Hey all, it's your boy SquiddlyDiddly here with another fic!

… Yes, I'm going to finish this one.

Anyhow, I've had this little plot bunny running around my head for what feels like forever, and I've been working hard to get as much done on this fic as I can. I've got an outline done for the first half of the story, and I'm currently working on the chapters as you read, actually. Hopefully y'all like what I've done here, because I am extremely pleased with how this story has come out so far.

So without further ado, please enjoy…

A Future Past, a New Fate

Prologue: A Bright New World Out There

Bold - Dragon Speech

'Apostrophe' - Thoughts

"Quote" - Speech

Italic - Flashback

"Let's go, move it, move it!" Brady yelled to his cousins/siblings, waving them over as he began running towards the portal that Morgan, Lucina's brother, had created with much strain and energy. The last survivors of Grima's conquest all said various affirmatives, before following in Brady and Lucina's footsteps, the latter having gone ahead to make sure that any surprise risen were dispatched and taken care of. She definitely didn't put it past the apocalyptic dragon to resort to underhanded tactics.

The blue-haired heir panted as she finally made it to the glowing blue disk, running up to her brother to make sure he was alright. "Morgan, how are you feeling? Is everything stabilized?" She frantically asked, their only chance at freedom from this hell on earth lying in the young tactician's hands. Said tactician grimaced as he pumped some more magic into the portal, his massive reserves starting to wane. "Urgh… this is a lot harder than I thought it would be… I don't know how much longer I can keep this up, sis," he admitted, his attention focused entirely on the portal, any wrong move would result in any number of things going wrong. He wanted to make sure they got to the past safely, even if it meant he had to stay behind. Knowing he might die for his friends… he had come to terms with this fate if it did transpire. He shook his head, returning his concentration to the pure energy flowing from his fingertips 'I trust Lucina… I know she'll find a way to get us all through!' He told himself, renewing his efforts to keep the portal from collapsing.

Lucina's eyes flashed with worry for her little brother. "Morgan… I'm so sorry. Just a little longer." She assured, not wanting him to hurt himself, but knowing that this was the only way they could prevent this disaster from happening. She had one mission and one mission only; save her family and destroy Grima once and for all. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of many different footsteps, indicating that the rest of their little band of rebels had arrived.

Owain gaped at the portal, his eccentric showing itself. Actually, when was it not showing itself? "Well, my friends, today is the day that we, as warriors, embark on a grand mission to save our world from the evil clutches of Grima! I can hardly contain my sword-hand's wish for the blood of that foul beast!" He exclaimed passionately, complete with the over-the-top gestures that they knew oh so well. Severa scoffed, folding her arms. "Ugh, do you ever not act like a child? Our lives are at stake here, Owain! The least you could do is act like it!" She shot at the blonde Myrmidon. Cynthia was the opposite, throwing her arms up in a cheer. "Yeah! Great speech, Owain!" She complimented. Noire tried to hide behind her bow, not wishing to look directly at the blue glow of the portal. "I-I don't know if I'm r-ready for this…" she muttered to herself, shaking with fear as she gripped the pendant her mother gave her. Laurent said nothing, simply studying the portal with a fascinated expression. Nah was trying to calm Yarne down, whispering encouraged words into the Taguel's ears as he tried desperately to not break down crying or run away. Brady put on a brave face as he stared the portal down, his eyes starting to collect tears. "I'm almost home, ma…" Gerome was also silent, his face expressionless as he calmed Minerva. Kjelle was stone faced as usual, glaring at the portal as if she was trying to win a staring contest. Inigo seemed to be doing a prayer to Naga, which was strange. 'He usually isn't the religious type, but I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures,' Lucina thought to herself, giving all of her family a glance over. It was a miracle that they were all still alive, and she intended to keep it that way. No matter the cost, she would save them. She would save them all.

Donning the butterfly mask Mother had made her when she was younger, Lucina looked over to Morgan and nodded, who nodded back before twisting his hands slowly, revealing a swirling vortex that would supposedly bring them to the past so they could fix this broken future. She turned back to her own Shepherds, almost smiling despite herself. "Alright, let's go. We don't have much time before Grima and the risen arrive, so be quick." She ordered, stepping to the side so the rest of them could go first. Owain was the first to go, jumping into the vortex with a battle cry. Inigo and Brady both jumped at the same time, following right behind Owain. Gerome gathered Minerva before flying through the portal, the wyvern's strong wingbeats almost knocking over the rest of them. Severa huffed in annoyance before charging through, her scowl still on her face even as she was sucked into the vortex. Kjelle steadied her spear and shield before charging forward, her heavy armor making loud clanks as she bowled through the portal. Cynthia was watching her friends and family go through the vortex, a smile on her face before she reined in her Pegasus, trotting through to join them. Nah reached for Yarne's hand, who reluctantly took it after some consideration, and then pulled herself and the extremely surprised Taguel, his yells of shock quieted by the energy emitting from the portal. Laurent took a breath, before simply walking into the portal and letting it carry him away. As expected, Noire was the last one to go, as she was currently trying to build up the courage to follow her friends. As she thought of her friends, she thought of all the times that they had lost someone they loved. How they mourned. They didn't deserve to be hurt like that.

