A Stormcutter glided effortlessly through the clouds. Him and his rider were out searching for more dragons to rescue and take to their sanctuary.

His rider's staff twirled and pointed towards the sun.

"Let's try over westward," the rider spoke to the Stormcutter. She knew a special language called Dragonese. She could speak to dragons.

"But Valka, we checked there yesterday!" the Stormcutter complained to his rider.

"Ah well, Cloudjumper! Stop complaining, there could be dragons there now," Valka scolded her dragon. It was getting late, and they had been flying for half of the day.

Cloudjumper sighed before turning towards the low sun.

Before flying too much in the westward direction, he picked up on a familiar smell. He could smell blood and dragon, but that familiar smell? He couldn't place it.

Cloudjumper turned sharply to his starboard.

"Cloudjumper! Enough of this! Turn back to the west!"

"No, I think there's an injured dragon this way!" He pelted through the clouds as the scent grew stronger. Then, he dived.

When he got below the clouds, he stopped and hovered so Valka could see. She peered over the edge of his wing.

"No way," she gasped. "It can't be!" She signaled for Cloudjumper to take her lower. "A Night Fury."

Below her on an iceberg was a black dragon. It was curled around something and growling.

Valka had never heard a Night Fury before, and she could only catch so much of what it was saying.

"Stay...come...closer...bite...off," was what she could catch of the Night Fury's unique accent. All dragon spoke Dragonese, but their accents were different. Deadly Nadders spoke with a sharper tone, and Monstrous Nightmares' voices were deeper and growly. But the Night Fury was even more low and smooth.

Valka slid off of Cloudjumper and landed on the ice berg. The Night Fury was immediately up and threatening. It spread it's wings to appear larger, and began to flap them, creating a heavy draft.

Valka dropped her staff, crouched lower, and held out her hand. "It's okay, I won't hurt you. I'm a friend," she spoke to it.

The black dragon immediately dropped and cocked it's head in wonder. "How...speak my...?"

Valka got the jest. "I'm a friend of all dragons, I've lived with them for fifteen years. Just ask Cloudjumper," she said as she edged closer.

The Night Fury shot Couldjumper a quizzical look, which he returned with a small nod.

The Night Fury sniffed Valka's hand, which was only inches from his nose. "...smell familiar...,"

It sniffed again, and was suddenly taken back to a few months before. The Night Fury put it's nose in a boy's hand. The scent overwhelmed it. "Ugh! I touched a human!"

The black dragon felt a rush of realization. "...Hiccup's...!"

Valka put her hand down. "Did you say Hiccup!?"

Cloudjumper whacked himself with his tail. "That's what I was smelling!"

The Night Fury responded, "Yeah...Hiccup's mother!"

Valka was beginning to get used to the Night Fury's accent.

"How do you know Hiccup?" Valka demanded.

"He's my best friend!" The Night Fury roared. "And he's hurt!"

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Astrid tucked her head under her arm as she listened to Gobber speaking.

"...May he rest in peace, as did his mother...," he wiped a tear from his eye.

Stoick was crying weakly beside him. The entire village was gathered around the hill. An open grave lay in front of them. Next to it, a headstone that said:

Valka B. Haddock
The lover of our dear chief
Died at the talons of a dragon

Stoick took a small wrapped cloth out of his vest. He walked over to the grave and dropped it in.

"Hiccup's dagger, the only thing we found after the dragon attack. May it rest peacefully next to his mothers necklace," Gobber said. He handed a shovel to Stoick.

Taking it, he dug into the pile of dirt next to the grave. Taking nearly half of it, he dumped the dirt over the dagger. He walked over to Astrid and handed it to her.

Astrid took a shovel full of dirt and dumped it into the grave. Then she passed it to Snotlout.

One by one all of the teens took a turn filling the grave. Finally, Gobber did the last shovel full, and the grave was filled.

