A very long chapter for you guys today. I'm not entirely happy with it, since I wrote it late last night. I do like it enough to publish it though, so I hope you enjoy. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me some criticism! I really want to improve the quality of my work, so please leave me some advice on what I'm doing right or wrong. Thank you all for reading!

Chapter 3

He really should have stopped hours ago.

The pain from his head had intensified to the point where he couldn't even watch the clouds as they flew by without nausea. He was pretty sure he had a concussion, if the symptoms he was experiencing were anything to go by. Exhaustion was also taking its toll after the seven-hour flight they'd been doing. Dark bags had appeared under his eyes and he had caught himself more than once trying to fall asleep on Toothless's neck. The only reason they were still flying was because of the other dragons.

After they had flown away from Berk the other dragons had started flying east, away from the dragon's nest, calling after Hiccup and Toothless as if telling them to follow. They did, because really they had no idea where to go now, and if these dragons knew of a place they would go for it.

He hadn't stopped to land because he feared they would leave him and Toothless behind. But really who could blame them if they did? They'd been locked up and used as punching bags for angry vikings for who knows how long. This was probably their first free flight in months. That's why he didn't stop even when the storm clouds appeared.

He did notice that all the dragons seemed to falter, but the Deadly Nadder directed them on. She had seemingly taken over as the leader, which went wisely unopposed. If she wasn't so kind he would have compared her to Astrid. After all, flying through a storm? Sounds like something Astrid would do.

Wait… Hiccup thought. An idea had popped into his head.

He guided Toothless to fly next to the spiked dragon, who turned a curious gaze to them.

"Hey," Hiccup greeted, Toothless calling a greeting as well, and the Nadder replied with a cry of her own, "I was just wondering, do you guys have names?"

The question seemed to catch the Nadder off guard, as she fumbled a bit in flight. Hiccup had to bite his tongue to keep from laugh at the off-balanced bird-like dragon. The dragon righted herself before turning to Hiccup and shaking her head slightly, causing Hiccup to smile a little.

"Can I give you a name then?" The dragon seemed to ponder this for a few moments, before giving a soft crow in return.

"Stormfly." Hiccup said. The newly named dragon had a thoughtful look on her face before giving a hoot of laughter and diving down into the oncoming rain in a spiral. This time Hiccup couldn't help the laughter that came, and it seemed neither could Toothless, the Zippleback, or the Terrible Terror. All four of them collapsed into laughter, nearly falling out of the now grey and clouded sky. The Gronkle and the Monstrous Nightmare simply wore large grins on their faces as they flew onward. The pack of laughing dragons flew into the sheet of rain, a spark of light in the hampering storm.

The cheery mood had continued when Hiccup named the other dragons. The Terrible Terror was named Sharpshot, because of how fast he bolted to Stormfly when the thunder boomed around them (yet another bout of laughter!). The Zippleback was named Barf & Belch, one for each head, the Gronkle he named Meatlug, and the Monstrous Nightmare was named Hookfang. All the dragons seemed to become ecstatic when their names were given, doing multiple twists and turns in the air as they flew. The excitement had again helped Hiccup keep the pain from his head at bay, but unfortunately for him the relief didn't last long.

The storm had grown harsh as rain pelted down, blurring their vision and soaking them to the bone. The dragons didn't mind as much as their scales helped keep the cold out, but poor Hiccup only had the clothes on his back, which were now heavy with water. He was certain he had gotten sick, if the thick coughs he were having were any indication. Hiccup felt his body becoming heavier, making it increasingly harder to hold himself up, and pretty soon it was all he could do not to collapse into the saddle.

"Toothless!" Hiccup hacked over the roar of the wind. Said dragon called back, casting his piercing green gaze over his shoulder to see his rider struggling. Toothless roared at the others drawing their attention to the weakening rider. Stormfly pulled back to the Night Fury and glided over to the boy's side, crooning at him but getting only a tired and pain-filled look in return. Hookfang flew up above the Nightfury, serving as an umbrella. No one noticed when Sharpshot bolted ahead until his small cries were heard from in front of them. The dragons flew forward faster and noticed an overgrown sea stack with some trees and short grass.

The group flew over and landed, all of them together nearly taking up the entire space. Hiccup fumbled with his harness, his fingers numb from the cold making the job difficult. He finally managed and slipped off of the saddle, feeling the pounding of his skull and the sharpness of the cold. For a moment he was just standing there in the pouring rain, curling in on himself for warmth, but the next the rain had somehow stopped and his world darkened significantly. Hiccup looked up and saw one of the most amazing things in the world.

