"… and so that's all of what happened," Hicca finished, taking a breath and watching Toothless think. "Believe me, I wish it had gone another way – one that didn't end up with a dragon crawling from my mouth – but it didn't, and I can't exactly take back what happened."

"While I'm glad that you feel the need to tell me things like this, there's really no problem," Toothless said, stopping Hicca's thoughts dead. Her look of ultimate confusion was cleared as he explained, "We're soul mates. Our hearts belong to each other, and so anything else is fair game. The only one you can receive eggs from is me, and vice versa. It's well known that soul mates often have more than one partner, and one case even said that there were as many as ten dragons sharing one nest at some point. As far as I'm concerned, nothing's wrong. Hel, do it again if you like."

"… Are you serious? This isn't some elaborate hoax?" She asked, still disbelieving. This was unheard of with Vikings – granted, she wasn't one at this point – and the penalty for something like what had just happened was usually an ax buried in the adulterer's skull.

"Look it up if you like, but I'll still be safe in the knowledge that we're together, and always will be." Hicca's ears folded back as her heart fluttered a bit, and she gave Toothless the best kiss he'd had in weeks. As she left, he thought to himself, "… I should say things like that more often…" Thus, Toothless became the first recorded dragon poet. With Hicca, she'd returned to the indoor lake, and told a relieved Kyttal what had happened.

"You didn't tell me you guys were soul mates!" he said, rolling his eyes."For one thing, belated congratulations for finding him, and for another, you telling me your situation would have solved this whole mess."

"I didn't know all of this about soul mates, to begin with," she protested, "since I've been immersed in dragon culture less than half a year, and Vikings don't exactly focus on finding true love."

"Vikings?" he asked, confused. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"Before I found Toothless, I was one," she said, making Kyttal look at her closely. "Kind of obvious since I walk on two legs and have hands."

"Yeah, guess I should have figured out that one. Still, weird to think about you being one at some point. Maybe you could tell me the story of that adventure someday," he said, laying down. "So, now that you're a bit more informed, what happens?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest." Hicca thought for a moment about the whole ordeal and boiled it down to a few things: Toothless was fine with her having more than one lover, she could only have his babies, and her body was more accommodating than she'd thought. While she couldn't remember everything that Kyttal had done, she did remember enjoying it thoroughly, and he'd pushed her to blackout with his efforts, a feat only accomplished by Toothless very early in their relationship. "The more I think about it, the more I'm excited about the possibilities. For now, I'm just going to work on the project I have going, but I might come down here if I ever need to have a good time and a dip in the lake." She waved to a blushing Kyttal as she left, and climbed the stairs up to her workshop.

Now that she had obsidian, she wondered how to use it. It was too smooth to be a grindstone, and shards would be too uneven and awkward to shave off metal. Hicca then remembered sandpaper she'd once seen on trader Johann's boat and set about trying to make some out of the obsidian. She first had to turn a good portion of it into sand and dust, and sort the pieces into different sizes for different grits, and find squares of leather to glue them to. The leather was simple to get, she had plenty, and she set up a tower of sifting trays to catch the varying sizes. She shattered the block into smaller and smaller shards, sending all of it through the tower to have her grits sorted. Hicca then realized she'd forgotten glue for the leather.

"Damn. What have I got? Dragon spit, tree sap, blood maybe? All of those are messy or not permanent… hold on a second," she thought aloud, feeling the spot that had been bothering her. It was sticky, and she had to put effort into removing her hand. It was a spot where one of Kyttal's tentacles had touched. She walked down to the lake and called for the dragon.

"Hey Hicca, what do you need?" He asked, swimming to the shore.

"To summarize, I need you to get your slime on a few things for me. It's a weird request, but I can't think of a better thing to use as glue." He looked at her funny.

"My slime, glue, what are you talking about?"

