Sol would immediately pounce on the unknown Deadly Nadder that shot spikes at her mate. Astrid was still not entirely used to her Deadly Nadder body yet, so she could not fight the Light Fury too well, which is how she found herself underneath Sol. The albino dragon is charging up a plasma blast to be shot at the Deadly Nadder but stops when she hears the shouts of, "Astrid!" Astrid. The colorless dragon had heard of that name from Hiccup. But that did not make sense to her at all. Should Astrid be a human female instead of a Deadly Nadder? But then again, that Thunderdrum had claimed to be Hiccup's father, and the fact that he had addressed Hiccup by his name might have proven what they say is true. Before Sol could do anything, she was attacked by not only a livid Stormcutter but also a Flightmare as well. These current events would lead to the Berkians attacking the dragons. It had taken Valka, Hiccup, Heather, and Dagur some time to stop all the fighting. But when the dragon riders broke up the fight, the four dragon riders were left exhausted.
Unknown to anyone, when the Berkians had shouted out Astrid's name, they had caught the attention of three young Nightlight dragons. They are the offspring of Toothless and Sol. The three little dragons' names are Dart, Pouncer, and Ruffrunner. Hiccup, who was like an uncle to the Nightlights, had been the one who gave them their names.
Dart is primarily black with a pair of blue eyes which she inherited from her mother. She was the only one of the three hatchlings to have blue eyes instead of green ones. She also has a white-spotted nose, patches on her tail fins, top of her ears, and paws are also white. Dart also inherited her father's sense of curiosity which would lead Pouncer, Ruffruner, and herself in having adventures that a reasonable amount of time would result in them getting into trouble. So, it was no surprise that she would be curious about learning more about Astrid. Having instincts of only mating with one partner, she was confused about how humans mate. Her father had told her and her two brothers that humans have weird mating rituals with the boyfriend and girlfriend thing that humans do. She, like her parents, wonders why Astrid and the rest of Berk are dragons when they should be human. But she also wanted to help Hiccup in getting together with Astrid. The extraordinarily little that Dart had heard Hiccup mentions Astrid; he usually says he would much rather be alone the rest of his life if it means that Astrid is happy. It upset Dart that the human she and her family viewed as a family member felt like that. So, she wanted to help Hiccup reach his happy conclusion because her parents told her that everyone has a significant other to find in this crazy world. Which even includes Hiccup, even if he wants to believe it or not. Besides, Hiccup is her uncle, and that would make Astrid her new aunt. The young hatchling just could not wait to learn more about Astrid.
The next hatchling's name is Pouncer. As his name suggests, he is the most energetic of the Nightlights. Unlike his sister and brother, Pouncer's coloring is mainly white, like his mother's coloring. There is black tipping on his head nubs as well as a portion of his tail is black. The white Nightlight has a pinkish-tinted nose, with his paws having light grayish coloring and black colored on the tips of his ears. After the riders had broken up the fight between the Berkians and dragons, Pouncer had tackled his brother, Ruffrunner, to the ground and started playing fighting his brother. Both Pouncer and Ruffrunner loved to fight one another playfully.
The last of Toothless and Sol's hatchlings are Ruffrunner. Out of the three hatchlings, Ruffrunner is the least curious and adventurous of the Nightlights. He loves to find a warm and sunny spot to curl up and sleep without a care in the world when he is not fighting with Pouncer or following Dart into one of her grand adventures. Ruffrunner, like his father and brother, has a pair of green eyes. However, Ruffrunner's primary color is black, like that of his sister and father. Ruffrunner has small white head nubs alongside his tail. His underside is also white.
"I never once told my son that I was about to give up on him! You unholy, unruly, heartless, and mindless beast!" Stoick shouted at Toothless after being separated from the Night Fury. After being separated, he had had a moment to calm down and recalled what Toothless had told him. The chief could not remember any time he said Hiccup that he had given up on him. If anyone gave up on anything? It would be his son and wife for giving up on their kind and their family and people. Had they truly not cared how their absence affected him and everyone else that cared about them? Not if they had turned their backs on everyone in Berk.
"Do these words ring a bell? And I quote, 'You had me going there, son. All those years of the worst Viking Berk have ever seen. Odin, it was rough. I almost gave up on you." Toothless quickly reminds Stoick of his words from five years ago. Stoick's eyes widened as he remembered what he had said to Hiccup the night he went missing. The chief having heard what he said to Hiccup from someone made him realize just how awful his words were. Ever since Hiccup was a small child, Stoick had not communicated with his son effectively. Hiccup had reminded him of so much of his mother because he was so much like her.
