A/N: Sorry this update was a bit later than normal. But I think I'm going to do that from now on, just to kept the review count up. I'm going to wait for at least ten or so reviews before beginning to write then next chapter. Just for the sake of the count. But it was refreshing to hear from you all again! So hopefully it can keep going like this from now on :)

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Stoick sat in his chair, staring forward and looking down at the fire at it snapped and popped in the hearth. He was tense, his shoulders and back rigid and stiff, as if he were ready to get out from the chair at a moment's notice. But his eyes weren't as acute or focused. They were the opposite. They were distant, distracted and almost a little hazy. He wasn't thinking about the fire, or the fact that the house might start leaking from all this rain, or whether or not he could go out and try to reconcile with the Village, or even whether or not he should go out and search for the Night Furies more.

He hadn't been at the scene in the square. He hadn't caught wind of what had happened. He had been in his chair. Staring at the fire. Distant and quiet as his thoughts were cast far back. Not to a specific time. No. The entire time he sat, he never lingered on one moment in particular. They were scattered. But they were all from the same person, the same voice that lingered in his mind. He didn't react to any of the memories. Because he didn't know how to. Each memory — of the same voice — brought with it an emotion. It was there. It was tangible. But he couldn't name any of them. He could only sit and listen, a blank expression written over his face just for the sake of not knowing how else to look.

Uh…I gotta…talk to you…

But if you just listen! You'll be able to-

If a Night Fury with her past…could- could come to terms with these things so easily, so could the others! Why can't you see that?

Haven't I shown you that I know more than you think I do?

If you don't give out second chances, I might as well just leave right now! Is that what you want?

You don't know what you're doing. Why can't you just listen to me?

I just wish for once you would remember that I'm not stupid!

That was their last conversation. Ages ago, by now. He'd sent out the search parties. He'd ordered his son to be found. He raged for more progress, more work to be done. But it was all for naught. What else could he do now? His hand slid into a fist where was by his side. He had lost his wife. He had lost his son. Once before and now again. Twice. And now he had lost control of his village, and the people that he had considered his close friends. Mostly caused by the dragons, and the trouble having started after Hiccup had first brought the female Night Fury back to Berk.

He had seen his son bleeding and near death too many times to count since then. He had hovered by his unconscious teen's bedside for hours and hours. He had seen many of his friends die during the vicious Raids against Berk. He had done all this and more, and it all narrowed down to that single dragon. That was where things had started. She had gotten Toothless into some kind of trance. And as he remembered the things that Hiccup had said before, it sounded like she had done the same thing to his son as well.

He would have to finish it himself, if nobody else were to do it. He would have to-

"Stoick."

The Chief jerked at the sound of his name. His eyes cleared, if only just a little bit, and he tore his gaze quickly away from the fire. The sound of the rain sounded even louder, the doorway open to the rest of the world as the person who had spoke stood under its overhang. It was a few seconds before the person realized he would not respond vocally, so they gave a small cough, shutting the door and stepping inside the home slowly. "Stoick." Gobber repeated, eyes weary but jaw locked as he looked at his old friend. "They've…they found Hiccup." He said slowly, choosing his wounds with care.

Stoick's hands clenched at the arms of his chair at this. But still he did not speak.

Gobber cleared his throat again. It was obvious that their last conversation was hanging in the air between them. The two friends having been torn by the events that had occurred before now. Once a strong duo, now it felt like there were miles between them. But Gobber had to do this. Not only was he at wit's end with the thought of losing such a good friend just because the man was high strung, but the last image of Hiccup was imprinted in his mind. The young boy had been thrashing in the hold of the other Vikings, digging his heels into the ground and screaming for help, and for an audience.

He shook his head to clear it. "Spitelout got to him first." He said, knowing how bone-headed the man could be at times. But this was pushing it a little too far in his opinion. "Hiccup brought up the Night Furies again. You know…how he was trying to talk to you about them before?" Stoick didn't reply; he had turned back to the fire. Gobber paused, then went on anyway. "He brought them back here, apparently. He was asking for you, trying to find you. But…I guess you were here."

