This was definitely not Berk.

The wind that echoed through the red–rock quarries here was warm and dry, there was little shade to speak of, and Hiccup was almost sweating in his flight harness as he sat perched up on a stone by the sea, watching Toothless dive in the ocean for fishes not far off. Probably not so great for his flight equipment, but it was never a good plan to argue with a hungry dragon. He might eat your boots out of spite.

Well, the one boot, anyway…

Hiccup bit his lip, scanning the horizon again, charcoal hovering idly over a few halfhearted notes on the weather (hot) and really not much else. For a supposedly "forbidden" and "dangerous" island, this place was rather quiet and uninteresting. Evidently there were a LOT more old Viking mantras and myths that needed debunking.

Really, Death's Head was a nice enough place, if you liked your places quiet and rocky and almost entirely without trees. It was almost eerie in its silence, and occasionally Hiccup found himself wondering if anything lived here at all, besides the gulls.

Hiccup was not here to watch gulls, after all. You could do that to your heart's content on Berk.

He had been hoping for a little dragon–spotting.

Death's Head was legendary for its particular breed of flightless dragons, known as the Skullion. According to the stories, this thing was nearly blind, but a merciless hunter nonetheless, relying on sound, smell, and sheer speed on foot, hunting in packs to catch prey. Apparently, it also had specially developed talons for slicing the Achilles tendons of its victim, crippling it, before devouring it slowly, alive.

Ouch.

Completely ridiculous, of course. What little reference he had came from the same stack of outdated dragon manuals that said things like "the Hideous Zippleback is capable of inducing hypnotic trances" and "the Night Fury is said to subsist on souls, which it sucks from the ears of its victims."

Extremely dangerous; kill on sight.

Completely unreferenced, unobserved, unconfirmed; it practically hurt to read.

Hiccup sighed and scanned the coast for the one hundred and forty–seventh time.

It was completely possible, in fact, that these creatures didn't exist at all– that they were created one night by some drunk tale–telling Hooligan, and had somehow wormed their way into the common sagas. Stranger things had happened. Perhaps it was a grand cover–up for some failed journey, or a hidden secret…

It would make sense. Viking law actually forbade travel to Death's Head, because of those creatures.

Hiccup was kind of not supposed to be there. But, he figured, he had learned so much from breaking one old Viking law. Imagine how much there was to gain from breaking a few more!

Right?

Certainly, this was always a bit more complicated when your own father thought up half the law book– but obviously that had never really stopped Hiccup before. Thanks to his rule breaking, he had acquired a dragon that could take him anywhere in the Archipelago at a whim– the capability was motivation enough. Who knew what fabulous beasts lived out there? What secrets did these old, superstitious laws hide?

Maybe it had been a little rebellious of him, but Hiccup was feeling pretty good about this. He wouldn't be in trouble, if he learned something useful while he was here. Probably. And if the expedition turned out to be a complete bust (which he was strongly suspecting, by now), he would just slip discreetly back to Berk, and no one would even have to know he'd ever gone.

Well, okay. Astrid would know. She'd probably be pretty mad, too. She hadn't been too happy with the idea of him going off on his own like that in the first place, when she had caught him at the docks.

"Death's HEAD? Are you crazy?"

"Um… I think we've already discussed the general state of my sanity. Multiple times."

She had glared at him. Gods, she could be horrifying. Light her on fire and she'd pass as a decent Monstrous Nightmare. "Does your dad know?"

He had been reluctant to answer that question.

She had been evidently flustered, her cheeks red. She'd bitten her lip and clenched her fists, taken a deep breath and sighed. "Fine. I'm going with you. We're not going today, though– I've got all this stuff to get done– they'd kill me if I didn't finish."

In as much open defiance as he had dared to muster, Hiccup had tightened a satchel of supplies onto Toothless' back. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for a clear flying day like this? If I don't go today, I'll probably be rained in and stuck doing absolutely nothing of consequence again for who knows how long."

"Well, you're NOT going alone, Hiccup."

"I know. I'm not." He had gestured pointedly at his dragon. "I'll have Toothless."

"…A dragon."

"A dragon who saved my life." Astrid had given him a look. Hiccup had returned it, before ducking behind Toothless to make sure all the straps were taut. "He can take care of me, if anything happens."

He had said it so flippantly at the time.

"If anything happens…" Astrid had mumbled, considering Toothless carefully.

"I'll be all right." He'd peered around one of the great wings, patting the dragon's neck. "It's only about an hour or two flying there and back– I'll be back sometime tonight."

Astrid had scoffed. "You'd better be back, or your dad'll find out."

Hiccup had hefted himself up onto Toothless' back. "Oh, Dad won't find out." He'd glanced at Astrid, pleadingly. "You won't tell him…?"

She sighed. "Fine." She'd given him one of those astonishingly clear glares of hers, in which he could almost see a spark of… something, winking in her eyes. "Just promise me you'll be back."

Astrid, always demanding these promises. How could you promise something like that? Any Viking who ventured off of Berk was taking a major gamble— it was simply an occupational hazard.

Still, Hiccup had promised.

And now, it was looking like he would be able to stick to it. On the way over to this forsaken island, he had had his doubts, but now…? It was beginning to look like he would have nothing more than a kept promise to show for it. Nothing of note, no strange artifact, not even a fistful of interesting wildflowers.

Hiccup sighed. Frankly, he had been expecting anything, anything more exciting than beach and seagulls. It was all looking like much ado about nothing, now. He turned his eye to the sea and watched Toothless flip back his head and gulp down one last fish as he finally waded back to shore, swishing his tail in a satisfied sort of way through the water.

Hiccup grimaced. He wished he would've had a chance to get the tailfin off, at least, before Toothless had gone plunging in. That salt water would probably be pretty hard on the joints, if he didn't get to them right away. He eyed the supply basket he had brought, which was some way away, now, and sighed, shuffling his legs awkwardly beneath him as he tried to raise himself up to a wobbly crouch. He kept forgetting how difficult it was to get back to a standing position from the ground when one of your legs was a steel peg. It seemed like he'd never get used to this.

Toothless easily ambled up to him, and with a gentle, amused gurgle, pushed him back over.

"Oh thanks," muttered Hiccup, as Toothless keened softly in his throat and affectionately settled in behind him. The dragon looked very pleased with himself, as he often did on a belly full of fish.

"Basket," commanded Hiccup. "I need it."

The dragon blinked back contemplatively, and then gripped the travel basket easily in his teeth and lifted it over.

"Thanks." Hiccup took the basket in his arms, propped it between his legs, and began sifting through it, gathering up oil and brushes and things he could use to service the tailfin.

He reached out awkwardly toward the far end of Toothless, grabbing meaningfully at the air. "Toothless," he sang impatiently. "Lemme see the damage, here, Bud."

The dragon, who had just closed his eyes to take a nap, made an exasperated moan. Hiccup yelped as the dragon wrapped him affectionately in one huge forepaw and pulled his human close to his chest with a low, pleased, defiant sort of rumble.

Hiccup sighed, wriggling a bit to try to get free, but unable to keep from smiling. "Bud," he laughed. "This isn't really... helping!"

Toothless replied with a fishy, loving lick up the back of his head. The warm smelly sogginess made Hiccup wriggle and chuckle and gag in disgust. "Toothless! Oh, you… You'd rather just cuddle, huh, Bud?"

Toothless squeezed him harder and grumbled, nibbling more delicately at his hair, as if trying to groom it. Hiccup's nose wrinkled. Eventually his hair would constantly be peaky and solid with fish–proteiny dried dragon saliva, probably.

Hiccup relaxed, consigning himself to his fate, and wriggled to stroke Toothless' underside. For a scaly beast, his skin was surprisingly soft and pleasant to the touch, like leather, smelling distinctively salty and spicy. On this side of him the scales were so tiny that the dragon was quite smooth. It felt good and warm, firm with flight muscles but also slightly squishy with a layer of wintery dragon fat. Hiccup kneaded it playfully. "You're such a spoiled dragon, Toothless. We let you eat too much, huh? Soon you won't be able to take off!"

Toothless gurbled in response, vibrating thickly with purrs that shook through Hiccup's whole body. Hiccup felt something else, too.

"What was that?" Hiccup felt it again, a weird deliberate twitching from deep inside the beast. He peered up to the dragon's face.

Toothless cast a glance down at himself, then laid his head back down, squinting happily.

Hiccup explored, finding that the lower he stroked down the dragon's body, the stronger the twitching was. Soon he found his hands over the dragon's stretched–tight belly, and the source was quite obvious; the generous pile of fish wrapped snugly within.

Hiccup hesitated, then kneaded curiously.

"Are they still alive in there, Bud?"

Toothless vibrated pleasantly, apparently not caring in particular.

Hiccup rubbed some more, reverently. "Does that… feel good like that?" He wrinkled his nose.

Toothless squinted in predatory delight, and let out a heaving sigh. Then he swung his head back and gummed playfully at Hiccup's middle.

Surprised, Hiccup cackled, which only spurred the dragon on; the beast gripped him in his paws like a supper and gobbled him gooily, painting his clothes with thick swipes of loving dragon spit.

Hiccup writhed. "Toothless! Hah – You have to let me, ahh! C'mon! That tail isn't gonna take care of – baHA! Itself – Itself!"

Just as suddenly, the dragon let him fall back with a thud.

"Ow, Bud!" Hiccup complained, reaching to continue playing with the beast.

Something made him pause.

Maybe it was the lack of Toothless' warm happy rumbles filling the space; the dragon had stopped. His head was raised attentively, black throat rippling uncertainly.

Hiccup followed his gaze inland, towards the reeds.

They were being watched.

Up among the underbrush, shadowy dark shapes crouched. Ten, fifteen… Hiccup struggled to count them. There were too many, stalking together, weaving among themselves.

They were dragons, he thought; it was difficult to tell for sure. It didn't look like they had wings, and if it weren't for their longish necks and beaky faces he might've guessed closer to mountain lions from their long–legged slink. They were so black it was like light couldn't touch them, with no eyes Hiccup could see from here.

Unconsciously, Hiccup pressed close to Toothless, instinctively hiding himself. He swallowed hard. There were so many.

And Toothless' posture was not particularly encouraging; he was stiff and flattening himself, completely still like a suspicious deer. These weren't the kind of dragons you could shoo away with some snarls and threatening flaps of the wings, Hiccup gathered.

Were these… the Skullions?

Hiccup swallowed hard. If it had been just one or two, he might've tried to befriend them no matter what Toothless thought. But Toothless was a brave dragon; too brave sometimes. If these beasts had him petrified….

Hiccup had a really bad feeling about this.

Boy and dragon remained stock still.

"...We should go," Hiccup hissed softly, hands tensing on the saddle. "We should – let's just… get out of here, bud."

Toothless exhaled sharply, apparently the only affirmation he had the courage to express.

Hiccup hesitated, then leaped into the saddle as quickly as he could, Toothless pushing up underneath him.

All at once, the beasts surged forward, ungodly quick, erasing all doubt in Hiccup's mind that they needed to get away, FAST.

"Go, Bud!" shrieked Hiccup, "Go, go, go!"

Toothless leaped skyward.

Hiccup's heart sank, hearing a bitter screech as he pulled at the tailfin. Not now.

Toothless faltered with a scream of frustration, wings beating frantically to keep himself elevated. Hiccup threw a glance backward at the tail as he worked it in a panic, but it was catching and sticking ineffectively.

If only he'd got a good look at it before –!

This couple of seconds of floundering was all the beasts needed to close in.

Hiccup felt a disheartening YANK as a Skullion seized Toothless by the lame, flailing tailfin and pulled him from the sky, ripping apart the leather in a single beastly snap; oh, if that had been Toothless' own fin—!

