Two years had passed since Hiccup decided to plan for adventure.
The boy had grown up from scrawny to somewhat lean and muscular. It did bring relieve to some of the villagers. The purpose of his apprenticeship with Gobber was so that he could fill himself up.
It worked, but not for the reason they thought it was. His dragon side had affected his human side. He was slowly becoming stronger as he age. It changed his growth to accommodate with his dragon side.
The 9-year-old boy had been training. As a human, he would ask some villagers to help learn how to survive and fight. Some villagers were willing to help, such as Phlegma the Fierce, Ack, Hoark the Haggard and Gothi. Most were less kind, with the obvious one being Mildew.
He was not that good with fighting as a human yet, but sword fighting was something that he easily learned. Phlegma the Fierce was an excellent swordswoman and mentor. Under her tutelage, he could fight a Viking and lived to tell the tale. As expected for his age, fighting against two Vikings at once might be difficult for him.
That is, without utilizing the prowess of his dragon side.
The blacksmithing apprenticeship had been going well. In just two years, he was faster on forging and creating tools and weapons. He learned a lot of things about making contraptions and forging equipment the right way.
He also learned about leathers, and other various ways to make a storage. Hiccup did not plan this, but he made several bags for himself. Specifically, it was fitted for his dragon side. A thick, strong, and flexible bag that was strapped onto his neck. He occasionally wore this whenever he went off gathering things in his dragon form.
As a dragon, he would race against time when flying. He would fly around known obstacles, learning tricks and ways to become even more manoeuvrable while flying really, really fast. He would also race against time flying in straight line, training himself to become faster and durable when flying in the air.
Hiccup never thought he could fly so fast; he could literally generate plasma simply by being fast. His body would generate plasma and create a large, cloud trail behind him when he was up high in the sky above. He knew he had reached this speed when he heard a second sonic boom, despite not being able to hear anything at that speed.
It was very difficult to control himself when going that fast, and he had accidentally ripped both his wings and tails when trying to stop. Literally. It was extremely hard to do, mainly because it was extremely painful for him to have his limbs torn apart every time he practiced, and he felt like disintegrating when he made even the tiniest mistake.
However, he was not short of determination. Every time he failed, he would regrow his limbs, heal himself and try again. The more he did it, the more he was used to it. His body seemed to slowly adapt to his ability to fly that fast, as he no longer disintegrates whenever he messed up his flight.
It was still extremely painful, but he was getting used to it. It also made him somewhat easier to gain very high amount of speed in a short time. He did not need to flap his wings as much to maintain his incredible speed. He could be moving extremely fast with his wings spread the whole time.
Unfortunately, it was the main cause of many of his bags literally torn apart with how fast he was going. He managed to make one that could barely keep up with his speed, and he could increase that speed limit when he used his paws to disrupt the airflow on the bag. He was determined on making a bag that would not disintegrate when he went at that speed.
Hiccup also learned more about dragon magic. He had been practicing. His casting time became shorter, and he learned some interesting tricks during his practices.
"Hiccup, ye there?"
The young boy looked up. He was in the forge, in his human form. He had finished turning melted steel into ingot blocks. The forge was closing, and it was almost night-time.
"Gobber? What is it?" Hiccup questioned, looking up to his teacher.
"I'll be heading to the mead hall." Gobber spoke, he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Just turn off the light when you leave. I need to pick something up when I get back."
"Okay." Hiccup nodded.
With that note, Gobber left the forge through the door.
The boy sighed. He picked up the recently made metal ingot and threw it to the pile. Hiccup closed the windows, blew the candle and then went out through the door. He closed the door behind him.
Hiccup entered the Great Hall. The place was somewhat crowded, mostly because everyone was eating their dinner. His father was also there, eating and talking with other villagers.
Ever since he saved him two years ago, the whole village was awed with how he was saved by a dragon. The man himself did not change, but he gained more respect from them, being the only person to ever saved by a Night Fury. After all, they knew it was no coincidence that he was saved by it.
One dragon, sure. It might be an accident. Two dragons would be a coincidence. Three dragons, however, made them realise that the whole thing was intentional.
Hiccup ignored the villagers and moved to pick up a plate and some fish. It would satisfy him for the time being, until he got up into the sky later. Even as a human, he had the appetite of a dragon, and one fish would not do for him.
The young boy walked towards the empty corner of the hall. He sat there and placed the plate on the table. He began eating them, while thinking about how he was supposed to find a nest that had an alpha dragon in it. Based on his observations, there were only few alpha dragons that exist around the sea.
Red Death's nest was the closest to them.
Hiccup would never want to come back there. If he ever came back to the nest, it was most likely that everyone would come and attack him. While he could fight a large platoon of dragons, he could not fight thousands of dragons himself.
"Hey Hiccup."
Hiccup heard someone sat in front of him. He looked up. The person in front of him was Fishlegs. The large boy was nervous around his presence. He was not carrying any food there – just a book, meaning that he was there to talk.
"Hey Fishlegs." Hiccup blandly spoke. He looked down to his plate. He had just finished his meal. Pushing the plate aside, he gave him his fullest attention. "What do you need?"
"I- um…" Fishlegs nervously spoke. He placed the book down onto the table. Hiccup recognised it as the Book of Dragons. "I want to know if your dad told you anything about Night Fury."
Hiccup raised his eyebrows. He noticed that Fishlegs was interested in Night Fury. "Why do you want to know?"
"There was nothing that the Book of Dragons know about it." The large boy explained. "And Astrid told me to look for it."
Hiccup leaned a bit to the side. He could see Astrid glaring down at them from several tables away. Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were also there, staring at them.
"I- I tried talking to your dad and he doesn't want to talk about it." Fishlegs nervously continued speaking. "So, I thought you might know something."
Hiccup wondered what Astrid wanted from him. Why would she want to know about Night Fury? "Why does she wanted to know?"
"I don't know." Fishlegs confessed.
Hiccup stared at Fishlegs. He could smell fear coming from him. However, the fear seemed mostly directed towards Astrid. That made him pause. If he did not say anything, Fishlegs would probably be beaten up.
"Alright." Hiccup shrugged. "Give me the book."
Fishlegs gave him the book. The young boy opened it and flipped the pages until he found the entry he was looking for. It was the Night Fury entry.
Night Fury.
Speed: Unknown.
Size: Unknown.
The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance: Hide and pray it does not find you.
Hiccup snorted. That really filled his ego for the day. "I can see why you said it has nothing about it." He responded.
Fishlegs frantically nodded. "Yes. That's why I- I mean, we wanted to know."
"Could you ask her why she wanted to know?" Hiccup blandly spoke, not looking up from the book.
"Okay. I'll try." Fishlegs whispered, feeling dread. He got up from the seat and rushed back to where Astrid and the others were.
While Fishlegs was gone, Hiccup pondered what he should do about the situation. His father had drilled to him that information could mean life and death. Because he was son of the chief, he was bound to know some interesting things that other village should never know about.
