The answer was no. The colours came back to reveal a different scene. This time Hiccup was there. Or… Not-Hiccup, the Night Fury amended. It was dark around – nighttime – and a campfire lit his features up, making it obvious it was him. He was holding a silver shield up and the Night Fury was amazed by the sight of him drawn on it beautifully. Although instead of his missing tailfin, he seemed to have a… a red thing attached to his body. What did this human do to him?!

"Okay. Come on out!" Not-Hiccup called and the Hiccup in the room seemed to shrink away from the wall while also staring at it with wide, interested eyes. He looked like he didn't know what to think of this future him. It seemed that this future wasn't too far away from the present unless Hiccup didn't grow up much in the time it took Astrid to turn from this version of herself to the mature one from the last scene. "Show yourself, Snotlout, and I will go easy on you." He sounded annoyed.

Astrid chocked. "D-did you just really say that?" She moved her eyes from the wall to Hiccup. "YOU will take it easy on SNOTLOUT?"

He offered her nothing more than a helpless shrug.

A moment later Not-Hiccup was pushed to the ground by someone else and he grunted up before widening his eyes in recognition. He didn't look too happy, though. "Dagur?" He asked and the Viking on top of him turned his scowl into a wide grin.

"Hiccup, old friend!" He pulled him up from the ground and then crushed him to his chest, making the boy grimace. Yeah, the Night Fury was pretty sure those two didn't get along. At least on Hiccup's end. "You're alive!" He laughed somewhat crazily. The Night Fury snarled at the wall and stomped his leg, feeling like he didn't want to see much of this guy, whoever he was. Hiccup looked like he was feeling the same. The chief, though, had this strange expression on his face, like he couldn't decide what to think about the scene while Astrid groaned and covered her face with one hand.

"Uh… last time I checked." He said dryly and Dagur finally let Not-Hiccup down. "So… haven't seen you since – "

Dagur's eyes sparkled. "Since you saved me from that dragon attack back on Berk." He said and the three in the room seemed to choke on their own spit. The chief coughed into his fist and Astrid blinked at the wall and at Dagur, muttering something about him being too crazy to talk seriously. Hiccup just… stared. He seemed to try and take in the future him on the wall to try and measure up the differences between them. "You fought off a Night Fury!" Dagur went on, talking like it was the most amazing thing he's ever seen.

The Night Fury hissed and let his wings itch restlessly. What the hell was going on?! First, the future told him he let this puny human ride on his back and next this Dagur person revealed that Hiccup fought him?! What was he doing in this future, letting this Viking mess up his life like that?! And Hiccup looked just as shocked as he was, if not a lot more scared. His eyes kept on drifting from the wall to the Night Fury like he couldn't decide which one was more interesting. When the Night Fury growled at him lowly, though, the human took the clue and looked away and back at the wall.

"Oh, right…" Not-Hiccup replied, rubbing the back of his neck in a way that seemed to indicate how nervous he was. Though his dry tone of speaking made it sound like he was bluffing or hiding something, just like Not-Astrid did before. The Night Fury sniffed at the wall uselessly and watched carefully. He could tell something was off but Dagur seemed to take Not-Hiccup's words like they were facts. "Yes, the dragon attack."

"And you were, like, BAM! Wham!" Dagur waved his sword around as if replaying the scene in his memory. Not-Hiccup watched him with a constant grimace on his face like it couldn't make him more uncomfortable if he tried. "And then you were all, 'Dagur, save yourself!', and I was like 'Whaaaat okay! I'm outta here." He ran off before coming back to stand before Not-Hiccup, pointing at him with a mad grin that made the boy look like he would rather be anywhere but there. "But you stayed, and then you must've…" He trailed off and his grin slipped off, revealing a suspicious gaze. "So… what are you doing here?"

Dagur pointed a sword at Not-Hiccup's chest and the chief bristled as if the sight of it made him want to go over there and kick the other man away from his son. But he seemed to catch himself before doing something stupid. The Night Fury knew he couldn't really interact with the people on the magical wall and the chief must have remembered that as well. Astrid, on her part, was busy itching towards Hiccup a little while trying not to look too obvious. The boy was too distracted by the scene to notice her, lucky for her. The Night Fury snorted at that.

"What am I doing here?" Not-Hiccup asked himself, his hands raised a little protectively in front of the sword. He stepped back a bit and looked around as if looking for an answer somewhere else. He didn't have to try too hard before Dagur went on, though.

"Don't answer that! I know exactly what you're doing here."

Not-Hiccup sighed, sounding a bit resigned to his fate. "Y-you do?"

"Oh yeah. I do. You're here for the same reason I am, Hiccup." This seemed to confuse Not-Hiccup more than anything so far. "You're here… to hunt dragons!" And… the creepy grin returned!

Before the Night Fury could get angry at Not-Hiccup, though, the boy on the magical wall seemed to weigh the words in his head and then he let a nervous smile appear on his face like he decided to go with this charade despite knowing it was all a fake. "Okay, you got me. That's what I'm here for." He kept on nodding. "All by myself!" He added a little louder as if trying to let others know what was going on. It looked so weird and unnatural, yet this Dagur guy was probably crazy enough to fall right into this trap. The Night Fury snorted at him but didn't do much else.

