FINAL SECTION

INTO THE FUTURE

DATE: UNKNOWN

TIME: UNKNOWN

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

I was alive. Yay.

And another unfamiliar ceiling. Less yay.

It was a Human looking ceiling though; all pocketed white tiles for as far as I could see.

So…yay. I guess.

But I was alive. That was the important thing. And all limbs and senses functioning. Mostly. Always a bonus. I just wished everything didn't ache with every little movement. Even blinking felt like more effort that it should have been. My brain felt like it had been mulched by a blender and then poured back into my skull to make my head swim as I slowly sat up in what I guessed was a hospital bed. It certainly looked like a hospital room. When it wasn't spinning that is. A private room too, with pastel colours and sunshine streaming through an open window. All very civilian, not like the military sick bay I'd found myself in the last time I'd woken up.

…

I hoped this didn't become a habit.

I managed to sit up without being ill, taking in the empty quiet with as little movement as possible.

No guards, not in here anyway. Did that mean I didn't need protection? Judging by the lack of handcuffs this time around I hadn't been arrested by whoever was now in charge…

Now in charge…

Dad.

Dad was gone, wasn't he? Died doing…what? Trying to save me? Kill the leader of his most hated enemy? Whatever his reason, Gregorio 'Stoic' McKrillen had died a soldier's death. An occupational hazard, he would have called it. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel. At the time I'd felt rage, agony, a desperate sadness to put it lightly. And while I was certain it was that cocktail of despair that had let me push the N-Link beyond its' normal limit, now I just felt tired.

How had The Dome reacted, I wondered. Stoic had died defending his people from the Dragonoid threat, but if he hadn't set off when he did, would he have needed to sacrifice his life at all? Then again, Zearaan and his Ge'tal Kyr'am had already been on their way when my secret had been found out. Was it for better or worse that they hadn't made it to The Dome? Would he have even needed to have gotten into RADAR range? Too many questions and not enough answers. Answers that I might not even ever find out.

Like I said, tired.

Not that I was going to get my answers here. Gingerly, I made to shuffle my legs out from under the tight sheets, only for something hard to clamp down on my knee.

I tried to yelp, then stopped when I realised I wasn't as alone as I'd thought.

The eyes of Ruusaan glowered at me over the top of her folded arm, the other outstretched, her fingers painfully tight around my leg. She looked as though she'd been sleeping here, with the dark rings around her eyes and hairs sticking out of her ponytail at off angles through the silver wire. She raised her head off her arm, revealing a humourless grin from a mouth full of knives.

"Found. Hyu. Aht. Laaaaaasssst."

…

Oh shit.

It hurt to smile, but I did my best as she dragged herself up the bed to my side. "Ruusaan! Hey! Hi, Ruusaan. Hi, Ruusaan. H-hi, Ruusaan." I coughed awkwardly. "Gar copaani…oyayc?"

Ruusaan snorted. "Shmart guy. Hyu tink hyu ah shmart guy und ah tough guy too?"

"Y-your English is getting better."

"Been practising," she smirked slightly. "Vanted hyu ta see how hangry Hy em, no qvestion. Hastrid halp."

I swallowed thickly. "Nice to see the two of you getting along-"

"Vat vere hyu tinking, Hallex?" her words stopped me cold as her smile disappeared into an angry frown. "Vho did hyu tink hyu vere saving?"

"I was trying to save you-"

"Did hyu tink Hy vanted ta be saved? Did hyu tink Hy vanted ta run like ah koward und send hyu uff ta die alone?"

"What!? No, I-"

She sat down on the side of the bed with a heavy thump, her eyes soft and never leaving mine as has her hand closed around my fingers. "Did hyu tink dat Hy vouldn't vant ta stand vith hyu, right ontil de very end?"

"No. Never." the words tumbled out without hesitation.

"Then why?"

Wasn't it obvious? I looked away from her gaze. "Because…I didn't want you to die."

I could feel her frowning at me. Was it really so hard to understand?

"Ruusaan, you're the first friend I've made in years. The first person since As-" I winced, "since I lost my mother. And on top of that, you're my friend, even after everything I did to you. I shot you down. Your pilot died because of me. You had every reason to want me dead, even before we met in the ruins…"

"Und den, hyu gav me reasons not to."

I blinked, turning back to stare at her in surprise. Ruusaan smiled softly, eyes downward at our clasped hands as she gave mine a reassuring squeeze.

