Disclaimer: the Characters of How to Train Your Dragon belong to Dreamworks

Everything else is by Travis Church

When the boat had left the shore, Hiccup and Toothless began their ascent to the sky. In a swift organic motion, the two already were gliding over the ocean and slightly angling themselves upwards.

The forces of gravity began to pull down on the two but Toothless beat his wings even harder and Hiccup kept his hold on the saddle. Then the invisible weight disappeared when Toothless leveled himself with the horizon.

The light from the midday sun glowed beautifully on everything: the ocean, Toothless's scales, and even Hiccup's skin. The sky gathered bolls of clouds and tossed them about the blue canvas. Even the heavens looked like a perfectly painted rooftop, colored with the liveliest shades of navy and light sapphire imaginable.

But the best part of flying, in Hiccup's opinion, was being part of the living picture that was the sky. He and Toothless dashed in and out of clouds, making thin white trails behind them against the cerulean, and barrel rolled to twist the trails into stunning coils. He was part of something greater, he was part of the sky.

For Toothless, flying before he met Hiccup was nothing but a way to travel from point A to point B quickly; but now it was for his human. They danced atop the cloud tops and watched the sun melt like honey drops. In the sky, the sorrows, fears, and exhaustion fell into the sea. He even let out a gust of fire and watched the ball blossom as if exposure to the air was the key.

"Hiccup?" The rich bass voice surprised the boy and he looked down.

"What's up bud?"

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"You and Decessus don't-"f

"Can we not talk about it?" Hiccup interrupted. The happiness that the two shared faded away into the clouds and a silent contempt could be felt radiating from the young Viking.

They flew in relative silence until Hiccup's stomach growled in hunger around noon time. Toothless sailed down to the craft. The young Viking could smell some charring scent in the air while Toothless could identify it as one thing: cod. The dragon began to descend slightly faster to appease his now growing appetite.

"Hello Hic-cough!" The voice of Ilias rang from the boat and to the heavens. Hiccup slightly winced at the call.

The two descended onto the boat and Hiccup carefully released himself from the riding gear. The young Viking could smell the fish and Toothless became jittery at the scent.

"Hic-cough, please come inside. We have your lunch and we also have something for your dragon." Hiccup was pulled into the little cabin and found the little indigo cushion trap that he was had the discomfort of sitting in last night. He moved past the fluffy snare and approached the spread of food in the center.

"Which one's Toothless's?" He asked after eyeing all the portions.

"Do not worry, Decessus shall hand something to your dragon. May I interest you in a cup of tea?" Hiccup nodded and watched Ilias pull from the floor a silver pot and a porcelain cup. Mesmerized, he watched the amber flow eagerly from the spout and into the little white vessel. "Hic-cough," he then handed the boy the steaming cup, "We must speak about how we are to stop the Rage."

"Right," he blew gently on the brim and sipped carefully.

"The Rage is unlike anything we have dealt with. The Rage has no face yet it makes a sound, the Rage has no stomach yet it swallows the unfortunate souls, the Rage has no body yet it has the ability to extend itself in any direction. There is only one truth we can fully ascertain from the Rage." Hiccup watched the elder curiously, "The Rage is a conundrum."

"Or it's a riddle." Hiccup smartly replied. There was a chortling behind him and he turned to see Decessus enter the cabin; hiding with a hand on what must have been a smile on that pale face.

"Yes, it is quite the riddle in its tactics." Hiccup sighed as the joke clearly was beyond Ilias; but he took some pleasure in the fact that he amused someone, specifically Decessus. "But regardless! We must strategize on how to tackle this beast. You and I both know that the Rage is capable of burning anything within thirty days worth of travel. Unfortunately, that would extend far past your village of Berk and as far as the Western Anglo-Saxon coasts. It would be a grave day indeed to see everything in between ablaze."

"So what do we do?" Decessus asked as he took his place at the table.

