Prologue:

Nightshade was moaning in hunger on the floor of her cell. She gazed weakly through the wicked iron bars at the Night Fury guards. They had their backs to her, and their spears were on the ground. Nightshade could hear them whispering, and she knew what they were muttering about. Dread creeped up inside her and her pupils slit, her heart starting to pick up the pace. All she could get out of the conversation was, "When..........are they going to.......but she's........why isn't Io doing anything.......where is Io.........execution...."

Nightshade cowered in the back of the cell. Execution. That word was so sinister, bouncing and ricocheting off the walls of her soul with painful clinks and whams.

The head guard turned to the emaciated dragon, a look of sorrow on her scarred face. "I'm sorry." A slightly smaller dragon came up beside the lead guard.

"Come on, Moonbeam. Let's let Nightshade sleep. Don't worry; it's not for another three days," the smaller dragon, named Pitchpaw, said. In Night Fury society, dragon names changed as they aged. Pitchpaw would soon gain her adult name, which was yet to be figured out. As a baby, Pitchpaw was Pitchspark. As a young dragonet, it was Pitchscale. As a teenage dragonet, it was Pitchflight. Now Pitchpaw was almost full grown, and her rite of passage was in a few days, possibly on the same day as.....

Pitchpaw shook her head. "Moonbeam..." Moonbeam gave one last look at Nightshade, then picked up her spear and walked out of the prison with the other guards.

Nightshade laid on the ground and cried silently. This was it. Her fate was sealed. Despite her innocence, she had been imprisoned.

Now her execution was only three days away.

Ch. 1

Toothless awoke with a start. He was sweating, and what he sensed was not good. Familiar, but horrifying. Toothless looked at his master. Hiccup was sleeping soundly. Just over two weeks ago, every Berkian had nearly been murdered by an evil, magical Night Fury named Aura. Hiccup had had a trying time defeating Aura, and then he had been constructing a new saddle for Toothless the entirety of the past two weeks.

So, you can't blame him for being a little tired.

Toothless was fine with this, though. His senses were detecting a life in danger, one that was somehow connected to him, one that he needed to save....alone.

"Mother," Toothless whispered. He had fleeting images of his mother when he was  young. A jet-black dragon with a warm smile and a single swirl of blue over her right eye. She had pale blue freckles underneath her eyes, and her eyes were warm, stunning orbs of sapphire. Toothless felt another jab of pain, yet, it wasn't how normal pain would feel. He could almost hear his mother's moans.

Toothless glanced at Hiccup, then looked at the new saddle on his back. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Hiccup," he said. "But I need to go." Without a second thought, he reached over and pulled the lever on his left shoulder band and locked the tailfin open. Silently, with only the slightest leathery-ruffling sound, Toothless shot out of the skylight and off into the night, going somewhere only his senses could lead.

                                                                             *

"Toothless?! Where are you?!"

When Hiccup woke up, his dragon was nowhere to be found. The slab of stone was cold, so Toothless must've been gone for a while.

Hiccup jumped out of bed and landed on the floor with a thud. The new prosthetic held up surprisingly well under this kind of pressure, and it seemed to have a springly recoil which made walking easier.

However, Hiccup wasn't in the mood for walking.

He ran down the stairs, leaving his vest on the bedpost. "Dad!," Hiccup said when he got downstairs. "Have you seen Toothless?! He's not in my room!"

Stoick shook his head. "Sorry son, haven't had a glimpse of him since last evening." Hiccup ran to the door and burst through it, searching through the village. On the way, he nearly crashed into Astrid. She grabbed his hands as he ran by.

"Hiccup!," she said worriedly. "What's wrong?!"

"I can't find Toothless!," Hiccup panted. "He disappeared last night, and I don't know where he went!"

"Well, let's go look for him!," Astrid said. The two ran through the village, asking around and looking in the most absurd places. Every person they asked sadly shook their head and said they hadn't seen the Night Fury.

By the time the sun went down, Hiccup and Astrid had had no luck. Hiccup walked into the smithy and collapsed at the table, resting his head in his hands.

Astrid sat next to him and put a hand on his back. "Hiccup," she whispered. "Don't worry. We'll find him. I promise."

Gobber walked in and immediately knew something was wrong. "Hiccup, tell me what's happened," he ordered. Hiccup lifted his head as Gobber sat down.

"Toothless disappeared last night," he sighed. "His bed was cold when I found him gone, and he was nowhere on the island...Astrid and I looked all day." Gobber saddened and glanced at the floor. Then he thought of something.

"Do you think he could've gone off by himself?" Hiccup gave a small, halfhearted laugh.

"No," he said. "I just expected him to run off with a whole hoard of dragons following him. Of course he's by himself! Why do you think I'm worried?!"

Gobber shook his head. "No, I mean, do you think he could've flown off?," he said. "Your new saddle does allow you to lock the fin open. That dragon is as smart as you, Hiccup; he could've just pulled on the lever and locked the fin open himself." Hiccup sighed again.

"But," Astrid said. "Where would Toothless want to fly off to?"

Gobber shrugged, standing up. "No clue," he said. "That's for you to figure out. I'm just here to offer suggestions as to his whereabouts and comfort you."

"Yeah, thanks," Hiccup muttered. "I know exactly what to do now. Fly off in some random direction, looking for Toothless. Hm." Gobber walked off, heading towards the Great Hall.

Hiccup sighed. "Great," he said. "The only adult on the island who gives solid advice has now left me completely clueless as what to do." Astrid took Hiccup's hand in hers.

"Hiccup-"

All of a sudden, Snotlout burst through the door. "Hiccup! I have news for you!"

"What is it, Snotlout?," Hiccup said irritably.

"Silent Sven told me- 'cuz, you know, he's not exactly silent anymore; he broke his silence a year ago-"

"Sweet baby Thor in a thunderstorm, just say it, you muttonhead!," Hiccup said, impatient.

"Sven said that last night he saw something large and dark taking off in the direction of Blackrock!," Snotlout said. "Sven thinks it might've been Toothless!"

"Really?!"

Hiccup jumped up, but Astrid grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. "Hiccup, I know you want to look for him, but it's too late. You'll fall asleep on the way there, and it's too dark already to see." Hiccup started to protest, but Astrid shushed him by pressing a finger to his lips. "No," she ordered. "You are tired, you need sleep, we can go tomorrow. I wanna find Toothless too, but you need to sleep, and so does everyone else." Hiccup looked at the ground, and Astrid took his other hand. Snotlout was about to leave, but he couldn't resist teasing the two.

"Hey! You two should kiss!"

Hiccup turned bright red and Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, Snotlout! Get out of here!," she said, throwing a notebook at Snotlout. He snickered and ran home, his crush on Astrid gone and his sights on Ruffnut, which were currently at their two-month mark.

Hiccup's cheeks returned to their original color. "He's just trying to get a reaction out of you," he said, smirking.

"Oh, he's gonna get one," Astrid said. "And it's not gonna end well for him." Hiccup laughed, then got up to go to bed. Astrid watched him walk home with a sympathetic smile.

Then, she too, headed off to bed.

