HTTYD .:. A Terrible Encounter

"Ready, bud?"

The dark dragon glanced back and nodded enthusiastically.

Hiccup sighed and tugged experimentally on the cords connecting the saddle and new tail apparatus. "I really hope this is gonna work." He pulled himself onto Toothless' back and carefully settled his prosthetic foot into the mechanism with a click. The teen winced at the sound, refusing to look down at his leg.

Toothless looked up with a soft whine.

"It's alright, bud. I'm just not used to it yet. Ready to try?"

The dragon spread his wings and jumped into the air, pulling the rope tied to his saddle taut. Hiccup adjusted the pedal and they leveled out, hovering a few feet above the ground.

"So far so go-agh!"

Toothless growled, tugging at the rope that was now wrapped around his front legs. Hiccup muttered under his breath as he yanked his foot from the pedal and hobbled around to cut the dragon free.

"Sorry, bud. I thought for sure it would work. Guess it's back to the drawing board for this fin, huh?"

The dragon just stalked off, dragging the leftover rope behind him.

"Hey! Wait up-ow!" Hiccup flinched when a swinging tree branch struck him in the face as he headed after the dragon. "Useless reptile." The boy sighed and dropped to the ground, rubbing his left leg with a frown. "Wonderful. I can't even keep up with a Night Fury in the woods anymore. Now I really am just a talking fishbone." He closed his eyes and leaned back against a tree with a sigh of annoyance.

A little green nose poked itself around the tree trunk and sniffed at the teen. The small Terrible Terror slid silently out from behind the tree and nuzzled under Hiccup's hand. The boy jumped and looked down at the tiny dragon. The dragon merely looked back at him.

"Hello."

At Hiccup's one word the little green creature leaped onto the teen's lap and stared at him expectantly. Hiccup suddenly recognized the dragon as one of the first he had made friends with. "I'm sorry, little guy; I don't have any fish today. But," he amended as the Terror's face seemed to fall, "I do have some chicken. Is that alright?"

Apparently the dragon didn't care what it was as long as it was food, judging by the way he gulped the hunk of dried meat down. Hiccup had to smile at the little dragon's eagerness and gently ran his hand over the creature's back. Once the chicken was gone the dragon curled into a ball on Hiccup's lap and purred, watching the boy intently. They sat like that for a while, the purring steadily causing Hiccup's eyelids to droop.

He was nearly fast asleep when with a loud crash, Toothless burst into the clearing, still dragging the rope behind him. The Night Fury took one look at the little green dragon sitting with Hiccup and snarled.

"Whoa whoa, Toothless, it's alright! He's just sitting!"

The dragon in question was also snarling at the giant who had dared to interrupt his nap. It stalked down from Hiccup's lap and stood in front of Toothless, staring defiantly up at the larger dragon. Hiccup watched, speechless as the two dragons seemed to have an argument, hissing and spitting small tongues of fire as they stared each other down.

After nearly five minutes of this, the two dragons seemed to come to some sort of understanding and the Terror sauntered back to Hiccup, rubbing against his leg before racing back into the underbrush. Toothless watched the smaller creature go with a snort of annoyance.

Hiccup scrambled to his feet and stared at his dragon. "What in Odin's name was that all about? He was just sitting with me!"

The Night Fury just rolled his eyes and motioned for Hiccup to climb onto his back. The teen sighed and did so, looking back for the little dragon as Toothless started walking towards the village. Just before the small clearing was obscured by the trees, he thought he saw the flash of a little green tail amongst the bushes.