Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the movies, books, or tv series. I do own a copy of the movies though. Does that count for anything?

Night and Day

Chapter 3:

Previously:

"Star-" Toothless took a step inside but fell silent as the little white night fury crawled up onto the cot.

Silence filled the room as Star just curled up next to Brighid. She didn't say anything as she closed her eyes and laid her head down on her sister's stomach. She didn't roar in anger, she didn't rip or tear at anything, she didn't even act angry. Little Star just silently curled up in a tight ball and ignored Toothless even as he came inside and sat down next to the cot.

The entire village of Berk mourned for the unknown woman that had come to them with the little white nightfury. The sorrow that the little nightfury showed was enough to invoke the same sadness in others. For an entire two days the white nightfury stayed curled up next to the still form of her sister. She made not a sound and ignored everyone that came to see her including the elderly woman that lived within the hut.

Toothless spent most of his time in the hut with Star. He only left once or twice a day, often bringing a fish back with him to try and get Star to eat. After the second day, he grew impatient. Toothless knew that Star was grieving, but he wasn't going to let Star starve herself.

"That's enough Star." At the start of the third day of Star's grieving Toothless finally tried to pull the little white away from her sister. Hiccup was there with him, standing in the doorway and watching. He had his sketch book in hand and was making small notes.

Star slowly lifted her head to turn and look at Toothless. Her gaze looked empty and she didn't even seem to be staring at anything in particular. Hiccup gasped and his hand paused in his writing. The little white was crying; actually crying. He'd never seen a nightfury, let alone a dragon, shed actual tears before.

"What's the point Toothless?" Star asked quietly. "This isn't my home. I have no family now." She set her head back down on her sister's stomach.

Toothless's ear plates lowered and he shook his head. He had been lucky when he'd lost his parents. He had been old enough to survive emotionally. Star was different though. Nightfury hatchlings didn't survive long when they were alone. Nightfury hatchlings had to have a familial bond in order to live. Without that bond, the nightfury hatchling would waste away to nothing. The instinctual need a nightfury hatchling had to bond to their family was something that Toothless would never be able to explain.

"You have me now Star." Toothless was grasping at straws now. He didn't know if this would work to get Star to continue living. "And you have Berk now. It's not the same…but it's here for you."

Even though Hiccup couldn't understand what Toothless was saying to the little white he still held his breath. He could feel a tension in the air and he could tell that this was a moment that could change everything.

Toothless was holding his breath as well as he waited to see what Star would do. Slowly, ever so slowly, Star lifted her head again and turned to look at Toothless. The emptiness that had been her eyes lifted a little. "No more sisters." Was the only thing she could say. "No more mother's either. I won't replace them."

Toothless had to swallow the chuckle that wanted to come up. The little hatchling was being completely serious. "I will never make you replace your loved ones." He promised her. Toothless stood up and walked over to Star. Opening his mouth he made sure his teeth were retracted before picking Star up in his maw.

Star felt too exhausted to do anything but let Toothless pick her up. She looked at her sister one last time before closing her eyes. 'Bye Brighid.' Star thought silently. 'You'll always be my big sister.'

Hiccup moved out of the doorway to let Toothless past. There were a few people waiting outside along with their dragons. Star's eyes remained closed even as Toothless walked past the onlookers. His intention was to head out of village and go to the little lake where he and Hiccup had first met and bonded. That way the village would be able to take care of the body of Star's sister without her being there.

Hiccup nodded to the people waiting. A pyre had been built yesterday for the dead woman. Now seemed like a good time to take care of the final rights.

Sometime during the long trek Star had fallen asleep. Although her mother had been human the feeling of being carried like an actual hatchling, in the mouth of an adult dragon, was comforting. She felt safe and protected.

"We're here Star." Star blinked her weariness out of her eyes and she looked around. Toothless was smiling down at her from where he had set her down between his paws.

She glanced around cautiously and noted the high rock walls and the glimmering lake. "Where are we?" Star could feel her curiosity pushing at her sorrow.

Toothless's smile broadened. "A very special place. This is where I met my Hiccup." The confused stare he got made Toothless chuckle. "Hiccup is my rider and best friend." Toothless tilted his head in thought. "I guess you haven't actually met him yet. But he is a great person! He gave me back my flight years ago." Toothless lifted up his tail to show Star his false tail fin.

Star was slowly coming out of her sorrowed state. It would be months before she was really herself again, but this was a step in the right direction. "Your tail…?" Toothless moved his paws out of the way so Star could get up and go over to his tail to get a closer look at the leather tail fin.

Toothless was glad to see the little hatchling slowly focusing on other things. "There was an…accident years ago." Toothless frowned a little. No sense telling Star the entire story yet. "Hiccup found me. I didn't trust him at first, but he was different than other humans." Toothless proceeded to tell Star a very watered down story of what had happened all those years ago.

Star pawed absently at the false tail fin as she listened to Toothless. "Did you mean what you said?" She asked once Toothless had ended his story.

