The doggie looked so soft... Hiccup toddled on unsteady legs towards the large animal, almost willing it to be soft and pettable...

"Hiccup!"

A strong hand, almost as large as his entire body, reached down and pulled him back, and the dog, startled, barked and growled.

Hiccup, at three, stared at the dog as it snapped its jaws, and the trader hauled back on its leash.

"Hiccup! You can't... what... son, be more careful!" Stoick scolded.

Looking into his Dada's eyes, Hiccup cried. He wanted to pet the doggie! His Dada had scared it!

"Hiccup! You could have been hurt!" Stoick held him out at arm's length and said softly, "And you're all I have left of your mother..."

Hiccup blinked and patted his Dada's hand. "Dada miss Mommy?"

Stoick sniffed. "Aye, son. I do. Be more careful, all right?"

"'Kay, Dada!"

Stoick, still sniffing slightly, put Hiccup down on his feet gently, like the mountain of a man that he was, and Hiccup blinked.

He was six. He and his father were in the woods, a small quiver across his back, a small bow in his hands, his father holding a bigger one in his own.

"All right, son, now, pull the arrow back to your cheek... like this..."

Hiccup awkwardly nocked the arrow and drew it back, his arms shaking with the effort.

"Alright, son. Now... see if you can hit one..."

Stoick threw a rock into the nearby bushes, and it practically exploded with fleeing birds.

Hiccup, startled, let go of the arrow, and it flew off and hit a tree—not a bird.

Stoick grinned. "Eh, it's not a bird, but it's a start." He walked over to the tree, and, as he was pulling the arrow loose, Hiccup went and looked for trolls. He knew that some of them were around here. They kept stealing Uncle Gobber's socks.

He went through another bush and saw a bird nearby, hopping along, and he coo'ed at it.

The bird turned and looked at him.

He made another coo'ing noise at it.

The bird hopped over in his direction.

"Son!?" Stoick bellowed at the top of his lungs—and the bird, startled, burst into flight and swooped at Hiccup's head, leaving a painful peck in his hair.

"Ow! Hey, stop it!"

Hiccup held his hands up around his head, trying to keep the bird off, but it was pecking at him and aiming for his eyes.

"Son!" Stoick burst through the bush, bow in hand, and an instant later, the bird was skewered with an arrow.

Hiccup looked at it, aghast, as it flapped its last and turned to look at his father to protest, but Stoick scooped him up. "You're bleeding! Son, are you all right?"

"I'm okay, Dad," Hiccup said, still looking at the dead bird sadly, but his father was holding him and he could feel the warm blood seeping into his hair. He remembered seeing the claws heading for his face and shuddered. His dad had saved him... like his dad did... like he always did.

"Thanks, Dad," Hiccup said, and hugged his father close, relishing in the warmth and solidity of his dad's broad chest. He knew that his dad would protect him, would always protect him.

Stoick fussed over him for another moment and then put him down to look at his head properly, setting him down carefully, like he could break, and Hiccup blinked.

He was nine. Snotlout and the twins had tricked him into the woods for a prank—and now he was holding onto a tree for dear life, an angry boar squealing in fury as it tried to knock him out of the tree.

He hauled himself up to the first branch and watched the giant pig—eight feet long and with tusks that could gut a man—hammer itself against the tree, which groaned with each impact.

"Hey! Ugly!" a voice boomed in challenge, and Hiccup looked up across the small clearing to see his father, a boar spear in hand, standing there, red-faced and looking like he'd just run flat out. But even as he puffed for breath, he roared and the boar roared back.

"Dad! Look out!"

The boar charged, and Hiccup watched, terrified, as the tons of angry pig ran at his father, who set his spear barely in time. The boar impaled itself on the weapon, enraged and wanting to gore Hiccup's father with its tusks, and only the stout crossbar halfway down the spear kept it from literally hauling itself down the weapon that was killing it to do exactly that to Stoick. It roared and thrashed...

And died.

It had barely stopped twitching when Stoick threw it and the spear aside and ran over to the tree. "Hiccup, jump down!" he called, and held out his hands.

Hiccup didn't hesitate and leapt into his father's arms as the rest of the rescue party came running up into the clearing, panting. As they exclaimed over the size of the boar—apparently the largest seen on Berk in ages, with people speculating that it must have swum in from another island—Hiccup clutched at his father, shaking like a leaf at how close he'd come to dying.

"It's okay, son. It's okay. I'm here," Stoick said, rocking him back and forth.

Hiccup knew it. His father was there. Always.

As Uncle Spitelout called, Stoick turned and walked over to the boar. They picked it up by the spear and hauled it back to the village, Hiccup still held in his father's arms the whole way. Snotlout and the twins were relieved that he wasn't dead, and hid it through some teasing, as Hiccup was still held in his father's arms.

