Hello, everyone!

It's been a crazy two weeks for me...already had my first exam and everything, but I did well! I'm very excited to have a break and be able to upload.

I'd like to thank Laluzi, Blindhawk, Brave She-Elf, HawkTooth, Elt-1080, Greathron, Blocksmasher2, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, vampireharry the 2, Firesgone, Siganna, CrisDLZ, TheFuriousNightFury, Zeklyn, MisstyX0007, gaylord420, Varghul, Flopy, Nacktgranate, DevoutRelic, xSkiesOfBlue11, Lightwavers, Nitroexpress, InnerFlame7, Brenne, dynanskenjin, NightShadow9558, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for your comments and critiques! As always, I'd like to thank my beta Crysist for all of your help as well!

Comments and critiques are always welcome! I hope you all enjoy, and have a wonderful day!


Chapter 7

Hiccup

What could we do, if we couldn't fly?

Fall.

We would only ever be able to fall.

The thought weighed me down as the days passed, filling me with a sense of unease and incompleteness—leaving in its wake just as much an empty space as my prosthetic leg did.

A week went by, each day blurring seamlessly into the next. Both Toothless and Dad endlessly pestered me to take it easy. My wounds began to heal, and soon I was able to walk around without needing too much support.

Each sting of pain was a reminder of that night. Of me giving up, of the heart-stopping free-fall into blackness, of the horrible feeling of knowing I was going to die.

It was my fault. Dad and Toothless disagreed with me, but I had given up.

My only option was to move forward. I had to keep going, because if I sat around and wallowed in it for too long, it would consume me.

The thought sent a shudder through me. I didn't want to think about it anymore, mulling over it until it wore me down. I had to keep working. I had to keep trying.

Especially because...

I glanced over from my schematics and leatherwork at Dad. He was standing off to the side and speaking with Gobber, sending a glance my way every once and awhile like he thought that I would leave.

Ever since we had finally talked, he hadn't let me out of his sights. It was like any moment now, another intruding dragon would swoop down and carry me off. Which…wasn't too much of a stretch, considering that the intruders had come out of nowhere.

Dad being nearby didn't scare me as much as I thought it would. He always kept his distance, never approaching without checking with me first. He took every measure to exert an air of gentleness around Toothless and me, making every movement intentional and non-threatening.

This lifted tension between us I hadn't even realized was there—Dad acknowledging that he was genuinely scary to be around and taking steps to fix it. He was trying to be more understanding, he wasn't going on about "getting back to normal" anymore, he wasn't forcing us to go to the forge. He was mostly just...there.

Dad sticking around all the time threw weak ropes over a gap I'd almost forgotten was there. In the past weeks, we'd almost completely stopped talking to each other unless we were forced to—well, unless Dad forced me to. But now that break between us was less daunting, and we could just...chat.

It wasn't the draining, emotional conversations about our feelings or how awful our lives were, but just stuff. Day-to-day activities, the weather, dragon culture, what's for dinner, anything. It was painfully awkward sometimes, since it was really just small talk. Still, once I had gotten accustomed to constantly talking to my father, I actually started to miss it when we went for long stretches without saying a word.

It wasn't a magical fix. It didn't stop the fear completely. There were still times when Toothless and I had to sneak off for an escape. There were still times when Dad raised his voice, or made a sudden movement towards me, or tried to touch me. There were still moments where he made it blatantly obvious that he did not like how dragon I still was.

But it was a start.

Dad was trying to fix things between us—had been trying for weeks now. It was time that I did, too. I wouldn't get better if I didn't, even if I had to throw myself out of my comfort zone. Which led me straight to the one place I'd never thought I'd want to go back to.

With everything that had happened, I'd returned to the smithy not because I was being dragged by my tail there, but because I actually wanted to.

I had been toiling away at such a frustratingly-slow pace that I'd almost considered giving up on my projects. My hands were still clumsy, and fine-tuning anything could take hours when it used to only take a few minutes. Many sleepless nights had been spent here, slumped against my workbench, measuring and scribbling and scrapping ideas in the dim firelight with Toothless watching at my side.

It was so frustrating how slow I was, how even the simplest things were now a challenge. Sometimes I would catch a stupid mistake and have to spend hours correcting it. Or sometimes I would have to focus so hard on making sure my fingers moved the right way that my head would throb.

The only thing keeping me going was blind stubbornness, the drive to do something other than sit around and wait to see if anything worse would happen. It was crazy and it probably wouldn't work, but actually doingsomething about all of our problems gave me the drive to keep trying. It was far from perfect—but so was I, and at least I was trying. I wasn't going to let myself be useless anymore.

I wasn't going to stand back while intruders invaded our territory and little fledglings were lost at sea.

My hand jerked uncontrollably to the side, knocking a pencil to the ground. Toothless got it for me, set it down on my bench, and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"What this?" He exclaimed for the fifth time that day, pointing the human way at my work. "Need know!"

"Need wait," I teased in dragon. Then, remembering Dad and Gobber were right there, "I told you, it's a surprise. Also, I'm not sure I'll even be able to do it…"

"Hmf!" Toothless tutted. "Hiccup good and smart. Toothless certain this good!"

"Aw, thanks," I said. "I'm still not telling you."

"Hic-cup!" Toothless whined like a fledgling being told to go to sleep, complete with lying down and rolling around. "Speak Toothless! Very important!"

"No!" I laughed. "Besides, I'm almost done with this one anyways."

"Are ya now?" Gobber interrupted. He peered over at my cluttered desk. "Then I suppose you'll actually start workin' on our orders after yer little heart project? We only have so much leather, ya know!"

"Didn't you buy some more from Trader Johann?" Dad piped up from halfway across the room.

"Sure did!" Gobber said. "Not the point! When are ya goin' ta show us what this thing here really is?"

I grimaced. I'd wanted it to be a secret from them—but that was almost impossible, considering that Gobber practically lived at the smithy and Dad was shadowing me everywhere.

"I'm still not sure," I said, trying to cover up my schematics and the leather with a sore hand. "It's hard to say, since I've been so slow at it."

"You've still done very well, Hiccup," Dad said. "You've adjusted much faster than I thought you would."

I ducked my head, a light blush rising to my cheeks. "Uh, thanks. Just kinda doing my best."

"And apparently using up all the leather," Dad said in a trying-to-joke tone of voice.

"Heh. Yeah…" I glanced at Gobber and pretended not to see his unamused look. "At least it's for a good cause?"

"Which is…?" Dad pressed.

"Uh...you'll see?" I said—although I almost didn't want him to. I had a feeling he wouldn't be as supportive if he knew what I was working on and why I was doing it in the first place.

Toothless groaned, throwing his head back in the most dramatic way possible. "Need know!"

"Well...Toothless looks like...he wants to know?" Dad almost asked, struggling to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah, well, Toothless can wait until I'm done," I said, grinning at my brother as he sent me a glare.

"Then fer the sake of all of us, get workin'!" Gobber interjected. "I noticed ya even managed to sew earlier this mornin'. Keep it up!"

He offered me a hearty slap on the back and tottered away. I winced, and Toothless sat up straighter and sent him a look.

"By the way, Stoick, got any messenger pigeons this mornin'?" Gobber drawled.

There was a short silence as Dad and I shared a confused look.

"...what?" Dad asked. "No, why?"

"Really?" Gobber drew the word out. "No threats? No demands for us to send our finest diplomats to other islands?"

"Ah, I see," Dad said. "No. I've not heard word from the Bog Burglars or any other tribe regarding dragon raids. Not since the note we received from Trader Johann."

"Hah!" Gobber laughed. "So they were all bark and no bite, eh? Well, can't say I'm surprised…"

Gobber glanced over and caught me slacking off.

"Well, are ya gonna work or not?!" He demanded. "The longer ya wait, the longer I have to finish all of this work on my own!"

"Uh, r-right!" I said, sitting up straighter. I shifted around in my seat and blinked down at my work. What had I been doing last again?

Toothless tried to nose underneath it—he knew I was hiding something there, too. With a playful hiss, I poked his nose until he retreated.

"Toothless need know," he grumbled, like not knowing was killing him.

"Soon," I murmured. A small frown settled on my lips. "Or, at least, I hope."

o.O.o

It turned out that "soon" was actually "two days". I guess that wasn't too bad, all things considered.

"So...dragons don't like being named?" Dad clarified, sitting a small distance away from me and eyes bright with confusion and interest. The firelight from our candles flickered, casting long shadows into the twilight darkness of the forge.

