(d/n)'s P.O.V.

I woke up with a cry of pain to find myself in some sort of dark cave. There was a large, steel lined door that made up one of the walls. I pushed myself to my paws to find that my armor was not covering my body; not hiding my marks. My head spun and my body felt unnatural in terms of temperature. I let out a few uneasy breaths before charging a blast in my mouth. I fire, only for it to be a weak blast that barely penetrated the atmosphere to show its light. My blood was hot and I was sweating as fever settled ever further into my veins. I flopped back to the stone floor in exhaustion as a smaller door opened next to the larger one. I squinted against the glow as a man with a peg leg stepped into the cave and lit a torch. He had auburn hair and green eyes that made me sick to my stomach. He smiled softly before tossing a fish toward me, making me fight through tiredness to back away with a growl. He lets out a huffed breath.

"I see you take after your rider," he says, his voice betraying the slightest hint of amusement.

"I'm bound to do that, if she's the only company I've had for over half my life," I growl.

"You gotta eat something though," he continues as he steps closer and picks the fish up by the gill. I bared my teeth and hissed in warning as he walked toward me. "Shh, sh, sh, sh," he shushed, holding his free hand out calmly. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you or (y/n)," he says.

He has a poster, I thought in alarm. She never tells anyone her real name. I felt a small throbbing on my shoulder as my Protective mark started to glow eerily. The mark looked like a dragon encircling a ship with their body. I saw the man's eyes widen in the weak light of the torch before covering the mark with my wing.

"That's why you have armor," he murmured in amazement. I felt my eyes narrow as I let out a low growl. The man paused before tossing the fish to me one last time and taking a few steps back. "Maybe you just need one of your own kind," he says thoughtfully as I glare at the fish. I then watch him as he leaves the cave. 

I flicked the fish across the room with my tail, making it put the torch out before falling to the floor. I then lay my head on my paws with a tired sigh. Suddenly, the larger door opens and a black figure stalks in, nothing but a silhouette against the brightness of the outside world. I squint against the light before the door closes and the dragon looks around before walking to the torch. He lights it with a weak blast, revealing himself to be the Nightfury from the beach.

"You," I hiss, backing into the wall.

"Me," he hums.

"You bring shame upon Waveclaw's appearance," I growl.

"Who's Waveclaw?" he asks, laying on his belly in front of me.

"No one," I grumble.

"My name's Toothless," he says.

"Not a pleasure to meet you," I tell him, batting my eyes sarcastically.

"Doesn't mater if it's a pleasure or not," he says before looking around. "You know you have to eat that, right?" he asks, nodding to the fish below the flame.

"Not after a human's touched it," I growl, "Much less a human that could mean my rider harm."

"He doesn't. I can tell you that right off the ax," he says, shaking his head. "But seriously, it's not that bad. And you have to eat it," he says, walking over to pick it up.

"Why is it so important that I eat the stupid fish? I'm not even that hungry!" I snap.

"It doesn't matter if you're hungry. Gothi laced it with herbs to help your fever," he says as he drops it in front of me.

"Gothi?" I repeat and he nods.

"She's our village healer," he explains.

"Village?"

"Am I speaking Norse or something?" he asks in exasperation.

"Ugh, great. So when are they coming to take us?" I ask and his gaze flashes with confusion.

"What?" he hums.

"You do know that we're wanted in Outcast waters, correct?" I ask.

"I do now," he says smartly, "But I doubt Hiccup's going to turn you in. He's never been one to turn away someone in need of help."

"That's the thing: we don't need help. We've been taking care of each other for years, why would we stop now?" I growl.

"Sometimes, you should except the fact that you can't always fight a fever this deep on your own. And I don't think you've ever dealt with a broken leg," Toothless says.

"She has a broken leg?" I breathe.

"Yup. And Gothi's tending to her right now, she should be good in about two weeks," he says, making my heart drop to the depths of the earth. We couldn't stay here for two weeks.

"That's not going to work," I grunt as I try to stand.

"Why? You got some where to be?" he asks.

"More or less," I say, pushing myself into a sitting position.

"Where?" he asks.

"Avoiding the Outcasts," I answer.

"Well what batter place to do it that Berk?" he asks.

"Probably our island, that happens to be off every single map that's ever been drawn," I say. He lets out a chuf of laughter before nudging the fish toward me.

"Just take one bite, it'll get your strength up and you need the herbs," he says.

"Herbs, shmerbs. Never needed them from a healer before, don't need them now," I growl.

"You need your island?" he recaps.

"Yes," I answer.

"Well how are we supposed to nurse you two back to health if you're on an island that hasn't been charted?" he asks. I fight through weakness and swipe my claw at him. He acts fast and brings his paw up before shoving my paw away and pinning me to the floor of the cave. "If you ate that fish, you'd be able to fight back in a day," he growls softly. He then lets me up and noses the fish toward me. I look from him to the fish and back again. "I promise it will-" I cut him off.

"Don't say that word," I growl.

"...Assist?" he tries and I nod before hesitantly taking a bite. The herbs canceled out the deliciousness of the fish and made it bitter.