Chapter 12: Scared Sniv-less

Sorry, I just couldn't resist that reference.


After having their romantic moment on the bluff ruined by their dragons, Brandyn and Heather decided to head back to the house. They were both in on a carefully thought-out plan the team had come up with for Snivels's birthday. The Aetherson boy was leading the pack, so he reached the door first. He gave it five fast knocks and two slow ones.

Immediately, Ninjark called from the other side of the door, "What's the password?"

Heather rolled her eyes. "You can't ask us for a password you just made up, because we're not going to know it."

There was a long pause before Ninjark answered, "Good point."

Without delay, the Greninja pulled the door open, allowing his trainer and her boyfriend to join him and the other Pokémon in planning the surprise for Snivels. Adhesive flew in from behind the couple, a gift-wrapped box in his digitless hands.

"Where's Snivels?" Heather asked, scanning the room.

"He went out for a walk," Blaze replied. "He thinks we've all forgotten today is his birthday."

Amber looked worried. "Let's hope Hiccup and Astrid get back soon, the surprise won't be as special without everyone here. And if Snivels goes on thinking we've all forgotten what's so special about today, this could turn out to be his worst birthday ever."

Slowly, she brought one hand out from underneath her wing and brought out her own present for Snivels, which she'd kept hidden when he'd stopped by to ask her if she remembered it was his birthday. She grinned, hoping that her mate would enjoy what she'd gotten him for his special day.

"We can go check on them," Brandyn suggested. "They might need some help with the Flightmare."

Heather nodded in agreement. "Not to mention, we also need to figure out where Snivels went so we can lead him back here when it's time for the surprise."

"Can I go with you?" Adhesive asked. The way his eyes were shining told them he wanted to get up close and personal with the inevitable Hiccstrid.

His answer was the door being slammed in his face, eliminating his chances of witnessing what he knew would be one of the most emotional nights for his favorite couple. Adhesive turned to fly away sadly, only to be surprised when Brandyn opened the door a crack.

"By the way, I just got your joke from earlier."

He quickly shut the door to avoid having the Poipole slip out after them. He still managed to hear a somewhat grateful Adhesive shout out, "Thank you!"


Snivels continued his trek through the forest, the darkness of the night combined with the green glow in the sky giving the atmosphere an eerie feeling. Deciding it would be a good idea to distract himself from his despair by figuring out the mystery behind the Flightmare's behavior, the Servine asked himself, "Why does the Flightmare always take the same route to Berk?"

No-one answered him. Mainly because there was no one there to hear his question. Perhaps going for a walk all by himself wasn't the best idea, after all.

"It always followed the stream from the northern swamp into the village," Snivels continued. He pictured the map in his head, his eyes trailing the invisible line representing the river in question, following its path through the forest and toward Berk. "But why does it follow the water? What is it about that stream?"

As if on cue, he noticed a faint glow coming from between the trees. Not stopping to think about how lucky he was, Snivels rushed forward, stopping when he came to the river. It was glowing a bright blue, and when Snivels bent down to get a closer look at the water, he saw thousands, maybe even millions, or tiny luminescent particles drifting along the stream.

And that was when the Servine prince arrived at a simple epiphany.

"That's it! The Flightmare is following..."


"...the glowing algae."

The married couple of whom Adhesive was a huge fan of were currently suspended hundreds of feet in the air, staring down at the amazing phenomenon that was taking place down below. As Toothless gently glided across the swamp, Hiccup and Astrid could not take their eyes away from the mesmerizing trail of glowing blue water that snaked through the forest below them.

It was only when Toothless landed, and the couple slid off of his back to peer at the water more closely, did they fully realize that it wasn't the stream itself that was glowing after all.

"Look at this," Hiccup told Astrid, cupping his hands and scooping up a handful of liquid. Suspended in the water were tons of tiny little particles. "The glow must be some kind of reaction to Arvendil's Fire," Hiccup speculated about the algae. "This must be what the Flightmare is following. That's why it always takes the same route!"

"Not getting it," Astrid replied.

Somewhat excitedly, he asked her, "Ever try to get between Snotlout and a bowl of mutton?"

"That's something you only ever do once – even me," she admitted. Hey, Astrid Hofferson-Haddock might have been the best teenaged warrior on Berk, or any of the surrounding islands, but a starving Snotlout was a force to be reckoned with.

