And another chapter! Thank you guys for all the reviews you have given me already, it makes my day reading them!

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

Finding Night Fury Island, Part V

He awoke slowly. For a moment he didn't remember where he was, then he felt the soft mattress he was laying and warm blankets covering him. He opened his eyes, almost immediately seeing Toothless' head in front of him. His hand had slid of the scaled nose, now laying next to the dragon. He twitched his fingers a bit, his hand stiff from the sleep, and Toothless opened his eyes.

'Hey bud.'

His voice had been a whisper, a little hoarse from sleep, but the dragon heard him. He wailed softly in response, before giving him a lick across his face. Instantly, Hiccup was wide awake, scurrying away from the dragon, wiping his face.

'Don't you hate it when they do that?'

His head jerked around. He had forgotten about Wrenlou. The boy was still sitting in the chair, his legs pulled up this time, and he was looking at them with amusement. Hiccup nodded and tried to sit up again. Unlike last time, the pain didn't come and he succeeded in getting up. By that time Wrenlou was at his side again, readjusting the pillows.

'Sleep well?'

Hiccup nodded. He had slept well. He had slept deep, without nightmares and he actually felt refreshed.

'Hungry?'

Before he could answer, his stomach answered for him, growling loudly. He could feel his face turning red as he put his hands on his stomach. He now realized he was hungry. He hadn't eaten since he had been captured and that was nearly a month ago! Was it even possible to survive that long without food? Maybe they had forced food down his throat while he had been unconscious or something. Anyway, he was hungry. So he nodded. Wrenlou stood up.

'I'll go see what they have in the Hall. Be right back. Don't move.'

Hiccup watched him go, the door closed softly. Then he sat back, scratching Toothless' chin and looked around the room. It was bigger than he had expected, without windows. To his left there was a curtain drawn over something that looked like a large gap. He frowned, what was that for?

The questions from before came to his mind again. Where was he? Wrenlou did not at all seem afraid of Toothless. And his last comment, "Don't you hate it when they do that" , plus the white dragon he had seen before... was Wrenlou a dragon rider? It could explain why Toothless was here with him, and not dead. He had found a beach... but now they were in a city. It had to be a city. He could heard faint voices, sometimes a shadow passed the curtain. And how could Wrenlou speak Norse? When he had first found him, he couldn't understand him. It wasn't possible to learn a language in just three weeks, was it?

He heard the door open and Wrenlou came back, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He handed him a bowl and Hiccup took it, his hands closing around it.

'Try not to upset your stomach.'

Hiccup looked up, taking the spoon Wrenlou offered him. The soup tasted like chicken and was warm, but not hot. The bowl was empty quickly and he licked his lips. He looked up at Wrenlou and held the bowl out to him, silently asking for more.

'I don't think that's a good idea... maybe later.'

Hiccup nodded. He understood. Although he was terribly hungry and the soup only filled so much, it was probably best to not eat too much at once. Wrenlou took the bowl from him, setting it on the ground before crossing his legs on the edge of the bed.

'I think you had questions?'

Hiccup nodded. 'I... I just don't know where to start...' He frowned. 'Where am I?'

Wrenlou smiled widely. 'Dragoncity.'

Hiccup's eyes widened. Did that mean...? 'Dragoncity? Is that...?'

'Alright. Let me start from the beginning. The island you found is called Night Fury Island. As it's name suggests, it's home of the Night Fury's. You won't find them in any other place in the world. Of course you did... find one...'

'Night Fury Island? You mean there's more than one?'

'More than one Night Fury? Yes. There are hundreds Hiccup. Thousands.'

His mind was racing. Thousands? Had they found the place where Toothless belonged after so wondering where he came from for so long? Could it really be here?

'And... Dragoncity?'

'Ah. The city itself was founded almost a thousand years ago by my ancestors. They called it Dragoncity because... well, because... Hiccup, Dragoncity is a city of dragon riders.'

His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he was staring at the boy in front of him. Dragon riders? A whole city with dragon riders?

'Are you...?'

'A dragon rider? Yes I am. You met my dragon the day we found you, although I'm not sure if you remember that.'

Hiccup nodded. He did remember the white dragon. A white Night Fury.

'Her name is Snowflake. She's the only white Night Fury ever to exist.'

'Tell me more!'

