I killed a dragon.

I couldn't believe how horrible I felt about it. Astrid and Gobber didn't seem that concerned about what I did. They even tried to stay away from that topic. But deep down inside, I felt like I couldn't live with myself again.

I wasn't sure if I had a good reason to kill that Speed Stinger. If I would have shut the door upon seeing it, I wouldn't have had to deal with watching that dragon die. I wouldn't have had to experience that sickening, bottomless-pit-of-my-stomach feeling after seeing all that crimson blood spill from the dragon's throat.

But what if I had shut the door? What if I didn't give that dragon the opportunity to attack?

I wondered about that for a little bit then realized there was no "right" solution to this problem. If I had left the Speed Stinger alone, my dad, Stormfly, and Thornado would have been trapped with that dragon, unable to defend themselves. It probably wouldn't have taken long for it to kill them.

Something in me had to have been thinking ahead when I chose to fight the dragon. And somehow, through a small miracle, I escaped with my life. Toothless was hopefully okay as well. But it didn't make me feel any better knowing I was directly responsible for killing a dragon.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying on a wooden floor about ten feet away from a hearth. This house wasn't familiar, so I guessed I was still with Gobber.

That same coppery smell I had noticed earlier was still hovering around me. Looking down, I saw a large red-brown stain covering my front from my chest to my knees. It was a bloodstain, well, more like a bloodbath from the Speed Stinger.

My eyes settled on Toothless, who was curled up and sleeping lightly about two feet away from my head. He wasn't shaking like he was earlier. Every time he exhaled, a plume of steam came out of his snout. I wondered if he knew what I had done in front of him earlier... when was it? Today? Yesterday? Moreover, I wondered if he judged me for it.

I reached toward Toothless's head and stroked his cheek. He groaned, opening his eyes and looking at me. As soon as we made eye contact, I felt a deep calming presence settle over my shoulders.

"Hey, bud," I whispered to him with a little smile.

Toothless grunted and dragged himself closer. I sat up, feeling his gentle warmth. Toothless rumbled, telling me to relax. He was here now.

"I hope... I hope you're not mad at me," I whispered.

Toothless pulled his gaze away from me and sniffed at my chest and midsection.

I tensed, knowing I couldn't hide this reminder from anyone. I felt his short breaths coming and going as he locked the scent of the dragon's blood into his mind.

After a few seconds, Toothless returned his gaze to my eyes for a beat. I tried to hide my worried expression from him, just hoping he'd tolerate me wearing a strange dragon's blood.

Toothless closed his eyes and pushed his snout into my left shoulder.

The breath I had been holding all this time suddenly escaped my mouth in a sharp burst. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held onto him, not wanting to move or go anywhere.

There were some times, like now, when he seemingly understood exactly what I was saying or going through. And even though I couldn't speak Night Fury, I could interpret what he was telling me. The only thing I needed to do was pay attention to him.

He let me hold onto him as long as I needed to. When I let go, he licked the side of my face. The air around me smelled a little like fish that had been sitting out too long.

"Thanks, bud," I told him, scratching under his chin.

He closed his eyes and murmured in contentment. Toothless wasn't mad at all. And not only that, he promised to keep what happened a secret... well, at least I preferred to think about it that way.

Behind me, the door quietly clicked open. For a second or two, I heard the wind whistling through the village, followed by the door shutting. The latch slid into place.

"Are you two feeling better?" Astrid asked in a whisper as she sat down beside us.

I nodded slowly before looking at her. "I think so. What about you?"

After a moment, she shrugged, looking away from me and Toothless. "Stormfly is paralyzed. So are your dad and Thornado. I'm just trying to make sure they stay warm while the Speed Stinger venom wears off."

"How long did it take for Johann?" I asked, dropping my voice to a whisper. I wasn't sure if he was still in this house, and I didn't feel like listening to his grand adventures with the Maneating Metal Masons of Minori Majori again, or whatever they were.

"Gobber says about a day and a half from when you brought Johann here," she answered.

"Are they gonna be okay?" I asked, referring to my dad and the two dragons in our house.

"We think so." Upon seeing the look of confusion in my face, she added, "Me and Gobber. Your house is locked tight."

