"Uhhh… Hiccup? Hey, Hiccup?"

"What is it, 'Legs?" Hiccup asked, rubbing at a stubborn mark on the dragon academy's chalkboard.

"Well… This may sound strange, but…" Fishlegs trailed off.

"But what?" Hiccup asked as he decided to leave the mark there. He picked up the chalkboard and walked away, ready to put it back in storage as the day's lesson had already been completed. Fishlegs followed him.

"Do you think Toothless is mad at Meatlug?" he asked finally.

"What?" Hiccup asked, surprised. He set the chalkboard down, dusted his hands off, and faced Fishlegs, giving him his full attention. "What makes you say that?"

"I don't know," Fishlegs responded, with false nonchalance. "I just get that feeling. And I think Toothless has been avoiding Meatlug. And whenever they are together - well, look," he urged, and he pointed towards their dragons. Hiccup followed Fishlegs' gaze, and frowned.

Meatlug was looking sadly and pleadingly in Toothless' direction. Toothless, however, had curled up in a tight ball, and was using his tail fin to block Meatlug from his view. His whole demeanor radiated annoyance.

"Wow, Fishlegs, I think you're right," Hiccup conceded. "I wonder why," he mused. "Do you remember when this started?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure I started noticing a couple days ago, just after we found those Whispering Death eggs beneath Berk."

"Huh," Hiccup muttered, deep in thought. He tried to remember everything that had happened before that, in the hopes that he could figure out what was making Toothless angry, but he could think of nothing. He told Fishlegs so.

"Yeah, I couldn't think of anything either," Fishlegs replied, features creased in worry. "Poor Meatlug seems really upset about it." As if on cue, Meatlug flopped to the ground with a distressed sound, her eyes full of sadness.

"It's okay, girl!" Fishlegs comforted immediately, going quickly to his dragon's side. "We'll find out why Toothless is mad at you, and then we can get it all sorted out," he told her. His words were accompanied with a big hug.

Hiccup, meanwhile, headed over to Toothless, who stood up as he approached. All signs of annoyance disappeared completely from the dragon's face. The pupils of his eyes widened, and he shoved his head against Hiccup's body in an affectionate mood.

"Hey, bud," Hiccup grinned. He dropped to his knees and held Toothless' face with both hands, looking him directly in the eyes. "Are you mad at Meatlug for some reason?" he asked. Toothless growled quietly and glared in Meatlug's direction. "I guess that's answer enough," Hiccup muttered dryly. "Well, what did Meatlug ever do to you?" he wondered. "Meatlug's the most non-confrontational dragon I know. See?" he continued, approaching Meatlug confidently.

Meatlug turned and watched him with gentle eyes, but before Hiccup could get within a few feet, Toothless had come, growling, between them. Gently but firmly, he shoved Hiccup away from Meatlug and glared pointedly at the other dragon. Toothless, constantly watching Meatlug, moved backwards, forcing Hiccup back with him.

"What's going on?" Fishlegs asked, a hint of fear apparent in his voice.

"I don't understand it," Hiccup responded, puzzled. He knew what Toothless was doing, of course; he just didn't understand why. Fishlegs tentatively separated from Meatlug and began to walk towards Hiccup. Toothless let him by without so much as a glance.

"I don't get it, Hiccup," Fishlegs fretted. His expression was pleading. He wanted an explanation. "What's Toothless doing?" With a sigh, Hiccup faced him, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Protecting me."

…

Toothless laid there in a ball, using his tail fin as a screen to block his view of Meatlug. He watched as Fishlegs followed Hiccup around the Academy, discussing one thing or another. He tried to ignore the other dragon, but it was no use. He could feel Meatlug's eyes on him, pleading silently to be on friendly terms again. Toothless huffed in annoyance. A small part of him reasoned that maybe he should be just a bit kinder and more understanding towards Meatlug. But the larger part of him just wanted to stay angry, at least for a while. It was hard to forget the blatant carelessness the other dragon had shown. Letting herself get distracted like that!

A growl escaped Toothless' throat as he remembered the moment. It was when Hiccup was being lowered into the well to investigate the draining of the water. Toothless had already been on edge as his rider had been lowered, bit by agonizing bit, into the dark deep well, holding onto a rope attached to Meatlug. Pacing around the well quickly to vent his anxiety, Toothless had watched the whole thing with careful attention - something he wished Meatlug had done. But, no - a pile of rocks had managed to take up her full attention instead. She had lunged for it, and that one careless movement had done it. The rope had snapped as a result of Meatlug's pulling, and Hiccup had been sent tumbling down the terrifying blackness of the empty well, to meet any kind of unfortunate fate. He could have been terribly injured. Or, knowing Hiccup's luck, he may very well have fallen head-first onto an unfortunately-place rock, and died right there.

