Author's Note, as of 1/16/2019: To both new and old readers, an update. This story is done, but it needs checking by myself, to ensure compliance with WoT canon. That involves me rereading the entire series, as I was planning to do anyway, in preparation for writing the full story this is but a prequel to. So if you see something that doesn't make sense, it's either a mistake, or an intentional thing placed here to prepare for the real story.

As I'm very busy with life and other, currently in-progress stories, this will probably remain incomplete for a while, but I'd rather do it well than rush, and that is going to require I clear out some of my other works first. Rest assured, I never abandon a project permanently.

With all of that said, this is still totally readable. It's just the little details that need attention.

The man had spent the last few years traveling the world. It was partly a burning desire to see new things, and partly a way to keep himself occupied. It was hard to not get bored after fighting for years to unite most of the known world against the Dark One and his armies, not to mention dealing with the Forsaken along the way. He had been known as Rand Al'Thor, The Dragon Reborn.

He was also officially dead, although that was understandable. His peculiar link with Moridin, one of the Forsaken, had turned out to be the answer to the fact that Rand was fated to die, but also apparently not. His body did, and presumably, Moridin's soul with it, while Rand woke up in Moridin's body, with almost no one the wiser. It was more than a fair trade, given his original body was missing a hand, among various other problems. He was no longer able to channel to any degree despite the ability existing in both himself and Moridin before, but that didn't bother him. His strange pattern-manipulation abilities that he had demonstrated in the moments after waking had mostly faded. He had a sword, he was a Blademaster, and he was free to travel the world, anonymously. Right now though, he was a bit annoyed.

"What do you mean no one goes there? I thought the Sea Folk would sail anywhere." Rand had traveled most of the countries he knew of and had recently been questioning sailors about islands, trying to find somewhere he hadn't yet been. Ideally, somewhere that had never heard of the Dragon Reborn. Over the years he had developed a distaste for hearing the horribly incorrect stories about himself. Additionally, it had to be somewhere interesting. Rand didn't know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, but his travels looked like they were nearing an end because he was running out of places he hadn't been. He had even been across the island country of Seanchan a year ago. Mat and Tuon were doing a fairly good job of retaking the war-torn continent and looked to be almost done, actually. Now he was back and looking to venture into another sea. He had heard several rumors of a place known only to the Sea Folk, which they apparently called the 'Isle of Madmen'. It had fit his requirements, so Rand had asked a Sea Folk how to get there.

"I'm telling you, stranger, no Sea Folk has set foot in those waters and returned alive. We don't even know if it is really an island, the whole massive area is wreathed by a bank of fog that never lets up. Any ship that sails in never comes back."

Rand was more and more intrigued as the Sea Folk sailor tried to dissuade him. He didn't have a death wish, but this was exactly the kind of mystery he liked. "I don't ask that you go in yourself. JUst take me to the edge and drop me off in a small boat. Wait a day, and if I don't come back, you can leave." Rand knew he sounded insane, but he did actually know that there was something out there. During his confrontation with the Dark One, he was at one point able to see the entire world from above. He hadn't been focused on it at the time, but he was sure there was quite a bit located about where this 'Isle of Madmen' was supposed to be. Besides, how did it get its name if no one ever came back?

The Sea Folk sailor (The captain actually, or whatever the Sea Folk equivalent was) looked him in the eyes. He must have seen Rand's sincerity because he sighed. "Fine. We were going to sail quite close anyway, so it will be doable."

If Rand hadn't known better, he would have chalked this up to his Ta'veren nature. But that was gone too, so this was really just a massive coincidence. Actually, it was a good thing he wasn't Ta'veren anymore. They might change the world around them, and manipulate chance unconsciously, but they were always destined to do big things... whether they liked it or not. Mat was a great example of 'NOT'. It also might have been a bit confusing, given one of Rand's few remaining side-effects of his pattern-seeing-abilities included that of seeing Ta'veren, which manifested itself as a glowing light around the individual in question, the strength of said light corresponding to the strength of the Ta'veren. It would have been annoying to constantly see himself glowing.

