Ho- ly- nuggets. This took way longer than I wanted it to. Rest assured that LEPShot and I worked tirelessly these past weeks to get this chapter done as quickly as possible, but the truth of the matter is, it was a damned difficult chapter to write. But here it is! In all its 14K glory. Please enjoy and leave some feedback! PM's are fine, and I'll stop bothering you now.

P.S. Interest poll is still open.

Enjoy!

Chapter 32

Toothless

The wind howled in the ears of five Shades as they rode high above the ice. Far below, the frozen northern lands were laid out before them; a rolling expanse of empty white, interrupted infrequently here and there by a jagged protrusion of rock or ice.

Sycle's Wing flew in a spade formation; Kale at the point, Sycle and Ryshkaa on either side in the second tier, and Skuru with Toothless following in the final positions. Toothless flew on Sycle's side.

Kale made a minor adjustment to his path, and the other four changed with him in almost perfect synchronicity, shifting their course back toward Home Cave. Toothless' adjustment was slightly late due to the drag of the prosthetic, but Kale did his best to make each movement slow. They had scouted to the south, and Toothless had once again gotten to see the semi-permanent settlement of humans called Rakar, where Hiccup had stolen his cold gear.

The past week had been difficult, certainly, and uncomfortable in almost every aspect, but Toothless found that his bodyquickly shifted to the new tasks placed before it. He had gained the required muscle to keep pace with the rest of the wing, and his fat reserves had burned so that he was now toned to near peak condition.

What will Hiccup say?

Sycle had told him that they'd see each other before Hiccup was presented to The Three as an intelligent being. That was sure to be a stressful experience. With any luck they'd simply accept the fact and move on, but Toothless had an itching feeling that they would somehow take issue. The past week had taught him that the Three's only concern was the integrity of Home Cave.

To try to forget the coming night and relax, Toothless directed his full attention to the landscape below them. He found that it was easy for him to slip into a frame of mind where this giant and empty expanse seemed almost comforting. Like home.

Home. Toothless had not really considered the concept very much. After Hiccup had freed him, the forest had been his home, and now that he was no longer there, he'd immediately adopted the next available place, Home Cave. But was this truly Home? Or just another point in a list of locations that he and Hiccup would jump between until death? And then there was the matter of the Queen. If her growth was not checked, she would expand control beyond the oceans and eliminate any place he and Hiccup might one day call Home.

For a single moment, Toothless craved the comforting mental touch of his mother. Just one brush with a presence that was far beyond himself and would take care of everything. With a jerk, he saw once again before his eyes, the female Shade shaking from side to side, sending droplets of blood into the snow like rain. His wings twitched slightly, and he found himself wobbling out of formation. Immediately, Skuru dropped down, enquiring after Toothless' health and the status of his prosthetic. Toothless repelled the questions with a lash of his mind and snarled low and long.

A warning thought came from Sycle, and the older Shade gave a short, sharp chirp. This noise was familiar to Toothless after spending a week in the older dragon's company. It was the "shut up and fall in" signal. The individual did not matter when the Wing was active. Toothless pumped his wings and brought himself back up into formation, shoving the image of his dying mother from his mind. For just a moment, a thought from Ryshkaa brushed across his own mind. The pain in that thought was enough to make Toothless pause.

How was he supposed to react? He knew the pain that Ryshkaa felt every single day, and yet it was impossible to forgive her for her actions. Brief flashes of memory lanced across his mind, blurring his vision.

A white wolf sat, immobile and vulnerable, rushing towards him. Bitter fur between his teeth.

With a shake of his head he dashed the memory from his mind. He could not hate her. He could not forgive.

Toothless pondered this conundrum as the great Ice Shelf came into view. As Kale began to slant into a dive, the spade shifted, bringing each side together behind Kale. Ryshkaa meshed behind Skuru and in front of Toothless while Sycle moved into the rear. As a single line, the four dropped from the sky with Kale opening his lateral slits in a very precise way, producing the note that the Home Cave sentry could recognize. One by one they disappeared through the concealed opening.

As his sound waves traced over the contours of the ice ahead, Toothless dropped after Ryshkaa into what she referred to as the Atrium. Quickly, the five Shades dropped to the floor and stood in a ring. Sycle spoke.

"Excellent job following Kale, you three. Ryshkaa, you still break your downward sweep too early and it's making your path slightly erratic, focus on that tomorrow. Skuru, I want you sleeping tonight with your tail away from the fire. I'm pretty sure that fused spot on the fin is a burn and your climbing is shaky. Toothless, keep practicing with your prosthetic. I want you flying perfectly in tandem with everyone else as of yesterday."

Toothless snorted. Hiccup would be with him soon, and then the prosthetic would not matter.

"Alright, you three, off to bed. Toothless come with me. Your wait is over."

The nervous twitch that had stayed stuck in the tip of Toothless' tail spasmed violently, and the young Shade found himself swinging his tail from side to side. As they started down the Home Cave passage, every one of his steps was accompanied by shudders and a small whine rising from the back of his throat.

There was a small brush, as if Sycle had intended to speak, but then decided against it, and both began to lope down the passage and up through the massive main cavern.

The shelf was just coming into sight when a strange presence touched Toothless mind. At first, he recoiled and attempted to fight against it, but then Hiccup's voice spoke in his head... except, it didn't sound quite like Hiccup. The voice was fuller, with a slightly lower pitch than it had had before, and a hushed hissing whisper that sounded constantly in the background, saying things that Toothless could not quite make out.

"My love."

Toothless broke into a sprint.

XXX

Astrid

It was quite strange; rather than staying in the woods and keeping their distance, the swarm of dragons had shifted and taken up residence in the ruins of Berk. Astrid could see them all now, most lazing about in the sun, and quite a number seemed to be sleeping. The wind kept her safe, blowing her scent out to sea to the west.

Astrid shifted slightly, letting blood flow into the small sections of her feet that had been neglected and cut off by her stationary posture.

Above her, on a tree branch, the Terror napped, breathing silently after Astrid had walloped it over the head for snoring.

Our friends seem to be enjoying the afternoon.

Astrid glanced over her shoulder. The Night Fury had followed them and was now hanging from a tree, seemingly also snoozing. Something, however, made Astrid think that the black dragon was not asleep; a niggling somewhere in the back of her mind, some instinct that she could not help but trust. That sly devil was watching everything. It was always watching everything.

At the foot of a tree, some fifty yards away from the Fury, sat the twins. Ruffnut watched for movement in the swarm, while Tuffnut flicked his untrusting gaze continually between the Fury and the Terror.

Well, actually, I was referring to the swarm. But yes, our party is doing just fine as well.

Astrid had taken to mouthing her responses to 'Hiccup's' snarky remarks. It made for far less awkward situations, and the voice always responded as if she'd spoken.

"Well at least someone is. Those creatures out there are not friends to anyone, not even each other. We've seen them tear each other apart for no more than a scrap of meat or preferred resting place."

Pfff. Please. You just described Vikings with perfect clarity. And we haven't seen any of them.

"If I pretend not to hear you, you'd only gabble more. Am I right?"

Sounds about right, yeah.

Astrid sighed and hesitantly dropped down to sit with her back to a tree.

"What the hell am I supposed to do? We can't drop another mountain on them, we'd never get them all. There's nowhere near enough of us to attack them in any way, and conditions in that hall are probably becoming vile. We need to get them out. On top of everything, the dragons are sleeping in shifts! Half are awake during the day, and the other half watch at night! It's damn impossible!"

Well there's always the 'Hop on Night Fury's back and fly away, leaving the damned to their fate' plan. I was smart enough to do that.

"Well you are a coward and a traitor. I could care less what you've done."

If that's the case, why am I still bothering you after I'm gone?

That was a pretty good question. As she thought it, an extremely quiet gurgling sound emanated from the black dragon behind her, as if there were liquid in its throat. When she looked, the Fury still had its wings around itself like an enormous bat, obscuring its face.

I, of course, have no idea, but I would hazard to guess that he's laughing at you.

"Well I'm comforted by the fact that you don't know anymore than I do. He could be clearing his throat, or maybe gurgling just makes him happy."

