Hiccup's fire sword is a sight to behold. But how did he make it?

Toothless knows exactly how. He was there through every explosion, burn, shout, and experiment that somehow concluded into Inferno the fire sword.

It all started with Hiccup falling asleep at his desk in the forge. It had been maybe a year since the fall of the Red Death and the lad had just wanted a day at the forge, something familiar and nostalgic. Or perhaps he just wanted to hang out with Gobber, like the old days. Toothless didn't know. He just knew that his human had no interest in flying that day, which was slightly unusual but not scary. (He may have the soul of a dragon, but he has the heart of a human, and some days, he just needed his feet planted on the ground. Err, foot.)

Eventually, Hiccup had gone into his workshop area (that had been expanded so that way Toothless could fit as well) and started sketching out new designs for saddles, his foot, Toothless's saddle system (because he'd only change the tail if Toothless got too large for it; both dragon and human loved the unity it showed). A headache sprang forth, probably from reading and rereading his own tiny runes that held the calculations needed for all the designs. He placed his head down and closed his eyes, waiting for the ache to go away. He shortly fell asleep, soft snores telling Toothless what happened. The dragon joined his rider in a peaceful nap.

It was Gobber who found the two, but he can't say he was surprised. It wasn't the first time Hiccup had fallen asleep at his desk, after all. It used to happen about once a week, usually after a dragon raid gone wrong and taunts and shouts and disappointment being thrown at the lad. Gobber would usually let the lad be, afraid that if Hiccup was caught in his most vulnerable state (other than tears) by his mentor-turned-father-figure, the lad wouldn't feel as safe and comfortable in the forge as he was. Hiccup had never complained of insomnia, but Gobber could see the signs of too late nights and too early mornings. He didn't go easy on the lad, far from it, but he would let the lad bring in a cot to his workshop if it helped him sleep. Hiccup never did. Gobber figured it was because he was embarrassed. The next day, he would walk in and Hiccup would be there already, pumping the bellows or hammering at a blade or doing something. He'd have a crick in his neck he couldn't get, judging by how often he rolled his head around his shoulders when he thought Gobber wasn't looking.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, Gobber had heard once. He never really paid attention to it until now, but he understood at this point in time. It wasn't just some ancient proverb.

The entire Viking world had been turned on its head, dragons now being their greatest allies instead of worst enemies, but Hiccup would always be just that: Hiccup. Not a hiccup. Hiccup. The lad still made strange inventions. He still had enough sarcasm to make even the most patient man mad. And by Thor, the lad was intelligent. Things that escaped his grasp came easily into Hiccup's.

And the lad still fell asleep at his gods damned desk. But this had changed as well.

Gobber didn't have the heart to wake the lad up because then the lad would lose precious minutes of sleep. Ever since the dragon came into play, Toothless had no such reservations, knowing that if worst came to worst, he'd wrap his hatchling up in his wings and hear the soft sleep-noises within minutes. The reason why Hiccup came had changed as well, transforming from escaping the villagers' disappointment to escaping the villagers' more positive attention.

But Gobber knew that Hiccup would have an ache tomorrow that would keep him from flying, and if the boy had his grounding today, tomorrow he'd want to be up in the air even longer than he normally was. Both beings were absolute terrors when they weren't woken up either naturally or by the other. Toothless because he was a very grumpy dragon, and Hiccup because his extreme amount of snark couldn't even compare to his tired brain's inventions. Apparently, a great amount of what Hiccup thought remained in his head. (This made sense, Gobber would realize later on, because otherwise, Toothless would've been discovered long before the Kill Ring fiasco.) Knowing he needed to wake one of the two up to get them to sleep somewhere somewhat comfortable, he went with the lesser of two evils.

Toothless woke up from a slight pressure on his snout. He realized that it was Gobber's hand causing it as he opened his eyes.

"Would ya take the lad home? He needs ta sleep."

Toothless snorted.

"It was you or him. And I've got a better chance of taking you on than facing that boy's damned sass."

Toothless snorted again, though this time in amusement. He knew firsthand how bad it was until Hiccup, even in his exhausted state, registered that the dragon was more stubborn than he was sarcastic and thus gave up on sassing Toothless to the extreme every morning. (Not to say it didn't happen, just not to the extremes it would have, had it been someone else.)

