Chapter 3: A New Journey

A heavy thumping sound shook Hiccup out of his slumber. The house was dark, likely only a few hours having passed since he had gone to bed. Lighting a candle, he shook his head to regain his bearings. Astrid was at her parents' house; staying at the groom's house before the wedding was bad luck, the elders said. He could faintly hear the sound of his mother snoring upstairs, along with a dull reptilian hum from what could only be Cloudjumper. Years of living together in the wild could not be so easily changed by the cramped rooms of a human home, it would seem. Another thump quickly snapped the Viking out of his thoughts; it came from the back door that led to the woods. Quickly dressing himself in furs, Hiccup opened the door, only to be greeted by a sloppy lick of affection from his dragon.

"Eugh, you know that doesn't wash out!" he whispered furiously as Toothless gave him a gummy grin. He couldn't help but laugh; he hadn't seen his best friend all day.

It seemed they had somewhere to go, for Toothless gently bit Hiccup's sleeve and dragged him out the door and into the night. Having long since given up on questioning his dragon's thoughts, and not wanting to pass up an opportunity to take flight, he effortlessly hopped into the saddle. His prosthetic clamped into place, and they took off into the cloud-covered sky, effortlessly navigating their way across the dark canopy above the slumbering village. It was only a few minutes before the duo began their descent into the forest, the hidden cove where they first became friends coming into Hiccup's view.

Toothless landed softly, Hiccup sliding off his back. "Okay, bud, I appreciate the flight, but I don't think you'd take me all the way out here for old times' sake. What's going on?" he asked, affectionately scratching his dragon beneath the chin.

Toothless hummed with satisfaction before raising his head, warbling in the direction of the rocks behind Hiccup. Turning to see what had captured Toothless's attention, the young Viking froze. A dark shadow had emerged from the rocks, two bright blue points of light breaking through the darkness in his direction. The dragon whistled back to Toothless, who nudged Hiccup—still dumbstruck—gently forward. The chief of Berk could hardly believe his eyes as he found himself standing before a Night Fury, the spitting image of Toothless apart from the deep sapphire eyes that examined him cautiously.

"By the gods…" Hiccup whispered, before composing himself with a breath. Taking a small step forward, he outstretched his hand, kneeling on one knee as a gesture of harmlessness in front of the coal-black drake. The Night Fury leaned back in surprise, but after receiving a nod of approval from the Alpha, gently set the tip of its nose against his palm.

A hum of acceptance escaped the dragon as Hiccup gently stood up. "This is amazing! You're beautiful," he exclaimed as he gently stroked the dragon's head. "You both look almost the same. I guess you're a little smaller…" His thoughts trailed off as the Night Fury raised its head; its eyes were more almond-shaped than Toothless's. Putting two and two together, Hiccup asked, "A female?" This received a happy nod from the dragon.

"Do you have a name? I'm pretty good at guessing."

The young female scooped something toward Hiccup's direction with her tail: a pile of ashes on the ground, possibly from her bed the night before. "Ash?" he guessed, earning another happy nod from the newcomer.

Hiccup's thoughts were interrupted as a sharp cracking sound echoed behind him. Turning away from Ash, he found Toothless with a large branch in his mouth, beginning to trace large lines in the dirt. Ah, here we go… Hiccup thought. This wasn't the first time Toothless had attempted to convey something by drawing pictures, even if his art skills left much to be desired. After a few minutes, the ground was covered with shapes, and Hiccup racked his brain attempting to translate his dragon's graffiti.

"Okay, bud, so I'm guessing that this is Berk…" the young chief started, walking over to the picture closest to where Toothless had begun: a large circular blob in the dirt, with what seemed to be an attempt at a horned Viking helmet in the center. The dragon warbled in agreement. Next to the "island" was a circle with four shaky triangles pointing in four different directions, not unlike the simple compasses that Hiccup had drawn on his own maps. He knelt next to a very long arrow that had been drawn from the island blob, with two shapes next to it: what appeared to be faces with pointy ears. The two Night Furies, maybe? The arrow bent slightly to the right toward another large blob, with another face shape drawn in the center.

"Okay, so if these are the two of you, then you want to fly north?"

A growl.

"Nope, okay. South then, and it bends a little towards this island, where there are other Night Furies, I'm guessing…south by southeast. So you just wanted to tell me that you're going back with Ash, but you wanted me to know which way you went."