Stoick feared that one day Hiccup would share the same fate as Valka. And for the past five years, he thought that to be true. It had hurt Stoick as Hiccup continued to grow up with showing Valka's traits. Toothless had not finished with his lecture towards Stoick, "I had to be the one to pick up the broken pieces from his heart. Like I told you earlier, I am also a father who has three children of my own. The three of them always find themselves getting into all sorts of trouble. But no matter what, I'll always love them and would never let them think I would give up on them just because they were different." Stoick had the courtesy to look down disappointment of himself. With their chief's head down and his eyes widened, that was all clarification the Berkians needed to know what Toothless said was true, even if they all wished that Toothless was lying. Despite that, they were also livid at their leader for telling his son he was about to give up on him. What kind of father would do such a thing?
"What has gotten into you today, Toothless?" Hiccup could not help himself to ask his best friend. Usually, Toothless was friendlier towards dragons they saved. Hiccup could only think where Toothless was not so nice towards a dragon when they came across a Whispering Death that had bite marks from its past battles against Toothless. Maybe Toothless knew these dragons? Hiccup quickly dismissed that idea because will the dragon riders separate the dragons from each other Hiccup had not once seen any scars that tied Toothless to these dragons. Another theory is Toothless was jealous. But Hiccup quickly dismissed this theory as well. Because it just did not make sense to him as to why his dragon was jealous. Back when Toothless, Sharpshot, and Hiccup were looking to find a place to call home, Hiccup had learned that Toothless tends to be jealous of a dragon being near Hiccup back when Sharpshot had tried to get closer to Hiccup. That is why Hiccup is throwing out this theory. He figured that Toothless might have thought that he was in danger. Toothless also tends to be overprotective of his rider. Which Hiccup found Toothless's act of generosity comforting. But right now, it was not warranted for fighting the Thunderdrum.
Toothless gives Stoick a heated glare before turning his back on the chief. "Remember this Stoick. If you so much as harm Hiccup again in any way? I wouldn't hesitate to attack you. Do I make myself clear?" Toothless warns Stoick as he makes his way towards Sol. Once he makes it beside his mate, he realizes that his daughter was not with them, but his two sons were playfully fighting beside their mother. Because Sol had been watching the Berkians just in case they attacked her mate, she, unfortunately, had not realized it yet, but her daughter had sneaked away to question Astrid. "Sol, have you seen Dart?"
"She was here a few moments ago," Sol answered Toothless, looking around for Dart. It did not take either of the parent dragons long before spotting their daughter beside Astrid. Then, just before neither one of them could call back their daughter, Dart would introduce herself to Astrid.
"Hi, my name is Dart? Are you Astrid?"
"Yes, my name is Astrid," Astrid replied to the hatchling Dart, trying not to be rude to the dragon. She did not know why she was being polite to this hatchling. Astrid figured that it might have been because the dragon had a little girl's voice. And she does not have what it takes to harm a little girl.
"Awesome! Are you going to be mates with my uncle Hiccup!?" Dart excitedly shouted, shocking everyone, especially the citizens of Berk.
"Hold on a second there, kid. I am nobody's 'mate.' Got that Dart?" Astrid answered quickly, getting over the embarrassing situation and convincing everyone that she is not anyone's price to be won. Sure, she will admit that she much instead marries Hiccup over Snotlout, but that was before learning that Hiccup had been alive all this time. Because after realizing that he faked his death, Hiccup makes her have survivors' guilt for not preventing his so-called death and being the reason that she endured terrible nightmares of her not stopping Hiccup's death. It had made her sore that he would ever do anything like that. What she desperately wanted to know was why Hiccup left in the first place? Sure, Stoick telling him that he almost gave up on him was terrible. But, to Astrid, that was not an excuse for what he did. But she figured that there had to be more to the story than that. Do the rest of their people not deserve the truth? Did Hiccup realize that he has a responsibility to propel Berk as its heir? He was supposed to be the future chief to lead them into a hopefully brighter future. But instead, he decided to run away like a coward. On top of that, he had been living with their mortal enemies, the dragons. All the while, everyone believed he was dead along with his mother.
