Disclaimer: I do not own the HTTYD franchise. All rights belong to Dreamworks for creating the movies and the TV series (both Cartoon Network and Netflix) and to Cressida Cowell for writing the book series. Thank you.

Chapter 1: The First Morning without Dragons

Location: New Berk

Date: July 24

Time: 8:35 a.m.

(Hiccup's PoV)

Thump.

Hiccup Haddock III lazily opened one grass green eye the minute he heard the sound. There was nothing inside his temporary tent that would make such a noise. Shrugging it off as hearing things in his sleep, Hiccup closed his eye.

Thump.

Now Hiccup opened both eyes.

Thump.

Then he slowly sat up, a look of hope on his face.

Could it be?

Thump.

"Toothless!" he cried, springing out of his cot and dropping to the floor with a loud thud.

Shaking his head, Hiccup looked over his shoulder and noticed his stump of a left leg. In his excitement, he had totally forgotten that he had lost his prosthetic leg when he and Grimmel were falling to their deaths just moments before the Light Fury saved the young chief.

"Good thing, I brought some spares," Hiccup muttered as he crawled over to the chest at the foot of his cot. Grabbing the trunk's open edges, he helped himself on his feet, well foot actually. He rummaged through the supplies until he found a spare prosthetic leg that resembled similar to the one he lost. He quickly attached it to his stumpy leg and then he darted out the tent's exit. Hiccup stopped a few feet away from the tent and looked around excitedly.

Thump.

It was coming from somewhere behind the tent. "I'm coming bud!" Hiccup shouted as he turned and ran for the direction of the sound passing by the other temporary tents and wooden huts that were still being constructed. He couldn't wait to see the familiar black body and lime green eyes of his best bud. He wouldn't even mind feeling the Night Fury's wet, slimy tongue against his cheek. He's got to be around here somewhere, Hiccup thought excitedly.

Rounding a corner, he stopped to catch his breath. With his hands on his knees, he looked up and noticed Gobber standing in front of a small boulder with a small log sitting on top of it. Attached to the blacksmith's stump of an arm was a single-bladed axe.

"Morning Gobber" Hiccup panted.

Gobber turned to his former apprentice and grinned. "Morning chief!" he said cheerfully.

Hiccup smiled and shook his head. "You know, you don't have to keep calling me chief."

"Well, until someone else takes your place, that's what I'm calling you," teased Gobber. Then he raised his arm with the axe attached to it and brought it down towards the small log.

Thump!

A piece of wood was sliced right off the log.

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Wait a minute. It was you who was making that thumping noise I heard just a minute ago?"

"Of course," answered Gobber. "Can't build-slash-repair weapons without a nice hot fire, you know." Then he brought down his axe-hand once again.

Thump!

Another slice of wood had been chopped.

Hiccup closed his eyes in defeat. So it wasn't Toothless after all. It was just Gobber chopping wood.

"Something wrong lad?" Gobber asked, looking concerned.

"I was just hoping it was Toothless begging me to take him for his morning flight like he does every morning," Hiccup said. "I really miss him Gobber."

"I know lad," said Gobber sympathetically as he wrapped his good arm around the young chief's shoulder. "Everyone misses their dragons. I miss old Grumpy even if he was a lazy oversized slug. Heck, I even miss being stalked by all those bloody Hobgobblers."

Hiccup grinned a little at Gobber's comments over his old Hotburple and the small dragons that were believed to be a bad omen.

"But remember, they're all safe and sound now in that Hidden World your old father had spent many a sleepless nights attempting to locate. Nobody and nothing will harm them ever again. Plus Toothless is with the dragon of his dreams. She'll take care of him for you."

"Yeah, at least that's that," said Hiccup, freeing himself from Gobber's grasp and walking off again.

"Where ya going lad?" Gobber called after him.

