Did I say abandoned? Yes. I just forgot that this lovely gem had a part 2 lurking in my forgotten files. This carries to the end of Gift of the Night Fury.

What woke the Night Fury wasn't anything thunderous like a bellowing Gronckle or startling like Barf and Belch clearing snow. Thank Nótt it wasn't. No. What woke the dozing drake was a single snowflake that had managed to wiggle its way into the spare room in the Haddock Hall, and had gotten itself sucked up into Toothless's nose while he inhaled.

He grunted awake, crinkling his nose at the ticklish sensation of the melting snow in his nostril. He pawed at his nose, trying to bat the feeling away.

Snow. He thought sourly. Nearly killed us before along with those stupid yaks. Now the stuff is at it again. One could say he wasn't overly fond of the substance.

After the pesky snowflake was taken care of, Toothless leapt upwards to one of the room's ceiling supports, then crawled through the pitifully small opening that Gobber had installed. Apparently the smith hadn't noticed that Toothless was a dragon, and not the cat, Stinker, that they kept around the forge (who, when Toothless did finally meet her, seemed to be a very pleasant creature).

Toothless wriggled through the opening, pulling himself over the lip of the wood.

It was nearly sunrise; he could see the light colours of morning replacing the starriness of night. Toothless waited eagerly for the sun to show itself completely. It had become tradition for the Night Fury to wake his boy as soon as the sun had completely come over the horizon, then go out for a flight in the cold winter air.

But while he waited, he had a lot of time to think.

Today was the long anticipated day for the other dragons – after the kerfuffle the weeks before about mating, they were all ready to head off to their hatching grounds. Toothless was alright being alone for that length of time, until the hatchlings were able to fly back.

He had managed in the cove fine.

Of course, he had had Celine then, but she was getting rather irritable as her time to lay her eggs grew nearer, and the village could do without her trying to destroy it in her hormonal rage.

Humans would suffice as company, and if that failed, he could always talk to Stinker.

During this season, however, there was a longing ache in him that could only be quelled by the company of another Night Fury. Tempest.

Even if neither of them were capable of producing pups due to their young ages, there was something exceptionally special about sharing their bodies with each other – something shared only between mates.

And he yearned for it.

Someday, perhaps, he would go with Hiccup to see the Crescent Isle – that would be the only way for him to return anyways. Toothless recalled wondering how his friends would react to him flying in with a human on his neck – but Toothless would be less abashed of it now. He'd be damn proud to introduce his boy to his friends and family. Toothless chirred to himself. His nieces and nephews would love Hiccup. All twenty of them, and probably more this year.

Berk was safe for them now – it wouldn't be hard for the Night Furies to take an island close by and escape Frost's prophecy in time.

The Roman Isles had been wiped out – the Nadder who had come before was truthful – and even though the Crescent Isle was next to impossible to find for one not familiar with the area, he worried that his home would be next.

It wouldn't be much longer now. Someday Hiccup would be capable of long, difficult flights, but not yet.

Toothless looked up again, just as the sun's bottom inched up over the water.

A small smile turned up the corners of the drake's mouth.

He lifted his upper body, then slammed down his forelegs on the roof, rattling loose the scale-shaped shingles from the house. "Wake up!" Toothless called, repeating the action. "The sun has come!"

The Night Fury paused for a moment to listen, the quickly resumed. "I can hear your breathing! You're awake!"

Hiccup's voice sounded faintly, but was able to be heard by the Night Fury easily. "Okay, okay, I'm coming."

Of course you are. Toothless thought smugly, proudly taking himself to the crest of the house, waiting for his pup to come out the door. When Hiccup did, he was rubbing his arms in an effort to ward off some of the cold, as well as fighting off a yawn as he greeted Toothless.

"Well, good morning, Mr. Bossy!" He said, partly disgruntled, partly joking.

Toothless chirred at him, "And to you also!"

Hiccup made a chiding imitation of Toothless, limping around to the side of the house, where Toothless was already making his way to, slithering down the side of the house.