It made her angry.

"RrrAAAGH! I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR GUTS OUT, GRIMA!" Noire suddenly yelled, clutching the pendant even tighter as she dashed into the portal, her screams being carried with her.

That just left Lucina and Morgan, who was sweating from the exertion the portal was putting on his mana reserves. Lucina sighed, relieved that her friends made it through without much trouble.

A huge, deafening roar pierced the skies, causing Lucina to yell out in shock and cover her ears, along with Morgan, who accidentally cut ties with the energy flow to the portal, the vortex starting to destabilize as it was running out of energy to sustain itself. The princesses eyes were filled with fear, as she realized that Grima had found them. And he was almost upon them.

She hurriedly rushes over to her brother, grabbing the robed boy as he nearly collapsed, his energy spent. 'No no no no no… we have to get out… we have to save our future…' she thought frantically, dragging him over to the rapidly closing portal, the blue energy starting to fade from existence. Her heart stopped. If the portal closed, she and Morgan were doomed.

But with how slow she was when she was dragging her brother, they would never make it in time. How would they…?

An idea hit her. A crazy one, but it's all they've got.

She realized that they only had one shot at this, as the sounds of risen approaching met her ears. "Morgan, when I say now, cast Elwind at our feet!" She frantically urged, reaching into her near comatose brother's coat and holding a green covered book. Weakly, he grasped the book and flipped it open, a greenish glow almost immediately responding to Morgan's mana.

She turned back to the portal, positioning herself and Morgan so they would fly directly to the portal. Once she was satisfied, she lowered her knees. "NOW!" She yelled, looking back at Morgan. The young man nodded weakly before firing off the wind spell, creating just the right amount of force to send them soaring towards the rapidly closing portal.

The Risen that led the pack could only watch helplessly as their targets sailed through the vortex before the portal closed for good, sealing off the entrance to the future.

That was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

Berk was an unusual place for sure.

Just a few years ago, the island of Berk was in a constant fight for survival from the dragon raids. Each night was a terrifying hope that the next day wouldn't be your last, and if the dragons didn't get to you then starvation would.

Now, however? Now the dragons were actually their allies. They helped them live, get food, repair their buildings… honestly, sometimes Hiccup just sat back and wondered how he even managed to do all this? Hel, he was the one who ended the war and he still didn't know!

But that was all in the past. Now he had only one focus, and that was the people of Berk.

His people.

The Chieftain of Berk sighed contentedly as he gazed down at the village, Toothless sitting beside him, almost half asleep. "Now this is the life, eh bud? No worries, no enemies… it's nice to lay back and relax every now and then." He spoke, more to himself than the overgrown lizard next to him. Said lizard rumbled softly in reply, not moving from his curled up position in the grass. Hiccup playfully rolled his eyes. 'Honestly, sometimes I wonder how he's so lazy yet so lively at the same time.' He mused, knowing just how riled up his partner can get if he's given something he likes or if somebody he likes gets hurt.

Hiccup sat in silence for a couple more moments before pulling out his map of the world, deciding to figure out which way they'll be going next. "Let's see here… we went North last time so maybe… we could try going past Scauldron Island and more to the west…" He muttered to himself as he pulled out a small stick of charcoal and began to plot out a plan of travel. After defeating Drago and gaining the remnants of his army along with Valka on their side, threat of attack has been reduced to near none, so he could go back to completing his map of the world. He would have to finish it at some point, anyway. A completed map of the archipelago would help immensely with travel, basically eliminating blind flying and guessing games.

While he was sketching a course, he didn't notice Toothless suddenly perk up, his eyes wide and alert and his ear-fins standing up straight, as if listening for something. He swiveled his neck left and right, searching for the source of whatever noise he had heard with his superior hearing, before stopping to stare directly at the entrance to the forest behind them.

"So, bud, I was thinking that we could go-" he paused, noticing Toothless' behavior. "Toothless? Is something wrong?" He asked, folding up his work-in-progress map as he rose to his feet. His friend seemed to be extra alert for some reason, his eyes focused on the line of trees standing before the forest. 'What is he looking at? There's nothing over there. Unless…' He glanced at Toothless, noting that his ear-fins were standing up, as if he was listening for something. "Did you hear something, bud?" He asked.

Toothless didn't answer, simply staring at the trees, listening intently. Hiccup was starting to get confused. What had captured the dragon's attention to the point where he was ignoring his friend and rider?

Suddenly, Toothless's left ear-fin flicked slightly, and he took off into the forest, his powerful legs making long strides as his midnight-black form disappearing into the foliage. Hiccup stared for a couple seconds, before groaning in frustration. "Oh, for the love of Odin, can I have one second to relax around here?!" He exclaimed, exasperated, before running after his best friend, albeit at a much slower pace because, y'know, he wasn't a dragon.

The forests of Berk were a stark contrast compared to the hectic town. While the civilized part of the island was bustling with merchants, traders and civilians alike, there was no such activity here. Everything was calm and collected, and the peace here was broken only by the occasional viking (namely Hiccup) wanting to take a walk through the woods. The wind seemed to quell the wild environment and lightly shook the trees as if greeting any who visited, and the birds added to that feel as they sang to the passerby. All in all it painted a beautiful picture, and seemed to calm anyone's minds who entered.

