I kind of wish this story was more loved, since it's probably my best, but k then...

The black of night. In the fog, a figure moves from tree to tree in the woods, using the shadows to travel. They find a small shack and move to it, knocking twice, waiting, then knocking once. The door opens.

"Do you have it?" A voice asks.

The figure nods and hands out a package. The man inside the door moves to take it. The figure pulls it back.

"Payment first. Then product." He rasps.

"Fine." The other spits. He reaches from his pocket and pulls a knife, stabbing the deliverer. "Payment is given." He drags the man inside and closes the door. He presses a knot on the wood, and the floor of the shack moves down, revealing an elevator. A few minutes later, it reaches the bottom, revealing a huge lab. The man drops the deliverer's body down a sort of disposal unit, then unwraps the package. It's a blue heart sort of shaped thing that is pulsing. The man rubs a finger down it, grinning wickedly.

"Alright. Let's get you into your new body."

He flips some switches, an an ominous looking thing comes out of the floor, creating steam. Inside is some sort of blurry thing, it's unclear what is in there because of the foggy glass. But whatever is in there isn't moving. The man opens the large container, and inside is a man shaped sort of android. The man puts the blue heart inside a sort of compartment inside the android.

Its eyes snap open.

I walked down the street, taking note of everything. AI and humans, working together as if the battle between us and Drago had never happened. I could see Fish working with Meatlug in the fields, Ruff and Tuff were working with weapons development with Barf and Belch, their AI, and Astrid was practicing flying manoeuvres with her defense and protection class. Or DAP. The DAPs were like the guard we used to have, but with the inclusion of AI. Which was handy. Inferno and me were in there too, except we had more pressing things.

Like chiefing. I was going to be made chief officially in a month, and it was kind of scary, except that I had finally accepted Hiccup's death and put seriousness into my training. I squeezed my hands together.

Hiccup.

What would he say if he could see what Berk, the once barely survivable underground colony had become. It was now a bustling village, with a sorts of amazing things that made it good. We had many ways of getting food and water, many ways of building houses, keeping livestock, keeping our AI friends working, and we were working on a very good defense system.

Berk was thriving.

Trade and relations with other colonies such as Outcast and Beserk was improving, and despite the fact that they were against fighting, we were making progress with Embersight.

The violent past was well behind us. And the future was looking bright.

Valka and Chief were definitely back together, and although they missed Hiccup greatly, they were treating me like family. My father had been badly wounded in the battle with Drago, and my mother had been killed. Many others were dead as well, among them Astrid's uncle. But that was in the past, we were moving on.

Moving forward, not back.

I kept telling myself that, even as I had lost so much... I had gained a honorary father and mother, since Hiccup and me had gotten along like brothers. I owe so much to him.

I miss him.

Forward.

Inferno walked up to me, rubbing himself against me. I put a hand on his metal body, knowing well he had no feeling in it didn't discourage me. He still cared for me, thanks to the CAE chip. I grinned, happy to have him as a friend. There was no way I would have thought he would be years ago.

Hiccup had changed our world.

I moved into the Chief's house, sitting down. He had told me I was free to come by anytime, make myself at home. So I sat down and stretched out after a slightly rough day, relaxing myself. Valka came in a while later, and saw me, partially asleep. She smiled and patted my shoulder.

"Tough day?"

"Mmyeah." I muttered. "The twins caused another fire."

"Isn't that just like them." She laughed.

I snorted. "Yeah. They cause damage."

She gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm sure you did fine. After all, Stoick trained you well."

I nodded. "Yeah."

I just wished someone else was here to step into that responsibility instead of me. But they had made plenty of arguments.

He's dead, and even if he isn't, he's not here. He might refuse it anyway. You're a better choice because you have a sense of loyalty and responsibility. You are a natural leader.

Some of those just weren't true and they knew it, they just wanted to make me feel better. But this was it.

Now I was sitting on the roof of a watchtower on the edge of Berk's city limits. Just staring out into the distance. I wasn't even sure what I was thinking about. Just thinking, thoughts swirling and darting through my head. I felt so confused. I stood and slipped off the roof, swinging myself and landing in the tower itself, where a DAP was on duty with his AI.

"Sir," He said, giving a small bow.

I nodded and climbed down the ladder, heading off into the forest. Just as a whim. I didn't really care where I would go. What I would do. I just wanted to get away from everything for a while. Appreciate the forest with the smaller and larger trees, wildlife that was now thriving, birds flying around. Late afternoon sunlight poured through the gaps in the trees and splashed all over the forest floor, squirrels and mice were eating lazily and not even bothering to dart away when I walked by. It felt good, and the strain of everything fell away for a while.

After meandering all over, my feet for some reason took me to a river with a large willow tree (one that had survived the war against the AI since being a sapling, miraculously enough) and a couple of large rocks. My heart sank as I realized where I was. This was one of Hiccup's favorite spots to relax. I could almost see an outline of him as if he was a ghost resting here, sitting on the larger rock with a stick in his hand, creating swirls in the water and playfully jabbing at fish. Toothless was next to him, tail twitching as if he was alive and hunting the fish, even putting his metal claws in the river and creating splashes.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from it, and my eyes burned. Just when it seemed I had let them go, they came back as if to haunt me with bittersweet memories.

"Hey Toothless, you're gonna rust yourself! Stop it!" Hiccup yelped half crossly as Toothless splashed him again.

Toothless snickered and created a huge splash that caused Hiccup to drop his stick with a yelp as he was soaked in the tidal wave. He spat out a small stream of water that he had swallowed, his bangs down over his eyes and his fur vest drooping. He then snorted in irritation.

"I'd splash you back, but it'd just wreck your machinery."

Toothless toppled over, laughing at the soaked boy. Hiccup pretended to pout but quickly dropped the act and laughed as well.

"I did make you waterproof, however, and I can always replace your parts if you need it." He stopped laughing with a mischievous smirk.

Toothless stopped laughing too, and smiled nervously. "Uh..."

Hiccup shook his head. "I will get you back. Maybe not today, but someday."

I remembered watching this play out at least... three years ago? Hiccup had invited me close, and we had laughed into the evening. One of the best times we had had here. Tears now streaked freely down my face now.

"Dang it, Hiccup. Dang it." Was all I could manage. "Just... dang it."

I wasn't aware that I was being watched. By someone in the bushes, silent as the trees. I wasn't aware. This person, whoever it was, also faintly remembered the river, Toothless, me, the willow tree. But those thoughts were being drowned out by one simple mission.

To destroy Berk.