Hello everybody! For those of you that didn't expect a chapter update this week due to it being Thanksgiving week here in the states, looks like you were wrong! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as of this being one of the last two. Before I start, has anyone else seen the video of President Obama at Dreamworks? I have, and let me tell you, the clip from HTTYD2 got me all excited because judging from the clip, it seems that Hiccup and Astrid are definitely a couple by the events of HTTYD2! Yay! Maybe we'll see if they officially become one in Defenders or if it happens in-between. So, anyway, enjoy the chapter! "Timber!" Gobber shouted as another tree fell. Spitelout and several other men picked it up and carried it back to the village as Gobber packed up his tree-clearing tools. Stoick walked up to Gobber and patted him on the shoulder.

"How are we coming?" Stoick asked.

"That's the last tree that we need at the moment. We should have enough wood to make the rest of the catapults." Gobber replied as he wiped sweat from his brow.

"Good. The village is making good headway with construction. With these trees you just cut down, how long do you think it'll be?"

"Eh, a day and a half at the most."

"Good. That'll mean we can get my son and Astrid before the Hofferson's get back."

"Yeah, just think how Mr. Hofferson would react if he got back and his only daughter was missing!" Gobber said with a laugh.

"Oh, forget about Mr. Hofferson, just think about how Mrs. Hofferson would react!"

"Ok, ye got a point there." Gobber said as he and Stoick started into town. When they got there, most of the village was hard at work making catapults. Those that weren't making them were getting shields and swords ready for battle. Fishlegs scurried around, checking progress and troubleshooting the occasional problem. Stoick and Gobber approached him as he waved hello.

"How are we coming Fishlegs?" Stoick asked.

"We've managed to construct seven catapults this morning, and we should have about twenty done by nightfall. Everyone is hard at work, including the dragons." Fishlegs said as a Deadly Nadder walked by with a log in its mouth.

"I can see that. It's who I can't see that worries me. Where's Snotlout and the Twins?"

"Well when they got back from their scouting trip I sent them on a wild yak chase up in the mountains after a blue flower with red thorns or something like that." Fishlegs said with a smirk.

"Well, as long as they're not doing damage here, I don't care what they're doing. Keep up the good work, son." Stoick said as he and Gobber headed for the forge.

"Yes, sir!" Fishlegs answered back. Upon reaching the forge, Gobber and Stoick were greeted by a very curious Toothless, who had positioned himself on the roof.

"Get down, ya overgrown lizard! You'll break the roof!" Gobber yelled with a shake from his hook-hand. Toothless complied and jumped down, accidentally squashing Stoick in the process.

"Toothless!" Stoick cried as a foot stomped on his stomach, pushing the air out of his lungs. Realizing his mistake, Toothless moved over to allow Stoick to get up. After Stoick had caught his breath, he shook his head in frustration. "What's gotten into you?"

"Call it a hunch, but I think he's a little stir-crazy from being grounded for so long." Gobber said as he took a sword from a man in the line forming in front of the forge.

"Just one more reason to get Hiccup back." Stoick said as Toothless curled up into a ball. Stoick bent down and petted the Night Fury on the head. "Hang in there Toothless, we'll get him back very soon." After an hour or so of running checks and managing the construction of the catapults with Fishlegs, Stoick finally heard some voices he didn't want to hear.

"No, I'm serious! It was there and it was awesome!" said a male voice.

"A rainbow-colored chicken? You guys are mutton-heads." said a second male voice.

"We are not!" said a female voice.

"Oh great. Looks like Snotlout and the Twins are back." Fishlegs said as he turned around to watch them walk through the main square toward Stoick and him.

"Ok, Fishlegs! What gives?" Snotlout said angrily.

"What do you mean?"

"We looked all over that stupid forest, but we couldn't find a single blue flower with red thorns!"

"Yeah, we found red flowers with blue thorns, just blue flowers-" Tuffnut began.

"just red thorns by themselves-" Ruffnut continued.

"but we never found any blue flowers with red thorns. Now don't get me wrong, we loved the red thorns, but the finding a specific flower thing was kinda… uh…"

"Stupid?" Ruffnut asked.

"Yeah, that's it." Tuffnut finally finished.

"Is that why your clothes are all torn?" Fishlegs asked as he noticed several holes and slices in the Twins' clothing.

"No. Yes. Maybe. I don't know! No, seriously I really don't know, I hit my head on the way back here… wherever here is." Tuffnut said. Ruffnut quickly hit him in the back of the head.

"Remember now?"

"Oh yeah… this is Berk, right?"

"For the love of Thor…" Stoick said as he facepalmed.

"Welcome to my world." Fishlegs muttered.

"So, ignoring that," Snotlout began. "What do we do now?"

"Well… we're going to need something to eat soon and we seem to be out of cabbage. Why don't you run up to Mildew's and see if there's still some growing."

"Gardening duty? Really?"

"Well I'm sure the Dragon Pens could use a bit of an extra sweep…"

"Cabbage Patrol it is!" Snotlout interrupted before Fishlegs could finish. "C'mon mutton-heads." He said as he started off toward Mildew's old home.

"Good work son. I don't see how you, Hiccup, and Astrid put up with'em." Stoick asked as they watched the trio walk away.

"Honestly, sir, I don't either." Fishlegs said with the shake of his head. While the inhabitants of Berk were busy at work building catapults, Hiccup was busy at work making the final touches to the Changewing saddle on Outcast Island.

