Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD

Chapter Seven

The following day, Nicole was brought in chains before the council of Berk…with one absentee, and two guests. Astrid rose from her throne and stepped forwards. "Nicole Stormheart. You stand before this council accused of trespassing in our territory and that of our allies, the attempted kidnapping of three dragons, and causing injury to two more. How do you plead?"

Much to Astrid's annoyance, the woman looked bored. "Is this the part where I say, 'not guilty'?" she inquired, as if it were all a game. She met Astrid's gaze fearlessly and remarked, "With all due respect, Chief, I think we can agree that no real harm has been caused. We didn't attack you or your allies, and the dragons wings will heal. There's no permanent damage done at all."

Astrid pursed her lips. "Maybe not, and the lack of harm does merit leniency; but you still committed crimes and will be punished accordingly. The council wishes to interrogate you in order to get a better idea of how to deal with this" she explained.

"Ah. Well, ask away."

Tuffnut stepped forwards and inquired, "How did you get such a good tan?"

"I meant questions regarding her plan and motives" Astrid specified, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Oh, it's alright" Nicole shrugged, before answering, "Life in the Med gives anyone skin like this. I don't know how you people stand it up here in the cold."

Fishlegs went next. "Why – what did you want our dragons for?"

"We meant them no harm; having to break the Sand Wraith and Triple Stryke's wings was an unfortunate but necessary sacrifice. You see, we breed dragons, the rarer the better. We find mated pairs, encourage them to…do the deed, as it were, and when the eggs are laid we place them somewhere safe. Dragons have been hunted almost to extinction all over the place; any little bit we can do to help them is worth it, don't you think?"

Fishlegs' eyes narrowed at her. "You're lying. You said right to my face, 'it's just business'. This isn't about saving dragons for you - it's about making a profit."

Nicole didn't deny it, but she wasn't apologetic either. "We still have to eat."

"There are better ways" Heather insisted. "He's right, you're exploiting them. I bet your tune would change if it were you being forced to mate against your will, and having your children be sold."

A scoff. "Oh, please, it's not like we're trafficking people. Animals are bred all the time – hogs, sheep, cattle. Why should dragons be any different?"

"Because dragons are people" Dagur burst out. "I really don't like you, even if you did bring a Triple Stryke here so my Sleuther could have a girlfriend."

"How do you even get them to, y'know, do it? Dragons only mate every so often" Snotlout questioned.

She smirked. "We call it dragon-heart oil. It makes them very enthusiastic, if you see what I mean."

"Does it work on humans?"

"One question each, Snotlout" Astrid reminded him with a glare. She had an important question of her own. "How did you know there were Night Furies and a Triple Stryke here in the north?" she demanded.

"It's a bit of a long story. I had an…acquaintance, let's say, called Harald Forkbeard. Fellow pirate, dragon hunter. He died up here – murdered, actually, by one of you Vikings" Nicole replied, deliberately letting an accusing tone deep into her voice. Just to see what would happen.

Astrid said calmly, "Harald wasn't murdered. He was taken prisoner, and killed himself out of spite. His crew escaped, though – I'm guessing they're the ones who told you about our Night Furies and Dagur's Triple Stryke."

"Got it in one. I notice you haven't asked a question yet" Nicole said to Ruffnut.

"Oh, I have a question, sister! Boy, do I have a question. And my question is...how in the name of Loki did you manage to train a Speed Stinger?!"

Nicole laughed. "Almost any creature can be trained if you feed it and show it who's boss. I found Gonzales injured and nursed him back to health. His venom proved useful, so I kept him around. Now, uh, Chief? I wonder if you'll indulge me by answering a question of my own" she said to Astrid.

"I'll let you ask a question, but I won't promise to answer it."

"Well, it's more of a request, really. The male Night Fury, I heard he had a rider, known as the Dragon Whisperer, who got himself killed by bounty hunters. I think he was your husband, right? My condolences. But I'm curious about this new rider the dragon has, and who exactly he is…I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, and leave your archipelago in peace, if I can see the man face to face."

Watching Astrid closely, Nicole could see the effort she put into keeping her expression neutral. "I'm afraid your request is denied" the chief replied, before looking past Nicole at the guards. "Take her away."


Once Nicole had been escorted from the Great Hall, Astrid counted to ten in her head before calling, "You can come down now."

Toothless and Hiccup leapt down from the rafters. "Good save at the end, there" he complimented.

"Yeah, well, I doubt it's gonna last long" Astrid sighed, "I could see the look in her eyes, she'll try to find out who you are." She noticed Hiccup give a tiny wince – as a warrior she had trained herself to be aware of the slightest tell – and immediately asked, "What?"

He blinked at her. "I – I didn't say anything."

"No, but there's something up. I saw it" she insisted.

Hiccup's jaw worked silently for a moment. He looked at Toothless and complained, "I have no idea how she does that. Mom does the same thing, it"-

"Hiccup."

He winced, more obviously this time, and dragged a hand over his face, looking up at the ceiling as if praying. "She already knows about me" he admitted.

Astrid buried her head in her hands. "Oh, for Thor's sake…"

"It's not my fault, Astrid."