Stoick got up to his feet, but he kept his back to Gobber, his eyes trained on the fire. A surge of frustration and desperation seized the blacksmith, and he got closer to the Chief. "Stoick, did you hear me? Hiccup is back. He needs you too." He added in a softer tone. The blonde shook his head with a frown. "He looked just awful. And Spitelout got him in the leg with his sword. They took him away, I couldn't get close to him. They're calling him a traitor, Stoick. Stoick, are you listening to me? Didn't you hear what I just told you? Your son is back!"

"Where is he?" Stoick asked, his voice oddly quiet as he still remained turned away.

Gobber paused a moment, searching the man before answering just as softly. "They dragged him away. I think they said something about locking him up in the old dragon stables. They're treating him like some kind of prisoner, Stoick— your son."

When Stoick spoke again, it was to ask another question. "And the Night Furies?"

"Somewhere on the island I guess. Or close enough to it. Spitelout asked the same question to him, but he wouldn't answer to him. They're sending out parties right now to try to hunt them down and find them. Hiccup seemed horrified at it…" He trailed off a moment, Stoick turning and going abruptly to the corner of the room. He picked up his axe, the one that Gobber had crafted for him specially his first day as Chief. An old weapon but still much better than any of the others he had. "What are you doing?" Gobber asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm going after her. The one that started all of this." Stoick growled.

"Now how will you even know who's who out there?" Gobber demanded a bit sourly. But he watched as Stoick got his things together, completely disregarding what Gobber said. He'd only seen his friend this worried, and that was when he had chained Toothless in order to find the Dragon's Nest. The thought caused a strike of worry to spark itself inside of him, but the blonde did his best to shrug it aside. Things couldn't be as bad as they'd nearly gotten last time. "Not to mention it's pouring buckets out there. You can hardly see in front of your nose anymore."

"She's caused enough problems." Stoick snapped, going over to finally face the man head-on. "It's time that we end all of this, Gobber. We can't let the Night Furies back here— not after what they've done. People have died. And more will unless we get them all out of here." Gobber opened his mouth to object, but Stoick shook his head before he could get a single word out. "These dragons can't be accepted. I won't accept them. And I'm still Chief, no matter what anybody else says."

Gobber frowned with a small sigh. "Maybe you need to slow down." He said apprehensively. "Stoick, you can't go on like this. You have to relax. You've been tighter than usual these days, and that's saying something." He attempted to make a joke to ease the tension, but it didn't work as Stoick kept looking at him with that odd expression he'd adopted recently. He sighed instead, shaking his head and backtracking. "Why won't you just do it?" He asked in his exhale.

He looked at him blankly. "I don't understand what you mean." He said.

"You do too." He objected. "Go to Hiccup, Stoick." His voice was softer now, and he looked at the Chief almost imploringly. "He's in danger, Stoick. If not from the Village than from himself. They're treating him like a traitor and Thor knows what's going to happen to him after the island deals with the dragons. Just go and find him. Talk some sense into him. At least take care of him!" His voice sharpened at this and he took in a small breath before moving on quickly. "He's your son, Stoick. If you won't take care of him, who will?"

"When the Night Furies are gone. And the female is dead." Stoick growled in response, not noticing Gobber's exasperation. The man stilled as he said this though, eyeing Stoick wearily, at the way that he held himself and the look in his eyes. He'd spent days trying to figure out the look and what was behind it. It wasn't anger….not really anyway. Maybe regret, but not entirely that, even. It was like he was caring immensely for something but just didn't know what to do because of it. "Then I can go back to Hiccup, and explain everything." Stoick went on, eyes flashing.

"Stoick…killing her might do more harm than good."

"She's nearly killed my son too many times, Gobber. And she's gotten far too close."

"Is that what this is about?"

