The day slowly sets into a cascade of orange. Fiery, red rays strike the Changewings, showing off their capture of the magnificent Night Fury to the lands in their world. Their legs are tightly wrapped around my own legs, disabling me from moving from their flying prison. Among the redness that swarms me, a smaller blob of red continually circles me, barking little messages to the pack of mongrels.

"Five dead… the Queen's not going to be happy," Tage mutters. "Not to mention that this is her elite group of forces… ambassadors..."

"Maybe she should have sent someone with less remorse," I mutter. "Idiots like you always make killing dragons so hard."

He shoots me a sinister look, a glare hidden beneath his malice eyes.

"We're born to kill," he says. "The moment we hatch, we're fed fish, and when we grow up, we have to feed fish to our young. We're always killing, always fighting to survive."

"Then why do you care if these dragons-" I gesture towards the dragons holding me captive, "Are killed? If they make your ends complete, why should you feel any value in their lives?"

Tage openly resists the urge to spit poison at me.

"I don't know," he growls. "But I tried so hard not to kill you. The Queen wants to talk to you, not rip you to shreds."

"Possibly both," I mutter. "Besides-"

"Do you even know how high and mighty your tribe is?" he mutters bitterly. "You, Night Fury, the protectors of peace, the fighters of freedom. Hardly any of you have shown up since the War began. It's like you all left everyone to their own devices. No one knows why, and no one has the answers. The few Night Furies that we've managed to capture have never said anything."

"Captured?" I growl, feeling a surge of anger in my veins. "You've captured my kind before?"

"Interrogation is often forced," he replies. "But no one has divulged anything- and we've never tried anything more than just interrogation."

"Why is that?"

Tage looks at me like I'm mad.

"You're the most secretive, most revered tribe the Northlands have ever seen. Your numbers were vastly outnumbered, but yet you have always come out on top. Your attacks are fierce, swift, and they are always deadly. You have been targeting those who disrupt the peace for ages."

I watch silently as he curses himself for saying so many things.

"So we can't be sure of what you're saying. We don't know what's going on in your mind right now. Maybe you'll bring the news back to your tribe after this has happened. But as you are in our custody-"

"You're going to get as much information as you can out of me before you let me go," I say.

There's a tense silence.

"You are not necessarily wrong."

I roll my eyes, watching the sun as it slowly sets. I assess the leverage that I have. If the Night Furies are feared, then I won't be in that much trouble. They're probably already feeling nervous of the results of their actions right now. I can use this fear against them, make sure that I don't get harmed too much. They don't know that I'm not with the other Furies.

But I can't help but fear for Hiccup. He'll come after me, for sure. I hope I cut off the link between our minds before he could track me down.

I'll never forgive myself if I drag him into this mess.

H

I take my time in the water- I haven't been able to clean myself so thoroughly since who knows when. Before we entered the Northlands, I only got a few chances to completely wash myself off, and in the Northlands, Toothless has been disallowing me from entering any body of water (i.e. the oceans), thus making cleaning up after training quite rare.

It'll make you more resistant, Toothless said. A lot.

Toothless has been a bit quieter lately, now that I think of it. His walks have been less conversational and he tends to show a bit more stress at my jokes. I wonder what's keeping him up? I never asked him before.

With him (and a huge world to explore), there's never really time for conversations to run out. We're always talking about dangers, fights, life, plantations, our past, interests, food, and of course, the debate that happens near meals: who will go find the food?

Still, Toothless. I've seen myself forcing conversations a lot of the time- not with Toothless, though, but I wonder if he's the one forcing himself to talk.

I know friendship revolves around the share of interests, which is why you fall out with someone when you don't have anything in common anymore. But sometimes, your friendship doesn't revolve around things unrelated to you; it sometimes revolves around the 2 friends themselves. You're willing to do things for them, willing to share more personal thoughts and ideas, knowing that they're someone you can trust. However, if one day you feel tired of them, if they're annoying you too much, but you still remain friends with someone just for the sake of them, they're not going to know that you're suffering for them.

With Toothless's and my interconnected minds, am I blind to my hurting of Toothless?

I have to ask him. And if it's real, I'm going to talk it out. I'm not going to hurt him more than I have this morning.

