Author's Note: Next chapter is the last, save for the epilogue and some deleted scenes. Then we go on to Living Anonymously to continue the story. Think of this more as the lead up to an interlude, really.

The next night, rested and prepared, Maour had only two things that needed to be done. The first was easy, as he already had what he needed in one of the side-caverns, laid out over a ledge.

Toothless followed him in to check on the saddles. 'All ours?'

"This one and this one I made as backups, and this one was a test," Maour confirmed, running his hands over the three saddles. "It was easy to add a tether, and it should not be difficult for anyone to hook on."

'Convenient,' Toothless remarked.

"Well, that's what happens. If we needed to outfit ten of you with tailfins, I could probably do it," Maour quipped, pointing to a pile of spare parts stacked in a corner. "Always good to be prepared."

'True.' Toothless looked out at the main cavern. 'When does the pack meet for Nóttskarpur to report? I wasn't listening when she told us.'

"You were basically asleep on your feet- well, paws, so I'm not surprised. Midnight, more or less, so we have some time to burn." He was just glad Nóttskarpur was going to be doing the convincing this time around. It should be easier for her, given her reputation as being cynical and clever.

'Is there time for a run?' Von asked, walking into view.

"Sure." Maour liked the sound of that.

Midnight came quickly, and soon the entire pack was gathered in the central cavern. For once, Maour and Toothless were not in the middle, presenting.

'Is this the first time we haven't been the center of attention?' Toothless asked in amusement.

"Since we got here… yes." Maour smirked. "Get used to it. I rather like not being the one up there."

'Same,' Toothless agreed.

'Everyone,' Nóttskarpur said with an annoyed roar, 'if you would quiet down, we can be done here sooner.'

Silence fell. That worked. Maour made a mental note to remember that trick.

'Good.' Nóttskarpur looked at her mate, who made eye contact. Maour was too far away to see if there was any communication through expression going on.

'I believe the three humans Maour has selected are ready,' Nóttskarpur announced. 'I have seen true emotion in response to outside threats, in a time and situation where no one would be aware of the need to fake anything, even if they could defeat the smell of dishonesty.'

A quiet rumble. No one objected.

'Is it really this easy?' Toothless sounded quite annoyed.

"She's a Nótt," Maour reminded his brother. "If they aren't suspicious, no one will be. They trust her to be very sure."

'So I should not expect sudden attacks from angry Furies when we bring them here?'

Maour recalled Einfari shooting at him, and later Nóttreiði going after them. "Ideally no, and remember who was doing the attacking when we showed up?" Nóttleiðtogi would ensure that did not happen again, if Nóttskarpur had not already done so.

Toothless huffed. 'Oh, right. So it's going to be boring.'

"Probably." Maour looked out and saw that Nóttskarpur was already done talking. "They set a plan, set conditions, and now that the conditions are met, they just go with it. No second-guessing, no objections." It was strange… but in a good way.

As it turned out, there was one more thing to do, Von carrying a message. 'Mom wants you two by the beach.'

Maour turned to Toothless. "Did we forget to do something?"

Toothless shrugged his wings, walking out of the cave. 'Why do you instantly assume she needs a reason to want to spend time with… you know what, forget I asked.'

Maour laughed. "True, very true. But I still feel like she has a reason for not coming herself."

They quickly took to the sky and traversed the island. It was a large island, but in the air distances were not so inconvenient.

'You were right,' Toothless remarked as the beach came into sight, four Furies waiting for them, 'we must have forgotten something.'

"Yeah," Maour said slowly, thinking. "Cloey, Berg, Blast and Boom." Then it hit him. "Right. We need to teach them how to link. Better to be sure they can."

'It should not be hard,' They set down close by, and Toothless roared a greeting. 'So, are we late?'

'Given we didn't know this was happening until half an hour ago, no,' Berg remarked.

'I forgot to tell you two,' Cloey admitted, walking up to them and absently nuzzling them both in turn. 'Sorry. But I think this should go quickly.'

"It's not like we were doing anything," Maour quickly reassured her. "So, teaching them to link."

'Trying too.' Cloey growled. 'I have explained what it should feel like.'

'Crazy,' Blast groaned. 'Even for us.'

