A/N: I am SO sorry. Really, I am. You guys have no idea how much I appreciate those that decided to keep on waiting for the newest chapter— I had no idea I've been gone for this long! Something really tragic and awful occurred recently and I didn't want that to affect my writing in any way because with such a wait and patience that you guys showed deserved a lot more than that. But I figured that I couldn't put it off any longer and since my Christmas just kind of got shoved out the window, I have a lot of free time now after Finals to work on this chapter and give you all what you've been watching for as best I could.

I really hope you all can forgive me. And I hope that I can hear from you all again! Heaven knows I need some cheering up, and being able to read from you all once more would definitely help ^-^

P.S.: You'll notice that I changed the name format for Clearsky. I just did that for continuity's sake…I don't know why I put it in two words, I wasn't thinking. Someone pointed it out to me and I just now got the time to go back and fix it because I realized what a flaw it was. So yeah lol…

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The reaction was acute and instantaneous. Humans, who had previously been shouting in the whirlwind of chaos and slight confusion, were halted mid-swing with their swords, eyes widening to grow three times their normal size. Dragons alike jerked to a sudden halt, looking just as startled and confused as they whipped around to face in the general direction of the noise that had ripped itself through the rain-beaten air. The mighty howl sounded as if it had come from either a ragingly-furious Night Fury, or one in an immense amount of pain to which the only outlet was the harsh scream. However, neither of the two stood in the place of where the yowl had come from.

Rather, it was the form of a slim, rather small Night Fury. A dragon that, though they stood erect and forward, betrayed their inner caution as their tail was found shaking with a slight nervous tremor. Her ears were slicked back against her head, and not just in protection against the rain as all sounds suddenly died from the forest around her. And though the dragon couldn't see the things that were around her, she was left feeling unnaturally hot and warm under the freezing rain with all the stares boring into her scales.

But the dragon was steeled against it all— she had forced herself to become as such. Her blinded eyes, scarred and left foggy long ago, were narrowed against it all, and she took in a quick breath, finding that, on the inside, it did not seem to fill up her lungs properly. On the inside, Nightflight was shaking head to tail, cursing her blindness in the newfound light that she was left helpless in her surroundings. She could not gauge the reactions to her outburst— she could not even be sure whether or not her efforts were successful, or whether the Vikings had just been caught off-guard by the seemingly-random actions of a random dragon. How was she to know if what she was doing was correct or effective? She couldn't.

This pause, in which the female allowed her inner self to fret and worry as all actions were switched off and all eyes went to her, seemed much longer that it really was. A century in the timespan of a few mere seconds. Such a small amount of time was all that she could spare, really. Anything more and the surprise would wear off as well as the attention that was now focused solely on her, and so Nightflight sucked in another deep breath, quick and sharp as it scraped against her throat only to be shot out quickly once more in another yell. "You have to stop this!" She ordered, her voice vibrating with a sense of authority that she had not used since the last Raid that she had led against this very island she was standing upon. It was an odd feeling to be using it again— though this time the motive was far different than it had been before. Opposite now, and she was fighting not for the destruction of the island, but for something that could quite literally serve as its saving grace. "You all have to stop before things get any worse!" She continued, digging her claws deep into the spongy mud that her feet were sinking down into.

In the light of her sharpened hearing, Nightflight was aware of the reaction that arose. She stiffened with every gasp that met her ears, every sharp yell of surprise, and every shout of anger that rose from the humans. Her chest constricted tightly, and breathing suddenly became difficult, yet she remained collected on the outside, appearing only gravely satisfied to the others that were around her. Was it working, then? The sounds that met her ears…it could only be the product of some horrified kind of realization. And so she struggled on, desperately wishing she could see— such a gift, though impossible, would help her greatly. "Please; you have to listen to me and hear the words that I'm saying!" She yelled. "We come in peace! We've come to try and—"

Her words were drowned out immediately, the dragoness being forced to cut herself off as her voice became lost in the chorus of many others. Shouts came up from all around, many emotions making themselves known, ranging from anger, to surprise, to confusion, to panic. And Nightflight cringed back slightly at the yells that rose up above the drumming of the rain. "What's going on!?" "Is that dragon…!?" "It's another one of its tricks!" "Kill it!" "Somebody do something!" "Don't give it the chance to take us too!" Momentarily caught off-guard by the foul comments, those barbed with such hatred and vehemence, Nightflight took a small step backwards, her blinded eyes widening just slightly under the sudden wave.

