Chapter Number: 6 / 9
Book Number: 1 (Lycanwing)
Planned at: 2 April 2022

Book Summary:
History may not repeat itself, but it rhymes with present. This rang true for inhabitants in Meridian of Misery. Stoick learned that keeping secrets would only hurt himself. Furious learned that future could never be set in stone. Wodensfang desperately grasping their long-forgotten past. Hiccup and Toothless came at the right time in the wrong place. It was not surprising that they played with their fate, as destiny claimed the very dragons they were meant to protect.

Pairing:
- Hiccup (Lycanwing Night Fury) x Toothless (Female Night Fury)

Warnings:
- AU and OOC characters with some movie/show canon aspects.
- Book HTTYD aspects and characters.
- Possible psychological horror.
- Female Toothless.

"What is this?" – Normal Speech
'What is this?' – Thought
"What is this?" – Telepathy / Reading / Flashback (Depends on context)
"What is this?" – Dragonese (Dragon speaking)
"What is this?" – Voiceover


Lycanwing – Betrayal


The 15-year-old Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was writing something at the forge. The boy was alone there. He was designing something simple for himself. It would be something that could help him catch a dragon.

He already had a name for it; 'The Bola Launcher.' After finishing his studies and experiments, he wanted to apply his knowledge. This would be one of the things he would do for the village. He wanted to prove himself to his father.

Gobber walked into the forge through the back door. He glanced at the boy that was working at the corner. The boy was not as small as before, but he was still skinny. This was something that Stoick had been distressed about. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do about it.

The man shook his head. He approached the busy boy. "Hiccup."

Hiccup looked up from his work. "Hey, Gobber!"

"What are ya working on?"

"I'm working on Bola Launcher." Hiccup explained to the man. "I want to catch the Night Fury with it."

Gobber was confused. "Yer want to catch-"

"No." Hiccup shook his head. "The other one. I heard they're blowing up the village. I want to catch it!"

The blacksmith snorted. "Aye. 'bit of a nuisance, that one." He replied, leaning down to look at the blueprint of the invention. "That look simple enough. 'shouldn't be a problem for ye. You should be catching the Night Fury with it."

"Thanks, Gobber." Hiccup nodded.

The blacksmith nodded. The man moved along to work on something else at the forge.

Hiccup looked back at the design. It was simple enough, with some flaws added in to make sure it would not accidentally catch Toothless. The boy had added something to the design. It would make a loud snap that could be heard across the Isle of Berk. The bola would create low whistling noise that they could hear.

For dragons that knew what it meant, they could dodge the moment they heard the snap. If they did not know what it was, it would be too late for them to know. He needed to tell Toothless about it, as well as telling her not to come to the dragon raid. He was sure Toothless would understand; the other Night Fury had been destroying villages.

The thought of Toothless made him pause. He wondered what he should do after catching the Night Fury. Should he bring them to her? He might not have the stomach to kill them, as it would remind him so much of Toothless. Toothless might pull that dragon far from the place. Having a hostile Night Fury away from Barbaric Archipelago might be good for everyone.

There was a small thought that he might be able to befriend the dragon too. However, considering he would be the one to catch them, that chance might be slim. He would have Toothless pull that Night Fury away after catching them. He did not want that dragon causing trouble at Berk.


"Snotlout! Astrid!"

Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs were sitting behind the Mead Hall, watching Vikings walking around. It was technically the kitchen, where the village cook would be cooking food for everyone. The place had open crates around the place, and there was a large open hut not far from them. That hut was the village kitchen.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut were running towards the other teenagers. They all had grown considerably since last year. It did not matter now, however, since the twins had something to tell them.

"What is it 'tuff?" Astrid questioned.

"It's Hiccup." Ruffnut informed them. "We heard something from the forge."

Snotlout brightened upon hearing it. "What is it?"

The twins leaned closer towards them. "We heard… that Hiccup is making something to catch a dragon." Ruffnut whispered.

"But not just any dragon." Tuffnut added, smirking. "A Night Fury."

"Night Fury?" Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs repeated.

"Yeah!" Ruffnut nodded, staring at the three teenagers in front of them. "Gobber believed he could do it. Hiccup called it Bola Launcher."

"Hohoho…" Snotlout grinned as he rubbed his hands together. "I want to catch a Night Fury too."

"Imagine the fame we'll get by catching it." Astrid breathed out as she imagined that scenario.

"So, I guess it's the usual wait and take?" Tuffnut questioned. "'cuz if it is, it should be ready by the next dragon raid."

"Of course!" Snotlout scoffed at him. "I want to catch that Night Fury. I'll chop its head off and rip its heart out." He gestured to his face. "With my face!"

Ruffnut snorted. "Sure." She shook her head. "Just don't get killed when you do catch it."


The Changewing Island was, as the name suggests, an island full of Changewings. The Changewing Dragon was a quadruped slender dragon with pair of horns from the back of their heads, and a single horn on their nose. It had leaf-like appendages around its spines, as well as a pair of antennae on its head, with identical appendages. Their scales were red, but some had green scales with yellow edges. They were roughly the size of a normal Monstrous Nightmare.

The island itself were surrounded by stacks of rocks and boulders. Inside the island, however, were extremely dense forest. There were some streams of waters through its depths, coming from the ocean outside. It was a peaceful island, if not because of the Changewings around the place.

BOOM!

The scene was at the middle of the island. Charcoal the Night Fury was fighting a rather gigantic Changewing, along with its dragons. The giant Changewing was a Titan Wing Changewing, which was the alpha of all Changewings at the island. Everyone was on a large clearing inside the island, which was where the fighting took place.

"KRAAA!" Charcoal roared. The dragon had his teeth bared to his opponents, his body in battle stance. His scales were crackling with arcs of electricity. There were scrapes and drops of acid on his body, but there were no wounds anywhere on his scales.

There were roughly one hundred Changewings littered around the place, nearly all of them were unconscious. Some of the conscious ones were injured and cowering in fear. There were no dead dragons, thankfully. At least, Charcoal tried his best not to kill the dragons.

"GRAAAAA!" The opposing Titan Wing Changewing roared back. He was heavily injured, with various cuts and scrapes on his body. The dragon was three times bigger than Charcoal, but the Night Fury did not seem to have any trouble dealing with him.

"Yield!" Charcoal snarled, ready to attack once more.

"You dare to come here to enslave us!" The alpha Changewing roared. "I will never submit to you!"

The Night Fury moved to the side as the giant dragon fired a rather large acid spit towards him. He sensed someone rushing from behind. He bucked his hindlegs, kicking them away. Focusing back to the alpha, he dodged another acid blast by leaping upward. He used his electric charge to dash mid-air towards the alpha Changewing dragon.

"KRAAA!" Charcoal screeched as he grabbed onto the horn on his nose. He spun around and forced his head and neck down on the ground. The alpha Changewing trashed for release, but Charcoal pushed his weight onto his neck. "Yield!"

"Graaa…" The alpha dragon let out a pained whine. His neck was being crushed. "I- I will not… submit!"

"Submit." Charcoal whispered. His voice was almost pleading.

"Kill me."

Charcoal spread his wings as he let loose of his alpha dominance power. That made his appendages glow blue. He breached the mind of every single dragon on the island and forced them to submit to him. It was not that difficult for him, considering they were all injured or unconscious. The Changewings immediately lost their thoughts as they bowed down to the Night Fury. They bonded their mind with the black dragon.

Charcoal looked down to the alpha Changewing, who were staring up at him with fear and resignation. "I have your dragons." He whispered as he pressed his weight further down his neck. "Submit."

The titan wing Changewing limped his body. He finally submitted to the Night Fury. Charcoal allowed Changewing's mind to bond with his. Once that was done, the black dragon jumped off him. He stopped his alpha dominance power, and his appendages stopped glowing blue. After that was done, he summoned dragons outside the island to tend the wounded.

Charcoal was about to leave when the titan wing Changewing croaked his voice. "Why are you doing this?"

The Night Fury paused. He glanced back to the former alpha behind him. "I'm just… I'm just following order."

"Is it right for you to do this?" The titan wing Changewing stared at him. He was trying to reason with the black dragon. "Please, don't pull us into your war."

Charcoal simply stared at him, before sending a briefing Chunk to the former alpha. The same Chunk that he had given to dragons he conquered over the year. Once that was done, he took off into the air, heading to the Dragon Island. He noted that different dragons were swooping into the island to help them recover.

While flying, Charcoal sent a telepathic message to Furious. "The Changewings submitted to me."

"Good." Furious purred in his mind. "With the Changewings on our side, we could have spies amongst human villages and other dragon nests. You have done well."

"How many left should I take?"

"You have done all 5 nests today." Furious answered. "Return to Dragon Island. It is time for your routine food."

"Yes, Alpha." Charcoal replied, before focusing on his flight.

The Night Fury was not happy with his new assignment. Over the course of a year, he had been conquering and taking over dragon nests one by one. He was essentially drafting those dragons into the Rebellion. Some dragons deserved to be taken over, such as ones trying to invade and pillage another flock's nest, but those were far in between. Charcoal was taking them all to participate in Dragon Rebellion.

That thought reminded him of Calian. His son had turned one year old. It would not be long for him to obtain his fire. It would be a rite of passage for him, signifying that he was ready to prepare for life in the wild. That thought made him happy, but at the same time, he was terrified. As long the war still happening, there was a possibility of his son being drafted into it.

The thought of his son reminded him of the dragons he had conquered. How many fathers and mothers he had drafted into the war? How many hatchlings he had orphaned for taking them into the war? Dragons were the most vulnerable when they were young, as they had both mental and physical threats. He essentially condemned them by taking their parents away from them.

To say that Charcoal felt guilt was an understatement. He hated his assignment. There were times where he wished the dragon he faced was stronger than him. He wanted them to make him submit, and thus, releasing him from his duty. It was why he always went alone to take over their nests.

However, instead of being defeated, that made him stronger. Furious had done it. Charcoal was undefeated, and his prowess were feared by dragons all over the archipelago. The greater alpha dragon kept empowering him, making sure that he would remain undefeated. Those rocks made him powerful, far more powerful than what he was a year ago.

Charcoal remembered the time when he was fighting a flock of Skrills. They were dragons that had mastered the art of lightning. They had three titan wing Skrills in the flock, and Charcoal fought against them alone. The black dragon made them submit and bond with his mind, as they were terrified of him. His electric charges were so powerful, he quite literally electrocuted them to submission.

Charcoal was terrified of himself.

He was terrified of what he had become.

Charcoal noticed that the Dragon Island was on sight. He was getting close to the island. For some reason, he was reminded of the alpha Changewing he defeated. That made him uncomfortable, because it made him question his obedience to Furious.

Was it right for you to do this? He remembered the question. In his mind, however, that question was rephrased. Was it right for you to follow that order?

'No.' Charcoal thought. 'This isn't right.'

"I have prepared the rocks." Furious suddenly spoke in his mind, snapping him from his thoughts. "I hope I don't need to use the leash for you to eat them."

Charcoal wanted to snap. This was all Furious' faults. The Night Fury was simply following orders. Those orders were not right for him, as it went against what he believed in. He believed in freedom of dragons to roam the sky. It was why he fought in Dragon Rebellion. However, instead of that, he subjected those dragons to serve and obey him, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"I hate you." Charcoal simply replied. There was no malice, only exhaustion.

Furious brushed over his thoughts. "Oh, Charcoal." The giant dragon sounded amused. "If you don't enjoy doing this, you should've left the Dragon Rebellion a long time ago."


"Here you go. Remember to eat them whole."

"Thanks, ma."

Toothless and Calian were at the nest together. The cave had been decorated, ever since they gotten themselves a hatchling. Instead of plasma fire, there were silhouettes of cloudy magical aura, slowly circling the place. It created dim light for everything inside the cave, which was enough for them to see things clearly, without disturbing their sleep.

The hatchling was getting bigger. He was also getting a lot smarter. Charcoal and Toothless noted that their child had gained Charcoal's intellect, creativity and curiosity. There were times where they would find him wandering outside the nest, curious of everything around him. It was why the light source inside the nest was changed, as it seemed to intrigue their son enough to make him stay inside.

Calian was eating fishes that Toothless had brought in. They were mixture of smaller fishes, such as mackerel and lake trout. The smaller food were something that Night Fury hatchling could consume straight away, while the bigger one needed to be chewed and regurgitated.

After Calian finished the pile, the hatchling looked up to his mother. "Mom, can I have some cod?"

Toothless let out a sigh. Calian inherited her likeness for cod. "Calian, we don't have a small cod for you to eat." She explained.

"I'm home."

Toothless and Calian looked at the entrance. Charcoal had entered the nest. The dragon looked tired and mentally exhausted. The adult male dragon had a lot of fishes in his maw.

"Dad!" Calian exclaimed, happy to see his father back.

The mother dragon hardened her expression. She simply watched as Charcoal dropped the food in front of them. After that was done, the adult male dragon moved to sit next to her. He moved to wrap his wings around her. Charcoal leaned to the side and licked her forehead. "Did you miss me?"

Toothless simply looked at him with pleading expression. Charcoal softened his eyes. They did not exchange any words, since they already discussed the whole issue last year. It pained the dragon sorceress that her mate had to do such despicable thing for the Dragon Rebellion. All she could do was reading his mind to know what he had done to them.

Charcoal looked away from her. He looked down at Calian, who was biting at the large cod from the pile. Unfortunately, his teeth were not sharp enough to bit through the scales. The adult dragon smiled at the sight. "Calian, you can't eat that yet."

Charcoal grabbed the cod from him. He gulped the fish down his throat, letting it stay there for a moment. Few seconds later, he choked his throat and regurgitated the fish out. The regurgitated fish splatted not far from Calian. The hatchling moved down to sniff on the fish, before biting it. The small dragon easily bit the flesh through the softened scales. He gulped one down his throat. "Thanks dad!"

Charcoal simply smiled. He watched his son eating the softened fish in front of them.

"How long are you going to do this?"

Charcoal glanced at his mate. Toothless was staring at Calian with sad expression. The adult male dragon looked away. "I don't know."

"Your mindscape stopped breaking months ago." Toothless informed him. She was checking his mind. "You always come back here stronger. You're getting used to his torture."

Charcoal did not dare to reply. He simply stayed quiet.

"… you're not breaking from all this." Toothless decided. Her voice was accusing. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? Having fun with all that power you have? All the control you have over those dragons?"

Charcoal closed his eyes. He did not dare to answer her question. As much as he wanted to deny them, Toothless knew him more than himself. "I'm sorry."

The two of them fell silent, both vocal and mental. They were staring at their hatchling, who were biting and eating the cod that Charcoal had softened for him. The adult male dragon looked at his tiny wings. It looked strong enough for him to fly.

"I think Calian is ready to fly." Charcoal sent to Toothless. The black dragon looked at his mate. "What do you think?"

Toothless wanted to snap at him. However, upon staring at her mate, her heart immediately melted. He was staring at him with pleading and apologetic expression. The dragoness softened her own expression. It reminded her that they still had Calian to take care of.

Charcoal was trying his best as father figure for Calian. He had done his best to be there for them. He was the one that sated Calian's curiosity. He taught their son about things they had seen. He knew how to encourage him to do things for himself, such as finishing food instead of leaving leftovers.

Toothless wanted to be there for Calian as well. She wanted to comfort Calian when he needed it. They both did not want to become obstacle to each other. It was why they conversed their arguments through telepathy in their bonds. They did not want to involve Calian in their arguments.

Toothless looked at their hatchling. Calian's wings looked big enough to fly. "I think he's ready to fly." She decided. "If I remember correctly, he should be getting his flame this month."

"Great. Hunting and flying. Which one do you want to teach?"

"I'll do the hunting." Toothless answered. "You do the flying."

"Alright." Charcoal responded, before speaking to his hatchling. "Hey, Calian."

The hatchling looked up from his food. The fish body was stripped to bones, and he was looking for a way to eat the head. "Dad?"

The father looked at his son with a smile. "We think you're ready to fly. Are you ready for your first flight lesson?"

Calian widened his eyes. He jumped around as he circled the place. "Yes! Yes!" He exclaimed. The hatchling stopped in front of his father. His tail was wagging furiously. "I want to fly!"

Charcoal chuckled at his enthusiasm. He lowered his head. "Come on, now."

The hatchling jumped up and landed on top of his head. Charcoal stood from the ground. He glanced at Toothless. Her expression was unreadable. "Are you coming?"

"Of course." Toothless nodded, standing up from her hindlegs.

The two dragons walked out from the cave, leaving the small pile of fishes alone on the ground.


Toothless and Charcoal landed on top of a high cliff. It was night-time outside. The place was high, and there was water down below. It was the perfect place for Calian to learn how to fly. The cliff was located on a small, but tall island full of rocks. There was nothing behind them but pile of rocks. The wind was blowing hard to their direction.

Charcoal lowered his head and Calian jumped off from him. The father looked at his son. "First things first." He started lecturing. "There is one thing you need to understand about our species as Night Fury."

Toothless moved to rest at the corner. She would only be watching them. Charcoal continued his lecture to his son. "We are the fastest and most manoeuvrable dragons that ever lived in the whole archipelago!"

Calian looked happy to hear his praise. Charcoal smiled at him. "We can make sharp turns that dragons could ever dreamed of doing. We can break the sound barrier and awe everyone you know." He spread his wings to showcase them. "When you grow up, you can outfly nearly every dragon in the sky."

"Wow…" the hatchling looked up to his father with awe. He stared at his father's large pair of wings. It was fluttered on the harsh wind, despite not flying at all.

"But because of that." Charcoal spoke as he folded his wings. "Our flights are the most unstable."

That confused Calian. "What?"

"For every good thing you have in flight, there will always be bad thing to balance it." The father explained to his son. "We are the fastest and most manoeuvrable, but any small movement on our wings and tailfins could instantly change everything. You can be flying peacefully, and suddenly, you start rolling around because you twitched your tailfin. You can make a really, really fast and sharp turn, but suddenly, you start flat spinning, and you have to stop and hover."

Calian inspected his own wings and tails. He brought up his tail to see his own tailfins. The hatchling remembered some topics that his mother had told him. "I have to be careful?"

"Yes." Charcoal nodded, smiling at his son. "If you keep on flying, you will get used to controlling your own flight. Everything I told you will get easier the more you do it. And when you grow up, you will become the fastest and highest flier in the sky."

The hatchling looked at his father with his wide, forest green eyes. "I want to be the fastest and highest flier."

"Now, face the ocean and spread your wings." Charcoal spoke as he turned himself to face the ocean. He spread his wings to demonstrate.

Calian spread his own wings. The wind instantly blew them back, but it simply passed through them. There was something in him that wanted to fly. "I want to fly!"

"Pay attention to how your wings feel." Charcoal glanced to his son.

The hatchling flapped his wings. The moment he did that, it lifted him off the air. Unfortunately, because of the harsh wind, his wings blew him back like a kite. "KRAA!"

Charcoal leaped and grabbed Calian with his gum. The father placed his son back to the ground. The hatchling looked sheepish upon realising what happened. He looked up to the stern looking father dragon. "Sorry, dad."

Charcoal exhaled through his nostrils. "Hrr…" He moved back to spread his wings. "Now spread your wings and feel them."

