Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD

A/N: Greetings, one and all! Welcome to the first instalment in the 'Heart Bind Saga'. I was inspired to write this story after reading 'Dragonheart' by words-with-dragons. I really liked the concept of Hiccup and Toothless having a life bond and decided to write my own take on the idea. They already gave me permission to use elements of their story and publish this one, but I recommend reading their story too! Just bear in mind that it's incomplete, and hasn't updated in a while. Keeping up with stories can be hard when real life gets in the way (boo!).

I want to be clear – this is not a Toothless x Hiccup slash fic, for one simple reason – they are different species. If you want to read it like that for your own personal enjoyment then go ahead, I'm not here to tell you who to ship, but this is not that kind of story, even if it seems that way at times. The Ancient Greeks had four words for four different kinds of love, and the one that best describes Hiccup and Toothless' relationship is a combination of Philia – affectionate and loyal but wholly platonic friendship – and Agape – unconditional love.

Also, as a treat, at the start of each chapter I'm going to recommend a Hiccup & Toothless friendship song (suggestions welcome!). The theme song for this story is 'Something Wild' by Lindsey Stirling and Andrew McMahon. The song for this chapter is 'In My Eyes' by The Afters. Think of it as Toothless' POV of Hiccup, the lyrics match up with their bond so well it's uncanny :)

So without further ado, I give you…

HEART BOUND

Chapter One – A Promising Rumour

A streamlined creature shot like an arrow towards the distant horizon. He skimmed along the currents of the air, his jet black wings outstretched to their fullest to catch every little eddy. A vista of fluffy clouds stretched out as far as the eye could see….yet the dragon's sharp green eyes quickly picked out a sliver of blue in the expanse of white, tinged yellow by the rays of the sun.

Crouched on its back, a human rider clicked the stirrup turned pedal, adjusting the prosthetic left tail fin. The dragon arched his back, his rider holding tight as they went up and over in a tight loop de loop. They plunged through the pool of sky towards the ocean far below; at almost the last minute, the dragon flung his wings out to catch the air again, and they sped over the rolling waves with a roar and holler of triumph.

A grin was plastered on the dragon rider's face as they glided at speed across the water, their hearts racing a mile a minute. He and his Night Fury flew on, and Hiccup reflected on the events that had led them there…the events that would change their lives.

A biting wind whistled through the nooks and crannies of Berk; the outcrops of rock and the ramshackle houses alike. Almost all of the houses were empty, however; the islands population was gathered at the docks; a familiar, well-worn vessel had been spotted approaching the island.

The chief of Berk, Stoick the Vast, stood on the pier awaiting Johann's arrival. His ship was sailing swiftly towards Berk, the wind behind the sail billowing it out to its fullest. "I've never known Johann to travel here so quickly" Stoick remarked to Gobber, his best friend and the village blacksmith, "He's a day early!"

"Aye, it is odd" Gobber nodded, gingerly scratching at his chin with the tip of his hook, "You think something might be wrong?"

"We'll soon find out" replied Stoick. Johann's ship sailed into harbour; even though he'd brought the sail in and turned the ship about to slow himself down, the side of the boat still hit the pier. The garrulous merchant barely seemed to notice the jolt, or his wares being knocked about; he had his gangplank out and was on the pier as soon as he could.

The villagers flocked to meet him; Stoick and Gobber reached him first, naturally. "Trader Johann, what's the matter?" the chief demanded; Johann held up a hand, getting his breath back. The jolt had in fact knocked the wind out of him somewhat.

"Ah, Stoick" he greeted with a respectful nod, "My apologies for the unexpected arrival, but I simply couldn't wait to reach Berk. Where is master Hiccup?"

"Hiccup?" Gobber exclaimed in surprise, "You rushed all this way for Hiccup?" He chuckled, not harshly, and remarked, "You'd have better luck searching anywhere else in the archipegalo; the boy's hardly ever here as it is!"

Johann looked somewhat dismayed. "You mean he's not here? I don't suppose you know when he'll be back?" he asked hopefully.

Stoick looked behind him; a lot of the other villagers had caught up to them, including Astrid. "I don't know where Hiccup is, Johann" he admitted, "But I'm sure he hasn't gone far". He better not have; Stoick would have to have a serious talk with his son about Hiccup's irresponsible tendency to fly off to Thor knew where. He'd always been a wanderer, ever since he was little…first it was searching for trolls, now it was new lands and dragons.

