Chapter 1

Hiccup sighed again as once again his life through him a bent, rusted and partly broken sword and asked him to make it into something of legends. Not that he was bad with kind of thing, he had already done it twice and each time the odds were stacked against him on a level that should have never even been possible. Still those situations all had a solution that was easy enough to see even if making it happen was not as easy.

But this time, he had been dealt a hand that even he was not sure what to do with, and he very much doubted anyone else would be able to help him. This was why for the second time in his life he was planning on leaving Berk, forever. He had already packed what he would need, the shield that he had made four years back, his more recent project the dragon sword, and finally a small pack with clothes and food.

In a small pouch at his side he had a book with the world map. But this was not the small map he had been working on, but rather the most complete one they had thanks to his mother, Valka. Dragon locations were marked out, and many other useful locations. It was only one of two such maps, the other having been carved out of stone and placed in the great hall for anyone to copy or study if need be.

With this all set he got on Toothless and nudged him into the air. Toothless, having been told about this flight well before hand, did not question his rider's actions. They flew off into the night, without anyone knowledge and were soon gone from site with no one the wiser.

The next morning, things went about their normal in Berk. Dragons, Yaks, Sheep, where cared for. Fish were caught, and eggs found from the local chickens. It was not until almost lunch time did anyone even begin to realize something was wrong. There was no Hiccup or Toothless around at all, which was not entire abnormal as Hiccup tending to be out flying and working on things. But he had not told anyone at all.

Gobber was annoyed that Hiccup had up and vanished, as Hiccup was supposed to help him and Valka work on to broken riding saddles. But he had dealt with this before, plus Hiccup was the chief and might have been called away by Erik on some important business. As Erik now worked to keep trappers out of the area. As it got around to supper time, Valka and Astrid began worrying as Erik had shown up only to ask where Hiccup was as he needed to speak with him.

"What you mean that no one has seen Hiccup at all," Astrid asked, as they finally began eating supper.

"No one at all," Erik said, "Even Skullcrusher cannot find Hiccup. And he is the best tracking dragon."

"That is puzzling," Valka said, before looking at Astrid, "You did not do anything to cause him to run did you?"

"What! No I have not," Astrid nearly sounding offended.

"Not bugging him about wedding plans," Valka asked.

"No, we both agreed to a simple wedding as neither him or I want a big event… even if it will probably turn out to be one anyway," Astrid said, with the last part spoken with annoyance.

"Okay, so that is not it," Valka said, now looking a little worried.

"What does our wedding have to do with this anyway," Astrid asked.

"Oh well Stoick had a tendency to hide when it came to wedding planning," Valka said with a smile on her face before it became a frown again.

"I see, but that still does not help us in knowing where Hiccup has gone," Astrid said as she let out a small sigh.

"Might he have given some clue to where he would have gone to," Erik asked.

"No none at all," Valka said, "We have been talking about flying out to see the outer lands together though."

"He told me about that," Astrid said.

"Might he have left on his own, to explore more," Erik asked.

"Unlikely, he wanted to travel with me as I knew the lands and dragons better. And as such would be able to teach him, as he wanted to learn what he could from me as well as teaching me what he knew," Valka said.

"Is there any reason for him to head out there without you?" Astrid asked.

"No, I cannot… well maybe, I did spot a couple of Night Fury four years back, but he already knew there is little chance of us finding them and decided to add that to the trips plans," Valka said.

"Where was that," Astrid asked.

"A ways away, but even then I doubt he would leave just on a small rumor like that. I mean he has known about that for over a month," Valka said.

"Yeah your right if he do anything rash it would have been well before now," Astrid said, before smashing her fist into the table, "Where is he!"

"That is the question of the day, but I might have some answer," a voice said behind them.

Valka, Astrid and Erik all turned to be met by the sight of one of the biggest Vikings on all of Berk. Fishlegs the Book, who had recently been named as he knew more informational facts than anyone else on just about anything. Fishlegs walked over and sat down at the table the three were sitting out and tossed onto it some black scales.

