The task of designing a frigate ship was surprisingly easy for Hiccup.
It could be attributed to several things. The first one being that he already had something to work with. Hiccup had reference books about many different ships, including Médée warship.
With his experience in ship building, it was easy to design one.
He did make his own longship, after all.
'That Alatreon owe me a longship.' Hiccup grumbled. 'She was not the best, but she was the only ship I actually own. It took me months to get her right.'
The next part was the cannon. It was easy to design them, since there were plenty of references in his books. In fact, he had a reference of the British 8-inch shell gun and its munition, which came out just a decade ago.
Ironically, the reference was written in French.
All Hiccup did was shrinking the size and adjusting the barrel length. After a successful test fire on the prototype, the next thing they needed was making more of those cannons for the upcoming frigate ships.
'I have a breechloader design for them, but they have no equipment to make those.' Hiccup thought, disappointed. 'Since they wanted them now, they'll have to make do with what I have.'
The ship and cannon designs took a few days to finish. It was the cannon that took most of the time, since Hiccup made a prototype and field tested the design. This did impress the Vikings, who urged Stoick to hasten the fleet modernisation project.
When the ship and cannon designs were finished, Stoick got everyone to work. They had plenty of gold in store, meaning money was not a concern. The village could buy whatever they needed get them done.
Ironically, Gobber was tasked with making more of those cannons. Hiccup made the instructions easy to follow, meaning the blacksmith could employ some Vikings to help. They had made three functioning cannons so far, and more were coming in for them.
It meant the forge was occupied every single day.
Which was why the boy was at the certain forest cove. It was early in the morning. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was busy making prototype of his draconic cannon.
The draconic cannon was at the cove. It was roughly 8 metres in length with about 3 metres width. The bore was about 2.5 metres, which made them incredibly heavy. What made it different than normal cannon were red dragon scales on the barrel.
The design was not conventional. The rear section was slightly bigger and rectangular in shape. It was the breech of the cannon; there was an opening to the rear end of the barrel there. However, there was nothing covering it.
Because of the size, Hiccup wanted to load the cannon from the rear. It was meant to make it easier to load. However, this added complexity in its construction.
'This is not the first time someone made a breech-loader cannon.' Hiccup thought. The boy was sitting on a rock, holding his pencil and sketch book. He was trying to solve calculations relating to the project. 'There were examples of this going back to 15th century. We just don't have the machine to make more of them.'
However, in Hiccup's case, that was not a problem. The sheet of shed dragon scales and Alatreon horn fragment were not something that could easily be obtained. Making them by hand was good enough.
"Hmm..." Hiccup frowned, before putting down his pencil. "Gryphon, could you hand me the red crystal?"
"Okay, dad." He heard familiar female voice in his mind. A massive silver claw dropped a small pink crystal on the book.
Hiccup sighed, before grabbing the crystal. "Gryphon." He started as he turned to face the Valstrax. "This is pink. Not red."
Over the course of a year, Gryphon the Valstrax had grown from roughly Viking size to about few times of that. She grew bigger; Hiccup thought she was bigger than Toothless. The silver scales had darkened and turned dull, which could be attributed to her age.
The red glow on her wing-thrusters had turned completely blue. It happened overtime as she aged. Her eyes had turned forest green. Considering nothing was wrong so far, Hiccup thought it was normal.
The most important change was their connection. It became stronger as time went on. Hiccup could read Gryphon's thoughts anywhere, and she could read his memories. They knew when others were in danger. They could even see through each other's eyes.
Hiccup would definitely bring that up to Alex when he had the time.
"Mrr..." The large Valstrax sniffed the pink crystal. "Looks red to me."
"No, Gryphon. It's pink." Hiccup let out a sigh. He put the book aside and grabbed the pink crystal. "Move over. I'll grab them myself."
"Keh." Gryphon grunted, before moving to show her side. She raised one of her wings, revealing the saddle-tan leather outfit she wore. It was a draconic clothing made from her shed scales; it had plenty of pockets with different sizes.
The boy opened a large pocket, which was filled with many different crystals. Hiccup put the pink crystal inside, before rummaging for the crystal he was looking for. "Maybe... here it is!"
After getting the red crystal, Hiccup went to the cannon. Checking the breech, there was a clear access into the barrel. Typically, a breech block had the door at the rear. This one was at the top and there was no door to close them yet.
"Let's see..." Hiccup leaned to check the barrel. The rear end had purple crystals, which was dimly pulsing. "This goes... here."
The boy placed the greenish crystal shard into a slot at the top.
CLACK!
Hiccup pulled out his hand just when the mechanism moved on its own. "Whoa." He took a few steps back. The breech had suddenly closed itself, as if the barrel moved forward. Looking at the front section, there was an inner barrel sticking out. "That's not supposed to happen."
Gryphon moved to check. "What is?"
"The cannon just changed itself." Hiccup explained the problem. Checking the front, he realised it had gotten two metres longer. "The barrel wall just split in two. It created its own inner barrel."
That concerned the Valstrax. "Did we damage it?"
"No, I think it adapted." Hiccup ran back to the rear. Checking the breech, he noticed discrepancy on inward thickness and the outer barrel. "It made itself a door."
Suddenly, something came out from the side. It was some sort of slide lever with dragon horn as the handle. Hiccup pulled the lever. It did something with resounding click. The inner barrel moved inward as the breech door slid open.
"... oh." The boy breathed out. "I think it worked."
The Valstrax felt relief. However, she sensed something. "Dragon incoming!"
Hiccup turned around to see a certain black dragon landing close to him. Toothless the Night Fury was wary of the silver dragon. Gryphon moved close to the boy in case she tried anything.
The boy brightly smiled at her. "Toothless!"
The black dragoness was happy to see him; Hiccup had become big and large, like most Vikings. However, she did not know who the new dragon was. It was definitely bigger than her. "Kar..."
"Easy, Toothless." Hiccup approached his black dragon friend. "She's a friend."
"Ka!" Suddenly, a smaller Night Fury appeared on top of Toothless' head. Hiccup realised that it was a dragon hatchling. Specifically, a Night Fury hatchling. He had forest green eyes that looked very familiar to him.
"Oh!" Hiccup breathed out. He looked at Toothless. "That's your... hatchling?"
"Mrr..." Toothless was cautious and annoyed. She did not want the Valstrax to know about her hatchlings. It did not matter, anyway, since more of them popped out from her head. One had snow-green eyes, another was smaller than the rest, and they looked incredibly curious.
Hiccup simply stared at them.
For some reason, it reminded him of his family in his dream. Toothless was his mate in his dream, and those were his hatchlings. It brought confusion and fear to him, because it brought up a lot of coincidence he experienced.
The boy blinked. He remembered a bag of fishes he kept for Gryphon. Hiccup wordlessly went to the Valstrax and grabbed a fish bag from the large pocket. He approached the family of Night Furies, before pulling out a fish cod.
While Toothless remained wary, her hatchlings brightened upon seeing it. Hiccup offered them to the large dragon. "Here."
"Hrr..." Toothless carefully approached the boy. She slowly took the fish from him. The hatchlings jumped down and tried to reach for the bag.
"Wait-" Hiccup tried to move away, but he was quickly overwhelmed. They grabbed the bag from him. The hatchlings ate his small fishes, which was meant for his lunch.
Gryphon the Valstrax kept on guard. She kept her focus on the black dragoness, in case she ever became a threat. Toothless was staring back at her. The black dragoness was cautious while she ate; Toothless paid attention in case the Valstrax decided to move against her hatchlings.
Hiccup, however, was confused. The boy sat on the ground, staring at the hatchlings. After they ate the fishes, the hatchlings approached and began sniffing him. The smallest one curled up on his lap, while the rest seemed to have taken interest on his clothing.
"Hey..." Hiccup whispered as he patted the smallest hatchling. He purred at the show of affection from the human. "You're cute, but... you look... familiar."
That phrase attracted the two dragoness' attention. "Hrr?" "Kah?"
The boy looked at Toothless. There were fears in his eyes. "Is this one... Hamish?"
Toothless slumped her wings to the side. Her eyes were wide. She was in complete shock. "Krr?!" That confirmed Hiccup's suspicion.
Hiccup was filled with dread. "And your mate's name is Charcoal?"
Toothless was silent. She slowly nodded, as if trying to process what just happened. Hiccup felt something tugging in his mind; something close, yet so distant. His mind went blank, as if something called for him.
"Dad?" Gryphon tried to communicate. "Are you okay?"
There was no response. The boy carefully stood from the ground and approached the black dragon. The dragoness remained still on his approach.