Mistyeyes, who had straightened just slightly under the slow realization that whatever Nightflight had done this time had worked, was slowly losing her minimally-gained hope. The gray Night Fury had stood by and watched, gauging the way that the humans conducted themselves under the efforts of Nightflight. And sure enough, the Vikings had stilled, their eyes had flashed, and there seemed to have been a connection made between them and the Night Fury in question. Since all eyes had turned to the dragon in the first place, and since she had been situated near the back corner of the dense clearing, Mistyeyes could only assume that it meant everyone would be able to react to Nightflight and what she said.

For the briefest of moments, movements had ground to a halt, silence had reigned, and weapons had been all but lowered. The female had started to allow herself just the smallest hint of hope, one that managed to blossom inside of her chest as she wondered if such an accomplishment of making contact could be established, and whether or not it would be warranted. However it didn't seem to be that easy. Mistyeyes lowered her head slightly as the violence started to take over once more, though the dragoness quickly shook off everything— putting every detail off from her mind as she forced herself to focus.

Now that the events had unfolded the way they had, there wasn't an alternative. The Night Furies had been forbidden to attack the humans, and it was clear that such a promise was starting to cause conflicts as Mistyeyes could see several of the dragons around her growing tenser underneath the weight of the violence that was starting to make itself known. They had bided their time for as long as they could — ducking and weaving and spinning out of the way of any attacks centered towards them — but it would not be able to hold up for much longer at all. Especially taking into consideration that the younglings were now involved. River had taken liberty of sneaking most of them away during the fighting— Mistyeyes figured that they were probably hiding within earshot of the clearing and the scene that was going on. But Night Furies couldn't stay hidden forever; that much had been proven in the events of tonight if nothing else.

Now the main focus — her main focus — was to keep Nightflight safe and out of danger. If she could do that, they might have a chance. Because until Toothless got back with Hiccup, and until Nightflight managed to make the humans see sense, the Night Furies would be rendered useless. They couldn't take off in this ongoing storm— it was still considered too strong for any kind of take-off. And they couldn't fight back against the humans, not even enough to subdue them. They could not resort to violence, under any means, or they could wipe out any chance at all of making peace. Mistyeyes growled deep in her throat, locking back her jaw and setting firmly into determination, letting out a ragged breath of air as she got back up to her feet, her eyes fixated on Nightflight.

The female had recovered as best she could. Stumbling briefly, the dragoness took in a quick breath, shaking her head to the side derisively as she struggled to move on. Turning, Mistyeyes tried to find where Stoick had gone, her vision wavering slightly as she tried to sort out the crowd that she was surrounded by. Brightsky had been the last dragon that was facing against Stoick, having leapt forward in the effort to help Mistyeyes, who had been buckling underneath everything. But she was gone as was the Chief, it seemed. Panic gripping her heart, Mistyeyes forced herself back into motion, looking every which way for the man.

Nightflight was struggling to regain attention. A few of the other humans had only seemed to grow more angry at this, lashing out at the nearest dragons, most of them being able to jerk out of the way just in time, but others letting out sharp growls of pain as a weapon slammed into their side. But though there was a sense of indignation or shock in the faces of the dragons around her, Mistyeyes could see similar hope there as well now that Nightflight seemed to have finally figured out how to make a connection with the Vikings. And it was clear that, even as the dragons started to turn slightly in order to keep track of the humans against them, their attention was mainly fixed on Nightflight as they waited for what the female would do next with this installment.

"Stop!" Nightflight shrieked, seeming to grow a little desperate with this plea as the humans started to fall under the realization of what seemed to be happening. "Everyone stop attacking! Don't you see what you're doing!? Do you see what you're doing to yourselves!? This has to stop; all of it does!" Her breathing had picked up slightly, and she forced her voice forward once more, trembling with the effort to make herself heard and understood. "This is no way for Vikings to live; don't you realize that? You have to remember how you were before! You can still—"

Nightflight was cut off suddenly, her words breaking away into a sharp gasp of shock as something was slammed into her. Mistyeyes immediately whipped around at the sound, her blue eyes widening in panic as she realized that while she was so busy looking for Stoick, she forgot to factor in the other headaches of the Village. Spitelout had rushed for Nightflight, looking positively emerged as he raised his weapon against the unsuspecting dragon. Mistyeyes let out a loud shout, throwing herself forward and letting out a cry of pain that the action introduced as she forced herself into the path of the fighter.

