Well hello there. I'll start this with a short note: I've had this idea for so damn long that I can't even remember. I always had a fascination with the whole time-traveling thing in this certain universe and tried searching for stories that even remotely fit the image I had in my head. However, I hadn't come across anything that was similar to what I had imagined (sure, there are plenty of travelling through time stories featuring most commonly Hiccup, but quite different from what I was searching for), so what do you do when you can't find a story that fits your criteria? You write your own, of course. However, I'm not saying I will continue this. Like any other person, I have a million things I want to do, and while writing this story falls in that list, I won't write it if I see that it doesn't interest anyone, and move on to other projects. It's understandable, right? So I ask you one thing: if you wish to continue reading this, please, tell me so! It really depends on you.

Prologue

To put it shortly, Hiccup was excited. Why wouldn't he be? Dealing with those troublesome dragon hunters these past few months, coping with the loss of the Dragon Eye and Dragon's Edge, not to mention dealing with the guilt of killing Viggo certainly took a toll on him, on all of them actually. They had been doing nothing but fighting, so a simple rescue mission was certainly nice for a change.

''That's it, we're lost.''

It would have been great, though, if the feeling was mutual.

''For the last time, we are not lost, Snotlout,'' Hiccup resisted the urge to roll his eyes, yet allowed annoyance to lace his voice. It had been the fifth time his hotheaded friend had made such a claim, after all. ''We just haven't explored these waters all that much, so it may seem that way.''

''We've been flying for hours and we haven't seen a single island on that map of yours yet!'' Snotlout exclaimed in frustration, throwing one of his hands in the air. ''So how can you know?!''

''I can't believe I'm saying this, but he may be right, Hiccup,'' Fishlegs piped in. ''We should have flown across at least a couple of them by now. Maybe it would be better to turn around for now and try a different path the next day?''

The young lad exhaled a soft sigh. If that idea was gaining approval from the rest of the gang, then perhaps he didn't have a choice.

''Fine, you can all head back, Toothless and I will search for a little bit longer,'' he announced over the wind.

''You don't have to tell me twice,'' Snotlout grunted and turned his dragon around, quickly being followed by the twins with a few comments and a rather hesitant Fishlegs.

''I'll go with you,'' Astrid spoke as she flew a bit closer to their leader.

''Thanks, Astrid, but you really don't have to force yourself if you're tired,'' Hiccup flashed her a small smile.

''We've traveled way further, so this is nothing, right, girl?'' the blonde addressed her beloved dragon while patting on the side of her neck, who in returned chirped happily. ''Besides, who knows in what sort of trouble you'll get yourself into again if I left you alone?''

''Ha ha,'' the rider rolled his eyes at the comment. ''Glad to know you worry.''

''And for good reasons, too,'' Astrid teased her friend- boyfriend to be exact- with a light grin.

The pair continued soaring through the bright blue skies for a good couple of hours more until the sun began touching the vast horizon. By that time Hiccup had more or less figured out where on that old map they were, and it appeared that they were still quite a distance from their objective. Not wanting to turn back now and with the night steadily approaching along with stormy clouds slowly but surely drifting their way, the two riders decided to seek shelter on one of the nearby islands.

Their chosen one was relative small and thus almost escaped their view due to all those rocky pillars in this area – not to mention its strange absence from the map –, but after deeming it safe enough, the pair landed. And just in time too, for the dark gray sky broke and heavy raindrops began descending on them. After a quick search along the coastline, Astrid accidentally came across a cave opening, hidden by overgrown bushes. The two didn't debate much on the matter and agreed to wait out the storm and most likely the whole night there. It was almost completely secluded, so they saw no issue.

''Ah, it would be great to have a fire started in here,'' Astrid commented as she rubbed her slightly chilly hands, her eyes dancing around the dark area. Her dragon companion in the mean time decided to lay down by one of the rocky walls. ''But with that rain out there I doubt we'd find any usable firewood.''

''You're right, but maybe we could try searching this cave further,'' Hiccup mused out loud, looking deeper into the rocky tunnel, though with this poor lighting he couldn't make out all that much. ''You stay here, while Toothless and I do a quick search, okay?''

''You want to leave me again?''

''We'll be back soon, I promise,'' he smiled at her reassuringly before turning to the curious Night Fury. ''C'mon, bud, follow me.''

