First Friends

Chapter 19

On our way back to the house, me practically tripping over my feet from weariness, Hiccup insisted that he hit the Night Fury. For once, I wished he could understand me so I could tell him that I knew he had hit it and brought it down. We entered the house and he darted out the back. I growled and gave chase.

You may not realize I'm keeping you safe, but by Thor will I! I thought to myself as we raced through the forest. He pulled out his field journal when he reached the forest and began sketching the land. He drew two circles, one inside the other, and a line of dashes with an arrow.

"I'll find it. I'll find it, kill it, and bring back its heart," I heard him say. He turned around when I stumbled. "Oh! Tiger. I didn't expect you to follow me. C'mon, let's find that dragon together." I sighed and trotted along side him. Several times he looked at his journal and made marks as he tried to find the dragon he'd shot down.

Just as we were both thinking that maybe it had somehow got free, he growled, dug his charcoal across the paper wildly and slapped a tree branch. He yelped when it cracked him in the face in retaliation. We both looked up and the hair on my back stood ramrod straight. He put a reassuring hand on my head and I growled to encourage myself. We followed a long, black gouge in the Earth and came over the top of a bluff. He gasped and ducked when he looked over the edge. I followed his example without question. I poked my nose over the top and sniffed. The wind carried the dragons scent over to my nose and I curled a lip as I peeked over the clearing. The monster was laying on its side, tied up tighter than a fool in vines. Hiccup grabbed his little dagger, and I stiffled a chuckle. It was small, sharp, and very unintimidating. He scrambled down the shallow embankment, with me shadowing him. I crouched and sprang up on the rock we hid behind when he darted out from behind it. My tail twitched back and forth, ready to leap between him and the dragon in a moment.