"I said several things." Toothless replied with a chuckle.

"About Berk being here for me?" Star stopped patting the tail fin to look up at Toothless. "About me having you?"

As he looked at the little white nightfury Toothless could see fear in her gaze. She was afraid of being alone, and he knew that feeling all too well. He used his tail to lift and carry Star back to his front legs so he could hug her. "I will never break my word to you." Toothless purred warmly and nuzzled the top of Star's head. "And I will most definitely be here for you. Always."

Star was more than comforted by Toothless's words. Her instincts told Star she could trust him, and that was enough for her. "When will it stop hurting?" She whispered softly.

Toothless sighed and shook his head. "It never stops hurting. But it gets better. I promise." And he would help Star feel better. He had made a promise after all.

Star smiled softly and nodded. She hoped things would get better soon. The pain in her heart was almost too much for her. If Toothless hadn't promised to be there for her, she probably wouldn't have left her sister's body.

"Come on," Toothless suddenly stood up and nodded over to the water. "Let's get some breakfast." He nudged Star with his paw, making her fall over onto her back. "Unless you don't know how to swim?" He arched a brow at her and let out a gurgling chuckle.

Star frowned up at Toothless before flipping over. "Course I know how to swim!" She said with as much pride as she could. With that said she pranced over to the water and quickly dove in. She made it all the way to the center of the lake before she returned to the surface for air.

Toothless let out a laugh and quickly joined her. The two spent at least an hour if not more just swimming around before catching some fish to actually eat. Star was rather proud of herself for catching two fish by herself for breakfast. Toothless had of course caught a lot more just to make sure that the two of them had plenty to eat.

"What is Berk like?" Star asked as the two of them settled down to actually eat. She was leaning against Toothless's side with her two fish in front of her.

Toothless chuckled. "Cold." He started to tell her. "Snows a lot and when it doesn't snow it hails." he swallowed a couple fish before continuing. "It's a lot calmer now then it used to be. There are lots of places to explore and of course there is the Academy now."

Star finished her first fish and tilted her head at Toothless. "Academy? What's an academy?" Having lived with just her mother and sister since she was really little she didn't know to much about the outside world.

"It's a place you go to learn new things." Toothless had to think for a moment. "The academy here teaches humans how to be friends with dragons." There was more to it then that, but Star was too little to fully understand. For now it was easier and simpler to just tell Star the basics of everything.

"Do you go to this...academy?" Star asked curiously. There were so many new things that she needed to learn about.

Toothless let out a gurgling chuckle and shrugged. "Sometimes. I usually go with my Hiccup when he needs my help." he nudged at Star. "Finish your fish before a terror comes along to eat it for you." As if on que several terrible terrors started gliding around in the air above them.

Star huffed softly before pulling her second fish close so she could eat it. It was her fish; she had caught it by herself and she didn't feel like sharing at the moment. With that in mind she swallowed the fish and then licked her muzzle clean.

Toothless smiled a bit and then curled around Star. With her stomach full he could feel her heartbeat slowing. She was growing drowsy like any normal hatchling would after a big meal. "Rest Star." Toothless mumbled as he draped his wing over Star to make her more comfortable.

Star squirmed for a moment. She hadn't been planning on taking a nap, but with a full belly and an adult curled around her Star's instincts were pushing her into an unavoidable drowsy state.

Toothless waited until he was sure Star was fast asleep before he looked up at the sky. Taking a deep breath in he tried to pull in the scents drifting from the village. After years of living with the humans he knew what the tradition was for sending off the dead. A pyre was usually built so that the body of the deceased could be burned to ashes while it floated away into the ocean. In this frigid environment it was difficult digging burial plots so pyres were favored.

"What is happening in the village?" Toothless asked one of the terrors that had landed a few feet from him.

The terror tilted its head and looked at Toothless. The glazed look and slow understand made Toothless grunt and roll his eyes. "Wingless ones were putting logs together in a boat." Another terror landed and snapped at the first. It took up the description of current events. "Another wingless one was on the logs."

Toothless nodded sadly as he took in the terror's words. He didn't want to take Star back to the village until after the pyre had burned down and the boat was far from sight. By the sounds of it the humans were just getting ready to light the pyre. Not to long after he had asked the Terrors about the village he could smell a faint hint of smoke in the air. With a nod of his head he figured he would be able to take Star back before nightfall. That would give the boat to get far enough out to sea.

With a sigh Toothless slid his head under his wing to take a look at Star. She was curled up tightly and was cuddling up against his side. He smiled softly and flicked his tongue out to run across her back. Although Star grumbled softly in her sleep she didn't awaken while toothless cleaned her scales. After awhile of that Toothless placed his head on the ground and just stared at the white nightfury; a possessive glint in his eyes.

