Sorry for keeping you guys waiting! Midterms... woohoo... But they are over now and I'm back!

Mark (guest): Don't worry, the other riders will play their part. I though about them all going, but then Stoick would have to deal with six dragon riders all at once, one of them being his son. I just though it would overwhelm Berk a little.

Thank you guys so much for all the favs and follows this still gets. I had thought the hype would be over by now, but the hype continues. I love it!

Please keep reviewing. I'll try to answer any questions you might have, if you don't have an account I do it in the A/N before each chapter.

Anyways, here's chapter 11!

Enjoy!

Chapter 11 The journey

Two Night Fury's were zipping across the ocean, the water rippling beneath their wings. The sun was high in the clear blue sky, the water was calm. Until the Night Fury's came around that is. They were going full speed. Not because they had an appointment to make, but just because they could. And because their riders enjoyed it.

In the distance, it appeared like small fountains were spontaneously rising from the water. When they got closer, they saw it was a group of Humpback whales. The large creatures were gliding through the water, surfacing now and then to breath, shooting water up to the dragons.

Toothless and Snowflake made it a game. They would land on the backs of the whales that surfaced, trying to catch the water they blew from their blowhole. Their riders let them. They had a long journey ahead of them, might as well let the dragons have some fun. After a few hours, they parted ways with the whales.

As the night drew closer, the dragons started slowing down. They had to reserve some of their energy to keep flying through the night. Night Fury's could sleep while flying, but it didn't go very fast. It would be at least another day until they reached Spain, so they couldn't afford to tire themselves out. They flew up, rising above the clouds where the night had already taken hold. The sky was bright and littered with stars. The moon was in front of them, shining on the clouds below. It wasn't full though, only a half, but the light was still bright enough for them to see.

Because there was no possible comfortable way to sleep on the back of a dragon, they settled for a light sleep. Wrenlou slept well before Hiccup did, who stayed awake for most the night. Toothless was humming softly in his sleep, and the sound eventually lulled him to sleep.

The day started out beautiful. The sun rose early, painting the sea and the sky with the brightest colours. The orange glow set the sea on fire. After finishing their own meal, the riders let the dragons hunt for fish, which they did eagerly. Soon, both had a mouthful of fish they gulped down. Spain wouldn't be too far away now.

They reached land around noon. They could see the fishing boats just off shore, hauling in their catch. They couldn't afford being spotted, so they circled around the boats before finally setting down.

Because it was early, they decided to go into the nearest town and see if they could get something to eat. The dragons had already found a save place to sleep, so they didn't worry about that.

The little village was bursting with activity. The fishermen they had seen off shore had returned and the market was filled with people. There were stalls with all sorts of things. Naturally, there were plenty of fish stalls, or shellfish stalls, even one that had sharks. Sharks!

But there were also the stalls with the exotic animals from the east, as the vendors called it. There were pots, cutlery, cups. They stopped at a fruit stall to buy some oranges and settled down at the docks, watching the turmoil on the water.

'It's been a long time since I had these.' Hiccup said, peeling one of the oranges. 'Last time was... Morocco I think.'

'That would be three years ago. And Morocco isn't that far away you know.'

'I know.'

They collected the orange peels on a pile between them, until a man with a wheelbarrow came along. The thing was filled with leftover food, orange peels and other stuff. He collected the pile of peels and left again.

'Trash collectors.' Hiccup said. 'Didn't see those last time we were here.'

'The last time we were in Spain, we were nowhere near the coast. This is a multicultural town. Remember Morocco? They had trash collectors there. Probably just stole the idea from them.'

They sat at the docks for the remainder of the day. As the sun started to make it's way down towards the water, the ships returned and soon the bay was empty. The orange light of the sun streaked across the water.

'I suggest we pick up a few more oranges before we leave tomorrow.' Wrenlou said while standing up and stretching his body.

Hiccup nodded before standing up himself. They walked back to where they left the dragons, and settled down for the night.

They were up early, before the sunrise. That way they could let the dragons eat without the fishermen seeing them. After that they went back into town. The sun was just rising above the horizon, casting long shadows on the ground. They found the fruit merchant and filled their backs with the oranges they both liked so much and went back to the dragons. After getting their camping gear on the saddles, they took off. Because they had to avoid being seen, they flew as high in the sky as possible. That way anyone looking up would think they were birds.

