Inside the MacGuffin Home

Upon entering the MacGuffin house, they were all greeted by Lady MacGuffin and her daughter, Sorcha. They both had the same reaction Elinor did to realizing who Hiccup was, and for a while stood dumbfound at the man before them. There was also another woman there whom Merida introduced as Dona*. She looked a little older than Merida, but she had a broader build with brown eyes and dark hair. Unfortunately Cathal and the other men of the house were out hunting for food.

"It's been harder ta find food lately." said Lady MacGuffin. "Th' invaders took all of th' livestock an' crops in DunBroch, an' the dragons ate up everythin' in th' wild."

"Speaking of which," started Hiccup, "What happened?"

Lady MacGuffin, Sorcha and Dona looked at Elinor, who then proceeded to a secure room. Everyone followed her as she sat down in a soft chair.

"It all happened so suddenly." she said, rubbing her forehead. "It was in th' middle of th' night. Everyone was already asleep. I was woken up by one of th' guards, to be honest I couldn't even tell who it was I was so tired. But he told us there was someone who demanded a meetin' with us." She took a deep breath before continuing. "So Fergus an' I got dressed an' went ta th' throne room. There was a man there, watin' fer us. He had horrible scars stretchin' all over his face, an' his voice was so low I could barely hear him."

"What did he say?" said Hiccup quietly.

"He said...there was a danger comin'. An' we were fragile an' weak and that he would help us. But only if we bowed ta him as th' new King. Of course, ah didn't believe him. Fergus didn't either. So we refused."

She pressed her hands to her temples and rocked back and forth.

"Then they came. At first we didn't believe it, but beasts of all kinds started attacking from every direction. That's when I got you an' yer brothers." She looked to Merida. "I knew at that point that whatever was happening, it was because of that man. We were being invaded, an' if he truly wanted th' throne, he'd need ta get all of us."

"Did he ever give his name?" Hiccup said.

"Aye, it was-"

"Drago Bludvist." Stoick spoke this time.

"Yes...how did ye know?"

Stoick's eyebrows furrowed. "Because the same exact thing happened years ago during a meeting with all the chiefs. He came with a proposal to stop the dragons, but once we refused all of the dragons attacked. I was the only one to make it out alive."

"Wait. How long ago was this?" Hiccup put in.

"You were still young. But this man is not to be trifled with. All he wants is war."

"I'm afraid th' war has already started." said the Queen.

A thought suddenly came to Merida's mind.

"Where's dad?" she said.

Elinor didn't look up and Sorcha shifted uncomfortably. Yet no one said a word.

"Mum! Where's dad?" But Elinor began to shake silently.

"Merida." said Lady MacGuffin. Merida turned her head quickly. "Yer father died."

There was an ominous silence in the room. Everyone just stood there, stunned.

Soon Merida was shaking as well. "W-what?"

"He was killed by one of th' dragons. Ah'm sorry, lass." The Lord's wife reached over and put her hand on Merida's shoulder. But the princess jerked away violently.

"No! Don't touch me! Don't ever touch me! Don't even talk ta me!" and with that she ran past everyone out of the room.

Plan

It was strange walking through the halls of the MacGuffin home. It had seemed like nothing had changed in the past four years. Everything was the same. Same decorations, same hard stone, same everything. Well, except the eerie silence. Closing his eyes, Hiccup could almost hear the triplets running past them, the Queen or Merida yelling after them as Brian ran down the stairs yammering about something to his brother. He could almost feel the wintery cold chilling his bones and feet as he continued to walk. But as he opened his eyes, the warmth of summer returned as well as the disheartening reminder of reality.

Eventually he came to a large wooden door which he knocked on quietly. Hearing no response, he opened it to find Merida shriveled on the floor with Astrid sitting next to her. The viking girl looked up, but Merida kept her knees close to her face. Upon seeing Hiccup, Astrid got up and dusted herself off before she joined him in the hall.

"How is she?" he said.

"She hasn't said a word since we found her in the forest."

He nodded but gave one last glance at the redhead before closing the door.

"So what's the status downstairs?" Astrid continued.

"We wanted to start a meeting on what to do next, but we thought maybe Merida should be there."

"It's probably best to leave her alone for now. She's pretty shaken up."

"Well who can blame her?"

