//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Fresh New Faces 
// Story: Crossing the Divide 
// by RF and AG 
//------------------------------//

	The wind whipped past my helmeted face, just like every other day since Toothless and I had become dragon and rider, respectively. This day was different though, for we had a set purpose. Our early morning flights never had a purpose other than to feel free of being stuck on the ground. The sun was hardly peeking over the horizon in the distant east which was odd considering that the cloud wall that we found had covered up most of the sky in the east. Maybe there was something more to it than a simple set of clouds.

“You ready to find out what is over those mountains, bud?” I asked Toothless. He simply replied with a cocky smile before a short grunt that undoubtedly meant yes. He had a hard time last night, trying to keep his little bit of anxiousness under wraps, even to the point of him having a hard time getting to sleep. Now, though he was more than energetic, for he knew where we were going. 

We were making great time and it was hardly even past day break, we would be at the mountains before evening, especially since we were flying alone. Sure it was fun to fly with the others, but Toothless and I were the fastest when we flew alone.

As proven by the tree that was nearly ripped out of it’s roots because Toothless flew too close.

“Really now?”

        Toothless just gave out a hearty chuckle in response, to which I just smiled. At least he was still acting like himself, I was worried that the contact with those weird dragons had left him a little jaded. 

        I gave him a firm pat on the side of his head, signalling for him to go as he pleased. That was the level of trust we had, far more than any other rider on Berk. It was easy to make the jump from trusting each other with our lives, to trusting each other with flying.

The majestic purple mountains slowly grew in size and detail, the closer we flew towards it. Though it grew slowly, looking down, the trees whipped past in green blurs. We were travelling far faster than a horse could gallop. It was awe inspiring and even a little bit scary, thinking on what a crash at these speeds could do to both Toothless and I. Sure he was a tough dragon, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t be hurt.

Wanting to try something that Toothless and I had been working on, I proceeded to hook myself to the saddle, so I wouldn’t fall off if Toothless moved in some way that I was not prepared for. “Let’s try this out.” I pressed down upon the petal, until I heard the distinct clink of the lock mechanism engaging, thereby enabling Toothless to fly somewhat, should my body not make the correct minute maneuvers while unconscious.

That’s right, I was going to try to ride Toothless and sleep in the saddle. Really, the only things that I could see Toothless really needing me awake; was if we either hit really wild air, or we were under attack by a dragon, or several of them. I patted Toothless cheek to get his attention. “I’m going to try and get some sleep bud, wake me up if you need me.”

He growled in acknowledgement, as I closed my eyes, my foot pressing or easing off the tailfin control pedal. I knew I needed to continue to practice and develop my body reacting to different airborne situations so that even if I was unconscious, my body would be conditioned to react to the airborne problem, even while I was unconscious.



{C          T          D           *     *     *          {Later}          *     *     *           C          T          D}



I awoke some time later, as Toothless jostled his back, as I aroused quickly from my sleep. He pointed to a riverbank, indicating that he wanted to land, and probably rest. The sun was getting lower, and the mountains towered over us, like a majestic giant earthen meat eater’s jawbone. I could see the prickly pine trees, as well as the maple, oak, and birch trees ascending up the mountain, before there came a point where nothing at all grew upon the rocky crags. Adjusting the tailfin, Toothless and I glided our descent, making a spiral downward as we did so.

It amazed me that Toothless has managed to navigate through that wall of clouds; amazed and annoyed me. Sometimes his pride was too much for anyone to handle, though in this situation we were lucky that it hadn’t been to a fault. Still, I had to give him credit for accomplishing that without even waking me at all. No matter how long we’ve been together, he still managed to amaze me.

The moment we landed, I proceeded to remove the hooks and straps securing me into the saddle, and proceeded to remove the saddle and our supplies from off of Toothless’ back. While Toothless went to the river to drink and catch fresh fish to sate his hunger, I went into the nearby wooded area, retrieving broken limbs and branches, in order to start a fire. I had some ingredients for a fine woodland stew, and even gathered fresh ingredients as I gathered wood. For there were wild onions, potatoes, broccoli.

After I had returned to the river, as I didn’t want to wander off too deeply into these woods, both so not to worry Toothless too much, but also because I had no idea what kind of critters I might encounter in these woods after dark, and I’d much rather have Toothless by my side, just in case we did happen upon the animals of these lands.