The hatchling walked next to his father and spread his own wings. He could feel the wind blowing through his wings. It felt nice. However, he noticed that the wind was somewhat changing in direction. Sometimes, he would feel more wind passing under his wings, and sometimes on top of them. It felt like the wind had its own direction.

"Did you feel that?"

Calian looked up to his father. He was glancing at him. "The wind?"

"It changes direction, is it?"

The hatchling looked ahead to the ocean. "… yeah."

"Remember that feeling well." Charcoal informed his son. "It will be important. Remember that tailfin control exercise I taught you before?"

"Uh-huh."

"Straighten your tail and let it feel the wind." The father advised.

Calian straightened his tail. He instinctually straightened his tailfins upon feeling the wind. It seemed to move on its own to adjust with the wind direction. "Daaad… it's moving on its own."

Charcoal smiled at him. "That's normal. Your body knows how to move from wind direction." He informed his son. "It knows how to fly, but the one flying need to know how to control them."

Calian looked at his father with questioning look. "I already know how to fly?"

"Your body knows how to fly, but the one controlling them doesn't." Charcoal explained to his son. "Now close your eyes."

Calian did as he was told. He closed his eyes. Charcoal continued speaking. "Stay absolutely still… not that stiff, you need to relax a bit… okay. Now, flap your wings just once."

The hatchling flapped his wings once. He felt more wind passing through his scales. Then, he heard his father speak. "Open your eyes."

Calian opened his eyes. He realised that he was flying. He looked like he was hovering in the air. The hatchling looked down and realised that his paws were not touching the ground. He was amazed to see himself fly. "Wow…"

Calian turned to look at his wings. That somehow turned his direction, and he went straight back to the wall behind them. "KRAAA!"

Charcoal caught his tail before he hit the wall. The father placed his son down to the ground. The hatchling slowly turned around to face his father. He looked somewhat dazed from the experience. "Wow…"

The father dragon knew that Calian had felt the freedom of flight for the first time. It reminded him the first time he took off into the air. The feeling was incredible, and that freedom was unsatiable. "Ready to start again?"

The hatchling looked at his father. He snapped out from his daze, before quickly moved to stand next to him. "Okay!"


Toothless watched as the father and son spread their wings together. She could only stare with forlorn expression. Charcoal was a great father figure for Calian. Despite his duties as the general of Dragon Rebellion, he tried his best to always be there for them. It reminded him so much of her own situation back when she was a hatchling.

She remembered taking similar lesson from a Deadly Nadder. She always had difficulties on learning her flight, mostly because of how different her flight with other dragons. Her father was never there to teach her, always busy fighting and doing his own duty. She was neglected during her own hatchling phase and seeing Calian with good father figure made her a little bit envious of him.

The dragoness watched as the father and son took off into a flight. They were simply hovering there, using the strong wind to fly without flapping their wings. The two dragons were laughing and cheering, joyful for their son's achievement. Calian was making progress. Toothless smiled as she watched them go.

It felt nice that their son had something she could never had: a loving father.

It made her nearly forget what kind of monster her mate had become.

"Now, remember." Toothless heard Charcoal spoke to their son. He noticed that the two of them were floating up and down by the wind. "You have two sets of tailfins. First one at the end of your tail, and second one at the start of your tail. They control your pitch and roll. The spines on your back control your yaw."

"Okay."

"This will be your first time flying." Charcoal warned his son. "There are a lot of things that you need to know about, but we'll get to that later. For now, just remember this; don't turn too hard, don't move your tailfins too much, and always pay attention to where you are going."

"Okay."

The father smiled. "Now, ready for a test flight?"

"Yeah!" Calian eagerly nodded.

"Let's go! Stay close with me."

Charcoal and Calian dashed forward and dove down the cliff. Few seconds later, they flew up high into the air. The father and hatchling dragon began flying around the place. Both were circling around the tall island. Toothless let out a sad smile as she watched them fly. It was a moment that they would cherish forever.

"Kraaaaa!" Toothless heard Calian roared. The hatchling was ecstatic. "I'm flying!"

The dragoness chuckled. It was tempting for her to take off and fly along with them. That immediately reminded her of Charcoal. Her mood instantly died because of that. Charcoal was a dragon that believed in consent. He believed in freedom for dragons. He was quite possibly the bravest, strongest but most humble dragon that she ever met. It was why Toothless fell in love with him in the first place.

After the Liberation of Rookery, Charcoal revealed personalities that she had always feared. There was a desire for power and control within him. She had yet gone deeper to check how deep it was. Considering how he had yet left the Dragon Rebellion after given the assignment, it made her morbidly curious.

'Why did you keep going?' Toothless thought to herself.

It was then the dragoness realised that it might be her chance. Charcoal was distracted with Calian. They both agreed not to dwell too much into each other's minds, for the sake of privacy, unless it was necessary. However, despite what they agreed upon, Toothless had been reading his thoughts and memories. Charcoal did not really mind, as long she did not make any changes to them.

This was something that she really, really wanted to know. Following her own curiosity, the dragoness used her bond with Charcoal to enter his mindscape.

Toothless pushed through everything and went straight into his actual mind. There were Programs running in his mind, most of them were avionic related things for flight. The rest were something that she did not understand the purpose of. For example, there was one that simply took a still picture from his eyes into a Chunk. Another example was one that simply count numbers for no reason.

20:01 – Wednesday, 5 May 1335

Ignoring those numbers, she went deeper into his mind. She passed through his thoughts and instincts, as well as subconscious operations like breathing. Most dragons could not go this deep, but she was an expert in mind intrusion. She was trained for this. The dragoness went further deeper into his mind to find his deepest desire. Upon finding them, she physically reared back when she found it.

Love.

It was the purest, largest form of desire that existed in his deepest desires. There were others, but the second largest was Lust and Greed. Those two embodied his deepest desire for power and control. That explained why Charcoal did not leave the Dragon Rebellion, even after getting that assignment. However, there was something unusual to them. The two largest desires looked like it was being inflated.

It was then Toothless realised that Charcoal might be manipulated into it. The desire of Love were strong, extremely so. It was holding back those desires in favour of it, despite those desire growing every second. Deepest desire could not be shrunk, only replaced by growing the other. Someone was trying to push Charcoal away from her.

'But why Lust and Greed, specifically?' Toothless wondered. Negative desires existed on every dragon. No dragons were perfect. Despite all his achievements, Charcoal was not without flaw. Lust was closely associated with Love, considering how much he bedded her at every chance they could get, that was not surprising. Not that she was complaining. However, Greed was something that Charcoal never really had shown before.

Realisation struck her like a Gronckle flying at Mach speed. It all started after Furious discovered that Charcoal had leased his dragons to the Greater Alpha. The original plan was for Charcoal to punish the rogue alphas into serving Dragon Rebellion. He legitimately forgot about giving those bonds to Furious. When it was brought up, Charcoal offered, but Furious refused the bond. It was as if Furious wanted him to conquer and control dragons.

The dragoness remembered one of the memories she watched. It was the time when Charcoal received his new assignment. She remembered what Furious had told him.

I will make you undefeatable. You will become the most powerful of them all.

You will rule them all, and they will follow you, like a master over their slaves.

"Krr…" Toothless let out a growl. Furious was the cause of all this. He was trying to turn his own son into a monster. Charcoal may not have changed in appearance after the first time, but that did not mean he did not become stronger. In that small form, Charcoal was terrifying. She had seen his memory of destroying a whole island all by himself. His strength and prowess grow every day, and if it kept going on, Charcoal would become unstoppable.

Furious wanted Charcoal to be a monster.

There was a tiny voice at the back of her thought. 'But isn't it what all parent wants? For their hatchling to become strong?' It whispered to her. 'Is it not what you want for Calian?'

That thought made her pause. She wanted Calian to live and survive in the wild. In order to do that, Calian needed to become stronger. That made her felt guilt. Furious just wanted the best for his son. She never really understood that concept, but now that she had a hatchling of her own, she understood. It was the love of a father to their son that drove Furious to do it.

Charcoal and Furious knew the open world more than her. They knew the pain and struggle that existed living in this world. In all their lives, they had been doing nothing but fighting humans for dragons. They were trying their best to win the war, and one way Furious knew best was by imposing control over one another.

Both wanted to end the war, but Charcoal disagreed with Furious' ideas. They had different method to do it, but Charcoal followed Furious' method because he was his Greater Alpha. Furious did not seem to know how to be a father, but he did care for him. He wanted Charcoal to be strong. It was most likely that Furious wanted Charcoal to replace him to lead the Dragon Rebellion at some point.

Toothless closed her eyes. She let out a small whine. "Harr…" It was a complicated issue for her. She was not used to feel that sort of thing. She did not know what to do about it. What Furious did was against what Charcoal and Toothless believed in, and Furious used his authority to influence Charcoal into it.

The dragoness decided that it was best to leave that topic alone for now. She observed the deepest desire in Charcoal's mind: Love. Toothless was curious. She mentally went into the deepest desire, to see what he truly desired inside Love.

'… oh.'

Any doubt that she ever had about Charcoal's love to her and Calian were instantly gone. Charcoal truly loved them. it was raw, pure desire, and it was solely focused to her and Calian. There was nothing else, not even other dragons. It assured her that Charcoal only wanted the best for them both. It assured her that, despite all his faults, he was trying his best to do things right for them both.

The desire of Love was connected to some thoughts and feelings. There were feelings of fear; fear of humans and dragons if they ever harmed his family; fear of the war, because it meant Calian could be drafted into it; fear of death, because it meant Calian would live without a father, or if they died, they would forever leave him alone in this world. Those fears fuelled his drive to become stronger. It was what drove his desire for power and control. He wanted every dragon in the world to protect them.

At least, that was the reasoning she found in his mind. Toothless was not quite sure what to feel about it. On the other side of his fears, there were a lot of positive emotions. Charcoal loved her as his mate. Charcoal loved Calian as a father to his son. Every second he spent around them; it would always make him happy. Strange enough, despite having equal amount of Love for them both, Charcoal was feeling less happy with her.

The dragoness was confused at first. She traced that thought and emotion, trying to find the cause. It started after his new assignment. Finding that thought, she realised that it was because of her behaviour. Charcoal did not like her nagging about the situation. That made her feel guilt, because she had been showing her displeasure at every chance she had.

"KRAAAA!"

Toothless snapped from her thoughts. She looked up to the sky. Calian was flat spinning, desperately trying to hover by flapping his wings. He was falling from the sky, and he was panicking. Charcoal was rushing down towards him. The father grabbed his son before he fell further down. "Got you!"

After catching Calian, Charcoal flew back towards the cliff. He landed there and placed his son on the ground. "Now, what did you do wrong?"

"I'm…" Calian looked embarrassed. "I turned too hard…"

"You're turning too sharp." Charcoal corrected, staring down at his son. "You moved your tailfins in a way that you can never recover from that flat spin by stop and hover. If that didn't work, you need to fold your wing back and dive to the ground, if you're still somewhat high in the sky."

"Sorry, dad." Calican muttered, not looking to his father. He looked embarrassed.

"Hey, it's okay to make mistakes." Charcoal softly spoke as he leaned to the side, trying to get eye contact with his son. "You're still learning. What's important is that you learn from that mistake and try to do better."

Calian looked up to his father. He stared at the soft expression that Charcoal had. The hatchling felt encouraged by his advice. The father and son simply stared at each other, happy to spend their time together.

Suddenly, Calian began choking. His throat began to glow blue. "Krrk!" He belched blue plasma out from his mouth, which splashed harmlessly on the ground. It lit up in flames, burning the rock under it. The hatchling looked down with surprise, before another one came out from his throat. "Krrk!"

"Whoa…" Charcoal started as he moved over to his son. The dragon began licking his back, encouraging him to get them out. The hatchling puked several times, before finally collapsing. Calian was exhausted. Fortunate for him, that was the last of it. He smacked his lips as he stared at the burning plasma in front of them.

Calian quickly moved away from the plasma fire. "What is that!"

"That's your fire." Charcoal spoke, feeling proud of his son.

"My fire?"

"Every dragon can make fire." The father dragon lectured. "It's a rite of passage. After this, you will learn how to hunt."

"Are you going to teach me how to hunt?" Calian asked, looking up to his father with wide eyes.

The father let out a chuckle. "I know how to hunt, but your mother is the best hunter in the sky." Charcoal hummed as he sat on his hindlegs. "I remember that one time when she caught a massive cod for us to eat together."

Toothless blinked but did not say anything. She did not remember doing such thing. Calian looked up to his father with awe. "Really?"

"Oh yes. It was the biggest, largest cod I've ever seen. It was even bigger than our body." Charcoal sagely nodded, staring mirthfully at his son. "You should learn to hunt from your mother. She's far better than me at hunting."

Calian bounced over to his resting mother. "Mooom!" He called her out. "Can you teach me how to hunt? Please? Please?"

"Yes." The dragoness nodded, amused by his enthusiasm. "We can start tomorrow after your flight lesson."

"Yaay!" The hatchling excitedly bounced around. Calian was still a ball of energy, despite being exhausted from the flight.

Charcoal approached his mate. He sat on his hindlegs and rested himself next to her. The male dragon checked his own mindscape. Toothless' presence was there. She was deep inside his mind, which was unusual. "Were you looking for something?"

Toothless quickly pulled her presence back. "Nothing!"

It was too late. Charcoal had traced to what she was looking at. He softened his expression as he realised what she was looking for. "Toothless… I would never leave you for anything. Ever."

"It's not that." Toothless retorted to her mate, staring at the cheering hatchling. "I wanted to know why you're so keen on continuing your… monstrous rampage on ruling all dragons!"

"Toothless, you know it's my duty…"

"This was all Furious' fault!" Toothless mentally snarled at him as she sent a Chunk containing what she had seen inside his mind. "You're not doing this yourself. You don't want to do this. I don't want to do this. Those dragons don't want this. Your dad is abusing his authority on you to make you do this!"

Charcoal fell silent as he checked what Toothless had discovered in his mind. Toothless continued speaking. "Desire just doesn't grow on its own. There's always something that made it happen. If they started growing for no reason, that means someone is inflating them. Furious did this."

"… You're right."

"… what?" Toothless looked up to her mate. Charcoal was staring at her with saddened expression. There were hints of betrayal in his eyes.

"Toothless." Charcoal started. "Did you know why I moved from Greater Archipelago?"

"You never told me why." Toothless tilted her head. "I just thought you want to stay close with your father."

"I moved because I want an easier, simpler life." Charcoal informed her. "Merciless have an extremely high standard for her army. I never had time to spend for myself. I always have to train, all day, all night. He always sent me on difficult missions."

The male dragon paused for a moment. "But even all that, Merciless believed in the freedom of all dragons." He continued speaking. "That's why his dragons followed him so eagerly. That's why I joined his Dragon Rebellion. I took upon myself to adapt what he stands for and focus on freedom of consent."

"Doesn't that make you a hypocrite?" Toothless retorted. "With what you're doing now?"

"Yes." Charcoal admitted. "I didn't realise that until now. Furious seem to know a lot more about mind manipulation than me. I… thank you, Toothless. I don't know what else to do without you."

That made Toothless hopeful. She was making progress. "Does that mean you're going to Hidden World together with me?"

"As long as your father won't try to kill me, yes." Charcoal replied as he sent her a Chunk. It contained his latest project. "I will put alerts and shields in case Furious decided to enter my mind. I'll break the bond once we're close to the border. We should be going next week."

Toothless cursed herself for forgetting about her father. That would be a problem for them both. However, the safety of their family comes first. Her father could roar for all she cared. The dragoness was curious for the Chunk that Charcoal had sent her. She checked what the Chunk was all about.

Mind Analyzer

It contained a Program for dragon mind. What the Program does was scanning creature's mind for their structure and anatomy. At least, that was what being described. The dragoness was confused. It did not seem to have any purpose. They already know dragon's mind structure and anatomy. It was not that difficult to map once they entered someone's mindscape the first time. "What is this?"

"One of the keys to end Dragon Rebellion." Charcoal replied, before turning to focus on Calian. "Ready to fly again?"

Calian quickly nodded. "Yeah!"

"Alright. Let's go!" Charcoal called out. The father and son spread their wings together. The adult male dragon looked back to his mate and sent another Chunk to her mind, before taking off into the sky once more, leaving Toothless alone.

The dragoness rested her head. She looked at the Program that Charcoal had given her. There was no reason for it to be made, as it was redundant. Toothless decided to check the structure of the Program. The instructions were interesting. It would go in depth on their mapping and analytics, describe what each of those things does, and present them in a Chunk inside the user's mind.

Toothless noted that alpha dominance was a requirement to use it. She was not sure what sort of instruction would require alpha dominance. The Program only used alpha dominance for entry point. There was no reason to use that, since it could scan them without the need of alpha dominance. Mapping mind through mindscape was the basics of mind arts, since they needed to know things about their mind to wander around their mindscape.

'Unless…' Toothless realised. 'This is not intended for dragons.'

The dragon sorceress found a note amongst the instructions. It contained more information about the Program.

Malotype Project
Mind Analyzer
Version 1

This Program is intended to map and identify human mind to study them.

Problem: It was discovered that dragons could enter human mind and minds of other various animals through alpha dominance. However, their minds are incomprehensible for us. They do not have mindscape to represent their mind. All creatures have different sets of minds, including humans. All of them worked differently, and it was hard to learn what it meant because we have nothing to compare them to. They were all unique on their own ways.

Hypothesis: Minds of other creatures simply have different structure and anatomy than dragons. Unlike entering other dragon's mindscape and mapping them for navigation, the whole mind is different. Instead of mindscape, they have network. It would be like spider webs, where memories, experiences and everything about them are connected between one another. It is my belief that this is the reason it was incomprehensible for us. Everything in their mind is so decentralized, we did not know what to make of it.

Purpose: The Mind Analyzer is as the name implied. While it could work on animals, it was intended to map human mind. It should allow us to understand more about their minds. We might need to scan more than one human for comparison and study.

'This is intended for humans.' Toothless thought, eyes wide.

It did not take her long to realise what Charcoal meant when he gave her the Program. If they understood human mind, they could read and manipulate them. Charcoal wanted to end the war by taking control of their mind. It was a plan that she never thought possible.

'Then again.' Toothless thought, pondering. 'The Primordial Alpha did manage to control humans at some point. They did it because they had alpha dominance.'

Toothless put that side. She went to check the other Chunk that Charcoal had sent her. The dragoness blinked. It was a still image of her standing over a giant cod. She realised that Charcoal must've taken that image using a Program in his mind.

Memories would decay, but Chunks stay forever. Memories inside Chunk would decay slower, but it would be inaccessible for their mind until they unload them. Toothless had completely forgotten about the giant cod, but Charcoal took a still image of it. Her mate had essentially eternalised one of her biggest catches she had ever done. She finally realised the purpose of that Program that she came across in his mind.

'I need to get a copy of that Program.' Toothless grumbled as she looked up to the sky. Charcoal and Calian were still flying around the place, practicing aerobatics.

For some reason, Toothless felt much lighter in her heart. It was most likely because she was glad of Charcoal's decision. They would be leaving to Hidden World in a week. They would be leaving the war altogether.