Hiccup raised his hand, slowly moving closer to her. He touched her snout with his palm.
Then, everything went bright.
"Here ya go."
"Thanks, Gobber."
Gobber the Belch was busy dealing with Vikings at the forge. The man had just finished the first batch of cannons for the first ship. The man was waiting for someone to return.
It was unfortunate that they had to kick Hiccup out from the forge. While it was not exactly what happened, Gobber knew why they did it. Despite his achievements, the village did not trust Hiccup with contraptions.
As such, Hiccup had to work on his project outside the forge. The draconic cannon was an experimental thing. The blacksmith wondered how it went.
Gobber wondered if it was time to check on the boy. The forge should be unoccupied for the next couple of weeks, or at least until they started building the next warship. It was safer to have him work at the forge. He could pull him out when things went awry.
"Gobber?" A Viking called out from outside the forge window. "The docks need more nails."
The blacksmith sharply nodded. "Aye. Give me a minute."
"TELL ME WHAT YOU DID!"
"GET OFF ME!"
Gryphon was pinning Toothless on the ground. The Valstrax was bigger and heavier than the Night Fury, which made it easy to subdue her. The mother dragon was immobilised. Her legs and wings were spread, and Gryphon was standing over her.
Somewhere close was the unconscious form of the certain male Night Fury. The Night Fury hatchlings were there, hiding behind their unconscious father.
It was obvious for everyone that Hiccup was Charcoal, considering his draconic outfit had adapted with his new shape. The purple black outfit covered his legs, along with the start of his tail and wing root. His pockets and pouches were even there, and those were reachable with his forelegs.
Gryphon was still wrestling Toothless on the ground. The Valstrax was angry. "YOU TURNED HIM INTO A DRAGON!"
"I DID NOTHING!" Toothless roared back. Searching for release, she jet-pulsed her wings. The black-scaled dragoness overcharged them to get her off.
That worked. Gryphon was knocked away. Toothless quickly moved away, before turning around to fight the Valstrax. The angry silver dragon turned her wings around, aiming six thrusters at her. The black dragoness widened her eyes when she fired.
BOOM!
Toothless moved just in time as Gryphon fired massive blue projectiles. It exploded where she had been before. The Valstrax was not done yet, however. She angled her wings to the shape of a spear, before dashing to strike the black dragoness.
The black dragoness went on defensive. She had fought Valstrax before; Aymar was one of the dragons who trained her in combat. Toothless dodged the claw strike, reared back from a spear-wing stab, before jumping to dodge a swipe from the other wing.
Toothless angled her wings, before jet-pulsed into the air. Her tail was shimmering purple. The black dragoness angled her tail, before jet-pulsed to flip herself. Gryphon was smacked by the mana-enhanced tail; she grunted as she was knocked backward.
Gryphon retaliated by charging one of her wings. When the black dragoness landed, the Valstrax used the generated thrust to spin herself. Toothless raised her forelegs to grab the spear-wing, pushing her few metres back. Her claws were glowing purple as she stopped the wing from stabbing her.
The Valstrax intensified the thrust. Toothless increased her mana flow to compensate; she was still holding onto that wing. The two female dragons glared as they tried to overpower the other.
Meanwhile, Charcoal was slowly waking up. "Oh, gods..." He mumbled as he clutched his head. "What hit me... wait."
Instead of hands, Hiccup saw claws on his paws. The boy realised that he was actually Charcoal, and his body reflected on that. Memories rushed in from his double life, as if nothing barred him from knowing them anymore.
He looked around to check his body. It was then Hiccup realised the truth.
He was a Night Fury.
"KRAAAAAH!"
Hiccup, also known as Charcoal, turned to see what it was all about. Toothless and Gryphon were in a struggle to overpower each other. The black dragoness managed to push the spear-wing away. Her maw was glowing with plasma as she kept charging her flame.
Just as Toothless let go, she ducked under the stab. Using the momentum, the black dragoness pulled the Valstrax onto her. Gryphon had no time to react when Toothless fired overcharged plasma blast point black at her neck.
BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!
There was a massive explosion. The cove was instantly shrouded in thick smoke. The hatchlings covered themselves as pebbles rained from the sky.
After things finally calmed down, the six Night Fury hatchlings looked up to see.
Both Toothless and Gryphon were frozen in place. The Valstrax eyes were wide; she was frozen in fear. She could feel the sheer power from that blast. It took her a moment to realise that she was still alive.
Toothless had missed. Not because she miscalculated her aim; it was impossible to miss when she was right up on Gryphon's neck.
Charcoal had interfered in the last moment. He pushed her head just enough to miss, which then hit the cove wall.
Which had turned into a large crater.
"Harr..." Charcoal felt relief. He pushed the two female dragons off from each other. "Break it up, you two."
"WHOA!" Helena the hatchling suddenly roared, getting their attention. "That was AWESOME!"
"Dad! Teach me! I want to do that!" Calian exclaimed.
"Dad can turn into human?" Iris questioned. "Can humans fly?"
"Kids, please. Calm down." The father dragon instinctively moved to calm them down. "I don't know what happened. I need to talk to your mom."
"Aww..." The hatchlings whined at that.
"Charcoal..." Toothless started. Her eyes were narrowed. "You're Hiccup this whole time?!"
The male Night Fury reared back under her glare. "Toothless, wait!"
Gryphon snapped out from her shock. She moved between the two adult Night Furies. "Stop."
Toothless did not care. Claw at the ready, the dragoness prepared for another fight. "Move!"
The Valstrax stayed put, but Charcoal pushed her aside. "No, it's fine."
"Dad-"
"Dad?!" The black dragoness roared in shock. "You have a daughter?!"
"I didn't know what happened!"
Toothless was angry. She advanced right on his face. "How the skies you didn't know any of this!" She roared as she pushed his chest, forcing him to sit on the ground. "We were about to move to Hidden World! And you just had to do this... this whole thing?!"
"Toothless, please. Calm down. I'm trying to figure out what happened!"
"Oh, I'm sure." Toothless sounded sarcastic, almost mocking. "Oh hey, Toothless! Remember the ancestral home of dragons? Time to move there! Whoops, apparently, I was a human!"
Charcoal had enough. He stood up and roared at her face. "TOOTHLESS!"
They both fell silent. The mother dragon was glaring at him, while the father dragon was trying to sort what just happened. Gryphon, despite her injuries, was ready to defend her father again. The Night Fury hatchlings were confused and scared; they did not expect their parents to have a fight.
The adult male dragon took a deep breath, before reaching her through their mana circuit bond. "Toothless." He sent his thought. "Can you hear me?"
Toothless seemed to relax. Her anger was replaced with shock. "... it really is you, is it?" She thought back. "What was the last thing you remember?"
Charcoal brought up every single memory that he remembered. The mother dragon was there to watch the process. There were memories of Hiccup the human and Charcoal the dragon together.
Despite inconsistency in context, they were surprisingly chronological in order. They noticed that gaps in missing memories were filled with knowledge. They even found the connection between Charcoal and Gryphon.
Gryphon the Valstrax was also checking their mind. When she hatched a year ago, her mana circuit had bonded itself with Hiccup, forging a permanent connection. Her mind had integrated his knowledge into her own. It was how she knew how to be a dragon.
When she grew older, she realised the knowledge she gained never really existed within Hiccup's mind. Gryphon never really understood why; she thought it was normal. However, now that Hiccup was revealed to be Charcoal the Night Fury, she could finally access that missing part of his mind.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Charcoal and Toothless had gotten their own conclusion. The two adult dragons stared at each other, before uttering the same name. "Furious."
"Hiccup? You're there?"
They almost panicked. Charcoal quickly pushed his hatchlings to the mother dragon. "Time to go, kids." He urged. "Come on. Move it. You too, Gryphon."
The hatchlings quickly obeyed. They flew up and attached themselves at Toothless' head. Gryphon the Valstrax, however, simply glared. "She's not my mom."
"We'll talk about this later. Just go."
The mother dragon was more concerned of Charcoal. "What about you?"
"I don't know. I don't know. I need to be here." Charcoal was panicking. He could hear someone approaching into the cove. "Wait, what if I will myself?"
The father dragon quickly thought about turning back to human. He concentrated on willing them, which his mana circuits somehow accepted. There was a brief glow as Charcoal shrunk down into humanoid. The glow ended within second, and Charcoal had become human.
"Yes." Hiccup excitedly whispered, before realising the situation. "Go. Go."
The adult dragoness narrowed her eyes, before taking off to fly elsewhere, carrying the hatchlings with her. Gryphon the Valstrax was quick to follow.
