When Hiccup shot down Night Fury he was really thinking that everything will went better from now on, but he always had bad luck, and this situation is extremely ridiculous even on his standards.

---

The two men worked in the forge, forming metal into the desired forms for their settlement, it was a quiet night, like all the previous nights, they had a lot of extra work that day, so it went down to the night, the blacksmith patted his helper on the back, almost knocking him over with his considerable strength.

-Well, then just clean up and we'll see you tomorrow.

The helper nodded his head, a little too quickly, and the blacksmith sent him a crushing look, the helper looked away and started cleaning, the blacksmith left, shaking his head.

The helper quickly finished his work, grabbed a strange wheelbarrow-like object and ran outside, the city was empty, as usual at this hour, nevertheless he tried not to make too much noise, he had innate bad luck after all.

After a few minutes he reached his target, an escarpment protruding into the mountain, he put his best chance of improving his fate on it and opened it, the powerful arms of the launcher's arches were difficult to tension, but the internal block system made it easy enough that he succeeded, he began to watch the night sky, saying nothing, inwardly afraid that a single word might frighten his target.

Some shadow obscured the stars and his heart beat faster, he focused on it and it didn't disappear, he really was there, or she was, anyway, doesn't matter, he probably won't get another chance.

He waited long enough and squeezed the trigger, the launcher fired with a bang similar to a ballista, and its projectile soared to the target, he did not take his eyes off the target, the orientation of the target changed, the shadow already covered a much smaller part of the sky, a smile bloomed on the man's lips.

He ran back between the houses, heading for the place where his prize was falling, when he got there, a leather bundle several meters long just touched the ground, uncertainly, on trembling legs he approached it, countless possibilities flashed through his mind on what this could go wrong, but they all disappeared as soon as he saw the bundled creature brighter, it was tugging helplessly at its bonds, clouded by the scent with which their forelocks were imbued, anyway it had not the slightest chance of breaking free, the force with which it flew into the pack tightened six straps, arranged concentrically, one on the jaws, one on the neck, one on the chest, one on the belly, one on the hips and the last, halfway down the tail.

There was absolutely no way it was going anywhere now, with hesitation, the man put his hand on the neck of the captured dragon, the noble creature tried to move away, but it was not feasible for him, Hiccup scratched it behind the ears through the sack he had put on his head, this combined with the fact, the fact that the sack was soaked in the smell of dragonnip, further reduced the tugging, in the end it didn't matter, everything below the head was wrapped in thick studded leather that the dragon couldn't pierce without fire, but Hiccup didn't want it to worry unnecessarily.

Hiccup ran to the nearest door and banged on it, after a few moments a sleepy man opened it, looking down with disdain, but Hiccup didn't care anymore, he just pointed to the immobilized dragon behind him.

-I hit him, I hit him, do you understand?

The Viking's eyes widened and he ran out of the house, heading for the chief, meanwhile Hiccup sat next to the dragon, leaning against its neck and scratching behind its ears, by having its paws and wings pressed against its body, he could do nothing to the man, Hiccup's heart melted when the growling and confused sounds finally passed into an involuntary purr, which the animal tried to suppress, unsuccessfully.

After several minutes, Stoik arrived, along with six other people, driving a medium-sized cart, the chief looked first at Hiccup and then at the dragon, shifting his gaze between one and the other three more times before he believed what he was seeing, a rare smile appeared under his chin, his eyes lit up and excitement permeated his voice, Stoik had never acted like this.

-Hiccup! You have succeeded! You caught the dragon!

Stoik had just shown his son more love and appreciation than most of his life at once, Hiccup smiled shyly, not being used to receiving praise.

-Well... Somehow.... It came out.

The stoic laughed heartily and hugged his son, taking away his breath with his powerful embrace.

-Strangling.

His son's harsh voice snapped him out of his momentary joy, he hastily let him go, allowing him to take in precious air.

Hiccup thought with an ironic chuckle that the only thing would change and he will dislike was this.

While the Stoic showed his fatherly love, the rest of the men managed to put the dragon on the cart and strapped it down, lifted its neck, and Hiccup did the chonors and pressed a point on its neck, rendering the dragon unconscious.

###

The shaman of the tribe, Gothi, was preparing the ceremony, she placed a small ladder next to a shelf to reach it despite her small height, she removed a jar from there, full of the paint she needed for her task.

She carefully put the jar down on the ground and walked over to one of the chests, marked with the runes of darkness, power, flame and mystery, opened the lid, groaning with exertion, rubbed the sore cross and pulled out the contents, an intricate construction of studded leather and steel that also weighed its own, wobbling along the way, carried it to the spot and spread it out on the floor, after which she hit the ground with a bang with her cane, the gates opened, and the night fury was introduced, she lay on the cart, all ties were removed from the dragon, the animal slept peacefully, intoxicated by the dragon's magic, four men of the people picked it up and laid it on an object pulled from the chest, the elder used paint to draw a circle around the unconscious dragon.

Hiccup entered the room and began to dress the dragon in a massive, durable straightjacket, the dragon's paws went into the sleeves, the front paws into one and the hind paws into the other, he wrapped each paw halfway with a strap, with great effort he squeezed the head through the tight leather, so that it covered everything from the cheeks, to the dragon's neck, not counting the ears, which he put through the headgear, he put a collar around the dragon's neck, pressing the studded leather against the scales, he added another, wider strap just behind the dragon's eyes, so that it could not even gently lift its jaws, the next was the back, he threw the leather sheath of the straightjacket over it, put the wings through it and wrapped them in leather, from the joints to a third of their length, pulling a total of four strips over the entire length of the ties, then he put on a sheet of leather from the other side of the dragon, it was smaller than the first, but overlapped it slightly except for two long strips of cloth that extended in front of and behind the wings, from side to side of the night fury, at the other end they had metal rings, and on the other side their twins were waiting, they were connected by two padlocks that closed with a click, securing the dragon from cheeks to thighs.

Another piece of leather was pulled over the tail, stretching from the base of the tail fins, to the rump, Hiccup it tightened with two straps, the fins themselves were wrapped in a roll of leather and tied in the middle with a final strap, the ties on the tail were connected to the back with a similar pair of circles secured with padlocks, to the two pairs located on each side, Hiccup swallowed his saliva and finished dressing the noblest of dragons in the straightjacket, fixing the diapers on the rump, pinning its rings to the thigh, back and tail with the last five padlocks, he stepped back and observed his work.

