Chapter Twenty Six

Everyone has a past. Even dragons can have a past. And sometimes that past comes back to haunt them. Unfortunately I was prone to having nightmares of my past. But recently my nightmares have been getting a bit more… dangerous.

I don't even know how to describe them. All I knew is every night so far I've woken up gasping for breath. Three times already Snowfire had been more than concerned and tried waking me up. I knew she meant well, but it did get annoying after a while.

The last dream had been my most bizarre yet. It started out as my usual nightmare, but than the ground had started shaking. I woke up eventually to find that the ground actually was shaking. I couldn't tell whether or not it was an actual earthquake. But something told me I wasn't the only one to notice it.

Once I was dressed and ready I walked outside to see a gaping hole in the middle of the plaza. Everyone else was gathered around it, either staring in horror or in awe. I spotted Hiccup and Toothless leaning over the hole curiously.

"What the heck made this?" I asked as Snowfire easily leaped over it to their side. Her movement had caused some of the villagers to jump in surprise, all the while she was humming in amusement at their reactions.

"I'm not sure," Hiccup replied in an uneasy voice. Just as he said that, Toothless suddenly leaned back and let out a roar. "Whoa, whoa, easy bud! It's just a hole," Hiccup tried calming Toothless down as the Night Fury glared at it.

"It's not just a hole, it's like an underground village!" Bucket's voice echoed from down the hole. We all looked down in time to see him inside, running around like a kid at the candy shop. Only a guy with a bucket on his head would be excited about this. "Sorry Mulch… But I think I finally found it… My happy place!" Bucket stopped short when dirt and soil started flinging him out of the hole. He landed on the ground and looked around in shock.

"Are you alright, Bucket?" Stoick asked.

"I'm not so sure anymore," Bucket replied after getting up.

"What happened?"

"Something pushed me out," Bucket said fearfully. "Something's down there. Something big."

Toothless peered down the hole again and bared his teeth in defiance. I looked over just in time to watch him leap into the hole. That was when we all started hearing a strange whispering sound. It was the kind of noise that made the hair along my arms stand on end.

"Uh, is anyone else hearing that?" I asked warily. It definitely wasn't Snowfire. In fact her eyes were narrowed as she looked down at the tunnels.

"Whatever it is, it's giving me the willies," Gobber replied in a nervous voice.

Suddenly a giant green-spiked dragon erupted from the hole underneath us. My eyes widened in horror when I recognized it. The same dragon Alvin had kept on his island. It had an eel-like body and a large head, with a mouth full of teeth perfect for gnawing through rock.

"Whoa! Look at the size of that thing!" Snotlout gasped in an awed voice.

"Do I have to?" Fishlegs asked.

"Now that's a dragon," Jacob added in amazement.

"Dragons, now!" Astrid yelled.

I didn't need to be told twice to get on Snowfire. That thing was almost as big as her. With the ego and guts to attack anything that stood in it's way. The dragon turned it's large head towards us, and a shiver ran through me when I saw it's eyes.

More like lack of eyes. It was blind, just like the one Alvin had.

"Uh, I don't like the way it's eyeballing me," Snotlout said nervously.

"Don't worry, it's not just you," Fishlegs replied.

"Thanks, a big relief!" Snotlout muttered with a roll of his eyes.

Just as Snotlout said that, the dragon burrowed it's way into the ground again and disappeared.

"What was that?" Astrid asked.

"Whatever it was, I want one!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it was a Whispering Death," Fishlegs replied.

"Whoa, great name," Tuffnut said in awe. "Much better than the Hideous Zippleback."

"Where'd it go? Why's it here? What's it going to do with us? Why aren't you slapping me to snap me out of this?" Bucket rambled on as he fell into a wheel barrel.

"Because I'm scared too, Bucket," Mulch replied as he too hid in a barrel.

Then the Whispering Death erupted from the ground once more, sending a spray of dirt all over. Another hole was created where it tore through the ground, and it turned to glare at us all.

"Ah, it looks angry," Gobber began in a nervous tone. "Alex, why don't you try seeing if you can bond with that thing, calm it down."