"No way Astrid is Hiccup's wife. Cuz I'm her knight-," Snotlout proclaimed, but before he could finish, Astrid flung spikes from her tail. Luckily Snotlout was able to dodge them nearly. Astrid gives Snotlout a heated glare in which the message that is for Snotlout. A statement that if Snotlout continued, Astrid would make sure his punishment is mind-numbingly slow and very painful.
"Uncle Hiccup?!" Stoick shouted once he got over what Dart had said. He would not allow his son to have connections like that of a family towards his mortal enemies. Especially a family of Night/Light Furies. He would never let this continue any longer. So then, turning his attention towards Dart, but Toothless and Sol got between them.
"Hiccup is like a brother to me. Despite him being human, he is a dragon by soul. You got a problem with that?" Toothless states while glaring down Stoick. Both Strike class dragon parents are watching Stoick like a hawk ready to strike its prey. Neither one could not trust Stoick anywhere near their children. "Dart go back to your brothers," Toothless orders his daughter without taking his eyes off Stoick.
"But Papa," Dart tries to reason with her dad. Toothless turned his attention towards his daughter. Just by the look, she knew Toothless would not make a no from her. So, she reluctantly returned to her brothers, promising herself silently that she would be sneakier with the quest to learn more about Astrid.
Just when Stoick is about to argue more with Toothless. After sending away his daughter away from harm's way, Whom turned his attention back to Stoick. Gobber would intervene, "Stoick, for the love of Thor stop!? You're only making things worse."
Taking a deep breath, Stoick would respond to Gobber's plead. "We'll finish this later, demon."
"I'll be waiting, Stoick," Toothless says as he leaves with his family needing to calm down from fighting Stoick. The majority of the Berkians also went their separate way. The only ones not to go with the citizen of Ber are Gobber, Astrid, the Thornton twins, Snotlout, and Fishlegs. They were curious to find out how and why Hiccup and Valka chose the side of the dragons over their village.
"Well, Brother…Is everything here done? Heather and I should get back home," Dagur announces as he gets on his Gronkle, Shattermaster.
"Thanks for the assistance, guys. Dagur, could you please tell Mala and everyone else I said 'hi?' I hope you guys have a safe trip home," Hiccup thanked the Berserker siblings for their help with the mission. Mala and Dagur had recently been married this past year. Both had decided to merge both the Defenders of the Wing with the Berserker Tribe. "And uh um…it was good seeing you again, Heather," Hiccup says to the black-haired woman awkwardly.
"Yeah, it's uh…good to see you too, Hiccup," Heather replied, just as awkward as Hiccup. The two are awkwardly staring at each other. Astrid, Gobber, the Thorston twins, Fishlegs, and Snotlout could feel the tense atmosphere between the two young adults. Even during the flight to this place, everyone from Berk could sense the tension between Hiccup and Heather. It made them wonder what happened between the two. Astrid, Fishlegs, and Gobber figured that they would discover what happened soon. "So, Dagur and I got a long ride home. Send Sharpshot if you need any more help," Heather added as she got on her Razorwhip, Windshear, and with that, both of the Berserkers siblings took off on their dragons.
After watching his friends leave their home island. Hiccup would go into a small cabin where a forge was inside. As he does so, the group follows him by Berkians who want answers to their unanswered questions. Why did Hiccup leave them to think that he perished that fateful night five years ago? Did Stoick's words were bad enough that it had the former heir thinking of running away and having everyone he has ever known believe that he was dead? Why had he never returned if he had been alive for all this time alongside Valka? Let's not forget about Valka. Why did she never return if the dragons did not kill her about twenty years ago? What have Hiccup and Valka been doing all this time when Berk mourned their deaths? Why did both sides with the dragons after everything that the scaled reptiles had done to the humans? Did they not care for what the dragons had been doing for 300 years? So, many questions, and unfortunately, they could not voice their questions to Hiccup because they were dragons themselves. That only left them with one option: the following Hiccup around and finding the answers they sought.
Meanwhile, Gobber looked around the room, astounded by Hiccup's forge. The blacksmith could not wait to see how much better his former apprentice got at forging weapons. Hiccup picked up a double-edged battle-axe from the table and then started to practice swinging it to test its balance. Astrid looked at the axe in Hiccup's hands in awe. She had never seen a more beautiful weapon in her life and wondered how someone as clumsy as Hiccup could ever build such a weapon. Hiccup then puts the axe back down on the table and going to picks up a sword. The runaway heir leans the sword against the wall before picking up the axe again. He would proceed to swing the axe at the blade of the sword, and to the Berkian's surprise, the axe cut through the edge like a knife through butter. They figured that the sword blade must have been at its lifespan because that is the only thing that made sense. Hiccup smiled, feeling happy at the results of the arduous work he put into creating this axe.