The straightjacket, made according to traditional patterns, had a rather interesting construction, the entire outside consisted of durable studded leather, the inside of soft leather, with goose feathers sewn in between, the only exception being a section of the sleeves where claws could reach, there the studded leather was also on the inside, it provided comfort and safety, and at the same time, immobilization, the dragon was completely powerless, safe and in comfort, according to the traditions of the tribe of hairy hooligans to which he belonged and which received this noble task seven generations ago, in exchange for a great reward.

The dragon's eyes suddenly opened and Hiccup held his breath, when he started dressing the dragon everyone left, only his father, Gobber and Gothi watched the scene from behind some specially prepared boards, leaving him alone with the dragon, if he made any mistake the dragon would most likely kill him, so he could only hope that he didn't forget some key padlock.

The dragon tried to move and noticed his limitations, his burning green gaze landed on Hiccup, the teenager swallowed his saliva and slightly looked away, unable to withstand the raw intensity of the gaze, but the gaze equally frightened and attracted Hiccup, he couldn't help but look into those eyes, they were so incredibly... Conscious, as if the dragon had a full understanding of what was going on and was assessing Hiccup like a stern teacher, after a few prolonged indefinite seconds he stopped focusing his gaze on the teenager and checked the bonds more carefully, first steadily, calmly, then a little more panicky, finally moving to a violent jerk, jumping up and down like a fish out of water, pitting his body, beautiful as deadly steel, and his trained muscles against the dragon's straitjacket, he fought for a long time, and Hiccup watched this all the while with growing sympathy, but he did nothing, if he freed him, he would kill him, and even if he didn't, it would be considered treason to the tribe and he would die anyway, only in this case from the axe.

The dragon finally got tired and stopped his efforts, breathing heavily, he looked at Hiccup with total resignation and exposed his neck, closing his eyes, apparently expecting to be killed, Hiccup shuddered at such a thought, he would never hurt a dragon, it would be sacrilege, it would make him excluded from the pact.

Hiccup approached the dragon, the dragon breathed calmly, as if not afraid of death, but the slight irregularity of breathing betrayed fear, Hiccup put his hand on the dragon's neck, and the dragon's eyes opened, confused and suddenly hopeful, the man uttered a phrase, according to tradition.

-Þú ert deildin okkar núna, þú munt ekki lengur finna fyrir hungri, kulda eða sársauka, við munum gefa þér að borða, vökva þig, þvo þig, klæða þig, halda á þér hita, vernda þig og veita þér ánægju, verðið fyrir þetta er frelsi þitt til kl. sáttmáli okkar er fullnægt, ekki vera hræddur, barn dauðans og eldinga, nú ertu öruggur.

The dragon's pupils narrowed, he considered Hiccup, but did not move, after a few seconds he closed his eyes and furrowed his muzzle in an expression of cold fury.

Þá muntu.. deila.. þessum.... örlögum með mér!

The voice clearly came from the dragon, but it didn't really speak, it was as if Hiccup heard this voice in his head, spoken in an ancient language that only Gothi really understood, Hiccup's eyes widened in shock and he moved away from the dragon, but it was too late, he screamed in pain and lost consciousness.

###

Hiccup woke up with a groan, he had a really terrible headache, he opened his eyes, but the light was too bright, so he immediately closed them, he began to distinguish information from the rest of his senses, the smells were powerful, until his head spun from them, could it be that he was in a Gothi hut?

-Hiccup, is everything okay?

He cautiously averted his eyes and found his father's face centrally in front of him, he immediately stepped back, but of course tripped over his own feet and laid out on his back.

-Okay, that's definitely him.

Gobber's voice came over and Hiccup looked at the old blacksmith.

-Why shouldn't I be myself?

The blacksmith literally jumped up, and his pupils dilated in surprise, Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows and looked around the room, he was in the same place where he had tied the night fury, the dragon even lay a few meters away, staring at him mockingly, making no attempt to free himself, he turned his gaze to Stoik.

-What happened dad?

Stoik only rubbed his forehead, mumbling a few words under his breath, which were surprisingly clear to Hiccup despite the distance.

-And I already thought you were done with.... With this.

Hiccup's eyebrows dropped slightly and he replied with exasperation in his voice.

-I understand that you mean me?

The stoic sent Hiccup a remarkably serious and, most disturbingly, fearful look.

-Hiccup, this is not funny.

It seemed that with every word he knew less about what was going on....

-But what?

Hiccup tried to stand up normally on two legs, instead of on all fours, but only fell over, so that his hand was squashed under his body, in exasperation he took the limb out from under him, but in doing so he noticed what it looked like.

Black, scaly, ending in claws, slowly, as if afraid of what he would see, he glanced at the rest of his body, after that he immediately began to hyperventilate.

-Me and my luck.

Hiccup spoke up and giggled hysterically, Stoik pressed his lips together, looking at his unlucky son, then turned to Gothi.

-Can you do something about it?
The shaman hit Gobber on the head with a stick, and without hesitation he scattered sand from the bag at his waist and the shaman wrote a message on it, Gobber paused to read it for a moment, as if hesitating whether he should, his jaw dropped slightly as he apparently thought whether to convey the message, Hiccup began to squirm with anxiety, what was it that Gobber did not want to say? Was there no way to return to human form?

Gobber swallowed his saliva and looked at Hiccup with pity, then looked at the Stoic seriously in the eyes and began to speak.

-Gothi says that. The pact applies to all dragons, including those that have not hatched from an egg.

Hiccup stopped breathing for a moment, his gaze immediately automatically went to the gate, which was locked from the other side, it was impossible to open it from this one, it was completely intentional, of course it was also thick and made of impossibly durable metal, which could not be worked by any method, Hiccup reviewed quickly in his mind all the known ways out, his only option was to delve into the caves of Berk, not all of them had been discovered and he had long ago found his own way out, which no one else knew about.

The problem was that the caves were where all of Berk's charges are kept, usually several hundred people at a time, as well as huge amounts of dragon immobilization equipment.

In the blink of an eye he dashed for the door to the inside of the cave complex, moving faster than any human could ever hope to, he pulled the lever, registering in the process that he was half the size of the night fury he had captured.

He mentally shook off his useless thoughts and opened the door with his paw, his whole body tensed up and prepared to flee.

-Hiccup!

He froze for a moment, hearing Stoik's voice and looked at him, his father's hands were empty and slowly approached him.

-Son, calm down, let's think this through.

Hysteria made it highly difficult for Hiccup to remain calm.

-Let's think it over, yes? Oh, you'll definitely think it over and then you'll put me in a dragon straitjacket and tie me to the wall!