Rand shook the Sea Folk's hand, and they sealed the deal. While Sea Folk didn't do 'payment' for what they referred to as the gift of passage, Rand's 'gift' in return was far greater than that for a normal trip. Even though the Sea Folk fully expected Rand's trip to be one way.

Several weeks later, Rand was standing on the deck of the ship, staring at something strangely familiar. This wall of fog that rose seemingly arbitrarily around the sea was very similar to the one he had seen and later dispelled by accident, around Rhuidean. This wall, however, was much, much larger. Rand suspected that it made a massive circle, if not a dome. If he was right, he couldn't imagine the size it would be, because it looked like a straight line to the horizon in either direction from here. It would have to be so big, he couldn't even see the curve. He dropped over the side of the large vessel, and into the smaller one tethered to its side.

There he had prepared food and water for about a week's worth of time, multiple oars, (he was bringing spares) and a tarp in case of rain. He also had with him a knapsack of various small items, his sword in its sheath at his side, and a burning desire to see the other side of that fog bank. It took little effort to cut himself loose from the Sea Folk vessel and to row into the fog.

There were no farewells, as the Sea Folk had avoided the, as one of them had put it, 'madman going to join his peers'.

The day was bright, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Rand savored this for a moment, before setting himself to face the fogbank and beginning to row. He breached the fog a few minutes later. As he continued forward, he noticed that it was colder inside, though that was to be expected. He rowed for an endless tract of time and was only aware of how long he had been rowing when he finally broke through the fog to what was apparently the inside of the...

He looked up. No fog above him. It was a circle of fog and not a dome, apparently. The inside didn't look any different to the outside. After a moment, he decided to keep going. There was something here.

Over the next five days, Rand had ample time to question this decision. He pushed forward out of stubbornness more than anything, though the knowledge that he had no choice certainly helped.

By the time his supplies had run out, Rand was fairly certain he was done for. He knew there was something out here, but he must have missed it. It had been mostly luck whether he would find anything, and he had bet his life on it. Not the smartest decision, in retrospect, but he had been so sure. He was in the middle of berating himself for over-confidence when a shadow passed overhead.

He looked up, but it was near noon, and he could make out nothing after inadvertently staring into the sun. By the time his eyes returned to normal, whatever it had been was gone. Still, he could infer at least one thing from that. It had to be fast, to make it out of sight in just a few seconds. And, unless he was mistaken, the presence of something that didn't live in the water implied land somewhere. At least, he really hoped it didn't live in the water.

He was rudely awoken from his unsettled dreams in the middle of the night. Literally rudely. He thought he was hallucinating from lack of water or food when he was lifted bodily and hoisted aboard another ship, none too gently. His mind quickly cleared, but by then he had already been disarmed and had no chance of defeating his rescuers. And, as he was thrown into a cell, he realized that for the moment they were also his captors.

A few days passed, and Rand learned very little. His captors were massive, for one thing. They all were at least three hundred pounds, but mostly muscle. They weren't fat, they were just big. They looked to be at least halfway decent fighters, though some of their weapons were strange. Rand noticed several double-headed axes among these, something he hadn't seen before.

Their helmets too were unique in design, only covering the tops of their heads. Not that there was much to protect, none of them seemed very bright. Even their leader struck Rand as dull, and he hadn't even tried to question Rand after the first day he was awake. He had asked then, in what Rand was surprised to hear was the Old Tongue, which because of his memories as Lews Therin Rand could reply to.

The questions were simple. Rand had informed them that he was a traveler from afar, and he had no idea where he was. The leader hadn't questioned that and didn't really seem to care. Although, he seemed preoccupied. Rand quickly grew bored, and he knew he couldn't rely on his captors to not just dispose of him at any time. He wasn't actually sure why they wanted him alive.

To pass the time, he planned his escape once the ship came within sight of land. This was hindered by the fact that he hadn't stepped foot on deck since the night of his rescue and capture. He didn't know for sure how many people were on the ship, or what else was in the ship besides the inside of the cell he had been locked in. It was strangely roomy, and one of twelve cells set into the hallway. The cells had barred fronts, and the bars were made out of a green-tinted metal he had never seen before. His sword was kept by the apparent leader of these men, who had taken to wearing it as if it was his own.

