A/N: So, I do plan to continue this fic. However, finals are coming up and I have a few other fics I want to work on, so updates are probably going to remain slow and sporadic for a bit longer.

toothlessgolfer: I have some headcanons about Eret and Hiccup's bond that they develope. Also (spoilers for this chapter) sorry to cut their time together short! But I promise Hiccup will be back and we'll get to see more of their dynamic.

: :3c

Booklover: Well, here's more :D

Calvin: Plot-twist! All of Berk is sent to the past and both the past and future has to live how to coexist

NightshadeLG: :3cccc

Guest: Aw, thanks ^/^

Whovianeverlark17: thanks :)

r.j.2005: thanks, and here's some of the rest :D

lizyeh2000: thank you, and it's now updates (like over a month after you read it lol)

Guest: Nah, you're english is fine. Just wait somebody is probably gonna point out all the errors in this chapter lol. And thank you ^-^

Guest: Thank you for enjoying it! I've finally updated!

Horrendous sat back, admiring his work.

It was late at night. The day had been much less eventful than the last. He'd spent most of it catching Eret up on what he'd been doing since he'd gotten here, as well as his back story - at least what he had of it so far. They'd gone and visited the dragons, the terrible terrors and Serrated acquainting themselves with Eret. A lot of the small dragons liked how his much broader shoulders made for much more comfortable perches, though Aorta, Spine, and Pine still preferred Horrendous to the point of hissing at the others if they tried to climb up.

They'd also stopped by the dragon training, watching as the younger versions of Horrendous and his best friends scrambled around, trying to avoid the hideous zippleback. There were a few more vikings watching this time, and he caught some confused and amazed whispering as they watched Hiccup not get eaten.

Skullcrusher hadn't shown up today, but Eret was wandering around the town at night, keeping an eye out. In the meantime, Horrendous had finally gotten some things done.

The saddle should be the right size, as well as the length of the wire down to the carefully crafted tailfin. He'd made it so many times that he could tell just by looking. It of course didn't hurt that he'd stolen the blueprints that younger Hiccup had made up. Horrendous's Toothless had grown, and many design-changes and addons had been made over the past few years, but beggars couldn't be choosers and now was really not the time to be messing around with new theories on how to make the tail move even quicker or made the entire get up more aerodynamic or really if he just tweaked this one thing right here no Horrencous stop messing with the designs stop it!

It was… oddly comforting, seeing the saddle finished and ready for the night fury to wear. In the dark, Horrendous could almost image that the shadows under the saddle was actually Toothless, standing patiently while Horrendous secured the various straps of the saddle and they got ready to go out flying.

"Hey, Hiccup, can I talk to you?"

Horrendous jumped and spun around. Eret was leading on the doorway, arms folded and expression somewhat grim.

"What is it?" Horrendous left the saddle where it was and walked over to the table closer to the doorway, where he armor was laid out. He didn't dare sneak out to get more scales from Toothless, so he'd been working hobblegrunt scales into the missing areas. Eret entered the forge, pulling up a chair next to Horrendous, setting a hand on the armor to help steady it while Horrendous worked with his one good arm - something he was actually starting to get quite good at.

"I've been thinking about what you said, about how our actions might not impact the future." It had been on Horrendous's mind too, ever since Fishlegs had mentioned it. "I think we should try and change their future for the better."

"You say that our future is terrible." Horrendous sighed. "I already told you that I think we should just try and keep things as normal as possible. I mean, younger me already almost died because we're here. And what if we change things and then, I don't know, Snotlout is married to Astrid when we get back."

Eret put his other hand over Horrendous's, stopping his work and forcing HOrrendous to look up.

"Hiccup. What if we can't get back? What if we're stuck here for good? Dear Odin I hope not, but we have to face that possibility."

The possibility had occurred to Horrendous - of course it had occurred to him, had plagued his thoughts as he tried to go to bed. Never seeing Astrid again, getting to hold her in his arms, never getting ot marry her. His village, left without a chief, without one - or now two - of its protectors.

