The skies were clear for Darling as she flew on Toothless's trail, the clouds tall and fluffy, the sea calm. She had taken off a mere few hours ago, deliriously clinging to her objective in the absence of any other Deathgrippers as a pack.

Unsteady in her flying, she kept drifting off and shaking herself back to wakefulness. Her path through the air was blatantly worrisome for a dragon of her species (perhaps not for a Gronckle), but the scent was so strong now that she was sure she was close. But the wind felt so rough; it pushed back against her, weighed her wings down and made it hard to catch her breath. It felt like poison in her lungs, like she hadn't been spitting fiery acid her whole life.

The empty blue around her watched as the barely-lucid Deathgripper struggled against years of manipulated abuse to stay in the sky, knowing she couldn't keep it up for much longer. Even now, she fell closer to the water before she could catch herself. Grunting painfully, she tried admirably to push herself back up.

It didn't work.

The Deathgripper roared out a call of distress moments before she lost her balance for the final time and was caught by the ocean. She curled her body as she skimmed the top of the low waves for a few moments before she came to a stop and sank, only her head remaining above.

She remained in this state for some time before she was spotted by ocean-dwelling dragons. The patterns and colors on their large, slick backs, fins, and winglike appendages became visible under the water as they rose towards her, circling. Finally, one of them reached above the water to scoop her down and along with them, and the waters roiled as the others slid over and under each other to follow along.

Grimmel's Deathgripper disappeared.

—

Moon had been helping Hiccup cook fish for his meals while Toothless was exploring the Hidden World, staying by his side in case he needed guidance through the tunnels and caves behind the waterfalls. There were some parts that were oddly dry, despite their location. He had set up a little fire pit, with a big flat rock he could cook on if he didn't want to spear the fish with this sword and hold them over the fire.

"He'll have to come back soon," Hiccup said to her with some worry. "His tail prosthetic needs upkeep, and he can't do it on his own."

Moon-guider mumbled a question, head resting contentedly on her claws as she watched him. How long will the tail last?

"It'll last a little longer," Hiccup continued. "Maybe when we go back to Berk I can make him one that lasts a lot longer on its own. One time, I made him one that meant I didn't need to be there at all, but he smashed it."

The Light Fury hummed as if she understood.

"This time I bet he'll have a better reason to keep it. We have to deal with Grimmel first, though. He's definitely still looking for us. And back on Berk—the Warlords' army." Hiccup prodded the fish with his sword. "Armies."

Moon-guider snorted.

"Oh, what, you don't think I have a right to be worried? I left my girlfriend back there! If something happens to her while I'm gone… I'll never forgive myself. I don't wanna lose anyone else."

A school of Seashockers called loudly outside and the Light Fury raised her head. She glanced at Hiccup and stood. He followed suit. "What?" Leaving the fire-pit, the two of them headed out under a thin part of the waterfall (Hiccup was getting used to where you could enter and exit safely, without being crushed by the heavier waters' force) and looked up towards the mouth of the sea.

There, the Seashockers heads raised above the water level to look down the water-coated slope at the Hidden World's entry hole. Hiccup caught a glance of something black and red and his stomach immediately turned anxiously.

"Let's go look," he urged Moon, and climbed on her shoulders. She took off towards the electric ocean dragons.

Flying was not so much a partnership with the Light Fury as it was with Toothless and with other dragons. She liked him, but she didn't always listen to him. His dragon-aimed charisma didn't seem to work on her. Luckily, they had the same ideas at the moment for where they were headed and why. She swooped down between the waterfalls towards the newcomers, not too fast, so that Hiccup could hold on without any help. They were some of very few curious flyers who wanted to investigate the noise; mostly other Light Furies.

But when she got close enough to recognize the soaked heap of limbs and wings, she stopped herself so suddenly that Hiccup was nearly thrown from her back and let out a disgusted shriek. The Seashockers yelled back at her and she bared her teeth, charging up a shot at them. The other curious dragons stopped behind her.

The Seashockers backed off, ducking and bobbing their heads, and she didn't have to release it.

"Is that…?" Hiccup hugged Moon's neck, his green eyes widening at the unconscious Deathgripper on their doorstep. "Uhh… That's probably not good. Hey," he patted her and pulled her face up toward the sky. "Fly up."

She complied, coming to her own conclusion that the others might not be far behind. Once they were high enough up to see miles around them, her sharp eyes sought their enemy and were met with a horizon full of nothing but blue saltwater.