"Ok… need to cut that a little bit… this could be a little tougher…" Hiccup muttered to himself as he looked over the saddle.

"So, how's it lookin?" Nagur asked as he leaned on the work table.

"Not bad if I do say so myself. I think there's just a couple of things that need to be changed or cut and then this thing is ready to go!"

"Good!" Alvin's voice said as it rang out through the forge. Alvin walked up to where Hiccup was sitting and picked up the saddle. "Not bad, Hiccup. I'm glad that you took my advice on adding the cover for the warrior to hide under."

"Wait, your advice? I distinctly remember-" Hiccup was quickly silenced by a killer look from Alvin. "…you coming up with that idea." Alvin laughed as Hiccup fumbled with his words.

"Hearing what people say to stay alive never gets old. Does it Savage?"

"No it doesn't Alvin!" Savage quickly said with an overenthusiastic smile.

"Well anyway, how much longer do you think it'll take to finish the saddle?"

"After I make these small changes I think it'll be ready." Hiccup replied glumly.

"Why so glum, kid? This is a great day for the Outcasts!" Alvin said as he but the saddle back on the workbench.

"Yeah, that's the problem." Hiccup said as he snipped at a strap with a pair of rusty scissors.

"Never mind. When you're done with that Savage will take you back to your cell. Then, in the morning we'll try it on!" On that note, Alvin left the forge, leaving Savage and a handful of guards to watch Hiccup. As hard as Hiccup tried, he couldn't concentrate on his task with five guards breathing down his neck.

"Ok, far be it from me to want to be rude, but it's kinda hard to concentrate with you guys staring at me." Hiccup finally said. The guards looked around at each other, not completely sure what to do. Finally Nagur looked up from his workstation.

"You heard the lad! Give him some space." Finally, the guards all backed up a bit as Hiccup mouthed thank you to Nagur. Not long after Hiccup was finally able to concentrate, he finished the last part of the saddle by tying the connection straps together.

"Done." Hiccup sighed. No sooner had Hiccup put the saddle down, two guards swooped in, picked it up and walked out the door. Savage poked Hiccup in the back with his bone.

"Alright boy, let's get moving." Savage said as he pointed toward the exit. Hiccup complied and let Savage and the two remaining guards walk him back to his cell. About halfway there, they were intercepted by a team of twelve Outcasts leading Astrid back to the cells. The two groups merged as they walked on.

"Ok, really? Only three guards for me but Astrid gets twelve? I think you guys are really underestimating me." Hiccup said sarcastically, causing Astrid to chuckle.

"Quiet boy." Savage growled. After another ten minute walk, they finally reached the dungeon. Hiccup and Astrid were pushed inside as the door slammed behind them.

"Cell, sweet cell." Astrid said bitterly.

"Tell me about it. So how was your day?"

"Oh, I've just been kept in a dark, smelly hole similar to this one all day. You?"

"Yeah, not much either. I've just finished a saddle that could either be our salvation or downfall and it still seems that we're no closer to escaping then when we arrived." Hiccup said as he sat down and proceeded to remove his leg. "Oh Thor, my stump is killing me!"

"Yeah, because sitting in a chair all day really takes a toll…"

"No, I'm serious Astrid. When Gobber was telling me about life with a prosthetic he said that in the first year or so your stump needs to be washed and cleaned every couple of days or else you run the risk of it getting infected."

"And you haven't been able to do that while we've been here."

"Exactly."

"Well it looks like that's one of the first things you're going to do when we get back."

"Yep. First; fly with Toothless, second; yell at Snotlout for leaving us here, third; wash stump."

"Well before we can do any of that we need to get out of here."

"Right. So here's what I was thinking: tomorrow is the day that we try on the saddle. So, that'll mean that Alvin will more than likely have you near the cages when that happens. If the saddle does indeed work, then what I'll do is make the Changewing disappear with me on it, and then grab you and blast Alvin before anyone can do anything about it. Then, we'll sneak down to the docks and take off from there since we'll be under the catapult's firing range. Then, before you know it, we'll be back on Berk in no time!"

"What if that doesn't work?"

"Then we'll just have to wing it."

"So what we normally do."

"Pretty much." Hiccup said with a chuckle.

"Well, no offense, but I'd put bathing a little higher on things to do when we get back, because frankly, you don't smell that great." Astrid said as she crinkled her nose.

"Well you're not exactly a pine forest yourself, milady." Hiccup said sarcastically, earning himself a punch in the arm. "What?"

"That's for insulting me, even if it is true." Astrid said with a smirk. Before the conversation could go any further, Savage appeared and rapped his bone on one of the bars to get their attention.

"Hey, listen up. Alvin wants you two to be ready at dawn sharp for the final saddle fitting."

"Ok, thanks for letting us know Savage." Hiccup said, taking Savage aback a bit, not having expected to hear a 'thank you' come from a prisoner.

"You're… welcome." Savage finally said. "Oh, and your dinner will be here shortly." Savage added before walking away.

"Ok, then dawn sharp." Hiccup said with a grin. "Let it begin."

To Be Continued…

Ok, there it is. One chapter left and this story is ready to head to the… wherever. I hope you guys enjoyed!

P.S: Anyone notice the Shrek reference I popped into this chapter? Hehe.