Author's Note:

Hey, terribly sorry for the long wait, I had a bunch of stuff pop up, and then this lovely thing called Writer's Block, so sorry. It is a little short, but stuff is gonna start happening soon, so hopefully they'll get longer. Since I've got school going on right now (such a pesky thing, isn't it), so it'll take me a bit longer to write a chapter and get it up. Also, I think I'll actually write out a rough outline to keep me from getting discouraged from finishing it. So, if you are reading this, it would mean more than I could ever say if you could leave a review. Even a small one is more than nothing! So, don't be afraid to say something! Anywho, get to reading (please)!

-M.B

Chapter Four

Pitch Black was use to many things: the dark, Fearlings, Nightmares, fear, even failure. Company wasn't one of things, especially that of a bear. Yes, it was easier to deal with than other bears, thanks to him, but this one was different. It was big, bad, and ready to kill.

It's bloodthirst was probably the hardest to work around. It was made for killing human beings, and as far as appearances were, Pitch pretty human. So, in between plotting and taming the bear, his plans were a little difficult to accomplish.

With a sigh, he smoothed a hand over his hair. "Damn bear." He muttered. It had escaped again, and his patience was running thin. He could kill the bear if need be, but he would have to rethink his strategy if it came to that.

He already had plenty of nightmares looking for it, but his frustration was at an alltime high. He already had his darling princess where she should be and her little guard was rather easy to take care of.

The only problem was the dragon. With his hace to move things along, he didn't see if anything had changed at the DunBroch Kingdom. Now that there was a dragon, ( and a nightfury, no less!) he had to be a little more careful.

Pitch paced back and forth, thinking up as many ideas as he could to solve this little problem, but none of them seemed to catch his liking. He could always just kill the dragon, but that would take too much precious time. He could capture it and use it against the rider, but, again, it would take too long. He could try summoning a fearling. Then again, they were unpredictable and could ruin the entire plan.

Finally, a nightmare came charging into his castle. It looked riled up and ready to strike. With a gently hand, Pitch pet its muzzle, calming the beast down. "Where is the bear?" He asked. He cocked his head as the horse huffed out its answer. "Really?" With Narrow eyes, Pitch left his castle. He was past his frustration. Now, he was absolutely livid

XXX

"A dragon?" I repeated for the umpteenth time. Hiccup and Merida had explained that Toothless what, in fact, a dragon.

"A Nightfury, if you want to be exact." Hiccup said. He was actually leaning against the dragon in question.

Toothless, who was the one to drive Mor'du away, was rather intelligent for an animal. He was also quite expressive. I figured that out early on. He was a bit larger than a human being, but was more in the middle when it came to dragon sizes. He was covered head to tail in shiny, black scales and had yellow-green eyes. He was also missing his left tail fin.

"How long have you two know each other?" I asked, waving my finger between them. It sounded a little odd to me, seeing as Toothless was a dragon, but so far he was treated more as human, so I figured to do the same.

"Well, I think it's about five years, now." Hiccup responded. Toothless gave a little nod in response, too.

"Oh." I said, not sure what else to say. I took hold of some of my hair to distract myself.

"Well, it's been a long day. How about we all go to bed." Merida spoke up. She walked forward and put an arm around my shoulders.

She steered me toward the staircase. I could hear Hiccup and Jack talking quietly, but I couldn't understand what exactly they were saying. I didn't get the chance to figure that out, either, because Merida and I were already halfway up the stairs.

"So, how long have you known about Toothless?" I asked. I was actually really curious. I mean, I had known both Merida and Hiccup much longer than five years, and I had never heard of Toothless.

"Well, actually for only about three years. Hiccup did leave the kingdom for a little over year. He left probably six months after he met Toothless. Hiccup told me about him only after he came back." She replied. "We haven't seen each other in a few years, and that was only a short visit to make sure you were alright."

I nodded. "No, I know. I was just wondering."

She nodded, too, and after a moment, spoke up, "How are you doing?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know. Well, Pitch hasn't so much as breathed on our lands. It worries me, especially after what happened with my parents."

She gave me a reassuring hug. "Don't worry, it'll get better."

"That's what worries me. My parents were sure he was gone, and I did too, but he wasn't. What if he's not really gone? What if he's just waiting for us to let our guard down." I stopped walking. We were at the top of the stairs. "Merida, he's a very patient man. I learned that while I was living with him. I just can't believe he would give up this easily; after everything he went through for this? No, he wouldn't."

She put a hand on my shoulder. "Punzie, I know that, but you can be watching your shadow all the time. If he is biding his time, and I do think he might be, all we can do is be ready." She dropped her hand, but didn't start walking. "Look, you can't waste your life in the dark. You need to live. Please, don't forget that."

"I won't, I promise." I said, giving her a small smile. I meant it. I really did. "Now, how about we get to bed.