AN: Apologies for the delay. I had to work out how I wanted to end this arc. Fortunately I managed to do so, and I hope you all will enjoy it.

Review Response:

V01dsw0rd: Thanks, I believe I corrected it. I'll give it a look, just in case

aslan333: Thank you. I hope you find this chapter good as well

Kilo8: Well I am curious to hear what you think that I have planned (in case you already told me, I am curious to hear it again, as clearly I forgot it). And you might have to hold onto your medicines, because the suspense is not over yet :P

OechsnerC: Well for Agdar to do that he first has to be introduced to Hiccup, and made aware of the situation of Berk.

thearizona: I think you will find your answer in this chapter. In case you don't, feel free to ask me again through a PM

Betoran: Yay, new reviewer. Now, regarding your review. I disagree with you. There is a scene in HTTYD 1 in which she looks at him pitifully, which makes me believe that, at some point, they once were friends. Besides, she is the prime example of a viking, not to mention that to some she would be the example of a Valkirye. Understandably Hiccup would be easily drawn toward her because of these trails. As for marriage, lets hold our horses. Our babies are barely 16 years old :P (although yes I am aware that back then this would be an appropriate age for marriage already)

Without further ado:

'We won't leave,' Windwalker muttered quietly. 'Even if he doesn't yet know his feelings for the girl are deep enough to prevent him from breaking that promise. At most he would ask you to keep us informed of what's happening back there.'

'But…' he hastily added before Nightflight could speak up, 'considering how dangerous the trip is, and how you just got reunited with your…family, I'd say this is unlikely.' Nightflight fell silent, not knowing what to do, or say, just like Hiccup…

007

His mind kept remembering Nightflight's words over and over again. The dragons were leaving the Queen, they were forming their own Nest, and they were fighting their own kin.

They were at civil war.

Hiccup inhaled sharply, mulling over the consequences of a civil war. Many dragons would die, and he had no doubts that many Vikings would die too.

But what could he do? He knew nothing about commanding dragons, and even less Vikings. Both sides wouldn't hear him, whether or not the Furies stood with him. If anything, that would just make him an important target for every party involved.

He knew nothing about warfare or strategy. Toothless knew only the very simple and Windwalker was kept captive too long to know much about it. Returning was risky, since they were on the middle of Winter.

And there's Elsa. Beautiful, intriguing Elsa. He had promised not to leave, not to say goodbye, because he had seen himself in her eyes. The loneliness, the feeling of being an outcast. He saw all these feelings in her eyes, and he knew how each one of them felt.

But he also had promised Astrid that he would return, that he would put an end to the war. Just like he could not break his promise to Elsa, he could not break his promise to Astrid. But to him, it seemed impossible to not break one of them.

He could send one of the Furies back. The Rebel Nest would hear either Toothless or Windwalker, he presumed. He could gather them together, coordinate the war and ultimately kill the Queen. But which Fury he would send?

He couldn't send Toothless. He would yearn too much, long too much, ache too much for his best friend's presence. Besides, if anything happened to his prosthesis, he wouldn't be there to fix it, and wouldn't even know something happened in the first place.

He could send Windwalker, but would the dragons hear him? The White Fury was an outcast, just like he and Elsa were. The dragons despised his species for their ferocity and deception. If he were to send Windwalker, it was quite possibly that he would never see his old friend again.

Lastly, he could send Nightflight. She followed them, was a part of a nest once, so she could easily return. She was the one that knew most about what was happening, and even though she was an albino, they would listen to her.

But whether or not he could send her was a completely different matter. She was injured by Windwalker, and she also owed no allegiance to him. She just found the last members of her family, and with no doubt Hiccup knew that she wouldn't want to part ways after being so many years alone, and separated from Toothless and Windwalker.

He sighed, feeling conflicted and alone. He missed the first few weeks he lived in Arendelle. There was only him, his two friends and Elsa. His biggest worry was bathing without freezing, since he was pretty sure the Princess wasn't into Viking scents in a Gobber way, and getting his needs satisfied, since Elsa couldn't feed him, and the tower wasn't exactly a place where he could relieve himself.

His thoughts surprisingly turned to Astrid. How was she? Did she kill the Nightmare? Did she still remember him, his promise? Did she rattle him, however unlikely that is? Did she notice the dragons were at war with themselves?