The two dragons, who had stood next to each other while the human observed the drawing, both nodded in unison. Hiccup felt a small burst of joy at his successful translation, but it was quickly replaced by a feeling of worry. The arrow was very long, probably to symbolize the length of travel time. And Toothless knew Hiccup didn't have the time to go. Oh, how he wanted to, but with the duties of chief and the approaching wedding, this was a journey he would have to pass on for now. "I guess I'm not coming this time, huh?" Hiccup lamented as he reached to rub Toothless's forehead. The dragon cooed quietly, gently driving his head into his rider's arms. As he held his best friend, Hiccup reached out one hand to affectionately pat Ash on the neck. "If there are other Night Furies, I don't think they'd appreciate you bringing me along, would they?" The she-dragon nuzzled the human gently, causing him to laugh. "Just promise to come back, you hear me?"

Toothless gave him a characteristic gummy smile before proceeding to jump on his human with another sloppy dragon kiss, much to Hiccup's dismay. After unsuccessfully attempting to wipe himself clean, Hiccup gently walked around his dragon, undoing the saddle and harness pieces that Toothless wore. He wouldn't need these where he was going. The dragon didn't protest, instead swinging his tail around to his rider's feet. Taking a moment to tighten the straps and loose screws on the prosthetic fin, he stood to face the pair of Night Furies again.

"Alright, bud, you're all set! Be safe, don't damage your tail, and come back as soon as you can."

One last nuzzle from his best friend, and the two dragons vanished into the clouds with the faintest whisper. Gathering up the saddle, Hiccup said a quick prayer to Thor before setting off for his village. Gods, he hoped his dragon didn't get into too much trouble. Astrid wasn't going to believe this…

A Few Days Later…

"Would you mind telling me again?"

"Okay, okay, but you better remember this time…"

The seas roiled beneath them as the two Night Furies streaked across the sky, with the evening sun just beginning to peek over the infinite canopy of blue. Ash had spent the better part of the day lecturing Toothless on Mystholm, the different islands, and the other Night Furies that lived there. The young Alpha had many questions concerning things that dragons should be able to tell about themselves, but that Toothless could not recall from his blurry childhood memories: especially how long Night Furies could live, which apparently could go well past two centuries. Dragons being long-lived was not abnormal—it was quite common for dragonkind to live many years longer than humans—but Toothless had realized that this was the first time he found himself in the company of a dragon who could actually confirm even the most basic questions concerning their race. It was a comforting feeling, and it passed the time.

And if he was going to be accepted, he needed to fit in as much as possible. Toothless scanned the sea below him as Ash started again about the politics of the colonies. Aylan was not ruled by a singular dragon but by a group of elder Night Furies, of whom Moonlight was the most respected. She was a calm and soft-spoken dragon of advanced age—more than 250 years old—but, according to Ash, was the wisest Night Fury alive. The Night Furies of Aylan were generally good-natured except when dealing with attackers from Seregon, and preferred to immerse themselves with the care of the island and each other. Aylan also apparently contained the largest number of hatchlings, a combination of their peaceful nature and the influence of the dragonstone that countered Mystholm's harsh environment. Ash's concern for the well-being of her island was becoming more clear to Toothless; located on the western edge of the archipelago, Aylan would be first in line if a dragon hunter fleet sailed in, and most of the Night Furies there were not fighters.

The island of Seregon—which Ash spoke of with a heavily disdainful tone—was a blasted ruin of sharp rocks and cliffs, sitting high above sea level. Food was virtually nonexistent, forcing the inhabitants to scavenge from adjacent islands or, worse, fight the dangerous predators in the water for fish. The Alpha was beginning to see why these Night Furies were such a prideful bunch; even humans would think twice before living on this island for hundreds of years. But the dragons of Seregon, while small in number, were fierce warriors who valued strength above all. They also were led by an elder, a centuries-old dragon named Angalon, but while the elders of Aylan were physically in decline, the leader of Seregon only seemed to strengthen with age. He ruled with absolute authority, was intolerant of outsiders, and abhorred any dragon that could not stand and take what they desired. His son, Talon, however, had a kinder heart than his father, despite being an equally fierce warrior.

The Watchers were still a mystery to Toothless, but at least the nomadic colony was supposed to be in Mystholm when they got there; according to Ash, they spent winters holed up on the central island, a volcanic mountain that the Night Furies had christened Nightmare's Eyrie. They generally did not attack trespassers, but neither did they want to interact with them, vanishing into the strange vegetation that had grown as a result of the volcanic ash. Ash still wasn't sure how to convince them to join them, but at least they would be reachable and not off attacking any more islands for the time being.

"Ash, there's still something I don't get," Toothless spoke up, Ash stopping to look at him as they continued their flight. "If these 'Watchers' are so secret, then how did you all find out they attacked a city? Surely they wouldn't just go telling everyone."

