Chapter 25

The Iron Gronckle Part 2


Berk Woods

With no other choice but to go along with Gobber's wishes, Fishlegs found himself dejectedly leading the way toward the clearing where he had first met his Gronckle friend. He sighed as he trekked through the forest, dreading having to tell Gobber the truth – that he had no idea what kind of rock that produced Gronckle iron once it had been digested by said dragon.

The blacksmith himself wasn't helping. He was as cheerful as could be, pushing an empty wheelbarrow as he followed Fishlegs through the woods, whistling a merry tune that seemed to coincide with the squeaking of the wheelbarrow's front wheel. He seemed confident that Fishlegs could lead him to the source of the ever-popular Gronckle iron, and they'd be back in business.

Unfortunately, that wasn't how the Ingerman boy was feeling at all.

Finally, the two of them made it past the trees and into the clearing. Fishlegs looked around at the familiar landscape and gulped, wondering how he was going to get out of this one. Gobber, on the other hand, scanned the area and nodded to himself, apparently impressed with the sheer number of rocks that lay around on the ground for the taking.

"Okay, this is it," Fishlegs informed him.

Setting the wheelbarrow down, Gobber replied, "Right, let's load it up. Care ta tell me which one o' these is the wondrous rock?"

There was a pause as Fishlegs considered his options. Option #1 was running away screaming, Option #2 was bluffing his way out, and Option #3 was coming clean. Because the third was too humiliating and the first probably wouldn't get him very far, he took the second of his three choices.

"With pleasure!" the husky boy said, bending down to pick up a rock. "Okay… no, not that one…"

He tossed it and kept looking. "That one kind of resembles…"

More rocks flew through the air as Fishlegs continued to search. He picked up one of the bigger stones, sweat sliding profusely down his forehead, and considered, "Hmm, wait a minute. I-It could be…"

"Yeh don't know, do yeh?" Gobber interrupted, one eyebrow raised.

"Of course I do!" protested Fishlegs. He twiddled his fingers nervously. "It's just, well, rocks can be very… y-you know…"

Skeptically, the older of the two replied, "No, I don't. Tell me."

Perhaps going down a road that wouldn't end favorably, Fishlegs' mouth nevertheless kept on moving of its own accord. He explained, "H-Heatray and I were emotional that day, and we were really having fun with Meatlug –"

"'Meatlug'?" Gobber cut him off again, eyebrow traveling even further upwards.

Fishlegs blushed. "O-Okay, so I named the Gronckle… a-anyway, w-we were feeding her a lot of rocks. She was eating everything in sight!"

Recalling how the Ingerman boy had come to his forge with a sore stomach, Gobber quipped, "She was?"

Another pause, this one with even thicker silence.

"Fine, I don't know what rock makes Gronckle iron!" Fishlegs burst out in a despaired wail. "I'm a failure, a liar, a fraud! Is that you wanted to hear?!" He raised his voice to a shout, crying out, "Are you happy now?!"

He stopped mid-yell when he felt Gobber's meaty hands clamp themselves over his shoulders. Instantly, his mouth closed, and his panicked expression became one of shock.

"Get a grip on yerself!" demanded Gobber. He shook the boy violently as if to snap him back to his senses. "Listen ta me!"

"A-Alright…" Legs squeaked.

Palming a good-sized rock before casually tossing it into the wheelbarrow, Gobber calmly explained, "We just pick up as many different rocks as we can find. We'll try 'em one at a time and eventually we'll land on the winner."

Now Fishlegs' face was past shock and beginning to show signs of relief. It was amazing how reassuring Gobber could be at times.

"Promise…?" he asked, tentatively.

"I'm sure," said Gobber.

Together, the pair set to work. It was strange, but as Fishlegs continued to put differently-shaped and colored rocks into the wheelbarrow, he started to feel kind of excited. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Gobber's idea could work.


Berk Monster Academy

A scream could be heard over the Berk Monster Academy, heralding the return of Hiccup and the Monster Riders. Sightless was the first through the gate, folding his cloak-like wings over his back as he landed. The other monsters followed, and the human teens dismounted, all of them with sullen looks on their faces.

"Well, that was a complete waste of time," muttered Hiccup.

"Not a single Outcast boat found!" exclaimed Astrid, incredulous. "And we doubled back over the same area five times!"

"Really?" Tuffnut asked, his brow wrinkling with confusion. "That was the same place? It looked so different…"

"That's because you were flying upside-down, you muttonhead," Arachne huffed, shaking her head.

Tuff's brow cleared up. "Oh yeah. That was fun, though."

"Totally agreed," Ruff grinned at him.

His eyes raised to the wire ceiling of the academy, Hiccup thought back to their failed mission. "That wasn't the only problem we had," he mused, tapping his fingers against the handle of his Insect Glaive as he remembered. "Some of the areas we flew in required some tricky maneuvers. They really consumed a lot of our time – not to mention speed."

"You're telling me!" agreed Snaketail. "It took Twinhorn five minutes to smash through that one archway. If we had had another monster to help her, we could have caught up to the ship."

