Hello, friends :) it's been solong since we last convened. Here's that sequel I promised you (read: tortured you with knowledge of).

This is all from scratch. Nearly all the characters you are going to meet in this story are my own, barring Hiccup, Astrid, Valka, Toothless, Stormfly, Cloudjumper, Gobber/Grump, Eret/Skullcrusher, and the "gang" (Snotlout/Hookfang, the twins/Barf and Belch, Fishlegs/ Meatlug.) That may seem like a pretty solid number of characters that aren'tmine, but rest assured, you will be introduced to many new names, and maybe even a few new types of dragons, so be prepared for that.

I'm excited! I hope you are, too. Because this is all being summoned from the depths of my imagination, your thoughts are always welcome. So read, review, and enjoy.

Love, the one and only MM.

PS: If it's been a while since you've brushed up on your Of the Night knowledge, you might want to take a peek at it again before proceeding.

PPS: You may have noticed something different! We have cover art courtesy of the talented LuxBlack on DeviantArt/luxblackarts on IG! Thank you so much!

PROLOGUE

Time passed quickly on the island of Berk. Before Hiccup knew it, his daughter was ten years old, and already exhibiting signs of following closely in his footsteps.

A little too closely, if you asked him, because even as she managed not to trip over her own feet most of the time, she did have a tendency to knock things over and inadvertently cause destruction in general. The village was stricken by how much she looked like her father, with messy auburn hair and inquisitive green eyes, but her behavior really made the resemblance complete. She was Gobber's new apprentice, as the old blacksmith could teach Hiccup nothing new. As his apprentice, she came up with all sorts of interesting gadgets, mostly toys for her younger siblings, and she had even designed her own saddle for her dragon when she was just eight years old. But she also had some... less helpful inventions, often attempting to replicate dragon behavior. Once, she had gotten ahold of one of her father's canisters of Zippleback gas, which he used for his fire sword. Plugging it into a sparking device with a trigger, she essentially created a mini-flamethrower, which she gleefully scorched small plants with until she accidentally lit up an entire tree, causing something of a forest fire.

Hiccup was forced to scold her, which made her cry, which made him feel terrible. Astrid was the only one who saw past the half-hearted lecture to the obvious pride Hiccup felt for their daughter's ingenuity.

Then came the day she crafted her own set of leather wings and proceeded to jump off the roof of their house, Shade looking on nervously from the ground. That had resulted in a painfully broken right arm, which was somewhat fortunate for Aeri, because she was left handed.

Astrid and Hiccup, and the entire village, actually, were just grateful that Erik seemed to possess none of his older sister's unusual interests. Instead, he sated his curiosity reading books, and as much material as he could gather about dragons. Books about pretty much every other subject, as well, which Hiccup procured for him from the various traders who came to Berk.

For under Hiccup's leadership, Berk had become a hub for trade in the northern seas, not just between tribes but from farther away as well. Trader Johann had expanded his business to include almost a dozen ships, which he sent all over the world. They would return with exotic spices, fabrics, treasures, and most importantly to the Haddock family, books.

When little Alyka came along five years later, everyone wondered who she would take after. Erik, who was two years younger than Aeri, had dark brown hair like his grandmother and his mother's blue eyes. Alyka had both her mother's blonde locks and blue eyes, was lively and vibrant and, as she grew older, increasingly tough. When she was old enough to hold her first axe Astrid was there, proudly showing her proper technique to best utilize her weapon while also avoiding losing her fingers.

Toothless also had his own growing family. He and Hiccup had a strange sort of accord. They did their best to bring new children into the world as closely to the same time as they could. Shade grew up alongside Aeri, and Toothless's and Lightning's second hatchling, Storm, was raised with Erik. Where Erik was quiet and reserved, green-eyed Storm was bold and adventurous, but together they made the perfect team. Alyka was born just before Soturi, also green-eyed, hatched, both of them fearless and energetic. Neither set of parents felt that they were finished just yet, but it seemed prudent to take a break from reproduction for a while to watch over their respective first three children.

Cinder was now twenty, lean from his flights to and from the Night Fury colony, and Ash was fifteen, beautiful and spirited. Cinder would often make excuses to avoid bringing his sister with him on his journeys, partially because her wings, having been broken ten years before, never regained their full strength, but mostly because he didn't want her around any of the younger male Night Furies on the island.

It was an unspoken understanding that Cinder would soon become Toothless's second-in-command. Cloudjumper was getting older, and was relying on the younger dragon more and more as time went on. Cinder worked hard and paid close attention, knowing that his role would be more than just emissary between the Night Fury colony and Berk, but as acting Alpha in the event that Toothless was absent.

He had spent a while thinking about it, but Cinder realized he didn't want to be Alpha. The pressures of leadership didn't appeal to him, so he spent his time learning how to run things behind the scenes, where the stress wasn't so great.

Because of this, all expectations fell on Shade. At ten years of age, he already had his paws full enough trying to keep Aeri out of too much trouble, let alone learn the proper ways to mediate arguments and speak publicly and manage food collection and storage and oversee human/ dragon activity... the responsibilities of an Alpha were varied, and for a ten year old, overwhelming. Fortunately, Toothless was still in the earlier years of his prime, and didn't force too much on his eldest hatchling. He understood perfectly well how much energy it took to keep a curious human out of trouble, and Aeri was fast approaching the age when the scale of her misadventures would inflate exponentially. Even so, Shade's only solace when Aeri wasn't around was Ash, who still maintained her friendship with him, even as time carried their lives in different directions.

As far as Aeri was concerned, that age arrived all too soon for the residents of Berk. But strangely enough, rather than cause more damage, Aeri seemed to... calm down. At fifteen, she was already her mother's height, and rather slender, but seemed to use her self-consciousness as a learning mechanism. She was listening more, and speaking her mind just a little less. She began more rigorous training with Shade, quickly coming to take the lead in their classes at the Academy, surpassing the other students their age with both knowledge and ability, not to mention their success at dragon racing. She willingly worked with weapons, but didn't seem to prefer one over any other.

Erik, only two years behind her, shared her slimness, but had begun taking time from his studies to practice with a sword his father had made for him. He, too, rose to the top of his class, and while many of the Vikings wanted to say that the Haddock children's success was due to their Night Furies, it could not be denied that they were also remarkable individuals in their own ways.

EDIT: Just posted the first chapters of a story parallel to this one, starring an OC who will be appearing later in this story. He's an interesting character, and I think you might enjoy reading about him to get a better understanding of who he is and where he comes from. Sound good?