[A/N - This Chapter is a little bit of an info-dump, please excuse it. It will be better in the later chapters.]

It was silent.

Too silent.

Hiccup huffed as he pulled himself up the cliff, slowly.

He missed the sound of beating wings, of a plasma blast getting fired, of Toothless's strange and mystical noises.

One step up the rocks.

Hiccup hadn't realized what a mistake it had been to let Toothless go. Sure, he had a beautiful wife and great kids, but they couldn't take you above the clouds.

One hand in front.

With a final heave, Hiccup flopped onto the top of the ledge. He lay on the damp grass for a moment before getting up. He took a deep breath.

The air was too full, too filling. It was weird, but Hiccup missed the thinning air of being up high, as high as you could be. He glanced up, seeing the rest of the cliff above him. The chief had a flashback to when he and Toothless soared up to the top of this very cliff.

He pondered if he could climb any further, before remembering his wife and children were expecting him. Hiccup sighed and looked over the edge. A large pond lay a few meters south of his current position, near the forest floor. Picking up a rock, Hiccup stood up, chucked the rock into the pond and followed its path into the lake.

A few years ago, he would have been worried about rogue water dragons, but after exploring the island for the majority of five years his conclusion had been that they were all at the Hidden World. He sunk under the water, eyes closed, before swimming upwards. It had begun to rain slightly, not that it would bother Hiccup.

Checking the sun's position, He realised it was far later than Hiccup thought it would be, almost completely dark. He walked the slightly familiar path back to the village

Dripping wet, he opened the door with one arm while pushing hair out of his face with the other. It was quiet as he saw the kids eating dinner and Astrid glaring at him.

Hiccup sat down, trying to lighten the mood. "The forest was terrible today, I don't know why I bother going out." He shovelled food into his mouth as he talked. Suddenly, Astrid stood up.

"Kids, go to bed." A flurry of complaints followed the order. "I'm going to send you to Valhalla if you don't get up there right. Now." They walked upstairs, mumbling insults under their breaths. Astrid turned to Hiccup, knife in hand.

"How dare you! I stay home, caring for the kids all day, taking care of all your chief duties, and here you are complaining about the forest! I ought to throw you out, you ungrateful lump!' Hiccup backed away, thought for a few seconds, and spoke. He appeared calm but was fuming. "Astrid, love, you're being unreasonable. It's hard to keep up appearances."

Astrid snapped. She threw the knife a few centimetres left of Hiccup's head, embedding it in the wall. "You are going to sleep in the forest you hate so much, and don't even think of sneaking back in." Hiccup sighed, knowing it would be better in the morning. Snatching his exploring satchel, he slammed the door behind him, searching for a pile of semi-comfortable moss.

When Hiccup woke up, his back was aching. He had settled down close to the pond where he had jumped in yesterday, and he caught a glimpse of his reflection as he got up. Hiccup's hair was messy and knotted, and he had dark circles under his eyes. His clothes were dishevelled and crinkled. Hiccup stood at an angle, tired and uncomfortable.

He decided to search for something to bring home, an animal or mineral or whatever looked shiniest. Hiccup was in no rush to return to the village, so he walked around purposeless for a few hours.

It was close to noon when he finally saw a large rabbit. Intending to take it back as a pet or possible food, he crouched, thinking of a plan. Yet before he could even initiate the plan, a large blur leaped down gracefully from the trees, snatched up the rabbit, and ate it in a single bite. Hiccup was immediately grateful for his vantage point behind the rock and pulled out a journal he had in his satchel.

The dragon had lay down on the soft forest floor to absorb the light. It spread its huge wings out, and Hiccup realised: They were leaf shaped. The dragon had a magnificent colouring of white and all shades of grey that Hiccup realised helped it to blend in with the leaf shadows on the floor. Even then, he had to squint to see it properly. It had the exact figure of a night fury, possibly a little bulkier, and was in no way similar to a light fury.

It must have smelled Hiccup's earlier scent, as it snapped it's head up. It turned to face Hiccup's rock, teeth bared. Deciding it was a good idea to get up and show that it wasn't a threat, the chief rose slowly.

The dragon's eyes formed into slits, and it stepped towards him menacingly. "Heey, Calm down boy, it's all right." Hiccup moved a foot behind him, but didn't keep moving. The dragon spread its wings, like a frilled neck lizard trying to intimidate its rival. Hiccup took a step back, and tried to take another but his foot was stuck in a gloppy, sand-like substance, possibly quicksand.

Hiccup sunk down quickly, and soon he was fully submerged. He tried to hold his breath as best he could, but it was no use. "I'm going to drown here, without saying anything to the people I love", thought, with the images of his wife, children, Toothless and a small glimpse of the Light Fury flooding his head.

Finally, he couldn't hold on any longer and blacked out. The last thing he saw was the mysterious dragon pulling him out from the sand. The wet earth seemed to retract, like a magnet meeting another magnet. He closed his eyes and he felt the dragon's mouth around his waist.

Two Days Later

Hiccup could have gone on sleeping, but the agonising pain in his throat woke him. In his groggy state, Hiccup was defenceless. It felt like it had been years. Absentmindedly wondering why and how he was still alive, he stumbled onto two feet, rubbing his head. The world looked...Different.

Before doing anything, Hiccup collapsed, a torturous pain running through his side. A blurry image of the dragon carrying him to a tree flashed through his mind as he stumbled to a downhill area, and was sick on the floor.

Wiping his mouth, Hiccup staggered to the tree he had woken up next to. He lay down on the floor as he checked the bite mark. Whatever had bit him, which he assumed was the dragon, had venomous teeth. The bite surely couldn't have been that infected within this timeframe, right? Hiccup knew he had to find water, both to drink and clean out the disgusting green wound.

Later, Hiccup had finally found water, but little did he know that the dragon from before had discovered he was gone and was now watching him. Using his hands, Hiccup drank the water, slowly re-hydrating. After a few good gulps, he took off his shirt and began to clean the wound. The cool water ran into the wound, which was a knife in his stomach.

Hiccup heard a whoosh sound, and then a voice. "Hey, you! Over there, near the water!" The voice was deep, but smooth and vaguely feminine. Hiccup turned around, to see a beautiful woman walking towards him. She was muscular and looked like she was very fit. Her long, silver hair was in two braids. The silver haired girl wore an unusual outfit, with long, dark blue pants and a black singlet. Her striking eyes were a unique shade of amber, almost gold. Her tanned skin gave away that she spent most of her time in the sun. She looked about 20 years old and had a scowling expression.

Hiccup was trying to remember if he had seen this woman at New Berk, so he didn't speak until she was very close to him. "Stop gawking, little man, the same thing is going to happen to you if I'm right, which I am most if not all of the time." Hiccup wondered what she meant. Another stabbing pain shot through his waist, and he scooped another handful of water onto his midriff. "Stop doing that, it's not going to help." She put her hand over her head in a frustrated way and helped him to his feet rather aggressively.

"Come with me", she said as she dragged Hiccup to a nearby, sunny clearing. Dropping him in the middle, she glowered at him, then sighed. "I really don't know how to feel about this." She explained. "Sorry, I don't understand what 'this' is." Hiccup said, choosing his words carefully. Her next words came as a shock to the chief.

""You are going to shift into a dragon sometime in the next thirty minutes."