Ken sat flat against the bottom of his small boat. He stared up at the cloudless sky. His stomach sent shivers of pain throughout his body with every beat of his heart, with every breath he took. Food ran short a few days back, and now, his only hope lay with the fish beneath his boat. At least, they would be if he had any instruments to catch them with. Even if he did, he did not know when he would next be able to have fresh, salt-free water. The man believed himself on the brink of death, and he feared no divine intervention would change this.

The skies looked so beautiful as he drew closer to his final breaths, he believed. He swore, the skies themselves twisted in his vision, as if threads pulled at every atom in his field of view. Softly glowing, undulating threads. They touched everything. They even touched him, and he thought that amazing. He started to feel a pressure, as if some force had grasped his soul in its hands and gently squeezed. His entire being could feel it.

One.

No two.

Three?

He honestly could not tell, but they were out there, somewhere. Close, maybe? Far away? He did not know. He had never felt anything quite like this before. It amazed him to no end, even if the pain became unbearable as the end drew near. All he did know, all he could know, were the mistakes he made and the promises he felt he did not keep.

I'm so sorry, your majesties, Ken thought. Speaking was too painful. Existing was too painful. He wanted to sleep so badly, but he knew he would not wake up if he did.

I failed you. I failed Ryuu. I failed the Mountain. I failed Tatsuo. I could not protect him as I promised I would. I kept him hidden, I kept him on the run, but I am now separated from him, and unable to return. All of your hopes and dreams lie within your child, as do my hopes and dreams lie in my child. I trust Tatsuo to keep young Ryuu safe, your majesties. No amount of corrupting can persuade the heart of my boy. He is the one human Warui cannot corrupt against Ryuu. For all my son's faults, he is the young dragon's greatest protector, even if it seems otherwise.

We know, my child, said a soft voice, whispered into Ken's mind. If he could feel anything other than pain and regret, he would have been scared.

We know you did your best, dear Ken, another, gruffer voice whispered. He recognized them, even if it had been so long ago.

My majesties, I did my best, Ken thought, hoping the voices would hear him again, hoping that this to be more than the hallucinations of a dying man.

Where are the children, Ken? The soft voice asked, it's worth smooth and gentle.

They are… on Berk, Ken thought, his words so loud in his head he swore he spoke them aloud.

Ken smiled weakly, so happy he could make a difference in his final moments. So happy, he swore he could see his king and queen hovering just above his boat. They smiled down at him, radiating love and warmth. Where he once felt the cold sting of the ocean's breeze, he felt the warmth of a summer sun shining over him.

It is okay, Ken. You may rest, the gruffer voice said softly.

Yes, Ken. We are here. You may rest. The children shall be safe. You remained loyal to the very end. We could not have asked for a better human to care for our child. Your memory will be spoken in the Mountains for centuries to come, dear Ken. We shall care for Tatsuo as our own, the soft voice said.

Ken nodded weakly, smiling up at his lifelong friends. He remembered growing up on the Mountain, being cared for and serving the dragons. He longed to see the beautiful Mountain once more… to see the forests, the plains, the farms… most of all the cherry-blossoms. He loved the cherry-blossoms. He smiled to himself and watched the threads binding him to the skies break off, one by one. As the final string began to break away, he could feel one final presence. A fourth. He smiled, and he closed his eyes one last time as the thread fizzled out of existence. Peace, at last.

Toothless felt warmth before his eyes opened. The soft murmurs and grunts of the Great Hall filled his ears as his eyes slowly took in his surroundings. He squeezed them shut and sighed softly. His head hurt, not terribly, but enough that light and sounds caused discomfort. He held onto something, and he opened his eyes again.

Hiccup lay in his arms, the smaller Night Fury's head pressed up against Toothless' chest. Toothless watched his Night Fury sleep, taking in his beauty. His chest swelled with warmth to the point where he felt like laughing. He kept the dragon close, and he kissed his head.

"Glad to see you're awake," Astrid said, bringing Toothless' attention from his mate to the young viking sitting on the table before him. She had her axe in her hands, sharpening it slowly and methodically as the Chief stoked a fire. The older viking glanced over and gave his sons a smile. Toothless noticed Ryuu in the Chief's lap, sound asleep. After a quick look around, he noticed many had taken to slumber.

"How long was I out?" Toothless asked, yawning carefully as to not wake Hiccup.

"Long enough," Stoick said, running a hand along the young dragon's head as he slept. "You caused quite the stir when you and Hiccup returned. Well, as much of a stir as you could make considering the circumstances." Toothless looked down and away, struggling to remember what happened.

