Out of the dark came a bright flash of purple. Hiccup jumped back out of the way, but there was nowhere back to go. It was solid rock behind him. No, it was ice. Ice was all around him, growing closer and closer in daggers of green and blue. Dragons circled overhead in a mass of beating wings like they were about to swoop down and carry him off at any second. And that noise, that terrible noise: the low thrumming of the Bewilderbeast's call. Hiccup covered his ears and closed his eyes, and as soon as he did, another sound came out of the dragon's thrum, a single word. "SON!"
Hiccup fell sideways, or was pushed, or both, and now he was falling, falling, falling, clouds of ash and smoke boiling the air, faceless voices screaming his name over and over again. Something came out of the dark at him, glowing blue, and he was staring at Toothless, only it wasn't Toothless. The dragon's pupils were slits and Hiccup screamed his name but it did no good. Hiccup lunged forward, shoving Toothless aside, but the dragon kept coming back, staring at him with those narrow eyes and Hiccup kept pushing and pushing, trying to get away, but unable to, unable to and the dragon kept coming. He pushed Toothless again, but this time with more force, and he felt the dragon's scales against the palms of his hands and now it was Toothless looking at him, his pupils wide again, but Hiccup leapt back in fright and fell off his bed.
He landed on the hard wooden floor with an oomph, one leg still on the bed. Hiccup lay there for a moment, trying to catch his breath after the dramatics of the nightmare. Gentles thumps and floorboard creaks told Hiccup that Toothless was coming, and Hiccup ran his hands over his face before opening his eyes. Above him was Toothless, looking down at him cautiously, as if not knowing what Hiccup would do next.
The room was dark enough that Hiccup knew dawn was still a few hours away. He looked over at Toothless, who was keeping his distance, wary around Hiccup. The boy offered a hesitant smile up at the dragon, and Toothless visibly relaxed. Hiccup pulled himself off his bed and stood up, fixing his shirt as he did so. He looked at Toothless and grinned lopsidedly.
"What do you say, bud?" he said, gesturing with his head towards the hatch in the ceiling. "We've got a few hours 'til dawn." Hiccup walk to the other side of the room, Toothless following him, and began to put his flying gear on. "Let's go flying. No exploring, no fancy tricks." The dragon's eyes met his. "Just you and me, bud. Nothing else tonight."
The early morning sky was half-filled with clouds, enough that Hiccup and Toothless could fly between them if they wished, but through the gaps they could still see the stars. The night air was calm, its quiet only broken by the wind in Hiccup's face and the beating of Toothless's wings. They flew like that for a while, Hiccup lying on Toothless's back, not talking, just enjoying the peace and each other's company.
But eventually, Hiccup broke the silence. "I know it's been tough these past few weeks, bud," he said. Toothless turned his head slightly, just enough to let Hiccup know he was listening. "And I know a lot has changed recently." He sighed. "Whatever happens, there will still be you and me. Nothing is going to change that."
Without warning, Toothless looked sharply to the right, his pupils narrowing slightly, and Hiccup sat up. He grabbed the tail tillers and turned them right, following Toothless's movements. "What the-" Hiccup started to say, but Toothless growled softly and Hiccup shut up. As they banked right, Hiccup looked around, trying to spot what Toothless had seen, but saw nothing. Hiccup lowered himself so that he was lying flat against Toothless's back, and the dragon picked up speed with a determination to chase and catch whatever it was that he had seen.
In the distance, Hiccup spotted something, a darkness against the sky. He squinted at what was clearly a dragon, but before he could get a good look at it, the mystery dragon disappeared behind a cloud. Toothless, though, seemed to know exactly where it was. He flew straight at the cloud and gave no indication that he was going to stop. Hiccup braced himself for the damp, and the two of them were encased in a dark fog. Still, Toothless did not slow down, leaning left to start another turn. Hiccup followed suit, years of practice letting him pick up on the dragon's subtle indications of movement. They flew through the clouds, coming in and out of breaks. Every so often, Hiccup would catch a glimpse of something in the night. There was a familiarity to it, but Hiccup could not quite place it.
