A/N: Wow. Ok… wow. 40 favs, 61 follows, and 13 reviews?! That's awesome guys! Thank you SO much! I'd especially like to thank Silver Wind 02 for reviewing on nearly ALL my stories. Thank you, it means a LOT to me. (:

OC NOTE: Two of these OC's, Asger and his dragon Lightning, belong to: the core of justice.

In case I made a mistake, here's a little side note: This chapter, Chapter Three, was originally from Hiccup's POV and how he made it for eight years. BUT, then you guys said to continue Berk's POV, and to give Hiccup a mysterious vibe. I totally agree, so you won't see Hiccup's POV until later in the story. Ok, that's all. Enjoy!

XXX

Time of Dying — Chapter Two

Hiccup has run away from Berk. He's been gone for eight years, with barely any signs proving he is alive. But when Stoick grows extremely ill, the only person left to the position of Chief is Snotlout. The tribe is going into chaos, and they only have one person to turn to: Hiccup. They must contact him as soon as possible, and convince him to return to Berk. But he's not the same little boy he was before….

XXX

Astrid stared at the crumpled note in her hands, eyes wide and flooding with tears. The others were crying as well, shocked at their latest discovery. All this time, for eight years, Hiccup was still alive. He had run away, because of how terrible his life was on Berk. Hiccup wasn't the traitor; they were. They drove him away.

"I-I can't believe it," Ruffnut whispered.

"Yeah," Fishlegs murmured. "Who knew?"

"Is he even still alive?" Gobber asked.

"Yes," Gothi croaked. "He lives."

"What're we gonna do?" Astrid asked quietly.

"Do we… tell Stoick?" Gobber queried uncertainly.

"No, no way!" Snotlout growled. "I've waited eight years to be chief! I-I can't just let useless come along and ruin that!"

"Shut up, Snotlout," Astrid snapped. "We've got more important things to worry about."

"Maybe we should send him a letter?" Fishlegs suggested quietly.

"A letter?" Tuffnut asked.

"Yeah. We could, like, send some kind of creature to track him down by the Night Fury scale. I mean—if he's alive, surely he'd still be hanging out with the Night Fury, right?" he explained.

Everyone went silent for a few moments. It actually sounded like a substantial idea. But what animal could they use to track Hiccup down? A bird? Dragon? But weren't dragons mindless beasts?

"What animal do we use?" Astrid inquired.

Fishlegs gulped, eyes wandering across the whole group. Immediately they knew what creature he was considering.

"Uh oh," they muttered.

XXX

The adults found themselves entering the dragon arena, all looking slightly frightened. How did Hiccup do this? How did he tame a Night Fury?

"Alright," Gobber called. "Everyone remember the plan?"

A chorus of yes's rang out, answering him immediately. He nodded, before glancing over to the others. Finally, he pulled the lever to a dragon cell down, causing the thick stone doors to open.

Out came a blue and yellow Deadly Nadder, who roared furiously. The dragon flapped its wings, struggling to fly around after not being airborne for a long while.

"Shh, shh," Astrid shushed it, stepping forward with two empty hands. She had a weapon on the floor, just in case she needed to defend herself.

The Deadly Nadder halted, looking extremely confused. Why was the Viking girl trying to shush her? Why was she not attacking? And had no weapon?

"It's okay," Astrid murmured softly. "We're not gonna hurt you. We need your help."

The blue and yellow scaled reptile landed on the stone floor of the arena, looking curious. Astrid sighed in relief, realizing she was making progress. She held a hand out to the dragon, feeling frightened and vulnerable without her ax.

Suddenly, the dragon stepped forward, startling everyone. But instead of attacking Astrid, it held its face to her hand. Astrid let out a breath she didn't know she was holding hostage, and smiled in relief. She did it. She touched her first dragon. She was making peace with one.

She slowly raised her other hand to pet the Deadly Nadder, hoping to build the trust.

"Okay, can you do us a favor?" the blonde asked. The dragon didn't move or do anything bad, so Astrid assumed that was a yes.

