GUYS! GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS! I HAVE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT RACE TO THE EDGE!
Okay, so, THEY RELEASED THE TITLES TO THE NEXT THIRTEEN EPISODES. I REPEAT, THEY RELEASED THE TITLES FOR THE NEXT THIRTEEN EPISODES! AND HERE THEY ARE! :D
Team Astrid
Night of the Hunters, Part 1
Night of the Hunters, Part 2
Bad Moon Rising
Snotlout Gets the Axe
The Zippleback Experience
Snow Way Out
Edge of Disaster, Part 1
Edge of Disaster, Part 1
Shock and Awe
A Time to Skrill
Maces and Talons, Part 1
Maces and Talons, Part 2
OMGOSH, GUYS, I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED! LET ME KNOW IF YOU ALL FEEL THE SAME WAY! :D :D :D Shout-outs:
Carly Marley: Haha, that's cool! :D
Ultimateblack: Thanks! Except I think I'm going to put Heather with Hiccup when they meet their mother...I think I am slowly, very very slowly, starting to ship Heathet (Eret and Heather). I was just thinking...AGH, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!? THIS SHIP HAS SAILED. I CAN'T STOP IT! HELP ME! XD
LiviLovesDragons: Thanks so much! I'm glad you're liking it so far! It makes me happy to know that people are enjoying this. :D :D :D
BraveDragonof214: Thanks, Brave. Prayers mean a lot. And I'll keep you in my prayers, too. I know, normally I hide whatever I'm feeling behind my goofiness, and sometimes, I'm just plain goofy, but...yeah. You know how it is. Thanks a bunch. :)
Lightclaw's Shadow: Thanks! Yeah, I liked writing that. :)
hiccupandtoothless294: INCONCLUSIVE? AAAHHHHHHHHH!
HappyPup1: OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
ParagonNight666: Thanks! It makes me happy to hear that I did a good job with Heather. Yeah, it's a little tricky adding a character in a rewriting of an already established plot without making that character the main character, so it's good to know I did good. :) Dragon Cake...hahaha! I like that term. I'll have to use it sometime...if you don't mind. :) I know what you mean! I'm a total geek for HTTYD. I love it too much for my own good. :P
One-Crazed-Up-Dragon: Thanks! Yeah, that line totally belonged to Astrid. I love Hiccstrid, and the line wouldn't have worked very well with Heather...it was so much sweeter to have Astrid say it, I agree. Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoy it so far. :)
Toothless801: Yeah, thick process, growing up, high school...I hear ya. It's relieving, knowing that some people can relate to me and I know I'm not the only one who feels depressed sometimes...so...thanks. And I know that feeling where you just need to...need to...*explodes* *punches* *mounts llama and explodes while punching* *randomness intensifies* Yeah. Yeah, random. I know, siblings are AMAZING. I love all my siblings. :) I'm thinking about writing a little in-between series, like what happened in between Heather becoming Chief and this HTTYD2 rewrite. What do you think? :)
Drew Luczynski: FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSS. :D
thearizona: Well, randomness is SUPPOSED to be random and awkward! I am so awkward it's almost not funny. When there's a weird silence between my friends, I randomly shout "WHO LIKES POTATOES!?" and the next thing you know it we have a huge conversation about potatoes. :D And thanks for liking the chapter! :D
neobendium: *waves* You're welcome! :D
Carly Marley: OH NOOOO! NOT THE MINIONS! *runs away* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :D :D :D
silverwolvesarecool: Thanks, Sil! I like writing about Heather in this story. :D
Windshear, Toothless, and Stormfly glided over burned trees, charred black and destroyed, some of them even reduced to ashes. Heather couldn't help but gasp at the sight that laid before her, around her, and behind her as well. The vegetation was gone, leaving the land black and crisp and burnt. It might never be habitable for people or animals ever again.
Only a few words flashed through Heather's mind, as she continued examining the black landscape:
What did this?
She didn't have the slightest idea. The air smelled stale and thick, almost like charcoal and a fireplace. The smoke still hung in the air, making it hard to breathe. Windshear flanked Toothless and Stormfly, flying in between the two dragons and their riders.
They came to a small hill on the dark terrain, and once they flew over it, Heather found herself gasping all over again.
There was a large, white and blue hunk of ice - and even that was an estimate. Jagged pieces were strewn out of it like a lion's mane, some of them short and some of them long. Solid white with hints of blue. It looked so sturdy that Heather was certain even Toothless would have a hard time blasting it down. It would take at least a hundred plasma blasts before it was down completely.
