A/N: Here's Another One-Shot Based on a Request. Takes Place During RTTE.

Our Teammate

"Okay gang, let's take out these ships, just like we practiced!" Hiccup shouted to his teammates as they flew towards a small band of Hunter ships, ready to take them out as they came travelling back to the Edge from Berk.

The Dragon Riders looked down at the ships as the dragons started to descend. "Okay Hiccup!" Fishlegs called.

"We should take them out in no time as long as we're-"

"Snotlout!" Snotlout buffed his name with pride and flew ahead with Hookfang, going head-on into the fight himself.

"-careful and precise." Hiccup finished with a sigh, shaking his head at Snotlout's over-eagerness to go into battle, following after the Viking with the others.

"Ha ha ha, eat fire Hunters!" Snotlout laughed as Hookfang flamed up and soared through the sails attached to the mast of the ship, not only burning through the sails but he blasted the mast as well, the mast beginning to creak and topple over immediately afterwards.

Shouts filled the air as the Hunters took notice, pointing up and giving commands, running around to get to the catapults and arrows. "Dragon Riders!"

"Take 'em down!"

Hookfang fired at another ship as they flew past and by now, the others had came to join in, Stormfly firing her magnesium blast as she soared overtop one of the decks.

"Blast it, girl!" Fishlegs pointed as Meatlug flapped coming over. The Gronckle smiled and fired a lava blast at the ship, making a few Dragon Hunters jump overboard. "Thatta girl, Meatlug!"

While the others were busy taking on the ships and trying to free the captured dragons from their cages, Snotlout had other ideas about fighting in battle: his cockiness and ego was getting the better of him as he and Hookfang flew among the ships, Snotlout wanting to take on all the hunters himself.

"Outta my way!" He shouted at Fishlegs, flying straight past Meatlug, Hookfang diving straight for one of the ships.

When arrows start firing straight at them however, Hookfang darted away, exposing Meatlug in the arrows' paths, Fishlegs yelping as Meatlug got hit. Thank goodness she was immune to Dragon Root!

"Snotlout!" Fishlegs cried out at his comrade, shooting him a glare as Hookfang zoomed near the Twins.

Barf was currently emitting his gas around one of the ships and Belch was just about to spark when Hookfang flew straight through their gas, flying higher into the air. "Look out!" Snotlout snorted at them.

"Hey!"

"Hey, watch it!" Tuffnut growled.

As Hookfang flew up, some of Barf's gas came up into the air with him and directly near Stormfly, who was just trying to fly past when Belch sparked and the fire caught onto the gas, creating a blast of explosion right next to Astrid and Stormfly.

Astrid cried out and Stormfly flapped wildly in the air, startled, and Astrid was flung off of her back from the impact, falling through the air with a scream.

"Astrid!" Hiccup cried as he saw her, Toothless quickly diving after her, catching her before she could fall into the water.

"Thanks Hiccup," Astrid caught her breath, looking up as Toothless brought her back to Stormfly.

"Yeah don't mention it," Hiccup frowned, looking down towards the ships at Snotlout, eyes narrowed with a scowl on his face.

"Yeah ha ha ha, Hooky! Get 'em boy!" Snotlout jeered as Hookfang blasted at the ships, flying past in front of the other Riders, Hunters yelling and firing arrows at Hookfang, trying to take him out.

Of course none of them hit Hookfang but as he flew past the others they were now exposed and the Dragons had to maneuver and dodge out of the way quickly, struggling and crying out.

Snotlout hardly even realized, continuing to dive with Hookfang and take the Hunters straight on, chanting "Snotlout, Snotlout, oi oi oi!"

Hiccup was watching him, eyes narrowed. "What does he think he's doing?"

"Get 'em Windshear!" Heather called out as Windshear swooped in, slashing her tail at the masts of the ships, the masts immediately toppling into the sea after being sliced into two.

But then Hookfang came flying directly in Windshear's path and Heather and Windshear yelped as they had to maneuver quickly around him, faltering as Windshear had to spin and gain flight control again, Heather nearly falling off her back.

"Whoa!" She quickly grabbed onto her, pulling herself tighter onto Windshear's back, frowning. "It's okay, girl!"

"Ha ha! Outta my way, losers!" Snotlout shouted as he dove in front of the Twins, blocking their shot, Snotlout leaping on deck to take on the Hunters face to face, Hookfang helping.

Hiccup's eyes widened, then narrowed. "Okay, whatever this is, it needs to stop, but we gotta get those dragons freed, bud." He spoke to Toothless, who descended towards one of the ships, cleverly maneuvering arrows as they came flying towards them.

Toothless landed and Hiccup hopped on deck, jogging over to the cages holding the dragons, Toothless firing a plasma blast at nearby Hunters to keep them away.