The gurgle sounded again, along with quiet chuckles on the part of 'Hiccup'.

"I hate you both."

XXX

Hiccup

Hiccup did his best to maintain control of his air. The muscles in his legs and core cried out in protest as he balanced, one leg extended to the side and bent at a right angle, the other planted on the floor. It was his left leg that he stood upon, and his left arm was extended out, parallel with the floor. His other arm was crooked at the elbow and curled against his chest, hand open. In the center of his palm, a tiny flame danced and flickered, bright and orange.

For the most part, he was balanced. The energy creating the fire was a steady drain that was not difficult to sustain. The Binding Runes that held the Weh blades to the outside of his left bicep and the central side of his waist on his right consumed no more energy than it would have taken for Hiccup to hold the blades in his hands. It was his muscles that were having difficulty maintaining steady balance.

"Now close your eyes."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Did I sound amused?"

"I'll fall on my face!"

"That would be amusing, I suppose. Regardless, close them."

Hiccup did as he was told. At once, his leg began to quiver and he felt himself beginning to rock slightly.

"Stop that! The earth has not moved, so you should not either! Do not rely on your sight to orient your body. Use all of the tools available to you."

Hiccup paused and considered what his teacher might have meant. First, he tried to use the position of Alda's mind as a reference, but that only gave him a sense of lateral direction; he could not tell the exact direction of gravity from that.

Then, he smiled. Touch. The feeling of gravity. Hiccup focused on the burn in his arm, and in particular, the direction in which it was trying to fall.

Slowly, his body steadied and he became still once more, not letting the flame in his palm so much as flicker.

"Very good. Very good indeed. Now, if you will, show me all of the different parts of each of a Shade's three wings and give examples of maneuvers that use them."

Hiccup's lower lip twitched.

He started with the primary wing, focusing on the image and setting it in his mind, then pushing it toward Alda. He then began to spit out each and every way he knew of in which the wing could be altered to produce different forms of flight. He'd learned much in the past week, and there was much to tell.

Once again, his leg began to shake as his attention was divided. That same divided attention also rocked the flame in his palm as the energy the Rune was using became erratic, and it flared brightly before flickering out. Hiccup cursed quietly and attempted to relight it, but now his legs were shaking again. At the same time, the model of the wing in his mind extended and incorporated shoulders, chest, and eventually the head and face of Toothless.

Before Hiccup could stop it, the model had formed itself into a replica of his mate which focussed primarily on such features as the musculature of the neck and chest, as well as the long, lean frame.

"For heaven's sake, child, you'll see him in an hour or so! Don't go shoving his image into my head."

It was the final push. Hiccup fell to his knees and threw down his palms to catch himself. Instead of sprawling onto his stomach, Hiccup tensed his forearms and vaulted, flipping his legs over his head and landing on his feet.

"Denying me the pleasure of seeing you fall on your face? What a truly mean spirited boy you are."

"It seems that I have. But I object to your labeling me as mean spirited."

"I suppose you're right, or rather, you're no worse than others I have known. Now try again. Don't bother with the pose this time. You need practice with multitasking."

Hiccup sat down and crossed his legs, cupping his hands in his lap with the right palm facing upwards. Hiccup took a deep breath, and as he released it, he pushed. The energy in his blood raced downwards into his arm and the Rune lit first with a brilliant blue glow, followed swiftly by a tongue of flame.

The boy closed his eyes. Slowly, the primary wing of a Shade took form in his thoughts and he gently pushed it towards Alda, maintaining the steady stream of energy into his palm.

"The primary wing is the main source of a Shade's lift. It acts as the focal point for the upward force that counteracts gravity. Altering this wing alone can produce alterations in flight, but it relies on the other two sets of wings to balance and smooth each alteration."

And now Hiccup constructed the second wing set at an accurate distance from the first.

"The second wing set alters airflow past the torso. The air which normally would become turbulent is instead channeled by this set of wings and sent down the tail to the fins."

The tailfins took shape now, an accurate distance behind the second wing set. For a moment the flame in his palm flickered, but it wasn't more than a few seconds before it quieted and became steady.

"The tail fins' primary function is to act as a manipulation point for the rear half of the Shade's body. Alterations to the fins alter the facing of the tail, and by extension, the Shade. This twisting and rudder manipulation, in tandem with movements from the primary wings, create smooth, sloping turns, dives, and climbs."

Hiccup briefly opened his eyes. Alda sat before him with his slightly sagging wings just brushing the floor, heavily favoring his left side. The old dragon was gazing at Hiccup intently, and the boy rapidly closed his eyes again.

Before he could stop it, his thoughts began to alter his wing models. First a tail rushed upwards from the fins, connecting with a set of rear hips at the second wing set, and the rest of the body followed. Eventually the head took shape and Hiccup now held a model of Alda in his head.

But this was not Alda as he sat on the floor now; this was a young Alda, a powerfully built male Shade in the prime of his life. Shimmering scales and bulging muscle, accented by deadly claws and teeth.

"Flattery will get you into the best of places, except when the target has no delusions of grandeur."

"Apologies, Elder. I'll try again."

"Hiccup, you could repeat this exercise all night if you wanted to, but I think that won't stop you from filling in details. You have a very curious and precise mind. It seems that you simply can't stop at wings, but must create an entire Shade. It's just the way you think."

Hiccup allowed the flame to die in his palm.

"And besides, you may not look it now, but I'm sure you were a very handsome, masculine hatchling for most of your adolescence.

A gurgling guffaw emanated from the Shade's throat.

"Any one of my siblings would probably eviscerate you for that."

The boy's body tensed and he leaned forward eagerly.

"You have siblings?!"

Alda's right hind leg seemed to spasm and the old dragon let out a snarl as he fell slightly closer to the floor. Hiccup was halfway to his feet before his mentor shook his head.

"Don't mind me, Hiccup. This body is very old. There are a number of quirks that have cropped up in past decades."

After a quick review of the last week, Hiccup realized that he was very unfamiliar with Alda's physical body. It had mostly been the dragon's mind and the Runes that he'd interacted with. Now that he looked closer, he could see that the Shade's hind right leg was marked with a very precisely curved scar.

"Alda, what happened to your leg?"

The shift in his voice was unintentional, but he heard that it had heightened in pitch slightly, so that his concern was laid bare.

Then, the oddest thing happened; Hiccup felt a powerful nudge in his mind, almost like someone had shoved him. Upon reaching outwards, he discovered the source. Automatically, his eyes snapped shut, and Hiccup found himself floating amongst thousands of Runes.

Alda's mindspace was very different from the first time Hiccup had visited - where before little points of light had flashed along their lines between Runes and down to Alda's mind, light now pulsed outwards from the mind in waves. Each wave of light blasted outward from a single point on the sphere far below and swept through each and every one of the suspended Runes.

"Elder! Are you alright?" Hiccup's voice echoed quietly in the distance, but there was no response from Alda. Briefly, he flashed his eyes open to find that Alda's body had collapsed and now lay shuddering on the floor. Swiftly, the boy placed his feet beneath him and leapt to his teacher's side. One scaled hand came to rest on the old Shade's forehead.

As if on their own, Hiccup's eyes snapped closed again, and he found himself hurtling down towards Alda's mind, and the spot he was gravitating toward was the origin of the light waves. Another swelled outward and Hiccup felt it pass, battering against his conscious. His head was starting to throb now.

Before he could even think to call out again or make a sound, the glowing point in Alda's mind rushed past him, and he found himself falling through a brilliantly blue sky.

Clouds rushed past. On all sides were the enormous winged shapes of Shades. The group was so thick, Hiccup had trouble seeing the sky beyond.

Looking downward, Hiccup saw what he knew to be the great Ice Shelf, along with the mountain that housed the system of caves his body was sitting in now. He had just figured out that he was in a memory when a high pitched shriek split the air. The Shade closest beside Hiccup had opened the sounding slits along its side.

The shrieking began to pick up in volume and intensity as the Shades all around began to open their slits as well. The sound was piercing, and Hiccup's throbbing head truly started to hurt at that point. It completely threw off his attempts to estimate the number of Shades around him, but there had to be more than a thousand.