'I might need to say goodbye to my Precious Thing first.'


It was evening at the Isle of Berk. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was resting at a forest clearing. The boy was laying on the ground, staring up into the sky. He was watching the clouds slowly move to a direction. Seeing the sky reminded him of Toothless.

The boy looked at the side. There was a medium sized contraption next to him. It was the Bola Launcher. The Bola Launcher was a wooden tube on a cart, with a lever attached to it. It was simple in appearance, and there was nothing complicated about it. Hiccup had finished and tested the contraption that day. He wanted some rest before bringing the Bola Launcher back into the forge.

'I wonder if Toothless would appreciate a dragon friend.' Hiccup thought, pondering. The boy closed his eyes. 'Come to think of it, does she-'

"Hrr?"

The boy opened his eyes. Toothless was looking down at him, upside down on his sight. Hiccup brightly smiled at her. "Toothless!"

The boy jumped up from the ground. Toothless was sitting on her hindlegs, staring at him. Hiccup moved forward and hugged the black dragon. "You're here! I-"

"Kar!" A smaller Night Fury appeared on top of Toothless' head. Hiccup realised that it was a dragon hatchling. Specifically, Night Fury hatchling. He had forest green eyes that looked very familiar to him.

"Oh!" Hiccup breathed out. He looked at Toothless. "That's your… hatchling?"

Toothless replied with her toothless smile. Hiccup simply stared at them. For some reason, it reminded him of his family in his dream. Toothless was his mate in his dream, and Calian was his son. It brought confusion and fear to him, because it brought up a lot of coincidence he experienced.

The boy blinked. He remembered a bag of fishes that he had dumped into the Bola Launcher. Hiccup wordlessly went to the contraption and pulled out a small bag. He pulled out a fish cod from it. Toothless and her hatchling brightened upon seeing it. Hiccup offered them to the large dragon. "Here."

"Hrr…" Toothless purred as she moved. The dragoness slowly took the fish from him. The hatchling jumped down from her head and reached for the bag. Hiccup pulled it out of reach, which made the hatchling stare up to him with pleading expression.

Hiccup looked into the bag. There was a minnow inside it. The boy pulled out the small fish and offered it to the hatchling. "Here."

"Ar." The hatchling quickly gulped down the fish. Hiccup sat on the ground, staring at the hatchling. The boy was perplexed by this. After he ate the fish, the hatchling walked to him and curled up on his lap.

"Hey…" Hiccup whispered as he pats the hatchling. He purred at the show of affection from the human. "You're cute, but… you look… familiar."

That phrase seemed to attract Toothless' attention. "Hrr?"

The boy looked at Toothless. There were fears in his eyes. "Is his name… Calian?"

Toothless slumped her wings to the side. Her eyes were wide. She was in complete shock. "Krr?!" That confirmed Hiccup's suspicion.

Hiccup was filled with dread. "And your mate's name is Charcoal?"

Toothless was silent. She slowly nodded, as if trying to process what just happened. Hiccup, however, was hyperventilating. His dream had somehow come true. He was a dragon and he had Toothless as his mate. The hatchling was his son. It was too much for him to handle!

"Oh…" Hiccup whispered, before falling to the back, unconscious.


"Here ya go."

"Thanks, Gobber."

Gobber the Belch was busy dealing with Vikings at the forge. The man was waiting for someone to return. He was worried about this person he was waiting for.

Hiccup often woke up with a fever. It started since last year. Stoick had been trying to figure out why his son would sometimes wake up with burning fever. He had yet gotten any leads on the case. Unfortunately, that led him to delegate most of his works to Spitelout, to the annoyance of Vikings at the village.

Hiccup was lucky that Gothi knew how to help him. The fever would instantly stop whenever he ate those herbs. It made the blacksmith wonder what sort of herbs Gothi had given him. Whenever Gobber had a fever, it would take him days to recover from them. He wondered if it was related to the case that Stoick was trying to figure out.

Thinking about Hiccup reminded him of something. The boy was still testing his Bola Launcher at the forest. Hiccup would be fine there, especially when he had Toothless on his side. He had her to protect him. However, there was something else that worried him.

Hiccup wanted to shoot the other Night Fury. That dragon was far more dangerous than Toothless. He wondered what would happen if Hiccup missed his shot. No matter if Toothless was there to save him; it would have been a complete disaster if he missed.

"Gobber?" A Viking called out from outside the forge window. "The docks need more nails."

The blacksmith sharply nodded. "Aye. Give me a minute."


"Oh, gods…" Hiccup mumbled as he clutched his head. "What hit me…"

"Hrr…"

The boy opened his eyes. He was laying down on the ground. Hiccup slowly sat up on the ground. Charcoal and Calian were still there, staring at him with concerned expression. "Toothless…" He whispered, before looking at the hatchling. "Calian…"

Hiccup began hyperventilating once more. The dragoness moved forward and gave him a lick. "Hrr…"

That seemed to snap him from his shock. The boy shakily stood from the ground. He looked at the dragoness with a smile. "Thanks, Toothless."

"Hrr." Toothless gave a sharp nod. She moved to sat on her hindlegs, staring at Hiccup with contemplating expression. It looked like she demanded an explanation from him.

"Toothless." Hiccup began. "I've been having dreams of being… mates with you together."

Toothless simply listened. Hiccup continued speaking. "I dreamt of being Charcoal." He confessed. "The dragon that served Dragon Rebellion for 12 years. I- Charcoal met you 4 years ago, and we- I- I mean- he started courting you for 2 years, before becoming mates together."

The dragoness simply stared at him, clearly shocked at how specific it was. The boy continued speaking. "You have a Light Fury friend named Amber. She's the one that healed our mind with a Program. That's when we- I mean, you and Charcoal became mates together."

Realization struck Hiccup. "That's it!" He snapped his finger. "Mind arts! That's why it's so hard for me to make the connection! That's why I couldn't remember!"

"Krr…" Toothless let out a growl as she stared up to the sky.

Hiccup knew what that meant. "Furious did this…" He breathed out, completely shocked by the realization. His expression turned sad. "I… Charcoal never really served in Greater Archipelago, did he? I began dreaming 5 years ago…"

Toothless looked at Hiccup with pleading expression. She did not really know what to do. "Hrr… krr…" She mumbled, as if trying to speak to him.

"But… why now?" Hiccup muttered, staring at Toothless and Calian. The hatchling was curious as to what was happening. "Why did I make the connection now? Why can't I understand you? Is it because Calian is here?"

"Kar?" Calian tilted his head, confused.

The boy stood from the ground. "… I'm scared that I might forget about all this." He confessed to Toothless. "So, I'm going to test this. Phrase password. It should remind Charcoal of who he was, in case I really am Charcoal."

Toothless perked up but did not say anything. Hiccup continued speaking. "When you met him, I want you to say, 'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery.' And Charcoal, if he's really me, will reply with 'Today is a gift. That's why they call it present.' That should remind me. Does that make sense?"

"Hrr." Toothless nodded.

"… I'm going back to the village." Hiccup informed them. the boy grabbed the Bola Launcher. "By the way, whatever you do, don't fly over Berk tonight if there's a dragon raid."

"Hrr…"

The boy took that as a confirmation. He began carting the Bola Launcher back to the village, leaving Toothless and Calian alone at the forest clearing.


Toothless did not expect that when she woke up that day.

The dragoness was sitting at her nest. She was glaring at the entrance, waiting for Charcoal to come back. Calian was asleep somewhere behind her. Toothless was still reeling revelation that Hiccup was Charcoal. The worst part was the fact that it somehow made sense to her, but at the same time, it brought a lot of questions in her mind.

There were times when she could not contact Charcoal at all. She simply assumed that Furious was blocking her from knowing his location. She never expected him to be masquerading as a human – her Precious Thing, of all things! It unveiled a whole can of worm that she was completely unprepared to face.

It explained why Charcoal never knew about mind arts. Merciless and his army could've taught him that. It did not explain where his memories come from. Memories could not be falsified or modified, only tampered with by refocusing them. It was not possible to create new memories out of thin air, or transfer someone else's memories to change their identity, as the mind would simply reject them and refuse to acknowledge them as their own.

'Unless…' Toothless felt dread in her stomach. 'Furious have alpha dominance too.'

It made sense. Those with alpha dominance could change memories. They had tested them before. Upon entering their mind, they could inject Blocks into them, and their mind will acknowledge it. It might be the reason why Charcoal did not even know what was happening to him. Furious permanently altered his mind.

'But those with alpha dominance couldn't do that to others with alpha dominance. Not even their own.' The dragoness reminded herself. 'Furious must've done it before he gained alpha dominance. That's how we managed to find out!'

Toothless thought about how absurd it was. To think – Hiccup was Charcoal! A small and thin human fledgling that could not help himself, was the biggest, strongest, scariest and most handsome Night Fury that she had ever met. Charcoal despised humans. He even considered Hiccup to be her pet.

It was then Toothless realised that Furious had far more influence in Charcoal's mind. He had done something to ensure his loyalty, before giving him alpha dominance. She needed to fix that before it was too late.

"I'm home!"

Toothless saw Charcoal bouncing into the nest. The male dragon was cheerful. He was carrying some fishes in his maw. Those were cods. "I got some cods for you."

Toothless did not say anything. Charcoal softened his expression. He dropped the fishes in front of her. The male dragon was saddened. Toothless was still mad at him. He glanced at Calian, making sure that he was asleep, before focusing to his mate. "Hey…" he started. "I know you want to go now, but-"

"Yesterday is history." Toothless interrupted, glaring at Charcoal. "Tomorrow is a mystery."

Charcoal was confused. That phrase suddenly brought a lot of memories forward. He slumped his wings down as he realised what was happening. Hiccup was Charcoal. They were the same creature. He was completely shocked by this realisation. "Today is a gift." He whispered. "… That's why they call it present."

Toothless hitched her breath. That confirmed the suspicion. "… Hiccup?" She asked with a small voice.

"Oh gods." Charcoal moaned as he collapsed right in front of her. He covered his eyes with his claws. Tears began pouring out from his eyes. "It's real. It's all real."

"Charcoal, you didn't know." Toothless muttered as she wrapped her wings around him. Their mind was still reeling by this confirmation.

"Toothless, I'm so, so sorry." Charcoal croaked out his voice. "I- I didn't know I was- oh skies above. This is a mess."

"I- It explained a lot of things." Toothless admitted, staring down to her crying mate. "You always smelled like kin as a human to me. You shared the same name. I thought it's just a coincidence."

"Oh, skies above… please have mercy on me…"

"I- I mean it's ridiculous." Toothless tried to explain her reasoning. "You're a human hating dragon that's twice my size. You brought down over five thousand dragons and made them submit to you. Apparently, you're also a small human that just can't help yourself."

Charcoal choked at that statement. He cried and chuckled at her assumption. "I- I'm glad my suffering is amusing to you."

"Charcoal. Hey. Look at me." Toothless started as she nudged her head to him. She moved to snuggle under his wings. "Come on. I need you if you want me to help."

Charcoal looked at Toothless with pleading expression. He did not say anything. The dragoness entered his mind. "I want full control over your mind. This should be quick."

"Toothless…"

"Charcoal." Toothless sharply countered. Her expression was soft, but her voice was firm. "Do you trust me?"

The male dragon stared at her for a moment. He lowered his head and submitted himself to her. "Yes."

Charcoal had given her full control over his mind. It was temporary, but that was all Toothless needed. She reached Charcoal's bond with Furious. The dragoness prepared herself, before mentally slashed the bond, completely severing it.

The moment that bond was destroyed, everything went bright.


Memory flashback upon breaking the bond…

It was evening at Dragon Island. Dragons were flying around the place, going back and forth doing its duty. There were no fogs covering the place, revealing the sea stacks that littered around the shore. Inside the volcano at the island, there was a medium black dragon with yellow slitted eyes. This dragon was a Night Fury.

The Night Fury looked extraordinarily strong for its size. There was a large stab wound scar on his chest and back. It looked like a large sword that pierced through his body. Based on the scales, it looked like it happened right before his shedding season.

The Night Fury was talking to other dragons at the vicinity. There was a Deadly Nadder and a Monstrous Nightmare in front of him. "… and the South side?"

"There's no more school of fish at the south." The Deadly Nadder replied. "They've gone into hibernation."

"What about the North?" The Night Fury asked, curious.

"That one is out of luck." The Monstrous Nightmare replied. He looked exasperated. "Humans roamed around the place."

"We can still find food if we go to the West." The Deadly Nadder suggested. "We might need to deal with the Scauldrons if we do that."

"I'll consider it." The Night Fury nodded. He smiled at the Deadly Nadder. "Thanks."

"No problem, Alpha."

"Furious." The Night Fury corrected him.

"I'm not getting into that argument again." The Deadly Nadder groaned as he turned around. "See you tomorrow."

The Monstrous Nightmare looked at the departing dinosaur dragon. After he left, the large dragon looked back at the Night Fury. "Still not used to that?"

The Night Fury – now known as Furious – let out a snort. "I'll never get used to dragons calling me that." He admitted. He shuffled his paws a bit. "I'm off to check my mate. You have a good day."

"You too, Furious." The Monstrous Nightmare bowed to him. He turned around, before taking off into the air, leaving the Night Fury alone.

Furious nodded, feeling satisfied. He turned around and began walking down the rocky path. His roost was not far from there. The male dragon entered a cave way, which led him to a cave clearing. It was a simple place. There were lights coming in from the sky through some cracks at the ceiling. There was a small pond of water at the corner.

At the centre of the cave was his mate. The female Night Fury was laying down on the ground, resting. She had her eyes closed, bathing under the light that shone down to her. Notably, the dragoness had a pitch-black egg wrapped around her claws.

The male Night Fury approached his mate. He nudged her. "Delia."

The female Night Fury – now known as Delia – opened her eyes, revealing light blue slitted eyes. She looked up to Furious. Excited, the dragoness quickly moved up to sat on her hindlegs. "You're back!"

"Hrr…" Furious purred as he wrapped his wings around her. He was slightly bigger than her. "I'm not going anywhere now." He whispered.

Delia leaned onto his neck. She pressed her head under his chin. "How's the job?"

The male dragon let out a groan. "I wish Luna is here." He whispered. "She would know how to deal with this. I should've not sent her to Caldera."

"Hey, it's your idea for alliance, remember?" Delia whispered to his mate. "It's important for dragons in archipelago. You said it yourself."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure Wodensfang would agree." Furious muttered as he softened his expression. A lone tear dropped from his eyes. "We're not allied anymore since…"

"Hush." Delia shushed as she licked the tears from his eyes. "I don't want to see you cry. It's time to move on."

Furious exhaled his breath. "Hrr…"

Suddenly, the egg began to wobble. The two black dragons looked down at the egg, before looking at each other. Delia quickly grabbed the egg and rushed to the nearby pond. She dropped the egg into it. Few seconds later, there was a small thump, before bubbles burst out from the pond. Amongst the bubbles, there was a dragon hatchling coming up. It went up and bounced out from the pond.

The dragon was a male Night Fury hatchling. He opened his eyes, revealing a forest green coloured, slitted eyes. Furious and Delia cooed at the sight. "Hrr…"

"Ka!" The hatchling yipped. He rushed forward and tackled his mother. He snuggled under her. "Kar…"

"He likes you." Furious purred as he looked at their hatchling.

"Hrr…" Delia was pleased to know that. The dragoness looked at Furious. "I can't think of a name. What about you?"

Furious blinked. He tilted his head as he thought more about it. "Hrr…" He hummed. "I think… Mimir. That should be his name."

"Mimir?" Delia asked, curious.

"It means knowledge and wisdom." The male dragon answered. "I heard it from another dragon."

The dragoness looked down to their hatchling. There was intellect shining in that vibrant, forest green eyes. Delia smiled upon staring at their hatchling. "Mimir." She whispered. "Welcome to the world."

"Yeah." Furious whispered as he let out a soft smile. "Welcome to the world, Mimir."


That night, Dragon Island was shaking with rage. Furious felt the bond snap. Charcoal had snapped the bond. Five thousand dragons instantly retreated into Charcoal's mindscape. Everyone was left confused and disoriented, as they had not gotten any warning beforehand.

"TRAITOR!" The enormous dragon roared. His roar echoed throughout the island. The dragons at Dragon Island immediately fled the place, fearing the wrath of the Greater Alpha underground. Furious was living up to his name. Furious was, well, furious.

Furious grumbled. He should have seen it. He should have interfered with her mind. The greater alpha was afraid of alerting the dragoness, he did not realise the possibility of her figuring it out. He had done a lot of work on Charcoal. He had changed his mind before letting him go. Everything was going according to plan. He did not expect Toothless to figure out what happened.

It was even worse that he did not see her doing that in his foresight. Looking into the future again, he noticed that the future he wanted could still happen. He needed to alter his plans to fit the future he wanted.

'I will make it happen.' Furious vowed to himself. He was angry at the loss of the bond. 'I promise you. It will be the last thing I do.'


"Skies above, what just happened?"

"The bond just snapped!"

"Alpha, what is happening?"

"I was about to send a Mail Chunk!"

Confusion spread amongst dragons bonded with Charcoal. Most of them were busy guesting in other dragon's mind through Charcoal and Furious' connection. Since the connection was abruptly stopped, everyone was pulled back to the starting point of error. In this case, Charcoal's mind. Roughly five thousand dragons were roaming in Charcoal's mindscape public section.

Toothless was busy dealing with Charcoal. Everything suddenly exploded in his mind. It was her job to monitor his condition. After the bond was broken, the mysterious shielded entity disappeared, revealing the incomprehensible ball of network that was Hiccup's mind. It somehow pulled and merged with Charcoal's mind, blending them together into a hybrid of human and dragon mind.

It completely changed the nature of Blocks in his mind – memories, experiences, everything. It became nearly complete gibberish to her. The blocks that were meant to be cubes now had bevelled corners. Things like mental shield, stored Chunks and others were still mostly comprehensible and stable, and they were still working as intended.

Toothless was having trouble navigating around the private area, as it was where everything was concentrated. The public area was left untouched for some reason. Bonded dragons had no idea what was going on.

"Harr…" Charcoal physically moaned. He was having a headache. He was completely unprepared for five thousand dragons entering his mind at once. "My head…"

Toothless was suddenly reminded of Charcoal's creation. 'The Mind Analyzer!' She exclaimed. The dragoness installed the Program into her mind. It instantly cleared up her comprehension in Charcoal's mind. She realised that Charcoal's hypothesis was correct. The dragoness could see blobs of things floating around the private section of the mindscape. Those blobs connected between one and another through various strings. Those were human equivalent of Blocks.

Toothless began the process of cleaning up Furious' works on him. Charcoal's desires had reverted on its own. She separated the network of his human mind from the Blocks. The dragoness cleared what remained from the broken bond, just to make sure Furious could not re-establish the bond unwillingly. After that was done, she went to the public section of his mindscape and made an announcement for everyone there.

"Dragons!" She mentally called out everyone bonded with Charcoal. "Get back to your nest! If you're in a raid, drop everything! Do not follow Furious' dragons. Get back to your own nest and defend them with your life!"

