A/N on my profile.

Special thanks to my Booble, who has dealt so well with my manic ranting about dragons for these long years.

Chapter 37

XXX

Toothless

The forests of Berk were silent. For mile upon mile, evergreen monoliths rose towards the star strewn sky. There was no breeze to ruffle the needles and the air hung suspended and chilled. In places where bare earth was exposed, ice crystals crept agonizingly across the ground. Winter was preparing to descend upon Berk like a blanket.

Through this stillness, Toothless carefully trod, practicing the flexes and movements that he had learned in the north. With very slight alterations to his stride, the crinkle and crunching of his steps across the frozen ground grew so quiet, it would take a great deal of concentration, as well as dragon-keen ears to pick them out.

Beside him Hiccup loped, his strange bipedal stride achieving a fluidity that no human could match. His arms stayed slightly raised at all times to either side, balancing out his step and giving him the air of something in flight, each step unnaturally silent.

"Are those really necessary?"

Hiccup crouched low and made a soundless leap, landing in the cleft between two enormous branches of a pine tree. The hybrid sat, letting one leg dangle to expose the Rune drawn on the underside of his foot. His response was hushed and smiling."Not really, but it's so peaceful! It almost seems wrong to make any sort of noise. I feel like we should have had more days like this before we dove into a dragon war."

Toothless sniffed at the symbol flickering across the surface of Hiccup's scales. It was entirely invisible to his nose which made him the slightest bit uncomfortable. It was unnerving to realize that something so consequential was only visible to one of his senses. The only ways that he could detect it, was the sight of it, as well as the slight feeling of draining fatigue from Hiccup.

"The only way to make my body produce more Fire, is to expend it often. Train it, just like a muscle."

"I knew it was a mistake to return here. You're returning to your primitive human ways. Competitive and brainless." Toothless gave a grunt as he took Hiccup's foot gingerly between his teeth and pulled. With a slight gasp followed by a laugh, Hiccup slid out of the tree to land sprawled across the grass with a crackling thud, shattering the quiet. Toothless strode past, nose tilted upward in feigned disinterest as Hiccup sat up.

"Training the body and training the mind are not mutually exclusive." Hiccup looked down to run a finger along the blade that rested against the inside of his arm. Memories of his time spent with Alda flooded through his mind, both the rigorous mental exercises, and the grueling physical training. He leapt to his feet and gave a few bounds to come alongside Toothless.

The calm of silence fell once again over the forest as both dragon and hybrid continued their trek upwards. A few hundred wingspans to the east, Nylish was being replaced by a member of his Wing. Above, two Wings led by Kaira and Nyx kept even circles and monitored both the Vikings on one side and the horizon on the other. Every so often the soft tones of conversing Shades intruded as information was bandied back and forth across the sky and through the trees.

Behind them to the south and near the Cove, Sycle and Kale lay relaxing by the fireside, allowing the tensions and aches of their long flight to slowly smooth and fall flat. Farther west, Skuru and Ryshkaa dashed through the trees leaving twin trails of disturbed dust and frost, taking their exercise and exploring the places where their wingmate had grown up. They made considerably more noise than Toothless or Hiccup, fearless in the winter-scarce woods.

Toothless felt a human smile tugging at his face. The habits that had so quickly become routine in Home Cave had fallen into place so swiftly, that most of the Shades present felt no distress or worry at their new situation. The atmosphere among the many minds of Home Cave was restful and calm, if carefully watchful. Ahead of him, Hiccup gave a soft laugh, also reveling in the peaceful mood, before leaping ahead as they began the vertical portion of their trip.

When first they'd climbed this way, in preparation for their departure, Toothless had done most of the leg-work. At the time, Hiccup had been woefully blind and hardly as nimble as he was now, so he'd simply climbed onto Toothless' back and been carried with bounding leaps ever higher.

Now, it had become a race.

The Hiccup before him now was graceful, sure of himself as he danced along narrow ledges and rough rocks that would have shredded his human skin. As Toothless pushed himself faster to catch up, he started to feel rocks shifting beneath him, grinding together and destroying the silence they'd enjoyed thus far.

After a particularly noisy jump that caused several large boulders to shift, Toothless looked up to find Hiccup grinning atop a pile of loosely piled stone, arms crossed.

"There are advantages in being small."

Toothless gave an annoyed snort in response before collecting himself, and leaping straight upward. Two pumps of his wings were enough to carry him through his leap, right over Hiccup's head. After landing on the other side, just claw tips away from plummeting over a sheer drop, he turned to look smugly at the crouched hybrid.

"There are also distinct advantages to being a large winged lizard."

As he'd hoped, Hiccup burst out laughing, a smile splitting his face so wide that his scales stretched painfully. The boy was able to control himself just in time to avoid falling down the mountainside. Toothless felt a shudder of joy work it's way down from his neck all the way to his tail. There were dark times ahead, but for now, the laughter of his mate was enough to erase any thought of the future.

For the next half hour they bounded up the mountain side, sometimes racing, other times climbing together and enjoying their closeness. The tiny sliver of moon that descended towards the west and the sea of stars above were the only natural illumination and they walked together unseen by all but Kaira's Wing, whose eyes ever watched the Viking camp and now the isolated pair on the mountainside as they came to the outcropping that overlooked what had once been the village of Berk.

The clouds and smoke had been entirely dispersed by the strong winter winds and now the night was pristine. Hiccup could see for miles out to sea before the ocean met the horizon, the waves appearing no more than tiny ripples disturbing its vast surface. Above, uncountable stars shone in place of the moon, almost blotting out the blackness in places.

Hiccup had never been able to see this many stars when he was human.

"There weren't nearly so many colors either." Hiccup's memory readily provided a scene, a view of a night sky with far fewer stars than they could see now, and all uniform, white pricks twinkling in a black fabric. A stark contrast to the vista before them now, where the points ranged from white, through yellow all the way to blue. Deep reds and vibrant oranges burning like fire in the night.

Hiccup sat, with his ankles resting against the edge of the outcropping and staring outward to the horizon. Toothless swiftly lay behind and curled protectively about him. With the act of climbing complete, both of their bodies now stopped moving entirely, mimicking Sycle and Kale below.

Around them, the activity of the other Shades continued and every so often an errant thought would brush across them, wondering at their location, finding it and moving on. Some did so with a touch light with kindness, while others were harsh and wary, making sure of Hiccup's location. Toothless snorted.

"They were happy enough to trust your escape plan when it was saving their tails. Now they think you're going to run off at the first sign of other humans?"

Hiccup's hand rose to stroke along the dragon's eye ridge with the lightest of touches. "Oh hush. It's only one or two of a group of hundreds. I'd call that excellent given the circumstances. If I hadn't known myself and some freak like me showed up, I'd be a little cautious too."

"No you wouldn't. You'd befriend it on sight." Ryshkaa's voice broke against them with a tinge of bubbling laughter. "Or is that response reserved for strange dragons you meet?"

"Dragons. Definitely just dragons. Anything wingless or walking on two legs is infinitely more suspicious. Besides I doubt any such creature has anything close to my sparkling personality."

Hiccup's response had hardly sounded when Sycle spoke. "The both of you are a pair of freaks. And by extension the rest of us too." He continued speaking over Skuru's squawk of protest. "Toothless, you've also not slept in more than a day. You stop right where you are and get some rest."

Toothless heaved an enormous sigh that shifted Hiccup forward, and then backward by half a foot. "I suppose I could do that..." Gratefully, he let his eyes fall closed, and around him, the noises of the night began to dim. The breathy whisper of the wind died first, followed by the rustling of trees below, but Hiccup's voice remained constant, quiet and calm.

"Sleep love. I'm not tired after that nap I had on your back. Sleep and dream and think nothing of the morrow. I'm here." Hiccup's words and the light brush of his scales lulled Toothless down quickly, despite his desire to stay alert. He sank down beneath the world, where Kale joined him to drift through a sea of emotion and memories.

XXX

Hiccup

Toothless fell away slowly. But eventually his conscious mind slipped beneath and Hiccup was left with his mate's dreams and his own thoughts.

"Kaira?"

"Hu- Hiccup?" Kaira's voice was soft and feminine. It held none of the suspicion or resentment that Hiccup had felt from others, nor did she speak with the grim command of Sycle that came of experience and hardship. Her voice spoke of a spirit as light hearted and carefree as Skuru's.

"I doubt any humans or dragons will come anywhere near us, but I'm not sure I'll be awake much longer. Could you perhaps..."

Light, soft laughter was her immediate response. "We watch you and your mate as closely as we watch the humans below Hiccup. Rest easy. I will alert you if there is any cause for concern."

"Thanks!" And to Hiccup's intense surprise, soft thoughts of acknowledgment reached him from almost all of Kaira's wingmates. It seemed that distrust was not as widespread as Toothless might have feared. Trying his best to radiate kind feelings towards all those above, he settled against Toothless' side.

For a long time, Hiccup simply marveled. Soaking in the night around him and the wonder that it held. Dragons, Shades, Night Furies! An entire swarm of them here on the island where he'd been born. It had taken such a strange set of circumstances to make this place feel like home. There was a rightness that filled the air as Shades passed overhead and the night was filled with silent speech.

Nestling comfortably into Toothless' scales, Hiccup sucked in a deep breath, allowing it to pass slowly through his nostrils. He noted that the feeling was slightly different than it had once been. The air blown through his nostrils rushed at a slight angle, away from his center rather than straight down. New sensations tickled and pulled at his nose.

Reaching up, he placed the tip of a claw just inside the slits that served as his nostrils. An intense, tickling sensation flooded across his entire face, but rather than sneezing as once he might have, the slits both clamped shut, gripping his claw and stopping all air flowing in or out.

Removing his claw, he felt the muscles of his face relax. Then he tried to recreate the effect, this time without the intrusion by his finger, finding that it was easy to open and close these slits.

Well that should make swimming easier anyway.

Chuckling softly to himself he relaxed and stared up at the explosion of color that had replaced the night sky. Idly his fingers went to his wrist to slide smoothly along the blade that lay flush with the inside of his forearm. The scale of Shades centuries old, hardly felt different from his own scales or Toothless' though the smooth surface of the material was not natural. It drew heat from his arm the way that the wind or water had once done, leaving it slightly cool to the touch.

This weapon had been forged by Shades. It had been intended for use by Shades and in the final brilliant burst of blood and fire that concluded the Silver Age, it had likely claimed the lives of Shades. The cool surface of the blade seemed to suddenly crawl beneath his finger.

Hiccup gripped the sculpted scale, at first intent on tearing it away from his body. But as the familiar scale molded perfectly with his hand, as he'd shaped it to, the snarling face of Ito flashed before his eyes. The memory hung in his mind like an echo, frozen in its ferocious countenance, mismatched scars and eyes burning with rage. But even as Hiccup remembered his fear, Ito's expression fell. His teeth retracted and the eyes softened and deepened.

The blade beneath Hiccup's finger had saved Ito from his doom. His prison of rage, sorrow, and guilt. It had passed judgement and had freed the old dragon of his torment.

"A blade, like any other tool, is no more or less evil than the mind that wields it."

With a start Hiccup bounded to his feet, lifting his blades from their resting places and rapidly scanning his surroundings. He knew this voice, but he couldn't even guess what its owner's intentions might be. When he could not find the dragon with his eyes, ears, or nose he relaxed and stood straight.

"You speak of my thoughts like they're yours." Hiccup took stock of the minds around him. He could still sense Ryshkaa and Skuru far off in the forest, and he could still sense the Wing patrolling in large circles above him. But he could not find the strange dragon whose voice he heard.

The scrape of claws against stone rasped against his ears and Hiccup dropped into a ready crouch again, blades lifted and the beginnings of a snarl turned his lip.

Tutore stepped seemingly from nowhere near the edge of the rock, the outline of his frame trembling as though he were smoke blown in the wind. The older male stretched slowly, giving Hiccup a glimpse of the complex rune that was flickering into nonexistence in the center of his back as its energy was cut off.

"Good evening Changeling."

Hiccup's first reaction was to wake Toothless, given that they'd been caught unawares, but as he reached out to his mate's mind he found his way blocked by a wall of thought so immense and so inscrutable, it seemed he was staring into a starless sky, vast and empty.

"Relax."

The word thundered over him as a ripple passed through his mind, as though he'd been struck. His thoughts seemed to shift and mix, muddling whatever he'd been about to yell into a stupefied silence. As he struggled to right himself, he found that flowing among his own confused thoughts were ribbons of inky blackness, foreign and unknown. Unlike the shadows of his mate, these tendrils moved purposefully and without care, pushing his mind apart and scattering his coordination.

"Good, now then." The elder dragon settled down onto his side and made a show of pushing his legs out comfortably. His head remained raised as he gazed at Hiccup kneeling dizzily before him. "Let's see what your side of the story looks like strange one. And how it is you come to bear the Shade's gift in your veins."

Ribbons of memory exploded across Hiccup's mind removing whatever coherency he'd been clinging to as the older dragon pulled his memories apart and laid them out like schematics across a workbench.

In quick succession Hiccup saw images of Berk, Astrid's angry face, a sunlit forest, dragon training. He noticed that wherever a memory of Astrid appeared, it lingered and Tutore seemed to inspect it rigorously before driving on toward the next. Then the memories of Toothless began to appear. Building a new fin, testing it to their mutual delight, sleeping together beneath the stars.

Just as Tutore was examining their fall through the aurora lit heavens, an angry snarl rang through the air. A small black shape blurred into Hiccup's cloudy vision and bowled the older dragon off the side of the cliff with an angry screech.

Instantly the foreign thoughts disappeared and Hiccup's mind snapped back together. He rolled to the side and leapt to Toothless. The moment Hiccup touched him Toothless exploded out of sleep, a loud and angry snarl grating past his throat. The two of them now stood together scanning the outcrop around them for whatever threat had dared come against them.

A moment later, Ryshkaa dropped out of the night sky and landed beside them.

"Get away from him Skuru! Go wake Sycle and Kale I can't reach them!" This shout from Ryshkaa was followed by an angry screech from below the outcrop. Hiccup got a brief flash from the small dragon as he stopped trying to harass Tutore and instead went winging away over the trees.

After a slight pause, Tutore reappeared over the edge of the outcrop. Ryshkaa and Toothless both tried to place themselves between the older dragon and Hiccup, low growls rumbling from their throats.

Despite just being attacked however, Tutore seemed entirely at ease. His tail flicked lazily and he fixed them with a sardonic look. "Well. That was exciting."

Angry voices were beginning to fly through the forest and sky now.

"What the..."

"Who does he..."

"...ip his wings off and..."

Then, after a few tense moments of angry muttering, Scycle and Gallic landed side by side in front of Toothless and Ryshkaa with their teeth out, wings spread, and a very soft hiss passing their jaws.

"What is it that you dare to do so boldly stranger? Do you wish to do battle with our combined might? I assure you that despite your bending of the world, we will break you." Gallic's voice thundered across all the others, silencing the void.

Tutore had settled himself back into a comfortable reclined position, and now he tilted his head.

"Forgive me, I believe there's been some misunderstanding."

Scycle snapped low and harsh. "The impudence in your stance makes that abundantly clear."

"I merely sought to learn the hybrid's story." Tutore stared at Hiccup quirking his head curiously. This elicited a snarl from Toothless. "The way he came to be as he is. What his story has to do with that of my companion. I presumed that his station was beneath mine so I sought to take the memories. It appears that I have misjudged."

A new wave of quiet muttering followed this statement. The tone was still disgruntled, but there was far less hostility now that it was clear that the Wings were not under malicious attack.

"Listen closely Loner." Sycle's voice was icy. "The hybrid and his mate are parts of my Wing. If you attack my wings, I will tear yours off. The same goes for any member of the Wings here. We do not suffer a violation of one of our number lightly."

While Scycle spoke the lone Shade stared intently, first at Scycle, then slowly between every other Shade present resting finally on Hiccup. His gaze was intent and he seemed to be studying what he saw. Hiccup also felt the slightest, touch against the edges of their five minds.

"A most grievous offense on my part." The older dragons eyes bored holes into Hiccup. "Would the Wings be willing to accept my sincere apologies in this matter? Perhaps Hiccup and I may start again properly."

As the apology was made, Hiccup felt most of the Wings turn their attention elsewhere. A worried sounding voice from above spoke.

"Gallic, Hiccup, the humans are moving."

