This story is only two 'chapters' long, since it's made to be close to the length of a two part episode from the show. This takes place in the fifth season. Enjoy!
"You did what?" Ruffnut exclaimed, staring at her brother.
"I sold the useless junk you didn't need, so I could buy us these awesome spears! Here you go!" Tuffnut replied, tossing her the weapon.
"That was my favorite pile of junk, and you got rid of all of it, for just a set of spears?"
"Well yeah, it was just a pile of junk, right?"
"No! There's junk junk, and then there's good junk. And you got rid of my good junk!"
"How was I supposed to know that was your good junk?"
As the twins kept arguing, they failed to notice Fishlegs had come into their hut. "There you guys are! Hiccup's been looking for you! He has an announcement to make to all of us."
"Can't it wait? Someone here needs to admit what he did was stupid!" Ruffnut yelled.
"Oh come on, these spears are worth even your good junk! Seriously!" Tuffnut yelled back.
"You two can settle this later. Hiccup's been waiting, now come on," Fishlegs insisted.
The three made their way to the clubhouse, where Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, and Heather were all waiting for them.
"Thank you for finally joining us," Hiccup said to the twins.
"All right Hiccup, what's the big thing you want to tell us all this time?" Snotlout questioned, not really interested.
"I finally got a Terror Mail back from Gobber. And from what I read in the note, we might finally be able to get the last pieces I need to construct my Dragon Eye," Hiccup explained.
"That's great to hear, Hiccup. Where did he say we'd need to go to get them?" Astrid asked him.
"He noted on this map where to go, a place called Ironside Island. He told me he hasn't been there in years, but he has a pretty firm belief that they would have the gears I need."
"It sounds like a great place to check out!" Fishlegs said with excitement. "I'm sure the island could teach us many things about construction that we don't already know about."
"And I've never even heard about Ironside Island. It could be a good idea to ask around if anybody there might know anything about my missing father," Heather added.
"I'm thinking we should all head there tomorrow. The sooner we can get the pieces for my Dragon Eye, the better," Hiccup decided.
Everyone agreed with him, and continued their day as normal. The following morning, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were still at each other's throats over the issue with the spears. As much as Ruffnut didn't want to, she ended up taking the new spear with her as they prepared for their trip. She figured she could trade it for something else once they made it to the new island. The entire flight there, the twins didn't speak to each other or even glance in each other's directions. Instead, Tuffnut chose to complain to Snotlout about Ruffnut, while Ruffnut chose to complain to Fishlegs about Tuffnut.
"Oh! That must be Ironside Island!" Fishlegs exclaimed, happy to soon have a distraction from Ruffnut's complaining.
"Okay, remember the plan, everyone! Find a dense part of the island to slip onto, so we can hide our dragons in there. We don't want to make a scene and give any wrong ideas about seven vikings flying in on dragons. We'll try to quickly look for the parts I need, walking without the dragons," Hiccup instructed.
"Right there looks pretty good," Heather pointed to an area with tall trees.
The seven then guided their dragons into the spot they chose. As they all asked their dragons to wait for them, Toothless was hesitant about staying without Hiccup.
"Don't worry bud, we'll be here for as short as we can, and head right back to this spot when we're done. Just wait here for us." Hiccup rubbed his best friend's head, finally convincing him to stay.
As the seven riders made their way out of the trees, they took the details of the new island into view. The flat landscape was littered with houses, work stations, wells, and a couple of small forges. The island seemed to be the core of all the different types of metals in the archipelago. Men and women shuffled around the island, carrying all kinds of different materials between the work stations. Every inhabitant on the island looked immensely occupied with their work.
"Hiccup, do you mind if I split from the group to ask about my father? I have no doubts you guys wouldn't be able to find the gears without me."
"Won't be a problem. But it's safest not to go around alone," Hiccup responded.
Snotlout slid over to Heather, smiling smugly. "Hiccup's right, Heather. So I'll volunteer myself to accompany you. Safety in numbers, you know."
As Snotlout was talking to her, he left himself completely unprepared for Astrid, who hurled him over her shoulder. "Hmm, I think Heather would much prefer to travel with someone she actually likes. Sorry, Snotlout."
"Fine! Your loss then!" Snotlout stood and brushed himself off.
