How To Train Your Dragon: A Loss That Shouldn't Be
Chapter 5: A Void Beyond

Toothless wasn't sure how long he was falling for, but there seemed to be no end to this cascading pit of rock. Down and down he tumbled, no end in sight to his plummet downward in this pitch darkness, even as he continued to spin in his freefall and claw uselessly at the tunnel's walls. His tail and wings occasionally hit the odd jutting piece, making him snarl in pain as it slashed against his scales. It felt like he was falling into the very depths of the earth itself, the hole he fell from having long disappeared from view. How much longer was he going to be stuck like this? Why had he been stupid enough to get too close? Maybe the Viking gods didn't like the idea of a dragon snooping around their sacred sites and deliberately laid a trap to get rid of him. Or something. It seemed pointless to guess since he didn't exactly have a way out until he hit the bottom. if there even was a bottom. That last thought sent a chill through his body. He hadn't thought about there being an eventual end to this fall. He subconsciously braced himself, squeezing his eyes shut and curling inwards so as not to hit anything else on the way down. At least if he was right, he would be with Hiccup sooner than he expected, just not in the way that he had wanted.

Suddenly, Toothless' eyes picked up on something, though it was strangely coming from beneath him. A tiny spot of white, seeming to grow brighter and larger the closer he got to it. He grimaced against the sudden light after spending so long in the dark, his eyes eventually beginning to adjust to it. Was that... where he just fell from? That couldn't be right. The Night Fury was pretty sure that holes only went in one direction, unless he'd somehow managed to break gravity falling down here. He might be able to do a lot as the Alpha, but doing that wasn't one of his capabilities. The dragon decided to angle his body towards the light by seeing it as a way out, keeping his wings tucked in tight against his body to streamline himself. If that was a way out as he hoped, he was going to take it. Closer still the light came, enough to nearly be dazzling. In a matter of seconds, he reached it.

The dragon flew out of the hole entrance and found himself shooting upwards into the sky. He tumbled over, his gaze turning back to where he had just come from. It was the exact same hole, nestled among the burial mounds he had just spent time near a few minutes ago. He didn't have time to question this oddity as gravity suddenly took a hold of him again. The Night Fury roared in alarm as he flailed his limbs, trying to spread his wings out to slow his descent. The air caught them, pushing them out wide like parachutes, though it probably wasn't going to stop this from being a rough landing. Toothless winced as the ground came up to meet him, his legs barely having enough time to cover his head as he landed. The dragon grunted as he hit and rolled over the ground, thankfully missing the hole. These were going to leave some nasty bruises, the Night Fury's tail whipping around as he tumbled over himself and hit against the sides of some trees. After a few painful moments, he came to rest. His entire being ached with the numerous impacts he'd taken, his wings in particular after that awful fall. He slowly came around, pushing himself up onto his limbs even as they swayed a little from his disorientation. His next question was an obvious one to make. Where was he now? As he shook his head to focus on answering it, the Night Fury once again saw the burial mounds. Indeed, they were the exact same ones he had come to before he fell inside that maw in the ground. Even his bag of saddle equipment had seemed to survive the journey, sat on one of the mounds. Had he actually gone anywhere or had he imagined it? Another oddity soon made itself apparent with the fact that the forest now appeared to be shrouded in early morning mist, the dulled light illuminating his surroundings through the trees practically blinding after all that time in the hole. The dragon huffed. He wasn't falling for that long, no longer than a few minutes. What was going on? Toothless took a few shaky steps forwards, trying to see if the hole would have any more clues. To his surprise, it was no longer there. His paws patted at the ground where it used to be, but it remained solid. No sign it was going to crumble either. Confusion dominated Toothless' brain as he clawed at the spot with an annoyed rumble. No, he had to focus, get back on track. He was here for Hiccup and staying here wondering about backwards disappearing holes wasn't going to change that. With a determined bob of his head, the Night Fury turned away from the burial mounds, grabbing the bag in his teeth. Once again, he set off deep into the forest, heading back to where he thought Berk was. If his Hiccup was going to be anywhere, it was there.