"The project I've been talking about is a suit of armor. The metal is too hard for any normal stone to scratch, hence the obsidian, but I need it in very small pieces to use it. I can't use it like that, so I wanted to put it on leather squares, and the best thing I can think of to keep it on there is your slime since it does this," she explained, ending it by sticking her hand to her side and pulling it off. "So, please, help me out?"

"I, uh, guess?" he said. "Just tell me what you want me to do." Kyttal followed Hicca into her workshop (which he was impressed by), and followed her instructions as he coated pieces of leather in thick slime. In turn, she turned them sticky side down into trays of shards of obsidian and set them next to her kiln to dry. They were in various shapes for each size: circles, squares, long and short rectangles, and even triangular.

"Thanks for your help, Kyttal," she said after they finished, using a damp cloth to wash her hands. "I don't know what I would have used on those otherwise. Would you like to see what they'll be polishing?" She led him over to the corner where the suit had been stored, and marveled at the craftsmanship, even if he kept his distance.

"It's… scary," he said.

"Downright terrifying if you're facing it down and I'm in it," Hicca said, grinning at his reaction. "I didn't even make it scary on purpose, just happened. Glad to see it's so effective though." It was set back down in the corner, and they moved away to continue talking.

"What else do you plan to make?" Kyttal asked.

"Don't know yet beyond a few things: knife, short sword, longsword, small and large shields maybe, a few styles of ax, possibly a great shield and a great sword for kicks if I feel up to it."

"So, a whole armory?" he asked. "What do you plan to do with all of that?"

"Don't know right now, but I want to see what the limit of my skills are, and maybe someone else will find a use for them if I don't. It's not entirely about having a problem in mind and creating a solution, sometimes you just have an itch that only blacksmithing can scratch, and so you make something. I find that those are the best things I make when that happens. Lunch?" Hicca gave him a lift to the beach, and they swam out together to eat. Toothless joined them after a while, and they lazed on the beach in the sun, bellies full and minds at ease.

"This really is a great home," commented Kyttal, "thank you for dragging me to it, Hicca."

"Not a problem. I'm happy to have done it." At that moment, the sound of dragon wings drifted over, and Hicca looked back to the center of the island to see what looked like two Nadders coming close, but one of them was shaped funny. "Wait a minute… That's a good look for you, Astrid!" she greeted, waving her now ex-Viking friend towards them. "What has you in such a hurry?"

"Hicca, we've got a problem," she said, tone worried.

"Vikings are sailing here," said Stormfly, "A few small ships carrying close to thirty men and women." Everyone began getting riled up, but Hicca placated them.

"Before we start setting things on fire, we could at least try talking to them first, yeah? You three can follow Toothless and I from a distance and come to support us if we need it. Just swim for the time being and get some air before you attack if it comes down to it. Sound good?" A grumbled assent went up, and the dark pair took flight to greet the curious Vikings.

A warning cry was heard when they came into view and the sound of taught bowstrings echoed across the water.

"It would be nice of you to not shoot!" Hicca yelled down. "Allow us to get close, and no harm will come to either party. We just want to talk."

"Oh, aye, we'll let an Odin damned Nightfury and his talking wife land right on top of our heads!" came the sarcastic reply. "How in Hel are we supposed to trust you?"

"I don't know, but you better figure it out quick, because we aren't waiting for you. Clear a space, please?" Hicca asked, indicating for Toothless to follow her as she glided down. More shouting was heard, and space was quickly cleared, surrounded by swords and axes. "There," Hicca said, ignoring the weapons, "now we can talk without shouting at each other. My name is Hicca, and the big cutie next to me is Toothless. Not literally, just a name," she clarified. "Might we have the privilege of knowing the captain of this ship?"

"That would be me, lass," said an average-looking one from the back. "Name of Gilbert, son of Frederick the Wise. What exactly do you want with me?"