She glared at him then. "You said she didn't see your face! Why did you lie?"

"I didn't! She never saw my face, she…stepped on my foot." When she just stared at him, he elaborated, "My left foot. She did it on purpose, Astrid; Harald's crew probably told her about me, maybe they suspected I wasn't really dead and asked her to check it out if she caught me with Toothless."

"So much for your dumb, 'I'll just wear a boot over my peg leg' idea" Snotlout mocked him. Fishlegs frowned at him; incredibly, Snotlout noticed and shut up.

Hiccup ignored him, as did Astrid. "Harald's crew are likely the ones who broke Adulfr out of prison. If Nicole knows them, and they find out you're still alive" –

"Adulfr is going to find out anyway, Astrid. He's probably the person who asked Nicole to investigate if I was still alive. He's not an idiot" Hiccup pointed out. "But it's not the end of the world. Nicole is pretending she doesn't know about me, so we'll pretend the same. Adulfr might know, but he doesn't have to know that we know that he knows…y'know?"

"What, so we just pretend like nothing's happened?"

"Basically, yeah."

The others were still present, of course. "I'm confused" announced Ruffnut. "Is Hiccup still supposed to be dead or not?"

Tuffnut explained, "The bad guys know he's not, but they don't want us to know that they know, and we don't want them to know that we know that they know. Y'know?"

"No! Now I'm even more confused!"

That was nothing new, really. "Can we please stop talking about Adulfr?" Snotlout complained. "We're supposed to be talking about what to do with Nicole and her crew, the blackguards."

Fishlegs frowned at him. "That's not very nice, Snotlout. Just because their skin is coloured differently to ours…"

"Oh for – not like that, Fish! It's just another word for scoundrel, or something – you of all people should know that."

"I say we make them walk the plank!" Tuffnut crowed. "She did say they were pirates, right?" he muttered in an aside to his sister, who shrugged.

"Or", Hiccup said firmly, "We could show them what dragons are really like, and convince them we can be allies, not enemies."

"Do you really think that's going to work?" Astrid questioned.

"What other choice do we have, Astrid? We can't keep them, they're just more mouths to feed, and we can't kill them, that'll just make things worse."

"So you just want to let them swan off?" demanded Snotlout.

"No, I just said, I want to change their minds. Look, did I miss a T-mail or something? When did our only options become locking people up or executing them?" Hiccup wondered. Astrid opened her mouth, and he quickly continued, "I won't get involved. I'll just…help from the sidelines. Brenda and the others, they're capable, and this will be good experience for them."

Astrid sighed. "I'm glad you have faith in them, and I don't want to do anything extreme, but…Hiccup, how can we trust that Nicole won't tell Adulfr that you're alive? Him or anyone else, for that matter?"

He groaned in exasperation. "He's going to find out anyway! He probably already knows, or at least suspects it. Adulfr is bound to come back eventually, and when he does I am not going to hide, I'm going to face him."

"And change his mind, like you want to do with Nicole?"

"If I can, yes!" Hiccup snapped.

A sudden, foreboding silence fell over everything. It seemed to stretch on forever and for no time at all. "What?" Snotlout asked in a low, tense voice.

Damnit. Hiccup turned to see the others staring at him, Fishlegs and the twins in shock, but Snotlout looked furious. His fists were clenched, his breathing just barely under control. "Hiccup" he said tightly, "Can I talk to you? Outside, alone?" Snotlout added pointedly.

Hiccup glanced at Astrid, who nodded slowly. "The council is adjourned."

"No, Toothless" he said when his ever loyal dragon made to follow him, "Not this time. I'll be fine."


Snotlout led him out of the Hall and around to the side of the stone pillar it was carved into. As soon as they were out of sight and earshot, Snotlout turned, folded his arms and glared at the other man. "For the love of Thor, Hiccup, tell me you're not actually planning to spare Adulfr."

Hiccup frowned at Snotlout. "What if I am?" he asked before he could stop himself. Damn. Me and my big mouth.

Snotlout's jaw dropped. "What if-? You'd be a fucking traitor, that's 'what if'! You'd be as bad as him! After everything that bastard did – my father is dead, your own mother nearly – but she didn't, that's the whole problem – I cannot believe you'd even think about giving that…that vargdropi (1) a second chance!"

"Snotlout, just let me explain" –

"No, you let me explain. You need to wake up, Hiccup! Wake up and smell the yak dung. Life isn't some…some happy ending fairytale where everyone says sorry and we all get along" –

"You think I don't know that?"

"Could've fooled me" Snotlout retorted. "When it was Drago you didn't hesitate, but now you've gone soft, no, softer, and people have suffered for it. You spare Adulfr, you are spitting in the face of everyone who lost someone to that villain and his insanity. Except you wouldn't have a clue what that feels like, O Great Dragon Whisperer, because you never fucking lose, do you?"

"I – what?" Hiccup was taken aback by the venom in Snotlout's voice and the resentment in his eyes. He suddenly realised this same anger had been simmering under the surface ever since Adulfr…since Spitelout... "What are you talking about?"

