Alright, so here's the next four. I was going to post one more with this batch (and it was the request from a reviewer), but I had to do some research on it, and then I got confused and had to research again, and then I got distracted, and then I was procrastinating. So it never made it. But, it will be in the next chapter. Anyway, I rather like these, even if they aren't my favorites by a long shot. Enjoy!

~.~

81. Breathe

"Astrid. Astrid—look at me. It's going to be okay."

Toothless wasn't sure he agreed; the dragon had never seen so much blood in his life. It seeped from Ruffnut, drenching her clothing and staining her fair hair the color of rose and gathering around her in what could only be described as a puddle.

And now, instead of being reassured and comforted as she lay upon the ground, sinking farther and farther past the point of no return, Ruffnut was the one doing the reassuring. Astrid knelt beside the girl—her boots and knees stained a sickly red from Ruffnut's pooling blood—and clutched her best friend's hand hard enough to turn her knuckles white, obviously on the verge of an emotional breakdown. Toothless didn't blame her; the sheer amount of blood was enough to worry even the most seasoned warrior.

"It's going to be alright," Ruffnut wheezed, her voice terrifyingly quiet and hoarse. "Look at me, Astrid." She was wracked by a violent coughing fit, and dark blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Toothless—who was unconsciously holding his breath—wished her brother and Hiccup godspeed on their race back to Berk to fetch a medic.

Up to this point, Astrid had kept her eyes either closed or averted from the sight of her best friend sprawled out on the ground, but now—still kneeling and, like Toothless, holding her breath—she raised her eyes to meet Ruffnut's.

With her rapidly dwindling strength, Ruffnut squeezed Astrid's hand. "It's going to be okay," she promised quietly. Then: "And for the sake of the gods, breathe before you pass out, will you?"

The tiniest of smiles flashed at the corners of Astrid's lips, and at Ruffnut's request she stopped holding her breath and exhaled deeply, and Toothless followed suit. At the same time, defying her own advice, Ruffnut's blood filled lungs began to fail her, and her already painful breathing paused with an agonized hiss—and Toothless stood rooted to the spot, hoping, praying that she would take another breath.

82. Kaleidoscope

They weave their way down the crowded street, marveling at the spectacular scene like the tourists they are. Surprisingly, in a place such as this, the young man and the dragon are but one more curious duo amid hundreds of others, and Toothless decides on the spot that of all the places that Hiccup and he have seen in their travels, this is one of his favorites.

It's a marketplace, set on the cobblestone main street of an ancient, sprawling stone city, a lively gem in the heart of the largest known jungle in the world. One might not expect such an isolated place to be so multicultural, but this narrow, crowded street is perhaps the only place Toothless has ever journeyed where there are multiple sights that have received more odd looks than he. It's amazing to look at, and the people are fascinating—loud, turbaned vendors marketing their wears, brightly dressed black-skinned women with baskets of fruits balanced upon their heads, men with ridiculous feather hats and buckles arguing with natives adorned in beads and facial piercings, people from the far north, like Hiccup, easily recognized by their distinctive wardrobe of furs, children with tattooed skin racing among the crowd and pickpocketing the unwary. The many languages that float on the warm air are just as interesting, as are the smells from the vendors and the objects that can be traded or sold—many of which Toothless suspects would be illegal in any other atmosphere. There are animals in abundance, creatures of all shapes and sizes with an array of fur and feathers and scales, many of them just as striking and large as any dragon.

It's a mind-blowing display, and Toothless finds that he loves the colorful chaos. And as he follows Hiccup down the street, he begins to wonder why there can't be more places in the world like this, where the very world itself comes together in a bright, explosive kaleidoscope of culture and lifestyle for curious souls like him to explore.

83. Three

It was three in the morning when the knock came at the door—a rapid, frenzied pounding that suggested that the knocker was working themselves into a state of panic. Toothless opened his eyes and simply lay there on the floor for a minute, unwilling to acknowledge the atrocious hour of the morning.

From the bed, Hiccup groaned and hauled himself into a sitting position. He exchanged a bleary-eyed glance with the dragon that made a clear statement: uh-oh. After all, nobody knocked on your door at three in the morning unless somebody had died, you were in trouble with the law, or Armageddon was approaching. None of which was pleasant news to receive in the wee hours of the morning when you were still half-asleep and staggering around in your nightclothes.

Hiccup sighed and drug himself from his bed, hobbling off in the general direction of the door with Toothless in his wake. He got the door open on the third try (which Toothless figured was an accomplishment, considering their present state of consciousness) and slumped against the doorway in exhaustion. "What happen—"

He was tackled by Astrid, practically picked up and spun around, and deposited none too gently back onto the floor while she hopped up and down on the spot, breathing hard, as if she had just been running for a while.

Toothless blinked rapidly, his tired eyes unable to completely focus on her as she bounced around. Hiccup peered at her. "Astrid, what are you—"

She intervened again before he could finish his question, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him as she hopped up and down and yelled: "We're gonna be parents!"

84. Empty

If Toothless hadn't been in such a state of shock, he would have been mystified. What lay before Hiccup and him was a phenomenon—it entirely defied the laws of nature. And as incredible as it was, it was equally terrifying.

The place was completely deprived of life. It was an entire village, an entire community that was barren of living things. But that wasn't even the spooky part. What really made Toothless' skin crawl was the way that that everything looked so normal. He had expected a barren city to be ransacked or ruined, but the place seemed for all the world as if it were just any normal day. Food lay on tables. Beds were made. Weapons were put away. Fires crackled in fireplaces, untended, as if they had never been left. It was picture-perfect. And yet. . . it wasn't.

There were no living things. No humans, no animals, no dragons, no bugs, nor was there a breeze or even any noise. It was eerily silent and still, far past the point of unnatural.

But perhaps the worst part was the familiarity. It was Berk, just as it had been the day they had left, years and years ago. And yet. . . it wasn't.

It was empty.