Turning to Snotlout, who was gulping nervously, she held one of her hands out. "Give me the bag," she murmured gently, hoping to not startle the creature.

Snotlout whimpered pathetically, before slowly ambling over to Astrid. He quickly handed her the satchel, and then ducked back to the others.

In the satchel was all the black Night Fury scales they had found in the forest, to help the Deadly Nadder locate Hiccup. Alongside that, there was a note they had all contributed to.

The shield maiden slowly raised the strap of the satchel over the dragon's head. The dragon was taller than her, but kneeled down to help her out. Astrid laughed happily, stunned at what had happened in the timespan of five minutes.

The blonde carefully slung the satchel over the Deadly Nadder's neck, and tightened it slightly. That way the dragon could easily take a whiff of the scales, and then continue tracking Hiccup and the Night Fury. Plus, the scales were less likely to spill out, along with the note.

"Okay," Astrid sighed, stepping back from the blue and yellow colored dragon. "We need you to find someone. A Night Fury," she tried explaining. The dragon cocked her head to the side, before comprehending the words "Find" and "Night Fury." She knew what the humans called that specific breed of dragon, and understood her mission.

The Deadly Nadder nodded, surprising everyone in the arena. It was as if she could understand Astrid! But what they didn't know, is that she partly could.

"Good," she smiled. "We'll give you a few fish, and you can be off. Okay?" The dragon chirped.

Astrid turned to Tuffnut and Ruffnut, who were holding a few fish. They figured the dragon could use the energy.

As soon as the twins placed the fish on the ground, the dragon gobbled them all up. She must have been starving! Astrid couldn't help but feel guilty and sad at the realization.

She finished quickly, licking her lips after her quick meal. Then, she turned to the exit of the arena. The others noticed this, and Fishlegs went to go check for any watchers.

"Coast is clear!" he called.

Astrid sighed, turning to face the intelligent dragon. "Alright. Good luck, girl," she murmured, patting the dragon's snout once more. Then, she surged away, flying off into the sky. Now they could only hope the Deadly Nadder would be able to locate Hiccup.

They all stepped out of the arena, sighing sadly. "Hiccup was right," Astrid muttered, catching everyone's attention. "We were wrong about dragons."

XXX

"::Vopraan vok!::" a strange language rang out.

Suddenly, another voice stepped in. This time, it was more human. It sounded exhausted and drowsy, but nonetheless replied in the same weird language.

"::Zu'u los vok, Zu'u los vok!::"

"::Do tiid!::" the first voice growled.

A shadowy figure emerged from a house, entering the outside world. It was dark outside, very dark. The stars barely provided any light, and the moon was not very full. It was difficult to see.

Another silhouette stepped out from the same house, this time much different. It was shaped like a human, with a strong figure. It was male, definitely. He wasn't as muscular as some of the nearby Vikings, but he definitely had that "lean but mean" look going on. If it were lighter, you would be able to make out vivid, forest-green eyes and a mop of auburn-colored hair.

The first figure was solid black. It blended into the night pleasingly well. It had bat-like wings, with florescent, emerald-green eyes that stood out from the blackness of night. It was a dragon, but not your average dragon. It was one of the rarest kinds of all: a Night Fury.

"::Fos los nii? Druv drey hi vopraan zey vok?::" the male human asked in a foreign language.

The dragon snorted before he replied. "::Zu'u los bek hi vust bo vogaan omaar vothni hin brii laag. Zu'u hon zurun dovah honaat.::"

The adult male frowned in wonder at the dragon's explanation. "::Fos eylok do dovah honaat?::" he asked.

"::Dilos Nadder dovah honaat.::" the Night Fury answered. "::Gir! Listen!::"

The muscular human paused, straining his ears to try and hear what his companion was talking about. The male narrowed his eyes, before turning to face the black dragon.

"::Zu'u hon nii. Dilos Nadder, hi saag?::" the auburn-haired man asked.

"::Geh,::" the Night Fury confirmed.