Without any noticeable signal, the entire swarm angled downward and dropped toward the mountain. As they fell, a mental shout hit Hiccup's thoughts.

"Stop! If you do not explain yourselves immediately, we shall retaliate with our full measure of strength."

With that, a chorus of shouting voices filled the void. It was such a confusing deluge that Hiccup was only able to pick out individual words and tiny phrases.

"...Stop you... murderers... can't... abominations... evil... your tongues... blood... answer... death!"

The shouting continued as the swarm began to circle the mountain, still falling towards the ground.

Suddenly, Hiccup was blinded by a flare of light that shone from somewhere on the mountain surface. Before he could understand what was happening, a column of violet light lit the sky, burning an image onto his eye and showing every Shade in the swarm as a stark silhouette.

When the image cleared from his eyes, Hiccup watched about one hundred Shade's fall from the sky, wings flapping loosely as the air dragged at them. The swarm broke apart as the angry shouts turned to panicked cries. Shades were now flying in every possible direction. Some collided, and others began to snarl and bite.

Glancing down again, showed Hiccup an even more frightening sight; a second cloud of Shades was rising from the mountain. With their black hides glowing with odd shapes and strange light, it was clear that each and every member of this new cloud was covered in Runes.

As the two clouds intersected, Hiccup saw one of the marked Shades catch one of the unmarked swarm around the neck and bite down. On his other side, one of the marked dragons hit an unmarked from behind. There was a brief flash of light, and grey coloring spread across both bare wings as flesh became stone. The Shade fell. As the marked Shade turned to resume the fight, four dragons baring no Runes tore into him, letting him fall to the ice as helpless as their petrified brother moments later.

Angry yelling resumed on both sides now, and as more and more pairs of Shade's began to meet mid-air, blood started to rain from the sky.

For one moment, Hiccup's physical eyes flashed open, and he was looking down at Alda to see something he'd never thought he'd see; his teacher was staring up at him, and there was fear in his old eyes.

As if pulled by some unseen force, Hiccup's eyes snapped shut again.

Everything was dark. Pitch blackness stretching in all directions, but there were sounds - angry snarls and shrieks emanated from the darkness all around him in such a loud and volumous fashion that Hiccup could tell that the actual space was very confined. Before he'd even finished thinking that, the darkness was erased very suddenly by a burst of location echoes.

A scene revealed itself; a cramped and small tunnel that reminded Hiccup very much of Home Cave with it's smooth walls came into evidence with an enormous crowding of bodies crammed within. The image was frozen as there had only been one pulse. Some Shades were marked with Runes, while others had none. Each and every dragon was frozen in a state of violence, either dealing harm to those around them, or else receiving it and becoming disfigured.

Directly in front of his face, Hiccup saw a drop of what he assumed to be blood, hanging suspended and still, shining silver in the white light of the sound pulse.

Then, the image faded. All the while, the raging sounds of rage and battle continued, its intensity reverberating around the tunnel and growing to such a degree that Hiccup covered both his ears to block some of the deafening noise.

Another sound pulse flooded the tunnel, and Hiccup was able to pick out it's origin through the chaos; two Shades, one a marked adult female, the other a young male with far fewer Runes, were frozen in the center of the tunnel. They were most evident, first because the pulse that had painted the silvery image in Hiccup's ear originated from the young male's mouth. It was wide open, and the ears pushed forward to catch the echo. There were Runes of Clarity on the inside of the male's ears and the surface of his tongue.

They were also very easy to see because they were not attacking any of the other dragons. Several bodies seemed to be falling away from the female, as if she'd shoved them out of the way.

And as this image also faded, the raging sounds of battle did as well. Everything faded slowly into silence.

Thud.

A concussive blast passed through Hiccup's chest.

Thud.

The vibration was resonant and Hiccup shivered slightly.

Thud.

With this third vibration of sound, a third sound pulse emanated from the young male's mouth. The scene that revealed itself this time was simultaneously elating and horrifying.

The female stood with wings stretched across the passageway, casting a shadow of pitch darkness before her that the young male could not sense due to the obstruction, but behind the adolescent dragon, drops of what could only be blood dripped from the ceiling in copious amounts. Along with the suspended drops clattering to the ground lay malformed shapes of varying sizes strewn next to large figures of still Shades. Hiccup was suddenly very glad that his only means of sensing the tunnel was the imprecise echolocation of the young dragon before him.

The underside of the female's wings, which faced toward Hiccup, were covered in more Runes than Hiccup had time to count. On each wing, a small cluster of Runes in the center were encircled by two rings, and blazing with light. Hiccup turned now, and he could see the bodies - or, in some cases, pieces of bodies - of Shades now lay along the walls of the tunnel, leaving the center completely clear.

A smile was just crossing Hiccup's face when he turned back towards the other two. A screech the likes of which the human was lucky to have never heard before now dug its way into his ears.

The young male stood behind the female, his face twisted into a horrible mask of agony.

Behind the young dragon, Hiccup saw a marked Shade lying against the wall. This Shade's left wing was missing, and blood poured from dozens of gashes in it's side. Its teeth were clamped around the young male's right hind leg. A pattern of Runes were lit brightly on aggressing dragon's face. Three Runes that did not seem to belong in the same configuration, and for a moment Hiccup was confused - the Runes were Fire, Scale, and Weakness.

Hiccup gasped. This Shade lying on the ground had inscribed a configuration which he was using to make the young dragon's scales susceptible to fire.

Now Hiccup could hear the hiss of flesh, and as the image from the echo faded, the scream continued.

Rapidly, the darkness changed. In the distance, flashes of light were visible, and the tunnel was vaguely defined. Hiccup saw a single bright point; a glowing green iris was visible where the young male's head had been, as though the eye had just opened.

The walls that were once grey shined crimson as blue light emanated from around the young dragon's leg, and liquid, onyx scale pooled around his claws. Slowly, the glow faded along with the scream until the only thing left that was visible was the glowing iris, constricted in pain.

In front of him, the human sensed movement. Hiccup could barely see the female in the dark tunnel, but her direction was clear; straight towards the attacking Shade. In two rapid bounds she was above him, and a final, resounding crunch violently snuffed the life behind the dying dragon's eyes. With it, the vague scene of the tunnel also faded.

After a few moments, the space in front of Hiccup was lit with dull sunlight. Ahead, a shaft of muted sunlight pierced through the ceiling of a large snow cave.

The young male lay on his side under the light. Where his right hind leg should be, there was a thin, twisted mass of fused scale and seared muscle. Hiccup's stomach turned over as the putrid scent reached him, then it dropped as a whisper echoed in his head.

"For my love, and for your siblings, life."

The female rapidly sketched a Rune onto the male's chest. Hiccup recognized it as one of the first twenty that Alda had taught him.

Life.

A shudder ran through the younger dragon's body. His eyes, which before had been closed tightly, snapped open. The green irises were shimmering and flashing with silvery, internal light as the air came to life around the two Shades. Crackling, golden energy sparkled inside the female's eyes, and after the Rune upon the hatchling's chest grew in intensity, two thin tendrils of light stretched from her pupils and inched towards her offspring. Hiccup watched as the lightning-like connections were joined by a multitude of other strands of halcyon light originating from the older Shade's forehead and temples.

Upon reaching the motionless adolescent, all of the tendrils made contact in matching positions on the Shade's body, with the thickest of the golden lines replacing the green hue of his eyes.

Immediately, all of the thin strands began pulsing, and Hiccup was sure that should he feel for the female's pulse, it would be perfectly in sync with the rhythm of the connections.

With every pulse, the male's body grew simultaneously brighter and darker; as silver light seemed to shine from every crack between his scales, starting from his neck and making its way down his body, the scales of the young dragon became darker, tougher and shinier. The human was enraptured, seeing the distinct outline of supple muscle form under the new scales as the light spread. The Shade's forelegs bulked up in seconds, his claws sharpened, and his chest and shoulders grew broader as the radiance continued downwards.

The silver glow reached the male's stomach, and there was a sudden, heaving breath from the female as the pulses of light became erratic. Hiccup saw her eyes widen in distress as the lines connecting mother and son flickered, yet the aura encapsulating the male did not slow; on the contrary, it increased in speed.

