Hiccup never got the chance to see what Svarturskuggi would have done, which was a relief. At the moment he had requested he not be killed, another Fury had entered the area, from an even darker tunnel on the other side of the cave. This Fury was definitely an adult, and his eyes were a light shade of grey around his black pupils. Hiccup had noticed at that moment that the eyes of both Svarturvon and Svarturskuggi were different shades of green, and he was going to guess this new Fury was not a Svartur. He recalled that Nótteinfari had had grey eyes. Was this a Nótt Fury? Something about that assumption felt wrong. If not the guess, then the reasoning behind it.

'Svarturskuggi, my daughter has seen some-' The Fury froze when he saw Hiccup. Eyes narrowed, but not entirely in anger.

Hiccup wanted to groan. Of course, Nótteinfari hadn't kept quiet. Why would he have expected it? But that look… something was off. Something he couldn't quite place.

"Is there like a council or something here? I'd kinda like to only explain all of this once." Hiccup asked quickly, addressing Svarturvon, who was both not currently hostile, and a Fury that had been living here. "It's a long story, and if we have to tell it to every family individually, we'll be here all night." Toothless translated as quickly as he could, standing between Hiccup and the grey-eyed Fury.

The new Fury blinked. He responded to Hiccup's question before Svarturvon could. 'Yes, actually. But why would you ask any of us? You can't understand us.' He straightened. 'And why is a human here at all?' He seemed to be overcoming his shock and was growing more hostile by the second. 'After everything we've gone through!'

Toothless and Svarturkló moved forward, blocking the Fury's path to Hiccup. Hiccup made eye contact with him over their protective defense. "This is why I want to explain to everyone at the same time. Yes I understand you, no I'm not hostile, no I won't tell anyone about this island. Now, about that council." He was anxious to get everyone on the same, hopefully non-hostile page as soon as possible.

Svarturkló growled warningly. 'Nóttleiðtogi, you were never one to jump to conclusions. Do not start now.'

'Svarturkló too?' Nóttleiðtogi faltered as he realized who was speaking. 'What am I missing?'

'Quite a bit. Trust that I know more than you at the moment.' Svarturkló replied. 'And it is good to see you, by the way.' She smirked at that.

'If you have an explanation…' Nóttleiðtogi took a step back. 'I will hold judgement. For now. If you think it can be trusted.' He shuddered slightly.

'I do. Thank you.' Svarturkló nodded.

Toothless must have felt that wasn't enough. 'I would and have trusted him with my life. He has taken an arrow in defense of me and stood against other humans. He has risked his life for my sake countless times and proven his unfeigned loyalty to me beyond any doubt. I trust him with all of our lives.' He curled his tail around Hiccup protectively.

Nóttleiðtogi eyed Toothless consideringly. 'I do not give my word lightly.' He growled. 'And you are unaware of just how hard it is for me to not tear that thing limb from limb right here. Tread carefully, young one.' He turned to leave. 'I will gather the others. Be ready to explain yourself, Svarturkló.'

Svarturkló turned to face Svarturskuggi the moment Nóttleiðtogi left. 'I could have used a little support.'

Svarturskuggi purred. 'You had it well in hand. Besides, I don't truly know the whole story. Just your part of it. I would be uncomfortable in giving my word that this human is safe when I don't know that myself.' The unexpected intrusion of Nóttleiðtogi had apparently given Svarturskuggi a reason to calm down, as his tone was no longer agitated.

'That is… fair.' Svarturkló conceded. 'Svarturkappi, why don't you spend the next few minutes getting to know your sister? Ask her about herself. You should get to know her too, Hiccup.' She took Svarturskuggi aside, into a small side cavern. 'There's something important I need to tell you.'

'Yes?' He seemed wary. She supposed she had hit him with a few too many surprises today. Well, what was one more?

