Wind whipped through Hiccup Haddock's face as he soared through the air on his Night Fury, Toothless. Just behind them were Astrid and her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly. Astrid let out an excited whoop as she chased her boyfriend through the early morning fog that blanket the island village below. A sudden burst of early morning light suddenly hit her in the face and Astrid realized that she and Hiccup had broken through the clouds and into the sunrise. Sighing, Astrid wrapped her arms around Stormfly's neck in giant hug.

"It sure is beautiful up here, isn't it girl," Astrid murmured.

"It really is," Hiccup whispered as he pulled up next to her.

"Hey love birds, enough already! I thought we were supposed to be patrolling Berk," Snotlout yelled as he broke through the clouds on Hookfang.

"And the moment is ruined," Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Technically Snotlout is right," Fishlegs said as he flew up next to the small group.

"Okay guys I'm pretty sure I said that we would be done more quickly if we all split up and -" Hiccup began, only to be cut off by the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut speeding in on Barf and Belch.

"Hiccup! Hiccup! You have got to hear this," Tuffnut yelled.

"Yeah! It's totally awesome! You won't believe it," Ruffnut added.

"Let me guess, they're just trying to cover their butts for being late," Astrid muttered to Hiccup.

"Astrid, let's just hear what the twins have to say. They might be onto something," Hiccup reasoned.

"Okay, H, just hear us out. We were getting up late-"

"No surprise there," Astrid commented dryly.

"- and we overheard someone running to tell Stoic about this strange glowing thing they found in the forest. So we followed them-"

"Of course," Snotlout rolled his eyes.

"- and! It's over in the woods by the beach on the South side of Berk," Tuffnut finished excitedly.

"Oh Hiccup no! I recognize the look on your face. We are not going over there to check it out," Astrid exclaimed!

"Come on Astrid, we'll just go take a quick look. If it's dangerous, we'll get right out of there. Otherwise, what's the harm in checking it out? Then, if my father and Gobber still aren't there, we can fly back and report what we noticed," Hiccup argued.

"Come on Astrid! It probably isn't even harmful," Ruffnut begged.

"Okay," Astrid sighed. As soon as the words had left her lips, the other riders zipped off in the directions of the beach. Astrid nudged her dragon and they took off after them.

"Alright gang, be careful. We don't know what this thing could do," Hiccup cautioned as the other riders landed on the forest floor behind him. Slowly they all spread out, keeping their eyes open for the strange orb that the villager had mentioned. Suddenly a yell from Fishlegs broke the silence.

"Guys come here! I think I found it!" The other riders raced to where Fishlegs and Meatlug stood at the edge of a tiny clearing. In the middle was a plain white orb that glowed faintly in the morning light. Cautiously Hiccup and Toothless approached the orb. When they were within an arm's length of it and no one had been blown up or otherwise harmed, Hiccup motioned for the other riders and their dragons to come closer.

"What do you think it is," Fishlegs wondered once they were all gathered around the strange object.

"Maybe another stone of good fortune," Snotlout answered hopefully.

"Ugh, I hope not. Remember what happened the last time you had a stone of good fortune," Astrid huffed in annoyance.

"Yeah but those were actually -" Snotlout started to argue back.

"Guys, be quiet! It's clearly not harmful. Maybe we should bring it back to my father and then he and Gobber can-" Hiccup reached for the stone as he spoke, when suddenly the orb exploded in a kaleidoscope of light and launched everyone into the air. Within seconds, dragons and their riders landed with a soft thud. Hiccup took one glance and was completely alarmed by what he saw.

"Guys… where are we?"

In the shady parts of a small mountainside a young woman was picking berries while her horse stood by idly. Suddenly a loud bang echoed throughout the forest. The horse reared up in surprise but did not take off running. The woman's head snapped up and she was by her horse's side in an instant.

"What do you think Woo? Should we go check it out?" Woo flicked an ear and whinnied softly.

"Come on girl I know it spooked you but what if someone got hurt? Plus you don't hear noises like that out here. Let's go!" The young woman climbed into the saddle and together the pair galloped away.

