early."

"Come on, lad, you always skip the feasts and head home early," Gobber said, "Sooner or later people will notice. It'll ruin your chiefly image."

"I'll worry about that later," said Hiccup, "See you tomorrow, Gobber."

"Alright," said Gobber, shrugging his shoulders, "I tried. Have a good sleep, Hiccup."

Hiccup walked slowly back home, ignoring the sights and sounds behind him. As soon as he opened the front door, however, he almost changed his mind and walked back to town.

The house was empty. Of course it was empty. But it hadn't felt this empty since before he met Toothless.

Hiccup sighed, and closed the door behind him. He slowly walked up the stairs and made his way to his bedroom.

Without Toothless, however, the house felt...wrong.

"Calm down, Hiccup," he told himself, "You used to spend weeks alone here when Dad was out hunting or visiting the neighbors, remember? One more night isn't going to hurt."

Ignoring the intense feeling of emptiness, Hiccup finally reached his bedroom. He didn't even bother lighting the candle or getting dinner. He really wasn't hungry anyway. Instead, he just laid down, purposefully ignoring Toothless' empty bed. Gradually he feel asleep...

He woke up to cold steel under his throat.

"Morning Hiccup," said a familiar taunting voice, "Missed me?"

With a gulp, Hiccup turned his head enough to look at the one holding the sword. He almost called for Toothless, but realized too late that both Toothless and his father must still be out flying.

He quickly surveyed the room, and discovered that he only had one attacker. That didn't mean much, however. This one was trouble enough.

"Dagur," Hiccup said, "What do you want?"

Dagur the Deranged began chuckling. And chuckling. And chuckling...and apparently now choking.

"You see, Hiccup," Dagur said as soon as he gained hold of himself again, "I have a little...proposition for you."

"Oh? And what might that be?" Hiccup asked, trying to sound as relaxed as possible.

"Can't tell you here," Dagur said, "But I will as soon as we're both safely on my ship."

"What makes you think I'll go with you?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh, you'll go," Dagur said, twisting the sword on Hiccup's throat, "But first, give me your metal leg."

"What?" Hiccup asked, trying to think of ways to stall for time, "How am I supposed to walk to your ship without it?"

"You aren't," said Dagur, forcibly grabbing the metal prosthetic off of the boy, "I'm going to carry you. But don't worry, you'll get your leg back later. Sometime after you regain consciousness."

Hiccup's eyes went wide, but he was too late to stop the blow from connecting with the back of his head. He slumped back onto his bed.

Dagur chuckled evilly, then promptly began coughing again. "Bleh," he said, "Think I swallowed a bug."