Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Stop! You’ll only make it worse!”

Valka held back the axe of a particularly short yet muscular viking with a frazzled blond beard. She didn’t blame him - the smoke of dragon’s fire in particular did a number on hair.

The viking huffed and pulled his arm away as the Monstrous Nightmare fled from what should have been its certain demise. He then gave Valka a stern glare before running off to fight another dragon. This raid was certainly one of the heavier ones, but it wasn’t the worst. Valka stood, unsure of what to do as another viking shouted in the distance when she heard cracking wood uncomfortably close behind her. She turned around, panic forcing her to run towards her house as the largest dragon she had ever seen crawled inside the broken wall.

“Hiccup-!” she cried as she shoved her way in, grabbing a sword off the wall to face the beast at hand. One quick strike and the dragon would-

Not eat her son? Valka stared in amazement as the beast looked curiously at the baby in the cradle, mesmerized by his vibrant green gaze. The dragon reached out a claw as if to stroke the baby, but the cradle shifted and the claw slipped down to leave a scratch on the now wailing baby’s chin.

The dragon scooted across the floor to face Valka, tilting its head in curiosity. She gazed into its - no, his golden eyes, which were now diolating to a more focused, friendly-looking appearance. He hummed at her, nose twitching as he drew closer and closer. He was so close, Valka could just touch-

A thick slab of metal split the space between woman and beast, the dragon releasing an ear-splitting roar before blasting at the intruder who dared try to harm him. His tail swung wildly, knocking out a stabilizing beam from the ceiling and sending half the roof collapsing down on those inside.

“Valka, run!” Stoick shouted through the flames licking at the walls around him. The dragon charged up another blast, aimed directly for Stoick’s chest.

“No, don’t-!” Valka pulled at the dragon’s wing, who closed his jaw around his fire and turned to face her once more. His face wasn’t as ferocious as before, but it wasn’t too friendly either. No, it looked schemish, like he was plotting something on a whim.

He head-butted Stoick, knocking him to the ground, then grabbed Valka by the shoulders with his large talons and swept out the door and into the air.
“Stoick!” she cried out, trying to release herself from the dragon’s steel grip.

“Valka! Hold on!” Stoick called, snatching his battle axe and rushing to his wife’s aid and leaving the burning house behind. “I’m coming!”

But it was too late. Despite hurling his axe as hard as he could, the dragon was out of range, taking his one love away with the rest of the dragons trailing behind. He roared his frustration, taking out as many straggling dragons as he could.

Back in the falling house, strained screams could barely be heard through the pile of debris. A child, hardly a month old, was slowly being crushed by burning support beams and walls. Angry splinters poked him at every angle, and he was quickly running out of air. He was afraid. Afraid no one could hear him. Afraid no one would be there to help him.
The rest of the village had gathered at the center of the village to count losses, abandoning the house on the top of the hill. He was alone, forgotten.

At least by those who knew of him.

Atop a steep stone spire, a figure hid among the shadows, watching the scene below. She was never sure why dragons raided the viking village. She had asked some of them, but they paid her no attention. Sometimes she would hear them mutter things like “the queen needs this” or “it’s for the queen”, but she could never figure out who this ‘queen’ was. Obviously someone who didn’t know how to do their own work. Unlike the King, who did all his own fishing and even ensured his subjects were as well fed as he was.

It was still very early into the night. It hadn’t even reached midnight, and there had already been a full raid. At least it was over fast. But there was still something nagging at her mind - what was inside that heap of den wood? It had been crying for quite some time now, and was slowly becoming dangerously quiet.

She ensured the coast was clear, then spread her wings and silently glided down to the rubble, digging through to find the source. And there she saw it - a dirty, blood and soot covered human hatchling, not even looking a few weeks out of the shell.

While she could not figure out its age, she could figure out one thing - it was dying. Its fragile bones were fractured and broken all over the place and it was lying in a heap of ash of what she guessed had been its nest. She stared down with lilac eyes, expanding her pupils so as not to frighten the hatchling. Its cries died down as she gently nuzzled its heaving chest. She couldn’t just let it die, not after seeing what she assumed was its dam’s desperation to save him. Speaking of which…

Cloudjumper, why on the Spirit’s earth did you take her? What even happened in here?

No, she could let it die. She wouldn’t let it die.

She gave the hatchling a soft lick to calm it, then scooped it up in her claws and took off for the hot spring island. She had an idea. It wasn’t guaranteed to work, but if it did then she could return the hatchling to its dam and bring them back to their island in peace.

She just hoped the Spirits would listen.

-------

It was a fairly long flight, but with her impressive speed she managed to reach a small island a little ways away from the main hot spring island in almost no time. She touched down as smoothly as she could so as to not wake the sleeping hatchling. It had fallen asleep quite some time ago, and her smell had detected that he was male.

It was almost midnight, the full moon about to reach its highest point. Just a little longer…

“Oh mighty Spirits,” she began, “please heal this child, grant him a second chance so as he might return to his dam and sire once more. Please, bless him with new life.”

The moon touched the peak of the sky, shining its brightest and covering the rolling sea in glittering waves. Nothing happened.

The hatchling’s breaths grew quick and short, and she knew he was running out of time.

“Please!” she cried to the sky. “Spirits of the moon and stars, I beg of you! Do not let death grab hold of this hatchling! He does not deserve it!”

The hatchling grew still. All was quiet. She could no longer hear his sporadic heartbeat.

“No…” she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. She closed them tight, willing the sting to go away. She held her sobs in her throat. All she had wanted to do was reunite a family, and she had been turned down. Had the Spirits no mercy on humans, even one as innocent as a hatchling? She hung her head low to the ground, holding her tears back. She would not let them fall. There could still be hope. And yet…

She found herself squeezing her eyes tighter, but not from emotion. A bright light had made itself known in front of her, so bright she could not so much as crack open her eyes. What was happening? All her senses were blocked. She couldn’t hear, see, or smell. She felt vulnerable.

Then, as quickly as it had come, the light disappeared.

She slowly opened her eyes, her vision spotty from the sudden burst of light. Where had it come from? What had it done? Had the Spirits really heard her prayer?
She allowed her vision to clear and refocus. Her hearing and smell slowly recovered as well. Immediately she sensed something was off. There was the same smell from the hatchling as before, but different somehow. Had it been any other dragon it would have appeared a normal scent, but she knew what it belonged to and thus feared the worst. She looked down and gasped in shock.

There, kicking off the bundle he was once wrapped in, was a Night Fury hatchling.

Eclipse didn’t know what to do. What had she done!? What had made the Spirits do this? Was this punishment for her selfish deed?

“I- I can work with this.” she said to herself. It couldn’t be that hard, right? She already had a hatchling back on the hot spring island, she could raise them together. Then maybe she could still return him to his true dam. It wouldn’t be the same, but it was better than nothing. She was a dragon, and real dragons kept their word no matter what. She made a promise to reunite this family, and one day she would fulfill that promise. But today was not that day.

Oh, you poor thing… she thought as he opened his wide eyes. They were the same forest green, reminding her of her own hatchling’s similarly toned eyes.

Thing. I can’t keep calling you ‘thing’ and ‘hatchling’.

“You need a proper name.” she declared. Too bad she hadn’t caught his real name. She had heard his dam shout something, but she couldn’t quite hear it properly from the rest of the action happening across the island. That, and the human tongue was very hard to understand for some. It was all a matter of how often you heard it. She hummed as she racked her brain for options. She looked up in thought and a word forced itself to the front of her mind.

“I will call you Tungl, for it was the light of the moon that made you this way,” she paused for a moment, then added, “and it will pair nicely with your… brother’s? Never mind.”
She gave a comforting rumble as she nuzzled her temporary son.

Is it safe to call him that? Surely no one will mind. "I will raise you as my own, Tungl."

She scooped him up once again and made the final stretch to the island.

I swear I will tell you everything one day.

-------

Eclipse collapsed on the island just as the sun’s first rays peeked over the horizon. She was tired from lack of sleep and the long flight from the human nest. Snores arose from countless lumps across the island, sleeping families with hatchlings safely tucked away. Eclipse smiled. She was almost back with her own family.
She approached a hollowed-out boulder, calling to one of the figures inside.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” grunted Solstice, Eclipse’s sister, as she crawled out of the makeshift den. “Where have you been and what is that?”

Solstice recoiled from the snoozing hatchling, who was dangling by his neck’s scruff. “Did you seriously steal someone else’s hatchling? I will admit playing with other nests when we were young was fun, but aren’t you a little old to be nest raiding?”

“It’s… a long story. I’ll tell you later.” Eclipse sighed.

“I’m holding you to that.” she said, granting entrance to the carved-out boulder.

“Toothless, dear?”

There was a scramble and a squeak, and Eclipse was able to locate her hatchling.

“I want you to meet someone special - your new brother.” she said, plopping a now awake Tungl next to Toothless. Toothless tilted his head in confusion, crouching and arching his back. His curiosity, however, got the better of him and he approached the new hatchling. He nosed him curiously, giving playful nudges here and there. Tungl seemed unsure about the situation.

Eclipse urged both of them towards the back of the boulder to a soft patch of moss and leaves.

“You both sleep now. I’m sure you’ll be alright. For now, I owe someone an explanation.”

-------

“You did what!?”

“I didn’t have a choice!”

Solstice was taking this better than expected.

“So let me get this straight - you stole a human hatchling from a dragon-hunting human den, just dropped it on some remote island in the middle of the ocean, and prayed to the Spirits to change his species entirely!?”

“Solstice, quiet down! And I didn’t pray to change him, I was hoping they would just heal him. This isn’t even close to what I wanted!” Eclipse defended.

“Well what else did you expect from dragon spirits?”

“That’s besides the point.” Eclipse huffed. “I just need to find the right time to tell him the truth. What the Spirits have done can’t be undone, that’s basic fact. If they did one thing, surely it’s against their will to reverse it. Maybe this was for a reason.”

Solstice opened her mouth to argue, but closed it quickly. She let out a long breath.

“I suppose you have a point. We’ll just have to live with it for now.”

They were silent.

“So…” Eclipse started, hoping to cut the tension. “How’s Comet?”

“She’s doing alright. She had the sniffles earlier, but she recovered fairly quickly.” Solstice put on a proud smile and puffed out her chest. “That’s my girl, following her mama already!”

“Let’s just hope she doesn’t follow you too much. The nest wouldn’t survive with two of you running around.”

Solstice slapped her sister’s face with her tail. Eclipse laughed.

“Like you’re one to talk.” Solstice rolled her eyes. That was true. Eclipse and Solstice were one chaotic duo, but couldn’t pull off their stunts without each other. They were like a Zippleback - one had the ideas, the other initiated them. Hopefully their hatchlings would be just like those before them.

Dragons around them began to stir, called by the growing morning light. Many greeted one another, commenting on the morning’s freshness. Eclipse, however, had other plans.

With a wide yawn, she turned for her boulder and with it her hatchlings. Solstice understood the matter without words and took off for her own nest.

Eclipse flopped on the ground and came face to face with four bright green eyes. She smiled, lifting a wing to welcome her sons near her and wrapped her tail around to cover her face with her tail fins.

Everything would be fine.

Right?

Chapter Text

The sun was high and warm as the first day of spring dawned across the hot spring island. Almost invisible to anything high above or too far down, three small figures darted across the rocks, leaping over bubbling springs and jagged stones.

“Come on, Moony! Surely you can run faster than that?”

“I can! I’m just holding out on you!”

“Excuses, excuses.” said the female among the group.

Toothless, Tungl, and Comet. They were each a little over a year old now, and had grown quite a bit since their early days. They were, however, still quite small, and could only go so far from their dams until their absence was noticed.

Tungl leaped over an especially large spring, fanning his wings and fins to glide across and cut off his brother and cousin. Instead he lost balance and crashed into Toothless, who was shortly collided into by Comet.

“Who’s slow now?” he said with a sly grin as Toothless tried to unbury himself. Of the trio, Tungl was by far the best glider thus far, but the other two weren’t too far behind him.
“Fine, just get your fat tail off of me!”

Tungl slid off his brother, who shook himself off. Comet rubbed her stunning sapphire eyes. “You two are ridiculous sometimes.” she said, but she couldn’t hide her smile.
“Yes, I would agree so.”

The three young dragons froze. They knew that tone all too well. They reluctantly looked over, sinking low to the ground as the looming shape of Eclipse towered over them.

“And where,” she hissed, “have you been?”

-------

Tungl was curled up in a tight ball while Toothless pouted on a rock.

“How many times have I told you two not to go out before dawn, without even telling me no less?”

“Don’t do it…” Tungl recited through his wings.

“But Mom, it’s not like we did anything wrong! We just wanted to have fun-”

“And in doing so you could have run into a Monstrous Nightmare’s nest. You know how protective they can be of their new hatchlings, especially the younger pairs.”

Toothless shut his mouth. Their dam had a point. The Nightmares were notorious for being territorial.

“We promise we won’t do it again.” Tungl spoke up, uncoiling himself to sit upright.

“You said the same thing before, yet here we are.”

Again, Eclipse had a valid argument. Both Tungl and Toothless couldn’t counter attack even if they tried. Instead of reprimanding them more, though, Eclipse smiled and pulled them close with her wings into a big hug.

“You know I only do this because I love you, right?”

“We know, Mom.” Tungl said, snuggling close to her chest.

“We’re sorry.” Toothless added.

“Good. Now that this has been taken care of, I believe Comet is done being scolded as well. There should still be some leftover fish in the den. I’m sure if you look you’ll find some. And I’m sure after your little adventure,” she emphasized the last word to remind them she still wasn’t letting them off easy, “the two of you are quite hungry.”

Toothless and Tungl dashed away, following the scent trail of half roasted sea creatures. They found it in no time and devoured it even faster.

“So,” Toothless said, licking his lips, “since we’re allowed to now, wanna practice some flying?”

“I don’t remember her giving permis-”

“We’ll be fine! Learn to live a little more, Moony.” he rolled his eyes, grabbing his brother and pulling him up a somewhat steep rock wall. It wasn’t too high up, and there were several nearby springs they could angle themselves towards if they were going to crash land again.

And again.

And again.

Tungl was fairly sore after being slapped with hot water time and time again. Toothless wasn’t feeling too good either, but they had made at least some progress.

My own wings are gonna break before I get this right. Ugh.

Tungl slinked into an unoccupied hot spring to soothe his aching muscles. Much better. He sank to where only his nose was above the water so he could breathe properly. One day he would get flying right, but like with all young dragons, it tended to take its time.

I just have to wait a little longer. I can do that. And besides - I have to be able to by next year, otherwise I won’t get to meet Dad!

That sent excitement through his wings. He and Toothless, among the other dragonets their age, had always dreamed of meeting their sires. Not all species hatched with their sires around, such as Night Furies, Zipplebacks, and Nadders. The only inhabitants of the hot spring island who hatched with both parents were Nightmares and Gronkles. Tungl wasn’t sure about any other species, though. He had never met any others, only heard stories of a massive nest made of ice, home to hundreds of different types of dragons. There was one, he remembered in particular, known as a Stormcutter. He had always been mesmerized at how a single dragon could have four whole wings attached to their body and still fly with as much grace as his own kind. Eclipse had mentioned one once, but he could recall his name. Cloudhopper? Mistjumper? Either way, he would find out soon enough. Just one more year and they would go to what his dam had called ‘home’.

“What’s a home, Mama?” he remembered asking.

“A home is… well… a home is where you live.”

“Is this a home?”

“Not exactly. Sure, we stay here until our hatchlings are old enough to fly and return to our main nest, but it’s not really a home. A proper home is full of loved ones and warmth.”

“The hot springs have warmth!” Tungl had said proudly.

“Not that kind of warmth. More like… a warm feeling you get inside when you are close to those you care about, close to family.” Eclipsed had explained.

“Comet is family!”

“Yes, I suppose she is.”

Tungl paused on that part of the memory. There was something off about the way Eclipse had said Comet was family to him. She hadn’t acted that way to Toothless when he asked about what Comet was to them earlier that same day. Was there something wrong with Tungl? Something that made him not qualify as family? He puzzled over this until he felt something prodding his back. He lifted his head out of the water to see a large black head grinning down at him.

“Are you going to stay in there all day or actually do something?”

“Hi, Aunt Solstice.” Tungl grumbled through the water.

“Good to see you, too.” she said. “But as I said before, you’ve been gone for hours. Toothless and Comet are looking for you.”

He supposed he had been in the water for quite some time now. Of course someone would have gone looking for him sooner or later.

“Aunt Solstice, is there something wrong with me?”

Solstice seemed taken aback by the question. Dragonets his age were naturally curious, but not like this.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean am I not family?”

Solstice hesitated. Something about her appeared uneasy, as if she knew the answer but didn’t know whether or not to share.

“I’m not sure if I can-” she stopped short. “No. That’s not right. I can give you an answer, but it’s not my place nor the right time to share it.”

Tungl huffed his disappointment after shaking himself free of water.

“I will promise you this, though,” she said. Tungl snapped back to attention. “When the time is right, if Eclipse has yet to tell you, I will tell you myself. But remember - no matter what comes your way, no matter what you’re told, you will always, and I mean always, be my nephew. Nothing can or will ever change that. Alright?”

Tungl nodded.

“Good. Now, I’m pretty sure Toothless and Comet were playing tag with some of your friends. Chances are they’ll let you join in. What do you think?”

Tungl reached up and nuzzled his aunt. “Thanks, Aunt Solstice.”

He then turned tail and dashed for the open basin where the dragonets liked to play. That was enough serious thinking for a while.

-------

The summer months were better than Tungl remembered them being. Last year he had been too young to really enjoy it, but this time around he, Toothless, and Comet were having the time of their lives.

“Tag!” Comet shouted, leaping on the tail of a small Nadder, who soon gave chase to a young Nightmare nearby. All nearby dragonets scattered in hopes to not be considered “it”. Tungl ran headfirst into a friend of his, another Nightmare.

“Frenzy! You’re not tagged, are you?”

“No, but I’m about to be!” the orange-gold Nightmare said, flapping a little off the ground to get away. His scales erupted in flames as he fell to the ground. “Really? Again?” he snorted before hopping away. Tungl laughed. His best friend always had a hard time controlling his fire, hence his name.

“Moony! Watch out!”

The Nadder Comet had tagged leaped on top of Tungl, using him as a boost to quickly glide away. “You’re it!” she shouted over her shoulder with a giggle. Tungl shook his head to clear it.

It. I’m it. I’m it!

He took off for a group of dragonets huddling together in a sort of safety circle. They all screamed with laughter as they separated like ants from a smashed hill. Tungl would know - he pounced on a fire ant hill once and was scratching his burning legs for weeks.

Stupid ants, he thought. He had steered clear of those since then.

As he was scanning the area for possible targets, he saw a smallish gronkle hiding in a pile of rocks by a ledge. Taking action immediately, he bounded over, almost as light as a Nadder, across the rocks and boulders throughout the land’s layout. Just a little closer… almost there and-!

He pounced, overshooting his target and flinging right over the edge of the cliff. Panicked, he twisted himself to try and grab the cliffside, but it was so sheer and slick from sea spray he kept sliding down until his claws hit a niche in the stone. He scrambled with his back paws, but to no avail. He was stuck.

“Mooooom!” Tungl cried. He was scared out of his mind. Even the smallest mistake now would send him tumbling into the crashing sea below, killing him instantly from the force of impact alone. He was too small to survive this far a drop right now. “MOMMY!!” he shouted again, tears making their way to his eyes. What was going to happen to him? Could anyone hear his pleas? Did they even see him go over the edge? He cried in fear, the tears falling and mixing with the water below if they even made it before evaporating or being whipped away by the wind.

No one is coming. I’m on my own.

If no one was going to save him, he at least needed to try to save himself.

He dragged his hind paws against the cliff face until he found a bump to latch on to. He then reached up for a crack in the wall and tried to heave himself up.
He slipped.

He slid, unable to find another place to hold on to until he was a good few yards further down. His sobs grew. He felt alone and scared and like giving up. Like no one cared enough to look for him. Another full minute passed and his limbs were growing tired. He couldn’t last much longer. If he fell, would anyone miss him? His friends? His family?

It wouldn’t be too different without me. Comet and Toothless would still get in trouble together. They would be fine. All I would have to do is-

“Tungl? TUNGL!!”

Mom?

“Moony! Are you down there?”

Comet?

“Comet! Mom! I’m down here!” Tungl shouted, his voice shaky from crying.

“Tungl! Stay right where you are, I’m coming!”

A shadow passed overhead, and soon there was a whooshing of wind and flurry of wings surrounding him.

“Come to me, I’m getting you out of here!” Eclipse shouted over the roaring wind. Tungl wanted to reach out, but pulled his paw back after the thought of slipping again. “You’re almost there, come on…!”

Tungl squeezed his eyes shut and reached out, feeling a sense of falling before one of a warm firmness, something that touched a distant memory he couldn’t quite recall. He felt Eclipse touch down and he nuzzled into her wide chest, taking in the warmth and comfort of his dam.

“You’re alright now… you’re safe… shhh, it’s alright.” she said, stroking the back of his head with a claw as he hiccuped with sobs. “Frenzy saw you go over the edge and he and Comet came to get me as soon as they could. Toothless is still shouting at random dragons telling them to do something to help.”

“I-I th-thought you w-wouldn’t c-c-come,” he sobbed. “I was so s-scared!”

“I know, I know. You’re safe now, and that’s all that matters. Comet, could you please get Toothless? And for Spirit’s sake, please tell him Tungl is ok?”

“I got it. I’ll see you soon, Moony.” Comet said, flapping off to find her cousin. Eclipse took off again, clutching Tungl close to her chest. She would not let anything happen to her son.

They landed fairly quickly, quietly slipping into their den. Eclipse layed down, pulling Tungl close and began to sing.

“Rest now, my child. You’re dam is here now. I will protect you, no matter what comes. You’re safe in my wings now, the world cannot hurt you now, and I will protect you no matter what…"

Tungl wanted to hear the rest of the lullaby, but was too lulled to keep his eyes open. He let them close and slowly drifted into the safety of sleep.

Chapter Text

The sky was bright, the sun was warm, and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. There were, however, three black shapes against the vast tapestry of blue.

A shrieking whistle echoed through the air, slowly fading out as the cry of a young sheep begged for mercy of this game.

“Gotcha!” Tungl cried, licking his lips as he looked down at the prey clutched in his claws. Something crashed into him, knocking the sheep out of his paws and snatching it away herself.

“Too slow, Moony!” Comet shouted through the wind, to which Tungl responded with a growl and an extra flap of his wings to pick up more speed. He adjusted his tail fins to catch more wind, which allowed him the extra burst he needed to catch up. He could hear Toothless behind him slowly gaining on his tail.

“You sure you’re using those things properly?” Toothless asked as he soared up next to his brother. He had the most smug grin on his face, and Tungl wanted nothing more than to smack it right off. He made a sharp turn to attack him, only for Toothless to swoop right out of the way. “Gotta try a little harder than that!”

Tungl growled his frustration and broke his chase after Comet to grab Toothless instead.

“Take that back!” he shouted after his brother. Sure, Toothless was a little bigger and stronger, but Tungl was smaller and thus more agile. It didn’t mean he was faster, though. No matter how hard he pushed his wings he couldn’t catch up. “Hey, wait up!”

When the three young Furies came out to fly this morning, they didn’t expect everyone to suddenly join them.

“What’s going on?” Comet asked when her dam flew by.

“The great migration - it is time we returned home.” Solstice said.

Home. We’re going home.

But… where is home, exactly?

Tungl knew it was nothing but open ocean for miles upon miles. Would he even make it halfway there on account of his weaker flying?

“Come,” Eclipse said as she flew up behind her sister and sons. “We must hurry past the crowds if we are to make it.”

“Can’t we take a break first?” Toothless complained. Eclipse snorted.

“Absolutely not. The winds can change in a matter of hours, best to get going now while it’s in our favor.”

Toothless grumbled but obeyed anyway. He knew better than to disrespect his dam.

“You know, in leaving now we’ll get to meet our sires faster!” Comet said to lift her cousin’s spirits. Tungl perked up at this.

“Yeah!” he chimed in. “Think about it, bud. We’re finally going to meet our sire!”

Toothless thought for a moment before shrugging his wings as best he could while in flight. “I suppose you guys are right. Race you to the front!” he added, speeding up to weave through the crowd.

“You’re on!” Comet called after him. Tungl rolled his eyes. Why did everything have to be a competition? Still, he flew after them in hopes of beating them anyway.

Rather than going through the flock of dragons, Tungl dove down underneath, closer to the ocean to get more of a kick of speed from the wind coming right off the water. He was right to do so - as he looked up he could see Toothless and Comet struggling to get through the horde of flapping wings and whipping tails. He knew Night Furies were extremely agile as adults, but it was a skill picked up over time. They didn’t exactly hatch with it.

Tungl did hatch, however, with a superior mind compared to his brother. Comet might be able to rival it with her cunning, but she didn’t have as many doable ideas as her cousin. It made him feel special, like it made up for not being the dragonyest of dragons all the time.

He grinned as he passed the small black shapes above him, pumping his wings to gain height once he was past the denser part of the migration. At the angle he was going, he should be able to be in full lead by the time his climb peaked-

“How’d you get here so fast!?” Comet panted as Tungl, who had barely broken a sweat, swooped up next to her.

“I have my ways,” he said with a taunting smirk. “Where’s Toothless?”

“Got caught in a swarm of Nadder fledglings. They found him quite interesting. They must have been from the eastern side of the island - it was like they’d never even seen one of us before!”

“Chances are they haven’t. I’m pretty sure we were the only ones of our kind on that island, according to Mom.”

Comet shrugged. “I would suppose so. I was told that we have a different nesting island, but it was too close to a human island, so Mom and Auntie Eclipse didn’t feel safe. I don’t blame them - a creature without scales or wings? That sounds terrifying.”

“I heard that they don’t have claws either, and they take things like rock and metal to make artificial teeth and talons.”

“Spirits, I hope I never have to run into one of those. And all the stories about them being dragon hunters? Yeesh.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

Comet and Tungl flew in silence, unsure of what to talk about next.

“So… how’s it going?” Comet asked.

“Good, I guess. Tired. Shouldn’t Toothless have caught up by now?”

Realization slowly spread across Comet’s eyes, the various shades of sapphire blue reflecting the sun to look like they were real gemstones.

“He has been taking his time… should we go look for him?”

“That sounds like a good idea. It’s not like him to be distracted for this long.”

The two young dragons banked into a tight u-turn, flying straight into the migrating flock going the opposite direction. They weaved left and right, calling out for Toothless, but there was no response. It wasn’t long before Tungl noticed both Eclipse and Solstice were missing too. Where had they gone? Panic set in Tungl’s chest, pressing against his heart in an attempt to stop it entirely. He could feel the panic welling up in his chest from the fear. He was lost again, unheard.

“Comet!?” he called in a strained voice.

“Moony? I’m over here!”

Comet appeared at his side, offering a comforting gaze when she saw his heaving chest and creased forehead.

“Hey, it’s alright. We’ll find them - they can’t be too far if they’ve noticed we’re gone. For all we know, they could be looking for us right now!”

Tungl nodded, sniffing as he raised a paw to keep his eyes dry. Comet gave a small smile.

“There we go. Come on, I saw a few rocks nearby. We can rest there and think of a plan.”

Tungl and Comet circled down to the rocks she had been talking about. They were just high enough out of the water to avoid being splashed too much, and rough enough to get a good grip.

“Ok, this is a checkpoint of sorts,” Comet began, “I remember passing by it earlier when I was still with Toothless. If we’re to cross paths with them in any way, it would be around here. Any ideas to get their attention?”

“We could try roaring, but I don’t think it would travel far. We’re not fully developed yet…”

The cousins thought for a moment. They would have to create something powerful enough to grab anyone’s attention from at least a majority of if not a full mile away. Something a single one of them couldn’t produce on their own. Something… something…

The idea hit him like a Thunderdrum’s blast. How did he not see it before? It was a small chance, but it could still work.

“What if we use our blasts?” he suggested.

“Our blasts? It’s like you said before - we’re not developed enough to create something that powerful yet.”

“Not on our own, but what if we charge as far as we can go and fire them at just the right angle to combine, creating an explosion as big as a full grown adult? It’s a very small chance, but it’s still there.”

Comet thought about this for a few minutes.

“I guess we can try it. I can’t exactly think of anything else right now, so I suppose it’s all we’ve got.”

“Alright, on my signal.”

The two Furies charged up their fire deep in their throats, right between their mouths and chests for maximum power. Tungl turned to Comet, who was staring at him and awaiting his command. He nodded, and they simultaneously fired their blasts, aiming at just the right angle to combine as planned.

