Took longer than I would prefer, but here's chapter ten.

I look down at the Queen, who is shocked, and now angry, if not outright appalled by my existence. I have enough time to grab my clothes and the solo fin before she lunges at me, going incorporeal and launching myself straight up as she lunges for me. As I fly up, my binocular pair of eyes face forward while my monocular eyes look behind me at the Queen, who is climbing up the nest in an attempt to grab me. The rest of the dragons scatter. The Queen attempts to seize me in her jaws, snagging an unlucky Zippleback fusion instead. She rears up in rage, leaving the fog long enough for me to see her torso. What I see is a roundish gem on her left shoulder, along with two triangular gems in the middle of her chest. (Kind of occupying the space where Toothless's gem is.) Seeing this, I have all the proof I need. The Queen is not one large dragon, she's a fusion. A cross fusion just like me. She always told Toothless such things were impossible.

She lied to him, to me.

Before I escape the nest, she shouts up at me, "ONO WEOHNATA NÉIAT FLAUGA... HICSTI UN TANNLAUS!... IET SKULBLAKA WEOHNATA FINNA ONO UN GATH ONO APTR!... ONO ERU IET TANNLAUS!... HIKSTI WEOHATA ELDRVADÍ WIOL TAKA TANNLAUS!"

I don't understand the words but the declaration is understood. Hiccup will suffer for taking Toothless from her. As I fly into the mist, I look for a good place to land. Ultimately I decide on a particular sea stack with an overhang and perch beneath it. This will provide cover from any dragons flying overhead. I sit down on the outcropping, weighing my options. So the Queen is a gigantic cross fusion of at least three gems, but possibly more. She has declared that Hiccup is to be killed on sight, (how ironic.) Even more curious now, I sift through memories of my, or rather, Toothless's life, becoming more and more appalled at the detailed lies constructed in an effort to have us submit to her! How are we going to get out of this one?

"Easy, lad, you're doing great." The human voice distracts me from my moping as I look down to see a heavily damaged Viking ship and several two-legs big-horns trying to work around one another in the cramped space. But the voice belongs to an individual both halves of me recognize.

"Stoick!" Another Viking calls to my… is he my father? What is our relation? Questions for later as I observe Stoick join several other Vikings in cannibalizing another ship to repair the broken one.

"How are we doing?" He asks Spitelout, Snotlout's dad.

"Not very good. We don't have the proper materials to repair the ship. We could try to find other broken ships, gods know dozens have been lost here, but I doubt anyone is willing to even attempt traversing these waters." He gestures to the murky, almost black seas. "But we may not have a choice soon."

My… how about half-father? Yeah, that works for now. My half-father sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. (So it's not just Hiccup who triggers that reaction.) "If push comes to shove, I'll lead a team to scavenge materials."

So the Vikings of Berk need more supplies to repair their ship? I take a moment to weigh my options. The Vikings are in a desperate situation; in an area they don't know and can't easily traverse. They could try and kill me if they see me, but I can easily hide or go incorporeal. Finding my resolve, I fly up to the tallest sea spire in hopes that the fog will hide me, and shout down at the dragonslayers. "You lot okay down there?" I'm sure I could have come up with a better greeting, but none really came to mind. At least they know to look up.

"Who's there?" Stoick shouts peering suspiciously in all directions, as if an ax-wielding berserker was about to come charging out of the fog, in spite of the somewhat friendly greeting.

"A potential ally if you take the time to ask questions." Not sure why I said that at first. Then I remember a human phrase: shoot first, ask questions later.

I hear a brief chuckle as some people get the joke. Stoick is not amused, however. "If you're an ally, come down here so we can talk."

Yeah, I'm not going to do that just yet. "I'm not in the mood to get stabbed, so I'll stay up here thank you very much." The Vikings who laughed before stay quiet this time, and an eerie silence falls over the ship. "Just tell me what you need to repair your ships and I'll try and find the materials."

Several Vikings seem skeptical of this, but my half-father knows not to look a gift yak in the mouth. "Very well, stranger. We have most of the materials here, but we've run out of pitch and tar to seal the crevices in the ships. Any you find will be helpful, plus we'd be grateful for any rope you might find."

"Very well." Knowing what to look for, I start hopping from one sea stack to another so the sound of my travel is carried to the Berkians below me. Once far enough away, I glide around through the mist, making sure to keep the Viking's position in mind.

The first wreck I find is only half a ship, the rest probably under the black waters. I check it for materials and only find a few dozen feet of intact rope and a knapsack to carry my clothes and fin. I coil it up and carry it with me. The next two ships are more fruitful, both having a bucket half full of either tar or resin. But my fourth find is a much bigger bounty. Ship number four is mostly intact. Aside from the torn sail and the broken railing, it appears more seaworthy than the other wrecks. The only problem is that it's wedged firmly between a couple of the sea stacks, hanging above the water. I'm not sure how to get it down, so I put my materials aside to examine the situation.

The ship is at an angle of one hundred and thirty degrees facing down. It appears to be caught on the stern, which is hooked to a sea stack. That explains why it's staying up there, at least. (Though how it got there I haven't the faintest idea.) I formulate a plan to get the ship down. First, I collect as much rope as I can, using it to hoist the ship to a ninety-degree angle. This is done with my combined strength and a series of pulleys. It's hard work and time consuming. Eventually, the ship is in the water, banged up but still floating.