As they handed the boar off to the kitchens, Stoick looked at his blood-soaked tunic and shook his head. Hiccup was sat down and blinked. He was fifteen. It was the middle of a dragon raid; a Nightmare had just toasted the front of his house, and he was running to the smithy to help.

Another dragon sprayed a burst of flames right where he was running, and he was hauled back by a massive hand, who held him, dangling "Hiccup! What is he doing out? What are you doing out? Get inside!"

Stoick set him down half-gently, and Hiccup ran off to the smithy. After Gobber chided him and then ran off himself, he got the Mangler and went up to the high cliffs...

"Did anybody see that?"

A growl from behind him made his guts turn to water. "Aside from you."

He screamed and ran as the Nightmare gave pursuit, and hid behind one of the signal fire posts, which the Nightmare burned—but right before it could attack him, his father came charging in and tackled the dragon out of the way. His father punched it until it fled... and then the signal fire, the beam burned, collapsed, and the dish at the top rolled away, setting the captured Nadders free. They watched the dragons fly off with their supplies in silence for a moment, and then Hiccup said, "Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."

Stoick reached over and picked Hiccup up by the back of his vest. As Hiccup stammered out explanations, they walked to the edge of the crowd, and Stoick set him down. "Stop!"

Hiccup blinked. He was twenty...

And his best friend was lurching towards him, his eyes narrowed to slits.

"Toothless! Toothless! Come on bud!"

And Stoick came running up... and tackled him out of the way...

And Hiccup blinked—and woke.

###

With a scream of "No!" Hiccup thrashed, coming out of the doze that he'd fallen into, despite his own fascination with the vehicle. Panic drove his limbs and he thrashed about, not seeing the cart, or the seat in front of him, or the screaming young woman trying to hold him down. He just saw his father's motionless body... dead because of him.

The belaying line snapped free of the cart as he spasmed in panic, and in the next moment, he was flying through the air...

Without Toothless.

He hit the dirt next to the strange road with a thud, and the cart came to a halt with a high pitched squeal, screaming coming from inside.

Hiccup lay on the ground, stunned, staring up at the blue sky and white clouds.

Memories of flying through clouds like those came unbidden to his mind...

And he burst into tears as he remembered Astrid's arms around him.

She was gone too. Long gone. Ashes on the wind, bones on the earth.

A thousand years gone...

He barely heard the footsteps as someone ran up to him, and the man—Nickolai, he'd introduced himself—came into view.

"Hiccup!? Are you all right? What's broken? Where are you hurt?" he asked, concerned.

Hiccup shook his head. "I'm all right," he said, wheezing from having had the wind knocked out of him.

Nickolai looked disbelieving. "Hiccup, you just jumped out of my vehicle, which was going a hundred kilometers an hour, and flew nearly a hundred meters through the air!"

Hiccup blinked and hauled himself upright on his hands and wrists. "What's a 'kilometer' and 'meter'?" he asked, rolling the unfamiliar words around in his mouth.

"Units of measure. Come on, what's broken?"

Hiccup pulled himself to his feet. "Nothing. See?" he twisted a bit to show that nothing was broken, even as Emily came running up, carrying a large white case with a red cross emblazoned on it, her eyes wide and panicked. She grabbed him with such firmness that he went with it out of sheer surprise, as she started patting him down in a quick and oddly detached manner. She asked something to Nickolai, who repeated it to Hiccup.

"Where does it hurt?"

"I... it hurts a little, but not like I broke anything. Promise," Hiccup said as Emily finished checking over his arms and legs for anything broken and then stood back to give him a befuddled look.

"Then why are you crying?" Nickolai asked gently.

The memory of Astrid hit him like a punch to the gut, and Hiccup whuffed out a breath and clenched back tears. "Because... because I remembered my betrothed."

Nickolai blinked and said something to Emily. Her expression softened and she embraced him. He didn't need to understand the words to get the meaning.

There there. It's okay.

He shook his head and pushed her back. He could feel his grief building, but he'd cried his tears on the tree when he'd believed that he was going to die. While he liked the skald and the healer and the girl—barely younger than he'd been when he'd shot down Toothless—he didn't know them... and after his epic mistake with Drago... he was reluctant to trust them.

First, he needed to find Heimdall. His whole self was latched onto that goal. He had to know what had happened to his people after the Bifrost had taken them away. That thin, slender hope was all that held back the mounting waves of grief at finding himself castaway on the ocean of time.

Taking a deep breath, he said to Nickolai, "Let's return to your cart and keep going. We're not accomplishing anything standing around here."

Nickolai, his expression dubious, nodded and led the way back.

Hiccup opened the door using the clever latch and winced.

"Oops." There were visible dents in the finely cushioned seat... the floor... and the side of the cart, and the belaying line's belt was frayed and snapped.