Hiccup started freeing the dragons and setting them free but then Hookfang came rushing in, firing a direct blast at the ship, Snotlout happily letting out a victory cry.

"Woohoohoohoo!"

Unfortunately, Hookfang's blast came a little too close to Toothless's tail and the dragon's tailfin caught aflame, Toothless roaring in alarm, holding his tail up with wide eyes as the wires and frame burned up.

"Augh, oh no no no no, Toothless!" Hiccup cried and rushed over, frowning at the now burned away tailfin, raising his head to glare at the now flying past Hookfang.

"Snotlout!" He shouted, green eyes narrowed.

This time, Snotlout heard and turned to look back. "What?!"

Hiccup was about to answer but more Hunters came running towards them on the deck and he turned to fight them off, balling his fists, Toothless growling.

Snotlout snorted when Hiccup didn't answer and just turned away, flying off with Hookfang.

Astrid came to help Hiccup with the others, Heather joining them.

Fishlegs and the twins were taking out the rest of the ships, or they were trying to. Snotlout kept getting in their way and throwing them off balance, nearly getting all of them shot down by Dragon Root arrows, earning plenty of angry shouts from his friends.

The Jorgenson didn't even notice, too busy yelling "Snotlout, Snotlout, oi oi oi!"

Astrid and Heather finished off the last of the Hunters and Hiccup freed the last dragon from its cage, letting out a breath. "Okay, that should be all of them. Come on, let's get outta here."

He jogged over to Toothless as the girls mounted their dragons before Hiccup remembered as he came up to his dragon, eyebrows furrowing. "Oh yeah." He replied dryly.

Toothless snorted with a rumble, watching Hiccup go to his saddle-bag with a sigh. "Yeah, guess we'll havta use the spare, bud."

He got out the spare tail-fin he had packed for Toothless and went to Toothless's tail, applying it, muttering lowly to himself.

When he got into the air, he started giving directions, avoiding looking at Snotlout. "Okay guys, back to the Edge! Straight away!"

He took off, the others turning and following close behind. Snotlout grinned and laughed heartily to himself. "Ha ha ha, was that a good battle or what?!"

Hiccup restrained himself from starting to yell while they were in the air and the others too kept quiet, eyebrows furrowed.

The rest of the flight was silent, until they arrived at the Edge, the dragons landing.

Meatlug was the only one who had been shot with dragon root arrows but the others had came way too close to being hit, thanks to Snot-Fang.

Snotlout dismounted off his dragon's neck with a big, wide grin, chest puffed out. "Another successful battle and it's all thanks to Snotlout! Ha ha!"

Hiccup's fist clenched and his eyes narrowed, marching straight over to Snotlout, accusingly pointing a finger. "What do you think you were doing out there?!"

Snotlout's grin fell and he blinked, putting his hands up in surrender momentarily, glancing away once. "Uhhh, taking care of those Hunters for you guys, what else?" He shrugged, smirking.

"No Snotlout, that is not what you were doing," Hiccup frustratedly gestured with his hands. "What you were doing up there was nearly getting your teammates killed."

"What?"

"Taking on the Hunters by yourself was not a part of the drill first of all and it was your recklessness that nearly got us all killed!" Hiccup was shouting now.

"Ooh, the drama's unfolding….." Ruffnut sing-songed lowly into her brother's ear, the twins watching anxiously, holding back their grins.

Snotlout's eyebrows furrowed at Hiccup, shaking his head a little. "Hiccup, what are you talking about? I saved us because I was covering for everyone! You know Hookfang and I are the best fighters!"

"Snotlout, if you only rely on yourself and not your teammates, it's not only going to get you in trouble, but our entire team as well! How does that not make sense to you?!" Hiccup glared.

"Because there's nothing to make sense of! I wasn't doing anything wrong!" Snotlout snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Not doing anything wrong, not doing anything wrong, okay, well, what do you call knocking Astrid out into the sky, Snotlout?! And blocking people's shots, not to even mention Toothless's tail!"

Snotlout scowled a little, shaking his head. "Okay so maybe Hookfang and I did get a little carried away but what's the big deal, Hiccup? We're fine! Quit being a baby."

Hiccup's eyes flashed with anger. "Oh I'm the baby?! You're the one ALWAYS messing up, Snotlout! I am sick and tired of having to tell you the same thing over and over again! We're a team! It's not just about you! The past four years you've thought it's always about you but it isn't Snotlout!"

"Hey, it is about me, Hiccup!" Snotlout was shouting back. "I'm going to be the leader of the Dragon Riders soon, this is exactly how I should be leading them!"

"Leader? You think you're ready to become leader soon? You can barely handle being a rider!" Hiccup almost snapped. "You don't even follow my orders most of the time!"

"That's nothing, Hiccup! I know what I'm doing!"