That peace was abruptly broken when a loud BANG sounded out in a clearing deep in the forest, a huge blue flash of light enveloping the leaves and grass. The wildlife nearby were startled, and scattered away from the unknown light, vacating the scene of the disturbance almost as soon as it appeared.

The light shot through the trees for a good two minutes, before it suddenly disappeared, the sun allowed to shine down on the clearing once again. Nothing seemed to be disturbed by the phenomenon, but one thing was different. Lying in the center of the clearing, partially hidden by the bushes, was a dragon. Not just any dragon, but a Night Fury. It seemed a tad smaller than the normal Fury, and of slimmer build, suggesting that it was female. Its wing's are slim and looked flexible, and it's claws looked extremely sharp and deadly. Normally a Night Fury's scales were jet-black in order to blend in with the night sky, but this one had a deep, dark-azure coloration, almost navy blue.

That wasn't the even the most unusual thing about this Night Fury, however. This dragon used to be human not five minutes earlier.

And she was about to be in for the shock of her life when she finally awoke.

Lucina moaned softly to herself when she woke up, her body just beginning to transition from unconscious to conscious. Her body ached with a fierceness that she only felt after one of her eight-hour training sessions, and she hadn't had one of those in months after deeming them unhealthy as they put too much strain on her body. So why did she feel so exhausted? She wondered if this was how Morgan felt after pulling one of those 'all-nighters', as he called them. Seriously, when was he going to get that he was too important to be tired all the time? Without a tactician, they were relying on her very limited tactical experience.

Then it hit her. Their escape. The portal. Grima finding them.

Morgan.

Lucina's eyelids shot open as she finally remembered what had transpired, and she rose up in a sitting position, ignoring her terribly achy body and the foreign unnaturalness the simple act brought. Her eyes widened at what greeted her vision. Lush, green trees dominated her view, the wind which didn't smell of death lightly shook them. Bushes sprouted up here and there, and flowers, actual flowers, added a variety of colors to the beautiful scene.

They had done it. She was here.

She felt something wet on her cheek that she quickly identified as her tears. It has been so long since she last saw any trees with a green so vibrant, and the land here just brimmed with life, and oh, Gods, the smells! She could actually take a deep breath without gagging! This is what she was fighting for, what she had sacrificed everything for. Seeing this reality that she had only seen before in her wildest dreams… it was all too much.

But she still had a long way to go. Reigning in her emotions, showcasing an incredible control over her feelings, she wiped away her tears-

She blinked.

Why did her face feel… scaly?

Her brow furrowed, and only now did she acknowledge that something in her body felt terribly off, like something had changed and she didn't even know.

She looked down, and almost did a literal double-take at what she saw. Where she expected to find her legs completely normal clothed with her boots and tights. Instead, there were two huge scaly paws, covered with rows upon rows of dark blue scales.

Her breathing caught in her throat once she lifted one of her arms and the left paw responded. 'No… no no no no no no,' she thought frantically, desperately trying to believe that what she was seeing was a dream. An illusion created by Grima to break her mind.

But it wasn't. She could feel every single little thing about her new body. How her head felt flattened, the new ears on sitting on top of it and twitching at the smallest noise. She could hear everything around her, even her own heartbeat. She could feel new muscles on her back, and without even looking she knew that they were wings, plunging her into despair even further as she moved them involuntarily, almost as if they were moving based on pure instinct alone. Her breathing quickened as she started to hyperventilate, her eyes darting over her new blue-scales form. "No no no no NO!" She yelled out in despair and anguish, her anxiety furthering as she heard her voice. It sounded warbly and unnatural, like a much quieter version of Grima.

Grima… she was the same species as the one who tortured her day and night, the one who made sure she got no sleep and no rest day in and day out.

"This can't be happening… THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" She screamed, flopping around uselessly as if trying to get away from her own body. Her wings flared out in reflex and then folded back in as she had a complete emotional breakdown, her new tail getting tangled with her limbs. She desperately wanted to run. Run and hide from the ones she loved so they wouldn't see the monster she had become.

What would they think if they saw her? Would they know it was her? Would they think she was just some new Risen of some kind?

Would they strike her down without a second thought?

They would only see her as some mindless beast now… a beast that shared species with the source of their despair.

Her anxiety waned and her energy exhausted, she did the one thing she could do in this situation.

She laid limp and wept.

As Toothless dashed through the forest that he was so familiar with, his mind wandered to the distant roar he had heard from earlier. He felt bad for leaving Hiccup behind like that, but right now there was no time to waste. He heard another Shadowshifter.

If this turned out to be true and not another thing set up by trappers, then this could be huge, and he was pretty sure it wasn't a trap. It sounded too genuine, too accurate to the real thing. Sure, he didn't have much experience with others of his species, but he knew enough to know what was a true Shadowshifter call. That was a true call. It held so much emotion behind it, too much to simply be some sort of dragon calling stick like the ones Hiccup blew through to imitate other dragons. He still didn't know how he created those…

Caught up in his thoughts, Toothless didn't notice the tree until it collided with his face.