"Well, it looks like you finally finished another axe for Astrid," Valka said as she entered her son's forge. This information of Hiccup making Astrid another axe shocked them to their cores. But none more than Astrid because she had never received any axes from Hiccup. When had Hiccup ever brought her an axe? Astrid would like to know where these axes have gone too. Then, noticing the small group of Berkians are also present in the forge, she would add, "It looks like they might be starting to warm up to you."
"Yeah, I think they're simply curious about what I'm doing. Is there anything you need, mom?" Hiccup replied to his mother. The first year is living in the dragon's sanctuary, and he spent catching with the lost time with his mother. During that first year, Valka helped train Hiccup with a sword because they figured Hiccup was more of a sword person. Another reason was that if Hiccup wanted to help his mother. He needed to know how to defend himself in the likelihood he was separated from Toothless or Valka. Ever since then, he has taken time in approving his fighting skills. He might not be the world's greatest sword fighter, but he could hold his own against a formidable opponent now compared to himself five years ago. Shortly after learning how to fight, he started to help his mother in her rescue missions. In these past four years, Hiccup had made several friends and allies of Dagur, Heather, the Defenders of the Wing, Wingmaidens, and countless dragons he helped save. But all he had made even more foes of the likes Drago, Eret, Viggo, Ryker, Krogen, and the many other dragon trappers out there. Secretly he had been worried about what their enemies were planning as they not only seemed to be looking for something in Helheim's Gate, but they also attacked closer to the sanctuary. He feared that a war might break loose if he could not find a way to resolve this issue peacefully.
"Why don't you return to Berk if you miss Astrid that much?" Valka softly questions her son. She did not want her son to be as lonely as she had been the first fifteen years of being a dragon rider. In that fifteen years of being alone and isolated, she wished she could have come home to her family so many times. But she had genuinely believed she was doing the right thing by not going back. But what she had not known was that she was needed more at home instead of the dragon. This past five years, she has been grateful not as alone as thanks to her son. She desperately wishes he would find the one that Hiccup, who he truly belonged to be with, so he could finally be happy. Valka's question had gotten the attention of the Berkians. Unfortunately, none of them more than Astrid was paying attention to what Hiccup had to say.
"I know that nobody in Berk would accept me, especially with me being a dragon rider. To everyone in Berk, I was nothing but useless. And me missing Astrid? Well, there is no way Astrid would even look at me the same way I look at her," Hiccup answered his mother honestly and softly. But, as he says this, he also looked down depressingly. He knows Astrid was the most beautiful girl his age in Berk, but he figured that she was married by now.
"Honestly, I don't know why Heather and you broke up?" Valka asked, shocking the dragons who were humans. But for Fishlegs, he felt a large amount of jealousy towards Hiccup. He silently wished he were the one to have been dating Heather. And if he had been the one to date, Heather, he would never break up with her, not in a million years.
On the other hand, Astrid felt a slight ache in her heart hearing Hiccup was dating that Heather lady. Astrid could not understand what she was feeling now, but all she knew was that she hated it. Usually, she would go to the wood and train with her beloved axe until she reached her limits, but sadly she could do that because she is a dragon now.
"It's because Heather reminds me so much of Astrid. I realized day that I was so subconsciously trying to replace Astrid by replacing her with Heather. And it wasn't fair for Heather being something to replace Astrid, so I called it off."
"Do you love her?" Valka asked a question she had been meaning to ask Hiccup. She put her finger under his chin uplifts as she did so. Hiccup looks her into the eyes. It had broken her heart that her son was as alone like she had been.
"Yes, I love her with all of my heart," Hiccup answered Valka's question so softly that she almost missed it. Valka had would engulf her son in a loving embrace to bring comfort to him.
"Why haven't you told her that yet?" Valka asked as she broke the hug and looked at her son.
"I know that she wouldn't go out with someone like me. And I want her to be happy even if it means I've to live the rest of my life alone," Hiccup responds to his mother's question once again.
"You do remember that you're under a marriage contract, right?" Valka reminded Hiccup of the agreement between Hilda and herself. Around two years after Hiccup had reunited with Valka, she stumbled upon her son drawing a picture of Astrid. Shortly after, Hiccup explained to her who the girl in his image was. Valka had told Hiccup about the agreement between Hilda and Valka on if their children were opposite gender, they would arrange the two in marriage.
