Greetings all!

Apologies for the lateness of this chapter. Work, work and more work along with a chest infection and an emotional breakdown got in the way of this chapter but it's finally here.

Thanks so much for your continued support with this and my other stories. I will get to updating them as soon as I can and I can only beg for your patience while I get them back up to speed as I wanted to get this update done before anything else while keeping my regular word count.

There's a lot going on this chapter and the time frame may seem a bit wired but believe me it all serves a purpose. Congrats to the folks who correctly guessed what all the fuss was about in the last chapter.

So without further ado

Enjoy!


I, Alone

chapter 11

Solitude is not loneliness PT2


(The lonely Island, present day, sunset)

'It's weird thing …. a name' Hiccup thought as he looked up from the flames of the camp fire, taking his first noticeable breath in a while.

A name is not just something that tells everyone who you are, but in turn, it can automatically define what you are. All you need is to hear someone's name for the first time and immediately preconceptions are formed, impressions are made and potential relationships succeed or fail.

'To be given a great name seemed to be half the battle for someone on Berk to be considered a proper Viking and be given the according respect', Hiccup mused as he thought of the best names that seemed to go hand in hand with 'true raw Viking-ness' as his father used to say.

Bork the Bold – Famous dragon expert – loved by all

Phlegma the Fierce – Head of the Berkian Shield-maidens – loved by all

Stoick the Vast – Terrifying chief of Berk – loved by all

Astrid Hofferson – The Divine Beauty – loved by … well … everyone!

Great names all and Vikings looked upon with favour and pride. Two things desperately lacking from his own experience.

'And yet … Why?', 'Why, oh WHY? In the name of all the gods of Asgard, did he of all people, have to be given the name ….. Hiccup?!' the boy mused as he muttered his own name over and over emphasising different syllables of the word and thinking of the different meanings of his name.

"Hiccup" - a surprising and involuntary reaction.

"HIC – cup" – an unforeseen problem that ruins a perfectly good plan.

"Huh - ICK - up" – a disappointing mistake that should never have happened.

"Hicc – ah - UPOP!" – a weak runt of a litter of animals

No matter what way he turned the sound of his own name, Hiccup could not seem to find any positive connotations, (his middle name was Horrendous for Thor's sake! which was a Fireworm pit of insults in itself), despite what had happened over the past two weeks.

It looked like, from birth Hiccup wasn't even given a chance and - regardless of any 'Gnome or troll scaring' qualities his name had - was inevitably doomed to fail.

And yet so much had happened, he had achieved so much and done things no Viking had ever done before. But still his own name seemed to stand in his way as a rod to whip him with, always serving to stir his deepest, darkest feelings of fear, anger, bitterness and self-loathing.

Running his hand through his scruffy auburn hair, Hiccup thought back to the tense stand-off that had got him thinking about this and just how powerful a name could be.


(FLASHBACK, The lonely Island, 18 days ago)

'This will not stand puny human! Give me what I want!'

Hiccup narrowed his eyes and stared hard back the Monstrous Nightmare wreathed in flame that was growling at him for some reason only Loki seemed to know. Recovering from his initial shock Hiccup felt his anger at the belligerent beast resurface and he stood as tall as he could.

"Well, what is this time you big spoilt lizard?!" Hiccup snarked, scowling at the large red Nightmare before looking to the three other dragons behind it and drawling , "seriously guys you really shouldn't be encouraging him in his tantrums!"

'No more delay! No more disrespect! This time my kin stand with me! You obey!'

In response the Nightmare growled and butted Hiccup hard in the chest with its long scaly snout forcing the boy back a step.

"Ow! Hey!" Hiccup shouted back smarting from the impact and making sure his clothes hadn't caught fire. The boy was about to start screaming at the dragon again but was surprised to see a growling Toothless and Sunset (now riding Toothless' saddle again) come between them, forcing them apart.

The Viking boy watched amazed as the Nightfury and Nightmare yipped, growled, roared and barked at each other in some sort of weird dragon conversation as the Terrible Terror, still gripping the saddle, interjected here and there with chirps of her own.

The stand-off dragged on for a few more minutes as the other dragons now came closer, surrounding Hiccup and Toothless, making the boy wary, yet more determined to figure out was going on. Seeing the Nightmare distracted gave Hiccup just enough time to place himself protectively over his drawings to prevent them from being incinerated

"What!? What is it you want?!" Hiccup asked darting his gaze around at his reptilian companions.

In the end it was the Deadly Nadder who finally gave Hiccup the breakthrough he had been looking for. The beautiful blue dragon, pranced forward, ruffled her wings gracefully and pushed herself against Toothless, drawing he Nightfury's attention. Hiccup looked bemused as the Nadder squawked and rubbed her large crested head against Toothless' neck, much to the black dragon's consternation. Then the Nadder looked directly at Hiccup, her piercing golden eyes lancing straight into him. She then pushed herself against Toothless again before darting her unflinching stare back at the boy. She was soon joined by the Gronkle and the Zippleback which even prodded at Sunset who squeaked indignantly at being smothered so.

It was then that the coin dropped for Hiccup as he realised what had sparked this little cur-fuffle.

"You ….. you want names!" he said, shocked that he hadn't realised sooner and forgotten how prideful dragons could be.

The collective growl of the assembled dragons confirmed the boy's statement and Toothless used it to break free of the dragon scrum, shake himself out and return to Hiccup's side nuzzling him, as if congratulating him for figuring out the answer, thus saving him from the uncomfortable dragon pile.

"Well I guess naming you shouldn't be too hard, right?" the boy said as he stepped forward holding out his hand only to have the eager Nadder push her big horned snout into it and purr heavily. Hiccup stared once more at her blazing yellow eyes and couldn't help be reminded of the beautiful blonde hair of her rider, the girl that constantly haunted his dreams. It also brought to mind the conflicting glorious fiery sunset and impending thunder-storm he had sent the two of them into when he had returned Astrid to Berk and what he had said just before they left.

"Stormfly!" Hiccup murmured causing the Deadly Nadder's eyes to widen. "You fly so fast, you outrun the storms of Thor himself! That sounds about right …. I bet Astrid would call you something like that ….. How do you like that girl?"

The Nadder threw her head in the air and flared her wings, roaring in what seemed to be triumph and acceptance of her name. The vain cocky strut Hiccup had come to recognize in the Nadder's gait was clearly evident as the dragon circled about before rubbing her head lovingly against him.

