"Shade?"

He opened his eyes to see Aeri climbing up over the edge of the cliff. Alarmed, he leapt to his feet and pulled her away from the ledge, looking down nervously.

"Relax!" she laughed, dusting off her hands. "There were plenty of handholds and roots to grab onto."

He gave her a look of disbelief.

"Seriously! Did I wake you up from your nap?"

He hadn't been asleep, just trying to clear his head. Shaking his head no, he backed up a little further and laid down on the ground again. Accepting the invitation, Aeri dropped to sit on her rear end and scooted in until she was resting her back against his side. His tail curled around them, tucking her just a little closer. Folding her arms behind her head, she looked out over the forest to the vast ocean beyond.

"I got yelled at by my dad. Does Toothless ever yell at you?" Shade snorted, as if to say, "You have no idea."

"I feel like they just don't care sometimes. I mean, I know they love me, but why can't they restrain themselves from the constant lectures and disappointed frowns?"

He wondered the same thing. His mother wasn't really the lecture-y type, but his dad never seemed to run out of reasons to be mad at him. Which was ridiculous, because he was great to everyone else. All the dragons and humans loved his father. Granted, he had saved Berk multiple times from monstrous enemies and seemingly unconquerable odds. And he'd saved the entire colony of Night Furies from some evil dragon overlord. Everyone thought Alpha Toothless was so perfect, just the best in every way. When Shade was growing up, he'd felt the same. His dad could do no wrong. Then, everything changed. That was around the same time Hiccup and Astrid started being more strict with Aeri.

It made sense, he supposed. He and Aeri were both supposed to be successors to the greatest leaders their respective races had ever known. Their fathers were heroes, legends. And they weren't even dead yet. How were they supposed to fill those roles? This was a time of peace and prosperity. There were no great foes to vanquish, no heroic deeds to be done. They were just teenagers, doing what teenagers do.

He rumbled his agreement.

She turned to look at him. "What if we just left, Shade? No more rules, no more yelling, no more responsibility. What do you think?"

Her dragon appeared to seriously consider her words, before shrugging.

"I guess you're right," Aeri said, deflating. "You and I are in line for our own chiefdoms, I suppose, and it would be stupid to run away." But it didn't feel stupid. It was... tempting. And the possibility of freedom lurked as always in the backs of their minds.

"I'll see you later, Shade." He rumbled at her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Goodnight."

The sun had set before they decided to return to the village, and the streets were empty, save for the occasional torch-bearing guard and their dragon. Shade, nuzzling her hair one last time, turned and headed towards the large shelter he and his family called home. Once the front door had closed behind Aeri, he pushed open the door to his own home and slipped inside, silently padded over to the left side, avoiding his sleeping siblings, and jumped up onto the platform he slept on. Looking over the Night Furies, his eyes settled on Ash, who slept in the back of the room near Cinder and his parents.

Over the past few years, his feelings for his best friend (besides Aeri) had grown into something almost unbearable. He couldn't look at Ash without tripping over his own feet, and his heart would beat wildly when she smiled at him. The worst part was, she probably had no idea how he felt, but he was slowly working up the courage to tell her. He was feeling slightly reckless at the moment, but it would have to wait.

A pair of blue eyes caught his attention. His mother was watching him, curled up next to his sleeping father. Shaking his head, he turned away from her knowing gaze and curled himself up into a rather large ball, his thoughts keeping him awake throughout the night.

After saying goodnight to Shade, Aeri quietly opened the front door to her house and crept in, avoiding the floorboards she knew squeaked. She passed the dying fire and was almost to the stairs when-

"And where have you been?"

Slowly she turned, caught. Her mother's voice didn't sound angry, which was a good thing, because her temper was rather explosive. She had gotten better at restraining herself over the years, according to some of the villagers, and her father too, as a matter of fact. Apparently she used to be quite fiery, a trait she seemed to have passed on to Aeri's sister Alyka.

"I was with Shade."

"Staying out of trouble, I hope?"

"Yes, Mom. Is Dad home?"

