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Chapter Text

It was a snowy night in New Berk. Not a soul was out, as most villagers were sound asleep. Then, finally, we find a tiny hut where two young children have difficulty falling asleep in their grandparent's cabin. The names of the children are Zephyr and Nuffink Haddock. The two were the children of Hiccup and Astrid Haddock, the chief and chiefness of their tribe.

Zephyr was the eldest of the two. She had auburn hair like her father's. She also had sapphire eyes like that of her mother's. Like her father, she was very resourceful when Hiccup was younger. Like building dragon traps to prevent any dragons from entering her home. That Hiccup always seemed to walk into, to his dismay. The surprise for any dragon that might attack her house because; Zephyr was afraid that a dragon would harm her or, most importantly, her family. This fear had begun when she had found the old Book of Dragons hidden in her grandpa Stoick's stuff. But she also wanted to be skilled at fighting like her mother. So if the dragons do come back and attack the village? She would be ready to defend those that she loves.

Nuffink was the youngest in the Haddock household. He had blonde hair like his mother's. He had pair of emerald green eyes like his father's. He was a rowdy little boy, always hyperactive. But, his innocence radiated like the sun's rays. He had a strange habit of banging his head on random stuff. His parents could not figure out if it were a Haddock or Hofferson trait. But, the young boy was like his father when he got curious—always wanting to learn about the world around him.

When the children were trying to fall asleep, their grandmother, Valka Haddock, had come to check on them. Opening the door to the room, Valka asked, "Little ones are you asleep yet?" See, it was Stoick and Valka's turn to watch over their grandchildren, while both Hiccup and Astrid were on an alliance meeting in the Berserker tribe, so the two could not bring their children with them, unfortunately.

The original dragon rider knows her grandchildren were highly upset they could not go with their parents. They were going as far as wishing that they were not the chief and chiefness. Sure, her son and daughter-in-law tried their absolute best to always be there for their children, but the job of running an entire village was a daunting task. So they always made sure to spend time with Zephyr and Nuffink.

"Gramma, we can't fall asleep. Would you please tell us a story? Dad always reads to us or tells us a story. So when the both of us can't fall asleep?" Zephyr requested, giving Valka her best puppy dog eyes.

Giggling, the older woman gives in to her granddaughter's request. "Alright, what story do you two want me to tell?" Valka asked her grandchildren. Oh, how she loved her two grandkids. She had always heavily regretted not being there for her son's childhood, but she is very grateful that he has allowed her in his life after missing the first fifteen years. Now she has two beautiful grandchildren who would never leave like her son.

"Can the story have dragons?" Nuffink asked his grandmother. He was curious as he had always heard stories that there were dragons by his father. Yet, he had never seen one before. On the other hand, Zephyr would never admit it aloud, but she was scared of hearing a story about dragons, as Zephyr believed that since she was the oldest child, she should be the fearless one between both children.

"Sure, sweetie," Valka response to her grandson. She was trying to think of a story to tell the two young children. Then an idea for a story that she was sure Hiccup had not told them yet. She did not want to tell the children a story they might have already heard before. "Has your father ever told you two the story of how he became the chief?" Valka added by asking her two grandchildren. She also thought that maybe a story about how her grandchildren's parents got together would uplift their spirits from being left behind by their parents.

"Me don't think dad told us that story," Nuffink replies to his grandmother.

"Yeah, he hasn't told us that." Zephyr also replied to her grandma.

"Well, it all started sixteen years ago." Valka starts telling how Hiccup and Astrid became a couple and how Hiccup became chief of New Berk. We begin with how our story begins.

Chapter Text

"You had me going there, son. All those years of the worst Viking Berk have ever seen! Odin, it was rough. I almost gave up on you!" The chief of Berk told his tiny teenaged son, Hiccup Haddock. Stoick was just so proud of his son for his seemingly impossible improvements in dragon training. He thought that when he set sail to find the dragon's nest located somewhere in Helheim's Gate that Hiccup would not have done well. He was honestly surprised to learn that his son was the top recruit. "And all the while, you were holding out on me! Thor almighty!"

Stoick would then grab a stool and proceed to sit on it. "Ahhhhh, with you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about." The chief of Berk says. Following his statement was a silence filled the air. The heir of Berk took in all of what his father had just said. His father almost gave up on him. Sure, he suspected that his father, like the rest of the village, felt like that about him. But to hear his father outright say that in front of his face like that hurt him deeply. The young teenage boy had spent years trying to make his father proud of him, but sadly no matter what he did, it was never enough for Stoick and the people of Berk. If it was not for Toothless? That was what his father would genuinely feel about him. "Oh, I… brought you something," Stoick says, breaking the awkward silence. Handing his son a horned helmet. Before he would add, "To keep you safe in the ring."

"Wow. Thanks," Hiccup says as he accepts his father's gift for him. Looking over the helmet, Hiccup was still grateful for it. It was rare for his dad to hand him a present like this. Sure, Hiccup is hurting from almost giving up on his statements.

"Your mother would've wanted you to have it," Stoick said. "It's half of her breastplate," Stoick added as he tapped his helmet with a smile. Hiccup quickly sets the helmet down on his deck while he grimaces at the helmet. "Matching sets. To keep her close, y'know." Stoick says.

"Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held up your end of the deal." Stoick said, beaming with pride that his son was not a screw-up anymore. He had been waiting years for this day to come. And he feared that it would never come. To finally see his son become one of them. There were no amount of words to describe how you felt.

Hiccup is squirming from feeling heartbroken from his father's words and the awkwardness with the whole conversation with Stoick. Hiccup wanting to get out of this awkward conversation, yawns before saying, "I should get to bed. Big day tomorrow to find out who will earn the right to kill the Monstrous Nightmare in front of everybody."

Hiccup would tune out what Stoick was saying—lost in his thoughts about what he had heard from the chief of Berk. He wanted to be like everyone else in the village for most of his life. Until the fifteen-year-old boy had the chance to kill a Night Fury, he had shot out of the sky during the last raid. The heir of Berk could not bring himself to kill the defenseless dragon. So instead, he freed the dragon, who would later become his first and only friend. Because sadly, the other teenagers around his age did not want to be friends with the talking fishbone, Hiccup Haddock. Ever since befriending Toothless, he would learn that dragons were not the cold-blooded killers Vikings made out to be. He stills does not know why the dragons' raid, but lately, he has been theorizing that something is forcing them to do it. Then Stoick had left the tiny room that was for Hiccup.

It was at that moment an idea came to Hiccup. What if he just left and never returned? The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to be a good idea. He was so convinced that most villagers would not even miss him. The only two that would miss him are Gobber and Gothi. Gobber was the blacksmith like an uncle and father figure to the teenage boy. Gothi was the village's elder and also the healer. With Hiccup gone, that would lead to his cousin, Snotlout, becoming the new heir of Berk. It was not like he had not heard the villagers talking about that idea. He would listen to them talking about that while he walked through the village. The villagers would usually say in a whisper that his cousin would be a better chief than him in the future. So why not give the people what they want?

He then grabs all of the papers that had anything involving Toothless. There was no reason to leave those behind just to be discovered by someone, that it would most likely be Gobber. He was waiting an extra hour before he would head back to his home for the final time. As he walked back home in the nightly sky, it was best; he disappeared for Toothless' safety. He knew he couldn't hide Toothless in the cove forever. Sooner or later, someone would discover the cove where Toothless is hiding. It had already almost happened several times by his crush, Astrid Hofferson. He knows the villagers won't hesitate to kill the dark scaled dragon when that day comes. He couldn't live with himself if that were to happen. Also, he was tired of having to hide the dragon. He was sure that the dragon was tired of being trapped in that cove as well.

Once he made it to his hut. He quietly enters and heads upstairs towards his room. Making as little noise as possible, he quickly as possible, he packed up the bare minimum of what he needed. Once he has the little he needs to survive, he heads out of the room. He walks down the stairs to make it as quiet as a mouse. The second he was downstairs, he proceeded to run outside from the back door as silently as he could be. Lastly, the moment he made it out, he quickly but quietly headed towards the forest.

But before he enters the woods, he turns around to look at the village for the final time. He hopes everyone will be happy that he was out of their ways forever. No more Hiccup getting in their way anymore. With the weight of truly not meaning anything to everyone in the village sat in, his tears of sorrow began streaming down his cheeks. Running fast as he could, the heir of Berk was determined to leave his hell.

Moments later, Hiccup would make it to the cove. It didn't take long to find Toothless sleeping peacefully. He runs towards the sleeping dragon, and once beside his dragon, he process to shake the dragon awake. The teenager felt guilty about waking up the tried dragon so that they could leave the island for the rest of their days. Waking up from being shaken was Toothless. He looks confused as he wonders why his human friend was back so early. "I'm sorry, bud. Did you want to go on vacation forever from here?"

Now not only was Toothless worried, but concerned about the tiny human. He was rubbing his snout against Hiccup's cheek while he warbles, worried for his human friend. What did the little human mean to go on vacation forever? Didn't he have a family here? These were the questions running through Toothless' mind at the moment.

Hiccup is wiping his tears away so Hiccup wouldn't worry the dragon any further before saying. "I'm okay now, bud. Let us leave now, Toothless. I mean, aren't you tired of being cooped up in here? Besides, sooner or later, someone is bound to find you here. So it would be best if you didn't get harmed or even killed because you can't fly without me. Also, the truth is Toothless. You're the only one on this island that likes me just the way I am."

Toothless nods his head and lets Hiccup get back on his back before taking off to their new lives away from Berk and not knowing where this journey was taking them. As long as Hiccup and Toothless stick together? They will face any obstacle that will be in their way. Neither one of them would have to guess what would happen to Berk in their absence.

Chapter Text

"Gramma, Grandpa Stoick didn't say that?" Zephyr asked, shocked that her usually jolly giant grandfather could say something like that.

"Me didn't know Grandpa Stoick said that," Nuffink said, just as shocked as his older sister. Both Haddock children could not believe that their father had the villagers treat him. All of their lives, they had seen the villagers of New Berk treat Hiccup Haddock with respect. But, now they hear that years ago, that was not the case. But, there was also something about the story that Zephyr noticed.

"Gramma, where were you at when all of this went down?" Zephyr could not help but ask Valka. That was when Nuffink also noticed the lack of Valka in the story.

"You see, young ones, I was living with the dragons." Her grandchildren looked even more confused. What did the elderly woman mean living with the dragons? Did she even care about their father? These were the questions running through Zephyr and Nuffink's minds. Especially the last question is running through Zephyr's mind. "Let's say the Berk we live in today was very different from the Berk of years ago. The next part of the story is when your father found me." Valka added. The original dragon rider decided to resume the story.

Sixteen years ago, a young boy named Hiccup Haddock the Third had run away from his home. He had run away on the back of his best friend, Toothless the Night Fury. Anyone would have seen hiccup and Toothless friendship as an abomination of nature. A forbidden friendship Hiccup liked to call it.

Hiccup, after convincing Toothless to leave, Berk had broken into the killing ring where the Berkians kept the dragons for training. To break out the dragons. Unfortunately, Hiccup could only get a Terrible Terror and Monstrous Nightmare out before he almost been caught several times. After the Nightmare was free, it went its way, as the Terror stayed with Hiccup. The Terrible Terror was green-scaled with reddish-brown highlights. Hiccup had named the Terror, Sharpshot. He called the little dragon that because of Sharpshot's excellent accuracy at shooting. Both dragons and riders have been flying in the north for two days now. They would usually stop on every other island they would come across. They fish for their food and rest on the island. Hiccup would take the time to play with his dragon friends. Hiccup had also started to map out where they were going.

As the three are flying above some clouds. An unknown figure is rising above the clouds beside them. The figure was wearing an intimidating horned helmet covering their face. This stranger was holding some crooked staff and shield. This stranger appears to be standing in the clouds. The young boy's expression showed great confusion about what he was seeing. Toothless and Sharpshot both growled at the figure. Neither of the two dragons trusted this stranger, so the two wanted to protect their human friend at all cost.

Then as fast as the figure has shown up, it disappeared into the clouds. The dragon rider and his dragons looked around to determine where the stranger went. "Okay. Now that was just creepy." Hiccup said, totally freaked out about what happened. Both dragons nodded their heads in agreement with Hiccup. That was when they heard a dragon cry before a colossal dragon with four wings appeared in front of them. Toothless has to flap his wings to stop himself from colliding with the unknown dragon. Toothless is now hovering in the air.

On the back of this dragon was the masked figure. Both Toothless and Sharpshot growl as a warning to stay back. The masked individual is pointing the crooked staff towards Hiccup. "Oh, um, hi, my name-," Hiccup tries to greet the other dragon rider but is interrupted by the masked rider's dragon roar. Just when Toothless and Sharpshot were about to fire a shot, they stopped when they heard another dragon cry. Toothless and Sharpshot turned around behind themselves to where the noise location. Before either, one of the two dragons could react to anything. A dragon had quickly snatched Hiccup out of his saddle.

Without Hiccup to control the prosthetic tail-fin. Toothless starts plummeting to the sea below. "TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup screamed while he watched his best friend falling out of the sky. Sharpshot tore from saving Toothless or Hiccup. Toothless warbles to the Terror to save Hiccup. The tiny dragon followed Toothless' order and went after the retreating dragons and mysterious rider.

Toothless fell through the ice and into the freezing water. Toothless quickly as possible, Toothless swam to the surface and tried to fly. Unfortunately, the Night Fury couldn't fly too long before falling back to the cold water. Toothless had to get to Hiccup. He knows that Hiccup didn't know how to defend himself from danger. Toothless gets himself back on the ice as he watches helplessly as the unknown dragon flock continues to carry his human friend away. But when all hope had seemed lost to the dark scale dragon, he was picked up and brought towards the direction Hiccup, and Sharpshot went.

Hiccup tries to break out of his captor's grip, but sadly he isn't strong enough. "Hey, you left my dragon back there. He can't fly on his own. He needs me to fly. If you don't turn around and get him right now? He'll surely drown." Hiccup tries to reason with the masked stranger. He hoped that the masked figure was also a dragon rider like him. This person would understand that he didn't want any harm to his best friend. Woefully for Hiccup, the masked rider didn't seem to acknowledge his presence. Sharpshot tries to attack the dragon that was carrying Hiccup. "Sharpshot don't," Hiccup ordered. The small green dragon obeyed the former heir of Berk's order but stayed close to Hiccup if one of these unknown dragons decided to attack Hiccup.

They continued to fly until they came to a large ice fortress. Hiccup, Sharpshot, Unknown dragon rider and the rest of the dragons in the flock go through a series of tunnels before entering a cave. Once inside the cave, the dragon carrying Hiccup set him on the ground. Sharpshot lands in front of Hiccup and growls at the dragons. "Could we please go back for my dragon?" Hiccup begged the masked figure as the four-winged dragon landed in front of him. He didn't care about what happened to him, just as long as Toothless and Sharpshot were safe. The auburn-haired boy couldn't live with himself if something happened to his two dragons.

Sharpshot looks at his new human friend, shocked. "Do you work for Drago Bludvist?" The masked figure asked Hiccup. The voice of the stranger sounded like a woman's voice. The unknown rider taps her staff on the ground, and the dragons from the flock use their fire, without shooting at anyone, to light the room so they can see. Hiccup wears a confused expression on his face as the masked dragon rider is now analyzing him.

"Drago What-Fist? I'm sorry you might've got me mixed up with someone else." Hiccup answered honestly. The masked woman gasped when she saw the scar on Hiccup's cheek. Dare she hope that somehow her son became a dragon rider like her. Tapping her staff on the ground again causes a rattle noise. A moment later, a dragon appears, carrying Toothless in his paws. The unknown dragon sat the Night Fury on the ground gently.

"Toothless! I was so worried you drowned." Hiccup cried out as he ran towards his best friend and proceeded to hug the black scale dragon. Toothless shakes off the water before he licks his rider's face, happy that they're reunited safely. "Eww, Toothless, I do hope this washes out," Hiccup complained.

"Hiccup? Could it be you after all these years? How is this even possible?" The masked woman asked as she took off her helmet to show the face of a thirty-five-year-old woman with auburn hair with a light touch of grey. Her eyes were pale blue. She takes a few steps closer to Hiccup. Toothless would crouch protectively beside Hiccup as his tail wrapped around his leg. Sharpshot is now by the opposite leg that Toothless' tail. Both dragons were growling as the stranger came closer to Hiccup.

"It's going to be okay Toothless and Sharpshot. I don't think this woman is going to hurt us." Hiccup calmed both dragons hoping to avoid any kind of fight to break loose. Both dragons stop growling but are still keeping a wary eye on her. If she tries anything sneaky? Both of them wouldn't hesitate to attack her. "By the way, how do you know my name? Eh, should I…should I know you?" Hiccup couldn't help himself and asked the woman he had no memory of the meeting. How did she even know his name? That question is running through Hiccup's mind.

"No, you wouldn't know me. Because the last time I saw you were just a baby. But a mother wouldn't forget her child." Valka answered, shocking Hiccup to his core. He believed that his mother was dead all his life, and now this stranger is claiming to be his mother. Both Toothless and Sharpshot decided to use their sense of smell to see if the masked rider was telling the truth. To the shock of both of them, their rider's and the woman's scent were all most identical to each other. That meant that the older woman was the mother of their rider. The two dragons wanted to know why she was here and not on Berk with Hiccup's father? Valka smiled sadly at the confused and hurt expression on her son's face. "Come," the long-lost mother said as she turned around and headed deeper into the cave, with her four-winged dragon following closely by her.

After dropping a bombshell like that, seeing his mother leave snapped Hiccup out of his shocked state. "Get back here!" Hiccup shouted as he took off after the older woman. What the nervous of her to drop something like that on him and then take off like it was nothing happened? Toothless and Sharpshot followed Hiccup closely as they made their way after Valka Haddock. "Ah, ho-hold on for a Thor damn minute! Would you just stop for a second?!" Hiccup screamed at him, recently thought to be a dead mother.

Valka jumps on the rocks ahead of them before motioning Hiccup to continue to follow her. "This way, we're almost there." The woman instructed her son as she kept heading deeper into the cave. Hiccup also jumps on the rocks like his mother and resumes his pursuit.

"Get back here now!" Hiccup yelled, still on the chase.

