Reflections

"Okay, that's it! I am not going to let you kill that dragon!"

Those were the very words that his rider said when that insane lunatic of a Viking had the mighty Night Fury cornered on the edge of the cliff.

Toothless, lying curled up on his large slap of stone, couldn't get the memories of last night to stop replaying over and over again. It wasn't that they frightened him, but rather they surprised him.

The night started out with Hiccup and the other Viking children going to Dragon Island for some drill that Stormfly's rider, Astrid, came up with. Toothless didn't fully understand what the drill was for; all he knew was that Hiccup didn't want the dragons to accompany them.

While Tuffnut was the only guarding them, he was more difficult to get past than Toothless anticipated. However, the Zippleback's rider eventually fell asleep, giving the dragons enough time to slip out of the cave and search for their riders.

As the Night Fury searched for Hiccup, he heard a familiar voice. Alert and anger struck through Toothless like lightening as he recognized its owner: Dagur the Deranged!

He could barely make out what that crazed boy was saying but at the moment he didn't care. All he knew was that Hiccup was there, too. If Dagur was attempting to harm Hiccup, he was not going to get away with it!

Toothless shot a plasma blast as a warning shot. Through the small flaming in the bush, the dragon saw that Hiccup was just fine. But the look on the human's face was unmistakable. He was horrified.

Toothless quickly realized why his rider was afraid. Dagur's arrow was pointed directly at the Night Fury!

Suddenly, Terrible Terrors appeared out of nowhere and attacked Dagur, causing his shot to miss the dragon. Toothless looked at his rider, who gave him the hand command to run away.

Hesitant, Toothless obeyed the order and fled. It wasn't long before Dagur and Hiccup pursued him. The Night Fury desperately searched for a hiding spot, only to find a large boulder.

He leapt behind the stone as he heard their footsteps approach. As the dragon listened intently, one sentence said by Dagur send a chill down his spine and through his wings.

"I don't care about sporting. I care about killing that Night Fury and wearing its skull as a helmet."

Toothless nervously peeked around the corner and saw the Berserker Viking coming straight toward his hiding spot. The Night Fury looked back and realized that he was dangerously close to the edge. One more step, and he would plummet into the water. But if he stayed where he was, he would a sitting duck.

Either way, he was a goner!

However, it was at that moment that the little human said something that would forever linger in Toothless's mind:

"Okay, that's it! I am not going to let you kill that dragon!"

Then Hiccup did his Night Fury call.

Feeling a surge of bravery, Toothless leapt over the rock, snarled at Dagur, and jumped over to his rider.

However, the events afterward were what Toothless expected the least.

Enraged by the revelation of Berk's training dragons, Dagur downed the two as they tried to escape. He entangled the Night Fury with stone balls and ropes. Toothless thought it was end when Dagur rushed toward him with a drawn sword. But as he swung it down, a shield flew over Toothless's head and blocked the blow.

To the Night Fury's surprise, it was Hiccup who stopped it.

As the fight continued, Dagur tried again and again to strike Toothless down, and each time, Hiccup interfered, determined to protect his friend.

This young, scrawny human, who could barely lift an axe, was risking his life to protect the Night Fury.

And that was what Toothless was thinking about as he curled up on the flat stone bed. Never before had he witnessed Hiccup go as far as to stand up to a Berserker to save his life.

Sure, Hiccup did save him from the village when Toothless was accused for Berk's plague of lightening, but he didn't stand up to them with a shield that could turn into different weapons.

Not to mention, last night's episode had a very uncanny parallel to another event that happened almost a year ago.

Toothless abruptly awoke to the sound of Hiccup screaming.

His rider was in danger.

While he would normally have trouble getting out of the cove, this time he found the strength to climb up the walls with very little effort.

Without hesitation, Toothless rushed through the forest toward the screams of his friend.

As he approached the arena, he saw a Monstrous Nightmare pin the young Viking to the ground and viciously growl:

"You're mine, pathetic human!"

Rage pumped through Toothless's body as he sprinted even harder.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!"

With a blast of fire, Toothless shot through the metal fence like an arrow and straight onto the Monstrous Nightmare. The Night Furry mustered up all of his strength and pulled the other dragon off of Hiccup.

"What the heck…!" the Nightmare dragon strained as he tried to get Toothless off his back.

As Toothless fell off and onto the ground, he kicked the other dragon in the jaw, causing him to stumble back.

Surprised, the other dragon turned sharply toward Toothless and was angrily dumbfounded to see the Night Fury standing protectively in front of the human.

"Have you lost your mind, dragon!?" the red and black dragon roared. "That creature's a human! Why are you protecting him?!"

"He's my rider!" Toothless responded with strong conviction. "I am not going to let you kill him!"

Those were the same words that Toothless said when he was protecting his rider. And those words were said under very similar circumstances.

Hiccup stood up to Dagur to save Toothless's life just as he had stood up to Hookfang to save Hiccup's life.

The Night Fury lifted his head and looked over at Hiccup, who was fast asleep in the wooden bed just across from him. The dragon then quietly got up from his place and walked over to the sleeping human.

It wasn't until now that Toothless began to seriously fathom the thought of how far their friendship had come.

The moment that Hiccup had decided to cut him free instead of killing him, and how Toothless made the decision to spare his life in return, was just the start of it. An event that neither one of them anticipated would change both of their fates.

And the moment that Toothless willingly let Hiccup touch him for the first time was what forged their bond. It was as if both of them felt a link that would tie their destinies together.

As Toothless reminisced on these memories, he recalled something that Thornado had told him the day after Toothless was exonerated for the lightening incident.

"Friendship is a powerful thing when you think about it." Thornado casually shrugged.

"Why do you say that?" Toothless asked.

"Well," Thornado grinned, "friendship can be defined in many ways: just laughing and joking with someone, enjoying another's company, and even risking their life for another."

"Isn't that what they say about "love"?" Toothless frowned, as if disgusted by the concept.

Unexpectedly, Thornado let out a deep, hardy laugh. The younger dragon looked at the elder with a baffled expression.

"You youngsters these days." Thronado shook his head. "You don't realize that friendship is a type of love."

"What?" Toothless cringed, confused. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely." Thronado grinned again. "Love isn't just romance, you know. Brotherly love is important, too. One brother risking their life for another brother is probably the bravest thing I have ever seen."

"I take it that's a metaphor." Toothless replied.

"Actually, I have seen it before." Thornado looked over at the Night Fury. "From you and your rider."

Toothless said nothing. He just stared at the old Thunder Drum with a perplexed face.

"The bond between brothers is a special one." Thornado said as he turned away and began to walk back toward the house. "Don't take it for granted, young one."

Toothless finally understood what Thornado was trying to tell him. And last night was what supported his words of wisdom.

The Night Fury purred softly as he gently nudged his rider, being careful not to wake him. Hiccup groaned slightly as the Night Fury did so, but still remained asleep.

What happened last night wasn't a debt being repaid, for there was never one to begin with. Toothless just needed time to understand that.

And now, Toothless was even more grateful to have Hiccup as his rider and companion.

The dragon then wandered back to his sleeping place and settled down again.

Before drifting off to sleep, Toothless silently thought:

"Thank you, brother."