He grunted in pain as he headbutted the tree, leaving a very large dent in the bark of the trunk. "Oooogh… didn't mean to do that…" He groaned, clutching his head with a paw as he soothed the oncoming headache. He's usually a lot better at reacting to his surroundings. One has to be in order to be a great flier. "Guess I'm more caught up in this than I thought," He growled lowly, shaking his head side-to-side as he climbed back to his feet, intending to continue his search. Thinking about where he heard the roar from, he turned his head to the right, noting a clearing that he had visited from time to time that seemed oddly… barren. In fact, it seemed like something had been here recently, judging from the trampled bushes and the flattened grass. Even the stone on the right had peculiar markings on it. 'Maybe…'

He slowly crawled into the clearing, making sure to stay quiet so he didn't alert anyone of his presence. If this dragon was violent, he did not want to just barge in like a bat out of hell. Once he was entirely out in the open, he paused, taking a look around the small meadow before his eyes wandered over to what he thought was a rock. He inspected it from a distance for a moment, noting that the peculiar markings that he saw from further away were actually scales. This was the Shadowshifter he was looking for!

It took every bit of willpower he had to not just pounce onto the other Shadowshifter, showering it with affection for he had finally found another of his species. What if they rejected him? Attacked him? There was too much that could go wrong.

He carefully crawled up to the silent dragon, crouching low as he did so. He had to make sure he appeared as unthreatening as possible so that they didn't take his presence the wrong way. Just one Sight-Share, that's all he wanted. That was all it would take.

Then Hiccup decided to ruin the party.

"Toothless… Bud… wait up!..." The Viking exclaimed as he burst through the foliage surrounding them, panting loudly as he stopped to catch his breath. Toothless eyes turned to slits as he whipped around to face his human, glaring at him. Hiccup took a step back when he saw his best friend's expression. "You idiot, be quiet!" He hissed, letting his anger get the better of him for a second.

Lucina realized quickly that her ears were now much more sensitive, taking in the smallest noise around her. She learned this from hearing a crash in the distance, followed by a roar.

Her eyes snapped open from the pitiful sobbing she was doing, and her neck craned as she tried to see what direction it was coming from. That roar didn't sound like anything she had heard before, and desperately hopped it wasn't a new kind of Risen.

Her sharper eyes were scanning the landscape before her, and her ears were up and alert as she listened hard. Fighting to survive made one good at observing potential battlefields, as spotting Risen ambushes was critical in the future. Grima was known to turn to underhanded tactics, after all.

Her breath caught in her throat when she saw something black shift in the darkness, catching a glimpse of what looked like a bright green eye staring away from her. That did not make breathing easier in the slightest, her subconscious phobia of dragons surfacing as she eyed the black-scaled lizard with terror. Her eyes widened as the dragon shifted, noticing that it turning to it's left and would be staring right at her.

Realizing that she had nowhere to run, she acted on instinct and quickly curled into a ball, tucking her wings and tail in so she appeared to be just a boulder with strange markings on it. Holding her breath, she prayed to whatever Gods were above her that she would be able to survive this day and figure out what happened to her body. 'Please don't notice me please don't notice me,' she thought frantically in her mind, her heart rate increasing tenfold when she heard heavy footsteps enter the clearing, crushing the leaves underneath what sounded like a heavy paw.

She held her breath, listening for any noise that would give away how close the dragon was. It was silent for a couple beats, but she wouldn't allow herself to breathe until she was sure that it was gone. The last time she was sure that their enemy was gone a Revenant almost got her whole squadron killed, so she was going to be extra careful this time around.

She waited with bated breath as she strained her ears, trying her hardest to listen for any noise whatsoever.

Nothing.

'... Maybe it's gone-'

"Toothless… Bud… wait up!..." A voice called, followed by lighter footsteps that sounded out a few yards away.

She sucked in a breath, her pupils unknowingly turning to slits. Who was that? A person? Dragons couldn't talk like that, could they?

Another voice, this one much deeper and distorted, growled back at the smaller voice. "You idiot, be quiet!" The deeper voice shot back, her heart skipping a beat from just how close it was to her. 'Oh Gods oh Gods oh Gods,' her thoughts were running a mile a minute as she realized that the heavier voice was the dragon she was attempting to hide from. It must have snuck up on her silently to move in for the kill. How could something so big move so quietly? What does she do in a situation like this? She had basically zero control over her body right now, so she had no way of escaping if the dragon decided to attack. She took a moment to try and calm her breathing, trying as hard as she could to be silent while taking deep breaths. 'If I'm going to die… I'm going to go out with a fight.' She told herself, though not really believing it herself.

Swallowing her fear, she lifted one of her wings with her right paw, just high enough to peak at her attacker. Her breathing stopped completely when she laid eyes on the dragon, her eyes widening with fear and trepidation. It was pitch-black in coloration, it's acid green eyes staring right at her with surprise. It's wings were folded on it's back but still looked powerful, and it's claws looked deadly.

