Okay, I know it's almost been HALF A YEAR since I last updated this story, but I was a bit too centered on another fic I was working on and forgot about this one. Shame on me, I know.

I finished that fic and I'll have more time in working in other stories; I want to finish this one too, since I've also gotten attached to these characters, and plus my HTTYD flame is still there.

As you saw in the previous chapter, Windshear has come to the equation, and she'll have a huge impact on certain characters later on.

After all the sales of the day were closed off, the buyers left with their newly-acquired dragons, for better or worse.

Most dragons were taken directly by the buyers to their homes, but the most aggressive cases were transported since they couldn't be approached without receiving a good bite, slash or worse, a burn. The dragons Valka purchased were of the latter cases, and so they were put back in cages and taken to their home, though the Razorwhip was a real challenge to the point she had to be sedated.

Once the cages were put in the courtyard, Valka asked to have the dragons' released, much to the confusion and dismay of the handlers. Still, they opened the latches of the cages the Nadder and the Nightmare were in, and said dragons rushed out of them, absolutely terrified; the only thing that kept them from flying away was the fact that they had thick collars and a long chain that attached them to their cages in case they tried to precisely do that.

Valka's method was simple; show the dragon she was no threat and then make some mild physical contact so they'd get used to her. Hiccup and Stoic never understood how she did it, but she always managed to win any dragon over, no matter how aggressive they were at first.

Since the Razorwhip was still sedated, it wasn't much trouble moving her into the worn out but comfortable stalls reserved for these dragons.

The Monstrous Nightmare(Whip-Slash) and Nadder(Steeltrap) were a bit harder in the beginning, but eventually they managed to put them in the stalls; Valka didn't pull the chains aggressively like the other men, she only needed to offer a bit of food to coax them in. The dragons had been starving to the point hunger overruled any caution.

Valka didn't close the doors of their stalls, though, knowing they'd feel confined and try to break them down. She left them wide open, but the dragons were still tied to it to prevent them from getting away.

Valka and Hiccup took advantage of the Razorwhip being sedated to give it a rather long bath. It took them a while, but eventually they managed to get all the dirt and grime off the dragon's scales, revealing a beautiful silver color. Still, it would be a long while before they regained their lost shine.

The difficulties started when she finally regained consciousness. She was jumped to her feet and snapped at the humans, but when she tried to fly away she was brought down again by the collar and chain. The Razorwhip shrieked in distress as it tried to get free, but eventually Valka used one of her 'techniques' to submit her peacefully.

"That one's going to pose a challenge even to you, Valka." Stoic commented. "Are you sure it was wise to bring such an aggressive dragon?"

"She's not bad," Valka simply said as she stroked the Razorwhip's chin, a sensitive spot for this breed. "You know these dragons are very mistreated nowadays due to their scales, plus Razorwhips are naturally distrustful."

"More of a reason to be careful ourselves. I've heard of many blacksmiths who lost limbs trying to pluck Razorwhip scales."

"Indeed, but we are not going to do such a thing."

"So, we need to pick a name for her." Hiccup pointed out as he returned with some fresh sea slugs from the market.

"I already have one in mind," Valka said, taking one of the sea slugs and placing it in front of the dragoness. The Razorwhip sniffed it and ate it eagerly, even licking her chops to taste the slime. "Her name shall be Windshear."

"It suits her very well." Stoic muttered when he noted the dragon's slit pupils were glancing at him.

Once the humans went back into the house, Toothless, Thornado and Cloudjumper proceeded to greet the newcomers to make them feel more at home. It took them a while, but eventually Steeltrap and Whip-Slash opened up a bit.

Whip-Slash had been a forced to participate in clandestine dragon fights until he was beaten by a stronger opponent and left for dead. He was found by a farmer, but by then the monstrous nightmare was too aggressive to be used for farm work, so he was sold.

Steeltrap didn't have such a gruesome life, but it still wasn't a good one. He was initially a pet until his owner got bored with him and was sold into slavery to a brick maker who overworked him until his flame-producing organs got 'ruined'. Now he can barely produce a tiny flame.

Windshear, however, remained tense, suspicious and aggressive. She refused to talk to any of the other dragons and stayed in her stall, hidden inside her wings. Wherever she came from, she was clearly very mistreated.

This gave Toothless an idea. Perhaps if she met other dragons who were just like her would get her to open up.