"We're getting closer. So come quickly," Valka responded. The middle-aged woman continued to lead her son into the cave. The former heir followed his so-called mother and tried to get her to stop. But all his words went in one ear and out the other; he stopped trying to get her to talk and hoped when they reached where she wanted him, then she would explain herself to him. Moments later, they made it to the cavern, where a thousand dragons greeted Hiccup, Toothless, and Sharpshot. Never in Hiccup's life would he believe there was a place where the dragons lived in peace and harmony like he was seeing right now. So, this is where his mother had been living for the past fifteen years. But, did she like the Berkians didn't even want anything to do with Hiccup? Was he just so unlovable that his mother decided she would rather be with dragons than him? Hiccup had to find out the answer to these questions.

Hiccup looked around, trying to locate his mother. It didn't take long for the former heir to find his mother with her dragon hanging from a ceiling. "This is where you've been for the past fifteen years? Why didn't you ever come back after being taken by dragons? Didn't you even want me?" Hiccup couldn't help but question her in his most broken tone. Heartbroken at the realization that his mother had abandoned him. Tears of sorrow and heartbreak came streaming down his cheeks at a rapid rate. Both the Terror and Night Fury came before their human friend to keep him safe from his mother. Hiccup's two dragons know Hiccup had been going through a lot as of late with what happened in Berk. Now to learn that their human's mother was alive all this time had hurt Hiccup even more. Valka hopped down and made her way towards Hiccup to try and comfort her son. "It's okay Toothless and Sharpshot. We're just going to leave and pretend this didn't even happen."

"Please don't leave just yet, Hiccup? Let me explain what happened first, please? And if you still want to leave after I tell you what happens? I won't stop you. I know I shouldn't ask anything from you after everything I did. Please Hiccup?" Valka asked and hoped that Hiccup would give her a chance. She knows that asking this might be asking too much. After all, she did abandon him when he was just an infant. What right does she get off asking something like that after leaving Hiccup?

"Alright, I'll let you explain," Hiccup answers.

"Berk was a land of kill or be killed. But I believed that peace was possible between both dragons and Vikings. It was a very unpopular opinion to have back then. Then one night, fifteen years ago, a dragon broke into our house, finding you in your cradle. I rushed inside to protect you from what I thought to be a dangerous situation. But what I saw was proof of everything I believed about dragons, that this dragon wasn't a vicious beast but an intelligent, gentle creature whose soul reflected my very own. You and your father almost died because I couldn't kill a dragon. It truly broke my heart to stay, but I thought that the both of you would be safer without me." So Valka explained that guilt and regret filled her to the core of her soul.

Hiccup took a moment to process what his mother had just told him. He had very conflicted feelings about what she said. On the one hand, he doesn't want to forgive her for what she did. Sure, he was following her footsteps unknowingly and ran away from Berk. But at least he didn't leave a child without a parent as Valka did. On the other hand, he could also understand that convincing Berk about the true nature of dragons was a difficult task. However, that still didn't excuse her from deliberately staying away from her family and tribe.

On the other hand, he believes in second chances in life. It is also a chance to get to know his mother finally. Growing up and being the only child that didn't have both parents in his life harmed him. There were times when he wished that his mother was alive and that maybe she would make his life better at home. Unhappily that was not the case for the small teenage boy. Hiccup learned that his mother wasn't coming back home to make everything better at a young age. So he decided that he might give his mother that chance. Who knows, maybe this would be a good thing in his life. "It's okay, mom, and I forgive you." Hiccup told his mother honestly.

"Thank you so much, Hiccup. I promise to never leave you like that again." Valka proclaimed as she ran towards her son. Then she proceeded to engulf in him a hug while the tears of relief were rolling down her cheeks. Who was she kidding? She believed that her son wouldn't forgive her for what she did. She promised herself that she would never make that same mistake again. But there is something that she wanted to know. "What did your father think of your Night Fury and Terrible Terror friends?" Valka asked as she pointed at his two dragons, watching her closely. She knows she shouldn't have hoped that Berk changed their views of dragons. But seeing Hiccup with his two dragons, she couldn't help but hope that they changed for the better.

"He doesn't even know about them because I ran away from home a few days ago." Hiccup answers breaking from his hug from his mother. He wasn't looking forward to having this conversation with his mother. The shocked expression of his mother told him he wouldn't like where their discussion was heading.

"Hiccup, why would you do that?" Valka questions her son, concerned as she had ever been. What happened to cause her son to run away from their home like this? She had hoped that her son wouldn't make the same mistake she had made over the years. Now hearing that he was unknowingly following her footsteps worried her deeply. Hiccup would explain everything that had happened in her absence. But, instead, every word Hiccup said filled her with horror, like how Hiccup and Stoick's relationship started to ripple as the years went by. Almost everyone in the village treated Hiccup as worthless and useless. Or how he felt like the only way people would even treat him like a living person was to hunt down a Night Fury. The night he shot Toothless out of the night sky and how they became best friends. And most importantly, what Stoick had said the night that he ran away. And everything in between.

Oh, how she wished that she checked up on him sooner. While she lived with the dragons in peace as almost the entire village mistreated her son. She could have saved him from all the heartache he endured if she had only checked on him. Now tears of regret and sadness fell down her cheeks as she let out a heartbreaking sob. "I'm so sorry, Hiccup. All of that was my fault. I shouldn't have just stayed here. I Should've come and got you years ago." All this time, she believed that Hiccup would be like Stoick, but the thought that Hiccup would be more like her never came to her mind.

"It's alright, mom. You don't know what was happening." Hiccup said as he hugged his crying mother to bring comfort. What had happened in his life? It was now just the past, and he still had his future ahead of him. After fifteen years, son and mother reunited with one another. Both promised themselves that they would never be apart like they were again. Maybe fate was at work here. Whatever was the case? The two dragon riders and the dragons would face that head-on.

Chapter Text

It's a sunny afternoon in Berk, with a chilling breeze blowing through the air. All villagers are gathered in the killing ring to discover who will face the Monstrous Nightmare when they catch another one. Because unfortunately, both of the Terrible Terror and Monstrous Nightmare had escaped late last night somehow. It's been the topic of discussion among the villagers as they all try to figure out how that happened. The guards thought they had seen a small person, but they weren't sure because of how dark it was. They had even tried throwing some bola at the retreating dragons, but sadly they missed them. Standing and waiting impatiently inside the killing ring is one Astrid Hofferson. Unfortunately, it would seem like Hiccup Haddock is running hours late.

Astrid is a fifteen-year-old girl with sapphire eyes and blonde hair. Ever since the death of her beloved uncle Finn to the fearsome Flightmare years ago. The events that occurred that faithful night had forced Astrid to become more determined to transform into the greatest warrior Berk had ever seen. That's not the only reason for molding herself into a mighty warrior. The second reason is to prove that the Hofferson family is genuinely fearless. Because her uncle died paralyzed in fear had made her family woefully be dishonored as cowards. The teenage girl is hellbent on changing that. The first step of reaching her goals is to win the prestigious honor of killing the Monstrous Nightmare in front of her village. Sounds easy enough, right? But there is an unexpected problem in her way. In this case, a Hiccup size issue was most likely what you would call it.

Ever since the day when the recruits went against the Hideous Zippleback, the village screw-up had miraculously become the top student seemingly overnight. It infuriated her to no end. She had felt like the twerp of a Viking was cheating his way to the top. What was she livid most about this whole situation with Hiccup? It seems like she was the only one who noticed that Hiccup wasn't using the natural way of dealing with the dragons. It was also impossible for someone as clumsy as Hiccup to make 180 degrees turn around seemingly overnight. She knows that nobody could have gotten that good in that short amount of time. Astrid wishes that she knows how Hiccup is doing all of this. Regrettably, she could not discover Hiccup's secret because every time she was sure she was about to find out what he was hiding. Just for the small teenage boy would elude her at the last possible moment.

But deep down inside her soul, she is afraid that all of her work was for nothing. All of the restless nights, she would be pushing herself past her limits. Astrid felt like all of the blood, sweat, and tears she put into being the best. It all seemed to like that was a massive waste of time and energy because of Hiccup. She just wasn't used to having someone her age as a rival. It felt strange to her to have competition. Snotlout was the only one who came close to Astrid in skill before all this Hiccup stuff started. Now all of a sudden, Hiccup had become to most of the villager's opinion is that he is better than her. Well, if they thought that the fishbone was better, then she is? She was going to prove them all wrong by defeating Hiccup today. The current events are also the first time Astrid's life had a competitor ahead of her. Astrid is a highly competitive person who hates to lose at anything, so naturally, this didn't sit well. Despite her anger about the situation, she was feeling a bit jealous of the fishbone boy's recent success in training.

The villagers all started to get restless. Since early morning, everyone had been here, and now it was past noon. "Why wasn't Hiccup here already!?" "Where is Hiccup at right now?!" The majority of the villagers are calling out these questions. Just when the villagers thought that their heir was changing for the better? Hiccup goes and is late for training that would decide who would face the Nightmare. One would think that something important like figuring out who will face the Nightmare wouldn't want to be late for something like this.

Before anyone could even get rowdier up, Stoick shouts as he stands up from his seat, "I'm going to check my house to see if Hiccup is there now!" Hoping that this would prevent any of his people from rioting because there wasn't anything more dangerous than Vikings losing their thin patients. Never in his life was he embarrassed by Hiccup than he is now. Just when he thought this awkward phase of Hiccup being a disappointment was finally over. Hiccup goes and does something like this. Now he has to go and drag his son to the arena but not before he lectures Hiccup of his behavior today. He is storming towards his home, where Hiccup is most likely at the moment. Once he makes it to his home, he goes inside, yelling as loud as he can when he is inside his house. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, the Third, get down here this instant!" To the chief of Berk's dismay, Hiccup hadn't come down. With the little of his patients fading completely, the enraged father headed upstairs towards Hiccup's room. The moment he is in front of the door to his son's room, he quickly opens it. "Hic-," Stoick screams before he stops himself once inside the vacated space.

Sadly, Hiccup wasn't inside his room, so the chief figured that his disobedient son was most likely somewhere in the woods. For a second, he wonders if going inside the forest to look for his son was a good option. As quickly as he thought of that, he dismissed the idea. He knew Hiccup knew the forest better than almost anyone in the village because the heir spent a large portion of his time inside the woods. It's a better idea to have the villagers accompany him in finding Hiccup because they would be able to cover more ground than if Stoick went alone. It didn't take Stoick long before he made it back to Killing Ring. He found that his villagers were still waiting patiently as much as impatiently Vikings could wait to his great surprise. "Where is Hiccup, Stoick?!" A villager shouted the moment that their chief returned without Hiccup. That left the villagers even more confused, and a bit worried. Where is Hiccup at the moment? Did something happen to their heir? Those are the questions running through most of the villager's minds. Despite popular belief, the villagers didn't want anything awful to happen to their heir.

"Hiccup wasn't in his room when I got there. So who was the last person to have seen my son?" Stoick called out, trying not to panic.

"Well, chief, I think I saw someone leaving your house last night and went inside the forest. I don't know if it was Hiccup or not?" Astrid answered her chief as the weight of the situation hit her. When she saw something or someone exiting the chief's home through the back door, she turned into bed when she saw the figure through her bedroom window. If the figure was truly Hiccup? Then she knew something had happened because most predators are nocturnal. With that thought, immediately, her anger towards Hiccup evaporated. She didn't want him harmed or, even worse, dead. Sure, she knowledge that Hiccup knew the woods better than her, but sadly that doesn't mean an accident can't occur. She feared that she would hold her responsible if that figure turned out to be Hiccup and he got hurt. However, she knows that she is being irrational about this. Because by the time she made it to where the figure was, it would have been too because Hiccup could've gone any direction in the woods. Plus, it being nighttime wouldn't have helped her track down the figure. "I'm so sorry, Stoick. I didn't know that was Hiccup." Astrid apologizes to Stoick as sincerely as she can be.

"It's alright, Astrid. It wasn't your fault, but I want everyone searching everywhere in the woods. Don't leave any stones unturned in there? There has to be some clue to what happened." Stoick both replied to Astrid's apology and ordered everyone to help him find his son. His previous anger towards his son was immediately replaced with extreme worry. He just had to know where Hiccup was at. He had already lost his wife, Valka Haddock. He wouldn't allow himself to lose Hiccup as well. With that being said, everyone quickly offered their hand to look for the missing heir because their chief would help them if they lost their child. It is only fair for them to help Stoick in his time of need.

But after hours of searching the woods and finding nothing, regretfully, the Berkians all went home for the night that all most everyone is feeling depressed that nobody found anything about Hiccup's disappearance. So what didn't the Berkians know? Is that Hiccup is on a faraway island on a journey to a better life? Walking into her house while deep in worry is Astrid. Both of her parents followed close behind. But that was she remembered something. "Mom, what were you guys wanted to talk to me about this morning?" Astrid asked her mother, Hilda Hofferson, to turn the older woman to face her mom. Before the Hofferson family went to the killing ring, Astrid's parents wanted to tell something important. The blonde-haired girl recalled that whatever her parents tried to say to her made them nervous.

"Well, you see, sweetheart, we been meaning to tell this for some time now." Stopping herself from revealing what she would say, she took a sigh to calm her nerves. But, looking at her daughter, knowing what she was going to tell, her quick-tempered daughter wouldn't agree in the slightest. "Astrid, do you remember that I was best friends with Valka?" Hilda asked Astrid and hoped that this would leave this conversation to the topic of discussion without an argument between mother and daughter.

Astrid only nods her head while wearing a confused expression on her face. It's no secret that Valka and Hilda were close friends. Astrid remembered all of Hilda's fond memories of Valka her mother told her about. But what I wanted to know is why was Hiccup's dead mother brought up. "Promise us you would try not to explode in anger?" Gunner asked in a calm and smooth tone towards his daughter. The last thing he wanted was a fight to break loose between Hilda and Astrid Hofferson.

"Can you guys please just tell me what's going on already?" Requests Astrid tired of feeling the suspense of this conversation.

"Back when I was pregnant with you. Valka and I decided that if our children were the opposite genders, we would start a marriage contract between them."

As Hilda said settled inside the teenage girl's mind, silence filled the air. Hiccup and she are in a marriage contract without her knowing this. Astrid felt so sick to her stomach to the point that Astrid thought a blonde-haired teenage girl might throw up at the idea of marrying anyone. She then starts to hyperventilate in panic and fear. Her eyesight begins to get dizzy, and it took all of her willpower to keep the tears from streaming down her rosy cheeks. "You did what?!" The blonde hair girl couldn't help but to hollered at her mother. Why did her mother do something like that and never have the courtesy to warn her about this? Astrid didn't want to marry anyone because of the fear that her husband would make the teenage girl change everything that made her Astrid. Her husband made her a glorified trophy wife who was only good at taking care of children. Her dream of being the greatest warrior would die when she is married to her future husband.

The situation is even worse because Hiccup is the heir of Berk. By Viking laws, the wedding night of an heir and or heiress had to witness sexual intercourse. If the bride gets pregnant, some witnesses could prove who the parents are. The image of Hiccup and her having to do such an act filled her up with rage. If Hiccup and she are getting married? The moment the fishbone of a boy came anywhere near her to have sex on their wedding night. She would gladly castrate him where he stood with her beloved ax. That castrate punishment is also for any Viking male that thought he could look at her naked. If one of the witnesses happened to be female? She would decapitate them in a blink of an eye. She wasn't going to let anyone see her nude.

"Astrid, I know that you're upset with me. But-." Hilda tries to explain but is immediately interrupted by Astrid.

"I'm more than upset! I'm so cross with you right now! You two never told me that I would have to marry Hiccup! You both knew that I wanted to bring honor and prestige back to our family's name! I need some no-good-for-nothing husband to hold me back from the warrior I know I am destined to become! It's my dream to become the greatest warrior in Berk's history, and the both of you knew this already! A husband would ruin my chances of reaching my goals!"

"We never told you cuz we knew you wouldn't react to the news will. Sweetheart, I'm so sorry that you're upset with me. But I'm doing what's best for you. Astrid, it's great you're chasing your dreams. But I don't want you to waste your life with only fighting the next battle on your mind until you become an old, bitter, and lonely woman who has nobody in her life. Sweetheart, what you need to learn is that it's very lonely at the top without anyone special to share your victories with those we care about; life is meaningless. Please, Astrid makes an honest attempt at this?" Hilda pleaded with Astrid trying her hardest not to argue with her fifteen-year-old daughter. "That's if Hiccup is still…," Hilda added but unhappily couldn't finish with her statement because of the thought of something terrible happening and or happened to Hiccup. Like the rest of the village, she feels concerned about the disappearance of their heir. She is silently praying to all of the Gods of Asgard that Hiccup was safe and unharmed.

With that, Astrid angrily stormed upstairs to her room without another word. Opening the door, she entered her room before slamming the door shut. Once in the safety of her room, Astrid lets her tears fall. Like a damn, breaking is her tears rolling down her cheeks at a rapid pace and walking towards her bed at a quick speed. In front of her bed, she plops down onto it. Her face is planted on her pillow as she lets out sobs. She felt like her life was over.

That was when Astrid realized that Hiccup was still missing. Astrid, knows if they don't find Hiccup in the next few days? Then, the unwanted marriage contract between Hiccup and her would become involved. That thought didn't sit well with Astrid. She doesn't want Hiccup to die even if he gets on her nerves. But if somehow Hiccup is still alive? She would have to marry Hiccup against her will. What kind of dilemma was she in right now? I guess if she had to choose between these two options. She would pick marrying him despite her hatred of the very thought of marrying anyone. Besides, she wouldn't be able to live with herself if anything terrible happened to Hiccup without her doing anything to stop it. This day had been Astrid's worst ever. What weren't the villagers aware of? Is that today's events would lead to them being cursed.

Chapter Text

Walking through the eerily night is Astrid Hofferson. The twenty-year-old woman is trying to enjoy the little freedom she has left. You see, the disappearance of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third unfortunately lead the way for Snotlout to become heir. Unhappily for the young woman, that meant she found herself forced into another unwanted marriage contract. But this time with it is between Snotlout and herself. Unfortunately, her parents could only delay the wedding date for her twenty-first birthday, which is under a year away. This whole scenario's engagement to Snotlout made her wish she was kind to Hiccup when she had the chance. Sure, Hiccup was not her favorite person, but she would admit that she would instead marry him over his egotistical cousin any day of the week.