All around him the dragons stood, their wings held out as a shield to the rain. He looked into each of their eyes and saw a warmth that no one on Berk would ever believe a dragon could possess.

"You're protecting me." Hiccup said as he whispered a rough sounding 'thank you', before turning to his dragon, who was standing behind him. Toothless cocked his head at the his friend, a small toothless smile had settled on the Night Fury's face. He let out a croon before closing the space between them and gently nudging the teen's side.

"T-Toothless…" Hiccup rasped. The dragon huffed and nudged him in the side again, though this time a little stronger. Hiccup stumbled back a step, right into Toothless's outstretched wing. The Night Fury wrapped his wing around the the boy's scrawny frame and pulled him to his side. Hiccup gave the dragon a confused look as Toothless lied down and opened his wing. The dragon rolled his eyes in an exasperated way before he pulled Hiccup down next to him with one of his massive paws.

Hiccup watched as the dragon shifted so that he was curled around him like a giant cat. Hiccup suddenly only saw pitch black and realized that it was Toothless's wing, which was warming his shivering body like a well woven blanket. A rumbling purr vibrated from the dragon's throat, and two large paws gathered him up and pulled him into a scaled chest. Hiccup shifted so that his pounding head was resting on one of Toothless's arms, and he let out a content sigh as his eyes slid shut. His previous exhaustion caught up with him and he knew no more.

The woman scanned the orange-colored forest around her, watching for signs of movement and listening for sounds over her dragon's wing beat. The woman glanced down at her Stormcutter, giving him a friendly pat on one of his horns, earning her a replying warble and a toothy smile. She smiled back, but it couldn't be seen through her painted blue mask.

Her dragon called out to again, this time in the form of a alarming roar. The masked woman looked around and saw an odd shape in the distance ahead of them that seemed to unnatural to be a rock formation. Flying closer proved the shape not to be a rock, but instead it was a huddled group of dragons. A Zippleback, Gronkle, Deadly Nadder, and a Monstrous Nightmare. They were huddled in a protective stance; she expected that it was due to the recent storm.

Maybe they're protecting their young? Could one of them be injured? She worried, flying in low to the sea stack before jumping off the orange dragon's back. The dragons growled at her presence, but she advanced a few steps, her hand stretched out in a non-threatening gesture. The Deadly Nadder folded her wings and stepped out of the circle, and the woman caught a glimpse of a black object before the remaining dragons tightened the circle, blocking her view of whatever it was they were guarding.

The dragon, a female the woman realized, stepped towards her outstretched hand cautiously. When she was close enough, the dragon sniffed her hand, before gently pressing her snout into her palm. The woman petted the Nadder's face, much to dragon's delight, before walking around to the circle of the other dragons, who with a commanding screech from the Nadder allowed her inside.

What she saw made her freeze.

There, lying in the middle of the ring was a Night Fury. The woman had never seen one before, only heard the stories, but the night black hide was a dead give away. The Night Fury was curled up like a cat, but his eyes were mere slits as he watched her enter their protection. The masked woman walked towards him in a crouch, her hand open. The dragon growled at her until she stopped a few inches from his face. The dragon stared at her for a few moments, studying her before touching his nose with her hand.

The woman delightfully scratched his head and ears, making the Night Fury go wide eyed and purr like a kitten. She looked him over a realized with a pang that the Night Fury had only one tailfin, but became very confused when she noticed the artificial one next to it. A traced a metal rod that went up his tail with her eye and noticed the dark leather saddle. A saddle.

Could that mean that he had a rider? Like her? Someone who knew that dragons were not monsters? And why were the dragons protecting him? Other than the tailfin he didn't look injured. She finally noticed that the dragon had his wings folded in an odd position...as if the dragon was holding something…

She very cautiously lifted the wing, and to her relief the Night Fury let her if only reluctantly. To her utter shock, she discovered a small teenage boy lying in the tight embrace of the Night Fury. He was asleep on his side facing away from her with his head buried in the dragon's chest. She placed her hand on one of his arms, but away in surprise from the utter heat radiating from the child.

An old instinct that she thought to have long ago buried came alive once more, and she gently rolled the teen out of the dragon's embrace ignoring the resulting snarl. She lifted him up by his shoulders and brought him to her chest, feeling the unnatural warmth coming from the poor child. She gently took her free hand and pushed his head towards her. His face was pale and freckled, and his hair was sticking to the sweat on his forehead. Her eyes scanned his face, studying its details, when she saw something that made her blood run cold.

A tiny scar on the boy's chin.

Her son's scar.