The girl, Nikki, was giving him a wide-eyed stare, and shrank back against the far door as he cautiously re-entered. The top of the cart, covered in some of that thick oily cloth, had burst along some seam during his exit—but thankfully it was apparently a designed seam. He watched in awe as, after a bit of fumbling and resetting, they used a small pull-latch to lace the two rows of fine metal teeth back together. It was all Hiccup could do to keep himself from sitting up and examining it to see how it worked. The precision and evenness was amazing...

As he examined it, there was a brief discussion between the girl and Emily, and when Nickolai started the vehicle up again—it involved some sort of fine metal key inserted into the base of the wheel that he used to direct the cart—Emily was sitting next to Hiccup in the rear seats, while Nikki was seated up front.

Hiccup was about to ask why... but then he eyed the broken belaying strap and dented seat and realized that the girl didn't feel safe next to him.

And he couldn't blame her for that, honestly.

Hiccup instead affixed his attention back onto the strange pull-clasp invention. He had tried to reach back up to inspect it, standing up as he did so, only for Emily to quickly grab him by the arm and he heard shouts of shock and panic. She had made a quick tamping gesture with her hand, and Hiccup didn't need to understand that meant sit down. Hiccup pulled his arms back as he sat back down, watching as Emily reached around him and observed the torn belaying lines. That was quickly solved by tying them around his waist.

Hiccup gazed up hearing an outburst from Nikki in the front as she and Nickolai got into a heated discussion. Before he could ask what was wrong, a colorful burlap sack was shoved in his face.

"What's this for?" Hiccup took the sack and tilted it this way and that, inspecting it curiously as his fingers caressed the strange fabric. It wasn't wool, or wicker, or fine silk.

"To keep you busy. You can't stand up in the vehicle, Hiccup. This isn't a ship," Nickolai warned, his tone worried. "Don't want you falling out again."

Hiccup averted his gaze and mumbled apologetically, "Sorry," before his attention was back onto the burlap sack. Around the top of the sack were several smaller rows of the pull-clasp seam and Hiccup immediately busied himself with trying to figure it out. Breaking down how it felt in his head and wondering if he couldn't replicate it.

Busying himself with the idea was better than the thought of... what he'd lost.

He quickly found that the seams came in several sizes and were fully integrated into the rucksack. Not wanting to invade the girl's privacy, he settled for examining the pull-clasp and teeth. A small bump on the end of each tooth and a matching indentation on the following tooth told him how they meshed together so neatly, although he was impressed with the uniformity and fineness of the finish of the metal. He held the clasp up to his eye and made a noise of realization.

"What?" Nickolai asked from the front seat.

"I see how it works! Two wedges force the teeth together when pulled this way, and a third wedge splits them apart when pulled the other way!"

"That's quite an eye you have. Are you a smith?" Nickolai asked intently.

"I made this," Hiccup pointed to his leg, "this," he indicated his suit, "and several other things... back in my time," Hiccup admitted carefully.

Nickolai made a strangled sound of excitement. "You're a craftsman, not just a blacksmith?"

"Yes," Hiccup trailed off as he looked up and could see that they were coming up on a cluster of buildings at the end of the long road they were travelling on in the distance, a snowcapped mountain on the other side of a fjord dwarfing the manmade structures. "Where are we?"

Hiccup figured he must have hit a nerve with the skald, hearing a muffled sound of annoyance coming from him. He seemed to do that a lot and Hiccup found it mildly entertaining. "You'll soon see," came Nickolai's reply.

For Hiccup, soon couldn't come any faster. Other carts—in several colors—joined them on the road. Hiccup looked out and up as several colorful homes came into view on the slope above the road as below, what looked like human-sized cages stretched the length of the road. Hiccup squinted his eyes and was relieved to see dogs barking excitedly behind the strange metal cages. His attention drew back up to the colorful homes which were uniform in shape, but not size or length. They were similar to the long homes that the Bog Burglars lived in.

"Do people still live in long homes?" Hiccup asked curiously, eyeing a green metal container on the side of the road as they moved past it.

"Something like that," came Nickolai's reply.

Still more arcane devices flew by—more fae-lights on wooden poles, and odd, metal-sided buildings with bright signs and strange vehicles arranged in a row out in front. Some of them looked sleek, like they were made to go fast, with small glass shields that were clearly there for the rider to hunch down behind. He pointed. "What are those?"

Nickolai paused, gently pounded his head on the strange wheel once, and said, "They're snowmobiles. They use the same power as this vehicle for driving over snow."

"Oh. I see. So the belts along the underside are for grabbing at the snow and pulling themselves along? Clever!"

A massive building came up on the left next, and Hiccup had to keep himself from lying across Emily to stare at it. It was filled with glass windows, including the angled section that looked almost like the upturned prow of a ship, with metal stairs leading up to it.

