Chapter 20

Hiccup awoke in a haze. He was standing, surrounded by warmth, and had absolutely no idea where he was. With a groan, he forced his eyes to focus, and glanced around his surroundings. 

He seemed to be somewhere near the nest, though farther away from it than Hiccup would normally go. He felt the cold ice of a glacier beneath his feet, and the brightness of the sky seemed to reflect off of its surface. But the strangest thing was the dragons. There were dragons everywhere. Dragons of all kinds surrounded him, all with eyes that seemed to have grown a blue tint, the same shade Hiccup's magic light was when he shifted. None of them seemed to be as confused as Hiccup was, and were staring up at the sky. 

The moon loomed on the horizon, the sun seeming to have just set. Her light invaded Hiccup's eyes, capturing all of his attention. A strange feeling settled over him, a sort of excitement as the moon seemed to sing him lullabies. He knew he was in some sort of trance, but considering the mysterious details he had been given about the Moon Goddess Celebration, he assumed that this was normal. In fact, it didn't feel strange at all. It felt right, and he was filled with hope and joy as the moon filled his eyes. 

A sound filled the air, a lilting, calling sound that echoed promises of happiness and magic. All eyes shifted from the moon to the top of the glacier, where a familiar black dragon stood, his wings spread out wide and head tilted back as he called out to them in song.     

Oh. So that's Dragonsong. 

For a few moments they stood there, staring up at Toothless beginning this wondrous night, his song filling the air and calling out to the Moon Goddess above. His voice was deep and strong, and soon other voices joined him. One by one, dragons tilted their heads back to sing along with the Moon Sweeper standing above them, their voices different and unique but blending together in perfect harmony.

Hiccup felt suddenly insecure, thinking that he couldn't sing along with them because he had never known how. But then a warmth began to fill his chest as the voices filled the air, their song encouraging his own to show itself. The warmth spread through his body, expanding all the way down to his tail and to the tip of his nose, until he let the feeling take over and let his head fall back and maw open. A sound like no other he'd heard before found its way out of his lungs, a slightly higher pitch than that of Toothless's, but almost seeming to be more powerful. 

As the last voice greeted the night sky, the air seemed to change. Like they were all part of a single soul, their wings lifted towards the stars. The songs that told different stories and wove different paths morphed into a single melody. But their voices sang out loud together, all calling out to the Moon Goddess above. 

With a last long, deep note, Toothless launched into the sky. As one, the rest of the dragons followed. The stars seemed to greet Hiccup with a caress as they soared into the night, Toothless leading the way as they danced in loops and bounds under the moon. Their collective song seemed to reach its climax as the moon rose right above their heads, having raised into its zenith far faster than what could be normal. 

Toothless's song took a turn, veering off of their collective path and finding its own. He stopped beneath the Moon Goddess's light, singing up to her as he stood still in the air, his wings barely touching the air. The dragons surrounded Toothless, dancing and singing a single song as they circled around him.

Hiccup danced with glee, swooping between dragon wings and claws and tails as his body grew a mind of its own. His song hardly registered to his ears anymore, his movements quick and graceful and definitely not in his control. But as his wings grazed others, the songs of the moon filling his body with warmth and happiness, he could hardly find it within himself to care. 

Another long note expanded through the air, all dragons coming to a stop as they faced towards Toothless, their heads tilted up towards the Moon Goddess. With a belting stop, silence filled the air, not even the beat of wings or the sounds of breathing greeted the wind as the world seemed to come to a standstill with the end of the song. 

"Under the sacred rays of the Moon Goddess," Toothless called out over the silence, his voice having a melodic tune that made it foreign to Hiccup, "may all Mated dragons who wish to show their love and gratitude to our great Goddess dance before us tonight, showing all under her great care the beauty that is their love." 

Toothless flapped his wings, gliding smoothly out of the circle and towards Hiccup. Hiccup gave him a smile, and Toothless nodded in return, his eyes shining as he faced the inside of the circle next to Hiccup. Not knowing what was about to happen, Hiccup followed his lead, staring intently into the empty space. 

