Two nights. It had taken two nights for Nóttleiðtogi to make contact with Maour, through Nótteinfari, who seemed to be the official method of communication between the families, along with Von, who was the Svartur end of the connection.

Maour was just glad Nóttleiðtogi had worked up the will to do it himself. Even though the Nótt Fury himself had given Maour permission to hold him to his decision if he wavered, Maour had not been looking forward to doing so. Not to say he was particularly looking forward to what Nóttleiðtogi was asking for either.

'He wants you to come alone?' Toothless did not like that at all, it was clear. 'I know we're supposed to be supporting him, but that's a bit much.'

'Einfari says she doesn't think he really needs Maour alone,' Von answered, 'just that he doesn't want to know who is watching, or from where. As long as he can't know for sure that they're not alone, it will work. Apparently.' She warbled in confusion. 'I don't really get it, but Einfari sounded sure.'

"It kind of makes sense." Maour understood… a little. Nóttleiðtogi needed to feel private, unjudged, but also understood that such a thing probably wasn't going to happen. This way, he could pretend.

'So I'll be hiding nearby,' Toothless finished, his tail waving in the air. 'Fine by me.'

Maour stared at the waving tail. "That reminds me, bud, we need to get your tail fixed before it breaks too badly to fly. As is, we're fine for now, but best not to put it off." It was a simple bent rod and not a danger to flight. Right now. That might not be true forever.

'Right. And we need someone else to go with us, according to Cloey.' Toothless chuffed. 'Von?'

'Sure. Do you know where we're going?' Von shifted, acting as if Toothless was going to point out a direction.

'Well… no.' Toothless looked to Maour sheepishly. 'You?'

"Not really," Maour admitted. "I'll have to ask someone where the nearest island with a village is. It might actually be a long flight." His map might have an answer, but it was outdated. They knew that for a fact, having come across several inaccuracies in the months-long search. Best to get up-to-date information.

'After you meet with Nóttleiðtogi, we'll ask someone.' Toothless glanced around the caves. 'I assume mom and dad wouldn't appreciate being disturbed.' No one knew where they had gone, and when that was the case it was not advisable to try and find them. None of the three siblings wanted to risk that.

'Yeah, we'll find someone else.' Von grimaced, though it was an exaggerated gesture.

"Well, time to go find Nóttleiðtogi." Maour stood. "Where'd you say he would be, Von?"

"So," Maour began uncertainly. "Feeling any better?" It was an awkward introduction, but then again, nothing about this situation was easy. They were at an unremarkable location in the woods, near the beach. It had taken some work to find Nóttleiðtogi, and Toothless and Von were just now moving into hidden spots to observe. Maour idly wondered if there were any Nótt observers around. Probably, knowing them. He was beginning to think the defining Nótt trait was subtlety or sneakiness. Or both.

'A little… thank you. For asking.' Nóttleiðtogi grimaced. He was oddly curled up around the base of a tree, his stomach against the bark, almost laying on his side. It didn't look very comfortable.

"Okay…" Maour gave up. "What are you doing?"

'I… cannot control my fear.' Nóttleiðtogi hung his head, though that too was an awkward gesture given how he was positioned. 'This stops me from moving, whether to run or advance, and gives me something to dig into with my claws.' He flexed his front paws, digging his claws into the tree.

"You don't seem so afraid," Maour remarked candidly. "You never do." He sat down, not feeling at all threatened, especially since Nóttleiðtogi had evidently planned to prevent mishaps.

Nóttleiðtogi laughed bitterly. 'I'm terrified. I always am, every time I see you. I'm just really good at hiding emotions.' He flexed his claws again. 'This is Hel, for me.'

"Oh." That made Maour feel bad, even though it wasn't his fault. He almost wished he could ask Toothless for advice, but he had already agreed with his brother that Toothless would listen in the old-fashioned way, and not speak to Maour during the meeting.

It might be semantics, but Maour felt like anything Toothless heard through his own ears wasn't as bad as listening through Maour's. At least if Toothless did it himself, it was normal, and not taking advantage of their ability to spy. Toothless had said he felt the same. Their link wasn't to be abused like that, not for something like this.

'But I am better,' Nóttleiðtogi admitted. 'I slept for a full day and night.'

"Wow, you must have been wiped out. How did you even stay awake for five days straight?" It didn't seem entirely possible.

Nóttleiðtogi's eyes narrowed. 'And how would you know that?'

"I heard it from…" He didn't want to sell his sister out. "A friend, who heard it from a concerned family member of yours."

'Interesting.' Nóttleiðtogi scratched four lines into the bark with his claw. 'Four options. Nóttreiði would not say anything of our defenses as he was and is sure you are a threat.' One line crossed through, marking it out.

"True." Maour winced. "He's still..?"

'Very. Well, it seems that way." Nóttleiðtogi's eyes narrowed. 'I had assumed, anyway. He is angry, as is normal. I would not have thought the target changed.' At that, the calculating gaze returned. 'Nótthljóður is too young to understand, and while she is aware I am not sleeping in my normal place, she would not see it as remarkable.' Another line crossed through.

"I don't know, she didn't mind me." Maour smiled at that memory.

'But she has not been in further contact with you.' It wasn't a question.

"No, not at all," Maour conceded.

'My mate was concerned, rightfully so, but she is subtle, and does not dispense information without real purpose. My daughter is similar if less experienced and thus less subtle.' Nóttleiðtogi purred proudly, his grip on the tree relaxing slightly. 'She is very much like her mother.'