"They can't swim, can they?" Hiccup asked mostly to himself, and received a tense toss of the head from Moon as a half-answer. I hope not.

Another Light Fury joined them—the big one who had greeted them when they'd arrived. He called something to Moon-guider as he swept by them, turning his head to look back. Deathgrippers are pack dragons. Where is its pack? And then, seeing that she would stay, he pulled away and shot a blast of fire, disappearing through it and soaring away to look for the others.

Seeing nothing, she pulled them both into a dive, trusting Hiccup to hang on, back down towards the Deathgripper. She circled, not wanting to land even on the thinnest-water rocks too close to the dragon-killer, but not high enough up that she couldn't examine it.

"Its collar," Hiccup observed. "It's gone." Moon still in flight, he swung his leg over her so that he could slide off, and as she roared in concern he let himself drop to the ground. He splashed up water into the curious faces of the Seashockers as he landed on all fours, grateful for the pads in his armor. They nipped at his armor, wondering why something that smelled like a Night Fury looked like this, and he pet their faces and pushed them gently away so that he could approach the Deathgripper with caution.

Its body took more of a shape as he realized it was laying on its side, its wing crookedly tucked under its chest and its insect-like legs at odd angles. Its barbed tail was curled up tightly, and he eyed it as he passed by. Hiccup went to find its face and Moon-guider landed behind him.

He crept towards it, stretching a hand out.

"Hey, are you alive?"

Its eyes didn't open. Its tusks had been retracted, but as they began to extend, Hiccup realized the creature was coming to. His fingers caught onto one of the tusks as it flared out alarmingly, but all the dragon did was shift its position to something more natural, half-curling up and adjusting its front legs. Hiccup kept holding the tusk gently, glancing around at the other curious dragons.

Behind him, Moon lowered herself suddenly to the ground and snarled. Hiccup turned back and saw the Deathgrippers eyes open.

"Hey," Hiccup said. "Hi. Remember me?"

The Deathgripper made a horrible grinding, clicking noise that tapered off as the pitch dropped.

"What's your name?" Hiccup asked, coming closer to its face. It snarled at him and the pupils in its yellow eyes became mere slivers, but it did not back away, and Hiccup reached out and put his hand on its nose to calm it. "See? I'm okay, I promise. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm a friend." Slowly, the Deathgripper got used to his touch and relaxed, huffing weakly. Hiccup rubbed its head soothingly. "Are you Darling?" he asked softly. She groaned. "Yeah? How'd you get separated from your pack?" Then he remembered: "Oh. I shot you, huh. Sorry. And I guess he took off your collar." He glanced over at Moon-guider, who snapped at him irritably.

Don't bring her attention to me.

The small Light Fury who might have been part of Moon's family, as Hiccup had been thinking, landed fearlessly in front of the Deathgripper with a large chunk of fish. Moon-guider lunged forward before the child could get too close and dragged her out of range of Darling's tusks. Darling blinked and stared at the fish as the young dragon complained at the older Light Fury

"Go on," Hiccup encouraged her. "It's for you.

Darling dragged herself forward, too weak to fully stand, and snapped at the fish, missing at first and then getting a mouthful on the second bite, shaking her head to separate it from the rest of the fish's body and swallowing it whole, with all its bones and spines, as dragons tended to do.

"You're not that different from other dragons," Hiccup said. "You just got a little screwed up by your person, huh?" He stroked the side of her neck. "We can be…tough…sometimes. Not in a good way."

Darling snapped up the rest of the fish and swallowed with difficulty, leaning exhaustedly into Hiccup's hand like even the act of eating was too much. Her eyes closed and her scales vibrated a little. Was…was she purring?

Hiccup made eye contact with Moon-guider, his whole body asking for advice. She waggled her head and widened her eyes at him pointedly. You did this. She's your responsibility now. Don't ask my counsel.

"Oh, very helpful, Moon, thank you for your support," Hiccup sighed, giving up on that line of questioning, and asked the Deathgripper, "Ah…What are we going to do with you?"

Moon chuffed towards him to catch his attention as Grimmel's dragon drifted off again. When he looked, she tossed her head towards the Hidden World meaningfully. What was Toothless going to think when he came back? What about Albino? This was one of the dragons who had hunted and killed their kind; their parents and siblings. Whether she had been drugged or not, this might not go well.