With the boat in the water, I sail towards Stoick and the Vikings of Berk. "I think I can do you one better, Stoick!" I hail them. Too late, I realize that they can see me. One overeager Viking lifts his ax and throws it at me. I quickly turn incorporeal, grab my stuff, and fly up to the sea stacks. "I think you can understand why I was reluctant to show my face." There is one thing that might buy me some time, though. I don't want to use the Queen's methods, but it's the best chance I have. "I invoke Odin's rights of hospitality. If you wish to use this ship, you must follow the rights observed by the gods."

Several Vikings freeze, not believing what they just heard. Stoick scowls and grumbles before sourly giving the proper response. "I and my company accept your hospitality, and will obey guest rights as observed by the gods." He really has no choice if he wants to make it back to Berk in one piece, and he knows it. Vikings grudgingly stow their weapons and wait while I come back down. I return to the sailing vessel and steer closer to Stoick. When close enough, he hops onto the boat and stares at me. "Mind if I ask how a dragon knows my people's rights? And, for that matter, how can you speak?"

He might be bending the rules of hospitality, but this is an unusual circumstance. "I know your customs and language because I learned them. I overheard your skalds tell stories of Odin, king of the gods, and the various adventures of his pantheon." If I keep emphasizing the Norse pantheon, my invocation may appear more valid.

One Viking scoffs at my story. "If you know our history so well, you must be familiar with Loki, who played friend and slew other guests."

I tense even more. "If I wanted to hurt you, I could have easily burned you and yours to cinders, but I'm not going to do any such thing. You know why?" They glance uneasily at one another but no one speaks. I doubt any of them have encountered a talking dragon before. "Because our goals are aligned."

Stoick looks skeptical. I don't blame him, though. It's his job to be suspicious. "You want to find and destroy the nest so the dragons will leave?"

I believe it would be best if I explain my goal here and now. "No, not quite, I want the Queen to disperse and stop manipulating other dragons into serving her. Plus, she abhors my very existence so there's that, too." At the mention of the Queen and the possible reason for the war, the Vikings begin quiet mutterings to one another.

"Why would this Queen want you dead, dragon?" Stoick is now right in front of me and cranes his neck up. He's not used to doing that. "And why come to us? Those who have made our livelihood by killing your kind."

I smirk, "the Queen is a hypocrite who does not want me to be together. I'm sure you've noticed my memory stones?" I point to the seven-faceted one on my forehead and the crescent-shaped one on my chest. "I'm a cross fusion, formed from two different creatures. I'm an abomination as far as other dragons are concerned." I rub Toothless's memory stone and a faint blue glow delete emits from it. "The Queen wants my heart to make herself more powerful, and wants my head to suffer for stealing him." I squat down so I'm at eye level with my half-father. "I know you don't kill my kind for sick pleasure. Like me, you want the war to end. So, seeing several Vikings stuck in the fog, I saw a golden opportunity to fight back."

By now, most of the Vikings are on the new ship and repairing whatever damage they can. "So you'd be willing to lead us to the nest?" Several Vikings, though battered, were are still bloodthirsty.

I chuckle. "Do you really think you can do anything in your current state? Sorry,;but I'm not going to lead you to your deaths. Do what humans do best and prepare for the battle." Some are angered by my teasing, but Stoick seems to understand. "In the meantime, let's leave the fog behind. The Queen's spell is still strong." Since I'm near the rudder, I turn the boat to exit the fog.

Stoick, making sure everyone else behaves, turns to face me. "What can you tell us about this dragon Queen?"

I filter through Toothless's memories to find a proper description. "When I say she's a large dragon, I mean so large her scales are around the size of your shields." I pick up one of said shields to emphasize the fact. "It's why the dragons raid your villages, so she has enough food to sustain her form."

"What do you mean by 'sustain her form'?"

"I mean the Queen is a cross fusion, like me. The difference,however, is that she is formed from more than two dragons." I think about her size and try to add things up. "I'd estimate at least seven of the larger breeds, if not more."

Several Vikings mutter, some in despair, but others in odd excitement. "How exactly would we defeat such a foe? It sounds like an extremely strong beast."

Weighing my options, I decide to let slip some confidential information. "There might be a way, but it's not easy." They all stare at me now. "If you weren't already aware of it, lightning can dissipate fusions, breaking them down to their component individuals. If you can find a way to harness lightning, you may be able to take her down."

Several groans are my response. "We don't have access to the weapon of Thor. How else can we fight her?" Someone calls from the crowd. I see it is Magnus.

"Maybe you can't, but there are others who can and have bent lightning to their will. The Skrills, for example." When I mention that deadly breed, there are mutterings of the Berserker tribe. I stand and see we are almost out of the fog. "As fun as this has been, I must now leave. I wish you all good luck getting back to Berk." I stretch my wings and am about to take off, but Stoick stops me.

"Before you go, dragon, what's your name?" I'm caught off guard by this. Is Stoick really taking a chance with me?

"I call my mixed breed the Shade Fury." There are many gasps at my declaration, probably making a connection to the Night Fury. Then I remember what the Queen called my components. I decide to take a page from the Viking book. "But you all may call me Tannski."

I take off into the skies, leaving the bewildered Vikings behind. I can't help but smile when I overhear mutterings of the Shade Fury Tannski with great optimism.

So Stoick has met Tannski and the Queen is a cross fusion. What will the rest of Berk think?

Umbra Lycan: I have a few ideas, but I would like to hear yours.

Fanreader26: So the Queen is evil. that's something that didn't change, but I'm on the fence as for a redemption arc.

Majorminor2242: Ive learned the hard way that bigger is not always better.

Grimreaper10209: Not in any spiritual sense, no.

Let me know what you think, next chapter Toothless is going to have an existential crisis.