After this incident, Fishlegs was very keen to begin investigating the areas attacked by dragons and see if there was any pattern, and was quite insistent on Hiccup coming with him. Hiccup was silently relieved when Stoick banned all boat voyages and dragon flights for the time being.

"It's too dangerous," he told the village. "Gothi has predicted that this winter will be the most brutal Berk has seen in years. A boat would not stand a chance. A dragon might, but I will not allow any riders to try and battle the elements too. And with those dragons that attacked us still at large, it will be safer for the moment if we remain on Berk."

The Berkian teens were furious. Astrid took her axe and stormed into the forest, and did not return for several hours. Snotlout complained to anyone that would listen (mostly the twins, to their annoyance) that he and Hookfang could take the dragons if they were allowed, and the twins started fighting worse than ever.

The dragons on Berk grew restless. Hookfang, Meatlug, and Stormfly frequented the sky often; the chief could not ban them from flying without a rider after all. Toothless however, was often caught pacing rapidly, and disappearing at night time.

Fishlegs and Hiccup however, spent hours in the Meade Hall, pouring over any information they could find about dragons. Given that a lot of Vikings could not read or write, and the ones that could rarely wrote anything down, there wasn't a lot to go on.

"How are you sleeping now Hiccup?" asked Fishlegs. Hiccup did not answer.

"No more nightmares?"

Hiccup sighed. "They're worse than ever."

Before Fishlegs could respond, the great doors of the Meade Hall opened, and Gobber came in, his peg leg echoing in the vast ceilings.

"I thought I might find you in here," he said. He was carrying a small stack of papers, which he dumped unceremoniously in front of Hiccup. Several papers slipped onto the floor.

"What's this?" questioned Hiccup. Gobber grinned.

"I found a bunch of old notes in the armoury, stuffed behind some rusty maces at the very back."

Hiccup picked up the topmost piece. It had been crumpled and torn, but in now very faded ink, there was seemed to be a crude drawing of a gronkle.

"I think they might be someone's diary pages," Gobber scoffed; the idea of a Viking having a diary was somewhat laughable. "Anyway, just thought it might be helpful." With that, he turned and left, rather loudly.

Fishlegs excitedly grabbed another piece of paper from the pile and began to read.

Hiccup picked up the next piece. He struggled to read the washed-out ink, but from what he could make out, the page was dated maybe a hundred years ago.

'A new dragon has appeared in the last few raids, or, at least we think it has. No one has ever seen it, but you hear it screech, then everything explodes around you. I think it is as black as night, so it can stay hidden. The other Vikings have dubbed it 'The Night Fury'.'

"Hey," said Hiccup. "Looks like the first appearance of Toothless." He showed the paper to Fishlegs, who took it and read it feverishly. Hiccup smiled to himself over how excited Fishlegs was getting over these diary pieces.

For a while, they read in silence, and then Fishlegs cleared his throat.

"One of these pages mentions having a nightmare," he said. Hiccup said nothing. Fishlegs continued "You're still having nightmares." When Hiccup still didn't answer, Fishlegs persisted. "I think you should go see Gothi, right now."

"Fishlegs, we have so much to go through!" argued Hiccup, motioning to the massive piles of paper around them.

"I'll keep reading," decided Fishlegs. "You go right now and get yourself sorted out."

"But Fishlegs, I…"

"No 'buts' Hiccup!" interrupted Fishlegs. He stood up, using his impressive height to look down at him. "You're a mess. You've lost weight and you're so pale now. Others might not have noticed, but I have, and it makes me worry." He sat back down, and let out a shaky breath. "Winter is coming Hiccup," he said. "And I worry that the way you are now, you might not make it through. Please, just go see Gothi."

Hiccup stared at him, stunned. Finally, he nodded, and made his way out of the Meade Hall.

Despite it being a relatively cold day, Hiccup still felt himself starting to sweat as he ascended all the stairs to Gothi's house. Even though he had known her all his life, and he knew he was there to get help, he still felt a knot form inside his stomach. Trying to shake the feeling, he raised his hand and knocked.

Gothi opened the door. Hiccup had a rare moment of feeling tall, as she came up to about his armpit in height. She beckoned him in. It was much darker inside, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. It was stifling hot in there, the heat a stark contrast to the cold outside.

She motioned for him to sit on a short stool by the fire. She herself sat in an old, and comfortable looking chair. She looked at him expectantly. When he did nothing, she reached over, and touched his forehead briefly. Tell me what's bothering you.

"Well, um…" Hiccup stammered, unsure of where to start. "Do you remember when I was attacked by the Knifewing?"

Gothi nodded.

"So…I almost died. I know I almost died when I was battling the Red Death too, but I was unconscious for the 'almost dying' part. This time, I knew I was going to die, and it was so much worse." He was rambling, he knew it. He let out a shaky breath before continuing. "Ever since then, I've been having nightmares."

Gothi raised an eyebrow.

Hiccup gulped. "I see my mother's corpse, or I relive falling into the inferno, or into the ocean. I have even dreamt that Toothless, my best friend, tried to eat me. I'm so afraid, and so confused. I can't sleep, I can't eat, and I can't seem to concentrate on anything!" He was surprised to find himself panting a little from that outburst. He unfurled his fists and laid them on his knees. He didn't even realised he had clenched them that tight, leaving crescent shaped dents in his palms. "I even had a hallucination that I was dying. It made me so scared." He hoped Gothi did not notice as he blinked back some tears. These are things that were so difficult to tell Fishlegs, and he couldn't even tell him everything, and yet, he was pouring his heart out to Gothi. He wondered if Gothi was using some sort of power to get him to open up completely.

Gothi nodded thoughfully. She got up from her seat, her joints creaking as she did so, and walked over to the shelf on the wall. There sat an enormous array of different bottles and jars, the contents of many Hiccup knew he would not be able to recognise. Gothi selected a small pot and brought it back over to the fire. She removed the lid, and took a pinch of what appeared to be powder out of it. With one swift motion, she threw the powder into the fire.

The fumes hit Hiccup like a tonne of dragon droppings. He felt dizzy, and fought the urge to throw up, as the room seemed to dissolve in front of him. He was panicking, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest.

Suddenly, he found himself in the cove. He instantly felt at home, and his heart rate returned to normal. Maybe the whole encounter with Gothel had been a dream? Maybe this whole crazy ordeal had been a nightmare that he would soon forget. He smiled a little at the thought, and set about finding Toothless. If Hiccup were in the cove then the dragon could not be too far behind.

"You will not find Toothless here."

Oh my gosh, the suspense!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a joyful Kwanzaa, or if you celebrate none of these, an awesome New year.

So I obviously failed in my new year's resolution to get this story done by 2018. However, my new goal is to get it done before I start my new job. I believe in me!

Anyway, let me know what you thought :)