'Fascinating.' Eldurberg was purring. 'I do have many more questions.'

'Later.' Cloey looked out to the forest. 'But we need to let them practice.'

"Uh…" Maour took a step back. "Is that necessary?" He didn't really want to be linked to any other dragons, even ignoring the fact that they had no idea what that would do.

'Not you,' Cloey clarified. 'The same process works on animals, remember?'

'Terrors, deer, pretty much anything,' Toothless agreed. 'Do we have any of those?'

'That is what we were just discussing,' Cloey sighed, turning to the Myrkur siblings. 'Thirty fish over a week.'

'Forty,' Boom countered, her voice serious. She narrowed her eyes. 'It took us all day to catch them, and they were meant for Eldurhjarta.'

Berg leaped in surprise, glaring at the Myrkurs. 'Hey!'

'What? You were complaining about her last night,' Blast countered, sounding defensive. 'She needs a scare.'

'I don't want to know,' Toothless quietly groaned. Maour shared that sentiment.

'Thirty, and I don't tell your parents,' Cloey snarled. 'You should know better.'

'Fine, thirty.' Blast jumped into the air and flew off. Boom remained, looking disgruntled.

"So.. what are they getting?"

'Mice,' Cloey sighed. 'I don't even know how they caught them, but they are animals, and it's better than having to catch them now. Worth dropping off some fish at their cavern for a while.'

Well… it seemed they were waiting. Maour idly drew in the sand, wondering how something as big as a Night Fury managed to find and catch mice at all. For that matter, he hadn't really been aware of mice even residing on this island. There were a few birds, but he hadn't seen much of anything else. That didn't mean they weren't around though. He might just not be looking in the right places.

Then a muffled thud caught his attention. He turned to see Blast, his face driven into the sand.

'Why did you land like that?' Toothless was laughing, his voice amused.

'They're in my claws,' Blast explained as he spit sand, lying on his side with clutched claws. 'I can't stand up like this.'

"Okay…" Maour quickly dug some small pits in the sand, making the sides smooth and vertical. "Dump them in here."

Blast rolled over and dropped four brown mice into the closest pit. They seemed dazed, not really moving, but their rolling eyes and quaking bodies proved they were alive.

'You know,' Berg remarked, looking at the test subjects, 'I feel kind of bad for them.'

Maour tried not to compare the plight of the mice to anything in his past, focusing on the present. "We can let them go after."

'Right,' Cloey agreed, 'if cutting the connection doesn't kill them.' She nodded to Eldurberg. 'You first, as you were actually paying attention.'

Berg obediently dropped a paw into the hole and grabbed a mouse. Maour was impressed that he could do so without injuring it with his claws.

Then there was silence for a moment. Berg grunted, closing his eyes. 'Like that…'

"Is it working?" Maour asked tentatively.

'How should we know?' Toothless chuffed. 'It's not exactly obvious.'

'Oh!' Berg let the mouse loose, and it scurried off before anyone could do anything, disappearing over a small rise. 'It worked!'

'But now you let it go,' Cloey observed. 'To see what it sees?'

'Sure, let's go with that.' Berg nodded. 'So just do this with Fishlegs?'

'That's really all there is to it,' Toothless purred. 'I did nothing different.'

'Okay.' Berg nodded. 'I see what it sees, hear what it hears, everything. How do I get this to stop? I don't really feel like watching the life of a mouse in my head forever, even if I can ignore it. Maybe later.' There was an inquisitive tone to that Maour now identified as insatiable curiosity.

'That's the thing,' Cloey laughed. 'You either have to knock it out, which means finding it, or knock yourself out.'

Maour noticed there was no mention of death in those options. Maybe it was better if that way of severing the link was not put into anyone's mind unnecessarily.

'I've got you!' Blast yelled and thumped Eldurberg's head with his paw.

Berg growled. 'Stop it. I'd rather someone I trust does that.'

'You don't trust us?' Boom reeled back in mock surprise. 'I'm hurt.'

'Besides, we know how hard to hit,' Blast added. He reared up and hit Berg again, much harder. Berg dropped like a rock, which was fitting given what his name meant.

'I knew that was going to come in handy,' Boom purred smugly. 'Totally worth the head injuries to figure out.'

