Hiccup and Toothless were walking side by side through the castle halls. They passed some servants and knights who gazed oddly at the duo. One of the servants had a little girl with them who ran right up to Toothless and hugged his snout much to everyone's dismay. Toothless simply nuzzled the girl and sent her on her way.

The pair soon reached the castle entrance again and headed into the city. Toothless was looking around curiously while wagging his tail. Hiccup however was lost in his thoughts. He looked to the dragon who seemed to not have a care in the world. "What do you think bud? Should I stay here?"

Toothless then stopped his exploring and stared at Hiccup with a strange look before whacking him with his tail.

"Ouch!" Hiccup muttered as he rubbed the back of his head. Toothless simply gave Hiccup his gummy smile before nudging him to the square. They were still garnering stares from various people and were given a wide berth but the more curious ones, namely the children, did dare to approach them when Hiccup and Toothless decided to take a break from their exploring. Hiccup had seen the children following from a distance and couldn't help chuckling as they started to sneak closer.

"Hey mister, is that your dragon?" One of the young boys asked.

Hiccup chuckled while Toothless opened an eye from where he was sunbathing. "I wouldn't say that he is my dragon, he just seems to follow me around."

"What's your name mister and does your dragon have one?" A girl, partially hiding behind one of the boys, who Hiccup guessed could be no older than five asked curiously.

"My name is Hiccup and that is Toothless." Hiccup introduced earning several sniggers.

"Those are funny names!" The girl said as she held her hands in front of her mouth to stop laughing. Toothless' ears started to twitch when he heard the children's laughter but continued lazing on the hot cobblestones.

"Can my sister and our friends play with him?" The younger asked innocently.

"Go right ahead. He won't bite. He's actually a big softie" Hiccup said and the children let out squeals of glee. It was then that Toothless' head did shoot up but the dragon was not quick enough and was assaulted by laughing children who started to pet him.

Toothless shot Hiccup an annoyed look and then a distressed one when Hiccup indicated that he would be grabbing a drink in the tavern not so far away as one of the girls brought forth a basket of flowers.

Hiccup entered the tavern and all eyes turned towards him again as he walked towards the bar. "Can I have a mug of ale?" Hiccup asked the barkeep as he laid some copper pieces on the counter.

The barkeep quickly filled up a mug for Hiccup and shakily handed it to him. "H...Here you g...go sir." The barkeep said.

Hiccup sat at the counter as he took a sip and frowned as he was still being stared at and the barkeep was nervously wringing his hands. "Okay, what is going on?" Hiccup asked the man behind the counter. "What has gotten you so nervous?"

"Well....you.. eh...... you were traveling with her Highness." The barkeep said hesitantly.

"That I was" Hiccup admitted as there was no use in hiding it. "What does that have to do with-" Hiccup gestured to the audience that was listening to the conversation in the now silent tavern. Hiccup could swear that you could hear a pin drop.

"Well, you were traveling with her Highness." The barman repeated as if it was obvious. "No one just travels with her Highness and you were also accompanied by dragons. We have no quarrel with the dragons but they don't simply associate with humans."

"We met on the road, and one thing led to another which resulted in us traveling together." Hiccup stated. "I'm just a simple blacksmith."

It was then that the doors of the tavern slammed open and in walked a grumpy looking Toothless, who was completely covered in different colored flowers. Hiccup chuckled upon seeing the dragon and couldn't help but take in the other patrons' shocked expressions.

Toothless made his way towards the counter, all the while shooting Hiccup a glare. Toothless then sat on his haunches in front of the counter with both of his front paws on the counter itself. With his maw he picked up Hiccup's mug of mead before downing it in one shot.

"Hey that was mine!" Hiccup shouted which caused many of the patrons to start laughing at the scene as the dragon lay its flower covered head on the counter. "Useless reptile" Hiccup mumbled playfully as he gave Toothless a scratch.

The barkeep looked from the, what he could only guess, sulking dragon towards Hiccup. "Just a simple blacksmith?" He asked skeptically before handing Hiccup a new mug of mead.

Hiccup and Toothless left the tavern after Hiccup finished his drink. Hiccup wasn't drunk but the same couldn't be said for Toothless. Toothless definitely looked a bit tipsy as they made their way back through the square.

There was some commotion up ahead as Hiccup got closer to a farmer's stall.

"YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE IT!!" Someone yelled before being pushed to the ground.

Hiccup got closer and he could see that it was a young boy who now lay on the ground next to an older man with a knight leering over them. There were three other knights behind the other and all had silver plated armor on. Hiccup guessed that these men weren't part of Astrid's elite guard as they did not wear black. Hiccup also noticed that the knight held up a bag which the young boy tried to grab again in vain.

"Give it back! That is not yours!" The boy yelled again as the older man held him back from charging at the knights.

"Gustav! Stop it!" The older man shouted.

"Listen to your father boy" The knight said. "We are simply doing our duty."

"What duty!" The boy, Gustav, shouted. "All you are doing is stealing from hard working people to line your own pockets!"

"Gustav!" The man holding him back said. "Please forgive him Sergeant Byzu" The man now pleaded. "He is but a young boy who knows no better."

The sergeant however looked very displeased and reached for his sword causing the man and boy to flinch back and the crowd to cower. It was then that Hiccup decided to speak up.

"Are you really going to pull your sword on a child. Truly only someone with no inch of honor would do that." Hiccup said causing the sergeant to halt in his draw as the crowd parted for Hiccup and Toothless, who was also glaring at the knights.

The sergeant bristled and then shouted towards Hiccup "How dare you talk to me like that! Do you have any idea who I am!!"

"I don't actually care all that much. You would never earn my respect by threatening a child." Hiccup stated causing the crowd to start whispering, but a glare from the other knights who had their hands on the hilts of their swords now silenced them.

"In fact, I'm not the only one who is of that opinion." Hiccup said and then gestured towards Toothless who had taken a defensive stance. The crowd so engrossed by what was going on did not even notice the dragon until Hiccup pointed it out. Now everybody took a step back, including the knights.

"Toothless why don't you show them what you think of their behavior."

Toothless happily let a small plasma blast loose which hit the leather pants area of the knight causing it to start to burn.

"AAHH" The sergeant yelled before running to the nearest source of water, which was a fountain in the square, and flinging himself in it. His men helped him out of the fountain before the man yelled at Hiccup "THE REGENT WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!!" The sergeant growled as he tried to cover the burnt parts of his pants. "I'll see you thrown in the deepest dungeon!"

"Hmm, he must not know that the Queen is back." Hiccup said more to himself as he gave Toothless a scratch.

The gathered crowd was all whispering and they slowly dispersed when the man and the boy started to thank Hiccup and Toothless.

"That was so awesome!" Gustav gushed. "No one dared to stand up to that stinking sergeant."

"Why exactly is that?" Hiccup asked.

"The Regent has been collecting more taxes lately and that sergeant and his men have been terrorizing many people." The man who introduced himself as Norman, Gustav's father, explained. "I do not think the Queen knows what some of the lower ranking knights have been up to in her absence."

Hiccup and Toothless made it back to the palace after Gustav and Norman had bid their farewell. Hiccup decided he'd tell Astrid about the taxes before dinner and as they walked into the throne room he saw the sergeant and the three other knights from before kneeling in front of the throne.

The sergeant's eyes widened when he saw Hiccup and he blanched when he heard the Queen casually say "There you are Hiccup. Sergeant Byzu was telling me an interesting story. By the way, why is Toothless covered in flowers?"