The stoic shook his head and stopped walking, seeing an even greater drive to escape running through Hiccup's body, he took a step back.

-Son, I won't do it to you.

Hiccup simply could not believe him, however, Gobber turned on him.

-Hiccup, don't panic, we'll figure something out.

Hiccup hesitated, the smith's smile, however, was clearly false, he could not lie, the eyes of the night fury again attracted his gaze, they stared at him very intensely, as if waiting for something.

-Please. I'm sorry, I... didn't think... I was thinking, hi dad!

The last two words he said already turning around and preparing to run, they were so sudden and snatched from humble apologies like out of nowhere that the three people did not react to his sudden movement, through fear he completely ignored the fact that he has no idea about moving on four legs, in addition with a tail, he just ran, with incredible clarity remembering the path he must take to get to the forest.

-Hiccup!

He didn't stop, didn't even glance back, he slipped past the Vikings walking to the passageway, who simply couldn't react to the speed with which he was moving, surprised by his mere appearance, he ran on, dashing along the plank path, he only had to run something like a kilometer or so of caves before he got his way, yes, only a kilometer, more than he had ever accomplished in his life.

When he ran around the corner, he had only a split second to act, when he saw a Viking carrying a bucket, having no time to change direction, he ran between his legs, tossing it up and making him give a cry of surprise, but he didn't even have time to laugh, because Snotlout was standing in his way and was already preparing to grab him.

-Seriously!? You!?

The loud comment made Snotlout freeze, staring dully at him, which he took advantage of and repeated the same trick as with the previous Viking, and Snotlout made an unmanly sound, unable to stop himself, he glanced back, dumbfounded laid out on his face!

His blood froze when he saw what was in front of him, Greta with an outstretched stick having a self-locking strap on the end, but she was too slow, she didn't pick it up in time, so he just ran past, but now he was being pursued by someone competent, which was a significant aggravation.

And since misfortunes go in pairs, just now a horn sounded, its sound echoed off the cave walls, creating bizarre tones and again giving Hiccup a feeling of frostiness along with hysteria.

Well, simply beautiful! Me and my bad luck.

The next Viking was already prepared, with the catching stick in the right position, so Hiccup just accelerated and jumped straight at him, he didn't react in time and got a teensy bit of night fury in his stomach, Hiccup dodged the hand trying to grab it, the stick rose to meet him but went past him, however, the Viking apparently did not immediately pull it the full distance, because Hiccup felt something on his hind leg, he shook it, dropping the noose for a moment before it could tighten, but he did not have time to enjoy his extraordinary luck.

In front of him, the entire corridor was obscured by a web of thongs, and behind and in front of it stood four Vikings each, including, in front, Astrid.

Oh shit.

He didn't have the slightest chance to get through, in a moment he would be caught, put in a straitjacket, diapered and tied to the wall.

For some reason, this second thought terrified him the most.

Only that at the last moment he realized he had an alternative.

He jumped into a side rock corridor, it was blocked by a door, so he had to spend a few precious seconds moving the heavy bolts before he could continue.

Maneuvering between the crates of the warehouse was uneventful, but his newfound grace still worked, he slid between the supplies without any effort.

Hiccup strangely didn't feel any fatigue, it seemed to him that he was even running faster now than before, after a few seconds of supernaturally fast running he fell into the dark maw of one of the three undiscovered tunnels located at the end of this section, having opened the bolts in the door that covered it.

It was devilishly dangerous, he could have hit something really easily, so he forced himself to slow down, once he got so far away from the light that he could no longer see anything, which was a surprising distance, he continued at a much slower pace, checking the area in front of him before he took a step, for fear of falling into some hole.

This slowed him down considerably, after some time, which was difficult to determine in total darkness, but which seemed to be most of the day, he heard quiet sounds of conversations and footsteps behind him, they were catching up with him, he immediately accelerated, but immediately hit a rock wall with his nose and involuntarily groaned, he froze when the sound carried far away, and the voices of the people in pursuit became louder, more excited, he had to find a way out of this situation.

The problem was that he had not hit any spur in the cave so far, he started walking right at the wall, looking for the smallest hole he could squeeze into, the pursuit was getting closer and closer, and panic was growing in Hiccup to the limit, but when the light of the torch began to be seen, he found the hole, he swept it out with his tail, it was small and its ground was sloping downwards, so he would have to keep holding on, but this also reduced the chance that he would be spotted, he slipped into place, it was very tight and uncomfortable, but he managed, he was hidden.

He waited anxiously for people to pass, all he could see was the light coming out of the hole, but he could hear much more, footsteps, conversations, the crackle of the torch fire, whispers, mumbling, and even the rustling of clothes, he waited until he could no longer hear anything and left, only now he felt tired, nevertheless he was not completely exhausted.

He headed back, this time moving much faster, because he remembered every movement perfectly and only had to repeat it, it was strange, he did not have as a human being such a good memory.

Suddenly he heard a click and didn't even have time to feel the surprise before he was crushed to the ground by the trap, he refrained from jerking, that would only make things worse, instead he carefully swept out what he had gotten himself into, he breathed a sigh of relief, it could have been worse.

He fell into the so-called "pawpaw", it consisted of a semicircular metal frame, covered with leather, between which a sheet of leather with holes was tightly stretched, he couldn't really move out of the way or even change his orientation, it was too tight, fortunately this trap was designed for the smallest dragons, not teenagers of the night fury, so his legs stuck out the back and he could reach the trigger mechanism, instead of being completely buried under the skin, he quickly opened the mechanism by pressing two plates and lifting himself up, he got out the side, if he just went forward and let go of the plates, the thing would snap again and this time he would have no way to get out.

He forced himself not to think about this option and continued on his way, but quickly imagined that he was falling into other traps, some of which he would not be able to get out of, and some of which would contain dragonflies, although the latter were less likely, the dragon nip harvest was unsuccessful this year due to the constant attacks of the night fury, but with his luck.... It was better not to take any chances.

At least I've already walked most of the way back.

The return to a cautious gait was very stressful, but he managed to reach the door safely, with relief he hit it with his head, his muscles relaxed and he felt relaxed, now it should be.

At the bend in the rocky corridor stood Fishlegs holding a catcher's pole.

Easier.....?

Fishlegs began walking slowly toward him, mumbling reassuring nonsense.

-Good dragon, to.... To... Good dragon, I won't do anything to you, don't move.

