They were most of a day's flight from the twelfth island of the eighteen Hiccup had marked on his map as potential candidates for being the island now inhabited by the Night Furies. They were going to be spending most of the day in the sky because the closest island to this candidate was that far away. Hiccup, after more than three months of journeying, had gotten used to being in the saddle most of the day.

The boredom, however, was something neither he nor Toothless ever got used to. Some days passed in silence. Usually, that was because Hiccup was making a concentrated effort to speak to Toothless mind-to-mind. That still hadn't borne any fruit, but Hiccup kept trying. He still felt it was something he should be able to do.

Other days, they talked. This was one of those days. After three months, they had moved on to rather unusual topics of conversation.

'I'm telling you, the world is round.' Toothless was arguing with Hiccup, but it was all in good fun.

"I think so too, but that isn't what Vikings believe." Hiccup thought about what he had just said. "Actually, the Hysteric tribe thinks the world is round. But they also claim they sailed for three months and found a massive new land... but turned around and headed back when they saw that the people there were all skinny. They say they wanted to go back to where people could put up a fight. Personally, I'm betting they attacked just for fun but had the yak dung kicked out of them. There was a suspiciously large amount of souvenir arrowheads brought back."

Svarturkló laughed. She didn't engage in these discussions, but she seemed to enjoy listening to them. They probably helped relieve the boredom for her too.

Toothless knew how to end this discussion. 'Look at the horizon. It curves. Argue that!' He roared triumphantly.

Hiccup was at a loss for words. How had he never noticed that? They always flew this high up now that he had his deep winter clothing. He touched the navy-blue staff attached to the saddle at his side. His clothing, the staff, and a scar on his arm. The three things he had gotten that day. He returned his attention to the discussion. "The argument wasn't whether it was true. I already believed it. The argument was about what Vikings believed. Try telling a Viking that he needs to fly on a dragon to be proven wrong. You won't get very far, because they won't understand a word you're saying." With that, Hiccup had won the debate.

They lapsed into silence. Hiccup had thought that topic up, so it was up to Toothless to pick the next one.

'Hmmm...' Toothless made that noise to reassure Hiccup that he was thinking, not falling asleep on the wing. He searched his brain for any topic they hadn't already been over. He decided he could risk a slightly sadder one given the mood. 'How about, "what do you think happened back on Berk in the time we've been gone?" Or is that too depressing?'

Hiccup considered that. "Nah, it's fine. And an interesting question. We know the raids are over, and we know the village hates us. But what's happened?"

Toothless thought he had a clue. 'Well, Snotlout's probably the heir now that you're gone. Astrid will be in some position of power. Snotlout seemed a bit freaked out by her willingness to kill you, so he'll try to keep her happy.'

"And to Astrid, happy means killing dragons." Hiccup remembered something. "No, it means one-upping me. And to her, one-upping me means..." That wasn't a good thought at all.

'Means what?' Toothless heard something in Hiccup's tone, something important.

"I think we know exactly what Astrid wants now. Think about it. First, it was killing dragons in general. Then, it was killing me, so she could be the best. She's always been focused on being the best of our generation… and killing things, now that I think about it, though that may be coincidence. And what did Stoick want me to do? What did he decide I was capable of, that Astrid was not?" Hiccup really didn't like where his logic was leading.

'Killing a Night Fury. So when he did that...' Toothless had it now too.

"He upped the ante. Now, for Astrid to be the best of our generation in her mind, she has to kill a Night Fury. No, she thinks she needs to kill several because she's seen me survive being in contact with multiple Night Furies, and she wants to one-up me. Bud, I think we've created a monster. That might come back to bite us someday."

Svarturkló interrupted them, not wanting either to feel guilty. 'Astrid was insane, I smelled it. Anything she does is no one's fault. You didn't create the monster, you just got its attention. Besides, there have been a lot of Vikings fixated on killing us. One more isn't going to make a difference.'

Hiccup calmed down a little. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We should come up with a less depressing topic of conversation."