Every dragon standing on the outcrop lifted their heads rigidly and all ears swiveled outward toward the village below. Every dragon except for Tutore who continued to lie, tranquilly staring at each Shade in turn. With a gasp of concern, Hiccup gave his sight over to Kaira above and looked down on the Viking camp below.

There were small shapes scurrying around at first seeming random. But then he saw that the beds of the sick and injured were being shifted back towards the doors of the plague ridden hall and weapons were being lifted, torches lit. Berk it seemed was preparing to defend themselves.

"Toothless, we need to calm them down." Hiccup bounded to Toothless' back while the Shade rotated his stance, pointing toward the edge of the cliff without taking his ears away from the edge. He stood fast and sturdy, ready for Hiccup to mount. Both of their movements were steady and practiced.

The familiarity made the horrible whining creak seem louder than it was. With a snapping sound Hiccup found himself suddenly tumbling over the other side of the Shade beneath him and rolling to a stop inches from the edge of the outcrop. Staring back at Toothless' side, he felt the swooping sensation of free-fall in his gut.

The straps of leather that had bound his saddle to Toothless, once so strong and supple only months ago were shredded and broken. And now that Hiccup took the time to stare at the harness, he cursed himself heatedly. Their stay in the arctic north had driven the leather to its greatest endurance. Every part of the harness was fraying and withered. It was a miracle that it hadn't broken in flight and sent Toothless tumbling to his death.

Shame began to burn heatedly in Hiccup's face though his scales wouldn't show the blush. As he reached out to apologize, Ryshkaa's voice interrupted him.

"Hiccup, we must see to it later! Ride me, I'll take you to the Vikings!"

The pangs of sorrow and shock ringing from Toothless' otherwise silent mind were nearly enough to freeze Hiccup in place. But as tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, he leapt from the ground and started running toward Ryshkaa.

She dropped over the side of the outcrop even as he whispered to Toothless. "I'll fix it. I'll make it even better. We'll fly again. I'll fix it."

Over and over he repeated these words, striving to make Toothless understand. Toothless had to understand. And he jumped after Ryshkaa, plummeting toward the base of the mountain.

Skuru landed back on the cliff side which was now starting to become crowded. The small Shade crossed to Toothless and dug his head beneath the larger dragon's, offering the sympathy and comfort that Hiccup could not as he fell. Toothless settled heavily onto the stone, staring intently at the bare scale his own chest.

With a cry of pain Hiccup pulled himself entirely away from Toothless, surfacing from the well of sorrow and tempestuous fear that had overtaken his mate. For now he must keep a clear head and deal with the humans. He'd comfort Toothless afterward.

In a movement that mirrored a much different Hiccup from months past, he shifted himself through the air. With a few precise gestures of his hands, he cupped the wind and pushed himself deftly. In the space of a few heartbeats, Hiccup fell in parallel with Ryshkaa, equal in heading and speed. It reminded Hiccup of another fall, one that seemed like it was decades in the past.

With a flick of her wings, Ryshkaa closed the gap and Hiccup felt himself slide into the most familiar place on any Shade, but now his feet rested against the large muscles that wrapped the fore of each wing. He gripped beneath her neck with his legs and as she pulled out of their fall the familiar balance of flight returned to his muscles. His mind bumped against hers, instinctually seeking the complete knowledge of her body that Toothless usually provided.

At first she shied away from him but after a moment, she opened herself slightly and Hiccup began to glimpse the odd sensation from her every few seconds. Hiccup found that what little she gave to him was enough to follow her movements and balance his weight. It was strange to ride with a Shade that did not require his action, only his balance and grip.

They both focused below to where the humans were still scrambling around their makeshift camp.

"Land away from the firelight. They're less likely to attack if we don't drop into the middle and start yelling."

"If they attack us, I won't stop at simple yelling."

Ryshkaa's response left little doubt in his head that if harm came to him, what remained of the village would burn. The depth of that protective instinct startled him, perhaps it wasn't the strangest thing that Ryshkaa would cherish a fellow student of Alda. He began to review the Runes that would allow him to stop or destroy arrows before they reached her, to make violence unnecessary.

They all required him to draw a circle on the ground around Ryshkaa, and there wouldn't be time when they landed.

"I don't suppose you know a way to create a protective barrier around us?" He tried not to make his thoughts steady and confident. He was certain that he did not succeed.

"I could probably lay a circle with my tail, but I think if they shoot, we'd be better off just running away. I could move out of range easily enough, and that makes us a mobile target in the dark." Ryshkaa's voice was suffused with the calm and surety that Hiccup so desperately wished he could exude.

As they touched down, Hiccup leapt from Ryshkaa's back, landing in a crouch which placed his clawed hand within his view and a small shock passed through his body.

"Ryshkaa! I'm not disguised! They can't see me like this or they'll attack on sight!"

The female gave a distinctly annoyed chuff as her wings ruffled with agitation. "Well then what do you suggest we do to prevent a riot?"

"Announce us. Let them know we're here and hide me with your wings, in case they throw a torch or something."

With a grunt, Ryshkaa reared back into a sitting position. As Hiccup stepped in front of her, she let out the loudest screeching bellow that she could manage. Hiccup snapped his ears flat against his head, trying to deflect the torrent of sound. When she was finished, Ryshkaa allowed her wings to extend forward and cup the ground where Hiccup was standing, leaving him enclosed and out of sight.

The voices from the Viking camp fell silent but the tramp of feet continued. Hiccup could see clearly despite the darkness surrounding them, as Berk began to array itself for battle. Ragged fighting groups came together into formations that allowed for each Viking to watch the back of three others. These small groups all now faced toward their enemy who had announced themselves so aggressively at the edge of camp, beyond the torchlight.

Before an attack could be called or some other madness came over the humans Hiccup let his own bellow fly, doing his best to make it just as loud and intimidating as Ryshkaa's, though he knew it didn't come close.

"Astrid!"

The Viking company continued their advance.

"Let Astrid Hofferson come forward and receive a message from the Night Furies!" He had no idea if he actually managed to sound commanding. At the very least he thought he'd kept the edge of panic out of his voice.

"Hold." Stoick's command was very quiet. He'd only spoken rather than shouted, but every Viking stopped as one. For thirty excruciating seconds, silence rang in Hiccup's ears. Then Stoick raised his voice again.

"Astrid Hofferson comes to receive your message Hiccup." The sound of his father's voice had not been something he'd expected to deal with until tomorrow. He could see Stoick now at the head of the band, leaning only slightly on his spear.

A lone figure detached itself from the Viking line. It kept its hands opened wide to either side, showing that her weapons were still sheathed. Hiccup counted the knife on each hip, as well as the sword on her back, it seemed she still had not replaced her ax.

Astrid's approach was slow and cautious, and very slightly off target. Her path as she walked it would have led her to the side of Ryshkaa, reassuring them that the Vikings could not see them in the dark.

With this comfort in mind Hiccup stepped forward, while Ryshkaa folded her wings and stood, ready to fight or flee. Before Astrid could move any farther off to the side, Hiccup spoke quietly.

"Astrid. Over here."

The young Viking started badly, but to her credit she did not reach for her knife as Hiccup had seen her do several times in the past few hours. She changed course and strode over to them, no longer walking cautiously.

"Well, fancy seeing you out here Scaley." Her face split into a crooked grin, and she lifted an eyebrow.

For a moment, Hiccup could only blink as he tried to figure out what she'd said. Before he could form a coherent answer she spoke again.

"Why aren't you disguised?" She squinted as she tried to see him in the dark. "I assume you stayed out here so that everyone wouldn't slaughter you on the spot?

Hiccup finally realized that she had called him 'scaley' as a nickname. The thought was slightly unnerving for reasons he wasn't entirely sure of. He cast his eyes to the ground and responded softly.

"I stayed out here so that they wouldn't try, and die." The implied menace of unseen death flying above was clear. Astrid's grin slid slowly off her face, leaving a neutral expression behind. "And I came to let you know everything's fine. All the hissing, and the snarling above your heads… yeah that's not a problem for the Vikings. Your friend caused a bit of an incident on the rock outcrop above."

For a moment Astrid stood silent, arms crossed and foot tapping, a slight quirk of her lips betraying the rapid thoughts passing through her mind.

"The outcrop you jumped off when you left?"

"That one."

Astrid bit her lip and crossed her arms, shifting her weight to a more relaxed, contemplative stance. "I... I can't claim to know what Tutore's motives might be beyond my wellbeing. And even then I have no idea why he bothers with that. What happened?"

Before Hiccup could respond, a bellowing call came rolling over both of them from the makeshift camp up the hill, shocking in its difference from the volume of Stoick's first command.

"Astrid! Report!"

All three of them winced slightly at the noise.

"Hiccup and one Night Fury Chief! I'm receiving their message now." Astrid yelled back. All of the noise was making Ryshkaa's ears lie flat and she gave an aggravated snarl, which to Hiccup's surprise, Astrid acknowledged kindly. "Sorry about that, please continue."

Hiccup felt a slight smile twist his scaled lips at the sight of Astrid yelling back at his father. In the middle of this absurd moment, it seemed absolutely hilarious.

"Yes. Tutore caused a bit of a scene. He... well..." And now Hiccup struggled to think of a way to tell Astrid what had happened without her calling him a lunatic. Though with the way that he looked now, he supposed she really wouldn't have a valid point.

His trailing sentence made Astrid lift an eyebrow.

"...He attacked and violated my mind. He entered without my permission with the intent of knowing all my memories."

A thick, slow moving silence descended over the trio. Astrid's expression had frozen into place and hiccup could see her eyes darting back and forth, entirely unfocused as she tried to assimilate what Hiccup had said.

"She looks like she's about to panic." Ryshkaa observed wryly.

"Give her a moment." Hiccup's response was slightly nervous, unsure if a moment would be all that Astrid might need.

"Well... I suppose that confirms some of my suspicions about..." She trailed off for a moment, eyes unfocused. "...I don't suppose you'd tell me if they were able to do this same thing to a human?" Her stare was intent, one hand lifting to rub her chin. She was strategizing now.

"Well..." Hiccup paused, trying to gather his thoughts. This was going to be a very personal talk it seemed. "...Well you see, so far I'm the only human known to Shade history that has been able to reach beyond himself. I can... touch? I can reach out to and enter the minds of Shades, and speak just as they can."

"And did you figure that out before you..." She gestured to his feet, then lifted to his eyes indicating all of him. "Is that why you were able to get along with Toothless before you left?

"Well, you see... aah... It happened all at once after... after um..." He trailed off as the memory of the sound of blade sinking into bone sounded in his mind.

Astrid appeared entirely unfazed by his discomfort. "What? After what?"

"After you stuck me with that axe."

"Ah."

The silence that descended now truly was awkward.

"It's not really a big deal. I healed up fine and I suppose some good came of it eh?" Hiccup could feel the distantly familiar heat beneath his scales. The heat of being absolutely, embarrassingly out of his depth. Luckily, it seemed that Astrid was no better off. He could see the flush running across her cheeks.

"Hiccup, I think I've missed something. We are discussing her attack on you months ago yes? Why is embarrassment the prevailing feeling?" Ryshkaa was quite miffed at finding herself out of her depth as well. "Surely anger is more appropriate?"

"Let me finish this and I'll try to describe it to you!"

"So, what does this mean for the alliance if Tutore is an outsider and he attacked you?" Astrid was trying desperately to steer the conversation away from past assaults.

"Well you see, he's quite an older Shade. And he hasn't lived socially with other Shades for a very long time I think, though he really hasn't told us much. Actually he hasn't told us anything really. And that's not to say that social living is common for Shades, but..." Hiccup trailed off as he saw Astrid's eyes becoming glassy while she tried to keep up.

"...anyway! All that to say that he didn't know that he wasn't allowed to assert dominance and take my memories without permission. When he tried, the leaders of the Wings rose to my defense. All the sounds you heard above were just... posturing? The posturing of that.. er.. conversation."

For a long minute, Astrid was silent.

Then she lifted a hand and pointed a finger directly between Hiccup's eyes, which was slightly impressive as Hiccup knew she couldn't see him well.

"After the meeting tomorrow, we're going to sit down and you are going to tell me all about yourself and your freakish mind powers and the glowing... fire... thing." For a brief moment a look of disbelief crossed her face, as though she could not believe what she had just said. Quickly she shook the expression from her face. "Stoick and I are going to need to figure out how to keep enough from the others that they don't start a hunting party on the spot to rid the island of evil spirits."

And with that statement made, she turned and marched her way back up the hill.

"Well, that seemed like it went better than you or I were expecting." An amused rumble was emanating from Ryshkaa's chest.

"Astrid!" Hiccup made sure his voice was just loud enough for her to hear. She turned toward him. "How much of Gobber's stall survived? I absolutely have to get my hands on some tools and materials."

Astrid turned and stared back at him with a bemused expression. "The village center is a crater. No structures are left, but the stall was pretty far out. Maybe there's still something in the rubble. We haven't searched yet." After a brief moment of silence, she continued up the hill lifting a hand in farewell. "See you tomorrow Scaleface!"

As she continued up and away, Hiccup felt his expression darken. He turned and took off across the grass toward the crater and the piles of rubble at its far edge.

At the corner of his vision, he saw Ryshkaa keeping pace with him easily. Her bounds sinuous and graceful, and every so often he caught her gaze darting toward him and away again.

They rounded the edge of the bowl shaped crater and soon started picking their way through the piles of shattered wood and stone that had once been houses, fences, and roads.

Each pile seemed to loom large beside Hiccup as their original shapes played in his memory, this had been the tanner's, that house had belonged to the Twins family. Barns that had once housed and sheltered livestock were now sprawling piles of wood, ripped in places where the force of explosions had blasted them apart. Other buildings had burned and in odd places, the skeletal structure of a dwelling still stood, blackened and fragile, waiting for the next strong breeze to send the final pieces falling.

When they finally reached the cliff's edge where the stall had stood, a strangled noise tried to escape Hiccup's throat.

Many of his human memories were slightly obscured, as though he'd been living his life submerged in a layer of cloudy water. He knew it was probably as simple as the difference between his old eyes and the new set of draconic eyes that had slowly replaced them. But despite this cloudy quality of memory, Hiccup knew that he could have sketched every detail of Gobber's shop.

The tall slope of a roof that sheltered a workspace otherwise open to the elements. The weighty presence of the forge and anvils that dominated the floor. The myriad alcoves that sheltered piles upon piles of tools and materials, just waiting to be picked and set to use in the creation of something new. And deeper in the shadows, a tiny alcove that Gobber had allowed him to fill with his own designs and projects. A wall that must still be covered in sketches and schematics even now.

Despite the relative clarity of this memory, Hiccup was not able to reject the perfect detail that his eyes showed him.

Where the small structure of the shop was supposed to stand there was a stretch of land pressed up against the cliff edge, so blackened and so uniform, it seemed impossible that anything had ever stood there.

Hiccup stumbled slightly, catching himself with his hands. But rather than lifting himself back to his feet, he merely rocked back to sit on the soft, ash dusted earth that had once been a road.

"Hiccup?" Ryshkaa's call seemed to come from a long way off even as she hovered beside the hybrid, trying to figure out how to assist him. "Hiccup you are unwell, do you need..."

"It... it's gone." The words quivered on Hiccup's tongue. "I... I knew that the village had been destroyed... but for some reason it never occurred to me that the stall..."

It had been rare in Hiccup's childhood that any dragon had taken any sort of interest in the workshop. There had never been any livestock close to the place and there was always a large concentration of fighters as Vikings cycled through to have their weapons repaired. It had been years since the structure had sustained enough damage to even give it a passing thought. But now, it seemed that it, like the rest of the village had been wiped clean, leaving only a lonely cliff side for the wind to whistle across from the sea.

"Ryshkaa..."

"Hiccup?"Hiccup could tell that the tone of his thought had alarmed his friend. She settled behind him, as she knew Toothless had done in the past. A paw on either side as she offered her chest for Hiccup to lean against. He sank against it gratefully, unable even to continue the effort of sitting upright as a wave of fatigue crashed over him.

"I don't think it will be remotely possible for me to build a new harness for Toothless before tomorrow."

The words sent the taste of acid surging into Hiccup's mouth.

Ryshkaa stayed silent, staring down at Hiccup through eyes alight with curiosity.