"Just making sure everyone else is awake" Hiccup answered. "We've got a village to finish." Then under his breath, he added, "And speaking of the dragon of his dreams…"

Hiccup dragged himself toward another temporary tent, peeked inside and smiled. Just a few feet away from him, Astrid Hofferson slept soundly on her cot. Even after twenty-one whole years, Hiccup still couldn't believe how beautiful she was. Rays of sunlight shone against the walls of the tent and seemed to make Astrid's blonde hair lighter than ever. Hiccup slowly approached the young lady who was destined to be his wife and knelt down beside the cot. Astrid seemed to have heard him coming because the next thing Hiccup knew, she opened her crystal blue eyes and looked up at him.

"Morning milady" Hiccup greeted cheerfully.

"Morning Hiccup," Astrid replied groggily. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd take Stormfly's place as the first face you see every morning*. Sorry you won't be seeing hers again."

Astrid sighed sadly. "I know."

"I was making sure everyone else was up so we can get started on finishing the new village. Wanna come?"

"Sure."

The young couple stepped out of the tent and started to walk towards what was planned to be the village square. There they saw the chubby figure of Fishlegs sitting cross-legged on the grass with what appeared to be a book in his hands. Across from him were the twins, also sitting cross-legged and their hands were also on their cheeks. As Hiccup approached closer, he could see that the twins had incredibly bored expressions. Then Hiccup looked over Fishlegs' shoulder and saw that the pages his friend had his eyes on had Gronckle sketches on it. Surrounded by the sketches were facts and statistics on the Boulder Class dragon. That was when Hiccup realized that the book Fishlegs was currently looking at was the Book of Dragons. He couldn't help feel sorry for his dragon-loving friend for now this would be the only way for him to look at dragons and learn about them.

"Morning Fishlegs," Hiccup and Astrid said softly.

Fishlegs looked over his shoulder. "Huh? Oh. Morning, Hiccup. Morning Astrid. Meatlug and Fishmeat say "good morning" too…from the Hidden World that is."

"You really miss them, huh?" said Hiccup sympathetically.

"Tell me about it. Meaty was the best friend I ever had. Well, next to you of course. And when she brought Fishmeat back from Egg Island last Snoggletog*, he was the best Snoggletog gift I ever had."

"(Scoff) You think you miss your precious Gronckles so badly?" asked Tuffnut. "Me and the sister I got stuck with are doomed to die of boredom without Barf and Belch to blow things up!"

"Yeah," groaned Ruffnut. "Who's gonna do Loki pranks with us now?"

"Maybe you guys could learn another hobby," suggested Astrid.

"Yeah" agreed Hiccup. "You could take up fishing, whittling or needlepoint. Maybe Bucket can give you a few painting lessons."

"But Loki pranks was the only hobbies we were good at!" whined Tuffnut.

"Aw, quit acting like a bunch of babies!" came an obnoxious voice.

Hiccup looked up and saw Snotlout coming into the square.

"I for one am glad the dragons are gone. Now I don't have to shovel poop all day anymore."

"I thought you said you'd rather do that than watch Toothless do the dragon mating dance," teased Astrid.

"I was lying! You know I'm a liar!" Snotlout snapped. "I don't wanna do either! And I'm glad that stupid Hookfang's not around to slap me with his tail or set my butt on fire either."

"Come on Snotlout," said Hiccup. "Don't you miss Hookfang just a teensy bit?"

"No! Not at all!"

"There's no shame in admitting that you do, you know," said Astrid.

"No! I don't miss him! End of story!"

Snotlout folded his arms and stood in the middle of the square, his chest puffed out with pride. About ten seconds later, he dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

"All right! I admit it! I do miss him! Oh, he was the best friend I ever had and now I'll never feel his hot blazing breath on my butt again!"

"Excuse me."

Hiccup looked up. Snotlout also looked up, pausing from his wailings.

Hiccup's mother, Valka walked into the square, her long braided ponytails bouncing behind her back. "Sorry, I couldn't help overhearing your conversations. I hope you all don't mind me throwing my two cents in do you?"

"No Mom. Not at all," said Hiccup.

"Thank you, son" smiled Valka. "I know how you all feel, missing your dragons. I for one miss Cloudjumper terribly. For the last twenty years, he was the only friend I ever had. It was my fondest dream to watch Viking and Dragon live together in peace and I only got to see my dream last for a short year. Not to mention I had to watch my husband perish right before my eyes twelve months ago. But perhaps it's time I told you all something that my grandmother told me when I was very young."