"Yes, but he's already asleep. He was busy all day cleaning up after that mess with the Meathead boy."

That struck a nerve. "I could have cleaned up after myself!"

"Don't yell, your brother and sisters are sleeping upstairs. And no, you couldn't have. Because you don't have the patience or respect to deal with the people you don't want to be around."

"Ugh! Whatever!"

"Watch your tone, young lady."

"Sorry, Mom. I'll try not to make any more messes in the future."

"One of these days, sorry isn't going to be good enough, Aeri."

"Well we can worry about that day when it arrives," she said snarkily.

Astrid rubbed her forehead with one hand, and sighed. "I need you to watch Wren for a few hours tomorrow."

"Fine. Goodnight."

"Goodnight..." but Aeri was already upstairs.

Returning to the bedroom in the back of the house, Astrid slipped under the furs and snuggled in close to Hiccup. "What happened to our little girl?" she whispered.

He rolled over, wrapping her in his arms, and mumbled, "Teenager."

Upstairs, Aeri couldn't sleep. Frustrated, she got up and lit a candle, thankful that she didn't share a room with any of her siblings. Sitting down at her desk, she pulled out her journal, flipping past sketches of Shade, before arriving at a blank page.

I feel like I'm suffocating.

Slamming it shut, she turned and walked over to her mirror, staring into the glass at her reflection. It had been a gift from her father, who had made it himself. It was one of the nicest things she owned, and she loved the carvings of Night Furies around the edges. Just another reminder of how thoughtful her dad was, and how far apart they had drifted.

Staring critically at herself, she noted her large green eyes, another gift from her father. Her face was wider than her father's but not so much as her mother's. She had a small nose, dotted with freckles. There was a small scar through her right eyebrow, from when she was little and thought it would be a good idea to sneak up on a Terrible Terror. She was just a little too slender, her collarbone visible over the top of her thin white tunic. All in all, she was very plain looking. Not a great beauty like her mother, not even as pretty as her grandmother, who still possessed smooth, flawless skin with only a few laugh lines crinkling her face.

Lastly, her hair. Pulling it out from its braids, it fell in auburn waves down her back. Her mother had always loved her hair. She said it was just like her father's, and in truth it was exactly the same shade, and just as thick. All her life she'd worn it in braids with bangs across her forehead, and suddenly she was sick of it. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over onto her cheeks, and without hesitation she reached over to her nightstand and pulled out her pocket knife. Holding out a fistful of her hair, she swiftly drew the blade through it, and it came away in her hand, leaving a section of wavy locks that barely reached her shoulder. She made quick work of the rest of it, crying silently the entire time, letting it all fall to the ground. When she was finished, she tossed her knife onto her desk, not wanting to look at it. Without looking at her reflection, she blew out her candle and crawled into bed, soon falling into a restless sleep.

Aeri awoke the next morning with a pounding headache. What... oh, yeah. She had been crying. Yawning, she sat up, and realized she felt much lighter than she normally did. Hesitantly she reached up and fingered the asymmetrical edges of her new short hair.

Slowly getting out of bed, she walked over to her mirror, and tried not to gasp. Her hair was choppy and uneven, none of it reaching her shoulders. Fortunately, she hadn't cut her bangs, but the rest of her hair sort of feathered out, looking like a longer version of her dad's. Well, look at the positives. She wasn't bald like Gobber, and the new cut seemed to frame her face well enough. Her eyes looked much bigger than they had before, which she figured was a good thing.

"Aeri?"

Oh, crap. Her hair was still in a pile on the floor in front of her mirror. Frantically, she looked around, her eyes settling on her helmet.

"I'll be down in a minute, Mom!"

Quickly she threw on her tunic and leggings, hopping around as she pulled on her boots. Finally she tucked all her hair up underneath the rim of her helmet, which looked a lot like the one her dad had passed on to Erik.

Throwing open her door, she ran down the stairs, just in time to intercept her mother, who looked impatient.

"Are you ready to watch Wren?"
"What? Yeah, sure!" she knew her voice was too bright, but couldn't help it.