Saying a small —but begrudging — apology underneath her breath, Mistyeyes charged into the man before he could inflict damage onto Nightflight, tackling him to the ground and making sure that her claws remained sheathed. The man landed awkwardly, Mistyeyes seeing by the way that he remained on the ground that she had successfully knocked the wind out of him. Such a detail was crucial— she could be able to disarm him for a little while as he had to take time to recover. She staggered slightly as she too recovered from the action, wincing slightly as she backed up to stand closer to Nightflight. She had to pay more attention to what was going on, she told herself firmly. That was too close.

Nightflight looked shaken by the effort of attack, her eyes wide and her wings drooping slightly as she looked something akin to confused. Mistyeyes, gasping unevenly now, was looking around the entire clearing, heart sinking as she saw that others were starting to get the idea that Spitelout had as they started to make their way towards the female Night Fury. It was more than obvious that Nightflight was the dragon from before— she was the only blind dragon here and now she was asserting herself in speaking outright and doing her best to make the humans understand. And now that it worked, the evidence was only clearer. And now grudges and hatred were starting to be resurrected with the angry scowls and hate that caused the people around her to seethe. Mistyeyes winced slightly, and braced herself as best she could.

Clearsky seemed to realize this as well, his eyes widening as he jerked to attention. The male drew under himself, rushing forward as if to dash to Nightflight's side. But he was sidetracked, jerking backwards and standing firmly against the mud as he rounded on one of the approaching humans. He bared his teeth in a weak sort of snarl, and he narrowed his eyes in warning as his wings started to unfold against the sight of the sword that the Viking was holding in his right hand. His claws shot out against the squelching mess underneath him as the human slowed in their tracks, and he did his best to bar harm away from Nightflight, who had stiffened behind him. However, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the Viking who was now drawing the sword up against him, he let out a sharp yell, throwing it behind towards the female without looking back over his shoulder. "You're doing good, Nightflight!" He encouraged, gritting his teeth briefly in the vain desperation that he could help. "Keep it up!"

"They're not listening!" Nightflight yelled. "They won't listen to reason!"

Mistyeyes kept up her best, struggling to keep Spitelout pinned against the ground. But the task was tougher than she had first anticipated as the man wormed and thrashed out underneath her. She didn't want to use too much force or shoot out her claws on accident— that would only make things worse. So, grimacing with the effort that was being put into it all, she struggled to keep the man down as best she could. "You just have to keep trying, Nightflight!" She yelled, gasping and flinching between her words. "It's the only chance that we have right now! Just keep on talking! We'll—" She tried to finish her words, but she wasn't able to do so while also concentrating on what she was doing. Panic was pressing down firmly on her chest as she struggled, and she tried to focus her vision down on the singular matter at hand as best she could.

Nightflight inhaled sharply. Yet again she was left wishing that Mistyeyes could retain her patience and kindness that she had showed before ever since they had first started back for Berk. Now, in the middle of all this chaos, and in the face of everything starting to crumble apart, the gray dragoness was more than pushing. But it wasn't just her, Nightflight knew. The other dragons were just the same— just like she was. But what amount of frustration would help matters in any way? She struggled to take in a controlled breath, to keep her voice collected and strong once more as she raised it into a yell once again. And though it was a hard and seemingly-impossible feat, she knew that she couldn't allow herself any other alternative.

"Look around you!" Nightflight yelled. "Look at what you've been reduced to! Look at what you've become! I did this for the sole reason of trying to open your eyes and make you see! I'm not trying to cause any harm— none of us are! If you could listen to me, you could be able to know the errors of your ways just as I have seen mine! But if you don't listen to me, and if you don't see any sense, then all you have left is—"

"Demon!"

"Get her!"

"Kill her before she kills us all!"

"She's taking control of us, just like she did to Toothless!"

Her words died off, inability to finish her efforts coming as a response to the yells and shouts rising up around her. She weakened slightly, a noise of distress worming up softly underneath her breath as it was wrenched from her throat. A tremor crawled down her spine, and fora moment, distress and failure started to drown her, as thick and suffocating as water. She had made the humans hear her words, but she could not seem to make them understand. She couldn't communicate through the barrier that was standing in between the Night Furies and the humans— the barrier that, consciously or not, she had built a long, long time ago. And, like it always seemed to do, it was coming back now to haunt her.

