Just a fast reminder that I do not own the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, idea, or characters (however much I wish I did); they belong to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks. I only own whatever characters I create, and the plot of the story. That is all, and now back to your regularly scheduled program.

The next morning when Hiccup and Zahnlos woke up they simply laid there, enjoying the togetherness that came with Hiccup being wrapped up in Zahnlos's wings. The pair didn't move as they started to discuss the nightmare that Hiccup had the night before. The two were still using their bond to its fullest and every word that was spoken to each other was laced full of the emotions that were being felt by each.

"How are you this morning Hiccup?" Zahnlos asked his bonded while nuzzling the teens head with his snout, concern running through their bond.

"I'm doing fine," Hiccup responded, reaching a hand up to rub the dragons head.

"No Hiccup, you are not," Zahnlos responded back at him. "I can feel it through our bond that you are not fine." Hiccup didn't respond to Zahnlos with words but instead entered their mindscape and Zahnlos soon followed him in. When Zahnlos entered their mindscape, he found Hiccup in the forge that was attached to the house pounding away on some piece of metal as if it was going to reach up and bite him if he stopped hitting it hard.

"Hiccup," The Night Fury said as he walked up behind the teen. Hiccup stopped banging on the metal and looked back at the Dragon.

"I know what you are going to say. This bond does work both ways ya know," Hiccup snapped back at him. Zahnlos was shocked by the reaction from him. He had felt the anger and fear that was radiating off the boy when he walked up but Hiccup had never directed any of that towards him before.

"Hiccup, we need to talk about it," Zahnlos told him, sending supportive feelings towards Hiccup.

"No, we don't. I just had a nightmare, that's all. Lots of people have nightmares." Came the sharp response as Hiccup turned back to pounding on the metal, though this time it was with the thought and care of a blacksmith creating a new sword.

"But normal people don't have nightmares like that!" Zahnlos responded curtly. "I don't know anybody who has had a nightmare that was fueled by a giant, cannibalistic Queen dragon."

"So I have nightmares about Her, big whoop. Doesn't mean I need special treatment for it! I'm more than capable of handling things on my own." Hiccup fired back.

"Nobody is giving you special treatment Hiccup! I care and worry for you, my bonded." Zahnlos said as he rested his head atop Hiccups, forcing the teen to put down his hammer and turn around to deal with the dragon. "And what do you mean nightmares, how long have you been having them?"

"I said it's nothing, I'm dealing with it on my own." Hiccup once again snapped at Zahnlos and made to pick the hammer back up. Though before he could turn back around to grab it and get back to smithing, Zahnlos grabbed the young man by the back of his shirt like on would a pup and carried him out of the smith.

"Zahnlos!" Hiccup protested as said Night Fury carried the teen to a nearby field and deposited him onto the ground. "You know I don't like it when you carry me like that."

"I know but you needed out of there and I needed your attention," Zahnlos stated. "Now, how long have you had these nightmares."

"They really aren't that big of a deal." Hiccup started but was interrupted by Zahnlos.

"Hiccup, this is a big deal if you have been having the same nightmare constantly."

"But..."

"No buts about it Hiccup, tell me how long you have been having these nightmares." Zahnlos practically demanded Hiccup, knowing that the teen really did not like to worry others with his problems, no matter how important they may be. While Hiccup just stood there and didn't respond, Zahnlos let his tongue hang out of his mouth as an unspoken threat to lick stubborn teen until he got what he was looking for.

"Fine, I've been having them ever since we had that close encounter with the Queen." Hiccup finally admitted to the drake who he was almost completely bonded with. Zahnlos instantly tackled Hiccup into a hug, catching the boy off guard.

"Why have you been hiding this from us, from me?" Zahnlos demanded from his bonded as he tightened his grip on the young man nestled up against his chest.

"Because I wanted to avoid this response from everybody as if I'm some baby that can't take care of itself. Well, Gods damn it I'm an adult, I don't want to be treated like I'm still a child." Hiccup ranted at Zahnlos.

"Let it all out Hiccup." Zahnlos thought out to Hiccup as the teen did just that for a quite some time. To the dragon's credit, he laid there and let his bonded rant until he had run his throat raw from all the talking.

"It's just so frustrating; being 17 years old and still treated like a young child." Hiccup lamented. "I want to get out there and explore."

"Hiccup, look into my eyes," Zahnlos said, looking down the teen.

"Why?" Came the response.

"Please." Zahnlos pleaded.

"Fine." Hiccup relented and looked up at the dragon's eyes. As Hiccup looked into them he felt himself getting drawn into them and soon found himself in one of Zahnlos's memories.

"I know we are stuck in the sanctuary at the moment but I did a lot of exploring looking for you. It's only fair I share what I experienced while out there with you." Zahnlos said as the pair appeared in the memory, Hiccup riding atop Zahnlos as if they were exploring it for the first time together.

Meanwhile, Valka was starting to get worried that Hiccup and Zahnlos hadn't shown up around the Sanctuary yet. The pair would normally be up and about in time for breakfast but they had completely missed it today.