This place was amazing. They soon passed through the town and the road opened up wider, and Hiccup could see several more carts parked in rows as they approached another set of buildings, the mountain opposite them on the other side of the fjord giving a dramatic backdrop to the view.

Hiccup paused and for a moment, his heart clenched.

He'd been here before. He recognized that mountain and this fjord. Back... then, this place had been a longphort, where a few traders put in for supplies. He and Toothless had played in the snow atop that mountain... Astrid had pummeled him with a snowball.

A sign flew past, and Hiccup blinked, pushing the memories back down. Heimdall. He needed to talk to Heimdall. He'd been preserved for a thousand years. Maybe so had they...

But seeing the mountaintop where he and his friends had frolicked a thousand years before brought it home in a way that made that last bit of denial crumble.

He was so very, very far from home...

They pulled up to the buildings and—once his belaying lines were untied and he was standing on a smaller side road—Hiccup marveled at their sheer size, which dwarfed him. With their provisions and equipment unloaded, Emily had taken the cart—to return it, apparently; from what he'd gotten from Nickolai, it was rented—while Nickolai and Nikki waited outside the buildings with Hiccup, who wanted to explore them. He figured something big must be inside.

Nickolai had taken a deep breath and said, "Hiccup, you're about to witness a modern miracle."

Hiccup looked to Nickolai, the skald seemed hesitant about this big miracle he spoke of. He was sure it couldn't be any more curious than his miraculous driving cart.

"Modern inventors have made flight possible, and we're about to take a flying airship to the mainland," Nickolai explained slowly.

Hiccup couldn't help but to laugh, "Is that all? I know what it's like to fly."

Before Hiccup could realize what he had said, he could see Nickolai's eyes grow wide and he mouthed How?

Damage done, Hiccup quickly scrambled for an explanation that didn't entail revealing flying on the backs of dragons. Then it dawned on him that he was wearing the answer. Hiccup reached up and released the spring-loaded coil. The dorsal fin sprang up on his back, which startled the others.

Hiccup turned and pointed to his back, "This is one of my inventions, it's a flight suit. I have hidden wings tucked away on my sides," Hiccup explained and continued to point out the loops on his legs, "I just thread my arms through these when I'm high enough, and the wind carries me."

Nickolai broke from his trance-like stare and began to poke at the spring-loaded dorsal fin. "How did you, how?" was all he could manage to say in his baffled shock.

Hiccup smiled as the skald explored his suit with amazement. Then his eyes narrowed. "How do you stop?"

"Stop?"

"Land safely. We have bird-suits like these at present... but the wearers need a fall-screen..." he paused. "That's the modern word. Um... a sheet of silk carried in a rucksack on the back and released to slow you down when you're approaching the ground."

Hiccup blinked. "Uh... I aimed myself at ship-sails and caught myself on them," he said, not mentioning that he had a friend with wings that would catch him in mid-air.

Nickolai winced.

Hiccup grinned.

Nickolai put on a brave face after a moment, and waved him towards one of the large buildings as he reround the coil spring, drawing the dorsal fin down against his back. "Well, here we have our air-vessels," he said, the word sounding distorted and odd, and Hiccup immediately pegged it as another one of the modern words from whatever language Norse had become. "This one is small, but it's big enough to get us back to the mainland in a few hours. I talked with my friend, and while... things are complicated for you, as, well, you officially don't exist yet, we'll be able to fly you there."

Hiccup quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, I don't exist?"

Nickolai sighed. "It's complicated, but essentially, none of the kingdoms and nations of the world know who you are—aside from the Asgardians. Through no fault of your own, you have essentially become outcast, as you have no clan or kin... besides them."

Hiccup's eyes widened, and then he nodded. "I see. So since I'm not affiliated with them, they don't know that I exist, so they don't know why I should be let in?"

Nickolai nodded. "Exactly. But we'll fix that soon."

Emily came up, her posture hunched and angry. As she spoke, Hiccup listened, and started to pick up more vocabulary. It was confusing a bit, but it generally made sense. The cart was either a 'car' or a 'jeep', and he'd damaged it, a thought that made him run his hands through his hair sheepishly.

Then the distance-talker device chimed and Nickolai's friend said in that bizarrely accented and distorted Norse that he'd arranged clearance for Hiccup.

And with that, they entered the 'air port'—Hiccup having spotted a sign written in that strange not-Norse, but with the letters being from the Latin alphabet that he was passingly familiar with from books and such.

There were benches and people and the floors were polished wood, which presented some difficulty for his prosthetic—his leg shot out from beneath him the moment he stepped on the polished wood and he had instinctively grabbed onto Nickolai to stop himself from falling. They made their way across the first room, with him clinging onto Nickolai, who offered him support. His prosthetic slipped out from beneath him with every step, making him appear as graceful as an uncoordinated kitten. Trying not to fall, Hiccup's attention was on the floor, specifically, his prosthetic. Eventually, they came to stand on some sort of sticky cloth on the floor and Hiccup found he could stand upright without a problem. Feeling confident, he lifted his gaze and what he saw he was not ready for.