I smacked my hand upon my exposed neck, as I felt a mosquito bite me. They were just starting to become really active, even before the sun had fully set. I really wish Gothi had included something to keep these bloodsuckers at bay, even if it meant that I smelled like the insides of a yak’s mouth.

I grabbed a wooden bowl and spoon from my pack, seeing the soup was hot and ready, merrily bubbling in a little pot I brought along. It was good, but not as delicious as it might have been, as I didn’t bring a lot of spices in my gear, again, because I didn’t want to weigh Toothless down with too much unnecessary gear. So, I ate my dinner in contentment, laughing as one of Toothless’ swipes, managed to get a fish to land on and bite his nose. I wasn’t worried though, as dragon hides are really tough, so he wasn’t feeling the fish’s teeth. Though the look of annoyance that I was laughing at his rather funny situation, was amusing in itself. Giving a short growl, Toothless snapped his head up, flinging the fish up into the air, and he jumped up, catching it into his mouth, his teeth coming out, as he made short work of that fish.

With dusk truly settled in, I couldn’t see much color, as it became a matter of how black something was, or not, with the clouds glowing with silver haloes with the moon hidden behind them. I repacked my gear, once the utensils and the pot had been washed and cleaned. Toothless was lying on a large boulder, resting after a filling meal of fresh fish and a long flight. Feeling compassion towards my best friend, I checked the position of the moon, and decided to wait until it reached its position in the middle of the sky, before I awoke Toothless from his rest and continued our journey. My hands clutched my daggers, as I unsheathed them, resting them on my lap, my hands loosely gripping the hilts, as my eyes scanned the darkened forests surrounding us.

The night sounds of the nocturnal residents of the forest continued to keep me alert, as I watched over my buddy as he rested. I didn’t know what might lurk in those woods, and honestly, I really hoped that I wouldn’t encounter any of the forest’s nocturnal residents. I mean, if dragon could talk, then Odin only knows what could call the forest home. I was glad that had pretty much died since then, only the glowing embers evidence of a camp here. The glare of the fire’s illumination would have diminished my ability to see into the surrounding woods.

I heaved a sigh of relief, as nothing eventful happened, and now that the moon was at its zenith, it was time to awaken Toothless and get across the mountain to continue our exploration. I began to smack Toothless’ cheek. “Wake up, bud. Let’s get a move on.” After several minutes, Toothless yawned widely, and his mouth made smacking noises, rather like the sound some of us Vikings upon waking up in the morning. “Let’s stick to the valley and try not to attract any unwanted attention.”

Toothless gave me a groan, rolling his eyes at my cautious approach. “I know bud, but I promised Astrid and Mom not to do anything reckless, and we don’t have the firepower to take on a clan of dragons head on. I know it’s boring, but it’s best this way. Because I do not want to face Astrid coming after me, once I died. I’d rather face the worst Niflhel has to offer than face an angry Astrid. That woman is seriously scary when mad, and sometimes even when she wasn’t mad.”

I proceeded to stow my gear back in my rucksack, as I moved to return the saddle to its former position on Toothless’ back, and then hooking the rucksacks onto the saddle. Once that was done, I had gazed at the stars while waiting for Toothless to rest up, to gain a sense of where north, east, south and west might be, respectively. Pointing towards a particular star which had recently ascended into the celestial tapestry from behind the mountain range, I said to my buddy, “let’s go that way, bud.” 

Despite having an extremely fast dragon to ride, there was a risk that the talking dragons we had encountered would still be circling around those mountain tops, so the only other option was to find a path through the mountains on foot, which would be a challenge in its own. If it ever got too much though, I knew I could count on Toothless to help me.

I wish that I could say that the journey through the mountains was a breeze, but let me tell you, as someone who lives in an island with mountainous terrain, it’s not. The sun had risen about a third into the sky since we had started our trek, and I was hot and sweaty, my muscles ached and I was breathing heavily, and had it not been for my gliding suit, I would likely be bearing many minor scratches and cuts, due to the terrain, and the prickly bushes, trees, and vines. Which, while common, weren’t the only plants I had to trek through.

