So begins my next story. HUGE thanks to my editor, Britney. She's amazing. please review.

Dragon language is bolded

Thoughts are italicized

The pair glided in silence over the ocean. The armored human's map had stopped a short while ago but he was eager to see what life off the edge of the map held for the two of them. It had been five years since the pair had ended the queen and in that time not a single one of Toothless's memories had returned from before he met the boy who changed his life. It was frustrating for the dragon, knowing that you had a past and most likely a family but not being able to remember either. Hiccup knew it haunted him but he also remembered the reaction Toothless would always give when he tried to bring it up. He had family, it normally sat on his back .

It has been years sense the two of them bonded enough to communicate through thought alone and even longer to teach Hiccup how to be fluent in the language of dragons. Neither Hiccup nor Toothless really understood how they could enter each other's mind but neither of them really cared .

The upgrades made to the flight equipment over the years had also been a welcomed change. The once abrasive leather saddle and tail fin had been replaced by a soft black saddle and a tail fin made out of dragon hide dyed black. Neither Toothless or Hiccup particularly liked using the dragon queens hide, yet it was the most effective tool for the job. Experimenting even after his exile, he knew that even though most of his equipment was untested, the weapons in his arsenal would work flawlessly. The two saddlebags on either side of the flying dragon were only connected to the saddle by two small knots. Hiccup and Toothless had learned the hard way how being slightly slower cost them. Hiccup found it funny how both of them couldn't work perfectly without the other and they both had prosthetics that allowed them to move. It had a kind of elegant symmetry.

It was noon when they first saw the islands over the horizon. Dark grey stone made up a extremely steep cliffside around most of the land they had found. A dense forest covered most of the exposed land on the islands with notable exception of the largest one, which appeared volcanic. Toothless could have sworn that he had once seen that same dark hue somewhere before but that couldn't possibly be the case. The sky above the island was overcast with slightly out of place dark clouds but neither of them thought anything of it at the time. Toothless felt off. He knew the rolling wooded hills and cave speckled rock face but he just couldn't place how he knew them. He tried keeping his unease to himself as they flew below the clouds and looked over the lush green island and the small dark stone mountain in its center. Hiccup interrupted his mental attempts to place the landmass.

"What do you think, Bud; dragons?"

"I don't know. For some reason it feels familiar."

They circled the island for a few more minutes. They both saw subtle movements beneath the heavy canopy but what had caused it still evaded them.

Wailing pierced the placid day of flight and screamed into both their ears. It was a wail they both knew well and one that shocked them enough to make them forget about dodging. From the storm clouds above the mysterious island, three sleek black dragons had dived toward them. Hiccup couldn't believe his eyes when he looked up. Through the narrow slits in the dragon steel helm he saw three nightfurys. In fact he was so entranced with the three black blurs that he didn't realize they were attacking until one of them had grabbed him by the shoulders and ripped him off Toothless. He was sure if the dragon scale armor wasn't there the sharp claws would have easily torn through his flesh, shattering bone.

"Toothless!" he yelled desperately .

"Hiccup!" Toothless screamed before plummeting along with the boy.

Toothless turned his back to the boy besides him, trying to allow the boy to clamber back on. He hoped in vain that his friend would be faster than the other dragons that now followed closely behind him. He saw the streamlined shape dive for them while the boy still fumbled with the saddle. He wasn't going to make it in time. The other dragon was upon him in a brief flash, he was prepared for a vicious battle that would leave both hiccup and him scarred for life. That was not he received. The howling wind battering him began to relent.

"I am here to help brother!" The other chirped as he grabbed onto Toothless's forelegs and pulled him out of the dive.

"Save the human!" Toothless hissed, struggling to escape the other dragon's claws.

Hiccups POV

It was surprising what happens when falling, Hiccup mused later. The world and all of your problems stop being relevant and all you care about is there and then. Hiccup didn't think of the nightfurys that had just appeared from the clouds, nor the sudden disappearance of his friend with the three. No, the only thing Hiccup knew at that second was that he was falling and if he didn't slow down he would die. He spotted a small body of water and a clearing in the forest of the main island and without a second thought he took his chance.

