Okay, everyone, this story takes place during Race to The Edge, it's been various years since Goblin and Heather paired up. The hatchlings of all the dragons have grown up a bit, though still not enough to reach adulthood. I'll be following after the series' theme, but obviously with a few changes for obvious reasons. I'm sorry if I took so long in making a sequel, but I kinda lost my HTTYD vibe for a time. But now I'm back! Btw, I classified Nibblertooth, Goblin and Quinarth's eldest as a Skradder, an hybrid between a Skrill and a Deadly Nadder, he has certain abilities and traits from both his parents that are unique to him.
I'll be expanding a bit of the HTTYD cultures and dragon species to a new class, the Feathery class, but I'll describe it in later chapters.
Enjoy!
The archipielago had never seen such a storm before.
Thor's fury was unleashed that night, the lighting flashed and the thunder roared like never before as the heavy downpour was cast upon the mortal realm, the waters of the ocean turned into a great monster that moved and swayed boats as if they were mere toys. The winds blew at their top strength, so much that not even a Night Fury or even a Skrill would have been able to fly through such a climate. Under this conditions, all the dragon riders were forbidden from flying. It was considered a suicide to head out in these conditions.
Unfortunately, there was a shadow, unfamiliar to these waters, struggling to fly forward with the blowing wind and the heavy rain.
"We can do it! Just a little longer…!"
Their nearest destination and potential refuge was a small island in the distance, but the storm made it difficult for the creature to see where he was going, and he couldn't see that well in nighttime anyway. Soon enough, a strong current of wind sent the shadow, and a smaller one that fell from his back, into the dark waters below.
"BLUUU…!"
A shriek was heard from the larger shadow, before everything went black…
3 days later…
The hurricane had left Dragon's Edge literally on pieces. The defenses were either blown away by the wind, or a flying piece of debris had smashed it into splinters. The cabins were only in slightly better condition, thankfully they still stood but they had considerable damage, and it would take a while to get everything back to normal.
Goblin had never seen such a powerful storm before. It was a pity he couldn't go into it, he had wanted to recharge himself fully, it had been a while ever since there was a good storm around here, but unfortunately the storm had been to much even for him to handle, and considering he was accustomed to flying in such climatic conditions, that was something. Hel, he barely managed to land safely before the storm came at full power!
"Of all the times Thor could have gotten of the wrong side of bed, it had to be precisely at this time?!" Snotlout snapped at particularly no one, trying to cover a large hole in the roof of his cabin with a large metal square, sitting on Hookfang's snout as he did so. The Monstrous Nightmare wasn't very comfortable in having to lift his human all the way there when he could have gone for a ladder.
The twins had to disagree with him, and looked down at Snotlout from their tent, snickering.
"Are you kidding? It was amazing!" Tuffnut said.
"And the look on Fishleg's face was priceless!" Ruffnut snickered.
"Hey, we hadn't had such a storm before!" Fishlegs defended himself, drifting his attention from the pieces of wood and rock on the floor momentarily, but trembled at the reminder of that event. "I wonder if we angered Thor somehow..." Meatlug rubbed her snout against him in an attempt to make him feel better. "I know, it was scary, girl…"
Just then, Heather came out of the clubhouse with a wooden tray filled with fresh drinks. "Who wants something to drink, guys?"
Almost immediately, everyone (Hookfang included, who let Snotlout fall off his snout with a yelp) rushed to her to grab a pint. Goblin stood up, stretching out his wings and letting out a loud yawn, before waking over to his human.
"It's going to take a while to fix all of our defenses." Fishlegs pointed at all the broken contraptions.
"We can't rely on the Night Terrors all the time, we need to figure out how to keep the hunters away while we fix them up." Heather commented.
"Well, you and Goblin have no problem with it. I mean, al he has to do is to shoot a lighting at the ship and bye-bye!" Tuffnut shrugged.
"Hehe! Remember when they tried to latch unto his leg with a chain?" Ruffnut laughed at the memory.
"Ha! Who wouldn't forget? His lighting technically attacked on its own accord!"
"The chains might be dragon-proof, but they're still made of metal, and it's a good conductor for electricity." Fishlegs pointed out.
Snotlout caught up to them, grabbing a pint and taking a quick gulp. "Hm! This is very delicious! What's you're recipe?" he winked at Heather, who rolled her eyes.
"I just pour some water and a bit of frozen cubes." She stated.
"Well, I bet someday you'll someday make a certain Viking warrior very happy…" Before Snotlout could continue with his moves any further, suddenly a current of electricity ran through his body and rendered him immobilized. Goblin had touched his leg with the tip of his claw, sending just enough to paralyze him for a few minutes.
"You should stop tormenting him so much, you know." Hookfang growled lightly.
"I will when he leaves Heather alone." Goblin retorted.
"Come on! It's bound to happen someday! You know, she'll find a mate sooner or later."
"I know, I'm just not making sure it's not him of all people!"
"How curious, that's exactly how Stormfly says it!" Meatlug giggled.
Just then, two dragons flew overhead, and landed on the platform, Hiccup and Astrid jumping off their dragons and heading towards the group.
"How was it?" Fishlegs inquired.