'I'm coming for you, Hiccup, I'll be there soon!'

The waves lapped at the rocky shores gently, the occasional splash back from when they hit the cliff walls washing over Hiccup's prosthetic leg and staining the metal. This jagged coastline, only within walking distance of the main village, was just as empty as the village had been. Not that he was surprised. Everything about his new found existence seemed to be based around him being isolated from everything he used to know, a fitting end to someone who started life off that way. Hiccup ground his teeth behind clenched jaws. So Valhalla, this realm where those struck down in battle would join Odin's side until Ragnarok, was nothing but a fairy tale. An illusion or some sort of grand continuation from the life he used to know. What else could he think? He had seen no grand halls of feasting, no Valkyries clad in armor of silver to carry him there. Even after Toothless, the one thing he could think that would be keeping him in this world, had vowed to let him go... all he had found was this cold reflection of his home and world, a void beyond. And that infuriated him.
"...why me?" Hiccup mumbled, pushing himself to his feet as he stared out across the seemingly endless expanse of ocean before him. "Huh? Why do this to me? Is this because of what I did with the dragons? Is ending a war not seen as a good thing in the eyes of you guys?" He kicked his foot into the grass, sending a loose pebble spinning off beneath the surface of the water as his voice only got louder and sarcastic. "Oh no, 'cause gods forbid that we have peace for a change! Gods forbid that we have a chance to make the world a better place after years of pointless fighting! Gods forbid that I find my place in it!" The young Viking's anger couldn't be contained, rising to his feet as the continued isolation he felt he had been suffering for years in this realm boiled to the surface like a volcano. "Well, damn you all! I don't want to be a part of some stupid celebration of killing! I don't want to spend eternity being like I used to be, waiting for the world to end! I don't need ANY of it!" Hiccup screamed to the heavens, brandishing Inferno from his belt and stabbing it into the loose rocks with a furious stab. He panted, his face feeling like it could probably be turning red from his anger if he had a pulse to make it happen. He stumbled backwards, once again sitting limply on the shoreline with his legs hunched up close to his head. He heaved, biting his lower lip harder than any time he had been before.
'If they didn't hate me before, the gods certainly hate me now. Not that I care.'
The truth was, Hiccup did need something, but he couldn't say what it was. He just wanted a way out, out of this purgatory he had been stuck in for... he didn't know how long. That scared him. He was losing his sense on the passage of time because of how he had been trapped here without a soul around to even see unless he tried. He couldn't take much more of this.

And then, bizarrely, Hiccup felt a sudden breeze blow through his hair. He jerked his head up, rubbing at his eyes to focus. Wind? There had never been any wind here before, as odd as it was to say that given how the waves still occurred here. The entire place had been as dead as he was. Wind meant something had changed. And, as if to coincide with it, Hiccup's ears heard something far off in the distance. A muffled sound buried deep within the trees. He forced himself to stand again, reaching to his side and grabbing Inferno from the ground to arm himself. He didn't know anything else could be here, especially since no Viking had ever concluded that where he was now existed in the first place. He glanced down at the still bleeding wound in his stomach, the clothing around it long having been stained a deep red from how it continuously drooled blood to the ground. He shouldn't feel nervous about anything, right? The damage was done already, he couldn't die again. And yet, his gut had a bad feeling. Maybe he'd been here so long that any sign of change in a place where time didn't touch its shores was bad. He didn't know.
"OK... you wanna try and scare me for calling you out?" Hiccup asked to the gods. "Then fine, bring it on. I'll show you how Viking I am..." He had to almost smirk to himself at saying it. With nothing to lose, there was a strange sense of bravado welling up inside him and it felt good. With Inferno clutched tightly in his hand, Hiccup began to run up the edge of the coastline towards the village.
'Who knows? Maybe I'll have someone to talk to.'

