So, I've received a couple reviews asking whether or not this story will be continuing on, so for those who have not read the author's note on the first chapter:

This is Book 1 of a 6-book series that has already been in production for over 3 1/2 years, and 2 1/2 books are already fully typed out. So short answer: yes, this story will be continuing for quite some time, no worries as there is much yet to come for all to read. And I'm still typing out book 3 as we speak and writing up draft one of book 5, so those who follow this story can look forward to updates and then the sequels for probably a couple years to come! :D

Two Worlds Collide

Chapter 6: Time to Explain

We moved from the dragon cages and the Kill ring up to Stoick's house so that I could explain myself. I'm betting one of the reasons was that to almost any direction there was quite a bit of village for me to run through before I would reach open land, and behind the Chief's house was a large hill to get past. The others gathered up chairs and various large objects to sit on, and made a semi-circle around me, the other half of the circle blocked by a certain angry dragon. Toothless was sitting behind me and in front of the fireplace, bandages thoroughly covering his left leg and side. If looks could kill, the one he was giving me would have vaporized me on the spot. Yeah, I don't think he was very fond of me at that point. The Vikings mostly had looks that almost matched, but not in anger, in confusion and disbelief.

Once everyone sat down, I looked around and asked, "So exactly where should I start?" Stoick leaned forward and said, "ye can start with tellin' us exactly where yer from, if not an island here in the archipelago." I sighed. "Well, not that the name means anything much to you, but I come from what is known as the state of Colorado, in a country called the United States, which is on a continent known as North America." Stoick raised an eyebrow. "Yer quite right, that doesn't mean much to me. Where is this 'North America'?" "Do you all know where Greenland is?" Fishlegs nodded. "I do! It's a bit to the west and slightly north of the last island in the archipelago here!" I nodded. "Alright, North America is further to the west and south of there." Everyone gave me shocked stares. "So, you mean there's land past there? The end of the world is further away than we thought?" Hiccup asked. I laughed out loud. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but yes, there's land over there, and the world doesn't end. It's round. Continue in one direction, and you'll end up right back in the same place you started. By the way, can anyone inform me on what year it is here? And if possible, in a more southern description?" Astrid shifted. "The southern traders say that people down there refer to this year as 1168 AD, whatever that means." " Alright, well, this is going to be a bit of a shock, but where I come from, the continents past Greenland won't be discovered by Vikings until nearly 100 years after now, and the rest of the world won't find out about them until around 300 years from now." Gobber pointed his prosthetic hand at me. "Hold on there a minute, lad. If this land you come from won't be found for a hundred years even by us, then how do you know about it and how do ye live there?" I scratched the back of my head and looked around. "That's the strangest part of how I came to be here. Not only am I not from this part of this world, I am not from this world at all, and from a time over 900 years from now. As I said yesterday, I needed Hiccup's help finding my way home because there's a sort of portal, a rip in time and space, which leads to my home."

Everyone sat there for a couple of minutes, unable to say anything. The only noise was Toothless quietly growling behind me. "That would explain the clothes and such," Ruffnut quietly commented. "What was that rope you had? Didn't you call it a whip?" Of course, leave it to the berserk twin to ask about weapons. "You're taking this rather well, and yes, it's a whip. They're quite common in other parts of the world, and have been for thousands of years. There's far worse where I come from, though." Stoick shook his head and stood up, stepping toward me. "Tha' still doesn't explain how ye know so much about all of us. If yer from a whole other world entirely, we shouldn't exist there, right?" I laughed. "Yes, you're completely right. There were Vikings in my world hundreds of years ago, but none of you exist, nor ever existed. Not even Berk and the rest of your archipelago exist, which shows this world isn't quite an exact copy of mine. But yes, all of you aren't real where I come from, except for in imagination." Tuffnut raised an eyebrow. "You mean, we only exist in stories and in people's minds?" I smirked. "Yeah, that's about what imagination means, made up and stories." Snotlout glared at me. "Then how do you know about us? Answer that question!" I held up my hands. "Alright, alright, hold on a minute, I was getting there. Like I said, you guys are made up. An author, or if it helps you understand, someone who writes books, came up with a series of stories featuring you guys as the characters. Then, another group of people decided to make a different version as a movie, or a moving picture. Considering the fact that Toothless over there is a Night Fury rather than a common garden dragon, I'd say the movie version is a more accurate match to this world." I looked around, and realized I forgot to add one more bit of info. "Oh and here's a real shocker: in my world, all dragons are the same as you guys, made up as myth and legend as far as we know. They have never existed either." A collective gasp went up. Hiccup, unsurprisingly was the most shocked, since his best friend was a dragon. "You mean, until you came here, you've never seen a real dragon before?" I shook my head. "Nope, and I'd say it's rather sad, since dragons are rather up there on the list of things I like. Though, if grumpy over there continues giving me that death glare, I may have to knock them down a notch." Toothless' head jerked up with surprise at my comment, knowing who I was referring to, and then leveled an even narrower gaze at me, hissing to add to the fact that he didn't like me. At least this got a bit of a laugh out of almost everyone, which was better than I had been able to do for that entire day.

