''I don't understand why we have to go back to that wretched place again.'' whined Snotlout, leaning forward on Hookfang's horns as he followed his teammates in their usual flight formation. ''We almost died last time. And I'm just saying, before it even happens, 'I knew going there was a bad idea'!''
''Would you relax, Snotlout?'' said Astrid sharply, her tone obvious that she was exasperated as she twisted around to face him. ''Key word, 'almost'. Plus, who would hang around the Ship Graveyard? Only crazy folks would dare set feet there.''
''That's us!'' said Ruffnut and Tuffnut in union, high-fiving each other, smiles printed large on their faces.
''Ok, gang!'' rang Hiccup's call from the front, a hand raised for the riders' attention. ''We're nearing the Graveyard's waters, so keep it low. We don't want to lure any Giant Screaming Eel to us. They are—''
''Aggressive and extremely dangerous, we know. We've seen it for ourselves, you know?'' cut Snotlout, waving his hand as if he was chasing a fly.
Sure enough, they closed on the fog up ahead, and in a matter of seconds, they were at the heart of it, nearly unable to see their companions flying close by.
''Uh, Hiccup?'' called Astrid, reaching a hand to shadow her eyes from the white light caused by the mist.
''I'm right here.'' came his voice right in front of her. She could tell he knew she was uneasy by his soft tone.
''Urgh! I can't see anything!'' yelled Tuffnut's voice above Astrid. Obviously the twins had lost their position in the formation since they were at her left last time she'd checked on them.
''Me neither!'' followed Ruffnut's.
''Would you two keep it quiet?!'' came Fishlegs' harsh whisper from Astrid's right. ''Did you even hear what Hiccup said before we entered the fog?''
''Nope!''
''Not a clue!''
''You know what?'' said Snotlout behind them all. ''I'm not even gonna feel broken when you two get swallowed up by those giant eels…''
The fog suddenly began to thin out, and Astrid could finally see Hiccup and Toothless in front of her. They had arrived to the heart of the Ship Graveyard.
Hiccup led them to the Reaper, one of the last ships still floating around here. Even after Dagur sank it with a boulder, he claimed to had it fetched, mostly to collect all the dragon traps on board. But that was at the time.
They all landed quietly on the wooden deck, careful not to stir up the water.
''Were my orders not clear enough?'' asked Hiccup once they had all dismounted, eyeing Snotlout and the twins.
''You were talking to us that whole time?'' said Ruffnut innocently, almost sounding serious.
''What do you think this is? Some kind of joke?'' demanded Hiccup, clearly upset they hadn't done as told, especially during this sort of mission.
''These are very dangerous waters, you guys.'' said Fishlegs, coming to stand beside his leader. ''Giant Screaming Eels have excellent hearing. We could've been attacked at any moment.''
''Ok, sorry. Jeez, Louise.'' mumbled Snotlout, rolling his eyes.
The dragons climbed to the highest top on the ship, eyeing the water surrounding them suspiciously.
''Hiccup, you're never gonna win this one.'' said Astrid, eyeing her boyfriend with mocking eyes. ''How about we start searching for more clues about those Hunter camps? If we wanna know where Viggo and Krogan might be, we ought to start looking. You know? Like now.''
Astrid pressed Hiccup a bit to carry on with their mission, knowing he might not loosen his grip after the trio disobeyed his direct orders.
He sighed, closing his eyes and reopened them to reveal his release on Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff.
''You're right.'' he said so quietly for only her so hear. ''Ok, Riders. As I've repeated many times, yes I am aware you already know Snotlout, Viggo is still alive and has the Dragon Eye, which he probably shares the information with his new partner. And above all, they have Heather's lens, which appeared to be very important to Krogan and his Flyers. So we should get a move on and try to locate them as fast as we can. Fishlegs,''
Fishlegs straightened up when his name was spoken.
''You and Ruff will search the deck, leave no stones unturned.''
Fishlegs nodded seriously, Ruffnut walking to stand by his side, her expression the opposite of her matched partner.
''Snotlout and Tuffnut, you search beneath the deck, where the cages are, you know?''
''Uh, how come I'm not matched with my sister? I feel like we're being punished.'' commented Tuffnut, gesturing his twin by the thumb.