"AAAAGH!" She yelled out in shock, her fear taking hold of her judgement. Her chest throbbed painfully as a pit formed in her stomach, anxiety pounding at her head and lungs as she jumped to her four feet, scrambling away from her possible assailant. She might have frightened the dragon with her reaction as well, judging by the way it's eyes widened, and how it reeled back in surprise. She breathed heavily, clumsily stepping over herself to get as far away as she could from the monster. "S-Stay back!" She ordered, her voice wavering with fear. She knows that she wouldn't stand a chance against this dragon if it decided to attack.

Toothless was confused, to say the least.

When the Shadowshifter decided to poke her head out of her little hiding spot, (if one could even call it that) he was a little taken aback because one, the Shadowshifter was a female, which definitely surprised him, and two, she was drop-dead gorgeous. Her dark blue scales shimmered lightly in the sunlight, and her brilliant blue eyes seemed to glow with an otherworldly energy. 'Oh… my…' his entire body seemed to freeze up, not knowing what to do in this situation. He's never seriously talked to a female before, never seeing the need to since he was the last of his kind. Now, however? Another Shadowshifter that was female? No one would pass this opportunity up!

Then the Shadowshifter screamed, leaping up to her feet in a panicked frenzy. Toothless, in turn, flinched and jumped back a couple feet, obviously not expecting such a dramatic reaction from the dragon. Her breathing was uneven and quick, giving away her obvious anxiety, and her eyes darted here and there, the blue marred with fear. "S-Stay back!" She ordered, her voice wavering in uncertainty. Toothless noticed that her posture was unbelievably clumsy and unrefined, yet tensed as if she was about to pounce on her prey. 'Why is she so tense? Doesn't she realize how important this is? There hasn't been two Shadowshifters under the same wing in years! This could save our species!'

But the way she composed herself in front of him… maybe something traumatic happened in her past? It wasn't uncommon for dragons to be highly afraid of a certain species due to some event in their past. 'Maybe if I show I mean her no harm, she'll calm down some…'

Toothless took a small step forward, the female's eyes darting down to his paw and back up to his face. He noticed this, quickly stepping back to where he was before. "I don't want to hurt you, I'm just here to say hi," Toothless assured, loosely spreading his wings in a show of peace between them. Presenting your wings to another dragon was a tremendous show of trust in the dragon world. Your wings are your entire life. If something were to happen to them, only an experienced Aür user could repair them, and those are few and far between. Leaving them so open for attack lets the other dragon know that you trust them with your life.

What he didn't know, however, was that this Shadowshifter was completely unaware of dragon customs or rituals, and all she saw was a terrifying dragon bearing over her with it's wings outstretched, as if trying to trap her in it's embrace. She instinctively growled, causing Toothless's wings to fold back slightly in uncertainty. "And how do I know your word is true, dragon?!" Lucina shot with pure venom in her voice, her hatred for Grima leaking into her mind and corrupting it with unfathomable anger.

Now that threw Toothless for a loop. Every dragon in the world knew that lying to another of your kind was a violation of honor. If one were to lie to another in a large nest, then the entire nest would know by the next day, basically branding that dragon as an outcast for the rest of their life. It was a big deal. So for this random Shadowshifter to call him a liar? That was uncalled for, especially when he was just trying to, oh, I don't know, save his species? He scowled back at her, the look of anger on her face being replaced by one of fear once again. "What do I have to gain from lying to you? We're the last of our kind, it's our duty to save our species!" Toothless shot back, causing the female to shrink back further every time he raised his voice.

Hiccup, who was off watching the interaction silently from the side, quickly realized that something had gone wrong in his bud's meeting with the other Night Fury. For a couple minutes everything seemed to be going good, but then they started roaring at each other like they were arguing or something. "This doesn't look too good…" He muttered to himself, watching as Toothless roared back at the blue Night Fury, said dragon looking more and more terrified with each passing second. He was making big strides in his Dragonese, so he could make out most of their conversation. From what he's heard, Toothless was trying to get the female to understand that he didn't want to hurt her, but she wasn't having any of it, basically calling him a liar. He knows just how important honesty was in the dragon society, so he didn't know why she would bring that up. What he did know, however, was that this was going to get out of hand if he didn't do something. So, taking a deep breath, he quickly jumped up from the place he was viewing the interaction from, and ran in between the two of them, holding out his arms to keep them from attacking each other. "Woah, woah, settle down, you two, I don't want to come up with an excuse for why you burned down a forest, bud," He said, turning to his friend with the last line. Said dragon snorted and rolled his eyes. "It's not my fault she called me a liar…" He muttered, shooting a look at the female dragon, who glanced away, not wanting to look him in the eye.

Hiccup smiled lightly, shrugging. "She might just be scared." He turned to the other Night Fury, Hand still outstretched. He noted her posture, mainly how tensed up she was. Time to turn on the ol' dragon charmer. "Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt you. Far from it, actually," He said reassuringly, slowly stepping towards her. He wanted to appear as non threatening as possible, his palm open and relaxed in a sign of peace, and his movements slow and relaxed. It seemed to be working, the Night Fury's tension starting to loosen up slightly, her muscles relaxing ever so slightly, which was interesting. Why did this dragon seem to be more comfortable in the presence of a human?

Well, it really doesn't matter. All that really matters is that she was calming down. "That's it… That's it…" he whispered, his hand almost upon her snout. The dragon eyed the hand with an indescribable emotion in her eyes, before suddenly closing the gap between the two of them, his hand coming to lay on her scaly skin.