While the light spread like an unchecked contagion across the adolescent's body, quickly covering his back, navel, and tail, the female gasped and choked on her own breath as the slow, steady pulses of the connections sped up exponentially.

Sinking to her belly to convulse weakly, tail thrashing and sending charred flakes of deceased Shades every which way, her luminous scales withered and turned ashen, her muscles decayed before Hiccup's eyes, and the inside of her mouth turned the color of the midnight sky as her blood flow stymied, yet the golden tendrils remained locked between the two as they violently thundered with energy, pouring it all into the male.

When the silver glow reached the critically wounded hind leg of the young Shade, the sudden increase in luminosity clearly highlighted the gory scene around the trio, but Hiccup kept his eyes on the living dragons before him. As steam coiled around the male's lower half, gold sparks danced across the grievous injury as they reformed muscle, stitched it together seamlessly, covered it with leathery armor, then winked out of existence. With them, the aura around the young Shade faded and the tendrils receded, dying out before they made it back to the husk of the female.

At the exact moment the light vanished, what little strength that was left in the female seemed to disappear, and she collapsed with a dull crunch onto the stone floor.

The young male bounded over to her side, his now-nonexistent injury completely forgotten, and his new health, powerful body ignored. He prodded her neck with his snout, but to both his and Hiccup's horror, the scales crumbled and fell away, leaving greyed and decaying flesh beneath. An anguished cry was ripped from the young male's throat as he leapt away. For a few minutes, the male simply sat, curled in on himself, staring at what was once his mother. Then, he jerked.

"Siblings." The word whispered itself quietly through Hiccup's thoughts.

The adolescent dragon leaped to his feet and brought a paw down on the shell of the body's side with savage force. Shards of ashen scale flew everywhere, and long gashes were left in the mephitic flesh beneath. After a few seconds, the streaks of torn muscle began to ooze blood; thick, congealed, and black. Wildly, the dragon slashed again, and again.

He applied both paws, and eventually, a great slab of muscle came away, revealing a crumpled interior. All of the organs appeared to have been dried and constricted into a tiny lump. It looked to Hiccup very much like the core of some rotten piece of fruit, with gaping spaces and wrinkled flesh where once there had been precious vitality.

The opening was leaking fluid now. It seemed to be a combination of jellied, pitch blood, as well as some form of bile or pus. The smell drove Hiccup to near sickness on the spot.

With his only reaction being a wrinkling of the nose, the young dragon reached a limb into the cavity and pulled back violently, a large, bulbous sack of flesh caught in his claws. As it came forth from the body, the sack split, spilling a water-like liquid over the cave floor along with three oblong and weakly-pulsing objects slightly bigger than Hiccup's fist.

When Hiccup moved closer and examined them in the faint light from the ceiling, he saw that they seemed to be made of a smooth and unlined form of Shade scale.

The young male opened his mouth, bathing the objects in violet flames. The entirety of the tunnel and the carnage it contained was revealed in crystalline detail, but Hiccup paid heed only to what he guessed to be eggs.

Now the male was retracting his teeth while gripping one of the eggs with his jaw. With a flick of his skull and a strange working of the jaw, the egg disappeared. He did the same with each of the other two eggs. A slight bulge formed where his neck met his jaw.

The male turned, resting a paw on the side of his mother. A very low and pulsating chirping sound came from deep in his chest, and he pushed his head up under the wizened wing. The limb crumbled to dust around him, and a drop of moisture fell to the floor. The chirp rose and became a howl, and he quickly moved his claw in a very precise line, drawing a shape. Hiccup recognized 'Fire'. Rapidly, smooth, indigo tongues of flame engulfed the body as the male leaped upwards and pulled himself through the opening in the roof.

There was a terribly loud gasping noise, and Hiccup opened his eyes. Before him, Alda was sprawled on his side, chest heaving and eyes moving rapidly from side to side. Hiccup wrenched his limbs from their seemingly frozen state ran a hand down the old dragon's throat, feeling the thundering pulse, far too fast for a Shade.

"Alda!"

A great and final jerk passed through Alda's body, and then he lay still.

"I'm sorry, boy. That was not a very well-mannered thing for me to do."

Now that Hiccup was aware of his own body again, he felt his own heart racing.

"What was that?! Whose memory was that?! When did it happened?! There were so many..." His voice trailed off into silence. After about three minutes, Alda spoke.

"Draw your blades, Hiccup."

The command seemed to be random and without reason, so Hiccup obeyed slowly, and with intense scrutiny of his teacher. He lowered his left hand to his hip, while raising his right to the outside of his left bicep. Both hands grasped their blades, and pulled. As they did, Hiccup cut off the flow of energy beneath the Runes that held the blades in place. They came away from his body. Alda had curled into a small compact ball, his wings hid all of his legs from view and his tail was tucked tightly underneath.

"Hiccup, the Weh blades were not commonly used by Shades. In fact, they were only used by a group of about fifty. I spoke briefly of the Silver Age..."

"The height of the Shade race!" Hiccup bit his lip after realizing that he'd cut his teacher off.

"Indeed, Hiccup. The height of our race. Back then, many knew of the Heart's Fire, and were able to use it. Thousands congregated here in the north and lived together peacefully, trading knowledge and cooperating with one another."

"But, Alda, if the ones cooperating were only those using the Heart's Fire, what about the rest? All the others that couldn't use it or that didn't live in the North?" Hiccup repositioned himself, sitting next to Alda and placing what he hoped was a comforting hand on the old dragon's forehead while placing his blades on the floor in front of him.

"Shades, as you know, are extremely adaptive. They can gain nutrients from almost any living thing they sink their teeth into. They can live in hot or cold climates, as they are well insulated and regulated, and they mostly live alone, roaming far and wide. Rather, that's how the southerners lived. Any Shade that did not possess the Heart's Fire or live in very close proximity to those that did were very isolated and distrusting of others.

It was one particular group of northerners that did not like the way things were, that shattered our world. About fifty or so of them, all young and foolishly idealistic, decided that they could use the powers they'd been gifted with to teach other Shades the Northern way; the communal way. They called themselves the Weh, and they travelled far and wide telling any Shade they could find of the joys of living together."

Hiccup had flinched at the mention of the Weh, and stared down at his blades.

"Normally, this would not have been a problem; such things had happened before. The other Shades would have simply ignored the youngsters and no harm would have come. But the Weh had a leader, a single Shade that stepped up and took command as well as all responsibility for the group's actions. Her name was Kair. Something drove her, to take this mission of the Weh far beyond what seems reasonable or logical to any sane creature. Kair decided, that if other Shades would not accept the northern way, then she would impose it."

Hiccup's brow furrowed, and his hand began to draw irritated circles on Alda's forehead.

"Kair taught and trained the Weh how to fight as a group to greatest effect. They used the Heart's Fire to fashion their blades and they swept across the southern lands, forcing as many Shades as they could into a single place. Those that resisted were slaughtered."

Heat flashed through Hiccup's chest and for a moment, his eyes felt hot. He looked down, seeing crimson blood coursing over the blades on the floor, before shaking his head to find that the liquid was gone.

"Of course the backlash of this plan was the imbalance. Fifty Shades, no matter how young, can not subjugate a race numbering in the tens of thousands. Mental ripples expanded outward from the place where the Weh kept their would-be followers, and the entirety of the Shade race descended on them. The fifty of them took hundreds down, but they were eventually torn apart by overwhelming numbers. Once again, that would have been the end of it, if not for Kair. She was the last of the Weh to fall. When it was clear that she would die, she used a series of Runes to release all of her Heart's Fire at once. The detonation incinerated upwards of five hundred Shades. The entirety of our race turned in anger, to the North."

Hiccup gasped. If the entirety of the race of Shades had attacked the North, then what he had just seen...

"What you just witnessed Hiccup, are some of my memories from my days as an adolescent. You see, I was there when the Silver Age was burned to the ground. I was there when our race destroyed itself. I took my three siblings from my mother's body, after she sacrificed her life to allow me to live on, and to prosper and raise them. I locked myself with the eggs inside a snow bank, using Runes of concealing and protection, as well as Runes of sleep. When the violence was over, I emerged with my sisters and brother some fifty years later as a member of a race on the verge of extinction."

