Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD

A/N: I had to make a change to the previous chapter, which is that the Outcast fleet never made it to Berk. The reason is explained in this chapter.

Chapter Fourteen

"What do we do?!"

"They took our dragons! When are we gonna get them back?!"

"Are these new dragons gonna be staying?"

"Why are they here? Why now?!"

Toothless fired a small blast, that exploded over the heads of the shouting Vikings. It shut them up very effectively. "Thank you, Toothless" Astrid said gratefully, standing up on the throne to be better seen and heard. "The hunters are here for our dragons and our island – neither of which they are getting. As for why they've only come back now – we don't know, but Hiccup and I think that these hunters bought or stole the traps from Drago's men. That, or they've been fighting amongst themselves the last five years, trying to fill a power vacuum after Drago was killed".

"But what about the dragons?" somebody demanded.

Astrid gestured for Hiccup to take the floor, and he stepped forwards from his place on her left. "Nobody wants to rescue our dragons more than I do, Hoark" he declared, "and I am going to lead a wing on a rescue mission. Snotlout, the twins, the A-Team are coming – are there any other volunteers?"

Almost everyone in the hall raised their hands – or hooks, as the case may be. Hiccup stood on Toothless' saddle for a better view, and picked several out. Of course, the ones who were passed over almost immediately began to complain; Hiccup much preferred dealing with the dragons, who tended to defer to his judgement without much fuss. "Have your dragons ready; we'll leave as soon as I get word of the hunters location" he ordered the group of riders, as they stood aside from the rest.

"Yes, sir!" Gustav saluted smartly. The auxiliary teams leader had come a long way.

"As for the new dragons, they'll remain on Berk until they have the strength to return to their own territories. If they're unable to, and they accept Toothless and I as their new Alphas, then we'll integrate them into the pack. And they told me that they're very sorry for attacking us, and they're more afraid of us Vikings than we are of them. Just give them some space and I assure you, everything is under control".

He stepped back and nodded for Astrid to take over. "Everyone, listen up! Hopefully, when we rescue our dragons, these hunters will see that Berk is not to be trifled with. If they don't – well, we've done this before and we can do it again! We will gather our allies and make a stand against these cowards. In the meantime, we keep calm and carry on. This so-called army has no idea what it's messing with – we don't back down, and we never give up! We are Vikings!"

"YEAH!"

"We are Hooligans!"

"YEAH!"

"We are dragon riders!"

"YEAH!"

Hiccup approached the rescue party to discuss tactics and flight manoeuvres, whilst Astrid continued giving orders and encouragement to the rest of the tribe. Gobber limped his way over to Hiccup. At sixty one years old, he was getting on a bit…his knees weren't what they used to be. "Alpha?" he called.

His former apprentice sighed and turned to face him. "Just because the dragons call me that, doesn't mean you have to" he insisted. He'd much rather be addressed simply as 'Sir' by the villagers, even if he'd grown used to the dragons greeting him as 'Alpha-Hiccup'. "What is it, Gobber?"

"I've got summin' to show yer, sir" Gobber said with a crooked smile. Puzzled, Hiccup and Toothless followed him out of the Great Hall. Grump was dozing nearby, along with a dark grey and blue dappled Sail-Back, who heaved himself to his paws at their approach, and bowed respectfully to his Alphas. Then he thumped the Hotburple with his tail, and Grump jerked awake with a snort.

The Sail-Backs preferred more open space where they could herd and run together; a mountainous island like Berk wasn't really a suitable habitat for them. Still, some of them remained here, including Bosaal. He had been one of the last of the war dragons to have his armour removed. The day he came to the forge, he'd found Gobber frustratedly trying to wake the ever lazy Grump, and decided to help. His roar had startled both the blacksmith and the Hotburple, but Gobber found the whole thing hilarious and took a liking to Bosaal. The two of them bonded over shared exasperations, and Bosaal was now Gobbers' unofficial secondary dragon partner.

Gobber, Grump and Bosaal led the way to the training ring. Arranged in somewhat haphazard piles in the centre, was the armour they'd removed from the Root-drugged dragons. In fact there was more – some of it was armour that had once been worn by the army dragons. "Gobber, what is all this?" Hiccup frowned.