"Yeah, yeah, we all know you're the big impressive Night Fury who's somehow managed to get the lad to see common sense. Most of the time. Now get him home before he gets a crick again that will prevent him from flyin with ya tomorrow."

Toothless did as he was told, gently nudging Hiccup until he woke up… somewhat.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you overgrown lizard, get into the bed…" Unaware that he was in the forge instead of his own bedroom, he began to walk to where his bed would be. Toothless, noticing what he was doing, managed to catch Hiccup as he flopped down.

"This again? Alright… you're cozier than wood anyway, bud." Hiccup snuggled down into his dragon as much as he could with the riding gear still attached. Gobber would've thought it cute, were he not a Viking. (And not a word of this to anyone.)

"Again?" was what he said in place of the "aw" that was still threatening to escape. Toothless glared without any real ire before carefully navigating the forge, making sure his hatchling wouldn't wake if one of his body parts crashed into something.

When he got to the house on the hill, he managed to get Hiccup to remove the riding gear before the human plopped back on top of him. While the riding gear was meant to be comfortable in case Toothless didn't really have the option of not wearing it, he currently possessed the ability to decide. Mostly out of practicality. He warmed his stone slab by fire and… well, we all saw how well Hiccup's old saddle handled a fireball.

So boy and dragon fell asleep.

The next day, though, Toothless was extremely playful, badgering Hiccup a lot in the forge (though not getting in his way, so Hiccup wasn't too upset). Toothless eventually bumped his nose into Hiccup too hard and at the wrong angle, sending him into the bed of coals with a small blade being heated to be shaped.

"Ack!" Hiccup shouted, dropping the tongs he had held in surprise and tearing away his sleeve. A cherry red imprint of the blade was embedded in his skin. Toothless's eyes instantly turned guilty.

"It's okay, buddy. It's a forge, I get burned a lot. I just have to wash it."

Toothless apparently took the words to heart and started licking the burn. Hiccup was going to push his dragon away gently when he realized that it didn't ache as much.

"Well, I suppose a dragon would know how to treat fire wounds. Should I wrap it?"

Toothless grumbled and grabbed a bundle of cloths used for such a purpose.

"Thanks bud." Hiccup wrapped his injury before taking up a needle and thread and repairing his shirt. The patch wasn't very obvious; Hiccup had a great amount of practice sewing. His sleeve covered up the burn, preventing any questions from those who didn't look closely or feel the bandage. Hiccup played with Toothless a bit before working again. (This was his longest grounded streak yet. No wonder Toothless was a bit restless.)

Both boy and dragon returned to their home late at night.

"I didn't mean to keep you grounded today, bud. But it was nice to spend time with Gobber. Thank you."

Toothless knew that Gobber acted like a father towards his hatchling while his sire didn't and while he wasn't there to help. Besides, he was more brother than father.

Boy and dragon fell asleep again, though this time, each in their separate beds.

But when Hiccup woke up the next morning and went to change his bandage, there wasn't any reason.

The burn was gone, hardly even a scar left behind. Hiccup turned in amazement to his dragon.

"Did you know about this?"

Toothless looked at him, but the great big eyes that had once stared him down now showed a twinkling of amusement. He did indeed.

"You are amazing," Hiccup said in astonishment. "Do other dragon's saliva heal wounds?"

Toothless shrugged this time. How would he know? He didn't really interact with other dragons until recently.

Well then. Hiccup had a question and he wouldn't stop until it was answered.

He didn't go burning himself or anything; he had no desire to cause pain to himself. But he was acutely aware of his clumsiness, which usually resulted in minor injuries. So whenever that happened, he'd ask some of the rider-less dragons if they would lick it, explaining his thoughts. The dragons usually understood (at least the first part) and did as asked, resulting in a scratch or a fish or some dragon nip. Hiccup found out that the spark head of the Zippleback's healed, along with the Nadder's. The gas head and the Gronkles took away the pain but didn't make it heal, and none so fast as Toothless's.

The only ones who didn't were the Monstrous Nightmares. They looked at Hiccup like he was stupid. And, eventually, he figured out why.