Hiccup's eyes darted around, again looking for options, he could have tried to walk past Fishlegs, but there was a not inconsiderable risk of being caught, his gaze turned to the other door leading into the unknown, one leading to a steep stone gutter and the other into an unknown, downward sloping corridor.

Hiccup made a quick decision and jumped to the door, he always preferred to avoid direct confrontation, Fishlegs started running towards him, but Hiccup managed to open the door and jump into the corridor, just in time to avoid being caught, the leather strap muscled the tips of his tail fins.

The Fishlegs did not pursue him, Hiccup felt incredibly relieved, his good friend was afraid of the dark, so he hesitated to continue the chase in the unexplored dark cave, even having easy access to a torch.

Those few moments of hesitation gave Hiccup the advantage he so desperately needed, adrenaline still kept him from feeling tired, but it was only a matter of time, he thought of what he knew about the cave, the memory of the twins mumbling about the place came back to him, at one point it narrowed significantly, but the twins had gone no further, so what was beyond the narrowing remained unknown.

The terrain was incredibly flat, according to the twins' reports, so Hiccup didn't have to slow down to check it out, making him move much faster, after only a few minutes he reached the point where the tunnel narrowed, but fatigue finally began to take its toll on him, he began panting, slowing down so he could walk a greater distance, even though he wanted nothing more than to run as fast as possible.

As if that wasn't enough, he began to hear Fishlegs footsteps behind him, he sped up, but that quickly exhausted him even more, he really began to think it was over.

....And just then his foot slipped on a stone, he hit the ground with his chin and began to slide, he reflexively spread his wings, which made him stop, he tried to retreat, but the stone was at too great an angle, and in front of him was a stone gutter, leading into the clearest darkness, complete unknown.

Panic-stricken, he analyzed his situation, the frost of terror rose to heights he had never felt before, he froze completely, Fishlegs footsteps growing louder with each passing moment.

He could fall into the unknown, either to be rescued, or to a place of no return in which he would die of thirst, or get caught by the Fishleg, thanks to which he would survive, but would be immobilized for the rest of his life.

All sensations became muffled as he hyperventilated, he couldn't even cry, a sound that sounded like a gurgling sound rang out, only after a moment did he realize it was him laughing, he forced himself to breathe more steadily, slowly began to calm down, he averted his eyes.

He caught the soft light coming from behind him, Fishleg was not far away, he had to think fast.

He wasn't going to fall into the complete unknown, it scared him too much, Fishleg after seeing his predicament would surely pull him out, then.... If it wasn't for the dangerous position, Hiccup would have punched himself in the face, he could have just talked.

Although it was better not to say anything until he was far from the hole, the poor man would still faint.

The light started to become visible, Fishlegs was already close, after about a minute Hiccup heard the teenager hold his breath, most likely at the sight of him, he encouraged him with a quiet, mournful moan, the Viking came closer, illuminating everything with the light of the torch.

........A hole that Hiccup looked into was at most a meter deep, after which it became a horizontal tunnel disappearing further into the darkness, there were even a few handholds through which he could easily climb back up.

He was so busy contemplating the situation that only the leather noose appearing centrally in front of his eyes brought him back to reality, before he could do anything, it had already tightened at the base of his neck and he was pulled out of his position, backwards, he tried to throw himself forward, but his claws only slid helplessly over the stone, leaving white scratches on it.

-Wha.

His word was interrupted when Fishlegs sat on his back, knocking the air out of his lungs, the teenage Viking immediately grabbed his head and pressed it to his chest with a thick but nevertheless strong arm, Fishlegs' other hand immediately went to his neck.

Feeling that he was fractions of a second away from a terrible fate, Hiccup used a half-formed idea from his mind, instantly went limp, the hand seeking a point on his neck stopped.

-Huh? And I could have sworn I didn't press it....

-Fishleg.

Hiccup felt Fishlegs arms move as he looked around in all directions, Fishlegs stood up, still holding Hiccup by the center of his chest.

-Umm... W...Wh...Who are...are you?

-Hiccup the Horrendous Haddock III, I recently turned into a dragon, just after I caught the night fury and all seemed well, me and it's my luck, what's not to like?

Fishlegs completely froze, then let go of Hiccup.

-O! Sorry! I didn't know!

Hiccup got up on his feet and shook his head, opening his eyes.

-You couldn't have known, this is not a very ordinary situation.

Fishlegs just nodded, apparently not knowing what to do.

-Take it off me.

Teenager nodded and timidly knelt a meter in front of Hiccup, then instantly grabbed the stick and moved the handle farther away from him, still having the base of his neck in a noose, Hiccup was moved three meters away from Herring, He squealed in surprise and reflexively tried to break free, but Herring turned the stick, coiling the thong at the connection to the stick and thus stiffening it, so he could not change his position in any way, only twisting his head, but not enough to point it straight at Viking.

-So prove it!

Hiccup took a moment to calm down and process what had happened, after a few seconds he spoke up.

-Ymmm....No...Oh! I already know, that would be...At your house, we were talking about dragons, we were reviewing your information about them and you told me about the night fury, then I immediately took out my notebook and started theorizing how to catch him...Him the next time he comes to blow something up!

Fishlegs did not answer for a few seconds, which stressed Hiccup, what if Fishlegs for some reason does not believe him? Will he stun him and put him in a dragon straitjacket? Wear.... He will put on.... Will diaper him?

-Umm... Sorry!!! I was sure that ... that ...

The sudden scream, as much as it hurt Hiccup's ears, it also brought the necessary relief, he relaxed and calmly looked at his friend, who was already kneeling by his side to remove the nooses from him, the torch was lying a few meters away on a rock shelf two meters above the ground, providing them with light, teenager pulled the nooses from Hiccup's neck, and the teenage night fury shook his head and blinked.

-Thanks, for a moment I really thought you were going to stun me.

Fishlegs nodded, his eyes were absent-minded, his eyes jumped all over Hiccup's body and he mumbled some statistics under his breath, Hiccup rolled his eyes and snorted with amusement, then tapped his friend on the nose with his claw, pulling him out of his manic state.

-I'll go, pretend to be unconscious or something.

-Umm, are you sure about that? Extra personnel were assigned to guard the caves on this level and they hung up nets.

Hiccup's ears and wings drooped, this was bad news, his chances were constantly diminishing.

-Are you sure Stoik will allow this?

Hiccup sent Fishlegs a sad look.

-And do you think he is willing to break the pact for me?

Viking lowered his gaze.

-Umm.

