Follow The Leader

Early afternoon; on Dragon's Edge,

Fishlegs and Meatlug had arrived at the lookout- tower several hours earlier; a short time after Hiccup, Astrid, Heather, and their dragons had left to go exploring. They were both in excellent moods: Hiccup had put Fishlegs in-charge, until he and the others got back. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and there was no sign of trouble.
As time passed, Fishlegs began fantasizing about where this could lead: First he and Meatlug would be left in-charge of The Edge, when Hiccup and Toothless were away; then they'd be helping to plan and lead important missions. And, maybe, when the time came for Hiccup to succeed his father as Chief of Berk; leaving the top- spot at The Dragon Academy vacant…
Fishlegs didn't remember his eyes closing; but, the next thing he knew; he was falling through the air.

"Meatlug!" Fishlegs called, frantically. Meatlug dove after him, caught him, and they rose into the sky. "Whew; you're always there for me, girl."

'Try to be more careful, next time.' Meatlug said, with evident relief.

Before either of them could say more, there was an explosion, from somewhere near the beach; a pillar of smoke rose, into the sky. Fishlegs's eyes widened. "On, no; we're under attack!"

When they arrived at the scene, a few minutes later, they found Snotlout and The Twins goofing off; wasting their emergency- supply of Monstrous- Nightmare gel.
"Oh my Thor!" Tuffnut said, grinning. "That was amazing!" Ruffnut, also grinning, nodded. "Do it again, Snotlout!"

"What!" Fishlegs exclaimed, his eyes widening. Meatlug dropped towards them, Fishlegs snatching the jar of Monstrous- Nightmare gel out of Snotlout's hand, as she passed. The Gronkle landed nearby. "I'll take that, thank you very much. Monstrous- Nightmare gel is not to be toyed with; it's for defending The Edge!"

"Uh, hello: My dragon makes it!" Snotlout pointed out, gesturing to Hookfang as he spoke. Hookfang came to stand next to Snotlout, grinning smugly, and set himself on fire. "Besides: Who put you in-charge?"

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs said, proudly, from his place on Meatlug's back.

There was a long moment of silence, than Snotlout and The Twins burst out laughing. "Hiccup put you in-charge of us?" Snotlout asked, incredulously.

"Yes." Fishlegs said, getting down from Meatlug's saddle. "While he, Astrid, and Heather are out exploring, I am the de-facto leader."

"De-fake-o, maybe," Snotlout joked. "De-facto, I don't think-o so."

"I don't recall that, per say." Ruffnut said, shaking her head. Tuffnut nodded, "But what I do recall, is your lack of recollection."

Snotlout walked over, and snatched the jar of Monstrous- Nightmare gel out of Fishlegs's hands. "Come on, think about it: Why in the world would Hiccup put you in-charge of anything?"

"My leadership potential, for starters," Fishlegs replied. Another pause, then Snotlout and The Twins were laughing again.

"Fishlegs, you could never be a leader; a leader has to be brave" Snotlout exclaimed. "Adventurous," Tuffnut added. "And a little crazy," Ruffnut finished. Tuff turned back to his sister, "Or a lot crazy!" – Ruff and Tuff chuckled.

"Just give it to me!" Fishlegs attempted to grab the jar from Snotlout, who tossed it to Tuff; when he tried to get it from Tuff, he tossed it to Ruff. Ruff tossed it to Tuff, who tossed it back to Snotlout.

Finally, Fishlegs gave up; turned, and headed back to Meatlug. "Fine: You can explain this to Hiccup, when he gets back… He's not going to be pleased when he finds out about this!"
He clambered back onto Meatlug's back, and the Gronkle rose into the sky.

Later; a short distance from their base,

"There's more to being a leader than just 'bravery'!" Fishlegs told Meatlug, as they walked through the forest. "You've got to be quick- witted; light on your feet, with a keen eye for the unexpected … I have all of those qualities!"