"We're listening," said Fishlegs.

Valka smiled at the chubby, mustached young man and turned her head so that she was looking at all the former Dragon Riders.

"I was only seven years old at the time and my poor grandmother was very ill and slowly dying. I remember sitting by her bedside, crying my eyes out and begging her not to leave me and this is what she said to me: 'Valka, I don't want to leave you, honest I don't. But I'm afraid I have no choice. I'm not as young and strong as I used to be. My sickness has seen to that. But I want you to remember these words that I am about to tell you. Even as I walk through Odin's great battlefield in Valhalla and you continue walking through the streets of this village, my memory will remain in your heart and yours in mine. If you remember all the things I taught you, I will not have died in vain. So in way, we will never be apart. We will still be together. Together from afar that is'. And that is exactly what you and your dragons are this very minute: Together from afar. You remember all the good times with your dragons and they'll remember all those good times as well."

Hiccup smiled. He knew his mom was right. He turned to Astrid who was also looking at him. Her smile alone told him that his mother's words as all she had to hear to be encouraged. He heard sniffling and turned towards Fishlegs direction. He was wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. He too seemed touched by Valka's story. Hiccup looked at Snotlout and the twins who were also smiling.

"And you can still do all the things that you like to do," continued Valka. "Fishlegs, you say you have a brilliant knowledge in dragons. You could teach the next generation of our time about the magnificent beasts and if strangers from the outside ask, just insist they were nothing but folktales."

"Excellent idea, Valka," said Fishlegs, standing up and placing his fist on his chest. "After all, Meatlug and Fishmeat wouldn't want me just moping around. They'd want me to continue doing what I'm good at."

"I could go back to being Gobber's Official Weapons Tester" said Snotlout.

"And we've done Loki pranks before Barf and Belch came into our lives!" said Tuffnut.

"And we can still do it now!" declared Ruffnut.

"Uh, just as long as those pranks don't get anybody killed" said Hiccup in a stern voice.

"Yes, Chief" groaned the twins, saluting.

"You don't have to salute me" said Hiccup. "But Mom's right. The dragons would have wanted us to move on. We lived without dragons before and we can do it again if we must."

"Well said, chief!" cheered Astrid.

Hiccup smiled at her comment and turned back to the others. "Now come on. We have a brand new village to complete!"

"Yes sir!" Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff shouted and they all headed off in separate directions.

Hiccup approached Valka. He was about to thank her for her encouragement when he noticed a stray lock of hair hanging in front of her face. Reaching a hand out, he used his knuckles to brush the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.

Valka smiled wistfully. "Your father used to do that."

"Well, now I'm here to do it for him" said Hiccup, putting his hands on her shoulders. "And besides, if we and the dragons are together from afar then you and Dad are together from afar too."

"Of course we are," said Valka.

…

8:52 a.m.

(Snotlout's PoV)

"Making sure Gobber's new weapons again is gonna feel so good" said Snotlout as he walked towards the spot where Gobber was planning on building his new forge. But once he got there, he got quite a surprise.

Eret, Son of Eret was standing in front of Gobber who was pointing to a grindstone.

"And if you think the weapon's sharp enough, remove it from the grindstone. But lick your finger and gently touch the edge to make sure" Gobber was saying.

"Not to worry, Gobs" said Eret. "I've had myself a blacksmith almost as good as you back at my dragon trapper fort. I know all the steps."

"What are you doing here?!" said Snotlout accusingly.

Eret and Gobber turned toward Snotlout's direction.

"Ah good morning Snotlout" said Gobber cheerfully.

"Good morning, you strange little man!" greeted Eret.

"I was just showing Eret the skills of being a blacksmith. Now that Hiccup is too busy with his chiefly duties, I figured I should train Eret to be my new apprentice. Of course Hiccup will always be welcome to put together a few contraptions of his own."

"What!" shouted Snotlout. "Well, you can forget about me asking you for my job as Official Weapons Tester back! No matter what I do, HE always shows up trying to steal my thunder! Well, so long!"