Security through secrecy was something that he practiced a lot. His father demanded it. That became easier after the merge. He could easily formulate short-term and long-term deception in a short time. After all, tricking your enemy to attack at your outmost prepared moment was satisfying than your least prepared moment.
He saw Fishlegs coming back to his table. He had a bruise on his left cheek, meaning that he had been punched in the face by someone. Hiccup assumed that it was Snotlout, by the size of the bruise.
"A- Astrid told me she wanted to slay the dragon." Fishlegs answered.
Hiccup immediately lost all respect that he had for Astrid. The petite girl wanted to kill him, even after he saved his own father's life. The young boy pulled out his charcoal pencil. He underlined a text on the book. Never engage this dragon.
He pushed it to Fishlegs, who looked for the change in the book. Hiccup stared at him. "Is that enough?"
"I-" Fishlegs was nervous. "You just underlined it."
"Yes." Hiccup simply spoke. His eyes bored to him. "She clearly didn't read this part. It's best that she read the book, so she doesn't die."
"B- But that didn't really say anything-"
"Fishlegs." Hiccup interrupted him. "Did you read it yourself?"
"I did."
"Then you should read it again, because you're not listening to the book." Hiccup replied. He stood up from the seat. "I'm off to bed. You have a nice night."
With that said, Hiccup moved out from the Great Hall, leaving a resigned Fishlegs standing there.
Days had passed. Hiccup was ready to travel.
The boy turned dragon was flying in the sky, in his dragon form. He had a leather backpack strapped on his chest. He was tailing a panicking female Deadly Nadder, who were going as fast as she could to run away from him.
"Calm down, I just want to talk!" Hiccup shouted. They had been flying for some time. He had been looking for a dragon to talk to. The problem was, they would simply run away from him when they caught his scent. The Deadly Nadder was the first one that he came close to.
"Go away!" The Deadly Nadder screeched. She was flying for her life. "Leave me alone!"
"I'm not leaving you alone until I ask you some questions."
"I have a mate!" The Deadly Nadder snapped.
"I'm not looking for a mate!" Hiccup snapped back, angry that she would suggest such a thing. "I'm looking for a direction! Could you tell me about the nearest nest with an alpha dragon?"
That confused the Deadly Nadder enough to make her slow down. Hiccup flew next to her, and they both flew side by side.
"W- What?" The Deadly Nadder stuttered, staring at him in shock.
"Nearest alpha dragon nest." Hiccup repeated. "I need direction. And don't say Red Death."
"T- There was one that I know." The Deadly Nadder nervously spoke. "But it was so far away, it would take days to go there!"
"Do you know the direction?"
"I- I do. It was that way." The Deadly Nadder moved her head to point towards her northwest.
"Alright. Thanks." Hiccup thanked her.
After knowing the direction, the Night Fury flew up high into the sky. The Deadly Nadder watched as Hiccup gained incredible amount of speed in short amount of time. She saw cone-shaped vapour, and an extremely loud boom when he flew away.
Hiccup kept on flying for few hours. He was up high in the sky, flying near his reachable top speed. His body was trailing purple plasma and gas as he flew. He saw several dragons when flying by, but he was too fast to really notice them.
Finally, he saw it. It was a massive island. At the centre of the island, there was an active volcano. Inside the volcano, there was a dragon that resembles Red Death. However, this one did not look like Red Death. Rather, this one had green colour instead of blue, with spiked appendages on its back.
The gigantic dragon had its upper body exposed and its paws on the rocks in front of it. It looked like it was sitting on a chair, with the surface being the table. Hiccup could feel the call trying to reach him, only for it to bounce away from him. The dragon was looking up to him.
Seeing that this was an alpha dragon, Hiccup slowed himself down. He turned and made a large circle over the island, before finally slow enough to land. The Night Fury moved and landed in front of it.
"Greetings." Hiccup politely spoke.
"Hello, Dark Chaser." The dragon rumbled. Its voice was female. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"I am on a quest to understand more about alpha dragons." Hiccup declared.
"Truly?" The dragon was surprised. "I thought Dark Chasers know of our legend."
Hiccup paused for a moment. "I never learned of it." He admitted. "I hatched alone without anyone to care for me, and I never found any of my kind. I heard about alpha dragon from dragons that raided a human village. I wanted to know more."
"Hmm." The dragon grumbled. "… you are immune to our call."
"Yes." Hiccup nodded.
"Very well." The dragon declared. "I will consider you a neutral party. Introduction was in order. Welcome to my nest."
Several dragons flew down around them, some of which Hiccup did not recognise. They all bowed down to the giant dragon. After some time, they raised their head, staring at them with curious expression.
"I am known as Green Death." The giant dragon – now known as the Green Death – spoke. "These were my subjects. My nest is an auxiliary for other dragon nests. We take care of necessities for dragons in need."
"I see." Hiccup nodded, looking around. "… it is a nice place."
"Thank you." Green Death nodded. "Now. What other alpha dragon have you heard?"
"I've heard of Red Death."
There were gasps and hisses among the dragons. The Green Death grumbled. "Ah. Yes. I suppose that was where you hailed from."
"I… I grow up around her territory." Hiccup hesitantly nodded. "Yes."
"Your immunity to our call proved to be an advantage for your survival." The giant dragon hummed. "… It reminded me of the olden times when I was a hatchling."
"Red Death and I had histories." The Green Death continued speaking. "She was my hatch-mate. We used to rule over our subjects together, serving for the Great King of All Dragons. However, one day, I noticed that Red Death became more… violent."
"I ignored it at first." Green Death huffed. "Capital punishment of death were not uncommon in our nest. However, it became apparent to me that she began to grow lazy and vicious. She would use our subjects to raid villages and gather food for her own mouth. She was risking our dragons for her gluttony."
"I could not let it stand and reported her to the King." Green Death continued explaining. "The King declared that she was to be banished. She retaliated, of course, but she lost against both of us and vowed for revenge. Now, she resides in an island full of fogs. She became the Condemned Queen."
The Green Death paused. "… Have you visited her nest, Dark Chaser?" She inquired.
"I have not visited her nest." Hiccup admitted. Technically, he had not visited her after the merging. "I do, however, feel her attempt to call me. I am immune to call, and thus, a free dragon. She did not affect me."
"Very well." Green Death grunted. "I must warn you. The Condemned Queen would not appreciate to have a free dragon in her territory. Beware of her, for she will make your life difficult."
"I will heed your warning." Hiccup nodded.
"Now." The Green Death started. "What would you like to know about Alpha Dragon?"
"… I would like to know about the legend of alpha dragon." Hiccup answered.
"The Legend of Alpha Dragon. The oldest legend of dragons." The Green Death started her lecture. "When the age of dragons begun, the Dragons of Old fought each other."
The giant dragon paused for a moment. "They fought for various reasons." She continued. "One would say they fought for leadership. Others fought for their freedom. Some would seek power and glory, while the rest wanted their food and resources."