"We continue to travel, and according to your dragon, we shall arrive at the island in two and a half days. Then once as we see what the Rage is like, we shall tackle it head on and prevent it from unleashing the unholy wrath that it is capable of."

"To peace and to glory," Decessus held a cup of ale in his hand.

Ilias toasted and Hiccup gently clanked his tiny cup against the glass of ale and milk. He hoped that the Gods heard the toast and would grant him a favor against the Rage.


Dragons need to use the bathroom too, no mater how amazing are. They too were susceptible to the call of nature. Toothless cursed his bodily functions and tried to find a suitable place to urinate from. He walked, carefully to the back of the boat, and sat on his haunches before relieving himself into the ocean.

"Oh Gods yes," he crooned aloud. But he craned his neck around to see Decessus watching in horror at what was unfolding before him. A steady honey colored stream jutted upwards, so Decessus could see what was occurring, made a fabulous arch and descended downwards in a fantastic rain of urine. "What is it Clementia?"

Decessus was jolted out of his stupor before responding, "I haven't been called that in a long time."

"I haven't seen my human feel this terrible around a person in a long time." The mercenary was tfaken aback by the comment but continued along with his business.

"How do you know what I am dragon?" Decessus asked as he approached the cupboard.

"What are you doing in that thing?"

"Vos operor non refero mihi," he spat from the little armoire.

"You work to not cooperate with my Hiccup," Toothless hissed.

"I have had enough of you dragon," Decessus approached the Night Fury in his own fury.

"And the feeling is mutual Clementia."

Decessus walked away from Toothless to shut the cupboard and marched off in a furor.

Toothless felt some joy in his victory and wished to share the success with Hiccup. But, in reality, he simply wanted to get away from the merchant and the mercenary with his human.

He moved carefully to the bow of the ship and was surprised when he saw Hiccup sitting outside.

"Hiccup?" The Viking was caught off guard by the baritone rumbling.

"Hey buddy." Toothless walked over and sat alongside the boy.

Toothless extended one of his wings onto the little Viking and they sat in comfort of each other.

It was some time until Hiccup decided to ease away the silence with a question. "Toothless, what's a Clementia?"

One of his ears perked up at the word, "Why do ask?"

"I heard you call Decessus that about once or twice. I'm just curious." Toothless sighed and Hiccup immediately went on the defensive, "I mean as long as you want to! I don't want you to do something you're not comfortable with! It's not a curse or anything right?"

The dragon laughed and responded, "No, far from that Hiccup. Would you like to hear a story?"

Hiccup nodded and listened as his friend took a deep breath.

"Long before the dawn of civilization, man was a strange thing. You humans would roam the world in odd shaped packs and do savage things. Slowly man evolved but some force knew that man would not be able to progress fully until all man had the tools to emerge as himself. The dragons who told me this say that it was no God, but instead some collective group of advanced humans who had tapped into the Gods' magic. But I won't bore you with that origin story." Hiccup opened his mouth in protest but Toothless continued, "This creator traveled the world monitoring you mortals and your traits. When it was satisfied with the knowledge it collected, it spread this information in a great gust of wind. But some people took on more knowledge than others; they had within them a great humanistic character within them. They had exceptional intelligence and insight about specific humanistic characteristics. Fear, joy, pestilence, survival, greed, name any idea that is associated with you humans and there is a person endowed with that ability out there. But they are separated by land, seas, and geography. To avoid the death of the intelligence, it passes on from generation to generation. The gust of knowledge bursts from their dying breath to find another person, and so the knowledge passes as the world turns." Hiccup was slightly confused by the explanation, "Do you require examples? Caligula: bloodlust. Ibn Battuta: exploration. Qin Shi Huang: construction."

"So these Clementias are just ideas in a human form?"

"'To a degree, yes."

"Then what is Decessus?"

Toothless sighed carefully and said, "His name is Latin and from what I know, Decessus means death."

Hiccup paled and croaked out, "He knows how to kill people?"

