So . . . this took forever and a day. Sorry about that.

Enjoy!

***

Hiccup was oddly nervous when he woke up that morning. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, though. A bad dream, maybe? No, no, he'd slept like a rock last night. Then what was it?

It's the flying, he told himself. You're nervous about flying.

Honestly, that didn't feel like it, either, but he didn't know how to figure it out, so after a quick bite of breakfast, he grabbed the coil of rope, slung it over his shoulder, and started walking outside. Twig flapped up to him, perching on his unoccupied shoulder, and sniffed at the rope. Hey, whatcha doing? she asked in her usual perky way.

Trying to see if I can get the Alpha to fly, Hiccup answered, reaching up to scratch behind the little dragon's ear. Twig purred happily and inquired further. What's the rope for?

I'm going to tie it to the tail fin I made and pull on it in different directions, depending on where he wants to go.

Are you sure it'll work? Twig asked, tipping her head to the side. This whole thing seemed kind of precarious to her.

No. Yeah, sure it will. We'll figure it out.

Twig raised one eyebrow, fully aware of the commotion in her friend's mind, but didn't comment further.

When they got to the cove, Toothless was reclining by the pond, his head up and eyes closed. He seemed much calmer than last time, more serene and comfortable.

"I'm here!" Hiccup called out. The Night Fury turned at the sound of the boy's voice and trotted toward him. Now that they were closer, Hiccup could still see that spark of urgency in Toothless' eyes, but he'd lost that erratic, panicky glaze. He rubbed against Hiccup and Twig fondly. Come to watch the show, I see?

That, or offer moral support, Twig replied. Whichever is needed more. 

Toothless' face took on a more concerned expression. Moral support? Why?

"Will you stop worrying over me, please?" Hiccup asked Twig in exasperation. "I'm fine, really."

If you say so, Twig said with a shrug, flapping off to find a perch from which to watch.

Toothless swung his tail over to Hiccup, who tied the rope to the prosthetic in such a way that would allow him to control it. The knot secure, he pulled the rope up, then side to side. Toothless hummed approvingly. Now, time for the real test. Tie the rope around my neck so you have something to hang on to.

Hiccup took the rope, figured how much he needed to control the tail, then put his hands on either side of that spot. "Can you cut it here, please?"

Toothless aimed carefully and shot a quick burst of fire at the rope, cutting it into two pieces. Hiccup grabbed the separated length of rope and held it around the dragon's neck. Is that comfortable?

Toothless tilted his head from side to side, experimenting. Just a smidgen looser should be fine.

Hiccup complied and tied the knot, making sure it would hold firm but still be easy to undo. Once he was satisfied, he slid his right leg over the dragon's shoulders and settled in. He marveled at how he could feel every little move Toothless made, whether he was turning his head or shifting his weight off of one foot. He grabbed the rope at Toothless' neck with one hand and the rope tied to the prosthetic with the other. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Whenever you're ready."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Toothless opened his wings and brought them down again, lifting them effortlessly into the air. Hiccup yelped, quickly realizing that if he didn't want to slide off, he had to grip the dragon's shoulders with his legs.

Toothless beat his wings once, twice, three times, and still didn't fall. He glided over the treetops above the cove, his nostrils flaring, smelling the air. Hiccup got his bearings. Okay, Alpha, where do you want to go?

Let's stay close to the cove. I want to keep these experiments somewhat contained for now.

Nodding, Hiccup pulled the rope over to his right. He heard the click of the prosthetic changing position and Toothless immediately began to bank into a turn.

"Whoa!" Hiccup readjusted his seat, holding on tightly. As they leveled out, Toothless made a comment, his voice sounding strained. A little less pressure on my airways, if you please.

Sorry. Hiccup loosened his leg grip, though it made him nervous. He could feel the Night Fury's muscles expanding and contracting with every wing beat, which, while fascinating, was a little unnerving. He pulled on the rope again, this time making Toothless descend toward the pond. Lean with me! the dragon instructed. Hiccup bent forward, accidentally pulling on the rope again without going level again.

With a shriek, Toothless jolted sideways, sending Hiccup flying over his head into the pond. Toothless, meanwhile, immediately noted that this landing was not going to be pretty. He ducked his head, turning his fall into a roll. Even then, he scraped his left foreleg on a rock, sending a shiver of pain through his paw.

Hiccup's head breached the surface of the pond, and he swam to shore. He and Twig raced over to the dragon.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked, worried. Twig inspected the paw the Night Fury was holding aloft.

Toothless shook himself off. It's nothing serious, just a scrape. I'll be fine.

"I'm sorry," Hiccup said, feeling awful that he'd caused the dragon injury, even if it was barely worth any attention. "It was completely my fault. I should have paid better attention."

Toothless nosed his arm. There's nothing to forgive, Hiccup. This is a first for both of us. We'll do better next time.

Back to the drawing board, Twig piped up.

Exactly.

Hiccup sighed. "Ok. As long as no one gets hurt again."

Toothless nodded and turned his body to allow Hiccup to get on. They kept practicing for the rest of the day, and while Hiccup did eventually improve, it wasn't the flawless flight pattern he wanted. Both he and Toothless had to work incredibly hard to keep each other aloft.

There has to be an easier way of doing this, Toothless said during their dinner break. Twig had had to leave so she could get some hunting in. You need to be able to control the fin without having to worry about falling off, and having you yanking your arm around like that puts me off balance.

What if I tied the rope around my foot instead? Hiccup asked. There'd be less movement for us to worry about; I could hang on better, and you would be more balanced.