Toothless tore himself free, giving the beast a panicked slap in the face and whirling with a scream, pounding the sand with his front paws and stretching out his wings to try to scare the others back.

Hiccup noted that where their eyes should be was nothing but menacing hollows in their streamlined heads. But they might as well have had eyes; he wondered how the other senses served them. Had he and Toothless been smelled? Heard? Felt as foreign blobs of heat through sensitive organs of their crests?

He didn't have long to think about it, as he felt a hot, fetid breath singe the back of his neck; a beast had pounced from behind.

Hiccup impulsively threw himself from the saddle in such a panicked jerk that his leg came loose from where it stuck in the stirrup, even as Toothless' wings whipped back to throw the creature off and immediately stepped protectively over him.

Sprawled on the ground, Hiccup could see clicking paws all around him, each black, each studded with one long, eagerly twitching saber-claw, ready to snip his and Toothless' tendons and leave them helpless to be torn apart.

Hiccup gaped soundlessly, thoughts sprawling like a tempest, heart thrumming in his ears as he tried to enunciate some brilliant idea, some plan–

As Toothless pulled his wings protectively up and around, and their shadow blocked out the light and the claws, Hiccup blinked at the tough hide of the powerful body inches from his nose, and longed to be somehow… wrapped up… down… IN… surrounded– Toothless couldn't keep this up much longer…

Toothless thrust back his wings again, agitated, snapping wildly at a thick–scaled neck, paws dancing carefully over and around Hiccup's body as he moved to defend, the beasts steadily closing in around them.

Hiccup scrabbled helplessly upward with his hands, sometimes touching things, sometimes not– Toothless ducked back in around him again, and Hiccup felt his own fingernails fumble up at the dragon's neck, up the wide flat panting jaw, searching for something– SOMETHING–

He shivered, feeling hot saliva as his knuckles slipped in over Toothless' lips– he hadn't really meant to... Toothless' eyes rolled wildly, narrowing as he swished his tail at the feet of attackers unseen by Hiccup. Then the reptilian pupils flashed into focus, down towards the fingers tracing his scaled jaws, then again to his little rider's terrified face. Toothless grunted inquisitively.

Hiccup gaped back, hastily curling back his fingers and pulling his hands away. "Don't look at me like that! I don't know– I really don't know– I'm just..."

The pupils in the great green eyes shifted contemplatively in size, even as Toothless winced under the pounce of another creature. Hiccup saw the black slits narrow into focus, right before Toothless whirled on their attackers again. Hiccup grit his teeth and curled up on the ground, feeling incredibly exposed– the dragon had teeth and tail and muscles and claws, but that would only buy them a little time…

Toothless, however, seemed to have a plan.

When he whirled back, he unceremoniously seized Hiccup around the waist and lifted him up.

Hiccup yowled in horror and discomfort as the powerful jaws squeezed him, his limbs flopping heavily from either side– suddenly, he could see quite vividly the dark beasts all around them– and they could see him.

"TOOTHLESS!" he wailed, pulling his arms and legs in as much as possible, wrapping himself around the great scaled head in sheer terror.

Toothless made a low noise, tensed, and began to run.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup howled, voice jarring with the footfalls. "What are you doing?! You're going to– AAAGH!"

With incredible strength Toothless leaped, scaling the rock face of a beach cliff in two swift jumps and diving into a narrow outcrop, out of reach of the beasts–

For now.

Hiccup hugged close around Toothless' head, hardly noticing the hot saliva soaking in around his body, hearing the incredible discord of the violent creatures howling in frustration, screaming, snapping, hissing and clawing, pacing as they tried to find a way up after. They wouldn't be long.

"Toothless–" Hiccup spluttered, shaking hard as he stared back towards the edge. "They're coming– what are you–?!"

Toothless dropped him, slimy and steaming, onto the ground, and gazed at him pointedly.

Very pointedly.

For some reason Hiccup felt inclined to back away, the peg of his loose leg slipping and scrabbling awkwardly at the gravel. "What, Bud? I don't…"

There was a terrifying scuffle beyond as a set of claws scrabbled at the outcrop's edge, nearly finding purchase.

Hiccup swallowed hard. Soon the beasts would find their way up– and now, up here– up here, they were as good as cornered.

Toothless chuffed impatiently, his ears and eyes flicking towards the noise– he whirled, and brought his head down closer and closer to Hiccup, who cowered now against a wall.

"B–bud, what…?" His "foot" slipped and slid on the stones– he couldn't go back any further, and his eyes were wild and wide with terror–

Toothless gurgled softly, and opened his jaws wide.

Hiccup flinched, gagging on the sudden moist heat and strong fishy smell that was breathed out onto him, eyes watering a little. He raised an arm to shield his face. "Ugh…"

Toothless grunted impatiently and pitched his head a little, mouth still stretched open wide… Hiccup could see right down his wavering throat, watch the flat glistening tongue tremble… it was all so very, very red inside…

Hiccup turned his face away from the sight and the smell, shivering hard. "I don't– I don't know what you think…"

He did know. He thought he had a very clear idea.

It was pure CRAZY.

They both jumped as a gigantic head poked over the edge, snapping wildly, before sliding back again– followed by another, and another– they were learning the nooks, finding their way up, SOON….

Toothless rumbled, jaws held opened wide, blinking impatiently down and then straight at Hiccup.

Hiccup cringed, pulling his knees in closer. "No, Bud! No, I'm not just going to–"

Toothless glared.

Hiccup glared back, trying to sit up a little and have a bit more dignity and control, though his entire body was heaving with his terrified panting. "NO, Toothless! Really! I–I can think of something better– I'll–"

Well, you'd better think quick–

One of the predators suddenly leaped into the alcove. Hiccup yelped and pressed himself against the wall, and Toothless whirled, snarling, to defend him. The Night Fury arched his back and hissed like some nightmarish cat, leaping at their attacker with incredible ferocity, and after a few short violent seconds of rolling and snapping, drove the Skullion back down over the lip of the cliff. Toothless took a deep breath and screamed, firing blazing blue warning shots down among the other creatures, hopefully dissuading them for a few precious minutes.

Then he whirled back to Hiccup.

He did not open his jaws.

He paced forward, glaring, making an ominous sound deep in his throat.

Hiccup straightened more. "NO," he stated flatly, with all the finality he could muster.

But this time the dragon did not listen.

Hiccup yowled in shock as Toothless seized him by the metal leg and pulled, tugging him flat onto the ground– his head thudded hard onto the stone, dizzying him.

"HEY! What are you– DON'T!"

Toothless yanked violently, and Hiccup's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach as the already–loose device was pulled clean off, exposing the stark and jarring reality of the axe–hewn stump and empty space that was his left leg.

He was helpless.

"No! Buddy, please –!" He tried to scramble backwards again, but it was even more awkward with one foot– there was a certain terror in trying to kick with a leg that was no longer there– falling through thin air where there had always been support... "Don't! Really– trust me– I can– just don't– I REALLY don't think–!"

Toothless gurgled softly, letting the metal leg drop as he glanced towards the lip of the cliff, hearing shrieks and howls– he whirled on Hiccup again, slurping…

"Don't– please don't–"

Hiccup yowled, horrified, as Toothless ducked with frightening speed and seized his good leg firmly in his gums– Hiccup didn't even have time to scream "Let GO!" before Toothless swallowed, pulling him inside.

Hiccup opened his mouth to shout again, but choked and could only squeak in horror as the implications of his situation came crashing down– Toothless was going to try to swallow him alive!

There was another tug, another swallow– he was drawn deeper, and he was made incredibly aware of how very hot it was inside the dragon. Hot and wet… He gagged, feeling the thick saliva and the nauseating pulse of slick, powerful muscle twisting up around his leg, tighter and tighter– "Let go of me! SPIT ME OUT!"

He tried to kick, futile with one pinned leg– and he threw himself to his side, twisting his foot in Toothless' gullet, trying to pull himself forward and out on his belly, fingers scrabbling at the dust.

"Stop it! Bud, I mean it– PLEASE– let go–! PLEASE–!"

He tried to keep his left leg out of Toothless' reach– but the dragon would not have it– a great paw came down heavily on his lower back and pinned him in place, and Hiccup shuddered deeply as he felt the great jaws close on his thighs– and felt his legs slide with the powerful swallow, jammed into the tightness of the firm gullet around him. And there was another swallow, engulfing his hips– and another– he could feel the lower jaw pushing into his soft middle, just beyond the edge of the flight harness…

It was deadly quick. It had to be.

Chin sunk into the gravel, Hiccup grit his teeth, feeling tears coming to his eyes. Toothless, his Toothless, was (and probably always had been) perfectly capable of swallowing him, in all his smallness, whole.

Great thing to find out when you were already in deadly peril.

"No, no, no, no, no…." he moaned, grabbing the edges of Toothless' jaws and pushing, with some half–formed idea of pulling himself out.

Kind of funny actually– moments ago he had touched Toothless' gums with some half–formed inkling of wanting in, plagued in his panic by visions of being totally hidden, entirely shielded behind black–scaled hide…

(Isn't fate ARTISTIC?)

Hiccup, of course, being a mostly rational individual, had not entertained those thoughts for long, knowing full well how ludicrously stupid they were.

But, Toothless, being a dragon, was blissfully ignorant of any of the knowledge that might, you know, dissuade him, and very OBVIOUSLY thought that it was a perfectly practical proposition.

–––

Toothless was going to hide poor Hiccup away where the monsters couldn't hurt him.

This was a bit trickier to carry out than the dragon had expected it to be. Sure, Hiccup wasn't too much bigger around than a nice thick salmon, and really, he was surprisingly easy to swallow, despite the fact that Toothless couldn't use his teeth on him at all– but poor Hiccup was scared and didn't want to be inside, and he struggled desperately to be free, even though it meant he'd be eaten up by the Skullions outside instead.

The Skullions would definitely use their teeth.

Toothless gave another jerk forward, squeezing Hiccup's soft belly gently but firmly between his toothless jaws, pressing up with his tongue to try to keep the poor human from twisting so much, and to funnel more of him down into his throat.

As his tongue soaked Hiccup's tunic, Toothless couldn't help but notice…

As much as he wriggled like one, his Hiccup did not taste like a fish...

–––

Hiccup squirmed and twisted, still struggling to wriggle free from the powerful jaws advancing steadily up his thin body in quick, thick, irresistible squeezes– "STOP! STOP it you STUPID REPTILE– It hurts– you're gonna hurt me– can't you – just LET GO OF ME RIGHT NOW OR I'll–!"

Toothless gurgled sternly and swallowed him again, yanking him in up to his waist. Hiccup gagged– he could feel his thin body sliding inside, being sucked so easily down…

"Or I'll…"

…What?

He shut his eyes tight. Oh, really. Threaten something ten times your size. That tactic ALWAYS works.

Particularly when you happen to be rather deep in the something's mouth.

"Ohhh come on…"

The flesh around his middle was so crushingly tight now he could hardly breathe– his body was clenched in unyielding muscle all the way down to the toes of his remaining foot– then the gullet loosened and massaged him forcefully downward with a rippling wave as Toothless swallowed again, up to his ribs, forcing his elbows out to the sides.

Toothless began to raise his head up, tilting it back, gravity causing the smallish Viking to slip down into his gullet with shocking ease…

"Don't, don't, don't, PLEASE don't–" Hiccup gasped, choking as he was swallowed deeper with a pitch of the dragon's head, the hot saliva now too close to his face for comfort. He could smell its sharp, hot fishiness with disturbing clarity– feel it creeping up and soaking in, coating him entirely– and his body heaved bitterly as he tried not to gag, or worse.