Ever since that fateful day five years ago, she has been cursed to have nightmares about her being the reason. Hiccup would die. She had always felt like his blood was on her hands. There were many times over the years when she would have to stay up all night training just to get exhausted enough to fall asleep. The only good thing that came out of the disappearance of the former heir was that she learned that she needed to become a better person. So, she promised herself she would not allow anyone to pick on the small and the weak like they all did to Hiccup. Walking by the house that belonged to her chief, she felt miserable and regretful. No matter what he or anyone else says, it was her fault that Hiccup went missing and met his untimely demise.

Ever since that day, Stoick had never been the same. Astrid figured that it was just the pain of losing a child. She knows a pain will never go away, or the chief will never find closure. His heart had blackened some because of the loss of his family. A loss he felt was his fault. Stoick had also become more gory and violent towards the dragons. Because everyone figures Hiccup was taken by a dragon in the nightly sky when nobody could have saved him. About a week after Hiccup had disappeared, the dragons they used for training had all escaped somehow. Stoick was not in the slightest happy about that, so that is when the people of Berk started to kill their training dragons alongside the Monstrous Nightmare. The aging chief has been working tirelessly so that nobody must suffer the same pain he did. But sadly, this is his final year before handing the chief mantle over to his nephew. Then he would regrettably have to marry Astrid against her well.

There are two ways out of the marriage. The first one is that they had to die or be banished. Despite Astrid's anger towards Snotlout for forcing her into this unneeded mess, Astrid did not want either one of these options happening to Snotlout or herself. There was indeed no way from coming back from either one of those options. The last option is unlikely ever to happen. It was for Hiccup to come back and claim her as his wife. Because initially, she was under contract with him before this one. If by some miracle the auburn-hair boy was still alive and reclaimed her. It would make the marriage contract between Snotlout and her invalid. It would indeed be a miracle for this to happen. With Hiccup being dead and all because there is no way he could have survived out of the village for this long.

A Hofferson was becoming a Jorgenson. It was not a comforting thought for Astrid. It was no secret that the two families did not have a good relationship. These two families rarely agreed on anything, so it was no secret that her father, Gunner, and Spitelout were unhappy when Snotlout chose her to be his wife. Now it is no way out for her to become Mrs. Jorgenson. Just the thought made her want to throw up in disgust. To become the thing she despises the most, a glorified trophy wife that belonged to Snotlout. She dreaded where this would lead her to be forced to bear his children in her womb. The life of a homemaker is not something she is looking forward to. All her life, she has been the best warrior in her generation. It is her most dominating trait. She never wanted to be married because she wanted to be an independent individual and not some mother taking care of her home, husband, and children. Now all that she worked for will be taken away. Unfortunately, she must become someone's wife and mother.

She makes her way towards the arena in deep thought. She is wondering if Hiccup had never vanished from existence? How would her life turn out to be? Woefully she would never get the answers to those questions. Once the blonde hair woman makes it to the arena, she sees what would appear to be someone by the cages that are holding the dragons inside their prison. This unknown person looks like they are trying to break out the dragons from their cells. As quietly as a mouse, Astrid makes her way and as quickly as possible to catch this mysterious figure. She was not going to let this stranger get away from her. When the individual is about to release the dragons, Astrid pounces on top of the person to prevent them from getting away and stop whoever is trying to remove the dragons out of their cages. "Ouch!"

The voice sounded like it belonged to a woman. The woman turns to face the person that tackled her to the ground. The woman had long flowing black hair with a pair of brown eyes that were almost black. The woman looked like she was in her late 30s. She is wearing an all-black outfit.

Most importantly, Astrid did not recognize who this woman was. Was she a spy from the Outcast tribe here to find ways that the other Outcast invade her home? Why was she trying to release the dragons? Whatever the answer, maybe? Astrid is determined to discover the answer. "You're coming with me!" Astrid had taken the woman to the jail cells, so they could question later in the morning when the council members and Stoick would decide her fate.

Hours later, the woman is shaken awake by a guard. "Wake up, sleeping beauty. The council would like to have a word with you." Shortly after the woman was locked inside this dark and filthy cell, she had fallen asleep from the boredom of having nothing to do. Getting up so she could get on with why she was here. They then made their way through the village and towards the Great Hall. As they made their way, the villagers threw looks of disgust towards the prisoner. The woman was not bothered by the eyes she received and walked into the barely lit room where several men and an older woman awaited her arrival.

"I am Stoick the Vast, the chief of Berk. These fine villagers beside me are my council members. You're charged with attempting to release the dragons. How do you plead?" To say that the chief was furious is an understatement. He spent his whole life protecting his village and hearing that nobody knew to invade his island and tried to let loose the dragons that were meant to be slaughtered after the current batch of recruits were finished with their training. The same dragons that have been raiding and terrorizing his village for 300 years made his mood worse.

"You guys should have at least asked me my name before demanding anything from me." The unknown woman says as she rolls her eyes. She could not even bother to care about what she was charged with as she was on a serious mission. They were planning to kill the dragons, so why care she was trying to release them? Naturally, this did not go well with the occupants of the room.

"Lass, the last thing you want to do is disrespect our chief! Now answer our questions so we can decide what to do with you!" Spitelout shouted at the woman, annoyed that she dared disrespect his brother and chief. Spitelout and Stoick may not have entirely agreed on many things, but that does not mean the Jorgenson man did not respect his brother. On the contrary, he would follow his brother to the edge of the world if he had to.

"You know raising your voice at me isn't going to get you the answers you seek." The woman replied in a sarcastic tone. Just hearing someone use sarcasm reminded Stoick of his dead son. Oh, how are you wish he could go back in time to redo everything with his son? During the past five years, he had time to think of all he spent with his son. A large amount of his abbreviated time with Hiccup was paid bushing him aside, without the regard for how the fishbone of a boy felt. There was nothing the aging chief would give to hold his son in his arms for one more time. But, sadly, that is not how life worked. There could not be life without death. This whole situation with Hiccup's disappearance taught them that life was short, and we should cherish every moment with our loved ones while we can because we do not know when it will end.

"What's your name, lassie?" Gobber asked before Spitelout could even respond. He knew that it would only lead to more arguing. Gobber is the blacksmith of Berk. Gobber had never been the since his former apprentice, Hiccup, had gone missing. Nobody could blame the aging blacksmith because he was the closest to Hiccup out of everyone in the village. It is why Gobber refused to choose another apprentice despite the villagers pleading with him. See, with only one natural flesh hand and foot made it difficult for him to repair weapons during a raid in a quick matter, and on top of that, he is getting up there in his age.

Moreover, Gobber was Hiccup's godfather, and to see the child he helped raise go missing truly broke his heart. And with the best scenario is that Hiccup died because he prays to the Gods that Hiccup did not end up as a thrall. Just the thought made Gobber sick to his stomach.

"Thank you for at least asking for my name. My name is Frida. I am here not only to free those innocent dragons you have locked up. But to see if you all are willing to change for the better." Frida introduced herself as the council members were outraged. What did this woman mean letting out those so-called "innocent dragons" go? Dragons were not meant to roam around freely as the wind. Did she not know the destruction the dragons are capable of? Or had she forgotten about all the innocent lives dragons had ended? They all doubted she could be so oblivious to what dragons did. They figured that the lady had lost her mind thinking dragons were innocent. That is the only explanation for her suggesting such action against everything they believed.

"The last person that suggests something like that is my wife. Until she was taken by those so-called, 'innocent dragons.' So don't you even dare tell me-," Stoick said, but he could not finish because he was interrupted by Frida.

"Let me guess Valka Haddock is your wife. She-," Frida says, but she too was interrupted by Stoick. The chief of Berk is not too pleased that Frida was telling his wife's name. How in the nine realms did she know about his beloved wife, Valka? Because he has certainly never seen her before. So, he assumed his wife would not either.

"Who the hell told you about my wife!? Because there should be no way of knowing who my wife is when we've never seen you before!? I want you to start talking this instant!"

"Ah, temper Stoick. You know you should learn to control that temper of yours. I know all about how your wife begged you all to stop killing dragons and find another way. I mean honestly what did you think would happen when you do the same thing over and over. Those things will change miraculously over time." Frida had been secretly watching the village for years now. She knew the struggles that Berk had faced with the dragon raids.

"So, you said we should befriend those beasts would have been a better idea?! The same beasts that destroyed all our lives and killed so many of us! Yes, that should have magical fixed our problems! Get the fuck out of here with that?!" Stoick shouted, losing the minimal patients he had left. The council called their agreement on the matter. They could not believe what Frida suggested. Stop killing dragons was never an option for them, while the winged beasts would surely continue to raid them if they even did such a thing. All the lives they would lose if they were to do that. They are not willing to risk their chances.

"What do you have to lose, Stoick? Eventually, you are going to lose all your resources. How many close winners can you guys survive like this?" Frida replied by asking challenging questions. Over the years, the dragon raids have gone tougher over the past year alone, seen the least amount of food ever in Berk's history. So they barely survived this winner alone. But the Vikings were still stubborn as mules. They were not going to disrespect the fallen by befriending dragons.

"If you want to help us? Start by killing those cold-blooded beasts instead of letting them escape. Besides, you still didn't answer my question about how you even know about my wife?" Stoick is trying to calm down to have a clear head about this. He hopes that he could convince this crazy woman those dragons were not innocent in the slightest. He knew that if he lost the rest of his patients. It would not accomplish anything. However, she did say she wanted to help them, so maybe he should save her from the path she took.

"You know there's more to dragons than meets the eye. Sometimes we must look at things from an unfamiliar perspective. Because there are always two sides to every story." Frida explained, but all she got was screams of disagreement. The Berkians thought there was no way to save this woman's crazy suggestion. So even went as far as making jokes at her expense. It was then that she saw that they would not change at all. There was only one thing she could do at this moment. With her eyes turned a bright Ruby shade. That silenced the council members as they were confused about why our eyes changed color like that. "By the time the sun sets tonight. You'll find yourselves transforming into dragons. The only way for the curse to break is that every one of you will have to learn to accept others for their differences and, most importantly, see the beauty of the dragons you seek to kill. You all have exactly one year to break the curse. If unable to break the curse? You all will lose your memories of ever being humans and would live the rest of your lives as dragons. Good luck, Berk, because you're going to need it." Then her eyes returned to their original color. The silence filled the air as the information of Frida is genuinely sink into their minds. She is a witch. Now she puts a curse on the entire village.

"You're a bloody witch! How dare you put a curse on my people?! Why should we keep you alive for what you did?!" Stoick yelled, losing the rest of his thin patience. That response had shouts of agreement. It is decided that they will send the unholy witch to be executed by decapitation. With the snap of her fingers, smoke covered her. Once the smoke cleared to reveal that she had disappeared before they could capture her. Stoick silently curses himself because he let the witch slip through his fingers. He felt like a failure because he prides himself as a protector of his villagers all his life. He accidentally got his people cursed because he did not figure out what he was dealing with. "A chief protects his own." That quote is the creed of the Haddock family passed down from generation to generation. Now his villagers are going to have to pay for his mistake.

The villagers of Berk were not too pleased when they all heard about the curse that the witch had cast on them. They were outraged and for an excellent reason to. Who would have ever wanted to be transformed into an entirely varied species? The answer is nobody; that is who. But not everyone in Berk believed in the curse. Astrid Hofferson thought that the curse was just a cruel trick to scare them into submission. There was no such thing as witches that roamed around. Nobody had come across a witch before, and now they had crossed paths with one out of nowhere. It just did not seem to be what happened. What were the odds of that happening?

Astrid made her way back home from the woods with the little bit of light in the sky left. Grabbing her ax that was sticking out from being tossed into the tree, she went away. Ever since the disappearance of Hiccup, Astrid had pushed people out of her life even more so than back then. But have been times when she felt alone. What her mother told her five years ago is true? It was lonely at the top. Not that she would ever admit to that. She was making it home just before the sun went down. The moment she was inside her house safely, her mother hugged Astrid. "Oh sweetheart, why were you out there that long? We only have a short amount of time before we turn into those awful beasts. I know you were training but why when there's a curse placed on Berk." Hilda cries as she holds her daughter in her arms. The older woman knows that her daughter loved to train alone in the woods. But Hilda strongly believes that one should spend them with loved ones in the last moments. It gives others comfort in their times of need. Some would question why Hilda had not gone looking for her daughter. The answer is simple she did not know where Astrid went into the forest. Due to the large amount of space that the forest had taken. It could have taken the rest of the day just to find Astrid. So it was simply better to wait for Astrid to show up rather than searching the woods.

"It's going to be okay, mama. I bet we're not going to become those mindless beasts anyway."

"I doubt that, Astrid. Because I was there when that witch cursed us." Gunner says as he wraps both his wife and daughter in his arms. He was savoring the moment of the two loved ones in his arms. Gunner Hofferson is one of the council members. Gunner had seen what transpired with Frida. He would be lying if he told you he was not afraid of what will happen to his family. He had to be strong for both his wife and daughter in this time of uncertainty.

It was then when the sunset and darkness came. Immediately the three broke away from each other while pain shot through their bodies. The three Hofferson fell on their hands and knees from the sheer pain they felt. They feel an enormous amount of pressure on the end of their spine as they grow tails. Not only could you hear their clothing tearing from them, outgrowing them, but also you could hear a popping sound as their bones grew. They felt a burning sensation as their skin transformed into scales. Astrid felt her arms moving to her back as they became her new wings. Her parents grew their wings. Unlike their daughter, their arm did not transform into wings. Astrid feels tears streaming down her cheeks as she tries to scream, but due to her vocal cords changing into a dragon's vocal cords, she cannot make any noise whatsoever. Astrid, Gunner, and Hilda all three slipped unconscious from all the pain they felt.

Chapter Text

Nuffink hid behind his older sister, scared that Frida would show up and turn them into dragons. "Don't worry, Nuffink? I wouldn't let any witch harm you," Zephyr comforted her baby brother. The heiress was not sure if this story was 100 percent true. Zephyr knows that the story might have exaggerated some of the truth in this story. Zephyr knows that sometimes the facts are exaggerated to make the story grander. Another reason for Zephyr to believe that this story might be exaggerated is because she had never come across a witch before. And Zephyr had never heard anyone in the village coming across a witch either. Was she had just been lucky not to find a witch? 'I mean, there was no such thing as witches, right?' Zephyr thinks to herself.

"Frida isn't going to show up, sweethearts," Valka says as she engulfs her two grandchildren in her arms. She had not meant to frighten her grandson like that. Instead, Valka was hoping that holding the young children in her arms would ease their worries about the idea of Frida returning. "Even if she magically appears here. She would most likely not harm you two."

"What?!" The youngest Haddock child screamed, worried. Nuffink remembers being told by all the adults in the village that witches are evil and cannot be trusted. "Why do you think she wouldn't harm us?" Nuffink asks as he breaks away from the embrace of his grandmother and sister.

"Because I wouldn't allow that to happen. Even if it gave up my own life, I would do it if it means that you two are safe."

"Please don't leave us like that, grandma?!" Both children cried out. Neither one of them wanted Valka to give her life to save theirs.

"That's my job as your grandmother. Right now, we're not in any danger now. So, we shouldn't worry about that now. Why don't we finish the rest of the story? What do you two say?" Valka comforted the two children. Then, with nods of their heads, Valka resumes the story.

Astrid, Hilda, and Gunner were sound asleep, but loud shouts awoke them. The yells are from the villagers waking up to find them, not humans anymore. The villagers are panicking from realizing that they all had turned into dragons overnight. As quickly as they could, the Hofferson family stood up. Astrid and her parents were shocked to see the dragons inside her home but promptly remembered what happened yesterday as their minds were unclear about the fogginess. All three start to hyperventilate from the realization of what happened. It was not every day you transformed into an entirely different creature. Where was her mother last night? Is it a species of dragons that she has never seen before? The most significant trait is that the Dragon Astrid assumed was her mother had four wings. The four-winged Dragon had a face that looked like that of an owl. However, that was black scales with yellow highlights. "Mom, is that you?" Astrid could not help herself asking the unknown four-winged Dragon.

"Astrid?" Hilda replied to the golden Deadly Nadder. The Nadder nodded her head to answer her question. It was unreal seeing her daughter has a Deadly Nadder. Both mother and daughter looked at Gunner. The head of the Hofferson family was a dragon whose scales were bioluminescent neon blue with a lighter underbelly. This led his body to glow, which gave off a ghostly appearance. The three Hofferson might not have been sure on dragon species Gunner turned into, but the glowing scales gave them a great guess he turned into. There was only one Dragon that they knew of that glowed. Flightmare. The same type of Dragon that had ruined their family's name. So, it was no surprise that the three Hofferson were not too please with this development.

Besides being annoyed that he turned into a Flightmare of all things, Gunner was also relieved that his family had kept their humanity. When he saw that witch cast a curse on his village? He feared that they all would lose their humanity and fall into the mindset of animals. "Gunner, are you already, Honey?" Hilda could not help but ask her husband. She knew how much he hated the glowing Dragon for all the trouble they caused everyone in the village, especially them.

"I'll be alright, dear." When he was about to say more, he was interrupted by a thunderous shout from Gobber.

"Nooo! Thor damnit all straight to hell!"Astrid and her parents heard the blacksmith's voice throughout the village. They were worrying all the villagers who had listened to the screaming. Without any second thought, the Hofferson family is out of their home and is making their way towards the forge. Outside, the villagers were running around in fear and panic, as the unknown filled them as the terror of their situation settled in. Seeing the people she swore to protect like this filled Astrid with rage. How dare that Frida does this to her innocent village? All because they disagreed with her about Dragons. Astrid makes a silent oath to herself that she will harm the witch if she ever sees her again. After a few moments later, Hilda, Gunner, some of the villagers that are now dragons, and Astrid made it to the forge. All were worried that something had happened to the blacksmith for him to have yelled like that. Once they all made it to the forge, they were greeted by a small dragon that Astrid had never seen before. The small Dragon that they assume is Gobber is a combination of purple and gold coloring. The Dragon had a drippy face as it looked in a shiny shield showing its reflection. "I'm bad omen now! Out of all the dragons I could've turned into! Why a Hodgobbler of all things!?" Gobber could not help himself to complain. The aging blacksmith would have much rather turned into a Bonenapper instead of a Hodgobbler. It was then that everyone noticed that besides turning into a dragon, Gobber had two sets of paws in the front and back. They all figured that the witch might have granted Gobber his missing limbs back.