"I can't... I can't allow him to come if he can't fly."

"He's not a fragile creature Hiccup."

"I never said he was. None of us are fragile. But Berk has made their living on breaking larger, angrier beasts than us. At least you can fly away if things go sour."

"If that was a request for my help Hiccup, I will. I will bear you into this battle of ideals and defend you with tooth and claw should the need arise. But you must tell Toothless."

Hiccup flinched as the future took shape in his head. He could picture the look of shock on Toothless' face and the set of his wings and ears. In his imagination he watched as that look of shock flickered past anger before settling on hurt. And to his horror, a very real voice laced with the exact tone of sorrow he feared spoke in his mind.

"Hiccup is right. I would be a hinderance to our Wing in my current state."

Toothless' thought was monotone, and somewhat tremulous. Hiccup could sense the edges fraying slightly as his mate tried to keep the hurt from his thoughts.

"Toothless! No! That's not what I..."

"Will you care for my mate Ryshkaa? As though he were yours?" Toothless' thought was powerful despite the slight tremor, it silenced Hiccup's protest.

"You are both mine already." Ryshkaa's promise was solemn.

"Good. Hiccup, I am seeking answers from Tutore. My mind at least, is perhaps a match for his. I will not let my weakness hamper us or ours."

As Hiccup listened, Toothless' thoughts grew hard and cold. He caught flashes of a confrontation that had taken place even as he'd spoken with Astrid. Toothless was following after Tutore even now, gliding above the treetops slowly with his tail fin locked in place. But even as he tried to glean more details, they seemed to vanish right out of his mind.

"Toothless you are not weak! We are strong together! We are one mind!" Even as Hiccup spoke, there was a sickly sucking sensation, as though his guts were being pulled towards this back. And without another thought, Hiccup closed his eyes and left his body to Ryshkaa's care.

The comforting glow of his swirling thoughts came rapidly into focus and he darted downwards to the edge of the space where the ragged circular portal opened unto blackness. With a single thought he was soaring outward from his own mind and into the comforting darkness of the mindspace he shared with Toothless, the seemingly limitless exits at the boundary appearing as a starry backdrop to the twin spheres that revolved at the center.

For a moment, Hiccup was distracted by the memory of being unable to project and maintain a conscious presence in this place without help. Toothless' warming, comforting thoughts had always been here to anchor him in this place.

But now something was horribly wrong. The sucking sensation in his gut was becoming worse, and now with distance he could see the cause.

The spheres were drifting apart.

Hiccup dove towards Toothless' mind intent on making him stop, but as he approached a piercing icy wind began to blow. And in that moment this comforting space that had been his safe haven for months was suddenly alien and unfamiliar.

This was a projection of his mind. There was no weather, no wind, and certainly no cold unless he created it. Or...

Toothless was floating above the sphere that represented his own mind, the sphere which was receding away from Hiccup's at a slowly increasing pace. His wings were open wide to either side and his tail held high, and Hiccup balked as he saw that the harness was no longer part of Toothless' projection. Instead his scales were bare and his tail which was flared behind him clearly displayed a void where his whole and complete set of tail wings should be.

"Toothless stop what are you...?!"

Toothless' projection flapped once, and the wind came driving against Hiccup's ethereal body, frigid and plucking as though it would tear him apart.

"T- Toothless." The freezing wind was making it difficult to concentrate on maintaining his projection, the cold seemed to pluck and pick at his mind. And still Toothless' mind drifted farther and farther away. "Please Toothless this isn't... this isn't what I want! I want you safe!"

Before Hiccup could figure out what was happening, the wind had ceased. The sphere was still, and Toothless' projection was gone.

Then a soft warmth bloomed against the crease between his shoulder and neck. With a jerk, he realized that Toothless' projection was beside him.

"I know that you would not part from me willingly Love. Your mind struggles against me with a ferocity that belies what you are consciously capable of."

The words were soft. Comforting. As though their very shape was caressing Hiccup and wrapping him in their warmth. But even as these words warmed him, he saw that Toothless' mind remained distanced, the sphere seeming extremely far away, though it was difficult to describe any sort of distance in this place without reference.

"As I said, I will not allow my shortcomings, to hinder us. I won't be a source of suffering or fear for you or our Wing. I must find out what Tutore knows and he won't engage with me unless I'm alone."

"But you're..."

"I must be alone Hiccup." The word was laced with intent. It rumbled across Hiccup's mind and caused his body to shudder. "We kept ourselves from touching thoughts while we learned in Home Cave, that was necessary. This too is necessary, though the separation is far more pronounced. It must but done. And we are strong enough. I will return as soon as I am able."

Toothless' projection touched his tongue softly to Hiccup's jaw, before once again seeming to wink out of existence, leaving Hiccup to float alone above his own mind, staring out towards that of his mate.

"Wait for me."

Those three final words seemed to tickle at Hiccup's ear, so soft he might have even imagined them.

A ripple rushed outward from Toothless' mind, only visible as a ring of distortion that obscured the white of the exits as it rushed outward and away. Hiccup felt it as it passed him, a solid impact that drove his projection back. After it passed, the space seemed to thicken, pressing in from all sides. Hiccup's vision started to shake and jump, vibrating under the pressure that emanated from the distant sphere.

As the white points seemed to jump and jitter, like Toothless' mind before them, they began to shift. Above the exits were flattening into a line, sagging downward towards them. The same was true of the exits below, heaving upward.

Since he had first come here, Hiccup had intuited that the mindspace he shared with Toothless was itself a spherical void. Their minds had orbited at the center a safe pocket that was separate from everything that surrounded them. But now before his eyes, their safe harbor was collapsing. And as the two edges of space accelerated, he could only stare in horror as they closed like a set of jaws between his mind and Toothless'.

His last glimpse of the distant sphere showed him just a fleeting glimpse of scale as his mate's projection, and his mind disappeared behind colliding walls of empty space.

For the first time since Astrid's ax had bit into his shoulder, he was truly alone.

XXX

Ice Fang

The great expanse of the Ice Shelf was silent, with not even a breeze to disturb the expanse of frozen flakes that covered the plain. For miles in all directions there were only rolling drifts of white, presenting the appearance of an ocean locked into stillness. Above, the sky was a dark steely grey as the heavy clouds blocked what little of the fading autumn sun was left.

Through this ocean of stillness, a lithe shape made its undulating way. The snow made no sound as heavy paws crushed a path over the drifts, their owner appearing over the crests and vanishing into the valleys again.

Ice Fang had not run at this pace for so long a time in his entire life. The sharp air burned its way down his throat and an aching had settled deep into his paws. His tongue hung from the side of his jaw, flapping slightly as the wind tried to rend its flesh from his mouth. Despite these discomforts however the tiny, almost unnoticeable weight at his scruff kept his paws bounding.

The dragon swarm that had swept into the Arctic had passed by every wolf that had allowed itself to be spotted, flying first to the Shade's mountain and then farther north across the Silent Sea.

When Hyetal had met with the Shades and the Skinwalker, their ambassador, she had made their position quite clear. No member of the Packs was to engage in combat of any kind. There was to be no battle between the Packs and these invading southern dragons. But as Ice Fang had patrolled the borders of his pack's territory, he had seen the flight of the panicked Shades. They were disorganized and did not fly well together, often bumping and grazing one another, snapping and snarling as they pumped their wings desperately to take them beyond the reach of the angry cloud behind them.

He had seen the pup tumble from the back of her mother. Squeaking and crying with the fear of the infantile, she had careened downward to what would have been a swift and painless death.

The young wolf had not even paused to consider his act. He had started to sing immediately, calling on his Father the Wind to slow the pup's descent and his Mother the Ice to soften her frozen fur to receive the little creature gently. He'd run to her as fast as he could, and concealed her beneath himself while the baleful swarm of southern dragons had passed overhead. She was so young that her mind was not even walled to him. He knew the entirety of her at a touch, including her name.

Now, he chased the cloud of anger and spite northward, even as the cloud chased Yulla's family. He wasn't sure what he'd do if he caught up or even if he could catch them. But the thought of a young creature separated from her kind repelled his very being.

A low sound tickled the inside of Ice Fang's ear.

It started as no more than that, but quickly it grew into wolf song. He scanned the horizon as he crested another drift. Away to his right, a wind had stirred a small patch of snow into a swirling cloud, though the expanse around it stayed entirely still and motionless. From this small cloud, a four legged shape leapt.

The other wolf bounded a few lengths from the cloud before turning to place herself between Ice Fang and his course. Behind her the flurry settled to stillness again. Her distinctive scent gave her away at once.

Ubeve.

For a moment, Ice Fang considered trying to run around her, but he knew she was much faster. Deep in his chest his connection to Mother flickered, tenuous and weak after his request to save the life of the dragon pup. He suspected that she would not respond to him again today.

So rather than trying to avoid her Ice Fang slowed, first to a trot and then a walk. The she-wolf sat at the crest of the drift he was climbing, patiently waiting for him to arrive.

Ubeve was a beautiful female, her coat of deepest grey blending with the granite sky behind her. A square patch of white fur marked the space above her eyes between her ears. As the male approached, she lifted herself upright but remained sitting, pointing her ears toward the sky.

"Mother guide your way Fangr." Her voice was deep and solid. Immutable. As he approached, he made sure to drop his head to keep his ears below hers. This wasn't difficult as he was breathing heavily enough to set his neck loose.

"Father speed your step Ubeh." Before he could stop himself, he settled entirely to the ground breathing heavily and staring northward after his quarry.

"Quick Paw ran across your scent as he patrolled our borders Fangr. The trail stank of exhaustion and fatigue. What drives you to the limits of your endurance? This?" Ubeve stepped forward and nosed at the small bundle of scale that clung on to the fur of his ruff, inhaling deeply. A small terrified squeak responded. "Hyetal's memory of Shade's included a spiced scent, but I never thought it would be so sharp."

"I suspect that the pup's scent is stronger... nothing like an adult." The icy air still stung as it rushed too quickly in and out of Ice Fang's lungs. "She fell from her dam as they fled the invaders. I could not bear to watch her die."

The she-wolf stared down at him impassively, before letting out a short bark of laughter.

"The Mother has bestowed great Love upon your soft head Fangr! Ice Fang indeed, the ancestors should sing your name anew! Perhaps Soft Paw, or Gentle Gaze! Perhaps Strange Teat!" Her laughter continued in half choked barks and Ice Fang felt his resolve tighten within him. The Ice and Winds gave life equally to all creatures. Surely a pup of any kin, especially a fellow hunter deserved a chance to live and fight for their place as all his kind did.

"Say what you will Ubeh, I refuse to allow such a young hunter's life to be snuffed out. Does the lesson of our sister Ryshkaa mean nothing to you?"

Ubeve's laughter quieted immediately and she mustered her composure. "I'm sorry Fangr, I lost my perspective. The tale of Skinwalker Ryshkaa is instructive. Though you must admit that it's quite a sight to see you strive as a mother to this strangely shaped pup."

"If the only reason you are here is to chastise me for doing the work of a mother then please allow me to continue. I don't want to lose them."

"Hyetal sends me to you in fearful compassion. As I've said your trail was rank with exhaustion. You must stop and rest or you will fall to Mother's strictest teachings and take the pup with you."

"So you are to be my nurse then? Stopping me from freezing my paws?" He couldn't keep the sarcasm from his voice and he felt the vibrations as Ubeve gave a soft warning growl. "Very well. I will rest." The she-wolf was Hyetal's Third and upsetting her would do Ice Fang no favors. If he even lived through reuniting Yulla with her dam and sire.

He allowed the tension to drain from his shoulders as his breathing slowed to a normal rate. Beside him Ubeve stood vigil, staring out toward the horizon that hid the cloud of angry dragons and their powerful leader.

"I was also instructed to warn you. If you provoke the swarm, you may well bring destruction down on the heads of your pack. I will travel with you as an observer. If we are attacked, we have a better chance of one of us getting word back to the packs."

Ice Fang grunted his acknowledgement. He did not relish the idea of spending so much time away from his family while the sun died in the sky, bringing forth the long arctic night. But he had chosen his course, and now he had a companion to speak to on the way.

He sent a reassuring hum to the tiny mind of Yulla, whom he shielded from the outside world while she was too inexperienced to defend herself. The little dragon let out a friendly squeak in reply.

"If we don't follow after soon, we won't be able to catch up. And we've both exhausted our favor with Father and Mother."

"Rest for at least a few moments, then we will follow."

XXX

Tutore

Tutore had not moved since the confrontation with the leaders of Home Cave had ended. The outcrop which had been very crowded with Shades had slowly emptied as the leaders returned to their business and now he was left staring at the tiny Shade which had directly attacked him, and the cripple.

When he'd first observed the strange assortment of straps and lines attached to the young Shade from a distance, he had presumed that the human had dominated the young dragon, and that these human trappings were objects of control. It had seemed back then a very cruel irony, for the only Night Fury the Queen had ever snared to be freed from her trap by the bondage of another.

Now as the devastation of losing the ability of flight washed outward in torrential waves, he understood fully and completely that this Shade, Toothless, really had lost the power of flight when he'd been brought down months ago. Half of his tail-tip wing pair had been ripped away to be replaced with a synthetic replica. It seemed that the human hybrid deserved some credit for his ingenuity.

And once again Tutore found that he could not restrain his curiosity. He pushed his thoughts outward, and very slowly began to envelop the two Shades before him. Little by little, he enclosed the two in a small confined space, blocking out the minds of others. To his surprise and annoyance, the tiny Shade noticed his attempts immediately as the minds outside of the space grew dimmer.

The little dragon stood, moving himself before the cripple and hissed.

"Do your promises and apologies mean nothing old one? You promise to make a fresh start at dialog not fifty beats past and you once again try to cut us off from our family?"

At once Tutore recoiled, pulling his thoughts in close and tight, not allowing any emotion or thought to leak beyond his words.

"I must beg your patience, I have never contacted such a large number of my kind that lived so... tightly knit. It's normally the most strategic thing to isolate your... interlocutor. Why is it that you defend so ardently such strange and compromised members of a swarm? Surely that Shade should be dead long since?"

The little Shade hissed again, allowing just the slight rumble of a snarl to pass his throat. "We protect all members of our Wing stranger. Our strength lies in unity. We band together to shape our fate and the fate of the world."

Tutore felt a lurch in his chest as those words reverberated deep in his memory, and he had to work to restrain his tail from lashing backward. He managed to confine his agitation to a flick of his ears. It was many years ago that he had heard those same words spoken by someone dear.

Hoping to cover his pause and the thoughts beneath, Tutore responded quietly. "That sounds a little too close to the ways of the humans below for my liking." Tutore felt his lip curl slightly at the memory of the hobbling oaf with the missing limbs. Human society kept such damaged ones around because they lacked the ability to mercifully end one who was less than whole.

Before Skuru could answer him, a new voice spoke.

"The words of my elders should be wise and free from hypocrisy Old One." The cripple rose slowly to his feet stepping out of the wreckage of the compromised prosthetics. Without his wrappings of leather and iron cable the young Shade truly looked his age, somewhat small and ungainly. His balance was lopsided in the absence of the accustomed weight.

Despite his youth, the force of the cripple's voice rang in Tutore's mind. The older dragon found himself unable to resist the burning curiosity. Covertly he reached out to Toothless' mind trying to find the source of his strength even as the young Shade continued. "I'm certain that it was with a vulnerable human child riding astride you and under your protection that you came to us. Why is it that you provide such support and protection to one who would have died without it?"

The cripple's thoughts were still chaotic, a mess of emotion and some small amount of fear for his lost flight rippling outward and lapping against the minds of everyone nearby, but his words did not waver. When Tutore tried to push deeper, he found that his probe could not move. He could not push deeper and he could not withdraw.

The cripple had caught hold of him.

"If you wish to criticize the bond that I share with my mate, or the bond that we two share with our Wing, then you'd best tell me exactly what it is you think you're doing with the human Astrid." Toothless stepped forward now, past Skuru and snarled quietly over Tutore's prone body. "You poke and prod and explain none of your reasoning while we work for the Queen's downfall. We need every scrap of assistance we might possibly find. I will not allow your secretive ways to undermine us."

Tutore felt the grip on his mental probe flex, tightening uncomfortably and bringing the young dragon's thoughts dangerously close. Unbidden, his curiosity rose again. How had this Shade's mental abilities developed so powerfully under the influence of the Queen? What were his limits? Tutore carefully chose the words of his response, not allowing any frustration to leak out with them.

