New story! This was originally up for adoption but I got cold feet and decided to hold on for a bit longer. This is an epic adventure so it may take a while. Hopefully you will think it's worth the wait...

Takes place between RTTE3 and HTTYD2. Hiccstrid and dragons galore!

"We'll be back tomorrow," should have gone down as the most ominous words spoken in Viking history. And they were spoken by none other than Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, unspoken leader of the small outpost on Dragon's Edge and chief-in-training for the island of Berk.

Said chief, was currently adjusting the straps for the saddle on his night fury dragon, Toothless. His second-in-command, the blue eyed blonde bombshell usually known as Astrid…and Hiccup's unofficial girlfriend….was patiently waiting astride her own beast, a Deadly Nadder named Stormfly. She glared at the other teens standing beside them. "And don't blow anything up while we're away," she glared at them fiercely. "Or you'll have me to reckon with when we get back," she threatened.

The twins practically ignored her as they played with a small dragon, one of the flock of Night Terrors that had 'adopted' the six teenagers when they had first arrived on the island about a year or more ago. "Yea…no destruction and carnage. We got it," answered Tuff dismissively.

His sister rolled her eyes beside him. "How borrrrrring," she complained. "Can't we just do a little explosion? Down on the beach where no one goes?" she pleaded, dropping her lip in a petulant pout. Unfortunately for Astrid…it was all for show. Unfortunately for Ruffnut, Astrid knew all about it.

Her axe came flying through the air, landing at the feet of Ruffnut, who didn't bother to move. "Does that answer your question?" she asked, glaring at the female twin.

Ruff sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes, "Yeah…whatever. You two get to go off on some lame scouting trip looking for nesting sites, while I'm stuck here with these three," she complained, as she indicated to her brother Tuffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs around her.

Hiccup walked over and plucked Astrid's axe out of the splintered timber with ease, smiling kindly at the frustrated girl. "We'll only be gone for two days, Ruff. And if any of the dragon hunters happen to visit while we're gone, then you can go crazy with explosions….but only if there are actually dragon hunters," he warned.

Ruffnut perked up. "Let's hope some dragon hunters come to visit then," she replied cheerfully as her brother nodded enthusiastically behind her, the small dragon forgotten for a moment.

Astrid rolled her eyes, as Hiccup returned her axe, and she swung it behind her back into its holder. "If they do, I want to see evidence that there were real dragon hunters, and not just your overactive imaginations," she demanded, still not willing to relent.

Snotlout spoke up from where he was leaning up against his dragon Hookfang, his arms crossed over his chest. "Like a helmet? Cool! We can so totally do that!"

Tuffnut replied airily, "Oh! I was going for a toe…maybe even an ear…totally got that one wrong."

Hiccup sighed, as he mounted his dragon. "Please… no body parts…just something simple and non-dangerous to collect will be fine." He put his mask on, keeping it flipped up for the moment.

Snotlout muttered as he tilted his horned helmet over his eyes, "Spoilsport."

Hiccup tugged on the handle bar of Toothless saddle, "Time to go bud," he spoke gently to the black dragon, who obligingly turned around, ready for take-off and neatly smacking Snotlout in the head with his tail as he went.

"Hey!" Snotlout complained, as he stood back up and straightened his helmet.

Toothless sniggered, as Hiccup shook his head. "Just try not to destroy anything while we're gone…please? Can you at least do that?" he asked the four remaining occupants of the outpost.

"We'll be fine," reassured Fishlegs, as he waved at his friend. "Everything will still be in one piece when you get back."

Hiccup frowned, not sure he believed that as Astrid and Stormfly hunkered down, ready to launch. But he didn't have time to say anything more as Toothless followed Stormfly and shot up into the air. "Fishlegs! You're in charge!" he yelled as the two dragons and their riders swiftly rose up into the air.

Snotlout immediately perked up, placing a hand behind his ear as if to hear better, "What's that? Snotlout's in charge! I'm all over it, Hiccup. Don't come back soon!" He gave a thumbs up to the disappearing spots in the blue sky.

Fishlegs scowled at his friend. "I believe he meant me."

