Forgive me readers for I have sinned. This chapter has been done for a while...I just hadn't proofed it until this morning. And it's been three months. Again. If it's any compensation, I have more time on my hands these days, so the next chapter should be coming out sooner.

Review replies are at the bottom of this chapter.

Enjoy!

P.S. This morning at, like, six in the morning, I was writing an idea dump for a future fanficition I want to write, but I had some technical difficulties. Long story short, I need to write in the daylight where I can see my keyboard while my screen is covered. If some wierd random schmuck starts popping up in this chapter, my bad. But I proof read so it shouldn't be there, I swear.


Hiccup

Honestly, I don't know how long I was out. Heck, I don't even know what knocked me over the head. I guess it doesn't matter that much. I woke up, and I didn't end up like Bucket, so…whatever I guess. Besides one hangover of a headache, I managed to get away with nothing but a few scrapes and bruises.

Another perk was that I missed some days of training. I had hoped that my absence would allow everyone to forget about my "spectacular dragon fighting skills." Boy was I ever wrong.

"Tell them I'm still comatose!" I cried to Mom when all the teens decided to show up at my front door.

Mom chuckled as I buried myself under my covers. "I don't think they'll take 'no' for an answer."

I grumbled something rude. I was already missing my privacy.

"Oh don't whine," she scolded. "They're trying to be nice; you should be happy."

I would be if I actually wanted company. If Toothless was here, he would have been able to run them off. Then again, if Toothless was here, I wouldn't be stuck in this situation—

Oh shoot!

I sat up as it really hit me…how long was I out?! Had Toothless gotten away? Had he seen what'd happened!? Oh gods, he must be freaking out, wondering why I haven't come by! Shoot shoot shoot!

While I was thinking through all of this, Mom had decided to take initiative and let the others in. One by one each of them climbed up the stairs until they were all taking up space in the loft. Snotlout, cocky as ever, strutted through. He easily made himself at home on Toothless's bed. Toothless would've killed him, but I decided that my brother didn't need to know.

The twins, who climbed up last, took their sweet time by shoving each other down the stairs. Ruffnut shouted colorful words at her brother who in turn laughed at the look on her face. Astrid rolled her eyes at their antics. She was giving me that look again, already making me nervous. Meanwhile, Fishlegs hurried over to my bed excitedly, holding a book in his hands.

I gave Mom a subtle glare of betrayal. She merely smiled in reply before saying, "I'll bring up something warm for you lot to drink in a minute." Then she disappeared down the stairs.

"Okay, thanks," I replied. So there I was, awkwardly sitting in bed surrounded by the other teens. Each member of group looked at me with varying degrees of expectation.

I took in a deep breath. "So," I began. "What brings—"

"Aww man!" Tuffnut cried.

I jumped. "Wha-What did I—"

"You sound perfectly fine!"

"Huh!?"

"We were hoping to hear you talk like a crazy person," Ruffnut explained, disappointed. "Guess the blow wasn't hard enough."

My eyes bounced between the confusing duo. "…I-I'm not even sure how I should respond to that."

"It's easier if you just don't," Astrid said.

"Noted." I shifted awkwardly in place, waiting for someone to say something. "Soooo…Was there another reason behind this…impromptu—"

"What do you remember about the black dragon?" Fishlegs blurted out.

I'm 90% sure that my heart almost exploded. I paled. Oh no.

"Uhhhh what?" I asked, nervous. "Wh…wh-what do you mean a black dragon?"

Astrid's eyes narrowed while Fishlegs prattled on. "Don't you remember? When you two got attacked, a black dragon appeared out of nowhere! It's amazing! I've never even heard of a black dragon in the manual. And Astrid said—"

I was trying not to panic. They knew about Toothless, I kept thinking again and again. They knew! Granted, they haven't put two and two together, but if word gets out—who am I kidding? It probably already has! Now Toothless was really in trouble.

Astrid spoke up. "See? I told you guys!"

Oh great now what?

"He didn't see it," she went on. "He can't confirm or deny what I saw, okay?"

"But you said—" Tuffnut was quickly cut off by an elbow to the gut courtesy of Ruffnut.

"Well that just sucks," Snotlout piped in. "Can't even give us any info. How useless can you get?"

"Snotlout!"

