Imperfect Harmony

Part One – Proposal for an Expedition

The following morning, in the Great Hall;

The following morning, Hiccup, Toothless, and the other Riders and Dragons requested an audience with Chief Stoick, and his council; to present their discovery, and proposal.

Once the rest of the villagers had finished eating, and filed out of the hall, Hiccup and the others moved forward. Hiccup set up the Dragon- Eye, and Toothless breathed directed a wave of low- heat into the narrow end of the mysterious device.

The map appeared on the wall behind him, and Hiccup began to talk.

He kept his report short, and to the point: Five minutes after he began, he was saying "...Writing we can't read; dragons we don't recognize! It's … It's incredible!" Hiccup turned back to where his father, Stoick, sat with several of his advisors. "This Dragon- Eye, this is proof that there is a whole other world out there; a world that must be explored!"

A few seconds later, the light, and map, faded; leaving the assembled Vikings staring at the blank wall, where it had appeared.

For a full ten seconds, nobody spoke. Than Gobber chuckled, turned to the others, and said, "Well, this sure beats normal council business!"

Stoick got to his feet, and moved to join his son. Turning back to his advisors, he said, "It's alright, lads: speak your minds; it's a council, after all… That's why we're here."

"We've been at peace for three years; Best years on Berk that I can remember!" Spitelout, Snotlout's father, said, tapping a finger on the table as he spoke. "I think you know as well as I do, that when you go looking for trouble, you usually find it!"

"I'm with Spitelout!" Sven agreed. "If that Dragon- Eye leads to unknown places, and new wild dragons: no good will come of any of that!"

Hiccup turned to Sven, "I completely disagree with that, Sven; Look around you… How can you say that no good will come from discovering new species of dragons?" He looked around at the others, "If they're out there, we need to find them!"

"If there's anything you and the other riders should be doing," Spitelout countered, "it's hunting down Dagur, and putting him back in jail where he belongs!" Several of the others began nodding and muttering to each other, at this.

Astrid saw a change in Hiccup's expression, but all he said was, "That's another reason to go: Dagur was heading beyond our boarders; he thinks we won't go past them, but that's where we'll find him!"

Spitelout turned to Stoick, "Stoick; anytime you want to jump in we can put this thing to rest."

Stoick nodded, "You're right, Spitelout; lets put this to rest." When Hiccup made to speak, he held up a hand, "Not now, son; this is as important for you to hear as it is for them." He turned back to face his advisors, and the other riders and dragons, who'd been standing off to one side, until a few moments before.

"Spitelout, you're absolutely right: these have been our best years, and nothing is more important than peace; peace among us, peace with our neighbors, and peace with the dragons!" Hiccup sighed, than Stoick continued, "But, having said that, let me ask you this, Spitelout: When you and I first had Alvin in our sights, and everyone was trying to tell us to leave well enough alone, what did we do?"

"Crushed him, that's what you did!" Gobber interjected.

"Thank you, Gobber," Stoick said, rolling his eyes. "When Valka was taken, and I went in search of her, could anyone have stopped me?"

Gobber shrugged, "Well; technically, you're the Chief, so… no."

Stoick sighed, "Yes, Gobber: fair point; but you know where I'm going." He put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder, though his attention remained on his advisors. "Think of the most important thing in the world to each of you, and ask yourselves, honestly, how far you would be willing to go to get it?" As he spoke, he put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"The boy's live has been dragons; his life is dragons, and will continue to be! We couldn't stop him from going if we wanted to! Go, lad: Find whatever it is you're looking for; and, when you've found it, Berk will be right here waiting for you!"

Hiccup smiled, and the flicker of… something that Astrid had glimpsed, a moment before, seemed to vanish.

"But what about Dagur?" Spitelout asked, persistently.

To the others' surprise, it was Hiccup who answered, "Dagur … Dagur won't be a problem for too much longer, I wouldn't think." Something about Hiccup's tone immediately captured the attention of the group.