Right after they disappeared, Gobber arrived from the entrance. He took one look at the giant crater, before shaking his head. "By Thor..." He whispered. "Hiccup, ye alright there, lad?"
Hiccup straightened himself. "I'm fine!" He exclaimed. "I'm here."
The blacksmith approached the boy. "What did I tell ye about test firin' the cannon?" He was stern in his voice. "Do it in open field. One day, yer gonna burn down the forest."
"I- I'm sorry." The boy apologised. "It's been a long day."
"Hmm..." Gobber frowned as he inspected Hiccup. He looked rather pale, as if he had seen a ghost. There were bags under his eyes. "I've seen enough. Yer going back to the forge."
"Wait." Hiccup was confused. "Is it clear?"
"Aye, but ye need a break from this." The blacksmith crossed his arms. He softened his expression. "You got eyebags, Hiccup."
"I did sleep tonight."
"Proper sleep, lad." Gobber corrected himself. "You've been doing six men work with all this. When was the last time ye sleep proper?"
The boy tried to remember. He had been sleeping five hours per day for a while. "About two weeks ago?"
"That's when yer dad gave you the deal." The blacksmith grimaced. He did not like where it was going. "Hiccup, yer finally big and makin' him happy, but that doesn't mean ye have to sacrifice yerself like this."
Hiccup realised what he was talking about. "Gobber, I'm doing this to make up for what I failed." The boy explained, gesturing at the cannon. "It's almost done. If I can get this one, we can mount them on the capital ship."
"What did ye failed?"
"Well, I..." The boy realised he had slipped. "It's between me and my dad."
Gobber frowned at that. "Whatever yer doing, it doesn't matter if ye didn't sleep proper." The blacksmith finally pushed his point. "You're going to hurt yerself. If ye don't take some rest, I'll bring Alex here to yell at ye."
Hiccup slumped his shoulders. "Okay, Gobber." He relented. "I'll take a break."
"Good. Now let's move that back to the forge." Gobber decided as he approached the draconic cannon on the ground. "Thor knows if the village thinks it was a deviant from the explosion..."
"Sorry..."
"There they are ."
Mathew and Avisha were hiding in the forest at an island. They were perched atop of a large tree. The two Light Furies were observing the sky, staring at a flying blue comet.
The yellow-eyed Light Fury frowned. "They are slower than I thought."
"The Valstrax is being escorted by a dragon." Avisha noted, staring at the blue comet. He squinted his eyes. "A Night Fury."
Mathew narrowed his eyes. "Charcoal?"
"No. Female. She looks familiar." The red-eyed Light Fury muttered. Then, his eyes widened. "Toothless?"
The two dragon detectives watched as the blue comet disappeared in the horizon, along with silhouette of a black dragon. They realised that the Valstrax was with the daughter of Wodensfang.
There was a long pause. Mathew exhaled his breath. "They found them first."
"No." Avisha jumped down from the tree. He landed on the ground below. "Valstrax is distrustful by nature. They most likely knew since last year."
The yellow-eyed Light Fury frowned. "Charcoal lied."
"He was genuine." The red-eyed Light Fury glanced around the forest. "Possible False Mind. Charcoal is a ghost. Toothless was said to have a human friend. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Their friendship was kept secret."
"A Haddock Night Fury under False Mind." Mathew jumped down as well. He landed right in front of his partner. "Northern Alliance interference?"
"No. Charcoal appeared five years ago. The deviants appeared 2 years after." Avisha answered. He was deep in thought. "Possible Greater Alpha interference. Furious?"
"The only known dragon that knew Psychic-Force." The yellow-eyed dragon detective nodded, agreeing with the name. He made his own conclusion. "The Valstrax is irrelevant. Hiccup and Charcoal are the same. Charcoal was human when he was in Hidden World."
"Possible deviant activity causing transformation?"
"No signs of mana perversion, unless you don't trust the forensics." Avisha responded. He stared at the forest as he thought for possible cause. He mentally eliminated the possibilities, before coming to a conclusion. "Lycanwing disease."
"Impossible." Mathew rejected that idea. "Last recorded case is over 200 years ago."
"Not impossible. Improbable. There were unrecorded cases in Northern Europe." The red-eyed dragon detective corrected. "Greater Alpha Furious is trying to cover this up."
"Hrr..." The yellow-eyed Light Fury did not like what he was hearing. The missing egg case had become much bigger than expected.
It started a year ago when the ancient egg went missing. Mathew and Avisha were the first detectives assigned to the egg case. When analysis showed that the egg had hatched into Valstrax, other Arbitrators were sent to search for them.
The investigation revealed that someone had brought a human into Caldera. The human had escaped at the back of the Valstrax hatchling. This prompted a wild search for the culprit, since it was obvious that the human was a capture.
While they never found who did it, they discovered a massive human trafficking ring. Those humans were smuggled into Hidden World for deviant dragons. The case was closed after several days of dragon hunt by three arch alpha dragons.
However, that did not explain the Valstrax and the human. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about it. One year after that, Mathew and Avisha searched the surface to know their fate. They wanted to see the conclusion of that missing egg case.
Being hopeful for their fate, they expected to find a young deviant dragon hunter and their dragon partner. The worst case scenario was finding a deviant Valstrax in their search.
They found neither.
They found a conspiracy.
"Hrr..." Mathew hummed as he thought of the next step. "How was he infected with Lycanwing?"
"Through bodily fluid." Avisha answered. "Someone infected him."
"Suspect?"
"Unknown." The red-eyed Light Fury began walking down the forest. "That's what we'll find out."
Later that afternoon, after enduring a mental breakdown and taking an evening sleep, Hiccup snuck out from the village.
The boy was heading to the outskirts of the village. He was carrying his backpack and his long sword on his back. There was also the mechanical sling at one of his gauntlets. Overall, he looked like he was heading for a hunt.
However, that was not the intention. Hiccup was preparing for something. Once he reached the outskirts of the village, the boy concentrated, before focusing himself back as a dragon.
Just like before, his body was enveloped in dim glow. He grew bigger and became quadruped. When it was done, the glow died down. Hiccup was now Charcoal.
The male dragon inspected himself. The mechanical sling, as well as his gauntlets, were gone. At his chest was his backpack, which surprisingly remained regular in size.
Looking at the side, Charcoal was surprised by his long sword. It had grown much bigger and longer, and it was reachable with his maw at his side.
Ignoring that for now, Charcoal carefully took off into a flight. He flew around the mountains to avoid detection. When he felt safe, the black dragon flew upward for some altitude. He adjusted his heading to reach for his nest.
The flight took him half an hour, mostly because he was being careful. Charcoal needed to make sure nobody saw him flying in the sky.
Once he reached his destination, the male black dragon carefully swooped to the nest. He landed right at the edge of the entrance.
He mentally reached Toothless through their mana circuit bond, informing her that he had arrived. Once she confirmed that it was clear, the father dragon entered the private nest. Quietly jumping down the ramp, he landed right next to the ice bonfire. "Toothless. Gryphon."
The Valstrax and the mother dragon were standing at the opposite side. Gryphon was glaring at Toothless. The black-scaled dragoness was glaring at her mate, wanting to curse him for the whole situation.
Toothless never expected him to be masquerading as a human – her Precious Thing, of all things! It unveiled a whole can of worm that she was completely unprepared to face.
Regardless of how much she wanted to deny, the proof was there. While Charcoal was gone, Toothless was verifying his memories through their bond.
Hiccup and Charcoal were the same creature; the human memories were hidden before. She did not know why it decided to implode now.
The moment Charcoal called her name, Toothless used telepathy to request entering his mind. The male dragon allowed her inside, before scrolling through his memories like before. She finally confirmed his identity after checking them five times over.
Hiccup really was Charcoal.
Toothless pulled out of his mind. "... okay." She was confused and exasperated. "Skies above... where do I start..."
"Toothless, I-"
"I know you don't know." The mother dragon interrupted. She was rather distressed. "I'm just... by the moon, stars and everything above..."
Charcoal felt guilt. Internally, he was conflicted. He had been Hiccup the whole time, but something happened that made him Charcoal. He thought they were simply dreams; he never thought they were real. However, the evidence proved otherwise.
Charcoal looked around. "Are the kids asleep?"
"At our room. Yes. Don't make too much noise." Toothless responded, almost whispering. She took a deep breath, before exhaling them. "... why don't you start with the first thing you remember about us?"
"Well..." Charcoal was nervous. "As Hiccup, I've been having dreams of being... mates with you together."
The two female dragons paid attention. Charcoal focused on his mate. "I thought I dreamt of being Charcoal." He confessed. "The dragon that served Dragon Rebellion for 12 years. I met you 4 years ago, and we started courting for 2 years, before becoming mates together."
