Well I'm absolutely floored at the response to this story just from the prologue. First thing I'll say is thank you for the follows, favorites and reviews. Really I'm flattered. So here is the next chapter and I want to thank my Beta Absi B for taking the time to do these chapters. I don't have much written, but I think I need to start writing more of this for everyone hehe. Forewarning: prepare for big feels and a death in this chapter, sorry in advance.

Pronunciations of names:

Skuggi - Sku- gee
Ragnfríðr - Ragen- free- dur
Aage - Ah- gee
Ásdís - Ows- des
Guðbrandr - Goon- da- bran- dur
Heiđrún - Hey- do- rune

New Life, New Dragon

Hiccup and Toothless - 8 hours old

Skuggi flew gently with the delicate cargo he held under him. He peered down at it with his magenta eyes taking in the features of this human with a dragon soul. It wasn't what he thought it would be, but then again he never really had seen a human hatchling this close before. He had always seen the larger adult ones as they either chased him and his mate, or from a distance as they flew.

He averted his gaze from the hatchling to the islands in the distance. Inside a cave on one of the islands was his mate Ragnfríðr. She had been trying to lay their egg for most of the day and she sent him out to find some plant to help her. He had found it but got distracted when he felt a new hatchling with a dragon's soul on a human island.

The rest was behind him though; he had the plant and hatchling with him. and he needed to get to his mate soon. He swooped down towards a mountainside and gently rested the basket down on the ground before landing beside it. The dirt slithered deftly between his claws; the instinctive observation that it had rained recently flashed briefly into his mind.

"I hope Ragnfríðr is feeling better. She was struggling to push the egg out when I left," Skuggi said to himself before placing the plant in the basket and taking the handle in his maw. He padded into the cave, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness within. He walked past the other family that had joined them on this journey. The other family's egg had recently hatched a cute young male Night Wing now hopped excitedly around the feet of his parents.

"Skuggi, did you bring the plant? What is…" Aage started, stopping after he sensed the feeling coming from the basket. The tiny human child moved inside the basket,throwing her blanket aside and revealing her form to the other Night Wing.

"This human hatchling has a Dragon's Soul? This can't be," he said.

Skuggi continued past his stunned friend wanting to get to his mate and help her. As he approached where he had left Ragnfríðr, he could smell blood tainting the air from the direction in which she lay. He didn't know if he was too late or if the egg had passed. He set down the basket and brought the plant out from it before running to his mate's side.

"Ragnfríðr, how are you?" he asked, placing the plant down by her snout.

Her eyes opened, revealing her faded lavender irises. He couldn't help but notice that the color had slowly faded from them since he had left her.

'She must have lost a lot of blood, but why isn't the smell overpowering then?' he thought.

"Oh Skuggi, you're back. I didn't realize you were back until I heard your voice," Ragnfríðr spoke softly. She moved her head to look at him a bit better, but her vision was already clouding as her life seeped away, her lifeblood running like the red liquid into the cracks and absorbing back into the flow of the earth.

"Hush Ragnfríðr, you're weak. I brought the plant you asked for," Skuggi answered, pushing the leafy plant towards her. He didn't know what it was for but knew it was probably to ease her pain.

Ragnfríðr smelled the plant and smiled internally. It was the Deathroot she had asked for to numb her pain, but she knew she was already too far gone for it to help her now. She had tried to push out their egg a couple of hours ago, but with it stuck in her, the shell cracked cutting her internally.

"Thank you Skuggi, but it's too late for that now," Ragnfríðr said peacefully, lowering her head back onto the stone ground. "I tried to lay our egg and I… won't be making it and neither will our hatchling."

Skuggi whined and rubbed his snout against Ragnfríðr's head gently. "You can't go Ragnfríðr. I found something else while I found the root," he said, moving to bring over the human hatchling. He brought over the basket and set it down by her. She turned to look at the basket and instantly felt the dragon soul in it.

Ragnfríðr sniffed the air and noticed the human scent coming from the basket. "A human with a dragon soul. The stories were true; they really do exist," Ragnfríðr spoke, lifting her head up more to peer into the basket. She then caught another scent coming from the little hatchling that matched her own. It was the scent of decay and death. "The child will not make the night, much like I won't, but I could save her and give her a new life."

Skuggi shook his head and nuzzled his mate gently, stating, "You could use your Dragon's Fire to heal you though."

"You know that using your Dragon Fire on yourself is always a death sentence. It always backfires, any dragon who dares is gripped by insanity or mutilated by the magic," Ragnfríðr replied, "I know you don't want to lose me my Skuggi, but I can give you something you've always wanted." Her cloudy eyes turned to the human child, looking, almost lovingly, at the bright hazel ones staring inquisitively back."I can give you a daughter to raise."

Skuggi whined and crooned as he heard his mate's words. He had always wanted a daughter, but he wanted to raise their hatchling together and not alone. "Ragnfríðr, please… you know I wanted us to raise a daughter together. How could I do it without you?" He pleaded.