I bit the bottom of my lip as the dragon turned towards my direction. Snowfire's wings were flared in a defensive position as she snarled at it. The air around us had suddenly gotten colder, and I realized too late that she was controlling it.

"Easy, I don't think that's going to work," I whispered. Gobber didn't seem to notice the double meaning in my words.

"Okay, uh, Fishlegs, what do we know about the Whispering Death?" Hiccup asked after noticing my uneasiness.

"Boulder Class, razor sharp teeth, incredibly strong, hunts from underground," Fishlegs replied. There was nothing more reassuring than listening to a walking encyclopedia.

"Now I really want one!" Tuffnut said in excitement.

"Good luck with that," Jacob muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"So how do we deal with this thing?" Snotlout demanded.

"Stand back, everyone!" Stoick suddenly shouted. We all looked up in time to see Thornado flying above us. "Thornado's got something to say to this beast!"

Thornado fired a sonic blast at the Whispering Death. But it didn't even seem scathed. In fact, the attack only made it angrier.

"I don't think it's got it's listenin' ears on," Gobber yelled.

"We need to get that thing away from the village," I said as the Whispering Death roared in defiance.

'That creature is repulsive!' Snowfire hissed in annoyance. I couldn't help but nod in agreement. The Whispering Death was one of the few dragons that had nearly killed me during my time on Outcast Island. There was a reason I didn't like that thing.

We took off to join Stoick and Thornado, but it seemed like Toothless had other ideas as he suddenly appeared from the tunnel. He let out a warning growl to the other dragons, gesturing his head towards the Whispering Death.

"What did he say?" I couldn't help but ask.

'This is his fight, and his fight alone,' Snowfire replied, sounding more worried than before.

The Whispering Death's spikes stood on end when it suddenly looked in Toothless' direction. For a dragon that was blind it seemed to know exactly where Toothless was by picking up his scent.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cried when the Whispering Death lunged at him.

But Toothless had faster reflexes, and caught the dragon by it's tail before dragging it to the ground. The Whispering Death flew back in the air and hovered for a few seconds. Toothless fired three plasma blasts at which the Whispering Death was able to dodge. Toothless was about to take off when he realized that he couldn't fly. My heart was racing with unease when the Whispering Death flew higher, seeing this as a competition.

"Toothless can't fly without me. He's a sitting duck," Hiccup murmured while watching the scene unfold.

"And I have no doubt that dragon would like the taste of that," I added in a grim voice. Stoick landed on the ground and ran over to Gobber.

"Gobber, man the catapults, and when that thing is clear of Toothless, fire!" he ordered after getting off of Thornado.

'Humans cannot interfere with this fight,' Snowfire snapped. Despite the anger in her voice, I could also hear the worry.

"Dad, wait!" Hiccup said as he ran over to Toothless' side. "Just let me help you, bud." But Toothless only shoved him over, knocking him down in the process. "What? Toothless, what's… What's wrong?"

Toothless' only response was doing a double-take with a growl at the Whispering Death before he took off after it again. It was a warning growl. Toothless was warning us to stay out of his way. Now I understood what was happening.

"What was that about?" Astrid asked as I helped Hiccup back on his feet.

"I have no idea," was all he could say before the Whispering Death let out a roar of fury. He swung his spine-like tail, with the spikes sticking out just like a Nadder's would. To my surprise and horror, the spikes had smacked right into Toothless' back leg.

"Gobber!" Stoick yelled.

Gobber launched a boulder from the catapult, hitting the Whispering Death square in the head. The dragon recoiled in response and growled at the catapult in question. Gobber fired another boulder, hitting the dragon once again in the face. Then suddenly the Whispering Death retreating down into the hole just as the sunlight fell on it, carving a new path underground.

Hiccup ran over to Toothless' side while I checked for signs of injury. After that attack it was obvious the Whispering Death had a score to settle with Toothless.

"Ah man, you're hurt," Hiccup sighed after noticing the spike on Toothless' back leg. Toothless growled in response, but his gaze softened when he looked at Hiccup as his rider pulled the spike out. I watched with worry as Toothless ran away the moment the spike was out, right past the Great Hall and straight towards the direction of the Whispering Death. "Toothless, wait!"

"Easy, something tells me there's more to this than we realize." I put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder as he watched Toothless disappear.