"Okay whos next?" Hiccup asked only to be nearly knocked over by the buzzing and puttering brown Gronkle that whined and threw big sloppy licks at him as its stumpy club-like tail wagged furiously. The goofy look on the dragon's face would have made Hiccup laugh all the more heartily were he not now slathered in Gronkle drool.

"Gah! Alright alright!" the boy protested under the enthusiastic affection, "Well you're definitely strong so you'll need a strong name, How about ….." Hiccup remembered how this particular Gronkle had killed the biggest hammer-head shark he had ever seen when he was talking to Astrid before. The sturdy brown dragon hadn't blasted it with fire or slashed with its stubby talons, it had simply dragged the huge shark out of the sea, dumped it on the sand then pummelled it into submission. Simple yet brutally effective, a far cry from the almost cheerful looking beast before him now.

"Meatlug"the name came out before Hiccup could even stop himself and was expecting the Gronkle to pummel him in offense. However the big faced dragon simply blinked and gave Hiccup another big lick to the face in thanks before puttering away to sit down beside the Nadder. "Uh your'e welcome?!" Hiccup stuttered in response surprised yet happy the dragon was content.

The Monstrous Nightmare then stomped up and Hiccup stole himself for a very tense confrontation.

'Now I have what is mine, no others to get in my way! Stupid Nadder and Gronkle, stealing my place!'

"HSSSSSSSS BANG!"

'Treachery!'

Everyone flinched as the Hideous Zippleback barged forward and using its gaseous exploding breath, shoved the Nightmare off to the side. The Nightmare growled in outrage but the twin heads of the crazy mystery class dragon snapped and chittered chaotically all around the Nightmare until the red dragon backed off slightly. Had it come to a fight Hiccup was pretty certain it would be a close run thing. Pound-for-pound the Zippleback was just as big as the Nightmare and with two heads, could deal out twice as much damage. Heads that had a pretty disgusting way of devouring their prey as Hiccup had also witnessed the previous day. It brought to mind what Fishlegs had said all the way back to the first time they had faced this particular species in dragon training.

"Razor sharp serrated teeth that inject venom to help with pre-digestion …."

Hiccup nearly retched as he recalled seeing the heads practically dissolving the once solid shark flesh into a lumpy pile of mush before sucking down their long-necked throats. It was pretty disgusting and along with the Zippleback's apparent lack of table manners, it made Hiccup want to throw up whilst inspiring him as to what he would call the crazy beast's heads.

"Barf and Belch!" Hiccup announced with a wry look on his face as the big expressive eyes of the Zippleback widened. The two heads stared hard the boy before looking to each other and exchanging low chitters and yips as if debating whether they were being insulted or not. Quickly the heads snapped to Hiccup who then found himself being playfully nuzzled from both the front and the back by the big two-headed dragon. "Ha! …. Kinda figured you guys would like that!" Hiccup crooned as he ran his hands over the two heads competing for his attention and chuckled at how some dragons could be as wacky and crude yet as lovable and loyal as some of the humans he knew.

The Zippleback would have continued its nuzzling forever ….

'How dare you make me wait! Give me what I want!'

But it was abruptly cut short as the Monstrous Nightmare, body flames reignited and eyes now completely slitted with rage grabbed Barf and Belch by both of their tails and hurled them to the side to land in a flailing screeching pile of dragon limbs. Before Hiccup could move to help the Zippleback that was down, the Monstrous Nightmare stomped in front of him and let out a sky shattering roar right into his face.

'This was supposed to be for me! Not these weak ones!'

Hiccup flinched only slightly at the sound, seeing exactly now the kind of the attitude the dragon was displaying

The attitude of a spoilt child.

And that was something Hiccup could understand. After all, he had grown up beside one of the most spoilt children in all of Viking-dom.

And he knew exactly how to deal with that.

Rather than shouting and dominating the beast like he had before, Hiccup simply straightened his stance, folded his arms across his chest and stared sternly back at the Nightmare and said, "Is that it? Are you done?"

The calm, belittling tone of Hiccup's voice seemed to startle the Nightmare and it roared again.

'No! I am far from done, If you will not give me what I want I will kill you!'

Hiccup this time was completely unfazed. He spoke even quieter this time, studying the Nightmare's expression very closely "You know, I don't have to give you a name dragon! In fact if you keep up this kind of behaviour, I won't give you what you want … ever!"

It was this statement that got just the reaction he had seen in many of the tantrum throwing children he had grown up with. That moment when a child realises they are not going to get what they want by whining ….. so they whine and scream even louder!

'NO NO NO! I am not JUST DRAGON! I deserve a name too! You will give me a name! NOW! NNNOOOOOOOWWWW!'

And as the Nightmare began stomping and snarling and breathing fire into air to try and intimidate the boy, Hiccup did what he had seen some of the smarter Viking parents do in the same situation with their recalcitrant kids. He simply shrugged and turned his back to the dragon as it continued to thrash around even more violently, demanding his attention.

'HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME! I WILL ROAST YOU, BURN YOU, RIP YOU, CLAW YOU, CHOMP YOU!'

Inside Hiccup was worried this was a mistake. The Nightmare could easily kill him now and he wouldn't even see it coming. He was inviting retaliation which was evident as the huge red beast snapped his jaws close to him several times. Toothless shifted round to intervene but Hiccup stayed him with a gesture, signalling to the Nightfury that he was going to solve this.

After a few minutes of snarling and biting the air, Hiccup heard the tone of the Nightmare's outburst gradually change.

"DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK! …. AARRGGHHH! …. I want a name! …. Run to your Nightfury and hide …. Why do you not hide! …. Why do you not fear me?! ….. Why have you never feared me?! ….. You will give me a name! …. RAAAAAAAAH ….. Give me a name! ….. p-p-p …

Soon, gone were the deep throaty roars as well as the light of its flames. Instead there was a high pitched, keening sound accompanied by the dragon nudging him in a much softer way in the back.

'… Please …. Give me a name …. My ….. my alpha ….'

At first Hiccup didn't respond but after the third nudge he finally turned around, his stern façade still up, to be greeted with the sight of the Monstrous Nightmare laying it's head at his feet, it's eyes no longer slitted with rage but rounded and mournful. The last time this dragon had cowered at his feet Hiccup had been a dominant force of rage and he had not cared for the dragon's feelings. But this time Hiccup had used a different way to subdue the creature and he actually felt compassion and mercy bubble in his chest at the pathetic look on the dragons face, astounded that he, a literal Hiccup had brought a dragon to it's knees by simply ignoring it and not by burying an axe in its skull.