"Alpha dragons came to be when there was a demand for peace." The Green Death continued her lecture. "Hundreds of thousands of dragons cried out. Eventually, some dragons stood out and became a leader through blood and tears of their own. They were the first ever alpha that ever existed."
"Naturally, there would be dragons that wanted that power." Green Death snorted. "However, at some point during our lives, Alpha Dragons of Old gained the ability to partially control dragons to do our bidding."
"The Alpha Call." Hiccup whispered.
"Yes." Green Death nodded. "The first to obtain such power was the Great King. He became the very first King of All Dragons."
"My ancestors were his right-paw dragon." The Green Death spoke. "They were the second one to ever receive such blessing. Then, the Tree Walker came the third. Eventually, alpha dragons became a necessity to ensure peace and prosperity among the dragons."
"We promised them food, protection and peace." Green Death finished. "In turn, they serve under us. My nest exists to ensure that no dragons in my territory would ever go hungry. While I am an alpha, we still serve under the Great King, for they were the ones who led us to the golden age of dragons."
There was a pause. Green Death was looking at Hiccup with expectant look. Seeing that she wanted his response, he spoke. "I can see how important alpha dragon was."
He believed it. Dragons without leader would often fight each other. Other dragon leader would appear, and most would usually turn to become war dragons and made their nest fight other nests. His dragon memories were relatively long, and he had seen them happen in areas without any alpha influence.
"Now you do." Green Death lazily spoke.
"Do other alpha dragons lead others like how you rule your subjects?" Hiccup questioned.
"No." Green Death shook her head. "Each and every alpha dragon have their own ways to rule over their subjects."
"I personally rule my subject through fear and respect." Green Death declared. "An alpha must inspire. An alpha must impartial. An alpha must be unprejudiced when ruling over their subject."
"An alpha must be ready to fight at moment's notice." Green Death continued speaking. Dragons started to crowd around them. "For what would they deserve, if an alpha could not defend their nest? An alpha must provide for their subjects!"
"An alpha inspires. An alpha listen." Green Death was getting passionate with her speech. "Consider the options and pick one that served them best! How could we be a nest, if we do not cooperate?! How could we serve ourselves, if we do not listen to ourselves?! We live and die together, so others could survive! For this is our nest! THE GREEN DEATH NEST!"
"GREEN DEATH!" The dragons around them roared. More and more dragons came to land close to them.
"We fight for our peace! We fight for our freedom!" Green Death fanatically roared. "We fight for our place in this world! This is not just my nest. This is OUR nest! Our heroes and warriors fought for our freedom against Red Death and BY GODS, WE WILL HONOUR THEM!"
"FREEDOM!" The dragons roared much louder. It was followed by a loud, fiery cheer.
The roar echoed throughout the entire nest. Hiccup was awed by the sheer loyalty and fidelity Green Death's dragon had for their Queen. Courage and feverish passion were thick in the air. It was something that reminded him of his father's speech, but much longer and tempered.
The Night Fury looked up to Green Death. She was looking around to her subject. The giant dragon was proud of his subjects. The Green Death looked down to him. He could see the proud look in her eyes.
Hiccup felt like he was staring at the queen of dragons.
Hiccup returned to Berk later that night. He went straight into his room and went to his bed. The boy turned dragon were silent when he got back. He was still trying to digest the fact that Green Death nest was so fierce and loyal to each other.
He learned that Green Death was the hatch-mate of Red Death. He could see that Green Death was the opposite of Red Death. While Green Death ruled her subjects through awe and respect, Red Death ruled her subjects through threats and empty promises.
The sheer amount of passion and desire to serve was something to admire. Green Death, as an alpha dragon, was a fanatical dragon. The sheer vehemence he felt from her entire nest beaten the courage of the whole village when they were off fighting dragons. They were feverish, fanatical, and drumming to fight to their death for their nest. There were a lot of fire in the nest, and it was not because there were a lot of fire breathing lizards there.
He had never seen anything like it.
When things calmed down for everyone, the Green Death had brought him deeper into her lair. She lectured him that he had a gift of immunity against alpha dragons. She predicted that it might be nearing the end of the dragon age.
She lectured him of the importance of empathy and loyalty. Dragons would follow their lead if they had given them hopes and dreams. For Green Death, she had led a revolution against the Red Death and her tyranny. It led them to banish her away, to the land of fog that was the Helheim's Gate.
She recognised his intellect and willingness to learn. She complemented his talent. She had told him the direction and place where Hiccup could meet the King of All Dragons. She wanted him to meet him, as he was considered a sign of their end of time.
Hiccup did not like what he was hearing. The end of dragon age meant that all dragons would be gone. He was not sure how it would end, and neither does Green Death.
However, he had a quest. He would need to see the alpha that ruled over the dragons.
Green Death was the first one. The Great King would be the second one that he needed to see.
Hiccup cursed himself. He rolled over and stood from his bed. He moved to close and lock the window and the door. After making sure nobody would peek, Hiccup moved and sat at his desk. There was his journal there, along with a quill pen and bottle of ink.
He opened it and began flipping the pages. There were writings and drawings about lands and dragons that he had seen. After finding an empty page, he grabbed the quill pen, opened the bottle of ink, dipped it and began writing on his journal.
If the age of dragons were ever going to end, he would need to document his experience as much as possible.
Hiccup wondered if he really was Hiccup, or just someone pretending to be Hiccup.
It was a question that he often asked himself whenever he was in the village. The real Hiccup would try his best to prove himself of the village and his father. While he did make attempts himself, they did not really make that much of a difference. His father still never listened to him.
It took him a while to notice. After the merge, he seemed to be calmer, mature and smarter. He had also become more calculating and threatening at the face of a threat. Pride was something he have a lot, as well as ego. Everyone feared him, and their fear bolstered his pride.
He felt like a predator. He felt like a wolf, walking amongst a flock of sheep in their clothing. Vikings were far more than a flock of sheep, but his instinct made everything about them extremely slow. He could sense where everyone was and knew what they were about to do, before they even do it.
He assumed it was an effect for becoming one with a Night Fury. It could be the instinct and personality that the Night Fury had. The dragon was smart, but not as smart as Hiccup. He had no name, unlike most dragons, mostly because nobody really wanted to get close to him. Because the dragon had no name, he had to adopt his human name, Hiccup.
He could not say that he was the dragon, either. The dragon was smart, but after the merge, Hiccup was even smarter than before. There were not many memories in the dragon, mostly because he was more instinct driven. He was very experienced in fighting, and a veteran of lone wolfing.
He was arrogant, and that often led to his downfall. But Hiccup was anything but arrogant. He was very much unlike the Night Fury. While pride and ego were something he had plenty, he did not let himself driven by it. Rather, it drove him to become more dominant.
He was a combination of both greatest values of Hiccup and the Night Fury. The question was, which one was he? Was he Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, or was he the Night Fury?
His thought process immediately pointed to Hiccup Haddock. However, there was that feeling that he might have had changed so much that he might no longer be Hiccup anymore.