Maour waited for Nóttleiðtogi to continue. It almost felt like a game, if a very odd one. Nóttleiðtogi was pulling apart the possibilities and reasoning through them.

'But someone spoke. Thus, they had cause.' Nóttleiðtogi rumbled consideringly. 'Good cause. I would say my mate, Nóttskarpur, spoke to Eldurhjarta, whose brother spread the information to your family.' Nóttleiðtogi growled. 'Eldurhjarta must learn to guard her tongue.'

"Not Eldurberg?" Maour recalled a very similar scenario.

'Eldurhjarta should not be speaking of that which she does not want to be heard,' Nóttleiðtogi replied dismissively. 'Eldurberg is only one of those who could hear.'

"That's your guess?" Maour did his best to keep a straight face.

'No.' Nóttleiðtogi laughed, a genuine sound of amusement. 'For I can just imagine her glaring at me, calling me a fool for thinking her so indiscrete as to not swear Eldurhjarta personally to silence beforehand. Skarpur is experienced. Therefore, I will say that my daughter told Svarturvon. Einfari lacks that same careful touch, though she is not careless by any means. That is my final guess.' Nóttleiðtogi continued to chuckle. 'I am not mad, for it was warranted.'

"Yeah," Maour admitted, "You're right." Nóttleiðtogi's deduction was very accurate. It was impressive. "Can you do that for harder situations?"

'Not all, clearly.' Nóttleiðtogi's tenseness returned a little, as if he had remembered who and what he was talking to. 'This situation is simple, logically, but I cannot believe the truth in heart, if not mind. Hence my issues.'

"Well, this isn't really that kind of problem." Maour shrugged. "So, any ideas as to how I help you with this?" Talking had calmed Nóttleiðtogi, at least as long as the dragon forgot who he was talking to, but that wasn't enough, it seemed.

'None.' Nóttleiðtogi growled in frustration. 'Time, perhaps, but that is not something I wish to wait for. If there is a better, faster way, I want to find it.'

Something had been bothering Maour about this. "Why?"

'Why do I not want to feel afraid in my own home?' Nóttleiðtogi cast Maour an unamused look.

"No, I get that, but why are you acting so different about it?" Maour had been expecting haughty demands, suspicion, and other such behaviors.

Nóttleiðtogi winced. 'Suffice to say, I must understand you.' He shifted. 'The safety of my family rests on my knowing and dealing with the world as it is, and I have just uncovered a huge blind spot centered on you. I must fix that, and as you have been proven trustworthy…'

"You want to be nice to me?" Maout shook his head. "Not seeing the connection."

'I need to fix my mistake,' Nóttleiðtogi asserted. 'You will be an ally, as will any you ever find, and I have already guaranteed you can bring them here. You, and you alone, as you are the only one who can search for others with your peculiar lack of aggression.'

"So…" That still didn't make sense, though it was getting closer to a chain of logic Maour could understand.

'I cannot afford you to despise me, however rightfully, or my family, though we have given you reason, because you hold power over me, as will any you bring here in the future.' Nóttleiðtogi hung his head in shame at admitting that. 'Power that only you can help weaken. I would rather you help willingly, and for that I have to let you have some measure of control. My judgment is flawed, and yours is not, and I cannot afford to let this issue linger.'

Maour nodded. That finally made sense. Nóttleiðtogi wanted to be free of lingering fear, and he wanted Maour's willing cooperation, whatever it took to get that. And to right some wrongs his family had done, which was a noble enough goal.

"It might help if you told me… why this is an issue." It was a long shot…

'I cannot.' Nóttleiðtogi did not seem angry, just sad. 'It is a story only those I trust know, and even then it was hard to tell. I would need far more pressing reasons than this to tell you, and far more trust.'

"I get it." Maour thought back to his own, undoubtedly less painful past. "There are things I'd rather not share too, although not as bad." He knew the reluctance.

'So we are stuck.' Nóttleiðtogi sighed. 'The sight of a human is painful, and it seems I must endure that pain.'

"Or…" Maour considered it. "Can you close your eyes?" He needed a smaller, more achievable goal. It was becoming clear Nóttleiðtogi's issues would not be solved in a day. They both needed a way to achieve temporary victory now, if only to remain motivated.

'Why?' Nóttleiðtogi did not sound like he was comfortable with that.

"Today, I want to see if you can do that with me around." Maour was thinking about how Nóttleiðtogi had driven himself for days to remain awake. The fear made him unable to relax, to present any type of weakness. Lack of sight was a weakness, if not the biggest one, which was probably sleeping.

Nóttleiðtogi slowly forced his eyelids shut. 'I can.' They snapped back open. 'But that does nothing.'

"I think you're wrong." Maour crossed his arms. "Keep them closed."

'I did not agree to take orders from-' Nóttleiðtogi began crossly.

"You kind of did, actually," Maour objected. "You told me to come and get you for this if you didn't follow through. I think you need me to tell you how this is going to work, if it's your own fear we're trying to defeat."

A moment of silence.

'Fine.' Nóttleiðtogi sighed. 'Tell no one.'

"Agreed." Maour had definitely heard the hint of sarcasm in Nóttleiðtogi's words. They both knew they were not going unobserved. After a moment, Maour made a decision. "And if we can get to a certain point today, I'll make sure we're alone next time." For real. If they could safely get to where Maour wanted, that would be the reward.

He'd convince his brother to allow that if the moment came. For now, Maour needed a reward to offer Nóttleiðtogi for his cooperation, and that was all he had.

Nóttleiðtogi snorted. 'If.' He forced his eyes closed again. 'How long?'

