Edited.

HTTYD © DreamWorks

Dawn came with a burst of sun fire and dragonfire alike. Snotlout spotted Brynhildur's Grapple Grounder racing towards him, fireballs spewing from her mouth as she neared the sea stack Snotlout had rested on for the night. Lavaheart and Brynhildur landed in front of Snotlout with a happy roar from the Grapple Grounder and an unamused grunt from Brynhildur.

"Thanks for coming back for me," Snotlout said as he walked up to Lavaheart, scratching the Grapple Grounder's side, earning a gentle rub from the dragon.

Brynhildur cast Snotlout a scathing look as he climbed up onto Lavaheart's back, the blonde's eyes narrowing. "So, what was the real reason you stayed behind, Snotlout?"

Snotlout crossed his arms, a frustrated snort escaping his mouth, unwilling to tell her the truth. "Why do you care, Brynhildur?"

Brynhildur whipped around, glaring down at Snotlout as her mouth turned down into a snarl. "Fine, be that way, Snotlout. I don't care. I don't care about your safety and I don't care about the foolish mistakes you are making now."

With a sharp growl, Brynhildur urged Lavaheart to the sky, the Grapple Grounder shaking herself with a roar as she leapt off of the sea stack, turning towards Windswept Ruin.

"Brynhildur," Snotlout sighed, "I need you to do a favor for me."

"What now? Aren't I doing you enough of a favor by spying with Dagur just so you can keep your precious Berk safe?"

Snotlout frowned at Brynhildur's words, disappointment ringing in his chest as he let out a quiet sigh, "Please, just do this for me."

Brynhildur fumed but relented, shaking her head as she muttered, "And what favor is it now?"

"I need you to fly me to Fireworm Island. I am in need of a dragon, since Hookfang is injured. And with you and Lavaheart staying with Dagur, I will have no means of swift travel. I need a dragon if I am to help Berk. The dragons on Fireworm Island know me, I believe they will help me. Take me there, please."

"Fireworm Island?" Brynhildur growled, anger biting through her words. "I thought you always preached that Hookfang was the only dragon for you. Has that changed now because you want to curry favor with Berk? Why are you making Berk such a priority all of a sudden? We could forget this all happened, live in the wild, just us and our dragons."

"No."

"But-"

"You never grew up anywhere but in the wild, Brynhildur, you have no understanding of why I need to do this. I may have been exiled from Berk but people I care about, innocent people and dragons, will die if I don't do what is right. Berk is still my home and I have to do this."

Brynhildur looked hurt, her body tensing into a tight, protective shell as she turned her gaze away from Snotlout. She did not reply to Snotlout's outburst, jerking Lavaheart's flight path to the east, towards Fireworm Island.

Snotlout spotted Fireworm Island first, recognizing the strange rock formations and treeless island immediately.

Lavaheart spiraled down to Fireworm Island lazily, landing with a heavy thud at the flat rock shelf that led to the Fireworm Queen's cave. Snotlout slid down from the Grapple Grounder's saddle, feet hitting the rough stone with a quiet squelch.

Fireworm Island was eerily quiet, Snotlout couldn't even hear wind passing over the rocky island. Lavaheart stamped her feet against the ground, growling her displeasure the longer she and her rider stayed on the island.

Brynhildur looked down at Snotlout, worry and fear clear in the set of her mouth and the dullness of her eyes.

"Don't do anything foolish," she urged, Snotlout nodded in response.

"I will try not to, Brynhildur," Snotlout said, a light chuckle following his words, "and you be safe too. Keep an eye out for Brahgo and Dagur. I don't think Dagur will turn on us, but we can't be entirely certain."

"Oh, trust me, Snotlout. I will be keeping an eye on him. Won't we, Lavaheart?" Brynhildur cooed, striking her dragon on the neck roughly. Lavaheart snarled in response, tail bunching up into a coil over her back tensely.

"Once I have my new dragon, I will fly to Berk and stay there. Whatever you learn while you are with Dagur send that information by Terror Mail to Berk."

"I will do my utmost best," Brynhildur assured Snotlout as her dragon lifted off from the ground. Snotlout gave the two a small wave as the Grapple Grounder and her rider turned from him, flapping away into the clouds.

Snotlout watched the two until they were long gone from his view. Slowly, Snotlout turned towards the Fireworm cave entrance, sighing as a rush of nerves flushed through his mind for a brief moment.

Hopefully the Queen will help me one more time.

"Has anyone seen Snotlout?" Hiccup asked, green eyes dark with worry as he looked at everyone in the room. Ruffnut and Tuffnut both shook their heads, Astrid rolled her eyes and growled her answer, while Eret and Dragner were both silent. Fishlegs shook his head quickly when Hiccup looked towards him, telling him silently that he had no idea about Snotlout's whereabouts.