"H- Hiccup?"
Hiccup looked up and see Fishlegs standing in front of him. He was in the Great Hall at Berk, in his human form. He was sitting at the corner, the usual place where he would sit.
He was somewhat deep in thought. He had ignored his senses telling him that someone was coming to him. He did not want to bother with whoever it was.
"What is it, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked, curious. He noticed that Fishlegs was holding the Book of Dragons.
"Astrid wanted to know something about-" Fishlegs nervously spoke.
"Fishlegs." Hiccup firmly spoke, interrupting him. "Let me ask you a question. Why does Astrid seem to think that I know a lot about dragons?"
The large boy was silent. He looked down to the table, slightly muttering. "You're the son of chief."
"I know." Hiccup nodded. "There are some things that I know, even about the question yesterday, but I can't tell you anything about it."
Fishlegs gasped. He realised that Hiccup knew something about Night Fury. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"If you want me to tell you, you have to make the chief tell you first." Hiccup stood up from his chair. "Because if I were to tell you first, I'll have to kill you. If not me, it would be my dad."
Fishlegs paled. "O- Oh."
"Yes." Hiccup lazily spoke. "Secrecy and all that."
That was a bluff. He simply did not want to divulge into whatever Fishlegs was trying to persuade him for.
"I- I'm sorry Hiccup." Fishlegs apologised. "I didn't know…"
"That's okay." Hiccup nodded. "Here is a suggestion for you. Stop following Astrid."
"Err- Why?" The large boy questioned.
"Because you're acting like her servant." Hiccup patiently explained. "Why are you approaching me for her?"
"Because I also wanted to know." Fishlegs softly spoke.
"Do you want to know, or Astrid want to know?"
Fishlegs deflated. "A bit of both."
"Then make her come here with you." Hiccup replied. "… Someday. I'm going to sleep. You have a nice night, Fishlegs."
Hiccup walked away. As he did, Fishlegs hesitantly spoke. "Y- You too, Hiccup…" He deflated as he watched him go.
After Hiccup's visit to Green Death's nest days ago, words had spread about the new Dark Chaser in the archipelago. The dragons recognised him passing by when they heard loud screeching noise and a large, straight clouds drawn in the sky.
After his visit in Green Death Nest, dragons had slightly warmed up to him. While they were still wary of him, they would not immediately run away from him upon seeing or smelling his scent. It was an improvement for Hiccup, as he made it clear that he would not attack unless he was attacked first.
The boy turned dragon was flying up high in the air. He was looking for the King's nest. Green Death had told him that it was a place full of ice. The direction he was given should take roughly one day or two to reach from Berk. It was the time that the dragons had told him.
It took him fifteen minutes to reach the general area of the nest.
Hiccup spotted a huge island that was composed of large, spiked ice structures. There were few dragons flying at somewhat low altitude, entering and leaving the place through the cave way entrance.
Seeing that was the place, he slowed himself down, and dove into the entrance.
Hiccup was amazed.
The place was beautiful. There were so many strange rock formations all over the place. It was a gargantuan, massive cave with equally massive rocks and clearings. Under the rock formation canyons, there was a massive, deep ocean there. Hiccup had never seen anything like it!
The rocks had a lot of plants and trees. For some reason, the rock formations were mostly hexagon and polygon shaped. There were massive ice spikes hanging below them as well. The place was strangely bright, as soft light cast down from the sun through the ice.
There were a lot of dragons flying around, of various colours, kinds and species. Everyone was busy doing their errands, chattering with each other, without any care in the world. The place was very peaceful.
Hiccup looked to the side and saw a Monstrous Nightmare coming close to him. "Hello. Are you the Dark Chaser that visited Green Death several sun cycles ago?"
"I did." Hiccup nodded. "I'm looking for the King of All Dragons."
"Right. Follow me." The dragon spoke. "I'll lead you to him."
With that said, Hiccup followed the Monstrous Nightmare deeper into the nest.
Hiccup and the Monstrous Nightmare flew out of the massive cave way. The place was a massive, flooded clearing, with an equally massive cave mouth that faced the vast, open ocean.
Notably, there was a large dry clearing not far from there. There was a huge pile of fishes there, and several dragons eating them.
Hiccup and the dragon landed onto one of the higher, elevated clearing. It was at the south end of the clearing, with the food place on their left and cave mouth on the right.
The Monstrous Nightmare turned to look at Hiccup. "The King will return momentarily. You will have to wait for him here."
"Okay." Hiccup nodded.
With that note, the Monstrous Nightmare flew up, heading back to the place where they came from. Hiccup looked at the open sea, waiting for something to happen.
Suddenly, a gargantuan dragon rose from the sea. Hiccup gaped at the sheer size of the dragon. It was massive, bigger than Red Death. The dragon had white colour, with plenty of spikes on the back of its head. There were appendages that goes all the way back of its spine. On its head was two large horns.
Notably, the horns had an equally large net attached to it. It had a huge pile of fish in the net.
Hiccup realised that it was The King of All Dragons. He was feeding his subjects.
The King swim towards the large clearing. He dumped the fishes from the net onto the existing pile. The dragons around him cheered, as they went off to eat more of the fishes that he had gathered from the sea.
Hiccup could see why dragons admired him. Instead of only coordinating the dragons, he also participated in gathering those food.
The alpha dragon seemed to have noticed him there. He swam towards his direction and looked at him at eye level. Hiccup was awed upon seeing his eyes. He looked old and wise, despite sheer size of the dragon.
"Greetings, Dark Chaser." The giant dragon greeted him. "Welcome to the Dragon Sanctuary. I was expecting you."
"You do?"
"Yes." The King nodded. "Green Death had informed me of you. I was saddened when I heard of her prediction. After hundred thousand world cycle of dragon age, I suppose everything would come to an end eventually."
Hiccup slowly nodded. Dragons had been around for hundred thousand years. It was longer than he thought it would.
"Now." The King started. "I am aware of your quest. What do you seek from me, Dark Chaser?"
"… I wish for wisdom." Hiccup declared. "I want to know how alpha dragons lead their subjects."
"Every leader has their own ways to lead their subjects." The King answered. "Green Death led her dragons through fear and respect. You had seen her lead her dragons. Through fiery passion and loyalty, she led her dragons together with her."
The King paused, before continued speaking. "She had her own understanding on what it meant to be an alpha." He lectured. "While I do share the same opinion, that did not mean I share the same ways as she does."
"Green Death told me that she served under you." Hiccup spoke.
"She does." The King nodded. "All dragon-kind does. I am the King of All Dragons, for leading dragons through hardship and destruction. It was not an easy task, but I was determined. For you see, the peace and harmony among all dragon-kind was the ultimate goal that needed to be achieved."
"What does it feel like to be a ruler?"
"Hmm." The King sounded exhausted. "Ruling over subjects were not an easy task."