Other dragons were struggling to try and help her. Leap, who had followed Mistyeyes' lead to help shield Nightflight from the humans, was now crouched in front of Mulch, her ears flat as she too tried to speak. "What are you doing?" She roared, more frightened than angry as she ducked and weaved around him, only pushing far enough as to swat him away, causing him to backtrack and ultimately keeping him rooted away from the female dragon who was still struggling to make contact. Others were starting to realize the new battle plan— that or at least they were trying to adopt something similar to it. The Night Furies had started to fall back to be closer to her, claws and teeth shown more as warnings than anything as the others tried to take up contact as well. However, continued contact just seemed to confuse the humans more. It was a confusing situation on both of their ends, and it was clear that each side was struggling to find a way through to the other. Both for different reasons and motives of course, but they were mirror in the way that they were trying to function.

Mistyeyes was still holding the thrashing Spitelout down against the ground, leaning back in order to steer clear away from his weapon or within reaching distance of it at least. The difficulty was much like trying to hold down a fish against the ground, and gradually she was losing her patience. However, as she stole a glance up to Nightflight to try and see what was going on, she froze immediately, her blood freezing in her veins as her dilated into panicked slits. From behind Nightflight, in the sparse space that was left behind her, was Stoick. Mistyeyes had been looking for him before in the crowd, though with the sudden appearance of Spitelout, she had been sidetracked and had left the man slip from her mind. However now she realized what a tragic mistake that was as the man started towards Nightflight, the dragoness' back to the man as the blind dragon was painfully unaware of what was going on.

Mistyeyes looked from one man to the other, her eyes wide and fretful as she antagonized inwardly between the two options she was left with. Dealing with Stoick would leave Spitelout open to attack as well; and vice versa if she went with her other way out. Quickly, she turned and barked over to Clearsky without much explanation at all, causing the dragon to look over from where he was squaring off with another —lesser— opponent. "Take him!" She snapped, not leaving the male much time to reply before she dashed away, racing over and narrowing her eyes against the rain as it slammed back into her as she broke into a sprint.

Nightflight was struggling to retain whatever ground she had gained recently. Taking in a deep breath, the female tried again, obviously growing short of her efforts by the tone of her voice. "Please!" She roared, ducking her head slightly. From behind her, Stoick started to raise his sword, and Mistyeyes pushed herself faster. "I'm trying to make amends for everything that's happened before, but there's no point if you won't even—" Stoick started to bring the weapon down, his eyes slits of anger and hate as he aimed for the dragon.

Mistyeyes let out a sharp cry that ripped out from her throat. "Nightflight!" She screamed. The other immediately stiffened, her eyes winding as she turned in the direction that the voice had come from. However Mistyeyes was already charging forward, and by the time that Nightflight turned, she had already reached her. And quickly, rash in her movements thanks to the alarm that was thrilling through her, she knocked Stoick out of the way, crashing into his side and immediately causing the Chief to be launched to the right, effectively away from Nightflight as his sword clattered out of his hands as well. Nightflight let out a startled noise at the realization of what had almost happened, but Mistyeyes was unable to reply, her face creasing over with the pain that was invoked by the sharp movements as she found herself crumbling down against the mud, a strangled noise coming out from the back of her throat as she collapsed.

Nightflight perked, her eyes rounding out in confusion as she stumbled, unsure where to look exactly as she stared in her blank yet intent fashion. "Mistyeyes?" She demanded, sounding frightened at the noise that reached her ears. "Mistyeyes, are you hurt? What happened? What's going on?" Mistyeyes cringed, attempting to force herself up, yet wincing as the effort only caused fire to course along her side. Nightflight repeated her incessant questions of concern, lapsed in what was at hand for a moment over the sudden change in her friend. "Mistyeyes, are you okay?"

The gray dragon winced, craning her neck to the side a little awkwardly as she looked down, unfolding her wings which had been tucked close to her body previously in such a manner as to hold herself together. Now that she allowed herself to uncurl though, Mistyeyes' stomach clenched uncomfortably as she realized how bad the wound had actually gotten. Blood was sticky along her side, thick around the deep gash that had etched itself into her flank, and as it had clotted against the side of her wing, the removal of the pressure caused enough pain for her to flinch deeply. The rain the was pelting down from the sky was like needles on the injury, and quickly, hissing quickly through gritted teeth, Mistyeyes quickly shot her wings back down to her side, trying to add pressure on the deep tear and suppress its bleeding. Already, blood was coating down her side— she couldn't leave any more room lest she find herself weakened even more.