Toothless simply stared at him. The male dragon continued speaking. "You have a Light Fury friend named Amber. She's the one that discovered the anomaly. That's when we became mates together."
"How can you not realise this?" Toothless softly questioned. She was still angry at the situation. "I... I can't believe I kept you a secret... from yourself. I don't see Hiccup often because I don't want you coming to Berk and meet Hiccup. But... you are Hiccup!"
Charcoal felt guilt. "Sorry."
"No. Don't say sorry. I know who to blame." The dragoness narrowed her eyes. "I checked your memories. Anything past five years is not yours. You never served in Greater Archipelago. That identity is not yours. You never went to deliver message; that was your cover to become human."
It explained why Charcoal never knew about mana and its subtopics. Merciless and his army could've taught him that.
To think – Hiccup was Charcoal! A small and thin human fledgling that could not help himself, was the biggest, strongest, scariest and most handsome Night Fury that she had ever met.
"That explains the lack of memory." Gryphon remarked. Seeing their confusion, she elaborated. "When I was born, my circuits connected with you. Your mind forged me. I have your knowledge."
Charcoal was incredulous. "Is that something specific with Valstrax?"
"I don't know." The Valstrax admitted. "Your mind used your dragon part to forge my mind. I thought it's weird you know how to be a dragon as a human."
"Harr..." The father dragon exhaled his breath. "I guess that's the identity of my young set of mana circuits."
Toothless shook her head. "I can't believe you adopted a dragon as a human."
"Last year, Gryphon carried me off from Caldera when a dragon brought me there." Charcoal explained the context. "I was a human, and that dragon did something to me."
"That dragon..." The dragoness was alarmed. She quickly focused to check his mind. It was not long until she found the relevant memory. Watching them, Toothless felt anger. "That Alatreon. He dared..."
The father dragon was confused. "Toothless, you know something about it?"
"His name is Hubert. He's a mana professor working under my father." The mother dragon explained as she watched the memory."I'd remember that room anywhere. He brought you to Révélation."
"What?" Charcoal was shocked. "But it's easy to get out!"
"It's easy to get out because they moved you when you were asleep. I know caverns in Caldera that look exactly like it." Toothless explained the ploy. "My father ordered his dragons to weaken Furious' influence on you. They said they have your consent, since you asked his envoy for help last year."
That was when the mother dragon remembered something. Aymar the Valstrax had made some vague references to them two years ago. It was also the first time they met him within the region. The dragoness suddenly realised the significance of them.
Aymar told them that Wodensfang knew about them being mates. He told them that her father was disappointed.
Toothless should have known better about her father. He was not one to judge from background. He would never be disappointed about her choice of partner. It meant that he was disappointed about something else.
Two years ago, her father had his army temporarily stationed within the region. They kept whatever they did a secret. Aymar could not say why, but he specifically said that it was for the safety of Toothless and Charcoal.
When it was revealed to be deviant dragon investigation, the male Valstrax insisted on asking her father about it. she never did.
There was also that request when Aymar requested her to teach him Maces and Talons. She never thought much about it; he never followed up on it. She should have realised what he just hinted; Maces and Talons were exclusive to Vikings in Meridian of Misery.
It meant they knew about her friendship with Hiccup this whole time.
Everything suddenly pieced together. The more she remembered, the angrier she got. The dragoness was clenching the ground, creating claw marks that expressed her anger. Toothless bared her teeth as she glared at the ice bonfire. Her wrath was indescribable.
Meanwhile, Charcoal was curious. His mate had just stopped talking. "Toothless?"
"They knew." Toothless whispered. There was restrained anger in her voice. "My father knew this whole time."
That surprised him. "Your father knew?"
"Aymar said... five different clues about this." The mother dragon whispered her voice. She did not want her anger to wake up the hatchlings. "My father is disappointed. Not because I became mates with you, but because I didn't figure this out."
Toothless could not believe she did not find out sooner! Charcoal was a dragon messenger, which meant he would be away from time to time. However, the frequency of his assignment was almost every single day.
The dragoness should have questioned them. She should have looked into his mind while he was away. Instead, she was busy playing with crystals and taking care of her hatchlings. Toothless cursed herself for not speaking up.
'I spent most of my time caring for unruly hatchlings!' Toothless mentally roared. 'Why did I never complain about him not being there?!'
It also made her wonder why the Vikings never discovered this. Did they hate him so much that they did not care if he died? Have Furious done something to make them not notice?
Charcoal pondered that as well. "... some things he said is unusually specific." He realised. "Like Maces and Talons. I didn't even know you know how to play them at the time."
"You taught me Maces and Talons as Hiccup." Toothless whispered once more. She gritted her teeth. "... Next time I see Aymar, I'm going to claw his face. He never got around to learn that from me. He did it just to give a hint."
"Ka..." Gryphon raised her claw. "Who's Aymar?"
"My father's envoy." The black-scaled dragoness responded. "He's a Valstrax."
Charcoal could not hold them anymore. He collapsed right in front of them. "Oh gods." He moaned as he covered his eyes with his claws. Tears began pouring out from his eyes. "It's real. It's all real."
"Dad." The Valstrax crooned as she moved her head under his wings. "I'm here."
Toothless moved and wrapped her wings around him. Anger forgotten, she quickly went to comfort him. "Charcoal, it's okay." The dragoness whispered. She could feel his guilt. "It's not your fault."
"I'm so, so sorry." Charcoal croaked out his voice. "I- I didn't know I was- oh skies above. This is a mess."
"Kaa..." Gryphon crooned once more.
"Hrk." The mother dragon shushed her. "You're not helping."
The father dragon turned to face his mate. "Toothless, I..." He croaked his voice. Acidic eyes met the crying forest green ones. "I don't know how to fix this."
"That's why we talk. We'll figure this out together." Toothless leaned forward. She pressed her snout onto his. "... we'll get through this together."
"Mrr..." The Valstrax pushed herself, wrapping her body under her father's wings. She leaned herself to him. "Daaaad."
"Hrrk!" Charcoal yelped when he felt the weight. He quickly moved away. "Gryphon, don't do that. You're not small anymore."
"I don't like it when you're sad." Gryphon whined a bit. Her green eyes stared at her father. "You've been sad since that Alatreon defeated you."
"I'm just..." Charcoal wiped the tears from his eyes. He dried them with sleeves from his forelegs. "I have a lot to think about."
The two female dragons stared at him. The male dragon shuddered his breath. "... I should've known who I am. What I am." He whispered. "The dreams felt real. Things happening in my dream... happens in real life. I should've known."
"Charcoal, even if you tried, you can't find out." Toothless softly whispered. "Remember Psychic-Force? I think Furious changed your mind. I think he used that power to make us ignorant."
" But what does he want from me? Why me? "
"You're a human hating Night Fury twice the normal size. You commanded an army and brought down the Lava-Lout Island." The mother dragon listed his accomplishment. "You're also the smartest human across all Barbaric Archipelago. That's why Furious wants you."
They fell silent once more. Charcoal clenched his jaw as he thought of a solution. "We need Aymar."
"Wait, no." Toothless tried to stop him.
"Or Amber. Or your father." Charcoal whispered as he stood from the ground. "Furious did this. If he ever found out, he'll wipe our mind."
"I'm a Valstrax too." Gryphon reminded them.
"We need Aymar because he is the envoy of my father-in-law." The male dragon explained. "Arch Alpha Wodensfang knows what to do."
"Charcoal." The mother dragon interrupted once more. This time, she got their attention. "One of my father's dragons took you and brought you to Révélation."
"I- I'll pretend that I never found out." Charcoal decided. "As long we don't act suspicious, we should be fine. Let's stick to our plan for migration."
Toothless finished that sentence. "Then we'll figure everything out in Hidden World."
"Yes. I- we need to change our plan." Charcoal replied as he thought of something. "But not too much. I need to get my things at the village while working for migration plan."
Gryphon had to ask. "Migration to Hidden World?"
"Yes."
"Charcoal, if I remember, our migration plan was to get Aymar move us across the border into Caldera in Greater Archipelago." The mother dragon explained the situation. "The other way is flying north-east through Siberia to China. There's a sealed Hidden World entrance there; it's been sealed since 14th century."
"Wasn't there another one in Arabian Peninsula?"
"That's at the heart of the continent. I'm not crossing Europe with six hatchlings with us." Toothless retorted, before exhaling her breath. "We're not desperate enough to do that."
"But that is an option, right?" Charcoal insisted.
