The next time Hiccup woke up, it was to find himself all alone in the dark.

The beach was entirely empty.

He sat up violently and began to look around. Nobody was there.

He called a long, keening call but still nobody came.

Where had they all gone?

Hiccup began to walk, basking as his black hide soaked up the bright afternoon sun. This place was pleasant enough. He might even stay.

A loud thump echoed as Hiccup walked straight into the wall of the precipice.

How could he have just done that? He'd been walking in the same direction, hadn't he? And it's not like these chasms tend to suddenly just make right angle turns.

He slapped himself on the head and continued his walk.

~[]~[]~[]~

"Why hasn't he woken up yet?" Asked Astrid.

"How should I know?" Complained Snotlout, who was sitting next to her.

It had been a full day since Hiccup had last cracked an eye. Nothing had happened since then, other than a long and protracted search for food, and Astrid was starting to worry.

"He shouldn't still be asleep. This is bad, I'm sure."

"Probably is." Ruffnut called from across the beach.

"Oh no... wake up Hiccup, please." Astrid put a hand on Hiccup's flank and felt his breathing.

~[]~[]~[]~

The cliff face was unusually smooth feeling as Hiccup continued to walk along it.

Really, though. Exceptionally smooth.

It felt smooth as dragon's hide and soft as a yak's fur.

No stones stuck out - no roughness. It was completely smooth.

It was like that the whole way down as far as the eye could see - unchanged, unbending, soft the whole way down.

Hiccup was oddly unfazed by it. After all, it was perfectly normal to get particularly smooth walls sometimes, right? And there must be some places where it keeps going. Constantly.

Well, maybe it was a little strange, but that doesn't matter. It's real, and that's what counts, right?

Hiccup moved closer to the lake, feeling the water lapping at his feet. It was calm and pleasant here. Perhaps he would stay.

The stars shone down, reflecting into the lake. The water was deadly still, almost like a mirror.

Almost too perfect to be true. Almost too perfect to be real...

Suddenly, as Hiccup made to sit, a loud roar shook the ground, sending the lake into a cascade of ripples.

A great dragon flew out of the night sky, giant wings flapping majestically as it swooped down to land in the edge of the lake.

It was then Hiccup realised. This was the Bewilderbeast! He bowed quickly.

"Well now, little one. I haven't seen you in a long time." The dragon said.

"King! I - I did not expect to meet you here." Hiccup stumbled over his own words.

"I am not surprised - you are not really meeting me. I am communicating telepathically - a power I did not know I possessed until recently.

"The dragon hunters have taken me to an island, and intend to use me as bait for the villagers of your island. They will lure your villagers out and then swoop in and take the island. You must stop them."

Hiccup roared, the sound echoing around the lake. "I will, King, never fear!"

Sorry about that. Uploading takes quite some time because I have to do a secondary edit, and I spent all yesterday being very busy indeed. There we go, nice long chapter, as promised. 650 words. I do believe I am getting back into this story.

🦅—Aquila