Tungl was surprised at how efficiently it worked. He hadn’t expected it to go as well as it had, if he had to be honest.

That worked better than I thought, he considered as he watched in awe the massive explosion in the sky above them. It would be impossible to ignore something like that. He kept the image in his mind for later use, perhaps as some kind of warning or distress signal.

“Have I told you you’re brilliant lately?” Comet asked, giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder.

“I don’t think so, no,” Tungl said, then gave a sly smirk. “Mind saying it again?”

Comet whapped him in the head with her tail, and they laughed.

“Now what?” she asked.

“We wait.”

And they waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

The panic was starting to work its way into Tungl’s mind again. What if they hadn’t seen it? What if they were too far gone already? What if they didn’t even care?

What if… what if… what if…

What if they were flying towards them now?

Tungl’s ears perked up at the echo of wing flaps, the distinct sound that Night Furies made when flying at great speed.

“Tungl? Comet? Where are you?” one of them shouted.

“Mom!” Comet shouted. “We’re down here!”

She took off, flapping hard to meet her dam. Tungl followed shortly, but hesitantly. Where was Eclipse? Had she actually abandoned him?

“Tungl! Thank the Spirits you two are safe. We took action as soon as we knew you were gone, but couldn’t track you. What on earth happened!?”

“We were having a race,” Comet explained. “Moony and I were up front. We thought Toothless was still behind us. When we realized how long it had been we turned back to look for him but couldn’t find any of you.”

“I am sorry to both of you,” Solstice said. “We should have told you we wouldn’t be traveling with the rest of the flock.”

Tungl and Comet shared a confused look.

“What do you mean?” Tungl asked.

Solstice thought for a moment, as if deciding how to word her next sentence.

“We’re going to a different nest, farther than where the others are going. We are the… only ones going that way.”

Only ones? Like just us? I’m not going to see my friends ever again?

“I apologize, we should have told you sooner so you would know to stay close. We peeled off a while back and thought you were right behind us.”
“Where’s Mom and Toothless?” Tungl pressed.

“They’re still heading for the nest. I came back to get you two while they flew on. Striker can wait. He’s a patient dragon.”

Comet opened her mouth, probably to ask who this “Striker” was, then closed it before speaking, deciding she would find out soon enough. Tungl had a pretty good guess who he was.

“Come, we must hurry if we are to make it before nightfall.” Solstice said, turning around and gesturing for the dragonets to follow, to which they happily obliged.

-------

The flight was long, and Tungl was glad he and Comet had their short break on the rocks. The sun was mostly set by the time a strange looking island loomed in the distance. It was round and spiky, and had a strange blue-ish aura to it, like sun reflecting off of ice.

He remembered something his dam had told him once, about their home island. This was it. This was their nest.

This was their home.

It took him entering through a series of caverns and emerging into a glorious landscape of fresh greenery encased in a terrarium of ice to fully understand the sheer beauty of the nest Eclipse had always told him about. He looked around for others of his kind, most specifically his dam and brother. They couldn’t be too far, right?

His efforts were beginning to seem more and more fruitless the longer he looked. Where could they possibly-?

“Tungl? Tungl!”

“Mama?”

He located where his caller was, diving down in sheer joy and relief over seeing Eclipse on the ground, calling out to him.

“Mom! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” he said as he crashed into her open wings, which wrapped around him once she regained her balance.

“My precious moondrop… I was so scared I had lost you. I am very sorry.”

Tungl cried tears of joy and relief into his dam’s chest.

Spirits, I’m an emotional wreck.

He knew he didn’t need words, and neither did Eclipse. All that mattered was that they were together again.

“Mom, what’s that?”

“Moony!” Tungl's brother cried when Eclipse opened her wings, and Toothless tackled Tungl to the ground. “Don’t scare me like that again!”

It was hard to take him seriously with the goofy grin on his face. It was contagious, as Tungl found himself smiling as well. They chased each other around through the grass-and moss covered stone, dashing through ferns and leaping over small pools of water where melted ice dripped down from above. It was a whole new playground - new smells, new surroundings, even possible new playmates. They only stopped when a massive four-winged dragon dropped down in front of them, staring down curiously.

“Now what do we have here?” he asked, leaning forward to get a closer look. Tungl gulped hard, and he could hear Toothless’ heartbeat quicken. “You certainly remind me of someone…”

“Hello, Cloudjumper,” said Eclipse from behind, making Tungl and Toothless jump.

“Eclipse, my friend! It has been too long!” Cloudjumper exclaimed.

“Relax, it’s only been two years. If you had bothered to mate you could have come with.”

“You know we nest here. I still don’t see why you and your sister have to go so far away? Why not just stay?”

“It is tradition. And you know as well as I do that old habits die hard.”

Cloudjumper closed his eyes and nodded in agreement. What that was about, Tungl didn’t know, but he didn’t dwell on it either.

“And I take it these are yours?” he said, gesturing to her sons. He gave them a sniff. “This one’s scent is a bit-”

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she suddenly interjected. The Stormcutter took a quick step back, then agreed. “Tungl, Toothless, why don’t you go rest a bit? There will be plenty of time to explore tomorrow.”

“But Mom!” Toothless protested, “I’m not tired!”

“Bed, now.”

Toothless halted his words at her sternness. Neither of them had seen her act this way before. They shared a look before turning and heading for their den, Toothless leading the way as he knew where it was.

It was much more spacious and comfortable than the old makeshift cave back on the hot spring island. For one thing, he had his own bed. It was also better shaped, which was a nice bonus feature.

He settled down on a patch of overgrown moss while Toothless heated up a slab of rock beneath him.

“Just think,” Toothless said as Tungl was drifting off, “tomorrow, we get to meet Dad!”

Yeah, Dad. Tomorrow. Meet him. Yeah…

-------

Tungl hadn’t realized how exhausted he was until he woke up the next morning. He stretched out, throwing his wings open for extra emphasis. He shook himself out, ridding himself of sleepiness. He gave a wide yawn before stepping out into the glorious light of the nest.

It was even more breathtaking in full daylight. He knew he had slept well into the morning, much later than usual. He didn’t mind - he had been tired from the previous day’s flight. He had never used his wings that much before in his life, and he doubted he ever would again.

“Well, look who decided to get up.”

It was Cloudjumper. It took Tungl a moment to remember their encounter the night before. He smiled when he remembered the Stormcutter’s joy at seeing him.

“Your smile reminds me of your dam’s,” he said, giving a smile of his own. “Very similar.”

“You really think so? I never really saw it. I always thought it might look like my sire’s.”

“We’ll just have to wait and find out.”

Cloudjumper gestured for Tungl to follow him, and he did.

“So, you are named Tungl?”

“Yeah, but you can just call me Moony. Everyone else does. Well, except for Mom, and sometimes Aunt Solstice calls me by my real name. But other than that it’s just the nickname.”

“I think they both have a nice ring to them, Moony.”

Tungl giggled at the way Cloudjumper said his name. It was always nice to see an adult use it. He could already tell he was going to like this dragon. Sure, his name was alright, but it was too serious sounding. Names like that were typically reserved for the females, while males had less serious sounding names, like Toothless or Moony, hence why he preferred his nickname. His dam would never explain why she chose to name him that way, and he gave up trying a long time ago.

“So, what brings you out here? Surely you’re eager to meet your sire?”

“Yeah, but Mom hasn’t “found him” yet.” Tungl said, pausing to hold up air quotes with his claws. Cloudjumper chuckled.

“I don’t blame her - it’s quite a large nest. It took an old friend of mine a full week to track down his mate once. He’s barely let her out of his sight since, he’s so paranoid he’ll lose her again!” Cloudjumper laughed. Tungl couldn’t help but laugh as well at the silly story. One day, he hoped he could be a good storyteller and share funny stories with hatchlings like himself. It would take some time until he was a full adult, and even more so before he sired his own eggs, but that didn’t stop him from daydreaming about it all the time.

“You know,” the large Stormcutter said, cutting off Tungl’s thoughts, “if memory serves me right - which it normally does - I believe I last saw Hydro over here.”

“Really? When?” Tungl didn’t recognize the name, but he knew who the dragon in question was.

“Just this morning, actually, on my way to find you.”

“Really!? Are you sure?”

“My boy, my memory never fails me.” he said. He looked down at Tungl, though not at his eyes where one would normally look while making conversation. Instead, he was looking just underneath his mouth, at the right side of his chin. “What’s that you’ve got there?”

“Oh,” Tungl said, covering that part of his face in embarrassment. “It’s just a scar. Mom said I got it while hatching. Apparently I scratched myself on the way out and it scarred over from my scales not being fully developed yet.” he explained. Cloudjumper gave a skeptical look before shrugging it off. He seemed conflicted, the same way Eclipse and Solstice looked when it came to topics like this.

What was going on inside his head?

-------

Cloudjumper wanted to tell him. Like he said, his memory never failed him.

And it sure wasn’t going to start now.

Cloudjumper’s mind went back to that night two years ago, in that viking den inside its nest. He remembered as if it were just last night the human hatchling that had been so mesmerized by the dragon before him. He remembered the hatchling’s laugh, how he wasn’t afraid like the adults.

He remembered the scratch. It was an accident, and he was still kicking himself over it. He hadn’t expected the tiny wooden nest to move when he rested his wing on the side. All he wanted was to give the hatchling something to play with. He knew how to be careful with his giant claws with normal dragon hatchlings - was this human any different? But it had moved, and he didn’t have enough time to react. It was one of his biggest regrets. He would leave that child scarred for life, a reminder to its parents of the misunderstanding between man and beast.

But standing here now, he knew something was wrong with Tungl. It was something Eclipse had told him last night, about Tungl not being completely normal. She had made him swear to secrecy if he ever found anything else odd about him.

And now he knew exactly what it was. The placement of that scar, the angle it curved, it was identical to the human child he had accidentally marked that night. Anyone else might believe Eclipse’s story, but Cloudjumper knew. He knew.

This was the human hatchling.

He knew he shouldn’t have been so careless! If only he had kept his distance when he stumbled across that raid, if only he hadn’t heard the cries of the hatchling, if only he had paid closer attention and realized it was not dragon but human, if only he hadn’t made that connection.

When the female - clearly the hatchling’s dam - came rushing in, he was so distracted he hadn’t even noticed her until the accident happened. Only then did he see her, and the fear she carried with her. She reeked of fear, not only for herself but for her hatchling. He understood. Any dam would fear for their child’s life. It was her eyes, though, that caught his attention. The way she looked at him, the longer they had eye contact the more they understood each other, a type of connection.

Cloudjumper had heard legends of ancient connections between humans and dragons. They had once lived together in peace. But what stood out most to Cloudjumper was the ability to connect, to create a bond of souls that would only be broken by death, but even then reunited in the afterlife. He hadn’t understood what that meant until that moment. That was when her mate came onto the scene.

He had been so angry, so hate-filled that he had been blind to what was right in front of him. Such was the nature of humans. Cloudjumper did always find the females to be a bit better. They were more agreeable and open to understanding, unlike the stubborn males. Perhaps that was how they mated - whoever showed more stubbornness won the female.
Cloudjumper had reacted in a state of panic. His protective instincts kicked in, and all he wanted to do was protect the female and hatchling from this screaming male. He had blasted in its general direction, burning the whole wall down. It was then when he felt the tugging on his wing, sending a jolt through his nerves. He turned to face the female, who now looked truly scared. He was torn between two decisions - leave and let her burn in the den or take her to safety, away from the obvious oppression of her mate.
Why hadn’t he thought to grab the child!?

He snatched up the female as gently as he could, his own fear and panic scratching at the edges of his mind. He couldn’t spot the male, and the heaviness of the smoke made it hard to pick out his scent. Everything was masked in flames. He had one thought on his mind, and that was to get the heck out of there.

Thinking back, he was glad Eclipse had miraculously been in the area at that time. He wasn’t sure where she was, but she obviously had to have been there to pick up the hatchling. But how had she changed him? Dragons didn’t have that sort of power. The only thing that could have done something like this was…

The Spirits. They did this.

Immediately his mind began racing. What did it mean? What had Eclipse said to them? What drove them to go through with it?

If there was one thing Cloudjumper still believed since he was a hatchling, it was that the Spirits always had good reasoning. If they did this, then it was for a purpose. What, exactly, he didn’t know, but he would just have to wait and find out.

And he would be honored to be a part of it.

I swear, Tungl, I will tell you. I just have to figure out how…

-------

“Moony, do you mind if I tell you something?”

“What do you mean?”

After an uncomfortably long pause, Cloudjumper finally spoke, allowing Tungl to breathe again. He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding his breath.

“There’s something you should kn-”

“Cloudjumper? There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you two!”

Eclipse came soaring down, Toothless shortly behind her. Tungl rolled his eyes before running off to greet his brother. Why was it that whenever someone came to tell him something important, Eclipse had to come in and stop it all? It was certainly odd. Suspicious, Tungl even dared to say.

“And what might you two be talking about?” she asked the Stormcutter.

“Just sharing a few stories, is all.” Cloudjumper said innocently. Tungl was impressed by his lying skills.

Eclipse gave him a side glance before accepting the lie. Tungl knew to keep his lips sealed about their little conversation. He would have to find Cloudjumper later to ask him about it again.

“Any sign of him?” Cloudjumper asked Eclipse. She shook her head. He gave a sly smirk.

“You know, sometimes the things you’re looking for are-”

“Right in front of your nose.”

Three of the four gathered dragons turned towards a cave behind them, Eclipse the only one remaining forward. That didn’t keep her ears from standing up on alert, though.
“Eclipse, my dear?” said the voice from the cave. Eclipse slowly turned, her eyes locking with a second pair, lilac purple meeting moss green. Eclipse then rushed for the cave, and from the mouth’s shadow emerged a second Night Fury. The two collided in a flurry of wings, purring softly as they nuzzled one another. Tungl looked up at Cloudjumper, who had a satisfied smile on his large owl-like face. He then slowly crept forward to the large dragon before him.

“And you are…?” Hydro asked over Eclipse’s shoulder.

“Dad!” Toothless shouted, using Tungl as a launch pad to tackle their sire.

“Dad?” Hydro cast a quick look at Eclipse for confirmation, who gave a slow nod. He turned back to Toothless with a smile. “Hello, my son.”

Toothless gave the gummy smile he was named for, making his sire laugh. “I knew those genes were strong.”

“Don’t forget about Moony!”

“Moony?”

Tungl got to his feet and approached Hydro again. He never felt more nervous in his entire life, never mind the fact that he was only two years old. He chanced a glance up to see his sire smiling down at him through Toothless, who was perched on top of his head.

“Two sons, ey? The more the merrier.” he said, welcoming Tungl over, who happily obliged, though still approached with caution.

He didn’t know his kind could get so big. He knew Night Furies were a smaller species, but Hydro was huge, even by those standards, a good foot or so taller than Eclipse, who was already quite tall.

Tungl wrapped his wings around his sire’s neck, nuzzling his nose deep in his shoulder. Here, he felt safe and welcome. Hydro didn’t have the weird feeling around Tungl like his dam and aunt did, like he didn’t fully belong. It felt like being with Comet or Toothless - accepted without question.

“So, Toothless and Moony?”

“Tungl, actually.” Eclipse corrected.

Toothless rolled his eyes. “Does it really matter?” he asked.

“I don’t think so,” Hydro said. “But that does raise a question - how are there two of them? Last I checked, our kind only lay a single egg each season.”

All eyes turned to Eclipse, who held her head high.

“Circumstances change. There’s always a glitch every now and then, right? This was simply one of those times.”

No one pestered her about it further. They knew her answer was final, despite how vague it was.

She was a terrible liar, some knew. Cloudjumper knew the full truth, thus he could tell she was lying, and Hydro could sniff out a lie from a mile away. Still, no one questioned it. Someone would corner her about it later, but now wasn’t the time nor the place to do so.

“Have you toured much of the nest?” Hydro asked his sons.

“Not really,” said Tungl, “we just got here yesterday.”

“No time than the present, then. Shall we?”

A tour? With his sire? Of course! Tungl knew he couldn’t ask Cloudjumper his question right now anyway, at least not with his dam still around. He could find a better place later. For now, he took off after Hydro, taking in every word he said with peak interest.

“How did you get your name?” Toothless asked when they stopped for a drink of water. Hydro looked mildly embarrassed. Perhaps it was a trait he passed on to Tungl.

“It’s a bit of a funny story, really,” he explained. “You see, when I was younger, I… uh… well, let’s just say I loved to jump in puddles. And mud. And water in general. A lot.” he added with a small smile. If dragons could blush, he would be redder than the fabled tomatoes Eclipse had told them about. They had never actually seen one, of course. They just had to take their dam’s word for it.

“So you liked puddles? That doesn’t sound so bad.” Toothless commented. Tungl slapped the back of his brother’s head with his tail. “Ow! What was that for?”

The three took off again, heading back to their den when a strange smell made its way to Tungl’s nose. He pointed his head to where it came from, though he only saw Cloudjumper.

“Hey, Dad, what’s down there?” he asked. Hydro shot up in alarm.

“Nothing! Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“What kind of nothing?” Toothless pressed, curiosity taking over again.

“Just… don’t go down there, alright? At least not until you’re older. Promise me that?”

Tungl nodded his head, Toothless also doing so reluctantly. Tungl almost laughed at Toothless’ pouting but held back. He knew one day they would figure out what was down there, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

Chapter Text

Eclipse certainly liked to keep an eye on Tungl at all times. Even now, when he was nine years old, she still never left him unsupervised. Over time she had grown quite obsessed with constantly watching Tungl, always having someone watching him for seemingly no reason. He was still waiting to ask what Cloudjumper had been wanting to tell him seven years ago, but he never got the chance. Some Hobblegrunt would start a flashy show of colors across her scales, or a Terror would start pestering them with the strangest questions, obviously meant to distract them and wouldn’t leave them alone until the Night Fury and Stormcutter were separated. Like many other things, Tungl eventually stopped trying and just gave up with an eye roll and a long flight around the nest.

He missed his friends. Sure, he had new friends here, but he always found himself thinking about dragons like Frenzy. He just couldn’t seem to move on. What was worse were the arguments his dam always seemed to be getting into. It was normally when no one was around, but Tungl always found a way to eavesdrop. He was sneaky that way, and was quite proud of himself for it. The topics in question, however, he wasn’t exactly proud of. They were always so vague, so mysterious, as if they knew someone might be listening. He didn’t blame them. For all they knew the whole nest could probably hear them sometimes. He found himself stumbling upon a particularly bad one this time around.

He had come in after a long day of playing around with some friends and snapping at more ‘bodyguards’. He needed a rest, but overheard Eclipse not arguing with either Cloudjumper or Solstice but both of them at the same time. That had never happened before, and he certainly wasn’t letting this one go unspied on.

He landed as quietly as he could, hiding on the rocks above the cave entrance in case anyone walked out.

“Eclipse, this is getting out of hand!” Solstice shouted. “You have to tell him!”

“No! I can’t! He can’t handle it yet!”

“Yes, he can!” Cloudjumper argued. “He’s nine years old - that’s almost a young adult already. And he’s certainly more mature than most his age.”

Tungl felt good about that last comment. At least his friend had that same acceptance as his father and brother, despite seeming to know the same thing Eclipse and Solstice did that they would never talk to him about.

“He’s starting to catch on more and more,” said Solstice. “The spies, the arguments, even when he was still a hatchling he knew something was different about him! You’re being too conspicuous! And keeping Hydro in the dark about it as well? Your own mate?”

Tungl’s heart froze in his chest. He had suspected these arguments were about him for a while now, he was never sure. This confirmed his fear - they were talking about him. “I’m only doing what has to be done,” Eclipse stated firmly.

“What has to be- Eclipse! What needs to be done is tell him what he is!” Cloudjumper roared. “He’s going to figure it out eventually. Why not just let us tell him since you’ve been so reluctant to do so?”

“Never! I won’t allow it!”

“You may be my sister, but you are not my dam. I’m going to go out there and tell him myself, as I told him I would years ago.”

“You can’t do that!” Tungl’s dam screeched. There was a scuffle inside the cave, though it was hard to figure out what exactly was happening.

“We will do as we please. I am sorry, my friend.”

Tungl couldn’t keep listening. It was too much, he had to get out of here, collect his thoughts.

He flew off, unaware of the figures emerging from the cave and watching him fly off, sharing a look of unsureness.

What to do… what to do… what did all that mean? "What I really am?" "Tell me themselves?" Spirits, none of this makes sense.

He flew on in the darkness, the only light being the silver of the moon filtering through the icy ceiling. He wasn’t really headed in any true direction, he was just flying, hoping to escape the bombarding thoughts hammering his brain.

It’s not real. They weren’t talking about me. Just someone like me. Someone with a similar kind of identical situation.

He wasn’t paying attention where he was going. He didn’t have to worry, as any spies would be asleep at this hour. Then the scent hit him.

He immediately went back to all those years ago, when he first flew with his sire. He was in the forbidden zone, the one area he had still kept away from at his sire’s request. But something was drawing him over, that strange scent. He didn’t recognize it all the way, but he did know part of it and he knew why - it matched part of his own scent. It was small, but he knew it like the back of his paw.

He turned for the scent, following its trail and hating himself for turning on his word to Hydro. But he knew he had to do this. He didn’t know why, but he knew it was important. He landed softly on the grass, the small trickle of a stream tinkling nearby. He sniffed the air. The scent was very strong here.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

“Who’s there?”

Tungl recoiled. He hadn’t expected anyone to actually answer. And what was with that voice? It was the most un-dragon thing he had ever heard. He called out again.

“Whoever’s there, please come out! I promise I won’t hurt you.”

I just want to know who you are.

A small shadow came to the mouth of a cave, too small to be a full grown dragon. Then why did their voice sound so adult-like? He squinted in the dark, adjusting his night vision. The figure in the dark was…

No. Oh no. Not that. Anything but that.

A human. Not just any human, but a viking. Right here in the nest! And for at least seven years? He connected the scent to the human, who emerged into full light - at least what little there was of it.

A female, clad in leather and fur with a long staff.

“What are you?” she said cautiously, keeping her distance from Tungl. He could ask her the same question. This whole situation was definitely nerve-wracking, and Tungl remembered something he had been told long ago.

“The human language is very hard to understand,” lectured Eclipse. “Only dragons who have been around them long enough to pick up translations can so much as roughly understand them. It takes a good while to become fluent in understanding their speech.”

Tungl had never even seen a human before now, let alone talked to one So how could he understood her perfectly?

-------

“Mom, we need to talk.”

It had been a few years since Tungl’s first encounter with the human. Six years, to be exact. He kept meeting her in private, Cloudjumper joining in sometimes. Apparently they were ‘bonded’, as the Stormcutter had explained. Tungl wasn’t sure what to make of it, but went along anyway.

He had learned many things about the female human, such as her name and origin. A nest full of vikings, where she used to have a family before she came to this nest to live among dragons.

“What do you want to talk about?” Eclipse asked casually. “For the last time, I don’t know why there are always dragons following you.”

“It’s not about that. It’s about me.”

“Oh?” she turned around in interest. “What about you?”

“What am I?” Tungl said simply.

Eclipse radiated nervousness. “W-what do you mean? You’re a Night Fury! You’ve known that for years!”

“No,” he said, his pupils narrowing to slits. “What am I really?”

“A dragon?”

“Mother.” he stamped his foot down with a snarl. “I’m done with the lies. You’re hiding something from me, have been for years. There’s something wrong with me, isn’t there? You always act differently towards me than you do with Toothless. Aunt Solstice and Cloudjumper know, too, but you won’t let them say anything. Dad doesn’t know what it is, either.”

He paused for effect. “Or is he even my real sire?”

Eclipse looked taken aback. “What? How’s that even possible? Who else would be your sire?”

“Someone, or something else. Mom,” he watched his dam stiffen with each word, “I can understand humans.”

“H-humans? Th-that’s impossible! There are no humans here-”

“Stop lying!” Tungl roared. “She’s been living here for years, since around the time I hatched. Or was that fake, too? Another white lie to get around something you’ve been neglecting to tell me for fifteen years?”

Eclipse shrank in on herself. Her breathing was quick, and with a quick glance up at the wall she could see her sister, mate, and friend all watching. Coming in from the opposite direction were Toothless and Comet with identical expressions of knowingness. They were all in on this scheme - pressure Eclipse until she cracked. Those who didn’t know wanted to be brought into the light, and those who did know wanted to share just as badly. Even Valka, the human, was atop Cloudjumper’s back, waiting for an answer. Over the years she had picked up quite a bit of dragonese and could understand almost every word save for a few articles here and there.

“I- you don’t- it’s not- you don’t understand!” Eclipse fumbled over her words, unable to form a proper sentence. “I didn’t have a choice!”

“Tell us,” Tungl pressed on. “Tell us the truth.”

Eclipse looked left and right for an escape only to see she was surrounded. She squeezed her eyes shut, covering her ears with her paws. Cloudjumper growled a warning, and Solstice crept closer.

“Tell me! What’s wrong with-”

“You’re not really a dragon!” Eclipse shouted, catching everyone by surprise. Tungl stepped back in shock. He was expecting something big, but not like this.

“Not a… what?” Comet said slowly, puzzled over what had just been said.

“You were born a human!” Eclipse said. “But you were dying… there was fire, smoke, death. You didn’t stand a chance. I asked the Spirits for help, but then this happened. It’s not what I wanted!” she added, tears in her eyes. It was almost like she was pleading.

Tungl’s mind was going a mile a minute. He couldn’t think straight, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t look anywhere but where his paws rested on the ground.

Paws that used to be human hands. He realized. What did it mean? What would his life have been like if Eclipse hadn’t done this to him? Would he still be in his human nest? With his human family? Had they been worried sick about him, eventually giving up hope that their son was perhaps alive even after so many years?

“Wh-who…” he began, his voice failing him. “Who are my parents? My real parents?”

“I... I don’t know… I couldn’t get a good look. Tungl, please-” Eclipse said, stumbling forward towards the young Fury. He backed away, a blank expression on his face.

“M-Moony?” whispered Toothless, who was also trying to reach out to him. Solstice and Cloudjumper also approached, the only one keeping a respective distance being Comet, though she looked too lost in her thoughts to be paying any attention to what was happening around her. Tungl folded in on himself, his breathing heavy and fast as the overwhelming feeling consumed him. He had to get out. He had to escape, to think, to do anything but be here in this place in this moment of time.

Without really thinking, he flared his wings and took off, searching for the nearest exit. He heard those below calling after him, but he didn’t listen. He didn’t want to listen. He turned into a tunnel, which led straight out to the open ocean.

It’s not real… it’s not real… IT’S NOT REAL!!!

-------

Tungl didn’t know how long he had been flying. All he knew was the whirlwind of thoughts trapping him in his head and the pressing feeling of brokenness in his chest. It was like his heart had been ripped in half, everything he had ever known being torn right out from under him. He ignored the growing tiredness in his wings.

I’m not a human. I’m a dragon. Dragons are strong. I am strong.

He had always been a weak flier. He took way too long to develop his fire’s full potential. He never had the faint memory of hatching like everyone else. He had no dam or sire. He had no cousin. He had no brother. He had no purpose.

Dragons aren’t supposed to cry, yet he let the tears fall. He had always been way too emotional. He had cried more times in his short life than the rest of the dragons he knew combined.

I’m a complete mess.

He flew on until he completely lost track of where he was. At this point he wasn’t sure if he could find his way back to the nest all the way out here. He did, however, find a small island he could rest on. Most of two days had gone by, and it was now late afternoon. He glided down into a field where he dipped his head into a small spring of water. It felt good as the chill slid down his parched throat.

There was a snap behind him, immediately putting all his senses on high alert. He whipped around to the source of the sound to sense something hidden deep among the trees, likely just far away enough to only get a rough look at him. Acting on instinct, he took off, hoping to find food somewhere safer.

The creature had the worst smell ever, like it was made out of hundreds of different herbs and spices. What was it, though? He didn’t want to stick around to find out.

-------

Gothi had gone walking through the woods that afternoon. For one thing, she had run out of a special type of healing herb. The signs had also signified an oncoming dragon raid, so she knew she had to get out.

She had simply been gathering herbs when she saw a dark shadow fly over her, its shape in particular catching her attention. She knew it was a dragon, and going towards it instead of away from it went against every bit of common sense she had, but she had recognized not only the silhouette but the energy it radiated. It was one she hadn’t felt for a long time, and she had to confirm her suspicion.