Astrid blinked, "Why are you showing us Toothless's scales?"

"Look at them closer and tell me if something seems off to you," Fishlegs said.

Valka nodded and looked closer, she could see the shape and coloring that made them out to be Night Fury scales. But as she held one up, she realized that not only were these scales lighter than a normal scale, but also about half the size of Toothless's own. Meaning they could have only come from a smaller or younger Night Fury.

"Are these… wait where did you get these," Valka asked.

"Hiccup's bedroom, you see I had not heard he was missing till after I had gone to talk with him about some of the shortages on dragon food. I also knew he would be at his house today or at least thought he was going to be and stopped by, but found that his entire room was a mess," Fishlegs said.

"So you think he was attacked, by a young Night Fury," Astrid said, a note of sarcasm in her voice.

"At first glance I did think it had been an attack yes, but as I looked about I realized this was not the case, first of all, both his sword and shield were gone, as well as the world map. I did not think of it too much till I noticed his bed covers seemed to be hiding something. When I pulled them back I saw these scales," Fishlegs's said.

"And you just thought now would be a good time to tell us this," Astrid said starting to get annoyed with Fishlegs's.

"Well no, remember I did not learn about that fact that Hiccup was actually missing to recently. Plus I had to be sure about the scales," Fishlegs said.

"How recently," Valka asked.

"When I was walking into the Great hall to be honest," Fishlegs said.

"So you said you found these in his bed," Valka asked again looking at the scales.

"Yes, to be honest the only thing that would make sense would be a young Night Fury, but why would he hide that from us," Fishlegs asked.

"Why indeed," Valka said sighing as she looked at the scales.

To Valka she knew something was off about this whole situation. Hiccup would not hide a baby or even a young Night Fury, there was no reason to do such a thing anymore. Second of all why would he leave without telling anyone or leaving a note? Last and biggest problem was the fact Skullcrusher could not smell Hiccup which he knew how to track very well.

Astrid smashed her fist into the table causing the plates and goblets to shake a little bit, "Oh he is going to pay for this one next time I see him."

"Calm down Astrid, we can track him down I am sure," Valka said, before holding up the scales, "We can use these to try and track down Hiccup, as I am sure he went with whatever Night Fury left these."

"Possibly, but what if the sent is too weak for Skullcrusher to follow? It rained earlier today which would make the scent next to impossible to follow. After all I tried once already to track down Hiccup," Erik said.

"Then we use the greatest tracking dragon of them all," Fishlegs said, a small smirk forming on his pudgy face.

"Which dragon is that," Valka asked, not sure what dragon could track even through rain.

"It is a dragon that can track objects down even over thousands of leagues and through rain storms. The Bonenapper Dragon," Fishlegs said.

"The Bonenapper?" Valka said, a little surprised.

"Of course, Gobber dealt with this dragon a lot before and it followed no matter where he went. Sometimes even months or years apart it would show up just following a small bone fragment that Gobber used for a belt buckle, if it can follow something that small then it should be possible for the dragon track down Hiccup and Toothless even through rain and over oceans," Astrid said.

"Where would we find one," Valka asked.

"A small group is currently living on the other side of this island," Fishlegs said smiling.

"How come Hiccup never told me about it," Valka asked, pretty sure this would be high on his list of things to tell her about.

"It kind of settled into that location only about a month ago, and Hiccup has not had enough time to look at the area," Fishlegs said semi nervously.

"Okay then let's get moving," Valka said as she got up and grabbed her staff and riding gear.

Astrid jumped up and followed Valka quickly, while Fishleg's followed the best he could. Erik sighed and got up picking up the few scales that had been left on the table. As he looked at them he could not help but remember Stoick had been taken down by a blast from a Night Fury, the original rider of Skullcrusher. And now they were about to head out to search for his own son after some strange Night Fury scales had shown up.

