Chapters My Little Dragons: Book 2: Riders of Berk
Chapter 2: Viking For Hire
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. My Little Dragons: Book 2: Riders of Berk
On Berk, Vikings have accepted the dragons and vice versa. Villagers peacefully went about their daily business as dragons flew overhead. But suddenly the peace is shattered when a Monstrous Nightmare and Deadly Nadder accidentally flew into each other and got into a brawl.
The two dragons' brawl soon brought them to one of the many sheep grazing fields in the island's foothills.
Startled by the sudden intrusion, the sheep immediately scattered in a panic. Not noticing the animals' distress, the Monstrous Nightmare and Deadly Nadder continued to fight.
"Oh, not again. You go on now…you get, get, shoo! Now you know you're not supposed to be in here." Mulch scolded the dragons, shooing them away with his friend Bucket helping him.
Once the dragons were gone, Mulch turned to the farm animals. "Alright everybody, time to earn your keep." He announced as he approached the yaks.
Bucket was in charge of collecting the eggs. As he checked under one chicken in the henhouse, the bucket-wearing Viking saw that there weren't any eggs. Confused, Bucket turned to Mulch and meekly asked, "It's chickens who lay eggs, right?"
Mulch looked at him and sighed at his friend's forgetfulness. "Do we really need to go over this again?" he asked Bucket, raising an eyebrow.
"No…" Bucket answered dubiously, before looking under a sheep for eggs. Sighing, Mulch remarked, "Apparently we do."
Guiding Bucket, Mulch began to give his friend a farming refresher lesson.
"Well, pay attention Bucket." He said seriously before pointing to all the different animals on the farm.
"Wool." He pointed to the sheep.
"Eggs." He gestured to the chickens.
"Milk." He pointed to the yaks last before asking Bucket, "Was that so hard now, see?"
Bucket still had a confused look on his face so Mulch decided to do a demonstration. "Ugh. Observe." Mulch said as he went over to a yak.
"Just grab the udder, like so, and pull." Mulch said as he grabbed the yak's udder and pulled. When the milk didn't come gushing out, Mulch tried again. "Uh…pull." At this second try, the yak began to moo dolefully.
"Pull!" Mulch yanked harder this time and finally, the yak got irritated and kicked the unfortunate farmer away.
Mulch landed on the ground in a heap. Straightening up, Mulch looked at Bucket in concern. "Uh oh. I think we're empty." Mulch said, checking the empty milk bucket and added, "That's not good."
While Bucket and Mulch were having this dilemma, Sarah, Hiccup, Zenna and Astrid were on one of the mountains surrounding Berk trying a new sport with their dragons Winter, Toothless, Stryka and Stormfly.
This new sport that involved riding their dragons down the snow covered mountain without flying was called Dragon Boarding, a new pastime that the three teenagers were currently enjoying.
"Awesome!" "Yaaahooo!" "Yo-di-le-hi-hoo!" "Hahaha!"
Aline, Hiccup, Zenna and Astrid were having a blast as they boarded down the mountain. And Star, Toothless, Stryka and Stormfly were having the time of their lives as well. Wait till they tell the other dragons about this awesome activity!
Astrid was now in the lead with Aline, Hiccup and Zenna right on her and Stormfly's tail. Not wanting to be overtaken by the two Night Fury Riders, Astrid silently commanded Stormfly to launch her tail spikes.
"Nadder spikes!" Zenna alerted Hiccup and Toothless.
"Whoa!" Hiccup quickly swerved Toothless out of the way and Zenna did the same thing with Stryka, both Night Furies narrowly avoiding the spikes. Aurora, on the other hand, blasted the spines.
"Hey, Astrid!" Hiccup complained. "Oops, did I do that?" Astrid asked innocently, looking over her shoulder at the two.
"Cheater!" Zenna said accusingly with a smirk while Hiccup just smiled and got an idea.
Hiccup got Toothless close enough to Stormfly and the male Night Fury lifted a wing to block Stormfly's view. Stryka rumbled in amusement while Zenna just rolled her eye.
"Hey! Not fair!" Astrid protested, trying to see only to spot her and her dragon headed straight for a pine tree branch covered with snow!
"Ah!" Astrid yelped as her face was covered with snow. "That's what you call karma!" Zenna called back from behind the two.
"Oh, so it's gonna be like that, huh?!" Astrid challenged Hiccup. "I have no idea what you're talking about." The auburn headed and one-legged boy said innocently while Toothless chuckled the only way a dragon could.
Suddenly Stormfly fired out a blast of flame and destroyed a snowdrift, the blast startling Toothless and sending him and Hiccup into a spin!
"Whoa! Hey!" Hiccup hollered as they struggled and finally regained control. "It was her idea. But I approve…haha!" Astrid laughed as they continued to race.
Zenna was behind the couple, she and Stryka thoroughly enjoying the spectacle. And then Stryka's highly sensitive ears picked up a low rumble coming from behind and alerted Zenna with a warning bark. Turning around, Zenna noticed that the loud sound from the blast and sheer force had caused the snow from above the mountain to crumble and cascade down causing an…
'AVALANCHE! ' Zenna thought in alarm.
"Hiccup! Astrid!" Zenna shouted frantically but she and Stryka weren't near enough for her voice to carry through. Luckily, Hiccup also heard the avalanche and turned around.
"Uh oh…" he mumbled. "We gotta get out of here!" Zenna yelled once she and Stryka were right beside him and Toothless.
Hiccup quickly clicked on the stirrup with his metal foot. But Toothless didn't lift off the ground! Hiccup tried again only to get the same results.
"Hiccup, look!" Zenna pointed to Toothless' prosthetic red tail fin, which was covered in frost!
"His tail's frozen!" Hiccup said in alarm.
"Yeah, I noticed!" Zenna sighed exasperatedly as she and Stryka lifted off the ground and attempted to grab Toothless and Hiccup off the ground but failing.
"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled to the blonde shield maiden ahead of him.
Astrid looked back to see Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka with a massive avalanche right behind them! Quickly, Astrid got Stormfly to lift off and take to the skies. Zenna and Stryka did the same thing while Hiccup and Toothless tried again only to fall back on the ground again.
"Hiccup!" Astrid cried out, swooping down. Hiccup was now crawling across Toothless' back, trying to pry the gears free from the ice while Toothless hastened his descent.
"Ah, hold on!" Astrid yelled to him.
"We're gonna help!" Zenna called out, both of them having their dragons circle around the two protectively.
"No! Go back!" Hiccup told them, now noticing that he and Toothless were approaching a gorge!
"No way, Hicc! We stick together no matter what!" Zenna refused as she and Astrid both held onto Hiccup's outstretched hand.
"I got this! Star, Sky!" Aline called and Star spread her wings and flew in the air and hovered in front of the gang. Aline's horns glowed brightly and she fired a powerful beam of light and created a large barrier, halting the snow in its tracks!
Zenna, Astrid and Hiccup watched in total shock and awe at Sarah's lion roar, stopping the avalanche, "Holy Shields..." Zenna gasped.
"Get out of here, I'll be right behind you." she said before she continued her spell. The girls lifted Hiccup and Toothless up and out of the area before Aurora stopped her Roar and she flew up and dodged the avalanche.
"Aline, that was incredible..!" Hiccup exclaimed.
"Thanks." Aline smiled. "Now, let's get out of here before the village sends a search party out." She proclaimed. The others nodded and they all flew off towards the village.
Meanwhile back at Bucket and Mulch's farm, Stoick, Gobber and Edgar and Henna Fiersome were trying to help the two farmers with their animals.
"No chickens laying eggs…" Henna muttered as she checked every chicken.
"The sheep are too scared to even stay still to be sheared…" Edgar said as he tried to trim one sheep and it just ran away from him.
"Ah, uh…there it is, mm hmm! Just what I thought." Gobber mused as he finished examining a yak and stood up.
"She's not giving milk…none of them are." He reported to Stoick. "We know that, Gobber. We want to know why ." Stoick said gruffly.
"This reminds me of the time I moved my mother in with my goat. She was mean, ornery, ate everything in sight. The goat was so scared of her, she couldn't give milk." Gobber recalled.
Henna and Edgar looked at each other in surprise. And here they thought it was the goat that was mean, ornery and ate everything in sight!
Stoick raised an eyebrow. "So, what are you saying, Gobber?" he asked curiously.
"Mothers and goats don't mix. Same with farm animals and dragons. We stopped fighting dragons, so now they're around all the time. The animals are spooked." Gobber explained.
As if on cue, a dragon swooped by and frightened a trio of sheep. The sheep, due to their intense fright, merely dropped to the ground like flies.
"Like I said, spooked ." Gobber repeated for emphasis. Edgar and Henna then went over to the sheep to put them upright once more.
Suddenly they heard Bucket moaning. The adults turned to the bucket-wearing Viking and noticed that he was clutching his bucket covered head in pain.
"Uh oh. Your bucket's not tightening up on 'ya, is it?" Mulch asked in concern.
"No, I'm just…" Bucket managed to reply before his bucket tightened up on his head even more!
"Fiiiiiiine! " Bucket screamed in pain, getting on his knees.
"Well whenever his bucket gets tight, it means a storm is coming." Mulch told Stoick, Gobber and the two Fiersomes.
"It does?" Edgar and Henna asked at the same time in surprise. Back on their old home in the South, their people had other methods of predicting the weather-and none of them involved people wearing buckets.
"No storm, everything's fine." Bucket said hastily. "Bucket…" Mulch chided him.
"I don't want there to be a storm! If lightning strikes me bucket, I could end up less intelligent." Bucket said fearfully before wailing in pain as his bucket tightened up again.
"Oh, ho, ho! That's one tight bucket. And the tighter the bucket, the bigger the storm." Mulch remarked.
"Poor Bucket…" Henna said worriedly. "Maybe we can try to loosen up that old bucket of yours…" Edgar offered helpfully only to get a pained wail from Bucket who swatted Edgar's hands away from his bucket.
"But that's crazy. Storm's don't hit this early in the season." Stoick said, confused. "And besides, who ever heard of predicting the weather with a bucket ? That's what chicken bones and goose feet are for." Gobber added, dubious of Mulch's claim.
"If you recall, that bucket of his predicted the blizzard of Olaf!" Mulch reminded the two-limbed blacksmith. "That was a bad one! It took us a week just to dig Mildew out." Bucket whimpered in agreement.
"And the rest of our lives to wonder why we bothered." Mulch added. "The world would've been more peaceful if you hadn't dug the old coot out…" Edgar said wistfully, earning him a hard glare from his wife.
"Trust the bucket, Stoick." Mulch told the Chief who remained steadfast. "You trust the bucket. I want a second opinion." Stoick said stubbornly before leaving with Gobber and the Fiersomes.
High up on the highest point in the village stood Gothi's house. Not many people knew how in Valhalla was the Elder able to get down from there to attend village celebrations and the like. And it was highly likely that they never will. Right now, Gothi stood in front of the four adults seeking her wisdom.
"Gothi, I've come for your counsel. Is there going to be a storm?" Stoick asked the little old lady.
As she was a non-speaker, Gothi used her staff to draw symbols in the small bit of dirt she had on her porch.
"I'll never know why she never speaks, love." Henna murmured curiously. "We probably never will, dear." Edgar whispered to her.
"What's she saying, Gobber?" Stoick asked. The blacksmith carefully looked at the runes and said, "She says: 'What do you think? ' Huh?"
Stoick, Gobber, Edgar and Henna looked at each other and back at Gothi in confusion. Sighing, Gothi pointed with her staff to behind them. Looking at Gothi's house, the four adults saw that there were sandbags lining the house and all the windows and doors were bolted shut.
"How could we have missed that?" Edgar wondered out loud. "You're positive, Gothi?" Henna asked the Elder who nodded.
"How can you be so sure? Was it the chicken bones? Or the goose feet?" Stoick asked. Gothi proceeded to draw more runes in the dirt. Gobber translated and his eyebrows went up in surprise.
"She says she could hear Bucket screaming from way up here." He told Stoick, Edgar and Henna. Well, that made them all think twice about Bucket's bucket.
Meanwhile on one of the watchtowers on the island, Aline, Hiccup, Astrid and Zenna along with their dragons as well as the rest of the members of the Berk Dragon Academy.
"…And her barrier stopped the entire avalanche in its tracks." Hiccup finished the recounting of the avalanche incident with enthusiasm.
"I've never heard of anything like that." Fishlegs said in awe.
"I know! It was incredible. Who knows what else her magic can do!" Astrid agreed with him. "What exactly is it anyway?"
"It's a very advanced Barrie Spell that I learned over the years. Only high level unicorns and alicorns can perfect such a barrier." Aline explained.
That's when the Twins arrived with news.
"Hey, Hiccup! Your father's looking for you." Tuffnut told the one-legged boy. "He looked angry." Ruffnut added.
"He's looked angry since the day I was born…But I'm sure there's no connection." Hiccup said as he got on Toothless. "I sure hope not." Zenna said, getting on Stryka as well and the four friends flew off to the Haddock house.
At Hiccup's house, Stoick informed the two Dragon Trainers of the oncoming dilemma. "With a bad storm coming we could be locked in. We might not be able to hunt or fish for months!" the Chief said seriously.
"That's weird. The weather's been pretty fine these past couple of weeks." Zenna said, perplexed.
"But it's way too early for a storm. We're in the middle of winter! Devastating Winter isn't due for another month!" Hiccup said, perplexed as well.
"Not according to Gothi." Stoick told them both.
"Well, what are Zenna and I supposed to do? We can't control the weather!" Hiccup said in defense.
"No…but the both of you can control dragons. If they don't stop scaring the animals, we won't have any provisions to live on." Stoick said seriously.
"We'd have some provisions left if all of you went on a diet…" Zenna mumbled, making her parents look at her disapprovingly while Hiccup covered his mouth to block out a laugh.
Just then, Mulch and Bucket come in with an empty milk bucket. "Ah! Any luck?" Stoick inquired hopefully. Mulch handed him the bucket, frowning. "Not a drop. And this is after yankin' on that poor yak for three hours." Mulch said miserably.
"The poor yak." Zenna said pitifully.
"But it's not like the dragons are trying to be scary. I mean, they don't even eat farm animals. They eat fish!" Hiccup said, defending the dragons. "A lot of fish." Zenna added.
"True…but they're huge, they breathe fire, and now that we've made peace with them, they're everywhere. The animals are terrified of them." Gobber pointed out.
"That's why we need you two and all your friends to help." Edgar told his daughter and her friend.
"And it needs to be done before the storm hits the island." Henna said in agreement.
"Here's where you two jump in and say, 'We'll fix this. '" Stoick looked at the two Viking teens expectantly. "Okay…But how long do Zenna and I have before the storm hits?" Hiccup inquired.
"About a week." Mulch told him and Zenna.
"That's enough time." Zenna remarked.
"No problem. More than enough—" Hiccup began to agree with her when Bucket howled in pain again and clutched his bucket.
"Correction: three days, six hours." Mulch said worriedly. "How can a bucket be so freakishly accurate?" Zenna wondered out loud, slightly creeped out. "Uh, okay…less time…might be more of a problem?" Hiccup said uncertainly.
"Let's get to work then." Zenna shrugged before she and Hiccup left to round up the animals and some of the dragons. And already, the storm was slowly reaching Berk…
After rounding up the chickens, sheep and yaks as well as the Monstrous Nightmare and Deadly Nadder from earlier at the arena, the Dragon Trainers got to work.
"They wanna be friends, little guy. Come on." Zenna gently coaxed a little sheep over to the Deadly Nadder only to have it hide behind her legs.
"Come on, big boy. You can do it. Come on. You'll really like them if you get to know them." Hiccup grunted as he tried to get a yak to interact with the dragons, the animal struggling against him for all it was worth.
"The dragons look scary but they're just big, scary reptiles." Astrid said helpfully.
"Just like Snotlout." Tuffnut snickered. The Jorgenson boy didn't take this insult very well and lifted the male Thorston twin off the floor. But just as he was about to slug Tuffnut in the face, Snotlout looked carefully and asked, "You're the guy, right? "
"No!" Tuffnut said quickly in a poor imitation of his sister Ruffnut's voice.
Hiccup and Zenna once again tried to get the dragons and animals close but failed yet again. "What now?" Zenna sighed.
That's when Fishlegs came up with an idea. "Okay, what if we look at this from an animal's perspective?" he suggested.
Getting down on all fours, Fishlegs crawled over to the dragons. "Oh, hello, Mr. Dragon! I'm just a little sheep here…walking…doing sheep things…Baaa!" Fishlegs bleated out the last part as he got over to the Monstrous Nightmare.
"Baaa! You know he doesn't really seem so big and—" Fishlegs then suddenly screamed when the dragon roared in his face. Quickly, the boy scrambled over to his Gronckle, Meatlug, and hid underneath her.
"Sorry! But I'm siding on the sheep with this one." Fishlegs whimpered. "Well at least we know how the dragons are scaring them…" Zenna shrugged.
"Look, I've learned that once you have a positive experience with something you're afraid of…" Hiccup said and herded some sheep together before continuing with, "…it isn't so scary anymore."
"That's what the two of us learned when we met our dragons." Zenna remarked. Hiccup then got a trio of sheep together.
"Okay, here you go boys…over here. And that's what we'll have to do with these sheep. We gotta prove to them that they have nothing to fear—" Hiccup had just said this when the dragons started quarrelling again.
To make things worse, the Monstrous Nightmare fired a shot and it set a sheep's tail on fire!
"Oh, not again!" Zenna moaned as Astrid caught the fleeing sheep and Hiccup patted out the flames.
"Ooh-aaah-at this rate we'll never get any milk or eggs." Hiccup groaned.
"The gods hate us…" Zenna sighed, looking up at the sky and noticing that the clouds were already dark and ominous.
Meanwhile, Stoick, Gobber, Edgar and Henna were checking out the food storage warehouse, which was looking rather inadequate in provisions.
"Just as I feared. We haven't had time to fully stock the food store house. If this storm is as bad as I think it is, we're never going to survive!" Stoick muttered.
“Not with this inventory." Gobber agreed with him.
"Well, what can we do now Chief?" Edgar asked.
"We're going to need everything we can get from those chickens and yaks." Stoick replied.
"I'm not really comfortable putting my fate in the hands of a brainless bird and a big wooly beast that sleeps in its own dung." Gobber commented.
"Well luckily our fate isn't in their hands. It's in my son's." Stoick reassured him.
"Don't forget our daughter. I'm sure she and Hiccup are doing well." Henna added optimistically.
Unfortunately, Zenna's mother couldn't be any more wrong.
Back at the Dragon Academy, the animals were running around in frightened circles with Zenna frantically trying to corral them into one group.
That's when Aline came in with her dragons, "Hey guys.. need any help?"
"What do you think!" Zenna called frantically.
Aline chuckled and she looked at Pouncer, Dart and Ruffrunner."Night Lights, Corral." The three Night Lights flew over to the farm animals and corralled them into one group. The farm animals were scared of the tiny dragons but Pouncer, Dart and Ruffrunner landed and drew in the ground and showed the animals.
They were drawings of them!
"Aww... they drew the farm animals.." Astrid chuckled.
The farm animals were surprised at the three Night Lights who happily chirped before bounding over to Sarah.
"Another way for the animals to overcome their fear is to show them that dragons are afraid of things too." Hiccup told his friends.
"Remember Magnus the Merciless? He was a pretty scary guy." Astrid remarked. Fishlegs shuddered as he recalled the scary Viking that often gave him nightmares.
"I was afraid of him until I learned that he was afraid of the dark!" Astrid then quipped.
"So during the day: merciless." Tuffnut said. "And during the night…Tuffnut!" Ruffnut added, smirking before yelping, "Ow!" as her brother punched her.
"Hey! That's a real problem." The male Thorston said defensively. "I'm just saying: Knowing that he was afraid of something made him less scary to me." Astrid decided to add.
"Yes. So let's show the yaks that dragons are afraid of things too." Hiccup agreed with the tough shield maiden. "Namely, the dreaded eels! " Zenna proclaimed as Hiccup took out an eel from a basket and shoved it in front of the dragons' faces.
Seeing the dragons roar and rear back in terror at the sight of the slippery creature, the yaks began to think that maybe the beasts weren't so terrifying after all.
"I think it's working!" Astrid said excitedly.
"It is working!" Zenna said giddily. But then the eel had somehow managed to get on the floor really close to the dragons! That's when the Monstrous Nightmare flicked its tail, scaring the yaks and flinging a poor sheep into the wall in the process!
"Or maybe not…" Zenna deadpanned, starting to lose hope. Hiccup moaned and held his head in his hands in frustration.
"Don't worry." Astrid reassured him.
"Worried? I-I'm not worried! Do I look worried?" Hiccup stuttered, his face clearly showing the sure signs of anxiety.
"You're starting to develop an eye twitch. I'd say you're already beyond worried." Zenna informed him, feeling sorry for her best friend.
Back in the village, the storm was already starting to gain strength. Villagers hurried into the Great Hall, bringing in whatever valuables and supplies they could carry.
"Bring in everything you need! We don't know how long we'll need to be hunkered down!" Stoick yelled to his people. Edgar and Henna were busy escorting the children into the Great Hall when Mulch arrived, carrying poor Bucket in a wheelbarrow.
"How's Bucket doing?" Stoick asked Mulch. "Look at him! He usually loves a wheelbarrow ride." Mulch said worriedly, looking at his friend who was moaning and groaning in pain.
"Mulch, I'll take care of Bucket. You and Gobber go find the kids and bring them here." Stoick told him and nodded to Gobber who, along with Mulch, left to head for the Dragon Academy.
"No! Heel!" Zenna cried out as she chased after the sheep. "Hey! Calm down! Get back over here!" Astrid shouted, attempting to keep the dragons and animals separated.
Hiccup held onto a clucking chicken, trying not to get pecked by it. "You know what I'm learning from all this? Chickens are really, well, chicken." He said thoughtfully.
"You don't say?" Zenna asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"What if we showed them how much they have in common with the dragons?" Fishlegs suddenly piped up. Hiccup, Astrid and Zenna could only look at him in confusion.
"They both lay eggs, right? A Terrible Terror laid one last week!" Saying this, Fishlegs carefully placed the unusually large, green dragon egg (to this day, nobody knows how such a small dragon like the Terrible Terror can lay such a massive egg ) on the floor near the chickens.
Clucking curiously, the chickens surrounded the egg and one sat on top of it like it usually would with its own.
"Alright, see? An egg's an egg, right ladies?" Hiccup asked them, hoping that this would work. Unfortunately, shortly after he said this, the egg hatched and the resulting explosion blew the chicken sitting on it sky-high.
"Until it explodes…" Hiccup deadpanned. Zenna then quickly tended to the newly-hatched Terror as Gobber and Mulch arrived.
"Everybody out, the storm is here!" Gobber announced. "What?! Already?!" Zenna exclaimed in shock while the rest cleared the arena.