He started to turn to leave.

"Wait!" he heard Gobber call.

Snotlout turned.

"You can go back to being official weapons tester if you'd like. And I'll make sure you and Eret are a safe distance from each other" said Gobber.

"Well, I'm not crazy about that idea but it's better than nothing" said Snotlout. "All right, consider me back."

…

9:03 a.m.

(Fishlegs' PoV)

After a quick breakfast, Fishlegs laid out a shield on a soft patch of grass and started to arrange the pebbles he had collected on top of it.

"Hey little bro whatcha doing?" came a voice.

Fishlegs looked up and saw his twenty-six year old brother, Catpaws approaching. Following him was his wife, Stareyes and their 8-year-old triplets (also Fishlegs' niece and nephews) Brenda, Brant and Shrug*.

"Hi, Catpaws, Stareyes and good morning to you, Brenda, Brant and Shrug!" said Fishlegs cheerfully.

"Good morning, Uncle Fishlegs," greeted Brenda and Brant.

"Shrug, say good morning" said Stareyes, gently nudging the youngest triplet.

Shrug just waved slowly.

"I'm just working on a new model for my new hut as well as a few ideas I'm putting together" Fishlegs answered his older brother.

"Can we help?" Brenda asked eagerly.

"Please by all means" replied Fishlegs politely.

Brenda and Brant cheered and sat down on either side of their favorite (and only) uncle. Shrug sat across from them.

Catpaws laughed. "Okay kids. We'll leave you with your uncle. Your mother and I have to help with building some of these huts."

"The sooner we complete this village the better" agreed Stareyes. "We'll come get you in an hour."

"Okay, Mom, Dad, bye!" called Brenda and Brant.

"Bye!" called the parents as they walked off toward the tents and unfinished huts.

"So what's your new hut gonna look like Uncle Fishlegs?" asked Brant curiously.

"Well," said Fishlegs. He pointed to the largest pebble. "The hut's gonna be right there." Then he pointed to the pile of smaller pebbles. "And that's the meditation garden. I'm planning on having two Gronckles carved above the door. One big one and one small one."

"Like Meatlug and Fishmeat?" asked Brant.

"Exactly."

"We miss riding Meatlug's back as she walked through the village while you taught us about Dragon history" said Brenda sadly.

"We miss being Dragon Explorers too" sighed Brant.

"I know you do" said Fishlegs sympathetically. "But we're all together from afar now."

Brenda and Brant stared at their uncle blankly. It was hard to tell if Shrug had the same expression since his face was totally hidden by his long blonde hair.

"What I mean is we have the memory of the dragons in our hearts while the dragons have our memories in theirs. So in a way, we are not separated. And that's what I mean from together from afar."

Now Brenda and Brant were smiling. Shrug's expression was still a mystery.

"And no matter what, you'll always be Dragon Explorers to me. In fact, how would you like to be my apprentices so we can teach the next generation the history of our time and making sure the outside world think that dragons were just myths?"

"Yeah! Yeah!" shouted Brant.

"We love to help!" shouted Brenda.

Shrug just shrugged. "Hmm."

…

9:15 a.m.

(Tuffnut's PoV)

"Now remember baby brother*, Hiccup said not to let our pranks kill anyone!" hissed Ruffnut.

"I know that sister," replied Tuffnut.

Tuffnut and his sister were peeking through the bushes overlooking what was about to be the new village.

"But what pranks don't kill anybody?" the male twin asked.

Tuffnut pondered for a minute before his eyes lit up.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" he and Ruffnut said at the same time.

Then the two crawled down the hill and headed toward the direction of their hut which was still in construction. Leaning against a pillar was a large sack of salt. Tuffnut grabbed a smaller, empty sack and used it to scoop some of the salt in the larger sack.

Smiling deviously, the twins then headed for the direction of a herd of grazing yaks. A couple of feet from the yaks were six pails of fresh yak's milk. Tuffnut approached the pails and began sprinkling some of the salt from the small sack into one pail. Then he did the same with the second and the third. Now he was starting to sprinkle salt into the fourth pail.