"I… don't remember what happened," Toothless said. He looked to Astrid for answers, to his father-in-law; anything would be better than the dark wall that clouded his mind. He felt as though he should know, but every attempt at thinking past that dark wall only spat him out at the events leading up. They left the village… but then what? Were they attacked? Is Hiccup okay? Was anyone hurt?

"You… How do I put this… Had a panic attack?" Astrid said, shrugging a bit. "Hiccup wasn't too clear on the details. Do you remember that you two had gone searching for Tatsuo and, well, me too?"

Toothless looked down again, then to his mate. He watched his dragon shift a bit, finding a more comfortable position before settling in. He smiled, but shook his head.

"I remember… Starting to talk about Tatsuo after Stoick's house had burnt down… But after that, it's a blur, then darkness. I… why can't I remember?" Toothless asked. He sighed, running his claws delicately along Hiccup's head and back. At least he found comfort in this moment of normalcy. Well, as close to normal as their lives will ever get. Simpler times. Times when they could fly together in the warm summer air, times when they could go to the market and buy food and make dinner together, and times when the world seemed quiet and safe, when Berk seemed quiet and safe. He longed for those moments.

"Good," Stoick said, tossing another long into the fire from his seat. "Svelta gave you some ointment to put on your chest and a potion to help you sleep."

Toothless glanced down, noticing the cuts under Hiccup. Must have been some powerful ointments if he couldn't feel any pain. Maybe,

"Yes, well," Astrid said, "You did that to yourself when you had your panic attack earlier. Hiccup saw you picking at your wounds while you slept, so his first idea was to cover your wounds with his body… And it worked… somehow. All you did was hum in your sleep and run your claws along his back"

Toothless chuckled and shook his head, glancing back down at his mate still sound asleep.

"And we might have… Given you a mild amnesiac.. As an experiment," Stoick said, looking towards the fire and away from the Night Fury's eyes.

"You did what?" Toothless asked, a bit too loudly. They all looked around the Hall, watching bodies shift, but remain overall motionless. Hiccup grunted, adjusted himself, then remained quiet. Toothless let out a breath he had been holding. He knew Hiccup needed the sleep. When didn't he?

"You did what?" Toothless asked again, his words sharp and pointed.

"Look, Toothless," Stoick began.

"Don't 'Look, Toothless' me! You game me an amnesiac! What if it had backfired and I lost more than the last few hours?" Toothless asked, "What if I lost it all? You, Astrid, Berk… Hiccup?"

Stoick sighed and shook his head, running a hand through his beard with slight frustration, but understanding. He picked up the small dragon in his hands and set him on a pillow next to him. The Chief rose and stepped closer to Toothless, kneeling down in front of the dragon.

"Do not think for a second that I would purposefully put you in harms way," Stoick said. "I've made many mistakes in the past, but that's where I intend to keep them, Toothless. You are my son, Toothless."

Toothless opened his mouth to speak, but closed it instead. Stoick offered a sincere smile, glancing over at Astrid who busied herself sharpening her axe instead of listening to their more heartfelt conversation.

"Toothless, we heard a dragon's roar all across Berk, one unlike any we've heard before. Every single dragon, save for Hiccup here, reacted badly. Those scratches on your chest? Those are nothing compared to some other dragons. It made you panic, panic like I've never seen you panic before. All the times you or Hiccup or anyone has gotten hurt, you've never done this. Toothless, you nearly forced your way out of the Hall! You knocked out three of our men, punched me in the jaw with your tail, and you stopped short of hurting Hiccup. That boy was the only one who could calm you enough to treat you. Whatever that roar did to you, to the other dragons, I wanted to undo it, and I wanted you to be the first to be alright. Not for Hiccup, or for Berk, but because I wanted my son to be okay. What I did was selfish, but I did it in hopes of it 'curing' you. I thought if we could make you 'unhear' the roar somehow, then you would be okay again," Stoick said, looking at the Night Fury in the eyes. Hiccup's eyes were open by this point, staring into his mate's. He debated saying something to ease Toothless' mind, but he didn't know what other than to take the blame for the risky idea.

"And no, no matter what Hiccup says, this was not his idea. This was mine and mine alone. I made the call, as Chief," Stoick said, sitting down before the dragon.

Toothless remained quiet, glancing down at the ground. He noticed Hiccup had awoken, but he did not disturb the Night Fury. All Toothless could think about was forgetting Hiccup, forgetting everything they'd gone through. He feared the alternative, where he woke up and remembered nothing. No Hiccup, no Astrid, no Stormfly, no Berk. No crash landing, no missing tail-fin, no scared but incredibly inventive boy, no alcove. No learning to trust one another, no changing Berk, no fighting the Red Death, no losing a leg. No transformation, no learning to love, no Dagger, no Iona. No adventure. A life without Hiccup wasn't a life at all. No life, just darkness in his mind. This scared him more than anything.

