And back once more, a bit later than I had planned. That said, enjoy and as always, only the plot and the shadowy thing(s) out in the fog are mine.

It had started snowing again. Looking out across the white seemingly endless plains, a feeling of pleasure reached the mind of the nameless hunter. If it could have spoken, a single word would have echoed from the mind. One, long slowly drawn out, 'Perfect.'

Crouched low in the building snow fall, the hunter knew that an easy meal was just within reach, a mere handful of paces away in a little cave. However, she ignored her stomach and waited patiently for she knew that the wounded meal in the cave was serving a far greater purpose. It was bait, for she had long studied these humans and had determined that whenever one went missing, several more were always dispatched to look for the missing. These were typically easy pickings themselves and made for a delightful feast.

Stomach rumbling in anticipation, the hunter ignored the want to rush in and feed and instead spread her senses out over the vast plain. The only sounds that met her patience were those of the howling wind and she snorted in frustration. If no-one showed up in this, the most perfect of weather conditions it would be most displeased and would have to ruin the trap by eating the wounded meal. And really, the meal was more of a snack, the beast had been-tasty, but the little ones were more like crunchy add-ons to a proper meal. Added onto that, the last had been an easy meal, a steal really. It took a stupid kind of hunter to leave fresh prey out on the tundra, but there it'd been and she wasn't the kind to pass up a free meal. But she wanted to play now, to smell the terror of the searches. It made eating so much more fun.

Settling down again, it curled up and waited as patiently as possible. With the swirling winds, smell would come into play far before sound and vision and so as long as someone came before nighttime, all would be well. This in mind, the shadow in the snow kept a vigil diligently throughout the passing hours and just as the sun was truly hanging low over the snow swept sky was rewarded for its patience. The scent was very faint, and was almost missed. Rising up, the shadow paused a long moment as the scent registered and muscles nearly sprang into action before the scent clicked and everything froze. It was him.

Now confused, the hunter ceased to be one for a moment as it sat and considered. Having no knowledge of events that had occurred several weeks prior it could only wonder why the Tempest of the Dark flew outside his domain. Rumbling in confusion, the beast sat still another long moment before another scent came on the wind. Human. The two scents were intermixed, and another long moment passed before it clicked. Disbelief hung in the swirling air for a moment. The Tempest of the Dark, captured and forced to do the bidding of humans? Impossible. Still, the signs pointed to it, and if it were true than the Tempest must have lost his edge. The beast knew deep within that at his peak, only an impossible chance attack could have brought the Tempest of the Dark down.

Another thought slowly clicked as it sat thinking. If he'd lost his edge- than he was vulnerable, especially outside his domain. This was her chance, and she'd never get another like it. The scent was growing stronger and spreading wings once more, it took to the snowy air, disappearing into the snow like it had never been there at all. The hunt was on.

Some distance away, Toothless did not like the situation that they'd gotten into. Craning his head right, and then left, his eyes saw only white. If his rider shared any of his thoughts at all, it was that this was not good. The second the snow had began falling in earnest, his attention had shifted from finding Astrid to something far more important. Straining his senses, he listened as his rider continued looking through the snow in vain. If she was out here- he'd hear her before anything else and would have but seconds to react.

The Viking Clan had made many good strides in learning about dragonkind since Hiccup had first surprised him that night long ago, but there were many things they didn't know. The creature that must be out in the snow mist was one of them. Still listening, Toothless knew very well there was a reason he'd never made a strike or long flight during the daylight and the snow. The reason was out here, somewhere.

"Toothless-this is hopeless, let's land and get out of the snow." The words of his rider hardly processed. His boy had finally accepted a primary fact of the situation, but there was one far more important he was missing. They weren't alone. Something indistinguishable to human hearing made him pause a wingbeat and glide for a long moment. His rider leaned forward to speak more closely and he rumbled quietly, which made the boy pause and listen as well. Good, he was learning.

He held the glide as long as he could in the buffeting wind, but eventually he was forced to start pumping his wings again. As he began to do so, he heard it again and couldn't help but be impressed. She was matching his wingbeats, almost perfectly. They were being stalked then, unusual for her, but then again- The thought was put on pause as he flared his wings back a moment. The click of his fin changing via Hiccup to help was painfully loud to him but in the brief period when wind was the only sound he heard it again. She was very much out there, hunting them. The fact accepted, the dragon knew he had two problems on his wings.

The first was the boy brimming with curiosity and worry on his back, liable to speak any second and give their exact position away. Secondly was the fact that she could be anywhere in this swirling snow and wind. He couldn't get an exact fix, or even a general direction. She had the advantage in what would very shortly become an ambush. At that point, time slowed down for a brief second, and more guessing that calculating, he folded his wings and dropped. Hiccup's shout of surprise became one of fear when something whizzed by overhead just missing his head.