By now, Toothless, who'd been standing at the opposite end of the table, breathing into the Dragon- Eye to project the map, had returned to Hiccup's side. In a voice noticeably softer than usual, the black- dragon said 'You did what you could, Hiccup: You gave Dagur one last chance, one more than you had to … But Dagur makes his own choices, and his men followed his orders… They chose their path; it is not your fault.'

Suddenly, Hiccup looked as though he hadn't slept for days. In a soft voice; he said, "Did I, Toothless; did I do all I could have? … If I'd told him about 'The Long Night', if he knew how delicate his situation was, I doubt he'd have left Outcast Island if I'd given him the key."

'Telling him might not have changed anything; and you were able to give The Elders an alternative to a choice none of them wanted to make: The 'Long Night' was one of the darkest events in my colony's history; none of us wanted this…' Hiccup sighed, but nodded in apparent agreement.

An instant later, Astrid was at Hiccup's side, "Hiccup; what … what is Toothless talking about?"

Hiccup sighed, "You all remember the time I evoked the Three Strikes Edict against Dagur?" There was a general nodding, and a murmur of confirmation; it wasn't something they were likely to forget. Hiccup continued, "And you remember my … 'warning', to Dagur, before I asked the two Night- Furies to bring him back to Outcast Island?"

Astrid felt as though the temperature had dropped ten degrees in a matter of seconds; "You said if he tried anything like that again, he'd 'live long enough to regret it, and no longer'."

Hiccup took a deep breath, "Like I said then, after Dagur took you," he nodded to his father, "prisoner, I spent several hours talking to the Night- Fury Elders. What I didn't say was that, when we arrived, the Night- Furies were actively preparing for war… They were going to unleash their full strength on The Berserkers, the moment we were clear; their most potent battle formation: The Shadow- Storm."

"It was Dagur's ultimatum that really did it," Hiccup said, after giving them a moment to process his first statement. "His demand that we turn over Toothless in exchange for my father … It reminded them too much of…"

"'The Long Night'?" Astrid asked, her voice soft.

Part Two – The Long Night

Hiccup nodded, "The Elders told me the story when I asked them what they were planning to do…" He was silent for a moment, finding his words, than he continued; "About three hundred years before our ancestors arrived in the Archipelagos, another tribe, or group of humans, arrived in the region. This was before the Red Deaths' time, so dragons were peaceful; but in an effort to win honor and glory, they began to hunt them, for sport. Over time, word began to spread about a 'particular island' that was home to a species of dragons unlike any other; faster, and almost impossible to find, much less kill … These rumors drew scores of dragon- hunters to the island; determined to make themselves into living- legends by doing what some said was 'impossible'…" Hiccup's voice drifted off, and he appeared lost in thought.

Astrid could hardly process what she was hearing; for a moment, she felt the urge to ask why he'd never spoken of this before. Thankfully, before she could, it occurred to her that this wasn't the sort of thing he'd 'want' to think – much less talk – about.

Furthermore: This was around the time she and Hiccup had made their relationship 'official' … Even if he was 'willing' to talk about it, well; talk about 'killing the mood'.

Instead, she put a hand, lightly, on Hiccup's shoulder, and asked, "What happened then?"

The contact seemed to help Hiccup relax, and he continued his account; "Night- Furies are most active at night, as we know, but, during their early- years, many would show a certain fascination in the sun; you know: a big ball of fire, moving across the sky?" He shrugged, "One day, four Night- Fury hatchlings were outside; near the very heart of the Isle of Night, playing. Two older Night- Furies, females, each a few years younger than Toothless is now, were with them. A few hours before noon, a party of dragon- hunters ambushed them… One of the hatchlings took an arrow; died instantly. One of the older dragons moved to attack; to give the other a chance to corral the hatchlings to safety… she died next; than another hatchling, which the other caretaker hadn't been able to reach in time. Realizing there was nothing more she could do, she snatched up the two remaining younglings, and took to the sky… Before she rose out of range, a spear took her in the side; and several arrows pierced the third youngling; but she made it back to the nest, and, during her final minutes of life, told the other Night- Furies what had happened."