'I want you to know that Svarturkappi considers Hiccup as a brother. I didn't like him very much at first, but I decided to let him earn my trust. He has, without even trying, just doing what he does naturally. He helped us find you here. We searched for months, and during that time I've gotten to know him. He is kind hearted, intelligent, and honest. Svarturkappi considers him a brother, and Hiccup doesn't know it, but I've started thinking of him as one of my own. I don't ask that you accept him immediately. But please, give him a chance like I did. For my sake if nothing else.'

Svarturskuggi clearly wasn't sure how to answer that. He shifted, looking back into the other cavern. Svarturvon was talking, a bit shyly. Hiccup said something, and Svarturvon shook her head. Svarturkappi intervened, saying something that was apparently very convincing. Svarturvon sighed and leaned towards Hiccup. Svarturskuggi watched in shock as Hiccup started scratching Svarturvon's nose, and she leaned in in pleasure, purring loudly. Svarturskuggi watched for a few moments, then turned back to Svarturkló. He seemed even more conflicted now. Finally, he seemed to make a decision, judging by the way he shook his head and straightened his back. 'For you, I'll try. But you know I won't easily trust a human. What if this is all a long con, and he betrays us to his tribe?'

Svarturkló sighed. 'He has no tribe. Not anymore. I was there when he outcast himself and cut himself off from his own family name. He did it voluntarily, not knowing anything about what the future would hold for him, and he did it because his tribe wouldn't accept what he had done, what he was trying to show them. They saw us kill the Queen, and they still wouldn't listen to him. So he left. He would never betray us, he has actually already had several chances. He never even considered it.' She spoke softer. 'You'll hear more about all of that in a few minutes. But he won't tell everything, only the important parts. Because some of it hurts him to even remember.'

Svarturskuggi looked back again at the main cavern. Svarturvon was more excited now, and the usual reserve she held around other dragons was gone. She was talking happily, and Hiccup and Svarturkappi both laughed at whatever it was she was saying. Svarturskuggi had never seen her so unreserved around anyone but himself around anyone but family. 'As I said, I'll try. And I'll admit, I'm curious about anyone Von isn't shy around.''

Svarturkló purred. 'That's all I ask.' She laughed. 'And you can skip the threats of horrible death if he does anything wrong, I already did that.' That memory made her frown. 'I kind of regret that. I can see now that it was totally uncalled for. He had already saved both of our lives several times by that point.'

She stepped out of the small cave, and back towards their children. Svarturskuggi followed. They both heard the tail end of the conversation.

'You did not lose to a human in a race!' Svarturvon was incredulous. Svarturskuggi could hardly believe that either if it was true.

'It was a really thick forest! And I thought I won! Besides, Hiccup is smaller, so thick forest is easier for him.' Svarturkappi sounded halfway between annoyance and laughter.

Hiccup patted him on the side. "Just take pride in the fact that the student has become the master." He was clearly joking, judging by the look on his face.

'Master?! I challenge you to a rematch!'

"Sure. The forest on this island is even thicker than that one. I'll smoke you this time!" Hiccup laughed as Toothless deflated. He obviously hadn't considered that.

Svarturskuggi interrupted. He really had to know how a human could beat a Night Fury in a race. So much so that he forgot to keep his guard up for a few moments. 'How does a human outrun a Night Fury?'

Hiccup seemed surprised at his pleasant and genuinely interested question. He shrugged. 'Svarturkappi taught me to run like you guys do so I could avoid certain people on the island we were on. It saved my life a couple of times.' His face fell as he remembered how lucky that had been. 'Apparently, I don't leave tracks when I run. We didn't know that, but it's the only reason Svarturkappi wasn't found on Berk. I would have been followed if I hadn't gotten into the habit of running everywhere.' Toothless relayed his words. Svarturskuggi seemed a bit confused by something, but he shook it off.

'I had no idea a human could learn to run like that.' Svarturskuggi frowned. 'Actually, I didn't think humans could run very well at all. They don't seem to understand anything but fighting and killing.'

