Well, tomorrow night came earlier than I thought. Except now it's tonight.

"Hey, wake up demon!" a guard said to me.

"Seriously, what is with that word? Demon, Loki-spawn, bla bla bla. It's all the same. Is there possibly any other name you can give me? Anything original? Also, you can't exactly wake up if you were already awake." I pointed out, only receiving a nasty look back.

"Then again, I guess you can. After all, someone ignorant can wake up, get their head out of the clouds. Isn't that right Harold the Horrible?"

"H-ho…" He responded the same way everyone else did.

"Imagine a bright sunny day… or as bright as it can possibly get on Berk… which isn't much. You are about to butcher a goose in your shop when suddenly a young boy, say 13, showed up out of the corner of your eye. You were about to kill the goose when it flapped its wings and ran off. On it's way out, it knocked a few tools off the shelf, and let a couple boars escape. You look over to see this young boy is Hiccup. Immediately, you assume he had something to do with it even though he was outside, and nowhere close enough to scare the goose away. But, nevertheless you needed somebody to blame. He didn't even know what you were talking about, but everyone, again, blamed him for another problem."

"Wha…"

"You shouldn't blame people for things they didn't do." They stared at each other for a while, intelligent green eyes meeting frightened brown ones. After a while Harold snapped out of it, opened the cell, and began escorting Hiccup to the arena where the trial would be held.

I could barely see. The only thing clear in my vision was a bunch of misshapen figures. But, I eventually saw what I was looking for. Something I didn't need to see, because I could feel it's presence.

"Dreamstriker." I whispered to her and began to undo her chains.

"Pache, what are you doing here? They're going to catch you again and hurt yo… is that…" She trailed off, seeing Pache's eyes. "You didn't? Tell me you didn't."

"I did."

"Pache…"

"It was the only way. I might not be able to escape…" She finished undoing the last chain. "...but you can. Go, find my father and save him. Bring him to uncle Toothless and they can get me later. I knocked out most of the guards using fumes from an acid-tear bomb. It won't be long before they wake up though because it was a quick and cheap creation. You have to go now."

"Pache, I can't leave you. You'll be tortured." She nuzzled her rider.

"Then hurry up so that I won't be tortured as much. It's either me, or both of us and my parents. We can't risk it and you know that." The skrill looked sorrowful. Then, they heard a shout behind them. The guards were awake.

"Quick, GO!" Pache shouted and Striker flew off before the guards could reach her. But, while in the air a quick and sorrowful look was given to each other before the dragon became a small dot in the sky.

She turned to face Alvin, the acid and blood blocking out everything else surrounding him. A terrible smile came to his face, terrifying her.

"You made a big mistake girl." He said with pleasure, happy to have an excuse to hurt her.

Then, everything for Pache became black.

"People of Berk, these people have been brought before you for many reasons. All of which are one of the worsts." Stoick said.

The trial had begun, and Hiccup and Astrid were in the center of the arena, their wrists chained to the ground. Everyone on Berk was there.

"Astrid Hofferson has been accused of unlawful marriage, siding with the enemy, lying to her tribe, and having an unlawful child. In conclusion, she has committed treason. Do you have any defense against yourself?" He asked the two people whose been given everyone's attention.

"Yes! In fact, half of those accusations are false. I legally married H… my husband." She hoped nobody noticed her slip-up.

"Do you have proof?"

"Yes, we have rings." She said, and the couple pulled them out.

"Continue." Stoick said.

"And, my child was born in a village where she was legally accepted."

"Do you have proof for that?"

"Yes, I always carry her birth certificate with me." She said and pulled out a small scroll, about the size of a sardine, hidden in her arm band. "I also have a charm given from the village's elders representing her spirit animal." She unchained a necklace and held it up.

Gothi walked out of the stands and toward Astrid, who handed her the scroll and charm. Gothi observed the scroll first, then stared at the charm. She looked to the chief and gave a nod of approval. She gave it back to Astrid who had a thankful expression due to one fact.

If Berk knew what the animal was, they'd freak out. Because the only other people to have a dragon was Valka and Hiccup.

"Before we decide Hofferso…"

"And, that's another thing." Astrid interrupted Stoick. "My last name isn't Hofferson. You can call me Astrid." Stoick gave her a mean glare. "Or, are you going against tradition by disrespecting a legal marriage?"

"Very well. Before we decide Astrid's fate, we're going to have to consult with our other prisoner. This man has been charged with hiding resourceful information on our heir, allying with our worst enemy therefore showing that he is against us, holding me and our blacksmith prisoner, and while being captive threatened us with death by dragon fire. In conclusion this man has committed blasphemy. Do you have any defense against yourself?" He asked.

"Well, obviously. First of all, I held you captive because you invaded my home, captured some of my loyal subjects, and wanted to know information disregarding my perspective of the issue. Not to mention, I wouldn't blow a man's face off, especially the chief of a strong tribe. That'd only lead to war, which would have left me and you with many lost lives. Something I've fought to prevent."

"What do you mean by that?" Stoick asked. Hiccup froze for a minute before diverting the conversation.

"And, I don't have any useful information on your lost heir." He continued. "I'm an honest man, despite what you think." And he meant it. The information wasn't useful, and Hiccup renounced his birthright secretly. You also can't be an heir if you're already the leader of something else.

"That's false. 3 vikings who've been guarding you the past few days have said that you've spoken to them about my son. Is this true?"

"Yes, but I said that for many reasons." He said, a devilish smirk growing on his face. Time for another one of his stories.