Toothless' pace had considerably slowed as he neared the edge of the forest. Turns out trying to sprint at the same speed he usually did whilst carrying a bunch of equipment between his jaws was more exhausting that he thought. Or had the forest just been bigger than he remembered? He shook his head, panting as he dropped the bag to the ground to catch his breath. His mind wandered back home. Would new father and mother be worried? What about the other dragons? No, he couldn't reconsider his choice. He was here to bring Hiccup home, for the benefit of everyone. They would be happy with his efforts, just as they should with an Alpha. Hiccup couldn't be far now. After all, the Night Fury knew every place on Berk thanks to his human. It would only be a matter of time, a sense of giddiness starting to rise up in his chest. However, the dragon found that soon fading when a noise behind him made him turn about. His ear plated shot upwards, a low growl reverberating into the ground. From behind some of the gaps in the trees, he began to see a soft blue glow, illuminating the spaces between the branches and casting tendril-like shadows over the forest floor. Toothless stood his ground, claws gripping into the grass as if he had to prepare himself to pounce at any moment. The source of the glowing made itself obvious after a second or two. Or, in this case, sources. Three separate figures, drenched in the palest blue, began to glide into Toothless' vision. They looked like human females, beautiful faces with flowing hair and dresses billowing about softly in a breeze that the Night Fury couldn't feel. They didn't seem to be touching the ground, giving them an almost ethereal quality. Toothless relaxed from his hunched position in puzzlement. What were these creatures? They didn't seem to be particularly dangerous, even as they appeared to be floating slowly towards him. A gentle humming, almost like a human's voice, provided a perfect background to their presence, like it just made sense for it to be there. The Night Fury relaxed. They surely weren't dangerous. Maybe they were just curious about what he was doing here. Maybe these were even the gods that the Vikings spoke about. Toothless braved a step forward towards the closest figure.

"Do you protect this place? Do you know where my Hiccup is?"

As Toothless cooed out his wordless question, the three figures didn't seem to respond. Instead, the closest one just came closer, almost enough to touch the dragon's snout. The Night Fury's eyes crossed inwards towards one of her hands, sniffing at it to try and make sense of what she was. He didn't learn much, even as her fingers finally pressed onto his scale.

Instantly, Toothless felt the most horrifying sensation with a roar of pain. The moment the female being touched him, the dragon felt like his very heart was being wrenched from its resting place in his chest towards her hand. He gasped as he felt like his breath was being stolen in much the same way, leaving him suffocating the longer she held onto him. In the vague focus he had left on her eyes, he saw the figure begin to change. It was no longer a simple human face staring back at him, but a horrible disfigured monstrosity of a visage. Gaping holes for mouths and eyes, both widened as if she were silently screaming at him. The Night Fury struggled, even as his vision began to fail him, eventually managing to break free from her touch and stumble backwards into a tree. He winced as he broke contact with the creature, taking in deep breaths to try and recover from that horrible feeling. It was like it was literally sucking the life out of him, the Night Fury glad that his internal fire would help to warm him back up after losing all of his heat from that thing touching him. Why would they do that? The dragon looked back up, seeing that the three of them were still slowly floating towards him. All of them now bore the same face, the same screaming expression as if they were from a nightmare he couldn't remember. The dragon braved a sudden blast of fire, trying to keep them at bay. To his dismay, the plasma just sailed right through their bodies and scorched the foliage behind them in a neat spot. The creatures advanced. Toothless didn't feel bravado like he had done moments before. He felt déjà vu creep over him, a feeling like the one during Drago's attack. He couldn't deal with this on his own as much as he tried. If they could do that to him with just a single touch, then what else were they capable of...? Toothless grabbed the bag of equipment in his jaws and turned tail to run. He forced his legs to start sprinting quickly, hoping that he would reach Berk ahead of them. Given how slow they were moving, that wouldn't take long, right? He found out quickly how wrong he was. Even as he ran through the remaining trees blocking his path, Toothless was having to duck and weave out of the way of multiple blue arms suddenly trying to grab him. There wasn't just three of these things. There were hundreds, all scattered about the trees like summoned protectors. He could only speculate that coming to the burial mounds in the first place may have done this. After all, the dragon remembered Valka saying that things called 'draugr' haunted them. Was this them? Did they not take kindly to dragons? He didn't care to find out. All Toothless could think to do was keep running.

