It was finally the big day for the last event to decide who would fight the Monstrous Nightmare. At the moment Brooklyn was sitting in a seat right next to Stoick in the stadium, feeling really nervous while watching Astrid and Hiccup down there once again facing off the Gronckle. There were boxes for them to hide behind and do sneak attacks.

Brooklyn gripped the edge of his seat, grinning awkwardly at Stoick who had smiled proudly at him because of Hiccup as Hiccup got confronted by Astrid. "Stay out of my way! I'm winning this thing!" She hisses, making Hiccup nod. "Good, please, by all means!"

Hiccup looks upward, also smiling awkwardly at the crowd, giving another wave to Brooklyn who waves back to him. Eventually Astrid lets out her battle cry, charging at the Gronckle; only to see Hiccup somehow having subdued it already due to his magic touch. Hiccup looks rather nervous now, shrugging as if to say he didn't know how it happened, making Brooklyn face palm, having wished he lost and let Astrid win, hearing Stoick cheer behind him.

Astrid looked pretty pissed at her losing, throwing her ax around. "No! You son of a half troll rat eating munch bucket!" She shrieked in a bunch of colorful language, Brooklyn knowing they were in trouble from the dangerous blonde, Hiccup trying to leave. "Alright, I'll see you all lat-." He was grabbed by Gobber. "Whoa, not so fast!"

Hiccup tried to protest. "I-I'm kinda late for—." Astrid instantly pointed her ax at Hiccup, making Brooklyn tense up, ready to go down and pull Astrid away from his best friend. "What?! Late for what exactly?!"

Stoick raises his hand. "Ok, quiet down! The elder has decided!" Brooklyn watches Gothi look down at the two teens, wondering who she would pick, his nerves rising.

Gobber points to Astrid, but Gothi shakes her head no, making Brook flinch in disappointment, and eventually... Gothi chooses Hiccup, making Brooklyn groan inwardly. This was big trouble for them.

"Oh, you've done it! You've done it Hiccup! You get to kill the dragon!" Gobber cheered, Hiccup looking back up at Brooklyn in desperation as Brooklyn inclined his head signaling to meet him outside of the arena. Hiccup silently nods while he kept looking rather scared and flustered.

....

In the cove Brooklyn had been waiting a tad impatiently, unaware of Astrid having followed Hiccup as he rushes in, holding several bags, one for him and Hiccup. Brooklyn went over to his friend. "What is going on? What's with the bags?"

Hiccup's face looked rather saddened but longing as he approached his gargoyle/human friend. "I-I don't want to stay here and kill that dragon. I wanna leave with you Brooklyn, to find... your clan."

Brooklyn gasped lightly from this gesture, surprised that Hiccup wanted to at all in the first place but inside felt happy to actually finally get away from all those who want to kill him if they ever found out about his gargoyle genes. "What about your dad?" He asked first.

The young teen's eyes were sad. "He never really cared about what I wanted. But you do. It would be just us with Toothless and Voltwing out in the world. And... I don't want to be called Hiccup anymore. Since-since you're a gargoyle, could you give me a name kind of like your species?"

Brooklyn's head tilted at this, not having named someone since Bronx back in New York. "Well, uh, us gargoyles never needed names except for Goliath. But, I suppose you're an exception. Something Scottish would be good for your name." He tapped his beak for a moment but then his eyes brightened right away. "Sorath! Your name will be Sorath!" He proclaimed, Hiccup's eyes brightening at that name. As long as it wasn't Hiccup, it was good enough for him.

"Sorath... I like it!" Hiccup responds, slowly accepting his new name until the sound of an ax sharpening from nearby in the cove startled the two of them. It was Astrid, of all people

It made the newly named Sorath yelp out loud, Brooklyn bracing himself for a fight. "Whoa, uh, what are you doing here?" Sorath asked, shaking all over as Astrid eyed them both.

"I wanna know what's going on." Astrid comments, also glaring hard at Brooklyn who realized his gargoyle secret was now exposed to the blonde, making him gulp in nerves, eyeing the ax. "Nobody gets good as you. Especially you." She hisses at Sorath.