"Don't act like you don't know!" Snotlout almost screamed at him, getting right up in his face. "You never lose, Hiccup, you never lose anything or anyone and I – I hate you for it!"

For a moment Hiccup was shocked. Then he was angry. He shoved Snotlout back with all his strength, and the two men squared off against each other.

"STOP!"

Fishlegs cry startled them both, as did the man himself appearing between them and placing one hand on each other's chest. "Both of you, stop it!"

"Stay out of this, Fishface" –

"No, I will not stay out of it!" Fishlegs shot right back, glaring at Snotlout fiercely. "What do I keep telling you about managing your anger? Maybe I should stop trying to help you, Snotlout. Maybe I'm wasting my time."

Snotlout's eyes widened. He looked scared. "No! No, no, no, you don't - you're not – I just forgot myself. It won't happen again, I promise. Please don't le- uh…"

Fishlegs' gaze softened. "I'm not leaving" he said, giving Snotlout a meaningful look, "until we've straightened all this out. Now, both of you, take a deep breath." He took one himself, to demonstrate. His firm voice brook no disagreement, so they followed his lead. "And again." When they'd done it three times, Fishlegs smiled serenely and asked, "There, now don't you feel better?"

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah."

"Good! Having a clear head helps during these sort of talks. I should have done this a long time ago." Fishlegs steepled his fingers, and pointed them at his secret partner. "Snotlout, you go first. Calmly and clearly tell Hiccup why you're angry with him."

"I just did" –

"You know what I mean, Snotlout" Fishlegs said sternly.

Snotlout gulped, and his gaze slid reluctantly from Fishlegs to Hiccup. "Okay. So, I'm angry cos…my problem is…ugh, you know I hate talking about my feelings, Fish, can't we just-?"

"Do this or I'll have Meatlug hide – no, I'll have Grump eat your favourite axe."

"…You are cruel." I've taught him well. Snotlout took another deep breath to fortify himself and turned to Hiccup again. "No matter what happens, no matter what we go through…you never lose, and when you do it never lasts. You get disowned, and then your dad welcomes you back with open arms. Your mom dies when you're a baby, and then she's not dead and she comes back like nothing happened. You never lost anyone to Adulfr, or Drago, or any of the other creeps we've fought. You don't know what a broken heart feels like."

At first Hiccup felt awful, even guilty…but then he felt angry. "I never lose? Snotlout, I was a loser for the first fifteen years of my life. That's in the past, I've moved on; why can't you? Have you seriously been resenting me behind my back all this time? Do you think I deserve to be disowned or lose the people I love? Cos you're going to get your wish as far as the second part is concerned."

"What are you…?" Then Snotlout paused, realising. "Oh. Oh, no. No, that's not – gods, this is why I didn't say anything! I'd have come off as a selfish git. I don't think you deserve any of that. I'm not that heartless. When my dad died – I know it's not your fault, but he was gone and there was so much I never said. You get second chances and I never will and it…it wasn't fair." Snotlout met Hiccup's eyes with effort. "I don't really hate you. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." Hiccup sighed. "I'm not planning to spare Adulfr to insult you, or your father, or anyone. I'm not even going to forgive him. I'm trying to make sure this never happens again. I swear, Snotlout, that man is going to pay for what he's done. Just imagine if he has to face the people he's hurt, instead of dying and leaving us to clean up the mess."

"Well, when you put it like that...look, Hiccup, I'm, uh, I'm sorry. And, uh, since we're confessing things…" Snotlout grimaced uncertainly, glancing at Fishlegs, who looked on with wide eyes. "There's uh, something Fish and I haven't told you…" He looked like was choking on his words. "We uh, um, we've sorta…uh…"

"Been training!" Fishlegs blurted out. Snotlout slumped in relief and shot him a grateful look. Hiccup was just bewildered.

"Training?"

"Yeah. Um, I asked Snotlout to help train me, so I can protect Aegir better. And um, I've been helping him with…stuff. Trying to, anyway." (2)

"Oh. That's…that's great. I uh, I just don't get why you'd hide it from us. We're your friends" Hiccup said, confused. Unless the others knew and he didn't…

"Well, we would've told you, but uh…we wanted it to be just between us, see? I mean, the twins would only get in the way, and uh, no offence to Astrid, but we thought she might try to get involved and her idea of training is kinda…intense."

And Snotlout's isn't? Aloud, Hiccup remarked "Yeah, I guess I can't blame you for that. And…and me?" he asked tentatively.

"Uhh…" Fishlegs twisted his fingers together nervously. "I wanted to tell you, but...I have a lot of respect for you, and I…you think fighting and being tough isn't me, it's more…Thor Bonecrusher…I just didn't wanna disappoint you."

Fishlegs felt awful when he saw the hurt look on Hiccup's face. "You didn't tell me…because you thought I'd judge you?" Hiccup asked quietly, appalled.

"It's not like that" Snotlout cut in, "Fish is just being over-dramatic. We weren't telling anyone, if we told any of you it wouldn't be fair. It was an all or nothing kind of deal, y'know?" he asked.

