Valka angrily set up a small campfire, frustrated at her lack of success for the day. She and Cloudjumper had checked, then double checked about a quarter of the archipelago that day and were planning on searching the rest of it over the next few days before finally searching the rest of the world.
Cloudjumper landed next to her and threw a few fish in front of her before lighting the fire. Valka sighed as she roasted the fish over the fire.
"I came back to Berk because I wanted to finally meet him. Gah! I should've stayed!" She yelled angrily before pulling the fish out of the flame and hurling over the side of the sea stack.
It plummeted through the air before falling into the ocean with a small 'plop!' But it barely avoided a small sailboat.
"That was close." A voice muttered from the shadows that the sea stack cast. Valka heard the noise and looked over the side of the stack with a torch, she squinted as the person smashed themselves against the side of the rock, Valka then shook her head before shaking her head and turning back around, making the person sigh quietly in relief.
The person then came out of the shadows to reveal, Stoick. He looked up and saw the campfire being blown out.
"She'll kill me if she finds me, won't she?" He asked himself before shaking his head and looking back up, "But if something happens to that dragon and she's vulnerable... She'll thank me later." He said before anchoring the boat and falling asleep on the wooden deck.
Toothless and Windslicer played happily with each other as the Defenders pushed Hiccup and Cami towards a large cave. They looked at each other nervously as they entered. About three guards stood watch out in front to make sure Toothless and W,indslicer couldn't follow.
"So what exactly is this place?" Cami asked curiously as she looked around.
"This the nest that all of our dragon friends live in. Hundreds of years ago, our ancestors sailed to this island and befriended these dragons. Instead of killing them, they found a way to live in peace with them. The dragons have accepted us the way we accepted them. We trust their judgement, so that is why they will judge you." Mala explained as they walked up to a pit filled with Speed Stingers.
"I'll go first." Hiccup offered as Cami put a hand on his shoulder.
"You promise you won't get hurt?" She asked as Hiccup eyed the dragons and shrugged.
"50/50 chance." He said with a smile as Throk pushed him into the put and he landed with a painful thud.
"Training these guys can't be that hard." Hiccup muttered under his breath as he slowly started to walk towards one, holding his hand out in a friendly manner.
"Come on, we can be friends right?" He asked as the dragon roared and stung his hand with its tail.
"Wh-at's happenin-" Hiccup struggled to say as he started to become paralyzed, his entire body just went stiff and then fell to the ground.
"Hiccup!" Cami screamed before whipping her head around to face Mala, who surprisingly had a slightly concerned look on her face, "What did those dragons do to him?!" She snarled.
"They're Speed Stingers, they paralyze their victims before going in for the kill." Throk explained as Cami looked into the pit in horror as the Stingers slowly advanced towards Hiccup, who was obviously terrified, his eyes clearly showed it.
Then a roar came from the entrance as Toothless charged in as fast as he could and landed in front of Hiccup. He hissed threateningly as the Stingers snarled and ran at him, but Toothless quickly fired some warning shots, making them scatter as Hiccup slowly started to move his hand. Toothless cocked his head to the side before putting him on his back and crawling up the wall.
"Hiccup!" Cami exclaimed as she carefully took Hiccup off of Toothless's back.
"The dragons judged him negatively, give me the order and I will obey." Throk said as Cami gasped before shaking her head.
"The dragons didn't judge him negatively! Toothless just saved Hiccup's life! Your dragons may not have liked him, but if Toothless held a grudge against Hiccup for disabling his flight, then he wouldn't have saved him like this." Cami explained as Hiccup coughed and slowly stood up.
"I would not recommend that to anyone. But Cami's right. Toothless and I have both risked our lives for each other, if that's not positive judgement, then I don't know what is." He said as Throk looked over at Mala, who gestured to stand down.
"You are right. Your dragon has indeed shown you a great deal of forgiveness for the terrible scar your gave him." Mala said as she walked up to Toothless and scratched his chin as Windslicer flew up to Cami.
"Trust us, we are not the enemy." Cami assured as Mala looked down in thought.