They broke free from the clouds, over open ocean and under open sky. Hiccup had a better view of the dragon now, and his eyes widened as he recognized it. "Another Night Fury," he breathed. No wonder Toothless was so eager to follow it.
"You up for some fast flying, Toothless?" Hiccup whispered. In response, Toothless gave a powerful beat of his wings, and off they went, shooting across the sky. The other dragon gave a sharp turn to the left, leading the duo into another bank of clouds. Inside, the chase became erratic. Hiccup soon lost track of the dragon, but Toothless was able to follow it. The boy gave up on trying to follow the Night Fury himself and instead just relied on Toothless. Through the clouds they flew, abruptly changing directions every few moments. "It knows we're following it," Hiccup realized.
The chase continued and Hiccup lost track of how much time they spent in the clouds following the dragon. Eventually, they flew out into the open air again. The sky was light enough that Hiccup could no longer see the stars. Dawn was coming.
Ahead of them, the Night Fury was flying towards another patch of clouds, but Toothless and Hiccup were closer to the dragon than they were before. With another powerful push, Toothless put on a burst of speed and the distance between them closed. Back into the clouds they flew, determined to get closer to the Night Fury.
The dragon took them on a straight course, right through the clouds. Hiccup barely had time to wonder about this, his faced scrunched in thought, before a pillar of rock appeared out of the mist in front of them. Hiccup yelped, and in one motion, he and Toothless swerved to the left to avoid crashing into it. The steep angle of the turn caused Toothless to lose his grip on the air and he flipped over onto his back, Hiccup barely hanging on. For a moment it seemed like they would plunge into the ocean below, but somehow Hiccup managed to pull the tiller wheel and together he and Toothless righted themselves. Toothless beat his wings hard as they flipped back around, and they flew away from the rock before coming to a stop.
Toothless hovered there in the cloud while he and Hiccup caught their breaths. The other Night Fury was nowhere in sight. The only thing Hiccup could see was the rock face, barely through the dark fog, which he could now tell was not a single column of stone, but instead the point of a long cliff wall.
Hiccup stared along the wall, shaded though it was in the early morning light. He absently patted Toothless on the head and said, "You alright there, bud?" Toothless cooed in response, letting Hiccup know that he was. "Let's see if we can spot that Night Fury from up there," Hiccup said, gesturing to the top of the cliff, and off they went.
There was not much that either of them could see from the top except for dark grey stone and scraggy clumps of grass. The cliff's edge stretched on in a curve that disappeared into the clouds on either side of them. Away from the sudden drop off, the ground sloped upward until it, too, vanished. Hiccup stood, one hand on Toothless, a few feet from the cliff's edge, listening carefully for any sign of another dragon. After a moment, Hiccup turned to Toothless. "Nothing, Toothless," he said. "We've lost it." Toothless snorted, still looking out into the gloom, not yet giving up. Hiccup sighed. "You keep look out. I want to mark this place." He patted the dragon once and knelt to take out his map.
He unfolded the map and took out his pencil while Toothless kept up his watch above. It was only as he adjusted his compass that Hiccup realized how light it was outside. He looked down at his map, which was clearly visible on the ground in front of him. The sun had risen, and the fog had mostly been burned away. "Oh no," Hiccup said.
"Toothless!" The dragon looked at Hiccup, his head slightly cocked. Hiccup quickly packed up his map and stuffed it back in his suit. "We need to get back to Berk. We're going to be late." As Hiccup climbed onto the saddle, he looked around the island. The slope behind him led up to a wide mountain, covered in loose rocks and more clumps of grass. Toothless gave one last look at the island, and the two of them were off.
Once in the air, Hiccup turned around to get a better look. On the mountain's side, he could just barely see a black shape disappear into a depression on the rocks. The Night Fury had been watching them.