"Ah, wha-wait! We haven't made any progress with the animals!" Hiccup protested. "Your father wants everyone in the Great Hall!" Gobber told him.
"We're not leaving until we fix this." Zenna said stubbornly. "Take the others. Zenna and I need to stay and keep working with the animals. They're…still afraid." Hiccup told the old blacksmith.
"You can't get eggs from a frozen chicken! We've got to get the animals in the barn!" Gobber told them sternly, herding Hiccup, Zenna, the animals and the dragons out of the Dragon Academy.
But when they arrived at the barn, the storm had already gotten so strong that the barn was now completely covered in ice and snow!
"So much for the barn." Gobber sighed. "There's no other place to hold them!" Mulch shouted over the howling of the wind. "There's still one place!" Zenna informed him.
"The Great Hall!" Hiccup yelled, pointing in the Hall's direction.
"So, we're gonna have the dragons and animals under the same roof? We know that won't work." Mulch chuckled nervously. "We have no choice, let's go." Hiccup said as he and his friends and their dragons got to work.
"Alright, keep 'em separate!" Mulch hollered as they trudged through the snow. "Got it!" Zenna yelled as she herded the dragons to one side of the group.
"This way!" Astrid shouted as she herded the yaks. "Come on, come on! Let's go! Oh, this way guys!" Fishlegs hollered as he handled the sheep.
Just when Hiccup and Zenna thought that nothing else could go wrong, the dragons got at it again and got into another fight! Startled by that as well as frightened by the storm, all the animals decided to make a break for it!
"Oh no, no, no…Come back!" Zenna shrieked as she and Stryka frantically tried to keep some of the animals from running off. Ruffnut was being attacked by a crazed chicken, Tuffnut was also trying to chase them, Fishlegs was then spun about by a fleeing yak. It was complete pandemonium and mayhem!
"Hey, I got this under control!" Snotlout said, standing in the way of three escaping yaks. But then he got trampled.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ooooh…ow! Okay, everything hurts." The poor boy whimpered after he got trampled into the ground.
"Aww…" Hiccup moaned, watching the animals flee into the storm. Looking at Zenna, who nodded seriously, Hiccup mounted Toothless.
"Where are you going?" Gobber questioned him.
"I'm going after them!" Hiccup replied.
"And so am I!" Zenna added, getting on Stryka's back.
"Forget it, Hiccup! We'll never get them rounded up in this storm, Zenna!" Gobber tried to reason with the two.
"It's worth a shot!" Zenna said in defiance.
"With Toothless and Stryka we can! Zenna and I have to try. If we don't, we starve to death." Hiccup said seriously.
"No! Your father and your parents will kill me if I left you two out here-!" Gobber shouted as the two friends readied for take-off.
"Sorry, Gobber!" "Be right back, Gobber!" With those words, Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka took off into the sky.
"Me too, wait up!" Aline called.
"Hiccup! Zenna! Come back here! Astrid, will you talk some sense—" Gobber then turned around to see Astrid and everyone else about to get on their dragons too!
"Ah—No, no, not you too! Astrid! You're not going with…Ach! Get back here all of you!" Gobber's hollers fell on five pairs of deaf ears as the rest of the Dragon Riders went after Aline, Hiccup and Zenna.
In the Great Hall, everyone else was trying to stay warm. Suddenly the wind blew the doors open and the people cried of its cold.
"Move those tables against the doors!" Stoick ordered.
"We got it." Scar and Shear called as they moved the tables against the door with their strength.
But no sooner had they done so, Gobber burst in.
"Stoick! The barn's been destroyed! The animals have scattered!" Gobber shouted.
"Where's Hiccup and the others?" Stoick asked, noticing that the eight Viking teens were missing.
"I tried to stop him, Stoick. They went after the animals." Gobber admitted.
"WHAT?!" Edgar yelled in horror.
"You let Hiccup and our daughters go out into this storm?! Why Gobber, I oughta…" Henna marched up to the two-limbed blacksmith but, luckily for Gobber, was held back by some of the villagers.
That's when Mulch came back with two yaks. "I caught these two. I figured at least with these we'd be able to start a new herd." He said.
"You might want to take another look, Mulch." Gobber told him as he and Stoick headed out to search for the kids. Mulch took a quick peek and realized he had brought back males .
"Oh! Uh, never mind boys!" Mulch chuckled sheepishly.
Edgar and Henna both looked at each other and nodded. Rushing past, Mulch they headed out of the Great Hall to join Gobber in Stoick in their search. Their daughter was out there in the cold and there was no way they were going to let her freeze to death with her friends out there!
With their dragons and Aline's bright horn serving as their lights, the seven Dragon Riders flew on through the fierce storm in search of the scattered farm animals.
"You find as many as you can. We'll herd them back to the Great Hall." Hiccup instructed his friends.
"Can we swing by my house? I'd like to get my heavy coat." Fishlegs asked meekly, already chilled to the bone.
"We've got bigger things to worry about, Fish!" Zenna reprimanded him, squinting through the snow.
"Check this out!" Ruffnut then turned to see her twin brother punch himself in the face, "I'm so cold I can't feel my face." Tuffnut told her.
Ruffnut punched him herself to test it out. "Didn't feel it!" Tuffnut said in a sing-song tone.
"That takes all the fun out of it!" Ruffnut huffed.
Suddenly Hiccup cried out, "There they are! Come on!" pointing to the animals down below.
"Let's get to wrangling, everyone!" Zenna shouted as she and Hiccup dove down.
"Yaks to the left!" Fishlegs called out as he and Meatlug herded a bunch of yaks. "Chickens to the right!" Snotlout yelled, suddenly diving down and nearly collided with the Ingerman and Gronckle duo!
"Hey! I'm flying here!" Snotlout yelled at Fishlegs before having Hookfang hover over the fleeing poultry.
"Chickens! Over here! Follow me this way. Come on!" he commanded. That's when Hookfang decided to misbehave! "Wait! Where are you going? Ahhhhh!" Snotlout screamed, holding onto his dragon's horns for dear life.
Zenna was trying to spot some animals when Snotlout and Hookfang nearly crashed into her and Stryka!
"Focus, you two! Focus! " the one-eyed girl snapped only to be ignored as Hookfang and Snotlout flew away from them. Stryka just groaned and rolled her emerald green eye, hoping that the idiotic duo wouldn't do anything to mess the mission up.
Meanwhile, Fishlegs got a herd of sheep together. "Sheep! Hey sheep, this way! Baaahh! Baah! Baah!" the husky blond boy bleated and smiled upon seeing that the sheep were doing okay. "Hey, it's working! Baah!" he said happily.
But his happiness was short-lived when Meatlug got stuck under a log!
"Baahh!" Fishlegs bleated miserably. Good thing Astrid was there to cover for him!
"I got them! Now! " Upon Astrid's go signal, Stormfly launched a couple of spikes and made a makeshift corrall for the sheep. "Gotcha!" Astrid said, relieved.
But then, Snotlout just had to come flying out of nowhere and ruin it screaming, "Duuuhh! Gaaahhhh!"
"Snotlout, what are you doing? You're all over the place!" Astrid shouted angrily at him.
"You try herding chickens with a dragon that doesn't listen to you!" Snotlout retorted, still hanging onto Hookfang for dear life.
"Hiccup! Three sheep!" Astrid yelled to the one-legged boy, spotting three sheep on a ridge up ahead. Without wasting any time, Hiccup urged Toothless forward.
The three sheep were walking along a dangerous steep path. Suddenly the smallest one of them, a wee lamb, slipped off the ridge, slid down a slope bleating helplessly in a panic and began to plummet into a ravine!
But just when the little lamb thought that its life was over, a male Night Fury swooped in and saved it! The animal could only look at Toothless in awe as he ducked his head down to give the lamb a gummy upside-down grin. Then gently, Toothless returned the little lamb to its parents.
"Good job, bud." Hiccup smiled, relieved to have saved some animals. "I gotcha!" he suddenly heard Zenna holler and turned his head in her voice's direction.
A bunch of chickens had been slipping about on the ice and Stryka carefully clutched them in her arms to carry them to safer ground.
"Great work there, girl." Zenna praised the female Night Fury.
Astrid and Stormfly then flew over to the duo. "Hiccup, Zenna, the storm is getting worse! I can't see anything!" she told them, trying to see but couldn't.
"We need some light, Stryka." "Come on, bud. Give us some light." Zenna and Hiccup told their Night Furies who both shot out plasma blasts to illuminate the darkness.
"Stray yaks twelve o' clock!" Hiccup alerted his friends, seeing four figures in the distance.
"I see them and they are huge! " Tuffnut hollered as he and his sister rode Barf and Belch to fetch the yaks.
Zenna squinted at the four yak-like figures. Her eye widened when she saw that the yaks were, in fact, Stoick, Gobber and her parents!
"Those aren't yaks!" she yelled as loudly as she could but the Twins were too far away to hear her. Scooping up the things they thought as animals, the Twins grinned at each other.
"I got the yaks." Tuffnut said triumphantly.
"Put me down right now! " a familiar gruff voice bellowed to the Twins from below. Looking down, Ruffnut and Tuffnut saw that Barf and Belch had actually picked up Stoick, Gobber and Mr. and Mrs. Fiersome.
Without question, they released them and the adults landed on the ground with four loud 'thuds! '
"Do I look like a yak to you?!" Gobber yelled angrily as he got on all fours in a very yak-like stance, ironically having landed beside a real yak.
"Mom! Dad! What're you two doing here?" Zenna questioned her mother and father as she and Stryka came in for a landing.
"Looking for you, love! How could you and Stryka just fly off like that?" Henna said worriedly.
"When we get back to the village, you and Stryka are grounded for a week!" Edgar said sternly.
Sarah, Stryka and Zenna sighed, accepting their punishments. But Edgar and Henna sighed and hugged their daughter, just glad that she was safe and sound.
Now it was Hiccup's turn to face his father. Landing Toothless down, Hiccup looked at Stoick guiltily.
"You shouldn't be out here, Hiccup." The Chief said to his son sternly yet, nonetheless, still worried about him. "Dad, I'm sorry I let you down." Hiccup said, feeling guilty.
"It's not your fault, son. I'm taking you back." Stoick reassured him. "Let's hurry. The storm's getting stronger by the second." Edgar reminded him.
"Which way?" Gobber asked. "Follow our tracks." Stoick motioned to the ground. "There aren't any." Henna said, seeing that the wind and snow had gotten rid of all their footprints.
"So much for that idea." Gobber sighed.
Fishlegs' teeth chattered as he asked Stoick, "Sir? What do we do now?" All of the teens were now feeling the cold and shivering.
"C-c-c-cold…" Zenna stammered, rubbing her arms desperately to keep warm.
Stoick looked at the seven teens in concern and advised, "Everyone, come together."
Immediately all of them huddled together and tried to stay warm. Sarah tried to think of something to do for them until her Lion mark glowed once more.
"Maybe..."
Aline then stepped in front of her huddled friends, "Aline?" Edgar asked. Before Aline closed her eyes, concentrated and her horn glowed very brightly before it launched a beam into the air that spread around the ground creating a powerful barrier, blocking the snow and the wind as well.
"Holy Shields..." Zenna gasped.
"Odin's Beard..." Edgar added.
"Let's go back to the village. Everyone!" Aline called as she headed due North, back towards the village.
"You heard her! Let's go!" Zenna snapped and everyone, farm animals, dragons and all ran after the Alicorn. In no time at all, the group saw the village ahead, "There!" Stoick called and Aline continued her barrier spell until the group made it into the village and entered the Great Hall.
The villagers were happy to see them safe and sound. "They're back! And they're alright." Mulch said in relief amidst the cheering of the villagers as the group that had been missing entered the Great Hall with the animals.
"And the animals are alright too!" Bucket said happily.
Suddenly Mulch nudged Bucket. "Uh oh. Here come the dragons." He said warningly as Hookfang came in. To Mulch's surprise, the Monstrous Nightmare had the sheep on his back and gently let them down. In fact, all the animals were now comfortable with the dragons!
"Will you look at that." Mulch remarked in amazement. Suddenly Astrid called out, "Hey, everyone!"
Hiccup and Zenna came in, each holding a chicken-and one newly laid egg.
"The chickens are laying eggs again!" both friends shouted, earning cheers from everyone.
"I was right. Chickens do lay eggs." Bucket grinned. As everyone celebrated, Hiccup and Zenna along with their parents watched as the dragons curled protectively around the farm animals.
"Aline, that was incredible! I've never saw anything like that in my entire life." Hiccup said with a smile.
"Oh, it was nothing." Aline blushed.
"No laddie, that was something alright." Gobber replied.
"In all my years of Chiefing I've never seen a sight like that before." Stoick said.
"What was that anyway, lass?" Edgar asked.
"It's just a small piece of my Alicorn Magic," Aline explained. "It's very powerful."
"That's for sure." Astrid smiled
My Little Dragons: Book 2: Riders of Berk
Chapter 4: In Dragons We Trust
Dragon Training begins and ends with trust. Both the dragon's and the Rider's. So it was no surprise that on this particular afternoon, Hiccup and Zenna decided to take their friends and their dragons out of the Academy to do an extreme version of the Trust Fall Exercise with their dragons.
Hiccup and Zenna both smiled contentedly as they fell through the air, lying on their backs and the ocean rapidly approaching as they continued their descent. Flipping themselves over to face the oncoming water, both teens patiently waited
Just as they were inches away from the frigid ocean, Toothless and Stryka swooped in and caught them on their backs. "Nice catch, bud. A little close…"Hiccup praised his trusty one tail finned Night Fury. "Good job, girl. You always come through for me." Zenna smiled at her one eyed Night Fury. Both Toothless and Stryka crooned in pleasure and soared up into the clouds.
Joining their other Dragon Rider friends, Hiccup and Zenna simultaneously voted on the next one to try the Extreme Trust Fall-Fishlegs Ingerman and his female Gronckle, Meatlug.
"It's your turn. Jump!" Hiccup coaxed the chubby blond Viking. Fishlegs, however, remained on the saddle.
"I don't want to jump! I…" he managed to protest before Hiccup told him, "You have to believe she's gonna catch you! It's a trust exercise."
"You and Meatlug can do it! Just trust each other." Zenna encouraged the husky Viking teen. "I like to do my trusting on the ground, thank you very much!" Fishlegs squeaked nervously.
"Like this, chicken-legs. " Snotlout Jorgenson said pointedly and, with a whoop of excitement, slid off of his Monstrous Nightmare, Hookfang, and fell.
Seconds passed…and Hookfang made no move to dive down after his Rider.
"So…should we mention something to Hookfang?" Tuffnut Thorston asked while sitting on Belch, his half of the Hideous Zippleback he and his sister shared.
"Let me sleep on it." Ruffnut Thorston, Tuff's twin sister, said nonchalantly.
"I think Snotlout's gonna hit the rocks instead of the water." Zenna observed, seeing the rock spires jutting out from the ocean near the cliffs.
Astrid on her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly, then shouted to Snotlout's dragon, "Hookfang! Get him!"
Hookfang lazily turned his gaze to his Rider. "Not feeling the trust!" Snotlout was screaming as he hurtled down towards uncertain doom! Panicking, Hookfang quickly dove down to catch him, which he did. Now the only problem was that they were going too fast to maneuver properly!
"AH! Coming in too hot! AHH!" Snotlout yelled as they crashed through a house's roof.
And Hiccup and Zenna both saw that it was Mildew's house.
"Holy Shields Snotlout, get out of there quick…" Zenna muttered, feeling both annoyed by the black haired bruiser's stupidity and worried for his and his dragon's safety.
Back in Mildew's house, Snotlout and Hookfang were recovering from their crash. Once he managed to refocus, Snotlout nervously looked around the house until his gaze landed on…
"Mildew! " Snotlout gulped once he saw the old coot scowling at him. Immediately getting on Hookfang, Snotlout high tailed it out of the old Viking's house and caused even more damage to the roof.
Mildew glared at the fleeing teen. "You'll pay for this!" he yelled at the Dragon Riders and their dragons. Fungus, Mildew's pet sheep, merely bleated.
As their friends flew with them, Hiccup and Zenna worriedly looked at each other. "Ohh…something tells me we're gonna hear about this…" Hiccup mumbled, already imagining how steamed his father, Stoick the Vast, was gonna be. "Thanks a lot, Snot." Zenna said sarcastically, glaring at Snotlout with her one violet eye. "It wasn't my fault!" Snotlout protested, only to get his butt nearly burned by Hookfang.
That evening in Hiccup's house, Hiccup and Zenna looked at the piece of wood Stoick had set down on the table in front of them, along with a hammer and some nails that Edgar and Henna, Zenna's parents, had placed as well.
"Shingle again? Didn't we have roofing material for dinner last night?" Hiccup said jokingly, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Hammer and nails again, Mom and Dad? That's the fifth time this week." Zenna tried to joke around as well.
But there was no denying the fact that both teens' parents were upset.
"It was an accident, Dad. I'm sure Mildew's making it sound worse than it is." Hiccup said in defense. "That's what he usually does whenever he wants to complain about something." Zenna chimed in.
"A dragon and a huge, obnoxious boy crashed through his roof…twice!" Stoick said sternly. "Well, sure, it sounds bad if you're gonna…stick to the facts." Hiccup mumbled sheepishly.
"And while it was only Snotlout's fault, Zen, it is also partially yours and Hiccup's as well." Edgar told his daughter. "Can't you and Hiccup get him to listen to you two, love?" Henna asked Zenna. "Mom, Dad, trust me. Trying to get Snotlout to listen is like trying to teach a yak how to lay eggs." Zenna deadpanned, rolling her eye.
Stoick carried on with, "Of all the houses on the island, a dragon had to crash through Mildew's! You two know he hates dragons more than anyone else!" Hiccup sighed a bit. "Eh, Zen and I know…You might wanna talk to him about his attitude." He suggested.
"Or you can ship him off to another tribe. Berk will be a lot better off without him." Zenna piped up, only to get disapproving looks from both Stoick and her parents.
"Listen to me, Hiccup. I gave you and Zenna the responsibility of training those dragons. Everyone knows that! All eyes are upon you two, son. Whatever those beasts do reflects on you two. And whatever you two do reflects on me." Stoick explained to his emerald eyed son.
"It also reflects on the tribe's reputation. Zenna, you and Hiccup need to keep the dragons under control." Henna advised her daughter. "Not to mention some of your fellow Riders." Edgar added, referring to Snotlout and the Twins.
"I'm sorry, Dad. You're right." "Okay Mom and Dad. We will." Hiccup and Zenna both mumbled. "You and your friends are gonna go back to Mildew's and fix that roof. Without your dragons! " Stoick, Henna and Edgar both told the two teens sternly.
Hiccup and Zenna glanced at their Night Furies. "Got a break there, bud." Hiccup told Toothless. "Looks like we won't be spending the whole day flying, girl." Zenna shrugged. Both Night Furies purred. Well, at least they could have some alone time.
When both teens turned to leave, Stoick stopped them along with Edgar. "Ah! Not so fast! Aren't you forgetting something?" Stoick asked Hiccup and then removed his boots.
"It's boot night! They need to be aired out." He handed his son his boots while Edgar handed his own boots to his daughter.
"UGH!" Hiccup and Zenna both gagged at the foul stench.
"I think it's going to take more than…air." Hiccup pinched his nose in attempt to dull his sense of smell.
"You said it…" Zenna grimaced as they both carried their fathers' boots outside. Their friends were also outside as well with boots of their own. And they weren't happy either to do the sickeningly gross task of airing out their parents' boots.
"Uck. I hate boot night!" Fishlegs complained, looking a bit green.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were holding a boot each. And Ruffnut was shoving the left boot she had into her brother's face. "Why is his left foot always so much smellier than his right?" Tuffnut wondered out loud, while trying to swat the boot away.
Astrid remained calm and just simply placed her father's boots out on the doorstep and quickly went back inside.
Zenna then quickly rushed to her house to place her Dad's boots in front of her house. Along the way, she caught sight of Snotlout. The poor Jorgenson boy had the boots with him and the smell was getting to him.
"Oh no…" Snotlout mumbled and promptly lost his lunch and dinner as soon as he had placed Spitelout's boots on the ground.
"You okay, Snotlout?" Zenna called out to him.
"No…" the teen Viking replied weakly.
Sighing, Zenna fetched a bottle of medicine and went to the poor boy to give it to him. After that, she went back to Hiccup's house and wished the Chief and his son and Toothless goodnight before going back home with her parents.
The night slowly grew darker as the snow began to fall. The cold winter air would've done good for the all the boots. But in the morning…every single boot in Berk had disappeared.
Stoick was puzzled to find his boots gone when he woke up. Even Hiccup was scratching his head in bewilderment. He placed the boots right where he usually placed them whenever it was boot night the night before. How could they have disappeared?
"Where are my boots?" Stoick asked and then saw Gobber, Edgar, Bucket, Mulch and a few other Vikings come over, all barefoot.
"Where are your boots?" the Chief asked them. "Nobody knows." Edgar shrugged. "They've all been stolen! Every last one!" Gobber told his old friend.
"Oh! That explains why me feet are so cold." Bucket realized, slow as always. "Who could have done such a thing?" Mulch asked.
Zenna had come with her father and was now looking at Hiccup, confused. Boots couldn't just disappear in the middle of the night. Well, unless they were stolen.
That's when Mildew showed up, also bootless. "All I know is that they left a mighty big footprint." He stated, pointing at a large dragon footprint with his staff.
Fishlegs carefully took a look at it. "Oh! Those are Zippleback tracks. You can tell by the half-moon shaped arches. That's Dragon 101 guys, I don't gotta fill you in on that." He said knowingly.
"I never should've given him Dragon Tracking lessons…" Zenna face palmed, knowing that this sort of info was just what Mildew needed to peg the dragons as the criminals.
Luckily Hiccup thought fast and said, "So a dragon walked through here-a Zippleback, according to my friend, Fishlegs. But that doesn't mean he took everyone's boots."
Mildew then replied with, "Well, there's just one way to find out. Follow the footprints."
Everyone then decided to follow the old man. Hiccup and Zenna just looked at each other, praying that the Zippleback had been a wild one and had already flown off. Because if Mildew proved his theory, the dragons were gonna be in trouble for sure.
The footprints led all the way to the Dragon Academy. Barf and Belch were there, still sleeping, along with a huge pile of chewed up leather boots.
"Oh Odin, no…" Zenna sighed, seeing Mildew's triumphant look. "So there's a bunch of boots piled around a Zippleback. That doesn't mean…" Hiccup managed to say before noticing the villagers' displeased looks.
"Okay, fine, he took the boots." The one-legged teen said in defeat.
Almost immediately, the villagers began to complain.
"How are we supposed to do any work in this weather without our boots?"
"This is outrageous!" a bunch of Vikings grumbled in annoyance.
"Now how long before something's done about these creatures, Stoick? How much more can we stand?!" Mildew shouted to the Chief.