"No you don't, Snotlout. You actually don't. Or you at least act like you don't. Which is why I have no choice but to suspend you from the Dragon Riders…..again."

"What?!" Snotlout gaped in horror, eyes widening.

"What?!" The others' jaws dropped too, eyes widening.

"Don't act so surprised, Snotlout," Hiccup said tiredly with a disappointed look. "With your behavior-"

"Hey, my behavior is great," Snotlout huffed, eyes going narrow. "I think it's you who has a problem with me." He sneered, pointing a finger at Hiccup's face. "Trying to kick me out of the Dragon Riders?! What is your problem, man?" He snorted.

"Snotlout, just stop!" Hiccup snapped. "Your behavior is out of control! You're irresponsible, you're over-eager, you're clumsy, you're always getting us into trouble and you frankly get on everyone's nerves, especially mine! I'm through with you! Until you can prove yourself, you're never going to be the leader of the Dragon Riders, Snotlout!"

At Hiccup's shouting, Snotlout took a step back, a look of fear and hurt flashing across his face as he gasped. It was like a stab at his heart.

At first he couldn't say anything, gulping hard, trying to speak, stumbling over his words. "B-But H-H-Hiccup!"

"No, I mean it Snotlout," Hiccup huffed with a frown, unable to recognize the pain on his friend's face. "I'm tired of putting up with you. You blew your chance. You're through."

Snotlout gaped, his chest suddenly tight, Hiccup's words replaying in his head, making his eyes flash.

"You blew your chance." Something Spitelout had said to him right before he struck him in the face. He was fifteen and his father was angry because Snotlout wasn't at the top of his dragon-training class.

"How can ye keep letting me down?! That's all ye ever do son, is disappoint me!" A kick. Then a punch.

"You're embarrassing me, son! Sharpen up! Quit letting everyone down!" A yank on his hair.

"Why aren't you good enough?!" His father had screamed, socking him in the stomach.

Snotlout swallowed hard, frowning deeply as he stood there beside all of his friends, his anxiety rising rapidly, suddenly ashamed and almost guilt-ridden.

Kicked out of the Dragon Riders again? No! That eliminated his purpose, his life, what would he do, where would he go, what would happen to him and Hookfang? And more importantly, what would his father think?

Beside him, Hookfang looked at Hiccup with big eyes, keeping his snout close to his Rider, a quiet reminder that he was there to defend him.

"I'm sorry, Snotlout." Hiccup started again with a softer tone, but still serious. "You just…..need to improve yourself, for the good of all of us."

"Hiccup, you can't be serious." Snotlout lifted his head a little when he heard Astrid speak, mouth a little 'o' in surprise, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, Hiccup, take it easy," Fishlegs spoke too.

Snotlout watched as Hiccup turned toward them. "What now?"

"Hiccup, I know you're upset but you know you can't kick Snotlout out." Astrid spoke softly.

"Astrid's right," Heather nodded. "He's one of us. We need him."

Snotlout watched them with a frown, them talking about him as if he wasn't standing right there.

"And Heather's right. We do need Snotlout. He's great in battle and knows what he's doing…..most of the time." Fishlegs shrugged, glancing at Snotlout. "Besides, if you kick him out now, we can't be down a rider. Viggo and Ryker are out there."

Hiccup was frowning at his friends, eyes narrowed. "Why are you defending him?! Have you all forgotten the trouble he's put us through?"

Snotlout swallowed hard, wondering if he should walk away to avoid the awkwardness.

"Hiccup," Astrid started softly. "He's our friend. You can't kick him out again, that'll only put a huge dent in our group." She looked at him sincerely.

"No. I mean it guys, we need to be better than this." Hiccup insisted, turning back to Snotlout.

"Snotlout, you should go now."

Snotlout bit his lip, eyes big. "H-Hiccup, i-I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Just go."

Snotlout frowned deeply and looked from Hiccup's angry face to his friends, slowly backing away, ashamed and humiliated.

This was it. His life was officially over. He couldn't be a Dragon Rider anymore.

Trying to hide his embarrassment, he went to Hookfang, climbing onto his saddle, avoiding looking at his friends as they took off. Hookfang let out a soft warble as an attempt to comfort him but Snotlout didn't answer, hanging his head down, too discouraged.

On the Edge, Astrid frowned at Hiccup as he walked past her. "Hiccup. That was not a wise thing to do."

Hiccup stopped and looked at her, glaring. "It had to be done, Astrid. Before someone got seriously hurt. How can you not understand that?"

He then walked off and the Riders glanced at each other with a frown.

"So….no more Snotlout?" Tuffnut questioned lowly.

"Guess not." Ruff added.

Astrid sighed a little, arms crossed. "We'll get him back, don't worry."