So she hobbled through the woods, a path she knew quite well as it led to a few mountain springs where much needed materials flourished. She squinted through the darkening trees to see a shape drinking out of one of the springs. She smiled as she now knew she was right. This dragon was shrouded in human scent, heavily masked by that of its own kind. She smiled as she knew who it was.

If only Stoick knew.

She was surprised it hadn’t noticed her standing there yet. She decided to alert it of her presence by pressing her staff against a stick. While her tactic did work, she didn’t take into account spooking the dragon, and she watched in regret as he flew off, taking answers with him. She sighed. Another time, then.

-------

Tungl gnawed on a fish tail, unable to eat it wholeheartedly. He was so confused, so unsure, so lost. Maybe some time alone would help him sort this whole thing out. Darkness had long since covered the island, and he decided to try flying again to distract himself. That normally worked, but this time it didn’t. It only made him think more, which was the last thing he needed right now.

He wasn’t paying attention. He should have seen the fire and heard the screeching of both dragons and humans, the voices intertwining with each other into one big mess of sound. It wasn’t until he was right over it that he was brought back to earth.

A battle was raging beneath him, or more a raid if Tungl had to describe it.

“For the queen!” Some dragons were shouting as they snatched up livestock and fish. They weren’t even touching the humans unless they were attacked first. He looked down to see a Nightmare crawling up a wooden tower, igniting himself to cover his body with flames. Tungl watched as he rose to face a group of vikings at the top of the tower, snapping at them with his flaming snout. The vikings prepared to strike, too fast for the Nightmare to charge a blast-

“Look out!” Tungl shouted to the Nightmare, who heard not only Tungl’s warning but the shrieking wind coming from its direction. The Nightmare fled, knowing what was about to strike.

“Night Fury!” screamed a viking before jumping off the tower.

“Get down!”

Tungl fired his blast, knocking down half the tower as the rest came crashing down with it. He swooped right over the burning carnage, illuminating his silhouette for a brief moment before disappearing again. He heard vikings below shouting at him, but he didn’t care. Watching them struggle was fun. He took out more towers with ease. Hearing them scream in terror made him feel good, reassured him that he really was a dragon.

He didn’t notice the ropes coming for him until they were wrapping themselves around his wings, closing them tight to his body and sending him plummeting for the forest below. He shrieked for help, but was already too far away for anyone to come to his aid.

He crashed into the trees, his large form knocking branches off their trunks and taking out half the canopies he ran into on the way down. He came to a slide when he hit the ground, digging a trench beneath him before dropping down a small hill and coming to a halt.

His heart was racing, and he was panting hard. What happened?

Chapter Text

Astrid stared at the sky in disbelief. She had done it! She had actually done it! She, Astrid Hofferson, had taken down the elusive Night Fury! Now everyone could see that she was indeed worthy of respect.

She ran back through the village, not stopping to watch the dragons haul away their stealings. She didn’t care about that right now. All she cared about was finding that Night- “Astrid? Astrid! Where are you going?”

Astrid skid to a stop. “Fishlegs?”

“You’re going the wrong way - the Great Hall is in this direction.”

Astrid shook her head. She had far more important things than going to the Great Hall.

“Not now, Fishlegs.”

“Where are you going?” he asked, following her as she took off again. “I saw something go down in the forest. What was it?”

“I’ll tell you once we’re in the forest.” she said, knowing her friend wouldn’t leave her alone until she gave him an answer. He was very persistent. So he followed her into the forest, where she kept running until they couldn’t hear the village anymore.

“So what’s the big deal?” the young viking boy asked. “What’s so important that you’re missing reconstruction?”

Astrid looked around to make sure they weren’t being followed before answering, “I shot down a Night Fury.”

“You shot down a-!”

“Shhh! I don’t want anyone to know. I’m going to surprise the chief with it, then he’ll have to let me join the ranks of the warriors.” she said, puffing out her chest.

“Well… I’m coming with you.”

“What? No, it’s too dangerous. Besides, what could you possibly want from it?”

“Research.” Fishlegs said simply. “No one has ever seen a real Night Fury up close, even more so examine one. Think about the knowledge we could gain - the Book of Dragons will finally be complete!” Astrid sighed. Typical Fishlegs, always out for information. She supposed updating the Book of Dragons wouldn’t hurt, especially if it gave them more insight on Night Furies. She remembered the only writing on that page.

The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself.

She would be confirming that today, ready to see how accurate it was.

“Fine,” she finally settled, “you can come with. Just stay out of my way.”

Fishlegs held his hands up in submission. The two then turned deeper into the forest, Astrid leading the way.

-------

The forest was bigger than she expected. Astrid felt they had been walking for hours with no sign of a crash landing.

“Some people lose their knife,” she said to herself, frustration bubbling up inside her. “Not me, I manage to lose an entire dragon!?”

She flung her axe at a tree, embedding it deep in the splintered wood.

Splintered wood? That’s not right.

Astrid ripped her axe from the tree, examining the wood more closely. It had been torn right in half at the trunk, barely holding on as it leaned over into a deep trench. No, not a trench.

A path.

Something had crash landed here, something big. And she knew exactly what it was.

Astrid quickly followed the path up a small hill, Fishlegs trying to keep up behind her. She peered over the edge, only to press herself back down into the dirt. She slowly looked over again, getting a better look at the massive black form a short way in front of her.

The Night Fury. It was tangled in the ropes of her bola, lying on its side. It didn’t appear to be breathing. Had she killed it? That would make this much easier than she anticipated. She carefully hopped over the hill, creeping down to the dragon.

“I… I did it? I did it!” she cheered, putting her foot on its foreleg. “I have brought down this mighty beast-!”

The dragon grunted, throwing her off its leg. She staggered back, watching the now heaving chest of the Night Fury. So it wasn’t dead after all. Had it been holding its breath to trick her into thinking it was dead to leave it alone? Impossible. Dragons weren’t smart enough to do something like that. Still, it seemed like that had been what it was doing. Perhaps it had simply accepted its fate. She shook her head, looking the dragon up and down. She noted its long tail, short legs, and extensive amount of fins. That explained how it was so fast, and she wasn’t surprised to see its black scales, allowing it to cloak itself in darkness. She looked past the wing and had to keep from shouting at the large green eye staring up at her, pupil a thin slit. She gulped hard, bringing out her axe. “I’m going to kill you, dragon.” she told it, though she was pretty sure it couldn’t understand her. “I’m going to cut out your heart and take it to my chief. I am a viking,” she told herself. “I am a viking!” She prepared to strike, stealing a glance at its eye again. It almost looked… pleading? No, that wasn’t right. Pleading was a human feature, not a dragon feature. They couldn’t feel things like fear, only violence.

She closed her eyes, raising her axe to swing again, only to drop her arms in front of her, the axe loose in her grip. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t kill something trapped, unarmed, and at her own doing. It wasn’t honorable - it was cowardice.

“I did this.” she said quietly, more to herself than the dragon. She turned around to go back to Fishlegs, who was still peeking over the top of the hill, hands half-covering his eyes. She stopped short, however. She had an idea. It was stupid, and no one could know, but she couldn’t leave this dragon to die so scared and alone.

“Fishlegs, do you have a knife?

-------

So this was it. This was where Tungl would be put to death. He supposed he had a good run, other than the last day or so. He closed his eyes, laying his head back down on the ground. He wasn’t sure when the humans had arrived. All he knew was that he had been asleep when he felt something on his leg, and he reflexively pushed it off. He didn’t like anyone touching his paws. He could hear the human speaking, but his brain was too fuzzy and tuned out to identify the words.

He expected the death blow to come, but it didn’t. Instead, he heard a rapid cutting sound, and his eyes flew open. He looked back to see the human cutting the ropes around him, and he could feel the binds loosening. The second he was lose, he leaped to his feet and pinned the human against the rock, staring into her terrified blue eyes with his angry looking green ones. He could feel her heartbeat quicken, her breathing sporadic as sweat beaded her forehead in fear as her neck was caught between two of his claws. He could hear another creature nearby squeal before hiding away behind the hill. What a coward, he thought.

Tungl stared into the female’s eyes, reminding her of who was really in charge here. He wanted to blast her, to rip her to shreds for so much as threatening him with that fake metal claw of hers. But he couldn’t.

She had shown him mercy, cut him free and risked her life in the process. And how was he repaying her? By pinning her to the ground with the threat of death looming over her head. No, he couldn’t kill her. He could only return the favor.

He rose up, quenching his fire and instead slamming his paws down on either side of her and letting out an ear splitting roar before turning and quickly flying out through the trees. There. He had done it. He spared her life. Now they were even.

Something was off, though. A splitting pain was making itself known in his right wing, causing him to veer to the side and slam into a wall of stone. He screeched, trying to rise again only to fall from the pain in his shoulder.

He crashed back down to the ground, shaking himself out. What was happening? Why couldn’t he fly? He rotated his right wing, pulling back from the pain. Typical - he was injured. It would take some time for his wing to heal, but he could manage. He took note of his surroundings - a pond, teeming with fish. That was good, for it was both a food and water source. The area was nice and open, so no one could sneak up on him. There was only one problem.

He was surrounded by sheer stone walls on all sides, too high to climb out of. That was not good. If he had to get away, he would have to fly out. Perhaps it wasn’t too high after all? Maybe if he just pushed enough…

He pumped his wings in a heavy downstroke, lifting off and aiming for the ledge. He was almost there, just a little closer- The pain became too great. He lost control and fell to the ground, angling his good wing to not crash into the wall. Just great. He would have to keep trying. One way or another, he would get out of here.

-------

The first thing Astrid felt was regret.

Here she was, trapped under the Night Fury’s massive talons, staring right into its deadly eyes. Her initial plan was to cut it loose and make a break for it while it tried to make its own escape. She felt stupid for thinking it wouldn’t attack her the second it was able.

The next thing she felt was terror. She knew in that moment that she had been foolish to show mercy to a dragon, and now she was paying the price.

Finally, she was left in confusion as it had done nothing more than blast her deaf with its high-pitched roar and simply fled through the trees. It had looked so sure it wanted to kill her until the last moment, where she could have sworn she saw something shift in its eyes. She turned around in a daze, walking blindly up the hill back to where Fishlegs was still having a heart attack. She stopped only to help him up, then made her way back to the village in silence.

She had a lot to think about.

-------

Toothless was enraged. How could his dam do this? Trick them by saying Tungl was once a human, the most hated and vile creature known to dragonkind? Disgusting. He didn’t think he would get over this anytime soon.

“What is wrong with you!?” he screamed at his dam, who was still cowering under the angry glares surrounding her. Hydro had swooped down from his hidden perch. He wanted answers, but he didn’t want to pressure Eclipse into it. He would simply watch from his hiding place and talk to her about it afterwards. Toothless respected his sire’s tactic, but that didn’t stop him from sneering. Why not just take a direct approach?

Because this is what happens. He answered himself. He stormed off to fly after Tungl, Comet lifting off behind him. The two Night Furies exited the nest, knowing full well Tungl would be long gone at this point but still trying to track him down.

It was snowing. It was light, but heavier snowfall was sure to come soon based on the darkening clouds above. Toothless shook his head. He had to stay focused. He didn’t care if Tungl was human or not. He was still his brother, and nothing would ever change that.

“Toothless, it’s getting too hard to see. My echolocation is bouncing off wind currents left and right, we have to land!” Comet shouted over the growing storm.

“No! We have to keep going! He couldn’t have gotten far!”

“Toothless!” Comet said desperately. “Face it - he’s long gone. Just accept the fact that we have to wait this one out, or I swear to the Spirits I will drag you down myself.”

Toothless snorted before turning off to the right, where a good-sized island awaited them. There were a few caves they could take shelter in, then they could resume their search.

I promise, Moony, I’ll find you. No matter how long it takes.

Chapter Text

Fishlegs’ mind was hard at work.

The book of dragons had clearly stated never to approach a Night Fury under any circumstances because it was essentially a death wish, and yet the one they had encountered had spared Astrid’s life. Why? He couldn’t answer. It was too much for the young viking to wrap his head around.

Dragon training starts tomorrow. He realized as he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t sleep. Not after the day’s events. They had come back to the village at around midday, and since then Fishlegs had spent a lot of time in his room researching every dragon manual he could get his hands on, and still found more or less the same thing on the mysterious black dragons everywhere he looked. It gave him a rare sense of frustration.

Maybe I’ll wake up and this will all have been a really weird dream.

It wasn’t. When he awoke the next morning he could already tell it had been real. He sighed. Best to get to the ring before he got in trouble. He got out of bed, grabbed his hammer from its corner, and went downstairs. His parents were already gone - they liked to leave in the early hours for the fishing boats to get a better catch in case there were any raids to scare the fish away.

He opened the door, shivering slightly at the cold morning wind. He would just have to get used to it as he walked down the beaten road that would lead him straight for the arena. He wanted to ask Astrid about yesterday, but knew he should hold off until after training. After all, it would be weird to talk about encountering a Night Fury in front of the other students.

Fishlegs gripped his hammer more tightly the closer he got to the arena, his knuckles long having since gone white by the time he entered the ring. He focused on his breathing. He didn’t want to appear nervous, especially while the other teenagers bragged about how excited they were to “get some serious burns” and “mauling on their lower backs.” He wanted to join in, but couldn’t really think of anything to add. Thank Thor no one questioned him about his silence.

“Alright, let’s get started!” shouted Gobber from behind Fishlegs, making him jump in surprise. How long had he been standing there? “The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing-” Gobber jerked his hooked hand into a twisting motion- “his first dragon in front of the entire village.”

Fishlegs looked to the empty space next to him as he fell into line.

There were rumors - legends, even - that the chief once had a son. No one ever talked about who he was or what happened to him, but Fishlegs couldn’t help but wonder if, had things been different, would that son be standing right next to him now? He wondered what he might have looked like. Strong, probably, but not as bulky or egotistical as Snotlout. Smart like himself, maybe. Perhaps they could have been friends in another world?

Gobber’s voice snapped him back to attention. “Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight! The Deadly Nadder-”

“Speed 8, armor 16.” Fishlegs said to himself. Reciting dragon facts always seemed to calm his nerves.

“-the Hideous Zippleback-”

“Plus 11 stealth times 2.”

“-the Monstrous Nightmare-”

“Firepower 15,” Fishlegs said a little louder as he started shaking with adrenaline.

“-the Terrible Terror-”

“Attack 8 venom 12-”

“Can you stop that!?” Gobber shouted, agitated. Fishlegs shut his mouth tight. Gobber rolled his eyes as he turned to the final gate. “And the Gronkle.”

“Jaw strength 8.” Fishlegs whispered to Tuffnut, who gave him a confused look.

“Woah, woah, wait - aren’t you gonna teach us first?” stuttered Snotlout when he noticed Gobber’s good hand on the lever to the Gronkle’s cage. He suddenly looked like a scared little kid rather than the tough macho man he usually displayed himself as.

“I believe in learning on the job,” Gobber smirked before pulling down on the lever, allowing the mean-looking Gronkle to burst from its pen. The teenagers scattered, all hoping to escape the angry dragon chasing after them.

“Today is about survival!” Fishlegs heard Gobber say over the chaos. “If you get blasted, you’re dead! Quick - what’s the first thing you’re going to need?” he said as the Gronkle crashed into a wall and clawed at the ground to get upright again, all the while buzzing its tiny wings.

“A doctor?” Tuffnut tried.

“Plus five speed?” Fishlegs added.

“A shield!” Astrid corrected, earning herself a nod from Gobber.

“Shield - go!” he said, pointing to a pile of shields (how had Fishlegs missed that coming in?). “Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield.”

“Get your hands off my shield!” Tuffnut said over the din, catching Fishlegs’ attention. Free entertainment was always welcome, but this wasn’t exactly the best time. Still, he couldn’t help but tune in.

“There’s like a million shields!” Ruffnut argued, pulling on the shield her brother had grabbed.

Fishlegs didn’t pay attention to the rest of the argument, but figured one of them won since he heard a whacking sound and a snarky remark. He then heard a blasting sound, followed by Gobber saying “Tuffnut! Ruffnut! You’re out!”

Wait, out? As in last man standing?

“Those shields are good for another thing-” Gobber continued, “-noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon’s aim.”

Fishlegs banged his hammer against his shield, a small smile spreading across his face as he watched the Gronkle before him shake its head in annoyance, like there was a fly buzzing around by its ear and wouldn’t leave it alone.

“All dragons have a limited number of shots!” the instructor shouted over the added noise. “How many does a Gronkle have?”

“Five?” Snotlout guessed.

“No, six!” Fishlegs raised his shield up in an attempt to raise his hand. Finally, some dragon knowledge he could actually share!

“Correct - six! That’s one for each of you!”

Yeah! One for each of us- wait one for each of-?

A burning ball of magma flew past Fishlegs’ hand, knocking his shield clean off. He finally processed what had happened when Gobber said “Fishlegs, out,” and made a break for the nearest safe place he could find, which the arena was severely lacking. He settled on pressing himself against the wall farthest from the action. All that remained were Astrid and Snotlout, who was trying to flirt with the former. Fishlegs rolled his eyes and instead turned to the dragon’s tactics. It seemed to be only attacking those who were distracted. Based on how Snotlout was acting, Fishlegs guessed he was the next target, leaving Astrid the victor.

The Gronkle fired just as Astried leaped out of the way in a move Fishlegs found to be a bit extra, hitting Snotlout and forcing him to the ground.

“Snotlout, you’re done!”

Astrid slowed to a stop by the wall, unaware of the dragon coming up behind her at an alarming rate.

“Astrid, look out!” Fishlegs shouted, causing Astrid to turn around just as the Gronkle pinned her to the wall. It opened its jaws wide, an orange glow building up in its throat as it prepared to fry the viking to-

It missed. Gobber used his hook to grab the Gronkle’s lower jaw, forcing it upward and blasting the wall above Astrid instead of Astrid herself.

“And that’s six. Go back to bed, you overgrown sausage!” Gobber shouted at the dragon, swinging it around before flinging it back in its cage and locking the gate. “You’ll get another chance, don’t you worry!” she called through the metal door. He turned to his students, who were helping each other line up again. “Remember, a dragon will always - always - go for the kill.”

-------

“So why didn’t you?”

Astrid held one of the bola’s stones in her hand, testing its weight while part of the slightly bloodied rope rested in her other hand. Fishlegs had explained to her earlier how the Gronkle had specifically targeted the shields instead of the actual vikings, which only added on to her confusion with what had happened with the Night Fury. She found herself back out in the woods, Fishlegs offering his company and puzzling over what Gobber had said. She squinted through the trees in the direction the black dragon had fled. What had that crashing sound been when she cut it free? Why did its screeches sound like it had been in pain?

Going against everything her instincts told her, she started walking in roughly the same direction the Night Fury had gone the day before. She wanted answers, and this seemed like the only option she had right now. She gestured for Fishlegs to follow her, who nodded with a small gulp and began to work his way through the undergrowth.

Astrid was grateful for her lessons in tracking. If only they could actually come in use.

Given the dragon had flown away and not actually walked, there were no prints to follow. All she had was this ever increasing trail of scales.

Wait. Scales.

Shimmering black scales, a clear path of them. They led to a duo of boulders leaning against each other to form a sort of arching entryway. She ducked through, crouching to examine one of the scales. It was so smooth and shiny in the sunlight, contrasting with the dull ashy look from the foggy afternoon when she had last gotten a good look.

A strong wind alerted her of a presence, a big presence, and she looked up to see a long tail and scratching claws on the rock face, sliding down to reveal a large black face with wide green eyes, scrambling to keep a grip on the slick rocks. She fell back to a sitting position as the Night Fury slipped off the rocks and glided down into the cove below, landing somewhat sloppily.

“Are you ok?” Fishlegs asked as he crouched beside Astrid, who was mesmerized by the dragon below. She watched as it tried time and time again to lift off the ground yet couldn’t quite manage to get above the rock wall.

“Fishlegs, are you getting this?” she whispered to her friend. He nodded.

“Why doesn’t it just… fly away?” Fishlegs said more to himself. That was a good question. She squinted down into the cove where the Night Fury shot a blast of its strange fire at the ground.

“Look-!” she pointed at its right wing just before it tried to take off again. It was perched at an odd angle, like it had been broken or dislocated. She suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Why, she couldn’t say. It was just a gnawing feeling she felt inside, the sense that she had caused this graceful beast to be injured and grounded for who knew how long. She slouched over on her knees, pushing a rock out of the way.

Of course it had to drop. Of course it had to bang ever so loudly on every boulder on the way down. And of course it had to get the Night Fury’s attention. It sat up a little, looking up at where Astrid and Fishlegs sat on the rocks above it. She expected it to attack, to call for help, to do something. But it didn’t. Astrid tilted her head a little to the side in curiosity. Then it did something she never thought possible.

It imitated her.

It slowly tilted its own head to the side, its head frills flaring a little, and she could have sworn she saw its slit pupils dilate a little.

What did this mean?

-------

Tungl was irritated, to put it lightly. First he had been told his whole life was essentially one big lie, then he gets shot down in the middle of nowhere, and now he was grounded inside a natural prison. Just great.

He leaped off a particularly large rock, hoping it would give him enough starting height to make it up the wall. His wing screamed with pain, but he grit his teeth and pressed on, determined to escape. The wall was approaching fast, and his height wasn’t doing too well. His injured wing was causing too much drag, and he had to resort to clinging to the wall the second he could and trying to climb his way up, only to slide down from lack of anything to latch on to and glide back to the ground.

Again! He told himself. He tried a running start, leaping off a fallen log and flapping his large wings hard only to get thrown off balance again. He tried jumping up from as close to the wall as he could, the result being the worst thus far. He fired a plasma blast in frustration, scorching the ground in front of him before attempting flight once more.

He crash landed by the miniature lake, spying a few fish in the shallows. His stomach rumbled its pleas.

I supposed a quick meal wouldn’t hurt.

He carefully approached the water, dunking his head in to snap at the fish. He lifted his head, mouth empty and more angry than before.

His ears perked up at the slight clinking of rock against rock, and he sat up to see two humans - the same humans he had encountered before, might he add - then sighed. This day just kept getting better and better.

He waited for the female to bring out her large fake claw. Best to accept his fate and allow a quick death. At least he would be free from being trapped.

But nothing came. Instead, the female human cocked her head to the side, like an animal would. She was showing curiosity, not hostility. Entranced by her action, he couldn’t help but return the gesture. It only felt right to do so. Surely if a creature below his level of intelligence could show emotions this way, he should show he understood.

He watched as the two humans then turned to walk away, but even though they were leaving now, he knew one thing for sure.

They would be back.

Chapter Text

Astrid found herself in the great hall with the rest of her training group. They were going over the different mistakes of the day, but she wasn’t paying that close attention.

“Where did Astrid go wrong today?” she heard Gobber ask, coming to attention at her name.

“I mistimed my somersault dive,” she said before anyone else could critique her. “It was sloppy and threw off my reverse tumble.”

“We noticed.” Ruffnut said distractedly.

“No, no,” Snotlout cut in, testing another flirting method. “You were great. That was so… Astrid.”

“She’s right,” Gobber interjected, sparing Snotlout from being sliced to pieces by Astrid’s axe. “You have to be tough on yourselves.

“We need to live and breathe this stuff,” he pulled out a large book from behind him and threw it onto the table. “The dragon manual - everything we know about every dragon we know of.”

Thunder rumbled outside. Gobber looked up and around the Great Hall as though determining something before settling with “No attacks tonight. Study up.”

“Wait,” Tuffnut said, finally paying attention for the first time that night while the knife he had been trying to balance fell over. “You mean read?”

“While we’re still alive?” Ruffnut chimed in.

“Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?” Snotlout said as he slammed his fists on the table. Astrid could see excitement growing on Fishlegs’ face and prepared herself for a long lesson on what she had already read about in the book.

“I’ve read it, like, seven times!” he said enthusiastically, not noticing the slow glare he was getting from Snotlout. Either that or he did notice and just didn’t care, as he was still spitting random facts about Scauldrons and Timberjacks.

“Yeah, sounds great,” Tuffnut put Fishlegs’ words to a halt with a closing motion of his hand. “You know, there was a chance I was gonna read that-”

“But now…?” Ruffnut finished for him, slouching in her seat.

“You guys read,” Snotlout said, standing up and turning to walk away, “I’ll go kill stuff.”

There was a soft hubbub of agreeing comments as the other teens followed him out. Even Fishlegs followed, but Astrid stayed behind, thinking. She had read the manual before, but felt she might have missed something between the lines. She waited until the Hall was entirely empty before grabbing a small candle and bringing it over to the table with the giant book so she would have enough light. She pulled open the worn leather cover, reading aloud.

“Dragon classifications,” she began, “strike class, fear class, mystery class.”

She turned the page, reading over the page on Thunderdrums. Nothing she couldn’t recall so far. The same conclusion followed for Timberjacks, Scauldrons, Changewings, Zipplebacks, and Whispering Deaths. She even remembered everything about the fabled Boneknapper. She was startled by a clap of thunder outside, which got her wondering how the Night Fury was faring in the storm.

That’s what I need to find.

She rapidly flipped through the book, muttering the various warnings of “extremely dangerous” and “kill on sight” until she reached the correct page.

“Night Fury,” she read to herself. “Speed - unknown. Size - unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. You’re only chance: hide and pray it does not find you.”

She looked into the darkness of the Great Hall, pondering that last line. The Night Fury she had encountered sounded like none of those things. It had just imitated her, not looked at her and thought “hey, she looks like a good snack” and done everything in its power to eat her. She looked down at the blank center of the page, reaching into her pocket and gently flattening a rough sketch Fishlegs had made of the Night Fury from the top view. She stared down at the parchment, deep in thought.

What should she do?

-------

“You know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there by chance another book? Or a sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet?”

A blast of sparking fire ignited by her head, setting the wood behind her aflame.

“Focus, Astrid! You’re not even trying!”

An angry Deadly Nadder hopped down from its perch atop the wall, dashing straight for Astrid. She cut to the right as Gobber began his next lecture.

“Today is all about attack!” he shouted over the Nadder’s screeches and the teen’s panic. “Nadders are quick and light on their feet. You’re job is to be quicker and lighter!”

Astrid turned left and right through the maze, getting as far away from the click of releasing tail spikes, which signified the blue Nadder’s placement.

“I’m really beginning to question your teaching methods!” she heard Fishlegs shout from the center of the maze.

“Look for its blind spot - every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike!”

There was a moment of quiet, disturbed only by the sniffs and grunts of the Nadder, wherever it may be. Astrid then heard a blast, followed by the twins’ screams.

“Blind spot, yes, deaf spot… not so much.” Gobber said, and Astrid could have sworn she heard him laugh. She found Gobber’s spectating spot while running to the opposite end of the arena, stopping as Snotlout and Fishlegs passed her.

“Hey,” she said as if in friendly conversation, “so, how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?”

No one’s ever met one and lived to tell the tale, now get in there!” Gobber added, pointing out into the maze.

“I know, I know, but hypothetically-”

There was a nearby thump, followed by several slower, lighter thumps. Talonsteps. The Nadder was close. She threw her back against one of the walls, crouching low to protect herself with her shield. Snotlout was crouched dangerously close behind her. Astrid peered around the edge of the wall, checking to see how close the dragon was.

Far enough.

She leaped into a dive, using her shield to push off the ground and back onto her feet to run. She cringed at how loud Snotlout slammed his shield on the ground. She knew the second she heard the dragon’s roar that they had been found.

The Nadder dropped down in front of them, Snoutlout pushing Astrid out of the way despite her cry of defiance.

“Watch out, babe,” he said with an irritating smirk, “I’ll take care of this.”

He threw his mace at the dragon, missing by a long shot. The Nadder watched the shiny weapon pass it, then turned back to make a sound that almost sounded like it was laughing. Astrid glared at Snotlout.

“The sun was in my eyes!” he defended, chasing after Astrid as she ran off. She heard him go off on something about blocking out the sun, but she didn’t pay that close attention. Frankly, she didn’t care. Instead she turned back to Gobber as the Nadder crashed into a wall during its chase.

“They probably take the daytime off, right?” she asked, making guesses at this point. “You know, like a cat? Has anyone ever seen one napping?” she stopped for her last question, a little ahead of the others space-wise.

“Astrid!” Gobber shouted, pointing at the rampaging dragon behind her. Her eyes went wide as she saw how close she was, slapping herself for being distracted for too long. To make up for it, she decided to trick the trickster and hop up on top of one of the walls herself, hoping it would throw the dragon off of its tactic. It worked to an extent, at least until the Nadder came crashing into another wall, which tipped over and caused the rest to fall like dominoes. She landed, only to have Fishlegs run into her, her axe getting wedged in his shield. She struggled to get it loose, eventually kicking her friend down and throwing the axe, shield and all, at the Nadder’s face, which was mere inches away. The Nadder staggered back, shaking its head and marching away in defeat. She mentally apologized to it, then turned to Fishlegs, who lay on the ground before her.

