Disclaimer: I do not own Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid or any other character or concept from the How to Train Your Dragon universe. I only own this story and the original characters and ideas it contains. This fic is rated M for graphic depictions of sexual relations between two males of different species as well as descriptions of brutal violence in later chapters. The story begins within the movie's canon, but diverges soon after the exposition.

This story was produced with the invaluable inspiration of Midnight7716.

Chapter 1

Berk was asleep - most of Berk, anyway. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was up and about, of course. How could he be asleep when he was flying?

Tonight had been a close call; Astrid had been mere yards away from Toothless, a situation he had found almost intolerable. That girl loved violence far too much. Hels, the whole damn village loved violence far too much! If they could just be calm and peaceful once in a while, they might notice things; things like the way light filtered through the forest on a summer day, or the way the waves glowed in the light of a full moon. Vikings never noticed such things, but Hiccup did.

Even now, looking down on the village from on high, he could see the last Vikings that weren't on watch making their way into freshly built homes to extinguish the lights within, completely unaware of the presence of the feared Night Fury high above them.

He wasn't very good at matching Toothless' movements yet. Often a late adjustment caused them to start listing to one side or the other, until the dragon gave an annoyed snarl and swatted backwards with his ear. For the most part, though, they stayed aloft.

"How you doin', Bud?" Toothless gave an amused sounding growl and tapped Hiccup's leg lightly with his ear, as if to say, "How do you think?"

Hiccup sucked in a deep breath of chill night air. His view extended from the the island of Berk below him, out to the horizon where the vast spread of twinkling stars disappeared into the silky blackness of the ocean. From up here, the village that held him captive and the people in it seemed tiny and so far away.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Toothless' rumble of agreement sounded almost like a sigh.

After a few moments of peaceful calm, Hiccup realized that they were soaring directly past the cove beneath.

"Um Toothless! Toothless abruptly collapsed one wing and Hiccup found himself clinging for dear life as the dragon beneath him rolled and dropped, diving towards the cove beneath them.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible landing. Toothless managed to stay upright and Hiccup managed to land more or less on his feet after flying forward over the reptile's head. After taking a moment to ensure that he would not lose his balance, Hiccup turned and lifted his arm to meet the scaly head that followed him.

As the dragon thrummed, the boy glanced up at the sky and found that it was later than he had first thought. "Hey bud, it's gotten late. I need to get back if I'm gonna get any sleep before training tomorrow." Toothless tackled his human and began to lick the boy's face with savage affection. "Ok! Ok! I know you don't want me to! But if I'm going to keep you safe the bunch of them can't suspect anything!" Hiccup reached up and began to tickle the inside of Toothless' shoulder. The dragon gave a yelp and almost fell sideways, giving Hiccup room to roll away and escape. After getting to his feet, the small Viking continued. "Don't look at me like that! It's for your own good you big lug. Now, you should let me take off that saddle if you want a good night's sleep."

With a snort, the dragon sat and allowed Hiccup to approach. The dark of night made the boy a little clumsy and it took a few seconds longer than usual to get the buckles to separate, but the saddle eventually came off. The tailfin stayed in place and locked in a closed position, as leaving it there helped Toothless to balance on the ground properly.

Hiccup quickly stashed the saddle beneath a nearby bush and turned back to Toothless whose eyes had grown wide and imploring.

"I'm sorry Bud! I've got to get back." Hiccup stepped forward and rested a hand on the dragon's face. The wide eyes closed and a thrum resonated through Hiccup's hand and up his arm. He leaned in and rested his face against his companion's.

"I'll see you tomorrow. We'll go for a real, serious flight."

Toothless' loud cries of joy followed Hiccup as he left the cove with a smile on his face.