And here we have update #4 of this week. We're getting close to a little bit of action, but I think I might wait until next Friday to update again. Don't want to run out of material for you. Or maybe I will update again tomorrow. We shall see.

Cheers to my reviewers! Or as The Lightning Phoenix likes to call them, Support Awards!

Little Did You Know (I really enjoy the screeching. So... EIGHT CHAPTERS!)

canadasam101 (I think the term is madam, but "sir" works okay I suppose. And yes, I am a devious, plotting little monkey. Can't help it.)

Vvarden

InfernoChicken

QuiteARandomFan

Harkonnen28 (Maybe it would help if I created a list of characters?)

valeria

Colinou

and last but not least... the anonymous Guest.

Yawning, Toothless blinked in the early morning sunlight. Next to him, Lightning stirred, mumbling something, and he turned to smile fondly at her.

"Good morning, sunshine," he said sweetly, and one of her eyes opened halfway to peer at him.

"Save it for later."

"No time like the present. Shall I get us some breakfast?"

Her wing came up to cover her face. "Fine," her muffled voice sounded from within the cocoon.

Feeling awake and refreshed, Toothless bounded off to the river, where his luck seemed to have taken a turn, and in no time produced a pile of shiny fish. Why didn't they do this more often? Oh, right. Because he was the Alpha, and they had a bunch of hatchlings to look after back in the village. Fortunately, he knew he could trust Ash to keep an eye on them, even though she and Cinder had their own shelter now.

Today was a new day, and the concerns of the old seemed to be naught but a distant memory, even though Toothless knew fully well that the moment he returned to the village there would be a never-ending stream of responsibilities and dragons to take care of. For now, though, he could pretend that it was just him and his mate, no long-lost hatchlings or commitments to attend to. Skies above, she was so beautiful. Toothless wasn't sure how, but he was certain she became more radiant with each passing day. Even when she was tired or grumpy, Lightning always managed to make his heart skip a beat.

And now, memories of the previous night still lingering in his mind, as she basked in the sun with her knowing blue gaze trained on him, Toothless decided he'd fallen in love all over again.

"What are you thinking?" she asked, eyes sparkling.

"Only of you," he replied.

"I find that hard to believe."

"Believe it, love. You are mesmerizing, as usual."

She laughed. "Oh, stop. You're making me blush like a human."

He got up and moved closer to her, breakfast forgotten. Their matching grins faded as they nuzzled each other, hearts racing. As he settled over her, Lightning giggled. "Told you I have powers," she whispered.

"I believe it," he murmured back, and they were lost.

Ash awoke feeling groggy and lackluster, realizing dully that she had spent the night in the cove. For a moment she simply lay there, letting her sadness wash over her. Shade didn't want to be her friend anymore. She should have guessed that, should have known better than to seek him out, but something about him was drawing her in, like a moth to a flame. Unlike a moth, though, she was aware of the danger. Cinder had warned her, had he not? Yet she still chose to follow him to the cove by herself, the scene of their ill-fated conversation three years ago. A sense of shame was settling over her now. She had lied to Kiva about where she was going, done expressly what Cinder had told her not to do, and had thought nothing of how it might make Shade feel to have to speak with her. All she had been thinking of was herself, what she wanted. And what did she want? To have things be back to normal between herself and Shade. Was that so much to ask?

Yes, the voice in her head whispered. Something about the way Kiva had been talking about him had deeply unsettled her, but it was no longer her business what Shade chose to do with his life. If he and Kiva were to become mates, who was she to get in the way of that?

Whoa, slow down. No one said anything about them becoming mates. Except… that's what Kiva wanted. How could Kiva want that? She doesn't even know Shade! Preposterous. Outlandish. Ridiculous. But Ash knew her friend, and knew that Kiva was quite capable of getting what she wanted. As Kiva had pointed out, it wasn't like Ash and Shade were the best of friends. Apparently, far from it. Ash should wash her paws of the whole situation. It shouldn't matter to her who Kiva decided to mate with— oh, but the very thought of her friend and Shade together made Ash sick to her stomach.

Why? Why does he matter to you so much? Ash didn't know. She wanted to tell herself that she just cared about Shade as a friend would. But a friend wouldn't react so strongly to the idea of him with someone else.

"Ugh!" Ash moaned, burying her face in her paws. This was not the time for mixed up emotions. It should be very clear. Shade doesn't care about you anymore. You shouldn't care so much about him now, when you treated him so callously before.

