Hello, folks! This story has been years in the making. I've been debating for a very long time if I even want to go ahead with this project, and I suppose I am. For now at least.

This idea has been born from my frustration with 'Fairy Tail' and the downhill spiral it went on after the 7 years' time skip. And then I started thinking 'how cool would Hiccup be as a Dragon Slayer?' and as usual, things snowballed from there. Cause 'How to Train Your Dragon' has dragons and 'Fairy Tail' also has dragons and in the Norse mythology there are the 9 realms but what if they are more? There were so many opportunities to connect the universes I couldn't pass this up.

This story in particular will focus more on the 'HTTYD' world. I wasn't very confident in including Earthland yet and the 'Fairy Tail' manga was in the final arc so I wanted to wait until it was over so I could have all the answers if I needed them. The story follows the second movie, because apparently I can only write stories that follow the original plotlines nowadays. There will be an OC but the only reason I included her is because of Gajeel's insistence, if you catch my drift.

Recently, I've started to develop this lone fanfic into a series that will go and adapt the rest of the manga but that implies a whole lot more commitment than I'm comfortable with. I'll see how far I can get.

I don't own 'How to Train Your Dragon' or 'Fairy Tail' and I'm not making any profits from this. I just love these series more than I should.

Enjoy!

EDITED: 30/09/2020 – Sentence structure; smoothed dialogue; added descriptions and feels.

This story takes place after the Oracion Seis Arc in 'Fairy Tail' and, obviously, after the first movie in 'How to Train Your Dragon'. This series as a whole, mainly follows Hiccup throughout the 'Fairy Tail' story. I will not be radically changing things but there will be certain deviations.

Dragon Heir

Chapter 1: Invoke Magic

The sky was a vastness of blue, no clouds in sight and with only the shining disk of the sun beating down on the earth on that day of September, year X784. The little cove on the western shore of the Kingdom of Fiore was currently occupied by one lone person, lazing around near the thick tree line separating the seaside from the country beyond.

The constant splashing of the waves over the small beach was nostalgic for many different reasons to Hiccup. This spot specifically was a grim reminder of a former life and a lost dear friend.

The heavy stench of Sulphur and despair was overwhelming. The storm brewing above them urged them to end things quickly but even pumped with adrenaline and fear, Hiccup was still at a loss.

They were only supposed to be scouting. How did something so tame turned into a fight for survival against what Hiccup could only describe as a demon of Helheim? Toothless' warmth kept the negative thoughts at bay but he could feel the tense muscles beneath the scales. His friend was scared. Hiccup was terrified.

A roar shook the heavens.

Toothless twitched but neither turn to look back.

An eruption of flames soon followed tainted by the unmistakable scent of decay. They veered up, above it, and the beast revealed itself. Multiple eyes moved to track them as it pushed itself out of the mountain.

Hiccup felt his breath stop. They were going to die. Could they run? Would she follow?

His hand wrapped around the edge of the saddle. He hunkered down. Toothless crooned reassuringly. A brief eye contact between them and Hiccup knew what to do. He took a deep breath, almost choking on the smoke whipping around them.

And they dived.

Straight into Helheim.

He opened his eyes. He watched the foliage above him rustling in the wind and his lips turned down in a scowl. Almost seven years have passed since he left everything behind for his best friend's sake. Seven years since he threw away his name and his heritage for the open horizon and the promise of poison green eyes and jet black wings.

And here he was again.

Seems like he could still not go a few weeks without visiting this place. The small portion of shore where he and Toothless washed out on by complete accident was as silent as ever. As far as he knew, it has been like that for the past five years, ever since the dragon decided to disappear with no warning. He had to fight down that slight hurt that made itself known each time he thought about it.

Hiccup, formerly known as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Heir to the Island of Berk of Midgard, was currently contemplating if destroying the beach was actually going to convince his stupid, soft heart to never seek out the place again. It wasn't that pretty to begin with.