"Hiccup... did these things get to you too? Please tell me you're still here..."

As Hiccup continued to navigate the oddly shaped platforms of rock and foliage that made up the island's coast, he heard another sound to accompany the first he had heard in the depths of the forest beyond the cliffs. Almost immediately, it caused him to stop running, his grip on Inferno slightly loosening as a weird sense of familiarity crawled over his being. That sounded like... no, it couldn't be that. It would be just another layer of cruelty that the gods would be adding to his situation if they made him hear that. But even despite his logical side having to dismiss it, the young Viking's heart couldn't let go of the idea. He grunted, shaking off the feeling as best he could as he continued to make his way towards the village. He climbed over the boulders that littered his path, occasionally slipping on some of the moss thanks to his prosthetic lacking any sort of grip. One of the only attachments he hadn't managed to make was something that properly dealt with that stuff. Hiccup eventually found the wooden walkway that linked the coast and Berk together, hurrying along the narrow bridge in order to make it back to the village center. Maybe he wouldn't even need to get to the forest, it could be that the sound's origin had already reached Berk ahead of him. With that hope running in his head, Hiccup hurried his pace. He ran past the workshop, past the abandoned dragon eateries and washes. He was greeted with the sight of a still empty Berk when he ran into town, a Berk that should have been vibrant and bustling with activity. He sighed in disappointment. Maybe he'd just imagined the sound in the hopes that something else would be here.
'Stupid Hiccup, there's never anything here.' In fact, he was about to put Inferno away when another sound caught his attention. The sound of heavy footsteps running towards him. Actual footsteps! Hiccup's breathing quickened as he fumbled with Inferno's hilt. He brandished his weapon, activating the Monstrous Nightmare saliva clinging to the blade and setting it furiously aflame. Who would it be? Was it someone else who had been trapped here too? Was it someone he knew? Or was it the gods and their minions themselves, arriving down to challenge him for his blasphemy? Hiccup didn't care. Whoever it was wouldn't catch him off guard.
'Alright, Odin, Thor, or whoever it is. Do your worst...' he thought to himself, raising his sword above his head in preparation. His heart wasn't prepared for what he saw when Toothless suddenly round the corner.

The Night Fury hurried around the edge of one of the buildings, having lost his pursuers in the depths of the forest just as he had left its borders. He hoped they wouldn't follow him down this far, assuming that the forest itself restricted where they could go. He hoped. He shook his head, catching his breath. He never wanted to go near those... things again. The dragon raised his head, beginning to peer around the town center for a sign of anyone nearby. Curious how it was so empty like this... was everyone just indoors? He didn't have time to ponder the answer. Because that was when they made eye contact. Toothless' brilliant green eyes staring right into Hiccup's own. For a while, it felt like time had stopped for both of them. The rest of the world melted away into the background as they gazed into each other. It felt unreal. Hiccup's hands trembled, the one clutching Inferno losing grip of the weapon and letting it clatter to the ground. His jaw parted in shock, a shaky exhale following it soon after as fresh tears spilled over his cheeks. It couldn't be. This was some sort of sick joke. It wasn't him. It wasn't. It wasn't. Yet, no matter how hard he tried to keep repeating that to himself, the young Viking found himself slowly stumbling forward, deliberately slow steps.
"...T-T...Toothless...?"
The dragon wasn't faring much better. He seemed to mirror the human's movements, pressing one leg forward cautiously, then another. He didn't make a sound, the bag of equipment falling to the ground from his open mouth. It was him. It was really his Hiccup. Though the Night Fury had promised he wouldn't cry anymore, he couldn't stop himself as the scales around his eyes became shiny. Though these weren't tears of sadness, not this time. The dragon felt nothing but pure joy course through his body.

"...H-Hiccup...! M-My Hiccup!"

