Hiccup's POV

Over the next two nights we managed to trap and link three – no, four – of the raiding dragons. Two of them were conjoined twins, and needed both me and Astrid to argue them into trying the network. Only one of the new ones was female, a Gronkle; Astrid said that she seemed to be sensitive about her weight – apparently, in the human dreamscape, she had appeared plus-size.

"I didn't know you dragons could be overweight," I said to Toothless as we studied the network.

"Meatlug is a rarity these days: a dragon genetically predisposed to heaviness," Toothless replied.

I didn't have to ask why it was so rare. Dragons that couldn't quickly drop their loads and flee were dragons that got eaten by their own Dream Alpha. "I'll bet she was really excited to cut her old link and build a new one," I said instead, following his suit and not directly referencing the Dream Alpha.

Neither of us were sure if we could attract his attention by talking about him in my dreamscape, but neither of us wanted to take the chance.

"Oh, yes," Toothless nodded soberly. "She was living on luck and she knew it."

I looked out at the network again. Energy ran from Toothless to the other dragons and back; I could make out Astrid's dreamscape – a stone fortress resting against Stormfly's dreamscape – and it seemed to be doing something to the energy flowing back from there. A column of liquid light ran from…presumably the Dream Alpha…and flowed into Toothless's dreamscape.

It was an awfully big column…

"You can cut that, right?" I asked.

Toothless didn't answer right away, staring across at his dreamscape and the flows of energy to and from it. He drew in a deep breath, looking pensive.

"This is a world of dreams. My…ability to cut that link depends on my belief and my desire."

"So if you think you can, and you want it badly enough, you can?"

"Yes. Only…" Toothless looked at me. "…I'm not sure I want to just yet. The network…is there really enough energy here to be self-sustaining?"

I looked again, trying to visualize the energy in a way that would make it clear how much was going around and from what sources. Everybody was obviously getting all the energy they needed right now…

Water. Lots of water.

Some kind of liquid, anyway; the components of which were different enough from each other that it didn't readily mix, making it obvious who was sending it. Meatlug's energy was a muddy brown; Stormfly's was deep blue. The twins' energy was yellow-green (in two hues, though they were very similar), and the brutal Hookfang's was red-orange. Toothless's was a deep, dark midnight-blue…

And the Dream Alpha's energy was dark blood-red. And there was a lot of that going around – without it, there would be barely enough to keep these dragons alive.

I was just about to acknowledge that we might have to add another dragon when I looked at Stormfly again and noticed something odd. Her dreamscape was producing more energy than any of the other dragons here (except for Toothless, who had the Dream Alpha's backing).

"Energetic, isn't she?" I asked, pointing at Stormfly.

"Hmm?" Toothless looked more carefully. "Yesss…"

I looked at Toothless's energy flow and saw that his near-black energy was tied with Stormfly's blue for generated amount. "You and Stormfly are generating more of your own energy than any of the other dragons are, and Astrid and I are the only distinct variables." I thought that one over. "We must be acting like catalysts – possibly supplying you two with some of our own energy…"

"But you humans can only share with, and amplify the energy production of, one dragon each – that's why you haven't enhanced the others' performances." Toothless scratched his head. "If there were more humans in the network…"

I tried to think of other humans I could tell about the dragons, and came up completely blank. "Pretty sure that wouldn't be safe."

Toothless laughed ruefully. "This is a world of dreams, Hiccup. It is possible that we can include humans without their thinking it is anything other than a dream."

"Okay, that might work. The only questions now, I guess, are…who do we connect in, and how?"

"The how is easy. You are linked directly to me and Astrid is linked to Stormfly; we simply send the unlinked dragons to the chosen humans, and connect them that way. As for whom…should we trust them to find their own partners?"

Should we? I wasn't sure. "You're their alpha now. If you gave them an order – told them to make absolutely sure that they weren't seen or heard while they were seeking their human partners – would they follow it?"

Toothless considered that. "They survived to adulthood by following orders. They will obey."

"Then yeah, they can pick out their own people. Make sure they understand, both that they mustn't be discovered, and that their partners can't find out that they're dragons."

Toothless looked at me curiously; then he caught me from behind in a hug and rested a hand over my heart. "You seem sad about their obedience."

I considered that. "They were slaves. It was obey or die. I guess in some ways I hope they someday become confident enough to disobey." Right now, though, that obedience would serve us well.

"I see."

"By the way, how are they – the new ones – getting along with Stormfly?" I'd heard they all moved into her pocket universe; Toothless was the only one physically living in my world.

I felt Toothless shrug. "No worries. They expanded the realm to hold more nests." A pause. "You know, it's possible that we could use their nests to make your village 'disappear' from the searching minds of other dragons."

