Hey everyone! I'm back with a new chapter. I hope you enjoy this next segment!

Brothers

Chapter 15: Flint Callahan

The very next day, having woken up before anyone else, I found myself resting on a cliff not too far from the Berkians and dragons that inhabit the cold island. I must admit, I didn't have much sleep at all after what happened…yesterday's events played repeatedly as if they just happened minutes ago.

Amid my solitude, the older dragon known simply as Toothless had voluntarily joined me by the edge overlooking the vast open sea. It's mostly cloudy today, but the breeze had me relaxed, enough to feel mostly at peace, the scenery is perfect to reflect on past events. What better time than to spend it with somebody you just told the TRUTH to and who just called you…his brother?

Tooth curls up beside me, his head up towards the gray sky. A few seconds pass and I just had to chuckle lightly at him, "so…you want to know who I really am?"

His brows moved down to me in a beckoning and pleading fashion, "I would love to know, yes" the dragon said fondly, his ears standing straight up.

I thought silently, where do I even begin?

"I am human…"

"I got that already."

"B-but…Toothless" I turn to face him: his snout is lowered just enough that we're eye-level as before and I focused on his relaxed, square, pupils, "what I'm about to tell you might blow your mind a little. I just want you to be ready…"

The Night Fury gave a soft smile in earnest, "I'm ready."

I heave a deep sigh, nodding confidently. I look back toward the ocean as I started:

"I'm from the future."

He raised an eyebrow at this almost immediately, glancing over with a side eye. I knew right away he would start bombarding me with questions.

"T-the future?"

"Yes…a few hundred…maybe even a thousand years from now if I'm not mistaken…"

"W-wow…s-so long from now…" unlike yesterday he seemed very open to the news and actually welcomed my answers with even more eager questions, "what's your world like? Humans and dragons must be living together everywhere by that time…you…must have known all this time…you knew we would all end up together!"

I shake my head, much to his disappointment, "ehh, no" I retorted. He arched his neck slightly, "what do you mean!?"

"The era I come from…there are NO dragons…not a single one to be seen."

"W-what!?" He gave a look of shock as I nodded, much to his dismay.

"How can that be!? How are there not ANY dragons in the future?"

"I don't know…" I mutter softly before Toothless sighs, looking away, maybe they're somewhere else or in hiding, the adolescent Fury thought. "B-but imagine if there were dragons…it would be a perfect world!" He turned his body completely to face me, seemingly overexcited.

I, meanwhile, wasn't as enthusiastic, "…not really."

"What? Why?" His ear flicked before he moved in closer.

I sighed softly, preparing myself to explain, "no matter what time they live in…us humans are…well…humans. No matter how advanced we get, we'll always be the same: past…present…future."

"There are bad humans still…" his ears drooped as a result of my statement, "but…what must it be like…" he asked with every ounce of curiosity within him, "what must the future world look like?"

"It's certainly different from all this" I chuckled, leaning forward to stretch and yawn momentarily. He seemed to copy my action for some reason, I guess he felt the same way I did…maybe he barely had enough sleep last night too?

"I mean…we humans have achieved so much…made so many things that've made our lives much easier…for example…we have these square, not so square, machines that take us humans from one place to another. They're fast and can pretty much take us anywhere. They're called: cars."

"C-cars?" He tilted his head to the side ONCE AGAIN, intrigued greatly by my description.

I nodded, "yea…they wouldn't be able to fit dragons though…unless you put in smaller ones like Terrible Terrors, I guess…but it's mostly just a means for humans to travel long distances on the ground."

My eyes bright up as my ears stand above my head. I turn to Toothless again with a smile, "oh…and humans can fly."

The Night Fury, rightfully so, pulls back, finding the idea faintly ridiculous, "what!? Do humans in your time grow wings or something?"

"No" I laughed; we use machines to help us, I thought that would have been obvious. They are designed to look like birds, kind of, and they work in a similar way. There's some we use for travel…others…for war. They're pretty much faster than you…no offense."

When I explained it, it all seemed too good to be true; however, Tooth's recent mental encounter with the Queen and his dream seem to support my story, and my descriptions matched everything the dragon witnessed.

Toothless chuckled nervously, cringing slightly as if to deflect his fears, "now come on, Flint…nothing's faster than me!"