"Vatever hyu did, Hy heve long since forgiven," she looked away, embarrassed. "Hy vas de enemy, Hallex. Hyu kould have killed me vere hyu found me. Even after hyu let me go, hyu kould heve gone back to De Dome und forgotten about me. Hy vould have died if hyu had. Even den, hyu healed me ven hyu kould have killed or taken me prisoner. Hyu tried to halp me home. Hyu hef done more den enough to be forgiven Hallex," she raised her gaze to mine, "und den zum."

"R-right. Right," I smiled back, my head feeling hazy. I shook it to clear it. "A-and that's why I didn't want you there. Zearaan was strong. Stupidly strong. I didn't think I'd come out of this alive, even if you'd been there with me. And it only takes one of us to use the N-Link." I gave her a wry smile," And I wanted to make sure you didn't have the same idea."

Ruusaan snorted. "Hy vas too busy finding firing sulutions to vorry about zumdding like dat."

She laughed nervously, telling me otherwise.

"Maybe you think I was being selfish," I continued. "Maybe you think I was being an idiot. Maybe you're right, but I didn't want you to die, Ruusaan. I was at the controls and you had to follow no matter where I went. That just wasn't fair. I didn't-"

A hand snaked around the back of my neck, my words dying in my throat as Ruusaan's closed eyes were suddenly all I could see. She was close. Too close. Her forehead was warm, pressed against mine, her breath cold against my skin. The hand that held mine was firm and painfully tight, almost as though she was afraid I might let go.

"It doesn't matter vere hyu go," she said softly, almost in a whisper. "It doesn't matter vat hyu do. It doesn' matter vho hyu love, und vho hyu lose. On every battlefield, on every venture. If de Universe iz vith you svord or against it. Hy vill alvays be at your back, Hallexsunder McKrillen. In dis life, und if de Universe vills, hall lives dat follow." Her eyes snapped open, vivid green dominating my vision as her voice took a dangerous tone. "So don't even try to leaff me behind again, McKrillen. Don't. Do it. Again."

I smiled nervously. "And if I do?"

"Drastik measures. Hy'll probably tak zumdding to shlow hyu down," eyes creased with a humorous grin, "like a leg."

I found myself grinning, joking (I hoped) threats of loss of limbs notwithstanding. I should have seen it coming. I should have known Ruusaan would hate to be left behind. Would it have made a difference, if she had been there with me? Maybe, maybe not. Did it even matter? We were both alive, that was what was important, right?

Now if she could just scoot back a bit before someone came in and got the wrong impress-

"Am I interrupting?"

I totally didn't squeak like Waif on helium. Neither did I try to scramble away like the elephant that had seen the mouse, banging my head against the wall in the process.

Astrid and Ruusaan say otherwise. They're liars.

Astrid stood in the doorway; leaning against the frame, arms folded. She seemed…calm. Too calm. And she was smiling, as though she found the sight of her boyfriend being so close to another girl amusing.

"Err…it's not what it lo-umph!"

Lips crashed against mine, the hand around my neck sliding up into my hair. Eyes stared half-lidded into mine, Ruusaan pressing up against me, mouth and body. I slipped down against the sheets in shock. Ruusaan followed me down, cradling my head as I tried to hold myself up on shaking elbows and her tongue slipped past jagged teeth and pale lips to play with its' counterpart, limp in my mouth.

I couldn't look away. I couldn't stop my heart from beating a mile a minute. I couldn't stop my face from burning up or blood rushing to places I really wished it wouldn't…

Time passed. How long, I couldn't tell you. Ruusaan pulled away, smiling softly.

The smile became a devilish grin as she stood and turned towards Astrid.

"It vas eksactly vat it looked like."

Astrid smirked and rolled her eyes, "I bet."

Ruusaan laughed as she headed for the door, a sway in her hips I knew hadn't been there in all the months I'd known her.

"Tag. Hyu are it," She slapped Astrid's offered hand in a low five before squeezing her shoulder. "Be gentle."

More eye rolls followed the Dragonoid out of the room, "Yes dear."

…

I'd just been kissed by my best friend…and my girlfriend was okay with it.

…

"I knew it, I'm dead."

Astrid laughed, coming to sit on the edge of the bed as I struggled to sit up and regain my senses. "No, but you gave it your best shot."