He didn't answer. He merely stared levelly at Gobber, waiting for him to say something else. He searched, certainly trying to figure out at least something to get out. But he couldn't. He could see both sides of the situation. It was true what Stoick was aiming for. The Night Furies had certainly done more harm than good, and they had half as many people as they did before all of this mess was stirred up. And while Stoick didn't exactly show it, Gobber knew him far too well to understand that every time Hiccup got injured, it was like he got the same injuries.

But Hiccup seemed so sure of himself. And the boy had a very good head on his shoulders usually. After all, look at what he had accomplished with harebrained schemes like these. It was cutting it close, much too close. He sighed, torn between two halves and not sure at all what to do from here. Thunder rumbled outside as soon as the thought registered, and he glanced back outside, remembering how much of a torrent was going on right now. But the Vikings had all decided to go out anyway. And now so was Stoick.

Reluctantly, he sighed. And then he gave a small nod. "Fine." He said flatly. "But I'm going with you." Stoick stiffened at this, more out of surprise than anything. But Gobber just shook his head again. "I know what I said before." He said, remembering the fight that had taken place in the Great Hall. "But I can't let you go out there alone. No matter what's happened before now." He didn't leave any room for argument. And he crossed his arms as he looked at the Chief expectantly, waiting for him to react.

Stoick turned, picking up a sword and handing it to Gobber silently.

As good a reply as any.

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Mistyeyes managed to console Toothless. The gray dragoness had curled herself around him affectionately, worried eyes trained on the entrance of the Cove as she murmured soft words of encouragement to the male. Toothless' ears were flat against his head as she talked, and under any other circumstance, he would have snapped at her that was fine and that he didn't need to be treated with such care. But he didn't utter a word, sitting there with his head bowed in something akin to grief as Nightflight rounded up the other dragons. She hadn't stopped to try and help Mistyeyes with dealing with Toothless, they didn't have enough time for her to stop long enough to do so. And she wasn't sure how much Toothless would appreciate her being involved in this also.

So Nightflight had rallied the party together with a few brisk words, trying to comfort the group with a quick, business-like tone. Acting as if nothing was wrong would do better than hurrying them and nudging them like Toothless had done. And it worked. Leap and Brightsky, nervous and mumbling back and forth together before, had fallen into a relieved quiet as Nightflight took charge. Giving out quick orders, she managed to get the group heading up the ridge, instructing the Night Furies that they were to be absolutely silent as they headed back to the beach with Shadowclaw and Leafdapple. She made sure to stress the words for the mother and the youngling that had caused this problem in the first place, though she would never go so far as to outright state the reason for her emphasis.

She had to nudge Toothless and Mistyeyes the most. The group had already made it up the tumbled rocks, Nightflight taking up the rear. She had sighed under her breath, raising her voice a bit reluctantly to call back down to the pair. "Come on!" She hissed, wincing at her own volume but knowing that they wouldn't be able to hear her any other way. "We can't finish this with the two of you sitting down there all night long!"

The pair relented easily, Mistyeyes drawing back and nosing Toothless' ear affectionately one last time before stepping back. "It'll be fine." She smiled tenderly, eyes soft as she looked at the male. "I promise it'll all work out. This was just a setback." Toothless didn't reply, but he gave the dragoness a grateful blink, turning and walking closely beside her as they scaled the rocks. "We can figure out what to do once we get to Shadowclaw and Leafdapple." Mistyeyes added as they reached Nightflight, addressing her as much as she was Toothless. "Right? Maybe we can take shelter on a nearby island. Fly away before anyone can even notice we were here in the first place."

Nightflight started to reply, the trio walking in the back of the group as they retraced their steps back down the slope to the beach. But Toothless interrupted, green eyes narrowing instantly as he flared. "I am not leaving Hiccup." He snapped tensely, regretting his sharp tone as he relaxed instantly. The dragon shook his head, repeating his words but making sure his voice was softer this time. "No. I won't. And besides," He glanced back at his tail fin with a dismal look. "I can't."