"Well, if he ran away, good riddance," Dragner yawned, picking at his nails with utter disinterest.

Astrid hummed in agreement to Dragner's words, arms crossed over her chest. "I hate to agree with Dragner on this, but he is right. We are all better off without Snotlout nosing around."

"Yes, I understand," Hiccup sighed, "but why would he leave Hookfang behind?"

"Snotlout didn't take Hookfang with him?" The words were out of Fishlegs' mouth before he realized, gulping nervously as every one of the gathered Berkians turned their attention towards him.

"I mean," he gasped, "why would Snotlout leave his dragon behind? I can only assume that he and Hookfang are inseparable, so it seems odd that he would leave without his dragon."

"True," Eret suddenly agreed, hand rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. "But that also brings up how? How would Snotlout leave Berk? He only has Hookfang and, with that dragon injured and still here, it means he has no dragon to fly away from Berk with."

"Could he have stolen one?" Dragner asked.

"Not very likely," Hiccup admitted, glancing over to Dragner with a frown, "I mean, at least the Snotlout I used to know wouldn't steal someone else's dragon."

"Yeah, but that was the old Snotlout, Hiccup," Astrid said, hands placed firmly on her hips as she watched Hiccup, "we don't know this Snotlout. He could be the kind of person to steal a dragon. We wouldn't ever know."

"Have any of you thought that he might not have left Berk?" Tuffnut suddenly grumbled, "What if he's still here on Berk, but just hiding?"

Just barely, Fishlegs noticed the quick glance Tuffnut shared with his sister, Ruffnut shaking her head so fast Fishlegs almost could have sworn he imagined it.

What do those two know that they aren't telling the group? And if so, why aren't they telling us?

Dragner's voice cut through Fishlegs' thoughts. "If you wish, Hiccup, I could search around Berk for him."

"No, Dragner it's fine. I will look for Snotlout myself."

"I understand."

"Well," Hiccup sighed, "since no one knows about his disappearance, this meeting is over."

The minute Hiccup said that, Ruffnut and Tuffnut backed away quickly, rushing out the door as fast as they could.

Fishlegs jolted up and followed the Twins, catching up to them finally, entirely out of breath.

Tuffnut gave him a quizzical look, while Ruffnut looked down on him, arms crossing with a sniff.

"Uh, Fishlegs? What do you want?" Tuffnut asked Fishlegs.

Fishlegs took a second to catch his breath before he looked up at the Twins. "What are you hiding, you two?"

"Hiding?" Tuffnut scoffed, "We aren't hiding anything. Unless we are talking about Astrid's third-favorite, third replacement battle axe that Ruff and I swiped from her a few months ago. Is that what you are asking about, Fishlegs?"

"Or maybe he is asking about the eight yaks we stole last winter," Ruffnut joked, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

Fishlegs frowned. "No! I want to know what you really are hiding-"

"And so would I," Dragner's cool voice interrupted Fishlegs, spooking the large Viking. The Twins glared daggers at Dragner, Ruffnut growling at Dragner angrily as the Berkian slowly approached them.

"I'm not telling you anything Dragner," Ruffnut hissed. Tuffnut nodded his agreement beside his sister and, moving as one, the Twins walked away from Fishlegs and Dragner.

"Well, they are definitely hiding something," Dragner said, a small smile playing across his face,"especially that Ruffnut."

Dragner's cold tone sent shivers down Fishlegs's spine. I wouldn't want to be someone who Dragner doesn't like, that's for sure.

Dragner looked over at Fishlegs, eyebrow raised as he let out an amused snort. "Good day, Fishlegs."

"Good day, Dragner," Fishlegs said nervously, watching as the man walked away from him.

Not wanting to hang around any longer, Fishlegs hurried to his house as his family, forgetting about his misgivings about the Twins' secret.

"Now, you and your dragon need not worry," Dagur said as he led Snotlout's female friend down the caverns of Outcast Island, "you will not be attacked by my men. They all believe you are a rogue rider I recruited to our side. Those that, ah, saw your dragon before have unfortunately gone missing."

The blonde rider let out a hollow laugh at Dagur's words. "You could have kept them alive, my Grapple Grounder enjoys the taste of flesh."

Dagur startled, eyes widening at the woman's words. "You seem to be a very interesting rider, ah, what was your name again?"

"Brynhildur."

"Intriguing name," Dagur said, "but that brings to me curiosity. How did you and Snotlout go about working together?"