"If you two are heading off, I'm going with you! Any reason to get away from him!" Ruffnut hollered, pointing at her brother.
"I can hear everything you're saying!" He yelled back.
"Good! I wanted you too!"
"Fine Ruffnut, you can tag along with us. Anything to get you two to stop arguing," Astrid offered.
The three girls left the group of guys, Ruffnut sticking her tongue out at Tuffnut as they left.
"Can you believe her? I have to be related to that thing!"
"Just relax now, Tuffnut. You don't have to see her for a while now, and we need to focus on finding those gears," Fishlegs said.
The group of four guys went in the opposite direction of the girls, to begin their search. They found all kinds of gears at the stations, but none of them were exactly what Hiccup had needed, with his dragon eye being such a unique design. Snotlout did nothing to even act like he wasn't bored, yet Fishlegs was excited about all the crafting techniques he was seeing, taking notes and making diagrams of his learning. After some time had passed of stopping by around half of the stations in sight, the four guys heard the unmistakable roars of dragons. However, the roars sounded panicked.
"Well that can't be good," Tuffnut commented.
"No, it's not. Come on guys, we'll worry about the gears later, after we find out why there's dragons in trouble!" Hiccup broke into a sprint, having his uncontrollable need to protect dragons get the best of him. Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Tuffnut ran after him, making sure not to get left behind.
"This is way better than looking for dumb gears!" Snotlout cheered.
Running around a corner of the village, Hiccup came to sight with a Nadder, Zippleback, and Timberjack that had all been chained down. A small group of villagers were sharpening their weapons, readying to finish off the captured dragons.
"Come on, there's still time!' Hiccup shouted, running even faster towards the scene. The four guys quickly arrived, and the three dragons perked up at their sudden appearance. "Stop what you're doing!"
"What are you talking about? And who even are you?" One of them asked.
"We're visiting from our own village, where we live in harmony with dragons! You don't need to kill them!" Hiccup said in a panic.
The villagers looked at each other, then started laughing uncontrollably. "Vikings living with dragons?!"
"You might think it's funny, but tell me, what did these dragons ever do to you? What gives you the right to kill them?" Hiccup challenged.
"Nothing I guess, except show up uninvited. But who cares if we kill them? We've killed hundreds before, even went after them ourselves before, just because we felt like it!" The group chuckled.
This angered all four of the guys. Although they had once wanted to kill dragons, that was in self-defense only. This village did it just for the fun of it, much like the Dragon Flyers they were in a war with.
"Now get away from those dragons, boy, unless you want to get soaked in their remains." A man walked over to the Zippleback, raising his axe over its left head.
"No!" Tuffnut rammed the man as hard as he could with his helmeted head, knocking him away from the dragon. He then drew his new spear, and the other guys all drew their weapons.
"You guys take care of them, I'll free the dragons!" Hiccup said, his sword going ablaze.
"Get reinforcements! We need extra hands to handle these miscreants!" One of the men screamed as Snotlout came at him with his axe.
As Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Tuffnut fought the few villagers back, Hiccup swiftly burned and sliced through the shackles of the three dragons. Knowing they were in danger, the three quickly rose into the sky, wasting no time in escaping.
"They're free! Let's go!" Hiccup yelled to the group. However, to his dismay, several armored members of the village had arrived at the scene, angry at the four guys for letting their captured dragons free to come back to their village another day. Before they could react, arrows had been pointed at all four of the guys, and their opponents they were fighting had already slipped away.
"Don't move a muscle. You four are sentenced to a punishment determined by our island's leader for aiding in endangering this village. Drop your weapons, put your hands on your heads, and line up," A fully helmeted man commanded to them. Fearing for their lives, the guys all did as told. As they lined up, multiple members of the village surrounded them with spears, preventing any chance of running away. They were then lightly poked in the backs with the spears, forcing them to start marching to the village dungeon.
Snotlout grumbled behind Hiccup as they were marched. "Way to go, Hiccup. Three dragons' lives free for four of ours taken. Not even a balanced trade."
Across the island, Heather's group was having about as much luck finding what they were looking for as Hiccup's group had.
"Sorry hun, haven't heard anything about an Oswald the Agreeable."