"When I watched you and the human... Hiccup? ... together, I was desperately curious to know exactly what was happening. Where did he gain his abilities and body from when you are so clearly barren of the Fire? I do not know the answers to these questions though I watched very intently." Tutore watched the young dragon's eyes sharpen.

"You were here on Berk when I was shot down? You were watching when I met Hiccup?"

"I... was." The older Shade stretched his claws with slight discomfort. He'd been speaking to beings that could hear him for far longer than he was used to. He certainly hadn't expected someone adept enough to recognize his covert intrusions. As he spoke he searched his own mind for signs of an attack from the younger dragon. "I have used this island to observe the Queen for many years."

There was an extended silence now. Waiting for the Cripple's response drove Tutore beyond the limits of his patience with the hold Toothless was exerting. He slowly sucked in a deep breath, allowing it to penetrate into the deepest places in his chest. With a slight lurch Tutore shifted the base of his throat and the air began to vibrate as it passed back out through his nose. The sound was so low that it seemed to get lost among the gurgling of his own gut, but it had the desired effect.

The thoughts which had snared Tutore's own probe began to ripple and vibrate, synchronous with the rumbling in his chest. And just as Tutore had hoped, his inexperienced opponent had no idea it was even happening.

Slowly, carefully he slid a second probe of thought outward, keeping it far from Toothless, and pressing slowly and lightly against the mind of the one called Skuru. The tiny dragon's mental defense was also vibrating in time with the low pitch that Tutore was making in his chest.

"When exactly did you plan to share knowledge of the Queen with us?" A note of sarcasm had entered the cripple's words. "We've come here with the sole intent of putting her to the pyre and ending her threat against all our kind and you only choose now to reveal that you've been spying upon her for years? On Berk no less? And you reveal this knowledge not to our leaders when you meet them, but to me, a mere Cripple?" The young dragon was angry now and his thoughts were beginning to shake more violently, his control deteriorating in his rage.

As Toothless spoke however, Tutore flexed. Toothless' hold on him shattered as the vibrations overcame the tendrils of thought that had been holding him. Simultaneously the tendril of thought that he'd sent worming into the mind of Skuru struck out. The tiny dragon involuntarily launched himself forward, stomping on the cripple's tail and falling across his hips before tumbling to the ground.

Toothless recoiled in shock and leapt to the opposite side, away from the unknown assault and turned. Tutore easily withdrew within himself, safe once again in his own head. He cut off the thrumming from his throat at the same time and stood, looking down as the two young dragons tried to disentangle themselves.

"My plans and thoughts are my own. I have no obligation to share them without reason. If you think you have some right to know my mind, then you must take it from me yourself." With that he turned away to leap from the outcrop. "The only Will that matters is the strongest."

"If that's the case, then what's to stop the Wings from taking what we need to know from you?" Toothless' voice had become low and deceivingly calm.

Tutore turned back toward the cripple with a snort but before he could speak, a frigid wave of icy cold washed down his spine.

The Cripple stood before him, slightly lopsided and off balance just as before. But even as Tutore examined him the young dragon straightened, widening his stance to compensate for the unfamiliar lack of weight. He lifted both wings and flared them out instantly tripling the size of his profile. And with the snap of scaled flesh, Tutore felt his vision begin to waver and blur slightly at the edges.

Fearing an attack on his own mind, Tutore retreated within himself. His will congealed into the form of a Shade within his mindspace, a vision of his own body free of the scars and the wear that a long life had inflicted on his flesh. He floated freely a small distance away from the enormous sphere at the center. With a beat of imaginary wings, he turned in a slow circle, trying to find the source of the freezing feeling and the distortion of his physical senses.

As though in response to his attention, a second freezing gust washed across his ethereal form. The lines of his body blurred slightly as the wind plucked at the nonexistent scale with vitriolic claws. When the gust hit the sphere of his mind, Tutore only barely suppressed a cry of discomfort. The assault seemed to blow right through the hard shell of his defenses like a winter storm through barren trees.

Once again he turned outward, searching for the source of the attack.

Tutore had worked long and hard to decrease the number of exits in his own mindspace. He'd spent the majority of his life blocking any and all forms of ingress, ensuring that only he could come and go. The number of white points at his mind's periphery had become so small that only a few were visible in any given direction. Whoever was attacking him was concealed in the flat blackness between the scattered points of white.

They were already inside.

But as the frigid wind continued to tear at his thoughts, he finally gathered himself enough to resist.

With a bark of anger, he launched a mental probe out toward the edges of his mind. It left him as a plasma shot from his phantasmal maw.

It did not travel far before it was swallowed by blackness.

With a cry of rage, Tutore opened his jaws again, breathing a steady stream of golden fire. With a flex of his thought the ribbon expanded, as though stoked by human bellows. The fire rushed outward coalescing to form a ring around the sphere of Tutore's mind.

Slowly he widened the circle, pushing outward into the empty space that buffered his mind from the world. The sight they revealed made Tutore freeze in place, his angry thoughts falling silent, and the ring of flames recoiled away from what he saw.

The golden light of his defensive fire had lit an enormous figure, a projection of a Shade floating in the void. It was still and silent, eyes closed, limbs hanging limply and its wings slightly spread as though it were floating in water. The vision could almost seem peaceful except for its sheer size and frigid aura. It was several hundred times larger than Tutore's own projection. If he could have approached, he'd have been able to land easily on the monstrosity's paw.

As he looked closer, he noted that the tail swirling far below, was missing half of the wing pair at its tip.

For a brief instant, Tutore was afraid. Had he misjudged the cripple so grossly? Had the hatchling been able to conceal the power of his mind so completely?

But even as the shock rippled through his own thoughts, he saw a waver pass through the entire behemoth, like a ripple in the surface of a pond. Even as he watched, the form of the giant Shade shifted, slowly enlarging in some places and shrinking in others.

For a moment, Toothless' misshapen tail replaced by a smaller tail that was whole. Then the wings seemed to enlarge, spreading further before both body parts reverted to the shape of the cripple, as though Toothless' mind was fighting with others to define his enormous shape.

Tutore understood in the same instant that the enormous eyes opened. But instead of eyes, the lids concealed empty white voids, blinding in their stark contrast with the darkness that surrounded them.

"If the strongest Will is all that matters Tutore, surely Ours will suffice."

Tutore felt his lip curl and a snarl ripped from his throat. Four voices had spoken in unison. Toothless' was the loudest, and his mind seemed to be the frame supporting the other three. In years past, Tutore had heard three voices speak as one. And he would not allow these dragons to repeat that experience.

"You may well break me. But you cannot make me obey, as they did."

As they considered each other, Tutore made a desperate inspection of his mind. His defenses seemed sound, though the frigid gusts that blew across the surface were making them painful to maintain. He could not find any sign that the behemoth had reached anywhere close to his sanctuary. Despite that, Tutore could not shake a horrible feeling of desecration.

"Why is it that you think it just to subjugate a single mind, when you claim that death is preferable to submitting to Us? We do not seek obedience. Only knowledge."

The words were thunderous and Tutore could feel the shell of his defenses vibrating.

"Just because you do not seek my obedience does not mean I won't obey."And for a moment, Tutore was back in the vast network of tunnels, resting on the smooth glossy floor of a hall lit with ethereal fire. And he saw the desperate curiosity within the incredibly aged eye of a Shade that also had no regard for the sanctity of his own mind. And now just as then, Tutore felt the extreme frustration that could only be eased by teaching.

"You are so young that it does not even occur to you that your actions have consequences." Tutore felt his own frustration flare at the young Shades before him, some of them old enough to know better. "It's dangerous to allow your thoughts to mingle so freely with others. Your thoughts are the purest expression of yourself. Mixing them with another's thoughts makes corruption inevitable."

At these words, the behemoth flinched slightly as though this suggestion of the obvious was a true shock.

"At least in the case of a single other, one might hold their own in a debate. Your thoughts may be colored by their opinion, but at least you might notice. You can fight against it. Remind yourself of who you are, and who they are. But a blasphemous amalgam such as this thing I see before me? How can the three of you even suggest to me that you retain your unique identities? You're as bad as those three piles of bones sitting on their shelves in the north.

If you do not enforce your own sense of self, then in the end it's easier to let go of differences and become homogenous. It was communal living, communal thinking that destroyed us when we were great."

The pressure against Tutore's mind seemed to intensify briefly, before suddenly fading entirely.

The frigid wind reversed, blowing away from Tutore and out to the borders of his mind. The enormous form of the white eyed Shade began to distort as the wind started to pull it apart. Enormous tendrils of shadow left it, speeding out to the edges of the mindspace before they dispersed back to their original owners.

In moments, the enormous Shade disintegrated, leaving a normal projection of Toothless floating high over Tutore. And Tutore noticed that his projection was maimed just as his body was, half of the tail wing pair missing.

He drifted lower slowly, until he was level with Tutore.

"Speak only to me then, if it is your preference old one. Are you referring to the end of the Silver Age?"

The elder dragon lifted his wings as the weight of three other minds disappeared from them, freed from their icy bonds. He was no longer a prisoner within his own mind.

With a screech, he lashed out. He only meant to strike Toothless' thoughts, scatter them long enough to flee. He twisted his ethereal form sinuously flicking his tail outward to whip against the projection's face.

To his absolute fury, instead of scattering the projection like it should have, his tail froze in place. Once again Toothless had actually caught hold of him, shadowy tendrils wrapping around the tail and creeping toward the rest of his own projection.

"Stop this baseless antagonism."The young dragons thought showed a tinge of frustration.

Tutore felt an angry hiss rip its way out of his throat. Across from him on the rock outcrop, Toothless sat still and unconcerned while Skuru responded in kind with his own hiss.

"Baseless indeed you foolish hatchling! Everything you're doing will bring ruin on us all. And if you know how the Silver Age ended, then you should not have any trouble realizing that you are dooming us utterly."

Within the mindspace, Toothless' projection gave an aggravated shake of the head. "If you are so concerned, then why don't you share this knowledge with the Wings? We must not fail in destroying the Queen or she will subjugate every Night Fury in this hemisphere! We only narrowly escaped her strike force in the North!"

Tutore went still, absorbing the news that the reason the Wings were here, was a preemptive attack on Home Cave.

"If she's already attacked and you came here in this state, there is less hope for us than I thought."

"Stop speaking in riddles and tell me…"

"NO." Tutore interrupted the younger dragon cutting across his words and silencing them. "No I will NOT tell you what you want to know. The world does not owe you explanations and I won't provide them just because you expect every Shade to open like one of your human's books because you ask! If you want to know what I know, then you will have to best me!"

"There is no reason to fight why don't we…"

"SILENCE!"

Without the other members of his Wing, Toothless' projection was buffeted by the force of the mental shout, and it took a moment before it regained its fully realized shape.

"I am not going to play teacher and try to lead you by the snout to conclusions that any Shade half your age should be able to reach. I'm not as patient as Alda." The mention of that name caused a deep pang in Tutore's chest, but it was gratifying to see Toothless' eyes go wide with shock. "He would do a lovely little dance, a joust with words to lead you in ever widening circles until you could not help but stumble on to the answer yourself. I have higher standards."

Once again Tutore growled low, vibrating the place deep in his chest that resonated so low that it affected the mind rather than the ear.

"If you want to know what I know, then you will have to overpower me, as a Shade in the natural world would, without help from freakish amalgams or hybrid half species. And perhaps in your efforts to do THAT, you might strike on some sense of the truth on your own. Now get out of my sight."

With that he unleashed the breath he'd slowly built in a sharp bark. The mindspace vanished as the sound ripped away any semblance of a projected thought, clearing the sight away from Tutore's eyes to be replaced with Skuru rubbing worriedly against Toothless' side. The Cripple himself was shaking his head confusedly as though he weren't quite seeing clearly.

Quickly Tutore turned and leapt from the outcropping.

XXX

Skuru

The moment the old dragon dropped over the outcrop, there was a sense of profound quiet within Skuru's mind, as though a long droning sound was suddenly silenced, and he was able to focus his thoughts again. The obstruction had been so subtle that it had gone entirely unnoticed. Taking advantage of his new mental freedom he reached out touching first Toothless, assuring himself of his wellbeing, then reached further out to Ryshkaa.

Ryshkaa's thoughts were focused and intent. She'd missed the entire confrontation high on the cliffs above while she tried to divine the source of Hiccup's sudden malaise.

Beside him Toothless stepped to the edge of the rock, gazing down to where the older dragon was winging his way toward the coast. Skuru's wingmate was still snarling low and long while his thoughts radiated his frustration.

"Skuru, is my tailfin secure?"

Skuru had to shake his head as Toothless' words forced his focus back to his current surroundings. "What?"

"My fin! My false fin, has it locked in place?" And the frustration was boiling hotter, sounding closer to anger now. At the same time, Toothless lifted his tail and waved the unbalanced fin in Skuru's face. "Is the false fin moving or not?"

"N- No!" Skuru stuttered as he tried to figure out exactly what he was looking at. "The fin isn't moving, it looks like it's gone rigid." Some clever working of Hiccup's no doubt. When the leather straps and cabling had broken, the fin had locked in an open position, rigid and unyielding.

"Good. Wait for Ryshkaa and Hiccup to return. Don't let anyone follow me." And before Skuru could protest, Toothless leapt from the outcropping, wings stretched wide to catch the breeze and glide.

Skuru braced himself to leap after the crippled Shade, but an immediate rebuke reverberated within his mind. "Stop Skuru." Toothless' voice took on a strange quality, the words seeming to ripple within his mind, lapping at the edges of his will and forcing his paws to a stop. "I need to speak with Tutore alone. I don't know how long it will take. Tell Hiccup..."

A flash of anguish rippled outward from Toothless' mind before suddenly cutting off.

As Skuru reached out toward Hiccup and Ryshkaa, he found a barrier.

Before the small dragon could really start to panic, Sycle's voice broke into his fearful thoughts. "Be calm Skuru. Hiccup and Toothless need privacy. We will meet you back at the hollow."

XXX

Astrid

The morning was chilled and damp. Winter, it seemed was intent on dragging out its arrival and leaving the island of Berk hovering in a state between soaked and freezing. The frost that had accumulated in the night was swiftly dispersed by the rising sun. The melting ice left droplets of dew that sunk into the earth, softening the ground and dampening every person, possession, and braid of hair on the heads of what remained of the proud Vikings of Berk.

Astrid, favored by her comrades and her parents was left to rest even after the sun had risen, but as she tried to cling desperately to the trailing veil of sleep, a persistent drip of water began to fall from the sheet of spare sail that was stretched above her. Each icy prick of water struck her cheek just below her eye and ran down to her neck, stealing away a little more of her blissful rest one splatter at a time.

All around her, the sound of muffled voices and quiet scuffling filled the air. The makeshift camp seemed alive with activity. She could not isolate any one task, and the voices were indistinct, speaking sentences that were nearly understandable, but remained little more than a quiet hum in her ears. Briefly she found herself wondering if Hiccup would be able to pick out the conversations around her.

With a shiver, her memory summoned images of the enormous scaled ears on either side of the boy's head, swiveling this way and that to catch every minuscule rustle. And she was certain that Hiccup likely would be able to not only hear the conversations clearly, but was probably capable of figuring out the position of each speaker and if he remembered them, their identities.

With that troubling thought, she found that she could no longer stand to lie inactive. Despite the wonderful feeling of sleeping on something that approximated a bed, a pile of furs, she simply could not be at ease without knowing what was going on. She slowly allowed her eyes to slide open.

Above, the sheet of canvas which was meant to keep her out of the elements, was covered in the condensed moisture of the breath of every other Viking sleeping beneath it. Glancing to either side she saw the lines of makeshift beds, many of which were occupied by large snoring mounds of hide and hair, undisturbed and ignorant of the morning.

With a yawn and a stretch she made to rise to her feet, reaching for her knives as she did. Now that she was back among the villagers she'd have to see about finding an ax that might fit her hand.

But before she could take hold of her knives, a small snort froze her in place and tensed her shoulders. Slowly, she turned her head and looked down toward the pile of furs.

There, nestled against her thigh and the wall of furs she surrounded herself with, was the slumbering Terrible Terror which she'd unwittingly adopted. The small lizard was breathing deeply and slowly, the picture of utter relaxation amidst this nest of its mortal enemies.

