Summary:
Silverwings has been able to accept the fact that her lover Nighthawk has a close bond with a human. Through ups and downs she eventually is able to fully accept Hiccup. Nighthawk is overjoyed to meet his children. He reveals there is a company of dragons and humans nearby who, if she is willing to visit Berk, will carry her children.

She agrees to this, and the party departs for Berk. In the previous chapter they spend a night on the eastern side of the mountain range that separates them from the ocean, while the next day they fly over the mountains and reach the ocean. Silverwings settles in the routine of flying and gets to know the dragons better.
She fondly recalls the night before the departure when she listened enraptured to Finnar playing the harp and singing a song of glory to Hiccup and Toothless. She is overwhelmed so much, that she needs a day to recover. While spending that day alone with Nighthawk and her children, she speaks out her wish to bond for life. It results in two dragons who couldn't be happier.

A note on geography: In my story the location of Berk corresponds with that of Iceland, though it is smaller. But it is only one (though the biggest) of several widespread islands. Sort of Iceland fragmented into an archipelago. A nearby island, Sont, is briefly mentioned in this chapter.
Only recently I found out that the writer of the original HTTYD books, Cressida Cowell, based Berk on her impressions as a child of a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland, which is far more south.

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Chapter 9. The Ocean

One day of rest
It was agreed that here, on the oceanfront, we would take one day of rest because the next stretch also was going to be a long flight: crossing the ocean to reach the first tiny islands would again take most of a day. That will be as hard on the yearlings as yesterday's flight over the mountains. After tomorrow the journey will become far more easy, something they call island-hopping. All in all, it is expected that we will reach Berk within three days.
Indeed, a long flight like yesterday's was almost too much for the yearlings. Last night they flopped down on my paws and softly sobbed their distress, too tired to do anything else. After a comforting wash from both their father and me they huddled tightly together, having missed one another too much.

But this morning they were their merry selves again. By midmorning we found a large tidal pool filled with sun heated water and now they were happily splashing around. Nighthawk and I rested on the rocks between the pool and the ocean, with both of our tails dangling in the water. To my surprise there were no waves to be seen and yet the water of the ocean slowly rose and fell, rose and fell, pleasantly moving our tails.
"It is called the 'breathing of the ocean'" Nighthawk told me "it seems to have a life of its own. This rising and falling of the water tells you that the land here falls away steeply." He continued smugly "If the land gradually slopes down you get surf."
"This is your world, dragon-of-the-sun-down-realm" I stated dryly, flicking an ear. I had to rely on him and his knowledge now and that didn't sit well with me yet.
"Yes, this is my home, lady-of-the-taiga, the ocean, its islands and the sky overhead" he replied smoothly, lifting his tail and splashing me with water. Too lazy to retaliate I looked back at our tails.
"I am amazed at how clear the water is: you can clearly see our tails. The water of the lakes is murky or somewhat clear at best, but nothing like this. It is like another sky."
He chuckled "That's a nice way to put it! And true, for when you hunt in it you kind of fly, using your wings. You should try that, Silverwings. Why don't you learn to swim today?"
"I'd like that! But not yet, I like to watch the children a bit longer."

We both watched them play in the pool. Earlier they had splashed around in the water, getting to know this new element. The way it hindered them in their speed, knocking their paws from under them, the way it lifted them up in the deeper part, the saltiness of it. Now they played in it, exploring everything, tugging at seaweed, stirring up crabs and other critters, chasing after tiny fish. Everything they found they showed to Nighthawk so he could name it: starfish, shrimp, clam... But even little prey sometimes comes at a cost and we had to free a yelping Boulder from a crab that pinched his nose.
"They take to the water just fine, don't they" Nighthawk said "the way they are completely unafraid, the way their noses close when they dip their heads in. It's all there."
"It's all there" I agreed.