"Well, not exactly," I said without looking up, focusing almost all of my concentration on my needle. "It's more like...you have to earn your name by doing something important. So it's a big respect thing, like how older dragons are much more respected than younger dragons."

"What did you do to get 'Toothless'?"

I looked up just in time to see Toothless roll his eyes and point at me the human way. I actually let out a small laugh.

"Oh, that was me," I said. "He really hated it at first. Always going on about how he wasn't toothless and then calling me things like 'freckles' and 'browny' and 'shorty' and 'lazy'."

"Lazy?" Dad repeated in disbelief.

"Toothless thinks you should be wide awake at the crack of dawn," I said, sending him a fake glare. "Sleep is for the weak, apparently."

"No, Hiccup need sleep," Toothless grumbled.

"Uhuh, now you change your mind," I whined.

Toothless quirked a brow, wrapping his tail nice and neat around his paws.

Dad flicked his eyes between us, biting his lip. A short, awkward silence passed. I readjusted my grip on the needle, trying to keep it still and the thread from tangling in my shaking hands.

"So...do they call him...do they call you 'Toothless'?" Dad asked. "The dragons?"

Toothless shook his head. "No."

"They have their own name for us," I said "They call us Saviors. It means—ah, shoot."

The needle dropped to the floor with a small tink. I sighed, easing myself over to get it.

Lightning crackled through my body. My hands flew to my abdomen, and I couldn't hold down a pained hiss.

"Hiccup?" Toothless yelped. He rushed over, sniffing at me and humming anxiously.

"I'm fine—just sore," I eased, leaning against him. "Really."

Toothless wasn't buying it—but before he could say anything, Dad stood up.

"Here—let me help," He said. He took a step forward, then stopped himself. "Or… do you mind…?"

I nodded, and he made his way through the cramped hall to stoop down and pick up the needle. The small work area became even smaller, cramped and dark and claustrophobic. Dad offered the needle to me, looming overhead in the dim candlelight.

I hesitated a second too long, my heart skipping a beat as the feeling of being trapped bore down on me.

A sad kind of resignation made his eager expression drop. His shoulders slumped.

Guilt swept through me. I forced myself to reach out to him, even as my hand shook like I hadn't eaten in days. Our hands brushed together, and I flinched away completely on impulse.

Dad did a good job at hiding the pain this caused him, brushing himself off and shuffling back to his seat. Toothless pressed close to me. I focused my eyes on the needle and leatherwork.

"...sorry," I finally managed to get out, trying and failing to keep my frustration from turning my voice sharp.

"No, Hiccup," Dad said, although he sounded forlorn. "It's fine."

I sighed, fiddling around with the needle and glancing at him with the corner of my eye. "Alright."

"Alright," Dad said.

More silence. Toothless groaned with exasperation.

"So...they call you two...'Saviors'?" Dad tried.

I nodded, working the needle back into place. "Yeah. It's because of the whole...Queen thing. And the soulfire—I mean, the glowing thing that...happened."

"I've always wondered about that," Dad murmured. He straightened up, awkwardness gone. "What was that, anyways? I've never seen dragons glow like that, no less lose their shot limit."

My hand was so stiff and tense that I couldn't even sew. I took a deep breath. Gods, Hiccup, relax.

Toothless nosed my shoulder. The tension locking me in place eased somewhat.

"Soulfire is a form of magic called soul-magic," I explained, forcing the needlework along. "We don't really know much about it. All we know is that it can only be given to you by the gods. Like, a dragon can't just learn it on their own—they need a god to show them or another dragon who knows it to show them. So that means you have to be careful when you use it, because it's the fire of the gods and not just your regular, run-of-the-mill magic. If you abuse it..."

I thought of the tale of Sphere and shook my head.

"It's from the gods?" Dad repeated. "Which ones? Glöð? Logi?"

"What?" Toothless said incredulously.

"Well...none of those gods," I stammered, glancing nervously up at Dad. "I meant...well...you remember what I told you about the dragon gods, right?"

He nodded uncertainly. "The...Sunshine Dragon and Moonshine Dragon?"

Toothless was not having that, and corrected vehemently, "Dragon of the Sun! Dragoness of the Moon! Stupid!"

I pressed against him with a soft purr, and he calmed down enough to not yell at my father. "Anyways, it's their magic," I ground out, trying to push the conversation along. I finished my stitch, and began the whole new struggle of tying it in place.

Dad took my explanation in with an odd kind of expression. He'd seen it with his own eyes, he knew it was real, and yet he still looked disbelieving.

"...Hiccup," he eventually said, worried now. "You...still believe in our gods, right? In Valhalla?"

The string knotted into place. I froze like prey, like if I held completely still, then I could avoid the question and all of its implications altogether.

"No!" Toothless grunted dismissively. "Stupid human."

"Hiccup?" Dad pressed, the tension in his voice rising.

"U-uh—" I stuttered. "Well…I...I literally met them, Dad, and…"

And I'd always felt the Norse gods hated me, that they enjoyed watching me suffer. In my time wrapped up in the Queen's shadow, I'd found empathy and comfort in the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon.

One look at Dad's shell-shocked, saddened eyes, and I didn't dare say it to him.

RING! RING! RING! RING!

All three of us yelped and jumped in place. The needle dropped to the floor.

The bell of Town Hall. It was ringing. It had a lamentful echo, like it was chiming in on the tense conversation here in the forge.

I went completely rigid, staring out the window into the bleak darkness. The bell ringing at this time of night wasn't exactly good news. My heart hammered as my mind flew through possibilities, each one more worse and apocalyptic as the last.

Dad had stood up the moment he'd heard the bells, staring out the window with a stern glare. "Don't worry," he said, no longer my worried father but the Chief of Berk. "I'll go see what's happened. Stay here until we know it's safe."

Toothless and I looked at each other. Toothless had his jaw set and ears drawn back in defiance; now he wanted to leave specifically because Dad told us not to. The pressing conversation on religion probably wasn't doing Dad any favors as well.

"Um…" I said.

Dad sighed. "Just...don't wander off too far. You're still injured, Hiccup."

I certainly didn't need any reminders. "Alright," I said. I started to speak up, only to hesitate. I wanted to say something before he left. Not apologize, but to reach out to him in some way.

"Alright," Dad said. He swiveled around, stumbling through the dark forge as he tried to make it to the door.

"Dad—" I stopped him. "I…"

Even in the shadowy forge, the candlelight still shone bright enough for me to see his small, sad grin. "Don't worry," he said again. "I...I can see why you...if that makes you happy, Hiccup, then..." He grimaced for a short moment, shuffled around, and steadied himself. "But, anyways. I still want you to stay here. Alright?"

I was too busy rearing in shock to respond right away. "A-alright."

He wasted no more time, sprinting out of the forge and down the road towards the docks. Toothless and I poked our heads out the window, leaning out almost completely into the street to watch him go. In the darkness of dusk, it didn't take too long for him to disappear.

The second he was out of sight, Toothless said, "Us go there."

I didn't say anything, frowning into the darkness my father had sprinted into. "Was that the right thing to say?" I murmured. "What if it's something bad, and that's the last thing we ever talk about, or…"

"It is fine," my brother purred, pulling his wing over me as if it shield me. "That talk…" He shook his head. "Very hard."

I peered into the streets as the bell rang. "Yeah," I eventually got out. "Definitely not how I wanted to break the news to him."

Toothless tried to hide it, but he drooped with relief. "Yes! Ah, yes," he corrected himself in as neutral a tone he could, clearing his throat for good measure. "Father good. Toothless surprised."

"Me too," I tried to say. The very idea made guilt curl through me. Time and time again, I always caught myself assuming the worst of Dad. The simplest kind or understanding acts caught me off-guard.

I was such an idiot.

I didn't want to talk about this anymore. I couldn't let myself get stuck in this loop. In a not-so-subtle change of subject, I said, "But...you're right. We should go. We can't just stand around in here and wait, and this is almost done, anyways."

Toothless perked up. "What?!" He gasped. "You speak? Toothless know?" He began nudging my paws towards my leatherwork. "Yes! Many sun no Toothless know! Toothless very very interested! Why surprise?"

I began to struggle to my feet, trying to say the word for "because". Even I could tell that it came out garbled and wrong.

"No certain," I tried instead.

"Certain," Toothless corrected slowly, pressing close so that I could lean on him.

"C-e-r-t-a-i-n," I repeated.

