K last part. I'm serious now.

Toothless had been flying for a straight day before he saw any land, and he was still far away from his objective. He knew that there was an island to the south of him, so that was where he stopped to rest. It was a single spear-like structure that jutted through the lashing waves.

It was just as he alighted on a ledge that he was attacked from the side.

The attacker had Toothless's back pinned under a heavy foot, a second foreleg was pressed on his head, keeping his jaw clamped.

His opponent was undoubtedly a Night Fury.

Toothless grunted, wrenching himself out from underneath his attacker, using his larger size to his advantage. He thwacked his opened over the head with his prosthetic, catching him behind the ears.

The other Night Fury barked in pain, twisting back to face Toothless with a pained grimace.

There was a beat where neither of them moved, and then the attacker drew back in surprise, "Uncle Aranon?"

Toothless started, both at the name and the recognition of his attacker. He squinted, "Nótt, it is you – Destino?" He took in the sight of his nephew, who had grown considerably since he had last seen him. "My… I should've known it was you – I taught you that first hold."

Destino straightened, letting his guard down. There was something off about him, not in personality or in his eyes. No – it was his body itself. His scales were dull, and Toothless could make out ribs making appearance along Destino's sides.

Destino chirred nervously, aware of his uncle's eyes raking his sides. "Of course."

Those ribs, they shouldn't be so prominent in a healthy young drake like Destino. He didn't know how to bring it up, though.

The drake chose to pursue another topic. "Destino, why are you out this far? Scouting missions don't usually extend to this area."

Destino stiffened. "You… you wouldn't know… would you? Our colony has… relocated." When Toothless started, Destino rushed to elaborate. "I don't blame you! Not at all! Mother told us it wasn't your fault!"

Toothless stopped him, "Calm, Destino, what happened? What do you not blame me for?"

The younger drake's ear drooped. "Frost's prediction came to pass – I – we – we couldn't hold them back. We lost so many." Up until that point, Destino had met his eyes, but now he shifted down. "Torok said that you had heard the prophesy and fled, but Kopin and Mother say that he was trying to get you away from the Crescent Isle."

Toothless was already gone, his wings taking him into the sky from the spire. He cursed himself aloud. He should've been quicker, he shouldn't have stayed away for so long. Why didn't he go back sooner? Hiccup would've agreed to go with him.

He had to make sure everything was fine with his family. He had to see with his own eyes.

"Damn!"

"Uncle Aranon!" Destino leapt up into the air after him, beating his wings erratically to keep control of the violent air currents. He leveled out next to Toothless, "You can't –" his eyes widened in alarm, "Uncle Aranon, your tail!"

Toothless was taken by surprise – he had almost forgotten about his prosthetic. He shook his head, "Don't mind it, Destino. Where is the Colony? Lead me to them. And if you may, tell me what's happened while I've been away."

"Yes, sir." Destino tipped his wing, steering to the east. Toothless followed close, now very mindful of the clicking of the prosthetic. "After our defeat on the Crescent Isle, our remaining numbers fled north, in hopes that the Norther Colony would take us in." Toothless scowled. The Northern Colony's council took forever to make decisions. "Unfortunately, they didn't want us, their normal fishing was disrupted, and they were battling Scale Rot within their own colony.

"After we were turned away, we discovered the Scale Rot had spread to our members. It scattered us as we tried to travel south to the Roman Isles. When we regrouped…" Destino sighed heavily, "There were so few of us."

Toothless pulled up to fly beside Destino, now very troubled. "And Torok, he still remains in power after all of these tragedies?"

"Yes," his nephew replied, "None are confident enough to take him on." Destino paused, then clicked, signalling a turn to starboard, towards a lone standing sea arch.

At first glance, it looked like it was capped with black on the ledges, but upon further inspection, he saw that it was the wings and backs of Night Furies, all huddled together in their limited space.

Destino led the way as they swept up on the wind, landing on a higher platform on the main plateau of the sea arch.

His nephew chirruped, announcing his arrival, and a dozen heads shot up, all belonging to the family of Willeck – their family must've claimed this spot.

"Uncle Aranon!" Misunae exclaimed, rushing up to him. She was a yearling still, of last year's brood. "You're back! You're back!"

"I am," he chirred, "And I –"

"Aranon?! You bastard, is that you?" Willeck's head was up from where she rested, ears erect. "It is! Praise Nótt!"

Toothless nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Certainly."

Willeck uncurled to get a better look at him as he approached, revealing two young pups under her wing. "My, how you've changed. You're bigger!"

"I am?" Toothless asked in shock. He supposes it was hard to measure his growth without having other Night Furies to compare himself to. "Well, we haven't seen each other in how long?"

"The turn of summer, when you left."

"Aye…"

Toothless scanned out over the colony from his vantage point – by his estimates, there couldn't have been at the most, three hundred. Beforehand, when Destino had told him their numbers had been decimated, he hadn't imagined by this much.

"Aranon – your tail…" Willeck eyed it uneasily.

"Ya… that. It's an obscenely long story; I'll have to enlighten everyone about it later." He paused. "Where is Torok?"