"You seem…okay about this. It's scaring me."

I got a grin for my concern. "Now you know how we felt. Besides, you've been out of it almost three weeks now. Gives people time to talk, you know?"

Three weeks? No wonder everything felt like lead.

I looked at Astrid warily. "Are you going to call me out on my idiotic heroics too?"

"Nah, I think Ruusaan made our point. That said…"

She slugged me. Hard. My ever loving childhood friend hit her infirm recently comatose boyfriend with enough force I swore my shoulder bones cracked.

"OW!"

There was no sympathy in her eyes. "That's for scaring me."

"Wh-what!?" I stared at her, exasperated. "What is- What, is it always gonna be this way? I-is this going to be a thing now!? Because-"

…

Well, this was becoming a pleasant habit.

There wasn't as much force this time around, Astrid leaning in, cupping a hand to my cheek as she silenced my mouth with hers. Eyes fluttered shut as I let her lead, happy to enjoy the warmth spreading through every nerve.

It was over far too soon. Still, I couldn't help but match her smile. "I could get used to it."

Her smile was radiant, even as we lapsed into comfortable silence. I wanted to keep it there if I could. Other things were on my mind though. After everything that had happened, it had been a lousy time to fall into a coma for the aftermath.

"Astrid, what-"

"Not right now," she silenced my protests with a look. "I mean it, Alex. A lot has happened and you've just woken up. Just get some rest, okay? The Dome's not going to fall apart on us yet."

I tried to complain, tell her I was fine, but what adrenaline I'd been running on was running dry.

With my eyelids starting to feel like someone had tied weights to them, I shuffled back under the sheets. The need for sleep seeped back into my body as I felt Astrid squeeze my hand.

Just tell me one thing," I struggled to stay awake, but I had to know. "Did it work? Is there peace?"

I saw Astrid wince before dreamland took me back.

"Sort of."

DATE: FEBRUARY 22, 251 A.D.E.

TIME: 1420 HOURS

LOCATION: THE DOME, CENTRAL TOWER, DOME COUNCIL CHAMBER

It would be another few weeks before the doctors would let me leave. Even then, it was wheelchair bound for anything longer than a walk across a room, at least for now. Even then, I was always under Ruusaan and/or Astrid's watchful gaze.

The N-Link had done a number on my nervous system. That the damage was repairable was a miracle in in itself. I had Tsad Droten medicine to thank for that. This apparently wasn't the first time someone had pushed Neural Linkage to its' limits. I would be up and about eventually. It was only a matter of time.

Not that the time since I'd woken up had been boring, not with the endless stream of visitors that had poured through my door.

Patrick, Henrik and the twins were the most frequent, as was Gobber sticking his head in to hide from the nurses and their needles and to steal my jello. They all had their battle scars. Most would heal in time. Gobber needed a few repairs to his mechanical parts, but that was nothing new.

What was new was some of the other people who came to visit. Mayor Gothi was an obvious one, sharing congratulations and commiserations in equal measures. A few other politicians and friends of my father also stopped by to do the same.

But it was when the faces became completely 'alien' that I began to realise how things had started to change.

Waif's visits were always accompanied by the excited squeals of Juuniis and the embarrassed apologies of her brother Jaedaar when she jumped on my bed. The little Tsad Droten was always eager to show me the new English words Waif had taught her or talk about the new sights of The Dome she had seen. Waif herself usually stood off to one side, smiling at Juuniis' energy and blushing whenever Jaedaar praised her for something or other.

It wasn't just them, either. Tsad Droten, vetted by the Military Police, from all walks of life came to see me. Some on their own, some in groups large enough to spill into the corridor, they all had words for me, be it via translation matrix or horribly broken English. Most were of thanks, a few were of sorrow. Some asked if there might have been a better way to end the fighting, but all agreed that they were relieved the fighting was over.

Mostly.

It took time, but I managed to pry the whole story out of Ruusaan and Astrid. Not everyone was happy to forgive and forget, or even believe, on both sides.

As I had seen during the battle, some Tsad Droten had fled when the Ruus had fallen, and many more had escaped following Zearaan's death. Even now, some that had initially taken our hospitality now fled with whatever supplies they could carry.

And there were Humans who were no better. So-called 'Loyalists' to Stoic had fled during or shortly after the battle, with hundreds following their lead from The Dome as the first Dragonoid envoys had arrived. On top of what Tsad Droten were stealing, military supplies had also been disappearing from the outposts and armouries.