Hiccup hung his head and groaned, that was answer enough for him, his mind was going crazy to find a way out of this situation, but he had no options, there was no alternative path.... Except for the unknown path, Hiccup popped his head up, his eyes shone, his ears perked up and his tail started wagging like a dog's, something he was completely unaware of.

-Where do you think this path might lead?

Hiccup pointed to the path and Fishlegs frowned his eyebrows and pulled out his notebook, he started some calculations, in which even Hiccup got lost after a while, not knowing all those fancy signs and patterns, so he just waited for the verdict, trembling with anticipation, it had to be this or nothing.

-I think this in all probability connects to the stone gutter behind the third door.

Hiccup lost all hope, the light in his eyes dimmed slightly, his tail stopped moving and his ears flared.

-But yesterday the twins jumped into the gutter and rode it down to the care level, and from there there there are several unknown tunnels so.... I guess you can try?....

Hiccup instantly revived, he wanted to show his gratitude to his friend and driven by some primal instinct licked him on the face.

-Thanks! Hi Fishlegs!

Hiccup jumped onto the path and only after walking a few meters did he realize what he had done, and all happiness disappeared from him, replaced by shame.

The path was winding and completely dark, Hiccup was in no hurry, always checking what was in front of him before he took a step, he was optimistic, he could do it, and if he didn't find the way right away, he could always go back to the level of care and steal food and water, then hide in unknown tunnels and rest, then move on again, only he couldn't get caught while stealing.

But what once he finds a way out? He will have to survive in the forest, hunting, maybe he could still retreat to the caves for food, but each time the risk would increase relativistically, so it wasn't worth it, he could always get food from traps set up in the forest, but eventually someone would tie up the facts and start looking for him, and this he probably wouldn't be able to avoid for long, he would have to leave Berk, this thought was.... curious, he had never seriously considered leaving his homeland, but now he had no choice in the matter.

While the image of the night fury steering the ship was amusing, it was not the most practical solution, no, he had to learn to fly, the certainty of this was total, and the anticipation hummed in his head, he immediately began to imagine flying among the clouds, racing against the wind, barrels, spirals, dives....

He banged his head against the wall, groaned and shook his head, after this episode he refrained from further daydreaming, continuing on his way, he soon came across a gutter, took a deep breath and jumped onto the slippery stone, he quickly began to slide down the spiral, the friction was increasingly unbearable, but his scales endured.

The gutter was really incredibly smooth, if not for this, Hiccup was sure that the skin would have already peeled off his body, the spiral began to end, gradually turning into an arc, the angle of descent also decreased and Hiccup began to move more slowly, finally he was able to get up and walk the rest of the way at ease, the whole way down the gutter did not take long, but it was quite a cool experience, he definitely wanted to do it again.

He stopped in front of the next obstacle, closed his eyes and gave an exasperated murmur, of course he didn't think of something, any unknown path was always blocked by a solid door, he analyzed his obstacle and felt as if he was sinking more and more every second, they were opened inward, so he had no access to the hinges, only thick wood reinforced with iron, they also didn't have a lock, only solid bolts on the other side, he quickly analyzed the location of the passage here, he never really focused on it, but he could still deduce it from the few scraps of information he had in his memories.

He took a deep breath, he needed a plan, but at least he could do something, he banged on the door with all his might and waited for a response, although he definitely didn't expect that person to answer.

-Yes, who is there?

It was so absurd that Hiccup hesitated for a full three seconds before answering.

-Well will you finally speak up!

-Ummm, yes! It was I, Hiccup, who heard about this gutter and....

A loud laugh rang out from the other side, and Hiccup sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, he really didn't want to know what he would have to endure to get them to open that door.

-Hiccup! My friend, I knew you wanted to start worshipping Lokhi! Come on, you have to perform the rite of passage!

Hiccup heard the bolts open and hastily moved aside so that he could not be seen straight through the door, but in fact he had nowhere to hide, only the darkness around provided him with cover, Ruffnut's head poked out and looked around, furrowed her brow and stepped back, the next time she returned with the torch and her brother, the two heads of the twins appeared in the frame, one above the other, Ruffnut held the torch in her hand and looked around with concentration, in a disturbingly synchronous way her brother behaved, almost as if they were one entity.

They both simultaneously looked straight at him, but there was no way they could see him, he had perfectly black scales and had recently quietly retreated out of torchlight range, so he must have been more or less invisible to humans.

-Brother, go get the stick.

The Tuffnut disappeared behind the door frame without a sound, following Hiccup's location with his eyes until the last moment, but Ruffnut smiled broadly and knelt down, looking straight at Hiccup with a kindness unprecedented for her.

-So rest assured little boy, you're in no danger, just come here, I'll give you food, water, maybe even get some honey for you....

Hiccup shook his head.

-Ruffnut, it's me, Hiccup.

The teenager furiously furrowed her eyebrows, and Hiccup twitched under that look.

-If you are now using a cute little dragon to play a prank on me, you are really in a lot of trouble, just don't think that dressing up as a dragon will save you!

Hiccup shook his head again.

-This...is the n-night fu...fury which...I shot down, he did it to me, I really am a dragon now.

Ruffnut snorted, and her brow furrowed even more.

-And you think I'll believe you? People don't turn into dragons.

Hiccup sighed and walked towards the light, as soon as he started to approach Ruffnut started preparing to catch him, so he stopped.

-Slide away.

-And you really think you'll be able to escape?

Hiccup just rolled his eyes and gasped, not bothering momentarily that all his rich gesticulation was somehow translated into a dragon's body, Ruffnut snorted and retreated to the opposite wall of the room, leaning against it and looking at Hiccup suspiciously, he felt quite an urge to explain himself, but suddenly realized that it was dangerous, he couldn't really trust anyone, so he just jumped over the threshold.

And Tuffnut, waiting all the while at the side, threw the leather loop tied to the end of the stick at him, moved it in line with Hiccup's movement, making his own momentum tighten it on his stomach, Hiccup could only helplessly wave his paws in the air and look terrified at Ruffnut throwing herself at him with a savage grin.

-Wait! It's me! Hiccup..mmmmm!

Before he could finish his sentence Ruffnut had already pressed his jaws to her chest with her arm, he tried to break free with all his might, but Tuffnut grabbed his front legs with his hands, Hiccup tried to scratch him, but the teenager had thick studded leather gloves on his hands, despite his heroic efforts, Ruffnut reached a point on his neck.

Hiccup felt incredible bliss, he murmured, his eyes rolled over and he lost consciousness.