When Astrid was going to point out Gobber's new limbs, she was interrupted. "You think that's bad. I am stuck with sharing a body with her." Said one head of a Hideous Zippleback with the voice of Tuffnut. The two-headed Dragon is an orange scale with blue highlights.

"Yeah, and I have to share a body with this girl as well." Said the other head of the Hideous Zippleback in Ruffnut's voice. Tuffnut and Ruffnut are twins that are devoted followers of Loki. Both have spent their lives pleasing the prankster God. This had led them left with reputations of causing chaos and mayhem. They were also notorious for fighting with each other about anything you can imagine, to the dismay of the people of Berk. The villagers are secretly glad that the twins were a Zippleback because they feared what could happen if both were two different dragons. Sure, both are a dragon, and that is enough to put fear in them, but they hoped that the twin's habit of fighting each other would cancel their tendency of destroying things.

"Yeah. Wait? What?" Tuffnut says without thinking. Tuffnut slowly realizes that he walked into his sister's insult. This only leads to another argument between the Thorston siblings. The Berkians only shake their heads in disappointment, while all of them wonder when this will never be ending nightmare of the twin's antics end. The villagers all tuned out the back and forth of the twins.

"I want everyone in front of the Great Hall!" Stoick's voice boomed throughout the village. The villagers headed towards the Great Hall without wasting any time to see what their chief needed. Most already guessed as to why Stoick summoned them to the Great Hall. It had not taken long for the villagers to make it to the Great Hall. Once everyone was at the destination, they found a lime green Thunderdrum. The lime green dragon started to speak with Stoick's voice, "Before we begin, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for accidentally leading us to this dreadful fate. I bear all the responsibility for what happened to us. I vow never to make that mistake ever again. I do know everyone is frightened by what our future hold. But rest assured, I'll find a way for us to return to our normal bodies even if it is the last thing I ever do. Does anybody have anything to add before we dismiss this meeting?"

The villagers cheered in agreement with their chief. They were not going to let this bring them down. They would rise above this and conquer this curse. They are Vikings. At that exact moment, an idea came to Stoick to find where the Dragon's nest was located. With everyone in the village now dragons. Why not fly into the Dragon's nest and destroy it from the inside out? It seems like an excellent idea for revenge on the dragons for not only the three hundred years of raiding them but to stick it to the witch that placed the curse on them. Since Frida came to save the dragons that they have locked up, the black-haired woman must have some fond feelings for the winged beasts. Besides, this is the best way to strike back because a direct assault would never work on a witch. "I got another suggestion for everybody. This might be our best chance of finding the nest." Stoick says confidently that his idea would work. This only led to the villagers gasping as confusion had filled them. What did their leader mean that this could be their best chance at finding the elusive nest where their ancestors had failed miserably? The more Stoick thought about that idea; the more intrigued he felt with the idea of finding that blasted place. He could finally get the revenge on the dragons he seeks for what those mindless beasts had done to his village and family.

"With us being dragons, we could fly into their nest without them attacking us. Once inside, we can start to attack their home from the inside out. Leaving them with the only option is to flee and find themselves a new home or face the repercussions. And since this, Frida wanted to save those beasts. Well, this will also grant us our vengeance. In the meantime, we train our new bodies, and in a short week, we while end our enemies." Stoick preached speech from the very core of his soul. This left the villagers in a cheering frenzy.

With their plan set, the citizens of Berk prepared themselves for the fight in the nest by learning how to use their new dragon bodies. The training at first seemed difficult as nobody could hit their practice target with their shots or flying. Like flying straight was arduous because they would usually fly into each other, making them crash, or their accuracy of using their newly required abilities was not in the slights bit suitable. But they soon realized that by following their body's new instincts, they were able to get better at firing their shots, and their flying skills miraculously improved. It was like they had been dragons their whole lives. This only agitated the residents of Berk even more so. Would following these fundamental new instincts lead them to become even more Dragon-like. That they would lose what was left of their humanity, and their minds fall into that of an animal. They had to find another way to break this curse before they entirely morphed into Dragon, both body and mind.

Oddly enough, they had not had a single raid the past week now. It was like the Gods blissed them some needed time away from fighting the dragons. But that had not calmed their worry about the next raid. Everyone has been on edge in impending what their invasion would bring them. The Berkians also discovered that the Dragons in captivity somehow escaped their enclosure. The working theory is that the witch let them out while they were asleep on the night. They became Dragons. It was the only logical explanation for all of this. This had not sat well with the aging walk chief. He was angry that those Dragons escaped. All it did was fuel his desire to find the Dragon's nest even more.

Now we find the Berkians flying their way towards Helheim's Gate. The people of Berk decided that mothers with young children were to stay behind. Nobody wanted young children to get hurt. It was simply better this way. How is the flock of dragons flying towards the nest direction? They all can hear a sweet melody, a voice calling to them in a singsong-like voice that is so sweet that it is almost hypnotic at the same time. This freaked them out because they had heard this woman's voice every other time they had taken a voyage to the nest. But all of them pushed on their pursuit of the nest despite what the random representative told them because they did not let this voice scare them out of their goal—flying solo in the back of the flock while deep in her thoughts is one Astrid Hofferson. She would never admit it to anyone but flying in the sky is a breathtakingly remarkable sight. There were no words to describe the incredible view high above the clouds. But her peacefully passing was interrupted by a specific black and Monstrous blue Nightmare, Snotlout. "What are you doing back here alone, gorgeous? I thought you would enjoy quality alone time with your future husband." In a blink of an eye, Astrid had launched a spike from her as a warning, barely missing Snotlout. Snotlout received the message, Astrid had not wanted the heir of Berk's attention. Unfortunately, the heir had not seen it like that. "Extra feisty today, Astrid. I love it when you're feisty." Another spike came flying towards Snotlout, which dodged at the nick of time—once safe, Snotlout sighs of relief. Knowing full well that would have hurt had that spike pierced him.

"That is a no-go, my friend who snots a lot," Tuffnut says as he and his sister fly closer towards them.

"Indeed, brother Nut. How much longer do you think it would take before Astrid murders Snotface?" Ruffnut adds. The two Loki followers were anticipating Astrid harming Snotlout. To them, it was prime entertainment to see how much Snotlout gets under the skin of the always calm, cool and collected Astrid.

"I don't know, sis. Most likely, he tries another flirt."

"Hey, idiot one and idiot two, shut up. Besides, there aren't any ways out of our marriage." Snotlout replied while reminding everyone that Astrid was a trap in the marriage contract. All Astrid did was give a hardened glare towards Snotlout, one that told him that she would harm him if he continued to inform them that he and she were due to marry each other. She did not need to be reminded of her unfavorable situation. Then a creamy brown Gronckle made his appearance notice by stating this.

"Well, technically, there are ways to break up this marriage contract. They are one or both of you guys being banished, killed, or by some miracle, Hiccup being alive and reclaiming Astrid." The Gronckle name is Fishlegs Ingerman. Fishlegs is the largest of his peers and the least likely warrior in their group. Instead, he focused his time on tutoring the children about dragons. It was a shock for them that Fishlegs was chosen to Aid in the attack on the nest. They assumed that they needed all the help they needed for this adventure.

"Shut up, Fishface. We all know Astrid and I are not going to be banished because we haven't broken any laws, as a while as we're not going to die anytime soon. As for Useless, well, he is long gone by now." Snotlout response to Fishlegs's statement. Fully confident with what he said. Useless is the name he gave his cousin, Hiccup Haddock, years ago when he cruelly bullied the auburn-hair boy. But what he would never admit aloud is that he felt guilty about what happened to his cousin. Sure, he and Hiccup had not been close when they were young children. But that does not mean he wished death on his smaller cousin. There was nothing that he wished more than having a second chance at making amends on the sins he did towards his cousin. Heartbreakingly that is not how life worked. Once someone passes on to the next life, there is no going back. Back in the past, where he was bullying Hiccup, he felt like the heir of Berk was toughening Hiccup up. Because he believed that if his tiny cousin did not put away his soft side, Hiccup would indeed kill him. Because unfortunately, the world they lived in killed or be killed. Now Snotlout realized that way was not the right approach for Hiccup.

Astrid, on the other hand, thoughts went to the past where Hiccup was still alive. How she wishes she could turn back the hands of time to save Hiccup's life. Woefully that was impossible. It seems like even in death, Hiccup still finds a way to mess everything up. But was it his fault for his tendencies of being a klutz? It still did not mean she wanted the fishbone of a boy to be killed. Besides, his blood is partially on her hands for not stopping who she believed to be Hiccup from leaving his home at faithful night five years ago. If she just had tried and stopped Hiccup that night? She knows he would still be alive. Even if she were forced to be his wife, it still would have been better than being Snotlout's wife. When Astrid is about to talk, an arrow appears out of nowhere and pierces her in her underbelly, filling her system of dragonroot. Her eyes start to roll into the back of her head as she plummets towards a ship below them. "ASTRID!"Her colleagues yelled as they flew after the unconscious Nadder. Dragon trapper shot more arrows at the Berkians. They did their best at dodging the onslaught of arrows, but unfortunately, they were still getting used to their new bodies and the speed of the arrows being shot at them. They followed Astrid's lead in being knocked out. And those who villagers who turned into Gronkles were simply shot out of the air a bola launcher because they were immune to dragonroot. Gobber noticed before losing his consciousness is the design of the bola launchers looked similar. Then it hit him those from Hiccup's many inventions. He wanted to know how these people had gotten their hands on his former apprentice-designed weapon. His brilliant apprentice would draw his inventions in blueprints and start building them. The blacksmith turned Dragon is determined to find the underlying cause of using something Hiccup had created. They all were eventually down and out by this unknown enemy.

It was about three hours since dragon hunters had shot down the Berkians and loaded them inside the cages. Astrid wakes up to find her chained, muzzled and caged alongside the rest of the village. Her blood boiled in absolute rage by being caged up like an animal. She starts to thrash around, trying to break free. Sadly, she was unable to get free from her chains. "Be quiet, ya ugly beast!" A guard shouted rudely at her as he came in front of the cell door. All the noise Astrid attracted the attention of the hunters and trappers on this ship. Astrid then stops to give the man a deadly glare. Promising herself once she gets free from this cell, she would personally make an example out of him. All the commotion Astrid made also awoke the rest of the Balkans. The townsfolk of Berk also tried to break loose of their chains and muzzles. Unsurprisingly they, too not been able to break out of their confinements. And intern, the noise they had made got more attention from their captors.

"Get these beasts under control," ordered a tall, broad-framed man with deep brown hair that was borderline black while he made its presence known. Astrid and the rest of the citizens of Berk at once figured that this man was the leader of their captors. This stranger is wearing animal fur with light blue tattoos on his chin. The moment the female twin laid her eyes on this man, she instantly attracted him. Never in Ruffnut's life had seen anyone as handsome as this stranger. Fishlegs did not notice how Ruffnut looked at the stranger, jealousy of the unknown man. He had been trying desperately the past two years to get them noticed by the female twin and see this unidentified man make the woman have feelings for looking lovingly towards their captor. It cut inside his soul deeply to see that. "This collection of dragons should make Drago Bludvist happy to be a part of his dragon army."

Immediately red flags flew in the mind of Stoick when he heard the name of Drago being said, especially when he heard that Drago is building a dragon army. If this information is accurate? Only the Gods can save them from the mad man without any conscious from massacring everyone that does not follow him. Gobber looks at his chief, worried like his best friend, Stoick. The blacksmith remembered the horrifying story about how Drago murdered a group of leaders, and Stoick was the only one to survive that night. That night is the main reason Stoick had allowed his people to leave Archipelago because he feared being on Drago's radar. The villagers had not known who Drago was, but they were not going to allow themselves to become his span of the war. "It's great without those pesky, do-gooder's dragon riders to intervene with this operation, right, Eret, son of Eret?" The guard told the leader of the trappers.

This confused the Berkians. Sure, they had heard rumors from the wild dragons they flew by that there was a nest where both dragons and humans lived together in harmony in the northern direction of Berk. However, nobody in Berk believed that humans would even dare live with those murders. "Of course, they wouldn't because they don't usually come to these areas," Eret replied confidently. But sadly, he spoke too soon because blast hit the deck a second later. Then a massive explosion occurred, followed by another trapper on deck shouting as loud as he could.

"Night Fury, get down now!"

Chapter Text

"Night Fury, get down now!" Eret heard a crew member shout as a pair of Fury Dragons two plasma blasts on the deck. The ship captain pulled out his sword from its sheath and turned to look at the closest crew member before he loudly ordered.

"Make sure that they don't get their hands on our catches! Don't forget that Drago will not hesitate to butcher us like pigs if those no-good riders free those dragons!? So, for the love of Thor, don't mess this up!?" The guard nodded his head to Eret's orders. Meanwhile, Eret starts rushing back up to the deck to battle with the dragon riders. The son of Eret remembers when it was only one rider, and even then, it was problematic to trap dragons with the original rider always freeing them behind their backs. But about four years ago, the masked dragon rider had brought another masked rider on a Night Fury with her. That was only the beginning of their troubles with the riders indeed arising. Because before they knew it, more riders would appear these past five years. It irritated Drago to no end with building a dragon army to rule the Midgard, but unfortunately, the riders keep ruining his plans of conquest. It was why Drago started sending his trappers searching for the dragon's nest somewhere in the fog in Helheim's Gate. They speculated that another alpha dragon controlled the winged beasts to raid the Viking villages. The twisted man already had an alpha dragon to control the dragons against their wells forcefully, but having another one would only guarantee his victory against the riders as he terminates them for daring to stand against his glorious plan. It looks like the riders are once again interfering with their mission.

The moment Eret has made it back to the deck, he sees that the upper deck is engulfed in flames from the blast from a Night Fury. The crew on the deck is now jumping into the freezing water so the fire cannot burn them. Once in the water, a dragon picked them up to be flown to the closest beach shore. The one they called 'Night Rider' ordered the dragons to save the humans that jumped overboard because they did not like to kill. Walking through the fire are three beings. The Night Riders are in the middle of two dragons. One of the beings walking through the fire is a dark scaled dragon with a pair of green eyes located on the left side of the Night Rider. The other dragon is like the black dragon but, instead of being dark in color, is pure white, with a pair of sapphire eyes, and is slightly smaller compared to the black dragon is located on the right side of the rider. Eret recalled the day he and the Grimborn brothers had successfully catered the white dragon. They were astonished to discover a new species of dragon. But unfortunately, the Dragon Theft had to rescue the creature with the help of her sidekick, Night Rider. Unfortunately, that was also the first time Night Rider started to help the Dragon Thief with rescuing dragons. He still remembers the shock he first saw the Night Fury up close. Putting two to two together, he realized that the white dragon had to be some subspecies of Night Fury. Ever since that day, Drago had been trying to eliminate the riders from the safety of their precious dragon's sanctuary.

In the distance, he could see several dragons with their riders attacking them and freeing the dragons they had caught. Among the dragons that are attacked is one green Gronckle with Chief Dagur, the certain chief of the Berserker tribe, on its back. A Razorwhip with a black-haired woman on its back is called Dagur's baby sister. Then there is a four-winged dragon with the infamous Dragon Theft on it. "Lovely day we're having uh Eret?" The rider quipped sarcastically to the annoyance of Eret.

"Night Rider, I see you're still a smartass as always." The dragon trapper said as he launched his assault against the masked rider. So, the dragon trapper's sword collides with Hiccup's flaming sword blocking the attack. Eret pushes the rider back, hoping to catch the dragon rider losing his balance before delivering a fatal blow. Unluckily for the dragon trapper, that did not happen as the rider had not lost his balance. Two swords collided again, leaving both men in a cellmate. "What's wrong, dragon rider? Too scared to fight back. Are you so weak that you need your Dragons to fight your battles for you?" Eret taunting to get a reaction out of the rider. What did the trapper not know? Is that Hiccup was only stalling for Sharpshot, Sneaky, and Iggy to sneak to get the keys to unlock the dragons inside the wee cells below.

During his adventures saving Dragons, Hiccup had encountered plenty of dragons. Like the specific group of Terrors that Sharpshot had befriended, their names are Sneaky, Iggy, Pain, Head, and Butt. They are primarily used as messengers, but in this case, with their smaller size, they can sneak into specific areas. Sneaky is highly skilled in his stealth abilities, as his name applies. The aqua green Terror is so good he can fly amazingly fast but silently onto someone's head without them even hearing him flying. Iggy is the smartest of the group of Terrors, so it was ideal for him to grab the keys and bring them back to Hiccup. It is incredible how a tiny flock of Terrors could easily invade enemies and head towards the holding cells with all the chaos surrounding them.

While the tiny dragons took care of the crew members down in the slammers, the few crew members that had not jumped overboard decided to help their captain by rushing to attack the Night Rider. It would be a costly mistake has not only had the Night Fury attack anyone who came near Hiccup, but the Light Fury also helped protect the rider from any unwanted enemies. The trappers that the two Strike classification dragons did not attack were picked up by one of the following dragons, a colored blue Deadly Nadder. In addition, reddish-orange scaled Monstrous Nightmare, green Hideous Zippleback, and one combination of dark and light shades of brown colored Gronckle. These dragons are the same ones that Hiccup freed from Berk.

He was coughing from breathing in the carbon dioxide from the fire's smoke. Hiccup realized that he needed to finish this fight fast before he lost consciousness and then died by suffocation. Eret started to cough before he asked in a taunting manner, "What's wrong, Night Rider? You can't breathe now." And then just Eret heard a commotion below in realizing what was happening down in the Cellars. "Shit!" The dragon trapper shouted before he made his way back to stop the dragons' bellow from being freed. But, unfortunately, he did not make it far before a particular blue dragon sat on top of him and roosted like he was her egg. "Get this stupid reptile off me again?!"