The fourth night of his captivity, the ship docked. Rand could hear it, and that was the only reason he knew about it. He decided to wait a few hours and then put into action his escape. The odds were pretty good, though he might be forced to leave his sword. A few hours later, he called over a nearby guard. He faked a stomach problem and was confirmed in his opinion of the general stupidity of these men when the guard opened the cell door to hurriedly hand him a bucket. The sturdy guard fell to a punch in the throat, and Rand proceeded to knock him unconscious (It took several tries, even after removing the helmet). He moved to a corner behind the hatch and waited for a moment to see if he had been heard. He was just about to head up when something exploded.

The ship rocked violently, and Rand could hear the men on deck rushing around. He decided that whatever was going on would be a good distraction, so he crept up to the deck, cautiously and slowly as to not be seen in the darkness. Or, it was supposed to be dark. Part of the deck was apparently on fire, and that illuminated the nearly panicked actions of the crewmembers as they tried to put the fire out.

Rand slipped behind one of the masts and observed, trying to spot a way off the ship undetected. What he saw offered no immediate solutions, but it confused Rand greatly. The men were acting as if some outside threat had set the middle of the deck on fire. What's more, these massive, brutish thugs were clearly afraid. There was nothing to be seen, but they jolted at every sound, and a few were visibly quivering. Then, Rand heard something he had never heard before. It was an otherworldly shriek, something that was so high-pitched it made his head hurt, and it was getting louder. Almost as if it was getting closer...

A purple bolt of fire emerged from the air above the ship and blew one of the masts apart. Thankfully, not the one Rand was currently behind. Rand was fairly certain that this wasn't channeling. The strange shriek and color of the fireball seemed like unnecessary drains of power, and that fireball was stronger than any Rand had seen used by channelers back home. Not that it wasn't possible that it was the work of a channeler, but it didn't seem like it. That still left the question of what exactly it was though.

A nearby crewmember shed a small amount of light on the situation. "Night Fury..." These words seemed to be the name of whatever was attacking, and judging by the men's expressions, they knew something about what it was. Based on the amount of fear he was seeing, Rand decided that he needed to get off this ship, the sooner the better. But, before he went, he wanted to get his sword back. It was longer and more refined than any he had seen here, and he didn't want to lose it when he might not be able to get a good replacement. He scanned the ship, looking for the one who had taken to wearing his sword.

He spotted him, currently... abandoning ship. Great, he could kill two birds with one stone. Rand for the first time raised his attention to the island the ship had apparently docked at. It was tiny, only a few hundred feet of grassy slopes, without a single tree. The only thing of interest was a squat building, which appeared to be a storehouse. Who put a storehouse in the middle of nowhere? The man he was after was making his way towards it.

Rand bolted from behind the mast, avoiding several startled crewmembers, and jumped. He landed in the shallows and waded ashore. The man with his sword had disappeared, probably inside the storehouse. That was when Rand heard an unearthly shriek, this one more of pain than anger. The men on the ship cheered, and the storehouse was obliterated.

Rand blinked in shock. Something large and black had plowed through the storehouse, hitting it at such speed that it had continued through it and to the edge of the tiny island. From the glimpse he had caught before it slid out of sight, Rand thought that it was possible this thing was a Raken, such as the Seanchan used. But he discarded that theory almost immediately, even as he moved towards the trashed pile of wood that had once been a storehouse. Going off of what little he knew of Raken, he was pretty sure they were nowhere near that fast. Still, the shape and size had been similar.

He was now close enough to see that the storehouse had indeed been obliterated from the impact. It had almost been pulled by the force smashing through it, spreading the pieces in a line away from the original site of impact. He could see the man who had been in the storehouse. He hadn't fared well at all and appeared to have been killed in the impact. The body was lying in the strewn debris, implying he too had been hit with such force that he had been carried with the projectile as it slid. Rand quickly moved over to him and reclaimed his sword, rebuckling the hilt and drawing the sword. The men from the ship were approaching the wreckage, and none of them had noticed him in the dark yet.