###

It was warm and pleasant, Hiccup murmured quietly, this sound seemed strangely dragon-like, this thought was quickly lost, instead he concentrated on falling asleep again, but something disturbed him, some strange feeling in the back of his head strongly disturbed him, he opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings, he was in one of the rooms where Berek's wards were kept, with the floor lined with skins, he tried to get up, but all his limbs were tightly pressed against the rest of his body by a sheet of leather, and a chain was clearly fastening him to the rock wall.

He heard a sound and wriggled as much as possible, for a moment he stopped breathing, the night fury was next to him, on the other side of the room, in a full dragon straitjacket and chained by a heavy chain by his collar to the cave wall, laid on thick blankets and skins, but what caught Hiccup's attention most were his eyes, full not of malice, not of hatred, but of harsh judgment, he couldn't look at those eyes, they were too judgmental, but he couldn't look away from them either, because that judgment was just, he condemned an intelligent being, capable of using language and even some sorcery, to imprisonment and humiliation for the rest of his life, he deserved to experience the same fate, in an attempt to gain his father's approval he did something cruel.

The dragon's face twitched slightly, leaving a judgmental state for a moment, Hiccup couldn't call it a snout, it would be too much of an animal term for someone who is not an animal.

The abyss of despair and hopelessness continued to deepen, Hiccup relived every bad memory of his life, a suffering moan ripped from between his lips and had no end, rising and falling, everything became a reason for despair, he didn't even want to live anymore, he just wanted to end it.

He felt a presence, strange, foreign and powerful, but he paid no attention to it, absorbed by despair, from which he was only snatched by Ruffnut's voice.

-It's seriously you.

Hiccup lifted his gaze, and hope suddenly rose in him, all the time dragged down by endless doubts, now they would only bully him, as always.

-Ey, calm down, after all, we will not leave you here.

Hiccup was paralyzed by this assurance, his eyes shone, suddenly full of hope, but the doubts were returning, this must have been some cruel joke.

The Tuffnut aproached him from behind and nodded quickly, his expression was incredibly empathetic.

-I can't even imagine what it would be like to live your whole life in such boredom, come on, let's get you out of here.

###

Hiccup blinked, confused by what had just happened, his heart squeezed, could it be just a dream? He was still in the same place, chained to the wall, but the night fury and her bed of furs were missing, he was also now in full straitjacket.

He closed his eyes again, sinking into his misery, silently sobbing, he didn't know for how long, before he heard the door open, immediately picked up his head, his gaze showed his shattered mental state, incredibly sad and pathetic, as stable as a stone whose center of gravity was off the cliff, touching the land only with its edge.

###

Astrid entered the night fury's room, she was given this honor because the chief's son had turned into a dragon and escaped, they were unable to catch him, there was still a search for him in the network of caves, but after such a time the chances were slim and diminishing every second, and someone finally had to take care of the night fury, according to the pact care had to be given to him above everything else.

Astrid's musings were interrupted when she saw the state of the dragon, it was not injured, it was in a dragon straitjacket, chained to the wall and on a bed of furs, no, it was its eyes that worried her, it looked completely distraught, she quickly approached the unfortunate creature and scratched it behind the ears, it relaxed, the image of a tenacious and powerful warrior was replaced by a kind, smiling teenager, all self-discipline and strictness disappeared, the dragon seemed incredibly focused on this sight, his eyes were big and surprised, she giggled and scratched him gently under the chin, making him murmur deeply, she moved on to the ears and frills, all the time being careful, strangely enough, the dragon made no attempt to stop her, being completely passive to her efforts, so she patted him on the head.

-Good boy.

He croaked, but that disappeared right away as soon as she gave him a bit of drago nip under his nose, his pupils dilated to almost perfect spheres and he started muttering something suspiciously like dreaming humans mumbling in their sleep and caused Astrid to giggle, the sound drew the dragon's attention and his incredibly sweet look made Astrid literally swoon.

The teenager went back to get the things she had abandoned in her rush to the distraught dragon, she checked to see if the fish soup was still warm and fortunately it was acceptable, she didn't have to go back for another, she carried the food to Night Fury and poured it into his mouth through the spout of the bucket, he swallowed obediently, this again was strange, dragons usually needed time to get used to the soup.

While the dragon tinkered senselessly with its head after its meal, Astrid looked through the contents of the room, there was a really large supply of dragon nip in the box, which must have dried for two generations to achieve such an aroma, when she turned around, it appeared that the dragon was stunned by the smell alone, despite several meters of distance, Astrid's smile widened even more, no wonder the night fury was the most important part of pact, this dragon was just so cute!

###

He wobbled for a moment in the air after taking off, he wasn't used to such a small body, it had been centuries since he'd had that size, but he quickly adjusted and headed south, sailing on air currents and occasionally using his wings, his tail fins were in constant motion to compensate for the wind that threw him off his flight path.

The taste of defeat was bitter, although he could console himself with the fact that at least he had avoided the fate of a pampered pet, this consolation was barren in the face of the fact that he had lost to his brother, his rotten inventions would inevitably prevail, and their species would be tarnished forever.

Although he was now flying among the clouds, he was actually in one of the prisons, most likely being pampered by some... Some.... Human, he didn't change his body, it wasn't possible, he simply switched his perception and that of the man, but that was the problem, since he was elsewhere, he couldn't use the power of his mind, and without that, he could do absolutely nothing against this traitor, the best he could hope for was that he wouldn't run into him during his flight and he wouldn't break his connection with this teenage body, condemning him to endure being a pet, which would consequently weaken his willpower and deprive him of the ability to use his mind in any effective way.

Unfortunately, he was always unlucky, one minute he was flying, free and unhindered in a body not his own, and the next he was in prison, immobilized, needing all of three seconds to comprehend what had happened.

The traitor approached him and severed his ties with the former man's body before he knew it,now.... Now....

No... No, no, no, no, no!

The bonds were as tenacious as when he woke up in them, despite his best efforts, he couldn't break free, the willpower he used to punish the man was too much, he was completely powerless, there was nothing he could do anymore.

The human approached him with the cursed herb in his paw that he had tried so hard to destroy every night for the past three hundred years, it was heavily dried, the very smell of it from a few meters away stunned him badly, he tried to run away, but it was useless, he tried to fight back, but only toppled over, and the woman rubbed the herb into his nostrils and all the rest of his gathered willpower evaporated.

###

Hiccup sleepily murmured and woke up, he lazily blinked, his surroundings quickly brought him back to consciousness.

He was in some kind of cave, but it was not the chamber of Berk's charges, he saw a light, not the light of a torch, but the natural light of the moon, so the exit was close.

