Early the next morning, the Riders and the Crimson Goregutter returned back to the island.
"Thor Almighty." Gobber said. "Guess we won't be needing this then, huh?" He gestured to a wooden cage structure meant to hold Grimmel.
"What happened?" Sigrid asked.
Hiccup got off Stormfly and removed his helmet. "I led us right into his trap."
"Yeah, nice work, Chief." Tuffnut sarcastically said. "Right, Ruff?" He glanced to his right.
But then they noticed Ruffnut wasn't with him.
"Wait..." Hiccup frowned.
Tuffnut's eyes widen and noticed she was gone. "Uh..."
"Where is Ruffnut?" Hiccup asked.
"We-We left her behind?!" Fishlegs exclaimed in disbelief.
"How could you not notice she was missing?" Astrid asked in disbelief. "You ride a 2 headed dragon."
"Oh, yeah. I feel like how Ruffnut is everyday... Dumb." Tuffnut uttered.
"Thor's Sake!" Claire complained. "She's your sister."
"Odin be spanked!" Gobber exclaimed. "This just gets better and better."
"I try to avoid looking at her because she gives me acid reflux." Tuffnut said.
"Now what do we do?" Heather shook her head.
"O-Okay guys! Just keep your helmets on!" Hiccup said. "Toothless and I will fly-"
"Toothless has the Light Fury now!" Said a Viking. "He's probably not even coming back."
"What?" Hiccup frowned.
"You gave him his freedom, Hiccup." Astrid said. "What were you expecting?"
"I never thought he'd stay away for good!" Hiccup turned to her. "I-I..." He sighs upsetly. "Look, I'll figure it out. I just need more time." He then walks away.
"He thinks he has to lead alone." Valka said. "Well, because his father had to."
Astrid sadly looked as Hiccup dropped his helmet.
"He doesn't realize the strength you have together." Valka said and turns to her. "Do you still believe in him?"
"Of course." Astrid said. "I wish he did, but he thinks he's nothing without Toothless."
"Then help him realize the truth." Valka said.
Hiccup stresses as he tries to think, and then suddenly Astrid appeared on Stormfly. As well as Sigrid.
"Get on!" Astrid said.
"What?" Hiccup asked.
"We're going to find him." Astrid brought her hand out.
"Really? Hiccup said and grabs her hand.
The Riders turned as They were in the air.
"Everybody, stay put!" Hiccup said and turns to Tuffnut. "We will get Ruffnut back! Don't worry!"
Tuffnut scoffed. "Worry? If they're suck with Ruffnut, I'm more worried about them." And he chuckled.
Later at mid-morning, Grimmel was working out where the Riders were hiding.
And behind him, Ruffnut was in a cell.
"Why the long face?" Ruffnut asked and laughed. "I mean, mine's long, but yours is really long. All face and no brain. Like you got stretched at birth. Do you have a twin, too? Tuffnut took up all the room in Mom's belly. Otherwise, I'd have a rounder head and more brains, that's science."
In the cage next to her, 2 Deathgrippers growled at a captive Scuttleclaw looking terrified.
Grimmel starts getting annoyed from Ruff's constant talking but keeps working.
And Ragnar and Khan glanced each other.
And Ruffnut sat down. "My braids are like little Zipplebacks, see." And she starts playing with them. "Rawr-rawr. Yeaaah. Even the mold spots look like eyes. So cute. They even have little horns and everything just like Barf and Belch. Except me and Barf can't stand Belch so they're really just Barfs. It's warm in here." She then stood up and got to the cage door. "I know what you're thinking. You've never had a prisoner this hot."
Grimmel remains annoyingly silent.
And Ruffnut sat down again. "All the boys love me. Except Eret, who totally lost his chance. That ship has sailed boys, sorry. And Hiccup practically married to that round head, Astrid. But Snotlout and Fishlegs, they're basically in my hand."
As he worked, Grimmel angrily snapped the led of his pencil now getting frustrated.
"Just can't choose, you know." Ruffnut said and swings upside down from the bars. "Snotlout's a beefcake but almost too pretty, you know. Sometimes I think he's more in love with himself than me." A Deathgripper stood outside her cell and they moved away. "There's only room for 1 beauty in this relationship." She laughed and moved over to the bars between her and the frighten Scuttleclaw. "Fishlegs would keep me alive longer if I had to eat one of them. Stranded on some glacier somewhere. But he never shuts up about dragons. Do you hate it when people never stop talking?"
"Yyyeeessss, I dooo." Grimmel turned to her and losing his patience.
