Camicazi had been in her cell for far too long now. She was fairly sure the inactivity would drive her crazy. There weren't even any guards within earshot to torment. So, when a new person brought her food, she jumped at the chance to do something, anything.

Even if that something was admitting her memory of times past wasn't as good as it could be. This particular Viking seemed familiar, but that was all. "I think I remember you..." she remarked.

The old man with two prosthetic limbs laughed quietly. "O' course ye do. No one forgets old Gobber." He handed Camicazi the plate of food.

Camicazi eyed him. He seemed drunk. Maybe she could take advantage of that; practice her pick-pocketing. She moved forward, taking the plate and subtly fishing around in his pocket at the same time. Just a bit of parchment. Still better than nothing, so she lifted it-

Gobber's good hand grabbed her arm. His eyes were cold, and his voice ice. All signs of drunkenness had vanished, and in their place was a very different person. "Drop it. Now."

Camicazi grinned, unphased by his rapid shift in mood. "Or what? You can't exactly kill me. Astrid and Snotlout need me alive." She had that insurance.

Gobber stared back at her. "I don't care what they want. Drop it."

Camicazi let go of the parchment and watched as Gobber carefully put it back into his pocket. It was a large parchment, whatever it was, one that had been folded into a small square for easy concealment. It looked a bit old. "Fine. What's so special about it anyway?"

Gobber shrugged. "Sentimental value." Then he grinned. "Eat quickly. I gave the guard a break, but he might come back sooner or later."

Camicazi eyed the old man appraisingly. "What is this?"

"Just a wee jailbreak."

"I was going to break out on my own. And how do you plan on getting me off the island?" She wasn't sure how well thought through this plan was.

"It'll be a surprise. But I promise ye, it's a good plan. When ye get out inta the village, head to the forge. There's a little back room no one ever goes into."

Camicazi raised an eyebrow. "And you?"

"I'll need ya to knock me out before ya go. Don't worry, I have a hard head." He thumped his helmet. "Can't blow my cover." At that, he frowned angrily. "I still have a score to settle, and a few wrongs to right. Anythin' that spites Astrid is good in my book, and yers, I think."

Camicazi would question this strange blacksmith later. "Fine. I assume I'll have to wait for you."

Gobber nodded. "Yep. Then we'll get on with step two." He held out a wooden bludgeon. "Brought this for ya. Take it with you." He grinned at her and saluted with his hook arm. "See you soon!"

Camicazi nodded and hit him with the bludgeon. Camicazi walked out of the cell and took the bludgeon from Gobber. A hard swing knocked him out cold, but she was careful to avoid hitting too hard and giving him a concussion. She stepped over Gobber, checked that he was still breathing, and carefully creeped out of the jail, eyes constantly darting around for anybody around. So far, the coast was clear.

The next half-hour was spent slowly creeping through the village. There were more guards and night watchmen than she remembered, and they made the going slow, but eventually, she made it to the forge. She carefully vaulted over the counter into the building rather than going for the door, which might squeak.

The forge looked empty, and sure enough, there was a small door in the back. It was well hidden by the mess of the entire building, and she noticed that the door handle itself was dusty. That was odd. It really did look like no one went back there.

She carefully opened the door and stepped into a small work area. The parchments and designs on the walls were familiar. This place must have been Hiccup's. She fought back a small wave of sadness. Focus on the here and now.

She listened carefully, but nothing was out of the ordinary. It would be a while before they discovered Gobber. Once they did, they would search the entire village. Probably not the woods of Berk though. They knew her only way off the island was at the docks. They would just station guards there and wait. She had no other way out. Whatever Gobber's plan was, hopefully he had accounted for that.

Still, this was at least exciting. Worth the uncertainty just for that. Not at the moment though. She looked at some of Hiccup's schematics. Most of them made no sense to her, but the little she could see followed a pattern. They were all for dragon killing. Capturing dragons, shooting down dragons. From the big X drawn through each one, she could tell none of them had worked. Although looking around, she could still see recognizable pieces of these past creations.

This room was depressing. The Hiccup she knew was happy, and not all that interested in fighting. He had apparently grown desperate to prove himself. This was a hall of failure. Even his biggest strength, his mind, had apparently not been enough.