Snotlout proudly indicated to himself, his chest puffed out. "Well I say I'm in charge. And I say, it's time to party!" The twins cheered at this news, and Tuffnut threw a stick for the little dragon to fetch in celebration.

"That's great…we can invite the Night Terrors and teach them some really cool stuff, like counting to two," he offered.

"Nah!" said Snotlout without any interest. "Too much work. How about I lie in my favourite chair and you three bring me food and drinks!"

"Ooo…we can pretend to be servants…your wish is our command," piped up Ruffnut, her excitement obvious.

Fishlegs merely twisted his lips in annoyance and shook his head. "I'm going to take first watch. You three knock yourselves out." He walked over to his dragon, Meatlug, and hopped on.

Tuff stuck his finger in the air, "Good idea Fishlegs. Will you oblige me dear sister?" he asked, turning to his twin.

She turned towards him with an obnoxious snigger. "Always, my dear brother. You only have to ask." And she promptly lowered her head, ready to rush headlong into her brother's skull with an almighty clang, as Meatlug and Fishlegs slowly flew away to take his turn at the watchtower.

The husky lad patted the top of his affectionate dragon's bumpy head, "We only have to last two days, girl. Then Hiccup and Astrid will be back," he reassured the grinning dragon, who gave him a huge loving tongue lick.

"Thanks girl," Fishlegs grinned, before heading to his final destination.

-oOo-

Several hours later, Hiccup was frowning again, but for a very different reason. They were still on dragon back, and had another few hours of travel left to go. But there was a large storm ahead of them…right in the path of where they needed to be.

"We'll have to go around it, Hiccup," Astrid called from beside him. Light rain had already started to fall.

He shook his head. "We can't. It will take us too long…plus there's nowhere to land if we divert. There's a small island up ahead. If we can make it there, we'll be able to take shelter from the rest of the storm," he called back, double checking with his map held tightly in front of him.

She seemed to sigh as she thought about his words. "Okay…the dragons are getting tired, anyway. Just…don't get zapped, alright?" she told him, her voice heavy with worry. Storms usually meant lightning. And lightning was a dangerous problem for Hiccup and Toothless, who both sported more than their fair share of lightning attractive metal.

Toothless warbled his concern too. Hiccup placed a hand on the dragon's head. "Yeah, I know bud. I'm not too keen either," he told him quietly. "But we don't really have a choice. I promise, we'll be careful." Toothless snorted. "I'm going to ignore that," Hiccup said indignantly. Toothless flipped his ear nub, catching the teen across his cheek. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it. Come on bud, we need to get the girls down safely."

Hiccup flipped his helmet down. Tucking the map away in his vest, he leaned forward to tighten their aerodynamics and took a firmer grip on the handle. Toothless folded in his wings and rolled in a tight corkscrew to drop lower to the ocean. Astrid rolled her eyes at the dramatics of the two self-confessed show offs, and patted Stormfly's neck. "Come on, girl. We can't let them out of our sight. Who knows what trouble they'll get themselves into without us." Stormfly squawked in agreement, and dived in a much more straight forward fashion, tucking her wings in to reduce her resistance to the wind.

Toothless snapped out his wings to slow down their rapid descent once they reached their desired altitude, Astrid and Stormfly not too far behind. The two girls caught up with the sleek, black dragon and his rider as they glided easily at the lower level.

Hiccup flipped up his visor. "We should be okay at this height," he sung out loudly over the rushing breeze. "If we keep heading in this direction, we'll see that island soon enough."

Astrid pulled her fur lined hood over her head as the rain started in earnest. "Good," she yelled back. "The sooner the better."

They two continued on in silence, hunched over their dragons to keep the stinging rain from their faces. They weren't strangers to flying in this kind of weather, but that didn't make it any more pleasant. Both were grateful for the limited protection they did have, but everything else was packed in their saddlebags. They had a small oilskin they were intending to use as a shelter overnight for their scouting trip, but that was tucked in Astrid's bag along with some food. Hiccup had packed a spare tailfin for Toothless and a spare prosthetic for himself, along with some basic tools and more food. These items were always packed and ready. There had simply been too many times when the need for one or the other had arisen. He chuckled to himself when he recollected the time he had managed to break all his spare metal legs, and had to resort to the plain wooden one that he hated so much.