They paused for a moment, letting the air settle.

"So," Hiccup started, "how's Thuggory doing."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. You've probably seen him more recently than I have."

"Yeah...yeah just-"

"Hiccup, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, it's...I'll see you downstairs."

Hiccup rushed downstairs to avoid talking any more. Eventually the meeting did start without Merida and both Queen Elinor and Stoick recited about Drago.

"He obviously knows quite a bit about dragons if he can control so many." said Stoick in a husky voice.

"Not jus' dragons either," said Elinor, "he's got an army of men with traps."

"How many men on our side?"

"Not enough. We keep sendin' scoutin' parties like the one you encountered ta see if they'll pursue us."

"What if we send a letter back home?" said Hiccup. "We could use our dragons to free the other dragons."

Stoick paused for a moment. "Or just fight the other dragons."

"Dad-"

"Son, we can't save every dragon. You know that."

"I also know that most dragons carry the instinct to protect, not to kill."

"Have ye considered that Drago is th' one they wish ta protect?" said Queen Elinor sternly.

"Well, either way I think the main focus here is Drago." said Astrid. "But the problem is that his defenses are too high. Even if we managed to send a letter back home, how are we going to get an army over here without anyone noticing?"

"Besides," said Stoick, "they saw us already. For all we know they're preparing themselves now."

Hiccup gave a heavy sigh. "So...what do we do?"

No one spoke for a good long while. It seemed as though everyone knew the answer, but no one wanted to say it. The silence hung in the air so long that everyone could hear the conversations being held down the street.

"There's only one thing we can do." said Thuggory softly. "We all have to retreat. Go somewhere else."

Elinor gave a soft sob. She was ready to protest, to fight for her land where she fell in love, where she raised her children. But even she knew it would only result in death. Biting her lip, she proceeded to cry.

"No." said a voice behind them. No one had realized the figure standing in the doorway, or that the door had even opened. But Merida stood tall and proud despite her red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. She had changed into a dress similar to the one she used to wear all the time, but this one was a dark grey with a square-neck and was decorated in silver trim. In her hand she held a sword that had once belonged to her father, but was given to the MacGuffin family as a token of peace. It was given back to her as a reminder of the passed patriarch.

"Ah'm goin' ta kill that bastard." said Merida.

No one said anything for a while, some out of surprise or shock and the others were just impressed.

"Merida, there's no way." said Hiccup gloomily.

"You say th' fate of mah kingdom is ta let it fall into th' hands of a murderer. Well ah won't accept that. Ah can't accept that. So ah'm goin' ta change fate. Ah've done it before an' ah'll do it again."

"Darling, we have no provisions or plan of attack." Elinor said, sitting back in defeat.

"But we have an advantage. We know this land better than anyone. Ah grew up on this land, an' ah will defend it with all mah strength."

"But what of the strength of your people?" said Stoick. "Just looking outside, anyone can tell they're tired and weak. They couldn't last ten minutes in battle."

Suddenly Hiccup's eyes lit up. "They don't need to fight."

Everyone looked to him as though he would suggest running again. But their looks turned to confusion as he rose from his seat in deep thought.

"Even though they know we're here, they don't know what we're going to do. We could sneak in the castle, find Drago and hold him captive against his own army." he said excitedly.

"Yeah, and how are we supposed to get in?" Snotlout huffed, crossing his arms.

The chief gestured toward Merida. "She just said they know the lands better than anyone. She also knows the castle as well. Do you know of any passages where we could enter unnoticed?" He turned to the princess.

"Aye." said Elinor. "Ah know of one."

"But you forget," started Tuffnut, "there's a whole bunch of dragons and stuff ready to burn our faces off."

"And who knows more about dragons than the founders of the Dragon Academy?" Hiccup looked around the table for any more objections. He knew it was tricky, but the look of gratitude on the Queen's face gave him reassurance.

No one spoke up. No one objected. It sounded a lot better than running away with their tails tucked between their legs, and the vikings were beginning to get eager for a fight.

"Ah only find one problem." said Merida. Everyone turned to look at her, and she stabbed the sword she was grasping into the table they sat around. "When we find Drago, we aren't goin' ta hold him hostage. Ah will kill him."

