CHAPTER ONE: BACK TO THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

Hiccup

Instead of waking to first light streaming through the window, Hiccup awoke to a sound he thought he would never hear again. Dust fell from the rafters as the sound of a dragon jumping on the roof jarred him from his sleep. It was still dark outside, so Hiccup assumed he was dreaming, but another loud bang came from the roof.

He quickly attached his prosthetic and ran outside without bothering to get dressed. A black shape leapt from the roof and ran to him.

"Toothless?" He asked, completely in shock.

Toothless rumbled and nuzzled his former rider and friend.

"What in Odin are you doing here?"

Toothless grabbed Hiccup's hand in his mouth and started pulling him to the edge of New Berk.

"Woah bud, what's going on?" Hiccup pulled his hand out of the dragon's mouth.

Toothless then started to push the chief towards the cliff face. When Hiccup hesitated, Toothless shoved his head between the man's legs and flipped him up onto his back.

"I get it, I get it, we need to go. Will you at least let me get dressed and tell Astrid?"

Toothless huffed, and walked back to the chief's house. Hiccup dismounted, scratched the dragon under the chin, and smiled.

"I don't know why you're here or what's going on, but I am really happy to see you bud."

The dragon purred and Hiccup walked into his house. He walked up the stairs to the bed, where his wife and general slept.

"Astrid," he whispered, stroking her blond bangs off if her face, "Astrid."

His wife groaned and rolled away from Hiccup.

"Astrid!" He whispered, this time with more urgency. "Astrid, wake up! Toothless is here!"

The blonde woman instantly sat up, looking at her husband, eyes wide.

"What?" She hissed.

"Toothless is outside. I don't know what's going on, but he wants me to come with him," Hiccup replied.

"This is crazy. The dragons have been gone for over four years. Why are they back?" Astrid asked, moving to get out of the bed.

"I'm not sure. I only saw Toothless. He is really itching to go. Something is going on," Hiccup responded softly, pulling on a shirt and vest.

"I'm coming with you." Astrid said.

"No, milady. You are in no condition to fly and I need you to run the village in my stead."

"That's ridiculous! I'm your wife and your general. Your mom can take care of things."

"Normally, I would agree, but I don't know how long this is going to take," he said, throwing extra clothes into a satchel. "This baby is going to be here soon. I can't have you rushing off into something potentially dangerous"

Astrid sighed in resignation and sat back on the bed, her hands resting on her large stomach.

"You're right. Everyone is going to want to know where you are. What should I tell them?" She asked her husband.

"Tell them the truth. That Toothless showed up and needed me. Tell them not to worry. If there was an emergency, more of the dragons would have returned," he said.

"I will be back as soon as I can, milady."

Astrid stood and walked across the floor to where her husband was attaching his fur cape.

"You better."

She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him in a for a long, bruising kiss. His hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her in close. Her arms slid around his neck and her fingers wound into his hair.

The kiss ended like a question, asking 'when will you be back?'

Hiccup took a deep breath and rested his forehead against Astrid's.

"I love you."

"I love you too," she replied. "Come back to me soon."

"I will," he promised.

Hiccup dropped to his knees, and placed both hands on her belly. He rested his forehead against her and spoke to the child within.

"I love you, my terrible terror. I will be back as soon as I can. Behave for Mommy."

With a final kiss to his wife, Hiccup picked up his bag of provisions, walked out of the house, and mounted the black dragon.

"Let's go bud."

With a gust of air beneath black wings, the two vanished into the night.

Hiccup sat on Toothless, watching the reflection of the moon and stars on the ocean's surface as they flew towards the dragon's home. His mind raced with reasons as to why the dragon returned. What kind of threat was endangering his friend? Were the rest of the dragons in danger? The Light Fury?

Toothless sent a soft call into the darkness, pulling Hiccup from his thoughts.

"Is everything ok, bud?" He asked, noticing the Night Fury's head turned to his left and his ears perked, as if looking for something.

"What is it?"

A quiet roar came from their left, a return call from another dragon.

From the darkness, Hiccup could see the shape of another familiar dragon. Two sets of massive wings, and a flat, yet expressive face drew closer.

"Cloudjumper?"

The large Stormcutter looked at Hiccup and crooned a rumble of acknowledgement.

From the imposing dragon's back, Hiccup noticed a slim, familiar figure.

"Mom?!"

"Hiccup, my dear! Do you have any idea what is going on?" his mother asked.

"No. Toothless woke me up then all but dragged me off of Berk."

"Cloudjumper did the same. I'll admit, I am concerned as to what we might find."

"Me too," Hiccup said quietly, his mind again reeling with thoughts.

"Although it's wonderful to be flying again," Valka added after a few moments of silence. She stretched her arms wide to feel the breeze.

Hiccup smiled and agreed, lifting his chin high into the cool night air.

The two flew in silence for sometime, simply enjoying the feeling of flying with their companions again. Hiccup had missed flying almost as much as he missed his best friend. A thought popped into his head as he remembered his light flight with his friend.

"Bud, this is the first time I've ever flown without a saddle!"

Toothless turned a bright green eye to his friend and smiled, his massive tongue flopping out of his mouth.

"Show me what you can do, bud."

The Night Fury's shot into the sky, only the sound of Valka laughing could be heard over the rush of the wind.

"Yeah, baby!"

Before long, the sun began to rise over the great expanse of ocean. The chief, his mother, and their dragons had flown with little conversation, all if them enjoying the company and the feeling of being together again.

Why the sky had changed from purple, to pink, to blue as the sun rose, the familiar sound of rushing water became more noticeable.

Toothless rumbled to his Rider and dove into the giant crater.

Hiccup felt the mist from the falls as they all entered the Hidden World together.