From two factions had splintered many of various sizes. All of them labelled those that stayed behind as traitors and enemies of their respective races. For them, the war was far from over. We were just lucky that, for the moment, they were in the minority.

One of the first symbols of unity our fragile peace had created had been tentative cooperation between the Military Police and the Aranov Vu'traat, the Ruus' military arm. Nothing had been set in stone, of course, but since the battle the two forces had worked together with little tension. Or so I'd been told.

Human Vikings patrolled the ground around The Dome and the wreck of the Ruus, while Tsad Droten Dragonoids watched the skies over each. Translation matrixes had been installed on all machines, technicians smarter than me reconfiguring them for two way communication, breaking the barriers down further.

And then there was the biggest change: the sight of Humans and Dragonoids living together.

With the destruction of the Ge'tal Kyr'am, and most of her engines along with it, it was clear the Ruus beh Tsad Droten would never fly again. There was no way to even get it upright, the power core lost with the weapon it had been forced to fuel. The Dome, by comparison, had escaped mostly unscathed. The Ge'tal Kyr'am attack had been off by miles, shockwaves and earthquakes doing more damage to the outposts and the training arena than The Dome itself. With space freed up by those who called us traitors, it made sense to house who we could in the empty homes. Of course, The Dome was only so big. Even in addition to most families trying to take in who they could into their spare rooms, a large percentage of Tsad Droten now lived in makeshift towns around The Dome's perimeter. Food thankfully wasn't an issue. A mobile fortress had been sent to recover the fishing fleets and food processing tech from Washington Crater, and the agriculture facilities from the Ruus had been salvaged and set up in conjunction with our farms. People were talking about what to do of course. The most popular idea seemed to be to salvage the Ruus to build extensions to The Dome, or perhaps new settlements entirely. Nothing was concrete though, not this early into the peace. First, we had to make sure it would last; that Human and Tsad Droten could put the past behind and walk together into the future.

And if the sight before me was an indication, we were off to a good start.

The Council Chamber was packed; political and military representatives from both sides sat together on their balconies, while the guest galleries were filled with civilians from both the Ruus and The Dome. In front of the Council Table, Mayor Gothi stood waiting for me, Gobber, the current head of the Military Police on one side, Jaedaar, the 'leader' of the remaining Tsad Droten on the other.

They stood there, waiting as the band's song came to an end and a hush fell over the chamber.

Waiting for me, Astrid and Ruusaan as we came to a stop before the Council Table.

They had been wanting to do this when I woke up. I just hoped it wouldn't be too long. My legs were already starting to ache.

Gothi smiled down at us, then turned to the crowds.

"Three hundred Earth standard years ago, Humans discovered we were not alone in the universe," she began, her words translated via headset for those that needed it. "Fifty years later, a mistake was made. A mistake fueled by paranoia of the unknown, fear of the unknown, and deception from the unknown. It was a mistake made by both Humans and Tsad Droten. But over the past few months, it has been a mistake that has been rectified by Humans and Tsad Droten."

"Hallexsunder McKrillen, Ruusaan, child of Vaikaar and Raaneer, Hastrid Hofferson," Jaedaar continued, his words translated by my headset. "The three of you accomplished something no citizen of either The Dome or the Rock of The Assembled could ever believe could ever be done. You worked together. You found a common ground. You saw the similarities, that our species were not so different as the rest of us thought. And when the question was put before you, you listened when we ignored."

"So taday, we honour ye," Gobber went on. "Sergeant Astrid Hofferson, fer yer part, most notably leadin' our Dragonoid forces during the Battle o' Newquay, Ah am hereby promoting ye four tiers to the rank o' Captain an' all the privileges therein."

This time last year, she might have been ecstatic to be promoted so quickly, and before her mandatory service was up too. Right now though, Astrid looked less than thrilled as people applauded and Gobber pinned bars to her chest. After everything we'd been through, after everything we'd seen, I could hardly blame her for blanching at the thought of extending her military career.

"Youth Ruusaan," Jaedaar stepped forward, "For your acts of valour, to stand against your own people in order to open their eyes, we recognise you as worthy of command. When the need arises, the youths can look to you, and know you have the right to be called Superior."