Old Friend

No one tried to argue with Merida. Anyone could see the bloodlust and determination in her eyes. But once they had finished the plan, Hiccup needed to go outside. His loyal Night Fury followed him, brushing against his hand as he walked.

"What am I going to do, bud?" he said as they crossed through the mass of refugees. "I've given up trying to argue with her, but she can't just-" he cut himself off as he kicked up his prosthetic.

They continued on their walk, thought Toothless was itching to fly. He would jump in front of Hiccup and flap his wings or even force him in the saddle.

"No, we can't fly today." Hiccup said, rubbing his friend's neck. "Sorry bud, but we can't risk being seen by the all the bad men."

"Aww, not even fer a little while?" said a voice. Hiccup turned quickly. He didn't recognize the voice at first, but as soon as he saw the owner his eyes widened.

"Cathal?" Hiccup slid off Toothless in an ungraceful manner.

The Eldest MacGuffin boy approached him, covered in mud and carrying a string of rabbits behind him. Like Hiccup, he too had grown over the years despite being quite large already. He had also grown a mustache that had begun to cover his lips.

Cathal nodded to his question. "Been a long time, Hiccup."

"Four years, but who's counting?"

"Ah'll admit, ah didn't recognize ye at first. Ah had ta ask around first."

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah…time changes you. You're proof of that."

Cathal laughed and slapped the back of Hiccup's back, leaving a hint of mud. "So this must be…Footless?" He said, gesturing toward the black dragon.

Hiccup chuckled. "No, I'm Footless. This is Toothless."

"Toothless, right."

The Night Fury looked at Cathal with curiosity, but his eyes were slightly narrowed out of hesitation. Hiccup went over to Cathal and made him put up his arm. Toothless began to sniff his hand and was about to press his nose to it, but suddenly he got distracted by the dead kill behind Cathal's back. Excitedly, he tried to grab the string of brown rabbits.

"Hey! That's not for you!" Hiccup cried, and he pushed the dragon head away. But Toothless widened his eyes and tried to give the best pouty face he could.

"Heh, it's alright if he has one." The Scott cut one off the end and threw it to the dragon.

Toothless accepted it graciously and tore the rabbit to bits. He wasn't quite used to such a meal, but he seemed alright with it. After he was finished he approached Cathal, expecting more.

"No, that's it for you." Hiccup groaned, and he tried to get between the dragon and the Scott.

The dragon huffed, but he still tried to get close to Cathal.

"Well, I suppose that's one way to get a dragon's affection." Hiccup chuckled as he fought off the Night Fury. Eventually Toothless gave up trying to get another rabbit and wandered off back towards the house.

"He's…not what ah expected." said Cathal as they watched the dragon waddle away.

"Yeah, he's full of surprises."

"Well, apparently so are you. Ah wasn't really expectin' ta see ye here."

"If it wasn't for Merida, I wouldn't be here."

"Speakin' of which, how is she? Ah haven't seen her since before th' attack."

Hiccup's bright expression faded. Physically, she was perfectly fine. But with everything that's happened…

"She…she's dealing with a lot." Hiccup finally said.

Cathal nodded slowly. "Does she know about th' King?"

Hiccup didn't say anything. He simply gave a small nod and let the silence talk for itself.

"Were you there when he…" Hiccup choked.

Cathal shook his head. "Ah was here. No one knew till th' day after."

They stood in silence for a while as the world moved around them. Suddenly a little girl and boy casually walked up to the pair of them standing in the sun. The girl crept her way over to Hiccup and stared at him with large, brown eyes. Noticing her, he returned her look with a smile.

Gasping she ran and hid behind the little boy, who appeared to be her older brother.

"Aren't ye goin' ta ask him?" the boy said. He tried pulling his sister toward the viking again, but she held a firm grasp to his kilt.

Hiccup took a few steps toward them. "Ask me what?"

Upon hearing his voice, the girl tried to hide herself again and buried her face in her brother's shirt. Giving up, her brother spoke for her.

"She wanted ta see yer dragon." he sighed.

Hiccup gave a hearty chuckle. Then his eyes lit up.

"Give me a second." Then he ran back inside the house, leaving Cathal and the children outside.

Soon he came back out with a proceeding of dragons of all sizes and shapes along with their riders. As soon as she saw them, the girl's eyes widened as big as dinner plates and she froze in shock of them.