"Indefinitely," Maour answered calmly, noting the unhappy stiffening of Nóttleiðtogi's facial muscles. "If you have a time limit, you'll just endure it. You need to relax, so that you wouldn't mind sitting here as long as needed." That was a goal, but not the one Maour wanted to hit. He couldn't tell Nóttleiðtogi the true goal yet.

'You speak sense, as much as I hate it.' Nóttleiðtogi's claws were steadily piercing the tree beneath them, his body tensing more with each passing moment.

Now, part two. "Are you trying to hear where I am? Trying in some way to make sure you know where I am?" If he was immensely afraid and blind, that was what he would do.

'Yes.' Nóttleiðtogi admitted that a bit guiltily. 'I cannot help it.'

"For now, that's okay, we just need to make it so that you can't whether or not you try." Maour considered that. "How?" He needed to know which senses needed to be tricked.

'Body heat, smell, and general deduction based on the sound of your physical voice, as well as your mental one.' Nóttleiðtogi huffed. 'The latter is not helping, which is good as you cannot disguise that.'

"So sound, smell, and body heat." That last one would be an issue. Hopefully, Nóttleiðtogi wouldn't notice in time, once the other hints were foiled. "I want you to open your eyes for a moment."

Nóttleiðtogi's eyelids snapped up the moment the word open was said. Maour noticed that both grey eyes immediately snapped to him. It was a good thing he hadn't moved. Let Nóttleiðtogi think he would not the next time.

"Is there a plant that smells strongly around here?" They could use fish, but Maour wanted to get back to their work as quickly as possible.

'Yes, actually.' Nóttleiðtogi carefully pried his claws out of the tree and took a grand total of three steps to the side, pawing at the ground there. 'I can faintly smell it even now.' He pulled a strange, bulbous root out of the ground. 'Here. I don't know what it's called, but it smells odd. Not harmful or pleasant, just odd.'

"Perfect. Go back to how you were, but with that in front of your nose." Maour smiled as Nóttleiðtogi did so. "Eyes."

After a moment of hesitation, Nóttleiðtogi once again closed his eyes. 'What about sound?'

"Talk. About anything, it doesn't matter. Try to stick to happy things though, this is stressful enough for you." Maour was flying blind, so to speak, but he might as well go all the way. That was sound and smell neutralized along with sight, and Nóttleiðtogi was distracted…

'I have little to speak of, really. My life here is pleasant and routine, or was, anyway…' Nóttleiðtogi mused. 'Of family, current family perhaps?'

"Sure. Just talk, try to forget I'm here. I won't respond, to help with that." If Nóttleiðtogi could actually forget he had an audience, that would be great, but Maour didn't expect that.

'Nótthljóður, then, as she is the happiest of us.' Nóttleiðtogi purred softly at that name. 'She is playful and speaks her mind, not waiting or thinking first. That is a trait I will not try to teach her to stifle, though some subtlety would help her in life. You wouldn't know this, but her name is so very, very inaccurate.'

Maour wanted to comment, but he was busy and needed to be silent. Nóttleiðtogi's purring was helping mask the sound…

'She hatched in the winter, when snow covered the world. That night, everyone was in their caves, it was so cold. When I went out to get fresh fish for her and Skarpur, I was struck by the pure, clean and silent night. Peace. When Skarpur went out later, and I stayed with our hatchling, she also noticed. We named her Nótthljóður, after the world when she arrived. Silent Night. Night is our name, Nótt, so it fit at the time. No longer.' Nóttleiðtogi chuckled. 'Now, calling her silent is just plain wrong. Her short name is more accurate.'

Almost there…

'And she knows it too. She might be so outspoken simply because it means she is almost never quiet. Never silent. I would not have it any other way.'

Maour very gently, very carefully sat down in a new spot. This wasn't a risk, not like messing with Nóttleiðtogi might have been in any other situation, because Nóttleiðtogi was not in a position to strike out. Still, it wasn't the safest thing to be doing.

'Even as a hatchling, she was loud, which is not normal in the first few weeks,' Nóttleiðtogi continued. 'Screeching whenever she woke, of course, but also yowling at any and everything that got in her way, trying-'

Maour placed a hand on the base of Nóttleiðtogi's wing-shoulders. The dragon flinched beneath him, muscles tensing and jerking away.

'-to,' Nóttleiðtogi inhaled deeply, cutting off a growl, 'to climb over…' Another muscle movement, almost a spasm, away from Maour's hand. 'To climb over Skarpur's side and escape…'

Maour was impressed Nóttleiðtogi had so quickly caught onto the idea, the one he could not be told beforehand out of necessity. When Nóttleiðtogi shakily continued his story, lessening his involuntary flinching to the point where he could ignore it and continue talking, Maour was amazed. Nóttleiðtogi had a huge amount of self-control, judging by just how violent and prolonged that reaction had been. He had a feeling the tree Nóttleiðtogi was likely mutilating at the moment would never be the same. As long as it was the tree though, that was fine.

After a few long minutes, during which Maour never even moved his hand, Nóttleiðtogi stopped speaking, trailing off at the end of his story.

Nóttleiðtogi had never truly relaxed, but he did stop pulling away. That was a minor success. After a few moments of that, Maour sighed. "You can open your eyes."

Nóttleiðtogi's head wrenched around, his eyes instantly on Maour, who had not moved a muscle.

'You tricked me.' His tone was considering, not accusatory. 'And you are touching me right now. Every part of me is screaming that I should tear you apart.' Still calm, still neutral. 'But I don't want to.'