"Not necessarily, it only means that he possibly knows something about death that you and I don't. I stress the word possibly because I don't know if he is the Clementia of death. I know he is a Clementia because he reeks of high magic. But he just might happen to be the Clementia of addiction or misery. Only he can reveal his power."

The Viking remained in deep thought about what Toothless just said. If Decessus knows something then what was it? Was it death? And why would Ilias choose Decessus to come with him? If fate was able to set up the future: what is a future that involved a merchant, a person who knew some secret about death, his dragon, and himself? Inwardly, Hiccup hoped that Decessus's secret knowledge of death would not be put to the test.


It was now midnight and by some luck or favor from the Gods, they caught a strong wind and the boat was jettisoned on a strong current. According to Ilias, they were ahead by two hours and would be at the island in possibly less than two days if the winds and currents keep up.

Hiccup and Ilias had been long asleep when the moon was high and bright, but there were two figures still awake in the darkness.

Toothless unable to sleep, he focused on the world around him by honing his senses. He heard the water splash quietly on the boat, he saw the tiniest glimmer in the night sky, and he smelled something burning. He rose from the silence and treaded softly to the stern.

His ears flattened and he glared at the sight before him: Decessus was smoking a pipe of opium.

"Evening dragon," the mercenary said as he exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Clementia," Toothless barely acknowledged the man.

"Magic," he said before taking in another breath of smoke, "Never worked on dragons. I never believed it could work. First time for anything right?" He finished his tangent with another exhalation.

Toothless only eyed the man as he continued with his senseless oration.

"I can tell you, what happened to you was luck. I know it. And lady luck is a strange mistress. Beware a woman who only comes to you when you are winning," he let the words die away with the smoke.

"What are you?"

"A Greek first, a Clementia second, a mercenary third."

"No," Toothless growled, "What is your skill? What is your power? What are you capable of!" He roared into the silence of night.

The silence over took the words, Toothless was left with a shell of a man and he knew that there was no point in talking with him any longer.

"Death," the man said as he took the pipe away from his lips, "Is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."

"A witty saying proves nothing." Toothless whispered and while striding away, "He, who trains his tongue to quote the learned sages, will be known far and wide as a smart ass."

As Decessus emptied the chars into the seas from his pipe, he said to himself, "At least you and I are smart."


The second day came and passed in moments. It could be defined actually as this: breakfast, flying, lunch, flying, dinner, flying, sleeping in the boat.

The current that had taken the explorers unfortunately disappeared behind them, but they still had the two hour advantage they gained.

By the third day, Hiccup noticed something odd about Toothless. He seemed less aware, less active, less in touch with the present. Although it did not alter his flying, it did cause a bit of a problem when the two would try to carry a conversation.

Dusk inched closer and the island remained out of sight, which worried Ilias, but when the two descended to the boat for dinner Toothless assured the elder that they were almost there.

"I do hope you are correct dragon," Ilias said worriedly before following Decessus and Hiccup into the boat cabin.

Hiccup and Decessus began to take portions and awaited Ilias to take his seat. Once as they did, they began their meal.

"Hiccup," Decessus asked without even touching his food, "Do you remember what the Rage looks like?"

"Not exactly, I mean I had the gist of what it looked like."

"Hmm," Decessus looked at Ilias before going on. "I wish we did know something. 'A creature with no legs but it flies as fast as an eagle!'" The mercenary said in a falsetto to imitate Ilias's voice.

Although the impersonation received a short laugh from Hiccup, Ilias was not pleased. "I am certain that what you have described is impossible. The Rage cannot fly and it requires no legs." Hiccup and Decessus looked at each other before sighing at the merchant's lack of humor.

"Can you pass the tea?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh, not tonight young Hic-cough." Ilias stated.

"Why?"

"A person dreams when they are tired, I have read that from a treatise on the mind, and dreams are a connection to the beyond."

"Which beyond?" The Viking boy asked.