Satisfied with the fake answer, Dagur went back to squinting his eyes at Not-Hiccup. "Sooooo whatever happened to that Night Fury, Hiccup?"

"Oh, well… yeah," Not-Hiccup tried to lean back from Dagur. "Just… bad news." He looked away from the man and seemed to… stall. Everything about him screamed at the Night Fury that he was trying to fish for a random answer that would save him from this madman, though why he would have to lie instead of simply telling the truth was beyond him. "Uh… it got away."

"That's GREAT news!"

"What?!" Astrid shrieked. "How is the Night Fury getting away great news?!" She looked over at Hiccup who just shook his head from side to side, nothing to say coming to mind. Then her gaze turned to the chief who had his lips pursed and his brows drawn together. Realizing she wasn't going to get anything from him, she moved to glare at the Night Fury. He didn't even return her gaze. This was getting tiring, really. They could hate him all they liked – he was safe in this room. "We'll catch you one day." She whispered.

Hiccup flinched at the words but the Night Fury just grumbled a little and kept on ignoring her. He watched as Dagur lifted Not-Hiccup in the air with a smile before letting him down again, only to wrap his arm around his shoulders. "I-it is?"

"YES! New plan," He pulled Not-Hiccup towards him and the boy on the screen looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes. "You and I are going to hunt the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. We are going to take down that Night Fury," He looked at Not-Hiccup who put a forceful smile on his face and nodded a little. "Once and for all."

The Night Fury growled at the wall, his tail swishing behind him from side to side. He didn't like this, but at least the future Hiccup wasn't too much into this new plan. He looked like he was going to be sick, really. "Uh… okay," Not-Hiccup held up his hand when Dagur seemed to walk away from him. But before he could say anything more he was pulled down to the brink of the bonfire by a hand on his shoulder. Dagur crouched next to him and began to howl to the sky.

"Come on," The crazy guy said when Not-Hiccup just brought up his hand to massage his pained shoulder. "Howl with me. It feels good."

He went right back to it and Not-Hiccup winced at him before complying weakly, not doing a very good job. A moment later he slumped his shoulders and muttered under his breath. "Oh, man…"

The wall turned black for a moment that letting the Night Fury see the uncertainty written on all of the Vikings' faces, clear as day. Hiccup looked like he was going to be sick, honestly, his hands gripping the side of his fur vest tightly. He looked like he didn't know what to make of this future and how to react to any of this anymore. And when he caught the Night Fury looking at him, there was something in his gaze, almost like he could understand the dragon. Which was ridiculous, but oh well.

It didn't take long for the wall to fill with colour again, but it didn't change the scene much. Now instead of sitting on the ground, Dagur and Not-Hiccup were sitting on a log of wood, Dagur still holding his sword and Not-Hiccup looking at his feet, with his strange shield resting next to his legs. Before the figures could say anything, though, Hiccup shrieked.

"Where'd my leg go?! Why don't I have a leg?!" His eyes were round and his cheeks lost their faint color at the sight of the metal prosthetic that the wall finally displayed. Astrid gasped at that and the chief grunted softly and patted his son on the back once in consolation, not helping the boy in any way if the pained grimace on his face was anything to go by. "I-I don't understand – what happens to me in the future?! That's-that's it – it can't go any worse than this." He slumped down in defeat.

"Hiccup, ever since I left Berk I haven't been able to stop… thinking about you."

Not-Hiccup's body froze at the words and Hiccup in the room seemed to deflate further. "Never mind. I take it back. This is getting worse by the minute." He grumbled unhappily. Not too far from him, Astrid hid her grin behind her hand, though her eyes revealed the truth with the way they crinkled. Hiccup turned to look at the Night Fury. "Please, kill me now."

Unimpressed, the Night Fury just gestured with his paw and head forward and towards the wall. With a groan and a sigh, Hiccup obeyed and went back to watching, his body looking defeated. The Night Fury's never seen anyone looking so down before. He didn't know what to make of it, really. Was this a new thing for the boy to feel or was he used to it? By the looks of it… and by his father's lack of a reaction, he could guess it wasn't anything new.

"Well, that's kinda strange," Not-Hiccup said and then plastered on a smile. "Well, I'm flattered."

"Not you, personally." Dagur spat out and Not-Hiccup winced back a little. "You and that Night Fury! It's like you-you KNEW that dragon." He said and the Night Fury snorted, unamused. Hiccup sank lower to the floor. "You were inside its head, rattling its cage. And that, my muscularly challenged friend, that's when I decided I needed to know about dragons too! So I came here, and I learned about them one by one." He pulled a familiar spike from behind his back and the Night Fury scowled. "The Deadly Nadder. Got this in the leg. It was AWESOME!" He threw it over his shoulder as he seemed to sing the last word. Not-Hiccup looked disturbed but didn't interrupt. Then Dagur jumped off the log and pointed to the skull of a Nightmare, impaled by a spear. The Night Fury hissed and growled and felt so much hatred towards this strange man, that he could tell the others in the room with him were somewhat scared of him despite knowing he couldn't hurt them. "The Monstrous Nightmare. Look at him. Not so monstrous now, are you?"