They heard a roar, and Hiccup shoved Astrid behind a rock. The Flightmare crawled nearer to the water, close enough so that it could dip its snout in. Its forked tongue flicked out and started lapping at the surface of the stream, allowing it to drink.

"Oh, now I get it!" Astrid said all of a sudden. "This is the Flightmare's food supply!"

"And that's the reason why it's so aggressive – because it saw us as a threat to its very survival," replied Hiccup, nodding.

He forgot to lower his voice, so the Flightmare heard him. It looked up, spotted the couple, and flew up above them, letting loose a territorial roar.

"Speaking of threats..." Astrid commented.

The Flightmare filled up the night sky with its trademark blue glow. And only seconds later, it started flying right toward them with a screech. Wary of what was about to come, Hiccup began to back away, making sure to keep the boulder between him and the dragon. "Come on," he told Astrid. "We need to get Toothless up in the air so we can hide."

"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen," Astrid replied, pointing at a nearby bend in the river.

Sure enough, there was Toothless, who was dipping his muzzle in the glowing water like the algae floating in it was the world's most delicious treat. When he had drank his fill, the Night Fury backed away and started to glow. All over his body, purple streaks of light were appearing, especially around his head and flanks. When he spread his wings, the undersides were shining just as brightly as the Flightmare.

"So much for 'virtually invisible in the dark'," Hiccup snarked, remembering what Snivels had said earlier that evening.

The Flightmare let out another shriek, louder this time.

Immediately, Hiccup and Astrid rushed toward the glowing Night Fury and hopped aboard the saddle. With the Flightmare already on its way to rend them, Toothless sprang into the air and headed for the open sky, his body carving a bright ribbon of light through the darkness.

The Flightmare didn't hesitate. It launched itself into the air, screeching out its anger and pumping its wings faster and faster to catch up to the fleeing Go-Getters. Hiccup saw the dragon's bright blue light from the corner of his eye, and he felt a prickle of fear go up his spine.

"It's right behind us!" he shouted, and he felt Astrid's arms constrict his waist.

"What do we do?" she asked. There was a tremor of fear in her voice now – perhaps the way the Flightmare paralyzed her had struck more deeply than Hiccup suspected.

But now, there was only one option left open to them. The Haddock boy pulled on the saddle and yelled, "Toothless, into the clouds!"

His dragon companion climbed higher and then wheeled in the sky, heading towards a cloud bank coming in from the north. Soon, the dampness of the clouds was enveloping them in a cooling mist, and total darkness descended upon them.

We can't even see Arvendil's Fire from inside here, he noticed. Only the purple glow coming from Toothless' body allowed him to see the clouds around them. This will hide us from the Flightmare, if nothing else will.

"You think we lost it?" Astrid whispered to him.

Then, in front of them, blue light started to filter through the clouds, and then came the sound of beating wings.

"Nope!" shouted Hiccup.

Right as he said that, the Flightmare exploded through the clouds, its glow blinding the three intruders. Unable to see where he was going, Toothless ended up tumbling out of the sky and onto the ground. The force of the impact forced Hiccup and Astrid out of the saddle. The Flightmare flew down after them, opening its jaws to fire its mist at them.

"Toothless, roll!" Hiccup yelped.

Toothless obeyed, dodging the paralyzing mist just in the nick of time. The Night Fury then fired several plasma blasts, but the Flightmare avoided them. It was enough, however, to force the Flightmare to retreat.

And then a rock beaned it in the snout. Instantly, its head snapped in the direction from which the projectile had been thrown, eyes narrowing with outrage.

"Hey!" Astrid shouted tauntingly, hurling another stone at it. "Come fight me!"

Vaulting back into Toothless' saddle, Hiccup told his mount, "Get her out of there!"

They and the Flightmare lunged for Astrid at exactly the same time. Blue light pulsed from the Flightmare's wings, but Toothless was faster and snatched her up before the luminescent dragon could land the hit. Just like that, they were speeding into the air with the Flightmare pursuing them yet again.

Somehow, Astrid spotted something even in the total darkness of the midnight swamp. "Hiccup, look!"

He saw it, too – a gap in the mountainous barrier that bordered the swamp. On his rider's urging, Toothless folded his wings and knifed through the air like a fish through water, diving straight into the gap between the rocks.

Above, the Flightmare chirped and shrieked to itself as it looped this way and that across the sky, clearly searching for them in its own restless way. Soon, however, it had given up and was heading back towards the river.