Hiccup laughed, not at all offended. "Yup, Vikings don't believe in any form of self-preservation besides fighting. Running or hiding doesn't even occur to them."

Svarturskuggi seemed confused by the way Hiccup referred to Vikings as a separate group. 'Are you not a Viking?'

Hiccup frowned. "Got it in one. Never really was, and don't want to be." He looked at Svarturkappi. "I figured out that I was pretty much the opposite of a Viking in every way. Svarturkappi helped me realize that that wasn't a bad thing."

Svarturvon purred inquisitively. 'What are you then?' She looked a bit guilty as Hiccup smiled sadly.

"I don't really know. I just know what I'm not. There hasn't ever been a human quite like me, as far as I know."

There was silence. Svarturkló warbled after a few moments, intervening before things could become awkward. 'I think it's been long enough. We should probably go to the meeting spot. Svarturskuggi, where will we stand, if we're addressing everyone?'

'The cavern is a large, open tube going up into the mountain. The families sit on ledges on the inside of the tube. There's a kind of pillar on the center of the tube, that goes about halfway up. We smoothed the tip off, so now Furies addressing everyone stand there. That way we can all see them.' Svarturskuggi frowned. 'You'll have to carry him up, I assume?' He was looking at Hiccup.

Hiccup shrugged. "I kinda need to be on Toothless if he's gonna get up there anyway." He looked uncomfortable admitting that.

Svarturskuggi didn't press the matter. He led the group through the caves that were part of the Svartur family's section of the cave system. There were quite a few that weren't used. They made it to the central cavern in a few minutes. He left Svarturkló and Svarturkappi, as he and Svarturvon flew up to sit on a ledge with a good view. This wasn't their story to tell.

Hiccup stared in wonder and a little bit of fear. There were more than a dozen Night Furies lining various ledges around the large vertical tube. He, Svarturkló and Svarturkappi flew up to the pillar in the center of the tube and landed on the smoothed top. He immediately dismounted. No need to antagonize anyone by sitting on Toothless. Besides, there was probably no way they would get out of there if the Furies didn't want them to, whether or not he was in the saddle.

For Hiccup, this might literally be do or die. He looked at the various Furies. Myrkursprengja and Myrkursprenging were sitting on a ledge with several other yellow-eyed Furies. There was another group of Furies on a different side, who had pale red eyes. They seemed the calmest, and least hostile. And then there were a few Furies with grey eyes. They were all glaring at him. He assumed Nótteinfari and Nóttleiðtogi were among them.

Svarturkló stepped forward and addressed the assembled Furies in a calm but forceful tone Hiccup had never heard before. 'Hello. I don't know how many of you remember me. I am Svarturkló, and I was lost to you about fifteen years ago. We have finally found you again and are here to tell the entire story of what happened to everyone at once.' She nodded at Hiccup. 'There are things that need to be explained, and it is better for everyone to hear at once.'

There was a feeling of formality, of consequence in the air. This was important. Hiccup was very glad that Svarturkló had given him and Toothless an introductory statement to begin their story with as they walked through the cave. He hadn't understood why she thought it necessary at the time.

Svarturkappi stepped up beside her. 'It isn't always the nicest story. No one is perfect. We ask that you withhold judgment until we have all spoken.' He nodded to Hiccup.

Hiccup stepped forward. "And he does mean all three of us. For reasons that will be explained, I can understand all of you. I will just say now that I mean no one here any harm whatsoever. I will tell part of this story, but chronologically it starts with Svarturkló." Toothless repeated his words to the assembled Furies, and then they both took a step back.

Svarturkló spoke. She told her part of the story, repeating what she had told Svarturskuggi and Svarturvon. However, this time she went into more detail about what the Queen had done. The raids, the enslavement. She also explained what the Queen had taught her and Svarturkappi to do, to be able to see through the senses of smaller less intelligent creatures. This little revelation caused something of an uproar among the red-eyed furies. They seemed to be discussing this among themselves quite avidly.