"If this didn't work, I would have tried something else." Maour shrugged. "But I think it might help. Positive thoughts, positive feelings, to at least balance out the fear."

'I am still afraid.' Nóttleiðtogi shook his head. 'Though it is clearly not as bad as before, as I have not yet knocked you out with my wings.'

"Success!" Maour weakly cheered. He hadn't even considered the large and entirely free wing folded in right in front of his head. Forget being torn apart, Nóttleiðtogi might have been able to knock his head off in a single spasm! Next time, he needed to actually think things through.

'But I am not at all enjoying this, all in all,' Nóttleiðtogi noted. 'I'm cramping up because I don't trust myself to move a muscle..' He eyed Maour. 'Can you please move away?'

Maour complied, resuming his position in front of Nóttleiðtogi. "Sorry, I tried my best."

'And it helped, if only a little.' Nóttleiðtogi sighed. 'Your paw is not sharp or rough, at least.'

"Hand, and pretty much none of me is sharp." Maour smirked. "Soft and squishy is generally how humans tend to be, under the armor and such."

'I suppose so.' Nóttleiðtogi shook his head. 'Are we done today? I will continue to defer to you, as my judgment is impaired on this matter.'

"For today." Maour stood. "But we're going to keep doing this. It won't be quite as much as a surprise because you'll be expecting it, obviously, but it seems to help."

'What is your end goal?' Nóttleiðtogi did not sound entirely averse to Maour's plan. He began to extract his claws from the tree.

"Honestly?" Maour thought back to what he had considered earlier. "I want you to be able to fall asleep, knowing I'm right next to you. Maybe with a hand on your back or something." A sign of uninhibited trust.

Nóttleiðtogi barked in surprise. 'Is that necessary? You are a Svartur, not a Nótt, and that sort of occurrence will not happen in night-to-night life.' He stood, moving as if his muscles were stiff, which they were.

"You never know," Maour replied. "Besides, it's more the meaning, not the specific circumstances. Do you think you'd be able to fall asleep in the presence of someone you didn't trust on a deep level? Someone you fear involuntarily?"

'No… I see your point.' Nóttleiðtogi groaned. 'I feel as if I flew for hours and then fought for my life.' He stretched laboriously, his back arching.

"Which is why we're not doing this again tomorrow night," Maour said quickly. "I think… every three days or so."

'You are the one in charge.' Nóttleiðtogi glanced at Maour consideringly. 'You seem knowledgeable about this topic.'

"I'm not, really," Maour quickly admitted, "it just kind of makes sense. I was working mostly off of guesswork, and some basic assumptions."

'You did well, for that.' Nóttleiðtogi paused. 'And now I am complimenting a human. Are you sure this is all natural?' He shook his head. 'It has not been a week.'

"Believe me, it's surprising me too." Maour shrugged. "I guess I'm good at that."

'Well, you do seem to be.' Nóttleiðtogi turned to leave. 'Same time, same general place, in three days?'

"Yeah." Maour recalled his promise. "And I really won't bring anyone next time. You did well." Great, better than Maour had expected, to continue speaking and try to ignore the situation as long as Nóttleiðtogi had.

'Then… neither will I.' Nóttleiðtogi laughed. 'Which is easy, given I brought no one tonight. I wished no one to see what I was half-sure would be a complete failure.'

"Oh. I had honestly assumed you had a few observers somewhere." Maour shrugged. Then a thought struck him. "By the way, do you know where the closest human village is from here?"

Nóttleiðtogi froze. 'I take back my compliment. That was the worst possible thing for you to say if you wanted to earn trust.' His voice was dry.

"I realize that now." Maour felt like an idiot. "It's just that Toothless's saddle rig got a bit messed up when Nóttreiði tried to tackle him, and I can't fix it without a forge."

'I don't know enough to verify that claim.' Nóttleiðtogi stared at Maour.

"I mean, I can explain what's broken and why it needs to be fixed, if we get Toothless and his saddle in here," Maour offered, knowing that calling in Toothless, who would arrive immediately as he was so close by, would destroy the illusion of privacy Nóttleiðtogi had wanted. "Shadow already got the explanation a few nights back, and he understood."

Nóttleiðtogi nodded. 'That is good enough for me, as I can easily check if it is a lie. The closest human nest is quite a ways, a full night's flight.' He proceeded to give directions, though those basically consisted of a direction and a time of flight.

"Thanks-" Maour began to say.

'Don't thank me yet.' Nóttleiðtogi met Maour's eyes with a stare. 'I wish to send Einfari along with you. I trust that will not be a problem.'

"Any reason, or just..?" Maour didn't mind, per say, but it was a bit out of the blue.

'Several.' Nóttleiðtogi huffed in what could only be exasperation. 'I have overheard a few things, and aside from that, it is insurance. You will not do anything sneaky when she is there to see and report.'

"I wouldn't anyway." Maour crossed his arms.

'This is for my peace of mind, nothing else.' Nóttleiðtogi shifted his feet. 'I am trying to trust you, and every little bit of proof will help me.' He managed to sound uncertain.

"That's manipulative of you," Maour noted sourly.

'Yes, it is. That does not make it less effective.' Nóttleiðtogi leaped into the air and left, calling back as he did, 'and I'm taking no response as a yes!'

Maour stared up at the rapidly retreating black shape. He really didn't know whether to feel exasperated or amused by that last trick. Nóttleiðtogi probably just wanted to get back at Maour for his trick earlier.

He turned and began walking in a random direction, knowing what was going to happen.