Hiccup's paw pressed against his face broke him from his thoughts. Yes, he did fear losing his world. It would have been worse than death. But, the fact is that he did not. He, despite the short gap in time, remained whole. He realize honestly, deep down, that he trusted Stoick, that he trusted his father-in-law, but that fear overrode that. He took a breath and closed his eyes, letting his Night Fury's paw press up against him. When he opened his eyes, he licked Hiccup's head gently.

"Thank you, father," Toothless said, holding his Night Fury close to his chest. He looked up slowly, watching Stoick's eyes brighten and his mouth lift. Formerly hunched, now upright. A smile spread across his face hearing those words

"Of course, son," Stoick said with a happy grin. The chief rose from his place and stretched himself lightly, glad that the situation had been handled, at least, he believed it to be handled. Knowing his two boys remained safe, he made his way over to his vikings to do damage control. While yes, the roar and the fire seemed to bring the two warring sides of Berk together for a brief moment of unity, tension still clung to the air and slowly choked the life out of Stoick. He'd be damned if he were the chief that let Berk fall into ruins.

Once Stoick made his exit, Toothless looked down at Hiccup with a soft smile. He kissed his dragon's head gently and held him close.

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Hiccup," Toothless said, his voice soft and light as it caressed Hiccup's ears. The smaller dragon smiled and blushed lightly, closing his eyes for a moment to enjoy his mate's warmth.

"So I take it you're feeling better then?" Hiccup asked, his voice dripping from his lips like honey, at least to Toothless. The larger Night Fury smiled back and nodded, humming softly while they embraced.

"But… I wonder," Toothless said, pondering aloud. "Do you feel it too, Hiccup?" both dragon's opened their eyes, staring into one another's. Emerald green reflecting off of grass green. Hiccup hesitated, but he nodded.

"Wait, feel what?" Astrid asked, injecting herself into the conversation. Toothless glanced over at the viking woman and furrowed his brow.

"There's… this…" Toothless said, trying his best to come up with words to describe the feeling.

"It's as if the air is heavier. Like gravity itself its pushing on every inch of our bodies. We can feel something out there. It must have taken longer for me to feel it since I'm not entirely dragon, but I don't doubt that you'll start feeling it soon too," Hiccup said, looking at the scratch marks on Toothless' chest. "At least, to some degree."

"Yeah… Do you know that feeling of dread? When you have a pit in your stomach? It's like that, but everywhere, weighing every inch of you down," Toothless said, chiming in.

Astrid nodded along, continuing to sharpen her ax while keeping an eye on the sleeping Ryuu only a few feet away curled up by the fire.

"Well… I look forward to it then," the viking said, a bit of defiant flare in her voice. She smirked, giving the two dragons a bit of relief. They smiled back awkwardly, never quite understanding her confidence even in the darkest situations.

"Until then, what do you guys think we should do?" Astrid asked, raising her ax up and slamming it into the wooden table. It struck and stuck in the wood, making a reverberating sound in the quiet Hall. The dragons cringed at such a loud sound in such a quiet place, but both found themselves at a loss once they could give the question some thought.

"I'm.. not entirely sure, Astrid," Hiccup said, scratching his cheek a bit while he thought, "Whatever this thing is, it's big and it's powerful. I'm not too sure we could do much of anything right now, not with all our dragons out of commission." Hiccup shrugged his shoulders and remained in his lover's arms for a while, thinking hard about their next course of action.

"You don't need to do anything, Mr. Hiccup," the young Ryuu said. The small dragon arose from his pillow, stretching like a cat and letting loose a soft yawn. His blue scales shimmered in the glow of the fire while his serpentine body coiled and uncoiled. The trio looked to the young dragon, confused by his words.

"What do you mean, Ryuu?" Astrid asked, glancing over at the two Night Furies. The small dragon smiled and laughed, thinking the answer obvious and therefore the question a joke. After a few moments of awkward silence, the young dragon realized the young viking's serious tone.

"Oh! Well, mommy and daddy are coming! Can't you feel them?" Ryuu asked, his head tilting slightly as the three gave him quizzical looks. "The Bad One is making it all fuzzy, but if you focus reeaaaalllyy hard, then I know you could feel them too!" The young dragon sprung to life, trying his best to motivate the three confused vikings.

"You can feel your parents, like how we can feel the Bad One?" Toothless asked.