"What was that?" Running a hand through his hair, the boy was surprised to find it all there. His words were met by a low rumble from Toothless, whose wings were out again after the surprise drop. Looking around wildly, Hiccup found only snow, but his mind told him that they'd just run across something very dangerous. Toothless' flying had become very conservative and the dragon was pausing his wingbeats every third or fourth beat as if listening to an invisible signal. Full to bursting with words, Hiccup forced them away and focused on his dragon, eyes grim. While he didn't know what the flying thing had been, he could figure enough out to know that it was out for their blood.

Sitting ready, he watched his dragon's muscles carefully and sure enough a few seconds later Toothless veered left hard. Hiccup leaned into the turn, having adjusted the fin automatically. He bent low over the black hide as mere spans away something flashed by. This time Toothless sent a shot of fire after it. Watching, the boy saw it was a clean miss, but for a brief instant it highlighted a lean figure with wings that quickly vanished into the snow. He blinked, and found that he could hardly remember what he'd seen; such was the vagueness of the shape and coloration. Putting his trust in his dragon, he watched again as Toothless steady climbed. His dragon had abandoned the stealth approach now that they'd been sighted, and he was actively looking around. Hiccup turned to look as well, first left and the right. Then, as a final thought he looked behind him, and felt, more than saw something approaching through the snow.

"Down!" The fin clicked, and Toothless folded his wings with a sharp snap once more and down they plunged. Pressing tight against his dragon again, Hiccup could swear he felt something touch his back as it went overhead. A loud cry emanated from the creature, and if he had to put an emotion to it, Hiccup would have said it sounded frustrated. Sitting upright again, the morbidly amusing thought came to mind, 'You'll have to work harder than that, we're a tougher meal than you've ever found before.' Than it was back to scanning the snow sheets intently for any sign that attack number four was coming.

Muscles tense, he waited, head swiveling back and forth. Nothing happened for long moments as Toothless climbed, then paused to listen. Slowly, a hopeful thought emerged. Perhaps the creature had given up and gone after easier prey. But in a snow storm what other prey was there? A cold knot formed in his stomach despite the layers of clothing he'd put on. It was going after Astrid. She was probably on the edge of its territory, waiting out the next storm.

"Toothless, it's got to be heading for Astrid. Can you follow?" Was his boy crazy? Following her deeper into the storm? However, what he said made sense, and they'd not been attacked for a good while now. The odd thing was that he'd picked up her scent, which did not happen unless she was switching to tactic number two. He knew that, yes, following her scent would potentially lead them to Astrid, or, what was left of her. However, they'd also be heading straight into a trap. The dragon mulled this over for a long moment before altering course. As one who had for many seasons broken traps he knew the best way to beat one was to set it off before it was ready.

Turning, the Night Fury followed the scent, eyes narrowed and body tense. He'd try this, but it didn't mean he had to like it. Every single warning sign was flashing in his head, but on he flew, just fast enough to keep the scent, and pausing to make sure they weren't being doubled back on, or that the winds weren't blowing such that she could be behind them and still lead them on. It made the going slow and his boy impatient, but it would hopefully save their lives.

Hiccup bit his lip and looked around. Odin he hoped that he'd made the right decision. Looking around in the white maelstrom he couldn't see anything. The conditions were such that snow was clinging to his leather harness now, and twisting around he saw it on the tailfin as well. Looking down at the shifting mechanisms, he couldn't see anything amiss, but knew inwardly that ice was probably forming there as well. They'd have to thaw everything out after this flight and make sure nothing was loose or broken. Looking again, Hiccup knew that if it came to fighting again out here, there was only one outcome in the long run. It wasn't something he cared to think about and so he shifted back to scanning the blizzard. The winds had picked up as well, and if he hadn't been tied into the harness the gusts would have blown him loose. How Toothless could determine anything in this weather was beyond him.

Shortly, he felt Toothless come to a hover. The dragon was looking around, and Hiccup could only guess he'd lost the scent. Uncertain, he looked around again, and had just craned his head to the left when Toothless shot forward. Jerked back around Hiccup looked up and to the left once more staring down the throat of the onrushing hunter. Pale blue light was rolling up the creature's throat and he had just enough time to yell before Toothless dropped again. The blue went roaring by overhead and Hiccup realized it wasn't flame, but ice and that his back was now very cold. The creature shot by overhead once again and Hiccup decided enough was enough.

"Let's get him." Stepping on the shift, the two rolled in a tight right turn to give chase, the creature still visible, however faintly. Working the tailfin into its tightest setting Hiccup heard through the wind a clear metallic clink and the shift went loose. There was enough time for, "Oh no, not again." Then the roll became an uncontrolled dive into the white abyss.

I hate to end a chapter like this, but there you have it. I'm going to push hard and try and get the next part up before Monday, but it's going to be a large section and I'm not sure if it'll happen. In the meantime, reviews are proven to make me write faster as is constructive criticism. Also for those counting, we now have one large scary shadow in the snow, and one perhaps even more scary small shadow. This may not end well.

Review Replies

Underthesea: Glad you enjoyed. For the record, the moment you wrote of was totally unplanned. It was a last minute add on, and I rather like it as well.

Lord Anubis: Thanks, hope you enjoyed this part as well.