Second to last chapter, huzzah! Enjoy!

Shout Outs!:

AFTsnake196

Oh yeah, just a bit

ClapWithJoy

Thank you! 'Let's go' we shall!


They flew as fast as the slowest dragon could go, which was rather unfortunately for the new riders, not giving them much time at all to learn. Fishlegs was being jostled on the Gronkle he called Meatlug. "H-Hiccup? I b-belive you, learned too mu-ch from Gobber."

Hiccup turned to look back at him, he looked rather pale. He'll have to deal with it, Toothless' in trouble and dad's going to get him killed. "Sorry Fishlegs."

"Haha!" Snotlout laughed, "It's not that hard Fish-face, see? You just gotta hold the dragon right to show 'em who's in charge!"

Hookfang, the dragon Hiccup tricked Snotlout onto, growled deeply, "I do not bow to you."

Snotlout sniffed the air before yelping in pain, "Hey! Hiccup tell this dragon to behave!"

Hiccup shook his head at Hookfang, but he couldn't help the small smile. They entered Helheim's mist and Hiccup yelled, "Alright, stay close."

As they neared the nest Amethyst cooed worriedly, ears pressed flat and body ridged. Hiccup stroked her side, "Hey, it's alright Amethyst."

She said without looking back, "I've never had an alfa in my mind before…its, its disconcerting."

Swiftwind chirped from beside her, "Everything will be alright, focus on Hiccup or Toothless, they are our pack leaders and will protect us."

Hiccup's stomach dropped, "She, won't be able to sense that, will she?"

Stormfly and Astrid had pulled up on their other side, "Most defiantly."

"Oh, that's great. You didn't think to mention that, say, before we started on this whole campaign!" Hiccup yelled at Swiftwind.

He remained looking ahead, "I honestly hadn't thought about it until you said something."

Astrid looked at Hiccup, worried, "Are you alright Hiccup?"

"No, not in the slightest, but I can't worry about that now."

"Guys...?" Fishlegs asked, voice rising.

Hiccup looked ahead and saw the battle, the burning ships and the Berkians scattered on the beach as they desperately tried not to get stepped on. "By the White King." Hiccup breathed.

Snotlout gasped, "That is something straight from Helheim."

The twins nodded before Tuffnut grinned, "And it's AWESOME!"

"Yeah…" Ruffnut pointed out, "If it wasn't trying to kill our parents."

Tuffnut looked down, wide eyed, "Oh, so not cool! That thing's going down!"

Hiccup saw her gather gas in her mouth to blast his dad, "Amethyst, plasma blast!"

Amethyst fired before the queen could and hit her in a nostril.

Hiccup began shouting orders as they circled the queen, "Stoker and Fear dragons, keep her distracted. Sharp and boulder, try and take out her eyes or wings. The rest of you get the Vikings off the beach, and I don't care how. Amethyst, get me to the ships."

They broke off into their respective groups as Amethyst turned. Hiccup began searching the ships, eyes dragonic until a roar caught his attention and turned, seeing Toothless stuck on a ship burning in the center. "Toothless!"

Amethyst dropped him off on the deck before she and Aileen took off for the queen, "Alright, let's see what we can do to help."

Amethyst's first shot hit between the eyes and made the queen take a startled step back. "Ungrateful dragon. You Shadow Fighters should have stayed in the dark as cowards, now you die as a traitor!" She yelled in fury, unleashing a long spout of fire at Amethyst—causing her to swerve along with several other dragons.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*

Hiccup pulled the muzzle off of Toothless, "Hiccup, get out of here, you can use Amethyst for this!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Hiccup yelled as he grabbed a sword that was lying on deck and used it for leverage, making one of the restraints creak.

Toothless' eyes widened and grabbed Hiccup by his arm and threw him aside as the queen stepped down and broke the ship in half. Hiccup plunged into the frigid water and grasped Toothless' restraints, struggling to hold his breath, when someone grabbed him from behind and dragged him onto the beach. After he blinked his eyes to clear the of the salt water he saw his father dive back into the water. A moment later Toothless burst out carrying Stoic in his paws.

Hiccup grinned and ran for his brother. Stoic watched his son jump onto the Night Fury and take off, he'd wanted to say something to him—but hadn't the time.

Astrid shouted, "He's up!"

Aileen grinned, "Got one more shot?"

Amethyst growled in approval, "Let's do this."

Amethyst readied her last shot as Aileen flicked her mask and waited until Amethyst just about to fire her shot and fired into her plasma. The ball grew twice in size and all dragons scattered as it struck the queen in the neck, the explosion rippled through the air.

The queen roared in pain and fury as she stumbled to catch herself. Toothless and Hiccup sped past. "Hey, gluttonous Tiny Wing! Catch us if you can!" Hiccup finished Toothless' sentence.

The queen's eyes narrowed, "So the alfas have finally showed their faces…a Halfling. I can't say I miss your kind."

Hiccup glared at her as Toothless circled her again, "Yeah, well, that's big talk for someone who can't fly."