Not-Hiccup seemed to notice the skull for the first time because he gaped at it with his mouth open a little in shock. His face was turning a suspiciously green shade. In the room, the chief and Astrid nodded their heads as one, appreciating the sight. Of course, they would. But Hiccup… he grimaced at the wall and looked like he wasn't feeling any enthusiasm about the dead dragon. If anything, he looked like he could use some fresh air. On the magical wall, Not-Hiccup turned to glare heatedly at Dagur. The Night Fury hummed, not sure about what the human was thinking. Why would he be upset about something like that? He was a Viking. Maybe he didn't want Dagur to kill the dragons he was planning on killing?

"And don't even get me started on the Gronckle." Dagur pulled the cooked leg of something from behind him and Not-Hiccup's eyes trained on it. He looked disgusted and a little sick to his stomach. What was going on with this Viking hatchling?

"Uh… is-is that…"

Dagur glanced down at it. "No. It's… yak." He shrugged. Not-Hiccup looked relieved. "Anyway, those big boys are quicker than you'd think."

A roar cut their conversation off and Dagur got up and pulled out a crossbow, quickly aiming it around, looking for the dragon. Not-Hiccup, on the other hand, remained sitting and looked around a moment later, very much not frightened by the roar. The Night Fury glanced at Hiccup and noticed the way he straightened in fear. Okay, they were different, for some reason. Those present and future Hiccups weren't the same and the Night Fury wondered what it was that made this Hiccup turn into the dry and less fearful version of himself they were all watching.

Instead of focusing on the dragon that must have been near them, Not-Hiccup looked at the crossbow like it was going to hurt him and not a nearby dragon. "Whoa." He didn't even sound scared. "Nice crossbow."

"My hunting weapon of choice," Dagur said, still looking around. Then he looked at his companion again. "You carry – " His eyes fell on the lone shield and he looked confused more than anything else. Dagur hummed. "Just a… shield?"

"Son, if you go and try to hunt dragons, you might want to take with you more than just one shield." His father chided and Astrid hummed in agreement, her head bobbing up and down. Hiccup looked like he couldn't take his eyes off the wall, yet he nodded, clearly seeing their point and not understanding his future self. "I thought you always carry around this little… knife of yours."

On the wall, Not-Hiccup nodded a little before he reached out for his shield, moving it a bit. "Yeah, yeah… just-just a shield. Just a… plain, old shield." He said and the Night Fury crooned. There was something in his voice… he wasn't telling the whole truth again. There was something else. Maybe another weapon, or maybe something in the shield… although, what could Hiccup possibly have in a metal shield? It was just a shield – just like he said.

"Very ornate. My sister had one like that." Dagur said. "I myself have never felt the need to hide in combat." And then, out of the blue, they began to scream manically. Not-Hiccup and the Vikings and dragon watching, all flinched away, watching the scene and feeling very disturbed.

Not-Hiccup sounded unsure. "Yeah…" He watched as Dagur stopped shouting and instead went back to trying to find a dragon around the campfire. "So, how long have you been out here, Dagur?"

"Couple of days. Weeks, maybe."

Hiccup sniffed. "Well, that explains the crazy." He said and his father nodded his head, silently agreeing with him. Astrid crossed her arms over her chest after brushing her hair out of her eye. She looked like she couldn't stop scowling at the scene.

Dagur went on talking and moving around Not-Hiccup. "Hard to tell. It's all a blur when you're on the hunt. Gotta focus." Then he jumped in Not-Hiccup's face and caught him by the head. "Eyes front, little man!" She screamed.

Grunting in pain, Not-Hiccup, surprisingly, didn't back down. "Hey, maybe you should take a little break."

"Not till I take out that Night Fury. I know it's on this island, Hiccup." When Dagur said those words, to the Night Fury's shock, Not-Hiccup looked alarmed and worried, like he… he didn't want the man to know this. He didn't want Dagur to find the Night Fury. Did he want him all to himself? Did he already ride on his back in the near future? "I can feel it. Right here." He put a hand to his chest and turned to Not-Hiccup. The boy looked at him, his fear and concern covered by a blank gaze. Before Not-Hiccup could do anything, though, Dagur caught his wrist and tugged him onto his legs (leg, the Night Fury reminded himself) before putting his palm flat against his chest. "You feel it, too," The madman said and placed the hand on Not-Hiccup's chest this time. "Don't you, Hiccup?"

"Uh…" He flailed around for words before giving up. "No. I just feel really… awkward." He admitted. The Night Fury couldn't blame him – this looked extremely weird and strange. And awkward, yeah. In the room, Astrid snickered quietly, though Hiccup could clearly hear her because he shifted uncomfortably in his place.