Ch. 2

Toothless flew through the sky. He remembered this route from the last time he visited Blackrock. The sky always seemed to be stormy around Blackrock. Rain pelted Toothless's hide, seeping through the scales to the base layer of skin. Toothless flinched as another wave of undescribable, telepathic pain clutched at his body. Another vision clouded Toothless's sight. His mother again, and those stunning blue eyes. Her eyes were the color of sapphires, but the pupils were always a cloudy, pale bluish-grey. His mother wasn't blind, he remembered that, but there was something unique about those eyes, something......powerful, was the only way to describe it. Toothless saddened as he remembered the day he was taken from his parents. He was two in dragon years, and his wings were just starting to enlarge. Then, the rebels came. A band of siblings and cousins, all dark crimson. A huge battle ensued, and Toothless was kidnapped. He remembered being flown over the churning blue ocean, and then lightning struck his captor. He fell to the ground, on an island far from home. Toothless remembered a sky blue Monstrous Nightmare taking him in as her own, though she and her mate took turns watching him. They had shifts, for they had to go out and bring food back to the Red Death. The Red Death was slightly compassionate in its younger days, and would let any dragons with young take shifts and not have to contribute a meal.

However, the Red Death's attitude got worse as it, and Toothless, aged. Toothless was the only rebellious one in the flock, due to his being a Night Fury, and he hardly ever brought food back. He'd always blow things up, instead. That's when he got into trouble. The very last catapult he blew up was on Berk, and Hiccup had him in his sights. The bolas struck, Toothless felt extreme pain in his tail, and then he plummeted. He crashed into a tree, snapping it in half, and he gouged a giant gash in the ground with his impact. Then his head hit a rock, and everything went black.

Toothless smiled as he remembered the forming of his and Hiccup's friendship. Toothless was fourteen at the time, a teenager, as was Hiccup. Both fourteen-year-olds had similar personalities, which strengthened their bond.

Toothless missed Hiccup, but this was something he HAD to do. Then, lightning struck. The tailfin burned off, and Toothless tried to glide the rest of the way to Blackrock. But, a giant whirlwind picked up, a waterspout formed, and he was sucked into its center. He struggled against the gale, flapping desperately. Then, he rammed into something hard as Thor's hammer and sharp as a sickle. He fell to the ground, and passed out when his eyes started turning cloudy with blood. The last thing he saw before he fell unconcious was a dark, blurry shape appearing over him.

                                                                             *

Hiccup awoke bright and early, ready to find his dragon. Astrid was already out and putting the saddle on Stormfly.

"You ready?," Astrid said, loading a knapsack with food and supplies, in case of a long trip. Hiccup nodded. Astrid smirked, then stood aside. "You first," she said. "It's your dragon we're looking for." Hiccup hopped on Stormfly, then grabbed Astrid's hand and helped her up. "Stormfly," Astrid said. "Take us to Blackrock Isle." The Nadder squawked and took off, flying in the direction of stormy, angry skies.

Two long hours Stormfly flew. The flying closer to Blackrock was tough; trying to stay aloft in the gale-force winds was next to impossible.

But, when there's a midsummer storm like this, things can be lost, like Toothless.

And, things can be found.

Hiccup was shielding his eyes from the rain behind Astrid when he looked down into the ocean. His heart skipped a beat. "Astrid!!," he shouted over the wind. "Look!!" He pointed to a charred red piece of material drowning in the raging tides.

"Stormfly!!," Astrid ordered. "Tail flip!!" The blue dragon dove toward the ocean, whipped open her wings, and did half a somersault, whipping her tail through the waves. The sodden material landed in Hiccup's hands. It was charred and burnt and ripped, and it had the white image of an angry skull with small Viking horns potruding from the cranium. It was Toothless's old tail, for Hiccup hadn't the chance to make the new one yet.

Hiccup's heart was in his throat.

"Toothless," he whispered. Astrid was watching him, her face contorted into a concerned frown.

"Hiccup..."

Hiccup sighed. "Well," he said gloomily. "Now we know where Toothless is. He's on Blackrock."

                                                                                  *

Toothless woke up. His head hurt, and he didn't know where he was. He was in a dark room, with a small skylight in the ceiling. He could sense another dragon in the room, but he didn't know where it was.

"Hello?," Toothless called into the darkness. Nothing. Toothless sat in the silence for a long while, but, when the dragon suddenly spoke, he nearly jumped out of his scales.

"Wow, you are a resilient one. Most of us who ram into Starwing Mountian usually can't talk for a week."

"Who's 'us'?," Toothless said. He could feel the dragon looking him up and down.

"You're not from here, are you?," it said.

"Not that I can remember," Toothless replied.

"Hm," the other dragon said. "What's your name, stranger?"

"Toothless," Toothless said.  The other dragon laughed. "Hey!," Toothless snapped. "It's because I can retract my teeth when I'm not using them, so I look toothless!"

The other dragon hushed suddenly. "You can retract your teeth?," it said.

"Yeees," Toothless said slowly. "I thought all Night Furies could."

The other dragon gasped. "But, only Io can do that!," the other dragon said. "We need to take you to him!"

"Wait," Toothless said. "Who's this Io?"

"He used to be the alpha, but he hasn't shown himself for fourteen years. He's also my father."

"Really?," Toothless asked. "Who are you?"

"I'm Diamondpaw," the dragon said, stepping into the light. He was young, probably Toothless's age, and had sand colored scales, with a single black diamond on his forehead and blue swirls around his neck. His eyes were gold.

"Come on," Diamondpaw said. "Let's find my father."

Ch. 3

Nightshade was lying on the floor of her cell in despair when the guards stampeded past, startling other prisoners.

"What's wrong?!," Nightshade called as she ran to the door.

"A Nadder intruder has been spotted off the south shore!," Pitchpaw replied, stopping to inform the thin Night Fury. "There also seemed to be Vikings with it! No Vikings must know about our society!"

"PITCHPAW!!!," Moonbeam shouted at the nineteen-year-old dragon. "WE HAVE TO GO!!!" Pitchpaw flew off, her armor clinking and scraping against the walls.

Nightshade sighed, knowing this would put off her death for at least one more day. True, execution was scheduled for tomorrow, but everyone would be more worried about their secrecy than a framed murderer.

See, Nightshade had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fourteen years ago, she was fighting off rouge Night Furies when the elder, the pack's most respected and looked up to member, had been viciously assassinated. Nightshade was right next to the elder when the dragon was killed, and the assassin had vanished from sight when the elder dropped to the ground. Nightshade had pounced on the elder and tried to keep her alive, but it was too late. Just then, all the other dragons showed up, and when they saw their dead elder with Nightshade on top, her paws bloodied and on the elder's neck by coincedence, it started an uproar. She was thrown into jail, despite her innocence and desperate pleas. There she had been, until now. There were still a few dragons who were her friends and knew she didn't commit the crime, like Pitchpaw, her former apprentice, Moonbeam, her sister, and numerous others who were childhood friends. Now Nightshade's death was possibly two days away, instead of the proposed one, and that was both relief and torture.

Nightshade watched as the guards flooded out of the jail. She heard shouting, then a squawk and "No!! Stop!!! You, you don't understand!!" (obviously from the Nadder), and then something struck with an audible thud. Three beings screamed and shouted, and then there was a crash as something hit the ground. The Night Furies cheered, and Nightshade felt her stomach sink. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. Though she was still in the cell, she could now see what was happening, as if she was really there. The Nadder was lying prone on the ground, and a human crouched next to her, shoulders heaving. Another human, male, had a sword drawn and was shielding the girl who was crying for the dragon. He didn't seem to be the kind to strike first, Nightshade noted. He was more about defense, and kept blocking himself with his weapon, though it didn't look like a real sword on closer inspection. Nightshade zoomed in, peering at the object. More Night Furies closed in, and the boy got a look of "I warned you!" on his face. All of a sudden, the sword extended a rod out the top half of the blade and it flamed up, scaring the dragons back for a second. It was half stabbing, half burning, and it looked as if it could cause serious damage. The dragons oooo-ed and whispered to each other.

"What is it?"

"Swords don't do that..."

"Sorcery!"