“Is this some kind of joke!?” she shouted, hoping he caught her wink. He likely did, as his tenseness faltered a little before returning to an act more than genuinity. “Our parents’ war is about to become ours - figure out which side you’re on.” she said, pointing her axehead at his throat. She then stormed off out of real anger, embarrassed over what had just happened, not turning back to the ring to see if Fishlegs was alright.

Chapter Text

Astrid carefully approached the small opening to the cove, shield in hand.

“Do you have the fish?” she asked Fishlegs, who nodded and held up the stolen cargo. She turned back to the opening to find she had accidentally wedged the shield in too tight to release. Great.

She grabbed the fish from Fishlegs, tossing it over the shield before crawling underneath it herself. She looked back to see Fishlegs trapped on the other side. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off before she even got a word out.

“Don’t worry,” he said with a nervous smile. “I’ll find another way in.”

She wanted to protest but he turned around before she could do so. She shook her head. He was smart, he would find a way. For now, she crept across the cove, noticing for the first time just how tight it felt. No wonder the Night Fury had seemed so desperate to get out - she would hate to be indefinitely trapped here too.

At least the cove had everything to survive. Clean water, a good food supply, and several options for shelter. All that was missing was the dragon itself. Her senses on high alert, she slowly spun as she walked, keeping an eye out for danger. She still couldn’t fully trust this dragon. After all, a dragon was a dragon, and they were wild, untamed beasts. She couldn’t afford to let her guard down for even a second.

“Hey - there you are! I found another-”

“Shhh!” Astrid hissed, silencing Fishlegs. She didn’t like how he had snuck up on her like that.

It wouldn’t be the last time it happened. Astrid’s ears pricked at a low grumble behind her, and she turned to see the Night Fury creeping down a boulder, sniffing the air as it turned to face them. It looked at her with narrowed eyes and slit pupils, which she noted as a sign of caution. She held out the fish, and watched as the dragon slowly crept towards her in a very cat-like manner, if asked her opinion.

She gasped as it recoiled, its features flashing from almost non-threatening to lined with wariness once more. What could have caused that? She checked herself where she last saw the Night Fury’s eyes pinned on her. She had her skirt, her belt, her axe…

Her axe.

It saw her as armed, and thus a threat to its life. She marveled at how similar its reaction had been to that of her own. This creature was more human-like than she thought. She reached for her axe, jerking her hand back as the Night Fury snarled at her. She tried again, this time with a slower approach, pulling out the axe and dropping it to the ground. The dragon gestured its head to the side, in the direction of the lake.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Sighing, she kicked her axe into the water, reminding herself to retrieve it later. It belonged to her family, after all. She couldn’t just ditch it like that for a dragon of all things. Once the axe sunk to the bottom of the lake, the Night Fury proceeded to push the boundaries of all dragon behavior and sat down with large, innocent eyes, flicking one of its various ear nubs. What this meant, Astrid didn’t know, but she didn’t question it. At least the dragon wasn’t threatening anymore. She decided to try again with the fish. Carefully she held it out, and the Night Fury slinked up to her again in its cat-ish manner, stretching its neck out as it opened its toothless jaws.

“Toothless?” Astrid said as she inspected the bright pink gums. “I could’ve sworn you had-”

Gleaming white fangs erupted from the Night Fury’s mouth, snatching the fish in an instant as the dragon flung its head up and swallowed the entire fish in two measly bites. “-teeth.” she finished. The Night Fury licked its scaly lips, locking its eyes on her and stalking forward, making a sort of humming sound as it backed Astrid and Fishlegs against a rock.

“I- uh,” she stuttered as the dragon put its nose right up to her face. It was so big up close. “I don’t have any more.”

The dragon turned to Fishlegs, who shook his head. It looked at the two vikings for an uncomfortable amount of time, not tearing its gaze away from Astrid’s eyes. There was something in its eyes, a knowingness she never would have comprehended before coming from a dragon. Captured by his vibrant eyes, she reached out with her hand to see what would happen.

-------

Tungl was perched atop his rock, stalking the humans like he would a deer or rabbit. He shimmied his shoulders as he prepared to leap, but decided to climb down instead once he got a whiff of something in the female’s strange clawless paws.

He tried to get a better grip on the scent as he saw the humans step back at his presence. Mixed in with the scent of food and human was that of fear, though not as strong as the first few encounters. He decided to keep his guard up either way.

The female looked to the male, then held something out as if she were offering it. He looked down and had to keep his delight from overflowing his other senses. A fish! Right there for the taking! He stepped up, ready to take the awaiting snack, when his eye caught a gleam of silver and he shot back to his crouched position with a growl. The human seemed to figure out what was wrong and reached for her fake claw.

Too fast!

“Slower!” he snarled, and she pulled her paw back. After a minute she got the message and reached again, slower this time before dropping it on the ground.

“In the water,” he said, jerking his head to the left to better communicate. He wasn’t taking any chances. Not today.

The female kicked her fake claw into the lake, and once he knew she was unarmed he decided that was enough. He couldn’t see any weapons on the male, so he checked out as well.

The fish was once again offered to him, and he came up with caution, slowly opening his toothless mouth to show he meant no harm.

“Toothless...?” the female said. Tungl still wasn’t used to being able to understand humans. “I could’ve sworn you had-”

Releasing his teeth, he snatched the fish and swallowed it whole, licking his lips afterwards. His stomach demanded more, but he silenced it.

You’ll get more, you spoiled hatchling.

The humans still smelled of fish, so he decided to try his luck at another tasty morsel. They backed up as he approached, making strange stuttering sounds.

“I don’t have any more.” the female said, much to Tungl’s disappointment. He looked to the male to double check, and confirmed what the female said to be true. He locked eyes with her, hoping they weren’t lying and were just holding out on him. But nothing happened. He was about to turn around when something distracted him.

The female was slowly reaching out, paw getting closer to his snout.

“No!” he hissed before turning and taking off to glide across the cove, making a rough landing on the other side of the lake. He shook himself out and opened his jaws, using his fire to char the ground around him for warmth and tried to get some rest after his small meal. A bird chirped above and he looked up to see it flying off, leaving her nest unprotected. So many times he had heard stories of his own hatching from Eclipse, how she felt when she first saw him. It hurt more than his injured wing to think it had all been lies as he watched the little bird flit across the sky to find food. He looked down to see something most unwelcome.

In front of him sat the human male, who raised a paw in a small wave. Tungl dropped his ears and shifted his position to wrap his tail around and fan his fins to cover his face. Maybe it would get the human to go away (if he understood common dragon courtesy, that is). He closed his eyes, ready for sleep to come.

Something was too close for comfort.

He quickly lifted his tail to see the human quickly pull his hand back, hopping to his feet and walking away like he hadn’t done anything. Pathetic, Tungl thought. What kind of creature thought they could trick a dragon? Obviously humans, apparently.

With a drawn out grunt, Tungl stood up and went to find a new sleeping place.

-------

Tungl blinked the sleep away from his eyes, reorienting himself. He had draped himself from a tree branch by his tail, high up enough to be away from the humans and comfortable enough to get the rest he needed. His stomach complained of its emptiness, and he hushed it. He didn’t really feel like hunting right now, he was too upset over his situation.

Especially since the humans were very much still here.

They appeared to be hovering around a rock, the female sitting down while the male leaned over her. She appeared to be doing something with the dirt, but what? He couldn’t figure out what was so exciting about dirt and rocks. It sparked his curiosity, though, and he figured it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick peek.

Slinking down from his tree, he snuck up behind the humans, careful to not let them know he was there. He watched as the female traced a small stick in the dirt, forming a curious shape. It almost looked like…

Me? he realized. The way the eyes were angled, the way the dirt dragon held its ear nubs, it was a near-perfect resemblance to Tungl’s own features. He gave a hard sniff before walking off to try it himself. It looked interesting enough.

He ripped a large branch off a nearby tree, much better and more impressive than the tiny stick the human wielded. He put the branch in the dirt, imitating the movements he had seen the female make. He pranced in wide arcing circles, even looking back at the watching humans like they had done to him. He proceeded to mark the dirt with lines, and gave a nod of approval once he was finished. Not too bad, if he did say so himself.

The female stood up, observing his handiwork, and stepped on it.

She stepped on it. How could she? He growled, crouching low. She heard him and lifted her foot, returning him to his friendlier state. She put her foot down again where it had been before, upsetting Tungl again. She lifted her foot to see him return once again to friendly, then put her foot down again. She was playing with him.

“Stop it!” he growled, and she lifted her foot again, this time smiling. She then stepped over the line, earning a satisfied purr from Tungl. That was better. She began stepping over all the lines around her, entering a type of dance as she tried to get out of the ‘artwork.’ She looked over at the male, who looked back at her strangely.

No, not at her, at Tungl.

The female was now right in front of the Night Fury, back turned to his chest. He huffed at the top of her head, making her turn around. She looked up and locked eyes with him, then reached out with her hand as she had earlier.

“No…” Tungl growled softly as he turned his head away a little. She pulled back, then thought for a moment before she did by far the strangest thing Tungl had seen from a human. She turned her head away from him, reaching out with her hand simultaneously.

She’s letting her guard down. He realized. This human, who he barely knew, was showing a sign of trust, giving her own safety over to his personal judgement. What should he do? Instinct told him to bite her hand off. But was that really the right thing to do?

So far instinct had gotten him into nothing but a huge mess. What if he just ignored it for once? All it had caused was trouble, and he didn’t want any more of that, thank you very much.

Instead he did what he knew had likely never been done before and leaned his muzzle into her hand, closing his own eyes, fully returning his own vulnerability.

-------

Astrid slowly peeked at her hand, which had suddenly gone warm and felt like it was brushing against smoothed-out riverstones. The Night Fury, the most vicious and bloodthirsty of all dragons, had its nose pressed gently against her hand, eyes closed.

It trusted her. After everything, it finally trusted her.

And she trusted him.

Chapter Text

Tungl reflected on what had happened. After he had opened his eyes and saw the human staring back at him, he’d decided that was enough and flew off, at least as best he could in his condition. He wasn’t exactly sure what came over him. He had known in the moment, but thinking back it was hard to recall.

I made the correct decision, right? He wondered. Three times they came, and three times they had full access to kill me the second they pleased. But they didn’t. Surely that’s a good thing?

He rotated his injured wing, wincing at the twinge in his muscle. It was a little better than when he first crashed, but it still hurt too much. The most he could do was let it drag on the ground or hold it at an odd angle to where it didn’t hurt.

His ear nubs pricked at approaching footsteps, standing straight up the closer the sounds got to his location. Based on the weight of the sound, they seemed to be hurried. He kept his guard up, though immediately dropped into a playful stance at the two humans from the last few days. They had returned!

He hopped up to them, sniffing the mysterious cargo in the female’s arms. It smelled of herbs and the strange material the humans clothed themselves in. She set the supplies down, holding her arms out to him in a weird gesture. He pushed his head in, hoping that was what she wanted. He guessed he was right, as she rubbed a paw on top of his head before kneeling down to pick up a container of a strange green substance. She allowed him to inspect it, and he staggered back at the smell. It was the scent of herbs, yet it was so concentrated and overwhelming it took him a minute to process.

The human then stepped around to his right side, which caused Tungl to circle back. There was no way she was touching his wing. What was that stuff in her paws supposed to do anyway? Melt the skin in his wings? Disintegrate his bones? He didn’t want to risk it. He may trust this human, but not that much. At least not yet.

“It’s ok… it’s ok…” she said in a soothing tone, taking a bit of the green substance and spreading it on her own scaleless skin. It didn’t appear to do any harm. He decided to give it a try, though reluctantly. He was willing to take a chance if it meant his wing might heal faster. He sat down, keeping a cautious eye on the human.

He flinched at her touch, but stayed put as still as he possibly could, clenching his teeth to distract from the pain.

“Do you have a name?” the male human asked, probably to distract him. The female muttered something about how he probably couldn’t understand them, which gave Tungl all the more reason to prove them wrong. Only how was he to explain this with the language barrier? He thought for a moment, then tilted his head to the sky. The humans looked up as well. “Sky?” the female guessed, then tried a few other names when he shook his head. “Cloud? Night? Sun?”

Tungl perked up at the word ‘sun,’ hoping it would tell the human she was on the right track.

“You’re name is Sun?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Tungl shook his head, covering it with his good wing to create a shadow. Hopefully it would get the message across. “Shade? Moon?”

Close enough. He nodded his head, wishing she could understand him. She let out a “huh” noise as she continued to apply the solution. It burned his skin as it soaked underneath his thick scales, but it eventually cooled off after a few minutes. Once the human backed away, he rotated his wing a little. A still hurt, but not as much. His hunch had been right, and he was grateful for it.

“That’s better.” he said to himself. He looked over at the human to enact a gesture of thanks, but stopped at the mesmerized expression on her face. What was that for? He tried to look at where her eyes were pinned and found she was staring at the scales across his eyebrows and ear nubs. The sun was hitting them just right, causing them to shimmer a rugged reddish-copper tone. Small patches on his wings were doing the same.

I suppose this isn’t normal for Night Furies, even by human standards, He supposed. He snorted in the human’s face, snapping her out of her trance.

“I- sorry. I didn’t know Night Furies could do that.”

“We can’t,” Tungl said, though to the humans it sounded more like a grunt. He shuffled his feet and ruffled his wings, hoping it would convey his feeling of self-consciousness. She looked a little confused at first, but behind her eyes Tungl could see her brain slowly piece together the puzzle.

“Can… are you the only one who can do that?”

He nodded, turning his head away in embarrassment. He felt her paw touch the side of his face, running her strange talons across his smooth scales. “I think it looks pretty cool,” she said. Tungl smiled.

Snap.

Tungl shot to attention, a low growl building in his throat. His human took on a fighting stance, ready for the intruders. The male looked unsure of whether to stay or flee.

“Moon, you have to run,” said his human.

Crash!

“Of course not!” he snarled. Just because she didn’t understand Dragonese didn’t mean she couldn’t figure out the basic idea of what he had said. She shot him a glare that could rival that of Eclipse when she was angry, and Tungl knew he couldn’t argue any longer. The longer he was here, the worse this would get for everyone. So he turned away to a nearby cave. He tucked himself inside, upset he was stuck here and not out defending his territory.

Put your pride aside! Even if you wanted to, you can’t properly defend so much as a stick, let alone yourself in this condition. Sometimes you just have to wait it out. His common sense was right. He curled up to shield his face, mad at his own mind for being its logical self. He was alright with it until it turned on him.

Just wait it out. I’ll be free again in no time.

-------

Astrid hurried out of the cove, ditching the medical supplies she had with her. She had meant to wrap up the Night Fur- Moon’s wing, but the approaching twins had cut their meeting short. She could have sworn no one had followed her.

They are clever… I’ll have to be extra careful next time.

She heard the rowdy twins come closer as she walked around the outer perimeter of the cove, silently critiquing them on their behavior.

A wild animal would hear them a mile away. They really should be more cautious out here.

Like you were walking right into what was essentially a dragon’s nest the other day.

She shook her head, her braid lightly brushing her back. She could judge herself later. Right now she had to draw the twins away from Moon.

Moon. He had an actual name. That was going to take some getting used to.

“Why don’t I stuff your head in a Terror nest!”

Ruffnut. Leave it to her to scream a comeback at her brother. At least their noisiness had alerted Astrid and Moon long before they were close enough to be a major threat. Astrid sighed as she pulled out her axe, ready to put on what she hoped was a good act.

She quickened her pace into a steady jog, raising her axe over her head-

Her axe. The family heirloom that was very much not in her hands. The very axe that happened to still be at the bottom of the lake.

Curse you, Moon.

She slowed her pace and hid behind a tree, watching as the twins walked right past her. They were still bickering, which wasn’t too out of the ordinary. It could be worse. Astrid took a deep breath before stepping out from behind the tree to face the twins’ backs.

“What are you doing here!?”

The twin Thorstons turned around, knocking into each other in the process.

“Astrid! Astrid. Hi.” Tuffnut stuttered, his brain shutting down from the momentary surprise. He fixed his helmet, pushing it further up on his head.

“The real question is what are you doing here?” Ruffnut said, once again repeating another’s quote to suit her own personal benefit.

“None of your business is what I’m doing out here.” Astrid retorted. “Now I’m asking you again - what are you doing out here?”

The twins shared a look she couldn’t decipher. “We came looking for a good spot to set up our next Loki tribute. This next one’s definitely gonna take some time to prepare-”

Lying. That’s what that look was. They were cooking up a story to distract her from their reason.

“Tell me your real reason.” Astrid cut Ruffnut off, giving her a stern look to show she wasn’t in the mood for games.

“Fine. We were following you.”

Astrid smiled in triumph. That was better.

“Here’s a bit of advice for following people,” Astrid said, catching the twins’ attention. “Stop being so noisy. I heard you all the way on the other side of the forest. And second - don’t.”

“Don’t… what?” asked Tuffnut.

“Don’t follow people.”

Astrid turned, marching back to the village and praying that her warning had at least some effect on them.

-------

Astrid was definitely hiding something. She wasn’t sure if it was girl’s intuition or just plain obvious, but Ruffnut was sure her fellow warrior was trying to keep them away from wherever she had gone.

“So what do you think?” her brother asked, an evil grin spreading across his face. “Should we head on over?”

“Not yet, brother. Not yet. Maybe we should heed her own advice wait and see what dear Astrid is hiding from us.”

-------

Tungl hated waiting. All his life he had been patient, but that didn’t necessarily mean he always liked it. Once he could confirm the scent of human was gone and it was quiet, he let himself out of the cave. The sunlight felt great as he stretched his wings to catch the Sun Spirit’s warmth. He tested his wings, giving it a quick flick. It still hurt. Not as much, but still enough to make him wince at even small movements.

He grumbled, stepping up to the lake to look at his reflection.

A dragon. I am a dragon. I have always been a dragon. I will always be a dragon. I tame the skies, blast my foes, and strike as I please.

“You’re a pacifist, you idiot.” he told himself. He sighed at his own truth. He was right - he would never hurt anything on purpose. Sure, he had blasted the viking defenses in their nest, but they were the ones provoking the dragons. It wasn’t his fault he was already in a bad mood. He thought back to what Eclipse had told him.

He couldn’t believe he had once been human. He didn’t want to believe it. Everything he had ever known was far from what she had said. He was a dragon. He… he…

Everyone has at least something of a memory from when they hatched, He recalled. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember that moment, not even a shadow of it. The first thing he ever remembered was the moon. It was strange, though, not the normal moon he saw from his usual perspective.

You had a shape, He remembered, creasing his forehead in strain. A dragon, but not like I’ve really seen before. You kind of resembled my kind, but you were a little different. White. Shimmering. Ghost-like.

He growled in frustration. None of this made any sense! Why did he have this random memory unlike anyone or anything else he knew?

You said something to me. What did you say? Something something… child? Reborn?

“Why is this so hard!” he roared, slamming his paws down on the shallow water, disturbing the minnows and sending large ripples across the surface. “I don’t understand…” he said quietly, looking up. “Why can’t I understand?”

Chapter Text

“Alright, Moon. You better be more cooperative today.”

Astrid stepped into the cove, Fishlegs shortly behind.

Astrid huffed, flicking her head back to get the hair out of her face. Round two of Moon’s treatment, and hopefully she’d be able to finish it this time. No twins to disrupt them.

“Moon? Are you still here?”

Astrid jumped at Moon’s responding growl, the coordination still unfamiliar to her. She knew it was just a dragon, but his intellect and almost humanistic mannerisms still caught her off guard. She dared even say he acted like a teenager. How old was he, anyway? He was certainly big enough to fall for an adult, then again they didn’t know much about Night Furies to begin with. There was still the chance he could be a juvenile.

Moon slinked forward from his perch upon a pile of boulders, stretching himself out as if he had just awoken from a nap. Maybe Night Furies did sleep during the day after all?

“I brought more supplies,” she said, lifting the healing materials in her arms and gesturing to Fishlegs. “And he’s here for information.”

“Uh, Astrid?” Fishlegs said slowly, “I don’t think he knows what that means.”

Moon rumbled at the young viking, who staggered back a little at the dragon’s grunt and sudden corresponding movement to look at him. Moon laughed at Fishlegs, showing his toothless gums. Fishlegs squinted to get a closer look.

“I think we should call him Toothless instead,” he suggested. Moon seemed to yelp at this comment, flinching backwards and pawing the ground.

“I don’t think he liked that,” Astrid said. Fishlegs sighed.

“So maybe he can understand us.”

Astrid nodded, as did Moon.

“But here’s the main question - how are we supposed to translate?”

Astrid and Fishlegs went quiet, the only sound being Moon’s heavy breaths.

Fishlegs stood on a rock, pulling out a notebook and pencil. “Mind if I get some measurements?”

Moon hesitated, but in the end he allowed Fishlegs to measure his height, length, and wingspan.

“I wonder how fast he can fly?” he wondered aloud. Moon’s face went somber as he slouched over. He almost looked sad.

“Oh gods, did I say something wrong?” Fishlegs worried. Moon looked up at the sky, a look of longing on his scaly face. Astrid thought she knew what was going through his head.

“You miss flying, don’t you?” she said tenderly. He huffed a long sigh, squeezing his eyes shut. It looked as if he wanted to cry but couldn’t find the tears to do so. Astrid pulled out the healing supplies she had brought with her, seizing the chance while Moon was distracted.

Unlike the first time she had tried helping his wing, Moon didn’t try as hard to back away. He was a little more willing to let her spread the ointment on his joint and wrap his shoulder. It wasn’t the greatest work in the world, but it was the best she could do with her minimal training and general inexperience with dragons.

Moon’s ear nubs suddenly shot up in attention, his pupils going to slits. Astrid looked where he pointed his nose, listening closely for anything out of the ordinary. There was a rustling sound, too big to be small prey but too small to be a real predator. What was-?

Astrid wanted nothing more than to have her axe back as the Thorston twins came tumbling into the cove.

-------

Tungl’s attention was diverted to an upper corner of the cove, a small ledge with excessive foliage. Almost too much. He snarled as two humans came crashing into the cove, leaping forward to protect his humans. He didn’t care that he was still injured - he could easily take down two small humans, especially ones so thin.

“Stay back!” he hissed at Astrid as he jumped in front of her.

“Moon, wait-!”

“What are you waiting for? Run! I’ll hold them off!”

“Moon, no! They’re friends!”

Friends?

Tungl’s instincts screamed at him to attack, to defend, to do something. But his logic told him otherwise. These humans were weak-looking and unarmed, which meant they couldn’t lead a strong attack. Plus, they had been hiding, likely spying on them rather than waiting to attack. He loosened up a little, but not too much. Best not to chance it until he knew more.

“What are you two doing here?” Astrid shouted at the two newcomers, who were brushing themselves off.

“What does it look like?” retorted the male. This didn’t seem like friendly behavior to Tungl.

Maybe she just meant they weren’t enemies.

“To me,” said the new female, “it looks like you’ve gone mad! You’re talking to a dragon and completely holding out on us!”

If Tungl could speak to these humans, he would argue with them before realizing that from a normal human’s perspective, it would have looked like Astrid had lost her mind. It wasn’t exactly every day you learn about the true nature of dragons (from human’s eyes, at least). He sighed as he waited for the humans to finish their episode.

“What exactly do you want?” Astrid asked, crossing her arms.

“Answers,” said the female. “Where have you been all week? Why do you keep coming here? Why are you talking to a dragon when you’re supposed to kill them!?”

On the one talon, these were perfectly reasonable questions. On the other talon, would they really believe he was more than an animal? And on the third, this was none of her business.

“Since you obviously haven’t figured it out already,” Astrid began, “I’ve been here. So has Fishlegs from time to time. Second, I keep coming here for my own reasons.”

“And you didn’t tell anyone about this why?” said the male.

“Would you have?”

Silence. Tungl gave a quick spurt of a laugh. That certainly got these questioning chatterboxes to shut up. They were worse than a group of Terrible Terror nestlings.

“Did it just laugh at us?” the male asked as he pointed at Tungl. Tungl nodded.

“What do you think?” he said to them. They flinched at his growl, unaware of the fact that he was only speaking to them.

“Oh gods,” Astrid sighed, burying her face in one of her hands. “This is going to take a while to explain.

Tungl didn’t stick around for the lengthy explanation. After all, he was part of it and had therefore witnessed the story himself, and he couldn’t properly communicate with the humans anyway. Still, he kept an eye on them just in case they turned hostile.

He let his mind wander, picking up where his thoughts left off before his humans came.

Memories. They always confused him. How could one’s mind hold a moment in itself, able to recall on command yet becoming harder to do so the further back they went?

He thought back as far as he could, past when he spoke his first real word, past when his eyesight first became clear, past when he smelled Toothless for the first time with the scent of Eclipse nearby.

Eclipse. His earliest memory even surpassed her. Why that was, he still didn’t know. Would he ever figure it out was a mystery.

He remembered warmth. Comfort. White. Toothless and Comet had similar memories, but they never saw white. They saw the black of their dams and heard the soft coo from deep within their throats to call their hatchlings from their broken shells. Tungl did not have those echoes. All he had was white.

Think, Tungl, think! What happened?

White. Swirling mists. A pair a vibrant blue-green eyes. A voice. Tingling across his body.

Fire. chaos. Pain. Fear.

He shook his head and clenched his teeth, eyes squeezed shut.

“What are you?”

A claw. A face. A new friend. A scratch. A cry.

Burning. A roar. Crashing-

“Hiccup-!”

“Stop it!” he cried, forcing his eyes open. He saw the four humans stare at him from across the cove. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. They must have thought nothing of it since they turned back to their conversation. Tungl sighed.

What is wrong with me?

-------

Astrid had been explaining to the twins about finding Moon in the woods when she heard a screech from across the cove. She turned to see why he might have made such a sound, but when there seemed to be nothing wrong she assumed it was merely pain from his wing bothering him.

“So you’ve been helping it recover so it can eat you later?” Tuffnut said as if he had solved a mystery. Astrid rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“No, Tuff, he’s not going to be eating anyone. He just… needed help.”

Ruffnut nodded knowingly. “I see what’s going on here,” she said slyly. “You were gonna play some major prank on the village and not include us!”

It took everything Astrid had to not slap the twins all the way to Valhalla. “Will you just listen for five minutes!? You are not allowed to tell anyone about this - not your friends, not your family, not even the chief.”

Fishlegs gasped. “Astrid! We can’t keep this from the chief! He’ll have our heads for sure!”

Astrid stared him dead in the eyes, making sure he knew not to mess with her rules. “Then so be it.”

Chapter Text

“I don’t like this.”

“So you’ve said.”

Toothless was tired. He was tired of waiting, tired of searching, tired of everything that had happened in the past week. He and Comet had searched every island they came across for Tungl, and had so far had no luck to gain so much as a hint as to where he might have gone. Toothless was sick of it.

“Where could he possibly be!?” he yelled, slamming his paws down on the ground and splattering mud on his face from the bank of the creek.

“Just relax,” Comet said, lifting her head up from the creek’s clear water. “We’ll find him eventually.”

“‘Eventually’ doesn’t cut it. He can’t survive on his own! For all we know he could be lost, or hurt, or eaten by a predator!”

“Newsflash, buddy - we don’t have predators.” Comet thought for a minute. “Other than humans, I guess.”

“You’re not helping,” Toothless grunted. He sighed as he dipped his head into the creek, the cool water washing over his muzzle. He took a large sip, feeling it trickle down his throat.

It always felt better with Tungl around. He’d find a way to make a sarcastic joke out of all this.

Toothless sighed. They would finish up their search of this island, then move on to the next. It was a fairly large island, so they had a lot of ground to cover, but they would manage.

“Come on, Comet,” he said, flicking his head up. “Let’s keep looking.”

-------

It’s been too long. Did something happen to her? Did she get caught? Am I going to get caught? Did the new humans go behind her back and tell the nest’s alpha?

Every worst case scenario flipped through Tungl’s head, making the urge to claw his way up the rock wall even greater with each new theory. He rotated his wing to test its progress. About another week and he should be able to fly again. If only he wasn’t so restless.

Maybe if I try now?

“You’ll never make it.” he told himself. He had been saying his thoughts aloud lately so as to fill the silence. The humans’ visits were becoming less and less frequent, and the birds weren’t exactly interested in talking to him either. He sighed.

His ears flew up at a crashing sound, and he relaxed a little when he saw the twin humans come crashing into the cove, having jumped off the ledge instead of walking around to the actual entrance.
Tungl crept up close to the fallen humans, shoving his nose into the male’s face to get a good sniff just to be sure he was still alive.