"Armour, o' course" he replied, as if it weren't obvious. "Took it off the newbies. It was all jus' strapped on; I figger yer can put it on ya own dragons n' give yerselves an edge against them hunters yer going after" he explained, picking at his teeth – the ones he had left, at any rate – with his hook.

Some of the riders nodded and murmured with interest; others looked uncomfortable. The dragons, for their part, shifted uneasily, eyeing the armour as if it could bite them. Hiccup's frown only deepened. "You want me to put my dragons in armour, like Drago did, like these hunters have done?"

"Well, it's not like ya putting 'em in chains" Gobber pointed out, "They'll still be able t' fly n' everything". He stumped over and placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder, and said "Look, lad, being in a war means havin' t' make hard choices. Sometimes the only way to beat yer enemies is t' use their own tricks against 'em".

"Oh!" Gobber exclaimed suddenly, hobbling back to the pile of armour, "And there's summin' else – argh, me back! Gustav, little help over here?"

*Alphas, do we have to wear this armour?* asked Fanghook, tilting his head curiously but whining softly with reluctance.

*It isn't that bad* Bosaal insisted, *We've all gotten used to our saddles, haven't we? Wearing armour won't be that different. We're strong. We can take a bit of extra weight*.

*You would say that. You're not even coming on this mission!* the Fire-Scale retorted, growling irritably.

*Watch your words, youngling* Bosaal warned, lowering his head defensively. Toothless stepped between them and bared his fangs at both. *Stop it, both of you!*

"What's wrong with 'em?" asked Spitelout.

"Oh, Fanghook and Bosaal were just having a…disagreement…" Hiccup cleared his throat and went on, "Now about this armour"-

"Och, aye! I think it's a great idea!" Spitelout interrupted, "Those hunters will never see it coming!"

"Ah-ha!" Gobber exclaimed, over a clatter of metal. He and Gustav had dragged out, and were propping upright, a piece of armour that was long, flat, and curved up slightly at the sides. "I even found a bit that'll fit Toothless!" he declared, grinning crookedly at Hiccup.

The black dragon backed away a few paces. *That's not gonna happen, right Hiccup?...Hiccup?*

His other half winced. "Actually…"

Toothless made a disbelieving sound, and whined. *Seriously?*

"Okay, look – Gobber, I can't believe I'm saying this, but you have a point. Our dragons need protection, and it would give us an advantage…and Toothless, I know you don't like wearing armour, but it would help keep us safe and I – well, I'd feel better if you had some. Will you do it for me, please?"

Toothless slumped a bit, and sighed resignedly. How was he supposed to say no to that? *Fine. I'll wear it, but I won't like it* he grumbled.

*Thank you* Hiccup smiled at him gratefully, before turning and declaring, "Okay, dragons! Normally I wouldn't ask this of you, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Every dragon who's coming on this rescue mission has to wear protective gear – so if you really don't want to wear the armour, then I'm afraid you can't come on the mission. Do you all understand?"

The dragons looked at one another…they weren't sure about this - wouldn't the metal-skin slow them down? - but they supposed it would stop arrows hitting them, and if Alpha-Toothless was willing to wear it then it couldn't be that bad…

At last, they nodded. Hiccup relaxed, for a moment, and then pulled himself together. "Alright…let's get this sorted out".

Bosaal approached Alpha-Toothless, who had already been fitted with metal-skins on his chest and stomach, and was waiting for his other half to finish helping Gobber. *Alpha-Toothless, I want to join the rescue party* he announced as he raised his head from a bow.

*Is this about what Fanghook said?* Toothless inquired. He was trying to resist the urge to shake and scratch at the piece of armour and dislodge it. He hated it when his scales started itching beneath the metal, and they always did.

*No…not entirely. I just want to come. I hate to say it, but these hunters might use our pack-mates against us, like they tried to do with the newcomers, and I have experience with fighting aggressive dragons* Bosaal pointed out.

*I see your point…but Hiccup only wants riding dragons to come, so the humans can defend and free them if they're captured. I guess you could come alongside Gobber and Grump* Toothless said thoughtfully.