I slowly walk out of the water, carrying the washed saddle and flight mechanism with me. I put on my clothes, shaking the water out of my hair as I slide on the last pieces of tunic onto my body.

"Alright, Toothless, you can come now," I call out loudly. "C'mon, you can come appreciate my beautiful body."

Expecting him to respond with a sarcastic reply, I stand in wait.

"Hey, you're supposed to appear on cue, Toothless," I say, an unsettling nervousness settling in my voice. "You're not supposed to hide and wait for a time to jump on me. You've done that a lot of times today."

With no answer, I try and ask him with my mind. However, the only fire I feel in my head is mine.

I can't reach Toothless.

"Toothless?" I ask, shaking slightly. "Where are you?"

My mind races with thoughts and possibilities- but the idea that stands the most of all is

He's ditched me. I've screwed up and he left.

Shocking as it is, I try and stand my ground. Toothless? Leaving me? No! That's not possible. I'm holding his only ability to fly in my hands!

"Toothless?!"

I turn around, expecting him to jump out at me and calling me an idiot for falling for his tricks.

"Toothless, this isn't funny!"

I begin walking around, trying to calm myself.

Besides, Toothless wouldn't leave me… he's above that…

I remember the events just before. I pissed Toothless off, I made him frustrated, and I made him feel bad. I was angry… but was that the breaking point for Toothless? Did he finally have enough? Was him leading me to the pond a reason to ditch me?

He cut off his thoughts right after you left.

I fumble with the tail mechanism, looking at the metal thoroughly. If he wanted to ditch me, why did he so willingly give up the tailfin?

I scan my eyes hurriedly around the pond. No Toothless. No presence of him in my mind.

Toothless...

"Do you trust me?"

I play his words over and over again in my head. Do I trust him? Of course. He would not leave me without a good reason. Besides, he must be still on this island. His impaired tailfin means that he can't leave the island.

Maybe he's off doing his own thing at the moment. I have my personal time, maybe he has his. Maybe he doesn't want to be bothered. Maybe he doesn't want to talk to me yet.

Maybe, if I wait, he'll come to me. Maybe he's still sorting out his thoughts.

Maybe I should wait. Maybe he'll come to me.

I don't even realize that I've been walking until I slip on a pool of blood.

T

As my flight attendants near a large, winding valley, I try hard to hide my fascination of the city, the first dragon-exclusive community I've ever been to (the Queen's den does not count). The place is bustling with activity. Changewings on the ground, tending to their children, challenging others to brawls, young ones playing around, youngsters looking for adventures through the alleys and cracks of the city, out into the woods with their adventures, the older trading and telling stories. They've actually made infrastructure to the valley: little dens and caves, made of stacked rocks that could not have formed naturally.

"Hm, you like the city, huh?" Tage's voice comes from above. "It's been cemented together with the use of Changewing poison- it melts the rocks together perfectly. It has made excellent buildings-"

"I don't want to know of your wonderful enterprises," I growl. "Shut up."

Tage lowers himself down to my level and gives me a wry look.

"I'm sorry," he says in a condescending tone. "Did I offend you?"

"Shut up," I repeat.

"It would be wise to not argue from your position," he says with a grin. "Otherwise-"

I feel a sudden lurch in altitude as the Changwings suddenly drop in altitude, causing me to jolt at the sudden movement. I hiss a profanity at Tage, who smiles at me back.

"Ah, not aware of your situation yet?"

Immediately afterwards, I feel a pain in my left front leg as the Changewing constricts it tightly. I glare at Tage, trying to ignore the pain in my leg.

"Though I may not harm you, I can certainly show you that talking to the Queen will certainly mean that you cannot be this cocky," he says. "She is not a fan of tolerating boldness."

I'm about to hiss another profanity at him, but a strong constriction on my left front leg forces me to shut up. I swear softly in my mind instead; there's no way they're going to be able to truly shut me up. If they knew what they had in store for them… if they knew what Hiccup would do-

I lurch myself out of the thought. No. He's not coming after me. I'm going to break out of this mess myself and I'm going to return to him.