Whatever I thought he would say next, it wasn't that. "You can do that? Even though the raiders already know that the village is here?"

"I'm not sure; at any rate, making the entire village invisible would probably require a lot more than four nests. But…"

"Yeah, it would be a goal to attempt." If hostile dragons couldn't find the village, they couldn't raid it. "But let's add more humans to this web first. How do we explain the plan to the others?"

I came out of a hard, hard sleep to a banging on my door.

Getting up was the last thing I wanted to do at that moment – I felt more tired than I did when I first went to bed, and my head felt like a boulder. Given the way Astrid actually snarled and jerked my pillow away to cover her own head, she didn't want to get up either.

Toothless…who…?

I sensed Toothless poke his nose out from under my bed. After a long moment his thoughts prodded ever-so-carefully at my mind. Scott.

Why was Scott here – and at this ungodly hour?

Actually, what time was it?

Half-between dawn and apogee. The dragon could tell that without even going to the window.

What was wrong with me anyway? Not even painkillers did this – at least not the stuff I was supposed to be using. And even if someone had swapped out my pills for something fancier, I was nearly positive that I hadn't taken any last night.

Toothless prodded my mind again, this time unlocking my memory of the night before. The other dragons had opened my mind – and Astrid's – and had compared our notes on the people we knew. Probably so that they wouldn't be searching blind for their partners.

All well and good, but it had been horribly uncomfortable and took all my effort to not throw them back out before they'd compiled full dossiers. Astrid must have had the same experience – if not worse.

Suddenly I rolled toward the edge of the bed, propelled by Astrid's foot; I barely managed to catch myself before I went all the way off.

Stormfly shielded some; I tried to help; bad memory still bad.

Yeah, about what I'd thought. Definitely she'd had a worse experience.

I managed to get my crutches and get to something resembling an upright position. "I got it, Astrid…you go back to sleep."

Astrid muttered something and curled into a tight ball, completely hidden by my pillow and blankets.

Scott opened the door before I could reach it and nearly ran me over as he came in. "Why are you still in bed?"

"Do not mess with me, Scott." I dropped onto the edge of the bed and massaged my temples. "I didn't sleep well."

"What, did you spend the night partying?" Scott waggled his eyebrows, somehow looking provocative and derisive at the same time.

Astrid growled – like a bear in my bed – and glared out from under the pillow. "Out. Now."

Scott leaned over to peer sideways at Astrid. "You sure you want another round with…"

"I said OUT!" Astrid came up, dark circles under blazing eyes. "Or do you want to feel as bad as I do right now?"

Scott retreated.

"Nice," I commented.

"Whatever." Astrid climbed out of bed and went to close the door. "You realize that'll be all over the school tomorrow?"

"Just at the moment, I don't care. I have bigger things to worry about than the rumors of our extracurricular activities."

"Like what?"

"Like I think one of our 'dependents' wants to partner with Scott."

Scott's POV

I still didn't get what Astrid saw in that Hiccup. He's a wuss – and he's now a one-legged wuss. Since when did Astrid like that? Astrid didn't like anything, not even the Scottmaster.

Or…maybe this was just a therapy thing. Gods knew, Hiccup needed it.

I stepped into the bathroom, contemplating how I could maneuver that information to my advantage – and then I noticed that a hot bath had been drawn for me. Very hot: the room was so full of steam that I couldn't see much of anything. The water was probably hot enough to melt my flesh right off.

I considered getting in anyway. Then I decided to not, and just say that I had. I stripped off my shirt so that the sweat could roll down my burly chest without getting trapped.

Yes, I wiped the mirror off too. So would you, if you looked this good sweaty.

So I was right in the middle of a good flex, when something poked my back. I turned around and demanded of the steamy bathroom, "What?"

That was the plan, anyway, but I didn't quite finish the question. Just as my mouth was wide open, something was shoved down my throat and given a twist.

I punched out in self-defense – not completely sure I hit anything – and doubled over coughing.

"Nice jab."

I admit I was startled, but I tried hard not to let it show. I straightened up again and looked at the stranger who had somehow gotten into the bathroom with me.

Holy shit, he looked like a wrestler; a pro wrestler, at that. He was completely naked except for briefs and a flashy belt, showing off rock-solid muscle and tiger-stripe tattoos (those red and black stripes had to be tattoos; paint would have run in all this steam). Oh yeah, he also had a mask…at least, I think it was a mask and not face-tattoos…it had white fangs that sure looked real. His hair stood up like spiky black antlers.

"Yours wasn't so bad either," I admitted, rubbing my throat – then I wondered why I admitted that. "Who invited you anyway?"

He considered that. "A…friend of Hiccup's."