"When did Vikings aquire magic?"

The scene flickered, for Nightshade's eyes weren't what they used to be. She shook her head, and the image cleared. The boy stood his ground, and his mouth moved as if shouting something, a warning perhaps. The girl next to the dragon stood up and cowered behind the boy. Her cheeks were stained with tears, but she looked slightly relieved, knowing her dragon was alive. The boy held his right hand back, pushing the girl backwards and away from harm. He took a step forward, getting ready to run, and then Nightshade's vision flickered uncontrollably. The scene went black, and her Nightshade's eyes burned. She shook her aching head and opened her eyes again.

The scene was gone.

                                                                                   *

Hiccup held Astrid back and tensed up, ready to run into the pack of Night Furies, some of which had armor and spears.

Astrid grabbed Hiccup's arm. "No, Hiccup!!!," she sobbed. "I can't lose you!!" Hiccup looked Astrid in the eye.

"You won't." Astrid cried even harder.

"Hiccup!! You know what these things can do!! You heard Toothless; a lot of them have magic!! That won't help you!! Just, no!!! No, don't do it!!! Please!!!," she bawled.

Hiccup retracted his sword for a moment and took Astrid's hands. "Astrid," he said. "I HAVE to. To keep you safe, to find Toothless. Otherwise, we'll both die here in this horrible place!" Astrid nodded and wiped her eyes, her hands shaking like crazy. Hiccup pushed the button on the handle of the sword, and a triangle-shaped bar came out like a switchblade and set to flame like a fiery sword skeleton. Hiccup ran forward, but only got a couple feet. A huge explosion from behind the Night Furies made everyone flinch, and Hiccup fell over. He looked up at the sky, and a giant net was flying towards him, Astrid and Stormfly. Hiccup gasped and covered his head. The net crashed down around them, weighted by large stones. It seemed to be hair triggered, and it retracted so Hiccup, Astrid, and Stormfly were wrapped tightly in it. The flame on Hiccup's sword went out, and couldn't ignite. Then, a large Night Fury with sapphire eyes and numerous battle scars lunged forward and twirled around, blackish-blue smoke emanating from her tail. She flew into the air and beat her wings when the smoke rached her chest. It shot toward the captives, each splitting off into seperate streams. One hit Hiccup first, shooting straight through his heart and out the back. He yelped in pain and fell to his knees, holding his chest with his free hand.

"HICCUP!!!," Astrid screamed. She ran to him and tried to get him up, but the magic was starting to take effect. Hiccup sank to the ground, passed out and in pain. Astrid tried to shake him awake, but then another smoke jet hit her and caused the same reaction. Then, more smoke encircled the net and the captives were seen no more. The Night Fury landed and walked up to the dark net.

"This is what you deserve, Vikings."

                                                                               *

"What did you do?!," Nightshade shrieked at Moonbeam. "I watched from my cell! You knew I would! The boy was just protecting his partner and her dragon! Why?! Why did you use the black magic?! You know what that does to its victims!"

"I know perfectly well what it does!," Moonbeam roared back. "That's why I used it!! You have no authority over our decisions anymore!"

"I am your older sister by three hatchings!," Nightshade shouted. "I don't CARE if I'm in jail; you respect me as your elder and leader!!"

"Shut up, Nightshade!!," Moonbeam snarled. "I love you, you're my sister, but you have no say in the outside world!! I can, and will, use that magic on you!! It'll weaken you and cause you immense pain and all the other horrible things you've seen it do!!"

"At this point, I don't care!," Nightshade hissed. "I'm dying as we speak, and no one gives a claw about it! I'm going to die in a day or two, which is what everyone is excited for!! My Io doesn't even want to waste his precious hours of hiding from everyone to help me and stand up for me, like he used to!! Nobody loves me anymore, not even you, Moonbeam!! No one's coming to prove my innocence, and even you don't have the scales to stand up for your SISTER!! You're more worried about staying inconspicuous!! Well, you just did fine there. Simply splendid. It's going to be totally inconspicuous when the Vikings realize two of their own have disappeared. Hmm. They'll never go and search for them. You're such a fool, Moonbeam!! By capturing those innocent passerbys, who were just lost, you've endangered the ENTIRE pack!! You're still the same, reckless bag of scales that you were as a dragonet!!!"

"ENOUGH!!!!," Moonbeam roared. "Why should I waste my time trying to help you anymore?! I'm not going to speak with you, from this point on, sister, and I will stand by at your execution. You never were the kind of sister I wanted; you always demanded father's affection, and looked down your snout at me."

"The only reason I wanted father's attention was because he was a horrible parent!," Nightshade protested. "He didn't care that his dragonets existed, and always thought we were never good enough, always pushing us beyond our limits and then saying, 'What excuses for worms' droppings are you?! I did millions of times better than that at the same age! You will never be a REAL Night Fury, never live up to standards!' Father was horrible, and all I wanted was to feel love from him!"

Moonbeam didn't reply; just turned her back and flew out of the dungeon in a huff. Nightshade collapsed to the floor and cried. Then, a group of guards flew in solemnly. Each was holding one of the prisoners. First the boy, who, despite his unconciousness, still had his hand on his chest and a pained expression.

Nightshade  growled. These people were just innocent kids, and now the next few months of their lives would be miserable because of black magic. Nightshade watched as the girl passed by, a guard holding her with a wary expression on his face.

Nightshade asked him about the caution he aired.

"She was very tough; the first blast didn't knock her out completely, and she was furious about what Moonbeam had done to her partner. She fought with her fists only, but finally the cloud of smoke that still lingered after Moonbeam flew off got to her and she sucumbed, bawling like her father had just died," the guard explained. He took her to a cell that was completely seperated from the boy's, and Nightshade could feel her anger mounting.

At least put them together, you idiots, she thought.

Then the Nadder was brought in. She was cut up on one side from landing on the obsidian boulders, and one of her horns was chipped extremly deep. A bola was wrapped around her middle and right wing, and the guards hadn't even bothered to cut off the rope.

The dragon muttered in her sleep. "Toothless........no, you don't under.........must find.......Astrid, I'll be okay, don't cry over me........Hiccup, guard.......her...while I........sleep...."

So, the boy's name was Hiccup, and the girl was Astrid. Nightshade snarled and curled into a ball to sleep, thinking about how to save these innocent teenagers.

Ch. 4

"Father? Can I speak with you?"

Toothless and Diamondpaw approached the cave. No one answered.

"Father?," Diamondpaw repeated. All of a sudden, a plasma blast shot out of the cave and Toothless and Diamondpaw ducked.

"NO!! Go away, Diamondpaw!! I wish to be alone!!!"

"But-"

"Go away, I said! Or I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish!!"

Diamondpaw backed up and walked away, Toothless following. "Well," Diamondpaw said. "So much for that idea. He's been getting angrier and more irritable these days, rarely ever showing his face."

"Why?," Toothless asked. Diamondpaw looked at the ground.

"We prefer not to talk about it around here, especially with outsiders--no offense." The two Night Furies walked in silence. Then, Diamondpaw tried to change the previous subject. "How old are you?," he asked Toothless.

"Sixteen," he replied.

"Me too," Diamondpaw said. "How come you don't have a normal name for a Night Fury at this age?" Toothless shrugged. For some reason he didn't want Diamondpaw to know he had a human friend.

"I don't know. It's just where I grew up, I guess," he said. "See, I was taken from my parents when I was two. I was dropped on some island, which I've heard Vikings call Dragon Island, and was raised by Monstrous Nightmares."

"Was Dragon Island a horrible place with a huge dragon who called himself the Red Death?," Diamondpaw asked.