"Mistyeyes?" Nightflight asked again, realization seeming to settle over her from the noises that Mistyeyes was making as the dragon attempted repeatedly push herself up to her feet once more. Her eyes rounded out yet again, and when she spoke, her voice had lowered significantly. "Are you hurt?" When Mistyeyes didn't reply, only getting into an upright position and regaining her balance, Nightflight only pressed further. "Did you get hurt just now? What happened?"

"No." She said quickly, shaking her head and struggling to narrow down her shaking vision to try and see where Stoick was. If he had already gotten back up to his feet, then they were in a large amount of trouble. "No, it—it was from before. When I first found you. Stoick was going to hit you, there was no other way to try and—" She grimaced, her voice growing thick for a moment as a sting of pain dug claws into her side. "It was either I jump in front of you, or you got impaled, and I couldn't let that happened. You're our last chance in getting this all sorted out…" Once again, her face crossed over with agony, and she tried to shake it off again. But it was getting harder and harder the more that Mistyeyes was forcing herself to undertake, and by now it was getting near the impossible region.

"Mistyeyes!" Nightflight's voice was choked and shocked. "How could you have done that? How could you have put yourself at risk for—"

She didn't get to finish; she couldn't. A sudden weight against her side was enough to knock the breath out of her, and she was sent sprawling against the ground, skidding in the slick mud nearly three feet. Head spinning and lungs squeezing in on themselves, Nightflight struggled to sit up, her eyes wide at the sudden change. She tried to recollect herself as best she could— the pitch-black world around her was truly weighing down on her, rendering her as useful as a youngling trying to fly in the means of sorting things out.

Mistyeyes saw the problem very clearly despite the way that her eyesight was shaking back and forth unevenly by now. The gray dragoness gave a shout of distress as her friend was shot to the side, and she called out frantically as she tried to follow the dragoness. But as soon as she started to lift her foot in order to walk, a heavy weight came into contact with her as well, however she found herself pressed instead deep into the thick muddy ground. Her attacker was unknown as they pinned her from the backside, but the identity was unneeded— all she knew was that she was unable to reach Nightflight and help her. And if something happened to Nightflight, they would have no chance— after all, they barely had one in the first place to begin with. It was why she had thrown herself in between Stoick's sword and Nightflight to earn herself this injury that was boring into her scales. If they didn't have Nightflight, they had nothing.

Nightflight scrambled up quickly, reeling from shock as she blinked rapidly. She perked her ears, struggling to find out what was going on. Around her she could hear millions of other voices raised back and forth— some in anger some in almost-piteous desperation. The sound of swinging weapons and warning growls were like background noise to what was going on, and though the dragons were pushing with phrases such as: 'Please listen' or 'Stop doing this' it was just useless. What were they missing? What piece were they missing from this? They had done everything right, everything required of them. And yet it still wasn't working.

So what were they missing?

"Devil." Nightflight stiffened at the new voice, not mistaking the deep tone as her blood ran cold. She looked quickly towards the voice, basely managing to hold back her gasp as she heard Stoick's voice against her eardrums. Her claws sunk into the ground, her ears flattening as she crouched lower to the ground, the mud sticking to her belly and only increasing her discomfort. But the fact was trivial and meaningless; every single fiber of her attention was fixed firmly onto what was in front of her now, and, for the millionth time, she begged for sight. Stoick was approaching her now, she could tell by the weighted sound of his voice, and the way that his voice got louder, however minuscule the change was. "You won't win again." Came the growl again, and she swallowed thickly.

"…Stoick." She whispered softly, her voice lower and subdued now as she edged backwards slightly. There was a long pause, and Nightflight quickly drew in another sharp intake of breath, forcing herself to straighten. She had to remain calm. She had to try and sort it all out. It was all she had left to do, and she couldn't accomplish anything like that if she was stricken with fright. Yet bravery was a hard thing to come by and accomplish in the light of her situation, and her voice betrayed her straightened stature as she continued on, distantly hearing the weighted footsteps of Stoick as the chief edged closer. She pictured the curve of a sword— the same sword that had dug deep into Mistyeyes' side to invoke the sharp noises of pain that the dragon had heard. "You have to listen to me." She pressed thinly, speaking through clenched teeth to ensure that they wouldn't chatter in fear. "This…this won't fix anything. You know that." She murmured.