Luckily, there was a single stray branch laying around by the entrance, which Hiccup used as a torch to illuminate the darkness of the cavern. Without even being asked, Toothless lighted the dry piece of wood and the pair could venture now deeper. Astrid followed them with her full of worry eyes until the two disappeared. Sighing softly, she leaned against one of the walls and glanced at her companion.

''I guess it's just you and me now, then. How long do you think it will take them to get into some sort of trouble?''

Stormfly cocked her giant head to the side and squeaked, lightly fluttering her wings.

''I give them twenty minutes,'' Astrid nodded, as if she just had a conversation with the dragon. A moment later, a shudder ran down her spine and she once again looked around as her friend cooed a bit worriedly. ''Yeah, you're right, this place seems creepy. I hope they hurry up.''

In the mean time, the adventurous rider with his trusted partner explored the depths of the wider-than-thought cave. The dark tunnels spread across in all directions and Hiccup had to in some way mark the path he was taking in order not to get lost. The further they went, the less optimistic Hiccup was about finding anything fit for a fire, and yet excitement also began surging through his veins. He tremendously enjoyed exploring new areas, after all, well, at least those that didn't get them potentially killed. Nevertheless, there was this strange vibe about this place, and he knew Toothless felt it as well. The Night Fury kept warily glancing around the place, his pupils narrowed more than usually. Hiccup didn't pay much attention to that for awhile, at least until the dragon straight up growled lowly, stopping abruptly. He seemed quite agitated about something, and that set off an alarm in his rider's mind.

''What is it, bud?'' he asked cautiously. ''Do you sense something?''

Toothless looked fixated about a certain passageway, eyeing it with great suspicion. Yep, there was certainly something off with this place if he reacted like that. A dragon's senses are much sharper, after all. So what would Hiccup do? Investigate it, of course.

''This way?'' he motioned the torch towards that tunnel as if asking for confirmation.

Toothless glanced at him as if he had gone crazy and instead gestured with his head back the way they came. Obviously whatever he felt was not pleasant and possibly dangerous. But who was Hiccup to back down?

''Come on, bud, you know I'm still gonna go there, so you might as well give up already,'' the rider tried to reason with dragon in a light tone before beginning to venture down that suspicious path. Toothless behind him could only groan and follow him. He understood perfectly that without him Hiccup would be done for.

The future chief wasn't sure for how long the two walked down that dark passageway. It only kept going deeper and deeper, and with it its treacherousness increased as well. Not only was it a dangerous path to explore due to the many sharp rocks, steep, strangely slippery steps, serpent-like construction, but the many shadows dancing around from the torch covered any sneaky possible missteps. Hiccup almost fell victim to one of the invisible traps, not noticing the gaping abyss beneath his feet, if not for Toothless' quick reaction. The dragon managed to grab his rider by his vest before the young lad fell to his doom. Unfortunately, due to the sudden force, the torch's fate wasn't as lucky, and so it flew out of Hiccup's hand down the hole, leaving the pair in pitch black darkness.

''Whoa, that was close,'' Hiccup astonished, stumbling back a bit. Quickly, he orientated himself and patted his companion on his head. ''Thanks, bud, you saved me once again. But now we'll have to rely on your hearing to get out of here- or to be more exact, continue onward,'' he talked as he mounted Toothless, gently nudging him forward. The latter once again growled in displeasure but complied with his rider's wishes nonetheless.

Using his echolocation, Toothless jumped over the hole and continued navigating through the narrow tunnel. Even if complete, heavy darkness surrounded them, rendering Hiccup's vision useless, the man trusted his friend unconditionally and had full confidence in him. Why wouldn't he? Night Furies were practically made to orientate in the dark, being nocturnal creatures and rulers of the night. Nevertheless, at some point Hiccup began wondering how much further would this path take them. By that time he was rather certain they had reached the bottom of the ocean. At least the growing tenseness in Toothless' body and increasing growls in his throat signaled that they were nearing... something. That and his sudden halt.

''Alright, bud, could you give me a low flame?'' Hiccup requested as he carefully lowered himself to the ground. He had to see where they were, after all.

Instead, Toothless shot a single blast somewhere straight into the darkness and, surprisingly, hit what seemed to be a fireplace, instantly illuminating the vast area they had come upon.