"What?" he asked nonchalantly, punching Fishlegs's shoulder as he passed. "It's true!"

My anger flared as quickly as it fizzled out. I sighed. He was always gonna be a jerk wasn't he? I thought sourly.

I blew at my bangs and leaned my back against the headboard as Snotlout strode towards the stairs and called out, "I'm bailing! Later losers—see you around, babe."

He tried to take Astrid's hand only for her to pull it back and curl it into a fist. For once, he intelligently decided to give up. With that, he clomped down that stairs, shouted a goodbye to my mom, and slammed our door. It bounced back open, but he didn't come back to close it. I shook my head.

Soon after, the twins decided to leave too ("This party is lame! If you need us we'll…not be in Sven's field.") Later—hardly half an hour later—we would learn not-so-surprisingly that they were caught tipping yaks in Sven's field by Silent Sven himself. Mom left soon after that to drag the twins to their parents' house.

Fishlegs stayed for the tea Mom brought up, but tried to excuse himself soon after. I could tell the silence was unnerving him—not that I blamed him. However, surprisingly, Astrid asked him to stay.

"A-Are you sure?" he asked.

"Just sit down."

"O-ok." He glanced around until I finally motioned for him to sit on Toothless's bed. My brother wouldn't mind…probably.

That train of thought, however, disappeared when Astrid decided to stand over me and give me a scrutinizing once-over. It felt like she was burning a hole into my soul, and I squirmed. She seemed to be good at doing that to me.

"…You really don't recall seeing that dragon yesterday, don't you," she eventually stated.

Well that was an out if I ever saw one. "Sorry, Astrid, I—"

"But you recognized it anyway," she continued. I gulped. "Where?"

I took a deep breath and willed myself to look at her. "I don't know what you're talking about." Look at that; I didn't stutter.

"Really? Fishlegs!"

Poor Fishlegs squeaked. "Y-Yeah?"

"You drew my description the other day, right?"

"K-kinda; I mean—"

"Do you have it?"

He swallowed but nodded. Immediately, he opened up his book and pulled out a loose leaf of paper. He unfolded the paper carefully, like it was made of gold, before passing it to me. I mentally cursed when I saw the picture. Fishlegs wasn't the best artist, but he knew enough to craft an accurate picture of Toothless. I wanted to bury my face in my hands and groan.

Oh, Toothless, what have you done?

"And guess what else I found." Astrid dropped my journal onto my lap. It was already open to a specific page. I don't know what upset me more—the fact that she snooped through my journal or the fact that she found my sketches of Toothless.

Suddenly I felt claustrophobic. I snatched up my journal and slid over to my desk. As I tried to think up an explanation, I rearranged some notes and blueprints I'd left scattered everywhere, and I repositioned my chair. A hand over mine stopped me from needlessly dusting off my desk.

Astrid was keeping a level gaze on me, not kind but not murderous—thank Odin. "What's going on Hiccup?" she asked. "What are you hiding?"

As thrilling as holding her hand was, I was getting tired of her snooping. "I've told you before; it's nothing," I said as I swiped my hand away.

"That's a lie and you know it!" she snapped. "Ever since Toothless disappeared, you've been acting strange." She considered me again before adding, "Well, stranger. You've been disappearing after class, you barely speak to anyone, let alone your mom or Gobber—"

"And how would you know that?"

"Does it matter?" She looked ready to pull at her hair. "Why can't you just tell us the truth?"

I scowled but kept my lips firmly shut.

Astrid was relentless. Her eyes were searching me for any physical indication that she was on to something. Meanwhile I felt closed in, trapped. My head buzzed as the frustration started welling up inside me.

"Does it have to do with Toothless?" she asked. I pressed my lips together and tried to steady my breathing. "It does, doesn't it? So he's alive then. Where is he? Is he okay? What does he have to do with that—"

I did not like this conversation's new direction. There was no way she'd manage to fit two and two together, right? Well no, but…

"What did it do to him?" When I didn't answer, she growled and grabbed me by my shirt. "C'mon! You have to give me something to work with!"

"And what if I don't want to?" I finally snapped back.

"So I'm right then."

I struggled to get her hands off me, but she was much stronger than I am. "It's none of your business!" I shouted. "So just lay off!"