This trip was an important one. He and Fishlegs had discovered that not all the dragons went to the same island the Berkians were familiar with, where they went every Snoggletog to lay their eggs and hatch the new babies. A new island had come to their notice and Hiccup had wanted to find out more about it, so the dragon riders could keep it safe from the Dragon Hunters. The last thing Hiccup and the gang wanted, was for Vigo and Ryker to discover such a precious spot. It made Hiccup's skin crawl to imagine that ruthless man stripping it bare of the next generation of dragons. He frowned in determination. Vigo must NEVER find out about it.

But first, they themselves had to find it…to confirm if this was indeed the correct place. Winter would be here in about three months' time, and he needed to find it before then. Hiccup figured he would find evidence of last year's nesting, with fragments of exploded dragon egg shells lying around, to help him confirm his suspicions.

Fishlegs and Hiccup had estimated it was about a day's flight away. So it meant they could reach the isolated island, camp the night and have enough time the next morning to scout around, before heading back to the Edge. And hopefully well before the madcap twins had a chance to blow anything up. Well…at least anything important.

Normally, he would take Fishlegs with him. But Meatlug would struggle to make this kind of journey with the time constraints they had. And he shuddered at the idea of taking the twins or Snotlout instead. So, it had fallen to the blonde shield maiden to accompany him. Not that either of them would be complaining about spending a whole two days by themselves, with no prying eyes or suggestive remarks to annoy them. Even if they were going to be spending most of that time flying. He was sure the inane comments would fly thick and fast when they returned anyway.

Hiccup glanced over at Astrid, her shoulders hunched over as she kept her body as low to the Deadly Nadder as she could comfortably get. The two had been 'just friends' for so long now, but everyone knew their relationship was much more than that. Astrid the tough warrior, was an expert with an axe and never afraid to use it. She could disarm six huge Vikings and have them on their backsides before she even broke a sweat. She was fierce, loyal and dependable. She had no problems with telling others exactly where they had gone wrong.

But this same woman was also happy to share her soft and feminine side with Hiccup, listening carefully to his concerns and telling him her own. It was silently expected that the two would eventually marry, but for now they were happy just to be very close friends. Apart from the private hugs and chaste kisses, they hadn't extended their relationship much beyond that. Still, a blind man would be able to recognize their true feelings in the familiar way they acted towards each other. Sitting close together at the table, subtle touches to shoulders or hands, the way they searched each other out, the glances and the small reassuring smiles... all the little signs that show a young couple comfortable in each other's presence. And very much in love.

Hiccup's attention was brought back to their current circumstances, with the loud rumble of thunder.

"Great," he muttered sarcastically. "Just what we need…." Toothless huffed. "Yeah, I know bud. Let's try to keep away from it, shall we?"

The words had barely escaped from his mouth, before a crack of lightning shot through the sky, way too close for their liking. Hiccup immediately turned Toothless further left, hoping to remove them all from the danger. Astrid saw and changed direction to follow. Her heavy frown let Hiccup know she wasn't happy about the situation they were placing themselves in. Hiccup chose to keep focused on finding the island instead.

The wind and rain strengthened, and the fatigued dragons were having to put in extra effort to keep them on the correct path. Hiccup had hoped another hours flying would have them reaching their goal, but the storm had prevented that. Now they were flying to an island that would take them a further two hours to the west, well away from their destination. And they weren't even going to be able to take advantage of the high altitude slipstream. Which meant the dragons would be forced to work even harder.

Hiccup was beginning to feel worried, as he felt the storm pushing them even further away from their route. Leaning forward, he spoke into the dragon's ear, "Do your thing, please bud. See if we can find that island before it slips away from us in the rain."

Toothless gave a short nod, before opening his mouth and sending out his echolocation signal, searching for the unseen land mass. But there was no return signal. Toothless gave a quick shake of his head, and Hiccup's heart sank. "Nothing, huh? You sure you didn't miss anything?" The dragon's eyes narrowed into slits and he gave an indignant snort.

