The machine was, in a word, unbelievable. If Hiccup hadn't been used to Toothless' random sprinting, he likely would have found it terrifying. As it was, the width of it made it feel like they were constantly at risk of running into the trees Tucker steered it around. The chair he was seated in would have been fairly comfortable, if not for the strange straps that the boy had pulled across him.

The whole experience of just being inside the craft was overwhelming. Nearly every surface was covered in strange metals and other materials that were impossible to identify. The panel in front of them was covered in strange bumps, sticks, and so many inexplicable lights, he would have almost believed them to be stars. And then there was the glass, and the impossibly cold breeze coming from small slots… Trying to take everything in was horribly distracting, which made focusing on navigation far more difficult than it should have been.

At least, it was, until a strange, flat web of lights appeared out of nowhere.

Tucker let out a happy whoop and pointed at a rapidly pulsating spot on the web. Apparently, that dot was supposed to take him to Danny—if the Viking correctly understood the string of explanatory gibberish the teen spouted. In any case, the strange boy sped up the craft, his course far more confident. And, suddenly, they were near the grotto.

"WAIT!" Hiccup yelled with his realization. The machine stopped abruptly, and the straps that bound him to the chair dug into him painfully as they forcefully stopped his momentum. With a wince, he rubbed at his collar bone. He was sure it would bruise…not that a Viking would ever admit to something minor like that. Hiccup, however, was no common Viking.

"Ow…" he muttered quietly.

"What?" Tucker was looking at him expectantly.

How was the boy not bruis—oh. Right. Future technology, future teenager. The kid was probably used to it. Hiccup shook his head and took a breath.

"We should go by foot from here," Hiccup explained, "we kind of found out the hard way that dragons don't like things flying in ways that don't make sense."

"Oh," replied Tucker, who then blinked in thought. "Ohhhhhh! That explains it!" His right hand curled into a fist and bopped onto the palm of the left as some understanding occurred to him.

"Explains what?"

As it turned out, Tucker hadn't been attacked by monsters. They were actually dragons…which happened to look like monsters that were very disturbed by the flying Speeder. After he told Hiccup about the encounters, the man gave him a very spirited, though brief, explanation about the area's giant reptiles. It kind of left him wondering about how the Vikings defined dragons, but whatever. Their time, their rules. He just had to go along with it until he got them all back home.

Some little part of him couldn't help but feeling smug over the fact that this time, he would be the hero. The rest of him was rather wishing that the people he was rescuing were models instead, though, preferably from his own time where he could ask them out. It would have been even better if he weren't having to hike.

At least it wouldn't be a long hike, he thought as he tugged his backpack higher up his shoulders.

Tucker was relieved when the strangely nicknamed man pointed out the ridge where the ground and forest suddenly dropped away. He was about to continue toward it, but an arm shot out to block him.

"Remember to keep it down," Hiccup told him, his voice low and serious, "there are probably several sleeping dragons down there, plus Sam. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not wake any of them."

Tucker cringed at the thought.

"Dude, you couldn't pay me to wake Sam," the boy countered flatly. There was a lot he would do for money, but that was not one of them. The dragons…well…if the price was right, maybe.

The Viking gave him a sidelong glance, but shrugged and crept slowly toward the ridge. Tucker followed closely, his hands clutching the straps of his backpack tightly. A sudden thought occurred to him.

"Say," he started hesitantly, "just how big are the teeth on these dragons?" He grinned nervously as the man turned to raise an eyebrow at him before continuing on without an answer. Tucker scrambled to follow.

"Come on, man! It's a serious questi—!" The boy froze in his tracks and clapped his hands over his mouth quickly, smothering his yelp before it could escape. His eyes nearly burst from their sockets at the sight before him. There, scattered around a small pond, lay several monstrous reptiles, most with clearly visible, very large teeth. He very quickly decided there was no payment large enough for him to wake those beasts after all.

A low rumble permeated the air, and Tucker could only assume it was coming from one of those sleeping behemoths. Lazy tendrils of smoke drifted from several sets of nostrils. If it weren't for his friends, he would have turned right back around. Speaking of…

"Okay," he said nervously, "I'm sure all those killer lizards are just as friendly as kittens, but where are Danny and Sam?"