"What's going on?" Astrid asked curiously, having overheard the chief mention Hiccup's mind. It had only taken about four years, but she finally felt comfortable admitting that she liked Hiccup – loved him, really. There were many things she loved about him, and his adventurous spirit was one of them, but she could admit that it was a tad inconvenient at times.

"Johann here is in a hurry to see your man, Astrid" Gobber informed her, "Any idea where he's rushed off too this time?"

"You know what he's like. He's probably out flying Toothless. How come you want to see him so badly, anyway?" she asked Johann.

"I have it on good authority that something has happened, which master Hiccup simply must hear about. I believe it will be of great interest to him" the aging trader explained.

Astrid nodded, and replied "I can find him. Just let me find Stormfly" she said, pushing through the crowd in search of her Deadly Nadder. They'd discovered that Nadders had tracking abilities, much like rumblehorns, which explained why Astrid and Stormfly almost always won their games of dragon hide and seek. At least, she'd been winning them until Snotlout, fed up with losing, had immaturely refused to play the game anymore. In an effort to keep the peace between them all, Hiccup had suggested they stop playing and find something else to do.

When she'd got back up to the village, pausing every so often to call Stormfly, both by her name and dragon-call, Astrid was starting to wonder if her Nadder had flown off to the edge of the world as well…then said Nadder alighted with a squawk in front of her, and she smiled in relief. "Stormfly!" she grinned, reaching up to pet the dragon's snout, "There you are. Come on, we need to find Hiccup and Toothless" she explained, pulling herself up into the saddle. She trusted that her dragon recognised the command 'find', and their friends' names.

Stormfly gave herself a shake and took to the air. She'd rather have rested for a bit, but Astrid sounded urgent; she wondered what was so important. Her nostrils flared, trying to pick out the lingering scents of a certain Night Fury and his loyal rider. There were so many scents in the air, but as they climbed up away from the haze of scents from the village, Stormfly's keen draconic sense of smell picked up the right scent, and she headed towards the north-east.

Not far away, a black dragon was sprawled on the top of a sea stack, eyes closed and dozing. Hiccup was resting as well; they'd been flying since the early hours of the morning, pausing only to grab a quick breakfast, and they'd decided to have a break for half an hour or so. It was peaceful away from the hustle of the village…out here there was no-one to bother him. No overbearing father to pressure him into reluctant chieftain lessons, no twins and Snotlout to pester him with immature pranks…it was just him and Toothless, as it should be.

Toothless' ear-fins perked up at the sound of a familiar, squawking roar. He looked over his shoulder and saw Stormfly coming in for a landing on the other side of the large sea stack. Hiccup was already getting to his feet. "Hello, milady" he grinned at Astrid; he'd been feeling pestered by just about everyone lately, apart from his dragon and his girlfriend.

Astrid dismounted and walked over to him; without warning, she gave his shoulder a light punch – light for her, anyway, and said "That's for always flying off". Then she kissed his cheek; meanwhile, Stormfly and Toothless were greeting each other, jerking their heads up in a gesture that for dragons meant we're friends, and for a human would be the equivalent of a handshake or high five.

"What was that for?" Hiccup asked about the kiss, not that he was complaining.

"No reason" Astrid shrugged with a smile, "Trader Johann wants to see you."

Hiccup blinked in bewilderment. "Johann? He's not due to arrive for another day."

*Johann? The man who won't shut up? Oh no* Toothless groaned in annoyance. Stormfly let out a chittering laugh and remarked, *Sorry, Toothless. You'll just have to ignore him.*

Their riders paid the dragons no mind. "He's here early, he just came into port. He said something's happened that you need to hear about, said it would interest you" explained Astrid. Hiccup was slightly dubious about this claim; the last time Johann had wanted to tell him something important, he'd ended up getting stuck listening to the man ramble on about a man-eating tribe in Papua New Guinea. Still, if Johann thought this was so important, that he'd sailed to Berk a day ahead of schedule…

"Lead the way" he said; they walked over to their dragons and got into the saddles, taking off and heading back towards Berk. When they arrived, Johann was no longer at the docks; he'd moved to the great hall. When Hiccup, Toothless and Astrid walked in, he was drinking mead from a large mug and regaling Stoick, Gobber and the rest of the dragon trainers with some far-fetched tale or other. None of them were actually interested, with the possible exception of Gobber, but were pretending to listen politely.

There were more than a few sighs of relief when Johann noticed Hiccup. "Ah, master Hiccup!" he exclaimed with a wide grin, "So good to see you again!"