His rider put an apologetic hand on the dragon's head. "Sorry bud, didn't mean to question you. I'm worried we may have drifted too far west. I don't know if there's another island out here. And you and Stormfly are tired. We all need to rest and get out of this storm," he told his dragon friend in a very worried voice.

Toothless rumbled deep in his chest and Hiccup gave a pat of gratitude to the scaly neck. "I know bud. You'll do all you can. But even the mighty offspring of lightning and death itself needs a break." Toothless sighed tiredly, as if to agree. But the leathery wings continued to beat strongly, as the four friends battled the angry winds and the driving rain.

-oOo-

Fishlegs stood at the edge of the walkway that was wrapped around the clubhouse. He was staring out at the beautiful sunset scene over the waves of the sea, no clouds to disturb the darkening evening sky. Snotlout walked up beside him, noisily munching on a yak steak. "What'cha looking at, Fishy?" he asked, bits of food flying out of his mouth along with the spit.

Fishlegs gave him a disgusted look before taking a step sideways. He resumed his vigil over the sea. "Do you think they made it yet?" he asked, his brows pulled together in concern.

Snotlout waved his food around and Fishlegs took a further inconspicuous step away. "Yeah…they're probably already cozy around a fire, guessing how many explosions the twins did today….And if they ask, it was only three." He smiled smugly to himself, "I did the other two. It was awesome Fishlips! You should have been there." Snotlout sighed happily, his food still waving dangerously close to his big friend's sour face.

"How could you be exploding things if you were supposed to be on watchtower duty?" Fishlegs asked with narrowed eyes. Snotlout paused for a moment, looking guilty. "You did take your turn, right?" Fishlegs asked, his tone raising in concern.

Snotlout said nothing, but his shifty eyes spoke volumes even as he munched on his food to cover up his lack of answer.

"You didn't go, did you," Fishlegs practically shrieked. He started to pace, anxiously wringing his hands together. "What's Hiccup going to say when he finds out? The dragon hunters could be closing in, even as we speak! Oh, why did both of them have to go?" he worriedly rattled off.

Snotlout merely casually waved his food around again, "Calm down...nothing bad is going to happen. We haven't seen the dragon hunters in months. Plus the night terrors have it covered."

The big man pointed over his companions shoulder, "Do you mean those night terrors?" Snotlout turned to see him pointing down at the twins in the training ring playing with a flock of the small dragons. "Er...yeah. See? Nothing to worry about," Snotlout shrugged. "They've got it covered." He paused to fling the gnawed bone high into the surrounding bushes. Fishlegs opened and closed his mouth soundlessly as his face turned red, and his arms flapped while he struggled to not strangle the self-absorbed man in front of him. How Hiccup hadn't thrown him over a cliff yet, was totally beyond Fishlegs. "It. Is. Your. Turn," he told the black haired man through gritted teeth.

Snotlout raised a lazy eyebrow, then rolled his eyes at the way too tense man standing beside him.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll go," he said, whistling to Hookfang. The Monstrous Nightmare lifted his head and searched around, checking out what had been happening during his snooze.

Fishlegs exhaled heavily as finally, Snotlout was going to start taking things seriously. He hopped onto Meatlug, his own dragon and flew back to his hut where he intended to spend the evening adding more of his notes to The Book of Dragons. He was already out of sight by the time Snotlout mounted his dragon ready for watchtower duty...right after he finished playing with the twins and the night terrors.

-oOo-

It was all Astrid could do to hold on tight, as the Deadly Nadder was thrown in all directions by the fierce winds. Glancing over, she could see Hiccup wasn't doing much better. She noticed Hiccup turn to look behind him. Following his gaze she gasped. Toothless tail fin was beginning to fold under the pressure of the high winds. Hiccup turned towards her, but she was unable to discern what he was thinking, due to the mask covering his face. She knew hers showed utter terror, knowing full well what the only outcome of this disaster was going to be.