So many questions, and he had the answer to none of them…

007

"INCOMING!"

The dragon diving, ready to blast them, was suddenly hit by another dragon, causing both of them to crash into a Viking house. Fortunately all of its occupants were either busy fighting, or hidden inside the Great Hall.

Astrid held her comrade's arm. "We shouldn't go fight them. Standing between a dragon fight is a death wish. Go help Hadvar keep any rogues from stealing our livestock."

The warrior, a middle aged burly Viking, with his body build similar to Spitelout's, and brown hair with blue eyes, hesitated. "Balkr! Go help them!" she said strongly, her words finally making him follow her instructions. Since Hiccup left, she won significant respect among her tribesmen, both as the promised of Stoick's son, and as only direct heir of Berk's chiefdom.

Stoick had refused to name Snotlout his heir, or even Spitelout. And since she was legally bound to Hiccup he could pull that move. However, it did not mean that Spitelout liked it, or a significant part of the council. Fortunately, she was the prime example of a Viking, which helped Stoick gain support from the village. Currently no one even doubted her, though she knew that Snotlout occasionally would look at her with an envious gaze.

She had killed the Nightmare. She knew Hiccup would never forgive her, as she never forgave herself, but she had no other choice. As the second best in Dragon Training she had been pitted against the dragon when the villagers demanded a ceremonial fight.

She gave it a clean death, comforting the creature as she took his life away. The village celebrated, but she did not. She didn't sleep that night. Instead, she marked her left arm, a symbol carved in her flesh so she would never forget.

Since then every dragon she had to kill, or couldn't stop from being killed she carved a small scale in her arm, each colored like the dragon's color it represented.

So far she had four scales, and she intended on keep it like this. Two Nightmares, a Gronckle, and a Terror.

She ducked, excepting a voyage of fire to have burned the grass where she had just been. But when she looked at the direction of the dragon that had been about to attack her she saw the same dragon, a Nightmare, fighting off a Timberjack.

She frowned, deciding to retreat. She had noticed this odd behavior happen during the last raid. Also, other Vikings had noticed this, but besides informing Stoick, they didn't dwell much about it. Except Fishlegs.

He theorized that the dragons were fighting for territory, that a second nest was trying to claim the hunting grounds from the one that have been raiding them for the past 300 years.

She had to reason that his theory made sense, but one question still kept running inside her mind: was a coincidence that another nest appeared around the time Hiccup left, or was her promised one behind this event?

She didn't know the answer, and she yearned to have it as much as she yearned to see his smile again. But, until then, she would fight to stay alive, and would fight to keep Berk alone for his return.

Little did she know that she would fight for many more months than what she had initially expected.

007

Hiccup sighed. His heart was all torn up, each part begging for him to make decisions entirely opposites from one another. He missed Gobber, he missed Astrid, he missed Elsa. He feared for their safety, feared losing Toothless and Windwalker. He longed and feared many things.

The decision he just made up was not lightly taken.

Turning around, Hiccup walked to the dragons with heavy steps. His shoulders were slumped, as if they were carrying a heavy burden.

They weren't talking, but perked up their ears the moment he approached the fire. "I… I've made up my decision," he spoke heavily, making Nightflight's heart beat faster.

"If I sadden any of you, I apologize. This was… a difficult choice to make, and I'll probably regret it later, or at least part of it…" He inhaled deeply, before speaking up again.

"I decided that we won't go back to Berk, and that I won't send Nightflight back. That'll be up to her. I know little of warfare and leadership, I don't have the respect of any tribes, so I wouldn't be of any help. And I can't send either Toothless or Windwalker alone, since likely they would not survive this whole ordeal, though because of different reasons."

"Furthermore…" He turned his head around to hide his face from them, as if ashamed if his next words. "I promised Elsa that I wouldn't leave. I can't break that promise. I can't abandon someone that has as much pain behind their eyes as I had behind mine. I know I made a promise to Astrid, but I can't leave, not now, not when she needs someone like I needed Toothless."

He didn't dare to turn around and look at them. Instead, he kept still, waiting for Windwalker to say anything. But, much to his surprise, he felt a nudge, and the moment he turned around he found the wounded dragon's head nudging him.