Time passed slowly for Star as she slept. Her dreams floated past her in lazy waves and they seemed to mix with her memories. Her dreams gave her comfort as she dreamed of her mother and sister. The three of them were back home and Star was chasing dust motes around the stone floor as her mother prepared dinner and her sister mended ripped clothes.

"Don't ever have regrets Morning Star." Star looked up in her dream as her mother spoke. The elderly woman with greying brown hair that was pulled up into a loose bun looked down at her. Her brown eyes sparkled with sadness as she smiled. "I know I never did." Star tilted her head as her mother said that.

"We'll see you again Star. But you better be all grown up with lots of great stories to tell us when we do meet again!" Star turned to her sister who had set the the shirt down to focus on her little dragon sister.

"Now be a good girl and behave yourself." Star chirped something as she looked back at her mother. She blinked rapidly and reached up a paw to rub at her eyes. She could have sworn her mother and sister were fading. "And don't forget to play hide and seek when you hear the distant horns." With that her mother and sister vanished from the dream.

Star opened her eyes and jolted awake. She cried out in fear and surprise when she found herself shielded by a large wing. It took her a minute or two to remember just where she was.

"Not the best of dreams then?" Toothless asked as Star calmed down. When she had jolted awake Toothless had come out of his meditative rest. His eyes narrowed and watched silently as Star jumped up and looked around her in confusion.

Star calmed down slowly and nodded. "Mother and sister were there...We were home." Her voice was filled with sadness and Toothless worried for a moment at the empty look in Star's eyes. She said nothing after that, but the emptiness was replaced with life again after a few minutes.

Toothless sighed and sniffed the air. The smell of smoke had faded greatly and the colors in the sky indicated it would be dusk soon. "We should head back to the village." Toothless would have been fine with sleeping in the cove, but he didn't know if Star would be alright with that. By the sounds of it she had been sleeping indoors for most of her life.

Star nodded and climbed up on Toothless' back when he nudged her up. Once he was sure Star wouldn't be falling off, Toothless spread his wings and jumped into the air. With the fake tail fin that let him fly on his own in place Toothless was able to get out of the cove and head back towards town.

Toothless let out a happy sigh as he soared through the sky. He preferred having his Hiccup with him when he flew, but this flight wouldn't last long so he wouldn't be too terribly upset. Toothless was momentarily distracted by the feeling of claws digging into his shoulders. He glanced back and was startled to see that Star was shaking in fright.

"Star what is wrong?" Toothless looked around quickly to try and locate the source of what was making Star so afraid. He couldn't see or sense anything dangerous around; so why was Star so scared?

Star was expecting the initial jump, otherwise how else would they have gotten out of the cove? What she didn't expect was for Toothless to gain more and more altitude until the two of them were flying over the forest. Star could feel herself start to shake and she kept her eyes on Toothless' back so she wouldn't have to see the ground so far below them.

"Star answer me!" Toothless quickly looked around and found a place to land. As soon as he touched down the little white nightfury was on the ground in a huddled ball. Toothless nudged at her and cooed for several minutes to get her attention.

It took Star several long minutes before she was able to finally get her voice back. "Can't fly." Her voice was so soft that Toothless had to strain his ear plates forward to hear her.

Toothless was about to ask her about what she meant when it dawned on him; she'd never been around other dragons. Star had told him it had just been her, her mother, and her sister. She'd told him how her sister had taught her how to climb. But she hadn't had anyone to teach her how to fly.

The older nightfury frowned down at the smaller one in thought. "Spread your wings Star." He waited and let out a huff when she didn't at first respond. He nudged and nuzzled her back until finally she stretched out her wings. "Farther." He wanted to see her wings at their full extent. Once her wings were open all the way Toothless circled her.

Her wings looked large enough to fly with, and even though she was on the small side she was still big enough to start learning. Her tail fins looked fine as well so he was pretty sure she would be able to learn to fly rather quickly. One of her wings did droop slightly lower then the other, but Toothless was pretty sure it was because she was unused to opening them up as far as they could go.

"Hop up. I'll run the rest of the way." Star's shaking had calmed considerably while Toothless had examined her wings. "We'll start flight lessons tomorrow."

Star climbed back up onto Toothless' back and held on as he began sprinting across the ground. She honestly didn't know if she wanted to learn how to fly. It wasn't that she was afraid of heights, she loved climbing as high as she could, it's just that she didn't trust her wings. About a year ago she'd fallen on her left wing and had broken it. Her mother had fixed it up and the wing had healed fine, but Star didn't know what would happen if she ever put actual strain on it. What if she started to fly and then fell like a rock? What if she broke her wing again like the last time she'd tried to fly on her own? Memories of falling out of a tree and flailing in an attempt to get her wings open to fly flashed through her mind and she shivered.

Toothless was acutely aware of the tension in the little nightfury on his back. Flying had definitely set something off in her and he wasn't sure what could be done about it. He'd have a talk with her tomorrow when they started her flying lessons.

A/N: Onto the next chapter! Minor edits. Nothing to worry about.