Nighthawk heaved a big sigh. "I love them so much, Silverwings. Their eager little bodies and sparkling eyes. Their wings, tails, little talons, all so neat and perfect. The way they differ in character already. And their smell, so sweet and light; one whiff makes my heart ache. They are so full of life and brave, Silverwings, but also so small and vulnerable. I'd wish to keep them under my wings so nothing can happen to them. And they accepted me completely and look up at me with total trust. It's… frightening. What did I ever do to earn that trust? Sooner or later I will fail them. What if -"
His words were cut short by a lick of me over his snout.
"But -" he started again.
An even wetter slobber over his nose made him sneeze and snap out of his worry. A goofy look crept over his face when he looked at me, ears perked up.
"I feel the same, my mate, but we're in this together now" I said.
"Together… that feels good. Solid." he concluded.

"Now that you mention solidity, I have a hollow feeling inside. Could it be you forgot about the fish you promised me?" I asked him casually.
"Could it be I forgot to mention you have to catch them yourself?" he countered smugly.
"You-"
"Huh huh huh, you stay here" he said, getting up. "Wavedancer!" he shouted to the male Nadder "Care to do some fishing?" To me he added "I nearly always hunt together with Wavedancer. Under water my steering is also a bit off, so I need him to give me a push in the right direction whenever I get in a current or something. I do hunt alone, but then I do not dive deep." Casting a last glance at the children he said "Maybe you should call the children out of the water: they start to shiver." Nighthawk was right, so I walked away from the ocean front and called them to me. Indeed they were shivering and felt cold to the tongue. But nothing a bit of heat couldn't cure. I decided a special treat was in order, and made them lie on my belly, so they basked in the heat from both my body and the sun. I had positioned myself so that I could watch the ocean. There the heads of Wavedancer and Nighthawk kept reappearing, and every now and then they flung a fish on the rocks.

Suddenly Smasher, who was standing watch from the cliffs, barked an alarm. The little ones had just dozed off. What! Carefully I rolled around. The yearlings slid onto the ground, mumbling protests. I looked in the direction the other dragons were focussed on: two specks coming straight at us, following the shoreline at high speed. Quickly I scanned around: nowhere to hide, just bare rock. Nighthawk and Wavedancer were under water. So I stepped over my children and assumed a fighting stance. I had not considered the other dragons, but to my surprise they surrounded me in a flash. The humans were also shouting, but I paid them no heed.

The specks grew into dragons. Would this be Thunderdrums? I had been told about these reclusive dragons. We had scanned around for them carefully, as the oceanfront is prime Thunderdrum territory. But no, they turned out to be Firehides, like Firestorm. At that moment I heard the voice of Nighthawk urging Wavedancer "Push me up, PUSH". The Firehides were not alone, as now we heard screams from humans riding them: "HEY. HEYAAH. We found you, Baldar. It's us, Yds and Eisse!"
Dragons and humans alike relaxed instantly. "Nothing to worry about, Silverwings" Smasher said, turning to me "two young empty-skulls from Berk." Whom did he refer to, I wondered, to the dragons or the humans?

By now they had landed and Baldar walked their way. "Sons of trolls, what are you doing here. Does uncle know you are here?" he scolded and gave them both a fair smack around the ears.
"Uhuh, he thinks we're camping out on Sont. But we found it more interesting to look for your party. Is that the fabled dragoness?"
"Yes, and not one step nearer or she will tear your heads off. Don't mess with lady Silverwings. Or Toothless, for that matter. They are protecting their dragonets, so watch out!"
The message didn't unphase them at all.
"Ha, good for you, Toothless. Hello there, beauty" one laughed.
"So she's coming!" the other said "Berk is going to hear this nice piece of news and they are going to hear it from us. See you there!" With that they jumped on the Firehides again who leapt into the air. Stunned, we all watched them disappear. "Idiots" Baldar grumbled in his beard "but they'll manage. There's still time enough to reach the first islands before dark."
"Thank you" I said to the dragons "for protecting me. You said you would… Thank you again." Hiccup placed the drowsy children on my belly again. I softly purred and soon they slept soundly.

