This is basically my take on a small part of Hiccup's time as an outcast. I tried to keep everyone in character as much as I could. So yeah, enjoy! 3

-History

Missing Year

The trees seem to whisper in hushed tones before him, their branches waving ominously creating shadows of monsters at his feet. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third shivered as a cold wind blew around him. This night was especially cold in the archipelago, Hiccup hoped it was even too cold for search parties, though just as a precaution he had blown out the fire and was now laying curled up inside the Windwalker's wings, waiting for another sleepless night. Toothless seemed the only one completely unaffected by the life of an outcast, his slept just as soundly as ever on Hiccup's chest, gently blowing small smoke rings up into the night. The Wodensfang slept beside Hiccup, he seemed to have just drifted off and was snoring quietly, his old shriveled body curled up against the cold. The Windwalker stood over all of them, his head curling around them, his eyes were closed and Hiccup could feel his breathing slowing into the steady hum of sleep. Hiccup leaned was leaned against the Windwalker's neck, using the soft scales as a pillow. He tried to follow the Windwalker's slow breathing, desperately trying to lure his body into sleep. Just as he was closing his eyes his heart gave a frantic pumping, jolting him upright again, his vision blurry from the lack of sleep.

Toothless seemed undisturbed by Hiccup's sudden movement and continued to sleep on, his small body much like a warm boulder against Hiccup. Hiccup wished he could sleep as soundly as Toothless, but his mind seemed to think something very different and elected to wander into the darkness. Hiccup strained his eyes and peered into the looming shadows of the shallow cave they were sleeping in and out into the forest surrounding them. The trees whispered their quiet song and Hiccup peering into their depths. Was that an Alvinsmen peering at him in the dark? Hiccup swore he could see a movement in the shadows. Were there more out there? Should he tell the dragons? Hiccup could feel his heart pounding faster and faster, his chest felt heavy and his breaths felt shorter. He panted, desperately trying to stay calm. Probably nothing. It's just my mind playing tricks on me.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," came a cool voice from the shadows, Hiccup jumped, desperately straining to see the speaker of the voice, he whirled desperately looking around the cave but there was no one. Impossible, Alvin must have a stealth dragon or something, he was here, Hiccup had heard him.

Hiccup shook as he gazed around the cave, should he wake Wodensfang? He would know what to do right? Would he be mad Hiccup had woken him up? Probably. What could he do anyways? They were alone.

Hiccup found himself shaking harder, he wished he were back on Berk, back home. He wished that he had just said goodnight to his father and was heading to bed, smuggling Toothless in his waistcoat. He wished that he was sitting in his own bed on Berk, Toothless asleep on his chest, as usual, a warm presence in the cold room. He wished that he could still hear the shouts of late night party goers heading home as he waited to fall asleep. He wished he could hear his father downstairs, maybe even his mother. He wished he could hear them talking, he wished he could hear the wood floors creaking with their footsteps.

But that was gone. Berk had been burned to the ground by Furious' troops, Hiccup's childhood home was nothing more than a couple splinters now. He tore his mind away from the thoughts, desperately trying to focus on the current problem.

There was someone here, there had to be, Hiccup had heard someone. But the more Hiccup peered into the darkness the more he felt that the voices and movement had been a figment of his imagination. He should sleep. It was late, Hiccup worried that the sun was only a few hours away from reaching the horizon. He laid his head down on Windwalker's tail and closed his eyes desperately trying to sleep.

To his relief, the world slowly faded to blackness as Hiccup closed his eyes. He could feel his breathing slowing into the slow drone of sleep. But the calming darkness didn't stay for very long. Soon fire consumed him, his entire body felt hot, he looked down and saw that his legs had been consumed in a bright red flame, its fingers grabbing at his ratty old fire suit; it barely served as clothes anymore, the old suit was torn badly all over, the sleeves barely even existent. It was so worn out it offered little protection against the flame. Hiccup tried to move but found that he was tied to a tall wooden mast that was standing in the middle of the fire, slowly burning with him. Heavy metal chains were wrapped across the boy, their cold gray slowly turning to an orange as the flame burned brighter and brighter. Hiccup struggled, desperately trying to creep out from the chains but they held fast.

He frantically scanned the world around him looking for someone to help but all he was greeted with was a plane of fire. He screamed, desperately crying for help. "Fishlegs? Camicazi? Toothless? Wodensfang? Windwalker" he yelled out into the blaze, but there was no response.

He could feel himself blacking out from the heat, his skin burning in the fire. But just before the world faded he heard a voice, "They're gone," whispered the cold voice. "They're dead." There was cackle from behind him and he felt a hand close around his throat.

"Soon you'll be joining them." Came another voice, higher pitched and female. Hiccup knew that voice; Alvin and the Witch.

"Goodbye, Hiccup." Said Alvin above the crackling fire.

"NO!" Hiccup yelled, struggling against Alvin's grasp. "NO, NO, NO!"

But the burning inferno was gone. They were gone. Everything was gone.

"Hiccup!" He felt a claw against his face, "Hiccup!" came the voice again. "Hiccup wake up!"