'I know.' Meatlug agreed, as she plodded along next to him. 'But you stood your ground when they challenged you; that's also important. Hiccup will sort this out when he gets back; once they find out he did leave you in-charge, this time, they might not be so quick to dismiss you in the future.'

Fishlegs gave Meatlug a rub on the shoulder; but, before he could speak, a strange sound reached their ears. Fishlegs hurried to Meatlug's side, "Whew: I do not want to know what that was!" His thoughts went to what Snotlout had said, earlier, and his eyes narrowed. "Or… do we."
Fishlegs took a deep breath; then he and Meatlug set off, following the sound to its source. After about five minutes, they arrived at the entrance to a cave; Fishlegs approached, cautiously, and peered inside. They heard the mystery- sound again; Fishlegs pulled back, and took several deep breaths. "I am not afraid; I'm not afraid. I am brave; I am brave." He turned to Meatlug; "We're going in, girl!"

"It came from in here, right?" Fishlegs asked, after a few minutes." Meatlug nodded, but said nothing. "That's what I thought, too; maybe it was–" Then something caught Fishlegs's eye, and he gasped. "Meatlug, look!"
About ten feet ahead of them, rising out of the cave floor, was a sword; the blade buried halfway up to the hilt, and the parts they could see were covered in runes. "Look at these markings; they're ancient!" Fishlegs tried to pull the sword out, but it wouldn't budge.
"Come on, Meatlug; help me get this out!" Meatlug gripped the hilt between her teeth, Fishlegs gripped the cross guard; working together, they pulled the sword free. When it did, Fishlegs went flying; a moment later, he called back "I'm ok, girl."

Meatlug shot a burst of molten rock, to give them some light. As Fishlegs was getting to his feet, he glanced at the cave wall, and spotted more runes. "Hey; Meatlug, give me another blast…" Meatlug did, and Fishlegs's eyes widened. "Know what girl; I think you and I have stumbled onto an archeological find for the ages! … I hope you're hungry, Snotlout; because you're about to eat your words, big time!"
Fishlegs clambered onto Meatlug's back. "Come on; we've got to go tell the others!"

Shortly,

"I don't see what the big deal is; it's our stuffed- yak!" Tuffnut said; as Hiccup, Astrid, and Heather surveyed the scene.

"It's not the yak, Tuffnut." Hiccup told him, tossing one of the empty jars aside. "It's the Monstrous- Nightmare gel you used to sett the yak on fire."

"We've been harvesting it to defend The Edge from Viggo and his army." Astrid told them, holding up another empty jar.

Snotlout raised his arms in front of him, in a placating gesture. "Ok: So we might've gotten a little carried away; what's the big deal? It's not like we don't know where we can get more!" He gave Hookfang a pat on the lower- jaw.

"What if our dragons aren't around; what if The Hunters attack, again, and we don't have the Nightmare- gel?" Hiccup asked, looking from Snotlout to The Twins and back.

Heather nodded, in agreement. "Hookfang can't replace all of this: It took us weeks to harvest that much gel; and it wasn't all Hookfang's, to begin with!"

"I didn't say he was going to replace it all!" Snotlout said, defensively.

Hiccup took a deep breath. "Look: Would you please get more gel? I don't care how you do it, just do it."

Snotlout scowled; and turned to Ruff and Tuff, "Come on." The three of them turned, and walked away, followed by their dragons.

A moment later, Fishlegs's voice reached them. "Hiccup! Hiccup; you are not going to believe this!"

"Yeah, no kidding; I can't believe any of this!"" Hiccup said, gesturing to the empty jars that had once contained Monstrous- Nightmare gel. Fishlegs's smile vanished, as he realized what Hiccup was referring to. "Fishlegs; did you… know, this was going on?"

Fishlegs shifted, uncomfortably. "Well… Yes, I guess; sort of… I told them to stop!"

"And?" Hiccup asked, pointedly.

Fishlegs frowned, "And… what?"

"And they didn't," Hiccup elaborated. "And now we've got fires to put out, all over the base; and an emptied- out emergency- supply of Monstrous- Nightmare gel!" There was a short pause. "Fishlegs: We're on our own, out here; this kind of stuff," he gestured around them, "just can't happen, not with Viggo out there."