Toothless rumbled, more softly now, sliding his broad flat forked tongue up over Hiccup's chest and lapping at his face gently, pleadingly, his neck muscles shifting around Hiccup as he turned his head to watch the edge of the cliff. Hiccup winced, feeling those tears again.

He trembled, biting his lip. "Bud… Bud– I REALLY don't think you know what you're doing, here…"

And then another of the beasts leaped into the alcove.

Toothless could not listen– he started in surprise, shuffling backwards towards the wall, tipping his head back high and growling deeply, ominously.

Somehow Hiccup knew the discussion, however futile, had ended.

He wailed in horror, feeling the powerful slippery muscles of Toothless' gullet sliding up over and around him as Toothless began to hastily swallow the rest of him, so quickly, too quickly– his arms were forced out in front of him, and he gagged again at the horrible sliding–backward–through–slime–and– softness sensation and the damp thick smell as his chin slid onto Toothless' hot wet tongue, and constantly, quickly back, deeper and deeper through flashing light with every pitch of Toothless' head.

Peering out through the dragon's pitching jaws, he could see flashes of the creature advancing– oh, what was worse, being out there with those savage flesh–ripping monsters, or going down, like he was now? He couldn't decide, and it was making him dizzy and nauseous with panic.

"B–bud, PLEASE...!" he whimpered, his chin on the very back of Toothless' tongue, arms stretched out towards the light, only his wrists able to reach beyond the jaws.

I really hope you know what you're doing…

There was a twitch under his cheek, like Toothless was licking at him reassuringly one last time– but maybe he had imagined it... Everything around him was in throes of rippling motion…

His narrow chest, tightly clenched, shuddered with half–formed sobs as Toothless swallowed again, forcing him down, the silky red curves of flesh now squeezing shut over his face and blocking out the light completely. He squeezed his mouth shut in displeasure, trying to keep himself from being sick, his head squashed tightly now between his shoulders and incredibly firm, slick surfaces that rippled and shifted under his cheeks, sopping with pockets of thick dragon saliva.

Above, he felt Toothless' hot mouth close around the very last of him, his fingers. The tongue squeezed up on his hands, and he felt Toothless pause in his growling to murmur softly before gulping them down, too.

I guess that's that, then…

–––

Toothless' mouth was empty.

Now he lowered his head, slurping uncomfortably, to stare down the Skullion pacing cautiously before him.

Ugh.

He shivered, making a face, feeling poor Hiccup wiggling unhappily down his throat, hearing his frightened little chirps inside– oh, oh, that was weird– felt… ODD... Really very distracting when he was trying to face down the enemy…

Enemies.

Another Skullion found its way up, and leaped into the alcove with a shriek.

Two of them now, pacing from side to side, dribbling with bloodlust but craftily hesitant– the Night Fury, after all, was a force to be reckoned with, even outnumbered, and without the security of the whole pack, neither wanted to be the first to pounce… but the hunger boiling in their black guts would soon so easily, so quickly, win out over any inklings of self–preservation…

–––

Now that Hiccup was so deep inside, Toothless seemed to have an easier time forcing him down– the boy's head gave the slippery muscles of the dragon's gullet something to push against from above, and to Hiccup's great dismay, he found himself sliding along down with disturbing ease as Toothless' throat closed tight above and opened up below, funneling him down the very same passage that had brought so many fish to their dooms. Then it all squeezed shut again, and he was stuck, unable to breathe, or move– every inch of him pressed possessively between layers of oozing hot muscle…

Not every inch of him.

He poked around with the toe of his boot.

Nothing. Nothing around his foot.

He kicked his leg, experimentally, terrified.

Nothing around his ankle, or his shin.

There was an open space below.

(Obviously. What were you expecting?)

He didn't have much time to wrap his mind around it before Toothless swallowed him again, and Hiccup struggled madly as he was shoved along inside, feeling his foot touch the opposite wall quite quickly–

It wasn't a very big space.

In a dizzy panic, he tried valiantly to push with his foot to keep himself from sliding inside, but the swallows were too strong. His boot skidded on the mucus–drenched surface, forcing his knee to bend as the rest of him shot down after, and before he could even gasp in surprise, he found himself all curled up inside a smooth, shuddering, sticky wet chamber of eerily squishy flesh, stronger–smelling and slightly smaller than your average fish–basket.

For a long moment, all he could do was lie there and shiver, petrified, in a shallow pool of hot liquid, wheezing in shock, horror, and disbelief as the slimy walls and floor rippled and shifted around him. This can't have happened. This wasn't happening. He wasn't–

Inside Toothless' stomach…

"Oh no…" Hiccup breathed, or rather, choked. The air here was warm, moist and stuffy, and stank of blood, digestion, and fish.

"No… No, no, no, NO– TOOTHLESS–!" he wailed, scared and confused, his heart sinking wildly– impulsively, he pushed out with his hands and elbows and foot, trying to open up this hot, dark, wet space–this was Toothless' stomach!– it seemed so small, TOO small...

–––

Toothless winced as he carefully tucked Hiccup's wild, squirming body into the safety of his first–tummy, where the dragon could store special food for later. The poor human didn't seem so little when he was curled up in there– especially when he started pushing and kicking and tossing around…

The Night Fury's eyes lit from Skullion to Skullion, nostrils flaring nervously as he huffed… Ow, Hiccup! He stumbled as a sudden movement inside threw off his balance, and grunted, chopping his jaw– he could feel the poor human pounding and pushing under his ribs, bruising up his soft insides. He knew Hiccup was frightened, but they were in a bit of a jam here, and ow, that wasn't helping…

–––

H–he ATE me–! Toothless ATE me–!

Hiccup shuddered in shock as he heard Toothless grunt in discomfort– it was extraordinarily loud, and he could feel the vibration of it all around him as he buried his hands in the soft gooey flesh above, which writhed disconcertingly under his touch.

"Toothless– Bud– PLEASE– Let me out!" howled Hiccup, his voice breaking. "Spit me out! Please–!"

–––

Of course, much as it wrenched his heart to hear Hiccup scared, Toothless refused. Poor Hiccup was so frightened at being swallowed up, he had forgotten about the bloodthirsty monsters waiting to rip him apart outside.

Poor Hiccup didn't understand that he was safe inside.

Toothless bared his teeth in a snarl at the silkily pacing Skullions, his back arched and wings raised threateningly, his body completely tense. One of the Skullions snapped back, hissing– then retreated– unsure. The other chuffed at him, and they gurgled at each other, chopping their ugly jaws.

Apparently reaching a consensus, they both turned and boldly began to advance on him, together, mouths dripping blackly with deadly desire– their comrades clawing at the cliff–face not far behind...

Toothless needed to GET OUT OF HERE, NOW.

But Hiccup's terrified struggles HURT, and the sudden jerks and shoves kept throwing off his balance and making him stumble.

And to stumble now, with the Skullions in hot pursuit, would be fatal.

For both of them.

So he made Hiccup stop.

–––

"TOOTHLESS–! I'm– I'm serious!" Hiccup pushed hard with his foot, slipping and sliding easily in the confusing soft wet of the dragon's stretchy stomach. "You're– GOING– TO– HURT– ME–!"

He gave another fierce shove at the wall over his face– then winced, hearing Toothless rumble with discomfort.

"Look– I'm sorry–! But–!"

He let out a yowl as the flesh suddenly jerked beneath his fingers… and then the powerful walls started getting firmer, tighter… and tighter…

"HEY!" Hiccup yelped in horror, scrabbling madly to stop the flesh from closing in– "Ohhhh, no… STOP!– STOP! STOPPIT!" But it was simply too strong. Soon the space was so small that it would've crushed the bones of any proper Viking, and even scrawny little Hiccup was in extreme discomfort, smashed into a tiny curled ball so tightly he could barely breathe, much less push and kick.

–––

There.

Now Hiccup was just a faint twitching inside.

Toothless forgot about him, tensed, and leaped.

The pouncing Skullions hit each other mid–air and sprawled in a mad tangle of snapping teeth as the Night Fury burst between them like a bolt of lightning and sprang from the lip of the cliff with such power and grace that he nearly cleared the pack of demons below.

He hit the ground running, and felt teeth immediately at his tail, claws at his back– could hear the shrieks and howls of ravenous beasts so close behind him he could hear the clicks of their black teeth, smell their rotten–meat breath–

He held his wings tight to his body, ducked his head low– and RAN with a focus he'd run with only once before.

All for the life of a human.

–––

Hiccup couldn't feel his toes.

It had been horrifying enough being eaten, trapped inside his dragon's belly– but now he shuddered hard, feeling the secret tense wet flesh of his very best friend folded in firmly, intrusively, all over, all around him, squishing his elbows awkwardly into his ribs, pushing his chin to his chest and forcing his knees practically to his ears.

"Toothless…!" he whimpered weakly, tears mixing with the slime on his cheeks. "Let me move… Oh, please, just let me move… or, or, breathe, for Thor's sake– you're crushing me…" He stubbornly tried his best to wriggle, but the dragon would not acknowledge him.

The world just began to jar violently up and down.

This terrified him, and he tried wildly to twist and squirm and struggle in the slippery fraction of an inch at his disposal, trying to assert some authority, maybe even hurt Toothless, as terrible a thought as that was– but it was no use. He gasped bitterly; the muscles squeezed him too close and tight, and the dragon around him refused to loosen them up again.

The shaking and pounding steadily continued, making his head feel numb.

Moaning helplessly, Hiccup finally gave up and went limp, shivering uncontrollably and sobbing hard through his grit teeth even though it hurt his poor tightly–squeezed ribs.

He was trapped here, deep inside… squished inside Toothless…

He was curled up tight inside of his best friend's dark slimy stomach, like a supper of limp mackerel– squeezed so tightly he could do nothing but howl, being shaken so hard his teeth rattled…

—But… the walls enveloping him wet and close were so strangely soft, hot and pulsing, and the air so thick, and damp, and warm…

It was horrifying, Hiccup realized, swallowing hard– how easy it would be, despite everything, to just… fall asleep in here…

He was thankfully snapped out of a daze as the shaking paused, and changed to a series of sharp thuds.

Thud.

Thud.

Th–Thud.

Gods…

Oh, gods– how could this happen?

–––

The Night Fury was a creature of might, speed and stamina. He could jog for miles, leap up mountains, fly across oceans, summon the breath to incinerate after hours of hunt and chase.

Though, to be frank, small as he was, he was not accustomed to being the quarry.

Somehow, the monsters were keeping stride. How could they do that? Toothless had never met a creature who could keep up with him at such a sprint– and here there were at least five of them, snapping at his tail– wingless brutes that could do nothing but run.

He wished he could fly– his instincts begged him to fly–

He jumped instead.

He took off on down the quarry, leaping from rock to rock.

Thud.

Thud.

Th–thud.

The Skullions were canyon–sprinters, not rock–jumpers. They had no wings to balance with, and their overlong talons fumbled to seize the rock. As the stones became blurs beneath his pounding feet, the Night Fury heard one or two of the monsters stumble and fall, shrieking, into the rubble below.

Toothless never looked back.

–––

Toothless… Toothless, don't forget about me…

Hiccup panted hot shallow breaths, feeling the soft heavy wetness of Toothless' body shuddering and pulsing and rippling all around him, feeling the powerful heart beating loud and fast, the great lungs heaving, and Toothless' muscles working in endless rhythm as he ran and ran and ran.

Hiccup shivered, his breath beating back on him from the wall less than an inch from his face.

Toothless had swallowed him up… to protect him.