'Would you please hold all questions until the end? We have barely begun yet.' Svarturkló was a bit annoyed.

One of the older red-eyed Furies responded. 'Our apologies. We were just discussing possible connections between this apparently dormant ability and-' Another red-eyed fury nudged him. 'Sorry. Please continue.'

Svarturkló continued, bringing her part in events all the way up to her capture by the Vikings of Berk. She then stepped back, motioning to Svarturkappi.

Svarturkappi and Hiccup stepped forward. They told their part of the story jointly, Svarturkappi echoing Hiccup's statements, while making it clear he was translating, not speaking for him. They only told the essentials but were sure to stress how unlike the Vikings Hiccup was. They were also sure to emphasize how much he regretted injuring Svarturkappi. They talked jointly until they reached the point of separation by the Nightmare, when Svarturkló was struck by lightning and Toothless was recaptured by the queen. Then Toothless talked alone, explaining shortly the events after he had been taken, up until the Queen was trying to figure out how to fly using him.

Svarturkló stepped back up, and she and Hiccup told their part. Svarturkappi moved forward to join them once they had reached the point of freeing him. The three together told of the Queen's defeat and events after. They briefly spoke of the search, mentioning important moments. Svarturkló made sure to mention all of the moments that she felt displayed Hiccup's trustworthiness.

The last thing they spoke about was the event with the Changewing. Svarturkló told this story alone. She made sure to imply strongly enough where her rage stemmed from to get the message to all of the other mother Furies in the cave. She was pretty sure they'd understand.

With that, they were finally done. It had taken quite a while, though judging the passage of time in a cave was somewhat difficult.

Hiccup had spent most of the time he wasn't talking trying to get a sense of how the other Furies were taking it. Svarturskuggi had been quite mad at one point, but now he seemed calm and thoughtful. The red-eyed Furies had at no point been enraged by the story, though they seemed interested in more of an intellectual way than anything else. The Myrkur Furies seemed enraptured mostly by the dangers and adventures they had had. The group that worried Hiccup was the grey-eyed Furies. They had been angry at one point and had only calmed a little through the rest of the story. However, one of those he hadn't yet met seemed much less hostile than the others.

Hiccup was very nervous when he saw the less hostile grey-eyed Fury prepare to fly, as less hostile did not necessarily mean friendly. He nudged Svarturkló with his elbow and indicated where he was looking. She saw the Fury, who was now approaching and purred reassuringly.

'Nóttskarpur, how are you?' Svarturkló greeted the Fury warmly. She moved aside to let the Fury land on the platform.

'Good, and better now that you are back! And I would hope we are still friends.' Nóttskarpur warbled curiously. Hiccup had not been expecting such a cheery voice from the female Fury, given the unhappy disposition of the rest of her family.

'Oh, we are.' Svarturkló purred loudly. 'I am trying to greet everyone by their full names for the benefit of these two.' She nodded at Toothless and Hiccup. 'It would be improper for them to call you Skarpur, as your friends do, so they must know your full name.'

Nóttskarpur looked at Hiccup. 'Is everything you said true?' Hiccup saw Svarturkló nod. Nóttskarpur continued in a lower voice. 'And everything you implied?' Hiccup wasn't sure what that meant, but Svarturkló nodded again. 'Then I will convince my family to support you. That is if I guess your intentions correctly?' Svarturkló laughed.

'Even after fifteen years, you can still read my mind. Will you also talk to Eldurský and Myrkurhryðjuverk? I think they understood, but it would be nice to make sure.'

Hiccup felt dizzy. All of these names were going to give him a headache, and the fact that everyone apparently had several was not a promising sign. He really hoped that last one was as complicated as they got. The hidden meaning he didn't get in the conversation wasn't helping either.