"Yeah," Toothless said. "Why?"

"Because I heard he got killed in a huge explosion. All the dragons who live there never stop talking about it. They said a dragon who had been tamed by a Viking killed him."

Toothless felt himself sweating. "Really? I-I-I never heard that." Diamondpaw gave him a sideways glance, and fixed his eyes on the completely obvious saddle that ran down his back and the burnt tailfin on the end.

"It was you, wasn't it?," he said.

"Yes," Toothless blurted.

"Don't worry," Diamondpaw said. "I won't tell anyone. In fact, I think it would be cool to have a human friend. Father says it's rubbish, but I get this feeling from mother. She's always had a soft spot for humans."

"Do you think I could see her?," Toothless asked.

"No," Diamondpaw said. "They won't let you. But, I can take you to see my sisters. I bet they'd love to meet you and learn about you. They all have the same compassion for humans as mother and I. Except, we can't really tell Dizzypaw anything. She's a little loopy and cannot keep a secret."

Toothless laughed. "I'd love to meet your sisters." Diamondpaw grinned.

"Okay, then, I'll take you to them. Ashenpaw is shy, so be nice and gentle and she might say hello. Featherpaw, despite her name, is extremely fierce and smart, so she'll be suspicious at first and demand numerous questions. Starrypaw is hilarious, and her dry sense of humor takes you by surprise, because she's usually the quiet, intelligent, laid-back dragonet. As second-hatched, its in her nature. Featherpaw was hatched first, and Starrypaw hatched a couple minutes later. Ashenpaw was hatched third, Dizzypaw fourth, and I'm the youngest by half an hour."

Toothless grinned at Diamondpaw. "Well, you seem like you'd be a great alpha one day."

Diamondpaw smiled at the ground. "Mother says so," he said. For an hour the two walked, heading up to the midsection of Starwing Mountain. When they reached a small ledge, Diamondpaw entered the cave.

"Come on, girls, you can wake up from your beauty sleep now!"

Featherpaw awoke with a start, shouting, "What?! Who is it?! Who's there?!" Then she saw Toothless and slithered up to him, breathing smoke in his face. "Diamondpaw! Who is this foriegner?!," she demanded. Toothless coughed as the smoke wound its way up his nose. Featherpaw was so serious it was funny, and Toothless couldn't resist a laugh. "You DARE laugh at me, stranger?!," Featherpaw hissed.

She was dark grey with yellow eyes and a cream-colored marking over her left eye that looked like a feather.

Then, a dragoness rammed into Featherpaw drunkenly and dramatically. "Dizzypaw!," Featherpaw growled.

"Sorry," Dizzypaw said breezily, not really caring. She walked weird, as if she was always drunk, and she was extremely dramatic and vain. "Diamondpaw," she said, smoothing out her eyelashes. "Do my scales look discolored to you, because they do to me. I swear they were lavender yesterday. Now they look purple."

"Dizzypaw," Diamondpaw sighed. "They're still the same shade of lavender they were yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that. And the day before that. And-"

"Oh, shut up, Diamondpaw," Dizzypaw said with a toss of the head. "You don't know anything about self-presentation."

Dizzypaw sure lived up to her name, and was a delicate shade of lavender with hazel eyes.

"Dizzypaw," came a quiet voce from the back. "Try to say hello to our guest."

"What?," Dizzypaw said. "Ashenpaw, there's no one--oh, hello, new dragon. What's your name?" Toothless grinned and shook his head. Before he could answer, Dizzypaw had wandered off, crashing into walls.

Diamondpaw leaned over to Toothless. "She hatched upside-down, and then fell over on her head. That's why she walks funny. Her airheaded-ness is just her personality, though. She was born that way." Toothless half-nodded, a look of "Okaaaaaay......" on his face. Then, a smaller dragon shyly approached Toothless.

"I'm Ashenpaw," she said. "Nice to meet you."

Ashenpaw was dark grey on her top, cream on her belly, and had cinder-colored spots covering her body. She had a small, light grey circle on her ear.

A voice from behind Ashenpaw whistled.

"Wow. The first real greeting of the day. Hey everyone, someone FINALLY said hello to this new kid." Ashenpaw laughed.

Featherpaw looked about to explode. "But," she spluttered.

"Yeah, shut up, Featherpaw," the voice said. "You know nothing about formal greetings. All you do is rush up and start asking questions like the visitor is some wanted criminal. 'Where were you on the night of......'"

"And, that would be Starrypaw," Diamondpaw said. Starrypaw walked around Ashenpaw and nodded to Toothless.

"Ah, hello, Night Fury," she said. "You look like the kind who can take a joke without ripping off my head, like SOME people I know." She shot a meaningful glance at Featherpaw, who snarled. "Who are you?," Starrypaw asked Toothless.

"I'm Toothless," he said.

"No," Starrypaw said. "I mean your name. I don't care how many teeth you have. Tell me your name."

"No, my name's Toothless!," Toothless laughed.

Starrypaw grinned. "I know," she said. "I got you good. You actually thought that I thought that you were toothless."

"Because I am Toothless," Toothless said with a grin, showing his teeth.

"Haha! Wait, what?," Starrypaw said. "You do too have--oh, you got me that time! It's your name! Okay, let's stop, I'm getting confused." Diamondpaw smiled.

"Someone actually fooled you this time."

Starrypaw was a pretty pitch-black, with a single white star on her forehead above her left eye. When she lifted her wings, there were more tiny white spots that started out in a huge cluster and spread out until they were scarce at the bottom of the wing. She had a few spots scattered around her body like freckles, and had a line of them around her right hind leg like an anklet. Her eyes were sapphire, and looked extremely familiar to Toothless.

Starrypaw perked up, looking as if she had an idea. "So, Toothless, tell us about yourself." Toothless grinned and the other Night Furies gathered around him. First Toothless told of his early dragon-hood. His adopted family, his abduction, his tolerance of the Red Death. Then he told about his handicap, his bonding with Hiccup (during which, Diamondpaw covered Dizzypaw's ears. She didn't even notice; she was too busy cleaning her scales). Toothless relived the attack on the Red Death, and every moment after. His numerous adventures with Hiccup, the new saddle, then, the battle with Aura. The dragonets listened intently (except for Dizzypaw; she had fallen asleep while Diamondpaw's paws were over her ears).

At the end, Diamondpaw looked at the floor. "So, Aura, the dragon we had locked up, was released and then killed?," he said.

"Yes," Toothless said. "Hiccup had to. Otherwise, Aura would've killed everyone he loved, which includes me, and she would've killed you guys, too. She said she planned to kill all Night Furies on Nighthaven."

"Wow," Featherpaw said. "Even I wouldn't have had the guts to kill her. I'm surprised that a human was that brave."  Toothless nodded, then felt another stab of that telepathic pain. But, this time it came from someone else. It was Hiccup.....

"I gotta go!," Toothless said, heading for the entrance.

"Wait!," Diamondpaw said. "Where are you going?!"

"I need to find Hiccup," Toothless said. "I can sense he's in trouble, and I know where he is. I have a weird connection with him, I can see where he is, but I don't know how to get there."

"You sound like mother," Ashenpaw said. "She can see what's going on in a specific area, without even being there."

Toothless looked into Diamondpaw's eyes. "I need you to take me to your dungeon."

"What?!," Diamondpaw gasped. "But, they won't let you in there! I don't even know if your master is in there! Nobody told me about a Viking ending up in there!" Toothless grabbed Diamondpaw's shoulders.

"Take me there!," he commanded. Diamondpaw nodded, understanding that Toothless had to go.