"Yeah, you too, Johann" Hiccup answered. Toothless gave a dismissive snort, his eyes lidded, and retorted *No it isn't.*

"Astrid said you had something to tell me?"

"Oh, yes, of course! Have a seat" Johann insisted. When Hiccup and Astrid had sat down – holding hands under the table – Johann began his story. "I heard about this from the chief of the Shivering Shores, and he heard it from one of his villagers whose second cousin is a fisherman on the vessel that picked up the poor soul that the whole mess happened to. It was the talk of their village; I daresay it'll be the talk of yours when we're finished!"

"Sooner the better" Snotlout muttered snarkily; not under his breath enough to be unheard.

*We actually agree on something* said Toothless. Of course he knew that none of them could understand him, humans couldn't hear a dragon think-speaking, but it was fun to talk around them without them having a clue what he was saying.

Johann frowned, but ignored the interruption and continued, "I daresay you've heard tell of Myrkr; the land of darkness. Two week's sail to the west of Berk, it is a land cloaked in forests, mountains, ice…. and mystery. For decades, no man has ventured onto its shores, because those who dared to do so never came back. Until now…a fortnight ago, a fishing ship was sailing south along the coast of Myrkr. They kept their distance, but on this fateful night, a storm swept them closer to the shore.

"Picture it, if you will; the crashing waves, the roaring wind, Thor tearing apart the sky with his lightning – and out of nowhere, a blast of flame!" Johann exclaimed, gesticulating wildly, "And then another! Brave men tossed overboard or burned in a vicious attack by wild dragons. Ooh, it makes me shudder just to think of it. I'm very glad your dragons are nothing like these monsters" he claimed.

Hiccup frowned and protested, "Dragons aren't monsters; and they don't attack ships for no reason. Maybe they mistook the sailors for hunters, or they were trying to scare the sailors out of their territory or something" he reasoned.

"That might indeed be so, master Hiccup" Johann acknowledged, "Odin knows I haven't forgotten that harrowing time I was harassed by wild dragons…but this was different, you see. These dragons weren't just harassing the sailors, they were aiming for them, trying to kill them."

"Why would they do that?" Astrid frowned; it didn't make sense. Dragons wouldn't just attack people for no reason; there had to be a rational explanation.

Fishlegs asked, "Johann, is there anything you can tell us about what kind of dragons did this?"

"Yeah, and how do you know all this, exactly?" Snotlout asked rather mockingly, "Were you there?"

Johann glared at him – in a manner of speaking – and replied, "No, thank Odin. If I may continue; almost all of those poor souls lost their lives that night, but one. Call it providence or sheer luck or a gift from the gods, but one sailor managed to cling to a piece of wreckage and was swept out to sea. He saw the dragons silhouettes shooting up into the sky, just a glimpse of them in the light of the flames. Pitch black, bat like wings, swift and deadly as lightning, with roars to send such a shiver down your spine!"

The other Vikings looked at one another. Fishlegs frowned in bewilderment, and remarked, "Black, bat like wings? But…that sort of sounds like…"

"Indeed, master Fishlegs" Johann nodded eagerly, "The sailor was swept up in the net of another ship; it's a miracle the man survived, and the only two words he said when they asked him what had happened were…" He paused for dramatic effect, "Night Furies."

Toothless, who had dropped his head onto his forepaws out of boredom, raised his head at those words, his ear-fins perked up in surprise. Hiccup's jaw dropped, as did the others. "You…you think the dragons who attacked that ship were Night Furies?" he asked Johann, feeling his heart beat pick up. Could this be the chance he'd been waiting for? The chance to find more Night Furies, so Toothless would have some of his own race for company…he waited anxiously and impatiently for Johann's answer.

"That's what the surviving sailor kept saying" Johann claimed, "But the men who found him thought him mad, and perhaps he was. After all, no Night Furies but yours have been seen for centuries…still, it does make for quite the gripping yarn, doesn't it?" He grinned cheerfully, and remarked, "I knew you'd like hearing it, master Hiccup. One never knows what's out there! You hear that, Toothless, old boy? You might not be the last Night Fury after all!" Johann added, smiling at Toothless.

The Night Fury gave him a rather unimpressed look and retorted, somewhat pointlessly, *Don't call me that.* He kept up an expression of disdain, but his insides were squirming. He wasn't entirely sure if he was excited, nervous, or simply hungry. The idea that there might be more Night Furies out there was definitely intriguing….and there was something about the place Johann had named, 'Mire-ker' or something, that sounded…oddly familiar to Toothless. He couldn't for the life of him place where he'd heard it before, though.