And then it happened. The rod connecting the harness to the tail fin snapped and popped out. Toothless roared and opened his eyes wide in despair, as he flapped even harder to keep the two of them aloft. But the wind showed no mercy, pushing them relentlessly. The two began to spin out of control. Astrid's eyes opened wide when she realised she was in danger too….as the black dragon and his rider came barreling towards them, crashing straight into the Nadder's side. Astrid shrieked, pain surging down her arm where the heavy beast had impacted, barely hanging onto Stormfly as she too, lost control. The two dragons and their riders rolled over each other in the air, both doing everything in their power to separate and descend carefully…for a heavy crash landing was the only surety right now.

Briefly, Hiccup and Toothless were able to push away from Astrid and Stormfly before all four splashed directly into the white capped waves of the heaving ocean. Hiccup was the first to resurface, bursting forth out of the seawater. He gasped heavily, sucking in fresh air and ripping the mask off his face. Flicking the wet hair out of his eyes, he searched desperately around him. Toothless popped up close beside him, looking wet and forlorn while he paddled anxiously towards his rider. He moaned when Hiccup yelled, "Toothless! Are you okay, bud?" The two were quickly reunited, and Hiccup wrapped his arms around the Night Fury's thick neck. He knew they would be okay for now, but the high waves were preventing him from locating the two girls.

"ASTRID!" he yelled urgently. "ASTRID!"

His heart was in his mouth, and he swiveled his head in all directions, frantically trying to find the blonde girl and her dragon amongst the agitated water.

"Toothless...where are they?" Hiccup shouted, his eyes opened wide in fear. The dragon opened his mouth to send out his echolocation signal.

Nothing.

Turning slightly, he tried again.

Still nothing.

The third time he moved and sent out a signal….he found them.

Toothless excitedly gave a quick bark and Hiccup's neck snapped to the same direction. He still couldn't see them hidden in the darkened water but if Toothless said they were there…that's where he was going. Hiccup held on tight as the two paddled in the same direction where Toothless had received a positive result. The wind and the waves kept pushing them back, and Hiccup was beginning to feel he was never going to see Astrid again when, for a brief moment, he crested the top of a wave and saw them. But it didn't look good.

The night fury slid back to the bottom of the wave, and Hiccup's heart sank with them. Astrid had been lying half draped over the Deadly Nadder, her head resting on the saddle. Even though he knew Stormfly would keep them both afloat for as long as she could, it had been plain to see the awkward angle that the female dragon was holding her wing at. They were both injured, and Hiccup was unable to do anything about it.

The two boys crested another wave, and Hiccup frantically searched for the Nadder and her rider, hoping to find them. He did…but they were being swept further away in the turbulent seas.

"Toothless, we gotta help them," he cried. But he didn't know how. Without a functioning tail fin, they were at the mercy of the angry sea as much as the two girls. He didn't know where they were, or even if there was an island nearby or not. There was no known place for any of them to seek refuge.

Toothless chased after Astrid and Stormfly in dogged determination. If his harness had been in working order, they would have been able to rescue the girls.

"Of course!" Hiccup smacked his forehead for his forgetfulness. "I'll get the spare rod out." Making sure to hold on carefully, he edged around the front of the paddling Night Fury to get to the saddlebag on the other side...only to find it was missing. The broken strap told the story. "Noooo..." he yelled in despair, slapping the water in frustration. His wet and pale face stared at his concerned dragon, eyes open wide in fear. "Bud, what are we going to do?" Hiccup choked out.

Toothless frowned in a determined manner. Lifting his head up, he roared and roared again. Hiccup hung limply to his best friend, thinking the dragon was calling to Stormfly. But there was no draconic answer. Toothless paused and listened. He must have heard something that satisfied him, judging by his pleased expression. Then he roared again. Hiccup watched thoughtfully.

"Toothless, what are you up to?"

The Night Fury turned his head and crooned in reassurance.

"Who did you call?" Hiccup wondered, for it was obviously not Stormfly.

He waited anxiously as the two friends crested another tall wave, desperate to catch another glimpse of the girls. When they reached the top he only had a few moments to spot them. His heart sank deeper than the ocean floor when neither of them were visible anymore. They had been swept too far away.