When they were sure it had gone for good, Hiccup, Astrid, and Toothless walked out from their hiding place. That was when the unexpected happened – the purple luminescence that shone from inside Toothless' body and made him glow suddenly faded away, as quickly as it had appeared. Once more, they were virtually invisible in the night.

"At least the effects don't last long," Hiccup remarked with some relief, patting the Night Fury's smooth snout. "Back into the air, Toothless!"

The Flightmare was heading in the direction of the village, so they followed from a discrete distance. Based on how calmly it was flying, the dragon hadn't yet noticed them. Its one-track mind was now seemingly focused on the river below, allowing Toothless to stealthily pursue.

"How are we going to stop the Flightmare from reaching Berk?" asked Astrid, looking at her boyfriend with slight worry.

Hiccup turned around as best he could while in the saddle, so that he could meet her eyes and answer. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, a bit of movement in the black sky behind them distracted him.

"Heather!" he exclaimed.

Confused, Astrid asked him, "How's she going to help?"

It wasn't Hiccup who answered her, however. "By bringing you reinforcements!" a very unexpected and familiar voice called out from the surrounding gloom.

And just like that, the shape that Hiccup had spotted behind them flew close enough for him and Astrid to tell what it was – none other than Heather and Brandyn mounted atop Windshear and Buck. A third shape appeared next to them, a little hard to see in the dim light, but its spiked tail and birdlike structure made it obvious that it was Stormfly.

Delighted to see them, Astrid cried out her dragon's name in greeting. "Stormfly! Good to see you, girl."

She promptly stood up on Toothless' back and jumped, only to be caught moments later by the ever-faithful and intelligent Deadly Nadder.

"What are you guys doing here?" Hiccup called, even as the two other trainers took the lead in their flight formation.

"Looking for you guys," Brandyn replied. "And Snivels, too. But so far, we haven't had much luck on the Grass Snake Pokémon."

As if on cue, a familiar scream pierced the air like a knife. Just seconds later, Hiccup spotted the moving form of his Servine friend running between the trees below them, the Flightmare hot on his heels.

"You've got this all wrong!" Snivels called back to his pursuer. "We're not the enemy, go after those Vikings! They're the ones who deserve to get their butts whupped!"

There was a sharp tug on the yellow frill that extended behind his shoulders, and he was lifted into the air. He shut his eyes, fearing the worst. "You can eat Stoick first, I'll be the dessert!"

"Sorry, but I'm not hungry."

Snivels's eyes snapped open, and he looked up to find Toothless giving him a gummy smile.

It was Hiccup who had spoken that sarcastic joke. "Happy birthday, by the way."

Snivels looked up at his trainer with cloudy eyes, almost crying. "You remembered?"

"Of course I did," Hiccup said with a smile. "You've been telling us about it all week!"

Okay, so maybe Snivels had forgotten that tiny little detail.

Toothless did a roll, throwing Snivels up into the air, then straightened out. The Servine plopped into the saddle behind his trainer just a short moment later.

"Guys, listen," Snivels said after he recovered from the shock of Toothless's move. "I was following the river, and I think I might have found a way to divert the Flightmare!"

Instead of explaining for Hiccup and the others, he stuck his leafy arm out and pointed off to the west. Over in that direction, the four trainers could easily see the edge of the island as it dropped into the ocean, and the vast glittering sea beyond that was illuminated by the light cast by the moon. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

And more importantly, it made Hiccup realize something, the exact thing that Snivels had pointed out to him.

He looked back down at the river, and took note of how it flowed. All of that water on a small island had to go somewhere, after all...

His voice little more than a murmur, Hiccup began, "We cut a new channel for the river..."

"And divert the flow of algae!" Astrid finished for him, sitting up straight as the realization hit her as well, filling her with excitement. "That river is the food source for the Flightmare! If we get the river to flow to the ocean, the Flightmare will leave!"

Grinning ecstatically now that he had a solid plan to act on, Hiccup called out to his friends, "Time to do a bit of emergency landscaping, guys!"

Their dragons swooped toward the river.


The Pokémon were all sitting miraculously quiet in the house, waiting patiently for the four trainers, and Snivels, to arrive. A select few of them, besides Adhesive and Amber, were holding on to the gifts they'd selected and wrapped up for their friend to open on his special day.