"There would be the time where you questioned yourself if you made the right choice for your subjects." The King lectured. "There would be the time where you realise that there was never a good choice to make. You would have to make hard decision after hard decision for everyone."
"Any choice you made would often righted one and wronged the other." The King continued lecturing. "As a King, it was my duty to pick the right one that served my subjects."
"There would be times where you will regret your decision. However, you must not let it consume you." The King lectured. "Righting the wrong you did would be the next option you must take. A King would never let grief consume them, for loss and regret would influence their decision, and cause despair among their subjects."
Hiccup understood. He could see his father being described by the King. His mother was taken by the dragons, and ever since that day, his father had become distant from him. He was engrossed on killing all dragons, he did not even care about him at all.
Before Hiccup could stop himself, he asked. "How could someone be saved for being consumed by grief?"
"It would be acceptance and humility." The King answered. "At some point in our lives, we would accept that we have to move on from grief. Life full of grief and regret was not fitting for a King, but those willing to move on deserve more to become the King."
Hiccup slowly nodded. He was not sure on what to say about it.
"No matter who they are – humans or dragons, everyone could change. It was a sign of maturity." The King continued lecturing. "The most common change dragons experience was when they take their first kill. It was unfortunate that dragons would need to take a life, but it was necessary for their survival."
Hiccup understood. He remembered from his dragon memories, back when he took a life of a dragon for the first time. The nightmare and horrors that he had suffered was painful. He had moved on from it, acknowledging that it was necessary to defend himself.
It reminded him of the current situation he had. He was conflicted whether he was the real Hiccup or not. It was possible that he had always been the real Hiccup, and he was simply refusing to accept it.
The real Hiccup would cower under pressure. He was anything but that.
It was most likely something that he would overcome some time in the future. After all, when living in a place where dragon always attacks, it would not do well for someone to be a coward like his past self. It would not do good for the village if he was a coward, for he is the son of the chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe.
"How does someone learn humility?" Hiccup questioned.
"We learn them when we realise that there were far more things that exist outside of our own little world." The King answered. "However, for most dragons, we humbled ourselves when we came to a realisation. Most dragons come to a realisation after they suffered through something that was emotionally significant to them."
"Those events do not necessarily have to be bad." The King emphasized. "A hatchling watching their parent gathering food would reveal them how hard it was to find food in the wild. A dragon mending their friendship would make them realise how important their friends was to them."
"It could be anything that opened their eyes to see." The King finished. "And when it happened, it will set them free."
That revealed something for Hiccup. It must be the memories that had matured him. Hiccup was young, barely 7-year-old when he became one with the dragon. The memories of the dragon were longer than he was.
However, even then, he still considered himself to be Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. It made him realise that the memories did not change him. It merely made him more mature. He was still Hiccup, and nothing changed that. He would eventually come to realisation and matured sometime in the future anyway.
For once in a very long time, Hiccup felt relief. He had been questioning his own identity for so long. He wanted a revelation for his situation. The King had made him realise that dragons – and humans – do change, and it was common for them to change.
It was something to be celebrated.
He was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, merged with a Night Fury and became a dragon. He was very much capable of turning into a human and live as a human. He had changed, matured and understood because of dragon memories in his mind.
In all mind and soul, he was still Hiccup. Nothing had changed that.
Hiccup gave him a slight bow. "Thank you for your wisdom."
"It was my duty as an alpha to help." The King rumbled.
Hiccup was about to took off when the King spoke to him. "Now. I have someone that I want you to meet. Have you seen a human before?"
Hiccup hesitantly nodded. "I have."
"Would you like to see one up close?" The King offered. "We have a friendly human that had helped us before."
That confused Hiccup. He had never seen a human that helped dragons before. "I would be honoured." He responded, bowing slightly to him.
Moments later, a dragon flew down and landed close to them. It was a Stormcutter – a large dragon with long sideway horns and two pair of wings. There was a human on its back. Hiccup immediately realised that it was a female human, based on the scent.
The human was wearing a leather armoured outfit and a blue spiked mask. She had a red cape bellowing behind her. She was holding a blue-yellow-red wooden shield, and a staff that rattles whenever they moved it.
The human jumped off the Stormcutter. They approached the King and rattled the staff.
Hiccup realised that she was using the staff to show intention. It was not true speech of dragons, as they usually speak with roars and growls. Most dragons could not understand Norse, mostly because nobody bothered on learning them. It was an interesting substitute. This human was interesting to him.
The King rumbled, looked at the human, looked at Hiccup and back to the human. The human seemed to understand. She came close to Hiccup, who were staring at her with curious expression.
The human slowly moved her hand to touch him. Hiccup let her be. Then, she began scratching his neck. The dragon immediately purred as he suddenly felt an itch that was never there before. It felt nice to him.
The scratch moved to a different place and Hiccup suddenly felt something move on his body. He looked back and saw a set of new appendages. He had spines running along his back to his tail. He tried moving them and found it clasping open and close. He could even retract them in and out of his back.
Hiccup never know he ever had something like it. He thought it would be useful for flight stability.
The Night Fury sensed the human moving back and forth, inspecting the backpack he was wearing. She grabbed the strap and wiggled it and found it firm in place.
Hiccup backed off from the human. He opened his backpack and pulled out a doll. It was an old dragon plush that he had in his room. His mother had given him that when he was much, much younger. It looked like a Deadly Nadder, but with four legs instead of two.
He had kept it in his dragon form because he did not want to forget his own mother. It was his precious. He showed it to her, because it was something precious for him. He was showing gratitude for helping him discover something new on his body, after all.
The human seemed to gasp when she saw it. She tried to reach for it, but Hiccup growled. He would not let her touch it. After staring for some time, Hiccup placed it back into his backpack. He came close to her.
Hiccup wanted to speak Norse. He did not want to reveal himself being able to turn human to her. The dragon tilted his head as he thought. He wondered if he could even speak like a human. He had tried to imitate humans speaking before the merge, but it never worked. He did not have the voice to do so.
The dragon wondered if there was anything that transferred from his human side to his dragon side. He never truly experimented with it before. After all, he could use the strength of his dragon side in his human form. Could he utilise his human abilities in dragon form?
Hiccup thought it was worth a try. He took a deep breath, focusing on trying to speak human. He remembered how to speak. Wishing for luck, he opened his mouth to speak.
"Thank you." Hiccup spoke, earning a gasp from the human and the King. It did sound like him, but his voice was deeper than his human side, but it was better than no speech at all. There was no accent, meaning that it was a success!
Hiccup cheered. He pranced around, happy that he managed to speak human language. "Yes! That worked!"
"You have a very interesting set of abilities, Dark Chaser." The King commented.
Hiccup stopped. He slightly bowed to the King. "Thank you."
The human came close to him. "… you speak." She was awed.
Hiccup felt proud. He faced her and continued speaking like a human. "I do." He nodded.
"You understand me." The human whispered.
"Yes." Hiccup softly spoke. "Thank you for showing me something I never know."