Ruusaan did her best to smile, grasping Jaedaar's arms at the elbows as he did the same while more applause followed.

We didn't want this. None of us wanted this. So why-

"And lastly, 2nd Lieutenant Alexander McKrillen," Gothi spoke once more. "Through your actions, a centuries-old war has come to an end between its main factions. You, all of you, have done so much, and we have so little with which to repay you.

"Therefore, you are hereby promoted three tiers to the rank of major, with all the privileges therein."

I faltered, eyes wide as a much louder applause thundered amidst the pillars. "M-major?"

"Oh aye, lad," Gobber gave me a wink as he pinned the bars to my chest. "Ye gonna need it, what we've got planned for ye."

Major. Major Alexander McKrillen. My dad would have been jumping for joy, had the circumstances for such a promotion been far, far different. Even Astrid and Ruusaan were staring at the three grinning lunatics as though they'd fused together and grown extra heads.

It was too much. It was way too much power.

"We realise this is a lot of responsibility," Gothi continued, apparently oblivious to the understatement of the year, "especially for one who has not yet completed his mandatory service. It's necessary for your assignment however, once you've made a full recovery."

Assignment?

"Those that fled, those that exiled themselves. They are not the first to leave The Dome or the Rock," Jaedaar looked on gravely. "Some were exiled for speaking out against the war. Others left of their own volition to start colonies of their own."

"There's also those who didn't want ta join The Dome," Gobber added. "We might've been the largest threat, but we weren't the only humans left. They'll be others out there, hiding from a foe tha's no longer 'unting 'em."

"And we want you to find them," Gothi finished with a smile.

I blinked at her stupidly. "Find them?"

"Find them, help them, protect them if needs be. You, Major McKrillen, are being tasked with the command of the 1st Joint Exploration Task Force. You, with Hofferson and Ruusaan as your seconds, will lead men and women of both the Military Police and the Aranov Vu'traat to scour the Earth for those lost settlements. You will be our first contact, our first open gesture towards opening communication and trade. Our first step towards the recolonisation of our world."

"Not everyone's gonna be 'appy ta see ye though," Gobber grimaced. "Even without the latest outcasts, some ain't gonna be best pleased ta see an end ta the fighting."

"That is why you will be protected," holograms lit up the chamber from the Council table's emitter as Jaedaar spoke. "You shall be given a Saint George-class Mobile Fortress to be your base of operations, Viking Assault Frames for land patrols, and Dragonoids to watch over the skies."

I watched the holograms in awe, not really knowing what to say. A ship, a crew, Vikings, and…

"Night Furies?"

"Our most versatile machines," Jaedaar grinned. "A flight will also be modified for partial Human use. A Human pilot, with a Tsad Droten co-pliot at his back."

So, I could still fly? I could still fly with Ruusaan and Astrid?

And this assignment…We weren't being sent to another battlefield. This was a mission of peace. A mission to unite and rebuild. I felt Ruusaan squeeze my shoulder and saw Astrid grin out of the corner of my eye.

We could do this. This could change everything.

"Ye look like ye mulling something fierce, Alex." Gobber smirked. "Any questions need askin'?"

"Just one," I grinned, matched by Ruusaan and Astrid beside me. "When do we start?"

(…)

"I know you're listening. I know you have every right to be wary.

My name is Alexander, and I want to tell you what's happened.

The war is over, between The Dome and Dragonoids of Washington Crater at least. There's a lot to explain, because I know it's a lot to take in and even harder to believe. But we're willing to talk, if you're willing to listen.

And that's the question, isn't it?

Will you listen?"

- - -JORAD KYR- - -
- - -
- - -JORHAA'IR?- - -

:KIR'MANIR BAL JORHAA'IR: MHI MAV SUSHIR

- - -JORHAA'RE:- - -

\ \ \WE WILL LISTEN/ / /

Aaand roll credits. Something classy like...I dunno, 'Gotta Stay Fly' from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon? Yeah. That'll do. Ooh! with 'Bull's Eye' by Nano for the Alternative Foreign Theme Song!

Dragonoid Translations

"Gar copaani…oyayc?"
(You are…alive?)

Aranov Vu'traat
(Defence Forces)

JORAD KYR
(TRANSMISSION END)

JORHAA'IR?
(REPLY?)