I rolled my eyes playfully, pushing him with my small paw, "Well…if I had to say this, you Night Furies are definitely the fastest creatures nature has ever engineered, but I'm telling you: humans have come a LONG way where, and when, I'm from. Far enough that we've actually touched the moon."

"W-wha…" He fell on his back in surprise as I couldn't help but laugh at him. I jumped on his belly in response before he looks up at me, "yup, we landed quite a few people up there to explore its surface."

"B-but how…no one can fly THAT high! A-and…humans shouldn't be-" He retorted with a grunt.

"It's complicated," I interrupted him, "but things are really different once you climb high enough in the sky. For one, the sky starts turning dark and stars start showing up like its nighttime. Then, everything gets light, and you start floating cause of lack of gravity!"

"G-gra-what?"

"Oh…right…Isaac Newton hasn't been born yet to explain this to everyone I guess" I sarcastically warbled in my kid voice.

He rolled his eyes, "even if that IS interesting, your people should NOT have touched the moon! They probably desecrated it!" Toothless suddenly blurted out as I raise an eyebrow, "what do you mean?"

"Right…you don't know I assume. Us dragons believe the moon to be a dragon egg…once it hatches…the celestial hatchling will lead us to paradise in a great, global, migration event."

I can't help but look away, well…I shouldn't force my future logic onto his "old-world" beliefs and put him down. Tooth has every right to believe what he believes.

"You…probably don't believe in it" he scoffed silently before I get off him, "it's a great thing to believe in regardless…and I think you shouldn't stop believing if you don't want to." I sighed softly, looking away for a moment, "I wish I could show you Toothless…show you my world…"

A few silent moments later, my ear twitches when I hear the large dragon get back on all fours and move toward me, "so, what did you look like as a human?"

I chuckle, "nothing like I do now" I retorted sarcastically.

"Obviously" he can't help but laugh back at my remark, lightly pushing me with a paw.

"I would love to see how you looked like as a human, maybe you looked like Hiccup!" He started jumping up and down excitedly, as if I'm Hiccup reincarnated. I stop him with a shake of my paw and my head, "Far from it actually."

"Oh really…" he stopped jumping, letting his tail slap the ground in dissatisfaction, "okay," he began…for some reason sniffing me all over like a dog whilst circling me, "let's simplify this…what color was the fur on your head?"

"You mean my hair, and I thought you were the smartest dragon of the bunch…" I cover my mouth to hide my amusement. Toothless suddenly smacked the back of my head lightly with his sole tail fin, "ow! What gives. Well now I'm NOT going to tell you" I gave a mischievous grin back in response.

Suddenly the larger Fury put his paws together while on his legs, immediately regretting his playful act, "Sorry! I was ONLY kidding, please tell me…PLEASE!"

I playfully roll my eyes in return, "If you REALLY must know, I had black hair."

"Black? Well, LOOK at you…maybe you had a little Night Fury in you before you became one after all!" He added quite amusingly, "what about your eyes?"

"Brown."

"Really, brown? I thought they would be maybe green like mine…" he folded his arms, shaking his head.

"I hate to break it to you, dragon, but not all of us were graced with green eyes like yours." I retorted in a puckish manner.

At that moment, I am suddenly hit with a deep thought: I ought to tell him about my age…it's about time…

"Toothless," I lock onto his reptilian eyes, "this might surprise you, a lot actually if I may say so…but I'm not exactly a kid, mind you."

"Oh?" He shoots me an odd look, "how old are you then?"

"Twenty-nine in human years."

He almost fell on his back again upon hearing that, "w-what!? No way!"

"Despite my appearances, I was an adult when I was human. I'm NOT a hatchling at all." The Night Fury next to me can't help but be amazed by this revelation, "y-you mean to tell me you're TWICE as old as I am!?"

I nodded.

Toothless couldn't believe it, the thought alone blew his mind. A lot of Vikings on Berk were adults, very few were around the age of Hiccup and the other teens. Toothless probably thought if I were a Viking, I would be doing a lot of boring tasks around the village instead of being around him or the teens seeking adventure.

Flint…is not only human…but also an adult. If that's the case…he's old enough to be a father with a mate for goodness sake, Tooth thought silently to himself, trying his best to hide the worst of his reactions from me, "well…that explains why you felt so insulted when I treated you like a child in the cove…" he murmured before I nodded, returning to the edge of the cliff.

