It was so strange. My friend Donna and myself were hiking in the foothills by my home when we stumbled upon this, thing. There was a mound of earth that had been disturbed by some animal or another and it looked like there was something buried.

"Come on, Donna! It could be buried treasure!" I had said, joking as I knelt to dig. She just rolled her eyes.

"If it were buried treasure, we wouldn't have been the first to find it would we? It's all dug up and exposed, honestly Allia." She shook her head, but knelt down beside me doing her best not to laugh. Needless to say she didn't get far.

"You can't possibly know that. We aren't the least lucky people on the planet." I nudged her arm as I dug a little off the top of the mound.

"I won't comment on-" She stopped min-sentence, which was unlike her enough that it gave me pause. I stopped laughing and followed her gaze. Something black and smooth was resting on the newly opened earth. I picked it up tentatively and felt a tremor within it. I jumped a little which prompted a questioning look from Donna.

"What?" She asked, concerned.

"It...nothing. I think I was just surprised by an animal or something." I shook my head. I had to have imagined it.

"Well, what are we gonna do with it?" She asked me. I was caught off guard, I never thought we'd actually find anything.

"I...I guess I could take it to the college Monday. I have that mandatory Geology course. It may not be something they can identify, but someone will be able to tell us something I'm sure." I shook my head and stood up with this mysterious new treasure. When the light hit the rounded surface it glimmered. Placing it into my bag I packed some cloth around it and turned back to Donna. "Well, I'm just about done here, it's gettin' hot. How 'bout we get lunch?" She looked at me like I was crazy. That wasn't unusual in itself, but she looked worried.

"Are you sure?" She looked back down at the mound with apprehension.

"Yeah, we've been out here for hours already." I shrugged. "Plus my bag is gettin' kinda' heavy." I grinned at her and she was satisfied.

"Alrighty then. Where ya wanna go?" She took up a stride beside me.

"I don't know, I could make burgers?" I supplied. The look on her face told me all I needed to know. I laughed. "I'll take that as a yes." We slapped a high-five and were on our way chitchatting about this or that. I was as into it as usual, but there was that part of me that was still thinking about that twitchy motion I felt.

By the time we had eaten lunch we had decided to part ways to do homework. We both knew we would never get anything done together. I had to do a research paper for my English class about the history of our little town, Birke. All I knew right off was that we used to be an island inhabited by vikings. Through time and volcanic activity we had become attached to the mainland and a whole lot bigger. I sat with that strange new finding, hoping to find something that would explain it in my studies. Due to the volcanic activity it would have been less than impressive if it were simply a volcanic mineral, but I doubted that.

About an hour passed with no luck other than pulling down some information from the town archives. Interestingly enough the town's first chief had been Stoic the Vast. I did a quick trace on my family tree and found that I was a direct descendant of Hiccup and his wife Astrid. I was a however many greats granddaughter of the second chief of Birke. Cool, I thought. Hiccup was Stoic's son, and would take over the tribe later in life, but more interesting is what he did when he was still young. He formed Birke academy. That was my College, it was supposed to be the first dragon training academy.

Dragons are extinct though. The more I thought about the notion the more I denied it. Dragons were extinct. Plus, my landlord would kill me, and what would I feed it? I laughed and hopped down from my counter top stool to grab something to drink and stretch my legs.

"Dragon egg." I scoffed. "Ridiculous." However, I wasn't convinced. I sat back down and started typing my introduction. I never got far though, before I heard something of a cracking noise. I looked around but finding nothing I returned to my paper. Although this time, when I heard it again, the thing began to shake.

"What the...?" I picked up the...whatever it was and put it down somewhere it wouldn't roll away while I watched what was happening. The outer shell started to visibly crack. "It's an egg." I whispered wide-eyed. I watched in wonder as a small, scaly, black animal was born. Although when I say small, I say it in comparison to the dragon it would become. This baby was already the size of a full-grown cat. "Uh oh." I snapped out of my stupor, snatched up my phone, and made a call.