Toothless nudged Berg, probably checking if he was still breathing. 'Well… I guess that works.'

'My turn.' Boom grabbed at the remaining mice, picking one up quite suddenly.

'No, mine!' Blast took another.

After a moment, both of them shrugged almost simultaneously.

"Well?" Maour wouldn't be surprised if they needed to be told again how to do it.

'It works, but it's really weird, seeing the underside of my paw,' Boom said. 'I need to wash more.'

'I've been saying that for years,' Blast remarked, letting his mouse go. 'Now come over here so I can knock you out.'

'But then who does you?' Boom let her mouse go free. 'I want to knock you out.'

'We could wait until the other one wakes up…' Blast mused.

'Or we could headbutt and hope for the best!' Boom finished with a chuff.

'Perfect.' Blast backed up a few feet. 'On three?'

'Is this a good idea?' Toothless looked to Cloey.

Cloey shrugged. 'I've seen them do worse to each other than this.'

'Three!' both Myrkurs called out and rushed each other, slamming their foreheads together and dropping immediately.

'I don't know whether I should be impressed or worried that they can do that,' Toothless rumbled.

"Worried." Maour used his hand to dig an escape ramp for the last mouse, which scampered off as soon as there was a way out. "Definitely worried."

The rest of that night passed quickly, and then they were up in the air again.

'I'm really getting tired of this flight,' Toothless complained. 'It's so long and boring.' Having made it so often recently would do that.

"So am I." Maour made his decision on the subject official. "After all of this, we'll start working on a forge here." He had the small garden already going, so that was the only other thing keeping them coming back, once the teens were relocated.

Toothless celebrated that with a plasma blast that detonated in the air, a colorful explosion in the night. 'Great!'

The trip lingered, time passing insufferably slowly. This time, they had something big and important to anticipate. The other Furies were just as excited.

However, when they arrived on Mahelmetan, the Furies immediately… went to sleep.

Fishlegs took in the sight of entirely comatose dragons outside their fort. "Are they okay?"

"Fine." Maour smiled. "But the next few hours will be boring. They need to rest before the flight we've got planned." Carrying passengers the whole way would be more taxing than the others were used to.

"I see saddles. Yes! Now we can fly!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut were ecstatic about the prospect of getting back into the air.

"We'll be flying all day, but no tricks. The dragons need all of their energy for this. It's a long trip." Maour gestured to the sleeping Furies. "So settle down, it will be a while before we go."

They would be flying back to Mahelmetan as soon as possible today, instead of waiting for sundown. There was one other complication, but Maour had brought what he needed for that. The biggest challenge would be explaining all of this. He figured quick and direct would be the easiest way to do it.

But that too had to wait until almost noon. Maour woke Toothless, who woke the others with a commanding bark. They stretched, caught a quick meal, and returned to the fort, ready to go.

Maour gestured for the teens to get on. "We'd better get going. I'll explain on the way."

Fishlegs scrambled onto Berg's back. The twins vaulted into their saddles. Once they were settled, the four dragons took off. They immediately set out to sea.

"Are we going to finally get to see where you live?" Fishlegs had obviously spent the last few hours puzzling over the situation.

Maour smiled mysteriously. "You'll get to be there. But you won't get to see it. This isn't a casual visit. We have something important to do there. You aren't quite trusted enough to know where the island is, or see any of it, save for one important place." He took in Fishlegs' crestfallen and slightly hurt expression. "Not me. I think you're ready, that's why we're going. I'm not the ones we have to convince." He wouldn't say any more than that.

After about an hour, Maour sighed. "Alright. Everyone, the place we're going is secret. So secret, that there are blindfolds stored in a compartment on your saddles. You need to put them on. I'm afraid you'll have to wear them for the rest of the trip. It's the only way to keep this place safe. If things go the way I think they will, this will be the only time this is necessary." He glared at the twins. "And if I catch you peeking, Blast and Boom will drop you into the ocean, and leave you there. They would do it because they will protect their home at all costs. They wouldn't like it, but they would do it." He actually was pretty sure they wouldn't, but he needed to convey the seriousness of this.