He had just asked Fireworm if she would lick a small but painful burn he had gotten in the forge, explaining how Toothless's saliva had helped it heal, along with several other dragons'. He got the same look he had from the other Nightmares he had asked.

"Why do all of you look at me like I'm stupid? I'm not all-knowing about you guys, we just ended a three hundred year long war about a year ago," Hiccup griped, mostly to himself. Fireworm still heard.

She spat on the ground in front of him, resulting in a confused glance. She then launched a small fireball that ignited the saliva, then burned out once the fluid was gone.

Hiccup blinked. "Well. I guess that's- wait. So that's how you guys light yourselves on fire?"

Fireworm nodded, pleased that the human was getting it.

"That's amazing! Wow… we'll have to write that in the Book of Dragons." Hiccup scratched Fireworm, resulting in a pleased purr. "Thank you for explaining that."

Hiccup went and wrote the new details in the Book of Dragons, as he said he would. His additions about the healing powers of dragon saliva also went in there, though they were written with a warning of "Do not swallow". Hiccup hadn't actually swallowed any; he was too squeamish for that. But he had asked a few of the dragons, and they instantly shook their heads, telling him it was a very, very bad idea. Knowing the Viking mindset, he made sure to write it on every page so that way the elders and healers wouldn't get any ideas.

But, as usual with Hiccup, he wanted to find a way to incorporate humans and dragons. He had long since found out that by hanging around Toothless, other dragons would usually give a little bit of respect. Or would at least back away and calm down from a plasma blast that wasn't really aimed to harm them. Hiccup knew that Toothless would usually be nearby, but they had been separated before, and if he was surrounded by wild dragons… well, maybe proving he was a dragon friend without Toothless would help him out in the long run.

The ideas started pouring in, and Hiccup's sketches allowed them to be poured back out. Maybe…

Let it be known that Hiccup was amazing with a sword in either hand, although when he used his left, his moves were better. But he had been practicing, Astrid herself teaching him as best she could. Gobber helped as well, and Stoick sometimes pointed something out, but Astrid was one of his primary teachers.

The other was Toothless. While the dragon couldn't exactly teach him how to use a sword, he could teach him how to use his environment. The biggest thing that Toothless focused on was using the other senses: hearing the most. Hiccup was an extraordinary listener, learning the different sounds of different areas. This would let him lose some fear in any environment, allowing him to have a clearer head.

Point is, Hiccup needed a weapon of his own. And now, he had an idea for one.

But the thought of proving that he was on friendly terms with dragons left him thinking that the sword needed something a little bit… more. Another idea came to him, instantly labeled downright insane.

But then again, this is Hiccup. Since when has crazy stopped him?

Barf and Belch looked up from their lunch when they smelled the human approaching them. It wasn't a common occurrence, what with their riders being the Thorston twins, but they would always be welcoming to one of the two that helped kill the Fallen Queen. Besides, it was rather humorous to see the youngling walking around, asking dragons to spit on his wounds. The two heads had to chuckle, thinking along the same lines.

"Hey Barf, hey Belch. Could you help me with something down at the forge? It might take awhile."

The two heads looked at each other and shrugged. The twins were getting into their own mess today and told the dragon to take a day off. (Well, actually, they said to make something explode, then take a day. But both heads figured that wouldn't work out well, so they went for the second part.) They followed the young one back to the forge. A larger window had been cut out for the dragons in case one wanted to poke their head in and see what was happening (or, more accurately, how Hiccup was doing). Barf and Belch stuck their heads in now, and Hiccup (already having entered the forge from the door) began to explain what he was thinking.

It was crazy, delusional, demented, insane, and probably downright stupid.

Barf and Belch instantly agreed to help.

About a half hour later, the twins passed by.

They didn't know why their dragon was hanging around the forge. But then again, they didn't know why Toothless was sleeping like a bat in front of the forge door either, but only Hiccup seemed to understand why dragons did what they did, so they didn't pursue the thought process. They knew that Hiccup had some uncanny, unshakable bond between pretty much any and all dragons, especially those who settled in Berk. They don't know how or why this bond was there (and neither particularly cared), so they waved to their dragon. After all, they had given them the day off from causing mischief, seeing how exhausted the Zippleback was after trying to keep up with them. Barf and Belch purred in response but did not move from where they were.