Toothless nodded exuberantly. I grinned, a lightness filling my chest even as the ringing went on and villagers were drawn outside.

"No certain good," I went on. Hours and hours and hours had been spent slaving over my projects. Now that they were almost done, it was a little scary to think that it might have all been for nothing. That I had just screwed up again.

"Stupid," Toothless scolded. "Me certain this good. Hiccup here many sun and moon."

I focused back out the window, at the occasional villager who rushed past to see what was happening. "Need work," I mumbled. I eased up onto his shoulders, wincing at the ache and sting of my abdomen.

"Work," Toothless sounded out as he boosted me up.

"Work?"

"No, w-o-r-k!"

"...work?"

"Hiccup speak like fledgling!" Toothless teased, trying to cheer me up.

Something heavy hit the roof hard, sending vibrations rattling throughout the entire building.

A dragon popped their head in through the window—the young, excitable Flame-Skin that had been part of our original flare. His eyes were wide, and he was so out of breath that he could barely get any words out.

I heard the word for "human" or "dragon", and he threw his head in the direction Dad had gone in as he said it.

"Human there," Toothless translated for me, pinning his ears and growling. "No Berk nest, no Berk human."

My heart dropped to my chest, even though it was something that I had expected, that I had almost been waiting to happen for days now. Now that it was real, I was all too aware of how unprepared I was.

"Oh, no," I breathed.

"Us go?" Toothless asked, shifting uneasily. He bared his teeth in the general direction of the docks, tail swishing back and forth.

"Yeah," I said. "A-and also, we need to tell our nestmates to stay clear—we don't want any of them down there."

"Yes," Toothless agreed. He turned to the excitable Flame-Skin and relayed the order.

The Flame-Skin's eyes widened in fear. He chirped nervously in understanding, bowed, and darted into the deepening night sky. A few seconds later, and he let out a booming leading call.

Toothless started to turn around to leave, but my eyes fixated on my work. On impulse, I snapped a paw out and grabbed my leatherwork just before I lost my chance.

We darted out of the smithy as our nestmates fled in the opposite direction. Several saw us and banked to join us, and it was all we could do to wave them off to safety. After the incident with the lost fledgling, where we had failed as their leaders, it was the least we could do.

The village swept by in a dark blur, making it seem completely empty save for the hollow, foreboding song of the bells.

o.O.o

At a glance, the docks looked seconds from being overtaken.

Firelight glinted off the sickly-black waves. Moonlit ocean spray crashed high, threatening to overtake the ships entering the bay.

I saw the insignias on their sails and took in a sharp, pained breath. A world long-since lost overtook my senses. I could feel my wings, my tail, my claws, my fire—I could hear the screams, smell the blood, taste the charcoal and smoke in the air.

"Hiccup?" Toothless crooned, drawing me out of my stupor. He twisted around to get a better view of me. "It is fine."

"Y-yes," I said. I sat up straighter and inhaled deeply. "It is fine," I repeated, like if I said it then it would come true. "It is fine."

"Hiccup okay. Toothless here." Toothless pressed up against me as best as he could. "Toothless always here."

"Love," I hummed.

We took a moment.

Then we slunk off into the shadows, creeping along the western edges of the buildings to keep out of the dim moonlight. Ever-so-slowly, Toothless stalked closer and closer to the sheer cliff that lead down to the docks.

I spotted a relatively-empty area away from the houses. Chirping a short leading call, I pointed with my nose. Toothless followed my gaze and slid to the ground, crawling over the grass so that he was less noticeable. We stopped just at the edge of the cliff and leaned over it, taking in the other tribes' ships.

To come in the middle of the night without sending word was already a bad sign. There was scarcely any firelight—also a bad sign. That meant that they were trying to keep their night vision undulled. Without fire, their sight would be more adjusted to the dark—meaning that it would be easier to spot enemies.

…or dragons.

A rush of relief went through me that the young Flame-Skin had warned us in time. It was hard to tell whether the people on the ships had seen our nestmates, but they definitely wouldn't now.

I could also make out the little pinpricks of torches from the people of Berk climbing down to the docks, and the vague shapes of other humans on board the ships. Some ships had large masses on them, but besides that, I couldn't make them out.

"What see?" I asked Toothless.

"Human," he growled. "Many, many human. Many weapon. Very strange…" He waved his paw in a short circle, a habit he'd picked up from me. "No word. There, big and strange."

"Yes, me see," I whispered. "See father?"

A pause, and then, "Yes. Speak human. No weapon."

I gave a small sigh of relief. Toothless checked further down the cliff, gave a soft warning, and leapt a small ways down to an outcropping. Just before landing, he opened his wings and flapped to soften the impact. The jolt still sent pain zipping through me, but it was tolerable.

Three more times we slipped down the cliffside, stopping and waiting long moments to avoid catching attention. By the third jump, we were a little under halfway down the cliff, close to the sea stacks that rose from the ocean around Berk. Toothless bundled his legs up, opened his wings, and launched himself at them as silently and quickly as he could.

We landed hard. I hissed as pain shot through my abdomen and I lurched to the side, nearly slipping off of Toothless.

"Sorry!" Toothless gasped, his eyes huge with horror and ears and side-frills pinned. "No know—sorry!"

"It is fine," I groaned. I righted myself, pressing myself closer to him to hang on tighter. "Hear father?"

Toothless hummed, perking his ears and facing towards the ships.

The docks were fuller now. It was now easy to make out the forms of humans, even those without torches. There were seven intruding ships in total.

Three had catapults on them.

The sight made my breath hitch. They were primed, already loaded and set to fire. They were the objects that Toothless hadn't had the word for.

"No hear," Toothless whispered. He half-opened his wings and looked over his shoulder. "Ready?"

I nodded. Toothless leapt onto another sea stack, slipped, and bore his claws into its side. My entire body jolted, and I bit back a pained yelp and held on tighter. With a curse, Toothless scrambled up onto its peak.

Spots filled my vision from the pain of moving around so much. I wheezed and clutched at my stomach, and Toothless murmured hushed apologies to me for jostling around so much. I waved him off and pointed back down at the docks.

This stack was much lower than the others, bringing us close enough even for me to hear people talking. There was also an odd humming sound, like a kind of buzzing.

It was almost familiar.

Now that we were so low and more people had brought torches with them, it only took me a few seconds to glance around and find Dad. He had intercepted the only ship that had dared to come close enough to anchor at our docks. He wasn't wielding any weapons. He had his arms crossed and was speaking to the captain of the ship, who had yet to lay down any planks to get onto Berk.

"Who?" Toothless asked. "Father upset. Human scared."

I forced myself to look at the insignias, although I didn't really have to at this point. "The Bog Burglars," I whispered. "The ones who think we're causing the raids."

Toothless bared his teeth and growled. "Stupid human."

Dad and the captain continued to speak. The captain looked a lot more angry than she was scared, raising her voice and throwing her arms around. Every now and then, her crewmates would pipe up to agree with her.

Dad didn't budge under the peer pressure, leering at the outsiders. I could just barely hear him speaking—he was making sure to keep his voice low so that he would appear calm and cool.

"Want here," Toothless explained. "Need help. Dragon attack home. Think us."

"Need help, or demanding help?" I asked. The Norse felt unnatural rolling off my tongue.

"That," he growled. "Father no want. Hm, that good."

Dad took a few steps back. The captain turned and shouted to her crew to set their anchors down, and at the same time, one of her crewmates grabbed a plank and dropped it right onto our docks.

The Bog Burglars stepped onto Berk, weapons holstered and eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"…oh. Ah, bad," Toothless muttered. "Why here? Why no go?"

I hummed in confusion, watching as the ships were brought in and docked in any place they could. One by one, each crew stepped onto Berk's docks and made their way towards the village, escorted by twice as many of Berk's warriors.

I sucked in a deep breath I hadn't realized I was holding. They weren't here to fight. They weren't attacking us. We were safe, for now.

The docks were almost silent now; the Bog Burglars had all been taken up towards Berk, most likely to stay the night in Town Hall where they could be closely watched. Our surroundings, once bustling and full of brilliant firelight, were now empty and dark. The ships creaked and moaned. The ocean's inky waters churned beneath them.

That strange humming was still there. I squinted at the sails of the Bog Burglar's ship, trying to find which one was catching in the wind to make such a weird sound.

All of them were closed.

"Hear that?" I asked, tipping my head back and forth. What was it?