Tuffnut sighed. "Fine. But if I'm wearing a blindfold all day, can I at least sleep? I assume that's what these tethers are for." He began attaching tethers to his flight harness. Ruffnut and Fishlegs followed suit. Maour was surprised Tuffnut had thought to attach the tethers before putting the blindfold on. He watched carefully as all three teens put on the blindfolds. They all seemed secure.

'They can't see anymore. Head for home,' Toothless informed the other dragons, and they all began to fly in random circles. Once they were sure their passengers were disoriented, they set off in the true direction of the island. Maour was pretty sure Fishlegs was smart enough to figure out vaguely which direction they were going in. But it wouldn't help him, because they were going to fly on an arc there, not a straight line. Any direction Fishlegs decided on would be wrong, and in a flight of this distance, it would likely be hundreds of miles off target. Not that Maour thought this was necessary; they were just being careful.

The twins passed the time by telling jokes. Maour and Fishlegs talked. Toothless listened intently and often offered his own opinions on the subject at hand, which Maour relayed for Fishlegs to hear. Fishlegs had a few questions about dragons in general, and Maour answered what he could, aided by Toothless's input.

After several such questions, Fishlegs sighed. "It would be nice to understand Berg without a translator. There's only so much that can be said with charades." He blindly placed a hand on Berg's wide neck. "I have so many questions, but it would take way too long for him to answer in detail."

Maour had to hide a smile. If things went well, that wouldn't be a problem for long. Cloey and Toothless had succeeded in teaching Blast, Boom, and Berg how to link, after all.

Finally, they flew into the airspace above the island. It was shortly after sunset. The twins had slept the whole way, and Fishlegs had slept part of the way. That was good; They'd be up all night. The three Furies with blindfolded passengers waited in the air, circling around aimlessly. Maour and Toothless went to the central cave, where everyone was gathered, and told them that they were there, and coming in.

Maour woke up the teens by having Toothless roar at full volume. That got them up. "Okay guys, we're heading in. Don't take the blindfolds off just yet, I'll tell you when."

The four Furies flew into the cave entrance and walked to the central cavern. Then they all flew up to the central pillar.

"Okay. First off, don't get out of the saddle. There isn't anywhere else to stand with four Furies up here. Second, don't freak out. These are the people who'll decide if you can be fully trusted or not. Take off the blindfolds." Maour watched the teens carefully for signs of panic.

When Fishlegs took off the blindfold, he gasped, wondering if he had been struck blind for real. Then he saw a very faint glow coming from what looked like moss in the distance. Aside from that, he could see nothing. Nothing... except pairs of eyes. A few green, some yellow, some red, and some a color Fishlegs hadn't yet seen on a Fury, grey. A quick count revealed sixteen pairs of eyes. Way more than he had ever suspected.

"Wow..." Ruffnut seemed awed.

"So many Night Furies..." So did Tuffnut.

All three of the teens abruptly snapped back to reality when Maour spoke. "We've brought you here because the pack wants to talk to you. To ask you a few questions. Answer truthfully, and you'll be fine. Remember, dragons can smell lies." He grinned. "And insanity, so I am proud to pronounce Ruffnut and Tuffnut as entirely sane, medically speaking! Although the knocks to the head might have messed you up in other ways..."

Maour cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'll introduce the families now. There are the Myrkurs which are the yellow-eyed Furies, the Eldurs which are the red-eyed Furies, the Nótts which are the grey-eyed Furies, and the Svarturs, who all have green eyes." He said that part with a smile. Fishlegs felt that there was something different in the way that Maour had introduced the Svarturs, but he dismissed that thought as not important at the moment.

Maour continued. "The assembled Furies want to ask you each a few questions. The first is coming from the Nótt, and is for all of you." A Fury growled. "She wants to know what your loyalties are."

Fishlegs gulped. That was a hard question, but he had already answered a similar one from Maour. "I can only speak for myself, but the only loyalties I really have left are to my immediate family. But I don't think they can accept what I know about dragons. So that really doesn't go very far anymore. I won't hurt them, but I might have to defend myself from them if I ever went back, so I don't want to go back. I probably would have ended up leaving Berk even if all of this hadn't happened, but now I really can't go back to stay there. I definitely am not loyal to Berk anymore. The people wielding power there are either crazy or cruel." He was referring to Astrid and Snotlout, as they were the next generation of Berk's leadership.