Toothless wasn’t even tired, however, and the only difficulty that the mountains presented for him were the loose stones and pebbles littering the mountain range and making the journey treacherous. And if it weren’t for all the thorny plants that I had to encounter, I’d have probably appreciated the stunning vistas which I saw. The cold streams of water rushing down, in a series of small waterfalls, looking as though someone had draped the rock in burnished bands of silver. The trees which grew in the valleys of the mountain range, the shade making the trek a little more bearable. The morning sun, piercing through the foliage, as though Sól was throwing her lances of light to pierce the forest’s gloom. The sky painted in golden yellows and oranges, transitioning to lighter and lighter colors until it was white, before darkening to the blues of the daytime sky.

Fortunately, what dragons we did see, didn’t gaze into the valleys populating the base of their mountains. Though, whenever I did see a dragon, I would freeze, holding my hand up, signalling to Toothless that he should also remain still. Once their head was no longer visible, only then did I dare to move through what I supposed must surely be the dragon’s nesting grounds.

Near the shore lay a huge boulder, about the size of Berk’s Council Hall, where Toothless and I rested for about an hour from our trek through the mountain range. I retrieved a large waterskin and let Toothless drink, and then I drank from a much smaller water skin. Though, as long as we didn’t venture into any deserts, I didn’t see that obtaining fresh water would be a problem.

Back in the saddle, I pointed towards a gathering of islands. The closest one’s shore had pebbles and small rocks for its shore, more than sand, and farther away from the coastline I could see tall grasses and small bushes growing in the island’s soil. There were no trees, and I could only speculate as to why that was, without further observation. “Let’s follow those islands, bud.

While those islands were not likely to be able to sustain a long stay of weeks and months. They probably made for a great rest stop for those sailing these waters, as well as a nice landmark in their ocean maps to orient themselves in the vastness of the oceans.

The ocean air was always a common thing to smell and feel on Berk, but for the oddest of reason, this place was … different. The air felt crisper, but not in the way of it being colder, and I just couldn’t describe the feeling past that. I had spent all of my life near the ocean, or over the ocean but this place gave off an entirely new feeling, one that I just had to bask in. 

I rose up from the saddle, removing myself from the hunched position that I normally took when riding Toothless. My hands first went to my hips, just resting there as I surveyed the churning ocean, the tides splashing against the rock that the islands were comprised of, and the few birds that hovered around the shores of said islands. Slowly, I removed my helmet, holding it in my right hand for a moment before hooking it onto a little latch in the saddle. 

The feeling of the refreshing ocean air whipping through my hair and against my unprotected face was amazing, even though it was something I felt on a constant basis. Sometimes I forgot to just take a step back and enjoy the little things, and being in the new world gave me the opportunity to actually do that. To bask in the simple joy of feeling free and unburned, all the while riding on top of my best friend, was what it meant to be alive and I think Toothless was feeling the same thing. 

His eyes were temporarily closed while a big toothless grin was plastered on his face, tongue nearly lolling out of his mouth. Luckily we weren’t going overly fast at this point, instead opting to take it slower and enjoy the scenery. Sometimes I forgot that even Toothless enjoys these simple moments where he can just relax and take it slow for moment.

After awhile, we passed the last island and reached a large island or continent. Pointing northward I shouted to Toothless, “let’s follow the coastline for awhile!” Toothless, with me helping make adjustment to his fake tailfin veered as we redirected our flight path to follow the coastal border of the island or continent. 

If this land mass was an island, then this was one big island, far larger than anything I had ever seen before. Approaching from any direction, one could see nearly the entirety of the Isle of Berk, despite it’s size yet this land mass seemed to stretch on and on far beyond what I could see. Perhaps we had indeed found a continent, one that would have who knows what on it.

“Who knows what is over there, bud … imagine what we could find,” I said to Toothless, who gave a small growl of agreement back at me.

Shortly after we started flying along the coastline, I spotted a village with what I must guess was its inhabitants. I patted Toothless’ cheek and pointed to the village. He nodded and roared happily, as we started to fly in circles, as we gradually dropped closer to the ground. Some of the villagers must have spotted us, as their movement became erratic and their pace sped up. Once we drew closer, I could hear the panicked screams and shrieks of the villagers, while the warriors of the village scurried to grab their weapons, shields and armor. From what I could tell the inhabitant of the village was comprised of deer, elk, reindeer and moose. The elk were using some kind of magic to shoot rocks and stones towards Toothless and I.

