Two years can bring about quite a bit of change, really. Still, the loss that comes with war always lingers.

All the same, Berk was festive during one very particular week, just two years after the end of the island's battle against the Askr army.

The chief's house was filled with great big, exotic bunches of flowers sent from neighboring tribes just for the occasion, their multitude of aromatic petals smelling up the rooms and giving Stoick the Vast a grand headache. He didn't mind terribly, really, since nothing could keep him out of his celebratory mood. The air was warm with springtime, new things. New beginnings. And even though many of the villagers were still coping with losses from two years prior, they could't help but be happy for their future chief and his future bride.

It was a beautiful wedding.

...5 years later

The dragons were leaving.

It wasn't entirely a surprise - In fact, they probably should have been expecting this. The fact that most, if not all, the dragons were going away was the signal for something changing. One by one they would leave the village, slipping quietly into the sea, or flying off to other lands to live in their solitude while leaving their human companions behind with the good memories of what they had shared.

Day after day, for months now, this had been going on, where one or two dragons a day would leave. No warning, no nudge goodbye to their riders, no nothing. And at first, the people were confused, often shocked, and there were outbursts and denials and tears to follow, and sometimes the separations just felt like too much for the villagers. Was this not what they had worked so hard to achieve? A land where humans could live peacefully with the dragons? As friends?

But no, it was silly of them to think so much could be true, to believe that these creatures was something other than wild and free.

As the days passed, and then weeks, it only continued. And as a whole, the village became aware that this was not something that they had any kind of control over. Not even their chief, the greatest dragon trainer in the known world, could say exactly why it was happening.

Or, maybe he just didn't want to say. Another day, and another, and more dragons, just... gone.

Even the very first dragons to ever be trained on Berk - They left, too.

The old gronckle adored by Fishlegs Ingreman, and the snappy montrous nightmare who was cared for by the chief's close cousin, Snotlout Jorgenson. Those dragons took flight and parted from Berk not long after the others. The first hideous zippleback to ever be trained by Berkians, Barf and Belch, tamed and loved by the ever-mischievous Thorston twins- that dragon left too, eventually.

More dragons had taken flight and soon Berk, the village most known- most celebrated- for its trained, beloved dragons, was down to two.

Two dragons who remained stubbornly with their riders. But their trainers feared that it would happen to them soon enough. They knew. But they also knew they would be able to do nothing to stop it when it did happen, and that was the scariest part.

One day, Stormfly, Astrid's Deadly Nadder and incredibly dear friend, left the village behind. Then it was only Toothless who remained.

But Berk was going to be all right. The next generations would never know the joy of befriending such deadly, amazing creatures like the dragons, or the thrill of riding dragonback through the skies, feeling freedom as it should truly be experienced. Would never feel the air whipping across their faces as they took flight through the sky, never look fondly at a friend who could not speak with words but could speak through their companionship and their offer of something thrilling and different.

But they would get to hear the stories. After all, how could you grow up without hearing stories of the greatest battles to ever be fought on Berk? Tales were already being told of the Age of the dragon trainers- songs were already being sung about the War of the Risen Rider. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, already a legendary figure in the village, was most definitely going to become a legendary figure for generations afterwards. But the events of the war had taken their toll on such a legend, and even though he was strong in the songs that were sung of him, Hiccup himself didn't know if he would get to stick around to hear many more.

Something was fading.

Seven years prior, he had been both shocked and saddened to hear what had happened to his friends back down on north beach, before the famous three-day war had even ended. Akkeri and Bòt, both lost in battle. But they, along with the others who had gone down defending Berk, were given a true hero's farewell, Hiccup made sure of that. Their names were sung in some of the new songs, their faces were forever ingrained in the memories of the few who had the opportunity to meet the sprightly pair. They deserved it, after all. The honor of being remembered. Hiccup owed them his life.

Surely they would be collecting that debt all too soon. It had only been four years since the passing of yet another loved one.

Hiccup's father, Berk's great chief, would be sorely missed. The passing was sudden for everyone but it hit the hardest for the late chief's son, who was still just figuring himself out when Stoick's death had taken place.

Hiccup? Chief? It was way too soon. He had outlived his father... something he hadn't expected to do. Something you weren't supposed to do. And in addition Hiccup had lived seven years more than he thought he would - something else he hadn't expected to do.

But he wasn't living in fear. The first few days, sure, he'd worried and paced and choked down thoughts of a sudden death coming for him when he was least expecting it, perhaps in the middle of the night while he slept, worried he might pass while he wasn't even conscious for it to register, leaving everyone else to find him gone the next morning with cold skin and eyes that might never see any of them again.