Suddenly, a roar of a dragon could be heard. They both perked up, trying to distinguish the noise. It was definitely what the dark dragon said it was: a Deadly Nadder.

Sure enough, a new dragon landed on the scene. From what the man and Night Fury could make out, it was a blue and yellow scaled Deadly Nadder. The one-legged man stepped forward, reaching out a hand to touch the dragon.

She instantly obeyed, seeing as the Night Fury was perfectly comfortable hanging around the man. Once she pulled away from his calloused hand, she stretched out her wings, and kneeled down to the unrecognizable man's level.

The male reached forward, noticing a strange object wrapped around her neck. He frowned, narrowing his eyes curiously. He carefully slipped the strap off of her neck, and was surprised to see it was a satchel. Full of what? Black scales. Night Fury scales, that is.

Was somebody trying to track them down? Who was it?

The man's frown deepened, as he showed the bag to his dragon companion. The Night Fury instantly recognized his own scales, and turned to the Deadly Nadder.

"::Vir drey hi ofaal daar? Wo los hi?::" he asked.

"::Viking kon gave niin wah zey. Rek fun zey wah far hi tum naal hin vrii. Zu'u korah nust vahlut motmah do deykraan voth zurun markings nau nii.::" the female dragon answered.

The dragon frowned, turning back to his rider. Said man was digging around in the satchel, after hearing the Deadly Nadder say there was a slip of paper in the bag. He dug around, until finally, his hand came in contact with a smooth surface. He carefully pulled the paper out of the satchel, before opening the folded paper.

"Hello, Hiccup. We really hope this letter reaches you. We used this Deadly Nadder to track you down by your Night Fury's scales. We found them in the forest, off of Raven's Point.

Please reply to us as soon as you reach the end of this note. We NEED you.

Stoick is very, very sick. The only person left as Heir is Snotlout. We need you, Hiccup. We know the truth now. Gothi had a vision, and we found your note from eight years ago. We're all very sorry for how we treated you. We know we drove you away, and we're sorry.

Please come back. If you don't, I swear I will find you myself and personally punch you senseless. Please, Hiccup, come back. Even if you don't want to, do it for the dragons. We found the truth about them because of YOU. Return here, and teach us about dragons! We can stop the war with Vikings and dragons. But Stoick needs you the most. Please.

- Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Gobber, Gothi, and a very reluctant Snotlout."

The man narrowed his eyes, looking torn. He looked both angry and sad. But as he glanced over to Toothless, who could understand the Norse writing, the Night Fury gave him a tiny nod.

"Fine," Hiccup sighed in Norse. "Looks like we're heading back."

XXX

A week passed. Nothing happened. Stoick got slightly worse, and the group was worrying. Would the Deadly Nadder even find Hiccup? Would he even return? Or would he just throw away their letter?

Astrid was growing very impatient and anxious. What if Stoick died? Would Snotlout really become chief? She couldn't bear the thought. Would he have the power to force her into marriage? Her parents most likely would agree, seeing as he was next in line as the leader of the Hairy Hooligan tribe.

Week two came along. They kept it a secret from everyone. Fishlegs, however, was having some difficulty. He was so tempted to just spill it all out. He was never good with lying, or keeping secrets. Luckily, Ruffnut was there most of the time to stop him from spilling the beans.

On the first day of week three, Stoick had a hallucination. He said he saw Hiccup standing in the corner of the Healer's room, his same fifteen-year-old self. But then, he saw blood spilling down his son's body, and the scales of a Night Fury getting stuck in the sticky, crimson liquid.

He had screamed as loudly as he could, and nearly the whole village heard. Gothi had hobbled in as quickly as she could, hoping to calm the man down. Eventually, she simply told him to drink a mysterious liquid, which put him to sleep.

When the gang burst into the room, Gothi just shook her head and translated it into the dirt outside of the Healer's building.