Lightly chuckling at the predicament, the dragon trapper found himself in. "Stormfly, could you please take Eret to safety?" Hiccup asked politely after he ended his lighthearted laughing fit. Stormfly squawk happily then proceeded to pick up the trapper in her paws before flying to the distinction of where the Dragons took the other trappers too. Hiccup was interested in figuring out why Stormfly seems fascinated with sitting on Eret like that. He theorizes that was just her playful personality. He was coughing again, but this time harder than before as he inhaled the toxin from the smoke. Time is running out rapidly. With that, Hiccup quickly makes his way towards the lower deck where dragons are trapped.

Toothless and his mate followed the auburn-haired man where the dragons were locked up. Hiccup and the two Fury dragons had made it to the lower deck by when they made it. The three of them saw the guards pining down the three Terrors and were about to slaughter the guards with their swords out. In a blink of an eye, both strike dragons, and Hiccup pounced on the guards before they could even harm the tiny dragons even further. Hiccup disarmed the guards in a split second while the three Terrors flew out of there. "Hello, gentlemen, we can do this the straightforward way or the difficult way. You can give me the keys to the cells that the dragons you lot locked up, and you three could get away unharmed. Or I could let my two scaled friends have the honor of finishing you off? It's all your choice." Hiccup warns them in an injunction as he ignites his flaming sword and points at them. He was not going to let Toothless and Sol kill them. It was just that he wanted to use the fear tactic to get the keys without and we get harmed.

The residents of Berk are trying to figure out why their savior's nasal voice sounded eerily familiar to them. They knew they had heard that voice but could not remember whose voice belonged to someone they knew. All except for one Berkian did not recognize whose voice belonged to and frustrated them, all except for Gobber. Gobber's eyes widened when I heard that voice. The blacksmith turned to a dragon who knew that the face behind the mask belonged to his former apprentice. Being the one that spent the most time with the former heir, it was understandable that he was the only one to remember Hiccup's voice. The feeling of happiness, sadness and relief all swirled together to have conflicted emotions filling him to the core of his soul. He is over the moon with the discovery of Hiccup being alive with the relief that Hiccup had not perished. But if the fishbone of a boy had not died that tragic day. Then why had Hiccup never returned if he was alive? Why was Hiccup a dragon rider with a Night Fury? And most importantly, where had the former heir been these past five years. Gobber assumed that the only way for these confusing questions to be answered was to follow Hiccup after being rescued.

The guards weighed their options as to what to do. On the one hand, they did not want to meet their deaths by a dragon attack. Avoid it by taking Night Rider's offer because it was no secret that a dragon rider is an honorable man who kept his word. And taking the man's offer would spare them from the dragons. On the other hand, Drago would not hold back on beating them to their slow deaths if they let the rider take the dragons they have caught. They found themselves in a loss-or-lose situation. Both Toothless and his mate, Sol, are changing up a plasma blast as they pinned a guard down one of each. It was only a bluff as both dragons know Hiccup did not condone any killing, but the guards did not need to know that. Also, they are running out of time with the raging inferno above them going on. The guards made their decisions, giving the Night Rider what he wanted. If luck is on their side? They might get away from the punishment if they lied, and Drago would not murder them. After handing Hiccup the keys, they ran back on the deck to only be picked up by Meatlug, the Gronkle, and Hookfang, the Monstrous Nightmare.

Turning around and then starts to unlock the cage's door. Hiccup is quickly freeing the dragons from the confinement of their cells. When was Hiccup at the last cell where Astrid, Gunner, Hilda, Stoick, and Gobber were held in? The ceiling started to clap, leaving Hiccup to quickly free. The roof crumbled down, leading Toothless and Sol both blasting the falling and burning wood into nothing but ashes. "Thanks, you two," Hiccup thanked them, grateful that the two strike class dragons had saved him. With the immediate danger taken care of, Hiccup resumes freeing the caged Deadly Nadder, whom he did not know was Astrid. "Now, let's get you guys out of there," Hiccup called out. Astrid, Gunner, Hilda, Stoick, and Gobber were quickly free by Hiccup. The Berkians turned dragons watched as three other dragon riders were freeing the rest of the villagers captured in the sky. Some of the villagers even helped them for revenge, and they would later deal with this abomination of riders.

One of the riders they had to recognize as Dagur on a green Gronkle. The young chief of the Berserker tribe is wearing what appeared to be a courtship made from the dragon's scales. This confused the Berkians greatly. It had been about three years since the Berserker tribe disappeared from existence. Now the first time in three years, they had found someone from the Berserker tribe and saw that they betrayed their way of life by riding on the back of the creatures raiding Vikings for 300 years. This did not sit well with them in the slightest. Why did the deranged man do such a heinous act?

The next rider is a young woman around the age of twenty. She has a pair of emerald green eyes with dark black hair. With a battle-ax attached in her hands fighting off several men before Dagur rushes in with his sword assisting the woman in the battle. The woman is wearing armor made from silver dragon scales like the armor Dagur is wearing alongside their savior's black scaled armor. An unknown dragon species with a primarily shiny sliver is battling the two dragon riders and the green Gronkle. Fishlegs watched the young woman, astonished by her beauty. The human turned Gronkle felt his heart skip a beat as butterflies filled his stomach. Who is this alluring woman?

The last ally dragon rider is wearing a strange spikey helmet, armor like the other riders. But that was not what Stoick noticed about this rider. It was the dragon the rider was riding. A memory of the night his beloved wife was taken by the same dragon that rider had the audacity of flying. He could never forget the dragon that not only took his wife but also left a scar on his infant Hiccup's cheek. When Stoick was about to attack the four-winged dragon, Gobber flew in front of his best friend and prevented him from assaulting the unknown dragon. "Stoick, stop! I know you want to attack that dragon, but if you do that? You would most likely regret that I put my life on that," Gobber reasoned with his leader. He knew that causing any harm to these humans and their dragons might cost them the opportunity to learn what truly happened to Hiccup. The last thing they needed was Stoick and the Berkians harming these dragons and their riders. You might be wondering why he would not tell his best friend that Hiccup is with a Night Fury? Even though the blacksmith was primarily sure that the rider with the assumed Night Fury was his former apprentice, there is still a slight chance that this was a coincidence. Gobber was sure that was his former apprentice. If he still were human, he would even bet both his prosthetic leg and hand that the face behind the black mask was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.

After the green eyes' woman, Dagur and the black-armored man finished their assault against the grants of Drago with the help of their dragons. When Gobber stopped Stoick from rushing towards the four-winged dragon and his rider, the rider of the assumed Night Fury joined in to help his friends fight off Drago's men. The riders flew away with Drago's men cursing their existence. The residents of Berk waited for Stoick to decide what to do about this when suddenly Gobber quickly shouted at Stoick, "Stoick, we need to follow them! I promise you will not regret it!"

Stoick looked into the eyes of his best friend. He could tell by the look in the eyes of Gobber see the usually silly blacksmith was severe. Hell, even Gobber's tone of voice told him how much it might be meant for the blacksmith. He guesses that they had nothing to lose if they followed those riders from wherever they came from. "Alright, everyone, we follow those riders," Stoick ordered, secretly plotting what he was going to do to that four-winged dragon when the dragon was alone. He had waited most of his life to get revenge from the four-winged lizard that had taken the love of his life away from him and forced his son to be motherless his whole life. He would never let this opportunity slip through his fingers or, in this case, claws. No matter how much Gobber had asked of him to do not get his payback. He would make that dragon pay for its sins.

With Stoick giving the orders, the Berkians followed the dragon riders. After some time, they found themselves in the dragon sanctuary. During the flight, Gobber and the rest of the villagers had heard some of the conversations between the riders. Still, they had called the one on the Night Fury that made Gobber reminiscent about his former apprentice when the riders called that one Hiccup. That had been all Gobber needed to prove that Hiccup was still alive. The other Berkians were not overthinking the name because it was a tradition to name the runt of the liter Hiccup in Viking culture. So, they did not put too much thought into it when the riders called one of their own "Hiccup." Dragons, more than anyone can count, all live peacefully as they watched it all as they did not know such a place existed. Dare they say it was a beautiful and remarkable sight to behold. Once in the safety of the sanctuary, Hiccup removed his helmet alongside Valka too. This shocked the villagers at seeing their former heir's face, who they thought to be dead for five years. Not only that but the shock and confused feelings mixed violently as they saw the beginning of their chieftness for the first time in twenty years.

Not only did Stoick feel hurt, confused, and anger all mixed, not fusing correctly. But he also wished that this was a nightmare as the weight of the realization that his own family had left him for dragons. Why did his family have to betray their way of life? Why had they left him thinking that they had perished? Did they even care about the turmoil and hurt they inflicted on not only him but the whole village? But, damnit, he is hell-bent on uncovering the truths of these questions.

Hilda, on the other hand, was beside herself. Her best friend, who was thought to be dead for the past twenty years, was alive this whole time. The reveal of the news profoundly hurts her. Hilda remembered growing up with Valka; the two friends would always be there for one another. Sure, Hilda had not agreed with her best friend's idea that dragons and humans could live in harmony. And that is okay because not everyone would agree on everything, but that does not mean that she is not heartbroken and relieved that her dear friend is alive. Hilda figured that is why Valka never came back or, at the fair least, never let them know that she was alive. The older Hofferson woman looks towards Hiccup, who slowly walks towards them. Hilda is wondering why Hiccup chose his decision not to come. It did not make any sense to her.

Meanwhile, Astrid is livid, confused, and reassured, all mixed up together in a mess of emotions. She is furious with Hiccup for running away from his tribe and making them believe that he is dead, as well as making her feel guilty for not stopping his so-called death. The young woman has strong values that one should follow. And running away from their village and their responsibility was not something she would take lightly. Is this where the rightful heir has been the past five years? Why had he chosen the side of the dragons instead of his people? Did he not care about what his father and everyone in Berk had to go through with believing that Hiccup had died and there was nothing they could have done to prevent that from happening? These were the questions that she wished she could ask him. But with her being a Deadly Nadder, she could not communicate with him verbally. Seeing Hiccup alive had also lifted her shamefully mind from the guilt-ridden it had been in for the last five years. She had never wanted the fishbone of a boy to die. That does not mean he is off the hook for what he had put everyone through. Not even by a long shot.

Hiccup is walking towards the lime green Thunderdrum with his hand out. During the flight back to the sanctuary, Hiccup noticed that the dragons from this flock responded to this Thunderdrum. So, he figured that it was the group leader and showed that he was not a threat to the lime green dragon. That the other dragons would not assume that he was going to hurt them. Even though he had years of experience dealing with dragons, there was still a chance that wild dragons would attack him if he made one error. So, the other dragons would follow suit, starting with the leader by showing the Thunderdrum that he meant no harm.

Unfortunately for Hiccup, he did not know that he was approaching his father. Who is not too pleased that Hiccup is a dragon rider. Forgetting that he was a dragon and not a human, Stoick yelled at his son as loud as he could. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III! How dare you turn your back against your tribe?! That also goes to you as well, Valka! Do-," before Stoick could finish his rant, Toothless blasted him with his signature plasma blast. Because his hurt and rage blinded the chief of Berk, he had not realized that he had sonic fired his son. The latter immediately covered his ears not to lose his sense of hearing. Stoick is lowering the air pressure as Hiccup starts, causing the young man's temperature to drop rapidly before Toothless got Stoick to stop.

"Stoick!" Gobber shouted as he came to the aid of his best friend. Stoick, for the first time in a long time, was knocked off his feet. The chief got up with a painful groan. For being a smaller dragon than he was used to fighting, this Night Fury had lived up to a fearsome reputation. But Stoick would back down from a fight whether his opponent is a Night Fury. Finally, he got to admit that if he had been in his human form, that plasma blast would kill him. Stoick fires a fire blast towards Toothless, who dodged the attack by leaping out of the way.

Toothless had noticed that the Hodgobbler called the Thunderdrum "Stoick." The Night Fury knows that is the name of Hiccup's father. But that had to be a coincidence, right. His best friend's father is human and not a dragon, no matter how much Hiccup's soul is like that of a dragon. The nightly scaled dragon knows there is a chance that this was not a coincidence because dragons do not give their offspring names, as humans put it. They usually call each other by the colors of their scales or by a unique characteristic they may have. For example, dragons that do not know Toothless has a name would usually call him "Dark Scales." Or they would call him "Night Flyer." Toothless would admit this naming thing makes it easier to communicate.

Regardless of that, a part of him hopes this Thunderdrum is truly Hiccup's father. The dark dragon had never forgiven Stoick and anyone in Berk for what they did to Hiccup. How dare Stoick and the rest of the Berkians crush Hiccup confidence so severely? Hiccup's confidence and self-worth so smashed it that even to this day, Hiccup would always give Toothless all the credit to the disapproval of the Night Fury. The Night Fury has three trouble-making hatchlings. He loves deeply and could not imagine forcing any of his children to think that he did not care about them as Stoick did to Hiccup. Then he realized that this Thunderdrum said Hiccup's name.

That is all the evidence Toothless needed for Stoick to prove he is Hiccup's dad. But unfortunately, he was blinded by his resentment of how Stoick and his beloved village treated Hiccup. Toothless moves as fast as he can before he pounces on Stoick. The black dragon is pinning down the chief while charging up a plasma blast but is stopped by Hiccup yelling. "Toothless! Please stop, bud. Am I fine now? There isn't any reason to continue this fight."

Toothless is canceling the charged blast, turning his attention to Stoick, who is still pinned beneath him, before informing the man-turned dragon. "Stoick, I am very disappointed with you! As a father to another, you don't ever tell your children that you were about to give up on them! How dare you do such a thing to Hiccup?! Now you think you can tell Hiccup who he should be or not to be! I was there to pick up the pieces of Hiccup's heart that you and the rest of Berk did to him! I have young children of my own that always cause trouble, but no matter what they do, I'll always love them, unlike what you did for Hiccup!" Toothless knows that he might have taken that a little far, but it had to be said. Toothless would admit he is a tide bit overprotective of Hiccup, and Stoick had hurt his rider profoundly. He hopes his words will stink into the man's stubborn and thick head and realize that Stoick is wrong about his son.

Before the Night Fury could react, a particular golden Deadly Nadder launch spikes from her tail. Toothless was able to dodge some, and unfortunately for him, few had cut him deeply. Astrid is a warrior that would protect her people from the wrath of even the Gods themselves. Especially if her chief needed help fighting even an outraged Night Fury, she would always follow her leader to the edge of the world if she must.

Chapter Text

Sol would immediately pounce on the unknown Deadly Nadder that shot spikes at her mate. Astrid was still not entirely used to her Deadly Nadder body yet, so she could not fight the Light Fury too well, which is how she found herself underneath Sol. The albino dragon is charging up a plasma blast to be shot at the Deadly Nadder but stops when she hears the shouts of, "Astrid!" Astrid. The colorless dragon had heard of that name from Hiccup. But that did not make sense to her at all. Should Astrid be a human female instead of a Deadly Nadder? But then again, that Thunderdrum had claimed to be Hiccup's father, and the fact that he had addressed Hiccup by his name might have proven what they say is true. Before Sol could do anything, she was attacked by not only a livid Stormcutter but also a Flightmare as well. These current events would lead to the Berkians attacking the dragons. It had taken Valka, Hiccup, Heather, and Dagur some time to stop all the fighting. But when the dragon riders broke up the fight, the four dragon riders were left exhausted.

Unknown to anyone, when the Berkians had shouted out Astrid's name, they had caught the attention of three young Nightlight dragons. They are the offspring of Toothless and Sol. The three little dragons' names are Dart, Pouncer, and Ruffrunner. Hiccup, who was like an uncle to the Nightlights, had been the one who gave them their names.

Dart is primarily black with a pair of blue eyes which she inherited from her mother. She was the only one of the three hatchlings with blue eyes instead of green ones. She also has a white-spotted nose, patches on her tail fins, top of her ears, and paws are also white. Dart also inherited her father's sense of curiosity which would lead Pouncer, Ruffruner, and herself in having adventures that a reasonable amount of time would result in them getting into trouble. So, it was no surprise that she would be curious about learning more about Astrid. Having instincts of only mating with one partner, she was confused about how humans mate. Her father had told her and her two brothers that humans have weird mating rituals with the boyfriend and girlfriend thing that humans do. She, like her parents, wonders why Astrid and the rest of Berk are dragons when they should be human. But she also wanted to help Hiccup in getting together with Astrid. The extraordinarily little that Dart had heard Hiccup mentions Astrid; he usually says he would much rather be alone the rest of his life if it means that Astrid is happy. It upset Dart that the human she and her family viewed as a family member felt like that. So, she wanted to help Hiccup reach his happy conclusion because her parents told her that everyone has a significant other to find in this crazy world. Which even includes Hiccup, even if he wants to believe it or not. Besides, Hiccup is her uncle, making Astrid her new aunt. The young hatchling just could not wait to learn more about Astrid.

The next hatchling's name is Pouncer. As his name suggests, he is the most energetic of the Nightlights. Pouncer's coloring is mainly white, unlike his sister and brother, like his mother's coloring. There is black tipping on his head nubs, and a portion of his tail is black. The white Nightlight has a pinkish-tinted nose, with his paws having light grayish coloring and black colored on the tips of his ears. After the riders had broken up the fight between the Berkians and dragons, Pouncer had tackled his brother, Ruffrunner, to the ground and started playing fighting his brother. Both Pouncer and Ruffrunner loved to fight one another playfully.

The last of Toothless and Sol's hatchlings are Ruffrunner. Ruffrunner is the least curious and adventurous of the Nightlights out of the three hatchlings. He loves to find a warm and sunny spot to curl up and sleep without a care in the world when he is not fighting with Pouncer or following Dart into one of her grand adventures. Ruffrunner, like his father and brother, has a pair of green eyes. However, Ruffrunner's primary color is black, as his sister and father. Ruffrunner has small white head nubs alongside his tail. His underside is also white.

"I never once told my son that I was about to give up on him! You unholy, unruly, heartless, and mindless beast!" Stoick shouted at Toothless after being separated from the Night Fury. After being separated, he had had a moment to calm down and recalled what Toothless had told him. The chief could not remember when he said Hiccup that he had given up on him. If anyone gave up on anything? It would be his son and wife for giving up on their kind and their family and people. Had they truly not cared how their absence affected him and everyone else that cared about them? Not if they had turned their backs on everyone in Berk.