'I will plead if I must …. I ….. need … a name …"

"You see?" Hiccup muttered quietly "You can't always get what you want with threats and fire. Are you going to behave now?" the seemingly chastened Nightmare gave a tiny nod of its head and whined again, once again begging for what it truly wanted. Hiccup, finally feeling he had made some sort of progress with the belligerent reptile, knelt down to look at it in the eyes, rubbing his hands soothingly up and down its long, warm snout.

"He touches me with such care … no fear … I a horrible dragon ….. I cannot break him with my strength … I have no strength …. I am broken and weak ….. I am nothing ….. '

"You are an amazing dragon" Hiccup crooned "And I don't want to have to constantly fight with you. But you have to stop this firing up to get what you want." The Nightmare gazed back, its eyes widening as it tried to assimilate what the small yet powerful human was saying to him, pushing its snout further into his hands, receiving a small chuckle from the boy.

'He raises me up? …. Why? …. After threatening to kill him ….. he still praises me …. when I am quiet …. his voice is so strong for me … his voice is for me alone!'

"Okay then" Hiccup chirped as he ran his hands over the dragons scales, becoming entranced by the huge teeth that protruded from the Nightmare's upper and lower jaws. Hiccup slid his fingers up one particularly vicious looking tooth and let his finger play lightly on the obviously sharply pointed tip. In that moment a name came to his mind. Lowering his voice to barely above a whisper, he looked the Monstrous Nightmare dead in the eye and the still silence of the night was broken by one word.

"Hookfang!"

'Hook? ….. Fang?'

The huge red dragon flinched slightly at the word as Hiccup spoke again with more strength and standing up, "You are Hookfang! You are mighty, you are a warrior, you are indestructible and ….. you are quite possibly the most belligerent Monstrous Nightmare I've ever met!"

Hookfang recoiled, taking a few steps back at Hiccup's sarcastically complementary words.

'He calls me mighty? ….. he calls me a warrior? …. He says I cannot be broken and yet I live broken in service to him? ….. how can this be? … he ….. he ….. does not take my service ….. he only takes what I would willingly give and he has given me …. A name ….. a strong name …. A name worthy of me … that I might be worthy of him!'

Pulling himself back up to his full height Hookfang twitched wildly, darting his gaze to his fellow dragons as they in turn stared directly at him. Stormfly, Meatlug, Barf'n'Belch, Toothless and even Sunset all trilled quietly at him hoping that finally the large Monstrous Nightmare would end his rebellious behaviour, while the little human boy looked up with a faint air of apprehension at what the Stoker-class dragon would do next. But before anyone could come forward and question him further Hookfang felt possessed of a new energy and vaulted into the sky, circling above the camp and roaring in triumph. The roar was replied to by the dragons on the ground and Hiccup smiled that he had found a new layer to the bond he shared with the dragons around him and that they all wanted to share their joy in it together. He had strengthened his family even more and with a satisfied smirk, spurred on by watching Hookfang's antics, Hiccup tidied his drawings away then vaulted on to his saddled best friend and called out.

"Okay guys let's go have some fun!"

In mere moments the entire group was up and once again Hiccup found himself leading his dragon family through the air in what turned into an incredibly vigorous and energetic evening flight. Toothless banked, turned and twisted harder and sharper than he ever had before forcing Hiccup to bend, twist and hold on tighter than he had in the past. It was an intense, invigorating flight. A flight that when they all returned to the lonely island over an hour later, left him with muscles aching and short of breath.

That night Hiccup felt sleep come easily to him. No longer was he plagued by troublesome thoughts and bad dreams of the past and the insurmountable obstacle of the Red Death. That night he drifted off dreaming of a plausible future he could build that would benefit those around him and quell his insecurities, a future that he could create as long as he had his dragon family beside him.

As he slept down in the caves beside Toothless, the boy was happy that he had finally gotten past his initial difficulties with Hookfang and Toothless was happy that he was now able to put his own plan into action.


(Time skip, 1 week later,(11 days ago), afternoon, the lonely Island)

"ah …. Ah ….. huuuuuh … I'm getting ….. really tired …..of all these games bud! ….. ah! Oh my Thor!... ah ….ah…. ah!"

Toothless looked down at his human with a satisfied smirk as the boy lay before him face down in the sand, gasping for breath while panting out his attempt at sarcasm. The other dragons had been doing their part wonderfully to help as they, like the Night fury, understood that they were all responsible for their little hatchling's new program of self-improvement.

So far things had been going very well the past seven sun-cycles, despite Hiccup's current state, lying pathetically at the Nightfury's feet, groaning in exhaustion.

It had started on the sunrise after 'the night of the great naming' as the dragons called it, quite simply, with Toothless unceremoniously dragging Hiccup out of the cave only for the man-cub to find Stormfly waiting for him with one of his foot coverings clutched deftly in her jaws. Everything from polite requests to frustrated demands for the article of clothing were refused as Stormfly continually danced away from the Viking boy forcing him to chase her all around the tiny island. Things got even more chaotic when Sunset fluttered around with the other foot covering thus forcing Hiccup to change his direction multiple times. At first it was thought to be a game and Hiccup did seem to be enjoying himself. However once the fun went out of it and Stormfly passed the boot on to Barf'n'Belch, Hiccup began to get weary. He would have stopped had he not been constantly prodded forward by Toothless who was following him all the way, yet refusing to let Hiccup ride him.

It was when Hookfang and Meatlug kept things going and his Viking child looked like he was ready to pass out did Toothless press the boy slightly further out his comfort zone as a way of increasing his stamina. And though the boy was sluggish and uncoordinated as he staggered about, Toothless' heart was warmed that Hiccup found extra energy from somewhere to keep up. And all because Toothless knew Hiccup trusted him. From the simple games they played in the cove to these endless pursuits on the lonely Island, the Nightfury knew his boy would keep going for him, always for him.

And so it continued with Hiccup putting this trust in Toothless and all of the other dragons until the middle of the third day. Toothless had always known his human was a smart human, especially when he saw the dawn of realisation ignite in the boy's sparkling green orbs. After a deep look into the Nightfury's eyes, the boy realised all of the extra running around, all of the extra vigorous flying, the playful yet strenuous wrestling matches, the climbing of trees, the rough housing in the ocean, the continued saliva baths to ease his muscle pain, forcing him to eat extra fish at meal times, had all been part of a purpose to fulfil his desire of getting stronger.