Dagur probably agreed with the girl, because he began to laugh hysterically as well, leaving Not-Hiccup and making him fall to the ground. "Oh, you bring the funny, Hiccup. I'll give you that." Then he moved on. "I'm gonna grab my gear." He turned towards the boy on the ground. "Then we're gonna get us that Night Fury, brother."

"Brother?" Not-Hiccup repeated, sounding alarmed and disgusted. The Night Fury couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. Somehow, this boy managed to get himself involved with this mad Viking and there was nobody around to help him.

"That's right. You and me."

Not-Hiccup rolled his head. "Aaaaand the awkwardness continues."

In the room, Hiccup squinted at the wall. "This-this doesn't make any sense. Dagur – he hates me. If anything, I'm-I-I'm his target when he needs something to aim his weapons at. I'm not his 'brother' or whatever. What HAPPENED to him?!" He groaned. "Why can't this move on to something else? Maybe someone else!"

His groan echoed in the room when the wall flickered to show Dagur and Not-Hiccup going forward on the strange island, their path lit by a single lamp. Dagur must have heard something because he shushed Not-Hiccup. "That sounds like him."

"No, this sounds too big," Not-Hiccup said and, true to his word, a Monstrous Nightmare flew above them – not the Night Fury. When Dagur acknowledged that fact and readied himself to shoot the dragon anyway, Not-Hiccup looked distressed, switching his focus from the flying dragon to Dagur and then he just pushed the crossbow downward, making the Vikings in the room to gasp in horror and to Dagur to turn on him in less than a moment.

"What in the Gods name are you doing?!" His father bellowed and Hiccup pulled his legs towards his chest, hugging them tightly to his body with his gangly arms. He avoided both Vikings' death glares and shrugged helplessly, muttering something about this not making any sense while Dagur demanded answers from Not-Hiccup.

Not-Hiccup leaned back. "I-I had to. Uh, the Night Fury would have smelled that." He lied. And yes, he lied. The Night Fury could do lots of things, but he sure couldn't smell a dead dragon like that. It didn't sound like Not-Hiccup believed in this either but the two Vikings in the room seemed to accept that as a good enough explanation. Pfft, idiots. Hiccup, though, turned to give the Night Fury an assessing look, as if trying to understand why his future self would tell a lie like that. The Night Fury returned his stare.

"They can do that?"

"Oh, yes." Not-Hiccup pulled on an act, trying to sound dangerous. "Oh, excellent sense of smell." That was true and Not-Hiccup seemed to bask in that fact, looking almost proud of it. Weird. "It-it would have sensed danger and fled."

Again, it blacked out for a moment and then revealed Not-Hiccup and Dagur hiding behind a large rock, with Dagur staring with a smirk at a bush. "Listen. Smaller this time. Could be the Night Fury."

Not-Hiccup didn't look happy at the words. "T-t-that actually sounds more like a wild yak to me." He didn't get a verbal response, but Dagur did aim his crossbow at the bush, his smirk widening. Not-Hiccup held up his hand like he was ready to shove the crossbow again, but then the black-haired Viking from the further future showed up – this time looking a lot younger. Not-Hiccup heaved a sigh of relief. "Ah, close enough."

The two of them went out from around the rock and the boy noticed them. His face lit up and he spread his arms. "Hiccup!" He called out and Astrid seemed taken aback by this reaction. Hiccup did as well, his body frozen to the spot like he couldn't comprehend this reaction from the Viking. "Whoa, am I glad to see you. You would not believe what I've been through. This place is CRAWLING with wild dragons!"

"Yup." For some reason, unlike Hiccup in the room, Not-Hiccup didn't look like the Viking's behaviour was any weirder than usual. "It's called Dragon Island, Snotlout."

Dismissing him completely, Snotlout turned his attention to Dagur. "Dagur! What are you doing here?"

"Snot-hat, is it?" Dagur said, unimpressed.

Astrid snorted at that and Hiccup had to smile as well. The Night Fury warbled a little but didn't do much else. "It's lout. Snot-lout."

"Whatever." Dagur rolled his eyes at the Viking and then leaned down to whisper in Not-Hiccup's ear, a little annoyed. "I thought you said you were here alone."

Once again, Not-Hiccup looked like he was trying to come up with a lie on the spot. "I-I thought I was." He turned to glare at Snotlout, though it was obviously not real. "Snotlout! Why, you were supposed to stay at base camp!" He walked up to him and Snotlout blinked at him with a confused frown. "While I am hunting dragons," He nodded at Snotlout, urging him on. "Here in the forest."

This only seemed to confuse him more. "You're doing WHAT in the WHERE?" He inquired and Not-Hiccup shook his head at him, desperately trying to make him catch up with him as well.

Dagur just moved past them, clearly ready to continue his hunt no matter what. The Night Fury didn't really like it. "Not the sharpest arrow in the quiver, is he?" He said and the Night Fury had the urge to roll his eyes at the man because if anything, he looked like he was much, much worse than this Snotlout guy was.