The shame was a great, overwhelming wave. She had driven him away, and now that she was back, she wanted him in her life. He was his own dragon, and she should have considered that he might not want to go back to the way it was when they were younger. When she had taken him for granted.

Ash stumbled to her feet, growling at herself. This is your own fault. You turned him down, now you live with the consequences. With a graceless leap she dove into the lake, submerging herself completely. Exhaling, she watched the bubbles float in a stream towards the surface, willing herself to calm down. She needed to go to Kiva and apologize for leaving her the night before. She also wanted to talk to her brother. Cinder wouldn't be pleased that she had sought Shade out, but he would know what to do, or at least have some word of advice for her.

After another minute she swam back to shore, shaking wings and ears out. Then, she spread her wings and leapt skyward, heading to the village. She didn't see the flash of blue in the bushes on the far rim of the cove, or the shadow that crept from them and glided smoothly down to the beach she had just left.

Shade wondered why he had stayed as long as he had. As soon as he had seen her asleep on the sand, he should have turned back. But something kept him hidden, watching her as she awoke. He could sense her apparent unhappiness even from that distance, verging on distress as she leapt into the lake. What was the matter? He couldn't exactly ask her, seeing as how he had shut her down so thoroughly the night before, and he told himself he didn't care. Sighing, he wondered if she often spent the night here, and immediately dismissed the thought. From what he had heard from Storm, Ash and Cinder had their own shelter now. So she had just stayed there last night, then? Could he be the reason she was so upset?

He snorted softly at the notion. Doubtful. But it bothered him, increasingly as the day progressed. After he had completed his morning routine of flying around in the solace of the cove, he returned to the village to see to Aeri. She told him all about the dinner the night before as they soared over the island, how Kai had dumped his bowl of food on her, at which he laughed appropriately, and how Alyka had stormed out of the house upon seeing her. Wren and Erik had welcomed her back with open arms, though.

Ash had tried to welcome him back, he supposed, mindlessly navigating the wind currents. And maybe he shouldn't have been so harsh last night. But he was tired of games, tired of walking on eggshells. She had made it perfectly clear how she felt three years ago. He had been the one to change things between them, but even so, she shouldn't expect things to go back to the way they were. Because things weren't the same. He wasn't the same.

"Shade? Are you alright?" Pulled from his reverie, Shade glanced back at Aeri, who appeared mildly concerned.

He warbled a response, forcing a toothless grin, before pulling into a steep dive to distract her. She whooped loudly, and he knew without looking that her hands were thrown over her head. Well, one arm was. The shoulder that had been forcefully dislocated was still giving her trouble, and it was slightly painful for her to move that arm too much.

A few minutes later they were circling the village, and Shade noted with satisfaction that a number of people had stopped to wave as they passed by. It would take time, but he felt sure that normalcy would settle upon him and his human partner eventually. The Vikings of Berk would no longer look twice at them, would no longer behave stiffly and uncertainly.

"Hey!"

He and Aeri looked behind them to see Erik on Storm. Immediately Shade slowed to allow them to catch up, and soon they were flying side by side.

"Do you want to go fishing with Skali, Soturi, and I later? Soren wants to come but maybe we can escape him if we're quick."

Shade laughed. "Sure, sounds good." On their shoulders, their humans were discussing armor.

"So I was wondering, uh, maybe if you had time, you could maybe help me craft a set of armor like yours and Dad's? He doesn't have much time to help me, and you know I'm hopeless around the forge, but I understand if you don't want to," Erik added quickly.

Aeri looked at him appraisingly. He wore a simple blue tunic and fur vest, which suited him just fine, but if he was training seriously with his sword and with Storm, well…

"Everyone should have their own armor," she finally smiled, and he grinned back delightedly.

"Awesome! Thank you so much! I'll help as much as I can, I mean, I had some ideas, but you know, not the best with tools."

"I know. Don't worry, we'll make it perfect for you."

"You're the best. Race ya!" With a small roar Storm blasted forward, and Shade immediately followed suit. When they landed in the square, villagers glanced between the two Haddock children, sensing that there were no hard feelings, and some approached to greet Aeri. Storm excused herself and darted off, leaving Shade to meander to the shade of the blacksmith's shop, watching the humans interact. Aeri was holding her own, which meant he was free to doze off. Every so often he'd peer out of one eye to make sure she wasn't in any trouble, which she didn't appear to be, now that Gobber had gotten ahold of her and dragged her over to the forge.