"Do you always have to wake me up so early to go flying?!" The last bit was stretched out when the prosthetic slipped on the patch of ice, making Hiccup go down in a very ungraceful manner.

Toothless jumped down and caught Hiccup with his head, gently lifting him up and away from the slippery patch. Hiccup was good on his fake foot as well as Toothless was with his fake tail, but just like the dragon, he had his slipups. They were both there for each other's mistakes as well, just like now.

The Night Fury put his startled human back down in a stand, then backed up. Hiccup lifted the prosthetic up for scrutiny. "Stupid leg."

Toothless gave a small, worried warble, but Hiccup waved it off, "Oh, thanks buddy, I'm okay." The Night Fury brightened. "Yah, we – we can go flying now."

Well, thank Nótt, my wings need stretching. He loosed a small burp, releasing the fishy smell from his gut in order to wake Hiccup up further, just to make sure he didn't fall asleep in the saddle again. Last time was a disaster.

Hiccup waved his hand to ward off the fishy burp, voicing his displeasure. "Toothless!" The Night Fury nuzzled closer, purring heartily.

z

Toothless flipped over the clouds, him and his boy working in perfect sync to dart through the clouds and into a harsh dive parallel to the side of the northern peak of the island

He could feel Hiccup's hands pulling on the handles of the saddle, but the Night Fury wasn't ready to pull out of their dive yet. It would take away the thrill of nearly dying.

The ocean was getting closer and closer, the slate waves becoming imminently more dangerous in his procrastination.

Toothless's wings shot out, and the dragon and his rider violently leveled out, seeming only to be a hairsbreadth over the water. The pair whooped in triumph over gravity.

Hiccup leaned over as to catch the dragon's eye, "Okay, you ready? Easy..."

"Nótt…"

Hiccup paid no heed to the dragon's doubtful tone and went ahead with unhitching his prosthetic from the Night Fury's harness.

The tail snapped shut, and Toothless could feel the clenching of his heart in his ribcage, painfully restricting itself in fright. If this is at all like the times before…

They were flying straight for a sea arch, a gods forsaken sea arch, and no matter how hard the Night Fury beat his wings and compensated by swinging his body, he couldn't get up high enough for him and Hiccup to pass like they normally did.

Nótt, oh Nótt, oh Nótt, oh Nótt! Toothless bucked his hindquarters, catapulting his boy up over the stone.

For those heart stopping moments, the Night Fury could feel the reaper of souls greeting him, Pack up, Child of Night it said, I'm shooting you up into the Nightstar constellation, say hello to Ronoth for me!

After what seemed like a century, Hiccup thumped back down into the saddle, reengaging the harness and pushing away the soul reaper. The boy cried out victoriously, "Yes! Finally!"

"For the gods sakes!" Toothless rumbled, "It's not something to be proud of!"

They flew out over the ocean, out into where the sun hadn't dissolved the fog yet. The air was thick and muffled his wingbeats, almost making him silent. They were also too far out over the water to come in contact with any more sea stacks.

Toothless congratulated himself with a small grunt and a head nod.

They flew together until they reached the outlying fog banks that hadn't burned off yet from the cold winter sun.

It was difficult to see farther out that a few wingspans, but they usually were the only ones that flew on these particular routes at that time of day.

They had practiced a few twirls and spins that, thank Nótt, required Hiccup to be strapped to the saddle.

"Whaddya say, bud," Hiccup leaned over Toothless's neck. "Wanna go again?"

The Night Fury rumbled in agreement. It had been awhile since he had stretched his wings out so nicely.

It was just when he straightened his head that he saw something coming out of the cloudbank, then separating and flying around him.

Hiccup yelled as one Nightmare darted over them, and Toothless dropped in the air to avoid it.

"Damn it, watch yourself!" Toothless careened through the air traffic. Hopelessly unable to turn about to fly in the same direction, he had to dodge every dragon that came his way.

"Watch yourself, hon!" A she-dragon flipped out of his way, but only just enough that they still whacked wingtips.