"The entrance in Arabian Peninsula is owned and regulated by the Arch Alpha of the Arab World." The mother dragon explained. "Their relationship with this region is complicated. They are allies, but not friends of my father."
"Then-"
"But that's not the problem." Toothless interrupted. "The problem is crossing Europe. I'm not going through a dangerous continent we know nothing about unless we absolutely have to."
The three dragons fell silent. They did not know any escape solution from the trouble. It was also when they realised that they did not have much choice. They had to think of different solution to the problem.
"... I felt like I should have known." The dragoness was deep in thought. "You always smell like kin to me. Even as a human, you never smelled like one. That's why you're so... intriguing. And your dad..."
Charcoal blinked. "He smells like kin as well?"
"Not completely kin. There's a faint smell on him." The dragoness admitted. "Very distant scent of a kin. He's not completely human."
Hiccup almost laughed. "So, apparently, I'm a dragon my whole life without even knowing it." He was sarcastic. "Furious took advantage of me. And now I learned that my dad might knew something about this."
"You think he knows something?"
"My father, Stoick the Vast, knows about my heritage." The male dragon answered. He looked grim. "The Legend of Haddocks story might be truer than I thought."
"Then we need to know. It might lead us somewhere." Toothless finally decided. She was determined. "What do you know about your father?"
"He approved our friendship." Charcoal was still deep in thought. He mulled his conversations with his father. "It's like he knew what and how Night Furies behave. No one at the village knew what Night Fury is like. It's like..."
"It's like he has a Night Fury as a friend." Toothless finished, realising that as well.
Charcoal and Toothless stared at each other. They were silent for some time, pondering as to what to do next. After some time, the male dragon decided. "I'm going back to the village. I need to get answers. Can you fly me there?"
"Charcoal, you can fly there yourself."
The male dragon suddenly glowed. He shrunk down to bipedal shape. When the light ended, Charcoal had become Hiccup. "In case anyone saw us coming back to Berk. I need someone to fly me there."
Gryphon raised her claw. "I can."
"Okay. Lower your head."
Hiccup moved to mount on her neck. Once he was secured, the female Valstrax jumped up to the top, before flying out from the entrance. They would be heading to Berk to return the boy.
Toothless exhaled her breath. She turned around and went for the stairs. She was heading to hot spring at the basement. After everything happened, the mother dragon needed to relax.
Not long after she disappeared into the basement, the hatchlings came out from their roosts. Reaching the edge of the ramps, they stared at each other. Occasionally, they would look at the entrance, before looking back at each other. It was as if they had silent conversation.
Eventually, Hamish took off into the air. He flew up to the entrance at the top and left the place. The rest of the hatchlings returned to their roost. They would be continuing their sleep.
It was early in the morning at the Isle of Berk. Hiccup was sleeping on his bed. He had gone straight to bed after Gryphon brought him back home. He would have to talk to his father tomorrow. In this case, it was today.
The boy opened his eyes. He slowly sat up on his bed. The boy felt refreshed from the sleep, but the experience yesterday was traumatising. It explained the holes in his memories; things he thought he did, but having no memories of them.
However, it gave him more questions than answers. There were Vikings reaffirming things he thought he did. It was possible that there was something more with his bouts of amnesia.
There could be some form of sleepwalking involved.
'How else did I transition between my double life?' Hiccup thought as he pushed his blankets away. 'It's possible that Furious did something. The mutations most likely reversed them.'
Standing up from his bed, the boy approached the mirror on his wardrobe. The draconic outfit was decaying. The dragon leather had signs of cracks. Because of its construction, the whole suit had to be replaced.
That was not supposed to happen; draconic things were indestructible.
And yet, his outfit was decaying at extremely slow rate.
'I need to find out why.' Hiccup thought as he opened his wardrobe. He began searching for something that could fit him. '... no, not that one... maybe this one?'
The boy changed his draconic outfit with the normal one. It took him some time to search for the right fit. In the end, he wore a grey shirt, pants and shoes. The dark purple clothings were left at the table. Hiccup could not help but stare at himself in the mirror.
He was just as tall as his father; he remembered him standing there all those years before. That was saying something, because that man was about 6'9" feet tall. Most people did not get that tall. Vikings typically reach five-foot and ten-inches at best.
At least the streaks of scales were gone. Hiccup did not see any when he changed his outfit.
However, that was the least of his concern.
His physique made him look like a man instead of a 15-year-old boy. He looked like a towering juggernaut made flesh and skin. He had seen something similar from drawings of ancient Greek sculpture, but he was much bigger and bulkier than that.
This could be something exclusive to him.
'It might be the side effect from the Elixir of Power.' Hiccup thought, staring at his own reflection in the mirror. 'Or several things that caused this effect.'
Regardless, he needed to get his draconic outfit checked and fixed. He moved to grab the draconic outfit at the bed, only to pause when he heard something. It sounded like snoring. Hiccup looked around to see who it was.
At the corner was the alchemy table. There were no more fluids there, as he had cleaned them up few weeks ago. There were glass beakers and all sorts of fragile things there. Under the table was an inconspicuous medium-sized locked wooden chest.
Hiccup pulled out the key from the draconic outfit and used it to open the chest. There were vials of pitch-black liquid inside, as well as some seemingly random things, such as black dragon scales.
Those were Elixir of Power, as well as his alchemical ingredient stash. Seeing that was safe, he closed and locked the chest. Hiccup focused on pulling the key into his storage mana; the key disappeared in blue flame.
'I can use dragon abilities in this form.' Hiccup thought as he stared at his hand. 'That's useful. I wonder if it works for every spells.'
The boy moved to check the giant book crate. It was open and there were scrolls hanging there. Books were strewn all over the wooden stairs of the crate. The snoring sound was more audible when Hiccup approached the chest.
Curious, Hiccup went to check what it was. He climbed a bit to check inside.
Hamish the Night Fury hatchling was sleeping inside the chest. Given all the open books and scrolls, he most likely spent the whole night reading the content. He was laying atop of a large scroll, which had some things written in Chinese.
Realising this, Hiccup reached for his mana circuit bond with his mate."Toothless?"
It took some time for her to respond. "Charcoal?"
"Did you checked the kids before going to sleep?" Charcoal questioned.
There was no response. The boy moved to grab the sleeping hatchling. He carefully lifted Hamish from underbelly, before pulling him out from the chest. Hiccup placed the hatchling on his bed. Then, he began scratching his neck.
"Hrr..." Hamish purred at the comfort. He let out a wide yawn as he slowly woke up from his sleep. When Hiccup stopped scratching, the hatchling whined, before opening his eyes to see what it was.
Hiccup simply glared at the hatchling. Hamish the Night Fury hatchling seemed to shrunk under his glare. The small hatchling reluctantly gave his father a toothless smile. "Hi dad."
"Hamish." The boy started. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to see where dad goes." The hatchling admitted. "I want to help."
"CHARCOAL!" Toothless panicked in his mind. "HAMISH IS GONE!"
"I know." Hiccup tiredly responded. He stared down at the hatchling, who stared back with expectant look. "He's here with me."
The boy reached for his wardrobe to grab the largest backpack he had in his wardrobe. Pulling them out, he measured that it was enough for Hamish. It should be fine as long did not move too much. He needed to get him out from the village.
Hiccup opened the large backpack. He dumped the draconic outfit inside. There was still a lot of room there. "Alright. You want to help?" Hiccup showed the opening. "Get in, stay still and be quiet."
Hamish did as he was told. The hatchling quickly moved into the backpack. After that, Hiccup closed them shut and wore them at his back. He grabbed his sword and strapped them on his hips.
When that was done, he carefully moved downstairs and reached for the entrance door. When he opened them, however, Hiccup found his father standing there.
Stoick the Vast looked like he was about to open the door. He was surprised seeing Hiccup standing there, wearing usual clothing and not draconic ones. "Hiccup." He remarked. "You're early."
"I am. You're early too." The boy moved aside, allowing him to enter. He soothed himself to be patient; it will not do to make him curious. "I was about to go to the forge."
The chief moved to enter the house. "You're not wearing your dragon outfit." Stoick commented. He noted that Hiccup was much bigger than he thought. "What happened?"
"The leather's cracking." Hiccup expressed his annoyance. "It could be from my fight with the Alatreon."
Stoick moved to grab an axe from the wall. "I thought draconic weapons and outfits are impossible to destroy."
"Apparently not. The Alatreon ruined my draconic things." The boy explained his theory. "I want to find out why."
"Gobber told me about your draconic cannon." The chief responded, before heading out from the door. "Get them done fast. We might need them soon."
That concerned Hiccup. "Did you expect another deviant dragon attack?"
