He ran towards his friend, cursing as he had to hop through the art to make sure not to step on any of the lines, and then bulldozed his friend down in a tight hug. "What are you doing? How can you be a human?" he asked in a frantic voice, staring up at the greenish gold eyes of his dragon and companion.

Toothless almost lost his balance when Hiccup leaped on him but was instantly happy from the contact. The sensation of Hiccup holding him, even as a friend, while in his human body was overpowering.

Somehow, he managed to keep control of his desire to hold to other man as a lover and simply patted his shoulder. 'Why am I hesitating?' he thought to himself. 'It's finally my chance…' But before Toothless could finish thinking of the possibility of provoking a tender moment with Hiccup, the opportunity was gone.

Hiccup was walking around Toothless, examining and lifting limbs. He raised a sleeve to see if there were hidden scales, made him lift his leg so he could see if it functioned properly, and tussled his hair to make sure it wasn't made from an animal. He even lifted the back of his tunic to expose the his tender lower back. When Hiccup's fingers brushed over the soft flesh, it sent goose bumps coursing over Toothless's arms.

"This is amazing…and frankly impossible," Hiccup whispered in disbelief while slumping to sit on the ground. He tilted his head back and stared at his companion, his human companion whom he knew so well as a fearless dragon.

Toothless managed to sit down beside Hiccup without loosing his balance; however, when he tried to cross his legs as many humans did when they sat on the ground he found himself falling backwards and landing with a thud. He winced as a rock dug into his back but was unable to move to rid himself of the pain. His legs were a jumble that he seemed incapable of untangling.

Laughter filled the small enclosure as Hiccup reached over to assist with the unweaving. Once Toothless stopped his flailing, getting him sitting in the proper position became a matter of ease, so long as the reptile had something to lean against. Hiccup noticed with bubbles of laughter that Toothless did not have the back strength required to keep the position otherwise.

"Do you dragons not know how to use your back muscles?" he asked between fits of laughter once they has positioned themselves against a rock. Toothless's jaw clenched and he glared at his companion. He wanted to say a witty rebuttal but knew if he tried it would only send Hiccup back into his rage of laughter with his dragon gurgles coming from a human mouth.

Reminding himself that he couldn't talk with Hiccup as he had so hoped made a glimmer of sadness cross his face. Most wouldn't notice the small expression but Hiccup, whom was Toothless's closest and dearest companion and who knew him best instantly caught it. He extended a finger towards the brow of his friend, pressing a finger into the worry lines that were forming on his forehead.

"Even as a human, you are the easiest reptile to read."

Toothless chuckled, flicking his head to the side to rid himself of the poke. He couldn't help but try and reply, a cascade of dragon tongue flowing from his mouth. His cheeks flushed and he sighed, looking down as the worry lines became apparent on his face again.

Hiccup watched as his friends face altered to the strained expression of one whom was lost. He thought he understood.

"I don't see why you can't talk. You have the right vocal cords now and you know the human language." Hiccup sighed and leaned back against the rock, staring up at the sky for a moment before speaking again. "Have you really tried?"

The glare he got at such a stupid question made him smirk, withholding a chuckle. "Really Toothless…you spent your whole life as a dragon. Speaking like a dragon would come naturally, normally. Try making your mouth move like a human and the sounds you make sound like a human."

Toothless stared at him dumbfounded, then realized what he was saying made sense in some strange way. He tried, again only emanated the jumbles of dragon. But with the encouragement of Hiccup he continued to try.

They practiced for hours, Toothless moving his mouth in new and unusual ways. He tried to mimic Hiccup, whom was speaking slowly so Toothless could really watch how his mouth moved. He noticed how the tongue would press against the teeth to make certain sounds, or how the mouth made different shapes.

After the sun had moved from the east to high noon and both of their stomachs were growling, they took a break. Hiccup functioned a quick spear out of a stick and a rock that had the shape of a spear and went to the ponds edge. Toothless sat back and watched, knowing this was going to be one of those moments he treasured, along with many of Hiccups other… failures.

Hiccup wadded into the pond until he was almost waist deep, the spear held above his head ready for the plunge into the water. A fish swam by. The scales glimmered in the sun. The spear darted into the water, a splash erupted from the smooth surface, and on the head of the spear emerged a glimmering fish.

Toothless clapped from the side lines, surprised that it had gone so well. It was then that Hiccup turned around and started walking back, a childish smile of happiness plastered on his face until he lost his footing on a loose rock beneath the waters surface. He plummeted into the water face first, a scream of surprise echoing in the closure.