Mistyeyes fell silent, having forgot that part. Toothless had smashed his other tail fin out of anger — the one that had still borne Hiccup's bloodied handprint from before. Now Toothless would be unable to fly unless Hiccup was there to control his movements. "…Oh." She rasped softly, blue eyes strained as they trained themselves onto Toothless. The Night Fury sighed heavily, not meeting her gaze as he looked straight ahead.

The rain made maneuvering things harder. Younglings slipped in the thick mud, barely holding back their wails of frustration and digest as they were sucked out by their parents. Even Mistyeyes was starting to grow irritated as thick mud squeezed in between her claws and toes, the female stopping every so often to flick the clumps away with an irritated look. But Nightflight was taking the worst of it all. Being blind made getting around hard enough in general by herself. Adding this torrential downpour into the mix, and she felt like she was wandering aimlessly, heart in her throat as she tried to keep as close to Mistyeyes as she could without drawing attention to herself. They had enough to deal with as it was. Adding her disability to the mix wouldn't make things better at all.

"Nightflight?" The female froze at the sound of her name, stiffening as she realized that she couldn't tell exactly who it was. The rain was blocking out the scents of the dragons she used to tell them apart from one another. Without that, she was unable to tell one from the other; and with the loud roar of the rain, it was a miracle she could hear the voice at all, let alone distinguish it. She was relieved as she felt the dragon fall into step beside her and clarify before she was subjected to asking outright. "It's me, Clearsky." The male paused awkwardly, wincing to himself as he went on quickly. "I mean— of course you know it's me. I just didn't-"

"It's fine." Nightflight said with a small dip of the head. Of course it was Clearsky; not a lot of other dragons were comfortable with engaging conversation with Nightflight unless Mistyeyes was sitting beside her at the same time. And besides, he'd been relatively friendly as of late. Ever since they had started to get closer to Berk. But the exact reason that he decided to grow friendly to her, she'd no idea. "You know we aren't supposed to really be talking right now." She sighed, ever the social one as she shook her head quickly, a raindrop landing in the dead center of her eye as she growled.

"Right. Right, yeah I know. I'm sorry." Clearsky muttered, glancing up at the sky to try and see some bit of sun. But it was useless as all he was met with were more thick clouds. The dragon huffed softly underneath his breath, ears flicking back and forth and wings shivering every so often. He glanced at Nightflight, ears slick against his head as he cleared his throat a little too loudly. Nightflight lashed her tail at the loud noise, and Clearsky tensed. "Uh— do you have any idea what we're going to do now?" He asked in a small whisper.

Nightflight shook her head, not answering audibly as she stumbled over a tree root. She cursed, losing her footing as she awkwardly slid down the ground. She was instantly covered in mud, a deep scowl coming over her face as she struggling to get back up and retain dignity. Clearsky went rigid as she fell, and he stood stock-still as the blind dragoness fought to regain herself. It took him a few moments, but he eventually leaned down, assisting her up with a small grimace. "You okay?" He asked in concern, looking her over. "Is your foot injured? That was- kinda a nasty spill…."

"I'm fine." Nightflight huffed, the angered expression etched into her face permanently it seemed as she stepped away from him abruptly. "Come on, we have to get back over to the group. And would you stop talking? I thought I made myself clear when I asked for silence on the way back." Not saying another word, she spun around and walked briskly after the others, making up for lost time as she haphazardly quickened her pace in the mud. Clearsky straightened, eyes a little wide at her sudden take-off. Then he shook himself, giving a small hum of agreement as he looped after the female as fast as he could.

Mistyeyes had been walking behind the pair, at Toothless' side. Toothless was busy, looking around the forest and keeping an eye out for anything that could bring along danger or a warning of trouble. But the gray dragoness had kept her eyes trained on the two dragons in front of them, her eyes not missing a single interaction between the two of them. And as they looped away, the female couldn't help but let a small smile grace he features, a hint of amusement causing her tail to curl up affectionately.

Despite everything, not all was lost.

Not yet.

