A/N:
Here's the prologue for my new story: A New Dawn. Rest assured, cliff hangers will be resolved.
Oh, and my alternate ending last chapter is totally not an actual part of this universe; Hiccup/Toothless did change back as in the normal ending. Thanks Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah for pointing this out so I could clear the waters.
A Closed Door
"This is bad."
Nuffink looked back at his little sister before pushing against the closed door of his house. It didn't budge. "But I wanna see!"
Little fingers weakly clutched at his sleeve and tried to pull him back. "Zephyr!" he whined.
"Dada say stay here," Zephyr insisted.
Nuffink froze in thought, trying to recall. He knew that Daddy had said that he was sorry that the bad men interrupted his birthday party – his fifth! – and that they were taken care of. Daddy promised to explain everything tomorrow, but he was very busy and wanted his children to remain home, which was at least better than being stuck in the Great Hall, but it was still boring!
What Daddy was busy doing was a mystery, and Nuffink loved to explore mysteries, be they dark corners, caves, or what exactly a dragon was hiding under her wing while sleeping. That had been an intense experience involving Stormfly and what turned out to be a clutch of eggs, her second! She didn't mean to snap at him, and he received a lecture about startling dragons.
Nuffink had taken that lesson to heart and resolved to toss small stones at a dragon if he wanted their attention.
He confidently yanked his arm from his sister's grasp. "Daddy said he didn't want us to see, not stay here." He rose up on his tiptoes and reached for the latch. "I wanna see Mommy and Daddy and Too-less, and Sorm-li." For some reason, everyone always tittered whenever he talked about his draconic aunt and uncle.
Zephyr grabbed his sleeve again and pulled with an insistence and strength that Nuffink wasn't prepared for, causing him to stumble back a step. He found his footing again and yanked his arm out of her grasp, but that sent her tumbling over. Dart, the Terrible Terror sleeping on the sill above the door, jumped with a shriek, blinked his eyes, and hissed at Nuffink, who gave a sheepish look.
Nuffink was about to turn back to the puzzle of how to open the door when he heard soft crying behind him. He turned and took a few steps to crouch over his sister. "I'm sorry, Zeph. Where does it hurt?" He grinned. "I'll kiss it better just like Mommy!"
After a moment, she looked up at him. "Bad boy!"
Nuffink whined, but he reached down to help her up, something he had seen the adults do sometimes. Once she was standing, Nuffink folded his hands in front of him and closed his eyes because big boys were tough and brave.
"Eye for eye," he said, inviting her to do to him as he accidentally did to her.
He felt her arms around his waist and opened his eyes to look down at her. "Good, now," Zephyr said. She took a step back and held out her arms towards Dart, and the dragon stretched, yawned, and swooped down to nuzzle and lick the back of her head.
Nuffink looked at Zephyr as she rolled around with the dragon, then back at where she had fallen. He really did feel bad, but it wasn't like he pushed her. He just wanted to–
Inspiration struck. With a gleeful whoop, he went around the bucket that his sister had bumped into when she fell. It was knocked on its side, but with some effort, he was able to flip it upside-down and push it in front of the door. All he had to do was climb up and… YES! He could reach the latch!
One thing he did not think about at that moment, as he leaned up and forward to lift the latch, was that the door would swing outward. With a surprised gasp, he fell forward and bounced down the steps, groaning where he landed on the grass.
"Nuff!" Zephyr shouted as she cautiously climbed down the steps to crouch over him. Dart scuttled up and nosed at Nuffink, worried crooning soon giving way to relieved warbling at the lack of broken bones.
Nuffink stood and rubbed at his forehead. "Owwww," he groaned, "my head." He took a cautious step. "My knee."
"Silly!" Zephyr exclaimed. "Dart, get him!"
Nuffink laughed as the little dragon chased and playfully nipped at him, running with carefree abandon.
"Wait up!" Zephyr shouted from behind, prompting a three way race and game of tag rolled into one. They ran through the village, which was quite empty, but the sound of voices and dragon roars drew them along the edge of the forest. Zephyr stumbled and fell, and Nuffink helped her up and encouraged her along, but they finally made it to a large clearing between the forest and the cliffs. It was a place that Nuffink never liked. It gave him the creeps.
A large crowd of adults stretched out around the clearing. As Nuffink wormed his way through the press, he recognized some of the faces that looked down at him with surprise at seeing him there. Many of them were from this island, a few others from elsewhere.
Finally, he broke through to his family. Mommy and Daddy were standing, talking with the crowd. Toothless sat at their side, and Stormfly was curled up, napping, probably all tired out from handling her hatchlings.
A few young Nadders from Stormfly's first clutch, almost as old as Nuffink and a lot larger, charged at him and knocked him and his sister over with licks and nuzzles. The hatchlings from her second clutch, not even a year old yet, scampered up and tried to clamber on.