Hiccup is blushing from the bluntness of the statement from his mother. Then, of course, he remembered about the contract between Astrid and him. He also knows that Astrid would never want to marry him even if they were the last two humans alive. 'Who would ever want to marry me anyway?' Hiccup thinks to himself. "Mom, I've alright told you to want Astrid wouldn't want to marry me. I know that marriage is something that Astrid doesn't want. And I wouldn't force her to marry me if she will be miserable. Like I said earlier, I would much rather be alone for the rest of my life if it means Astrid is happy."
Unknown to Hiccup and Valka, Astrid had unfortunately heard all this conversation so far. She had not known what to make of what she had heard. All her life, she's had heard people call her a beautiful woman/girl, which was primarily men. She always believed that they were only admiring her for her body and not who she was inside. She would leave Hiccup's forge silently so that she could be alone with her thoughts. On the last day, she had felt like her emotions were spiraling together into a violent mixture of feeling that she wasn't used to feeling. First, her feelings were angry and upset that Hiccup had run away like a coward, making everyone in Berk believe he was dead. Second, grouped up emotions Astrid felt contained strange feelings in her heart when Valka revealed that Hiccup and Heather were once dating. The third was the confusion as to why Astrid was feeling like that about Hiccup's dating status. The last of the emotions was heartbreak and guilt. She never knew Hiccup had supposed strong feelings towards her. She did not want him to throw away what would make him happy if it meant he would be miserable. Why had Hiccup never told her how he felt? But the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that if Hiccup told her his feelings, she would turn him down rudely without regard for hurting Hiccup's feelings. Which this realization only fed her guilty feelings even more. Astrid might have mistakenly overlooked the one person who could have loved her for who she was? She did not know what to do anymore with this.
It had been several hours since Astrid had left Hiccup's forge. And she still did not know what to do, and it had frustrated her to no ends. It had been how she found herself unable to fall asleep because her mind kept running through everything Hiccup had said about her. Shortly after everyone from Berk had regrouped, Stoickordered some of the villagers to get the remaining townsfolk. Stoick was trying to grasp what Valka and Hiccup had done. She feels sorry for the leader as it must be challenging learning that his family turned their backs on their beliefs. Astrid groans as Astrid turns her to her other side, hopefully falling asleep, but unfortunately for her, a certain witch is standing there. "Can't sleep, I see," Frida says like she had been waiting for Astrid to turn around and face her.
"You! What the hell are you doing here, you no good dirty witch?! I should've killed you when I had the chance! Give me one damn reason I shouldn't kill you where you stand?!" Astrid shouted at the witch had cast a spell on them. She is getting the spikes on her tail ready to shoot at the witch. Astrid blames herself for what had happened to Berk. If only she had executed Frida when the witch was trying to free the dragons? Then none of this would have happened. "Oh right, you can't hear me," Astrid added as she remembered that she was a dragon now and would not communicate with Frida.
"Oh my, what a temper you have, Astrid," Frida replied, startling Astrid that Frida had understood her. "Yes, Astrid, I can understand what you said," Frida added like she knew what Astrid was thinking.
"Why did you put a curse on us?! What did we ever do to deserve such a harsh punishment?! Do you care that you ruined our lives?! Scratch that I know you don't care because you're nothing but a heartless creature that belongs in the deepest pits of hell!" Astrid yelled at Frida before releasing the spikes on her tail towards the black-haired witch. Just before the spikes could pierce Frida, she used her magic to shoot the spikes disappear. "And how do you even know my name?! I never told you that!" Astrid demands Frida disclose how the witch knew her name.
"How I know your name is because I've been watching Berk for some time now. And why I turned in Berk into dragons is because it was the only way you guys would learn that there is more to dragons."
"And why should I believe a witch? For all I know is you could be leading me to a trap. Besides that, there are more ways than turning us into dragons against our wills."
"Because if Berk hadn't helped in the battle that's coming? Everyone that you ever knew or loved would perish. So I had no other choice but to do what I did."
Damn it, another cliffhanger. Have my evil have no shame XD. But for real, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I felt like out of the three Nightlights. Dart would most likely be the one to try to learn about Astrid. I want to thank everyone that has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story so far. I hope you all have a wonderful day; stay safe out there, and I will see you guys in the next update. ;P