I cried out, as one stone hit rather hard near my wrist. “Fire warning shots, bud!” I was having to make rapid adjustments to help Toothless as he dodged and weaved, trying to avoid getting hit as much as he could. While dragons had tougher and thicker hides, it would still be really bad if his wing were to be broken, torn, or even bruised. “Stop shooting! We come in peace!” I could only hope that they understood my native tongue, because otherwise, things could either end up really good, or really bad; depending upon the disposition of the villagers, and how benevolent they were feeling at the time. That is, if they weren’t the ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ type.

Our landing was much rougher than what I would have liked, as we dropped nearly two stories, before impacting the ground. “Stop! We mean you no harm!” I bellowed, peering from the other side of my personal shield, cautious, as I didn’t want to be hit in the head with a projectile weapon of any sort. 

“Why should we believe you, strange creature? Especially when you’re riding on a fearsome dragon!” 

I swear I saw Toothless gloat, and stood in a ‘noble’ poise, looking skyward, with one leg raised up, and his wings pointing skyward. “You shouldn’t really. But if Toothless and I had meant you any harm, we would have stayed out of your firing range, and attacked you with dragonfire, or used rocks and stones as projectile weapons. I’m not asking you to trust us right away, but I am asking for a chance for us to prove ourselves to you. Sometimes we all deserve a chance, and often enough that is the only way you can get a sense of someone’s character.”

There were murmurings amongst the crowd, as they discussed my proposal among themselves. An elderly reindeer mare stepped forward, and pointed an accusatory hoof in our direction. “We can’t let someone who befriends a dragon be among us! That would be like sticking our head in the mouth of a dragon, and asking that dragon to not bite down! You can spew all the pretty words that you like, so long as you’re with that dragon, or any dragon for that matter, then we shouldn’t let you continue amongst us!”

A young buck stepped forward as he addressed the village and the elderly reindeer mare. “Pah! Hold your tongue you ninny! The times are changing, and we must change with it, if we want our people to not fade into oblivion! Doesn’t everyone deserve a chance to prove themselves? Look at this dragon, he has not behaved like some feral carnivore, a mindless beast of murder, but instead he has been civil, and not one of us has been harmed, even though we attacked them. This dragon and his rider might be useful to our village and might even improve our way of life! I say we let the dragon and his rider stay!”

The crowd renewed its murmurings as Toothless and I waited for the village’s residents to arrive at an agreement, on whether or not Toothless and I will be permitted to stay with them, or not. I was in awe at encountering yet more non-human creatures which are capable of speech, not to mention speaking a language that I could understand. Unless there was some sort of passive magic in the land which enabled communication where otherwise there might have been communication barriers. I held my head in my hands, as I felt a mild headache beginning as I tried to make sense of my being able to communicate with two vastly different cultures, first the dragons and now these deer villagers.

The murmurings finally began to die down, as five of the elders of each of the deer, elks, reindeer and moose stepped forward. “We, the elders of this village of Wandering Hoof have decided that you alone may enter the village, but your dragon is to remain away from the outskirts of the village with a distance of 50 hoofs between the dragon, and our village.”

I shook my head, frowning at the elders before me, and the villagers arrayed behind them. “I’m not going to agree to that. Toothless is my buddy, and I’m not going to go somewhere where he can’t follow. I wouldn’t want him to go someplace that I couldn’t. So I guess Toothless and I will continue our travels.Thank you for your … hospitality.”

I walked over to Toothless, as I swung myself back into the saddle. “Let’s keep going, bud!” I pointed to the coastal shore once again, as I made adjustments to Toothless’ fake tailfin. The loud wooshing sound accompanied us, as dust and dead leaves blew away from our launching point, and I kept a wary eye behind me, just to make sure that they were truly letting us leave in peace. I suppose my encounters with Alvin the Treacherous jaded my attitude towards meeting new people, or in this case intelligent deer, elk, reindeer and moose. Just like I had told them earlier, I wasn’t just going to trust their word, as I had told them that they shouldn’t trust mine, but to let their actions prove their intent, and since they hadn’t launched an attack, I relaxed, grateful for at least one less thing to worry about.