"T-h-a-t," Toothless corrected automatically. Just like me, he tilted his head to try and find the source. "And yes. Strange. Like me know, and no me know? Us see?"

I hummed in agreement. Toothless opened his wings and lifted off of the sea stack, gliding the short distance down to the docks. He went out of his way to flap several times to cushion our landing, even though it made a lot of noise.

We crept along the isolated walkways, keeping our attention trained on the ships. I sniffed at the air but could only catch the saltiness of the ocean. The sound seemed to be coming from all directions, and yet nowhere. Unease filled me as my senses failed me, leaving me blind and deaf and vulnerable.

Toothless picked a random ship to investigate and hesitated at the plank.

"Toothless?" I crooned.

"…no like," he admitted. Hanging his head, he said with barely-masked fear, "These always bad."

"It is fine," I soothed, hugging him and purring. "No need go."

"Oh, us go!" Toothless said defiantly, puffing his chest up. He stepped shakily onto the plank with his head high, and I couldn't hold back an eyeroll.

We climbed aboard and found a whole lot of nothing.

"What these?" Toothless asked, nosing something on the ground.

I leaned over, holding my side to try and dull the pain. "Oars. They move the ship." Looking around the deck, I frowned when I saw that that was all that was aboard. This ship was a simple, flat longboat.

However, the captain's ship a little further off did have a large enough hull to have a cabin below, considering how big and tall it was. I spared a short moment to wonder why they had such a big, expensive ship. It looked more like what Trader Johann traveled with than a warship. If they were as low on resources as Dad made them out to be, there was no way they could have made one themselves…right?

"There?" I pointed.

Toothless nodded. He crouched and opened his wings, bracing himself to leap to the next ship over—and then stopped himself. "Ah, sorry!"

"Stupid," I teased as he took the "human way" off the ship, walking down the plank and across the dock.

Now that the ships seemed safe and even boring, Toothless was much more confident. He stepped right onto the captain's ship like he owned it. This ship had two sails and an elevated spying platform, with holes on the port and starboard for men below-deck to oar.

The humming was louder now. It had a sad, empty quality to it—it reminded me of the bell on Town Hall.

Toothless nearly put his nose to the deck, his ears and side-frills twitching.

"There?" I wondered.

Toothless didn't respond.

"Toothless?" I asked, leaning over to look at his face.

He was staring, transfixed, at the deck. I grabbed hold of one of his side-frills. He jolted in place and snapped his head over at me.

"S-sorry," he stammered, and the shaken way he said it whisked away any sense of safety I'd managed to scrounge together.

"What's wrong?" I demanded, abandoning speaking in dragon for more clarity. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he said slowly, narrowing his eyes below. Baring his teeth, he growled, "No like. Me no know this. Like Queen, and no like Queen. This bad!"

I stiffened. "The Queen…?"

Closing my eyes, I reached inside myself again in desperate search of my magic. As always, I came upon an empty husk, a shell of what had once been full of life and light, a broken link. It was pure nothingness and incompleteness. It was a giant hole inside me, sucking me away bit by bit.

There was no shadow. I relaxed a bit.

"No, it can't be the Queen," I reminded the both of us. "She's dead. We watched her die."

Toothless growled. "Me do not know…" He began wandering around the deck, sniffing at the ground and perking his ears.

The humming was ever-present. What had once been something that only piqued my interest was now sinister, and I bared my teeth in a silent growl.

I didn't know what it was, but I wanted it off of our island.

"There," I said, pointing at a door that had to lead below deck. Toothless stomped over to it and, with a single swing, smashed the door in. "Toothless!"

"What? Hiccup no like sound and human," he snickered.

"Oh, Dragoness of the Moon," I moaned.

Toothless poked his head in and sniffed. His entire body tensed and he flared his wings.

"Dragon!" He cried. "Dragon here!"

I sat up straight and rigid, my heart picking up painfully in my chest.

But…but why? Why would there be dragons below deck? Why would the tribe that was demanding that we get rid of the dragons capture them and keep them close?

It didn't matter. They would be free soon anyways—we would make sure of that.

Toothless called out to them in normal dragon: a hushed greeting followed by a question, asking them if they were alright.

No voices rose to meet him. The humming surrounding us continued undisturbed.

That…made it worse. We shared a confused, frightened look, and the both of us steeled ourselves. Toothless stepped into the cramped, dark doorway.

"What is that?!"

We froze. Toothless muttered an obscenity.

Ever so slowly, we twisted around—and were met with the sight of two men whom I did not recognize. One was wielding an axe, and the other a bow and arrow. Even in the dim light, both of them were shaking with huge, terrified eyes.

They took us in. Realization seemed to dawn on them.

"N-N-Night Fury," one stammered, his voice rising in panic. "I-it's a N-Night Fury, it's really a Night Fury!"

"Go, go, go!" I hissed to Toothless, who had steadied into a battle stance.

He used his crouched position to his advantage and leaped straight up. By the time he landed on the second sail and clambered up it, the men were shouting for help. More voices began to ring around the docks. My old injuries burned to life, but still I whipped my head around to try and figure out what was happening.

For some reason, some of the Bog Burglars had returned to their ships…only to witness us snooping around on them.

"Not good," I muttered, finding it harder and harder to breathe as reality set in. "We gotta—"

"KILL IT!" A man screamed. "Kill it, before it curses us!"

Toothless yelped and leapt off of the ship just as an arrow whizzed overhead. He glided and slammed into the top of the sail on the adjacent ship, making it rock back and forth so violently that it nearly capsized. I cried out as agony tore through my midsection, nearly losing my grip and falling.

More arrows flew overhead. Toothless gave a sharp whine as one struck him, but kept bouncing from sail to sail as fast as he could. In just a few seconds, he had reached the sea stacks and launched onto one, just barely missing the top and scurrying onto it.

I struggled to breathe as each sudden movement sent a wave of pain into my body. The shouting was rising in volume, the sound of arrows being strung and let loose becoming more and more regular.

It was just like last time—we were being hunted—we were trapped—! Phantom pain tore through wings that I no longer had, through a body that I longed for. The cave blinked out as more and more of Berk's soldiers charged in, heeding my father's command. We were going to die, here in this cold and dark place, with nowhere to go and no strength to carry on—

Toothless smacked into another sea stack, launching me back into the present. I gritted my teeth and blinked rapidly, forcing myself to stay here.

We were on top of the tallest sea stack. There was a crowd of roughly ten men and women below, shooting arrow after arrow up at us. Toothless had scampered to its far end and was nearly hanging off of it, ducking just out of range—but we were trapped. The moment we tried to glide down to the docks or to the cliff, we'd be sitting ducks.

"Hiccup okay?" Toothless wheezed.

"Y-yes," I gasped, although I still felt like I couldn't breathe for more reasons than one. "You okay?"

Toothless tossed his head dismissively. "Me okay."

I checked over him and let out a sharp cry. He was not okay; he had an arrow embedded in his leg!

The sight filled me with horror and rage and terror. This was our territory, and these humans had been the ones to show up unannounced.

I lifted myself up higher on Toothless' back, raised my hands into the air, and shouted in Norse, "STOP!"

At the same time, a voice from farther away cried, "FIRE!"

There was a frozen heartbeat when I saw a burst of fire erupt on a ship, heard the crunching swing of the catapult, and saw its flaming load rocketing towards us. Toothless rushed to his feet and sprung straight up into the air, flapping for all that he was worth.

It was too late—the flaming rock smashed into the sea stack, shattering it underneath us and sending debris flying in all directions. The heat was so intense that it filled Toothless' wings and sent us spiraling up and away.

Toothless tried to gain some sense of control, swinging his tail and angling his wings, but it was all too much. The wind smacked against us while the updraft forced us backwards. My vision blacked out with pain as the world lurched to and fro.

In seconds it was overwhelming, and Toothless flipped completely over midair. At the same time, some debris smacked directly into my side.

I screamed in agony.

And for the first time, I fell off of Toothless.

My insides lurched with the beginnings of freefall. Toothless let out a shriek of horror, and his crippled tail swung just past me as he fought to realign himself.

In the pain and confusion of it all, my mind flashed back to that moment just over a week ago, when I'd been dropped to my fate—to my death. I bared my teeth, squinting into the shadows.

I wasn't going to be useless anymore.

Pulling my legs in, I looped my wrists through the clumsily-sewn bands at my ankle and the tip of my prosthetic. The agony of the movement was almost consuming.

Come on, come on, come on…

I wrenched my arms back.

My wings snapped open.