The Diablos laid down on the floor beside her, grunting in agreement. Her head was actually aching from all that ramming she had done.

"Like Heatray!" suggested Arachne, adding her own thoughts onto Snaketail's last remark. "If only Fishlegs had been there to help."

Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! You can't be talking about him, can you?"

"Oh no, not him!" Tuff gasped. Then he nudged his sister and loudly whispered, "Hey, who are they talking about?"

"I have no idea," she whispered back, even more loudly. "But he sounds important, so it's definitely not you."

"You muttonheads!" yelled Astrid. The mission had left her tired, and she was fed up with their stupidity. "We're talking about Fishlegs! Arachne even said his name!"

"Oh," the Thorstons chorused.

Smiling, Snaketail approached Tuff and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Isn't he dreamy~?"

With a sigh, Hiccup tentatively pulled the Grundenson girl away from the object of her affection. He was seriously considering the possibility that their visit to Outcast Island had somehow left her mentally insane.

Once he was sure that the now-pouting Snaketail was at a safe distance and wasn't likely to keep bothering Tuff, Hiccup gave Arachne a nod and told the group, "She's right. We're a team, and on a team, everyone has a role to play – no matter how useless it may seem at first. Yeah, so Fishlegs might hold us back sometimes, but he's still a part of us."

"We're all important," Astrid added, also giving Arachne a nod of her own. "When one of us is missing, it's just not the same without him… or her."

The Philston girl was beaming from the praise that Hiccup and Astrid had given her.

"Next time we go looking for Outcasts, we'll be sure to bring Fishlegs along," the Haddock boy stated, to the rest of the group's general agreement.

"It's your fault," Snotlout accused, pointing a finger at his cousin. "You made him quit."

Considering that it had in fact been the pig-headed Jorgenson boy that had driven Fishlegs away with his less-than-polite complaints, Hiccup's sudden outburst of rage was completely understandable.

So, Snotlout ended up the majority of the day rubbing a bruise on his head, put there courtesy of a blow from the blunt end of a certain someone's Insect Glaive.


Gobber's Forge

It took forever, but Fishlegs and Gobber managed to push their wheelbarrow – which now carried a stack of rocks as tall as Stoick the Vast and as heavy as a Khezu – all the way back to the smithy, where the long line of Vikings waiting for Gronckle iron had only grown in the time they had been away.

Several of the waiting Vikings perked up a little when they saw that Fishlegs and Gobber had returned. The two of them lugged their rocks into the workshop and, with huge sighs of relief, dropped the wheelbarrow. The stones clattered against each other, threatening to topple over and make a huge mess of the smithy. Fortunately, they didn't.

Meatlug, the Gronckle that Fishlegs had named, got up from the nap she was having and become very energetic at the sight of the huge mound of stone they had brought.

"Wow!" the Ingerman boy exclaimed. "She's so excited, she doesn't know where to start!"

Chuckling, Gobber plucked a stone from off the top of the pile and said, "May I suggest some sandstone for an appetizer?"

He promptly tossed it to the Gronckle, and she leapt up and caught it flawlessly. From just outside the forge, Heatray cracked an eye open and watched them feed the dragon with interest.

"Good girl, Meatlug!" squealed Fishlegs. "Oh, you're just like Heatray, aren't you?"

Instead of responding, Meatlug spat up a large puddle of lava onto the floor. Quickly, Gobber collected it and tried forging something out of it. But he had only been working for a few minutes when the lava started to turn clear and brittle, like glass. Holding up the shapeless mass with his tongs, the burly blacksmith gave it a very dismissive glance.

"Eh, worthless," he muttered, tossing it to the back of the shop. Everyone present heard the tinkle of broken glass hitting the floor. "Let's try – oh, I like this one."

Gobber took another rock from the pile, holding it up to the light to examine it. "Shiny, like Gronckle iron!" he commented.

When he threw the stone, Meatlug indiscriminately chomped down on it and swallowed it whole.

"Heh," Gobber chuckled. "Typical Gronckle. Never seen one turn down a boulder."

But Fishlegs was frowning, noticing that the air in the smithy was beginning to grow thicker and harder to breathe. Also, he was starting to sweat – not with nervousness this time.

"Is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?" he wondered, fanning himself.

"Now that yeh mention it…" muttered Gobber.

Both of them looked down at Meatlug. She had her eyes squeezed shut and she was trembling violently. Also, her belly was starting to glow a very alarming shade of red.

"She's gonna burst!" Gobber yelled. He grabbed the feather lying on his workbench and shoved it into Fishlegs' hands. "Tickle! Tickle, Legs, before she blows us all to Valhalla!"

Trying to keep his breathing even in the intense heat radiating from the Gronckle, the Ingerman boy crouched down and started wildly rubbing the feather against her underside. The source of the heat was so close to his face that he grimaced with pain, worrying that he might get a serious burn just by remaining nearby. As he tickled Meatlug, the feather kept bursting into flames, which were quickly blown out by his increasingly-rapid breaths.

