I am alive, and very sorry for going dark for a while. Without the buffer chapters, I got rather lazy about writing so this one is very much late. Not sure how much I like it either, but it is what it is and if I decide to rewrite this later on I'll probably do in a rewrite of the whole story. So not anytime soon. Anyways enjoy and I'll try to get some buffer chapters written up again. Updates until they're written will be highly sporadic and have to update schedule.

I paused, strained to see if I heard what I thought I did. The cry came again, sounding faint but still close. I couldn't believe my luck, just as I thought about giving up my search I stumble over what could be the dragon I was looking for. Did the gods enjoy messing around with my life? I had to ask myself, "Do I still want to find the Night Fury?" and found I could only answer yes. Even if my life was simply a joke to the gods, I knew that I had to see the Night Fury again.

My choice made, I stood and started listening for the scrabbling of claw against rock. As I followed the sound, I couldn't help but grow more anxious, more excited. I was conflicted. My heart was doing its best leap out of my chest as I stepped through a corridor similar to the one leading to my home. Exiting into a much lusher cove than my own. A quick look around the cove allowed me to confirm which I was in, although I didn't see the Night Fury.

With my location confirmed, I scanned over the cove from my vantage point noting the changes from the last time I came here. There were the expected claw marks scored all over the cove walls which also had a few sections blasted apart or turned to slag, a few trees knocked over, and a large blackened patch of earth close to the lake. Still no sign of the Night Fury's location. This was slightly frustrating/relieving.

Now what, do I take my chances and head down into the cove or stay where I am? My musings were interrupted when the Night Fury swooped past me, the gusts of wind trailing it knocking me onto my back. At least I know where it is now, I thought as I rolled over and crawled over to the ledge.

I was breathless when I caught sight of it. In the fading light, the dragon's scales appeared to shimmer and consume the light as it prowled around the cove before stopping by the lake and snaps its head into the water. I jerked myself back to reality and pulled my sketchbook out to start sketching the dragon in better depth. As I drew I thought on the destruction strewn about. The dragon had been, maybe; most likely still, trying escape the cove and likely started demolishing stuff when it couldn't get out. Were its injuries that bad?

Frowning, I looked back over my sketches and compared them to the Night Fury. Head looked fine, wings looked fine, tail … not so much. Flipping back and forth between the sketches I drew last night from memory and just now. Half the tailfin was missing from my newest sketches. I could only assume that the dragon lost the fin sometime during its crash and I hadn't noticed.

There wasn't anything I could do now, in any case. If I even wanted to. Gah, I really didn't know what I wanted to accomplish from find the dragon. Later Hiccup, later. Leave the deep thinking for after you've gotten some rest, and some food. I amended my thought when my stomach growled. The sunlight was gone now and I should probably get back to the village. I'd drop my sketchbook off at home then head over to the great hall to make an appearance for today and eat. Yeah, that sounded like a plan. I could even tell Gobber I'm dropping out of dragon training.

After I dropped my sketchbook off and grabbed a new one, I made my way through the shadowy forest, making sure to avoid going through any patches of the Trickster's Forest. It added a bit of time to my route, but I had no desire to meet that creature again, whatever it was.

I reached the village close to midnight and made my way to the Great Hall where there'd hopefully still some food left. If not, it wasn't as if I hadn't gone without before. I pushed open one of the doors as quietly as I could before slipping in as I allowed it to slowly slide shut, another mechanism I came up and passed onto Gobber. My eyes quickly adjusted to the low, flickering light cast by the many torches and braziers throughout the hall. I made a quick note that neither Gobber nor any of the other trainees were here eating. Gobber had a penchant for keeping them late to talk and go over their many mistakes and flaws. I knew first-hand after all, I used to accompany him sometimes both before and after I made my resolution to leave Berk once I feasibly could and survive. That probably meant that he had them elsewhere, most likely one of the defensive structures around the village. Shaking my head, there wasn't any real reason to seek Gobber out now anyways, there was always tomorrow. I grabbed a few leftover pieces of chicken and bread eating quickly. I wanted nothing more than to sleep currently, as long of a day as it's been. And sleep is what I got upon getting to the house and getting in bed. I blacked out, dreaming of nothing but dragons and glass men.