They had all been shocked and sorrowful to hear Stoick was starting to hallucinate. And about Hiccup, especially. Fishlegs had nearly burst into the room to tell the truth about the last three weeks, but Gobber and Astrid had managed to stop him from reaching Stoick.

Halfway through week three, and a few days after his hallucination, Stoick passed out for several hours. Gothi had no way of waking him, since he was just knocked out completely. By the time he awoke, it was after almost sixteen hours.

Stoick only hallucinated one more time at the end of week three. It was of Hiccup, again. He had been sleeping, and just awoke. Then, his eyes played tricks on him and made him think he saw Hiccup lying beside his bed, covered in his own blood. He had, once again, screamed. Gothi did not give him the drink to put him to sleep, since he had already slept for so long. Instead, she managed to comfort him. Gobber had entered the room, and helped console the ill Chief.

On the first day of week four, Stoick felt absolutely terrible. His head was pounding, he was sweating from a nightmare, and his ears were ringing. Every time someone talked, whether it be a whisper or scream, his head just ached even more. He would have slept it off, but he was too frightened of his nightmares at the time.

And then, something amazing happened.

XXX

Astrid was talking with the gang, minus Gothi and Snotlout. The elder was busy taking care of Stoick, while they avoided adding Snotlout because of his attitude. But nonetheless, they were discussing an obvious topic. They were wondering about Hiccup.

"Do you think the Nadder found him?" Fishlegs asked.

"Maybe," Astrid shrugged, a hint of doubt in her voice. "I'm sorry, guys," she suddenly sighed. "I just… got so hopeful. We need him here."

"Yeah," the twins agreed in sync.

"I sure do miss the lad," Gobber murmured. "He was a great apprentice. Could craft anything he thought of!"

They just nodded sadly, while a few of them were struggling to hold back tears.

"I just wish—"

Astrid was cut off by a loud horn being blown. Everyone immediately jumped up, startled expressions on their faces. They hadn't heard that noise in five years, since the raids stopped. Could it be? "Is that the…?" Astrid began, but trailed off.

"The dragon horn? Yes," Gobber whispered.

They exchanged glances, before racing off. Astrid took the lead, to where people were already gathering at the north shore. Gobber fell behind, due to his one-legged issue.

Several villagers were panicking at the sight of four dragons approaching Berk. They seemed to be in a neat order, in a diamond-shaped formation.

Many people were gathering up their livestock, and hiding them in barns. Others were gathering weapons, while the gang just crossed their fingers and prayed hopefully.

'Please,' Astrid begged to the Gods. 'Please, let it be Hiccup.'

XXX

Stoick's eyes snapped open at the sound of the dragon horn being blown. He gasped, quickly sitting up. He groaned as he sat up too quickly, causing his vision to darken for a few moments and his head to spin. Finally, though, it faded, and he got to his feet. He hadn't been out of the bed in weeks, unless it was to use the bathroom.

The Chief grunted from effort, leaning against certain pieces of furniture as he tried to make his way down to where everyone was gathering. He heard Gothi tapping her staff against the ground, trying to catch his attention. He ignored her, though. He needed to protect his tribe.

As he made his way down the stairs, he felt lightheaded. He felt as though he was going to vomit, and pass out, both at the same time. And yet he continued on, determined to protect and defend his home.

'If it's that damn Night Fury, I WILL avenge my son!' he thought angrily.

Numerous people gasped at the sight of their weak and ill Chief hobbling towards the scene. His best companion, Gobber, came to help him. He grabbed Stoick's left arm, and tossed it over his shoulders. He then guided the large Viking man towards the area where the dragons were heading.

Stoick watched in disbelief as he spotted four dragons approaching Berk. They were formed in a diamond formation, which was very strange. Dragons didn't do that, right? So why were they doing it now?

"Eh, Stoick?" Gobber asked.

"Yes?"

"I think… there's something on their backs."

Stoick narrowed his eyes furiously, and sure enough, spotted two figures on two of the dragons. The other two dragons didn't have riders, but were still participating in the formation.

"Ready your weapons!" Stoick ordered, but started coughing afterwards. It hurt his voice to yell.