The dragons on the ground who were waiting to mop up the remains of a foolish human who had plummeted to his death were met by with a very surprising sight. The human in black scaled armor pulled on the leather strips that hung from his waist. They watched in shock as the human pulled the fabric out from behind him and glided down to their clearing. Hiccup came in at a low angle when he hit the pond in the center of the clearing, skidding across the water like a stone and eventually ending on the rocky shore with nothing but a few scrapes and scratches to show for his crash landing. He took stock of the situation through his slightly dented helmet.

The equipment had held up nicely, he hadn't lost his bow, quiver , or sword and the tubes of dragon's fire around his belt and down his leg hadn't exploded and killed him like he had feared. He also questioned the health of the dragon-forged steel gauntlet around his left hand. The intricately carved shining metal device didn't appear to be damaged in the fall and the stacked triangular sections still clung to his forearm but he knew that one out of place cog could shatter the mechanism he worked so hard to perfect. The device didn't look nearly as good while the triangles were stacked and the inlaid carving of Toothless circling the center of the shield was not on display but nothing could really be done to fix it. Hiccup was checking over his equipment when he heard the soft growl from the dark forest.

He took that back, four growls.

Four Nightfurys appeared from the shadows surrounding him. He was taken aback when he noticed the soft red line that ran down one of their spines. It also was glaring at him was powerful crimson eyes.

"How do you want to kill the human?" the red striped one asked the others, its eyes were slits that held a tidal wave of hatred.

"Who are you? What do you want? Where are you taking him?" Hiccup asked, trying not to act aggressive while keeping his temper in check. He had learned on Berk that fighting while angry was always a terrible idea. Without your ability to think you were essentially dead.

"You have enslaved the last dragon, boy," it hissed.

Hiccup sighed in defeat as the four closed in. The red who appeared to lead them came first, with the other three covering his retreat. It looked like he wasn't able to do it the easy way. "I do not have time for this "

He grabbed the bladeless hilt from his thigh and pulled out the red cartridge, placing it back on his belt. His eyes never left the approaching dragon as he grabbed another cylinder from the belt and slid it into the slot where the first had once been. He took up a defensive stance against the dragon that was toying with him before pressing the button on the hilt and surprising all four of them.

In front of the dragons was a human wearing the shed scales of a Nightfury and a black helmet which only betrayed his sorry green eyes. In his right hand he was clutching a sword unlike any they had seen before. The group had experience with fire and torches but normally Nightfurys did not had sustained blue flame, unlike what was spewing from the man's blade. His cocky stance and smile that the four could have felt beneath the mask shocked them into stopping to reassess their target and all of the mysterious items on his body.

"So do you want to talk now or are you still going to try to kill me?" the human taunted as his blue fire danced across the air.

"You shall burn human!" The red one screeched before launching herself at the boy the other three flanking on the sides.

"Let's dance then," he mumbled back.

They fought so much like Toothless, Hiccup thought it was uncanny. It was as if he had faced the four opponents for years in training, which in a way ,he had. The red one launched herself at his head, using her powerful hind legs to shoot her forward in a pounce that would have surely killed him if he allowed himself to be hit. Toothless learned years ago that the strategy left Hiccup too much time to react. A split second later, Hiccup was on the ground watching a black shape glide harmlessly over him. He spotted what he was looking for a planted his foot squarely in the pressure point under its jaw. She didn't have time to recognize what had happened before she was passed out on the beach behind him. Three Nightfury's quickly approaching.

"How dare you! Get away from her!"

Hiccup jumped back to his feet to greet the three smarter ones. They had surrounded and circled him.

"Oh, she's a female- thanks for letting me know," Hiccup quipped, hoping to hold off the three others until he could come up with a plan. Luckily his words were more of a distraction then he meant them to be. All three of them stopped circling and the look that in their now wide eyes was one of surprise.

"You can understand us?!"