The room was bright. Bright as day. There were fae-lights lined along the walls, in the ceilings, and strange crates glowed as though powered with the fae-light. It was as if he had stepped into Álfheimr. Hiccup's eyes were wide as he observed his new surroundings. The room, despite the disorienting bright fae-lights, was much smaller than when he first looked at the building outside. Then he watched as people walked through doors with glass windows into another section. He figured the building was sectioned off into other rooms. Hiccup had hardly noticed Nickolai talking to him as he looked around the room.

Nickolai nudged Hiccup and he blinked, looking to Nickolai. "I know it's a lot to take in, but we need to go this way," and taking Hiccup's arm, led him across the slick polished floor. Hiccup made a mental note to upgrade his prosthetic again when he had the chance—possibly with some of that material from the strange cloth. He looked up and watched as two large men waved them off to the side. One of the men—he'd figured they must have been of importance as they wore matching clothing—was dark skinned, very much like Heimdall, and Hiccup was very curious.

"You lot must be the ones with special clearance to Oslo, yes?" one of the men asked as they approached.

Hiccup leaned to Nickolai and said, "I don't understand. I've only ever seen Heimdall with such dark skin. I thought only the gods were colorful."

Nickolai made a strange sound and Hiccup quirked a brow.

He watched as Nickolai quickly turned to the dark skinned man. "You'll have to forgive my friend. He's uh," a long pause, probably thinking up an excuse. "He doesn't get out much."

"I was not speaking Norse?" Hiccup asked curiously. He had not realized he had grown used to this new tongue and wasn't aware of how to switch back and forth.

Hiccup felt guilty seeing Nickolai shake his head. It was painful enough he had learned he was an outcast, clanless, and now he feared he may have ruined his chance of going mainland due to an honest mistake.

Hiccup turned to the guard. "Please forgive me. I did not mean anything rude by it."

The dark-skinned guard seemed amused by his curiosity as a pearly white smile split his lips. "Perhaps your friend should visit Wakanda," the man suggested with a hearty laugh.

"Perhaps another time," Nickolai said.

"What is Wakanda?" Hiccup asked curiously, finding the strange word difficult to pronounce as he looked between Nickolai and the man.

"It is one of the kingdoms I've told you about, but it is not on our route," Nickolai explained.

The other guard had cleared his throat and the outgoing man quickly became focussed. Hiccup wasn't sure if it was what he had said as the two conversed with Nickolai.

His attention drifted away as he looked up to see a black slate with moving paintings hanging from the columns. It too glowed with the power of the fae-lights. He watched, wondering how such a creation could work. It wasn't as easy to understand as the pull-clasp seam. Hiccup's eyes grew wider as the moving paintings suddenly switched over: A modern day human was holding up a strange object and talking into it, but there was no sound to the image. Beside them stood a woman who looked Norse in his eyes. The moving paintings suddenly and violently moved very fast, panic unmistaken in the movement, making Hiccup disoriented trying to follow with his eyes. It was as if he was looking through the eyes of another. The violent movement soon calmed and focussed on a strange stone path. The Norsewoman was on the ground and the modern human was helping the Norsewoman up back to her feet.

"I don't understand," Hiccup said, turning back to Nickolai, and pointed to the black slate on the column. Nickolai glanced up, looking at the slate but by that time the moving paintings had changed.

"Oh, Hiccup," Nickolai groaned. "That's going to be difficult to explain."

"Are there any weapons on any of you?" one of the guards—the lighter skin-toned man asked and Hiccup blinked seeing the deadpan accusing stare from the guard he received.

"Give him your dagger, Hiccup," Nickolai said gently.

"What? No," Hiccup backed up as far as he could on the sticky cloth.

"Hiccup, it's okay. It's just for safety," Nickolai promised.

Hiccup scowled; he didn't like the idea of being disarmed... remembering how he'd blithely handed himself and Astrid over to Eret's crew only... well, a thousand years ago and days before. The thought of what might have happened with Drago if his stupid plan had gone through was enough to send a cold shiver up his spine now. It was bad enough that he didn't have Inferno.

Hiccup could feel his prosthetic threatening to slip from underneath him as he reached the end of the sticky floor cloth. Glancing up at the guards, he saw how one of them had pulled out what appeared to be another distance talker, judging by how he was speaking through it. It was much bulkier than Nickolai's, though… who was visibly growing more nervous by the second. His hands were raised in a calming gesture, skin pale, as he anxiously approached Hiccup.

"Hiccup, it's fine. You will get the dagger back when we land in Oslo. It's just so someone else won't use it to harm others," Nickolai explained slowly.