Astrid looked suspiciously at her daughter. Why was she wearing her helmet? But what kind of trouble could she have gotten into before even leaving the house?

"I'm going to meet your father at the docks to send off the Meatheads, who fortunately have been appeased."

Aeri stifled the thread of irritation that rose at the mention of the Meathead situation. "That's great," she ground out.

"We'll be out for most of the day, because a trading ship has been spotted coming in from the east. Can you handle your sister for that long?"

"Wren? Of course!"

"All right," Astrid said, sounding unconvinced but having no choice. "Be safe, and I'll see you at dinner."

"See you then!"

Shade soared over the village, breathing in deeply. He could prove to his father that he was more responsible. Just not today. Flying into a puffy white cloud, he spun around until he was flying upside down, reveling in the sensation of mist against his scales.

His heart almost stopped when he came out of the other side. Another Night Fury was gliding just feet above him. Who...

Ash looked down and grinned at Shade's shocked expression, which quickly turned into one of amusement.

"You like scaring dragons to death, Ash?" he called up to her.

"I've been practicing!"

"So you have. I didn't even hear you coming."

"That's because you're half deaf."

"Hey!"

Laughing, she pulled away, flying higher. Quickly Shade turned over and followed, heart pounding in his chest. They flew around the island, passing through clouds and spiraling into dives before looping back upwards.

Ash had become bored of sitting with Cinder while he listened to other dragons' problems, so when she saw Shade passing overhead, she immediately excused herself and took off after him. She hadn't spent very much time with her best friend lately, and was glad to have the chance to just fly around and be herself.

After a while, she called out to him, "Shade! My wings are getting kind of tired, can we land somewhere?"

He nodded, and banked to the left. Ash was thankful that he was so understanding about her wings. Some dragons grew frustrated by her lack of endurance, but it wasn't her fault her wings had been broken when she was five. It was thanks to Hiccup that she was able to fly again at all, and that was all that mattered, no matter that she couldn't go out for very long. Shade had never given her a hard time about it, in fact, he seemed to respect her more for it, which eased her self- consciousness.

She followed him to the cove, mimicking his gradual downward spiral. Finally they landed gently, both heading to the lake in the middle to get a drink. Shade wasn't paying attention, so she took her tail and splashed water all over him. Startled, he looked up to see her laughing, and with a grin he splashed her back, coming closer and closer. She gulped, but then he leapt sideways into the water, submerging himself completely. A few moments passed and he didn't come back up, so Ash ignored her instincts and waded out further, peering into the depths for a sign of him. She saw nothing, and was about to turn back when-

"Raaaagh!" he erupted out of the water, grabbing her shoulders and flipping her upside down after him as he fell back into the lake. They tussled for a while, Ash gaining the upper hand. They came to the surface, and she grinned triumphantly, until it occurred to her that he might be going easy on her.

"Hey!" she shouted.

"What?" he gurgled from underwater.

"Don't go easy on me! I can hold my own!"

He appeared to ponder this for a moment before grinning evilly. Ash had about half a second before Shade somehow flipped himself up over her, pulling her out of the water completely, landing on his hind legs in shallower water still gripping her sides with his front paws as he lowered her onto her back, dropping her the last few inches so that the air rushed from her lungs when she hit the sand.

Smirking, he looked down at her victoriously, and she rolled her eyes, until he took one paw and started batting at her with it. Laughing, she fought back, accidentally kicking him in the stomach. It was his turn to lose his breath, and he glared at her with a dark look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-" she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before he started tickling her, and she shrieked with laughter, trying to get away.

"Stop! Stop!" she gasped, and he finally listened, ceasing his attack but not moving the rest of his body off of hers. "I guess I'm at your mercy," she teased him.

A strange look passed over his face and he abruptly stood up, stepping off of her and backing up. Ash rolled to her feet, shaking the water from her ears. "What's the matter?"

Shade swallowed, not answering, and Ash could swear he looked nervous. "What is it, Shade?" Finally, he responded. "There's... there's something I need to tell you, Ash."