The next morning, Hiccup seemed to have a similar idea, but first he knew he'd had to ask Muk and Glump if it was okay. After all, they knew Nighthawk and the others better than anyone else and would know how they'd react with yet another dragon. He discussed the issue with Valka, and she agreed with the idea.

When they got to the opera house, Hiccup fed the dragons before going down into the tunnels with Toothless. Just when they arrived at the main chamber, a little speck of white ran towards the larger Night Fury.

"Toothless!" Snowdrop cried, wagging her little tail.

"Hey, Snowdrop!" Toothless 'smiled' and lowered his head to greet the hatchling with a head rub. "Looks like you're feeling better!"

"Yep! I can run around now and my tummy doesn't ache anymore!"

"Hi, Snowdrop," Hiccup said, stroking Snowdrop's head gently. "I see you're better, that's good! Do you casually know where Muk or Glump are?" He didn't expect an answer, really.

Snowdrop recalled the talk she had been given regarding dragonese and humans, so she simply tilted her head to the side and perked up her ears curiously.

"That's okay, I can go look for them."

Hiccup walked through one of the tunnels, leaving Toothless behind for the moment to play with Snowdrop. Frankly, though, he'd rather find Glump, Muk was a bit too… intimidating at times. Unfortunately, his stomach dropped when the first goblin he found was Muk, who was taking a break in his hammock.

"Oh, it's you," he said, sounding uninterested. "What do you want?"

Hiccup gathered all the courage he could muster. "Well, there's an issue I need to ask you."

"What is it?"

"See, mom and I bought a mistreated dragon yesterday-"

"Yeah? What do you want, a trophy?"

See? THAT'S why Hiccup didn't like talking with Muk, he was cynic and was always trying to spite him as much as possible. Oddly, he only noted he was only like this with him (Hiccup), he was more or less 'friendly' with everybody else.

"She's very distrustful and aggressive, and mom and I thought perhaps she would open up more with other dragons like her."

Muk raised an eyebrow. "Let me get this straight: you want to get an abused dragon together with even more abused dragons?"

"Well… Yes, mom thinks it might-"

"I'll keep it in mind, thank you very much, now if you'll excuse me…" Muk finished the conversation by shifting around in his hammock to turn his back on Hiccup, who merely sighed and went to look for Glump.

When he was certain Hiccup was out of earshot, Muk jumped off his hammock and went to the main chamber to find Toothless. How convenient, Nighthawk had just walked in too.

"I take it you're not here only for a casual visit." the poisonous whiptail commented with a grumble.

"No," Toothless stated matter of factly. "There's something I'd like to ask you."

Muk had the feeling the topic was not for a hatchling's ears. "Hey, Snowdrop, why don't you go help Helfer catch some bugs?" he asked the little white fury.

"Yaay!" With that she was off into one of the tunnels.

Nighthawk sat down, glancing at Toothless. "Okay, what is it?"

"Yesterday Valka brought three new dragons home, all of them bought from the dragon sales," he noted Nighthawk stiffening a bit. "Two of them have relaxed after Valka worked her magic, but the last one just keeps shutting everybody out."

"What breed is she?"

"Razorwhip."

Nighthawk snorted. Well, that explains it. "In that case, it'll take longer than a day for Valka to 'do her magic'." He guessed there was something else.

"Yeah, but I think it would help if she met other dragons like… her."

"What are you insinuating?"

"Hiccup told me they want you to meet that dragon. They hope she'll open up to you, given that you had similar, unpleasant experiences." Muk explained.

Another snort. "What makes you think nobody will get hurt? Razorwhips are not known for been amiable, plus One-Eye and I aren't very patient with newcomers. Besides, if my hunch is correct I don't think she'll want to enter an underground cavern."

"We'll figure something out." Toothless said, though he didn't sound very sure of himself either.

"I'd have to discuss it with the others. As you know, most of the decisions are made by voting. By the evening you shall have our answer."

Toothless nodded his head. "Thanks."

When Toothless and Hiccup left for the time being, Nighthawk called the rest of the dragons to discuss the 'petition'. Naturally, the arguments started as soon as he was done talking.

"Of course not!" One-Eye snapped.

"I don't think it's wise." Shack added.

"I agree with them," Silk added, receiving many surprised stared. "As unbelievable as it sounds."

"I don't think it'll be that bad," Voltaire, of course, disagreed. "I mean, if we can help someone who went through the same as us…"

"You can't compare it! I highly doubt she's missing any of her limbs!" One-Eye said.