"Long story short, I snuck up on him in the middle of the night and threatened to hurt him if he didn't help me."

"Help you with what?"

"Freeing all dragons captured by people, hunter, ring owners, you name it," Brynhildur scoffed, a smug smile curving up her mouth.

Dagur nodded, surprise tickling at his stomach. "And what of those unfortunate enough to run across you in your endeavors?"

Brynhildur turned to Dagur, her blue eyes burning with cruel fire, "Let's just say they met their fate by dragon fire."

Dagur raised an eyebrow. He was not used to dragon riders openly admitting to committing, and enjoying, violence. This one is quite intriguing indeed.

"You surprise me, Brynhildur. Most dragon riders I have met are not, should I say, violent. Hiccup and his group always preached peace and mercy. I never understood it, to be frank."

"Yeah, me neither," Brynhildur agreed, "dragons are made to fight, not to make peace."

Dagur let out a soft chuckle, stopping at a large building. Brynhildur and her dragon stopped beside him, the two sharing a quizzical glance between each other.

"This," Dagur gesticulated toward the building, "will be your home during this time. The house should be big enough for both you and your dragon alike."

Brynhildur let out a grunt of understanding, then turned back to Dagur.

"We will save your sister, Dagur. You just have to promise not to betray us."

"I won't betray you or Snotlout. Not if you guys will help me save Heather."

"Good," Brynhildur nodded, "Now, allow me some time alone."

"Of course," Dagur replied, "dinner will be in an hour at the Hall of the Berserk. That is only a ways further down this hallway. I expect to see you there."

Brynhildur frowned but nodded in understanding, turning into the house with her dragon following right behind her. Dagur watched the two for a bit, even after the door had been shut, then shook himself.

I hope this works out. Gods, let Brahgo not realize my betrayal. If she does, she will kill Heather.

Stormfly dove down the mountain face, wings folded to her sides, Astrid laid across her back to protect her eyes from the sting of the wind. Toothless and Hiccup were flying beside her and Stormfly, the four of them on a private patrol of Berk.

Hiccup had been acting odd the whole day, which Astrid attributed to the fact that Snotlout had "vanished". Astrid couldn't fathom why he would be so upset about Snotlout leaving. She was, personally, glad that Snotlout had fled - coward - and hoped the former Berkians wouldn't be back.

I have no tolerance for Snotlout after what he did to me. Hiccup let him off easy with the exile, Snotlout deserved worse - Hel, I'd love to sink my axe into his flesh-

"Astrid." Hiccup's tone was weary, his quiet voice snapping Astrid from her thoughts.

"Yes, Hiccup?" Astrid replied, watching her husband pull Toothless to a halt in front of her, the black dragon swooping down to land on an outcropping of rock.

Astrid raised an eyebrow and, with a nudge of her thighs, signaled Stormfly to land. The Nadder let out a squawk of acknowledgement, then dove down, landing beside Toothless with a rustle of her wings. Astrid slid off her dragon's back, eyes locking onto Hiccup's form.

"Hiccup," she said tiredly.

Hiccup turned to Astrid with a sigh, hands running through his hair with a tired sigh. "Astrid, have you ever stopped to think maybe it wasn't Snotlout who hurt you that night?"

"What?" Astrid growled, her anger causing Stormfly to nervously stamp her feet behind her. "Are you trying to say I don't know who raped me? It was Snotlout."

"Astrid, you know I am not saying that. I'm asking if you are totally certain it was Snotlout?" Hiccup frowned, green eyes searching.

Astrid bristled, furious at Hiccup's tone, his suggestion. "I know exactly who it was, Hiccup."

"Are you entirely sure? I talked with him, and you heard what he said, and I have a feeling Snotlout would never have hurt you. Not like that."

"So you believe Snotlout over me?" Astrid shouted, fury raging in her chest.

"Well," Hiccup began though, before Hiccup could say another word, Astrid interrupted him.

"I don't know where this obsession with believing Snotlout came from, Hiccup, but-"

"Astrid," Hiccup suddenly snarled, his tone stopping Astrid immediately. "I don't think you understand what I am trying to get at here, Astrid. We all knew Snotlout. He was our friend and he cared about all of us. He would give up his life to save any of us, so why would he rape you?"

"Because-"

"Don't you understand, Astrid? Snotlout cared about you, he loved you, and he would have done anything to keep you - or any of our friends - safe. I'm starting to believe that Snotlout wasn't the one who hurt you."

Astrid opened her mouth to retort, but Hiccup silenced her with a glare.