"Beyond the sword, beyond a reasonable doubt, and to infinity and beyond!" The elder stood up with the last statement. "But beyond the human plane of limitations. Gods exist in this plane if they wish it to be, but beyond that is a universe that Gods live within. If you are truly entwined with fate, fate shall come to you from this outer plane and give you something about the Rage. You must tap into that universe," and with grave tone while pointing at the boy with a withered finger, "You must not drink tea."

Something about that statement told Hiccup that Ilias should not be taken seriously right now, but he abandoned the need for tea and asked for some of the pomegranate juice instead.

After the food had been eaten the table was cleared and all dirty dishes were set outside and in its place Ilias set down a massive blank piece of paper.

"Hic-cough," Ilias began, "Would you care to draw a basic diagram of the island? From a bird's eye view if you would be so kind."

He was handed a pen and an inkwell and with some effort he drew a rough image of the island. He drew the volcano crater, the beaches, the large rocks that dotted the waters around it, and a compass rose to top it all off.

Decessus did not wait for the cool air to dry the quickly conceived map before he began to edit the map. He took the pen from Hiccup's hand and began to draw lines, dashes, and odd shapes all over the blank space before he paused to ask a few questions.

"Hiccup, is there any place where we can go inside the volcano?"

"Yeah, right here," he pointed to an area on the southeastern side of the volcano.

"Okay, so what I'm thinking is that if the Rage is an army of something," he pointed to a set of X's on the map, "We need to draw it out and invade the volcano for the master. If the Rage is a creature, which I would suspect is of leviathan proportions, we need to use this path," he said pointing to a trail of dashes, "So your dragon can trail behind it and search for any weak points. And if the Rage is a demigod or demon, we need to get it out into the open so Ilias and I can some of the special nullification magic that I've picked up over the years."

"Hic-cough, we will continue to travel for two hours and then we shall establish visual silence. No lights, no movement, nothing. We must continue to keep the element of surprise, if such an element is still possible, and give ourselves every advantage possible. Are you prepared for tomorrow?"

"Now or never right?"

"Excellent, now is there anything you would like to ask?"

"Yeah, can you look at Toothless, something doesn't seem right."

"What seems to be wrong with your dragon?"

"He isn't responding as quickly when I'm talking to him and he seems a little sluggish today."

"I told you Ilias," Decessus chimed in.

"Told you what?" Hiccup quickly asked.

"Well, magic does not function very well on dragons because they have a field so to speak that blocks it. It is comparable to a shield or a piece of armor. It has been said that dragons are not necessarily immune to the powers of magic but instead are able to withstand the affects by diminishing them. We are not sure what diminishes these effects, possibly some magic that has been on their person at birth or some biological trait, but we are sure that a thinning power is at play. A spell that causes sleep would work on a dragon, but the effects are so minute that it appears to not have worked. The translation magic is very powerful, especially from the Sero stone, but it has been reduced on application to your dragon."

"So he's fine?"

"Yes," Ilias said turning down the light from the hanging lantern slightly. "The magic is simply wearing away. You should cherish the last few moments of speech you will ever have with your dragon."

With that, Hiccup left the room and approached his friend. For the next hour, Hiccup had the best, and without a doubt the slowest, conversation in his life.

Yet the sun set onto the waters, the familiar purring replaced Toothless's filling bass voice. Toothless's eyes sharpened and he let out a few gusts of fire in rage. There were so many things he wanted to tell him, so many things he wanted to say, so little time. But Hiccup did not care; he gave his friend a hug and told him to go to sleep now. The Night Fury obeyed and gave a light rumbling sound before he began to rest.

The darkness began to encroach the sky, blooming as a bulb of nighttime and flourishing as a dark navy lotus. The moon glowed brighter and brighter calling the stars to stand alongside her. The sight was spectacular.

Hiccup went to the back of the ship and saw Decessus sitting on the edge of the boat with a smoky halo around his head.

"Evening Hiccup," the mercenary quietly said.

"Can I ask you something?"