Now, he didn't carry the terrified feeling that any day now, the wind might blow a little too strong and carry his breath away with it. He didn't constantly feel the need to worry that the rug would be pulled out from underneath him, and he would suddenly be gone from the world he knew. He worried, on occasion, but he didn't live the life that he'd been blessed with in total fear. The chief lived every day as if it were his last, and in the best way; he took every day, every minute, every breath, as a complete and golden gift. He would take a short and happy life over immortality any day.

x

x

That same man, not even twenty-five years old, coughed and sat up in bed. It was barely morning, the sun hadn't even risen yet. He just felt like he had to get up. The person in bed next to him stirred.

"What is it..?" the woman whispered, words slurred by the lingering heaviness of sleep.

"Shh, something's... I think it's Toothless." He slipped out of bed and grabbed the nearest article of clothing from a chair, pulling the rumpled brown tunic over his head. Clumsily, he fixed the strings on his leggings and pushed himself up from the mattress, just barely disturbing the quilted surface.

The woman, golden-blonde locks falling loose around her shoulders, blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up next to her restless husband. She fingered the leather string hanging from her neck, which held a beautifully crafted silver feather. Astrid knew much better than to say anything in response to a cryptic remark like the one Hiccup made. There was something different, a feeling stirring deep in her mind and in her gut.

Yes, something was happening. Without thinking about it the woman reached for her husband's hand. "Do you want me to wake the others up?"

"Not yet. Help me outside?"

Astrid nodded and went to grab the prosthetic from next to the bed.

For the past few weeks now, Hiccup had been having some trouble getting around, and there seemed to be no reason behind it at all.

Not just with walking, either. Something was wrong. He was coughing, having trouble breathing, and he'd begun to wake up in the middle of the nights for no reason, before shakily falling back asleep. He claimed he wasn't having nightmares. This was more along the lines of insomnia. It was worrying everyone, most of all Astrid, but Hiccup seemed to just accept everything as it came to him. That worried Astrid even more, because nothing screamed wrong! like the most stubborn-headed viking she'd ever known - accepting the problems that threw themselves at him without a word about it. He fixed the problems, that was Hiccup, and this wasn't like him.

It was ridiculously early in the morning yet here they were, awake and heading outside to go and find a restless night fury, who was sitting stock still, a few yards from the front door and not making a sound.

"Toothless?" Hiccup whispered. The dragon only glanced at Hiccup, then went back to looking up towards the sky. It would be a cloudless day, just as it had been a cloudless night. The stars were still visible in the dark blue-grey expanse above them. The moon was lowering in the sky though, and in a couple hours the sun would be up and shining.

Hiccup promptly but not impolitely asked for a moment alone with his friend, and together he and Toothless left the house in the direction of the docks.

x

x

Along with being cloudless, it was also a very quiet night. Hiccup savored the silence as he looked up, admiring how brightly the stars shone at this time in the morning. He took a few deep, refreshing breaths, before speaking to the night fury at his side, both of them sitting in the solitude of the empty pier overlooking a world of blue and black.

"Remember sitting here years ago, bud?" Hiccup murmured. "Before we'd really seen the world?" nostalgia flooded his thoughts and consequently, Toothless's. "We were sitting right here, remember that? Just looking out at the water and I could've sworn I'd seen a boat floating away through the fog... I still don't know if I was just seeing things. But I'm kind of just glad, you know, just because we can sit here again. Eh bud?"

Toothless swished his tail. His new tailfin had finally been perfected, after just seven years of tried and failed attempts, it could now be operated solely by a dragon - and the fin was practically incapable of being damaged. Nearly indestructible, with just the right combination of materials. And a perfect fit.

"It's been so busy, being chief" Hiccup sighed. "But I... I love helping this village more than anything. I've loved every minute of it, I really have." He shook his head, disbelieving. He had gotten quite a bit out of four years as the chief. "I would do anything for this village - but you already knew that, huh Toothless?"

Toothless slumped down onto the dock, agreeing very much. They could still communicate just fine without that silly spell that was taken back seven years before. In fact, Hiccup had started to believe that maybe this never had anything to do with magic. This was their bond, and nothing could separate them. Whatever happened after this, they had already accepted it together.

x

Astrid watched from the house while her husband and his dragon sidled down to the docks, then showed herself back inside with a sigh.

Embers from last night's fire still crackled a bit in the kitchen hearth, and a solitary candle in the middle of the breakfast table softly cast a shadow across the wooden surface. The light drew Astrid in for a moment, then she blinked twice to tear herself out of her reverie, passing the room.