"Hiccup… where are we," Astrid asked as she looked around the forest in a panic.

"Not on Berk, that's for sure," Snotlout snapped.

"Everyone calm down. Let's not panic yet. Is everyone hurt," Hiccup asked calmly, though he wrung his hands together nervously.

"Meatlug and I are," Fishlegs called out from behind a bush where he and his dragon had gotten stuck.

"Tuff and I are okay but Barf and Belch got kind of tangled up in that tree," Ruffnut pointed to their dragon which was caught up in a few branches of a very tall pine.

"Toothless, plasma blast," Hiccup ordered.

"There it is Woo! Straight ahead," the young woman exclaimed as another loud bang sounded throughout the forest, this time accompanied by some sort of purple light. She nudged her horse and Woo galloped even faster towards the unsuspecting dragon riders.

"Wait! Hiccup someone's coming," Astrid yelled.

"Everyone! Defensive formations," Hiccup shouted. Just as the riders and dragons got into formation, a young woman astride a strange four legged creature burst through the bushes and into the clearing.

For a moment, everyone was completely silent as they regarded each other. Then the woman and her strange creature took a small step forward; with his hand behind his back, Hiccup signaled for everyone to hold their positions. The woman stared at him with a rather curious glance, taking in his strange clothing, the symbol on his bag, and the way he was looking at her. Suddenly she spoke.

"Hello… my name is Jess. This is my horse, Woo. We mean no harm," the stranger spoke slightly slower than the average Berkian.

"My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and this is my dragon Toothless. These are my friends, Astrid Hofferson and her dragon Stormfly, Fishlegs Ingerman and his dragon Meatlug, Spitelout Jorgenson and his dragon Hookfang, and the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorstan and their dragon Barf and Belch," Hiccup introduced everyone, making sure to speak clearly for Jess.

"It is nice to meet you. Where are you from," Jess asked curiously.

"We are from a village on a small island called Berk. Where are we," Hiccup asked back.

"Montana," Jess answered simply.

"Where in Thor's name is that," Snotlout yelled incredulously.

"Please excuse him, he's a muttonhead," Astrid said.

"Montana is… well kind of a place in the middle of nowhere," Jess finished awkwardly, unsure of how to explain the concept of states and countries in Ancient Norse. Sure she was relatively fluent but some ideas just did not translate.

"How can we get home," Hiccup wanted to know.

"I am not sure. You see… you are about 1,200 years in the future," Jess explained quietly.

"WHAT?!" Astrid, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout shrieked in unison.

"Oh Hiccup just imagine the kinds of dragons we might find! Dragon evolution! Oh Hiccup this is so exciting," Fishlegs squealed.

"Not now Fishlegs," Hiccup hissed.

"Yes Fishlegs, I am sorry but no one has seen hide nor tail of a dragon for centuries now. Well not except…" Jess's voice trailed off as she got a faraway look in her multicolored hazel eyes.

"Except what?! Ooh tell us," Fishlegs begged excitedly. The entire group leaned in closer to Jess and Woo.

"Once when I was a very little girl… I was at home and there was a huge thunderstorm. I was watching it through a giant window in our home. There was a flash of lightning and for a brief second I thought I saw the outline of a huge dragon looking straight at me. Then it was gone and I never saw anything like it again. Everyone in this day and age believes that there are no such things as dragons so I never told anyone until now."

"Oh Jesse that's amazing!" Fishlegs could barely contain his excitement.

"So that's why you didn't look surprised to see our dragons…" Hiccup mused.

"I suppose so. If anyone else had found you, they probably would have gone running for the hills and created a huge media sensation," Jess chuckled.

"What's media," Fishlegs wanted to know. Jess was about to answer him when Hiccup cut her off.

"Look as curious as I am about media, we have to get back to Berk."

"Hiccup… I don't think that will be happening anytime soon," Astrid announced.

"Wha- wait why not?"

"I didn't see the orb when we landed and even we found it, it looked pretty delicate. The fall would have broken it to pieces," Astrid explained sadly.

"There could still be another way out…" Hiccup's voice trailed off hopelessly.

