Author's note: I do not own any of the characters or content or stories of How to Train Your Dragon and How to Train Your Dragon 2. This is my first real fiction ever so any criticism and reviews would be appreciated.

A Journey Home

Chapter 1: Waking Dream

Once again here he was in the smoke filled darkness. He was drifting along in this vast expanse of swirling cinder and ash for what seemed to be the thousandth time. All around he saw the flying sparks of light. He watched these with sad eyes. These fleck each felt like they were the remnants of happy memories? Or maybe hopeful glimpses of what could be? He didn't know just as so many times before.

He seemed to be there for hours as he floated along. He tried to grasp at one of the lights close by him only to see it break into smaller orbs that slipped through his fingers and fly away from him. He looked down at his extended hand and then down at the rest of himself. He found he was garbed in black clothes, trench coat, boots, gloves and hood. He brought his gloved hand to his face and made to touch his lips that he felt to be in a frown. But he found that a covering was over his face leaving his eyes exposed to behold the scene.

He looked to his surroundings as he felt a sudden change. He wasn't floating any longer but standing on solid scorched soil. He was choking on the fumes that wafted around him. This was where the smoke was rising from. As if a great wildfire had already passed through and had robbed this land of all that was lush and very much alive. There was nothing left but an expansive waste. The skies were filled with dark clouds that hung low which gave it the look of early twilight.

The clouds were darkening fast as the feeling of primal fear began to spring to life in him. As if the world itself had begun to stir, he heard it. A great slow and deep pulse pressed down from the clouds and reverberated through the earth. He felt the ground beneath his feet shudder from each new beat. His instincts were screaming that he needed get away, that he had to escape somehow from what was coming his way. His eyes darted every which way and then up, everything was becoming pitch as night as the beats announced that their source was drawing closer from above.

What it was he never knew for that was how it always happened. By now he could barely see anything above or around him. All was being enveloped in velvet blackness like a curtain being drawn down towards him. And then terror truly overtook him and held him in place as the darkness parted to reveal an immense pitch dark mass. It had features that looked like a sort of monster with four legs, a set of wings, a head and tail. At its center opened a circular glowing blood red eye with a slit at its center.

Though it did not move as an eye would it still seemed to lock with his. He was drawn to the abyss in its center. He felt as if he were being tugged away from where he was, away from his own body. His strength was beginning to leave him. His thoughts were becoming sluggish. He was losing all control of himself as an impression reached him from that crimson orb above him. "Give in. Give up yourself. You can't escape your fate!" These repeated as the being descended towards him. The voice was so deep, so comforting that he felt the urge to obey.

But as he was ready to relinquish himself to this force something flashed behind his eyes. His mind beheld an image of something truly precious and whole shattering to a million slivers. Only to be replaced with overwhelming emptiness and a desperate desire to reclaim what was lost….."NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Something snapped in him and he finally found that his limbs would respond to his commands once more. He spun around and dived into a full sprint kicking up ash as he went. Where he was going he didn't know. He didn't care either just like every other time. He just knew he wanted to get away, to escape. And though he ran as fast as the wind itself, he couldn't get away. The horrid thing's wings worked rhythmically keeping pace with him. The center eye bore into his back.

In the ever expanding dead lands he ran. His eyes widened with surprise as he caught sight of a set of great doors. A soft glow shimmered from its surface through the darkness like rays of moonlight piercing through clouds. Though it happened every time before this kindled a sense of hope that welled up inside of his soul. This hope spurred him on as adrenaline gushed through every fiber of his being. If he can reach the door then just maybe! Just maybe this whole nightmare would end, and then he would finally be free.

These thoughts all scattered as the bloody eyed form let loose a roar that was both high and low in pitch. It seemed to resound in every molecule around him and stung his center with a sense of longing, frustration, desperation, sorrow and an all consuming loneliness. This made his frame quake and caused his pace to slow. His limbs felt heavy like he was walking through thick mud. His mind and heart were assailed by the overwhelming emotions that gushed out from the creature just behind him.

He skidded to a complete stop as he saw fire spray from over his head. It covered the last few feet that separated him from the doors. The ground before him ignited like it was soaked with oil and it expanded to his left and right, completely barring his path. He looked every which way but he found that he was trapped. He gazed at the doors just beyond the blaze gleaming as a beacon, his only way out. Here he was again just as every time before.

He had nowhere to run and he knew it. He was ready to finally submit himself to this being. To allow himself be devoured by the fires and give in to oblivion. Just as every time before. He felt himself go lax and he fell to his knees surrendering himself to fate.

But then he looked up to see two forms starting to emerge from the blaze. The one on the left was that of a man with a slim build holding a sword with a burning blade in his left hand. The man was completely covered in leather armor lined with black scales. The man's head was protected by a helm that covered his face only allowing his piercing green eyes to show. The other figure was the streamline head, shoulders and forelegs of a dragon. Its scaly hide was jet black as those adorning the man's armor. Its own eyes burned green like its human counterpart.

As he saw these two come forth he was faced with new emotions and feelings. He held a hand to his head as a pounding rushed from the middle of his forehead. A similar sensation was originating from his solar plexus as well. And then he felt the heated rush of emotions filling him to the brim. He had feelings of amazement, wonder, jealousy, anger, confusion and desire? All of these hitting him at once making him disoriented. He didn't understand any of it. It was all so familiar but so alien at the same time. This kept up till he couldn't take it any longer.

Rage replaced everything else as he stood to his full height. His eyes snapped open looking to the ones now blocking his way. He didn't care anymore. Or did he ever care in the first place? He didn't know or understand. All he wanted now was just to lash out and destroy this obstacle that upset him so. From outside his vision he brought his right hand forward that now grasped a crude sword. It was crooked along its length and caked with thick rust and grime. As if it was just picked out from a riverbank after many seasons of having no owner. This suited him just fine for as far as he was aware he was as expendable and unwanted as this discarded tool. The sight of the man and the dragon surrounded by flames before the door made him hate them beyond comprehension.

With every last ounce of energy he had left he raised his weapon up high and rushed forward to strike at his foe. This person who was so alien and yet so close to him. He gave a roaring cry as he swung his weapon down at the man in front of him. The man moved with little effort in response. Sparks flared to life in all directions as their blades met in the air. But then he found himself having the air knocked out of him as the man kicked him with his left foot. Foot? No it was a metal peg that acted as the part of the leg that was now missing from the man. He was now looking up at the man from where he laid.

His anger was fading as fear was starting to overcome him again. Who was this man? This man peered down at him with bright green eyes locking with his own greenish yellow brown eyes. His own eyes widened with new awe and wonder and still more fear? A new question was filling his mind and it unsettled him. Who was he?

He made to stand up to face this man anew but then found himself being pounced on by the dragon. He was now pinned against a boulder under its claws digging into his chest. His breathing quickened along with his pulse under its mass. The dragon glared at him with one of its big green eyes. What he saw was anger, calculating, pondering and even a hint of pleading? What caught him most by surprise is that now this dragon's eyes were shifting to crimson as the creature that had chased him. His eyes opened wide as that same feeling of alien familiarity touched him again.

The dragon opened its maw to reveal sharp teeth as it took in breath. He knew then that his time was up as he saw a glow at the back of its throat building up. He saw the man in the background looking on as if saying "I understand where you're coming from". And then everything around dragon went completely black. And the dragon's maw and now crimson eyes seamed to elongate and narrow. With one motion the dragon roared loud and let loose a jet of bluish purple flames. His vision flashed and he knew no more.