"…Kittens…" For some reason, the Viking looked horribly confused for a moment before shaking his head and blinking furiously.

"Well," Hiccup began, hesitantly running a hand through his auburn hair, "they're…over there…" The Viking gestured to pile of reptiles with a particularly large, black dragon. Toothless had clearly chosen to cuddle up to the beast, and a very spikey looking creature was half draped over it in a way that probably would have been hilarious, if they weren't giant beasts that could bite him in half.

"Okay, very funny," Tucker said flatly, "but seriously, where are they?" The teen crossed his arms impatiently. The fact that they were just standing there, chit-chatting ever so close to those mountains of teeth and claws, made him highly uncomfortable. And maybe a little terrified.

"Like I said," Hiccup insisted, his tone growing quieter as a particularly lumpy dragon flicked what probably was supposed to pass for an ear, "they're over there."

"What, behind the dragons?"

"Not exactly," Hiccup drawled uneasily, one index finger raised as though he was trying to figure out how to explain something.

Tucker frowned in nervous confusion. His eyes darted around the clearing and sweat beaded on his forehead as he saw a tail twitch here, or a wing shift there. Any moment, those creatures could wake up, grumpy and hungry for a teenaged snack. He could end up lizard chow in the blink of an eye, and he hadn't even made out with a supermodel yet!

He was just about ready to creep back to the safety of the Specter Speeder and the comforting familiarity of its high-tech gadgetry when Hiccup sighed and finally began to speak again.

"They're not behind the dragon," the Viking began slowly running his hand through his hair once again, "Danny…kind of…is the dragon. The big black one."

Tucker's face blanked. He blinked for a moment before he forced a smirk onto his face.

"Nice try," he said, glad his voice didn't crack, "but that can't be Danny. He's not wearing an amulet." He uncrossed his arms and put his fists on his hips, hoping he looked victorious.

The Viking, however, simply heaved a frustrated sigh.

Danny was having a nice dream. He was back at home, arguing with his sister, avoiding his parents' inventions, and joking with Tucker. Sam was teasing them both as cheerfully as she ever did. But then, as all dreams do, it began to fade. He buried his nose further under his wing, fighting to recapture it, but it was too late. Toothless had decided to join Stormfly in being his personal blanket again, and the dragon's efforts to get comfortable had woken him up too much. With a grumble, he carefully shifted, mindful of the little bundle of warmth he realized was curled up next to him.

Sam had insisted on staying with Danny, in case Tucker suddenly showed up. She had been determined to stay awake to watch for him and the dragon had fallen asleep to the sounds of her arguing with Astrid about it. Judging by the soft snores coming from under his other wing, however, the Viking woman had won. Either that, or Sam had more or less passed out from exhaustion. Danny was sure Sam would never admit to whatever actually happened.

It was just as he was finally starting to doze off again that he realized he could hear the murmurings of somewhat hushed voices. What's more, he recognized them. The sound of Hiccup's nasally tenor was somewhat expected. The surprise was that the other voice belonged to none other than Tucker.

Suddenly giddy with excitement, he began to squirm to throw the reptilian mother-hens off. Unfortunately, the motion had woken his sleeping friend as well.

"What the—? Danny! Knock it off!" cried Sam. Danny felt a tiny jab at his ribs and suspected that the girl had thrown her elbow at him. He didn't care though. Tucker was there! They were going home! Threats of violence and reptilian complaints filled his ears as he found his way to his feet and looked around.

The noise of his efforts and the resulting complaints had not been quiet. As he bounded across the grotto, skirting nimbly around the pond to get to where the teenager stood by Hiccup, the other dragons began to stir and complain at his exuberance. He ignored them, of course, far too eager to see his friend. The thing that made him skid to a halt, though, was the sudden, intense stench of fear and the look of terror on Tucker's face. Danny winced as he watched his friend try to scramble backward, only to trip on a rock and land on his backside.

Right…Dragon… Tucker couldn't have been around many of them yet. With a guilty grimace, Danny lowered his head and laid on his belly.

"Ssss…sso…rrhhrreeee…." he rumbled slowly.