Heather sighed, making sure to thank the woman for her time regardless. She had made absolutely no advances on finding her father on the island, and had really been hoping that at least one person on the island could have given some kind of lead for her. Astrid put a supportive hand on her shoulder, letting her know that even if she still was without her father, she would have her friends with her no matter what. Both girls were soon interrupted by hearing Ruffnut actively 'negotiating' with a man not far away.
"Come on, guy! You should totally give me that axe for this spear."
"It looks like you got that from trading away junk!" The man responded to her.
"You have no way of proving that that may or may not be true!"
"I'm not trading with you. Now beat it!"
"Let's go, Ruffnut," Astrid started pulling her away.
"I just needed a few more minutes, and that axe would have been mine!" She argued.
"Let's not try to make the island hate us, please," Heather added.
As Ruffnut continued to complain to Heather about not wanting her spear, Astrid's ear perked up to a small group of men chatting just a few feet away.
"I kid you not, four foreign young vikings freed the captured dragons, and were attacking some of our own villagers! Fortunately, they didn't get away with their crimes. They were brought to the dungeon, stupidly not thinking their escape plan through," one of the men spoke.
Astrid had a wave of worry overcome her. The guys had been imprisoned? It surely seemed like these men were talking about Hiccup and the other guys, and she had to know for sure.
"Oh hey, you guys heard about that too?" She asked, walking straight into the conversation.
"Well yeah, almost everyone has," one of them responded to her. "It's not every day vikings come in and willingly save dragons from an execution. Come to think of it, that never happens."
"Yeah, that does sound pretty crazy. What were these guys like anyway?" she asked them, becoming more uneasy as she figured she knew already.
"I saw them, and they looked mostly normal," another person spoke. "A stocky one, a stout one, one with long blonde hair, and oh, a really scrawny one that only had one leg and a flaming sword! He must get in a lot of trouble, seeing as he only has one leg at such a young age."
Astrid's heart began racing as she realized it was without a doubt Hiccup and the other guys that had been detained. "So they were taken to a prison? What do you guys think will happen to them?"
"They'll be executed for sure. That's common sense lass, everybody knows that endangering this village is a top offense. I can even see their execution being extraordinarily cruel, just depending on what our leader thinks."
"Oh, cool! Yeah, they definitely deserve to die!" Astrid shouted, trying her best to hide the panicked look on her face. "Well, nice chatting with you guys! You take care now!"
Astrid immediately left the group, rushing over to Heather and Ruffnut, still locked in a conversation. Grabbing both their wrists, she quickly dragged them beside one of the buildings.
"Hey! Why so grabby?" Ruffnut protested.
"The guys are in trouble," Astrid whispered. "They got themselves imprisoned by freeing captured dragons, and now they're going to be executed if we don't hurry and free them!"
"What? How do you know this?" Heather questioned, becoming as worried as Astrid.
"I overheard it from the group I was talking to. Their descriptions were exactly the guys'. We need to find the prison they're being held in, and fast. Are you girls ready for a rescue mission?" Astrid said with a determined look.
"Ugh, if we have to," Ruffnut groaned. "Tuffnut's going to owe me big time for saving his life!"
"Let's move," Astrid told them. "Any second they lose is a second closer to a possible execution."
At the Ironside Island prison, the guys were being escorted to their cell, by an authoritative woman named Kretchil. Kretchil was the second in command of the island, a middle aged woman who served as a supportive figure for the island's leader. She wore simple metal armor, and a leather headpiece.
"Get in the cell, scum! You're to wait here until our leader arrives and ultimately decides on your fate," Kretchil instructed angrily.
The guys were coerced into the cell, the door slamming as they entered, and being quickly locked shut. The armored villagers that had brought them in had then moved to the front of the prison, weapons ready just in case the guys somehow escaped their cell.
"Hiccup, what do we do? They're surely going to want to kill us for what we did," Fishlegs whimpered.
"I'm way too young to die!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "Oh wait, no I'm not. Most Thorstons don't ever make it past eighteen."
"Well most Jorgensons do! And thanks to Hiccup, the great legacy of my life has to come to a much abrupt end! All just for three dragons!" Snotlout glared at him.
Not saying anything and having a bitter expression, Hiccup just walked to the corner of the cell and sat down. He knew Snotlout was right. They were all captured because he had been the one to rush them into the dragon execution, without thinking of any consequences it could bring. And with the girls on the other side of the island, and their dragons not knowing anything that was going on due to needing to hide, Hiccup realized there wouldn't be anybody to come to their aid this time.