A tear fell from Hiccup's face and splashed on Alda's ear. The impact seemed far too loud.

"How could tens of thousands of Shades just... kill each other?!" Alda's reply sounded tired, and was filled with a sorrow so deep, it spanned centuries.

"Hiccup, there were only a few thousand northerners, but they killed far more than a normal Shade ever could. They used their powers in defense, and decimated their own species as a result."

"What did you do when you realized...?"

"The Three and I sought out this place for a decade or so. It's familiarity and relative safety made for a good starting point in life. Unfortunately, I found this hall, and became lost in it's teachings. You see, my siblings are all barren of the Heart's Fire. These Runes mean nothing to them. Their strength lies in their combined mental prowess. It was they that first discovered the threat of the Queen."

Alda paused for a moment then snorted.

"Heavens above, we're late. Come youngling, we can discuss this later. Now, we must convince my siblings of both your intelligence, and your trustworthiness."

XXX

Astrid

Astrid stumbled as a root attempted to obstruct her path. With a quiet curse, the blonde Viking punched the tree that the roots connected to as hard as she could. A few knuckles popped with satisfying clicks, and when she looked, a few layers of skin were missing. She flexed her hand and smiled slightly.

Violence making everything better as usual.

"Look, it's not my fault that the brute ran off. I don't even know why I'm following him!"

Because we are both concerned about his well being, given that he's the most powerful ally that we have in a truly hopeless situation.

Astrid started to walk again, keeping one hand on her knife. Ahead, she saw an indistinct shadow pass through the foliage of a tree, signalling the presence of the Night Fury.

Where's our Terror?

For a brief second, panic shot through Astrid's body, stiffening her limbs and making her head jerk wildly from side to side. Then she regained herself, rolled her eyes, and turned to look behind her. The Terror was there scratching at the bark of a tree, and running its tongue through the gashes.

"It's right there, eating the foul insects that it loves so much. Now will you please shut up? I'm trying to follow Death's offspring."

That's a load of yakshit and you know it.

Astrid decided to break the thread of conversation before she ended up in a shouting match with thin air... again. She instead looked upwards, and noticed through the trees in the distance, dark clouds beginning to boil over the sea on the horizon.

Ahead, the Night Fury suddenly dropped from the tree it had been balanced in and dived headlong into a bush. A shriek and a snapping sound followed. Astrid's knife was free of its sheath before she'd actually considered drawing it and she sprinted toward the bush.

Skidding to a halt, she was met with the black face of the Fury with eyes wide and the broken body of a Terrible Terror hanging from its mouth. Astrid gave a strangled yell and whipped around. Her distraction was evident in that she showed her back to a potential foe, but her fear was laid to rest almost instantly when she saw her Terror with its distinct scar sitting on a tree branch behind her. Without knowing why she did it, she made a clicking sound in the back of her mouth.

The Terror immediately jumped from bough to her shoulder. She then turned to the Fury with an angry curl in her lip.

"You scared the hell out of me, dammit. Warn us or something next time." The black dragon gave an extra loud gurgle and dropped the carcass at her feet.

Astrid was about to give the Fury the clout on the nose that it so richly deserved, but she was interrupted by a very loud roar from above.

A burst of maroon flashed in her eye before Astrid was knocked backwards by a powerful impact to her stomach. There was a rushing sound as the world dimmed as air left her lungs. Her eyes widened and lightning shot through each of her limbs. Directly ahead, the undersides of several different pine tree boughs came into sharp focus, while the breaks of sky between them seemed to fuzz and blur. She was aware of the constricting tail of her Terror, tightening around her neck as it fought to stay on her shoulder.

It was her head that hit the tree. For a moment, the world went black and sound cut off entirely. After some period of time, there was a sharp stabbing sensation at the base of her skull.

Red veiled Astrid's sight as her eyes jerked open. She sat up rapidly, and the blood drained from her skull, taking the red mist, and some of the underlying fuzziness away with it. The pounding throb in her skull served to rouse her further.

Before her was a sight so strange, it took her a few moments of staring to register what she was seeing. On the ground to her left, she saw the body of a Monstrous Nightmare with a split running across it's abdomen, blood welling across the ground. It was very clearly dead. Astrid assumed that it was the Night Fury that killed it. This much, she could comprehend. However, when she glanced to the left, reason seemed to disappear.

A writhing mass of yellow shifted back and forth across the ground, shrieking and squealing with underlying thunderous roars. Occasionally the mass would crash into the trunk of a tree and some of the mass shifted and splayed across the ground. Astrid was then able to see what made up the strange mound; it was a swarm of Terrible Terrors, all mobbing over a single black shape that Astrid could recognise now - the Night Fury, raging and bellowing away as the tiny menaces nipped at it.

The final thing that she registered was that four other Terrors were separated from the swarm, crouched in a semicircle around her splayed body, and a single Terror standing on her stomach in an angry posture, shrieking imperiously at the four.

One of the four leapt. Astrid's befuddled mind was too clouded to react, but the Terror sitting on her chest leapt as well, striking the aggressor out of the air and leaping back to take up his position again.

As Astrid started to catch up to what she was observing, her hand went automatically for her knife.

That was a nasty bump. You're bleeding down your neck so there's at least some kind of gash. With any luck your skull didn't break.

The blond Viking snarled and rose to a kneeling position, fighting through the pounding agony in her skull.

Two of the four Terrors now leapt in tandem. The Terror on her chest once again leapt to intercept one, while the other sailed towards her face. Automatically the knife rose, and there was a crunching thud as she sent the unchecked attacker flying off to the side. After a brief and very loud scuffle, Astrid's Terror rose from the body of the other attacker and leapt back to the Viking's chest, then scrambled up onto her shoulder.

With a very low grunt and a powerful bite to her lower lip, Astrid rose to her feet through a cloud of pain. The other two Terrors were attacking now, but once again her knife flashed once, twice, and even more blood spattered the already sodden earth.

The world tilted slightly as Astrid's head continued to pound, and she tried to maintain her balance while studying the opposing dragons at the same time.

Don't let me distract you or anything, but you seem a bit out of sorts. Your gaze keeps slipping off to the left.

Astrid gritted her teeth and stared intently at the mass of Terrors.

There's more than fifty there I think. Attacking them would be absolutely useless unless you could break them...

A rushing sound deafened the disoriented girl as a sudden column of air raced between the trees. Her hair was blown free of its binding, which had probably been loosened by her introduction with the tree at her back, and it flowed outwards in the sudden wind. Almost as if they were jumping, the mound of Terrors all seemed to float up and away from the black dragon beneath.

Astrid could see it now, shoulders heaving and eyes wide, with a strange symbol glowing in cyan blue on it's chest. The symbol faded quickly. The Night Fury sniffed at his own foreleg and the blood that was running down it before lifting his head and roaring to the heavens. After a brief instant, flame leapt from his throat and the pine boughs above him immediately caught ablaze.

In case you're not paying attention, which I know you're not, you've been attacked by a Nightmare and a swarm of Terrors; a swarm which is now scattered and vulnerable. I suggest you retaliate like he's doing.

Without further prompt, Astrid found that her body leapt into action of its own accord. Her knife whipped repeatedly toward the ground, occasionally striking the quickly-moistening earth, but more often than not the slashes found their way into the scaled necks and chests that they were intended for. She staggered slightly, but continued in a mostly straight line towards the Night Fury.

The Terrors, in the meantime, were getting to their feet, making attempts to regroup and fall upon the Night Fury once more. However, they found their attempts impeded by swinging talons and sweeping wings. Each group that formed and moved forward was broken apart and sent flying by a physical blow or blast of air from the large black dragon.

Astrid was finding it difficult to stay standing as her head continued to throb and her vision fluctuated.

To the left! Astrid's knife whipped around and decapitated a Terror midair. Legs! Her left fist pounded two dragons into the ground that had attempted to climb her knees, splitting her knuckles wide open in the process. Stick close to the big guy; he has the right idea!