“Ruff, what are you- woah there!” the human shouted in alarm when he saw the large green eyes and massive snout mere inches away from his face. Tungl backed up to give him space. “Oh, it’s just you.”

Just me, Tungl thought, rolling his eyes. What was that supposed to mean? He wasn’t sure whether or not he should feel offended. If anything he should feel grateful for the humans' sudden appearance - not only could they have news, but they could distract him from the pressing thoughts in his own head. The longer he had been alone, the more he thought about-

He shook his head. No. They didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t need to think about them. He shifted his focus to the humans, tilting his head and widening his pupils to offer a questioning look. The male looked confused, but the female caught on after a minute.

“He wants to know about what’s been happening, you dolt.” she said as she punched her brother in the arm.

“How do you know? Maybe he’s deciding if it wants to eat your clumsy butt.”

“I know, because he looks exactly like you when you don’t pay attention in training and you ask me what Gobber just said.”

“I don’t look like-!”

Tungl snorted to grab at the humans’ attention again. He cleared his throat, which sounded more like a low growl to human ears.

“Right, right,” said the female, holding up her weird paws to count off topics. “Astrid’s parents have been getting suspicious of her disappearances, so she hasn’t been able to come. Fishlegs is too scared to come alone or with us, and training has been picking up more since the chief is expected to be back within the next week.”

Week!? As in singular? I have to get out of here by then.

It wasn’t that he didn’t think he could take on a human, it was more that he wanted to save his own scales before he figured out how true the rumors of what humans did to dragons was. He had to stiffen himself to keep from shivering.

“Was that it?” the female asked the male. They both thought for a moment, which from Tungl’s end looked like they were in minor pain.

“Oh! We also wanted to know if we could borrow a few of your scales? It’s for a… project.”

Tungl gave them a skeptical look. He knew better than anyone that this “project” likely involved scaring the living daylights out of a few humans in the nest. He knew how feared his species specifically was among humans.

“I’m pretty sure this guy can smell lies,” the male whispered to his sister.

Tungl narrowed his eyes, leaning in a little, then slowly turned his frown into a devilish grin as he leaned back on his haunches. He lifted a paw and scratched at a spot on his neck, prying loose a few scales. It was shedding season anyway, so he wouldn’t miss them. He then nudged the small pile of scales towards the gleaming faces of the twin humans.

“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” said the male as he wiped a tear from his cheek.

“It’s better than we could have dreamed of,” added the female.

“Many thanks, great Night Fury,” the male said with a bow. “We shall dedicate this performance to you for your noble deed.”

The humans scooped up the scales, then set off for the opposite end of the cove to the exit. Tungl sighed. How he wished he could go with them. He could certainly use a good laugh.

He paced the cove, arguing with himself over whether he should attempt another escape or not risk damaging his wing more. It was healing at a steady pace, and he didn’t want to make it worse should he be stuck here longer. On the other paw, if he tried now, it might improve his flight muscles and heal faster. Or would that strain them too much?

I’ll just go for it! He thought as he took a running start and leaped off a small-ish rock at the edge of the water and pumping his wings in heavy downstrokes. He didn’t feel any pain yet, which was good. He adjusted his tail fins for more lift, and he found himself rising higher and higher as he flew across the cove.

He was actually going to make it! His shoulder began to twinge a little, but he brushed it off as a result of lack of use. It still didn’t shake the minor discomfort, though.

He was at least two thirds across the cove when he was hit with a sudden crosswind, and his right wing was unable to support his sudden weight thrust against it. He tumbled off to the side, crashing into the water below. Pain spiked through his shoulder like fire, and he had to rely on his left wing to get him to the surface.

He burst up from the lake, coughing up water as he tried to clear his lungs and catch his breath. His wing dragged at his side, renewed pain taking over every thought. He collapsed, still halfway in the lake, and closed his eyes.

Bad idea bad idea bad idea…

-------

Astrid was sick of this. Sick of training, sick of her parents, sick of the whole village. All she wanted was to see Moon again. She wanted someone to talk to, someone to console with that wouldn’t walk around telling the whole island what she intended to keep mostly to herself. She wanted to hear the Night Fury’s hums and gentle rumbles, the way it sounded like it could have belonged to a viking around her age had it been a human voice.

Everything about him was strange. His almost humanesque body language, the way he responded to hearing certain topics, even the slight copper hue from a few of the scales on his larger nubs and around his eyes when the sun hit them just right. Of course she wasn’t sure how abnormal the last one was, given they knew almost nothing about Night Furies other than the few ominous warnings.

She leaned the broom against the wall in its corner once she finished sweeping the floor of her house, then went up to her room. She fell back onto her bed resting her head on her pillow as she stared at the ceiling. She wished she could have found a better way to tell Moon why she hadn’t been visiting for the past week, but the twins were the only option she really had. They went into the forest all the time, and thus no one questioned it, not that they wanted to know anyway.

I’m sorry, Moon, but I don’t want you found. I hope you understand. I promise I’ll be back soon.

-------

Solstice stalked through the nest, head low and tail dragging. It had been two whole weeks since the fiasco, and she was worried for all the young dragons who had left.

I shouldn’t call them young. They are almost adults now.

Still, she felt the urge to refer to them as dragonets from time to time. It wasn’t that they were immature or inexperienced, it was just that they had such free spirits, always finding light in dark situations and going out of their way to help even the smallest of Terrors. They hadn’t seen the full power of the world’s darkness yet.

I guess that’s different now.

She still couldn’t look her sister in the eye. Eclipse had spent most of her time lately holed up in her den, only coming out when even the nocturnal species were gone. She hadn’t spoken a word to Hydro, who was talking it out with Cloudjumper over whether or not he should go looking for his lost sons.

Solstice didn’t blame him. She was guilty herself of wanting to chase after them, maybe even help search for Tungl. She didn’t care about what he used to be - he was her nephew, and that was that. She would always treat him like the family he was.

She had even talked to Valka lately and had come to like the female human. She understood near-perfect Dragonese, and was helping Solstice better understand the human tongue. She had called it “Norse,” to which Solstice had laughed and said how it sounded like the human word “horse.”

She liked the human. She found a lot of similarities between her and Tungl - their sarcasm, their caring nature, and their desire to help others to name a few. They even shared a trait of creativity, though it was expressed differently. Solstice remembered the time Tungl had tried to redirect a small trickle of water to an indentation in the stone using tree bark to make a small watering hole. It was one of the times she saw his human nature kick in, and she would never forget the overwhelming desire to tell him the truth.

But it wasn’t her place. And she never regretted anything more than that.

I should have ditched formalities and told him. I should have done it years ago. Maybe then he would have understood better, since he was still questioning everything.

As much as she beat herself up over it, she didn’t wish her sister hadn’t found the human hatchling. Tungl was one of the best things to ever happen to Solstice. She just wanted to tell him how much he meant to her, how he had impacted her life for the better, that it didn’t matter to her what he was and what he wasn’t. She just wanted him back.

Just give it time. Comet and Toothless will find him. If anyone can bring him home, it’s them.

Chapter Text

“What did you two do!?”

Astrid was furious. Furious with the twins, furious with Moon, furious with their childish obsession over Loki. Gods, if the three of them officially paired up she was going to completely lose it.

“We were only contributing to our noble art, dear Astrid.” Tuffnut said in that annoying voice he used whenever he was up to something.

Astrid grumbled, and for a moment felt like Moon whenever he was annoyed. No wonder he growled like that - it was a good way to let out some steam. She took a deep breath, hoping to calm herself a little.

Alright. So the twins left a few of Moon’s scales around some houses. That could be fixed, right? Maybe she could find a way to prove the scales were fake before anyone important found out. The chief was still gone, so that was good. If things went well he would never know of the scale incident, and Moon might even be off the island by then.

Moon will be off the island.

Astrid had never really thought before about how Moon wouldn’t be on Berk forever. Whenever she looked into the future, she somehow found the big black dragon somewhere nearby, whether he be right next to her or off in the background. It was starting to get hard to picture life without him.

She chased the thoughts away and turned back to scolding the twins.

“Do you realize how risky that was? You could get yourselves killed!”

“Relax Astrid,” Ruffnut said smoothly, “no one’s gonna catch us. We’ve made sure that ol’ Moony is safely out of harm’s way-”

“-and we know every way to escape the inescapable.” finished Tuffnut.

“You two are going to be the end of me.” Astrid sighed.

“The three of us, you mean.”

Astrid turned and walked away without comment. The twins as a duo were already bad enough. She didn’t want to think of what would happen if they became a trio, their third member being a dragon of all things. They would be unstoppable.

At least they’re keeping Moon a secret. They wouldn’t do anything to ruin their chances of pulling the perfect prank.

Astrid just hoped it would be enough.

-------

Tungl was bored. Very, very, very bored. How long had he been stuck here? Two weeks? Three? He had been away from home for almost a full month.

I shouldn’t have left. I shouldn’t have wanted answers. I shouldn’t have cornered her like that. Maybe then I wouldn’t be in this mess.

No. He shouldn’t think like that. He was glad he left the nest, at least since he met his viking friends. As much as he hated to admit it, he quite enjoyed getting more in touch with his human heritage. And who knew, maybe one day Astrid would be fluent Dragonese.

All in due time.

He smiled a little at that phrase. Solstice had taught him that line, and it helped teach him patience as a fledgling. Perhaps he could pull out some of her past wisdom now.

“Moon? Are you here?”

He perked up at the voice, one he recognized as the human Fishlegs.

Such a silly name, he thought. Tungl bounded to the small cove entrance to greet the human. Did he have news? Was Astrid alright? Did the prank work? His wings were buzzing with anticipation, and had to force himself to calm down when he saw how out-of-breath Fishlegs was. If there was one thing Tungl would change about the situation, it was the grave look on the young viking’s face.

“We need to talk.”

-------

All her life Astrid had strived to be the best and fought hard to get there. Whenever someone would look down on her for being a woman or consider her mediocre, she would work three times as hard just to see the look on their face when she thwarted any challenge thrown her way.

She never thought she’d see the day where she didn’t want to win dragon training.

Up until a few weeks ago she would have accepted this honor and considered it her greatest achievement thus far. She would have relished in seeing the crestfallen look on Snotlout’s face when the village elder chose her over him. Now all she wanted was to beg Moon to let her hop on his back and fly her far away from Berk.

Why did she have to keep doing so well? Sure, she had a reputation to uphold, but none of it would matter anyway if she mysteriously disappeared. Was this punishment for using different, more peaceful tactics in training based on her time with Moon? All she wanted was to test hers and Fishlegs’ theories on how other dragons would react to things such as scratching, fresh grass, and reflected light on the ground from the metal piece on her shield since they had pacified a Night Fury with ease.

She sighed as she sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor.

How am I going to tell Moon?

-------

Snotlout was furious. How could he fail dragon training like that? His father was going to be all over him for it. He could already hear it playing out in his head.

“A Jorgenson man never loses! And to a Hofferson girl? Complete disgrace!”

Snotlout squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to shake Spitelout’s voice out of his head.

“Is this what a future chief looks like? I don’t think so!”

As a kid, he had dreamed of becoming chief. The idea that it was his destiny had been drilled into his head since he was a toddler, and he was fine with that. From the looks of it, being chief didn’t seem so bad - ordering people around, sitting at the head of the table at every meal, and being looked at with respect whenever he walked through the village was definitely appealing. He just didn’t know how hard it would be to get there.

The older he got, the less and less he wanted to be chief. The way his father always complained about his fighting stance, the way he held his mace, how he walked, how he spelled something right from time to time, how he was still stuck on fire duty during raids, everything he did his father found a way to nitpick about it. If he had to be so perfect in every way all the time, where was the joy in ruling over the village? He could put his father in his place, but soon his big dream faded to a distant whisper of dread of what his future was sure to hold.

He knew things could have been different. He had heard the stories of how his uncle, Chief Stoick the Vast, had once had a son - Snotlout’s cousin. Stories and rumors have been shuffled around as to what happened to him, but no one was quite sure anymore. Snotlout did have an idea though - dragons.

They were the most recurring reason for the tragedy. Snotlout wasn’t entirely sure what his cousin would have been like, but he had always thought him the spitting image of the chief - strong, brave, and a natural born leader, just like Snotlout.

Why things had to be the way they were, he didn’t know. But he did know one thing, and that was that he would avenge his lost family and slay every dragon he fought.

With my face. He added as an afterthought. That would certainly be impressive. A little unrealistic, but impressive nonetheless.

First things first though, he had to redeem himself after the shipwreck that was dragon training. How did Astrid get so good, anyway? The methods she used were unnatural and almost… peaceful? It was unnerving, a feeling he didn’t like very much, and he had to know her secret.

He watched as Fishlegs rushed off into the woods, the same direction he took every time he slipped away. Snotlout shook his head with a smirk. Poor, careless Fishlegs. If he was to compliment Astrid on one thing, it was her ability to cover her tracks. Half the time he didn’t even realize she was gone until he wanted to try another shot at wooing her over and had to hunt her down.

He followed Fishlegs into the thickness of the trees, his survival instincts kicking in as he became more and more cautious with every step. He wasn’t exactly hunting, but he didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention either.

He soon followed Fishlegs to a cove, and Snotlout split off and took cover in a few bushes with a perfect view of the steep crater. Fishlegs appeared at an opening down below and called out for… the moon? An odd pastime to be sure, but Snotlout had heard worse. What he hadn’t seen before was a large black dragon leaping in front of Fishlegs, its whole body vibrating in anger at the trespasser.

Snotlout’s first instinct was to rush in and bash the dragon’s head to save his friend. But given his position and the deadliness of falling into the cove from this height, he held himself steady. His next reaction was a mix of confusion and curiosity. Why wasn’t the dragon attacking? It just appeared to be standing there, as if waiting for something.

His final reaction was fear. As he took in the black form and strange appearance of the dragon, the realization slowly dawned on him what exactly this dragon was. He had had the lucky chance of getting a quick view of its silhouette only once before during a raid a few weeks ago, as it had been flying lower to the ground as a small hut exploded from the inside out.

Night Fury.

Overcome by terror, Snotlout struggled to quickly back out of his hiding place and make a mad dash for the village. What should he do? Who should he tell? What in Thor’s name was Fishlegs doing so close to it?

He slowed down, taking deep breaths to calm his nerves. Despite how much he wanted to, one thing was for sure - he couldn’t tell anyone. Not yet, at least. He was smarter than he looked. He knew better than to act on impulse, and there were too many questions yet to be answered. So he squelched down his viking habits and walked back to the village with his new piece of information, working on a plan to tell someone about his discovery. The only problem?

No one would believe him.

-------

Tungl paced back and forth, unsure how to handle this news. His humans had been learning how to fight his kind this whole time? He thought they were different, that they had connected, that this meant something.

I guess I was wrong.

And now he was going to have to face that any minute now, Astrid was going to come charging into the cove for his head. He knew it wasn’t worth trying to fly away now - his wing had made so much progress, and he didn’t want to make it worse again. He decided it was better to just accept his fate as it was.

At least it’ll be quick.

-------

Astrid stood outside the arena gates in the early hours of the morning, too dark for anyone to see her. In just a few hour’s time, she would be facing the Monstrous Nightmare that now rested inside its cage. She could hear rumbling snores from each pen inside the arena, and wished they would stay like that forever.

“Are you… alright?”

Astrid jumped as Fishlegs appeared at her side. She hadn’t heard him come up. She was even more surprised to see the Thorston twins come to her other side, as they weren’t exactly known for being comforting or sympathetic.

“I’m fine.” Astrid said simply.

“What are you going to do?” Ruffnut asked, a rare hint of worry in her voice.

“I- I think… I don’t…”

For the first time in her life, Astrid was at a loss for words. What was she going to do? She didn’t want to kill the Nightmare, at least not after how Moon described them during one of their dragon language lessons.

“Very peaceful species. Fire-headed, much competitive, but never hurt with no reason.”

Would never hurt someone unless given a reason. Was that how all dragons worked? Were they only attacking because vikings attacked first? Whenever a raid would start, the dragons would only take food until the village started to riot and fling all sorts of weapons at them. But of course, vikings being vikings, no one would ever think about a miniscule detail like that.

“I just need time,” she said. “Just give me until the fight. I can think of something.”

-------

Chief Stoick the Vast, for one, was very happy to be home. Everything seemed to be in order - no raids while he was gone, no ridiculous jokes from the Thorston twins, and no sign of rebellion as far as he could tell. All good things. Even better was the graduation of Gobber’s trainees, the ceremony being held in a few measly hours.

Villagers everywhere were setting up banners and other decorations to commemorate the killing of the Monstrous Nightmare. Stoick had returned earlier than expected, and a celebration of sorts was exactly what everyone needed.

The sun was soon high in the sky - almost high noon. Stoick called everyone to the kill ring, and slowly but surely everyone in the village filed in to get a good view of the upcoming fight. He rubbed his hands together, ready for his opening speech.

-------

“I’m ready.” Astrid called to Gobber, who pulled the lever locking the large metal door in place. Too bad she could only understand minimal dragon language - she would love to know what the various growls and grunts meant right about now. She could make out a few words: hungry, fly, wings…

Freedom. That was a word Moon had been very intent on teaching her. There was another one, something about his name, but it was hard to understand. She promised she would one day get it right.

The scarlet-orange dragon burst from its enclosure, small flames licking at its long body. It snapped and roared, racing across the chain ceiling and blasting a portion of it in hopes of finding escape. It soon laid eyes on Astrid and slowed to a stop directly above her, slinking down to drop right in front of her on the ground.

She looked into his warm golden eyes, which were rapidly focusing in and out. If she remained calm and kept her breaths steady, she just might be able to pull this off.

“Human…”

-------

Stoick knew the second Astrid dropped her weapons and started telling everyone that these vile beasts “weren’t what they thought they were” that this was not going to end well. He looked down at the girl and the dragon, every horrible memory he knew of resurfacing after years of being buried deep down in the back of his mind. He remembered the countless losses, the funerals, the hard winters, and- and-

“Stoick!”

“Hold on!”

He could have saved them. If he had just been fast enough, his family would still be alive. He couldn’t let wistful pacifism be the cause of more deaths.

“I said stop the fight!”

Stoick slammed his hammer down on the thick metal bars, making a noticable indentation. The Monstrous Nightmare, showing its true colors, snapped at Astrid’s outstretched hand and began its pursuit around the arena.

-------

The second the chief’s hammer hit the bars and the Nightmare’s pupils went to slits, Astrid had only one thought on her mind - run. She slipped into a turn, quickly picking herself up again to escape the large snapping jaws of the frightened Nightmare.

He’s just scared. He’s just scared. He’s just-

Astrid heard the exit open behind her and made a mad dash for the open gate, Fishlegs and Chief Stoick right on the other side. She was so close, just a little further before she was safe.

Just as she reached the gate, a blast of heat erupted behind her, flying past and slathering its fiery tendrils along the wood frame of the gate. Astrid made a panicked turn and ran in the opposite direction, away from her freedom.

-------

Tungl’s ears always knew better than him. So when he heard the distant echo of Astrid’s panicked screamed piercing through his dreams, he wasted no time.

He leaped from the ground and attacked the steep rock wall, scrambling with all four legs and flapping his wings for an extra boost. He didn’t think about anything else, he didn’t feel anything else, the only thing on his mind was Astrid, Astrid, Astrid. She was in trouble, and he knew she wasn’t getting out of this one. After all, those were frightened Monstrous Nightmare screeches.

He felt himself slipping down again, but he refused to fall. His best friend was in danger, and he had to help. He reached up, finding a flat surface and gripping it like the fate of the world depended on it.

With a final heave he lifted himself out of the cove and began sprinting through the woods before his mind could even process what had happened. He ignored the soreness in his legs and the slight fogginess of his still-tired mind and kept running towards the human nest, even leaping off a few rotting logs and gliding over the underbrush here and there.

He was so close, so close-!

Come on!

-------

The Nightmare was on top of Astrid, pinning her down and shoving his large snout in her face to get a good sniff. She wasn’t sure if he was contemplating on whether or not to eat her or some other dragon business she didn’t know of, and she didn’t want to find out either.

“Friend,” she tried whispering in the dragon’s language. “Friend.”

The Nightmare flinched its head back a little, confused as to how this puny human could speak his noble tongue.

Then she heard it. It started small, almost inaudible. Then it grew louder, steadily higher in pitch until it became the unmistakable shriek of a-

“Night Fury!” someone called.

“Get down-!”

Somewhere behind the crowd the unique fireball of a Night Fury was released, crashing into the arena’s bars and blasting right through to form a hole just big enough for a small dragon to fit through.
Given there were limited options on not exactly what but who had broken into the arena, the answer was pretty clear to Astrid. That didn’t mean she wanted to believe it, though.

She felt the weight on top of her lift away, and as the smoke cleared Astrid could see Moon on top of the Nightmare, who easily outsized him by at least two times. Still, he fought tooth and claw, pinning the large dragon down and kicking him away. Each time the Nightmare tried to lunge for Astrid, Moon would swing back, pushing the red dragon further against the wall. She had never seen him like this, so ferocious, so feral, so dragon. It was obvious what was happening - Moon was protecting Astrid, and attacking something that in a way belonged to another dragon was seen as a challenge. With a final roar from Moon, the Nightmare retreated, scurrying away like a startled rabbit.

Once the Monstrous Nightmare was safely out of the way, the vikings wasted no time pouring into the kill ring.

-------

If he was being honest, Tungl was still a bit dazed from the events of the last several minutes. He wanted to do a slow replay in his mind, but the charging vikings and the frantic urging of Astrid telling him to “get out of here” were overtaking his own personal desires at the moment.

He looked around, hundreds of angry humans closing in faster than his skyrocketing panic. He wanted to run, to fly, to do anything to escape, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. He had never been around this many humans before, and it was unsettling and nerve-wracking, making him rooted to the spot.

He then saw a large human, male, with a large red mane on his face and long horns protruding from his shiny head-protector. Topped off with an air of authority and war expertise, there was no doubting that this was the nest’s alpha. Given he was male, Tungl assumed he was quite powerful and not to be trifled with.

The idea of meeting the Spirits finally chasing the numbness out of his limbs, Tungl knocked away any nearby humans and took off, circling around the arena as he searched for the hole he had made on his way in. His shoulder felt weak and unused, and he could feel the offness of his downstroke, but he didn’t care. He would have plenty of time to fix that later once he was out of imminent danger.

Locating the still-sizzling hole, he picked up some more speed and tucked his wings in after a heavy downstroke, slipping through the hole and narrowly missing the sharp, burning edges. He heard the humans shouting at him from below and was glad they didn’t have any of their flying vine-trappers with them. Luck was on his side for once as he made his way back to the cove.

Chapter Text

“What was that?”

“It just flew off!”

“Never seen anything like it.”

“I’ll say…”

The crowd was buzzing from a strange mix of confusion and adrenaline. Snotlout wasn’t sure what had just went down in the kill ring, but one thing was for sure - that Night Fury was going to be hunted and killed by sundown. And he knew exactly how to make that happen.

He pushed through the crowd, searching for his uncle. Stoick was found pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself over and over and occasionally responding to a villager or two.

“Sir,” Snotlout said, grabbing the chief’s attention. “Mind if I have a word?”

“Not now, lad. I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands right now.”

“It involves the Night Fury, right?”

Stoick gave Snotlout a side glance, which was all the attention Snotlout needed.

“Doesn’t exactly involve anything else now, does it?” he sighed. “Well, have at it. What do you want?”

“You need to hunt down that Night Fury, yes?”

“We do, and fast,” said Stoick, his voice edged with slight irritation. “And how do you suppose you’re going to be any help?”

Snotlout smiled. This was exactly what he was hoping for.

“I know where to find it.”

-------

“I know where to find it.”

Those simple words were enough to let Tuffnut know that his second partner in crime was in trouble. If Snotlout knew where Moon was and was telling the chief so, then there was no way they were planning a nice tea party.

As good as tea sounded, Tuffnut had to act quick. He had to pass on the message to the rest of the gang and fast, otherwise there might not be a Moon to save for much longer. He knew putting together a last minute hunting party still took a good few hours to prepare, which bought them some time, but there was also the chance that the village might not need to organize a whole group to go out and would just grab their swords off their wall and march right into the forest. That was something Tuffnut was not willing to gamble with this time around.

So he did the most responsible thing he had ever done and immediately began searching for Astrid.

-------

Tungl was panting hard by the time he landed back in the cove and he wondered if he would ever breathe right again. At least he was safe and could recount the last hour that had gone by like lightning.

He dropped to his belly, not even bothering to heat up the ground below him. All he wanted was sleep, which was coming for him at an alarming rate. He closed his eyes, his muscles relaxing as darkness crept into his mind.

Just a little rest. Then I can get out of here…

Just a little…

“Moon? Moon!”

Tungl wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Minutes? Hours? A few seconds? The color-splashed sky and setting sun signified late afternoon. The last time he had been at full consciousness had been barely after midday, so a few hours at the least.

“Moon!!”

Tungl perked up, locating Astrid’s voice. She appeared at the cove’s entrance, the other three humans shortly behind. He couldn’t remember the last time all five of them had been together. It was certainly refreshing.

He slowly sat up, yawning wide and trotting up to greet his human friends. While it was nice to properly see them all again, he didn’t like the panicked looks across their faces.

“You need to go - now.”

“I- what? Why?”

“It’s the chief,” Astrid explained. “He’s rounding up a hunting party and is out for your head. If you don’t leave, you might as well consider yourself a dragon skin coat.”

Well that certainly took a turn for the worse. Being the weird pelts on a human’s back was not on Tungl’s list of things to do today.

“I won’t make it. I’m not strong enough to fly to the next island yet,” he said, dropping his head down. Hopefully she would pick up the words “won’t make it,” “not strong” and “island.”

“Then don’t. Just go to the other side of this one.”

That- wasn’t a bad idea.

“It’s not that big an island, really,” said the female twin, who he learned was named Ruffnut. “If you have wings at least.”

Tungl sighed. “I still won’t make it. It would be a struggle to get back out of here again in this condition.”

Astrid relayed what she understood of the message, and the group went silent as they thought of possible solutions.

“Maybe we could-”

“Over there!”

Tungl froze, stopping his sentence before he could barely get the idea out. He couldn’t recall ever hearing that voice, but it was familiar in a way he couldn’t quite touch.

“The village!” Astrid said in a panicked whisper. “I’m sorry Moon, but we can’t stick around right now. If we’re caught, we’d all be dead in seconds, then we really couldn’t get you out again.”

“It’s alright, I understand,” Tungl said, dipping his head to press against that of the blonde viking. “Go.”

Astrid nodded, repeated the confirmation, and led the others to safety. Tungl could take care of himself. This wasn’t his first day in the wilderness, after all. He turned his back to the entrance to face the opposite cliff end, where he could hear dozens upon dozens of humans getting closer, their fire-sticks casting eerie orange-gold glows against the darkening sky.

By the time the first viking appeared at the edge, night had fully fallen and Tungl had concealed himself among the branches of a small tree hanging over the water. The viking, who Tungl noted was quite short, called to those behind him, and next to him appeared a much larger viking. Even though it was dark, Tungl could tell this was the human nest’s alpha. He made a mental note to avoid attacking him as best he could unless things got dire.

The more viking silhouettes that appeared at the ledge, the faster Tungl’s heart raced. How many would he have to take on? How big was a “village?” Was it bigger than a nest? Smaller? He flipped through ideas as he waited for them to go around to the entrance, but had to speed up his idea processing when one after another the vikings began jumping right into the cove, using their sharp metal claws to scrape against the stone wall and slow their descent. They filed into the cove, shining their fires left and right in hopes of finding Tungl.

I won’t die to a few measly humans, and I certainly won’t do so hiding in a tree either.

One of the most important lessons his sire had taught him was to face your foes head-on and fight with honor and integrity. Strike from behind the back, against someone unarmed, or under unfair circumstances and live the life of a coward.

Not today.

Tungl roared at the humans to grab their attention, then leaped from his tree and landed with a thud a good few yards in front of them.

“Attack it! Now!”

Every viking charged immediately, not even bothering to think of a strategy to take down the dragon before them. One by one they attacked, and one by one Tungl knocked them down and disarmed them, making sure to push any metal claw into the water so anyone who was foolish enough to pick it up again would have to go for a lovely night swim.

That actually doesn’t sound too bad right about now, Tungl thought casually as he knocked a human in the head with his tail and kicked a large claw that resembled Astrid’s into the lake. Within minutes a good portion of the vikings were down, but there were still more to come. On top of that, Tungl was beginning to tire. He still hadn’t fully recovered from the day, and it was starting to catch up to him.