Hiccup coughed to hide a snicker as he turned to help the teen back to his feet. Slack-jawed and bug-eyed, Tucker allowed himself to be pulled up. He hesitantly stepped forward with his eyes glued to the dragon.

"Danny? Is that really you?" said the boy in disbelief.

The creature nodded his head slowly, still grimacing.

"Woah… Wait. What happened to the amulet?"

Danny groaned in embarrassment. Tucker was never going to let him live this down. As if on cue, Sam's previously distant grumbling became a much less distant shout.

"Tucker!" she yelled excitedly. Danny craned his neck around to see her running forward and found himself wondering inwardly when she had changed back to her old clothes. Just out of sight he heard Tucker release a startled yelp. A quick turn of his head told him everything he needed to know. Hiccup was holding on to the back of the geek's shirt, easily preventing him from running to meet the girl.

"Did you not hear what I told you just a minute ago?" hissed Hiccup. Danny frowned in confusion and annoyance as the two turned their eyes on him. Tucker laughed sheepishly as the Viking let him go and straightened his shirt.

"Danny, how are your wings feeling?" the Viking asked suddenly. The dragon raised an eyebrow, his confusion growing. The question was out of nowhere, without any sort of lead-in.

"Your wings," Hiccup restated, clearly misunderstanding the confusion, "are they feeling alright?" The man flapped his hands awkwardly at his sides, as if the question needed an illustration. With a roll of his eyes, Danny stretched his appendages to check. They were a little sore, but not as bad as they could have been. With a shrug, he nodded, and turned to see Sam's frantic run slow to a steady jog as she drew closer.

"You know," the man continued, sounding a little rushed, "with the others waking up, you should probably have them show you where to get something to eat, before they try to feed you again." His tone had Danny narrowing his eyes in suspicion…until he realized Hiccup's point. The dragon's eyes blew wide open. No. He'd had enough of that. More than enough. It was an underhanded tactic to get him to leave, and Hiccup had to have known it. It wasn't very subtle, but Danny knew he didn't have much choice about it, either.

Such a dirty trick…

With a quick glance of warning at the Viking, Danny turned tail to join the other reptiles. Manipulation or not, he would feed himself, darn it! He might have been stuck eating nothing but raw fish, but that didn't mean he had to keep eating things that had been pre-swallowed. So, while Toothless grumbled and curled up to go back to sleep, the pack took to the air, and Danny followed clumsily after.

"Tucker!" Sam called again, stopping just short of flinging herself to hug her friend.

"Took you long enough," she snarked, though a wide smile spread across her whole face. The girl had never been happier to see the techno-geek in her life.

"I got a little delayed," he said with a shrug and a smirk, "but I made it."

A little delayed? Sam's grin quickly fled to be replaced by a flat, distinctly unimpressed look. Tucker's smug expression quickly changed to one of confusion as the girl rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the Viking.

"So... What was that?" asked Sam, her thumb pointing toward where Danny had scurried off.

"Danny's going to try to get himself breakfast," Hiccup replied lightly, "I figured now that he's healed up, he'd rather not have any more help." The girl shuddered at the memory of his previous meals and nearly gagged. The first time was traumatizing. She was sure the other times had cemented it in her brain and scarred her for life.

"Wait, wait, wait," Tucker broke in, raising his hands as though to physically stop the conversation, "healed up? Did something happen?" Concern was written all over his features as his look bounced expectantly between Sam and the Viking.

"Yeah," Hiccup replied, "he got into a fight a couple of days after they got here. His wing was torn, and—"

"A couple of days?!" Tucker cried as concern turned to outright shock, "Sam, how long have you guys been here?!"

"I don't know," she said with a scowl, "two…three weeks, maybe? I kind of lost track while you waited to come looking for us."

"That can't be right," Tucker muttered, his arms crossed in thought, "after the explosion, I jumped in the Speeder and followed you guys as fast as I could."

One eyebrow crept up Sam's forehead as doubt worked its way into her scowl.

"I'm serious!" the teenager continued defensively, "you know how unpredictable those things can be, and it didn't even flicker! I came through sometime last night, and I thought I was maybe a few hours behind you, not a few weeks!"

"And a few leagues away," Hiccup chimed in, unhelpfully, "you and Danny crash landed on an island. As far as I can tell, your friend came through somewhere over open water."