And I didn't fall.

Despite the arrows, despite the fire, despite my wounds, despite that I was still dozens of feet up into the air, I couldn't stop the moment from overtaking me. I let out a heartfelt laugh, even as I glided right towards our attackers and back into danger.

In that moment, I didn't feel empty anymore. I felt whole. The joy of it left me breathless. I was me again!

And then my wounds caught up with me. I flinched, and the movement folded my wings in. The air underneath me immediately transformed from a cushion to an angry downwards force, dragging me back down to earth.

I angled myself towards the docks and tried to pull up, but there was no time, I was moving too fast!

I crashed into the docks.

Hard.

o.O.o

Toothless

What?

What?!

I had but a moment to baffle over how Hiccup had managed to sprout wings before I slapped directly into the ocean. The water was almost solid on impact, stinging every single scale and threatening to tear through my delicate wings and tailfins.

The ocean was dark, sucking out the light from above like a shadow. There was only bleakness and emptiness in all directions, no matter how hard I strained to find the light. I knew, logically, that I was sinking—but when I clawed in the direction I thought was "up", I was only sucked further into the nothingness.

My heart hammered. I stopped moving to spare what precious energy and oxygen I had left.

Stay calm! Stay calm! I told myself. Find the light!

Where there was light, there was Hiccup. And where Hiccup was right now, there were humans. Humans were loud. If I could just find them...

Closing my eyes, I lifted my ears and side-frills as far out as they would go. The water felt thick and viscous; it muffled all sound around me except for the slow and steady crashing of the waves. I focused harder.

The vibration bounced through my side-frills just before I heard it.

It was…a voice.

No, that was wrong. It was—it was a sound, was it not?

The panicked beating of my heart and burning ache of my lungs drifted away just as I continued to sink from the surface. It thrummed through my body, deep into my very bones.

No…no, it wasn't just a sound, I decided.

It was a feeling. It was an otherworldly, ethereal thing that swarmed through my thoughts like the buzzing of insects. It was of loss, longing, sorrow, suffering. It was of strength, persistence, stubbornness.

Hiccup... I thought. I imagined it coming from a direction I could perceive and craned my neck towards it.

A deep hum rose from within me, almost a purr but too forlorn to properly be called one.

Hiccup…

Sharp pain sliced through my chest.

Hiccup!

My body seized. The voice and feeling snapped away, leaving me tearing at the water in desperation. I blinked blind eyes and flailed.

What happened?!

The surface was gone. It was all shadow. I had been under for too long, and a deep, primal part of me knew that it was already too late—that I had stayed under for too long!

I was drowning! I was drowning!

Baring my teeth, I flung my body about, looking for just the littlest bit of light. Bright spots were filling my vision—a warning that I was only moments from losing consciousness.

No, no, no! I was not going to die here! I was not going to leave Hiccup! I would never force him through the agony that I had endured only a few days ago!

There was just enough air left in my lungs to convert to gas. I let it filter up into my throat until I could taste it, just barely keeping myself from coughing.

I sent a burst of fire into the waters just before it died out.

The flash illuminated the ocean's depths like the sun. Fish, the sand, the bottoms of the floating-trees far off in the distance.

Something far, far away lit up in brilliant colors. It was but a speck, its distance from me was so great.

I ignored it, thrashing in the opposite direction of the sand as my fire faded and left me blind again. The darkness of the ocean swooped in, bringing with it a terrible chill. I swung my paws and tail as hard as I could.

In those long, dark seconds, I feared that I had chosen the wrong direction.

My head broke through the surface. I coughed and wheezed.

I could no longer hear the…the…thing. I hissed, spinning around to try and get my bearings-only to let out a small gasp.

I must have been caught in an undertow, swept out to sea. The island was easily a mile away.

Fighting the ocean was pointless—it was too powerful. Just as it was for fledglings, the ocean was a death sentence for a crippled dragon, too.

With a defiant snort, I closed my eyes and reached inside my heart for my magic.

The fireblast went far, far up into the sky and blazed across it like lightning. It gave an enormous, thundering crack as it tore through the clouds and enveloped the entire landscape.

As useless as it was, I flung my tail behind me, tucked my wings in, and began paddling. I funneled the remainder of my lighting gas into my throat and opened my jaw wide, lighting up a glowing spot on the waters for a searching group to spot.

After wasting so much time dazed beneath the waves, it was exhausting.

Within minutes, I could not go on.

o.O.o

"…ing?…u're…lled…"

"…mean?...we…dead…"

"Shh! Both…now…"

"Not my fault…why…?"

"…quiet…!"

"But…mistake…"

"Shh…he's waking up…"

o.O.o

Fwish fwish fwish fwish…

My ear twitched.

Awareness came upon me in a slow crawl, my senses growing more and more crisp over what felt like an endless period of time.

Scent came to me after sound: the brine of the ocean, the freshness of the forest, the crispness of the wind, and a myriad of others that my senses were too dulled to pay attention to.

My limbs felt leaden with soreness, and the firmness of the ground beneath me made me dizzy. The ground was soft and prickly—grass?

Weariness cast a heavy blanket upon me, sending me drifting in and out of a daze like driftwood bobbing in the ocean. Thoughts fluttered by like pestering insects, just noticeable enough to bother but impossible to catch with a swatting paw.

A feeling of wrong seemed ever-present, but I couldn't pinpoint it.

I was content to lie there, caught in-between consciousness and sleep, and let myself simply be there.

Naturally, the Dragoness of the Moon saw fit to put an end to that.

The earth below me shook violently, and a painfully-loud THUMP materialized right next to my ear.

I had only managed to wake up enough to be alarmed when talons wrapped around my shoulder and shook me about.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

What the hell?!

I struggled to squint my eyes open, and was rewarded with the sight of the world whipping by in a dizzying blur. "Stoop!" I gasped, twisting around on my back and flinging my claws out.

"Oh! You're awake now, great!"

Ugh, I felt sick. I closed my eyes and tried to recenter myself after having been so rudely thrust back into the real world.

It caught up to me all at once.

With a pained wheeze, I forced my eyes open and lurched to my feet, gasping with the effort.

"Come on! Hurry up!"

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"And why...are you still on...this side of the island...Stormfly?" I panted.

Stormfly froze. "Um…"

She finally threw herself into a bow, "M-my apologies, my King!"

I didn't have time to worry over the yearling disobeying us. Shaking my head, I took a moment to catch my breath. "It's fine—what happened? Why are you here? Why…?"

I stopped.

I knew what the feeling of wrong was.

"Hiccup?!" I gasped. Fear sent energy into my body, and I spun around in a tight circle. "Where is he?! How long—? When did—?" I spun around to Stormfly, who had her head tipped all the way to the side. "What happened?!"

"Um...what?" She asked. "Why did you send your fire way out over the ocean? Why were you sleeping there? Why do you smell like that? Where's the other King?"

"That's what I just—oh, nevermind! Why are you here? Did you see anything?"

"Yeah!" Stormfly said.

I waited.

"And?" I pressed.

"There's a bunch of weird-smelling humans coming into the human nest! My human's really scared!" She clucked. She narrowed her eyes and threw her head in annoyance. "She kept on trying to send me away! I didn't want to, because she's so small and needs me to keep her safe. But once the weird humans got close enough, she started yelling at me all mad and stuff!"

I craned my neck in desperate search of the "bunch of humans" and wheezed, "When did this...happen…? Wait, where…?"

We were in Berk—and by "in Berk", we were literally inside the nest, surrounded by wood-caves. Not the forest, not the smoke-cave, not the docks, not the sea stacks. Further searching only compounded the sheer absurdity of the situation; the steep pathway to the docks was just in sight, and with it…

"See?" Stormfly pestered. "They're already on their way up! What's the point of chasing me off then, huh? My human can be so stupid sometimes!"

The humans. They had attacked us. I hadn't seen what had happened to Hiccup after we were separated, but I didn't need to.

Magically-sprouted wings or not, we had been too high up for him to land safely.

He was with them.

I limped forward, and the entire island seemed to rock back and forth with sudden nausea. A sharp pain sprung from my injured right paw, which still had a woodclaw embedded in it.

"Woah!" Stormfly squawked. "Where are you going?! We're not allowed there!"

"You're not allowed there," I corrected her. She lowered her head submissively, cowed, and I softened my voice. "Thank you for your help, Stormfly...but it really is dangerous for us here. I've...got a special job for you...alright?"