"Yeah…but just for the record, I'm not judging. You can do and be whatever you want, Fishlegs" Hiccup told him earnestly. "I mean, I spent about ten years trying to get everyone to see me as more than the village runt. I'd be a pretty big hypocrite if I judged you for doing the same kinda thing."

Fishlegs looked touched; so did Snotlout, oddly enough. "Thanks, Hiccup. I – I really needed to hear that."

"You're welcome" Hiccup smiled. "We should probably go back and finish the meeting. You guys go on ahead, I need to talk to Toothless." They nodded and followed him back to the front doors of the Hall, where Toothless was waiting outside. Fishlegs and Snotlout made to go back inside, but Snotlout paused.

"Hiccup?" He looked up. The other man hastily went on, "I uh – Astrid told me, it was you who recommended she make me Acting Chief if you're both…unavailable. I just uh, I just wanted to say…thanks."

"You're welcome, Snotlout" Hiccup replied earnestly.


Once they were alone, Hiccup turned to Toothless and reached out a hand. Toothless pressed his snout into Hiccup's palm. *You okay?* he asked.

*Of course. Why wouldn't I be?*

*I wasn't trying to make you feel guilty, you know* Hiccup insisted. Toothless stiffened, ear-flaps pinned back against his skull. *I mean it, bud. I accepted what the heart bind meant a long time ago. I have no regrets and I don't blame you at all. You know that.*

Toothless glanced up at him, pupils wide and sad. *You're going to lose them all* he moaned. The because of me went unsaid, but Hiccup heard it anyway.

*Not yet. If it weren't for the heart bind – if it weren't for you I wouldn't have my dad, or mom, or Astrid, or Helena. No more of this guilt, Toothless. It's time to let go* he implored his friend, caressing his head. *Please.*

Toothless nudged him. *I'll let go of my guilt when you let go of yours. What Jerk Junior has done is not your burden to bear.*

Hiccup snickered a bit at Adulfr's unflattering nickname; one of the tamer ones. *I'll try* he promised, leaning over to hug Toothless' whole head.

"Aww!"

They both looked up to see several villagers and dragons watching their moment, all of whom immediately looked away and pretended they hadn't seen anything. Toothless-Hiccup didn't care, anyway.


That same morning, the rescued dragons were in the training ring. Aceso had laid eggs during the voyage north, and was now curled up with dozens of tiny hatchlings. Hiccup's apprentices and their dragons were there as well; the riders groomed their dragons, not engaging the wild dragons directly but doing something non-threatening to help them feel at ease.

*How can you stand it?* Sirocco growled, standing between Oasis and these strangers. *How can you stand to have humans telling you what to do, where to go? How are these humans any different to the ones that captured us?*

Muddie asked curiously, *What do they do to make you obey them? Do they have oil too?*

Shimmer replied, *They don't make us do anything. We're partners. They're our friends. The humans here are part of our pack, and packs stick together.*

*Would you rather we were enemies?* Gurgle asked incredulously.

Scorpia flicked her tails dismissively. *Humans are vermin. They're insects compared to us, the powerful deadly masters of the skies* she boasted, tossing her head arrogantly. The Berk dragons hissed and snarled at her, indignant on their humans behalf's. *These hairless rats use you as beasts of burden. If you had any pride, you'd kill them all like they deserve* Scorpia growled.

Outraged, Shimmer, Firestorm and the others roared at her. They got between the strangers and their humans, each posturing mine and stay away. "Woah! What's got into them?" exclaimed Otto.

"Are those wild dragons gonna attack?" asked Braun, hand reaching for his hammer. He couldn't expect Firestorm to do all the work, after all.

Ashildr snatched it off his belt. "Oi! Give that back!"

"You'll just make things worse. Let the dragons handle it."

"Gimme my hammer or I'll whack you with it!"

"How're you gonna do that if I've got it?"

Annoyed, Brenda called over "Would you two give it a rest? They're not attacking, that one probably just insulted us or something" she figured, jerking a thumb at Scorpia. "It's okay, Shimmer, don't listen to the mean Three-Tail" she cooed, scratching under her dragons chin. Shimmer's eyes rolled up in bliss; she purred and tilted her head to let Brenda reach, giving Scorpia a smug glance.

The Three-Tail drakaina hissed and recoiled. *You're mad, letting a human that close. It's right next to your throat, it could take a blade and - what's so funny?* she demanded, tails lashing. Shimmer was chirruping and croaking mirthfully at the very idea that her human would hurt her. Brenda stopped scratching to eye her dragon in concern, so Shimmer nudged her until she went back to the grooming. *Brenda is a she, not an it* Shimmer told Scorpia.

*So which is it?* questioned Firestorm, *Are humans vermin or threats we should fear?*

*Both!* Scorpia snarled. Just then, Skulder cautiously stepped into the ring. At the sight of him, all of the wilder dragons recoiled in shock and fear. Sirocco leapt to guard Oasis, and Muddie tried to hide behind Scorpia, but she stepped aside. He whined and slunk to cower behind Firestorm's bulk instead.