"I'm trying!" he gasped, barely able to breathe between the heat and his own huffing and puffing.

Finally, after several tense and suspenseful seconds had passed, Meatlug made a gagging sound in her throat. A super-hot lump of rock was ejected from her mouth, glowing bright crimson. Meatlug stopped shaking and went back to normal, and the insufferable heat died down.

All of the breath in Gobber's and Fishlegs' lungs rushed out in heavy, relieved sighs.

A sheepish smile on his face, Legs poked his head out the window to address the crowd of Vikings. "Sorry, everyone, false alarm!" he giggled. "Anyone have suggestions? I-I'm open."

The response was immediate.

"This is outrageous!" one Viking yelled, angrily.

"Somethin' must be done!" another shouted.

More hollers and demands reached Fishlegs' ears. At that moment, he really wished that he hadn't left the Monster Riders in the first place.


Just as the pudgy monster enthusiast was thinking about his friends, they appeared on the other side of the plaza. Instantly, they noticed the furious crowd of unsatisfied and potentially bloodthirsty customers outside Gobber's forge. They were no longer lined up, but crowded at the window.

Hiccup squinted. He could barely make out Fishlegs from behind all the horned helmets and giant beards.

"There he is!" the Haddock boy told his friends. "What're we going to do about this?"

"I could pound on him until he agrees to come back!" Snotlout volunteered, smashing his fist into his palm threateningly.

Sarcastically, Astrid quipped, "Or we could just, I don't know – ask him, maybe?"

"What's wrong with the pounding idea?" asked Tuffnut, innocently. "I like pounding. Pounding, pound cake, measuring my weight in pounds…"

"Wait, you can measure your weight in pounds?" Arachne gasped, interrupting the Thorston boy.

"Yeah," he told her. "Trust me, it's harder than it looks."

Hiccup cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted with all his might, hoping to be heard over the angry Vikings – "Fishlegs!"

Unfortunately, that made things worse, as evidenced by the way the crowd started chanting.

"Fishlegs! Fishlegs! Fishlegs!"

Inside the smithy, the boy whose name they were chanting suddenly backed away from the window and started to turn pale.

"Yeh know," Gobber remarked, idly, "I once saw a Viking mob turn on one'a their own. Tore the poor bugger limb from limb. Started jus' like this."

Fishlegs was definitely not encouraged by the unhelpful comment. "No, no no no…" he said over and over, beginning to give in to panic. "We fed Meatlug so many different rocks! I can't figure it out!"

As if sensing the Ingerman boy's state of worry, the Gronckle in question growled concernedly. Or perhaps she was still hungry.

But suddenly, Fishlegs' face lit up as he arrived at an epiphany. "Wait a minute. That's it!"

Appearing again at the window, he silenced the crowd and called excitedly, "Hold onto your tunics, folks! You want Gronckle iron? You got it!"

The Berkians started muttering amongst themselves as Fishlegs turned away from the window and headed back to the wheelbarrow. This time, he took, not one, but several rocks in his hands and lugging them over to Meatlug, so to speak.

"I like yer enthusiasm in the face of imminent dismemberment," Gobber told him. "Fer yer sake, yeh'd better be backin' it up with a plan."

"I am indeed," he replied, holding the rocks in the crook of one arm and tossing them to Meatlug one-by-one. "It must have been a combination of rocks that makes Gronckle iron. That's the only explanation."

Gobber nodded to himself, understanding his logic. Fishlegs kept on feeding the different stones to Meatlug, watching each one disappear into her mouth in less than a second.

"Heh," chuckled Gobber. "No matter what kinda rock it is, she just gulps it down. Reminds me of me mum. Did I ever tell yeh about the time I moved her in with me goat?"

"Unfortunately," Legs responded, emptying the last of the rocks into Meatlug's mouth.

At least for a few moments, nothing particularly special happened. But just then, Meatlug stiffened, and a strange sound began to vibrate through the workshop – a low, droning hum, the kind of noise you'd expect to give a splitting headache if exposed to it long enough.

Upon hearing the hum, Fishlegs stiffened just as Meatlug had, frightened. "Wh-What's happening?"

The strangeness was only getting started. The hum never stopped, and Meatlug never settled down – if anything, it looked like she was starting to shiver. That was when Gobber's tongs, which were behind held firmly in his grip, suddenly shot free of its own accord and stuck to Meatlug's flank!

"Did yeh see that?!" Gobber shouted, incredulous. He was staring at his open palm in shock. "Pulled it right outta me hand!"

Before Fishlegs could say anything, several metallic objects lying around the shop started to vibrate, making clattering sounds as they did so. Without any warning aside from their sudden movement, the various objects – including a shield, a helmet, and a knife – rocketed through the air and attached themselves firmly to Meatlug.

The Gronckle made a noise that passed for a yelp, eyes wide and wings fluttering agitatedly.

"Her skin is attracting the metal!" gasped Legs. "Hmm, how fascinating. The Book of Monsters mentions an elder dragon with that kind of ability. It's able to pull metal objects toward it and use them as –"

"Fishlegs!"