"I hate to interrupt but maybe we could all go back to my home? You can rest up and feed your dragons and get some sleep. In the morning we can workout what to do," Jess offered. Seeing no better option, Hiccup nodded in agreement.

"Thank you Jess. Alright gang, let's go!"

"Follow me everyone." Jess turned Woo around and started trotting back the way she'd come. The riders fell in line behind her, each one hoping that trusting Jess was the right choice.

After a short while, the odd group came to the edge of the forest. An expanse of tall green grasses waved gently in the wind, stretching out until they met the blueish gray mountains rising up against the horizon. A little to the left -and also in the distance- lay a large web that seemed to glitter and shimmer in the heat. And just before them stood the most enormous wooden hut that any of the riders had ever seen.

"Oh my Thor is your dad like the chief or something," Tuffnut asked in awe.

"No Tuff.. we um, don't exactly have chiefs," Jess giggled.

"No chiefs? How are your people organized? Who runs the tribes? Oh I have so many questions," Fishlegs squealed.

"I will try to explain… at some other time. A lot has changed in the last 1,200 years and many of today's ideas don't… really translate into Ancient Norse," Jess replied.

"Fishlegs, who cares about that dumb stuff! We need to rest our dragons! Hookfang needs a nap," Snotlout whined. Fishlegs glared at the shorter viking but before he could rebuke Snotlout for his rudeness, Jess spoke up.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Snotlout is right. I'll show you where to keep your dragons and then I can fix us up some food."

"Looks like Snotlout isn't any nicer in the future," Astrid joked to Hiccup, who had to fight back a laugh.

"Come on I'll show you the stables," Jess said. The rest of the group followed her just over a grassy hill to where the largest wooden stables the riders had ever seen.

"Thor's butt is everything this huge," Snotlout exclaimed in shock!

"You should see Texas," Jess remarked. Six blank faces stared back at her.

"Right… um, I'll explain that joke later. For now, the stables," Jess gestured to the extraordinary wooden structure that was painted red and white for some weird reason.

"Our horses are currently out in the paddock. They're not as unspookable as Woo so I'll need to get them used to the dragons. For now though, we'll put them in the stables. We've got plenty of extra stalls." With that, Jess lead the group into the barn where Toothless, Stormfly, Meatlug, Barf & Belch, and Hookfang each got their own fancy stall.

"By horse standards these are pretty big but they're just right for dragons," Jess smiled.

"Now did you mention food earlier," Snotlout asked as his stomach grumbled. Astrid rolled her eyes and Hiccup facepalmed. Luckily Jess just laughed and started walking towards the giant wooden hut.

"Do most people have huts this big," Fishlegs asked Jess.

"Oh Fishlegs, they're not called huts. We call them houses. But no, most people people don't live in such big homes. There are a few that live in homes similar to this one and an even smaller number of people who have much bigger homes than this one but it is unusual," Jess answered.

"What is the average size of a hut, I mean house, here," Astrid wondered.

"Maybe later I can take you into town and show you," Jess smiled as she opened the door to her house.

As the dragon riders filed inside, their jaws dropped in awe. The spectacular outside was nothing compared to the interior. Shiny oakwood floors spread out in every direction. The walls were a similar shade of finely polished wood logs. Directly in front of the group lay some strange black objects surrounding a short table that was made of some sort of shiny and transparent material. Behind the table and the black chair-like objects was a beautiful stone fireplace. Just to the right of it was a wooden shelf that had some type of flat black box standing on it. Next to the base of the the black box was a rectangular object in a matching color with weird symbols on it.

Jess noted her new friends' amazement and tried not to burst out laughing. They were Vikings from like the 8th century! Of course they wouldn't have seen couches, of Smart TVs, or glass, or remotes before.

"I'll show you what all that is in a bit. For now, let's make some lunch! Um, I don't have traditional Viking food but maybe we can make a pizza," Jess suggested.

"What is a pizza?" Hiccup and his friends looked extremely confused.

"I'll show you!"