Nóttskarpur nodded and flew back to her family. Hiccup could see a heated debate was taking place. Apparently, Nóttskarpur won, judging by her face. Then she flew over to the red-eyed Furies, which Hiccup guessed must be the Eldur family, by process of elimination. The grey-eyed Furies were the Nótt Furies, and he already knew the yellow and green-eyed Furies family names. Svartur, Myrkur, Nótt, Eldur. Green, yellow, grey, and red, respectively. He would have to remember that. It helped that Furies within a family all had different hues of their family's color. It made them all quite distinct. That was good because apart from size, that seemed to Hiccup to be the only distinct thing about them. They were all more or less the same hue of black. He just hoped he'd eventually be able to recognize various Furies without having to look at their eyes.

Hiccup watched as Nóttskarpur made her way around to the Myrkur family, and talked to one specific dragon there. He was amused to see the dragon turn to their assembled family, and proceed to get them all riled up. Hiccup didn't know what was being said, but the antics of the three smaller dragons, and oddly enough one of the larger ones, implied that it wasn't a bad kind of riled up. They seemed happy and excited.

'What is she doing?' Toothless was also watching Nóttskarpur.

'Gathering support.' Svarturkló seemed relaxed. Apparently, she trusted what appeared to be an old friend. 'I'll make my proposition to the pack in a minute, once she's done.'

Hiccup didn't know what was going on, but Svarturkló seemed relaxed, so he tried to follow her lead.

'Actually, you two can go sit with Svarturvon. And tell Svarturskuggi I asked him to come up here.' Svarturkló made eye contact with Toothless. 'It'll be fine. Go.'

Toothless flew himself and Hiccup down to the ledge Svarturvon was sitting on and relayed the message to Svarturskuggi, who promptly flew off, after giving them both a considering look.

Hiccup and the two dragons with him on the ledge watched as the families all settled down and returned their attention to the two Furies on the pillar. Svarturkló asked Svarturskuggi something, and he nodded. She turned to address the audience, which now included Hiccup and Toothless.

'You have heard our story. Now that you are informed, I have a question to put forth.' Svarturkló was speaking formally. 'I and my son would like to return and live as part of the pack once more. As blood relatives to a pack member, that is our right. However, I would not separate my son and the one he considers a brother. I know he is a human, but Hiccup has proven many times over his position in regards to dragons and, as a result, has nowhere else to go. So the question I propose is this. Would the pack allow Hiccup to become a member of the Svartur family? Could he be a full member of the pack?' Svarturkló stopped speaking. She seemed to be waiting for something.

Svarturvon whispered to Toothless and Hiccup. 'She's proposed a vote. She made the proposition, so our family can't vote. One vote per family. It has to be unanimous between the three families, but not within each family. They all handle how they vote differently. The Eldur all give their opinion and majority rules. With the Myrkur, whoever cares the most gets the rest to agree, and they vote that way. The Nótt generally debate it, and somehow they all end up agreeing. And we just talk it out. It was easy because there were only two of us.'

A representative from each of the three other families flew out from the ledges and hovered in front of their respective sides. The representative from the Eldur spoke first.

'We judge individuals based on their actions. Hiccup's actions by the large show that he is trustworthy. We vote to allow this.' He remained there.

Then the representative from the Myrkur spoke. 'We have reached the conclusion', the representative didn't seem particularly proud of what he was about to say, 'that things would be, and I quote, "more fun around here" if we let the undeniably harmless human stay. We vote to allow this.'

Now the representative from the Nótt was the only one left, and it was Nóttleiðtogi. 'I personally doubt the existence of a harmless human. But my family sees this as a slippery slope. If we allow one human, what will be next? Will he want a mate? And so on and so forth?' Here he paused. 'However, that might not be a bad thing. Assuming the human is trustworthy. We Furies are few in number. I,' and there was emphasis on that, with a glance back at two of the grey-eyed Furies, 'vote to allow this, on one condition. If the human breaks our trust or does anything to harm this island, he dies. However, if he does nothing to disprove his apparent trustworthiness, we will allow him, if he ever finds more humans of similar caliber, to propose they also be made members of the pack. We would vote on it, as we are now. In this way, we establish a procedure for the increasing of our pack by human induction.' The Fury was silent for a moment. 'This is the decision of my family. We vote to allow it if all families agree to our condition.'