"What about your mother?" Astrid demanded, almost shouting as loudly as me. "Isn't it her business?"

"Shut up!"

Then suddenly I was on the ground, and my cheek stung. Disoriented, I slowly swiped my hand across my face. I nearly expected my face to feel hot or maybe even bleed a little. The hit didn't even hurt as bad as you might think. I was just a little…surprised.

If she was remorseful, she didn't show it. As I slowly got up the floor, she slowly said, "Don't you ever tell me what to do!"

Although bewildered and a little worse for wear, I managed to look her in the eye and reply, "I could say the same for you."

Her scowl morphed into full-on anger. Before she could grab me again however, the door downstairs swung open and thudded shut. "Kids?" Mom called. "Are you still up there?"

We were all tense and silent. Astrid was still glaring, and Fishlegs looked like a frightened rabbit. I was the first to act.

"Yeah, Mom," I called back, "we're here!"

Astrid slowly stepped away, although her glare still drilled into me, as Mom climbed up the stairs. Mom looked around the room, probably noting the thick tension. It was clogging up the air like smoke during a raid.

Her eyes trailed to each of us before she asked, "Is everything going alright up here?"

"Fine," I bit out. The last thing I needed was another interrogation.

Mom didn't seem convinced, but soon her attention was caught elsewhere. "Hiccup, what happened to your face?"

My hand shot up to my cheek where the red welt was probably beginning to show. I shot a glance at Astrid before I looked at the ground and lied, "We were throwing around some books, and I didn't catch it."

Mom didn't believe my (admittedly dumb) story, but she let it slide. With Mom home, the grilling came to a close—thank goodness. Astrid and Fishlegs eventually excused themselves, but the final look Astrid gave me screamed this isn't over! I waited for a while to make sure they were long gone before dashing down the stairs.

I ran out the back door without giving Mom a straight answer. I was tired of making up lies.

I ran and ran, faster than I ever had before. My throat soon dried and my legs burned. For once, it seemed like nature wouldn't trip me up along the way. My heart was thundering and the air's icy tendrils froze my clenched hands.

I was angry, and stressed, and loosing control fast. No, I wasn't going to visit Toothless or dragon. Not today. I just…I needed to be alone.


Toothless

"Oh come on, Stormy!" I cried.

No, I was not whining—how ludicrous—but it wasn't like I had anything better to do. It'd been almost two days after the incident—three in a few hours—and Dragon was still upset with me.

Up until now I didn't even know that dragons used the grounding method too. I am not joking. After "The Whispering Death Incident", I'd been automatically grounded.

I was confined to the cave (which is the equivalent to my room, I guess) and when I could leave, I couldn't wander further than a few meters. Dragon had to micromanage me when we went to the nearby stream to feed, and—GODSDAMMIT BEING GROUNDED SUCKS!

Stormcutter huffed and shifted his position until his back was facing me. I forced myself to ignore the admittedly entertaining swishing of his tail, and scuttled around him until I was in his face.

This had been going on for some time now. I'd paw at him and he'd turn away. He pretended to be asleep, but I knew he wasn't. I'd try again. It was like a conversation that kept leading up to the same final word.

Forgive me.

No.

Forgive me.

No.

Forgive me.

No.

Forgive me.

No.

Please?

Mmm… No.

Finally I gave up. I was annoyed, and he was stubborn as hell. He made Mom look lenient, really.

Mom…

I shook off that thought and focused on Dragon's tail. As I watched it swish about, I noted that it kinda had the same general shape as mine. Kinda fletching-like, but unlike mine his was frilled at the edges. I must've been really bored if I was noticing details like this.

I batted his tail around for a while because I finally accepted that this was as much attention as Dragon was willing to give me. Every now and then, he'd swipe his tail away, forcing me to work a little harder at it, but he never discouraged me.

…You know, it's really pathetic when the most entertaining activity available is hitting a cat toy.

I played around with it for a while until Dragon suddenly shot up. A growl rumbled out of his throat as a familiar sound started up. I groaned. Not that damn humming again! Shit, I'd thought that that was a one-night thing!

It was still loud and obnoxious as hell. I pawed at my ears, trying to force the noise away. Dragon crooned and nosed me, concerned. I couldn't stop the whine that came out.