She heard the dragons chorused in the mindscape. "Yes, Queen!" They obeyed her as Charcoal's consort. The dragons began leaving their presence from Charcoal's mindscape.

There were others with questions. "What happened? Where's Alpha?"

"Does this mean there's no more dragon raid?"

"Skies above, I was deep in a raid!"

"Anyone close to messenger dragons? I need to send a Mail Chunk to someone…"

Toothless ignored everything and went back to work. She knew she had stirred up the hornet's nest. However, the dragoness felt it was necessary. Charcoal was her Precious Thing. Despite being the strongest Night Fury out there, he needed all the help and support he could get. As her mate and consort, it was her job to take care of him at his lowest. This was the most ridiculous scenario she could ever think of, and she was not sure what to make of it.

After everything was done, Toothless went back to real world. Charcoal was laying on the ground, staring at the blank wall, tears pouring out from his eyes. The dragoness snuggled closer to her mate. "There. It's done."

"I…" Charcoal sobbed. "I killed those people."

Toothless grimaced. "Charcoal, you didn't know."

"I killed those humans. And dragons." The male dragon whispered. He was horrified upon learning who he truly was. "I- I don't even remember who they are. I… oh gods… skies above, what have I done?"

"Charcoal. Hey. Hey, Charcoal." Toothless started as she reached for his head. "Look at me."

Charcoal looked at the side. He stared at the soft, green acidic eyes of her mate. The dragoness began to speak. "You didn't know what happened." She explained to him. "Those memories, while your mind says they're yours, it's not actually you. Furious made them yours. He has alpha dominance, just like us!"

The adult male dragon blinked for a moment. His mind as Hiccup and Charcoal had snapped together. He felt somewhat complete, but there was something missing. Holes in his dragon memories filled in with his human ones. Everything about him made sense. His memories as Hiccup were hidden from him, and they did not even know what had happened!

"I did my best to fix everything." Toothless continued speaking, getting his attention. "But we need to see a mind healer to check."

"I- I need to get answers…" Charcoal mumbled as he stood from the ground. "I…"

"Charcoal, wait." Toothless stopped him. She moved to stand on the exit cave way. "I need to check something."

Charcoal shuddered his breath. "Just do it."

Toothless entered his mind once more. She went to check his Programs. The dragoness saw something that she did not recognise. It did not have their signature, which meant those were Furious' works. Cursing herself, she tagged everything and uninstalled them from his mind. The dragoness went as far as to wipe them from his mind after it was done.

Charcoal blinked. He felt a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulder. However, there was something else. "Why do I feel the need to… change?"

Toothless gasped. "That's the Program." She realised. "I think whatever it was, Furious know who you are. You can't control your transformation. He made it so that you get away somewhere to turn into human."

"Skies above…" The male dragon mumbled as he looked away from her. "Does this mean I'm changing to Hiccup now?"

Toothless took a shuddering breath. "Hrr…" She paused, before speaking. "Do it. I want to see. Please."

Charcoal was afraid. He did not know how to do it but decided to try anyway. He allowed himself to succumb into the compulsion. He closed his eyes as he felt himself began to change.

Toothless watched Charcoal changed right in front of her. She simply stared with her wide, acidic eyes. The male dragon slowly shrunk smaller and smaller, before changing into the human that she was familiar with. Charcoal had transformed into Hiccup, and he was naked as the day he was born.

Charcoal – now Hiccup – slowly stood from the ground. "Oh…" He whispered. "That's… not painful at all."

"Charcoal?" Toothless asked.

Hiccup gasped. He looked up to Toothless. The dragoness was staring at him with wide eyes. "Toothless, I…" He breathed out. "… I understand you."

"Whatever Furious did, it completely blocked your nature and mind as a dragon." The dragoness explained to him. "Now that everything snapped together, there's nothing blocking you from knowing who you truly are."

"Dad?"

Hiccup and Toothless snapped to look at where Calian was asleep. The hatchling was awake, and he was staring at his father that had turned into human. "Is that you?"

"Calian." Hiccup raised his hands. "I'm sorry. This is complicated, but yes, it's me."

"Wow…" Calian breathed out. "My dad can turn into human."

"It makes sense." Toothless muttered, getting their attention. "You always smelt like kin to me. Even as a human, you never smelled like one. That's why you're so… intriguing. And your dad…"

Hiccup blinked. "He smelt like kin as well?"

"Not completely kin. There's a faint smell on him." The dragoness admitted. "Very distant scent of a kin. He's not completely human."

Hiccup let out a sarcastic laugh. "So, apparently, I'm a dragon my whole life without even knowing it. Furious took advantage of me. And now I learned that my dad knew about this."

"W- We'll figure this out." Toothless nervously spoke. She was not quite sure how to proceed. "We need answers. Your dad probably knows."

"My dad most likely knows." Hiccup slowly spoke, mulling over his experience with his father. "He told me he had seen a Night Fury before, but the information he know is too specific. It's like…"

"It's like he has a Night Fury as a friend." Toothless finished, realising that as well.

Hiccup and Toothless stared at each other. They were silent for some time, pondering as to what to do next. After some time, the boy decided. "I'm going back to the village. I need to get answers. Can you fly me there?"

"Sure." Toothless nodded as she turned around. "I'll fly you there. Let's go, Calian. We need to get your dad figured out."


It was early in the morning at the Isle of Berk. Hiccup was sleeping on his bed. He had gone straight to bed after Toothless brought him back home. He would have to talk to his father tomorrow. In this case, it was today.

The boy opened his eyes. He slowly sat up on his bed. The boy felt refreshed for the day. He pushed his blankets away and went straight to the wardrobe. He moved to wear green tunic, pants, furred boots and dark brown furred vest. It would be his outfit for the day, and possibly, for the week until Bath Day.

After wearing them, he checked the things around his room. The giant book crate was open, and there were scrolls hanging there. Books were strewn all over the wooden stairs. The alchemy table was neatly placed at the corner. There were no more fluids there, as he had disposed them few months ago.

He had stopped drinking Elixir of Power roughly few months ago because it did not work. At least, not in a way he thought it did. It might because of whatever was happening to him. That reminded him of something.

He tried to remember what happened that night. His mood instantly dampened upon remembering them. The boy could enter his mindscape. He could sense his dragons wandering around the public section, and his alpha-consort bond with Toothless.

"Toothless?" Hiccup tried.

It took some time for her to respond. "Charcoal?"

That did it. He let out an exasperated sigh, before getting out from his room. His father would most likely still asleep. He had been busy for the past few weeks, and often went back home tired and exhausted. In the meantime, Hiccup needed some place to distract himself. He knew a place where he could do just that.


Hiccup arrived at the forge. He entered through the back door. The place was still closed, and Gobber was nowhere to be found. That was expected, since it was still early in the morning. The boy moved through the garage section of the forge. Just as he did, he saw the Bola Launcher innocently parked there.

The boy grimaced. The Bola Launcher was designed to shoot down a dragon. Specifically, a Night Fury. It was meant to shoot down a certain, specific dragon. Hiccup realised that he had created a device to shoot him down. It would be impossible for him to shoot himself down, considering that he was both the shooter and the intended target.

Hiccup sensed someone coming in through the back door. Gobber had just arrived at the place. The blacksmith grabbed the apron from the side. It was then he noticed that Hiccup was there. "Hiccup."

"Gobber." The boy greeted back.

The blacksmith noticed something. "Ye alright?" He asked, concerned. "You did remember to eat the herbs from Gothi, did ye?"

Hiccup had completely forgotten about it. He only ate them when he had a fever. The boy did not have a fever that day. "I guess." He shrugged, before moving back to look at the Bola Launcher. "I just… The Bola Launcher is done, but I'm not sure if I should use it."

"Eh…" Gobber starched his head. He remembered that Hiccup had Toothless as a friend. "If ye didn't want to do it, that's fine. We'll think of something else."

Hiccup and Gobber moved to work on the forge. The boy moved to turn on the furnace. He stacked some firewood into the firebox. Gobber was preparing the casts for their work. It was time for them to make nails, since the village was currently low on them.

Hiccup grabbed the fire starter. It was flint and steel. While working to start the fire in the firebox, the boy could not stop his curiosity. "Hey, Gobber."

"Aye?"

"I just want to know…" Hiccup started. He whipped the steel with the flint, creating a large spark down into the firebox. "Have there ever been any story about humans turning into dragon?"

Gobber stroked his beard. "Why do ye want to know about that, lad?"

The boy shrugged. "Just curious."

"Hmm…" The blacksmith frowned. He scratched his head. "There is one story that I know."

Hiccup paused. He moved to pay more attention to the blacksmith. "What is it?"

"Lycanwing." Gobber told the story. "The Lycanwing dragon is a rare beast, and a vicious one at that. Those who survive its bite are not actually survivors at all. They are doomed to a life as half-man, half-Lycanwing."

The boy listened. The blacksmith continued telling the story. "At the height of every full moon, the condemned Viking transforms into terrifying dragon!" He flailed his arms around. "Wings the size of a house. Teeth stronger than iron! And a thirst… for blood."

Hiccup was confused. "Okay." He started. "Have you ever seen a Lycanwing?"

"No one at Berk ever seen one." Gobber ominously spoke to him. "But the stories… oooh! They'll straightened the hair on a curly-haired yak!"

The boy whipped the steel with the flint. A large spark went into the firebox. This time, it started the fire. The firewood inside began to burn and heat up the furnace on top of it. When that was done, Hiccup placed the fire starter away. "What's the story?"

Gobber moved to grab iron ingots from the crate next to him. "His name was Kessler." He spoke as he dumped the ingots into the furnace. "Weird kid. Bright red hair, eyes as black as night! Naughty as a Nadder in a chicken coop."

Hiccup paid attention to his story telling. Gobber turned around as he began pacing around the place. "One night, little Kessler, against his parents' wishes, went exploring into the forest." He told the story as he opened the forge window, revealing the empty street outside. "Days went by, no sign of him. Only a faraway scream, coming from the woods. The little bugger never returned."

Suddenly, Gobber turned around and let out a scream. "AHHH!"

Hiccup jumped back, not expecting the scream. "By the gods, Gobber!"

Gobber ignored his comment. "Or did he?!" He raised his voice. The blacksmith sounded ominous. "Every year from then on, when little Kessler's birthday rolled around, a red black-eyed dragon would fly over his parents' house and pluck one of their sheep right out of the paddock!"

Hiccup calmed himself down. The blacksmith continued telling the story. "The dragon would look back, taunting them." He ominously finished. "Be careful wandering at the woods, lad. Because there could be Lycanwing there. He-he-he."

"What's the symptom of Lycanwing disease?" Hiccup questioned.

Gobber stroked his beard. "There are several." He answered. "First off, you'd be looking at sensitivity to light."

Hiccup blinked. He did notice that his eyesight was much better than normal when waking up. He was so used with Night Fury's sharp eyesight, he completely forgot that it was not normal for humans to be that sharp. That accounted for sensitivity to light.

"Then…" The blacksmith hummed. "Unquenchable thirst…"

Hiccup was not feeling thirsty.

"Fidgety arms." Gobber listed. "On the account of the wings starting to sprout."

Hiccup noticed that he felt like he wanted to fly. He felt like moving his wings. However, he felt like moving a limb that was never there instead of flapping his arms around. It might be something inaccurate about the story, considering Gobber most likely got them second-hand.

"And finally…" Gobber finished. "The overwhelming desire to eat fresh fish."

Hiccup did want to eat fish. However, it was a type of food that he particularly enjoyed. Cooked or not, fish always smelt nice for him, even before he started transforming into Charcoal. That was one of the irregularities that he did not understand. Until now.

"BUUUT! That's just a story." The blacksmith shrugged. "Better work on nails now, lad. Before others on the docks came in."

"Okay. Thanks, Gobber." Hiccup spoke as he focused on the furnace.

"No problem lad." Gobber replied, before moving to the forge window. He suddenly remembered something. "I'm off to get something from the docks. Just put the nails on that box when you're done."

With that said, the blacksmith walked out from the place, leaving Hiccup alone at the forge.

After Gobber left, Hiccup looked down at the furnace. The iron ingots were still in process of melting. He decided to wait until the ingots were fully melted. While waiting, he reached for his bond with Toothless. "Toothless, you're there?"

There was a few second pause. "I'm here."

"I found something." Hiccup replied as he packed the most recent memories into a Chunk. When that was done, he sent them to Toothless through his bond. "Take a look at this."

The boy waited for Toothless to process them. While waiting, he went to prepare the casts. It was a metal plate full of sand. He began carving the sand to form nails. After that was done, the boy moved them closer to the furnace.

"It is possible." Hiccup heard Toothless sent telepathic message to him. "Have you ever bitten by a dragon before?"

"Once." Hiccup replied as he looked down at the furnace. The metal was still in process of melting down. "Remember the second time we met? My dad and I were ambushed by Monstrous Nightmares. That one dragon maimed me."

The boy blinked. "Come to think of it. That's when I started having dreams as Charcoal." He realised. "That's when I became Charcoal for the first time."

"That's five years ago." Toothless deduced. "So, you're a Night Fury Lycanwing for five years. That's one question answered. But that still doesn't answer something…"

"What is it?"

"… we first met before the attack." Toothless answered. "You smelt like a dragon before that. There's also the fact that I met you more than once in a month."

"Then." Hiccup replied as he grabbed a metal scoop. "I could have been a dragon my whole life as a human."

"You could be." Toothless responded. "It could be that the Lycanwing just revealed your true nature as a dragon. Have you asked your father about it?"

"No. Not yet." Hiccup replied as he poured molten metal into the prepared cast. "I'll try my best to get him to talk to me. Wait, actually! We need to get the proof ourselves first. Do you remember where you killed those Monstrous Nightmares?"

"I… think so?"

"Can you check the corpse?" Hiccup requested. "It might give us the confirmation."

"Alright. I'll give it a try." Toothless replied.

"Thanks, Toothless." The boy replied.

"Anytime, Charcoal. Anytime."


"Guys, guys."

Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs were at the back of the Mead Hall. It was their usual routine to loiter around the kitchen area. There were two other teenagers approaching them. Those were Tuffnut and Ruffnut. They seemed a bit in a hurry.

"What is it?" Snotlout eagerly asked. "Is it done?"

"Yup." Ruffnut smirked at them. "All done."

"Let's take them on the next dragon raid." Astrid suggested. She placed her hand on the axe at her hips. "I'm pretty sure that the Night Fury would be there tonight."

"Yeah! I'm sure you know everything, love." Snotlout smirked at her. The petite girl simply scowled at him.

"Wait, how did you know that?" Fishlegs nervously asked, curious.

"If the Night Fury didn't show up, we could always catch other dragon with it." Astrid nonchalantly spoke. The others looked dejected.

"Well, you're the boss." Ruffnut shrugged his shoulders.


Hiccup could not talk to his father that day.

Not that he did not want to do that. The boy had been looking for his father, but every time he tried to reach him, his father would wander off to do something else. There were times where he felt like his father was actively avoiding him. This was one of them, and the timing for that scenario could never been more inconvenient for him.

Because of that, Hiccup resorted on sleeping in for the rest of the afternoon. When he woke up, it was very early in the morning. The sky was still dark. He felt similar compulsion that he felt when he transformed back into a human. It was safe to assume that the next one would transform him into a dragon.

Hiccup decided to resist the compulsion for now. It would not do well if he turned into a dragon in the middle of the village. It would be best that he transformed later in a safer location.

With that in mind, the boy jumped off from the bed. He was still wearing his outfit from before. Hiccup slowly walked down the stairs. Reaching the living room, he reached for the door and opened them.

Revealing a very angry Monstrous Nightmare.

"GOOD MORNING, HUMAN!" The dragon roared, before sending a stream of fire towards him.

Hiccup quickly slammed the door close. The liquid fire splashed onto the door. Fire leaked through the cracks on the doorway. The boy held the door back, making sure that the fire did not harm him. After the fire ended, Hiccup checked the dragons that he was bonded with. They were all resting in their nests. Toothless was asleep together with Calian.

Hiccup came to a realisation.

He was being hunted.

He decided it was best to run off to the forge. It would be the most protected place. Hiccup peeked out from the door. The dragon had left. Deciding it was safe to go, the boy went out from the house and took off running deeper into the village.

There were dragons fighting Vikings all over the place. Viking screams and dragon roars filled the air. He was used to the environment. He had been raiding villages for five years as Charcoal. This time, however, he was a human. That made him uncomfortable.

'Oh, gods hate me.' Hiccup mentally moaned. He glanced at some dragons grabbing food from the storehouse. 'Not only I have to deal with my dragon problem. I have to deal with Furious hunting me too!'

Hiccup turned around the corner. The boy flinched upon hearing an explosion. A Gronckle had blasted a white bearded Viking. The man was screaming while putting the fire out from his beard. "ARGGGHHH!" After putting it out, he noticed that Hiccup was in front of him. "Morning!"

"Morning, Ack!" Hiccup quickly greeted back, before continued running to the forge.

While running, the boy came across another Viking. This one had bashed a Terrible Terror out from a house. He noticed him. "What are you doing here?!"

Hiccup ignored him and kept on running. He was going to the forge. Another Viking went past him. "Get inside!"

"What are you doin' out?"

A female Viking nearby kicked a Deadly Nadder, before slamming its head with a frying pan she was holding. "Ow! You rotten-eel!" The dragon roared.

The human noticed that Hiccup was running. "Get back inside!" She shouted, before focusing back to the dragon in front of her.

Hiccup went past to the forge. He was running to the back door when someone grabbed him by the collar. Looking up, it was his father, Stoick the Vast. He was surprised to see him. "Hiccup?!"

"Hey dad."

The man looked around. "What is he doing out-?!" He mumbled, before focusing on his son. "What are you doing out?! Get inside!"

The man shoved the boy into the forge through the back door. The boy entered the place and closed the door behind him. He grabbed the apron hanging on the wall. He noticed that Gobber was already there, hammering weapon for the Vikings.

The blacksmith noticed the boy. "Ah! Nice of you to join the party!" He greeted him. "I thought you'd been carried off!"

"What, who me?" Hiccup asked, sarcastic. "Nah, come on! I'm way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all-" He gestured to himself. "-this."

Gobber snorted. "Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?"

"Hoist the torch!"

Hiccup ignored the shout from the outside. "I guess." He replied, before moving to work on the weapons. The boy threw ingots into the furnace. While there was already molten iron inside, it was best to have more of them in there during dragon raid.

The boy heard an explosion. He glanced up to the window and noticed that Astrid and the others were busy putting out the fire on a house. Hiccup blinked upon seeing them. He was glad that he was never assigned to the fire brigade. Dragons could've taken him and fly off to Dragon Island.

He did not want to face Furious.

He knows what would happen if he did.

Suddenly, there was an explosion not far from them. Hiccup poured down metal into the sword cast. "The dragon raid looks really bad!"

"Aye!" Gobber agreed. He placed a bola onto the table at the forge window. A bola were two metallic spheres with a rope holding them together. A Viking outside grabbed the bola and throw them to a Deadly Nadder close by. It went around the dragon, rendering it immobile.

Another explosion rocked the place. Gobber realised that something was wrong. He moved to switch his prosthetic with a weapon. "Man the fort, Hiccup." He spoke as he swapped it with an axe. "They need me out there!"