The warmth of her modest bed was sucked directly out of her body as the cold of fear seeped into her. Rapidly she glanced around, making sure that every Viking around her was still sound asleep. Then, as quickly as she could manage she reached out to grasp her knives and the cloak from beside her on the ground. With a swift motion she'd surrounded the still sleeping Terror with the cloak and wrapped it into a small bundle which gave an indignant squawk as the dragon inside protested its treatment.

When she ducked past the canvas flap that separated her from the rest of the world, a blast of cool moist air made her blink a few times. The first thing that caught her eye was the horizon.

Out beyond the makeshift camp, the scourged earth that had replaced their village lay black and desolate, the moisture in the air having cooled whatever hotspots remained from the maelstrom of fire that had wiped away their enemies the previous day. And now a veil of mist lay hovering above and around the crater.

Beyond the blackened soil, the cliffs dropped away and Astrid could see the sea shimmering dully to reflect the colors that were building on the horizon, the slate grey of a storm. While the sun shone brightly down on the island, the distant sea was darkened by angrily roiling clouds. They silently promised great violence to come.

Astrid shook her head slightly. That was something to be worried about after they had treated with the Night Furies. And after she'd rid herself of her unexpected company.

As she stepped away from the shelter, she saw that she'd been deceived. What had sounded to her a hushed hustle and bustle that was going on quietly all around her, was merely the hushed voices of many small groups huddled together speaking quietly. Behind her, the entrance to the Hall stood gaping and empty with no doors blocking access.

When first she'd arrived back among the villagers, the smell had nearly brought tears to her eyes. Every single person, and every item that had been inside the Hall now carried with them a slight odor of must and rot. Most of the bedridden Vikings that had not been seriously injured were coming around quickly in the fresh air, but she knew that Hiccup's arrival had been nothing short of a miracle, pulling them all back from the threshold of death.

Only to place them back at it if they weren't able to adapt quickly enough.

As she hustled through the small camp, villagers glanced up and gave her hearty nods and smiles, even a few winks, but all staying quiet. Little was left to do now that the canvas tents had been erected to shelter the villagers from reptilian eyes and what weapons they had were stored and ready within. Astrid for her part returned every smile and gesture as best as she could while trying to keep the slightly wriggling bundle under control at her side.

By some miracle, she made it to the edge of camp without anyone staring too hard at the cloak. Before she could find a good place to set the Terror down however, her eyes fell upon Stoick.

The Chief stood some way down the hill on a small rise, staring out toward the stormy horizon over the smoldering crater of Berk, leaning only slightly on the spear that he carried with him always now. She went to join him.

Without turning to look at her, Stoick spoke.

"Good morning Astrid." His voice was calm and relaxed. Free of tension. When she turned to see if his face was equally as tranquil, she nearly let out a small scream, just barely managing to hold it back and turn it into a choking cough. The large man turned and grinned down at her.

All her life, Astrid had identified Stoick almost primarily by the enormous beard that covered his entire chest, braided in a few places at the ends. It was a beard that one could presumably lose entire limbs within, combing through a forest of strands that could cow an enemy or ally merely by its size and bearing. She could not remember a time when that beard had been any smaller than her torso.

But now, the man who stood before her was entirely clean-shaven. A smooth pale face marred in places by angry red scars from the places where his once magnificent beard had caught fire. Now instead of a bedraggled half beard, there was nothing. Empty blankness and inch after inch of smooth flesh.

Astrid tried to bring her thoughts back together but it took a moment. All the while her Chief grinned down at her with a light of supreme amusement in his eye.

"Yes well, I'm not exactly used to it myself." Stock lifted a hand, fingers wide as though he meant to stroke his nonexistent beard. Instead his fingers fell on either side of his marred chin."But if I'm to have judgement passed on me, I shouldn't look like a half drowned cat heh?"

With eyes still wide Astrid nodded mutely, unable to conjure any other response.

The Terror in her arms however had no such problem. With a final wriggle and a gurgling cry, it freed itself from the cloak that had concealed it and fell to the ground. It turned and chirped imperiously at Astrid.

Briefly, Astrid let her eyes flash to the chief. Stoick had managed to stay his hand, but his knife was still naked and poised to strike at the dragon before him.

"I take it..." Stoick's voice was very low now intent on not alarming the Terror or any Vikings nearby. "...that this is the Terrible Terror you told me about? The one you spared that's been following you around?"

Astrid nodded mutely. Before she could muster any sort of excuse or story however, the Terror chirped again demandingly.

"I don't have any food for you!" Astrid tried to keep her voice as low as Stoick's. "Go dig something out of a tree! Get away from here! Go find Hiccup!"

The urgency in her tone must have gotten through to the little lizard. Its eyes widened and it gave a small squawk of alarm, before scurrying away from them toward the forest, keeping itself to the taller portions of the fading grass.

"I'm sorry Chief the damned thing must have snuck into camp last night. I woke up with it in my bed." Now that the immediate threat to her small companion's safety had been addressed, she turned back to Stoick, fearing his reaction to this most recent invasion of the sanctity of Berk by scaled beasts.

"Well... you'll have to ask Hiccup if he can address that when we speak to him." There was some hesitancy in Stoick's words. He clearly was entirely unfamiliar with a situation in which the solution was not to slaughter the dragon in question. A situation for which he'd have to seek guidance from Hiccup.

After a moment of reflection the large man shook his head. "But in any case Astrid I'm glad you came to me this morning. Let's get down to it." And he gestured with his head before stepping away from the rest of the villagers, still leaning only slightly on the spear in his hand. After only a brief moment of hesitation, she followed after him.

"You'll be meeting Hiccup with me, and you're the only one who's spoken directly with him since he's come back. May I trust you to be the better judge of what he's saying and whether it's genuine?"

Stoick launched so quickly and candidly into this discussion, Astrid felt the earth shift beneath her again. This time however, she was able to orient herself and respond intelligently.

"I'll do my best Chief. Though making judgments like that will be difficult. He's..." Images of scales and slit pupils flashed through her mind. "...he's not like he was when he left."

"Clearly." Stoick's voice had become grim and Astrid knew that he was reliving last night, standing amongst the decimation of his home, while his son looked down from the peak of the ashes. His voice lowered and became solemn. "Though I think we can both agree that I was no accurate judge of him back then either." As she watched, a distant light entered Stoick's eye and she wondered if perhaps he was seeing Hiccup as he had been, frail and weak, with eyes downcast.

"I'll do my best sir… um… what in particular will I be judging?" His willingness to confide in her and seek her opinions threatened to overwhelm her as she strove to sound confident and assured.

"Our biggest concern is not Hiccup but the dragons. I want to know how well he can keep them in check. Whatever terms Hiccup agrees to, will the dragons abide by them? You are the most experienced here. What do you think?"

Once again images from the previous night flashed through her head. Pitch blackness with the hum of dragons on all sides. Hiccup's humored laugh ringing across the emptiness, watching her while she could see nothing. Each of Hiccup's mannerisms, glancing and gesturing to the dragons around him, and stroking and brushing against Toothless naturally, with no trace of fear. How could she make him understand without revealing the full extent of Hiccup's changes?

"Stoick... Hiccup will not be as easy to negotiate with as you seem to think. He has no interest in returning to Berk. I didn't want to emphasize this in front of everyone else but... I'm not sure if he's really even... he's not…" Glowing green eyes with slitted pupils. A body, powerful, lithe and scaled. Burning flames that enveloped and changed his appearance. All of these were things she'd seen and had told no one. Stoick at the very least had to be somewhat warned.

"…He's not a child anymore."

The chief had not turned to face her this time. Instead he simply stared out past the cliffs toward the clouds that seethed and whispered on the horizon. His eyes had taken on their transparent cast again, as though they saw nothing that was before them. Finally he spoke.

"The night I lost him is... cloudy. The only things I remember are distorted and strange. My son, but not my son… Not my son's eyes. They seemed almost…"

Astrid shuddered, recalling with absolute clarity the memory that Stoick took for a hallucination. Hiccup's cold, angry voice commanding them to stay where they were. His strangely hot fingers pressing into the sides of her throat as he held her captive. And strangest of all, twin sets of inhuman eyes staring coldly at the two of them.

"So long as he's still Hiccup, so long as he can be reasoned with, I will accept terms for the safety of our people.."

She could not suppress the wince. If Stoick noticed, he made no acknowledgement. She tried to reassure him.

"Even if he's... different, he's not a monster. He told me when we spoke, that he regrets many of the things he did before he left. He said that most of them were born from instinct and a lack of... experience. When he killed Snotlout..." She paused as now Stoick winced. "...it was an act of defense. Snotlout tried to kill Toothless, and Hiccup... responded accordingly."

"He'll defend a dragon to the bitter end..." Stoick's tone became slightly wistful and to Astrid's shock the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "You know... I hoped that dragon training.. perhaps that you and the other kids, would shape him up. I hoped I'd come home to a son that might one day distinguish himself in battle. Earn his birthright as a future chieftain. I believed that someday..."

A sudden gust of icy wind washed over them as the distant storm clouds drove the air before them. Astrid shivered slightly.

"I suppose in some twisted way, or by some whim of Loki… I got my wish."

Out beyond the cliffs, the roiling clouds darkened further, rising high into the sky to darken the noonday sun into a pale imitation.

XXX

Hiccup

When Hiccup woke, he paused.

All around, the world announced itself in subtle ways. Against his scales he could feel the grinding and rasping of Ryshkaa's body shifting as she breathed. And where there was no scale to rasp against his own, the warmth of the sun glowed softly against his face, ears, and arms. The soft caress of air that ruffled his hair and shifted his ears back and forth brought with it scents from the autumn chilled forest. Crisp pine, and beneath it, the moss and earth dulled by the frost that had crept so slowly over it in the night.

Hiccup began to stretch and lengthen his spine, starting to push away Ryshkaa's wings. She grumbled as he tried to wriggle free of her sleepy grip, and tail and paws pulled tighter as a low grumble escaped her throat. With his eyes still closed, Hiccup grinned to himself. This aggressive, half conscious snuggling was a far sight removed from the way Ryshkaa had treated him, or any Shade for that matter when they'd first met. Perhaps Toothless' influence was drawing her closer.

But that thought held him up short, erasing the grin from his face. The sunlight seemed to lose its warmth, sapping away the pleasant tingling as the smells all around grew dull and uninteresting. There was a reason it was Ryshkaa he was sleeping with. The touch of her scales suddenly felt wrong and foreign.

Tentatively he opened himself to his mindspace, and found only the single sphere of his own mind. Solitary. Isolated.

The hollow feeling that filled Hiccup's chest was familiar. He'd become well acquainted with it when Alda had forced them to stay separate, to strengthen their independent minds. But when they had kept themselves to themselves, it had only ever been a lack of contact. Hiccup had merely been tormented by the fact that he was withholding himself from Toothless' mind. Now, Toothless had reshaped their mindspace, and removed himself to a place that Hiccup did not know how to enter.

He wasn't able to stop himself from trying. All through the night he had reached out, grasping at the missing half of his heart, and his mind. The best he'd done was to catch an impression of a vague shape at the extreme edges of his thoughts. A tantalizing impression of Toothless, perhaps the connection between them was simply not dissolvable. But when he reached for it, he was rebuffed by thoughts that were featureless and dark, but wild as though Toothless was raging and lashing out.

Hiccup tried to take comfort in Toothless' final words. 'Wait for me'. He intended to return. This separation was temporary. A means by which he was pursuing some sort of assistance from Tutore, but he could not fathom why or how.

The memories that Skuru had shared of the encounter between Toothless and Tutore were distorted and fuzzy, as though Skuru had been half asleep when he'd experienced the confrontation. And afterward Toothless had cut himself off, not just from Hiccup but the rest of the Wing as well.

Before he could lose himself to his pondering and sorrow, a new smell came wafting across his nose, one far sharper than the frost dusted pines and it pulled Hiccup's attention back to his surroundings. He froze and his eyes snapped open. Why hadn't Kale sensed the threat of a foreign dragon?

The scent source was far closer than he'd expected. Directly in front of his nose, so close that he had to cross his eyes slightly, the snout of a Terrible Terror hovered with nostrils spread wide. This little dragon was clinging tightly to Ryshkaa's shoulder and breathing deeply, trying to suck in as much of Hiccup's scent as it could. The Terror's large eyes were bugging with fear even as it tried to inch closer.

Instinctively Hiccup shrunk his shoulders inward, trying his best to appear less threatening. Slowly he reached out with his mind, seeking to calm the little bundle of nerves without waking his sleeping companion. It was clear now that Kale had recognized Astrid's Terror and left his Wingmates to their rest.

But to his confusion, his thoughts did not find the dragon where it ought to be. When he communed with other Shades there was always a sense of the presence of their mind. Ryshkaa shone and pulsed clearly wrapped around him, fast asleep. Beyond he could sense Skuru near the embers of their fire, sleeping fretfully. Beyond that there was Kale keeping watch and a vague sense of the many Shades that were scattered throughout the forest and above in the sky.

When Hiccup tried to reach toward the Terror, there was nothing to guide him. No obvious flame of a mind, nor flicker of tenuous thought reaching toward himself.

Despite this lack of a clear target however, he could still feel a slight vibration. As though the ether surrounding his mind were rippling. He could feel the effect of the Terror's presence, but he could not actually sense it.

With this in mind he tried to radiate welcome and calm thoughts. Warmth and wellbeing spreading from him in all directions, as he reached out a hand slowly and gently.

Difficult as it was to suppress his stress and worry over Toothless the Terror visibly relaxed, its small quakes stilling, as fear left it and it leaned down to push its face into Hiccup's palm.

A tiny hint of a smile made its way across the hybrid's face. Around him, Ryshkaa gave a soft grunt and made to wrap herself more tightly around her smaller Wingmate. Quickly, Hiccup rose out of the tangle of wings and legs and leapt lightly over Ryshkaa's tail. The Terror, also leapt away and landed softly on the partly frozen earth at Hiccup's feet.

"Hiccup?"

The soft call was only a brushing touch against his consciousness, but the contact brought the lack of Toothless' thoughts into stark relief. Scycle's voice became a file dragging its way across the raw edges of his mind. Without Toothless' mind close and encompassing, Hiccup's thoughts felt exposed and vulnerable like a wound.

He flinched away and his body cringed into itself, away from the enormous empty world that surrounded him. Dropping to one knee, and ignoring the terror's squawk of protest, he scooped the surprised reptile into his arms and held it tight against his chest.

The tiny dragon was warm against Hiccup's scales, and the tiny heartbeat while much quicker than his own was steady and strong. It offered some sense that the hole Hiccup felt in his mind and his body was not actually a mortal wound. There were still living breathing things all around him.

"Hiccup." The second call was just as gentle as the first but now a tinge of warmth glowed beneath it. "Hiccup I'm sorry. I know that the current situation is not... ideal."

Hiccup choked on an involuntary laugh. A horrible sound that called to mind the death of a bird rather than amusement.

"Yes... you are distressed. But your Wing needs you. I know that it may seem like the least important thing now, but the council is about to decide our strategy for your meeting with your father. You must be present. You are the strongest voice for the humans, and I know that you will only suffer more if they are destroyed."

The Vikings. Berk. His father.

Astrid.

Hiccup's eyes lifted from the ground and his focus sharpened. At the edge of the small clearing, the exact texture of the moss crawling its way across a boulder stood out in extreme detail. A dense, tangled clump of green reaching in every direction with no sign of the original source of growth.

The mess he'd left behind when he'd left with Toothless was coming close to turning deadly. And the hole in his chest must not stop him from keeping new blood from his claws.

The Terror in his arms gave an aggravated shriek as the arms which held it in place tensed and began to squeeze. Automatically Hiccup thrust his arms open, letting the small dragon drop to the ground.

"Sorry little friend." The small dragon gave an aggravated snort and turned deliberately away from the hybrid.

For a moment Hiccup feared that the dragon would run off, but then the lizard tilted it's head slightly to stare back at him through the corner of one bulbous eye. He clicked his tongue as he'd seen Astrid do the previous night though the sound was slightly muffled and strange as air slid through the cleft. Despite this and to his delight, the little dragon responded with a small chirp before bolting toward him. It scrambled up his leg and took a majestic position on his shoulder, staring out towards the forest before giving an imperious squawk that very clearly commanded Hiccup to walk.