Svarturkló wanted to take their minds off of Berk. 'I would like to suggest one. It's more of a question, really.'

Toothless was happy his mother was participating. 'What is it?'

Svarturkló flew a little closer. 'I wanted to ask Hiccup how his senses have improved. He's had them open for three months now. Are they still increasing in strength?' This last part was directed at Hiccup.

Hiccup hadn't really thought about that much recently. "They stopped changing about a month ago. I think they're as good as they can get. My hearing didn't increase in range, but I can distinguish sounds a lot better now. Like if there are five different sounds, I can choose to hear any one of them, and focus on it. As for my sense of smell, not much. My sight has improved a little bit, and I can see well enough with only a tiny amount of light. It isn't night vision, but it's close enough. So, all in all, about what we expected. I didn't change physically, and that means my senses could only improve so much. Still, it's cool." He frowned. "I still think I should be able to communicate like Toothless does. I might get it eventually."

Svarturkló had stopped listening halfway through. Something had caught her attention. She could see their destination on the horizon. It was quite distinctive.

Toothless noticed it too. He slapped Hiccup with his ear, and Hiccup accessed his sense of sight, to take advantage of the Fury's stronger eyes.

The twelfth island on the list of potential candidates was almost a teardrop in shape and was mostly covered in extremely dense forest. The tapered point of the teardrop had apparently been submerged at one point because it was mostly sand on the edges. The island was massive, and in the eye of the teardrop rose a single oddly shaped mountain. Unlike most mountains, this one had no top, as if the tip was shaved off to leave behind a relatively smooth rocky plane of rock. The island had many hills leading off of the mountain, and the forest seemed like a wave frozen in time, hills and valleys as the crests and troughs of the wave. It was beautiful, and it was mostly unfit for human habitation. There was almost no flat space and immensely thick underbrush everywhere. Animals were scarce, though there were probably a few around. Certainly no native cattle species, given the terrain. In other words, it was perfect.

Svarturkló sighed. 'If this isn't the place, I don't know where they've gone. There can't be a better island for Furies within a thousand miles of here.'

Hiccup really hoped this was the place. It seemed so peaceful.

However, it was probably better to see if there were any Furies here before getting his hopes up. Toothless began a very shallow dive, angled at the island, and Svarturkló followed. They flew through the cloud cover, which was fairly light today, and descended further. The island was very large, and it took them a few minutes to circle the mountain. There were no signs of draconic presence. Not that they expected any. Furies were nocturnal and very used to hiding their existence. The three travelers eventually began searching for a place to spend the remaining hours until nightfall. At midnight, they would search the island again. That was the routine they had established. They had done it for the last eleven islands and would do it again, as many times more as necessary.

They settled down on the one and only beach they saw, which lined the edge of the tapered point of the island, where they rested, recuperating from the long flight there. Hiccup privately thought that this was the most lifeless island they had seen in weeks. No sign of dragons, no wild boars, just a few birds and squirrels among the trees.

That night, Svarturkló woke them to do their final sweep over the island. It was midnight, the time Furies equated with noon. If anyone was around, it would be now.

And for once, they found something. Someone.

As they flew over the island that night, Svarturkló caught a scent she hadn't smelled in a long, long time. 'Myrkur...' She recognized it. 'Toothless, there's a Fury somewhere around! A Myrkur Fury!' She began searching frantically.

Hiccup stared at Svarturkló as she searched. "What's a Myrkur Fury?"

Toothless began searching the dense forest below, answering vaguely because he was fully concentrating on smelling the other dragon out. 'A Fury of the Myrkur family. One of the four families in our pack, according to mom!' He started searching more urgently.

Svarturkló found something. She got Toothless' attention and they descended to the forest floor. In a clearing was a small pile of freshly caught fish. Neither of them moved.

Hiccup wasn't sure about any of this. "Well, this is weird." He suddenly had an intense feeling that he had been in this situation before. He just didn't know when.

Svarturkló slowly approached the pile. She distinctly smelled a Fury scent around here, but the fish was making it hard to locate. She leaned over the pile, sniffing warily.