Sorath stutters, trying to find some excuse he could come up with. Before Brooklyn could defend Sorath Astrid kept interrogating. "Start talking! Are you training with him?" Astrid demands, pointing a finger at Brooklyn who held up his hands. "No-no... I- heh..." Brooklyn says awkwardly, hating himself for feeling like this.

Astrid next yanks on Sorath's outfit. "It better not involve this!" Sorath kept up his ramblings until there were some footsteps in the distance, making her gasp and toss Sorath to the ground who got back up with Brooklyn's help.

"Y-You're right, you're right, I'm through with the lies! I've been making... outfits!" Sorath said in yet another lie, making Brooklyn groan, facepalming. That was the worst excuse he'd ever heard. "So, you got us! It's time everyone knew, take me back, go ahead here you—agh!"

Brooklyn jumped and winced from Astrid twisting Sorath's hand, making him fall down to the dirt again. "Why did you do that?!" Sorath complains, only for Astrid to kick him twice. "That's for the lies. And that's— for everything else!"

A rustling in the bushes made them all freeze, Brooklyn spotting Toothless and Voltwing. Things just got a whole lot worse... "Oh, perfect." Brook groaned, Astrid gasping loudly at the sight of the dragons. "Get down!" She screamed, shoving Sorath back to the ground along with Brooklyn as Toothless leapt forward, baring his teeth, Voltwing's wings lighting up with its powerful lightning as well, both screeching loudly.

"Run! Run!" Astrid screamed again, trying to swing her ax but Brooklyn pushed it out of her hand. "NO!" Brooklyn bellowed as the dragons landed, roaring together in protective mode. "Hey, easy guys, she's a... friend." Sorath said, cringing a little at the idea but they had to win Astrid over for her to accept the dragons.

Brooklyn glared hard at Astrid. "You scared them!" He snapped. Astrid tensed as the dragons growled again. "I... scared them? Who... is them?"

Sorath grimaced, deciding to introduce the dragons. "Uh, Astrid, Toothless and Voltwing. Guys, meet Astrid." All Toothless did was hiss loudly, sparks of lightning appearing in Voltwing's fangs as well. That did it for Astrid as she shakes her head at the duo, rushing to return to the village.

It caused the former gargoyle shoulder's to sag along with Sorath's, feeling defeated at the idea of Astrid babbling all of their secrets to the entire village. "Da, da, da, we're dead..." Sorath mutters, making Brooklyn roll his eyes at his sarcasm until Toothless huffs, turning to walk away, Voltwing following. Brook runs after, knowing they couldn't let Astrid rat them out. "Hey, stop right there guys!"

....

Meanwhile Astrid was panting, trying to run as fast as possible, feeling like she was going crazy seeing the runt of the village having introduced her to a Night Fury and a Skrill! That was when to her fear paws grabbed her arm, lifting her into the air, which happened to be that Night Fury. She screamed her head off, seeing the black dragon above her with Hiccup flying on it, along with the other newcomer Brooklyn on the Skrill! Sorath has Toothless drop Astrid into a tree, Brooklyn hovering on Voltwing nearby while Astrid hung onto the branch, Toothless landing on the tree and making it bend over.

"Hiccup! Get me down from here!" Astrid screams, not having quite heard Brooklyn giving Sorath his name yet. "You have to give me a chance to explain. And don't call me Hiccup anymore." Sorath says, folding his arms.

Astrid seethes while struggling to get up. "I'm not listening to anything you have to say!"

Brooklyn soon shrugs. "Then we won't speak. Just let us show you. Please?" Brooklyn asked while Sorath held his hand out to Astrid who looks away at first until eventually agreeing, but reluctantly, climbing back up. Astrid reaches out to the saddle which made Toothless hiss until grabbing it, smacking Sorath's hand away and next adjusting herself onto the saddle. It made Brooklyn cringe, knowing she looked too uncomfortable there.

"Now get me down!" Astrid says in a fast/angry tone while Sorath petted Toothless' head. "Toothless? Down. Gently."