Hiccup opened his eyes, the Wodensfang was crouched over him, his old wrinkled brown face riddled with concern. The Windwalker hovered above him, his brow creased in soft lines of concern and Toothless sat on Hiccup's chest, his large green eyes staring directly into Hiccup's blue. Toothless' eyes looked large and scared, in the dimly lit cave, they seemed to emanate a soft green light. "H-h-hiccup? Are you a-a-alright?" his stammer seemed more prominent than normal as he spoke. His small body appearing to quiver and Hiccup wondered if it was because of him.

"Yes Toothless, I'm alright." Hiccup said shakily, though he could still feel the fire against his skin.

"Are you quite sure, Hiccup?" Wodensfang's old voice seem to have a bit of a quiver of its own. "You seemed quite ill only a moment ago …" The old dragon trailed off as he looked at Hiccup his eyes seeming to darken with an unknown understanding.

Even the Windwalker, though he said nothing seemed to be worried for Hiccup. Hiccup himself wondered what he had done to cause them to worry so much. "Guys I'm alright." He whispered, desperately trying to keep his voice level, "Really, I just had a bad dream, I didn't mean to wake you all."

"B-b-but you d-did." Said Toothless, looking at him with those big green eyes, "Y-you woke us up because of s-s-something's wrong. T-toothless knows it." Hiccup smiled weakly as Toothless seemed to be doing his very best to console him.

"Toothless, I'm okay. There's no need to worry, really. It was just a bad dream."

"Hiccup," said Wodensfang slowly, "We've been out here nearly six months." Again, the old dragon seemed to trail off in a sense of worry.

"And?" asked Hiccup

"Hiccup you've been alone for six months, on the run, practically trapped in a cave!" Wodensfang exclaimed with worry.

"I haven't been alone," said Hiccup, "You all are here."

"Yes, but you haven't been with other Vikings in ages, Hiccup. Is that even normal for a human? Hiccup humans are different than dragons!" Wodensfang seemed to be heading into one of his fits.

"It's fine Wodensfang, besides it's not like we can really go anywhere." He laughed, a bit sarcastically, and Wodensfang raised an eyebrow at Hiccup's exclamation.

"Hiccup I'm worried. Honestly, this situation is by no means good for anyone but humans are very different than dragons and I worry that you're going to be sick Hiccup. It's no surprise to anyone that this is the most stressful on you and being under that kind of pressure and torment for that long isn't good for anyone." Wodensfang was nearly hopping up and down in agitation at this point. All his spines were on edge with worry.

"Humans shouldn't be alone."

They all turned the find the source of the voice. It was Windwalker who had spoken, his voice was soft and filled with a worry brought on by memories. "Back on the Lava-Lout islands, they had a few jailers there, Vikings to control us dragons. Many left and soon there was only one left, he stayed with us and tried to control us, he tried to keep the other prisoners there too. But as the months turned into years he started to go crazy. It was slow, but eventually he-he- "the Windwalker stammered, his voice growing softer, "he slit his own throat and then we were alone.

"I left shortly after that, many of the remaining prisoners did. The island was abandoned for many years, of course then Alvin the Treacherous took over a few years later—but you already know that story." The Windwalker shook as he finished the story. Clearly, the words were bringing back harsh memories.

Hiccup gulped, he had never known that the jailkeeper had gone insane. He shuddered the think what it must've been like on that island. "But he couldn't speak Dragonese, right Wodensfang?" Hiccup asked, his voice growing soft in the early hours of the day.

"No." The Windwalker admitted, "but he wasn't being hunted by the entire archipelago either."

"Windwalker has a point." Said Wodensfang after a long time. "We're worried, Hiccup. We know that something is wrong and it's okay." Hiccup shrugged weakly, though the burned sensation had worn off he still felt weakened since the dream.

"I just—I miss home I guess." He mumbled, "I miss Berk, I miss my father, I even miss Gobber's classes! I miss having to get up and go out in the freezing cold to go fail at being a Viking. I miss Fishlegs, I miss sitting with him after class. I miss having days off and taking Toothless to go play with Fishlegs and Horrowcow. I miss visiting wild dragon cliff. I miss writing. I miss trying to study dragons. I miss early mornings before the sun had risen and during the spring I could sit on our steps and watch it rise in the east. I miss Camicazi's stupid and crazy ideas. I miss Fishlegs' sarcasm. I miss going to the Meathead Public Library. I miss trying to surf in the ocean with Fishlegs and Camicazi. I miss—I miss Berk!" Hiccup hadn't realized he was crying until Toothless used his wing to wipe a tear from Hiccup's cheek.

"It's going to be okay, Hiccup." Said Wodensfang quietly.

"It always is." Whispered Windwalker, a small smile creeping across his face.

"If it isn't it's not the e-e-end." Stammered Toothless, his large eyes looking up into Hiccup's face, they seemed to shine with sympathy and Hiccup held the small dragon in his arms and for once Toothless let the sign of compassion go. He licked Hiccup's cheek with his warm pink tongue.

Wodensfang sat on Hiccup's lap, he patted it gently with his wing. Windwalker sneaked his long neck around the trio encircling them in warmth. His head rested near Hiccup and he used the opportunity to give Hiccup a gentle lick across his face. Hiccup smiled at Windwalker, some color restoring to his pale face.

The four stayed like that, watching the morning sun come up slowly over the East. For a moment, there was no rebellion, there was no danger. It was just a morning on Berk; a beautiful sun chasing the darkness away.