Sorry to disappoint you Family Ties fans, but Genesis and Titan will not be in this. But I hope you will enjoy this all the same

Chapter I

The sun had barely risen, over Berk, when the door to Hiccup's and Astrid's room banged open, and two small children came bounding in and hopped onto their bed, squealing excitedly. Hiccup sat up in bed, from the surprise of the noise, so fast, that he almost propelled himself off the end. The children laughed at their father's reaction. Astrid, still laying in the same position she had been sleeping, just smiled at her children. Toothless, who was asleep on the floor by the foot of Hiccup's side of the bed, awoke at the commotion, and bounced onto the bed, sending the children flying into the air. They shouted gleefully as they hovered for a moment, and landed back on the bed, now laughing harder than ever. "Whoa! Easy there, bud." Said Hiccup, patting Toothless on the head. "If the kids go 'splat' you're the one who has to clean it up."

"Hiccup!" Said Astrid, sitting up in bed. But the two children just giggled. "Come on, Daddy! It's time to get up!" Said Vetrarose, the eldest of the two. She started yanking on Hiccups arm to get him to move. Vetra's younger brother, Askle, nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!" He said. You promised you'd take us flying today!"

"Yeah. Well, I didn't mean at the crack of dawn." Said Hiccup, scratching his head. Vetra stood up on the bed, and climbed onto Toothless' back. "Look at me! I'm flying!" She said happily. Jealous, Askle too climbed onto Toothless' back. "Me too!" He said. Toothless started bucking playfully, causing the children to flip on his back. They laughed as they held tightly to keep on. "Hey, careful." Said Astrid. "Let's not start the day with another broken leg."

"It didn't break!" Vetra argued. "It just went 'snap!" Hiccup and Astrid both climbed out of bed, and walked towards the door. "Please, Daddy!" Askle whined as Toothless hopped off the bed with the children still on his back. "We never get to go flying!"

"We can go this afternoon." Said Hiccup opening the door that led outside. "Toothless and I have some things to do in the village first. "Aaaaawwwww!" Vetra and Askle whined in unison, sliding off of Toothless. "What are we supposed to do until then?" Said Vetra. Hiccup shrugged. "I don't know." He said. "Go sword-fight in the cove or something."

"Yaaaayy!" Vetra and Askle cheered, running out the door. "Wait!" Astrid called after them. "You forgot to eat you're- oh never mind." Hiccup chuckled. "They're a handful." He said. "Most five and six year-olds are." Said Astrid. "But, I don't like the idea of them playing in the cove by themselves."

"Ah, they'll be fine." Said Hiccup dismissively. "How much trouble can two toddlers get into?" Astrid glared at Hiccup. "You don't want me to answer that." She said. But Hiccup just smiled warmly, and embraced Astrid close. "They'll be fine." He said.

Down at the cove, Vetra was swinging her wooden sword wildly in front of her as she ran, Askle following close behind, shouting a squeaky battle-cry. "All fear the mighty Vetrarose!" Said Vetra, stepping one foot triumphantly on a rock. "Princess of Berk! Future leader of the Hairy Hooligans!"

"You can't lead the Hooligans!" Askle protested. "Only boys can lead."

"Nuh-uh!" Said Vetra, getting in Askle's face. "I'm the leader! I'm the oldest!"

"By ten months!" Askle argued. "You don't even know what ten months are!" Said Vetra. "Yeah, well I can find out." Said Askle. "But I'm the better fighter, so I should lead."

"No you're not!" Said Vetra. "I am!" She jabbed Askle in the chest with her sword. "Ow!" Said Askle, stumbling backwards. "It's on now, Vetra!" He ran at his sister, brandishing his own wooden-sword. The two children laughed as they swung their sword s at each other. There was a

loud cracking sound each time the swords collided. "Ha! I got you!" Said Askle, swinging his sword again. "No. You missed!" Said Vetra, ducking to avoid Askle's sword.

Vetra stopped swinging her sword as a strange noise met with her ears. "Ha!" Said Askle, seeing that Vetra had stopped. "Does that mean you give up?" But Vetra shushed him so she could hear better. "What's that?" She said. Askle could hear it too now. An odd noise, as if several people were whispering directly into their ears. Askle shivered at the sound. "I don't like it." He said. "It's scary." But however scary the whispering was, it was nothing compared to what happened next. The ground beneath the children's feet began to shake so violently, that both of them fell down. The ground began to crack around them, and suddenly burst open into a large hole in front of Askle and Vetra. A large Whispering-Death slid it's way out of the whole, and began to hover several feet in the air. Vetra screamed at the sight of the terrifying Dragon, and began to run in the opposite direction, Askle following closely. At the sound of the scream, the Whispering-Death screeched at the children, and shot sever long thick spines at them from his tail. They landed right in front of the children's path, penetrating the ground. Askle and Vetra screamed again, and turned to run the other way.

