As it turned out, the woman's name was Astrid, and the man was named Hiccup. I found that name a bit strange, but there were a lot of people on Berk with names I had never even heard of before I got there, and I eventually got used to it.

Oh yeah, Hiccup was the chief of Berk, and Astrid was his wife.

Anyway, I lived on an almost isolated part of an island, which was fine with me. I was a bit more introverted than I was extroverted, so I liked spending more time with myself and Lightning. Besides, Light had more room to take off.

Nothing exiting really happened for my first few days on Berk, but one night, I felt the Orb calling me to it. I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but I eventually gave up and went over to the leather pouch where it was hidden.

I climbed back to my bed, carrying it with me. I leaned against the wall as I took the box where the Orb rested out of its container. I took the lid off, holding my breath due to an anxiety that I couldn't quite explain. The orb looked just like an ordinary sphere, but then it began to glow an unearthly blue color. Without thinking, I slowly reached out to touch it.

When my fingers came in contact with the Orb, a tingling pain spread up my arm and throughout my body. Soon after, I blacked out.

I can make you smarter than your peers. I can give you power beyond your dreams. With my help, we could control the world of people and dragons. If you accept my offer, we could become unstoppable!

Yeah, thanks, but no thanks. I'm perfectly happy with the life I already have, I retorted.

Are you sure about that? You have enemies who chase you down. With me, you could get rid of them. In fact, you could get rid of everyone in your way.

No offense, but I'm not really that fond of killing people. Besides, it's not fun getting everything you want.

But you don't have to get everything you want. Just most of the things you want.

Thanks, but- I paused, starting to like some of the Orb's ideas. Thankfully, I eventually snapped out of it. No. I will have nothing to do with you or your ideas. I then struggled to break the connection, and I finally did, feeling the pain flee from my body.

I woke up to find myself lying face-down on the floor. Lightning was looming over me, with a look of concern on her face.

"I'm fine," I told her as I got up and scratched her behind the ear. She wagged her tail happily, causing me to chuckle. I looked down in disgust and saw the Orb resting in its box. It had returned to its original state. I swiped it off from the ground, snapped the lid closed, shoved it into the leather pouch, and then stuffed it into the pack, bounding it tightly. I then stormed away on Lightning, trying to get as far away from it as possible.

But throughout the day, I couldn't stop thinking about the Orb. It was a constant fight to resist the temptation. Every day I just couldn't get it out of my head. Eventually, I decided to give it to the person I could trust the most.

"So, why are you giving this to me?" Hiccup questioned.

"Because it's what the Clan is after."

"The Clan?"

"That's what those people who recently attacked you are called."

"Oh. But why me?"

"Because you're the one I can trust the most. You're the chief of this village, and you'll want to protect it. In order to protect it, you'll be willing to hide and protect the Orb."

"True. But why give it up just now?"

"To be honest, it's been tempting me." Hiccup gave me a questioning look. "It's getting into my head. It keeps on reminding me of what I can accomplish. But that would mean doing terrible, evil deeds. I don't want to agree with it, but some part of me does, and it keeps on nagging me every second of every single day. I have to give it away to someone else. Just in case. I don't want to hurt anybody."

Hiccup's face turned melancholy as he whispered, "I know how you feel."

"What do you mean?" I asked softly, knowing that he was diving into a depressing memory.

"It was so many years ago." He sighed. "Fourteen years, to exact. She was my first child, and they took her. They took her! My daughter was whisked away, never to be seen in the middle of the night. It broke my heart. I desperately craved to go after her, but I knew that I would break many more by doing so. Two years later, I was blessed with another girl. No matter how hard my wife and I tried to protect her, she too disappeared. I was filled with so much rage and fury, but I knew that I had to keep my anger to myself in order to keep people from harm; from my wrath. I wished to take my anger out on someone or something, but I knew that the people around me were undeserving of my ferocity. Every day I had to deal with my anger; to hold it back and look on the bright side of life. Eventually I got over my grief, but every once in a while, the memory comes back to haunt me"

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, noticing that my eyes were about to water. I held back the tears that were threatening to come. "You don't know what it must be like for your children to not know that there's someone out there who loves them, who is waiting for them to come home. You don't understand the pain of not having someone out there who will believe in you; who will be out there to support even you craziest whims. And you definitely do not know what it is to wish for love, but have to face the cold, hard truth of not knowing."

"I know what it feels like to not be believed in. For years, everybody, even my own father didn't believe in me; not until I became the first dragon trainer on Berk."

"At least you knew your father."

Hiccup looked at me with a surprised expression. "You don't know who your parents are?"

"Nope," I replied. "I don't know anyone who believes in me besides Lightning. Anyways," I continued, heading out the door, "don't touch the Orb when it's glowing. Just saying."

I was almost out the door when I heard Hiccup say, "I believe in you." He paused. "Just saying."

I turned around, smiling a bit. "Thanks," I said, then turned around and left.