The twins left to pursue their trickery. Barf and Belch's heads returned to the window, watching the young inventor attempt to condense the gas into small capsules.

And, as mentioned, Toothless was there through every explosion that came from this. When Hiccup got frustrated, he returned to making the other part of his sword. He didn't want it to have a sheath, like most swords did, seeing as how the blade caught fire. So he came up with a design that could sink into the hilt but still be used for fighting. This resulted in the aforementioned burns and shouting, not that anyone knew about the former due to Toothless's saliva. But, eventually, he got it, the hilt looking quite random and non-threatening. Monstrous Nightmare spit was stored in the compartment, and the little gear that ignited the blade upon exit functioned perfectly. It also cast a spark when Hiccup clicked a button; this was for the gas that Hiccup had yet to condense down, but he was getting closer.

Finally, he was able to get it condensed enough to store the gas in one of his capsules.

You'll probably want to grab a few more, seeing as this cold weather won't last all year, Toothless advised.

"It's Berk; it snows nine months out of the year and hail the other three," Hiccup retorted, knowing what his dragon meant.

You know what I mean, Toothless growled.

Hiccup tested the capsules the next day with Barf and Belch watching eagerly. Hiccup pressed a button on the blade, releasing the gas from the dragon's head on the end of the hilt. He clicked the button that would ignite the gas.

A single spark flew out.

BOOM.

Hiccup hadn't let out too much gas, just enough to test it. But, well, dragons.

Barf and Belch were delighted at having helped the young one with defending himself. He didn't have teeth, claws, or even venom (though did his grumpy words count?) to protect him, so this fire device should help him immensely.

Hiccup gave each head a few fish for their troubles and let them return to general pranking with the twins.

But another issue came up: a name. Most every sword had a name, whether it was decided by the populous, the maker, or the wielder themselves depended on the blade. But Hiccup wanted this to be his decision. He could scratch the runes into the guard. It wouldn't harm the design and would also allow others to know the name. The issue was what runes to scratch.

"What do you think, bud?"

Toothless rolled his eyes. I would say fang-claw-fire. Maybe fire-beat-metal.

"While those would certainly be unique, I don't think they're quite what I'm looking for."

We don't exactly name swords on a regular basis, Hiccup. They were generally something to be avoided.

"True enough. But then again, so were Night Furies."

Toothless shrugged and lay back down. Hiccup started reminiscing about the days before he met Toothless, where dragon raids occurred without mercy. Where Nadders' fire and spike rained from the sky, and Gronkles' lava blasts poured like water, Zippleback's gas worked as a screen for about two seconds until someone ignited it, and how Monstrous Nightmare fire flowed like a river.

How a Night Fury's blast would start off purple and turn into a raging…

"Inferno," Hiccup muttered breathlessly. The name fit perfectly.

Taking a special tool, Hiccup carved the correct runes into his sword before presenting the finished deal to Toothless.

"What do you think?"

A good name for a dragon sword, the reptile muttered sleepily.

"Thanks bud." Hiccup sat down and leaned against his dragon, content with the warmth the pile of scales emitted.

Toothless was happy his rider had a way of defending himself. While the Gronkle Iron shield was useful, its tricks ran out too quickly. With this, Hiccup would be able to defeat enemies that he normally couldn't.

That doesn't mean the dragon was supportive of the idea of a flight suit.

A/N: The naming part of Inferno was inspired by a scene from Brisingr, where Eragon is attempting to name his sword and Saphira says dragon names, like "blue-claw-red" (referring to the color of the blades of Eragon's sword and his enemy's, Zar'roc).

I got the name from the Hiccup Wiki page. I had to facepalm after reading it, because of course that's what it was called.

This one shot I think concludes our outpour of ideas. But don't worry. There will probably be more once HTTYD2 comes out on DVD and we're able to look a bit more closely at the details.

And because I've forgotten to put this one the last five stories (my bad): HTTYD, Gift of the Night Fury, Riders of Berk, Defenders of Berk, and HTTYD2 are all owned by DreamWorks. I am not DreamWorks, so I do not own any of the characters, props, or personalities.