The Dragon Shifter

[Star_Dragon]

This is my fanfiction of the How to Train your Dragon movie. As with all my stories, it is unsuitable for minors. You have been warned.

The Dragon Shifter

Prologue

A simple miscalculation. That’s all it took to send Kylet'oran’s transport through a time rift to 781 A. D. Earth. Even worse, it dropped him through a Trans-dimensional gateway and brought him to an earth where Dragons were killed off by Vikings ruthlessly. At least, that was at last report, though that was years ago. Still worse, he was currently descending rapidly into Viking territory.

Passing through the time rift—and subsequently the TD gateway—burned out all his controls. He wound up so close to Earth, the planet’s gravity pulled him into the upper atmosphere. But that wasn’t the end. The descent through the atmosphere took out his Trans-Dimensional Faster-Than-Light communications array, and his engines burned out shortly thereafter.

Kylet'oran fumbled about for the backup power switch, straining against massive gee forces that should have knocked him out. He found the switch, flipped it, and power came back – but only for a split second before burning out with all the other systems. Darn. There was nothing more he could do except brace for impact...

Rain. Never before in Viking territory had it rained for five days straight without letting up. Hiccup was already soaked after being out in the rain for a matter of hours. He headed to his house, where Toothless—his Night Fury dragon—awaited him. In a bag he carried over his back was a load of meat. After what is commonly called the Unity War—the conflict that unified Vikings and Dragons—Hiccup had become a skilled hunter and fisher. This meat came from four deer he took down in the woods and several fish that he caught.

Hiccup swung the door open, stepped inside, shut the door, and put the meat down next to his desk. Curiously, Toothless didn’t rush to meet him at the door. Hiccup looked around, and saw Toothless perched in front of a window. Hiccup approached him and looked out the window.

“Is there something you see out there?” he asked.

Toothless then did something Hiccup didn’t think was possible. “Kylet’oran.” he replied. Hiccup jumped back.

“Whoa – you can speak?” Hiccup asked.

Toothless nodded without looking away from the window. Hiccup turned and started to run, intent on telling his father of this. Toothless didn’t move a muscle.

As Hiccup got outside, there was a loud bang that knocked him off his feet and caused him to slide down the steps leading up to his house. He looked up in time to see a flaming meteorite rocket over the village and disappear over the horizon. A flash and an earth-rumbling explosion followed three seconds later. Toothless appeared a second later, noticed his friend had fallen, and rushed to help. Hiccup grabbed onto Toothless’ neck, and Toothless helped him to his feet.

“Kylet’oran?” Hiccup asked, indicating the meteorite that crashed overhead.

“Yes, that was him if that was what you were asking.” Toothless replied. “He would normally come cloaked – I suspect something went wrong this time.”

Hiccup had no idea what Toothless was saying, but it seemed wise to play along. “How long has it been since you last saw him?”

“About... six years. He left because he had to go fight in a war.”

“Hm...” Hiccup mumbled. “We’ll check it out in the morning, if this rain lets up.”

Toothless nodded in agreement, and the two of them went back into the house.

The next morning, consistent with Hiccup’s hopes, the rain stopped. Hiccup hopped onto Toothless’ back, and the two of them took off early in the morning to find this “Kylet’oran.”

It wasn’t hard to figure out where the meteorite crashed; all they had to do was follow the trail that was gouged out of the woods. But the scene got more ominous after that, starting with what Hiccup originally thought to be the meteorite. Toothless landed at the crash site, only to find the meteor was metallic and strangely shaped like an arrowhead. Hiccup dismounted, unsheathing his sword, and cautiously approached the downed meteor.

“Something doesn’t feel right...” Toothless murmured.

“What’s wrong?” Hiccup asked.

“That’s a ship he came in on, and not just an ordinary ship... that’s a timeship.” Toothless said, his voice verging on a frightened whisper.

“What’s wrong? You’re acting unusually jittery.” Hiccup stated.

Toothless said nothing as he scanned the area with his eyes until something caught them – a trickle of some glowing green substance on a tree splinter. As soon as Hiccup saw it, Toothless rushed over to it. His breathing got more rapid, as if he had discovered tome horrible truth. His head moved from the green trickle to another nearby. And another. And another. There was a whole trail.