"It's also why when I said I needed to relearn what I actually meant was…"

"I understand…it makes sense…no hatchling would JUST forget by your age" Toothless muttered, joining me by the edge again, "no matter how hard they hit their head."

Sure enough, I went into a little bit more detail of where I'm from…like the American landmass, which is yet to be discovered…unless the Vikings already landed near Canada by this time that is…

He asked me questions like if humans could understand dragon speech…but obviously that's not the case.

"B-but Callahan…answer me this…"

I turn to him slowly, preparing myself to answer whatever he has ready to ask.

"Something I don't get…if you are human…why do you act sometimes like a dragon, especially a hatchling…and when around humans?"

I shrugged, "I guess my body wasn't the only thing that changed."

It was a good hour or so, but I kept answering his questions…as the village behind us begins to fill with life for the day ahead. The adolescent Night Fury was captivated by my answers that his questions seemed to get more and more intricate as time goes on.

"B-but…something else I can't wrap my head around: if dragons don't exist in your world…how do you know about them?" Toothless asked, his tail wiggling behind him like a dog's tail.

"They exist in stories and other stuff…mostly for our entertainment. There's actually quite a lot of awesome dragons we've made for our enjoyment."

"Such as…"

I laugh, giving such a heartwarming, wholehearted, smile to him. He seems pleased that I am so happy in the moment, but I just had to tell him.

"There's this one dragon I grew up with. Basically, there's this game you play…it's all made-up and what not…but you get to play as the dragon. He has purple scales all over his body…yellow chest plate…purplish eyes If I remember…horns on his head too. Anyway, the whole objective of the game is to save dragons from imprisonment, basically you must save the 'dragon world.'

Toothless just listened intently, never looking away…his mouth is gaped at the details I gave. I guess he never imagined humans had such vivid imaginations as he and other dragons did. To create such a grandiose world simply for the sake of entertainment; it seemed ludicrous in of itself, he thought in his head.

"What was the hero's name?" He eventually inquired.

I grinned back, "Spyro."

"A legendary hero, no doubt."

"Guess you could say that."

"So…you humans hold dragons in high regard in the future…venerate them even" Tooth nodded. I shrugged, "I guess…a lot of us just think dragons are these amazing, mythical, creatures."

"Well…we ARE" he winked as I scoffed at that.

Silence overtakes us for about a minute before the larger dragon lies on his back, folding his wings in the process, "wow…I've learned so much today. Flint…no offense…but even if you are human and you are an ADULT, I can't help but see you the same way as before…" he muttered.

I lie down next to him, "how I am now is how you've known me as since we've first met, but now you know who I really am. I can't change what I am now…staring back at you is a baby Night Fury…that's a fact that I probably will never change; however, deep inside I am human and MUCH older than you."

Tooth nodded to support this notion, "and of course you want to be human again."

"Yeah…wouldn't you want to be a dragon again if you were made human somehow?"

He scratches his chin, pondering at the idea, "I suppose" he chirped back, "then again, I would be able to talk to Hiccup…have human thumbs…it would be a different life for sure."

"Well, it's a different life being a human-turned-dragon, believe me. I MISS my thumbs and being able to talk to other humans…"

"I can imagine" he cooed at me, trying to make me feel better by rubbing his paw against me as if he were a cat.

Unfortunately, I look away in solemn, "for all I know, I might be stuck like this forever."

"No" I suddenly hear as I turn to the teenaged Night Fury.

I scoffed silently back, "it's all good…I've accepted the possibility of me never being human again and returning to my world."

"I wouldn't give up. I'll do everything I can to help you. Flint." He stood up and grabbed me suddenly to snap me out of my pessimism, "I will help you; I want to see you happy…" he nodded determinately, his eyes glistening against the morning sun, "I want to help you, believe me…even if it means you're no longer a Night Fury as I am…and…gone from here. I will help you. Even if…you can't return to your world…we will ALWAYS be here for you."

I can't help but give the warmest smile to him, hugging his side tightly, "thank you Toothless." Again, he wouldn't know what hugging is or how to react to it just yet, so all he did was smile back in a similar fashion, "I will help the Queen for you. Even if…after all that's happened, if she is somehow the key to all this…then I will help."

"I…appreciate it, Toothless."

"I love ya, buddy" he threw back at me his affection.