Each of the riders wished to show the pair that their dragon was best and displayed a great amount of tricks dealing with flight and fire. At first, many of the townspeople were afraid the dragons were attacking, but soon they saw the two children laughing and even running around the dragons to play.

Toothless was especially eager to play. Since Hiccup had been less playful earlier, he went right up to the pair of children to gain affection. At first they were intimidated by this pitch black dragon, but as he rubbed against them and licked their faces and clothes, they became as playful as the dragon.

Soon there was a mass of children and adults going up to the dragons and looking upon them with wonder or even touching and playing with them.

Occasionally there would be a concerned individual who would drag their children and family members away from the dangerous beasts, but soon most of the people were joining in the dragon-human interaction.

No Sleep

All the members of the viking group had decided to sleep with their dragons, though some were presented with their own rooms. In the dining room, Snotlout and the twins curled up in a corner with Hookfang, Barf and Belch. Because of the positive interaction between the dragons and Scotts earlier that day, many of the refugees had agreed to sleep in the same room as dragons, so people and blankets were littered all around the floor.

Stoick had been given a private room with Skullcrusher which was rather small, but he was used to such dimensions. Thuggory shared a room with Fishlegs, though he never realized how much Fishlegs and Meatlug snored, so he soon found himself roaming the house. After a while he found himself at Astrid and Stormfly's room.

Knocking quietly, he whispered, "Astrid? You asleep?"

After a while of no reply, he turned to leave. Just then the door opened.

"No." said Astrid, still fully-dressed and not a hint of sleep in her eyes. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep. My roommates aren't exactly the most quiet."

She gave a small chuckle. "I warned you when you volunteered to room with them."

He gave a half smile. "Yeah, I guess I should've listened."

"Well, you need someone to talk to for a while?"

"I don't know. Honestly, I'm really just wandering around."

"Well, I'm kind of bored. So I guess I'll join you." Astrid opened the door all the way, revealing the sleeping Nadder behind her. Stepping out, she proceeded down the hall in the direction she supposed Thuggory was going.

They walked quietly so as not to wake anyone, but it was so dark in the halls, they occasionally bumped into various objects. Eventually they found themselves outside where they could see everything in the pale moonlight.

"So," said Astrid once they felt it was alright to speak at a normal volume, "what's been going on in the Meathead Tribe?"

Thuggory kicked a small pebble. "Same as always. Though a small dragon incident made us start planting season late."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, a couple of Whispering Deaths tore up our plantations and was moving toward the village."

"Oh yeah, you mentioned that in one of your letters. Didn't you try using someone as live bait?"

He gave a small chuckle. "Yeah. It was dad's idea. Luckily they didn't go for it, though. Otherwise he would've been ripped to shreds."

"Too bad we couldn't have come to help."

"Well, you were handling a situation on Changewing Island already. Couldn't drag you away from that."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Right…that was annoying."

"By annoying, do you mean the dragons or the twins?"

"Both."

They shared a good laugh as they continued on into the plains of MacGuffin. Eventually they came upon a large lake. The night's darkness made the water look black, but the moon sparkled on its small ripples and reflected into their eyes. They found a lonesome tree by the water's edge and sat under its leaves. The warm summer breeze flew past them and licked their cheeks as they continued their conversation.

"So did Hiccup agree to perform the ceremony?" Thuggory asked.

"I haven't been able to get him to talk about it. He's always avoiding the subject whenever I try to ask." Astrid pulled her knees up to her chest.

Thuggory gave a small sigh. "To be honest, I'm not surprised."

"Why is that?"

"I'm pretty sure he still has feelings for you. The way he looks at you, it's pretty obvious." Putting his back to the tree, the chief's son looked over the water.

"Yeah…I know."

"Do you still like him?"

Astrid said nothing. Resting her chin on her knees, she stared into nothingness.

Giving small nods, Thuggory continued. "Yeah, you do. And I'm okay with that."

She looked over to him. "You are?"

"Well, the two of you were a couple for a long time. And besides, as much as I'd like it if you only liked me, you wouldn't be the woman you are now if the two of you hadn't been together."

"And…what if I decided to call it off and marry Hiccup instead?"

He raised his eyebrows. This wasn't exactly a situation he wanted to think about, but there was no escaping it. Exhaling, he shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I'd just have to get over it."