He decided to take a risk and leaped off the ground, flapping upward to glide over the horde and land on the opposite side. He was careless, though, as he dodged a flying vine-web and knocked into a large pile of boulders, sending them toppling over in a rockslide. Vikings jumped out of the way, some getting knocked out by wayward rocks.

Tungl would have considered the rockslide a valuable asset if he hadn’t seen the small viking, the first who arrived at the rock ledge, trip over and struggle to get out of a dangerously large rock’s path. Tungl found himself in an internal struggle he never thought he’d have. On the one paw, this was a human viking who was trying to kill him, and likely the one who led the others here. On the other paw, he appeared to be quite young, no older than Tungl’s human friends.

No older than me.

Throwing the risks off the nearest cliff, Tungl charged a powerful blast, firing it at the boulder and watched as it fell apart to thousands of tiny smoking shards. The young viking looked at where the boulder once was, his chest heaving after being so close to death. Tungl didn’t have time to see him look at the Night Fury in disbelief as three vikings were now piling on top of him, a fourth jumping right on top of his back.

He roared, using every muscle in his body to shake off the vikings. Once loose, he took off again, eyes on the nearest rock ledge so he could catch his breath and possibly escape this battle. Before he was halfway there, however, he was knocked out of the air by something thick and heavy and landed on the ground with a ground-shaking thud.

He picked himself up to come face-to-face with the viking alpha, the last person he wanted to see today.

“This just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?”

Oh no.

He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He had briefly forgotten how the dragon tongue sounded to humans, and he knew that all the alpha had heard was a low growl leading to a fierce snarl, which was only supposed to be agitated sarcasm. The viking alpha gave a pathetic snarl of his own and charged with a roar, raising his sharp metal claw above his head. As he swung for a lethal blow, Tungl leaped out of the way, dodging the strange equipment.

Time and time again the alpha attacked, and each time Tungl dodged effortlessly out of the way, all the while not landing so much as a wayward tap on the alpha. The rest of the vikings had now circled around the two, and Tungl could have sworn he saw his friends looking down from the top of the cove walls.

“You’re tiring, devil.”

It was true. Tungl was panting hard, his legs shaking with each step. His dodges were becoming slower and more strained, and he was running out of options on top of energy. He knew the only way to get out of this was to fight back.

“Humans are ruthless,” his sire had told him. “They won’t rest until their opponent is dead.”

Then I guess I’ll have to take him out first or die trying.

Tungl pushed forward, jaws open wide as he charged up a blast. The alpha ran forward, and just as he swung his fake claw Tungl jumped over him, only he misjudged the height he would gain and watched as the viking alpha’s fake metal claw slice across his side, cutting into his left hind leg and into the soft membrane of his tail.

Tungl screeched as he tumbled onto the ground, scarlet flashing across his vision. He wasn’t sure what exactly had just happened other than that he had sustained a nasty wound, and at the moment he didn’t particularly care. This human was out for his blood, and Tungl was going to make sure he got it.

With a final burst of energy, Tungl lunged forward and crashed into the viking alpha, rolling across the grass until he had the human pinned beneath him. He charged up one more blast, looking right into the alpha’s eyes to ensure Tungl was the last thing he saw before he met his fiery demise.

Those eyes. There was something in them that reached deep into Tungl’s heart, his soul, his very being. There was a sort of connection between them, but none of them could feel it.

In that moment Tungl knew one thing and one thing only - he couldn’t kill this viking. He let the blast die in his throat, ignoring the burn and the smoke filtering out of his mouth. He felt his shaking legs give way as he fell to the side, the edges of his vision blurring. Was this what dying felt like? Was he going to meet the Spirits tonight?

He heard voices around him. He felt someone kick him, but he didn’t have the energy to respond. What were the humans saying?

“Leave it…”

“...can’t get away…”

“...get it later…”

He wanted the darkness to fully envelop him as quickly as it could, but it decided to take its time. He couldn’t even begin to describe the relief when all went quiet and he felt himself slowly slip away…

Chapter Text

“Oh, Moon…”

Astrid stroked Moon’s large scaly head as Ruffnut wrapped up his hind leg, applying large amounts of healing herbs from Gothi in hopes to get the bleeding to slow down more. She was glad he had still been unconscious for the stitches, but the constant twitches he kept making during the process reminded her with a painful pang that he could still feel it.

Even though Moon was the one with extensive hearing, Astrid could hear someone coming up behind them. She turned around and instantly stood into a defensive posture as Snotlout stopped in his tracks.

“What are you doing here?” she growled.

“You can put down the axe - I’m not here to fight.”

“You led them here!” Astrid shouted at him, gripping her axe tighter - she had managed to take a dive into the lake and retrieve it after the battle. “You did this to him!”

“I know, and I’m sorry, alright?”

Astrid was taken aback for a moment. Since when was Snotlout ever apologetic? Did he hit his head too hard during the previous night’s battle?

“What game are you playing?”

“I’m not playing a game,” Snotlout said. He took a deep breath. “I want to help.”

“I’m sorry, could you say that again?” Tuffnut said from his position by his sister, who was tying the last bandage around Moon’s leg.

“I said I want to help, you muttonheads.”

There’s some of the old Snotlout.

“But… why?” Fishlegs asked.

“Him.” Snotlout pointed to the slumbering Night Fury. Astrid shot him with a skeptical look.

“And how is he any part of your sudden change of heart? Last I checked you wanted him dead as much as anyone else!”

“That was before he saved my life!”

Silence. Dead, cold, uncomfortable silence.

“He… what?”

“He saved me. When the rockslide began, I was about to be crushed before he took out the boulder above me. I’d be crushed if it weren’t for i- him.”

“How do you know he wasn’t really aiming for you and just messed up?” Astrid challenged.

Snotlout looked her dead in the eye, gaze unwavering as he replied, “Because Night Furies never miss.”

-------

Gobber paced all throughout his workshop, taking a new route each time he finished the previous one. He had a lot of work ahead of him now that half of the village’s weapon supply was at the bottom of a lake gaining rust. It would take too long to get them out, and even then they were no good for battle anymore. The wood would have gone too soft.

Typical Stoick, always rushing head-on into things.

Gobber sighed, preparing to light the forge. He really should find an apprentice soon - things were getting tougher every day to do on his own.

Once the fire was hot enough he threw a decent pile of scrap metal on to get it nice and hot before pounding away at the jagged pieces.

He thought back to the way Stoick fought the Night Fury. To anyone else it would seem like protecting the village, but Gobber knew his friend better than that. To him, Stoick was out for revenge. Sure, it hadn’t specifically been a Night Fury that had taken his wife and killed his only son, but it was still a dangerous creature, and any rare species would do at this point.

Gobber smiled as he thought about what little Hiccup might have been like. Definitely a natural born leader, but perhaps more on the quiet side like his mother. Maybe even tentative like her as well. He even wished he could have learned blacksmithing from ol’ Uncle Gobber. Gobber sighed. Just another dream down the drain.

There was something about that dragon though, something he couldn’t get out of his head. Throughout its entire fight with Stoick it didn’t even try to land a single hit until the very end when it was running out of time. He had never seen that kind of behavior from a dragon before.

The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself.

If it had been born of death, wouldn’t that be in its nature? To make those before it fear it, and kill those who don’t? It didn’t make sense.

It’s probably nothing. Just a dirty tactic to tire out its opponent before striking the last blow.

After all, they’re only dragons.

-------

The first thing he knew when he woke up was that everything hurt - his head, his leg, his wings and tail, everything. Tungl groaned as he tried to lift his head a little, only for it to drop back down and spark a jarring headache throughout his skull. His head throbbing, he squeezed his eyes shut in hopes it would go away. It didn’t.

Since sleep was now fully chased away for Spirits know how long, he decided to give sitting up another try. With a pounding head he worked his way up to a low sitting position, slowly cracking open his eyes to let the afternoon light filter through.

He yawned and smacked his lips, running his tongue over the dry scales. His throat felt like it was closing in on itself, and Tungl dragged himself to the nearby lake to offer relief to his parched mouth. He dipped his head into the water, the coolness of it trickling down his throat and splashing across his raw gums. It felt good.

What didn’t feel good was the constant rumbling of his stomach. When had he last eaten? Two days ago? Three? He wasn’t sure. As he looked around for possible food he noticed that all the fallen humans had been cleared from the cove.

How long have I been out?

He swayed back and forth a little, drinking a little more water to help clear the migraine. It worked, but only to an extent. At least it was enough to somewhat ease the pain and get him thinking straight again.

Alright, where did he last leave off? There was the stone circle, the no-name Nightmare, Astrid’s warning, the battle, the alpha-

The alpha. Something important happened with him. Tungl tried to stand, but fell over as his left hind leg roared with burning pain. He let out a small cry as he dropped back to the ground and looked over to check his injury.

That was odd - it was wrapped in a strange white substance similar to what the humans wore. And why did his cut tickle so much? He wanted to scratch it, but doing so made it hurt even more, so he tried his best to refrain from any further scratching.

His friends. He needed to find his friends.

I can fly again. It’s not much, but I can at least get myself in the air again long enough to crawl out of here and walk.

He stood up again, careful not to put pressure on his injured leg, and tested his wings. They were still a little shaky, as were his legs, which would make for a sloppy takeoff, but it was doable. Taking a deep breath, he limped down a stretch of grass, flexing his fins and flapping his wings as he steadily lifted off the ground and gained more air. He was a good ways off the ground before the familiar sense of being pushed to the side by some invisible force pulled him down again, slamming him into the soft muddy banks.

What was that all about? His wing wasn’t injured anymore, he should be able to take off just fine!

Because that’s not the problem, he realized as he rotated his wing, which felt as good as it could after the last few weeks. He thought back again to the final battle, dread slowly crawling up from his claws all the way to his wingtips.

He didn’t just hit my leg.

Tungl sat up again and hobbled into another lousy takeoff, once again being brought back down to earth with a sickening thud.

No. No no no no no. Please, not now, I just got my flight back!

He tried again and again until his already sore wings gave out, which didn’t take a lot of time. He could feel tears working their way to the corners of his eyes as the crushing reality pinned him down from his back. He pushed himself into a sit, then swept his tail around to see the once beautiful, glimmering black fins now cleft in twain, a single right half remaining. He wanted to cry, but all he could do was crack his face into a hysterical laugh that echoed throughout the cove and beyond its walls. He was caught in a fit of crazed laughter, his barks getting louder and more deranged the longer he thought about his new little predicament. After all, how was it not funny?

He was grounded for real this time.

-------

She knew she shouldn’t be relieved, but Astrid was glad she didn’t have to break the news to Moon. How exactly was she supposed to tell a dragon - master of the skies, tamer of the winds, controller of the clouds - that he would never be able to fly again? It basically took the whole purpose out of his life.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try her best to help him, though.

“I’m sure we can find a way to fix it,” Astrid said to Moon, who currently had his back turned to her as he scowled at the ground.

“We can’t fix it. …not… can’t grow new tail. I’m not…” His last words Astrid couldn’t decipher, but she was sure it was something negative.

“I never said- never mind. My point is that we can either find a few more allies that can help us do something about it, or you can keep sitting here throwing your little tantrum like an overgrown toddler. Which will it be?”

“I’d rather face the reality of the situation.”

Astrid had to keep herself from shouting her irritation. Why did he have to be so difficult? Fine. She would just do it herself. How hard could it be?

-------

“-and with one twist, he took my hand and swallowed it whole!”

The small group of teenagers gathered around the fire, roasting fish and chicken as Gobber told heavily exaggerated stories of battles long past.

“I saw the look on his face - I was delicious! He must have passed the word because it wasn’t a month later when another one of them took my leg-”

He gestured down at his pegged leg, holding it up for all to see. The twins oo-ed at it while Fishlegs tried to keep his dinner down. Astrid, however, was too distracted to be paying attention to Gobber’s tale. Her mind kept cycling from one question to another, always eventually coming back to how she would help Moon. It turned out finding a way to get a permanently wounded dragon off the ground again was proving to be more difficult than she had originally anticipated.

“I swear I’m so angry right now!” Snotlout said in a fake rage. After proving his loyalty to team Moon, it was getting easier and easier to tell when he was acting and when he was serious. “I’ll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I’ll chop off the arms and legs of every dragon I fight!”

“It’s the wings and the tails you really want,” Gobber explained as he casually ripped the wing off of his roasting chicken. “If it can’t fly, it can’t get away - a downed dragon is a dead dragon.”

A downed dragon is a dead dragon. Astrid shared a quick look with Fishlegs, who passed the message on. A silent agreement was spread among the teenagers, Gobber completely unaware of what was happening right in front of him as he bit into his chicken.

They had to help Moon, and fast.

-------

Ruffnut certainly had a hand for stitching if she did say so herself, but that didn’t mean even the best of the best could fail.

She had worked countless hours with Astrid on stitching up a strong piece of fabric to attach to Moon’s tail, and what did they have to show for it? A nice piece of ripped up cloth and scattered metal wires. After several more failed attempts, Ruffnut knew they needed help. Professional help.

Astrid’s gonna kill me for this.

She knocked on one of the outer beams of the forge, and out came Gobber, tripping over a small pan on the ground and running into the wall on the way. He looked overly-tired.

“We’re closed.”

“We need your help.”

“I said I’m closed. And even if I were open, I ain’t helping you get a bigger mace to bang on the neighbor’s head when they walk out the door. Not again.”

“Let me rephrase, Gobber - Snotlout also needs your help.”

Gobber considered this, then sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, gesturing for the young viking to enter the forge. Ruffnut waltzed past him, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“What do you want with me this time?”

“I need you to make this-”

Ruffnut pulled out a fairly large piece of parchment, spreading it out across one of Gobber’s various tables (all of which were full of bent metal and tools, mind you). Gobber inspected the paper as Ruffnut smoothed it out, and she could already tell he was making mental calculations and corrections.

“What exactly is this for…?”

“Long story. I’ll tell you if you get the job done.”

“Why do I feel like I don’t have a choice?”

“Because you don’t.”

Gobber sighed as he began fixing measurements and making a list of supplies. “This is gonna take a while - do you have any spare time?”

-------

“You did what!?”

“I had to! We were all thinking it!”

Astrid wasn’t handling this too well. That didn’t mean it was still better than expected.

“Look, Astrid, we can’t do this without him. We’re just gonna keep messing up over and over again, and you’re going to be stuck with Mr. Moody until Ragnarok.”

“She does have a point,” Fishlegs chimed in, earning himself a steel glare from Astrid. He winced a little, but continued on. “You heard what Gobber said. The longer he’s stuck on the ground, the more at risk he’s going to be, and I’m pretty sure the last thing we want is the village swooping in to grab Tungl to publicly execute him-”

“Tungl?” Astrid questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Fishlegs looked as if Astrid was the one who had forgotten something before he said, “Oh, that’s right! I was down in the cove a few days ago with him. Turns out he likes listening to books and stories! I was reading about the old language to him when I said the old word for “moon" and he got excited. Apparently his name was Tungl this whole time, not Moon.”

Ruffnut had to admit she was amazed. She never realized Fishlegs went down there on his own… at all, really. She thought he might have been too scared to go solo. She shook her head though, putting her thoughts back on track.

If they were going to finish the job, wouldn’t they have done that by now? It was something Ruffnut had noticed. The village had all this talk going around on the night of the battle about going back the next morning to collect the body, but it had been almost a week and nothing had happened.

They are known for their talk. Are they scared?

Definitely scared. No one would confront a big bad Night Fury, even when it was down. Still, the chief had seemed so intent on killing Tungl until he had been pinned underneath him and at his mercy. What happened? Did he see something? Was he having second thoughts? Was he planning a party to celebrate and was just taking his time?

“I suppose we can’t go back now,” Astrid said, rubbing her temples. “What’s done is done. I- we can work with this. This can work.”

-------

While Gobber had his suspicions of what Ruffnut was up to this time, he helped her anyway. Not because he wanted to, but because he was curious if he could figure out what she was up to.

Now that he thought about it, his small class - his former class - had been acting fairly odd for quite a while. It started with Astrid and Fishlegs, eventually working its way to the twins and, surprisingly, Snotlout. What exactly was wrong he wasn’t sure, but maybe this was some kind of clue.

For one thing, it strongly resembled a part of a dragon. The size, shape, and basic dynamic gave it all away. How Ruffnut had managed to get such small yet crucial details such as shape and exact measurements was questionable. Just another mystery to add to the pile, he supposed.

Gobber slid the last piece of leather into place, balling the metal’s tip to lock it in place. He fanned it a few times to make sure it would open and close smoothly, then closed it up and tied some string around it.

Let’s hope this is what she’s looking for.

-------

When Gobber began this project, the last thing he expected was to be brought back to the cove where the previous battle had taken place. Why he was being taken here, where the rotting corpse of the Night Fury lay, he wasn’t sure, but he was a viking - he didn’t run from anything.

He also didn’t expect for the Night Fury to still be alive.

Yet there it was, snoozing on the grass in a patch of sunlight like some overgrown cat. It almost looked non-threatening, if it hadn’t been for its expansive size and sharp claws resting beneath its chin.

“Tungl! Wake up!”

Then it moved. The timing was perfectly lined up with Astrid’s call, and Gobber dared to think that it was responding.

It stretched out its long black body, throwing its wings in the air and giving its head a light shake. It stared at the basket on Astrid’s back with curiosity, its nose twitching as it smelled the mystery contents within. As Astrid set down the basket, she tipped it over to spill dozens of fish onto the grass, much to the Night Fury’s delight. As she worked her way around its side, it suddenly began to back up, letting off a light growl. Gobber wanted to scream at her to run, but all Astrid did was squint at the fish pile before her eyes went wide and she reached down to pick up a long black-and-yellow striped eel. The Night Fury recoiled with a hiss, and Gobber started to hobble over to Astrid’s aid when she threw the eel into the water and the Night Fury calmed down again.

“I thought I told you he didn’t like eels?” she shouted, the hard glare seemingly pointing at Snotlout.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was in there!” he defended. At least now Gobber knew where all the missing reserves went. Astrid rolled her eyes, then turned back to what appeared to be the Night Fury’s tail as it helped itself to the fish, which was already half gone.

As Gobber got a better look at the dragon, he noticed how elegant it looked. The way its scales shimmered in the sun, the way it gracefully threw each fish in the air and swallowed it whole, it was fascinating.

“You’re beautiful…” he whispered, then stopped as his eyes landed on its left hind leg. It was tightly bandaged, and the dragon appeared to be putting as little weight on it as possible. He then thought back to the fight, and he remembered Stoick’s axe slicing right through its side before hitting-

It’s tail.

That’s what it was for. Ruffnut gave him blueprints for a false tail fin.

“Tuff, get over here - I need your help.”

“Why me?” complained the male Thorston twin.

“Because I told you to.”

That is a good point. Astrid always seemed to carry an air of authority around her. It was hard to disobey her commands when they were delivered with the right energy.

With a groan, Tuffnut begrudgingly walked over to sit on the dragon’s tail while Astrid strapped the prosthetic fin adjacent to its natural half.

“Uh… Astrid…?” Fishlegs said quietly, and Gobber tried to grab Astrid’s attention as well to warn her of the massive wings spreading out across the dragon’s back. She brushed them off, only taking notice of the disaster in waiting just before the Night Fury took off. The suddenness of it pushed Gobber to the ground, leaving him to watch as the dragon pulled itself into the sky, Tuffnut in tow.

-------

While Tungl wasn’t too happy to have been woken up from his afternoon nap, he quickly forgave Astrid when she tipped the basket full of fish in front of him. He flipped fish after fish into his mouth with precision, picked up from years of practice.

He had shoved his whole head into the basket, hoping to find one last fish when he felt something fasten onto his tail. He lifted his head, the basket briefly coming up with him before falling back into the ground as he shifted his tail to identify the odd sensation. He heard a click, then realized what his friend was trying to do. He slowly spread his wings, his mind already miles away - or should he say up.

He crouched low as if to pounce, and didn’t even hesitate when he heard a “Tungl, wait-!” from Astrid as he pushed off and into the air. He fanned his tail fin, gaining more height by the second. It was the farthest he had even gone in weeks!

And then he was falling again.

-------

Tuffnut was screaming. Here he was, shooting through the air like a knife and right at death’s doorstep, ready to fall onto the hard ground below. At least he would go out while clinging to the tail of a Night Fury - who else could say that’s how they died? That on top of living forever in Valhalla, it was pretty much a win-win.

He could feel himself falling, Tungl’s screeches making the scene all the more dramatic.

“Open… tail… open the tail!”

He could hear his friends below shouting the same command. At first he was confused, but then he opened his eyes and saw the folded leather fin mere inches from his face. He reached out, fanning it open and felt himself curve upwards into a sharp ascent. He looked down and watched as the world got smaller and smaller before his very eyes, the panicked calls of his friends disappearing as he climbed higher into the sky.

It was amazing, it was fantastic, it was exhilarating. He pulled to the left, leaning himself and Tungl into a turn before they dove back down and were gliding across the cove. He let out a whoop of excitement, ready for more, and before he knew it he was being flung into the water beneath him, Tungl falling shortly behind.

Tuffnut resurfaced, spitting water out of his mouth. “Let’s do that again!” he cheered.

-------

It had been so long since he had flown that Tungl actually felt like crying once it ended and he tumbled into the lake. He could still feel the wind caressing his wings, the coolness of the autumn air in his face, and all his cares and worries left far below him. He was untouchable, and just like that it had once again been ripped out from right beneath him.

“Are you sure you don’t want someone to help you control it?” Astrid offered afterwards. “You won’t even know I’m there.”

“Over my dead body.” Tungl would rather die than be disgraced in such a way as having a human ride on his back. He had far too much dignity for something as demeaning as that.

“But what else can we even do?”

“I might have an idea, if you will.”

All eyes turned to the large human, Gobber, who had somehow snuck up behind them. How much had he seen? Did he catch him talking to Astrid? He had hardly even noticed the seasoned warrior during their first encounter a few hours before, and felt ashamed of not being as cautious as he should have been. He was getting too comfortable around humans.

“If you could pass me that little contraption there, I can make a few… adjustments.”

“What kind of adjustments?” Tungl asked, then remembered the human couldn’t understand him. Why did he keep forgetting that?

“It’s a little difficult to explain, but I swear you can trust me.”

“Can I?” Astrid asked skeptically, crossing her arms.

“You have my word.”

Chapter Text

Gobber didn’t understand why Astrid kept following him everywhere for the next few days. Sure, he had just met the dragon and learned his students’ secret, but didn’t they trust him already from beforehand? Had he ever steered them wrong?

Alright, he had probably done that. But was it anything worth having to have an eye kept on him at all times? And by Astrid of all people? The twins seemed to have taken to him already. Snotlout and Fishlegs seemed a little open, but still cautious around him. It was a start.

He carefully placed another gear in the tail’s centerpiece, snapping it in and giving it a spin. Perfect. He gave it a light brush of oil to keep it from rusting, then pulled on a small metal bar to fan the tail.

I hope he likes red.

In the process of altering the tail to make it more sturdy and weather-resistant, Gobber had accidentally ripped the original leather, which happened to be the last uncolored piece he had in stock. All he had left was the thick colored fabric used for sails, which he would have to make due with.

Would he like it? Was the gold-tinted metal alright? Would the color be too bright and affect his natural blending skills?

What’s happening to me? Since when did Gobber care about what a dragon thought? They weren’t supposed to think anything!

But the way the Night Fury grumbled and growled in a unique fashion to Astrid and at some points other vikings, it was almost like he was talking. And the look of sheer joy when he took off for the first time in Thor knows how long, it was too real not to believe.

And what had Astrid called him? Tumble? He had a name. Animals weren’t supposed to have their own names unless a viking had dubbed them so. What was with that? Was there really another side to dragons they had never even seen before?

His theories were put to the test when the first sign of nearby wingbeats reached his ears. He knew without a second thought what was coming.

Raid.

The dragons were raining down on the village within minutes, snatching sheep from their pastures and breaking into storehouses. It was a typical raid, the same pattern every time - dragons come, they steal food, vikings attack, dragons attack, dragons leave-

Dragons attack.

Gobber peeked out from the forge, watching a nearby Deadly Nadder closely. It was digging through some wreckage, possibly searching for livestock, when it perked up at a charging viking. It sprung into a defensive stance, but didn’t attack. Only when the viking swung his sword did the Nadder fling its lethal spines in his direction.

It only attacked when provoked.

Gobber couldn’t stand to watch as he saw the same cycle repeated over and over all around him, and instead of joining in the fiery heat of battle he did what he swore he would never do - he ran.

-------

Tungl was having an all around pretty good night. It was peaceful, the fight was nice and far away, and the crickets were even chirping their sweet songs of the night.

Then the human came crashing in to ruin it all.

Tungl sat up, growling at the intruder before getting a whiff of the unmistakable scent of Gobber. He seemed to be out of breath, likely from running.

Odd. I thought humans didn’t run from fights? Probably just talk, like everything else.

Regardless, Tungl offered support for the aging human. He helped him over to a nice rock, but made sure he didn’t put him on one of his own favorites. The old man sat down, taking deep, stabilizing breaths. Tungl would have loved to stay and chat, but he was still fairly wary of this particular human and decided to leave him be. He climbed up the tree whose roots were wedged within Gobber’s resting rock, wrapped his tail around a sturdy branch and dropped upside down. He tucked his head inside his wings to block out the sweaty human stench and instead fall asleep to the sweet scent of fern and wet wood hidden within his wings. Much better.

-------

The woods were quiet. Usually everything was quiet after a raid, but the woods were particularly silent today. It gave Astrid an uneasy feeling, as if something was here that she wasn’t aware of. Like she was being hunted by an invisible predator.

At least the twins were keeping whatever it was at bay. Their rowdiness was their primary source of protection at the moment. It was the first time any of them were grateful for their loud, childish behavior.

They approached the entrance to the cove, where they would seek refuge while things on Berk calmed down again. With their new views on dragons it was getting harder and harder to be around the raids. They still stuck to putting out fires, yes, but as soon as the dragons hauled away their stealings the teenagers had officially agreed to meet up in the forest to avoid cleaning the giant scaly carcasses. Their original plan was to just wander, but the most recent raid had been an especially… destructive one, so Astrid had decided to go further out than normal. At last they had reached her desired destination.

One by one they slid into the cove, Astrid in the lead as per usual. She expected to find Tungl nearby first, and was shocked to see a large slumbering lump next to a dangling half-tailed Tungl. She prepared to bring out her axe, but held when she noticed the horn style of the lump’s helmet.

“Gobber?”

“Aye!?” Gobber jolted awake, rubbing his soot-covered face. His left arm tightened its grip around something big and red. Astrid would have asked what it was, but her sense of dread outweighed her sense of curiosity. There were very few things that could be that big with a scarlet that bright.

“Whatcha got there?”

Astrid wanted to punch Tuffnut.

“I- what? Oh, this-” Gobber pulled out the red object, fanning it open to reveal half a tail fin.

Well would you look at that. It was Tungl’s false fin, the once brown material now a vibrant shade of vermillion. It also appeared to have a few extra machinations applied to it since the last time Astrid had seen it. “Fixed it up for ya.”

There was a thump on the ground nearby, and Astrid looked over to see Tungl stretching himself out and coming closer to inspect the new tail. He sniffed it, poked at it, prodded it with his claw, even bapped it a few times. He hummed in curiosity.

“Heh, curious little fella. You want to try it on?” Gobber chuckled. Astrid was amazed as she watched Gobber carefully approach Tungl, sliding the tail in place and clicking a few new pieces into their proper locations. He backed up, letting the dragon inspect his new limb. Tungl squinted at it, almost looking upset as he swung it back and forth. The surrounding vikings had to quickly back away as he went into a fit of anger, screeching at his tail and swinging it madly in the air. He gave it a hard flick in an attempt to get it off, fanning his working fin in the process.

-------

Tungl stared at his fins. What just happened? When the fake fin had been put on it seemed like it didn’t work. He wanted it off as soon as possible to justify the viking’s wrongdoing. When he had tried to fling it off though, something changed. His good fin had fanned out, and the fake side had mimicked its exact position. He pulled his tail back, opening and closing his tail. The fake fin copied every movement to perfection, the slightest detail hidden away in every strange click. He looked at the large viking, who was staring back with a mixture of emotions.

Tungl gave him a long stare, turning it into a side-glance with a smirk as he stepped away. He gave himself a light running start, coming up to the fallen log he had tried to use so long ago when his wing was his biggest problem. He jumped up and leapt off of it, fanning his wings and each and every one of his fins as he flung into the air. He flapped hard, his wingstrokes a little off from lack of use but steadily becoming more and more rhythmic the higher he rose.