"We'll need the forge for the warships soon!" Stoick called out. He was rushing out to the woods. "Get your project done before next week!"
After his father disappeared, Hiccup let out a sigh. The ruined draconic outfit was detrimental for him. He needed to figure that out before anything else, mostly because he did not trust his body not to rip his normal clothings.
He was starting to sound like an exhibitionist.
'I hate my life.' Hiccup thought, before mentally connected his mind with his Valstrax daughter. "Gryphon, are you at Berk?"
"Above and unseen." The Valstrax responded. "Your mate woke me up. She entered my mind."
Hiccup did not want to deal with that yet. "Can you check if there's Vikings in the forest?"
There was a pause. The boy silently hoped for an empty forest. Then, Gryphon gave her response. "It's full of Vikings. They're cutting down trees."
Hiccup held back a groan. The boy moved out and closed the door behind him. Being mindful of dragon hatchling in his oversized backpack, the boy began walking down the village.
Hiccup arrived at the forge. He entered through the back door. The place was still closed, and Gobber was nowhere to be found. That was expected, since it was still early in the morning. The boy moved through the garage section of the forge.
The draconic cannon was there, mounted on some sort of metal platform with a chair. The platform looked to be made of metal, but there was some bits of crystals and dragon scales. At the chair was a lever and two hand wheels, both of which were made of metal.
Noting its existence, Hiccup moved to his personal room at the back. It was a small, simple room; there was a bed and a table full of his sketches, books and other assortment of things. He placed his oversized bag on the bed, allowing the hatchlings to come out.
"Okay, Hamish." Hiccup addressed the hatchling in front of him. "I want you to stay here and don't come out from this room."
Hamish was curious. "What's outside the room?"
"There are Vikings outside." The boy explained to his hatchling. "Vikings are humans. They don't like dragons. They are dangerous to you."
"Harr..." Hamish nodded in understanding. There were dangers outside, which was why he had to stay inside.
Eventually, the boy left the room, before closing the door behind him. He exhaled his breath as he thought of the solution. Reaching through his circuit bond, Hiccup connected to his mate. "Toothless, are you there?"
"I'm close. The forest is full of Vikings." Toothless responded. "Do you have a plan to get him out?"
"We need to wait them out. The Vikings are there to cut down trees." Hiccup replied. "They usually disperse at lunch time. Gryphon should keep an eye on them."
"Be careful, Charcoal."
The boy exhaled his breath. Looking at the draconic cannon, he noticed two large metal canisters resting at the table not far from them.
It was the size of his chest, and they seemed to fit into the breech hole of the cannon. The top had a large crystal on them; two sides had crystal-like glasses to peer inside. There was green glowing liquid inside of them.
Hiccup recognised them as energy- raw mana, now he called them.
Given that he was now aware of what was going on, it meant that everything he knew about mana could be applied to dragonsmithing. Everything suddenly made sense.
The Alatreon horn was the organ that allowed the dragon to manipulate all elements. The dragon itself had one element and plenty of mana. That element was the dark lightning; naming them after dragon seal, he called it dragon element.
'It explains how all this works.' Hiccup thought as he walked to the wooden cupboard. 'The cannon is replicating Alatreon's ability to use raw mana as propellant.'
Opening the cupboard, the boy saw the broom and the mop. Hiccup noted some pebbles and tiny metal leftovers at the bottom of the cupboard. 'And someone doesn't know how to clean the forge.'
It was then he noticed something amongst the debris. Picking it up, Hiccup wiped the dirt, before inspecting it. The thing was a tiny piece of the Alatreon horn. 'Must've been chipped off when I was cutting the fragment.'
Suddenly, the boy sensed someone coming in through the back door. Gobber had just arrived at the place. The blacksmith grabbed the apron from the side. It was then he noticed that Hiccup was there. "Hiccup."
"Gobber." The boy greeted back. He pocketed the piece and closed the cupboard. "How was the cannon?"
"The got the first ship done. Cannons and all. They're working on the second ship." The blacksmith answered. He paused as he focused on the boy. "You did get enough sleep, did ye?"
"I did. I slept more last night." Hiccup nodded, before moving to check on the draconic cannon. "The draconic cannon is almost done. I just need to figure out the projectile."
"Ehh..." Gobber scratched his head. He barely knew anything about cannons. "I'm sure ye'll figure it out."
Hiccup and Gobber moved to work on the forge. The boy moved to turn on the furnace. He stacked some firewood into the firebox. Gobber was preparing the casts for their work. It was time for them to make nails, since the village was currently low on them.
Hiccup grabbed the fire starter. It was flint and steel. While working to start the fire in the firebox, the boy could not stop his curiosity. "Hey, Gobber."
"Aye?"
"I just want to know..." Hiccup started. He whipped the steel with the flint, creating a large spark down into the firebox. "Have there ever been any story about humans turning into dragon?"
Gobber stroked his beard. "Why do ye want to know about that, lad?"
The boy shrugged. "Just curious."
"Hmm..." The blacksmith frowned. He scratched his head. "There is one story that I know."
Hiccup paused. He moved to pay more attention to the blacksmith. "What is it?"
"Lycanwing." Gobber told the story. "The Lycanwing dragon is a rare beast, and a vicious one at that. Those who survive its bite are not actually survivors at all. They are doomed to a life as half-man, half-Lycanwing."
The boy listened. The blacksmith continued telling the story. "At the height of every full moon, the condemned Viking transforms into terrifying dragon!" He flailed his arms around. "Wings the size of a house. Teeth stronger than iron! And a thirst... for blood."
Hiccup was confused. "Okay." He started. "Have you ever seen a Lycanwing?"
"No one at Berk ever seen one." Gobber ominously spoke to him. "But the stories... oooh! They'll straightened the hair on a curly-haired yak!"
The boy whipped the steel with the flint. A large spark went into the firebox. This time, it started the fire. The firewood inside began to burn and heat up the furnace on top of it. When that was done, Hiccup placed the fire starter away. "What's the story?"
Gobber moved to grab iron ingots from the crate next to him. "His name was Kessler." He spoke as he dumped the ingots into the furnace. "Weird kid. Bright red hair, eyes as black as night! Naughty as a Nadder in a chicken coop."
Hiccup paid attention to his story telling. Gobber turned around as he began pacing around the place. "One night, little Kessler, against his parents' wishes, went exploring into the forest." He told the story as he opened the forge window, revealing empty street outside. "Days went by, no sign of him. Only a faraway scream, coming from the woods. The little bugger never returned."
Suddenly, Gobber turned around and let out a scream. "AHHH!"
Hiccup jumped back, not expecting the scream. "By the gods, Gobber!"
Gobber ignored his comment. "Or did he?!" He raised his voice. The blacksmith sounded ominous. "Every year from then on, when little Kessler's birthday rolled around, a red black-eyed dragon would fly over his parents' house and pluck one of their sheep right out of the paddock!"
Hiccup calmed himself down. The blacksmith continued telling the story. "The dragon would look back, taunting them." He ominously finished. "Be careful wandering at the woods, lad. Because there could be Lycanwing there. He-he-he."
"What's the symptom of Lycanwing disease?" Hiccup questioned.
Gobber stroked his beard. "There are several." He answered. "First off, you'd be looking at sensitivity to light."
Hiccup blinked. He did notice that his eyesight was much better than normal when waking up. He was so used with Night Fury's sharp eyesight; he forgot it was not normal for human eyes to be that sharp. That accounted for sensitivity to light.
Then again, he could already see in the dark since last year.
"Then..." The blacksmith hummed. "Unquenchable thirst..."
Hiccup was not feeling thirsty.
"Fidgety arms." Gobber listed. "On the account of the wings starting to sprout."
Hiccup noticed that he felt like he wanted to fly. He felt like moving his wings. However, he felt like moving a limb that was never there instead of flapping his arms around.
There might be inaccuracy on the story, considering Gobber most likely got them second-hand.
"And finally..." Gobber finished. "The overwhelming desire to eat fresh fish."
Hiccup did want to eat fish. However, it was a type of food that he particularly enjoyed. Cooked or not, fish always smelled nice for him, even before he started transforming into Charcoal. That was one of the irregularities that he did not understand. Until now.
"BUUUT! That's just a story." The blacksmith shrugged. "Better work on nails now, lad. Before others on the docks came in."
"Okay. Thanks, Gobber." Hiccup spoke as he focused on the furnace.
"No problem lad." Gobber replied, before moving to the forge window. He suddenly remembered something. "I'm off to the docks. Just put the nails on that box when you're done."
"When will you be back?"
