~Ouroboros~

I will say this only once: Anyone who has watched the original How To Train Your Dragon movie knows which parts of this are officially owned by whoever and which parts are not. The further into the story you read, the more parts begin to come directly from the twisted recesses of my imagination and less from the original movie / book writer(s). Thank you.

Please note, this chapter is only a prologue - the actual story starts from the next chapter, so if you are lost / do not quite like this part, do not worry - it will not have an actual impact on the story until quite a bit in. I promise that the next chapter will make much more sense. It will also be in 3rd person, as will most of the story. Finally, the first few chapters may seem a bit dry (as in lacking action), but it picks up from there. I just needed to start off with some background on Stoick and Hiccup so...

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nth Cycle ~ Somnia Iter - Somniis Iter

How long must a dream last for you to consider it as reality? On the flip side, how could we know that everything around us is not just a dream that has not finished yet? For what is reality but a montage of dreams and nightmares where even at the end it is impossible to know if you will wake up or die a final death.

Then again, for some of us, a final death would be preferable to the nightmares that make up what we consider as our lives.

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Nth - 1. Prologue ~ Journey to Nowhere

I can feel the tensed wing muscles underneath me as they hold us together in the gentle glide above the seemingly endless waters of this world. It has been over four hours since we have lost sight of the island from which we took off from this day – just another island on our journey.

Where are we going you ask?

Nowhere really – for any place is as good as another for us; has been that way for countless forgotten Cycles now. Perhaps it is the eternal wandering spirit in Nightwing that pushes us forward – the spirit that I now shared as well. That unmistakable itching between our shoulder blades – the all driving need to just go somewhere…

– Anywhere but where we have already been –

We can both feel its pull on us – that pull to leave behind the explored lands and thrust ourselves into the unknown. Not that there is much left to explore considering the number of Cycles we have spent in this world. Or at least there would not be much left to explore if the world did not change imperceptivity with each one.

Even now the world seems just slightly different than the last time we have flown over these waters – the ocean just a touch of a shade redder than it was before, the now settling sun just a touch brighter. Even the latest island that we have set off from – It was not there when we have last flown over these waters; and might disappear again if we come back several Cycles onwards.

Then again, compared to our first Cycle – one of the few that I can remember with crystal clarity instead of it melting together with all my other memories like the others – the world is almost completely unrecognizable.

I can still remember the time when the water's below me were blue – oceanic blue, as some would say back then – instead of the dull almost blood red colors it was now.

I remember a time when the world only had a single moon to provide guidance through the night skies – instead of the three that will soon start to poke their way out of the horizon.

As I would sometimes say; the world has changed…

And we have changed along with it.

It was only to be expected – we were quite young when we first met. Both of us still innocent to the ways of the world; with neither really believing the harsh truths that we would later take for granted… It is almost funny in a morbid sort of way how fast our views changed after we met each other.

That is not to say that we have lived easy lives until that point – far from it in fact – but even so we simply did not understand how far we still had to fall – the atrocities that we would have to experience.

That all changed soon enough though – for the both of us.

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It's at moments like these that I wonder if even a single speck of the world around me is real or if it is nothing but a shadow cast by the pattern.

But then again, it's not like it would make a difference; I have long ago come to terms with the questionable status of our existence.

It has been two days that we have arrived at this island, just as uninhabited as the last. If by the end of this Cycle we do not spot at least traces of soul based life, it would make it an even dozen empty ones.

A dozen Cycles alone – more than enough to make anyone start doubting their sanity.

Thank Odin that I am not alone.

As I sit on the edge of a cliff with the wind blowing through my hair and the sounds of the ocean coming up from below combined with the ruffling of leaves from the forest behind me I can't help but smile. Nightwing has long since fallen asleep curled around me; he never was one for philosophical thoughts this late at night. As for me… Well, I gaze at the blood red sunset dyeing the waters with its colors – not that they need it, for even on a clear day the waters here would be tinted red – just a strange characteristic of this place – I can't help but reminisce about the nigh infinite Cycles we lived.

Memory is such a strange thing…

I can clearly remember how this all began, with one wish made in ignorance; with one hope that betrayed me; with one death that brought about so many more.

And then the redemption when we were united once again, followed by countless Cycles afterwards.

And countless more that have yet to pass…

Everything starts to blur together after a while. I will probably never be able to sort out my memories of the distinct Cycles – how could I when I have lost count of them.

Tens?

Thousands?

Perhaps millions upon millions already…

The only Cycles that are clearly distinct in my mind are the first dozen or so filled with pain and anguish; for no matter how hard I try and forget them they always come back to haunt me. Nightwing is lucky to not remember them, but for me… they represent the consequences of my actions and perhaps for that reason I can never forget them.