It was another threshold of realisation Toothless feared Hiccup might turn and run from. However much to the Nightfury's joy Hiccup took the realisation, turned it into his trademark determination and devoted himself all the more to what the dragons were trying to do.

And this where they had ended up. With a sufficiently distracted Hiccup chuckling his stresses and strains away getting covered in sand as he rolled around trying find the energy to stand up and stagger back to camp, the day's exercising officially done for now.

"And ….. up we go! … yay me!" Hiccup rasped out as he used Toothless' harness to haul himself to his feet, "I'm really looking forward to dinner tonight bud!"

Dinner went as usual and after a short nap Hiccup continued another of his projects that Toothless had deciphered from his 'to-do' list. The sending back of the all the of scary dragon killing metal and various other strange objects he had taken from his former nest. It hadn't sat well with the Nightfury that Hiccup wanted to return to his old home, but the boy had started to think about attacking the Red Death again and so Toothless and Stormfly had overturned the chests with the items in it to inspire Hiccup to complete a different task that drew his attention away from that poisonous queen. Diligently the boy had worked his way through every item, cleaning them, polishing them and in some cases using his loud banging tools on a make-shift stone anvil to remake them better than before. After a week he had finally come to the last object but strangely had not drawn the metal from its sheathe, a state of hesitation Toothless had not seen with any of the others.

Tentatively the Nightfury approached, not out of fear but more curiosity as to what was going on and giving the large covered sword a few sniffs.

"Oh sorry bud!" A thought-lost Hiccup spoke as he was jolted back to normalcy by the dragon "it's just … this is Ragnar Hofferson's sword …. you know ….. Astrid's dad?"

'Ah yes! The sire of his human's desired mate!' Toothless thought as he realised the import of the object's original owner and also thinking of how possessive dragon parents were over their own hatchlings. This was indeed a very important object considering how humans loved their weaponry and the reverence Hiccup was displaying towards this sword.

"I don't know if I want to even touch it! …." Hiccup moaned as he rested his head his hands "…. Ragnar would probably hunt me to the end of the world if I don't give it back ….. but if I mess it up and give him back a weak sword …. He'll still hunt me to the end of the world ….. Oh Gods!"

'Fear of his mate's sire' Toothless knew that feeling all too well, having witnessed many a mating season where father dragons would battle with younger males to determine dominance in family groups that would either grow together or fragment into individual units.

An idea springing into his mind, Toothless quickly leaned forward and scooped up the weapon in his jaws and tilted it so the metal slid out its covering and landed on the ground with a disturbing 'CLANG'

"Woah! Toothless bud, what are you doing? Oh no, put that back!" Hiccup cringed as the mighty blade clattered to the floor, the wolf's head carved into the hilt looking almost outraged at being treated so poorly. Hiccup scrambled to push the encroaching Nightfury away but was nudged back forcefully by the dragon as it continued to examine the now exposed death-dealing piece of steel. Toothless had long ago learnt that humans valued these horrible things for the perceived power they bestowed on their owners. However, seeing Hiccup's longing looks at it and the highly intricate designs that had been woven into the metal, Toothless recognized that this had been forged by his human's own hands and it had been a labour of love and care, a symbol of his skill with weaving earth and fire together. The same way his new tailfin was a symbol of Hiccup's skill and the pair's ever-deepening bond with each other.

Toothless titled his head in several directions trying to figure out what could possibly be wrong with the weapon that glinted brightly in the dancing firelight. Everything about it seemed perfect, 'for a cold unfeeling barbaric piece of dragon killing metal that is' the Nightfury thought. And that was when he realised why Hiccup had been so hesitant to work on the weapon, why it had been saved for last. More so than it being precious to his mate's sire, Hiccup had made it as perfectly as a human could and yet he wanted to make it even better in order to please someone who may very well - like all the others who inhabited the human nest - hate and despise him.

Hiccup's desire to please never ceased to amaze the Nightfury and so, despite some warning grumbles from Hookfang who had been watching the whole incident closely, Toothless let his jaw hang open and with the utmost care sprayed a steady stream of plasma along the length of the shiny blade.

"Toothless no!" Hiccup yelled and tried to dive forward to stop the destruction of the sword he had worked tirelessly for weeks to perfect when he originally forged it. But a strong force gripped him by his waist and Hiccup found himself wrapped in a tight embrace against Stormfly.

"Really Stormfly!?" Hiccup huffed sarcastically as he was squished against her flank, "You're gonna just gonna let Toothless guarantee Astrid's dad finds me and finishes me off?!"

But the Deadly Nadder simply cooed soothingly to the human hatchling as she had done many times this past week to help calm his worried mind. Hiccup responded nearly instantly and took the time actually look closely at what the Nightfury was now doing.

Rather than reducing the prized sword to a worthless pile of slag, Hiccup saw that the super-hot plasma was dancing all across the surface of the blade making the very air around it ripple. Carefully the Nightfury flipped the sword over and began coating the other side with his strange purple flames. After about a minute, the dragon stopped, took a step back, his head high and chest puffed out with pride, while Stormfly released Hiccup to approach. With no barrel of water to quench the blade in, Hiccup used his forge tongs to lift and rest it on his stone anvil. Inspecting the sword carefully for any lasting damage Hiccup was astounded to see that the steel now possessed a faint purple sheen that seemed to dance in the firelight as well as heighten the mirror like finish of the blade. He could practically see his reflection in it along with Toothless standing beside him.

Turning to his Nightfury companion, Hiccup did what he always did when it he found it hard to control his overwhelming emotions be they joyful, hateful or sorrowful. He wrapped his arms as far as he could around Toothless' neck, buried his head against his scales and held on as tightly as he could so that no-one would notice his quiet sobs or see the tears that rolled off his checks. The Nightfury, accepting the gesture of gratitude lowered his head, resting it on top of Hiccup's and rumbled in contentment, happy that he had helped his hatchling in a way no-one else could and that only he could comfort his boy in this way.

He would have drawn the boy into one his trademark hugs and gently rocked them both to sleep to pass the night away but …

"GRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHKHHHHKKKKKKKKKK!"

"AH! What in the name of Odin was that!?"

"GRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHKHHHHKKKKKKKKKK!"

Hiccup snapped his gaze to the cave entrance, having been shocked out of his embrace by the piercing dragon screams. The other dragons that had been lounging around were now on their feet, growling in agitation, looking into the gloomy tunnel as Hiccup remembered the one absent member of his 'dragon-family' that rarely came above ground.