Still concerned, Dragon got up and ushered me back into the cave. Was it just me or was the humming getting louder? Dear gods no. Dragon made a series of crooning chirps as I tried to settle in and cover my ears. The unspoken "don't leave the cave" rule hardly even occurred to me before Dragon suddenly disappeared.


Hiccup

I didn't get a wink of sleep that night. I tossed and turned in my bed, and I couldn't stop reviewing that confrontation in my head. The frustration scared off any sleep I'd have been able to snag.

Things got mercifully distracting when an explosion went off outside the house. I shot up from bed, and smelled the stench of smoke. It didn't have that earthy scent that fire pits emitted, but instead, it smelled sulfurous, almost suffocating. And it was coming from outside.

I threw off my covers and ran down the stairs. The house shivered as its neighbors combusted. I opened the door to take a peek just when a nearby dragon shot a stream of fire in my house's direction. I quickly slammed the door shut and pressed my back to it.

"Oh boy," I groaned. My eyes flickered to the loft before reminding myself that I was alone. I flung the door open and ran out.

Mass chaos as usual sent Viking men and women running out of their houses. A lot of them were already swinging around axes and swords while others were making a beeline for Gobber's smithy. Which is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

It was really weird to maneuver through the mass-hysteria without Toothless dragging me behind him. I felt so exposed. Any dragon could easily pluck me away and no one would notice.

In Dad's place, Mom was in the middle of the town, already shouting orders and urging people to defend the livestock. A large Gronckle tried to bludgeon her from behind, but she ducked and rolled out of the way just in time. A house exploded and its nearby resident screeched indignantly.

The usual shouting for me to get inside ensued, but I finally got to the forge without anyone shoving me towards the house—the house which was now on fire by the way.

I ducked into the forge to meet up with Gobber. "Good morning, Gobber!" I called as I made my way over to the apron hanging on a nearby hook.

"Morn'n! Oh! Now 'ang on!" Gobber snatched away my apron and folded it up. "Don' ye wanna meet up with the others?"

I glanced out the window to see the other recruits coming together nearby the Great Hall where the children were being taken. Oh right. Recruits were put on guard duty.

"Ummm they seem to be doing fine on their own," I said as I slowly reached for my apron.

Gobber however pulled it out of my reach, eyeing me strangely.

I groaned. "Oh c'mon, Gobber!"

"Sorry, 'iccup, ye know the rules," he said as he put away my apron.

"But—"

"Nope; Ah'll hear no whinin' today." He moved from table to table, passing out weapons and setting up a pile to sharpen later. A pile that I could be doing. "As much as I like yer extra hands, ye need to have some field practice, yeh hear?"

And with that he shooed me off. My shoulders slumped and I trudged out of the forge defeated. On the way out, I grabbed an axe from the sharpened pile—it was actually heavier than I could carry with one hand—and I hurried over to the Great Hall. I made it to the stairs just when the last of the children, the Larson boy, I think, trekked into the building. The door slammed shut and I heard the sound of the wedge falling into place from the inside.

I barely nodded a hello to the group as I took my place at the bottom of the stairs with them. Fishlegs and Astrid weren't looking me in the eye, and the twins and Snotlout were too busy stirring up trouble.

"Why can't we join the fight?" Tuffnut complained. He bounced about, full of energy, as his eyes flickered from one burning building to another.

"Yeah I wanna see the explosions up close!" Ruffnut cried.

"We can join," I said, not really caring if they listened to me or not. "But first we need to secure the area for the kids. After that, we can jump into any fight as long as at least two guards are still watching the Great Hall."

"Lame!" Snotlout strutted off, set on jumping into a fight. I sighed and rolled my eyes. An explosion of fire that soon followed only confirmed my suspicions. Reckless, bone-headed cousin.

(Not that I'm really one to talk.)

Meanwhile, the remaining teens and I checked over the area, looking for Zipplebacks or Terrors that might want to break into the Great Hall. Thankfully, there weren't too many problems arising—at least not anything we couldn't rightly blame on the twins

I counted the number of dragons I could spot—I got lost after thirty—and watched as each teen pulled away from the group to help out a fight. Astrid typically went for solo strays that none of the other Vikings were able to nab. Snotlout only wanted to pursue the biggest dragons he could spot. He nearly got roasted for it too, and Fishlegs went in to help any ongoing fights that seemed to be going south fast. The twins disappeared soon after everyone settled into a solid rotation, so I'm guessing that they looked for the nearest roof to climb. May the gods help them if they planned on goading a dragon into blasting them into the sky.