Toothless started laughing hysterically, tilting his head back and holding his side as he rolled around on the ground. Hiccup pulled his face out from the muddy water and glared towards his companion, trying to wipe the grime off his face with a muddle hand, leaving him just as if not more filthy. "Thanks for nothing, you useless reptile."

He stopped his laughing long enough to shout over to him, "Mammal!" Hiccup stared at his friend who continued to roll on the ground, shocked that he had heard a human word come from his mouth. He had begun to loose hope that it was possible but…he had just done it.

'Without realizing,' he noticed, a smirk coming to his lips. Toothless was continuing his fit of laughter, eyes closed as tears spilled from them. Hiccup stood up and grabbed a pile of the mud off his face, smirking as he walked towards the other.

Splat!

The mud ball splattered against Toothless's smug face, much to Hiccups satisfaction and Toothless's dismay. He sat up, a look of shock on his face. Then, with speed Hiccup had to wonder if was really human, Toothless ran over and tackled him, tossing them back into the shallows of the water. The water instantly became a muddy color as Hiccup's face became visible past the layers of muck.

Toothless straddled Hiccup's waist, making sure the other was able to keep his head above water. Then, Toothless smiled down at him, grabbing some mud from the water floor and dripping it slowly onto Hiccups face.

The flailing caused a huge splash of water and Toothless eventually let up, laughing and releasing Hiccup from his muddy demise.

After he had caught his breath, he sat up and glared to Toothless. "And after all that tutoring I did for you, which apparently paid off very well." The questioning look he got verified that Toothless had spoken human without realizing.

"You spoke."

Toothless raised a questioning eyebrow, then replied "I did not." Then his eyes enlarged and he covered his mouth with his hand, awe plastered over his face.

They stared at each other for a moment, Hiccup smiling and Toothless just dumb struck until finally Hiccup rolled his eyes and pushed the other into the water. "Come on, we lost our fish. We need to clean up and get back to the village so we can eat. I'm starved."

"You're always hungry now a days," was the reply he got, though it took a while to form the words. Hiccup didn't seem to mind having to wait. He seemed to be enjoying watching the other talk, hearing the deep voice that was smooth, but carried a hint of rugged edges.

Agreeing that they needed to eat, they both waded into the water and rinsed the mud from their clothing and skin. Toothless was having some trouble getting the mud from behind his ear and Hiccup had to roll his eyes before simply submerging the others head into the water to clean it up.

They laughed and splashed each other for a moment before coming out of the water. Hiccup removed his tunic to ring it out. Water poured from the fibers but that is not what caught Toothless's gaze. The sun was hitting his skin at a wonderful angle, putting shadows along the left of his abs and making the rest of his skin shine with the water droplets that remained. Hiccup caught him staring and he quickly looked away, ringing out pieces of the bottom of his tunic instead of taking it off.

They then began their walk home, Hiccup throwing the tunic on as they walked. They talked easily on the way home, Hiccup accepting the time it took for Toothless to form the words needed to explain a point.

They talked about pointless things, the weather and Gobbler. Eventually the conversation edged towards what it was like as a dragon in the village and Toothless couldn't help but voice his one complaint.

"We need more meat! If you feed us any more of that artificial meat your father bought off of that traveling salesman, there may very well be a rebellion of fire."

Hiccup chuckled, having a feeling that was coming. "I'll se that I can do about that but you guys were eating all our fish!" Toothless made a face that expressed, "so" and caused Hiccup to roll his eyes.

Before long they had made their way through the forest and were on the outskirts of the village. Toothless stopped, hesitating before entering the border of their home. "What if Gobbler has sounded an alarm? I kidnapped you."

"Easy enough to explain, but I think we should keep the 'magical transformation' down to a minimum."

Toothless sighed, worried and not exactly liking the idea of a village of Vikings attacking him. Still, he knew he had to trust Hiccup on this one and they proceeded towards the village. Much to both of their dismays, the village was in a crazed hustle. They both thought it was because of Hiccup's disappearance but after questioning a few of the Vikings who actually took the time to stop, they realized the neighboring clan had tried to surprise the village with an attack from the south. Luckily, one of their aerial scouts had discovered their whereabouts in time.

"To arms!"

"Ge' them axes to the men!"

"Move, yer in tha way!"

The voices were roars throughout the area and many were mounting their dragons, preparing for the inevitable battle.

Hiccup and Toothless exchanged glances, not sure how they could help with Toothless in his current form. The town moved around them as they felt lost in a sea of battle they no longer had a raft in.