Hiccup and Zenna were about to try diffuse the situation when Gobber stepped in. "Listen to yourselves…My feet are cold! You're Vikings ! Everything is cold! I'll fix your boots for yeh. You'll be back to work in no time." He addressed the crowd.
Stoick nodded his thanks. "You all heard Gobber. You'll be getting your boots back as good as new." He told his people.
While the villagers looked comfortable with that, Mildew was not. "That's it? No consequences for these dragons?" he asked Stoick bitterly. "They took our boots, Mildew. The world isn't coming to an end!" Stoick said sternly.
"If it were, the sky would be ablaze and Valhalla would be opening her doors wide open." Edgar chimed in. "Well said, Dad." Zenna agreed with him.
"Oh, don't be so sure. Dragons are wild beasts. There's no telling what else they'll do behind our sleeping backs." Mildew retorted. "Even dragons need to sleep, Mildew. That's what they all do at night too. I highly doubt they'd be up to something in the middle of the night." Zenna told him off, folding her arms across her chest.
Aline however went over to the boots and found some dragon scales that looked to belong to Barf and Belch, but something was off about them. They were sliced off at one end, which was unusual in terms of shedding.
"They don't destroy things on purpose!" Hiccup decided to speak up.
"Dah!" Mildew grumbled, much to Zenna's amusement.
"But you do have a point, Mildew."
At that statement, Zenna gave Hiccup a shocked look while Mildew said, "Uh-whuh?" in confusion.
Hiccup carried on. "They are wild animals. And they need us to keep an eye on them. And rest assured we will do just that!" he proclaimed, standing tall and proud. Then he looked at Barf and Belch, who had just woken up, and realized that their presence wasn't really helping.
"Will you get out of there?" he gently shooed the Zippleback away and turned to the crowd.
"You heard him, everyone. We'll keep a close eye on every dragon and make sure they don't get into any mischief. You can count on us." Zenna said confidently.
Trusting the Chief's son and his one-eyed friend, the crowd dispersed. When everyone had left, Zenna looked at Hiccup. "Just out of curiosity, how exactly are we going to keep an eye over every dragon on Berk?" she asked him.
Hiccup was already one step ahead of her.
"We're going on night patrol." The auburn headed Viking teen told his friends once they had all gathered that afternoon. "Night patrol! I love it!" Tuffnut exclaimed excitedly.
Then he asked, "What is it?" Zenna gave him a look that clearly said, 'You are such an idiot. '
"It's where we patrol…at night. To keep an eye on the dragons. Make sure they don't get blamed for anything." Hiccup explained to his friends.
Fishlegs raised his hand. "Um, have you cleared this with our parents? Because some of us might not be allowed out after a certain hour." He said meekly.
"Not allowed? Or afraaaaid ?" Snotlout jeered, getting all up in his face. "Hey! Things happen after dark. " Fishlegs told him in annoyance.
"Don't worry, Fishlegs. Hiccup and I made sure to ask permission to all of your parents earlier. They're all fine with the night patrol." Zenna reassured him. Then Hiccup sternly looked at the other Viking teens.
"Guys! We have to do this. You heard Mildew: he wants the dragons banished." He said seriously. "And that's not okay. If we want the dragons to stay, we'll have to make sure that they aren't blamed for any transgressions of the law." Zenna added, confusing Snotlout and the Twins on the word 'transgressions ' but didn't really care to explain the meaning.
The Twins immediately got excited. "Permission to shoot first and ask questions later?" Ruffnut requested eagerly. "Permission to skip the question?" Tuffnut joined in. "Both requests denied!" Zenna told them, miffed.
"We're just patrolling! No one is shooting anyone!" Hiccup reminded the mischievous duo. "I have a question! What's fun about that?" Tuffnut asked, already feeling bored.
"It's not supposed to be fun. It's a "Hiccup " Idea." Astrid told him. "Exactly." Hiccup said in agreement.
Then he realized what Astrid truly meant. "What? " he asked Astrid in confusion while Zenna merely laughed. "I totally agree with you, Astrid." The one-eyed girl giggled along with everyone else.
That night, the seven Viking teens split up to perform their night patrol. Astrid confidently strode to a house nearby and knocked.
"Hello sir!" she greeted the person who answered her door before looking up and noticed that it was a hungry Viking woman instead of a man who had answered her knock.
"Ah, ummm, ah—ma'm ." Astrid corrected herself before continuing. "My name is Astrid and I'm with the Dragon United Monitoring Brigade." She said and showed her the sash bearing the group's acronym, which unfortunately spelt…
"Dumb ?" the Viking woman asked her. "Yes. That is correct. Not my idea…" Astrid sighed, wondering why Hiccup chose such a stupid name for the group. But then she remembered the group's purpose and straightened up.
"But it is easy to remember. If you have any dragon-related problems, contact us. Just cup a hand on either side of your mouth and at the top of your lungs yell-" the blonde shield maiden managed to say before the woman just slammed the door in her face, clearly not interested.
"Dumb. " Astrid deadpanned in defeat.
Meanwhile, Snotlout and Hookfang were doing their patrol. Something moved in the shadows, catching Snotlout's eye.
"Halt! Who goes there!" the Jorgenson boy called out. "Take a wild guess." Gobber answered back, making himself visible.
"I don't think I like your attitude." Snotlout frowned, strolling up to the blacksmith. "Right back at yeh." Gobber fired back. "Yeah…but I'm the one with the sash." Snotlout reminded him, puffing his chest out. "Let me take a closer look at that." Gobber yanked on the sash to inspect it, despite Snotlout's protests.
What the two didn't notice was Hookfang sneaking off to Odin knows where…
"Dumb. Well that suits you." Gobber remarked, looking at the acronym. Snotlout huffed, feeling annoyed. "Okay, I think we're done here." He said, turning to where Hookfang was earlier. But upon seeing that his Monstrous Nightmare was gone, Snotlout groaned and hastened to go look for him.
In another part of the village, Fishlegs cautiously patrolled. Suddenly a small noise startled him. "Oh! What was that?" Fishlegs whispered to himself, already scared.
Just then, another noise came from who knows where! This time it was loud enough to send the chubby Ingerman running and screaming in fright. Little did he know that the noise was just the Twins playing around, as usual.
"Whoa…" The Twins both breathed out, amazed at how well their little prank had gone before looking at each other and asked at the same time, "Did you see me scare him?"
That then started an argument between the two of them.
"No, I scared him!" Ruffnut told her brother.
"No, I scared him!" Tuffnut shot back.
"No, me! "
"No, no, no!"
Ruffnut then chose this time to attack!
"Hey! Ugh!" the male Thorston griped and began to throw punches as well.
"It was me! I did it!" Ruffnut shrieked at him. "Clearly me!" Tuffnut retorted. Barf and Belch just looked at each other and shook their heads, clearly not amused by their Riders' antics.
Meanwhile, Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka were patrolling the town from up above. Stryka crooned, happy to stretch her wings alongside her mate on this beautiful moonlit night.
"Not one dragon out misbehaving, Hiccup." Zenna reported after scanning the whole area. Hiccup looked at Toothless who was also enjoying the cool evening air.
"Well, Mildew will be happy to know what dragons do at night: they sleep like everyone else." He told his best dragon friend happily.
"And he says that we can't keep dragons under control." Zenna smiled at the duo before frowning.
"What is it, Zenna?" Hiccup asked worriedly. The one eyed girl decided to be honest. "Can we please change the name Dragon United Monitoring Brigade to Berk Watch? " Zenna pleaded.
"What's wrong with D.U.M.B.?" Hiccup asked stupidly but then realized the blunder when Zenna give him a deadpan look.
"Ohhh…right…Berk Watch does sound a lot better, now that you mention it…" Hiccup said awkwardly. "It most definitely does." Zenna lightly laughed before they flew their separate ways to get some much needed rest.
But then, in the middle of the night…something happened in the Great Hall…
Hiccup was awoken by Zenna's panicked voice coming from outside his bedroom window.
"Hiccup! Hicc! Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, will you for the love of Thor, WAKE UP!"
Yawning, Hiccup lazily got out of bed and went to his window. Zenna was impatiently tapping her foot, Stryka at her side, looking frazzled.
"Morning to you too, Zen…What's up?" the emerald eyed teen mumbled sleepily. "The Great Hall's been thrashed! That's what's up!" Zenna exclaimed exasperatedly.
The one eyed girl's words immediately woke Hiccup fully. "We'll be down there in a few minutes!" he called out to her before leaving to wake up Toothless and his father.
Soon in the Great Hall, Stoick, Henna, Edgar, Hiccup, Zenna and the rest of the Viking teens were surveying the damage. And the damage was plenty. Posts were covered in claw marks, tapestries were ripped to shreds…yep, the Great Hall had definitely been thrashed.
"Oh dear…" Henna murmured, sadly looking at the ruined tapestries. She had even helped make some of them and now they were destroyed. "It's alright, love. There'll be plenty more wonderful tapestries for you to make for this place." Edgar comforted her.
"Who could have done such a thing?" Stoick wondered out loud. "Oh, it looks like a dragon to me!" Fishlegs piped up, inspecting a post that was covered in claw marks.
"We don't know for sure, Fishlegs!" Hiccup said, worried that his friend's extensive dragon knowledge would worsen suspicions on the dragons. "Sure we do. Look at this claw marks. It was obviously a Monstrous Nightmare. The spacing of the talons is dead on." The husky Ingerman informed him, completely oblivious to his friends' distress.
"Once again, thank you, Fishlegs!" Hiccup said begrudgingly. "Oh, stop, it's just basic stuff." Fishlegs said, a little embarrassed at the praise he was getting.
"He is so naïve…" Zenna said, shaking her head.
"Hey... look at this!" Aline called and the group went over a saw fainted bootprints along with scorch marks in the shape of circles going in a zig zag line.
"What kind of dragon made this?" Stoick asked.
"Those bootprints obviously belong to a Viking while the scorch are that of a Singetail. I know them anywhere, which means Nova was in here chasing someone out of the Great Hall.
"Nova?"
"I asked her to keep watch being that she's very territorial." Aline replied. "Well, until we figure out exactly who was in here, Starting tonight, every night, I want all the dragons put in the Academy under lock and key." He told them.
Late in the afternoon, Hiccup, Zenna and the rest of the Dragon Riders had to take their dragons to the Dragon Academy to put them there under lock and key. Thankfully, they were only going to confine them in the ring and not in the cages. Stoick was with Gobber and Zenna's parents when the teens flew over their heads. Serpent and Serpentine, Edgar and Henna's Hideous Zippleback, was obediently following Stryka and Zenna. Catching the adults' gaze, Hiccup and Zenna both gave them saddened looks before continuing on their way to the Academy.
"Oh, I hope Serpent and Serpentine don't have a rough night…" Henna said, worried for the young Zippleback following Stryka like an obedient child in the sky.
"They'll be alright, love. After all, Stryka will be there with them." Edgar reassured her but gave Stoick a look that clearly said that he was also uncomfortable with his decision to lock the dragons up.
"You had to cage the dragons, Stoick. You had no choice." Gobber told his old friend upon seeing the regret on Stoick's face. Stoick heaved a sigh. The old blacksmith was right. If he hadn't done it, Mildew would've stirred up the island and the problem would've worsened. But still…it didn't feel right at all.
"I know. But to Hiccup, when I punish them, I'm punishing him and Zenna." Stoick admitted.
"Yeah, that boy and his best friend both think the dragons can do no wrong." Gobber agreed, feeling sorry for his apprentice and one eyed friend.
"I just hope that he understands that while a father does what's best for his son, a chief must do what's best for the village." Stoick sighed. "You had to make a sacrifice for your people, Stoick. We understand that." Edgar told him.
"I just hope that our children will also understand when the time comes. Especially for Hiccup…" Henna said hopefully.
"I'll bet my right arm that when Hiccup becomes Chief, the first person to officially swear allegiance to him would be Zenna. That girl will follow him to the edge of the world if she has to prove her loyalty!" Gobber said jokingly, making the two Fiersomes laugh.
Stoick had to smile at that. He knew Zenna very well. Where he had failed as a father back then, Zenna was there to fill whatever hole Hiccup had when he was alone and needed someone. The one eyed girl had become his son's rock and had stayed loyal to him from the day they met. In return, Stoick remembered that his son had taken up the role of becoming Zenna's surrogate brother when Elias had died.
No doubt that when the time came for his son to become his successor, Zenna would be by his side…and will stay with Hiccup to the very end.
Meanwhile at the Academy, the seven Viking teens were trying their best to make sure that their dragons were comfy. Zenna and Stryka were busily putting together a bed of soft hay and some blankets while Serpent and Serpentine ate their dinner.
"Sleep, little Meatlug in your bed, where yummy little boulders dance in your head." Fishlegs sang to Meatlug only to get sad growls from his Gronckle, who refused to sleep.
"That usually works! Our whole bedtime routine is upset! She won't even lick my feet, thanks to—" Fishlegs whined miserably before Snotlout cut him off.
"Watch it, Fishlegs! At least my dragon doesn't need a lullaby and a blanky." The Jorgenson boy taunted the husky Ingerman before noticing his friends glaring at him.
"Actually, it's your fault that all our dragons have to sleep in jail." Ruffnut pointed out, upset. "Yeah. You don't see our dragon going on a rampage and wrecking stuff." Tuffnut said in agreement before Barf and Belch promptly knocked down a few barrels.
"Well, not any good stuff." The male Thorston added in defense.
"That still doesn't help our situation, Tuff." Zenna said blandly.
Hiccup, on the other hand, was still thinking hard. "I don't think a dragon wrecked the Great Hall or stole the boots." He said out loud. "You're not the only one, Hicc. Something awfully suspicious is going on." Zenna said in agreement.
"None of us wants to believe it either, Hiccup and Zenna, but you two saw the proof." Astrid told the two as the three of them stood in front of one of the Zippleback prints left behind at the Academy from yesterday.
"What proof? You saw the footprints, too. They were supposed to be made by a Zippleback, but they were no deeper than mine. Look at these! I could lie down in them!" Hiccup said, gesturing to the footprint. Zenna knelt down and began to inspect the footprint from all angles, her eyebrows scrunching up in concentration.
"Well, there could be a lot of explanations why a dragon made shallow footprints." Fishlegs informed the duo.
"Like, hello, he was trying to be sneaky!" Ruffnut chimed in.
"That's true…" Zenna muttered, standing up with a skeptical look on her face as she tried to figure something out. "All right. Well, how do you explain the Great Hall?" Astrid asked.
"That's another thing. I inspected the Great Hall and noticed that aside from none of the food being stolen, the claw marks looked rather strange. I can't really put my finger on it but something didn't look right." Zenna said, looking even more determined to solve the mystery. "Plus you heard what Aline said about the scorch marks and bootprints."
"Where is Aline, anyway?" Fishlegs asked, seeing the Alicorn female was missing. The Riders' musings were interrupted by Hookfang flaming up and growling with annoyance at being locked up. Hiccup looked at Snotlout sternly.
"Snotlout, do something about him, please? We're trying to think over here." The auburn headed teen told his cousin.
"Yeah, I gave up thinking. Never been happier." Tuffnut said nonchalantly.
"I'm not the boss of him. He always does that when he gets angry!" Snotlout shrugged.
Hookfang, still in a peeved mood, walked away. And what he left on the Academy's stone floor got Hiccup and Zenna's attention: A single Nightmare footprint with scorch marks from the Stoker Class dragon's intense fire!
"Or goes on a rampage." Hiccup said in realization. "Of course, there weren't any scorch marks from the scratches!" Zenna said loudly as she realized this as well.
"That's how Zenna and I can explain the Great Hall! We've got to tell my Dad about this!" Hiccup shouted, grabbing Zenna's hand. Along with their two Night Furies, the two teens headed for the Great Hall.
Toothless and Stryka stayed outside the Great Hall while their Riders tried to explain their findings to the Chief.
"Just hear me and Zenna out, Dad. When a Monstrous Nightmare gets mad, his whole body bursts into flames. Look at these walls! Not one single scorch mark." Hiccup pointed out, gesturing to the columns and tapestries.
"Plus if a dragon had gone on a rampage, there would be telltale signs such as the scent of smoke or even more severe collateral damage. And judging by the ruined tapestries and columns turned scratching posts, the damage is surprisingly not as severe as usual." Zenna added.
"Hiccup, Zenna, until I have solid proof that it was something else, the dragons stay where they are." Stoick told the two teens before continuing on with the repairs.
Meanwhile Toothless and Stryka were patiently waiting for their Riders to come out when an unusual scent reached their noses. Curious, the two Night Furies followed the scent to the armory. Not minding the Viking who was now watching them, the two Night Furies went inside. Upon seeing a small flame burning near barrels of explosive fluids, Toothless and Stryka both yelped and went out of the armory as fast as they could.
KABOOM!
It was a good thing they got out of there in time…
Back in the Great Hall, Hiccup, Zenna and Stoick were helping with the repairs when they heard people screaming, "Fire, fire!"
Quickly, they rushed out to see the armory in flames!
"The armory! Grab some buckets!" Stoick ordered quickly but stopped short when he saw two familiar Night Furies looking at the fire in shock.
"Toothless ?" the Chief said in shock.
"Stryka ?" Henna and Edgar had joined him and were now staring at their daughter's one eyed dragon.
The Viking who had been watching the two dragons pointed an accusing finger at the two. "It was them! They set the armory on fire!" he shouted accusingly. "How dare they?" a Viking woman on the scene gasped.
Hiccup and Zenna had come back with their water buckets when they heard the accusation. They dropped their buckets in shock, prompting their dragons to look at them.
"Toothless?" "Stryka?" Hiccup and Zenna asked them, stunned. But when their dragons ferverently shook their heads and crooned at them imploringly, both of them knew that their dragons were innocent. But before they could prove it, they had to put the fire out-now!
By the time the fire was finally put out, the armory had been razed to the ground. Warriors could only stare at the smoldering ruins of the place where they had all gotten their weapons for battle made and maintained.
"Every one of our weapons…gone!" Stoick muttered in disbelief. Gobber picked up a ruined sword.
"Prudence! My poor darling, I'm so sorry. You should've had a long, blood-letting life." He said mournfully as he cradled the twisted up weapon.
Mildew then chose that time to make an appearance. "She didn't have to die, Gobber. Hiccup and Zenna's dragons left us utterly defenseless." He said in mock condolence while glaring at the two Dragon Riders.
"Dad, you know Toothless and Stryka wouldn't do this." Hiccup tried to reason with his father. "They're innocent, Chief. Please believe us." Zenna pleaded while her parents looked at each other and at Stoick worriedly.
Mildew scowled. "Sure, listen to your boy and his friend, Stoick. That's what got us into this mess!" he exclaimed, the villagers also shouting angrily in agreement.
As he began to leave, Mildew looked at Hiccup and Zenna spitefully. "See what happens when you leave your dragons all alone to wait outside?" he sneered. While Zenna could only glare at the old man, Hiccup carefully considered Mildew's words. Something the old man said didn't sound normal…
"What…did you say?" the one legged boy began to question Mildew when Gobber held up another destroyed sword and exclaimed, "Cindy! Oh, I guess your throat slicing days are over." In sheer regret.
Tired of all this, Stoick heaved a sigh and looked at his son and his best human friend. "These dragons have done too much damage. It's no longer safe to have them on Berk." He said.
If that was already hurtful enough, the next few words Stoick had to say were like daggers to Hiccup and Zenna's hearts.
"I want them gone. "
"What?!" both teens shrieked in horror. "Finally!" Mildew shouted in triumph.
"Round them up, and take them all to Dragon Island." Stoick told Hiccup and Zenna before they could even protest.
Facing the crowd, Stoick announced, "By the end of the day tomorrow, there will be no more dragons on Berk!"
While some villagers were somewhat relieved, almost half of the entire village population was stunned speechless and horrified at the mere thought of never having dragons with them ever again. Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were shocked and could only gasp. Henna and Edgar held onto each other, terrified of the idea of having to send Serpent and Serpentine away.
Mildew, on the other hand, was really pleased. "Oh, what a glorious day that will be…Party at my house! " he whooped before grinning wickedly at Hiccup and Zenna. "Don't forget, you two. Right after you drop off your dragons, you two will be fixing my roof." He reminded them before leaving.
However, "WAIT!" Aline suddenly came flying down with her dragons by her side.
"The dragons did none of the vandalism and I know who really did!" Aline claimed.
"You do?" Gobber quipped.
"Yes I do.... the real culprit of all this vandalism is.... Mildew!" Aline exclaimed, looking at him while the villagers gasped.
"Perposterous!" Mildew scoffed.
“How could Mildew have done everything the dragons did?!” Stoick exclaimed.
“Let me explain. I didn’t want to believe that you would purposely want to banish the dragons but when I took a look at Barf and Belch’s scales near the chewed up boots, I could tell they didn’t fall off naturally. They were cut off! I’ve been with my dragon friends for more than a year; long enough to know no dragon loses scales in a large chuck like this. Plus, the ends of the scales all end with straight lines, meaning that they were cut off with scissors which means somebody planted it!
Then, in the Great Hall, I noticed that the so called Monstrous Nightmare claw marks were two inches wider than what they usually are, indicating that something else clawed up the tapestries and walls. Plus I smelled something on them as well, Dragon root and dirt, Mildew’s signature scent. Then, I noticed scorch marks in the shape of some here’s going in a s-shaped pattern along with fainted boot prints indicating that someone was in the Great Hall at that moment being fired upon by a dragon.
Plus one tapestry was completely torn off of the hanger it was attached to indicating that it was pulled down with a great force by someone, perhaps after they ran away from a dragon and threw away the fake claws?” Aline questioned, glaring at Mildew.
“Oh please all Vikings around here smelled like dirt and anyone could have been in the Great Hall.” Mildew scoffed.
“Precisely why I questioned my territorial Singetail. She was at her post at the Great Hall all night, watching for any intruders, like the territorial dragon she is except for a small window of opportunity when she told me that a small pile of Ice Tailed Pike came flying over his head and away from the Great. Ice tail Pike are Singetails favorite fish to eat. But what Nova also told me was that, with her 360 degree vision she saw a scrawny Viking man with a cane and fake claw heading into the Great Hall. He was inside the Great Hall and caught him using the claw to mark up the walls and tapestries. Nova roared and chased him off while launching fireballs at him but not before the damage was done, explaining the marking in the Great Hall." Aline explained before going over to Mildew,
"And I couldn’t help but notice Mildew that you're hiding some of your beard for a reason? And why is that?”
“What I can’t change how I look now?” Mildew questioned.
“Hmm well I think it’s to hide….” Aline revealed the covered part of Mildew’s beard with had a large scorch mark on it. “The burn mark from Nova's fireball!”
Everyone in the village gasped in shock. “Pfft. This is ridiculous. Stoick, you don’t believe this girl, right?”
“Oh just admit it Mildew, you're guilty of framing the dragons for your crimes as you are of getting your butt kicked by Inferno.” Nova stated.
Mildew growled, “Fine, you caught me. I did it” everyone gasped again.