"NOOOOOO," Hiccup yelled, tears washing down his cheeks as he faced the terrifying shock of their loss. Astrid was a fighter but both had been injured. It would only be a matter of time before the girl and her dragon were swallowed by the waves. Hiccup laid his head on the saddle and sobbed, even as Toothless continued to paddle in the direction they had last seen them. Astrid was gone, the love of his life was no more. And he hadn't even told her what she meant to him. Hiccup didn't know how he was supposed to go on. Life without her would forever be meaningless. He didn't even want to think about telling her family...provided he and Toothless even made it out of here.

Toothless gave a sharp warning bark, but Hiccup ignored it. If there was any danger out there, he didn't think he would be able to fight it off right now. Even though he knew Astrid would want him to keep fighting, he couldn't find the energy to do anything about it. Toothless barked again, nudging him with his wing to gain his attention. Hiccup blearily lifted his head. "What is it?" he asked flatly. The answer came in the shape of a large green head surfacing beside him, creating a huge bow wave that had Hiccup holding on tightly to avoid being shaken off.

"Scauldron!" Hiccup yelled, expecting to be boiled alive at any moment with a burst of super-heated water. "Toothless, plasma blast!" he demanded. But to his surprise, Toothless didn't blast the larger dragon. In fact he warbled a welcome to it.

"What the...?"

Hiccup was confused, his brows drawing together as he studied the Scauldron looming over them. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide in understanding.

"Scaldy? Is that you?" he asked, with rising hope. The large green head came down to reach his outstretched hand. "I know Ruff's not here, but do you think you could help us out?" he pleaded with the newcomer. Scaldy blew a gentle mist over Hiccup's hand and the teen sighed in relief.

"Great….do you think you could find Astrid and Stormfly, please? They're injured and they need to find somewhere safe," he told the dragon urgently. Scaldy nodded slightly then dived under the water, causing Hiccup to hold on tight again as the action created a bigger swell.

"Phew…I hope he finds them, bud," he murmured, hanging on tightly to the Night Fury's neck. Toothless warbled in response, and kept paddling.

-oOo-

It was some time later and Toothless was still paddling, but at a much slower pace. They hadn't heard anything further from Scaldy and Hiccup was anxious to know if the friendly dragon had managed to find the girls and take them to safety. The storm was still raging, and they were hopelessly lost in the middle of the ocean with nothing but waves and the grey sky to keep them company. Hiccup had tried to use his maps to guess where they were, but the wet paper had been completely destroyed. Toothless was getting tired, his green eyes were starting to droop. Hiccup was worried. And cold. And very wet.

Sighing, Hiccup laid his head down on the saddle. He only wanted to know if Astrid was okay. The whole time they'd been floating in the stormy seas, he'd thought mostly of her. Ever since they were kids, he'd had a crush on her but never dared to think she would even look at him. Enter one Night Fury, and minus one leg after the Viking versus Red Death saga, and his whole world had done a complete three-sixty. Now she was his closest friend and confidant, the one he gravitated towards whenever he needed counsel or support. And he was hers. She allowed him to see the insecure and softer side of her that nobody else ever got to see. The privilege of which was not lost on him.

Hiccup rocked in the motion of the waves, and didn't notice a particularly larger swell until he almost rolled right off the saddle. Toothless gave a sharp bark to gain his attention and he looked up quickly to see a large green head pushing out of the waves beside him.

"Scaldy!" he yelled. "You're back! Did you find them? Are they okay?" he asked quickly, before remembering he was talking to a dragon. He took a deep breath before starting again. "Did you find them?" he asked anxiously.

The long necked dragon gracefully arched his head down towards Hiccup and blew gently on his hair. He seemed to be happy, so Hiccup took that to mean the Scauldron had been successful.

"Where are they?" he asked next. In answer, the green dragon sank beneath the waves. "Scaldy? Where'd you go?" Hiccup asked, glancing all around him. "Bud, where did he go?" he asked anxiously. Toothless crooned at him.

