A/N: The song for this chapter is 'A Sky Full of Stars' by Coldplay.

Chapter Eight – Until Forever

*Onyx.* The queen curtly greeted the Swift-Wing, Onyx bowing to her as she stood in the entrance to his and Misty's cavern. *May I come in? I need to address something* she began, having chosen this moment to speak with him, knowing his mate would be apprenticing with Ekeren today; in fact she was to follow up with them just after this to see how her wounds were healing.

*Of course my queen!* He was honoured, and quite nervous at the same time as he watched her pad her way into his cavern. In the back of his mind, he had a suspicion about what she wanted to talk to him about. Little did he know he was entirely correct in that assumption.

*I must first thank you for coming to my aid, and for carrying me back.* She began, the other Swift-Wing bowing his head respectfully, taking a moment to accept the thanks gratefully before she continued. *I must also ask though, when you did so, you called me by name, if I remember correctly. My memories of the event are somewhat foggy.* She noticed him visibly tense up a bit, sinking his head slightly and avoiding her gaze, and taking a moment to speak, before launching into a feverish ramble of apologies.

*...I did my queen... Please forgive me! It was out of line and improper! And I should not have done such a thing, no matter what the circumstances might have been! I am in no position to call you by name! And-*

*ONYX* The drake shuddered when the queen cut him off with a commanding tone, before her voice returned right back to normal. *You are correct. It was improper, and out of line, and a lot of other drakes would not have done the same.* She watched his head sink nearly all the way down to the ground as she spoke. *And I believe it is also what kept me from slipping back into unconsciousness during that flight. It was very bold of you, and it helped save my life. Thank you, Onyx.* She watched his eyes grow wide in disbelief as she bowed to him. He couldn't think about what to possibly do in that situation, frozen in amazement and grateful beyond words at the honour being bestowed upon him. Phoebe chuckled as she raised herself back up, noting his "startled deer" state, giving him a few seconds to collect himself before she continued. *So long as you do not overstep those bounds again without good cause, I see no reason to reprimand you for your lack of formality.* She smiled at him with a sway of her tail, again watching in amusement at the stunned expression Onyx was displaying.

*T-thank you my queen!* He allowed himself to smile back at her. She nodded to him in acceptance of his thanks before continuing on to one last piece of business.

*One more thing. When you told me to fly, it felt, irresistible. Like when I command the flock to gather. I couldn't possibly disobey. Onyx, have you any idea how you did that?* She finally brought up, the drake before her shaking his head.

*I-... I do not, my Queen. I have spent a good amount of time trying to understand it myself, but I have no explanation as to how I did it.*

She nodded in understanding before giving a reply. *I believe it must have been a heat of the moment thing. Something that you were able to do out of desperation because you needed to. I have seen such things happen before on rare occasions, when a brave dragon accomplishes an otherwise impossible feat because there was no other solution* she surmised. Having said what she had come to say, the queen began to turn to leave, pausing midway around to say one last thing to the drake. *I will be gathering the pack later tonight to inform them fully of what happened, the stories and rumours are starting to get a bit too exaggerated for my liking. Be ready to be called before the pack with Misty and Raven-Shade.* And with that, she turned and padded out of the cavern, taking to the air and flying off through the nest, leaving a bewildered Onyx to reflect on the interaction he'd just had with her.

*Misty-Onyx, Raven-Shade, please come forward.* The queen commanded neutrally, the two heart-bound pairs expecting the call, and sharing a quick nuzzle with their respective other halves before padding up into the centre of the gathering space before the rest of the nest.

**Yes my queen!** They bowed and thought-spoke in near unison as she let out a purr in response. Misty scanned her over quickly while she waited for what the queen was going to say, taking stock of how her wounds were healing. It had only been a few days, but she was holding up remarkably well. She stood atop her ledge without showing much weakness, and her scars were already beginning to fade from her shoulders. Misty probably wouldn't even be able to notice them by moon's end.

