The Changewing guards did nothing more. Hiccup frowned but knew he had bigger issues to contend with. The Scauldron's parents were keeping his skin hydrated but they avoided the wing. Hiccup could tell from the tip of it that it was drying out. They needed to hurry.

"Ruff, Tuff, please come here," Hiccup called. "Gyda, are you still doing good?"

"Aye, alpha," Gyda said.

Hiccup blinked as those same guards shifted their gaze to Gyda and smiled. Hiccup placed that in the mental list to ask Toothless and Sharpshot about later as the twin reached him. Hiccup grimaced, knowing the young Scauldron was not going to like what came next, but knowing that it had to be done. Hiccup turned, looking up at the Scauldron.

"We have to realign the bone in your wing before we put the splint on," he said softly. "Or it can heal wrong and you won't be able to fully open or close it. It's going to hurt."

The young Scauldron grunted. [Do as you will, human.]

Sharpshot grunted. [If you're not going to call him by his title, at least call him by his name. It's Hiccup, not human.]

"Easy, brother," Hiccup said softly. "He's in pain and is stuck on this sandy beach under that sun."

Sharpshot grunted again. Hiccup reached up and scratched Sharpshot's head. Sharpshot cooed. Hiccup grinned and then looked to Snotlout and Fishlegs.

"Think you two can hold one sapling under the wing and one above the wing so the twins can lash them together with the vines?"

The queen chirped. Hiccup's eyebrow lifted as two of the Changewings that removed the boulders and got the trees and vines stepped close to Snotlout and Fishlegs.

[We shall help hold them,] the one who tipped its head said, it's voice male and as musical as the others.

Hiccup smiled. "Thank you." He looked to the Scauldron. "Can you lift your wing at all?"

[Not far.]

[Lift it as far as you are able,] Toothless said, [then rest it upon my back and wings.]

He walked around behind the Scauldron. With a grunt and hiss the Scauldron slowly lifted his wing. The broken half dragged the sand. Toothless nosed under and spread his wings. The Scauldron lowered his wing and breathed a sigh of relief as Gyda placed her glowing green hands back over the break. Snotlout grabbed one end of a sapling and Fishlegs grabbed the other. They moved over. Gyda stopped using her healing spell. She stepped out of the way as the two positioned the sapling under the wing. The two Changewings, having seen what the humans did, mimicked them but held their sapling over the top of the wing. Gyda stepped back to the break. Hiccup moved to her side. He gently gripped the bone on one side of the break. Gyda gripped the other side. Hiccup nodded once. Both tugged sharply. The Scauldron yelled. Hiccup's jaw clinched.

"Lash it!" he cried.

The twins hurriedly tied the saplings in place with Toothless closing the wing on the side they worked then reopening it when they were done and repeating the action for the other side. As soon as the saplings were secured, Gyda's hands glowed green once more and the Scauldron hissed in relief. Hiccup's jaw loosened now that the procedure was over. He stepped back and looked up.

"Let's get you in the water," he said. "Sir, ma'am," he added looking to the pod leader and his mate. "Go back to Berk, please. You can rest in the coves and inlets around the island until his wing heals."

The young Scauldron blinked. [You will let myself and my parents rest around your nest?] he asked.

"Yes. You are hurt and shouldn't really swim or fly with a broken wing or it can heal wrong. The waters around Berk are calm. You'll be left be to rest, if you're worried the humans will bother you. When I get back, I will ask our healer to see if she can put something on your wing so you're not in pain all the time. She might have to reapply it many times before you're completely healed so that's the only time you'd be bothered. If you don't want the medicine I'll tell everyone to just leave you be."

[The mage is not your healer?] the queen asked.

"No, ma'am," Hiccup said looking at her. "We have an elderly woman who has been tending the tribe's wounds since long before our mage was born."

Gyda snorted and shot Hiccup a bemused look. Shadowfire, standing with the others, snickered. Toothless chortled. Astrid stared at him with a lifted eyebrow but a smile playing around her lips. Sharpshot snickered as well. The rest of the Berkians that knew of Gyda's origins either snickered or snorted. Hiccup grinned and turned to Toothless.

"Okay, bud, let's see about getting him into the water."

[Land alpha,] the pod leader said, [we can aid him. I would rather your brother's coverings not get wet.]

"Wouldn't be the first time," Astrid muttered.

Toothless chortled. [You still love me, Lady Alpha,] he said as he slowly moved aside so the pod leader could ease under his son's wing. [Remember, I showed you the beauty of the wind and the sky that night.]

"Yes, after you almost drowned me," Astrid returned, giving Toothless a pointed look.

[The young Nadder called this female your queen,] the Changewing queen began before anyone else could speak. [And your… brother called her 'lady alpha'. My son neglected to mention this when he introduced you all,] she finished with a flick of her eyes to her son who was atop the cliff speaking to the attacking Changewing in soft tones.

Hiccup stared at Astrid and smiled. "She's my intended," he said. "We haven't had the.. er.. mate-hood ceremony yet. We are still considered too young by the healer of our tribe and as she's the one who performs human mate-hood ceremonies, we have to do as she says."

[Humans do not have you perform their mate-hood ceremonies?] the king asked. [But you are the alpha of your nest.]