Hiccup knew this. He'd always known it. He supposed if Toothless had ever really wanted to eat him, the dragon could've easily gobbled him up long ago– quick and easy, just like this had been; his whole tiny living body pulled and crushed into the dragon's belly with a few big greedy swallows. He'd certainly had ample opportunity to do so. It didn't make sense for Toothless to nearly die saving Hiccup's life a couple months earlier, only to make a quick Viking dinner out of him today.

But Hiccup was still terrified.

Toothless had swallowed him up quite decisively, and Hiccup was sure that the dragon was squeezing him on purpose. But there were so many other things Toothless had no control over.

Digestion, for one.

Hiccup didn't really know how digestion worked in a dragon, but it couldn't be that different from how it worked in him, right? Eat a nice meal, forget about it for a few hours while it turns into vomit– then mysteriously be hungry again?

Completely involuntary?

Hiccup had an unsettling feeling that he'd just been eaten and forgotten about, like a light snack of unremarkable mackerel.

After all, Toothless had more urgent things to worry about than the contents of his stomach.

Who didn't?

Hiccup swallowed hard.

He could feel Toothless' body jarring all around him– hear the dragon's powerful heart beating almost as fast as his own little human one– what was happening out there? Was Toothless being chased?

And what exactly was going to happen to him in here, while the dragon was distracted?

–––

Toothless ducked his head low and streaked over the field of stones, the offspring of lightning and Death itself.

His tongue lolled, his mouth foaming, his pupils narrow slits of pure focus, his body a virtual dragon blur–

And they were still, somehow, coming after him.

Get away.

Get away.

Get away.

–––

Gods…

Oh, gods…

Hiccup lay there helplessly in the dark, shuddering under the heavy press of flesh and a thick rank blanket of Toothless' juices, his terrified thoughts racing.

His breath caught in his throat.

It suddenly occurred to him that the dragon's belly was completely empty– apart from a sloshing pool of hot fluid and his own curled–up body.

But hadn't Toothless just gobbled up a whole bellyful of fish, not an hour before?

It was almost like a dream now– but yes, Hiccup remembered– being outside, rubbing the dragon's softly–scaled tummy– how warm and lumpy it had felt, stretched tight with freshly–caught fish…

Not anymore.

In less than an hour, every scrap of meat, every scale, fin, bone and tail had disappeared without a trace.

A dragon, evidently, could digest a meal very quickly.

…Oh no.

OH NO–!

–––

Get away.

Get away.

How could he shake them?

Toothless had run out of perilous rock and was back on the flat bed of a canyon again, being chased by the best and brightest Skullions of the pack, the battle–scarred alphas who would never relent until they sank their claws into victory.

This land was so red and ominous and inhospitable, like Toothless was running through the guts of Death already…

Toothless noticed a patch of dry weeds.

The fire rose up behind his heart and he leaped, releasing it into the brush below. There was a vibrant flash, a hiss, as gauntlet of violet flame burst into life beneath him.

He could hear the Skullions shrieking, spinning away, skidding to a stop– but he did not stop running– running–

Somewhere to hide– somewhere to hide–

Only a bit of dry brush– wouldn't keep them back long…

Toothless didn't notice the small dark gap beneath the fallen boulders until he was nearly past it–

Perfect.

His wings shot out as he skidded to a stop, turning so quickly he nearly fell to the ground. In a few leaps he vaulted the rock and shot inside, immediately collapsing to his chest in the sand.

He had gotten away. He was safe. The Skullions were far behind and would never think to find this little lean–to of fallen rock…

He panted hard, exhausted, every limb thrumming horribly with the aftershock of exertion.

Now that he was still, he could feel little squirms and hear tiny whimpers deep inside his body.

Hiccup was safe and alive, too. But he didn't sound happy.

Toothless rumbled remorsefully.

Poor, poor Hiccup…

–––

Suddenly the stomach around Hiccup seemed to be writhing and churning, mechanically kneading and rubbing him, preparing to grind the soft flesh from his bones.

The juices that soaked him to the very skin, saturated his clothes, pooled around him and oozed from every close, too–close wall suddenly seemed to become itchy and uncomfortable, chafing on his body.

Digesting him.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup shrieked, horrified. "STOP IT! Let me out! LET ME OUT!"

The juices– the acid– was everywhere, all over him, all over everything– he was lying in it, dripping with it, breathing it, tasting it– it was inescapable, pressed up against him with the unyielding living walls of Toothless' belly, smelling horribly of the fish and blood of the dragon's previous meal, and probably eating away at him just as easily.

He tried valiantly to writhe and struggle and twist and give Toothless a bellyache, or something, but he still couldn't move much more than half an inch, the way Toothless was squeezing him so tightly…

"Bud!" he croaked, something wet trickling down his cheeks. "Bud, don't you get it? Y–you're going to kill me… Please! I don't wanna be… f–fish… or w–whatever... Please!"

Toothless suddenly let out a mournful moan, as if he had been listening, and Hiccup choked in surprise as the shuddering walls loosened a little and seemed to cradle him, vibrating with little concerned dragon–noises.

Hiccup gasped, now able to fill his lungs, at least– but the air was still so horribly hot and damp, and he gagged bitterly. He whimpered and tried to move away from the walls in the little pocket of space he now had, but Toothless gurgled weakly and insisted on cuddling him close, kneading and caressing him in what Hiccup realized were bizarre gestures of affection.

Toothless didn't seem to be running anymore, so maybe the Skullions had gone, and now the dragon was worried about him, and would listen.

Hiccup swallowed hard, his whole body shuddering with barely–subdued panic, sure Toothless' stomach was still quietly working to break him down even as the dragon murmured apologetically around him. "T–toothless," he spluttered, struggling to sound calm. "It's all right… I– I'm not mad, I'm not mad… I–I'm scared. Really scared…"

Toothless made a soft sympathetic sound and gently folded in around him in a strange imitation of a hug.

"Don't touch me!" Hiccup yowled, pushing desperately with his elbows to try to keep the walls from pressing against him. "Toothless, please! …I want out, just please let me out… I know you're not trying to hurt me– I know– it's just– your gut… It's NOT a good place to keep me– it's, um, really, REALLY not–"

Toothless reluctantly withdrew his insides a bit more, with a mildly offended, questioning gollop. The poor boy immediately pulled away from the walls as much as he could, gasping with relative relief, hugging himself tightly in the dark. The top of Toothless' belly was low, pressing down on his head and shoulders, oozing slime into his hair, down his back… He shuddered hard, feeling the hot juices slosh around his legs– he swore he could feel the acid beginning to gnaw and bite and burn…

Oh, Odin… He choked, his breath coming in quick, uneven gasps.

"Bud," he managed shrilly, gritting his teeth and trying to keep his voice level. "I–I don't feel like being your supper, all right? I want out. N–now. Please."

Toothless gurgled softly, curiously, and, to Hiccup's great relief, the dragon let the walls of his belly open back up completely, to not–quite–fish–basket size. Hiccup was still curled up, avoiding the walls, but he could feel his blood gushing back into his arms and legs now, making him want to stretch so badly…

He yelped in surprise as there was a sudden jarring movement, and he splashed backwards into the liquid– but then the floor began to squeeze up on him, and he realized Toothless was getting ready to vomit him out.

His heart leapt. He was safe. They were both safe.

He was going to live.

He'd be out of here!

Oh, he missed fresh air…

Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut, breathing hard, trying to prepare himself for a rough ride back up.

"Oh, thank Thor…!"

–––

Hiccup didn't like it inside and he wanted out. Now. Please.

Toothless understood. The poor thing thought he was going to be supper, because Toothless had swallowed him up easy, just like a big yummy tuna (and tasted his taste a little, too, but not on purpose).

Of course, Hiccup was being very silly– he knew that Toothless had already eaten a good supper of nice fat fish, and that they were friends and Toothless couldn't fly without him– and really, in any case, he was a very bony little mouthful and would probably hurt poor Toothless' tummy.

But the poor little Viking was still scared. He was shivering so much it tickled.

It would be scary to think you were someone's supper, wouldn't it?

Toothless shakily stumbled to his feet and looked around. This cavern was hidden away, and they were safe. There weren't any monsters, and Hiccup didn't need to be inside anymore.

So Toothless arched his neck to vomit Hiccup out.

He hesitated, a little nervous– he had never spit out something so big, especially not whole and alive. He ducked lower and braced himself, hoping Hiccup would try not to wiggle...

He opened his jaws wide.

And then the sky fell down on top of him, smashing him to the ground.

The claws sank into his shoulders.

Toothless gagged in surprise, instinctively thrusting his wings back and twisting away before the teeth could snap shut on his neck.

A Skullion– a Skullion– it found him here– how did it find him?

Toothless barely had time to skid to his feet before the monster came at him again, black jaws snapping– it came up under his wing, closing its jaws around his shoulder, and they rolled, clawing, snapping, swiping, tails writhing in knots, Toothless' wings fluttering wildly–

Toothless screamed, gasping fire– the Skullion yowled in pain, but kept coming, stepping on his wing and reaching for one of his legs with those talons–

Toothless snarled and buried his teeth deep into the monster's forepaw, tasting the gush of rank blood, crunching desperately– the creature shrieked, fell away, and stumbled, writhing, to its side.

Toothless staggered backward, sore and gasping, blood dripping from his parted jaws. His eyes were wide, affixed on the wounded beast in draconic shock.

His head felt numb.

He jerked his jaw slightly. Not a good taste.

The Skullion screeched, settling and flicking out its acid tongue to nurse its paw.

Toothless showed his teeth.

The beast flashed its fangs back.

Silence.

Toothless made an uneasy gurgle in the back of his throat.

The Skullion growled.

The Night Fury bounded once forward, then jerked back stiffly, making a little barking noise.

He felt Hiccup slide inside his tummy.

The Skullion sat to attention, snarling.

Toothless raised his wings and jumped forward again, with a shrill, curt rumble.

The Skullion drew back, fumbling on its crippled paw.

Toothless jerked forward and screamed.

The beast stumbled back a few steps, then whirled and scrambled away as quickly as its three good feet could carry it.

Toothless panted, hard. He staggered a few steps and fell to his side, shaking uncontrollably.

Nothing was safe. Nowhere was safe.

He moaned mournfully and dragged himself onto his front, pulling his legs in tight underneath his body and drawing his wings up snug and close around his chest.

Trembling hard, he squeezed his forelegs in protectively around his ribcage.

Hiccup wasn't safe out here. The monsters could get him out here.

He had to protect Hiccup.

Toothless shuddered as he swallowed a mouthful of that bitter blood.

Bad dragon.

–––

Hiccup was flattened.

Thrown.

Rolled. Spun. Squeezed. Shaken.

At first he thought it was the workings of Toothless' stomach pushing him up.

Then he heard the sounds and felt the pressure, and his heart sank.

This was bad.

The world rolled over and over around him, and he flailed wildly, not able to tell which way was up, reaching out to brace himself against the once–dreaded slimy walls.

Toothless was being attacked, and Hiccup was being thrown around inside him so easily, like a ship in a storm.

No wonder Toothless had squeezed him so tightly in place before. He would've been slammed against the sides of the dragon's belly like this with every bound.

Oh, Odin–!

He tried his best to keep his head towards the heartbeat, which was his only guide– he could hardly hear it over the flesh slapping against his ears.

And just as soon as it started, it stopped, and he slid back down into the pit of Toothless' slippery stomach so suddenly that he nearly flipped over.

Panting, he pulled himself up to sit, feeling Toothless shuddering all around him, the great lungs heaving and jerking up underneath him. The hot fluids sloshed and splashed over him, making him shiver in horror.

Toothless moved. The muscles and organs around his stomach seemed to squeeze in a little, and then the dragon went still, thrumming with strange, worried noises that Hiccup had never heard him make before.

He sounded… scared.