'Okay... About what, exactly?'

'Well... everything. The city, the dragons, tell me about yourself.'

'I guess I could do that. My name is Wrenlou Dreycon, I am seventeen years old, I ride a white, female Night Fury called Snowflake, and I'm not supposed to be here with you.'

'Wait... what? Why not?'

'Right, now it becomes complicated... alright. Let me start with this: there are two cities. Dragoncity, the city of dragon riders and their dragons, and Lightcity, located on one of the other islands in the archipelago. Every one who isn't a dragon rider, lives in Lightcity.'

'But... how would you become a dragon rider?'

'Every five years, when the eggs hatch, the city is given five. Those five dragons choose a rider the moment they hatch. You see, Night Fury's choose their rider, not the other way around. So every five years, every one between the ages of fifteen and twenty are given the chance to become a dragon rider. You can always hope, but ultimately, it's up to the dragons.'

'Okay... but why are you not supposed to be here?'

'I was getting to that. The five new riders and their dragons go to a place called Learners Bay. That's where they learn how to be a rider, what to do and work together with their dragons. It's basically a school. And that's where I should be. At the moment. As in, right now. You see Hiccup, I'm still learning. It takes three years for a Night Fury to mature and be considered an adult, and I was chosen almost three years ago. Two and a half to be exact.'

'But... If you're not supposed to be here, why are you here?'

'They gave me permission to stay with you. I can be really persuasive. And I'm stubborn. Really stubborn. I would have stayed even if they hadn't given me permission.'

'Why? Why would you do that for me? I mean, you didn't even know me, and... and... and...'

He was stammering, unable to find the words to express his surprise. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up.

'I did what I did because it was the right thing to do. I don't know where you came from or why they treated you the way they did, and frankly I don't care. All I know is that when I found you on that beach, you were in need of help. You would have died without it, and I just couldn't let that happen.'

Hiccup took a deep breath. He wasn't really able to fathom all he had just heard. He was on the home island of Night Fury's in a city filled with dragon riders. The one that had helped him, Wrenlou, was a dragon rider himself! The thoughts and words were spinning though his head. His most important question had been answered, he knew where he was now, but he still had questions. He looked up again, his eyes meeting Wrenlou's.

'How do you know my language?'

'Well...' Wrenlou made a gesture to the chair and the books thrown around the room. 'I had a lot of time to read.'

'You learned it by reading? Just like that?'

'Languages is something I pick up really fast, and yours wasn't really hard to be honest.'

Hiccup was staring at him in total shock. Wrenlou had defied orders to stay with him. He had learned his language, to be able to talk to him. He cared for him, brought him food, worried when he was in pain. He had done all that, for someone he didn't know. It touched something, deep inside his heart. A feeling he wasn't familiar with. He felt tears burn and immediately Wrenlou's expression changed. He had that same worried look in his eyes he had seen the night before.

'Hiccup? Did I say something wrong?'

Hiccup shook his head, violently wiping the tears from his face. He would not cry, not this time. Toothless crooned softly, concerned and nudged his shoulder gently.

'You did so much for me, and I don't even know you. Where I come from, people... people didn't care about me at all. They just...'

He turned away from the boy in front of him, unwilling to show him his tears. He felt a hand on his back, careful with the bandages and sobbed once. His back... how bad was it? There had to be a wound, had to be. But how bad was it?

'My back... what... how bad...'

'How bad is it?' He turned around to face Wrenlou again and nodded. The other boy sighed. 'There is a large gash all across, from your right shoulder to your left hip. You're lucky to be alive. It will heal, but it will leave a scar.'

Hiccup bit his lip, trying to fight back new tears. He had known it had to be bad, but he never expected it to run all the way across. But the news that it would leave a scar was what hit him the hardest. He would always be reminded of that man now, it would always be visible and if he were to take off his shirt in front of people, they would notice. He took a deep breath and took the cup of water Wrenlou had silently gotten for him.

'Alright?'

That simple word send warmth through his body. He didn't need any explanation to what Wrenlou meant. He nodded. He would be alright. He would be able to live with a scar the rest of his life if it meant he would live.

'Want to meet Snowflake?'