KIR'MANIR BAL JORHAA'IR: MHI MAV SUSHIR
(TRANSLATE AND REPLY: WE WILL LISTEN)

JORHAA'RE
(REPLYING)

Author's Notes

Ambiguity was the name of the game today. Tying up loose ends of the story I wanted to tell while leaving the implication that the adventures will continue. A lot of this stemmed from the original idea in my head to adapt the sequel films and/or the TV series, but as I'll talk about in my final notes below that isn't likely to happen now. What I aimed for instead was cautious optimism. Yeah, it's not the perfect happy ending, but there's the potential there, and people willing to work for it. That's a good end in my book, and I hope you enjoyed it.

And Alex didn't lose a leg! Isn't he lucky? I decided to let him keep the limb as I always thought Hiccup's leg lose was supposed to be symbolic and/or symmetric to Toothless losing part of his tail. That didn't really work here though, as Ruusaan never lost any limbs and the Night Fury's main damage was the loss of its' original AI. I just didn't see the point, and to lose a limb without that narrative aspect just felt like injecting drama into the end of the story that it just didn't need.

Returning to ambiguity...yeah, I'm a bit of a coward, leaving the whole Alex/Astrid/Ruusaan relationship as I have. You can blame the anime Classroom Crisis for the idea, except Alex didn't try to escape the hospital when he realised he had two girls after his heart. For the record, Ruusaan kissing Alex was written in before the whole Shippping 'skirmish' back in Section 011. I added it to appease the shipper in me, as even at this point I was still wondering if I should go back and change everything. In the end, I hope I've left it ambiguous enough for you the reader to draw your own conclusions on what Astrid and Ruusaan talked about and how the three's relationship develops after the end of the story.

Lastly, we've got the whole' the adventure continues!' aspect at the end. As I implied last week, my original idea for the ending was a Star Wars: A New Hope-esque medal ceremony (This was back in 2011, before Dragons: Riders of Berk came out.). The ending was a little more of that perfect ending type stuff I was talking about earlier too. The war was over, Humans and Dragonoids were united on the path of peace, Stoic was alive and had had a complete about face on his views, that sort of thing. Alex, Ruusaan and Astrid got their medals, and Alex looks over the cheering crowds as he monologues something akin to a more positive version of what he said in the prologue. The story would have ended with Astrid taking Alex's hand and the two kissing as the cheers went up as we cut to black. I...was a lot more cheesy back then.

If there's one thing I don't like, but wasn't really sure how to implement otherwise, it was Alex and Astrid's rapid promotions (Ruusaan gets a free pass because of the alien ranking system). It came about due to the new ending taking inspiration from Hiccup taking command of the Dragon Riders and forming the Dragon Academy from the initial episodes of the series, and I felt that the trio would need fairly high ranks to have the authority equivalent Hiccup does as Stoick's son. I also admittedly wanted a grand gesture to finish the story with, but I'm just not sure if this was the right move, or if there's an alternative that would look better. If I'd continued the series of adaptions, I would probably have it explained that the loss of experienced soldiers from both sides due to the battle and desertion meant they needed to bolster the upper ranks, and any sequels would have them retain these ranks for the future (Alex wouldn't have become General of the Military Police at the end of Dragonoid 2 for example.), but without those to fall back on, I just think it feels a bit...convenient.

Anyway, what's been written has been written, and overall it's a minor issue in what for me has been a massive project.

Final Author's Notes

Well, here we are. He's done, the end. What started as a short project to kill some time became a eight (including upload time) year undertaking. I'm not sure how many readers picked this story up again after it came back, but to those of you who stuck with it, I'm sorry it took so long, but I hope it was worth the read.

Once again, I would like to thank KaoruSailorZ on Tvtropes for giving this story a Fanfic Reccomendation. Without that I would have probably given up on Dragonoid, and perhaps writing fanfiction altogether, years ago. Also Disneyanime91, whose own modern spin on HttYD inspired me to put my own ideas to paper in the first place. I'd also like to thank you the readers and reviewers, those that favourited, and those that simply followed. Old and new, I sincerely hope I have entertained you with this story, and it has been an enjoyable use of your time these past couple of months.

So, what's next for me? Well, bad news first: no plans for sequels at the moment.