The yearling beamed, bouncing up and down on the spot and flapping. "Okay! Okay! Okay!" She composed herself, shook her head, and then spread her wings out in a formal bow that didn't quite suit her. "I-I mean, I'd be honored, my King."

Despite the matters at wing, I had to force back a smile. In between pauses for breath, I instructed, "I need you to fly up and...find the rest of our nestmates. They should...be on their way now, but they need to know...it's too dangerous to descend. Tell them to...lie in wait far above, out of sight, and...wait for my signal if needed."

"Okay! Okay! I got it!"

"Alright, now repeat it back to me."

"Fly to our nestmates and tell them to wait for you!"

Not quite teeming with details, but it would be good enough. "Good. Now go, quickly!"

Stormfly puffed up. "Okay, my King! You can count on me!" She lifted her wings extravagantly, tail sticking straight up.

It would have looked almost magnificent if she managed to lift off properly. Instead, her wings were strained too far backwards, which resulted in her shoving the air in front of her and not beneath her. She hopped in place and blinked, startled.

Then, without a word, she crouched low and took off correctly, launching herself above with much more care.

I had a feeling that our nestmates were not going to get the message.

"Remember, wait for my signal!" I shouted up at her.

Very distantly, "...okay!..."

I sighed. At least she was safe now, no longer keen on following me or Astrid straight into her own demise. I swear that Two-Walker was going to get herself into trouble with her trusting nature.

With our nest organized...hopefully...I set my sights back on the crowd of humans approaching from the docks. They were moving very quickly into the nest. I had to go at this delicately; if they had Hiccup, then they could easily use him as a hostage.

In the sudden loneliness of the abandoned nest, the shock of being woken up faded. Exhaustion slammed into me, nearly knocking me back to the ground in its heaviness. I lacked the strength to leap up onto the wood-caves for the advantage of higher ground. As such, I slunk close to the shadows, using the lack of moonlight to my advantage and creeping along the sides of the wood-caves.

My limbs were slow, my reflexes dulled; it was like I had been turned into stone. I was forced to stop several times to catch my breath.

By the time I had caught up to the crowd, it had traveled deep into the nest and had grown significantly in size with Berk's humans. I lifted my ears and slowed my pace, training my attention on what the humans were saying.

Too many were talking—it was all muffled and muddled. All that was distinguishable was the fear and shock.

I crept closer, wincing at the movement. My head was beginning to pound with one hell of a migraine.

The King's voice cut through the chaos like a talon through flesh. "There are no dragons on Berk!"

...huh?

I was too tired to try to reason that one out. Luckily, the anger in the King's voice silenced the rest of the humans, allowing me to focus better on what they were saying.

A female human responded in kind, just as frustrated. "I know yer lyin' to me, Stoick! I've heard the rumors! Trader Johann himself said your island was filled with 'em!"

"Do ya see any dragons around here?" Came the voice of "Gobber". "Because, hmm, I can't say I do!"

"I don't know how ya did it," the female growled. "But I know who did it. Where is he, huh? Where's the monster ya call yer son?"

"That's enough." The King was shockingly calm, considering the nonsense the human female was spewing. "We cannot help you with your unreasonable demands. I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do for you, and we do not have the resources to spare to house you here."

The female wasn't so easily brushed off. "For the last time, quit ignorin' me and answer my question!" She said. "I've heard all about yer son controllin' the dragons. I know he's the one sending raids to all the islands!"

The migraine worsened as I tried to find some rationality in her logic. I grit my teeth, swaying where I stood.

Maybe...it would be a good idea to back away. Hiccup obviously wasn't here—so where was he, then?

"Chief!"

The call was wild and terrified, interrupting the squabbling humans. I blearily tipped my head to the side.

"There ya are," the female said. "What took ya so long? You were sent to get the dragons nearly thirty minutes ago! Does this have somethin' to do with that strange lightnin' we saw?"

"No," a new voice growled. "But we got a dragon, alright. When we got to the ships, there was a Night Fury snoopin' around 'em!"

Audible gasps came from the intruding humans. The humans of Berk stiffened and sent quick glances to each other.

I panted, slumping on the wall of the nearest wood-cave.

"A-and that's not all!" Cried the first trembling voice. "W-when we attacked it, this jumped off of it! Beetle, show 'em!"

A second passed where a human shuffled around to the center of the group.

Thump.

The King cried out, losing all of his composure.

"Hiccup!"

I snapped to attention, standing up straighter. In the crowd, I could just barely see the King's tall form rush forward and stoop out of sight.

With a small groan, I pushed myself off the wood-cave and stumbled my way closer.

"So yer son is here," the female hummed. "I must say, I'm surprised he looks normal. I expected somethin' bigger."

"Gobber, help me untie him! What did you—why is he—?" The King's voice lowered dangerously. "Who did this."

"A better question is, why was he with a Night Fury?" The female snapped. "What happened?"

"He wasn't just with it!" The frightened human gasped. "He was growlin' and hissin' at it, just like a dragon! And when we hit 'em with a catapult, he flew off 'a it with wings!"

"Catapult?" The King hissed. His voice trembled with barely-contained fury. "You shot at my son with a catapult?!"

I was almost to the crowd now. By some miracle, none of the humans had seen me—although it didn't take much to reason why.

The female seemed to notice a moment too late that her friend should have kept that a secret. "Well, I'm sure it was only to get the Night Fury—"

"GET OFF MY ISLAND!"

The howl rang in my ears and thrashed against my skull. My migraine compounded so fiercely that spots swarmed in my vision and a high-pitched whine squeezed from my throat. My paw gave out, and I just barely managed to keep myself standing.

It completely obliterated my element of surprise. Every damn human that was close to me yelped and twisted round to face me.

Once again, a stunned silence swooped upon the humans.

I peered through the crowd. Just there, in the very center, was…

I couldn't hold back a relieved smile, eyelids drooping. "Hiccup," I breathed. "Oh, thank the gods..."

I lurched forward.

The frightened human found his voice.

"NIGHT FURY!"

Everything collapsed. There was no time for confusion. Immediately following the outcry, a female human ripped something from her midsection and charged.

She blocked Hiccup from my sight. I narrowed my eyes.

I couldn't fight, not like this. I knew that all too well.

But I was going to have to.

Baring my teeth in a weak snarl, I lowered my head, whipped my tail about, and braced myself. The human got close enough for me to see the rage and terror in her eyes.

A blur of color swept in front of me. I blinked, and the human was lying on the ground, groaning.

"Dog's Breath" straightened up and stood in front of me.

"Are you mad?!" He spat. "Attack this one, and they'll all come down on us!"

"Thanks..." I mumbled, starting to feel a little woozy. Even though I was still struggling to catch my breath, I padded around "Dog's Breath" and stepped directly into the crowd, allowing me a better view of the pocket in the center where everyone was talking.

There.

Hiccup was lying unconscious, the King crouched protectively over him and "Gobber" standing besides them. There were bindings all over him, just loosened enough for them to hang off of him.

He'd been tied up. I'd heard that already—but seeing it filled me with rage, bringing with it newfound strength. I dug my claws into the ground, just barely restraining myself from launching at the nearest human that didn't smell like Berk, and picked up my frustratingly-slow pace.

"Somebody kill it!" A human screamed.

"NO!" The King commanded. He flung a paw at me in the same "you are dismissed" gesture Hiccup would often use at our nestmates. I snorted; did he really think I would leave?

The human who had attacked me winced and struggled to rise to her feet. Even in my exhaustion, I could see that she was lame in her hind leg—a fresh wound was there.

It was a bite mark.

She balked at me…and then laughed.

"So ya really do have dragons on yer island!" She said. "And ta think ya tried to lie ta me and send me off?"

Why was she still going on about this?

Ugh, I don't care.

I stumbled closer to my brother, keeping my eyes trained on him. I would personally rip those bindings to shreds and light them aflame. Then I would turn the same treatment on the humans who dared do such a thing to him.

The humans of Berk parted for me, allowing me access directly to Hiccup—and to the intruding humans, whom were all surrounded in the center with nowhere to go. Fear-scent began to fill the air. I reached the pocket, and a wall of weapons rose to meet me.

Forced to a stop, I raised my lip to reveal teeth and gums, letting loose a rattling hiss that was far more confident than I felt. Many of the humans trembled on their feet as they should, but didn't stray from their formation.

"All of you, back!" The King commanded furiously. "You are to leave him be, and depart from my island this instant!"