The blacksmith ran out from the place. He went out through the back door. Gobber stopped right on the doorway. He turned around and gave Hiccup a pointed look. "Stay. Put. There." He paused, before continued speaking. "You know what I mean."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. He had no intention to leave the place. The blacksmith went out and closed the door behind him, leaving the boy alone inside.

The boy focused back onto the sword he was making. While waiting for it to cool off, he went to do something else. Hiccup grabbed a dull sword on the table. He reached for the stone grinder and went to sharpen it. The Vikings would often guard the forge, as it was the most important place if they were to fight the dragons.

'As long I'm here, I'm safe from Furious.' Hiccup thought.

The back door flew open. The boy looked back to see the newcomer. It was Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. His eyes widened upon seeing them. "You again! You're not allowed here!"

"Oh, we're meant to be here." Snotlout sneered. He was holding his hammer.

Hiccup jumped away from the stone grinder. He dropped the sword he was working on and grabbed the closest thing he could reach. Just as he went for something, Tuffnut came forward with a rope. "I got this!" Then, he charged to the scrawny boy. "AAAH!"

PANG!

Tuffnut was flung to the side. Hiccup had grabbed a frying pan from the bucket of used weapons. He had slammed the iron frying pan right to his face. The male twin crashed onto the table, destroying it. The others saw this and brandished their own weapons. The scrawny boy realised that there were still four of them to deal with. "Uh-oh."

"AAAAH!" Astrid, Snotlout and Ruffnut shouted their own battle cry. Hiccup leaped out through the forge window, escaping their attack. He quickly stood up and ran away from the place. He glanced back to see the offenders.

Thankfully, the others did not follow. Snotlout leaned out from the forge window. "COWARD!" He shouted.

'What do they want from me now?' Hiccup thought as he looked back once more. The forge garage was open. He saw five of them dragging the Bola Launcher out. 'Oh, of course.'

One of the Vikings noticed him. "Hiccup, where are you going?!"

"Bunker!" Hiccup called out. He was still holding the frying pan. "The forge is attacked!"

"The forge!" Another Viking shouted. "Don't let them destroy it!"

Several others took off running to the forge. The bunker would be the safest place for him. It was largely unused, mostly because everyone would hide at the Great Hall instead. Most of the doors were locked, but he knew a way to enter the place. However, Hiccup had another idea in mind.

Snotlout and others had kept on bullying him. He could not tolerate them anymore. He had worked tirelessly on the Bola Launcher, and even if he would not use them, he could dismantle the mechanism and repurpose the contraption. Snotlout and others must have heard about what he wanted to do with that thing. Hiccup was getting sick of it.

He decided that they needed to be taught a lesson.

Hiccup came across the stone door that would lead to the bunker. It was a door that would lead underground. He was somewhat far from where most Vikings would be. Upon reaching the place, he turned to the side and went into the forest.


Charcoal was flying over the Isle of Berk. The dragon had transformed after reaching an isolated place. The dragon raid was still happening, but the activity was lower. It was about to end. It would be the perfect time for him to enact his own justice.

Charcoal needed them to fire the Bola Launcher. It would make a sound that he could pinpoint to. It would alert him of the location and dodge the bola. After planning what he needed to do, the Night Fury dove down onto a catapult.

A loud, piercing shriek alerted the Vikings below. "NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

BOOM!

Charcoal did not bother roaring that one. He snapped a plasma blast to the catapult, obliterating it into pieces. The dragon was powerful enough for a strong plasma blast.

"JUMP!" Charcoal heard Stoick shout to the men on the collapsing catapult.

The Night Fury quietly flew around the trees. He pulled up high into the sky. It was still dark, despite being very early in the morning. His dark scales camouflaged his location. The black dragon turned around. He flew to the giant torch and fired another plasma blast.

BOOM!

Suddenly, Charcoal heard the sound he wanted to hear.

SNAP!

The black dragon quickly pulled up. He felt a bola flying past him. The shooter had missed. Charcoal saw his target near the cliffs. It was a perfect spot for the Bola Launcher. As he flew up high into the sky, he glanced down to his next target. Snotlout and others were there. They were searching up the sky for him. 'Got you.'

Charcoal moved to a sharp angle and went straight diving towards them. Loud, piercing shriek echoed across the sky. The teens were running away, but that could be arranged later. He wanted to destroy the Bola Launcher first.

The black dragon snarled in anger. "KRAAA!"

BOOM!

Large explosion rocked the place. Several trees were knocked down, and few went flying into the air. Charcoal flew up high once more. He saw Snotlout and others running towards the village. They were running in panic. It made him happy to see them cower in fear for the first time. He wanted to see them cowering under him.

Charcoal swooped down. He slightly tilted his tailfins, as to not make the shrieking noise. The black dragon aimed at the teens. He fired a plasma blast just as they turned around the corner.

BOOM!

The explosion blew a house next to it. Wood and splinters went flying all over the place. Charcoal did his routine of flying past the village and went up high into the sky. Snotlout and others were running aimlessly to the housing area. Charcoal glared down to it. He lost sight of them.

Charcoal took a deep breath and let out an angry roar. "WHERE ARE YOU, COWARDS?! COME ON OUT!"

There was no response, but the reaction from Vikings below was expected. They were panicking, because they had heard the angry screech of the elusive Night Fury. It was then Charcoal noticed something. The houses were somewhat isolated. The black dragon decided it was best to level the whole place.

Charcoal pulled up and looped around. He dove on a steep angle and fired burst of plasma blast. After firing them, he quickly pulled up. The barrage went flying down into the housing area.

BOO- BOO- BOOM!

Three large explosions obliterated the housing array. Wood, splinters and all assortments of things went flying around the place. Vikings ran around in panic as their houses were being destroyed. There were no other dragons raiding anymore, other than the Night Fury that wanted vengeance against his tormentors.

Amongst the rubbles, Charcoal saw the group coming out from the place. They were running towards the Great Hall. The black dragon decided to play with them for a moment. The Great Hall was located inside the rocks, and the doors were made of stone. It was made that way to prevent dragons from getting in.

That should not be a problem for Charcoal, however. There was a reason why he was the most powerful and feared dragon in the archipelago. The male dragon silently dove down. He sent a rather powerful plasma blast to the Great Hall door.

BOOM!

The stone door instantly blew up into smithereens. Chunks of rocks went flying all over the place. The teens stopped on their climb at the staircase. After things calmed down, children and elderly went running out from the place. They quickly went past them and ran off into the village. They would be running to the bunker, since the Great Hall door was destroyed.

Charcoal let out a loud, bellowing roar of fury and anger. "KRAAAAA!"

The teens were running down the staircase. Charcoal snapped his wings close and dove down towards them. It was time to finish them off. Just as they were running, he sent a plasma blast right behind them.

BOOM!

The explosion blew parts of the stone stairs into rubbles. Snotlout and others were sent flying down from the stairs. They collapsed onto the ground below. Their bodies were injured and wounded from the blast. Charcoal flew up high and circled around the place. They were struggling to get up. The last blast would finish them off for good. It would be great to end their lives there.

"Charcoal, stop!"

The telepathic message from Toothless halted him. "Toothless?"

"I saw intrusion in your mind." Toothless informed him. "Someone got in. I think it's Furious. I just kicked them out. You might want to reinforce your mind shield."

Charcoal paused at that thought. His eyes widened upon realising it. "Was there any tampering?"

"Yes." Toothless replied. "Your emotion is being tampered with. I've reverted everything. You should be good now."

It was then Charcoal realised that his anger was manufactured. Furious wanted him to kill Snotlout and the others. While he thought the attack was justified as their punishment, they did not deserve to die. Charcoal was just one dive bomb away from obliterating them into pieces.

Charcoal decided that was enough. He headed over into the forest, pondering on what to do next. He needed to protect his mind from Furious, now that he learned he could breach and influence unbonded dragons from afar.


Stoick would be lying if he said was not utterly terrified.

The Night Fury was angry. It blew through the houses and the stone door at the Great Hall. They were lucky nobody died from that. The dragon had been passive on its attacks – simply blowing up the catapults and giant torches. It was lenient on its attacks on Berk, presumably on the courtesy of Hiccup's friendship with Toothless. They were keen to have it attacking something that they could easily replace.

Because of that, they had never seen the full might of that Night Fury. When that happened, Stoick was utterly terrified. He was trying to make sense as to what exactly caused it to create such destruction. "Stoick!"

The chief whipped around. Gobber was running towards him. "Gobber!" He called out. "Did you see that?!"

"Aye!" Gobber shakily nodded. "That was terrifying."

"The Night Fury was looking for someone." Stoick responded. He looked shaken. "It's angry. Someone pissed it off."

It was then Gobber remembered something. His face went pale white as paper. "Hiccup."

"What?" Stoick whispered, horrified.

"Hiccup wanted to shoot down that Night Fury." The blacksmith whispered. "He made a Bola Launcher to do it."

The two Vikings stared at each other, before taking off running towards the Great Hall. At the foot of the stairs, they saw Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut laying there. The Vikings were helping them up. The five teenagers were a mess. Their body were covered in blood, and there were a lot of scratches on them. They were shaking in fear.

Stoick looked at one of the Viking. "Where's Hiccup?"

The Viking looked at the chief. "Chief!" He straightened himself. "Hiccup ran off to the bunker. He said the forge was attacked."

"We went there and found broken tables." Another Viking piped in. "Whatever it was, that thing left after Hiccup ran off."

Gobber decided to ask. "Was he carrying anything?"

"Nay." The same Viking answered. "He's still wearing that apron, if that helps."

The chief looked at the injured teenagers. It did not take long for him to understand what happened. Gobber had told him about Hiccup's Bola Launcher. Those teenagers had stolen the Bola Launcher from Hiccup. They tried to shoot down the Night Fury with it. However, they missed, and the black dragon saw them doing it. That was why it was destroying everything. It wanted revenge.

Part of him felt that it was well deserved. Another part of him felt relieved that Hiccup was spared of its wrath. The teens were lucky that they were still alive. It was best that they were treated and moved away, before the Night Fury decided to change its mind. "Get them to Gothi."

"Aye, chief." The Vikings nodded. They began carrying Snotlout and the others to the elder's hut.


Stoick and Gobber were running to the bunker. There were Vikings around the place, fixing their houses. The bunker was wide open. They entered the bunker and found them empty. It was a simple underground room made of concrete. They slammed the stone door close behind them. They looked at the side and saw the boy they were looking for. "Hiccup!"

"Dad!" Hiccup quickly stood from the ground. He was still wearing the apron. There was a frying pan placed next to him.

"What were you thinking?!" Stoick roared at his son.

The boy was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Your thing just made the Night Fury angry!" The chief shouted at his son. "I told you to stop making those things. You have Toothless – a Night Fury! And now you want to shoot down a Night Fury?!"

"Dad, we need to talk." Hiccup started.

"I thought you learned something from those books." Stoick continued speaking. He was not listening to him.

"I learned things from those books." The boy retorted.

The father and son glared at each other. They both fell silent. After some time, Hiccup noticed something in his eyes. It was a hint of fear. He glanced at Gobber for a moment and saw similar thing in his eyes. "… you're afraid."

That confused Stoick. "What?"

"You're afraid of that dragon." Hiccup simply spoke.

"Hiccup." Stoick's voice was threatening.

"Can't you see what I'm doing here?" Hiccup asked, exasperated. "I'm doing my best as a Viking. You told me I need to change – I need to do something! That's why I want to take it down!"

"Stop."

Hiccup ignored his father. "But whenever I made something, and there was a problem that's not my fault, you always come blaming me for it!" The boy retorted to his father.

"STOP!" Stoick shouted, making them jump. He calmed himself down. "Just… stop."

The two Haddock stared at each other. The chief continued speaking. "Every time you step outside, disaster follows." He spoke to his son. "Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an entire village to feed!"

Hiccup decided to give a sarcastic response. "Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?"

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Stoick roared at him. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

"I'm doing my best!" Hiccup shouted back. "Isn't this what you want? All this-" He gestured to himself. "-was something that you want!"

"What do you mean, Hiccup?"

The boy pointed his finger at his father. "You know why I'm small." He accused his father. "You know why I'm like this. You told me I'd get big when I turned 13. You told me everything would change when I turned 13!"

"But nothing. Nothing!" Hiccup shouted at his father. "Nothing changed! I'm still the useless, weak, fishbone of a Viking that you just want to disappear!"

"Hiccup-"

"You never believed me when I told you about the thefts. You never did anything even after I gave you the proof." Hiccup continued speaking, interrupting his father. Something had snapped inside him. He had enough. "You never told me why I always woke up sick. You never told me why I can heal so fast. You never told me why I'm so different than others!"

"Hiccup." Stoick tried to calm his son down. "Listen-"

"No, you listen to me!" Hiccup snapped at him. "You're the one keeping things from me! You never told me why I'm so connected with Toothless. You never told me anything about you seeing a Night Fury before. You talk as if Night Fury is the only dragon that you could be friends with!"

"It was for your own good, Hiccup." Stoick firmly spoke. "Toothless proved herself to be a friendly dragon. She saved your life."

"Don't try to change what you told me!" Hiccup snarled at him. "I remember. You said Night Fury. It was as if you knew! It was as if have a Night Fury friend before!"

The boy noticed something in their eyes. It was recognition. That confirmed his suspicion. "You have a Night Fury friend." He realised.

Stoick started. "Hiccup-"

"Ah, Hiccup-" Gobber tried to intervene.

"No Viking would become the best Dragon Hunter in the archipelago when they befriended a dragon." Hiccup whispered, staring at his father. "… You did befriend one. What happened?"

"Hiccup, some things are best left forgotten." Stoick softly spoke. Anger had left his body. He simply stared at his son with great sadness.

"No…" Hiccup whispered. He stared at his father with horrified expression. "But you're a Dragon Hunter. You… you killed them, didn't you?"

Guilt. That was the expression he saw in his father's eyes. That confirmed his suspicion. "You killed them." Hiccup whispered. "You killed your own friend!"

"Hiccup, I never killed a Night Fury." Stoick whispered. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

Hiccup did not care. It was an explanation that made sense to him. The reaction that his father had confirmed it. "You wouldn't be a Dragon Hunter if you didn't!" The boy shouted. "You killed your own friend!"

Gobber tried to intervene. "Hiccup, yer mad talkin' about that."

Hiccup let out a sarcastic laugh. "How can I not mad?" He asked, incredulous. "My father befriended a Night Fury just like I did! And he killed them!"

SMACK!

Hiccup was flung backward. Stoick had smacked him on his cheek. The boy looked up to his father. He was completely shocked by his action. He touched his cheek, which had become red from where his father had hit him. That action completely surprised him.

His father had never hit him before.

He had struck a chord he never knew his father had.

Stoick had tears running down his cheek. He was angry at his son. "IT WAS NOT ME!" He roared. "I never raised my axe against her! I never brought down that sword! She was the best thing that ever happened to me!"

Hiccup stayed silent, staring at his father with utter shock. Stoick blinked his tears. He realised what he had done. The man had snapped. It was too late to back up from that. "Hiccup, I-"

"Save it." Hiccup whispered, staring at his father. "All this time, I always wondered…" he let out a hoarse chuckle. "I guess… I shouldn't wonder anymore. You're just waiting. Are you going to kill Toothless next? Are you going to-"

"Hiccup." Gobber interrupted before they went too far into the argument. "Stop. Yer gone too far. Ye got what ye want to know."

The blacksmith began pulling Stoick away. "Come on, yer Vikings need ye at the Mead Hall."

"Mead Hall…" Stoick whispered as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Y- Yes. Mead Hall. I…" he took a shuddering breath. "Just bring him back home. I'm off to Mead Hall."

Stoick turned around and left the bunker. He left the stone door open, leaving Hiccup and Gobber alone inside. The blacksmith looked at the scrawny boy. "Hiccup."

The boy stood from the ground. Gobber began walking out from the bunker. Hiccup silently followed him. The blacksmith and the boy walked in uncomfortable silence, as they headed towards the Haddock house.


Gobber and Hiccup walked in silence. The two of them were heading off towards the Haddock house. It was an awkward silence for them, since Hiccup had gotten into an argument with his father. The fact that there was nobody around did not help their case. The blacksmith was not sure what to do.

After some time, they finally reached the house. Hiccup moved to open the door. Before he entered the house, Gobber called him out. "Hiccup."

The boy paused. He looked at Gobber with neutral expression. The blacksmith softly spoke to him. "I know yer mad about it." He started. "But ah… it's hard to explain. I still can't get my head around that, but… your dad is still grieving about it."

Hiccup simply stared at him. He did not say anything. The blacksmith looked uncomfortable. "Look, the point is, don't give 'em a hard time if you didn't know the whole story."

"I just don't want to be left in the dark." Hiccup whispered. He entered the house and closed the door behind him. Gobber simply stood there, staring at the door. He slowly turned around, before moving to walk towards the Mead Hall.

The boy pressed his back on the door. He slid down to the floor and sat there. He closed his eyes as he pondered what just happened. His father kept a lot of things from him. It would not be a surprise that he knew something about his mysteries.

"Wow." Hiccup heard Toothless spoke in his mind. "That was… wow."

It was then the boy realised that Toothless had most likely heard the whole thing through his mind. He opened his eyes and stared up to the ceiling. "My father had a Night Fury friend. Just like us." He replied. "It was a female Night Fury."

"And… he killed her?" Toothless replied back. She was in disbelief. Hiccup felt her emotion through his bond.

"Well… he felt guilty about it." Hiccup darkly thought. "I wouldn't be surprised if he really killed her."

"Charcoal. It's best if we get actual confirmation first." Toothless advised him. "Just because someone feels guilty doesn't always mean they did it. Your friend Gobber said he's grieving. It might be that your father is blaming himself for what happened to her."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I suggest that you take this slow. Listen to what he's going to say." Toothless gave her advice. "You already pushed him to snap. If your father is anything like you, he'll tell you everything. That should explain everything about you."

"Or! I could keep on pushing him, and the next thing I know, he would confess that he fucked a Night Fury." Hiccup gave a sarcastic response. "Then I was born in an egg and hatched as a human. As if that makes any sense."

Toothless did not respond. Hiccup was not expecting any. He closed his eyes as he focused on his thoughts. "By the way, did you find the Lycanwing corpse?"

There was no response. That made Hiccup curious. "Toothless?" He checked her mind. She was fine. She was simply not responding to him. "Toothless? You're there?"

"… I'm here." Toothless finally replied. "And yeah, I found the Lycanwing corpse."

"Great!" Hiccup replied as he stood from the floor. The boy reached for the back door of the house. "Stay there. I'll run up to you."


"Either we finish them, or they'll finish us!"

Stoick was standing at the middle end of the Mead Hall. There were Vikings surrounding him. The chief was speaking to them. "It's the only way we'll rid of them!"

"If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home!" Stoick spoke to the crowd. "One more search, before the ice sets in."

"Those ships never came back." One of the Vikings in the crowd called out.

"We're Vikings." The chief retorted. "It's an occupational hazard! Now, who's with me?"

The Vikings looked uncomfortable. "Today's not good for me…"

"I've gotta do my axe returns." Another one hesitantly spoke.