"Let me tell you a story. One I've told to my daughter many a time, and one that I've known my whole life. It's not passed down, and it's not made up. It's created from experience. So, Once upon a time, on a dark and stormy night a baby was born, but not just any baby. This was the heir to the throne of Berk, son of Stoick and Valka Haddock. They named him Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III due to the fact of how small and sickly he looked.

"Nobody really minded at first. In fact, they liked the young boy until one day they found out the birthmark on his neck was a scale. From then on he was ignored and bullied. Only when he was 9 did he find out why. From then on he learned that he should never get involved in things he doesn't understand, because it'll only hurt him more. Finding out what everyone hid from him for so long hurt, and when he discovered why, he was more hurt than he was not knowing.

"Over the years as he grew, he learned off the mistakes of other people. He knew not to blame others for something they didn't do, and to not tell lies, because he had experienced all these faults and did not want to inflict it on everyone else. Because all he wanted was a friend, and he thought if he became more annoying than everyone thought he was then he'd never have a chance at what he really wanted.

"One day during a dragon raid the boy claimed to have shot down one of the most deadliest dragons. A night fury. Of course, nobody believed him, so he went to look for it himself. Well, he found it." Gasps of disbelief ran throughout the crowd.

"It was tangled in a bola and half of its tail was missing. Hiccup, wanting more than ever to earn his tribe's respect took out his knife and raised it high above his head to cut out the dragon's heart." Everyone leaned forward, wanting to know what happened.

"He looked into the beast's toxic green eyes who in turn looked into his forest green ones. What he saw chilled him to the bone. He saw fear, something the dragon also saw in his. They had an understanding. At that moment the dragon shut his eyes and rested his head down with a whine, accepting his fate of death. So he raised his knife.." Hiccup paused for a dramatic affect.

"...and cut the ropes." The crowd went wild. Everyone screamed at him in anger and some even threw rocks at him.

"EVERYONE BE QUIET!" Stock shouted. The crowd reluctantly obeyed. "Continue." He motioned to the death rider who nodded in thanks.

"As I was saying… he cut the ropes. Immediately the dragon pinned him down. Green met green again, and the roles reversed. Now, the teenager was at the dragon's mercy. So, he closed his eyes, and laid his head down in acceptance of his fate. The dragon opened his mouth getting ready to fire…" Another pause.

"Roared in the boy's face and ran off." Again, the crowd went wild to which Stoick had to calm down.

"Since the dragon was grounded he got trapped in a cove, the same cove I believe you found evidence of a night fury's whereabouts?" People nodded. "Out of his natural curiosity the boy visited the dragon every day, drawing pictures and studying actions. When noticing the beast got thinner every day he brought him a big basket of fish. Something I'm sure people at the fishing docks have questioned." People nodded in agreement.

"The dragon accepted the gesture and when looking in his mouth Hiccup saw gums. Then, the dragon retracted his teeth. So, he was dubbed Toothless. The two got used to each other's presence and the night fury finally let him touch his snout. So, the boy decided to repay a debt that he thought he owed the dragon and made him a new tailfin." The crowd again went wild and… you know the procedure.

"Gobber, your blacksmith I'm sure noticed he was hiding something and was acting extra jumpy." Gobber replied with a, "Yes."

"However for it to operate the boy had to be on the dragon's back due to the fact it was pedal-operated. It worked, and the two flew together. They played every day and the young man learned tricks that he used in dragon training to avoid being blasted away or humiliation. But, he did it too well and was chosen to kill the monstrous nightmare. Something he dreaded even thinking about.

"Yes, he'd earned the love of his tribe, but he couldn't do something he knew was wrong. Not even for his family, because he realized that his family were the only ones who ever showed him any appreciation, or kind gestures. Who didn't bully him or try to push him away. His family was the dragons." The crowd went wild, bla bla bla.

"Knowing he couldn't kill the flaming dragon he packed his things and went, but before he did he was caught by Astrid. She ran to alert the village, but he swooped down on his dragon and plucked her off the ground. He begged for a chance. It was, after all, the only way she was going to get to the ground. So she hopped on the saddle with him and flew.

"Hiccup and Toothless showed her the sunset, her village, the stars, and let her touch the clouds. Her mind had been changed and she let him go. But, he couldn't leave without doing something else." Hiccup continued to explain the fight with the Red Death. "And then everything became black." He ended the story. "Indeed, he survived but had pledged to never return to his homeland until the vikings learned the war was over and that peace was possible. And, I just told you leading you one step further to getting him back." A cocky smile grew on his face. "I never lie."

That one line hit Stoick and a few other people like a ton of bricks. Now, they were finally piecing the puzzle together. How the death rider rode the same dragon Hiccup did, how he said he'd prevented war, how he lives in the same location Hiccup killed the Red Death.

And how he'd said he'd experienced all of this. Astrid fell in love with the Death Rider the same day she'd fallen in love with Hiccup. Because only one person has those mischievous forest-green eyes and quick wit.

Hiccup and the Dark Rider were one in the same.

Suddenly a loud screech was heard and a flash of lightning echoed in the sky.

"Looks like our ride is here milady." Hiccup said and pulled his hands apart, breaking the chains with inhuman strength. Playing with dragons is a great advantage every now and then, especially when you need to free yourself from being held captive with chains.

"SKRILL ATTACK!" Someone shouted, and the arena was covered in black smoke, clouding everyone's vision. When it cleared their prisoners were gone, and the only thing left in remnance were two wooden carvings of a night fury and a nadder