"Hey, you've done enough! Let me have a turn!" hissed Ruffnut, grabbing the sack.

Now the twins were playing tug-of-war with the small sack.

"No way! I get to do the sprinkling!" snapped Tuffnut.

"Why?!"

"Because it was it was my idea in the first place!"

"No, it was my idea!"

"Well, it was my idea first!"

"No, it was my idea first!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

The twins pulled the sack so hard, it tore open. Salt exploded in front of them and it dropped into the fourth pail. Tuffnut looked down at the pail in horror and then looked up at Ruffnut who had the same expression.

"Uh-oh!" they said at the same time.

"What do we do now sister?" asked Tuffnut.

"We hide" replied Ruffnut.

"Good idea" agreed Tuffnut. And he and his sister turned and ran toward the direction of their unfinished hut.

…

9:45 a.m.

(Astrid's PoV)

Astrid carried a bucket of nails as she walked toward the direction of her temporary tent which was to be replaced by a hut for her parents. She turned her head towards the right side of her and saw an all-too familiar figure standing close to the edge of the island's cliff. Smiling sympathetically, she headed off toward that direction. As Hiccup came closer to her view, Astrid paused to put down the bucket of nails and resumed approaching him. Finally, once she was right next to him, she stopped and exhaled.

It was a magnificent view. The cloudless sky and the placid ocean seemed to go on forever.

"Enjoying the view, Chief?" she asked.

"Yeah" answered Hiccup. "Actually, I was just wondering if Toothless misses me."

Astrid gave Hiccup a bit of a hard nudge on his shoulder with her elbow.

"Ow!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Of course he does you big goof!" laughed Astrid. "He's your best bud! No matter what, he'll always love and miss you."

"And I'll always love your violence" chuckled Hiccup, rubbing his shoulder.

"It's not violence it's communication," said Astrid.

"Whatever," chuckled Hiccup and turned his head toward the direction of the view.

Astrid did the same thing. After a good minute of watching the view, she turned to Hiccup whose attention was still fixed on the view. A soft summer breeze blew locks of Hiccup's auburn hair in the direction it was blowing. Suddenly, a thought sprang to her mind.

"Hiccup, I just realized something."

"What?" asked Hiccup, turning to look at her.

"The allies we've made over the years. They still have their dragons! The Defenders of the Wing have their Eruptodon and the Wingmaidens have their Razorwhips. They don't know what's been happening with us, what with fighting Grimmel and setting our dragons free. As long as their dragons are out in the open, they're in danger from people like Grimmel and even Drago!"

"Not to worry" said Hiccup, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll send them all messages by Terror Mail."

Astrid shot him a look.

"Oh…yeah," said Hiccup awkwardly. "I can't send them all messages by Terror Mail because…we set all the Terrible Terrors free! Well, okay then. I'll just have to sail all the way to their islands by boat and explain it to them in person."

"But what about finishing the village? And winter will be here soon. We need to spend this time making sure we have enough food and supplies if we're gonna make it."

"I'll leave my Mom in charge. She can make sure everybody works to finish the village and count their supplies. And besides, my dad went on plenty of missions in which he's been gone for weeks and everyone got along fine without him. If I leave now, I could be back in plenty of time."

"I? Uh-uh. You…" said Astrid firmly, planting the tip of her finger on Hiccup's chest. "…are not going anywhere all by yourself. You need backup. Someone had better come along to make sure we don't lose another chief especially after losing our former chief not twelve months ago. Might as well be me."

"Okay, well, by all means," said Hiccup politely.

Astrid couldn't help but smile with pride.

…

10:08 a.m.

(Hiccup's PoV)

Hiccup stood before all the people in his tribe as he explained where he was going and why he had to go. In his hand were some rolled up sheets of papers. Standing on either side of him was Valka and Astrid.

"And so, it is most important that I encourage our allies to make the decision that we all had to make so that their own dragons can be safe. I promise to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, you just continue what you're doing at this moment: building the huts, gathering enough supplies to survive winter. Does anyone have any questions?"

Fishlegs and Ruffnut raised their hands.

"Fishlegs?" asked Hiccup.