Time has been Dragonoid's worst enemy here. In the early years, when I was writing great chunks of this story at a time, I had some ideas for consequences of this series. How to Train Your Dragon 2 would have become Dragonoid Bravo, How to Train Your Dragon 3 would have become Dragonoid Charlie (NATO phenetic alphabet, get it?), and while I was waiting, Dragons: Riders of Berk would have become Dragonoid Chronicles, which I would update in the quiet time between the films. Time moved on however. Life happened, Dragonoid started to drag on, and there were times where I was wondering if I would finish this story, let alone work on any sequels. The final nail in the coffin however came after I saw HttYD2.

See, on it's own, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a great movie. I love the character redesigns, Dragons new and old looked amazing and the story was...fine. But as a sequel to How to Train Your Dragon, I'm in the camp that found it to be...lacking. It doesn't help that HttYD is still one of my all time favourite films, so it already had that to battle against in my brain. But in truth, I felt HttYD2 lacks the charm of the original, and at times seemed to be prioritising action over story. That might sound a tad hypocritical, considering I added aliens, giant robots, two extra battle scenes and a massive Wave Motion Gun superlaser to the original, but keep in mind that these are trappings that came with the setting update and the move from fantasy to science fiction. Hiccup also came across as arrogant to me, overly so, something that I felt didn't fit with his portrayal either at the end of the original or his appearances in the TV series (both in the first two seasons and after the timeskip in the Netflix seasons), and it soured my thoughts of sequels to try and induce these traits into Alex.

That I could potentially spend the best part of another decade working on sequels was another turn off, I'm afraid. Dragonoid is impressive, in that I've stuck with it where all other fics of its' time have been cancelled outright or put on the back burner to be rewritten into original stories. At the same time, there have been other fanfiction ideas that I haven't pursued because I was working on Dragonoid. You just have to look at the now defunct demo section of my profile for a slice of what might have been had I finished Dragonoid when I'd wanted to. I doubt I'm going to work on those stories now (Pokémon: Advanced Colosseum alone was potentially going to be a major doorstopper), and when coupled with my lack of enthusiasm for the Dragons franchise as a whole, I'm just worried that writing sequels for the sake of writing sequels would lead to stories that wouldn't be worth reading.

That said, I still intend to go see How to Train Your Dragon 3 when it comes out (as of writing, March 1st, 2019). If I am so inspired, I may make a sequel out of it, skipping out HttYD2 altogether, but I have to stress that it would have to be a story I would want to write, not writing for the sake of writing. so no promises. I'm really sorry if that disappoints some of you.

So, is there any future for Dragonoid? Well...maybe, although again, no promises. I have a few ideas for one shot stories; some scene extensions, deleted scenes, the noodle incident of how Alex found out his facts about Dragonoid hair, that sort of thing. Theoretically, these stories would be short enough that they wouldn't take long to write up, and I would upload them whenever they were completed. It's still a shaky idea though, and I'm not sure if I want to do it or not. Still, if anyone has any scenes they'd liked to have seen, leave a comment in the reviews or send me a message and maybe something will come from it. Like I said though, no promises.

The other idea I potentially had would be Dragonoid Alternative, and would be a 'what if' story that I talked about in Section 012, where Alex runs off with Ruusaan rather than after Astrid. As I said back then, the amount of original work I'd have to put into it is what's keeping me from considering it. Even if I did, it would probably be more of a 'deleted scene' style series, with the start point probably being Section 011 and me explaining what's happened before and after what you're reading. I'm not sure if that would appeal to people, but if inspiration hits me beyond what I've already considered, it might be something for the future. Again, though, no promises.

So what is next for me? Well, I'm hoping to be a published author by the end of the year. I have a manuscript for a speculative fiction story (featuring guns and spells and fantasy lands), and am currently looking for publishers. I'm still thinking about self-publishing, ebooks or an actual publisher though, so I don't know when it will be out. I might add an author's note to the end of this story when I do though, just in case anyone's interested.

My next fanfiction will probably be over in the Black Lagoon section over in Anime. Currently titled Torva's World: In the City of Immorality, it's an action fic that's a far cry from the mecha action I've been indulging in here, but it was a good change of pace for me after working with giant robots for so long. My lessons have been learned though. I'm not going to upload anything until I've finished it, so no one ever has to wait seven years between chapter updates again. I'll probably post a note about it here if and when I upload it.

So, here we are; at the end, at least for now. Once again, thank you for reading Dragonoid. I hope you enjoyed it and it was worth the recommendation that got it completed.

Until next time!

With best regards,

Dearing