The blacksmith's shout brought the Ingerman boy right back out of his thoughts. The nearby shelf was starting to shake because of all the weapons it was displaying – metal weapons. They were vibrating so hard, trying to get to Meatlug, that they were causing the entire shelf to move.

"Meatlug, no!" cried Fishlegs. Thinking fast, he grabbed a nearby shield and jumped between the dragon and the shelf, right at the moment the weapons freed themselves and flew forward with their pointy ends aimed at them.

A huge roar came from outside the forge. Heatray had woken up upon hearing her rider's distressed scream and was ready to help. Lava spewed from her mouth, taking the form of a beam that completely incinerated the weapons before they had any chance of impaling Fishlegs.

"Whew, thanks girl!" he exclaimed, wiping his forehead.

Then the shield in his hand slipped out of his grasp and stuck to Meatlug. That was the last straw – the Gronckle stampeded out of the forge, terrified out of her wits. More metal objects, including several weapons, flew after her when she passed them on her way out the door, starting perhaps the strangest chase in the history of Berk.

"Come on, Heatray!" Legs said, hopping aboard the saddle. "We gotta catch that Gronckle!"

Rumbling in agreement, the Gravios started forward, taking lumbering strides that resembled a fast walk more than anything else. But even though she wasn't the speediest monster ever, her pace still kept the runaway dragon in sight, at least for now.

"Listen to the sound of my voice, Meatlug!" Fishlegs called after her. "Calm down and come back, please!"

But it was no use. The urgency in his voice only served to encourage the Gronckle, and she ran faster. She was rapidly approaching the edge of the village, heading toward the safety of the forest. The weapons, of course, followed.

That is, until Hiccup stepped onto the scene. "Sightless, virus blast!"

A ball of black fire was launched from the Gore Magala's jaws and nailed the pursuing weapons, obliterating them. Meatlug didn't notice, though – all she heard was the sound of the virus blast exploding, and it goaded her into doubling her pace. She altered her course away from the forest, and instead galloped down the path that led to the hill where the Haddock house was located.

"Nice shot, bud," Hiccup complimented Sightless, who let out a short scream of thanks.

Heatray came to a stop right next to the Gore Magala and scrawny Chief-to-be. A desperate-looking Fishlegs was perched on top of her back, so desperate-looking, in fact, that it made him instantly pay attention to the words that were already pouring out of his mouth.

"Hiccup, thank Odin!" he cried. "You have to help Meatlug – I'll explain later!" he added, before he had to explain the reasoning behind his choice to name the dragon. "I don't know what's wrong with her! She suddenly started attracting metal and she's really scared!"

Attracting metal? Hiccup frowned. He had never heard of such a thing. Well, except for the Book of Monsters, which described an elder dragon called Rukodiora that could draw metal toward it for use as projectile weapons. But there was no time for reminiscing – right now, there was a rampant Gronckle that could probably do some serious harm to itself and the village with its new ability.

"Okay then," he agreed. "Snotlout, herd her away from town!"

Happening to still be nearby, the Jorgenson boy saluted and quickly mounted his Tigrex. The pseudowyvern let out a roar and swiftly charged down the path that Meatlug had taken.

Soon, Snotsnarl had caught up to the fleeing dragon with his superior running speed. When he got close, he pounced, leaping high into the air and landing right in front of Meatlug, startling her into stopping in her tracks. Turning around to face her, Snotsnarl opened his maw and roared loudly enough to blow blades of grass out of the ground.

"You're all mine, big boy!" Lout declared, triumphantly.

Snotsnarl leapt forward, powerful claws outstretched with the intention of grabbing Meatlug and holding her still.

"Wait! Heel!" Fishlegs could be heard calling.

The Tigrex obeyed what he believed to be an order directed at him, stopping his pounce short. Meatlug yelped with fright and sped off toward the forest, still covered in several different objects from her mishap in the forge. Meanwhile, Snotlout was thrown right off of Snotsnarl's back thanks to the suddenness with which the monster stopped, and flew into a barrel full of fish.

Hiccup and Sightless chose that moment to appear. The Gore Magala flew over the nearest rooftop and landed on the path next to Snotsnarl. Fishlegs and Heatray also came lumbering down the path to join them. Flapping their wings slightly, the monsters eyed Meatlug as her tail vanished amongst the trees in the distance, ready for their riders' orders to give chase.

"We'll handle it from here, Lout," Hiccup told his cousin assuredly.

"I meant to do that, you know," he replied, sticking his head out from the pile of raw fish.

Sightless took flight, and Heatray stayed on the ground, both of them heading for the forest to help their riders search for the rogue Gronckle.


Berk Woods

Hiccup could hear the crashing and snapping sounds ahead of him as he steered Sightless through the woods. It sounded like the Gronckle was still on the move, and she was intentionally ramming into trees and bushes in order to relieve herself of the metallic items that were covering her scales.

Come on, Sightless, faster! Hiccup was thinking to himself. Whoever this 'Meatlug' is, she's obviously important to Fishlegs… and anyway, we can't have a metal-attracting dragon running free on the island. It'd cause chaos for the village! But wait, does this have something to do with the Gronckle iron Gobber was forging earlier?

