A/N I'm back! Celebration over, throw up in the toilet, let's get to work. You may have been wondering why I've been gone the last few days. I took a trip out of state for 'reasons', and had no Wi-Fi. That sucked. But I'm back anyway, so take it or leave it.
Chapter six's riddle was solved by ThatGuyWhoAlwaysSignsHisCommentsWithA. It was a matchstick.
Written while listening to Born to be wild. I'm instantly cool, no explanation required. Let it Ride by Bachman Turner Overdrive as well, and don't forget ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man. All great songs.
Riddle.
There was a man who was born before his father, killed his mother, and married his sister. Yet, there was nothing wrong with what he had done. Why?
Credit to AshlaTi for the term the Big Isn't. Her stories are excellently filled with lore, to say the least, much more so than my pitiful imitations.
Someday I'm going to have Skyla sit down and tell Nayla all about the dragon legends, but until then you're going to have to go on scraps. Internal consistency not being my strong point. Did anyone catch the Calvin and Hobbes reference?

Recently updated as of 5/9/2018.
Ocean woke up to a blue morning, the air chilly and fresh like the fall leaves. It was almost dark, but the lightening of the sky in the east told her otherwise. She couldn't see the sun rising, but it would be up soon. Already the birds were chattering in small bursts while the nocturnal life receded and the course of the day began. Ocean got up and began to stretch her legs, feeling rather than hearing the slight pops and crackles her grumbling joints gave her. It had been a while since she'd had a flight even comparable to last night's, and her body wanted more rest like it always did. Except this time she had a reason to get up at a decent hour instead of letting herself sink back into merciful sleep.

She cast a look at the sleeping form of Stulte, who was breathing in and out gently, his face curled up in a draconic smile. A warm feeling blossomed in her chest, one that she could not easily find a word to describe. As Ocean breathed the pre-dawn air into her lungs and smelled the sweet, pungent tang of fresh apples, she found out what that feeling was. For the first time in a very long time, she knew true happiness. No other dragons interrupted her, no indignant squawks embedded themselves in her ears, for one, unadulterated moment, it was just her and nature, together blended into something far beyond her comprehension.

Perhaps best of all was that she could no longer smell the stench of Her fumes and that of the mountains' sulfuric heat. All her life, from the time she had hatched to the time of her adolescence she had inhaled that oily air, oblivious to the glorious freedom outside of the nest. Now it felt like a great weight had been removed from her chest, one that was invisible. One that she had not even known was there. Before she had been too busy running away from the Queen to even notice the difference, but now it was clear as day what she had been missing.

Ocean walked out of the cave and took another deep breath of the unpolluted air. She just couldn't get enough of it to satisfy her needy body, so long deprived that it seemed to drink in the atmosphere on it's very own. She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, or whether just do a random happy dance in the middle of nowhere. She could spend a million years like this and never get tired, so thrilling was it to be free of the last tendril of Her existence.

The night clouds that had once been barely distinguishable were now illuminated by the sun's light, turning into surreal red streaks in the sky, their trailing edges transformed into various shades of beautiful dark purples and pretty violets of contrasting hues, seeming to flow across the sky like a smooth waterfall.
Tiny bits of orange joined the mosaic now, and the line of light stretching over the horizon became a shallow bowl. It was not so dark anymore, the trees having gone from tall blobs of nothingness to detailed arrays of leaves and thick, brown trunks with varied bark.

Their island was pretty bare except for some shrubs and bushes. A few gulls milled around on the rocks, but flew away with an indignant squawk as soon as she got closer to them, exploring. She wasn't hungry enough to consider chasing them though, so she let them go.

Thankfully the little island had a small pool full of water from the last rain, and Ocean took a long refreshing drink, dipping her head into the water when she pleased. It cleansed her face and moistened her tongue, which she had long since dried out from her panting the night before.

Once she had done all this and a little more she returned to the cave, where Stulte was still sleeping but beginning to stir.