Astrid felt tears streaming from her eyes. She hadn't cried since she was smaller than her ax.  Why was she crying now?  Did she really care for The fishbone that much?  She couldn't've had a crush on him, could she?  No, why would she?  He was always messing her up, always getting in the way, always making huge messes... always making sarcastic comments, always so devoted to what he wanted to do, always stubborn, always continuing on.  There was that smile he would crack every now and then when no one else was smiling.  Those lame excuses that on the outside she would find so annoying and pointless, but in the inside she would laugh at how Hiccupy they were.  And the fact that he took Dragon Training so lightly, he was able to add comic relief to the group, even if they didn't notice then.  Oh, he was always searching deeper for answers to questions Astrid couldnt even begin to imagine.  He had smarts.  Not like Fishleg's smarts, with all the flash cards and stuff, but he picked up on things.  He observed things, learning from his mistakes, trying different approaches.

Astrid gasped.  She did have a hidden crush on him.  She knew why she was crying.  The last time she spoke to Hiccup was out of spite and anger. To think! She had gotten mad at him because he had beaten her at dragon training. And now he was gone! Dead! Never to return! She hadn't realized until now that she truly loved Hiccup. His sarcastic way, his smile (she only saw it when he was with Gobber), and the way he made the most of dragon training. He truly had deserved to come in first. He always had the dragon down before she did. If only she had been conscious to watch how he tried to take down the Night Fury. If she had been there, maybe she could've helped him when he lost his dagger, or when he tripped. Surly that was how the dragon had managed to get him.

It wasn't fair. He deserved a proper Viking warrior funeral. With a ship and flaming arrows. Unfortunately, if there was no body, it was believed to be a complete waste of a perfectly good boat. Just like when his mother was taken and eaten, they took a belonging of the bodiless Viking and buried it instead. How rude and selfish.

Astrid missed him. She wished she could apologize for all those times she was mean to him, but he was gone. Dead. Lost forever.

And it was all the Night Fury's fault! The unholy offspring of lightning and death! She scoffed. How true it was!

The village was now beginning to disperse. Another funeral done. Another death at the claws of dragons. This was just normal life. Back to work!

No! Astrid thought, I will get my revenge! She then took off into the trees. Taking her ax, she swung it as hard as she could, letting out an angry cry that echoed through the trees.

The ax spun and embedded itself into a large tree 50 feet away. The force of the impact let out a load slap. She vowed right then and there that she would destroy every dragon she set her eyes on, and she would be the first, and last, to kill a Night Fury.

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Hiccup stood in the arena. Hundreds of gleeful faces stared down at him through the chain mesh. He heard someone bellow, "RELEASE THE BEAST!"

The door in front of him burst open as the giant wooden poles were pulled away. From within the cage burst fourth a black dragon. A Night Fury.

There was another one? How had they caught it? There was no time to ponder it, for as soon as it laid eyes on him, it charged.

With incredible speed it leaped upon him, pining him to the ground, it's furious red eyes boring into him. It was obviously angry about something.

Suddenly, there was a bang, and the dragon disappeared. He turned around, trying to spot it, but laid his eye's on another dragon.

"Toothless? We gotta get outta here bud. My dad'll kill you-"

Hiccup stopped when he noticed something. The floor was falling away from the edges of the ring.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup cried as he watched his dragon tumble into the endless pit that was opening up.

His dragon let out a desperate roar as he fell and was consumed by the blackness.

Suddenly, the cobblestone floor fell out from under him, and he felt cold air rushing past him.

"Toothless!" he cried out desperately. A Night Fury roar echoed from behind him, but before he could look, pain coursed through him.

Then, he became warm, and a thousand multi-colored eyes blinked at him. Dragons of all shapes and sizes appeared from the blackness. They let from their mouths a stream of fire, lighting and warming the entire place.

He was laying in a rocky cave. He tried to move, but was completely numb.

The dragons stopped their fire, and slunk back into the shadows.

"Wait! Don't go!" Hiccup called out. But still, they left.

He was very cold. Frost began to inch around his body, then ice. Soon, he was encased in a large block of ice.

He stared through it, and saw a familiar pair of green eyes starring back at him. His dragon opened his mouth, but Hiccup couldn't hear him through the solid barrier.

He felt his heart slowing. He gazed back at his dragon as the life dimmed slowly from his frozen body.