'We all know your decision was a hard one, and we don't blame you for it. Whatever may have been your decision, even if it was not this one, we would have stuck with you anyway, we would have supported you.'

'We know your decision may cause many Vikings and dragons to die when they might not have…' He felt his heart sting because of these words, 'But we also understand why you wouldn't want to put us at risk by going back, or breaking your promise to lady Elsa.'

"She's my Valhalla…" he spoke unconsciously, "I can't stand breaking my promise to her. It would crush me sooner or later."

'We know…' Windwalker glanced at the exit, and saw that both the snowstorm had stopped and that it was almost dark. 'For now, why don't you return to her?'

Hiccup looked up at him with hope and surprise. His eyes immediately gazed at the cave's exit, and a small smile crept up on his face while his heart started beating faster. "I think that's a good idea."

007

Elsa's determination was turning into fear and despair. She had been studying the prior night for several hours before going to sleep.

But her sleep was far from peaceful...

"What's the matter Father?" she asked, noticing how the King seemed distracted during her lessons. It was a rare sight. Last time she had seen him this way had been when her Mother had slept somewhere else than their chambers.

"It's nothing Elsa," he dismissed, hoping that his eldest child would pick up and drop the matter. Unfortunately, she was as stubborn as his wife, as he could see that she was worrying too much to leave to subject alone.

He sighed, running his hand through his neatly brushed hair. "I'm not sure if I should tell you Elsa… it's disturbing, even for me. I've been ruling here for quite a while, and in all these times I don't think I have seen such… matter like this one."

"What happened, Pa? I'm getting scared," Elsa said, unable to stop herself. The air was getting colder, and Agdar could already see his breath coming out of his mouth.

He sighed again, finding uncomfortable that he could now see himself sigh. But, he guessed, he couldn't make things worse. "I… Kai came to me with a report. A team of hunters… they… they found a boy…"

He didn't notice the air getting even colder, or the ice crawling around Elsa, spreading like cancer throughout the room, the furniture. "I didn't see the body. They said it was all mangled, with blood everywhere."

"They said he had auburn hair, and looked like your age," his voice creaked slightly. "None of them had any idea what did that to him. No one could believe. I'm afraid for you, for Anna, for every child of my kingdom…"

He stopped talking because he felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his hand. His eyes gazed at it, only to find an icicle almost stabbing through his hand. "Elsa?!" he said alarmed, hastily getting up and away from his daughter.

The wind was quiet, even though outside her room it was howling. Frozen snowflakes were suspended in the air, unmoving as if put apart from time. Ice was spreading out everywhere.

"He is dead…" she whimpered, her voice hoarse and low. "I'll never see him again… he is dead because he wanted to protect us, protect me. I should have stopped him…"

"I lost him… just like I lost Anna." Ice crawled around her and her father. His panicked words sounded muffled to her. Her ice was freezing her, freeing her from the heartache she endured so far. Her ice was liberating her from the crushing grief.

"I'm sorry Pa…" she said, feeling her heart freeze, before drawing her last breath…

007

Elsa woke up panting heavily, sweating and feeling breathless. Unlike the last times she had a nightmare, this time half of her room was frosted over. Her bed, instead of having a thin layer of ice, was heavily frozen, to the point that her blanket turned into a block of ice.

She jumped out of bed, startled and afraid, and fell on the ground. Her back ached, and so did her head, because of the fall, but she didn't pay heed to it.

She needed to get out of her room, and fast.

Hastily dressing on a robe, Elsa's mind already thought to the place she would go. She just hoped that she would see the person that habited this place until a few days ago.

She never noticed, as she opened the hidden passage on her room, a shadow flying toward the castle.

007

Elsa's pace was hasty, as if she was running from the nightmare. Frost was left behind every footstep, but that was as far as her uncontrolled powers went.

She stopped, flushed and panting, only a few meters away from the tower's stairs. She swallowed before inhaling deeply to even her breathing. "Please be there Hiccup…"

She inhaled deeply one last time before climbing the stairs. At this moment all she could pray for was that the Viking-but-not-Viking boy would be there…

She couldn't stop the disappointed sigh from escaping her mouth when she found the tower lacking the black dragon and his young rider.