Brooklyn watched in anticipation as Toothless raised his wings, looking promising so far as Astrid's eyes widened. "See? Not bad, is it?" Brook asked with a grin, but his grin faded when Toothless suddenly took off in 3 seconds, flapping his wings hard, Astrid screaming once again.

"Oh great..." Brook grumbled, having Voltwing follow them, watching Toothless make all sorts of daring flying tricks, trying to toss Astrid off of his back.

At one point too Toothless dived down towards the water, getting the teens soaked and making Brooklyn flinch from the sight. "Toothless? What are you doing? We need her to like us!" Sorath shouted out, next the Night Fury did some spinning. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile!" Sorath then yelled, making Brooklyn laugh despite the situation.

Soon, Astrid gave a whimper of fear, holding Hiccup tight. "Ok! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing!"

Brooklyn noted Toothless hearing Astrid apologize, looking up at her, then spreading out his wings back into a gentle glide, the sun now just beginning to set. It made the former gargoyle sigh in relief from that, steadying Voltwing's flying too who gave little trills of approval from Astrid giving an apology.

Toothless soared upwards into the clouds, Brooklyn just beside them as Astrid opened her eyes, seeing the fluffy clouds above her. She trailed her hands through them, a smile starting to show on her face. Brooklyn grins at the blond as well, seeing Sorath give him the signal to do a small lightning storm in the clouds. Brook nods, rubbing Voltwing's head who purrs, raising his wings, summoning lightning that now made the clouds dark but not to scare Astrid. Astrid gasped from the sight of the lightning display on the Skrill but somehow she didn't feel afraid. It was rather beautiful to her.

They flew about in the storm for a while, Brooklyn continuing to have Voltwing display safe lightning which showed off some beautiful patterns. Sorath grins at Astrid's awed look before signaling to Brooklyn that they were going to fly above the clouds now. Brooklyn nods, Voltwing toning down his lightning, the two dragons flying over the clouds, the sky turning into night and even showing off the Northern Lights.

Brooklyn felt tears coming into his eyes from the sight of it, and even seeing Astrid hug Sorath now in a more loving gesture, making Sorath smile too at the idea of a girl like Astrid actually liking him. Next they flew over Berk which to Brooklyn was a much better view he wished he had his original wings for, but flying on a Skrill to see this was just as amazing.

Astrid gives a little sigh before speaking. "Alright, I admit, this is pretty cool. It's... amazing! He's amazing." She says, putting a gentle hand on   Toothless' head, Sorath nodding at her in agreement.

"So that confirms that dragons aren't as bad as you thought?" Brooklyn asks, his voice somewhat smug in a 'I told you so' kind of way, making Astrid roll her eyes and laugh. "Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in, gargoyle boy."

It caused Brooklyn to flush, since it seems she now knew about his gargoyle form. "So, you know now huh? That I'm a gargoyle?"

Astrid nods. "Yes, but now that I'm on your dragon training secret, I won't give it away, I promise. Call it even, for well... everything."

At first Brooklyn wasn't so sure but then realized how sincere her voice was, soon nodding. He knew he needed more allies in this world than enemies. For a while, the group flew in silence until Astrid spoke up again. "So what now? Hic-sorry-Sorath, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're gonna have to kill a—." She halted as Brooklyn saw Voltwing's eyes suddenly turn to slits along with Toothless, the gargoyle turned human hearing a strange dragon trilling noise which was almost hypnotic. "Kill a dragon..." Astrid murmurs.

"Don't remind me." Sorath mumbles, right as Brooklyn yelped from Voltwing diving down into a bank of fog, Toothless also flying into the same direction. "What's going on?!" Brooklyn cries out, trying to hold on tight.

Soon to his fear more dragons showed up around them, flying in the same direction. Brooklyn noticed most of them were Nadders, Gronckles, Zipplebacks and Nightmares, holding something in their talons or their jaws. Brooklyn quickly lowered himself on Voltwing's back while Sorath and Astrid did the same, so the dragons wouldn't notice.