"Okay. Maybe I can ask mother if he's in there, because she's jailed too." The two dragons took off down the hill and toward a large boulder on the ground.

Ch. 5

Hiccup was awake, and he didn't know where he was. There were jail cells all around, filled with dragons of all kinds. Hiccup reached for his sword to get out, but it wasn't there. He looked over at the far wall and spotted it hanging next to all the other weapons. Astrid's axe was there, too. Hiccup sighed and grabbed the bars of the cell, looking around sadly. Then, he felt as if he was being watched. He turned around, and a jet black Night Fury with what looked like blind eyes was staring at him. A strange sound bounced around inside Hiccup's head, as if someone was speaking to him.

"Who are you?," the voice in his head said.

What is this?, Hiccup thought. Then the voice spoke again and Hiccup jumped, surprised that he was having a conversation in his brain.

"This is a prison, human, and you are inside it as well as me."

Who's talking to me?, Hiccup thought.

"The dragon you're looking at, the black one who looks blind but isn't, and my name is Nightshade," the dragon said telepathically.

Oh, first there are evil, magical dragons who can actually talk to me in the human tongue, and then there are ones who talk to me through thought, Hiccup thought.

"Yes," Nightshade replied. "And I'm not evil. Let's just say that I was framed for murder and am scheduled for execution tomorrow. I'm just here to help you. I saw what they did to you, your friend, and your friend's dragon earlier today with these eyes that act as if I'm actually at the scene watching you."

Really?, Hiccup thought. Search out the Isle of Berk and see what's happening there.

Nightshade closed her eyes. "Your father is worried sick about you, he's petting his Rumblehorn, talking to his friend.......now I'm going through the village, and there is a group of teenagers, who look worried about your disappearance..."

Wait!, Hiccup thought. Can you find Astrid for me? She was the one who was with me. Nightshade nodded, opened her eyes and shook her head, before closing her eyes again.

Nightshade saw the different hallways and cells zooming through her vision as she looked for Astrid.

When she found her, she fell to the floor of the cell and cried for her.

What is it?, Hiccup thought worriedly.

"Astrid is crying, sobbing for you......she looks so lonely......she's in the part of the jail where there's only one or two dragons.....oh, Great Spirit of Starwing.......I feel so bad for her.....she's got her face buried in her knees and her shoulders are heaving horribly. Hiccup, I'm sorry about what my sister did to you, what my pack did to you. If they were smart enough, they'd know not to do that."

Hiccup sank to his knees and stared at the ground. I shouldn't have brought her with me, he thought. That way, she wouldn't have to be in this place.

"Yes," Nightshade thought. "But then she'd die of worry. Would you like me to speak with her?"

Yes!, Hiccup thought. Please! I want her to know I'm okay. But, please, don't startle her. She won't know what's going on, and she'll be scared at first. Is there any way you could also show her, or include me in the conversation as well?

Nightshade shook her head. "I can't do pictures," she thought. "But, I can have you speak with Astrid for a minute only, or else my head feels like it's about to explode. So, you'll have to make it quick." Nightshade closed her eyes and turned off the connection with Hiccup's mind, redirecting it to Astrid.

Astrid sat on the floor of her cell, sobbing into her knees. Why did this have to happen? Where was Hiccup? Where was Stormfly? Were they okay?

All of a sudden, a sound ricocheted around her mind and sounded like someone trying to speak with her.

"Astrid," the voice said. "Astrid! Listen! I have something important to tell you!"

Who are you?!, Astrid thought, holding her head and cringing backwards.

"Astrid, it's okay, don't be afraid, I have GOOD news, and you really don't have anything to fear," the voice said.

How do you know?, Astrid thought suspiciously.

"Because," the voice said, "Hiccup is okay, and he's right across from me."

He is?!, Astrid thought joyfully.

"Yes. I am Nightshade, and I have spoken with Hiccup telepathically. I'm a Night Fury, by the way, and I'm trying to help you two and your dragon get out of here, because I don't have much time left to prove myself. I can enable Hiccup to speak with you for a minute, and a minute only, for it is bad for my health."

Then, there was a loud ping that echoed around Astrid's mind.

Astrid?

Hiccup!, Astrid thought. Thank Thor you're all right!

Astrid!, Hiccup thought, relieved. Listen, I'm fine, and Nightshade's gonna get us out of here, or at least try. Don't worry, we'll be together soon!

But, Astrid thought. What about Stormfly?

She'll be fine, Astrid, don't worry. I'll find you as soon as I get out, and then I'll find Toothless.

"Thirty seconds left," Nightshade warned.

But, Hiccup, Astrid thought hurriedly. There's something I need to tell you!

Astrid, Hiccup stopped her. You can tell me later, because I think I know what it is, and I really want to hear it, but, if you tell me, we'll end up talking longer, and I don't want to hurt Nightshade. Astrid sighed. This was so irritating. Whenever she tried to tell him, something got in the way, and this had been going on for two years.

Okay, she thought. I'll tell you after we get out of this horrible place. Please, though, just make sure you don't get hurt when you come to get me out of here!

I will, Hiccup replied.

Then, there was another ping, and the connection was gone. Nightshade returned.

"Now, I will leave, so you'll be in silence for a while. But don't worry; we're both still here, and we're not going anywhere for some time yet."

Okay, Astrid replied. Once Nightshade was gone, Astrid leaned up against the back wall and cried silently. She just wanted to get out of here and be with Hiccup and Stormfly again.

Oh, Hiccup, she thought. I need you here, now.

----

Hiccup sighed as he stopped talking with Astrid. He turned to Nightshade.

So, he thought. How do you plan on getting us out?

Nightshade looked at the ground. "I don't know, but I will get you out. I hope." Hiccup leaned against the stone wall.

I do, too.

                                                                              *

Toothless ran up to the boulder. "Is this where it is?," he asked Diamondpaw. The young drake nodded. Diamondpaw pulled out a key and unlocked a small hatch at the base of the boulder. It opened to a large tunnel that led straight down.

"Follow me," Diamondpaw instructed solemnly. He jumped down the tunnel, and Toothless followed suit. The tunnel was very long, and It was a hard landing when they reached the bottom. Toothless did a somersault and landed rather painfully on his chin. He jumped up and looked around.

"Mother's this way," Diamondpaw said, pointing down a narrow pathway lined with jail cells. He ran down to the end of the corridor, than banked right. Toothless ran after him. Finally, Diamondpaw stopped in front of the end cell of the next hallway.

"Diamondpaw!," the cell's inhabitant said joyfully.

"Mother! Nightshade!," Diamondpaw said. Nightshade grinned at her son. Toothless ran up to the cell.

Then, he heard from behind Nightshade's cell, "Toothless!"

"Master?!" Toothless ran around to the other side and stuck his paw through the bars. Hiccup grabbed it joyfully.

"Bud! You're okay!," he said, not noticing the cut on Toothless's head from the obsidian. Toothless purred and licked Hiccup through the bars.

"Toothless!," Hiccup said. "You can help get us out of here! Astrid and Stormfly are somewhere around here too. Oh, and we need to get Nightshade out, too!" Toothless listened to Diamondaw talking to his mother.

"Mother," he said. "How'd Toothless's master get in here?" Nightshade sighed and told him.

"That's horrible!," Diamondpaw gasped. "Why'd aunt Moonbeam use the black magic?!"

"I don't know, dragonet," Nightshade said sadly. "Bring this Toothless around so I can see him." Toothless walked around to the dragoness's cell. Nightshade stared at him for a long while, then tilted her head slowly and thoughtfully. "Son?," she said slowly. Toothless started, and memories flooded his brain. Those far-seeing eyes, that gentle mannerism, that kind face.

