Hope, Hiccup, and Toothless cut through the still-dark sky. A comforting silence surrounded them, interrupted only by the beating of Toothless' wings. The darkness was slowly giving away to dawn, the sky above them just barely pink.

"It's so beautiful," said Hope softly.

Hiccup smiled. "It is," he agreed.

"My brother and I would watch the sunrise every morning," continued Hope, her voice wistful. "He always said that it was like someone was painting the sky." she bit her lip as her voice broke. A shudder rippled through her, and she drew a deep breath. "I miss him terribly."

"He sounds nice," said Hiccup, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he'll come soon."

Hope gave him a half-smile. "I think he'd enjoy meeting you," she told Hiccup. "My family's tried to train dragons, but...well, let's just say our last attempt ended in singed eyebrows." A small laugh escaped her lips.

Hiccup shook his head. "Your family sounds as crazy as my entire tribe."

Hope laughed harder. "Oh, they are. That's not the only crazy thing that's happened. Gosh, it's not even the craziest!"

Hiccup grinned. "Yeah, we've had some crazy adventures here too."

The two swapped stories for the next few hours as the sky around them brightened. They had just finished comparing their families' battle strategies when Hope smacked Hiccup's shoulder.

"Hey, what was-"

"Hiccup, that's the island, isn't it?"

"It is. Let's go, bud!"

Toothless landed smoothly in the beach and held still as Hope tried to dismount. Her foot caught on the saddle and she fell face-first into the sand.

"Are you alright?" asked Hiccup, helping her up.

"Yeah," returned Hope, her cheeks flaming. "I do things like that a lot."

Hiccup chuckled. "Don't worry. After I lost my leg, it took me months to regain my balance. I understand what it's like to have balance issues."

Hope smiled. "Thanks. So about this dragon-"

Toothless' head shot up suddenly, and he snarled at what appeared to be nothing, a plasma blast building in his throat.

"Woah, easy, Toothless!" said Hiccup ,running over to his dragon. "What's wrong, bud?"

Toothless snarled, his eyes wide with fear.

Hope looked over at the bushes and frowned, moving over to them.

Hiccup, meanwhile, tried to calm his dragon down. He rubbed Toothless' head soothingly.

Hope bent down and picked something up. "Interesting," she muttered. "Hiccup, come check this out."

She held up a strange object, round and pink. "It's a scale, right?"

"Yes. Strange," said Hiccup. "I've never seen this kind of scale before."

Hope looked over at Toothless and held it up to him. "It almost looks like Toothless' scales. It's too big to be his, though."

"Hmm," surmised Hiccup. "Something in the strike class, maybe?"

"Maybe." Hope smiled. "Hey, there was a trail over there by the scale. Shall we follow it?"

"We shall." Hiccup began walking over to it.

Toothless screeched and flew in front of him.

"What the-Toothless. It's just bushes. We'll be fine."

Toothless grumbled and begrudgingly let him pass.

Hope patted his snout as she passed. "Don't worry, boy. I know if anything happens you'll protect us."

Toothless hesitated, then followed Hope and Hiccup into the bushes.

Hope stopped momentarily to look around, suddenly getting the feeling of being watched. She shrugged it off and continued on.

From nearby bushes glinting eyes watched, expertly buried in the foliage. A flash of bright pink appeared before the eyes vanished.