Fishlegs, Heather and Astrid met up with Hiccup later, at the clubhouse. Astrid was the first to speak.

"Hiccup, you didn't have to be so harsh back there."

Hiccup turned, frowning that this was what they wanted to speak about. "Astrid, you know I had to. It was just finally that time to say enough."

"But Snotlout is our friend. Like it or not, he's one of us."

"Yeah. Without Snotlout we're a broken team. We need him and Hookfang with us." Heather swallowed with a nod.

"Hiccup, you know how much it means to Snotlout to be with us. You can't just take that away from him." Astrid frowned.

"How can you guys all be defending him? Even if he is our friend, I can't risk him getting us all killed." Hiccup stated with a more softer tone.

"But you didn't need to crush his dream of becoming leader of the Dragon Riders. You know that's what he's always wanted."

"Yeah, he looked pretty upset when you told him." Fishlegs frowned.

"Well he should have." Hiccup frowned. "I mean it, he's nowhere near ready."

Astrid's soft eyes looked at him sincerely. "Hiccup, we know how hard it is to work with Snotlout, believe me, we've all been there, but being his friend, we still have to encourage and support him. I think you better apologize."

"Apologize? What do I even need to apologize for?" Hiccup shook his head.

"Even if Snotlout messes up, we still have to be there for him. Hiccup we've all known each other for years, we have to be there for each other. And right now, Snotlout needs us to be there for him. And once he knows that than he'll be there for us."

Hiccup was frowning and eventually he sighed. "I-I was pretty harsh on him, wasn't I?"

"Just a little….." Fishlegs rocked on his toes.

Hiccup sighed again, now guilty that he had been so unforgiving to his friend. "You guys are right. As boar-headed as he is, we do still need him. And he will be a great leader someday. I just wish he could work on his skills in the time being."

Astrid smiled faintly, eyeing him. "Tell Snotlout that, not us. He'll understand."

The corners of Hiccup's lips perked up a little in a soft smile, giving a nod.


Hiccup found Snotlout at the far side of the Edge at a small river, with Hookfang.

Toothless landed softly and Hiccup got off with a frown, eyeing his friend sitting down by the water, back to him.

It looked like Hookfang's snout rested in his lap and he was gently petting his scales, keeping quiet.

Hiccup frowned, knowing Snotlout was really upset without even having to look at his face.

Quietly and slowly, he walked up behind his friend. "H-Hey Snotlout."

Snotlout jumped, getting to his feet as Hookfang pulled his snout away. "Hiccup! Oh Thor! Don't scare me like that!" He turned to face Hiccup, frowning, his body language quickly shifting from being scared to being hostile.

"What are you doing here anyways? Come to remind me how much of a disappointment I am?" He gruffed with a frown.

"No Snotlout." Hiccup started softly. "I came to apologize, actually."

"Apologize? To me?" Snotlout raised a brow, not expecting this. "As in, to my face? But I thought that-"

"I was wrong, Snotlout. I was angry, I didn't mean what I said. Well, most of it I did but I was still wrong to yell at you." Hiccup stated sincerely, watching his friend.

"So, what are you saying?" Snotlout asked carefully.

"I'm saying that despite your lunatic behavior," He shook his head a little. "You are still one of us and we need you to be a part of our team. And not to mention the last time you got kicked out you nearly got killed."

Snotlout managed to quirk a smile, glancing away sheepishly, than back to Hiccup.

"And also, that you are going to be a great leader of the Dragon Riders someday. Everyone, including me can see that." He smiled softly at Snotlout, who perked up happily.

"You-you really mean that, Hiccup? You think I can actually do it?"

"Yes Snotlout. With some practice of course, but yes. And I know you'll be great. I can't wait to see you in action."

Snotlout's spirits were lifted, completely forgetting all about the previous argument, pumping his fists. "Awww man, did you hear that Hooky?! I'm going to be the leader of the Dragon Riders! And Hiccup thinks I'll actually be good at it!" He laughed heartily, almost wanting to hug Hiccup he was so relieved.

Beside him, Hookfang smiled and let out a happy roar, watching his rider smile and boast with pride.

"Oh thank you Hiccup, thank you!" Snotlout shook Hiccup's hand rapidly. "I am not going to let you down! And I promise I'll do better with the others. I realize that is something I need to work on." He said, being honest.

Hiccup nodded, smiling at him. "Thank you Snotlout. You'll do great, I trust that. Sorry I yelled earlier."

Snotlout shrugged it off, grinning. "Ah, I knew you were just messing with me the whole time. I wasn't actually worried or anything."

Hiccup chuckled a little. "Just remember, don't let all that power go to your head, Snotlout."

Snotlout snorted a little, smirking. "Heh heh. We'll see."

Hiccup smirked and just rolled his eyes in response.