The pile exploded. Not in fire or destruction, but from within, covering Svarturkló in fish scraps and guts. She reeled back, shocked. There had been the distinct sound of a plasma blast, but no plasma blast had been seen by any of them. Then they heard laughter. From under the pile.

Hiccup figured it out right before an adolescent Night Fury popped out of a hole under where the pile had been.

'Got... you?' The slightly smaller Fury sniffed the air. 'Wait. Who are you?' The adolescent Night Fury, a female judging by the voice, clambered out of what appeared to be a shallow pit dug specifically for a dragon her size to hide in. She was staring at Svarturkló, but didn't seem to notice Hiccup or Toothless. 'You smell like a Svartur,' she paused, her eyes widening slightly, 'but you're not one I know…'

Svarturkló nodded enthusiastically, visibly brimming with joy. 'I think I can remember you! You were a hatchling-'

'And you're dead!' The other dragon interrupted. 'Well…' She seemed to reconsider that, staring at the very much alive and very happy Night Fury in front of her. ' Everyone thought you were dead, anyway. You're really her?'

'I am Svarturskuggi's mate, Svarturkló.' She spoke with utter certainty. Then something seemed to occur to her, the happy exterior wavering with caution, 'he is still..?'

The other Fury, who still hadn't even noticed Hiccup and Toothless in her fascination with Svarturkló, answered happily. 'You're good, he never even looked at other dragons for another mate.'

'I didn't think he would,' Svarturkló replied confidence returning. 'We finally found this place.' She trailed off, sighing happily.

After a moment of silence, the other Fury spoke up. 'My name's Myrkursprengja, by the way. What do you mean 'we' anyw-" That was when she finally noticed Toothless. And Hiccup. Mostly Hiccup.

Hiccup waved weakly. He was happy they had found the pack, but this was where things would get very, very awkward. He was not looking forward to this next part very much. "Hello, Myrkursprengja."

Myrkursprengja's mouth dropped open. Hiccup wasn't sure whether it was because of his very existence, the fact that he was sitting on the back of a Night Fury, the fact that he could understand her, or the fact that he waved and greeted her politely. It was probably some combination of all of the above.

They all patiently waited while Myrkursprengja regained her powers of speech. It was quite the buildup to a very anticlimactic statement. 'Cool! I was getting bored around here. You guys will shake things up.' Before any of them could respond, she continued. 'My brother is going to love this. Let me call him over. He was waiting to see if anyone would fall for our prank.' She seemed to realize that Svarturkló was still covered in miscellaneous fish chunks and winced. 'Sorry about that.' She let out a low Fury call.

Another adolescent Night Fury swooped in a few seconds later. He stared. 'Sis, I think we picked a bad night for this.' He paused. Looked at Svarturkló. 'We should have both had piles of fish! That way we could have gotten both of them.'

Hiccup was starting to get annoyed. "There are three of us." He crossed his arms.

Myrkursprengja's brother did a double-take. 'Oh.' He considered Hiccup. 'Weird pet. By the way, my name's Myrkursprenging.'

Toothless rolled his eyes. 'He's not a pet.'

Myrkursprenging didn't seem convinced. 'Then how do you explain it not killing you? Wild humans attack on sight. Or run, which is more fun to watch.'

Hiccup smiled weakly, unsure of what would be smart. Was it better to let them think of him as just a pet for the moment? It might be safer, if demeaning.

Myrkursprengja jumped backwards. 'It's snarling at me!' She sounded insulted.

'That's not a snarl.' Svarturkló cut in impatiently. 'All will be explained soon enough. For now, where do the families live?'

'There are caves at the base of the mountain.' Myrkursprenging answered absently, still staring at Hiccup curiously. 'The Svartur family is on the far side. Svarturskuggi and Svarturvon are probably both there.'

'Yeah, Svarturvon doesn't get out much.' Myrkursprengja added solemnly. 'Because Svarturskuggi is overprotective.'

'He doesn't want to lose her the way he lost…' Myrkursprenging trailed off for a moment. 'Well, you, I guess.'