Willeck's eyes narrowed, "He's on the opposite end, or at least that's where he's nesting."

"Destino," Toothless said, getting the young Night Fury's attention. "Can you take me?"

"Yes, Uncle Aranon. Follow me." Destino lifted off, and Toothless followed, riding the wind up for the short flight over the sea arch. He could see eyes rising and whispers following his prosthetic, and he thanked Nótt that It wasn't the bright red appendage he usually sported – that would raise even more questions. The chittering of the gears alone was enough to raise suspicion.

Toothless became frustrated with the situation – how would he present himself to Torok? Like this? It would be difficult for him to get his brother to take him seriously.

He had been successful in freeing Berk and the Red Death's island for the colony – and now was the time they needed it most. He could claim himself as a hero and immediately secure his spot of prominence within the colony, but he would put himself in danger with his brother.

Toothless felt conflicted over whether or not to tell them of the Vikings; it could hurt his cause, especially since what happened at the Crescent Isle.

As it sounded, the Night Furies has been stripped of their scornful and dismissive attitude towards humans, and had adopted the stance of a hunted rabbit.

Yes, withholding that information until arrival of the Barbaric Archipelago would be best. They would be angry over the deceit, but they wouldn't come to see the peaceful island of Berk any other way.

"Uncle Aranon," Destino called, guiding him into a spiraling descent. The battering winds didn't help his tail any, but Toothless managed a shaky landing.

He thumped down by his nephew on the oddly empty plateau. Only a few families nested there, but he noticed that they had distanced themselves from a lone female.

He immediate recognised the dark purple sheen on her wings – Haiva. She was curled up with her tail tucked under her wings.

"Haiva?" He said, getting her attention.

Her head shot up instantly, like a startled cat. She seemed too shocked to speak at first, but then the words came. "Aranon? You're… you're… alive?"

"And doing well – Haiva – what has happened to you?"

Instantly her ears snapped down. "Is that condescending?"

Toothless drew back from her sudden hostility. "Not in the slightest, Haiva. We're friends here, correct?"

The she-dragon relaxed some. "I apologize, Aranon. You have been gone for a long time, but you shouldn't be with me at all – you shouldn't be in my company."

Toothless chirred. She must think of others at all times, our Haiva. "Don't worry, I'm here to hold a short audience with my brother, then I'll be finding Tempest. She'll forgive me for sorting out affairs."

He almost completely missed the looks that crossed Haiva and Destino's eyes, widening and quickly exchanging glances before Destino was about to speak.

But he didn't have the chance to say anything before they were all nearly billowed over by heavy wind.

They were joined by a large, jade speckled Night Fury drake.

Torok raised his head, and stepped forward to block Haiva from Toothless and Destino's sights. His eyes smoldered.

"Aranon," he said, eyes scanning his brother. Toothless puffed out his chest. "It's been long."

"Indeed," Toothless growled. "You've changed much about this colony… can't say I'm impressed though."

Torok glared at him. "No involvement on your part helped our situation."

"I've completed the mission, the one you gave me." Toothless swivelled, motioning for Destino to get back. "However, I've been informed that there was some… confusion about the reason for my departure. Know you about this?"

Torok sidled off to the right to match Toothless. "Desertion is desertion, no mistake in that. Of course if that was your mission, then you succeeded."

Toothless's eyes narrowed. "Were we in the same cave, that morning?"

"Deserter!" Torok bellowed, stamping his foreleg down. "Nothing changes your deeds!"

Other Night Furies were growing nervous, not sure of what they would do if combat erupted between the two brothers. Toothless could see them shifting.

"You have deserted: you shed your Warhawk colours, and smell of humans!" Torok was projecting his voice – he wanted to be heard. The others lifted their ears, then tested the scent for themselves, and grew agitated further. This wasn't helping affairs at all.

"You rely on our enemy, and wear their metal like a slave dog!"

Toothless stiffened, then angrily swept his tail out behind him. "I am no dog!" He shrieked, raising his hackles. "Brother, why do you hide? I have carried out your mission, as your Second and Warhawk; I have liberated the Island of the Red Death for this colony!"

"You lie!" Torok screeched back. He appealed to the gathering crowd. "Can you not see and smell that he is the plaything of humans? He'll bring us all to be slaves to them!"

"That is enough, Torok!" The assembled parted, and a familiar face emerged: Corona. "As your current Warhawk I command that you both stand down!"

Exactly what Toothless needed. He withdrew his threatening stance. He swept his tail to the side, baring it to Torok. "No honor in an unsanctioned, forbidden fight, is there?" He growled low.

Torok bristled. His eyes raked the yellow tail, malice obvious, and rolling off of him like a smell.

"Aranon," Corona flicked her ear, "You have never given a quiet entrance in all the years I have known you."

He bowed his head, still keeping an eye on Torok. Haiva was shuffling off to the side, low to the ground. Toothless caught sight of a small flash of gold moving with her. Could it be? No. He lost sight of the gold before he could identify it properly.