Sure enough, Toothless dropped out of a tree directly in front of him, before proceeding to stare at Maour.

"I was expecting to be tackled," Maour admitted. "Aren't you mad?"

'You were one mistake away from having a wing on top of your neck instead of a head,' Toothless said angrily. 'I can't tell if you were being stupid or brilliant, to take a dumb risk like that.'

"Let's go with brilliant… and short-sighted." Maour nodded to Von, who had approached from another direction. "Not as safe as I could have made it, but safe enough to be worth the risk."

'Okay…' Toothless abruptly prodded at Maour with a paw accusingly. 'You agreed to go alone next time.'

"It needs to be done." Maour didn't feel like arguing. "It's complicated."

'I can't disagree,' Toothless conceded with a glare, 'given someone already promised.'

'Lighten up, brother,' Von admonished. 'You did great!' She purred at Maour.

"Not really, barely anything changed." Maour was more than happy to move the concentration from his promise to his success, or lack thereof.

'Right.' Von shook her head. 'Because he definitely wasn't joking with you just then. I must have imagined him beginning to respect you. Clearly, nothing has changed in just an hour of work.' Her tone was dry.

"Okay, not a lot-" Maour cut himself off, seeing Von's annoyance. "Fine. We made progress."

'Now he admits it.' Von shifted her attention to Toothless. 'Does he do that a lot?'

Toothless considered it. 'Sometimes.'

'We need to fix that bad habit.' Von continued to speak as if Maour wasn't even there. 'It's not good to dismiss one's own accomplishments so easily.'

'Agreed.' Toothless smiled. 'Although you have a bad habit of your own. For someone with a Night Fury's senses, you really aren't aware of where people are around you.'

'Wha-' Von barked in surprise as Maour's weight dropped onto her back, from the tree he had quietly gotten a jump off of. 'Hey!'

"I got bored, because," Maour shifted to grab on more firmly, "clearly that conversation didn't involve me in any way." His voice was sarcastic.

'Off!' Von commanded. When nothing happened, she slapped Maour with her ears. 'Or I'll roll over!'

"No!" Maour leaped off and ran a few steps away. "I like not being flat!"

Von began to laugh. 'I'm not heavy!' she protested.

"For a dragon!" Maour countered, getting behind Toothless, who was watching in amusement. "For a human, you'd win a prize for fattest in the village!" There was a moment of silence following that.

Toothless very deliberately stepped out of the way. 'I'll scrape you off the ground afterward,' he offered.

Maour winced. "But luckily, you're not a human! Totally slim!" He faltered at Von's flat stare. "I suppose this is the part where I run for my life."

Von nodded. 'You're family, so you get a ten-second head start.' She flicked her tail and crouched. 'One.'

Maour bolted, running in no particular direction, off into the forest.

'Ten.' Von grinned. 'He doesn't need a head-start.' She smirked evilly, racing past Toothless into the forest after Maour.

Toothless followed, yelling as he did, 'Just don't crush him, he's fragile!'

'I'm just going to pin him for a while.' Von laughed, slowing down slightly so that Toothless could keep up, but not overtake her. 'Maybe until he convinces me I'm not fat.'

'In that case, I'll help.' Toothless ran alongside his sister. 'I don't want to miss that.'

'Tonight.' Cloey eyed Toothless and Maour. 'You will go tonight?'

'According to Nóttleiðtogi, it's a long flight, so we should go now,' Toothless replied. 'Get an early start.' They had also spent most of the last night chasing Maour and generally messing around, so this was the first chance they were getting to go.

"Don't forget, Bud, we've got to get Von and Einfari first," Maour added.

'Weren't you paying attention?' Toothless warbled in amusement. 'Von went to get Einfari. They'll meet us at the summit of the mountain.'

"I was busy making sure your saddle was good for the trip," Maour replied. "And getting measurements for the rod I need to replace."

'Well, good luck and safe travels,' Shadow admonished. 'Safe.'

'Very safe,' Cloey added. 'Do not take chances.'

"We'll be sure to come back," Maour promised solemnly. Then he and Toothless left to go meet up with Von and Einfari.

'So, why are you really here?' Von asked her friend as they waited on the mountain.

'Well…' Einfari glanced around, as if to ensure no one was listening. 'Don't tell anyone?'

Von purred. 'I think I know based on that level of secrecy. My brother?'

'Which one?' Einfari replied seriously.

'Uh,' Von stuttered, 'I assume Toothless.'

'No, Maour.' Einfari looked nonplussed at Von's utterly shocked expression. 'What?'

'Isn't there,' Von managed to ask, 'a species barrier?'

'What?' Einfari blinked. 'Why would that matter?'

Von's mouth dropped open. 'I…' She shook her head. 'Wha..?' Words didn't seem to be cooperating with her.

Einfari seemed to make a connection in her mind. She abruptly collapsed, howling in laughter as she rolled on the ground. After her mirth had subsided, she managed to gasp out, 'No!'

'No?' Von asked carefully.

'Not,' Einfari wheezed, 'what I meant.'

'Oh.' Von sighed in relief.

'Did you really think..?' Einfari regained her feet. 'Really?'

'You seemed so sure and calm!' Von protested. 'I thought we were talking about the same thing!'

'And you didn't question that at any point?' Einfari shook her head. 'Wait. In the beginning, you thought I liked Toothless?'

'Do you?' Von warbled curiously. 'I may as well ask.'

'No,' Einfari decided after a moment. 'There's nothing wrong with him, he's just not my type.'

