Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD. Anyone want to loan me a couple mil to buy the rights?

Chapter 6: Glass Lightening

Previously:

"So that's her." The unknown man whispered as he watched the two night furies retreat. "Time to sound the horn." He mumbled to himself as Johann approached him. The man cleared his throat. "Thank you again for bringing me here Johann. I would have gotten lost among all these islands."

Johann laughed and waved off the thanks. "What can I say? You paid well and I do love showing off my favorite island."

The man nodded and looked back up at the cliff. "Do you think the people of Berk would mind if I had a look around?"

Johann rubbed his mustache for a moment. "They're good folk. Don't do harm to their dragons and they'll be pleasant to ye."

The man smiled a bit and hopped off the boat. "I would never dream of harming a dragon." And with that he started walking up the ramps to the village. He'd heard quite a bit about the village of Berk from Johann and other travelers over the years and he really wanted to see just how many of the stories were true.

It wasn't difficult for the stranger to find his way around Berk. To be honest the town was rather plain and simple in its layout. The buildings were all fairly new and set up in a way that if damage were to occur then it would be easy to repair or rebuild. Heck there were even buckets of water on pulley systems above each house to put out any dragon caused fires. He had a feeling that until a few years ago the buildings were being replaced quite frequently.

He watched as various dragons wandered around the town along with their people. He took note of how the dragons interacted with the humans and he smirked a bit as he came to the realization that the human folk in Berk had no idea just how much potential their dragons had. It amazed him just how ignorant these people were.

His subtle stalking of the two night furies led him to an arena type place. Judging by the signs around and the discussions from the people that were near him the stranger was able to deduce that this was the dragon academy that had become quite famous among the islands. Stories of the dragon academy of Berk had traveled all over and it was part of the reason the stranger had decided to come to Berk when he had.

The man leaned against the railing that overlooked an arena below. He smirked a bit as he watched a group of older children were led into the arena from one end and a group of dragon hatchlings were led in from the other. A tall man with shaggy brown hair was speaking to the human children while the two night furies that the stranger had been following were focusing on the hatchlings.

"This is the day your class will officially start interacting with dragons," The stranger could hear the brown haired man's words from where he was standing and it just made the stranger roll his eyes. These people really had no idea what they were doing. He turned his attention over to the two night furies.

"So these are the hatchlings chosen to meet with the humans?" Toothless asked sceptically as he looked over the dozen or so young dragons that were happily goofing around.

Star smiled at Toothless and nodded. "There were a lot of choices this year." Where it was Hiccup's decision which young human met with the dragons, it was Star's decision as to which hatchlings came out to see the humans for the first time of the academic year.

Years after Star had grown out of her hatchling youth there had been an accident involving several of the younger dragons. Since young dragons didn't listen to adults, human or dragon, it was the duty of all adults to watch over the young dragons. One day though several young dragons got free from their adult watchers and had gone wild playing around the village. At one point the young dragons had come across a slightly older Star and the first child of Hiccup and Astrid.

The rough housing hatchlings hadn't noticed how close they were getting to the young Haddock child when they started letting out bursts and puffs of flame. Star, fearing for the little human, let out a roar at the hatchlings. Silence had filled the area after Star's roar ended and the result of her outburst had shocked just about everyone.

Hatchlings never listened to anyone, this was a well known fact, and yet in that moment they had frozen in their play and had obeyed Star's command for them to stop and sit down. After that moment Hiccup and Star began testing this strange control of hers on the younger dragons. The hatchlings obeyed her the same way that adult dragons obeyed their Alpha Toothless. Ever since then Star had been put in charge of controlling the hatchlings while at the academy.

The stranger watched in fascination as Star crooned at the hatchlings to get their attention. He watched as Hiccup introduced his human students to the white night fury's young dragons. The white night fury kept the hatchlings in control just enough so they didn't do anything to hurt the young humans, but otherwise she let them do what they wanted.

"Amazing isn't she?" The stranger turned towards the feminine voice that had spoken to his right. The woman was on the thin side with auburn hair and green eyes. She reminded the stranger of the man below in the academy. "Before Star came along I'd never seen a dragon that could control hatchlings." She smiled at him and the stranger simply nodded.

"Are you here to see the Academy?" The woman asked the stranger. He kept his expression calm and composed as he nodded. "I am Valka." She held out her hand to the stranger. Once again the man kept his expression calm as he shook her hand.