As Terrors were sent flying left and right, Astrid's left hand fell on the Night Fury's large and blood soaked shoulder. The dragon snarled and turned towards her, only to turn away again and swipe at another group of milling Terrors.

Smoke was starting to drift into Astrid's eyes now. She spared a glance upwards; most of the trees around the two of them had been consumed and were now dotted with glowing embers across black trunks. They could fall very soon. Dispatching two more Terrors allowed her a look around. Bushes and deadwood around the clearing were starting to light, and the smoke was flowing low over the ground as the breeze picked up.

Astrid gave a slight cough. Then shouted, "What did you have to go and set the forest on fire for?!" An angry snarl was the Fury's only response.

The Terrors, Astrid! We're angry at the Terrors! Three had jumped at the same time. A single slash from Astrid's knife opened all of their throats to the elements; the elements which were becoming more and more sodden and violent with each minute. The sky was growing dark even without the smoke as the clouds overhead turned black. Flashes of lightning were arcing in the distance as water droplets splattered on Astrid's face.

A Terror which she had not seen raked its claws across her cheek as it passed by her face from behind. Without even considering, she whipped the blade across her body and sliced the small dragon in two. A guttural howl rose in her throat and she ran forward once again, pain forgotten and disorientation disregarded. She began to lash out at her left and right like a mad creature, chopping innocent fern along with dragonhide to pieces. Behind her, the Fury echoed her roar and gave wider sweeping strokes of his wings, not just knocking Terrors aside, but hurling them toward the enraged Viking. One by one, they met their end.

It was raining in earnest now. Heavy, fat droplets of water pounded down from the sky in sheets, and Astrid's vision began to blur as her eyes filled with alien fluid. After a few minutes of mindless, ruthless butchering, interrupted only by the occasional sting of a tail in her ribs or teeth around her shoulders, she found that she was having to run after the Terrors as they were no longer attacking her. They all seemed to be scrabbling away into the brush.

She snarled angrily and leapt after them, pushing aside branches that had recently been aflame but now were beginning to cool and go out with the onset of the storm. Just as she was about to swing at the tail of an escaping Terror, a bloodied, black curtain obstructed her path and view. She bounced off of it and fell back into a firm, warm surface. She tried to push off and run again, but the curtain before her contracted and wrapped itself about her, pressing her into the mass behind. Struggling, she looked up into the face of a maimed and shaking Night Fury.

The fingers of her right hand twitched around the handle of her dagger as she registered a dragon both in her sights and within striking distance.

I swear to the gods, if you stab him, I'll make you suffer.

She jerked, and the knife fell from her hand. Before she could even begin to think of what had happened over the past ten minutes, her eyes closed, her head found the dragon's chest, and she fell into blackness.

XXX

Toothless

The moment was both joyous and frightening. Hiccup's mind became apparent, as if a thick shroud of wool had just been whipped away, but it felt strange; the mind of the young human had grown. It had expanded and developed to encompass far more things than the boy had known upon leaving Berk. Toothless reached out instinctively and took hold of the conscious, wrapping it up in his own thoughts.

Things began to flow in. Strange things. Things that Hiccup had learned, and yet, were not his. Toothless saw memories of other dragons that told stories and instructed. Hiccup knew all there was to know about Shade anatomy - he knew even more about Toothless' body than Toothless did.

But the thing Hiccup remembered most was a large and recent memory that stayed shrouded from Toothless. All he could distinguish was that it involved Alda.

Simultaneously, Toothless felt his own experiences being picked at, but Hiccup was not reading the thoughts as he once had, looking at them all and trying to take them in all at once; rather, his thoughts separated a single knew memory, and examined it in excruciating detail. Hiccup rapidly began to learn again. He searched and analyzed all of Toothless' experience in the past week.

He learned much of Shade fighting, and dragon to dragon combat. He learned of the Wings and their routines, habits, and duties. Finally, he took in the truth of Ryshkaa, and the past that they shared with her.

XXX

And both of them, as one, froze. The joining complete.

Every single thing that they knew about Ryshkaa, whom they'd met some weeks ago, flashed through their mind.

Ryshkaa is Lonely.

Ryshkaa is Strong.

Ryshkaa is Sad.

Ryshkaa is a Murderer.

Ryshkaa feels Remorse.

Ryshkaa deserves...

Unfortunately, adding Hiccup's thoughts to his own had not solved Toothless' conundrum. It had placed their very feelings at an Impasse. Hiccup believed that Ryshkaa deserved forgiveness, referencing her daily pain as evidence. Toothless believed that she deserved death.

Hiccup spoke as an individual, the strange whispering of his mind acting as a dull background to his words, "We will have to deal with this later."

"TOOTHLESS!" The roaring shout echoed through their mind as Sycle's voice brought Toothless back to his own body, which he now realized was frozen in a position of semi movement, one foreleg outstretched as though to take a step.

"Yes Sycle?" Toothless found that Hiccup spoke at the exact same time that he did, and a small human smile tugged at his lips. Turning, Toothless beheld the elder Shade, with his posture frozen in a comical combination of shock, and annoyance. Obviously Toothless had seemed to simply freeze, but now, Sycle was unsure what to make of this new voice.

Toothless decided to make it easy for him.

"Come, Sycle. I'll introduce you properly to my mate."

Toothless continued on toward the ledge, leaving a narrow eyed Sycle standing stock still behind. After a few steps, the young dragon's excitement overcame him and he bounded up the rest of the slope. When he crossed the ridge at the top, he skidded to a dead halt as a tense scene was revealed.

Alda stood in the center of the smaller cavern, facing the elevated ledge before him where the Three sat. The trio of elderly dragons all were in states of blatant unease, rustling their wrinkled wings and shifting their weight between each of their creaking limbs.

As soon as Toothless came over the last rise, a shape separated itself from Alda; a distinctly human shape.

It turned.

Toothless froze.

Hiccup stood on the balls of his feet, knees slightly flexed in a very mobile and motion-ready stance. The boy had been drastically altered over the course of the past few weeks. Toothless found himself slowly stepping towards him as he took in each knew feature.

The boy wore only his stolen leg garments, leaving his feet and torso bare. The feet themselves were now covered in the shining, black, scale unique to Shades, with sharpened protrusions where the nails used to be. Above the garment, the torso only had patches of human skin left, while the rest of the sculpted and muscular flesh covering the ribs and stomach were scaled. The largest patches were located directly below the...

What's the human term? Pectorals?

Hiccup's richer, whispering voice responded. "That's what they're called." The smile in his voice warmed Toothless straight through to his toes.

The arms were entirely encased in obsidian flesh, and the same sharp points projected from each of the boy's fingers.

The final feature that caught Toothless' eye was the stripe of scale that ran up the left side of Hiccup's neck and across the bottom of his face to connect with the scaled line that ran through his eye. Extremely thin lines of black extended from that line across his face, and finally, at long last, Toothless found the eyes.

Hiccup starred directly back, and Toothless felt an almost physical connection to the opposite set of emerald orbs, and he could sense that Hiccup was experiencing the same sensation. For a moment, it was the only thing that existed in their mind; a single set of viridian jewels, bound to emerald pools of fire.

The Shade felt the connection shatter as Hiccup's body broke it's rigid stance, and he leaped to Toothless with a single bound of inhuman strength.

Toothless felt the impact reverberate in his neck and chest, and his eyes widened in shock as his wing subconsciously reached for the boy; Hiccup had never been able to exert physical force like that before.

"What have you been doing this past week? Well, actually, I know, but still! There's muscle to spare here!"

The young dragon shivered as a smooth, scaled palm ran itself across his chest. Before he could refocus his thoughts into a response, their exchange was interrupted by a thunderous trio of voices vibrating in unison through their thoughts.

"If you don't mind! We were just about to examine the thoughts of the... youngling."

The final word was hesitant. Spoken as though the voices were not convinced that so innocent a word should be applied. Alda responded in weary, exasperated voice.

"For the sake of the heavens, they are mates reuniting after time apart. Give them a moment."

The masculine voice of the three now spoke alone.

"Ahh, yes. We must decide what to do about this... violence against nature."