"What's goin' on here, Stoick?" The human whom I gathered to be their Queen demanded. She ignored me and shoved her way through the humans to stand right in front of the King. "Ya tell me ya don't have dragons on yer island, ya refuse to talk about yer son, and then my men find 'im sneakin' around our ships? What's this they about him flyin', like some ungodly half-dragon creature? Why are ya protectin' a Night Fury?!"

Through the crowd, the King met my gaze.

He was doing a damn good job at a furious scowl, but even in his eyes, I could see my own confusion reflected in them.

"What, can't speak now that yer caught in yer lies?" The human Queen snapped.

"That's enough," the King snarled. "You have arrived here unannounced, armed, and with demands that we are not obliged to fulfill. Your men come to us with my son bound so tightly he's nearly suffocated and tell me that he's the monster."

He narrowed his eyes, and a sudden, eerie calm swept over him.

"You will be off my island this instant, or I will rain Hel upon you."

"No."

The King nodded around him, and the humans of Berk unsheathed their weapons. The intruding humans gasped and tensed, inching their weapons closer to me. The fear-scent was almost choking now, hanging like a humid mist in the air.

The human Queen stared coolly around her, undisturbed by the blatant threat. "Your tribe started all of this. Everybody knows the raids have somethin' to do with yourdemonic son, even other tribes far from here. Ya wouldn't come ta us, so we came ta you. We're not leavin' until ya agree ta fix the problem ya started."

A grin slid across her face. "Or we can fight. I've been itchin' for one for a while now. Can your men stay all the tribes in the archipelago?"

Human King and Queen stared each other off.

A distant call came from above, along with the unmistakable sound of wings. I lifted my head higher, feeling much more confident.

And I lost my patience.

"Let me through!" I roared, flinging my wings open and rearing.

It was so unexpected that all of the enemy humans lost their focus. A few dropped their weapons from the sheer shock, and one even scrambled backwards and fell on their back.

I pounced onto the opportunity, rushing through the hole in the barrier before they could react. They scrambled away from me, too cowardly to strike when they didn't have safety in numbers. I sent a thankful prayer to the Dragon of the Sun for that; I didn't have it in me to force a way in.

The human Queen stepped in front of me, drawing a heavy weapon that seemed to end in a large rock. "Back, devil!" She spat, but was unable to keep her own fear from shaking in her voice.

I gave her one warning, hissing and stamping the ground.

A soft moan drew my attention away from her.

Hiccup brought up a paw to his head. His wing—his wing!—trailed up with the movement.

"Hiccup!" I cried. "Danger!"

He stiffened, pretending to be unconscious now. It didn't work; the King had a keen eye, and had noticed our interaction, no matter how small.

He placed a paw lightly on Hiccup's shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. "Hic—"

Hiccup flinched, twisted around with flailing claws, and bared all of his teeth in a ferocious snarl. Even though he sounded like a fledgling, it was still of such intensity that it would have given an adult pause.

The warning echoed twice before I realized that I should have kept my damned mouth shut.

The human Queen stumbled several steps backwards, her weapon now aimed at Hiccup and trembling in her paw. The King's mouth was parted in horror, his eyes bulging. He had reared his paws back, and now held them out complacently.

Hiccup blinked up at his father. His eyes trailed away from him and through the stunned crowd.

Fear and dread bloomed across his face as he pieced it all together and he realized what he'd done.

"Monster," a human whispered, and I couldn't tell which nest they were from.

I jolted towards my brother in desperation—both to be close to him and to protect him as best as I could.

As I skirted past the human Queen, she regained her senses, snapping her head towards me.

"No!" Hiccup gasped.

Cringing, I threw myself down and felt the wind brush past me from the swing. Without even sparing the time to look at the Queen, I gathering my legs beneath me and threw myself in a clumsy leap the rest of the way to Hiccup.

I landed just in front of him and my legs gave out. Gasping, I sank to the ground beside him and held a wing over him, pressing my cheek against his. He sat up, shooting fearful and confused looks between his father and the human Queen.

"What…what are you?" She growled.

Hiccup flinched away like he'd been struck. I showed my teeth and hissed at her, pinning my ears and opening my wings.

The Queen lifted her weapon.

The King stepped in front of us.

"Don't you dare," he said in a low, even tone.

All around us, humans were unsheathing claws and swords and axes and mounting woodclaws to curved sticks. My heart lurched in my chest, and my breathing accelerated to a frantic, panicky pace.

Another call came from above—this time aggressive.

"Ya can't be serious. That thing isn't yer son, Stoick—it's a demon! It's brought a Night Fury into yer village!"

"Up," I told Hiccup.

He was shaking, staring at the human with wide eyes and holding his chest. I prodded him with a paw, and he flinched and snapped his attention to me. With a groan, he grabbed hold of my spines and crawled up onto my shoulders.

As I did so, the King snapped, "You are speaking of matters that you don't understand. This is your final warning. I will not tolerate threats against my son or village."

Hiccup barely weighed a thing, but as tired as I was, he might as well have been as heavy as the King. I narrowed my eyes and bared my teeth, slowly lifting myself up on rattling, unsteady legs. My tail hung low and my ears drooped, and I snapped my wings out for balance when I suddenly fell to the side. Hiccup immediately tried to get off, and I drew my wings up to keep him put.

"You're mad," the human Queen said in disbelief. "The dragons are our enemies! All they do is kill our people and destroy our livelihoods! And yer tellin' me that yer village is just livin' with them? Lettin' them turn yer people into half-dragon monsters?" She gestured at Hiccup, who made himself small against my back.

"W-wait," he stammered. "That's not—we're not—e-everyone just needs to calm down!"

"Oh, speakin' like a person now, are ya?" The human Queen mused condescendingly, raising an eyebrow. She pointed at his wings. "Ya might have these people fooled, but not me. Look at you! Ya don't side with us, that's for sure!"

Something around us…shifted.

I flicked my eyes around. Hiccup grew very tense, gripping onto me as tight as he could.

The humans of Berk looked uncertain.

Oh, no.

The King shared a look with us. He widened his stance just enough so that he was now ready to spring to action.

"The dragons do not raid Berk," he said in that calm, commanding tone. "Perhaps it is because we are doing something right."

The human Queen threw her head back and laughed, the light of victory gleaming in her eyes. "You think yer doin' somethin' right? How many of ya really want to live with dragons?" She cried out to the surrounding nest. "How many of ya want these demons walkin' amongst you, always havin' to look over yer shoulder?!"

"Dragons!" One of her inferiors shouted in sudden fear, pointing upwards.

Our nestmates had been hovering above for some time now. They had been spotted against the stars.

"Look at them, waitin' to strike!" The human Queen shouted. "They'll kill us all if we drop our guard! Men, fire!"

"NO!" Came a cry from the opposite end of the crowd—it was Astrid.

At that very moment, I lifted my head to the heavens and hailed, "Our nestmates, attack!"

"UNDERSTOOD!" Came the resounding battle cry, a shriek that ripped through the air like it had fangs and talons of its own.

The human Queen went for the first strike, launching towards us with a furious scream. In a single, smooth motion, the King stepped aside, grabbed her swinging paw, and kicked her injured leg. She was forced back, baring her teeth in pain and fury.

"Hiccup, Toothless, run!" He shouted over his shoulder.

Out of pride alone, I wanted to defy him—we were Kings, and we must be the first to defend our territory. How weak would we be to turn and run at the first hint of conflict?

But Hiccup and I were too exhausted to be of use in battle, and our nestmates could easily be injured attempting to rescue us. Throwing ourselves into battle for the sake of our egos would only make this terrible situation even worse.

Shame filled me. I began to back away towards the safety and emptiness of Berk as human weapons met each other in combat, sending head-splitting, sharp rings through the air. Human battle cries arose from all directions as the nest of Berk caved in on its intruders with brutal and efficient ferocity, one I still feared to this day.

The human Queen's forces were outnumbered, but strong and fueled with fear—they were not overcome as easily as a group that small should have been.

"W-wait! We don't have to fight!" Hiccup shouted above the clamor, his voice filled with dread. He leaned forward, trying to push me back towards the fight. "Please, stop!"

A moment later, the darkness of the night lit up in flames.

Our nestmates descended upon the intruding humans with the frantic and wild fury of a nest threatened with being overthrown. Flame-Skins lived up to their name, running into the fray in searing coats of flame. Two-Walkers descended and flung their poison barbs and clawed with their long talons. Two-Heads spewed gas in a perimeter around the opposing forces and lit them aflame, trapping them like prey in a ring of fire. Hum-Wings and Little-Biters hovered above, spitting out rains of molten lava and crackling sparks.