But then she saw something. A pile of shredded parchment in a corner. This place really hadn't been touched. She picked through the parchment, and on an oddly clear desk, pieced together what had been torn apart. Another weapon design, simpler than the rest, though that wasn't saying much. It seemed to shoot bolas at the touch of a trigger. There were two apparently contradictory marks on the design. One was a massive checkmark through it. The other, written right over the checkmark, was a violently slashed X. The schematic had been torn to shreds and trashed after that.

That was a bit disturbing. Camicazi wondered if Gobber could tell her what had happened. She spent a few more hours in the room, idly waiting. After about an hour, the commotion outside started. She assumed Gobber had been found. The village was searched, as predicted.

From what she could hear, Gobber was an active and vocal member of the search, insistent on looking through his forge himself, and pronouncing it clear without ever opening the door to the little room she was in. She smiled at that. The blacksmith was apparently quite the actor when he wanted to be.

Another realization dawned on her. There was way more to Gobber than met the eye. He had apparently been faking being drunk when he entered the jail. He put together quite an elaborate rescue scheme for the heir to the Bog-Burglars, against his own chief. He was a good actor, and he didn't want to 'blow his cover'. All of that taken together indicated that he was a spy or informant of some sort.

But for who? Not the Outcasts, of that she was certain. Gobber had a very good reason to hate Alvin, from what her mother had told her. Other than that, who would even want to spy on Berk?

Still, he was helping her. She didn't care who he was working for right now. She greeted him with a smile when he finally opened the door to the room, a few hours after the search had died down, or at least moved on. "Quite the performance."

Gobber chuckled. "Well, let's get a move on." He checked a piece of parchment in his hand. "We're heading ta the other side of the island, apparently."

That was interesting. Gobber was working with someone. "Why?"

Gobber put the parchment away. "Honestly, you bein' here was jus' a coincidence. I was goin' out there tonight anyway." He seemed very happy, almost excited. "Follow me. The forests o' Berk aren't the easiest for walkin'." He turned to leave the forge, facing the woods that bordered it.

Camicazi was preoccupied. She had successfully snagged both the parchment Gobber had just put away, and the larger one from earlier, without Gobber noticing this time. She quickly scanned the smaller one, saving the bigger one for later.

'Gobber. Your information is troubling. I'll be in the cave system I told you about on the far side of the island, tonight.'

That was all it said. Not much help. She pocketed the parchments and followed the blacksmith into the woods.

There was a full moon tonight, and plenty of light to see by. Gobber carried an unlit torch, presumably for these caves mentioned in the note. Neither of them spoke as they navigated the woods. At least, not at first. But Camicazi had one important question. "What if we run into a wild dragon out here?" Dragons were scarce now, but there might be one or two around.

Gobber sighed. "Not goin' ta happen. Astrid taught them to fear Berk. Not a wild dragon for miles around." There was a hint of something in those last words. Something left unsaid or implied.

Whatever it was, Camicazi didn't catch it. "Good." She had no desire to be attacked in the woods at night with only a wooden cudgel for a weapon. Her knives had been confiscated. They were only her second-best pair, but still.

Eventually, they stopped. Camicazi couldn't see why. This section of forest was no different from any other. Then Gobber walked straight forward, into a solid hillside.

Camicazi laughed, amazed. The underbrush was so thick, she didn't even see what must have been a cave entrance. It looked like Gobber had simply disappeared in front of her eyes. She followed carefully and waited while Gobber lit the torch.

The light revealed a curiously uniform circular tunnel leading into the hillside. She followed the blacksmith, who confidently walked into the caves. They reached something of a three-way intersection, but Gobber chose one of the two ways and kept going without even stopping to think about it. A few minutes later, she could see a light in the distance. It was the moon's light. They had come to...

Camicazi stopped. There was a circular disc of white-blue, the moon reflecting off of the ocean in the distance, visible from the exit of the cave, apparently dug into a vertical cliff. She could see a figure outlined by the sight, a black silhouette in the middle of the circle, and what looked like a tall boulder right next to him, also only a silhouette thanks to the moonlight. It didn't help that Gobber had put out the torch for some reason.

"It's been a long time," Gobber remarked slowly.

The figure stood and turned to face them. "Yes, it has. I only wish this particular reunion was under better circumstances. And who is this?"

Camicazi felt she knew that voice, but it was just different enough that she couldn't place it.

"Really, Hiccup? She hasn't changed a bit!" Gobber's voice was humorous. "Your memory is better than mine. Don't tell me ya forgot Camicazi?"

With that, Camicazi understood... a little bit. "Hiccup?"