My train of thought continues for I feel my constricts loosen as I'm dropped onto a raised platform, fairly far from the ground below. Here, a place of high altitude, considerably fewer dragons are exhibiting their lives, and the attention that I'm getting is far less than what I'd get if I was walked through the valley. I can feel the news spreading below, though; a Night Fury in custody of the Changewings. Against his will.

Ahead of me, the palace is in sight. Though built from the same materials as the buildings below, the palace is larger than any structure I have ever seen. Comprised of several, high stories and constant paths branching off towards other parts of the mountains, its activity almost rivals the activity of the dragons below.

"You will be closely monitored as you enter the palace," Tage explains to me. I feel the Changewings holding on to me take off. "Any attempts to escape will be futile, so I suggest you to not try anything of sorts."

I roll my eyes slightly, walking forward slowly. The main entrance of the palace seems to be where I'm walking, a long path that leads directly to the Waiting Room of the palace.

As I hear Tage take flight, I feel a slight twinge of loneliness, even though I hate Tage. I'm so used to companionship now… even enemies make me feel more relaxed than being alone.

No. I mustn't think like that.

I take the long walk to assess my situation.

Alright… I'm in trouble, I think to myself. I'm without the flight mechanism. I can't leave here without it. I wish Hiccup was here. He'd know what to do-

I hit myself with my tail to shut myself up. My snout ends up bleeding slightly because of the jagged end of my tail, but it's enough to sober me up.

I'm a Night Fury, I growl to myself. I'm more than capable of thinking this one out on my own. I got myself into this mess. I'm going to get out of it myself.

Looming in front of me, the grand palace of the Changewings. Inside there somewhere, is both the problem and the key to my problems. I have no idea what lies inside, but I know that I'll be prepared for it- because I know that I'm not alone in this struggle.

I smirk. The Queen is going to have to contend with my cockiness.

H

"Holy s- This is blood!"

Toothless's name is the second thought that jumps to my head. Around this cliff that I find myself on, I see several bodies of dead Changewings sprawled about, their insides… ugh, their bodies in various severity of death. Immediately, I turn around, gripping a tree for support. The smell, however, is overwhelming- no sooner do I walk into the smell, must I immediately turn away from the pure putridness of the smell.

The smell is so strong, in fact, that I throw up as soon as I exit the vicinity. Panting heavily, I force myself to stay upright, clutching the tree for support.

"Man… dead dragons..."

One of the things about Berk is that it's so new to dragons that we haven't seen any die yet. The horrible truth is, of course, that dragons will die, regardless of what bond people have made with them. They've been dying for ages, of course, with what Berk trying to genocide them all, but there wasn't a lot of affection for the dragons back then. Now, with the dragons our friends, and Changewings- well, they can be good. They've never been evil to us, even if they don't prefer Berk as their home.

But even evil ones don't deserve to die.

"Who… did this?"

I turn back slowly, the feelings of disgust and unbearability fading slowly to a dim. It was still there, being in the presence of blood and death, but it was certainly less. It was less enough to be able to actually inspect the wreck of bodies.

The Changewings seem to have died very recently. In fact, a few of their organs are still working, despite their hearts not. But they're all dead. About three in all, with their reasons of death different.

I grunt at the pools of blood lying near their bodies. The person who did this mustn't have had a lot of mercy with dragons.

Wait, person?

My eyes fly around, my mind wandering at the possibility of there being another human in the midst. Another name jumps out of my mouth immediately-

"Sena?"

My eyes continue to flit around, half-hoping that whoever did this was Sena, or at least someone who I could trust. If there was a fanatic running around…

"Sena? Where are you?"

I wait for those dark eyes to appear from the trees, but the smell of blood is the only thing that registers. Nothing- no one.

After a few more minutes of waiting, I give up my hopes in finding Sena. A part of me is relived, too- for him to enter this crazy, barren, war-torn land is suicide.

A small mark on one of the Changewings catch my eye- several parallel lines, the center wider than the tips, scratches at the end of tail. I look at the other dragons, and they too have similar marks, scratched forcefully into their flesh.

"Mating marks? Hmm..."

It was usually the males that mark the female- not the other way around.

"Or..."