Back in the village, Toothless turned his head in the direction of the cove, as his sharp ears picked up the sounds of the children's screams. He gave a deep snarl, glaring at the trees in front of him. "Toothless?" Said Hiccup, who had not heard the screams, noticing his dragon's strange behavior. "What's wrong?" But Toothless didn't respond, but took off running through the trees towards the cove. "Toothless?!" Hiccup ran after him, but he was too fast, and was out of sight within a moment. "Hiccup, what's wrong?" Astrid came up next to Hiccup with her Nadder, Stormfly. "Toothless ran off." Said Hiccup. "I think there's trouble. We have to go after him." Astrid pulled Hiccup onto Stormfly before taking of to follow Toothless.

Vetra was running as fast as her short legs would allow. She had grabbed a hold of Askle's hand and was pulling him behind her. The Whispering-Death dove to the ground and began to dig underneath until he was out of sight. "Is it gone?" Said Askle quietly. But Vetra didn't have time to answer as the ground began to shake again. "Run, Askle! Run!" Vetra cried, continuing to run. "Over there!" She was pointing at a small space in the rocks, just large enough for them to squeeze through. Vetra crouched down and crawled inside. Askle bent down to follow, but at that moment, the Whispering-Death resurfaced, and had grabbed Askle by his leg, dragging him away from the hole. "Askle!" Vetra cried. But as the Whispering-Death burst through the ground, it causes several rocks to fall in front of the hole, trapping Vetra inside. Only a small space remained that Vetra used to peak out of to see what was happening. Askle screamed in pain and fear as the Whispering-Death continued to drag him in the dirt. He covered his face with his arms when the Whispering-Death finally let go of his leg. It screeched loudly at the defenseless little boy, opening its mouth wide to strike. The Whispering-Death was knocked aside as Toothless slammed into it. He roared loudly at the rouge dragon, putting himself between Askle and the Whispering-Death. Now enraged, the Whispering-Death dove at Toothless, ramming into him. Vetra watch the two dragons wrestling in the dirt from inside the barricade of rocks she was still trapped in. Askle didn't move. He was to terrified that the Whispering-Death might go after him again if he did. Toothless jumped on the Whispering-Death's back, and but down hard. It screeched loudly, grabbed Toothless with it's tail, and threw him off. Toothless crashed into a tree, which snapped from the force, and collapsed onto of him, knocking Toothless unconscious. "Toothless!" Askle shouted. The Whispering-Death turned back around to face him, barring his many rows of sharp, knife-like teeth at the boy. Askle got to his feet and tried running away, but if injured leg kept him from going to fast. The Whispering-Death readied another spine from his tail, and threw it at Askle. Vetra watched helplessly as the spine hit Askle in the back, and he fell to the ground, not moving. Roaring triumphantly, the Whispering-Death vanished into the ground again. After a moment of the ground trembling, all was silent, and the rouge dragon was nowhere to be found.

Now entering the cove, Hiccup jumped off of Stormfly before she touched down. He surveyed the area. All that could be seen were several large holes in the ground, large enough for even a dragon to fit comfortably in. "Something definitely happened here." He said as Astrid climbed off of Stormfly. "Those are Whispering-Death holes. But where is Toothless?"

"Hiccup, where are the kids?" Said Astrid in a slightly panicked voice. She and Hiccup split up and began searching, calling out for Vetra and Askle to come out. Hiccup laid eyes on the tree with Toothless buried beneath. He ran over and threw several of the broken branches off of him. Toothless stood up and shook himself. "Hey, bud." Said Hiccup, patting Toothless on the head. "!What happened here?" Toothless just moaned and licked Hiccup's face. "Where are the kids?" Said Hiccup, now getting worried. Then, Hiccup hear a quiet noise coming from a pile of rocks. It sounded like a squirrel squeaking, but he doubted it. He rushed over and started to remove the rocks from the pile until Vetra was visible. Hiccup the pulled her out of the hole, and embraced her tight. "Oh, thank Odin you're alright." He said while Vetra whimpered and sobbed in his shirt. "Is Askle in there too?" Vetra didn't answer, but kept whimpering, and was now trembling. "Vetra." Said Hiccup, looking at Vetra. "Where is your brother?" Vetra still didn't answer. Hiccup stood up and continued searching. Astrid came up beside him, panting slightly. "I found Vetra." Hiccup said to her. "But I can't find Askle."

"We'll find him, Hiccup." Said Astrid reassuringly. She walked over and picked up Vetra. Toothless was sniffing the ground enthusiastically, following a scent. Hiccup and Astrid followed Toothless until he came to a mass on the ground and started to nudge it gently. Hiccup and Astrid walked up to it. Astrid gave a hair-raising scream as she realized that it was Askle lying in the dirt, not breathing. Hiccup thought the world might explode. His body went numb, and he fell to his knees in front of his son's body. Astrid began to sob loudly as she dropped to the ground and grabbed Askle, holding him tightly, refusing to let go. Vetra, still trembling, watched her parents hold each other, and her brother, both sobbing. Toothless went up to Vetra and nudged her lovingly. Vetra hugged the dragon as tears fell fast down her cheeks.