Hiccup was astonished. Nóttleiðtogi had wanted to kill him! But now they were adding a way for him to introduce other humans in the future? He sensed this might have been part of whatever Svarturkló and Nóttskarpur were talking about. But Svarturkló looked surprised too. Hiccup looked over at the Nótt Furies. A few of them were still glaring at him. He sensed that these few believed he would break their trust. In their case, they probably agreed to the condition because of the first part. Death for a betrayal of any kind. Hiccup was good with that. He wouldn't even consider such a thing, so it was an empty threat.

The other two representatives looked at their families. They spoke almost in unison. 'Agreed. We accept the condition proposed by the Nótt family.' That too had the feel of a formal agreement, given that they said it in the same exact words.

Svarturkló smiled, a gesture that confused all of the other Furies. 'Then it has been agreed. Hiccup is a member of the pack, under the Svartur family.' She seemed relieved. 'It is getting late.' Hiccup supposed that meant early, given that it was the middle of the night. 'Would you be able to ask any questions you might have of us tomorrow? We have been traveling for the last three months and could use some time to rest.' She listened as the pack mumbled its agreement. Most of them had questions, but they begrudgingly accepted her request. She swept down off of the pillar, followed by Svarturskuggi.

Hiccup was happy to jump on Toothless and be taken off of the ledge, and back toward the Svartur section of the caves. The last few hours felt unreal, probably due to the strangeness of it all. Maybe it would sink in later.

At the moment though, they needed to navigate through the swarm of dragons taking flight and circling around the spire, moving like bats in the dark. It really shouldn't have been a surprise when that didn't go well.

Something brushed past Hiccup's hair, and a blood-curdling snarl was heard. Toothless dropped even as several grey-eyed Furies all slammed into the attacker. If Toothless hadn't moved erratically right before that moment, the attacker would have hit Hiccup full-on.

Hiccup watched, entirely confused, as the three grey-eyed Furies restrained a fourth, the one he thought had been the attacker. He knew all three of the restraining Furies by name, all of the Nótt family he had encountered previously. Nóttleiðtogi, Nóttskarpur, and even Nótteinfari.

'What just happened?' Toothless frantically asked no one in particular. 'He's supposed to be safe now!' The irony of that statement was not lost on Hiccup. Supposed to be safe for both parties. He wasn't the one who was breaking that.

Svarturvon growled in the direction of the commotion. 'Nóttreiði. He's hot headed, and hates humans more than anyone here, for some reason.'

'I find that hard to believe.' Hiccup muttered. He watched as the four landed on a ledge and one broke away, leaving the other two to scold the recalcitrant one.

'Svartur…' Nótteinfari winced. 'Kappi, right?'

'Yes.' Toothless said coldly, circling around the spire, flying in time with the other Fury. 'Here to try again?'

'No.' Nótteinfari rumbled angrily. 'I can control myself and actually know how to fight, unlike my brother. We'll be ready to take revenge if he betrays us, but not before.'

"Thank you." Hiccup laughed at the incredulous tone Toothless gave that translation.

Nótteinfari stared at him, addressing him directly for the first time. 'What in the world for?'

"For saying 'if', and not 'when'. For giving me a chance." Hiccup replied.

Nótteinfari faltered midair before Toothless even finished talking. 'Not what I was doing.' She seemed distracted. 'Also, why do you do that?' This was directed at Toothless.

'Do what?' Toothless asked, confused.

'...Nevermind.' Nótteinfari dropped away, joining her family as they left.