“But why?” Astrid asked.
“Easy because he knew that if he convince fed Stoick that the dragons were too big of a danger to people he would do what’s best fit his people which meant sending the dragons away, taking advantage of his duties as Chief and leaving you all vulnerable to attack by your greatest enemy, Alvin and the Outcasts, which he has secretly allied himself with.” Aline explained.
“What?!” Stoick exclaimed while Mildew growled.
“How do you know all of that?” Hiccup asked.
“I’ve been through enough family deception and treason to recognize both when I look into someone’s eyes." Aline stated.
“But then how do you explain the Armory?” Gobber asked.
“Simple, during the day he planted gasoline into the barrel and lit a small flame towards it, which is what Camo said he saw. The flame took until nightfall to almost reach the barrel. At the same time when Toothless and Stryka entered the armory having smelled the gasoline the flame was touching the barrel and the two bolted before it exploded. Thanks to Eclipse, I know that Night Furies aren’t stupid enough to light gasoline knowing the severe consequences of the explosion. So the explosion was caused by Mildew's gasoline and flame, not Toothless and Stryka!”
“You can’t possibly believe her! She’s lying!” Mildew exclaimed. “And why are you standing up for the dragons anyway?”
“Because…. I know how it is to be different from everyone around you and the hate you get when someone doesn’t like you very much.”
“Pfft. How? You’re a Viking in disguise?” Mildew mocked.
“No…. I’m an Princess.” Aline admitted boldy, earning gasps from everyone, even Hiccup and his friends.
“What?!” Mildew exclaimed.
“No way!” Stoick added.
“You’re kidding, lassie?!” Gobber stated.
“It’s true. I’m the Princess and the Alpha of all Dragons in the world, because of my real parents, including this world, which is part of the reason why I’m so good with them. I knew if I told everyone the truth, it would just bring danger to you all and your dragons. I didn’t want to risk that, but now I see that I shouldn’t be afraid to show who I truly am, no matter the consequences. If a place like this and a person like me can accept my dragons, then you Vikings can accept Toothless and the other dragons, despite all of the troubles that come with it.
It’s a part of living in peace with one another, dealing with each other's flaws, strengths and weaknesses like I do with all my dragons friends who have become my family. We are who we are and we must accept our friends; all of our friends . There is a home for every dragon cause a wild dragon is just a dragon who hasn’t found a home to love them yet. There’s a family for every creature in the world.” Sarah explained before she turned to Mildew, “And as Princess and Alpha, it is my duty to protect all my subjects; human, pony and dragon so Mildew as of tonight you are hereby banished from Berk. Now leave and never return.”
Mildew snarled at the Princess. “Your skills as a detective are very impressive, this isn’t over, Princess! I will get those dragons yet!”
“We’ll see about that.” Aline said before she used her magic to create a sonic wave that sent Mildew far far away from Berk.
The villagers cheered for Aline as she stopped and smirked at her work. “Aline, I can’t believe you just told everyone you're a Princess and the Alpha Dragon.” Hiccup breathed.
“We are who we are. We just need to find the courage to accept it… in any world. I accepted it in my world and now.. I’ve accepted it in this world as well. And you vikings need to learn to accept who the dragons are. You can’t force them to change who they are just like they can’t force you to change who you are. You must accept the ups and downs of living with dragons if you want to live in peace with them.” Sarah said sternly. “Just like I’ve accepted the ups and downs of my Princess and Alpha duties.”
The villagers looked ashamed and somewhat embarrassed by their behavior towards the dragons, even Stoick.
‘Once again, Aline has proven that we can no doubt trust her, even when the situation with our dragons seems hopeless, she always comes through for us and our dragons. By revealing the truth about herself to the whole village, she’s proven that she will always be there for us no matter what the situation.’
Meanwhile, Mildew had landed in Outcast Island and told Alvin and the Outcast about Sarah finding out his plan for them to attack Berk. “She saw tight through you?!” Alvin exclaimed.
“Yes. That Princess is more intelligent and powerful that you think Alvin. She has about 20 dragons with her, all of them trained. And some are ones we’ve never seen before including a Night Fury and it’s family.” Mildew explained. “She’s also the Alpha of all dragons of this world, so all dragons follow her command.”
Alvin smirked evilly. “Well then… looks like we found what we need. A real Dragon Conqueror…. we need that girl….”
To Be continued...
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My Little Dragons: Book 2: Riders of Berk
Chapter 5: Alvin and the Outcasts vs Aline, the Alpha
We now move far away from Berk to an island of rocky despair and constantly plagued by dragon attacks. This sorry little island is known as Outcast Island. Here, all Outcasts that had been banished from Berk due to grievous crimes dwell. And they are led by the most brutish Outcast of all…
"Alvin, they're coming back!" an Outcast soldier yelled to his leader as the island was bombarded by fireballs coming from attacking dragons.
Alvin glared at the winged reptiles laying waste to his land and glared even harder at his incompetent soldiers.
"Out of me way! You can't find good marauders these days." Saying this, Alvin took down an incoming dragon. But alas, even the sheer number of dragons attacking was too much for this Outcast.
"Alvin, there are too many of them! We need to get inside!" Savage, Alvin's second-in-command, shouted. Alvin merely glared once again but followed Savage to the main stronghold. Just in time too because a huge burst of flame exploded outside of the door as Savage closed it!
Alvin stomped to the center table to gather his men. "Oh, I've had it with these dragons…Is the ship ready?" he growled. "We still have a little more work to do." An Outcast soldier reported meekly.
"That's not my problem, is it? We sail for Berk immediately." Alvin spat and jabbed his finger at the map laid out in front of him. "We'll land here and under the cover of night." He said and began to leave to ready his ships.
"Why aren't we taking the whole army?" Savage asked, following Alvin quickly. Alvin faced him with a malicious grin on his face. "We're not there to fight Stoick. We're there for this so called, Alpha Dragon, our old friend Mildew says is on the island," he told his right-hand man and, with a treacherous tone, added before he turned to Mildew, " Right?"
"Yes, you'll easily be able to spot here, she a four legged pony called an Alicorn." Mildew added.
At this, Savage brightened up. "Oh, an Alicorn. I thought those were just myths. They're very powerful creatures."
Alvin laughed, "And once we capture her, she'll be our ticket to taking over Berk."
Meanwhile, back on Berk, Aline was feeding her dragon family large baskets of fish, overlooking the beach from one of the cliffs on Berk. Aline and her dragons heard a small squawk and saw Astrid, Stormfly, Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka hovered over and landing near her. "So this is where you come to get away from stress?" Astrid joked.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Aline smirked back as the three teens came over to her.
"So you're really the Alpha of all Dragons?" Astrid asked.
"Yes, I am. And a Princess in Equestria. Both are alot of work, but its worth it to keep the peace between ponies and dragons." Aline smiled.
"Well that explains your Alicorn Psychology. Alicorn are known to be symbols of royalty among us Vikings. But we thought they were just myths." Zenna stated.
"Well, I'm as real as it gets." Aline chuckled and the four friends laughed together.
Suddenly, Reignstorm snarled at something from afar, "What is it, Reignstorm?" Aline asked.
"Why would one of our ships be anchoring there?" Astrid asked, pointing at a ship anchored near some rocks not far from shore.
Hiccup and Zenna followed her gaze and spotted it. "That doesn't look like one of the ships from our fleet." Zenna observed. Hiccup looked through his spyglass and saw that the ship definitely wasn't a Berkian ship.
"It's not one of our ships. I gotta tell Dad. Come on!" Hiccup said to thegirls and the trio quickly left to find Stoick.
That night, the Outcasts had landed on the beach.
"Ah, it's good to be back on the shores of Berk." Alvin said menacingly.
“Good for you. Not so good for them." Savage chuckled darkly as the men readied their weapons.
Once all the Outcasts were armed, Alvin issued the call. "Let's find the Alicorn!" he barked. The Outcasts yelled in agreement.
Meanwhile in the Great Hall, the Berkians were worriedly murmuring to each other.
"This is no time to panic! That's what the Outcasts are counting on!" Stoick thundered in order to calm everyone down.
"Stoick!" Sven, a watch sentry, burst into the Great Hall with news.
"Sven, did you get a good look?" the Chief questioned.
"I saw 30 men at least, all armed to the teeth." Sven reported grimly.
“What are they even doing here?” Astrid questioned.
“That snake Mildew probably told them about Aline,” Zenna growled.
“So they’ve came here to try and take her,” Hiccup added.
“Well those Outcasts will have get pass us and our dragons first!” Snotlout exclaimed on top of Hookfang.
“Yeah!” The twins cheered before they knocked their helmets together.
Suddenly, the Outcasts came bursting into the Great Hall with their weapons drawn. The Berkians gasped in fear and horror but Aline’s dragons came around all of them, hissing and growling at the enemy, ready to defend them.
Hookfang, Barf and Belch, Stormfly, Meatlug, Toothless and Stryka stood in front of Aline with their riders.
“Alright Stoick, hand over the Alicorn,” Alvin smirked as he came in front of his Outcasts with Mildew.
“I’m not going to hand over Aline.” Stoick replied, glaring at Alvin.
“Well you don’t want your precious villagers hurt now do you?” Alvin mocked before some of his Outcasts raised their weapons. Stoick and the Berkians glared at Alvin before Aline flew in between the two groups, “You looking for me?”
“Aline get back!”
“What are you doing?!” Astrid and Ruffnut cried.
Alvin chuckled approaching the female Alicorn, “Yes I am. I thought Alicorns were all but a myth. You’re obviously not....so you’re coming with me and my Outcasts.”
Aline looked back at her friends and the back at Alvin, “I’m sure you don’t want us to harm your subjects?” he mocked.
Aline narrowed her eyes at the Outcasts leader, “No.... I don’t...... so...... I’ll surrender myself to you if you leave the Berkians and the dragons alone.” Aline declared and everyone gasped in horror.
Alvin grinned with a malicious smile, “Excellent choice...” he smirked before two of this Outcasts threw a bola over Aline’s wings and tied a rope around her neck. “Let’s go!”
The two Outcasts dragged and pushed Aline as they began to leave the Great Hall, “Thanks for my prize, Stoick.” Alvin laughed as the Outcasts left the Great Hall and Berk.
“I don’t believe it! Why would she just give herself up like that?!” Snotlout exclaimed.
“She didn’t want anyone to come to harm, Snotlout.” Hiccup reasoned. “She’s a Princess and the Alpha, so she’ll put our and our dragons safety before her own.”
“So let’s just go and get her back!” Tuffnut exclaimed.
“Yeah! As in Dragons Blazin!” Snotlout agreed.
“No Snotlout, Tuff. We can’t just rush in on Alvin and the Outcasts. That might get Aline killed. We have to think about what we’re going to do to get her back from them.” Zenna replied.
Alvin and the Outcasts, meanwhile, took Aline to their home on Outcast Island: And island that appeared to be only made of rock with no discernible farms. No vegetation appeared on the land at all except for several forest of a dark, leafless variety of tree as well as some bushes and volcanic areas as well. The island was almost always dark and sullen cause there was very little sun light as well.
Aline was pulled off of the deck by her rope as the Outcasts, with Alvin leading the way, took her to the dungeon where they would hold her. Inside of the dungeon, Aline spotted several other captured dragons including a Scaldron, Whispering Death and a Changewing along with the usual Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare, Zippleback and Gronckle.
Alvin opened a cell and shoved Aline inside, "Enjoy your new home, Alicorn." he said with a sinister laugh before he and the Outcasts left. Aline narrowed her eyes as they left before she used her Alicorn magic to slice the bola apart, freeing her wings and teleported out of the cell. "Amatuers." she smirked before she went to the each of the cages and blasted the metal bars, melting them and freeing the dragons inside.
"There we go," Aline smiled. "Now let's go..."
"Alvin! The Alicorn's escaping!" an Outcast solider yelled.
The wild dragons snarled at the incoming Outcasts but Aline blasted them with her Crystal Generation spell, entrapping them in a block of crystal!
"What!?" Alvin gawked.
"Like you said, I'm an Alicorn," Aline smirked before she spread her wings and flew past the immobilized Outcasts along with the dragons. They made it outside where archers fired arrows from their crossbows, aiming to shoot at least one of the escapades down. The dragons all dodged the attacks, however, one of the arrows clipped Aline's left wing, tearing some muscle! "AGH!" she cried in pain as she lost her balance and started to fall out of the sky.
A wild Nadder gasped before he flew down and grabbed Aline before she hit the water and he and the other escape dragons flew away from Outcast Island, heading West as the Outcasts fumed from the lost of their prizes weapon and dragons.
The wild dragon flock took Sarah to very lush jungle island that had a beautiful beach and a just dense jungle with tall trees similar to those in the Amazon and some mountains in the distance as well. The wild Nadder placed Aline on the ground. Aline winced, looking at her damaged wing.
"Hello? Is someone there?" a voice called out and out of the jungle came a group of very odd looking ponies who had bushier manes that wrap around their heads, slightly longer ears, curved/branching horns, scaly carapaces on their muzzles and backs, thin tails, and tufted, cloven hooves.
The leader of the these ponies, known as Kirin, was a tall Kirin who was at least as tall as Aline's mother but her mane was dark teal and coat and hooves were light tan while the scary carapaces on her muzzle, back, tail and hooves were cream coloured. Following her were a small clan of about ten Kirin all of whom were in a variety of colors but all of them seemed to have blank expressions on their faces.
"Uh.... Hi there....?" Aline questioned. The Kirins tilted their heads at Aline.
"Umm.... I'm Aline so.... what are you names?" Aline asked, but once again none of the Kirins repsonded.
"Er...... do you understand what I'm saying?" Aline questioned which earned a nod from the leader.
"But you don't speak?" she added, earning another nod from the leader. Aline slightly folded her ears, "Well.... could you show my friends and I a place to rest?" Aline questioned and the Kirin leader nodded and she lead Aline and the wild dragons into their dense jungle island home.
"This might be interesting..." Aline thought to herself, knowing there was something going on with the Kirin.
My Little Dragons: Book 2: Riders of Berk
Chapter 6: Sounds of Silence
Aline and the dragons were lead to the Kirin's village, which was fairly small with houses made from trees and small hills as well as several stands for fruit, knitnacks and other items and a small place for farming purposes.
"These Kirin are so quiet, its creepy!" the male Nadder commented.
"Tell me about it, there's gotta be someone who can speak." Aline replied before she went over to the Kirin's leader, "Um.. excuse me, ma'am." the leader Kirin turned to her and tilted her head. "Is there a Kirin around here that can talk?"
The leader Kirin nodded, prompting a smile from the alicorn. "Do you know where?" the leader nodded again and pointed behind her, to a path that lead outside of their village.
"You guys stay here, I'm gonna go and find this Kirin who can talk and figure out what's going on." Aline said as she walked down the path, leaving the wild, rescued dragons with the kirin.
Journeying through the small forest, Aline searched for any sign of another kirin. She searched through a couple bushes but she didn't find anything except for some beautiful blue flowers. Then she looked up and gasped seeing a Kirin in front of her. The kirins' eyes were moderate gold while her mane was moderate tangelo. Her coat was a light goldish gray with same coloured ear tips and the scales on her back, hooves and face were grayish apple green, "Oh. Uh..... are you the Kirin who talks?" Aline asked.
The female Kirin shook her head with a blank experssion.
"Er... any idea where I can find him or her?" Aline asked, earning another shake of the head from the kirin.
Aline sighed, "Alright..."
However, she didn't see the Kirin smile before she laughed, "Gotcha! Sorry, sorry, but that was too good. Oh, you don't know how much I missed jokes. Hi-larity! Am I pronouncing that right? Some words I haven't said in a will. While! While. Hi, I'm Autumn Blaze." the Kirin, now known as Autumn Blaze introduced, "You've just arrived, and perhaps you're tired or hungry or reflective and want to sleep and eat and journal? Which you should do, of course! But first— Oh! Oh, what joy to talk with another creature! It's been so long! You must tell me everything about you! There's so much to say, so much to do! Oh, look at me. I'm going on, and you haven't seen— I mean, have you seen—? W-What am I saying? Of course you haven't. So just— I— yeah— I will j— Follow me!"
"Okay..... she's talkative alright," Aline commented, following the female Kirin.
She followed her outside of the village to a rocky outcrop where she had made her home. She took Aline to a cliff where they overlooked a beautiful valley with a rainbow overtop. "Woah.... awesome...." Aline smiled.
"Oh, you think so, too?! The way the light shimmers off everything, like, like it all suddenly woke up the moment you saw it. And you realize maybe the water and the mountains and the forest and the... yes, the rainbow and the stars and the sky are all looking back at you thinking the same thing? That we are a part of the everything. That maybe there's just one thing and we are all it," Autumn Blaze said, smiling at Aline, who just blinked at her twice.
"I was gonna say it's pretty. But yeah."
Autumn Blaze then sniffed some flowers nearby as she happily trotted along the path, "Mmmm! And this is just the first stop on a journey of amazing things to see, smell, tiptoe through. Oh, I haven't been able to share all of this with anypony in forever! Since they all took that vow of silence. So it's a lot for me to pro-cess. Process? Uh, deal with."
"Whoa, Woah Woah, back up! Vow of Slience?" Aline questioned.
"That's, uh... That's why they asked me to leave."
"Well Autumn Blaze, can you explain why you all went quiet in the first place. Your species is known for their kindness, truth speaking and music centered culture," Aline asked.
"It's a long story." Autumn Blaze replied.
Aline sighed, "You'd rather not talk about it?"
"No."
"I-I under—"
"I'd rather... siiiiiiiiiiiing!" Autumn Blaze then broke into song which surprised Aline, but at the same time expected something like this.
(Autumn Blaze)
La, la-la-la, la-la La-la-la, la-la-la
The Kirin used to speak and sing We weren't always quiet We told stories and funny jokes My stand-up was a riot
But then one day, a fight broke out And hurtful words were said Flaring tempers were inflamed Destruction quickly spread
And flaming bred from head to head It even burnt our... bread
Spoken: Sorry, I forgot how much I love rhyming. Where was I? Oh, right!
My happy village lay in ruins Relationships got worse Spoiler alert: we quickly learned That words could be a curse
"No more talking," yelled our leader The last thing said aloud Into the Stream of Silence We stepped as a crowd
The water cooled emotions And peace was soon restored But with no way to speak my thoughts I got super... bored
Spoken: Seriously, there's only so long that Sudoku can keep you entertained!
'Cause rainbows won't light up the sky Unless you let it rain And shiny apples sometimes come with worms No, you can't give up your laughter 'Cause you're scared of a little pain It's a lesson that the Kirin never learned
I was stuck in silent prison With the voices in my head 'Til I tripped over my salvation In a helpful flowerbed
I found a cure to clear my pipes And I became quite chatty With years and years of stored-up words I drove my village batty
They didn't like my jokes and songs And daily dose of news The plays I wrote, the speeches spoke Variety revues
Or the story about the Kirin who hid below an opera stage
Spoken: And fell in love with this opera singer, and he wore a freaky half-mask thing, and he played the organ a lot and got all broody 'cause the singer was in love with another dude, so he took her away on this underground gondola. I mean, who doesn't love musical theater?!
The village leader made it clear I had to make my choice I could stay and live with them Or I could keep my voice
So I came here, but left the couch alone They're hard to move With just the view for company Until ya heard me groove
Take it away, boys!
'Cause rainbows won't light up the sky Unless you let it rain And candles just won't glow until they're burned No, you can't give up your laughter 'Cause you're scared of a little pain It's a lesson that my village never learned
No matter how hard I schooled them Fear of hurt is still what ruled them Sometimes you gotta let it raaaaaaaain!
Yeah, sometimes you've gotta let it rain
Aline was no less shocked at Autumn Blaze's explantion to the Kirin's silence, "I can't believe, no creature should give up their feelings just to keep away anger."
"That's what I said! Well once I started talking again," Autumn Blaze said.
"Well, I'm thinkin' if we just go talk to the other Kirin, we can get 'em to welcome you back proper-like. Maybe even convince 'em to take your cure." Aline suggested much to the female Kirin's joy.
"Oh, yes! Yes, of course! Oh, just one small thing. The antidote from my anecdote? It's gone." she replied.
"There's no cure left?!"
"I used the last of the foal's-breath flowers to make it. And I-I haven't seen them bloom since."
"Foal's Breath..... they wouldn't happen to be blue flowers, were they?"
"Actutally yeah.. why?"
"Cause I saw some in a bush nearby here, this way." Aline lead her kirin friend to the bushes and pulled out the foal's breath flowers, "Great, you found them." Autumn Blaze grinned.
"Now come on, let's go talk to the other Kirin." Aline smiled.
Autumn Blaze and Aline went back to the village where Aline's dragon friends had gathered the silent Kirin. Aline explained to them keeping away anger at the sacrifice of your happiness is no way to live. Anger was like other emotions, its not about having it, it what you do with it what what matters.
"Fern Flare, you used to love to laugh at everything. And Rain Shine, you sung the most beautiful harmonies. Don't you miss it?" Autumn Blaze asked her friends and leader.
"I know you're worried about fightin'. But friends can disagree without causing any harm or trouble. And if you're really angry, then take some time away to be a Nirik where it won't hurt anypony."
Fern Flare went over to Autumn Blaze and started waving his arms in the air, "I think they're trying to tell her something?" the wild Nightmare stated.
"Okay, are you hungry? Oh, no. Is some Kirin trapped in a well? Okay, "baby". "Baby fish". "Ba"— "Ba"— No. "Baby fish mouth"? Uh, something? Anything?!" Autumn Blaze tried to guess, but it was making upset, "Just write it down! This is making me furious." she then started to gain flames on the edges of her eyes, "Would you excuse me? I'll be right back." Autumn Blaze went behind a rock and let out a distorted scream before she returned to Fern Flare, "You were saying?"
Fern Flare pointed to Autumn Blazes' mouth and then back at her own, "Ohhhh! You want the cure for the Stream of Silence!"
"Wonderful," Aline smiled, before handing the Foal's breath flowers to Autumn Blaze. Everyone returned to the village where Autumn Blaze threw the flowers into the center foundation, mixing it with the water. Not long after, all of the Kirin regained their voices and began talking again and singing.
Then, the Kirin's leader, Rain Shine, came up to Autumn, Blaze, "Autumn Blaze, you have given us a gift. The realization that anger is within us, but it is our choice how we let it out. We would very much like it if you came back to live with us. I can't say how much we've missed your beautiful voice."
Autumn Blaze smiled and that she did,
(Autumn Blaze)
'Cause rainbows won't light up the sky Unless you let it rain And candles just won't glow until they're burned No, you can't give up your laughter 'Cause you're scared of a little pain It's a lesson that my village never learned
Oh, yes, 'cause rainbows won't light up the sky Unless you let it...
She placed her hoof into the center of the foundation, manipulating the water into creating a rainbow at the top, much to the Kirin's surprise and joy.