Hiccup straightened to his full, unintimidating height and faced the Three, placing a hand on Toothless' neck while the dragon's wing rested across the boy's shoulder.

Alda drew in a large breath, and let it rush out in a sigh.

"What crime, exactly, do you feel has been committed, brother?"

All the voices answered without hesitation.

"This youngling binds himself for life to this... nonentity! A human! Such a thing is a betrayal of his own race, especially given the current circumstances we face with the Queen. This shall not be permitted in the sanctuary that we have created and served as curators of!"

Hiccup's head was beginning to pound, and Toothless' ears laid back, flattened against his head.

Now, the whispering could be heard; more than fifty voices now were conversing rapidly, so quietly that Hiccup could not make out more than a couple of fragments.

"...they come here thinking... we shall not stand... how dare... why is it such a... they should be allowed... shut up... evil..."

A quick glance around the room revealed the source of the whispers. Once again, just as they had when Toothless and he had first arrived, the Shades of Home Cave gathered. Many hung from the ceiling while a few pressed in from the ground, but regardless of their posture, Shades were making themselves known on all sides of the six.

Alda let released a low and guttural thrum.

The rustlings of scales on stone folded wings ceased. The whispers fell silent.

"Do not presume to take sole responsibility for the community that has been created here, dear siblings. My students and I, whom I know you excluded from your statement of 'we', have played just as vital a role as the three of you."

The statement was low and ominous, like the thunder of a distant storm.

A female now spoke alone.

"You may have used your little tricks to bring Shades to us, but it is the three of us that protect the collective minds of all the inhabitants of this cave from malicious influences."

When Alda responded, his voice had calmed and smoothed out, and now rose in a soothing tone, which Hiccup knew was meant to glaze over the argument.

"We are escaping from the point, dear sister. I don't really care one way or another what high opinion you have of yourself; we were discussing my latest student and his mate. I would say to you that he is as much a part of our race as you or I. He has left his world behind, and the changes in his body are evident. He is sentient, he bears our scale, and he is even possessed of the Heart's Fire."

All three elderly dragons on their ledge flinched at the sound of the last two words. Their wings opened and angled outward slightly in an attitude of fear.

The third female voice spoke.

"I don't see how that abnormality factors into-"

"Stars above, sister, are you blind?! Look at the boy! His very species is changing! Such a change could only happen under the Fire's influence!"

"We know some little of your abilities Alda. If the Fire is responsible for this boy's change, a Shade must have set it in motion. Ryshkaa encountered him, already with the changes in progress, yet you tell us that Tutore had no involvement and that the youngling is barren of the Fire. Your words reek of falsehood!"

The whispers returned, much louder and more confused than before. Before either side could respond, however, a clear and gravelly voice cut through the din.

"I would like to speak, please."

The whispering hushed but did not disappear as Sycle stepped forth from the crowd.

"Do so. You have trained with this youngling for the past week?"

"I have. But if I may pose a question, the argument here is based on the fact that this boy is a human, correct? It seems to me that such disagreement needless, given that he is sentient and possesses mental faculties to match ours. That point is moot. The only question left is the matter of the boy's trustworthiness."

"Are you proposing that we let a HUMAN walk freely among us?!" These words thundered and shook the thoughts of all present. Hiccup put a hand to his temple, wincing slightly. Sycle remained unmoved.

"I propose precisely that. The boy is joined to a member of my Wing. He will fall into the Dream Pool this very morning. I shall be able to judge him in full upon waking, as will the rest of my wing. You may question me personally then, but this argument is quite needless in the meantime."

Silence fell through the hall. While no words came from the crowd, Toothless could sense a generally positive aura, an air of approval. Alda chose then to speak up again.

"That sounds like an excellent compromise, don't you think?"

Thirty tense seconds passed, during which Toothless could sense thoughts and opinions flying between the three old ones almost instantly.

At last they spoke.

"We find this solution satisfactory. In the meantime, the Wings are released, with the exception of Tarik's, as they are on patrol. Let the Season commence!"

As one, the gathered Shade's let out a mighty cry and most took wing on the spot. The air was changed instantly into a maelstrom as at least a hundred pairs of wings beat and a cloud of Shades surged toward the cavern exit.

Toothless, while he felt his wings suddenly ache for the sky, had no idea what was happening, while Hiccup drew from his reserve of Shade lore.

The Season of Choice had begun. Every Shade in the region would take to the skies and seek a desirable mate. Fights would break out over individuals, and many would be rebuffed, but when the couplings were formed they would stay together until the true Springtime season, when they would bear eggs.

Toothless drew a shocked breath as this was revealed to him. He knew instantly that his bond with Hiccup would not allow for any other to be with him, but he didn't want such a thing anyway. They both knew they had sealed their fate in months past. Still, the need to take to the sky was great, and without another word, they turned and bounded for the exit.

XXX

Unknown

The body of the fallen one had not lasted long. Other dragons had begun to fall now. He needed more sustenance than another dragon of his age, for he grew extremely quickly.

More. We must seek out more.

There are no more. Not here.

There must be some, somewhere! Anywhere!

There is one. He lies on the human island.

But killing him would alert the others: the Old One!

The Old One must be removed. He stands in our way.

What of the others? The Three?

They are jibbering and spiteful fools. We will break them with ease.

What of the rogue? The runaway?

I want him back. I want him to suffer.

Shall I bring him?

No need. They will all come in time. They gather to move against us. Pathetic.

Then I shall just kill the Old One?

Be very careful. He carries the strength of more than one.

Of course. May I eat him?

If you do so quickly and quietly. Now go! The tiny ones are getting restless. There's no telling when they'll decide to attack.

I go, mother.

XXX

Shades only occasionally mate for life. The process starts with the Season. All the Shades in a particular region will take to the skies as winter sets in, and hunt for that year's mate. Usually it's an abundance physical fitness and body shape that will first catch a Shade's eye. Once the choice has been made, the two will engage in an aerial chase, wherein each will try to restrain the other. During this contest, they will size each other up and decide whether or not the other is worthy.

If both decide in the affirmative, regardless of the victor, they will mate for that year.

If the winner decides in the negative, he or she will leave and search out a different partner.

However, if the winner decides in the positive, but the loser does not wish to join with them, then the winner can subjugate the loser to his or her wishes, by use of subordination instincts in the loser's mind and the two will mate for that year.

Rarely do a mated pair produce offspring. In fact one in twenty mated pairs will produce eggs in a fertile year. However, often the male and female fertility cycle's do not align and no offspring are produced at all. This is why Shade numbers have not recovered very well since the fall.

Sometimes, a pair is extremely compatible both physically and mentally. Such a pair has a greater likelihood of aligning their cycles and producing offspring. Often this pair will also form a "soulbond" to use terminology from the Silver Age, and they will continue to act and live together for the remainder of their lives. Members of such a bond are immune to Flight Subjugation during a Season.

Heartbeat of the Arctic

Ryshkaa

XXX

Ito

As Shade after Shade rushed past, Ito stood amongst the mad flurry of activity. He had lost interest in finding a mate long ago. After...

His eyes found the back of Sycle's head. He knew every line of that profile and hated each curve and angle.

But Ito was hunting for a new profile this time, and it took much longer to find, as it was so much smaller than the black forms. After a few moments of panning, he caught it; a tall, thin shape that did not belong amongst the larger, balanced forms of bounding Shades. The press of bodies confused his echoes to the point of blank vibrations, but for some reason, that human silhouette stood out against the nonsense. It did not belong here, in this cave. It did not belong among Ito's kind. He turned and followed the rushing swarm toward the exit, snorting in disgust.

There was a great crowding at the entrance to the tunnel, and some Shade's were crawling up onto the walls to use every available surface. The speed of each individual was so great, however, that Ito found himself through the confined space and into the water in moments.

The number of Shades in the water turned the sea into a roiling torrent. It was a struggle to get to the surface. Ito found that as he swam, the antics of those around him seemed to be a nuisance, no more than an annoying and unnecessary set of actions. His own blood did not thrill with flight-need. He did not listen all around for the movements of feminine shapes. He did not even give any vocal cry as he burst from the water with the others and into the sky, where they trumpeted their joy to the stars.