"Yesterday night you said that you ran away from home, yes?" She asked as they both nodded.
"Yeah, we were both hoping to live out the rest of up our days as vigilantes." Cami said as Mala looked at them before smiling.
"How would you two like to stay here?" She asked as Hiccup and Cami both gasped.
"Y-Yes! That would be amazing!" Hiccup exclaimed as Mala chuckled a bit before gesturing for them to calm down.
"You two just need to show your worth to the Eruptodon, he is our Great Protector." Mala explained as Hiccup and Cami looked at each other as they walked outside and Mala pointed to a large statue in the middle of the island.
"We made this as a gift for the gentle giant when we first sailed here. Since this is a volcanic island, lava would completely overtake the village if it weren't for the Great Protector. He eats the molten rock before it can ever make it to even the forest." She explained as they looked up at it curiously.
"What do we need to do to show our worth?" Cami asked.
"You need to do him a favor, or get him a gift of some kind. Not just the traditional flowers and food we leave for him. You need to show him that you are worthy of joining this tribe." Mala explained as Hiccup stroked his chin.
"Can we show him our dragons? It would make any dragon happy to see that a human and a dragon could bond to the point of them flying together." Hiccup said as Mala sternly shook her head.
"No. If you are to become part of this tribe then you need to give up your dragon riding ways. I don't care if you keep the dragons around but you cannot ride them. That is the same thing as subjugating them." She said as Hiccup's jaw dropped and he was about to object, until he closed his mouth and nodded.
"Good. Now put these on." She said before throwing them both some Defender uniforms.
"If you don't like them you can tinker with them a bit, but the camouflage still has to be there." She explained before turning to leave.
"Mala." Hiccup said as Mala turned around.
"Yes Hiccup?" She asked as Hiccup looked down at the uniform.
"Thanks. If it weren't for your ambush we'd still be trapped in that Dragon Hunter prison." He said as Mala smiled.
"And if and it weren't for you two, the last Night Fury wouldn't be safely with us." She said as Hiccup patted Toothless's head.
"Now get those on and get to work, the Great Protector isn't going to judge himself worthy." She said before turning around and walking off.
"Tinker, more like destroy, these things are a fashion disaster." Cami said as Hiccup laughed.
"Just change a few things to make it more suited for you. Like I'm probably gonna dye the yellow red, and wear a green shirt underneath, and change up the mask. I'll be right back." Hiccup said as he ran off towards the tailor's, making Cami laugh and follow him.
"Is there any way you can change the yellow to brown while you're at it?" She called out jokingly as they both started to laugh.
"Those two are absolutely hopeless." Mala said with a slight chuckle as Throk nodded.
"They would have never survived on their own." He concluded as Mala nodded.
"Yes. Especially with those Dragon Hunters, and I've heard of a new Dragon Army being built up north, but I don't think we need to worry." She said as Throk nodded before looking over at her.
"What was that, in the nest?" He asked as Mala gave him a confused look.
"What do you mean?" She asked as Throk shrugged.
"Well it was kind of obvious, wasn't it? When that boy was stung by one of the Speed Stingers, you were concerned. You didn't want him to get hurt." He said as Mala nodded.
"Yes, and? They're children, they deserve to live full lives, not to be snuffed out by a dragon." She explained.
"But what about the countless others that failed the test? They were all killed and you didn't care at-"
"Silence!" She snapped, catching Throk off guard as he stumbled back. Mala took a deep breath before maintaining an intense stare at the ground.
"Go." She commanded as Throk looked at her in concern before warily doing so. Mala then looked up at the Great Protector and sighed.
"Maybe I did care and I'm good at holding in my emotions." She muttered quietly before solemnly walking back to her hut.
Hey guys! Is it just me, or does anyone else find it hard to write Mala and Throk, mostly because we don't really know them very well and it's actually pretty hard to keep them in character, but I'm trying my best! XD (Oh! Also, by the way, the Dragon Hunter spy they mentioned in the episode hasn't shown up yet, so that's why they're all a bit more trusting. I just thought I should clarify. :) )