She heaved a breath of anger and spread her wings. "Well, you did it now Hiccup."

The chase had begun as Toothless expertly weaved through sea stacks while she just barreled through them like paper. "Now bud, time to disappear!"

Toothless flipped around, narrowly missing a sea stack and shot straight up into the graying clouds—the queen following right behind.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*

The dragons and riders landed on the far edge of the beach, watching with tense trepidation. Astrid had slid off of Stormfly and turned to Aileen who was still mounted on Amethyst, both—as was everyone—watching the skies. "Hiccup, has a plan, right?"

Aileen nodded, breaking her eyes away from the sky for a precious moment, "He'll ignite her gas on their decent."

"Tha-that'll work." Astrid breathed, fear clenching her heart.

"It better, because all our dragons are out of fire."

Astrid returned her gaze to the skied watching it flash every now and again.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*

They flew up to the thickest, blackest collection of clouds where they could effortlessly blend in. Hiccup leaned in close to Toothless as he flew and fired a shot at a time at the queen. He had hit her four times in the wings before she bellowed, "DIE!" With a massive burst of flame.

Toothless swerved but was still in its outer edges—however suffered no harm. "Ow, hot, hot, hot!" Hiccup batted away some flame that had attacked his vest.

"You alright Hiccup."

He hunkered own again, "I'm fine, let's just finish this."

Toothless agreed and plunged down again, his speed whistling, and fired another ball at her wing and dove through the hole it made. Hiccup taunted at her as they passed, "Come on…is that the best you can do?"

Her eyes narrowed in fury as she dived after them, preparing a large amount of gas—she wasn't intending to miss this time.

Toothless cooed back worriedly, "I can't see her Hiccup, you have to make the call."

Hiccup nodded, "Not yet…just a little longer." He could see her mouth full of gas and just about to spark, "NOW!"

Toothless whipped around and fired his last, albeit much weaker, plasma blast into her mouth. But it did the trick. Her gas lit instantly, seconds before she could throw it, and spread her wings, only for the holes to rip them apart.

Toothless spun, just missing the ground, and instantly started climbing again as the queen ignited and exploded from the impact. He swerved and weaved through her spines then spun to avoid her wing. The momentum threw Hiccup back against his harness and heard a sickening 'snap!' Looking down in the millisecond he had to see that the queen's flames had done more damage than thought and severed the straps.

Panic filled him, "TOOTHESS!"

Toothless felt the weight lift off of him and saw Hiccup fall, hands desperately trying to grasp the buckles that held his vest in place…but there was too many not enough time. Toothless spun around and raced for his falling brother as the tail came crashing down on them both, clipping Toothless and causing him to spin and hit Hiccup with his tail—knocking away any progress he had and sending his into unconsciousness.

No, NO! Toothless thought, panicked, he couldn't fail his brother, his Halfling like this. Diving for him into the furnace.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*

The Vikings and dragons didn't have to wait for the dust to settle—most of it was in the air leaving them with a pocket of clear air—ash gently falling like a soft rain.

Aileen watched the scene with wide eyes, they all had, but Stoic was the first to move. Running through the debris and searching through the settling fog-smoke-ash. "Hiccup? Hiccup, son!?"

A low moan drew his attention to a black mass and saw Toothless lying on the ground. He ran up to him with pained eyes, searching for Hiccup but seeing no one. He let out a bated breath, "O' son, I did this."

Tears formed in Stoic's eyes but they didn't fall as he placed a hand on Toothless' head, "I'm so sorry, I did this…I caused this…"

Toothless groaned but shifted and opened his wings, revealing Hiccup. Stoic took a second to recognize that Hiccup was indeed there. He gripped Hiccup and threw off his helmet, listening for a heartbeat.

Aileen hand jumped off of Amethyst and stood at the front of the group of Vikings, watching. She didn't want to belive that Hiccup was dead, that connection didn't feel severed yet. Suddenly Stoic roared, "He's alive! You brought him back alive!"

She grinned and she heard Astrid gasp beside her and she smiled at her, before whipping around as Gobber spoke. "Well, most of him."

"Most of him?" Astrid asked.

Aileen ran forward and pushed between Gobber and Stoic to see Hiccup, only to gasp in horror. "Aye, who are you lass!?" Goober cried.

Astrid was next to her, "It's alright, she's with Hiccup!"

Aileen knelt instantly and ripped off a long section of her skirt. Hiccup's left leg was hanging at an awful angle, everything was visible—bone, tendon, muscle—everything, only still attached by a stubborn bit of skin and possibly a bit of muscle. Stoic's pants were already saturated with the crimson liquid that was not his own. Without another moment's hesitation, she started wrapping the cloth around his leg, just above the wound, creating a tourniquet.

She looked up at Toothless, "Toothless, can you?"

He moaned, "I can't, I think I dislocated my wing, if not worse in the fall…"

Aileen bit her lip and ripped Hiccup from Stoic's gentle grasp, "AMETHYST!"