Letting out a low grow he tossed the scales into then nearby fire, but as he turned to walk away he hear a loud pop and hiss. Turning back quickly he saw something he had not expected to see. The scales were melting and burning grabbing the tongs he tried to get a scale out before they all burned up. But as he got closer he smelt something he knew very well. It was the smell of burning flesh, and the scales were giving off the scent.

Erik hurried to try and get one of the scales out, but it was too late. Glaring at the fire he set down the tongs and hurried after the others, this was something that they would want to know about right away.

It was about a day later when the group was finally on their way about to tracking Hiccup and Toothless down. It had taken less work than Valka or anyone had expected as Gobber had already been over the site and had befriended the dragons, one of which was the very dragon that had been chasing Gobber a while before.

By this time Erik was able to tell them about the weird reaction with the scales had with the fire, as well as the smell that had come with it. Confusing them greatly as they all knew that Toothless scales were fireproof, as were all known baby dragons. Valka though had a theory, only a theory that might explain it. In the end she did not tell them about it till she knew for sure.

The group soon fell into silence as they flew onwards following the Bonenapper dragon where it led them. Onwards they flew through the night and into the morning, by this point Fishlegs and Erik were feeling worn down and wanting to land soon. Astrid and Valka felt this as well, but wanted to push on just a little bit longer, they after all had a lot more to lose than just a friend and a chief and this drove them onwards.

But they could not last too long, even with their own endurance well above the other in the village; their dragons still were rapidly draining and needed rest soon. Soon they came to a small island where they could spend the needed hours resting. Valka by this point began to set about making a fire before she started drawing the dirt the map of the world.

She carefully then plotted their course they had flown so far, then figured in Toothless's own flying ability to try and estimate where he would be by this point in time. The estimate put Hiccup and Toothless well more than two days flight ahead of them if Toothless was making good speed. And that was assuming with rests, if they had pushed on using Toothless's ability to glide and great stamina they could have gone even farther.

Seeing this Valka slumped to the floor almost in defeat as she looked at the map. Even Cloudjumper her own dragon and one of the best flyers out there could not keep up with Toothless they wanted to flee. She looked over to where the Bonenapper was napping before pulling out the scales they were using to track them.

"Why did you leave Hiccup," Valka asked herself.

She had for years thought that leaving Hiccup in the village with Stoick would keep him safe. But he had proved her wrong rather well with the loss of his foot. And then when not just Hiccup had shown up but Stoick as well, she suddenly got that feeling of something missing in her heart. That very feeling was returning and in full force, it felt like a small dagger working its way to her very core.

Astrid looked at the older women, not sure how to help. Even after all this time Astrid only knew Valka more as a friend rather than as a mother in law. In many ways making it hard for her to know how to answer Valka's question with a sorting answer, for that matter she had the same question digging into her as well.

Slowly the group of four fell asleep. It was only about six hours later when they woke, putting them a little after noon. Quickly they set out again, once again following the Bonenapper. But this time things seemed different as the dragon slowed above and island before finally settling down and landing on it. Valka jumped off Cloudjumper's back and using her staff was able to land on the ground by the Bonenapper a few seconds later.

Valka watched as the dragon started turning about confused as if it did not know which way to go. It worried her a few moments before it finally picked a direction and moved over to a large bush. Valka followed and as it stopped moving by the bush she peered into it and grinned for a few moments, before her grin turned to a frown.

They had found all of Toothless's and Hiccup's things that the pair had must have packed. Meaning they were on the right island. But what caused Valka's frown was it was indeed everything, including the flight device doubled as Toothless's tail flaps.

"What… why is that here," Astrid asked when the others had landed and joined Valka looking at the times.

"No clue. For that matter, why is this here?" Fishlegs said then asked as he pulled out Hiccup's artificial leg.