"There are other types of violence besides the physical torture, you know. If you recall, Razorwhips are not treated well these days."

"I blame it on their temper," Shack commented. "Remember Boneslicer? He was very nasty, always snapping at everyone until he was put down."

"Males in any species tend to be more… snappy." Helfer pointed out. "Believe me, I now by experience."

"Did you ever deal with Razorwhips?" Nighthawk asked him.

"No."

"Then you don't know. Males are usually more aggressive, yes, but the thing about this breed is that both genders are equally hostile, especially nesting females with males of any species…"

Silk muttered. "I can't blame them on that. I mean, their males do eat their kids…"

"I insist we should give her a chance," Voltaire continued. "Besides, it might be a good chance to help Mrs. Valka. She saved Snowdrop's life, in case none of you remember!"

Nighthawk couldn't help but agree with the Skrill on that one. They did owe Valka for helping Snowdrop. But it was still too risky…

"Okay, let's suppose that we agree to do it," Shack said. "How exactly are we supposed to get her to open up? If we all know Razorwhips are not nice, and she apparently hasn't had a good life either, she'll be unbearable! Besides, I don't think she'll want enclosed spaces, and we live underground."

Silk had waited for the right moment, for anyone to say something like that. "Well, Hiccup was supposed to take me outside to practice flying tomorrow…"

Nighthawk saw through the sugarcoating. "Absolutely not." He growled.

"It's not a bad idea, actually." Glump said with perked up ears. "An open environment that doesn't make her feel threatened or confined would make her feel more at ease."

"Besides," Muk added. "It's been a while since we were outside these damn caves."

"I thought Goblins liked caves." One-Eye pointed out.

"Goblins do, but dragons aren't supposed to be underground for prolonged periods of time, do you want your wings to become useless as years pass? Besides, Snowdrop will eventually have to learn how to fly, and she certainly cannot do so down here, can she?" Muk knew he'd get Voltaire on their side with that one.

And he was right. "He's right, Nighthawk. I don't want Snowdrop to grow up underground without feeling the grass or the breeze under her wings!"

"She's still too young for flight!"

"You know what I mean!" Voltaire countered. "She's already in the age to start learning the basics, and since Silk if being taught to fly by Toothless, he could also teach her, given they are the same species!" Not to mention he would like to feel some grass(or rather, snow, since it was winter) under his talons too.

"I'm staying here," One-Eye stated, clawing at the ground with his talons. "I'm not risking going back… there."

Silk rolled his eyes. "Would you get over it already? You won't be taken back there for taking some fresh air!"

Nighthawk gave another snort, and the tip of his tail twitched as he thought of the possibilities, the pros and cons, until eventually he sighed.

"…Very well then."

Nighthawk had to admit, perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

He'd lie if he said he didn't miss the scents of the frozen snow and nature or the gentle caress of the (cold) wind against his scales, or the humidity on the air and ground. He had been living underground for so long he was afraid he had forgotten those sensations.

Hiccup and Toothless had brought them to an unoccupied terrain on the outskirts of the city; Nighthawk and the others were brought in a big transport wagon pulled by Meatlug and Stormfly with Fishlegs's help to make sure nobody saw them, and he was happy to tag along, in part because he wanted to see them in their natural habitat.

The only bad thing was the crazy Razorwhip running around the prairie, cursing and roaring while trying to get free from her collar and chain. It was the only way Hiccup could make sure she wouldn't get away without restricting her too much. She had arrived a bit later with Valka and Cloudjumper, the latter having Windshear's chain attached to his collar.

Just like he assumed, she felt grossed out by him, Silk and Voltaire due to their… unusual appearances, but Shack was more or less allowed to approach a bit more, since he didn't have any deformations or prosthetic limbs.

"SOMEBODY GET THIS THING OFF ME!" Windshear shrieked, pulling against the chain connected against the dragon pole planted firmly on the ground.

Nighthawk just watched her from afar.

Currently Silk and Toothless continued to practice flight tactics (with Hiccup adjusting the prosthetic wing whenever it was necessary), while Snowdrop was catching mice with Voltaire watching and Cloudjumper joining in a bit more later. Shack was on Fishleg's lap, face-up and enjoying the attention he was getting. Meatlug rolled around the snow and ice gleefully, unsuccessfully trying to get Stormfly to play with her.