A low-hanging branch promptly punished Hiccup for not paying attention by slapping him painfully across the face.

At the same time, Sightless started to stumble as more and more obstacles appeared under his feet, like shrubs and logs. He never stopped running, but he definitely slowed down as he started watching his feet for potential hazards.

"The trees are getting too thick!" observed Hiccup. He raised his voice and called back to Fishlegs, who was behind him, "Let's try to get ahead of her and cut off her escape route!"

"Fine by me!" the larger of the two boys called back.

With a single stroke of his wings, Sightless rocketed into the air, knocking aside stray leaves and branches from the nearby trees. Cape fully spread, the Gore Magala soared over the forest unobstructed, a black shape amidst the clear blue sky. Below, Hiccup could see the trees shaking as Meatlug continued to run mindlessly and with no destination in mind.

She's heading for a cliff! he realized, seeing that the ocean was not too far away from the runaway dragon's current path.

There was a clearing ahead, right where the cliff ended. Hiccup steered Sightless down toward the little patch of light green grass against the dark green sea below them. Right before they landed – and they landed quite dramatically, with Sightless' feet making a satisfyingly loud crashing sound and his cloak fully spread – Meatlug reached the edge of the cliff, shaking in her proverbial boots with fear. Or perhaps she was still buzzing with all the metal-attracting energy still vibrating through her.

"Hey there, Gronckle…" Hiccup spoke soothingly, as if he hadn't come flying in on the unholy offspring of contagion and plague itself.

Of course, his words didn't exactly calm the terrified reptile down. Not when there was a much larger and fiercer reptile in the vicinity.

"It's alright… uh, Meatlug," continued Hiccup, hesitantly. "I-I know you're kinda freaked out by now, but we're here to help you. There's nothing to be afraid of… we're gonna figure out what's wrong with you, but… but you have to stay still."

Meatlug didn't exactly comply, not in such a state of fear. Her eyes only widened, and she took a trembling step back. It was clear that she was afraid of what she didn't understand.

"Easy, girl," Hiccup kept talking. He slid off of Sightless' back and walked forward, slowly and nonthreateningly, his arms outstretched to make him appear more inviting. "We're not going to hurt you!"

"Hiccup!" came the unexpected voice.

Just then, Fishlegs came jogging out of the trees on foot, Heatray following him close behind. Much like his new dragon friend, he had a panic-stricken look on his face.

"Not now, Legs!" Hiccup called back, still approaching Meatlug.

"No, you don't understand!" he insisted.

"Not now, Legs!" the Haddock boy repeated, more firmly.

"Your leg!"

Fishlegs' yell made Hiccup pause and rethink what he was doing.

At the same time, he felt his prosthetic start to vibrate.

With a startled shout, Hiccup fell painfully onto his back with his artificial leg held straight out as if he had slipped on something. The second he hit the ground, an invisible force latched onto the limb and pulled it with a strength beyond that of any Viking, dragging the shocked Hiccup along with it. He only stopped when his prosthetic attached itself to Meatlug's belly.

Sighing, he muttered, "I can't believe I forgot about that… the ol' metal leg."

That was when Meatlug took off. First the tongs, then the tools, the shield, and now a whole human boy – things were getting far too strange for her. There she went, past the cliff and out over the open water, with the Chief-to-be dangling upside-down from underneath her.

"Where are you going?!" Fishlegs called.

"I have absolutely no idea!" Hiccup called back. "Again!"

And just like that, he and Meatlug were a speck in the distance.

"Hiccup!" cried Fishlegs, to no avail. He lowered his outstretched hand and said to himself, "Oh, where are Arachne and the others when I need them?"


Meanwhile

"Do you have any Great Swords?" the Philston girl asked, eyeing the rectangular pieces of paper she held in her hand.

"Nah," Tuffnut replied from across the table. "Go fish."

Scowling, she reached over Snotlout's snoring face to grab another card.


Back at the cliff in the middle of the woods, Fishlegs was frantically pacing circles around Heatray, fingers clutching the bits of straw-colored hair that poked out from under his helmet.

"Oh no, what do I do, Heatray?" he worriedly asked the Gravios. "Even if we fly after them, there's no way we'd be able to catch up!"

The monster rumbled uncertainly, folding up her wings and hunkering down for a quick nap.

Sightless ran to the edge of the cliff, not having eyes to view his endangered human friend with but knowing what had happened all the same. Claws grabbing the edge of the cliff, but not daring to attempt a flight without a rider, the Gore Magala let out a helpless and deafening scream that was carried far by the ocean breeze.

But it gave Fishlegs an idea.

"Hang on…" he murmured. Then he suddenly threw his arms into the air and whooped with joy. "Sightless, you're a genius!"

"Shiraaah…" Sightless quietly screamed. He seemed a little reluctant, but bent his legs so that Fishlegs could more easily climb onto his back.