The one who had to be Hiccup flinched. "No. Gobber, you know I don't go by that name."

Gobber sighed. "Right, sorry. Hard ta remember, seein' as I never have to say either. It's been five years, and maybe as many letters between us."

Camicazi felt like screaming. She hated being confused. "Care to explain... I don't know, everything? Nothing I've seen makes any sense here, Hiccup."

Hiccup laughed. His voice was deeper than she remembered, if only slightly. "You don't know a hundredth of it. And the name's Maour now."

Camicazi chuckled. "Right. Sorry, but you never even liked nicknames. I don't believe you changed your name."

Hiccup groaned. "Seriously? If it helps you believe it, I didn't change my name. I was given new ones, ones I prefer over Hiccup. Maour is not a nickname, and it's the easiest of my names to remember and pronounce."

Camicazi grinned at that. "This I've gotta hear." The entire situation was funny to her. Here Hiccup was, apparently not dead, hiding out on his own island, with a blacksmith as a spy for him. It was something absurd enough that she wished she had come up with it.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. My other name is Svarturflugmaður. Happy?" Hiccup seemed more amused than anything.

"So I guess I'll call you... Svarty! Because apparently, you don't mind nicknames now!" That was nice.

Hiccup laughed at her. "Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Maour or nothing, for you."

Camicazi sighed, deciding to wait until he had forgotten about it to push the nickname. "Fine. If you'll explain why you haven't kicked Snotlout out to sea along with Astrid, and taken your rightful place as chief. Seriously, you've had how long? Six years?" He was wasting time.

Hiccup stiffened. "Because I couldn't really care less who rules Berk. And I have no right to rule here anyway, even if I wanted to."

Gobber had been watching all of this impassively. He sighed at that. "Ye'd still be a better option. Ye should come back and-"

"No, Gobber. I appreciate all of your help, but you know better than most why I won't do that."

Camicazi didn't like that. "The Hiccup I know wouldn't just give up like that. What's happened to you?"

Hiccup laughed scornfully, something Camicazi couldn't remember ever hearing before. "I didn't give up on myself. I gave up on Berk, and found something better. Feel free to take it up with my brother, Svarturkappi."

At that, the silhouetted boulder next to him opened its eyes. Large, almost glowing green eyes. That wasn't a boulder.

Camicazi jumped in fright, and Gobber took a few steps back.

"Really, Gobber?" Hiccup asked. "You know very well he means you no harm." He gestured to the torch. 'And we appreciate you putting that out, though I'm not sure why you did, but some light might help you two see."

Gobber hastily struck his flint a few times. As he did, he spoke. "I know ye say it's fine. Bu' that's a dragon, five feet away. It's gonna take me some time to adjust." He muttered the rest. "And I still cannae believe half of it."

Camicazi stared at the two figures illuminated by Gobber's newly relit torch. She couldn't even speak.

Maour looked at her and sighed. "Well, she's out of it for a few minutes. Gobber, good to see you again." He walked over and hugged the old blacksmith. "It's been too long."

Gobber smiled. "That it has. And ye've grown, too. Taller than me, now!" He gestured to the inch height difference. "Apparently life's been treating you well."

"And you. Still alive and kicking, despite the boredom surrounding you."

Gobber waved his hook for emphasis. "There's no blacksmithing to be done most days, and no raids to fight off." He glanced at the dragon in the corner, who was eyeing him. "I didn't go on any of Astrid's huntin' missions, for obvious reasons."

Hiccup followed his gaze. "Seriously. Toothless is my brother, please at least try to trust him a little." He paused before continuing. "He says you look exactly the same as the last time he saw you."

Okay, things were well past 'strange' now. Camicazi dropped back into a shadow, waiting and observing. No more fun and games. This was serious, and possibly very dangerous. That dragon was one she didn't know, and Hiccup was speaking nonsense… that Gobber took seriously. She could get back to teasing Hiccup once she understood why they weren't all dead yet.

Gobber scratched his head. "When was that?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Training in the arena, probably. Or after we killed the Queen. Probably the first one, because we were a bit preoccupied during the other one."

Gobber frowned. "Aye, disowning yerself and casting yerself from Berk in front of half tha village musta been pretty distracting." There was sarcasm there.

Hiccup met his eyes with a level stare. "I don't regret it. The few Berkians capable of change found their way to me, except for you. You stayed and gave me information. Everyone else isn't willing to understand. With Stoick, Astrid, and Snotlout all trying to kill me, did you really think I'd stay?."