"Pandora!" Hiccup gasped as he ran forward and slid down the ramp into the caverns main chamber. The torches he had set up a few days earlier were burning lowly and Hiccup could see the bloated Whispering Death writhing around on the floor emitting pathetic whines and grunts showing she was in obvious pain. Approaching warily Hiccup had to dodge several misfired tail spikes that Pandora had flung in one of her spasms and he nearly had his hand bitten off as the large snake dragon shook her head here and there.

"shh shh, it's ok girl!" Hiccup soothed as he reached out to touch the spiked head of the Whispering Death keeping his movements slow and gentle. As if in desperation for comfort Pandora pushed her head heavily against Hiccup's hand, both human and dragon calming slightly as their connection was made. "Now what's wrong?" Hiccup asked stroking the Whispering Death's head as it growled, shivered and quaked.

The answer was smelt before it was seen or heard. Hiccup's nostrils flared in disgust as a heavy pungent aroma assaulted him to the point where he was about to plug his nose, but the sound of dripping liquid drew his attention to look around Pandora's head to a sight that confirmed the growing suspicion in his mind. To Hiccup's horror, near the back end of the Whispering Death, an ever growing pool of what looked like watered down blood was spreading out across the floor and the large lumps that had been plaguing Pandora's side could be seen sliding under the surface of her scales towards it.

"Oh my Gods!" Hiccup exclaimed, "This is ….. this it! … you're you're …. Giving birth! That's amazing! ... really disgusting but amazing! … stay there, I'll be right back!"

Hiccup dashed off to his and Toothless' cave and retrieved his new book of dragons intending to thoroughly document the magical process of dragon birth. However on returning to the main chamber he saw that the other dragons had gathered down in the cave and all looked extremely worried. Pandora snapped and growled when any of them approached, Toothless included. Even Hiccup could tell something was very wrong if dragons weren't happy to see more dragons be born.

Drawing closer to his Nightfury, Hiccup could see they were all gazing at the source of the blood and the Viking runaway had to fight with all he had not to vomit. Hiccup knew giving birth wasn't a pretty sight no matter what species was involved, especially if the gory tales the mid-wives and farmers of Berk he had overheard were true. But they didn't hold a candle to the reality of what he was seeing. Near the back end of the Whispering Death, stuck in the centre of what Hiccup figured was the dragon's birth canal, was a white and black object which Hiccup in turn figured was the first of Pandora's many eggs.

"Something's wrong bud" Hiccup whispered as he saw Pandora's muscles strain to relax and contract in rapid succession, "The eggs aren't coming out! If Pandora doesn't give birth to her eggs then … she could die! …..What are we gonna do?"

Hiccup was answered by a gentle shove of the Nightfury, pushing him toward the ailing dragon. Hiccup couldn't have looked more mortified in that moment as he came to understand what Toothless meant.

"You want …. me? … to help her?". The single nod from Toothless made Hiccup's jaw drop, "But .. I mean … I don't know any ….. oh come on!..."

The high pitched shriek from Pandora cut off Hiccup's protest and he turned to see the dragon now heavily shuddering, shaking her tail wildly in the air and banging her head on the ground as if to induce unconsciousness and freedom from the pain she was experiencing. It was a poor, pathetic sight and it allowed Hiccup to remember the vow he made the night he had saved her from the Outcasts.

'What was he prepared to do save the dragons?' – Whatever it took.

'Whatever it took.'

Hiccup kept repeating those words as he stripped off his coat, tunic, boots and socks and reluctantly began trudging toward the back of the Whispering Death, again trying not to vomit as his feet made contact with the thick, bloody amniotic fluids the dragon had spilled across the floor.

"Toothless! I'm going to need more light! Plasma blast!" A sudden salvo of flames illuminated the cave brighter than it had ever been making Pandora hiss loudly and clamp her eyes shut. "Barf'n'Belch! Go bring me wood for a fire and lots of it!" the Hideous Zippleback went slithering up to the surface and Hiccup hoped the crazy beast would actually bring back what he wanted. "Hookfang! Hold her down so she won't hurt herself … or me!"

A few moments later the Monstrous Nightmare was leaning heavily on Pandora's good side, watching intently, yet at the same time, fighting the urge to slaughter the sky-snake and remove the problem all together. Hookfang knew his human master had been good to him and so he did not wish to anger him by hurting another dragon he obviously cared for. 'Besides', Hookfang mused, 'there was no satisfaction to be had in killing a weakened and frail opponent, better wait until it was stronger to make it a battle worthy of him.'

'Sunset, Stormfly, Meatlug!" the three dragons immediately responded to Hiccup's call, "I need water, lots of water understand?" Stormfly cocked her head, Sunset licked her eyes and Meatlug just looked at him with that stupidly goofy grin of hers. It was not helping Hiccup's stress level "you know …. Water …. Uh ….whoosh … splish splash splosh?" the boy desperately gestured and made stupid water sounding noises. Eventually after a few frantic gestures and some idiotic looking mime acting on Hiccup's part, the dragons seemed to get the idea and hurriedly followed Stormfly out. With the dragons dispatched to their different jobs Hiccup knelt down near the opening to the back of the Whispering Death and after uttering some choice prayers and a few curses to the Norse gods for humiliating him for doing this, Hiccup brought his hands up to slide them around the egg and into the dragon's birth canal.

"OH gods! Oh gods! Oh gods! … I can't beiieve I'm …. Eeeewwwwwwwwwww! Oh my sweet Odin this is so gross!"

To say it was disgusting would be the ultimate understatement. Hiccup possessed no faculties to describe how it felt to have his hands literally inside the back end of a dragon. In mere moments his body was covered in fluids he did not even want to guess at, the stench was nearly overpowering, always heavily tainted with the smell of blood. But Hiccup had made a promise to help and even though he was no dragon doctor he swallowed his nerves as his hands gently felt around the conflicting feelings of the coarse dragon egg, the soft constantly oozing flesh of the dragon's insides along with the rough dragon scales that scraped his arms as Pandora's contracted muscles put extra strain on his movements. Pandora writhed, shrieked and twisted at the intrusion, but Hookfang as well as Toothless did excellent jobs of keeping her still. When he finally had a firm grip on the egg, Hiccup pulled with all of his might and with a shuddering dragon shriek and an audible 'plop' Hiccup collapsed onto his backside a large dark egg held firmly against his bare soaking chest.