That didn't last. One of them saw him and alerted the others. "Hey, there's someone here!"

The reply was swift. "Get 'im!"

The men charged Rand, and he had a moment to consider his options. He could easily defeat all of them, but he wasn't nearly as certain of his ability to work the large ship that was his only way off the island without help. There was also the matter of whatever had been attacking, and whether or not it was dead. His decision was made for him when the four men attacked at once, and he was forced to end them. He couldn't risk non-lethal blows in the darkness, they made him too open when he couldn't see the attacks coming.

In a matter of moments, he had killed the last of them, though their bulk made that a bit more difficult than he had been expecting. He was wondering where the other crewmembers had gone when he remembered the thing that had, by his best guess, been hit by a literal shot in the dark.

He moved towards the final destination of the dark blur that had trashed the storehouse as it crashed from the sky. The sight he could barely make out in the dark night was surprising. The remaining crewmembers, numbering a little over a dozen, were spread out in a half-circle around a dark shape lying motionless in the sand. One of them appeared to have his back towards the shape and was facing the rest.

A fire flared, seemingly from the hand of the lone crewmember, bathing the scene in light. Rand quickly realized that the lone man was not one of the crew. He was tall, but not big like everyone else Rand had seen since crossing through the fog. The man was also dressed quite differently, his armor black and form-fitting. He was wielding something very familiar to Rand, a sword of fire. His face was unobstructed, and his emerald eyes glinted with pure rage.

Rand immediately noticed that he was standing in a defensive posture, and his attention shifted to what was behind the man opposing the hunters. This... defied recognition. It was no Raken. Raken were like overgrown bats. This thing, from what Rand could see in the firelight, had black scales, as opposed to the smooth skin of Raken. It was also bleeding, with a familiar arrow sticking out of its side. Its eyes couldn't be seen from here, but the heaving of its chest proved that it was still alive.

Rand's attention was pulled back to the lone figure as he began to speak, voice dark with anger. "Quite the lucky shot. Whichever one of you hunters that was, I'd avoid any thunderstorms for a while. You've likely used up all of your luck for the foreseeable future."

One of the -hunters, he had called them- laughed. "Or maybe you're just unlucky. You know, there's probably still a bounty on you, dead or alive. Quite a large one at that."

The lone man looked confused. "Where have you guys been the last two years? Seriously. You missed a LOT."

A different hunter sneered. "None of your business."

The lone man smirked, though he was still clearly quite angry, possibly at being shot out of the sky. "Well, you should know Vigo rescinded that bounty, and he's dead now anyway, shot in the back by his own men. Ryker drowned, Johann is frozen solid in a block of ice, and Krogan's disappeared. You'll have quite the difficult time finding anyone to pay up."

The hunter who seemed to now be the de-facto leader of the group raised his ax. "Maybe, but a Night Fury cloak will be just as good. And if you're no value, we'll just leave you here... in pieces."

Rand had heard enough. He had little to no idea what was going on, but he had two ways off of this island, and he was pretty sure he would rather deal with one man he could help than a dozen who were keeping him prisoner. Besides, he had already killed four of these hunters, and the others wouldn't be happy to make that discovery.

The leading hunter took a menacing step forward. "Like I said, your luck has run out."

The lone figure raised his sword of fire.

He wasn't sure if the man could channel, but the sword looked man-made, not like the sword of pure saidin-summoned fire he had used in the past. He figured the man would appreciate the help, regardless.

Rand drew his sword, and quickly attacked one of the hunters forming the circle around the loner, slipping into the circle before any of the others could react. He made brief eye contact with the loner. "Looks like your luck holds strong." And then he turned to face the hunters closest to him, dancing between them, cutting through their armor and limbs before retreating back. He wasn't sure where this man had come from, but he had a feeling it had to do with the beast he was clearly planning on defending with his life. Rand just hoped they could deal with the hunters before whatever it was woke up.

The loner had engaged the new leader of the hunters (though Rand may have been the only one aware of the fate of the previous leader). His sword of fire wasn't great at dealing fatal wounds, but it was good at setting things alight. It was clearly no normal fire, as it left flames on anything it hit, even if the target was metal. The loner fought with ferocity and some skill, though he seemed to be fighting out of instinct and anger above any specific technique. He and the leader were and to hand now, struggling.