Kickin' Hawk was sitting on the largest box, which contained the most special, and possibly the most complicated, present for the Servine. Why was he sitting on it, you ask? Because the contents of the box liked to move around a lot, and he was trying to keep it still.

A party platter of malasadas and chocolate treats sat upon the table, waiting for the Servine to taste them and dissolve into a sugar-filled bliss. Amber had to shift between heating up and cooling off the treats in order to keep them nice and fresh.

"Shouldn't they have gotten back by now?" Ninjark asked as he twiddled his thumbs trying to keep himself occupied.

Blaze looked thoughtful. "Something must be wrong." She looked up at her friends, a look of determination etched on her face. "We need to go find them."

"I'm coming, too!" said a determined Adhesive.

There was a pregnant pause, and everyone in the room gave the Poipole a look of exasperation.

"Definitely for non-Hiccstrid reasons!" Adhesive insisted.

Satisfied, Blaze led him and Ninjark out the door, whistling for the dragons.


When the four trainers and one Servine finally caught up to the Flightmare in the far reaches of the swamp, ready to execute their master plan, Brandyn's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the sight of the luminescent dragon.

"A live Flightmare," he uttered in amazement. "It's...it's...!"

"It's MINE!" yelled Astrid.

Before Hiccup could even think of stopping her, she streaked ahead on Stormfly. The Flightmare reared back in the air and shrieked with surprise, not expecting her to come in so suddenly. She and Stormfly took advantage of this to pepper it with fireballs, driving it away from the other three trainers.

"Okay, guys," whispered Hiccup. "It's time to do what we came here for."

He, Snivels and the Night Fury dove toward the ghostly river, followed by Heather and Brandyn on their dragons. As best as he could in the darkness, Hiccup picked out a spot where he wanted to carve out the new channel, and ordered Toothless to fire. Plasma blasts shot from Toothless' mouth, exploding with blue light when they hit the ground.

The glowing river started to mark the newly-made trail, slithering like a serpent through the channel and making it visible. While Hiccup and Toothless flew further along to lengthen the stream, Windshear and Buck came in. The two dragons landed on opposite sides of the river and started pushing rocks and whatnot into the water where the old channel met the new one, blocking the flow of the stream.

Up above, Stormfly and the Flightmare were blasting away at each other. On Astrid's encouragement, Stormfly swiftly turned around and dove back toward the river, followed closely by the angry glowing dragon.

"Guys, it's coming your way!" Astrid shouted.

The Flightmare caught sight of Heather and Brandyn, and immediately decided they would be easier prey. It screeched as it plummeted, jaws opening as it prepared its paralyzing mist.

Snivels noticed it approaching just in the nick of time.

"Guys, look out!" shouted the Servine.

But he was too late - the river was only half-blocked with newly-made rock when the Flightmare plunged toward the group. It unleashed its mist at the two humans, only for Snivels to leap right into its line of fire. He was paralyzed in an instant.

Turning her head to where Toothless was blasting, Astrid yelled as hard as she could, "Hiccup! The Flightmare got Snivels!"

Hearing her, Hiccup turned around and headed back to where the Flightmare was. Never mind that he and Toothless had reached the ocean, and were only a couple of blasts away from completing the channel. His best friend needed him!

Windshear and Buck spewed fire at the Flightmare, driving it away with the intense heat and light. While the luminescent dragon cowered and hissed at its enemies, Toothless invisibly swooped in and snatched Snivels up.

There was a twitch of movement, and then Snivels shook himself all over as his muscles unfroze.

"Wh-Whoa...what just happened to me?" he muttered in shock.

"The Flightmare's mist," Hiccup explained from overhead. "It temporarily paralyzes you."

"Wow, that's kinda cool!" his Servine friend grinned up at him. "Any chance we can get some of that to use on those Vikings?"

Toothless landed near where the unfinished stream was and began blasting away, getting closer and closer to the ocean.

Meanwhile, Stormfly spat more fire at the Flightmare, who swooped away and managed to get behind her. Astrid turned her around to confront the enraged dragon, and poisonous spines went flying. The Flightmare dodged, then swatted Astrid right off of Stormfly's back with its.

Far from through, Astrid reached for her axe, only to see that the Flightmare was charging at her on foot. She turned and ran into the forest, leaping over rocks and tree roots even as her massive, glowing pursuer tore up everything in its way to try and get to her.

