"Chief Stoick named Toothless and Sharphot as his sons and those three little ones as his grandsons?"

"Yes," Hiccup replied.

Skulder rubbed his forehead.

"You.. I know you said that the chief accepted the dragons after..after you all killed that big one, but… I would never have thought he, of all people, would name dragons as family. Not after-"

Skulder's voice faded, his hand fell, and his eyes widen. Hiccup grunted.

"After my mother was taken. I know the story now."

Skulder bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Hiccup."

Hiccup frowned. "You had nothing to do with it and you couldn't make my dad tell me what happened, so why are you apologizing?"

"I did not mean to bring the memories up," Skulder said softly, lifting his gaze.

Hiccup smiled and tipped his head to the man. He slipped off Shadowfire's nose, his alpha magic settling with a purr that Shadowfire returned. Hiccup saw Skulder glance at the dragon.

"Why is that dragon acting like a tribesman that got caught doing something he shouldn't and being forgiven by his chief instead of being outcast?"

Hiccup sighed. He had hoped the knowledge that some dragons were now legalized Haddocks would have assuaged Skulder's curiosity. No such luck. In hindsight, Hiccup knew he should have expected that. Skulder never did leave a point of interest alone. That he left the island to pursue his belief the Hooligan tribe held more in their past than was taught was proof of his tenacity.

"Hiccup's the alpha of the dragons," Snotlout said, arms crossed over his chest.

Hiccup stared at his cousin with a lifted eyebrow.

"What? He asked. Don't know why you were easing around the issue. He's gonna know when he goes back to Berk."

Hiccup sighed, fighting the urge to pinch his nose. Shadowfire nuzzled against him and Hiccup smiled, placing a hand upon the dragon's snout. He then faced Skulder, standing to his full height.

"The dragons that live on Berk named me their alpha," he said, making sure his voice did not wavier or drop in tone.

He still did not like to speak about it, fearing he would come off as boasting. He did not really care for that tradition the Vikings had. He had enough of listening to many boast about themselves with one breath and insult him to his face with the other.

"Wait, does that mean you are equal in rank to the one I met in the cave?"

"Yes. I'm the alpha of the Berkian nest just as he's the alpha of this nest."

"But he called you son just before we left to get that tablet and you said he was Toothless' father when you first found me. I'm sorry, but I'm confused."

[My parents named Hiccup and Sharpshot their sons,] Toothless said, turning away from Silent and padding over. [But make no mistake, my brother stands as the alpha of his nest and as an equal to my father.]

Hiccup saw Skulder straighten.

"I'm not going to.. uh, what I mean is.. I've always respected Hiccup..and…"

"Easy Skulder," Hiccup said, shooting his brother a look that Toothless grunted and shook himself in response to. "Toothless is the Nest Protector."

"Does that make him your second in command?" Skulder asked.

Hiccup smiled as Skulder went from unsure to intrigued over learning something he did know before in the blink of an eye. Before he could answer, Stormfly decided to add her voice to the conversation.

[Astrid is his second in command, given that she'll be queen of the nest when they have their mate-hood ceremony.]

[Which cannot come fast enough,] Toothless muttered. [I need a nap in the sun one day.]

He received a light tail slap from Moondust for that one.

[What? You weren't there at the start, my love. You don't know.]

[You get plenty of naps, don't try that. And don't confuse the human into thinking you constantly have to watch Alpha and his queen. You know they are well behaved.]

[Since when?] a new voice from the cave opening said.

Everyone turned, finding Spitfire standing there with Toothless' younglings. The boys were staring at their aunt with expressions that ranged from horror to secret amusement. Hiccup frowned at his sister.

"Excuse me," he said, arms crossing over his chest. "Astrid and I are a well-behaved courting couple."

[That's what you all are talking about? You find a tablet that shows a history of this nest that we didn't know existed and you all talk about my brother and his intended's relationship.]

Spitfire shook her whole body, her wings lightly buffering Sliverfire.

[Not the decision I would have made to spend this time, but to each his own, I guess.]

Toothless snorted. [We have spoken about much more than that, dear sister.]

Spitfire stared at him and playfully scoffed. [Right. Either way, my nephews and I are here to collect you all. It's time for the competition.]

With his alpha's soft order to sing, Shadowfire split away from the group as they were led to the opposite side of the caldera that formed in the tallest mountain on the island. The competition was set to happen outside as at a time in the past a Tall-singer danced off one of the ledges in the meeting cavern.

Shadowfire moved to join the other Tall-singers, hearing encouraging coos and warbles from everyone he passed. He merely nodded, his mind still reliving the experience he had when Hiccup leapt onto his snout. He felt and heard Hiccup's alpha side rise. He heard the purr that said peace and love without any words but as Hiccup laid back against his forehead, Shadowfire felt the surge flood his soul. It was more intense than when Hiccup had shouted 'enough' back in the Great Hall that day. That moment paled in comparison to this.

As the surge dimmed slightly, Shadowfire felt ever muscle in his body relax. The guilt he felt begin to fade against an onslaught of warmth. Then he heard the words and knew they were from his alpha. He did not know how or why Hiccup was able to do speak to his soul like this and right then he did not care to know. Not after the words reigestered.

{You are loved. You are mine.}

Shadowfire did not hear much of the conversation happening around him as those words repeated themselves and the warmth continued to sooth and mend his soul. His entire focus had remained upon his alpha. The only reason he could answer Toothless' question had been because the words paused as Toothless warbled.

"You will start."

Shadowfire shook himself free of his memories and found himself snout to snout with the Tall-singer elder.

"I'm sorry?" he asked, head tilted.

The elder, a dragon no bigger than Shadowfire was and sporting dark green and light orange scales, snorted.

"You will start. Go."

Shadowfire swallowed but gamely moved to the rock the elder said to stand upon. All around the caldera silence fell. Shadowfire swallowed again. He had a song in mind when he first heard about the competition. Having to endanger Astrid and still be forgiven derailed that first song. Shadowfire knew he would not be able to sound as giddy as he should for those lyrics.

"Go, Shadowfire! You got this!"

Hearing his alpha's voice caused Shadowfire to jerk. He stared across the caldera, finding Hiccup and the other humans sitting behind a line of low flames with the nest dragons, and Spitfire, arranged behind them and acting as backrests for the humans. Shadowfire blinked and he knew exactly what song to sing. He took a deep breath and with his gaze firmly upon his alpha began.

[Don't give up]

Authoress note: The song he chose is 'You Are Loved(Don't Give Up)' by Josh Groban if you would like to hear the entire song.

Kirika: That he does. That he does.