She really didn't need to yell as the dragon was only a few steps away, but her nerves were near fried. Stoic shouted in utter protest as Aileen grabbed Hiccup, "Leave him be! The field healers will-"

"Won't be enough!" She snapped as she struggled under his weight, he being almost the same size she was, but managing to get him into a steady hold as Amethyst helped her up. "He needs a real healer. Am, up!"

Stoic growled about to leap at the unknown girl who was taking off with his son, only for Gobber to hold him back. "Let him go Stoic, lass will get him help."

Stoic was red in rage but sighed and turned back to Toothless who was standing painfully with Swiftwind and Hookfang's help—left wing hanging limply at his side. Stoic winced as the dragon took a step forward with a limp and he saw the deep gashes along his one side. He turned to Gobber, "Make sure the men are alright then have the healers help, Toothless." He turned to face the Vikings, "I want every available Viking searching the ships and finding the ones still sailable or repairing the ones that need a little work to sail."

They instantly sprang to work, most working on the ships while a few remained to take care of injuries. Stoic watched Toothless and the other dragons closely. It appeared that they were attacking Toothless, Swiftwind and Rockslide pinning him down on his good side while he hissed and lashed out at them every now and then, while Hookfang and Firestorm would breathe small streams of fire on some of the larger wounds.

The new Dragon Riders watched, all grimacing while Fishlegs said, "It's fascinating really, their taking care of his wounds."

Snotlout looked ready to retch, "Yeah, good for them, I don't think he likes it too much."

A hollow, resounding roar filled the beach. "I'm going to kill you! Get off! My wing, you fledglings of a Death! Release me before I rip out your own wings!"

Suddenly all tension left his body as he collapsed on the ground. The dragons visibly relaxed and Swift looked at Reena who was tending to his wing, "Is it done?"

She nodded, "I've re-set it…Firestorm?"

She sighed, "We've cauterized his wounds. They'll be pretty tender but they won't get infected."

Astrid walked over to them cautiously with some bandages in hand. They backed off a bit to allow her to wrap him and she smiled slightly.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*

Aileen held Hiccup close as Amethyst flew at top speed for Berk. They passed over the village and went straight for the hut at the peak. Amethyst landed heavily and Aileen slid off with Hiccup. The healer opened her hut and she recognized this as Gothi from one of Hiccup's brief explanations of Berk. Gothi gestured inside and both she and the dragon hurried in.

Gothi made no movement or displeasure at Amethyst's presence, instead—getting straight to work on Hiccup. After a quick but thorough examination of Hiccup she pointed to Hiccup's lag and shook her head. Aileen understood what she meant well enough and closed her eyes. She had been hoping that she missed something, that there was something an experienced healer would have scene. But she hadn't.

Gothi scuttled to Hiccup's chest and reached for the buckle. "No!" Aileen cried.

Gothi frowned and tapped her nose, and she asked almost disbelieving. "You, know?"

Gothi nodded again and unclipped it. The vest fell and the wings underneath shifted but were still held in place by his laying on them. Gothi gestured for Aileen to help unwrap them then motioned for her to hold him down. Aileen did so, grimacing.

Amethyst walked over at Gothi's prodding and pointing to Hiccup's leg then at Amethyst. Amethyst cooed apologetically as he watched Gothi cut away the last bit of his leg and Amethyst breathed a low flame onto the leg, cauterizing it and sealing it instantly. Hiccup groaned and jerked in his unconsciousness, Aileen pressing him hard to pin him down. After Amethyst was done she placed her head on Hiccup's chest while Gothi finished stitching the stump.

Gothi then started to care for some of his more minor cuts then shifted her attention to his wings. With Aileen's help she identified a few small areas of concern, a small cut or where a small bone might have been broken or dislocated from the impact of the fall, even with Toothless breaking the fall.

It was a good couple hours later until Gothi was satisfied that Hiccup would be alright. She had given him a broth with some other herbs for the pain and looked at Aileen who was massaging a few cuts on his wings. Gothi smiled and pointed at her then Amethyst.

Aileen nodded, "Yes, I'm a Halfling too."

Gothi smiled and nodded, tapping her lips and a shushing motion. Aileen nodded, "Thank you Gothi."

She moved Aileen away Hiccup and to Amethyst, making it clear with gestures that she needed to rest. Aileen nodded and curled up with Amethyst, but not leaving the hut.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*

Stoic stood at the bow of the lead ship, Toothless still lying unconscious at its center, watching as they docked. Without missing a beat he leapt over the side and ran through the village and up to Gothi's. Throwing open the door he saw Aileen look up from Hiccup's bed side with wide startled eyes. However, they could not match his own as he saw Hiccup laying in bed, with two, large, black wings underneath him—Aileen holing one in her lap, hand resting gently on it as she had been massaging it, with Gothi glaring at him.

Stoic stumbled back a step, breath caught, "H-Hiccup?"


So how was that? I wasn't planning on Stoic finding out about Hiccup's dragon half until the series sometime but decided that it would work better this way-but that doesn't mean that the village will know ;) Thoughts?