''I thought you and Snotlout were BFFs.'' said Hiccup, cocking an eyebrow and growing a fine mocking smile from the corner of his mouth.
Snotlout only shivered, suddenly looking horrified at the memory.
Hiccup sighed once again, and carried on.
''Ok, everybody set?'' he asked. ''Astrid and I will take the chambers. Remember, come back here and stomp your foot three times if you find anything useful.''
''Oh, unexpected!'' said Snotlout, after he was sure the couple was far enough that they couldn't hear him.
…
Hiccup and Astrid searched their part of the Reaper deeply, going through even the cracks in the floor, walls and ceiling for a hidden map, a lens or something.
Hiccup turned around from his search, looking at his love with desperate eyes. ''Anything?''
''No.'' she replied before facing him. ''I'm sorry.''
''Don't be. We'll try the other ships. Now let's see if the other guys found anything, it's not like they heard me tell them to let us know if they did.'' said Hiccup, starting to walk back to the deck.
''Hiccup.'' warned Astrid, eyeing him with a smile on her lips.
''Just sayin'!'' he said, shrugging innocently.
Astrid punched his shoulder lightly, laughing at his overreaction.
Hiccup spotted another barrel he wasn't sure he'd checked and lifted up the cover only to find it empty. Turning around, he found himself trapped between the barrel and his love. She delicately pressed her lips on his, and they closed their eyes, savoring one of their rare private moments.
Suddenly, the whole ship shook violently, nearly knocking them both off their feet.
''I don't remember asking to stomp that hard.'' remarked Hiccup, looking up at the ceiling releasing its dust from the cracks.
''Oh, shush you.'' snapped Astrid, breaking into a run for the exit, Hiccup following her trail.
They rushed out into the daylight, only to run in the middle of a battle.
Toothless roared his fury and fear and attacked a Giant Screaming Eel that had climbed aboard the Reaper. The Night Fury dug his sharp claws in the fish's slimy flesh, keeping his head high in disgust. The eel released a high-pitched scream which had Toothless let go.
''Toothless!'' called Hiccup to his dragon, hands on each side of his mouth.
The eel, gave the defenseless boy a look, bared its teeth a slithered towards him at threatening speed.
Toothless roared, his eyes going narrow and dashed after the eel.
Hiccup's eyes grew wide in fear as the eel came at him, holding his ground as if he'd stand a chance. The giant eel widened its jaws, ready to swallow him whole.
A flash of black suddenly passed by and Hiccup opened his eyes to see that his dragon had killed the eel, a swift bite to the throat that bled enormously.
''Toothless… what did you do?'' asked Hiccup as he approached his buddy, holding his head close to him as he began to stubble from daze.
''What's going on?'' asked Tuffnut as he just came out the hatch giving below deck.
''Toothless ate an eel.'' informed Astrid, trying to sooth her own dragon that was clearly shook by the eel attack.
''Wow! All to himself?'' he said, impressed. ''Wait, aren't eels poisonous to dragons?''
''Yes, they are! We need to get out of here quickly.'' She ran to Toothless' other side, trying to help her leader get him on his feet. After a couple tries, they gave up.
''Well, at least he's not firing yet. We must get back to Dragon's Edge right now and get the ingredients for Eel Pox.'' said Hiccup, out of breath after trying to get his buddy on his feet. ''Fishlegs, you wouldn't actually happen to have the list at the Edge, would you?''
''Well, as luck would have it, I do.'' said Fishlegs, which smoothed the panicked atmosphere a little.
Hiccup nodded in early thanks to his friend and immediately returned his gaze on his dragon. ''Ok, he is surely not flying back. We need something to carry him in. Neither of your dragons can carry him all the way back to the Edge. We need a sail.''
''Mmh…'' said Ruffnut, bringing a fist to her chin. ''It would appear you need something strong, yet, light.''
''How about a sail?'' proposed her brother, taking that dramatic position.
''Yeah, that's what I just said…'' commented Hiccup flatly.
…
It didn't take long finding a sail in a Ship Graveyard. The Riders were back in the sky in no time. Hookfang and Stormfly carried the Night Fury wrapped in the sail from two strong ropes on each side while Hiccup stood behind Fishlegs on Meatlug, often looking back at his sick dragon.
''Hang in there, bud. We're almost home.'' he whispered in the wind.