"Not even close," Not-Hiccup muttered and then glared at Snotlout. "Play along." He told him. "We cannot let Dagur know about our dragons. He'll try to… take them home and mount them on his wall."

"Your dragons?!" Astrid huffed. "You have dragons?! Hiccup, we KILL dragons! We don't keep them as pets! They kill and steal from us. They burn down our village!" She glared at the poor boy who looked ready for the ground to swallow him whole. And the Night Fury understood him. The murderous look on his father's face alone was enough to make any other Viking shake in fear.

But honestly, the Night Fury was confused. So far, he could tell Hiccup believed dragons were evil and bad and monsters, just like the rest of the Vikings thought. But for some reason, his future self was cooperating with the Night Fury. He was much more confident and much less scared of just about everything. This Astrid girl even called him the Dragon Master! Was this a good title? A bad one?

The sound of screams made the Vikings and dragon turn back to see Not-Hiccup and Dagur advancing on Snotlout who screamed in the face of the round, blond Viking from the further future. The blond Viking screamed as well, clearly alarmed to have run into Snotlout. They didn't attack each other, though, and Not-Hiccup made his way towards them quickly, his brows creasing in worry a bit.

"Fishlegs!" He greeted the new Viking, Fishlegs. "Would you look – it's Dagur!" He said before Fishlegs and Snotlout could say anything. "Who is also out hunting dragons, just like us."

"Yes!" Snotlout jumped up and pulled both Not-Hiccup and Fishlegs towards him with a nervous smile. "We are dragon hunters! Out hunting dragons."

"All three… traitors…" The chief mumbled solemnly. Hiccup flinched at that and shook his head but it didn't seem to help much. The Night Fury felt like he should go up to him and try to cheer him up somehow, despite this human shooting him down. But he shook the thought out of his head and instead focused on the wall again.

Sending a deadpan look towards the group of three Vikings, Dagur looked irritated, even more than before. "Hiccup, your definition of 'alone' and mine are very different." He smirked then and leaned in. This didn't sit right with the Night Fury. "But perhaps, this one can help us – "

"Hunt dragons!" Snotlout jumped in, clearly taking Not-Hiccup's order way too far. The Night Fury snorted and huffed at the sight of the obvious lie and got a brief, weak chuckle from Hiccup in return. When the Night Fury turned his gaze to the human, he looked away, though he had a small, barely there, grin on his face. "'Cause that's what we are doing. Hunting."

"Dragons." Not-Hiccup agreed.

Fishlegs sent them an alarmed look but nodded, nonetheless. "Okay. Got it."

"Took him a while there," Astrid said dryly. She still looked like she was on the verge of trying to beat Hiccup to a pulp for… maybe helping dragons instead of killing them. But at least she found the somewhat amusing bits in the future scene. When the chief glared at her, she shrugged. "I'm not encouraging this, sir. I'm just watching the future without judgment and waiting for the moment after when I can find all of them and beat them up for betraying the tribe."

Hiccup gulped and itched further away from his father, who actually NODDED at that, and from Astrid, by that ending up closer to the Night Fury. When he noticed that, he sent the dragon an apologetic look but he just brushed it off. They couldn't hurt each other anyway and he didn't see the point of making the hatchling sit next to the Vikings who clearly disliked him a lot.

Flickering, the wall showed the four Vikings walking together again, Not-Hiccup staying close to both Dagur and his two… friends? The Night Fury assumed they were his friends. "You know, we're a lot alike, Hiccup."

"Really?" Not-Hiccup couldn't sound like he disagreed any more. "H-how's that?"

"Well, we're both born leaders,"

Fishlegs perked up at that. "Oh, yeah. He's right about that." He said and, clearly to everyone's surprise, he sounded genuine. Astrid sent Hiccup a questioning, assessing look but then turned right back, not looking impressed. His father seemed to stare straight ahead, refusing to look at his son again. The Night Fury had to stop himself from growling at the man for ignoring his son like that. Why should he care, really?

Dagur continued as if no one had spoken up. "Sons of chiefs,"

"Yeah, that's true."

"Who had to be eliminated so we could gain control!"

"WHAT?!" The chief bellowed and Astrid looked like she was frozen in place. It took the Night Fury a moment to realize she was probably trying to jump up and attack Hiccup who just gaped at the screen like a fish out of water, his eyes wide open and alarmed. He looked like this shocked him more than anything else that's happened so far – even his missing leg.

Not looking like he was listening, Not-Hiccup went on, oblivious to his past self being shocked to his core. "Yes – w-w-WHAT?!" He turned to Dagur, realizing what had just been said for the first time. "No, no! My dad hasn't been eliminated from anything!"

"But he could. Easily. Just say the word, and – " He shot an arrow in Fishlegs' direction and the boy ducked just in time. The arrow got the lamp in his hand instead, pinning it to a nearby tree. In the room, the chief calmed down and heaved a sigh of relief. Astrid finally moved again and her shoulders sagged in relief before she turned to give Hiccup another look, this time a little apologetic. He just grimaced.