"Nuffink! Zephyr!" Daddy gasped, and Nuffink squirmed under the pile of scales to look up at him. "You shouldn't be out here. Get back inside–" he shook his fist at the sky. "I hear you laughing at me, Dad." Several people chuckled at that for some reason; it must have been some sort of inside joke.
He looked back down at his children with a scowl. "There's a good reason I wanted you to stay home. Have you considered that it's because I love you very much and I know what's best for you?
"Sorry, Daddy," Nuffink muttered to the ground.
"Let it be," Mommy said. "They chose this path, and they have to learn one way or another, sooner or later."
"But they're too young for something like this."
Grandma took a step forward and put a hand on Daddy's shoulder. "So many people are too young for so many things." Nuffink's youngest sister, Jorunn, squirmed and fussed in her sling against her bosom.
Mommy nodded, her eyes downcast. "Yes, Val, too young indeed." She looked at Daddy. "But this will be a good lesson about decisions and consequences."
Daddy heaved out a sigh and held out a hand, so Nuffink ran and jumped up into his arms with a shout of "Daddy!" Zephyr ran up to Mommy and held up her arms to be picked up.
From his elevated perch, Nuffink could see out past the cliffs, into the harbor off to the side, and the vast sea beyond. There were more ships out there than he had ever seen in his whole life! Many of them were smouldering and smoking for some reason.
Having already exceeded his limited tolerance for how long he could hold still, he started squirming and reaching for Uncle Toothless, who leaned his head forward with a gummy smile to give him a ride. He urged the dragon to rise up on his hindlegs for a better view, and they surveyed the scenery together.
The arena stood in silent solidarity, a single rocky ridge granting access to it by land, a place his parents told him used to be called the "Kill Ring" in times past. Nuffink loved going there to watch people train, play-fight with dragons, and then there were the ThawFest competitions!
However, Daddy warned him not to go there now as there was a dangerous dragon locked up in one of the stone cells along its perimeter. He said that she was Toothless' mate, but something had stung her, and the venom made her sick and want to hurt Daddy. Good dragons don't hurt good people, so he had her locked up safe and sound until he could help her.
Above, dragons of all colors coasted through the sky. Among them was a Night Fury, a brother to Uncle Toothless named Firebrand, and his four adolescents from his clutch. They all had fish in their mouths, no doubt for Firebrand's mate who had eggs growing inside of her. Firebrand had gone South to explore the world years ago, before Nuffink was born, but he fled back up here because the world tried to hunt him down. He wasn't a mean dragon at all, but he was… well, he wasn't Uncle Toothless. His children loved to chew on Uncle Toothless' tail, though, and they were fun to play with when they weren't too aggressive.
Perched on a ledge that was carved into the mountainside that the Great Hall was dug out of, a Skrill surveyed the land. Her long, angular head turned, and Nuffink felt his chest tighten; even from such a great distance, he could tell that she was making eye contact with him. He took a deep breath and patted Toothless with one hand, to reassure himself, and waved at the Skrill with his free hand. Years ago, her mommy and daddy had tried to kill his mommy and daddy, but she was alright. She wanted to be a good dragon, but it was hard, so she had to keep her distance to avoid the temptation to become a bad dragon.
"As I was saying… before this interruption," Mommy started saying to the crowd, "I know we all have a lot of rounds to make, and you're just as dead on our feet as I am…" she shuddered. "It means so much to me. I… I..." she suddenly closed her eyes with a deep inhale and went silent.
Daddy put an arm around her shoulders. "We thank you for joining us. Even the darkest night must give way to a new dawn."
Realization dawned on Nuffink about what was happening here. He really did not like seeing his parents like this. "I hurt," he whined as he slumped on Uncle Toothless' head. "Why do I hurt?"
Daddy blinked a tear out of his eye, but he took a deep breath and regained his composure. Mommy always said that Daddy was as hard as rocks were soft, which was confusing because rocks were very hard, as his forehead could attest.
"Because love hurts, and that's not a bad thing," Daddy said quietly.
"Momma hurt," Zephyr said sadly. "Why Momma hurt?" She reached out towards Stormfly. "Sorm-li, wake up! Wake up! Make Momma not hurt!" She started crying.
Daddy turned to Mommy and held out his arms. "C'mere, Zephyr."
"I got her, thanks," Mommy gently said. With Zephyr in one arm, she grabbed a burning torch from a stand with her free hand and turned to her dragon.
Nuffink blinked hard and scrunched his face. Big boys don't cry. Big boys… Don't...
Beneath him, Uncle Toothless rumbled with a sad sigh. Daddy gave Nuffink's head a pat. "Every rule has its exceptions."
Mommy gave Stormfly a kiss on the snout and backed away. The flames rose. Mommy buried her face into Zephyr. "Oh gods, Stormfly, I miss you so much!"
Nuffink knew what was happening, but hearing those words, seeing Mommy cry, it hit him like a boulder. The walls broke down. He felt like he was falling into a deep pit as he lost himself in a sea of tears.
