Arrow Lake Fight the break of dawn

It lapped at the water, sending out ripples that disturbed the smooth, glassy surface and momentarily distorted the moon's reflection. As soon as Toothless finished drinking and pulled up its head, the undulations ceased and the moon's image slowly reformed, becoming a solid but imperfect circle of light once again. Shining green eyes stared at it for a long moment before lifting to peer at the real moon sailing silently in a great sea of darkness.

Yawning, Toothless bowed forward, its rump in the air and its legs outstretched as it coaxed some warmth into its muscles. It then hopped back into regular formation and began to lope around the lake, its tiny black paws silent on the sandy shore. Without a sound, it located a break in the trees and slipped into the shadows, following a familiar, winding towpath through the foliage that eventually gave way to the rocky mountainside.

Moving with leonine grace, Toothless stalked to the edge of a bluff overlooking the lake now a hundred yards below. Reclining on its sleek onyx haunches, it lifted a paw to its mouth and licked at it like a cat. All the while, its eyes lingered on the horizon, eventually drifting toward the east. Beyond the nearest mountaintops and the dark clouds gathered there like a flock of dozing sheep, Toothless could see the first pink smudges of daybreak coloring the sky. Dark lips peeled back from its mouth and its large ears slicked backward, pinning to its nape even as it uttered a low, soft growl of displeasure.