Svarturkló nodded impatiently. But before she could leap back into the air, another Fury walked out of the trees, clearly surprised by the gathering it had happened across.

All was still for a moment. The new Fury had grey eyes, and was also somewhat young, not a child but not quite as large as a full-fledged adult like Svarturkló. She hadn't noticed Hiccup or even who Svarturkló or Toothless were yet, eyes focused solely on the Myrkur dragons.

Myrkursprengja laughed, sounding almost nervous for some reason. 'Hey, Nótteinfari. What a… coincidence…'

The new Fury, Nótteinfari, did not look amused. 'You both know I don't like your pranking, but I thought you were smarter than this. If Nóttreiði had been the one to fall for whatever this was, he'd teach you both a lesson…'

It was very clear the moment Nótteinfari dismissed the Myrkur siblings and turned her attention to the other dragons. Her eyes widened, then narrowed into slits as she took in Hiccup, still sitting on Toothless's back.

Hiccup was expecting an angry question or accusation, snarls, threats. He was not expecting to be thrown to the side with Toothless, who jolted out of the way a second before a small plasma blast tore through the air where Hiccup's chest had been.

Svarturkló roared, an angry challenge full of authority. 'Stop!'

Everyone present froze, though Toothless was quite clearly ready to flee or attack in an instant, whichever was needed. Einfari was snarling angrily, her mouth barely illuminated with the blue glow of a built-up plasma blast.

Hiccup made a mental note. Night Furies never miss… unless their target is another Night Fury, or a human on top of one. Luckily for him.

'Why should I?" Nótteinfari asked, beginning to creep forward, lessening the distance her shot would need to travel. 'It is a human. Here. You brought it here. Why?' That last question was an angry shout.

'That will be explained soon enough. But for now, know that it is under my protection.' Svarturkló answered firmly. 'And it is no danger to anyone here.'

'Attack him, and you deal with me.' Toothless snarled.

A standoff developed between Toothless and Nótteinfari. Neither moved, though it was quite clear Nótteinfari was still very carefully considering whether or not she could kill Hiccup from where she stood.

A small crackling sound broke the silence. Myrkursprengja, who had moved out of sight, returned to the group. "Nótteinfari, you started a fire! Get over here and help us put it out!'

Nótteinfari growled, shaking her head angrily. 'Fine! You,' she snarled at Toothless, 'will either kill that disgusting thing yourself, or I'll do it for you after I put this stupid fire out.' She darted off into the forest, followed by Myrkursprengja.

Toothless, Hiccup, and Svarturkló looked on in confusion.

'Why did she just give up like that?' Toothless asked, voicing the question they all wanted answered.

Myrkursprenging strolled casually out of the forest, smirking. 'Rule number one. No fires in the forest. Ever. With a little help from me and my sister, that tiny blast started quite a big one.'

Svarturkló stared at him. 'Why?'

'Like we said, things get boring around here. It's no fun if Nótteinfari kills your little pet right away.' Myrkursprenging gestured impatiently with his wing. 'It won't take too long to put the fire out. Stop wasting my brilliant diversion!'

No one argued with him. The two Furies leaped into the air, fleeing the scene of the fight.

Svarturkló was having a hard time flying straight, she was so nervous and excited, though the adrenaline from the short encounter with Nótteinfari wasn't helping either. She managed to make it to the other side of the mountain without crashing in an embarrassing fashion. A few Furies were fishing in the distance, a sight that she had never thought to see again. She touched down just outside a cave entrance set into the base of the mountain, and turned to address the boys. 'You two should wait outside until I call you in. I'm going to try to break all the news slowly. And Hiccup, you should probably not ride Svarturkappi in. It might give the wrong impression. I'll call you in after him. If you two are attacked though, just come in immediately.'

Svarturkló took a deep breath. And then another. She forced herself to ignore her fear and walked into the cave. It was unfamiliar. She had never seen the inside before, for obvious reasons, but it already smelled like home. She continued into the cave and it opened up into a large cavern.