Rand was about to aid the loner when he heard a distinctive click and whir, followed by the loner stomping on the Hunter's foot. The hunter screamed in pain, and the loner pulled his foot out of the man's now blood-soaked boot. Rand was having a hard time processing the fact that the loner apparently had just stabbed the hunter with his foot, which as he watched rotated up with that distinctive click and whir to reveal a less deadly prosthetic. That was certainly unexpected. He turned his attention to the remaining hunters, and together he and the loner fought off the last of them.

The few surviving hunters who had held back were apparently a bit more intelligent than their peers. Or more cowardly. Either way, they decided that fleeing back to their ship and getting off the island as quickly as possible was the best choice. Rand and the loner watched them go, content to let them leave. They stood in silence for a moment. Then the loner turned, and hurried back to the beast on the shore, almost running.

Rand followed because he figured that if the beast was waking up, both of them might be needed to deal with it.

The loner noticed that he was following and turned, standing between Rand and the beast. "I don't know who you are, so forgive me if I don't exactly trust you with a weapon around him right now." The loner jerked his head, indicating the beast. "Especially given how good you are with it."

Rand was starting to slowly make a few connections, now that he had time to stop and think. The loner had appeared on an island in the middle of nowhere, and he had only appeared once the beast was shot down. There were no other ships, and the loner was wearing a strange suit of armor, unlike the hunters. Rand nodded and resheathed his sword. He then unbuckled it and placed it on the ground. "Fair enough."

He followed the man to the beast, keeping a safe distance. Now that he had time to examine it in the light of the man's still lit sword, he could see more. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a sleek black saddle. The beast had what appeared to be four legs, wings, and a tail. There was something off about the tail. It had a spade-shaped head, and Rand could see what he thought must be closed eyelids. The animal was indeed scaled, and reptilian in nature. All in all, completely unlike Raken in anything but size and color. Raken could be compared to horses, but of the sky. This thing was closer to a black mountain cat than a horse. All told, it certainly had the appearance of shadowspawn. However, Rand doubted that the Dark One wouldn't have used these at the Last Battle if he had had them, and there had been none of them there.

The loner crouched by the arrow and inspected it for a moment before slowly and carefully removing it. Black blood flowed from the new wound, and the loner carefully packed the wound with herbs and cloth, before binding it shut with more cloth. The process was efficient, and this clearly wasn't the first time the man had done this. After the loner had finished tending to the wound, the man immediately examined the arrow. He smiled broadly. "These hunters were gone for quite a while, it seems. They ran out of their special arrows. It must have just been the shock that brought us down." The relief in his next words was obvious, and they were spoken softly, intended for the man himself more than Rand. "He'll be fine."

The loner moved away from the beast and turned to Rand. "This might be a little late, but thanks for the help."

Rand nodded. "I had no idea what was going on, but I figured helping the one fighting my captors was a smart move."

The loner frowned. "Why exactly were they holding you, prisoner?"

Rand shrugged. "They found me adrift after I ran out of supplies, and apparently decided to help me, but keep me prisoner at the same time."

The loner smiled, his posture relaxing slightly. "Not the smartest move, making an enemy of you then. They would have had us if it wasn't for you. It would have been really embarrassing if this was how we went down, after everything me and him have been through."

Rand shrugged. Bad luck had been the end of many. This was especially true around the time of the Last Battle when bubbles of evil would randomly kill people. That seemed like a good opening to ask a few questions. "On that note, what exactly is he?" He pointed at the beast, still unconscious.

The loner laughed. "A Night Fury. Not a surprise you don't recognize it, given how rare they are." His face fell. "He might be the last, for all I know, and we've been searching for more than five years..."

Rand was still confused. "But what is a Night Fury? I've traveled far, but I have never seen anything like this. Flying reptiles are entirely out of my experience." The loner looked troubled. "You can't have traveled that far if you've never seen a dragon. They're everywhere around here, in all shapes and sizes. This kind might be rare, but for you to have never seen a dragon..."