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"…and then I just turned to Toothless — and you can tell that he was seriously up to his chin in eels by now — and I look at him and I ask: 'Are you happy now?' And he just rolls his eyes and he goes- h-he goes…." Shadowclaw broke off, blinking and straightening suddenly. "Mistyeyes? Toothless, Nightflight? W-What are you guys doing back so early? Was it that quick?" The younger dragon had been doing his best to distract the group that had been entrusted to him. After all, since he and Leafdapple had been located the farthest away from the island, they had been left with most of the younglings. So, since they didn't have much of a need to be as quiet as the others had, Shadowclaw had started to entertain the dragons that were with him. And entertainment, of course, led to funny stories about Toothless and the others.

"Change of plans." Mistyeyes said, shouldering her way through the Night Furies to meet the younger two. Leafdapple, who had been sitting off the side listening with a soft smile, was immediately serious once more, getting up to her feet and trotting over to meet them. Toothless and Nightflight came up next, the female lingering closely to Toothless' side as she had given up trying to walk by herself. Toothless had laid a tail over the other's shoulders as a form of guidance, and it seemed to be working for now as Nightflight kept up with the others easily.

Shadowclaw's smile he'd been wearing before had dashed, and now he was left looking a little lost as Mistyeyes turned her worried eyes over to him. "Hiccup was taken." She didn't bother to lower her voice as she said this. The reaction was mixed to the words. Those who already knew bowed their heads, or narrowed their eyes, or exchanged uneasy glances. Those who didn't sucked in sharp breaths of shock, eyes widening and younglings crowing with grief at this.

Off to the side, Amber let out a yowl of distress, flapping her wings quickly as she got a few inches off the ground. "No!" She yelled, one of Hiccup's biggest fans by far. "I want Hiccup back! Bring him back! Where is he!?" Thankfully the others seemed to grasp that they weren't as safe as they had previously thought. Rapid shushing spread through the gathered, and the youngling fell into a saddened silence as she plopped back down onto the beach with a small thud. Toothless looked pained at the sight of it, but there wasn't much he could do from the head of the group and everything that was going on. So he turned back and looked down at Shadowclaw, clearing his throat.

"You have to leave." Toothless said, speaking above the wind howling around them. Mistyeyes stiffened at once at the suggestion. She flared, wings shooting out at her sides. But Toothless cut off whatever she was about to say. "You and the others take everyone to the nearest island. I need to go back and help Hiccup. But you all stay here and you'll find yourself in just as much trouble as Hiccup's in right now!" He glanced over the ocean, eyes flashing as he absorbed its harsh, mid-storm waves. "You'll have to be careful when you're flying, though. One wrong wingstroke and you could end up at the bottom of the-"

"We didn't discuss this version of the plan!" Mistyeyes yelped immediately, turning and looking at Toothless wish a hard glare. Her voice was nearly carried away by the wind, and Shadowclaw staggered to the side with a wince as he was buffeted to the side by a particularly strong one. The storm must be right over them now, or at least just now nearing them. It hadn't been this windy a moment ago. "Toothless, you can't do that! Don't you realize that that's exactly what Hiccup wanted to do? Go off by himself and have the others retreat? Look where it got him!"

Toothless returned her hard look, tail whipping off of Nightflight as he lashed it behind him. The female tensed as she found herself solitary again. Almost unconsciously, the dragoness dug her claws into the rocky beach, locking her jaw backwards as she tried to focus on what was going on around her. But with the spitting rain and now-biting wind, it was even harder than before. "Mistyeyes, we don't have time to argue!" Toothless snapped, oblivious to Nightflight as he looked from Shadowclaw to Mistyeyes. "You've got to go back! I can catch up once I have Hiccup and-"

"And what?" Leafdapple piped up from Shadowclaw's side, where she normally was. Toothless, caught off-guard by her sudden interruption, turned quickly at this. The younger flicked her ears, looking upset at the turn of events. But she went on anyway. "Even if you mange to find Hiccup, get him out of wherever they're most likely keeping him, turn around in this storm, and make it back to wherever you think we should go, what then? We can't come back! There'll be Vikings all over the place! This is the only chance we have to make things right, we can't just let it go. And Hiccup would say the same if he were here!" She ended with a small squeak, staggering a bit as she made a face at the weather.