"Mother?," Toothless whispered. He pressed his head against the bars, and Nightshade did the same. Tears streamed out of her eyes. "I thought I lost you," she whispered.

"I'm here now," Toothless replied. "I sensed you were in pain, and I had to come." Hiccup and Diamondpaw watched with open mouths.

Nightshade...you're...Toothless's mother?, Hiccup thought.

"Yes I am," Nightshade replied through thought.

"I have a brother?," Diamondpaw said.

"Yes, you do, dear," Nightshade whispered, her head still against Toothless's.

Diamondpaw blinked. "Wow. I thought I was going to be surrounded by dragonesses my whole life."

"Mother," Toothless said, sitting back on his haunches. "What was I like? When did I hatch? What was my name?"

Nightshade smiled. "You were the first hatched, and you took care of your siblings your first two years. You always had the personalities of all your siblings combined; you could be shy, aggresive, loopy, funny or a leader at any point. You had, and still have, the stunning green eyes of your father. You could also retract your teeth when you weren't using them, like your father." Toothless showed his gums and his teeth shot out of them. "And you still can," Nightshade laughed. "And, we called you Nightspark. We planned to call you Nightflame when you grew up, but, then you were abducted, and you gained a different name, a humble one unlike what we were planning to call you. Your new name is simple, and it shows that you don't need a royal name to be a royal dragon." Toothless smiled. "Also," Nightshade said. "Why are your friends here?"

"They probably came looking for me," Toothless said. "I left during the night to find you, and didn't tell Hiccup that I was going, for fear he'd just get hurt. But, he came anyway."

Toothless whipped his head around as shouting came from the tunnel. "Come on!," he said. "We can get you out!"

"Hurry!," Diamondpaw shouted. Toothless yanked on the bars of Nightshade's cage, for Diamondpaw didn't have the key and he didn't want to hurt his frail mother with a plasma blast. But, it was too late.

Moonbeam tore down the corridor and barreled into Toothless. "Hold him down! Get Diamondpaw as well, Pitchpaw!," she roared.

"TOOTHLESS!!!," both Nightshade and Hiccup shouted at the same time. Pitchpaw reluctantly held Diamondpaw down and fixed a muzzle over his mouth and chained up his paws. Moonbeam did the same with a struggling Toothless and threw him into the cell next to Hiccup. She then grabbed Diamondpaw from Pitchpaw and threw him into the cell next to Nightshade. Then, three of Toothless's sisters were brought in and put in cells across from their mother. Each was extremely angry, even shy little Ashenpaw. But Toothless didn't see Starrypaw.

Starrypaw was flying as fast as she could to find Io.

Ch. 6

Starrypaw shot through the clouds, swerving to avoid the jagged obsidian peaks of Nighthaven. "Come on, come on!," she said to herself. "It's around here somewhere!" Finally, a large mountain loomed up above her, and she sped inside the gaping cave in its side. "DAD!! I DON'T CARE THAT YOU WISH TO BE ALONE! YOUR KIDS ARE IN HORRIBLE DANGER, THEY'RE GONNA BE EXECUTED TOMORROW, YOUR MATE, FOR STARWING'S SAKE, WILL BE DEAD! YOU NEED TO DRAG YOUR LAZY BUTT OUT THERE AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, UNLESS YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT US ANYMORE! ALL YOU DO IS MOPE AROUND IN HERE AND IGNORE THE BADNESS GOING ON OUTSIDE, YOU COWARD! I, YOUR LAZIEST DAUGHTER, HAD THE GUTS TO FIGHT OFF ATTACKING GUARDS, FLY THROUGH HERE, AND YELL AT YOU, THE NIGHT FURY ALPHA, LIKE YOU'RE MY SERVANT!!! TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE, AND THEN CHANGE YOUR ACTIONS!!!," Starrypaw shouted into the darkness. All was silent, and Starrypaw started sobbing. "Please, father!," she bawled. "PLEASE! All I want is our family to be together again, and you don't even give a claw about us! You don't care; you're too scared to show yourself, and you act like you hate us when we DO see you! Please! I want our family to feel love from you, father, like we used to! You've been in here for fourteen years! Come out!" Then, from the back of the cave, a navy-blue lightning bolt glowed bright in the darkness, and two green eyes opened, lighting up the cave. The pupils were large and dilated, and they looked wet.

"I'm sorry," a voice said, and it sounded as if it was crying. "Please forgive me, Starrypaw. I never meant to be harsh; I was just, worried what people would think of me, for having a mate who was supposedly a murderer. So I hid in here."

"Well," Starrypaw said. "The world you made, the wonderful place that you built, lies in ruins, with predjudice and hate and suspicion. Aunt Moonbeam turned on us, and nearly killed two lost Vikings and a Nadder with her black magic. If you had been out there, Moonbeam would've been in jail by now, instead of mother. It's time for you to do something; make a stand at mother's execution tomorrow. Show up before she's killed, and protect your people from Moonbeam." The eyes in the back of the cave moved up and down, as Io was nodding eagerly. "Good," Starrypaw said. She turned and flew out of the cave, leaving her father in a crumpled, sobbing heap on the floor.

                                                                            *

"Hush, hush!," Nightshade said to all her dragonets, including Toothless. "You'll be fine!"

No we won't!, Featherpaw thought.

"Yes, we will," Nightshade replied telepathically.

Mother's right!, Diamondpaw thought. Everyone, calm down! We have to remain calm! The other dragonets calmed down, except for Toothless. See, the other five and their mother could communicate with each other through thought, but, as he had been kidnapped as a baby, Toothless didn't have this ability.

Only Hiccup could soothe him.

Toothless thrashed around, trying to shake off his binds. "Toothless!," Hiccup shouted. "Calm down, bud!" Toothless whinnied and went limp, panting horribly. Hiccup reached his hand through the bars and laid it on Toothless's nose. "You're gonna be fine."

Just then, there was shouting coming from farther down the corridors, about three rows back. The seven Night Furies and the one boy jumped at the sound. There was roaring and screeching, and a girl's shouts and screams. Two Night Furies struggled through the corridor towards the eight prisoners. They were flying and holding something in their paws. Another one trailed behind them, jangling keys. The one in the back rushed up and quickly unlocked Hiccup's cell. The other two guards threw in a small, furious bundle of something and shut the door, flying off tiredly. The bundle unfurled herself and shook her head.

"HICCUP!," she shouted happily. It was Astrid, and she ran across the cell and and threw her arms around Hiccup joyfully. "Oh, I missed you! Even though it was only six hours! It's just that, this whole thing has been terrifying and I don't like being seperated from you!" Astrid started crying, and Hiccup hugged her back.

"Astrid," Hiccup said. "It's okay, because you're with me now."

"I know," Astrid sobbed. "But, please tell me we won't do anything like this ever again!" Nightshade smiled.

"So, you two have something going on, don't you?," she thought. Hiccup and Astrid jumped.

Ah, what?, Hiccup thought. I have no idea what you're talking about... Nightshade laughed.

I can't believe aunt Moonbeam did that, after seeing these two, Diamondpaw thought.

I know, Ashenpaw thought.

Astrid let go of Hiccup and wiped her eyes, sniffling. Hiccup smiled at her, and Astrid returned the gesture. Nightshade turned to her dragonesses.

"Girls," she said. "Let me tell you about this Night Fury that showed up. This is your long-lost older brother."

What?!, all the dragonesses thought at once.

