What's up everyone?!

I know it's been a while, so here's the drill. I have no new announcements as of now, but I'll update if I do. I want to acknowledge the reviews that I've received since the last update. Read them, don't read them. It doesn't matter to me. I just want to give my thanks to those who enjoy what I have to offer. So if you're not interested, just jump right into the story and enjoy it all the same.

MMM- I'm sorry it took so long, I've been on a sort of depression/writer's block phase that I'm just coming out of. I'm hoping to come up with more very soon. As for the questions you have, I think that they'll all be answered in this chapter.

I only own my plot and characters, I don't own Dreamworks plot and characters. You know that already. Enjoy the newest update!

"This is nuts, Hiccup. Tori hasn't left her house in days!" Astrid exclaimed. The rest of the riders were gathered in the arena, not necessarily doing any training. "She can't stay there forever!"

"I know, Astrid," Hiccup responded, still pacing and thinking. "I don't think she wants to either, to be honest, but I can't really blame her. That Skrill definitely didn't respond the way I had hoped."

"You think?" Snotlout asked loudly…and sarcastically.

With glares from their dragons, even Hookfang, Fishlegs began, "I have to agree that the way that Skrill acted was strange, even for a mother, but didn't you guys notice?"

Hiccup turned to him, his brow furrowed as he urged, "Notice what?"

"Any Viking foolish enough to get between a dragon mother and its baby is as good as fried. That much is pure fact, and the Skrill is one of the most vicious you can find in the dragon world. Those two together would mean that nobody should survive that situation."

"And? What's the point?" Snotlout exclaimed impatiently.

"The point, Snotlout, is that somehow, Tori did survive completely unharmed. And even then, if that Skrill wanted to hurt Tori, it would have done it right there and then, but it didn't. The question is why. And even then, why did it try to take Tori away?"

Now that definitely raised some questions in all of the riders. They had dealt with a Skrill once before. They really didn't want to deal with that again, but this situation was completely different.

That Skrill was just a gigantic, scaly bundle of destruction and could not be contained. These Skrills were certainly powerful and had the capability of causing a lot of damage, but only seemed interested in retrieving their baby in peace…along with Tori, for some strange reason.

Hiccup put a hand to his chin, "That is a good question, Fishlegs. That mother Skrill seemed really interested in Tori for some reason…"

The twins began to snicker loudly, causing a scene among the riders. Snotlout and Astrid glared while Hiccup and Fishlegs were confused…and a little creeped out.

"Uh…care to share your thoughts, guys?" Hiccup asked.

"We thought you'd never ask, my dear Hiccup," Ruffnut paced in front of the group in one direction, and her brother in the other. "When you really think about it, it's quite obvious what happened."

"Yes! Quite obvious," Tuffnut exclaimed, nearly startling everyone. "Now, let us think: why would a mother Skrill want Tori, if not to kill? And maim…and devour…"

"We get it, Tuff," Astrid stopped before it could get more out of control. "Your point?"

"Well, with the baby Skrill, one named Spark being so close to one Tori Korrinston, would more than likely rub off the scent of a baby Skrill right onto Tori's person. Therefore, why did the mother Skrill want her?"

Ruffnut then finished, "Because the Skrill, with the help of Spark's scent, thought Tori was a baby Skrill as well! With that, the mother Skrill was doing what mother knows best and taking her back to its nest to be raised as a Skrill!"

Everyone jerked back in shock. That explanation…actually made sense. There were still a number of possibilities, but it most certainly did give reasonable answers to their questions.

"That is…brilliant, guys!" Hiccup laughed a bit, once again being pleasantly surprised by the twins' rare moments of helpfulness. "How'd you figure that out?"

"Thorston secret," Tuffnut answered, followed by Ruffnut adding, "Plus, the way that Skrill was sniffing at her kind of gave it away. We pay attention too, you know."

Fishlegs seemed to have come to a realization just then, "Hiccup, you don't think that's why Tori didn't want to get so close with Spark, do you?"

"Fishlegs, I think that's exactly why Tori didn't want to let that happen."

"If she didn't want that happening, why didn't she just say something to us?" Astrid questioned.

"That's exactly what we're going to find out when we find Tori."