Toothless growled once more. Meatlug was very lucky Hiccup hadn't been hurt.

…

"Protecting you?" Fishlegs echoed, shocked. "From Meatlug?"

"I don't understand it any more than you do," Hiccup assured him. "If I could only figure out what could have done it…" The two boys stood there in silence for a minute, each in deep contemplation. After a minute, Hiccup snapped his fingers in a sudden realization.

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "The well!"

"The well?"

"Yeah, that has to be it. Meatlug was lowering me into that well, and she got distracted, remember? She went after those rocks, and it broke the rope," Hiccup reminded him.

"Oh, yeah!" Fishlegs recalled. "Sorry about that, by the way," he added guiltily.

"It's alright," Hiccup laughed quietly. "Any other dragon besides Toothless would've done the same thing. I mean, all the dragons who have riders naturally want to protect their riders. But Toothless is just a lot more attentive about it. I'll see if I can talk to him," Hiccup decided. "You go calm Meatlug," he added, gesturing to the Gronckle. She looked a perfect mix of deeply saddened and highly offended.

"Right," Fishlegs agreed, and he jogged off in her direction. Hiccup watched him go, then sighed.

"Toothless?" he called. The dragon dropped his defensive stance and turned around to face his rider. He sat submissively before him with a curious warble. "Toothless, you're mad at Meatlug because of what happened at the well, right?" he asked. Toothless moved forward with a small sound of assent. Hiccup nodded, then sat down, trying to gather the right words.

"Bud, you know you can't blame her for what happened, right?" he asked, and Toothless ducked his head guiltily. Of course he knew. "You know what, bud? Any other dragon would've done the same thing. I bet you're the only one who'd have done the job properly," Hiccup told him with a small smile. "What I mean is, you're the best at protecting me, bud. It's what you do," he grinned. "So you can't expect any of the other dragons to be as good at it as you, okay? Because they'll never measure up."

Toothless warbled affectionately, licked his rider's face. Hiccup laughed, wiping the dragon saliva off on his sleeve with no complaints. Then he looked past his dragon, at Fishlegs attempting to comfort Meatlug. Hiccup looked back to Toothless.

"What do you say, bud? Think you can forgive her?"

…

Of course Toothless could forgive her. Hiccup was right, after all. And as had happened quite often before, Hiccup had hit the nail on the head. None of the other dragons would ever be as good at protecting their riders as Toothless was. Well, maybe someday - but not now. Because Toothless was unique in a very important way.

Of course, every dragon had a natural protective instinct for their rider. Protecting your rider was your job. But what made Toothless unique was the fact that no other dragon knew the truth that Toothless knew: you begin to take your job seriously only after you've very nearly failed it.

Before the fight with the Red Death, Toothless had been probably about as protective as every other dragon normally would be. When Hiccup's life had been in real danger, Toothless had come to his aid, and had fought off the Monstrous Nightmare. But aside from that, he had probably been as inattentive as Meatlug had been a few days ago. When Hiccup tripped, he laughed, but didn't catch him. When Hiccup sneezed, he thought it strange, but didn't bother to see whether or not the young viking was ill. When Hiccup hissed in pain, he looked to make sure nothing major had happened, but didn't go to him in genuine concern.

No, he had not taken his job seriously back then. Not until he had very nearly failed it. Not until he had seen the mangled remains of Hiccup's leg. Not until he had seen the boy's face, as pale and lifeless as Death itself. Not until he had waited in agony for the viking to wake up from what was beginning to look like an eternal sleep. Not until he had almost lost his rider for good.

Up until the day Hiccup lost his leg and nearly his life, Toothless hadn't really understood the fragility of humans. But now he understood. Oh, how he understood.

So, really, he couldn't be mad at Meatlug. She didn't know. She didn't have a memory of such a strong, pervasive fear. She didn't have the haunting image in her mind of her rider beaten and broken and half-dead. She didn't understand how fragile humans were - didn't understand how quickly your rider could go from alive and well to dead and irretrievable. There with you in one second, and lost forever in the next.

No, Meatlug didn't understand. And although Toothless was unhappy with her - and the other dragons' - lack of attention, he was also glad that they didn't understand. Such understanding came at a very high price. It was bought with blood and bruises, tension and terror. If they hadn't had to pay that price, well, that was good for them. So, yes, he could forgive Meatlug.

Of course he could.