For a moment, only the silence remained, until a crawling melody filled the air. To Hiccup, it sounded like a call, and he was entranced as another voice answered to tune, singing their own song in response. Hiccup searched through the crowd for them, but could not see them until two Acid Blenders flew smoothly into the center. They ceased singing as they greeted each other, their noses rubbing against each other. As they did so, the moon above seemed to glow brighter, and the two dragons' bodies seemed to become coated in the blue glow as their wings came to a halt. The two dragons were floating in the air, though neither seemed to notice as they gazed lovingly into each others eyes. Confusing Hiccup even more so, the dragons fell to their feet, standing on an invisible surface as the blue light grew brighter. 

The dragon who answered the first dragons' call, the male, let out another song. It was short and sweet, seeming to be a question. In turn, the female answered, singing back to him, in what Hiccup could only interpret as saying yes. The two dragons took a step back from each other, and began to sing a song as one. A melody like no other greeted Hiccup's ears, filled with love and life as the two began to dance. 

It was a dance that was beautiful and personal, the two's movements mirroring each other as their limbs seemed to fall into the movements. As they danced, the light surrounding them grew brighter and brighter, and when the shimmering blue light graced Hiccup's scales, he could feel the love the two shared pouring from their dance. 

Hiccup's wings almost failed him, entranced by the wondrous display before him. It was almost as though he was feeling for the first time in his entire life. And as the dance came to a stop, the two dragons resting their heads against each other, Hiccup knew he would have started crying if he was in his human form. 

Now he understood the horror on his Flight's faces when his mother told him he could never be Mated. This love, this undying, painful love that dragons were capable of sharing was worth everything. The life of a dragon was not complete without being Mated. He knew this now, and could feel the knowledge of it taking deep root inside of his heart. 

So as the Mated couple began to flap their wings again, as all the surrounding dragons roared and sung in praise, Hiccup raised his head and sung along with them. He sang a song of mourning. Mourning the love that he could never have. The connection of his soul with another's that the Gods blessed almost all dragons with would never happen to him. 

Mated couple after Mated couple followed after the two Acid Blenders, singing and dancing their sacred act under the Moon Goddess's light. One after the other, they were different. Their movements were different, their songs were different, only sharing a single thing in common. The love that emanated from the bright blue light was always true, always strong. No one pair of Mates loved each other more or less than another. And with each passing song, the knife twisted deeper and deeper into Hiccup's heart. 

He didn't know what to do. With each pair that danced, the more despaired he got. The cheers of celebration other dragons sang for them were only full of grief from Hiccup. No one seemed to notice. No one seemed to be hearing his cries, their eyes and hearts fixed only on the dances before them. Yet Hiccup continued, trying his hardest to let the magic and love that fueled this sacred ritual fill his aching heart. 

Every pair was beautiful and unique, Hiccup being unable to rip his eyes away. But one particular pair struck a myriad of questions into his mind. They were Mates like every other pair, yet so astronomically different that it sent Hiccup's mind whirling. Their Mating call was the same. One called, one answered. But when they flew into the center of the circle, a pair of Spinning Tunnelers-which Hiccup hadn't even realized lived in the nest, though now he suspected they lived inside the walls or beneath it-they flipped Hiccup's entire world upside down. 

Both of the dragons were male. 

Hiccup had gotten pretty good at telling a dragon's gender by their scent, so unless Hiccup was just too distraught to process his own nostrils at that moment, then two dragons of the same gender being Mated was normal. Because as far as Hiccup could tell, not a single dragon around him looked at the pair in distain. In fact, it almost seemed like all the dragons around him regarded the two with an incredible about of respect as they began to dance, far more so than any other pair that had danced that night. 

