Chapter 3

The next day the squadron woke up bright and early. They packed up camp. Serenity rolled up her bed roll and sleeping bag and put them on Aurora's saddle. She was quite restless to get moving. She wanted to see Chris as soon as possible. She had just finished strapping down her camping gear when she felt a nudge on her shoulder. She turned to see Toothless smiling at her.

"Hi, Toothless," Serenity said. She stroked his head.

"Hello," Toothless said, purring at her touch.

"My, you certainly have grown since the last time I saw you," said Serenity.

"I was still a juvenile back then," said Toothless. Serenity scratched his ears.

"So, alpha huh?," she said, impressed.

"Yes, I can hardly believe it either," said Toothless. "It's been a pretty tough year though."

"You've been a leader before haven't you?" asked Serenity.

"Of five dragons," said Toothless. "Not of an entire squadron."

"It's only been your first year," said Aurora. "Give it a while and you'll get better at it. Just remember that you don't have to do everything by yourself, you have friends to help you."

"Thank you, your majesty," said Toothless. Just then Re joined them.

"We need to get going," he said. "If we want to get as far as possible before night fall."

"Yes sire," said Toothless. He left and went back to his rider. Serenity mounted Aurora. Everyone gathered and prepared to take off. The dragons spread their wings and continued their journey.

They followed the sent for another six days. They went farther and farther east. They soon were flying over mountains and valleys, leaving the ocean far behind. On the evening of the sixth day they landed. Skullcrusher seemed to have hit a dead end. Serenity dismounted Tenor. Re and Tenor went over to Skullcrusher. He was sniffing the air vigorously.

"What's wrong?" Tenor asked.

"The sent is her, but also not here," said Skullcrusher. "It's faint, but there is also the sent of many dragons as well." Re and Tenor exchanged a confused glance. Skullcrusher turned to them.

"It's hard to explain your majesty," he said. "He was here, now he's not. The sent from the dragons are masking his sent."

"Then with that many dragons, one of them is bound to have seen Chris," Re said. "Thank you Skullcrusher, we'll continue our search in the morning." Skullcrusher dipped his head in gratitude. Re and Tenor turned to the other riders and dragons. Serenity turned to Skullcrusher.

"I hope this isn't too much pressure," she said.

"No, not at all," said Skullcrusher. He lowered his head and she stroked his snout.

"So, if his sent has merged with that of so many dragons," Serenity said. "What do you think that means?"

"I think it means he's living with dragons in their nest," said Skullcrusher.

"How close do you think we are?" asked Serenity.

"No clue," said Skullcrusher. He spotted the sleepy look on her face. Serenity yawned. She hadn't realized how tired she was.

"You should get some sleep," Skullcrusher said. "Tomorrow could be the day you see him." Serenity felt her heart skip a beat. She turned around and went to join her dragons. She spread her bed roll and sleeping bag. She crawled into bed and rested her head on Tenor's neck. The others settled down as well. Serenity closed her eyes. She fell asleep dreaming of what the next day would bring.

Early the next morning everyone was woken up by Hookfang bursting into flames. They all jumped to their feet and turned to see what had gotten him so worked up. They followed his gaze and saw a Night Fury perched on the branch of a tree. She stared casually down at them. She was taller, yet slimmer than Toothless. She had golden yellow eyes.

"It's about time you all woke up," she said. She turned to Hookfang. "You know your flames won't here."

"And why is that?" snapped Hookfang.

"look around you, genius," the Night Fury snapped back. "Haven't you noticed that the air is warmer and thicker here. That's because it rains a lot here, and there's water in the air. So your flame trick won't get you very far, unless you want to exhaust yourself." Hookfang turned off his flame.

"Whoa, another Night Fury," said Tenor.

"No, I'm a Shockjaw," said the Night Fury. "Of course I'm a Night Fury, you don't get out much do you?" Tenor instantly shut his mouth.

"So, why are you here?" The Night Fury turned to Toothless.

"You know very well why here," Toothless growled.

"Oh, yes," said the female. "Your the one who tried to catch me, or should I saw couldn't catch me even if you had your titan wing activated." Serenity turned to Aurora.