Seeing the dragons so defensive, Skulder flinched. "Oh dear. Um, no threat…oh, I'm sorry" he said apologetically. "I just wanted to see the new dragons, but I suppose they don't want to be disturbed. Did I do something wrong? I don't suppose…they couldn't know about what I used to do, could they?" he fretted, wringing his hands.

"You mean how you used to cut up dead – argh!" Otto groaned as Boulder flattened him.

Margret told Skulder, "I think it's because your skin's brown."

"My skin?"

"Yeah. The trappers we rescued 'em from had brown skin too. Maybe they think you're one of those guys."

"Oh, I see. Hmm. How can I prove I'm a friend?" he wondered.

"Don't worry. I'm sure our dragons will vouch for you" Brenda insisted.

Sure enough, their dragons were telling the strangers there was nothing to be alarmed about. *He's not one of them. Skulder is one of the nice humans.*

*What did the human you're sitting on mean, he used to cut up dead what?* Oasis asked Boulder, who blinked as if just realising he was still squashing his rider. He shifted and grunted an apology when Otto heaved himself up and glared at him. "Thanks for nothing, you big lump."

*You don't wanna know* Boulder told Oasis, *Trust me. He doesn't do it anymore, so don't worry about it.*

*Worry about what?* Sirocco demanded, on edge. He suddenly realised he'd taken his eyes off the humans, the threats, and when he looked over… *Muddie! You egg-for-brained fledgling, come back here!* he roared.

*No! Not if you call me mean names!* the young Wave-Maker roared right back. He wasn't a fledgling, he was thirty two! Just because he was the youngest of them all, it didn't mean he was stupid or not brave. This new human didn't look like any of the humans on the ship they'd been stuck on. Muddie didn't think these humans were bad; they had rescued him and Aceso and the others, so why were Scorpia and Sirocco afraid of them so much?

*Muddie, be careful!* Aceso called from the stable she was nesting in. He looked over his shoulder and purred at her reassuringly. Then he went back to sidling up to the new human. Skulder remained very still, murmuring "no threat" now and then. Finally, when the dragon was close enough, he slowly reached out a hand. Muddie sniffed curiously, getting closer and closer until his snout was pressed against the human's paw.

The human smelled musty, of prey-skin, metal and old bones. It – no, he – raised his other paw and started scratching Muddie under the chin with his soft bendy claws. It felt amazing, like rubbing against a tree only better. Before he knew it, Muddie was purring, and licked the human as a thank you. "Heh. Friendly sort, aren't ya, big fella?"

"His name's Muddie" explained Margret.

"Muddie the Mudraker? How fitting."

"Hiccup said he said his kind were called Wave-Makers" said Otto, before noting, "I think he likes you."

"He does seem to, rather, yes" Skulder agreed.

*You guys have to try this, it feels so good!* Muddie rumbled in pleasure.

*Let him scratch your belly, that feels even better* encouraged Gurgle.

Sirocco protested, *He can't make himself vulnerable like that!*

*He already has, and he's unharmed* Aceso said calmly, *I don't believe these humans are as threatening as you and Scorpia think.*

*She's right, Siro* crooned Oasis, nuzzling her mate. *These humans rescued us, and I don't think they mistreat the dragons here at all.*

He couldn't deny it. Scorpia, seeing herself outnumbered, gave an aggrieved snarl and stalked off to the hollow she'd been given to sleep in. The stink of human was everywhere in this nest, and she hated it. Sirocco groomed Oasis, but like Scorpia, he couldn't bring himself to fully relax in this unfamiliar place.


The riders were bringing Skulder up to speed as he scratched a blissful Muddie's belly. "They were after Toothless, Selena and Sleuther" explained Brenda. "They used two of the dragons they'd captured as bait – that Three-Tail, and this Sand-Wing." She gestured to Oasis.

"They even painted her black and cut her spikes off to make her look like a Night Fury. Swift-Wing. Whatever" said Margret, before adding, "And then they broke their wings!"

"That's monstrous!"

"It gets worse. Those creeps had this oil that makes dragons want to mate, so they could breed 'em" revealed Braun, scowling. "I mean, I'd get it if they were trying to save the species or something, but they just sell dragon eggs and young to get rich. It's disgusting" he spat.

"I don't get why they'd go to so much trouble" Otto remarked, "You'd think it'd be easier to just steal eggs from nests and be done with it."

Ashildr scoffed. "Oh, please, you need to go back to the Academy. Stealing eggs from a dragon nest is nowhere near as easy as filching your knife off you."

"Wha-hey! Gimme that, yer thieving witch!"

"Rude. Ask nicely, or I'll let Magpie play with it. He lovesshiny things."

"Ugh. You Bog-Burglars are the worst. Can I please have my knife back?"

She tossed it to him. "Don't you remember what Hiccup told us? This sort of thing is happening more and more nowadays. Dragons getting harvested, and now bred…the hunters can't keep killing 'em or else they'll all die out, so now they're changing their tune. Wouldn't want their silver and gold to run out."

"That's terrible. These trappers you helped capture sound like dreadful folk…well, I suppose anyone who treats such incredible creatures as dragons as, as chattel would be dreadful. I bet you're glad to be free, right, Muddie?" Skulder inquired of the dragon sprawled out in front of him. "Has anyone decided what to do with them? The trappers, I mean?"

