Time felt like it stopped for a brief moment as I stared blankly at the splotch of red ten feet away from me.

Toothless had been here. He protected me from the cold in this spot. He made sure I would live after I searched for him in this forest.

Now, I was absolutely certain what I had heard when Johann was dragging me away from Toothless was real. He had to be alive.

Slowly, I walked around the depression in the snow, looking for any Night Fury tracks. There was the mess of tracks and furrows from Gobber, Johann, and me leading back toward the village. Following those tracks with my eyes, Berk was barely visible through the snow-covered trees. Home wasn't far away, but during that time I was searching blindly for Toothless, the forest seemed to have no end.

"What are you doing, Hiccup?" Gobber asked in irritation.

I didn't answer. I had found what I was looking for.

Toothless was way heavier than any human, and I had just found deep, circular prints with four vicious looking marks pointing slightly away from Berk. As far as I could tell, this path put Toothless directly in line with our hákarl stores. I scowled in disgust, hoping Toothless wouldn't degrade himself that much to eat rotted shark meat.

I hunched slightly, trying to keep my focus on the Night Fury tracks just to my left. They were spaced just far enough apart to tell me Toothless was loping at a steady pace. He was still healthy, albeit hungry. Maybe he did go after our hákarl stash. At least we'd get rid of some of it.

"All right, Hiccup, what did you find?" Gobber asked, growing more impatient by the second.

I didn't answer. I only continued following the dragon tracks for about a hundred feet. Gobber's foot and peg crunched in the snow some distance behind me, but my body language had told him I wasn't going to break my attention.

Toothless' tracks canted left near a snow drift that had piled up underneath a fir tree. The snow had probably come from the tree itself, considering it was void of white in most areas.

"I think Toothless was just here," I said. The long, awkward silence between us made my answer sound like I was simply talking to myself.

"All right, fine," he conceded with a huff. "Find Toothless but make it fast. We have a village to take care of."

I nodded in silence and refocused on the Night Fury tracks just to my left. The first step I took was with my right leg, and the snow crunched under my boot. I stepped across the tracks with my peg to avoid having to walk on the drift to my right.

Pausing, I checked to see where they were going. The shadows from the trees were creating illusions with the snow in front of me, but I thought I could see Toothless' footprints heading straight away from me.

I began walking forward again, following the tracks.

Suddenly, the drift to my right exploded in a shower of snow, ice, and an animal roaring in ambush. I yelled in panic and backpedaled. The snow plate on my peg caught edge-on as I staggered backwards, and I immediately fell on my rear, looking straight up at a jet-black dragon with yellow-green eyes.

"HICCUP!" Gobber shouted from ten feet away.

Reflexively, I curled into a ball, cowering as the dragon landed with his front legs straddling me. The dragon growled menacingly for a second, then swiped its tongue up my right side several times. It grunted in excitement while I yelled in disgust.

I paused, realizing how stupid I looked just now.

This was Toothless.

He continued licking my chest and face as I put my hands up to stop him.

"ALL RIGHT! STOP! STOP!" I shouted.

My hands were dripping with his saliva, and the air around me smelled like fish that had been sitting out for too long. It didn't smell as bad as the hákarl, though.

Toothless' breath was huffing in and out through his nose, sounding like the bellows in the forge. His eyes were wide in happiness, and he was licking his lips, just like I had seen him do several times when he was excited.

I groaned as I stood, trying to at least wipe my hands off in the snow. Not only did Night Fury saliva smell bad, it became sticky after a few moments.

"Gross," I muttered under my breath.

As I refocused on Toothless again, Gobber's voice met my ears.

"Hiccup, your dragon is weird. I don't know how I'd put up with him."

I glanced at Gobber and noticed his shoulders were slumped. His entire body was just as confused as his face.

Toothless may have been bizarre with his equally strange quirks, but I wouldn't have traded him for the world.