Fishlegs hung his head. "I'm sorry, Hiccup; you know how The Twins and Snotlout can be!"

"Yes, I do; but you're better then that!" Hiccup shook his head, "It's just… disappointing." He and Astrid returned to their dragons, rose into the sky, and vanished from view.

Fishlegs sighed, "I hate it when Hiccup gets 'disappointed'; 'mad' I can handle, disappointed is so much worse!"

Heather put a hand on Fishlegs's shoulder. "I'm sure you did what you could; it's just… the gel…"

Fishlegs nodded, "I know; I just… need some time to think."

Heather nodded, "Don't be too hard on yourself, Fishlegs: Hiccup's not angry; he's just got a lot on his plate." She walked back to her dragon, clambered into the saddle on Windshear's back, and they rose into the sky.

Back in the cave,

"Keep going, girl!" Fishlegs said, to Meatlug. "If we can show Hiccup what we've found; he will–" The ground beneath his feet suddenly gave- way, and Fishlegs fell into a dark pit. "Meatlug!" he cried, as he fell, and his dragon shot after him.

At the bottom,

The fall, fortunately, wasn't as long as it might've been; and the landing wasn't too bad, wither. "Whew." Fishlegs said, getting to his feet, and looking around. "Huh…"
A split- second later, Meatlug slammed into him; knocking him onto his back, and began licking his face. "I'm ok; I'm ok!" Fishlegs reassured her, getting to his feet.

Fishlegs held a torch out to Meatlug, who ignited it with a short burst of fire; holding it out in front of them, they began to make their way down the new tunnel.
They'd only taken a few steps when they heard the sound that had first drawn them to the cave entrance. Then they saw pairs of red eyes gleaming, in the darkness; looking right at them. "Meatlug…" Fishlegs said, nervously.
Meatlug deposited a mouthful of molten rock on the cavern floor; the resulting illumination revealed several of the approaching dragons, which resembled Night- Terrors. Fishlegs yelped, and turned back the way they'd come, only to see more of the dragons behind them.

Fishlegs cleared his throat. "Uh; hello, there… My name is Fishlegs, and this is Meatlug." The dragons growled, and began to advance. "Ok, lets try this…" Fishlegs extended his hand, palm out, toward the closest dragon; when it snapped at him, he pulled back. "Ok, ok; didn't like that, not a problem…" He rummaged through his saddlebags, "I've got to have something in here that you might; ah, boar- rinds!" Fishlegs tossed one to each of the three nearest dragons; they sniffed at it, then backed away; growling suspiciously.

"No, no; they're good, see!" Fishlegs offered one to Meatlug, who turned it down. "Really? Now you're a finicky eater?" He sighed, and began to chew at the tough meat; several of the dragons eyed him, curiously. He swallowed a bite, and smiled. "See; delicious!"

The dragons turned back to their boar- rind, sniffed them again; ate, and seemed to like, them. Fishlegs took a closer look at their surroundings, "Look at this place, Meatlug; who knew these guys were beneath us, all this time!"

One of the dragons landed on Meatlug's saddle, and trilled something. Fishlegs grinned, "Sorry, that's all I have. You know, you look a lot like a Night- Terror I know; his name's Smidvarg." The dragon squawked, as though it liked the name; Fishlegs grinned, "Oh; you like that, huh? Well: I can't call you Smidvarg, because that one's already taken; but how about… Dargvarg? You know, because…" he let the sentence drift off.
A moment later, Dargvarg began butting his head against the back of Fishlegs's legs; the other dragons began to walk down the passage, then looking back. "Oh, you want us to go this way?" Fishlegs asked, "Well: who am I to argue?"
Meatlug didn't seem too happy about it, but she followed close behind Fishlegs.

