Chapter 1

A field of grass. Sheep grazed peacefully, almost lazily. One sentry on the front perked its head up. "Baaaaaaa!" It warned, sending his fellow sheep scattering across the hillside. A large shadow flew over their heads, and a mighty roar thundered. Moments later, a young man, barely more than a boy (put him at the 17-18 range) rode up the hill on his shimmering horse. The horse's coat was brown and silky, it's saddle fairly kept for the long trip. The rider himself was of average height, with long golden hair a brown tunic over his shoulders. Each hand sported gloves. On his back was a shield, and to his left side was sheathed a stout sword.

"Mincemeat!" The man shouted "I've told you before, it's Herding, not chasing!" The shadow fell to the ground, and the man's eyes were averted from the sky to it. 'It' was a dragon, and what one would call an average Western dragon. Fifteen strides from tail-tip to Nose-tip, and ten arms long, Mincemeat – the Dragon – was solidly built. Four legs, with two wings that folded close to his body in between. His neck plating held a single row of spikes and two topknots on his forehead.

Mincemeat looked apologetically at the man.

"Look, I know you're sorry. You don't have to give me those big eyes." Garth sighed. "Alright, alright. I forgive you. Now come on, let's go round them up. Hi-yah!" He shook the reins, running out and around the nearest bundle of sheep.

Later in the night. The moon was at its zenith, three-quarters full. The fire crackled warmly. Sparks flew to reach the heavens. The Dragon Herders sat in a circle, and their Dragons behind them. Off on the hillside, many of the sheep were in solemn slumber. There were five of the Dragon Herders, and one Elder-Herder. The Elder-Herder's dragon had long since succumbed to a deadly plaque, before the five had even been born. What little hair he had was grey and falling out in tufts. He walked only with the assistance of a knobby Birchwood cane, and he wore a green tunic that flowed past his knees.

Garth sat opposite of him. To Garth's right was Fenner and Rindel, brother and sister. She was older, and was consistently using it as leverage. Both fought constantly, but would die to protect each other. Their dragons- an Albanian Coldswitch and an Immaculate Imrey – got along relatively well. Their names were Jawfang and Spotless.

To Garth's left was his best friend, Kelfrey. They had known each other since they were toddlers. Kelfrey was slightly taller and had brown hair that fell over his forehead and even longer over the back of his head. His dragon was a Monstrous Nightmare, and was the largest dragon in the group. At twenty-five stride lengths and twenty arms tall, Red Flame had a habit of anger issues. Nobody was allowed on his back except for his rider. Last but not least, between the Elder herder and Kelfrey was Boam. Boam always had a foul aura about him, like he wanted to pummel somebody. He never did, of course, but he always came off that way. He glared at people, and he never used manners. Before they had received their dragons, he was the bully of the group. Mostly name calling, but a few times he had beaten Garth until he bled. Garth made it a point not to let Boam get to him, emotionally and physically.

His dragon was just as temperamental. He was a Night Fury, aptly living up to the second half of its namesake. It had always snapped and growled at the other Dragons for getting to close. His name was Woodknot.

Now, in this little setting, the Elder Herder was telling a story of a long lost people – Vikings from the land of Berk. As the Elder spoke, their imaginations followed him to the long lost time, when Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the greatest chief Berk has ever known. The tale had been put down in his personal Memoir, "How to Train Your Dragon", as an introduction/anecdote. The book had become standard dragon-training material for newly dragon-endowed men and women.

"After Hiccup sailed to Valhalla, his Night Fury left the island. Some say they see him as large shadow, watching over the village. Others say he went mad and followed his rider to the Hall of the Gods. But if you look in the night sky, lads, they say that Hiccup and Toothless are reunited in the stars, if you just know where to look." the Elder Herder finished "Well, it's time to hit the grass. Good night, everybody!" And with that, he walked off to a nearby tree and fell asleep below it.

The fire crackled in the night. Whispers were passed along the fire ring, searching for the extinct Night Fury and his Rider.

"I see it!"

"Me too!"

"No, wait, I lost it…"

"You never saw it!"

"Did too!" Fenner and Rindel started fighting. Spotless rolled her eyes, and lay down between them.

Garth and Kelfrey were quiet, each searching different sections of the sky.

"I don't see them. Do you?" Kelfrey asked.

"No, the only constellation up there right now is Draco."

"Maybe that's them. Draco IS a dragon, after all."

"Yes, but what about Hiccup?"

"Oh, yeah…" all was quiet in the field. Kelfrey decided to end it with some random questions.

"What do you think Toothless was thinking when Hiccup freed him?" Garth thought about it for what seemed like a long time. "I think he was scared, but he was a bit curious too. That's why he let Hiccup get so close, he wanted to know why, and what type of Viking the strange boy was."

"What do you think it's like, to be a dragon?" Kelfrey asked another

"A Dragon?" What a strange question! thought Garth

"Yeah, the freedom, no restrictions, ability to fly, breathe fire…" He started listing off the pros of Dragonhood.

"Hunted everywhere outside Berk, forced to be looked over by a measly human, inability to eat sheep…" Garth interrupted

"Oh, stop it! You're such a pessimist."

"Say what you will, I like myself human. It's how Odin made me."

Kelfrey muttered something incomprehensible to Garth's ears.

"What was that?" Garth asked sincerely.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just tired, it's been a long day." He yawned over-dramatically. Deciding not to press forward, Garth turned over in his sheepskin.

"Ok, I'm going to turn in then. Good night." he said

"Night!" Kelfrey whispered back

Sleep held over Garth for a long time. At one point in the night , he thought he could hear a low growling outside their little camp. But it went away quickly and he dismissed it.

They moved over the hills the next day. Only one more day, and they would be back in the village. During their travel, Garth noticed something about Kelfrey: None of the animals would go near him. At first, he thought the sheep were just really nervous around him. But then when Kelfrey tried to ride his horse, Prideful, and the horse would not budge. Not knowing what to say at such an awkward moment, he left it go.

There were no stories that night, and the woods were loud. Something snapped in the woods, and the serene environment grew eerily quiet. After a while, the woods were alive again. Sleep was hard, and at another point, Garth swore he saw the large green eyes of an unfamiliar dragon peering out from the woods. The green lights disappeared, and he went back to sleep before he could even realize that the Dragons were missing that night.

But he did hear the roars.