Author's note: Sorry I've been gone so long guys, after I posted my last chapter I had to dedicate most of my time to my family and then one heck of a case of writer's block, possibly the world record. Anyway I'm back and will try to finish this story, correctly.

Real heroes don't wear red capes or costumes; they are the individuals who face the true horrors of the world so we don't have to. Unknown

Shade's POV

The first few moments of the fight I acted in instinct, eliminating the most immediate threat but now I hung back. Appa would attack me, and in doing so he would unknowingly tell me his weakness.

Appa fired a few spells at me which I easily avoided before taking cover behind the ship's mast as a smaller opened up with a full broadside.

The cannonballs ripped through the deck of Appa's ship and reduced my cover to mere splinters. I was afraid for a second as Appa casted another spell on a different smaller ship that started to fall apart over the deck turning into some sort of super minion.

The constructed super minion stood at least thirty feet tall and wielded a sword nearly half that size in one hand while cannons replaced its fingers on the other.

"No, no, no, I can do better than that." Appa smugly admitted as he repeated the process three more times. Now I was in trouble, with the four giants and the evil mage who controlled them.

He really wanted me dead; well guess I'll just have to disappoint him won't I?

One of the wooden giants brought down his sword on me in a vertical slash as I leapt to the side towards another giant's feet. The sword gave chase but I doubled back on it, letting the giant cleave through it's brother's legs.

The now legless giant fell and smashed through the already weakened deck which also gave way under another giant. Two out of four targets eliminated.

The remaining two giants split up, one came charging at me with his sword while the other hanged back by the railing and fired his cannon hand at me.

Wait! Fire! That's It! I realized, the giants were mostly wood, they can burn.

I took to the sky and grabbed a burning oil lantern from a nearby ship and threw it at the heel of the one charging at me, setting it aflame.

The burning giant panicked flailing around trying to put itself out, I flew closely around him hitting key joints to expose the most wood to the fire, if only I saw the sword coming.

Thankfully I hit the flat part of the blade so I wasn't cut, but I did fall to the deck dazed and confused. My vision was blurred and my head was throbbing but I could barely make out the explosions from cannonballs around me as the burning giant collapsed on top of me.

The burning heat was like a wake up call, snapping my vision back to normal. I jumped through the giant's burning chest and broke out triumphantly through the smoke and flames.

I saw the look on Appa's face and couldn't tell if it was one of hatred, astonishment, or fear. More than likely all of the above.

I felt a pride and feeling of success, here I am, Appa's little helpless "pet" soaring above him as an embodiment of everything he feared. The way he saw me showed absolute fear, he knew the roles were reversed.

As I glided over him I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my wing, suddenly learning about an injury from the fire. I couldn't help but fall and yell in pain, I crashed just on the other side of Appa.

He saw that I was injured, and approached me without a single hint of fear anymore, instead all I saw was an all too familiar sadistic glint in his eye.

"Well what do we have HERE!" Appa shouted as he slammed his foot down on my injured wing, causing me to cry out in unimaginable pain.

"Oh, does that hurt?" Appa laughed, "Well what about this!" the ape jabbed me in the chest before beating me with that repulsive look of joy on his face.

I couldn't even beg for him to stop, painful memories combined with the present. Here I was, a scared helpless girl in pain at the nonexistent mercy of my, my . . .

My master. Has everything I've done, has everything Brian done been for nothing? Why did the ancestors condemn me with this fate?

'Shade!' Brian echoed, but I was too far gone, too far scared to even reply.

Appa was about to strike me again when I heard a powerful whining sound before an energy blast impacted near us causing both me and Appa to look at the source. What I saw filled me with hope again, not much, but genuine hope.

Brian stood on top of the main mast glowing a dark blue and he looked very, very, pissed. I didn't even know he could do that!

Appa created even bigger giants to kill Brian but he destroyed them all with half of the ship with a mere two or three charged energy blasts.

That sent Appa into a frenzy, turning his own fleet into these titans to combat the Night Fury. Brian never flinched just firing volley after volley reducing the titans to waste.

'Now Shade!' Brian echoed as he took off, evading a titan's fist.

'I, I can't!' I cried back, 'I'm not you Brian, I'm, I'm scared'

'So am I'

Those three words seemed to open the world again, I wasn't alone.

I was NEVER alone, not when I have a brother willing to go to such lengths to protect me.

I felt my strength return as I stood up. Yes, I was in extreme pain but Brian gave me the strength to push through.

"Appa." I growled causing him to spin around. Appa striked me again with his staff but I caught it in my mouth and ripped it from his hands.

"No! This can't be possible!" Appa exclaimed, "Submit slave Omega! Your master demands it!"

"My master," I started as I grabbed Appa and slammed him through the deck, "Is me, and You. Are. Finished."

A single energy blast and the source of all my pain and suffering was gone.

Appa, servant and successor to Gaul the Ape, was dead. I was now truly free.

And my world went black.

I didn't want Shade to appear weak here but remember that Appa manipulated her from birth, so it is extremely easy for him to force her to be submissive. Thankfully Brian was able to discover Malefor's third hidden gift. More on that later.

I know that this would be late but How to Train Your Dragon 2 was PERFECT, so get lost Frozen, you never should of gotten the spotlight to begin with! Dragon Raceing, For the Dancing and the Dreaming, and "Where No One Goes" beat "Let it Snow" thirtyfold.