She nodded then looked back at the lake. There were a few moments of silence before she spoke again.

"You can relax; I'm still going to marry you."

He chuckled, only realizing then how much he had tensed up over the subject. Astrid leaned back and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Well, the way you said it, it seemed like you were going to."

She gave an evil smirk and raised her hand to flick his forehead.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, but Astrid took her chance and got up to run. Chasing after her, they ran all the way around the lake till she pushed him in. Though he was only in the shallows, his clothes were drenched. She laughed hard at him, her blonde hair flipping around her face.

But Thuggory wasn't defeated easily. Scooping up a large amount of water, he splashed her with a giant wave. Screamin, she tried to run away, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the water with him.

The water was cold compared to the warm summer air, but they continued to splash and dunk each other anyway. Finally, they climbed out, laughing. As they walked back to the MacGuffin mansion, Thuggory put a gentle hand on her shoulder and kissed her temple.

Fergus, the Bear King

Astrid and Thuggory weren't the only ones still awake. Merida sat by a small fireplace in her room, simply watching the flames as she held onto her father's sword. She didn't cry. She was tired of crying. All she felt now was a burning hate boiling up inside her as she awaited her chance of revenge.

Unfortunately, their plan wouldn't be set in motion till the next morning. They had worked out the details after she declared her requirement of killing Drago. Now all she had to do was wait for the sun to rise.

Her eyes were heavy and she had dark circles, but she didn't want to sleep. She had already fallen asleep once, and when she awoke she was faced with a world without her father to guide her.

Closing her eyes, she tucked her feet under her nightgown. Through the darkness behind her eyelids, she saw her father's face. She saw him as clear as day with his bold face and bright eyes. His red hair she inherited was beginning to grey near the top, and wrinkles were forming all around his face. Whenever she teased him about being old, he always gave her a small grimace which turned into a smile.

She began to hold the sword tighter. Though she loved her mother with all her heart, she couldn't help but feel that her father was the one she connected to the most. He taught her to fight, to shoot, and even to dance. She remembered being a little girl as he spun her around the room. Sometimes she would stand on his feet as he moved them to a quick beat. Even when he lost his leg, he would dance with her and lift her in the air as high as she could go.

She missed him. She missed smelling the fresh grass smell after he returned from a hunt. She missed sparring with him in the courtyard. She missed teasing him with her brothers and she missed how he bickered with the Lords.

But what tore her up the most was the fact that she wasn't there. She couldn't be with him in the end. She couldn't see how he died. She couldn't even remember the last words she said to him.

"Don't worry dad…" she whispered, "Ah'll avenge you…Ah'll kill him fer you…"

The Dragon Trapper

A lone trapper ran through DunBroch's halls, not caring if anyone was asleep. Panting, he sped up a great amount of stairs till he reached the top of a tower. He prayed to the gods this was the right tower, as he had gotten lost before. Opening a hatch, he found a few guards sleeping.

"Wake up!" he said, kicking one of them. "Drago's getting furious, has anyone heard about the riders?"

One of them moaned sleepily while the other shot to his feet and stood at attention.

"Eret! No, we haven't seen anything, and the other guards haven't returned."

Eret shoved past him and looked over the tower. "And how could you tell they haven't returned if you're sleeping?"

The guard looked sheepish and tried to sink away. "Sorry, it won't happen again."

"It had better not." Turning to leave, he kicked the other guard who opened his eyes for a bit, then went back to sleep. Rolling his eyes, Eret grabbed the guard by the collar and pulled him to his feet. Unfortunately, all it did was make him sleep standing up.

Eret went back down the tower, only to be stopped by a looming figure. Eret recognized who it was right away, and his eyes widened in fear.

"Where are they?" it said.

"Oh, Drago! Uh, well we haven't located the riders yet, but I assure you, I will personally trap their dragons and capture all of them."

Drago Bludvist said nothing. His dark eyes narrowed, and his mouth began to slowly form a grimace. Eret wanted nothing but to run, but his feet refused to move. Suddenly, a fist came in contact with his cheek.

The dragon trapper was send hurling backwards, clutching his throbbing cheek. He tried his best not to cry out, but the pain made him wince.

"Next time you fail me, I won't be so merciful…"