'Neither is Myrkursprenging, Eldurberg, Eldurvatn, or even Myrkurheili.' Von groaned. 'You're still set on going out and looking someday?'

'Yes, I am.' Einfari gestured out to sea with her wing. 'Night Furies go looking for each other. Just because we all live together doesn't mean I have to settle for someone here if I don't want to.'

'I know.' Von snorted. 'And unless someone has a massive personality change, I'll probably be doing the same.'

'Yeah,' Einfari agreed solemnly. 'Hey, it's tradition. At least we can just bring them back here, so we don't have to leave permanently.'

'That's a while from now though,' Von noted. 'We have a long time before then.' Then she looked up. 'Also, why are you here? What about Maour?'

'Well, dad wants me to come, to make sure nothing happens,' Einfari began. 'As a precaution.'

'That's not the only reason,' Von observed slyly. 'What else?'

'Your brother, the human one,' Einfari quickly specified, 'he's interesting. I don't really know him at all, and he makes no sense. This is a chance to observe him at ease.'

'Fair enough.' Von purred. 'He is interesting.'

'Here they come,' Einfari observed, looking at the approaching black silhouette.

Toothless and Maour approached, dropping onto the summit. 'Ready to go?' Toothless asked the two Furies waiting there.

'We are,' Von replied, launching into the sky. 'Which way?'

Toothless answered wordlessly by taking the lead, flying in front of the other two Furies as they left the island behind.

'A perfect night for stealth.' Von chuffed. 'Too bad we won't get there until morning.'

"Yeah, it's a long flight," Maour agreed. "We've got some time to burn."

Toothless shook his head, trying to take his mind off of his fatigue. They had been flying for hours, almost the entire night, and his wings were beginning to ache. The ocean below never changed, adding to the illusion that he had just spent many hours going nowhere…

'Toothless?'

And answering questions. So many questions. 'Yes, Einfari?'

'I have another one.'

Of course she did. Toothless had never gotten a chance to talk with Einfari before. It seemed she had boundless curiosity, though in a subdued way, unlike the Eldurs. Her questions tended to go in different directions too. 'What is it?'

'When you were at the volcanic nest, did the other dragons fight?' Einfari continued carefully. 'Did they get into arguments, I mean?'

'Of course.' Toothless huffed. He didn't see the point in asking that. 'Over real issues and stupid made-up ones, or just to pass the time.'

'How did they solve them?' Einfari glided a bit closer, looking Toothless in the eye.

'Fighting, though not to the death.' The Queen had forbid that, to preserve the lives of her useful tools. 'The loser was in the wrong.' Might made right. Not his favorite way of deciding anything.

'What happened to the loser?' Einfari's voice was soft now.

'Usually a humiliating punishment, or just being bruised and scorched until they couldn't stand.' Toothless was pretty sure there would have been a lot of crippled dragons around if the Queen hadn't forbidden that too.

'I guess if death and exile weren't options,' Einfari mused. 'Did she ever get involved? The Queen, I mean.'

Toothless tried to remember. 'Not often… or really ever. It happened once or twice though. The dissenters usually both got eaten. There was a reason no one brought their disagreements to her voluntarily.'

Von, flying to Toothless's other side, shuddered midair. 'Horrible.'

'Effective,' Einfari countered, 'in a way. If one's goal was to not be bothered, anyway.'

"If she really didn't want to be bothered,' Maour chimed in, "she shouldn't have taken them as thralls and forced them to stay on her island. No one would even be around, so no one could bother her then."

'No one said she was consistent… or smart.' Toothless laughed. It felt freeing to insult the Queen, now that she was dead and gone. Why had he never done so back on Berk, for that matter? It wasn't like she was around to hear him then. Such a missed opportunity.

'Is that the island?' Von pulled forward a bit, as if to get a better look, despite them already going at a decent speed in that direction. 'We should be there by now.'

'Well…' Toothless strained to see further. The night was almost gone, the sky just beginning to lighten in advance warning of dawn. There was a smudge of brown on the horizon. 'Maybe?'

As they got closer, it became clear that they had finally reached their destination. It was a somewhat small island, one with a large port, a village…

'Odd.' Toothless had never seen an island so devoid of trees. There was one scrawny, undersized copse of old pine trees on one hill in the corner of the island, and that was it. There rest was either part of the village, farmland, or fields.

"They must trade for wood," Maour concluded, picking up on Toothless's train of thought. "It's not that uncommon, but it is expensive. They must be able to afford it with all the crops they grow and livestock they raise."

'Why do they need to get it from others?' Einfari asked. 'And why would other groups want food? Can't they get it themselves?'

"That's just how it works," Maour answered after a moment's thought. "Some islands aren't good for crops, so they raise animals, and some islands are the opposite, or not good for food at all, but great for other things. Tribes trade so that they all get what they need."

'Well, we need to get into that miserable excuse for a forest now,' Einfari interjected. 'We cannot be seen.' Her voice was stern, despite having just had the question she asked answered.

'We were going to,' Toothless grumbled, setting his course for the patch of woods. He had almost forgotten Einfari was here as a representative of her father. Her authoritative tone bothered him a little.

The woods were indeed scrawny, and composed of old oaks and pines. Luckily, they were dense enough to hide three Night Furies within… as long as no villagers came around. It wouldn't take long for a wandering Viking to cover the entire area on foot.

Maour immediately set off for the edge of the woods. Toothless, Einfari, and Von made themselves comfortable, more than happy to rest and wait for Maour to return.

Well, two of them were content to rest. Einfari prowled around aimlessly, staring in the direction of the village, though nothing could be seen from where they were.