Hiccup marvelled at the solid proof of new dragon life in his arms and a small smile broke across his face. To be part of the miracle of bir …..

"SPLASH!"

"OW!"

Hiccup let out a shudder himself as he was suddenly doused with a torrent of water. Looking up he saw Meatlug happily hovering over him, excess water dripping from her big jaws. It was at times like these Hiccup thanked Odin that no-one could him in this disgusting, embarrassing predicament. Still he had asked for water and the big Gronkle had brought it only way she knew how.

"Thanks Meatlug!" Hiccup drawled, "Keep the water coming, I think we're gonna need it!" the boy said, putting his personal reservations aside, quickly set down the egg and returned to his place to help Pandora as another egg had appeared to get stuck in her opening. And so it went on, deep into the night. Every half an hour the process would repeat. Egg in the opening, ease it out by hand, get drenched with cold water and keep uttering encouraging words to the cranky - female dragon - mother - to - be. It was a gruelling process, but eventually after the moon had begun to set and the trees Barf'n'belch had uprooted for firewood had near burned themselves out, things had finally settled. With fewer shrieks from the Whispering Death, Hiccup began to calm down and dared believe the worst was finally over.

That was until he was nearly flattened by a sudden thrash from Pandora's tail and the Whispering Death fully roared in agony.

"Oh what now!" Hiccup groaned as he pulled himself up from his puddle of humiliation on the soaked floor. Looking back to his patient, Hiccup was shocked to see not just another egg requiring assistance to be delivered but an egg that was bigger than all of the others and instead of being a mottled white and black, was a deep burnished red.

"Well this is new!" Hiccup snarked but wearily went back to his duty. This new strange new egg seemed determined to stay in, due to its sheer bulk, but finally after much teasing back and forth and having to make a few cuts with his knife, Hiccup managed to pull the egg free and set it with the others. Three more normal eggs came out after that but they were nowhere near as difficult and happened one after the other. It was clear sign that Pandora had finally, finally, FINALLY, expelled all of her eggs much to Hiccup's relief. Staggering to his feet, Hiccup stumbled towards Pandora's head, fully leaning on her body the whole way and came to her head, seeing her eyes milky and listless. Raising a heavily bruised arm to pat her gently on the side of her head Hiccup rasped out, "Good job girl, you did real well!"

Now exhausted beyond words, lungs, heaving for air, the Viking boy slid down the Whispering Death's side and plopped on the cave floor, prepared to let sleep take him, forgetting all about his soaked disgusting state or the sun shining into the gloomy cavern. He felt Pandora shift beneath him and after a few seconds Hiccup realised he was now wrapped up warmly in her coils alongside of the eggs he had helped to deliver and the other dragons were sleeping around them in a tightly packed circle. A grateful mother with her children, thanking the boy who already had dragons for brothers and sisters.

Toothless was the last to fall asleep as he surveyed the heart-warming scene of his fellow dragons curled beside one another. A sense of harmony had descended on the island as with new life, came new hope and at the centre of it all sleeping beside a clutch of deadly dragon eggs with a smile on his face, his very own human.


(time skip, 2 days later, (9 days ago), the lonely Island, just before Sunrise)

Hiccup was not happy.

Toothless was not happy.

No-one on the lonely Island could dare to call themselves happy at the situation they now currently faced.

Pandora was dying.

Or least that was what Hiccup had surmised from what he had been witnessing. After sleeping off the events of the traumatic night of giving birth to around 15 normal black and white coloured eggs and one huge red egg, Pandora had fallen into some kind of degenerative state. The huge Whispering Death would convulse and shake uncontrollably, fall in and out of consciousness, shed handfuls of scales like trees shed leaves in autumn and emit wailing tormented howls unlike anything Hiccup had ever heard. Pandora had even begun to emit an odour that drove him and the other dragons from the cave for hours on end, as if it was the literal stench of death that hung over the ailing mother dragon.

All of Hiccup's attempts to ease the scourge that was afflicting Pandora had failed miserably. Food was refused or barfed back up, Nightfury saliva did nothing but exacerbate the Whispering Death's symptoms and the Book of Dragons contained no useful information whatsoever. Not even the dragons seemed to know what to do and had even begun emitting low warbling hums and growls. Like a song of mourning for the death they knew would come soon.

But Hiccup would not be swayed. He refused to give up as there was a clutch of baby dragons to consider and Hiccup dreaded to think what would happen if a batch of Whispering Deaths hatched to find their mother dead and end up going on an angry rampage.

Finally, against all of his better judgement, with no alternative solution and unwilling to distracted by the other dragons, Hiccup had come to this point, standing on the sandy beach of the lonely island with his bags packed, Toothless, Sunset and Stormfly by his side, gazing worriedly out at the encroaching twilight with a new destination in mind.

With a heavy sigh Hiccup shook his head and climbed onto Toothless saddle, his foot sliding instinctively into place on the tail control. Turning to look at the dragons he was leaving behind Hiccup spoke softly, his voice gentle yet clearly audible over the gently lapping waves.

"Hookfang, Barf'n'Belch, Meatlug …" the boy began, hoping above all hope the instinctual creatures understood what he wanted "… listen to me ….. please … keep the caves warm, keep trying to feed her and above all else don't leave Pandora alone … okay?"

The three big dragons shifted restlessly and looked at their human with eyes that spoke of uncertainty. Hiccup could almost feel that the dragons didn't want him to go, begging him to stay with their eyes, worried for his fate, uneasy at being separated.

"Hey, it will be alright …." Hiccup spoke as soothingly as he could "… I'll be back as soon as I can. Keep each other safe and don't follow me! Come on Toothless, up bud! Let's go Stormfly!"

"VARUMMMPH! WHOOSH!"

Sand exploded into the air as the Nightfury and Deadly Nadder threw down their wings, propelling them off the ground and into the sky. They all knew time was of the essence and so both dragons picked up speed. Within minutes, the lonely island was nothing more but a speck in distance. Hiccup didn't look back. He couldn't. Somehow he felt if he did and saw the other dragons standing lonely and miserable looking on the shore, his resolve would buckle and he wouldn't be doing this.

No.

He would do this.

He had to do this.

A life once again hung in the balance.

And after saving it once already, he would not let it fade away so easily a second time.