Not wanting there to be bad blood between us and the villagers of Wandering Hoof, I waved my hand to the inhabitants below, as Toothless gave a mighty roar, and launched one of his fire blasts towards the horizon, in an impressive show of power and majesty. Below, I could hear the sound of trumpets and horns being blown, before Toothless and I were too far away to hear the sound.

After travelling along the shoreline for a little while more, I pointed towards a spot near the shore that looked like it had a river which flowed into the sea. “Let’s rest down there bud!” I hollered, patting his cheek to get his attention. He nodded to me, and together, we proceeded to make a spiraling descent towards the banks of the river. Once we were back on the ground, I removed our gear and the saddle.

Toothless sought to go looking for fish in the shallow waters nearby but I stayed back, instead deciding to sit myself down among a group of trees. As I leaned back against one of the trees, my eyes kind of glazed over as my mind went off searching for some explanation as to what I had just encountered. 

There were so many questions that were left unanswered: how did deer, elk, moose, and so on, gain the ability to talk? Was this new land’s inhabitants just sentient versions of all the animals I knew from home? Were dragons as feared here as they used to be on Berk? How had I managed to keep a straight head when talking to species that I hunted down back home? 

Despite all the questions, I truly had no answers, nor did I think I would ever find them in this odd land. For all I knew, this was how it had been for countless years, so how would they be able to answer a question regarding why they are sentient? The only thing I did find out, from this completely crazy encounter, was that if I had found sentient cervids within a few hours of flying in this land, I could only imagine what else there could be. I had to be ready for anything when Toothless and I started flying once more.

Toothless eventually made his way back from fishing, having a rather pleased grin on his face. “I take it you were successful, bud?”

He nodded his head enthusiastically before stopping suddenly. He tilted his head to the side for a second before what looked to be a spark of recognition formed in his eyes. Without any sort of warning, he back to choke some of the fish back up. I lept to my feet, reaching out with my hands to grab his mouth and close it before he could let loose with the half eaten fish. 

“It’s alright, bud … I’m good. No need to share your meal,” I said, with a little waver to my voice. He looked at me quizzically for a moment before shrugging it off and moving to lie down on the grass next to me.

We had been resting for maybe ten minutes when I spotted several dark and light spots against the blue sky. Initially they were flying in an eastward direction. However, suddenly they shifted, and started to move in our direction. I continued to watch, as they drew closer towards Toothless and I. Soon I could make out some detail, as these dots grow closer and more distinct. They were some weird meshing of an eagle and a lion! What’s even more, is that they were wearing some kind of armor!

Getting ready for a possible confrontation, I unsheathed my flame sword, and I shook my buddy’s shoulder to get his attention, and pointed my sword towards the approaching group of lion-eagle creature. I watched the approaching group warily, especially since they were not only armed, but they also had claws on both forelegs and hindlegs, and had a beak which could rip and tear. They had more natural offensive ability than I as a human did. However, I wasn’t going to back down, and Toothless and I were only going to run away if things escalated beyond peaceful talks.

Once the eagle-lion creatures had landed my mind was abuzz with courses of action and plans, just incase the became hostile. There were ten of them and only two of us, but I think our skill even the numbers a bit. I continued to watch them as, what I assumed, was the leader of the eagle-lion creatures continued to look me and my buddy up and down. 

“Do you speak, hairless monkey thing?” it spoke, the voice rough, closer to Snotlout’s voice.

“As well as any Viking can, though I’ve been told that I talk too much,” I replied, trying to ease the tension.

“Ah, good. Well then, ‘Viking,’ I need you to step aside so that we can ‘escort’ this dragon back to where it came from. Its kind is not welcome in this area,” he said, certain words coming across harder than others, but I didn’t need the emphasis to catch onto what they were saying. 

“You’re not going to harm, Toothless!” I yelled at him, making it obvious that we would fight if they forced our hands. “How about we just talk peacefully about this? My name is Hiccup, may I get yours … ?”

“Gryphon, we are gryphons,” he said, waving his … talons towards the other next to him. “You won’t be getting any names though.”

After a brief moment of silence following the leader’s statement, another gryphon, one just off to the leader’s right, spoke up,“You tame that dragon, Hiccup?”

“What? No! Toothless is my friend! There was never any taming involved. We just had to overcome our fear of the unknown that the other represented, and trust each other despite our differences.”