The sand was grainy, not exactly the best to sunbath on. And there were quite of few boulders littering the water line and spreading all over and further into the sea. The steep cliff on the left side of the cove was a giant mass of vines and roots. The sand gave away to dirt and rocks and then patches of grass that moved on the floor of the giant oak tree forest.

Hiccup was resting against one of said giant trees, covered by the shade of its crown and facing the unruly waves of the Mist Ocean. The cold breeze was soothing and familiar and the rough aesthetic of the area helped remind him of the Barbaric Archipelago. Not exactly worth admiring except from a harsh, untamed perspective that was similar to the wilderness of Berk.

Hiccup breathed in the salty air and relaxed. As annoying as it was to keep returning and see the sameness of the cove over and over again, he couldn't deny the joy it brought him. It was here that he got to know Toothless' real self. And it was here that he decided to start anew.

The cold wash of water was unpleasant when you lived in a land as far North as the Barbaric Archipelago. Hiccup only had a moment to take a deep breath before they were both plunging to the depths of the ocean. His hand, already white and freezing from the storm, was digging into the saddle.

He didn't want to move and yet, the buoyancy that came with being submerged jerked his body up. He fought to stay near Toothless. It was futile when the waves were tugging at him relentlessly but he managed. One stubborn arm always holding the edge of the leather. He didn't know how long they were lost in the sea. The only thing Hiccup cared about was not losing his hold.

He felt the dragon buck and turn, sometimes bringing them close, sometimes yanking away. He never let go and the building burning in his chest grew. The growing suffocation was becoming too much to handle. And then Toothless stopped, the currents softened. He didn't have the mind capacity to wonder what was happening. His fingers were slacking. As his vision was bombarded with black spots, he felt a pull and then the water rushing past him. He didn't know if it was from the ocean or just the noise in his ears, but the water was getting to an uncomfortable degree of cold.

The next thing he knew was another pull. This one was from within. Like his whole being beneath the skin was forced out and then suddenly thrust back. It was disorienting. Hiccup was starting to think he was dreaming at this point. Either he passed out and was passively feeling what was happening outside or he died and… at least it was in battle.

More cold greeted him. And air. Toothless' grunts were covered by the hacking and panting of his poor lungs. Tall trees and rocks across a beach was the last thing Hiccup saw before he passed out.

/\\\

It was to warmth on his face that Hiccup woke up to. His body was relatively wet and itchy and the gravel he was lying on was growing unpleasant by the second. It took him a minute to realize he was mostly uninjured and another one to finally crack his eyes open.

The sky was blue with hints of pink. Dusk maybe? There was a weak wind blowing, but it felt like it came straight from Niflheim to him. He slowly sat up taking stock of his body. Nothing was missing, his hands were scratched to Hel and his head was pounding. His left leg was sore and he vaguely remembered a club of a tail grazing him and Toothless before they plummeted to the sea.

He looked around, not quite alarmed, but his brain felt like it was working through buttermilk. A few feet away from him, in the shadows of a towering rock formation, the Night Fury was lying down motionless. Hiccup blinked away the remaining shiny spots in his vision and clumsily stood up, limping as fast as he could towards his friend.

"Hey, bud? You okay?" A wheezing breath was his only answer.

He tried not to panic. His shoddy memory of the prior events along with a killer headache didn't help. He hugged himself to preserve some heat and crumbled next to the dragon, looking him over. The wings seemed fine, there were more scratches along his body but they didn't seem too bad. His prosthetic tail on the other hand… the saddle was torn to shreds, the cable snapped and winding itself around the dragon's tail. Whatever gears and pulley system he'd constructed were completely destroyed. The leather was ripped and the metal rods holding the cloth were either missing or bent to be unusable. Hiccup would have to build everything from zero.

The boy closed his eyes for a moment before he moved closer to him. He tried to shake him awake but Toothless only twitched. He thought instead to just remove the saddle. That couldn't be comfortable.

