Chapter Six

"Why exactly are we doing this?" I asked as I started pacing along the ledge.

Snowfire sat not far away, rolling her eyes in annoyance at my sudden fear.

I had every right to be afraid. The fact that she had just said I should learn how to fly was the most idiotic thing I've heard in my life. Of course I would never say that out loud. But I couldn't bring myself to admit that I was terrified with the idea of flying.

Why had she even bothered suggesting I do such a thing? I thought wild dragons were supposed to be fearless and powerful, not rely on others.

'Do not act like a hatchling,' she scolded when I refused to move. 'Do you wish to be stuck on this island forever?' I bit the bottom of my lip and thought for a moment.

With all honesty I wasn't even sure what I wanted. One minute I was going on a camping trip with school. And the next I end up here, alone and not sure what to do. To make matters more complicated I had a dragon telling me what to do.

"I thought you'd be happy to get rid of me," I admitted after a few minutes of silence passed. Snowfire looked at me thoughtfully before giving a response to that.

'I thought of that,' she replied with a hum of amusement. 'But I have seen how helpless you are on your own.' I was ready to defend myself when I thought better of it. She did have a good point when she said that. I would probably die in a matter of hours if left on my own. 'Now, you shall learn what it is to be a dragon,' she stated proudly.

I looked at her doubtfully before deciding it was better not to argue. Maybe this wouldn't be so terrifying now that I was ready for it. The last two times had caught me completely off guard. This would be different.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked as she crouched down. This was the first time I had ever gotten onto the back of anything, other than a bike. And that moment alone had terrified me when I was younger. The only reason I kept trying was because mom forced me to.

'Of course.'

With one final look at the solid ground, I swallowed back the fear and climbed onto her back. This kind of reminded me of riding a horse in a way. I've seen videos and watched people riding horses, but I've never had that privilege myself.

I took a deep breath as Snowfire stood up to stretch her wings. Behind me I could see Spikes watching us from the tallest boulder he could find. Even though he could fly he still wouldn't be able to keep up with a dragon Snowfire's size.

She didn't give me any warning as to what would happen. I held back a scream of terror when she suddenly launched herself off of the cliff.

My stomach was doing somersaults as she flew higher and higher into the sky. Wind whipped past my face, causing me to narrow my eyes so that I could actually see. I hadn't realized until now how fast she actually was. She was flying at a rate that could overtake a fighter jet easily.

Eventually she flattened herself out so that we were flying straight. I looked around in awe when I saw just how beautiful the sky really was up close. To my surprise the air didn't feel as frigid, and I had to wonder if Snowfire was capable of regulating the temperature around her.

"Okay, I'll admit it, this is amazing," I murmured once she slowed down.

'I told you that you would like this,' she replied.

To which I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I was holding on to her neck for dear life, but the ride was still enjoyable. Snowfire didn't start going lower until she knew for sure I was comfortable. I was still terrified with the prospect of falling off, but surprisingly she kept calm.

I was surprised to see an island shrouded in clouds nearby. Tall snow-capped mountains surrounded the island, along with a forest of pine and cedar trees. It took me a few seconds to recognize the island I'd woken up on. Snowfire had to point it out before I could say anything.

"Isn't it dangerous to fly this close?" I asked warily. Anyone with a good eye could spot us from this distance, right?

'The clouds make it easy to avoid curious onlookers,' she explained. Before I could ask what she meant, she flew into a cloud seconds later. I braced myself as my clothing got soaked from the cloud, grumbling in annoyance when I realized it would take hours to dry.

She flew as close to the island as the clouds would allow her. I was surprised that I could see people walking around the village. What really caught my attention though was the fact that all the buildings were new. I could still see what looked like scorch marks on the straw-covered roofs.

"This is where those dragon attacks are, isn't it?" God, I sounded like a little kid asking so many questions. Considering this was all new to me I guess I couldn't blame myself.

'Yes.' Snowfire flew over the island and towards the forest. 'The humans here are violent, and do not realize that our kind need their food in order to survive.'

"But why do you need their food?"

'Something much larger lives out on another island.' I flinched when she stopped near what looked like a cove. 'It has the power to control all dragons, small or large.'