"Yes," Nightshade said. "He was the first hatched, except, none of you remember it. You were only two when he was taken from us. Remember those rogue Night Furies I told you about? They abducted Toothless, and then Iceflame was assassinated in front of me. That's when everyone thought it was me and threw me in jail. Your father went into hiding, and Moonbeam put you in that cave with Pitchpaw, who moved out three years ago, as you remember." The young Night Furies blinked, finding this hard to comprehend. Nightshade smiled sadly and closed her eyes.

"Hmm," she thought, transporting it to all the prisoners around her. "It's night. Time for sleep." All the dragons slowly drifted off, and finally Astrid fell asleep next to Hiccup.

But, Hiccup didn't sleep.

He lay awake, staring at the ceiling, worrying about what would happen tomorrow. He worried about his father, how he was, how Stormfly was doing. And, most of all, Nightshade. She was his best friend's mother, and she was brave, putting aside her own death for the sake of her dragonets and her eldest son's human companions. What Hiccup had heard about Nightshade's sister, though, was the complete opposite. She was cruel, selfish and uncaring, and had nearly killed Hiccup and Astrid this morning.

The morning's events seemed so far away to Hiccup. The Night Fury army, the magic spiraling out of Moonbeam's tail, the smoke piercing Hiccup's heart and making him weak.

Hiccup looked down at Astrid. She was sleeping soundly, curled up next to Hiccup with her head on his shoulder. Hiccup then looked at Toothless. He had a pained expression that creased his brow, even as he slept. Hiccup reached through the bars and rubbed his dragon's head. Toothless relaxed and sighed contentedly, losing the worried look. Hiccup smiled. These two that were with him were the ones he had saved a few weeks ago. He remembered the peril that they were all in, and the moment that Hiccup had nearly been killed by a raging Night Fury. Hiccup knew that, no matter what, he'd make sure Astrid, Toothless, Stormfly, and his father were safe. This thought then lead to Nightshade. She'd give her life to protect her family. Hiccup looked at the mother dragoness, who was sleeping peacefully. Hiccup felt like Nightshade was a mother to him, even after just knowing her a day. He knew now that he needed to help her, and couldn't lose her to something she didn't do. With that, Hiccup finally drifted off into a restless, worried, feverish sleep.

Ch. 7

Hiccup set his jaw and squared his shoulders defiantly. Five Night Fury guards were leading the prisoners to an open arena, with large gallows obviously meant for dragons in the middle. There were two smaller gallows to the side, which looked as if someone had rushed and didn't know what they were doing when they made them. Astrid pressed closer to Hiccup, trembling. Toothless gulped and gazed up at the heavy duty lynches hanging from the frames of the gallows. There was a stage set up on one side of the arena, and a podium sat sullenly on the platform. Moonbeam was perched on the podium, watching the prisoners with pure acidic hatred. Her followers had much the same attitude. Pitchpaw sat next to Moonbeam, hunched over, cowering below the dictating dragoness. She wouldn't meet the eyes of any of the prisoners, and Toothless thought he saw a tear slip from her purple eyes to the ground.

The guards led each prisoner to their matching gallow. Then, screeching came from the prison, and numerous sharp quills came shooting out of the door. A bundle of scales and wings came rolling out the door, two Night Furies and one Nadder. The two Night Furies held the Nadder down, and more spines came from its tail.

"STORMFLY!," Astrid yelled. She tried to break free of her binds, but a guard held her back. Stormfly screeched and lashed her tail, trying to shake off her captors. The two guards shoved a muzzle over Stormfly's mouth and held down her tail. They picked her up and tied her to an empty gallow, making sure her tail was safely bound.

Moonbeam smirked. "I have something to say to these traitors," she hissed."Nightshade, I thought of you once as my sister, and I was a fool for standing by you. You betrayed your people by standing up for HUMANS, and, though I know you didn't murder Iceflame, I'm still going to execute you anyway. Io won't ever come for you, and, none of your powers will work. You can't even breathe fire! You were always the weak one, Nightshade. You know that. You chose a mate who didn't even love you, and he's not coming to help you. I shall kill you, your dragonets, these ignorant intruders who you so foolishly stood up for, and no one can save you." Nightshade looked at the ground, and Moonbeam grinned evilly.

"Bring the new one up here!," she said. The guards shoved Toothless forward and he stumbled, landing on his chin in front of Moonbeam.

"Toothless," she hissed. "I'm giving you two choices, for I know your weakness. You can either release your family, or you can release the humans you have so traitorously befriended. You have one minute only." Nightshade gasped and translated what Moonbeam had said to Hiccup and Astrid telepathically. Hiccup looked at Toothless. He was staring back at his master, desperation written all over his face.

Moonbeam smiled. "I knew you wouldn't be able to choose. You have thirty more seconds, and I know you won't have made a decision by then." Toothless bit his lip. Then, something exploded behind the stage and covered everyone in a veil of smoke.

"NO!!," a strong male voice boomed. "MOONBEAM! SHUT YOUR MAW AND TURN TO YOUR LEADER!!!" It was Io, and he wasn't too pleased. Starrypaw was with him. Moonbeam gaped at Io.

"But," she spluttered.

"Moonbeam!," Io roared. "How DARE you take command of this pack!"

"You weren't here to lead us, you fool!," Moonbeam countered. "So I took over! Everyone knows I'm more worthy of leadership than you!" Io growled at Moonbeam, but then his eye caught Toothless.

"Son," he whispered. He bounded down to the flightless dragon. Io nuzzled his long-lost son, before turning his attention to the prisoners. "Nightshade, Diamondpaw, Ashenpaw, Dizzypaw, Featherpaw, I'm so sorry for not being there for you...especially you, Nightshade."

Nightshade was crying joyfully. "I forgive you, love."

Moonbeam gagged. "Stop it," she coughed. "You're making me sick. Pitchpaw, do away with these weaklings." Pitchpaw furrowed her brow and turned to Moonbeam.

"No."

Moonbeam roared furiously and launched herself at her apprentice. The two dragons rolled on the ground, biting and scratching and burning and screeching. Toothless growled and shot plasma at Moonbeam. She roared, and whipped around to glare at Toothless. Then, a fight broke out. The good few Night Furies against the evil entirety of the pack. Toothless sidestepped a charging Moonbeam and ran to untie his family. Starrypaw joined him.

"So, brother," she grinned.

"You knew?," Toothless said.

"I knew the moment I saw you. What random stranger would be able to get me good with a joke? Only my amazing long-lost older brother could do that. And, besides, you look almost exactly like me." Toothless grinned at his sister and ran to untie Hiccup. Once he was free, Hiccup wrapped his arms around Toothless.

"Thanks, bud." Hiccup grabbed a dagger off the ground and cut Astrid free. She in turn untied Stormfly, who screeched and shot hundreds of quills from her tail at the attacking Nght Furies.

Hiccup ran into the prison and searched through the corridors. Finally, he found the weapon rack and grabbed his fire-sword and Astrid's axe. He then ran back out into the arena and tossed Astrid her weapon. Then, they joined the battle side-by-side.

Toothless ran through the fray, Io on his left, Starrypaw on his right. His mother and siblings were close behind.

"So, son," Io said as he knocked a Night Fury to the ground. "I heard you killed that evil brute the Red Death...by befriending a human. I'd like to see your skills by yourself." Toothless smirked and slashed at an oncoming attacker, making him keel over.

"They're not that bad," Toothless said. "Though they are a little rusty." Io laughed.

"Well," he said. "You should practice by yourself. I admit, I used to call friendship with humans rubbish, but that's the bravest thing I've ever known anyone to do. And, I'm pretty sure it has a lot of benefits."

"You have no idea," Toothless grinned. "There are too many to count." Then, a dragon pounced on Toothless and knocked him to the ground. Starrypaw launched herself at the attacker and knocked it out with a single swipe.