It was harder than he thought. His hands were stiff from the frozen water and the harness had bent buckles that made it hard to untie the belts. He eventually pulled out his dagger and cut away everything, his patience wearing thin when Toothless' body had to be moved to get all of it off.

He was worried though. The dragon barely stirred throughout the whole ordeal and the night was nearly upon them. The sun was almost behind the horizon and Hiccup realized that as much as his clothes dried from the sun, he was incredibly chilled. There was no way he was moving Toothless. He had to build a fire that close to the water.

"Can't make my life any easier, can you?" He touched the dragon's neck, feeling the pulse of his life under the scales. "I'll be right back."

For the next hour, he scoured the nearby woods for dry twigs to burn. It was dark by the time he returned and got started on a fire that took longer to make than he would have liked. Hiccup was starting to regret leaving his bag behind before going to the Nest. But he couldn't risk having baggage to slow them down in case they had to run. Well, it ended up being both a good and a bad thing. Now he only had a hunting knife, a small sack of tools, and the clothes on his back left. The tailfin was gone so no mode of transportation either. If Toothless would wake up that is.

Also, he had no idea where they were. He ignored that before but now that he finally sat down next to his friend (his very cozy friend), he couldn't help wonder where and how in Midgard did they end up here. It was definitely not the Nest and any other island would have been too far away for Toothless to fly. But his memory was still shot and he was tired, so he would wait for the Night Fury to wake up before making sense of things. He fell asleep curled up on the dragon's neck, his heartbeat lulling him into an exhausted slumber while the fire continued to crackle in the background.

It wasn't quite the rumble that woke him up. Hiccup had to admit that he was a light sleeper. He grew used to that after his dragon friend left. When he started working as a wizard in order to make a living he was usually alone. He had to be on his guard from thieves and the likes while traveling from one part of Fiore to another for his jobs.

He chalked it up to his instincts mostly. Dragon Slayer Magic had some very useful side effects, more useful than any other magic he had seen so far. And right now, something dangerous was near him.

A scream echoed in the cove.

Hiccup moved.

/\\\

The small inlet was always empty. She had always seen it empty ever since she decided to live in the area, a year and a half ago. Not that she ventured there very often. Sometimes she loved to perch on the cliff and watch the ocean stretch to the mists in the horizon. Sometimes, when she was feeling brave, she ventured further down and looked for sea shells and pretty stones that were brought in by the waves.

This time, she discarded her curiosity in favor of something more practical. She had never searched the cove for food. After building up her courage for a week, she finally decided to go. A short flight and she was on top of a rock near the cliff, searching with her eyes for anything interesting nearby. A small basket she weaved herself was dangling from one hand. Anything useful she was going to take, whether it took more than one trip back to her den, it didn't matter. She has been living nearby for more than a year and it was just now that she finally came down there meaning business.

So she got to work.

It was well in the afternoon and two trips later when she checked the rocky area as completed. The sky was turning cloudy and she thought she was going to look a bit more beyond the boulders before calling it a day. She moved around the biggest rock slowly, eyes taking inventory of anything useful. When she finally cleared the spot beneath the cliff she moved further down the beach and towards the massive oak trees. It was there she saw her first surprise.

The small inlet was always empty. But not today. Because nestled in the roots of one of the trees was a sleeping human. She was suddenly very scared and very frozen. The basket dropped silently from her hand. He looked like he'd just fallen asleep while watching the sea; leaning back on the trunk, arms crossed and legs somewhat bent but limp in his slumber.

Beyond the panic she could tell he was younger than those men but older than the children that hatched her. His body was well-defined, strong jaw, wild auburn hair, and that actually made her worry more. Because he seemed to be in good shape. And the black gauntlets he was wearing told her that he wasn't just any civilian passing by. Was he a knight? A hunter? A mercenary? A wizard?

She wasn't sure what to do. With quick, stiff movements she picked up the basket and anything that fell out, all the while her gaze switching from her hands to the human. She was too paranoid to let him out of her sight. Even if he was unconscious. She was that focused on him. Too focused to notice the second surprise until it slammed a foot on the ground a short distance from her.