"Where's he going?" Astrid asked out of curiosity.

"Probably running away to lick his wounds," Snotlout said in a mocking tone before laughing.

"It's not funny," Hiccup muttered. "He could have been hurt. He can't fly, remember?"

"And who's fault is that?" Snotlout retorted.

"You seriously did not just go there," I snapped, glaring at him.

"I calls 'em as I sees 'em." Before Snotlout could get another word in I shoved him aside. The glare that followed was priceless.

"Uh, does anybody else wanna talk about what just happened back there?" Fishlegs asked.

"Uh, dragon fight?" Tuffnut said with a shrug. "Just another day on Berk."

"No, it was more than that," Jacob murmured thoughtfully. "It almost seemed like they knew each other." Fishlegs nodded in agreement.

"It seems like there was way more to it than that."

"He's right. The Whispering Death singled out Toothless," Hiccup put in.

"Not to mention Snowfire said this wasn't a fight humans should be involved in," I added. "Think about it, he didn't even let you help him in the fight." The others looked at me skeptically, but Hiccup nodded in understanding.

"Okay, but why didn't he?" he asked.

'Dragons will fight to the death if it involves a grudge,' Snowfire chimed in as she sat behind me.

"Wait, are we gonna be tested on this?" Tuffnut suddenly asked in confusion. "Because I am completely confused."

"Hey, don't look at me," Ruffnut said defensively. Toothless was still looking off in the Whispering Death's direction. I suddenly had a feeling that this wasn't the last we saw of that dragon.

...

Later that night I was patching up the wound on Toothless' leg, using the same remedy used on his tail. So far he hadn't lightened up since the Whispering Death incident.

"Thanks again," Hiccup sighed once I was finished. "I really wish he could tell me what happened out there today."

"The only known dragons capable of that are White Terrors," I pointed out. Snowfire had been more than reluctant to stay outside. I tried not to laugh when Stoick remained firm on his 'one dragon rule'.

The sound of footsteps signaled someone coming upstairs. Toothless only jumped at the sound and let out a low growl. I'd never seen him so tense before. I wish Toothless would calm down, at least enough to let his wounds heal.

"Whoa, easy bud," Hiccup tried reassuring his best friend. "It's just my dad."

"How's our wounded warrior?" Stoick asked.

"Just a simple flesh wound," I replied after giving the bandages a final look. "He'll recover quickly. I've seen reptiles lose limbs and survive to tell the tale."

That much was true. Despite the panic of when I first woke up in this world, I still remembered a few things from it. Reptiles were incredible creatures just for the fact that they could survive so many life-threatening events.

"But he's still on edge," Hiccup added worriedly.

"Don't worry Toothless," Stoick reassured him. "I think we showed that dragon a thing or two of what Berk's capable of. I don't think he'll be coming back any time soon. At least I hope not."

"Yeah, me too," I murmured anxiously.

I remembered what Snowfire had said about dragons holding grudges. If what she said was true, than this was just the beginning.

"Toothless should be fine as long as he doesn't do anything that could open up his wound again," I added after rubbing his neck affectionately. Toothless only crooned before glaring out of the window again. "I think we both need rest after today."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Hiccup sighed in agreement. "It's a good thing you know about those herbs."

"Thank my mom," I replied with a sheepish grin before kissing him goodnight. "She's the one who taught me."

There were a lot of things that my mom had taught me. And I still missed her.

I shook the thought aside, knowing full well there was something much bigger out there to worry about. And that something had to do with the grudge Toothless was holding against the Whispering Death.

...

"Toothless is missing," Hiccup sighed as he leaned against the wall. All of us were gathered in the arena as he explained what had happened last night. "I'm willing to bet that he went after the Whispering Death."

"Maybe Toothless just went for a morning flight… Oh that's right, he can't!" This time both Astrid and I were glaring at the obnoxious Jorgenson boy.

"Seriously?" Astrid demanded and walked towards him before getting ready to throw a well deserved punch. "You're going there again? Now?" Hiccup stopped her and looked at us.

"We have to find the Whispering Death," he snapped. "If we find that, we'll find Toothless."

"What do we do if we find the Whispering Death?" Fishlegs asked fearfully.