Panting hard, Hiccup reached hesitantly and pushed on the wall with his knuckles. "…Toothless?"

Toothless moved up a little under his fingers, making a sad, defensive little noise.

Pushing with his foot, Hiccup hastily edged himself up against the sound of the dragon's heart, which he could hear and feel pounding rapidly somewhere beyond the front wall, close to the passage he had been forced in through. "Is– is it gone?" he stammered, prodding the wall a little too urgently. "Are you all right?"

The dragon made a long, low, plaintive rumble, loud and expressive enough to make Hiccup wince. The powerful body shook and puffed around him like the bellows, and the dragon just lay tense and still, not moving, for a long time.

"… Bud… Bud, did they hurt you?"

Toothless rumbled reservedly. Hiccup did not particularly like the tone. The dragon sounded sort of like he was hiding something, or feeling guilty. Maybe he was hurt badly and he didn't want Hiccup to worry.

Whether the dragon was hurt or not, Hiccup was plenty worried.

If he didn't get out soon…

"Toothless, come on. Just– let me– let me take a look at it. Please. I–I can't help you if I'm in here… "

Wincing, he lay back onto the squishy wall, heart racing, waiting for Toothless to start getting him out again. But the dragon wouldn't move– only lie there and shiver.

Hiccup shivered too, unsettled. He scrabbled backward and drew his knees closer to his chest so there was a little less of him soaking in the digestive juices– there just wasn't any space to do much else. He put his hands against the heartbeat and pushed firmly, curling his fingers into the wet, oddly pillow–like surface. It was so hot, it tingled… "Toothless…" he whispered. "Bud… aren't you going to… let me out?"

Toothless shuddered, but offered no reply.

"…Toothless." Hiccup's fingers tensed, his voice more urgent, "Toothless… you're… going to spit me out, right?"

The dragon shivered, his heart beating a little faster– but he did nothing.

Hiccup was scared, now– he gave the wall a stiff shove. "Toothless– d–don't ignore me! You have to let me out!"

Toothless made a high–pitched yowl, and pitched the flesh up under Hiccup's hands, shoving him back.

That was a fairly clear "no".

Hiccup screamed.

Toothless wasn't GOING to let him go!

Hiccup lunged again for the front wall, scrabbling upward, trying to find the opening, but Toothless seemed to be blocking it somehow. Hiccup fumbled frantically, only finding a tight crease in the slick smoothness– he dug in his nails and clawed hard, then slapped, then pummeled with his fists– "Open UP! Lemme out! You can't– You– you CAN'T, you STUPID REPTILE–!"

He planted his foot on the opposite surface and shoved himself hard against Toothless' heart, stretching the tight stomach until Toothless keened with discomfort.

"If it hurts, LET ME GO! Please!" The body writhed around him, sliding out from under his foot, but Hiccup desperately kept trying, wildly pushing, slapping, clawing, kicking, digging in his knees and elbows, trying to make himself impossible to keep inside."Toothless! Listen to me! You CAN'T– You CAN'T just– just leave me in here!" The juices sloshed around Hiccup's back, and he could hardly keep from sobbing in horror. "I–I'm going to– DIE! Y–you're going to KILL ME–! You–you're going to D–DIGEST me–! – ohhh– oh, Thor–!"

Hiccup paused for breath, panting, his hands buried in the ceiling.

The dragon's belly writhed around him, pulling away as much as possible and trembling. Toothless keened shrilly, guilty and hurt.

But he still wouldn't spit Hiccup out.

Hiccup inhaled sharply. The blood smell of Toothless' maw had grown stronger, now. Much stronger.

"Ohhh, Thor…"

There was new, fresh blood in here…

Hiccup couldn't feel any pain, but he didn't know what else it could be.

He must've been bleeding.

Toothless' digestion must've been so gentle, it had already started breaking him down, so subtly that he hadn't even felt his own skin dissolving away.

It was so dark he couldn't even see it happening.

But the smell– he could smell it now, vivid and vibrant.

Blood.

His blood.

Oh, gods…

…At least being digested didn't hurt as much as he'd thought it would.

Hiccup choked in horror, squeezing his eyes shut and making a small strangled whimper. "T–Toothless… I'm serious– I– I'm serious… let me out…"

Toothless made a low, mournful decline.

Hiccup put his palms against the walls and shoved as hard as he could. "Please, buddy– you've got to– You're already– you're–!"

He swallowed hard, having to fight not to vomit. The combination of terror, disgust and grief was nearly unbearable. He just didn't know how to get Toothless to understand.

Toothless tensed his belly walls against Hiccup, gurgling nervously. No, he seemed to say. No, you're staying here.

Hiccup shut his eyes tight."You won't, will you?" he mumbled, shaking his head in despair. "You're just– you're just going to ignore me. You're never going to let me out. Y–you're just going to let me–"

Toothless made a soft murmur, his innards tensing insistently.

Silently, Hiccup dipped his head in a nod of acknowledgment. For a moment, his fingers tensed on the soft walls of his dragon's small, efficient belly. Then they went limp and slid back into his lap.

It was all so useless.

He quietly began to sob, hard. He knew it was stupid, but for once in his life, he couldn't seem to help it.

Toothless made a soft, helpless moan, the walls of his stomach trembling. Toothless was sad and confused.

Toothless was sorry.

Hiccup's insides melted away in horrid, icy, realization.

Toothless couldn't let him out. The Skullions were there, ready to attack– Toothless would never put him in that kind of danger, no matter how much he fought and pleaded.

Hiccup knew that the dragon never meant to hurt him. Toothless was only trying to keep him safe.

Too bad Toothless didn't seem to realize how dangerous it was inside.

Hiccup whimpered. He wanted to be small. He wanted to disappear. Between the ravenous Skullions outside and Toothless' bizarre idea of protection, he could only end up as meat, a dragon's dinner,and he was going to disappear completely. Shivering, he wrapped himself up into a tiny, shuddering ball and buried his face in the wall next to Toothless' heart, feeling the strong, loud, horribly detached pulses of the great life, all over and around him and inside him.

That's what he was going to be tomorrow. Blood.

In an hour he'd be dead. By midnight there'd be nothing left of him but a thin soup, a few scraps of fabric and a jumble of bones. Tomorrow, Toothless' belly would be empty, and he would be quietly pulsing through the dragon's veins…

Th–thump.

Th–thump.

Part of something big and strong and graceful– everything he never was.

And poor Toothless… Toothless wouldn't understand where Hiccup had gone, or why he couldn't fly any more– and he'd be stuck here on this cursed island until the pack of Skullions got him too…

Sorry, bud. I'm so sorry…

Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut, dissolving into helpless quiet shudders. He didn't want to be a meal. He didn't want to be crushed and churned into nutritious slush by these strong walls. Not even to be a nourishing supper for Toothless. He felt weak and sick, terrified to move in case more of him had been digested away.

Toothless, blissfully unknowing, was shuddering around him, vibrating with low, plaintive moans– almost as if he was weeping, too.

Hiccup let himself go limp.

The others had always used to say he'd end up in the belly of a dragon. Hiccup sighed. At least he was in the belly of one he was going to end up having to feed anyway.

His best friend.

Shivering hard, he shifted a little, sinking into the hot flesh that encircled him.

For the place that would eventually kill him, Toothless' dark stomach seemed… so strangely soft, so warm and comforting under his cheek, cradling his weak, aching, exhausted body… welcoming him, surrounding him in balmy wetness and gentle pulses and the quiet, almost musical gurgles and vibrations of the dragon's working body.

As dying went… this wasn't so bad. This wasn't so bad. It could– it could be worse.

Maybe.

He knew he hadn't a hope of remaining Hiccup much longer, so he let the walls swallow him, let the powerful heartbeat lull him away, the heat and thin air making him woozy, and let himself begin to become Toothless…

It would be so easy… Maybe he wouldn't even feel it, if he just… fell asleep…

––

Poor Hiccup.

Poor, poor Hiccup.

Toothless lay still and quiet, feeling him curled up into a shivering warm lump behind his heart. The poor little thing was exhausted from hurting him, pushing and kicking, bruising his insides, yowling and shrieking to be out. Now he had become very quiet. Toothless could only hear tiny whimpers deep under his ribs.

Hiccup was crying.

It sounded strange, and Toothless didn't like it. He'd never heard Hiccup make a sound like that before, and it was so tiny and helpless and sad. Toothless murmured softly. He didn't know how to tell Hiccup that it would all be okay.

Maybe.

Toothless was frightened himself. He could smell the Skullions nearby, the acid–thick, dripping stink of them– oh, it had been so terrifying, being pounced from nowhere. He had once been so good at vanishing into the shadows, but now he couldn't– they couldn't.

But Toothless had teeth and claws, and he was big and strong, and he could fight if he needed to, and he could run, too. He would do his very best to keep them safe.

Poor Hiccup, however, was stuck. And he was scared. He thought he was going to DIE, that Toothless was going to KILL him. Toothless didn't understand. He would never hurt Hiccup– not on purpose. He didn't want Hiccup to think he was bad.

Hiccup went very quiet, and shook and shivered, his tiny heart fluttering.

Toothless held him gently, vibrating with deep murmurs. Hiccup mewled unhappily and shifted, trying to be very small and hide, even though Toothless could feel exactly where he was all the time. Maybe Hiccup knew and didn't like that very much.

Toothless made an unhappy moan, his ears all droopy. He was a bad dragon, a very bad dragon. He whined softly, mournfully. He'd scared Hiccup and swallowed him up even though Hiccup had told him no. But the Skullions had frightened him, and he'd only wanted to keep his Viking safe.

It had been a very bad idea. Now Hiccup thought he was just as scary as the Skullions and didn't like him anymore.

Toothless whimpered, tightening his claws. He was a very, very stupid dragon. He hesitantly cuddled at Hiccup, wishing he could be smart and make it all better.

But he didn't know how.

Hiccup chirped sadly, and Toothless felt his little paw weakly push a little and then give up. The poor creature shuddered again with tiny, pitiful noises.

Toothless whined. Hiccup was scared to be inside of his tummy, even though it was safe.

Maybe it wasn't very nice in there, even though Toothless had emptied out all the fishes first. Toothless pulled his wings in tight around him, wondering what it would be like in someone's tummy. He had gobbled up living fish many times, but he'd never thought about what it would be like to be gobbled up all wiggly and alive like that.

Toothless shivered. It was kind of scary, actually. If a monster's big mouth closed over you and swallowed you up, that usually meant you were his supper, even if he saved you for later in his belly–basket.

No wonder Hiccup didn't like it very much.

It must've been very small in there, too, because Hiccup was all curled up and he couldn't lie down with his legs stretched out like he liked, and he made Toothless feel quite full, even though he wasn't very big.

Toothless remembered back when he had been a little dragon in his egg, with his wings bound so close to his sides, his legs all bent, his tail all folded over his face. He remembered the moment he woke up to be born, how unbearable, how suffocating it was to be so tight– how he had kicked and bit and squirmed, chirping, to be free of it as soon as he could.

Maybe it was like that for Hiccup. But Toothless' tummy was not an egg, and no matter how much the poor thing had fought, he could not get out. So poor Hiccup was stuck– in unbearable tightness. For a long, long time.

Toothless' ears drooped, and he hastily pulled his tummy open as much as possible. He felt Hiccup slide, and heard him yelp, frightened.

Toothless burbled softly and rippled underneath Hiccup. Sorrysorrysorrysorry…

Hiccup scolded him and curled up tiny and hid from the walls and cried.

Toothless groaned, feeling very guilty. He didn't want Hiccup to be scared.

He thought some more, feeling Hiccup's little heart fluttering fast. He held still, so he wouldn't scare Hiccup any more, but the little Viking didn't stop shivering. His crying quelled quickly, but he still made tiny whimpers.