Several people tightened their grip on their weapons, waiting anxiously for the dragons to land.

And they did. The four dragons met the ground neatly, but a few yards from the Vikings surrounding them.

Stoick made his way to the front of the crowd, growling angrily. "What is the meaning of this?!" he snarled.

The four dragons were an odd mix. Three of them were Deadly Nadders, and one was a Skrill. The Deadly Nadder with a rider was a girl, who had midnight-black hair and icy-blue eyes. She wore thick armor and rode her dragon with a leather saddle.

The second Deadly Nadder was nearly the same shade as the first; a lavender color. This one, however, was a bit darker. He had no rider.

The Skrill was mainly black, but had interesting red outlines on certain parts of its body. On its shoulders rested a young man, who look curious, but untrusting of the Vikings around them.

The last was another Deadly Nadder, with no rider. It was the one Astrid and the crew sent to Hiccup. It was a blue and yellow scaled dragon, with a satchel tied around its neck.

"W-What…?" Stoick stuttered.

"Hello!" the black-haired girl greeted cheerily.

"SORCERY!" many of the tribe members shouted. A couple launched their weapons at the dragons, but they managed to dodge easily.

"Oh, great," the girl muttered sarcastically. "Now they're throwing things at us."

"What is the meaning of this?! Why are you on those beasts' backs?!" Stoick exclaimed.

The Skrill growled loudly, while the other three dragons bristled angrily.

"Well it sure as Hel beats sailing across the ocean for months on end," the girl snickered.

The Skrill snarled viciously as one of the Vikings stepped closer to him and his rider. The man on the Skrill patted his shoulder, instantly calming the dragon.

"Shh," he whispered to his dragon.

"What are you doing here?!" Stoick demanded.

"We're here to help," the girl answered.

"With what?" the chief growled.

"You and your tribe," the man responded.

"You don't know anything about—"

"You are Stoick the Vast," the girl interrupted. The villagers froze, wondering how she could answer him so easily. What did they know about Berk? "You lost your wife in a dragon raid, and then your son."

She then turned to a familiar group of young adults. "You're Fishlegs, very knowledgeable," she continued, pointing to the very large man. "You're Ruffnut, twin sister to Tuffnut. Both of you are idiots, according to Zoriik." She gestured to the two identical siblings, while the Berkians watched with shocked expressions.

"You are Snotlout," the man continued for the girl. "A bad heir to the Hairy Hooligan tribe. And you are Gobber, the blacksmith. You used to mentor Stoick's son."

"H-How… what?" Stoick stuttered. "How do you know all this?! Are you spies?!"

The crowd roared along with their leader, weapons raising in the air.

"You are Gothi, the healer and elder," the man on the Skrill continued, ignoring the uproar in the crowd.

And then, they both turned to Astrid. "Aw," the girl cooed. "She's even prettier than he said she was!"

"What are you—"

An abrupt, high-pitched shrieking noise rang out, startling everyone nearby the island. Anyone could recognize that sound.

"NIGHT FURY!" the villagers screamed. "Get down!"

But the gang didn't cover themselves. Instead, their eyes widened drastically as they waited with hopeful expressions. Astrid dropped her ax, and held her hands to her mouth. The twins exchanged glances, while Fishlegs gasped loudly. Gothi smiled knowingly, and Gobber stood with his mouth hanging open.

No one could see the black dragon anywhere. That is, until it landed right in front of them.

The sound of a thud echoed, as a mysterious beast dived and landed right in front of the villagers. The sand the pair landed on sprayed out, flying into a few peoples' eyes.

Astrid held her breath, praying to Odin it was him. It had to be him. Please, she needed him.

"What are you doing?" the man on the Skrill asked as the dust cleared.

"Making a dramatic entrance, what else?" a masked and heavily armored man replied. "As for you, Ember," he spoke to the girl on her lavender-colored Nadder. "Stop embarrassing me!"