"Can you bond with it?" Hiccup turned and looked at me hopefully, but I only shook my head.

"Alvin already tried it out on me," I explained warily. "Believe me when I say that it's not possible." I didn't miss the look of anger flashing in his eyes at the mention of Alvin. What happened on Outcast island wasn't something either of us would forget anytime soon.

"Is there anything in the Book of Dragons that can help us?" Hiccup asked after taking a deep breath.

Fishlegs opened the book and started scanning the pages again. I'm surprised he hasn't memorized it yet. I've seen him reading the thing more than a dozen times at the Great Hall.

"It can shoot razor sharp spines from any part of it's body," he read out loud.

"And how's that supposed to help?" Astrid asked.

"Well it would help if we stayed far, far away from it," Fishlegs replied.

"Or we can go near him and use Ruffnut as a human shield," Tuffnut suggested. Ruffnut kicked him in the kneecap for that comment. "Owe, my kneecap! That's new…. I like it."

"This dragon has to have a weakness," Hiccup said thoughtfully.

"Actually no," Fishlegs corrected him. "The book says 'No known weaknesses'."

"Heh, I really love this thing," Tuffnut said with a smirk.

"The book said no known weaknesses, right?" I asked after giving it some thought. "The dragon's blind; which means that maybe there's something to with light in there. I'm sure that he spends most of his time underground."

'Even a dragon has their weaknesses,' Snowfire pointed out to no one in particular. And of course she would never admit hers. Though I had a feeling it had to do with her pride.

"If anyone could find it's weakness, I'm sure we could," Jacob put in helpfully. I only smirked in agreement.

"Can we go now?" Hiccup asked after climbing into Snowfire's saddle. "We don't know how much time we have." Snowfire simply rolled her eyes before helping me up.

"Don't worry," I reassured him. "We'll find Toothless."

With that being said, we took off in search of the Whispering Death. It wasn't hard to miss the trails that it left. A rocky snake-like line was left on the Earth for all to see where the Whispering Death went. And that ridged line led towards the forest.

Hiccup was still hopeful that the Whispering Death could be trained. But after what happened on Outcast Island, I knew that it wouldn't be easy. On top of it the Whispering Death still gave me nightmares. The one that nearly bit off my head was traumatic enough.

"There, down below!" Hiccup pointed towards another gaping hole leading into complete darkness. We landed around it, the dragons shuffling around nervously at the hole. Hiccup jumped off and cupped his hands around his mouth, "Toothless! Toothless!"

"How do we even know the Whispering Death made these holes?" Snotlout asked with a smirk.

"So, you think it might have been made by another 2,500 pound rock-eating dragon we're following?" Astrid retorted with a roll of her eyes.

"Do you even think before you speak?" I added with a glare at Snotlout.

"I know what you're… hey, don't confuse me!" Snotlout said after realizing what we were up to.

'He was here not long ago,' Snowfire said after sniffing the area carefully. 'His scent is strong, and so is the Whispering Death's.'

I patted her shoulder in thanks before spotting something in the dirt. Kneeling down I picked up and realized what it was. A dragon tooth, with the gum still attached. Not my greatest idea, but it was a clue that proved they were here.

"Snowfire picked up their scents, and I found this," I explained as I handed Hiccup the tooth.

"He must've lost a tooth," he said after observing it. I simply gave him a 'no duh' look before Tuffnut suddenly grabbed it.

"Is it sharp? If it is I want it! I like sharp," Tuffnut sighed blissfully.

"Yep, nice and sharp," I muttered after taking it back. Tuffnut gave me a look of disappointment until Fishlegs spoke up.

"Think about this: Hundreds of those spinning together, ripping through dirt and tree roots. Discarding rock like it's not even there!" he exclaimed.

"Well, that's reassuring to know," Jacob said with a roll of his eyes.

Suddenly the other dragons shifted uneasily and let out nervous growls. Snowfire was the only one who remained calm, but even she looked uneasy. Her eyes were narrowed with anger as she glared down at the hole.

"Stormfly, what's wrong?" Astrid asked as she tried to comfort her Nadder.

"Barf, calm down," Ruffnut scolded.