Poor Hiccup, all uncomfortable, all squished for a long, long time. And there was nothing to drink in there, and no more fish to eat, and Hiccup hadn't had any supper. Toothless remembered that little humans got hungry every few hours, even though a great big dragon like him could make a good meal last a day or two. Especially when he saved some for later. But humans didn't seem to be able to save food for later inside, like he could. Their belly–baskets were outside, and Hiccup had forgotten his.

Toothless was glad he was a dragon. It wouldn't be nice to forget your belly–basket.

Toothless looked around. He didn't want to move, and he didn't smell any water to drink, or anything to eat.

Usually he would've shared something fresh from his storage (only really good, really generous dragons like him would share from the belly–basket), but now Hiccup was filling it up. All the fish were in his stomach, and they were turning into mush now. That wasn't so good to eat unless you were a little baby dragon. And Hiccup was kind of picky. He didn't really even like fish unless you put fire on it.

But Toothless didn't have anything else. Maybe Hiccup would feel better if he had something to eat, even if it wasn't very good.

–

Hiccup lulled quietly inside the beast's stomach, willing himself to fall asleep. His eyes shut readily, and his body mostly relaxed against the softness that cradled him, but he was so scared he couldn't quite doze off.

This was death. He was going to die. Once he fell asleep, he'd never wake up.

The body around him made it difficult, too. Toothless' breath shuddered unevenly and noisily, and the beast began to whine and cry. It was so loud inside, making everything vibrate, hurting Hiccup's ears.

And the dragon kept moving. Toothless crooned softly, and the flesh rose up around him, caressing him affectionately, trying to comfort him.

Hiccup choked. Now the stupid, stubborn beast was worried about him, when there was nothing at all he could do. "Stop…" He pushed weakly against it, trying to force it away– oh it was useless, it was so useless– what was the point? He went limp again, shuddering with stupid, pointless tears.

Toothless sat still a long time. Hiccup could feel him shivering nervously.

Then the stomach walls drew out all at once, and Hiccup half–slid, half–fell suddenly downward. It wasn't more than a few inches, but it still horrified him.

Hiccup curled up as tight as he could, shuddering, trying to stay as far out of Toothless' detection as possible. Oh, every wall could feel him, watch him... "Leave me ALONE!" he wailed. "What do you want? You– you got me away from the monsters, right? Isn't that enough for you?"

I'll probably be your last good meal before you get gobbled up, too.

Toothless moaned, his belly walls shuddering.

"I'm FINE!" Hiccup shrieked. "I'm fine! Just ignore me, all right? Just leave me alone– let me–"

Toothless didn't stop crying. Hiccup flinched, trying to be as still as possible. "Get away… leave me alone… please leave me alone…" He choked bitterly on the words and melted into weak sobs.

The dragon moaned, sympathetic, and Hiccup shifted, trying to be quieter so the dragon couldn't hear him. He buried his face in his sleeve, almost able to smell traces of the dry, fresh, sunny world he'd never see again over of the horrible fishy stink of his best friend's dark belly.

Toothless made a small mournful whine. Hiccup shivered.

It seemed like it was taking him such a long, long time to digest. Much longer than the fish had, anyway. Maybe Toothless was specially made to process fish, and real, stubborn Viking meat like Hiccup would take more time.

He felt the stomach walls trembling around him as they meekly kept their distance. No wonder Toothless was making such a fuss. Perhaps this bony Viking body, difficult to digest, had finally given the poor beast a bellyache.

But of course, the dragon would bear it faithfully, keeping him tucked safely inside, away from the monsters.

This wasn't going to end so well for either of them, huh?

Despite his own despair, in the end Hiccup couldn't help but pity his dragon, too. Wearily, he put out a hand and gave the wall a hesitant little rub, not knowing what else he could do, or even if Toothless would feel it. The dragon's stomach flesh was warm and wet and sticky, slick and softer than a pillow, with a slight roughness to it, like velvet. If Hiccup stopped thinking about exactly what it was and exactly what was oozing from it, he could pretend it was almost pleasant.

"Thanks, bud," he muttered ironically. "I owe you one."

Hope all of me is enough– otherwise I might start to think you're being a little ungrateful.

Toothless tensed and shivered a little under his touch. The dragon made a small, apologetic sound, and then the flesh lurched.

Hiccup yelped and recoiled, snapping up to sit, his head squishing into the ceiling. For all the blood–smell, his body still seemed to be quite intact. Luckily.

The flesh bucked, gurgled, twisted– Hiccup's first impression was that Toothless had begun to vomit. In truth, he was not far off.

A gush of something indescribably foul–smelling bubbled up from a slit in the floor, flooding over his boot. Hiccup yowled in horror, pushing to be as far away as possible, only to gag on the intoxicatingly awful, sour fishy smell that loomed up, practically tangible, a sharp hot breath against his legs and face. If he hadn't forced his nose into his forearm early on, he might've passed out altogether.

Hiccup fumbled awkwardly, bracing himself up against the wall as far away as he could get– not far.

This was digestion. This was acid. He knew the moment he smelled it that if Toothless ever meant to digest him, this was the juice that could do it– not that lovely warm water he'd been soaking in up until now.

Toothless had never been digesting him. What he had thought was acid was nothing, nothing, compared to this horrible stuff.

He'd probably been safe the whole time.

But now…

This stuff was the real deal. Corrosive. Meat–eating. Its acid–hot fumes nipped and bit the back of his shuddering throat, burning it raw, sparkling hungrily against his skin, making his head swim. Just breathing it, smelling it, feeling the fumes rising up and tingling against his legs, he could imagine how easily it could soften his flesh, break it down, melt it from his bones, dissolve his bones.

Toothless didn't let a lot of it in– only a trickle. Maybe he didn't need to.

Why, Toothless? Why would you–?

Hiccup gasped, horrified, fighting with his one foot to stay pinned away as much as possible against the slippery walls. It was hard– when he pushed with his foot, the shallow mix of juices tended to gush toward it.

He whimpered– he could feel the incredible heat of it as it sloshed gently against his boot.

It was too wet to stay in one place too long. His foot slipped. With a cry, he hastily replaced it, and he slipped again.

On something. There was something else in here now.

Hiccup panted in horror, braced himself with his knees, and tentatively prodded it with the toe of his boot. It was small, semi–solid, and slippery. He couldn't tell much else.

Toothless crooned softly and gently pushed it towards him. Hiccup cried out, feeling the gush of warm acid soaking in underneath him, wincing as he felt the solid–thing slide in under his leg– it was almost painfully hot. He struggled to move away, but there was no room.

It might've been his empty belly playing tricks on him, but whatever it was, aside from the horrible odors of the fluid, smelled bizarrely, almost nauseatingly, of over–boiled fish.

Toothless gurgled softly, inquisitively. Hiccup sighed.

The collective puddle of juices underneath him was much hotter, now, but it seemed to be dilute– it didn't seem to be hurting him. Yet. Maybe.

Better just humor the dragon. It's not like he had much to lose.

He took a deep breath, reached, and picked up the object.

And dropped it. It was slippery, and fell to pieces in his fingers.

He cupped his hands and scooped it back up. He couldn't see it, but it felt like a sort of lumpy mush studded with tiny needles.

There was something round and hard, and something flat and sharp.

Uck.

It had smelled like over–boiled fish because it was over–boiled fish. He pinched it, feeling the all–too–familiar flakes of fish–flesh separating.

A fully–cooked fish, from deep inside the belly of a dragon. It was completely bizarre. The dragon hadn't eaten anything recently. Just that big meal straight from the ocean, not that long ago– and of course that had been fresh and raw. But that was gone.

Hiccup blinked, aware of a gentle slosh slosh beyond the back wall. He hesitantly edged himself towards it.

The fish dripped from his hands. He couldn't believe how hot it was– the dragon's stomach was hot enough, but this– well, it was like the fish had been dumped straight from a boiling pot onto his plate, as it were.

But it was more than cooked. It was saturated in that horrible–smelling liquid, and he found he could separate the bones with the merest touch, as if the stuff that connected them had been softened. The fins tore with bizarre ease at the curious prods of his fingers.

Slowly, a strange tingling sensation seemed to spread from the heat of the fish into his palms. At first he disregarded it– the fish was incredibly hot. But then it grew stronger and stronger, irritating his entire arms, tingling in his nerves, evolving into a strange itch–

Digestion, thought Hiccup in horror. He dropped the fish hastily, shook the juices from his fingers, and then scrubbed his hands against the slimy walls. The mucus seemed to quell the sensation.

Toothless made a small sheepish noise and pushed up gently underneath, evidently thinking he was being petted. From inside.

Hiccup leaned curiously against the back wall, and listened. Slosh slosh. It was an almost peaceful, rhythmic sound, and he could feel pulses of it shaking through the wall. Occasionally it would pause and bubble, then start back up again, faster or slower, always chugging away. Quietly processing. Digesting.

That was where this fish had been– that's how it had gone from being raw and alive to cooked mush.

That's where Toothless' whole supper of fish was. They hadn't been rapidly liquefied in here– they were still digesting, slowly, there on the other side.

In Toothless' stomach.

Hiccup was in limbo. He was somewhere in between.

Toothless had two stomachs.

Most dragons did, Hiccup suddenly remembered.

Once, when Hiccup had been much younger, Gobber had given them all a makeshift anatomy lesson using the corpse of a young Nadder. (Of course, for Vikings, an "anatomy lesson" was more of a "let's poke around and look at its guts– whoops, my hand slipped" kind of thing.)

As it happened, Hiccup didn't remember much at all about that lesson– but now that he thought of it, he did vaguely recall his awe at the bulging twin stomachs, the pear–shaped crop filled with hunks of fresh meat and whole fish, and the round stomach that followed, filled with something much more foul that gushed–

Really all he remembered after that was vomiting on his boots. Coincidentally, he had learned some valuable things about cleaning leather that day, after he came to.

That organ, just inches away, was Toothless' real stomach. Hiccup shivered, feeling a rush of incredible relief. He could hear the meatbubbling and sloshing and churning inside, turning to cooked mush– digesting the fish, but definitely not digesting him.

Toothless was simply storing him, like he stored fish. Come to think of it, every fishy gift Toothless had ever offered had probably come from this sloshy little place behind his heart. This was probably the safest place Toothless could ever think of. This is where the dragon could keep food so no dragon could steal it– and this is where he could keep Hiccup, so nothing could hurt him.

Nestled here in this soft, strong flesh, Hiccup was safe.

Incredibly safe.

The dragon thrummed worriedly, sloshing the fish around gently on the bottom, the muscular, fish–sorting crop walls so unbelievably expressive as they rippled and pulled and caressed, pushing up under Hiccup's back to cradle him gently.

Hiccup raised his fingers to the walls in newfound amazement. "Bud… you…!"

This was the soft, warm inside of his very best friend– every oozing, rippling inch of slippery flesh that wrapped him up and held him tight and close was Toothless and adored him and wanted nothing more than to keep him safe and as far away from danger as he could possibly be.

Toothless had offered up all he had– risking his own delicate, vital insides in order to protect Hiccup here down under his wings and scales.

And in return, Hiccup had kicked and screamed, pushed and fought, clawed at the sensitive membranes and bruised up the dragon's organs, trying to hurt him, trying to get out.

"I–I didn't know," Hiccup murmured, running his fingers gently over the slick, smooth, slightly wrinkled wall. "I– I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you. I just… thought I was about to… be nutritious, you know?"

He couldn't help it. He chuckled weakly.

He was going to be all right. He was going to live.