Stoick exhaled his breath. "Alright." He decided. "Those who stay will look after Hiccup."

Everyone instantly raised their hands. "To the ships!" One female Viking exclaimed.

"I'm with you, Stoick!" Spitelout shouted.

"That's more like it." The chief dryly muttered, amused by the sight.

The Vikings began walking away. Stoick simply watched as everyone prepared themselves. Gobber was the last one remained. He was busy doing something to the barrel of mead at the corner of the room. "Gobber." Stoick called out. "Get ready."

"Eh?" The blacksmith turned around. He suddenly remembered what was being talked about. "Right. I'll pack my undies."

"No." The chief spoke, stopping the blacksmith on his track. "I need you to stay and train some new recruits."

"Oh, perfect." Gobber shrugged. He sounded sarcastic. The man grabbed a tankard of mead from the table. "And while I'm busy, Hiccup can cover my stall."

The thought of Hiccup immediately dampened Stoick's mood. The blacksmith continued speaking. "Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself." He shrugged his shoulders. "What could possibly go wrong?"

The chief looked away. "What am I going to do with him, Gobber?" He asked. He sounded a bit desperate.

The blacksmith frowned a bit. He looked around and noticed that the Mead Hall was empty. It was safe to converse about it. Gobber focused back to the man in front of him. Stoick was still reeling from his argument with his son. The blacksmith thought for some time, before speaking. "Tell him everything."

"No." Stoick stared at his best friend with deadpan expression. "I'm serious."

"So am I."

"He's not ready." The chief whispered.

"Oh, you don't know that." Gobber retorted.

"I do know that, actually."

"No, you don't."

"No, actually. I do."

"No, you don't!" Gobber exclaimed at him.

"Listen. You know what he's like." Stoick started. "The day he was born, he has always been different. He doesn't know how to defend himself. If he knew what he was, the moment he gets out there, he will die."

"And whose fault was that?" the blacksmith questioned. "Ya told me yer dad did it to you when you were five."

"Because he's different." Stoick firmly spoke. He straightened himself. "He'd never be able to grow up here. He doesn't have any human in him."

"And where did that end?" Gobber retorted. "You kept his own story a secret. The lad thought you killed yer dragon!"

The chief scratched his head. He looked sad and exasperated. "I just want him here with me." He admitted. "I don't want him to leave."

"Ye know ya had to let him go eventually." The blacksmith shrugged his shoulders. "Out in the wild, with that female on his side. Ye'd only distance him if ye didn't tell him. Maybe he'd come and visit sometime if yer being honest with him."

Stoick mulled over what Gobber had told him. The chief stroked his beard. "… Alright." He decided.

"Glad that sorted out then!" Gobber happily spoke.

"Not yet." Stoick interrupted him. "I want you to put him in training with the others."

"What?" The blacksmith asked, confused.

"Prepare him. He need to learn how to fight dragons." The chief spoke, determined. "Then, I will tell him everything."

Gobber thought that was a good compromise. "Aye. That's good enough."

"Prepare him well." Stoick warned him. "Because when time comes, that Night Fury might think Hiccup as his rival."

The blacksmith paled at that statement. He had completely forgotten about that Night Fury. "Aye. I'll do my best."


Toothless were flying at moderate altitude in the sky. Hiccup was sitting on her neck, holding Calian on his chest. They were heading down to a large forest clearing. There was something in the middle of the clearing, which was their biggest clue as to what exactly happened with Hiccup.

The dragoness landed close to it. Hiccup slid down from her neck, still holding onto Calian. The boy went to look at what was at the centre. He grimaced upon seeing them.

It was the remains of what appeared to be a living being. There were only bones and decaying scales. Interesting enough, however, the bone structures were unusual. They looked like remains of humans, with skulls, spines, ribs and other bone parts. However, in addition to that, there were wing and tail skeletons attached to them.

Looking at the other remains, that one was similar. However, one of them had arm bones that looked fused with wing bones. "Do Lycanwing turn human when they die?"

Toothless inspected the remains. "I don't know. I didn't look that close when I killed them." She noticed that there were other skeletons as well. "Those looks fully human, but that one look like a human skull with a dragon snout."

Hiccup frowned. "I think… it's safe to say that they do." He concluded. He slumped his shoulders. "Well, that's one question answered."

"Are you going to bring this up to your dad?" Toothless questioned.

Hiccup opened his mouth to answer. He paused, before closing them back. The boy hoisted Calian, who was slipping from his grasp. "I don't know." He confessed.

"You said you want answers."

"I do, but I don't feel like myself when I talked to him that time." Hiccup replied. He sounded confused. "I never yelled at my dad like that. It's out of my character. I don't really know why…"

"Hrr…" Toothless looked discontented. "Your memories as Hiccup and Charcoal together are affecting your personality." She concluded. "I knew this would happen. I still couldn't figure out where Furious found those memories for your dragon background. It looks legitimate – like they came from other dragons."

Hiccup silently nodded. "My mind says that they're mine." He confessed. "Both Hiccup and Charcoal and mine. The time didn't match up, but they're mine. I don't know what to make of it."

"I wish I know more about this…" The dragoness gloomily replied. "I'm sorry, Charcoal."

"Well, it's not every day we'll be subordinates together against a 700-year-old Greater Alpha Night Fury." Hiccup spoke with sarcastic tone. "Who may or may not be a gigantic dragon that can squish an island with his paws."

"W- Well, if you put it like that…" Toothless nervously spoke. "It sounds like we're supposed to have a plan."

"We had a plan when we don't know anything about this." Hiccup retorted, staring at Toothless with deadpan expression. "Get to the border, break the bond with Furious, and fly off to Caldera together with dragons bonded with me. Figure everything else out there, no matter what it was, because dragons there most likely know what happened to-" He gestured to himself. "-this."

"Well, I'm sorry for trying to say goodbye to my Precious Thing." Toothless huffed. "That was before I know that you're my Precious Thing."

The boy shook his head. He took a deep breath. "Well, what is done is done." Hiccup relented. "It's better now than in Caldera, I guess. Otherwise, we would never know what really happened to me."

"So…" Toothless tilted her head. "What now?"

Hiccup pondered on what to do. Suddenly, he remembered. "Toothless, what did we use to send Mail Chunk when we don't have an alpha?"

"We connect to a bonded dragon and mind hop to the destination from them." Toothless answered. She sounded concerned. "But Charcoal, anyone can see what was being delivered. If we mind hop through five dragons, they can see the Mail Chunk that was being sent."

"Is there a way for us to stop that from happening?" Hiccup questioned, pondering.

Toothless shook her head. "No. We never thought about securing our Mail Chunks." She confessed. "Before I bonded with you, I usually sent Mail Chunks through a Bewilderbeast from Berserker Island."

"That one isn't bonded with Furious?"

"No, she's directly bonded with my dad." The dragoness gloomily responded. "Mabel is his spy and informant for Meridian of Misery."

"You don't sound so sure about it."

"In case you forget, my dad is looking for me." Toothless reminded him. "He would most likely snoop in any Mail Chunk that comes from me. I was lucky the first time, because he wasn't there to notice, but I wouldn't be surprised if he have a Program to copy anything passing through him now."

"Hmm…" Hiccup hummed. He sat cross legged on the grassy ground. He placed Calian on his lap. "… I want to try something."

Hiccup mentally sent a Mail Chunk to Toothless. The dragoness opened it, revealing a complete gibberish of a text.

Aszev Esglazslz, qvge Awqvba xzw Emqtuhmfy!

Toothless scrunched up her expression. "What is this?"

"It's a coded message." Hiccup replied, confusing her. "People in mainland used them a lot."

"Okay?" She tilted her head. "What is 'coded message'?"

"It's used to describe something that's made unreadable with a cipher." Hiccup described them. "Cipher is a system to turn message into gibberish like that. You can revert them when you run them through the same system."

"Really?" Toothless was surprised. That would be useful.

"Yeah." Hiccup nodded. "When big kingdoms were at war, they encode their messages in case the enemy got the messenger. Cipher is usually made with logics and mathematics, and considering Program is basically made up of logics, we can make a Program to code these messages."

"It would be unreadable in transit. Even if it was copied, they couldn't read them at all." Toothless realised. "Only those with the Program can read them! Charcoal, you're a genius!"

Hiccup let out a nervous chuckle. "Well, I'm glad my cryptography knowledge is useful for once." He shrugged.

"How do I… 'decode' this?" Toothless frowned. "Is that the word?"

"Yes." Hiccup nodded. He sent a Chunk to Toothless. "Install it in your mind and access the Coded Chunk. The password is 'toothless'."

Toothless opened the Chunk, revealing a Program for her to install in her mind. The name was 'Text Coder', and it was experimental. The dragoness installed them. The coded Chunk in her mind was instantly tagged as 'coded'. The dragon sorceress accessed it once more. It asked for input. She gave the password.

Enter Password: toothless

It brought up another message.

Message: Hello Toothless, from Hiccup the Lycanwing!

"This…" Toothless breathed out. "This is genius! Why didn't we ever think of this?!"

"There was probably never a need for it before." Hiccup shrugged his shoulders. "Also, you might want to keep it in our bond. Calian is confused."

It was then Toothless realised that she had been speaking aloud. Calian was very confused to hear his mother talking things he did not understand. The hatchling had yet taught about mind arts. "Sorry…"

"But Hiccup." Toothless spoke through her bond. "What are you going to do with this? Who are you trying to contact privately?"

"Amber, or anyone that you can trust to look for information." Hiccup replied to her. "Dragons at Hidden World have a lot of information about dragons. They should have information about Lycanwing, and maybe about me as well. You told me that your dad is friends with son of late Primordial Alpha that became a human, right?"

Toothless nearly cursed. "Yeah, I remember." She answered. "You think they might be your ancestor?"

"Maybe. I want to know everything." Hiccup answered, pondering. "I'll work on the Program to do it. I want to encode a whole Chunk instead of just text. It should be done by tomorrow."

"Alright. I'll wait for you then." Toothless replied, before speaking aloud. "What do you want to do now?"

Hiccup pondered on what to do. "My dad most likely busy with the village. I wouldn't be seeing him anytime soon." He decided. "I guess we have free time together."

"What do you want to do?" Toothless questioned.

Hiccup looked down to Calian. "Hey." He started, getting his attention. "Do you want to learn about human things?"

"Human things?" Calian brightened his eyes.

"Yeah. I'll tell you smells and scents of things that humans use." Hiccup explained to him. "I'll tell you how to defend yourself from humans. I have some human games for you to try."

"Shouldn't you be working on the Program?" Toothless questioned.

"I can do it while playing with Calian." Hiccup responded. "He's more important."

"Alright, it's your job."

"Okay!" The Night Fury hatchling chirped.

"Good!" Hiccup smiled, before looking back to Toothless. "Remember the place where I found you trapped? It's isolated. I turned it into my own sanctuary. It's a place when I need to be alone."

"I still remember that place." Toothless replied. She lowered her head. "Hop on. We'll fly there."


Hiccup came back to Berk later that night. The boy had spent the whole day teaching Calian about various human things, such as metal, weapons, armours, helmets and others. That information would be useful for Calian, in case he ever encountered any human that might or might not be friendly with them.

After returning to Berk, he went straight into Haddock house. His father Stoick the Vast was sitting on the fireplace, staring at the fire. The boy thought that it was his chance. It was time to speak to him.

"Dad." Hiccup started, getting his attention. "Uh… I have to talk to you, dad."

Stoick turned around on his seat. "I need to speak with you too, son."

"I think I have Lycanwing that turn me into a dragon."

"I think it's time for you to learn to fight dragons."

Hiccup and Stoick had spoken simultaneously. The message had completely gone over their head. "What?"

"You go first." Stoick gestured.

"No, no." Hiccup replied, gesturing to him. "You go first."

"Alright." Stoick nodded. He softened his expression. The father looked nervous. "Dragon training. You start in the morning."

Hiccup stared at his father with surprised expression. "What?! Uh, man I should've gone first." He nearly cursed himself. He thought his father was going to tell him something important. "Uh, 'cause I have something very extra sure would make you panic."

Stoick grabbed an axe and handed it over to Hiccup. "You'll need this."

Hiccup held the large axe. He was surprised that he could hold them up. It did not feel like weighting anything at all. That was utterly strange for him. The boy looked up to his father. "I don't want to fight dragons."

Stoick chuckled. "Come on. Yes, you do."

"Rephrase: Dad, I can't kill dragons." Hiccup replied, somewhat pleading. 'Not as a human, I can't.'

Stoick grimaced. He took a deep breath, before speaking. "If this is about our talk at the bunker." He softly spoke. "I promise you. I will tell you everything after dragon training."

Hiccup nearly exploded. "Why can't you tell me now?" He demanded.

The chief hardened his expression. "Because you're not ready." He decided. "This knowledge is not just about you." He grabbed Hiccup's hand and held them. "It's about us. It's about our ancestors. It's about our village."

Hiccup simply stared at him. Stoick continued speaking. "Our tribe had lived for over 1500 years." He whispered to his son. "For 60 generations, we Haddocks had been the chief of our tribe. No other family line had ever become the chief. There is a reason for that."

The boy was surprised and confused. "Our family went back that far?"

"Yes. This is our secret. The secret of Haddock Family." Stoick softly spoke to him. "A long time ago, there was peace between humans and dragons together. The peace started with our tribe."

Stoick dramatically paused. Hiccup stared at him with wide eyed expression. The chief continued speaking. "But then, something happened. Dragons did not like our peace. After a hundred years of peace, it was broken. They killed the very first chief that founded our tribe."

"Hiccup the First." Hiccup breathed out. He remembered that story when Toothless told him about it.

Stoick exhaled. He gave a sharp nod. "Yes." The man replied. "But it was not the only time it happened. Hiccup the Second brought peace between humans and dragons again. This time, the situation is different. In different parts of the world, others learned about dragons. They see them as mere animals. They hunt dragons for profit."

Hiccup remembered hearing about Dragon Hunters. "What happened then?" he asked. "How did we become a dragon hunting tribe?"

"Because we know about dragons more than anyone else." Stoick softly spoke to him. "We were at war against them. In war, we must do what we can to survive."

The father and son fell silent. Hiccup pondered what he had learned. His father had never openly spoke about his ancestors before. "What happened to Hiccup the Second?"

"He was hunted." His father simply spoke. "For over seventy-five years, our tribe were at peace with dragons. But in that time, humans were actively hunting him. They don't see him as a peacemaker. They see him as an asset to make money. While we were at peace with dragons, we were at war with other tribes."

Stoick dramatically paused, before continued speaking. "And then, Hiccup the Second was killed." He sombrely spoke. "He was killed by Vikings."

Hiccup hitched his breath. "But… why?" He asked, amazed by the story. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because I'm afraid." Stoick whispered. He looked guilty. "Every Hiccup before you had brought peace. Every Hiccup before you befriended a Night Fury. Hiccup the First had a dragon named Wodensfang. Hiccup the Second had a dragon named Furious. They all died trying to keep that peace."

Hiccup could only stare at him in shock. Stoick continued speaking. "When the elders came to me and told me to name you Hiccup, I thought it was a mistake." He confessed. "But when you befriended Toothless, I realised I'm just delaying what was meant to happen. I don't want to burden you with this responsibility. I don't want you to end like your ancestors."

Stoick let go of his hand. His eyes began to tear up a bit. "I don't want you to die trying to achieve an impossible dream." He whispered. "I don't want you to know because you will try to do your destiny."

Hiccup and Stoick simply stared at each other. The boy slowly placed the axe down. "But… what about you?" He softly asked. "You befriended one too… what happened to her?"

Stoick shuddered his breath. He steeled himself. "She was taken by another dragon." He simply spoke. "Not all dragons like dragons befriending humans. This is why I put you in dragon training. You need to defend yourself, for Toothless."

The chief turned around. He went to grab something from his back. "There are more that I want to tell you, but I cannot. It will be too dangerous for you." He spoke while searching for something. "If you can prove yourself to me, I will consider it. For now, this will do."

Stoick turned back to his son. The man was carrying a large thick book and a cylinder object. "Here."

Hiccup was still in shock. He carefully picked up the book and the object. The cylinder object was a device with metal rings around it. The middle section had rings that could be rotated like dials. There were seven buttons at the bottom side, each labelled with numbers. The device was made of metal. It had wood brown colour, with the top side looked like it was made of heavily diluted gold.

The boy looked at the top side. There was a large glass that looked like a lens. He turned it around to check the bottom side. The buttons were arranged in circular pattern, surrounding a small hole that looked like a gem. Hiccup tried pressing the buttons. The buttons began switching the gem colour, indicating that there were more than one inside.

The boy looked up to his father. "What is this?"

"The Dragon Eye." Stoick simply spoke. "During time of peace, Hiccup the First created something to keep an archive about dragons. He made two of them. One of them was stolen and lost in Greater Archipelago. That thing had been passed from generation to generation. Now, I am passing this to you."

Hiccup was amazed. He moved to look at the book. It was written in a completely different language – one that he knew of: Latin. It was titled Dragon Eye: Principles, Techniques and Tools with no author written. Opening the book revealed concepts about how Dragon Eye worked. At least, from the summary at the start of the page. Based on the quality of the paper, it looked ancient.

The chief stood from the chair. "Remember dragon training." Stoick informed him as he picked up his own axe near the fireplace. "Prove yourself. Train hard. I'll be back."

The man began walking out from the house. He opened the door. Before he left, Stoick looked back to his son. "… probably." He softly spoke, before closing the door behind him, leaving Hiccup alone inside the house.


Memory flashback…

The two-year-old Night Fury hatchling, Mimir, was wandering around Dragon Island. His mother was asleep at the roost. She was tired after a long day of teaching him about mindscape. The hatchling had woken up earlier than his mother. He wanted to explore and know more about Dragon Island.

He did not go too far from the roost. While his father was the greater alpha ruling the place, Furious did not trust other dragons to interact with his son. He did not want his son to be influenced by other dragons, since they had just broken the peace between humans and dragons.

Mimir landed right in front of the roost entrance. It was a cave way. He was about to enter the roost when he heard his father shouting. "I will not make peace with them again!"

The hatchling was curious. His roost had two cave clearings – one was for living space, and one was the actual place where they sleep. He entered the roost to see what was going on. Upon entering, he saw his father together with two different dragons.

The first one was easy to identify. It was a Night Fury. However, this Night Fury looked old and ancient. His wings were tattered, and his scales had tints of grey on them. he had yellow green acidic eyes. This Night Fury was two times bigger than his father. He looked tired and exhausted.

The second one was his father's second-in-command; Luna the Skrill. Mimir remembered her, since she often spent time with him when his parents were busy. The Skrill was a quadruped dragon. They had similar size and shape to a Night Fury. They had crown of spikes on its head like a Deadly Nadder, spiked metallic back and tail. They had long sharp tail with no tail fins. This dragon was standing next to his father.

"Furious, please." The acidic-eyed Night Fury pleaded.

"No, Wodensfang, you listen to me!" Furious snarled at him. Mimir's father was living up to his name. "75 years, Hiccup tried to make peace with them. 75 years, he went on a flight all around the world to spread the same nonsense you're sprouting off. I stand by him when they turned against him. We asked you for help, but what did you do?! NOTHING! NOT EVEN A MAIL CHUNK!"