The only thing that Ito could think about was her.

The designation resounded in his mind as he pumped his wings and lifted himself alongside all the others. However, once the others started to swerve off and flit towards and away from each other, Ito continued and found himself locking his wings and resting on a strong draft as he watched the commotion below.

He used to be one of them. He used to take to the air to flaunt himself and browbeat others into accepting his superiority. But now, he could only watch, wishing that things were different; that Sycle had never come to Home Cave.

Suddenly, a disturbance below caught his eye. A concussive blast hit his ears and sent a ripple through his taught wingskin. He combed the field of flitting shapes below with eyes and ears, searching for the source of the commotion. The moon was full and bright tonight, and the Shades below were unusually visible. It was the moonlight that allowed him to see the circle.

A ring of white foam rolled outwards across the sea from a single point. When Ito found the center, he followed a trail of misted water droplets upwards until he was met with a disturbing sight; the youngling, his shape deformed and bulged out by the human clinging to his neck, was travelling faster than any living creature should be able to, straight upwards from the water. On each wing a strange and contorted mixture of lines glowed like blue, flameless fire. The lines faded as he watched while the young male crowed in jubilation and began to weave in and out of the massed group, passing so close to some that the human reached out and brushed their scales with his malformed hands.

As Ito watched, several females below changed course so quickly, some of them actually flipped in the air and fell a ways before regaining speed. At least ten were after the youngling. And as a chase began, Ito heard a strange sound, high pitched and bubbly yet abrupt.

Ito heard, for the first time, the sound of human laughter.

The youngling was quick and agile, that was certain. He bobbed and weaved through the crowd as though the rest were standing still. The human seemed to lean and shift to keep perfect balance no matter how sharp the turn or how abrupt the climb or dive. The false tailfin moved in such synchronicity with the natural one that Ito could not tell them apart. While this was impressive, Ito knew that it was still a disadvantage in combat; an alien mass on one's back is a detriment to fluidity of motion no matter the familiarity.

How could this dragon be so familiar with the weight of a human? It defied reasoning. Such a thing contorted the way of things. The entire Season was being disrupted. Ito could see others, males and females alike, turning to watch this strange and exotic pair in their chase with their band of female suitors. None of them would be able to catch up. They lacked the experience.

A thought entered Ito's mind. If so many were interested in the young male, surely if he were caught, the human could be shunted aside and forgotten. Things could return to normal if the youngling was caught and matched. The human would cease to matter, just as he himself had so many years ago.

Ito folded his wings and dropped. The wind whistled past, and a few eyes turned up to look. Ito opened his lateral slits. The howling whistle gave all attention to him, and he pulled sharply up, falling into line in front of the female band behind the newcomer and his rider.

The youngling reacted instantly, dropping his nose, twisting his primary wings, and whipping his tail. The result was a tight curl that reversed their direction and dropped them towards the sea in nearly no time at all.

Ito reacted swiftly, dipping his nose and angling his wings, executing a half roll, and turning himself right side up as he dived toward the pair. They didn't seem to realize that he had stayed with them, and he almost had the tail in his jaws when they suddenly rolled and came level mere feet above the surface of the ocean. Ito sensed a pang of fear from both dragon and boy. That was a strange feeling. A human was normally an empty void, while this one cried out with sentience. It sent a cold shudder down the Shade's spine.

He rolled with them, staying dead on their trail. Ito gained ground quickly, immediately noticing that the human's weight slowed the youngling's acceleration slightly but also provided him with increased agility. All Ito had to do was force them to stay low and limit their mobility, and he had them. To that end, he rose a few meters and made to fly directly over the pair as to pin them between the sea and himself.

As his head aligned over the Shade's flank, casting a shadow over the human, the boy turned to look at Ito and instantly shifted the tail fin, bringing his semi-scaled chest onto the Shade's neck and tucking in his arms. An instant later, both were below the sealine.

Ito made to follow, angling to dive straight down, but the second his nose touched the frigid waters the surface of the ocean exploded as the pair rocketed upwards at a ninety degree angle. Ito felt a sharp pain on the tip of his tail as the duo flew past him.

The youngling had kicked his tail, and in the split second before Ito was submerged he could hear the gurgling laughter of the Shade.

The temperature of the icy sea was forgotten by the scarred dragon as his rage set his blood on fire. Executing a flawless curl inwards and aligning himself with his nose to the sky in under half a second, Ito broke the churning waters and beat his wings with all the might in his body.

Where most sentient beings would have had their focus reduced by their emotional state, Ito had learned to channel his anger, letting his senses heighten while retaining his mental capacity to react intelligently and plan his movements.

Upon seeing the two chaotic beings above him twist in the air and level out to allow the human to draw blue fire onto his mount, the elder dragon made a beeline for them, closing the slits next to his ears in order to get as close as possible to them before alerting them. In seconds, he was below the pair, and his wings angled to allow him to flip upside-down as his paws impacted either side of the youngling's torso, and he held both his limbs in place as he pulled himself face-to-face with the Shade.

Ito broadcasted his words for every dragon present to hear.

"Listen well stripling. I would claim this human for the year, but he must represent himself. He and I will fight on the ground on the morrow, and you will not interfere. You have already been defeated."

With that, Ito released the youngling and fell away toward the sea, leaving dead silence in his wake.

XXX

Hiccup

Hiccup could not seem to keep his hands away from Toothless. Every time he tried to stand apart and walk on his own, his hand snuck of its own accord back to the dragon's scale and the rolling mass of powerful muscle beneath. In turn, Toothless' wing kept bumping against his side, rubbing across his own scales. The sensations were strange. Every movement of his body rustled, and he still was not used to that.

The Wing descended through a series of passages that were so twisting and complex that Hiccup was lost after the first five turns, but Toothless knew the way. As his memories promised, the cave they arrived at was homey and comforting. Sycle fired a ball of flame into the pit where it sat and burned, lighting the interior. Hiccup wanted to stay up and share thoughts much longer than this, but his eyelids were drooping. The intensity of the Season's flight had worn him down, and worry for what would come tomorrow boiled in the bottom of his stomach.

But before he could even start to worry, he felt Toothless' loving mental caress as his thoughts were engulfed by feelings of warmth, belonging, ownership, and home. And it wasn't just Toothless; the minds of all five Shades rubbed and bumped each other, and Hiccup could sense the boundaries between them blurring.

"Shhh, tomorrow is for tomorrow, my mate. The Dream Pool beckons us. Come and rest. I'll keep you safe and warm through the night."

Hiccup felt the familiar cocoon of scaled wings surround and encase him, as he fell slowly into a revolving sea of darkness filled with thought, memory, and dreams.

The identity of the next word's speaker was lost in the Pool, but it did not really matter.

"I love you."

XXX

He stood facing the wolf, whose ears were drooped to either side in sorrow with head tilted downward. The canine was a picture of outright sorrowful mourning, but he did not care. That beast had killed his sister. And he was going to kill it in turn.

He leapt. The wolf lifted itself to its feet, but did no more. His paw impacted the side of its muzzle with crushing force. There was a high pitched whine, but the bone did not break. The wolf made no move to get away from or soften the blow. It was lifted off its paws and sent spinning through the air, landing in a heap on the snow. After a moment, it rolled over, and sat again, resuming it's sad and dejected stance.

He was angry now. Why didn't it move?! Why didn't it fight back?! Why did it sit there as though waiting for death?! He lunged again, this time biting for its neck, shifting his weight to knock the creature over and pin it. The wolf offered no resistance and in seconds it was on the ground with him standing over it, jaws wide, ready to crush the skull. And as he looked down into those flinty golden eyes, he saw something familiar.

There was no life in those eyes. Not even the desire for life. There was only pain.

"I'm ready, Toothless. Do it. End it. The stars know I've waited long enough." The voice was also dead. Emotionless. After it finished speaking, it turned aside, and the eye closed, waiting for the deathblow.

Slowly, as though it had a mind of it's own, his jaw closed, and his legs refused to bear his weight. He fell sideways into the snow and lay there cursing himself and the wolf lying beside him.