*I owe the four of you a debt of gratitude.* Phoebe began with a bow of her head, just as she had done for Skylancer and Nocte a few moments before once she's finished telling the pack at large the story of what had happened to her the other day, save for omitting a few key details. Details such as how Onyx managed to keep her awake during the rescue flight, or what prompted her flight in the first place. She would get to the latter part in a minute, but first... *For coming to my defence in time of need, risking yourselves in the process, and thus proving your dedication and worth to the nest, the four of you are hereby promoted.* She again bowed her head to them, this time, the rest of the nest joining in the respectful gesture.

The four Swift -Wings struggled to drink it all in, well, two of them at least. Raven and Shade were the less humble of the four, and preened as they lifted their heads and relished the attention and new status they felt they had earned. Misty and Onyx however could hardly believe their eyes as they searched the room, as if trying to find signs of the usual indifference and lack of attention the two had been used to getting their whole lives, finding none of it in the eyes of their nest-mates. A quick smack of the tail from Shade brought them each out of their stupor. *Oh will you two just stop and enjoy it… you earned this!* he quickly admonished them without much teeth, Misty and Onyx sharing a glance back at each other and feeling silly together for a split second, before preening themselves and letting the show of respect from the pack inflate their egos…

Just a little...

It was the queen's final decree that night that what happened to her would NOT be spoken of to Selena, at least not for a while anyways, and only then would she herself be the one to tell her daughter. It was also decided that she would visit her daughter herself, once her scars had fully healed, Selena's pregnancy would take a while anyways, so it was well enough that there was time for Phoebe finish healing and thus "cover up" the truth from her headstrong offspring. Convincing Luna to keep things a secret would probably be tough, but the time they had before the trip would help give Phoebe the chance to convince Luna, and for the news to get old enough for Luna to not care about it anyways.

Of course another unintended side effect of that plan to wait was that it gave time for all the Swift-Wings who had met and become friends with Toothless-Hiccup to decide that they should join the Queen in her trip to Berk. Phoebe sighed more deeply every time she gave her approval to yet another dragon to join the group; it was feeling like half of the nest would be flying with her to the island housing the queen-to-be and her mate. Even Raven-Shade had asked to join when they learned that Black Fire was granted permission; and between them, Misty-Onyx, and Black-Fire, it seemed like the group was going just as much to see Toothless-Hiccup as it was to go see Selena.

It was but a day before the group was scheduled to leave that Ekeren called out to Misty on her way to exit the healing cavern, her apprentice work done for the day. *Misty, may I speak with you before you leave?* he declared kindly, sitting down in a private spot just within the cavern.

Misty looked at him in befuddlement, joining him after a moment of pause to wonder what this was about. Had she messed up a patient recently? Ekeren smiled and purred to her as she sat herself across from him, seemingly happy, so no, it couldn't be that or anything else like it...

*Misty, have you been feeling any different the past few days?* he asked gently, carefully. It seemed he was measuring his words for some reason.

*Nnnnooooo…* Her response dragged on as she thought with a tilt of her head, *I feel just fine Ekeren, what's this about?...* she grew a bit worried, suddenly wondering what he might had noticed. There were numerous ailments that had symptoms too small for her to notice herself, but an elder like Ekeren would see as easily as one would spot Toothless' missing tailfin. She was both relieved and confused further when she saw Ekeren's expression shift, the dragon lighting up like the rising of the sun, beginning to wiggle excitedly.

*Then I have some very wonderful news for you.* He began, taking a moment to savor this, knowing what the news would mean to his apprentice and friend, and that what he'd spied would still be too subtle for anyone else to spot for a few more days, his experience and well-honed senses and the fact he was around Misty all day today were the only reasons he'd caught it at all.

*Misty...* He smiled at her as she listened close.

Onyx struggled to stay in flying formation with the wing headed for Berk, his mind elsewhere. His other half had been acting so strange since arriving back home from apprenticing yesterday, but when he had pressed her on it, she only told him to wait, for just a bit, that he'd find out soon what was going on. It baffled him immensely, she could barely sleep yesterday, and when she did, joining him in their shared dream-space, she even wiggled and shook there too just as she'd done in her wakefulness, seemingly unable to keep still. Was she really so excited to see Hiccup, Toothless and Shadow again? If so, why was it only now that she was so eager and not the days before? At least the focus on flying seemed to be keeping her toned down for now, and Onyx settled for blaming her excited state on the fact that it was indeed the day they would finally fly and see Berk and their good friends on it.