Rand was shocked. He had always assumed the creature on his banner, the one he was NAMED AFTER, was just a symbol, created for Lews Therin in the last age. He had never expected to actually find one. Much less to find that the name didn't even refer to a single creature, but to a whole grouping of creatures. From what the loner had said, they were everywhere here. Rand realized he should probably explain where he came from. "I come from a place on the other side of that wall of fog a few days north of here. When I said I have traveled far, I was referring to the lands out there. I've traveled most of the world outside of the fog, and I have never seen a dragon until today."

The loner looked crestfallen. "And I've explored most of the world inside the fog... so if all the dragons are here... he really must be the last of his kind."

Rand felt bad for the man, as he so clearly wanted to find more of this strange animal, so much so as to have been looking for five years... "But that doesn't mean there aren't any. I've traveled far, but there were many places I couldn't reach. You might still find them in the mountains, or the untouched wilds that exist in many places."

The man brightened. "True. And you don't seem afraid of him, so that puts you a step ahead of most Vikings already if you plan on traveling the archipelago."

Before Rand could respond, a new light pierced the dark. It was one of reflected firelight, dancing in massive green ovals, with the slit black pupils best reflecting the flames. Said pupils widened as they focused on the loner, who Rand realized he still didn't know the name of. Introductions weren't on anyone's mind right now apparently.

The loner rushed to the dragon's side, completely unafraid of what a large and injured predator might do. He was apparently right to be confident, as the creature literally purred, a strange bass rumbling, as the loner talked to it, petting its head. Rand slowly approached, being sure to stay in the dragon's line of sight so as to not startle it. He was a bit preoccupied, however.

Rand was still able to see Ta'veren, and that meant that he was not startled by the appearance of a glowing light surrounding the man. What did surprise him was that it hadn't appeared until the dragon had opened its eyes and that the dragon had it as well. As the loner moved closer to the dragon, the light increased in intensity. If Rand understood this correctly, both the man and dragon were Ta'veren... but only together. They were weaker Ta'veren when separated, and apparently not at all when alone. This was something that even Rand with his memory of a life in the last age, one of learning and incredible advancements covering multiple centuries, had never thought possible. He was suddenly very interested in the story these two had, and everything about them. Ta'veren were always important, world-shakers and changers. Rand knew this better than most. They were by no means certain to live long enough to do it, but it was certain that they would change the course of the pattern if they lived long enough.

Rand met the stare of the dragon again, and this time he saw intelligence, far beyond that of any animal. It helped that he knew the dragon was Ta'veren, something Rand had thought restricted to humans alone, and certainly not something applicable to animals. Dragons, or maybe just this one, were clearly not animals.

He forced his mind back into the present and continued to approach. He stopped just short of the dragon's large head. "May I?" He asked the dragon directly. Instead of responding, it looked at him for a moment, before pushing its nose into his hand.

"I never got your name, or gave you mine." That was the loner, watching with interest.

"I would be Rand."

"And I'm Hiccup. Rand, meet Toothless. Known to the archipelago as the unholy offspring of Lightning and Death itself."

Rand laughed as the dragon gave what was clearly a very toothy smile. "Whoever named him had quite the sense of humor."

Hiccup laughed in response as the dragon shocked Rand by retracting its teeth into its gums, proving his name at least sometimes accurate. Hiccup got up and stretched. "Will you be good to fly bud?" The dragon stood, flapped its wings a few times, and then nodded at Hiccup. Hiccup jumped onto the dragon's back. "Well, you coming?"

Rand ran back to get his sword, then vaulted aboard behind Hiccup.

He hadn't told Hiccup his full name, or his old title. He wanted to leave those things behind. Now that wish was being answered in a very ironic way. Instead of being strange because he was the Dragon Reborn, now his title was strange because around here, it would make no sense. So, for now, he would just go by Rand. He had wanted anonymity, and new experiences. This place was shaping up to be far more of both than he had hoped. Whatever happened next, it would be an adventure. Especially traveling with two Ta'veren. That was his last coherent thought before he experienced flight on a dragon for the first time.