I finally have a great idea going for the story, and I will say, things will begin to pick up soon. Thanks to everyone who reads this, I'm going to be spending more time on this from now on, so enjoy!

Dusk was upon the sky as Hiccup, Astrid, and Stoick walked towards the cove. Hiccup was in the lead, followed by Astrid, and together they led the way for Stoick. Hiccup kept a close eye on his father. He still wasn't sure if he was 100% trustworthy.

The forest soon began to clear up and Hiccup could tell that they were close. He looked ahead and saw the light coming through the opening above the cove. The sky was filled with vibrant pinks and oranges as the sun slowly began to disappear below the horizon. The forest was darker due to the thick canopy overhead, which made the cove easily identifiable to the group.

"We're here," Hiccup told Stoick. Stoick looked towards the cove, but could not see into it. He was about to speak up, but was cut off by Hiccup.

"This way," he said as he motioned with his hand to follow. Stoick looked around, still suspicious of the place. He was on edge. He knew that there was a dragon near, and not just any dragon, a Nightfury. He could not afford to let his guard down.

Stoick started lagging behind because of his attentiveness and Astrid used the chance to quickly whisperer to Hiccup, "What are you going to do? You do know that Stoick is one of the most notorious dragon killers on Berk. You're being very risky Hiccup," she finished.

Hiccup stopped, partially to wait for his father to catch up and partially to answer Astrid's question. "Like I said Astrid, if vikings are ever to stop fighting dragons, we need my dad to be on our side. This is the best chance we have to convince him," Hiccup finished as Stoick rounded the corner of the small and narrow opening that led into the cove.

"How do you both fit through here?" Stoick rhetorically asked as he squeezed through the final opening. They were now all situated behind some rocks, the last obstacle separating them from the opening of the cove was a wooden shield that was currently stuck between a few of the rocks.

Hiccup decided to give his father a few instructions before proceeding. "Okay, I'm going to go out to Toothless first. You two come out when I give you the signal. Oh, and dad. Make sure to stay with Astrid. Toothless doesn't know who you are yet, so he may be a bit defensive." Stoick held his stoic stare, but gave an affirming nod.

Hiccup proceeded, ducking underneath the shield, and entered the clearing. He immediately identified Toothless on the other side of the lake. His ears shot up and he excitedly ran over to Hiccup.

"Hey bud," Hiccup said cheerfully as Toothless began rubbing his head against Hiccup's side. Hiccup could tell that he really wanted to fly, it had been over a day and the dragon was restless. "Yeah, I know. We'll fly later, but right now I have someone I want you to meet."

Toothless looked at Hiccup with a confused stare. Hiccup turned towards the entrance and Toothless, for the first time, saw the two newcomers. He easily recognized Astrid, but had no recollection of the man next to her. Toothless began to tense up upon seeing the new bulky man.

Hiccup quickly recognized this and began to calm him down. "Hey, it's okay bud. He's not going to hurt you," Hiccup said staring intently at Stoick, almost as if he was talking to him rather than Toothless.

Toothless looked up at Hiccup with concern, but quickly brought his attention back to Stoick and Astrid. Upon hearing Hiccup's words, Toothless began to loosen up. Hiccup could see that Toothless was still uncomfortable, but noticed him back off a bit.

"He won't hurt any of us bud, he just wants to meet you," Hiccup said trying to calm Toothless down.

Hiccup motioned for his father to start his approach. "Slowly dad, you don't want to startle him," Hiccup warned.

Astrid gave the chief an encouraging gesture, and he slowly began to approach the dragon. Everything in Stoick's mind was screaming at him to either run or fight the beast, but so far he had seen no signs of hostility from the dragon. Maybe Hiccup was telling the truth after all.

"Alright Toothless, it's okay," Hiccup noticed Toothless tensing up again. "Put your hand out dad, slowly," Hiccup quickly instructed.

Stoick continued to slowly approach the dragon, but now he held his hand out in front of him. He looked onto dragon. He could see its large, seemingly yellowish, eyes stare back at him. He had never seen a Nightfury before, and he was stunned to see the saddle that sat on its back. Hiccup must be riding the dragon. Somewhere in the deep recesses of Stoick's mind, he could imagine riding a dragon. Feeling the vast wind flying past him as he soared into the heavens, but for now, Stoick's mind was concentrated on the situation at hand.

He could see the dragon continuing to tense up, and Hiccup noticed it as well, giving his father further instructions. "Don't look at him dad, you need to show that he can trust you."

Stoick was skeptical, "How is that suppose to show trust?"

Toothless began to growl.

"Just do it," Hiccup instructed sounding very concerned.

Stoick let out a annoyed sigh and turned his head away from the dragon. Toothless stopped his deep growling and looked on with curiosity. It was one thing for Hiccup to do this, but he had not expected a bulky viking to be courteous to him.

Stoick was now only a few steps away from Toothless and the dragon seemed to be okay with it. "Okay dad, a little closer, but wait for Toothless to close the gap," Hiccup told his father.

Stoick took a few more steps and waited. He held his breath in silence for what appeared to be minutes. He held still, waiting to see if Hiccup would say anything more. Stoick soon began to grow impatent, "Am I just supp…" He was suddenly cut off by the scaly texture of Toothless's forehead in his palm.

Hiccup stood back. It had actually worked. Stoick opened his eyes and saw the dragon before him. "Wha…" Stoick was speechless. Everything he had known about dragons was now null and void. The dragon had shown something to Stoick that he had never thought existed.

Toothless stood back, but Stoick remained where he stood, locked in place by shock. Hiccup walked over to Toothless and gave him a scratch behind the ear. "Good job bud," he said quietly.

Astrid ran up behind Stoick. "You did it. I would never have thought," she said sounding impressed.

Hiccup walked over to Stoick with Toothless in tow. "So?" he asked. Hoping that his father's mind was changed.

"I...I mean..How?" Stoick stammered. It wasn't often that his father was left speechless.
Hiccup quickly replied, "Can you see now? They're not what we thought, there's so much more to them than we ever knew."

Stoick glanced over at Toothless, his mind made up. His face turned into a scowl again "This leaves more questions than answers Hiccup. Aye, I see what you mean." Stoick paused for a moment and turned to Hiccup. "Is there anything else I should know?" he asked.

Hiccup looked up to his father. He may as well try it now that Stoick was more open. "Well, yes, there's one more thing, but I don't know if you're going to like it," Hiccup responded.

Astrid's face lit up. She knew exactly what Hiccup was talking about.

Stoick looked suspiciously at Hiccup. He saw him walk over to Toothless and prepare the saddle. Stoick was taken aback again, there was no way.

I think we all know what's about to happen. ;)

So it took me awhile to write this chapter, not necessarily because it was hard, but mostly because I didn't know where I was going with this story. Now I have a pretty good idea of where this story is going to go and I am looking forward to writing more in the future.

So now with that out of the way, what do you think of the story so far? Any suggestion for how I can make it better? Let me know what you think, constructive feedback is always greatly appreciated.