I'm really sorry about the awful deadline-keeping, guys. This is my life all the time, basically, rushing to keep deadlines and then forgetting all about them! Oh well, I'm sure you guys aren't gonna bite my head off, so I shall just have to try harder in the future!

Guest: She is indeed!

Hiccupisnotuseless: I know, I feel like it ma have been too quick... sorry

Guest: I'm glad too, and I'm sure you'll find she does!

The murky forest whooshed by below them, the tall, dark fingers of pines reaching up towards the dragon's underside. Barf and Belch dipped between boughs and around trunks as wide as houses. Atop their two necks, their riders searched the forest floor far, far below. Ruffnut and Tuffnut cast a glance at one another as the island fell away below them, giving way to churning waters. They looked out over the sea miserably.

"I'm bored. We've looked everywhere on the island. Twice!" Tuffnut groaned. "Can we go back yet?"

"Why don't we search the sea? It'll be easy enough. If there's anything, we'll see it. That means we'll only have to go out and around once." His sister sighed, rubbing her dry eyes.

"Oh, fine!" Her brother snapped grumpily.

He was cold, tired and hungry and nothing could stop the furious growl of his stomach as they continued out across the waves. They flew high up in the air, staring out into across the endless green-blue carpet. Despite the clear, blue sky and warm sun on their backs, there was still a distinct chill in the air as they swept round in a huge circle, Berk just a tiny speck on the horizon to their left. It was a long time before Ruffnut gave a shout, and within that time, her brother had all but fallen asleep against the warm neck of his dragon.

He sat up with a jolt, almost losing his duel-horned helmet in the process. The twin looked across to find Ruffnut pointing out across the waves, her eyes fixed upon a tall curl of ashy-grey smoke in the distance. He raised an eyebrow.

"So what? There's some smoke. It could just be a dragon."

The girl groaned. "Tuff, it's the middle of the ocean. Tidal class dragons don't breathe fire."

"It could be on an island." He reasoned. She sighed.

"Whatever. I still think we should go check it out."

The Zippleback responded with ease to their command, drifting lazily right in the direction of the strange curl of smoke. Barf and Belch's eyes were half closed, almost as though they themselves were falling asleep as they flew. Ruffnut, however, was sat bolt upright, nervous and tense. Some strange knot in her gut was telling her that this was it; the dragon rider's camp. She gulped, realising her hands were trembling and hiding them inside her jacket on the pretence that they were cold. Her brother was quite happily oblivious, and she looked out across the sea, wondering why on earth this had her quite so upset.

Then, she felt a twinge in her back, only tiny, but she instantly knew it wasn't this that she was nervous about. In fact, there was something that had been bothering her for a long time. Hiccup was bringing Bryn back. She drew her knees up to her chest, something she had only recently found she could do on her dragon's neck, hiding her face in the warm folds of fabric that made up her trousers.

"Hey, sis, you okay?" He'd noticed. Her heart almost stopped. Slowly, she looked up at him as though he'd caught her doing something unforgivable. He simply scowled in confusion.

"I'm fine, Tuff." She tried to cover up, but she knew just how hopeless she sounded. It bothered her. She hated feeling helpless.

"No you're not. I'm not stupid." He replied.

"That's debatable." She cut back with a seething reply, but she knew that this, too, was for nothing. "Look, Tuff, I'm not sure about Hiccup bringing that girl back."

"I know, I was thinking the same thing." This caught her by surprise. She thought that he was just okay with it, like everyone else. She never thought he might actually have an opinion of his own. "After everything she did, I just don't know if I trust her..."

"I know..." She could feel an uncomfortable tingle down her spine. She knew it was there, twisted and ugly, pulling her back out of shape.

"And what she did to you... I don't know if I could forgive her. I mean, we always wanted cool scars, but that thing's just... just..."

"Ugly," She breathed simply. Her lips pursed awkwardly.

"Can you.. can you still feel it?"

"Of course I can. My back twists because of it. And I still dream about it sometimes. You'd know. I think I've punched you a few times."

Tuffnut chortled as he nodded, earning himself a smile. Then he looked into the distance, where the ominous tower of smoke rose up into the sky. Tiny dark shapes were rising out of the water, bobbing up and down merrily on the sea. Ships. The snarling faces carved into the bows leered up at the dragon passing overhead as Barf and Belch dipped lower for a closer look. They could no longer see Berk, and the dragon was getting nervous, their eyes flicking this way and that, their muscles taught.

Then, they saw the lumbering shape snoozing on the front of a ship that looked as wide as it was long. The Rainfire. It was fast asleep in the warm sunshine, its purple scales glittering placidly, its wide, yellow eyes closed. The water drew shimmering patterns across the creatures jutting bones, its wide rib-cage, its paws. It didn't look healthy. Lash marks criss-crossed its wide rump and scars curled the corners of its mouth up in a cruel sneer. Obviously, the bit it wore was sharp and painful. It turned the twins' stomachs to see cruelty like this.

As they flew above it, Barf and Belch gave a sudden screech of alarm. The enormous yellow eye flashed open. The dragon flew to its feet like a guard dog, letting out a roar that shook the very air they flew in. The boat bucked wildly underneath it. A figure dashed up from below-decks, screaming at the dragon, long, leather coat flapping, until he looked up and saw the dragon hanging frozen in the air above him. With an angry shout, he gave the Rainfire's rump a sharp slap and the thing came thundering into the air, straight towards them.

The twins gave identical cries of terror, their dragon turning towards home and beating their wings in a frenzy of fear. The two riders cast glances back over their shoulders, watching the huge, lumbering creature charge on in pursuit. However, they were too fast for it, slowly gaining ground. The Rainfire's bulk, though lighter than it should have been, was still too much to match the speed of the Zippleback it was chasing. They cheered, for a second, feeling like they were winning, but their celebration was short-lived. The tiny, fast black dragons, Triffins, with high foreheads and beady black eyes, were coming at them too, much faster than they could have imagined. Tuffnut was the first to point them out, his long finger following their movements.

"Come on, Barf! Faster!" Ruffnut cried in alarm.

"Yeah, go, Belch!" Her brother shouted to his dragon. However, no amount of encouragement could force the dragon to fly any faster. Its lungs and heart were already working overtime, muscles burning as it strained to protect its riders.

The first shot glanced off the Zippleback's left shoulder, then a second hit its same wing. Barf and Belch struggled to regain balance as they fell towards the sea, catching themselves just in time. However, the Triffins were still hot on their tails, and in a second, a peppering of hot bolts forced the Zippleback's wings closed and the dragon and riders plunged under the surface of the roiling, freezing sea.

Ooooh, dayam! Also, It's still the 31st by one minute!