She paused, and after a few seconds, she moved her gaze slightly away from me.

"Gobber's been upset with me since you and Toothless went out this morning." She had a hint of guilt behind her voice.

"What happened?" I asked without thinking.

Astrid took a deep breath and said, "Everybody was angry in your house. Not just you. After you and Toothless left, I went out to check on my aunt. I was gonna tell her to stay inside and keep the doors locked unless she absolutely had to be outdoors. But when I got about halfway there, I heard Stormfly shouting at something."

Astrid paused to sigh. There was a brief, deafening silence in the house. After several seconds, she continued.

"I didn't think to close the door because I was so frustrated. It was open for maybe fifteen seconds, but that was enough to let a Speed Stinger in. I tried to run back there to see if I could fight the dragon off, but it almost stabbed me with its tail. I tried to get it out of the house somehow. I didn't care if it paralyzed me, as long as I could get it out of the house, I knew everything would be okay. But your dad told me to not let the dragon get out. So I slammed the door behind me and ran to Gobber's house."

I simply looked at Astrid. I had no idea she could have a lapse of judgment like that. It wasn't even that big of a mistake, but she had paid for it in spades.

For years, I had been so used to looking up to everyone in Berk, somehow believing everybody else was perfect, and I was the only one who ever made mistakes. Even now, it was a shock to my mind to find out Astrid could slip up too.

"I'm... I'm sorry," I whispered to her, unable to think of anything else to tell her.

"It's not your fault," she replied. "I thought you wanted to get away from me and your dad for a little while. In the back of my mind, I thought you were nearby, waiting to return. I didn't know you and Toothless were trying to keep the Speed Stingers away from Berk."

She paused, then looked down and said, "I've never felt so hopeless."

My heart skipped a beat as I felt the color drain from my face. For that last sentence, I didn't hear Astrid at all. What she had said sounded like me. I had spent most of my life with that feeling, thinking it was normal. I didn't understand people who never felt that way. Now, I could relate to how she felt. But I had no idea what to say or if I was supposed to remain silent.

I chose to keep my mouth shut. I had a sinking feeling something sarcastic was going to come out of my mouth, which would only make the situation worse. I put my left hand on her forearm, telling her I was still here. She had done this several times for me in the past. Toothless did things like this all the time. Maybe this was my chance to return the favor.

Astrid looked at my hand briefly and then asked, "What do I do?"

I looked down, only hearing myself again. This was the exact feeling I had the night before I was supposed to fight a dragon for my "rite of passage" a year and a half ago. It was that bleak, empty feeling, knowing Toothless would be ripped away from me, and also knowing there was nothing I could do to stop it.

"Can you help me get all the Speed Stingers out of Berk?" I asked after a long silence.

"Hiccup, Gobber and I are trying to do that already," she pointed out.

"How?"

She paused and shrugged. "I guess... just keep them away from our food stores."

"That's it? What about all the people who live here? What about the dragons we take care of?"

Astrid buried her face in her hands and said, "I already feel horrible about this. You don't need to make it any worse."

As if on cue, Toothless groaned and nudged Astrid's right arm with his snout.

Astrid looked at Toothless as a tear ran down her face. He rumbled, telling her everything was going to be fine. I said nothing, letting Toothless work his magic.

Astrid took a deep, quavering breath while Toothless waited patiently for her. After a moment, she reached out and rubbed into his cheek. Toothless murmured in contentment, letting Astrid work out all of her anxiety.

Toothless shuffled a little closer to Astrid and nuzzled into her shoulder with a short whuff. I watched as Astrid relaxed while she doted on Toothless. It seemed like he was absorbing all of her anxiety and guilt so she wouldn't have to deal with it.

I didn't understand how Toothless was so patient with Astrid or me. This wasn't the first time he calmed either of our states of mind.

I had been lost in thought for a few minutes when Astrid whispered, "How does he do it?"

I blinked a couple of times, bringing my mind back to the present tense and asked, "What?"

She motioned toward Toothless with her head.

"Oh. Magic, I guess."

She looked at him contemplatively. Toothless brought his head down and licked her hand. A few seconds later, he turned and padded back to me.

"He's so beautiful," she said.