That afternoon I learned to swim. That is, I became acquainted with these waters. I had done some paddling and flap-swimming in the lakes while fishing, mostly when a dive for fish went wrong. But that had always been in shallow waters as I had avoided the deep. Nighthawk and I let ourselves sink down in this blue world. I watched him, the sunlight playing on his hide, casting ever changing patterns. I imitated his moves and before long I too shot through the water, though not nearly as graciously as he. Wavedancer accompanied us, only needing to give Nighthawk a push every now and then. I can learn to do that too, I thought. I was mesmerised, both by the clarity of the water and the sun fracturing on the surface above us, and by Nighthawk 'flying' easily on his own, taking in his beauty.
"Come, my love" I whispered to him once we took a breath of air "let's sink down once more and celebrate your world." Amazed, he followed me down. Slowly I moved around him, stroking his hide with the whole length of my body. He caught my drift and did the same to me. Slowly we danced, danced away into the blue…

The uncommonly calm ocean made us decide to also give the yearlings their first real swimming experience. In the pool they had easily paddled in the deeper part so that should not be a problem once they were in deeper water. By now Nighthawk and I floated in the ocean while Wavedancer and Aura patrolled the deep to prevent any predator to shoot up from below. Everyone else had gathered at the water's edge to watch the spectacle.
We called the excited yearlings to us. All but one readily plunged into the water once it heaved their way and let it carry them down. At once they started to paddle and soon reached their father's outstretched wings. Except for Pinecone. She nervously eyed the heaving water, pattering this way and that. But hearing all call out to her she began to clamber down the sloping rock, tail first, little talons gripping the slippery surface. I paddled as close as I could get and told her "Let go, sweetie, mammy is here." At that moment she lost grip and with a yelp tumbled backwards in the water. I quickly put my head under the thrashing yearling and rose up with her. She coughed and sneezed. "Hello there" I said "hold on to me." Together we simply rode the water for a while and it didn't take long before I felt her body relax. We watched her siblings paddle and dive, and heard them call to her. After some time she let go of me and paddled the short distance towards them. I swam behind her. Once she reached her father's wing and held on to it, I let myself sink down to watch my other children. Oh, the sight! There they flew. There my sweetlings flew, winging themselves this way and that in front of their father. They had taken to the water so easily. They are true children of your being, my love.

Tumble went the deepest, and he was the fastest of them all. He was also the first to come to me and together we rose.
"I fly, mammy, did you see me? I fly, I fly" the happy thing wheezed out of breath.
"I saw you. Oh my son, you must be so happy! I know you want to fly so bad. I am so proud of you." I replied.
Soon after that Nighthawk and I paddled back to the rocks, the children clinging to us, for a sudden chilling breeze picked up. We swam to where the humans were pointing and laughing and came to where Hiccup and Kjell sat. Kjell went on his belly and with his huge hands scooped up one yearling after another, until they all stood on land again, shivering from cold and fatigue. Moments later they lay snuggled on our bellies, the little males with Nighthawk. It was a special treat, after a special moment. Our wings were loosely wrapped around them, to shield them from the wind. With my head near to Nighthawk's, I heard Tumble babble on to his father and Nighthawk grunt back to him. When his son finally had silenced, Nighthawk looked me in the eye and smiled "He is busy still, his wings twitch, even in his dreams he flies." I smiled back, enjoying the soft thump of three beating hearts.

A long day of flight again
By mid-morning the next day we were in the air above the vast emptiness of the ocean. It had become even windier than yesterday but luckily the wind was on our tail. I did not feel comfortable, flying in this emptiness. Ahead of us nothing was to be seen, not any sight of an island. Behind us the coast of the Mainland had all but disappeared over the horizon. Nighthawk spoke with me, sensing my discomfort. He assured me we were on the right track.
"How can you be sure of that?" I asked him "when there is nothing to go by?"
"There are signs" he replied. "By night you steer by the stars just like you do when flying over land. By day, you steer by the sun and the patterns of the waves. You know, somehow the waves of the ocean bounce off islands and form patterns that you can read. You will learn how to read them, just like I learned the landmarks of your region."