"But-" He started weakly.

"Hiccup, you could save your dad."

Any and every rebuttal died in Horrendous's throat. He… he could save Stoick. Maybe it wasn't his Stoick, not his dad, but Hiccup wouldn't be without his father… could he stop this Hiccup from losing his leg, too? Horrendous regretted none of his choices of the past, and his prosthetic leg made riding Toothless all the easier, but there were those nights where the terrible weather of Berk took its toll on the lost limb. Walking through mud was so hard to keep balanced, and it had taken him months to get strong enough, used to it, to run again.

And the Hiccup out there… he was the same age Horrendous had been, but that was still so young to have so much thrust on his shoulders.

"You're right." Hiccup sighed.

He held up his armor. There were still some spots missing scales, but it would do. He had Toothless's saddle and fin and all the rigging that went with it.

Surely, he'd been waiting too long as it was.

oOo

Horrendous left that night.

There was a bit of panic as they ran around the village as quietly as they could. Once Horrendous decided what he wanted to do, nothing was strong enough to stop him. Still, Eret wondered if he should've brought this up after Horrendous's arm healed up. No point in regretting things now, though. All he could do was hold down the fort here in Berk. They snuck some fish from the Great Hall, as well as various other bits of food, but there wasn't much they could steal away fro Horrendous on such short notice. Hiccup or Stoick (when he returns) would notice things missing, leaving Horrendous with only his clothes and armor.

"I could look for Toothless." Eret offered, almost begged. He couldn't shake the last time Horrendous had flown off, away from Berk, without anybody with him.

"Toothless is my best friend. I need to do this myself." Horrendous insisted.

Eret saw him off, waving goodbye as Serrated stretched his wings out and then took off into the air, his scales a pleasant yellow color. The thunder of terrible terrors followed them, Aorta at the head, but Spine stayed back with Eret. The injured dragon would still have a bit longer before his wing healed up. Spine sat on Eret's shoulder, staring after the other dragons and making a few squeaking cries out to them.

"It's okay, they'll be back." Eret rubbed his thumb against the back of the dragon's neck and it purred, head nuzzling Eret's chin.

He didn't sleep the rest of the night, instead climbing up on a tall tree a bit of a ways from Berk, looking out for Skullcrusher. It was okay. Horrendous would come back.

The sun began to rise, the sky lacking in its usually overwhelming cloud cover and Skullcrusher still nowhere to be seen. Eret climbed back down, landing lightly on his feet. He sighed and grit his teeth, knowing what he had to do but that not making it any easier. He pulled out a knife and made some slashes on his arms. Not too deep, he didn't want to damage something important, but it had to look realistic too. His hissed through his teeth as he did so.

He scooped Spine up and into the carrier that Horrendous had left behind and ran back to the village, spots of blood being flung off of his arms and to the forest ground below as he went.

He made a display of stumbling once he actually reached the village, falling to his knees and getting back up and falling again. A few people crowded around him, asking what was wrong, what had happened. He stuttered, he gasped for air, he even managed to make himself cry a bit.

"What's going on here? What happened?" Gobber asked, bending down to Eret's level. He offered an arm to help him up and Eret took it, finally responding to someone.

"A dragon. It took Horrendous." Eret said, the words disjointed and broken up as he tried to breath. "Dammit, it took Horrendous!"

There were horrified and sad gasps that surprised Eret. They shouldn't have, really. Horrendous had a way of worming himself into many people's good favors. And into some bad favors too, but that was just Horrendous for you.

"I'm sorry. C'mon, let's get you some food."

Gobber led him away, up to the Great Hall. Eret spotted Hiccup and Astrid standing next to each other out of the corner of his eyes and he focused on them. Hiccup looked shocked, but Astrid's eyes were cold and sharp and he knew with a surety in his gut - he always trusted his gut - that she wasn't even remotely fooled by his display. With the closeness she displayed to Hiccup, running off with him so often, she was sure to share this with the young viking.

Okay.

One against two.

He'd worked with worse odds.