My mind lurches back to when the Changewings first attacked us- when my sword flew left and right, slashing as I could to keep me and Toothless alive. I left a gaping mark, a sword mark into the dragons. Some of them are large, fatal wounds, but others are more scratch-like. They're...

And then it hits me.

"Toothless?!"

T

"These Changewings have a massive obsession with red... and they're not even red."

The palace's interior is covered with elaborate rubies; the whole inside glows with a sickly red that vaguely reminds me of blood. There is nothing to be seen this rich from the outside, which is only stone and mud. The waiting room branches off into three more rooms, each of them too covered in rubies. I've heard that dragons are fans of treasure, but this much, all hidden in this palace…

"Ah! There you are!"

I take my eyes off a strange-looking statue and turn towards the source of the sound. A short Changewing, the impression of a midget dragon, walks towards me.

"Hi! My name's Fen," she pipes up. "Are you coming to see the Queen?"

I take in her physique; her skin is lighter than red, yet not exactly pink, like her Dragonese name would suggest. She looks like one of those care-free little kids that are clueless about the world beyond the housing's walls.

"C'mon!" She says, kneeling down slightly and looking at me curiously. "What's up? Why are you here?"

"I… uh, I'm here to see the Queen," I say, slightly caught off guard by the dragonet's livelihood. It would be hard to expect her attitude in such a place.

"You're here to Mother!" she says, jumping up and down in delight. "It's the path right in front of you. You'll meet several more intersections, but keep going on forward."

I look at her, wondering slightly if she's implying anything by that.

"Thanks," I say.

"No problem! But you have to promise me something..." she says, her paws covering her snout in that excitement feeling. She lowers her voice and beckons me close to her. After a brief moment of wariness, I end up edging towards her close enough for her to whisper to me.

"You can't tell anyone that you've seen me," she whispers. "I'm not supposed to be outside. But Mother said that she'd be expecting to meet a Night Fury. I asked her if they were handsome like the princes I've read of, but she shooed me off, so I came to see you for myself."

A short silence passes.

"Uh… so…?" I ask nervously. Being the vain dragon I am, my eyes raise slightly, waiting for her opinion.

"You look great!" she says, jumping up and down again. "Reminds me of my brother."

"Your brother?" I ask, my relief quickly turning into curiosity.

"Tage," she says. "But, of course, you don't know him."

"Tage…?" I ask, my eyes slit briefly, but quickly clear up to not intrigue her. "...I've never heard of him."

"Oh, you'll meet him," she says. "Mother says dragons are falling for him left and right. I'm pretty sure he takes his extra time trying to make himself look good, though. He's trying really hard to impress the girls in the palace. He's scared they don't like him… enough."

She giggles wildly, as if she just let out a huge gossip.

"But please don't tell anyone that," she says, still grinning. "He takes it as a very sensitive subject."

"I won't," I say, trying hard not to smile. "I have a friend who's crazy about getting girls, too."

She giggles again, but this time with a glint of her eye, a beaming face. I recognize it easily; the sign that you've been put into their trust zone, or at least the person-who's-fun-to-be-with zone.

"I have to be back in my room now," she says hurriedly. "Promise me that you won't tell?"

I nod. She quickly flies through the left path, but then turns back.

"I forgot to ask you something," she says. "What's your name?"

I take a moment to consider.

"It's... Pax," I say. "Pax."

"Ooh," she says in awe. "That's a cool name! I wish I had a cool name like that. Instead, I'm stuck with this stupid, girly, Fen."

"It's not a bad name," I say reassuringly.

"Thanks," she says with a smile. "I really have to dash now. Hope to see you again!"

She turns around and flies away. My eyes trail her as she does.

"See… you," I say, trying to reassess myself.

So there are dragons like this, too, I think to myself. Happy, careless dragons that aren't focused on killing. I wonder if she even knows how to hunt.

I wonder if she even knows what position I'm in. It wouldn't matter for her, I guess. To everyone, I'm a prisoner. To her, I'm just another dragon she can play with.

It's this kind of innocence that so easily gets you into trouble. It's an innocence that relies on impure people to protect you from the horrors of the world.

I shake my head, the wariness slowly coming back to me as I raise my gaze to the paths in front of me.

"Keep yourself together… Hiccup," I mutter to myself, heading forward into the palace.