I turned slightly to face Gobber and shrugged. "You get used to it." I paused, then added, "Besides, you put up with me."

Without waiting for Gobber's response, I returned my gaze to Toothless. I wanted to ask him why he acted like he was dead. I wanted to ask him why he chose to ambush me.

In place of a question, a wry grin had crept its way across my face, out of my control. My shoulders relaxed and dropped several inches, feeling the weight of the world disappear. I walked toward Toothless and placed my hands on his saddle. He hunkered down slightly and let me climb onto his back.

For just a moment, I felt like I could handle anything the world threw at me. I looked around the forest, seeing open space where the trees ended and the village began. The air around me didn't feel cold at all. The sky, while grey, didn't seem so unforgiving.

Finally, I found Gobber standing in the snow watching me and Toothless.

I motioned slightly with my left shoulder toward the village and said, "We've got a village to take care of."

Without waiting for Gobber's approval, I nudged Toothless' flank with my right knee and gently pushed forward in his saddle. He began walking toward the village, carrying me on his back.

It only took us a few silent minutes to reach the edge of the forest. I was thankful Gobber didn't say anything during our little trip because I just wanted to soak up the feeling of being near Toothless again.

The great hall was our first stop. Between us and the double doors leading in were the Speed Stinger corpses. My stomach dropped slightly, as Toothless approached them, his shoulders tensing in anticipation of an attack. He leaned forward slightly and began sniffing at the lead Speed Stinger, the dragon he nearly decapitated with his jaws.

C'mon, buddy, we'll move these dragons soon, I thought.

Soon enough, Toothless returned to a normal standing position and looked away from the Speed Stinger's corpse, signaling he was through with the dragon.

Gobber had already plodded past us and opened the double doors leading into the great hall. I dismounted from Toothless' back and gently pulled him toward the entrance using his saddle.

A few Vikings who were spared from the Speed Stingers were quietly eating a meal or whispering in hushed tones. The great hall reverberated with an echoing clank as Gobber shut the doors behind us.

I counted fifteen Vikings inside, and all of them turned toward the three of us. My face went red as that invincible feeling took flight and abruptly deserted me. I hadn't even thought about the repercussions of having to own up to my ineptitude as Chief until now. After a few seconds, I realized I wasn't breathing or blinking.

Gobber noticed too and whispered, "You're not scared of a dragon that wanted to kill you, but you're terrified now? I really don't know how I've been able to put up with you."

The breath I was holding quietly hissed through my closed teeth, and I pulled in a deep lungful of air, my head spinning just slightly and my vision blurring out of focus. I wanted to shoot a glare at Gobber, but I was afraid if I focused too much I'd pass out.

As my heart rate returned to normal, I led Toothless to the back of the great hall. My only hope at the moment was that people would stay quiet about the last few days. Their stares burned into my head as I plodded by with Toothless at my side, but his presence seemingly didn't do anything to protect me.

We reached the back of the great hall, where there was a modestly-sized pile of fish and eels. I filled a basket to the rim with fish and waddled with it over to Toothless, who was dutifully waiting near a table. I placed the basket on the floor and used my right foot to tip it over. The fish spilled out, cascading over one another.

I stole one quick glance around the great hall. Gobber had already sat down near us and was digging into cooked chicken meat. The other Vikings here had mostly resumed eating and gossiping.

Toothless' eyes widened in anticipation as he approached his meal. He snagged a fish with his teeth, bit it in half, and swallowed.

I scowled at him a little but didn't say anything as he padded toward me. After a few seconds, his eyes lost focus, and after three hurking, cough-like movements, he regurgitated the front end of the fish at my feet.

"Thanks, bud," I said appreciatively, stepping away from his little gift. I stroked him on his cheek, making him rumble in pleasure for a few seconds.

Listening to his comfort made me completely forget about my worry upon entering. Toothless really was nothing short of magical.

Once I let him go, he immediately turned around and began eating in silence.