"Bleh, bleh, bleh. It's sooo boring." Ruffnut said and swings on the bars.
"Can't we just feed her to your dragons?" Griselda asked tiredly.
"I'm with her." Raul agreed.
"What do you have to eat around here?" Ruffnut asked. "I'm allergic to fish, you should know that. That's all they have on that stupid new island."
That last part got Grimmel's attention.
"Do you have any clams?" Ruffnut asked. "They're like little mouths with slimy food inside that's already chewed like the way Mom used to do it."
"Enough!" Grimmel yelled.
He then shoves everything away off the table.
"Until I turned 12 and she was like... "CHEW YOUR OWN FOOD"!" Ruffnut said as Grimmel approached the cage door. "And I was like, "NO I DON'T LIKE IT"!"
Grimmel then unlocks the door and opens it. "Most annoying creature ever to cross my path!"
"Awww..." Ruffnut stroked her braids. "Oops. You let the dragons out." And started poking Grimmel with her braids. "Gonna get ya. Gonna get ya. No, this one's gonna get ya."
Grimmel then blocks his face stopping her.
Khan then opens the cell door of the Scuttleclaw's cage.
"Take him and go, please!" Grimmel threw Ruffnut's helmet to her. "I beg you!" And the Scuttleclaw nervously went up to Ruffnut. "The Deaqthgrippers will have to forego dinner."
"Ewww. You feed your dragons... dragons?" Ruffnut said in disgust.
"Go!" Grimmel yelled.
"Where's your bathroom?" Ruffnut asked. "I gotta..." She made a clicking sound.
Grimmel angrily turns to her.
"Okay! Gods!" Ruffnut groaned. "No wonder you have gray hair. "She place her helmet on and climbs on the Scuttleclaw. "Stress is not good for you."
She then laughs as the Scuttle took off, and flies away.
"So long, losers!" Ruffnut called back as they leave.
And then Grimmel turns as disappeared with a devious look.
Many miles away in the open sea, Hiccup, Astrid and Sigrid were on Stormfly still searching for Toothless.
"Where-Where is she heading?" Hiccup asked.
"She's tracking something, aren't you, girl?" Astrid said to Stormfly.
And they flew closer to the ocean.
"There's nothing but miles and miles of-"
And then they noticed a large cloud of ocean spray. And as they got closer, they saw that it was a large waterfall and they flew around the rim of the waterfall. And it appears to be the remains of a caldera.
"A great waterfall-" Hiccup said breathlessly.
"At the end of the world." Astrid finished.
They all turned to each other stunned, and then suddenly Stormfly flew up and twirled downwards as Hiccup, Astrid, and Sigrid held on.
"Stormfly!" Astrid yelled.
And they flew down through the thick layer of mist.
They soon flew pass the water, and entered a large open rock formation. It all appears to be the remains of a long extinct volcano that existed millions of years ago. And below them was a magma chamber as they flew by it. And Stormfly sniffs the air, and then they flew towards and through a cave. And soon, the water gave a bluish glow and then after passing a layer of mist, they then saw tall stalagmite pillers with bioluminescence.
And then, Stormfly's scale glowed in a mix of purple, blue and yellow.
"Wow!" Astrid breathlessly and Hiccup laughed a little.
"Look!" Hiccup points ahead.
In the water below them, were a few Seashockers and then they flew pass a cliff that goes miles below them. And they flew pass an area with black dragon eggs, and then they gave an orange glow as they flew by, and the embryos look like Night Furies.
As they flew pass several other nests, they then flew by as then thousands of Fireworms flew off and flew by them. And they were amazed as they reached out trying to touch some.
And soon, they flew down and enters a much larger cavern and they were amazed as there were hundreds of dragons. And they all seem to be heading towards a large crystal formation ahead. The entire cavern could've taken hundreds of millions of years to form. And dragons have known this place for generations.
And then a green scaled Monstrous Nightmare was seen nearby, and they quickly flew aside not wanting to get caught. And they flew over and landed in a hidden section of crystals.
"It really does exist." Hiccup said.
Above them, more dragons flew by as they quietly walked to a cliff edge and saw dozens of dragons flying towards the large crystal hanging down. And saw a number of dragons flying up and falling back down, and then Toothless was seen with the Light Fury and the pride as a few other dragons flew up and fell, and among them was another Light Fury.
"Toothless." Hiccup saw him begins to move.
But Astrid quickly stopped him. "Shhh. You'll spook them."