"That must've made them pretty angry," Astrid agreed, her voice a thick with emotion: both sadness, and anger. From the others' expressions, they felt much the same as she did.

'Very, very angry,' Toothless agreed. 'Two scouts were dispatched to follow the killers to their home, than they returned with the location. That night, my ancestors struck: They unleashed the Shadow- Storm; annihilating the entire population; reducing their village to ruins long- since reclaimed by the wild. The fourth hatchling, who'd been traumatized; stopped eating, and died of starvation, three days later.'

He was silent for almost a minute; 'In the days that followed, there was much debate as to what our reaction should be, should humans cross our path again … There's no telling where it might've gone, had Thor and Freya; the latter of whom has long favored our kind – what with us breathing fire, and her being the Goddess of Fire; not intervened. They offered our ancestors a deal… The legend the Peace Bringers was old, even then, but Thor and Freya promised that, so long as our forebears restrained themselves, one of ours would represent all dragons, when The Divide was broken.' Toothless glanced up, almost nervously, than added, 'I can't say much more than that, but when Hiccup and I arrived on the Isle of Night, and the sentries saw us, they knew their wait was over; and it's also why they reacted as they did with regards to the "Dagur- matter".' Toothless glanced at Hiccup, than the others. 'We seem to have strayed from the purpose of this discussion, though… So: Are we going, or what?'

Part Three – "Into The Great Beyond!"

Thirty minutes later;

The original Riders of Berk, settled into their saddles, on their respective dragons, rose into the sky; angling in the direction indicated on the map, that had been projected from the Dragon- Eye.

They had also stopped by the colony's cavern system; to inform The Elders of Dagur's escape, but The Elders didn't seem surprised. They announced that they'd send scouts to see if they could find Dagur, and 'retrieve' him – though they didn't specify exactly what they meant by 'retrieve', or in what condition; and the 'visitors' decided not to ask.

When Hiccup tried to confirm that everyone was sure they were 'in', Snotlout cut him off, "Blah, blah, blah... Why do you have to make a production out of everything? Lets go, already!"

In almost- perfect unison, Snotlout and the others shouted "INTO THE GREAT BEYOND!" Even as they shouted, their dragons shot forwards.

Hiccup and Toothless exchanged a look, and shrugged. Hiccup smiled, "Ok … So: No reservations… Lets go, bud!"

Five hours later, in the middle of a fog bank;

"Into the great beyond," Snotlout muttered, in a dazed tone.

"Great beyond," Astrid echoed, in a similar tone.

"Great beyond," Ruff and Tuff echoed.

"Great beyond," Fishlegs agreed, stifling a yawn.

Hiccup sighed, "Oh, come on, you guys… So we've had a couple of tough hours; nothing that's worth anything comes easy!"

Tuffnut groaned, "Is that one of your riddles? Because this is so not the time."

Before Hiccup could reply, something ahead caught his attention, "Look, up there: head for that break in the fog!"

The others saw the break he was referring to, and the dragons angled towards it.

A few moments later;

They emerged from the fog bank, and everyone gasped in awe: Before them, the ocean glittered bright blue. Several small pillars of rock jutted twenty or thirty feet into the air; and, several miles ahead of them, an island rose into the sky.

"Look at this…" Astrid breathed. "It's… it's incredible! We made it, Hiccup! We made it!" She pumped her hands in the air as she spoke; and shot him a warm smile.

Hiccup smiled back, but before he could answer, Fishlegs interjected, "Uh, guys; could we slap each other on the back later? Meatlug's wings are about to fall off!"

'Land now?' Meatlug asked, hopefully.

An instant later, a sound cut through the air, one that immediately captured their dragons' attention.