Toothless sniffed along the stable that belonged to Nightshade, catching a strong scent along with a warm pen. Tori, Nightshade, and Shoo were all gone, but wherever they went, they didn't leave too long ago.

"Where in the name of Thor could my future wife have gone to this time?" Snotlout complained before looking into barrel. "Yoohoo. Tori Jorgenson? It's your Viking in shining Gronckle Iron!"

A collective group of groans echoed throughout the cave-like stable. Astrid came up from the bottom and said, "She's not in her room either, but Blyn did tell me that wherever she went, she took Spark with her."

"After going through all that trouble to keep herself distant?" Hiccup wondered aloud.

Fishlegs, after a moment of thought, reasoned, "Actually, now that the mother Skrill tried to take Tori anyway, I guess it doesn't make a difference whether or not she gets close with Spark."

"Now the question is if they did leave Berk, where would they go?"

"Well, I bet we can cross Evergreen Island off the list," Tuffnut stated. "You know, since there was those two Skrills that tried to kidnap her. And are probably still there."

"Yeah, we get it, Tuffnut."

Tori took in a deep, calm breath as she held out Spark in front of her, "Look, Spark, I finally understand you really believe I'm your mother. I don't know why, but I guess that's how it is."

Spark's small feet kicked out as he squirmed in her grasp. He kept growling and chirping happily even if he didn't quite know exactly what she was saying.

"The point is that I'm not you're mother and you need to understand that you are a Skrill," she told him, setting him on a rock.

In order for complete privacy, Tori and Nightshade had left for Windrush Island, one that would help the most. The island was famous for its hills and the constant wind currents.

The perfect place to teach a baby dragon to fly.

"So, Skrills are dragons, and most dragons fly. You are a Skrill, so let's get flying," Tori told him. The sooner she could get Spark to understand that he's a Skrill and belongs with other Skrills, the better.

Spark's lilac eyes followed Tori as she climbed onto Nightshade's back, "Just follow us and do as Nightshade does."

Nightshade huffed, charging downhill before opening his wings and allowing the wind to glide him down the rest of the hill. Spark screeched desperately, jumping off of the rock and running after them.

"No, no! You need to open your wings!" Tori yelled out, spreading her arms and flapping them up and down. Even Nightshade roared and flapped his wings as an example.

Still crying out, Spark opened his wings out. The trainer and dragon looked on hopefully, but it didn't last long. The Skrill hatchling tripped over his own feet, rolling down the rest of the hill before skidding across the grass on his belly at the feet of Tori and Nightshade.

"Oooh. I was hoping that would go better," Tori rubbed the back of her neck in disappointment. Spark threw his head back and wailed, making Tori kneel down and pet his head, "Hey, you're okay. Don't cry."

He almost immediately stopped, getting back to his feet and flapped his wings, growling out in joy. Tori scooped him up in her arms and remounted Nightshade.

"Okay, let's try this one more time."

Tori ended up repeating that about five more times before any decent results came up. She didn't know what had changed this time, but whatever happened, it was progress.

"Don't flap your wings, just let the wind glide you down the hill!" Tori called up as Spark began charging forward from the top once again.

This time he actually listened and let his wings open out as wide as they would go. He was startled when the wind suddenly lifted him up in the air, if only a few feet from the ground.

"It's okay! Just keep still and you'll be fine!"

Spark kept as still as he could and found that he could keep himself in the air. It went well for a while until the wind currents picked up. He screeched in distress as he was tossed high into the air and out of the current.

"I got you! I got you!"

Tori backed up, her arms held out wide to catch the Skrill hatchling. The second she did, Tori was thrown back and rolled back into a boulder.

Nightshade cried out in concern and rushed over, using his tails to lift her up to her feet. Tori shook her head from the collision and sighed,

"Well, it was better than last time. You're improving a lot."

Spark squirmed in her embrace and chirped in delight. He really loved his mother a lot. He had no idea why she was relying on Nightshade to teach him to fly instead of doing it herself, but as long they were spending time together, that was all that mattered to him.

Nightshade's pupils constricted dramatically, turning his head up to the sky that was starting to fill with clouds. He hissed very loudly, his tails unraveling in an instant.

"Nightshade?" Tori turned to him, not understanding what was wrong. "What's up?"