So when Hiccup and Gobber made their way back over, Bosaal made the same request to his human alpha. "Hm…Gobber? Bosaal wants to join us, but since he doesn't have a rider, he and Toothless thought maybe he could come with you and Grump. Fancy coming along?"

"Ah, well, I would, but y'know, lots t' do n' all…"

"Oh, right. I suppose if you're busy, I could ask someone el"-

"Ha, ha! Oh, you're too easy! Nah, course I'll come. Oh, the look on your…eh…" Gobber trailed off, seeing Hiccup, Toothless and even Bosaal staring at him flatly. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Err…sorry".

Hiccup bit back an exasperated groan. "Just get ready to leave" he ordered wearily.

"Aye, sir!"

Just then, Astrid swooped in on Stormfly. "Hiccup! I just got word from the Outcasts. The reason their fleet never made it to Berk, is because they were attacked – and so were the Berserkers. All at the same time, almost" she revealed.

"So the army's bigger than we thought…we'll keep that in mind, Astrid. Thank you for telling me. Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine…kind of wish I could come with you though".

"Yeah, me too" he agreed, leaning in…

*This is not the time to start mating* Toothless said bluntly, without looking round. Hiccup and Astrid jerked apart. Hiccup glared at the back of his brother's head, and Astrid giggled.

Gobber got Bosaal's armour sorted in the nick of time. A Spike-Tail flew down and bowed to his Alphas, wings drooping. "Scorch Spike, did you find the fleet?" Hiccup asked urgently.

*Yes, Alpha-Hiccup. Follow the winds south, they are heading towards the Scale-Shifters territory* the tired Spike-Tail explained. Hiccup smiled gratefully and pet him, saying "Thank you, Scorch. Go and rest". The Nadder chirped affectionately at him, and made for his nest for a well deserved nap.

He turned to the rescue team and declared, "Everyone, mount up! It's time".

They flew out due south from Berk, gliding on fast winds. That meant the ships would be going fast as well, even if the dragons were faster. In his minds eye, Hiccup looked over an imaginary map of the archipelago. He'd looked at his own maps so many times they were practically burned into his memory.

Given that ships were slower, and Scorch Spike obviously hadn't followed the fleet all the way (just long enough to catch up and be sure of their heading), and that Outcast Island was a long way from Changewing Isle even on dragonback...Hiccup felt reasonably sure that when they caught up with the ships, the fleet (or half of the fleet, perhaps) that had ambushed the Outcasts wouldn't have had time to catch up with the rest.

At least, he hoped they wouldn't have. If there were more ships..well, the plan didn't change. They would just have to keep their wits about them – perhaps bringing the twins along hadn't been such a good idea, but it was either that or leave them to help repair the ships that had been hit with rocks or accidentally set on fire. Better to give them something that needed blowing up, rather than let them entertain themselves.

The dragons flew as fast as they could without overexerting themselves, but the fleet had too much of a head start. By the time they caught up… "Mother of Thor, that's a lot of ships" Snotlout observed. Rather than the thirty-strong fleet they were expecting, there were an extra ten, that had come seemingly out of nowhere and had a different sail insignia.

"Indeed – it seems our enemy has been doubled" Tuffnut declared grandly. It would have been a better proclamation if he could actually count.

"But that's impossible – they shouldn't have caught up yet" said Hiccup, bewildered. "How can they have gotten here from Outcast Island so fast?"

"They didn't" said Gobber, "Look at the turn of the other fleet's sails – they've come up from the south, to meet the first fleet halfway" he explained. Hiccup looked, and saw what he meant.

"So, err, what do we…?" Gustav asked uncertainly.

"Look, the plan doesn't change. It's now or never, guys. We're going in!" Hiccup called to the rest of the team. The plan, in its basics, was that he and Toothless would use the pack's mental web to narrow down which ships had their captured subjects aboard. They would mark a ship that held their subjects captive, and the rest of the team would distract the hunters whilst they broke in and freed the dragons.

