Chapter 1

In the night sky above a sprawling ocean, a young man flew atop a black dragon with a half-prosthetic tail. The man himself was holding onto a dragon via a saddle and had a prosthetic leg made of wood and metal. He used this leg to control the position of the prosthetic or to lock it into place if necessary. The man was also wearing a suit of leather armor and a trihorn helmet. This man was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock lll, and the dragon was one of his first and best friends, Toothless. The dragon was one of the most powerful and fastest species of dragon ever known, a Night Fury. The dragon and his rider had done many extraordinary things during their lives, such as making peace between the Vikings, who lived on Berk, and dragons, along with actually training dragons. They were, at this point, patrolling the islands around Berk, making sure that there weren't any immediate threats to their home.

Hiccup sighed, as he leaned down to scratch Toothless behind the ear, getting a small purr out of the "overgrown reptile". "Well bud, it looks like everything is clear," He said, as he heard the distant rumbling of thunder. "And not too late it seems. It looks like Thor is sending a storm our way. We should head back."

The dragon gave out a small growl of approval, and began to fly back to Berk. Toothless wasn't exactly a big fan of storms, and loathed lightning even more.

It wasn't long before Hiccup and Toothless noticed a certain blonde haired Viking wearing a red spiked skirt and a blue/green striped shirt. The Viking was riding on a light blue dragon with spikes covering most of its body. "Hey, Astrid. I would've figured that you and Stormfly would've been done by now." He said, as Toothless flew next to said Deadly Nadder

Astrid glanced at Hiccup, and shrugged. "We actually decided to train a bit, after we were done with our patrol. We were actually heading back when we noticed the storm." She said.

Hiccup nodded slightly. "From the looks of that storm, it's a big one. The strange thing is that it isn't the rainy season. We aren't due for a storm like that for another month." The young Viking was slightly suspicious of the storm. While it might bring much needed water to the crops, there was also a chance that the village would be damaged from the weather.

Astrid shrugged. "I just hope it doesn't last for too long." She said, scratching her dragon behind the horns on its head. "Stormfly doesn't exactly like to be cooped up."

When the two riders and their dragons landed on at the dragon training academy on Berk, the storm was right behind them. "The others should already be inside. You should be to." Hiccup said, looking at Astrid.

The young girl nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow, then." She said, before giving Hiccup a peck on the cheek and running home alongside her dragon.

Hiccup smiled slightly, and glanced at Toothless. "We should head home, too. If I know my dad, then he wouldn't like us being out during a storm." He said, getting a slight purr out of Toothless. The boy and his dragon then ran for home. By the time the two had entered the two story house, the storm was already bearing down on Berk.

A heavyset man of about 40-50 years of age noticed the two enter the house, and smiled under his red haired beard. He was the chief of the tribe, and was most commonly known as Stoick. "So, I take it you didn't find anything out of the ordinary?" He asked.

Hiccup glanced at Stoick, and shook his head. "Nothing but a bit of bad weather, dad." He said, not noticing that Toothless had already gone upstairs to their room. "Anything happen here?"

Stoick shook his head. "Aside from mending a few fence posts, making sure the animals were in for the storm, and plowing a few fields, nothing has happened." He said.

Hiccup nodded slightly, and went upstairs after a few more minutes of talking with his father and eating a bit of mutton stew. The conversation mainly involved Hiccup's ever growing list of responsibilities, seeing as how he would be chief in a few years. As soon as Hiccup reached the top of the stairs, he noticed Toothless looking out an open window. "What is it, bud?" He asked.

The black scaled dragon glanced at his rider, and motioned for him to look out the window. He knew that something wasn't right, and was not exactly having an easy time conveying that to his rider.

Hiccup looked out the window, and didn't find anything that would cause Toothless to act up, aside from the lightning. "I thought you got over your fear of lightning?" He asked, before closing the window.

Toothless huffed slightly, and slapped his rider with his tail, sending Hiccup onto his bed.

The young Viking laughed slightly, as he turned over onto his back and put his head on a pillow. "Yeah, I was asking for that." He said, before getting up and going through his nightly routine. He then scratched Toothless behind the ear as he sat on his bed. The young man then turned his thoughts to what had transpired ever since that fateful battle with the Red Death. "We sure have been through a lot, bud." He said.

Toothless gave off a small purr, before heating the slab of stone that served as his bed with a less powerful version of his fire. The Night Fury then patted the fire down, and curled into a ball. Unlike his rider, he didn't exactly fall asleep at first. Call it a sixth sense, but he could tell that something was different. After a few minutes of contemplating, the dragon simply shook the feeling off and finally went to sleep.

Within the confines of the storm, a dragon struggled to fly as it was battered by the wind and rain. The dragon tried to push through the storm, but its efforts were proven to have been in vain when a particularly strong gust of wind blew the dragon into one of the towering stone pillars off the coast of Berk. The dragon roared in pain, as its body was forcibly dragged against the rough surface. A few scales had been painfully ripped off, and the dragon fell into the ocean due to the shear pain in its wings.

It's good to be back. I know I haven't been on this site for a bloody year, and I thank of the readers that have stuck with me through my prolonged writers block. Please, I would love any and all constructive feedback.