- Blacksmith Shop, New Berk.
Toothless watched Hiccup tune his old Red Tail fin and recoat the entire thing with dragon's saliva as Luna looked at Gobber's hand collection curiously.
"Alright, let's go get the saddle." Hiccup got off his chair and Toothless followed him eagerly.
He missed the old tail, and saddle! He missed the feeling of harmony when he soared through the sky! Gobber grinned mischievously, and then lifted the damp tail fin. He opened the prosthetic, and then signaled for Luna to…
PEW!
Gobber laughed as he folded the dried tail, revealing Hiccup and Toothless who barely managed to duck down when Luna blasted her mini plasma.
Then everyone laughed, including Hiccup and Toothless as the saddle was strapped on. Toothless flipped Hiccup onto his back excitedly, the sound of metal clicking from the pedal is music to his ears.
"Wow! Never thought I'd get to use it again." Hiccup chuckled, then turned to his fiancée, "Ready?".
"Yup." Astrid replied from Stormfly's back.
Gobber watched the couple fly off into the sunrise with Luna, and then sighed ruefully. That sadness faded after Eret approached him, but at the same time, that heavy feeling in his chest refused to leave him.
Toothless, Stormfly and Luna followed the ocean toward the waterfall into the bioluminescence world. Hiccup and Astrid smiled at the sight of Einn practicing using his wings with Viska and Aurora watching.
"Goodmorning mam, si-"
*Seriously, Hiccup. Just drop the mam, sir stuff, and call us by our names.* Aurora rolled her eyes, *I didn't escape formal for another formal.*.
*Where's your human?* Luna asked her sister.
*Bohemia's Political Meeting, I'll have to go get her now, actually.* Aurora walked to her sister, *Take over.* That was the last thing she said before she flew away.
Hiccup and Astrid dismounted their dragons, and then prepared the blue prosthetic and harness.
"Time to be the teacher, bud." Hiccup chuckled.
*Trust me, Hiccup. I am The Expert.* Toothless mimicked Stoick's tone, causing his rider to laugh even harder as Astrid looked around with Stormfly.
Few humans were on their dragons back, and their interactions are certainly similar to how Berkians are with their dragons even with different cultures. Einn sighed as he looked at Toothless and Hiccup, Viska nuzzled him.
A few humans were on their dragon's back, and their interactions are certainly similar to how Berkians are with their dragons even with different cultures. Einn sighed as he looked at Toothless and Hiccup, Viska nuzzled him.
*It's ok, love,* He told his mate, *I am the one who gave up. I could have stayed, but I gave up…*.
Hiccup attached the blue prosthetic, and then picked up the harness.
"Excuse me, sir." Viska moved back, so Hiccup could put the harness on.
*No, Hiccup.* Einn stopped the young man, *We'll fly up there today.*.
Everyone froze at Einn's determination.
*Are you sure, dad?* Luna asked.
*You don't have to do this, you know?* Viska said calmly.
Hiccup stepped back, and remained silent with Astrid, Stormfly, and Toothless by his side. This is a family matter, it's better if they stay out of it.
*I have to, my love, for my own sake.* Einn replied, and then looked at Luna, *And I am sure.*
*Ok.* Viska nuzzled her mate, *I don't understand, but I respect your decision.*.
*Me too.* Luna joined her family hug.
Einn looked at the gate above him, and then at his family, and then Toothless and Stormfly, their riders were ready. Everyone smiled back at him, and even Luna didn't understand why, all she could do was be there for him.
Einn spread his wings, and started to float after the flaps of his wings, getting higher and higher with each flap that passed. Luna and Viska flew underneath him, with Toothless and Stormfly watching from both sides with their riders.
A sheen of sweat glistened on Einn's scales through each tumbling as the male Light Fury refused to give up. The group followed the male Light Fury towards the light, and after they felt the caress of water on their scales... sunlight finally came into view.
Einn landed on a large rock by the waterfall's edge, and then looked up at the sky with tears in his eyes. The others landed behind him as his eyes gazed toward the endless sea. Toothless nuzzled Hiccup, and the young man leaned down against him, content. They helped a dragon fly.
*Come!* Einn mewled at them, and then zoomed out toward the sea.
*Slow down, Love!* Viska laughed and followed him.
Hiccup and Astrid chuckled, and signaled for their dragons to follow after them along with Luna. Can't blame a dragon for their love to fly.