"Do these words ring a bell? And I quote, 'You had me going there, son. All those years of the worst Viking Berk have ever seen. Odin, it was rough. I almost gave up on you." Toothless quickly reminds Stoick of his words from five years ago. Stoick's eyes widened as he remembered what he had said to Hiccup the night he went missing. The chief having heard what he said to Hiccup from someone made him realize just how awful his words were. Ever since Hiccup was a small child, Stoick had not communicated with his son effectively. Hiccup had reminded him of so much of his mother because he was so much like her.

Stoick feared that one day Hiccup would share the same fate as Valka. And for the past five years, he thought that to be true. It had hurt Stoick as Hiccup continued to grow up with showing Valka's traits. Toothless had not finished with his lecture towards Stoick, "I had to be the one to pick up the broken pieces from his heart. Like I told you earlier, I am also a father who has three children of my own. The three of them always find themselves getting into all sorts of trouble. But no matter what, I'll always love them and would never let them think I would give up on them just because they were different." Stoick had the courtesy to look down disappointment of himself. With their chief's head down and his eyes widened, that was all clarification the Berkians needed to know what Toothless said was true, even if they all wished that Toothless was lying. Despite that, they were also livid at their leader for telling his son he was about to give up on him. What kind of father would do such a thing?

"What has gotten into you today, Toothless?" Hiccup could not help himself to ask his best friend. Usually, Toothless was friendlier towards dragons they saved. Hiccup could only think where Toothless was not so nice towards a dragon when they came across a Whispering Death that had bite marks from its past battles against Toothless. Maybe Toothless knew these dragons? Hiccup quickly dismissed that idea because will the dragon riders separate the dragons from each other Hiccup had not once seen any scars that tied Toothless to these dragons. Another theory is Toothless was jealous. But Hiccup quickly dismissed this theory as well. Because it just did not make sense to him why his dragon was jealous. Back when Toothless, Sharpshot, and Hiccup were looking to find a place to call home, Hiccup had learned that Toothless tends to be jealous of a dragon being near Hiccup back when Sharpshot had tried to get closer to Hiccup. That is why Hiccup is throwing out this theory. He figured that Toothless might have thought that he was in danger. Toothless also tends to be overprotective of his rider. Which Hiccup found Toothless's act of generosity comforting. But right now, it was not warranted for fighting the Thunderdrum.

Toothless gives Stoick a heated glare before turning his back on the chief. "Remember this Stoick. If you so much as harm Hiccup again in any way? I wouldn't hesitate to attack you. Do I make myself clear?" Toothless warns Stoick as he makes his way towards Sol. Once he makes it beside his mate, he realizes that his daughter was not with them, but his two sons were playfully fighting beside their mother. Because Sol had been watching the Berkians just in case they attacked her mate, she, unfortunately, had not realized it yet, but her daughter had sneaked away to question Astrid. "Sol, have you seen Dart?"

"She was here a few moments ago," Sol answered Toothless, looking around for Dart. It did not take either parent dragon long before spotting their daughter beside Astrid. Then, just before neither one of them could call back their daughter, Dart would introduce herself to Astrid.

"Hi, my name is Dart? Are you Astrid?"

"Yes, my name is Astrid," Astrid replied to the hatchling Dart, trying not to be rude to the dragon. She did not know why she was being polite to this hatchling. Astrid figured it might have been because the dragon had a little girl's voice. And she does not have what it takes to harm a little girl.

"Awesome! Are you going to be mates with my uncle Hiccup!?" Dart excitedly shouted, shocking everyone, especially the citizens of Berk.

"Hold on a second there, kid. I am nobody's 'mate.' Got that Dart?" Astrid answered quickly, getting over the embarrassing situation and convincing everyone that she is not anyone's price to be won. Sure, she will admit that she much instead marries Hiccup over Snotlout, but that was before learning that Hiccup had been alive all this time. Because after realizing that he faked his death, Hiccup makes her have survivors' guilt for not preventing his so-called death and being the reason that she endured terrible nightmares of her not stopping Hiccup's death. It had made her sore that he would ever do anything like that. What she desperately wanted to know was why Hiccup left in the first place? Sure, Stoick telling him that he almost gave up on him was terrible. But, to Astrid, that was not an excuse for what he did. But she figured that there had to be more to the story than that. Do the rest of their people not deserve the truth? Did Hiccup realize that he has a responsibility to propel Berk as its heir? He was supposed to be the future chief to lead them into a hopefully brighter future. But instead, he decided to run away like a coward. On top of that, he had been living with their mortal enemies, the dragons. All the while, everyone believed he was dead along with his mother.

"No way Astrid is Hiccup's wife. Cuz I'm her knight-," Snotlout proclaimed, but before he could finish, Astrid flung spikes from her tail. Luckily Snotlout was able to dodge them nearly. Astrid gives Snotlout a heated glare in which the message is for Snotlout. A statement that if Snotlout continued, Astrid would make sure his punishment is mind-numbingly slow and very painful.

"Uncle Hiccup?!" Stoick shouted once he got over what Dart had said. He would not allow his son to connect with his mortal enemies like a family. Especially a family of Night/Light Furies. He would never let this continue any longer. So, turning his attention towards Dart, Toothless and Sol got between them.

"Hiccup is like a brother to me. Despite him being human, he is a dragon by soul. You got a problem with that?" Toothless states while glaring down Stoick. Both Strike class dragon parents watch Stoick like a hawk ready to strike its prey. Neither one could not trust Stoick anywhere near their children. "Dart go back to your brothers," Toothless orders his daughter without taking his eyes off Stoick.

"But Papa," Dart tries to reason with her dad. Toothless turned his attention towards his daughter. Just by the look, she knew Toothless would not make a no from her. So, she reluctantly returned to her brothers, promising herself silently that she would be sneakier with the quest to learn more about Astrid.

Just when Stoick is about to argue more with Toothless. After sending his daughter away from harm's way, Whom turned his attention back to Stoick. Gobber would intervene, "Stoick, for the love of Thor stop!? You're only making things worse."

Taking a deep breath, Stoick would respond to Gobber's plead. "We'll finish this later, demon."

"I'll be waiting, Stoick," Toothless says as he leaves with his family needing to calm down from fighting Stoick. The majority of the Berkians also went their separate way. The only ones not to go with the citizen of Ber are Gobber, Astrid, the Thornton twins, Snotlout, and Fishlegs. They were curious to find out how and why Hiccup and Valka chose the side of the dragons over their village.

"Well, Brother…Is everything here done? Heather and I should get back home," Dagur announces as he gets on his Gronkle, Shattermaster.

"Thanks for the assistance, guys. Dagur, could you please tell Mala and everyone else I said 'hi?' I hope you guys have a safe trip home," Hiccup thanked the Berserker siblings for their help with the mission. Mala and Dagur had recently been married this past year. Both had decided to merge both the Wing Defenders with the Berserker Tribe. "And uh um…it was good seeing you again, Heather," Hiccup says to the black-haired woman awkwardly.

"Yeah, it's uh…good to see you too, Hiccup," Heather replied, just as awkward as Hiccup. The two are awkwardly staring at each other. Astrid, Gobber, the Thorston twins, Fishlegs, and Snotlout could feel the tense atmosphere between the two young adults. Even during the flight to this place, everyone from Berk could sense the tension between Hiccup and Heather. It made them wonder what happened between the two. Astrid, Fishlegs, and Gobber figured that they would discover what happened soon. "So, Dagur and I got a long ride home. Send Sharpshot if you need any more help," Heather added as she got on her Razorwhip, Windshear, and with that, both of the Berserkers siblings took off on their dragons.

After watching his friends leave their home island. Hiccup would go into a small cabin where a forge was inside. The group follows him by Berkians who want answers to their unanswered questions as he does so. Why did Hiccup leave them to think that he perished that fateful night five years ago? Did Stoick's words were bad enough that it had the former heir thinking of running away and having everyone he has ever known believe that he was dead? Why had he never returned if he had been alive for all this time alongside Valka? Let's not forget about Valka. Why did she never return if the dragons did not kill her about twenty years ago? What have Hiccup and Valka been doing all this time when Berk mourned their deaths? Why did both sides with the dragons after everything that the scaled reptiles had done to the humans? Did they not care for what the dragons had been doing for 300 years? So, many questions, and unfortunately, they could not voice their questions to Hiccup because they were dragons themselves. That only left them with one option: the following Hiccup around and finding the answers they sought.

Meanwhile, Gobber looked around the room, astounded by Hiccup's forge. The blacksmith could not wait to see how better his former apprentice got at forging weapons. Hiccup picked up a double-edged battle-ax from the table and then started to practice swinging it to test its balance. Astrid looked at the ax in Hiccup's hands in awe. She had never seen a more beautiful weapon in her life and wondered how someone as clumsy as Hiccup could ever build such a weapon. Hiccup then puts the ax back down on the table and picks up a sword. The runaway heir leans the sword against the wall before picking up the ax again. He would proceed to swing the ax at the blade of the sword, and to the Berkian's surprise, the ax cut through the edge like a knife through butter. They figured that the sword blade must have been at its lifespan because that is the only thing that made sense. Hiccup smiled, feeling happy at the results of the arduous work he put into creating this ax.

"Well, it looks like you finally finished another ax for Astrid," Valka said as she entered her son's forge. This information of Hiccup making Astrid another ax shocked them to their cores. But none more than Astrid because she had never received any axes from Hiccup. When had Hiccup ever brought her an ax? Astrid would like to know where these axes have gone too. Then, noticing the small group of Berkians are also present in the forge, she would add, "It looks like they might be starting to warm up to you."

"Yeah, I think they're simply curious about what I'm doing. Is there anything you need, mom?" Hiccup replied to his mother. The first year is living in the dragon's sanctuary, and he spent catching with the lost time with his mother. During that first year, Valka helped train Hiccup with a sword because they figured Hiccup was more of a sword person. Another reason was that if Hiccup wanted to help his mother. He needed to know how to defend himself in the likelihood he was separated from Toothless or Valka. Ever since then, he has taken time in approving his fighting skills. He might not be the world's greatest sword fighter, but he could hold his own against a formidable opponent now compared to himself five years ago. Shortly after learning how to fight, he started to help his mother in her rescue missions. In these past four years, Hiccup had made several friends and allies of Dagur, Heather, the Defenders of the Wing, Wingmaidens, and countless dragons he helped save. But all he had made even more foes of the likes Drago, Eret, Viggo, Ryker, Krogen, and the many other dragon trappers out there. Secretly he had been worried about what their enemies were planning as they not only seemed to be looking for something in Helheim's Gate, but they also attacked closer to the sanctuary. He feared that a war might break loose if he could not find a way to resolve this issue peacefully.

"Why don't you return to Berk if you miss Astrid that much?" Valka softly questions her son. She did not want her son to be as lonely as she had been the first fifteen years of being a dragon rider. In that fifteen years of being alone and isolated, she wished she could have come home to her family so many times. But she had genuinely believed she was doing the right thing by not going back. But what she had not known was that she was needed more at home than the dragon. This past five years, she has been grateful not as alone as thanks to her son. She desperately wishes he would find the one that Hiccup, who he truly belonged to be with, so he could finally be happy. Valka's question had gotten the attention of the Berkians. Unfortunately, none of them more than Astrid was paying attention to what Hiccup had to say.

"I know that nobody in Berk would accept me, especially with me being a dragon rider. To everyone in Berk, I was nothing but useless. And me missing Astrid? Well, there is no way Astrid would even look at me the same way I look at her," Hiccup answered his mother honestly and softly. But, as he says this, he also looked down depressingly. He knows Astrid was the most beautiful girl his age in Berk, but he figured that she was married by now.

"Honestly, I don't know why Heather and you broke up?" Valka asked, shocking the dragons who were humans. But for Fishlegs, he felt a large amount of jealousy towards Hiccup. He silently wished he were the one to have been dating Heather. And if he had been the one to date, Heather, he would never break up with her, not in a million years.

On the other hand, Astrid felt a slight ache in her heart hearing Hiccup was dating that Heather lady. Astrid could not understand what she was feeling now, but all she knew was that she hated it. Usually, she would go to the wood and train with her beloved ax until she reached her limits, but sadly she could do that because she is a dragon now.

"It's because Heather reminds me so much of Astrid. I realized day that I was subconsciously trying to replace Astrid with Heather. And it wasn't fair for Heather being something to replace Astrid, so I called it off."

"Do you love her?" Valka asked a question she had been meaning to ask Hiccup. She put her finger under his chin uplifts as she did so. Hiccup looks her into the eyes. It had broken her heart that her son was as alone as she had been.

"Yes, I love her with all of my heart," Hiccup answered Valka's question so softly that she almost missed it. Valka had would engulf her son in a loving embrace to bring comfort to him.

"Why haven't you told her that yet?" Valka asked as she broke the hug and looked at her son.

"I know that she wouldn't go out with someone like me. And I want her to be happy even if it means I've to live the rest of my life alone," Hiccup responds to his mother's question once again.

"You do remember that you're under a marriage contract, right?" Valka reminded Hiccup of the agreement between Hilda and herself. Around two years after Hiccup had reunited with Valka, she stumbled upon her son drawing a picture of Astrid. Shortly after, Hiccup explained who the girl in his image was. Valka had told Hiccup about the agreement between Hilda and Valka on if their children were opposite gender, they would arrange the two in marriage.

Hiccup is blushing from the bluntness of the statement from his mother. Then, of course, he remembered the contract between Astrid and him. He also knows that Astrid would never want to marry him even if they were the last two humans alive. 'Who would ever want to marry me anyway?' Hiccup thinks to himself. "Mom, I've alright told you to want Astrid wouldn't want to marry me. I know that marriage is something that Astrid doesn't want. And I wouldn't force her to marry me if she will be miserable. Like I said earlier, I would much rather be alone for the rest of my life if it means Astrid is happy."

Unknown to Hiccup and Valka, Astrid had unfortunately heard all this conversation so far. She had not known what to make of what she had heard. All her life, she's had heard people call her a beautiful woman/girl, which was primarily men. She always believed that they were only admiring her for her body and not who she was inside. She would leave Hiccup's forge silently so that she could be alone with her thoughts. On the last day, she had felt like her emotions were spiraling together into a violent mixture of feeling that she wasn't used to feeling. First, her feelings were angry and upset that Hiccup had run away like a coward, making everyone in Berk believe he was dead. Second, grouped up emotions Astrid felt contained strange feelings in her heart when Valka revealed that Hiccup and Heather were once dating. The third was the confusion about why Astrid felt like that about Hiccup's dating status. The last of the emotions was heartbreak and guilt. She never knew Hiccup had supposed strong feelings towards her. She did not want him to throw away what would make him happy if it meant he would be miserable. Why had Hiccup never told her how he felt? But the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that if Hiccup told her his feelings, she would turn him down rudely without regard for hurting Hiccup's feelings. This realization only fed her guilty feelings even more. Astrid might have mistakenly overlooked the one person who could have loved her for who she was? She did not know what to do anymore with this.

It had been several hours since Astrid had left Hiccup's forge. And she still did not know what to do, and it had frustrated her to no ends. It had been how she found herself unable to fall asleep because her mind kept running through everything Hiccup had said about her. Shortly after everyone from Berk had regrouped, Stoickordered some of the villagers to get the remaining townsfolk. Stoick was trying to grasp what Valka and Hiccup had done. She feels sorry for the leader as it must be challenging learning that his family turned their backs on their beliefs. Astrid groans as Astrid turns her to her other side, hopefully falling asleep, but unfortunately for her, a certain witch is standing there. "Can't sleep, I see," Frida says like she had been waiting for Astrid to turn around and face her.

"You! What the hell are you doing here, you no good dirty witch?! I should've killed you when I had the chance! Give me one damn reason I shouldn't kill you where you stand?!" Astrid shouted at the witch had cast a spell on them. She is getting the spikes on her tail ready to shoot at the witch. Astrid blames herself for what had happened to Berk. If only she had executed Frida when the witch tried to free the dragons? Then none of this would have happened. "Oh right, you can't hear me," Astrid added as she remembered that she was a dragon now and would not communicate with Frida.

"Oh my, what a temper you have, Astrid," Frida replied, startling Astrid that Frida had understood her. "Yes, Astrid, I can understand what you said," Frida added like she knew what Astrid was thinking.

"Why did you put a curse on us?! What did we ever do to deserve such a harsh punishment?! Do you care that you ruined our lives?! Scratch that I know you don't care because you're nothing but a heartless creature that belongs in the deepest pits of hell!" Astrid yelled at Frida before releasing the spikes on her tail towards the black-haired witch. Just before the spikes could pierce Frida, she used her magic to shoot the spikes disappear. "And how do you even know my name?! I never told you that!" Astrid demands Frida disclose how the witch knew her name.

"How I know your name is because I've been watching Berk for some time now. And why I turned in Berk into dragons is because it was the only way you guys would learn that there is more to dragons."

"And why should I believe a witch? For all I know is you could be leading me to a trap. Besides that, there are more ways than turning us into dragons against our wills."

"Because if Berk does not help in the battle that's coming? Everyone that you ever knew or loved would perish. So I had no other choice but to do what I did."

Chapter Text

"Because if Berk doesn't help in the battle that's coming? Everyone that you ever knew or loved would perish. So, I had no other choice but to do what I did." Frida told Astrid in a severe tone.

"What the hell do you mean?" Astrid demanded an answer from Frida. What had the witch meant when she said Berk had to help in an unknown battle? What had this so-called battle had anything to do with the curse placed on Berk? Did anything that came out of Frida's mouth make any sense? Why did the witch always say things vaguely? These are the questions running through Astrid's mind now.

"You'll see when the time comes. But, until that time comes, I bid you goodbye," Frida once again answered vaguely.

"Wait a damn minute! You can go before answering my questions!" Astrid loudly demanded, fed up with the witch's lack of answering questions.

"If I'd answered all your questions? It will take away from the lesson that you guys need to learn. And I wouldn't be so sure about me not being a caring person, Astrid. What I want is peace between both Dragons and humans? But sometimes, in life, we must learn lessons the hard way. Despite how cruel it may seem sometimes," Frida replied. Frida truly hated doing this to the citizens of Berk. But with how stubborn they could be, she was left with no choice but to do what she had done. Even if they view her as the villain, Frida had to do this for the safety of others and the protection of everyone. So Frida would snap her fingers, and she would disappear.