Hiccup blinked and pulled out his dagger. Memories of first gaining Toothless' trust flashed behind his eyes. He looked up at the men and could see they shared the same distrust in their eyes as Toothless had. He held his dagger so that he hopefully didn't look like he was going to attack. He swallowed and asked, "I will get it back?"

Nickolai nodded.

"Promise?"

"You have my word," Nickolai nodded again.

Hiccup looked at the only thing he could defend himself with; even if it made sense as a show of good faith, it hurt a bit. He looked up at the guards who seemed tense. Clenching his eyes shut he whuffed out a sigh. Reluctantly, he held his dagger, hilt first, out for the guards to take, flinching as the weight of the dagger left his fingers.

"You'll be fine, Hiccup. No one uses swords these days." Nickolai placed a hand on his shoulder and led him forward as they met back up with the women on the other side of the wall.

"I don't like this. It doesn't feel right," Hiccup complained.

"In a few hours you'll have your dagger back, as promised," Nickolai reassured him with a pat on the arm.

The trip to the dock was less tricky; by sticking to the odd patches of sticky cloth, he could get along well enough without Nickolai's help.

Turning the corner, Hiccup looked around with wide eyes. A wall of glass was at the end of the indoor dock, and rows and rows of seats which seated some people who were also waiting for the airship. Paintings that looked like they were windows to the outside adorned the walls and in another room, off to the side, what looked like a merchant stand selling strange and colorful provisions and other items.

"This way," Nickolai took him by the arm and lead him up to the glass wall. He pointed out and Hiccup gaped up in wonder. A large metal beast sat nearest the neighboring indoor dock and a procession line of people were waiting to board while others were disembarking. "We will be riding in an air-vessel just like that one."

Hiccup looked to the road leading up to their indoor dock which was empty. "When will our airship dock?"

Before Nickolai could answer, a voice from… nowhere spoke up loud and clear, in that strange language Nickolai called Norwegian.

"Now Arriving, Scandinavian Airlines Flight SK-Four-Four-Nine-Six, from Oslo. Disembarkment will be at Gate One in ten minutes."

Then, it repeated itself in several other languages, one of which he recognized hearing Emily and Nikki speak. While the disembodied voice spoke, Hiccup looked around for the source, but found nothing that obviously leapt out at him. As he looked, he noticed that he was drawing odd stares from the weary travellers waiting in their seats, especially the children, whose parents were gathering their things.

"Sounds like our air-vessel is coming in for a landing now," Nickolai smiled and pointed to the left. "Keep your eyes open."

Hiccup watched, and squinted as he scanned the sky. As Nickolai had promised, the airship was circling for a landing. Hiccup felt the hair on the back of his neck standing up. The image of the great metal ship triggered a memory of facing off with the Red Death. It was nowhere near the size of the Alpha dragon they'd faced... and it wasn't a dragon, either.. But Hiccup had to tamp down on his rising fear, even as he recognized it as irrational. But things had changed so much...

To reassure himself, he looked over to the people boarding the airship at the nearby dock. He could clearly see that they were unafraid, calm, bored even, as they climbed up metal stairs to enter into the body of the large vessel. Motion caught his eye, and he could see the new airship coming in to land; the wings were swept back and massive wheels were extended down below it, which touched the road with a slight bounce. But at the speed it was still going, Hiccup wondered if it wouldn't overshoot the 'air port'—which, of course, explained the need for the long road for it to land on. It eventually came to a halt, and another cart went out to it and, like a galley-tug in a crowded harbor, hitched itself to the front wheel and guided the air-vessel in to a dock, while another set of crew came up with the big metal stairs, which were mounted on wheels.

His inspection was interrupted by Nickolai nudging him, and the pair of them turned and walked to rejoin Emily and Nikki at the line to board.

Once outside, Hiccup was relieved to be back on a surface that his leg could grip, but the relief was short-lived as they approached the intimidating ship; it was far longer than any longship he'd been on, he noted with wide eyes.

It didn't take long until Hiccup found himself before the metal stairs. He did not expect the ship to be intimidating up close but he felt his heart racing.

Come on, you've flown on Toothless a thousand-thousand times before. Hiccup swallowed and looked at the length of the ship. But never in something that flew…

"Are you alright, Hiccup?" Nickolai asked from behind.

Hiccup blinked. You're a Viking about to embark on an adventure and witness new things. If they're not afraid, you shouldn't be afraid. Hiccup quickly bobbed his head before finally taking that first timid step up the stairs. With each metallic clink of his prosthetic on the stairs it became more and more difficult to breathe. Even looking back at the line wasn't calming his growing fears. Yet somehow, Hiccup crested the stairs and crossed the threshold into the cabin.

He entered the ship and looked around; seeing people relaxed and taking their seats was comforting and he began to relax. Just like with the buildings, size was deceiving.