The journey went swiftly. By nightfall they were past the British Isles. Although it would have been a lot quicker to cut across the land, it was saver to go over the shore. That, and it allowed the dragons to eat. They decided to set down on a island just north of the landmass they just passed. It was uninhabited, which made is much easier to find a suitable place to sleep.

After letting the dragons hunt for fish, they settled down to roast some for themselves. Top that off with oranges, ale and some bread and they had a pretty decent meal.

'The stars are different here. Brighter, it seems.'

Wrenlou looked up. Hiccup was right, the stars did seem brighter.

'Well, the nights are darker. In Dragoncity there is always some light somewhere.'

'True.' Hiccup whispered, looking down at his foot.

'You okay?'

Hiccup sighed before taking of his prosthetic and started rubbing the stump. 'Yeah, I guess.'

'Get some sleep. At least try too. We still have a long flight ahead of us.'

Hiccup couldn't sleep that night. He knew that they would most likely reach Berk by nightfall tomorrow and to be honest, he was scared. Scared about what hos father would say if he saw him again, scared about what he would think of Toothless. When he finally did fall asleep, he slept uneasy. He tossed and turned the entire night, his fear becoming visual in his dreams. He didn't notice that Toothless gently wrapped him in his wings, forming a protective barrier between his rider and the terrors of the outside world. The dragon only wished he could do the same for the terrors in Hiccup's head.

When he woke up it was black all around. At first he didn't understand, surely the sun had risen by now. He extended a hand and touched the blackness that surrounded him. Almost instantly it turned into a wing as Toothless lifted it to reveal his rider, cooing softly. He looked around, blinking at the bright sunlight and found that Wrenlou had already started a fire. The man looked up when he crawled out from Toothless's wing, snapping the prosthetic back in place.

'Nightmares again?'

'How do you know?'

Well, Toothless never takes you in his wings unless you're sick, injured or having nightmares. Since you're neither sock nor injured... I guess I figured...' He shrugged.

'You're right though. Although it weren't real nightmares. Not like the ones I've had before. More like... uneasy dream.'

'It's not too late to turn back.' Wrenlou said while handing him a roasted fish and some ale.

'Yeah I know. But I started this, I will see it through.'

'Do you know how you're going to... you know... introduce your dad...' He gestured to Toothless.

'No.' Hiccup said with a sigh. 'I'll think about that along the way.'

They finished their breakfast in silence and quickly packed their blankets and bedrolls. When they were sure they had everything, they mounted the dragons. The first thing they did was let them eat. The dragons plucked the fish out of the water, tossing them at each other just for the fun of it.

They crossed the North Sea to Norway, and Wrenlou shivered in the cold air. The temperature was rapidly dropping now and they couldn't maintain their high altitude.

'Is it always this cold here?'

Hiccup looked over to Wrenlou. He had forgotten that he was born in the tropics and was used to heat, not cold. The man was shivering, his teeth almost clattering. He pulled the blanket out of his saddleback and wrapped it around his shoulders.

'It isn't even winter yet.' Hiccup answered. 'When the snow comes it will be a lot colder.'

'How do people even survive here.'

'We're vikings. We have stubbornness issues.'

'I've noticed the stubborn part, yes.'

Hiccup smiled weakly. He grew quiet the closer they got to Berk. The sun set early, taking every last bit of warmth with it. Wrenlou was slowly getting used to it, and having Snowflake's body heat radiating of her like a tiny sun helped keep him warm.

It was a few hours after dark when they saw the lights far below. Urging the dragons to fly lower, they saw a village scattered onto a rock. Hiccup took a deep breath.

'Is that it?'

Hiccup nodded. He had only seen it a few times from dragon back, and from up here it looked so small... he remembered it being bigger. Hadn't there been more houses along the south side? He didn't have time to think about it, because a Nadder suddenly shot past him. The dragon was soon followed by many others, all gunning down on the village far below.

'What in the name...'

Hiccup looked at Wrenlou, who stared back in confusion.

'Dragon raid.'

The place they set down on the second, technically third, night would be Texel, the largest island in the dutch archipelago. The landmass they saw would be the Netherlands, specifically North-Holland. I have no idea if it would be uninhabited at their time, but for now it is. And I have placed Berk somewhere along the Norse coast, so it would be located in the Norwegian Sea.