"That was odd." Hiccup remarked as they followed suit.

The four Svartur Furies and Hiccup gathered in the cavern they had originally met in. Svarturskuggi and Svarturkló went out to bring back fish for them all. Toothless had immediately shut Hiccup down when he suggested they help, so Hiccup got the idea that was meant to be private time for the two. Knowing that, he wasn't surprised when they came back almost an hour later, laden with fish.

Hiccup had to explain to a confused Svarturskuggi and Svarturvon that humans didn't eat fish raw, as the watched Toothless flash cook his food for him. The first few minutes were silent, but eventually Hiccup spoke up.

"So is all of that… normal?" He asked carefully.

'What parts?' Svarturkló asked. 'Furies going against the decision of the group definitely isn't. Nóttreiði is very likely in a lot of trouble with his family. You don't have to worry about it.'

"That's good to know, but it's not what I was thinking about." Hiccup looked around. "Do dragons usually gather in big groups like this?"

'That depends on the species. For us, it's not at all normal. Furies normally live alone, or with only immediate family.' That was interesting. 'Nadders group up in packs, Nightmares are solitary, and so on.'

"What about all of that in the cave?" Hiccup asked, now truly interested. "Do you guys even have a leader? An alpha, I guess?"

'No.' Svarturskuggi growled. 'For good reason. We are not at all typical in many ways. But the reasons behind that are a very long story.'

'Save that for some other time.' Svarturkló agreed. 'I have a feeling the travelers among us aren't awake and alert enough to follow along at the moment.'

After that, the conversation died. Svarturkló was correct in her assessment of their energy levels. Fatigue had set in.

Hiccup abruptly realized that it wasn't dark in the cave. He had good vision, but he shouldn't have been able to see when there was no light at all. So where was this light coming from?

He noticed after a moment of searching that the cave didn't really have a stone floor in most places. There was a sort of pale green moss growing on the stone floor, quite thick in some places. He couldn't really be certain, because the light seemed evenly distributed, but he guessed that the moss was its source. That was something he was going to have to look into later.

There were a lot of things he was going to have to do. A lot of things he wanted to do. Explore the island, explore the caves, get to know and get on at least neutral terms with all of the other Furies, especially Toothless's sister and father, and on and on. The full list would take him years to complete. He smiled, looking at the four Furies in the cave with him. He wouldn't mind spending years here. He was pretty sure this cave would soon feel like home. Possibly hostile neighbors notwithstanding.

After the Furies had gone to sleep, Hiccup sat awake in the cave entrance. He was tired but in that odd way that ruled out sleep. Physically exhausted, but mentally awake. He smiled as he felt a Fury sit next to him. Without even looking, he could tell it was Svarturkló. The similarities between this and another night were too perfect for it not to be. "What's on your mind?"

Svarturkló turned to face Hiccup. 'You. More specifically, something you said once. And something I said once. First, I want to apologize for threatening you, when I allowed you to come with us after the Queen was killed.'

Hiccup laughed softly. "I don't mind that. It was your way of making sure I stayed in line."

Svarturkló purred. 'But I still regret it. The other thing I want to talk about is far more personal. And I want you to understand that you can refuse, and I won't be hurt, or think any less of you. I haven't told anyone but Svarturskuggi about this, and he agreed to trust my judgment.'

Hiccup wasn't sure what to make of that. "What is it?"

Svarturkló spoke softly, and with great feeling. 'There aren't many Night Furies, so this doesn't happen often. But if a hatchling's parents die, another family can adopt them. It's rare, but it does happen. You are already a ward of our family. Would you be okay with us adopting you? Svarturkappi sees you as a brother, and I have come to see you as a son. In time, the same will happen with Svarturskuggi and Svarturvon. In fact, I think it will be even easier for them, because they're going to already be getting used to having another son or brother anyway.'

Hiccup was speechless. But he knew what his answer would be. "Yes. I already considered both of you family, this just makes it official. I didn't know you thought of me as a son, though."