Stoick only laughed slightly in the back of his throat, a deep, grave kind of laugh that caused another lump to swell in the back of Nightflight's throat. "You won't do it to me." He growled, Nightflight wincing just slightly as her feet shuffled slightly in the mass of wet dirt. "You could do it to Hiccup's dragon…and you could do it to the rest of 'em too." There was a small pause before the man went on, and when he did, his voice was much lower than before, more menacing. There was a hateful sting to the back of his tone that was enough to slap Nightflight across the face. "You even did it to my son." He snarled, Nightflight's heart freezing over. "…But you won't do it to me. Or anybody else. I'll make sure of that."

"You don't understand." Nightflight pressed, looking directly at him now as she could almost picture the man perfectly. His narrowed eyes, burning in a smoldering fire of hatred. She could picture the way that he held tight to his sword, his knuckles white with the force that it took. She could hear the pain in his voice that vibrated in in every syllable, and for a moment she was simply lost in how she could possibly reply. However she shook her head quickly, ducking down slightly as she struggled to retain her composure. "You have it all wrong; I'm only acting for what—"

"Enough!" Stoick roared, cutting off the dragon as she winced, clamping her jaws shut. "You won't have the chance to do anything else; I'll make sure of it." She shook her head quickly, straightening as she tried to speak again. But the dragon couldn't get out a single sound before Stoick was speaking again. "You've ruined everything. You and the whole lot of the Night Furies. And this time we're not going to let any of you escape." His words dripped with fury and pent-up anger, and Nightflight's stomach fell down to the ground.

Stoick locked his jaw backwards, every inch of the man radiating white-hot anger and loathing. From his side, he began to draw his sword, and from where she was prostrate on the ground, Mistyeyes let out a yowl of anguish the ripped from the very bottom of her soul. Nightflight ducked her head down so that her chin was pressed against her chest, her wings folding forward and wrapping around her in the attempt to create a sort of shield.

Inevitably, her thoughts went to Stormfly as she did this. Sure, such an act such as this would leave her wings to be shredded beyond repair. But if that was all that would happen to her, that was okay. She could handle such a consequence. And perhaps she deserved it. To have a consequence that would weigh out at least some of what she had inflicted onto others. Because she certainly wasn't going to attack in response. She was blind and lost and confused— if she tried to attack it would only be a rather obvious death wish on her part. But not only that, she refused to cause any more damage at all in any way. No, she wouldn't attack. And she had certainly done all she could so far. And maybe they could figure it out, she realized. Even if something were to happen to her, it didn't change the fact that the dragons could be understood now. Even if she didn't survive thanks to the weight of prejudice over her shoulders, they could still stand a chance. She told herself this firmly; after what she had finally managed…was it enough?

"Nightflight!"

The dragon stiffened, eyes wide as her neck snapped up in shock. She knew that voice. She would be able to identify that voice even if she were to lose her hearing along with her eyesight. "Toothless?" She screeched, surprised and shocked as she momentarily lost track of what was going on. And sure enough, Toothless was streaking forward. Managing to gain a few feet of altitude off of the ground, the Night Fury flew directly over the heads of the others, barreling through the rain as if he had been launched out of a catapult. The dragons looked up and around Nightflight there grew a large chorus of cheers and relief, nearly earth-shattering in the effect that it held.

That could only mean one single thing.

Hiccup.

Hiccup was leaning forward, his eyes narrowed into slits and his expression wrought with precise thought. He barely reacted to the cheers and yells that came from below; but he did drink up every single detail of the scene that he had walked into. It wasn't a sight to behold. Although the dragons outnumbered the humans quite plainly, they were refraining from as much contact as they could. That meant that they were losing a lot of ground in the way that they were struggling to appear friendly while also trying not to be stabbed through. Granted, such a thing was difficult to do in the first place, so they were doing well for the task they had in front of them.

But dry humor aside.