I roll my eyes playfully as we pull away, smirking at the brotherly love we now display toward one another.

I guess this all ought to end well in some way…right?

By the afternoon, Toothless enlisted the help of several dragons…including Meatlug and Stormfly…all are appalled by the revelation: that the queen still lives. It took effort and quite a bit of time to convince them all to help, but Toothless remained resolute…trying to rally the small group in his favour. Eventually, everyone yielded and agreed to help despite the Queen's destructive history.

Since Toothless could not fly on his own, he instructed the small band of dragons to follow my lead in place of his, so I began taking them away from Berk toward Helheim's Gate around nightfall.

I focused my breaths, concentrated my thoughts…and began leading the group through the vast ocean. We were in what people call a "wedge" formation in our travels, with Stormfly and Meatlug next to me on both sides. Eventually, Meat went to help some of the slower dragons keep up.

As we head there, Storm had cocked her bird-like head toward me, desperate to know something, "why are we helping her…she tried to kill us all…"

"That may be…but I'm giving her the chance to redeem herself."

"There is more to this story than what you are telling us" The smart bird-dragon muttered, much to my surprise her eyes told me she somehow knew the truth…at least a bit of it, "you don't need to lie to us. I know you had a mental connection with the Queen, you feel it is wrong not to help her."

I simply nodded as we approached the fog wall, "she understands me."

"And?" She beckoned me to continue, somehow knowing there's more to all this. Gosh, she's A LOT like Astrid, isn't she? I sighed softly, turning to her momentarily, "I guess I might as well tell you, but I got to ask: can you keep a secret?"

"I doubt the others here would care" Stormfly confidently squawked but she wasn't ready for what I was going to tell her later.

"You have NO IDEA."

As we went through the fog and made it to the partially destroyed island, we spotted the Ex-Queen: still trapped under the rubble…barely alive as it is. We could all sense life still in her, but soon enough with out any help she would die within a few more days.

And so, we got to work straight away: I directed the larger dragons to move the heavier rubble and directed the others to give her some food and water from the village. Though they appeared hesitant to do as instructed, I assured them that the Queen was under MY MERCY, and they knew this once the Queen spoke to them of the fact in their minds.

As the work to dig her out continues throughout the night, Stormfly flies and hovers next to me as I inspect the excavation site, "you still haven't told me your…secret."

I looked away, nodding to myself: I decided to tell her; however, I wasn't sure she was ready to accept the idea I am human, but I didn't want to stall and tell her later…making the same mistake I had had with Toothless. So, I dragged her away from the group, which by now had partially moved the debris off the injured behemoth.

The Nadder and I found a cliff not too far away so I can silently and peacefully reveal my origins to her, "Storm" I began as I sat and curled my tail around me, "please…promise me you won't tell anyone, only Toothless knows."

The Deadly Nadder closed her eyes and nodded sideways to me.

"I need your word; I need you to say it."

"Yes, this stays between us" she looked with the side of her face before I nod determinately in return.

"I'm trusting you, Nadder."

Against my good judgement I explain almost everything to her, the same that I told Toothless but with a much more abridged version; however, unlike the older Night Fury, this Deadly Nadder somehow takes it A LOT BETTER than I thought.

"I see…" they chirped softly, "that would explain your strange mannerisms…your odd title…they seemed to suggest you belonged to humans…"

I laughed, I couldn't help it and she seemed amused by my high-pitched warble, "that's exactly what Toothless had said" my tail moves back and forth calmy as we rested by the edge…similar as to how not long-ago Tooth and I had done.

"So…you are human…and the Queen knows…was she the cause of your transformation?"

"I don't know honestly" I look back at the bluish dragon, "but she was the first to know, then Toothless…and now you know too."

"How do you hope to lift the curse?"

I shrug, "I have no earthly idea."

"A human who's transformed into a dragon…who's also from the distant future…how interesting…"

I chuckle, "and you're taking it better than I thought." I stand up to get ready to meet with the others, "meh, maybe the Queen somehow knows how to send me back to my world or at least have clues on where I can go next."

"That explains why you wish to see her live" the Nadder wailed softly.

"…please, keep this between us."

She nodded as a show of honor, "you have my word, Flint" she said my human name as I smiled. We soon returned to the others.

Some time passes by and the rubble that had confined the Ex-Queen is now gone. Some dragons in our group had given her enough food and water to help her for a few days…enough to keep her sustained.