"But mostly I use these" he added and wriggled the lowest little flaps. "Maybe you have never been aware of these. The more you have to depend on them, the clearer they tell you where you are. Aren't you capable of always finding a certain spot back?"
"Yes" I replied "somehow I always know where I am. But I attributed it to the lay of the land."
"I am convinced that even now you would be able to find your way back to the nest without any help from us. What do you think?"
I considered it, Nighthawk could be right.
"Why don't we try?" he said. And before I knew I flew behind him with eyes closed, following his lead by hearing. He made me circle around and after I lost all sense of direction he told me "Now, fly back to the Mainland."

With my eyes still closed I wriggled the little flaps and something became apparent, a 'feeling' that gave me direction. Soon I sensed the direction I had come from and I took that course. I opened my eyes and looked back over my shoulder: I flew in the exact opposite direction of all others. So indeed I would be able to find my way back! That boosted my confidence and no doubt exactly that had been the aim of Nighthawk. Somehow I had never been aware of the help from the little flaps, as I always flew by landmarks or by the stars.

For a time we flew in silence. During this time I tried to discern patterns in the waves below me, but look what I may, I did not see them. While studying the ocean's surface I suddenly saw a fountain of water spout up in the air. And another.
"Look. Look! Sea dragons!" I exclaimed. "Look, there! Thundercloud is right: there are sea dragons that spout water instead of fire!"
My words were met by laughter. "Your Thundercloud knows a lot obviously from what you told us, but here he's wrong. Sea dragons do exist, but they are as rare as you Night Furies are, and they definitely spit fire like us" the dragons told me.
"No" Sunrise added "these here are the arrluk, that the humans call whales. And what you see is the humid breath they exhale. Go over there quickly" the Nadder urged "they will soon dive as they do not like us dragons to hover over them."
Indeed, there they were, three of them, like enormous fish. They did as I had been told: they dove under, graciously, despite their vastness. The last I saw of them was as they arched their mottled backs, finally lifting their flukes in the air before diving down.
"They moan and wail" Wavedancer told me. "When you dive you hear the sounds they make and think they are near. But they aren't. They must be very loud, as loud as they are big."

I was pleasantly surprised by it all. Today's journey was not as dull as I had imagined. It gave me much to think about. Though the children left me little peace. Especially Tumble called me again and again to him. "Mammy, can we go fly in the water again? Please, mammy, please?" I couldn't get across why that wasn't possible, and 'tomorrow' was too far away for consolation. So they started to mope again and all afternoon alternately whined or dozed. Poor things, tomorrow they will be able to play again.

During another time of quiet, I spoke in my thoughts to my brothers and to Thundercloud and shared my experiences. I did that every now and then and Nighthawk sometimes joined me. Thundercloud had introduced me to "the connection". In my memory I kept fresh the things he had said about it: "This is the way we Night Furies connect. If you touch me in love or care, you attach your strand of love to my being. The same with you, you can accept, or not, my strand of love to attach itself to your being. All strands are attached to one another like a spider's web. That connection spans the globe and keeps us Night Furies in touch, even though we are so rare."
He told me that in the past we had been able to do something with that connection. "But even still, if you feel lonely, or hurt, you can seek out the connection. My experience is, some solace will come to you, it smoothes the rough edges of life. But also: when you are happy you can feed it into the connection, you picture the Night Furies you know and share with them your happiness or the solution to a problem. This way your happiness eases the burdens of other Night Furies, wherever they might be, even though you may never meet them."
Thundercloud had looked worried when he added: "It seems though that somehow the web is broken on several places and that there are young Night Furies, like yourself, without knowledge of it. Luckily the gifts from the Creator remained alive in you and you shared them generously with me. But there might be loner-Night Furies that are not so lucky."
He had concluded his talk with a sudden passionate plea: "Do think about me sometimes, Happywings, my sweet. Please do and send me your thoughts."
I had done so regularly, except for the years that my soul lay buried in misery like a toad in the mud during winter. But ever since I met Nighthawk I developed a wish to rediscover the potential of the connection, though I had no clue how. Maybe he and I together can find out something and pass it on, at least to our children, but maybe to other Furies. Maybe even restore some of the broken web.

Because of the tailwind we arrived on the first island much sooner than estimated and, as the children dozed at the time, we decided to fly on to the next one. If the wind kept blowing favourably like this, it would shorten the journey considerably.