Spark perked up at the sight of the dark clouds gathering above them. He flapped his wings and cried out joyously.

Tori paled, "Oh no."

Dark storm clouds. Nightshade getting agitated. Spark getting excited. This wasn't going to end well.

"Nightshade, we need to go!" Tori rushed to climb onto Nightshade's back, but then stopped. She stepped back, setting Spark on the ground, "Stay here, Spark. You need to go back to your mother. If I ever get the chance, I'll come visit you."

She kissed his snout before dashing onto her dragon's back. He did try to scurry after her, but a boom of thunder made him stop and look back up at the clouds. A dark form shot down from the clouds and opened its wings to slow the fall.

The father Skrill landed mere feet away from the hatchling, who stumbled back from the ground shaking at his descent. Still, Spark didn't feel afraid. In fact, he decided to investigate the larger Skrill further by cautiously approaching him.

The father Skrill kept his eyes focused on his hatchling as he came closer. When he came close enough, Spark bumped his snout against his father's and sent a small shock to him before jumping back. Spark's tail waved in anticipation as he waited for the larger dragon's response.

He hissed lightly before bumping his larger snout back, sending a shock of his own. Spark jumped up and down, crying out in joy as he came closer to him. The adult Skrill grabbed Spark by his tail and set him on his back, which like the last time, Spark did not mind at all.

With a flash of lightning, the two Skrills shot off into the sky and out of sight. Tori and Nightshade peeked out from behind the rocks.

"Bye, Spark. I'm really going to miss him," Tori smiled. "It's for the best though, right Nightshade?"

The Triple Stryke hummed a bit in content. Sure, the hatchling was cute and it wasn't his fault that all of this happened, but he couldn't hate Spark. At least now, though, that all of it was finally over.

Oh, how wrong they were.

The mother Skrill was silent as she dove down towards the Viking and her dragon. She raised her legs, releasing her talons and readied herself to snatch.

Tori yelped as her arms were clamped onto and yanked into the air. Nightshade's look of surprise became very distant very quickly as she was pulled further up into the air. She struggled in the Skrill's grip, desperately trying to shake her way out.

Nightshade quickly shook off his surprise and roared, taking off after them. The two dragons were Strike-class dragons, making the chase all the more challenging. In theory, the Skrill should have been able to outfly Nightshade easily, but with Tori's added weight, it was a tad bit more difficult.

"NIGHTSHADE, HELP!" Tori called out, a few tears escaping her eyes in light of the situation.

That cry infuriated Nightshade to no end, growling viciously as he fired blasts at the mother Skrill. Each of the blasts she had managed to dodge easily, but also managed to tire herself quite a bit with Tori's constant squirming.

"Let me go! I haven't done anything to you! I wasn't the one who stole your egg! I don't even know where your nest is!"

The mother Skrill had listened, maybe even had understood some of what Tori was talking about since she slowed down a bit and turned her electric blue eyes down at the Viking. That, however, was her big mistake.

A blast of Nightshade's fire struck her on the back. She shrieked in pain, releasing her grip on Tori altogether.

It's that day all over again, Tori internally whimpered as she fell down towards the open sea. Nightshade dove down after her, his hope rising more and more as he got closer to her.

Suddenly, Tori grunted in pain as she hit her head on the father Skrill and continued to fall. That blunt hit, however, was enough to knock her out almost instantly. This made Nightshade all the more desperate to reach her, tucking his wings in more tightly to gain more speed. He was almost there…!

BOOM!

Nightshade roared in pain as white lightning struck his wing, sending him crashing down into the water. The mother Skrill swooped down and snatched Tori by her waist before taking off. The father Skrill's mouth smoked a bit from the blast as he quickly followed after his mate.

Nightshade shot out of the surface of the water, swimming and dragging himself onto the shore of a small, practically deserted island. He weakly pushed his body up before collapsing into the sand.

"Windrush Island, this is the last possible island they could have gone to!" Hiccup stated, he and the other riders diving down to the island.

"Tori! Tori, get out here!" Astrid called out. "We need to talk!"

There was no response. Only the sounds of the wind currents across the island could be heard among the riders and their dragons.

Meatlug sniffed at the ground, wagging her tail in glee. Fishlegs knelt down and examined what she had found.