"Is that the Night Fury that was with Chris?" she asked.

"Yes," said Aurora, who was clearly reading the female's mind. "Her name's Windwalker. Don't worry, there won't be a fight." Serenity breathed a sigh of relieve. She turned back to the conversation.

"Well, it doesn't look like you're getting away this time," said Toothless. Windwalker narrowed her eyes.

"Trust me, I've faced worse than this," she said. "If you're here for a rematch, reclaim your pride, or whatever; It won't work in your favor."

"ENOUGH!" Re roared as loud as he could, sparks flying out of his mouth. The world went quiet. Everyone looked at him.

"We're here for one reason," Re continued. "To find out the reason behind your attack on Berk. To do that we need to talk to your rider."

"Rider?" said Windwalker innocently. "What makes you sure I have a rider?"

"I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOUR GAMES!" Re snarled. "Your attack on Berk was too organized for a mere pack of dragons to perform. A human had to have planned it out. And it just so happens that our allies here saw a human on your back when the raid happened. Either tell me where he is, or I will execute you for obstruction of justice! As your king, I have a right to do so." Aurora closed her eyes in embarrassment. Windwalker's face suddenly darkened.

"If you do that, you wouldn't know the consequences of that action," she said. "You don't know what my nest and myself is capable of. Regardless if I had a rider or not, why would I help you out? Why would I give out information concerning the ones I love? What have you ever done for me? Are you suggesting that if any person were to come up to me, clad in shiny armor, I should bend over backwards for them? For folks I don't even know? Tell me, my king, have you even checked up on your so called kingdom? What are you doing to help dragons in need all around the world?"

Re was quiet at that. He looked like he wished he hadn't spoked so hastily.

"Do you wanna know why I am talking to you like this?" Windwalker continued. "It's because I don't even know you. No one in this region does. I am not even sure the whole world knows their king and queen. As far as anyone in this area is concerned, you're a stranger, a trespasser. I get informed that in the middle of the night, that some unknown group of dragons and humans land on my shores, and I should just treat them like their one of the family? No. It doesn't work that way. What if you're dangerous? I don't know what you're capable of. How do I know you won't hurt the ones I care about? I am doing what any, smart, reasonable alpha would do. So if you are accusing me of 'obstruction of justice', there would be no justice at all. For you to abuse power, would make you a tyrant, because you would be establishing yourself as the ruler of all, and destroying anything that disobeys your command. No one can rule everything. It would be too much to handle. That is why there are so many alphas. We are here to help guide dragons, to lead them. And for you to just command authority and respect from dragons that don't even know who you are, much less the title you were given, would be asking a fish to fly when he has no wings to begin with."

Everyone was dead silent.

Windwalker jumped down from the tree she was on, making everybody around her jump back defensively. All except the Draconians, who stood their ground. Serenity shuddered suddenly. Aurora put a wing around her shoulders.

"Re's not a tyrant," Serenity whispered nervously.

"No, he's nervous," said Aurora. "He can't demand authority unless the dragons want him to, and he knows that." Serenity stroked Aurora's neck. Windwalker jumped down from the tree branch and got right in Re's face.

"You want respect, you have to earn it," she snapped. "That goes for all living things be it humans or dragons." At that moment Hiccup intervened.

"We don't want to fight or anything," he said. "We just want to know why that map meant so much to you guys. I mean you could have just asked us." He pulled out a fish and tossed it to Windwalker sniffed it. She looked at Hiccup for a minuet, then looked back at the fish. She pushed it back towards him.

"I appreciate the gesture human," she said. "But I'm not hungry at the moment." Serenity translated for him.

"Keep it anyway," Hiccup said. "If I know anything about Night Furies, they're always hungry." Tenor and Toothless both rolled their eyes. Windwalker turned Toothless.

"Your human is something else, I'll say that," she said. She then turned back to Re and the Draconians. "You see, this is how one approaches. A mere human approaches me better than all four of you com..."

"Look, we're sorry," Aurora interrupted. "Cut us some slack, we're just looking for our son." Windwalker seemed to ease up.