Svarturkló purred softly. 'It was a gradual change, so gradual I didn't even notice, but I figured it out after the incident with the Changewing. That was a mother's rage. When I told that story today, I made sure the other mothers in the audience understood. That kind of thing isn't half-hearted, and it can't be faked. Nóttskarpur understood, and she got the other mothers to support us taking you into the pack.' She was silent for a few moments. 'One more thing. You said that names should be given. I don't intend to replace your mother, but would you like me to give you another name? One like ours. I know what it would be.'

Hiccup liked that idea more than he could express. He was touched that Svarturkló wanted to give him a name. "Of course. My mother wouldn't have minded, she didn't get to really name me anyway."

Svarturkló moved closer. They sat there, staring out at the sky. It was starting to brighten minutely. She waited until the sunrise could be seen, just starting. 'Svarturflugmaður. Flugmaður means 'flyer'. Because that's what you are. With my son, you don't ride, because you are part of the flight. You fly. So you are a flyer.'

Hiccup tested the sound of it. "Svarturflugmaður. Flyer. Wait, what does Svartur mean?'

Svarturkló chuckled softly. 'It just means 'black'. None of the family names are very original. Myrkur means 'dark', Eldur means 'fire', and Nótt means 'night'.'

Hiccup considered that. "So my full name means black flyer. Svarturflugmaður. I love it. Thank you, Svarturkló.'

Svarturkló laughed again. 'That's another thing. Family members call each other just by the specific name, or a nickname, even when talking to those outside the family. The speaker decides on how they want to refer to their family. So if you talked to someone about my son, you might call him Kappi. Or you might call him some completely unrelated name. I think you've already figured out what you're going to call my son.' She said this in a lighthearted tone.

Hiccup smiled. "I will always refer to him as 'Toothless'. As for you... I like Kló. Would you mind if I called you Cloey?" It was a play on the sounds of her name, a simple addition of the 'y' sound to what already existed in order to create something similar to a name a human might have. It felt right, somehow, and less formal.

Svarturkló smiled at that. 'I like it. Feel free to call me that. You could also call me 'mom' if you feel comfortable with that. But I understand if you don't. Cloey is good either way.'

They sat there and watched the sunrise. Hiccup and Svarturkló. Or now, Svarturflugmaður and Cloey. Hiccup figured it would take him a while to start thinking of himself as Svarturflugmaður. He wondered if Toothless would come up with a nickname for him. He just hoped that Toothless wouldn't want to keep calling him Hiccup. That name could waste away and be forgotten. He had a better one now. One given to him not by tradition, but by someone who cared. By his family.

Author's Note: And thus we end the third arc. In case anyone is wondering, Kló is actually pronounced such that Cloey is very close in sound. This is why I held off on giving her a permanent nickname to make writing and reading her name less annoying. I promise now, all important Furies will have shorter nicknames eventually (and Hiccup too, actually). Anyway, can anyone guess what the next chapter will be about?

Also, just to put it here, though this information is scattered throughout the story too. Names are a flexible, complex concept for Night Furies specifically. (Why Night Furies specifically is not important at the moment.) In short, the name given at birth (or in this case adoption) is both the one used formally, and the one used by everyone. If someone has just met someone new, both Furies would introduce themselves by these names. Short names, not nicknames so much as alternative names entirely, are given and used by friends or family. Friends must be given permission to use any short name or alternate name (it's not a hard and strict rule so much as a courtesy), but family comes with that right built in.

Why all of this craziness? Writing reasons aside, there is an explanation, but we will not get to it for a very, very long time. Until that distant day, suffice to say this is how it has always been done, at least from the perspectives of everyone we've met, and no one questions it. The same goes for the names in what we might recognize as Icelandic. Other oddities and formalities remarked upon in this chapter are a bit more recent, and will be explained in the not-so-distant future.