"This way," Nickolai urged Hiccup forward and lead him past rows and rows of seats to theirs. Once he was belted in, Hiccup tried to relax. It took awhile for everyone to get settled, but then they were off.

The ship whirred to life and hummed as though it were purring. Hiccup must have been more anxious than he realized as he felt a gentle reassuring squeeze of his hand from Emily, who sat beside him. He glanced to the armrest which sported indentions the shape of fingers and he winced. He smiled in gratitude and looked out the window on the other side of Nikki. They didn't start up as quickly as the car, Hiccup had noted. Only slowly, the ship began to move forward. The purring grew louder, vibrating through him. Just like the car, the ship also proved to be very similar to riding on dragonback but without the wind stinging your face and whipping through your hair. A sensation Hiccup longed to feel once again. He wondered if humanity made these vehicles to emulate something long lost to them, and guilt weighed heavily on him.

The flight proved to be long, and Hiccup couldn't sit still for very long despite the world zipping by just outside the window. His eyes and fingers wandered, wanting to explore what he could within his space.

After a brief discussion between Nickolai and Nikki in their tongue, the girl reluctantly tapped Hiccup's hand to draw his attention. Seeing how she was so hesitant about interacting with him, he felt guilty for scaring her earlier. But she snapped her fingers at him to pay close attention and pointed to a much smaller black slate on the headboard in front of him. His eyes widened as he watched her turn the fae-light powered slate on and began to poke it. He reached up, wanting to touch the window of the slate—his curiosity growing with every finger swipe—but jerked back when something popped up on the window. Nikki sniggered, and Hiccup absently thought how he apparently hadn't scared her that much after all. He glanced over at her, smiling before looking back at the slate window. She proceeded to show him what to do with it, pointing to a ball on his window. Hiccup gaped watching her flick the ball which disappeared off the window. She again tapped him and pointed to her slate window, the ball on his window having magically appeared on hers. She flicked it back to him with the swipe of her fingertip.

"Magic!" Hiccup exclaimed excitedly as he watched the ball bounce around his slate and immediately flicked the ball—remembering to restrain his strength—across his slate back over to Nikki's. He was entranced by its simplicity.

This rapport continued until Nikki grew bored and showed him interactive magic that he could do on his own, which kept him happily entertained. His attention was soon pulled away from the magical fae-light slate when Emily had helped him with a beverage that was being passed out. Nickolai called it a milkshake. It was a strange and wondrous taste, new like everything else.

At one point during the flight, Nikki began unpackaging one of those strange provisions he had seen in their jeep. He watched curiously and was surprised when she offered him a piece of her provision.

"What is it?" he asked as he plucked a small nugget from her provision and looked it over. Wondering just what it was made from.

"It's what we call chocolate," Nickolai looked over, pointing that strange object of his at him once again.

"Chocolate…" Hiccup repeated thoughtfully and lifted the small morsel up to his nose, smelling it before he tucked it into his mouth.

Hiccup had not expected the taste to be strong and sharp and he gagged the moment he bit into it.

"You all right?" Nickolai sounded worried.

"Yeah," Hiccup choked, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in disgust. "Wasn't expecting it to be so... bitter."

Nickolai seemed to be relieved and chuckled at his suffering as he translated to the girls what was wrong. Soon they were chuckling as well.

The plane began to descend and Emily handed Hiccup a strange contraption. He looked it over in confusion.

"We're coming in for a landing in Oslo and will be passing near New Asgard. Just out your window." Nickolai said. Immediately, Nikki shifted in her seat to point her distance-talker at the window excitedly.

Hiccup was fascinated by the device which Nickolai called 'binoculars'. They were very similar to his spyglass—and, after a brief examination, he discovered that it was essentially two of his spyglasses harnessed together with a hinge. He put his face up to the eyepieces and looked around the cabin. He could see others were also leaning against the left side of the airship, peering out the window, and pointing and chatting excitedly. He suddenly felt a firm but gentle hand grab him by the crown of his head and was gently aimed to the window. That was when he saw it in the distance.

It was just out of comfortable viewing range—even with the strange spyglasses—but he could almost make out another airship, blocky and blue, on the island settlement, large enough that it appeared to shadow the buildings. The buildings looked primitive and simplistic from afar, very similar to what he has seen on Berserk or even Caldera Cay with just a hint of color that helped them stand out.

"Why can't we get closer? I need a good shot for my documentary!" Nikki complained at his elbow in that strange language of hers, which he was beginning to understand and pick apart. He had no clue what a 'documentary' was, though.

"It's restricted airspace. They are protected so idiots won't try and pick a fight with them. Politics are a bit… difficult right now." Nickolai explained.

"Just another fine example of the village idiot sticking it to the little guy…" Nikki sighed.

"Well, Hiccup? What do you think of New Asgard?" Nickolai asked.

