Toothless sighed tiredly, turning away from the blazing argument taking place in the house. Hiccup and Stoick were both bellowing at each other at the top of their lungs (though admittedly Stoick was much louder.)

"I absolutely forbid you to let that Outcast enter Berk!" Stoick roared, a special amount of disgust thrown into the word Outcast. 

"They are the worst of the vikings. Cruel, unreasoning, unpredictable. How could you risk yourself like that, flying out to meet an unknown Outcast?!" 

Hiccup's thin chest heaved in anger, his green eyes narrowed intensely. 

"He trains dragons!" he yelled back, trying to match his father's force. "I had a chance to talk to him, and I can just tell that he's being honest. He doesn't want anything to do with them anymore! Why can't you accept that someone can change?" 

Stoick turned to look at his red faced son. He was preparing to shout and bluster some more, but the look on Hiccup's face stopped him. His son had changed. But then he reconsidered. He, Stoick the vast, was the one who had changed. Hiccup had always been brave and kind and loyal. He just didn't see it before. Was it... at all possible that the same thing could have happened to an Outcast?

But then he shook himself. 

"Hiccup," he said, more calmly, "I... admit that people can change. But I'm not willing to take the risk of letting an Outcast with uncertain motives enter Berk. I'm sorry, but that's my final word."

He tramped heavily across the kitchen and into his room. Toothless groaned quietly and rolled over, grateful for the quiet that now filled the room. Hiccup was seething silently, clenching and unclenching his fists, and pacing agitatedly. 

No one noticed the flash of color as a blue Nadder slipped out of Berk.

---------------

Rylan was through with waiting. He'd been waiting for Hiccup to return for days now. There had not been so much as a sign or a note. Had he already forgotten his promise to Rylan?

Jolt seemed to sense his agitation. He snorted to get Rylan's attention and bent his knees. Rylan saw that Jolt wanted to distract him with a flight. Affection for his dragon rushed over him, and he climbed up gratefully. 

Powerful muscles moving smoothly, Jolt slid over to the cave mouth, where weak fall sunlight was streaming in. Wide, yellow striped wings opening, he thrust into the sky. 

The sky was a light, cloudy gray with occasional sun beams bursting through. The slips of warm light created dazzling reflections on the ocean surface as the Outcast and dragon sored above. Even Rylan, frustrated and a little bitter, couldn't fail to appreciate the simple beauty of his surroundings. 

With the cool, calming wind ruffling his hair, Rylan was able to think more clearly. It couldn't be easy for Hiccup to convince Berk that he was safe. After all, they'd never met an Outcast who wasn't vicious and brutal. Change is always hard, and sometimes people prefer to keep their own narrow perspective and have things stay the way they are. 

Jolt spread his velvety wings to their full extent and tilted upwards. They were lifted, dreamlike, up through the clouds. For a moment, everything was cold and gray. And then they broke through the top.

Light. Light was everywhere. The tops of the clouds blazed with glowing fire. Fantastic shapes spiraled up as they skimmed the cool layer of wispy mist. 

In a word, it was beautiful.