Swirls of blue filled his vision. He could see blurs and murkiness floating in and out, in and out. He didn't feel his body, he couldn't bring himself to speak or to move. He felt as if he was floating higher and higher…

...and in an instant, everything around him came into focus. His vision became dark with red and orange lights. The silence was shattered by cries and roaring. Figures darted across the black sky. And then came contact.

People shoved past him, giving small nudges. Then came a flash of bright light and he felt himself fall to the ground. Above him was a man, wielding an ax and a savage-looking expression on his face. "RAAAAH! Mornin'!"

He was left too stunned to speak as the man retreated. Even when he tried to, no sound came out. His thoughts were scrambling for answers, but he couldn't piece them together. Instead, he found thoughts that were… different. He didn't know how, but they were alien. Unfamiliar.

He felt himself stand, yet he made no move to do so. He ran, yet he felt like standing still in a panic. Warriors wielding primitive weapons turned confused glances and shot daggers at him, yelling in an accent unfamiliar to him. He could make out commands to find shelter indoors, yet he paid them no mind as he continued to run.

A jet of flame barred his path. Something flew overhead… and something else seized him. Something big. "HICCUP!"

Before he could mentally react, he found himself in the grip of a large man with meaty arms and a displeased look. "What is he doing out aga-" The man shot him a glare. "What are you doing out?! Get inside!" He was shoved forward and felt himself turning to face the man.

No matter what he tried, he could not look away from the imposing man. He took this moment to compose himself, to focus. What was he told just before all… this?

The man picked up a wheelbarrow and chucked it at an airborne winged figure. It broke in impact and dropped a white fluffy animal. A sheep, he wondered? He stopped himself there, trying to clear himself.

The larger man turned to another and started to speak. He chose not to listen to their conversation. Instead, he searched his memory for...

...designed to target your very DNA. Once you inhale this, the ancestral genes within you will awaken, and your brain will be transported back in time. Prepare to witness and experience the life of your ancestor, starting from his days at the bottom of the tribe.

Did this mean it was working? Had he- somehow- gone back in time? Was he really in-

Sudden movement cut himself off. He was running again as giant torches were lifted and lit. He arrived at a small building… where he quickly realized he was not alone.

"Oh, nice of you to join the party!" someone spoke from out of view. "I thought you'd been carried off!"

And then, finally, he spoke. With a voice that was not his own. "Me? No, come on, I'm waaaay too muscular for their taste." He found himself lifting a piece of a hammer and… straining from the effort, unbelievably. He turned to the one who had spoken, another man with a hammer-like prosthetic arm, and felt his body attempt a flex. "They wouldn't know what to do with all… this."

"Well, they'd need toothpicks, don't they?" As the man answered with what he assumed to be a joke, he saw a pair of hands remove blunt, worn-down weapons from a wooden surface. The weapons were placed on glowing coals, and he felt himself press down on bellows.

He knew his body was gonna be busy for a while, so he tried to recap. This was… Viking times, wasn't it? Okay, so that covered when he was… but not where he was. But then, he stopped. Fiona mentioned something about an island called "Berk". Was this it?

"Alright, let's go!"

He froze, although his body moved about to investigate. That voice… he knew that voice! Didn't that sound a little bit how Val sounded? Except he knew her to be a little more tomboyish, but that was a fragment of it right there. Who was-

A structure erupted into flame and smoke. From there, what he saw was… amazing. He felt his body freeze up, and his mind took in the sight of a somewhat familiar figure. A female teen with sky-blue eyes and blonde hair that covered a portion of her face.

He'd seen her before… from the images that Fiona showed him. He scrambled, trying to recall a name. Amber? Artemis? Astara? Aster?

Astrid! Yes, that was it! Her name was Astrid… and she was one of his ancestors at this time. And the other one was seeing out of the same eyes he was.

Something lifted him and he heard his body let out a groan. "Oh, come on, let me out, please!" the voice begged. "I need to make my mark!"

"Oh, you've made plenty of marks!" replied the other man, setting him down and jabbing him in the torso with his prosthetic. "All in the wrong places!"

"Please, two minutes," said the voice that was not his own. "I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date!"

The man counted off on his only hand. "You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an ax, you can't even throw one of these!" He lifted three balls attached to a string, which was immediately snatched out of his grip by a Viking.