Astrid howled in pure rage that the witch had disappeared again. Astrid could not bring herself to trust what Frida had told her. Frida is a witch that placed a curse among the Berkians. Astrid had failed to hear a specific hatchling sneak towards her. Instead, Dart had ever so slowly crept into the cave Astrid had been sleeping. "Hello, Astrid," the young dragon greeted once she had successfully snuck beside Astrid.

Astrid jumped from being startled, all the while Dart giggled at Astrid. "Don't do that again, kid? Besides, what're you doing here anyway? Are your parents okay with you being near me?" Astrid questions the young dragon, not amused that she was startled. Astrid may not have known much about Toothless and Sol. But Astrid knows by both dragon parents' demeanors they are not interested in their daughter being friends with her. And besides, it was not like Astrid wanted any dragon to be her friend, to begin with anyway.

"Mama, Papa is most likely asleep right now. So, I sneaked away to get to know you." Dart replied to Astrid's questions.

Deciding to be an adult in this situation, Astrid would say, "I don't think that is a clever idea, kid. Eventually, your parents would figure out that you sneaked away. I believe that you should go back to where you were before you came here. You don't want them to be worried when they wake up and see that you're not where you're supposed to be?"

"Fine, I'll leave. But only if you promise to play with me in the morning," Dart responded. The Nightlight was not going to give up on her quest of learning about Astrid. The young dragon knows just the place where she and Astrid could play without her parents or brothers knowing.

"Sure, I'll play with you tomorrow," Astrid lied to the young dragon. Astrid had no intention of keeping this promise. All the shield-median wanted was to be left alone, so she could hopefully be asleep to get a good night's rest. Astrid had not felt great about lying like that. But Astrid wanted to be left alone as it was a long day for her.

Dart, not the wiser, believed what Astrid said. "Great, I'll see you in the morning, Astrid," Dart says as she excitedly runs towards the exit. Dart could not wait to learn more about her new aunt.

'Finally, I'm alone, and hopefully, I can now get some sleep,' Astrid thinks as she proceeds to try to fall asleep.

Meanwhile, in another tunnel, Stoick is awoken. The chief of Berk's mind has been replaying the moment Valka and Hiccup revealed themselves. Stoick does not want to believe that his wife and son abandoned him with the thought that they were dead. On top of that, both Hiccup and Valka sided with the enemy. Stoick wishes all the recent events were a horrible nightmare, but sadly, this is reality. 'Valka, Hiccup, why did you two do what you did? Did you not care about what I've gone through with the thought that you both died? I guess not because both of you guys sided with the dragons that have caused nothing but trouble to our people,' Stoick thinks to himself as he is going through his internal turmoil.

Not only is Stoick's mind running through the images of Hiccup and Valka traveling them to this unknown place, but also what the Night Fury told him. Most importantly, the very same words he said to Hiccup that fateful night his son disappeared constantly replayed. Stoick had not meant what Stoick had said. But it would appear to Stoick that he should have worded his statement better. What was Stoick trying to tell Hiccup? That Stoick was proud of the improvements Hiccup made in a short time while Stoick was looking for dragon's nest. Stoick had never been good with communicating with his son or wife. Especially with Hiccup reminding Stoick of too much of Valka.

Speaking of Valka. Valka is another issue Stoick had a problem with all of this. The chief of Berk did not know why Valka decided to leave him and Hiccup. What hurt Stoick most from all of this? Valka seemingly did not want to be with him, but worse, Valka wanted to be around his enemy, the dragons. How did Hiccup ever find his mother? Did both Hiccup and Valka not care how their absence affected Stoick? These are the questions Stoick would like the answers for, but unfortunately, he could not speak to them. Stoick plans to follow Hiccup and Valka, so hopefully, Stoick can figure out why they did what they had done. And maybe separate his family away from those dragons.

Stoick would try to fall asleep tired from the eventful day. All the while, Toothless is lying down beside Sol. Toothless could not fall asleep because the Night Fury recalls today's events. At first saw an unknown dragon attack his best friend, which understandably angered the nightly dark-colored dragon. Then, toothless, he heard the Thunderdrum proclaim that he was Hiccup's father. That had only frustrated Toothless even more. That is when Toothless had lost the little patience that he had left. Finally, after hours of cooling down and reflecting on his actions, Toothless felt guilty for threatening Stoick.

Even though that Toothless does not approve of his actions, he still does not trust Stoick or anyone from Berk to be around Hiccup. The Night Fury still remembers the night he and Hiccup left Berk. Toothless could recall the tears Hiccup had shredded that night. Did anyone from Berk know just how much their actions affected Hiccup's self-esteem and self-worth? That is the question Toothless desperately wanted the answer to. It is so damaged that even to this day, Hiccup would permanently deny anything significant he does and gives all the credit to Toothless. Those actions annoyed Toothless and saddened him because his beloved best friend never seemed to realize how fantastic Hiccup truly is. The Night Fury desperately wanted his best friend to know that Hiccup has value. To also see that Hiccup is more than Toothless's rider.

"I see you're still awake Toothless. Are you alright? Do you want to talk about it? "Sol asked as she turned her wakes up from her slumber. Sol could tell that something was bothering her mate. So the Light Fury figured that helping Toothless open to Sol by telling her what's on his mind would help soothe his worried mind.

"I was only thinking about what happened today. Do you think I was a little too harsh?" Toothless answered Sol's questions.

Sol knows that Toothless was only trying to protect Hiccup from being hurt. Truth be told that Sol did not think anyone in this situation was wholly innocent. The way Sol sees it, everyone in this mess had done what they believed was right, and there is nothing wrong with that. Sol knew that they needed to sit down talk to each other to find a solution to this problem without fighting. "I know that you were only trying to protect Hiccup from getting hurt again. There is nothing wrong with that, but maybe we need to hear them out before we make our judgment," Sol says.

Toothless looks at his beloved mate astonished that she would say something like that. Toothless reminisced the first time he had met Sol. Back then, Sol could not stand being around humans, which was understandable because humans had harmed her deeply. The Light Fury was so aggressive towards humans that Hiccup was forced to make an automatic prosthetic tailfin for Toothless just so the Night Fury could spend time with Sol. It had gotten to the point Hiccup constemplated letting Toothless go free so that he could be with his significant other. Luckily Toothless did not have to lose his best friend for his mate because, over some time, Sol started to warm up towards Hiccup slowly. Even today, Hiccup seems to be the only human Sol completely trusts. Sure, Sol depends on a few humans a little bit more but not as much as Hiccup. Toothless honestly thought Sol would have said that was nowhere near that positive by her negative interactions with other humans, especially those that killed dragons.

What had Sol just told Toothless? It showed just how much Sol had changed during their time together. Toothless felt a great sense of pride in Sol for her character growth. "Thanks, Sol. I needed that," Toothless thanked Sol.

"You're welcome Toothless," Sol replies as she puts her head under Toothless's chin. Both strike class dragons purr as they take comfort in each other's company. The two strike class dragons stay like that for several minutes, not wanting anything to ruin their moment. That was until a thought came to Toothless's mind.

"Do you think we could at least give Astrid a chance to be Hiccup's mate?" Toothless asked Sol, not entirely sure that he could trust Astrid yet. The Night Fury knows that his rider loves the shieldmaiden, but Toothless could not decide if he should let his best friend pursue that relationship. On the other hand, Toothless wanted his best friend to be happy and not alone. Toothless knows full well that Astrid had slaughtered numerous of his kind. The Night Fury knows that the people of Berk did not realize that dragons had been forced to raid their village. Even though Berkians killed countless dragons over the years, Toothless knows that neither side was right. In times of war, there were no black or white only gray areas. That still did not make anything that neither side right for what they did to one another. These thoughts led Toothless to have his current conflict with what the Night Fury should do.

Should Toothless help Hiccup get together with Astrid as his rider did with him? Or should Toothless prevent Hiccup and Astrid from even getting together? These questions had Toothless running through the pro and cons several times over. Toothless wanted Hiccup happy and not alone, but at the same time, he did not trust Astrid as well as the rest of the Berkians. Toothless hopes that maybe Sol would help him figure out how to resolve this issue.

"Maybe we shouldn't interfere with this Toothless," Sol answered Toothless's question. The Light Fury, like her family, wanted Hiccup to be genuinely happy. Sol theorizes that they should not force Hiccup and Astrid to get together. Sol thinks it might be better to let things work themselves out rather than rushing things. If Hiccup and Astrid are meant to be mates? The two humans would find their way to each other.

"I guess you're right, Honey," Toothless says with his mind mostly at ease. What had Sol told Toothless? It made sense to Toothless, but he also thinks he should keep a close eye on Astrid, just in case she tries to hurt Hiccup.

"Of course, I'm right, Toothless. I'm always right," Sol teased Toothless to lighten the unhappy subject.

"Yeah, you're right, Sol," Toothless sass Sol playfully. That led both Toothless and Sol to laugh heartwarmingly at their playful banter. Shortly after teasing each other Toothless and Sol would soon fall asleep. Before Toothless had fallen asleep, the Night Fury was at ease, but there was some worry that Astrid would hurt Hiccup. But Toothless figures that he might have to take that chance. Who knows where this new path takes them? Hiccup might finally find his mate after all the hardships they faced. What did the two slumbering dragons not know? Is that an all-new adventure was awaiting them.

Chapter Text

Merry Christmas or happy holidays everyone. I am sorry that this is an update and not a chapter. I wanted to upload the next chapter of Finding What You Are Not Looking For this week but sadly I'm only halfway through that chapter. Hopefully, I'll have that chapter up in a week if I don't run into any writer's block. Once again happy holidays and a happy newyear to you all. :) ;p

Chapter Text

Astrid had woken up from her restless sleep. Saying that Astrid had a challenging time sleeping was an understatement. Throughout the night Astrid had constantly woken up shortly after falling asleep. Astrid is confident that last night's rest was the worst slumber she had ever had. For most of the night, her mind was going over the moment Hiccup had unknowingly revealed to everyone that he was still alive. Astrid is deeply disappointed that Hiccup had made not only her, but everyone in Berk believes that he had passed away. Astrid could not fathom why anyone would abandon their own home and people for the dragons. The same dragons that had tormented the Vikings for three centuries. Just the thought made Astrid's stomach crawl in repulsion.

When Astrid's mind was not going over what Hiccup had done. Astrid's thoughts would go toward Valka. Astrid had not known Stoick's wife personally, but the stories that Hilda had told Astrid made Valka sound like a wonderful person. So, why did not only Hiccup make everyone in Berk believe that he died but also why did Valka do the same thing? Did they not care that people mourned their so-called 'deaths?' Judging by what they did Hiccup and Valka make them seem like they didn't know care about the consequences of their actions.

Another thing that confused Astrid was that Hiccup had been crafting her axes. Astrid gets up from the ground as the shieldmaiden has been curious about how long the former heir had been doing this. And why had she never received any axes? Then, another theory came to Astrid's mind. What if Hiccup was trying to use the axes, he made to win her over?

Just thinking about that made Astrid want to give Hiccup the beating of his life. The only reason that Astrid wasn't attempting to assault Hiccup was because of his pet Night Fury. 'Toothless' has Hiccup called the Night Fury seems to be overprotective of Hiccup. This raises the question that Astrid desperately wanted to be answered. How did Hiccup even get his pet dragon?

Night Furies are so dangerous that the Book of Dragons cautiously states to avoid this species of dragons without fighting if you want to live to see it the next day. Astrid is having a challenging time imagining a small Hiccup being able to tame this beast. Sadly, Astrid wouldn't be able to ask Hiccup how he was able to get a pet Night Fury of all things.

Astrid had known about Hiccup's feelings for her while the former heir had lived in Berk. Astrid never thought that Hiccup would try to bribe her with weapons. Did Hiccup think that Astrid was some price to win like Snotlout? That Astrid would be nothing more than a homemaker? If Hiccup did think that about Astrid? Hiccup is certainly wrong.

Growing up Astrid appreciated that Hiccup never tried to flirt with her like Snotlout. Astrid hadn't ever been more disappointed with anyone than she was with Hiccup. How could Hiccup run away to fake his death and have everyone in Berk believe he died? That was unforgivable in the eyes of Astrid. When does Astrid get her human body back? Astrid is going to make Hiccup pay for the mess that he made.

Underneath all of Astrid's anger, disappointment, and confusion she is deeply hurt. Astrid had spent the past six years blaming herself for the death of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Astrid recalls all the nightmares where she couldn't save Hiccup from a gruesome death. Astrid then realizes that all the guilt, sorrow, and misery she dealt with by not saving Hiccup was for nothing.

Astrid left the den and the instant she was outside she heard a cheerful and innocent voice call out to her, "Good morning, Auntie Astrid." Astrid recognizes Dart's voice. Astrid turns her head towards the right, and she spots Dart making her way toward Astrid.

"I'm not your aunt, kid," Astrid replied. That was another thing that Astrid couldn't comprehend. Dart had called Hiccup her uncle. Hiccup had gotten so close to the family of Toothless' that they view Hiccup as family. The idea that Hiccup was family to these destructive animals made Astrid's anger boil over again.

Trying not to take her frustrations on Dart, Astrid would add, "Good morning to you as well kid."

Dart would respond, "Of course, you're my aunt silly."

"Anyway, what are you doing here kid?"

"You promised that you would play with me," Dart reminded Astrid about the promise she made last night.

Astrid had forgotten that she made that promise. When did Astrid make that promise? She was only trying to get rid of Dart so Astrid could get some sleep. Because Astrid thoughts were all about Hiccup and Valka all night, the commitment to Dart slipped out of her mind. Without an idea of losing Dart, Astrid figured that she might as well humor the young dragon.

"Are you sure that your parents are fine with you being around me?" Astrid raised a question to Dart.

"Mama and Papa are with Uncle Hiccup on another mission."

"Who is supposed to be watching over you and your brothers? What do you mean on a mission with Hiccup?"

"I asked my hatchling-sitter if I could play with a friend," Dart told Astrid a little white lie. The young Night Light had sneaked away from her brothers and babysitter. Dart desperately wanted to spend some time with Astrid without anyone from her family knowing. So, when Pounder and Ruffrunner started to fight each other, the babysitter, unfortunately, broke up the fight. This had allowed Dart to sneak away unnoticeably.

Dart knows that lying was never okay. But Dart reasoned that this lie would help Hiccup find happiness and it was worth it overall. Dart remembers when Hiccup and Heather had broken up and how depressed Hiccup had been afterward. Dart recalled that Hiccup hadn't left the sanctuary in a month. The young dragon didn't want to ever see her uncle like that ever again.

Hiccup always helped Dart's family as well as countless additional dragons discover what made them satisfied or a new home. It was about time they helped Hiccup find someone who could make him happy. Dart remembers all the times she had heard Hiccup talk about Astrid fondly. It was like Hiccup was characterizing his mate. It is why Dart was trying to get Astrid to be with Hiccup.

"I know just the place to play," Dart excitedly told Astrid. Dart knows that her babysitter and brothers are looking for her and it was best to leave the sanctuary temporarily. The hatchling knew just the place to take Astrid to. Hopefully, they wouldn't be caught sight of.

"Alright, kid led the way," Astrid response to Dart's statement. But when the opportunity presents itself, Astrid will ditch Dart. Astrid and Dart would take off in the air.

Stoick alongside Gobber is following a yellow Terrible Terror to meet with the alpha dragon. Shortly after Stoick had woken up from his restless slumber, he met Gobber to discuss the events of yesterday. Stoick and Gobber like Astrid also had a grim time sleeping as well. Both Stoick and Gobber's emotions were all over the place. That's when the Terror arrived to pass the message from the white king himself.

Beyond Stoick and Gobber's betrayal, hurt, and anger there is great confusion. In a twisted way, it had made sense that Valka had chosen the dragons. The chief and blacksmith remembered all the time Valka pleaded with everyone in Berk to find a better way to deal with the dragon raids. So, it wasn't too far-fetched to believe that Valka turned her back on their home to the disappointment of both Gobber and Stoick. What did Valka want Stoick to do? Let the dragon continue raiding them without any consequences. That was a ridiculous idea for Stoick.

But why had Hiccup turned his back on them too? It didn't make any sense to them that Hiccup would choose the dragons. The leader of Berk and his best friend reminisced all the time that Hiccup had assembled several inventions to help deal with the dragons. Every one of Hiccup's inventions results in more destruction than help. Hiccup had even inquired of countless people to have the opportunity to prove to Stoick that he was like everyone else. What had changed the stubborn mind of Hiccup?

Stoick remembers returning home from a voyage six years ago. Stoick thinks of how proud his son was when he heard of Hiccup's fast improvement, Stoick couldn't be prouder. Hiccup was like the ultimate underdog rising against all odds to reach the top. Stoick genuinely believed that everything was turning around for Hiccup. Until that dreadful day six years ago when Hiccup disappeared.

Stoick still reminisces his heartbreak when a hidden cove was discovered with discarded black dragon scales alongside a small human's footprints. It was the day after Hiccup disappeared and it was when Hiccup announce to have died by an unknown dragon. This only ignited the hatred Stoick had towards dragons even more.

First Stoick had lost his beloved wife, whom he loved deeply despite Valka's stance against killing dragons, and was carried away in the paws of a four-winged dragon about twenty-one years ago. Then dragons had taken the last piece of his wife, Hiccup. All that did was pour gasoline on a blazing fire. A week later the dragons had mysteriously escaped their enclosure. That only fueled Stoick's inferno of hatred for dragons.

Stoick started to get more gruesome and violent with the dragons. To Stoick they were the reason that he lost his family, and he was going to have the dragons pay with their blood. So, to see not only his wife choose the dragons over him but his son as well profoundly hurt Stoick. Why couldn't Hiccup and Valka see that the dragons were file creatures belonging to the deepest depths of helium?

"We've arrived," the Terror announced as they exited the cave they were walking through. The small dragon had led Stoick and Gobber through a few caves and trails to get to their destination. What did Stoick and Gobber see? It is a breathtaking sight of beauty. The greenest grass they had ever seen. Brown cliff going down several matters. The only thing that Gobber and Stoick didn't like to see were the thousands of dragons flying around freely without a care in the world.