The man sighed as he realized that Valka was holding onto his hand because she was waiting for him to give her his name. "Havardr Colby." A dragon's cry from below them alerted both Valka and Havardr. The handshake ended as the two adults looked below.

During their short introduction the young dragons had taken it upon themselves to pile up on top of Toothless.

"Star get them OFF me!" Toothless struggled under the weight of the dozen hatchlings that had piled up on him. The black night fury looked over at Star who was lounging happily on the ground. She was completely stretched out and looked like she was dozing. "Star! Please!" He was more concerned with the hatchlings hurting his false tail then actually hurting him.

Star snickered softly. "You looked like you needed a hug." She cooed as she rolled onto her stomach and off of her side. "And Hiccup said something about hatchlings being uncontrollable. I was proving a point." Star looked at the claws on one of her paws the way a human would look at their nails. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she may have suggested to the hatchlings that they should go and 'play' with Toothless.

Toothless grumbled and started walking forward. The weight of a dozen young dragons clinging to his back was just barely manageable. Once he was by Star's side he shook himself hard. The hatchlings tumbled off of him and onto Star.

Havardr chuckled softly at the antics of the two night furies.

"Did you want to have a look around?" Valka asked after a few minutes of watching Toothless and Star chase each other around. "I'm one of the advance dragon trainers here so I can show you around."

Havardr took a good look at Valka then. Her posture was relaxed, but he could tell she was standing lightly on her feet in case she needed to move quickly. The way her eyes were focusing on him reminded Havardr of how dragons would stare down outsiders. He nodded as nonthreatening as he could. "I actually came to speak with the village Chief, but seeing as he is busy a tour would be a good way to spend time." He nodded down into the arena where Hiccup had picked up one of the young dragons to hold still for the children.

Just as they were leaving Havardr took one last look down into the arena, his eyes focusing on Star. A very soft growl left him before he turned and started following Valka.

A chill went down Star's back making her stop mid step. This momentary pause caused several of the young dragons that had been chasing after her to tackle her from behind. The young dragons got off of Star when she grumbled at them so she could stand back up. Star looked around again with concern. She could have sworn she'd heard...Star shook her head. She had to have been wrong about what she'd heard.

"Star what's wrong?" Toothless asked as he carried around one of the human children on his back. This was the part of the lesson where Hiccup got the human children more used to riding on a dragon's back.

Star looked over at Toothless and she tilted her head. "Did you just...growl at me?" She asked with a deep frown. The sound she'd heard had been that of an Alpha growling.

Toothless shook his head at Star. "No. If I growled it was at the hatchlings." Toothless rolled his eyes. "Not that they listen to me." He turned his head to growl at a young dragon that was rushing past him, but the little nadder didn't even stop to look at him. Toothless huffed and turned to walk back to Hiccup for the next young human to ride his back.

By late afternoon almost all of the young dragons had been paired up with one of the human children. It would be up to each human child now to raise and care for their new dragon hatchling.

"You know Star ever since you started helping out at the Academy we've had a lot more permanent matches." Hiccup commented as he and the two night furies left the academy grounds to head for the docks.

Star pranced happily at the praise. When the academy had first started pairing dragon hatchlings with human children there had been quite a few cases where the young dragons didn't get along with the human children. Most dragons followed their typical breed characteristics so usually children were paired up based on their personalities. Before Star there were some cases where personalities did not mesh well at all.

"What would the academy do without me?" Star crooned happily as she continued her happy prancing.

Toothless rolled his eyes and bumped her with his wing. "It'd probably be a lot less girly." He laughed and dodged forward away from the suddenly pouncing Star. "Really! All the female children giggle and make weird sounds all the time when you play with the hatchlings." He failed to dodge a second time and he and Star rolled together across the ground. Star jumped free first and hopped over to Hiccup to walk close to him.

"You're just jealous the human children like me better!" She stuck her tongue out at Toothless as he grumbled and hurried up to walk beside her again.

Hiccup chuckled as he watched Star and Toothless. He knew them well enough that he could almost guess as to what they were saying to each other. "You know bud the more you grumble the more Star is going to pick at you." He laughed as Star reached over to poke at Toothless with her wingtip. "See?"