Again, the goal here was to show compassion to the broken dragon…if it isn't clear: I wanted to follow Hiccup's example.

Sure enough, the colossus begins recovering, but it's clear to all of us that she is now severely handicap as a result of the battle. Her wings are torn in many places, and like Toothless: is now unable to fly on her own again, and her eyesight, as I've said many times before, is gone. Her mental capacity to wage war at the moment, even if an attempt is made against us, has diminished. Basically, she is virtually no threat to us. I doubt she will try anything in the future…I'm THAT confident.

Everyone prepared to leave to return to Berk. I motion them to go ahead without me at first, for I had some choice words to say to the battered Ex-Queen. She is now free from the rubble.

She senses me hovering above, but she is still too weak to move much…her reaction left much to be desired to me…either way…

I fly up to her face, just a few meters away, "I hope you're grateful we did this for you. Take this time alone to reflect on your past actions and see how better everything is when we work together and share the work instead of making others work for you."

She says nothing but I can sense that she understands what I had said. Before I leave, I hear her grunt softly, "are you…grateful?" She seemed to ask as my eyes turned oval for a moment, "what do you mean…" I growled lightly.

"…are you grateful…that you have…Toothless?"

"Of course, I am…can't you read my mind"

"I only wanted you…to say it…listen…he is…more than your brother…" she must have read my mind during all of this…she must have seen everything that had transpired through my memories, "Callahan...I…cannot help you…on your quest to return to your world…" she muttered between her weak breaths. I just stood there in mid-air, taking it in, she had the audacity to tell me that she can't help me, AFTER we freed her? I almost retorted harshly, but…I didn't. Somehow, I was ready for that type of response from her…something within the back of my head told me that she had NOTHING to do with me being here. Even so, we're done here…I've done what I had wanted to do…I won't dwell on this for very long…

"Then what must I do?" I rolled my eyes to her in response.

"If…there is no hope for you on your journey…to leave this realm…stay…stay and grow with the Night Fury…he is the greatest…of us all…and in him and through him…you will become the greatest beside him…" after that, she had nothing else to say. She had admitted the enormous potential Toothless had within him.

That's when I departed, leaving her be…alone on Dragon Island for the time being. I make my way to join the others as my thoughts linger on what she had said. Soon enough, I shake them off once I get to Stormfly and Meatlug. Some time passes and we arrive on Berk: going our separate ways for the night, except for Stormfly…

Just before she goes to reunite with Astrid Hofferson at her house, the bird-like reptile looks to me with a wide, warm, smile, "you have a big heart."

I sigh, both exhaustingly and as a slight rebut to her compliment, "I guess…"

"You do have heart…and I, for one, am glad to have you amongst us. Take care, Flint Callahan." Storm flies off. As I see her off, I nod softly, "I appreciate that." I said with a farewell grin.

I make my way to the Haddock residence…as all the other times before: Hiccup and Stoick are asleep. I find the sleeping Night Fury, Toothless, by the entrance. As I get there, he smelled my scent and his ears rise all the way up, looking toward me. We gaze at each other before I nodded to him, simply muttering "thank you."

Toothless smiled back. In my head I reckon by now he had fully accepted the notion that I'm a human trapped in the body of a dragon. I greatly appreciated his understanding and help, I liked him before as a friend; however, this creature meant a lot more to me now than ever before.

I can tell he's trying his best to aid me, even now as I stare into his docile green eyes.

"I hope we can find a way to send you home, Flint"

"Even if it's not possible, I will find consolation in the fact that I have you and Hiccup with me." I walked up to him, placing a paw on his chest, "so then…brothers?" I said as a sincere, warm, grin ran down my muzzle. I figured I would make this pact official, why the hell not? I really wanted to confirm this mutual feeling with the reptile in front of me.

Toothless returned the gesture, placing his larger paw on my small chest. His heart soared. The dragon is pleased to see me so happy after being so down for a while now. The teenager agreed with complete confidence and a lack of doubt, and with the same amount of heart as I had:

"Brothers."

Phew! I hope you all enjoyed this recent chapter; it was quite a bit to right. I'm not sure whether I went a bit too much with the explanations regarding Flint's world. Let me know what you think by leaving a review! Anyways, have a great day readers, see you all next time!