"Come on! You can do it!" I call.

Two young Night Furies stand on a rock ledge far above me, the wind blowing my auburn hair away from my shoulders. I look up at them while Nightstar shifts nervously beside me. Thunder Song, my Terrible Terror, gnaws on a fish at my feet.

"Don't worry, girl. Dark Moon and Emerald are ready to fly. I know it," I murmur to Nightstar as I keep watching the two dragons.

Dark Moon creeps to the edge, sniffing as his big yellow eyes seem to get bigger. Nightstar makes a distressed noise in her throat. I shake my head and sigh.

"If they can't do it, we're here to catch them," I remind her.

Nightstar snorts, pawing at her ear plate before readying herself. Dark Moon takes a leap, spreading his tiny wings. He plummets for a split second, squinting his eyes as his wide mouth opens a tiny bit. The wind picks up and he glides, flapping his wings as he keeps himself up.

"Go Dark Moon! Good job!" I shout, clapping my hands together.

Nightstar grins and stomps the ground in celebration as she watches her son fly around. She stops and turns to look at the second baby on the rocky cliff.

Emerald watches her brother, her big green eyes alight with curiosity. She takes a step forwards, her claws scratching at the edge of the stone ledge. Then, she too leaps off. The same thing that happened to Dark Moon happens to her and the two Night Furies go zipping around in the sky, flapping their tiny wings.

Without a word, I climb on Nightstar's back. Thunder Song jumps up, still holding the fish, and takes off. Nightstar roars and leaps into the air, swiftly catching up with her young offspring and we fly back to the village.

Hiccup's POV

"Alright. We'll make sure it's ready," I assure a Viking woman.

"Thank ya, Chief!" she says, walking away.

I wipe my face, then brush my hands off on my apron before I reach behind me and untie the strings of said apron. Even as the chief of Berk, I still take orders in the shop to help out Gobber. It's different, but after three years I feel pretty confident in my abilities.

"Headin' home, Hiccup?" Gobber asks, poking his head out from behind the main forge.

I nod. "Yeah, it's been a long day."

"You could use some rest! You seem spaced out today, lad!" My old friend laughs, although I don't do the same.

In all honesty, I am spaced out today. My mother has been bringing up the same topic of conversation nearly every day with me, and it's getting exhausting.

"Hiccup, you really must think about what your future is going to look like. A young chief like you will need a successor one day," her words echo in my head. "I'm sure there's quite a few girls who wouldn't mind being your bride."

I release a long sigh as I hang my apron up, calling one more farewell to Gobber before I leave the blacksmith. The Vikings of Berk are already winding down for the evening, wandering back to their homes and lighting torches.

I wander towards the edge of the village, the perfect place to watch the sunset. A few people call greetings to me as I walk by, and I respond politely. I don't have it in me to say much more.

My mind wanders back to the conversation I had with my mother this morning. I stop, my one boot tapping on the wood of the ship dock for a second before I let out a long breath, settling down next to the water and watching the sky turn orange as the memory rushes back to me.

"Hiccup, you really must think about what your future is going to look like. A young chief like you will need a successor one day," my mom says as she fixes the chairs around the dinner table. Cloudjumper watches her move, her large eyes hardly wavering in my direction. "I'm sure there's quite a few girls who wouldn't mind being your bride."

I shrug as I doodle in my Night Fury notebook, flicking one of the braids in my hair absentmindedly. "Mom, I'm only twenty-three. I've got time."

"That's what they all say, but you can't ever be sure in a world like this," she continues. "Something could happen to you in only a short time, then what?" She looks up at me as a small smile flickers across her lips. "What about Astrid?"

"We broke up years ago. We've agreed that we're better off as friends," I mumble, feeling as though I've rehearsed these answers already.

"Ruff—"

"No."

"Then what about Thora?"

My pencil stops on the page, my mouth suddenly feeling very dry. Thora would be my choice, if anyone, but she isn't interested in marriage, much less marrying me. Sure, we're already acting as godfather and godmother between Dark Moon and Emerald, but that's it. Thora hasn't shown any interest in getting closer to me, as in more than just friends.

Me, on the other hand...it's different.

"She isn't interested," I say.