Now was about the time when he would start falling. This time, though, he didn’t. He kept rising higher until he was well past the cove. He was out, the feathers of the early morning sunlight brushing his face and wings in a warm and welcoming embrace. He leaned left and right, testing the tail’s maneuverability. He made a sharp turn, picking up speed to pull off a backflip and twist into another corkscrew.

He glided over his friends, who looked up at him in amazement. He looked backwards, smiling down at them. He then tilted straight up, climbing at a straight angle and spinning into the sun’s full glory. He smiled widely, the first most genuine smile he had made in a long time. He fell back downward, this time on his own terms, and righted himself before tilting back into the cove, skimming the lake’s surface and roaring at his friends, who were cheering him on. Finally, after so long, things were looking up.

-------

Comet was hot on his trail and she knew it. She and Toothless had split to cover more ground at a faster rate, and it had been working so far. They had searched twice as many islands in half the amount of time that they had been using before. She wondered why they hadn’t thought of the idea sooner.

She was approaching her next island, one she was quite reluctant to check over. It was, for the most part, uninhabited, except for a small portion on one end. The peninsula-like island reeked of humans, and she had put off her flyover for quite some time now. Still, she knew it had to be done, and decided to get it over with. She started at the end farthest away from the human nest. She wanted as little interaction with them as she could.

Nothing so far. Despite having excellent stamina, she had been flying for far too long at once and was getting dehydrated from the cold late autumn wind. She ducked down into a steady descent, careful not to dive too sharply and angling her fins to maintain her silence. As much as she enjoyed her whistle, she didn’t want to be caught while this close to the nest.

Comet padded down into a relatively large cove and slipped her head into the water of the nearby lake while her wings defrosted and her dry skin had a chance to moisturize again. She snapped a fish in her jaws, swallowing it down to replenish her energy and took in a deep breath of fresh air to settle down for a quick nap.

Tungl. It caught her so off guard she second guessed herself at first. She gave another long sniff and quickly assured herself of one thing - Tungl was all over this place. His scent was everywhere, and it consumed her mind. Was she just tired? Was she hallucinating? Dreaming? No, it was here and it was real and it was everywhere. Was this where he had been? For how long? How long ago did he leave? Why in the Spirit’s name did this place also smell like humans? Had he been attacked? Taken captive? Killed?

I have to find him. The scent trail leading out of the cove was still fresh, so she might be able to track her cousin down. She looked up and behind her. Should she get Toothless first? Would she get to him in time to catch Tungl? No, it was too risky. Tungl might be long gone by the time they got back. She would have to go solo for now and reunite the brothers later.

She spread her aching wings, ignoring the tugging in her mind that begged her back to the ground for sleep. She shook her head as she took off, following the fading trail of her lost cousin.

Chapter Text

Tungl shifted into an air current, gliding on the chilling wind as it tickled his wings. It was late morning, and he was beyond ready to test out his new tail. It had taken all night to get used to it, and he was itching to pull off some of his old tricks.

“Let’s take this nice and slow,” he told himself. He was excited, but was still new to flying with only half a tail. He opened his good fin, checking behind him to make sure the fake half was properly aligned before slowly pulling into a wide turn out of the current.

So far so good. He gave an extra flap to balance out and find his bearings. “It’s go time,” he repeated a few times before tilting himself down into an easy dive. He roared as he picked up speed, straightening out in time to skim the water. He looked to his right to see his human friends in one of their “boats” as they called them nearby, cheering him on. He wasn’t paying attention as he came up on a sea stack and crashed right into it, accidentally turning right into another one nearby as he tried to correct himself. He gave his head a small shake as his friends’ laughter echoed across the water. Time to put these humans in their place.

Tungl switched his fin position, flapping upward and climbing the sky to an incredible height. He was fast approaching the clouds, and the sounds of the world below him were long since out of range. He closed his eyes and let his forked tongue loll out to the side of his mouth, taking in the fresh air and whipping wind around him. He missed this.

He passed through a thick cloud with ease, leaving whisping white tendrils as he came out the other side. His wings picked up a little frost, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle - or at least he thought so.

The further up from the top of the cloud he went, the slower his ascent seemed to become. He didn’t think he had changed fin positions, but he double checked anyway and tried flexing his tail.

It was stuck. He looked down and saw the metal pieces shimmering with a layer of ice clogging the machinations inside. He felt himself slow to almost a complete stop before slipping downward, free falling through the air to his impending doom.

Oh Spirits oh Spirits oh Spirits oh-

He twisted and turned in his fall, trying to correct himself. He could sense the air getting slightly warmer as he got closer to the ground, but he was falling too fast and the wind was too strong to really feel it.

He managed to flip into a rough diving position, and he flung his wings open to slow his descent. He screamed as the wind slammed into his wings and tried not to look at how close the treetops were to his underbelly.

Then he felt it. His tail was easier to move, and the metal touching his scales didn’t feel as cold as before. The ice was gone, and he was free.

Just before Tungl crashed into a sea stack, he swooped to the side and effortlessly dodged the stone pillars. He weaved back and forth, throwing in a quick flip for extra flair. He eased down his speed a little as he exited the maze, a wide smile across his face. His friends whooped and shouted for him, and he released a fireball to explode in the air, a trick he had learned several years ago when he wanted to celebrate his and Toothless’ hatch-day.

I’m back.

-------

Tungl lounged by the lake in his cove, Astrid pressed close against his side. The sun was warm in their little patch, and the weather made the perfect conditions for a late-afternoon nap.

Tungl heaved a deep sigh, a good one that calmed his mind and relaxed his body. He hadn’t felt this good in ages.

Snap.

Tungl’s ear nubs pricked up a little, then lazily laid back down against his head. Probably just a rabbit or small bird looking for bugs.

Crack.

Bigger, closer, louder and more careless. Tungl cracked an eye open, scanning the area where the noise was coming from. Just shadows. He closed his eye again, wrapping his tail around his side.

Crash!

His head shot up. That was too loud to be some nearby animal. A familiar scent slowly wafted towards his nostrils, though he couldn’t quite place where it was from.

“You!”

A black dragon crashed forth from the underbrush as Tungl sprang up and into a protective stance. Astrid sat up in confusion, trying to get a peek around Tungl’s arched form. Tungl faced the newcomer, teeth bared and claws digging into the ground as he prepared to spring forward into attack.

“Back off,” he hissed. This was his territory, and he intended to keep it that way.

“What have you done with him?” the female snarled, her sapphire eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep.

“Who? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You did something to him! He was here! I can smell him on you!” she screamed.

What is wrong with this dragon? She was crazy.

“I didn’t do anything to anyone! I’m the only dragon who has been here for the last two months-”

“Liar!”

“You’re mad!”

The female lunged forward, crashing into Tungl and throwing him to the side.

“Run!” he roared to Astrid, throwing the dragon off of him, leaping over her and pinning her down. There was something about this dragon, something familiar. What was it? That voice, those eyes-

He found himself staring into her eyes as she gazed into his own. She seemed to calm down underneath him, and the deranged look on her face started to melt away, though not entirely.

“Tungl?”

What?

She knew his name. And he knew hers, somewhere in his memory. He stepped away from her, old memories wriggling to the front of his mind.

“Comet?”

-------

Astrid was confused, that was for sure. She had simply been relaxing with Tungl in the rare warmth the sun offered, slipping away into a light snooze. The next thing she knew she was being forced awake as she was thrown to the side, Tungl standing in front of her protectively. She then watched from the side as he fought with another Night Fury, both verbally and physically. She was grateful for her lessons in “Dragonese” as Tungl had called it, but also wished very much she couldn’t hear the strained words of the new Night Fury.

When Tungl told her to run, she almost did. But something was keeping her standing in the cove, watching her friend gain the upper hand only to abruptly stop and stare at the dragon beneath him. She wanted to shout at him for stepping aside and letting his opponent free, but held her tongue. The second Night Fury didn’t seem to notice Astrid was there yet, and she wanted to keep it that way based on the hostile first impression they had made.

“What are you doing here?” Tungl asked the dragon before him.

“Me? What are you doing here!?”

The two dragons conversed, Astrid trying to piece together what the conversation was about based on whatever she could fully understand. The best conclusion she could come to was that Tungl clearly hadn’t wanted to be found by this dragon.

She took a few steps back, wincing as a twig snapped beneath her foot and both Night Furies turned to look at her. The blue-eyed dragon’s face quickly transformed into a dangerous snarl, and Astrid made a break for it as Tungl tried to calm them down and keep them from attacking her. She made it out of the cove and a little ways through the woods before she was swept off her feet and carried into the air by strong scaly paws.

-------

Well this was just great. For starters, Tungl’s day of relaxation had been rudely interrupted at the worst possible time. Secondly, of course it had to be Comet that had found him and not some random dragon from another nest. He had to admit, she had definitely seen better days.

“What are you doing here?” he had asked, trying to hide his irritation.

“Me? What are you doing here!?”

Tungl was very reluctant to give answers. He didn’t exactly want to be talking snout-to-snout with Comet right now. She was one of the last dragons he wanted to see after the last family fiasco. He tried to avoid giving a direct explanation, but couldn’t find any better ways to say “I was grounded,” so instead he had said he was hiding from her, which wasn’t entirely a lie.

Then she had seen Astrid. Why wouldn’t she? He had managed to keep Comet at bay while the human made her getaway, but Comet had slipped from his grasp and was out of the cove and chasing his companion in seconds. Tungl rushed after his cousin, hoping he could catch Astrid before Comet dropped her. To his relief, she only tossed his friend into a tall tree, then landed on top as the thin trunk bent beneath her weight.

“Tungl!” Astrid shouted in rage, “get me down from here!”

“What are you doing!?” Comet challenged as Tungl landed on a branch beneath Astrid so she could drop on top of him. “It’s a human! It will kill you! Why are you defending it?”

“You have to give me a chance to explain-” Tungl said to Comet, who glared at him with slit pupils.

“I am not listening to anything you have to say!”
“Then I won’t speak! Just… let me show you. Please, Comet.”

He had an idea. If he could just explain to Comet that Astrid wasn’t bad by showing her his tail, she might hear him out.

“Fine.” Comet huffed. Tungl signaled to Astrid to climb the branch she was dangling from so he could pick her up more easily.

“Could you let us up a little? Gently?” he asked Comet. She rolled her eyes, then fanned her wings to lift some weight off the tree and straighten out the trunk. “There,” he assured both his friends, who clearly weren’t getting along well. “That wasn’t so bad, was it-”

He shouted in alarm as he was suddenly flung off the tree, Comet scooping up a screaming Astrid and carrying her high into the sky. Tungl chased after Comet, trying to reason with her.

“No, Comet! Can’t you hear- oh no.”

Comet turned to the side and fell upside down towards the rolling ocean waves, Tungl diving after her as she dunked into the churning water several times.

“Comet, what are you doing? We need her to like you!”

Comet ignored him, flying upward again and twisting into aggressive spins while Tungl gave sarcastic commentary.

“Thank you for nothing, you useless cousin,” he sighed as she flipped down again ready for another quick swim. “Comet, just listen to me!”

He dove past her, making sure she could see him pass beneath her in hopes she would slow down to keep from crashing into him. It worked better than expected, as she slowed significantly.

“Wait, Tungl, what’s on your tail?” she shouted over the wind and waves.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you! Just let me exp-”

In too quick a movement for Tungl to process, Comet threw her wings wide, flinging Astrid into the air and forcing Tungl to catch her on his back. He gently rose higher above the water. After the chaos that had just ensued, it took him a minute too long to realize that there was in fact a human riding on his back, pressed close to his neck. He could feel her sporadic heartbeat aligning with his own, and he took deep breaths to steady his pounding chest as much as hers. He sensed her calming down on top of him, and angled himself to fly a little higher into a calm air current to glide on. The cool colors of the sunset sky were calming, and he didn’t even notice Comet turning off to the side to land on a nearby sea stack, her expression lost.

Tungl soared against the clouds, the once aggressive wind pulling at his wings now lightly caressing him. It was very stark in contrast compared to his usual fast-flying aerial maneuvers, and he never thought he would miss the slow-paced leisurely glide. It calmed his mind, chasing away all his thoughts faster than his sharp dives and spins. He stole a glance over his shoulder and saw Astrid reaching up and swirling the clouds above her head, and he decided to join her and reached his wingtips to brush the misty edges.

He had a thought. Humans had never been this high up before - even the mountaintops were unreachable to them. He took a smooth turn upward, carrying Astrid above the clouds and underneath the blanket of twinkling stars. The sky was much darker up here where the sun was long gone as well as more clear due to Tungl and Astrid now being above the cloudline. In the distance, shimmering green lights were beginning to appear, the trail of the traveling Spirit of the North. Legends said she was once a living Night Fury who wished to travel the world. When she died with her journey just barely incomplete, the Spirits took pity on her and offered her a way to travel across the starry skies forever, the same skies which she now called home. The skylights were left behind from her long tail as she danced across the night, visible to the living eye only every so often. It was truly a sight to behold. Perhaps he could teach Astrid the stories of his kind one day.

But I have to go home.

And yet… did he really? Going back to the nest would mean facing the family he had so easily left behind. What was he supposed to say? Comet alone had been pretty upset. If she was crazy from searching for him, what was Toothless going to be like? Was he still looking for him? Tungl wasn’t sure he was ready to face his brother yet.

He dropped below the clouds again and soared near the edge of the island where night had finally fallen. What if he made peace with the human nest? He already had a good few of them on his side - maybe the others would accept him in time? It was a bit of a stretch, but it was worth a shot. And who knows, maybe he would connect with his roots? As much as it made his head spin to think about, finding out where he came from was becoming more of a recurring thought.

The king of his old nest was gentle and caring. The human alpha had nothing but ferocity in his cold eyes. Yet there was still something, if only for a moment, where Tungl could have sworn he saw a flash of… what, exactly? He wasn’t sure. Did human recognize dragon the same way dragon had recognized human? Was that the Spirits at work? A mere chance? So many questions, so few answers.

Comet appeared at Tungl’s side, gliding a little bit above him on his left.

“Alright, I’ll admit it - I overreacted.”

Tungl gave an “mhmm” sound, earning himself an eyeroll from Comet.

“I just… everyone’s been worried sick about you. Neither me nor Toothless could track you. I just happened to find your scent by chance. And by the Spirits, what happened to your tail?”

“It’s a long story,” Tungl sighed. “I… don’t want to talk about it.”

“But you should. I want to know what happened.”

“I don’t-!” he began, but cut himself off. She was right. The only reason he didn’t want to talk about it was because he didn’t want anyone to know he had not only been grounded twice, but that he had an encounter with the Spirits and was almost killed by his human kin. He heaved another deep sigh, sorting out his thoughts. Here goes nothing.

So he explained. He started all the way back to when he first found the island and joined the raid just to blow off some steam. He explained how he had been shot down and injured, stuck in the cove for weeks.

“That explains why we couldn’t find you,” Comet thought aloud. “It’s because you were stuck on the one island we tried to avoid.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

He continued his story, how he had put his trust in the human Astrid and how they helped each other in unique ways. Comet smiled.

“Sounds like you’ve got something special going on, huh?” she said to Astrid, who was still atop Tungl’s back and marveling at the view.

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Comet looked confused at the language coming from Astrid’s mouth, and Tungl had to remind himself that not everyone could understand humans as well as him. Once he translated, Comet nodded. “Carry on, then.”

The healing. Saving Astrid. The battle in the cove. He hesitated. Should he tell Comet about his strange connection to the human alpha? Could she handle it? What if his theory proved to be false? She tilted her head at his abrupt pause. He took a deep breath and-

“I think this is where I came from.”

“You… what?”

“This island, this nest. This might be where mo- Eclipse found me. Where she rescued me.”

“What do you mean she ‘rescued’ you? How do you know?”

“I’m not sure. I can’t remember much, but I remember a little. I remember… fire. Screaming. Something big, but I don’t know what. It’s hard to think about.” He paused. “It hurts.”

Silence. What was there for either of them to say?

“Do you… want to continue?”

“Sure,” he said, giving his wings a light flap. “Once we got the big human on our side, we were finally able to make some progress. He helped fix my tail. He gave me my flight back.”

Comet rumbled in appreciation for the human. At least she wasn’t mad he had made all sorts of human friends.

“Then you found me, and now we’re here.”

“Tungl, is all of that true?”

Tungl nearly fell out of the air. He had nearly forgotten Astrid had improved her Dragonese, and apparently she was listening to his story. He didn’t want to answer her, but figured she already knew everything now so there was no use trying to squeeze his way around it.

“I- yes. It’s true.”

“Moony, what did she say?”

“It’s nothing. She just… maybe… heard everything?”

“What!?” Comet shrieked. “A human knows your history?”

“I was going to tell her eventually anyway!” he argued back.

Comet opened her mouth to argue, but closed it immediately, huffing in defeat. Why she didn’t counter-argue Tungl wasn’t sure, but he was glad she didn’t. Maybe she was coming to terms with his past like he was.

They flew in silence over the rolling waves, all three lost within their own minds.

“So, now what?” Comet asked, looking forward. “Tungl, you have to come back to the nest. At least let everyone know you’re alright-”

“No," he cut her off. "I’m not going back.”

Tungl was shocked at his own words. He had been on the edge about whether or not he wanted to go back, but in the brief moment it took him to respond he had settled on a decision. He would stay on this island, try to reconnect with his former life. He at least wanted to formally meet the human alpha.

It was a weird thought to think about. For years he had been under the rule of others. He did what he was told. He went along with the other dragons of the nest, never asking anyone for more than a small favor. But now? He had a chance to do something big. He may not be a true human now, but that didn’t mean his heritage was canceled out.

He was still mad at Eclipse. Sure, she treated him like her own son and raised him as one should. She had rescued him from an untimely death. But there had always been something behind those caring eyes, something that clouded their shimmer. She knew he wasn’t her kin, she knew he was at risk for not fitting in, she knew he wasn’t right. And she never said anything.

But if he were to reconnect with his roots? It made him feel special. He could uncover secrets of both worlds, make connections between both humans and dragons, prove to the world they didn’t have to be separate but could live as one. Just like him.

“Do you hear that?”

“I- what?”

Comet tilted her head left and right, ears perked up and eyes narrowed. “That sound. It sounds like someone is calling us.”

“Who in the Archipelago would be calling us?”

“This way!”

Comet ducked left, just barely dodging a sea stack hidden in the fog. Tungl followed her, unsure of what the sound she was hearing might be but curious nonetheless. The two weaved through the fog, Tungl staying close to Comet’s tail so as not to lose her or run into anything.

“Tungl, what’s happening?” Astrid asked worriedly, pressing herself against Tungl’s neck.

“I don’t know- look out!”

A Nightmare came up beside him, hissing at him to back up. Tungl tried to move right but was interrupted by a Zippleback. More dragons filed in around them, and Comet was now out of sight. Tungl looked around, noting that each dragon had a heavy cargo of prey clutched in their claws.

“It looks like they’re hauling in their kill…” Tungl said quietly.

“What does that make me?”

The dragons suddenly curved into one large dive, and Tungl had to follow so he wouldn’t break the formation. He flapped back and forth, carefully swooping out of the way of any stone pillars in his way. He looked up and gasped as he beheld a large mountain, glowing magma spilling down its sides.

A volcano. And judging by the hundreds of dragons flocking towards it and Comet’s earlier comment, it wasn’t a normal volcano.

This is a nest.

He knew he wasn’t supposed to intrude on a nest he wasn’t a part of without invitation, but his curiosity got the better of him and he kept going, flying into one of the openings and entering into a massive lava-filled cavern. He finally broke out of line and landed on a stone platform, watching the various dragons drop their loads into the heart of the mountain.

“Well, it’s satisfying to know all of our food has been dumped down a hole,” Astrid said sarcastically.

“They’re not eating any of it?”

Tungl had never seen anything like it. Why would dragons be dropping their hard-earned dinner into a pit?

Comet, where are you? He looked around and spotted her on the opposite end of the cavern, crouching low behind a pillar.

The last dragon came in, a lazy-looking gronkle dropping down a good few yards before starting up its wings again. It stopped and hovered over the chasm, dropping a single small fish inside.

The mountain shook with a low grumble, one that didn’t sound too promising. The gronkle slowly buzzed upward, almost panicked, but not before a large head reared from the pit and snapped its massive jaws around the gronkle and swallowed it whole. Astrid almost screamed, and Tungl felt like he was going to throw up.

The head’s nostrils flared, and her gaze immediately turned to Tungl’s hiding spot. He knew exactly what was coming, and in a fleet of panic he took off as quickly as he could, narrowly missing the hundreds of teeth aimed for him and his precious cargo. Every dragon in the cavern fled through the top hole of the volcano, a few of them getting dragged back down in the process.

What kind of a nest is that!?

Chapter Text

Tungl was still winded from the nest intrusion.

“No, no, it totally makes sense!” Astrid was saying as they landed in the cove. “It’s like a giant beehive - they’re the workers and that’s their queen.”

“No, it- it’s not supposed to work that way!” Tungl said as Astrid slid off his back. “A queen is supposed to take care of her nest, not force her subjects to feed her and eat them when they don’t!”

Astrid stood in silence. Her face displayed conflicted emotions, even in the dark. Tungl didn’t blame her - he was confused as well.

“Guys! Wait!”

Both turned to see Comet come crashing down, clearly out of breath. She didn’t seem to be beat up at all, just exhausted. Then again, which of them wasn’t? Tungl rushed over to support her.

“Are you alright? What happened to you?”

“I… I don’t know?” Comet said slowly. It came out more as a question than a response. “It’s all kinda fuzzy…”

Astrid’s brow creased in concentration.

“Maybe you should rest,” Tungl told his cousin. “You’ve had a weird night.” He paused, thinking back on the events of the last hour or so. “We all have.”

Tungl and Comet snuggled close, Tungl opening a wing to welcome Astrid inside. She hesitated, but eventually came around and laid down against his warm side. He covered her with his wings, resting his own head on his paws. What to make of it all…

-------

Comet fluttered her eyes open, yawning wide to greet the morning sun. She stood up, stretched herself out, and slowly slunk towards the lake for a quick drink. She was shortly joined by Tungl, who still looked half-asleep. She smiled. It was good to see him again. She had missed his goofy morning expressions, his snarky quips, his nubs’ slight copper hue. For years she had pondered why exactly his scales did that, and now she knew. He once had human fur upon his head, and this was his own unique little way of saying, “hey, this is what I used to be.”

“I need to go back,” she said. It was short and simple, easy to understand. And the strangest part? Tungl agreed.

“Where will you go?” he asked, not looking up from the water.

“Back to the nest, maybe. But who knows? I might travel a bit more once I find Toothless again. We passed over so much looking for you, and there was so much to see. Moony, there’s so much more out there than we thought! I could be like Boreala, traveling to the edge of the world and discovering things new even to Dragonkind!”

“Will you tell Toothless about me?”

Comet paused. That wasn’t what she thought he was going to comment on. The story of Boreala was one of his favorite stories growing up, and she could have sworn he would have said something along the lines of, “You? Boreala? No one could ever be as great a traveler as her!” to which Comet would have said, “Watch me.”

But then she remembered everything he had been through in the last couple months. He was in a different headspace, hardened by the harsh world he had flown blindly into. She hoped one day his former self would return, but she also understood he needed time. So like he would do with her, she took the gentle approach.

“Do you want me to?”

Was that right? She wasn’t used to this kind of tenderness. Tungl hesitated for what felt like an eternity before he gave his answer.

“No.”

It was shorter than her initial opening to the conversation, yet somehow more complex. What was going on inside his head? Did he want his brother to believe him slain? What kind of battle was he raging on the inside? How hard did he have to force himself to form such a simple word?

“Alright.”

Tungl looked up, his eyes turning to his cousin. There was disbelief written along his creased brow, offending Comet.

“If you’re not ready to face him, I won’t force you.” she explained. Tungl gave a small smile.

“Thank you.”

Comet pressed her forehead against Tungl’s, then turned away and took off into the air.

-------

Stoick had no idea what to do. It had been at least a week since the battle at the hidden cove, and villagers were still asking him when they would go back for the Night Fury. That was by far his biggest problem. Why, you might ask?

He wasn’t planning on going back.

Something had happened during his one-on-one fight with the beast. When it had him pinned to the ground, ready to fire its killing blow, Stoick had seen something in the devil’s eyes. A glimmer, he might have said, some form of recognition.

Those eyes. What was with those eyes? Yes, they were large with pupils sharper than the finest blade. But the green. That specific shade of green and their curious twinkle. They reminded him of something he hadn’t seen in many, many years. Something very close to him. Someone very close to him.

But that someone was long dead. Had been for fifteen years.

I’m so sorry…

He hadn’t thought about him in years. For the longest time Stoick had apologized every day for what had happened. If only he had been there, both of them might still be-

No. He had to let go. Otherwise what kind of chief was he? A terrible one, that was for sure. It was just a coincidence that the dragon had the same eye color. They didn’t know much about Night Furies - maybe they all had green eyes instead of the usual gold found in most other species. It wasn’t entirely out of the question.

Still, all of these suspicions didn’t give him a pass on his duties. He had to give his people an answer sometime.

Or perhaps he didn’t.

What if he lied? Or maybe waited until all the talk died out? They were vikings, after all - they knew not to question their chief.

Unless you’re Gobber.

Stoick chuckled. Gobber was his best mate, but sometimes he had to knock him back into place. Ever since they were boys he always challenged Stoick whenever he got the chance, whether it be who could slay the wooden dragon first or find their way out of the woods first. Stoick now found himself in those same exact woods, wandering aimlessly as he thought and reflected. He remembered a day long ago when he was walking along this same path when he came upon a little injured bird. Its wing had been damaged, and was doomed to die. His natural instinct was to leave it, as the cycle of nature must take its course. But when he looked down at the bird, heard its cry for help, it reminded him of another cry.

No, it hadn’t been the death cries from that bloody night, nor the screams from many raids past. It had brought back a deep-buried memory of a little boy’s laugh, a too-small child that could fit in the palm of his hand. He knew that had that boy been with him, he would have wanted to save the poor bird. So Stoick did for him, wrapping the wing with a small ivy vine and a twig.

“There ya are, little critter,” he had said quietly. No one had been nearby, but it still felt appropriate to keep his voice down for a rare tender moment for the chief.

I miss you, you know, he thought now. He felt his heart ache for his son, who had fought against all odds to survive his first months only to be snatched up by a heartless beast. It hadn’t been his naturally weaker state, it hadn’t been the harsh winter. His son had been stronger, destined to be the greatest of them all, but he wasn’t able to fight the monsters that sought his life.

Why have the gods cursed me so?

He looked up, trying to keep the tears at bay. He hadn’t cried since he was a wee lad, and he had to keep it that way.

As he tried to focus on the clouds, his eyes caught something out of place. It was as if a piece of the night had forgotten the moon had already sunk below the horizon and was still dancing across the sky. As he squinted to get a better look, he could have sworn he was hallucinating. There it was, another Night Fury fresh for the picking. It was coming from the direction of the cove where Stoick had fought the first one, likely a female looking for its lost mate. Too bad she wouldn’t be seeing him again anytime soon.

Because dragons don’t go to Valhalla. Stoick thought as he grabbed a bola that was strapped to his waist and launched it into the air.

-------

“Do you mind if I tell you a story?”

Tungl tilted his head to the side before giving a silent nod to Astrid. She looked tired, as if she had been up all night with something on her mind. Perhaps his guess wasn’t as far fetched as he initially thought.

“For generations, our village has been tormented by dragons,” Astrid began. “It’s been a problem since vikings first sailed to this island, for all I know. We’ve lost hundreds of lives, rebuilt our homes time and time again only for them to be burned down once more.”

Tungl snorted, signifying he was irritated. Astrid caught his message but continued on with her story anyway.

“The worst raid didn’t happen until about fifteen years ago. A dragon attacked the chief’s hut, burning the whole thing down.”

“Do you know what kind of dragon did it?” Tungl asked nervously, his throat dry. He wasn’t entirely sure he liked where this story was going.

“Nobody’s sure. It was a species no one has seen since, maybe even a whole new class. The chief won’t say anything himself, but others say it was the biggest dragon they had ever seen, bigger than a titanwing Monstrous Nightmare, with four wings and horns like a demon.”

Cloudjumper!

It had to be him. Her description sounded just like the old Stormcutter, and the timeline matched up so far. His interest was suddenly piqued.

“The chieftess was carried away, supposedly eaten by the dragon. But the worst part was during the aftermath - the chief's hut was nothing but ash and rubble, and his only son was nowhere to be found.”