"Wake up sleepyhead," she said, not too harshly.

"Unnh." he groaned. "Where am I?"

"We're a long way from home, that's true at least."

Stulte got up and brushed himself off with a flap of his handsome wing.

"That doesn't help." he said, "But I think I remember now." he said, looking around for a moment.

"It doesn't." said Ocean. "But it's good to know you're brain hasn't cooked off yet.

Both of them said nothing before Stulte seemed to collect himself. He drew up to his full hight, almost crashing into the rock above his head. He drifted off for a

moment again, before snapping back to reality.

"Let's take stock of what we do have, shall we." he said at last. "I'd prefer to have the rope off at any rate. It's rather limiting."

He tried to get the rope that was wrapped around his waist off, but he couldn't quite, for he bounced up and down with his legs, kicking them and clawing at his chest with his wings. Ocean giggled and started to help him. The line seemed to have a mind of it's own, nearly tying up Stulte's feet twice.

Ocean had to be careful because if she pulled too hard, it would saw off and break on the dragon's hard spines, but too softly and the rope would do it's own thing, or it would just take too long to get it off, and then Stulte would probably get impatient and snap it.

At this point it was stuck in a little bare spot in Stulte's scales. She tugged and pulled, but it wouldn't come out.

Stulte seemed faintly amused.

"I think that you should push up a little." he said.

"Why?"

"Maybe it'll come out of the chink if you do that." he said again, then added, "I don't like it when it pulls on my skin either. Once it's out, be careful. I swear that thing has a life of it's own."

"I'm starting to think that's true." said Ocean through clenched teeth as she tried to pull the rope out her own way.
It didn't work.

Ocean swallowed her pride, though she hesitated, then pushed up, the rope catching a little on one last spine but then coming off easily enough. She lowered it to the ground gently, carefully, as if scared that if she lost control the rope would embed itself in Stulte's scales once more.

Finally, it was off.

"One stubborn coil of rope. A little frayed but it'll do." Stulte remarked.
Ocean was busy separating the scrolls that had fallen off Stulte in the ordeal. She slid them from each other's embrace and examined the parchment.

"Two scrolls of parchment. Large if I'm not mistaken."

Stulte did a wolf whistle, and shook his head.

"Nayla didn't stop at any expenses to get this stuff did she."

"Or trouble." added Ocean, though she harbored no ill will towards her friend.

He laughed, a rumbling basso, though it was still reminiscent of what a Nadder should sound like. Ocean laughed half-heartedly along with him, then gave up and returned to sorting the supplies again, though there wasn't much to go on.

"Now the only thing to do is put this stuff back on again." Stulte said, not laughing this time.

"What if we left it here for a bit?" asked Ocean. "We could take a quick flight around the island with nothing holding us back. I bet you're bored from carrying them around all night. A little exercise couldn't hurt, hmmm?"

Stulte didn't wait.

"Sure."

They hopped out of their sleeping hole and prepared to fly. The weather was perfect, with just a hint of flowers refreshing the salty sea air.

"Do you mind if I take a drink first?" asked Stulte. He could smell the pool nearby.

"Go ahead."

He quickly found the pool and ducked his head in. It was not at all muddy, being trapped in a pile of rock, and he took several quick gulps, wettening his tongue just like Ocean had. He didn't have much time to stick around though, and he stopped short of filling himself, not wanting to slow himself down for the coming flight either.

He fluttered back to Ocean, who had been waiting patiently for him to come back, and spread his wings wide.

"Wanna race?" he asked.

"I'm tired, but I could use the exercise."

Ocean shared a mutual grin with him.
"The first one to go all the way around the island twice wins."

They took off, Ocean leading as they gained altitude and eyed their course.
"Go!" shouted Ocean.

Stulte pulled into an inverted dive, just to show off. Ocean just formed a dagger and streaked ahead, stealing the lead from him.
He couldn't allow that to happen, so he pumped his wings hard to catch up. He had almost made it to Ocean when they made the first lap, zooming past the cave like maniacs.