At their arrival, the group gave deference to the Queen's family and their interactions, they would all have their turn soon enough with whomever they had come to see. Of course, once the Queen and the alphas of Berk had finished, including the mild threat towards Toothless-Hiccup from the Queen, Hiccup was happily rubbing the noses of Misty, Onyx, and Black Fire in greeting, it seemed he was just as excited and unwilling to wait any longer than necessary to meet them again as they were. He settled for waving hello to Raven-Shade as their son introduced him to them, the two orange eyed dragons clearly not quite comfortable with the idea of being touched, he could tell. He had spotted the both of them wincing ever so slightly when he'd touched Misty-Onyx and Black Fire.

Raven and Shade both seemed on edge as Misty-Onyx and Shadow and Toothless spent a few minutes catching up and nuzzling each other warmly, even as Shadow padded up to them to give them some company they would enjoy. Still, they couldn't stop themselves from looking around at all the humans of Berk eying the group curiously, making them uneasy. *Is, there a-... a more private place to go to around here?* Shade finally asked when Toothless seemed all caught up with his friends, his voice faltering a bit as he shifted closer to Raven, his mate doing the same to him. Hiccup quickly nodded and turned to his other half, mutually deciding the two of them should split for a little while to make things a bit less crowded overall. Toothless with Selena and Shadow decided to spend time with Phoebe, Luna, Skylancer, Nocte, and Corona, while Hiccup would spend time with Raven-Shade, Black Fire, and Misty-Onyx, it seemed the group was visibly starting to separate that way anyway with how everyone was subtly positioning themselves, even if Shadow felt himself a bit torn between spending time with the group containing his brother, and the group containing Raven-Shade. Eventually Shadow made up his mind that their group was large enough without him, and that he and Toothless would spend more time with their respective fosters later.

*I know a good secluded place… Shade was it?* Hiccup replied, getting a nod of confirmation about his getting the name right before he turned to the sky blue eyed drakaina. *Misty, if you would carry me, I can show-*

*YES HICCUP!* she interrupted, once again squirming excitedly and with wide eyes full of wonder.

*-where it… is… heh. Figured you might like the idea of having a rider." Hiccup chuckled, a bit excited himself at the idea of fulfilling what he suspected was probably an item off Misty's bucket list. He guided the drakaina to lower her head for him as he climbed on, getting situated atop her back and holding on as she took off into the air, Raven-Shade fast on her tail, followed by Black Fire and Onyx.

Misty relished in the short flight to the cove, enjoying the feeling of a human such as Hiccup atop her back, unable to resist prolonging the flight by doing a few circles and other maneuvers, much to Onyx's delight as he watched his other half having a fantastic time. A part of her wondered if she could get him to ride her for a longer flight before they all left.

Raven and Shade both sighed in relief as they touched down in the cove, it was quiet, secluded, and entirely private. There were no other humans around except for the one they had business with, and it did a lot for their peace of mind. Hiccup dismounted and the other three Swift-Wings took a moment to survey their surroundings while Raven-Shade allowed their nervousness to dissipate as much as possible. *Hiccup?* Onyx pieced together first, *is this?*

"Where Toothless and I met, yep. It's also where Toothless and Selena became mates, and where me and my desired became mates as well.* He smiled and looked about his favourite walls on all of Berk, drinking them in once again as the other dragons did the same. *I don't know if this place is blessed by the gods, or the moon, or if it's just happenstance that makes it so special, but... There's just something about this place…" He trailed off happily, looking back down to see even Shade's tail gently swaying, the three dragons Hiccup had already befriended all wagging even more so at being introduced to such an important spot.

Shade bravely padded forth and Raven followed, stepping up alongside her mate before the human, who watched on and let them take the lead in their interaction. *I feel we owe you a bit of an apology, for, well, avoiding you back when you were on Myrkr… I've seen some things in my life, that have left me… jaded… about humans in general.* The Drake cautiously kept himself from looking away from the human, while Hiccup did all he could to help by looking as non-threatening and open as possible. Raven spoke up finally, the drakaina of few words living up to that reputation as she merely nodded and said *I as well…*, the heart-bound pair keeping the details of what had jaded the both of them private to themselves.