Meanwhile, I stayed by the Great Hall. It was actually pretty weird; all my life I'd wanted to prove myself. If I had the chance, I once thought, I would jump into a fight and do my best to win. But after all this, the idea felt so…empty.

I didn't notice the explosion that went off nearby until it was almost too late.


Toothless

Eventually that humming sound died off, but what followed was ten times worse. I could see hordes of dragons flying overhead, making their way to the village. I cursed.

Without even thinking it through, I shot off in the direction of the flying dragons. Forget Dragon's punishment, I needed to check on my home.

This is a terrible idea, Logic screamed. What happened to lying low, dammit!?

Lucky for me, we Haddocks are notorious for ignoring that little—

As soon as I caught sight of the flames in the distance, I forced myself to skid to a stop. I hunkered down low and skittered alongside the invisible borders that held me back. My camouflage was extremely helpful here; no one noticed the black dragon hiding just outside the village. Then again, if they had, I doubt that they'd leave their own brawls to chase off a dragon that hasn't caused trouble yet.

Unless they wanted two dragons on their tail, that is.

The destruction was even worse when watching from the outside. Houses were burning down faster than anyone could control, and all the screaming and bellowing war cries blended together into a horrifying symphony. Downed and dead dragons were sprawled on the ground everywhere, and they were being stepped over like mats or used as barricades in certain circumstances. For a dragon, the sight was bone chilling.

I had half a mind to slip into the chaos to look for Hiccup. His absence had been making me worried enough; this was just the tip of the damn iceberg. What if he was bedridden? My eyes darted over to the house which was now smoldering. Gods please no.

I darted toward the house; if Hiccup was trapped I wasn't going to waste time tying to sneak around. Upon reaching the house, I sniffed the air.

Humans have a distinct smell that sets them apart from animals or insects or dragons. It was more…dirty? Iron-ish? Almost rot-like? I couldn't really name it.

Still, I searched for that smell. Nothing. That was a relief.

I was about to go inside, just to be sure, when I noticed some dragons overhead. It wasn't uncommon for the dragons to disappear in random directions during a raid. They were probably taking their loot off to their nest. But I noticed something strange with these dragons; they weren't carrying anything.

Hiccup's clearly a bad influence on me, because, against my better judgment, I decided to follow them.


Hiccup

I jumped when a Monstrous Nightmare blasted a nearby house. Oh crap. I looked around, hoping that no one was watching me, and then I ducked away from the dragon as quickly and quietly as possible. There was no way I would fight it.

I was watching it rampage through the area, looking for some sort of food inside every house it broke into. Because I was distracted, I didn't notice the second dragon swooping in from behind. That meant, I didn't notice it until it scooped me up in its talons!

I'll admit, I might have screamed a little. The ground was getting further and further away from me. I couldn't tell up from down while the dragon dodged flying bolas and swerved away from uncoordinated dragons. Its talons pinched my arms, and my stomach roiled. Frantic, I looked around for a way out of its talons, but then I realized what dragon this was. Or rather who.

"Dragon!?" I exclaimed.

The Stormcutter huffed as it navigated its way through the aerial chaos. Its massive wings beat against the wind, keeping it airborne, and its roar sent other dragons scurrying out of the way.

Meanwhile, I was still trying to talk some sense into him.

"Dragon, you need to put me down!" He huffed. "No, I'm serious. What do you think you're doing!?"

I heard a scream, and then the Vikings below began to throw maces and spears at us! My guess is that they were doing so on the principle that, eventually, they would hit their intended target i.e. Dragon.

…I hope they weren't just expecting me to survive any bruising I might get along the way. Because if that's the case, I am allowed to get ticked with them.

I was jerked around as Dragon dodged flying objects that were getting uncomfortably close to us. He blasted fire at the people below. No one appeared to get hurt, but I didn't think that was the point. He kept the Vikings at bay until he was finally able to drag me out of the line of fire. Then he just kept. On. Flying.

Mom's gonna kill me when I get back to the village, I decided grimly.