The blacksmith stopped at the doorway. "Afternoon, if we're lucky. 'need to fix their winches. Ye can use the forge." With that said, he walked out from the place, leaving Hiccup alone at the forge.
After Gobber left, Hiccup looked down at the furnace. The iron ingots were still in process of melting. He decided to wait until the ingots were fully melted.
While waiting, he prepared the casts. It was a metal plate full of sand. He carved the sand to form nails. After that was done, the boy moved them closer to the furnace.
Hiccup exhaled his breath; he pondered about his dilemma. Lycanwing sounded like an anomaly. The boy stood from the ground, before carefully moving to the back. He entered his personal room, before closing the door behind him.
Hamish the Night Fury hatchling was resting at the bed. Hiccup carefully moved him aside, before grabbing a book from the table. It was the 'A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons' book. The boy opened and flipped through the pages. "Let's see..."
The hatchling quickly moved to check. Flipping the pages, Hiccup was thankful that it was sorted in alphabetical order. After searching the entry between pages, the boy finally found them.
Lycanwing
Class: Depends
Description: Depends
Behaviour: Unknown, sentient
Lycanwing is not a dragon. It is a contagious mana-affecting disease capable of spreading through bodily fluids, such as bites. This entry describes the result of that disease. When a human is afflicted, they would turn into dragon once a month every night. This disease is not known to affect dragons.
It is unknown whether this disease still exists or not. There is no recorded patient at the time of this writing. However, there were few recorded cases of Lycanwing sightings and attacks.
Hiccup flipped the page to read more information. There were drawings of Lycanwing transformation from human to dragon. The process looked rather painful, and the text describing them did not help either.
The boy noted the skeleton shapes of dead Lycanwings. It went on detail on how to identify a dead one.
"Well Hamish..." The boy muttered. "Looks like we found out."
Hamish was curious. "Mana-affecting disease?" He questioned. "What's that?"
"It's a kind of sickness." Hiccup flipped the page to find possible cure recipe. However, it only led him to the next entry. Flipping it back, he exhaled his breath. "No cure... but they look alchemical in nature."
"Alchemy?" Hamish was excited. The hatchling flew to grab another book from the table, before dropping them on Hiccup's lap. "I found the book!"
It was Hiccup's journal on alchemy. The boy simply patted his hatchling. "Thank you for bringing them, Hamish."
"Hrr..." The hatchling looked pleased with himself.
Hiccup exhaled his breath. The lunch time was nearing. He needed to figure out what happened with himself, as well as prepare for long travel to Hidden World. The boy preferred to know what happened before they went for escape.
Before that, however, he needed to check on his draconic outfit. Hiccup closed the book and placed it aside. Standing up, the boy pulled out the decaying draconic outfit from his backpack, before heading out from the room.
It took Hiccup five minutes to understand what was wrong with his outfit.
The dragon element was capable of neutralising draconic weapons, including armours and outfits. It was best described as some sort of anti-mana energy capable of destroying anything with mana. At least, that was what Hiccup found out when he compared them with his Brimstone sword.
However, that was not the annoying part. The anti-mana energy was mana in on itself. It could latch on draconic things and dragon alike. When enough energy accumulated within a dragon, they would lose the ability to use fire and cast spells.
It was here where Hiccup learned how it actually worked.
The anti-mana energy was corrosive. It disrupted all sorts of thing within dragon and draconic things; it could even corrode or destroy crystal mana inside their mana pool.
The mana circuits within a dragon would naturally break down the hostile mana, rendering them neutral overtime.
However, the same could not be said for draconic weapons and armour.
Because they had no way to cleanse itself, the corrosive mana stayed there. It caused gradual deterioration to the materials, slowly breaking them down into soot and dust. While there were spells to cleanse them, there was a point where it was too late to save.
That was what happened to his dragon leather outfit.
'Hiccup the Second called them rusting.' Hiccup thought. 'He theorised that it was similar to Changewing acid, in which they can dissolve solid materials. I think that theory is wrong. For one, the anti-mana energy is mana in on itself.'
"Dad? Are we there yet?"
Hiccup was at the forest. The boy was pulling a small cart through the forest. There were books and alchemical things there, as well as the oversized backpack where his hatchling resided. Hamish was peeking through the open backpack.
"We're close." Hiccup answered as he looked ahead.
The cove entrance was there. He carefully descended the cart through the rocks, before finally reaching the place. The cove was bright; everything looked to be in place. However, Hamish felt nervous when they entered the place.
Toothless was standing there, along with Hamish's siblings. The mother dragon looked annoyed and relieved at the sight of them. That was to be expected, since Hamish had snuck out from the nest.
Hiccup parked the cart at the corner. After securing the cart, he further opened his bag and moved Hamish out from there. The hatchling jumped out from the bag, only to face the angry expression of his mother.
Hamish turned to his father for protection. However, Hiccup pulled his clothes into his storage mana, before transforming into his dragon form. Charcoal also looked very angry.
The adult male dragon took a deep breath. He tempered his emotion. "... Hamish."
The runt hatchling timidly moved forward. "Y- Yes?"
"Remember what I told you and your siblings about flying out from the nest without us?" Charcoal questioned.
Hamish folded his ears as he faltered. "... you told us not to."
"Yes." The father dragon nodded. "And do you know why?"
"Outside is dangerous because we don't know much yet." The small hatchling answered the question.
"Then why did you do it?"
Hamish was nervous. He knew it was a mistake on his part, but he really wanted to help. It was Helena that came forward and defended her sibling. "Hamish wants to help!" She barked, before faltering a bit. "Dad is sad. We don't want dad to be sad."
The hatchlings nodded in agreement. They moved to crowd around Hamish, taking the side of their smallest sibling. Charcoal softened his expression. "Hamish." He started as he stared at the runt hatchling. "Most of the time, it's best to ask if others want help first. This goes for all of you."
There was a pause. The hatchlings remained defiant. The father dragon continued speaking. "I know what to do. I can do things myself." He explained, before gesturing at Toothless. "But your mother... she needs you. Do you know how much she's worried?"
That made the hatchlings falter. Charcoal exhaled his breath. "Hamish, you are grounded. No flying for a week." He decided. "Your mother will carry you."
The runt hatchling whined. "Aww..."
Once that was done, Charcoal mentally summoned Gryphon the Valstrax. It was time for proper introduction. Not long after that, a blue comet approached from the sky, revealing the silver dragon in its glory.
Gryphon hovered for a moment, before landing next to her father. She was wary of the mother dragon and her hatchlings. Considering what Toothless did, that was to be expected.
Charcoal moved away to introduce her. "Toothless, this is Gryphon. She is our daughter." He began. "Gryphon, this is Toothless. My mate and your mother."
Gryphon was stubborn. "She's not my mom."
"And you're adopted." The father dragon replied without missing a beat. "She's my mate. That means she's your mother."
The Valstrax laid herself down on the ground. She glared at Charcoal without responding. The father dragon sighted, before continuing on introduction. "Gryphon, this is Calian, Winter, Hamish, Helena, Amelia and Iris. These are my hatchlings; your siblings."
The Night Fury hatchlings approached the Valstrax. Charcoal continued speaking. "Calian, Winter, Hamish, Helena, Amelia, Iris, this is Gryphon." He introduced. "She's a Valstrax. She's your... big youngest sister."
"I have another sister." Hamish whispered, before approaching the Valstrax. The hatchling was just a fraction of a size compared to the silver dragoness. "I'm Hamish."
Gryphon was hesitant. She softened her expression as she leaned her head forward. "I'm Gryphon."
The other hatchlings went to check the Valstrax. They were fascinated to see their latest addition to the family. "Hraa..." Calian was staring at the thruster wings. "How do you fly?"
Winter had climbed up the Valstrax. "Look!" He perched himself atop the silver dragon. "It's winter up here!"
Helena and Amelia had jumped into one of the many pockets of Gryphon's armour. The two hatchlings poked their head; Amelia had a small green- Nature Shard in her maw. Amelia was holding up another. "So many crystals!"
The Valstrax remained still. She was unsure what to do in that situation. Charcoal gave her a wry smile. "That's my hatchlings. Your siblings." He softly spoke. "Take care of them."
Gryphon did not respond, but she relaxed her stance. Charcoal took that as confirmation. Moving on to the next thing, he walked to the tallest wall at the cove.
He needed to make an open cavern for his alchemical experiment. Inhaling his breath, he let out stream of blue flames onto the rocks. They quickly melted down and began forming a hole.
The dragons watched as Charcoal created a large open cavern with his flame. After he thought it was enough, the adult male dragon walked out from the freshly burned hole. "Alright. That's that."
The mother dragon approached to see his work. "Did you find anything back at the village?"