What was with this guy's accent? "Hiccup" sounded so weird like that…and somehow I still understood exactly who he was referencing. "Did he tell you about me?"

"A little; enough that I wanted to learn more, and directly from your mouth. Starting with your name."

"What, he didn't tell you that?"

He smiled – and I was suddenly more than half convinced that those fangs would be real even if that mask was a face-tattoo. "I wish to hear it from you."

I straightened, determined that this guy not see me shiver. "I am Scotland Jorgenson, master quarterback of the Berkians!" I shouted with all the bravado I had, pounding my chest and trying to convince myself that this guy hadn't scared me at all.

That smile stretched into a grin that had way more sharp teeth than it was supposed to, and he raised his fists to the touchdown stance. "I am Hookfang," he replied – I think – "master of the burning armor! Dragons and warriors alike fear me!"

I wasn't surprised at all that even dragons feared this guy. He looked like he could wrestle the Chief to a draw, if not an outright victory.

Then he lowered his fists and shrugged. "Most dragons," he amended. "There are some that even my monstrous power cannot intimidate; them, I would need a partner before I could conquer." To my surprise, that massive fellow knelt – though his yellow eyes stayed locked with mine. "I would be honored if you, Scotland the Quarterback, would be my partner against them. Your strength with mine would be a force no enemy could withstand."

I considered. Okay, I pretended to consider. That gesture of kneeling was strongly implying that he would allow me to direct him; having his power at my command was a sweet concept.

"All right then." I offered my right hand – while jabbing my left thumb at my chest. "Just so long as you remember I'm in charge, Hookfang!"

Hookfang took my hand in a grip that would bend steel. "As you say."

Then I woke up on the floor with a cold washcloth on my face and heavy footsteps walking around me. "Hunh – Hookfang?" My voice came out garbled.

"Next time you decide to take a steam bath, open the window."

It wasn't Hookfang; it was Uncle Stoik. I sat up slowly and scrubbed my face with the cloth; then I looked around.

"Where'd the tiger-man go?"

Stoik looked down at me like he was trying to decide how hard I knocked my head. "Probably back to whatever circus he escaped from."

I tried to stand up and nearly fell on my face. "You really didn't see a tiger-man?"

Stoik pulled me back to my feet. "No. And before you ask, I didn't hear anyone enter or leave this house since you arrived." He turned his fierce gaze at me. "And I would have heard someone."

So what – I dreamed that? The more I thought about the strange encounter, the less sense it made. Well…I guess it was a dream. Brought on by the too-steamy bathroom, no doubt.

Though Hookfang himself refused to fade away like a good hallucination.

Hiccup's POV

"Really, Hookfang? You actually thought turning the bathroom into a sauna was more subtle than just teleporting in on Scott while he was asleep? What if someone – other than me – had walked in on you while you were still linking up?"

Hookfang ignored me. He was too busy contemplating his claws and tail – and he seemed very smug. Probably because he was the first of the new dragons to have a human's dreamscape augmenting his own.

"At least you were the one to catch him in the act," Astrid reminded me.

Toothless nudged my mind, pointing out that Hookfang did follow my orders. No one saw him, unless you counted Scott's dream, and he'd appeared as a human in that dream. So what was the problem?

"The problem is that he took a massive risk and that he decided to do it while Astrid and I were getting breakfast!" Then I shook my head. "But…at least he has confidence."

Astrid looked at the mirror. "By the way, where are the others?"

"The twins are off chasing another set of twins."

"They're…oh gods, no."

"Oh, yeah." The conjoined twins had fixated on one point of Ruth's and Tully's dossiers: the part where the two of them are twins. And, near as I could figure, they stopped there. I wondered if they would approve or be horrified when they actually connected to the twins and discovered their love of destruction. "As for Meatlug, she's stalking Fisher; I can't wait to see the result of that."

"You know him better than I do. Would he accept an overweight girl just as she is?"

I shrugged. "His preferences never came up when we talked, but I think so."

Astrid was quiet for a second. Then, before I could ask what was wrong, she made a face that was…somewhere between a smirk and a flirty expression…and she batted her eyes at me. "Let me guess, you two were mostly talking about me?"

I laughed – painfully – and shrugged. "That type of conversation mostly consisted of Fisher reciting the impossibly high odds against you and me hooking up. It wasn't exactly…" then I promptly forgot what it "exactly wasn't" as Astrid kissed me.

By the time she let me go, I was no longer sure what we had just been discussing. Amazing what this girl does to my brain, right?

Hookfang suddenly made a gagging noise, his jaws sliding forwards and his teeth jutting out.

"No one asked you," I informed him, turning my back and getting my crutches.

Astrid just snickered.

Author's Note: special shout-outs in the next chapter for everyone who recognizes what inspired Hookfang's human form.