Alf couldn't sleep that night. He was standing at his window when a house caught fire. A huge pair of wings momentarily blotted out the stars. He dutifully went and woke his parents, but didn't mention the dragon. They might think it was Fray, despite the fact that the wings had been too large to be hers. The fire was soon put out, but Alf overheard his father saying that a large number of sheep had vanished. The excitement over, Alf managed to catch a few fitful hours of sleep before dawn, when he left to look for Fray. Following a hunch, he went to the cliff. Sure enough, Fray was there, chin on knees, staring at the sea. She didn't look at Alf as she came up beside her.
"You swore you wouldn't say anything."
"I know. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, honest."
"The problem with apologies is that they don't really fix anything."
Alf sat down beside her. After a few minutes of silence he said, "A dragon set a house on fire last night. No one else saw it, but a lot of sheep went missing at the same time. If something isn't done, the dragons will be attacking outright." He looked at Fray. "We need you."
Fray turned to look at him. "Let me get this straight. You had to shoot your mouth off so that the entire village knows my secret. Now you're coming to me and asking me to go to what will probably mean my death for people who would just as soon kill me as look at me."
Alf looked away and nodded.
"Alright. Where do we start?"
Alf looked up in surprise. "You'll help?"
"Yeah. Let's go before I change my mind."
Grinning, Alf got to his feet and helped Fray up. "First, we need to find my grandpa and ask exactly how he killed the Green Death."
"How are we going to do that? I thought he went crazy and disappeared years ago."
Alf shook his head. "He did act strange around other people, but around me, he didn't seem that crazy. I'm not sure why. When I was little, he was always taking me out into the forest and showing me stuff. One time…" Alf paused as the memory surfaced.
It was the last time Hiccup was going to take his grandson out into the forest, though Alf didn't know that. Hiccup smiled as the red-headed boy bounced along beside him.
"Where we goin' today, grandpa?" Alf asked eagerly, "Is it that place with the funny mushrooms?"
Hiccup smiled as he shook his head. "Nope. Today I'm going to show you a special place. If you ever need me, that's where I'll be."
Alf wrinkled his nose in confusion. "But grandpa, you live in the same house I do."
"For now." Hiccup said as he ruffled his grandson's ginger hair. Alf, content with this answer, skipped along.
"What's the place you're gonna show me? Is it special?"
"It's a very special place, where one of my friends lives. It's called…"
"The cove!"
Alf took off, with Fray close behind. He led her towards the village, and then suddenly veered inland. After a while Alf began recognizing the familiar landmarks his grandpa had shown him all those years ago.
"Down the slope, around the boulders, under the root…"
Suddenly he stopped and stared, causing Fray to nearly plow into him.
"What…" suddenly she stopped and stared as he did. They were on a ledge, looking down on a peaceful scene. Gray stone surrounded the cove. At one end a waterfall fell into a huge pond that covered a good deal of the ground. Smack-dab in the middle of the cove was a tiny cabin. Smoke curled up from the chimney, indicating that it was occupied. Cautiously, they made their way down. Alf, after some slight hesitation, knocked on the door. There was a crash, followed by a thumping noise. The door flew open and they were confronted by a small, wiry, gray-haired old man.
"Who are you and what do you want?" he demanded, looking perturbed.
"Um, are you Hiccup?" Alf asked, taken aback.
"That's my name."
"I'm Alf. Um, I'm your grandson."
Hiccup peered closer at Alf and a grin replaced his scowl. "So you are! I'd recognize that hair anywhere. Come in!"
Alf and Fray entered the tidy one-room cabin. As Hiccup moved to take a teakettle off the fire, Fray noticed that one leg had been replaced with a prosthetic made of wood and metal. Alf, of course, already knew about it.
"So what brings you here?"
"We need to know exactly how you defeated the Green Death." Alf answered.
"Why come all the way out here? Surely they tell the story in the village still."
"Because there's another Green Death."
Hiccup stared at them in surprise before limping to the door with speed surprising for one of his age and handicap.
"Toothless! Get in here, you useless reptile!" He went over to a basket standing at the foot of his bed and started rummaging through it. "Where'd I put that blasted thing? Can't fly without it."
"Um, I don't think it'd be a good idea for you to go."
Hiccup looked up. "Why not? I was the one that killed it last time."
"Well, um, it's just that, no offense or anything, but, uh, you're not really as young as you were, and, er…"
"You're old." Fray said bluntly, "Your reflexes aren't as good as they used to be. It would mean certain death for you, rather than just probable death for us."
Hiccup jumped and peered at Fray. "I don't believe we've been introduced."
"This is Fray." Alf said, turning a little red at his forgetfulness.
"Well, Fray, you have beautiful eyes. And you've also got a point." He sighed before going back to the door. "Toothless, you sorry excuse for a lizard…" he sighed again and turned to the others. "Would one of you mind yelling? I'm afraid I'm not as loud as I used to be."
Fray went to the door. "TOOTHLESS, GET IN HERE!"
"Got quite the lungs, doesn't she?" Hiccup whispered to his grandson. A second later a Night Fury, almost as old-looking as Hiccup, bounded in. He growled when he saw the newcomers.
"Calm down, Toothless, they're friends."
Toothless stopped growing, but remained cautious. Hiccup sighed.
"That one's Alf, my grandson. The other one's Fray."
Toothless sniffed at Alf before going over to Fray. Their eyes met. Toothless, seeing eyes that were the same as his and sensing a kindred spirit behind those eyes, dropped all wariness and began rubbing against her, making a sound that was part purr and part gurgle. Fray made the same sound as she scratched him.
"Some watch-dragon you are." Hiccup said fondly, "First you don't warn me when people come, then you fall for the first girl with pretty eyes."
"So, could you tell us exactly how you defeated the Green Death?" Alf asked hopefully.
"Yes, but unless you have a dragon, it'd be kind of pointless."
"We have one." Fray said, "Me."
"She can turn into a Night Fury." Alf explained.
"I'd dearly love to see that." Hiccup said as he sat down, "You've heard the story. After the whole ship fiasco I got on Toothless and did a bit of heroics. I noticed that the Green Death had wings. We provoked it into chasing us. After dodging around the rocks and realizing it wasn't slowing down we headed up into the clouds. I told Toothless to aim for the wings and he blasted as many holes in them as he could. We went into a dive with the Death hard on our heels. When it was about to fry us Toothless lit its fuel on fire. By the time we could see the ground the Death was going too fast to stop. We got out of there pretty fast." He glanced at his prosthetic, "But not fast enough. The tail fin I made burnt up, and we crashed into its tail. I got knocked off and fell into the explosion. That's how I lost my leg. If it weren't for Toothless, I'd have lost a lot more."
"Wait. Explosion?" Fray asked.
"Yep. The Green Death exploded when it hit the ground. That's one thing you'd best watch out for."
"How'd you get it to come out in the first place?" Alf asked.
Hiccup shook his head. "I wasn't there when it happened, but I heard they cracked the mountain open with catapults."
"I'll go talk to my dad." Alf said as he began heading towards the door.
"Could I stay here?" Fray asked Hiccup, "I don't think they'd like me in the village."
"Of course. I haven't had company in a long time. Maybe you could show me how you turn into a Night Fury."
Alf grinned and went out. As he made his way up and out of the cove, he heard Hiccup cry, "You really can turn into a Night Fury!"