Staring for a moment, Not-Hiccup gave the lamp and his terrified friends a long look, and then he nodded. "Yeah…" He said sarcastically. Luckily, this time the Vikings in the room all heard the tone and understood what it meant. "That's something to think about."

They all went quiet when Dagur spotted something in a bush not far away. He crouched down to observe and held up his fist. Not-Hiccup did the same and behind him, Fishlegs and Snotlout repeated the action. A figure crept up to them and with a gasp from the Vikings in the room, the Night Fury recognized Astrid. Or… Not-Astrid. She went up to Snotlout, touched his raised fist and put a finger to her lips to make him keep quiet. His reaction, apparently, was to utter a loud 'wow!' at her, so she punched him in the face with his own fist. While he recovered, she ran away and jumped over a bush, disappearing.

The Night Fury watched as the girl hatchling in the room shifted further away from the chief and towards Hiccup, looking distressed and confused. Well, she shouldn't have been. The future of her already stated that she believed Hiccup to be some kind of Dragon Master. Why would she not be on his side earlier on as well? The boy in question sent her an apologetic look of her own that she completely ignored.

"Which one of your friends is it going to be this time?" Dagur asked with a sigh, clearly not as enthusiastic about the hunt as before.

Not-Hiccup looked to the side as if actually trying to think about it. "Er… it's hard to say."

Before long, though, the Night Fury recognized the familiar growl that belonged to him. And then a plasma blast hit the ground next to Dagur's feet, making a hole in the bush and revealing a scowling Night Fury behind it. The two Vikings in the background gaped at him in concern while Not-Hiccup looked like he was trying to come up with more and more ideas on what to do while also keeping an eye on the Night Fury. Dagur, though, beamed at the dragon.

"The Night Fury! Hiccup, my brother, you've done it!" He shook Not-Hiccup by his shoulder and the boy looked from Dagur to the… Not-Fury. His eyes held so much worry, it was worse than his friends. He looked like he was on the verge of panicking. "You've led me right to it!" He said, ignoring the unflinching Not-Fury and his hateful growls. The Night Fury in the room, though, glared at the madman and let his tail swish behind him restlessly. "Arrow, meet dragon. Dragon, meet – "

"No, no. Dagur, wait!" Not-Hiccup cut in quickly. Shocked – and clearly more than irritated, Dagur lowered the crossbow and turned to scowl disbelievingly at the puny human beside him. "I would like to do it."

Dagur didn't like it. "I saw him first!" He whined childishly.

Jumping forward, Not-Hiccup pulled the crossbow from Dagur's hands and held it away from him. "Yes, but I led you to him." He said and the Hiccup in the room seemed to notice the way he referred to the Not-Fury with the word 'he' this time instead of 'it'. The Night Fury warbled, intrigued.

"But I brought the crossbow!" Dagur objected and snatched his weapon back. "All you brought was that useless ornate shield!" He shoved him back. "Now, stand aside." But before he could shoot the not-dragon, a bunch of Terrible Terrors came from behind a tree and attacked him, making Dagur shoot the tree next to the Not-Fury. To everyone's shock, while Dagur was busy, Not-Hiccup lifted his hand and turned a serious face towards the Not-Fury, motioning for him to shoo away. And the Not-Fury LISTENED!

Astrid looked like she couldn't find the words to describe the scene before her while the Night Fury just crooned softly and confusedly, unsure about anything anymore. Why did he listen to the human? Why did he feel like he COULD listen to him? Even now, not knowing much about him, the Night Fury felt like he could trust this hatchling more than he could trust anyone else. Why?! It didn't make any sense!

"What's wrong with you!" Not-Astrid approached Dagur. She looked angry. "I almost had those Terrible Terrors. They were right in my hands!"

When Dagur turned to look at her, turning his back on Not-Hiccup, the boy stared owlishly at Not-Astrid, clearly confused and worried about her being there as well. "Terrors, shmerrors. We're hunting a Night Fury, here!" Then he turned back to Not-Hiccup who looked nervous once again. "Did you leave ANYONE back on Berk?"

Laughing uneasily, Not-Hiccup moved towards Not-Astrid while the madman kept on walking away. "Very funny, Dagur."

They both watched as Dagur tried to pull the arrow he shot out of the tree, out of earshot. Not-Astrid frowned. "Did he say, 'hunting a Night Fury'?"

"Yup. That's exactly what he said."

"But… Toothless is – "

Not-Hiccup nodded a little. "I know." He cut her off, looking determined. The others stared at him with wide, terrified eyes. The Night Fury in the room, watching all of this, held onto the name the girl said. Toothless? She must have referred to him, right? Hiccup must have dubbed him Toothless in the future because of his retractable teeth or something. At the hatchling's questioning glance in the room, the dragon opened his mouth a little, enjoying the surprise on Hiccup's face.

"Huh… toothless." He tilted his head to the side. "I could have sworn you had – " He yelped a little when the dragon let his teeth slip back out. Hiccup blinked at him. "Teeth." He finished and shook his head a little before offering the Night Fury a weak smile. "I-I guess I'm gonna call you Toothless, then…" When the dragon warbled, the boy looked a little less frightened. From across the room, his father watched from the corner of his eye, clearly displeased. Astrid was quiet but she didn't look happy either. "Do you like it?"