A (too) warm welcome
Today is the last short day of flight. It will not take long before we reach Berk. During the last two days everybody had been cranky, suddenly fed up with travelling. Irritations flared and loud snappy remarks were made, so much it intimidated the yearlings. They were subdued, silently peeking through the holes in their baskets. It should not have been a surprise to me but I had gotten too accustomed to dragons behaving friendly. It made it clear just how much cooperation there had been. Yet, despite the grumping and growling, all seemed to avoid a serious fight. Nighthawk told me that was the after effect of the war; nobody wanted to be at each other's throat anymore.

But this last day of the journey everyone is cheerful. Firestorm came flying next to me and told me that soon we would see some little islands. Once we reached those we should be able to see Berk, that is, if the weather is clear enough. I had become closer to the somewhat haughty Nightmare. She had finally given her speech the evening we reached the ocean. We watched the magnificent sight of the sun sinking down in the ocean in splendour, when suddenly Aura said "Firestorm, why don't you make your speech now? Isn't it a fine moment?" I liked the Nadder for that, because after the last failed attempt the Nightmare hadn't brought it up anymore. When the others also grumbled somewhat of an encouragement, she straightened herself. But when she put up a dignified face and opened her mouth, nothing came out. Flustered she whispered "I don't remember the words, I-ah…". While the others tried very hard not to laugh, she fumbled for words. But then suddenly she straightened herself and said decidedly "A Firehide will not fail a set task. Therefore, dear Silverwings, I wish to tell you how glad we all are that you come to visit Berk. On behalf of all the dragons on Berk I bid you a warm welcome." After giving it an additional nod, she sat down again. For a moment the other dragons looked stunned, then burst out "Hear, hear." "Best speech ever, Firestorm." "Especially the length of it! You should speak like this more often!" "Our compliments."
"Thank you, Firestorm" I said, a bit surprised at the sincerity I felt. But true, every dragon had done something to make me feel welcome. She had done it her way which is no less than any other's.

Suddenly it had felt right to announce something of our own. I sought Nighthawk's eyes and found a confirmation there.
"Listen please, I… we, too have something to say to you." That quickly got the attention and I continued "I will not only be visiting Berk. Both Nighthawk and I… we… I decided to stay. I will come to stay."
That announcement was met with cheer and the evening sky lit up with the fire of every dragon. Firestorm even set herself aflame. The humans all sprang to their feet in alarm, but Nighthawk 'talked' to Hiccup, so not much later they cheered along. It made Finnar unwrap his harp and play many a merry tune.

By now we had reached the row of little islands. Nighthawk came flying at my side. "We should be able to see Berk, now" he said to me. Hiccup and the other humans shouted to each other. But I didn't hear what they said because I peered into the distance to catch the first glimpse of Nighthawk's island. I strained my eyes and indeed I saw something, but it looked more like a cloud. A dark cloud, rising up, changing shape. "Nighthawk, what is that?" I asked him.
"Maybe… no… yes-" he muttered. At that moment the dragons of our party began to cheer: "The dragons from Berk! It's the dragons from Berk! They come to welcome us."
"Hey, heyooh" the humans yelled and laughed. "That's tons of dragons coming our way. Hope they don't knock us off, hahaha. Every dragon wants to be the first to set eyes on Toothless' mate. Aren't the dragons a curious lot."
"And what about the villagers! Bet half of the village is on dragon-back."

They approached us with speed. "Oh no" Nighthawk moaned "I hadn't expected this. They mean it as a welcome, but…" Quickly he tried to prepare the children "Don't be afraid, there are lots of dragons coming. They too are friends. Friends from Berk." But the children did not understand what he was talking about because they could not see them coming. I spoke to them also, but they sensed my rising tension and started to look frightened. At that moment the dragons swooped over us with a lot of noise and turned, swarming around us. The children shrieked in fear and tucked their heads in. Inside their baskets they continued screaming. They panicked and wanted to go into hiding but they couldn't huddle together and now felt all alone.

The unknown dragons crowded us and comments rained down on us.

"So you found her."