Now, Hiccup has a strange ability. When he touched a dragon on the right spot, he can feel what they're feeling, and they can feel what he is feeling with great detail. Nobody knows how exactly he came to possess such an incredible ability, but he wasn't complaining. It made training and taming dragons much easier for him. Usually dragons only feel a couple emotions at a time, save for the smarter dragons such as Toothless, who can feel and think almost exactly like a human can.

He didn't expect to be punched in the gut with a wave of overpowered feelings upon contact with her snout. His mind was almost overwhelmed with the amount of emotion just pouring out of the Night Fury's mind, fear, apprehension, anxiety, anger… and sadness. So much sadness. The amount of loss and grief that this Fury felt… just what had she gone through?

He released his contact with a gasp, stumbling back and falling onto the grass with a grunt. He sat there for a moment, trying to catch his breath after the emotional rollercoaster he was just on. Toothless, being the overprotective lizard he was, was quickly down by Hiccup's side, looking worriedly at his friend. "Hiccup! What happened? Are you alright?"

Hiccup nodded slowly, still reeling from the sheer amount of emotion was just pumped into him. "Y-yeah… I'm fine, bud," He replied, shaking his head slowly to rid himself of the disorientation. 'What in Odin's ghost was that?!'

When the human had approached her with his arm reaching out towards her head, she initially was very confused. Was he a wyvern-rider? How was he able to calm the dragon so easily?

Why did she feel the need to let him close the gap between them?

It might've been because he was human and she was infinitely more comfortable around humans than dragons considering her past experience with them, but it almost felt… supernatural. Like something deep in her mind was telling her that she would be safe if she stayed near this man.

Seeing no way that the small man could hurt her, much less kill her, she decided to do just that and lean into his touch, the soft skin lying lightly on her rough scales.

A sudden wave of calming, reassuring emotion rolled over her like a summer breeze, her mind enveloped almost like a warm blanket. She could feel curiosity and intrigue, reassurance, a tad bit of worry…

Most of all, she felt… safe.

It reminded her of…

Don't you worry, Lucina, me and your mom will be back before you know it.

Dad, please, I don't want you to go!

… I'm sorry, my little princess, but we don't have a choice. I'm sure you understand.

… I do, but I don't… wanna…

Haha, you and me both.

Promise me you'll be back, alright?!

… I promise, Lucina.

… It reminded her of father.

The connection between her and the human was abruptly cut off, both of them reeling back from the amount of emotion the two of them held. Lucina stared intently at the human, her mind running a mile a minute. 'Wh-what… what was…' That had to be the strangest experience she's ever felt. Where did those emotions come from? Did they come from the man in front of her? She had so many questions…

The dragon that she had been afraid of earlier quickly crouched down in front of the man, worry evident on his features. "Hiccup! What happened? Are you alright?" He growled softly, pushing his snout into the human's chest. The now named Hiccup stared ahead blankly for a moment before nodding slowly, getting back up onto his feet. "Y-yeah… I'm fine, bud," he softly replied, giving the dragon a small smile.

She paid no mind to the two close friends at the moment, however. She was still reeling from the familiarity of the sensation. 'Father… I…' that touch from this man, Hiccup… it felt so much like him.

She felt something wet on her cheek before she could stop herself, and she held back a sob. 'Godsdamnit… why now? Why can't I just let go?!' She roared at herself in her mind, shutting her eyes tight as she willed her crying to stop.

It didn't. It never did.

~Hiccup~

I held a hand to my head, groaning as I slowly got to my feet.

"What in Thor's name…" I muttered to myself, still recovering from the wave of emotion that had just rolled over me. I've had this strange ability to feel what a dragon is feeling since the first time he touched a dragon, and I've never felt such raw sadness before. It was the sadness I had felt for my dad's death multiplied by ten. It was… overwhelming.

My best friend crooned softly, nudging me in the side with his head. "You don't seem okay… what even happened just now?" The overprotective lizard asked, worry in his eyes. I smiled, always happy to hear that he cared. "Yeah, it's just… when I connected with her, her emotions… there was so much negativity. So much sadness… I guess it overwhelmed me," I answered, not entirely sure what had happened myself. I didn't have any time to process her true feelings, just the surface ones, but if those were the surface feelings? I could only imagine the pain and turmoil that must be hidden deep in her subconscious.

I perkep up as a soft sob from my left brought me out of my thoughts. It was quiet, yet held so much anguish in such a simple noise. 'Was that… the Night Fury?'

My attention turned from one worried dragon to one clearly distraught dragon. The Fury had curled up into a ball, her tail wrapped around the front of her as if it was a protective shield, her wings folded as tight as they could against her body. Her body shook lightly, her head buried into her two front legs. Then I realized something.

She was crying.

I had never seen a dragon cry before. It seemed like they always tried their hardest to appear strong in the presence of others, so it was jarring to see one break down in front of him and Toothless, her quiet sobs wracking her body. Even Toothless seemed taken aback, his mouth open slightly as he stared at the female with shock.

What does one do in a situation like this?