"You don't mind if I go do you?" Fishlegs asked. "I want to see the Eruptodon and all the Razorwhips one last time."

"Me too," said Ruffnut. "I've been missing Wingnut lately and I'm sure he misses me too."

"Who's Wingnut?" Valka whispered into Hiccup's ear.

"He's a baby Razorwhip Ruffnut bonded with once," answered Hiccup. "Well, he was a baby. I'm sure he's all grown up by now." Turning to his friends he announced, "Permission granted."

"Yes!" squealed Fishlegs.

"All right!" cheered Ruffnut.

"Good. Now that I've got my full thick beard back…" Tuffnut said, stroking his two long braids that were tightly tied together. "…I can get started on my hut where all men with thick, full beards are welcome."

"And I suppose me and my chin whiskers are still not invited?" asked Ruffnut.

"You bet they aren't! Now get!" said Tuffnut.

"Okay, everyone else, get to work!" ordered Hiccup.

"Yes, chief!" the crowd roared in unison, saluting and headed off in different directions.

Hiccup turned to Valka. "Thanks for agreeing to look after the tribe while I'm away."

"My pleasure, dear," smiled Valka. "You just go do what you have to do and be careful."

"No problem."

Valka eyed the rolled-up sheets in her son's hand. "What do you have there, may I ask?"

"Just a few ideas for the new village," answered Hiccup. "I've been working on them during the night. Would you like to be the first to see them?"

"I'd love to," said Valka.

Hiccup pulled up the sheet in front, unrolled it and held it up to Valka. "I especially want this to be added."

Valka's eyes grew wide at what she was seeing in front of her and about a few seconds later, she smiled. "It's a wonderful addition," she said, taking the sheet from him. "I'll make sure they add it."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Hiccup?" said Astrid, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's time to go."

Hiccup nodded then turned back to his mom. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Take all the time you need."

Hiccup nodded and turned to walk toward the tents and unfinished huts to gather supplies for the extended trip.

"Good luck!" he heard Valka call after him.

…

10:14 a.m.

(Valka's PoV)

Valka watched as her son and his friends headed off to make preparations for their journey. She felt a hand land on her shoulder. She turned and saw Gobber standing beside her with a reassuring expression.

"The lad's been on plenty of adventures and missions and he's always managed to return in one piece," he said. "You have nothing to worry about."

"How can I not worry?" sighed Valka, turning back to the direction where Hiccup and friends had headed. "I'm his mother."

"So, whatcha got there?" asked Gobber, gesturing to the sheets in her hands.

"Hiccup's ideas for the new village," answered Valka, holding up the first sheet.

On the sheet, were working sketches of a round wooden area where everyone in the village would gather. On the edges of the circle were statues of dragons but in the very center of the edge overlooking the circle, was a statue of Stoick the Vast, standing with his axe in his hands and a look of great pride on his face.

…

Now it's time for the dragons' point of view. The words in bold are translations of what the dragon say.

Location: Hidden World

Date: July 24

Time: 11:15 a.m.

(Toothless' PoV)

With the Light Fury and Stormfly by his side, Toothless sat on the glowing white stone structure in the center of the Hidden World and observed his surroundings.

He turned toward the direction of a very rocky area where all the Gronckles were feasting. From his spot, he could hear baby Fishmeat wailing for his breakfast. Soon, the wailing stopped when Meatlug poured a mouthful of pebbles from her jaws in front of her hatchling. Not far from them, Grump the old Hotburple rested peacefully.

He spotted Barf and Belch in another area chasing his tail and knocking a few annoyed dragons in the process. He turned to the direction where the Monstrous Nightmares hung out. There he could see Hookfang conversing with his peers.

Toothless' proud expression changed into a somber one. Although he and Hiccup had both agreed that he and all of Berk's dragons would be safe here, he missed his friend of six years terribly. He knew that all the other dragons felt the same way. He felt the Light Fury snuggle up beside him and he turned to her and stared deeply into her sky blue eyes.

"You're thinking about him again aren't you?" she purred.

"Yeah, I admit it," Toothless purred back. "He was the first real friend I've ever had since I lost my family so many years ago."