"Valka, I'm sure the two are just fine." Unole tried reassuring her.

"I mean it's not like he has a Night Fury to protect him or anything," Mason said sarcastically. At the mention of Night Fury, Penumbra and Specter raised their heads from where they were laying to look at the male.

"What? If anything had happened we would know about it by now unless one or both of them were incapacitated." He stated. Valka still didn't like the situation. In the two years that Hiccup and Zahnlos had been at the Sanctuary, they rarely broke their habit of being up around the same time as the sun. Currently, they were way past that by a few hours.

"Cloudjumper," Valka called out to the Stormcutter, "Let's go check on them."

"Valka," Unole called after her as she left but she was already gone.

"Good going Mason," Unole said as he whacked said male behind the head.

"What did I do?" Came the response.

"You know what you did, you got her worried about them even more then she was before."

"Oh did I now?" Mason said in a very sarcastic tone of voice. While those two were talking about if Mason knew that he made Valka worry more or not, Valka and Cloudjumper had already made their way to her son's cave.

"Hiccup, Zahnlos, are you boys in there?" Valka shouted into the entrance to her son's cave as once she had jumped off Cloudjumper. She waited a moment for an answer from one of them as she knew Zahnlos would hear here and either respond with a roar or tell Hiccup and the boy would shout. However, she didn't hear anything echo out from the interior of their cave so she rushed into the cave, Cloudjumper following close behind her.

"Boys?" Valka called out as she got into the main part of the cave, concern evident in her voice. As she walked further around she came to the sleeping area which was separated from the entrance and main part of the cave by a wall. Cloudjumper lit up the room with his flame and the two saw a bundle of black in one corner. Valka walked over to the lump of black that was Zahnlos and rested her hand on his head.

"Zahnlos?" Valka said as she patted his head, hoping to wake him up. It didn't work as the Night Fury did nothing in response to her stimuli. "Hiccup?" She asked thoughtfully as she looked down between the black wings at her son and got no reaction from either of them. She was about to shake Hiccup to try and get him to wake up since it would be easier to talk with him then Zahnlos when Cloudjumper butted his head up against her.

"What's going on Cloudjumper?" Valka asked as she got the feeling they should leave from her bond with the Stormcutter. Valka watched her dragon try to slowly but carefully make her move away from the pair laying on the ground.

"You want me to leave them like that?" Valka asked as Cloudjumper gave a nod and she got a yes through the bond. She sighed but decided that she'd heed his advice and leave them be. With one last concerned look at the two sleeping figures, she hesitantly made her way out of the room while being followed by Cloudjumper. Valka ended up sitting down just outside the entrance to the boy's cave to wait for them to wake up and exit.

It took a little while, well more than a little while actually, when Valka finally head any type of noise from the inside of the cave and then she could hear the approaching footsteps of both Hiccup and Zahnlos. She stood up and turned around to face the entrance and her eyes lit up to see both Hiccup and Zahnlos walking out of the cave as it had been a few hours or so.

Hiccup, I was so worried about you when you didn't wake up earlier. Valka signed at the boy before giving him a big hug. Hiccup didn't respond at first but did return the hug.

There was no reason to worry, I was fine with Zahnlos. We were in our mindscape sharing memories. Hiccup answered her, slightly annoyed at how she was hovering around him like a Gronkle.

Is everything ok Hiccup? Valka asked, noticing how when she hugged him he did not immediately hug back like normally but took some time to do so.

Ya, everything is fine Mom. Hiccup signed back to her.

Are you sure?

Yes, mother, both Zahnlos and I are fine. Came the response, agitation clearly evident on his face and in his hands as he signed.

Hiccup...Valka started so sign but was interrupted.

Stop! Hiccup starts to signed as he knew that his mother was going to ask for clarification. Can you.... Not? Valka was about to say something as Hiccup's agitation increased. He really didn't want to talk about it, not now at least. Before Vala could ask what he was talking about, Cloudjumper grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Cloudjumper?" She asked, looking up at the dragon. It was then that she noticed everything around her. Zahnlos had started to take an aggressive stance next to Hiccup, and where once there had been many dragons in the area, now it was completely deserted. She then looked at Hiccup, who looked at the edge between agitation and hate. Before she could say anything, Hiccup had jumped up on Zahnlos and the pair of them were gone in the blink of an eye.

"Oh, Hiccup," Valka said as she just caught the tail end of Zahnlos flying out an exit.

Well, I finished it, finally. Huge shout out to Vala411 for helping me get unstuck, TWICE! If it wasn't for her then I would still be stuck. Well, I hope this came out ok, not very sure about it. Please let me know what you guys think about it.

Oh, before I forget to say something about it, I now have a Tumblr account! This is the link: http://thearizona-writer.tumblr.com/ So all the links are on my about page, ya know, once I get around to adding them. Should do that in a few minutes.

Semper Fi,

Thearizona