"Thanks, Starrypaw," Toothless panted.

"No problem, bro."

Moonbeam glared at the carnage around her. Many of her followers were severly injured, but no one had been killed. There were still twenty that were fighting, and, though the prisoners were outnumbered, Moonbeam's warriors were losing.

"Why do I always have to do everything myself?!," she hissed furiously. Her tail started to smoke with black magic, and she grinned vengfully. "Now where's that kid with the flaming sword?" Moonbeam scanned the battle scene, and found what she was looking for. He was back-to-back with that arrogant little brat, brandishing his fire-blade at any dragons that came near.

How do I seperate them?, Moonbeam thought. Then she got an idea.

"Skyhammer! Take care of the girl! I have to get the kid with the fire-sword!," she ordered a large, muscular Night Fury. Skyhammer nodded and swooped toward the two teenagers. He landed with a thud and stalked around Hiccup and Astrid. Hiccup held Astrid back and waved his sword defensively. Skyhammer smirked and jumped over Hiccup's head, landing between him and Astrid. He knocked her axe out of her hand and pinned her to the ground.

"ASTRID!!," Hiccup shouted. He ran to help her, but Moonbeam pounced in front of him, knocking him backwards. Moonbeam flicked Hiccup's sword out of his hand and raised her tail. Smoke was emanating from it, filled with tiny, dark blue particles that sparkled like glitter. Moonbeam knocked Hiccup over and pinned him down by placing her paw on his chest. This hold reminded Hiccup of when he first found Toothless in the forest two years ago. Toothless had pounced on Hiccup and held him down in the same way, then roared in his face.

However, this dragon didn't plan to roar.

Hiccup struggled under Moonbeam's paw. She didn't care, though, and grinned evilly. Then, an arrow of smoke shot from her tail and impaled Hiccup's heart. He yelped in pain and curled into a ball when Moonbeam let go of him.

"HICCUP!!!," Astrid screamed, trying to get out from under Skyhammer. Toothless whipped around at Astrid's scream.

"MASTER!!!" He charged towards Moonbeam and barreled into her, biting her and slashing at her. Moonbeam fought back, but was no match for Toothless. He soon had her pinned.

"Don't you EVER hurt my friends or family!," he snarled.

"Too late," Moonbeam hissed, glancing at Hiccup. "Your MASTER has already been shot with black magic, and his girlfriend is being crushed underneath Skyhammer." Toothless growled and bit Moonbeam's neck. She screeched and bit Toothless on the head. The two dragons fought for a little longer, until Nightshade came onto the scene.

"Toothless! Moonbeam! Stop!," she shouted. Toothless let go of Moonbeam suddenly, getting a hold of himself. "Moonbeam!," Nightshade said. "Please! Just go back to the sister I once knew, the sister who didn't care what I did or didn't do and loved me anyway!" Moonbeam struggled to her feet and panted, staring at the ground. Tears streamed fom her eyes. The power-hunger that clouded her vision cleared and she looked up at her nephew and sister.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "Ever since your execution was decided, Nightshade, I grieved, and that caused me to lose sight of myself. I didn't want to hurt anyone......" Moonbeam looked at Hiccup and Astrid. "But I already have....." Skyhammer took this as a sign of surrender and released Astrid. She ran to Hiccup and knelt beside him.

"Please!," she bawled, holding his head in her hands. "Wake up! Hiccup! Come on, you can't do this!" Toothless joined Astrid.

"Master! Get up, please!" Stormfly came up behind Astrid and cried silently. Toothless nudged Hiccup, and a single tear slipped from his eyes and down his scales.

Io came up next to Moonbeam. "Is there anything you can do?"

"I don't know," Moonbeam weeped.

"Moonbeam," Nightshade said. "What about that gold-colored magic you used to use when we were dragonets? You'd always use it when one of us got hurt, and we'd be healed within an hour or two."

"I don't know if it will counteract the black magic," Moonbeam sniffed.

"Just try it!," Io ordered. Moonbeam walked over to Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless, and Stormfly.

"It's okay," Nightshade told Astrid telepathically. "She's going to help Hiccup."

After what she did?!, Astrid replied.

"Trust me, Astrid."

Astrid let Moonbeam approach, but kept a wary eye on her. Moonbeam took a deep breath and closed her eyes, wrapping her tail around her paws. She unfurled her wings, and a gold glow started emanating from her heart. Then, a small spiral of magic slowly wound its way towards Hiccup's heart. It entered Hiccup's body, and then glowed for a second before fading. Moonbeam opened her eyes and stepped back, watching to see what would happen. Astrid had stopped crying, and stared at Hiccup hopefully. After a few moments, his eyelids fluttered. He sat up and held his hand to his head.

"What just happened?"

Astrid yipped joyfully and threw her arms around Hiccup.

By this time, the entire pack had gathered, and they all cheered when Hiccup woke up. Then Astrid pulled away and grabbed the neck of Hiccup's shirt and pulled him towards her before kissing him on the lips passionately. Io leaned over to Nightshade. "I will never understand why humans do that," he whispered. "I find it utterly disgusting." Nightshade laughed.

Astrid pulled away from Hiccup, and Toothless licked him over and over. Stormfly laughed as Hiccup got drenched in saliva.

"Okay, Toothless!," Hiccup giggled. "I'm fine, you can stop licking me now!"

Moonbeam sighed contentedly and looked at Nightshade. Nightshade smiled at her sister, then looked at Io.

Io grinned. "Moonbeam, you have been forgiven." Nightshade nuzzled her sister happily.

Starrypaw walked into the middle of the arena and shouted, "Everyone praise Starwing! Io has returned, the family is back together, and Moonbeam is back to her old self! Phew, what an eventful day! I wish we had days like this more often, where sisters turn into homocidal monsters and nearly everyone gets killed and my brother's human friend gets miraculously healed by the sister-turn-homocidal-monster-turn-compassionate-sister-again and everyone goes back to their old leader! Whoa...need to...catch...my breath..." The pack laughed heartily, and Nightshade translated it telepathically to Hiccup and Astrid, who laughed as well. Everything was back to normal.

Ch. 8

A week later...

"Toothless! I finished the tail!"

Toothless giddily ran into the smithy, and Hiccup attched the new tailfin to his tail.

"You ready to try this out, bud?," Hiccup said. Toothless nodded eagerly. "Okay, let me go get Astrid first. She wanted to see this work." Hiccup ran up to Astrid's house and knocked on the door.

Astrid threw it open. "Is it done yet?!," she demanded.

"No, duh," Hiccup said. "I just came up here to tell you that I'm hungry. Of course it's done!" Astrid burst through the door and ran down the hill, grabbing Hiccup's hand and pulling him with her.

When they got to the shop, Hiccup asked, "Aren't you forgetting Stormfly?"

"Nope," Astrid said. "I wanna ride with you when you try this out." Hiccup shrugged.

"Okay." He hopped on Toothless and helped Astrid up behind him. He flipped around to the riding attachment on his foot and hooked it on the rod on the left shoulder strap. Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccup, and he nodded at Toothless. Toothless tossed his head and took off into the sky.

While flying, Astrid said to Hiccup, "You know about what I was going to tell you last week?"

"Yeah," Hiccup said.

"Well...," Astrid said. She leaned forward and whispered it in Hiccup's ear. He smiled.

"I know," he said. "I love you, too." Astrid grinned and whooped as Toothless sped up, heading off into the big blue sky.

"A family isn't just something you're born into. It's also the friends who stood with you, the ones who fought by your side. You know that you'll be the for them, and they'll be there for you...for the battles yet to come."

                                                                            -Hiccup H. H. III