Hiccup saw Stormfly landing nearby, and Astro reaching for her, "I saw Toothless near the Great Hall! Just a few moments ago. He's at the bottom of the steps!"

Astro took Hiccup by the hand and pulled her onto Stormfly's back. The Deadly Nadder flew with great speed toward the Great Hall.

Sure enough, Toothless was balanced on one of the perches. He kept jumping from perch to perch as bolt after bolt of lightning struck near him.

"Toothless!" exclaimed Hiccup. After repeating herself, Hiccup realised something. Either she was going crazy, or the lightning was following Toothless. She looked around. The other Berkians seemed to notice as well. She noticed Mildew standing next to the well, drawing water, and smiling as he watched the Night Fury flee from the lightning. Hiccup knew he was up to something.

The Lightning seemed to be dispersing. But it wouldn't be long before it returned. Toothless ran up to Hiccup, "That is the last time I do an exercise like that!"

"That was exercise to you?" questioned Hiccup, "Because, to me, it looked like you were running for your life up there."

"That and my weekly exercise! I am done our daily flights until these storms are long gone!"

"I'm not gonna argue with you there, Buddy."

"I tried to warn you!" exclaimed Mildew, "That Night Fury, of all the dragons, was worse than just bad luck! He's brought the wrath of the gods upon us! You've all heard it yourselves! The Night Fury is the offspring of Lightning and Death itself! If we're going to rid ourselves of this curse, we have to rid ourselves of that demon!" He aggressively pointed his staff at Toothless.

Hiccup could hear the Berkians shouting in their agreement. She stepped forward to defend her friend, "I'm sure there's another explanation for this. But I'm even more sure that Toothless is not the cause of these storms! How could the gods suddenly be angry about it now when Toothless has been here for almost a year?" But the villagers weren't buying it.

Hiccup looked at Mildew. He was obviously unimpressed with what she was doing. She remembered his skills of witchcraft and his threat to make her kill the dragons, but she knew she couldn't let him use that to control her.

Stoick rested his hand on Hiccup's shoulder, "The girl's right! The dragon's been here for nine months. If the gods didn't want him here, they would have made it clear the moment Hiccup shot him down. We will find a way to get rid of this lightning. But until we are sure of what's causing it, we'll just have to try our best to make it through this. Stay in your homes when the lightning is here. When it's gone, try to get provisions for your family as quickly as possible. We can't risk anyone getting killed."

The rest of the night was spent with every family gathered around the hearth. Singing songs to the gods and praying for the storms to cease.

The next morning, Hiccup and the others took the few hours of safety to discuss what could have been causing the lightning, and how they could get rid of it.

On the way to the arena, Hiccup was blocked by Mildew. Hiccup sighed, "I know. You're not happy with what I did yesterday. But I had to. Your theory is too small. There isn't enough evidence to prove it."

Mildew glared at Hiccup, "Well, I don't see anything about your protests that are heading my warnings."

"You never said that I had to obey your every command. Just that I had to keep your failed murder a secret."

"Shh-Shut up! Do you want to keep the dragons alive or not?"

Hiccup flinched.

Mildew leaned in closer, "If you want a chance to prove that the Night Fury isn't the cause of this, be my guest. But your time won't be bountiful, so use it wisely." Mildew shoved Hiccup into a stack of firewood as he walked passed, "And don't try to frame me for anything."

Hiccup sighed with relief, and ran to the arena.

Astro smiled as Hiccup walked through the entrance. Snotlout saw Astro's expression and snickered, "Someone's in love."

Astro glared at him, "What?"

"Forget it, Pretty Boy. She's-"

"Not yours." finished Hiccup.

Astro laughed.

Hiccup continued, "We need to find out what's causing the lightning, and how to make it stop. Thor is the god of lightning and thunderstorms, so whatever's going on must be because of something displeasing him."

"A relative of mine made Thor angry." said Astro, "She had to pay tribute by sailing to the edge of the world."

"Did she succeed?"

"I don't know. She kept coming back on the opposite direction."

Snotlout adjusted his posture to look like a god, "If I were Thor, I'd want a statue of me in the village square." He began to kiss his biceps.

Astro covered his mouth, "I think I'm gonna throw up."

Hiccup stared at Snotlout, "For the first time, you actually came up with a good idea."

Astro gagged, "There I go again."

"No!" said Hiccup, "Not of Snotlout! I mean a statue of Thor. Maybe he's offended because he thinks we're not thinking of him as a god anymore. Maybe he wants some recognition."

"That actually doesn't sound bad at all." agreed Fishlegs.

For the next few hours of no storms, the teenagers used all the scrap metal they could find to make the statue in the blacksmith shop. It was a long process, but they got it done in what seemed like thirty minutes. They had a ceremony held for the unveiling. The Berkians appeared to agree with their efforts.

For the rest of the day, there was no lightning.

Hiccup smiled, maybe Snotlout was right. Maybe Thor did want recognition.

But, the feeling of triumph was burned away by another siege of lightning. Even worse than before. Hiccup ran outside and watched a bolt of lightning strike the hammer that the statue was holding, and leap from the outstretched hand. Hiccup sighed. Their plan didn't work.

Toothless whimpered as he lay next to her by the hearth. Hiccup rubbed the top of his head gently, "It's okay, Toothless. They're not gonna get rid of you. Not without going through me."

Stoick sighed as he watched the lightning from the doorway.

"Dad?" asked Hiccup, "You don't think that Toothless is responsible for this. Do you?"

"No." said Stoick. "How could he. It's like you said. The gods couldn't suddenly hate Toothless.

Another bolt was heard. Gobber took a large step away from the black dragon. Hiccup glared at him.

"What?" asked Gobber, "I'm just erring on the side of caution."

"No matter what anyone else thinks," stated Hiccup, "I know that Toothless is not the cause of the lightning."

Suddenly, there were loud bangs on the door, that had been closed for the past two minutes. Hiccup clearly heard the voice of Mildew, yelling, "Stoick! We know you're hiding that demon in there! Give us the dragon, and no one will come to any harm!"

Stoick held the door shut, "Toothless is not the cause of the lightning! I will not let you take him away!"

"We all know he is! Even Hiccup does! Thor's made it clear now! The Night Fury has to go!"