Toothless clucked at him in a soft scolding manner, and the soft walls cuddled him closer and cradled him with such an amazing, gentle dexterity that Hiccup had not been able to appreciate before. Hiccup reached out, fascinated, clutching at the flesh above him and around him, feeling the muscles pulling and rippling inside as Toothless coddled him tightly, shaking him a little. Hiccup laughed. "Well, do you blame me for being upset? You ate me, you know."

Toothless made a guilty little noise.

Hiccup smiled, curiously curving in his nails and scratching playfully. "It's all right, it's all right. I— I— I should've… trusted you…" He went quiet, trying to digest the bizarre change of perspective, his fingernails working idly against a faceless, pillowy surface that pushed eagerly into his hands. "I was scared, Bud. I mean, I've been having nightmares about being gobbled up by a dragon for— I don't know how long, and now, I'm… in here. In you, I mean…"

A stray thought hit Hiccup's mind, and he began to rub more slowly at the walls. These were his best friend's soft, sensitive insides, and he had kicked them and stretched them mercilessly over the past hour. He tried to imagine what he felt like to Toothless inside, and he swallowed hard. The poor crop must've been so abused and bruised and achy, now. This tiny place was designed for floppy fish; it hadn't been prepared to keep a frightened little human whole and alive inside.

"I'm so sorry, Bud," Hiccup murmured again, rubbing slowly and gently, now, exploring with his fingers.

Toothless made a low sound, shivering at the little human touch inside, curling hesitantly into Hiccup's hands as the boy began to feel around the warm pouch, finally having his wits about him.

Everything in here was cushiony, softer than any pillow Hiccup had ever known. Everything seemed part blood-pillow and part firm muscle, and every surface seemed to be able to soften or harden at will. It was like an entire room made from dragon tongue, though the texture was smoother even than that. It was lovely to the touch with a mild roughness, like velvet, enough to give the dragon the ability to effectively grip even with everything oozing with a secondary cushion of thick slime. This explained quite a few of Toothless' inexplicable tricks; how he always seemed to be able to hack up the biggest fish, or Hiccup's boot, or whatever requested item. These walls could feel, sort and pluck.

Toothless' sharing didn't seem quite as gross now that Hiccup realized it really wasn't proper vomit.

Arms getting tired, Hiccup curled up a bit more snugly, making himself a bit more comfortable. He realized it was somewhat easy with Toothless cupping himself around, cuddling. He also realized he was EXHAUSTED. Now that the adrenaline had slipped away, he was left feeling floppy and achy, like he could sleep forever.

"…Do you feel all nice and full, Bud?"

Toothless purred, squeezing at him gently.

Hiccup smiled. "Do I make a good snack?"

The dragon gurgled reservedly, apparently too polite to answer that. Hiccup snorted. Hiccup bet he did, though, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. In any case, he filled up the warm pouch perfectly; it seemed like even without Toothless' adjustment, this fish-sack was almost eerily Hiccup-sized, like it had been made just for him.

"How come we fit so well, Bud?" Hiccup breathed, sleepily. Maybe this all was making him a bit delirious, but he often found the dragon less than judgmental in these circumstances.

Toothless cooed. It was a mystery. A perfect mystery. He squeezed at Hiccup's middle and cupped around his head. Hiccup knew the dragon was strong enough to squish him to nutritious paste, but also that he was strong enough to protect him.

"You'll keep me safe, won't you, Bud?" Hiccup murmured, perhaps too softly for anyone to ever hear, except the warm creature trembling attentively around him.

The chamber filled with a low, vibrant murmur-sigh, a promise that shook through Hiccup's own bones and soft insides, as if Toothless had directed his echoing sonar straight into his heart.

Hiccup panted softly in the heat and darkness, heavy dragon like a blanket over him. "All right," he puffed. "I'll stay as long as you think I need to..." Nonetheless, he prodded forlornly with his feet. "Just… I'd really like to stretch out my legs again."

Toothless murmured apologetically.

Hiccup smiled.

"I… I think I'm going to go to sleep, now," he breathed, melting into the stuffy heat, the thick, gentle heartbeat around him. He was so tired he could say no more.

Toothless gave a gentle twitch, but the boy was, indeed, totally fast asleep.

Toothless sighed, adjusting his forelegs and wings tightly around his chest. No one would hurt his Hiccup.

––––––––

It would be a long night. Toothless couldn't sleep much. It was too dangerous.

Most he managed to avert by shooting warning jets of fire at the odd heathen beasts that dared poke their ugly starving snouts inside, making his tiny boy-snack roll and whimper in his sleep. Twice, he had to leap to his feet and fight them, biting and screaming.

But he was a good, strong Night Fury, and though he gathered some bleeding wounds, he kept his Hiccup safe all night, and that was all that mattered.

––––––––

The Nadder gurgled reservedly, finally poking her nose into a little cave. It was sort of a lean–to of fallen rock with a wide opening, well–hidden enough that Astrid hadn't noticed it at first.

"You think they're here?" murmured Astrid, sliding her hand up Stormfly's neck as she leaned in to peer inside. She was too high up to see much, and it was rather dark underneath, but the sand did look recently disturbed…

They'd been searching all morning.

When Hiccup hadn't returned as planned, Astrid had set out the moment she stepped out of bed.

She'd had a bad feeling about this whole thing and it hadn't been made any better by the signs of a scuffle on the beach, the abandoned service basket, the footprints in the sand of boy and beast and more beasts.

Even worse had been finding Hiccup's discarded leg on a cliff ledge. Racking her brains, she could think of no good reason for it. But then again, there was no sign of blood either. Not yet.

Toothless had got them away, then, as far as she could tell.

Stormfly had seemed hopeful too. Nadders were not trackers generally, but all the same, she had seemed quite confident of the route Hiccup and Toothless had taken after the shed leg. Indeed, Astrid herself had been able to see a messy trail of footprints in the dust.

Her heart in her throat, they had followed it all morning, a dread growing in her of what she would find at the end. Blood? Bones?

Whatever it was, it was in this cave.

Stormfly blinked her yellow eye, and thrust her head towards the tunnel with a puff of affirmation. Astrid drew back her hand. "All right, all right, if you say so."

Astrid dismounted cautiously, clenching Hiccup's leg in one fist. The Nadder shuffled her wings and pulled herself closer to the rock, looking around uneasily and shifting from foot to foot.

Astrid bit her lip. Deadly Nadders. So nervous all the time. It kind of made you nervous, too. She set her teeth and ducked into the alcove.

There, lying at the very back, was Toothless.

He looked a little worse for the wear. There were a few nasty slashes across his shoulders and back, some oozing dark blood clotted by the pale dust that covered his legs and belly. The flight apparatus was an utter wreck, clinging to his tail like a crushed spider, Hiccup–made sinews broken and twisted. There was no doubt in her mind that he had been viciously attacked.

She knew he wasn't dead, though, even before she saw the shudder of breath in his sides. He was in a very strange position, lying stiffly on top of his legs, with his wings pulled in tight and close around his chest, and his head upright, drawn back between his shoulders. He looked like an absurdly gigantic black goose crouched protectively over its nest.

Incredibly, he appeared to be sleeping in this horrendously awkward pose.

Astrid took a hesitant step forward and leaned around, standing on tiptoe, trying to peer around Toothless and find Hiccup.

She couldn't see him.

Huh.

She paced softly closer, not wanting to startle the dragon– even a little apprehensive about waking him up.

She couldn't see Hiccup… and he couldn't be hidden under a wing– Toothless had them pulled much too tightly…

Oh, gods…

Astrid hesitated. They had obviously been attacked. Had Hiccup been…?

She gulped hard and furrowed her brow. No way. Toothless would never let anything bad happen to Hiccup.

But…

She stiffened, raising a hand towards the dragon, uttering softly, "Too–"

The green eyes snapped open with a snarl, and she stumbled back. Toothless bared his teeth and growled, panting, stiffening and ready to bound to his feet– but then his pupils focused on the smallish familiar human female. He withdrew his teeth, slurping uncomfortably, and nestled awkwardly on his chest with a deep sigh, swinging his head around as he took in his surroundings.

She took a deep breath and approached him hesitantly, putting her hand out. "Toothless…"

Toothless made a low noise, gave her hand an obligatory hot sniff, and then swung his head away.

Astrid's lips tightened. The dragon's ears were pressed back, like he was feeling guilty about something– and he was fidgeting, refusing to meet her eye. His pupils were pinpoint–slits of agitation.

She shifted, trying to remain in his gaze. "Toothless," she said loudly and firmly. He looked away again, and frustrated, she grabbed his jaw and tried to hold it still– "Toothless!"

He impulsively tugged back, then blinked straight at her and asked quite clearly, in a very soft wavering voice, "Astrid...?"

Astrid jumped about two feet in the air and stumbled backward, gripping Hiccup's leg in both hands and holding it up like a deadly weapon. "What the–?! Toothless–?!"

Toothless slurped awkwardly, and blinked warily at her. "Astrid, is that you?" He blinked thoughtfully for a moment, and then gazed sheepishly down towards his talons, wriggling his chest between his elbows.

"Y–yes? Yes, it's… me!"Astrid chirped impulsively, surprised, eyelashes flickering in disbelief, fists still clenched around Hiccup's makeshift leg.

"Astrid!" The dragon jerked in surprise. "Ah… what are you doing here?! How did you get here?"

Astrid furrowed her brow, baffled. "You were gone so long, so I just– I–I flew! How else?"

"Ohhh, geez…" he moaned, punctuated with a few dragonish noises of discomfort. He swung his head away, still looking oddly guilty.

Astrid lowered the metal leg a few inches and tried to pull herself together. "Toothless…" The dragon watched curiously as she peered around him, straining to see a source for that voice that actually made sense. There wasn't one. It was definitely coming from the dragon…

She turned back to him, swallowed hard, and, feeling stupid, tried to look him steadily in the eye. "Toothless, where's Hiccup?"

The Night Fury evaded her gaze again with a curt gollop, his ears pressed back.

She stepped closer. "Where is he?" she demanded.

Toothless' nostrils flared as he puffed, making a very soft guilty little dragon–noise.

"Ummm…."came the eventual reply, followed by some strange, barely audible mutters– "Oh, gods… Bud, would you– please–don't squeeze–"

Astrid frowned.

Toothless grunted and peered down towards his heart again. "ACK! Oh my– ah– well, you see… Um…"

"How are you talking?" blurted Astrid, very suddenly and very loudly.

Toothless jerked his head back in surprise, ears twitching.

"E–excuse me?" he stammered, looking quite taken aback, slurping uneasily.

"You're talking!" she cried.

"Um… yeah…" Toothless gave her a funny look, and blinked towards his chest again.

"You're a dragon, and you're talking to me!"

"…What?"

"A talking dragon!"

Toothless blinked in surprise, looking down at himself. "A… talking dragon?! That's… completely ridiculous…"

Astrid gaped. She couldn't believe it. She turned away, clapping a hand to her forehead. This had to be a dream. Had to.

Toothless shuffled contemplatively behind her. "Oh…" he murmured after a while. "… OHHH! I get it… You think… Oh wow…"

And then he laughed a nervous, forced little laugh that she had heard a thousand times.

Astrid turned slowly. "…Hiccup?"

"Hello," said Hiccup.

She blinked, astonished, for a long moment.

"Um, it's really me," he continued in earnest. "Not the… ah, dragon…"

Astrid peered curiously again at Toothless, who made a soft guilty noise and licked nervously at a wound on his foreleg, still blinking up at her from time to time. Toothless wasn't speaking, then… but the soft voice still seemed to be coming from him– under him? …Inside him?

Astrid approached the dragon again, and knelt, reaching cautiously to touch his flank. "Hiccup, how on earth– Where–?"