"I've got orders up to me ears, lass, so get to work!" Grinning, Aeri did as she was told, clearly enjoying herself.

Shade was drifting on a tide of his own meandering thoughts when he got the distinct sensation that he was being watched. For a moment, he debated investigating, after all, it was probably just some curious passerby, but finally he opened his eyes, quickly discovering the source of the feeling.

That Night Fury— Kiva, right?— was sitting across the square, looking at him. What in the world is she doing here? Another part of him rapidly made the connection: If she's here, where is Ash?

That doesn't matter, he told himself crossly. She doesn't matter. With a quiet sigh, he raised his head, inviting heavens-knew-what onto himself. Kiva got to her feet and crossed the square, smiling at him the whole way.

Without being too obvious, Shade appraised her as she approached. Her eyes were a foresty green color, and she was lithe and rather tall for a female. Not that that mattered, seeing as how Shade was large for a Night Fury. All in all, she was definitely attractive, but for some reason failed to rouse his senses.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully, sitting down next to him. She was closer than he would have expected a stranger to be, but so long as they weren't touching he didn't care.

"Hi," he replied slowly.

"I saw you flying earlier, with your human. Do you fly around the island often?"

"Every day."

"That's neat. When I'm home I like to take laps around the island, you know, stay in shape and all that. Helps with the long flights between the colony and Berk."

"Mhm." She didn't seem put off by his lack of response. Rather, she leaned in even closer, and Shade caught her scent. Very flowery.

"I was thinking we could go flying sometime."

What? Shade stopped himself from frowning. It was very clear to him now. Ash's friend was making advances towards him. Why, he had no clue. Was it some kind of joke? Was Ash responsible? Immediately he dismissed that idea. No, this female was acting on her own. Vaguely he wondered how Ash felt about it, then roughly shoved that thought away too.

"Uh, sure?" Well, there was no harm in a flight or two, he supposed. After all, she was from the colony, and he had no idea of how well she was acquainted with Berk or its dragons. It would be the generous thing to do, showing her around. That she was attractive was surely just a bonus.

"Great! Listen, I was about to go eat, would you join me?"

"Um…" Shade glanced towards Aeri, who was working her way through a pile of old weapons as tall as she was. She caught his eye and smiled, wiping the perspiration from her forehead.

"You hungry, bud? You should go eat! I'll be fine here, don't worry. I'll see you later."

Well, that settled that.

"You did what?" Cinder pierced her with his silvery green eyes, sounding incredulous in a bad way.

"I… followed him to the cove." Ash did her best not to sound guilty.

"After I expressly told you to— you know, you really should try listening more often. It would save you a great deal of trouble."

"I know, I know. I just… wanted to see for myself."

"And?"

"And…" Ash didn't know what to say. He rejected me. He hates me.

Cinder seemed to pick up on her dejection, because his expression softened. "I won't say I told you so. What happened?"

"He… doesn't want to be friends. At all."

Her brother looked thoughtful. "I wasn't sure how he'd behave towards those of us outside his immediate family. I guess now we know: not friendly."

"No, that's not it," she replied, ignoring his raised eyebrow. "I… kind of deserved it. I think it's just me."

"Just you? Why?"

"I, ah, would rather not talk about it."

"I see." Ash glanced at her brother, whose face was unreadable. "Well, I suppose all I can suggest is to stay out of his way, then. And don't sneak off anymore and leave me with your friends, okay?"

"Sorry about that. I won't. Thanks, Cinder." Ash sighed unhappily and turned to leave.

"Wait, there was something I wanted to tell you."

"Oh?" she turned back, noticing that he appeared a bit antsy.

"Holly and I—"

"You asked her? Finally!" Ash couldn't help but laugh as his surprise faded into amusement.

"Yeah, I did. So probably soonish she'll be staying with us here, if that's alright with you."

"Of course that's alright with me! Finally. Sheesh. I was starting to feel like I would never have any nieces or nephews to play with."

"Whoa whoa whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves." Cinder looked alarmed.

Snorting, Ash turned back to the door again. "Please. There's going to be a new Night Fury hatchling this Snoggletog or next, I just know it." With that, she left the shelter, blinking at the bright sunlight. Her stomach rumbled noisily, so she decided to head to the feeding station.

Okay, so Harkonnen28 made a pretty good point. Are any of you struggling with the sheer number of characters that I have in this story? I could be persuaded to make a comprehensive list for you all, if that would be helpful. Just let me know!