The Night Fury pedaled his legs, trying to stabilize, until they found a small pocket in the pack of dragons. Toothless tried to map his way out, but it was difficult with the cloud. He scrutinized the way, but was suddenly brought back to awareness of his rider. Hiccup cried out at the loss of his helmet.

Toothless dropped, tucking in his wings and diving down after the helmet. It was pure instinct, to retrieve it. That helmet was important to Hiccup.

But Hiccup wasn't cooperating. He jerked back on the handholds of the saddle. "Toothless… no no no no, wait, Toothless!"

The Night Fury looked back at him, "What?"

"We'll get it later, bud," Hiccup said, jolting forward when Toothless threw out his wings. "We need to get back and find out what's going on!"

Of course the Vikings didn't know about the hatchling season. He would have to indulge Hiccup, the boy wasn't able to fly out as far as the rookery with the harness quite yet. His prosthetic was still giving them issues.

So Toothless scanned the ocean, looking to and fro to see their relation to the coast of Berk and the surrounding islands so he could find this spot again. Dragons were quite good at that.

He then wheeled around and went against his instincts, back to Berk.

The last of the dragons were dispersing from the island just and the Night Fury and his boy swooped down to land in the village.

Hiccup jumped off the saddle as soon as they hit the ground, and ran towards Astrid, calling her name.

The Vikings were all in a state of confusion. They called after the dragons that were almost all gone, and they despaired after them.

"Toothless!"

The drake responded to the call of his name, rearing up to meet Stormfly. She hovered over the ledge he was on.

"Stormfly, go on!"

"You sure you can't swim?"

"I'm positive! Just go, or you'll be left behind!"

Toothless watched the last of the dragons disappear into the cloud bank. And that was when he realized how quiet it was.

Sure, the Vikings were still loud in their worrying or getting around the village, but there was now a distinct lack of dragon noises that Toothless had known for his whole life, and the combination of human and dragons that he had grown accustomed to over the past few months was now non-existent.

Toothless turned away from the cliff, then headed through the village, in no particular direction, but he found his path taking him to the Smithy, where Gobber was busy covering the backside of the building with a heavy canvas tarp, to keep the wind from blowing through.

The Night Fury helped himself in through the side door, then promptly lay beside the forge, letting the cold seep from his scales, being replaced by the radiating warmth of the coals.

That was when he was joined by Stinker, who never missed a chance to steal his scale warmth. Since he was the warmest thing in the Smithy short of the fire itself, the drake was a natural choice to perch on for the she-cat.

The tortoiseshell cat dropped onto his back with surprised agility from the top shelf. She kneaded her paws on Toothless's back, getting comfortable. "The other dragons finally left, huh?" Stinker inquired.

Toothless mumbled in reply. "Yes."

"Good thing – those moody she-dragons of yours were causing quite a ruckus. I would've had to leave, but…" Stinker trailed off, suggestively looking in the general direction of the snowdrifts outside the door.

"But you're too lazy, be honest," Toothless scoffed.

"Well, that's rich coming from the only dragon left on the island!" Stinker turned up her nose, "Scats if I'm the only lazy one here."

Toothless chirred lightly, settling his head back on the ground. Stinker had a point.

Now, all he could do was be lazy, and wait for the other dragons to return.

The Night Fury was learning very fast why Gobber wasn't overly fond of Stinker. She was fine to spend time with periodically, as Toothless usually did, but it was only the drake's second day of being in her company that he understood why even the other cats steered clear of her.

There wasn't any particular quality that irked him, but it was just her personality as a whole that just rubbed his scales the wrong way.

That would be the reason that Toothless had decided to avoid the smithy that day. Rather, rooted around behind the Haddock Hall in search of winter berries or something of the edible quality.

Hiccup hadn't come home that night before, so Toothless assumed he was up to something in the forge. Toothless would've joined him for the all-night, but Stinker was there, and Hiccup loved that cat, so she would most likely be hanging around him, begging for scraps of food.

The drake found no trace of any berries left, so he turned from the patch and went back to the hall, meandering through the snow, dragging his claws through it. Even on the Crescent Isle, the snow didn't pile up this high – the maritime climate on the island guaranteed that snow wouldn't last until noon, before turning into white slush that females would shovel from their family's ledges.