H

"Toothless… did this?" I ask myself for the fifth time. "Then… where is he?"

My feet carry me past the bodies of the Changewings, holding my breath as I near the disintegrating bodies. With this new idea, more evidence of Toothless crops up everywhere. Burns on the ground that I passed off as dirt disturbances, the sharp fang marks that bit at the sides, the slashes that could not have come from anyone else.

"Toothless..."

Was there a fight?

I look at the dead bodies again. There is far more disturbance in the ground than there are dragons, which means that they must have must have fought a lot.

"Toothless?"

Where is he now? He can't fly away without the mechanism. Has he been thrown off the cliff?

My mind spins dangerously, and I stagger myself slowly towards the cliff. My head spins slightly as I peer down, trying hard not to fall off.

Below, is a body of another Changewing, smashed across the rocks. Amidst the blood that spills violently across the rock, the texture is painted with his organs-

All of a sudden, I lurch my head back and throw up again, this time by the cliff. It takes me several moments to recover, backing away from the cliff slowly.

"He killed these dragons..." I say, panting slowly as I try to regain my composure. "But where… is he?"

If he's not here, then he'd at least warn me, tell me to pack up and leave… he wouldn't be that mad at me, right?

"Toothless?"

How come I heard nothing of the struggle? Why weren't there any roars, especially from Toothless? Changewings don't have a loud roar, but Toothless… his roar scared me so much that I fainted once. And yet, I heard nothing from this fight.

Has he been kidnapped?

T

My walking eventually carries me to a large hall, prompted with guards that align both sides. A large throne lies at the end of the hall, a large Changewing standing upright in it, looking forwards with a happy expression.

"So… you are here, Night Fury," she says slowly, taking in my body in her eyes. "has the reception committee been good to you?"

My mouth wants to tell on her that her son has been violating conducts of interrogation, but my mind, remembering Fen's bright and happy attitude, forces myself to clamp my mouth and nod silently.

"Excellent," she says. "Tage has always been a peaceful dragon. He will grow up to be a good king."

You should relocate him to the interrogating-torturing department, I think to myself.

"Now… Night Fury," she says, her eyes glinting with excitement. "You are the fifth of your kind I have ever met. I can safely assume that you know as much as the people before you. But, then again, you knew that this was coming, no? Maybe you even know that it has been laid out in the stars that you'd come under our protection."

"I… of course," I lie, confused at her words.

"You Night Furies," she says with a flick of her tail. "You are the all-knowers of the Northlands. I know for a fact that you are able to foretell the future… am I right?"

"Y-yes," I say, alarmed at her words. Night Furies can foretell the future? Then why can't I?

"I believe that you know why you have been asked here," she says, moving in her throne to get into a more comfortable position.

No, I don't, I think to myself, but I only nod to her.

"I would love to ask you now, of course, how the War will turn out," she says, "But from my experience with the other Furies, I believe that your instincts do not come by will. Your foretelling needs time; and time will be provided for you. After you have told me the future, you are free to go. Until then, you are free to ask for whatever you want."

Experience with other Furies? There really are more of me?

I am tempted to ask what happened to the other Furies, but it would betray my knowledge of the other Night Furies. Instead, I keep my snout shut.

"But first, I must know your name first," she says. "Surely, like me, you must have one."

"I..." I say, staring into her cold, red eyes. It is evident that she does not share the fear of Night Furies that others do, though she does show respect to an extent. "...It's Pax."

"Pax," she says musedly. "Peace. Is that a hint to my future? A sign that my kingdom will have peace?"

My ears straighten nervously, not knowing what to answer.

"I'm just joking," she says with a chuckle. "Now, I must kindly ask you not to leave the kingdom until I have got what I have asked for. In return, I will protect you from the other tribes that will surely try to gain possession with you."

Possession? Do the other tribes want to find me as well?

"Now… allow my subject here to escort you to your quarters," she says, motioning to a small Changewing to lead my way. "We hope you enjoy your stay here."

I look at her, and then at the large palace, and then at myself.

This just got a lot more complicated, I think to myself. I'm going to need to find out a lot more about my kind.

"Thank you," I say, and follow the small Changewing as he walks forward.