"What is this?" Astrid whimpers, Sorath shrugging. "I don't know. Toothless, you gotta get us out of here, bud." He put a hand on the Night Fury's head but Toothless shrugged it off with a growl, confusing Brooklyn.

They kept flying through the fog and in between rock pillars, Brooklyn scared about where Voltwing and the other dragons were going until he spotted what looked like a large volcanic mountain coming out of the fog. He stared in fear, pulling on the saddle. "Don't go there Voltwing, please!" He whispered softly but his Skrill didn't seem to listen, following that weird dragon call sound right into the mountain entrance with Toothless in front. Brooklyn flinched from feeling the heat of the volcano, Voltwing flying through the crowd of dragons and then hiding behind a rock wall. Brooklyn looked around for his friends and spotted them behind another, waving. Sorath waved back.

The former gargoyle looked over to the other dragons who were dropping food down the big gaping hole, wondering why they weren't eating at all until the last dragon arrived, a Gronckle. All it had for its efforts was a small little fish it dropped out of its mouth, making Brooklyn wrinkle up his nose. That wouldn't feed a cat. As the Gronckle was about to fly off, there was a loud rumbling roar that echoed in Brooklyn's ears, seeing the poor Gronckle suddenly get snatched up by what was living down there: a monstrous dragon bigger than the stone one he and his bros fought with King Arthur.

Brooklyn's jaw dropped from the sight. He had never seen anything like that thing before, feeling Voltwing quiver beneath him, figuring his dragon was scared of this supposed Queen. The dragon snarled dangerously, one of its eyes trailing in his direction, Brooklyn panting heavily. "C'mon Voltwing, we gotta scram!" Brook hissed, Voltwing getting himself together before flying off, the large dragon trying to snatch both him and Toothless but barely missing.

They flew as fast as possible out through the volcano hole, the queen dragon roaring, climbing up the sides, nearly grabbing them again only to have a Zippleback get snatched instead of the friends who were able to get out safely.

.....

In the cove Sorath, Astrid, and Brooklyn landed their dragons, Astrid instantly getting off. "It totally makes sense, guys, it's like a giant beehive. They're the workers, and that's their queen. It controls them! Let's find your dad!" Astrid says but Sorath takes her arm, shaking his head no.

"No, not yet, they'll kill Toothless!" He argues, along with Brooklyn nodding in agreement. "Yeah, and Voltwing too. Not to mention what they'll do to me if they find out I'm a gargoyle..." Brook gulped, holding his throat.

Astrid stared at them, dumbfounded. "Guys, we just discovered the dragon's nest. The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here. And you want to keep it a secret?! To protect your pet dragons? Are you serious?"

Sorath gave Astrid a determined gaze, taking Brooklyn's hand. "Yes. And to help protect my friend's life too. From what I've read, Vikings hated gargoyles and you know what my dad would do to Brooklyn."

Soon the blonde sighs softly before nodding in agreement. That was true. If she had learned about Brooklyn being a gargoyle before this she would have killed him on the spot. "Ok. Then what will we do?"

Sorath rubs the back of his neck. "Just, give us until tomorrow? I'll figure something out." Brook nods with a pleading gaze, causing Astrid to cave in. "Okay." Suddenly she lightly hits Sorath on the shoulder. "That's for kidnapping me."

Both Brooklyn and Sorath turned to their dragons who both grunt before going back to their drinking. And then to Sorath's surprise; Astrid plants a kiss on his cheek before going back. "And that... is for everything else." She also shakes Brooklyn's hand. "Let's hope this begins a new peace between humans and Gargoyles/dragons."

The former gargoyle bows his head. "Me too." After Astrid left, Brooklyn noticed the flushes on Sorath's cheeks, making him smile playfully, bumping his shoulder. "You like her..."

Sorath glared while his face was still flushed. "No I don't, shut up!" He said, Brooklyn continuing to laugh while Sorath rubbed his cheek where Astrid kissed it, hoping it would give him luck for tomorrow.

....

Hiccup will be called Sorath from now on unless someone here has an even better name for him.