Hiccup and Astrid flew with The Light Fury Family on their dragons as they soared above the sea, passing a few Scauldrons and colourful Thunderdrums along the way. The sky was turning peach, Einn flapped his wings excitedly, wanting to go higher and higher, to feel home and then…
Everyone's eyes went wide at the sight of a tall stone arch of an island that came into their views. Luna looked at Toothless in worry as Hiccup nodded at a confused Astrid. It's 'Sub-Berk'. Einn quickly flew to the Island, and then landed before the arch.
Einn mewled mournfully at the skeleton of a man next to a Thunderdrum where its skull was detached from the body. Everyone landed behind him, the riders dismounted, and Hiccup knelt down to look at the ring he noticed on the skeleton. The image of the day he first entered the great hall, and his father showed him the paintings of the chiefs flashed before his eyes.
"Hamish the Second." Hiccup confirmed the man's identity.
He stood up, and then entered the remains of a small village with everyone. Everything was merely a memory of life that once lived here. Hiccup held Astrid's hand tight as they looked around, Old Berk's fate wasn't so different from this place even with dragons, the screams of panic from the past echoed in their heads.
Toothless and Stormfly nuzzled their riders, sensing their distress. Einn blasted his plasma at a black crystal that was stabbed on the ground, and it illuminated just like the one in The Hidden World. The male Light Fury chirped at everyone, the dragons nodded, and scattered around.
"What are they doing?" Astrid asked in confusion.
Hiccup watched the dragons grazing the ground for a similar crystal, "Finding Answers.".
Everyone returned to the riders after all the surrounding crystals were glowing in many different colors. A purple barrier field formed around the village, gone were the remains of the burnt. Hiccup and Astrid looked around in awe. The village wasn't flawless, there were few damages just like back when they fought dragons in Old Berk, but not so unrecoverably damaged like the ruins they just saw.
"We won!" A young man declared excitedly with the vikings after the battle was finally over.
Einn smiled at the sight of his old friend.
*You called that victory!?* Einn watched his past-self roar angrily, *Must I remind you that there's another war coming?*
*Oh, we'll manage, Einn.* A Deathly Galeslash replied as she nuzzled her female rider, *We've been through worse, remember?.*
*But we can't do this forever! Greedy humans always find a way!* Einn looked at his human, *And there are only 15 of you guys with 15 of us! When will you finally see that there's no way for-*.
*Guys!* A Terrible Terror flew to them in panic, *There's a very large armada coming!*.
The Vikings and dragons looked at each other in horror before they finally made their decision. No reassurance was exchanged… only trust and acceptance. They could take some battles and many enemy ships, but surely not an entire armada.
"This is our home, we'll fight till the very end." The Deathly Galeslash's rider replied.
*You guys can't be serious, right!?* Einn asked desperately as the dragons refused to let go of their riders, *We've found a better place! Why stay!? We've already lost our fledgling-hood to this hopeless war!*.
Toothless roared angrily, as Hiccup struggled to hold his best friend back from attacking Einn's past-self. Stormfly chirped her warning, and Toothless stopped immediately, quickly apologizing to present Einn. The older Light Fury only nodded calmly… he hated his old impulsive self too.
*THEN LEAVE!* AThunderdrum roared, and then looked at Hamish the Second, *We'll stay, this is our home.*.
Hiccup watched Einn's rider step back from the dragon's argument, and took a step closer to the cliff. The young man sighed at the vanilla horizon before he forced himself to smile at his best friend.
"It's ok, bud. You're right... This war will never end no matter what we both do. I'm sorry I didn't think about what you needed." Taking off his friend's saddle, and then turning the prosthetic auto, "You can go… You'll be safer there than you could ever be with me.".
Toothless couldn't brush off the worry as he used his wing to gently pull his Hiccup closer. That young man reminded him too much of his Hiccup. He looked at present Einn who mournfully watched his past-self fly away, and never look back… not even giving a goodbye.
"I'm the one who started this, I'll take the front." Hamish hopped on his Thunderdrum and flew toward the gate with only one sword.
"Not really a bad way to go." Another Viking laughed with his dragon before they left for their position.
This is the end… the furthest they could go as a very small tribe. The Deathly Galeslash's rider approached the lone viking, who would soon die alone.
"I'm sorry about Einn, Hiccup." She reached her left hand out toward his.
"It's ok, Randi." Hiccup gently squeezed her hand, their wedding ring reflected one another, "See you in Valhalla.".
Randi nodded and pulled him into a kiss, hugging him one last time before she followed the others to defend the village. The Forgotten Hiccup turned his face toward the setting sun one last time.
"Goodbye, Bud."
Still Beta-Read by our pal, TheWangY!
I… don't know what I should say after this lol xD I guess I better give a warning that the next chapter would be graphic.
Thank you so much for reading!