They flapped frequently and hard, like songbirds in an elaborate courting dance. Now they were halfway through the second lap and approaching the end. If he wanted to win he'd have to do something to steal first place.

His chance came when Ocean climbed in front of him to gain hight, slowing down and allowing him to close the distance. He followed her in the climb, making use of his heavier weight to keep his inertia, while Ocean struggled in front of him. In a flash he had caught up, and now he was in front. The final turn came, and Stulte was ready.

He spun over like a dive bomber, and spiraled down to the finish, where he attempted to make a stylish landing, touching down a bit off kilter, which ruined a perfect finish, but he wasn't complaining. Ocean landed much more gracefully, as if to make up for her earlier performance, not that anyone was watching.

They boiled up a few fish and settled down for a while. After some time Stulte looked up.

"It's about time we got going." he said.

"Not just yet." said Ocean, "Not just yet." she yawned.

"I think I definitely caught it from you."
Stulte had no clue about what 'it' was. He thought it had something to do with yawns. Speaking of which, soon he couldn't stop yawning himself.
They went back and forth, opening their mouths wide in turn. He grew tired, and soon they were taking a pleasant nap on the cool autumn ground, underneath the only tree on the island.

"One of us should have left before.. this *yawn happened." he said right before falling asleep.
Dreams of roses and beautiful paradise islands filled his imagination, so he was rather disappointed when he was the first to wake this time. He nudged Ocean sleepily, to make her wake up.

"Unnh." she groaned. Not for the first time.

Stulte smiled.

"I think we should get going." he said, then left for the supplies in the cave. Behind him, Ocean groggily stood, then spent some time in a daze before following him with staggered steps.

Their temporary home was only a few steps away from any place on the island, and soon Stulte was balancing over the entrance, thinking twice about jumping down. Eventually he overcame his fears and reached out. Getting in was not a problem.

The rope and parchment were mildly damp, but it was not serious, and the inborn salt in the water would keep it from the mold and the rot until they found a use for it. He tried to put all his stuff on, but it was too hard to wrap it around his waist properly, until Ocean came up and helped him.

Soon they were all ready to go. Out they flew, well fed, their youthful muscles aching for another flight. They flew on for a while, though it was only half an hour. During that time they passed numerous shoals and small islets, but none of them were as large as the one they had bedded on. The sea stacks grew smaller and smaller in width until finally all that was left of them were little sticks pointing up from the ocean. And after a while even these were gone, swallowed by the waves which made an almost eternal sea.

"The water just goes on forever and ever." said Ocean, "Is there really a shore on the other side?"

"There must be one, or the world would over balance and tumble. At least that's what I think." said Stulte.

"I think we might have made a mistake with this whole business." said Ocean.

"Mmmhmm."

They flew on for a minute, but Ocean felt that the conversation wasn't really over. An awkward silence reigned while it gnawed away at her. Stulte had probably forgotten about it anyway. She should just forget about it too. But something about her wouldn't let it go, and finally she spoke her opinion.

"But the world looks flat to me." she announced.

Stulte just chuckled.

"Not really. You can prove the Big Is is spherical."

"Then prove it!" said Ocean.

Stulte hummed, trying to remember the old days with his tutor. They all seemed so long ago.

"When a dragon flies away from another dragon, he looks like he's getting lower even though he's flying at the same hight."

"Explain."

"If you have a round rock, you can't see what's on the other side. At some point the rock curves away from your eyes so much that you can't see what's past it. It's called the horizon, and it looks like the place where the sky meets the sea."

They had slowed down to talk together without winding themselves, so Stulte was able to point ahead to the horizon pretty easily.

"If the horizon is the place where the sea meets the sky, why can't we fly to it?"

"My tutor always said that the air was round just like the Big Is. He says you'll never be able to fly to the Big Isn't because you'll just drown in midair."

"How do we know that's true?"