Toothless jumped up onto the back of the Haddock Hall, pulling himself up the spine of the building until he crested up over its top. Without further ado, he railed all of his strength into a jump, pounding on the support of the home. Someone will notice. Then I can go flying.

This merciless pounding didn't last long before Hiccup appeared in front of the house, holding a large bundle close to his chest.

"Toothless! Come on down, bud!" Before the boy had even finished, the Night Fury was on the ground, sniffing at the bundle. "I got something for you." He recognized the leather and straps and the wooden tube – it was a tail. But… no saddle?

"What do you think of that?" Hiccup asked, letting Toothless get a better look. It was black, much more discreet than their usual red tail. But still, how would it work without a saddle? Was Hiccup just going to fit it on him to check for sizing?

Hiccup made his way back towards the Night Fury's tail, but Toothless followed him around, not done his inspection of the new prosthetic. What could it be? Maybe it's more stable? More realistic than the other one, for sure, perhaps it's just for show?

The boy chuckled, telling the dragon to settle down. "Let me get this on you!"

Toothless finally stopped his rotation, allowing for Hiccup to strap on the new tail. It was definitely for fitting, for sure.

The drake ducked his head under his wing to watch. They could go flying now – what a relief. Having the skies to himself, that would be a treat.

"You are going to love this," Hiccup said, buckling the tail into place. It was tighter than usual – it wasn't going to slip off or around any time soon. He patted Toothless on the tail. "Okay…"

It was a gut instinct that told Toothless something was off about the tail as soon as he got it off the ground. It's too heavy. He shook it. Hiccup had been trying so hard for a lighter, sleeker version of the prosthetic, why go backwards now? It was so strange, so wrong.

Toothless immediately swung it, trying to get it off. He must've spun once or twice, nearly knocking Hiccup over in the process before he froze.

Right before him, snapped out like a flag, was his tail. Not just his tail – the prosthetic too. Toothless's heart nearly shot out through his chest at the sight. He could hardly believe it – and bringing it closer to his face just made his heart pound harder, his mind race so fast it was incoherent.

It moved in sync with his living tail, folding and splaying and oh Nόtt it actually looked real…

The Night Fury felt inexplicably warm, euphoria blossomed in his chest as he met eyes with Hiccup. Words, if they could be spoken, could not describe this absolute feeling.

Longing wings called him – begged him to forsake the earth. How could he resist?

Before he could stop himself, the Night Fury spun through the sky, splitting the air like a cleaver. It felt amazing, not having any resistance on his back or sides – his old speed was restored to him, even if he was sacrificing some agility to the tailfin.

He crested over the mountain, then coasted on the drafts that blew up it. He hung there, surveying the island beneath him. There was a feeling welling up in his chest, an indescribable one that tugged him eastward, back to where he had last come from with a wholesome body.

The Crescent Isle.

It was an instinct that Toothless had to suppress in order to think rationally.

Firstly, he would want to bring Hiccup with him, but even with Hiccup just riding, he still tired easily, and having a second weight on his back, even if it was just Hiccup, would tire him as well. There were no islands to rest on between Berk and the Crescent that were accommodating for humans.

Secondly, Toothless didn't know how the other Night Furies would react – even though he had day-dreamed about a warm reception towards Hiccup, he had to be realistic. The prediction by Frost, the one that sent him into this situation, prophesised that humans would be the destruction of the Crescent Isle Colony.

By myself. He thought. I'll bring them here, then ease them into a relationship with Berk's dragons and Vikings. Toothless cast a glance behind him to check on the tail. It was sturdy enough for the journey. He gave it a small flick to be sure, then took a sharp dive, building up speed.

The wind whistled through his wings as he plummeted, and screeched when he burst his wings out and panned out over the waves; if he had waited a split second more, he would've crashed into the sea and broken his neck, and probably every other bone in his body. Toothless raced over the waves, his direction clear.

The Crescent Isle.