"Stop! Listen," Hiccup said, and even the dragons had quieted down.

"Listen for what?" Tuffnut asked.

'It is the Whispering Death,' Snowfire suddenly hissed. I looked at her uneasily when I realized that she was right. Those were the same whispering noises we'd heard at the plaza where the hole was. The same ones made before the ground started shaking.

"Uh, looks like we beat Toothless," Snotlout said nervously.

"Yippee, we win," I muttered just as the Whispering Death burst from the ground, spraying rock and dirt at us.

"Yeah, I don't feel like a winner," Fishlegs piped up. The Whispering Death suddenly turned and looked at him, leaning towards him. "Hi… um… I like teeth." Fishlegs whimpered as the Whispering Death opened and closed it's large mouth.

Then it turned it's milky white eyes at me. I struggled to remain calm as it glared at me. Everyone was silent as they waited for the Whispering Death to make it's move. It was just hovering there. That was until it coiled up and growled at the dragons. In seconds it burrowed back into the ground.

"I hate it when it does that!" Snotlout grumbled. "Can you at least tell me why it does that?"

"Maybe to hunt?" Fishlegs suggested after we all looked at him. "Maybe because it's cooler?" Still no response. "Or maybe to look for water." And yet again, silence. "Or maybe he can't stand the pressure of everyone always expecting him to have answers!"

"He's losing it," Tuffnut said to his sister.

"I know… It's awesome!" Ruffnut said with glee.

The Whispering Death shot up from behind Fishlegs, making him jump in terror. "Hold it still! I wanna touch it!" Tuffnut shouted and began walking towards it, but Ruffnut held him back.

"I'm willing to bet that it's looking for Toothless," I muttered. That was when Hiccup started approaching it. "Hiccup, wait, even I couldn't bond with it." The others just gave me weird looks at that. I still hadn't told them about my special ability.

"There has to be a way to train it," he replied in a firm tone.

"So, you're trying to get yourself killed?" Snotlout said in a smug voice.

'Some dragons are not willing to follow humans,' Snowfire put in.

"I've got to try." I desperately wanted to remind him of what happened when the Red Death attacked. Now that was a titan that couldn't be trained. But I resisted only just.

The Whispering Death had suddenly charged right at Hiccup. He quickly turned his head and reached out towards it with his hand. My heart was racing as the Whispering Death hovered just in front of him. It tilted it's head to one side, and for a moment it actually looked like this might work. But than the Whispering Death pulled back and dove back into the ground.

"Okay than…" Hiccup said slowly. Then I noticed what he was looking at.

"You're not going in there alone," I snapped after realizing how risky that was. "If you can somehow tame it, than it's possible we could train it." Hiccup eyed me skeptically before nodding in agreement.

"Um, I know what you're both thinking and the answer is no," Astrid said after a moment of silence followed. And of course we never listen.

...

As soon as we jumped down I noticed that there were network of tunnels winding throughout the area. It was dark, too dark to see ahead. Glancing up I noticed that Snowfire had jumped down to join us, providing a little bit of light.

"This thing's been busy," Hiccup said after giving the tunnels a good look.

"This must be where it spends all of it's time," I murmured thoughtfully. Snowfire leaned forward and rested her chin protectively on my shoulder.

'It is not safe here,' she warned us.

"There's got to be something down here that can help us." Snowfire only rolled her eyes when Hiccup ignored her. "Let's go."

We walked through the tunnel in silence, careful not to alert the Whispering Death. There were small shafts of light that occasionally peaked through the ground. But it wasn't enough to see ahead. I could see the roots of trees peaking through as well.

It really looked like an underground city, just like Bucket had said. Back in my world cave exploring like this would still be really popular. I can still remember that one time when Jacob and I had discovered a small cave near our town. We'd done a bit of exploring and had carved our names into the stone wall.

"I have to admit, these are pretty cool." To my surprise my voice echoed against the walls, causing us both to jump at the sound. Hiccup could only nod in agreement before we continued heading towards the left.

We turned towards a hole until approaching a pair of green eyes that looked back at us. In an instant Snowfire let out a fierce growl, and it turned out that said creature was a sheep. It took off running the moment it heard Snowfire's warning growl.