Did he? Was he okay with having a name? Of being called Toothless? Of using the name a human gave him? Yes, the Night Fury – no. Toothless – found out. He was okay with it and he didn't mind being called that at all. Toothless suited him. And if this strange, nice boy named him, he must have cared about him. He wouldn't name his prized hunt like that, after all. Right? Besides, in the future Hiccup looked like he was trying to keep Toothless alive. He was on his side, helping. How did this happen, Toothless had to wonder. But he just let himself relax a little. Maybe he'll find out.

On the wall, Not-Hiccup kept on talking. "And if he's loose, then so are the other dragons. You guys need to find Ruff and Tuff, grab your dragons and get out of here." He ordered and Toothless could agree with Fishlegs – Hiccup wasn't half bad at leading. At the worried glances his friends shared with each other, Not-Hiccup went on. "Don't worry. Dagur won't hurt me." He rolled his eyes a little, looking uncomfortable once more. "I'm his 'brother'."

Not a moment later Dagur showed up and hugged Not-Hiccup with one arm. "Come, Hiccup. While the trail is still fresh!"

He dragged Not-Hiccup away, but the boy still kept on acting, sending a look over his shoulder. "I-I-I can't hunt with an entourage. Go back to Berk! Leave us to our business!"

Not too long after, the two of them stumbled upon Not-Toothless again, the dragon running away from them in the darkness. "I don't get it. Why doesn't he fly away?" Dagur demanded, sounding confused. Toothless crooned as well, staring at the wall with interest. Could he not fly after all? When Not-Hiccup suggested the dragon wanted them to follow him, Dagur squinted his eyes at the distancing dragon. "You mean a trap?"

"Exactly. Yes." The longer they were talking, the more worried Not-Hiccup looked. "Maybe we should go back."

"Oh, brother. Don't you know that a trapper's trap and trap the trapper?" He asked and the Vikings in the room, along with Toothless, were all more than a little confused. When Not-Hiccup voiced his own confusion, Dagur just rolled his shoulders in frustration. "I don't know!" And he laughed. Because why wouldn't he?

They ran after Not-Toothless for a while afterwards before Dagur shot an arrow at the dragon. Toothless warbled again and noticed Hiccup giving him a somewhat reassuring look from his place nearby. "You're not gonna hit anything like that," Not-Hiccup said and panted.

"I know that. I'm just trying to keep him running in that direction." And then he shot a blazing arrow into the distance. Not-Hiccup asked him about it before Dagur turned to him, a grin on his face. "To be honest, Hiccup, I didn't exactly come here alone, either."

When a few burning arrows came up into the air in response to the first one, Not-Hiccup freaked out. "Dagur, Night Furies are very lethal. A few more men won't make a difference."

"Really? You think so?" Dagur taunted him. "Lucky for us I brought the armada along and, like, a bazillion armed Berserkers." He raised his arms into the sky and as if on cue, hundreds more arrows rained down on them, burning from the fire eating at them. Not-Hiccup quickly pulled his shield up to protect himself.

When he lowered it back down, his eyes showed the devastation on his face. "Yeah, that actually might make a difference." He admitted solemnly. Hiccup's father cheered against his son's clear displeasure. Astrid, on her part, just stared ahead, the frown on her face thoughtful and cautious, like her thoughts were dangerous and she wasn't sure about listening to them.

Dagur smirked. "Oh, yeah. We're gonna drive that beast right to them, and THEY can finish him off."

Not-Hiccup looked around before turning back to glare at Dagur, his façade slipping away little by little. "Not exactly sporting."

"I don't care about sporting!" He countered immediately. "I care about killing that Night Fury and wearing its skull as a helmet!"

Toothless sniffed and whimpered in fear for his future self. Even though he had plenty of reasons to believe he wasn't going to die there, he couldn't help the way he felt dread filling his entire body. Hiccup sent him a concerned look but didn't say anything, clearly not sure about how he could possibly lift his spirits. Plus, you know, this hatchling shot him down from the sky and tore his tailfin! Why should he really care? They didn't go through whatever it was that future Hiccup and Toothless have.

Not-Hiccup's eyes widened as Dagur turned back to hunting Not-Toothless with a satisfied and pleased smirk. He aimed his weapon on Not-Toothless who tried to step back only to find himself near the edge. So he really couldn't fly. The dragon called out in alarm and worry and when he nearly slipped he did it again and again, growling and roaring weakly for help. Behind Dagur, Not-Hiccup heard the distress in the dragon's voice and furrowed his brows in anger. His free hand clenched by his side and he glared at Dagur's back.

"Okay, that's it." He said. "I am not going to let you kill that dragon."

Dagur groaned and lowered his crossbow. Again. "This again? Fiiiiiiine. You saw it first. You can take home a wing or something." He suggested dismissively.