"I did." Charcoal nodded, before reaching their circuit connection. He showed the relevant memories to her mind. "Lycanwing. That's the closest thing."
Toothless processed them within seconds. "... it is possible." She responded as she finished processing them. "Have you ever bitten by a dragon before?"
"Once." Charcoal replied as he inspected the new cavern. It was still hot, meaning he needed to wait. "Remember the second time we met? My dad and I were ambushed by Monstrous Nightmares. That one dragon maimed me."
That was when the father dragon realised something. "Come to think of it. That's when I started having dreams." He turned to face his mate. "That's when I became Charcoal for the first time."
"That's five years ago." Toothless deduced. She looked deep in thought. "So, you're a Night Fury Lycanwing for five years. That's one question answered. But that still doesn't answer something..."
"What is it?"
"... we first met before the attack." Toothless answered. "You smell like a dragon before that. There's also the fact that I met you more than once in a month."
Charcoal exhaled his breath as he willed himself to transform. His body glowed and shrunk, before finally turning back to Hiccup. At the same time, he pulled out his clothings from storage mana. He was thankful that it appeared worn on his body.
Hiccup sighed as he remembered what Toothless pointed out. "I could have been a dragon my whole life as a human. And I didn't know."
"Like Hiccup the First." Toothless whispered. "It could be that the Lycanwing revealed your true nature as a dragon. Did you ask your father about it?"
"No. Not yet. He's busy with something else." Hiccup replied as he rummaged around the cart. "I still don't understand how we even find out, or how I can understand you now instead of before. Was it because of the bond?"
The mother dragon paused for a moment. "... I think it's because of mutation."
The boy paused. "Did we mutate?"
"Yes. Professor Hubert triggered several controlled major mutations in your body." Toothless explained what she knew. "I don't know enough to know what he did. We can only trust what you hear when he said it."
"What changed with us now?"
The black-scaled dragoness frowned at that. She tried to remember. "Manipulating element feels a lot easier." She admitted. "I couldn't find anything other than that."
Hiccup frowned as well. He suspected it was exclusive for him. "Try willing yourself to transform."
The mother dragon did as she was told. She shimmered for a moment, but nothing else happened. Toothless stopped concentrating once they realised that. "It tingles." She described. "It... feels like something is missing."
"Just as I thought. I still have Lycanwing." Hiccup summarised, pulling out the certain book from the cart. "It doesn't work on you because you don't have them. Lycanwing disease doesn't affect dragons. The latest mutation changed something in me, and that allowed me to remember."
Toothless leaned to see what he was reading. She was surprised to read the title. "You have Hiccup the Second's book?"
"Yeah. I got them last year." The boy nodded, before noticing her expression. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing. It's just..." The mother dragon paused to summarise her thoughts. "Anything made by dragons of legend are incredibly valuable. Some arch alphas are willing to invade others for them, especially knowledge, like books."
"Then we'll be keeping this a secret." Hiccup decided, before opening the book. He had the 'Lycanwing' entry bookmarked with a piece of paper. "Now, according to the book, Lycanwing is a Mana-affecting disease."
Toothless faltered upon hearing that. "There's no cure, then."
"But it also said that they spread through bodily fluid, like bites." The boy continued speaking, pointing at the text. "My theory is that the disease doesn't affect mana. It just affects the body; their mana could be unchanged."
"So, you're saying there might be a cure." The mother dragon looked hopeful.
"Theoretically, it's possible to cure them through alchemy." Hiccup further explained. "The problem is understanding how they actually work. I need to study the remains of a Lycanwing."
"I still remember where I killed the Lycanwings." Toothless perked up. "We can go there to check."
However, the boy was not sure. "Five year is a long time, but..." He pondered that idea. "Can you do the search with Gryphon? I'll bring some fish for the trouble."
The mother dragon was hesitant. "Charcoal, I'm not sure if I can work with Gryphon."
Hiccup glanced at where the Valstrax was. Gryphon was still at the centre of the cove. Her claws and wings were moving a bit; she was playing with the Night Fury hatchlings. "She's still a hatchling."
"But I wasn't there for the first year of her life."
"She's still young, Toothless. You just need to be patient." The boy sighed as he turned to face the mother dragon. "Think of her as a fledgling we just adopted. She likes me and follows me around, but she had some work to do with you. She can't fly as fast as Aymar. She couldn't break the sound barrier yet."
Toothless frowned at that. "That's not what I'm worried about."
"What are you worried about?"
"I don't know how to describe this..." The black-scaled dragoness looked thoughtful. "Seeing Gryphon felt like looking at a mirror. It's like if I was a Valstrax instead of Night Fury at the age of 10."
Hiccup paused at that. "... I think her mind did process yours and took your personality." He guessed. "Everything about Valstrax is unknown, so we don't know how they grow up."
"I know that Valstrax usually spend their whole life in the sky." Toothless explained what she knew. "It's an evolutionary thing. The hatchling immediately knew how to fly."
The boy raised his brows. "You said Valstrax is one of his kind."
"He is, but Aymar told me how he grew up." The dragoness elaborated. "Valstrax hatchlings are born with knowledge to fly. Adult Valstrax would spend weeks flying extremely high in the sky without landing. Their instincts kept them in the air, even when unconscious. It's not uncommon for hatchlings to get lost, starve and die in the sky."
Hiccup understood what she meant. "That's why he's one of his kind." He realised. "He might also be the last of his kind."
"Yes." Toothless nodded. "He told me himself."
"Well..." The boy did not know what to say. "I'm sure you can figure it out. Gryphon seems to like the hatchlings."
"Charcoal-"
Hiccup raised his hand. "I'm not asking you to force it. I'm asking you to try." He interrupted. "Right now, I need to set up my alchemy laboratory here to work with my problem. I need you to do your part."
"Harr..." The mother dragon was exasperated. "Fine. I'll search for the Lycanwing corpses tomorrow."
"Thank you. That's all I asked for." The boy expressed his gratitude. "If everything goes well, we can figure out how to migrate without getting captured."
"We can probably outfly them." Toothless responded begrudgingly. "Gryphon is big enough to carry... her siblings to safety."
"That's the spirit!" Hiccup chirped, before patting her head. "I'm proud of you for trying, Toothless."
"Harr..."
"Now, I'm going to need something from you." The boy began, getting his attention. "I need moults to forge a new draconic suit."
Toothless looked flattered. "You want my shed scales."
"Yours, mine and Gryphon." Hiccup clarified. "My old one was ruined after the fight with Alatreon- I mean, Hubert. I was struck with anti-mana energy that corroded my draconic stuff."
There was a long pause. The dragoness blinked at what was said. "... you mean dracophage mana?"
"Dracophage mana?"
"It's a term we use for mana that corrodes other mana." Toothless answered. She was concerned by his discovery. "You wouldn't find anything like that, unless you're in Hidden World arch alpha military."
That made Hiccup curious. "How much do you know about it?"
"Not much. It's extremely effective against deviant dragons." The mother dragon explained what she knew. "You can infuse your spells with dracophage by adding Manaberry and Acid Pea into the spell component. It's also the core component for anti-mana field spell."
"... I don't know any of those things." The boy admitted. "Are those only found in Hidden World?"
"Yes. It's common in some places, but you wouldn't find them both at the same place." Toothless answered. "The plants aren't regulated, but the spells are forbidden outside of war."
"Do you know how to protect against that?"
"Zinc naturally neutralise dracophage." The mother dragon answered from what she knew. "Soldiers would coat their crystals with it to prevent their effect."
"Right. I'll keep that in mind." Hiccup mused at the solution. He had some zinc metal in his stash; it was a gift from Alex after finishing his lessons on meditation. "Thanks, Toothless."
"Happy to help!"
"Guys, guys."
Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs were at the back of the Mead Hall. It was their usual routine to loiter around the kitchen area. There were two other teenagers approaching them. Those were Tuffnut and Ruffnut. They seemed a bit in a hurry.
"What is it?" Snotlout eagerly asked. "Is it done?"
"Almost done." Ruffnut smirked at them. "This is our chance."
"Let's break them at next dragon raid." Astrid suggested. She placed her hand on the axe at her hips. "They wouldn't know who break them when dragons are everywhere."
"Yeah! I'm sure you know everything, love." Snotlout smirked at her. The petite girl simply scowled at him.
"Wait, how can you know the next dragon raid?" Fishlegs nervously asked, curious.
"Just a feeling. They always attack in the middle of the month." Astrid nonchalantly explained. "For all they know, dragons are the ones who broke them."
"Well, you're the boss." Ruffnut shrugged his shoulders.