Toothless moaned unhappily, and he fidgeted, trying to nose her away from his side.

"Oh… great…" she heard Hiccup mutter. "Ohhhhh geez… um…" He sighed deeply. "Astrid… just– don't freak out…"

"It's a little late for that," she replied truthfully, wide–eyed, as Toothless nudged her repeatedly, pushing her away. It didn't take long for her to get sick of it. "Stop!" she hissed, putting her hand on his snout and pushing back. "Hiccup, really… What's going on–? Toothless keeps– shoving me… "

"Um… He probably thinks you're going to be mad at him."

Hiccup did not particularly blame him.

"Well," growled Astrid, trying to keep Toothless from knocking her over, "trust me, I will be, if you don't tell me what's going on!"

Toothless' ears trembled, sensitive to her aggressive tone, and with a low moan, he finally relented, gazing meekly at her and licking his snout contemplatively.

Astrid sighed, and she slid her hand up onto his forehead. "That's a good boy, Toothless…" she murmured softly. She looked him in the eye, solidly, seriously. "Toothless," she whispered. "If he's safe I won't be mad– I promise I won't be mad– I just want to see him– please…"

Toothless blinked solemnly back, warbling softly and dipping his head in affirmative.

She could still hear Hiccup stammering uncomfortably from where he was hidden. "Astrid– this is… going to be– um, sort of– hard to explain... so just– bear with me here…"

As poor Hiccup struggled to splutter out a half–decent explanation, Astrid watched in horrified fascination as Toothless began to arch his neck quite bizarrely, going tense. The dragon's pupils narrowed to thin slits and rolled back, and he made a very strange face…

She heard Hiccup yelp in surprise as the dragon rose to his feet.

"Um, Hiccup…?" she asked, rather worried now, backing hastily away to give Toothless space.

Hiccup's protests became muffled, and Astrid was suddenly aware of a low, rather disgusting gagging sound Toothless was making deep in his throat, over and over.

To her great revulsion, Astrid recognized that sound. Toothless had this lovely habit of vomiting up little gifts of raw fish for Hiccup and trying to get him to eat it– oh, that sound made her stomach writhe every time…

Of course, this time, Toothless wasn't hacking up a fish.

Astrid's hands tightened involuntarily around Hiccup's leg as a sizeable bulge rose up Toothless' neck, and the dragon began to open his mouth wide…

And to her complete and utter horror, revulsion and awe, Hiccup, whole, awake, and very much alive, came sliding out head–first over the dragon's tongue and onto his back, in a gush of thick, steamy fluid.

"Great– holy–mother OF– OF THOR–!" she spluttered, stumbling backwards in shock.

Toothless winced, his ears pressed back guiltily. He daintily tipped out Hiccup's legs and then jerked away, slurping uncomfortably and peering downward with concern.

Hiccup shuddered, tipping his head a little and spitting out a mouthful of clear fluid. His eyes were shut tight and he was frowning in disgust. "Ugh…" he managed, weakly wiping his mouth. "Yeah… That's kinda… peh– kinda what I thought, too."

Astrid dived for him, reaching to touch him and pulling up short the moment she noticed how thoroughly slimed he was. Her free hand hovered. "Hiccup! Are you– you're okay–? You were– inside– he ate you– ? How are you–?!" She glanced up at Toothless, who looked away nervously.

Hiccup laid there and breathed deeply, his tiny chest slowly swelling as he savored the amazingly rich, sweet outside air. "Yeah," he said finally. "Yeah, I'm okay..."

"He ate you–!?"

"Well– sorta–"

"But– TOOTHLESS–!?"

"I know– see, he–"

"You were– in there–"

"I– I know, I know, trust me–"

"In his belly–?!"

"Well… see–"

"How long were you in there? How are you ALIVE?"

Hiccup winced and turned his head away. "Astrid– would you… just… calm down a second? I can't even feel my toes yet..."

"You don't have toes."

"I'm pretty sure I do..."

It felt so good, just laying there with his back straight and his limbs extended, rich, cold, satisfying air spilling into his body, chilling and invigorating every corner of his lungs… He was still in a sort of shock. His arms and legs tingled as blood gushed back into them.

He smiled.

It was so good to be alive– and free!

He trembled. It was astonishingly cold out here, though.

He shifted experimentally and curled up on his side to conserve heat, facing toward Astrid, feeling the cool sand clinging to his thickly wet body. He shuddered.

"What a night…" he murmured. He couldn't stop smiling.

He slowly opened his eyes and gazed up at her. For a moment the dazzling light blinded him; then her silhouette rose up like some fierce Valkyrie coming to whisk him off to Valhalla, a halo of raw sunlight glinting from her hair as she blinked down at him in shock and concern.

A Viking has probably been in the dark too long when he starts thinking in words like 'halo'.

He shut his eyes again and chuckled.

Astrid let her hand hover, wanting badly to touch him, but deeply disgusted by the slime. It stank.

"Hiccup… Are you… all right?"

He sighed deeply, smiling broadly. "Well, I'm much better than I was a minute ago."

Astrid swallowed hard. "You were inside a– a dragon."

She watched Hiccup shiver, squinting owlishly as he gazed up at her. "Yeah…!" he grinned, somehow savoring the realization. "Yeah… I was! Wasn't I?"

"Crazy," proclaimed Astrid. "You've gone completely crazy."

"…I suppose that's a distinct possibility, considering."

"I–I just watched him vomit you up… just like–like a fish. How did– how are you–?"

"Alive?" breathed Hiccup, flopping himself back onto his back as he began craning his neck for Toothless. "I'm alive, because Toothless swallowed me."

Astrid started and looked up at the dragon, who had been hesitantly lowering his head toward Hiccup. Wide–eyed, she scooted, unconsciously putting herself between Hiccup and the dragon. "That doesn't even make sense," she said, staring hard at Toothless, whose ears pressed back a little, apprehensively.

"…It doesn't," Hiccup agreed, still grinning giddily.

Astrid glanced back at him, stiffening. "What are you so happy about?"

"I just…" stammered Hiccup, "I'm ALIVE. There's air, and light, and..." he wriggled his legs weakly, "I can stretch out…. But I was so safe in there."

"Safe from…. What, exactly?" Astrid could hardly imagine a situation where being inside a dragon's belly would be preferable.

Hiccup rotated his ankle and stretched his fingers contemplatively, still getting blood back into everything. "I think… Skullions."

"Skullions!"

"Unlike most sagas, the description of these was pretty… accurate," Hiccup conceded. "Big, black, flightless, fireless. They didn't need eyes. Hit us right at dusk, before I had the tail ready for the flight home."

"Hiccup!" Astrid shook her head in disbelief.

"I told you Toothless would protect me," Hiccup pointed out. "I'll admit it was a bit...unconventional. And… small. And confusing. But… He spent all night fighting them off for me, Astrid." Hiccup blinked up at her, bleary but serious. "He was… amazing."

Astrid looked up at the beast, whose throat wavered nervously. The big forked tongue lapped at his puffing snout under the focus of her gaze.

"I don't understand," she began, carefully. "How… I mean… how were you okay in there? How did he… know?"

"It was… part of him, Astrid…" Hiccup squinted, still adjusting to the light. "He has this wonderful… second stomach, just for storing stuff. It was all…" Hiccup made squeezy gestures with his fingers, "alive, and sensitive, and cuddly and…. It was just my size."

Astrid regarded him, rather worried. "Are you sure you haven't just gone… crazy?"

"Nope. That's probably possible, considering," Hiccup groaned. He bent his neck a little, looking around blearily. "Where's Toothless?"

Toothless gave Astrid a pleading look, a low gurgle in his throat. Numbly, reluctantly, Astrid let him pass.

Immediately Toothless dipped in, lapping adoringly at Hiccup's cheeks. The boy cackled in delight, embracing the beast's huge face and nuzzling at the hot dry scales with his forehead.

"Ohhh, man, Toothless," Hiccup gasped, blissfully gazing into the beast's happy green eyes. "I like you so much better from the outside. You're much… drier."

Toothless immediately challenged this precept by wrapping him in his dragony paws, cupping a wing under him, and starting a long bath, sucking and nibbling at his hair.

"Toothless!" Hiccup shrieked happily. "That isn't – how are you going to get the slime out with more slime?"

The dragon didn't seem bothered with that. He was dead set to do what he saw to be necessary, and Hiccup needed a bath.

Astrid watched curiously as the dragon thoroughly, lovingly, nibbled over the boy, swiping him free of sand and scrubbing his skin rosy. It seemed counterproductive, but the saliva did seem to dry much faster than the thicker crop slime did.

"They really tore up that tail…" Astrid pointed out, running her fingers on it as it swept near her. Toothless grumbled and swooshed it away again.

"Yeah… I know," Hiccup hissed, the fabric over his tummy being nibbled. "I had another sleeve and a couple connecting rods in my basket, but..."

"It doesn't look good," Astrid finished.

Hiccup thought for a long moment, the dragon hard at work. "It's not all that long of a flight," he pointed out at length. "Maybe Stormfly could carry Toothless?"

Stormfly ruffled her wings and grumbled.

"Oh shh, you big baby," crooned Astrid. "There's some bypoints to rest at on the way, so I bet we could make that work." She sighed, shaking her head.

Hiccup could detect the vestiges of worry hissing from her. "I'm sorry, Astrid. Thanks for… We'd sure be sunk if you hadn't come this morning."

She stiffened, trying to regain some composure for appearances. "Sure, Hiccup"

The dragon licked and licked until the boy had been scrubbed head to toe, and then finally leaned back with a groaning sigh, his tired wings flat. He looked like a dragon that wouldn't mind being carried home. Hiccup, feeling surprisingly revitalized by the hot-cold of swiping tongue pushing blood back into his extremities, pushed himself up on Toothless' chest, for the first time trying to sit unsteadily.

He rubbed the dragon's ribs. "The poor guy was probably up all night," he murmured to Astrid.

"He's all scraped up, too," she pointed out.

"Well," Hiccup tried a stretch. It was so great as to make him a bit dizzy. "We'd better get him home and patch him up." He hastily caught himself as he almost fell over. "Probably ought to get out of here before the Skullions wake up again."

Astrid nodded. "You should probably try… walking, first. Make sure you have your balance back enough to stay in a saddle." She blinked, remembering. "Here," she offered back the leg. "I found this."

Hiccup's eyes brightened up. "Oh wow! Thanks, Astrid." He took it and began trying to put it back on. "That would be sort of, um, necessary, huh?"

"A little bit," Astrid agreed.

He hesitantly slid down the side of the tired dragon onto his feet, bending his knees before they buckled and shakily pushing himself back up to a stand. His arms flailed. "Whoa."

"Do you need help?" Astrid asked, worriedly.

"Give me a… a second." He stepped carefully, slowly, for a good distance, the dragons watching him apprehensively. Stormfly shot out and grabbed him as he stumbled again. "Thanks, girl," Hiccup sighed, letting her pull him back to his feet.

Astrid walked round to the front of the tired, flat Toothless, who was sighing, his head longingly trailing after Hiccup in a supposition that he should probably get up to follow. The beast hefted heavily to his side, with a long, heaving sigh.

Astrid cast a glance back at Hiccup, who was peering out at the sky, which must have seemed so blue after his long capture. Then she looked back at the tired, scarred beast. He considered her back, his eyes heavily lidded. He sighed.

She touched him then, at one of the good places she knew between the frills of his chin. He blinked in surprise, returning with a gentle nibble of her pauldron. She rubbed at him earnestly, looking deep into his eyes. "That was gross, and weird, and… ughh," she whispered softly. "But thank you… Thank you for keeping him safe."

The beast's eyes squinted into a smile.

FIN