"Hey Allia! What's up? Did I forget something?" Donna asked.

"You need to get over here." I said watching the baby dragon sneeze a flame vapor.

"Like, now?"

"Like, right now." I said. She got the point.

"Alright, urgent, gotcha. Be there in a sec." I could hear her nodding on the other end. "Bye."

She hung up and I was left there to watch this little guy until she arrived.

"The day I find out I'm the chief's great to the millionth power granddaughter, I find a baby dragon. An EXTINCT dragon. I'm not so sure if I'm the luckiest or unluckiest person on Birke. My landlord is gonna kill me. What if I'm insane? What if I'm imagining this? Oh great, crazy dragon lady. That's a few steps worse than a crazy cat lady AND I have to train this thing." I looked back down at the little one from where I stood, having stopped pacing a moment ago to see little bright eyes following me. They were big, too big for the little guy, with pupils now rounded out almost to a square. Gods help me he was adorable though.

"Hey little one." I lowered my voice and knelt in front of him, at his eye level on the chair. I held out my hand, I'm not sure why, but it felt like the thing to do. Instead of the biting or cowering I imagined, he was more like a little cat. Immediately he snuggled into my hand. I smiled.

"Oh, you wanna be friends. Okay cutie." I picked up the little lizard and snuggled him like I would a cat in my arms. He looked up at me once with those trusting eyes and nuzzled my arm before falling asleep.

I sat there with him until Donna got there. "Alright little guy what am I gonna call you?" I asked as I rubbed his head. He didn't answer so it was up to me. He opened his eyes once and snorted. "Okay, little girl?" I asked. She opened her eyes a little wider and snuggled back in. "Hmm. A little girl." I debated it for a moment and then I knew. "Star." I said. She was already asleep and I was beginning to really enjoy the idea of caring for her. When I heard the knock on my door I almost got up, but thought better of it.

"Come in!".

"What was all that about? What happened? Are you alright?" Donna asked still rounding the corner to come into my kitchen, and when she finally made it in there she stopped dead in her tracks. I brushed my spiked brown hair out of my eyes and smiled at her.

"Donna, meet Star." She shook her head and laughed up a storm in a nervous sort of way.

"Is she dangerous?" She asked. I shook my head.

"I don't think so." I looked down at the sleeping mass in my arms and smiled. "She's super sweet. It's like having a flying kitten." I said. Donna scoffed.

"Gods what do we do?" She asked. I looked up and nailed her with my green-eyed gaze she could never resist.

"What do ya mean? We love her." She shook her head. "You are a sucker for animals." I giggled.

"I know, but so are you." I said and as if punctuating my words Star sat up and gave her a sleepy sideways look that was so cute I almost couldn't contain myself. Donna melted and Star curled back up on my lap. It was amazing how easy it was for the two of us to just accept the magical creature on my lap as a beloved pet. I marveled at the easiness of it. However what happened next sent both of us for a loop we still haven't recovered from. One moment I was sitting in my living room with Donna and the next I was in a meadow somewhere down by the shore.

I recognized this place from somewhere I had been but I couldn't remember where. Not only that, but there were little dragons in the trees and sheep grazing lazily. Had I inhaled something? Paint fumes from the last art project I attempted? Maybe I had some bad meatloaf? What was going on?

"Where in the..." I wiped a hand over my face and shook my head. I looked around for Donna but she was nowhere to be seen. Star was nudging me and then looking up so I decided it might be smart to see what she was excited about. I looked up and almost jumped out of my skin. A dragon that looked a whole lot like Star was flying in for a landing in the field with a boy on his back. One of his legs was missing and he was thin, but tall. His green eyes and brown hair seemed to mimic mine, but there was something about his stature that reminded her of her dad.

"Hey there." He greeted when they landed. His fur boot made almost no sound as he landed from the back of his dragon friend. He noticed something that made one eyebrow raise and I figured it was either A-he had never seen me on the island before or B-my clothes. Both seemed likely. I stood up with the little Star still stretched out in my arm and collected myself.