Raaaaaaaain!
Aline and the dragons smiled, happy for Autumn Blaze and all of the Kirin.
Soon, Aline decided that it was time to head back to Berk. Autumn Blaze and the Kirin all joined her on the beach. "Thank you for your help, Princess Aline." Rain Shine smiled.
"It's just Aline, Rain Shine." Aline grinned.
"If you are ever in need of our assistance, we will be there to help you," Rain Shine added.
"Thank you,"
"Hey Aline, can I come with you back to this Berk island? I'd love to explore with you and make new friends," Autumn Blaze grinned.
"Hehehe, sure Autumn Blaze," Aline smiled before they heard the roar of the Night Fury and saw Hiccup and the others landing nearby, "Aline, there you are, thank goodness." Hiccup smiled.
"We were so worried when we didn't find you on Outcast Island," Fishlegs added before noticing the Kirin, "Who are the scaly horses."
"They're Kirin, Fishlegs and..... its a long story," Aline smiled at her surprised friends.
My Little Dragons: Book 2: Riders of Berk
It was an average morning in Berk. Hiccup was busy making a new ink drawing of his best dragon friend Toothless. But then when he placed his feather pen into his inkwell, it came out dry. Hiccup frowned as he checked the inkwell to find it empty. Looks like he was gonna have to get some more ink.
Bucket was having standing on the edge of his boat, waiting for the one thing that he and his fellow Berkians had been waiting many months for and that the arrival of Trader Johann, an old friend of the village and Stoick the Vast.
With various goods, Berk's villagers rushed to the docks in order to get an early start on Trader Johann's inventory and get the best deals. Zenna, Henna and Edgar Fiersome were already up and armed with various cloths and some of their own old belongings while Stryka and Serpent and Serpentine had their breakfast back at their house.
"Ooohh…I hope Johann's got some silk. I would love to make some new clothes. And maybe a tapestry for the Great Hall." Henna said hopefully, carefully handling the bundles of fabric she had with her.
"I wonder if he's got some books…preferably about sword fighting. I've got to keep my skills sharp." Edgar chuckled, swinging one of his old yet still trusty swords around.
"Please let there be a copy of the Hippocratic Corpus …Please let there be a copy of the Hippocratic Corpus …" Zenna chanted as Trader Johann lowered his ship's gangplank.
"Ah, Berk, my favorite of all the islands I travel to." Trader Johann beamed at the sight of all his eager customers.
"Where have you been to this time, Trader Johann?" Bucket asked eagerly.
"Oh, Bucket, the things I've seen, the people I've met! I'd need a week to regale you, but alas, we have limited time to conduct our business together." Johann said kindly.
Then, facing the people of Berk, Johann announced, "Whatever it is you're looking for, I can assure you, you'll find it here!"
Zenna decided that she couldn't wait any longer. "Hippocratic Corpus , I'm so getting you!" she yelled as she charged up the gangplank and onto the ship along with her equally eager friends. "It's all mine. I call dibs on everything." Snotlout said as he looked at all the various goods with eager eyes.
"I've got food of all sorts, spices, exotic animals…" As Johann said this, spikes suddenly protruded from a bag Tuffnut was looking at! "Is that moving? Does that one move?" the male Thorston asked, wondering how much the spiky bag would cost in trade.
Henna happily picked out a roll of violet silk while Edgar grinned as he found a book on sword fighting and archery.
"Works of art, jewelry, not to mention knowledge." Johann concluded as Fishlegs came over to him with a little leather-bound book.
"Trader Johann, is this your only book on Botany?" the husky Ingerman boy asked.
"Yes, Mr. Fishlegs, why it was given to me by the author himself." Trader Johann informed him.
Fishlegs then held up a necklace made of dragon teeth. "Would you take this necklace? It's made from baby dragon's teeth." He inquired hopefully.
"Fair enough, Mr. Fishlegs." Trader Johann said, taking the necklace off Fishlegs' hands.
Snotlout had then found a mirror and was now completely enamored with his own reflection. "Oooh, I'm even better looking than I thought." The brawny Jorgenson boy remarked.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were busy fighting over an antique helmet. Astrid was with Hiccup, looking at all the jewelry, when she spotted Gobber sighing contentedly as he held up a piece of dark pink silk.
"You okay there, Gobber?" Astrid asked him. "I'm better than okay, I'm in heaven!" the two-limbed blacksmith sighed, still holding the fabric close to his face.
Hiccup, meanwhile, had picked up a ceramic bottle. Trader Johann walked over to him.
"Oh, that's pure squid ink, Hiccup. Wrestled from the colossal squid of the Northern Waters." The trader informed him.
Eager to get his new find, Hiccup handed Johann one of his homemade spyglasses. "Well, how about this spyglass? You know, I made it myself." He suggested.
"I know. You've given me five just like it. Unfortunately, I've only got the two eyes. What else have you got?" Johann politely refused.
Hiccup, luckily, was prepared with more items to barter. He then pulled a custom-made winch he had made in the forge a few days ago and showed it to Trader Johann.
"What do you think of this winch? Eh? It will help you pull up your gangplank." He offered. Johann smiled as he rubbed his aching shoulder.
"A welcome tool for a working man's ailing shoulder. Consider it done." He said happily.
That's when Zenna showed up, looking rather disappointed. "You didn't find anything, Zen?" Hiccup asked her. "Nope…" the one-eyed Fiersome sighed.
"I think I know what you're looking for, Lady Zenna." Johann smiled as he pulled out a thickly-rolled scroll. Zenna's eye twinkled with excitement.
"Old Hippocrates sends his regards. He said that it warms his heart to find out that someone as young as you is interested in studying the healing arts." The trader told her as he took the cloth bundles off her hands and gave her the scroll.
"At last!" Zenna exclaimed, excited to pore over the scroll, and quickly left the ship.
Hiccup chuckled. It wasn't every day that he saw Zenna so excited over something. Then he heard his father, Chief Stoick the Vast, yelling as he practiced swinging a sword around.
"Wow. Another sword. Just what we need." Hiccup said sarcastically. His Dad had more than enough deadly weapons lying around in their house, in his opinion. "If you must know, it's not for me. I'm heading off to my yearly meeting with the Chief of the Shivering Shores. The last man who showed up without a gift left without a head." Stoick informed him as he swung the sword real hard, slicing the masthead off in the process!
"Johann! What will you take in trade?" Stoick called out cheerfully. "Stoick! It is but your good graces I desire when my amble ship passes through Berk." Trader Johann greeted the great Berkian chief warmly.
"You'll always be welcome on our shores, Johann." Stoick nodded before leaving the ship to get on his Thunderdrum.
"I'll be back in five days. What am I saying? I'll be back in two, thanks to Thornado ." He said proudly as his Thunderdrum, that he trained a week ago, whom he had finally named, let out a sonic blast of a roar!
Hiccup quickly covered his ears to block out the worst of the roar. "Oh, you finally named him? Thornado, huh?" he asked curiously. Stoick was now busy trying to keep the hyperactive Thornado behaved as they got ready for take-off.
"That's right. Because he has the power of Thor and the ferocity of a tornado! And besides, it's the only thing he'll answer to! Turns out he can be quite stubborn !" Stoick yelled as Thornado tried to buck him off. Of course, Thornado was just kidding around. Yes, he was stubborn and still adapting to his new life but he trusted Stoick well enough.
"Can't imagine where he gets that from." Hiccup said sarcastically, knowing full well how Thornado and his Dad were so much alike.
Stoick then commanded, "Up, Thornado." And his Thunderdrum lifted off the ground and soared into the skies as Johann watched in awe.
"Ah, men riding dragons. What a magnificent sight." The trader said in amazement before an old, raspy voice barked out, "Johann!"
"Mildew!" Johann spun around to greet the old coot.
"Did you bring what I want?" Mildew asked impatiently. "Always straight to the point, I like that!" Johann said brightly, leading Mildew to a covered basket. "I assume you've brought my cabbage?" Johann asked. Mildew begrudgingly handed over one of his prized cabbages and peered into the basket Johann gave him.
Nodding, Mildew looked at Johann seriously. "Take these to my house." He said before leaving. Johann then spotted a sneaky little Terror trying to nibble at some of his edible goods!
"Now, now, now little fella, that's not for you. Away." The trader tried to gently shoo the pesky little dragon away only to get a couple of nips from the Terror's sharp teeth! "Ow! Feisty little one, isn't he?" Johann said and resorted to force that Toothless, frankly, did not like.
"Ow!" Hiccup yelped as Toothless lunged at Johann, causing the Terror to fly off in a hurry and nearly smacked into him. Now Johann cautiously backed away from the male Night Fury, afraid to get blasted.
"Safe distance, please!" the trader said, holding his hands out in front to shield himself.
"Toothless, no! Sorry, Johann. He's just being protective." Hiccup intervened, calming Toothless down before noticing that he had dropped the bottle of pure squid ink.
"Ah, it's gone." The one legged boy sighed, picking up a fragment of the clay pot.
"Oh, sorry, lad. That was my last one. But rest assured, I'll find that colossal squid and wrestle you another bottle." Johann promised him. Hiccup nodded in understanding before looking at Toothless.
"Oh, Toothless." Hiccup sighed. His dragon warbled an apology, which Hiccup accepted along with an 'it's okay' pat before they both decided to head to the Dragon Academy.
"Hey Trader Johann," Aline greeted.
"Ah Princess Aline, I've heard much about you from the villagers," Trader Johann bowed.
"Oh Johann, you don't have to bow. I'm just the same as you," Aline polietly smiled.
"Well anything that interests you?"
Aline looked over the things that Trader Johann had and spotted what looked to be a unquie chest, "Hmm... what's in here?"
"That? Hmm... I don't really know. I pulled that out of the ocean two weeks ago. Haven't been able to open it since,"
"Hmm.... maybe I can open it and see what's inside." Aline smiled as she levitated the chest in her magic and gave Johann some bits. "Thank you,"
"Think nothing of it, Lady Aline." Trader Johann smiled as Aline walked back to the village.
When she got back to the village however....
"Easy, easy! Whooaaa!" Snotlout hollered as Hookfang flew about in dizzy circles.
"Help her, Hiccup and Zenna! She's sick! Whoa! And I'm about to be!" Fishlegs gulped, turning pale as Meatlug who was also having irregular flight patterns.
The Twins on their Zippleback streaked past, yelping as Barf and Belch took insane turns that they didn't usually do. Then, to Zenna's worry, Serpent and Serpentine were also flying an irregular flight pattern with her parents.
"Zen, they're not feeling well!" Henna shouted, trying to keep her half of the maroon Zippleback steady.
"What's going on, love?!" Edgar hollered as he did his best to stay on the dragon. "
Mom! Dad! I wish I knew! But for now, you have to bring Serpent and Serpentine home!" Zenna yelled up to them before looking at Hiccup, scared.
"Hiccup, what do we do?" she whimpered. "It's spreading to all the dragons. How do we stop this?" Hiccup was just as scared as his best human friend and was desperate for help.
Suddenly Gobber said, "Gothi! She'll know what to do!"
Aline quickly activated her magic and paused all the dragons in flight and put them on the ground, "What's the matter?" Aline asked.
"We don't know, they're sick." Fishlegs replied.
Soon, Gothi nodded and knelt in front of the two sick Night Furies. She checked their eyes, looked into their mouths and did a full examination.
And while this was happening, Astrid and Fishlegs stood by Gobber and debated on something. "I've heard Gothi could tell you when you're gonna die, just by looking at your fingernails." Astrid piped up. Fishlegs' eyes widened and he quickly hid his hands behind his back.
"Ah, that's just an old wives tale." Gobber told the two and, noticing that Fishlegs had his tongue out, added, "She looks at your tongue ." Making Fishlegs put his tongue back into his mouth.
Gothi had finished her diagnosis and was now writing her findings down in the sand. Zenna could have translated but was busy soothing Stryka so Gobber, who was the second best translator, had to interpret the runes the elder had scribbled.
"She says they're reacting to something, like they're allergic." He said.
"Allergic? To what?" Hiccup asked worriedly. Gothi drew in the sand again.
"To a moose wearing boots." Gobber read out loud.
Well that didn't make much sense to the four Dragon Riders in the room.
"Shouldn't be hard to find." Gobber remarked. Gothi scowled and whacked the blacksmith in the head. "Didn't think that was right." Gobber said sheepishly, looking at the runes again.
"Well, Gobber?" Zenna inquired, looking pretty worried as well.
Finally Gobber got the message. "Ah, they're allergic to something new that's come to the island…But that still looks like a moose." He said, cringing slightly as Gothi whacked him again.
"Well, there are a lot of new things on the island. Trader Johann was just here." Astrid said. "Looking for the allergy causing agent's going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. What do we do, Gothi?" Zenna asked her teacher.
When Gothi had finished drawing runes, Gobber translated them with a grim look on his face. "She says to get rid of everything, immediately . Otherwise it's just going to get worse. The dragons are going to get sicker."
At those words, Hiccup and Zenna worriedly hugged their dragons. Hiccup locked eyes with Zenna and knew that his best human friend was just as terrified as he was. Both of them hated to see their dragons in pain.
"Don't worry, Zen. We'll find a way to fix this…" he whispered. "I sure hope so, Hicc. I sure hope so…" Zenna whispered back.
It was a good thing both Hiccup and Zenna were quick thinkers. In no time, they had devised a solution: throw every new item the village had purchased from Trader Johann into a pit.
Vikings lined up with their newly acquired goods, some not really happy to do the act of sacrifice.
"I know this is hard, guys, but I promise you, you're doing a good thing. You're helping the dragons." Hiccup consoled the villagers along with Astrid. "It's the least we can do for them!" the tough Hofferson girl added as Snotlout went by with his mirror.
"Goodbye, beautiful!" the Jorgenson boy said, tossing the mirror into the pile. Fishlegs, meanwhile, was trying to maximize whatever time he had left with his Botany book to the best of his abilities.
"What are you doing?! Throw it in!" Ruffnut demanded as she stood by him.
"I'm sorry! But this Botany book is a real page-turner! I gotta know how it ends!" the chubby Viking insisted. Finally the female Thorston took matters into her own hands.
"No, Ruffnut!" Fishlegs howled as Ruffnut snatched the book out of his hands and threw it in.
"I don't see you throwing anything into the pile, and I thought I saw you buy something from Trader Johann." He said to him.
"He did. He bought silk!" Astrid informed her boyfriend.
"Like me…" Henna sighed sadly as she and Edgar threw the chest containing the silk and sword fighting and archery book they had purchased into the pit.
"Hand it over, Gobber." Hiccup requested politely. "Can't do that, Hiccup. It's, uh, currently in use." Gobber said sheepishly just as Zenna came over to the group. Then the old blacksmith leaned forward and whispered, "It's my skivvies. They're glorious! "
Zenna was confused, while Hiccup wasn't swayed.
"Fine." Gobber gave in and went behind a nearby boulder. Curious, Zenna followed…only to come running back with a look of horror on her face. No sooner had the Fiersome girl fled did a pair of bright pink silk underpants come floating down into the pit.
"I could have gone my whole life without seeing that." Hiccup said dryly before he and Astrid noticed that Zenna's face was as pale as a sheet. "You okay, Zen?" Astrid asked. Zenna shook her head. "I have seen something…no man, woman, Viking or dragon…should ever see…" the one-eyed girl replied, shuddering.
It only took a moment for both Hiccup and Astrid to figure out what Zenna's cryptic reply meant. After putting two and two together, they both shuddered.
"We shall never speak of this." Zenna told them, her eye grave.
"Agreed. " Hiccup and Zenna nodded emphatically before leaving to go care for their dragons. Zenna had managed to get Stryka up on her feet and led her home, where she could be with the family.
"Come, come, Serpentine…You need to eat." Henna said softly as she tried to give her part of her and her husband's Zippleback some cod. Serpentine growled irritably and curled up to sleep, wanting nothing more than that. "Oh, Edgar…Not even their favorite cod will rouse them…" Henna sighed worriedly.
Edgar frowned as he gently stroked Serpent's scaly head. Serpent blew out a weak puff of smoke before falling asleep as well. "We can only hope that whatever's ailing them has been buried, love. And that they'll regain their strength soon enough." He sighed.
Suddenly the sound of a plasma blast came from upstairs in the Fiersome house and the walls shook! Startled, Henna and Edgar raced up the stairs to their daughter's room to find Zenna frantically smothering out the flames on her bed while Stryka huddled in a corner, flopped down like a dead fish!
"Oh my Thor!" Henna gasped. Edgar quickly ran downstairs and, in just seconds, came upstairs again with a bucket of water. Once the fire was put out, Zenna rushed to Stryka's side. The female Night Fury weakly warbled an apology.
"It's alright, Stryka…It was an accident…It's okay…" Zenna whispered soothingly. Stryka then placed her head on Zenna's lap and drifted off into a fitful sleep. That's when Zenna started to cry.
"Mom, Dad…I'm scared…What if she just gets worse…?" Zenna whimpered. Henna and Edgar went to their daughter's side to comfort her. "She won't, my dear. Stryka's a strong dragoness. She'll pull through." Edgar told her gently.
"Stronger than all of Berk's finest shield maidens, love. Stryka is strong and will never let something like a silly cold bring her down." Henna chimed in. Zenna looked at her parents, took their words to heart, stifled her tears and nodded.
Looking down at Stryka, Zenna heaved a deep sigh and leaned down to kiss her best dragon friend's scaly head. "I swear to all the gods and goddesses of Valhalla…that I'll do whatever it takes to get you healed, Stryka. I promise… " she whispered. And Stryka, hearing her Rider's promise even through her sickness, crooned softly.
Meanwhile, Hiccup was busy trying to lift Toothless' spirits up. "Hey! How 'bout we go out flying? That'll make you feel better." He suggested to his best dragon friend. Toothless looked up from his rock slab bed with a slightly hopeful look on his face, that was then replaced with a grimace as he sneezed out a weak plasma blast! Hiccup ducked just in time to avoid it!
And it was a small mercy that the blast didn't destroy the wall…
Astrid, on the other hand, had prepared Stormfly's rooftop bed the best she could. But the proud Deadly Nadder of the brave Hofferson maiden still looked unwell.
"Poor girl. Can't get comfortable, huh? I know what'll help! I'll—" Astrid managed to say before Stormfly accidentally shot out some of her spikes!
Ducking, Astrid watched as the spines missed her by mere inches and impaled themselves on the wall. Stormfly squawked an apology. She didn't really want that to happen. The stupid sickness made her do that!
"It's okay, Stormfly. I'm a soldier. I've been shot at before." Astrid reassured her. But, nonetheless, Astrid was still worried and hoped with all her heart that her dragon would get well soon…
Fishlegs was back at his house, telling Meatlug a little story to cheer her up while massaging her hind paws.
"Once upon a time, there was a little princess named Meatlug, the most beautiful dragon in all of the land! People would come from miles around—" the Ingerman boy said with gusto before…
Meatlug unleashed a blast unlike any other.
Fishlegs tried to be strong. "No, no, it's okay, girl. It's not that bad. Smells just like rose petals and—" he managed to say before the stench overpowered him and made him pass out!
A dragon's gas…effective both in making fire and in making stink…
It was the next day when the Dragon Riders saw that nothing had changed in the condition of all the dragons. Hiccup and Zenna had then decided to gather all the members of the Berk Dragon Academy for a meeting to discuss the situation, which they feared was getting worse.
"We got rid of everything from Trader Johann, but our dragons still aren't getting better, they're getting worse!" Fishlegs squeaked nervously to the rest of the group.
"Stryka and Serpent and Serpentine were eating a bit this morning at breakfast. But they didn't really recover enough strength to even stand, let alone fly. I'm beginning to think that our old plan didn't really work." Zenna said to Hiccup.
"Let's-let's make a list. Maybe there's somebody who bought something from Trader Johann but hasn't thrown it into the pit." Hiccup said, thinking hard. "Yeah…There must have been somebody who didn't want to give what they bought." Astrid nodded in agreement.
Snotlout then stepped up, looking really pissed off. "If I found out who was holding back, I am gonna be so mad! Hookfang was so sick, I was up all night scraping dragon barf off our walls!" he exclaimed, really needing to let off steam.dead! " Tuffnut piped up.
Astrid gasped in horror while Zenna looked at the still Hideous Zippleback standing between Tuffnut and Ruffnut in shock. Luckily Tuffnut was just messing around and said, "Just kidding. But, he's not really that fun anymore." Ruffnut frowned sadly. "He just sits there. He won't blow anything up!" she complained.
Hiccup was about to say something when he heard the definitive roar of a Thunderdrum, followed by his father's gruff voice.
"Hiccup! Put this in the Book of Dragons! Never fly on a stomach full of under-cooked mutton. The Shivering Shores will never be the same." Stoick announced as he made his way down the hill, his face looking a bit green. But once he saw the ill dragons and the teens' worried faces, Stoick quickly forgot his stomach troubles.
"What is it, Hiccup? What's wrong?" Stoick asked in concern.
"Every dragon?" Stoick asked Zenna.
"I'm afraid so, Chief." The Fiersome girl answered.
Later that night, Stoick had invited the Fiersomes and their dragons over for rest. Serpent and Serpentine were outside with Thornado while Stryka and Toothless stayed together.
Toothless warbled weakly and draped a limp wing over his beloved mate, Stryka crooning softly in gratitude and licking the male Night Fury's cheek.
"Poor guys. What do you two think happened?" Stoick asked Hiccup and Zenna.
"Ugh, Zenna and I don't know! Gothi says they're allergic to something new to the island, but we think we've gotten rid of everything." Hiccup said helplessly.
"It still didn't work. If anything, the dragons are getting sicker." Zenna agreed, worried.
"But, if the dragons aren't getting better…" Stoick began to say. "Then something must still be here that's making them sick." Hiccup finished for him.
"What it is, we do not know." Henna pointed out.
"And whoever didn't throw their goods into the pit, we do not know as well." Edgar added.
Suddenly, a loud noise similar to a dragon's call came from outside!
"Thornado?" Stoick wondered out loud, recognizing his Thunderdrum's roar. Quickly the Haddocks and Fiersomes rushed outside. Serpent and Serpentine hissed in distress while Thornado let out a super loud sneeze!
"Sneezing! That's the first symptom." Hiccup said grimly. "He was fine until we got back!" Stoick exclaimed. "Well, he's not well now." Zenna stated.
"If this keeps up, who knows what!" Edgar groaned, frustrated. "There's got to be a way to solve this problem." Henna sighed as she petted her and her husband's Zippleback.
"Um, we should retrace our steps." Hiccup suggested. "I'll get the others. We can cover more ground that way." Zenna offered before running off. Pretty soon, Zenna had rallied all the other members of the Berk Dragon Academy to join the investigation.
"Well, this is where I landed." Stoick stated, gesturing to the area where he and his dragon had landed earlier that morning. The teens along with Zenna's parents quickly got to searching. "Okay, look around for anything unusual." Hiccup instructed them.