It baffled Hiccup to no end, and he couldn't understand it until the blue light shrouding them reached Hiccup. The love the two shared wasn't any more than any other two dragons Hiccup had seen that night, but the shear power of it sent Hiccup and all the surrounding dragons flying back a step. These two had a love so much more powerful than any other Mated pair Hiccup had seen, and from the looks of admiration on all the surrounding dragons' faces, he assumed that he might not be the only one. 

The two eventually ceased their dance, twisting around each other joyfully as they exited the circle, all the dragons cheering just as loud for them than they had for the Mates that came before them. Hiccup cheered along with them, his roar perhaps a bit less distraught than the previous ones. Because those two shook him to his core, momentarily distracting him from his despair. 

But then another pair took the stage, and another after that, and another, and another. Hiccup pushed his questions from his brain, saving them to ask Toothless later. Soon his sadness returned, the aura of the Mates before him dampening down any joy he might have felt. 

Two more Mates exited the center of the circle, and Hiccup braced himself for another pair to enter. But no Mating Call filled the air. For many moments, the silence overtook them. Dragon heads scanned the crowd, looking to see if another shy couple still hadn't danced. When no other pair called to each other, Toothless shifted besides Hiccup. 

Hiccup let Toothless pass, his brother giving him what he guessed was supposed to be a comforting look-though it only made him feel worse-and then flew into the middle of the circle again. 

"On behalf of us all, I thank the Mates who danced before us today immeasurably," Toothless spoke, his voice still seeming to be enchanted. "Mating dances are sacred and private, yet you shared your love with us all. But as not all Mated dragons under the Moon Goddess's protection are Mated to others under her care, may all those who are Mated to one of the Sun God or Great Sea sing out to them, thanking the Moon Goddess for their sacred love." 

Toothless stayed within the center of the circle as Dragonsong began to fill the air, dozens of dragons lifting up their heads and singing to Mates who could not celebrate underneath the Moon Goddess's rays. The blue light of the Moon Goddess cascaded over their bodies, and Hiccup was very close to fainting as the love of far too many dragons slammed into him. 

The dragons sung for what could have been minutes or hours, until they finally ceased, and instead the sound of distant Dragonsong echoed towards them in answer. From the direction of the nest, different colored lights wafted around the dragons who had called to their Mates. Next to Hiccup, he saw a dragon that had brilliant red light caress his nose, and another who was greeted by a glistening green one. The magic of the Sun God and the Great Sea, Hiccup assumed.  But their light was faint and fleeting, and soon the brightness of the Moon Goddess shooed them away. 

Roaring cheers echoed through the night as the answering songs diminished, all cheering for the dragons who couldn't dance with their Mate beneath the Gods. Hiccup cheered along with them again, still sorrowful, but less so as he waited for what would happen next. 

All dragons turned once more to Toothless, and he straightened as he spoke his next announcement, "The Moon Goddess shall hear your songs and see your dances, all those who are Mated here tonight. Now, let us rejoice together, and show the great Moon Goddess our gratitude for the magic she has blessed us with." 

Hiccup, now expecting it, reared his head back and roared in agreement, every single dragon in the crowd roaring with him. In just moments, their organized circle became beautiful chaos. Dragons sang out to the sky as they danced and weaved between each other, leaving Hiccup astounded by the wonderful celebration around him. 

A familiar voice flew swiftly by him, and Hiccup turned to spot Toothless elegantly dancing and singing in front of him. Toothless came to a stop, giving Hiccup an inviting look. Hiccup smiled, and let out his own song in return, spinning into the crowd. With a roar of glee, Toothless chased after him, and soon they were singing and dancing together as they flew in the fast and graceful way Moon Sweepers were known for. 

The two of them, brother and brother, Moon Sweeper and Moon Sweeper, outcast and outcast, flew joyously together for the rest of the night. They barrel rolled and turned and looped, losing each other inside of the crowd of dancing dragons before finding each other again and singing in harmony. At points they lost each other completely, and sometimes Hiccup found himself singing along with a dragon he had never seen, or dancing under a dragon whose song he'd never heard. Sharpshot in all his sparkling painted glory wove around his twirling body at some point, and Barf and Belch created a ring of fire for him to swoop through as they sang their Dragonsong in unison. His mother swooped up from beneath him, Hiccup twirling between her and Cloudjumper's double sets of wings. 