His head shot up and he was violently nodding. Wrenlou smiled and stood up, walking towards the curtain. When he pulled it open, Hiccup's jaw dropped. He wasn't on ground level as he had expected. He was up high, facing more rooms like his. Wrenlou turned around and smiled seeing his surprised face. Hiccup stared outside, leaning forward as much as he could. He wanted to see more. He wanted to see the city itself. Wrenlou cupped his hands around his mouth and let out a cry similar to a Night Fury call. It was answered from all sides, dragons chirped and crooning where Hiccup couldn't see them. Then he heard a shriek.

And that's when he saw the dragon.

She was flying straight at the opening, white wings beating furiously and she landed practically on top of Wrenlou. She cooed happily and started licking his face, much like Toothless would do sometimes.

Snowflake! Get off... ugh, this is so disgusting...'

Wrenlou wriggled from under the dragon and she sat back. Hiccup was staring at her. She was a Night Fury. In every sense of the word, a Night Fury. The head was the same, the tail, with two fins, even the spines along her back were the same. But she was completely white, and it was beautiful.

'She's... she's so pretty...'

The dragon turned her head and Wrenlou looked up. Hiccup's jaw dropped when he saw their eyes. The dragon had the same ayes as Wrenlou, only her right was blue while her left was green. She looked at her rider, who smiled at her and then she got closer. Toothless growled softly ans she shied away, but Hiccup reached a hand out to her. Stretching her neck, she sniffed his outstretched hand, then pressed her nose into his palm.

After a moment she pulled back an wrinkled her nose, her eyes looking at him with a same sort of sparkle he had seen in Wrenlou's eyes the first time. Hiccup now saw that the dragon wasn't wearing a saddle or harness of any kind.

'How do you ride her?'

'How... well like you do. I'm not allowed to ride her outside the bay, except when I'm going back to the bay, so I took off the saddle.'

Hiccup didn't respond. It made sense. He was now scratching Snowflake's chin, and the dragon was purring contently. A low growl from Toothless had Hiccup turn to his own dragon and he started scratching his chin as well.

'Want to see more of the city?'

He looked up. Wrenlou had moved the chair to the gap and was looking at him questioningly. He nodded, his hair flying around his head. He wanted to see more of the city. He wanted to se more of the island. Wrenlou smiled and pushed the dragon aside. Snowflake huffed, but curled her tail around her paws as she sat down. When Hiccup made a move to get up, Wrenlou hooked one arm under his shoulders, and another under his knees and simply lifted him from the bed. Hiccup blushed. He had forgotten he didn't weigh much. Wrenlou sat him down in the chair, an now he could see the city. His jaw dropped.

He was maybe three or four floors up, he couldn't really tell, but he was pretty high above the ground. Dragons and humans were walking over the plaza, most dragons wearing a saddle. There was a large building on the edge of the plaza that looked a lot like the Great Hall back on Berk. He looked to the rooms on the other side and now realized that they were nestled in the wall of a mountain. He could only guess the room he was in was similar design. There were trees speckled over the plaza, along the edge of it and he could see the streets leading away from the large oval space were also lined with trees. Dragons were chirping and chatting, purring and crooning. He could see them napping in piles, lazily eating fish. There were so many.

Toothless came up to him and he hugged the dragon, his arms barely reaching around the dragon's neck.

'You see them Toothless? Look at all of them.'

The dragon crooned, looking into the city below. Tearing his eyes away from the scene, Hiccup looked at Wrenlou.

'Do you... do you think I could stay?'

'Well... the Council has been talking about that ever since you arrived. The Council is like our government. Twelve dragon riders and twelve non-dragon riders. But it really hinges on what you decide. You can stay if you want. You would join us in Learners Bay.'

'You hear that bud? We may have found a home for us.'

Toothless wailed loudly, immediately getting turning heads on the plaza below. Some dragons answered, some of the riders waved at them, and Hiccup felt another trail of warmth flow through him. Toothless wailed again, softer this time and tried to lick his hair. He managed to push the dragon away.

'How did you do it?'

Hiccup looked up. 'Do what?'

Wrenlou pointed at Toothless. 'You befriended an adult Night Fury. All the riders, every singe one, always get their dragons moments after they hatch, a baby. You somehow managed to befriend an adult Night Fury. And he's about sixteen years old, which makes it even more impressive. And what happened to his tail?'

'I... It's kind of a long story...'

'We have time. Plenty of it. So start talking.'