I nodded in agreement as I knuckled into the top of his head. Toothless pressed upward, telling me he liked what I was doing.

For a few moments, the air in Gobber's house felt calmer and more welcoming. The frozen world outside seemed to disappear, all because of Toothless' presence.

I sighed, a plume of steam coming out of my mouth, as I mulled an idea around in my head. I committed to it, running through about fifty different ways to broach the topic with Astrid.

"Uh, Astrid," I began. I paused, mentally checking myself before continuing. "Have you noticed that the Speed Stingers have a leader?"

I was ready for a whirlwind, unsure if Astrid was ready to discuss this topic yet. But she simply stared at me and shook her head.

"There's a Speed Stinger that has green and red stripes. I think they follow him. Or her. Wherever that dragon goes, the rest of them will follow."

Astrid sat there in thought for a little bit. "How did you find that out?" she asked.

"After I took Toothless outside, I noticed Hookfang was paralyzed. I had Toothless fly over to him, and there were several Speed Stingers nearby. One of them had those red and green stripes. When Toothless shot a plasma blast to intimidate the dragons, that one was the first to run away, and all the others around us followed it."

"So you think we can somehow capture that dragon and take it somewhere off of Berk?"

"Yeah, that's my idea."

"What if they try to come back?" she asked.

I took a deep breath and thought for a little bit. Snotlout had created a large gap in the ice sheet extending west from Berk. But it didn't do any good because the Speed Stingers arrived here anyway.

"I don't know," I said after a pause. "Maybe we could stand guard on the western edge of Berk."

Astrid furrowed her brow in concentration. "That'd be cold for whoever is out there. What if we built some kind of wall to keep them out?"

"That could work," I said without much thought. Then a realization hit me. My forehead met my left palm as I said, "It would take too long. We'd have to move it as soon as all the Speed Stingers are out of Berk and lock it in place."

"Does this mean you're giving up?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, don't," she said assertively. "Keep thinking. Maybe something will stick." Astrid sounded like she was back to normal, thanks to Toothless.

I wondered how we might be able to get the Speed Stingers out of Berk. Those dragons were unbelievably elusive. I felt like it was a pure stroke of luck to even catch a glimpse of their leader, much less walk away from that encounter.

"What if we kill the lead dragon?" she asked after a moment.

I slumped. I put my forehead into my left palm and grabbed onto my hair. "No. I'm not gonna do that again," I whined, dancing around the phrase "kill a dragon."

"Hiccup, you said Toothless was guarding his territory from them. If we kill the lead dragon, the rest of them will leave."

"I really don't want to kill anything," I said.

"This is Toothless' territory. Let him defend it."

"I can't," I whispered. "I can't risk Toothless' life for this. There has to be some other way to do this."

Astrid scowled. After a brief silence, she said, "At least think about it, okay?"

I took a deep breath and sighed audibly without looking at Astrid. "Fine," I conceded.

My goal within ten seconds was to forget her idea. I only told her "fine" to end the conversation.

I waited, counting the seconds away in my head, hoping Astrid would switch topics.

A voice shouting from outside broke my concentration. Neither Astrid nor I understood what that person was saying, but I knew from the tone it was urgent. Astrid bolted up and ran to the door, opening it to reveal Fishlegs. He was wrapped in a heavy yakskin coat but still shivering.

Just before Astrid shut the door behind him, I noticed the sun was already gone for the night.

Fishlegs' teeth were chattering so hard I thought he might crack his jaw. As he slowly limped past me, I noticed he was bleeding from a small puncture mark in his right forearm. He sat down near the fire, unmindful of the open wound. His face and hands were a light blue, and his lips were almost purple.

"So cold..." he mumbled. "So cold..." He shivered, edging closer to the fire.

Astrid and I exchanged worried glances. Toothless grunted from behind me.

I slowly walked into his field of vision and knelt.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

He painstakingly moved his eyes to meet mine, never blinking. "I... I dono," he stammered.

I waited for Fishlegs to continue, but he only looked through me while shivering.

"M-mm..." Fishlegs started. But his mouth wouldn't open. His eyes became more hollow as he drew his knees to his chest. I couldn't look away as he stopped moving.