Instantly, the pair of them began to run towards each other, their beings yearning to reunite with their other half. They forgot about their defenses, their equipment, the impossibility of this reconciliation, everything else. All that mattered was the boy and his dragon. Hiccup ran harder forwards than any other time he could remember running, falling to his knees and sliding along the ground just as Toothless did the same. His arms opened to embrace his dragon, just as the Night Fury's head pushed into his stomach and nearly bowled him over from the force. Hiccup gasped at the contact. It was real. Toothless was real. He was really here, he could touch him, he was real. His arms clasped around the Night Fury's neck and squeezed him close, the Dragon Master weeping freely as he pressed his cheek into Toothless' forehead.
"T-TOOTHLESS! Oh gods, Toothless, it's r-really you! It's really y-you, bud..!"
Toothless warbled shakily, the tone of his noise threatening to break from how overwhelmed with emotion he was becoming. He nuzzled and pushed against his human with a vigor that he'd never shown before. His human still felt cold, colder than the dragon had ever felt Hiccup be before. But he was here. And that was all the warmth Toothless needed, running his tongue along the Viking's face.

"My H-Hiccup, I'm sorry, I'm s-so sorry for what I did! I-I never meant to do this t-to you, I'm so so sorry..."

Hiccup sobbed in relief at having someone nearby, even more so with the fact it was his best friend. He didn't even care about the licks and slobber that would cling to him when it was done. He held on tightly to his dragon's scales, fearing that Toothless would disappear if he relaxed his grip for more than a second. As he struggled to keep himself composed, the Viking raised his head away from the Night Fury's own to stare him in the eyes. Toothless being here could only mean one of two things. Either his dragon had somehow broken the boundaries between worlds or... he was dead himself. Hiccup couldn't live with himself if that was the case, ironic as it was considering his position. He began to run his eyes over his dragon's body, looking for any signs of injury or blood. He saw the bruises and scrapes from Toothless' earlier fall, beginning to feel a trace of panic since he didn't know where they had come from that eventually formed into yelling.
"W-Why did you come h-here for me?!" Hiccup cried, both in his voice and literally. "You stupid, u-useless, reptile! I told you t-to let me go! Y-You... you c-can't be here! Why did you do it?!"
Toothless crooned, knowing that Hiccup had every right to ask that question. As he blinked once and more fresh tears rolled over his scales, the Night Fury leaned in to push against his beloved rider's jaw.

"...because I love you."

Even though Hiccup couldn't have heard the words, he knew what Toothless had tried to say. His bravery broke down again as he rested his head down. The dragon felt so warm, so comforting to his aching soul. His cheek felt hotter than it had been for what felt like years. Hiccup shuffled himself into a better position, cuddling Toothless' large frame against him as the Night Fury sat down on the ground properly. The pair of them sat in each other's embrace for what could've been mere minutes, but felt like hours. Both he and Toothless would happily have done it for that long too.
"I-I missed you so much, b-bud..." Hiccup stammered, his voice almost a whisper as his fingertips brushed over the dragon's head spikes. Toothless crooned to him in response, seeming to agree. This was how it was always meant to be. Just him and Hiccup together until the end. In the back of his mind, the Night Fury knew they couldn't stay long. They had to find a way home before the others noticed he was gone. But for the moment, he just wanted to savor being close to Hiccup again.

"I... could never let you go, Hiccup. I promised I wouldn't be sad, but I never gave up hope..."

Hiccup still wept, sniffing loudly and being a total mess. He knew the others would probably roll their eyes at him for being so wimpy. But he did so with the broadest smile on his face. The first smile he had felt in such a long time. He gazed into his best friend's eyes, his hand trailing around the outside of his jawline before they cemented their reunion with a final touch of their foreheads against each other.
"You... will never stop being amazing, Toothless. Thank you, bud..."
Toothless rumbled at the touches. Everything he had dreamed of culminated in this moment. He gave one last lick to Hiccup's face, making the young Viking mumble something about it not washing out under his breath. It was perfect. Or, at least it was until pale blue light began to illuminate the village.