"Yep," he replied as his body shot to the one which appeared the most astounded. He didn't even move when the blunt of Hiccup's blade connected with his skull and he fell like the female. The other two closed the gap in an instant and pounced at Hiccup. He managed to tumble out of the way just in time avoid the two pairs of razor sharp teeth. As he twirled out of the way he felt a set of claws rake through the expertly crafted armor and into the flesh of his back.

The nice thing about the mental bond that hiccup and Toothless shared was how it functioned with pain. They had learned earlier that one could share the burden of pain with another to help ease the pain or stay effective in combat.

"Sorry, Bud",

"Hiccup! You're alive! Why are you sorr-'"

Hiccup could feel the pain leave his back.

"I don't think I can get out. Just hold on a bit longer!"

"Will do, Bud,"

His attention was ripped back to the two attacking dragons in front of him as the sound of the sharp inhalation that proceeded dragon's fire filled forest air. A moment later two balls of hot plasma wailed through the air impacting their target. The man who had just taken out one of their fiercest warriors was surely dead in the huge cloud of smoke that appeared from where he was just a second ago.

"Do you think it's dead?"

"It must be. No human could have survived that."

A second later as the two dragons approached, an arrow pierced the smoke and found one of their chests. Upon impact it exploded in a blue ball of fire and left a similar patch of smoke as if the human had just fired like a dragon.

The one remaining dragon had a longer snout, slightly lighter scales than Toothless and large aquamarine eyes. It took a step back, afraid of the human who had just took out three of the island's best warrior's. He couldn't fail, he couldn't let the human kill them.

"Please tell me where my dragon is," hiccup begged from the quickly dispersing cloud.

"Will you spare us than human?" it hissed, backing up to defend his fallen friends.

The human sighed, " If I wanted to kill you I would have already and I wouldn't have a set of claw marks across my back... I will leave you alone if you tell me."

"There is a cave on the coast. Head that way," the night fury crooned in defeat. tossing its head to its right. When he looked back up the human was gone, sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him back to his best friend.

Toothless POV

There was subtle differences between the three Nightfurys; things like a thinner snout, smaller ears, or different colored eyes but he wasn't really able to appreciate them through the all encompassing rage that filled his senses. They had carried him off to a very large cave and tossed him in a pit (most likely because of his ceaseless attempts to claw out the throat of the one who hurt Hiccup). The burning feeling that shot over his entire back didn't help him to sound reasonable to the rest of dragons that gazed at him from the lip of the pit.

"Let me out of here you worms!" He roared, digging his claws deeper into the stone to find any footing to escape. After a look which he could only describe as pity they turned their backs to him and started talking. Toothless didn't stop his mad attempts at escape but he still listened intently.

"What do you think is wrong with him Caliban?" The female with blue eyes asked the one whom claimed to be his brother (even though Toothless had never seen the dragon before).

"I don't know Crow... Maybe the human is still controlling him."

"Shouldn't it be dead by now?"

"Maybe Bloodshot couldn't kill it."

"No- that's not possible. She is one of the best fighters on the island. She wouldn't have lost."

The three turned their head as the loud warbling laugh escaped the pit and for the first time since they landed, silence came from Shadow. They peered cautiously over the precipice of the pit and locked eyes with the resting dragon in its center. His eyes were no longer slits but now conveyed a steady cockiness that Caliban had remembered from childhood.

"Are you…" Caliban stuttered, hoping beyond anything else that his brother had returned to his senses.

"You have already lost... You underestimated him." Toothless warbled from his position on the cave floor smiling despite the pain radiating from his back.

"What did he do to you Shadow... " His words were full of pity and sadness . Toothless was confused at first but eventually he realized he was talking about him. "What could have he done?"

"I do not remember this place or its inhabitants. What I do remember is the human who has shown me incredible kindness and loyalty. The human who I would kill anyone for. The human who is my best friend. And Caliban…"

Caliban pulled his jaw up to the rest of his face and tried to regain the confidence he held before. Yes?

"The name is Toothless now."

Rage.

"You even prefer the name of a slave!" He spat the words with utter contempt. He never expected to level that much hate at his brother. "I know this isn't you, Shadow!... I'm going to go find that human! I am going to fix what he has done to you."