She yelped and fell over. Rising from the sea was a gigantic reptilian monster. It was sniffing left and right and she felt the blood leave her face. She was starting to feel sick with fear now. Trembling like a leaf, she managed to move behind a rock. She stayed there as the monster stepped over the beach, wind howling as the sky darkened. Its gaze wondered over the terrain until it settled on the human. It opened its maw and moved closer, hungry rumbles pouring out of its throat.

She wanted to run but, at the same time, the human was alone and defenseless. Not that she could protect him but she should at least warn him. She tried to call out. All that came out was a strangled squeal. She immediately crouched down, out of sight. The monster was nearly on top of him.

She swallowed. He was going to die. And she was going to have to watch everything. She had to do something. She had to act now! The beast reared its clawed arm back. She gasped. The claws swung down.

She screamed.

The arm hit the tree but the human was gone. He rolled into a crouch next to it and she blinked once. Suddenly, the best had four long gashes on its arm. It roared, gearing up for another attack. Thunder boomed in the distance to go with the crash of the monster's fist against the ground. The human had already jumped out of the way. He then ran back underneath the behemoth and kicked it. She saw the utter disbelief on its face as it folded in two, its four hind legs shaking to hold its weight.

She was gaping at the display. Something like that she'd only seen once before. From a wizard. Only somebody like that could hold such overwhelming strength as to take on a beast with their bare hands. Another thunder strike broke the sky and she flinched, finally noticing the storm. Apparently, the maybe-wizard did too. He looked over the sea shocked and she followed his gaze. A whirlpool was growing near the shore.

Well, that was unusual. Just as unusual as the tornado coming down from the sky.

/\\\

While the monster was busy whimpering, Hiccup took the time to look around. He took note of the small purple cat hiding behind the nearby rocks. She smelled afraid but with the onslaught of things happening in that cove it was hard to say. The storm was weird. He didn't sense any changes in the weather earlier. The whirlpool was the same. The currents shouldn't be able to create one in this area. Especially one that large. And then the wind carried another scent to him. This one familiar.

'What is he doing here?'

The croc-beast was getting up. Its arm was bleeding a bit but it looked pissed. It leaped at him, maw wide and fangs sharp. Hiccup jumped back again. Purple magic was swirling in his hands ready to be unleashed. Hiccup continued to dodge, drawing the creature down, towards the waterline. He needed it away from the cat's hiding place but still in line with the cliff.

"When I thought about destroying this place…" The magic in his left condensed around his hand. "I didn't actually mean it!" He punched the beast as it came at him. "Plasma Blast!"

The magic exploded in its chest, throwing it backwards straight into the rocks until it collided with the cliff side. The wall cracked and the croc-beast didn't get up. The shock, however, unbalanced the person standing atop the cliff. Later on, Hiccup would learn that that was a very bad idea.

The wind was blowing now. The cat was yelling as she was holding onto the rock with what small claws she had. He winced and ran towards her. He managed to catch her just as she was flung in the air. At the same time the waterspout was drawing up the sea and everything around it. Stones, bushes, sand, nothing was escaping it. Including the two humans and one cat.

Hiccup winced as he was pulled off his feet. He clutched the feline to his chest, wrapping her in his gauntlets. His magic condensed behind him in a pair of black wings and he attempted to escape the vortex but even with their added force he couldn't jerk away from the current. Hiccup gritted his teeth and held on to the cat as the heavens pulled them in.

/\\\

For the second time that day, Hiccup was woken up by instinct. It wasn't the gradual thing like with the croc-beast, the slow realization that something hostile was closing in on him. This time, it shook him awake. He violently started upwards. The cat was still unconscious in his arms and he convinced his muscles to relent and relax his grip on her.

She was smaller than Happy, it was his first observation. Then again, Happy was the only talking, flying cat he had seen in Fiore. She had purple fur, fluffy ears and black dots under her eyes. She was wearing a cream sleeveless dress, stained by water and mud. He wasn't exempt from that. His long green tunic was dusty but surprisingly not as soaked as he expected after being sucked into a water tornado.