An excited grin spread across his rider's face. "This…this is incredible!" Hiccup exclaimed, running his hands through his messy auburn hair, "Johann, for once, I'm glad I stayed to listen to your story!"

"Well, thank you, master Hiccup, I…wait, what?" Johann frowned, realising what Hiccup had just said. Everyone ignored him.

"Oh, I can't believe it!" Fishlegs all but squealed in delight, "More Night Furies! It makes sense, Myrkr is uninhabited; if there were Night Furies living there no one would have known about them!" In his excitement, he accidentally hugged Ruffnut- she grimaced in disgust and shoved him away.

Hiccup turned to Johann urgently and asked, "Johann, can I have a look at your maps?" He was already spreading his own out onto the table, tracing his finger westward from Berk.

"They're on my ship right now, I'm afraid. What did you want them for?"

"I haven't gone as far west as Myrkr; the furthest Toothless and I have been is Shattered Axe Island" explained Hiccup, tapping an island sketched out on his map that did indeed roughly resemble an axe, but broken up by rivers and inlets.

"Well, I do know there's an island between there and Myrkr; it's the furthest I ever dare sail when I pass that way. Nott's Gate, it's called. It's about halfway from that island and the mainland…but tell me, master Hiccup, what do you want to know that for?"

Hiccup scribbled something on his map and folded it back up. As he did so, he explained "I just want to make sure there's somewhere for Toothless to rest on the way to Myrkr."

Now it was Stoick's turn to furrow his brow. "And what makes you think you're going anywhere near Myrkr?"

"Dad, this is my chance to find more Night Furies. I can't pass this up!"

Johann spluttered on his mead and exclaimed, "Weren't you listening to a word I said, master Hiccup? These Night Furies attacked a ship out of nowhere; if they really exist, and the sailor hadn't simply gone mad with fright, then they must be highly hostile to humans."

"I'll be safe with Toothless" Hiccup insisted confidently, petting his dragon's head, "They wouldn't attack one of their own."

"You want to go to Myrkr?" Fishlegs asked incredulously, "Hiccup, are you – are you crazy?! You can't go there! Didn't you hear Johann, it's the land of darkness, from which no man has ever returned alive!"

"Cool" Tuffnut and Ruffnut said in unison, excited and slightly malevolent grins on their faces. "A mysterious far-away land filled with ferocious dragons – it sounds awesome!" declared Tuff.

"Sounds like Tuesday!" joked Ruff.

"Ha! I'd like to see these Night Furies get the better of Hookfang and me" Snotlout said with an arrogant smirk.

"Hookfang and I, you mean."

"Oh, what was that, Fishlegs? It was so boring I couldn't hear you."

Astrid turned to Hiccup and asked brightly, "So when do we set off?"

"There's no 'we', Astrid" Hiccup insisted firmly, much to her surprise, "I don't want you guys to come."

"What?" exclaimed Astrid, Snotlout and the twins simultaneously, staring at him in shock.

Hiccup hastily explained, "We don't know how Night Furies react to other dragons; Toothless spent years living in a nest full of different dragons, they're used to him, but these Night Furies might have a pack all to themselves. It'll be dangerous and I don't want you guys getting hurt."

"No one is going to get hurt" Stoick said firmly, "because nobody is going anywhere near Myrkr. That includes you, Hiccup."

His son gaped at him. "What? But dad, I have to go! I've been waiting for five years to find any sign of other Night Furies. Toothless can't fly without me, he can't go on his own."

"You shouldn't go on your own, Hiccup" Astrid protested, "We're a team, we work together!"

"Are any of you listening to me?" Stoick demanded crossly. Gobber opened his mouth to reply, but quickly closed it with a cough when the chief shot him a glare.

As the argument carried on, Toothless got to his feet and padded his way out of the Great Hall. His friends were outside, perched on the stone steps or the grass, waiting for their riders. *What's going on? Is everything alright?* asked Meatlug, fretting as usual.

Toothless repeated the gist of Johann's story, and the other dragons hissed or clicked their tongues in surprise, eyes widening. *You mean there's more of you out there?* Hookfang asked in distaste, *Oh no.*

The Night Fury snorted dismissively; he and Hookfang had a similar relationship to their riders. They didn't hate each other, but they'd had somewhat of a rivalry going on ever since Toothless had kicked Hookfang's scaly hide saving Hiccup from him. By now, both had become even and gotten over all that, but their semi-rivalry continued. Of course, he also had a friendly rivalry with Stormfly; Meatlug just wasn't that competitive, and B&B were too easily distracted.