"I didst what I could." The acidic-eyed Night Fury – now known as Wodensfang – reasoned. "I was busy with others! They kept challenging mine authority. I had to defend myself!"

"You told us humans could be changed. You told us they will see us differently." Furious roared back. "My brother took a human as his mate! A human! They killed them without mercy! It was a miracle that I was there to save his son and daughter! And you're telling me I should be friends with them?!"

"We compose peace with 'em would we forbear attacking 'em. We can't answer violence with violence." Wodensfang reasoned, pleading to the dragon in front of him. "Furious, please. I wot you're grieving for Hiccup, yet this is not the answer!"

"HE TRUSTED YOU AND YOU BETRAYED HIM!" Furious roared to the old dragon. There were tears in his eyes. "You weren't even there to see his burial. You didn't even come to Bay of the Broken Heart. YOU NEVER CARE FOR US! YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT THOSE ROTTEN HUMANS!"

"Furious." Luna sharply spoke to him. That reminded him about the main topic of the conversation.

The greater alpha took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He stared at Wodensfang with angry, slitted yellow eyes. "The Dragon Rebellion is upon us." He whispered. "Humans and dragons could never coexist with each other. Humans will never accept us as equals. There can never be peace for us."

"There shall be peace. I believe in thou." Wodensfang firmly spoke.

"No. Your words are meaningless." Furious whispered, glaring at him. "It's either us or them. You made those dragons docile to humans. You made my brother submit to them. I will not let that happen here. Not in my flock."

The acidic-eyed Night Fury slumped his wings. He looked to the side and noticed the hatchling standing at the cave way. Furious and Luna noticed this. They turned around to see Mimir standing there. "Mimir."

"Dad?" The hatchling tilted his head. "What's going on?"

Luna was quick to react. She moved towards him and began nudging him. "Why don't we play outside? Your dad is doing his alpha business."

"Okay…" Mimir nodded, before walking out from the roost. Luna followed behind him.

Just as he left, he heard his father spoke to Wodensfang. "I will not let your ideology corrupt their mind. You can forget seeing a Haddock ever again!"


Hiccup woke up with a sweat. He was in his room, laying on his bed. It was early in the morning. The boy had gone straight to bed after the conversation with his father that night. He was not expecting to have a dream about someone else entirely.

'No. Not a dream.' Hiccup thought as he reached for his mindscape. 'A memory.'

The boy noticed that some Blocks were making connection with one another. It started to form a network, just like a human mind. Those Blocks were knowledge and information types, and they were forming Blocks of memories. It was as if they were trying to bring back memories from where it came from. It was something he had never seen before.

"Toothless, are you there?" Hiccup called out.

Few seconds passed. Toothless finally answered. "I'm here."

"Can you come to my mindscape? I want you to see this."

Hiccup felt Toothless' presence in his mind. She went around the place and noticed the forming Block of memory. "That's… strange." She concluded. "Never seen that happen before. It looks like your mind is extracting memories from experience and knowledge Blocks."

"I didn't know they can bring back memories." Hiccup stated.

"Memories decay, but they never completely disappear. You just forget after your mind extracted knowledge and experience from them." Toothless informed him. "Those were real dragon memories. Furious must've been selective on what he put into your mind. Because your mind never had the memories, it was trying to bring out that memory from those Blocks."

"That memory doesn't feel like mine." Hiccup pointed out. "It felt like something I got from a Chunk."

"It might be from the human side of your mind. They have different rule than dragon mind." Toothless hypothesized. "Your mind doesn't like the fact that they don't have the original memory. So, they formulated the original memories from different Blocks in your mind."

"How the skies did they do that?"

"Every knowledge and experience Block contain a small trace of memories." Toothless lectured. "Mind healer master can bring back memories from them. It looks like your mind is doing it on its own."

Hiccup rested his head back to the bed. He went over the dream that he had. "So, the Blocks that Furious put on me was…"

"Yes." Toothless confirmed. "It was from his son; Mimir. Furious put them inside your mind."

The boy pondered on that information. "… but there's a reference to mind arts in the memory." He reasoned. "If I have everything he has, then I should know about it."

"Like I said, it's most likely Furious didn't give everything his son have into your mind." Toothless suggested. "It's just whatever necessary to give you background and identity. I mean, your name is Hiccup when I met you the first time. It's safe to say that he did it so you can keep your own actual identity."

"Hiccup!" The boy heard someone shouting outside the window. "Hiccup!"

Hiccup sat up on the bed. He looked out through the window. Looking down, he noticed that Gobber was standing in front of the door entrance. "Gobber? What is it?"

"Dragon training, lad!" The blacksmith called out. "Did your dad told ya about this?"

"He did." Hiccup replied. "I'll come down in a second!"

The boy jumped off from his bed. Toothless had watched the interaction. "Charcoal, what's going on?"

"Don't ask. Check my memories from last night." Hiccup replied. He nearly groaned when he responded to her. "I don't even know where to start explaining that."

Toothless fell silent. Hiccup knew that she would be reading his mind about it. Before the boy went out from his room, he noticed the Dragon Eye and the book sitting innocently on the table. He exhaled his breath, before walking out from the place.


"Welcome to Dragon Training!"

The Dragon Training Arena was located at a large, rocky cliff clearing not far from the village. The corners were expanded with wooden balcony that edges to the ocean down below. The entrance were long wooden bridge paths that connected to the village. The location was isolated from the whole village, most likely in case one of the dragons broke out.

The arena itself took most part of the clearing. It was sunken down from the surface, and the top was covered with metal cages. The entrance had a metal gate that prevented anyone from moving in and out. Inside the arena, there were shields and weapons near the entrance. Surrounding half of the arena were five dragon pens. Each of them was closed with metal reinforced gates. Those gates had levers next to them.

Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Gobber were there. Hiccup was following not far behind. They were all inside the arena, observing the place. The five of them had just recovered from the Night Fury attack.

"No turning back." Astrid whispered. She noticed that Gobber was checking the dragon pens.

"I hope I get some serious burns." Tuffnut boasted, elbowing his sister.

"I'm hoping for some mauling." Ruffnut boasted, looking at her brother. "Like on my shoulder or lower back."

"Yeah, it's only fun when you get a scar out of it." Astrid nonchalantly spoke to them.

"Yeah, no kidding, right?" Hiccup spoke with sarcastic tone, getting their attention. "Pain. Love it."

Tuffnut groaned. "Oh, great. Who let him in?"

Before anyone could say anything, Gobber spoke aloud. "Let's get started!" He shouted, getting their attention. He was standing near the stacks of shields and weapons. "The recruit who does the best will win the honour of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."

"Five of us faced a Night Fury and lived." Snotlout smirked as he jerked his thumb at the lanky boy. "Does that disqualify him, or…?"

"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuffnut whined.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. Gobber walked up to him. "Don't worry." He assured him. "You're small and you're weak. That'll make you less of a target!"

The blacksmith continued speaking. "They'll see you as sick or insane." He added in. "And go after the more Viking-like teens instead."

The boy rolled his eyes. Gobber moved to walk towards the dragon pens. "Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight!" He announced as he walked around the dragon pens. "The Deadly Nadder!"

"Speed: eight." Hiccup heard Fishlegs spoke up. "Armour: sixteen."

Gobber gestured to one of the dragon pens. "The Hideous Zippleback!"

"Plus eleven stealth times two." The large boy muttered.

"The Monstrous Nightmare!"

"Firepower: fifteen."

"The Terrible Terror!"

"Attack: eight." Fishlegs seemed to get louder. "Venom: twelve!"

"CAN YOU STOP THAT?!" Gobber snapped at the boy.

Fishlegs shrunk under his glare. The blacksmith rolled his eyes. He reached for the lever at one of the dragon pens. "And… the Gronckle."

"Jaw strength: eight." Fishlegs whispered. Hiccup was not sure how he heard that one.

It was then everyone realised what Gobber was about to do. "Whoa, whoa, wait!" Snotlout tried to stop him. "Aren't you gonna teach us first?!"

Gobber chuckled. He grabbed the lever. "I believe in learning on the job." He spoke, before turning the lever.

The gate flew open, revealing a female Gronckle charging towards them. "FREEDOM!"

Hiccup and the others took off running. The rock dragon flew to the corner and began eating rocks. Just as she did that, Gobber shouted. "Today is about survival!"

The lanky boy stopped close to a wall. He heard the blacksmith shout. "If you get blasted, you're dead!"

'Of course.' Hiccup bit back sarcastic response.

"Quick!" Gobber shouted. "What's the first thing you're going to need?"

Hiccup noticed that the Gronckle had finished eating the rocks. She was glaring angry at them. The boy shouted. "A doctor?!"

"Plus five speed?!" Fishlegs shouted.

Astrid had more sense than the others. "A shield!"

"Shields! Go!" Gobber shouted. He watched as the teenagers ran to the shield rack. "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield!"

Hiccup grabbed a skull-painted shield. It was made of wood with metal corner and centre. He heard Gobber speaking. "If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield!"

"COME ON, LADS!" The Gronckle roared. She was speaking an accent that Hiccup did not recognise. "Ah'll rip yer baws aff 'n' feed thaim tae th' Deathgrippers!"

Hiccup wondered where they got the Gronckle. He never heard that kind of accent from a dragon before. However, it was not the time for him to think. He looked around for a place to hide. He might be able to hide behind a wooden barricade somewhere.

While the boy was running, he heard a voice from the twins. "Get your hands off my shield!"

The twins were fighting over a shield at the rack. "There's like a million shields!" Ruffnut scoffed.

"Take that one, it has a flower on it." Tuffnut suggested as he gestured the rack with his head. "Girls like flowers."

Ruffnut ripped the shield off from his hand. She swung the object and hit him in the head. "OW!"

"Oops." Ruffnut shrugged mockingly. "Now this one has blood in it!"

The Gronckle flew towards them and fired a fireball. It blasted the shield, knocking them away from the place. "UP YER ERSE WI' IT!" She roared.

"Tuffnut! Ruffnut!" Gobber called out. "You're out!"

The twins were still dazed from the blast. "What?"

Gobber looked over the others, who were running around dodging the rock dragon. "All dragons have limited number of shots!" He called out. "How many does a Gronckle have?"

"Five?" Snotlout guessed, before dodging a charge from the dragon.

"No!" Fishlegs shouted. "Six!"

"Correct, six!" Gobber exclaimed, smiling at them. "That's one for each of you!"

The Gronckle noticed that Fishlegs trying to sneak up on her. Upon realising that he had been spotted, the large teen raised his shield over his head. "Dozy cunt." She spoke, before sending a fireball at Fishlegs. It hit the shield, shattering it into pieces.

Fishlegs took off running to the entrance, screaming. "AAAAHHH!"

"Fishlegs, out!" Gobber called out. He noticed that Hiccup was hiding behind a plank. "Hiccup, get in there!"

The boy relented. He came out from his hiding place and faced the Gronckle. Hiccup and the dragon went on a face off. He had his shield up, ready to hold back whatever she was going to send him. While he was busy, the boy noticed that Astrid had moved right in front of Snotlout. The two of them were standing right behind the Gronckle.

Snotlout quickly straightened himself. "So, anyway." He started with suggestive tone. "I'm moving into my parents' basement."

"Come at me, ye eel!" The Gronckle roared at Hiccup. The boy ignored him, glancing to the teens behind her from time to time.

"You should come by sometime to work out." Snotlout suggested. He was getting louder. "You look like you work out!"

The Gronckle finally realised what Hiccup was looking at. She turned around and spotted them. "There!" She shouted, before sending a fireball towards them. Astrid rolled away and the fireball went straight to Snotlout. It hit his shield, which shattered upon impact.

"Snotlout, you're out!" Gobber called out.

Astrid rolled and stood right in front of Hiccup. The boy realised what she had done. "I guess it's just you and me, huh?"

"Nope!" Astrid shouted. "Just you." Before running away.

The Gronckle fired a fireball towards them. Hiccup held up his shield and tanked the fireball. The explosion sent him backward, but he kept his balance and stood on his feet. Gobber was alarmed to see it. "One shot left!" He called out.

"Raaaah!" Hiccup shouted as he charged forward, shield at the front.

The boy slammed the shield right onto the dragon's face. It seemed to do something there. "OW! Pooch me hame, ye fishbone!" The Gronckle roared, before bashing him on his shield.

Because of his lack of weight, Hiccup was sent flying off. He barely landed on the ground, in which he got himself cornered. The Gronkle went charging after him. "HICCUP!" Gobber shouted.

The rock dragon finally reached him. Hiccup curled himself behind the shield. The Gronckle opened her maw, ready to finish him off. "Time's up, ye paukit wee jobby!" She whispered.

"Ugh." Hiccup groaned. He could not help himself. "Did ye kiss yer dam with that mouth?"

That confused the Gronckle. "What?" She gave Hiccup a sniff, which confused her further. "How come did ye reek lik' a- OW!"

Gobber had grabbed the Gronckle with his hook. "Go back to bed, ya overgrown sausage!" He shouted as he began dragging her away.

"Let go o' me, ye cripple!" The Gronckle roared as she was being dragged away.

"You'll get another chance." Gobber continued speaking, before throwing her into the dragon pen. "Don't you worry." He closed the pen, before walking towards the boy.

Hiccup slowly stood from the ground. He dusted himself off. The blacksmith looked at him. "Remember: a dragon will always." He leaned closer to him. "Always, go for the kill."

The boy wanted to argue, but he simply assumed those were for the teens behind them. The others began walking out from the arena. Hiccup simply followed them somewhat far from behind.

While walking, he heard Ruffnut asking. "Why did that Gronkle not blast him off?"

"He's probably too useless." Snutlout jeered.

Gobber ignored him. "No idea, lass." He answered Tuffnut. "Just feel lucky that dragon didn't blast ye off. Don't look too much into it."


Later that day, Hiccup arrived at the cove. Toothless was resting there, along with Calian next to her. The boy was carrying two baskets. He had a leather satchel on his side. "I'm here."

The dragoness perked up. "Charcoal, you're back!"

The boy placed the baskets on the ground. He opened one of them, revealing them full of cods. "I got your favourites."

"Oh yes, cods!" Toothless licked her lips, before moving in to eat the food.

While she was busy, Hiccup walked towards the corner of the cove. There was a small cave entrance there. That cave entrance led to a small, elevated surface clearing. He moved into the cave clearing and placed the basket. He opened it, revealing a pile of clothes. It would be his clothes in case he turned back human from dragon.

After putting the things there, he walked out from the small cave. Toothless and Calian were standing not far from him. The basket of fishes was turned over and empty. "That was fast."

"Well." Toothless licked her lips. "I can never say no to some cod."

"Right." Hiccup started as he sat right in front of them. Calian jumped and sat on his lap. The boy stroked his scales, making him purr. "Did you see the memories?"

"I did." Toothless nodded, before moving to telepathic message. "Your ancestor was best friend with my dad. And then one of your ancestors was best friend with Furious. And then, you have me as your mate. It looks like destiny. The history checks out."

"You told me that Hiccup the First was once a dragon." Hiccup pondered as he absentmindedly stroking Calian. "I need a reminder. What kind of dragon was it?"

"Night Fury. One of the first out there." Toothless answered. "It explained why you smelled like a dragon. Your ancestor is a dragon. But that doesn't explain why your dad smells almost human instead of full dragon."

"He told me his Night Fury friend was taken by a hostile dragon." Hiccup pondered. "A Night Fury couldn't just be… taken like that without a big fight. There's no way for him to know if she was abducted, unless they were together when that happened. It also means that they're always together."

"I don't think she would stay in the village with your father. Your village is not friendly with dragons at all!" Toothless assumed. Then, her eyes widened with realisation. "Unless… the Night Fury was not really a Night Fury. The dragon might be a human, just like you."

Hiccup pondered that line of thought. It made sense. If his ancestor was a dragon turned into human, it was not that far off if his father's dragon was turned into human the same way. It was a conclusion that made sense to him. "If that's the case, there should be some news about someone taken away by a dragon in the village." He concluded. "But last time I check, in the past 20 years, the only one ever taken by a dragon was…"

Toothless simply stared at Hiccup. She saw his expression dramatically changed into shock. That made her concerned. "Charcoal?" She asked. "Are you okay?"

"No." Hiccup whispered aloud. His eyes were wide with horror. "I was just joking that time!"

That made Toothless even more concerned. "Charcoal, what is it?"

"The only person that was ever taken by a dragon-" Hiccup spoke as he stared at her. "-was my mom. Valka Haddock."

"Wait." Toothless started, eyes wide. "Your mom is the dragon?"

Hiccup was a bit hysteric upon coming to that conclusion. "My dad bred his Night Fury! And I'm their offspring!" He exclaimed, making Calian jump. "It crazy, but it made sense! That's why he told me that! That's why he said it's the best thing that ever happened to him! That's why I smelled like a dragon! All my life, I'm a dragon in form of a human!"

"Wait, Charcoal, hold on, stop." Toothless tried to calm him down.

"Skies above, this is insane!" Hiccup scratched his head.

"Charcoal, hold on there. We need to get some proof." The dragoness started, getting his attention. "If your dad is his Night Fury's mate, he must've had some of her stuff in his roost. You said he's off to find Dragon Island at Helheim's Gate, right?"

"Yes."

"You should search his place. Don't take that conclusion seriously." Toothless nudged him. "Also, that doesn't answer why you smell like a dragon, but he barely smells like one."

"Yeah, I can search his room tonight." Hiccup mumbled, before moving Calian aside. He suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah, I finished the Program."

"Oh!" Toothless was suddenly giddy. "Let me see."

Hiccup mentally sent a Chunk to Toothless. The dragoness checked them. It contained a Program called 'Chunk Security' and it was the first version. She installed the Program into her mind. It had an instruction on how to use it. She could password encode or decode any Chunk she wanted with the same Program.

Toothless received another Chunk from Hiccup. She checked them. It contained still images of the Lycanwing corpse that they found before. It had an image of Hiccup, Charcoal and the Dragon Eye. While she was checking them, the boy spoke to her. "I need you to dump everything we know in a Chunk, encode them and send them to anyone that you trust in Caldera. Make sure to send the Program as well."

"But isn't it dangerous for them to know about the Program?" Toothless asked, concerned.

"No." Hiccup shook his head. "Even if they have the Program, they need the password to decode them. It should be safe."

"Okay. I can think of a way to do it safely. You told me to give them the info so far. What should I ask them?"

"Ask them to find anything about Haddock family and dragons they befriended with." Hiccup requested. "Family tree, histories, everything. My dad won't be coming back for the next few weeks. I'm not going to be here waiting to be killed by Furious."

"We have a lot of dragons on our side." Toothless pointed out.

"5000 dragons against a giant ancient Night Fury?"

The dragoness opened her mouth, before closing it back. Finally, she answered. "Good point."

"Exactly." Hiccup nodded. He opened his satchel, revealing few books there. "I've done my part. Now, it's your turn. I'm going to teach Calian about Norse."

"Norse?" Calian perked up.