The two were on a beach. And it was cold. Much, much colder than before. One look around and Hiccup concluded that he was on a different beach.

Odd.

And the air was different. Familiar different. This was all very reminiscent of how he ended up in Earthland seven years ago. He stood up, careful of the burden in his arms and turned inland where a masked and cloaked figure with five staves on his back was approaching.

"Mystogan." He nodded at the man.

"Hiccup." He stopped a few meters in front of him. Hiccup could tell by his scent that he was nervous. He opened his mouth to ask why when the mysterious wizard beat him to it. "I can explain. This is my fault and I'm terribly sorry that you both were caught in my mistake."

Hiccup was confused. "Huh?"

'Very intelligent, Haddock.'

The man sighed and reached towards the scarf and bandana. Hiccup sucked in a breath at the bright blue hair and dark red tattoo on the right side of his face. He kept blinking like an idiot for a few seconds.

"You're the council guy. The one who got arrested? Siegrain, right?"

Didn't Natsu and Erza deal with him a few weeks ago? Wasn't he supposed to be in jail? He was a Fairy Tail wizard this whole time? Did Master Makarov know? Was the guild infiltrated? Did he impersonate the real Mystogan? Why? Hiccup had too many questions. He unconsciously tensed in case a fight broke out. Should he trust him? Fake-Mystogan noticed and a wave of shame briefly passed over his face. That didn't help Hiccup but it made him pause.

"Who are you?" He asked, voice hard.

"I'm sure you're confused but I'm not Siegrain."

"What? You're his twin? You're taking the twin thing more seriously than you should." He motioned to the face tattoo.

Mystogan closed his eyes. "No, we aren't related. And his name isn't Siegrain either. It's Jellal, actually."

"Well, actually, you may want to give me a straight answer before I decide on more drastic methods."

The blue haired man smiled fondly.

"I'm not joking."

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just such a 'Fairy Tail' thing to do."

Hiccup wasn't sure how to take that. The man seemed genuine and there was nothing threatening to his posture or his scent. He forced himself to relax. Imposter or not, the man didn't want to fight him so the least he could do was give him a chance to explain himself.

"Alright then. I'm all ears."

Mystogan – he was going to keep calling him that – sighed in relief. "My name is also Jellal, but the Jellal who infiltrated the Magic Council and myself are different people."

"And yet you look the same and have the same name."

"It's a long and complicated story." Mystogan looked at him, eyes kind and pleading. "Maybe we should start a fire and get comfortable first?"

The cold wasn't bothering Hiccup that much but since he woke up the temperature started to drop with the coming night. Mystogan's outfit consisted of shirt, shorts and a cloak with bandages covering his exposed arms and legs. Not the warmest of clothes so Hiccup had to concede. He nodded and followed Mystogan to the forest. He still had a nagging suspicion of where they were but he was going to wait for Mystogan's story before saying anything. He would rather stay quiet honestly. It was no-one's business but his own. But it really depended on how the next conversation would turn out. That left a sour taste in his mouth.

They found an alcove in a rocky hill and settled there. Hiccup put the cat at the foot of a tree before crouching down. "I'll start on the hole for the fire while you go and get some wood."

Mystogan agreed, wordlessly. He was still close enough for Hiccup to hear him but he wanted to know what he would do. Would he run off? Try and attack him? There was no sign indicating he would but Hiccup was still unsure about him. Nobody in Fairy Tail knew anything about Mystogan. Laxus might have known, judging from his arrogant boasts and teases whenever the conversation popped up. Hiccup narrowed his eyes as his claws dug into the ground. Now those reactions made more sense. And if Laxus knew, then it was obvious that his grandfather, the Master of the guild would also be aware of that. Master Makarov would never put 'his children' in danger, so whatever kind of person Mystogan was, he couldn't be that bad then.