'What is that?' Stormfly asked; she sounded a little dazed.

'I don't know,' Hookfang said, in a similar tone. 'But I want to find out!'

They set up camp on the beach; and, as night fell, the others eventually turned in. Finally, only Astrid and Hiccup were awake: watching the ocean, above which a full moon hung in the sky.

Astrid gazed out at the moon, for a while, than turned to face Hiccup. "You were right, Hiccup; there's so much more out here! And it's … beautiful!"

Hiccup grinned, "And it's only the beginning, Astrid… Who knows what we'll find, out here?"

The following morning;

Astrid didn't remember falling asleep. One minute, she and Hiccup were sitting together, watching the moon. Then Hiccup was shaking her; she opened her eyes, stretched, and yawned. "Astrid; do you hear that?"

Astrid paused for a count of ten; trying to pick out the sound Hiccup was referring to. She didn't hear anything, "Hear what? I… I don't hear anything."

A moment later, Hiccup frowned, "Exactly… It's gone; the sound is gone."

Then they heard Fishlegs's voice; "And so are the dragons… All of them!" Hiccup and Astrid spun around, in the direction of Fishlegs's voice, and saw that he was right…

Sometime, during the night, their dragons had vanished!

Astrid's heart seemed to freeze in her chest, "STORMFLY?" She cried, "STORMFLY; WHERE ARE YOU?" An instant later, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff were calling out to their dragons as well.

"Look; everyone, just relax: We'll find them!" Hiccup said, trying to reassure them.

"Oh? And how're we going to do that?" Snotlout asked.

Hiccup resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Snotlout; in case you haven't noticed: Toothless is gone too, which means he must be with the others. If I can concentrate, I can use our connection to find out where he is."

Fishlegs stopped so quickly; he might've walked into an invisible wall, "Oh… right; I forgot about that!" The others also seemed to relax, if only a little.

Hiccup closed his eyes, and concentrated. Several moments passed in tense silence, then Hiccup opened his eyes; "He's not far, but something's wrong… This way!"

Hiccup ran down a path leading inland; Astrid right behind him, and the others close behind her. As they ran, Hiccup reached out to Toothless, and sensed that the black- dragon moving towards them from about a quarter- mile ahead, and a little to their right.

Ten minutes later, they stopped in a clearing to catch their breath. A moment later, Toothless charged in from the opposite side, breathing hard. Hiccup hurried to his side, the others close behind him, "Toothless; you ok, bud? Where are the others?"

The black- dragon growled low in his throat, 'The last time I saw them was at the beach; there was this strange sound; the same one we heard as we were coming in for a landing … Since I knew it didn't affect humans, I used our connection to siphon off some of the affects; so I wouldn't lose control… whoever's making it is luring dragons in to…' Toothless hesitated, 'There's something you need to see; I turned back the moment I saw them… We need to hurry!' With that, the Night- Fury turned back the way he'd come, and lead the way through the trees.

A few minutes later;

"Oh no…" Hiccup muttered, as he gazed at the small mountain of white objects, piled before them. "Dragon bones!"

Something 'crunched' beneath Astrid's boot; she bent over, and stood, holding an orange pebble- like object in her hand. "What is this stuff?"

Before anyone else could speak, they heard the unmistakable sounds of a dragon in trouble. Toothless growled, 'This way; come on!' Nobody needed any convincing.

A short time later;

Hiccup passed between two closely spaced boulders, and his eyes widened as he took in the scene before them; "Oh, no…"

Before them, scattered across an open grassy space, and ledges on a cliff that rose above it, were dozens of dragons; trapped in a substance that looked identical to the 'pebble' that Astrid had found.

The others came in behind him, and their eyes widened, as they took in the scene. Hiccup turned to face them; "This is not good: Something's trapping the dragons in that amber- like stuff, like what you found, Astrid … Than it breaks them out and… and eats them; that explains the bones we found."