My mom sighs. "Now, Hiccup, I don't think that's true. You're very close with her, closer than anyone else is. If you just brought it up..." She trails off as she notices my discouraged look. "Oh...I know that you want to marry for love, but I do think that somewhere inside that reclusive heart of hers, she does love you, Hiccup. All you have to do is ask."

Yeah, and asking is going to be terrifying. That last thing I want is her giving me the cold shoulder.

I hear steady wingbeats as I leave my reminiscent trance. My eyes fall on three black figures and one small one in the distance, instantly causing a bright grin to break across my face. I scramble to my feet and dash off the dock, heading towards the nearest knoll.

Thora and Nightstar land safely in front of me while the two babies just manage to stick a landing. Dark Moon rolls a bit while Emerald lands on her head before somersaulting. She gets up and shakes her head, an adorably confused look on her little dragon face. Thunder Song takes off towards the village, leaving his half eaten fish on the ground.

Thora smiles a little, sliding off Nightstar's back and taking a few long strides towards the young Night Fury. She kneels and brushes the dust off of Emerald's head, earning a loving look from both the dragon and me.

She's gotten prettier over the years, or at least I think so. Her red-toned hair that she usually wears in a braid is loose today, falling in slight waves around her shoulders. She wears a purple headband, a black shirt, a brown skirt with studding, and leather boots. She also has a pair of shoulder pads and leather wrist guards. On her shoulder pad is a purple symbol, like my red one.

"What are you looking at?" she asks, getting to her feet and brushing her hands off.

I gulp and avert my eyes. "Uh...so, the kids learned to fly!" I say, changing the topic.

She arches an eyebrow, but drops the topic as she nods. "They did indeed. Nightstar was so nervous...it was kind of comical, really."

"Who was first?"

"Dark. Emmy followed." She scratches Nightstar's neck as she looks around. "Where's Toothless?"

As if on cue, my dragon drops down from the sky. He shambles up to me and plants a large dragon kiss on my whole body. I laugh and push him off me, wiping off the spit. His self-flying tail fin shakes as he wags his entire body.

Toothless and Nightstar run to greet each other as the little ones start to wrestle over Thunder's leftovers.

"Did you learn anything new about them?" I ask, still getting rid of the gunk.

"I did, a few things actually," Thora replies. "Do you have the book?"

"Of course," I say, pulling it out.

She smiles and grabs both it and the pencil that's strapped on the cover. "Well, now we know that Night Furies are able to fly at around three years old," she starts writing, reading out loud as she goes. I find myself smirking at the way her forehead wrinkles when she concentrates. "Also, they are curious creatures that attempt to understand new things they observe and are intelligent enough to attempt to recreate the actions that they see. Evidence of this is how young Night Furies watch their parents fly before actually attempting it themselves," she finishes, pushing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes.

"You're so good with them," I comment.

"Thanks." Her lips twitch a bit as she casts a quick glance my way. "At least I'm good at something."

I frown at the comment, but don't say a word. Since Vikings know next to nothing about Night Furies, it's our job to document the growth of the babies. They're three years old now and have gotten bigger, reaching to their parents' shoulders. Thora does a lot of the work with them, considering I've got the whole chief thing to keep up with.

Thora takes a long breath in, her fingers fiddling absentmindedly with the pendant on her necklace; the one that she never takes off.

She has three more pendants, but she leaves them at her house for safekeeping. One pendant has a yellow gem, another has a dark green one, and the third is bright green. The original blue one is the sole remainder that she wears. I got the first three for her as Snoggletogg gifts these past three years, thinking that the colours represent our Night Furies and their eye colours.

Dark Moon's eyes are a golden yellow and Emerald's are a slightly darker green than her dad's. The light green is for Toothless, since she already has the one for Nightstar.

"Thora, look...uh..." I swallow, getting the dry, anxious feeling in my throat again. "Can we talk about something? It's important."

She gives me a questioning look, yet she nods slowly. "Uh...sure. Nightstar will be fine with the kids."

I force the most relaxed smile I can. "Awesome, so...come with me. And—" I take a short breath in before exhaling. "And try to keep an open mind."

She just nods again, still looking utterly skeptical. This should go well.