"Okay, fine, but this will throw it for me," He backed away and touched what looked like an old-school wheelbarrow… which suddenly unfolded and launched something that hit another Viking right in the head. If his mind wasn't in someone else's body, he would've tried to hide a snicker.

"See, now this right here, is what I'm talkin' about!" scolded the man.

"M-mild calibration issue-"

"Don't you- no, Hiccup!" the man groaned. "If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all…" he paused. "...this."

Both he and… well, Hiccup, he guessed, were left seriously confused. "But you just pointed to all of me."

"Yes, that's it! Stop being all of you!"

Well, that was… encouraging.

"Ooooh…"

"Ooooh, yes."

"You- you, sir, are playing a dangerous game," he heard Hiccup speak as boldly as he could. "Keeping this much raw… Viking-ness contained? There will be consequences!"

"I'll take my chances," replied the man, turning away from him for a moment and handing him a blade. "Sword. Sharpen. Now." Hiccup took the weapon in both arms and took it to a spinning wheel. As soon as it touched, sparks flew from the contact. While his sight was trained on both the sword and the progressing battle outside, he was in disbelief.

Was this seriously how he lived every day? Dragon raid after dragon raid? Why wouldn't he just leave?

Then, he realized how stupid a question that was. He recalled something he learned about the Vikings back in school. If anything, they were crazy stubborn. So Hiccup wanted to… prove himself, right? Given his current state, how was he supposed to-

A high whistling noise cut through the air, gaining the attention of both Hiccup and himself. Another flash of light exploded into view… but this one was purple, not red. A nearby catapult burst into flame and began to fall apart.

He felt Hiccup move for a better look. Another blast hit the catapult like a missile, blowing more bits of it off. His body moved back, and he felt Hiccup stand firm and form a stoic look on his face. Then, he moved.

"Man the fort, Hiccup!" the man called, adjusting an ax to his prosthetic and heading for the door. Before he could make his way out, he turned back. "Stay. Put. There."

He was pretty sure his ancestor knew the drill.

"Ya know what I mean," the man said. He yelled out a battle cry and rushed out into the village. As soon as the man was gone, he watched his ancestor get to work. He grabbed the wheelbarrow-thingy and rushed right out of the forge. Again came the verbal commands of what he was doing out.

"Yeah, I know! Be right back!" Hiccup moved to a higher point of the village and he watched the teen unfold the contraption. Now, it looked like a mobile turret. He scanned the sky, hearing the inhuman shriek of an unseen dragon.

"Come on…" he heard Hiccup whisper. "Gimme something to shoot at, gimme something to shoot at…"

The shrieks continued for a short while. Something passed over the stars. And then… came the whistle. He noticed Hiccup tensing up, aiming…

Another explosion came and something fast shot by. The next thing he knew, he was sent flying and landing on the ground. For a moment, he panicked. Was he hit?

Hiccup scrambled to his feet. Something snapped in the air. Another scream… but this one of pain. Both his ancestor and himself watched as something barrelled down into the forest below.

"Oh, I hit it…" came a tone of disbelief. His ancestor lifted both arms into the air in victory. "Yes, I hit it! Did anybody see that?"

His answer came in a growl and the snap of wood and metal. From right behind him. As much as he wanted him not to turn around… he did. "Except for you."

And then, he was running for his life with snapping jaws behind him. He heard streams of fire blast out and scorch everything it touched. He felt himself duck behind a wooden pole… which was soon engulfed in flame.

He could feel the intense heat passing by him. He'd heard of augmented reality, but this was too real! Wait a minute… that's because it was! Long ago, actually!

He didn't even notice the bulky man from earlier tackle the dragon and face it head-on. The dragon attempted to roast the man on the spot… but it hilariously puked out an ember as it tried.

"You're all out…" the man boomed before rushing in and attacking the dragon's head as if he was fighting a bear. The dragon snarled and flew away. From his sight, the pillar fell… which he could now see out of the corner of his eye that it belonged to one of the giant torches.

Uh oh…

SMASH! CRASH! BANG! With each impact, Hiccup flinched and cringed. He felt shame for his ancestor. Has he gotten into trouble with the chief often?