"Corona, I would never dream of sneaking back to my home, my colony. My reception has unfortunately been cold here," he made his tone light. "But you make it warm again."

The she-dragon snorted, "Flattery; how juvenile." She then leaned in, murmuring low to him, "Caution, I can only do so much to hold him off."

"Saving him, Warhawk? You side with the traitor?"

Corona flinched, slowly raising her eyes to meet Torok's. "There is no traitor in our midst – perhaps my eyes fail me?" Corona replied grimly.

The tension was palpable, and held tight like a bowstring between all those present.

It audibly snapped when Torok bolted up with a furious roar – directly for Corona.

She skittered, but dodged just as his claws slashed next to her head. Toothless immediately swung up his wing, smacking Torok's blow upward. "For the love of Nótt, just listen! Please, brother!" The Leader prowled, fury rolling off of him like waves as he circled. "Torok, please, I have found a place for us to live in peace – more food than we could ever imagine – and no Queen to stop us!"

"You lie!" Torok spat. His accusations were repetitive, and were becoming less feasible to those present. "You are enslaved to the Queen – you mean to entrap us with you!"

"For the love of – you know what? You don't have to come!" Toothless snapped back. "Hel, no one has to come, you damn proud Stulte!" The assembled were taken change in his tone and bearing. "Those brave enough to come out from their mother's wings can fly out with me," Toothless drew himself up. "I'm taking my own."

Corona nudged him, "Aranon…"

Toothless addressed Torok directly this time. "Don't hinder me – or I will not hesitate to fight you."

Corona guided him away, and the surrounding Children of Lightning parted like a school of fish. Destino followed close.

"You are reckless," Corona hissed at him, not facing him when she made her way down a craggy slope.

"He won't listen to reason," Toothless replied. "I needed to draw a bold stroke."

"We're not yearlings anymore, Aranon," Corona growled, "This colony has changed, and not in your favour."

"Will you come with me?"

Corona sopped short, causing Destino and Toothless to ram into each other and her. "Are you insane as well? Aranon, I am the Warhawk – your replacement! I'm the only thing keeping your brother in line. Imagine what would happen if I left!"

"I hate to think it." Destino muttered darkly.

"The brave will come with me – those with weak minds can stay and rot with him."

"We have to stay together, Aranon," Corona said. "Kopin will stay. Willeck can't leave, not with all those pups. Haiva is too scared to take her son and fly, not when Torok will fight to keep that poor thing close to him." So it was a pup under her wing, that gold flash.

"Tempest will come."

Corona stiffened, and Destino's eyes suddenly averted themselves to the horizon. Toothless felt like there was a tension between them, and it made his stomach knot.

It was Corona who spoke, voice low. "Tempest – Aranon… she was ordered to stay and defend the Crescent Isle with the Warshades. Hardly any, save a few, made it to the rendezvous point with the colony."

The waves suddenly crashed louder than ever before, filling Toothless's ears with roaring.

Destino dipped his head, "Aranon… she-"

"Shut up!" Toothless snapped. "Who ordered it? Torok? You, Corona?"

Corona hissed, "I would never!"

Toothless suddenly bolted back up the path, but was caught by his two companions. "Let me go! Let me kill him!" He heaved underneath of them, gritting his teeth. "I'll kill him!"

Corona clubbed him over the head with her paw, hitting him up against the cliff wall. "You think you can go back and challenge him now? Just after what you said to him? You're not using your head, Aranon!"

She backed off, letting Toothless slink off to the side.

"Have you gone soft in the head, Aranon? Is that what being with the humans has done to you?" Corona asked, ears laid back.

"No!" Toothless growled in frustration. "I promised Tempest that I would return to her! I said –" he choked. I swear to you I'll come back. I swear it on the moon and the stars and everything between I will come home. And you will be safe. Had he not said that?

His heart thumped.

"I said I would return. She was going to be safe. We were…"

Destino puffed gently out of his nose. "We understand. But please understand us. We cannot leave our colony."

Toothless exhaled, heart still hammering against his ribcage.

"Aranon. Please… you cannot stay long." Corona said quietly.

There was a beat when nothing was said, just the beating of the waves filled the air.

"Tell Willeck my farewell, Destino?"

"Yes."

"And Corona, do not let Kopin think poorly of me."

"I would never."

Toothless hesitated for a moment in raising his wings, testing at the gears of the false tail. He looked under his wing at his nephew and his lifelong friend. "We will meet again… someday."

Corona dipped her head, and recited the traditional farewell. "May the wind be always at your back, Aranon."

"Until we meet again," he responded, "may Night hold you in her hands."

Toothless didn't remember flying over endless stretches of ocean. He definitely didn't remember how he found the current that led to Berk.

But what he did remember was the ache he felt in his chest that felt infinitely more real than ever before. He also remembered realizing that no matter what he did, he couldn't go back to save Tempest, and that he would just have to stop observing Constellation Silverhelm.

He also remembered the stunning flash of clarity that hit him not eight miles offshore of Berk's coastline, and diving deep into the water to retrieve a helmet from the water.

A gift for his pup.

The only family he had left.