They circled above the fleet, trying to pinpoint which vessels their flock-mates were aboard. *There* said Hiccup, and in his peripheral vision, Toothless saw him point at a ship just off to their right. At the prow of the ship there was a dome that was, for some reason, partly open. It was also surrounded by arrow launchers. He swept around to find a better angle and dived, the whistling shriek and brightening shine of his signature fire blast building in his throat.

They got very close – a split second after Hiccup realised that the hunters had let them get too close, fire burst out of the trap. Caught off guard, Toothless was forced to pull up out of the dive to avoid the unprecedented attack. The flames and many of the arrows struck the plate of metal strapped to his more vulnerable underside, and the draft from his wings knocked away the rest. Still, it was an extremely close call.

*See? I told you the armour would come in handy!*

Before Toothless could agree, or make some snarky retort (the latter was more likely, really), they were suddenly – and inexplicably – doused with cold water. "What the-?"

The rest of the team had set upon the ship they had tried to mark, driving back the hunters on it and the surrounding vessels. Or at least they were trying to, but the dragon in the trap kept flaming at them and snarling furiously. They weren't saying anything, just shrieking, and everyone could hear the scraping of claws against metal. It was hard to tell if the dragons inside the cages were chained down or not.

In one way, the strategy of the hunters was obvious – to use the captured dragons as bait, lure in the others and take them down. Yet for some reason, their catapults weren't firing boulders at the rescue party. Instead, they were throwing lightweight leather sacs that burst and soaked the dragon – sometimes also the rider – with water.

"Not that I don't appreciate a good splash fight, but why are they just throwing water at us?" Tuffnut wondered, after he and Belch – but not Ruffnut and Barf, much to his sisters amusement – had gotten soaked. Belch sneezed water out of his snout and hissed irritably at his brother-head when Barf laughed.

"Hiccup!" called Gustav, "Is it just me, or do the dragons in the traps have glowing spit?!"

"Glowing-?" They risked a closer look and sure enough, when the muzzle of a Fire-Scale appeared in the gap of one cage, their fangs were dripping with saliva that glowed an eerie orange hue. Suddenly he realised what was wrong with them, and why the hunters were trying to spray them with water.

"They're Grim!" he yelled, "They're infected with grimora!"

"With wh"-

"It's a parasite! If you've been splashed, get out of range and dive into the ocean! Now!" Even as he said it, he shifted the tail fin and then sucked in a breath and held it.

Toothless dived, and as soon as they plunged underwater, Hiccup saw tiny shapes wriggle out from under his dragons scales – eww – and leap away out of the salt water. They swam until they were sure the disgusting leeches were nowhere near them, and burst out of the water again.

"We need to soak the trapped dragons in seawater!" Hiccup announced, "That'll cure them, and then we can free them!" He directed the team to grab anything that could hold water and dump it all over the infected dragons.

It was risky, and difficult when they were beset on all sides by hunters – but the dragon riders worked together, and one by one, the captives were freed and escaped into the sky. When the last of the traps had been broken into, and a couple more sails set alight for good measure, the dragons all gathered out to sea. They had one last dip in the ocean to be sure that all the grimora were gone, and Hiccup made a head count.

To his intense relief, nobody was missing. "Okay, it looks like everyone's accounted for" he declared, and they all cheered. "Good job, everyone. Let's head home – we've earned a rest".

Hiccup felt terrible, and when the dragons they'd rescued thanked him and Toothless for coming, he only felt worse. Turning as much as he could in the saddle, he looked over his shoulder at them all. "Everyone, I'm sorry. The dragons should have been rescued from the beginning – by pulling back and waiting, I gave the hunters a chance to put our dragons and ourselves at risk. That was my mistake, and I apologise".

"You should be sorry" Snotlout agreed, "You realise we could have been killed, right?"

"Yes, Snotlout, I'm well aware of that".

"When did that ever stop the likes of us?" Gobber demanded, "We're Vikings! It's an occupational hazard!" he declared. To Hiccup, he said more gently, "Don't be so hard on yourself, lad. You did what you thought was best for yer pack and yer tribe. As a leader, you have to consider the needs of the many, not just the few. Yer father would tell ya the same thing".