When they made it to the docks Toothless sat down with a thump and shook his head around while making blabby sounds. Star grinned and nuzzled at Toothless's neck before going over to Johann's boat to wait for him to invite her on with Hiccup.

"I've got something good for ya this time little Star." Johann said as he went to some of the crates at one end of his boat. "Found this little treasure far to the south after a horrible storm washed my ship ashore a white beach." Finding the bundle in the create he'd opened Johann carried the blanket wrapped object over to Star and Hiccup.

Hiccup leaned against the side of the vessel as Johann started unwrapping the bundle. "How far South did you go Johann?" Hiccup asked. He hadn't heard of any white beaches anywhere in the islands.

Johann paused in his careful unwrapping. "Pretty far. Took me almost a month to get back up to the farthest island." With that said Johann pulled back the last corner of the blanket.

Star's eyes went wide as she looked at the sculpture that Johann was showing her. The clear glass had three branches that swirled upwards and on each of the branches were spikes that jolted out. The entire sculpture reminded Star of lightening dancing across the sky. She got as close to the glass sculpture as she could without actually touching it.

"The artist I found said he was inspired when lightening hit the beach." Johann smiled proudly as he held it carefully out to Star. "I thought it would suit you quite well."

Hiccup couldn't help but admire the glass sculpture. He'd never seen glass worked in such a way as this! Glass was for dishware and windows, but this was something all together new. He had a feeling that it was going to be rather pricey as well. Hiccup looked at Star and saw just how attached she already was with the glass sculpture. He sighed and shook his head. If he didn't get it for Star there would be no living with the dragon. Of course then again she worked hard for the village so it was only fair that she get something for all her hard work.

"How much is it Johann?" Hiccup asked as he reached for the pouch at his waist. If he didn't have enough he'd have to go back to the house to get more. Astrid was going to kill him, but what else was new?

Johann shifted the sculpture in his hands for a moment while he thought about it. The sculpture really was a one of a kind piece; especially here in the viking islands. With a shrug he handed it over to Hiccup. "Consider it a birthday gift for little Star." Johann winked at Star who had started grinning and wiggling happily. "I get so much trade here at Berk I can afford to let this one go."

Hiccup looked at the glass sculpture in his hands. The glass was smooth and when he touched the little spikes shooting out from the branches he found they were rather pointy. "Let me pay you something Johann." He insisted. It didn't feel right to just get the glass sculpture for free.

Johann rubbed his chin. "Well I could do with some more dragon scales." He'd found a nice little port to the east that had a particular fondness for dragon scales. Berk was the only place he could get as many scales as he wanted.

Hiccup nodded; he felt a lot better about this trade now. He had a few of Star's scales that he was sure Johann would particularly like. "I'll send a crate of scales down for you then." He laughed as Star stuck her face as close to the glass sculpture as she could. "I better get this home so it doesn't break."

Star nodded encouragingly when Hiccup carefully got out of Johann's boat. "Toothless! Did you see it! Did you see my new sculpture!" Star said as she went over to Toothless excitedly. "It looks like lightening! And it's glass!" She did not have anything like it and she was so happy to have it.

Toothless nuzzled Star's neck and got up from where he'd parked himself. "It looked interesting." Toothless said as the two of them started walking up the steps of the dock. "Though I still don't understand why you collect human things."

Star rolled her eyes at the older night fury. "You don't see how wonderful human things are! They're always so different and they come from everywhere!" She liked looking at her collection and imagining what the world was like far away. She was a young dragon and she'd only ever lived in two places. Star doubted she'd actually ever leave Berk, but she did wonder what it was like to travel to distant places like trader Johann did.

Whether or not Toothless agreed with Star on how special human things were didn't matter; all that mattered was that Star was happy. "Just make sure to keep Iona away from your new human thing." Iona, Hiccup's and Astrid's 9 year old daughter, seemed to love playing with Star's collection.

As if summoned by her name spoken by the night fury the hyper and stubborn Haddock ran up to her father. Toothless caught the blond, green eyed girl just before she tried to jump onto her father.

"Father! Father there's a man waiting for you at the hall!" Iona said as she struggled against Toothless, who had knocked her down and proceeded to sit on her to keep her still. "What's that? Is that Star's?" Iona asked as she noticed the glass sculpture in her father's hands. "Trader Johann was here today wasn't he? Did you trade for that?" Iona had gotten her mother's loud and bold nature, but she'd also gotten her father's curiosity. The mix of the two certainly had an interesting effect in the girl.