Gobber sighed. "Aye, but ye could'a stayed and tried."

The dragon snarled. Hiccup turned to look at him and responded to Gobber, still staring at the dragon. "I had no reason to try, and every reason not to risk it. Not just for myself, but for Toothless, and Cloey. Do you really think I would have stayed on Berk with them?"

Gobber frowned. "But ye coulda just left 'em at the Nest."

Hiccup turned to face him. "Gobber, I thought you understood."

Gobber put up his hook and started twisting it idly. "I understand that dragons were bein' forced to attack us. I understand ya tamed one and took out tha big one. But everythin' else is just too crazy. I was helpin' ya in the hopes you'd come back. Come back and take your rightful place."

Hiccup shook his head in frustration. "Too crazy. So this is all in my head, apparently? Do you think I'm imagining the rest?"

Gobber took a step back. "Well, when ya put it like tha'... kinda?"

Camicazi nodded in agreement, though nobody noticed. She was still lingering in a shadow, trying to piece together something that made sense out of all of this.

"It always comes down to some sort of proof. Fine." Hiccup pulled out a spare piece of cloth from a bag on the dragon's back and tied it around his head, entirely obscuring his eyes. "Well, you wanted proof. Do something."

Gobber took a step forward. "Maour..."

"No. Hold up some of your fingers and don't tell me which ones. If I have to resort to proving it like this, I will." Hiccup was angry now. "My word isn't good enough, it seems."

Hiccup wanted Gobber to do something… to prove something. This could be a trick. The fact that he specified what he wanted Gobber to do was suspicious. She needed to break the rules to really test him.

Gobber hesitantly held up two fingers.

"Two. Thumb and pointer finger. And Camicazi is picking your pocket. Again. She's already cleaned out the others."

Gobber spun around, catching Camicazi in the act. "'Ey, give my stuff back!" Then he realized what Hiccup had just done. "Wait, 'ow did you-"

Hiccup cut him off. "He told me. If I wanted, I could have accessed his sight and watched you myself, but either way works." His voice was still angry. "I'm not 'imagining' any of it."

Things were becoming clear… crazy, but clear. There were still a few loose threads. Camicazi pulled out the folded parchment from earlier and started unfolding it. Nostalgia, Gobber had said.

Hiccup laughed when Camicazi's eyebrows narrowed, and she stared at the image. "Gobber, you really carry that around with you?"

Gobber was stuck between annoyance and embarrassment. "Well, I didn't exactly have much else, did I? I needed some way ta remember ya, and Fishlegs stole all the recent stuff."

Camicazi spoke up. "What in the world have you been doing?" The drawing depicted Hiccup happily standing with four dragons, somehow both treasonous and peaceful, a contradiction she wasn't sure was possible.

Hiccup groaned. "That will take days to explain. Here are the highlights. Everything you know is wrong, dragons are people, I ended the raids, and left Berk behind. That would be my family now." Then he nodded in response to something no one else heard. "True." He turned to Gobber. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Gobber snorted. "Business, 'e says. Fine. I still don't know where Astrid's headin'. But I know when she's leaving. When she gets back from the meetin' o' chiefs in about two weeks. She leaves for that tomorrow, actually."

Maour frowned. "Can you try and find out tomorrow before she goes?"

"I don't think so. I've wrangled my way into goin' with them. That way I know what happens there."

"How did you manage that?"

Gobber took a step forward, gesturing dramatically, acting out the personas he was describing. "You give me too little credit. I've been gainin' 'er trust for years now. She thinks I'm a sad old man with a drinking problem, who can help with all the little details." He grinned. "I always act a little drunk in public. Makes me easy to ignore, and no one suspects the perpetual drunk o' anything more."

Camicazi laughed at that. "Quite impressive, as I said." She was still staring at the picture. "Hiccup, who are the others here? You said the one here is your brother." She looked up. "Is there something I should know about your family history? Some disgraced grandfather down the line somewhere?"

The dragon reared back in shock, and Hiccup stared at her for a moment. "Uh, no. Brother by adoption. Those would be my sister, and adoptive mother and father. Von, Cloey, and Shadow." He shook his head. "Like I said, way too long a story for now. And the name is Maour."

Camicazi crossed her arms. "Not good enough. I want to know what in Thor's name happened around here."

Hiccup shook his head. "Later." He seemed to consider something. "Actually, why are you even here? Not that I mind, but..."