The boy did so, wiggling his bottom in order to get more comfortable in the saddle. He wiggled his legs as well, but could only barely manage to reach the stirrups with them. It was definitely far from a perfect fit, but he did the best he could do, and was soon as ready as he would ever be,

"Okay then, let's go!" he cried. But soon, he faltered. "But, um… don't try to break any speed records with me on your back. I'd probably fall and make a real mess on those rocks down there, you know? Just give me the Magala without the Gore, alright?"

Slowly, Sightless spread his wings and crouched, ready for takeoff. Fishlegs barely had any time to brace himself before his mount left the ground with velocity far beyond his comfort zone.

"YAAAAAAAAAHHH!" he shrieked, barely able to breathe at the speed he was going. "TOO FAST! TOO FAST!"

As the Ingerman boy and the Gore Magala flew farther out to sea with every passing second, Heatray momentarily woke up and stared after them. Now, what was her rider doing? If this was his first time riding Sightless, then it could be risky. He could get hurt, or get Sightless hurt. And the Gravios certainly didn't want either of those things to happen.

Getting to her feet, Heatray jumped off the cliff. Her wings beat slowly but surely as she flew after them at her own comfortable pace.


Sea Near Berk

A black streak zoomed over the ocean, accompanied by the sound of terrified screaming. Fishlegs, so far, had managed to stay on top of Sightless, but it was difficult when he was so used to riding Heatray, who flew much more carefully and comfortably.

On the plus side, Legs could see the back end of a Gronckle coming up in front – as well as a certain friend of his dangling upside-down from her belly. She was flying quite speedily and erratically, likely still freaked out from her metal-attracting episode back on Berk.

"Don't worry, Meatlug! I'm coming!" he called. Then he retched and swallowed something that would have otherwise reentered his mouth. Uneasily, he added, "And about to throw up… but definitely coming! Sightless, can you get me in close?"

If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that the eyeless monster gave him a skeptical look in response to the question. Nevertheless, Sightless sped up until they were right behind the fleeing Meatlug.

"Easy… easy…" Fishlegs murmured to himself. "The Book of Monsters says that most Boulder-class dragons have a blind spot just under… here!"

They entered the place behind and underneath Meatlug, right where he had been aiming. "That's it, stay in the blind spot, stay in it…"

Meatlug kept flying, wings beating too fast for the eye to see. As maneuverable as she was, though, she was still no match for Sightless, who mirrored her every move perfectly. Occasionally, though, Fishlegs would call out orders so that the Gore Magala could keep up.

"Left!" he cried, and Sightless went left.

"Now right!" Fishlegs said, and they swerved right.

"Dive!" he added, when Meatlug suddenly began to descend.

So far, they hadn't been noticed by the skittish Gronckle, whose flight was now becoming steadier and less random. She stopped diving, and took a more level path further out to sea.

"Awesome, now level off!" Fishlegs told Sightless.

And then, it was smooth sailing. Meatlug was more or less calm now, allowing Fishlegs and Sightless to catch up and tail her from below. Their position brought them right next to Hiccup. The Haddock boy's face was as nonchalant as could be as he stared his friend in the eye.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Oh, um, hi," replied Fishlegs. "How's it going?"

"Better than expected," Hiccup assured him. "I'm pretty good for someone who's dangling upside-down from a dragon's belly several hundred feet above the cold, unforgiving ocean."

Legs replied to his friend's sarcasm with, "Oh good."

An awkward silence descended, but it didn't stay silent for long.

"Look," Hiccup began, "I just wanted to apologize for leaving you behind earlier."

Waving him off, Fishlegs responded, "Don't worry about it, Hiccup. I volunteered, remember?"

"I know, I know," Hiccup replied. "You volunteered, but still, I really should have –"

He cut himself off and sighed, letting his arms dangle on either side of his head. There was another awkward silence, one much thicker and longer than the last. Hiccup allowed his gaze to wander down to Sightless, who looked perfectly fine with Fishlegs on his back.

"You're doing a pretty good job with flying Sightless," the Chief-to-be observed. "How'd you figure out how to work the splint?"

The question confused Fishlegs. "Huh?" he asked, looking down at his foot dangling about an inch above the stirrup. "I haven't been working the splint. My feet don't reach that far down. And anyway, I don't know how."

There was a nice, long pause as Hiccup absorbed what he had just been told.

"So… wait," he said, carefully. The wheels in his head still turning, he continued in a tone of great realization, "Sightless has been flying… all by himself?"

Moments away from answering, Fishlegs suddenly caught sight of a movement from somewhere below them.

"Uh, can we talk about this later?" he asked. He then pointed and said more urgently, "Look down there! Outcast ship, dead ahead!"

Indeed, when Hiccup twisted himself so that he could have a better view of what was below him, he could see the boat that Fishlegs had noticed – in fact, he was willing to bet that it was the same boat that he and the other Monster Riders had been searching for all this time. He squinted, recognizing Savage at the back of the row of Outcasts that stood at the side of their ship. There were crossbows and some Bowguns clutched in their fists, all of which were pointed directly at them.