She kept as quiet as she could, treading lightly through the hall and into the second bedroom - such a luxury that they had been able to build one before their second child was born. This room was where both children slept every night. And right now they were fast asleep, the both of them.

Or so their mother thought... until Astrid stepped into the room and only just glimpsed her son's eyes snapping quickly shut. Oh, he was wide awake, and Astrid knew it. A sneaky one, her son. Just like his father. But the girl on the other mat next to him was still fast asleep. Her little pink lips were parted by light breathing. The straggly, mussed up mane of auburn hair was scattered around her face and over her shoulders. Freckles stood out against fair skin.

In comparison, the boy had sandy blonde hair, and freckles to match his sleeping sister's. Astrid smiled and tiptoed over to her oldest child's mat.

"I know you're awake, hun. Why aren't you sleeping like Akkeri?" she chastened, and the boy's eyes flew wide open. Astrid found herself staring back into a pair of beautiful, green, guilty eyes, and she knew she couldn't stay angry with him for very long. Her son, on the other hand, shamelessly sat up from his mat, not even thinking of continuing the act when it was his mother watching, instead of his forgiving father.

"Keri's boring," he whined, "she's too little to stay up late like me." Astrid held a finger to her lips to shush him.

"Stoick Bòt Haddock, it's early in the morning, this is no time for you to be wide awake. And Keri needs the sleep, she's only three. So do you, mister, I know that six is a big boy age, but you should go back to sleep. Okay?"

The little boy rubbed his eyes with pudgy six-year-old fingers. "But I wanna wait 'til papa gets back."

"How'd you know he left?"

"I heard the door open and close ten minutes ago, and you're still here."

"Very observant, but you're not staying up."

"Can I pleeease?" her son whined again, volume threatening to pull his little sister from her sleep.

Crossing her arms and giving one of her "okay, but this-is-the-only-time-I'm-letting-this-happen" looks, the tired mother sat right down on the side of the mat and slipped an arm around her sleepless son's shoulders. "Just until daddy gets back."

"Can we read the dragon book while we wait?"

"...Okay." Astrid shuffled over to the other side of the room and pulled out a heavy, leatherbound book from a pile in the corner. The cover had a dragon class-symbol on it: the silhouette of a night fury. Then she returned to her place on the mat next to her son and flipped to a seemingly random page in the book. "Dragon number eight" she read aloud, being quiet enough to let her daughter sleep soundly. "Deadly Nadder, belongs to the Strike Class, likes chicken, shot limit..."

x

Minutes ticked by.

Then an hour came and went, all in the blink of an eye.

A moan carried through the wind, traveling directly to the ears of Astrid Hofferson, still reading to her son in the children's room. At the sound, she shut the book in hurry. Stoick looked up at her, confused.

"What is it?" he asked. Astrid put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Stay here sweetie, I'll be right back. I'll call for you if I need your help, okay?"

The little boy nodded. "Okay." No questions followed.

Astrid forced a smile and rushed back out of the room, through the hall, and to the front door, which she opened as quickly as she could without making too much noise.

There was Toothless.

And leaning heavily against him was Hiccup. He looked awful. Well, maybe that was an understatement.

"Get inside, get inside," Astrid hissed, trying not to let her fear rise up and choke out the sound of her voice. Toothless nudged his haggard friend through the doorway and into the blonde woman's arms. Hiccup just barely kept himself from totally collapsing when Astrid took him in. "What happened? What's wrong?" she demanded, but Hiccup looked like he wasn't completely aware of the world around him at the moment.

"Sick... think I'm just a little sick is all" he mumbled, unconvincing.

"I'll get you some water. Just lie down, here," Astrid aided the young man into the bed he'd only just left an hour ago. The chief obliged to being helped down. Making sure his head was resting on the softest pillow and a blanket covering him completely, Astrid flew back out to fetch a mug of water for her bedridden idiot of a husband.

"Gods... I didn't think it would be now" she breathed, making her way to the kitchen.

Before passing the children's room, Astrid poked her head in and glanced at her son, who was still looking through his book. "Stoick, I need you to go watch daddy for a few minutes, okay? Just to make sure he's all right."

The boy looked worried. As was the correct response - but his mother did not want to worry him. "Something's wrong with papa?"

"I don't know. I- Maybe. I think so. Would you just go look after him please?"

The little boy bobbed his head up and down and stumbled up from his mat, then ran out past his mother through the hall to where he was told to go.

