Hiccup climbed down the cliff-face away from the cave and the monster that had snatched him away from Berk. He jumped to the ground with a wince. The snowflakes landing on his bare skin felt as if they were burning him. He shivered as a freezing wind started up, his arms wrapped around his chest in an unconscious effort to protect himself from the biting cold.

He stumbled around as his surroundings quickly became an impassive wall of freezing white nothingness. His body trembled violently as he continued shuffling through the strange world of muffled sound and blinding white.

The roaring rage of the storm whipped at him viciously as if displeased by his presence on this island.

His fingers, toes, nose and ears grew numb the quickest as he stumbled through the storm. He wasn't sure how long he had been walking when a strange sound separates from the storm's rant. A wailing howl sent shivers of fear up his spine. He glanced around and realised he had no where to hide, there weren't even trees beside him anymore.

Hiccup blinked in confusion. He didn't remember walking this far... Another unearthly scream tore through the sudden silence of the storm and he jumped. This one had sounded closer.

An unusual feeling bubbled in the bottom of his stomach and he barely registered as his feet began moving again. He didn't know where he was going but he allowed the strange feeling and his morbid curiosity lead him torwards the blood curdling howls.

Eventually, a dark shadow came into few. The snowflakes slowly slowed until only a few fell around Hiccup as he stumbled towards the dark mass. As he got closer, it released another scream of something Hiccup associated with pain and anguish. The large shadow's head suddenly snapped in his direction and he froze.

He wanted to run away in terror at what lay before him but his legs remained firmly planted to the snow while his eyes remained locked onto the creatures panicked yellow eyes. "D-d-dragon!" Hiccup managed to chatter out in pure shock. The dragon didn't respond, just continued to stare into his soul with a terrible sadness that Hiccup couldn't understand.

A flicker of something tugged at the edge of his mind, like a memory fighting to resurface. He focused on this for a moment but as he broke eye contact with the dragon, the flicker disappeared. He looked up and met the creature's eyes again, uncertain as to why the beast hadn't eaten him yet.

The dragon continued to look into his eyes, this time a low humming growl eminated softly from its throat. This sparked something in Hiccup's mind and he gasped as a long forgotten memory resurfaced.

He was younger, perhaps five years old, playing in the dirt near a cluster of bolders deep in the forest somewhere. He wasn't sure why he strayed so far from his village. Perhaps it was because his father had scolded him for making a stupid mistake. Or perhaps it was Snotlout's sudden cruelty towards him. Hiccup shrugged and continued to draw in the dirt with a stick.

Small snowflakes gently fell around him buthe ignored them, not prepared to go back. Everyone in the village was mad at him today. That's why he came so far out. That's why he decided to venture further than normal into the forest. He sighed heavily as more snowflakes began to cover his drawing faster than he could flick them off.

Unbeknownst to Hiccup, a shadow hidden by the darkness of the evening and numerous trees, watched him silently, creeping closer slowly in an attempt to see what the human hatchling was doing.

The shadow felt concern and confusion clench its insides as a warning entered its bones. A storm was rapidly approaching. It looked around quickly and sniffed the air. Where were this hatchling's parents? Was was it so far from its nest?

It turned its attention back to the boy and stepped quietly closer. It could sense a strange mixture of sadness, anger and confusion eminating from the boy and cooed sadly. A hatchling should not be feeling all of these emotions at once.

Hiccup whirled around in surprise and a squeal left his lips when he saw how close the dragon was to him. He didn't know how it got so close without him noticing. He stood and held the stick in front of him, directly pointing it at the beast before him. His brain didn't recognise the dragon's species, but it had a strange pruple colouring and large fill on its head. It looked kind of disproportionate due to its longer lower jaw which reveal a shining row of sharp teeth. It cooed at him again and he noticed its eyes drop to his drawing on the ground. He blushed pink with embarrassment and stepped aside as the creature drew wearily closer to inspect his sketch.