"They're getting ready to fire!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "We're in no position to defend itself!"

"Hang on, Legs, I've got a plan," Hiccup calmly told him. "Can you fly up to Meatlug and tell her to listen to me? I need her help for this to work."


"Gore Magala off the stern!" the Outcast warrior hollered, pointing at the unmistakable black shape.

"I see 'em!" affirmed Savage, clutching his bone club tightly. "Ready the catapults! Archers, Bowgunners, take aim and fire on my command!"

Catapults were rolled to the edges of the ship, and those Outcasts that had projectile weapons lined up in front of the catapults to ready their shots. Strangely, there seemed to be a Gronckle traveling with the Gore Magala, but it didn't matter. If anything, they might be able to use the dragon as target practice on their way home…

That was when the Gronckle started to dive toward them, followed rapidly by the Gore Magala!

"Fire!" bellowed Savage.

All at once, crossbow bolts and Bowgun shots whistled through the air at the incoming reptiles – some came close, others went wide, and all of them missed their targets. The catapults were next, hurling boulders in hopes of knocking the fliers out of the sky. They missed as well, and by now, the Gore Magala and Gronckle were skimming the water nearby, too close for the catapults to hit them.

Hiccup gritted his teeth and clung to Meatlug's leg tightly, feeling the cold ocean spray hitting his face as they flew down close to the surface. He glanced behind him – Fishlegs and Sightless were following. But for his strategy to work, it was Meatlug who would be really important…

They passed right by Savage's ship, and what happened next was exactly what Hiccup had wanted. All the metal shields nailed to the sides of the vessel were attracted by Meatlug's skin, causing the boat to tip perilously in their direction. All of the Outcasts yelled and fell onto the deck as they lost their balance.

Meanwhile, Hiccup managed to direct Meatlug back up into the air, preparing to make another pass at the boat. Not bothering to check whether Fishlegs was still behind him or not, he and the Gronckle dove once more. This time, they flew low over the boat, completely disregarding the Bowguns and crossbows that were being aimed at them once again.

"Hey Savage, thanks for all the weapons!" Hiccup called down, laughing.

"What're you talking about, boy?" the man snarled. "We haven't –"

Then, the reason behind Hiccup's sudden recklessness was revealed. As Meatlug passed overhead, her proximity caused all the weapons to be yanked right out of the Outcasts' hands! The crossbows stuck to Meatlug's belly, while the heavier Bowguns couldn't be pulled as strongly and fell with a splash into the ocean. Of course, Savage was rendered speechless at the phenomenon.

"That worked!" crowed Hiccup. "That was excellent!"

And then he heard the whistling. Apparently, a few of the Outcasts had managed to let loose a few shots before they had been disarmed, because there were now several crossbow bolts pursuing him and Meatlug.

"Or… not so excellent," he corrected himself.

To make matters worse, all of the metal that Meatlug was… lugging… around was slowing her down tremendously. While there would have been a slim chance that she could outfly the crossbow bolts normally, there was no way that was possible with a body covered in hefty iron tools and weapons. The whistling got louder as the bolts got closer, and Hiccup braced himself for the feeling of sharp metal stabbing into him.

A huge, rumbling roar tore through the air from nearby. Something big and grey was flying right toward them – Heatray! Her mouth glowing brightly, the Gravios spat out a beam of pure lava that completely disintegrated the incoming arrows, allowing Hiccup to breathe easy.

"Oh, you're a sight for sore eyes, girl!" cheered Fishlegs.

Happy to sense his familiar monster friend, Sightless let his agreement be known with a hearty scream.

"Can we celebrate later?" asked Hiccup. "Meatlug and I are going down!"

"Never fear, Hiccup!" Legs answered. "I've got this!"

As the dragon started to descend, the weight of all the metal dragging her down toward the Outcast boat, Fishlegs and Sightless swooped in to help. The Ingerman boy reached up and started to lightly rub Meatlug's belly with his fingers. The motion tickled her, and a rumbling sound started to come from inside her gut.

She opened her mouth, and a big lump of rock fell right out. Immediately, everything that had once been attached to Meatlug fell off.

Knowing that he was no longer attached, Hiccup let go of the Gronckle's leg and dropped right onto Sightless' back. "Hey bud, you miss me?"

"CHAAAAAAAAHH!" replied Sightless, flying high enough to block out the sun with his wings.

At the same time that Hiccup jumped aboard the Gore Magala, Fishlegs jumped off of him and landed right on Heatray. He squealed and hugged his beloved Gravios around the neck, telling her how much he had missed her. Since he had not spent as much time with her ever since the Gronckle iron discovery, the hefty flying wyvern was definitely enthusiastic to be with him again.

"Good plan, Hiccup!" the husky boy cheered, a fist in the air. "Go Monster Riders!"

"Go Monster Riders!" Hiccup echoed, and together, they turned around and headed back to Berk.

While they had forgotten the Outcast ship, though, the Outcasts had certainly not forgotten about them.