I was never the best at comforting people, my attitude was mostly good for making people angrier at me. So I wasn't going to be much help here.

I glanced over at Toothless, noticing the intense worry in his eyes.

… Maybe this required something more than a human's touch.

I gently nudged Toothless with my right hand, briefly feeling his worry for a dragon that he had just met today. I knew why he was worried. They were the last two of their kind, and he immediately had felt a sort of connection with the female Fury. I knew what he wanted to do. When he silently turned to me, those big green orbs gazing into my soul as I did his, I gestured towards the distraught female Fury. Toothless seemed taken aback, his eyes widening as he glanced back at the dragon. I nodded, waving him towards her. "If there's anyone who can help right now, it's you, bud," I whispered. He seemed hesitant for a moment, eyeing the dragon with apprehension, before he let out a sigh and slowly walked over to her.

~Toothless~

I can't believe I let myself get talked into this.

I tried to calm my raging heart as I looked at the shaking form of the other Shadowshifter, her soft sobs like knives to my heart. What could I do? I had no idea why she was so emotional. I've never even interacted with another one of my species before… I was treading on unexplored grounds right now.

You have to do something, a small voice in the back of my mind said. I scoffed. I know that, but how to follow through with that was the hard part.

I was never the most emotional dragon, and since the dragons had feared me for most of my life I didn't have much social practice. That was part of the reason I had bonded so quickly with Hiccup. We had so much in common, regardless of species.

I silently laid myself next to her, her shaking coming to a halt as her muscles stiffened in apprehension. I could feel the fear that she felt, towards me in particular. I couldn't for the life of me understand why. Sure, I lived in basically isolation during the Queen's reign because all of the others were afraid of my power, but these days were different. I was the alpha. Dragons always respected their alpha.

So why was she afraid?

I sighed, unsure of what to say. "... Sorry if my human did something to upset you. He's not very good at socializing," I said to her, trying to lighten the mood. I could almost feel the sarcastic eye-roll that Hiccup directed at me. I shot him a look that said 'you know it's true!' He scoffed, trying to hide a smile as he playfully glared at me. If it wasn't for me (no, his mate had nothing to do with how awesome he was now!), he'd still be the same scrawny hatchling I had met so long ago.

I felt the Shadowshifter next to me shift slightly, so I stopped my little play-fight with my human to turn my attention back to her. I frowned in pity when I saw her face, wet streaks running underneath her eyes. It was rare for dragons to cry since we were generally prideful creatures, but when we did, we didn't treat it as a sign of weakness like the Vikings did, but as a way of saying that we needed comfort. She wiped the tears with her left paw, cringing for whatever reason as she did so. "N-no, that's not…" She chuffed, a far away look in her eyes. I could tell something was eating away at her from the inside, and she's been holding it in for a long, long time. Of course, without a Sight-Share, there was no way I was going to be able to know what that something was.

She sat in silence for a moment, her mind seemingly in an intense inner turmoil, before she spoke once more. "... I was just reminded of someone. That's all." She finished, looking me truly in the eyes since I've met her. Sensing my chance, I tried making a connection with the Sight-Share, trying to figure out what was making her so afraid.

You see, Sight-Sharing is a strange ability that we dragons have. It's when two dragons look into each other's souls through our eyes, exposing feelings or memories much better than words ever could. It's a great way to establish trust between two comrades or mates. They didn't say the eyes are the window to the soul for no reason, after all.

But this Shadowshifter… refused. She resisted the Sight-Share, keeping me away from her emotions, as she shook her head as if throwing off an uncomfortable feeling, breaking our eye contact. I blinked in confusion. Why in Hel's name is she resisting? Sight-Sharing with another was sacred, and refusing was basically saying that they don't trust you at all.

But… I guess that is understandable. We have just met each other, after all, and she did seem afraid of me for whatever reason… let's just take things slow.

Another beat of silence. We sat quietly next to each other, both of us unsure of what to say next. I looked over to Hiccup to see if he knew anything, but he simply grimaced and shrugged, shaking his head. I huffed. 'Thank you for nothing, you useless fleshbag.'

Then the Shadowshifter's voice pulled me from the silent talk. "S-sorry, I don't think I gave you my name. You may call me Lucina." She greeted, her face muscles strained for whatever reason, as if she was suppressing a grimace. My eyes widened in surprise. Lucina? That was an odd name for a dragon, but a pretty one nonetheless. Did she have a human, then? Normally, dragon names were just description of their appearance or something they were notable for doing, but us with humans, or 'riders' as they called themselves took the names they gave us with pride.

I stood up, shaking my wings out since they were getting a little stiff. "Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Toothless, and the not very social human over there is my human, Hiccup." I replied, trying to sound as friendly as possible so I could finally break the ice with her. I could've sworn she smiled ever so slightly in response, but it was gone in an instant. Progress, maybe? "Alright, that's enough out of you, you overgrown lizard," Hiccup said, laughing as he walked over and placed a hand on my head. I smiled at his touch, the connection between us making itself known again. That got a slight snicker out of Lucina, though she was quick to hide her amusement. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. I apologize about earlier, I was just… very confused." She apologized, clumsily standing up to face the two of us.