"I… what is going on here," Astrid asked in a mixture of shock in confusion.

"If he was trying to not be found he would not have left all this stuff here, and I doubt he would have been forced to leave it here if he had been captured for some reason," Erik said as he looked at the pile.

"Your right, this stuff is not tossed about as it had been taken from him. Plus his sword and shield are both here, plus the maps. Now that I think about it this whole pile is rather organized, plus it is set in a place that would keep most of this stuff out of the rain," Fishlegs said as he began looking about.

"Are you saying he left all this stuff here on purpose?" Astrid asked.

"Well yes, is the only thing that makes sense, but that leave the question of why," Fishlegs said.

"Yes why," Valka said, as she looked over at Astrid.

But then something brought their attention away from the pile of items completely. It was the call of a Night Fury echoing over the landscape. A second later, as the group looked about for the roar, they hear yet another call. They realized that it came from another Night Fury, but one they recognized; it was Toothless calling out to the first Night Fury.

"That is Toothless we must be on the right Island," Astrid said, smilingly as she tried figure out the direction it came from.

"Yes, and it seems there is even a second Night Fury here," Valka said.

"Yes, this is great now we will finally be able to see more Night Fury besides Toothless," Fishleg's said as he pulled out his notebook.

"Maybe but first we have to locate Toothless and Hiccup before we start taking notes," Astrid said giving Fishlegs a small glare.

"Sorry, of course Hiccup and Toothless first," Fishleg's said apologetically.

Astrid just rolled her eyes as she waited for another call, hoping to use this one to locate the source. But then something even better showed itself. Above the trees came a dragon into view and not just any dragon, a Night Fury. It spotted them and within moments landing and bounded over to them acting like a puppy.

Astrid was surprised when the dragon pounced on her and began licking her face and clothes. It reminded her so much of Toothless, and within moments she realized this was Toothless. But that could not be right, he was flying under his own power, and for that matter had both of his tail fins. But as the Night Fury got off Astrid and began to play around with the other dragons she realized it had to be Toothless.

"What is going on here," Erik asked confused.

"That… is Toothless but he is fully healed," Astrid said as she looked at the dragons play.

"But that should not be possible, Dragon don't have that kind of healing ability," Valka said, though it was more to herself than the others.

"Well, it seems to be possible otherwise how can Toothless be fully healed," Fishlegs asked.

"Over five years without any signs of healing and suddenly he has a tail, I don't think so," Astrid said, as she made a small sign causing Toothless to come over.

Astrid smiled as he walked over and nuzzled Astrid's side with a gentleness that denied his true power and fortify. Astrid could not help but rub his head lightly as she looked him over best she could. Toothless was as always in perfect shape, even his new tail fin. He did not show any signs of harm or even for that matter of distress that would have surely been caused if Hiccup was missing or in danger.

Valka at this point walked up, and Toothless turned before nuzzling her side as well. Valka smiled kindly as she kneeled down and touched Toothless's nose as she spoke, "Toothless can you find my son? Can you bring us to Hiccup?"

Toothless nodded his head showing the rather great mental skills he held before taking off into the air before he began circling about waiting for them. The group quickly mounted up and took off to follow where Toothless led them. He did not lead them far, in fact the trip barely lasted a minute before they were by the side of a large cliff face with a good size cave entrance staring back at them.

Toothless soon landed in the cave, one by one each of them set down behind him as the cave was not begin enough for them to land at the same time. Once they were all on foot again, Toothless continued into the tunnel system that the cave entre entered into. And not far into it they were met with yet another Night Fury. But this one as soon as catching sight of them began to look fearful.

Valka looked on in shock as she spoke to the second Night Fury, "Hiccup is that you?"

Astrid, Fishleg's and Erik all looked at Valka in surprise. But their surprise turned to shook as the Night Fury closed its eyes sadly and nodded. There was no real way to describe the shook they felt at this moment, Hiccup had become a Night Fury.