"No!" Hiccup cried as human screams of anger turned fearful and pained.

I narrowed my eyes. If we couldn't fight, we could guide our nestmates.

"Watch your tails!" I shouted. "They're teaming up, don't let them behind you!"

This was true—all of the intruders had abandoned their human opponents and turned on our nestmates, aiming for the wings and tails. I bristled, desperately trying to force firing gas up into my throat and finding none to spare.

It quickly became apparent that something was off. Somehow, our nestmates were starting to be cornered—it was like there were more humans! Where did they come from?!

I squinted in the stinging light of the fire, growling.

Realization brought a cold, muted disbelief onto me. The intruding human force hadn't grown in size.

Some of Berk's warriors had turned on our nestmates!

I took a step back. And then another. The betrayal knocked the breath out of me.

Berk's humans were fighting the intruders—but some were hovering uncertainly, watching the battle and struggling to find their place in it. Some of the disgusting traitors were standing side-by-side with our mutual enemies, using their allied status to their advantage!

Even in battle, the scent of Berk was easily-detectable—and our nestmates refused to strike them on my previous commands. I watched in horror as many faltered and dropped their defenses, confused by the sudden change of heart.

They were vulnerable now, easy to fell in their unwillingness to break our unsteady tie with Berk.

"Fall back!" I commanded, my voice tight and shrill. "Fall back, they've turned on us!"

Our nestmates began to back away, but too many were caught in battle—to turn and flee would mean exposing their wings and tails. It was a certain death.

"Toothless!" Hiccup gasped. "We have to stop this!"

"No! Berk human fight dragon!" I hissed at him.

He growled in fear, his eyes wide as they reflected the firelight before us. "They're all going to die at this rate! We can't do this again!" His voice cracked. "We can't kill people again!"

I shot him a look with wide eyes. "B-but Hiccup," I said. "Human attack us! Us—"

Amid the fire, the King barreled into the human Queen and threw her backwards. She fell to the ground right in front of me.

The King put his sword to her throat. I leapt forward, roaring with unsheathed claws.

A small figure leapt atop the human Queen.

Hiccup rose to his hind legs, flared his wings between the King and me, and howled in dragon:

"STOP!"

The sound of battle dimmed. Humans whipped around to find the source of the scream, startled to hear a dragon so close behind them. Our nestmates halted.

In the abrupt stillness, every dragon lowered their body in a bow and murmured, "Yes, my King."

Without a moment to waste, they heeded my previous command, leaping from their crouched positions into the sky. Blood rained from the skies from the innumerable wounds our nestmates had sustained for us. Horror filled me when I saw some running away rather than flying.

"Stop…" Hiccup whimpered in human, his small body shaking like he'd been soaked with freezing water. "All of you, stop…please…"

The scent of smoke and fire and blood hung heavy in the air. Many humans were lying on the ground, wounded by fire and human weapons.

A considerable number of them weren't moving.

I searched through the crowd, leering at the traitors as they slunk away. I caught sight of Astrid besides Stormfly, both of them coated in blood and breathless from fighting. Even the King had a few injuries of his own, although I couldn't tell who's blood it was smearing across his torso.

Hiccup stepped off of the human Queen. She launched to her feet and took in the gruesome aftermath, the pools of blood, the fallen humans.

"You." She whipped towards Hiccup. "You are the one commandin' the dragons."

"No—"

"You listen here, you monster," she interrupted. "You've got another thing comin', if you think you can keep this up. We won't stand by and let yer dragons raid our islands."

"...We?" I repeated, inching closer to Hiccup.

"N-no, you've got it all wrong," Hiccup rushed. "We don't have anything to do with—"

"Retreat!" The human Queen shouted over her shoulder. Her inferiors scrambled to gather up their wounded.

The good humans of Berk remained battle-ready, crouched and forming a wall around the intruders.

"Let them pass," the King said to his remaining ranks. He narrowed his eyes at the human Queen. "Next time, we won'tbe so merciful. Hopefully you've learned not to challenge us."

Fire smoldered around us, glinting angrily in the human Queen's eyes.

"You've already lost, Stoick," she said. "Now we know that thing exists and that it lives here, too. Our allies are far stronger than your dragons."

I lunged forward, flaring my wings and opening my jaw wide in a snarl. The human Queen stumbled backwards. I smirked and loosened my posture.

"Off with you!" The King snapped. He stepped forward, flanked by his forces.

The human Queen and her nest were forced away under the watchful glares of both dragon and human. The King followed them to the docks to make sure they didn't try anything. Hiccup and I stayed there, too exhausted to do anything more than stumble to the cliffsides.

We both sat down, facing away from the gore of the battle, and stared down as the floating-trees filled with our enemies. Hiccup placed his head in his paws and hunched over, taking in forced breath after forced breath. I wrapped my tail around him.

"It is fine," I murmured. Hiccup shook his head. "It is fine. Me here."

"Oh, gods…" Hiccup moaned, clawing at his chest and wings drawn in. I pressed up against him, and he turned and clung to me with unsteady paws. His breathing was unsteady.

Guilt rushed through me. I cursed my stupidity and shortsightedness.

It was easy to get caught up in the battle, to take on a cold-hearted mindset devoid of empathy to win.

It was easy to forget how similar this was to the Queen's raids.

Dammit, Toothless! What's wrong with you?!

My heart pounded, and I butted Hiccup's forehead. "It is fine," I comforted him, bringing up a wing around him to hide him from the sight. "Hiccup good."

He shuddered and shook his head. "No…no…"

"Me here," I reassured him. "See? See me?"

Hiccup met my eyes, distraught and guilty and lost.

I strained for our link, but even now did it abandon us.

With drooping ears, I hung my head. "Me no listen. Sorry…sorry…"

"They're going to come back," he whispered, burying his head into my scales. I did the same, closing my eyes and leaning into him.

"Us here, and us nest here," I murmured. "Us safe. Love you…"

"L-love," he returned. "What…what do we do? People from Berk were fighting us..."

"This us and nest home," I said. "Us protect home. Us good and strong."

"But…"

"This easy," I reassured him. "Human very stupid. Hiccup very smart. Look!" I nodded at his wings. "How?!"

This drew a small snort from him, although it sounded almost like a sob. Running his paws over his limp wings, he took in a deep breath and leaned into me, closing his eyes. "Thank you, Toothless. I…I'm sorry for freaking out."

"Actually…" I drawled. "Hiccup stupid."

He gave a small smile, and I licked him just to annoy him. This earned me an annoyed groan and his paws pushing me away, but I wasn't about to let him get away after I'd managed to cheer him up a bit. I used my wing to pin him to my side, purring all the while.

Hiccup didn't fight against me, although he did rub at his fur with a small, worried whine.

We sat like that for some time. The intruders continued to step onto their floating-trees.

Hiccup was not the only one shaken by the unexpected and vicious battle. It wasn't too long until our nestmates descended around us, trembling and frightened. We all huddled together for comfort and security, nursing our wounds and finding reassurance in the warmth and safety we provided each other.

The sun began to rise, putting an end to this horrible night. The floating-trees departed from Berk. I snorted at them, baring my teeth. Good riddance.

Hiccup saw them first, having been watching the docks while we waited for his father to return.

"What that?" He asked everyone around us. Our nestmates still couldn't understand him very well, so he pointed the human way out to the floating-trees.

Many of us murmured in confusion—and then several dragons gave surprised yips, myself included.

Dragons were flying from the floating-trees.

I let out a breath in relief. In the wake of the battle, we had been unable to free them; it was simply too dangerous to send our own nestmates to save them. I would not ask them to risk their lives when I myself could not do the same. That these dragons had escaped on their own was a blessing.

"Greetings!" I called out to them.

Our nestmates took up the call, "GREETINGS!"

The dragons banked towards us. Hiccup and I exchanged a nervous and excited look, shuffling around as we waited for them to land. These outsiders could possibly bring with them answers to all of our questions, resolving these frustrating mysteries once and for all.

They passed directly overhead without even glancing down.

Perplexed croons lifted from our nest, but not at the blatant rudeness the dragons displayed in refusing to acknowledge us. It was because of something almost familiar, something that I felt I should know but had forgotten, sending a shudder deep into my heart.

An empty hum was emanating from them, unwavering and lost and almost unnatural-sounding.

The dragons were singing.