"I talked to him last night, before he ran off. I asked him about what happened with you and he told me that he found you injured. And he wasn't lying-"

"How would you know if Snotlout wasn't lying?" Astrid snapped, "I'm guessing he changed a lot in those ten years he has been exiled. How can you know if he isn't just a good liar all of a sudden?"

"Because Toothless never made any action against him. Toothless is generally very good at figuring out when someone is lying, but he never once acted like Snotlout was lying."

"So you believe Toothless over me?"

"No, Astrid, I am believing in an old friend. We knew him for ages and, as annoying as Snotlout was, can you really imagine him hurting any of us like what happened with you?"

Astrid frowned, ready to retort with scathing words but a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach stopped her.

"I- I know what happened to me that night. It was Snotlout who raped me, it was. It had to be…"

Hiccup crossed his arms and looked at Astrid, a knowing look in his eye. Astrid glared at Hiccup, leaping astride Stormfly without another word. Stormfly shot away from Hiccup and Toothless, Astrid gripping onto her dragon's saddle with a frustrated growl.

Why does Hiccup not believe me? And why do I feel doubt in my convictions? I know what happened that night, I remember Snotlout's voice and the roughness of his hands on me. It was him. Right?

"How many caves are there on this Thor-blasted island?: Snotlout growled to himself, frustratedly tearing at his thick hair. He had been wandering through the caves of Fireworm Island since Brynhildur had dropped him off - and who knows how long ago that was - and, so far, he had gotten nowhere closer to the Queen's lair.

At least that I know of since I've not seen scale nor claw of anything resembling a dragon this entire time.

The worst thing of all was that Snotlout was lost. Snotlout hated being lost. Hated it. It made him feel weak and dumb, foolish enough to wander into a cave-

You are a disgrace, always following Hiccup, never doing anything on you own! Spitelout's voice shouted at him, his fury and disgust grating at Snotlout's nerves. Even if it had been ten years since Spitelout had died, Snotlout could still hear his father's voice whenever he made mistakes or did anything remotely wrong.

And, ever since he had been exiled, Spitelout's disgust was all Snotlout heard at night or in the wind as he flew on Hookfang. Snotlout had never told Brynhildur of how he couldn't sleep at night, wracked by guilt, self-loathing, and fear. He'd never been good enough, never been the perfect son for Spitelout.

"It's your fault your mother went and got herself killed!" Snotlout said, mimicking his father's voice, muttering one of Spitelout's favorite lines.

I still don't know why he would accuse me of being the reason my mother died. Stupid, selfish, cruel Spitelout. Nothing could ever have been your fault.

Shaking his thoughts away, Snotlout once again concentrated on memorizing each of the caves.

Eventually, I will find what I am looking for.

Dagur poked at his plate, a small yawn escaping from his mouth as he gazed about the Hall. Berserkers and Outcasts alike were eating, families gathered together and small groups of kids running about the hall, laughter peeling from the young children.

It… saddened… Dagur to see the fake peacefulness of his people. After Dagur had come to ally himself with Hiccup he had believed peace would be something the Berserkers and Outcast could enjoy. Dagur had grown used to the peace but, now when his people hardly had any chance for peace, he missed it.

Then Brahgo had to go and ruin everything.

Dagur clenched his fist around his fork, teeth grinding at the thought of the woman who had snatched Heather from him and used her against him. She is so obsessed with obtaining her goal that she sees herself as doing no wrong. I can't understand how-

The creak of a chair beside him snapped Dagur's thoughts away, his body tensing for a fight. But all he saw, as he turned his head to the right, was Brynhildur. The blonde rider had a lithe smile on her face and her once long hair had been razed short - Dagur thought she looked better with short hair, not that anyone would catch him alive admitting that.

"Nice place you have here, Dagur," Brynhildur said, gaze scanning the Hall briefly.

"Why, thank you!" Dagur said, teeth baring with enjoyment at the rider's compliment.

Brynhildur waved her compliments off with a bored sigh, then her attention turned to her food. Tongue running across her teeth for a second, she dug into the plate of fish. It didn't her long to finish and the moment she did she turned to look Dagur straight in the eye.

"Okay, Dagur. For this ruse to work you have to tell me everything. And I mean everything."

Dagur gulped, suspiciously casting a glance around, hoping none of Brahgo's subordinates were listening in.

"Well, I don't know much about Brahgo - Hel, I don't even know where her base of operations is, she always insists on coming here - but I will tell you what I do know. Come with me, though, we need to speak somewhere in private."

Snotlout's entire body was sore. His wounds ached every time he moved and his mind screamed in exhaustion. The darkness of the cave muted any hope of telling what time it was, whether it was day or night, and if Snotlout had even gotten anywhere with all of his walking.