"The only other real connection I have is to Berg, Maour and the twins. I'm loyal to my friends. I don't really know if I can count Toothless, Blast, or Boom as friends yet, but I hope to eventually. That's about it."

Hopefully that was what they wanted to hear. It was the truth, in any case.

The way Fishlegs answered, Maour had a strong feeling Fishlegs knew what answer was hoped for. And what he had said was true. That was good, as Nóttleiðtogi was positioned on a ledge very close to directly above the teens. With no wind, the Nótt was getting a good read on their scents. An alarm would be raised if anyone lied.

"Well, I think I speak for my brother and me when I say what Fishlegs said applies to us, too. Except for the family part. Thorstons fight all the time." Tuffnut nodded, agreeing that his sister spoke for them.

Nóttskarpur warbled agreeably. She seemed mollified by the answer. Maour knew that the Nótts were asking to ensure there were no lingering loyalties to Berk or Vikings as a whole. As Nóttleiðtogi had not objected, everyone knew that only the complete truth had been spoken. That made it much easier to trust the teens.

A Fury from the Myrkur side crooned as he asked a question. Maour relayed it. "Ruff and Tuff, one of the Myrkurs wants to know what you do for fun."

Tuffnut immediately answered. "Well, we like pulling pranks and stunts. And fighting each other." The other families seemed non-plussed by this information, but the Myrkurs nodded among themselves. They liked the enthusiasm in Tuffnut's voice. They had heard from Blast and Boom of how the twins passed their trials with flying colors. Literally. The twins had both puked near the end, and kept on going like nothing had happened. While free-falling, which actually implied that they didn't have a choice about continuing. Still, it had been impressive, if gross.

The Myrkur Fury grunted in acknowledgment. Then an Eldur Fury rumbled a question. Maour again translated. "This is for Fishlegs. Why do you collect knowledge?" Maour winced. This might be a bit long-winded, and Toothless was having to translate what the teens said for any Furies who didn't completely understand their language yet. To Maour's surprise, Fishlegs was brief.

"I like knowing how the world works, and what happened in the past. It helps me understand what is going on around me. And it's fun learning new stuff." The twins silently gagged at that. They avoided non-explosive or violent subjects as if their lives depended on it. They had only been successfully taught to read by being given weapon manuals.

The Eldurs began discussing that among themselves. Maour knew by now that they wouldn't stop for a while, so he took the next question. It was from Shadow. He smiled as he relayed it. "This one is from a Svartur Fury. He wants to know what you would do to defend your friends, how far you would be willing to go." The question was serious, and all three teens thought for a long moment.

It was Tuffnut who answered for all of them. "As far as need be. In defense of the life of a friend or their family, anything we can do in good conscience." It was a very serious and non-crazy statement, and Maour was once again reminded the twins were capable of that.

Shadow immediately followed up on that.

Maour relayed it. "The Svartur Fury wants to know if you understand that defending Berg, Blast, and Boom might force you to choose between them and Berk, or Vikings you know. Who would you side with?"

Fishlegs frowned. "That would depend on why they were fighting. If for some insane reason Berg decided to go on a rampage and kill for no reason, I'd try to stop him without hurting anyone. But in all likelihood, it would be the Vikings attacking Berg, and I would defend him without hesitation. Vikings kill dragons for no reason. Dragons do not kill Vikings for no reason unless forced to by someone else. We would side with whoever is in the right."

Shadow smiled, a gesture the teens couldn't see in the darkness. Maour could, and he smiled back. That had been Shadow's biggest worry, that the teens might blindly declare to defend their friends no matter what. A follower was not what they were supposed to be. Furies valued independent thinking. Fishlegs had given the best possible answer, in his eyes.

There were more specific questions after that. But those first few had been the important ones. Finally, all the questions had been answered. Maour made sure no one had any more and then moved the meeting to the next stage. "I call on the families to vote." It had been decided that the families would vote first, and extend the offer to the teens only if the families agreed. That way, it would then be the teens' choice to make.