"To talk, Gilbert, which is quite difficult when sharp metal cuts into a conversation. I don't think the blades are necessary at this point, wouldn't you agree?" The Vikings warily sheathed their weapons and were ordered to get back to their own business by Gilbert. The three of them walked to the front of the ship to talk. "To answer your question, I don't want anything with you, save to caution you that you're sailing close to our home, and we haven't had the chance to spruce it up for guests."

"A major problem, that," he agreed, stroking his beard. "Though I don't mind a bit of mess at times. Are there others with yee? More that look like…" he gestured to all of her, "… this?"

"Just one other, and her Nadder husband. There's another dragon, but I don't know what to call him yet besides his name, and a sixth one that I'm not at liberty to talk about with you by her own request. Just know that she's a lot bigger than me and leave it at that."

"Hmm… four dragons, and two… I-don't-knows. As much as I'd like to keep your privacy, lass, we're low on supplies, and a storm caught us by surprise and dinged us up rather badly," he said, gesturing to the sail full of tears. "If you'd let us, we need to stop by for a while to patch up. We promise to stay out of your way should that be your decision."

"I gladly accept, but I need to discuss it with the others. Wait nearby for a while." She flew off to a nearby islet and waited for everyone to gather. She explained the situation when they got near enough for her to speak. "They're peaceful, and they need to land for repairs. They won't start anything if we let them stay."

"Who's to say they won't tell others if we let them?" Stormfly countered. "It's natural to spread a story like that, even if someone doesn't mean harm. I say don't let them near."

"That's a bit harsh, but I agree," Astrid said, standing across from Hicca. "They'll tell others if they see the island, and eventually someone who does mean us harm will hear and come by to kill or capture us. I say they anchor on an islet for repairs, and they steer clear of the island."

"Maybe they don't have to leave?" suggested Kyttal. "If they want, maybe they could stay on the island and live here. It solves the problem of news getting out, and we get some neighbors. To be honest, we need more people on the island."

"You just got here," Toothless pointed out.

"You didn't get here much earlier," Kyttal shot back. "At this point, I've got about as much say as the rest of you."

"Fair enough," Toothless admitted. "I'll agree to whatever Hicca says, but I like Kyttal's idea. Hicca?"

"I'm in favor of letting them land on the island, and I'll see if they want to stay. I'll take your worries into consideration." She flapped into the air and headed back to Gilbert's ship. He was waiting for her where she'd left him. "Two of them are worried that you'll tell the rest of the archipelago if we let you land on the island, but the other three are in favor of providing you a place to stay. An interesting idea was brought up, however: one of them suggested that you stay on the island as neighbors, solving both problems, and giving us some company."

"That sounds lovely," he said, smiling. It vanished after a moment, replaced by a scowl. "Being honest, it was really pirates we ran into, and not exactly on open water. Our village is gone, and we were trying to find a new home. We're lucky that you decided not to burn us, that would have been just the thing to finish us off. If you'd be so kind, lead us to your island." Hicca did so gladly, meeting up with everyone else along the way, and they greeted the entirety of the Viking fleet on the shore of the island.

"Welcome to our island," Hicca said, throwing her arms wide. "We'll gladly help you set up houses and settle in if you want and show you the best spots for things you need."

"'Our island'?" quoted one of the sailors. "Doesn't this rock have a name?"

"Maybe you could help us come up with one?" Astrid suggested.

"Valhalla" was thrown up immediately by a few but was shot down by the others. The same story for "Paradise," "Haven," "Second Grunk," (an homage to their destroyed home) and "Trout."

"How about Dusk?" Gilbert suggested, getting nods from a good majority of people and dragons around him.

"Why that?" Hicca questioned, translating for Kyttal.

"Because it's the end of a day of suffering and promises a new day to start fresh. Plus, it sounds better than 'Dawn.'" That was unanimously agreed upon, and Dusk was christened.


Hello everyone. It seems I'm just spitting these out like hot pizza bites. Hope you enjoyed this surprisingly early chapter, and maybe you'll get to enjoy another one just as soon. Goodbye for now.