Toothless thought about that for a moment, then snorted an affirmative. It's worth a shot. Let's try it.

They had to wait twenty minutes after eating, because Twig said that flying right after eating would give a dragon terrible stomach cramps, which really wasn't likely, but they did it anyway. Hiccup tied the rope to the prosthetic, drew it between the Night Fury's wings, and tied it to his foot, making sure the line was taut. Then he got on and Toothless took off again.

The change was immediate. Their practice had not been in vain. Already, flying was smoother, more controlled. And with Hiccup hanging on to the rope around Toothless' neck with both hands, he could now focus on his surroundings more.

"It's working!" he crowed, and Toothless yipped in agreement. Hiccup bent his leg closer to his body, changing the position of the fin. Toothless threw his head back, his wings cupped to stop their forward motion, and surged higher into the sky. Hiccup could tell why flying was essential to dragons now: not only was the air thinner and faster, goading on the speedsters, but the freedom was immense. They had the entire sky to fly in and nothing to hold them down.

Freedom. A word that Hiccup really hadn't known under Magnus' rule, but now couldn't imagine life without. He'd never felt more alive.

Nidhogg's bones, how I've missed this! Toothless roared, elated at their success.

I can't imagine why, Hiccup teased sarcastically. Toothless grinned at him. Hiccup moved his leg again, and Toothless turned back toward the cove. They began to descend, narrowly missing a grove of trees. Toothless tilted to the right a little to avoid hitting his wing, the movement catching Hiccup off guard and making him panic. He tried to recover, but by then they were too low. Hiccup jerked his leg, turning them around, making Toothless cry out in surprise. Hiccup managed to get the fin in the "up" position and Toothless stopped when they were a safe height above the trees.

What was that? the dragon asked.

Hiccup shook his head. I'm trying to get used to this, but I can't stop thinking that whenever we turn, I'll fall.

You won't, Toothless assured him. And even if you do, I'll catch you.

Thanks. They went back to the cove, but the wind speed had increased, moving them along faster than Hiccup expected. He did his best to keep up, though. Toothless looked back at him, checking briefly to make sure he was okay, and when he turned his head back around they almost rammed straight into the rock wall of the cove. Hiccup yelped and quickly pulled on the rope, but in his panic he did it the wrong way, and the fin got jammed.

Hang on! Toothless warned, flinging himself backwards, nearly doing a backflip. Hiccup's legs slipped and his arms, unprepared for the sudden drop, let go. Toothless screamed, swinging his tail under Hiccup to catch him. Hiccup reached out, his hand catching momentarily on the dragon's scales, but couldn't hold on. He slipped again and fell the rest of the way, banging his shoulder on a small ledge and tumbling to the ground.

Toothless landed messily near him and immediately began nosing him for injuries. Luckily, Hiccup wasn't hurt, just disappointed.

Ok, that's it, Toothless said. I want you to take the rest of the day and start making a saddle to hold yourself in.

Hiccup frowned, rubbing his sore shoulder, convinced that he had a nasty bruise there now. "Are you sure? I don't want to force you into this. If you're not comfortable with a saddle, then you shouldn't have to put up with one."

Toothless snorted harshly, his eyes burning with intensity. I'll put up with whatever I have to to keep you safe. You almost died just now, Hiccup! If you hadn't grabbed onto my tail, you'd have fallen on that rock headfirst and you'd have broken your neck.

That sent a chill down Hiccup's spine. What he was doing was dangerous, yet . . . there had to be a way. There had to be.

"You almost lost your flight ability again," he whispered, knowing what that would have done to the dragon.

Toothless was still upset, but was starting to calm down. No, he answered, I almost lost you. I care about you, Hiccup. I didn't accept you into my herd for nothing. You are one of us, and it is my job as the Alpha to ensure the safety of every herd member. That includes you.

Hiccup was struck. He hadn't realized Toothless cared for him that much already. "I—I don't know what to say," he murmured. "I didn't know you—I mean . . . " He wasn't sure how to respond.

If you want me to fly again, start working on that saddle, Toothless said. Can you do that?

Hiccup nodded. "Yes."

***

Hidden in the trees, a Titan Monstrous Nightmare watched the Night Fury and the human boy, seething in disgust. He could hardly believe his ears. He'd followed the Night Fury gladly before, when the island belonged to the dragons only, far away from Vikings and the destruction they wrought on dragonkind. Then the Night Fury had allowed that human, that thing that was not one of them, into the herd, and he realized that the blight of flightlessness had damaged the Night Fury beyond repair. He was obviously so weakened by the sickness that he would do anything to fly again, even if it meant selling himself to the enemy.

The Titan was careful to keep his mind blank, in case the Night Fury overheard, for he was still the Alpha, and thoughts like these could get a dragon banished or killed. But as he watched the Night Fury interact peacefully with the ground-crawling human spawn, he couldn't stop the intense waves of heat that were barraging his scales from the inside, screaming to be released.

Clearly, the Night Fury's time as Alpha was up, and it was only a matter of time before he would be challenged. The Titan narrowed his burning amber eyes at the Night Fury's tail, one side black as night, the other brown and stinking of humans.

Enjoy your days of power while you can, Fury, the Nightmare hissed, a sound barely audible even to his own ears. They will be your last.

***

QOTC: What's your favorite Disney/Pixar movie? Mine is HTTYD 1 and 2, OBVIOUSLY. Of course, I'm not obsessed. Why would you think that? 😉