In a corner was a large Night Fury, half-asleep. She knew him. 'Svarturskuggi.'

He looked up, and his eyes widened.

She purred. 'I made it back.'

He sprang to his feet and rushed to her, stopping just short of embracing her and stared.

'What?' A thousand irrational fears rushed through her mind at that moment.

He sounded happy but slightly confused. 'Why are you covered in fish?'

She started. Oh, right. That. She tried to compose herself. 'I believe they are called Myrkursprengja and Myrkursprenging?'

He laughed. 'Right, them. I should have known. Wait, why do I care!? You're back!' Now he embraced her and nuzzled her happily. 'It's been so long. What happened?' His voice turned dark. 'Was it the work of humans? They found our last island a while ago. It wouldn't surprise me; They seem to be everywhere, and always with some new way of capturing or killing dragons.'

Svarturkló laughed nervously, and a bit sadly. 'No, it was not. It was something far, far worse. It is a long story, and one I would not believe had I not lived through it myself. But I will tell it. And I am not the main character in this story.' Svarturskuggi stared at her questioningly. 'And I was not present for most of it.' She nuzzled him. 'You know how I was with egg when I disappeared?'

Svarturskuggi's eyes widened.

Svarturkló purred softly. 'You have a son. I named him Svarturkappi.'

Svarturskuggi laughed wonderingly. Kappi. 'Warrior. A good name.' Svarturkló laughed with him.

'I thought so. I also hoped he would live up to it, and someday free both of us.' At that, her expression changed slightly. 'He did, and in an amazing way, but he had help. We both did. From the most unlikely source imaginable.' She shifted to look Svarturskuggi in the eyes. 'You need to promise me something.'

'Anything.'

'Whatever happens, don't hurt anyone on this island until the entire story has been told.' She was being careful, like her son had in telling the story to her. She remembered how her intentions had changed throughout hearing the tale of how everything happened on that sea stack. There was a point in that story where her promise had been the only thing keeping her from attacking Hiccup. And of course, she did not want her mate following Nótteinfari's example. She needed Svarturskuggi to have restraint.

'I don't know why I would, but I agree.' He was quieter now.

Svarturkló purred loudly. 'Good. Now, prepare to meet your son.' She inhaled to call Toothless.

'Who are you?' That hadn't been Svarturkló. It had come from outside the cave. Where Hiccup and Svarturkappi were waiting. That wasn't good…

Svarturskuggi yelled loudly. 'Svarturvon, come in here now! You need to see this!'

The female voice was on the edge of freaking out. 'But dad, there's-'

Svarturskuggi cut her off. 'I know, now get in here!' He didn't seem angry, just happy and impatient.

A female Night Fury a few years older than Toothless ran in. 'Dad, do you really know what's-' She froze. Svarturkló purred at her.

'It's been fifteen years... but I recognize that voice. Do you remember me?' Svarturkló was hopeful, but not overly so. She had been enslaved when Svarturvon was three.

'...Mom?' Svarturvon rushed to Svarturkló, and Svarturkló reunited with the last missing member of her family. 'Where have you been?' She looked up. 'And why are you covered in fish guts?'

Svarturkló sighed. 'Blame Myrkursprenging and Myrkursprengja. That's what I told your father.' Svarturkló was happy to see her daughter laugh.

'Of course. Only they would prank someone returning from the dead.' Svarturvon stared at her father for a moment. 'You really already know what's outside?' She sounded incredulous. 'Why are you so calm?'

Svarturkló had a feeling she knew who Svarturvon was referring to, and it wasn't who Svarturskuggi thought. 'I am about to explain. He is part of my explanation. A very important part. Relax.' She tried to sound calm, though she was still very nervous. She had easily been accepted, but the other two might not be. 'Svarturkappi!'

Hiccup had known this part would be nerve-wracking, but having at least one Fury already openly hostile added a new level of worry. He didn't dare access Toothless's sense of sight at the moment, but he could hear from Toothless's perspective. Svarturkló had just finished explaining everything, most of which he'd already known. It was interesting to hear that she'd originally been captured right after fighting off a Skrill. That he had not known. From what she'd said, the Skrill wasn't under the Queen's control, which was also interesting. He'd get the whole story later.