"Does that count?" Fishlegs piped up, pointing to the Twins.
Both Thorston siblings were crouching on their hands and knees as well as head butting each other like goats in a brawl! "I'm seeing stars!" Ruffnut exclaimed.
"No way! Me too!" Tuffnut said giddily.
"Nope, that's just the Thorston Twins being themselves." Zenna said dryly.
"Hmm…Nothing unusual here." Astrid remarked in agreement before she spotted a couple of Terrors sniffing at one of the flower bushes she had seen earlier in the day. Much like their own dragons, the wild dragons were looking pretty sick as they sniffed at the bush.
"What is it?" the Hofferson girl wondered out loud, inspecting the bush.
The flowers weren't like any flower grown on Berk. They were sort of tropical looking. Blue petals with a white center. The Riders soon gathered around them, wondering if they had something to do with the current situation.
"Uh, does anybody remember seeing these flowers before?" Hiccup asked, holding one up. "They were here when I got back." Stoick told his son as Fishlegs got one flower and examined it.
"It looks an awful lot like the Blue Oleander ." He said thoughtfully.
"Blue Oleander?" Zenna asked, tilting her head.
"I recognize it from my Botany book, Chapter Eight." Fishlegs told her.
"I-is there anything specific you can remember?" Hiccup stuttered, a heavy sense of dread growing in his gut.
"They're very beautiful, very soft, perennial…" Fishlegs said, stroking one of the petals. Then his face turned from fascinated to panicked, "And…Poisonous to reptiles! " he said in horror.
"Which means poisonous to dragons!" Hiccup confirmed.
"Of course, a plant can't be buried in a pit. If it is, it just grows!" Edgar shook his head.
"And who knows how many of these Blue Oleanders have been planted? It could take days to get them all off the island!" Henna said worriedly.
"Pheonix? Eclipse? Star? Hello?" a voice called out and the group saw Aline calling out for her dragons.
"Aline? What are you doing out here?" Hiccup asked.
"Looking for my dragon friends whom disappeared." Aline replied.
"Huh? Now that she mentions, I haven't seen them since Trader Johann came here!" Astrid pointed out.
"Yeah," Snotlout agreed. "Where'd they go?"
"Don't know but-" Aline spotted the Blue Oleander plants and gasped, "What the-? How'd Blue Oleander plants get on the island?! They're poisonous to dragons!"
"You KNEW about these plants?!" Snotlout exclaimed.
"Star told me about them when the Night Lights tried to eat one for breakfast," Aline deadpanned.
"Your dragons must have left cause they recognized the Blue Oleander plants," Hiccup suggested.
"That would make sense." Aline replied.
"Do you know the cure?" Astrid asked.
"Yes, the cure can be made by extracting Scaldron venom after it eats the flowers, like Spiders and Snakes venom used to create anti-venom," Aline replied.
"I don't understand, where did these flowers even come from?" Astrid asked.
"They couldn't have just sprouted from seeds overnight. Someone must have gotten plants that were ready to bloom from Trader Johann when he stopped by. But, who?" Zenna wondered out loud.
"Mildew. I saw him plant them the other night." Tuffnut suddenly said, much to everyone's surprise.
"He what?" Zenna asked sharply.
"And you didn't think that was strange?" Astrid asked the male Thorston unhappily.
"No. Well, maybe. I don't know! Quit pressuring me!" Tuffnut complained.
Stoick then turned to his son. "Let's go pay the old man a visit." He said grimly.
"A grand idea, Stoick! I'll go get my sword…" Edgar began to leave before Henna grabbed his arm.
"No weapons, love…no matter how much we want to make that old coot pay for all this." She muttered.
"Does that mean I gotta hand these over?" Zenna asked innocently, holding up her sticks to her mother.
"No, keep them. Your father and I both know how precious they are to you." Henna said gently. Zenna smiled a bit before joining her family in accompanying the Haddocks to Mildew's house along with Astrid.
Needless to say, Mildew was surprised at his visitors. And when the alleged accusation had been made, he was even more shocked.
"Well, so what if I planted some flowers? The town square has never looked better. I was merely trying to spread some beauty and happiness." The old man explained.
"Since when have you cared about beauty or happiness?" Astrid asked suspiciously.
"All you care about, Mildew, is the opposite of all of that." Zenna added.
"You did this! " Hiccup accused.
"What? Me?! Ha!" Mildew laughed.
"Was there anything humorous in what the lad said, Mildew?" Edgar asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Have some respect to the Chief's son, you disrespectful old man." Henna said scolding.
Mildew rolled his eyes at the couple before looking at Stoick.
"Well, I had no inkling, Stoick that these flowers had special properties. Oh, it's true, I'm not friend of the dragons, but in this case, on my life, I was not trying to harm them." He said with mock honesty.
"You do know I can hear the mock honesty in that tone, right?" Aline deadpanned, not falling for that.
Seeing that there was no sense arguing with a denying old man, Stoick sighed, "Let's go." Reluctantly, the small group left.
"Alright…You guys stay here and take care of the dragons." Hiccup instructed Astrid and the rest before looking at Zenna, who nodded in agreement to his yet to be proposed plan.
"What are you two going to do?" Fishlegs asked nervously. "We're going fishing, Legs." Zenna replied.
"Aline? Dad? Gobber? Mr. and Mrs. Fiersome? Let's go find ourselves a Scauldron! " Hiccup said, turning to the adults.
"I thought you'd never ask!" Gobber said, excited to set sail.
"Edgar and I will be right back. We'll gather the rest of the crew." Henna said with a devious look on her face that slightly worried Zenna. 'What could Mom and Dad be up to? ' the one-eyed girl mused as her parents swiftly left. But right now, she and Hiccup had to prepare for the trip.
"Look at that thing…" Hiccup said in amazement, gazing at the Scauldron drawing.
"Wonder what facing that behemoth will be like…" Zenna murmured in agreement. Suddenly Toothless and Stryka warbled at them weakly, bringing their Riders back to attention.
"You and Stryka just hang on, bud. Zenna and I'll be back before you know it." Hiccup patted Toothless gently on his head.
"Stay strong, you two. We promise that everything's going to be alright." Zenna said softly, stroking Stryka's head. Both Night Furies crooned, trusting their Riders.
Meanwhile, Henna and Edgar were with Stoick and their dragons.
"Here you go, Serpent. This'll keep out the chill." Edgar murmured, putting a wool blanket on Serpent's neck and Henna did the same with Serpentine.
"How's my dragon warrior?" Stoick asked Thornado. The mighty Thunderdrum snorted weakly. Stoick then brought a rock underneath his dragon's chin to help make him feel more comfortable.
Looking at his sick dragon, Stoick sighed. "I spent my whole life trying to kill them. Now look at me." He said, noticing the Fiersomes give him an understanding look.
"We've all been there, Chief." Henna told him. "It's amazing how quickly things changed…all because of our children." Edgar smiled, hoping to lift Stoick's spirits up even just a little.
Stoick was about to say that he agreed when he heard the door open. Hiccup and Zenna stepped out, faces set in hard determination.
"Dad, it's time. The boat's ready." Hiccup said. "We better set sail, Chief. Some of the fishermen said that they might have a lead on the Scauldron's whereabouts." Zenna chimed in.
What Hiccup and Zenna hadn't expected to see was Mildew on deck along with baskets full of Blue Oleander.
"Your parents did a pretty good job convincing him to dig up all those flowers and join the crew." Gobber winked at Zenna, who merely stared at her parents in surprise. Henna and Edgar just laughed upon seeing their daughter's shocked look.
Mildew, meanwhile, muttered and complained the whole time as the ship left the docks. As soon as they were all out in the open sea, he began to complain louder.
"Well, this is an outrage! I dug up all the flowers! I did my part!" Mildew complained. "Not every bit of it yet you haven't!" Henna and Edgar both told him.
"We're all out here because of you, Mildew. If we all have to put our lives at risk, then so do you!" Stoick gruffly informed the old man.
"You have no proof, Stoick! You can't blame me every time something goes amiss with your precious dragons." Mildew huffed as he stomped off to some other part of the ship.
"That guy seriously needs to take calming exercises…" Zenna mumbled to Hiccup who whispered back, "Or better yet, move to another island. We'd have a break and he won't have to worry about us. It's win-win."
"Alright, Stoick. What's the plan?" Gobber asked, bringing the two back to focus. Stoick went to Hiccup and Zenna. Hiccup held a bucket in his hands and Zenna stood straight as the Chief instructed them.
"Hiccup, Zenna, when Gobber, Edgar, Henna and I secure the Scauldron's head, Sven will wedge its jaws open. We'll need you two to—" Stoick managed to say before Hiccup piped up with, "Drain the poison into this bucket. Got it." Zenna then added, "Then we sail back to Berk and administer the antidote to all of the dragons."
"Good leadership skills, those two have." "Fine leaders they'll make." Edgar and Henna both remarked, even some of the other men onboard nodding in agreement.
"Let's get started." Hiccup told everyone, getting into focus mode along with Zenna. Getting a basket of Blue Oleander, Hiccup brought it close to the edge of the deck. "This is what Scauldrons eat. It'll draw them to the boat." He said, scattering the blossoms into the water. Zenna did the same thing as well. But not before looking at the flowers and smiling a bit. "Kind of reminds me of orchids…" she mumbled.
But of course, Zenna knew that these flowers weren't allowed on Berk and decided to let her fascination with them go. In her opinion, orchids and tulips were much prettier than Blue Oleander anyway.
A couple of hours later…
Not a single Scauldron in sight.
"Bah! This is not working! It was a stupid idea to begin with!" Mildew said crossly. Hiccup and Zenna both glared and made a move to give him a piece of their minds when Stoick stopped them.
"Easy, you two, that's not why we're here." Stoick chided them.
"But that is." Gobber pointed out, he and Zenna's parents spotting an ominous blue-green shape swimming in the water surrounding their boat.
"Scauldron!" Stoick said warily. "Look at that…" Edgar murmured in awe. "That's a pretty massive sea dragon there…" Henna mumbled nervously.
The Scauldron then poked its head out of the water, showing off its razor sharp teeth that struck fear into everyone's heart.
"I may need to change my skivvies again." Gobber gulped. "Please don't…" Zenna quietly prayed, already freaked out over seeing the 'thing that shall not be named ' yesterday.
"We need to lure the Scauldron on deck!" Hiccup shouted, scattering one basket of the Blue Oleander flowers onto the deck floor.
"Oh, that's great. Get it on the ship where it can have at us all!" Mildew exclaimed, thinking that Stoick's little runt was officially the most idiotic boy in the whole island of Berk.
"Gobber! Henna! Secure its neck with this! Edgar and I'll lasso his horn!" Stoick yelled, tossing a rope to Gobber and Henna while he and Edgar took position. But no sooner had they done so, the Scauldron immediately went back into the water.
"It's gone under!" Henna alerted the crew. Everyone was silent as they waited for the Scauldron to resurface.
"Where did it go?" Gobber wondered out loud. "Has it left?" Edgar was worried as well.
Suddenly one of the men on the ship got his oar stolen! A plume of water not far from the ship was now headed straight for it!
"It's coming back!" Zenna yelled.
"HANG ON EVERYBODY!" Gobber shouted, just as the Scauldron rammed into the boat and began climbing onto the deck to eat the scattered Blue Oleander!
Everyone screamed as the ship began to tilt upward, sending people and things sliding down in the Scauldron's direction.
"HICCUP!" "ZENNA!" Stoick, Edgar and Henna screamed as they saw their children sliding down the deck. Hiccup and Zenna were both screaming, afraid that they were going to be the Scauldron's next meal, but Aline grabbed the pair in her magic and placed them on her back before she flew into the air. The Scauldron roared at the Alicorn and tried blasting her with its water spray, but Aline maneuvered around and away from the blasts.
"Get us in close to it," Hiccup said.
"It's too risky with him agitated like this, we have to stun him." Aline replied, dodging the blasts.
Suddenly, three plasma blasts came and struck the Scauldron as well, "Huh?" Zenna quipped before the group heard and saw Eclipse and Aline's other dragon friends flying towards them.
"It's Aline's dragons!" Gobber smiled.
"Sorry for vanishing on you like that, we didn't want to be around those flowers," Star apologized.
"Apology accepted, now let's contain the Scauldron so we can drain its venom." Aline replied. Together with her dragons, Aline and the others were able to subdue the Scauldron and extract the venom from its teeth, before Aline used her magic to create the antidote and administer it to all of the sick dragons, curing them of the Blue Oleander Poison.
Hiccup and the others were relieved their dragons were no longer sick and that the plague was gone for good now.
My Little Dragons: Book 2: Riders of Berk
Chapter 1: How to Start a Dragon Academy
Author's Note
Hello readers, welcome to Book 2 of My Little Dragons series. For this books the setting will change from Equestria to the HTTYD universe (which may get this story banned but I feel that this crossover would be alot more productive than the other crossovers I've done).
Anyway, the adventures Aline and her dragon friends kick into high gear when they cross paths with the Vikings of Berk and the Archipeligo.
So without further addo! Let's dive right in!
Chapter 1: How to Start a Dragon Academy
In the Hidden World, the ancestral home of all dragons, lived the Dragon Alpha, Aline Rose. She was the granddaughter of the previous Alpha, her Grandmother, Scarlet Rose. Now she was given the responsibility of ruling all dragonkind and keeping the peace.
Recently, she had been informed of another world that could use her help to bring to towards peace and being the Alpha, she had to go and so her dragon friends; Star, Eclipse, Dart, Pouncer, Ruffrunner, Flystorm, Pheonix, Reignstorm, Mist and Spark, Whiplash, Nova, Twilight, Dawn, Viper, Striker, Stripes, Kamaari and Raya all headed out with their Alpha to a brand new world... the Barbaric Archipeligo...
'This is Berk.
For generations it was Viking against Dragon. The battles were ferocious…then one day, everything changed.
Hiccup and I Toothless and Stryka, and together we've shown people here that instead of fighting dragons, we can ride them, live with them…even train them.
Now, our adventures are limitless… '
We see two very special Night Furies flying across the skies of Berk. On their backs are two very special Dragon Riders.
The male Night Fury with one bright red prosthetic tail fin had a boy with auburn hair, freckles dusting his face, emerald green eyes and a metal and wood prosthetic left leg making him an equal to the majestic beast. The other Night Fury, a female with just one bright green eye and a black leather eye patch on the right side of her scaly face, had on her back a girl with hair as black as midnight and wore an eye patch over the right side of her face much like the great dragoness, her one violet eye shining as she and her companions flew about.
The names of the two Night Furies? Toothless and Stryka.
The names of the two Dragon Riders? Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Zenna Arrowhead Fiersome.
Together, the four of them were the perfect team…and they still are.
Now, we see them fly over to a sea stack where their friends and their dragons were waiting for them.
"Okay guys, Best Trick competition. Who's up first?" Hiccup asked the other four Dragon Riders.
"Uh…" Fishlegs Ingerman, a husky blond Viking with his sweet female Gronckle, Meatlug, piped up before Snotlout Jorgenson, a black haired bruiser of a boy with a stubborn male Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang interrupted with, "Me!"
"Actually I think it's…" Fishlegs spoke up again.
"Me!" Snotlout once again butted in, making Zenna look at Hiccup and whisper, "Just let him go first…" in a somewhat irritated tone.
Finally Astrid Hofferson, a tough-as-nails blonde Viking shield maiden with a beautiful yet just as tough female Deadly Nadder called Stormfly exclaimed, "Sweet Baby Thor in a thunderstorm, GO!"
Snotlout smirked and got comfy on Hookfang. "Oh don't worry, we'll go. And when we go, Hookfang and I are gonna light the sky on-…" he managed to boast before Hookfang took off.
"-FIRE!" Snotlout screamed as his dragon began to go crazy with the tricks. Hookfang spiraled here and there, doing all sorts of insane acrobatics.
"Oh no!" Snotlout hollered as Hookfang then did one last aerial stunt…before diving into the water to chase after a school of fish.
"Brave stunt there, Hookfang." Zenna complimented the Stoker Class dragon as it came in for a landing, with a scared-out-of-his-wits Snotlout clinging onto his dragon's neck for dear life.
"I'm alive…? I'm alive!" Snotlout shouted in relief before looking at everyone's faces.
"Of course I am." He said quickly in an attempt to save what was left of his dignity.
"It's my turn!" Fishlegs said excitedly before looking at Meatlug.
"Ready, Meatlug? Here we go!" And with that, Meatlug lifted off the ground and proceeded to buzz around the sea stack at low speeds. For those two, that is considered a great trick. The others could only look at the slow moving duo with blank, bored expressions.
When Meatlug landed, Fishlegs grinned. "Yes! New personal best!" he praised Meatlug, giving her a hug which she returned with an affectionate lick.
Then the Thorston Twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, riding on their male Hideous Zippleback, Barf and Belch, began to argue…again.
"My turn!" Ruffnut insisted to which Tuffnut protested, "No, my turn!"
"Hideous Zippleback. Two heads, remember?" Zenna reminded them and Hiccup joined in with, "Guys, same dragon."
"Oh, right." Tuffnut chuckled before he and his sister went up into the air.
But as usual they began a new argument, this time in the sky riding their Zippleback.
"Go left!" Tuffnut ordered Belch while Ruffnut told Barf, "No, right!"
"Oh, here they go again!" Zenna face palmed as she watched the Twins and their dragon head straight for another sea stack.
"N-no, right!" Tuffnut yelped while Ruffnut hollered, "No, left!" making Barf and Belch even more confused, not to mention getting their necks tangled.
Finally the two-headed dragon decided to take matters into their own paws and tossed their Riders up into the air!
"Oh no! Whoa! This is awesome and scary! Ahhh!" Tuffnut screamed as they fell.
Good thing, Barf and Belch caught them! They took them both back to the sea stack, Ruffnut and Tuffnut both slumped against their dragon's necks.
"You two still alive?" Zenna questioned them, her violet eye showing concern as she peered at the Twins.
"We almost died…" Ruffnut straightened up along with her brother. "I know…go again?!" Tuffnut breathed out, looking at his sister excitedly.
"Hey! It's my turn." Astrid said before looking at Hiccup. "You might wanna take notes." She said with a smile before urging Stormfly, "Let's go!"
As she took off into the air, Zenna glanced at Hiccup. "Best to listen to your girl, Hicc." She giggled, a teasing grin on her face.
Hiccup just smiled as he watched Astrid and Stormfly perform their tricks.
"Okay, Stormfly tail flip!" Astrid commanded and Stormfly obeyed, her spiked tail dragging through the water.
"Now twirl!" Stormfly began to immediately twirl about in mid-air until Astrid called out, "Quick, upwards spiral!" and she flew up, spiraling through the air.
"Alright, Stormfly!" Astrid cheered, pumping her fist in the air. She and her Nadder then flew back down to the sea stack where they were greeted with cheers and praise.
Then Snotlut said, "Yeah, but can you do that without the dragon?" to which Astrid responded with a punch to his arm making Snotlout yelp, "Ow!"
With their friends now done with their tricks, Hiccup and Zenna were raring to go.
"It's finally our turn, girl. Let's show 'em what we've got." Zenna said to her female Night Fury, smiling. Stryka growled an excited growl. Like her Rider, she was ready to go flying.
"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us there, bud." Hiccup said to his male Night Fury. Toothless warbled in agreement.
Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka then lifted off and began to power dive towards the water! Then at the last second, they pulled up! The force caused the water to tear up like a wave as they flew about, zigzagging around the sea stacks at blazing speeds!
But what do you expect? Toothless and Stryka are Night Furies.
Approaching a rock arch, Hiccup and Zenna looked at each other, nodded and prepared themselves. Once they were close enough, they leapt off their dragons backs and ran across the narrow stretch of rock, almost as if in slow motion, and then jumped back on their dragons once they were done flying under the arch.
Naturally the four of them won the Best Trick Competition, like they do every day.
In celebration, Toothless and Stryka fired out their plasma blasts to create an impromptu fireworks show, much to the delight of their friends.
"They're still the best." Astrid said, watching them as Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka soared through the air.
"We did awesome, Stryka!" Zenna whooped, giving her dragon a gentle scratch behind her ear plate.
"Another win. Good job, bud." Hiccup praised Toothless who warbled happily.
Together, the four friends flew back to the village, their other friends shortly following them.
'Yep…Dragons.
Most people on Berk would say life here is better since we made peace with them.
Unfortunately, dragons are still, well, dragons… '
Later that afternoon, Hiccup and Zenna were walking around the village. Toothless and Stryka were allowed to do whatever they wanted to do since both Viking teens decided to let them have their free time.
It would've been a relaxing walk for Hiccup and Zenna…if the dragons hadn't been running wild in the village plaza.
"Let go off my food! Drop it, pesky dragon! Dragons!"
"Get off my roof, you pest!"
"Let go of that! These are my apples!"
"Give me back my dainties, dragon!"
The two best friends had to be careful to avoid any angry Viking villagers as well as rampaging dragons, all the while listening to the villagers' complaints.
"This walk hasn't turned out to be so relaxing…" Zenna mumbled, observing the chaos. Hiccup was about to say something when…
"Incoming!"
"Look out!"
"Dragon poo!"
Upon hearing those shouts, both Hiccup and Zenna looked up to see a flock of dragons fly overhead. It only took the duo three seconds to start backing away while the dragons answered the call of nature.
"Yikes! Hot dung, incoming!" Zenna yelped. "Ew, gross, gross, gross. Oh poop. Oh, that's disgusting." Hiccup grimaced as they quickly found shelter under the shield umbrellas of two one-handed Vikings.
One Viking, a brown haired one, had a hook for a hand and a regular horned helmet. The other, a blond haired Viking, also had a hook for a hand but instead of a helmet had a bucket on his head. Those two shield umbrella wielders are Bucket and Mulch, farmers and fishermen.
"Oh, hey. At least some people gave your 'shield-brella ' idea a try, Hiccup." Zenna remarked, relieved to be out of the drop zone.
"Hey Mulch. Hey Bucket. Sorry about the, uh…" Hiccup greeted the two Vikings before wincing as he saw a villager get a face full of dragon poop.
"Every day at three. They're regular at least. A tip of the cap." Bucket commented. "Better then the days when it was 'kill or be killed '." Mulch shrugged, making Zenna look at him rather offended. In her and Hiccup's opinion, the before days of dragon killing were like living Helheim compared to these days of dragon-related chaos.
Realizing that he may have offended both kids, Mulch then said, "Hey, we've got some fish for those parents of yours. Bucket, give the kids the cods." Turning to Bucket.
Bucket then held up an empty and torn up sack, much to his and Mulch's confusion. "I ate it already? Did I enjoy it?" Bucket asked.
It was no secret that ever since he suffered a dragon attack to the head in a raid, Bucket had pretty much lost half of his brain. Due to that, he had to wear a bucket on his head to protect it from further damage and suffered from short-term memory loss which usually made him forget things that had even occurred just minutes ago.
Today was one of those days.