"Yes, but the few are part of the many" Hiccup pointed out, "And that battle was twice as dangerous – if Gustav hadn't made me realise the dragons were Grim, then our dragons might have been infected for longer. We could have been hurt. Besides, if we can capture some of their ships, it would put them at a disadvantage. Odin knows the fewer ships they have, the better" he reasoned.

"Aye, fair point" Gobber agreed, "but if we hadn't waited, we wouldn't have found out they were using grimora in the first place. We can prepare for that now".

"I suppose…" Hiccup knew Gobber meant well, and he did appreciate it…but it did little to assuage his guilt. The other dragons might not blame him, but he blamed himself. As far as he was concerned, his mistake in waiting had betrayed the trust they placed in him as their Alpha.

*We betrayed their trust, you mean. We're in this together*.

*I didn't say anything*.

*We don't need to be heart bound for me to know how you feel. I just know you. Hiccup, you know Gobber is right. We did what was right for the pack at the time – we couldn't have kept protecting our subjects in the battle, we had to fall back and recover*.

*I know…things will be different next time, though*.

Astrid threw a feast to celebrate their first victory and the safe return of the rescue team. That night the mead flowed well, and the Great Halls rafters rang with the boisterous sounds of loudly singing Vikings, many of whom were horribly off key and didn't care a jot. Nor did they care that several songs were being sung all at the same time, creating a discordant mess.

"Oh I've got my axe, an' I've got my mace, an' I love me wife with the ug – argh! – I mean pretty face. I'm a Viking through an' through! Oh, a Viking through an' throoooough!"

"Hooligan tribe won't you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight! Hooligan tribe won't you come out tonight, and fight by the light of the moooon!"

"That night of fury one did dare to set aside his dread, and place his hand upon a winged villains gentle head! Now time has past and what was once our cursed enemy, carries us to battle 'gainst our threat across the seeeeeea!"

Hiccup cringed a bit when he overheard that. How did they even know about that song? Then he remembered that he'd gotten horribly drunk last year, after Johann brought some particularly potent wine to the island, and started singing the stupid ballad at the top of his lungs. Then the rest of them picked up on it! Toothless had considered his mortification to be just punishment for giving himself – and by extension, his dragon – a hangover. and Toothless sneaked out of the hall and went to enjoy the rest of the celebration flying with the other dragons. It was no quieter, but it was a lot more fun.

The next day, Astrid gathered Hiccup, Snotlout, Fishlegs, the twins, Dagur, and Heather for a war council. The eight of them were gathered around the table, with a map of the archipelago spread out before them. "Okay – we know that we, the Outcasts, and the Berserkers were all attacked on the same night, at almost the same time" she began.

"By different fleets" added Hiccup, "The ships that rendezvoused with the fleet that attacked Berk had a different insignia. I didn't recognise it, but I think I saw it on some of the ships in Drago's army. Alvin said the fleet that ambushed his had a similar design – the skull of a dragon, impaled on a sword. Cheery, these people" he said sarcastically.

"Yeah, and the Berserkers were attacked by a fleet that had ships with a very familiar insignia" Dagur announced. He held up a piece of parchment – sketched on it in charcoal was a rough, but still recognisable image of a stylised clenched fist. The design was indeed familiar – it was the insignia of the dragon hunters, led by Viggo Grimborn.

"I could draw it better than that" Tuffnut scoffed, "And why did they use charcoal? Black so does not capture the menace of it – that symbol is supposed to be portrayed in red". He sniffed and turned his nose up in a haughty manner.

"Yeah, blood red" Ruffnut grinned manically, "A blood red fist!"

"Wait – blood fist?" Fishlegs realised, "You don't think…?"

"No, Fishlegs. I don't think Drago belonged to the same tribe as Viggo and Ryker; his clothes, his accent, they were too different. They both came from beyond the archipelago, but not from the same place. The insignia is probably just a coincidence" Hiccup reasoned. Besides, he'd gotten the impression that Viggo was the Chief of his tribe, and if Drago was also part of said tribe then he probably would have made himself Chief.

Fishlegs looked relieved. Astrid snapped her fingers and prompted, "Let's not lose focus here. The hunters that attacked Berk came in from the south-west, and headed south, and the fleet that rendezvoused with them must have come from the Isle of Frigga…so that part of the army is probably basing their operations around this area". She drew a circle on the map around Changewing Island and the Isle of Frigga.