Hiccup nodded and knelt himself onto one knee to better be at eye level with the two Swift-Wings. *I accept your apology.* he thought spoke with a tone of formality, knowing from Misty-Onyx's stories they'd shared back on Myrkr about Raven-Shade that the two orange eyed dragons would appreciate that.

Shade visibly inhaled a deep breath and let it out in relief, turning his gaze to Misty-Onyx, then to Black Fire, and finally his other half, who nodded back at him too before they both found Hiccup once again with their eyes.

*Can we reintroduce ourselves properly?* Raven spoke this time, boldly leaning in to offer her head to the human. *I am Raven* she tried not to flinch as she let Hiccups palm meet her nose, her tail curled tightly around her mate's in a rare moment of longing for emotional support.

*And my name is Shade, heart bound with Raven.* Shade leaned in, Hiccup gently placing his other hand atop Shade's nose and letting it rest there. Shade did his best to ignore the memories in his head and focus instead on scrutinizing the human's features as he let himself be touched. Spotting the scar on his chin, covered by the start of some light hair, green eyes looking back at him, the coverings he wore and how they fitted his body, it gave his mind something to do, and as long as he had that, he could keep himself calm. Black Fire being nearby and purring softly to remind them of his presence didn't hurt either.

*My name is Hiccup, one half of Toothless-Hiccup. It's nice to meet you both. Your son is a fine dragon, as are your friends.* he complimented the two with a gentle closed mouth smile at Black Fire and Misty-Onyx in turn, Raven-Shade accepting the compliment with a warm purr each. Hiccup let the two Swift-Wings gently pull back away from his hands to sit down again, visibly relieved and happy with how that had gone. Black fire took a moment to nuzzle his sire and dam supportingly, reassuring them with a look that said "he can be trusted, you are going to be alright." That did well at getting the message across, Raven and Shade both seeming just a bit more comfortable this time as they spied the alpha of Berk again, seemingly just remembering his status, much to Hiccup's amusement as they panickedly bowed their heads again, making Misty and Hiccup laugh before the human could acknowledge the formal gesture and then reassure them back up. The three of them wondered what to do now for a brief moment, until Misty let out a warble to get their attention…

The drakaina let out a happy croon, visibly shaking a bit in excitement once again as she stepped into a better spot where everyone's eyes could be on her… and a spot she suspected might be upwind of them all if the wind happened to shift…

This was it... Here, in Toothless-Hiccup's cove, with her other half and her closest friends gathered, it was just… perfect. Hiccup was right, there was something magical about this place, and it seemed such like her and Onyx's plateau in how it felt, she could swear it was filling her with warmth just being there inside of its walls.

*Hiccup, Raven-Shade, Black Fire, Onyx…* She addressed each of them, lingering on her mate for just a bit longer than the others. *I have some important news to share, and I'm so glad I get to share it with you all at once together…" she thought-spoke so sweetly, her words having been rehearsed in her mind the whole way here and through all of last night. She was beyond excited and so full of emotion, and yet so perfectly calm and at peace, more so than she had ever been in her life as she finally readied to speak the three words that she had been dying to say since the moment she and Onyx had first mated. How perfect then in that moment, that the wind DID turn, almost as though the moon itself had willed it to. Not by much, but just enough to reach one dragon's nose in particular.

Onyx looked at his other half, feeling the warmth and joy that overflowed from her through the heart bind, flooding his chest and making his tail sway with affection and joy as well. He was about to wonder what the news might be that was making her so happy, when suddenly a breeze carried her scent to him. His eyes and pupils grew wide. Onyx knew his mate's scent like the back of his own paw, it's every nuance, the strength and shape of each piece to her smell, and he wiggled in excitement suddenly as this time he scented a NEW component to her.

*MISTY?!* Onyx couldn't help but cry out as he met her eyes, seeing her instantly figure out that he'd caught wind and learned what the news had to be, and the recognition and glee in both of their eyes seemed like it could fuel their love for the next three centuries.

*Yes, My Love!* she smiled back at him, then everyone again as she cried out to them.

*I'M WITH KIT!*