For the entire flight, he ignored my fit. I have zero upper body strength, so I couldn't put up much of a fight. I could only kick wildly into the air and shout until my throat became sore.

My mind absently noted that he'd finally caught me—after years of trying to carry me off too. However, I was too irritated to think hard about that. He began to descend once we got deeper into the forest.

A sudden growl rumbled through the air. I quickly realized that it was from Dragon. I glanced up while spitting stray hairs out of my mouth, and I saw his eyes narrow into slits. He suddenly descended faster until we landed in a familiar area.

This was the trail to Toothless's cave. My heart plummeted when I realized what Dragon had sensed. The smell of fire, this far from the village, hung in the air as a pillar of smoke snaked into the dim sky. I hadn't noticed earlier because it was so small, but the pillar thickened as an orange glow began to swell. Without even thinking about it, I broke into a run towards the cave. Dragon shrieked before he grabbed the hem of my shirt.

"Dragon—"

He lifted my flailing form into the air and dropped me into a nearby thicket. I fell with a throaty oomph!, but I was still protesting.

"Toothless is there! Right!? I need to—"

Dragon growled and used his snout to press me back into the thicket. The leaves poked my skin and needled their way through my clothes. My protests shriveled away when he gave me a final huff before dashing off toward the fire.


Toothless

By the time I returned to the cave, I found those same dragons sniffing around the area. One of them, a Monstrous Nightmare, was nosing its way into my cave while two other Nadders were sniffing around the area where Dragon had been laying a few hours ago.

A spike of anger rushed through me. My mind screamed, What are they doing in my home!?

I roared at them, effectively grabbing their attention. Looking back now, I realize that that was stupid of me.

The Nightmare, a lofty creature with a chipped left horn, was apparently the head of the group. It made a low chuttering sound, something that reminded me of a chuckle. A rather foreboding one at that.

I hardly had a chance to react before it charged at me. I ran out of the way, but one of the two Nadders, a purple Nadder with scarlet-tipped spines, had taken into the air, and now it swooped over me. Its talons dug into my scaly hide, creating a burst of pain for the first time since my transformation! I shrieked when another of the Nadders also swooped at me.

I was confused, panicking, and caught triple tasking when the Nightmare started firing at me. My heart pounded as I was nearly struck by a blast of fire from the second Nadder—it was the smaller of the two, but its screech hurt my ears. I watched as the tree next to me burst into flames from the trunk up.

Ohhhhh crap.

I kept ducking and batting at the attacking Nadders as the trio of dragons got more and more aggressive. Red Tip got my left ear, a nick really but too damn close all the same! Then Screech tried to tackle me from behind.

I made a mistake, and I found myself pinned. The Nightmare then decided to pounce on me. It was just like the time I fought with the Whispering Death, but this time I wasn't the one doing the shredding.

This was what I imagined being mauled by a bear felt like. Hooked talons dung into my flesh, and I felt teeth sink into the skin where my left wing connected to my back. I howled. It could have gone on forever, but it also could have only lasted a few minutes.

Then that gods-know-how-heavy pressure was suddenly gone. The two other Nadders leapt away, and I struggled to get back on my feet. I crumbled under my own weight as I heard a familiar roar.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dragon wrestling the Nightmare. It was the Nightmare's turn to howl as it met its match.

Dragon and the Nightmare's brawl was a fierce and wild frenzy. Dragon's eyes were slitted and his thundering roar was terrifying. The Nightmare charged and drove Dragon into a tree. The tree creaked dangerously until Dragon pushed back.

The Nadder, Screech, tried to drag me off, but I wasn't going down that easily. I twisted around until I could bite it back. I think I left a deep bite mark on its face. My head felt dizzy and my back stung from the earlier bite and a cut that felt deep, but I wrestled Screech anyway.

I was mostly defending though.

Red Tip, meanwhile, was trying to decide which fight to join.

Thankfully, my companion soon had the Nightmare pinned, and he let out a powerful roar in its face. When he got off, the Nightmare actually stayed down.

It was apart of the rules of challenge, I would later learn. Dragon saw this as a challenge of territory, and the invaders had no choice but to comply when defeated. Otherwise, Dragon had the right to kill them.