Hiccup glanced back briefly to Astrid, who wrapped one hand around his waist to hold on, and used the other to hold Ludi snugly against her side. The blonde caught his gaze, and after a small beat of silence in between them, she gave a simple nod of unspoken affirmation. And against himself and what was going on around them, the boy couldn't help but feel a rushing hot wave of affection and relief in the face that the old Astrid was back. The one that could pick up on the littlest things— the one that he could hold a conversation with just by staring into her eyes. And once the thought was confirmed, he looked back down at Toothless, whose green eyes were obviously elsewhere. "You got get Mistyeyes!" Hiccup ordered, though the words would have probably been heeded even without the suggestion in the first place.

No sooner had he said that, did Hiccup turn, Astrid following suit as the two of them slid off of the gliding Night Fury. They landed in sync, twin splashes on the ground as they landed squarely beside Nightflight, who was still stunned by the sudden appearance. Astrid landed gracefully, with barely a thud to betray her. However Hiccup was far from similar, the teenager staggering at once with a choking cry of pain that he did his best to hold back, the firing pain wrapping around his ankle like a chokehold. However Astrid immediately shifted, pressing her side against his and helping to support him and assist him in recovering as best she could. Hiccup grimaced a little as he forced weight onto the injury, but he pushed it away. Instead he narrowed his eyes, forcing his chin up to lock eyes with his father.

It felt like ages since he'd done it. Looked at Stoick. The last time he had, it was in the course of being thrown into his room and locked inside. He hadn't known what to expect upon arrival— something at least a little different maybe. But not this. He hadn't expected to see his father so strung— he almost looked something like a novice. Someone who was unsure of what they were doing; and such a detail was usually never applied to someone as great as Stoick the Vast. However the man in front of him hardly fit the title. His eyes were rimmed with darkened circles, and they seemed confused and slightly lost as they stared over to the younger. He looked…smaller. That was the idea that came to Hiccup's mind as he clashed gazes.

But then again, he was quite a sight too. And a bloody one at that.

Silence filled the clearing. Not just in between Stoick and Hiccup, but everyone else as well. A hush settled over at the sight of the new arrival, though the angry stares and tension hanging in the air was not in the slightest removed. In fact, maybe it was a little elevated by their appearance. Hiccup tried to search for something to say— in retrospect he probably should have planned his speech out a bit more on the way over. But surprisingly, the first one to speak was Stoick, and when he did, his voice was left almost as a hoarse whisper. "…Hiccup." He murmured softly, barely audible in the depths of the rain around them.

Hiccup paused a moment, glancing around briefly. At the crowd of battle-drawn Vikings, at the confused and desperate gazes of the dragons, and then even at the ground for the briefest of seconds. But then he responded, his voice just as subdued. He wished that he could have returned the greeting. Said something that could try and communicate the emotions that he had been overwrought with recently. There was a lot that he wished he could say…but he couldn't. All he could manage was a weak: "…Dad…what are you doing?" He whispered softly. His forehead creased over, and he tried to wrap his arm around his stomach in the attempt to try and hold himself together. "…What is anyone doing? Do you even know anymore?"

The questions seemed to snap his father out of whatever reverie he was in. His eyes steeled over in an odd sort of way, and Hiccup felt an awful sense of disappointment at the —probably inevitable— metamorphosis. His father seemed to grow almost angry again, and his voice was flat again as he said in a short, staccato style: "Hiccup. Move out of the way."

Yet Hiccup's reply was just as instantaneous. "No." He stated firmly, actually taking a step to the side and planting himself directly in front of Nightflight now. His father scowled deeply at this, and Hiccup struggled not to bend underneath the hot stare. "I won't." He growled as he went on. Forced to stand up on his own now, the boy swayed slightly from side to side. But if his stance was shaking, his voice was anything but as he spoke. "This has to stop. She just wants to make peace— they all do. That's why we've come all this way. You could just at least listen to what we have to say— you can't just keep killing. It won't fix anything."

"She's got you too." Stoick rasped, a hint of his extreme fury underlying his tone as he looked at his son as if he were some foreign thing he had never experienced before. "She's got you under her spell."

"No she doesn't Dad, can't you hear yourself?" Hiccup protested, struggling to add power to his voice, which was inherently weak by now. "Don't you hear how stupid you sound?" He demanded, taking a small step backwards to be closer to Nightflight. "She didn't make me forgive her; I chose to do that for myself. And you can do that same thing if you just open your eyes to see what's past your nose. She needs to—"

"I don't want to hear anything from her." He snarled, slicing Hiccup's words in half as the boy winced from the sheer anger that vibrated in every syllable.