"Crashed?!" Tucker's jaw dropped in horror and Sam very quickly found her palm meeting her face.

"I guess this means it's story time," the girl declared drily.

The dragons were more efficient at catching fish than Danny had expected. He, however, was not. They had done their best to teach him, and gotten a lot of entertainment whenever he dropped his catch, but he just wasn't getting enough to eat. It wasn't his fault that the fish really didn't want to be his breakfast. And when they put up a bigger fight than he expected, he couldn't help dropping them in surprise. It was one thing wrestling a fish into a boat when he could use his arms. Trying to flip one around with his jaws so he could eat it was another matter entirely.

After a while, the reptiles finally took pity on him. They had one last laugh at his trouble before they rumbled something about easy food and led him back to the island.

At first, he had expected that maybe there was an easier fishing spot closer to land. Or perhaps some place where they might sneak a little dried meat or something. He was wrong.

They led him straight to the village harbor. The very busy village harbor. With crowds of both humans and dragons milling about. Burly Viking fishermen hauled massive baskets in from their boats, filled to brimming with freshly caught fish. Other villagers called back and forth, while children chased around the legs of the adults, often trailing after some tiny dragon or another. Meanwhile, the larger reptiles lazed about or meandered in cheerful imitation of some of the people.

It was more than a little overwhelming. Danny could feel his ears pulling back and forced his wings to clamp down against his sides. Causing a scene there would definitely be disastrous.

Meatlug was quick to offer noises of reassurance while Barf and Belch gladly took up clearing a path, acting as though they owned the harbor. Several teasing sounds spouted from dragons nearby, but it meant that they were keeping the attention off Danny. He wasn't entirely sure if that was their intention, but he was grateful nonetheless.

With Hookfang and Stormfly acting like they belonged there, and Meatlug doing her best to encourage him, he squared his shoulders and began to follow their lead.

Act natural, Danny told himself, just act natural. You can do this, Fenton. Not that he really knew how dragons acted in crowds like the one he was diving into.

As the group made their way closer to where the fishermen were gathering their haul, the creature occasionally caught a glimpse of a fish or two being thrown to a nearby dragon, and he couldn't help licking his jaws when his stomach rebelliously groaned with anticipation.

As it turned out, it wasn't that uncommon for the village to see the little pack together. With the others crowding around him, and the Zippleback drawing attention, it seemed people were quick to assume he was simply a new addition to their crew. The village dragons, however, were giving him odd glances every now and then. It occurred to him that he might not look as casual to a dragon as he thought he did. At least he hadn't tried to whistle.

When they reached where the filled baskets were gathered together, Hookfang was quick to grab a fish off the top of one before nudging the massive vessel toward Danny. He hesitated. When the dragon pushed it even closer to him and no one blinked an eye about it, he grabbed one for himself.

Then another.

And another.

Soon, his entire head was shoved into the basket as he devoured its contents ravenously. Yes, he had been brought food the night before, but it had been less than usual, and his stomach had finally decided it needed to play catch-up from the long flight. Oddly enough, he couldn't remember feeling that hungry during the trip, but now he was starving, and he couldn't fill his belly fast enough.

"Well, you're a new beastie."

The heavily accented comment froze him in place, a particularly fat fish still clamped in his jaws. It sounded a lot closer than he was comfortable with.

Ever so slowly, Danny pulled his head out of the basket. His eyes first landed on a peg leg and a rough, leather boot. They traveled upward, over a hulking figure with a hook in place of his left hand, and on to a grizzled face. The man's jaw jutted outward beneath a massive, blond moustache, a stone in place of one missing tooth. His bushy unibrow furrowed inward over beady blue eyes as his good hand scratched at his bald scalp.

In shock, Danny's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and his face went slack. The fish he'd been about to eat fell to the ground with a wet smack.

The man before him was nearly as large and fierce-looking as Hiccup's father had been. But he'd had the young Viking and Sam with him to explain things the night before. All he had right then was a bunch of reptiles who didn't seem to think there was a problem.