However Dragon's first victory was short lived. Red Tip finally picked its fight and tackled Dragon from behind, issuing its own territorial challenge. Unfortunately for the Nadder, Dragon was bigger and much stronger than Red Tip, so he quickly gained the upper hand.

When it looked like Red Tip was going to loose to Dragon, Screech abandoned me to save its raider buddy. I was too exhausted to chase after it, and I collapsed.

As the adrenaline ebbed away from my system and a roaring pain bowled me over, I watched the Stormcutter struggle against the two Nadders. He opened his great jaw, building up ignition gas before blasting a tornado of fire at one of the two Nadders, Red Tip.

It crashed into a tree, dazed. Red Tip was out just long enough to give Dragon the chance to pin the other Nadder.

Once Screech was pinned, Red Tip shook off the crash and trampled toward Dragon. It roared with wings flared. Dragon, in turn, did the same, and the two began to circle one another.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my side. I jerked away only for Hiccup—what the hell? Hiccup!?—to shush me. "Don't let them hear," he whispered before we both witnessed the Nadder pounce.

It drove Dragon into the burning tree—like what the Nightmare had done earlier. The tree in turn creaked and sparks flew before the trunk finally gave out. It tumbled to the earth with a broken thud and set others alight. Hiccup winced and tried to help me get away from the fight.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup whispered as he struggled to assist my limping form. He smelled like sweat and smoke. I glared at him before he amended. "Okay, dumb question. But did they draw blood?"

I moaned but tried to shrug. Everywhere stung, but I smelled no blood from myself. We finally got far enough away to avoid the blasts of fire Dragon and Red Tip were throwing at one another. Hiccup started checking on me anyway.

"Let me know if this hurts," he said as he gently ran his hands over my back, "and bark if I get near something that's bugging you."

Several feet from us, the tides had turned in our favor. Dragon pinned the shrieking Nadder to the ground with pinching talons digging into its hide. He roared in its face like he had with the others. But this time, he didn't climb off after. Instead, he then roared at the sky, as though daring the Gods themselves to challenge him.

I could almost image them quivering with fear up in Valhalla.

Afterwards Dragon pushed the Nadder away and lumbered over to us. His body was crouched low to the ground as he growled at the regrouping dragons. The Nightmare growled and grumbled something to Dragon, and Dragon huffed through the nostrils in reply.

The Monstrous Nightmare was the first to fly off followed by Red Tip. Screech shrieked something at Dragon before it disappeared.

Hiccup was still scanning me over for wounds when Dragon started sniffing too. Oh gods no. I tried to push his snout away only for Dragon to murmur a scolding growl. I rolled my eyes but relented. A little.

"Okay. Not much blood so far." Relieved, Hiccup sighed and sat down next to me.

Dragon snuffed his agreement.

"But they'd gotten close," he added as he held up a few scattered, black scales. They were only blemished where the talons had ripped them off. Otherwise they looked like perfect glossy shells.

Hiccup tossed the scales back to the ground and appraised the destruction around us. Trees were alight, and smoke tainted the air. The sunrise looked bloody as squawking dragons overhead flew away from Berk with their prize. This was hardly the same place we'd been living in these past few weeks. It was all ruined.

"Who were those guys?" Hiccup finally asked.

Dragon glared in the direction they'd left. He hissed and grumbled, and his lips curled back into a snarling glower. Whatever he was saying behind his replying growls…didn't sound good.


(hey look! it's longer than usual. that should make up for the wait, right? Right!?)

Reply time!

Guest (chapt. 13): Your review created three consecutive reactions: (1) "Awww that's so sweet!" *blushing*, (2) "OH MY FREAK I'VE BECOME ONE OF THOSE AUTHORS! [insert mournful screeching]" and finally (3) "Well he is going to become chief someday so I ship it [*five seconds later…* OH FREAKING FRICK I'VE TURNED INTO CAT NOIR! *more mournful shrieking*] So thank you. Thank you for making my day. And I did fix the spelling mistake (I think) so thanks for pointing that out haha! (I have no clue if that was my bad or my computer's autocorrect at work. I cover my screen whenever I type, so sometimes things autocorrect while I'm not looking.)

thearizona: Yeah, it's certainly getting problematic over here, eh? Hee hee hee if I actually translated their conversation, then we'd get a ton of major spoilers. I'm being so annoyingly sneaky here.

—Tenchiko