Hiccup felt something brush against his legs under the water, and he automatically drew them up closer to his body. "Great, we're going to be fish food," said Hiccup frantically as he tried to see what was under the water and possibly about to eat him.

A large body came in contact underneath him and Toothless, and Hiccup barely had time to yell before they were being lifted out of the water on the Scauldron's back, his large head breaking the surface at the same time.

"Scaldy? Are you rescuing us?" Hiccup yelled at the head that was so far away. Scaldy merely glanced back and blinked at him, before slowly rising out of the water and flying towards whatever destination only he knew about. Toothless and Hiccup had to hold on tight, but it wasn't long before an island appeared before them. And there on the beach, was...

"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled. The blonde shield maiden looked up from beside her dragon and waved furiously in response, the biggest grin visible across her face. Scaldy settled down on the sand beside her, allowing the Night Fury and his rider to clamber off. Hiccup remembered to pause long enough to thank the Scauldron, then rushed over to Astrid. He gathered her in his arms, holding her close. "Thank goodness you're okay. I thought for sure I had last you," he told her, his voice cracking with emotion.

Astrid held one arm against her chest but used the other to return the hug as best she could.

"We're okay... thanks to Scaldy," she told him softly. "How did you find him?" she asked.

"I didn't...Toothless called him," Hiccup told her, reluctantly letting her go.

Astrid walked over and gave Toothless a loving scratch. "Thanks Toothless," she told him with quiet gratitude. She looked up at the green dragon sliding back into the water. "Thanks Scaldy."

Hiccup walked back into the water, his palm outstretched. Scaldy pressed his nose briefly to Hiccup's hand. "Thank you," Hiccup murmured. The dragon blinked at him, then dived back into the ocean.

Hiccup noticed Astrid favoring her arm. "You're hurt."

"It's just a sprain," she told him.

"Astrid...I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," he began. He had been so desperately worried about them and the injuries he had caused.

She stuck her finger up. "Shhh..." she interrupted. "It was an accident. You couldn't prevent any of it," she told him firmly. "Right now, I'm more worried about Stormfly. Her wing is injured."

Hiccup turned his attention to the sad looking Deadly Nadder, her bent wing immediately obvious. He went to check it, carefully feeling along the edge of it. "I'm afraid it's broken," he told Astrid sadly.

"Oh no. Poor Stormfly. I'm sorry girl," she tried to comfort the Nadder. "Hiccup...how are we going to get home?"

Hiccup shook his head. "I don't know yet. The saddlebag with all my spare parts is out in the ocean somewhere. The only thing I have left is Inferno. I'd ask Scaldy for a lift, but he can't fly us all the way back. He needs to be underwater. And with Stormfly's busted wing and your sprained arm...we're in a tight spot," Hiccup had to admit. "Hopefully, the guys will come looking for us when we don't come back tomorrow. We'll just have to sit tight until they find us."

Astrid said nothing, but the look of dubiousness on her face gave her thoughts on the matter as she stroked her injured dragon.

Hiccup chose to ignore it. "Come on, let's find a dry spot out of this rain. We'll splint Stormfly's wing and fashion a sling for you at the same time."

It didn't take them long to find a small but dry cave not too far from the beach. Hiccup managed to get a warm fire going with his dragon's help. Astrid used a bandage from Stormfly's saddle bag as a sling for her own arm, before pulling out a rope. With a large sturdy branch she had found, she then helped Hiccup to secure the broken section of her dragon's wing, tucking it in tight with the rope to prevent her accidentally moving it.

Later, Astrid sat against Toothless flank with Stormfly huddled beside them. Hiccup had managed to salvage a little of the food they had. He sat beside her while they ate.

"We'll have to search for more food and water tomorrow. I don't know how long we will be here for," he told her carefully. She nodded, then rested her head against his shoulder. He moved to wrap one arm around her. "Do you know where we are at least?" she asked.

He hesitated. "No...I don't," he had to admit. "My maps got destroyed... But I do know we are on solid ground, with our dragons. That's a start, right?"

She chuckled, "Trust you to say something like that...So we're lost."

He gave her a gentle squeeze. "I'm sure they'll find us soon."

"Hmmmmm," was her response.