A/N: This chapter was written by Sarnia Oblivion

The Lost Soul

All I could remember of the night my village was destroyed was running, running not from the dragons, not from the death, not from my fear but from my last life. From the woman I had once called my mother; from all the children I had once called my friends... some friends. They had left me to die in the flames of my house. None of them had tried to get me out; they hadn't even looked back as they tried to escape. But they hadn't escaped: all they had done was walk straight into the jaws of death, straight into the jaws of the Lost Soul, the dragons that had completely obliterated my home with a single breath. I was the only human survivor of the village which Hiccup had once made great. There had been no resistance. Not a sword had been raised. There had just been destruction. I still remember the utter hopelessness burning inside me as I watched my life burn, and if it wasn't for Toothless, I would have died with it. I and the last Night Fury escaped into the night-

Both completely alone.

That happened when I was only twelve years old, and I still all of hell left to endure.

Two Years Later

"Toothless?" I called quietly through the trees. A small head appeared from behind a tree and grunted, before turning back the way it had been staring before. Slowly, I moved forward over the grass until my back was pressed against the tree like Toothless. "Can you see it?" I asked. Another grunt and Toothless dropped down to the floor in a crouch, silently moving through the undergrowth like a cat hunting a mouse. I clutched my spear and trailed after the Night Fury, keeping the jet-black wings of the dragon in my sight: the forest was a dangerous place to be anytime of the day, especially for someone without a dragon to defend themselves. Suddenly, Toothless stopped and gestured towards the air with his head. I nodded and he took off into the sky.

Then whole forest burst into flames. I dropped to the ground, shielding my head with my hands, as The Lost Soul leapt into the air, emitting deadly bursts of fire in every single direction. I smiled. The plan was working! The sky cracked with fire, but through all of the embers, I could see the shining bolts of blue lightning shooting through the air. They hit the Lost Soul in every area, the face, the body, the tail; the dragon was shown no mercy. Toothless kept on breathing, keeping the Lost Soul alert and enraged; this was exactly what the dragon should not be doing. Its energy was falling, its wings couldn't take much more of the blue lightning bolts, and soon, the mighty Lost Soul sunk to the ground in front of me- and that was when I exploded into action. Leaping forward, and with a mighty thrust, my spear flew straight in and out the other side of the Lost Soul's neck. It let out a screech of agony, before breathing a few more flashes of fire; they were short-lived. Toothless shot down and fired... and then the Lost Soul was dead.

The Night Fury landed on the ground, panting heavily. I walked forward and wrapped my arms around his neck. "You were amazing Toothless!" The dragon shot me a rare smile, sitting down on the grass. Turning around, I stared down regretfully at the dragon we had killed. Even though the Lost Souls had obliterated everything I cared about, I still felt sorry about killing them. But I and Toothless' needs and survival came first- always. "Come on Toothless," I said. "Let's go and get some fish."

He practically purred in agreement as I hopped onto his back and he took off into the clouds. I watched as the island of Berk disappeared down behind us. It made me want to scream. It had once been full of greenery and happiness, but now it was covered in ash and burnt down trees. I remembered when my mother would whisper soothing words into my ear when looking out over the fantastic forests. One day, my daughter, I could almost hear her whispering through the breeze, one day you will be out there with your dragon, floating the skies with Hiccup and Toothless. My mother was full of broken promises and horrible lies, but this was the only piece of speech she had ever told me that held at least half of the truth. I clutched my blood-covered spear with ever more ferocity and shook my head, empting my mind of the unwelcome thoughts. Suddenly, Toothless sent up a yowl of happiness and appreciation, and I knew that he was remembering the days when he had flown the skies with Hiccup as his rider. I smiled and pushed down on the pedal, drawing his back tail feather into the correct position. And then we dived, as if we were falling straight out of the sky, falling down towards the humongous ocean. I tapped Toothless' back comfortingly and whispered over the wind, "Don't worry Toothless, it will be absolutely fine." Toothless turned his head back and nodded with the same happiness he always had when he was flying up with the birds; he stretched out his wings, catching us just as we skimmed the surface of the water, and for just moment, I forgot all about survival, and the Lost Souls, and everything that made me remember the past.

After a few more minutes of flying, we knew it was far too dangerous to be out in plain sight any longer: I clicked his pedal back into position as he turned around and dashed back to the shoreline. The sand ran up to meet us and the Night Fury landed gracefully on the ground; I leaned forward and whispered into his ear. "Thank you, Toothless." I knew that actually, he didn't really need me to control his pedal as before he had died, Hiccup had devised a machine that could let Toothless fly himself, but he still took me for rides up in the majestic clouds. Toothless grunted and sat down, the thrill of the flight gone in a heartbeat. He was remembering Hiccup... he always was. Leaving the dragon alone with himself, I walked up to the edge of the waves, watching the fish and various sea creatures swimming around. I waded a little further in before letting my spear do the talking. Soon, I had caught more fish than we needed. I split the pile of sea creatures into four quarters and let Toothless have three of them. He ate them quickly, blinking at my long ginger hair and sky blue eyes. I sighed. "Oh Toothless, I know you miss him, so do I. But we have to live in the present, not the past." He didn't acknowledge my present, not even a grunt.

Making a fire was a process that took several short minutes. All I did was collect a small amount of twigs and sticks, and then Toothless set them alight. We sat in front of the warmth for hours, just cooking the fish and eating them hungrily whenever they looked even slightly edible. Toothless once or twice choked up half of the fish he eat and rolled them along the ground without any enthusiasm. I laughed and pushed them back. "No thanks;" I lifted up the fish I was eating, "I'm good." Suddenly, Toothless seemed to perk up a little, and I realised that I had probably touched on a moment between him and Hiccup that Toothless remembered well.

There was a sudden rustle in the bushes nearby. I turned my head. "What was that?" Toothless was alert to, and he shot me a look of confusion. My eyes narrowed: something was there watching us. I shook my head, no, you're just imagining things. I turned around towards the sunset and fell down on the sand. My name is Thora, and my life was about to change- for the worst...