Tuffnut turned back to me first. "So let me get this straight. You come from a different world, and a different time, where dragons do not exist, and you learned about us through a made-up story for entertainment?" I nodded. "That about covers it. What's more, the movie that I learned from portrays the period of time from where Hiccup first shot down Toothless to after he wakes up form the battle with the Red Death. Considering how popular the movie is in my world, this has probably made Hiccup one of the most well known characters, and Toothless is one of the most loved dragons out of the many thousands that my world has come up with." Hiccup blushed from the knowledge that he was very well known, and Toothless put on a prideful smirk, enjoying the fact that he was a center of attention somewhere. I looked at him and frowned. "Don't let it go to your head. Fame in my world is often a very bad thing, especially if you happen to be something every child on the planet wants to drag away to their own home for a pet or other." That wiped the smirk off his face rather quickly. Stoick turned to look at me. "Well, now that you have explained a bit about how you came to be here, however outlandish it may sound, it's time for you to find out a bit on how we work here." He gestured to Toothless, and I got a sinking feeling. "Since ye have injured the dragon there, and Hiccup's best friend and protector, your punishment will be to take his place for a few days until he can return to his job." I stared at him in shock. "You can't be serious. Have you any idea what that's going to do to the people in my world? My parents are probably already freaking out since I've been gone for a day and a half now!" Stoick simply leveled one of those I've-made-up-my-mind-there's-no-changing-it looks at me. "Ye should be glad we don't have you doing any real hard labor, or selling you to be a slave. Plus, since yer watching my son, you'll sleep here until Toothless can take over again. A week is not much time to be missing. Watch Hiccup and make sure he doesn't hurt himself too badly, and then you can go home." "A week! Really? My world is fast-paced. If you're gone for two days most people think the worst! My family is going to go nuts! A week is enough time for my entire city to go into an uproar and the rest of my extended family!" Stoick was living up to his namesake. "Well, then, you'd better hope the beast there heals fast."

At this point, there was no moving him, so I had to accept my fate as best I could. After the rest of the Vikings left, Hiccup helped Stoick make out a place for me to sleep in the main room, as it was already nighttime. Of course, this meant I was sleeping less than fifteen feet from Toothless. "In case ye try anything," Stoick said. "He should be able to take care o' ye, even with a hurt leg. If not, he'll end up waking up the whole village." After Hiccup and Stoick headed upstairs to their rooms (Hiccup's bed was apparently moved back upstairs now that he was used to his prosthetic), I looked over at the black dragon lying on his own, much comfier mat near the fire pit. He was still giving me the draconic version of the evil eye, even after hearing my long explanation. "You realize I'm not afraid of you, right?" Toothless barely did so much as flick an ear. "You realize if you try to hurt me again, or whatever you were doing, I don't need weapons anymore to defend myself. Plus, if you hurt me, no one will be around to watch Hiccup for you. Do you want that?" Toothless continued to glare at me, definitely not liking how right I was. Slowly, though, he shook his head. "Well, at least you can understand me." I sighed, and began to lie down to try and get some sleep. Then, deciding I really didn't want to be on the bad side of a Night Fury, especially one that was friends with Hiccup, I turned back to Toothless. "Okay, let's get this over with, alright? I'm sorry for hurting you, I really am, and I'd rather not have to do it again. Still, I don't enjoy being pounced on, whatever the reason, especially by a twenty-foot dragon. Please realize I thought you would have hurt me more than I hurt you had I not done what I did. Would it be at all possible to forgive and forget?" Toothless sat there for a while, as if pondering his answer to my question. At least he no longer looked like he wanted to bite my head off. Finally, he turned to me and nodded, but with a bit of a smirk on his face. I was sure he was going to find some way of getting back at me somewhat, but I could stand that, especially now. "Oh, good. I really don't want to end up in that situation again. Well, if you don't mind, it's time for me to sleep, so I'll see you tomorrow." Looking around, I was glad to see that no one was there to see the crazy boy carrying on a conversation with a dragon. If only I knew how commonplace that would be soon. With my proclamation of sleep, Toothless lay down again, one eye open to watch me. I didn't mind that, and expected it of course, so I lay down to sleep. "Lord, please keep my family safe while I'm here," I said, then closed my eyes.

::Did he really? Does he know him? I'll have to find out somehow. Maybe he's not so bad after all.:: I jerked upright and looked around, searching for the source of the voice. Seeing no one, I shivered, not recognizing the rough, growling voice I had heard. With a last glance over at Toothless, who had lifted his head up and turned to look at me, I lay down again and very slowly drifted off to sleep. Little did I know how much my short time away from home had already affected my own family.

Denise stood out on her front porch with her husband, Sam, looking up and down the street. Their daughter had already gone to bed, crying for her brother and praying that he was safe. He had been gone for nearly two days now, and no sign of him had shown up. Denise had contacted the police, who were doing a thorough search for the teen, but to no avail. Of course, who would have believed that their son had found his way into a whole different world, let alone found the entrance in his own back yard? Of course, it was a good thing no one had thought to search the yard itself, for if anyone had found the crossroad between worlds, they would have been too shocked to stand it, and the boy's parents would have collapsed with all the new worries such a thing could add. For now, Hawken's family simply thought they would just have to wait, and pray that he would be found safe and sound. What a shock they would get when their son returned, revealing a whole new set of adventures for everyone.