He exhaled and said, "Sure."

Hiccup took a seat next to Decessus and said, "Do you hate Berk?"

The man took a deep breath, without his pipe and began. "Berk is cold, and smells odd, and has quite possibly the most violent and drunken people I have ever seen. But Berk has forests, Berk has an ocean view, Berk has that view of a sunrise that isn't compromised by buildings or monuments. Berk reminds me of my home." He paused for a moment, "I was exiled and forced into a civilization that I did not belong to. Forced to work for a man who was not my neighbor, forced to fight men who were my neighbors, and forced to do watch a man live in splendor while his neighbors lived in squalor." He sighed deeply and took a breath of his pipe, which to Hiccup smelt strangely pleasant. "And then I found my gift, and I killed that man in his own home, with his own blade, with his own hand." He laughed for a moment, "I gave myself a new name, left my master to be eaten alive, and left his estate to be robbed and pillaged for all it was worth. Then I came back to my home. But a house is not a home without someone to call it your own. So I left it and began to take up violent jobs in Constantinople. It had decent pay, a not-so-decent clientele, and a steady stream of orders." He set the pipe down in the space that separated him from the young Viking. "Sometimes I dream about that home, that place that was mine and only mine. Sometimes I wake up and smell the grasses and trees that were around my home. And sometimes I taste the fruit that I would pick from those trees when I wake up. But I cry, I cry for that place that is no longer there, and I take my fist and slam it against the wall, and weep for the things that were. I pray that what was taken from me: the people, the family, the community. I pray that it is in a better place now. I know death. Death is my inheritance. I wish death would take me so I could be with what is now gone." Hiccup thought that he saw a tear form in the pale light. "And when I came here with Ilias, it was like a dream! A god dammed dream. It brought me back to that place, that place I wish for, and made me want it back. And if we get out of this mess," he looked to the sky, "I'm taking back whatever is left and I'll make it mine once again."

Hiccup watched as he took a final breath of the light scented material. This man, he was broken, but he could be fixed. One day he would be fixed.

"Want some?" He offered the sweet-smelling pipe to the Viking. "It's not opium, it's a mix of tobacco and berries. It isn't very popular right now, but sometimes popularity means nothing."

He took it and analyzed it. There was a lit portion, a chamber with a bit of water, and another chamber with miscellaneous things inside it. The metal pipe rested in both his palms, the object glistening in the fresh moonlight. He looked over to the mercenary, who looked at him expectantly and eagerly. Graciousness and friendliness appear as odd gestures sometimes. So he inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, taking in the aromatic flavors of some berries, fruit, and some other sweets.

"Impressive, would you like some more?"

"No thanks, I'm good." Hiccup stood up from his seat and handed the pipe back, "Good night Decessus."

"Good night."

He left the man to his thoughts and proceeded to bed. The image of Decessus before floated away like the smoke he just exhaled and this new Decessus was left like the sweet taste that lingered on his tongue.

A/N: Whoohoo! I'm done! Took me a week and a totally unrelated writing piece, but I'm done! YAAY! :D

So that concludes part two of The Strangers, there's only one part left and it's the action part! Explosions, fire ball casting, and flight scenes galore! If you've read this far, you're going to be in for a big surprise about the Rage!

So, no I didn't work in Toothless having some exposure to alcohol but I did get him to pee off the stern (which is cool I guess). Hiccup is a really good first time smoker. And Decessus is by far the most complicated character I've ever written. God look at that monologue! It's, according to my word counting thing, 439 words long! JEEZ DECESSUS, calm down with your feelings!

But anyway, I really want to thank marmelada for coming aboard the crazy train and I want to thank SkyHighFan, Pterodactyl, Kara Crane, meggie6, Windsofdrams, and Alana-kittychan for all faving or putting on alert An Offer of Proof.

Rate, review, and more importantly give me your thoughts on Decessus's monologue. Did it move too quickly? Was it too long? Was it bad? Or was it just right? Tell me!