There was so much variety of dragons. Like Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders, Hideous Zipplebacks, Gronckle, etc. there were also several unknown species of dragons. Stoick and Gobber were about to attack the dragon but stopped when they noticed a large white dragon head rising from the cliff. The dragon's head had two large tusks sticking out his mouth, spikes with black tips covering his face, and a pair of greenish-blue eyes.

Judging by the head of the dragon it was easily the largest dragon Stoick and Gobber had ever seen. Stoick had originally planned to attack this so-called alpha dragon, but now is having second thoughts about it. Stoick knowledge that this wasn't a fight he could win. "Welcome, Stoick I'm the King of the Dragons," the giant dragon greeted in a warm tone.

The Bewilderbeast had heard about what transpired yesterday. The mighty dragon wanted to hear Stoick's side of the story before he made any judgment on the Berkians turned dragons. That was another thing that piqued his curiosity. How did the Vikings become dragons in the first place? It wasn't every day that humans transformed into dragons.

"Why did you even summon us here anyway?" Stock rudely replied. Stoick wouldn't let his guard down. Especially after everything that dragons had done to Stoick and everyone else. The chief wanted to get this over with so he could never be here again.

The Bewilderbeast chose to ignore the room retort from Stoick. "I call you over to at least hear your side of the story. I've heard both your mate's and son's side of the story. Would it not be fair if I didn't at least allow you to speak your side of the story?" The alpha understood Stoick's hatred towards dragons. To Stoick the dragons took away everything he cared deeply about.

"What do you mean that you've heard Valka and Hiccup's side of the story?" Stoick couldn't help questioning the titan size dragon. What had Hiccup and Valka told this dragon?

"Valka told the stories of how you and everyone in Berk didn't want to find another way to deal with the dragons. And how nobody had listened to her about other ways to deal with the dragons. I'm not saying that you all were fully in the wrong because the dragon side wasn't completely innocent either," the king of the dragons explained before taking a deep sigh and then adding to his statement, "Hiccup, had a similar experience as his mother. But the difference between their stories is that everyone treated him like he was unless. Hiccup had even said you were about to give up on him and the only reason you didn't was that he made desired improvements. I'll ask again for your side of the story, Stoick Haddock."

"Why should we have listened to my wife's suggestions? The dragons were destroying, stealing, and killing many innocent people. What were we supposed to do? Let the dragons do as they pleased. Hiccup should've come to me if he had a problem rather than running away," Stoick replied trying his hardest to keep his cool.

The chief had half a mind to banish both Hiccup and Valka despite his love for his family. Being chief meant that you must make tough decisions, even ones that hurt you. Valka and Hiccup had made their choice and they should pay the consequences of their actions. The only reason Stoick didn't was because of hearing Valka and Hiccup dealing with Drago. The only interaction Stoick had with Drago was enough to show Stoick that Drago is a man that killed without any conscience. Even though Stoick was upset with Valka and Hiccup he didn't want them to die because they got tangled up with Drago. "What I would like to know? Why are my wife and son being tangled up with Drago of all people?"

"Hiccup and Valka are trying to stop Drago's reign of terror. I'm afraid that a war between the dragon riders and dragon hunters will break out soon. I know that it's a lot to ask, but we might need Berk's help? I understand if you deny the offer."

The alpha dragon knows it was a difficult request to make with Berk. But where things are heading the Bewilderbeast feared the possibility that Drago triumphs against them. Having a little bit more allies would help things go wrong and wouldn't be too bad. However, it was a bit to ask Berk for help after they had been at war with dragons for over 300 years. Berk had no reason to get involved in this war, especially after everything that the dragon had done to Berk. But if the dragon riders were to be defeated in this upcoming war? Who to say that Drago wouldn't continue his carnage? Odds are Drago would eventually cross paths with Berk. This war is truly going to determine the future of the world we live in for better or worse.

"You're right about us declining your offer. Why should we even help you with your little war? What does Berk gain in this war of yours's?" Stoick couldn't allow any blood to be shaded from his people for a battle that didn't involve them to begin with, especially a battle to help dragon riders. Dragon riders to Stoick were people that had ignored all the deaths dragons had caused. It was truly a betrayal in the eyes of Stoick and the Berkians. Stoick was tempted to help the dragon hunters but didn't because Stoick couldn't trust Drago either. Stoick sees this as a loss situation. Neither sides Stoick wanted to see victorious in this war. Stoick just wanted his son and wife to not fight this meaningless war against a man that killed with no conscious.

"Because not only dragon's lives are at stake with the outcome of this war, but humans as well. Drago if he is allowed to win this war wouldn't just stop after we've failed. Sooner or later, Drago would've made his way to Berk. What would you all do when Drago showed up with an army of both dragons and humans to fight? It's better to take out Drago before he becomes even more powerful than he is now." The massive dragon answers Stoick's questions. The King of the Dragons knows that his job as alpha is to protect everyone in his nest. The Bewilderbeast thought that these similar titles would help Stoick see what they were like. Both were trying to protect everyone under their reigns. Like a chief protects everyone in the village, the alpha protects them all.

Chapter Text

"Because not only dragon's lives are at stake with the outcome of this war, but humans as well. Drago, if he is allowed to win this war? He wouldn't just stop after we've failed. Sooner or later, Drago would've made his way to Berk. What would you all do if Drago showed up with an army of dragons and humans to fight? It's better to take out Drago before he becomes even more powerful than he is now."

"Ya makes a great point," Gobber replied. Everything that Gobber knows about Drago: it would not surprise him that Drago would not stop. Drago will not stop until he has control of everyone who fears him.

"Gobber! Whose side are ya on?!" Stoick shouted at Gobber. Stoick did not appreciate Gobber's response.

"I ain't on the beastie's side. But Stoick, he does make a good argument."

"Drago will never stop until he rules over everyone. Drago wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who dared to define him. It wouldn't take long before he finds out Valka and Hiccup came from Berk. Don't you think that Drago would attack Berk? All because Valka and Hiccup dared to stand against him," the white dragon added.

That did make sense to Stoick. Drago is a demonic man who would try to rule the world with an iron fist. But still, Stoick does not want his wife and son fighting with Drago. Even after betraying everyone in Berk. "That doesn't mean Valka and Hiccup have to risk their lives against that vicious man."

The alpha dragon sighs. The Bewilderbeast knows that deep down, Stoick cared for his family despite them being dragon sympathizers. It had to be tough to learn that your mate and son were about to enter a war in which you did not agree. But it was too late for Hiccup and Valka to turn back now. Even if Hiccup and Valka turned away from fighting Drago? It would only lead to Drago being more hyper-fixated on finding out where the dragon riders are hiding.

No doubt those actions would have horrifying consequences. Especially those who are close to Hiccup and Valka would pay the price. It was simply better to find a way for everyone to compromise. Rather than fighting each other while Drago watches from the sidelines, waiting to pick them apart like a vulture.

The alpha knows that it is hard for the Berkians to trust them, especially after fighting dragons for three centuries and having to rely upon dragons. It was hard for anyone to do such a thing. But there might not be another way to deal with this Drago issue. The alpha knows that they had to try to make peace with one another.

Because it would not hurt to have some more allies, Drago forces have evolved much larger. Not only with dragons but as hunters as well. The dragon riders needed a little more help to win this upcoming war.

"Stoick, it's a little too late for that. Drago doesn't allow Hiccup and Vaka to leave this battle unscathed. Their best action at this point is for us to have a temporary truce," the alpha dragon pleaded with Stoick.

"There is no reason for Berk to help you with this suicidal battle! If you demons want to throw your lives away by fighting Drago!? By all means, go for it. But my wife and son will not be a part of this madness anymore," Stoick passionately declared. There is no way Stoick would allow himself to make a truce with dragons.

Berk will not help, particularly after everything that the dragons have done. On top of that, there is no reasonable justification for joining a war against Drago. As Chief, Stoick is not going to risk the safety of people in an unnecessary battle. A fight that Berk had nothing to do with. Would a reckless leader do something like that?

"I understand. The dragons haven't given you guys a reason to consider. All I ask is to think about it. I don't need an answer today."

Before Stoick could reply to the alpha, Gobber would speak up, "We'll most certainly think about this. Let's go check on everyone, Stoick?"

Gobber knows that Stoick would never stop arguing with the giant dragon. It would not take long for a fight to break out between the two leaders. It was not a fight that Stoick would not win. If somehow Stoick had won, the battle? Stoick could have suffered injuries. There is also still a nest full of dragons who would attack a battered Stoick. If there was ever a time not to fight? This moment was the perfect time to walk away.

"Gobber-" Stoick tries to argue but is interrupted by Gobber.

"Let's just go, Stoick." Gobber proceeds with nudging his head against Stoick's leg. The blacksmith mentally curses the witch for the dragon he will Gobber turn into. A Hobgobbler was the last species that he would want it to be. At this moment, Gobber would rather be a Bonenapper than a small Hobgobbler.

At least then Gobber could push Stoick better. Not that Gobber wanted to be a Bonenapper. Bonenappers and Hobgobblers are Gobber's most diminutive favorite dragon species.

Luckily for the blacksmith, Stoick had taken the hint. "Don't expect us to work together," Stoick said as he left with Gobber. It had not taken Stoick and Gobber to get away. Once they were far enough, Stoick would ask, "Why did you say that demon we'll think about his offer?"

"Stoick, I know how ya feel bout them besties. But we need to think about our situation."

"Of all the people, I wouldn't guess you are considering that monster's offer. Do you remember everything that those beasts have done to us? Do ya remember that ya lost limbs by those devils?"

Stoick could not believe that Gobber was considering the offer, especially after everything the dragons had done to everyone. Stoick desperately wanted to know why Gobber was disregarding his history with dragons. It was not reasonable to change your beliefs. Did Gobber forget about the lives taken by dragons? Did Gobber forget all the suffering and grief caused by the dragons? Did Gobber recall all the times that Berk almost starved? All because the winged reptiles had stolen food and livestock from them. Or what about all those times the dragons destroyed homes? Stoick and Gobber had seen families and friends losing everything. It was disrespectful for Gobber to discard everyone's pain.

"I know what you're thinking, Stoick. Still, I'm not too fond of those demons. But we need to think our next steps carefully," Gobber answers like he knows what Stoick was thinking. The information that Drago was hunting down Hiccup and Valka. Even though Gobber hated dragons, Gobber still did not want to see Valka or Hiccup die.

Gobber was genuinely surprised when he saw Hiccup with his flaming sword. It was proof that Hiccup had gotten stronger. If Gobber had to make a guess? Valka had to have taught Hiccup how to use a sword. Gobber just wished that he were the one to train Hiccup. But with the responsibilities of the forge. Gobber did not have the time to coach Hiccup with fighting.

Gobber wondered if Hiccup's lack of confidence had been a critical factor in his apprentice's low fighting skills. That was always something that confused Gobber. After all the years Hiccup worked in the forge. And Hiccup never grew bigger or stronger. It was like Hiccup's body stagnated growth. It made sense. Hiccup had been knowledgeable he was powerless and useless. Eventually, this would result in Hiccup believing that. Gobber wishes that he did better at comforting Hiccup. But woefully, that's not how life works.

The only thing Gobber could do now was show Hiccup he was sorry. Because, unfortunately, now Gobber is a dragon. Gobber could not verbally tell Hiccup he was sorry. Gobber mentally curses the witch. Only Gobber was human now? Gobber could ask Hiccup and Valka several questions.

"Besides, I would like to know Hiccup and Valka's decisions. We won't get those answers if we don't look. Besides, I want to rekindle my relationship with Hiccup," Gobber added. Gobber still did not care for the dragons. Gobber did not even like them a tiny bit. Mainly because he lives with lost limbs, but he is willing to tolerate them if it means having a relationship with Hiccup again.

"Alright, Gobber. We'll play by the dragons for now," Stoick replied. Stoick knows that if he walks away from his family now, he will never know the answers he seeks. Stoick is silently plotting. Once Stoick knows why Hiccup and Valka's reasons. Stoick would separate his family from their dragons even if Stoick had to be forceful. Stoick would not hesitate to kill all the dragons once he had his family back.

What annoyed Stoick? Is that the king dragon thought Berk would help with Drago. After seeing all the tragedies caused by the dragons, they were watching families lose loved ones because dragons burn down homes. Or die from starvation because the dragon stole livestock. Stoick lost so many friends because of the dragons. Stoick could not fathom why his family chose the dragons. Did they not see that dragons have caused nothing but harm? It cut Stoick deeply that his family faked their deaths to be with dragons.

Gobber is surprised that Stoick was not arguing. Stoick is known for being stubborn. All of the Haddocks were known to be hardheaded. Gobber is only glad that Stoick is not arguing with him now.

Early afternoon, Astrid and Dart had arrived at an island. The island had luscious tropical green plants in the background of a beach sur. Astrid and Dart landed on the beach sur. The ocean water was a bright blue, the sand was warm from the sunlight, and a gentle breeze blew. The humidity of the island raises the temperature.

It was growing up in Berk, where it was always cold. The tropical temperature was quite different. Astrid was glad she was not a human at the moment. Astrid could see if she were human that she was sweating profoundly. Not that Astrid wants to be a Deadly Nadder. Astrid wishes that she could decapitate the witch with her beloved axe.

"We're finally here, Astrid." Dart excitedly announced as they landed.

A few times during the flight, Astrid had attempted to abandon Dart. Astrid had to give it to Dart for being persistent. Dart, who innocently thought Astrid was playing hide and seek or chase. Astrid had tried twice, but she stopped herself from doing it. Astrid was not sure as to why she quit. Was it Dart's childlike innocence? Or is it because of the repercussions of said actions? Something like that would lead to a fight with Dart's parents.

Not that Astrid was afraid of fighting a Night Fury. But Astrid was not sure she could battle the two Furies. Astrid is not scared to die in a fight. Astrid is picking her fights wisely, fighting a dragon that the Book of the Dragons warns, 'The unholy offspring of lightning and death. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance is to hide and pray that it doesn't find you.'

Fighting one Night Fury would have been difficult. But to battle two Night Furies at the same time. It was a one-way voyage to Valhalla. Astrid was not ready to die yet. If Astrid had killed now? She would never get the answers she seeks. Along with making sure to tell Hiccup that he is a coward. A coward who faked his death and ran away from his responsibilities.

To Astrid, who prides herself on being fearless, the worst someone could be labeled a coward. Astrid promises herself that she will never let Hiccup live this down. The moment Astrid becomes a human again. Astrid is going to let Hiccup know what she thinks of his cowardliness. Astrid puts that on her grave.

"Why did you lead me here anyway?" Astrid asked Dart.

"Because Uncle Hiccup used to bring me and brothers here," Dart answered Astrid. Dart remembers the times her family and Hiccup came here. Hiccup and Dart's parents told her to share with those you care about. Dart takes Astrid to this island; it is an excellent idea for the young dragon. Hopefully, Astrid will enjoy the site.

Dart makes her way towards Astrid. Once the young dragon is beside Astrid, Dart would tap her paw against Astrid's left leg. "Tag, you're it," Dart announced as she quickly rushed into the woods.

Astrid confusingly plays along with Dart. Astrid still did not know why she was still entertaining Dart. Was it Dart's childlike innocence? Or could it be that her parents are two Furies? The consequences of harming Dart are severe, which might have been the reason. Should it be something else that prevents Astrid from damaging Dart? Whatever the cause, maybe? Astrid couldn't bring herself to break Dart.

After some time had passed since Astrid and Dart's game of tag started, neither Astrid nor Dart had noticed it was noon. It was as if time had slowed down for Astrid and Dart. Dart is desperately trying to get away from Astrid as Dart arrives at the end of the forest. Dart's heart is racing as she moves her legs as fast as possible. The adrenaline was rushing through the veins of the young dragon.

Astrid was not far behind the young dragon. Astrid had been purposely letting Dart outrun her. Five years ago, Astrid most likely would not have allowed Dart to catch her, mainly because Astrid is highly competitive. Astrid had learned five years ago that victory was not everything.

Astrid was about to tag Dart when she roared. "Get down now!" Before Astrid could question Dart, the young dragon hid inside a bush. Dart hoped the unexpected guests would not pick up Dart and Astrid's scent.

Astrid was about to ask Dart why she suddenly hid inside a bush before a scent assaulted her nose. Ever since Astrid became a Deadly Nadder, Astrid had noticed her sense of smell had significantly improved. It made sense to Astrid why her sense of smell had improved. Dragons had a better smell than humans.

Still, Astrid did not like being a dragon. Oh, how Astrid wishes she could slay the witch. Astrid was not sure if her anger toward Frida would ever vaporize. The punishment from the witch was inhumane. Astrid vows she will have her revenge against Frida, even if it's the last thing Astrid ever does. Astrid's promise also extended to Hiccup.

Speaking of Hiccup, Astrid sees him alongside the two dragons in the clearing before her. It was not only Hiccup and his two fury dragons, but Johann was also there. Astrid figures that might have been why Dart hid inside a brush. Astrid was about to turn away when she heard Hiccup address Johann.

"Here is another axe to deliver to Astrid, Johann." Hiccup says as he hands over an axe. It's the same axe Astrid saw from yesterday.

"I'll make sure Astrid this one as well," Johann replied as he took the axe. That statement raised red flags for Astrid. Astrid had never received any axes from Johann. Astrid had not seen Johann in years. Johann had not been to Berk for four years. So, if Hiccup had been sending Astrid axes through Johann? Why has Johann not only been to Berk in years? Why had Johann not delivered any of these axes to Astrid?

Oh, how Astrid wishes she could ask these questions. Sadly, with Astrid being a dragon, she could not speak to the two men before her. Astrid is more confused and frustrated. Astrid is confused because she does not know what happened to those axes. Astrid is frustrated because she could not communicate. "Is there anything else that you might need, Hiccup?" Johann asked.

Before Hiccup could answer Johann's question, Sol and Toothless had picked up a sense. Sol and Toothless looked at each other before Sol fired a plasma blast and flew through it. When did Sol contact the fire? To Astrid's surprise, the Light Fury had seemingly disappeared. When she saw her mother vanish, Dart's heart dropped in her stomach with fear running through her veins.

Dart knew she was caught red-handed by your parents. Dart was going to warn Astrid, but when she was going to, Dart was interrupted by Sol, "Hello Dart and Astrid." Both Astrid and Dart turned towards Sol's voice. Dart coward from the glare her mother gave her.