Astrid's heart began to beat a little faster. Without meaning for it to happen, she found tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. It was that feeling. It was the worst feeling ever. Control yourself Astrid, you're a fully grown woman.

Steeling herself she grabbed the mug with the water, and went back to the bedroom as quickly as she could with the container of liquid in hand. With her free hand she was fingering the necklace with the feather again. On a whim, she whipped the leather string from around her neck and pulled it up over her head. She entered the main bedroom with the necklace cradled in her palm.

Their son was sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, looking pensively at his father. His pallid, weak, tired father. Hiccup coughed once before forcing himself to open his eyes, to look up at his beautiful wife who was handing him a mug of water. After a long drink, he felt like the coolness brought him back to his senses.

As his mother looked on, the boy brought himself around to face Astrid. He had a small smile on his face. "Daddy was telling me where I can find the dragons" he said. "He told me where Toothless is. Toothless is taking a trip. But papa said he knows where I can find all of them." And so calmly he said it, too.

"He... what?" Astrid's worry only began to grow when she heard her son's strange announcement. "He told you where you can find them? Honey, is that true?"

But the question wasn't aimed at her son. It was aimed at the man lying down in the bed. Hiccup forced a quick nod, but he didn't say anything more about it. Instead, all he said was, "Can... can you go and get Keri? Please?"

"Sure... Stoick, go and wake your sister."

"But she'll be mad at me and-"

"-Go get your sister, Stoick. Now."

Her son knew better than to argue with her. As soon as he left the room, Astrid whipped her head around to stare directly at her husband.

"Please, please... I need to - need to... I need to know."

They both knew what she was talking about. A sigh escaped the mouth of the young, sick man, and Astrid impatiently waited for the answer.

"Astrid..."

"Hiccup, please just tell me. It's okay if you say it. If it's going to happen anyway..." She was shaking. Her knees were locked. Somehow, she managed to find the strength to calm herself, and once she did, she didn't move a muscle.

"I... Yes" he rasped, barely able to lift his head from his pillow. "Yes."

Astrid gritted her teeth, and her hands were suddenly balled up into fists in the folds of her thin nightdress. She was glad she didn't cry, though. Because right after Hiccup gave his answer, their son burst back into the room, towing his half-asleep sister along behind him.

"Keri's here!" the boy needlessly announced.

"Thanks, son" his father replied hoarsely from the bed. "Could you tell her to come over here?" he patted the empty space next to him on the mattress. Stoick just about dragged the poor little girl with him to get to their father.

And suddenly they were all there. Astrid let herself fall gently onto the side of the bed, making herself sit up straight, and she watched her two children snuggle up next to their dad under the blanket. Hiccup had a tender smile on his face... but his eyes were glistening and wet with tears. He was in pain, and he was unhappy, and Astrid could do nothing more for him.

She remembered that she still had the feather in her hands. She held it out to Hiccup, who took it with careful fingers, and he clutched it tightly in one warm hand.

"What will we do...?" Astrid asked, but she never finished the question. She couldn't. But her husband answered anyway.

"You're a great leader, Astrid. And we've already taught Stoick so much. He's got all my drawings, all my writing, all my letters and all the books. And he's got you. He's set." He barely managed a chuckle before continuing. "He'll be absolutely amazing when he comes of age, I know he will. He'll have you to guide him along until that day comes. And I'm sure Akkeri will be the voice of reason for him whenever he needs it. Show him who's boss if he ever steps out of line." He winked at his littlest, who was curled up in a tiny, fleshy ball next to his shoulder. The girl giggled and snuggled in closer.

The sight of their family together made Astrid's heart melt in her chest. She could feel a tugging there, from somewhere deep. Everything was not going to be all right, but they were going to have to make it work. It was horrible, whatever this was that was happening, but she made a promise to herself that things would still go on, normal and as happy as it would be possible.

"And as for you, Stoick," Hiccup continued after a cough, "I've got a piece of advice for you, and you've gotta actually listen this time, got it?" The boy curled by his sister gazed intently back up with enormous green eyes. "You know what the Wyrd is, right?"

"Mhmm.." his son responded. "You told me a story about that. It controls the future. Will it... is it supposed to make my future good?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

All three others leaned in to listen. "The future isn't set in stone," Hiccup began, shivering. Astrid leaned over to pull the blanket up farther but Hiccup waved her off politely, continuing. "Make of that what you will. My point is, anything could happen next, and the Wyrd isn't going to come to you in the night to tell you what will happen, because that's up to you. You'll have to choose your own path, and it could be good or bad, depending on the choices you make. And one day, you'll be a leader."