Gobber answered. "I broke 'er out of the jail. Apparently, Astrid decided an heir as a prisoner would be a nice bargaining chip."

Hiccup nodded. "And you figured I'd be a good escape route. Fair enough. Just one problem. That would involve Camicazi riding Toothless." He smirked at Camicazi. "She might be too scared of him to do that."

Camicazi folded the parchment and handed it to Gobber. "Says who?"

"Prove me wrong." There was a challenge in his voice, one she couldn't ignore. Along with another challenge of her own devising.

Camicazi hesitated, and then took a step forward. Then another, slightly larger step. She stopped when the dragon made a strange rumbling sound, almost like coughing. "What's it doing?"

"Laughing at you. He thinks it's funny how you tried to pick my pockets as you walked past me. Luckily for me, this flight suit doesn't have pockets."

"I'd say old habits die hard, but that would be a lie." She took another step forward. "What should I do?" She was almost within touching distance.

"Maybe scratch his nose or something?"

If Hiccup could do it...

Camicazi very cautiously took a final step forward, and carefully touched the dragon on the nose. Nothing happened. She started scratching him, and he began to purr. "Ha! Proved you wrong!"

"Sure. By the way, next, you have to jump off of his back at above cloud level. Then I'll believe you." He took in Camicazi's terrified expression. "I'm kidding."

Camicazi sighed shakily. "Good. No one would be crazy enough-"

Hiccup cut her off. "It's pretty fun though. Jumping off, and free-falling. I do it all the time."

Gobber spoke up. "Eh... since when are ye a daredevil, Maour?"

"Since I discovered flying was the greatest thing ever."

Camicazi took a step away from him. "You're crazy." The Hiccup she knew would never do anything like that voluntarily. Maybe if she pushed him, but not on his own.

"Nope. Astrid is," he countered. "She really is. Kind of like Dagur. It's subtle, but you can see it."

Gobber frowned. "Aye, about that. It's become quite a bit less well hidden lately. Still not obvious though. Ever since Dagur visited a few weeks ago, actually. The two talked for hours. They really hit it off."

Well, that was extremely worrying. Dagur was hard enough to deal with alone, and Camicazi was still getting used to thinking of Berk as an enemy. "Really..."

"Yup. And of course, you know she killed Stoick." Gobber moved towards Hiccup. "I'm sorry lad. We will get revenge for that, don't you worry."

"No. Revenge is a pointless cycle. I won't stoop to her level." He sounded sure of that decision.

"Wha'?" Gobber sounded aghast. "She killed yer father, and ye don't want to make her pay for it?"

"She killed Stoick the Vast, a man who wanted me dead. I don't appreciate it, and wouldn't have condoned it, but I definitely don't feel a burning need to avenge him." Hiccup seemed to waver, before continuing. "Shadow is more of a father to me than Stoick really ever was."

Okay, this was too much. But Camicazi didn't say anything yet. She wanted to see how Hiccup would handle Gobber. Once they were alone she could pry the truth out of him.

Gobber's face fell. "Fine then. Don't care. He was still my friend."

Hiccup nodded. "And I respect that. But I have other priorities. Astrid might need to be dealt with, but it won't be done for revenge."

Gobber abruptly looked out of the cave, at the slowly descending moon. "I need ta get back. What now?" His voice was soft, and he sounded depressed.

"Leave Camicazi here. I'll take her where she needs to go."

Gobber nodded, and departed, taking the torch with him. The cave returned to near pitch-black, leaving Maour and Toothless once again as silhouettes.

Camicazi considered them. "You've changed." That was the understatement of the century, and she wanted answers now. Real answers, not half-truth hints and references.

"Yes, I have. For the better. Gobber just can't accept that I would be done with Berk if only they'd leave me alone." He shifted, sitting closer to the dragon. "I would try to forget everything before I met Toothless if I could, but Astrid and now Dagur aren't letting me do that."

"You'd forget me if you could? I feel like I should take offense," she complained, a little shaken by his certainty.

"No, there are a few things I wouldn't want to forget. My only real friend from before is one of them."

Camicazi sighed. "What's Dagur doing? And Astrid, for that matter." Maybe coming at it from present issues would be a better way to wheedle the information out of him.

"If I told you that, it would tell you things that need to be kept secret. Suffice to say I have a home, and its safety relies on it being kept secret. Dagur and Astrid, in their own ways, are unintentionally or intentionally threatening that secrecy. We live anonymously. But thanks to them, it's getting harder and harder to stay hidden."