"You don't need to go and find the human," Toothless said with a wide grin, not a hint of a temper.

"Why not?" His question was answered for him when he turned around. His two companions were limp against the damp cave floor and a man leaned on the cave wall patiently listening in on the conversation. "Human!", he hissed at the armored figure. He put his body between the human and the pit. As the human began to talk, doubt filled his mind. The human, who smelled like his brother had escaped the trap and took out at least two Nightfurys without breaking a sweat.

"Really Toothless, giving me away again?"

"I still don't see how you can be so quiet on that leg of yours."

Hiccup shrugged, "It's like your tailfin, you get used to it eventually", He hadn't moved from the wall and hadn't even acknowledged the dragon in front of him. "So what do you want to do, Bud?"

"What do you mean?"

"Stop this madness!" Caliban screeched. He was ignored.

"It's your home. You make the decisions. What do you want to do? Where do you want to go? Who should we talk to?"

"I... I don't know... I don't even remember this place."

"Well we should at least try to explain us so they don't come after us."

Toothless chuckled, "They couldn't catch us if they tried."

Hiccup just shook his head at the dragons arrogant words. The second dragon was still staring daggers at him but Hiccup didn't fear him. He got up from the wall he leaned on. Caliban and Toothless both noticing the streams of blood that ran down the stone. Hiccup took off his helmet and tossed it on the floor. He ran a hand through his messy hair and now took another look at the protective Nightfury. His body was longer and larger than Toothless's and his snout and ears were slightly shorter but the eyes were nearly the same. There was no real doubt that they were at least somewhat related.

"Take another step forward and you will die human," He threatened.

Hiccup just kept his smile and shook his head. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"You enslaved my brother!"

"I'm assuming that you're talking about the saddle and the tailfin. Both of those were made in an emergency because his tailfin was taken in a battle and I didn't know how to let him operate the tail fin on his own. When I did figure out how to give him his own control back with a complex system of gears he didn't like it and even refused to use it." Hiccup shrugged. " He is my best friend and I do not like him being kept in a hole against his will."

It look on the dragon's face appeared to show that his speech was working but another second passed and Caliban roared in frustration. "No. I shall not be tricked by a human!" Then he lunged. His body surged with confidence as he bit into something, but for some reason digging his teeth into whatever it was produced no screams nor blood. A second later he was knocked out and Hiccup was peeling the dragon off the edge of his shield.

"Nice work with the shield."

"Yeah, I thought that was good. Glad it worked"

When deployed from his gauntlet, the Octagon of dragon steel that was intricately engraved with a detailed Nightfury circling the center point. A single spot of green was inlayed on the silver shield when hiccup had used an emerald for the dragon's eye. He folded the piece of metal back into its original form and made his way to the bottom of the pit. The trek was more painful then Hiccup would have liked to admit. The cuts along his back were starting cause serious problems for him.

"We need to get those wounds taken care of."

"I'll be fine, Bud," he lied. Toothless felt the warm blood drip onto his back as hiccup clambered on and tried not to shiver. The last time his human was hurt this bad he woke with a missing foot. The rider was clinging desperately to consciousness as Toothless pounded his powerful wings and pulled them both out of the prison of stone. Toothless walked softly out of the cave, taking as much pain from the boy as he could bear. The light was blinding at first but after a few brief seconds their eyes adjusted.

"Well leaving is out of the question." hiccup desperately joked as he swept his eyes around the beach. At least 50 snarling dragons of many different sizes shapes and colors. His awe from the impressive sight was drowned out almost immediately when he locked eyes with the gargantuan shadow standing directly in front of him. It was easily larger than some of the cabins on Berk and looked more like a house with wings than any dragon he had ever seen before. Hiccup fought the fear that welled up inside him to gaze the dragon in its massive green eyes. Hiccup now took a better look around and realized that the largest the first and had the aura of a leader and a large scar running down the left side of his face to match . If they were to survive this was the one they needed to impress.

During this wordless exchange Toothless felt something nagging at the back of mind as if he was forgetting something important. What was it?

What is the meaning of this, my son.

Oh yeah, that...