'Maour?' Toothless accessed his brother's senses, and was treated to a sight of the village as Maour approached.

"It's not Berk. Thankfully," Maour added, "as strangers on Berk were a big event."

'Will that be a problem here?' Toothless asked. He became aware that Einfari was listening when he briefly switched back to his own sight while moving to a more comfortable position, laying his head on his paws. He could have done that without switching back, but it made him dizzy. Maybe he and Maour could work on that. It might be useful to be able to move reliably when not using one's own sight.

"This is a port village. They live off of trade, it looks like." Maour walked around the back of one of the buildings on the outskirts of the village, moving inward. "Visitors like me are normal. As long as no one asks which ship I came on, there's nothing to mark me as unusual."

'What is he saying?' Einfari asked, her voice curious. 'Can you just repeat everything, so we know?'

'Fine,' Toothless conceded. 'It's not that interesting though, he's just walking around.' It was hard to be annoyed by Einfari's newfound curiosity, but she was wearing his patience thin.

There wasn't much to relay for a while. Maour was taking the opportunity to look around, opting to wander and get the lay of the land instead of just asking for directions to the nearest blacksmith. They needed to wait until dark to leave, so he had the time.

'What is he doing now?' Einfari nudged Toothless's side. Toothless heard Von sigh off to the side.

'Still looking around.' Toothless was quickly reaching a minor breaking point. 'I will say if anything happens.'

'Can't he look around quicker? Or-' Einfari began.

'Einfari!' That was not Toothless, surprisingly. Von had almost shouted, growling at her friend. 'What has gotten into you?!'

'She's not normally like this?' Toothless returned to his own vision, to see his irate sister staring at Einfari, who was staring back unrepentantly.

'No, she is not.' Von directed that at Einfari. 'And I know her well enough to know when she is trying to project a certain image of herself.'

Einfari barked in surprise. 'You do?!' She suddenly looked a lot more embarrassed, her tail drooping.

'Yes, I do.' Von shook her head. 'We've known each other since we were fledglings. Did you really think I would fall for this?'

Einfari whined apologetically. 'You're right.'

'So, are you going to explain..?' Toothless ventured, still too unsure of what Einfari was trying to do to be more specific.

'Dad wanted me to make sure nothing happened,' Einfari began, 'but he didn't tell me to do this. This was my idea.'

'And…' Von prompted.

'I wanted to see how dragons are supposed to react to annoyances,' Einfari continued, speaking quicker. 'You act like any dragon would, while our generation on the island…'

'Doesn't,' Von finished wryly. 'You know, Einfari, you could have just asked one of the older Furies. They all know.'

'But why do you care?' Toothless understood now what Einfari had been doing, but it still made no sense.

'I'm a Nótt,' Einfari replied dismissively. 'We read people, plan ahead, anticipate anything we can. I can't read you or Maour. None of my family could, it seems.'

'So…' That did make sense. 'You were provoking me to see how I reacted?' As if Toothless himself was an accurate measure of the average dragon. 'I'm not a good example of normal.'

'Better than anyone else I know,' Einfari shot back. 'You and Maour, and to some extent your mom. You've all been out in the world. We've been home, living in isolation.'

Toothless snorted. 'You say that like it's a bad thing. I would have preferred living like you do.' Far more than living in the volcanic nest, that was for sure. If one only considered the place, it was no competition.

'But would you rather have had my life?' EInfari asked seriously. 'All of it, compared to what you have now?'

That… wasn't an easy question. An easy life, but… He would have never met Maour, never helped end the Queen's reign, never gotten Maour off of Berk. Would things really be better like that?

'No.' Toothless growled softly. 'I would not trade how my life has gone.'

'Exactly.' Einfari sighed, her expression growing sad. 'But back on the original question, you are more normal than anyone else here.'

'You want normal?' Toothless thought back to what he had grown up around. 'I would have pinned you and roared in your face to get you to stop bothering me… about half an hour ago. Normal is no self-control whatsoever.' He had seen far more than enough of that to know it for the truth.

Einfari blinked at him, seemingly surprised. 'Really?'

'Yes, really.' Toothless huffed. 'Is it any surprise I prefer it here?' He was speaking of the island they called home now, not this miserable forest and village.

'I guess not…' Einfari trailed off.

That seemed to be the end of the conversation. At least Einfari wasn't intentionally annoying him now. With that thought, Toothless tuned back into Maour's perspective.

"Welcome back," Maour muttered under his breath. He slammed a hammer onto a glowing axe blade, slightly undoing a dent in the side.

'You already found a forge?!' Toothless could have sworn the entire conversation with Von and Einfari hadn't taken more than five minutes.

"Right after you stopped watching." Maour cast a glance to the side, looking at a large and beefy woman, who was watching intently. "Framja's agreeable enough, but she has a thing about people using her forge. This is a test to make sure I'm competent."

'And then she'll let you make the rod?'

"No, then she'll let me handle a few of her orders." Maour plunged the straightened ax head into a barrel of water. "Then I can make the rod."

'That's unreasonable,' Toothless grumbled. If Maour was doing the work, why should he have to do this woman's work first? It wasn't like it cost her to let him use the equipment.

"I didn't have any good metal to work from." Maour pulled the ax out of the barrel, and inspected the metal, tilting it to look closely from different angles. "That's what I'm going to have to pay off first." He subtly nodded to a small bar of iron sitting in the corner. "I don't really have any money right now."

'I'll pay you back.' Toothless didn't like that Maour was having to work off the material just for his tailfin.