Wow, there was something bigger than her out there? That made me feel a little off.

"So are you effected by this dragon?"

'Of course not! No dragon or human can control me.'

I couldn't help but grin at that. After spending three days with her I wasn't surprised with that answer.

Finally she started landing until the ground was underneath her talons. I looked at her in confusion until I realized where she had landed.

This was the same cove I saw on our way down here. The same one where…. My heart nearly froze when I saw Toothless looking at us in complete shock. Standing next to him was an equally shocked looking Hiccup.

Snowfire hummed with amusement when she noticed we were just staring at each other. I'm not even sure what compelled her to bring me here. But I did notice the camping supplies next to Toothless, and the alarm that followed.

"Uh, hi again," I said sheepishly.

"Hi…." I tried not to laugh when he said the word slowly, like it was alien to him. "H-How did you get here?"

"On Snowfire," I replied with a grin. "Believe me, I would've rather swam the whole way, but I'd probably freeze before I got here."

"Yeah, probably." Hiccup looked at Snowfire in disbelief as she huffed in annoyance. Flying really was an incredible feeling, but it wasn't something I would do on a daily basis. Not if I could possibly help it.

"I uh, wanted to apologize for yesterday," I added. "Snowfire probably gave you a heart attack when she caught you."

It looked like Toothless and Snowfire were getting along, much to my surprise. The two were making that same crooning noise Toothless had made the other day. After a few seconds they started chasing after each other in the cove like long lost friends.

"Hey, I've been through worse," he replied with a shrug. "This is actually the first time I've seen a White Terror up close," he added when Snowfire suddenly got closer. To my surprise Snowfire stood next to him, eying him warily.

'He has the soul of a dragon,' she suddenly stated. That I couldn't help smiling at. I didn't even know what she meant by those words, but I could only imagine it was something good.

"She likes you." I laughed when Snowfire huffed a breath of smoke into his face, causing him to shake his head in annoyance.

To my surprise she actually let him touch her muzzle. Toothless had stopped running around by now and joined us shortly after. I tried not to laugh again when I noticed that Toothless actually looked a little jealous.

"Don't worry bud, you're still my best friend," Hiccup reassured the Night Fury as he began to make that crooning sound again.

"So where were you headed?" I asked after eying the sleeping bag once more. It wasn't anything like mine, but it looked well supplied for a long trip. Something told me Hiccup wasn't expecting me to find him so easily.

He let out a sigh of frustration and leaned against the rock, arms folded as he watched the peaceful cove. I couldn't resist doing the same. To my surprise I hadn't even thought of my world or what might be happening right now.

Was my mom worried about me? Or was this really a dream? I would have thought by now that if it was a dream, I would wake up. The world worked in mysterious ways. Maybe I woke up here for a reason, and that reason had something to do with the dragons.

"My dad wants me to kill a dragon," he finally muttered.

I looked at Hiccup in disbelief. True I'd seen what the villagers did to dragons. I mean look at poor Toothless. He'd lost part of his tail, but Hiccup had helped him regain the ability to fly. Something told me that killing dragons wasn't in his nature.

"Well I can see why you're so frustrated," I murmured sympathetically.

"All my life I wanted to be like him, and now…. Toothless changed everything."

I didn't miss the anguish in his voice.

"Is there any way to convince him that dragons aren't dangerous?" Snowfire had joined me shortly after, a look of concern showing in her eyes.

"I wish." Hiccup threw his hands in the air as if to prove a point. "My dad's probably one of the most stubborn Vikings you'd ever meet."

So I was right about my theory! Ha to those who thought otherwise. But on to the bigger picture…. I could see why Hiccup was so worried. The last thing on his mind was killing a dragon. He'd seen how gentle they can be when treated right.

"Well there's gotta be something you can do."

"Hey, if you've got an idea I'm all ears." Before I could say anything else he suddenly climbed onto the saddle. Toothless had been sitting next to him, eying us both with concern.

'Foolish human,' Snowfire chimed as he took off.

"We should probably make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," I muttered with a roll of my eyes. Truth be told I was not looking forward to flying again. The feeling of being in the air had been incredible, but it didn't last long. Now that I was safe on the ground it was tempting to stay here.