"I've got boot prints and dragon prints over here. They definitely look like Nightshade's. It looks like they really were here not too long ago."

The Night Fury sniffed at the ground as well, churring a bit. He looked around restlessly at the rest of the island as if he could sense what had happened earlier.

"Why come here of all places, though?" Astrid asked. "There isn't much on this island except for hilltops and wind."

"At this point, it doesn't matter why they were here, only that they were. We'll have to spread out from here and find them. I doubt they went too far from here."

The riders mounted up and paired off, heading into different directions. Hiccup and Astrid to the west, Fishlegs and Snotlout to the east, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut to the south. So far, they were flying over nothing but open ocean and there was no other Viking or Triple Stryke in sight.

"I'll admit I don't know Tori all that well, but it's really strange that she'd just disappear," said Fishlegs.

"Ha! Of course you'd say that, Fishface. You don't know her as well as I do," Snotlout boasted.

Fishlegs rolled his eyes annoyed. Meatlug looked around in the water for any sign of the Viking, completely ignoring their conversation. Hookfang was doing the same, but also couldn't help but roll his eyes at his rider.

"Can we just focus on finding Tori and Nightshade?"

"Why yes, I will focus on finding my future wife and dragon-in-law."

"Tori!"

"Nightshade!"

"Shoo-Shoo!" Tuffnut called out into the sky. "I'm sorry I wrestled you into that crate! I think we can really be good friends now!"

The search with Hiccup and Astrid was entirely silent, only speaking every now and then to look for any updates. So far, nothing was reported.

Astrid couldn't help but ask Hiccup, "Why would Tori come out this far after staying inside for days?"

"I don't know. We'll just have to ask her when we find her."

Toothless sniffed the air, suddenly picking up on a familiar scent. He growled softly, alerting his rider. Stormfly followed his lead and sniffed the air. She squawked after identifying the scent as well.

"Looks like they've got something. Take us there, bud," Hiccup told him.

The dragons shot off in the direction of the scent on the wind. The closer they got, the more restless they seemed to get.

"Hey, wait! Down there! Isn't that-"

"It is. It's Nightshade," Hiccup confirmed.

They dove down to the little island where the Triple Stryke was still lying in the sand. His breathing was shallow and he was barely awake.

Even when Hiccup and Astrid landed, he didn't move an inch. Hiccup approached and looked him over,

"It looks like he was hit on the wing. Badly, too."

"Definitely doesn't look like the work of Outcasts or Berserkers."

"No," Hiccup shook his head, "but that mark from the shot looks familiar."

Indeed it did. It looked too much like the scorch mark made by a Skrill's lightning blast. They had never seen it in the form of a flesh wound, but it was still unmistakable.

"The Skrill did this? They had to have gotten the drop on them out here."

Hiccup nodded, running a hand over the wound, "Still warm. They were here not too long ago."

The Triple Stryke's eyes snapped open at the feel of a hand on his wound. At first, he had thought it was Tori's hand, but then his vision cleared and saw only Hiccup, Astrid and their dragons. Then he remembered: the Skrills! Tori!

Nightshade turned his head and roared, scrambling to his feet in an attempt to take off. However, he barely took two steps forward before he collapsed to the dirt. The wound from the Skrill's blast had done some serious damage, leaving him incapable of flying for a while.

"Take it easy, Nightshade. You're in no condition to fly," Hiccup said to him.

The Triple Stryke hissed at him irritably, pushing himself to take off once again. Like last time, he could barely walk let alone fly. Hiccup patted his snout.

"Nightshade, listen to me. I don't know where they took Tori or why, but we'll get her back. I promise."

Nightshade's pupils dilated and he sadly looked off into the distance where he had last seen Tori. He whimpered loudly and let his body collapse onto the sand.

"If that blast is still warm, that means that we can still catch up to them, right?"

"We should be able to. We at least know which direction to start looking. Nightshade seems pretty sure they took off that way," Hiccup pointed out towards the open ocean to the northwest.

Agmund paced restlessly through the hut, occasionally muttering to himself and shaking his head. Verna was setting the table for dinner and Blyn was seated as he read through the Book of Dragons.

"Agmund, dear. You're going to make a rut in the floor if you keep that up."