Hiccup moved forward to nuzzle her. He took on her scent to remember who she was. When he did, he suddenly froze. He caught a familiar scent on her. She had a scent of his father. It was very faint, but it was there. It could only mean one thing; she was his father's mate.
That meant she was his mother.
'That should not be possible.' Hiccup thought to himself. 'My mother died taken by a dragon.'
Hiccup remembered pondering about his mother. He had assumed that his mother was brought into Red Death nest and then fed into her gullet. He had accepted that she might have already died those years ago. His only regret was how his father had neglected him because of his grief of her.
The human moved to scratch him. However, Hiccup stopped her. He pushed her hands away. He moved to reach for her mask. He wanted to see. The human made no movement to stop him. The dragon slowly slid her mask off, revealing who she was to him.
The human had white skin, blue eyes and auburn hair. If Hiccup did not know better, he would've thought he was looking at a mirror image of himself if he was older and female. He remembered some drawings of his mother that his father had showed him. She definitely looked like her.
Hiccup took a couple steps back and sat there. His eyes wide, pupil fully dilated. His mouth was open and his wings limp on the ground. His ears were down. He was in complete shock as to what he was looking at.
She was his mother!
His mother was alive all this time!
The human was concerned of him. She did not know what caused him to have such reaction.
Hiccup slowly recovered from his shock. "So, this is where you have been…" He breathed out. "All this time… you were here."
His mother was confused. "I… don't know what you mean. Do I know you?"
"You don't recognise me." Hiccup whispered. "Because I've changed. But I do know you. After all…"
Hiccup then transformed to his human form. Both human and dragons were shocked that Hiccup had turned human. They gasped upon seeing him. The human recognised him.
The moment that it was done, he looked at his mother. "How could a son forget his own mother?"
Valka Haddock used to believe in goodwill of the people.
Back when she was young, she believed that a lot of things could be resolved peacefully. She believed that everyone would make peace with one another if they were shown some kindness in their lives.
When she grew up, that image had somewhat faded. She learned that there would always be people that wanted them dead, no matter what. The Outcasts vowed vengeance against her husband, the Berserker attacking her village back when they were enemies. Those deaths changed her thought; she realised that some people were beyond saving.
It was her ideology and mind that made her fell to her husband.
Stoick was the man that enraptured her heart. He was the man she could ever dreamt of. He was kind, compassionate, and understanding. He understood her ideas, and she admired him for who he was.
Valka would be lying if she said she didn't miss him.
She really missed Stoick.
She wondered how he was doing.
She wondered how Hiccup was doing.
It changed when she met the Night Fury. Cloudjumper had moved and brought her there to see the Bewilderbeast. She thought that the Night Fury must have had escaped from Dragon Flyer's clutch, considering that he was wearing a backpack of all things.
Instead, he showed her that he wore them willingly. He showed her a very familiar dragon plush that she remembered giving it to Hiccup when he was a baby. It was something that she made herself for him.
It became a shock for her. She thought that the dragon had somehow found it from somewhere. She thought that Hiccup had died back on Berk, and the dragon had found the plush.
It was even more shock for her that Hiccup was the Night Fury!
"This is insane."
That snapped her out of her thoughts. Hiccup was somewhat short. He was a 9-year-old boy who could turn into a dragon. It was something that she had never seen before.
"All this time, you're here with the dragons?" Hiccup whispered. "You don't even come to visit and say hello, at least?"
"Hiccup…" Valka started. She took a step forward.
"Stop." Hiccup firmly spoke. That stopped her on her tracks.
Everyone was silent for some time. The dragons were shocked to see that Hiccup could turn into a human. Valka was shocked that Hiccup was a dragon. Hiccup was in shock because his mother was alive!
"… This is too much to take in all at once." Hiccup admitted. Everyone seemed to agree with it. "I'm going to start first."
Hiccup transformed to his dragon form. He immediately reared back and roared. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"
The Stormcutter immediately rushed to defend his friend. "Don't you scream at her!" He roared, standing between him and Valka.
"Do you even know who she is?!" Hiccup roared back. "She's my mother!"
"I don't care!" Stormcutter fumed. "You think you're above me, Dark Chaser. You dare to lay your claws against her, and I will make you regret it."
Hiccup's body crackled with green electricity. "You dare to challenge me, Four Wing? I'll end you where you stand!"
"ENOUGH!" The King roared.
It instantly stopped them. Stormcutter bowed down to the King. Hiccup calmed himself down and looked at the King.
The King of All Dragons glared at them. "I will not tolerate fighting in my nest." He declared. "Resolve this peacefully, Dark Chaser, or you will find yourself out of this nest."
Hiccup took a deep breath and exhaled. He gave him a slight bow. "… I apologise for my action." He responded. "It was uncalled for."
"It was expected." The King grunted. "It was a family matter. It was bound to happen."
The King looked at the Stormcutter. "Take the human away. I will deal with this."
The Stormcutter began pushing Valka away. When she made no motion to move, he grabbed her and flew out from the place.
Hiccup and the King stared at each other. The Night Fury had finally calmed himself down. He was staring at the King, curious as to what he wanted from him.
"… You are a human." The King started.
"Was." Hiccup corrected. "I never considered myself to be a human anymore. After I became a dragon, I merely took the identity of my former human self and adapt with it."
"This is another sign for us." The King responded. "A human becoming a dragon. It was as what was prophesied by Dragons of Old."
"Prophesied?" Hiccup tilted his head, confused.
"The end of Dragon Age." The King replied. "Our book was ending. When dragons began to walk amongst the humans, there would be those who would benefit from them. A war we had never seen before would begin."
"The war would determine if we would retain our freedom or enslaved by the humans." The King forlornly spoke. "In which all would return to our origin, forevermore."
Hiccup was saddened to hear it. "… I'm sorry."
"Do not apologise." The King warmly spoke, staring at him with soft expression. "You merely bear the signs and message. While I do not believe such thing would happen any time soon, I wanted everyone to prepare for them."
"Thank you." Hiccup slightly bowed to him.
"You may visit the human." The King declared. "But know this, no harm shall come to her. Bare your claws against her and you will see the might of our dragons."
"I promise I will never bare my claws against her." Hiccup responded. He did not flinch at the threat that the King had promised him.
"I will take you up to that promise." The King responded. "One last thing. Do not tell anyone about the prophecy."
Hiccup wanted to ask why, but something stopped him from doing so. He could see why the King did not want him to tell anyone about it. After all, if dragons knew that their lives were ending, everyone would panic. It would become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"… I will never tell another soul about this." Hiccup promised.
The King fell silent. After some time, he spoke. "Very well." He ended. "Are you still on your quest to find more about alpha dragons?"
"I am."
"There are only four alpha that exist in this world." The King lectured. "You have known of Green Death, Red Death and the Great King. Me. The last one is a Tree Hugger. You may find the direction by speaking with the human before."
Hiccup could see what the King was playing. "I see…" He slowly spoke.