They walked for about five minutes, then the tunnel emptied into a larger chamber. Fishlegs's eyes widened, "What in the name of Thor? Meatlug; give me a blast!" Meatlug shot a puddle of molten rock onto the floor, a short distance ahead of them, illuminating the cave. They saw several old lanterns on ledges, a few abandoned weapons, and a variety of other items. "It's a lost civilization!" Fishlegs realized, "These guys have made it their home; their own dragon- village!" There was also a massive chair, right up against the back wall; "Huh… I wonder who sits there?"

Then Fishlegs spotted the entrance to another cave, off to his left. "And what's over here?" A moment later, he entered the second chamber, and frowned. "I don't understand: It's so much roomier in here?"
An instant later, he got his answer: A shaft of sunlight shone through a hole in the roof; the moment it reached them, the wild- dragons scrambled back into the shadows. "Of course!" Fishlegs said, understanding. "It's the sun! You guys are cave- dwellers; you can't be in the light!" Then an idea hit him. "You know what: you guys wait here. We'll be back!"

When Fishlegs and Meatlug emerged from the cave, they were surprised to discover that almost an hour and a half had passed. Fishlegs shook his head, "Wow; we'd better hurry!"

'What are you going to do?' Meatlug asked, curiously.

Fishlegs grinned, "You'll see!"

Later that afternoon,

An hour after they'd left the underground cavern, and its inhabitants; Fishlegs and Meatlug were back, with everything Fishlegs needed to complete his 'project'. An hour after that, it was almost done: Fishlegs had nailed nine thick boards to three crosspieces. With Meatlug's help, he secured the wooden 'hatch' over the opening, in the cavern roof; as he worked, a small crowd of the wild- dragons gathered to watch.
"And that, is what we call an 'attic door'." Fishlegs told them, grinning, as he and Meatlug came to join them. "It'll keep out the sunlight, so you guys won't be bothered by it. It's operated by a simple pulley- system; Meatlug, care to demonstrate?"
Meatlug nodded, and moved to the center of the second cavern; where a length of thick rope fell almost to the floor. Meatlug used her mouth to pull the cord; the counterweight shifted, and the hatch swung open: admitting a ray of sunlight into the cavern.
The dragons began to wail and scatter; but Fishlegs said, "No, no: It's ok; look!" Meatlug pulled on the rope again, and the hatch swung closed, blocking out the sunlight. "See," Fishlegs told them, "easy- peasy! With this installed, this cavern will be fully functional!"

An instant later: A group of the wild- dragons had swept Fishlegs off his feet, and were carrying him off! They did not, however, go far: they returned to the first cavern, and set Fishlegs down on the massive stone chair. More of the dragons gathered around, growling and trilling appreciatively.
Fishlegs blinked, and grinned. "Would you look at that, Meatlug…?" He sat back, in the chair, "Now this is how you treat a leader!"

That evening; near The Dome,

"Hiccup: I'm sure he's fine; you know Fishlegs!" Astrid said, as Hiccup paced back and forth. "He's probably geeking- off somewhere, on some new foliage!"

Windshear landed, a moment later, and Heather came over to join them. "I haven't seen Fishlegs since this morning; he said he needed some time… Still, he should be back by now."

"Yeah, this isn't like him…" Hiccup stopped pacing, and turned to face Astrid and Heather. "You don't think I was too hard on him, earlier?"

Astrid shook her head, "You said what you needed to say, Hiccup; I'm sure he gets that." Heather nodded, to show that she agreed with Astrid.

Just then, Hookfang and Barf- and- Belch landed nearby; and Snotlout and The Twins made their way over. Snotlout set four full jars on a near- by crate, "There you go, Hiccup: my portion of the Monstrous- Nightmare gel."

Tuffnut held up a single jar, peered inside, then upended it; a single drop of Monstrous- Nightmare gel landed on the floor of The Dome. "Huh…" He to Snotlout, "We'd like to make a good- faith offer, for Hookfang's gel."

Snotlout smirked, "I told you the price; it's non- negotiable."

The Twins grumbled; finally, Tuff said, "Fine; two jars." He leaned toward Snotlout, lowered his voice, and added "Put it on Ruff's tab." Ignoring Ruff, who was glaring at him, he turned to Hiccup. "That should cover part of what we owe; we'll get back out there, as soon as the scabs heal."