He scanned the sky, glad to see that there were no vengeful silhouettes plunging down to destroy him. He'd need to thank Myrkursprenging and Myrkursprengja for that. Nótteinfari didn't seem like the kind of dragon to forget easily, so they must still be distracting her. It was pretty clear that she had an issue with humans in general, which he could completely understand. Hopefully, this would go well enough that she'd be forced to back off.

Well, ideally he'd gain her trust, but for the moment a cease-fire would be enough.

His thoughts were interrupted by the call he'd been waiting for.

'Hiccup!'

This was it. He turned and quickly strode into the cave, going over everything he knew that might help. No weapon? Check. No smile, because it would look like a snarl in the wrong situation? Not a problem. Appear non-threatening? His whole life in a nutshell. He passed through the narrower entrance passageway.

Hiccup saw the four Furies as his eyes adjusted, somehow discerning shapes in the near total darkness. Toothless was smiling encouragingly, and Svarturkló was purring, to send a message to the other two Furies. The female Fury he assumed was Toothless's sister was staring at him. He had seen her outside when she had seen him and Toothless standing outside the cave, waiting.

Hiccup smiled at her. Then he saw Svarturskuggi, who seemed unable to decide what to do. "Hi. Nice to meet you, Svarturskuggi and Svarturvon."

That was about when Hiccup noticed the conflict within Svarturskuggi, who was clawing at the rock floor under his feet, gouging a hole through a thin layer of moss.

"Um, please don't kill me?" He asked carefully.

Author's Note: Now is it apparent why this was a good chapter to delay slightly? Next one up as normal, Thusday morning, and after that one we begin the final arc of this book.

Also, interestingly enough, this chapter lost a few pages, an entire scene skipped, because it was a bit too much recap. I'm probably going to do a 'deleted/alternate scenes' entry at the end of this book, simply because I have a few, like this one, that aren't bad, just unneccesary.

Now, for a status report. In the last nine days, I took a good look at the third book in this series, Living Freely, and finally got past my lack of inspiration as to the end. I trashed the majority of the last two chapters I had written, changed a few integral plot details, and, err…

You'll see. Some parts of that ending were hard to write, and I'm still not sure if they're too dark, even for this book, which was already darker than the first two. Not quite as bad as IHTR (and definitely not in the same league as SS), but close. However, the plot demanded it, and it helped lead directly into one of the plots of Living Defiantly, so I don't think I can get rid of it, and I don't really want to.

Anyway, Living Freely's first draft is complete, awaiting betaing once we get through Living Anonymously, and I wrote a total of six chapters to complete it.

That's not the best part. The best part is that I had several concurrent brainwaves, all concerning book four (and no, I did not know there would be a book four before now, or at least had no ideas as to the plot). It will be the longest book of the four, and will deal with the last of canon in ways no one expects (HTTYD3 mostly, as I finally figured out how I wanted to handle those elements). When I say several concurrent brainwaves, I mean that it will be the longest book to date out of pure necessity. Things just clicked in a way that rarely ever happens for me, to the point when I had a fairly detailed and complex plot outline done in under half an hour.

The rest of my nine day vacation's writing time was spent on what is at the moment going under the working title of Shattered Soul (still looking for a better name), the sequel to Innocent Hopes, Twisted Realities. Had another flash of inspiration for that one. All in all, I've written more than 80,000 words in nine days at the time of writing this on the eighth day using Google Drive's offline mode (About 27,000 of that 80,000 went to Living Freely). Yes, that is quite a bit even for me. I hope that speaks to how strongly inspiration struck. (Or how much I can do with no access to internet. Looking forward to that two week Christmas break! If I can do 80,000 words in nine days, math says that I should be able to do 125,000 words in fourteen days. That's actually doable for me, by the way, as I wrote this entire story (160,000ish words) in three weeks, with a similar pace.)