The Great King nodded. With that gesture, he submerged back into the water. He disappeared into the huge lake in the massive cave.
Hiccup took off into the sky. He went to look for the place where his mother had gone off to.
Hiccup found them at some part of a cavern. He landed at the entrance and found himself facing against the Stormcutter.
The Stormcutter was glaring down at him. "Come to finish your job?"
"I had promised the King not to harm her." Hiccup glared back. "I am not one to break promises."
"I will see that you do." The Stormcutter huffed. He stepped aside, showing Valka standing not far from there.
Valka was hesitant. Hiccup slowly approached him, making sure that he was not looking threatening at all. Upon reaching her, he sat in front of her. He opened his backpack and pulled out a familiar dragon plush. Then, he offered it to her.
The woman slowly reached for the plush. She picked it up and stared at it. Then, she looked up to see her son.
"I… had to move on." Hiccup shuddered a breath. "For nine years, I was told that you were dead. When I became a dragon, I figured that you might have had been eaten by an alpha dragon."
"… I came here looking for the King." Hiccup admitted. "I was curious, and I travelled here to learn more. I did not expect to see you here."
Hiccup looked back. He saw Stormcutter glaring at him, watching him every move. The Night Fury looked back to Valka. "… I'm sorry." He softly spoke. "For… everything."
He closed his eyes and lowered himself to her. He showed his submission to her. He was truly sincere of it. It was his mother, after all. The woman who birthed him before he became a dragon.
He felt like being punished. He felt like he deserved to be humiliated. For all his pride and ego, there were tiny bit of hope inside him that longed for family and affection. When he finally found out about his mother, he had to scream at her, and that goes his hope to finally have someone that he considered family.
Hiccup felt someone hugging him. He opened his eyes and noticed that Valka had moved to hug him. He moved his head to hug him back. As he did, he caught a glimpse of the Stormcutter. He was staring at him with approving look.
"Don't be sorry, Hiccup." He heard Valka spoke. "I- I wasn't there for you. I thought you'd be better off without me. I'm sorry."
Valka let go of him. Hiccup took a few steps back. "So, we're even then." He wryly spoke.
"I- I guess." Valka sadly smiled. "… I guess you really did take after me, after all."
"Literally a dragon." Hiccup smiled.
"Literally a dragon." Valka nodded, smiling.
"But how did you survive?" Hiccup inquired. He began circling Valka, looking for any signs of injuries. "I thought you were taken by Red Death's dragons and eaten by her."
He heard Stormcutter snorted. Hiccup gave him a deadpan expression.
Valka waved him off. "Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me." She explained. "He must've thought I belonged here… in the home of the great Bewilderbeast! The Alpha species."
"Bewilderbeast?" Hiccup repeated. It must be the name that humans gave to the King.
"One of the very few that still exist." Valka nodded. "Every nest has its queen, but he was the King of All Dragons."
Hiccup paused at that declaration. He sat there, facing her. After some time, he looked up to the Stormcutter. "Cloudjumper, huh?"
"It was the name that the human gave me." The Stormcutter – known as Cloudjumper – responded.
"What about you?" Valka questioned. She began inspecting his body. "How did you become a dragon?"
"I…" Hiccup started. "It was a long story."
"It started when I found a cave." Hiccup told the tale. "I found a Night Fury inside. Somehow, I became one with the Night Fury. It was then I realised that he was trapped there, along with myself."
Valka's eyes were wide. "So, you're a dragon all along."
"I'm still Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third." Hiccup emphasized. "Just… no longer human. My thoughts are still mine, but after becoming a dragon, I matured. I'm still me, just… not human anymore."
"… You're beautiful." Valka breathed out. "Incredible. You might very well be the last of your kind." She muttered as she kept inspecting him. She opened his mouth and looked inside. "You're 20-year-old!" She exclaimed as she inspected his teeth. "At least, when you're a dragon."
Hiccup retracted his teeth, fearing that it might hurt his mother. However, that made her even more fascinated of him. "And retractable teeth!" She let go of him and observed his wings. She noticed that there were few scrapes on his wings. "Ah! What happened to…"
Hiccup casted dragon magic onto himself. The injuries immediately healed itself, surprising Valka. "How did you…"
"It was something that I gained from the cave." Hiccup replied, proud at his mother's amazed look. "Very useful. I could even use it on other dragons."
"Amazing…" Valka breathed out. "But how did you get those injuries?"
"Well!" Hiccup started as he took several steps away from her. "When you're the fastest dragon around, at some point, you become so fast, you could literally rip your own limbs if you do it wrong."
"You ripped your own wings?" Valka gasped. "But… how did you…"
"I could grow back my limbs." Hiccup answered. "Like I said, very useful. It took me a while to train myself to go that fast and adapt myself, but it was all worth it for me."
Hiccup heard Cloudjumper grumbling something under his breath. He smirked at him, further infuriating him. Valka started. "I'm so sorry, Hiccup." She apologised. "Can we start over? Will you give me another chance?"
"You're the only family that I've ever met that truly accepted me for who I am." Hiccup whispered. He nuzzled her cheek. "Of course, I'm willing to start over."
"Thank you." Valka breathed out. Hiccup purred. He backed off and took a few steps back from her.
Valka remembered something. She asked. "What did your father think of you being… this?"
"He doesn't know." Hiccup admitted. "For all he knows, I was wandering around the forest back at Berk and would return home for the night."
"But he was bound to notice." Valka insisted. "It took Cloudjumper few days to go here. It was so far outside the archipelago."
Hiccup smirked. "Fifteen minutes. Tops."
"Incredible." Valka gasped. "You can really go that fast?"
"I can go faster if I'm not carrying these." Hiccup spoke as he gestured to his backpack. "It took me a long time to make them, because it kept ripping whenever I went too fast."
"You're the fastest dragon that I've ever seen." Valka whispered.
"Alright, that's enough ego boost for you, Dark Chaser." Cloudjumper interjected, trying to push Valka away.
Valka was not sure what was going on. "Cloudjumper, what are you…"
"Was that jealousy I smell?" Hiccup teased. That stopped Cloudjumper.
The Stormcutter growled. "Unlike you, Dark Chaser, I was not born with it. I trained myself to achieve my speed."
"I train myself to achieve my speed too." Hiccup argued. He shuddered as he remembered all those times of training himself. "You never know what it meant to be fast until you ripped your wings with your own speed."
Cloudjumper snorted. "A flightless dragon is a dead dragon." He spoke. "How could you be the fastest around if you were a dead dragon?"
Hiccup saw the challenge. He narrowed his eyes. "How could you be the fastest if it took you several sun cycles to go here from Berk?"
Cloudjumper growled. Valka was worried to see the two dragons threatening each other. "Hiccup, Cloudjumper, please."
"You. Me. Outside. Now." Cloudjumper challenged. With that, he flew out of the cave.
Hiccup could see where this was going. The Night Fury pressed something on his backpack, and it instantly fell off from his body. Valka jumped when she heard the backpack hitting the floor.