"So just leave. You can fly away." She wanted him to keep talking… and her own words made her want to do just that. Flight… He could just fly away. She wanted to fly.

"We can't leave. Some of us wouldn't survive the trip."

Camicazi considered that. "Then stop hiding."

"We can't. It would start a war."

"Then start the war, and win it. Get allies and take out your enemies. Eventually, you'd be safe because there'd be no one who wanted to attack you left." Seriously, the Hiccup she knew would know all of this. It was simple enough.

Hiccup sighed. "And so it comes back to killing. Always with the violence."

"Yet you hang around with a dragon," she countered. "Seriously, the Hiccup I know wouldn't do that." He'd be too terrified. "What happened to you?"
"You already asked that," Hiccup objected. "I changed. People change. Sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's bad. My changes were good, and I'd not go back to who I was if given the chance." The dragon's silhouette leaned in towards him, bumping him approvingly.

"Well I'm not sure I like new Hiccup," she complained. "He threw away his tribe and his own father for nothing that I can see."

She got the distinct sense he was glaring at her. Not being able to see more than a silhouette was maddeningly useless.

"And can we go somewhere I can actually see you?" She crossed her arms in turn. "Or does new Hiccup like not being seen?"

Hiccup laughed at that. "Sure, if you can stand being on Toothless for half a minute."

If he could do it, she could, and that meant she could try out flying! "No problem."

The dragon moved, approaching her in the dark. She fingered the cudgel Gobber had given her earlier that night, but did nothing. It would be pointless to attack, especially when the possibility of getting to ride it was on the table. Dragons didn't really bother her tribe because of how far they were from the foggy maze that hid the nest, so she wasn't so set against them anyway. As she saw it, they were fellow thieves.

She nimbly leaped onto its back-

And slid right off the other side. It was deceptively thin.

"Maybe try riding the saddle and not his tail," Hiccup commented. She was sure he was smirking right now.

She managed to find the leather portion of the dragon and hopped on. Hiccup moved over and got on in front of her, a movement followed by a distinct set of metal clicks she had not triggered in her own mounting. "What was that?"
"You'll see." With that, the dragon lurched into motion, sprinting towards the exit, leaping straight out of the circular tunnel and into the moonlight, falling above the waves-

The water was so far away; her heart dropped into her stomach, and she felt like she was falling and floating at the same time. That one moment stretched, both terrifying and exhilarating.

Then they were straightening out, gliding around to face a stubby little sea stack less than a hundred yards away. Surely they weren't-

Nope, they were landing. She didn't get off. "You promised me a ride, not two seconds in the air." She loved thrills, and that single moment promised that flying was going to provide plenty of them.

Hiccup stared at her. "I didn't promise you anything. I said we could go somewhere you could see me."

"I can see you," she agreed. "Come on, I want to know what it's like up there." She pointed straight up. "You can't just hint at it and then not show me."

"Yes, I can. Were you always this pushy?" He looked genuinely unsure.

"Were you always this stubborn?" she retorted. "And I'm still mad at you. You're abandoning your own tribe!"

His face grew cold. "First, they're not my tribe. Second, my own father tried to outcast me. The only reason I'm not technically an Outcast is because I threw myself out first. Third, I don't care. Berk can burn or rot. They had a chance to improve, but they don't like change. Neither do you."

She flinched at that, because it felt like a condemnation. "I'm starting to not like you, either."

"Get used to it, if you're going to keep harping on Berk." He shrugged. "And I don't exactly feel the need to appease you, either. You could still be a friend, or you could be just another hostile Viking. I've got plenty of both already. I'd rather still have you as a friend, but it's your choice."

"I guess Maour suits you," she muttered angrily, "given Hiccup is nowhere to be found."

"What, exactly, am I missing?" he asked. "I'm curious."

She… hadn't expected to be asked to put it into words. "You know, Hiccup! The kid who built things and never gave up and made crazy plans that would always go wrong in the best ways! The kid who actually cared about his people and wanted to prove himself! That guy."

She glared at him. "All I see is someone who discovered how to tame a dragon but ran away from his problems.'"

The dragon snarled at her, but Hic- no, Maour, the jerk that he was now- put his hand on its snout and it stopped.