He was starting to feel more comfortable with the situation when their small companion began to stir. Her lids flickered revealing foggy, dark green eyes. She looked up at him. Hiccup smiled.

She shrieked.

The smile died instantly. Hiccup almost jumped away from her but stopped himself barely.

"Hey, whoa! It's okay! It's okay!"

Oh, for the love of Thor, he wasn't that scary! On the contrary, some said! So his black gauntlets might have upped the intimidating factor but there was still nothing threatening about a toothpick like him.

"Come on, you're okay! Nobody's gonna hurt you!" Well, maybe waving his hands around her wasn't the smartest idea either. Her crying increased. He winced from how loud she was. Wow, he didn't think he was that bad with girls. He got along just fine with Cana and Erza. "Ugh… please stop crying?" Where was Mystogan when he needed him?

Speak of the devil and he shall come. Mystogan came running at them, eyes wide with concern when they landed on the poor cat. He kneeled down to her and offered his hand without hesitation. "Miss, please! I promise you, no harm will befall you!"

Whether it was the fancy words or the soothing tone, the girl finally stopped sobbing and looked at them. "W-What's going on? W-Who are y-you?"

Hiccup's heart melted. She might have deafened him but none of this was her fault. He smiled again and tried no to move his hands too much. "Sorry about scaring you. My name is Hiccup."

"You may call me Mystogan. We are wizards of Fairy Tail. And you are?"

Hiccup was relieved when her eyes shone at the mention of 'wizards'. She rubbed the tears away and stood up, blushing. Her bow was cute as she introduced herself. "I'm Rein. I apologize for causing a scene." She shuffled her feet and her eyes darted between the two of them. "Um, are you really wizards?"

"That we are. And you shouldn't feel sorry about anything. None of this was your fault." Hiccup said. Mystogan bobbed his head in agreement when she turned to him for confirmation.

"If anything, it was mine." The man added standing up. "I should go get the wood so I can explain to you what happened."

Rein looked torn as he left and Hiccup actually felt a little jealous about that. He shook it off and went back to the campfire. Rein took back her seat near the tree and was watching the surroundings with a curious yet alarmed caution.

"Thanks for earlier by the way." She jumped at his words. Hiccup chose to ignore that. "When the croc-beast attacked, I mean."

"O-Oh! It was going to hurt you so…" She trailed off blushing.

Hiccup smiled, trying to ease her nerves. He was happy when she returned it shyly. "So what were you doing at the cove?" He continued. "I haven't seen you around when I visited before?"

"You come there often?" The way that blurted out almost made him chuckle but he resisted the urge.

"Yeah. It's a very… special place to me." The wistfulness in his voice must have made her curious because she shuffled closer to him. Hiccup pretended he didn't notice.

"I live there." She said.

Hiccup glanced at her questioningly. "In the cove? Or Wisteria Town? That's about two miles away."

"The forest. I don't like humans very much."

As much as that line reminded him of Porlyusica, Hiccup couldn't help but feel sad at the confession. "Hmm, I guess I don't either. With the way I avoid interacting with my guild mates."

She smiled. With more confidence this time.

Mystogan arrived with a handful that he put in front of Hiccup. Together they arranged the pyre in silence and Hiccup snapped his fingers to spark a fire. Rein gasped at the small act and Hiccup wanted to smile as she kept glancing at his fingers after. Warm and settled, the trio made themselves comfortable. Rein was between them but kept a distance from both. Neither of them said anything.

Hiccup cleared his throat and tilted his head at Mystogan. "So, you're Jellal but not Jellal?"

He nodded at the reminder. Rein was puzzled but stayed quiet.

"Right. The truth is, I'm not from Earthland." He took a moment to think. Hiccup wasn't that surprised at that considering everything but Rein was. Adorably so. "I come from a world called Edolas. Edolas is like a mirror world to Earthland, therefore everyone has a counterpart there. My name is Jellal but I'm not the same Jellal that exists in Earthland. We are different people, with different pasts, different lives and different goals. The reason why I came to your world is because our current King has created and activated a weapon capable of stealing magic from Earthland and feed it to Edolas. You see, my world has a limited amount of magic. Also, people can't freely manipulate it there as they can in Earthland."