Hiccup found that the corner of his lip lifted at the tiny dragon's impetuous behavior. "Forgive me Sycle. I did not mean to ignore the... the situation." With a brief brush of thought Hiccup touched Ryshkaa and Skuru, checking to make sure they were still asleep. Ryshkaa was sleeping soundly, while Skuru groggily acknowledged Hiccup.

"I'll keep her company. You go and meet the Wing Leaders."

Nodding to Skuru, Hiccup obeyed the Terror's command and began striding through the dawning light that filtered weakly through the trees. In front of him his breath billowed in a misty cloud that told him a normal human would be shivering. As it was Hiccup found that the wan light felt like a comforting tickle against each part of his scales that it touched.

As they made their way towards the cove, the Terror launched itself from its perch at Hiccup's shoulder and began to scamper up and down the tree trunks, tearing at the bark with it's tiny claws as it did.

"What do the other Wings think of us Sycle? Do any of the Wing Leaders see the benefit of keeping the Vikings alive?"

"Well..." Sycle's hesitance made they hybrid's shoulders slump slightly. "Well of course I am in favor, though as any would point out I'm quite biased in the favor of your kin. Gallic seems willing to be magnanimous in this matter as well, but I think he's just confident in our mastery of the island. Most everyone else seems to be either ambivalent or else outwardly hostile to the idea of leaving the humans alive."

Hiccup sucked in a deep breath. Allowing it to escape slowly as he considered their position. "Well, to be perfectly honest Sycle, I don't think I can hide the fact that I'm motivated a great deal by guilt. I'm at least partially if not fully responsible for the Queen's attention on Berk becoming so... aggressive." Before Sycle could put words to a feeling of intense doubt, Hiccup continued. "But I do believe that there is good reason to let them live."

"Well, that's exactly what these other Shades will need to be convinced of."

As Sycle spoke, Hiccup broke free from the cover of the trees and stared down into the Cove. Most of the Shades that had been present the previous night had dispersed across the island leaving most of the space by the small lake empty. A large bonfire had been built and forty or so Shades rested around it. He gave the sharp whistle to call the Terror back to him, causing a few heads below to life and stare.

"You'd best ride on me if you're coming little buddy. Wouldn't want you to get eaten." With a dismayed squawk the Terror leapt from the tree it was foraging in, to glide to a soft landing not on Hiccup's shoulder, but to the ground where it disappeared into the undergrowth leaving nothing behind but rustling branches and an echo of a disgruntled whine.

"Or, flee in terror. That is a perfectly valid option. Maybe I should try that…"

Biting his lip Hiccup began making his descent into the Cove, jumping from rock to rock He spotted Gallic and his second Tyfol as well as Sycle and Kale sitting close together. He also recognized Kaira and Myza. Many others he was only familiar with by sight. The majority of the Wings were represented in the circle but a few leaders were absent and listening through the minds of those present.

As he drew closer, Sycle brought him within the confines of the council's collective mindspace and their words became clear.

"...simply cannot be tolerated. You've all seen Hiccup's memories as I have. The humans are brutal savages. If we allow them to continue living then part of our force will be dedicated to ensuring their cooperation and surveilling their activity. They must be destroyed."

Hiccup winced as the unknown voice condemned Astrid, but he took note that the Shade had used his name.

"Thank you for your words Shelba." Gallic was acting as the mediator and his rumbling baritone settled the whisper of shifting scale that had been caused by Shelba's statement. "Does anyone have a counterpoint?"

Before he could raise his voice, Sycle spoke privately. "Wait."

And to Hiccup's surprise a different voice answered Gallic.

"I agree with Shelba's point, that the human's battle prowess is formidable. Truly they are the closest thing to a natural predator that the dragons of this region have." Disquieted murmuring rose to meet these words and Hiccup felt his stomach drop. "But surely to destroy them, we must ignore the circumstances that preceded this situation? How is it that they became such fearsome killers?"

In the silence, Hiccup felt himself smile.

"It has been a generations long conflict, an artificial battle imposed by the Enemy that has hardened and sharpened them into dragon killing beasts. They have fought for survival for all of their memory and hardly know anything else. This is clear to see from Hiccup's memories. And to Hiccup's shock, a memory of his father bloomed into his mind. He was sitting on Stoick's lap and they faced a roaring fire from the depths of the enormous armchair, while Stoick recounted stories from times long past. "It would be disingenuous to make a decision about their fate without considering the fullness of their story."

The memory set Hiccup reeling, nearly toppling from the last boulder to the ground. Quickly he tried to cover his clumsiness by walking smartly into the ring of Shades sitting around the bonfire. Most regarded him with cool eyes and neutral ears. Sycle and Kale greeted him with low chuffing noises and Gallic inclined his head with almost human politeness. A select few however looked on with narrowed eyes and ears laid flat as Hiccup took his place beside Sycle sitting crosslegged.

"Well reminded Kaira. It is true that these humans have good reason to be savage. The question remains, is this wild unknown worth dealing with?" Gallic's question invited others to voice their thoughts.

"There is no reason whatsoever for letting them live." This voice was cold and flat. "I don't understand why we are wasting time debating facts and histories, when we will be engaged in bloody, desperate combat within days, possibly even hours."

Gallic responded quickly and sharply. "Follum, for now we are secure. Our vision extends out a day's flying. No opposing force has been sighted and we will have plenty of warning if it does. Now is the time to strategize and to prepare. We need not make a reckless decision." The older Shade turned to face Hiccup directly. "Perhaps now is the best time to make your case, if you are willing to address the Wings?"

Hiccup felt his stomach plunge slightly. As he'd tried to absorb the sentiment of the dragons around him, the slow and measured tones had slightly hypnotized him. This was a setting that was formal, serious. The lives of hundreds of Shades and humans were hanging on the final judgement that would be passed by this group. The bonfire's roaring crackle suddenly seemed to become much louder, filling Hiccup's ears.

"You have nothing to fear here Hiccup." Once again Sycle's words were softer and more gentle than Hiccup had ever heard them. "You are ours and we belong to you. Your voice is just as important as anyone here. Think of it as a warmup for later this afternoon."

As kind as Sycle's words were, that final reminder still made Hiccup swallow audibly.

Right. No better place to start than here.

"I would be happy to... to address you all." Even though he wasn't speaking aloud, Hiccup still felt his throat beginning to shrivel with uncomfortable dryness. He felt desperate for water and his tongue seemed thick and fuzzy in his mouth. "As I told you when I suggested coming here in the first place, the Vikings have a part to play in the defeat of the Queen, the Enemy."

All around the circle, Hiccup could see dragons shifting their positions to see him better, most sitting in attitudes of attention with ears high. A few were gazing into the fire with looks of extreme boredom. A few were rising to their feet to see over their neighbors.

With a jolt, Hiccup realized that being as small as he was, the polite thing to do would be to stand. He rose from his seat and placed a hand on Sycle's warm flank. The scales were slightly rougher than he was used to, unfamiliar. A pang echoed through his chest for the dragon that was supposed to be here beside him.

"As.. um.. as Kaira mentioned the Vikings of Berk have been fighting for er.. for generations." The dryness in his throat seemed to get worse with each awkward pause of his thoughts but he pushed forward. "And they've survived this long by being very good at what they do. But.. but a life spent fighting to stay alive is no reason to be damned to destruction. When Toothless became my friend, when we spent every moment together, I came to think of the Vikings as nothing more than brainless louts. Murderers who gave no thought whatsoever to the lives they snuffed out."

The words seemed to flow easier now and Hiccup felt images rising from his memory, chosen to underscore his point. Views through the smithy window into dark nights full of yelling, and the screech of iron against scale, splatters of blood. As the memories played out, Hiccup could see eyes tighten and low rumbles began to sound from among the gathered dragons.

"It come's as no surprise to any of you that things just aren't that simple. And you can all see that when it comes down to it short of dragons, short of us, there is nobody better suited to fighting the forces of the Queen than those humans of my memory. Even if the numbers involved are ludicrous, every Viking on this island is worth more than one dragon from the Queen's swarm. With aerial support from us, I'm sure every one of them could be worth five or more."

A few murmured comments at the edges of Hiccup's hearing brought assent, if a little grudgingly in some cases. Hiccup noted that Follum said nothing, while his eyes narrowed. Hiccup gulped in preparation to speak again. But Follum beat him to it.

"My complaint remains."

Gallic and his Wing let out low snarls as the older dragon interrupted. It seemed that the right to speak was passed clearly and distinctly when the heads of each Wing met. Beside Hiccup, Sycle hissed quietly.

"Let him speak!" Hiccup's mental cry cut through the angry words that were being directed at Follum. Every eye in the Cove turned to center on Hiccup now and he could see Gallic regarding him skeptically. "His concerns deserve recognition."

Across the spread of scaled bodies, Hiccup could see that the prickly dragon's eyes were still very narrow. His thoughts were still quiet and cold.

"We have spent the past months in the company of the hybrid." There was a slight hitch as Follum tried to temper the distrust in that last word. "The fact that Hiccup has lived among us and abided by our law for so long, clearly has eroded his sense of his former people. There can be no agreement struck between us. There can be no understanding. The humans do not even comprehend that we are a race to be reasoned with. They believe themselves master of a world that they can tame to their whims with their ingenuity and force. They've held to this belief until it brought them to the brink of destruction.

Follum had risen to his feet now, wings lifted slightly in an attitude of defiance.

"You propose to ally our power with a force that sees us to be at worst, dumb animals, and at best vengeful demons. Not only will they refuse to abide by any treaty we strike, but they will actively seek our destruction. The only option is to purge them now, before they strike us out of fear."

As one, many dragon heads turned back toward Hiccup.

"I understand your concern. Just as you say the Vikings believe every single dragon to be malicious and vengeful. It is absolutely true that all of Berk is in need of some clear and concise education on the subject of our intelligence. That is, all but a single girl."

Now the rustling and creaking of shifting dragons started again in earnest. Shade's began to shift their weight between paws and tails began to slowly thrash back and forth as the image of Astrid was presented powerfully to the group. The image Hiccup chose was razor sharp in its detail as it included memories from many of the Shade's present overlaid one atop the next, creating a single three dimensional, life-like image. Astrid standing blind in the darkness, hand resting on Tutore's scales as she stared blindly toward the swarm that was gathered before her.

It was the first memory that most present had of Astrid, and the meaning was clear. Like Hiccup himself, Astrid stood beside a Shade without fear, taking comfort from the feeling of his scales.

"Astrid Hofferson has befriended a Shade, just as I did. The Vikings of Berk are hardly different from us. Their home is threatened by a power beyond their comprehension, and they face destruction at its claws. We have already fled our home." These words sent a melancholy wave rolling around the fire pit, dark and grey as a stormy ocean. "We are just as baffled in the face of this enemy that is strong enough to hunt us across thousands of miles and destroy our most powerful Embued. Surely the Vikings of Berk have the same right to oppose this tyrant that seeks to take their home from them?"

At this statement a number of voices rose in assent, mostly from the younger Shades present, many of the seconds began to rise to their feet despite pointed looks from their leaders.

"What difference would there be between ourselves and the Queen if we simply burn Berk down because it's convenient for us to do so?"

That statement got a lot more response, a number of Shades growling low as they were compared to their enemy. And Hiccup could tell by the harsh sentiments flying between minds that while they'd be happy to slaughter the entire Viking village in battle, any action that was similar to that of their hated opponent lost appeal before it was even considered, and here Hiccup saw his chance.

"We shall not allow ourselves to stoop to that monster's cowardice! We will face our fellow victims confidently and without fear." Now actual sounds began to rise on all sides of the fire. High pitched whistles and yelps front the young dragons, voiced audible assent. Hiccup could even see some of the Wing Leaders themselves joining. Sycle remained stoically silent behind him, as did the steely eyed Follum before him.

"Hiccup." Gallic's deep voice once again cut through the celebratory sounds. "You still have not told us what your plan is for this parlay. What concessions will you demand? How can we ensure the Vikings cooperation?" As Gallic asked these questions, Hiccup saw the lines of Follum's face soften slightly in response.

And in that moment, though Hiccup had not come to this meeting with a plan prepared, he was struck with the sudden lighting of inspiration. A way to accomplish both of his goals of keeping Berk alive, and failing that, keeping Astrid alive.

"I suggest..." Desperately he scrabbled in his mind for the proper words.

"Calm Hiccup. You are safe here, and I believe your idea is a good one." Sycle was speaking only to Hiccup, and the hybrid felt a rush of warmth and strength surge through his veins, though tempered with a modicum of the icy loneliness from this morning. It wasn't Sycle's voice that he wanted these words from.

"...I suggest that we demand Astrid Hofferson as a hostage to be kept under our protection."

There was a brief instant of confusion. An instant when every dragon present and afar paused to absorb a suggestion that they'd never expected to hear. Hiccup could see a few mouths hanging open mid bark, frozen comically as the utter distraction of his suggestion swept across the group. Follum was the first to regain his sense.

"What on earth would this madness accomplish? You already suggest devoting our attention towards assuring the brutes do not betray us. Now you also wish to bring one of them closer? Into the forest? Where she could strike with impunity? You wish us to dedicate guards to this human?"

The old dragon was practically spitting, his teeth repeatedly descending and retracting as he whipped his head from side to side, emphasizing every word he thought with stabbing movement.

Before Gallic could intercede and create order, Hiccup withdrew his hand from the comfort of Sycle beside him and stepped forward into the circle. The atmosphere of the Cove seemed to thicken as all of the every Shade relaxed their necks to follow him, pupils dilating as they tracked his movement.

From a slight rise beside the fire, Hiccup was able to stare directly into Follum's eyes and while he started here, he began to turn making eye contact with as many Shades as possible as he continued.

"We don't need to devote any resources towards watching the Vikings if we have Astrid. As I showed you earlier," With an effort Hiccup once agin brought the image of Astrid forth, standing strong in proximity to a Shade. "She recognizes us for what we are. Intelligent creatures that can be reasoned with. She is the first step toward a reasonable agreement. Her faith in me and my word bolsters our case among the Vikings. And better yet, in demanding her as a diplomatic hostage, she ensures that Berk will not attack us."

Hiccup continued to turn, trying to meet the eyes of everyone present, forcing each member of the circle to experience his resolve in his thoughts and through his gaze. "Astrid is young. Older than a child granted, but still not a fully grown human. And on Berk, the next generation means everything. They spend their lives struggling for survival on this desolate rock, for no other purpose than to give their children, their descendants, a chance at a life better than their own."

Mutterings broke out as a few of the elders present commented on this odd philosophy. To a wild Shade one's own survival was of utmost importance. The Shade's of Home Cave extended their definition of self preservation to include their Wingmates. For those unbound by the close ties of a Wing, the focus on individual safety was only tempered by the collective safety that belonging offered.

"If we take Astrid into our keeping, none of the Vikings will dare act against us for fear of the repercussions. I don't believe that a constant guard on her will be necessary either. She'll spend most of her time in my company I'm sure. Myself and my Wing will take responsibility for her actions and ensure that she learns about us. We will fashion a human delegate that will change the Vikings' perspective from the inside. While she is with us, we should be able to keep tabs on Tutore that much more easily."

A ripple of unease passed around as Hiccup reminded them of the odd Shade that had divulged no information about who he was and why he was here.

"Once the Vikings have agreed to my terms, we can start to plan our assault of the Nest island and the role which the Vikings will play. If they refuse to accept our terms, then we will wipe them from existence as Follum so desperately wishes. If this comes to pass however," Hiccup paused for a brief private exchange with Sycle, confirming his support. "If this comes to pass and the Vikings must die, my Wing will place Astrid under its protection. She has shown herself to be a friend of our kind and we will not allow her to be destroyed.

Across the fire Follum let out a long, low hiss. To Hiccup's relief, he seemed to be alone in his abject disapproval.

Gallic once again asserted his authority over the proceedings, lifting his wings high and quelling Follum's hiss with glare and a snap of his tail. "Aside from a noted objection from Follum, does anyone else have a reason to argue against this course of action? It seems to me a logical way to achieve our ends with minimal effort."

Silence.

"Good. This shall be our strategy until new information presents itself. Hiccup if you would like to be seated, we can now discuss as a group the plan to keep you protected while you venture into enemy territory."