"Well this isn't really working out in the first place, is it?" Toothless asked stubbornly, eyes narrowing as he glanced back at the watching Night Furies. "We can't keep them here! Especially all clumped together like this! It wouldn't take five minutes for a Viking search party to find them all, and who knows what could happen when we can't explain! Explaining wouldn't even work— Hiccup tried explaining already!" He took in a small breath, shaking his head dismally. "Please. You all just need to-"

"Aren't you all forgetting something?" Nightflight asked loudly where she stood. The others quieted, and she knew she had their attention with this one. She shifted on the rocks, wincing a bit as they had started to embed themselves in between her claws. "It was rule one during flying lessons." She went on. "We were never supposed to take flight in a storm! Especially one as bad as this! You try to take off and you'll be swept right back onto shore! If not into the ocean before you can get a few feet out! Our wings are too big – and no amount of muscle work can handle as strong of winds."

"We can work around that." Toothless growled, shaking his head.

"I'm sure you could." Nightflight returned, only half of her words tinged with sarcasm. "But it would take you forever in any normal circumstances. Not to mention you would get too tired before you could reach the nearest island. But we have little ones." Her voice dropped a little at the weight that her words carried, and Toothless' face fell as well as she reminded him of this. Mistyeyes glanced at the crowd, a nervous glint in her eyes as her feet shuffled against the loose stones. Nightflight shook her head again. "We would barely make it just the five of us. We would never be able to fly with the others like we have been doing. And the little ones wouldn't stand a chance against the wind. Or the waves." She added, picturing the horrid image of a youngling going under the waves like Amber did. And this time not surfacing.

Silence filled itself in between the dragons for a moment. Then Shadowclaw spoke up, green eyes a little wide as he asked: "So….what do we do now?"

Mistyeyes glanced down to the ocean, taking in the choppy waves that were already buffeted by the hazardous winds. She tried to picture them flying through the mess of a storm, but she knew it could never work. Nightflight was right, their wingspan was too sensitive to such strong forces. It would take a well-fit adult ages to try and battle such weather. She closed her eyes briefly, ducking her head before turning back and looking at the crowd, as if sizing them up. "…we'll have to hide." She managed, her voice too soft to be heard even by Toothless, who was standing right beside her.

"What?" The dragon asked loudly, turning and looking back over at her quizzically.

She related herself, much louder this time. "We have to hide!" She exclaimed, throwing her voice far so that it would go over the crowd of dragons as well. Their eyes rounded out with surprise, and she hurried to quell any nerves that might be surfacing. "The storm should slow the Vikings down, at least a little bit!" Toothless made a face at this. If any group of people were as well-adjusted to such foul weather as this, it was the people that were on Berk. And who knew how long this storm would last, anyway. "We need to take that chance and scatter throughout the island! It's our only hope that we have if we can't fly away!"

"That's the best we can do?" Clearsky yelled where he sat. He wasn't angry, just upset as he titled his head to the side. Mistyeyes frowned a bit guiltily at the question, realizing that right now some dragons were probably rethinking their decision to come back with them. Not that they were out of line in doing so, but still. "Hide and just wait for them to find us? How are we supposed to show that we want to be on the island like that?"

Leap flattened her ears where she sat nearby. "I wanted to be a part of Berk; not get hunted down like I was an animal!"

"Where's Hiccup?" Amber wailed again from her mother's paws.

Mistyeyes, feeling a pit of despair opening up in her stomach, tried to think of something to say to comfort them. But Toothless beat her to it. "Listen up!" He snapped, eyes hardening as he stepped forward to be in front of the others. The group quieted, however reluctantly. "I know that you all would rather have Hiccup! And frankly, I would rather have him here in charge than than us!" The others snorted where they sat behind the Night Fury, but he didn't react to any of them. "That's why we're doing it this way! We don't have Hiccup to speak for us, and Nightflight can't make the humans understand what we have to say!" Once again, the dragoness' shoulders hunched at this. "So we need to improvise as best as we can!