Astrid recognized the voice. Sure, it was deeper and had changed slightly, but it was definitely his. The body, however, looked completely different.

Hiccup still wasn't as big as a Viking, but he was definitely muscular. The armor he wore was leathery and a thick brown material, while he wore a helmet to conceal his face.

But what stunned Astrid the most was his shin. It was missing, and replaced with a metal prosthetic.

He stepped off of his Night Fury, landing directly in the sand. He turned to everyone watching them, and smiled behind his mask.

"I-Is that was I think it is?" a villager asked shakily, gesturing to the Night Fury.

"There's no way that's Hiccup!" Snotlout suddenly exclaimed. "He was a twig!"

What did Hiccup have to do with this? Unless….

"H-Hiccup?" Stoick asked in a weak voice.

"Yeah," the man murmured, voice muffled by his helmet. "It's me."

He slowly lifted his hands to his helmet, while his anxiety skyrocketed. Should he do it? Should he expose himself? What if his father disowned him? Or executed him and Toothless?

But his decision was made. He lifted his arms to his helmet, and slipped it off, letting his whole head be revealed.

Astrid gasped, along with all the other bystanders.

There he was, after eight long years. His auburn hair was fluffier than before, but shorter. His forest-green eyes were even more vivid, and more beautiful. His skin had tanned a bit, and he was definitely taller and more muscular. He had to have stood at least half a head taller than Astrid. Part of his shin on one of his legs was missing, and a prosthetic made up for its place.

"H-How… what…." Stoick was at a loss for words.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Hiccup sighed. "I couldn't let anyone find out about Toothless. Not only would I be a traitor, but you would hurt him."

"Toothless?" they questioned.

"Oh, right," he laughed awkwardly.

He turned to face the Night Fury, patting his head lovingly. "Guys, meet Toothless." Hiccup glanced around, his gaze traveling across all of the gathered Vikings. "Toothless… meet Berk, my old home."

XXX

HA! HOW WAS THAT?

Ok, I have an important question. When would you guys like to see Hiccup's POV of what happened in the last eight years? Chapter Four (the next one), Chapter Five, or Chapter Six? Please let me know!

OH, and here are the review replies:

DarkForest11: Thank you! C:

Kenraali: That means a lot to me. Thanks! I know this chapter was pretty stereotypical, but Hiccup's POV should help it be a little more unique.

IceFireHeartandSoul: This! This! This! This! Th—I'm not repeating that twenty times. LOL. Thanks for reviewing!

Silver Wind 02: FFFFFFFFFF—why are you so nice?! Btw, look at the very beginning of this chapter (;

Guest: Here it is! :D Thanks.

MMM: I was actually considering Valka being in the story, but… I wasn't too sure. So far, she won't be, until later. Anyways, thanks! And the letter idea was cool, but I already wrote this, and… uh… yeah XD Thanks, though!

ShadowSpirit020: Thank you! This is mainly Berk's POV, but when should Hiccup's POV come in? Next chapter, chapter after that…?

EmpressRulerofallthatiswierd: Haha, thanks! I love your name btw XD

the boltguard: Alright, there's a little bit of Hiccup POV in here. Everything about his POV will be explained in the next one.

supersandman86: I didn't think about it that way… here's Berk's POV, but with a little Hiccup POV that doesn't give away much. I do, however, have nearly all of the Hiccup POV finished. When should it come in?

sadicofan: Yup, thanks! Here ya go c:

Guest: This one is manly Berk's POV. (: Thanks for the feedback!

Transformers 0: oooh, true. I like how you said that. C: But some of the readers might get confused for the little Hiccup POV I put in here. When should Hiccup's POV come in?

If you are confused about Hiccup's POV in this chapter, read this!

I know lots of HTTYD run away stories include Dragonese, or the dragon language. However, I did a bit of googling, and decided to use a language called Dovahzul. It is from Skyrim, and I have a translator for it XD Anyways, once Hiccup's next POV comes in, translations will be listed right after they speak in Dovahzul.

Thanks everyone! See ya in Chapter Four!