He sighed, staring into the fire as if it was his worst enemy. "Magic is a precious resource that caused my people to become addicted to it and also caused the King to go mad. I came to Earthland because I wanted to stop that. Whenever they open an Anima, I go there to close it. And I've been doing that for almost seven years now. The storm that came out of nowhere back then was an Anima. It was small and it should have been easy to end but something made it react and get bigger. I also got distracted by your fight. It was my mistake for getting too close though."

Hiccup blinked and bowed his head in embarrassment. "Oh, now that you mention that… I already knew you were there. I caught your scent earlier but I decided to ignore you. Or rather, I was expecting that you would be fine. So don't beat yourself too much about it. Okay?" Mystogan looked away but the acceptance in his eyes was all that Hiccup cared about.

He should have known the Master would allow someone like Mystogan to join. The man was a grandfather, in the strongest sense of the word, to all of them. Something in his chest eased at the fact that Mystogan was not an enemy. Nevertheless, the realization of how much worry he felt for his guild mates made the pit in his stomach deepen.

"Um…" The timid voice reminded them both of the other person in the group. She was looking at Hiccup oddly. "Scent?"

Hiccup smiled and nodded. "Ah, yeah! I'm a Moon Dragon Slayer. We all generally have very advanced senses." He shrugged. His senses, especially hearing still weren't as good as Natsu's but the Fire Dragon Slayer was largely known to be more beast than human anyways.

She nodded, the glint of wonder in her eyes still there. "Okay. So where are we now exactly?"

Mystogan's eyes dropped to the ground. "I'm not sure. I apologize! I lost control of the Anti spell so I'm unsure of where exactly it sent us. This is definitely not Edolas, though."

Hiccup frowned and looked away. Should he? He got the gist of how the Anima worked but Mystogan didn't know about the other world gate that probably laid at the bottom of the Mist Ocean. Knowing about it might help him figure out a way back. Gods knew, Hiccup was no expert in any kind of Teleportation Magic. He sighed and shifted. Mystogan looked at him. His eyes had a glint of suspicion, as if he was already aware Hiccup was hiding something. Well, the former Viking never thought the man was stupid.

"This is Midgard. I won't pretend like I understand how portals to other realms work but, in the ocean, somewhere along the shoreline of that cove was another one. To here. My home world." He took a deep breath and met Mystogan's stare. "It's amazing how our circumstances are similar but so different still."

"You're not from Earthland?" The only way to tell his surprise was the slight widening of his eyes. "Hold on! Another portal? Is that why the Anima was moving towards the ocean?"

Hiccup shrugged stiffly. "You tell me, you're the expert apparently."

Mystogan seemed to want to continue with that but stopped himself. "So you were saying."

Hiccup almost groaned. Mystogan's expectant face annoyed him but he felt like he had to tell his own story now. "You said you came to Earthland because you wanted to protect your people." He was pleased to note the slight twitch of his eye. "I came to Earthland because I ran away from mine. To be honest with you, I'd rather we don't even leave this island and just figure out a way back. I don't want to have anything to do with them anymore." As cold as he wanted himself to be, that was a bold-faced lie. He wished his fellow guild mate would roll with it and not question him further. Though, from the frown on his face that wasn't going to happen.

Rein's ears lowered at the building tension. She was glancing between them, rubbing her hands, nervous about where the conversation was going. Eventually Mystogan relented and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fine. I'm not okay with that but it's been a long day already. We should get some sleep and figure things out in the morning."

Hiccup allowed the tension to leave him too. They didn't speak as they each laid down near the fire. With raging thoughts of dragons and Vikings and Berk and his father, Hiccup believed he would never get an ounce of sleep. He was out the moment he closed his eyes in a restless slumber.