She shot a look over her shoulder, and her eyes widened when she saw that the Flightmare was gaining on her, faster than she had thought possible.

"Don't worry, Astrid!" a voice shouted. "Help has arrived!"

A series of soundwaves struck the Flightmare, making it collapse to the ground. The force of the wind flung Astrid away, but she recovered quickly and scanned the skies to find out who had saved her.

"Blaze?" Astrid murmured to herself, her eyes making out the form of her Blaziken and Heather's Greninja flying on Wavern and Verne, respectively.

"And friends!" Adhesive called as he zipped by, heading towards the unfinished stream to help Hiccup and Toothless.

They landed, Blaze patting the female Noivern on the head in thanks. Astrid pulled herself up of the ground. "You were right," she said, her voice heavy with the sound of guilt. "I'm sorry, I should have listened to you."

"Told you we make a great team!" the Blaziken exclaimed, holding out a hand for Astrid. Once she was secure atop Wavern's back, they took off with the Flightmare close behind.

They rounded a bend, and suddenly, there was glowing water in front of them, and a Night Fury blasting away.

"Look out, Hiccup!" shouted Astrid.

In response to her cry, the Night Fury was immediately airborne with a great flap of his wings. Stormfly heard as well and grabbed her from where she sat behind Blaze. With a flex of the Nadder's talons, she flung her rider into the air and then swooped down to catch her.

"Right then, we need to finish cutting that channel..." Hiccup muttered to the group.

He was about to say something else, but at that moment, the Flightmare launched itself into the air to attack them. They spread out and regrouped farther away, letting the Flightmare hover in place to get its bearings. Behind it, the familiar blue scrawl of the river shone like a beacon.

"But," the Haddock boy grimaced, "The Flightmare is between it and us."

"Hiccup, I think I have a plan to stop it," claimed Astrid, grinning from ear to ear. "The algae. Let's give that overgrown salamander a taste of his own medicine."

Realizing what his wife meant by that, Hiccup let his own grin spread across his face. He remembered how the Flightmare's glow had worked before, blinding him and Astrid so that they were temporarily helpless. He knew that its own ability could go against it as well. Her idea could just work, as long as they all worked effectively as a team.

"Lead the way!" he offered, gesturing at the river.

Astrid and Stormfly were the first to go down. The Deadly Nadder angled her wings so that she dove down at an angle toward the luminous river that wove like a ghostly snake through the darkness of the midnight forest. Hiccup, Snivels and Toothless, followed by Heather and Brandyn and then Blaze and Ninjark on their mounts, flew downwards toward the river right after her. The Flightmare, some distance behind them, chased after them indiscriminately, not caring where they went as long as it could catch and shred them afterwards.

"Time for a little midnight snack!" Astrid called, letting Stormfly get a good long mouthful of water and algae before pulling back up into the sky.

"Chow down, guys!" added Hiccup. He braced himself when Toothless' snout hit the water, sending up a spray that speckled the Haddock boy's coat and tunic with dark spots. As soon as Toothless had gotten enough to drink, he pulled on the saddle and followed Astrid.

Soon, a squad of four glowing dragons soared through the night, their colors blending in surprisingly well when matched with the undulating waves of beauty currently pulsing through the sky. Toothless was the same purple as he had been when he first ate the Flightmare Algae (as Hiccup was now thinking of calling it), Stormfly was shining a radiant yellow, Buck was a vivid emerald, and Windshear was a garish shade of pink bordering on magenta.

Verne and Wavern stayed completely the same. Apparently, the Flightmare Algae didn't have the same effect on Pokémon.

Astrid cast her eyes around at her fellow Go-Getters, feeling satisfied at the amount of glow that each dragon was emitting from every inch of their bodies. She had never felt so ready to take down the Flightmare – not even when she had been training in the arena earlier that day, before she had even seen it and its abilities with her own eyes.

"It's time to see who the real coward is!" the wife of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, niece of the great Fearless Finn Hofferson, cried defiantly. "We're coming for you, Flightmare!"

And together, the six of them turned around and charged straight at the luminescent dragon.

At first, it wasn't even aware they were coming at it. But then it turned around, and Team Go-Getters took that as their cue to suddenly tighten their formation. Each dragon's glow, now that they were all in close proximity, reflected off of the other dragons and enhanced its brightness. The combined result was what looked like a star come down to earth, something that the Flightmare couldn't bear to look at.