Meanwhile; in the underground cavern,

Fishlegs jolted awake, and realized that he'd dozed off. "Ahh… It's so peaceful! Well: it's getting late – or early." He turned to Meatlug, "We should be heading back, girl!" He got to his feet, and tried to make his way over to Meatlug. Several dozen of the wild- dragons blocked his path, trying to redirect him back to the chair.
"Aw… Isn't that cute; Meatlug, they want us to stay!" He turned back to the wild- dragons. "I understand your allegiance; really, I do; but we'll be back tomorrow – promise!"
Apparently, that wasn't good for the wild- dragons; who began to move towards him, forcing Fishlegs back to the chair.

'I don't think they're going to let you leave!' Meatlug exclaimed, 'What do we do?'

Fishlegs thought fast, "Go get Hiccup; tell him what happened!"

'But what about you?' Meatlug asked, clearly worried.

Fishlegs returned to the massive chair, and sat down. Immediately: the wild- dragons relaxed, and began to return to their previous positions. Meatlug nodded, and shot through the opening in the cavern- roof; moments later, one of the wild- dragons closed it behind her. Fishlegs sighed, "Wow… I've got to admit: I didn't see that one coming."

Meanwhile; The Dome,

Not long after they returned to The Edge, Snotlout and The Twins turned-in for the night; making their way to their respective huts. About five minutes later, Meatlug arrived at The Dome.

"Meatlug!" Hiccup exclaimed, "What happened; where's Fishlegs?" – Meatlug gave them the short version; which was followed by a full ten seconds of silence.

"I'll get the others!" Heather said, already moving toward Windshear.

"No, Heather; we can look after this." Hiccup said. "It sounds like a misunderstanding: Fishlegs helped them, now they're worried he's going to leave and never come back."

'But Fishlegs told them we'd come back tomorrow…' Meatlug said, uncertainly.

Hiccup rested a hand on the Gronkle's shoulder. "They wouldn't have understood him, Meatlug; they must've been responding to his tone and actions, before."

Toothless nodded. 'Show us where this cavern- system is, Meatlug.'

Within the hour,

Within the hour, they were emerging through the opening in the cavern- roof; Fishlegs once again on Meatlug's back. Hiccup's belief that it had all been a misunderstanding had, as usual, been spot- on.
Once Hiccup had explained the situation to the Albino Night- Terrors; they were perfectly happy to have them, and the rest of their team; visit their underground home, the following day. – In addition to this, they were: very excited to learn that 'The Peacemakers' had established a base on the same island they lived on; were grateful to Fishlegs for – albeit unintentionally – arranging a meeting with these two figures of Dragon- Legends; and apologetic for 'kidnapping' Fishlegs.

As the three dragons rose into the sky, Fishlegs turned to Hiccup; "You know… As hard as it was for me to hear what you said, yesterday; you were right: If I'd just been stronger with Snotlout and The Twins, we wouldn't have put the group in jeopardy by losing the Nightmare- gel." He sighed, "I don't know how you do it, Hiccup: You lead by example; not by fear, or by bossing people around… I've a long way to go, before I learn how to do that."

"Maybe not as long as you think, Fishlegs." Hiccup grinned, "The Albino Night- Terrors told me about your 'project'… You've earned their respect, Fishlegs. Personally, I've found that is the best way to lead; that, and not trying to be someone you're not. Next time I leave you in charge: be fair, but don't forget that you've been left in-charge; and I'll make Snotlout and The Twins are there, paying attention, before I leave."

Astrid and Heather grinned; but it took Fishlegs a moment to process what Hiccup had said. Then his eyes widened, "Wait: Next time you leave me in-charge?"

Hiccup nodded, and turned to Astrid and Heather. "It's getting late; we should head in. See you guys in the morning!" – The others wished him, and each other, goodnight; they parted ways, each heading to their section on the outpost.

To Be Continued…