Toothless rolled his eyes and got up off of Iona when she stopped squirming. Iona brushed off her leather skirt and then then went over to Star to try and climb up onto the night furies back.

Star wrinkled her nose and side stepped the little girl. "Why did you let her up? She's trying to climb on my back again!" Even though Star was protective of the excitable girl she didn't like having any human on her back.

"She thinks your her dragon." Toothless explained for the hundredth time. He laughed as Star started trying to run away and dodge the little Haddock child. This had been a game between the girl and the white night fury since Iona had started walking. The two had literally grown up together so it made sense that the two would become rider and dragon, but for some reason Star refused to let anyone actually put a saddle on her.

Hiccup chuckled as Iona continued her quest to ride Star. With his daughter distracted by her attempts to chase down Star Hiccup made his way quickly back to their house so he could put Star's new glass sculpture up on the highest shelf in Star's and Toothless's addition. With that taken care of he quickly made his way to the hall where dinner was being prepared for later. On his way he passed Toothless, Star, and Iona again. Somehow Toothless had caught Iona again and was laying on her as Star rolled on her back on the ground in front of Iona. Hiccup chuckled and continued on his way.

"Hiccup there you are." Astrid said as the door to the great hall was opened and Hiccup came in. "This is Havardr Colby. He came in here from the South with Johann."

Hiccup got a good look at the stranger. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and a lean body. His hair was pitch black and his eyes were an interesting green color. He was wearing a simple clothe shirt with a fur lined cloak over it. He looked like an average man and yet Hiccup could sense something...powerful about him.

"Chief Hiccup, it's an honor." Havardr said as he held out his hand to shake Hiccup's. The Berk chief shook his hand and Havardr smiled a little. "I've heard so much about Berk, the Dragon Academy, and the dragon rider that started it all."

Hiccup felt a shock when his hand came in contact with Havardr's. It was the kind of shock that Hiccup got whenever he touched a wild dragon for the first time. His eyes narrowed for a moment as he scrutinized Havardr. There was definitely something strange about this man. "Well thank you for coming all this way."

Havardr cleared his throat when he let go of Hiccup's hand. "Lady Valka showed me around the academy, but I would appreciate a tour of Berk."

Hiccup tried to relax a little as he rubbed the side of his neck. As the chief it was kind of his responsibility to show new people around the village. "Sure, follow me." Hiccup turned and left the hall. He didn't have to turn to see if Havardr was following him. The hairs on the back of Hiccup's neck were practically standing up from the feeling of eyes watching him.

After a few minutes of Hiccup showing Havardr around and the two men making light conversation Hiccup started to relax a little. The man seemed genuinely interested in what the people of Berk were accomplishing with their dragons. Havardr would ask questions about how Berk cared for their dragons, how food was handled, and how tantrums were handled. None of his questions were intrusive or things that a thief or rogue would ask.

Eventually the two of them made it to a higher outcropping that had a nice view of most of the village. Hiccup spotted Star and Toothless wandering through the streets and towards their house. By the looks of it Iona had given up trying to get onto Star's back and had settled for Toothless.

"You have a fine little village here Chief Haddock." Havardr said as he put his hands on his hips. "It's nice to see place where dragons and people are at peace." His acid green eyes scanned the village below them until he finally spotted his query; the two night furies. "You have dragons here that I've only ever heard of."

Hiccup knew exactly which dragons Havardr was looking at. "We're very lucky here in Berk."

Silence settled between Hiccup and Havardr for several minutes. As the two men watched the village Star lifted up into the air and beckoned for Toothless to join her. Hiccup had already taught Iona how to fly with Toothless so it was rather easy for the black night fury to fly up after Star with the help of the young Haddock.

"How much?"

Hiccup looked over at Havardr in confusion. The man was watching Star and Toothless and they soared up higher and over the ocean. "How much what?"

Havardr sighed through his nose and crossed his arms over his chest. "How much for the night furies?"

The silence returned, but this time there was a thick tension in Hiccup that could almost be cut with a dagger.

A/N: Ok this chapter was hell to write. I knew what I wanted to write, but it's like my brain kept going "nopenopenopenope!" I think I even yelled at my laptop a couple times out of frustration.

ANYWAY! In the end the chapter ended up longer then I'd planned. Funny how that works right?