“He’s hurt – badly. We have to find him.”

“How do you propose we do that?” Hiccup inquired.

Toothless looked back at Hiccup, a look of sheer despair in his eyes. “Follow the trail of blood.”

At the time Toothless had said “blood,” Hiccup was sampling this glowing green substance, and upon hearing what it really was, spat it out.

“Blood?!? This is BLOOD?” Hiccup exclaimed.

Toothless went rummaging inside Kylet'oran’s timeship and found a white hexagonal box with a red cross on it. He tossed it to Hiccup.

“Take that. We’ll need it.” he said. He then started down the trail of blood with Hiccup close behind...

Kylet'oran heard voices in the distance. One of them was a voice he knew, a black dragon by the name of Nikkt’furriie, which meant “Night Fury” in Dragonarian. The other he did not recognize. Still, there was hope. He tried to talk, tried to make noise, but couldn’t speak. His throat was dry from not having anything to drink in twelve hours and from breathing through his mouth since his nose was broken. Neon-green Dragonarian blood was all over. The voices began to move toward him, and then away.

No, Kylet'oran thought. Focusing all his remaining strength, he put out a telepathic call to Nikkt’furriie. Nikkt’furriie, I’m over here... I’m right behind you. Please... come to me... Find... me. I’m... right... behind... y—

Drained by this effort, Kylet'oran could feel the world around him go black... and all he felt was cold...

Hiccup followed an increasingly worried Toothless when he suddenly stopped. His head shot up, ears open, and turned around so suddenly it sent Hiccup reeling back.

“What’s wrong? Did you hear something?”

The response was nearly instantaneous. “I’m coming for you, Kylet'oran!!!” Toothless screamed. He dashed with speed only a Night Fury was capable of, and Hiccup struggled to follow. He soon stopped, however, allowing Hiccup to catch him and finally giving him a good look at this Kylet'oran. He looked to be a human, but the eyes that looked up at him and Toothless were the eyes of a dragon... the same kind of eyes Toothless had fixed on Kylet'oran.

Kylet'oran had several severe wounds. A wood shard had penetrated his side, he had three broken ribs, and his left leg was broken. It was amazing to see him even alive. Blood was everywhere. Kylet'oran reached a hand out to the white box Hiccup was carrying.

“The box – open the box!” Toothless commanded. Hiccup complied, and was greeted by the sight of all manner of alien equipment. “Take the bright red... thing there and push the tip into his side.” Toothless said next. Hiccup obeyed, and Kylet'oran groaned, and fell silent. Was he dead?

No, Hiccup told himself. Kylet'oran was still breathing. But his wounds were sealing and healing. The wood shard even fell out. After a tense few moments, Kylet'oran opened his emerald-green dragon eyes. First they regarded Hiccup without expression, then they fell on Toothless.

“N... Nikkt’furriie... is it... really... you?” Kylet'oran asked. His voice was very weak and scratchy.

Toothless then said something that caught Hiccup by surprise. “It’s me... brother.”

[Star_Dragon]

I'm bored, so I'll just post the next chapter...

Chapter One

Astrid, Hiccup’s girlfriend, waited outside for Hiccup to return. He’d been gone all morning, and clouds were gathering for a storm. He’d left a note stating where he’d gone, but Astrid had no idea what was keeping him for so...

Hiccup arrived suddenly. Toothless seemed... relieved, somehow. And he was carrying something in his arms... no, someone. He gently set this person on the ground and landed, and Hiccup dismounted.

“What is going on?” Astrid asked.

“Don’t ask me how this is even possible, but we found Toothless’ ‘brother’ in the woods where the time... where the meteor crashed.” Hiccup said.

Astrid frowned and watched as Toothless helped a struggling person to his feet, and even then, the person was uneasy on his feet, as if he’d consumed too much mead in one day.

“Um... is that guy going to be okay?” Astrid asked.

“I’m not at all sure.” Hiccup stated. “Like I indicated before, Toothless thinks of Kylet'oran as his brother. He seems so--”

“This is a joke, right? Some story you conjured up for the bar?” Astrid interrupted.

