Many lands were crawling with dragons, and the people of said lands would view them all differently. Some, like those on Berk, loved them. Trained then, flew them, had them as companions. Some hunted them, viewed them as vicious beasts. Some worshipped them akin to gods or spirits, saw them as beings above mortals.

On Roman land, it was a mixed bag. Some were considered safe, some where considered dangerous. The Lernaean Hydra was seen as a dangerous beast, as no one could even get close to it for his breath was venomous and it's many heads would only grow back of you tried to chop one off. But Ladon species, said to face once been one hundred headed dragon that was split into smaller versions with only one head each, was seen as a protector and guardian of sacred woods. So knowing your dragon species was quite crucial if you were going to be wandering into the wilderness away from the safety of city walls guarded by the army.

You weren't worried though, you had Hiccup. If anyone could handle a dragon it was him.

"Gods I'm not used to this warmth..." Hiccup complained, using the folded up map of his to fan himself.

"You Norse and your cold weather" you chuckled, rather unaffected by the warmth.

"It is rather warm today, perhaps we should stay on the more shaded paths. Avoid heat exhaustion" Valka added.

The dragons seemed to be doing fine, if not a little slower as not used to the warmer weather. Although it'd be a good idea to get them some water soon, keep them hydrated.

"Yeah good idea, stay in the shade" you agreed.

All roads lead to Roma in its borders. You'll pass several towns and cities along the way, but the one main road that ran through the country, going from paved, to stone, to dirt, back to paved as it passed through several landmarks, would end up in the main city eventually. Along it's way, herms marked the path. Sometimes a fully carved statute of the god of travel, sometimes just a pile of rocks as a marker. But each time you passed one, you knew you were on the right track.

"That's another herm, statue this time, must be closer to a settlement" you pointed out, up the dirt road you followed.

"What's with the uh... imagery?" Hiccup asked, having noted how many of these markers weren't at all censored in their statues.

"Fertility" You simply replied.

Admittedly, yeah it was a bit strange. Stone dicks on road markers, just out for everyone to see. But if the Hellenic polytheistic civilisation of Roma could invoke fertility for a bountiful harvest, they would. Any chance they could get, invoking the powers of the gods and the natural resources of the land to bring fourth a big enough harvest for the whole city.

Passing every herm with a nod of your head and a 'hail Hermes', your travel had been safe so far. And while you'd heard a few dragons off in the distance, you were yet to see one. Until now that was.

Toothless suddenly stopped, his ears perking up and his eyes locked onto the surrounding area looking for something you were yet to hear. Dragons having much better hearing. Cloud jumper perked up too, seeing Toothless had heard something and then realising he could hear it too.

"What's up bud? Animal? Person?" Hiccup asked, giving his dragon a pat on the side.

You all heard the sound of crunching leaves approaching, and from out of the woods and onto the road ahead of you, stepped a dragon. A Ladon, long bodied like a serpent, with small but strong legs and a large set of wings. Spines down its back, two horns on his head and a finned tail. Teeth that stuck out in an overbite like fangs, coloured like the bark of the surrounding woods.

It looked at your dragons, your dragons looked at it. Staring in a stalemate for a moment.

"Woah... what kind of dragon is that?" Hiccup asked, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"A Ladon, they're protectors of forests" you replied.

It began to size your dragons up, arching his long back and growling at them. The aggressive behaviour only made Toothless size up too, getting in front of Hiccup to protect him and spreading his wings to look bigger.

"Woah, Woah! It's ok bud, he's just protecting his land" Hiccup assured, putting his hand on Toothless' nose to calm him down.

Cloud jumper seemed more calm, although he stayed locked onto the Ladon, watching it intently. Valka kept her staff in front of him though, telling him to stay back.

"Typical protective behaviour" she assessed.

"Yeah, what I thought too. He's not aggressive, just protective" Hiccup replied.

"He'll let us pass if we just be slow and quiet, they don't typically attack unless provoked" you added.

You inched toward it, keeping a slow and quiet pace. It watched you carefully, sniffing the air in your direction and giving you suspicious growls. The bonus about being a hybrida, was the fact dragons had a level of respect for you. You were half of them, after all. They'd not attack a hybrida unless it was in defence. So you simply spread your wings out to show you were of no harm, and half of his kind.

The dragons arched back relaxed a little, sensing you weren't any threat. But it stayed on guard, watching you slowly approach.

"It's ok, we're not going to hurt you. Or the land" you assured it, even if it didn't speak a human language, they definitely understood tone.

Like when you tell a dog to sit, they don't understand the word but they know the tone means they'll get a treat if they sit down. Dragons could tell what aggressive yelling meant, what calm talking meant, what exited 'who's a good boy?!' Meant.

"Look at him! He's so long! I've never seen a four legged dragon this long before. It must have amazing core strength to keep its middle part off the ground..." Hiccup excitedly muttered.

"The colour too, perfectly blends in with the trees. Could pass as a fallen log if it stayed still and tucked its wings and legs in..." Valka added.

"I was just thinking that! Evolved to suit the environment by blending in with it, that's amazing!"

You couldn't help but smile at the Haddock's obsession. Like mother like son, clearly. Hiccup in particular had always been so cute when he got exited over his interests. His eyes would light up, he couldn't stop smiling, he'd ramble for hours if you let him.

The Ladon let you pass, watching you intently the whole tome. But once you were on your way, it continued on its way through the forest. As soon as you could be loud again, Hiccup immediately broke into full body excitement.

"Oh my GODS, that was so cool! And so LONG- such a unique body type for a land dwelling dragon! And it's talons! So thick and sharp pointed, definitely for tearing through trees and thick brush-" he rambled, smile on his face and hands going a million miles a second.

You simply giggled, finding his excitement adorable.

"You and your dragons..." you chuckled.

"When we set up camp for the night I'm documenting EVERYTHING"

Fuck man... he was so fucking cute when he was exited. And... in general. He was cute. Hiccup was cute.

When did you start thinking he was cute?