Hiccup quickly got to his feet, stumbled over and fell to the other side, he growled quietly, this clumsiness was annoying, he got back on his feet and shook his head.

.....Aaand jumped back when it appeared that the scarlet-eyed Night Fury was standing a meter in front of him, watching him in silence.

Hiccup's gaze flickered panickedly, looking for an opening, the dragon leaned to one side to intercept him, and he darted to the other, but was suddenly crushed to the ground, squealing high, frantically scratching the rock beneath him.

A sharp barking sounded, and Hiccup flinched and became motionless, slowly, fearfully looked at the night fury that was leaning over him, driving its scarlet gaze into him, he squealed quietly and trembled, closed his eyes, began to hyperventilate with fear.

He opened his eyes immediately when he felt something clamping down on his neck, it was the dragon lifting him by the neck, Hiccup tried to jerk away but suddenly found that his body did not react properly, it moved in a slow motion, as if it was in deep mud, He quickly came to the conclusion that it was some primal instinct that grabbed him, but unlike many human instincts, he could not control it, his body had completely surrendered, and any attempt to regain control of it was useless, he could only watch what Night Fury was going to do to him.

He started to walk out of the cave and Hiccup calmed down a bit, he clearly didn't intend to kill him, he was technically a teenage Night Fury so he panicked unnecessarily, but when the madness passed he asked himself an important question, how did he get here in the first place.

His musings were interrupted before they could begin in earnest as they left the cave and he experienced sensory overload, countless sounds and smells hit his senses mercilessly, his head spun and his attention was split into countless parts, even with his eyesight something was wrong, he could see much, much farther than he should, dozens of trees away, between tree trunks and plants he saw some kind of fish jumping out of the water on the ocean, he blinked really stunned that he had missed such a drastic change, he quickly attributed it to the bewilderment of everything that had happened and sank into his senses, absorbing and processing insane amounts of information to figure out where he was and what was happening.

It was a small island, smaller than Berk, completely filled with forests and clearings, with a stream flowing out of a small mountain in the middle and turning into a spider web that wrapped around the entire island and irrigated the land, allowing lush vegetation to grow, which fed an astonishingly large number of animals for such a small patch of land, the terrain was somewhat hilly on one side, with numerous ditches and caves, while the other side was flat, sloping gently to the ocean's outer side.

The dragon entered another cave, the ceiling of which was occasionally perforated all the way to the surface, giving the necessary minimum of light to move about, eventually they came to an exceptionally large chamber, large enough for the dragon to fly in, hundreds of feet long and wide, extending at the top into a dome and at the bottom dropping vertically some thirty feet from the path he was now carrying.

The dragon jumped down and set Hiccup down on the ground, then sat up and glared at him, the teenager found this disturbing and squirmed under the scarlet gaze, but the dragon did nothing but that, so Hiccup carefully moved away, walking backwards to keep an eye on the reptile at all times, it didn't react so Hiccup looked around and realized a rather important fact, he had no way out of here, the walls at the edges were too high.
-Do... Do you understand... What are your chances.... For escapee...e?

The dragon's voice was intermittent, uncertain, as if he didn't speak very often, or as if he didn't know his way around the language, Hiccup stood motionless for a moment, then nodded.

-Yes, unless I learn to fly I'm stuck here.

-And... What about...Consequences.....Of.....That?

Hiccup thought for a moment, once again looked around, but there was just naked stone everywhere, he quickly thought what the dragon might have meant.

-If I can't get out of here then.... There is no water here, so.... I will die... F.. Fro.. From thirst?

Hiccup's voice trembled slightly towards the end, and the dragon slowly nodded.

-And Wh... Who can help you?

-Ummm... You?

-Yes, a... What mus... You have to do... So that I... Help you?

-Umm, to obey?

The dragon nodded once more, satisfied with the answer, and Hiccup shifted from foot to foot.

-Now... You have...to.... Learn... I will teach you... You are meant to...pay.....attention.

Hiccup nodded, and the dragon began to speak, the teenager's eyes widened, he completely forgot about the blackmail, by how amazing all this information was.

###

Stoik dully rummaged with his poker in the hearth, with nothing better to do, he was exhausted, so exhausted, he got up before dawn and came back here in the middle of the night, but there was a lot of work to do, there was always work to do, anyway, what else was he supposed to do? He is the chief of a tribe of hooligans living on the island of Berk, a sizable and well-protected city, mostly self-sufficient thanks to extensive fishing and farming, fulfilling an ancestral oath, a pact.

But what he wasn't was a father, he failed, his son's last words haunted him in dreams and on waking, Hiccup didn't trust him, he thought he would do to him what he would do to any dragon, he failed his son so terribly that he thought some old agreement from seven generations ago meant more to him than his own child!

The worst part of it all was that Stoik could not say with certainty what he would have chosen then, when his son became a dragon.

However, he knew what he would choose now, but he didn't have a chance anymore, Hiccup had escaped and would not return.

No longer would he have the chance to apologize to him, to talk to him, to teach him everything he could.

He would be alone forever more.

-Umm, hi dad.

Stoik immediately turned around, with a poker in his hand, on the window sill stood a small dragon, a small Night Fury, Stoik hastily tossed the poker aside and awkwardly stared at the small dragon, Hiccup lowered his gaze.

-Well... You see.... I.... I'm back dad, so.... Umm...

Stoik approached Hiccup slowly, and the little dragon raised his eyes, tilted his head slightly and lifted one ear in what looked like the equivalent of an awkward smile.

-So... Umm...

Hiccup continued to mumble and Stoic stood still for a moment, thinking intensely, and a clear as day course of action arose in his mind.

-Now you fly to the island of the canine and wait for me.

The dragon's pupils narrowed in surprise.

-What... But...

Stoic grabbed Hiccup's head, stopping his chattering and looking him sternly in the eyes.

-I will not allow my son to be treated like a pet, we are leaving, end of discussion.

Hiccup stared at his father in clear shock, his wings drooped inertly at his sides and his jaw slightly unhinged, he said nothing.

-Fly!

Hiccup flinched but did not move.

-You know, there's a pretty good reason why I came back here.

-Hiccup, if anyone sees you I will have to tie you up.

Hiccup shook his head dismissively.

-Nowhere in the pact does it say it has to be in the caves, you might as well keep me with you and escape anyway, but that's not why I'm here.

The Stoic stuck his gaze into his son, expecting him to agree as usual, some sarcastic remark or mumbling, he didn't expect his son to be stubbornly pursuing his goal.