It took all of Hiccup's concentration to keep from stumbling as he stepped off the rise and back to Sycle's side. As he sank into a seated position his legs seemed to weaken and he half sat and half collapsed to the ground giving a mighty sigh of breath as the center of focus left his mind and he was returned to the privacy of his own thoughts.

And as the other Shades around the fire turned their attention to matters of positioning and watches for the parlay, Hiccup found himself reaching for his missing partner's thoughts. And once again he was rebuffed by defenses as solid as the cliff side where he'd last seen his mate. With the back of his scaled hand he rubbed at the corner of his eye where a prickle of moisture was threatening to escape.

XXX

Astrid

The sun had risen to its highest point in the sky, but the storm had drawn close now. On all sides of the island, the sea roiled angrily as strong gusts of wind drove the sparse, autumn dead grass in smoother less violent waves. Above the blue of the sky was no longer visible, only a pale wispy disc of light that showed where the sun was trying to break through the haze.

The melted stone of the crater had cooled in its entirety. No longer did steam and noxious fumes rise into the air, and every angry red glow had been extinguished. Now the basin lay still and silent, an immovable blemish that crusted over the once familiar island. In the light of day, Astrid could see where the stone had actually begun to run its way down the hill towards the cliffs and the sea. She suppressed a shudder.

Minutes had been all the time the Night Furies needed to wipe Berk clean of an invasion force, and they had made the island bleed its own life out beneath their assault.

She stood straight with Stoick beside her leaning on his spear. The weight of her complete armament also pressed against her back and hips, a shield and sword in the place where she'd prefer to have an axe, and multiple sets of knives strapped to her hips and even one to her forearm.

This last weapon she eyed dubiously. It sat in a sheath that she'd haphazardly strapped to her bracer, making drawing it as easy as bringing her hands together. She was not sure why she had tried to copy Hiccup's strange weapons that seemed to cling to him like insects, but perhaps he might take it as an... admiring gesture of some sort?

Closing her eyes she shook her head slightly. Before this nightmare had begun, her star had been steadily rising to a position that she had known would be hers, a leader of Berk's warriors, and a slayer of dragons to be rivaled only by the greatest legends of her people.

Now as she stared at her bracer she considered that a savage warrior was not what she must be now.

Below a small piece of level ground had been cleared and pieces of stone had been arranged in a wide ring thirty yards in diameter. At its center, a section of one of the smaller tables from the mead hall had been placed with a bench either side.

It seemed a tiny thing from where she stood on the hill above it, no more than a dinner table from a meager family's house. It hardly seemed a place for great agreements and world shifting changes to be discussed, but then trying to host the meeting in the mead hall could only invite catastrophe.

"You'll be fine Astrid."

With a start Astrid stared up at Stoick. The man's expression was set and hard, but she could see the faintest turn at the corner of his mouth, the ghost of a smile.

"My first negotiation sent my knees knocking as well." This statement elicited a snort that Astrid could not restrain. Stoick raised an eyebrow before continuing. "The trick is to remember that no matter how poorly this goes, we are still Vikings. If it comes to it, our family and friends will come to our aid in a heartbeat."

Astrid turned to stare again down at the table, letting a long heavy breath escape her teeth. She could see how that might have once comforted her, the idea of the worst case being a glorious battle alongside her people. But now the possibility of allowing Berk to do battle against the dragons that threatened them was no longer a prospect of battle tempered with blood and glory, but a massacre.

Idly she wondered if Hiccup would allow her to die with honor if this went sour. She suspected that he wouldn't hold with any such idea.

"Um.. Stoick? I'm glad to know the worst case scenario... but it won't come to that right? We have to make sure it doesn't. We don't stand a cha…"

This time Stoick did not look at her but his brow furrowed as he interrupted her.

"If I have my way..." The wood of the spear in Stoick's hand creaked ominously as it was compressed. "... we'll have an alliance to bring peace to our home, and I'll have my son back. But if those things are impossible, I will do what must be done."

Astrid could not suppress her grimace, and instead turned her face away toward the forest. Even if all went well beyond her wildest dreams, she could not imagine Hiccup returning to Berk in any permanent sense, and the fact that Stoick seemed intent on pushing that issue did not bode well. But as she stared toward the forest, three shapes came into view and there was no more time to think on it.

"They're here chief."

A dragon's screech vibrated through the sky before deepening into a throaty bellow. Then more voices joined the first until the sound was akin to thunder rolling over the grass. To Astrid's shock, she felt the vibration in her chest.

The three dragons flew at speed out over the crater in a triangle formation, the trees at the edge of the forest swayed wildly in the wind of their passing. The lead dragon gave another cry, echoed in the same fashion by the dragons behind as they turned as one and seamlessly began to circle, following the border of the ring of stones below, tight and controlled.

"Well, if our guests have arrived, shall we?" Stoick's words were harsh and Astrid had to resist turning to see what she knew must be eyes shimmering with emotion.

As they took their first steps down the hill, the dragons above turned away, exposing their backs as they circled. Astrid could clearly see, astride the lead dragon, Hiccup with his white-furred cloak flowing behind him. He seemed to be gripping the dragon's neck with his legs very loosely, while the rest of his body was turned and he was staring intently at the ground, searching for signs of danger.

As she stared she tripped on the uneven ground.

"Eyes ahead Astrid. We do not fear them."

The hardness in Stoick's voice made her flinch slightly. She tore her gaze away from the party circling above and instead she focused on striding with purpose, keeping pace with Stoick towards the table.

As they came to the edge of the ring of stones they slowed to a halt. Astrid allowed her gaze to break from straight ahead to watch as the trio of dragons stooped from the sky and dropped so quickly, it seemed they must surely smash into the ground. At what must have been the last possible moment, they flared their wings and lighted delicately on the edge of the crater, just outside of the ring of stones.

Before the trio had even folded their wings Hiccup had jumped to the ground in front of the dragons, drawing all attention to himself. His cloak flapped around his feet and Astrid could see that he wore nothing beneath it other than his illusion of human skin and glossed waterproof leggings. She wondered if Hiccup even noticed the coming winter chill in the air.

Now with all parties present at the edge of the ring of stones, a stillness and quiet settled over all. Astrid knew it was her time to speak. Tearing her thoughts away from the logistics of a bare scaly chest, she raised her voice and it only quavered with uncertainty once.

"L- Let this ring of stones mark this ground peaceful and sacred, that we may speak with confidence free of falsehood and dishonor." The words that she'd memorized this morning sounded austere and impressive despite her first stumble, and despite the fact that their 'sacred' meeting place was a mere dinner table.

As she finished, Stoick had already started to remove his weapons. The chief was known to favor his fists and large battle hammers so he merely discarded his staff, and two knives he pulled from his tunic.

Astrid on the other hand with her habit of over preparedness, had a much longer time removing her sword, shield, knives and even the small blade from the bracer inside her forearm. She looked up from this last and caught her first good look at Hiccup.

He was disguised as he'd been the first time she'd seen him, pale and false human skin covering his head, arms, and chest. The strangely magnificent white furred cloak hung impressively from his broadened shoulders while the supple leather leggings clung close to his form. As she watched he removed first his blades from their strange hold to his body, then the cloak which he folded and placed on the ground.

While the cloak passed over his skin, she saw that the lines of his body seemed to blur, like the cloak was pulling his skin with it. She glanced sidelong to see if Stoick had noticed, but luckily he had been glancing over his shoulder to ensure that all was still settled in the camp behind them. When the cloak was removed, Hiccup's skin settled back into its proper place.

A dull sense of unease slithered through Astrid's gut.

Before the dragons or Hiccup could make a move, Astrid and Stoick stepped forward into the ring.

All three dragons and Hiccup watched them intently as they crossed the fifteen yards to the table, and sat themselves on the bench on their side, Astrid on the right and Stoick on the left. Then, seemingly satisfied, the two extra dragons beat their way back into the sky and flew for the forest.

Hiccup now stepped into the circle, making his way with purposeful strides toward the table. Astrid could see now that the dragon that followed behind him was not Toothless with his leather harness, but the smaller smoother lined beast. The female.

As they approached, Astrid stood from her seat.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third." She saw Hiccup give a start to be addressed by his full name. "And Ryshkaa, Night Fury," She was unsure how else to address her. "Please both be welcome to this table of peace." And to her surprise, Hiccup responded properly.

"I am honored to sit the table of peace. Stoick the Vast of the line of Haddock, and Astrid Hofferson, please both be welcome and may we all leave here in agreement."

To his side, Ryshkaa gave an aggravated sounding snort and glanced sidelong at Hiccup. Then strangely, together they bowed, Hiccup from the waist and Ryshkaa from the shoulders. Hiccup reached forward with both hands as though he were trying to embrace the air above his head. Ryshkaa beside him extended both wings and just like Hiccup's hands, she stretched them before her and past her head.

The effect was such that, Astrid felt as though she might be about to witness some sort of ceremonial dragon dance and she found herself biting her lip wondering what Stoick might think of such a display. She expected some short words about dispensing with formalities given the urgency of the situation. What she did not expect was for the situation to get much, much worse.

She barely repressed a gasp as Hiccup lifted from his bow and Astrid locked gazes with a pair of slitted, luminous dragon eyes staring back at her from an otherwise human face.

He hadn't concealed his eyes.

Why in all the hells had he not hidden his freakish, lizard eyes?!

As Hiccup sat before Astrid he chose to ignore her expression of blank astonishment in favor of explaining, "It was once a custom among Shades to show respect and civility by placing the most vulnerable piece of one's self within striking distance upon meeting." The words were stiff and Astrid could see the tension in his face and posture. His hands were clasped together tight, and the muscles in his chest and shoulders stood out, as though he were fighting to keep himself on the bench.

Astrid glanced sidelong at Stoick.

The man beside her had frozen. Stoick sat with his back rigid staring so intently and openly at Hiccup that he seemed to be actively ignoring the large Night Fury, a dragon that no Viking of Berk had seen until the previous night. Ryshkaa was studying Stoick just as intensely as Stoick was staring at Hiccup, though something about the quirk of her ears and the tilt of her head made Astrid suspect that Ryshkaa's interest was a great deal more ambivalent.

Stoick only had attention for Hiccup's strange reptilian eyes.

"Are you my son?" The question was a low hiss that shattered the tense silence and Astrid jumped in her seat slightly. "You will answer me honestly, or I swear to Odin I will strike you both down for your falseness with my bare hands.

Astrid felt her face pale as Stoick made this sudden ultimatum. Even with her limited experience of diplomacy she knew that threats were not to be made lightly during a discussion like this. For a peaceful parlay, this was starting out very poorly indeed.

For a moment, Hiccup remained frozen, eyes locked on his father. Then he blinked slowly and let his gaze drop to his hands, clasped before him on the table. Astrid watched as the tiny glimmer of hope in Hiccup's face dulled and went out. He spoke in a voice that was suddenly tired beyond imagining.

"Stoick, this is not what I'm here to talk about. The Wings have some demands to make of you. In exchange for your complete cooperation, they will allow you to live. Can we please leave discussion of my appearance for later?"

There was a note of real pleading in Hiccup's voice. The boy sounded exhausted by the very idea that his father was worried about his appearance. Doing her best to keep still she widened her eyes at Hiccup. To her utter frustration however the strange memory of a younger Hiccup spoke.

What are you doing?

Oh for crying out... I'm trying to get your... I'm trying to get Hiccup's attention because he's being an idiot. She half expected the strange hallucination to ignore her and keep speaking, but instead, silence followed. In the brief instant before Stoick spoke again, Astrid could have sworn that Hiccup's eyes darted to her and away, with a slight twitch of his head as though he'd heard her silent assertion.

"The entire point of this meeting was to decide whether or not I can trust you." Stoick's voice had gone deadly quiet. "If you're not going to explain, there's no point speaking further."

"Chief! We need to talk this out."

When Stoick turned away from Hiccup to stare down at her, his eyes were lit for the briefest instant by a flash of anger. She felt her heart lurch and her stomach seemed to shrivel within her.

"Stoick." The exhaustion had not left Hiccup's voice. "Listen to Astrid. She's the most knowledgeable Viking on the island at the moment. She understands what's at stake."

"You think I don't know what's at stake here boy?" Stoick's voice was nearly a whisper.

"You're certainly not acting as though you do." The obvious danger in the tone of Stoick's voice seemed to have no effect on the boy with the slitted eyes. "My eyes are... shall we say a consequence of my proximity to Toothless?" A pained twitch flashed across his face so fast she nearly missed it. "May I deliver the terms I came to deliver?"

Astrid gaped at Hiccup openly now. All through the previous night, she'd done her best to note every change that Hiccup had undergone in his time away. But every physical difference, from his newly muscled form and scaled skin to his calm and ease in the midst of enormous predators, all now seemed paltry in comparison to this. His father's displeasure was not reaching him anymore.

Astrid felt Stoick shove their bench backwards and she caught herself on her feet as he stood, slamming his fist down on the table.

"I'M NOT MESSING ABOUT!" Stoick roared in fury.

To Astrid's utter shock, Hiccup rose with Stoick and slammed his fist down on the table as well in an almost identical movement, answering just as loudly. "AND I WILL NOT BE DOUBTED."

Astrid heard the footfall. She looked down to where Stoick had actually stepped back half a pace.

"I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, son of Valka and Stoick the Vast. I have never ceased to be, despite all your shame." Hiccup's words were measured and soft, and Astrid saw Stoick wince beside her. "I shall ever be the same, small, scrawny, traitorous source of shame to you. It doesn't matter where I've been or what I've done. It doesn't matter what I look like or what else I am. You will not be rid of your shame while I draw breath."

Hiccup lifted his fist from the table and Astrid was left to gape at the sizable dent, ringed in splinters where the topmost fibers of the wood had given way. At the same time, Astrid thought she caught a smear of movement, as though part of Hiccup's hand had stuck to the table, but when she looked again, there was nothing there. The strange boy lowered himself slowly to the bench.

"If you aren't willing to trust myself and Astrid on our word or your own judgement, the Wings will finish the work we started last night."

Silence.

"Hiccup, there's no reason to jump to hasty action." Astrid had no idea where the courage to speak was coming from as all eyes at the table snapped to her but she could see that they were one wrong word away from the bloodbath she dreaded. "Stoick hasn't seen your... he doesn't know the full extent of your... changes. Of course your eyes are concerning to him." And as Stoick's glare sharpened on her left, she wondered with a dropping sensation in her stomach if Hiccup had purposefully left his eyes unmasked to provoke his father.

"Astrid..." Ice had entered Stoick's voice but it was low and even. "...Astrid what do you mean by 'full extent'? What have you concealed from me?"

There was a snort from across the table and both humans attention snapped to the dragon beside Hiccup who was gazing between Astrid and Stoick. Its head was set slightly lower, seemingly trying to see the human's faces more clearly, and Astrid was almost certain that her eyes were amused.

"Chief, I told you that... I am certain that this is Hiccup. Your son. But... I don't think he's... he's not... I couldn't let the rest of Berk find out. They'd have attacked on sight. Even before that you would have taken me for mad." And to Astrid's shame, she found herself unable to continue. She stared at Hiccup across the table with an expression of pleading.

Stoick's gaze slowly turned toward Hiccup.

"Well?"

Hiccup's false face was creased with a deep frown and he gazed intently at Astrid. He clearly had not wanted this discussion to turn this way. For a moment, Astrid thought he might say something to her, but then he turned back to his father.

"I didn't want to deal with this today. All I want is to convince the Wings to leave you alive. Answering your question will not further that end." Hiccup's voice had gained a tone even colder than his father's as he stood from his seat again. Astrid could sense frustration writhing beneath his stony demeanor. "If you really want to know the truth, all you need to do is take my hand. But I promise you, there's no going back if you do. I doubt you'll ever be able to forget what you learn."

Hiccup reached out with his right hand. Extending it in a seemingly casual manner as though he meant only to offer a friendly handshake. "Alternatively, we could also just ignore this entire messy business and discuss what we're here to talk about, rather than my physical appearance."

In his voice Astrid heard the slight note of pleading beneath the anger and frustration.

The enormous man beside her only hesitated for one second.

He reached out and grasped Hiccup's hand, enveloping the fingers with his own enormous grip.

And Hiccup's skin shredded.