Until sunrise, Hiccup was a being of song and movement, the moon glowing down on him and filling him with an all consuming warmth. By the end of the night, he was hardly aware of who he was anymore, what he was doing, and all that mattered was the song filling his lungs and the dances filling his heart. But as the sun began to rise, his mind started coming back to him, beginning to register how tired his wings were, how positively bright the blue glow surrounding each and every dragon dancing and singing in the crowd was, and the way that every dragon he seemed to pass has that same light shrouding their entire eyes. 

His movements got slower and slower as the moon's light began to be covered by the horizon, as did all the dragons that surrounded him. Still, he couldn't stop singing. Even though his throat was hoarse and his wings felt like lead, the magic blue that covered his body wouldn't let him stop. It was as though he was possessed, unable to stop what he was doing until whoever was controlling him let him go. Hiccup tried, he tried really hard to stop flapping his wings, to stop singing his song, but nothing worked. 

Not until the moon was gone, and so was the moon's magic. It was so quick, Hiccup didn't know what had happened. One moment, he was covered in the blue light and struggling to gain back control of his body, the next, the light was gone, his eyes were closed, and he was falling. All of the Moon Goddess's light was gone, and the hoard of tired dragons started to drop towards the ocean like flies. 

Hiccup knew he needed to open his eyes, to flap his wings. But he was tired. He was so, so tired. But if he fell into the ocean he would drown. 

Drown. Drown. Drown. He did not want to drown. Moon Sweepers cannot swim. 

But the air felt so nice. 

And the cold water wouldn't. 

With a grunt, Hiccup forced his eyes to open, the ocean suddenly right in front of him. He let out a screech of panic, and wrenched his wings open. 

"Owww," Hiccup groaned, the wind feeling like needles beneath his wings. 

Which direction was the nest? 

Hiccup didn't know where he was, and wasn't sure if he could make it back. 

"Okay, Hiccup," Hiccup said, his words slurring slightly as he fought to stay afloat. "Follow your instincts. That's what dragons do, so that's what you'll be doing. You'll be fine. Totally fine." 

After his amazing pep talk, Hiccup followed his own advice, and let his wings guide him. He closed his eyes, knowing they wouldn't focus, and instead put all of his energy into flapping his wings and keeping his tail level. The only way he knew that he was going in the right direction was this strange feeling in his chest tugging him in a certain direction. But considering that he crashed into a wobbling dragon going in the same direction and almost making himself fall into the ocean more than once, he was pretty sure that he was going the right way. 

Finally, he could smell familiar scent of ice and moss, and the sound of waves crashing against rock. Hiccup used all of his willpower to open his eyes, weakly letting out his high pitched sound for echolocation down the tunnel entrance he knew the position of by heart. Closing his eyes again, he let his wings guide him through the tunnel, sloppily and narrowly avoiding crashing into other dragons. Eventually, he made it out into the main room. 

He was tempted to just fall to the ground to sleep then and there, but he remembered how he could sleep for three days on end, so he decided to force himself up into his and his mother's den to lower the amount of traffic. But he began to regret that decision as he blindly started climbing up towards it. Because for some reason, his mother lived on the highest most ledge in the nest. Hiccup thought she said something about being able to keep watch on the entire nest, but it honestly just felt the same way that his dad had chosen to build their house on the highest hill in the village in order to make it harder to get there. Then again, normally it was a lot easier to get up to the den than it was at that moment. 

As he had to work harder and harder to keep himself in the air, Hiccup opened his eyes a crack, seeing the ledge just feet away. With a final and exhausting beat, Hiccup launched himself up and onto the ledge, his limbs failing him the second he was on the ground. He tried to keep his eyes open to adjust himself so that he wouldn't fall off the ledge in his sleep but the second that his head hit the ground, it all went dark.