"There was this dragon named Boyle once. Weird name, I know. He was a great scientist, and he created something we call Boyle's law."

"So?"

"Boyle's law says that the more pressure a gas is under, the less space it occupies, and the colder it gets. Pressure is a measure of how much weight is on top of something, right?"

"Right." said Ocean, who thought for a moment. "What I don't see is what Boydle's law has to do with the drowning hight."

"Boyle, not Boydle. Air weighs something, so the air at the bottom of a mountain is under less pressure then the air at the top."

Ocean was about to argue this point when she realized that the air sweeping past her wings was real, so it must have had at least some weight, no matter how small it seemed to be.

"Anyway," Stulte continued, "if the pressure at the top is less then the pressure at the bottom, then that means that the air on top takes up more space for the same amount of it."

"Go on."

"When there's less air in a given space, it's hard to get enough in your lungs, so when you get too high, you can't breathe anymore. That's my opinion at any rate. And even if you could breathe up there, you'd freeze to death. I knew someone who almost died that way."

"Oh."

"Back to the Big Is being round. We know that the Big Is is round because when you're flying toward an island, you can't see it until you're right on top of it."

"And the higher you go, the easier it is to spot land." said Ocean, putting the pieces together.

"Because you're above the rock, looking down." said Stulte.

"Aha!" said Ocean, who had gotten the concept. "So that's why the sun sets! The world turns one way, and the sun doesn't move to catch up."

"Exactly. To light a candle is to cast a shadow, as my father once said."

With her question answered, Ocean had no reason not to settle in for the flight, hardy wings flapping rhythmically as they flew steadily towards the horizon.

Now the must of rain had changed to the crisp smell of oncoming sleet. The storm ahead of them seemed to grow larger by the minute, the billowing grey clouds rising above their heads, roiling in the wind's embrace while recognizable shapes floated past their gaze before turning into something else entirely, chiseled by countless updrafts and gusts rushing past them as they floated high above the water. Faint blue flashes of lightning shadowed and defined the mists, highlighting the clouds behind them and starting off low rumbles of thunder only dimly audible to even the two dragons.

It was a majestic sight, but one filled with thinly veiled danger and unforeseen hazards; even as an especially bright flash of lightning illuminated the the clouds directly in front of her a tingle of energy flowed through her spine and into her body, filling her scales with a mild buzzing sensation that was not quite unlike the jingling shiver of anticipation that she was so used to seeing in Nayla when she woke up in the mornings, ready to play. Still, it hurt to think of her peer's sacrifice – No, she mustn't go down that path again. Nayla was fine, she could take care of herself, Ocean told her brain. So why didn't she believe it?

Ahead of them the storm grew ever taller and darker, obscuring more and more of the sky as they went headlong towards it. Still, there was some consolation for them. The morning sun, which had once threatened to be swallowed by the gray mass, now shone upon their jeweled backs, warming their muscles and seeming to wash the fatigue in their muscles away. It was almost one o'clock, and already they had covered almost fifty-odd miles without realizing it since the beginning of their flight, ever approaching that inflated wall of turbulence.

Stulte decided to fly that chasm when he came to it. A few islets protruded from the water at times, some large enough to sport small buildups of shrubs and seagulls that milled around, restless from the coming weather. He peered into the storm to see if there would be any more of them. He wished he hadn't. The rain poured down in waving sheets, obscuring all but itself, while his sharp eyes spotted showers of hail the size of baseballs, if they had been invented yet. He subtly began to increase altitude, and Ocean hastened to follow.

For now they were floating in the breeze, riding the occasional updraft from the crashing waves far beneath them, while the sun heated the salt filled air. A slight headwind began to pick up, then increased to a moderate breeze. It wasn't that they were afraid of, for dragons aren't afraid of much, but rather what the growing wind symbolized.