Almost immediately, Toothless sensed the horrible aura of the creatures, just as they began to slowly float around the edges of the houses. The Night Fury arched to attention, his protective energy once again returning to his body as he curled his tail around his human. It seemed that the forest wasn't where they were restricted to like he hoped. But it was no matter, they wouldn't get to him. He would protect Hiccup as he was always meant to, menacingly growling to the advancing beings. Hiccup snapped out of his emotional daze at seeing Toothless react, pushing himself to his feet and grabbing Inferno in one of his free hands. He didn't know what these things were, but the fact that they had those horrible vacant faces and were slowly advancing on in them both meant it had to be trouble. This could've been what he heard earlier in the forest too.
"It's OK, bud, we've got this," he assured his dragon, igniting his blade. "Just no sudden moves..." Feeling reinvigorated thanks to having his best friend back at his side, Hiccup stood his ground with his blade raised up. The creatures came closer, now over ten of them having manifested before their eyes. Toothless snarled and spat out another blast of flame, hoping this one would be better than his previous attempt. However, just like before, it passed through them like they weren't even there in the first place. And again, they began to reach out their hands towards him. Toothless' eyes rolled a little into the back of his head with a whine as the multitude of hands came close to his scales. The feeling of being drained came back, making his entire body shake in distress. Hiccup would have none of it.
"No! Get away from him!" he yelled as he swung the lit Inferno downwards, cutting across the arms of the creatures in the hopes it would drive them away. To his surprise, his blade did the trick. The limbs were severed where where he cut, the hands previously reaching for his dragon disappearing into a light mist. The creatures screamed, turning their attention towards the human in rage. They stared him down, just as Hiccup swung Inferno in a circle around his head. The flame boiled the air around him, the monsters recoiling and backing down with another scream of anger. As much as the sound disrupted his thoughts, Hiccup was able to think on it for a moment. Why had he been able to attack the creatures when Toothless could not? He turned his attention back to his dragon, holding onto the Night Fury's head as he came around from that awful feeling.
"It's alright bud, it's alright, I've got you... " he cooed, looking over his shoulder as the creatures began to rise up again. He noticed the bag of saddle equipment where Toothless had dropped it, grabbing it in his free hand as he whirled around to face their aggressors. "Don't worry, bud. For once, I'm going to protect you. I promise." With that declaration ringing true in his ears, the Viking gestured with his hand for Toothless to get ready to run. They needed to get someplace away from the monsters, fasten up the saddle and get out of here. Hopefully, they'd find some answers too.
"NOW!"

At that moment, the dragon turned to run towards the shoreline Hiccup had just come from. His Viking whirled Inferno towards the monsters, trying to give Toothless a little bit more space before he too decided the best option was to follow. Together, they darted over the rocks, relieved that their foes were slower to go after them than they were to get away. Hiccup almost slipped a few times over the boulders, but Toothless was quick to nudge him back to his feet when needed. In turn, whenever Toothless got too far ahead, Hiccup shouted forward a warning for any sharp drops that the Night Fury may not have noticed coming. Even when not in flight, they knew what each other needed almost instinctively. The pair eventually made it to a secluded part of the shore, the path back to village and therefore the creatures blocked by walls of rock. Hiccup dropped the bag and began to quickly assemble the tail and saddle back together. He'd done it so many times before, it would only take a minute as most. Toothless obediently slipped his legs into the holsters around the front. As the mechanism was attached to the other side of his tail, he felt some strange sense of being complete in his heart. Like the tail alone was enough to make him feel he'd gained back what he had lost. As much as he wanted to express his joy, the situation didn't call for it right now. He stood ready to take off, just as Hiccup saw the creatures surfacing from around the side of the cliff top. They were persistent, he'd give them that.
"Moment of truth, Toothless, let's hope we can remember how to do this..." Hiccup stated dryly. He hoisted himself up onto the saddle and hooked his prosthetic into the mechanism. The sound and feel of it alone almost made him shiver, like it was nostalgic. He really had been trapped here too long. Hiccup gave one last look at the beings floating towards them. As before, they had their arms outstretched towards his dragon, not both of them. Why were they singling out Toothless? What had he done to draw them to him like that? He'd ask later. Right now, they needed to get somewhere quite a distance away from the village.
"Think you can get us to the cove, bud?" Hiccup asked, that location being the only one that came to mind. Maybe it just seemed appropriate given the circumstances. Toothless nodded his head, leaning down to the ground before he suddenly leapt forward off the edge of the cliff top. He fanned his wings outwards as Hiccup adjusted the tail fin, sending them soaring upwards into the air after momentarily brushing the surface of the ocean. Toothless roared in delight at feeling the wind again, Hiccup letting out an equally pleased yell. This was more like it! As they both turned off to the right to head towards the cove, the young man could only see faint blips of blue where the creatures were. Lucky for them it seemed they couldn't fly after them.
"Let's go, Toothless, give us some space from them!" Hiccup yelled over the roar of air. The Night Fury obliged with a rumble and leveled off their flight, gliding nearly effortlessly over the treetops of Berk. He couldn't get rid of the smile on his face even with the danger below them. He was finally back with his Hiccup, they were flying together, they were truly back as one. He felt like nothing could stop them now, not even a boundary between this world and the next. Now they just had to find a way to break it down again and get home.