Brenda explained, "I think they'll probably get outlawed, but if I know Hiccup, he'll want to try and get them to see things our way. And he'll want us to help; we're supposed to be training as emissaries of dragons to humans, and humans to dragons. Though I'm pretty sure getting dragons to see us differently is a bit simpler" she commented, gesturing to Muddie.

Braun scowled. "It isn't fair. That bitch and her crew trespassed on my island, kidnapped Hiccup's own dragon, and he'll still expect us to be nice to them? You know what, I'm gonna go find him right now and give him a piece of my mind."

"He'll be at the council meeting" Brenda warned, but her meaning was lost on him. He just saddled Firestorm, thanked her for the heads up, and left the stables. Firestorm landed outside the Great Hall; Braun dismounted, thanked him and ran up the steps. He banged on the door hard, several times. After a few moments it was opened by Snotlout.

"I need to see Hiccup!"

"We're busy – hey!" Snotlout cried, as Braun shoved past him. Dodging the older man's grasp, the young Outcast strode up to the table where the rest of the council were gathered.

"Chief Astrid, sorry to interrupt, but I really need to ask Hiccup something."

"Braun, I'm sure whatever it is can wait til" –

"Do you want to get the trappers on our side?" he demanded.

An awkward silence descended. "I take it you disapprove of the idea" Hiccup said at last.

"So you are? With all due respect, sir, that's a terrible idea. The dragons we've rescued deserve justice! They deserve to see their captors suffer. If the dragons are people, doesn't that give them the same right to vengeance as we have?"

"I hear what you're saying, but you're not seeing the bigger picture" Hiccup told him. "If we can convince these guys that dragons are worth protecting, we'll have gained another ally. Nicole and her crew can spread that message further than we can on our own."

"But Hiccup, I thought you didn't want to force people to like dragons" Heather pointed out.

Hiccup nodded. "That's still true. I just want to show them there's a better way; most people don't even seem to realise befriending dragons is an option. But you raise a good point, Braun; the dragons deserve justice as well. There has to be a compromise we can make" he insisted, frowning thoughtfully.

They all considered the problem…and then Snotlout suggested, "Why don't we let the dragons punish them, and use that to prove they're people too?"

Astrid prompted him to elaborate. "What I mean is – Braun's right, the trappers deserve to be punished and the dragons deserve justice. I know why you want to change their minds, Hiccup, but the most we can do is prove that dragons have minds of their own. What better way to do that than have the ones we rescued – untamed dragons – mete out their own punishments?"

"Vigilante dragons punishing dragon trappers? It's genius!" exclaimed Tuffnut.

"Truly a perfect example of poetic justice!" Ruffnut crowed.

Hiccup frowned thoughtfully. "I see what you're saying, but I'm not sure that's such a good idea. If we let those dragons attack the trappers, they won't see it as justice. They'll see it as the big bad dragon riders setting our vicious pets on them. Unless…let me talk to the dragons first. I'll try and persuade them not to attack indiscriminately; maybe then the trappers will realise they're more intelligent than they appear."

"I say we take all their weapons and leave 'em stranded on that island they ambushed us on" Fishlegs declared, "See how they like it."

Braun asked, "What about the two dragons with broken wings? We're gonna wait for them to heal, right? Cos if anyone deserves to get payback, it's them."

"It's not about revenge, Braun" Hiccup insisted, "and besides, if we leave it too long the trappers will just think we trained the dragons and won't believe they're doing it on their own accord."

Heather pointed out, "But we still need time to repair and restock their ship – I somehow doubt Astrid wants to give them one of yours."

"A broken wing can take a whole fortnight to heal; that's how long it took for Shattermaster to get fighting fit again" Dagur remarked, "it's not gonna take us that long to get their ship sorted…is it?"

Fishlegs interjected with, "No, that should only take a couple of days if we're thorough. I think we should just go through with it. The dragons would still be grounded, but so long as we can get their injuries bound tightly enough, they should be able to run around without hurting themselves too much."

Astrid told Braun, "You shouldn't have interrupted us, but I'll overlook it this once since your suggestion helped us. It's settled, then. In three day's time, the dragons will deliver justice on the trappers on Dogshead Island. If anyone's opposed, say so now."

Nobody did.


Nicole, Cateline and the rest of the trappers were sailed out to the island. Astrid hovered above on Stormfly as they came ashore, bereft of weapons and with a few rations each. Nicole shaded her eyes and squinted up at the woman on the Nadder. "This is our punishment? You imprison us for a bit and then maroon us? You dragon lovers have a sense of irony, I'll give you that."

"Oh, we do!" Astrid called down to them, "That's why the dragons you captured are on this island too. They're gonna punish you themselves." Seeing Nicole's too confident smirk disappear like that was extremely satisfying.

"We've got no weapons!" Gelvira protested, "How are we supposed to defend ourselves if they attack us?"

"You can try apologising" suggested Astrid.

"They'll kill us!" Clarencia exclaimed.