"Whoa," Hiccup breathed from beside her. The dragons came to a screeching halt in mid-air, roaring and growling at the structure of ice that laid before them. It was such a contrast to the black, ruined forest they had just passed, and Heather found herself whispering "Whoa" around the same time Hiccup did.
Hiccup turned around, glancing at Astrid and Heather. He looked just as confused as Heather felt, and at the same time, worried as well. "Stay close," he told them, and then, he sped on with Toothless, Windshear and Stormfly following them closely.
They circled the spikes of ice, glancing nervously around it. Heather couldn't help but notice pieces of splintered wood caught in the midst of the ice...almost as if the ice had sliced straight through the wood. There was a ship, completely wrecked by five spines of ice that shot straight through it.
Heather paled and hoped they wouldn't find any corpses. With damage like this, she would have been surprised if they found any survivors. If this was an attack, no one would have been able to survive it.
Unless the attacker wasn't going for the kill, but that just seemed odd. Who would attack and desolate ships without a reason? Heather didn't know who.
Heather heard Toothless growl, and when she looked at what he was looking at, she saw a large footprint in the ground. It was big enough to be a swimming pool for five - maybe six - Monstrous Nightmares.
And, by the looks of it, it was also fresh…
"Hiccup, look!" Astrid gasped quietly, and Heather and her brother instantly looked in the direction Astrid was pointing. Just as they did so, a collective shout of "FIRE!" cut through the air, followed by a random bola shooting straight in their direction.
"LOOK OUT!" Hiccup shouted. Windshear shot spines at the net, and Toothless fired a single plasma blast, but there were more coming, and they were coming fast.
Hiccup dodged one, and it went for Heather. Heather moved out of the way of it, just in time, but then…
"AHH!"
The bola hit Stormfly, pinning the dragon's wings to her side. Astrid shrieked, getting thrown from her dragon's back as Stormfly plummeted towards the land below them.
Heather was about to scream at someone to help her, but she didn't even need to. Toothless swooped towards the falling girl and grabbed her by her leg. With that done, Heather looked back and watched helplessly as Stormfly hit the ground.
Almost as soon as the Nadder was down, men jumped out from nowhere and began tying her. Heather's blood boiled with rage. They were trying to take Astrid's dragon, and for what reason, Heather didn't know, but she was going to make sure they didn't get what they wanted.
And apparently, Hiccup felt the same way about it, because he swooped downwards on Toothless, and Windshear followed the Night Fury.
"STOP!" Hiccup demanded as they neared the captured dragon and her captors.
"Stormfly!" Astrid shouted as soon as Toothless set her down. Toothless and Windshear hit the ground, their riders jumping off their backs as soon as possible. Men approached them, and Hiccup drew his flaming sword, swishing it back and forth threateningly.
Hiccup had shown Heather his new invention (which he called "Inferno") during their last peace treaty signing, and since then, Heather was always fascinated by how the weapon worked.
The men who had once been charging at them stopped, staring at Inferno's fire-lit blade with awe. Astrid grabbed a small, sword-length wooden plank off the ground and held it warningly. Even with a stick, she looked dangerous. Heather took out her double-sided axe and spun it like a ninja.
One of them men, one who was tying Stormfly's horns, gasped. "Soil my britches," he said, rising to his full height, stepping on Stormfly's back. "That is a Night Fury!" the man gasped. He nudged one of his companions. "Thought they were all gone for good!" he said.
What does he mean by that? Heather wondered. She knew there were no more Night Furies left besides Toothless, but if this man knew that as well, he must have done a lot of traveling. He must have seen a lot of dragons, or else he wouldn't have been surprised by seeing a Night Fury. He must have known a lot about dragons, or else he probably wouldn't have known that Night Furies even existed.
All the more reason to get rid of him, when the time came.
"Looks like our luck's had a turn for the better, lads!" the man continued. "Don't think Drago has one of those in his dragon army."
Astrid made a face. "Dragon army?" she repeated in disgust.
"What are you talking about?" Heather snapped.
Hiccup looked at them, and then looked back at the men. "Look, we don't want any trouble," he said honestly.
The man laughed. "Ha!" he said. "You should've thought of that before you stole all of our dragons, and BLASTED OUR FORT TO BITS!" He gestured wildly to the ice spikes around them and the splintered wood.