"That means that we have to take shelter! We need to play out as long as we can! At least we need to wait out this storm! Then, if Hiccup is still missing, we can set out for another island then." Regret shone bright in his eyes as he said this, and Mistyeyes felt a pull of sympathy for the male. But he shook himself and went on with a glance at the sky. "But until then, you all need to split up and hide as best as you can. Once it stops raining so hard and once the winds die down, we can all meet back here on the beach and leave the island if that's what we need by then! Okay?"

"You mean we'll be by ourselves?" Talon demanded, looking incredulous.

"Only for a little while." Toothless tried a bit weakly. "Until the storm passes." He paused, debating as he looked over those assembled. "You can probably withstand a group of two or three, but after that it would be too big. We would rather be all together like this, but Vikings would be able to see us a mile away." The Night Furies shifted, grumbling and muttering reluctant agreements. But it was obvious that they were getting stiffer, the air alive with a new sense of fear at the thought of splitting up. "If we're scattered it'll be easier to hide. Think of it this way: do you hunt with a big group of dragons? You keep by yourself where you can move silently and stay out of harm's way and sight."

"Where are we supposed to go? We don't know the island!" A female asked loudly.

"As long as you know how to get back to the shore here, you'll be fine." Mistyeyes said bracingly, seeing that this was now their safest and pretty much only bet. "And once the storm dies down — when you'll need to return here — it'll be easier to scent out where the others are. Just follow your nose." Her logic and reason, bracing against the idea of maneuvering in foreign territory, was met with silence. There wasn't much anyone else could object with, and it was obvious as nobody else tried to do just that. She cleared her throat after a moment, pressing: "You went off on your own on the other islands we had to stop at on the way here. And you didn't need any help finding your way back then."

Again, there was silence.

"It'll all work out." Toothless assured kindly, voice more tender than it had been a moment before as he realized that there would be fears for the others. There was fear for him as well, though probably a very different kind than anyone else's. He just wanted to get back to Hiccup, he wanted to find the human and make sure that he was okay. And that whatever his cry was about from before that it was better now. The longer he stayed away from him was another moment that something could go wrong. "Promise. Just keep your head down low and make sure you listen around you. The rain dulls the senses, but ours will be better than the humans'."

It was quiet again for a second. Then Clearsky spoke up again, sounding nervous now. "Where will you go?" He asked slowly, looking at the entire group up ahead. Mistyeyes stilled at the question, blinking rapidly. Where would they go? They had taken control of the Pack up until this very moment from the beginning. They couldn't very well abandon them just when things were getting bad like this. Clearsky watched them intently as they turned back and exchanged glances. Toothless replied first, as his answer was the easiest to get out.

"I'll head back for the village." He said slowly. "I need to go and get Hiccup and help him where he needs it. Plus, the Vikings know me a lot more than any of you." He said, pushing his voice in order to make it sound more optimistic than he really felt. "They probably wouldn't do anything rash if they saw me or Mistyeyes or Shadowclaw. So I wouldn't be put into too much danger if I get caught." Nightflight's tail lashed at this, but she kept her mouth shut wisely.

"Don't worry where we'll go." Mistyeyes said once the others didn't make a move to answer either. Shadowclaw and Leafdapple were staring at her rather openly, it was obvious that the younger two would do whatever she instructed them to. "We don't have any more time." She went on, rushing her voice with another habitual glance to the sky. Usually she could tell how much time was passing by the movement of the sun or the moon. Now that the sky was pitch black with clouds, it was impossible to do just that. How far would the Vikings have made it now? She lowered her voice as the thought raced through her mind. "You all need to leave and take cover wherever you can. Please be careful and please be safe. I know that things seem a little bleak by now, but we'll make it out. You can trust us to work it all out."