''Or that works, too,'' the rider murmured. However, once his eyes adjusted to the sudden light, they widened at what entered his vision.

''Whoa... What is this place?'' he questioned no one in particular, taking a small, cautious step downwards the path.

The area at which they arrived resembled a perfectly circular cave large both in width and height. In the middle laid the now alive and flickering fireplace, surrounded by four rock pillars and a thick circle on top, covered in strange carving, while the walls held multiple torches. Even from this distance Hiccup could perceive the unfamiliar designs which made him believe this place had to be ancient. However, what caught his interest the most was the white scribbling along the furthest part of the wall, almost hauntingly gleaming in the dim lighting. Without hesitating, the lad began making his way towards that discovery, his hands almost unconsciously finding his notebook inside his vest. He could almost physically feel excitement rushing through his veins as he approached their finding.

''Look over here, bud, this is so strange..!'' Hiccup astonished quietly, as if to himself, as he gently went over the writings with the tips of his fingers. ''I can't understand any of this!.. I haven't seen anything like it. It must be ancient!..''

However, Toothless wasn't all that interested in some old writing. Instead, he was more focused on scanning the dark cavern above them with those wary eyes of him. Every sense in his body was screaming at him to leave this place at once, but based on how his rider was immersed in that discovery of theirs, he assumed that wouldn't be possible any time soon.

''I have to write this down,'' Hiccup announced, quickly opening up his notebook and beginning to scribble down the odd words. ''Maybe Dad or someone back at Berk would know something. There is a drawing here, too...''

Indeed, above all that writing laid an equally white painting of what seemed to be a... dragon. Of course, what else could it have been? However, Hiccup had no idea what kind of dragon that could be. He hadn't seen anything even remotely similar to it. And the drawing wasn't all that detailed either, not that it would have helped if it was. Hiccup was certain whatever dragon this was, it had yet to be discovered. And if he put all the pieces together correctly...

''I think I finally understand why you're so suspicious about this place, bud,'' the rider spoke slowly, turning away from the drawing to face his wary companion, who paid no mind to him in order to continue observing the higher ground. ''Whatever this dragon is... This must be its home. Which makes us intruders.''

Toothless growled loudly, finally turning to his friend to see whether he at last regained his senses.

''You're right, we should get out of here, Toothless,'' Hiccup nodded a bit urgently. If this place was still inhabited by that dragon, he had no wish to wait around to discover it. He had a nagging feeling it wouldn't be too friendly, and he'd rather not test the solidity of these walls.

''Hiccup! There you are!'' Suddenly a voice resonated through the cave and the addressed lad snapped his head in its direction.

''Astrid? What are you doing here?'' he asked with slightly wider that usually eyes as he quickly jogged towards her.

''You were gone for far too long, so naturally I came looking for you,'' she explained as she jumped down from Stormfly, who also seemed quite agitated, squeaking impatiently. ''Though Stormfly didn't seem too keen on venturing down here.''

''Yeah, her and Toothless both,'' Hiccup gestured at his restless companion, who still frantically observed the dark area above them. ''And I think not without reason. Astrid, I'd tell you more, but I have reason to believe we're not so alone here, so we should first leave this place.''

However, before either of them could make a move, Toothless suddenly bellowed aggressively and shot a powerful blast somewhere into the cavern above them, causing some rocks to fall down and the place to shake. Naturally, that shocked the pair of riders, but they didn't have the time to dwell on it before horrible screech resonated across the whole cavern, forcing the humans to instinctively cover their ears. If that wasn't a sign to immediately get out of there, they didn't know what was. Never had they heard anything remotely similar, and it did not sound pleased.

''Alright, time to leave, now!'' Hiccup yelled over the horrible noise and was about to run towards his agitated dragon, however, with the corner of his eye he caught a flash of green somewhere above them, and horrifying realization dawned upon him that it was not aimed at him.

''Astrid!'' he exclaimed loudly and without a second thought immediately dashed towards her, who had yet to see in what sort of danger she was.

The last thing Hiccup remembered was a bright light, agonizing pain in his chest and a terrible scream of his name.

.

..

…

….

…..

With a loud gasp, the young boy woke up.

While I do understand that this whole thing seems very unclear right now, this is how I like my prologues: mystifying and full of unanswered questions. And if this caught your interest, please, do tell me so, it would mean a lot :)))