"Sorry… Dad."

Oh. That's right.

The only times he recalled getting in trouble with his father was minor incidents, such as wandering too close to a dragon attack scene, hiding a hole he accidentally made in the wall when he was five… yeah, the list went on.

But he felt like this was much worse.

"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."

He was snagged and dragged by a large hand. He was so distracted about his own experiences that he hadn't even paid attention to what had just happened. But Hiccup couldn't be… no, he couldn't have been much worse than him, right?

"It's not like the last few times, Dad! I mean, I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot! It went down just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there before it-"

"STOP!" shouted Hiccup's father. "Just… stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is here, and I have an entire village to feed!"

"Between you and me," Hiccup continued as the sun started to rise. "The village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?"

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup! Aw, why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

"I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just… kill it, you know? It's who I am, Dad."

"You are many things, Hiccup," spoke his father in exasperation. "But a dragon killer is not one of them." He turned to someone out of view. "Make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up."

He felt someone smack Hiccup upside the head. "Quite the performance," he heard someone else say.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly," another teen added. "That helped!"

"Thank you, thank you," Hiccup answered, hearing the sound of something hitting that teen, followed by a small "Ow". "I was trying, so… I really did hit one,"

"Sure, Hiccup," replied the man from the forge.

"He never listens."

"Well, it runs in the family."

"And when he does, it's always with this… disappointed scowl," Hiccup added. "Like someone skimped on the meat of his sandwich." His voice suddenly dropped into a deeper tone, as if to… mimic his father? "Excuse me, barmaid! I believe you brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms! Extra guts and glory on the side! This here, this is a talking fishbone!"

Okay… that one hurt.

"Now, you're thinking about this all wrong," the man replied. "It's not so much what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand."

"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup said sarcastically.

"Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not."

"I just want to be one of you guys…"

As soon as that sentence was finished, everything began to blur a blue shade. Buildings and people swirled around and sounds became distorted. Everything became bright…

…

"That's it. Memory recording complete," said Fred, his eyes scanning the console in front of him. "Let's get him outta there."

"I have so many questions for him," John commented impatiently. Val just said nothing. Her blue eyes were trained on the now-unfurling dome. The last remnants of gas were fading away, and when the dome was hidden from sight, all that was left was Dan staring off into space.

"We heard everything, by the way," Fred said first as he tapped on the console. "This thing has a speaker."

Dan didn't reply.

"What was it like in there?!" John said, running up to him. "I heard explosions. Were there explosions? Lots of 'em? Oh, wait, how many buildings were burning? What did he do that got him in trouble with his dad? Who-"

"John! Back off!" Val snapped, shoving the male twin to the floor. She stood a few steps away from Dan and cleared her throat. "Um… so… how was it? What did you see in there?"

Again, Dan said nothing. He didn't even blink.

"Is… is he okay?" asked Ben. Julie rose a brow in suspicion.

"He should be," Fred answered, looking over the console again. "All his vitals are in the green." From out of her sight, Val heard him hum in curiosity. "Wait… it looks like he's got-"

THUMP! Val never took her eyes off Dan as he fell forward like a statue and landed face-first in front of her feet. She grimaced at the sight while John gasped in shock. "He collapsed! Was I… was I too overwhelming?!"

"As I was saying…" Fred continued, shooting John a look. "His mind still needs to adjust from the transition back to normal. If what I'm reading here is right… it's basically what happens when a memory is more than five minutes long."

"We should get him upstairs," Val said. "One of the bedrooms."

"On it," Ben answered, picking up Dan's motionless body. Everyone turned to move out of the room, except for Val and Fred. The young genius looked to Val, noticing she hadn't left. "Question?"

"Does it say how long he'll be out for?"

"Hmm… I suppose I can answer that before I shut this down. Standby…"

…

"Oh, the gods hate me… some people lose their knife or their mug… no, not me, I managed to lose an entire dragon!"

"Oh, wow… I-I… I did it. Oh, I did it, this-this fixes everything! I have brought down this mighty beast!"

GRRRR!

"I'm gonna kill you, dragon… I'm gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father. I am a Viking… I am a VIKING!"

FEAR.

Green eyes in a sea of black. A terrified face reflected in them. Heart pounding, nerves rattling, body shaking. Terrified breaths. A claw against flesh.