Hiccup leaned forward to make himself as streamlined as possible and to shield Sunset from the winds that were whipping past, threatening to throw the Terrible Terror off. The little dragon trilled as she clung on to her pack-master's chest, grateful for his protection and happy she had not been denied to accompany him. Even to a dragon as simple-minded as Sunset she knew she would not leave Hiccup ever. Although small in stature, the human was powerful, caring, understanding, brave and protective. All things she wanted in an alpha and no amount of threats and belly-aching from that arrogant Monstrous Nightmare would persuade her otherwise to abandon him. Hugging closely against the thick layers of her master's clothing Sunset allowed their combined heat to comfort each other as once again the dragons picked up speed again to combat the rising of the sun which was now just peaking over the horizon.

Toothless was pushing himself as fast as he safely could. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Not only because he wanted to help save Pandora, for the old sky-snake could teach Hiccup much. But above that, he also wanted to get his boy back to the Lonely Island to keep him safely away from all of the other dangerous humans that inhabited this strange collection Islands they called home. Back to where Hiccup was his and his alone, free to grow and thrive as he had been doing, unleashing the best of his potential for the betterment of them all. It might have been selfish but the Nightfury didn't care. Hiccup was his and nothing would ever change that. Not even the deepening bonds Hiccup had been making with the other dragons, Stormfly in particular.

Between wing-beats Toothless stole glances at the Deadly Nadder who flew just behind his left side, his vulnerable side. It was a sign of his trust in the blue and gold Nadder to make up for the tinge of jealousy he felt that he was no longer the only dragon to bear a special honour from Hiccup. For during their time on the Lonely Island, Hiccup had spent some of his time constructing a saddle for Stormfly. Toothless had restlessly paced and grumbled that night as his human obliviously stitched the scraps of dead animal skin together to form what was a very elegant design for the vain and pretentious Nadder. Toothless had wanted to tear the thing apart, especially when he noticed Hiccup had woven shiny golden thread to spell Stormfly's name and some swirling patterns into the brown leather making it seem even more prestigious. The Nightfury had balked and huffed but snapped back to his senses when he realised two things, firstly he realised Hiccup was doing it more to please the blonde Viking girl he wanted to mate with and secondly the Nightfury found himself sharing common ground with the jealousy ridden Hookfang! Such thoughts sobered him up very quickly and he came back to the camp and showered Hiccup with affection as an apology for getting so worked up over nothing, much to Hiccup's and Stormfly's relief.

The sea below was eerily calm until it was disturbed by the wakes of the two dragons as they arrowed rapidly through the air. They were flying low to avoid detection now that the sun had risen and there no clouds to hide in, giving the air a crisp chill. But no-one paid the cold any mind. For they were on a mission and such things were unimportant.

They had been flying for roughly three hours when Hiccup looked to his right and saw what he had been looking for. Rising up from the ocean was a dull grey / green mound that seemed to only grow bigger and wider the closer they got to it. Quickly it dominated their sight and as the dragons and rider approached, though there was still an early morning mist hanging in the air, Hiccup could make out vast forests, rolling green hills, sharp jagged cliffs and most importantly a huge settlement surrounded by high walls constructed from wood and stone. Hiccup had heard tales of this place, seen pictures on maps, but nothing could have prepared him for seeing it in person. Despite it being a typical Viking town, Hiccup felt excitement overcome his anxiety as he stared longingly at his target.

"Ok bud let's land down there!" Hiccup urged and in an instant the Nightfury and his Nadder companion had slipped deftly between the treeline and landed in small clearing. The auburn haired boy held his breath as he and the dragons examined their surroundings closely, scared to make any sound lest it alert even the bugs of this place to his intrusion. Eventually he deemed it safe and as smoothly as his stiff muscles would allow, Hiccup climbed off of Toothless and set foot on the soft green earth.

It was a strange sensation. For the first time in his 15 years of life, Hiccup had come to an inhabited Viking Island that wasn't Berk. Despite that he was in a forest no different from that of his birthplace, everything had an alien feel to it. The smell of the pines was sweeter, unfamiliar harsh bird song chirped through the tightly pack trees, even the wind felt different as its breezes rustled the branches above him. Savouring the sensation a moment longer Hiccup then striped off his extra riding layers until he was in his usual attire of red tunic, black waistcoat, brown trousers and brown boots. With his unruly hair, shield now strapped across his back, leather satchel filled coins and other essential items hanging from his shoulder, and his trusty bull-hook dragon-spear in his hand, he looked every bit the windswept traveller, albeit a very young and scrawny one.

Setting off, using his spear as more of a walking stick, Hiccup picked his way through the trees, Toothless and Stormfly following silently and stealthily behind until they came to the edge of the forest and a road that lead straight toward the open gates of the town a few hundred yards away. Swallowing his fears Hiccup turned and whispered to the uneasy dragons before him.

"Okay guys, this is it. Wish me luck" Hiccup cooed, hoping his forced smile would calm the nervous, forlorn reptiles before him. Suffice to say his attempt at reassurance didn't work, earning him whimpering warbles from both the Nadder and Nightfury. It broke Hiccup's heart to leave them like this but they all knew this had to happen and if anyone found them together there would be Helheim to pay. Toothless feared the worst, knowing how Vikings treated people like Hiccup and this place could very well do the same and he 'the unholy offspring of Lightening and Death itself' would be powerless to stop it.

"Hey hey hey!" Hiccup eased again, this time placing a hand on each of their snouts to reaffirm his message, don't worry everything will be fine, Stormfly you're going to have to catch fish for you and Toothless" he said to the Nadder warmly before turning to his best friend, locking green-eye to green-eye "Toothless, find a safe place to hide and keep out of sight, you have to protect Stormfly and Sunset for me until I get back …. I need you be strong for me ….. okay bud?"

Toothless' ear flaps dropped, a clear sign the Nightfury was unhappy.

"It will alright Toothless, trust me."

The desperation in his boy's voice nearly broke the Nightfury's dragon-heart but seeing how far he had come and how adaptable Hiccup truly was, Toothless suppressed his anxieties, pulled himself up to his full height and leaned in giving Hiccup a reassuring nuzzle to show that he would trust his boy and do as he asked.

"That-a-boy Toothless!" Hiccup replied warmly giving one last pat to the Nightfury's head before backing away a few steps and turning so that he was walking purposefully toward the settlement. Hiccup only glanced back once to the treeline but even at this close range he couldn't see his three draconic friends. This pleased him. If he couldn't see the dragons and he knew they were there, then it was highly unlikely anyone ignorant of their presence would notice them either. Hiccup pulled his hood up over his head to better his chances of not being recognized and strode towards the open gate of the town that stood imperiously ahead of him.