"It's the spoken and written language of humans." The boy explained to him. "It's also the same language you speak, but in Dragonese. Dragons here speaks Norse-Dragonese, and it naturally translate to Norse. That's why you understand what I'm saying as a human."

The hatchling looked excited. "I want to know more!"

The boy chuckled. Toothless walked to rest somewhere not far from them. Hiccup moved the book in front of Calian and opened it. "Let's start with this one." He whispered, pointing at a Norse text. "These means Apple…"


"Alright. Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?"

Gobber, Astrid, Snotlout and others were at the Mead Hall. It was night-time, and the place was dark. There was only a lantern illuminating their place. Hiccup walked to sit next to Gobber.

"I mistimed my somersault dive." Astrid spoke, focused on the blacksmith. "It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble."

"Yeah, we noticed." Ruffnut spoke in sarcastic tone.

"No, no, you were great!" Snotlout praised her. "That was so 'Astrid'."

Gobber shrugged. "She's right." He responded. "You have to be tough on yourself. Where did Hiccup go wrong?"

The others immediately glared at him. Hiccup rolled his eyes. Ruffnut started. "Uh, he showed up?"

"He didn't get eaten." Tuffnut shrugged.

"He's never where he should be." Astrid spoke with cold voice.

Hiccup wanted to snap but held himself back. They seemed to be angrier today. That was expected. They always blamed him whenever things they stole somehow went wrong on their face. In this case, the Bola Launcher. They were angry that they nearly got killed by the Night Fury they tried to catch.

In this case, Charcoal. Ergo, him.

"Thank you, Astrid." Gobber praised her. "You need to live and breathe this stuff."

The blacksmith pulled out a book and dropped them onto the table. Hiccup recognised it. "The Dragon Manual." Gobber introduced. "Everything we know about every dragon we know of."

Suddenly, there was a thunder outside. The blacksmith looked up, before speaking. "No attacks tonight. Study up." Then, he left the place, leaving the teens alone inside the Mead Hall.

"Wait, you mean, read?" Tuffnut asked, incredulous.

"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut questioned.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout questioned.

"Oh!" Fishlegs piped in. "I've read it like, seven times."

Everyone turned to look at him. The large teen continued speaking. "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face."

'Scauldron.' Hiccup thought.

"And- And there's this one that buries itself for like a week-"

"Yeah, that sounds great." Tuffnut interrupted. "See, there was a chance I was going to read that…"

"But now…" Ruffnut trailed off, before walking away. Her twin went to follow from behind.

"You guys read." Snotlout spoke as he stood from the seat. "I'll go kill stuff." The burly boy left the place.

Fishlegs moved to follow them. "Oh, and there's this one that has these spines that look like trees…"

Hiccup looked down at the Dragon Manual. It reminded him of the Dragon Eye that he had in his room. Looking up, he saw Astrid leaving the place. Just as she was about to leave, they looked at each other. Upon seeing him, the petite girl glared at him, before turning away and left the place.

The boy looked down at the Dragon Manual once more. He checked on Toothless through his bond. She was awake at the cove with Calian. The hatchling was asleep. "Toothless, are you ready?"

There was a pause. "I'll be looking through your eyes." She replied. "Be careful. You don't want to get caught sniffing around his things."


Later that night, Hiccup went back home. The fireplace was off, but that was to be expected. The boy carefully walked towards his father's room. He slowly opened the door and entered it. The room was surprisingly unlocked. Upon entering the place, he closed the door behind him.

Hiccup noted that the room was larger than his own. There was a bed around the corner. On the opposite side, however, there was a large flat rock. He looked there and inspected the rock. The centre part was charred in circular pattern. "Night Fury bed." He realised. "There is only one dragon we know that scorch their bed."

"That might be her stone bed." Toothless commented. "But I don't think they come in from the front door as a dragon."

There was a table at the middle end of the room. Hiccup moved to reach it. There was a wooden box with a latch on the table. The boy was curious. He slowly opened the latch. The small box opened by itself.

The box was filled with pitch black dragon scales. Those were in oval shapes of varying sizes. Hiccup slowly picked up the biggest scale, touching it with his hand. It felt rough, but that was mostly because of its age. It was then he realised those were the scales of his father's Night Fury friend. He placed them back and closed it shut. He had gotten the confirmation. He did not need to steal it.

The boy moved to the exit door. He paused as he noticed something. Somewhere at the rock bed, there was a hidden lever behind it. He could see them from the doorway. The boy moved to reach for the hidden lever. He grabbed and pulled the lever.

Clack!

Right after turning them, the whole bed rock suddenly flipped around. Hiccup was completely unprepared for it. He was standing on top of the bed rock to reach it. He fell underground and hit the surface below. The rock bed above him turned back up, leaving nothing amiss.

"Charcoal!" Toothless called out. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Hiccup replied as he stood from the ground. He looked around the place. It looked like an underground cave clearing. There was a pond and a cave entrance. The place was large enough to fit a large dragon. "It looks like an escape tunnel-"

Hiccup stepped on something. He raised his foot and realised that he was standing on top of something made of leather. The boy grabbed the object to see more of them. "Is this… a saddle? There's a name on it."

Valka

"Oh." Hiccup blinked. "That's my mother's name."

Toothless did not say anything. The boy moved to check if there was anything else on the saddle. There was a small pocket on the side. He opened it and pulled something out. It was a journal. He placed the saddle aside and opened the journal. It was almost destroyed, mostly due to age. It looked like it had never been opened for a long time. There were some entries that was still intact.

The dragon raids are getting worse. I fear for my husband's life, because I could not protect him anymore. I have done my best to protect him from the dead witch that tried to kill him. But as a result, I have become a human. I have made my choice and sacrificed my life a dragon. May the skies forgive my sins, because I cannot stand this anymore.

"This is his dragon's journal." Hiccup realised, horrified.

Toothless was silent. Hiccup flipped some pages. He read the next readable entry.

-so happy that it's finally here! We finally have a son together. We named him Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Old Wrinkly told me that he have a […]. Stoick doesn't want to believe it. I think he's afraid. He said the […] of us.

He said our son would be a […] Night Fury. The […] Whatever it was, I believe in our son. He will do great things in-

Part of the entries were destroyed by decay. The ink was blurry, and some did not make any sense to him. However, that was everything Hiccup needed to know. The boy dropped the book, terrified. "I…" he whispered. "My mother is a Night Fury…"

The boy felt mixture of emotions. Anger that his father had kept it from him. Sadness for the demise of his mother. Confusion because he was unaware of the context of his mother and father relationship. Fear for not knowing anything about himself. Everyone had kept secrets from him, and these secrets were bigger than anything else he had ever experienced.

"Toothless!" Hiccup mentally roared. "You're there?"

"I'm here!" Toothless called back. "I can't see where you are. Furious is trying to breach your mind!"

Hiccup hitched his breath. He had been so focused on his emotion; he did not realise that his mental alerts were popping in. He quickly raised his mental barriers to protect his vitals, before the main mental barrier was destroyed. Furious had successfully broken through them.

"Hello, Charcoal. Toothless." Hiccup heard Furious whispered in his mind.

"Furious." Hiccup snarled. He felt Toothless' presence being kicked out from his mind. That completely isolated him from everyone.

Suddenly, the boy felt compulsion to transform. He could not bring himself to resist. Hiccup bent to his knee as his body began to grow. His clothes were torn apart into pieces. Bones reshaping, muscles cracking and others. When that was done, what was once a short 15-year-old boy was now a large Night Fury. His eyes were fully slitted, meaning that he was under control.

"Come."

Charcoal could not disobey. While his memories and thoughts were safe, his will was being held by the greater alpha dragon. The Night Fury ran down to the cave way, which was a long straight path that led to somewhere. The end section was another cave clearing. However, this one had a flooded cave path. The dragon jumped into the water, going for a swim to leave the place.


"What do you want from me?"

Charcoal was flying towards Dragon Island. He was still under control from Furious. The dragon was struggling to kick him out from his mind. The greater alpha dragon was barely clinging into his mind. It was a feat that he managed to take control of him from long range, even when he was not bonded with him. It showed that Furious was far more experienced than him in utilising mind arts.

"You have seen what they have done to you, Charcoal." Furious simply spoke to him. His voice was neutral. "You have seen our history. Your destiny. Submit to me, and I will make you powerful to fulfil them."

"Liar." Charcoal mentally snarled. "I will not submit to you! You want me to control those dragons by force!"

"You know what happened to deserters, Charcoal." Furious whispered into his mind. "I am giving you a chance to turn back."

"I will never trust those who played with my mind!" Charcoal roared. He noticed that he had entered the Helheim's Gate.

Furious made Charcoal land on top of a tall rock pillar. The Night Fury simply perched there. The greater alpha dragon decided to respond. "You saw my son's memories. They are returning to you." He whispered. "I made a promise long time ago. I will alter your destiny."

"Empty promises!" Charcoal snarled. He struggled once more. He managed to move his body slightly. The greater alpha was struggling to maintain control. "Let me go! Why are you so focused on me? What have I ever done to you!"

"Submit." Furious replied. "Or I will make you regret not submitting to me."

"Kiss my arse!" Charcoal roared.

But then, he noticed something. There were several ships about to pass by through the fog. He recognised the symbol on the flags. Those were Berk's expedition ships. His father was in there. It was then Charcoal realised what Furious was about to make him do.

"I just want the best for you. I promise you." Furious whispered to him. "We can do this all day, until you destroy everything you love by yourself."

"No…"

Furious commanded Charcoal to fly up high into the sky. he turned around, before diving down into the ships. Loud, piercing shriek echoed in the sky. Charcoal struggled for control of his fire. Thankfully, that made him prematurely fire the plasma blast.

"KRAAA!" BOOM!

It was a rather weak plasma blast, but it hit the sail of one of the expedition ships. Charcoal flew past and began flying up high once more. While flying, Furious was speaking to him. "I never break my promise, Charcoal."

"You betrayed my trust!" Charcoal roared back.

The Night Fury snapped his wings close and dove down onto one of the expedition ships. Charcoal could not wrestle control over his fire this time. He fired a rather powerful plasma blast. It created a rather large hole on the deck. Vikings quickly rushed to jump over the ship next to them.

The male dragon flew up high once more. Furious spoke. "I did it for your own good." He retorted. "I did it to stop your generation from suffering! You think I want to hurt you? You think everything I did is just to kill you?"

"What you did is not right!" Charcoal snarled. "You gave me alpha dominance to rule over dragons! You want to turn me into a monster!"

"What are monsters, Charcoal?" Furious roared back. "Are we monsters for trying to make peace? Are you a monster for taking control of them?"

"YOU CREATED ME!" Charcoal roared as he struggled for control. "You sent those Lycanwings after me! You turned me into who I am!"

Furious seemed to laugh at that suggestion. "You think I did it?" He asked, incredulous.

"Who else knows about me but you?" Charcoal growled.

"Oh, Charcoal." Furious whispered. He sounded sad. "I never want you to know about your destiny. I don't want another Hiccup to suffer the same fate as my brother. Lycanwing is a mockery of what dragons meant to be, but the disease would reveal who you truly are. Which dragon do you think have connection with humans in the first place?"

Hiccup pondered for some time. There were only two dragons that was mentioned in Mimir's memories. The first one was Furious. The second one was… "Wodensfang."

"That's right." Furious purred as he strengthened his control over Charcoal. "I was just there at the wrong place at the right time. You were at the Haddock house when you first transformed."

Then, Furious' suddenly sounded angry. "Wodensfang did so much damage to us dragons. He forced your destiny." He snarled. "I will not let him. I will alter your destiny. I promise you; I will make sure my future will happen to you!"

"What are you talking about?"

Charcoal snapped his wings. He dove down into one of the Berk's expedition ships. Time seemed to slow down as he saw the target that Furious wanted him to kill. The Night Fury was shocked and horrified. He could not change his course, nor stop his fire from building. He was about to kill the Viking that he truly cared about.

His own father.

"Submit." Furious whispered. "Or he dies."

Before Charcoal could give an answer, something suddenly pushed him to the side. The plasma blast he was charging was sent off course, hitting water instead. The black dragon saw Toothless flying fast towards him. Her body was shimmering with golden aura, meaning that she was using her magic.

"Kra!" Toothless fired a golden bolt of magic. The attack struck Charcoal, creating golden rope that snapped his mouth, wings and arms close. It completely immobilized him. The dragoness grabbed him with her claws, before flying away from the place, heading out from the Helheim's Gate.

"I'm not letting you down now!" Toothless snarled to him. "Charcoal, keep fighting back!"

Charcoal mentally struggled for control. He heard Furious whispered in his mind. "She won't be going anywhere."

Dragons appeared behind them. Toothless glanced back, before sped herself up. It was somewhat difficult for her to fly, since she was carrying someone twice as big as her. However, she was not without help. She had Hiccup's bonded dragons to help her.

Large lightning shock went past them, electrocuting the dragons behind her. A Titan Wing Skrill and Titan Wing Changewing appeared next to her. Two of them were alpha dragons, with several dragons of their species flying behind them. They were determined to help, as they no longer served Dragon Rebellion. "Queen, we got your back!"

"Kick Furious out of his mind! We'll deal with his dragons." The alpha Skrill roared, before turning around. His dragons followed him. Not long after, there were lightning strikes coming from the fog.

The Titan Wing Changewing looked at Charcoal, who were still hypnotised. "You did what was right instead of what was easy!" He roared at him. "Keep fighting! I am proud to call you my alpha!" The dragon turned around, with others following him behind.

After some time flying, Toothless finally went out from the fog. After realising that they were safe, she pushed her mind into his. Furious attempted to take control of her through her connection with Charcoal. However, he could not find her anywhere. It was as if her mind was never there to begin with. "What?!"

"GET OUT OF HIS MIND!" Toothless mentally roared, before moving to tore Furious' presence apart inside Charcoal's mind.

"AAAAHHH!" Furious roared in pain, both mental and physical. The Dragon Island rumbled, as her action had physically hurt his mind. The greater alpha dragon immediately pulled his mental presence out, leaving Charcoal's mind alone.

Charcoal regained his body control back. His mental shield began to rebuild by itself. He exhaled a relieved sigh. "Thanks, Toothless." He mentally spoke to her. "I'm sorry. I couldn't defend myself."

"While you have plenty of ideas and knowledge to make Programs, you don't have the mastery over mental intrusion and fortitude." Toothless responded. She looked a bit guilty. "Well, you do. You just didn't spend your life on it as long as I do. You don't have enough experience."

"Well, you're the real master." Charcoal responded. He was relieved to see his mate. "But how did you do that?"

"When your father is an arch alpha dragon, you tend to pick a thing or two." Toothless was somewhat vague about it. "Never thought I'd get into mental fight with a greater alpha dragon. But hey! At least I know what to do against Furious now!"

"That's good." Charcoal replied. He was smiling under the magic muzzle that Toothless had on him. "I guess there's still a lot for me to learn."

"Yup." Toothless responded as she changed course to the Isle of Berk. "You do."


Author Note

What's with the date?
It's there to show the "era" that the story takes place. 13th century is the apex of medieval civilization. I pick Year 1335 specifically because it's close to the Black Death plague, which historically started in 1346. That means, the story starts in 1330.

Yes, the date is a last second edit.

Originally, I want them to be somewhere around late 16th of century. This aligns with my reference on the "newly formed British and Germania Empire." But then I realised that things are kind of too modern at this point, and it was way off than what canon says – somewhere around 10th century. Specifically, Year 1010.

So, I dial them back down to 1126. But then I realise that gunpowder weapons and technologies were used by the Chinese since 11th century. Others in Middle East and Europe used them around 12th century, and from there, single-shot gunpowder firearms, like cannons and muskets, became widespread around 13th century. It's kind of strange that Hiccup can get a gunpowder when half of Europe doesn't. So, I changed it to 1335.

This is also where various kinds of kingdoms existed and came to be. This is the end of ancient history – the post-classical era. This is the Late Middle Ages. Coincidentally, Black Death plague happened in this century. It's the perfect era to make things exciting for the story, with a bit of alternative things to shake them up.

The flying lesson seems complicated.
It's inspired with how fighter planes worked. I oversimplified the explanation and based them off a real fighter aircraft experience. The wiki did compared Night Furies to P-51 Mustang, after all.

For dragons, their body already know how to fly. But the one controlling them need to learn how to control their flight. In case of Night Fury, they must learn how to control their flight. They have their tailfins as their elevator, ridged spines as their rudder, wings as both their aileron and propeller.

Their wings have joints that allowed them to move in horizontal axis. It's not just flapping up and down. They used them to spin and propel. It's like a bird, but with complexity of a plane. The more they have aircraft features, the faster and manoeuvrable they become.

What does tampering memory mean if it's not falsifying or modifying them?
Imagine you experienced something lovely. You remember that memory and you cherished them. Now, imagine if someone altered the nature of that memory.

You remembered touring around Paris, thinking about all the sights and whatnot. There's ups and downs that you remembered. You remembered the food, the sights, the locals - not everything is good for you, but you don't care about the bad. You only care about the good, because there's more good things than bad things.

They're good memories for you. Now, imagine someone changing that by shifting the focus in the memory. Instead of remembering the sights, thinking about it makes you remember how much you hate the locals. It changed which part you cared about that memory.

This is what I meant by tampering them. dragons could not falsify, remove or modify memory in any way without alpha dominance, but they could change the focus of that memory. It could be tampered to the point that the target did not care about them. This is how memories were being suppressed.

The Dragon Eye book title sounds familiar.
If you really thought you've heard it somewhere, congratulations! You're probably a software engineer! The title is inspired from "the dragon book", or also known as "Compilers: Principles, Techniques and Tools".

You'll find inspired titles like these spread out throughout the books. If you can find them all, congratulations to you. This will be the only fictional book title that I explained to you.

Why Dragon Eye revealed so early in the story?
I want to expand the lore on Dragon Eye. In franchise canon, the back story is mysterious. It's simply said that the ancestors of Dragon Hunters made them, which resulted in the creation of Dragon Eye.

In the story, the Haddocks made the Dragon Eyes. One was stolen a long time ago, and as you probably guessed, the Dragon Hunters came across that thing and used them. The one that Hiccup have doesn't have any charges nor lenses. It's just a paperweight until he got a lens for it or made a lens to contain information there.

It's going to play a major part when we got into RttE. For now, it's just simply there, and Hiccup would be studying it.

How does Dragonese works here?
In the story, they are more like a different mouth and tongue version of existing language. I ripped this one from a scrapped story that I have. The language dragons generally speak in Barbaric Archipelago is Norse-Dragonese, and they are one of the common languages for dragons in Meridian of Misery.

In the future, we'll see German-Dragonese, French-Dragonese, and others. You've seen Scottish-Dragonese, which was the language that Meatlug used. I won't dwell too much into it. They're used to characterize dragons that came from somewhere far away.


FFN Specific Author Note
Answering Your Reviews

Guest 1 - Gothi suspected something else, not necessarily Lycanwing. And as for Stoick, if I recall correctly, that sort of behavior was explained in previous chapters. In case it's not obvious yet: He utterly failed at parenting.


End Note

Thank you for reading my story. Thank you for leaving reviews and comments.

Next chapter will be posted around 10-11 August 2022, depending on the time zone.