"Not my problem. Good luck!" With that, she and Stormfly flew off.

Cateline scowled. "Oh, this is just great. Now what, fearless leader?"

"Nobody panic" Nicole replied sternly. "We just have to keep our wits about us. Dragons don't go out of their way to get revenge. We'll find somewhere to make camp and defend ourselves however we can. We'll build spears out of sticks and bits of flint if we have to. Let's move out!"

She marched off along the beach, and her crew tailed after her. They hadn't gotten very far, though, when a bloodcurdling shriek was heard from the depths of the island. A lot of the trappers stopped at the sound, hands instinctively reaching for weapons that weren't there. "Keep moving!" Nicole snapped at them. "We need to..." she trailed off at the sight of a huge wave rapidly approaching the shore, getting higher and higher. "Run!"

They scattered, running for their lives, but the huge wave broke on the shore and crashed down upon them, surging through the trees and sweeping trappers in every direction. Muddie emerged from the water (3), jaw gaping in a dragon's grin. This was fun!


Gelvira moved warily through the forest, still dripping wet from the Mudraker's attack, cursing under her breath. She wished elaborately unpleasant fates on dragons, their riders, and the entirety of the northern wastes for good measure.

She could track dragons. She could avoid being tracked. Mostly she was doing the latter; with no way to subdue the beasts, she had no desire to find them first. Gelvira's plan was to reunite with the rest of her crew, assuming the dragons hadn't killed them all. There was bound to be safety in numbers. She'd just emerged into a clearing in this maze of trees and outcroppings, when she heard something approaching, crashing carelessly through the undergrowth.

Tensing, Gelvira reached for a small throwing knife that she'd smuggled onto the island. If she aimed well, then whatever it was would be painfully distracted at the very least, buying her time to run. It was getting closer. She pulled her arm back to throw, only to have two of her own crew-mates burst into the clearing. "Run! It's right behind us!"

"What's right behind you?!" she demanded, but she got her answer a moment later. A fire blast sent them sprawling, and the female Sand Wraith emerged from the smoke, toxic yellow eyes fixated on Gelvira. She backed up quickly and hefted the knife again, taking aim at the dragons snout. It charged another blast, so Gelvira flicked the blade as hard as she could. It tumbled through the air, and spun away when it was struck by a blast that came out of nowhere.

Staggering backwards, Gelvira gasped as the male Sand Wraith dived out of the sky to defend his mate. She tried to dodge around it – him – to reach her comrades, who were being accosted by the female. He lunged to intercept her, harrying her and giving up no ground. Meanwhile, the female had whipped her tail to send one huntress flying, and pinned the other under her claws.

She sniffed hard at the terrified woman struggling in her grasp, roared in the huntress' face, and made to give the same treatment to the second. Then the male snarled, and she leapt to his side, sniffing at Gelvira. Her pupils narrowed to slits, and she lunged. As the male kept her crew-mates at bay, the female pinned her, sniffed at her, and growled. She savaged Gelvira's right arm, closing her jaws around it and wrenching. There was a sickening snap. Gelvira screamed. The dragon backed away, fangs dripping with her blood.

Her friends slipped past the male Sand Wraith and rushed to her side. Trappers and dragons faced off, but then Nadder spines thudded between them. The Wraiths pulled back, and the female shrieked as her broken wing was jostled. The male stopped growling at them long enough to nuzzle her, and then they both vanished into the undergrowth.

The Nadder hovered overhead. "Get lost!" Gelvira screamed at it. Surprisingly, it did, but not before dropping something from its claws. Silence echoed in their ears, but at last one of the others recovered from the shock enough to go over and see what it was….a splint and bandages?


Clarencia stayed still. She didn't have much choice; she was stuck in swamp mud up to her breast and if she struggled too much, she'd sink into it even more. That Mudraker had ambushed her, lunging out of the swamp like a crocodile and dragging her in. She'd been terrified it was going to drown her. Instead it had left her stuck here, in the middle of the swamp, with no help in sight.

If she called for help, the dragons might find her, but some of the crew might as well. Clarencia decided to risk it. "Hello?! Somebody help me!"

Her shouts were answered; but not by who she'd been hoping for. A Monstrous Nightmare landed on the shore of the swamp and peered at her. "No, no, no, not you! Stay back!" she yelled at it. It looked oddly familiar.

The dragon ignored her and advanced, wading through the swamp. When it was in reach, it lowered its head, jaws gaping. Clarencia gasped and ducked, covering her head with her arms. She felt fangs snag in her clothes, and the Nightmare pulled her from the cloying mud with a sucking sound. It carried her back to shore and put her down; she stumbled away and stared up it at.

The dragon didn't go anywhere. "What? What do you want?" she asked defensively. It looked from the swamp to her, and tilted its head. Well? It seemed to be saying.

"…Thanks?" she said uncertainly. The dragon actually purredat her, and then it took off, leaving Clarencia covered in mud and very confused. Wait a minute. Wasn't that one of the dragons that attacked our ship before?