"Um...hi. I'm Allia...you are?" I asked. I had to remember my manners. I took a deep breath. This was still Birke, I knew it. Maybe not the Birke I was used to, but definitely Birke.

"Ah, Hiccup." He studied my face. "Have...have I seen you before?" He asked.

"I don't think we've met actually." I grinned. "Um...I'm going to be honest though, I'm not entirely sure where I am. Maybe I'm dreaming, maybe it was magic who knows? But I'm from Birke, and I don't recognize this place so I must be lost." I attempted nervously. I wasn't afraid, but I was also making an idiot out of myself.

Hiccup put a hand behind his head and exhaled like he had just run a marathon. "Wow. Uh, I don't know how to tell you this, but...this IS Birke." I felt my jaw drop more than knew it. Star seemed to feel my unease and nudged me. I looked down and gave her a pet.

"So are you from...and this is gonna sound insane...another time?" He asked. I looked at him, the dragon, his clothes, then back at him.

"That, while extremely crazy, might actually be right. What year is it?" I asked. My stomach was doing backflips and my head was swimming. This was definitely not happening.

"420." He said. My breath caught in my breath. "When are you from?" He asked. He seemed to be taking it all so well.

"Uh...well this must be what, in my time they called AD. After recorded history. So...with that in mind I'm from the year...2014." I waited. His eyes were wide.

"Woah woah woah. That's...that's amazing!" He seemed excited.

"I don't think we should go around telling people though. I feel crazy just thinking this, so..." I took a deep breath a looked up at him. He nodded.

"Right, right. Well, that aside who is this little guy?" He asked, motioning to Star.

"Well, sounds a little silly, but I think it's a She. She got sorta indignant when I called her 'he'. But her name is Star." I said. It was easier and easier to talk to him. Everything was beautiful and I just decided to enjoy this while she could.

"Well that looks about right." He scratched her ear and she was loving it. "But she's a night-fury. I thought there were no more." He turned to his dragon. "Hey bud, look at this." The big guy lumbered over and gave Hiccup a questioning look.

"Who's that?" I asked, slightly worried but mostly enchanted. "Oh, sorry, where are my manners. This is Toothless." He motioned to his dragon friend. "He's the only night-fury on Birke. Or...he was." He smiled and gave him a scratch by the ear.

"Oh, hey there Toothless." I ventured. "Woah, so Star is going to grow into what he is?" I asked. Hiccup nodded.

"Yep. She's a cutie. How long before she would let you touch her?" He asked. I was confused.

"Oh, I watched her hatch on my couch and when I got over the surprise I, kinda put my hand out to her and she rubbed it with her cheek." I supplied. He nodded.

"Like this?" He asked and put a hand out to her. She did the same thing she had to me and I nodded.

"Yeah, and then she curled up in my lap and practically went to sleep right there." I finished. He grinned.

"Wow. You're a natural. She's definitely meant to be your dragon." He paused. "Hey, wanna learn to ride?" He asked suddenly. Taken by surprise I didn't quite catch his meaning until he climbed up on Toothless' back and held out a hand.

"Oh...I uh...sure." I don't know what suddenly prompted the trust of either the dragon or Hiccup, but for some reason I knew he wasn't trying to kill me. Call it my killer instincts. Speaking of which, someone decided it was time for an attack. Star gave a tiny little roar and perched on my shoulder. I ducked as an ax flew over my head.

If I had any question as to our assailants, Hiccup answered it.

"Outcasts! Quick, get on!" He took Star in his lap and tried to pull me up but something heavy hit me and knocked me away. Thankfully I have some fighting skills. I rolled back up onto my feet, picking up the thrown ax on my way. I lifted it just in time to deflect a mace. I leaned into a kick and sent the offending man flying a few feet onto his backside. Seeing an opening I flung down the ax (too unbalanced for my taste) and did a running leap onto Toothless who happily took off. Star peaked around Hiccup and hopped over his shoulder onto me. "

Hey little girl." I scratched her ear. I surprised myself with how worried I had been about her. I felt like she had been with me forever.