"Maybe we should rename it 'The Isle of Insanity' – since, y'know, that's what happens to the dragons who go there" Tuffnut suggested. Everyone ignored him.

"I can't believe they infected the dragons with grimora, on purpose!" Fishlegs fumed. "That's…that's monstrous!"

"Not to mention stupid" Tuffnut interjected, "I mean, even I thought it was stupid. Our islands are surrounded by saltwater. Grimora hate salt. Am I the only one who thought it was dumb?" he asked, "No, seriously, I'm really asking".

"It's strange that they used grimora this time, and not dragon root like last time" Heather remarked thoughtfully, "That would have had the same effect, if they wanted the dragons to be irrationally aggressive. And surely just having them in the traps would be enough of a bait?"

"It did make things more difficult" Hiccup admitted, "As for why they're using dragon root and grimora…I guess since they don't seem to have a Sea-Giant to control the dragons they capture, they have to find…other means" he reasoned, lips pursing in disgust. No hunters would be enslaving any of his dragons, if he had anything to say about it.

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me" said Snotlout, "Can someone tell me why we're even discussing this? These guys might not have a giant super-dragon on their side, but we do. Why doesn't Hiccup just fly up north and ask his giant Alpha pal to come down here and ice the suckers to smithereens?"

"You know, I'm sitting right here" Hiccup pointed out, from his seat opposite Snotlout, "and yeah, I could ask the King to destroy this army. So what happens afterwards? These hunters were part of Drago's army – at least some of them. They know about the King. If the thought of going up against a Bewilderbeast didn't make them think twice about coming back, then who's to say they'll keep away the second time? Besides, we can't just ask the King to bail us out whenever some big threat turns up. He has his own subjects and territory to defend" Hiccup explained.

"But it would give us a huge advantage" Astrid reasoned, "Especially if this army is attacking us and our allies at the same time. We need all the help we can get. Speaking of which…do you think, y'know…the Night Furies would help us?"

"Hey, yeah!" Dagur exclaimed, "Those hunters would never see that coming. Ooh! Do you suppose there's any chance I could ride one of them, Hiccup? Then we could have a race!"

"They're wild dragons, Dagur, not horses" Hiccup replied, "And I really can't ask them to risk it. I still can't believe Selena convinced even some of them to come help us last time. If the hunters managed to capture any of them, or track down their nest, their Queen would kill me".

"No, she wouldn't" Astrid rolled her eyes, "If they get captured, we'll rescue them. What do you think, Toothless?" she asked the black dragon, who was lying on the cool flagstones nearby. He was so quiet that she might have thought he was asleep, if not for the fact that his eyes were open and bright.

*I don't think it would hurt to ask* Toothless answered reasonably. Astrid turned to her husband with a triumphant smirk on her face. "Told you so".

"Mind clueing the rest of us in?" Snotlout asked impatiently.

"Toothless doesn't think there's any harm in asking the King and the Night Furies to come help" Astrid translated airily.

Hiccup sighed and relented. "Okay, fine. I'll see if mom and Cloud Jumper will go to ask the King if he can spare any of his subjects. I'm sure they'd like to visit their old nest".

"Shouldn't you be going?" Heather asked, genuinely curious, "I mean, you and Toothless are the Alphas. It seems like it would be more respectful to ask the King yourselves, directly – or does it not work that way with dragons?"

"Heather, believe me, in any other circumstances we would go – but we can't leave Berk or the pack at a time like this. We have no idea when the hunters are going to attack again".

"But we know it won't be for a while" Astrid insisted, "And you'd only be gone for a week, at most. Valka and Cloud can hold the fort down, or whatever the dragon equivalent is, whilst you're gone. You'll be there and back in no time if you leave first thing in the morning".

"Are you ordering me to go?"

"Yes, I am" she challenged, "And you had better listen. You promised, if I became Chief, that you'd respect the new chain of command. You can't do whatever you want just because you're at the top of the hierarchy as far as the dragons are concerned".