Agmund shook his head and continued to pace, "Tori never leaves without sayin' a word and now it's dusk. She should've been back by now."

"And she will. She also has her dragons with her. What could possibly happen?"

"What happened?!"

"Where're Hiccup and Astrid?"

"Where're they? Where's Tori?!"

"Make way!" Gobber and Stoick pushed through the crowd as they were making quite a commotion. "What's got you all so jumpy?"

"Uh, it's a long story, but…" Fishlegs was hesitant as he gestured to Nightshade.

It appeared that he, Snotlout and the twins had carried Nightshade back to Berk on a large tarp. The Triple Stryke was not in good condition what with the still fresh wound from the lightning blast that not only hit his wing, but singed nearly half of the saddle. That really begged the question of was his rider on him when that blast hit him…

"What happened?" Stoick asked them.

"According to Hiccup and Astrid, it looks like the two Skrills were responsible for this. They probably waited until Tori was alone and snatched her away. As for Nightshade, it looks like he tried to get her back, but was overpowered."

The chief had his brows furrowed as he looked down at the dragon. His breathing was labored and he kept looking out towards the horizon.

"Get'im to the infirmary. He needs to be patched up."

"Alright, ya poor beast. Let's get goin'," Gobber pulled at Nightshade's saddle. While the Triple Stryke shakily got to his feet, he refused to move any further…at least at first.

As soon as he heard the flapping of wings, he turned his head sharply to the sky. He roared out and stumbled forward.

"'ey! Get back here, ya stubborn lizard!"

Hiccup and Astrid landed, both them and their dragons exhausted. Nightshade staggered to them, sniffing around furiously for any sign of his trainer. Unfortunately, only two dragons and two Vikings came back.

"Any sign of her?" Fishlegs asked them.

"Sort of," Astrid reached back and held up a shield, well half of one. The same one she went into dragon training with a while ago. "We at least know where she might be."

"Then if you knew, why isn't she here right now?" Snotlout asked.

"We think she's somewhere on Thunderpeak Island. There's no way to get close to that island, at least not by flying," Hiccup answered as soon as he dismounted Toothless.

Ah, Thunderpeak Island. The one island that seemed to be constantly ravaged by thunderstorms and heat lightning. Certainly too dangerous for flying at high altitudes, and the storms make low altitude flying no easier.

Thunderpeak Island consisted of at least quite a few mountain tops, but the land below is still a mystery to everyone. Still, with all of that in mind, it seems like the perfect place for a Skrill's nest to be.

"Great, so that means we somehow have to find a way to get to Thunderpeak Island without getting blasted by lightning!" Snotlout shouted.

"What's the matter, Snotlout? Isn't Tori worth all of the lightning storms?" Astrid teased.

Snotlout scoffed, "Yeah right."

Everyone turned to him, looking at him strangely if not a bit irritably, he cleared his throat and responded, "I mean yeah, right. Of course she is. Stop looking at me like that!"

"We'll need to do some planning on how we're going to get there as safely as possible," Hiccup announced to the rest of the riders.

"Assuming that Tori is still alive," Ruffnut brought up.

"Ruffnut, I doubt that the Skrills would have brought Tori all that way just to kill her. Besides, what happened to them thinking Tori was a baby dragon that needed protection?"

"Just saying…"

Lightning flashed and thunder crashed down the shores of Thunderpeak Island. The father Skrill had his talons latched into the solid rock at the peak of a steep cliff. He shrieked into the sky as lightning struck the peak, spreading down to him as he absorbed the lightning to store for later use.

He turned and squeezed through the hole in the cliff, sliding right through into the nest.

It was a surprisingly spacious cave, perfect for a growing family of dragons. He tiredly trudged his way over to the back of the cave with the rest of the family. The mother was resting peacefully, her body curled up around her babies and the remaining eggs.

Tori was the closest to her, tucked right under the dragon's wing. Spark was purring as he slept upon his birth mother's back. Around them were a clutch of eggs, all of them of different colors and patterns.

The father dropped down, overlapping his tail with his mate's and completing the protective circle over their babies. His golden eyes took one last glance at the mouth of the cave, the only source of light illuminating the cave.

He let out a deep breath before closing his eyes and joining his family in sleep.