Astrid looked as though she were about to speak, but before she could, a new dragon, with elaborately colored wings, leapt down from the top of one of the cliffs, snatched up one of the trapped dragons, and vanished from view.

"Songwing!" Fishlegs declared. The others turned to look at him, and he shrugged. "What? That's what I think we should name it!"

"Seriously?" Hiccup asked, "You're trying to name it now?"

"What? We have to call it something!" Fishlegs said, shrugging.

"I think Deathsong would be more appropriate, you know; cause you hear the song, you're dead!"

Hiccup sighed, "Well, he does have a point … so, great: we've named it; now we can worry about…"

A familiar sound made Astrid whirl around, and her eyes widened in dismay; "Stormfly!" Immediately, she rushed to her Nadder, and began ramming her fists against the rock- solid material that encased her dragon… Nothing happened.

By now, the others had found their own dragons; all of them encased in the same substance.

Then a roar from above caught their attention: They looked up to see that the Deathsong had returned!

Hiccup turned to the others; "Get your dragons out of there, now!" Not needing to be told twice, the others rushed to their dragons, trying to free them from their prisons.

When the Deathsong saw that they were going after its prizes, it began to launch gobs of the same gunk from its mouth… Gobs that began to solidify the moment they made contact with their target!

First Snotlout was immobilized; than Snotlout; and than the Twins! Moments before a glob of the gunk could hit Hiccup, Astrid shoved him out of the way, taking the hit herself!

"Astrid!" Hiccup hurried to her side, while Toothless worked to distract the Deathsong. He dodged the enemy- dragons' first two attacks, but than the Deathsong got a lucky shot: Toothless tumbled back to the ground, the gunk already solidifying.

"NO!" Hiccup shouted, not sure which way to turn.

Toothless twisted in his prison to get a look at Hiccup, and the Night- Fury's eyes widened, 'Hiccup; your sword… It's glowing!'

Hiccup glanced down, and saw that Toothless was right: The sword was still in its scabbard, of course, but shafts of light were glowing from just below the hilt!

The moment his hand closed around the hilt, he somehow knew what to do: He drew the blade, and raised it above his head. The blade grew brighter by the second, than thin wisps of shadow curled up from the blade, forming into several dozens shadowy dragons! Then, without a word, half of them shot into the sky; towards the Deathsong; a few moved to watch over his friends, human and dragon both, and the rest settled around Hiccup.

Hiccup's eyes widened; he thought he knew who these 'shadows' were, but the answer seemed so impossible, he had to ask: "Who… who are you?"

The 'voice' that answered was not one voice, exactly; more like an untold number of voices; speaking in such perfect unison, it was impossible to tell how many voices there really were. But the voices were ones that he remembered; the voices that had spoken to him the first time he had answered the Dragon Trance, to forge his armor…

'WE ARE THOSE THAT WERE; PEACE- BRINGER… THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE; THOSE WHO HAVE PREPARED FOR YOUR ARRIVAL AS BEST WE COULD.'

Hiccup's eyes widened: he'd been right! "You're Night- Furies… the Night- Furies that plunged into the magma pool, to create the ore for my sword, and armor!"

Next to him, Astrid gasped, "But … but how can you be alive? If you…" Her voice drifted to silence, as the two nearest creatures turned their shadowy faces to consider her.

'ASTRID,' the one nearest to her said, 'WE MAY HAVE ENTERED THE MAGMA, BUT ME DID SO BEFORE WE TOOK OUR FINAL BREATHE; PART OF OUR ESSENCE, OUR LIFE-FORCE, RESIDES WITHIN THE STEEL: WE ENSURE THAT THE BLADE ALWAYS RETURN TO HIS HAND, WHENEVER BLADE AND HAND DO PART...'

'WE SEAL THE PIECES OF HIS ARMOR, AND HAVE SINCE, IT AND WE, HAD ALIGHNED OURSELVES TO HIS NATURE...'