For one of the few times in his life, Snotlout was thankful for his exile. He'd done so much traveling, exploring, and yes, walking, in those ten years that he didn't get blisters often.

If only I could say the same about my injuries, Snotlout winced as another burst of fire shot through his back, right at the spot where his assailant's sword had pierced through his back.

Anger pierced at his heart, sinking into his flesh like a sword. I need to find whoever attacked me. They obviously had a reason to attack me, and I have to find out who it is and fast. Hookfang is on Berk, alone, and I wouldn't put it past whoever attacked me to try and kill my dragon. That's why-

A white-hot blast of flame hit Snotlout full on, blasting over his armor and, luckily for him, his dragon-scale cape. Snotlout reacted almost instantly to the fire, throwing his cape up over his face in time to block the rest of the flames from melting his flesh. But he could still feel daggers of heat flush against his skin, meaning he had been burned at least to an extent.

Snotlout warily looked up, using his dragon-scale cape to cover his body. His eyes widened slowly as, right above him, the Fireworm Queen raised up onto her back legs, wings spreading across the tunnel's width and let out a thunderous roar.

"Ruffnut you can't keep avoiding telling me where you went last night," Tuffnut growled, his arms crossed over his chest as he shot his sister an accusatorial glare.

Ruffnut ignored Tuffnut as the pair squared off in his room. Tuffnut had drug his sister to his house after Fishlegs and Dragner had confronted them. Ruffnut had been acting sagely since the night before - more like last few weeks, blasted sister - and her weirdness was starting to put Tuffnut on edge.

Ruffnut glowered at Tuffnut, "I told you already, Tuffnut. My business has nothing to do with you. We may be twins, but that does not mean we share everything between each other. I don't ever ask about your business, so why don't you do the same for me and leave my business to me?"

"I can't just do that! Why are you pushing me away? Why are you pushing away everyone? Even Hiccup has noticed how distant you've been! You can't keep being like this!" Tuffnut shouted, frustration, anger and desperation all battling in his voice.

Ruffnut looked over at him, silent but for a quiet sigh. After a bit, Ruffnut finally opened her mouth to speak-

"Ruffnut, I swear on Thor, please tell me what is wrong!"

"Nothing is wrong," Ruffnut suddenly growled, "I've just been thinking."

"About what?"

"Snotlout."

Tuffnut groaned, disbelief heavy in his voice. "Seriously, Ruffnut? Seriously? Get over him! You are married to Eret and you have a daughter with Eret-"

"Eret isn't Smitelout's father."

"You need to move- Wait. What? Smitelout?" Tuffnut gasped, unsure if he had heard his sister correctly. Must be dragon nip or something.

But Ruffnut looked up at Tuffnut, expression steely and serious. "I said, Eret isn't Smitelout's father."

Tuffnut's mouth fell open, jaw shaking as Ruffnut's words surged his mind.

"Then who?"

Ruffnut snorted, eyes rolling for a brief moment before she glared at Tuffnut. "Smitelout is Snotlout's daughter."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Tuffnut gasped, digging his hands into his hair in desperation. "So that's where you were last night. With Snotlout. That's just grand Ruffnut. Does Eret know?"

"He knows now."

"Now? You mean Eret didn't know until just recently? You are a real piece of work, sis. And I bet you haven't told Smitelout, let alone Snotlout. Right?"

Ruffnut glowered at Tuffnut, though she did look away from him after a moment. "I didn't tell him because I was afraid he would tell the others. I thought it was the best idea at the time. And no, neither of those two know."

Tuffnut let out a massive sigh, eyes rolling exaggeratedly. "Ruff, please tell me you didn't do anything, uh, interesting with Snotlout last night. Please?"

"Oh, chill. We only talked. He told me about his exile and, honestly, I don't think he really wanted to chat with me as it was. I don't think he likes me."

Tuffnut groaned and, with an unceremonious thud, hit his head against his nightstand.

This is just brilliant.

Brynhildur followed Dagur, who was currently talking with one of his men quietly. Her thoughts were swirling like a whirlpool, trying to piece together everything Dagur had told her about Brahgo.

Dagur slowed to a stop, the Berserker he had been talking to giving him a respectful nod before he left Brynhildur and Dagur's presence. Dagur had stopped them both by a large door, a crooked smile evident on his face.

"Come in," Dagur said, a light tone in his voice as he opened up the door and walked into a dark room. Brynhildur followed Dagur inside-

"Hello again, Dagur. It is so nice to see you again."

Dagur and Brynhildur jolted backwards at the sound of the cold, high voice that echoed through the dark room. Dagur's mouth quivering briefly as he let out a breath.

"Brahgo."

Thanks for reading.