It fled, only for Stormfly to swoop in and block its way. Startled by the light, the Flightmare turned and flew in the other direction, only to meet up with a glowing Buck. Heather and Windshear were next to head it off, forcing it to flee towards Hiccup.

He patted Toothless's head as soon as the Flightmare came toward him. Toothless readied a plasma blast, the purple glow in his maw seemingly tripling in intensity. It was so bright that even Hiccup couldn't look directly at it.

The Flightmare, blinded, spiraled down to the ground.

"It's going down!" cried Snivels.

Finally, it hit the dirt with an impact hard enough to stun it into submission. Other than a low hiss, it didn't make any sound.

With nothing more to worry about, Hiccup turned around and pointed back to the river. "Toothless, let's finish that channel."

They dove down, flying low to the water so that a spray was churned up from the speed of their passing. As they neared the end of the glowing channel, Toothless spat out one last burst of plasma to blow the rest of the rock and earth out of the way. Now that there was nothing to keep it from flowing, the water and Flightmare Algae was allowed to spill out over the cliff and into the ocean.

A shrill cry came from up above. As Hiccup watched, the Flightmare flew overhead and out to sea, following the glowing algae as it formed a trail out toward the distant horizon. In moments, it was gone, disguised against the greenish lights of Arvendil's Fire.

The rest of Team Go-Getters soon joined him to watch their enemy go. "We did it!" exclaimed Astrid.

"Now let's get home before everyone falls asleep," Ninjark sighed with relief.

"Not yet," Hiccup said suddenly. "There's still something we have to do first." He looked over his shoulder to give Snivels an apologetic look. "And you're probably not going to like it."


Stoick the Vast trudged uneasily through the village, listening hard for the telltale shriek of the coming Flightmare. It should've been here by now, and the dead silence that pervaded all of Berk was putting him increasingly on edge. Not that he'd ever admit it.

Suddenly, against the pure green of Arvendil's Fire, there abruptly appeared an even brighter point of light.

That was it! It was time!

"Gobber!" the Chief bellowed, racing toward the forge.

The blacksmith was currently snoozing deeply on a chair outside his smithy, smacking his lips and muttering in his sleep. "Oh, that yak butter melts in my –"

"Wake up!" Stoick roared. He grabbed his friend's shoulder and forcibly shook him awake.

"MOMMY!" yelped Gobber, jumping to his feet and glancing around. Struck by confusion at his surroundings, he scratched his head and asked, "Stoick, is that you? I was having this dream. You and I were –"

"Not now," Stoick cut him off with a slash of his hand. "Sound the alarm, the Flightmare is here."

The two of them instinctively looked back up at the sky when the horrible scourge's name was mentioned. Indeed, there was the speck of bright blue light drawing closer and closer to the village...only now it looked like it was separating into...

Gasping in horror, Stoick shouted, "Odin's ghost, Gobber! There's more than one of them!"

But Gobber didn't share his sentiments. Rather, he seemed to be more bewildered than ready for action.

"Gobber?" asked Stoick.

"Uh, those aren't Flightmares, Chief," he replied, pointing with his hook arm.

Reacting with surprise to Gobber's words, Stoick turned back to the sky and squinted as hard as he could. Actually, now that they were getting closer, he saw that the four points of light were all different colors...and they looked a little familiar, now that he thought about it...

Needless to say, both Stoick and Gobber were pretty much speechless when Hiccup, Astrid, Heather, and Brandyn all dropped down to the ground directly in front of them on their dragons, all of which were shining almost as brightly as the sun, except in a wide range of unusual colors. Neither of them could recall seeing a glow quite like that in the last ten years.

"Hiccup...slap me in the face," said Gobber, sounding somewhat dazed. "Your dragons are glowing. I must still be dreaming..."

Chuckling, Hiccup shook his head and got off of Toothless' saddle. "Gobber, you're wide awake," he corrected the blacksmith with a laugh. "They are glowing – long story. The good news is, we drove the Flightmare away!"

Those words were music to Stoick's ears. "You did?" he asked hopefully.

With a joyous grin, Hiccup nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, well done, son!" the Chief praised, delightedly wrapping his boy up in a bear hug. "Well done!" He then turned and called out, "Everyone, you can come outta your homes! The Flightmare is gone for good!"