Ash looked away from him. When she spoke again, her voice was shaky. "Not all of the Watchers are completely secretive; if you join young, sometimes you get to go visit your family during the winter, if you have any left…My friend Amber joined up. Her brother had joined before her, and she was so excited; she wanted to see the world and make a difference, I guess. But Moonlight told me that Watchers are sworn to never discuss where they went or what they did with anyone who isn't another Watcher."

"When they returned for the winter, she came home to see her mom, and apparently she told her. The next day, she was gone, and I haven't seen her since."

Toothless immediately felt disheartened. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. I hope she's okay."

Ash sighed, beating her wings furiously to keep up her speed. "It's okay; it was a fair question…But I don't know! She just up and vanished. I hope she just went back to the Watchers, but if there's a punishment for that rule, we'd have no idea if they did something to her!" As a small island began to emerge on the horizon, Ash continued, "See? That's the whole problem. No one wants to talk to each other, to unite, even though there are too few of us left. Everyone wants to put their own interests first, except now we might have an actual threat on the horizon, but no one wants to admit that we're vulnerable!"

"How did it come to this? Moonlight would tell me stories of how great things used to be, until the Cataclysm. But I thought with something so violent, we would have banded together instead of tearing apart."

"Am I going to hear the full story about this 'Cataclysm' thing?" Toothless asked, earning a sober laugh from Ash.

"I'm sorry, I know it's important. I promise when we get to Aylan, I'll ask Moonlight to tell you some of our old stories. She knows them much better than I do. But we should probably rest; this island coming up looks good."

It took a few more minutes for the distant speck to emerge as a small, rocky island, not a sign of life across its barren surface. After acquiring some fish, they stayed up for another hour or two, chatting aimlessly. Ash was very curious how a Night Fury ended up the best friend of a Viking chief, and Toothless found himself enjoying telling the tale. She sat there completely absorbed, eyes wide as he recounted his story of meeting Hiccup, him being shot down, their first flight…He couldn't help but laugh at her expressions when he brought up the great sea dragons like the Red Death and the Bewilderbeast; it reminded him of a hatchling getting scared by a story her parents were telling, and it crossed Toothless's mind that the young dragons of Aylan likely held the stories of their elders very near and dear.

Night quickly came, and Ash was soon sound asleep, the fatigue from her months of exploration—now coupled with the return trip home—beginning to take its toll. But Toothless found that he could not fall asleep so easily as visions of Berk, Hiccup, and all the things Ash had described to him that day now flooded his thoughts. On one hand, he had what he wanted: a new adventure, a return to living in the wild, and a new land to discover. And the closer they got to Mystholm, the greater the anxiety and anticipation of meeting other Night Furies grew. What would they be like, he thought. How would they react to him, an orphaned Night Fury living among humans? The young Alpha felt confident in his strength and character but couldn't shake the deepening feeling that he was about to enter something far outside his experience. Truth be told, he missed Hiccup already, feeling guilty that he had not attempted to convince his human friends to come along. But he couldn't interrupt his best friend's wedding, not after everything that had transpired. Hiccup needed to marry Astrid, and Toothless needed to connect with his own kind.

The sound of ragged breathing snapped Toothless out of his daydream, and he finally pinpointed the sound of Ash shivering beside him. He hadn't even noticed the temperature dropping, or the chill breeze that had begun to pick up, and the smaller she-dragon was shaking from the cold. Instinctively, the larger Night Fury stretched out one of his wings to cover his new friend. Ash did not wake but shifted in her sleep, rolling over and curling up into Toothless's chest. He paused, an unfamiliar sensation of warmth spreading from his chest throughout his entire body. He could feel her heartbeat, slow and methodical. He suddenly felt extremely nervous, fearing to wake her but realizing that he was in a strangely precarious, yet comforting, situation. He hadn't wanted to admit it, but even in the week they had known each other, he realized that he was starting to care deeply about Ash. Toothless realized he hadn't felt so attached to another dragon before, but couldn't decide if this strange feeling was natural affection or just a result of the lack of Night Furies in his life. In any case, he had come to help her protect their people; there wasn't time for such things. *And he was just keeping her warm, nothing more. Right?

Toothless quashed the questions from his brain and eventually fell asleep, the rhythm of Ash's heartbeat still gently pounding against his chest.

Author's Note: Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's to those who celebrate! Found time after the family fell asleep to write some more. I realized that this story will be much more Toothless and OC-focused than I intended, but I promise we'll see more of our Vikings and Berk eventually. It seems Toothless doesn't know what he's getting himself into, but more on that coming up. Hopefully this is the last short chapter.

Nerdy Vocab:

Angalon - An extension of ang, a noun meaning 'Iron' in Sindarin