"Um, no, uh, actually Bucket…I'm afraid the, uh…" Hiccup managed to say before a small chirp alerted them to spotting a small Terrible Terror make off with the two fish, taking it to underneath a small awning where a flock of more Terrors flew into to feast.
"Well, at least the dragons are enjoying it." Zenna said, looking on the bright side of things.
Hiccup, on the other hand, could only manage a weak grin as he watched the chaos continue. And the chaos…let's just say it lasted all day until it was nighttime.
'Most of us here on Berk are willing to take the good with the bad. But there are those who will never accept the dragons and will do anything to drive them away… '
That night high up in the far side of the island stood an old house belonging to an even older Viking who was now asleep.
The old Viking is Mildew, the village grump and resident dragon hater of Berk.
Right now, his peaceful sleep was disturbed by the sound of rattling on his roof. Muttering, Mildew got out of bed and went outside. Looking up, he saw a Gronckle taking a snooze on his house's roof.
"Dragons, I should've known. Helps himself to my roof and my cabbage…" Mildew muttered, picking up a half-eaten cabbage head lying near his doorstep.
But that wasn't the only thing that got Mildew all riled up…
"My whole field! Gone!"
True enough, Mildew's entire farming field was destroyed, thanks to some Gronckles wanting a midnight snack.
"That tears it, Fungus." Mildew grumbled, putting on his helmet, taking up his staff and pet sheep, Fungus, before beginning the long walk towards the village.
The mornings in Berk are always busy. If a storm, freeze, invasion or war was coming, it was even busier.
On this particular morning, the villagers were preparing for an upcoming freeze. Heading the preparations is Stoick the Vast, Hiccup's father and mighty Chief of Berk. Assisting him is Gobber the Belch, the village blacksmith and Zenna's parents, Edgar and Henna Fiersome.
"Store the rest of it in the back, the fishing boats just came in with a big catch." Stoick ordered the workers.
Serpent and Serpentine, Edgar and Henna's maroon Hideous Zippleback who was now a lot bigger ever since Snoggletog months before, happily helped their master and mistress roll a barrel full of fish to the back of the village's food storage.
Mildew had finally arrived at the village and marched straight up to Hiccup's father shouting, "Stoick!"
"Oh, not this old grump again…" Zenna muttered under her breath. "Zenna, manners!" Henna scolded her but could not help but feel some slight dislike for the old man. "He is a grump, love. There's no wrong in pointing out what's true."
Mildew had once yelled at Zenna for trespassing when she had just been giving Stryka a tour of Berk back when she had woken up from her month long coma. Mildew had even threatened to cut off Stryka's head and mount it on his wall, which did not sit well for the young girl's mother and father when Zenna had decided to tattle on him.
Ever since then, Zenna's parents had advised their daughter and her dragon to stay away from Mildew's house as often as possible. And their slight dislike for the old man had turned into great dislike.
"Ah, here's Mildew with the complaint of the day." Gobber quipped upon seeing the sheep-toting villager.
"You picked a bad time, Mildew. I'm in the middle of storing food. The freeze is coming." Stoick told Mildew who merely huffed, "It's those dragons again. Those demons are not fit to live among civilized men."
"Demons? Civilized?" Edgar glared at the old man. "Says the one who threatened our daughter all those months ago." Henna muttered. Serpent and Serpentine hissed and protectively coiled their necks around Zenna who just rolled her eye at Mildew's complaint.
"Neither are you, Mildew. Why do you think we built your house so far outside of town?" Gobber said jokingly, making the Fiersome Family chuckle along with their dragons.
"Ah, very well, make your jokes. Meanwhile these dragons are in our village's cod! Turning people's houses into piles of rubble!" Mildew shouted accusingly, gesturing with his staff to the number of damaged carts and house around the village.
"Mildew's right!" one Viking exclaimed from atop the roof he was fixing, much to Hiccup and Zenna's chagrin.
"They even disturb an old man's rest. Can't you see these bags under me eyes?" Mildew questioned, pointing to his face while another Viking called out, "Go on, Mildew!"
"He's right, he's hideous." Gobber said upon inspecting Mildew's face. "Really hideous." Zenna added, making Hiccup smile a bit in amusement.
But Mildew wasn't finished ranting and raving yet. "These are wild and unpredictable beasts!" he exclaimed with another Viking agreeing with, "Right you are!"
At that, Hiccup and Zenna looked at each other worriedly. Sure the dragons were still a bit wild and plenty unpredictable but they weren't beasts! The two of them both saw the winged, fire-breathing reptiles as friends and equals.
Unlike Mildew, who was still sticking to the old ways. The guy really needed to broaden his perspective if he wanted to be not so much a grump…
"They even cracked this man's skull. Like an egg." Mildew went on, banging on Bucket's bucket for emphasis.
"Eggs? I like eggs! Scrambled! Over easy! Poached!" Bucket said, blissfully unaware of the uproar and now feeling hungry.
"You need to put those dragons in cages." Mildew demanded Stoick.
At the word 'cages ', Serpent and Serpentine recoiled in horror and flinched when they heard a man say, "I agree!"
"If you don't, they'll eat us out of house and home and destroy the entire village!" Mildew exclaimed, the villagers chanting their agreements.
Toothless and Stryka warbled in concern for their fellow dragons' safety as well as theirs. They'd been caged before and they didn't like it one bit.
Deciding to speak up, Hiccup and Zenna walked to stand by Stoick.
"They don't mean any harm They're just dragons being dragons." Hiccup said, quieting the people down. "They just need time to get used to all of us. It'll take time but they'll be integrated into our society, no doubt about it." Zenna joined in.
Mildew continued to glare at the two teens before Stoick stepped in. "Look, Mildew, if there's a problem I'll deal with it." He said gruffly.
"Oh, there is a problem Stoick. And I think I speak for everyone when I say you better do something about it!" Mildew said threateningly before leaving.
At that point, the villagers began voicing their complaints once again. Hiccup and Zenna could only look at each other and their two Night Furies while the villagers complained.
Later that night, Stoick, Gobber, Edgar and Henna were in the main room of the Haddock house where they hoped to discuss ideas on handling the village's current dragon problem.
"We can't just let dragons run wild like they own the place." Stoick said, pacing about before suddenly suggesting, "Hey, we could put up signs!"
"Signs…for dragons ?" Gobber questioned him. "Do they even know how to read?" Edgar asked in agreement to the blacksmith's query.
"No! For the people ." Stoick corrected himself.
"Signs…for Vikings ? We're not big readers, Stoick." Gobber pointed out. "Our tribe would be far much better if we were…" Henna said, knowing that most of her neighbors had never even opened a book. She and her family, on the other hand, were at least somewhat more academically inclined…and even more literate.
"Then we'll build a huge net and stretch it around the plaza." Stoick suggested once again.
"Nets? You do know they breathe fire?" Gobber said incredulously. "It could be a net made of iron . It'll be far stronger than a rope one." Edgar offered helpfully. "But if the dragons breathe fire, the iron could melt. And melted iron is hot, love. Think of the injuries!" Henna chided her husband.
"I know very well they breathe fire, Gobber. Edgar, it might seem like a good idea but your wife's got a point. Maybe Mildew's right…" Stoick sighed, officially out of ideas.
Hiccup and Zenna had been listening in on their parents' conversation and wanted to help.
"We have to figure something-…" Stoick managed to say before Hiccup said, "No, no, wait Dad. What if Zenna and I deal with the dragons?"
The adults then turned to look at the auburn headed teen in surprise.
"You two?" Stoick asked, slightly stunned. "Well, Hiccup and I are the original Dragon Trainers." Zenna replied with a smile.
"Fair point there, love." Henna smiled, fixing Zenna's slightly disheveled hair. "You two are the reason why dragons are now at peace with us." Edgar chuckled, ruffling Zenna's hair up much to his wife's dismay.
"Who else? If anyone can control them, we can. I'm the best man for the job." Hiccup said as Toothless nosed his way under his arm for a cuddle.
"And I'm the best woman for the job." Zenna added, stroking Stryka who purred happily in agreement.
"You're not a man yet , Hiccup." Stoick sighed at his one-legged son. "And you're not exactly yet a woman either, Zenna." Gobber looked at the one-eyed girl standing by the Chief's son.
"Not if you don't give us a chance to be!" Hiccup responded. "We can do it, trust us." Zenna affirmed.
The four adults looked at each other and thought over it carefully. Finally they nodded. If Hiccup and Zenna wanted to try, they had to at least give them a chance.
"Fair enough, you'll both have your chance…starting tomorrow." Stoick told the two seriously.
"No problem. It'll be easy as pie." Zenna said confidently.
Oh, was she gonna eat her words tomorrow…
The next day, while the dragons continued their mischief and misbehaving, two Viking teenagers confidently strode into the plaza.
"Okay gang, there's gonna be some changes around here." Hiccup announced. "Starting today." Zenna added as they split up and got to work.
"Get out! Shoo! For the last time, get your nose out of my bread!" a Viking baker yelled as she struggled to keep a purple Nadder from stealing her bread basket.
Hiccup quickly ran over to her calling out, "Hold on, I'll help you! Just…"
Hiccup then faced the misbehaving Nadder and sternly said, "No!" placing his hand on the dragon's snout, calming it down.
"Alright." Hiccup grinned, happy at his progress. This was going to be a snap!
But suddenly a blue-green colored Gronckle burst out of nowhere, Zenna running after it in hot pursuit yelling, "Hold it right there!" startling both Hiccup and the Nadder. The Nadder then went back to misbehaving as soon as Hiccup got distracted by the Gronckle.
"Okay…" Hiccup mumbled.
Maybe this wasn't going to be much of a snap…
"Sheesh, for a Gronckle, he could run like the wind…!" Zenna panted as the Gronckle evaded her grasp.
Suddenly, roars coming from somewhere up in the village got the two teens' attention. A Monstrous Nightmare and Deadly Nadder were getting into a brawl, startling a flock of sheep and setting one on fire!
"Toothless, Stryka, stop that fight! We'll put out the sheep." Hiccup commanded his Night Fury and Zenna's, grabbing a bucket of water along with Zenna.
The two Night Furies quickly rushed to the two bickering dragons to break them up while their Riders chased after the flaming sheep.
"Stop, drop and roll! It's stop, drop and roll, you stupid ball of fleece!" Zenna yelled as she and Hiccup were knocked down by the panicking sheep on fire, spilling all the water in their buckets.
"Okay, okay…whoa!" Hiccup yelped as the both of them chased the sheep into the plaza, where things were no better…
"Get out! Get back here with my cart!"
"Enough of these dragons!"
The dragons were everywhere! Running and flying off with food, clothing, personal possessions…basically, the dragons were too many and doing too many things all at once and Hiccup and Zenna just couldn't keep track of them all.
"Remember when I said last night that this would be easy as pie? I take it all back. This…is harder than it looks!" Zenna deadpanned, shaking her head in disbelief.
Unbeknownst to her and Hiccup, their friends were watching them fail miserably from one of the village's watchtowers.
"What're they doing?" Snotlout asked curiously.
"Uh, I think they're helping the dragons break stuff." Tuffnut guessed.
"Cool." Ruffnut said, grinning.
Hiccup and Zenna yelped and ducked as a dragon dive bombed, barely missing them both.
"Wow, they could really use our help." Astrid remarked.
"We'll get to it." Tuffnut said lazily.
"In a minute." Ruffnut agreed with her brother, just as lazy as him.
Meanwhile, Zenna managed to corner the flaming sheep and Hiccup tossed the contents of his refilled water bucket right to the sheep's face.
"Sorry about that." Hiccup said apologetically. "That's one problem solved…" Zenna breathed a sigh of relief.
However, her relief was short-lived when the dragons arrived to take a dump.
"And…it's three o' clock." Astrid sighed as the first few globs of hot, bright green dragon poo fell from the sky.
Zenna was lucky she had her older brother Elias' shield. But as she put it up over her head, she muttered a quick apology to her brother for disgracing his shield's integrity.
"Um, Hiccup…" she called out a warning to her best friend when she spotted a big glop of dragon dung headed straight for him!
But she warned Hiccup too late.
"Oh, no." Hiccup muttered before the glop of dragon poo hit him straight in the face!
Zenna cringed, quickly taking Hiccup's hand and pulling him into her house to get him and her shield cleaned up. Once that was down and the dragons had finished relieving themselves, Hiccup and Zenna got back out there…only to fail once again to stop the dragons from misbehaving.
"Oh, gods…I am so eating my words right now." Zenna groaned. Hiccup could only groan in agreement.
That night, both friends were in Hiccup's bedroom, completely exhausted.
"Aw man, my aching everything …" Zenna moaned, sitting down on a chair and put her head in her hands. Stryka warbled and tried to make her feel better by giving her a cuddle.
"Oh, everything hurts…even this ." Hiccup sighed, sitting down on his bed and detaching his prosthetic left leg. Toothless also crooned worriedly upon seeing how beat-up his best friend was.
"Hiccup? Zenna?" Astrid's voice suddenly called from downstairs, making both teens instantly straighten up.
"Astrid?" Hiccup wondered out loud. "Who else could it be?" Zenna told him, shrugging.
"Perfect…" Hiccup muttered before he and Zenna looked at Toothless and Stryka and asked them, "We don't look too beat-up, do we?"
All their two Night Furies could do was smile half-heartedly at them. "Oh great, dragon pity." Hiccup and Zenna both deadpanned as Astrid came up.
"Hey, Astrid, what a nice surprise!" Hiccup said to the beautiful shield maiden as cheerfully as he could. "Stryka and I will be on our way now. See you tomorrow." Zenna said before getting on Stryka's back and flew out of the window.
"So, how was your day?" Astrid asked once the one-eyed girl was gone. "Uh, uneventful…Hung around the plaza with Zen…you know…" Hiccup said, trying to sound casual.
"Yeah I do know. We saw you two out there." Astrid replied, picking off a clump of dirt off Hiccup's leather vest. "It's hard to believe that you're both still standing." She decided to add.
Finally completely drained, Hiccup collapsed onto his bed. "I'm gonna be seeing flaming sheep in my dreams for the next month." He groaned before he heard the one voice he really didn't want to hear right now…
"Hiccup!"
Stoick came up to his son's room, looking rather steamed.
"Hiccup, what's going on out there? The plaza looks like a war zone." Stoick demanded, his son quickly getting up from his bed.
"I know it looks bad…" Hiccup began before Astrid whispered to him, "Really bad." Making him wince a little.
"Yeah, but this is only Phase One of my master plan." Hiccup said convincingly. Truth be told, he was still coming up with the other phases of his master plan.
"Oh, so you do have a plan?" he asked curiously. "I do…of course I do! It's very complex. Lots of drawings, several moving parts. Yeah it's, uh, pretty wild." Hiccup fibbed, praying to all the gods in Valhalla that his father wouldn't call his bluff.
Luckily Stoick believed him. "Uh huh, well this better be real because Mildew's stirred up the whole island. And if you and Zenna don't get those dragons under control, they'll be calling for their heads." He said seriously before going back downstairs.
Toothless rumbled worriedly. There was absolutely no way he and his beloved Stryka were gonna lose their heads! They needed them!
"Don't worry, bud. Your head's not going anywhere." Hiccup told him soothingly. Astrid then walked over to the duo. "You and Zenna do realize there are, like, a bazillion dragons out there and only two of you? I hope you two really do have a plan." She said, putting her hands on her hips.
Hiccup looked at Astrid for a second before nodding. True, his master plan was still very much incomplete. But he was determined to not fail. Once Astrid left, Hiccup got brainstorming until he finally came up with an idea. But first, he needed to tell Zenna about this…
Meanwhile in the Fiersome household, Zenna was getting a much-needed massage from her mother while Stryka got hers from Zenna's father.
"Ow, Mom not so hard!" Zenna winced as her mother's hands kneaded her shoulder blades a bit too roughly. "Sorry, love. You've got this really tight kink here…" Henna apologized as she lowered down the pressure.
"I don't see why Stryka needs a massage as well. You and Hiccup were the ones running about today." Edgar mumbled as he gently massaged Stryka's back. The female Night Fury snorted and whacked Zenna's Dad in the head with her tail, much to Zenna's amusement.
"Hey, even dragons need to be pampered once in a while, Dad." Zenna chuckled before she heard Hiccup's voice from outside.
"Zen, you there?"
"Okay Mom, Dad, you may leave. Thanks for giving us the massage." Zenna thanked her parents, stroking Stryka's chin.
Once Zenna's parents had left, Zenna looked out her window to see Hiccup and Toothless hovering a couple of inches below her house's roof.
"Evening, Hiccup. Evening, Toothless. What brings you two here at this time of night?" Zenna greeted them as she let them come in through her window.
Stryka warbled lovingly to her mate and Toothless affectionately nuzzled her.
Wanting to cut to the chase before his Dad found out he and Toothless had snuck out, Hiccup immediately asked Zenna, "Do you remember the old Dragon Killing Arena?"
"Yeah, nobody's using it and I heard your Dad's planning to have it torn down. Why?" Zenna said, raising an eyebrow.
"We're gonna use it as a place to train the dragons tomorrow." Hiccup told her. Zenna blinked. "That's a sensible idea but wouldn't the dragons get kind of, you know, nervous? I mean, that place was where we used to kill them." She pointed out.
Toothless was now busy looking around Zenna's room and Stryka was giving him a grand tour of sorts while Hiccup said, "I guess you're right. But right now, it's our only chance. Mildew's got the whole village riled up again. If we don't do something soon, we could lose the dragons forever."
"Alright, I'll gather up the others and their dragons first thing tomorrow morning." Zenna said, agreeing to Hiccup's plan.
"Thanks, Zen." Hiccup said gratefully before calling Toothless' attention and they both turned to leave.
"Just out of curiosity, did your Dad approve of you taking over the arena?" Zenna suddenly asked, making Hiccup stop in his tracks.
"Um, well…" Hiccup said, awkwardly turning to face the one-eyed Viking girl. It didn't take Zenna a second to know that her best human friend had once again disobeyed orders and rolled her eye.
"I should've known…" Zenna sighed, shaking her head. "Yes, there's a possibility we could all get in trouble. But it's our only chance, Zen! You're either with me or against me." Hiccup said exasperatedly.
"Relax, Hiccup. I'm with you all the way." Zenna laughed at the one-legged boy's exasperation. Hiccup finally relaxed, said good-night to Zenna and left with Toothless.
As she watched the two fly off, Zenna looked at Stryka. "You think tomorrow will turn out well, Stryka?" she asked the dragoness. Stryka merely yawned and heated up her rock slab bed before curling up to sleep.
"Never mind." Zenna sighed, going to sleep as well.
The next day, Zenna gathered up all the other Viking teens and their dragons and led them to the arena where Hiccup told them his plan.
"That's your plan? Train dragons?" Ruffnut asked in disbelief once Hiccup had finished explaining. "Here? Where we used to kill them?" Tuffnut asked as well, looking around at the stone walls.
"Right…because we don't do that anymore. That's why it's available." Hiccup replied, readying the things needed for the training session.
"Actually, the dragons do seem a little nervous." Astrid remarked, gently petting Stormfly who, along with all the other dragons, was nervously fidgeting about.
Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch could remember all the torturous times they had in the Dragon Killing Arena. And those torturous times were, well…torturous.
"That's because they're very sensitive ." Fishlegs stated, cuddling his Gronckle. "Meatlug, especially. She lost a cousin here." He said before whispering, "We try not to talk about it."
"Well this place was pending for demolition. It'd be such a waste to get rid of the arena when it can still be useful to the village." Zenna pointed out.
"It's amazing your dad just gave us the arena." Astrid remarked, amazed at how quickly Hiccup had put this whole plan together. "Well, it would be, if he did , yeah, but, he didn't, so that's another thing we should try not to talk about." Hiccup admitted, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"Wait, so we're going behind your father's back?" Astrid asked suspiciously. "There you go! Talking about it! Uh…" Hiccup sighed, still hoping the plan would still work.
"Did you know about this?" Ruffnut asked Zenna who shyly said, "Maybe…"
Tuffnut gave her a look that clearly said he wasn't buying her story. "Okay, yes! It is kind of risky but I have to admit that his plan is a sensible solution to the dilemma." Zenna admitted.
"And you actually agreed to his idea?" Snotlout asked. "Yeah, pretty much." Zenna shrugged, as if this was something perfectly ordinary to her.
"You've got a true friend there, Hiccup." Fishlegs turned to the auburn headed teen. Hiccup smiled a bit.
Ever since he was a kid, Zenna had always stood by his side no matter what. Even after all these years, she's always had his back. A friend like Zenna is really hard to find. And Hiccup is truly blessed to have her as his best human friend.
"So what now, Hicc?" Zenna then turned to him, her violet eye sparkling with anticipation. Feeling a lot better knowing that Zenna was with him on this to the very end, Hiccup stepped up to face all of his friends.
"Alright. Everybody, here's the thing. The dragons are out of control. We want them to live in our world without destroying it but they can't without our help." He stated.
Everyone listened as he continued. "They've been blowing things up in the village…we've gotta do something about that." Hiccup said seriously. "And we need to do it as quickly as possible." Zenna helpfully added.
Unfortunately some people (AKA the Twins ) misinterpreted the two friends' words.
"Got it! Help dragons blow things up. We can totally do that." Tuffnut said gleefully.
"No. I believe I said-…" Hiccup tried to correct them only to be interrupted by Ruffnut.
"Here's how we're gonna do it: First, we make them really, really angry…" Ruffnut began. "I believe that is not what…" Zenna decided to try correcting the female Thorston before Tuffnut interrupted again.
"No problem. We anger everybody ." Tuffnut snickered. Before the Twins could get another word in edgewise, Zenna covered their mouths with her hands and silenced them.
"No, you guys, this is serious! Mildew wants all of our dragons caged. And I don't know about you, but that's not okay with me." Hiccup said sternly.
"Or me." Zenna agreed, taking her hands off the Twins' mouths.
"You're right. She's sorry." Tuffnut said, smirking at Ruffnut who just glared at him.
Hiccup decided to move on. "Okay then. Next problem…" he then took out a hard loaf of bread from the basket he had set out in front of the team and walked over to Toothless.
"The dragons are eating everything in sight. Now, when a dragon grabs something it's not supposed to have…" Hiccup then allowed Toothless to take the loaf into his mouth.
"You can get him to drop it by giving him a little scratch just below the chin." Saying this, Hiccup performed a demonstration and Toothless immediately dropped the loaf of bread.
"It also helps if you reinforce this with a firm yet gentle way." Zenna advised as Stryka dug her snout into the basket and pulled out another loaf.
"Stryka, that's not for you." Zenna said firmly before gently scratching the dragoness just below her chin, making her drop the bread.
Snotlout then came up and took both loaves from the two teens' hands.
"Maybe those work for you two and Toothless and Stryka. But Hookfang and me? We do things a little different." Snotlout said, marching up to his Monstrous Nightmare.