The flight was unfortunately brief, the Viking and his dragon setting down near the body of water that they had first met by all those years ago. Hiccup slipped off the saddle and inhaled the air in this little hideaway of theirs. Even in this alternate world, it still reminded him of all of those memories, like what he had experienced couldn't be tarnished even though he was dead. In fact, it was almost humorous to consider the fact he was essentially a talking corpse at this point when he could feel and touch an actual other being. Toothless didn't seem put off by it either. He sat himself down by the lake, stretching out his legs as the water barely touched his one good boot. Toothless decided to join in, flumping his body down by his human and resting his head in the Viking's lap. Hiccup chuckled, realizing that his dragon hadn't gotten sick of his touches yet. He ran his hands over the Night Fury's head spikes again, noting how Toothless rumbled in content.
"Had a bit of a growth spurt, bud?" he queried, coming to the same conclusion as his mother had with the spikes' increase in size. "Well, to be expected from a big, mighty Alpha, huh? Even if he is a softie on the inside." Toothless huffed and weakly butted his snout into Hiccup's chest to shut him up, forcing a laugh from his rider. The area grew quiet again. One would have to admit there was an eeriness about it. No birds, no wind, no fish in the water, nothing. Sensing that made Hiccup's smile at being close to Toothless waver when his thoughts started to drift back to the important questions. Being with each other was all well and good, but he needed to be sure that Toothless hadn't done something stupid to get here. He shifted in position, holding his dragon's head to look him in the eye.
"Toothless... how did you get here? Please tell me that you didn't... you're not... right?" Hiccup couldn't get the words out. The idea that his friend would've done something like that was too horrible a thought to bear. Thankfully, the dragon quickly shook his head with an insistent noise, not wanting to worry his human. Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief, nodding his head.
"OK, that's good... but then, how did you? You didn't, like, get cursed by Thor or break some weird magical thing, did you?"
Again, Toothless shook his head, leaving Hiccup stumped. If his dragon hadn't done anything to anger the gods or break the rules of the world, then how on earth had he managed to do what no-one else could? He idly scratched behind Toothless' ear plates as he went waist deep into thought.
'No, there has to be more to it than that. Toothless forced himself to come here. But what could've done it? Why were those things only after him and not me...? And... why am I still stuck here?'
"There's only one answer to that question, Hiccup."
The voice made the Viking jerk upright, Toothless too. The pair of them scanned their eyes around the isolation of the cove. It wasn't one of those creatures, they had no voice. And there had been no else they could see in this world apart from each other. Hiccup rose to his feet.
"Who said that? Who are you?"
He received no answer to his question, his hand hovering near Inferno once again. He was having to use this thing a lot lately, he wondered how long it'd last before he'd run out of fuel for the fire. Toothless growled, once again wrapping his tail around around the base of Hiccup's legs to keep him safe. The Viking called out to the invisible stranger.
"Show yourself! What did you mean by one answer?"
The response came from behind them, the boy and his dragon spinning on the spot to confront it. They both gasped as what they saw.

"Because someone who was meant to survive never came home. You were never meant to die that day, Hiccup."