I held back a sigh of relief I didn't realize I was holding. Despite how cool these tunnels looked, it was dangerous going in without any weapons. I had Snowfire to back me up, but I wasn't about to let her put her life at risk. Especially when the Whispering Death had suddenly emerged from another tunnel, looking around with a low growl in the back of it's throat.

Snowfire had shielded us both from it's sight as the large dragon slithered past. I watched between Snowfire's wings and noticed that the Whispering Death avoided the sunlight peaking through the shafts.

Suddenly the Whispering Death stopped in it's tracks. It had wandered off enough that all we could see was it's tail. I tried to keep myself calm when I noticed the bite marks on it's tail. They were familiar bite marks, one that could belong to only one species I knew of.

"Did you see that?" I couldn't help but ask once it finally slithered away like a snake.

"The bite mark?" Hiccup looked at me in confusion until I shook my head.

"Not just any bite mark," I replied. "A Night Fury did that. And I'm guessing that Night Fury holds a grudge."

"A history," Hiccup's eyes widened in realization. "H-How long can dragons hold a grudge?" We both looked at Snowfire as she narrowed her eyes.

'To the death,' she replied grimly. It took a while for this to sink in for Hiccup. Finally he broke the awkward silence.

"Let's get out of here before it comes back," he suggested.

"Good idea," I mumbled in agreement.

We ran down the tunnel, but just than the Whispering Death emerged from the shadows of another tunnel. Once again we managed to run to the side just as the Whispering Death dove towards us. Snowfire had shielded us again with her wings. And this time I noticed that the sunlight from the shafts reflected against her wings. The Whispering Death let out a furious screech before avoiding the sunlight once again.

"Hiccup! Alex!" Astrid's voice echoed down the tunnels.

"Yep, right here," Hiccup replied once we reached the entrance. Snowfire proceeded to jump up, causing the other teens to jump back in surprise.

"Did you see the Whispering Death?" Tuffnut asked. "Was it cool?"

"Did you touch it?" Ruffnut asked.

"I want to touch it!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"Can you talk about this later?" Fishlegs asked in a worried voice. "We really need to get them out of there."

"Yeah, you do," Astrid put in after noticing something in the distance. I followed her gaze and realized that a trail of Earth was following us, at a dangerously fast pace.

"Alex, you go first," Hiccup ordered. I was ready to argue when I thought better of it. Snowfire had leaned down so that I could reach out, and she managed to pry me up.

"Hiccup, hurry up!" I yelled after realizing how close the Whispering Death was getting. Hiccup tried to reach for my hand as I leaned down, but it wouldn't reach.

"I can't!" Hiccup tried jumping, and at that moment our hands locked together, but Hiccup lost his grip and landed back on the bottom of the hole. My eyes widened with horror when I saw the Whispering Death was almost upon him. "Everyone stand back!" he suddenly ordered.

I nodded in understanding when I realized what he was going to do. Without a second thought I ran over to Snowfire and took off, hovering near the hole as the Whispering Death sprayed rock and soil towards us.

"Wow, I bet he could see our house from up there," Tuffnut said once I spotted Hiccup in the debris. The Whispering Death had suddenly burst out of the ground and was ready to catch Hiccup with it's teeth, but Snowfire was faster. She dropped him gently on the ground nearby seconds later.

"Thanks, Alex," Hiccup sighed in relief once he realized he was safe, for now. The Whispering Death didn't look happy as it turned to glare at us.

"I don't think it likes you in it's hole," Tuffnut said.

"Yeah, I got that."

"Can we get out of here?" Snotlout was actually whimpering. I thought I'd never see that happen. "Please?"

"No," Hiccup snapped. "I think I can train this thing. Anyone got some Dragon Nip?" In seconds everyone but me handed over some Dragon Nip. I already had a feeling this guy wouldn't like the idea of being trained. "Don't be afraid. I'm a friend." He held out his hands with a pile of Dragon Nip in them. "You'll love this; all dragons love it."

The Whispering Death gave a curious sniff of the grass. My eyes narrowed in surprise until it sneezed, spraying the grass all over. In a matter of seconds all of the dragons had dropped to the ground, intoxicated by the grass. I looked at Snowfire in disbelief when she was in the same state.