-In a week, the pact will be finalized.

It took the stoic a few seconds to comprehend what Hiccup was saying, his pupils dilated and he gasped, Hiccup shrugged his wings as if it was no big deal.

-I don't know what it will be but.... Well, I thought I would stay with you, you know, like a son with his father, and see it first hand.

Stoic furrowed his brow.

-Are you sure about this?

Hiccup snorted with amusement.

-I couldn't be more sure, the same person who taught me how to be a dragon made a pact with my namesake.

Stoic stared at Hiccup blankly for a moment, then massaged his forehead.

-Go in.

At this one word, the teenage dragon jumped into his home, gracefully landing on the floor, right next to the fireplace, his every move was surprisingly fluid, Stoic blinked surprised that his son had so casually demonstrated his agility, but quickly shook his head and sat down on a stool in front of the fireplace, Hiccup sat at his side, his wing, surprisingly large for its small size, black as the blackest night, stretched out and tightened on Stoic's back, in an embrace that could not be made by the short legs of the teenage night fury, the chief reciprocated the embrace with his arm and both sat by the fire for a while in silence, staring at the dancing flames.

-I'm sorry I panicked so much then, I shouldn't have.

Stoic sighed, interrupting his son.

-No, it's my fault that you didn't trust me, I should have taken more care of you, it's my duty as a father.

-But.

-No buts, it's my fault, I failed you as a father.

Hiccup squatted closer to Stoic and put his head in his lap, still maintaining the grip of his wing on him, the father put his huge hand on the neck of his son, and after a while the dragon began to speak.

-Well... I was not the easiest child....

Stoic had already started to open his mouth, but Hiccup quickly continued.

-Now we can make up for it dad.

Stoic nodded once, relief appeared on his face as he let his emotions show, he smiled, but Hiccup's ears suddenly twitched and his pupils narrowed into pins.

-Someone is coming.

Stoic quickly stood up, picking up Hiccup by the neck and taking him under his arm, then quickly ran up to his room.

-Dad, it's only a week until the pact is finalized, I can take so much.

Stoic did nothing for a moment, then moved his hand to a point on Hiccup's neck, his massive thumb touching a distinctive set of muscles.

-Are you sure?

-Yes.

###

Hiccup blinked and woke up, he tried to get up but couldn't move his paws properly, he glanced down at himself and confirmed he was in a straightjacket.

He wasn't in the antechamber of the caves though, he was still in his house, he was lying on some blankets by the hearth but there was no chain anywhere, clearly Stoik didn't want to treat him like a normal dragon and he was grateful for that.

It seems his father even thought of boredom as there were a few books lying in front of Hiccup, but he didn't think of how he was supposed to flip through the pages being so restricted.

Huh, luckily I have a few aces up my sleeve.

Hiccup tossed the cover with his nose and then concentrated on the page, he demanded the air molecules around him to move accordingly, but that didn't work, he tried harder, putting more willpower into the act and the force that should have flipped dozens of pages, only moved one page.

For a moment he pondered the reason for this, he quickly came to the conclusion that the straitjacket was somehow hindering the use of willpower, it wasn't that surprising, if it weren't for that many dragons would have broken free of these bonds momentarily.

He paused his musings on how the scarlet-eyed dragon had worked out the details of the pact and focused on the book, it was about the Byzantine Empire, Hiccup muttered surprised that the Stoic knew what he was interested in, but soon realised it was the same book he had seen at Fishleg's, so it was probably the one he wanted to pass the time with.

The book was interesting, so interesting that he didn't hear someone approaching until the door creaked, he immediately lifted his gaze from the book, the light from outside blinded him for the slightest moment, he blinked several times to clear his field of vision, it was Stoik.

The chief closed the door and approached Hiccup, then sat down on his blankets and put his hand on his head.

-Are you all right? Maybe you need something?

Hiccup shook his head and shifted clumsily, laying his head in his father's lap, exposing his neck, Stoik hesitantly touched him under the chin but he flinched and took his hand away, Hiccup gave a disgruntled murmur, so Stoik started scratching him, which caused the teenager to purr heavily, after a few moments Stoik interrupted.

-Hiccup, do you want me to for this week you....

Stoik didn't finish, but Hiccup knew perfectly well what he meant, he thought for a moment, after all it was only a week and his father would finally have a chance to show him some affection, albeit in a.... Strange way.

He nodded, a moment later he was probably the most relaxed he had ever been in his life, and that was just the beginning.

The next week passed surprisingly pleasantly, Hiccup had expected being in such a situation to be frustrating and annoying, but thanks to the fact that Stoik left him almost no time alone, he wasn't bored, his father wasn't even in charge, so he probably gave his duties to someone else, devoting all his time to his son.

They didn't talk much, in the end Hiccup couldn't answer, so it would be pointless, Stoik also happened to misinterpret Hiccup's grunts and facial expressions, but that was to be expected given that he was never very observant.

All in all, a week without any worries was quite nice, not counting the fact that he couldn't move too much, but he felt his relationship with his father improving every day, so he considered it a fair trade.

And Diapers.... Don't talk about diapers.

###

Crimson arrived, in the middle of the night, during the new moon, keeping at such a height that the houses were just dots.

The settlement was sizable, in human terms it could be described as a town, on top of that a self-sufficient one, which was truly unprecedented, no doubt there would be no shortage of materials for the rest of the plan....

He focused on everyone in the caves, their weakened minds, so weak, so incapable of self-defense, pathetic.

He grabbed them with all his strength and jerked, he couldn't hear their screams of agony, but he knew they were all dying, except for the two Night Furies.

After a few minutes, he had all the power he needed, gave in to self-reflection for a moment, mused on the importance of what he was going to do now.

And he did.

All over Berk, people who were awake suddenly lost consciousness, and their bodies began to gain mass, elongate, cover themselves with scales, internal organs found their new places, muscles grew and became the bulk of their body mass, wings sprang from their backs, claws sprouted from their paws, teeths from their jaws.

Crimson trembled as the last ounce of willpower left him, and his work was done, he closed his eyes, his heart stopped beating, he let out his last breath, with a self-satisfied smile, his ancient body finally succumbing to the test of time, when the power to defy nature ran out.

He was happy that he had given his race a second chance, he had no doubt that with the help of Hiccup and possibly in the future his brother, they would work things out, and this time, they would be much more united, and therefore also, invincible, not individual families separated by thousands of kilometers, but a united nation.

It has been accomplished.

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PL version https://www.wattpad.com/1289067486-one...