"You did it! You brought her!"

"Good for you, Toothless!"

"Welcome!"

"There she is!"

"Hello!"

"What a catch!"

"Welcome to Berk."

"Silverwings, isn't it?"

"Lady Silverwings, we heard?"

"Congratulations, Blackwing."

Their noise battered my ears. The children screamed on. They have to back away. Before I knew, I growled around, then roared, but that had me out of breath in an instant.
"Whoa, some voice! Seems to have a lot of grit. Hey, Toothless, are you sure she isn't too much for you?"
"Back off. BACK OFF. Yearlings here" the dragons of our party screamed.
"Keep your distance" Hiccup screamed. "You frighten the dragonets. You upset the dragoness." Nighthawk growled around too.
"Hey Blackspeck" one cried to Nighthawk "why the growl? Thought a mate would improve your manners. Ha ha, what a pair: Blackspeck and Grumpywings…"
"Oh, drop in the ocean, you moron" Sunrise snapped "if you don't clear away I'll land on your back, claws first, you hear! They're upset because of the children. Something wrong with your ears? Move away, you stupid log."

He is right though, I thought. They fly out to welcome us and they find a dragoness that growls them away. No matter how unruly they are, that should not be their first impression. By now the dragons had given us more space. Though my head still rang and my heart pounded, I called out to the nearest dragon "Hello, my name is Silverwings, what is your name?"
"Sundance. I greet you Silverwings."
"I greet you too. So nice of you to welcome us. Sorry about the growling."
Suddenly I got an idea. Yes, maybe this would snap the yearlings out of their fright. They had silenced but must be so afraid. "Listen to me, Fireweed, Boulder? This here is a Firehide. Tumble, Heather? Just like Firestorm. Pinecone? His name is Sundance. My sweetlings, don't be afraid anymore. They are all friends of your father and they came to say hello to us. My darlings? They were so loud, weren't they? But now they are not loud anymore. Boulder? Come have a look. Fireweed? Sweeties?"
My talk also calmed myself. And it did the trick: little eyes appeared in the openings. Good.

I went on introducing myself to random dragons. Nighthawk joined me "Here's my love. My beauty! My Silverwings!" It gave a pang to my heart: beauty, the first thing he ever said to me. By now more dragons greeted us and peeked at the baskets. They cooed soft sounds to lure the little ones out. Again I spoke to my children "My sweetlings, why don't you say hello too? Stick your heads out and say hello?" And sure, the first head to appear was Heather's. She still looked bewildered, but obediently said "Hello".
"That's my daughter, Heather" Nighthawk shouted.
"My, my. Skies and wings, a little Night Fury. Ain't that a darling. Oooh, look at that, she's grey. Little Furies are grey! Hello, sweetie!" the dragons exclaimed. Now three more heads popped out that shouted "ello-ello-ello-ello!" Pinecone shouted too, but from within the basket.

Suddenly Nighthawk cried "Look, Berk!" I glimpsed an island but didn't get a clear look, being surrounded by so many dragons. I hadn't been paying attention, but we had arrived.
"Your island, we've arrived!" I shouted back at him. We swooped over it a first time, hearing shouts coming from below. A second time. Now all dragons except those of our party landed. We flew out over the ocean again, regrouped and turned around.
"Let's circle the village so everybody can see us." We did, and Nighthawk shouted out his joy. His rumbles and roars, and Hiccup's shouts, were met by one continuous cheer from below. I saw humans pointing, waving. They stood in between many large unnatural structures. What are those? But I had no time for thought. I saw little humans running around yelling. Children, human children. Once more we took a wide turn over the ocean. What are these large things floating on the water?
"The humans are happy to see us. Did you hear them cheer?" Nighthawk asked the yearlings. "Now it's your turn my children, cheer!"
They did, while we flew over the village once more, swooping up up to a higher meadow. There were two of these structures with humans in front of them. A burly male, a yellow-haired woman, and five children.

We landed and Hiccup dismounted, shouting "Astrid! Father! Children! She's here to stay. Silverwings is here to stay! And there are dragonets. Five DRAGONETS!"

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