"Oh great, now we're defenseless!" Snotlout groaned.

"Yeah, that was a brilliant idea there," Jacob muttered under his breath.

"Any ideas? I'm throwing it wide-open to the group," Hiccup said while backing away uneasily.

"Well, we could either get eaten, or run away," I suggested after giving it some thought.

"I don't like the first option," Fishlegs replied.

"Agreed," Hiccup nodded.

"Right, or left?" I asked.

"Right!" Snotlout yelled.

All of us started running at once. The Whispering Death charged right after us. I had to jump out of the way a few times when it tried attacking me. Than it snapped it's jaws a few times at Hiccup as it changed targets, and at one point it almost got a hold of him. But out of nowhere Toothless came charging in, tackling the Whispering Death to the ground.

"Toothless!" Astrid yelled.

Toothless latched onto the back of the Whispering Death, clawing and growling as he managed to throw it to the other side of a clearing. It got back up again and let out another growl until the other dragons joined us. Toothless began to charge again, but the Whispering Death just slithered back into it's hole.

'Coward!' Snowfire roared after it. I nodded in agreement as Hiccup tried getting into Toothless' saddle. But the Night Fury only bucked him off and growled at him.

"Bud, it's me," Hiccup tried soothing him. "I know what's going on with you and that other dragon." To my surprise and relief, Toothless looked a bit less tense. "Let me help you." He reached for his best friend, but Toothless simply ran away again, and Hiccup tried following him. "Toothless, come back!"

Toothless stopped in his tracks and fired a plasma blast right near Hiccup's feet. The blast had thrown a bunch of dirt in the air, and Hiccup jumped back a bit. Toothless ran off once more, and this time Hiccup didn't follow.

"Awkward," Tuffnut said once it fell silent.

In minutes we had all taken off on our dragons. Hiccup was riding behind me on Snowfire as we searched for Toothless. He had just finished explaining the grudge match between Toothless and the Whispering Death.

"So, Toothless has an arch enemy; kind of like you and me," Snotlout said. I looked back to see if he was talking about Hiccup or me. Since the day I arrived on Berk, Snotlout had only gotten more competitive, especially now that he knew Hiccup and I were more than just friends.

"Snotlout, you are not my arch enemy," Hiccup muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, you're mine," Snotlout said, giving an 'I'm watching your back' look.

"Toothless is just trying to protect you, Hiccup," Astrid said as she flew beside us.

'He does not want humans involved,' Snowfire added in agreement.

"That's not what it is," Snotlout retorted. "Toothless doesn't want you to ride him because it's between him and the other guy. He's a fighter, like me. Not… whatever you are."

"I never thought I'd say this, but Snotlout, I think you're right," Hiccup suddenly said.

"Wait… huh? You guys heard that, right?" Snotlout asked in surprise. Even I was surprised with that answer, though I didn't say it out loud.

"It's not a fair fight," Hiccup explained after noticing our confusion. "If Toothless is going to win, he has to fly. He can't do that without me."

"So, what are you saying?" I asked warily.

"I'm saying we need to find him, and soon," Hiccup replied.

"But how are you going to get on his back?" Astrid asked. "He's made it clear that he doesn't want your help."

"Let me worry about that." After a few moments of flying, we finally spotted him running across the forest. "There he is!" Hiccup pointed him out first. "Get me down there."

We landed carefully on the ground in front of him. Hiccup approached Toothless slowly once he jumped out of Snowfire's saddle. Toothless gave a growl until he realized it was only Hiccup. Hiccup held a hand over Toothless' head, than gave him a hug.

"Hey bud, you had me so worried. You haven't been yourself lately. It's good to see you're still you," he murmured after Toothless crooned apologetically. Suddenly the Whispering Death leaped from the ground and roared in defiance. "You can't just walk away from this, bud!" Hiccup yelled, but Toothless didn't move an inch and growled back. "Let's just go home." Hiccup tried climbing onto Toothless' saddle again, but he only pushed him away and ran towards the Whispering Death.

"You were so close! I thought you had him!" Fishlegs said.

"Is there any way to convince him otherwise?" I asked Snowfire. She only growled and shook her head as Toothless fought against the Whispering Death.