Not-Hiccup shook his head. "No, I'm pretty much going to take the whole thing." And then, to Dagur's surprise – and everyone else in the room, including Hiccup himself – Not-Hiccup cupped a hand around his mouth and howled. Not like Dagur wanted him to do earlier on, but like… like Toothless. And, hearing that, Not-Toothless howled right back down at Dagur, glaring at the madman before hopping down from the rock he's been on to land on the ground. Dagur's eyes landed on his back and Toothless sent a glance at his own back as well, just to make sure it was clear.

"Is that a – ?"

"Saddle?" Not-Hiccup offered helpfully, walking up to stand between Dagur and Not-Toothless. "Yes, Dagur. That's exactly what it is." And he turned to Not-Toothless, putting his shield on his back and climbing onto the dragon's back.

Dagur stared. "So… I was – "

"Right all alone." Not-Hiccup cut him off again. "We don't hunt dragons on Berk." He did something with his prosthetic leg that connected to something on Not-Toothless's saddle, and suddenly the dragon turned to glare at Dagur, his wings spread behind him. "We ride them."

Dagur approached them, his anger boiling. "Your father lied to…" He muttered and the chief in the room with Toothless huffed, clearly not believing he supported any of this. "YOU lied to me!" He added, pointing an accusing finger up at Not-Hiccup.

Not-Hiccup didn't look like he cared much. "He was trying to keep the peace between our tribes. So was I."

"By making a fool? Out of me?!"

"You don't really need a lot of help with that, Dagur," Not-Hiccup said coldly. When Dagur tried to reach back to his crossbow to attack them, Not-Toothless roared in his face in warning. Not-Hiccup seemed to agree. "Your move."

Frustrated yet not reaching for his weapon again, Dagur looked up at the boy with devastation. "You could have been my brother, Hiccup. Now? You're my enemy."

Not-Hiccup sighed. "Have it your way. But remember – we have the dragons, and we're not afraid to use them." He put a hand on Not-Toothless's head and the dragon seemed content with that, though still growling warningly at the madman before them. Then Not-Hiccup looked down at Not-Toothless. "Let's get out of here, bud." He said and somehow… they flew away.

Toothless crooned at the wall as it blacked out again. How… how did they fly away now but he couldn't fly away on his own before? He could see there was something replacing his missing tailfin, like in the drawing on the shield, but he wondered what it did and why it didn't help him before that. By the expression on Hiccup's face, he was probably trying to figure out the same thing. Or… he was trying to come to terms with his future. Whatever mattered to him more, right?

Anyway, Hiccup's eyes focused on Toothless' missing tailfin, so he was probably thinking about the flight thing. The way he frowned at the thoughts in his head as if considering ideas and trying to understand, Toothless assumed, WHY he even bothered doing something like that, made Toothless think he was trying to come to terms with everything without all the information. And they really didn't have all the information. They only knew that Hiccup rode Toothless, like all the others rode on their own dragons (he had to assume that not only Snotlout had a dragon except for Hiccup) and that he didn't get along with Dagur, yet he did his best and tried to keep the peace going for as long as possible. It still made close to no sense at all, but Toothless could go with the future. He wanted to learn more, but he didn't mind being confused as long as his future wasn't of him being impaled or beheaded.

The chief didn't seem to agree with that. He glared at the black wall for a few moments, seething in his place, and then turned his intense gaze over to his son, who shuddered in his place and itched even closer to Toothless. The Night Fury had to stop himself from wrapping his damaged tail protectively around the hatchling. He didn't really know him – all he did know about him at this point in time was that he shot him down. He had no idea what Hiccup chose to do later on, so why should he trust him now? Why should he protect him? Even if future Hiccup disrupted the peace just to keep Toothless alive, it didn't mean much about the present Hiccup who cowered before his father.

"Traitor." The chief said, his voice measured and quiet, as if his anger was so vast, he had to contain it all the way unless it broke loose and exploded on all of them. Hiccup flinched. "You… threw your lot in with them. You chose dragons over your own people? Family? Tribe?!"

"No, no. D-Dad, I-I-I didn't – " He looked around as if looking for someone to help him. Toothless didn't move, though, and neither did Astrid. However, she looked like she was trying to come up with something to say that could help them all. Her silence let them know she came up empty-handed. "I wouldn't…" The hatchling brushed his fingers through his auburn hair. "T-This future version of me – it said you-you lied to Dagur too! You know about all of this and you still let all of us go on those dragons. I… you-you can't blame me for something I didn't do yet. Or for something you probably agreed with. P-please?"

The chief's eyes burned into his son's trembling figure before he squinted his eyes and turned his back to the hatchling again, not saying another word. He looked like he was beyond upset and mad. He was brimming with anger. He was seething and trying to keep it together. Toothless even saw the way Astrid scooted closer to Hiccup, as if feeling the heat radiating off of her chief. Hiccup gave her a confused, desperate look that she dismissed. Eventually, he looked down at his feet again, dejected. Toothless crooned softly, not offering much else to console the boy, though it seemed to do enough because Hiccup glanced up at him and gave him a half-smile. Good enough.