Several other dragon continue flying up, and then Toothless and the Light Fury and the pride flew down as the dragons followed them. And they flew around the cavern as dragons on the ground watched then flew by and roared.
And Toothless and the pride then flew up to a large crystal and then landed on the top. And Toothless glanced at the Light Fury, and then looks over to the dragons below and held his wings out, along with the scarred male and his eldest son as the dragon below roared out. Among them was a Hotburple, Crimson Goregutter, another Light Fury and a half grown youngster, and even Drago's Bewilderbeast.
And then Toothless lets out a loud roar, along with the scarred male's son. And then the scarred male turns and brought his wings out, and then lets out a loud deep roar.
"Now that's a king." Astrid said not looking away from the sight.
And then the scarred male turns to his son, and gently purrs at him. And then he nodded, and stepped back. It seems he's stepping down, and having his son take over as the pride's leader.
And then he turns to his mate, and then they pranced around each other. And then nuzzled.
Then Toothless turns over to the Light Fury, and she approached him and brought her wings out and nuzzled him. And then the 2 pranced around each other with their wings out. And then they lightly growled, and then nuzzled each other. And then turn to the dragons below them.
And then every dragon bowed their heads and as Toothless and the Light Fury looked down upon.
As Astrid was so amazed with the scene. Hiccup felt sad as if he was keeping Toothless away from something for 6 years, and realized a hard choice.
And the Light Fury brought her head under Toothless as he rests his over her. And as the cubs played around them, one of them stumbled which is the one that seems rather curious around Toothless. And Toothless gently nudged him to feet. And amazingly, the elder pair seem close towards him.
It seems that the bonds between Night Furies are for life.
Seeing Toothless with the Light Fury almost made Sigrid thought what Hiccup and Astrid's future with each other will be like.
Astrid soon noticed him sad, and Astrid placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We should go." Hiccup said.
Suddenly growling was heard as they looked and saw a Rumblehorn has somehow silently gotten behind them.
"Oh, no." The 3 nervously said in unison.
The Rumblehorn rose up as they were back against the edge.
And then the Rumblehorn roars out, and alerting the other dragons. And Toothless soon saw them, and the other dragons soon turned towards the group.
The other dragons begin to head towards them, but Toothless quickly flew and roars at them to stop them. And the Light Fury stood there on the crystal with the pride as Toothless quickly flies over to them to get to them first. But then the scarred male was fast approaching with a deadly glare.
The Rumblehorn continues chasing them down the slope, and they were nearly snatched by other dragons. And soon they fell over a ledge, and quickly got on their feet.
"Go! Go!" Astrid yelled.
They ran as the Rumblehorn lands on the ground behind them, and then starts chasing them. And the scarred male roars and chased after them, and he has killed humans before.
Toothless rushes and pushed a Gronckle and Monstrous Nightmare aside and hurries to the group. The group ran as the Rumblehorn and scarred male begins to close in on them, but at the last second Toothless quickly grabs hold of them and flies off as they soon joined up with Stormfly. And the scarred male roars out.
"I-I-I'm sorry bud." Hiccup tried to apologize. "I-I-I just-"
Toothless roars stopping more dragons from following them. And they flew away as Toothless drops Astrid and Sigrid onto Stormfly.
And as the roars from the scarred male continued, Hiccup couldn't help but feel he was taking Toothless away from something.
One night, Young Hiccup holding a stuff dragon heads downstairs.
But then he stopped and saw his father at the fireplace crying. It seems that Stoick still sometimes cries over the loss of Valka. Not wanting to disturb him, or get in trouble he tries to head back up.
But Stoick soon noticed and turns to him.
"Son!" Stoick said and clears himself. "You should be asleep."
"I was thirsty." Young Hiccup said uneasily.
Stoick sighed a little. "Yeah, come here."
Young Hiccup sets his stuff dragon down, and climbs down and went over to him. And Stoick lifts him up to his lap, and he grabs a pair of tongs and Young Hiccup holds the handle and pokes at the fire to get it going.
"Dad? Are you gonna get us a new Mom?" Young Hiccup asked a little uneasy.
Stoick hugs him tightly and kissed his head, and it killed Stoick everyday watching him grow up without Valka. "I don't want another. Your Mom was the only woman for me. She was the love of my life. But with love comes loss, son. It's part of the deal. Sometimes it hurts, but in the end, it's all worth it." He then turns Young Hiccup to face him. "There's no greater gift than love."
Stoick smiled at his son. And knows that one day, when he's all grown up, he'll have a family of his own.
Author's Note:
If you look closely, you can actually notice a few Skrills.