'We cannot interfere,' she replied to everyone. The other dragons had made noises of agreement before backing away. By now the fight had gotten intense, to the point where Toothless was sent sprawling towards a cliff.

Toothless roared at the Whispering Death, but just as he did it dove back into the ground. What happened next made my heart nearly skip a beat. The cliff broke apart, creating a large gap between Toothless and the Whispering Death.

It came back up shortly after, breathing rings of fire towards Toothless. He managed to dodge them, but it left him with less room now.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled upon seeing this. The Whispering Death fired another shot at Toothless, narrowly missing this time. "Buddy," Hiccup said quietly. I watched in surprise as Toothless gave him an apologetic look again. The Whispering Death was relentless in it's attacks, shooting more rings of fire at Toothless. "He's going to knock Toothless into the canyon!"

"The dragons won't listen," I murmured while watching the scene unfold. "This isn't their fight." It was hard to watch and not want to help Toothless out. Toothless was almost falling to his death into the canyon.

"Huh, this is beginning to look more like high school by the minute," Jacob said with a sheepish look. I just gave him a 'what the heck are you talking about' look. High school may have been rough, but it wasn't that bad.

Then Hiccup did something that nearly gave me a heart attack. He walked over to the ledge of the canyon, taking a step forward before falling in. Everyone looked on with shocked expressions.

We watched on in horror as Toothless leaped for him, only to be blocked by another ring of fire from the Whispering Death. Toothless jumped from rock to rock until he reached Hiccup before he landed. I let out a sigh of relief when Hiccup climbed into Toothless' saddle. The rocks that were falling had created a cloud of dust and debris, and Hiccup used that to his advantage. Toothless emerged from the cloud just when everyone looked like they were ready to give up.

"Yes!" I couldn't help but cheer when they took off.

"You save me. I save you. That's the way it is," Hiccup said as they flew towards the Whispering Death.

The Whispering Death sensed their approach and fired spikes in their direction. Luckily they were able to dodge just as it fired another ring of fire, this time dodging it again. Just as the Whispering Death roared in defiance, Toothless fired a plasma blast.

That was when I noticed something again. Sunlight had suddenly beamed through the clouds, nearly blinding the Whispering Death. It roared in fury and dove back underground again. The same thing had happened in the tunnels.

"Hiccup, the sunlight! That's it's weakness!" I called.

"Okay bud, let's keep him above ground," Hiccup replied once they flew over one of the tunnels. Toothless fired several plasma blasts into the tunnels. The result ended in explosions that shook the entire ground.

"This is amazing," Ruffnut said after her eyes widened in amazement.

"We've got to find you an arch nemesis," Tuffnut added to Barf and Belch.

Suddenly the Whispering Death emerged from one of the holes and flew straight into a mountain. It recovered quickly and growled at Toothless again, only to have the Night Fury pin him to the ground. Toothless looked like he was ready to deliver the final blow when Hiccup stopped him.

"Toothless, no!"

Just then the two dragons exchanged a fierce roaring competition. It last for a few moments before the Whispering Death finally backed down and dove underground again. Once it was over we flew down to join them.

"Aw man, Toothless could've finished him off!" Snotlout groaned.

"Well, I guess not all dragon grudges are to the death," Hiccup sighed in relief.

'Not all indeed,' Snowfire hummed in agreement.

"Hey bud, what do you say we go home?" Hiccup said as we flew back home.

...

The past can sometimes come back to haunt you in ways you don't expect it to. Toothless learned that the hard way, but he will always have Hiccup by his side. As for me, I knew my time was coming up. I knew that sooner or later my past would do more than just haunt me.

We would all need to be ready for what lays ahead.

AN: Well, there was some foreshadowing in this chapter. I love the Whispering Death, and I was thinking of adding more about them in later chapters. I'm not too sure yet though. Onto review replies!

The Silent Fury - Lol, I've never had that happen to me yet. Then again, I've never had a boyfriend. Thanks for the idea though!

Sil - Ah Mildew... He deserves to suffer a thousand years in Helheim :P But that might be a little extreme.

CartoonLoverBecky - That would be funny to watch XD