"Um, humans didn't really know how dragon society handled anything," Hiccup said. "We didn't even know dragons had a society until Gyda's magic allowed us to talk to each other. So we didn't know alphas oversaw mate-hood ceremonies."

He watched as the Scauldrons eased into the waves and when they made it passed the break water, he turned to Snotlout and the twins.

"Go with them," he said, "and help them get settled in a bay or inlet close enough Gothi can help. Then Snot, go get Gothi and see if she can ease his pain. Then please let Dad know what's happened. I'm sure he's worried about us right now."

"Sure, Hiccup," Snotlout said moving back to Hookfang.

Hookfang bowed to Hiccup and Snotlout slipped into the saddle. The twins cackled and moved to Barf and Belch. The Zippleback bowed to Hiccup before pulling their maneuver of grabbing the wrong twin only to put them in the right saddle.

"Ruff," Gyda said, "will you please tell Frost and Pale I'll be back as soon as I can?"

"Was going there when we got them settled anyways," Ruff said, grinning. "I can play with the hatchlings then."

"No, I will," Tuff protested. "They like me better anyways."

"Oh, no dear brother," Ruff said as Barf and Belch rolled their eyes and flew up into the air. "They love me."

Hookfang grunted something in the Old Tongue as he rose that sounded as if he was resigned to his fate. The king cackled.

[Oh, alpha that saved my son,] he said, [you have an interesting nest. I would like to visit it sometime.]

"Sure," Hiccup said as the small group heading back home began to fly away with Ruff and Tuff still arguing about who would play with the Ice Terror hatchlings. "Any of this nest is welcomed to visit."

[Who are Frost and Pale?] the queen asked. [And why did the two humans that look alike speak of playing with hatchlings?]

Gyda looked to Hiccup. He frowned but gestured for her to go ahead. Gyda turned to the queen and tipped her head.

"Frost is Frostfire," she said. "He is my oldest son. Pale is Palewing, his mate. The hatchlings are theirs. And now that I know those two are going to play with my grandkids, I just know I'm gonna have to undo all the chaos inducing pranks they try to teach them."

"Imagine if they start teaching Ringfire's hatchlings," Fishlegs said before shuddering.

"Oh, now I have a headache," Gyda muttered as she rubbed her forehead.

[You raised a dragon?] the queen asked.

"Two," Gyda said. She pointed to Shadowfire. "He's my second son. His name is Shadowfire."

[Mother,] the son said, looking down at everyone. [I believe this one has seen the error of his way.]

[Then rise and correct your wrong, young one,] the queen said.

The young Changewing rolled back to his paws. He stared down at Hiccup then lowered his head and his gaze.

[I am sorry,] he said softly. [I should have never tried to attack you.]

"Can you look at me?" Hiccup asked, softly.

The Changewing slowly lifted his gaze. Hiccup smiled.

"This war caused a lot of problems and harm to both sides," he began. "It also caused a lot of mistrust and fear. I am sorry I didn't explain and put you in a position where you felt your nest was in danger."

The Changewing blinked. [My king and queen were correct, I should have stayed calm and observed, not jump to conclusions.]

"We all make mistakes," Hiccup said, still smiling. "Best thing is to learn from them."

[You accept his apology?] the son said, looking down at Hiccup.

"I do."

[Do you grant him mercy or do you believe he should be punished by being removed from his training?] the son asked.

"I give him forgiveness."

That cause all the Changewings to chitter and it all sounded as if they were surprised. The queen stared at Hiccup and then shook her head.

[You are not human,] she muttered. [No human holds the wisdom you do. No human forgives as you do.]

"Hiccup has the heart of chief," Gyda began softly, "the soul of a dragon, and the mind and will of a king."

The queen stared at her then looked over her shoulder and chittered something in the Old Tongue. Hiccup blinked as the young Changewing he had just forgiven bounded into the trees behind him only to return and fly down to the beach. The Changewing placed a bundle of sticks and leaves upon the ground at Gyda's feet, making sure he did not come close to Hiccup. The Changewing then bowed to his king and queen before returning to his post.

[Please,] the queen said, nose pointed to the pile. [Though the sun shines, the wind bites with cold. I know that is not good for humans. Make your fire and please explain how your nest came about. How you came about, alpha who stands as human but acts like an Elder dragon.]

Kirika: Um, google translate has your last sentence as 'I love your partner'. I'm guessing you meant Hiccup and Astrid's partnership? If so, I agree with you

Anonymous Person: Uh..as of right now… five books in total. TSTAE and TWOF then this one, the one that deals with the Thing and some other stuff that I ain't gonna spoil right now and one that deals with the Edge and may or may not lead right into the second movie. We'll see how that goes. It also is likely that there'll be a sixth one. We'll see how chatty Hiccup is with his tale. Hehe, actually that was just the king being curious. He's always been curious about humans and now has a chance to speak to one. The queen is still reeling from the confusion Hiccup has caused her. She's not quite sure what to make of him yet.

K. H: Hey, welcome and thanks for reading and reviewing. Wow, I'm impressed. The second book is long. I'm glad you like Gyda and her kids. They are fun to write. Actually they weren't growling. They were glaring at Snot because he called Hiccup by his name and not his title. They are coming to respect him, even if they are confused by him, and they felt it wrong for Snot to address him so informally. They don't know he and Snot are actually kin.