(NOTE: Hello, loves! I have no explanation for this. I just wanted to write something, and this was the first thing that popped into my head. Enjoy!)

Here they are again, exploring in the dead of night, their only light coming from the stars above. For most, it’d be far safer to travel in the daylight. However, for Hiccup and Toothless, this is not the case. Against the blue light of the daytime sky, the Night Fury becomes something of a sitting sheep (well… a sheep with wings and plasma breath), and neither rider nor dragon want to run into trouble with trappers or other dragons. So, night is the ideal time to go off on one of their little expeditions.

Finally, after flying for what feels like days on end (because it quite literally has been days on end, with very short breaks in-between, spent atop sea stacks and familiar islands), the two find themselves flying over an island. An island Hiccup is sure he’s never seen before.

The land below is… less than inviting, to say the least. The air is hot and sticky, nothing like the nearly-always deathly cold air one would find on and around Berk. The ground is covered in jagged rocks and peaks as black as a Night Fury’s scales, and there isn’t a soul in sight. Not a human soul, not a dragon soul, and not even a sheep’s soul. Just… rocks. Surely, not even a Gronckle could live here for very long, and they eat rocks. So it seems from above, at least.

However, something catches Toothless’ attention, and the dragon quickly alerts his rider. After a bit of searching (Hiccup’s eyes obviously don’t work as well in the darkness as Toothless’ do), he spots it, too. Something human-shaped, darting out from one of the holes in the ground. They catch hold of something reminiscent of a lizard and stop to… seemingly admire their… catch, if you could call it that.

Quickly, Toothless finds a place to land, and the two observe from afar.

One wrong step closer, and Hiccup’s peg leg catches on one of those ever-present, spiky black rocks. It clangs against said rock, and the stranger looks up. As they see him, their eyes widen. With a fearful gasp, they take off, deftly avoiding the sharp rocks sticking up every which way, and dive under another of those cave-like overhangs that leads into (most likely) some sort of underground tunnel system.

“Wait!”

Ah, but it’s too late. The person has already disappeared. With a weary sigh, Hiccup makes his way back over to Toothless, who grumbles at him in an… almost mocking sort of way. The rider huffs and shoves at him. Playfully, of course.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the two, you watch from the tunnel entrance, your eyes never leaving them for a second. What is this strange creature? And what is that Night Fury doing with it?