"It's a disaster. The storm brought down most of the trees and lots of Night Terrors were injured." Hiccup sighed.
"How bad were they hurt?" Heather asked, handing them two pints of fresh water, which they accepted gratefully.
"Some of them have broken wings, others lots of scratches." Astrid explained.
"I'll take a look at them later."
While their humans discussed about the state of the place, their dragons went to take a drink at the stables nearby.
"Was it that bad?" Barf inquired after taking a quick drink.
"Just like Hiccup said, lots of trees were torn and the Night Terrors were no better." Stormfly said. "
"I hope things are better at Berk." Goblin sighed. The others could tell he was worried.
"Don't worry, surely they're fine. Quinarth would never let them fly into such a storm." Toothless reassured him.
"I know, but Pearl has been turning a bit rebellious these days. She's been begging me to take her into a storm for days, I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to fly out into this storm."
"No offense, but she got it from your side of the family." Hookfang shrugged. "I mean, you're a Skrill, she's a Skrill, and… Well, we all know the rest."
"What about Lightingbolt, Nibblertooth and Syrilth?" Belch inquired.
"Last time I heard, they had to stop Pearl from going into a small thunderstorm last week. I hope we get to go back soon, I want to see if they're okay."
Meatlug saw a small speck in the distance approaching at top speed. "Gob, I think your wish is about to come true…" Just then, a Terrible Terror landed inside, panting heavily, with a note attached to his leg.
"What's up, Horny?" Hookfang snickered at the name, only to receive a smack from Stormfly's wing. "Ow!"
"Guys, something weird's going on, we're all freaking out!" Horny retorted, looking scared out of his wits.
"First of all, calm down. And second, define 'weird'." Toothless stated calmly.
"You know that a big storm passed through here, right?"
"Oh, what made you think that?" Belch rolled his eyes.
"The fact that everything here is a complete mess?" Barf finished the sentence.
"Well, anyway, after that weird things started to happen! We hear strange sounds at night, and in the morning all the food supplies are all messed!"
"A thief? The humans will handle it." Goblin stated.
"Nonono! The weird thing is that nothing was stolen!"
"What do you mean?"
"The baskets and barrels are all turned, but the food is always intact! And there are lots of claw marks around the crime scenes."
"Claw marks…?"
"Then it must be a wild dragon." Toothless concluded.
"But all the wild dragons in Berk know that the humans' food is off-limits unless it's for feeding the ones who have a human, or the humans themselves offer them." Stormfly recalled.
"That's the weirdest thing of all… In all the crime scenes, there were…"
"There were what?" Hookfang growled, pressuring him to talk.
Horny slid the note off his leg and managed to unfold the paper, showing the larger dragons the contents…
The next day, Hiccup, Heather and Fishlegs had set out to Berk in their dragons early in the morning, while Astrid, Snotlout and the twins stayed behind in Dragon's Edge, with Astrid in charge, to keep repairing the damaged parts and to defend the island in case any hunters attacked. The trio was soon approaching Berk as fast as they could.
"You think it's a wild dragon?" Heather called out to Hiccup.
"That's the only logical explanation, there's no bird large enough to cause so much damage!" Hiccup stated.
"But the Book of Dragons doesn't say anything about feathered species!" Fishlegs replied.
"It could be a new species we haven't seen before. We can't discard the possibility until we hear the facts!"
"You think we'll have time to see our parents? Mom and dad told me to go see them everytime we come back." Heather stated.
Hiccup nodded. "Don't worry, while our dragons rest you and Fishlegs can go home while I talk with dad. He said he had something to show me about our 'thief'."
As soon as they landed in the main square, the group was swarmed by a large crowd of Vikings. They were all scared and some of them angry, apparently the mysterious thief had caused quite an uproar.
"It's an evil spirit that has come back to haunt us!"
"It comes every night!"
"All of our food is always ruined the next morning!"
"Everyone, settle down!" Stoic's voice sent everyone into silence, and he stepped forward towards Hiccup and Toothless. "Son, it's a good thing you arrived so soon. There's something you have to see."
"Tell me everything on the way, dad. If we're dealing with a new dragon species, we'll need all the information possible." Hiccup said as he went after his father towards Silent Sven's farm.
Heather and Fishlegs waved each other a small good-bye for the time being and went to their respective homes, their dragons following their respective dragons. Like Heather half-expected, her parents were waiting for there just outside, and as soon as they saw her she rushed towards them and they shared a hug. Goblin couldn't help but smile a bit.
"Heather, we're so glad to see you!" her mother said.
"Are you okay? That storm was terrible! Did you or Goblin get hurt?" Her father inquired, pulling back momentarily to check if his daughter was okay.
"We're okay, dad. " Heather laughed, hugging her father again.
"Let's go inside, honey. I made your favorite dish today!"
"Thanks, mom! There's so much I have to tell you!"
As he watched his rider disappear with her parents behind the doors, Goblin walked to the backyard to check on his mate and offspring. He was caught by surprise when he was overwhelmed and fell to the ground with a loud thud when the children came over him, rubbing against him.
"Dad, you're back!"
"Did you see the lightings from a few days ago? They were awesome!"