The boy looked dubious.

"I'm serious. Now I don't really know everything about what your future will hold, sorry to say. But you wanna know something?"

"What?" his son asked, voice quietly eager. Hiccup grinned from ear to ear when he answered,

"I can almost guarantee you that it will involve dragons."

x

The sun was just rising over the ocean. Sunlight kissed the greenness of Berk's grassy terrain and crawled lazily up over the hills, making its way to the top of the island, towards the chief's house.

Most Vikings on Berk rose early to prepare for another hard day's work. A few men were busy down at the docks. Farmers were up especially early to tend to their fields. Merchants rose and got their wares all ready to peddle. A solitary trading ship sat docked at the port, the crew still fast asleep. From somewhere in a nearby field a rooster crowed.

Not one of them saw it coming when the sky went dark.

It went very dark. Pitch blackness, all throughout the sky. Nobody could see a thing; they might as well have gone blind.

A panic rose up on the docks and in the fields. Sheep let out sounds of terror and villagers woke, not from the coming of the sunlight, but from the lack of moonlight. Nobody could so much as find their way to their own front doors without rummaging for a candle to light.

As for the Haddock household, just one candle was already lit, the one in the middle of the kitchen table. And at the very same moment the sky went dark, the tiny flame of the candle danced, flickered, and snuffed out, leaving the home in complete and utter darkness.

Outside, every villager gathered together with their own candlesticks and torches, whispering among themselves. This was not something to ignore.

They all stayed huddled in the middle of the village, waiting.

x

The chief's home was very quiet.

Astrid ushered her children back into their room, where they immediately fell back asleep. Such innocence.

They wouldn't know until day came, and she would gladly wait that long before she told them anything. Children could only take so much at once.

As for her, she didn't cry. Not immediately.

But she sat by the bed, and waited for the darkness to run its course.

x

One hour was all it took.

Then, as if by a work of magic, the clouds parted in the sky to reveal light.

Slowly, the sun began to peak on the horizon yet again, and it was like an entirely new world had opened up - But everyone knew.

They knew exactly what had happened. They all knew, because for seven years they had been expecting it. Now it was here.

And it had happened.

And now it was over. Upsetting, but expected nonetheless.

A new day had come for the people of Berk. They knew the gods would smile down on them now, after all they'd been through.

By that time, everybody was already outside, just in time to see a second incredible phenomenon take place before their eyes.

As they all stood at the edge of the village, or on the docks, or on their boats, or even from the rooftops, every single Berkian watched as a jet black dragon, Berk's only night fury, took flight from the highest point of the island. He zipped through the air and flapped once, twice, then was over Berk and headed off. The dragon flew on, until he was just a speck in the distance in front of the rising sun.

Collectively, every villager felt like a breath had left them.

After it all happened, they still said nothing. Everything was purely, peacefully quiet when they all marched up to the chief's home, ready to hear what they knew was true.

The last dragon had left, and so had his companion.

x

The End

:::::::::::A/N:::::::::::

And so, Hiccup leaves the world at the ripe old age of... 24 (almost 25). Yeah.

Keep in mind that I started writing this before I had any idea of Hiccup's age in the first film and before I'd heard anything from the second film that confirmed he would be 20 with the time skip. In the beginning when I started this story, I estimated that Hiccup was about 14 years old in the first film, and that's how I'm keeping it here.

So, just to set things straight - There is nothing that will miraculously bring Hiccup back. Toothless may or may not return to Berk as a visitor, and the village will continue to exist as Hiccup would have wanted it. You can fill in the blanks using your imagination.

(Or you can write a story of your own).

So... That's it! That's the end! I can't believe I actually wrote that. 35 chapters, I think I've finally gone insane.

When I started writing this, I never thought the story would end up being so long, I honestly expected it to be around half this size, maybe 25 chapters, possibly 3k words per chapter max, but then I realized how short that seemed.

OH, and a quick p.s. about editing: sorry that the fic keeps randomly updating, it's not because new chapters are being added, it's more because I keep editing stuff, especially the last chapters. I've recently begun doing a full read-over of the story and have been doing some major editing. When I get the time. So thanks for the patience.

I'd like to thank all the people who did stick with the story and continued to read - and put up with my very random updates. It was all done in my spare time, and mostly during the summer. Nine months sure does fly by but that's how long it took to write this, just to put it all in perspective. Hopefully this was an adventure story that you can come back to and get lost in whenever you want to!

Oh, and yeah, I do check up on this every once in a while, in case someone leaves a review (even now in 2015). Thanks again!