"If you don't mind, I'm dropping this here. I have a challenge to take." Hiccup growled. He took off into the air, heading to follow Cloudjumper.
Valka was worried. She called out another dragon. A Deadly Nadder came to her. She mounted onto it and told it to fly up into the sky.
She wanted to know what they were up to.
It was sunny outside the nest. There were dragons wandering around, doing their errands. The King was also busy gathering fishes at the sea. Hiccup saw Cloudjumper high in the sky.
Hiccup approached Cloudjumper. "What do you want, Cloudjumper?"
"Let's play a game of tag." The Stormcutter challenged him. "The last one to give up has to eat an eel."
Hiccup was disgusted, but he was not one to back down from a challenge. "I accept."
Suddenly, Cloudjumper smacked his snout. "Tag, you're it!" Then, he dove down, gaining speed and running away from him.
Hiccup dove to follow him. They both went racing from tail to tail, heading right into the nest. Cloudjumper knew the place, so he had an advantage over him.
Racing inside the nest, Cloudjumper expertly navigated around the place. Four wings expanded as he turned and weaved around the cave way. Hiccup was keeping up behind him, but since he did not know the place, he stayed close behind him.
Dragons on the ground were watching them race. They were awed by the speed and agility they showcased in the sky. They knew they were racing, because they had been flying all over the nest without any sign of destination in mind. They had seen Four Wing fly, but they had never seen him racing with a Dark Chaser.
Hiccup frowned as he dodged an oncoming Gronckle – a medium-sized slow dragon that shaped like a boulder. Cloudjumper had been intentionally flying through caves full of busy wandering dragons. He probably guessed that he was less manoeuvrable than him there.
He was not completely wrong, mainly because he was trying to avoid dragons that kept flying on their path. He was not used dodging moving obstacles while going fast.
He needed to tag him and fly out of the nest. He had more advantage outside than inside.
After flying for some time, Hiccup memorized the path around the nest. He needed to play it smart. While flying around the cave way, Hiccup turned to the left side at the branching path. Cloudjumper looked back to see that Hiccup was gone from his tail. "HAH! I knew he was a coward!"
Suddenly, he was slammed to the side, right as he exited the cave way. Hiccup had appeared out of nowhere, tagged him and now he was flying away. "Tag! You're it!"
Cloudjumper growled. He went off to chase Hiccup, who were flying out of the nest.
Outside the nest, Hiccup accelerated faster. Cloudjumper was behind him. He had the speed to keep up with him. However, Hiccup had not showed him his trump card yet.
The Night Fury moved closer to the nest walls. He moved up and down, easily dodging the still obstacles that was in the way. Hiccup was more used in that condition. It seemed to slow down Cloudjumper, somewhat.
After gaining enough speed, Hiccup pulled up into the sky. Cloudjumper grinned. He had more advantage when flying slow. The two dragons flew up higher and higher, going beyond the clouds. Everyone on the ground watched as they flew higher than they could possibly reach.
Hiccup showed no signs of stopping. Cloudjumper was struggling to fly higher. He was pushing himself. He gasped his breath when the air around him became thinner. After they reached certain point, Hiccup finally stalled.
Cloudjumper tried to reach him but found himself unable to. He had gone beyond his altitude, and his wings could barely climb further. However, Hiccup seemed to be able to move around, still.
"Are you giving up now?" Hiccup taunted.
Cloudjumper spun his body around, trying to use his massive wings to touch him. The Night Fury dodged, and dove down to the ground. The Stormcutter went down to follow.
The two dragons accelerated as they dive onto the ground. They were extremely high in the sky and diving down made them gain even more speed. Vapour enveloped Hiccup's wings, as he accelerated much faster than the Stormcutter.
The Stormcutter gasped when he heard sonic boom from Hiccup. His body was enveloped with vapor cone as he dives. He was getting further away from him. Cloudjumper would not allow it!
He pressed his wings together, reducing as much drag as possible. His own body enveloped in vapor cone as he suddenly lost the ability to hear things around him. He gritted his teeth. He could feel his body straining under the wind. He could barely keep up with him at that speed.
Finally, Hiccup pulled up and went on a straight line, flying on a large circle path around the nest. Cloudjumper was glad that they could finally slow down. However, he was getting worried that Hiccup showed no signs of slowing down.
The Stormcutter was slowing down because they were no longer in a dive. However, Hiccup somehow managed to maintain that speed and kept going faster!
Cloudjumper growled. He forced himself to accelerate. He ignored the pain on his wings. He needed to win the race. He needed to show him that Valka was his!
Suddenly, Hiccup pulled up into the sky once more. Cloudjumper followed. They flew higher and higher. This time, they went higher than before. The Stormcutter felt exhausted. How come the Dark Chaser not be tired after all this?!
They passed the height where they previously stalled. They were significantly faster than before when they went up. Cloudjumper suddenly could hear things around him again. They went higher in altitude and showed no signs of stopping.
They both finally stalled after they reached much higher altitude than before. The sky was no longer blue, but rather, it was black with stars around them. They could see the curve on the horizon. Cloudjumper was gasping for breath. The air was too thin for him to breathe. He was tired and exhausted, and everything on his body hurt. He was beginning to regret challenging the Dark Chaser.
"Are you giving up yet?" Hiccup taunted.
Cloudjumper looked up. Hiccup was relatively far above him. He could not reach him. He flailed around, trying to reach him. However, he could not gain anymore altitude, as they were both slowly descending back down.
Hiccup see it as a challenge. He dove back down, and Cloudjumper followed. Remembering how he did it before, he pressed his wings together, trying to gain speed through momentum. Wind rushed through their body, as they saw vapour around their body. They found themselves unable to hear anymore, as they achieved speed faster than sound once more.
As they dive, Cloudjumper suddenly felt his scales heating up. His eyes widened when he saw Hiccup had some purple silhouette surrounding his wings and body. Gone the vapour from before, it was replaced by plasma and fire trailing behind him. Hiccup was rapidly getting further from him.
Cloudjumper could feel it happening to him as well. They had gone so fast; their body was enveloped in fire. Stormcutter tried to pull back up. He immediately felt immense pain on his tail, as he felt his tail fin suddenly ripped away from him.
He panicked. He had gone too fast that he could not stop himself! He spread his wings and it immediately torn apart by the wind. He screeched in pain, as his whole body felt burning inside out. He lost his flight, and he was descending fast!
"HELP! HELP!" Cloudjumper screeched. He looked around, trying to find any sign of the Dark Chaser. He looked down to see that he was rapidly descending into the ocean near the nest. He felt his scales tearing apart. The back fin was slowly tearing itself out.
He made a mistake by moving his head. In instant, one of his horns suddenly snapped off from his head. Scales were tearing itself apart, revealing the flesh underneath. He began spinning around uncontrollably, significantly reducing his speed while still descending from the sky.
Cloudjumper resigned his fate. He closed his eyes as he fell to the ground. Then, there was a loud splash, and he knew no more.