The town itself seemed quiet. It was still early, maybe 8 in the morning if Hiccup's guess was right. Stopping before the open gate he noticed a guard in full armour, sitting lopsided on a stool, propped up by his great sword, metallic snores comically reverberating from within his all enclosing helmet. Hiccup fought hard not to burst out laughing and let his eyes wander to examine the imposing, yet currently impotent fortification. Quickly he saw something that confirmed all of his hopes and fears as to where he was about to enter. Above the sleeping guard's head, carved across the gate in large yet neat Vikings runes were the words.

BEHOLD THE CITY OF STERNGAURD

HOME OF THE DEADLY MEATHEAD TRIBE

ENTER NOT THE FAINT OF HEART.

Hiccup took in the words, seeing them as the boast and threat they were intended to be.

Faint of heart.

Hiccup may not have thought much of himself in the past. There were many things on Berk he was not, as everyone had repeatedly told him.

He was not a proper Viking,

He was not a dragon killer,

He was not a worthy heir,

He was not useful.

However, with everything that had happened thus far there was one more thing Hiccup was absolutely certain he was not.

Faint of heart.

Breathing deeply, Hiccup stepped through the archway leaving the snoozing gate-man to his dreams and began walking as quickly as he could through the waking town. As he passed along the dirt track streets Hiccup noticed people emerging from their homes and the air filling with the signs of a village coming to life. Husbands wished wives and children well in their doorways, the distant sound hammering from a forge somewhere echoed comfortingly in Hiccup's ears, small gangs of fishermen laughed and joked as they made their toward the docks, while the smell of fresh bread indicated that a nearby baker was in the throes of his trade. The streets where filling steadily and even more people were headed toward the great hall for breakfast. The familiarity of it all was soothing to Hiccup who eagerly used the growing crowds to conceal himself even better as he searched for his target.

He had one goal in mind and that was to find the largest, most royal looking house in the town. Looking up a street that went up a hillside, Hiccup saw at top was the town's Great Hall and close by it was a grouping of large, equally regal buildings. No other buildings stood higher than them. As he got closer he could see the emblem of a large golden hammer above the front door of the most impressive of the houses.

"Bingo!" Hiccup whispered hopefully as he began marching toward the house that could only belong to one man. The most powerful man on the Island. The man he would have to deceive and win over to keep his identity a secret and then get the help Pandora so desperately needed. It would be difficult but Hiccup figured he could at least try and fool one of his father's old friends, a man who had not properly seen him in a few years at least, the lord of the land.

The bench-breaker himself.

Mogodon Hammer-hand, Chief of the Meatheads.

"Okay, let's do this!" Hiccup muttered as he approached the door, fighting to suppress all of the dissenting voices in his head that begged, mocked and urged him to just turn around, run back where he came from and forget this folly. But Hiccup would not listen and before he knew he had even done it, he pounded three loud knocks on the chief's door.

Quickly Hiccup fell to one knee, his bull-hook spear planted firmly in the ground as a sign of non-aggression, running over the speech he had prepared to introduce himself in his mind. He was traveller, separated from his parents, hence why he was alone. He had scars on his face, hence why he wouldn't take his hood down and hopefully conceal his identity. He had been attacked by dragons, hence why he wanted to go looking for information on dragons in the Meatheads famous library. A simple story. Hopefully effective.

"CLUNK …. CLACK ….. SHUNK ….. CREAK … DUNK DUNK DUNK DUNK"

The sound of locks unbolting and the deep creaking of the heavy oak door quickly brought Hiccup back the reality of his situation. Though he couldn't see Mogodon's face, he could clearly tell it was the chief by the large, bulky pair of expensive looking boots that stopped in front of him.

"Hail to thee Mogodon, Breaker of benches, Chief of the Meatheads!..." Hiccup intoned in the fake base voice he put on to further conceal his identity "You do not know me, for am but a poor and weary traveller who has fallen on terrible mis-fort …"

"Hiccup?" A confused male voice interrupted.

'That wasn't Mogodon!'

In the shadow of his hood, Hiccup's eyes widened in fear as he realised that not only was he not talking to the chief but whoever it was had instantly seen through his disguise.

"Hiccup?" the voice asked again, this time with a strange edge to it "Is that you?"

Slowly Hiccup raised his head and let his eyes examine all the details of the person in front of him. The hefty boots gave way to armoured knee pads and grey trousers held up by a thick, heavily embossed belt that had a pair of small war hammers hanging on each hip. Bursting from the waist was a thick set body wrapped in a grey tunic overlaid with a silver mailed vest. Perched across a pair of powerful shoulders and muscular arms was a cape made of wolf's fur, a head looking out over each shoulder. Finally above a thick neck was a strongly chiselled face that harboured a cropped goatee beard, a pair of deep brown eyes and topped by a thick head of wavy brown hair.

As Hiccup took in the image before him, he noticed too late his head movement had allowed his hood to fall back revealing his own face. Horrified forest green eyes met widened oaken eyes as the realisation finally dawned and both men's identities were laid bare to each other.

"Oh my Thor!" Hiccup exclaimed, his voice no more than a whisper, his body now screaming at him to turn and run. Of all the Meatheads Hiccup could have run into, this was last one he needed.

"Well, well, well! …" the Meathead male cooed, now grinning like a predator that had trapped a particularly tasty morsel, "….. look who decided to finally show his face! This is gonna be fun!"

Before Hiccup could get up and bolt away, huge muscular hands lashed out and seized the front of his tunic trapping him in their vice like grip. Before Hiccup knew what was going on, he was hauled violently off his feet and dragged in to the house, the door slamming shut behind them.

In the arms of the overpowering Viking, Hiccup uttered a prayer to every god he knew that he would survive this encounter.

For no-one escaped unscathed, the clutches of ….

Thuggory the Wolf's-bane,

Heir of the Meatheads!


There you go guys

A new player has entered the game, Pandora has given birth, confirming what some of you guys predicted a few chapters ago and I've finally set things up for a chapter I've been wanting to write for over a year now!

The next chapter will be Hiccup dealing with the Meatheads and most especially Thuggory. There's gonna all sorts of madness happening, some angst, maybe some romance and a hopefully a mind-blowing reveal!

But we shall see what the muses decree!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter

Please feel free to leave a review or PM me with questions queries of ideas you might have as I love chatting with folks about this stuff.

Til next time.

Take care of yourselves

And each other.

Razor95