On the one hand, my wish gave Nightwing his tail back – on the other hand... On the other hand Nightwing had to pay for it in blood. So did I, but to me my blood's worth is incomparable to his.

Then there is the Cycle when we were reunited again. The Cycles before it are nothing more than a blur of pain, as I searched time and time again for the connection that was not there – as I tried to save the life of a being who meant everything to me and to whom I was nothing. But then there was the moment when the connection was re-established and we became one again. It's ironic that this Cycle would have long ago blended in with the rest of my memories if I did not take time to carefully go over it to preserve it in my mind; and yet the Cycles that I wish to forget will never disappear.

Perhaps subconsciously I do not want to forget my sin – no matter what I tell myself.

After that Cycle though… Nothing. Just a chaotic blend of memories mixed together from the countless Cycles passed. Almost like a story that changes slightly every time you read it, a story that you have read so many times that you can no longer remember any specifics.

I have once been asked during an exceptionally long and somewhat recent (I think) Cycle why I distance myself from others, never allowing myself to fall in love. I just smiled and told them (or was it only one person this time? Already the memory is blurred) that they would not understand. Because really – what else could I say? How can I explain to them that I can barely contain my flinches at meeting anyone – for I have seen them all both as my trusted friends and most bitter enemies?

How can I explain that each and every one of them had at one point or another driven a knife into my back?

Well, such is life for me – if you would call it life, for I highly doubt that death would ever find me – and in many ways life without death is not life at all, simply an existence.

I am rambling now, aren't I?

Yes – I do tend to go on and on at times like these, with no one around. I have yet to see any sign of civilization this Cycle, and as the third moon becomes visible in the sky with the final light of the sun diminishing into the horizon I have to admit that I would be surprised if we do find any... Not that there is not enough food for us; the forests are teeming with life and there is an abundance of fish to provide variety to any diet, but still our existence tends to be much more interesting with others around – doesn't even matter if they welcome us with open hands or attempt to kill us the moment the see us; for variety is the only thing keeping off our boredom those few moments that we are not together in the sky.

Perhaps the next Cycle would be better…

Turning around I curl up to the belly of the dragon that together with me makes 'us'. We are companions walking, or flying as the case may be, together along this endless road. From the beginning there was something that bound us together – not some god like power or fate – just circumstance that brought us together and made us inseparable. We love each other – not in the way mates do (and we have both had countless of those as well), but more like brothers, although in many ways it is even stronger than that – for we are truly inseparable.

I would give my life for Nightwing without a thought, and he would do the same for me – even though both of us know that the one left would soon follow the other; for neither of us can live alone any more. It felt as if it would have broken either of us if the other died, and that was only days after the first time we met; and our bond just got stronger over time. We know it, for this is the only constant left to us; proven time and time again in the countless Cycles preceding this one, and will likely be proven endless times more in the Cycles following this one.

As I close my eyes I can feel Nightwing's slow and steady heartbeat against my back and without waking up he covers me with one of his wings. We are only a few paces from the cliff's edge, in fact Nightwing's (miraculously complete, and that makes all of this worth it) tail is partially hanging off the edge and slightly swaying in the wind, but even knowing that a strong wind from a wrong direction could send us off it there is no fear. For I have complete confidence in us, in our ability to wake up and turn our fall into a glide before even reaching the half-way point towards the waters below. And if we don't? Well… no matter. I highly doubt that the pattern would let our journey end so anticlimactically in any case.

Drifting off to sleep my heart slows down until its rhythm matches Nightwing's. As always during sleep and during flight, our hearts beat as one, and as they beat together we dream.

When we sleep or fly our minds become one and we think and see together as one being. Overall, it's an indescribable feeling – but as with all things there are downsides. Just as we share exhilaration, happiness, contentment, satisfaction and dreams, we also share our nightmares.

Tonight is one of those; my memories of the first Cycles. Of that cursed beginning.

At the very least, Nightwing will forget most of the nightmare before waking – just as he had before. As for me…

Well – I am used to them…

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A/N

Just an introduction for the story. Rather obvious when in time it takes place when you read the next chapter. Just to make things clear, this has never been and will never be a simple re-write of the original HTTYD story. While the first few chapters may look like it (besides expanding the world), once the story passes the forbidden friendship the differences will start to pile up cumulating with a complete derailment at the time of the 'final' battle. After that… It's all original.

Hopefully I will be able to finish this story, if not then I do have an outline from start to finish for the plot so if I find myself unable to finish for some reason I will just publish the plotline in bullet form to prevent the readers (if any) from being stuck halfway through the story.

Other than that, I can only hope that you guys like it.

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Saienai Signing off.