Teeth ready to tear. Wings wide. Ready to strike, ready to kill, ready to end it.

An open mouth. A hissing sound. And-

RREEEEEEAAAAAARRRGGGHH!

"GYAAAAAAAAAAH!" He jolted awake, breathing heavily with the image of the black beast still seared behind his eyelids. He was on a bed, in a room he didn't know…

...and the beast was right next to him!

"AAAH!" He screamed again, scrambling away and hitting the floor hard. In a panic, he shot back up… and saw the creature had a confused-yet-startled expression. With eyes of amethyst, not emerald.

"Aaagh…" he clutched his forehead with both hands. His brain hurt like hell. He shook his head, blinking disorientedly. "Where… where am I? What… happened to me?"

He opened his eyes again. He saw the blue-eyed girl before him, with black hair instead of blonde. And the creature. The creature he shot down. The one that-

He noticed it was giving the girl a smug look. She just rolled her eyes and groaned. "Okay, fine. It got him up. But I still say roaring at him was a bad idea! What if you blew out both his eardrums?!"

"Wha-what-what's going on?" he stammered. "Where am I? How did you- why am I-?"

"Hey, hey, hey, easy…" the girl stood up from the chair and grabbed him by the shoulders. "How many fingers am I holding up?" She held up her hand with three fingers raised.

He blinked. "Three?"

"Do you remember your name?"

He was silent. His mind wanted to say "Hiccup"... but that wasn't right. It was…

"Dan."

"Do you remember my name?"

His memory of her was… jumbled. Images flashed of both her and Astrid, but another name stood out among that one. "V...Valerie?"

She nodded. "Okay… looks like you're coming back. Fred told me your brain would be a mess from that first run. He says after a few more of those, you'll get the hang of it."

The dragon moaned in annoyance, prompting her to turn to him. "Oh, shut up! We're still working on a name for you!"

He remembered. That device. The gas he inhaled and blacked out from. "Hold on… how long was I out?"

"A day," Val answered.

"And…" Dan looked to the dragon. "How'd- how did he get in here?"

Val pointed over her shoulder with a thumb and the Night Fury gestured with its head. Behind them was a large sliding glass door with a large patio outside. It was big enough to hold something the size of a dragon… and pretty much a dragon itself.

"Okay… that makes sense. Where are the others?"

"Downstairs, still getting used to the place. What do you remember seeing in there?"

Dan paused and thought about it. "I saw… fire. Destruction. People with weapons running and shouting. And I shot down-"

"Stop right there," Val interrupted, holding a finger to Dan's mouth. "You didn't shoot a dragon down. Hiccup shot a dragon down. Got it?"

"Uh, yeah, I got it… I think."

"Aside from that, it sounded pretty chaotic."

He shrugged. "Basically."

"Anyway, I'm up next for today. Guys are in the living room, wish me luck!"

"Uh… good luck?" By the time Dan spoke, Val had already walked out the door. She closed it behind her, leaving Dan and the Night Fury alone.

He sat down on the bed after opening the glass door for the dragon. He cooed to him curiously. "Yeah, I'm fine, bud," he said. "Just… need to rest for a moment. My brain still feels like it's on the frizz."

He paused for a moment, thinking about something. "Hey, how about Dreadpaw?"

The dragon looked at his claw for a moment… and shook his head. "Nah, you're right. That's too heavy," Dan laid back with a sigh. "I'll think of something. Eventually…"

…

That night, the Night Fury sat atop the roof of the manor. The humans were settling into their new home, and the dragons were adjusting to the underground hangar built for them. But if he was asked, he would prefer sleeping out in the open.

The guys were still getting the hang of the whole memory device he had heard about. He honestly didn't see how that was supposed to help them, but if the Order said so, it had to be worth something. Plus, they would need more field experience if they were to-

He paused mid-thought. Were those rotors he was hearing?

He looked out into the distance. Among the black sky, he could see the outline of a helicopter with something hanging underneath. A harness… a harness holding a cage. And inside that cage was a large, winged shape.

He narrowed his eyes. That screamed suspicious to him. He spread his black wings, launched off the roof, and quietly tailed the chopper from miles away. This looked like something he needed to check out…