"Kyra didn't stop whimpering like a pup!"
"That's not true!"
"It is."
Goblin was so happy to see his not-so-little ones he didn't mind being on the ground. They had grown considerably, not big enough to carry a human yet though, and could be considered ten-year-olds in dragon terms. Soon, Quinarth approached, chuckling. "Children, get off your father so he can tell you what he has been doing."
When the hatchlings got off him, Goblin went back to his talons, and almost automatically counted his hatchlings. Nibblertooth, Kyra, Kyroc, Lightingbolt, Syrilth, Vermillion…
"Quinarth, where's Pearl?" he inquired when he noticed his daughter was not there.
Quinarth sighed and looked back at the barn. "Pearl, come here!" she called out. The young Skrill soon walked out, but she seemed frustrated and… he could tell she was upset as well.
Vermillion snickered. "Now she's going to hear it…"
"Hey, it's not funny!" Nibblertooth scolded his younger sister.
"She nearly got electrified out there…!" Lightingbolt whispered.
"Now's not the time, guys." Syrilth calmly told them.
When Pearl was in front of her father, she was still looking down. "Is there something you wish to tell your father?" Quinarth asked her sternly.
"Umm…" Pearl tried to find something to say. "Uh… Well, me, Spike and Flamebite hunt down a small boar!" she looked up at her father with a nervous smile. Then he knew she was trying to hide something.
Quinarth shook her head in disappointment, before looking at Goblin. "She tried to fly into the storm by herself and nearly drowned."
"She did what?!" Goblin glared down at Pearl sternly, who looked down again. "What happened?"
"We all went to the caves to wait until the storm stopped, but Pearl snuck out and tried to catch lighting by herself." Quinarth explained. "Lightingbolt, Syrilth and Nibblertooth had to stop her and bring her back."
"Pearl, is that true?"
"…."
"I asked you a question, young drady. Is what you're mother just said true?"
"It is!" she finally snapped, but she was near tears now.
The others recognized their father's tone of voice, and didn't need another indirect to leave him and Pearl alone for the time being. Quinarth went after her hatchlings, glancing back at Goblin and Pearl once more before leaving.
"Why, Pearl?" Goblin growled. "I thought we had talked about this before."
"I just wanted to see how it felt like!" Pearl retorted defensively.
"You can't just go into a storm and absorb random lighting, especially not in a storm of this magnitude!"
"What's the problem?! I'm a Skrill like you! I can absorb lighting too!"
"But you don't know how it's done!" Goblin hissed. "You just don't go into the storm and catch it like that! You have to learn to canalize it through your body and keep it away from your heart! And then how to store it inside!"
"You make it sound harder than it is!"
"It is harder than it seems! And lighting of that magnitude is too dangerous for a youngling like you! Only Titans can handle those kind of lighting!"
"Hey, Goblin!" Meatlug came into the backyard with an alarmed look on her face. "Toothless has something to show us!"
Goblin let out an exasperated sigh, and glared down at his daughter. "I'll talk about this with you later." He hissed, before going after Meatlug. They headed towards Hiccup's house.
"Why are you so hard on her?" Meatlug inquired on the way.
"She could have gotten killed. I told them to stay away from storms until I can teach them how to channel the lighting through their bodies, and she didn't listen!"
"And when are you going to teach them that? We've been quite busy at Dragon's Edge."
"I don't know…"
"They could go to Dragon's Edge one of these days, you know-"
"Absolutely not."
"We haven't had any raids from the Hunters lately-"
"I'm not taking the risk. You heard Hiccup, the defenses are all destroyed and the Night Terrors are hurt. The Hunters could attack at any moment, and you saw how they reacted when they saw Toothless and me. If they go to so much lengths to capture a Skrill, imagine three young Skrills and a Skradder."
Hiccup, Toothless, Heather, Fishlegs and Stoic were outside the Chief's house, examining something. They heard some of their whispers.
"They found this at the crime scene?"
"It was in Sven's barn, but like all those other times the mutton and yak meat were untouched!
"It's almost like this 'thief' is looking for an specific food."
"What will we do about this?"
"Well, this undoubtedly can't be a common bird. There's not as large to have this size of feathers."
Goblin and Meatlug took a closer look at the item Stoic was holding. It was a large feather, the largest they had ever seen, colored in various shades of blue. Fishlegs was right in something, this was too big to belong to an ordinary bird.
Suddenly, a roar-the strangest roar they had ever heard, it sounded more like a high-pitched, bird-like shriek- echoed through the village, it was coming from the forest. All the nearby Vikings went into a fit of panic and started to rush into their homes, thinking the 'spirit' would be coming soon.
"Is that the sound you've been hearing lately?" Heather asked.
"It is." Stoic glanced at the direction of the forest.
"I have never heard a sound like it before." Fishlegs immediately got excited. "I knew it! A new species!"
Hiccup climbed unto Toothless. "If it's a new dragon we're dealing with, we'll something out."
Goblin had a bad feeling about those shrieks coming from the forest, but as soon as Heather climbed unto him he flew into the air, following after Toothless and Meatlug. He just hoped this new dragon wasn't hostile.