Ragnfríðr raised her weak body off the ground and looked at the basket in the darkness. Her vision and body were failing with increasing speed, and she knew that using her Dragon Fire would kill her, but if one life needed to live tonight it needed to be this human hatchling with a dragon's soul.

"You'll have Aage and Ásdís to help you raise our new daughter. Plus, who knows? Maybe she'll fall for their little hatchling Guðbrandr. It would be nice if they did get together to join our two families," Ragnfríðr said. Her legs struggled to hold her up, but she was determined to save a life tonight.

"I have a name for her so please give it to her," she said; her spinal fins slowly glowed a light magenta as her Dragon Fire welled up inside of her belly. "Her name will be Heiđrún. Our little secret in the dragon world." She opened her mouth and out came a purple flame that engulfed the basket. The basket never caught fire because the flame that came out was of a different nature.

The flame surrounded the little human hatchling and began to infuse itself into its body. The color of the human's skin began to darken and harden as scales began to grow from it. The small head began to elongate and flatten slightly into a spade shape. The hair that once was on top of her head melted into her growing scales. The ebony scales on top of her head had hints of the auburn that was once her hair in it. Her forest green eyes grew larger as the changes to her body continued.

Two little nubs began to protrude from her back, and slowly new bone and a leathery membrane started to form her new wings. They stretched as they grew until the little wings were big enough for her age. Finally, her tail grew out of her back and slowly curled around her new Night Wing form. Her size grew slightly and burst the basket apart, letting her claws touch the cool, stone surface for the first time.

Skuggi watched with watery eyes as Ragnfríðr finished the use of her Dragon Fire. The new Night Wing yawned and curled up on herself as the flames died down. Ragnfríðr panted before she collapsed to the ground, exhausted from the use of her Dragon Fire. Her eyes shut tightly as her body weakened considerably from using her Dragon Fire in her already exhausted state.

Skuggi came up and nuzzled his daughter, moving her closer to her dying mother. "She's beautiful, Ragnfríðr. Please take a look at her with your eyes," he softly said.

Ragnfríðr could barely open her eyes to look upon their hatchling she made. The entire process had made the human hatchling the spitting image of Ragnfríðr when she was a hatching except for the auburn that was on top of her head.

"Heiđrún is so beautiful. She looks very much like me when I was younger. Take care of her for me Skuggi; she is precious and she will change the entire world," Ragnfríðr quietly said above a whisper. Her energy continued to drain but she had enough for one last action. She moved her front left paw over and gently put it on Heiđrún's head.

"Heiđrún...oh Heiđrún, change the world of dragons for the better. By Nóttu's sake, make it so we live in peace with the entire world, just like the stories say," she said to her newly made child. The color in her eyes continued to fade but as the last of her vision began to drift away, she saw her Heiđrún lick her paw and nuzzle into it. A small tear fell from Ragnfríðr's eye as her life finally passed.

Skuggi released a roar that spoke a thousand words in a single low and painful tone. It spoke of the loss of his mate and the birth of the new life. It may have been the end for Ragnfríðr, but it was only the start of Heiđrún's new life as a dragon. Soon the other Night Wing family added their own voice to the sad song, speaking of their friend Ragnfríðr.

Skuggi grabbed hold of Heiđrún by the scruff of her neck and carried her out to meet the other family. Aage and Ásdís held their heads down as Skuggi came out, but then raised them when he didn't move past them. Skuggi put his daughter down on the ground by his front paws before he sat down, curling his tail around his little girl.

"Aage. Ásdís. I'd like you to meet Heiđrún, my daughter that Ragnfríðr gave me from the human hatchling. She is now in her proper body and I'd like to ask for assistance in raising her," he stated humbly while looking at his daughter. She seemed to sense his gaze, for she turned her bright green eyes to him and curled her mouth into something resembling a smile.

Ásdís came forward with her new hatchling held in her jaw as well. She placed Guðbrandr next to Heiđrún and licked both of the hatchlings heads. They both began to purr softly and nuzzled into Skuggi's tail. "I'm sorry for the loss of your mate Skuggi. We'll honor Ragnfríðr's wish to help you raise your daughter."

Aage came next to his friend and put a wing around him. "She gave her Fire to create a new life for you to live for. Honor Ragnfríðr by raising your daughter. We will help along the way and we shall see to it that your hatchling lives like a true Night Wing, even if she still smells partly like a human."

Skuggi nodded and looked at the two hatchlings curled upon each other. Two new lives had come into this world. One, naturally by his friends; the other, saved by his mate to give it a new life. He vowed this day to Nóttu that he would protect both his hatchling and his friend's hatchling with his life. No dragon would mess with his daughter, even if she smelt of human, because to him, Heiđrún would always be a dragon.

Heiđrún = Hiccup's dragon name and it means Bright/clear secret
Guðbrandr = Toothless' dragon name and it means God's Sword
Skuggi means Shadow in Icelandic
Ragnfríðr means Advice/Counsel Beautiful in Old Norse
Ásdís means God Goddess in Old Norse
Aage means Ancestor/Father in Norwegian