She is so hot when she does that thought Hiccup. "You're right" he said aloud, "I did promise". It had been part of their agreement; in exchange for abdicating his heirdom to be the Alpha alongside Toothless, Hiccup had sworn to respect Astrid as his chief and follow her orders. "We'll go to the King. As for the Night Furies…I'm sorry, Astrid, but I can't. They've risked enough for us already – breaking centuries of secrecy to fight an enemy that might never have gotten to them, if it wasn't for that. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if they were put in danger because of me".

"But they won't be in danger, because we'd rescue them. Hiccup, these hunters have a lot of ships – you and Toothless alone can't counter them all. What about Alvin, and Dagur? Don't their tribes deserve to have a Night Fury or two protecting their dragons as well?" Astrid reasoned.

She knew he meant well; but they had to think of the safety of Berk first, and having more Night Furies on their side would be a great advantage. The benefits, as far as she was concerned, outweighed the risks. "Promise me you'll think about it" she asked; they didn't have time to argue.

"Yes, dear, whatever you like". She glared at him. "Sorry. Yes, chief. Of course I will".

"Good. I'll send word to the other tribes in the archipelago, warn them about the hunters. Oh, and I'll try to get word to Eret as well. How are we doing for supplies?"

"Well, we've got no shortage of Fire-Scale gel and Twin-Head gas, obviously – but we're running low on Scale-Shifter acid" Fishlegs reported dutifully, "not to mention, the Isle of Frigga was our best source of sandstone to make Gronckle Iron with. If the hunters have taken over it, then we're gonna be in trouble".

"Then we need a plan to recapture that island. In the meantime, Snotlout, I want you to take a team to Changewing Island and harvest more acid. If the hunters are there, do not engage them. Understand?"

"We could take 'em"-

"Snotlout".

"What? I'm kidding. Besides, why would the hunters go ashore on that island? Unless you want to get melted alive, it isn't exactly one of the top ten destinations in the archipelago".

"We don't know what these hunters are capable of, or how well equipped they are to handle different kinds of dragon" Fishlegs said firmly, ignoring Snotlout's mocking silent "Meh, meh, meh".

"Question – why is Snotlout going to Changewing Island?" asked Tuffnut. Everyone stared at him.

"I just said, to gather more Changewing acid" Astrid pointed out. "We need it to melt the dragon proof chains with".

Tuffnut blinked, and pointed at Fishlegs. "He said we were running out of Scale-Shifter acid. Follow up question – what is a Scale-Shifter?"

Everybody bit back a groan, but it didn't stop them rolling their eyes. "Scale-Shifters are Changewings" Astrid replied, resisting the urge to face-palm. "You know what? Just for that, you two are going on that mission as well. Snotlout, make sure they don't get killed. That's an order".

"…Now, when you say 'get killed', do you mean just that specifically…?"

"Or injured".

"Fine".

"Good. Whilst you're there, try and find out exactly where the army is based. Scouting only, don't go stirring up trouble".

"I know. First you dump the twins on me – thanks for that, by the way – and now you're telling me the obvious? Sheesh, it's no wonder Stoick and Hiccup let you take over. You're all control freaks" Snotlout declared. Astrid and Hiccup both gave him extremely unimpressed glares. "What?"

The following morning, Astrid, Hiccup and Toothless woke early. Hiccup dressed and saddled Toothless, who then waited for him outside. He took his wife in his arms and kissed her, and promised they'd be back home in a week, if they weren't then by all means come looking for them, he loved her, etc.

Before he left the house, Hiccup crept into his daughter's bedroom. She was fast asleep, sucking her thumb, her wavy blonde hair splashed upon the pillow. He smiled fondly, and crouched down to press a feather light kiss to her temple. "See you soon, darling" he whispered to her, before he stood up and stole out of the room.

Moments after the door had softly clicked shut, Helena stirred.

"Daddy?"

A/N: I'm not going to lie, I feel like I'm going to struggle with this arc. It's not that I don't know what to write. It's just that the protagonists have so much on their side that should make defeating the hunters easy, but then all the tension of the story would be lost. In order for there to be a conflict, I'm going to have to contrive a few reasons for them to not always have the upper hand. Please bear with me, guys.