“Astrid, I want to think this is a story, too, but judging by the way Toothless was acting, this is serious.” Hiccup answered. “However he ended up where we found him, he was nearly killed doing so. Toothless said he’d explain when Kylet'oran was safe.”

“Hold on – Toothless ‘said’ he would explain? He can speak now?” Astrid inquired incredulously.

“If you don’t want to believe me, fine.” Hiccup said. “I just found out myself, and I’m wondering if I’m not trapped in some dream-world.” Without another word, he turned and followed Toothless into the house.

“This ought to be good...” Astrid murmured to herself as she started after Hiccup.

She entered the house about the same time Hiccup did, and both of them were greeted by the sight of Toothless setting Kylet'oran down where Toothless normally slept.

“You took a big risk, coming here.” he said.

Kylet'oran groaned as Toothless propped him up near the fireplace. “It was not my intention to do so.” he grunted.

“Regardless, you need to hole up here until the empire comes looking for you.” Toothless said.

“They won’t,” Kylet'oran replied.

Toothless frowned. “Why is that?”

Kylet'oran coughed. “I’m in the wrong timeline.”

Astrid noticed how scratchy and hoarse the person’s voice was, grabbed a bottle of mead that was sitting on Hiccup’s desk, and brought it to this man. “Here, drink this.” she said. The man with the emerald-green dragon eyes just sat there, regarding her with suspicious eyes, and finally accepted the bottle with weak hands. He bit the cork off, spit it out, and proceeded to take a long drink. He downed the whole bottle in less than ten seconds.

“What did you mean when you said you were ‘in the wrong timeline?’” Hiccup asked.

Kylet'oran sighed. “I was aiming for a timeline three years from now.”

“Can’t you contact Dragonaria Prime?” Toothless asked.

Kylet'oran shook his head. “No. My COM array was burned off as I entered the atmosphere, which means I’m stuck here until either three years pass and I’m able to complete my mission, or Dragonaria High Command comes looking for me. Either way, I’m going to be here for a long time.”

“Just out of curiosity,” Hiccup asked, “What was your mission?”

Kylet'oran’s eyes, now fully awake, fell on Hiccup, their piercing gaze making him shudder. “I suppose I can’t keep the nature of my mission from you, since they’ll be after you.”

Hiccup frowned. “After me? Who’ll be after me?”

Kylet'oran sighed and shook his head. “The Kemorainian Phayder Assassins. And believe me, you’ll need my help to stop them.”

Astrid understood the word “Assassins,” but had no clue about these Kemorainians or Phayders that this man spoke of.

“Okay, Toothless, how exactly do you know him?” Hiccup asked, a hint of irritation in his voice.

Toothless closed his eyes and shook his head. “It's not a story that I speak openly of,” he said. “and there's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it straight; he and I come from the same galaxy.”

“Say what?” Hiccup and Astrid demanded simultaneously.

“He and I come from the same galaxy. Maybe not the same planet, but definitely from the same galaxy.” Toothless replied.

“How did you two meet?” Astrid asked.

“Well,” Toothless answered, “it was near the end of the Kemoran war. The Kemorainians had invaded my home planet, and Kylet'oran and his Dragonarian troops helped the dragons on my planet fight them off.”

“How'd you end up here?” Hiccup asked.

“Kylet'oran, who I learned had an... affinity... for Dragons, didn't want to leave us on the planet we were on so the Kemorainians could return behind his back and slaughter us. So, he hid us here.” Toothless stated.

“So where has he been for the past six years?” Hiccup inquired.

“As I indicated earlier, he left to fight in a war.”

“Who was it--” Astrid began.

“Please,” Toothless interrupted, “No more discussion of his past. We can continue this later if we really must, but for now... just drop it.”

Hiccup was taken aback by Toothless' unwillingness to share everything. It was this that caused him to realize that there was more to the story than he was letting on. However, Hiccup decided not to press the issue, and left Toothless with Kylet'oran...

(... I don't know about you guys, but I think Toothless knows more than he's letting on. I'll leave you to your speculations.)