Nicole and Cateline were being hunted by the female Triple Stryke. The strangest thing was that they kept evading her…thanks to other dragons. Like the Nadder that had driven them away from one path and onto another, only for them to hear it and the Triple Stryke roaring at each other. Or the Gronckle that cut them off with magma blasts, before the Triple Stryke emerged ahead of them, screaming in rage that it couldn't leap across the pool of lava.

These were the same dragons who had attacked the Tempest, but their riders were nowhere to be seen. Had they just been trained to protect humans – any humans – from homicidal members of their own kind? Despite her scepticism, Nicole could see how that would be useful.

They soon had enough of being prey, and searched for somewhere to lay a trap. They made a snare out of vines and placed it in a clearing, covering it with leaves. "I'll draw the dragon in; you stay here and pretend to be cornered" Nicole instructed. Cateline made no protest. Better her than me.

It didn't take Nicole long to get the Triple Stryke's attention. She sprinted back to their trap, dodging around the trap. The furious dragon saw her and Cateline and charged, roaring a bloodthirsty roar. She tripped the snare and stumbled as several vines wrapped around her ankles, shrieking and twisting to tear or burn them away. She never got a chance. Nicole had found a bit of reed, and with it she blew a dart – one of the few freezing darts she'd smuggled onto the island.

The Triple Stryke went motionless. "I can't believe that worked" Cateline remarked, wiping her brow. "I don't know why you didn't just freeze it sooner."

"Because whenever I was about to, one of those trained dragons showed up and tried to burn or impale me" Nicole retorted. She looked up and around warily, making sure there weren't any other dragons around.

"So, we're going to go round up the rest of our crew, right?" Cateline assumed.

"Not yet. This dragon is more trouble than it's worth; nothing tries to kill me without me returning the favour" Nicole said darkly. From her clothes she extracted a hidden knife, and moved to stand in front of the beast. She wanted it to know it had brought this on itself. This was personal.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The bellow came out of nowhere, and then a full grown man crashed down on her from the sky. They tumbled end over end; he rolled to his feet first and shouted, "I won't let you murder my dragon's desired, fiend! For I am Dagur the Defiant!" His and Sleuther's new move had worked like a charm; he would grab his dragons tail bulb, and Sleuther would flick him towards enemies. He called it the Dagupult. His wife called it a back problem in the making.

Nicole wasn't slow in getting up herself. "Cateline!" she snapped, tossing the knife to her first mate to finish the job. Cateline hesitated – she didn't think slaying the dragon was entirely necessary – and before she or Nicole could do anything, one of the Night Furies came silently up behind her and snatched her up, carrying her into the sky with a scream.

Cateline dropped the knife; Nicole dived for it, but she had to roll out of the way of a blow from the male Triple Stryke's tail. He placed himself between her and the female, spreading his wings and roaring. "Attaboy, Sleuth!" Dagur cried gleefully. "What are you waiting for, dragon trapping witch? You wanna dance? Let's dance!" he taunted his opponent, brandishing a dagger.

Nicole cursed, briefly wished she still had her trusty Toledo's, and twirled her own weapon in her fingers deftly. "Oh, we can dance. I'll lead" she declared, before making the first move.


When they'd been put on this island, Scorpia had gone straight after the leader of the trappers. She had captured Scorpia. She had led her human pack to capture all of them, to use them like common beasts. She deserved to die.

The Swift-Wing alpha and his human pet both told them not to kill the humans, but why should Scorpia listen to him? He wasn't her Alpha. She had no Alpha.

Now it had all gone wrong. Her thirst for revenge had blinded her, her prey had caught her in a trap again and frozen her. Unable to move, Scorpia could only watch as the human stepped forward with a blade, ready to drive it into her throat. She was going to die, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Then, out of nowhere, the human who rode the Three-Tail drake fell out of the sky, crashing into the killing human, one of the Swift-Wings snatched up the other human, and the drake landed to guard her. *What is happening?!* she demanded, wishing she could move and hiss at the threat herself.

*We're rescuing you* the male replied.

*We?*

*My human and I! He just had me flick him onto the female who was going to kill you. He's fighting her right now to protect you!*

*Why?*

*Because he's a good human and he cares about you.*

*Why would he care? He doesn't even know me!*

*Fine, he thinks if he earns your trust, you'll stay here and be my mate.*

Dagur and Nicole were still fighting. They both gave as good as they got, but at last Nicole disarmed him and put her knife to his throat. "Any last words?"

"Behind you" he grinned. Nicole's brow furrowed in confusion, until she heard a snarl behind her. She looked back, but it was too late; the dragon grabbed her in its claws and launched into the air, the knife tumbling out of her grasp. Dagur rolled out of the way and waved at the ascending pair, before approaching the Three-Tails. "I really wouldn't wanna be her right now" he commented.


(1) This is a real Viking insult and translates to 'son of an outlaw', but also 'son of a wolf'.

(2) This is true, it's not just an excuse he made up on the spot.

(3) Muddie's species don't have fire – they emit sonic blasts, like a Thunderdrum, and in the water these blasts cause huge and powerful waves. Tbh, they have an even more unique ability to sense vibrations, but I couldn't think of a way to translate that into how a dragon would see it.