*Don't listen to him. That's great news, Toothless. Congratulations* Stormfly told him, and he gave her a gummy smile.

*Thanks, Stormfly…I don't know if I believe it though. Johann said that this Myrkr land is two weeks away from Berk. The average dragon could fly that distance in four or five days; I could probably make it in two or so.*

*Yes, because you're so much better than us* Hookfang interrupted with an annoyed growl, but there was no real malice behind it. All the dragons knew that Toothless' kind, rare as they were, outstripped near every other kind in terms of speed and endurance; though eating cooked chicken gave them a fighting chance. It was just the way things were.

Toothless ignored him pointedly and continued, *If there are Night Furies out there, why haven't any of them flown this way before?*

*Why don't you fly off and ask them? Oh wait, you can't* Hookfang snorted.

Stormfly hissed at him and snapped, *Shut up, Hookfang! You're as bad as your rider!*

*Actually, I could ask them. Hiccup wants to fly out to Myrkr to find out for sure if there are Night Furies there.*

*It has been a while since we went on an adventure* Stormfly remarked.

*He wants to go alone – just the two of us.*

Needless to say, the other dragons were as surprised as their riders had been. *Why would he want to that?* asked Barf.

*Doesn't he want help?* added Belch.

*He thinks it would be too dangerous for his friends to come* explained Toothless, *they're arguing about it right now. I suppose we'll just have to see what happens.*

*Won't it be too dangerous for Hiccup?* Meatlug asked worriedly.

*I can protect him* Toothless declared fiercely, *Besides, I want to go. I can't explain it, but I feel like I'm meant to go there. Myrkr…it sounds so familiar. I can't figure out where I've heard it before.*

*Perhaps it's something from before…you know…Her* Meatlug suggested, and all the dragons shook themselves, their scales crawling. She was the last thing any of them wanted to think about.

That night, Toothless was woken by the sound of Hiccup moving around in his room. He gave an inquisitive coo and the young Viking looked over, pressing a finger to his lips. He was packing, Toothless realised – he was planning to go to Myrkr alone. The Night Fury felt conflicted…he got the vague feeling that it wasn't the best idea, a hazy memory lingering on the edge of his awareness. Yet the urge to fly out there was stronger, an instinctual tug that Toothless just couldn't ignore. Besides, if anything went wrong he would be there to protect Hiccup.

"C'mere, bud" Hiccup whispered. Toothless got to his feet and let Hiccup saddle him up, as quietly as possible. Fortunately his father was a deep sleeper. "I know we'll get in trouble for this" Hiccup admitted, "But I can't risk the others getting hurt. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to them out there…you'll look after me though, right bud?"

Toothless gave him a gummy smile and purred, the dragon equivalent of a smile. Hiccup took that as a 'yes', and smiled. "Thanks, buddy…and besides, I've got a back-up plan" he promised, scribbling out a note and leaving it on his desk. They snuck out of the house via the opening in the roof that Toothless used to come and go as he pleased. When they were out behind the house, Hiccup whistled, and a little Terrible Terror came scampering down the roof, flying onto his shoulder.

Oh no Toothless thought exasperatedly. *Hello, Sharp-Shot.*

*Hello!* the tiny dragon squeaked happily. Toothless resisted the urge to moan; he'd never been the biggest fan of Terrible Terrors. They often irritated him…Sharp-Shot was no real exception.

"Shh! Sharp-Shot here's gonna come with us, bud. If something goes wrong, he can fly back to Berk and warn the others" Hiccup explained. He sat in Toothless' saddle and let Sharp-Shot crouch on his lap, the little dragons' claws catching on his thighs and the saddle itself. Ignoring the stings, Hiccup let out the tail-fin and Toothless took to the air, veering around and heading towards the west. It was time for an adventure into realms unknown…Here goes nothing, he thought, surging forwards.

A/N: This chapter ended up being way longer than I thought, and now I'm making it even longer. If you use this link (without the spaces obviously) – www . dreamworkstv . com slash race-to-the-edge / map / # / map, it takes you to a version of Google Maps that shows where Berk and all the other islands would be if they really existed. In my story, Myrkr (pronounced Mire – kerr, it's the Norse word for darkness) is their equivalent of Greenland, but with forests instead of just rock and ice.

It's a really cool special feature and I'm sure most of you will already know about it, but I just thought I'd suggest having a look ; )