"What?" Maour almost dropped the ax. "No reason for you to do that. It's our saddle, so we both work to keep it up. I do the forging, and you do the testing."

'I guess that's fair,' Toothless conceded. 'You're getting extra fish for a while though. I won't be doing much testing if we're just replacing parts when they break.'

"Oh really?" Maour grinned, taking the ax to a grindstone. "We'll be doing more than that, if Framja thinks I'm up to par. We can show up every once in a while and make whatever we need. The saddle is not anywhere close to perfect. I foresee many new improvements coming soon…"

Toothless was still brooding on that last comment by the time Framja had readily approved Maour's skill and set him to work. He couldn't complain, but testing things tended to mean things breaking, and failing, and them both falling out of the sky.

Although, now he had a sister who might be willing to help them. Maybe Von could grab Maour out of the sky if something went wrong.

Something felt odd about this moment. Toothless went over the situation.

'Maour, are you tired?' It was the first thing that came to mind. They had flown all night, and Maour was still working well into the day.

"Uh…" Maour paused. "No, actually."

'Good.' That was a relief.

"I mean, I really don't feel tired at all. Not like normal."

'Do you think..?' Toothless laughed at himself. 'No, of course not.' Night Furies could go almost two whole days and nights without sleep, though they crashed at the end of that time, which was why it wasn't preferable. Still, it was just a deep sleep that left no lasting ill effects, so it wasn't a bad thing.

Maour knew that, having had it explained by Cloey at some point in their travels, so he picked up on Toothless's thoughts. "I'm not sure, but it feels like it."

Toothless abruptly considered the question again. 'I guess it is possible.' If how long one could go without sleep depended on the mind, Maour might actually be adapting to be that resilient.'

"Cool." Maour smiled. "I like that."

The flight back to their home was not as bad as the flight out, if only because Einfari, having volunteered to keep watch while the other two Furies rested, was too tired to talk much.

Thinking back, Toothless now saw patterns in the questions she had asked. They all came down to behavior, either his or what was normal. Or Maour. Einfari really was just trying to understand them both.

It wasn't that bad of a goal, all in all, even if she was only doing it because she couldn't predict them like she apparently was able to do with everyone else. At least she was focused on understanding, not opposing.

"Toothless." Maour was quiet, almost contemplative. "I'm still not that tired."

'Yup, you got that from the link.' A full night and day, and counting. That was not normal for Maour. 'You'll sleep very soundly when we get home.'

"Fine by me." Maour twitched his end of the tail, and Toothless complied with the suggestion, the two of them drifting out a bit more, out of easy hearing range of Von and Einfari. He remained silent, waiting for Maour to bring up whatever involved privacy.

"I really didn't care," Maour began, his voice pensive.

'About what?' Toothless felt like he already knew.

"Today I was around other humans, and I didn't feel any different." Maour shifted in the saddle. "It wasn't a big deal. Is that weird?"

'Why would it be?' Really, what was Maour's point?

"I don't know, it just doesn't seem normal." Maour laughed softly. "I haven't seen another human in almost a month, but today I didn't care. It didn't matter."

'It shouldn't matter. You have us, and it's not like you were alone for a month,' Toothless countered. 'And really, why you should look forward to interacting with people who don't understand you, and probably wouldn't like your ideas anyway…' It was unfair to say that about people he didn't know, but if Berk was any indication, Vikings were pretty bad at that. Understanding other people, at least. Most of them were pretty dense.

"I guess it's just hitting me…" Maour shrugged, a gesture Toothless could just barely feel, given Maour was sitting in the saddle. "My home is a cave on an island full of dragons, but I feel more comfortable there than I ever have anywhere else. I don't miss houses, or other humans, or even the forge, although we still need that last one."

'Can we build one at home?' It was just rocks. How hard could rocks be to put together right?

"I don't really know how to make one," Maour admitted, to Toothless's surprise. "They're more complicated than they look, and I'm not strong enough to actually put one together anyway. They kind of need strength and precision. You have one, and I have the other, but it would be really hard. And we'd need coal or charcoal, and a bunch of other things too, so we'd be going to the village anyway, at least for a while. We could do it, but it would take a lot of effort, and I don't like the idea of a forge in the caves. Too much smoke. On the other hand," Maour mused, "our island is supposed to be uninhabited, so we can't have it outside either. Yeah, best not to have one. For now, anyway. Maybe if it gets too annoying to go back and forth."

Toothless privately thought it would probably be a good idea to get the other Furies used to the idea first too, just to avoid potential issues. Maybe someday.

For now… 'So we just come back.' Toothless snorted. 'And when you find a girl who doesn't run screaming, we can bring her back here, and everything will be perfect.' There had to be at least one out there.

"Sounds great," Maour mused. "But I'm in no rush."

'So let's go home…' Toothless sighed. 'And get started on those saddle modifications. Those should keep us busy.'

"And helping Nóttleiðtogi, and spending time with everyone else, and probably five other things I'm forgetting," Maour added in an amused tone of voice.

'Exactly. We've got plenty to do.' Was this what a normal life looked like? It certainly wasn't as chaotic and uncertain as Toothless was accustomed to life being.

Just by thinking that, he knew something would go wrong. When did it not? Still, this was good. The last of the uncertainty, how they were going to keep his saddle intact, was solved.

Time to settle into a normal life. While that lasted, anyway.

Author's Note: Well, that was quite a detour, but a good one, I think. Next chapter we actually begin arc four. Really, this whole little expansion is an arc in itself, so this last one is arc five now.