"Yeah, look at it!" another one of them men agreed.
"What are you talking about?" Astrid asked in clear disbelief, repeating exactly what Heather had just gasped.
Heather was wondering the same thing. What were these men talking about? "You had better speak up!" she said threateningly when no one replied.
Hiccup stepped forward, obviously trying to give her the silent message not to attack. "You think we did this?" he asked. He sounded just as angry as Heather expected him to be. Of course, no one liked to be wrongly accused. Even a sweet, kind person like Hiccup.
The man laughed again, sarcasm obvious. "Ha," he said yet a second time. "Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is, without do-gooder Dragon Riders sneaking in to rescue them!"
So the men were Dragon Trappers, then. Heather supposed that made sense. They definitely looked properly equipped to do something like that, and they were professional by how quickly they tied down Stormfly.
"What do-gooder-" Hiccup began, but then, his voice cut off abruptly. "There are other Dragon Riders?" he asked. He retracted Inferno's fiery blade, probably in hopes that by looking less menacing, these trappers would tell him what he wanted to know.
Heather took a few moments to think. Other dragon riders? Besides the Berkians and Berserkers? That just sounded weird...but here was the evidence, right in front of them. The destroyed fort was no accident. Someone had told a very large, very powerful dragon to do this.
But why?
"You mean," the trapper went on, "other than your thieving friend from last night?" He jabbed his finger at Hiccup. "You tell me. You may have an ice spitting dragon on your side...but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain all this mess to Drago Bludvist?"
"Drago what-fist?" Hiccup said, laughing quietly. "Does anything you say make sense?" he asked, doing the exact same thing with his hands that he told Astrid he never did.
The trapper opened his mouth, but another one spoke up. "He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow," the low-voiced, short trapper spoke.
Another taller one stepped up. "And Drago don't take well to excuses." His voice sounded thick and clogged, almost as though he were congested.
The head trapped pulled down his sleeve, exposing a large, red scar on his shoulder and upper left chest. "This is what he gave me the last time I showed up empty handed," he said darkly.
Hiccup, Astrid and Heather exchanged disgusted glances. What kind of horrible person would do something like that?
He pulled his sleeve back over his scar. "He promised to be far less understanding in the future," he said.
Hiccup growled under his breath, just loud enough for Heather to hear. "Look, we don't know anything about a dragon thief, or...an 'ice spitting' dragon…"
The trapper suddenly nodded, but Heather didn't know what. She heard something crunch...was it a signal? A secret signal for his men to attack? She held her axe tighter, ready for battle if it came to it.
"Or, your lunatic boss and his dragon army, okay?" Hiccup finished. "Just give us back our dragon, and we'll go, strange, hostile person whom we've never met."
The trapper shook his head. "Oh, where are my manners?" he said. "Ha, I'm Eret." He bowed, but Heather could see him hiding something behind his back. "Son of Eret." He swung his arm, and his sword was drawn in his hand. Heather stiffened. "Finest dragon trapper alive!" Eret went on. "After all...it's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury."
Toothless roared in outrage.
"And this is Toothless," Hiccup said, calmly although there was an edge to his voice that Heather didn't fail to notice. "He says we're going. Now."
Eret laughed again. "They all say that," he said. "RUSH 'EM, LADS!"
Trappers attacked from all directions, and Heather swung at them with her axe, disarming them and knocking some of them unconscious. Toothless fired at a large icicle, and it fell in front of more dragon trappers and kept them back. They exclaimed something Heather couldn't make out and sprang backwards.
Hiccup drew Inferno once again, and Heather and he worked together to cut the ropes trapping Stormfly. The Nadder was freed almost instantly, and Astrid whistled to her. "Stormfly!" she shouted. "C'mon! Go!" She leapt onto her dragon's back, Heather mounted Windshear, and Hiccup jumped on Toothless' back as well. "Go! Go!"
They shot into the sky, arrows and bolas still being fired up at them. Heather felt the rush of adrenaline wearing off, just slightly. That was way too close, she thought to herself.
"YOU WILL NEVER HOLD ON TO THOSE DRAGONS!" Eret shouted from the ice below them. Hiccup, Heather, and Astrid looked back one last time. "YOU HEAR ME!?" Eret screamed. "DRAGO IS COMING FOR THEM ALL!"
"Come on," Hiccup said shakily. "Let's get out of here."