Twenty minutes later, the group was seated around the large quartz countertop island in the middle of the kitchen. Jess pulled two piping hot cheese pizzas from the oven and set them down in the middle of the riders. Going back to the white cabinets, she began to pull out an assortment of glasses and started to fill them with ice cold water from a little dispenser on the fridge door. Fishlegs and Hiccup watched on in amazement.

"You know Fishlegs, now that I'm over the shock of what happened, I'm actually pretty curious to explore this place! I mean just look all the cool inventions in this room alone!"

"I know Hiccup! And apparently Jess's people don't even have chiefs or tribes! Oohh there is so much learning to do!"

"I got you all some water but we have many other drinks as well," Jess said as she see the glasses down.

"Like what," Hiccup looked at Jess with curiosity.

"I've got soda, beer, cider, hard soda, juice, chocolate milk, Kool-aid, lemonade, I could make smoothies…."

"That is a lot of options," Tuffnut stated.

"Really Tuff? I hadn't noticed." Hiccup fought the urge to facepalm.

"Hmm… why don't I just get a bit of everything and let y'all choose," Jesse suggested. When everyone nodded in agreement, she walked over to the fridge and began pulling out giant bottle of variously colored liquids. Both Hiccup and Astrid jumped up to help Jess carry everything back to where they were sitting.

"Thanks guys. Now… I want to see y'all try this pizza!"

Jess watched in amusement as her new friends took cautious bites of the gooey food. Almost instantaneously everyone was spitting out their mouthfuls of pizzas and reaching frantically for their water.

"Oh fuck, I should have warned you all about that. Pizza is very hot when it first comes out of the oven."

"No kidding," Ruffnut agreed as she gulped down some water.

"It is quite delicious though," Fishlegs said.

"Just wait until we go to a restaurant that has pizza. It's even better than this stuff," Jess exclaimed.

"What's a restaurant." Hiccup and Fishlegs wondered in unison.

"Hmm the best way to answer that is to take you to one," Jess smiled mischievously.

"You know Jess, that would be amazing!" Hiccup spoke enthusiastically.

"Hiccup… we'd be noticed instantly," Astrid pointed out.

"You're right Astrid…" Hiccup trailed off thoughtfully, clearly formulating one of his many plans.

"I could go into town and bring you all some clothes. Then at least you'd look like you belong in the 21st century. We'd also have to change your names. Unfortunately ones like Snotlout, Fishlegs, Hiccup, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut are extremely uncommon," Jess added.

"What about Astrid's name," Snotlout exclaimed in indignation!

"Yeah it's not fair that Astrid gets to keep her name," Tuffnut and Ruffnut whined.

"Look guys I'm sure that Jess has a very good reason for doing things her way," Hiccup defended their new friend.

"He's right. I do. Look while Astrid's name is unusual, it's not entirely uncommon. As for the rest of you… hmmm. Fishlegs, you'll become Fin Ingerman. Snotlout, you'll become Simon Jorgensen . Ruffnut, you'll become River Thorston and Tuffnut will be Toby Thorston. And Hiccup… you'll be…. Henry Haddock. Y'alls last names are not too unusual, just your first names are."

"Okay now that we've got our names sorted, what shall we do next," Hiccup wondered.

"Well-" Jess began.

"Hiccup, I thought you wanted to go back to Berk! Sure this place is cool but what about our village?! Jess is right, we don't belong here," Snotlout yelled.

"Hey I never said -" Jess glared in Snotlout's direction.

"Snotlout calm down. I want to get back to Berk as badly as you do but the orb is gone. So until we can work out how to go back in time itself, we need to stay here. Jess is kind enough to be offering her home and her help to us and I think we should take it. We could be here for Thor knows how long and without Jess helping us blend in, we'd be spotted instantly. Do you know what that could mean for us? For our dragons?" Hiccup stared evenly at his cousin.

"He's right you," Astrid pointed out.

"Okay fine! I just wanted to make sure we were all in agreement," Snotlout snapped.

"Shut up Snotlout," everyone yelled in unison before bursting into laughter. Snotlout just rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself before grabbing another slice of pizza.