Silence. Astrid was thinking it. Tungl was thinking it. Even though no one spoke, they were both able to put two and two together. After all, the evidence didn’t lie, and it was too big of a coincidence not to be true.

“I did die, you know,” Tungl said, and Astrid looked at him with a look that was equal parts shock and disbelief. “Not to Cloudjumper, though. The den burned down with me inside it. I was never found because Eclipse rescued me from the debris. I suppose there was enough ash to look like I burned up in the fire.”

“Who’s Eclipse?”

“My caretaker.” He was about to say “my mother,” but the thought of referring to Eclipse as a mother made him physically sick. She had done nothing but lie to him his whole life. Fifteen years to sit down and talk, fifteen years of opportunity to tell him the truth, and she was more silent than a Changewing with social anxiety. “Her prayer to the Spirits saved my life, changed my species, gave me a new family.” He paused for consideration, then said, “She’s still alive.”

“Eclipse?”

“Your chieftess, she lives. She resides in the nest of the great Bewilderbeast, the king of all dragons. She is safe with Cloudjumper and my Aunt Solstice.” Tungl grinned slightly when he thought of Solstice. She had wanted so badly to tell him the truth, to help him understand, but was held back by… what, exactly? He wasn’t sure, but despite the situation he still didn’t feel the need to be hostile towards her.

“Did you know she was your mother?” Astrid pressed on. Although it was uncomfortable to think back on his old life, his human friend seemed more curious than nosy, so he continued for her.

“No, no one knew, I think. It had only been two days since I got the news when I was shot down.”

The only sounds were the soft trickle of water and the swishing of leaves in the late autumn breeze. But the tranquil song of nature was disrupted by the screaming realization in Tungl’s head.

“Wait, wait, you said the nest that burned down belonged to your “chief.” What does that mean? What is a chief?”

“He’s our leader, he leads and protects us. The chieftess was his wife - or mate, in your case… am I doing this right?”

“So he is your nest’s alpha?” Tungl offered.

“I supp-”

“My father is a king!?”

Astrid almost fell backwards at Tungl’s sudden roar. That’s what a chief was, a human nest's alpha? If this nest’s king was Tungl’s father, did that mean he had royal blood in him? Was he destined to one day lead a nest of his own? How could he even do that? He was just a Night Fury, after all.

Well, he wanted to get to know his roots, and now he got exactly what he wished for. If he was being honest, he thought it might be harder to get the human alpha to understand than Tungl.

Did Eclipse know? Was she aware of whose ruined home she had dug through? Did she know she had cared for human royalty?

Did she know she was carrying an heir in her claws?

She had to have known somehow, right? Was that another secret she kept from him? He huffed. Just another one for the pile.

“I need to talk to him.”

“You- what?”

It wasn’t that Astrid didn’t understand the Dragonese he had spoken - she was almost completely fluent now. It was the sheer unexpectedness of what he said that sent her aback.

“How? You can’t speak Norse, he can’t speak Dragon, and the entire village’s foundation is built on killing your kind! The second so much as your shadow is seen, your head will be on a spike and mounted in the Great Hall.”

“But what if I can change his mind? Show him it’s me somehow? We could explain to him what’s happening at the nest and end this war!”

“That’s impossible - once he hears the word ‘nest,’ he won’t hear anything else. Remember, he thinks you and his wife are dead because of you. He and the rest of the village believe you’re all brainless monsters.”

That last part hurt a little. He knew it wasn’t coming from Astrid’s direct state of mind, but he also knew she once thought that way too, and the fact that the nest’s alpha - his true father - still thought he was a monster made his chest tighten in a way he had never felt before. He had only met his birth father once, and that was on the opposite side of the battlefield.

It’s a long shot, but it just might work.

What else am I supposed to do?

-------

Comet awoke with a splitting migraine. She tried to open her eyes, but the concussion prevented her from doing so. She groaned as she tried to tuck her head into her wings, but something kept them pinned back. She reached out through her senses and felt her wings were tucked at an odd angle - one tied right to her side and the other tangled in strange weighted vines and stretched out to the side. Aside from the pain aching through her body, she felt relatively unharmed.

Still a little sore though.

She heard footsteps, and her breathing quickened as she began to struggle against the vines. Why weren’t they coming off? She had been caught in trees and vines before, so why was she just now having trouble?

The footsteps were getting louder, closer, and the more Comet struggled the tighter the vines became. She couldn’t think straight, she couldn’t coordinate properly, she couldn’t do anything right as her fight or flight instincts took over.

She heard the voice, but its sounds had no meaning to her. She did not understand the language, but she had been around Moony’s new friend long enough to know what kind of creature it belonged to.

“There you are, devil.”

Chapter Text

The plan had been simple - walk into the Great Hall, ask for an audience with the chief, and attempt to explain that his son was alive, was hiding in the woods, and was a dragon. How Astrid planned on doing that had still been undetermined, but she figured she would figure it out on the way.

There were several problems with the scene in front of her. First, Comet was tied down in the middle of the kill ring and currently having a face off with Stoick the Vast. Second, Tungl was very much perched on the outcropping above the arena, and she could already see the smoke streaming from his nose even at this distance. Third, there was no way she could possibly explain to the chief in front of the entire village that the island’s supposedly dead heir was about to wipe out everyone in the vicinity in a fit of rage.

I swear to Odin Tungl, if you make so much as one growl I am going to slice off your other tail fin myself.

Astrid leaned close to the ledge, pressing her face as close to the fence as possible to catch as many of the chief’s words as she could.

“...devil… lead me… nest… Man the ships!”

The moment the last three words left Stoick’s mouth the gathered crowd was knocking itself over as each man and woman tried to get the best weapons to their own ship first. Astrid looked out across the arena, but her friends were nowhere to be found.

If it pained Astrid to see Comet rolled away and dropped on a rickety ship, struggling against the unnecessary amount of binds keeping her down, she couldn’t imagine what Tungl must be feeling. Not only was Comet his own kind, he seemed to still consider her a part of his family. He knew what it was like to be in Comet’s place, stuck, tied, grounded.

Astrid knew that feeling as well. All her life she had to fight her way to the top, and for years she always found herself still stuck to the ground. Meeting Tungl had set her free, given her her own pair of wings, her own freedom. She had understood his misery when the one thing he wanted was just out of reach, taunting him every waking moment. They understood each other, and now Astrid was willing to do everything she could to help her Night Fury friend - both of them.

“Why didn’t I just finish him off in the cove?” Tungl said quietly, more to himself, as he stared out over the cliff face at the fleet of ships growing ever smaller in the distance. “None of this would have happened.”

“You’re right,” Astrid began, mapping out her words carefully. “Any other dragon probably would have done it… so why didn’t you?”

“I… I don’t know. I couldn’t.”

“That’s not an answer-”

Why is this so important, anyway!?” Tungl snapped. His snarl echoed across the open air above the rolling sea.

“Because I want to remember what you say, right here, right now.”

“For Spirits’ sake- I was a coward! I was weak! I wouldn’t face a human!”

“You said ‘wouldn’t’ that time-”

“Whatever! I wouldn’t! Thousands of years and I’m the first dragon who wouldn’t finish a face-off with a human!”

Tungl turned away with a huff. Astrid waited for him to turn back around, but nothing happened.

“First to spare one, though.”

Tungl turned his head just enough to catch Astrid’s eye. She knew it wasn’t entirely true - the massive four-winged dragon had spared the chieftess, and Eclipse had saved Tungl’s own life, but neither of those had been on a battlefield as far as Astrid was concerned. Perhaps this would break through to him. “So…?” she egged on.

Tungl thought for a moment, then slowly turned back to face the sea again. “I wouldn’t kill him because deep down, I think I knew we were the same.” He didn’t break eye contact with the horizon, but he didn’t need to. “When I looked into his eyes, I saw my own staring right back at me. After that, I knew I couldn’t finish him off.”

Astrid sat on these words for a moment. “I bet he saw the same thing in you,” she said. “Maybe that’s why he didn’t kill you. So… what are you gonna do about it?”

“Probably something stupid?” he said, shuffling his paws.

“Good, but you’ve already done that plenty of times.”

Tungl thought for a moment, and Astrid recognized his “forming a plan” look as it spread across his dark scaly face. He looked back at her as he started to walk away and said, “Then something crazy.”

“That’s more like it,” Astrid said as she gave chase.

-------

“What exactly are we doing here?” Fishlegs said nervously. Tungl stared down the large wooden slab in front of him, trying hard not to pay too much attention to the agitated hisses coming from within. He gulped hard as he tried to swallow his nervousness.

“If I’m being entirely honest, playing a fool’s game,” Tungl replied without turning back. Instead he looked to Astrid, signaling he was ready for her to lift the gate. She pulled the lever, and one loud clink led to the next as the doors slowly creaked open and a fiery red snout cautiously poked out of the shadows.

Please don’t be mad at me… Tungl prayed as the Monstrous Nightmare glanced from one end of the arena to the other before pinning his gaze on Tungl. He knew the Nightmare likely remembered him from their first encounter, but hopefully this one was forgiving.

“You…” the Nightmare hissed. He was slow, wary, but still radiated a defensive and deadly energy. “What do you want?”

Monstrous Nightmares are territorial and sensitive, Tungl remembered. He had to take this delicately.

“I need your help.”

-------

The fleet of ships slowly wove its way through the maze of stone pillars, their only guide being the instinct of a senseless beast. Stoick kept his eyes forward, stern and determined.

Finally, I can be put at ease.

Once the nest was destroyed and the dragons fled, the isle of Berk would be free, the villagers would live in peace, and Stoick’s conscience would at last be at rest after fifteen years of regret.

When the ships pulled up to the black-pebbled beach of the dragon’s nest, Stoick immediately leaped from his boat. With his landing came the sudden hush from the humming and buzzing from the island.

This ends now.

-------

Who dares!?

Who dared disturb the nest of the Red Death, queen of this island and ruler of the Northern Pillars? She knew it couldn’t be a dragon, as all queens in the northwestern seas knew and understood the pact that one was never to come near another’s nest, let alone attack it. As the mountain shook and the lava churned, the queen inhaled long and slow through her massive nostrils, and through the thick smoke and ash she pinpointed a distinct stench that she would not allow to walk her beaches and live.

Humans!

-------

When the mountain broke in half and hundreds upon thousands of dragons fled their den, Stoick had been sure they had claimed victory. He heard the warriors behind him shout their cheers and start to discuss plans for after they returned home, but Stoick wasn’t quite ready to celebrate. Gobber’s comment of “Is that it?” made him realize that there was no way this could be all there was, and his theory was answered by the rumbles within the earth and the ear-splitting screech that erupted from the hole that had been blasted into the mountain.

As Stoick commanded the vikings to back up, the side of the stone wall crumbled to deadly debris as the largest dragon Stoick had ever seen pushed itself out of its stone nest and roared its fury.

The Red Death was massive, even bigger than the four-winged beast that took Stoick’s family away. He had heard stories of dragons the size of mountains, but he never fully believed them to be true until now.

“Get to the ships!”

“No- no!!”

Even though Stoick had denied the viking’s order, the rest of the warriors were already making a break for the ships resting in the harbor. In one swift breath the monstrous dragon ignited the entire fleet in gold and orange flames. Vikings leaped from their posts into the water to escape the fiery wrath, and even at this distance Stoick could hear the Night Fury’s cries from his own ship.

“Smart, that one,” Gobber said as he hobbled up behind his friend. But Stoick was not listening - he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts.

“I was a fool,” he said, more to himself than to Gobber. “Lead the men to the far side of the island,” he ordered to his half-brother, Spitelout, who gave a sharp nod before calling to the gathered vikings to follow him. “Gobber, go with the men.”

“I think I’ll stay,” Gobber defied, limping after Stoick. “Just in case you’re thinking of doing something crazy.”

“I can buy them a few minutes if I give that thing something to hunt!” Stoick argued.

Gobber grasped Stoick’s arm as he said, “Then I can double that time.”

Knowing he couldn’t get his friend to back off, Stoick agreed, turning to face the giant dragon and shouting to grab its attention, and Gobber followed shortly behind. The dragon snapped its large jaws in an attempt to swallow a particularly large viking, but just missed as its snack dropped to the ground and scampered away. Stoick pulled one of the wooden stakes out of the ground and threw it at the Red Death to grab its attention. It swayed its head back and forth as the two men took turns shouting at it to keep it confused and indecisive. As it reared its crowned head to the sky, Stoick knew this would be his last moments on earth, and was preparing to ascend to Valhalla when an explosion erupted behind the dragon’s head.

-------

“Ruff, Tuff, watch your backs!” Tungl shouted over the irritated roars of the Red Death. She was furious with her nest’s intruders, and there was no calming her down at this point. The only option left was to fight. “Fishlegs, tell us what you know!”

As Fishlegs scoped out significant features and possible weaknesses, Tungl began to form a plan. The twins would find a shot limit from atop their Zippleback while Fishlegs and Snotlout used their metal tools to confuse the queen with noise. He wasn’t sure how humans came across the information that noise confused dragons, but Tungl knew it was more the clanging of metal against metal that hurt their sensitive hearing. At least their guess was close enough to learn how to utilize it.

“Astrid, you come with me to help free Comet. I’m not sure if I can get her out of those binds myself.”

“Already on it,” Astrid copied as she steered her Nadder to follow Tungl’s red fin through the smoke. Tungl squinted through the blackness of the smoke and had to rely more on his sense of hearing than sight and smell to find Comet. At last he located her, stranded in a sea of fire and tied down to one of the human’s strange contraptions. Tungl and Astrid landed on board and began to chip away at the binds, but there were so many and they were too tight to undo, if that was even possible.

A charred wooden pillar fell between Tungl and Comet, making both of them yelp and scaring off Astrid’s Nadder.

“What are you doing? Fly!” the Nadder called, but Tungl stayed. He was not leaving his cousin again, not this time.

“Help the others!” he said instead, and the blue Nadder nodded before changing course for the fight against the island’s queen. Just as he had given the word to the Nadder, the Red Death’s talon crushed the ship Tungl and Astrid were on, shattering it to splinters and sending Comet sinking. Tungl tried to swim after her, but could only watch as Astrid took a deep breath and went after Comet. He swiped hard at the water, but found his wing was trapped beneath a pile of heavy wooden planks.

Fight!

At first Tungl thought he had freed himself from the planks. It was only after he pulled himself out of the water and was coughing to clear his lungs that he saw the hulking shape under the water. He didn’t want to think it, but he couldn’t help himself as Comet emerged with the figure clutched tightly in her talons.

Father.

The viking king stood up, and Tungl was there to meet him as he looked up with his strange red-furred face.

“Thank you,” Tungl said, although he knew the human could not understand him. He just hoped the gentleness in his grumbles got the message across.

There it was again, that moment of silence where the rest of the world was shut out, that moment of connection between the dragon and the human. It was as if the same pair of eyes were staring at each other, but still did not recognize one another.

“Moony, we have to go!” Comet said over her shoulder, flicking her head to gesture to the fight before them.

“You got it,” Tungl nodded as he took off and Astrid reboarded her Nadder.

Tungl flew at a sharp upward angle, and he could hear Astrid call to the others that Comet had been freed and both Night Furies were back in the sky. Now the battle could really begin.

“Moony, look!!” Comet shouted over the sound of the fight below and pointed to the gaping jaws of the Red Death.

“Astrid!” Tungl realized as he looked closer at the blue dragon being sucked into the queen’s oversized mouth. He quickly switched direction and tucked into a dive, charging up a powerful plasma blast. He fired at the queen’s face, causing her to choke on smoke and shake her head to clear the air, which should have allowed Astrid to flee had she not been separated from her ride. Tungl flipped over to dive after her, speeding through the air.

Come on… come on!

When Tungl feared he wouldn’t make it in time to save his friend, something else flashed across his vision, sweeping up Astrid with it. His anxiety went into overdrive, and his mind raced across all possibilities until Comet appeared off to his side.

“I got her!” she said, looking down at her claws and giving a toothless smile. She swooped low to drop Astrid on the ground, then veered off to land herself. “Go, Moony, go!” she said from the ground, and from the looks of it her wing was mildly injured. As much as he didn’t want to do it, Tungl knew what had to be done - he had to fight the Red Death.

Chapter Text

The Red Death, queen of this nest and island, would not tolerate trespassers even if it killed her. She would not allow that little black-scaled pest to not only shoot her in the face, but have the audacity to flee directly afterwards. Did this puny dragon not know who he was messing with?

Night Furies. They think they’re so high and mighty because they had one Alpha hundreds of years ago.

This insolence would not stand! She spread her magnificent wings in preparation to take off. This was her island, her ocean, and her nest. No one was going to challenge her and get away with it, even if it killed her.

-------

That thing has wings! Okay… let’s see if she can use them.

When Tungl had struck the Red Death to draw her out, he was not expecting her to be so big. Sure, she had already appeared as big as the volcano itself while on the ground, but in the air it was as if she had doubled in size. Whether it was true or just an effect of intimidation, Tungl didn’t want to dwell on it long enough to find out. He dove for the sea stacks, weaving left and right with ease while the Red Death struggled to keep her sights on him. Unfortunately, he didn’t take into account the fact that her skull was thick enough to crash through the stone pillars once she got irritated enough.

“Alright, time to disappear,” Tungl whispered to himself as he turned for the heavy smoke above. The slight flash of red from his tail was a risk, but if the smoke was dark and thick enough it should provide enough cover as the queen followed him up and he disappeared from view.

“Show yourself, you coward!” the queen challenged. “Face me like the big bad dragon you think you are!”

“If you insist,” Tungl said quitely before firing at the wings of the Red Death. The monstrous dragon roared her fury, snapping in every direction in a feeble attempt to catch her attacker.

“Hiding and attacking from the shadows? How ignoble!”

I prefer to consider it strategizing, Tungl thought back. He kept firing at the wings, hoping she would falter and start losing altitude. It would have worked if she hadn’t begun spewing long streams of fire in every direction. It was too unpredictable, and because of his half-a-tail situation he wasn’t as graceful as he once was. He just missed a wall of fire, but he cut it too close and he could already feel his tail heating up as his ears picked up the distinct sound of a sparking hiss.

“Time’s up - I hope this works-”

Tungl turned around and dove through one of the holes in the Red Death’s wing, grabbing her attention by flying right in front of three of her eyes. She snapped at him, and he was able to lure her into a steep plummet headed straight for the ground.

Keep the smoke in her eyes, that’ll distract her. I hope.

He sent a quick prayer to the Spirits as he squeezed his eyes shut and kept his listening sharp. Just a little longer…

Now! Tungl flipped onto his back and shot a plasma blast straight into the throat of the Red Death, igniting the flammable gasses in her mouth and lighting her up from the inside out. She flared her wings to slow her descent, but the holes prevented her from losing any speed. Tungl angled his wings for a quick escape, and could feel the heat coming from the crash below him. He pumped his wings harder than he could remember ever doing before, even harder than when he was trying to escape the cove. The flames were starting to surround him and he was losing his ability to dodge the mountainous spines along the Red Death’s back. He heard a faint click, and looked down to see the scraps of his false tail fly off into the fire behind him.

“No!” he shouted, and as he looked up his eyes went wide at the sight of a giant clubbed tail barely a few yards away.

The heat, the pain, his own cries for help… it was a familiar feeling, and it was the last thing he felt before everything slipped away.

-------

Stoick didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t know why he went running into the ashes of the fallen beast, he didn’t know why he was searching for the Night Fury.

He didn’t know why he felt a connection to it. Every time he saw that devil, he just couldn’t bring himself to deal the final blow. There was something in the curve of its head, the glint in its bright green eyes. He felt as if he had seen it before, but he couldn’t quite figure out why, especially since he had never seen another Night Fury before.

There! There was a relatively large, suspiciously lopsided heap just off the edge of the beach. Stoick could just barely make out what looked like a double-finned tip at the end of a long tail through the smoke and fog, and he remembered that both Night Furies had finned tails. He ran for the creature, and knelt a good distance away from the fallen Night Fury. As he gazed upon it, he almost felt sorry for the still beast.

Almost still - the Night Fury let out a long, slow grunt as it rolled itself over onto its side. Stoick was surprised to hear his own sigh of relief. It was, however, quickly replaced with a soft gasp as he swept his gaze across its sleek form and saw not only a nasty scar on one of its hind legs, but that the smoke had played a trick on his eyes and the dragon only had a single tail fin where there should have been two. There was no doubt - this was the same Night Fury he had fought in the cove, the same Night Fury that had disrupted the fight against the Monstrous Nightmare, and he dared to even go as far as assuming this was the same Night Fury that had appeared at a raid several months ago.

Why did you come here, dragon? Why did you fight your own kind for Vikings?

Who are you?

It was as if the gods themselves had heard his thoughts. The Night Fury’s body heaved hard with heavy, forced breaths before relaxing as strange tendrils of golden light spread across its body. The snake-like streams then glided up above the dragon’s body and began to take a shape, almost like…

A hut. Not just any hut, but Stoick’s own hut, ablaze and burning. Just the sight of it brought back the memories of screams from both Viking and dragon alike. Stoick wanted the lights to stop, to go away, but he was also intrigued by the divine display. He watched and relived the four-winged dragon take away his beloved Valka, and saw his own light-self chase after it as the entirety of the hut burned to the ground. He already knew what was supposed to happen next - he would come back to his burned home, find the ashes where his only son once lay, and swear vengeance on all dragons. He understood now - the gods were punishing him by sending this beast to prove to him he was wrong.

But the light never showed his part of the story. Instead, a graceful figure of a Night Fury swept onto the scene and pulled a small ball of light from the rubble.

So this Night Fury took my son for itself? Dear Odin, have I not been punished enough?

He watched as the Night Fury took the small ball and flapped its luminescent wings and landed on a small island. It set down the little ball of light, which gave a bright flash before taking the shape of a second, smaller Night Fury.

What is happening?

The smaller Night Fury shape bounded in a few circles before flapping off the greet two more light shapes. The extra light transformed itself into two more Night Fury shapes of about the same size, and they chased each other before flying off to another strange location. As they glided to the peculiar mountain, the light dragon increased in size, almost like they were aging. While the second and third Night Furies disappeared into the mountain, the first landed nearby before looking around and flying off again. The tiny Night Fury soared over the real Night Fury’s head, almost like seeing its dream, before suddenly getting shot down and flung to the ground. The little light dragon pulled itself up, shook itself off, and turned to face a human figure that looked almost like someone he knew.

The Hofferson girl. She’s known about its existence from the start.

He was amazed as the light figure resembling the dragon pressed its snout to the girl before it turned to face the figure that portrayed Stoick himself. His light-self charged the dragon and crashed his axe into its side, causing the dragon to explode in numerous sparks of light. The light then reformed, showing six human figures and the Night Fury taking off and soaring in place. It then veered off to the side and replayed the fight that had just taken place and nearly killed the dragon he was now watching with regret and a deep care he hadn’t felt in years.

The light dragon then increased in size again, as big as its living counterpart, and swirled around Stoick. It was beautiful, mesmerizing, and Stoick let out a small laugh as tears began flowing from his eyes. Watching the story play out before him, seeing what had truly happened that night fifteen years ago, and feeling the warmth and comfort of the light dragon, he knew deep down the message the gods were trying to convey.

The light then swirled upward, twisting into itself before plummeting back down to the real Night Fury before him. Stoick crept closer to the dragon as it slowly cracked open its eyes and watched Stoick place his rough hand on the side of its head. “Hello, son.”

Chapter Text

Tungl could feel himself slowly easing into consciousness. The smell of old wood and cinnamon filled his nose, and he could hear a small fire crackling nearby.

Astrid must have stopped by with some dinner. That would explain the fire. Although the scent of wood wasn’t what he was used to - it smelled dry, very unlike the fresh dewy scent he was used to from the trees around the cove. And what kind of ground was he on? He supposed he had probably heated the ground before sleeping, but how was it so soft? Usually the charred ground had a bit of flakiness to it alongside the soft dirt. Something wasn’t quite right.

He carefully opened his eyes, hoping waking up more would jog his memory. As he looked around, he was entranced by his surroundings.

I’m in a human den.

“I’m in a human den!?”

Tungl found himself wide awake now, wide awake and panicking. When did he get here? How did he get here? Where was the black beach? How did he get here of all places?

Think, Tungl. You have a brain, use it!

“Hello, son.”

That was the last thing Tungl remembered. He couldn’t remember who said it or where he was when it was said, and the entire memory was vague and felt far away, but he knew it was important.

He tried to walk, but tripped over a pile of furs. That explains the ground, Tungl thought. He carefully stepped out of the makeshift nest, careful to take it slow. His body was aching all over, and he assumed he had been out for a few days.

“Easy now, lad, no need to be in such a rush.”

Tungl jumped at the voice, almost falling over again and searching for its source. By the Spirits, I’m less graceful than a newborn hatchling. Again he looked around, and his eyes landed on the human king sitting by the fire and carefully carving away at a piece of wood.

“I- you- how-??”

“Steady - I can’t understand you quite yet, but I can still tell you’re panicked. You can rest easy, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Not going to hurt me, eh? “Tell that to my tail,” Tungl retorted.

“I know who you are, lad,” the human said. Tungl froze. He saw the red-furred human get up, carefully walk over, and cradle Tungl’s face in his large, scabbed hands. “Not a day has gone by where I haven’t missed you, son.”

Typically, dragons weren’t known for crying. It has even been assumed that they are unable to cry altogether. But right here, in this moment, Tungl could feel his eyes welling up, and he didn’t care that the scales on his face felt wet. All he cared about was the human, this Viking in front of him, his father who had done everything for fifteen years in Tungl’s own name.

“I’ve missed you too,” Tungl purred, resting his head on the Viking’s shoulder to resemble a human hug.

“Come, I want to show you something.”

The Viking chief led Tungl to the entrance (he believed it was called a “door”) and carefully opened the door to reveal the human nest, up close, lively, and full of dragons. A Monstrous Nightmare, one he recognized as the Nightmare Snotlout had rode into battle, was leading several other dragons with more humans upon their own backs.

While Tungl was gazing upon the wondrous scene, Astrid appeared over the hill, followed shortly by Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins. They looked as excited as ever, especially now that they were seeing Tungl, awake and alright, with their own eyes. Tungl stepped forward to greet his friends, but they clearly had different ideas of how to say hello as Astrid punched him right in the shoulder.

“That’s for scaring me,” she said, then grinned. “But I’m glad you’re ok - all six of us.”

“That’s really nice A- wait, did you say six of-”

“-Moony!!”

Tungl felt something big crash into his side and was thrown to the edge of the grassy hill. He laughed as he righted himself and crouched into a playful gesture to match Comet. He chased her back across the hill and stopped once he reached the rest of the group again. He saw Gobber had also found his way to the top as well, and he had something tucked underneath one of his arms. The big human (who still didn’t have the greatest smell in the world) placed a large red fin on the ground, very much like his old one, only this time it had a strange skull-like symbol painted onto the red material. Tungl gave it a good sniff and hummed his approval.

“Welcome home,” Gobber said. Tungl gave him a smile to let him know he appreciated the gesture. Then something else crossed his mind.

“Comet, what are you going to do? Don’t you want to go home?”

Comet answered quicker than Tungl expected. “Actually, I was thinking I’d stay awhile. It’s nice here, and I’ve already had quite a bit of fun.”

“But Toothless-”

“Won’t suspect a thing,” she reassured. “I found him a few days ago and said you weren’t anywhere near this side of the sea. And once he heard there were several islands full of humans in the area, he flew off in the opposite direction.” Comet thought for a minute, then said, “He’ll probably be fine.”

Good enough. At least Comet had respected the fact that Tungl wasn’t ready for his brother to find him. It would be hard, but it had to be done.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Snotlout said from behind Tungl as he mounted his Monstrous Nightmare. “Are you gonna try out the new tail or what?”

It felt good to flex his fins and stretch his wings. Tungl looked to his right and saw Astrid aboard her Deadly Nadder whom she had dubbed “Stormfly.” Apparently, the dragons from the human arena had been in captivity so long they had forgotten their names. However, after they had made a bond with their humans, they were proud to wear their new titles.

Astrid and Stormfly kicked off into the air, and Tungl followed shortly after. They weaved between dens and pillars, slipping through the small stone ledges scattered across the nest’s layout. Tungl roared his delight as he dove and glided over the human’s “ships,” and tagged Fishlegs and his Gronkle into the game. He straightened himself out after dodging more wooden pillars and saw his friends and cousin lined up behind him just on either side of his flank. He tilted up, flapping and spinning high into the clouds and into the clear blue sky.

He was home.