Eventually, Nighthawk got tired of the scandal and went back to his feet, taking some steps towards Windshear and stopping just a few meters away. "Knock it off." He said firmly.

"Stay away from me!" Windshear hissed, trying to step as away from the Poisonous Whiptail as the chain would allow her.

He made no attempt to get closer to her, at least not yet. "You will earn nothing by just yelling and attacking people; that's more of a reason to have to keep you tied up."

"I have to make sure they don't come near me so they can't hurt me! That's all they know to do."

Although he didn't like her attitude, he understood how she felt; he used to think like that until meeting Valka. Because of that, he also knew it wouldn't be easy to just open up to any human, no matter how good their intentions were. "Perhaps, but this makes you no better than them."

"I don't care, I just want to get away from here."

"And where will you go, if you do manage to achieve that goal? You were raised in captivity, so you probably don't know how to hunt, make a nest or any of the skills required to live in the wild. Plus, should you encounter any wild dragons you won't know how to interact and they might take it the wrong way and attack you."

"With that attitude, you no human will want you," at this, Nighthawk gave her a serious frown. "And I suppose you know what will happen to you if you ever attack a human."

Windshear didn't reply, but he noted she had tensed up; his words had clearly gotten through her. She looked down with a whimper-like growl.

"You don't understand…"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I do," Nighthawk growled, lifting one of his wooden legs. "Or do you think I got these by gathering daisies?" Again he saw her wincing when she saw his prosthetics. "You think you had a hard life? Think again, because there are worse things than just being neglected or beaten with a whip."

If Voltaire were within earshot, he would have said he was being a bit too harsh on her, but he was speaking the truth. Besides, in that current state she wouldn't listen to 'kind words'.

Sometimes you had to be cruel in order to be kind. It was like cleaning out a wound to allow it to properly heal; it hurt like hell, but in the end it was for the person's wellbeing. It was a harsh, but valuable lesson all should learn instead of sugarcoating the truth to avoid hurting, letting the problem fester like an infected injury that did more harm than good in the long run.

It seemed like she wouldn't say anything else, so Nighthawk turn around to go back to his spot.

"Has a human ever been kind to you?"

Nighthawk stopped. He answered without sparing a glance. "Not for most of my early life. Mistress Valka was the first human who truly showed any kindness to me."

"…She's different, and I don't know why. I don't understand why she's so nice when everyone else has found delight in making my life as miserable as possible. It infuriates me not to know it." With that, she turned her back on Nighthawk and lay down without another word.

Nighthawk went back to his spot to lay down, but instead of going back to his nap he continued to stare at Windshear. At least she wasn't trashing around anymore.

To his surprise, he found that he actually… liked that day's experience, and he noted how it considerably lifted everyone's spirits. Silk even spent eight hours straight on his musical work, going as far as to rewrite a few tidbits to make the story more consistent, Shack was less Snarky and there was a beaming grin on Snowdrop's face most of the time as she asked when they'd go out again.

Maybe this is why he did not protest in any when Hiccup and Fishlegs started taking them out a few more times, and he found himself enjoying those hours in the open wild. Having been in cages most of his life, he had never stopped to enjoy the feeling of the frozen water against his scales or just the… beauty.

Sometimes Muk, Glump and Helfer accompanied them. They weren't very fond of the cold, so Muk complained constantly the first half of the day, but got used to it. Besides, it was his fault for not wanting to wear snow boots in the first place; he was pretty sure he'd get frostbite if it went like this. Glump and Helfer were less prone to complaining, and they had a good time.

They even got One-Eye to join in(a very big accomplishment), even though he was still terrified of the outside world. Basically he just sulked under a tree with the dragon equivalent of a pout; he claimed he only came because he didn't like to be all-alone back in the caverns, but the truth was he longed for the call of nature too. Nighthawk could tell.

Windshear's attitude was slowly changing. Very slowly. She wasn't as snappy as before, but the only human who could approach her without risk of bites, burns or losing a limb was Valka for obvious reasons.

She had gotten used to the other dragons, though. She could have a more-or-less cordial conversation with Silk and Voltaire, who were wise enough to avoid asking about her past. Snowdrop had even approached once and asked directly why she was all grumpy. Nighthawk almost laughed at Windshear's expression.

As time went on, Windshear stared less and less at the dragons' fake limbs or scars and could look into their eyes during their conversations. One-Eye eventually started approaching too when he got bored of staying all bitter and fearful, though he was still getting used to the cold. Monstrous Nightmares weren't fond of it, after all.