"Then will you listen to me?" Hiccup resorted, his eyes rounding out slightly as he looked up almost pleadingly at his father. "…Will you listen to your son?" He pressed weakly.

Stoick didn't reply.

"…Please?" Hiccup murmured softly, looking at him searchingly.

"Why should we listen to you?" A new voice spat. Hiccup turned and looked in its direction, his heart falling at the sight of Spitelout as his uncle paced forward towards them. Hiccup drew back a little farther at the new approach, and he had to control himself in order not to show the extreme distaste that rose up in the back of his throat at the sight of the man, especially in light of recent events. "You're just as much a traitor as that thing is." He spat in the direction of Nightflight. "You brought her here— three times now. Her and the rest of them. You're a filthy traitor to the island of Berk!"

Hiccup's reply was quick and sharp. "I'm anything but!" He snapped. "I'm here to help you—"

"Help us be picked off one by one? Burned by a bunch of these blasted dragons?" Spitelout demanded. "You don't realize that we don't want these things here! You keep pushing and now it's gone too far! You've gone too far, Hiccup! Step down, or you'll find yourself regretting stepping a single foot back on this island." His words were thick with anger as he added this last part, and in spite of what the boy figured was really wise, the emotion caused some of Hiccup's own anger to be stirred in the back of his throat.

"You didn't listen to me about the dragons before." He growled, his hands fisting at his sides as his dug his nails deep into his palms. "What makes you think this is anything different? What makes you think that I'm not right about this time around?"

Spitelout's only reply was to spit out two words, separated and detached as he growled lowly through his teeth. "Step. Down."

Astrid's eyes narrowed, and she stepped to the side as well to join Hiccup, her shoulders lining up squarely with his as she took up a stance close beside the boy, close enough to help support him once again. The other dragons took this symbol, a new kind of hope starting to leak into their eyes at the sight of their leader back at the head of the Pack. Nightflight, situated behind the two teenagers, shifted forward ever so slightly so that she was close behind them, the blind dragon getting back up to her feet now and struggling to recollect herself as she tilted her chin up slightly. Off to the side, Toothless had managed to shove aside the Viking that had been holding down Mistyeyes, shooing them away with a derisive snort and a couple of warning jabs and nips. And now the male was hunkered over the female, nosing her worriedly and only stopping every so often to look over at Hiccup, torn between his two concerns.

Hiccup's eyes only slitted further. He was not deterred by the words, and despite the way that his knees were threatening to buckle in on themselves, he leaned into the pain. He steeled himself against it and refused to let it overtake him. This was bigger than him now— he couldn't stop because of this. "You'll listen to what we have to say." He ordered, actual authority in his voice as he sized up the much older man. Spitelout's look in reaction to the supposed order was fit to kill. As was the weapon that was clasped tightly in his hands. But it didn't stop Hiccup. "You will listen to what we came here for." He repeated, even firmer than before.

Astrid was looking between Hiccup and Spitelout. As she looked over at the boy, and as her eyes met his, there was an undeniable sense of happiness harbored underneath the worry and fretting that served as the primary levels. She was proud of him, he could tell. Proud and admiring, but mostly happy to be able to be back with him after all of this. Catching the proud gleam in her eye, and being able to see the sense of hope that was starting to settle over the Night Furies in the clearing…it was just another weight. Another thing to have pressing down on his burdened shoulders. He had to make sure that he lived up to all that could— he had to try and make things right. Not just for himself and the dragons, but for everyone as well. He had a large mess to clean up, and he knew that failure wasn't an option anymore. But he also knew that this was the final chance— he was on his last rope. And now he was faced with two sides— one full of hope with cautious smiles and expectant looks, and the other filled with stares of hostility and blame, expectant only in the idea that they were waiting for his demise.

All of this accumulated at once, and he had some kind of death wish on himself.

But at least…if worst came to worst…he would have died for a cause. For a purpose.

…And that was better than nothing.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

A/N: Hopefully you liked it! And that it made up for the long wait! And before you can ask I will defiantly update sooner than I have been! I plan to finish this story if I can before school starts back up again, actually. And then…I'm not sure where to go from there :)

But yeah! Please give me your feedback on how you think things are going so far!