"I know how you feel Toothless," squawked Stormfly. "I for one have to get used to the fact that Astrid's face won't be the first thing I see every morning."

"I was quite astounded that your human was more than willing to sacrifice his life for you, Toothless. I still can't believe that there are some humans that can be bad and some that can be good like yours," said the Light Fury.

"The rest of us learned that a long time ago," said Stormfly. "Now you and all of us share something in common."

"We spent the last six years helping our humans protecting other dragons from bad humans you know. Well, twenty years in Cloudjumper's case," said Toothless, eyeing the four winged dragon resting on a stone structure nearby. Then a thought sprang to his mind. "Oh my gods! Stormfly!"

"What is it?" asked Stormfly.

"Oh my gods?" echoed the Light Fury.

"It's what our humans say all the time," explained Toothless. "But that's not the point. What I just remembered is that all the other dragon species we met over the years are still out in the open. Hiccup wanted all of us to come here to be safe from bad humans and if the other dragons out there don't know that, then they're sure to suffer the same fate that we all nearly did. But although I'm King of the Dragons, I'm afraid I alone can't contact them all. I'll need help."

"I can help you with that," offered the Light Fury.

"So will I," declared Stormfly.

"Thank you all," said Toothless. "Now I'll just have to bring everyone else together."

Coming just slightly closer to the edge, the Night Fury let out a loud, echoing roar. Moments later, Meatlug flew over with Fishmeat safely tucked in her jaws. Barf and Belch, Hookfang, Cloudjumper and Skullcrusher soon appeared as well.

Once the dragons had all settled, Toothless explained the situation.

"If we all work together, I'm sure we can bring every last dragon that are still out in the open to safety right here. This Hidden World has more than enough room and enough food for all of them to keep on going. We'll make better timing if each of us split up and head to a different location." He turned to Meatlug. "Meatlug, you will fly to Dark Deep, explain everything to the Gronckles and Quakens that dwell there and bring them here. And don't forget…whatever the dragons Fishlegs feared to be extinct was as well."

"Dramillions," answered Meatlug.

"Dramillions, thank you." He turned to Stormfly. "Stormfly, you will do the same thing with the Buffalord and the Deathsongs. You and Garff are good friends and you have to make sure that he and that other Deathsong promise to eat only fish and not everyone else."

"I'll do my best, Toothless," promised Stormfly.

"Skullcrusher, you will bring the dragons from Dragon Island, Whispering Death Island and Outcast Island. Barf and Belch will fly to Dragon's Edge where our Riders had built a fort and lived there briefly until we were called back to Berk. Hookfang, Fireworm Island. Cloudjumper, Glacier Island. As for me, I'll do the rest."

"When do we leave?" asked Stormfly.

"We'll leave after sunset and travel by night," answered Toothless. "We're sure to be safe in the cover of darkness. So until then, everyone get some rest. We've got long journeys ahead."

Author's Notes:

So that's the end of Chapter 1. By the way, Valka's lesson of being "together from afar" is a reference to the song "Together From Afar" composed, produced and performed by Icelandic singer, Jonsi and co-produced by Emile Haynie. I do not own it, thank you. The song plays during the closing credits for HTTYD 3. Oh for those who haven't seen all the shorts and T.V. episodes of the Dragon franchise, allow me to explain some things to you.

*1 – In the very first episode of Dragons: Riders of Berk, "How to Start a Dragon Academy", Astrid revealed that Stormfly was always the first thing she sees every morning.

*2 – A reference to Gift of the Night Fury, a holiday special in which the Vikings celebrate a Christmas-like holiday and all the dragons leave to lay their eggs.

*3 – Brenda, Brant and Shrug appeared in the Race to the Edge Season 6 episode, "Loyal Order of Ingerman" (it's on Netflix in case you're interested in seeing it) and they have been revealed to be Fishlegs' niece and nephews. So that implied that Fishlegs had an older sibling so I decided to make it a big brother.

*4 – It has been revealed that Ruffnut is the older twin in another Race to the Edge episode (Season 5), "Snuffnut".