"Our leader has arrived!" one of the guards announced, and got all of the guys' attention.
The leader of Ironside Island then entered the room, and the guys were shocked by what they saw. The leader was a twenty-four year old woman, basically only a few years older than them. She had chocolate brown hair in two medium length braids, honey brown eyes, and tanned skin. She was wearing a beige tunic with the sleeved rolled up to her elbows, black pants, and gray boots. She noticeably wore a burgundy smithing apron, and they figured out that she was a blacksmith. It was also evident due to her decently muscled frame, her not being scrawny at all from having worked in forges a long amount. As she entered, she eyed Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Tuffnut who were standing close to the cell bars. "Really? These are the vikings that attacked our villagers and managed to free captured dragons?"
"This is them, we brought them straight here after their actions," Kretchil confirmed.
The woman that led Ironside Island took in that the young men in the cell were indeed delinquents on her island. "I am Zaia Siritsin, the leader of Ironside Island. I'm a fair and understanding leader. However, I do not tolerate anyone intentionally attacking this island. For the actions you have done, you will all be met with execution. It's as simple as that."
The four guys all gasped, for their worst fear had been vocalized.
"Hiccup, do something to change her mind! You're good at changing minds!" Snotlout yanked him up off he ground, and shoved him towards the bars.
Before Hiccup could even try to speak to Zaia, he saw that she had an utterly shocked and excited expression on her face.
"It's...it's...him! It's him!" she unexpectedly blurted out.
Kretchil stared in confusion at her reaction to Hiccup, as did many guards. "What do you mean, 'it's him'?"
"He's the one that Frigg foretold to me about! Look at his leg! She prophesied I would meet a young man with a metal leg! And that the young man would be a master inventor!" Zaia exclaimed, practically shaking in excitement.
"Well, I wouldn't call him a master inventor," Tuffnut interrupted.
"Oh! This sword my soldiers took from your group, you made it yourself? What can it do? Frigg foretold to me your weapons would be beyond imaginable!" Zaia continued, as she held up Inferno.
"Uh, yes," Hiccup spoke up, "I did design the Dragon Blade. And since you asked, push that button on the side of the sword. It might surprise you, but I promise it's safe."
Acting before Kretchil could advise her otherwise not to, Zaia pressed on Inferno, and the sword ignited itself in flames. "Amazing! This sword can ignite on command! Everyone, this is the young man I have been waiting for!" Laughing in happiness, Zaia figured out how to extinguish Inferno's flame, and handed the sword to a guard. "Guards, let this young man out of the cell. And only him, not his friends!"
"Zaia, I must remind you he is a criminal. What he did cannot go unpunished! We do have rules of execution for those that endanger our island, remember?" Kretchil urged her leader.
"I am aware of the rules. And I do not care, for he is here for a greater purpose than execution. Now as I said, let him out of the cell."
"At least take his metal leg from him! Do not think he won't hesitate to escape if you do not!"
"Fine," Zaia rolled her eyes, "take his leg from him, and then let him out. Allow him to sit in a chair."
At her words, Hiccup had no choice but to comply with the guards approaching him. He knew there was no way he could handle armed guards, and that he would only make his case worse if he tried to resist. Two of the guards held him in the air by his arms, while a third removed his metal leg. The leg was given to Kretchil, who eagerly awaited taking it. Hiccup was brought out of the cell, as other guards pointed their bows and other weapons at the other guys, in case they attempted to flee. Hiccup was then brought onto a chair, and placed into it. Immediately after, Zaia took a seat directly in front of him on another chair.
"Young man, what is your name? And where are you from?"
Hiccup began to wonder if he should lie about his identity. He ultimately decided it wouldn't make a difference no matter what he said about himself, so he figured the truth would be his best way to start. "I'm Hiccup Haddock the Third. My friends and I came from an island we named Dragon's Edge. And I would like to know what this 'greater purpose' you mentioned about me might be."
Zaia let a small smile form on her face upon getting her chance to tell him her news. "Hiccup Haddock the Third, you indeed have a greater purpose for coming to my island. One that Frigg has enlightened me of herself. The goddess has informed me that you and I are to marry."