"Oh, well why didn't you start with that?" she asked. "This could've gone a whole lot differently. I will help you as much as I can, but I haven't heard of any lost hatchlings." Re and Aurora exchanged a glance.

"That's the thing," Re said. "Our son, is your rider." Windwalker's eyes went wide. She looked from Re to Aurora, then to Serenity. She took a deep breath.

"Well, I didn't think this day would come," she said. Her spirits seemed to lift.

"I'm sorry for being so rude," Re said.

"It's alright," said Windwalker. "I'm sorry too. Follow me, I'm sure you want to meet him."

"Absolutely," Re said. He then turned to the group. "Let's go." The riders all mounted their dragons, Serenity mounted Aurora. The dragons spread their wings and took off. They followed Windwalker further over the mountains and valleys. Serenity grew more excited and anxious, the closer they got. She took several deep breaths. Aurora was quick to notice.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Do you think he'll recognize me?" Serenity asked.

"I should think so," said Aurora. "You're his best friend."

"He doesn't exactly know I'm coming," said Serenity. "It's been ten years, and we've both grown up."

"True," said Aurora. "But I think he'll still know who you are. Not that much has changed about you; you still have the same green eyes, the same golden brown hair, the same scar on you face, and you're the only other human in the world who can talk to dragons." Serenity took another deep breath.

"Relax," said Aurora. "We're almost there." Serenity focused on staying in the saddle.

The dragons flew over the lush green landscape. Dragons flew about at their leisure. Many of them noticed the newcomers. They were curious of course. Soon Windwalker led them all towards a beautiful mountain. It was tent shaped and covered in green trees and grass. More dragons flew around it. Windwalker led them to its base and landed in front of a large tunnel entrance. Windwalker led them into the tunnel and into the mountain. The tunnel was very large and was lined with caves at various levels. Dragons occupied the caves. Some of them were attending to their eggs, and some were attending to their hatchlings.

Soon they reached the heart of the mountain. It was enormous. The floor was covered in grass, and large boulders. The walls of the mountains were lined with tunnels, caves, and ledges. There were also large holes in the top of the mountain that let in sunlight. There were more dragons in here.

"Welcome to my home," said Windwalker. "This is the trunk of out den."

"Where's Chris?" asked Aurora. "Don't get me wrong this place is beautiful but..." She was cut off by a loud roar from above. This made everyone jump and look up.

"That, would be your son," said Windwalker, sounding embarrassed. She spread her wings and took off. They followed her to a tunnel and landed on the ledge. The riders had to dismount as the tunnel was too small. They went through the tunnel.

They came out onto an evan bigger ledge. It was more than big enough for the whole group. The ledge looked out over the hills that surrounded the mountain. But Serenity wasn't paying attention to the scenery, Chris was there. He was sparring with three dragons. They were guarding a flag, and he was trying to get passed them. Serenity leaned on Tenor. Ten years of missing her friend and there he was. He had grown a lot since she last seen him. He was moving a lot, so she couldn't get a good look at him. Tenor turned to her.

"You feeling okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," said Serenity. She stroked his snout.

"Looks like you may just get that happy ending you've always dreamed of," Tenor said.

"Yes," said Serenity. "And last year it seamed impossible." At that moment the spar ended, Chris had achieved his goal. He grabbed the flag and yanked it out of the ground.

"Well look at you," teased Windwalker. "All big and mighty because you can retrieve a flag." Chris rolled his eyes.

"Oh, will you just shut up and let me have my victory," he said, beaming. He hugged Windwalker around the neck. After a few seconds of silence, they separated.

"There's someone here to see you Chris," said Windwalker, looking back at the visitors. Chris followed her gaze and his eyes went wide. He put the flag down, still keeping his eyes on Re and Aurora, who were just as still as he was.

"Mom? Dad?" Chris managed to choke out. Tears of relief and joy ran down his face.

"Son," Aurora answered. They managed to make their legs work and the rushed towards each other. Chris threw his arms around his parents and they threw their wings around him. No one said a word.