The appearance of white pale flesh seemed to tear away from the edges around Stoick's touch. Pieces of it came loose and fluttered away in a nonexistent wind. What seemed to be a sleeve of skin peeled up and outward raggedly, until Hiccup's arm was bare to the shoulder exposing the ebony scales beneath.

Stoick sucked in a startled breath and Astrid could see that he was squeezing Hiccup's hand hard enough that bones should be breaking, but Hiccup only stared impassively into his father's eyes.

The ragged edges of Hiccup's illusory skin were swirling around his shoulder, and as Astrid watched, they began to close back together, knitting back into one solid whole and extending down, sheathing Hiccup's arm again in the image of human flesh. When it came back to Stoick's hand, he jerked backward releasing Hiccup and truly backed away from the table two steps.

Hiccup did not pull his hand back, instead lifting it so that Stoick could clearly see the claws extending from the tips of his fingers, before the illusion crawled its way to them, hiding the scales and claws away beneath the image of a weather worn human hand.

All fell silent again.

Astrid could feel her pulse starting to pound in her throat as she held her breath, waiting for someone to speak. Across the table Ryshkaa was sitting with her eyes slit in a distrustful expression.

"What..." the word was hoarse, half choked and quiet as a whisper. "...what... are you?"

Hiccup could not hide the pain that flashed across his features. A familiar horror that Astrid remembered from times that he'd made particularly spectacular blunders, only to be reprimanded before his peers. So it seemed he was not as aloof as he wished to be. The twist at the corner of his lips bared sharpened teeth for a brief second before he mastered himself.

"I am new. Something unknown to dragon memory." Hiccup's voice was still quiet but it had lost its edge of ice. "And I am also your son Hiccup, though I am not, and have never been a Viking. I am the voice of the Wings at this table. I was a student of Alda. I am beloved of Toothless, and I need not be your enemy, if you are willing to control your fear."

"I do not fear you." Stoick's response was sudden and violent and he seemed to grow taller, looming over the table. "I will free Berk from the evil of dragons. If the Night Furies will assist me then they're welcome. But I will see your face, your real face before we go any further. Release your black magic and speak to me as you are, Devil."

Astrid heard Hiccup draw in a sharp breath as though he'd been struck. She could see his lip curl in earnest and the glint of sharp teeth beneath was accompanied by a low growl that seemed to resonate from Hiccup's chest rather than his mouth.

Then Hiccup vanished in a blinding flash of cerulean fire.

Air rushed passed her, tugging at her hair as a concussion struck against her chest and the pyre before her grew into a pillar of blue flame raging into the sky above. Tears sprung to Astrid's eyes as her surroundings were darkened by the brilliant light of the flames. She struggled to find the silhouette of the boy she'd once known at the center.

Through squinting eyes, she managed to find his outline shifting and distorted. The points of enormous ears rose from his head while his fingers spread and curled. To give her eyes a break, she looked to Stoick beside her, bathed in unearthly light. The enormous man stood rigidly with fists clenched, and to her shock a single tear rolling down the side of his cheek.

Then as quickly as they had come, the flames died. The weak winter sun seemed to brighten around them as it suddenly overcame the fire's rivaling glow. Hiccup stood as he had when Astrid had first walked into the den of Night Furies in the woods, massive ears laid back, black matte scales, enormous eyes wide.

Now though, instead of a welcoming smile to show off his sharpened teeth, Hiccup's face was twisted into a snarl of rage. His slit reptilian pupils were so thin she could hardly see them, and he stood with hands raised and fingers curled, ready to slash with claws that seemed to have lengthened slightly. All around him, the last dying tongues of blue flame caressed his scales before flickering out.

Ryshkaa had moved as well, concealed by the brilliance of Hiccup's change. As the flame faded and went out she was revealed behind the hybrid with wings lifted above her back, teeth extended and a low growl resonating in her throat. Though Astrid noticed that the dragon's baleful gaze was fixed on Stoick and not herself.

Hiccup's next words could truly only be described as a snarl. His voice vibrated

and tore at the edges, escaping his throat with a guttural hiss.

"Did you have any intention of pursuing peace Stoick? Or was this an excuse to spit upon me one last time?"

Whatever Stoick might have said in reply, Astrid had no chance to hear. There was a shout from behind. Everyone present turned to stare up the hill as vikings came pouring from their makeshift shelters, weapons held high. They had clearly decided that even though they'd received no signal, a blue pillar of fire was enough evidence of foul play that a counterattack was necessary.

Before she could react Stoick had picked her up in one arm and with his other hand he took hold of the table and gave a mighty heave, swinging it away and around with a pained grunt. It fell on its side between them and the hillside, and Stoick tucked Astrid against it like she was a doll.

But Astrid scrambled back upright and bolted before Stoick could catch her, running towards the edge of the circle of stones and the oncoming hoard.

They have to stop. If they don't stop they're going to die. We're all going to die for nothing. What can we do? There's got to be something we can...

The oddly youthful version of Hiccup's voice was muttering nonstop into her ear. Once again saying things she knew all too well already, but the words lit fire in her mind, forcing her to push herself to a speed she could not sustain.

"STOP!" Her voice ripped out of her in a scream.

And to her shock, the group of Vikings did halt there charge, sliding to a standstill, a few actually losing their balance.

But before she could feel the relief that a halt must bring, she heard the hiss. The familiar deadly sound of arrows flying through the air, and she looked up to the chilling sight of a cloud of black points descending toward her. A volley of arrows that Stoick had known would come. He'd tried to make cover for them, tried to put the table between them and oncoming death, but now Astrid stood alone at the edge of the circle.

For the lives of her people, she would give her life. It seemed so inevitable that her hallucination of Hiccup's voice fell silent. She'd failed at diplomacy so completely that the interjection she'd made at the table had damned them all. And now, she'd trade her life to undo that mistake. Her sacrifice would make Stoick pause to listen. Hiccup would be able to use the shock of her death to his own advantage, and the last Vikings of Berk would not break themselves uselessly against the ambivalence of potential allies.

I suppose there are worse ways for us to go.

She closed her eyes and lifted her arms wide to show the intent behind her sacrifice. Her response to the voice in her head was silent and colored with regret.

I can't believe they couldn't hold their volley through one tiny blue fire pillar.

"Oh for the love of... GET DOWN" For a moment, Astrid did not understand. The words had been spoken aloud. Hiccup was speaking with his new voice, low and angry with a slight hiss beneath each word.

As her eyes flickered open, she was just in time to see Hiccup dive at her. How did he get in front of me? All of the air left her lungs in a rush as Hiccup's shoulder drove into her gut, laying her flat on her back. The boy did not land on top of her, instead catching himself in a crouch and hovering a few inches away from her prone body.

Their faces came very close together, treating Astrid to an extremely detailed view of the tiny scales that made up Hiccup's brow and covered his hairless jaw. When his breath washed over her, the scent was odd containing a slight fishy tinge that was overlaid by a tang of hot metal.

"Ryshkaa! Fire! Now!"

Beyond him fire once again lit the stone circle, this time a more normal brilliant orange color. Ryshkaa was standing beside them breathing a slow stream of fire into the air.

"I swear on Odi- HrK!" Hiccup's curse was cut off as a grunt ripped it's way through his throat. Astrid's eyes widened as she heard a dull thud, then another.

The scaled arms and chest shuddered under impact once.

Twice.

A third time.

He refused to fall upon her though, continuing to support his own weight. "I swear to every god that does or does not exist.." His voice had become suddenly raw, ripping at the edges. "..even if every last one of them burns, you're staying alive damn you!"

Glancing to either side, Astrid could see the remains of arrows falling to the ground. Most landed in a slow tumble, their paths disrupted by the curtain of fire above. But a few stuck point down with their fletching flickering like torches in the ground.

"Do you see, Stoick? This is why The Wings don't believe you're worth leaving alive."

Hiccup's voice was still ragged but he'd spoken clearly, and loudly enough to carry back to Stoick. He lifted first his head to face Stoick back near the table. Then slowly he began to rise from his prone position with a grunt.

Ryshkaa had ceased her fire, but a guttural snarl was pulling her flat snout upward into a grimace. She stepped forward to place herself in the way of the many warriors standing dumbfounded on the hill.

"Don't Rysh." Hiccup coughed slightly and seemed to choke slightly as he spoke. "They'll think you're trying to keep Astrid from them." He was standing upright now, and he stepped past Astrid's prone form back toward Stoick. And before she could even consider pushing herself up from the ground, she saw his back and the cause of Hiccup's pained voice. She gasped.

Six arrow shafts protruded from Hiccup's scaled back with lines of blood trailing down to disappear against the leather of his leggings.

XXX

Hiccup

"Treacherous Monsters!"

"Back stabbers!"

"Sneaking eels!"

"Kill them all!"

Hiccup could barely hear his own thoughts over the torrent of invective that was pouring into his head. Skuru and Scycle were among the loudest, but those close to them were shouting too, and slowly the Wings were building into a frenzy.

Past Stoick, Hiccup could see Scycle, Skuru, and Kale all sprinting toward the circle from the woods. Behind them, the winged shapes of others were appearing in the sky. He could feel Kaira's Wing shrinking their enormous circle and diving down from the enormous height they'd been surveilling from.

If he did not act, it would be a massacre here and now.

As he straightened his back, one of the arrows sunken into his flesh tugged painfully at what was probably his lung. The pain was icy and throbbed in time with his heartbeat. It felt as though someone had stabbed icicles into his back.

"S- Stop!" His mind's voice was pitifully tiny and he knew that not one of the Shades had heard him. Not even Ryshkaa standing beside him. "Stop! Stop damn everything I'm fine! We don't need to destroy them!"

Ryshkaa was listening now, but the torrent of rage in the mind of the Wings drowned his voice like a drop of blood in the ocean. He glanced down at Astrid still lying on the ground behind him, and staring up at him with horror in her eyes.

And he knew in that moment that he would not be able to save her. He could fend off a Shade. He could fend off an entire Wing for a short time, maybe. But he knew that there was no way he'd be able to defend Astrid from hundreds of his kind. Particularly injured as he was. The anger from those that he loved had spread into the entire swarm. They would burn every human they could find.

Hiccup did not know when he'd decided to keep Astrid alive. Perhaps in the council this morning, when so many of the Wing Leaders had been certain of the death of every human on the island. Or perhaps earlier than that, when he'd seen the warmth flicker to life in her eyes as she'd sat and eaten with her lifelong enemies. Perhaps that had been the inspiration for the warmth in his chest for this human girl. Perhaps it was even nostalgia.

Hiccup could feel a cold tear begin to make its way down his cheek.

Near the center of the circle, Stoick was staring back at him with a strange mixture of anguish and fury contorting his face. And beyond him, Shades were approaching, both loping over the ashen grass and descending from the sky.

"Stoick... you may not believe me but... this was exactly what I was trying to avoid. They're too angry for me to reach them. I... I'm sorry." Hiccup felt his voice break on the final words and he looked away from Stoick. But as his eyes drifted across the field, he saw something that he did not expect.

At the edge of the trees, Toothless burst from the forest.

Hiccup, felt his chest constrict as the other half of his soul came into plain view. Instinctually he flung his mind out, seeking the missing thoughts and feelings that were supposed to be there. He nearly sobbed out loud when he found his mate's mind was still beyond his reach.

Toothless was far from them, standing still near the cliff's drop-off. His eyes and nostrils were flared wide, staring toward Hiccup with a look that must have been panic. His tail insisted on the same feelings, lashing back and forth like a snake.

And yet despite this clear concern the young Shade's thoughts remained untouchable, walled off from Hiccup as though they were strangers.

Hiccup was on the verge of losing his composure and screaming out to Toothless, to demand that the dragon explain what exactly was going on. But before he could even draw the breath, a second shape slid from the trees to be silhouetted against the gray ocean.

Beside Toothless the large, bulky shape of the stranger seemed to grow and fill out larger than a Shade should be.

Tutore. Astrid's protector.

Before Hiccup could even think what Tutore's presence might mean, the strange dragon opened his wings and threw his head back, unleashing a screaming roar loud enough that Hiccup, despite the distance between them, instinctually reached up to press his large ears against his head.

That scream knocked the world off its axis. As it reverberated, he felt the ground vibrate as Ryshkaa dropped to her stomach. Ahead, the bounding shapes of Shades suddenly stopped and sunk toward the ground. The sound seemed to silence his thoughts even more easily than the shouts of the Wings had. It erased his intentions as though they'd never existed inside his head. He only barely resisted a powerful urge to sink to his knees.

The sound seemed to continue forever and Hiccup could not tell when it stopped. But after some unknown time, he suddenly sucked in a breath that had been long absent from his chest.

The hillside was unnaturally still. There was not even a whisper of wind to disturb the silence that had followed that strange scream. Every Shade on the ground was frozen in a half crouch. Above, every Shade in the sky hovered mechanically with minds just as empty as those below.

And Hiccup met Tutore's gaze across the immense distance that separated them. As the elder dragon snorted, Hiccup realized that this was the one chance he'd get.

"Stop! Please my kindred! There is no need to fight. My wounds are not serious and this is nothing more than a misunderstanding!" He shouted the words as loudly as he could both from his thoughts and aloud.

"Some misunderstanding." Astrid's voice startled him so badly that he turned rapidly toward her. The arrows in his back burned frigidly and he gasped. "Those aren't going to get better in a hurry." She was standing beside him now.

As Hiccup gazed at Astrid, the moment seemed to crystallize. She was still alive. And this unexpected reprieve from destruction would be his only chance to protect this newfound stability. Speaking rapidly under his breath he told Astrid, "We've got a single shot at this. Trust me and do what I say if you want any of the Vikings to live."

Astrid gave a quick nod, determination setting her face.

"First, don't try to kill me when I do this." Hiccup stepped behind her and quickly grabbed both of her wrists, pulling her arms behind her back. Then with his foot he gently pushed inward on the back of her knee, signaling her to kneel more than actually forcing her. There was a moment of resistance, far weaker than Hiccup had expected, before Astrid relaxed and she knelt, bowing her head forwards. Hiccup could see the pulse in her neck accelerate as she was placed in a compromised position.

Ryshkaa padded quietly over to sit beside Hiccup, looming large over Astrid's prostrate form.

Once again Hiccup sucked in a breath which caused spasms of pain to lance through his back, and he spoke aloud as well as broadcasting his thoughts as far and wide as he could manage.

"We are done playing games Stoick. You have a single choice to make. If you wish to stay alive and fight the Queen, then I will take Astrid here as a hostage. She will ensure your cooperation. You will obey commands either from myself, or relayed to you through Astrid. Your safety and autonomy will be firmly in the claws of the Wings. You will respect this and us. If you do not accept these conditions, you will die here and now."

To Hiccup's extreme consternation, the man's expression smoothed. His eyes bored into Hiccup's with a light that seemed more calculating than angry. Was he actually going to insist on a fight? Did he think he could win? At what cost?

The Stoick Hiccup remembered would never have gambled with a child's life. It would have been the only leverage that might sway him, or any other Viking for that matter. The next generation was the reason Vikings plunged their hands into bloody conflict with dragons. Pride and honor served the descendants of the village. Before Hiccup could speak again, Stoick raised his voice.

"This is acceptable to me. On the condition that Astrid be allowed to return to us daily."

Now Hiccup found his fear of Stoick's answer curdle and become fury. Even on the edge of utter catastrophe for Berk, on the edge of death for himself and every other human on the island, Stoick still had the gall to push for favorable terms. Hiccup supposed that this was a mark of a great leader, though in the moment it seemed to be merely a death wish.

"She will return when I give permission and at no other time!" Hiccup felt the pain of the arrow wounds making his voice raw, straining to keep his anger in check. "If it makes you feel better I'm sure she'll have plenty of messages to carry."

And Hiccup realized as he said it that he was truly angry. Angry with Stoick and with Berk for their stubborn resistance. Angry with Toothless for appearing so suddenly dragging a miracle along with him, with still no explanation of his whereabouts and still no contact to Hiccup's mind. When Hiccup glanced back toward the cliffs he nearly gave a cry of despair.

Toothless and Tutore had vanished.

For an instant, Hiccup thought Stoick would still argue. But then Ryshkaa lifted a paw, the shining black of her claws hanging suspended above Astrid's exposed neck. Stoick flinched and locked gazes with Hiccup. His words took on a hollow tone Hiccup had never heard in his father's voice before. It sent a shudder down his spine, twinging the wounds in his back.

"Very well."