It felt rage begin to boil in its stomach as it took in the scene the little hatchling had created in the dirt. It growled at the drawings which depicted the boy wanting to essentially die. It made no sense. Why would a hatchling want to be killed? It hadn't lived yet.

It turned its head to look at the boy who reeked of fear now. It cooed encouragingly at him. He had no reason to be afraid. Its curiosity returned and it nuzzled the boy gently in an attempt to comfort him.

Hiccup stiffened and held his breathe as the dragon touched his chest with its snout while strangely calming sounds eminated from. He was confused and scared. He had just witness the purple dragon changing to a red colour as it growled at his drawing before returning back to its original purple colour as it looked at him. Hiccup released his breath when the dragon moved away. He watched silently as it looked up at the sky. He followed its gaze and a new form of fear seized him. They clouds above were darkening rapidly, the snow was falling quickly around them, a cold wind was rushing through the trees and Hiccup wasn't exactly sure how far away the village was. The dragon looked at him suddenly and began nudging him again, this time with enough force to push him back. It kept doing this until his back hit a tree. It whirled around with a growl as another dragon landed where Hiccup had just been standing.

A nadder made its usual clicks and chatters at the dragon sheilding Hiccup from view, but it quickly turned to growling as the unknown species turned its scales red and flew at it.

Hiccup remained rooted to the spot as the dragons fought. It was a vicious fight and he was terrified but also dangerously intrigued. It was odd to see dragons fight with such intensity. Especially over nothing.

A sudden earthshattering wail tore through the evening, followed by an eery silence as even the wind seemed to be shocked into submission for a moment before continuing its rage through the tree tops.

Hiccup trembled as the blood splattered dragon turned to him, its scale turning to a yellow colour as it approached him, its nostrils flaring.

It gazed at the human hatchling intensely and made a small promise. "Don't worry, little one, I will protect you for tonight and return you to your nest in the morning. You will survive another night."

Hiccup flinched as a strange voice echoed inside his head. He shook his head, ignoring it, believing he had imagined it. Hiccup flinched as the dragon bent down in front of him. "Hop on. Please hatchling. Please understand me. I mean you no harm," His eyes widened as realisation dawned on him. The strange voice belonged to the dragon. He pushed himself back closer to the tree and shook his head. He was going crazy. That was it. His father would tie him to the mast of a ship and send him to the edge of the world when he found out.

The dragon cooed encouragingly at the hatchling and smiled when the boy finally hopped on its back. It stood slowly while the boy tightly clung to its neck with his thin arms and tightly staddled it with his twig like legs. It looked back at the boy to ensure he was settled before leaping from the ground and soaring into the sky.

They were flying for a while before the dragon found a cave big enough for the two of them to shelter from the storm.The moment they landed Hiccup slid off quickly almost faceplanting until the dragon grabbed the back of his shirt gently and set him on the ground unharmed.

Hiccup watched the dragon in wonder as it walked deeper into the cave and burned the stones before laying ontop of them. It cooed at him and lifted its wing invitingly. Hiccup didn't need to be told what it meant. He scramble to his protectors side away from the biting cold of the snow storm at the entrance of the cave. Hiccup curled up against the dragon's warm side and snuggled against its wing. Encompassed in warmth Hiccup sighed contentedly. He had never been so warm all over. Ever. This was amazing. He was almost alseep when he felt warm air ruffle his hair. He looked up and nearly had a heart attack as the first thing he saw was the razor sharp teeth of the dragon. For a split second he thought that he had just provided an easy snack for the creature until it cooed and curiously nudged his head.

Hiccup felt a strange need to touch the dragon as you might your favourite yak. He reached out a small hand and held it uncertainly in front of the dragon's snout. He gasped as it pushed its snout into his hand and rumbled happily in its throat, staringly into his eyes intensely.

Hiccup felt a question bubble to the surface of his mind and didn't expect a response. "What is your name?" But the strange voice echoed through his min again with surprise this time.

"Earnest"