"I've never seen anythin' like you before," the man continued, his rough features curling into a smile as he reached his hand out. It wasn't like Hiccup's hand thing at all—it wasn't slow and mesmerizing in the least. This guy was trying to pat his head, like a little kid—no…worse, a pet! With a scowl, he pulled himself back. The bald Viking raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Not the friendly type?"

Danny rolled his eyes and returned his annoyed gaze to the man. The other side of the Viking's unibrow raised in surprise.

Crud.

With a cough, he cast his sights around. The fish. He was eating—but that one was on the ground now, and too close to the man. Anxiously trying to hide his slip and act like a dragon, he shoved his head back in the basket and pretended to go back to eating.

"I think you forgot this," the man said, his voice almost sing-song. Danny froze. Ever so slowly, he peeked out over the woven rim. The man smiled deviously, his peg leg nudging the dropped fish. Meatlug wiggled eagerly and stepped forward to claim it.

"No," the man said teasingly, his hand blocking her progress, "I believe this one belongs to your friend."

It was a trap. Danny knew it. And, judging by the look on the Viking's face, he'd figured out that the dragon before him knew it. The grin that crossed the man's face was almost victorious. In Danny's experience, looks like that never meant anything good. He didn't know this person. He didn't know what his motives were. Worse, he was taking too long to react.

Somehow, though, luck was on his side—as much as it ever was, anyway. Danny hadn't been paying as much attention to his tail as he should have been during the exchange. He'd been trying to keep it curled close, but his worry had caused him to let the appendage unwind. The fishermen took great care to be mindful of the dragons that meandered nearby looking for an easy bite to eat. The children, however, had a bit more trouble with that. The dragon was swiftly reminded of his tail's position when a rather hefty five-year-old stumbled right over it.

His yelp of pain and surprise quickly ended the stalemate as he pulled the appendage out from under the fallen child's feet. The dazed little boy blinked at the dragon for a moment before horrified understanding caused him to squeak and run off, probably to his parents. Granted, the glare Danny suddenly realized was all over his face might have had something to do with it. He didn't normally glare at children, but then, he didn't normally have children land on extensions of his tailbone. It had hurt. And he was officially done with the breakfast outing.

With a huff, he turned, leaving the half empty basket and the worried sounds of his pack-mates behind as he trotted away to take to the air.

Gobber was left reeling. That dragon had behaved so oddly. It had to have been trained, and for much longer than any of the beasts that he'd ever seen. He was sure he'd just figured out something—he didn't know what, exactly, but it was definitely something—when one of the village tots ran over the creature's tail.

He had taken a quick step back in surprise, and in a flurry, the dragon had taken off, Meatlug had stolen the fish, and the small pack had flown after him to catch up. The man scowled in confusion. None of that was normal. Well, except for the gronkle snagging the fish. He should have expected that. But a group of dragons getting so worked up over a new companion getting a pinched tail? It was definitely odd.

Heaving a heavy sigh, the large man shook his head. He never really had a head for such complicated riddles. He would have to talk to Stoick later. If the riders were back, Hiccup likely would have gone to talk to him. And with Johann visiting, chances were, the Chief would not be wanting to talk to anyone just yet. A certain trader, though…

Gobber perked up at the thought. That merchant was still talking when the village folk started drifting away to their homes for the evening. If Hiccup had reported that night, chances were that Johann was still there. The traveler might have just as much information as Stoick, if not more with his tendency to pick up information. He was also painfully cheerful and eager to share a story, even with little sleep. The trouble was getting a straight answer out of him.

The bald Viking grinned mischievously and straightened his stone tooth. There was more than one way to get a man to talk.

A/N: You guys. You're awesome. Even though I've been away for a while, you're still reading, faving, following, and leaving reviews. I love you guys.

Short summary of what's been going on… Life blew up. It's been one thing after another for a long time. Family stuff, school semester from…heck, writer's block, work, moving, just everything. I can't make any promises on when my next chapter will be up, but I can promise you this story will not be abandoned.

Also, while I was away, I was given another fan art! Check it!

Phantom - - j. deviantart art/ DP-The-Phantom-Wing- 716609708

Remember to remove spaces so it will direct you there. If it doesn't work, let me know, and I'll try to fix it.

As always, thanks for reading. Really, I mean it. Thank you.