“While it doesn’t sounds as impressive as taming, that’s a rather incredible feat.  Though tell me why doesn’t your dragon speak up for himself?” The leader asked.

“Because where I come from, our dragons don’t talk,” I said simply.

“They don’t … talk? How can you work together if language is not used?” asked the same gryphon to the leader’s right.

“Through body language, and how they present themselves. It takes a little bit of time but once you know how to read what they are trying to say … well, then you are truly friends with a dragon,” I said as I patted Toothless, as well as going as far to give him a little scritch behind his ear. “We had a run in with one of your dragons per se, and we were surprised to find out that those dragons could talk.”

        “Sounds like yours are easier to live with …” muttered a different gryphon, though I didn’t see which one.

        I needed to head this conversation in a direction that could garner me some info, “I noticed that you diverted your flight path, to come to me. Where were you guys heading and what do you guys do?”

        “It is sensitive information, and we are therefore not at liberty to discuss either our destination, or our occupation,” answered the leader.

        “Okay, if it is so sensitive, then why would you jeopardize the security of that information by coming to me?”

        “To assess if you presented a danger to our homeland, and respond as appropriately.”

        “Well, I can assure you that my clans and I have no interest in invading your lands.”

        “Uh-huh.” The gryphon leader replied, his simple response short, and his vocal tone indicated skepticism and disbelief. He turned to another gryphon creature with a necklace of red and black beads, with little pendants of onyx clouds and citrine lightning bolt interspaced between every six beads. “Return to base, and inform those in charge of the creatures that we’ve encountered and that all patrols near home are to keep an eye out and raise the alarm should they exhibit hostilities against the patrols.” The addressed gryphon saluted swiftly before changing his course to return to wherever they had come from.

“Fine, don’t believe me, not like I didn’t try to be peaceful,” I said in a sardonic tone.

“While I’d love to talk more, I’m afraid that we have wasted too much time as it is.” He turned to the remaining eight gryphons. “All right you pussies! We’re resuming the original mission. Hop to it. And if I see any of you hatchlings slacking off, it’s KP duties for a week! Move, out!” 

I had to cover my face, as their takeoff kicked up a lot of dust and sand. Once I noticed that the gusts which had returned to the regular strength of the ocean breezes, I lowered my arms and watched as they became specks in the sky, which kept shrinking until I could no longer see them. That encountered had been something else, though it was extremely close to how those villagers reacted when I landed by them. Maybe this land had some sort of issue with things they never seen before … though I doubt they could match up to a Viking’s fear of the unknown. Though we showed fear in an entirely different way.

I looked to Toothless for the first time since my conversation with the gryphons, and it seemed to phase him little, which surprised me considering how easy it was to get a reaction out of him. I think he might have been more worried about me though, since my eyes met his and I could see that questioning look he always had when he wasn’t sure if I was okay.

“I’m alright, bud. This land is something else, but I think we can brave it together,” I said as I patted him on the head.

We silently decided that now was the best time to keep moving. So I filled up our waterskins, after Toothless and I had drank our fill from the river, before cinching his saddle back on him, and putting our gear back onto the saddle. I clambered back on top of him and leaned over his head. “Ready to keep going, bud?” Toothless gave an excited sounding roar, as his wings beat, and we returned to following the coastline once again.

After soaring along the coastline for a little longer, we had came around a little peninsula to find something astonishing, well at least it looked that way from a distance. Rather far away, there appeared to be a massive cloud system, much like the one we had flown through to get to the mountains but this was different. It wasn’t moving as it hovered right above what appeared to be a town along the coast. 

As I ordered Toothless to hover, I gazed a little farther up at the clouds itself and noticed something even more odd, there seemed to be building shaped clouds on top of it, but I couldn’t get a clear line of sight. If there was somehow a city on those clouds, I needed to take a look  from afar before diving head first in there. Who knows what their reaction could be. 

Over the ocean to my right was surprisingly large group of clouds that were moving at a higher altitude than the city. I smirked before patting Toothless on the top of the head before pointing to the clouds system. He nodded in understanding, knowing my intentions completely. We would use that cloud system to gaze at the top of the ‘city’ before deciding to investigate it up close. So without a moment more of hesitation, Toothless and I bolted towards our new camouflage.