"I thought Asgard was elsewhere, not on Midgard," Hiccup frowned.

"It was, but they're now refugees seeking a simple life on Earth." Nickolai said.

"Like me," Hiccup frowned, suddenly realizing just how alone he was.

###

Emily watched as Nickolai aided their friend through the brightly lit and distracting airport. She wondered if the smells, sights, and sounds were overstimulating for their Norseman—whose name she had learned was Hiccup—seeing his eyes round as saucers. She was thankful he hadn't had another panic episode during their flight. The damage to the jeep had been bad enough. Having that happen to a plane... not a happy visual.

"We're going to retrieve his dagger at security. We'll meet you two at the front," Nickolai said.

Emily blinked and nodded. She watched as the two wandered off, Hiccup leaning against Nickolai as his prosthetic slipped out from beneath him. She huffed out a sigh through her nose, the corner of her lips turning up into a smile. She had all but forgotten she was not alone.

"You like him, don't you?" Nikki's voice crashed her daydream of undressing Hiccup with her eyes.

"What?" Emily blurted out. She turned to look at her niece who eyed her with a wry grin.

"Oh come on! You were practically drooling just now!" Nikki groaned. "So… you like him?"

Emily glanced back where the two men had once been and bit her lower lip. "It's errrr... It's complicated."

"Why?" Nikki demanded.

"Well…"

"What's so complicated about love? I'm a teenager, not a five-year-old for God's sake!" Nikki exclaimed.

"Nikki!" Emily chastised.

Nikki quickly recoiled. "Sorry…"

"He belongs to another," Emily finally explained.

"But I thought you found him in the cave," Nikki cocked a brow at her.

"We did," Emily nodded as they walked through the extensive airport. "But he said he has a betrothed."

Whom I'm not too sure is still alive... and, if she isn't, he'll need time to mourn.

That seemed to placate Nikki as the two walked the length of the airport quietly.

"He would have made a cool uncle," Nikki finally said after a while of silence.

Emily felt a smile tugging at her lips once more. If only luck in love balanced out the amount of work in her field. She didn't believe in luck or any of that nonsense. But Emily often felt as though she were destined to be alone.

Both Emily and Nikki finally passed through the doors into the outside world. Even though she was in shape for her age, that was quite a trek as they caught their breath on the sidewalk waiting for Nickolai and Hiccup. She had expected them to take a while with customs, but the two emerged from the doors shortly after them and Hiccup gaped up in wonder at the outside world. She wondered just how Hiccup perceived their modern world. The levels of parking lots off to their left. The control tower in front—which she deduced must look like a medieval tower to him—and the roads that stretched for miles across the countryside.

The ride to the ship museum felt long. But as they began to leave the countryside behind and enter suburban life, Hiccup quickly became curious and asked questions about their modern homes, or items he didn't understand. His behavior reminded her of a toddler just beginning to talk and asking questions about the world around him. Emily found it entertaining how Hiccup would quickly wear on Nickolai's patience with his innocent questions. His curiosity seemed to shed the minutes.

As they entered Oslo, Emily glanced over at Hiccup. She smiled warmly to see his eyes dart this way and that at the massive buildings as they entered the old city.

Emily was sure Nickolai would have a coronary by the time they left downtown Oslo and drew closer to the Ship Museum from all of the questions Hiccup asked. His Norwegian was thick, but he was quickly picking up on it, and becoming more clear for her to understand. It was a relief to finally be able to understand him. He asked about every little detail they passed on the drive to the museum while simultaneously driving Nickolai nuts with his growing curiosity about their world.

"Oh dear…" Emily heard Nickolai from the front as he pulled up to their destination and looked out.

A picket line had been formed outside the Viking Ship museum across the street. People were shouting and chanting.

"No way," Nikki said excitedly from the front as she filmed the sight on her phone.

"I don't understand. Why are they angry?" Hiccup had asked beside her in his thick Norwegian accent.

Emily looked to Nickolai who appeared to be struggling with what to say.

"They're scared," Emily quickly recovered for Nickolai in Norwegian.

"Scared of what?"

"Of Asgardians," Nickolai explained carefully.

Hiccup scoffed, "Can't say that I blame them. I mean, well, look what happened to me," she could practically hear Hiccup's disappointment and scorn.

Nickolai sighed and said, "Fear makes people irrational."

Hiccup nodded. "Something I am all too familiar with."

Emily looked out, watching as they passed the picket line. The people were shouting and pumping their fists at them as they drove by. She looked over, watching Hiccup flinch back to see the angry faces and lay a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Hiccup. These are… troubling times," Nickolai said.

AN: I want to apologize about Ch 2, I only today realized that FF McGlitched on copy n paste. I'm hoping that the situation is fixed now that I'm posting .rtf files. Thank you for your patience!