This day in particular, Fishlegs was making a snowdragon in the shape of Meatlug, while the real one posed for him. It wasn't exactly a master-piece, but it was enough for Snowdrop and Toothless to try and make one themselves, while Hiccup was the one posing.

Nighthawk watched them deal with their respective 'snowdragons' for a while before settling his gaze on Windshear again. She was asleep on top of the snow, and didn't seem to mind. After all, Razorwhips weren't as picky with the cold as many other species.

Silk approached Toothless and Snowdrop's 'snowhiccup', as the latter referred to their creation to take a good look at it. "So how's your masterpiece doing?"

Toothless caught the small hint of sarcasm, but Snowdrop in her infinite innocence didn't. "It's nice! We can't get the hair right, though."

Hiccup didn't understand what they said, but he was sure as heck getting tired from being in that position. "Um, how long will you take, Toothless?" he asked, struggling not to fall over.

"Let me take a look." Silk purred, leaning in his head closer to the misshaped ball of snow on top of the pile. Unfortunately, the tip of his nose touched it slightly, causing it to fall to the ground.

The three dragons, plus Hiccup, stared at the now-beheaded snowhiccup, before both Night Furies' gazes fell on top of Silk, who stuttered nervously. "S-Sorry!"

Toothless didn't say anything. He merely gathered some snow with his tail and flung it to Silk's face.

Well, Silk had been his target, but it turned out the Changewing had quick reflexes and he lowered his head enough so the snow wouldn't hit him, instead falling on top of Voltaire, who lifted up his head from the ground in alarm and glanced in Toothless direction.

"Huh…" Toothless said with lowered ears. "Oops?"

Voltaire snorted, gathered his own snow and whipped his tail to send it flying. Again, it didn't hit its main target, but instead it fell on top of One-Eye, Silk and Helfer, plus the bonus of knocking Hiccup off his feet.

"Oh, you didn't…!" One-Eye growled, and he took a big amount of snow into his mouth and ran towards Voltaire, intending to drop it on top of him.

Nighthawk watched in amusement as the Snow Wars (as Snowdrop would refer to them later) started. It mostly involved One-Eye, Silk, Toothless, Snowdrop and Voltaire, but Hiccup soon joined in to help Toothless and Snowdrop.

Eventually, Glump, Meatlug and Fishlegs joined in as well, though in their case they were mostly the target. Stormfly, Cloudjumper and Muk just sat to one side, the latter two even shaking their heads at the immaturity. One of the projectiles hit the tree above them, however, causing a great amount of snow to fall on top of the trio; that did it.

Nighthawk decided to move before any of the 'projectiles struck him', which would inevitably prompt him to join in. He silently stood up and started moving away from the snow fight.

He passed by Windshear, who had been oddly calm through the day. She was staring at the playful scene longingly, almost as if she wished she could join in, but for unknown reasons she never moved from her own spot. He guessed perhaps she could use some company. He did.

Windshear didn't react when he lay down a few meters away from her, she only gave a quick glance before returning her gaze to the 'show'.

"Are they usually like this?" she asked.

"How?" Nighthawk responded with another question.

"Silly. It's kind of irritating."

"It's been a while since we were outside like this, so I it's natural they'd want to enjoy it."

"What do you mean outside?"

"We live beneath the Opera House in Paris." Windshear glanced at him, but he noted she was giving him a look of disbelief. "You don't believe me?"

"How is that even possible?"

"Hey, when you're running from…. Gypsies, you don't really have tie to consider any better options."

"Oh, so you come from a-"

Nighthawk interrupted her before she could say the C-word. "Yes, but do not speak that word when I'm around. Please. You don't want to see what happens."

She could tell by the seriousness in his voice that, indeed, she wouldn't like to see what happened.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a snowball made contact with Nighthawk's face. He shook his head and looked at the perpetrator: Shack.

The game had stopped at that moment, and all the involved stared apprehensively at the scene, particularly as Nighthawk hadn't yet done anything, he merely stared at Shack with a serious expression.

The little dragon panicked. "Sorry, I was… I was targeting at One-Eye, I swear, but he got out of the way and-"

He hadn't finished talking when a great amount of snow was thrown in his direction, burying most of his body except for his wings.

The rest of the group burst out in laughter just as Nighthawk rested his head on his paws, smirking.