It was easier to relax when you could know that the situation was being handled by others. When you were told that all you had to do was hide and wait for the solution to leap into your paws, it was an instantly-reassuring concept. For them. Not so much for the ones who now held the responsibility for everything.

Mistyeyes stood and watched as one by one the group dissipated. The stronger, bolder ones, took off without a second thought. On silent feet, they streaked up towards the forest, their bellies low to the ground and ears flat against their head as they started to disappear into the foliage. The more wary took a few more moments; they kept glancing up towards the main leaders of the operation as if they had a few more questions, but they always backed away before Mistyeyes could offer any more say on the matter.

Some in a pair, others in a trio, the Pack slowly melted away. Toothless watched as more and more vanished, all of them trying their best to space themselves out as they took different directions into the woods. "They aren't happy." He noticed in a small sigh, frowning as he observed their leaving. Clearsky and a few others were all that remained, Leap and Brightsky turning together to head down the beach a bit farther a ways. "They don't want to be all on their own."

"Can you blame them?" Mistyeyes asked, eyes troubled as she leaned against the male's side. "I don't even want to be by myself if I can help it." She glanced at him with a weary expression. "…Do you want me to come with you? To try and find Hiccup?" Toothless didn't answer at first, and she leaned forward to lock their gazes together in concern. "You don't know what'll be waiting for you in the Village anymore, Toothless. Not after everything's changed like it has."

"I'll find nothing." Toothless clarified, sounding unusually forceful in his answer. "All the Vikings will be out on the island. The hard part won't be finding wherever Hiccup is in the village, Mistyeyes, it'll be getting there in the first place." Mistyeyes tried to think of some way that she could rebut his statement. But she could see the logic in his argument, and she drew back a bit reluctantly with a small nod. His ear flicked, and he turned to rasp his tongue over the female's forehead affectionately. "Don't worry. I have it all figured out. I'll be back with Hiccup before you know it and then we can end this whole thing. If I don't get Hiccup, then who will?"

Clearsky turned, ears down against his head as he started over to their group, his eyes narrowed against the pouring rain and trained over to Nightflight. The female was oblivious to his stare, having sidled over a little awkwardly to be beside Shadowclaw. He stopped, unsure as he tilted his head back and forth indecisively. But then he turned, spraying up mud as he took off in the opposite direction instead.

"Be safe." Mistyeyes said flatly in return. This was the second time that they had had this conversation, but it was more meaningful this time. There was real danger now, they had no idea what had the potential to happen. "I mean it. Please don't put yourself into some sort of horrible life-or-death situation without me to drag you out of it." Her blue eyes were round and troubled, her voice having an unnaturally hard edge to it as she eyed her mate. "I have to stay back and make sure nothing goes wrong back here, I can't be watching your trail for you."

There wasn't much she could do here. There wasn't much anybody could do. If a Viking party were to find a Night Fury, they couldn't fight back. They couldn't react in any sort of way that would make them seem less than willing to cooperate with the humans. But she had promised that she would take care of the others. Somehow she had to try and enforce her vow. Plans and ways of ensuring safety were already running through the back of her mind, a habit that she had picked up ever since the Night Furies had first started to look up to her as a leader. Hopefully she could be able to build off of it.

"I promise." Toothless murmured softly, taking in her worried state and knowing that he would have to work fast. Hiccup. Hiccup was the backbone to this. If there was anybody that could save them now, it would have to be him. "Keep them safe. You and the others. I know you can." Mistyeyes nodded tensely at this, bracing her shoulders as if she were holding up the importance of her duty. Toothless' eyes softened and he leaned over to lick her one last time before turning and racing away like the others had done in front of him. Mistyeyes watched him go, blue eyes heavy with sadness before turning back and meeting the others' gazes.

"What do we do now?" Shadowclaw asked, looking up at the adult with a worried look.

"The best that we can." Mistyeyes answered hollowly.

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A/N: So yeah! :3

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