'AND WE GAVE YOU MORE THAN OUR SCALES, YOUNGLING,' said the last that was near enough for Hiccup to hear. 'OUR FIRE IS YOURS AS WELL: CALL IT FORTH FROM THE BLADE; HEAT TO WEAKEN THE SUBSTANCE; STEEL TO BREAK THROUGH...'

'AND DO NOT DELAY, AS WE CANNOT LINGER LONG: WE CAN GIVE YOU TIME, BUT YOU MUST ACT QUICKLY.'

'BEFORE WE GO, THOUGH, A WARNING: WE WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO MATERIALIZE ON A FEW, RARE, OCCASSIONS; IT IS NOT EASY FOR US TO DO SO… NOW GO: FREE YOUR FRIENDS, AND GET OUT OF RANGE OF THE SONG; WE WILL REJOIN YOU, ONCE YOU ARE CLEAR.'

Hiccup nodded, "I understand… Thank you." Satisfied, the incorporeal Night- Furies shot into the sky, whirling around the Deathsong, hiding it from view.

The moment they were gone, Hiccup turned his attention to his blade. A few seconds later, a blue column of flames writhed around the blade he had named 'Fury'.

Hiccup hurried to Astrid's side, and buried the blade to the hilt in the amber- like material. Immediately, the 'rock' began to soften; though it never grew 'hot'. After about a minute, Hiccup reached down, and helped Astrid to her feet. She gave him a quick hug, than let go, so Hiccup could get to work on first Toothless's prison, and than Stormfly's.

Once free, Toothless, Stormfly and Astrid kept watch on the Deathsong while Hiccup freed Fishlegs and Meatlug. Than the five of them kept watch while he worked on Hookfang's prison. (Snotlout spent so much time complaining about having to wait, that, in the end, Hiccup cut out a block of the 'stone', around Snotlout, loading that onto Hookfang's back.)

The twins spent the whole time telling Hiccup how awesome his new sword was. (Hiccup didn't really plan for it, but both Ruff and Tuff each found themselves holding a solid chunk of the 'rock' roughly the size of their head; a souvenir.)

Two flickering streams of shadow shot back to the ground, appearing to meld back into Hiccup's armor and sword, as the flames glowing around the blade vanished.

'HURRY,' a voice, carried on the wind, whispered. 'YOUR TIME GROWS SHORT, AND THERE ARE OTHER DRAGONS TO FREE!'

Ten minutes later;

At Hiccup's request, the wild- dragons agreed to wait until the last of them was free, which was mere seconds before the last of the shadowy Night- Furies retreated back into Hiccup's armor.

Then, at the exact same instant, all of the dragons shot into the sky at once, each launching itself in a different direction. There was so much activity, and confusion, that the Deathsong's attempts to recapture even a few of its meals were both unsuccessful, and almost unnoticed.

In an effort to prevent any more dragons from falling prey to the Deathsong, Hiccup and Toothless swerved in front of it, to get its attention. They lured it into a cavern, shot around it, than collapsed the entrance behind it, sealing it in.

As they rose into the sky, Astrid smiled at Hiccup and shook her head, "You are, without a doubt, the most incredible boyfriend on the face of the earth."

Hiccup smiled, and, somewhere behind them, Snotlout grumbled something under his breath; both of them ignored him.

"It also looks like I've still got a few things to learn about my sword, and armor," As he spoke, he drew the sword. "You guys do good work!"

As though in answer, a column of blue fire formed around the blade: it lasted for about ten seconds, than faded away. Hiccup smiled, and turned to the others, "So, guys, what do you say… On to the next one?"

"I've got three things to say," Snotlout said, "One: Yes, on to the next one; Two: Lets never come back here again, and Three: Will someone please get me out of this block of … whatever this stuff is!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes, "So… can I get a 'into the great beyond'?"

"INTO THE GREAT BEYOND!"

To Be Continued…