The three representatives flew out again. They each voted yes, with no reservations. Maour was a bit surprised the Nótt had none, but he supposed they weren't in the habit of objecting to every proposal, just ones where they really had something to add. It probably helped that Nóttleiðtogi did not want to make the same mistake twice.

"It has been agreed upon. The offer will be extended to Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut." He had learned a bit of the formality for this exact event. He turned back to the teens. They seemed a bit confused with the last few things he had said. They could only hear his side of the conversation, after all.

"What offer?" Fishlegs seemed to know where this was going and was asking for the twins' benefit. Maour and Toothless both smiled.

"The pack has decided to make you members if you want to. That would mean you are one of us. The dragon equivalent of a tribe. Fishlegs would be a member of the Eldurs, and the twins the Myrkurs. You would be allowed to live here, with the families of your Fury friends. And they would link with you, which in time would allow you to speak to and be heard by all dragons, along with the enhanced eyesight necessary to adapt to a nocturnal sleep schedule, among other small things. You would be like me, in almost every way."

"Link?" Fishlegs was confused now. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's a mental thing they can do," Maour explained. This specific information had been mostly held back, on the request of the Nótts, who had been adamant about it being a massive tactical advantage. That did make this a little harder, given the teens were only now hearing about it.

"I thought you learned their language," Fishlegs objected.

"In the space of a few weeks, thanks to the link. Trust me Fishlegs, you'll like what it can do, and it's all voluntary even after it's established."

"That sounds good then." Fishlegs smiled. "And I can talk to Berg?"

"Of course." Maour looked at the twins. "Any other questions?"

"You said like you in almost every way. What would the exception be?" Ruffnut seemed to be curious about that. "Are you the ultimate leader of the humans, or something?" She didn't seem to be joking.

"No, nothing like that. Just a difference in semantics, if an important one to me personally. You, and I when I was accepted, are charges of the families. You would be in every way a member of that family, but not officially related to anyone." Maour hoped that would satisfy them. He wanted to explain his particular situation later.

"That implies you are officially related to someone in the Svartur family." Fishlegs had asked anyway. Oh well.

"Yup. I was officially adopted by Toothless's mom, so we're brothers." He would explain the rest later. They would have time.

"Huh. I guess that is one difference." Tuffnut seemed a bit put out by that. "Would we have to..? Because I already have way too many uncles and aunts!"

Maour laughed. "I was a special case. I don't expect that to happen to you guys. You still have family out there." He gestured to them. "So? It's a big adjustment, and some parts will literally take months, but it can be done. I'm proof of that."

Ruffnut looked at Tuffnut. They nodded in unison. "We get to live on an island with Night Furies, instead of a fort in a tiny patch of woods? Count us in!" Despite the apparent flippancy in her words, his tone said that they weren't making the decision lightly.

Fishlegs hesitated a moment more. "Okay, but I'm going to have to go tell my mom I won't be coming back after all. I kinda promised to come back in my note."

Maour knew that was going to come up. That was the other big thing the Furies had worked out. "We expected that. We'll all go back to Berk, so you three can explain you won't be coming back. That way they won't worry." As much, he thought to himself. Or maybe they'll worry more. But at least they will know.

"So, you all accept the offer? Knowing that your new loyalty will be to the pack, and that betraying it is, I'm obligated to inform you, severely punishable?" He smiled in reassurance. "That already applies to me, and it isn't a problem."

After a few moments of hesitation, and what was probably some unspoken agreement between the twins, the teens nodded.

"We accept your offer." Fishlegs projected his voice to address the entire cave. "And thank you for giving us a chance."

And so the pack's human population rose to four. It would take months for the abilities needed to fully integrate into the pack to fully manifest. But they were official members now. Now they had some things to do.

"Well, let's get started!" Maour was ready. They would leave for Berk in a few days. But there were other things to do in the meantime. And he had his own reasons for one final visit to Berk. Reasons no one but Toothless, Cloey, Shadow, Von, and himself knew.

Author's Note: No tropes, I said, unless they were required. Fishlegs and the twins were going to have to go back, and of course Maour would take the chance to end some unfinished business. As a reassurance, we will not be ending this book with some stupid cliffhanger on Berk, such as someone being captured. Maour and Toothless, in particular, are almost entirely done with Berk. This is a tying up (and creating) of loose ends.