His yell reached the ears of all the Vikings in Berk, and one after the other, they all opened their doors and stuck their heads outside. Although hesitant at first, glancing at the sky just to make sure there was no glowing incarnation of death coming at them from above, they quickly got over their fears and walked out into the plaza to crowd around the four trainers. From what Hiccup could see, the villagers seemed particularly fascinated by their dragons, who looked like part of Arvendil's Fire that had fallen to the ground.

Snivels characteristically kept his distance from all the Vikings. Hiccup had been right, he did not like this very much.

Waving his arms above his head, Hiccup called for the villagers' collective attention. "Uh, uh, Vikings of Berk? I-I've got an announcement to make," he called out, drawing everyone's eyes toward him. "We learned a lot about the Flightmare tonight, and we'll explain it all later. But the most important thing we learned was that Fearless Finn Hofferson was, indeed, fearless."

Murmurs passed through the crowd. They could scarcely believe it. The legendary dragon killer, Finn Hofferson, wasn't a coward like they had been told?

Astrid in particular was stunned by Hiccup's proclamation, although it was a good kind of stunned. She stared at him as if she had been paralyzed again, but there was a smile on her face.

He turned right towards her and beamed. "...Just like all the Hoffersons," he finished just for her.

There was much whooping and hollering from the listening Vikings as they cheered on the young heroes that had spared them from the wrath of the Flightmare and disproved the rumors concerning the Hofferson man, who had been a much-loved part of their community. And now, with the Flightmare having been chased away for good, they had a new Hofferson worthy of the 'fearless' title.

Well, she wasn't really a Hofferson anymore. And it was fortunate that nobody in the Viking village of Berk knew of that fact.

A strong arm wrapped itself around her shoulders. It was Gobber, who told her happily, "Sounds like you did your uncle proud, lass."

While Astrid said nothing, the way she trembled with happiness and pride spoke volumes. She subtly reached out and grabbed Hiccup's hand, allowing him to feel it, too. The two teens looked into each other's eyes and smiled.

"Now, for the first time in many, many years, we can just sit back and enjoy Arvendil's Fire," Stoick sighed in relief, tilting his head back to admire the pulsing banners of color that slithered across the sky.

"And we finally get to go home," Blaze said with a smile.

Snivels noticed the look on her face, a smile of his own creeping its way across his face. He was sure he had a pretty good idea what was awaiting him back home.


"Surprise!"

Snivels heart leaped with joy as he opened the door to find all his friends greeting him with smiles. So, they did remember his birthday after all.

Then again, he had been telling them about it the whole week, like Hiccup said.

The treats were delicious, the chocolate melting on Snivels's tongue and the malasadas providing an explosion of taste. Perhaps it was his imagination, but they seemed to taste so much sweeter than all the treats he'd eaten before.

The presents came next. Amber had gotten him a Rainbow Wing charm made from a feather she'd obtained from Ho-Oh during their stay at the Ice Caves. His present from Hiccup was a set of different writing utensils for him to use for whenever he added new information to the Book of Dragons. Blaze's present turned out to be a bunch of berries that, when consumed, increased a Pokémon's endurance when and if it was hit with an attack that super effective against their type. Heather, Ninjark and Brandyn had all pitched in on one present, a green bangle that looked almost exactly like the Snake Miraculous, but without the accompaniment of a kwami.

Adhesive's present came next. "Since I only lent you my Wings of Fire collection for you to read, I thought I'd help you start your own," he said as he handed the Servine the gift he got him.

Snivels took the gift and tore the wrapping off of it. His eyes lit up in amazement at what the Poipole had got him. "The Dragonet Prophecy book and graphic novel?"

Adhesive smiled and nodded.

Snivels smiled back at his friend. "Thanks, Ad."

Finally, they'd gotten to the last present. Kickin' Hawk and Buddy gently pushed the gift-wrapped box toward the Servine, being careful not to jar it too much.

"This one is from all of our friends at the Resistance," said the Silvally. "They sent it to us a few days ago."

Kickin' Hawk patted the box, a smile on his face. "Since your birthday this year has that light show in the sky, Fjord knew this gift would make it even more special."

Intrigued, Snivels carefully tore off the wrapping, the box jerking a little as the contents squirmed. He could tell it was a dragonet, but when he opened the box and saw exactly what kind it was, he froze and gasped out in surprise.

"Oh, my Arceus."

Shaking a little, Snivels reached into the box and lifted out his present. The familiar glow of luminescent blue filled the eyes of all the Go-Getters.

