Author's Note:

Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. This one is all about Snotlout only and he has a good bit of epicness in it. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

I own nothing.

Snow and Blood

They'd left the edge of the glacier far behind but it stretched back far into the Ice Wastes and Snotlout still couldn't see its end.

He'd opted for following the glacier's course in hope that it would lead him towards the Labyrinth of Lost Souls which he hoped was the next stage of the journey. Johan had mentioned it in his tale about the Glacial Bloom and Snotlout was now kind of wishing that he hadn't hurried the man through his story because he might have actually told him where the labyrinth was. For the moment he decided that his best bet was to follow the glacier, there was a good chance that the labyrinth was somewhere along its length and it would serve as a good landmark in a land where there were few to go by. Either side of the glacier was simply a vast white plain stretching as far as the eye could see devoid of any sort of other features that other lands held. Even flying on a dragon you could easily get lost in this blank wasteland and he was glad he had the glacier to follow.

Snotlout idly fiddled with the edge of the dressing on his wounded arm as his eyes scanned the area below. There was little sign of anything remotely like a labyrinth and he feared that they'd soon reach the end of the glacier and be forced to head beyond it into the featureless desert beyond.

He then spotted something on the horizon and he spoke excitedly to Hookfang, "Look! There's something ahead of us!"

The Nightmare rumbled in response and Snotlout looked at it again, "We're coming up to it fast. Maybe the Labyrinth of Lost Souls is somewhere there."

He then realised that they were approaching it far too fast and his voice trembled, "We're not coming up to it fast, it's coming up fast to us!"

Hookfang and the Terrors gave growls of distress and Snotlout could now see the rapidly moving clouds and he realised exactly what was heading their way.

Snowstorm.

They had to get down on the ground right away and he spurred Hookfang on, "C'mon Hookfang! We need to land now!"

The dragon needed no additional urging and he went into as steep a dive as he dared, the Terrors landed on the Nightmare and clung tight due to the wind rapidly picking up strength. Snotlout also flattened himself against Hookfang's body as snow began falling around him and he watched as the main storm powered closer.

Hookfang had nearly reached the ground when the wind's full force struck him and he began fighting to keep himself steady, the Terrors were being buffeted this way and that as they desperately tried to keep clinging to the Nightmare's body to avoid being swept away. Though much bigger than them Snotlout could also feel the wind trying to rip him out of the saddle and he gripped hard to stay on. The snow whirled around furiously rendering all vision practically useless as it turned the world into a spinning, white maelstrom.

Suddenly Sharpshot lost his grip on Hookfang's scales and was dragged into the air, without thinking Snotlout shot out his hand and grabbed the little dragon's tail before he was swept away by the wind. He held onto the dragon's tail tightly and with a huge effort dragged the Terror back down onto Hookfang's back, even as he did so he could see the other Terrors struggling to maintain their own grip and he knew he had to do something. A sudden increase in the wind forced him to grab one of the straps holding the saddlebags…

The saddlebags!

He still had a tight hold of Sharpshot and, fighting against the wind and gripping Hookfang tightly with his legs, he reached down to one of the saddlebags and opened it, he then shoved the little dragon into the tiny sanctuary and closed it, protecting him from the vicious weather. He then grabbed Iggy and repeated the procedure with a different saddlebag and then the same again with Head, Butt and Pain as Hookfang fought to remain as stable as possible in the furious storm.

He'd only just finished closing the saddlebag where he'd shoved Sneaky when Hookfang collided with an ice spire that had sprung out through the storm. The dragon spun violently in the air from the collision and Snotlout was flung from the saddle because he hadn't reclaimed his grip on Hookfang's back after helping the Terrors.

He only had time for a brief scream before he landed hard in a massive pile of snow created by the storm. He fought his way out, amazed he was alive and unharmed, and yelled into the storm, "HOOKFANG!"

His dragon had long been carried away by the wind and couldn't help him and Snotlout knew he had to find shelter. Holding his arms up to shield his eyes from the snow he ploughed forwards desperate to find some sort of cover. He lost track of time in the raging white of the storm as he fought on, he could barely see a foot in front of him and the wind buffeted him all over the place as the cold grew in his bones.

Then, like a miracle from the gods, he spotted an ice cave just ahead and he rushed towards it battling the storm as it tried to drag him away from safety. He tumbled inside as the wind sharply dropped and nearly fell on his face, he caught himself just in time and looked out the entrance to see the storm raging beyond.

As he jumped up and down and vigorously rubbed his arms to generate heat he looked around at cave he'd ended up in. It was actually more of a tunnel and he could see it running back into the darkness, he thought about heading further in but quickly dismissed the idea due to the fact he had no form of light or torch. Instead he slowly sat on the icy floor, leaned back against the wall and drew his knees up to his chest to conserve his body heat as he watched the storm outside.

He hoped that Hookfang was alright and he desperately wanted to see his dragon again but he knew he couldn't go anywhere until the storm abated. The exertion of saving the Terrors and getting to the cave finally caught up to him and he found his eyes closing as he hugged his knees.

In a very short time he drifted into sleep.

A sudden instinct woke him and the first thing he noticed was that the storm outside had finally stopped.

He stood up grinning and had already begun moving about to regain the heat he'd lost as he slept when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He stopped moving and his grin disappeared to be replaced by a look of fear as he got the distinct feeling that he wasn't alone. Slowly turning he looked down the tunnel and saw something behind him he really wished he hadn't.

A large white bear.

It must have been sneaking up on him for a while and he froze at the sight of the hungry predator. The bear realised it had been spotted and gave a ferocious growl before charging towards him, fear gripped Snotlout at the sight of the mighty creature baring down on him and he stood rooted to the spot as it rapidly got closer.

Then his survival instincts kicked in and he jumped back as the beast swiped with one of its mighty paws. The claws ripped through his clothing like a hot knife through butter and tore through several layers to pierce his skin leaving huge deep cuts across Snotlout's chest. He screamed in agony and the pain thrummed through him snapping him into a sprint away from the creature.

The bear instantly pursued and Snotlout could hear the thunder of lethal paws behind him as he ran as fast as he could. His breath came harshly out his mouth as his burning lungs screamed for air adding to the fiery pain from his wounded chest and his feet slipped this way and that as he fought to maintain balance on the icy ground. He briefly looked back to see the bear rapidly gaining on him and nearly fell forward on the slippery ground, he just regained his footing in time and continued running.

From out of nowhere a huge crevasse appeared before him and he screeched to a halt only just stopping before he tumbled over the edge into the depths below. Glancing back revealed that the bear had sped up as if it knew its prey was trapped and Snotlout turned back to the chasm in front of him and braced for one last desperate gamble. Closing his eyes he focused on the pounding paws behind him listening as they rapidly got closer, the moment he heard the falter in the rhythm his eyes snapped open and he threw himself in a diving side roll to the right.

He'd timed it perfectly and the bear found itself swiping at empty air as the momentum of its attack carried it over the edge into the deep crevasse.

Snotlout watched it vanish into the darkness below and then shouted in exhilarated relief, "OH YEAH!"

Dizziness suddenly assaulted him and he stumbled back a few steps clutching his head, he then remembered his wounded chest and quickly lifted his blood-soaked shirts to reveal the four huge gashes bleeding heavily. Another wave of dizziness washed over him and his rapidly fogging brain realised that he'd lost far too much blood and he needed to stop the bleeding.

Before he could do anything to stop it unconsciousness seized him and he collapsed backwards onto the freezing ground.

PS-So how was that for Snotlout heroism and bravery? Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon so you're not left with a cliff-hanger for too long.