Maour looked down at the dragon, then up at her. "The things you liked are still there." His voice was calm and quiet. "I still make things. Better things, things that actually work. Toothless's tail is a great example."

At that, the dragon pulled its tail into view, revealing an intricate prosthetic. Those clicks she had heard…

"And I still make plans that sometimes go wrong," he admitted. "Most of them go right nowadays, but still. I ended up fighting Dagur just a few days ago because a plan didn't turn out how I'd hoped."

She was not convinced. "And the rest?"

"My loyalty and need to be accepted didn't go away," he explained. "They just shifted to people who actually cared."

"Dragons," she deadpanned.

"My family and friends," he corrected. "The people who actually care about me, who accept me as I am. I gave two people a chance to accept or reject me. Stoick rejected, and Toothless accepted. Is it any wonder I picked the one who actually wanted me around?"

"You keep saying he rejected you," she objected. "You just didn't-"

"What?" Maour glared angrily at her. "I didn't try hard enough? I tried for years! People like Shadow and Cloey and Toothless and Von didn't make me prove myself. They didn't have some preformed idea of who I should be, they just learned who I was and decided that was good!"

Four names, four she recalled from that large parchment filched from Gobber, names Maour had said earlier. The ones he had portrayed himself as seeming so happy with.

"And what of the things I really did give up?" he asked, calming down, his hand still on the dragon. "I'm not desperate to prove myself anymore. I don't have to deal with a society that hates me. I don't have to worry about becoming chief someday, and dealing with a tribe that won't listen to me. No pressure of any kind." He laughed, sincerely amused. "I don't even have to deal with the possibility of my father arranging a marriage for me out of the blue one day, and I seem to recall you mocking that possibility in years past."

Camicazi frowned. When he put it that way… "Only because it's a stupid custom my tribe doesn't follow," she countered.

"And what of the stupid customs they all follow?" Maour asked. "Mocking the weak, pushing heirs to be perfect copies of their parents… I remember you resenting that, too. I got away from all of the customs Vikings hold to, and believe me when I say what I have now both makes more sense and works far better."

"And what do you have now?" she asked, genuinely intrigued. He was making some good points.

"Sorry, but I can't say." He shrugged apologetically. "We live in secret, and I've got some very specific rules about what can and cannot be said."

"Yeah, they sure trust you," she remarked sarcastically.

"I asked for those rules," he corrected. "I wanted to be sure I wouldn't let them down. I will not be the one to ruin the best thing I've ever had."

He spoke with such sincerity. "Fine. I believe you're happy now, but you can't just throw away your past like this. Berk is still where you came from."

"Is it?" Maour gestured to the island behind her. "The place I came from wouldn't have locked you in a cell. The place I came from also wasn't hunting and killing dragons for fun. They fought to live. Berk stopped being the place I came from when I ended the war and nothing changed. Astrid and Snotlout taking over just made it obvious. And before you say they're the same people, everyone who wanted to change has already left. I really don't care about the rest. They choose to stay. Gobber is proof even the most hardened, bitter dragon-killer can change if they want to."

"Fine." If there was one thing he hadn't lost, it was his persuasiveness when one actually listened. He was right. From his perspective. "But the rest of us have to deal with the mess you left behind."

"You think I'm not dealing with it? Astrid is obsessed with me, and she's not going to stop looking. I don't want to kill her, and that just makes it that much harder. I still don't know which direction her big nest hunt is going, and there's a chance she'll head right for us."

"Even if she misses you, won't she just keep trying?" That seemed obvious. "If she really is aiming for you."

"She wants to kill Night Furies," Maour explained, nodding significantly to the dragon he had been so friendly with this entire time. "And me. I'd say yes, we're her target."

That was a Night Fury. By the picture, they all were. Hiccup had been taken in by a family of Night Furies. Yes, his tendancy for crazy plans was still very much present, and it must have paid off big time.

And if she could get on his good side, she could ride a Night Fury.

With that, another piece of the puzzle slid into place. "You're the dragon rider drunk travellers talk about." A dark, terrifying shadow that was never really seen, with the silhouette of a rider. It made sense.

He nodded and gestured to his black scale armor, and then to the helmet hanging from the saddle. "Yup. But I'm the less intimidating half of that rumor."

She looked to the dragon, which was purring smugly. "Also, there's that. You proved to Gobber..?"

"He talks, they all talk," Maour explained matter-of-factly, as if he wasn't shattering her view of reality. "Getting to hear them is difficult, and it can't be learned like other languages, but they all do. And more, with the dragon who helps you understand. That was what I was proving."