Hiccup snorted in response. "Yeah, I can see why. The big ol' alpha Night Fury must've been a shock to wake up to." I wanted to point at that she was fully awake when I was approaching her, but bit my tongue, deciding it wasn't worth the effort. I grinned cheekily, standing up on my hind legs as I did so and flaring my wings out. "Me? Scary? I disagree, but I can see why you would think that, hatchling." I joked, imitating that 'flexing' thing I saw Snotkid do a few times. Seriously, I'm pretty sure that guy seeked out attention more than Flameskins did. No wonder Hookfang was his partner. Hiccup laughed, rolling his eyes. "Well anyway, I just wanted to say that it is… incredible that there are more Night Furies out there! I mean, Toothless and I have been around the archipelago a ton and we've never seen another Fury until now! How did you manage to find yourself here?" He asked, his eyes lit with excitement. I was quite curious as well. I've been searching for many years to try and find another one of my kind, and even with the help of Hiccup I've had no luck. It was almost too perfect that Lucina somehow finds her way onto this very island out of the multitude of others we've been to.

Lucina's eyes widened at the question, as if she were surprised, and hesitated. Huh… that's weird. "I… honestly, have no idea… where exactly am I?" She answered, her eyes shining with what almost looked like guilt for a split second as she did so. Me and Hiccup exchanged a glance, a tad surprised by her answer. "You're, um, on Berk… Probably the most dragon-friendly village you'll find. How… why can't you remember how you got here?" Hiccup asked, voicing my thoughts exactly. "Only a head injury could cause forgetfulness like that, and trust me, I know all about head injuries. Practically an expert at this point." He deadpanned, referencing back to all the times we collided with something during our first flying days.

… and nowadays.

Lucina cringed in response. "I'm sorry, I just… don't remember much. I wish I could tell you more, but… I don't know what happened to get me here." The sadness in her eyes was back with a fierceness, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. Maybe we should drop the subject if it brought her that much pain just to think about it.

I nudged Hiccup, catching his attention. "Let's ask her more about it later… I don't think she's in the best state to talk right now," I lowly growled to him, nodding my head towards Lucina to emphasize my point. He sighed, before nodding in agreement. "You're probably right, bud…" He muttered back, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. I resisted the urge to smirk. You better believe I'm right, hatchling.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll remember sooner or later. In the meantime, why don't you come and stay at Berk? Like I said, it's the most dragon-friendly village you'll find this side of the archipelago. Friendly people, lots of dragons… what's there not to love?" He offered, casually leaning into my side as he did so. I was tempted to fall flat on my stomach so he would fall over, but I resisted, despite how funny it would be.

That seemed to throw Lucina for a loop, her eyes widening before she looked away, seemingly in deep thought. It almost looked she was having an internal debate for a minute or two. Eventually she took a deep breath, straightening out her posture before turning to Hiccup, a more neutral expression on her muzzle. "I think I will accept your offer, Chief Hiccup. Thank you," She graciously thanked, nodding her head slightly. Me and Hiccup exchanged surprised glances. I could tell we were thinking the same thing. 'She's awfully polite for a wild dragon…'

Hiccup suddenly smiled, clapping his hands together. "Well, alright then! That's settled. Well, uh, I kinda 'lost' something in the forest back there, so we'll have to take the long, scenic route. You could use that time to… oh, I don't know… get to know each other?" He directed that last comment at Lucina and I, an excited yet devilish smile on his face. I responded with a glare, lowly growling. "Hiccup, I swear to Naga if you play matchmaker here…" I threatened lowly, which only elicited another insufferable smirk from him. "I have no clue what you're talking about, bud. Let's get going, I think I've spent more than enough time away from Berk. It'll be a miracle if it isn't burned to the ground when I get there," He said sarcastically to nobody in particular, beginning to walk back to where we originally came from. I chuffed in annoyance. I loved him, but good Gods he could be a thorn in my side when he wants to.

… Ah, whatever. I couldn't live without the dope anyways. We're like two halves of the same whole at this point.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by something brushing my side, and a quick glance revealed it to be Lucina's tail as she walked by, her gait a little clumsy, as if she was trying her hardest not fall. My thoughts turned back to Hiccup's words. He was right, I didn't know much about her so I could make use of this situation… I sighed, deciding to take Hiccup's advice and take the time we had to get to know this mysterious Shadowshifter better.

"Social awkwardness, don't fail me now…" I deadpanned to myself, bounding forward to catch up with the two.

There we have it! The first chapter of my new story is done. I wanted to add a couple special things with Hiccup, like the emotions and understanding Dragonese to make the story a tad more interesting. Hopefully it was well written enough for y'all to enjoy it, and if you did be sure to leave a review telling me what you think! Any and all constructive criticism and comments are appreciated.

As for my upload speed, think of this chapter as the sort of appetizer. Once I get the first part of the story completed, I'll upload the second chapter and then you can expect me to upload a new chapter every Saturday at 12pm sharp until the first half is completely uploaded. From then, I will go on a brief hiatus to complete the second half, then once that is done I'll go back to the weekly upload schedule. So don't be worried if I haven't uploaded in a while, because I definitely will be finishing this.

Until then, I'll see you guys next time!