'It will be easy to catch up with them,' she said in a proud voice.

I tried not to laugh again as I got on her back. Knowing Snowfire she had a competitive spirit. I'd seen it when I was with Spikes, who desperately tried keeping up with us when we were in the forest.

Once Snowfire was in the air I clung on to her neck for dear life. Hiccup was lucky to have a saddle he could hold on to. I had nothing, and I was starting to regret not making something more comfortable to sit on.

Snowfire wasted no time in catching up with them. I leaned forward when I realized that Toothless was already miles away from the island. Hiccup looked over his shoulder in disbelief when he realized that we were following them.

"What are you doing here?" he shouted over the wind.

"Making sure you don't do anything stupid!" I called back.

To which Hiccup just rolled his eyes. I couldn't help but smirk as Snowfire dipped forward and rolled underneath Toothless, causing the Night Fury to yelp in surprise. Finally she was flying in front of him, spreading her wings so that she was twice his size.

'You are getting better,' she reassured me.

"Yeah, define better."

"You know, most of the people I know would call you crazy," Hiccup pointed out when they caught up.

"And I'd say they're absolutely right!" I had to laugh at Hiccup's expression. During a typical school day I'd be doing this with the small group of friends I'd had. God I never thought I would miss those days. "So where to?"

"Uh, I'm not sure," he admitted.

'It appears as though the Night Fury is,' Snowfire replied. I followed her gaze and noticed that something was off in the way Toothless flew. Instead of flying in a straight path like Snowfire, he was flying in a jagged looking line. I blinked in surprise when I noticed that something was wrong with his eyes. 'Someone is controlling him!' Snowfire suddenly exclaimed.

Hiccup and I exchanged looks before Toothless suddenly started flying lower to the ocean. Snowfire was quick to follow his path, but she managed to keep her position straight. All the while I noticed that more and more dragons were joining us.

My heart nearly skipped a beat when I saw a two-headed dragon flying next to Toothless. To my surprise I saw that it was holding what looked like a sheep.

"Holy crap!" My breath was nearly taken away by the sight of a large dragon flying between us. Snowfire had to move to the side in order to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. But the dragons weren't attacking like I expected. Instead they followed the same path Toothless took, flying towards what looked like an island shrouded in thick clouds of smoke.

"You okay?" Thankfully Hiccup managed to get away from the large group of dragons. We were headed for what looked like a giant mountain, and I realized in a split second that it was a volcano.

"Never better," I muttered under my breath.

Finally we started heading towards a large cavern. My eyes darted from place to place as the cave started getting warmer and warmer. It didn't take me long to guess that we were in the volcano itself. The heat was almost overwhelming, but thankfully Snowfire was able to keep it from burning us alive.

'This place is evil.' I looked at Snowfire warily when she said that. Toothless landed on a perch nearby while Snowfire landed next to him.

"Well it's good to know our food is being thrown into a pit," Hiccup muttered.

"Why would they need all of this food?" I asked.

It looked like time would answer my question. A smaller dragon with a round body and a club-like tail started hovering towards the pit. I pressed myself against Snowfire's back as the small dragon suddenly dropped what looked like half-eaten fish into the pit.

That was when something much bigger reached out of the pit. My heart nearly skipped a beat once again as a pair of huge jaws snapped around the smaller dragon. A roar followed shortly after, sending chills down my back and arms.

"Toothless we need to get out of here," Hiccup suddenly announced.

"Right behind you," I added as Snowfire took off.

The four of us only barely managed to escape. It was the first time since I woke up on that island I realized this wasn't just a dream. This was real, and something big and dangerous was after the other dragons. And it needed to be stopped.

AN: Much longer chapter, yay! I also just got Guardians of the Galaxy, so I'm kind of obsessing over them XD

silverwolvesarecool - Yep, pretty much. Although she can only communicate with Alex, and no one else. But I'll explain more on that one later on ;)

69759 - Thanks! I know what writer's block is like... that's why I like having more than one story going on, so that I can focus on one story if the other is giving me a hard time for the moment.