"If you can feel the Bad One, then I think you could feel my mommy and daddy too!" Ryuu said, clearly excited to be talking about this particular subject. "I knew they were coming when I saw the stars bending and the threads shifting! The Bad One could never make them bend that much by himself! He's too much of a meanie, and he's not like mommy and daddy. They earned their place!"

"Woah, woah, woah, Ryuu. Let's slow down, okay?" Hiccup asked, slipping from his mate's arms and making his way to the small dragon. He gave the little guy a pat on the head before settling down next to him.

"Are you positive your parents are coming?" Hiccup asked, his voice soothing and soft. The young dragon nodded his head rapidly in response.

"Yes! I knew they would come back for me. They love me too much too let the Bad One hurt me," Ryuu said, his voice almost breaking from the joy he felt, "A-And when they come, they'll beat up the Bad One all by themselves! They did it before, and they'll do it again!" By this point, young Ryuu had begun crying, breaking down completely with a mixture of joy and sadness. Hiccup held the dragon in his arms, letting him cry it all out.

"Ryuu," Toothless said, "Is there anyway we can help your mommy and daddy?" Ryuu rubbed his eyes, looking at the larger Night Fury as he crept closer. He shrugged, not entirely sure of himself.

"Maybe. The Bad One thinks you could hurt him," Ryuu said, "That could be why he roared like that. He tried to scare my mommy and daddy with that roar, but it didn't work." They all nodded, trying to figure out a game plan to help Ryuu's mother and father, that is if they didn't kill them first. Who knows what their priorities are. For all they knew, the parents would take their child back and decimate Berk.

"I say," Toothless said, breaking the crushing silence of the Hall, "That we give the rest of the dragons the amnesiac." Hiccup's head snapped to the other Night Fury, his eyes filled with worry and discontent.

"Are you… sure that's a good idea?" Astrid asked, glancing at Toothless, then to Hiccup, then to the rest of the dragons inside the Hall. They looked unwell, anxious, and terrified to say the least. But, Toothless nodded.

"It's like Ryuu said, he sees us as a threat in some way. Maybe not individually, but if we banded together, vikings and dragons, we could turn the tides of the coming battle should it swing in the Bad One's favor. Think about it, Hiccup," Toothless said, insisting on his plan. Hiccup hesitated, understanding his own reluctance to take that risk with the other dragons, but he had to admit the advantages of the plan. Hiccup could see the energy beginning to flow through Toothless, like a breath of air to a dying flame. Something about him shifted, and it filled him with a sudden burst of energy, of love and confidence, of determination and willpower. Up until then, he forgot one very important thing. They were Vikings.

"The last thing he would expect is any resistance from us," Hiccup said, "After all, he thinks we're down for the count. But what the Bad One doesn't know is that we're vikings. We're tough, we're resourceful, and we sure as hell know how to fight. He probably thinks we're some dumb, back of the ocean warriors who can't count to three. Ha! He'll be in for a surprise if he ever shows his face here. He can yell and intimidate us. He can push us down and expect us not to get back up. Hell, he can burn down our village and turn us against one another. But no matter how hard he tries, he'll never wipe us out, and I'll be damned if I sit back and let Berk be destroyed! We're Vikings! We're as tough as they come! And we'll show the Bad One what happens to those who attack us! We've defeated every foe that's come our way! The Red Death! Dagur! Destin! He'll just be one more name we can add to the ever growing list of enemies the Hooligan tribe has vanquished!" Hiccup's voice boomed around the Great Hall, a sudden resurgence of life entering his veins as the plan formulated in his mind. The past traumas, the past victories; all of the emotions of the years past came flooding back to him, readying him for the fog of war settling over Berk. Heads turned and eyes flicked open as the vikings of Berk listened into the dragon's call to arms. Though they were weak, and though they were in few numbers, they made up for in tenacity and determination. They were vikings after all, and they were damn hard to kill. After all they'd gone through, they weren't going to let one dragon end it all, no matter how big or how bad. They've faced enemies and dragons alike who outnumbered them in size and power and brute force, but they always came out on top. Because if there's one thing the Hooligan tribe had that no other people did, it was raw spirit. And tonight, that spirit flowed in the veins of Hiccup, of Toothless, of Astrid, of Stoick, and all of Berk's Vikings and Dragons. They would be one once again, and they would vanquish any that dared meet them in combat.

Ryuu watched in awe as the dragon's being shifted lightly. Something changed in Hiccup, no Hiccup and Toothless. He could see the threads around them being pushed and tugged, similar to how the threads around himself shifted in his presence. While they may not be of the same bloodline, they were of the same class, even if they did not realize it yet. Power flowed through their veins, and he could feel the power radiating off of them. If they could understand and use, then they would be the rulers of the Viking world. But for now, Ryuu remained silent and basked in their spirit.