A baby Flightmare.

Everyone in the room clambered over each other to get a good look at the dragonet. Several voices spoke up at once, a mixture of surprise at what they were seeing and admiration at how adorable it was.

Finally, one voice spoke above all the rest.

"What's her name, Snivels?" asked Buddy.

Snivels took a moment to think. He spotted Astrid among his friends, her eyes locked on the dragonet. There was no fear in her expression, only amazement. She hadn't gotten Snivels a present, she'd forgotten all about it thanks to her own little dilemma.

Okay, scratch that. She did get him a present. Thanks to her, Snivels knew exactly what he was going to call the baby Flightmare.

"Fearless," he said, smiling at Astrid before turning to look at the dragonet. "Her name is Fearless."

Astrid knew full well where the Servine had gotten the idea for that name, and she'd never felt more honored in her life. She never would have imagined that the dragonet version of her greatest enemy would have been named after her and her family.

Well, the Hofferson part of her family, anyway.

Snivels cuddled baby Fearless, who crooned at the feeling of his warmth. "Hands down, this is the best birthday ever!"

As the growing chatter spread through the house as the birthday party continued, Hiccup wandered outside to get some air. He found the perfect spot out on the bluff to sit down and marvel at the dazzling display that filled the sky.

He'd only ever seen one other instance of Arvendil's Fire before, and he couldn't take the time to appreciate it back then. Now, though, he could drink it in and admire its glory.

The sound of footsteps reached his ears, and he turned his head in time to see Astrid sitting down next to him. She gave him a smile that was almost as brilliant as the aurora above.

"Hiccup, thanks," she said sincerely. "What you did for me means a lot."

Bashfully, Hiccup replied, "Ah, well, I was only trying to –"

Her lips closed on his before he could finish, tugging him into a warm, passionate embrace that he never wanted to end. When she released him, he got a good close-up of her beautiful eyes and lovely blushing cheeks illuminated by the soft green of Arvendil's Fire...

"Astrid," he spoke with some hesitation. "I know how much restoring your family honor meant to you, and I'm sorry if I ever held you back. I may have proposed a little too soon, or we could have waited a little longer to get married, but you've always been a part of my family. I just wanted to remind you that I'm a part of yours as well."

He paused, his voice was beginning to waver. But he wasn't going to let that stop him from saying all that needed to be said.

"You've always been the strongest and most fearless person I've ever known. I couldn't top that even if I wanted to. I don't want to be the kind of person who's always holding you back, stopping you from doing all that you want to accomplish. Whatever you want, whoever you choose to be, just remember that we'll always be here for you."

Another pause, then he added wholeheartedly, "I'll always be here for you."

Astrid's answer was immediate, and unexpected. She practically threw herself at him, her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace. Stunned, Hiccup reciprocated.

"I made a choice the day you proposed to me," Astrid said into her husband's ear. "You and I both know it was the right one." She pulled away just enough to meet his eyes. "You've made mistakes Hiccup, but don't you ever think that marrying me was one of them." She clasped both his hands in her own. "You've always been a part of my family, and I was stupid to have forgotten that today. I love you, Hiccup. I meant it the first time, and I mean it now."

Just like that, all of the anxiety and doubt Hiccup had felt since that morning faded away. He'd given Astrid the freedom to choose how her own life would turn out, and she had chosen a life with him. Struggling to keep all his emotions in check, he reached his hand up and cupped her cheek tenderly. "I...I love you, too, Astrid." Then, almost without realizing what he was doing, he leaned in and kissed her.

Despite her being rather surprised that Hiccup had been bold enough to initiate this display of affection, it didn't take long for Astrid to respond in kind. After these past twenty-four hours of stress, high emotion, anxiety, shock and surprise, it was safe to say that their love for one another was only strengthened.

Not too far away, Adhesive was hiding in the shadows, having been using the camera on his phone to record the entire moment on video. "This is gonna get so many hits on YouTube!"


Honor can be given, or it can be taken away. It can happen righteously, or it can be because of a misunderstanding – like back when everyone thought I was a dragon-killing prodigy.

In Astrid's case, though, she'd had her honor restored ever since the day she found her real family - Team Go-Getters.


Both parts of Fright of Passage up on Valentine's Day! I knew it could be done!

I don't know about all of you, but I absolutely loved writing this! What's better than Hiccstrid on Valentine's Day?

Reviews will be very much appreciated.