A few light wisps of moisture scudded ahead of them, then below them, casting tiny shadows on the surface breakers. The tingling that Ocean had felt every time there was a lightning strike was getting stronger, sending pulses through her spine now, growing the slightest bit uncomfortable. Gusts blew irregularly from below them, and above them, and all around them, making it harder to fly straight. Still, their instincts had told them the right way to go, and they followed. That didn't mean she had to like crosswinds.

They passed their first real cloud, a puffy and white thing that looked remarkably like a floating, suspended marshmallow. There were more of course, there always were, but Stulte began to climb again, and soon they were out of the first levels and flying to clearer skies above them. Only for a tongue of darkness to fall upon them as a curling vestige of the storm was stretched by the wind so that it cast a shadow on the two dragons far below. The thunder was more audible now; Ocean began to count seconds after the first tingles would arrive in her body, now more like shudders, waiting for the rolling booms.

She gave up after she realized the amount of lightning streaking through the mists ahead of them, which made it virtually impossible to determine whether or not a given lightning flash was related to a given rumble from the clouds. They were coming closer now, the sun completely blocked out by a looming thunderhead behind them, with no land bigger than a tiny, eroded rock sticking out of the waters beneath them.

"This is it. No turning back now." said Stulte.

Ocean just looked at the looming storm ahead of them, buffeted by increasingly frequent gusts. It had all looked so small and insignificant when she had first seen it as a rising line of pretty white from the island, which now seemed long ago and insignificant to what they were about to attempt.
The first rumbles of thunder became audible, and still there was no land in sight for the two to land. The rain fell from the clouds in great sheets, like a mist obscuring the water underneath the great dog pile of clouds, though it sometimes broke up and he could see the surface beneath.
The waves beneath them started to show whitecaps, and the smell of the spray reached their nostrils stronger than ever. The sun was completely blocked out by a thunderhead high in the Big Is now, almost so high as to be in the Big Isn't.

It looked almost picturesque, what with the sunlight flaring around the edges, and a golden tinge on its curves. Almost like a head it grew in size and shape, almost taking the form of a human face.

Ocean had to remind herself that this was a dangerous storm she was flying into, with no land in sight to roost on.

"Looks like a bad one." said Stulte, raising his voice a little now that the rumblings were getting louder.

"It'll be difficult."

"We'll make it."

Ocean tilted her wings and allowed her body to drift closer to him, borrowing his strength from him.

It was a bad storm, and they were headed straight into it, but Ocean wasn't afraid. With Stulte by her side she trusted that she could handle anything some fluffy clouds could throw at her, and with that thought they disappeared into the storm's folds, hidden from the outside world completely.
The first winds were not so bad, and Ocean could easily see her kin flying beside her through the rain. Suddenly her right wing bucked up, and she spun around for a second, losing sight of Stulte. She tried not to panic as she sifted the showers for any hint of him, seeing nothing through the dark mists.
In a moment he was there with her, having turned back the moment she was lost from beside him.

They flew on, shaken but not discouraged.

Hail started to form on the winddrifts. The rain grew thick. Not the kind of heavy rain you and I are accustomed to, which is a mere shower by comparison. This stuff was so thick that a man holding up his hand would not be able to see it in front of him, if it wasn't hit by hail first, or if he could even keep his eyes open at all in the rain, for it was not only thick but large in size as well, driving into every little nook and cranny mercilessly. The sleet was worse than that, for when it got into a chink in her scales it stayed and seemed to freeze up her joints. And the hail. The hail!

It was hitting her wings and making it hard for Ocean to fly. It felt like her body was being pulverized into dust, torn apart, sprinkled onto the ground and then stamped on for an entire hour. Even though it bounced off her scales with a crack, yet still the force of the blows became almost unbearable. It was the definition of pain, and Ocean felt like she was going to die, but still she kept at it.

She had thoroughly lost sight of Stulte by now, though she could feel his powerful strokes beside her. Now she was navigating mostly by her 'core senses', trying to make sense of her situation and fly a straight course against the wind. She was doing a pretty good job of it, though the powerful tempest threatened to drive her off course and blow her into the waves. She gritted her teeth and carried on.