She was going to have to find out more about that. Forget considering dragons fellow thieves, with the right setup she could have one as an accomplice. "How do I hear them?"

"You don't." He sounded serious. "First, you'd need to find the right dragon, and I haven't met one that would fit you."

"Well that stinks. What dragon do I need to find?" She might as well know.

"A Night Fury with a personality similar to your own." Maour absently scratched Toothless's head. "Very similar, though not identical. It's not impossible; I've seen it happen."

"Once." That wasn't fair at all.

"More than once," he revealed. "And more than that I cannot say."

Well, if that was how it worked, it wasn't like she could argue it. "But I can ride this one."

"Toothless, and maybe if we let you."

"You need to take me to my tribe. How did you plan on doing that without me riding?" She hadn't actually fully thought about how much time in the air she'd be getting no matter what. Maybe there hadn't been any need to push Maour earlier about taking a joyride.

"You could hang from his paws," Maour joked. "But yeah, you'll get a few days of riding in any case. I'm going to take you out of Astrid's clutches whether or not you're still a friend."

And they were back to that question. She considered it. He was different, but not so different as she had first thought. She could live with that. "Still friends, Hiccup."

"Maour," he corrected. "Seriously. I don't go by Hiccup with anyone."

"Svarty," she offered as a compromise.

"Maour."

"Svarty."

"Svarty isn't a good name," he complained. "Toothless's name is Svarturkappi, and the rest of my family also have Svartur as part of their name. Svarty could refer to any of us."

"Sure, sure," she agreed, now thinking of other names. "I'll come up with something else."

"Maour," he groaned.

"I've got a week, I can do better." It would take that long to get to… "Oh, and I don't want you to take me home. My mother is already at the meeting place, and she needs to know I'm not in Berk's clutches before she signs away anything to try and get me back."

"How far away is this meeting place?" He sounded confused.

"About a week by boat." She pointed in the general direction. "So yeah, that long. If we leave right now, we can get there before Astrid."

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you. I'm usually nocturnal now, and I can go way longer without sleep. So, we should actually travel at night. We can leave tomorrow night."

Camicazi stared at him. "That's just weird. Besides, we need to be fast."

Maour pulled out his map and located the meeting island. He plotted a course from where they were to there. "We can spare a day. It's only three days by dragon."

Camicazi bolted upright. "Three days?!"

Maour misinterpreted her objection. "It would be way faster, but we're forced to island hop everywhere. So we can't go straight there. I think it would be less than two if we could."

"That's just ridiculous. Do you even realize how much of my life has been wasted sailing everywhere? You say three days like it's an eternity. Anyway, apparently, we can afford to wait until night. What will we do all day?"

Toothless warbled happily. Maour looked at him. "No. We are going to sleep, not terrorize her." He turned to address Camicazi. "He wanted to make sure you can handle flying with him. Stuff like dives, spins, flying upside-down. But I'm afraid you're going to be pretty bored. We'll be sleeping all day." He sat up and got back onto Toothless. "Which reminds me, we should get you some food before then."

She could think of no better way to spend a day than a thrill ride on a Night Fury, personally, but they were gone before she could object. She'd get that promised ride at some point.

Camicazi watched as the man and dragon circled the water around the sea stack, and blasted the water. She smiled at the pile of fish Maour and Toothless brought back. "How much do you think I eat?" There was enough there for a week's worth of food.

Maour grinned. "Most of this is for Toothless. One's mine and the others are yours. Also, Toothless says he'll drag you upside-down through the ocean if you mess with his saddlebags."

"No he didn't," she asserted, planning on doing exactly that as soon as he was asleep.

Maour didn't say anything, instead pointing at Toothless…

Who was very deliberately gripping a fish in one of his front paws. Once he was sure Camicazi was looking, he picked the fish up by its tail and dragged it along the rock, very obviously demonstrating.

Okay, maybe that wasn't a good idea. "Fine."

Toothless flash-cooked six or so fish, and set them aside. Then he devoured the rest. He and Maour settled down for the... morning, it was now. Time really did fly sometimes.

Camicazi grimaced as she realized she was basically alone on some random sea stack for a full day, with some cooked fish, water Maour had gotten out of the saddle, and pretty much nothing else. And a sleeping dragon who had promised horrible consequences for digging through his stuff. It was going to be a very boring day.