"Oh, this should be educationally interesting." Zenna smirked as Hookfang took the bread from Snotlout.
"When I want this big boy to do something I just get right in his face and-DROP THAT RIGHT NOW! YOU HEAR ME?!" Snotlout suddenly yelled in Hookfang's face.
In response, Hookfang dropped the bread…and then, took Snotlout into his mouth next. "See? He dropped it." Snotlout said, his voice muffled. "So he did, so he did." Zenna chuckled, liking how this lesson was going.
"Should we help him?" Tuffnut asked blankly. "Yeah. In a minute." Astrid answered his question, an amused look on her face.
Hiccup then decided it was time to do some on-site training. "Alright. We've got a lot of training to do but together we can keep these dragons under control." He said before he and everyone else left the arena to start training in the village, leaving Snotlout and Hookfang behind.
"Uh…can somebody do that chin scratchy thing? Hello? You guys still there?" Snotlout asked only to get silence as his answer.
After a couple of minutes though, Zenna came back. As annoying the Jorgenson boy is, she had to help.
"Spit him out, Hookfang." She commanded and the Monstrous Nightmare obeyed.
"How come he listens to you?" Snotlout whined, trying to get rid of his dragon's flammable spit. "It's because I'm a lot nicer." Zenna rolled her eye before dragging him out of the arena to join the others.
To the seven Viking teens' surprise when they got to the village, the whole place was quiet and dragon-free.
"Huh. No dragons." Fishlegs quipped.
"That was easy." Ruffnut said.
"Lunch?" Snotlout asked nobody in particular. "Is food all you ever think about?" Zenna asked, slightly irked.
Hiccup, on the other hand, was worried and suspicious. "That's weird. If the dragons aren't here, where are they?" he wondered out loud.
A loud explosion coming from the area where the village food storage was answered him.
"Something tells me that way." Astrid told Hiccup. "Oh, this ought to be bad…" Zenna groaned, shaking her head as they all ran to the food storage warehouse only to find the dragons eating all the food for the freeze!
In fact…
"Stormfly?"
"Hookfang?" Astrid and Snotlout were shocked to see their dragons partaking in the stolen feast.
Stoick was with Zenna's parents, hoping to salvage some of the precious food but to no avail.
"They've eaten everything! We've got nothing left for the freeze!" Stoick exclaimed. Serpent and Serpentine had their heads in two barrels of fish but were immediately caught by Edgar and Henna.
"Serpent, shame on you!" Zenna's father scolded the left head.
"Serpentine, I've raised you better than this!" Henna sternly told the right head.
The maroon Zippleback looked at each other sheepishly and cooed their apology. But they weren't the only ones in trouble…so were the seven Viking teens. And at that moment, Mildew decided to make an appearance.
"I warned you, Stoick. But did you listen to me? No. You put a bunch of teenagers in charge!" he said, glaring at the seven teens in question.
"Now look what the dragons have done! Caging is too good for those beasts." Mildew rambled on.
"If anybody should be put in a cage, it's you Mildew!" Zenna shouted angrily.
"Zen!" both Edgar and Henna exclaimed in shock.
"Dad, I swear Zenna and I can this. We-we were just starting to-…" Hiccup stuttered in an attempt to reason with his father but got cut off.
"Enough, Hiccup! How can I trust you and Zenna to control all the dragons, when the two of you couldn't even control your own?" Stoick said sharply.
At that point, Hiccup and Zenna both noticed Toothless and Stryka sharing a fish with each other.
"Oh, Toothless…" Hiccup sighed. "Stryka, really?" Zenna said, incredulous.
"Bucket! Mulch! Man the boats! We need another catch!" Stoick ordered the two fishermen, tossing them two fishnets.
"It's too late, Stoick. It took us six months to catch all that fish." Mulch told him. "Don't tell me it's too late! We've got to try!" Stoick insisted.
Mulch decided it was worth a try and said, "Of course we do!" before pegging the blame on Bucket saying, "Uh, don't tell the Chief it's too late. You're always so negative!"
Bucket sighed. "I don't know what it is with me." He said helplessly.
Hiccup and Zenna, on the other hand, were desperate to change the Chief's mind about the dragons.
"Chief, just give us another chance! We were just starting!" Zenna pleaded, her violet eye shining with concern.
"Dad, please! You gotta listen to me. Zenna and I know dragons better than-" Hiccup managed to say before Stoick turned to face him and Zenna.
"Not now, Hiccup. I have a village to feed. The dragons have done enough damage. By tonight, I want every one of them caged. Understand?" he said sternly.
Hiccup and Zenna both opened their mouths to protest when Mildew butted in. "Bah! You can't just cage these dragons! You need to send them away now!" he barked.
"Stoick, Mildew's right!" "Get 'em out of here!" the villagers cried out.
Stoick had no choice. "You're right, Mildew." He said, making his son and his best human friend look at him in horror.
"We'll cage them tonight, and in the morning, Hiccup and Zenna will send them off the island." Stoick told the old man before looking at Hiccup.
"I'm sorry, son." He apologized and left.
"This is so unfair!" Zenna exclaimed, turning around and seeing her parents worriedly cuddling Serpent and Serpentine who were now shaking at the thought of being caged.
"Hiccup, what do we do now? " Zenna asked worriedly. And for the first time in a long while, Hiccup could only respond with, "…I…don't know…"
That evening, the seven Viking teens were at the Great Hall moping. All the dragons were outside, save for Toothless and Stryka who were at Hiccup and Zenna's sides, and were dreading going into the cages later tonight.
"I can't believe we have to send them away." Snotlout said, dejected. "It's gonna be weird. I got used to Stormfly's face being the first thing I see every morning." Astrid mumbled as she stirred her cocoa, the cream forming a milky image of a Deadly Nadder.
"Every night before I went to sleep, Meatlug would lick my feet." Fishlegs said sadly. His friends merely looked at him, shocked and also confused on why his dragon would even do that.
"Who's gonna do that now?!" Fishlegs wailed, slumping forward onto the table. "I volunteer Tuffnut!" Ruffnut offered. Her twin brother was too glum to even care. "Whatever. What time should I be there?" he said miserably.
Finally the time came for the dragons to be caged…
"Come on, guys. Let's get this over with." Astrid sighed, getting off the bench followed by the four other depressed Viking teens.
"This is the worst day of my life! We're never gonna see our dragons again!" Fishlegs wailed as he and the others left, leaving Hiccup and Zenna with their two Night Furies.
"We can't let that happen!" Hiccup said loudly before looking at his dragon. "Toothless is the best friend I've ever had." He said softly, petting the male Night Fury.
Then he realized that Zenna was with him.
"Oh! Uh, Zen I didn't…" Hiccup said awkwardly, unsure of what to say.
"It's cool, Hicc. I can't really compete with the friendship between a boy and his dragon, after all." Zenna laughed good-naturedly before cuddling Stryka.
"The same thing goes for me and Stryka. She's the best friend I've ever had as well." She admitted as Stryka nuzzled her.
That's when Mildew decided to drop in. "Oh! Toothless, Stryka, I'm gonna miss you both so much!" he said mockingly, making both teens' blood boil.
It took all their combined effort to just glare at the old man instead of letting Toothless and Stryka attack him.
"You know what both of your mistake was? Thinking dragons could be trained. Only an expert could train all these dragons." Mildew told them and as he began to leave the Great Hall added, "And nature always wins."
"It's official. I hate that guy." Zenna deadpanned but still had a murderous gleam in her eye. Toothless and Stryka both growled in agreement.
Then as Mildew opened the door, the wind blew in and put the fire in the main pit out. Toothless and Stryka both shot out fireballs and reignited it.
"Oh! Thank you, Toothless and Stryka." One Viking woman said gratefully, warming herself by the fire.
"At least somebody appreciates the dragons and everything they've done for us…" Zenna sighed.
Hiccup meanwhile, pondered on Mildew's words. And upon seeing Toothless and Stryka use their instincts on the fire, an idea began to form in his mind.
'Only an expert could train all these dragons… '
Suddenly, it hit him.
"You know what? Mildew is absolutely right!" Hiccup suddenly said. Zenna looked at him in shock, "Have you gone out of your mind?" she said incredibly confused.
"No, Zen! We just have to find someone who can train all of the dragons," Hiccup said.
"And who could possibly do that?" Zenna deadpanned.
"I can help you there..." a new voice came and the duo turned and saw Aline Rose and her dragon friends.
"Holy Shields?!"
"Who are you?" Zenna and Hiccup asked.
"I'm Aline Rose and these are my dragons friends and I believe we can help you with your dragon problem," Aline smiled at the pair.
Meanwhile, the other Viking teens had flown their dragons to the arena where they were to be caged for the night. And the following morning, sent away from Berk.
"Goodbye, Hookfang." Snotlout said, sadly stroking his stubborn Monstrous Nightmare's chin.
"I'm sorry, Stormfly." Astrid apologized to her Deadly Nadder. Stormfly warbled sadly and nuzzled her Rider.
"Now, go." Astrid motioned to her dragon with her torch to join the other dragons. Stormfly obediently yet reluctantly followed.
As the dragons went inside the cage, their Riders watched on feeling just as miserable as they were.
"Ugh. Feels like big, sharp teeth are tearing at this thing inside my chest." Snotlout said uncomfortably.
“That's what it feels like when your heart is breaking." Astrid said in a broken voice.
Snotlout looked at her and said, "I don't have a heart! I'm not a girl." But honestly, Snotlout knew he had a heart. And right now, he was sure it was breaking like all the others.
As the cage began to close, the dragons stared sadly at their Riders and they sadly stared back as well. Just as the cage was halfway closed…two voices were heard through the night.
"Don't close it! "
Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka flew down to the arena and landed. Getting off their dragons, Hiccup and Zenna quickly pushed back the lever controlling the cage door and let the dragons out, much to their and their Riders' relief.
"We are not locking them up." Hiccup said seriously.
"What happened? Did you change your father's mind?" Astrid asked Hiccup, excited until she saw Zenna shaking her head with a knowing smirk on her face.
"Or are we going behind his back again?" Astrid then asked, suspiciously this time.
“Like we always do every time we come up with a plan." Zenna said knowingly.
Hiccup blushed, a bit embarrassed.
"Uh…one of those." He admitted.
"Namely the 'going behind your father's back ' part." Zenna told him, crossing her arms.
"Look." Hiccup said, making sure every one of his friends was listening before going on, "The dragons are gonna do what they're gonna do. It's their nature. We just need to learn how to use it!" he finished.
"How are we gonna do that?" Fishlegs asked, confused.
"With a little help from an old friend, Legs." Zenna smirked.
"Huh?" The other teens went before another Night Fury cry sounded in the air and the teens turned and saw Aline Rose and her dragons coming in for a landing.
"Who are you?!" Fishlegs, the Twins, Astrid and Snotlout gasped in awe seeing her again.
"I'm Aline Rose." Aline replied.
"Woah, look at all the dragons she's got," Tuffnut smirked.
"Yeah, you must be really good," Ruffnut added.
"Luckily for you, I've trained the same species of dragons. I can help you integrate them into your village." Aline smiled.
"Wouldn't this be not listening to the Chief's orders?" Tuffnut asked.
“Yeah, aren't we gonna get in trouble?" Ruffnut added.
"It's disobedience to authority, yes. And we will probably get into trouble big time. But what choice do we have?" Zenna shrugged.
"Awesome! " the Twins yelled, banging their helmets together.
"Will this actually work?" Snotlout questioned.
"What have we got to lose?" Hiccup quipped.
Snotlout and the other teens looked at each other and nodded, "Alright…. What do we do?" Astrid asked.
"Keep the dragons hidden until tomorrow and I'll guide you through." Aline smiled and the teenagers nodded and went off to hide their dragons until the morning.
The next day, Bucket and Mulch were out on their boat fishing. It would take them forever to catch enough fish for the freeze but, like Stoick told them, they had to try.
"Ah, the nets are empty again." Mulch sighed, pulling up the nets that still hadn't caught any fish. "Did I eat them already? Did I enjoy it? Oop-am I being too negative?" Bucket asked him.
Suddenly Snotlout and Hookfang arrived along with Hiccup and Toothless, much to the two fishermen's confusion.
"Snotlout, scare us up some dinner!" Hiccup told his cousin who nodded and proceeded to do a dive right above Bucket and Mulch's boat!
"Dragon attack!" Bucket screamed as Snotlout and Hookfang dove down into the water.
"Woohoo!" Snotlout gurgled as he and Hookfang chased a whole big school of fish right into the nets which Bucket and Mulch quickly pulled up onto their boat.
"Hey! Thanks dragon!" Mulch called after the duo, happy to have finally had a catch.
"That's right! That just happened!" Snotlout boasted as Zenna and Stryka arrived. "Great job, you two!" Zenna grinned, giving them a thumbs-up.
"Come on! Follow me!" Hiccup then guided them to the next task at hand-helping Mildew out with his field.
Mildew was grumpily plowing his cabbage field, muttering angrily to himself on how long the job was going to take when he heard a girl's voice call out, "Cabbage Field about to be plowed!"
"Huh?" Mildew was utterly confused until he heard the familiar shrill Night Fury shriek.
Zenna flew by and circled the field on Stryka a couple of times, alerting Astrid and Stormfly to get ready.
"Afternoon, Mildew!" Astrid greeted the old grump, Stormfly using her spiked tail to plow the field in record time.
"Three o' clock! Time for the fertilizer!" Hiccup called out.
"Fertilizer? " Mildew repeated, dumbstruck.
"Fishlegs, Meatlug! Let 'er go!" Zenna hollered as Fishlegs and Meatlug led a group of Gronckles over to Mildew's field before looking down at Mildew and said, "You might wanna take cover, Mildew."
"Okay, Meatlug! Let 'er rip!" Fishlegs encouraged Meatlug.
His Gronckle and all the other Gronckles then heeded their calls of nature, hot dragon dung raining down onto the field. Mildew had ignored Zenna's warning but was lucky enough not to get splattered.
"Smile, Mildew! We just saved you three months of work!" Hiccup told him, smiling as he and his friends left.
"You're welcome!" Zenna chirped before they were completely out of Mildew's area.
Meanwhile, the Twins were helping clear the forest of wild boars. Barf and Belch may have knocked down a few trees but, hey, at least the villagers could use them for firewood. The boars ran to an open field, giving Hiccup and Zenna the perfect opportunity to have Toothless and Stryka herd them into a barn.
"Whoohoo!" Fishlegs whooped while Gobber quickly shut the barn's doors.
"That was awesome!" the husky Ingerman boy cheered as everyone regrouped, feeling triumphant.
"How did you know that was gonna work?" Astrid asked Hiccup, amazed. "Because they're dragons, and they're gonna do what dragons do. We just have to work with them and not against them." Hiccup told her, glancing at Zenna who winked.
"You know who we should actually be thanking-?" Hiccup asked before suddenly…
"There they are, Stoick!"
"Oh boy, here comes our punishment…" Zenna rolled her eye at the sight of Mildew hobbling over to them-with her parents and Stoick.
"Zenna, what have you been doing?" Henna asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Nothing bad, we hope not?" Edgar raised an eyebrow at his daughter.
"Those dragons don't look like they're in cages to me." Mildew huffed angrily.
"No. This is not what I asked for." Stoick said in agreement, looking at the seven teens with a steely gaze.
Hiccup, Astrid, Zenna, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut all looked at each other nervously while their dragons warbled worriedly.
Da-da-da, they were so, so dead!
In no time, almost the entire village had gathered around the arena stands to watch as Stoick, Gobber, Edgar and Henna entered the arena where the seven Viking teens were with their now currently caged dragons.
"Oh no! What's Stoick gonna do to us?" Fishlegs whimpered.
"I'm too pretty for jail!" Ruffnut complained.
"Hah, where'd you hear that?" Tuffnut snickered to his twin sister.
"You all disobeyed my orders…and there will be consequences." Stoick informed the seven teens while Edgar, Henna and Gobber nodded gravely.
"I told you we were gonna get in trouble. Ugh, you never listen to me!" Astrid whispered to Hiccup who bravely stepped up to his father.
"Dad, if anyone's going to get in trouble it should be me." He declared, gesturing to himself.
"If he has to go down, sir, I'm going down with him." Zenna added, loyally standing by the auburn headed teen.
"Nope. You all had a hand in this." Stoick told the duo.
"And while we do not wish to really punish you, we have to." Henna chimed in.
"That's what the seven of you get for disobeying orders." Edgar said seriously.
Mildew, meanwhile was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle with his sheep. "Oh this is going to be great, Fungus. It's about to get ugly." The old man said, excitedly waiting for the teens to be punished.
"You took over this place without asking. You released the dragons against my wishes." Stoick said, walking over to each teen as he said this and finally stood in front of the teens once more in the center.
"Actually…." a voice came and the adults turned and gasped along with the entire village seeing Aline and all her dragon friends entering the arena. "They did exactly what I told them to do."
"And who might you be lass, we never had horses around here before," Gobber replied.
"I'm not a horse. I'm an Alicorn pony." Aline replied. "A Pony who can fly and perform magic."
"Magic?" Gobber quipped, "Yeah right." Aline smirked before she used a transfiguration spell on Gobbers' helmet, turning it into a chicken. The villagers gasped in awe at what Aline just did. "Okay, I believe."
"And just what are you doing here, Aline?" Stoick questioned.
"I was just exploring beyond my home when I came across your island. After staying hidden for while, I overheard, Hiccup and Zenna discussing the need for help with the wild dragons and I gave them my assistance." Aline explained.
"And why would you do that?" Stoick questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Why wouldn't I?" Aline replied, pointing to her multiple dragons who all cooed at the adults, "I've already interrogated dragons into my home in Equestria, so I figured I could do the same here."
"Bah! How could a simply girl like you train all these dragons?" Mildew spat.
Twilight and her daughters hissed at Mildew's insult and launched their acid at Mildew, making him scream and dodge the acid that went right through the arena's medal dome.
"I easily trained all of them, by gaining their trust and working alongside them and not against them, which I can tell that's what you Vikings have been doing." Aline quipped. "Which is why you'll need my help to keep you and the dragons at peace."
"Wait… so….. You're gonna stay here on Berk?" Fishlegs asked.
"You're half right. I'll be staying in the Archipelago, but I'll stay on my own little island home that I found. It's only a days flight from here,"
"B-But what about your home in this... Equestria land" Hiccup asked.
"My home is at peace now, so there's not much for me to do there at the moment." Aline replied.
"Oh please, you're gonna leave another teenager in charge of the dragons! Don't make the same mistake Stoick." Mildew scoffed which earned him another round of acid spray by Aline's Deathgripper friends.
Stoick looked at Sarah, "Still how can I trust you to control all the dragons?"
"Cause you need someone who knows dragons as well as I do." Aline smirked before she broke into a song, to the Viking's surprise.
Ever since I was a little one
I've been dreaming by a burning desire
I've watched the dragons standing tall and proud
It really set my soul on fire
My best friends are all superstars
We hold them in such high esteem
But now it's this gals' turn to raise the bar
To show you all what I’ve learned
My dragons here will tell you
I'll be there when times are hard
Don't mean to brag
Don't wanna nag
Just wanna help them out
I know I'm asking a lot
But I can prove what I got
I'll knock your clothes off
If you just give me a shot
I'll train them to be the best
If you will only say yes
This is my thang
Chief, please, just give me a shot
You saw what I got
When I trained these guys
My instincts are always on the dot
Those other dragons are already good as trained
So ask not why when you can ask why not
Come on, Chief S, give me a shot
I know I'm asking a lot
But I can prove what I got
I'll knock your clothes off
If you just give me a shot
I'll train them to be the best
If you will only say yes
This is my thang
Chief, please, just give me a shot
So I can prove what I got
Please, just give me a shot
Literally, no one said anything after that. They just blinked twice at Aline. "I think that's a yes." Shadow smirked.
The Vikings regained their composure, "Alright laddie, you've convinced me." Stoick replied.
"First things, first. I can easily turn this into a Dragon Training Academy." Aline smiled.
"Hmm…. Dragon Training Academy, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." Gobber commented.
"And how do we know you can control all the dragons?" Stoick asked.
"First, I don't 'control', I 'train'. Second, I have my friends and Hiccup and all his friends." Aline smiled at Hiccup and his friends.
"Hmm…. Alright Sarah, the Dragon Training Academy is yours and the children's." Stoick smiled.
Hiccup and the others grinned happily at Stoick's decision as Aline winked at them.
That evening, Hiccup finished drawing a picture of his friends with their dragons and looked at Toothless.
'Dragons can't change who they are… '
Toothless smiled at his best friend and curled up on his rock slab bed, heating it up before laying down to sleep as Hiccup went back to his work.
Meanwhile, Zenna and her parents were gathered around the fireplace with Stryka, Serpent and Serpentine, exchanging stories and jokes and laughing throughout the night.
'But who would want them to? '
Fishlegs was sleeping peacefully as Meatlug lovingly licked his feet, which was both adorable…and maybe a bit weird as well.
Astrid woke up the next morning to Stormfly's face in her bedroom window, the Nadder eager to start the day. Astrid smiled and eagerly threw off her blanket, eager to start the day as well.
'Dragons are powerful, amazing creatures… '
Sarah, Hiccup, Zenna and all their friends then flew around the village performing errands for everyone. As they dropped a few baskets of fish into a storage unit,
Hiccup and Zenna caught sight of Stoick, Edgar and Henna smiling at them proudly. Both friends smiled back as they flew to the arena.
Snotlout, Hookfang, Fishlegs and Meatlug then hung a sign bearing the Night Fury Strike Class symbol and the symbol of Nebby over the entrance to the arena, which is now the…
"Alolan Berk Dragon Academy." Astrid beamed at Hiccup before mildly punching him in the arm saying, "I like the sound of that."
"Now we finally have the perfect place to train our dragons and everyone else's as well. I bet in the next few years, there'll be another generation of Dragon Trainers and we're gonna be the ones teaching them. The adventures and possibilities are endless!" Zenna said grandly as she opened the doors of the Academy.
'And now with Sarah by our side and her family, we're going to learn everything there is to know about dragons, just like her… '
Shortly after the grand opening of the Berk Dragon Academy, the eight Dragon Riders decided to go do a few laps around the island.
Toothless and Stryka landed on a rock together before launching themselves back up into the air, Hiccup and Zenna riding on their backs.
"With the Academy now open, we've got a lot of training to do." Hiccup said, grinning.
"And we've got a lot of adventures to have too. Race you!" Zenna laughed as she and Stryka flew on ahead, but Aline, riding Star zipped past them.
"Catch us if you can~" Star teased but only Aline could understand her.
"That's cheating!" Snotlout exclaimed before he and Hookfang kicked it into gear along with the others.
"Let's go, bud!" Hiccup shouted as Toothless sped up, the Night Fury's roar happily echoing through the sky.
'…Wouldn't you? '
“At that moment we didn’t know how much of herself Aline was willing to give to help us. We wouldn’t have let her do it at all if we knew what would come next for her.”