I am a survivor, she told herself, but there seemed to be no end to the whipping and lashing of speeding, foggy water ahead of her.

But all storms must blow themselves out sometime, and it looked like this one was doing just that. She could see Stulte in front of her now, but just barely. If she called out at the top of her lungs she might just be able to talk to him.

"We've made it!" she yelled.

"That's the worst that the weather could throw at us, and it failed." he said triumphantly.

Their celebration was premature, for suddenly a fast, air bursting downdraft caught Ocean by the tail and pulled her down. She tried to fly upwards, but her wings were locked down by the rush of air and couldn't move properly. She began to spin out.

"Nooooo!" yelled Stulte.

He tried to grab her wing, not caring that he might rip it. Unfortunately his momentum carried him away from Ocean and made it too hard for him to catch her. It brought him out of the reach of the downdraft and kept him safe. The same could not be said for Ocean.

Her descent lasted all of fifteen seconds, a struggle to the very end, tumbling clockwise all the way. The clouds parted below her and she could dimly see through the rain the dim outline of a moderately sized island.

In a last ditch attempt to save herself her second wind came, and she made it out of the cloudburst.

Too late.

Her tail was still unbalanced from the tumble she'd had, and she stalled and flipped over into a flat spin, counterclockwise this time. Her brain was unable to adjust to the sudden change, and she nearly blacked out, very dizzy at any rate.

She struggled to see anything through her dizziness, other than that the ground drew nearer. Her second to last thought before she impacted was the irony that the very thing she had been praying for was about to kill her. Her last thought was a prayer to her father.

Then her wing hit a tree, there was a crack, a jolt of pain, and everything went black.

o-o-0-o-o-o-0-o-o-o-0-o-o-o-0-o-o-o-0-o-o-o-0-o-o-o-0-o-o-o-0-o-o

Astrid's P.O.V.

I tried to sit up, but my stomach twisted suddenly and I keeled over and threw up. Good thing I'd not had food since breakfast, otherwise it would have been much worse. As it is the only thing that happened was some sea water gushing out of my throat. It felt salty and for the first time I noticed my lips were dry.

Hiccup must've carried me away from the shore. I'm not going to say I'm grateful, because that would probably make his brain misfire or something and then he'd die from embarrassment or something. I'll keep it to myself.

I'm a little dizzy right now, but I should be fine. It's Hiccup I need to worry about now. I looked around, still confused from it all. The snow is falling lightly on me, still unchanging in it's beauty and coldness.

I've got to take stock of the situation. I looked around and started to rise, but a warm hand stopped me and pushed me down.

It was Hiccup, who had probably saved my life.

"You might catch cold." he says, and then pulls off his coat and puts it on me. The poor toothpick must be freezing right now without it.

"I'll go get some wood. Hopefully there will be some flint and maybe there'll be a fire. You wait here while I do that."

That tone. Was that.. Authority in his voice? I was thirsty though, so I turned over and scooped up some snow in my bare hands. It felt numb to the touch and for the moment I was grateful for the cold. The snow felt refreshing, moistening my mouth and reinvigorating me somewhat.

I looked up to the gray sky for guidance, but there was none. This is going to be a long day, if I even survive it.

A/N Thanks for sticking with me here. I'm really glad to have you guys, though at the moment I may or may not have 666 views. I really appreciate all the support and help you guys have given me. I gave you Astrid's P.O.V ThatGuyWhoAlwaysSignsHisCommentsWithA. You happy? Also, you should get an account. You have great ideas and I think (personally) that you would make a great author.

As for all the negative people. I have a review delete button, and any non-constructive criticism will be ignored. Just saying. Speak of the devil, this story isn't really planned out that far in advance, so if you have any suggestions ThatGuy, I would gladly take them. My update schedule is set for Friday or Saturday, so standby.
4.1K words. Yay! This has been B. Avar, and I'm signing out. See ya next time!