"Laugh now, Berkian scum!" yelled Savage. "But remember, he who lives by the –"

And then all the stuff that had once been attached to Meatlug fell onto the ship, plunging straight through the deck and creating a massive hole in the hull.

"Oh, crap," he muttered.

In the distance, Hiccup looked back briefly. He was right on time to see the boat's mast disappear beneath the waves.

"Those Outcasts are not going to have a pleasant trip home," commented Fishlegs.

"Yeah…" agreed Hiccup. "How good is their swimming, I wonder?"

"It'd have to be good," he replied.


Village Plaza

The other Monster Riders were lounging around the plaza, admiring the sun as it started to set, when Hiccup and Fishlegs returned. A few of the baby monsters were running around and playing under the watchful eyes of the riders and parent monsters, only to scatter immediately upon seeing the Gore Magala and Gravios about to squash them flat. The humans sitting on top landed and dismounted their monsters, grinning triumphantly.

"Well, if it isn't the all-conquering Monster Rider," smirked Astrid by way of greeting.

Smiling back, Hiccup sarcastically replied, "Oh, is my charming sense of humor rubbing off on you, milady?"

The two of them shared a hug. Several of the baby monsters poked their heads out from behind their parents and peered curiously at them, clearly wondering what was going on.

"Oooooooooh," said Snaketail, giggling.

"Aren't they cute?" agreed Arachne.

Astrid promptly stopped hugging her boyfriend and grabbed the little girl by the shirt. "You're lucky you're not Snotlout," she grumbled. "Otherwise, this would have been the part where I punched you."

"What'd I do now?" the Jorgenson boy complained, misinterpreting her threat.

And then, who should come limping up to meet them but Gobber?

"Fishlegs!" he shouted. "Yeh ready ta get back ta some real work? I've got orders up to me skivvies back at the shop."

Looking up from his petting of Heatray and Meatlug, Fishlegs gave Gobber a slightly sad smile. And in that moment, everyone present knew what he was about to say.

"Sorry, Gobber, but I don't think so," he told the blacksmith. "My duties at the Berk Monster Academy are going to keep me pretty busy."

Heatray growled with joy at his words. She knew that it meant they'd be flying together a lot more from now on.

"See, Legs?" encouraged Hiccup. "You're every bit as important to the group as myself or Astrid is. We're a team."

Moved to tears, Fishlegs ran over to Hiccup and gave him a grateful hug. Chuckling, the Haddock boy hugged him back, glad that he was happy to be back with the Monster Riders.

Gobber grinned. "Eh, how touchin'. But anyway, Fishlegs, it was nice ta have yeh around today."

"Oh…" Fishlegs said, modestly. "It was nothing…"

"As thanks fer all yer hard work," the big Viking went on, "I have a little… ah, gift fer ya."

With a flourish, he brought his hand out from behind his back and produced a dagger whose blade glinted beautifully in the light of the setting sun. Fishlegs' mouth hung open, recognizing the weapon on sight.

"But that's the very first sword you made with Meatlug's Gronckle iron," he said to Gobber. "You made it for yourself."

"Oh, tha' I did," the blacksmith agreed. "But anyone who drives off an Outcast ship almost singlehandedly deserves ta wield her."

He held out the flashy silver blade, and Fishlegs took it with great reverence. He spent a few moments admiring the shiny weapon and waving it around to get a feel for its weight and design, and then glanced back up at Gobber.

"Thanks," he, well, thanked him, "but I didn't do it alone."

He reached out with a hand to pat Meatlug, who was standing next to him, on the snout. She responded to his touch with an affectionate lick.

"Ah, I know," grinned Gobber, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a familiar pair of metallic spheres. "That's why I made that new pet o' yers this fetchin' pair o' earrings."

But when he approached said 'new pet' and held out the earrings to her as a gift, the first thing she did was open her mouth and let her tongue slide over Gobber's hand, flicking the earrings into her jaws. She gulped them down without a second thought, looking quite content with the little snack.

At first, Gobber was shocked, but then he relaxed and chuckled. "Ah, Gronckles will be Gronckles…" he commented, already heading back to the smithy.

"Hey, Fishlegs!" Arachne chirped all of a sudden, running up to the Ingerman boy. "Astrid came up with a great new idea for a training exercise, and we need you to be a part of it!"

The Hofferson girl agreed, "I thought that we could do some training with the babies, and we need someone to help out. You'd be perfect for the job."

A group of little Basarioses came scurrying over to Heatray and clustered under her underbelly, chirping and looking up at their mother with adoration. The Gravios rumbled and gave Fishlegs a significant look.

"They need us!" he exclaimed, excitedly. "You coming too, Meatlug?"

The Gronckle jumped up and down with an excited growl, eager to be of assistance again.

Hiccup smiled to himself as he and the other riders saddled up and flew to the academy. Those few infant monsters that could fly joined them, while those that couldn't were being held securely in the riders' arms.

Now the Berk Monster Riders were whole again. Fishlegs had realized that no matter how much he and Heatray seemed to slow the others down, there was still a special niche in the academy just for him. That's what made him part of the team.


The morning afterwards, Hiccup waited patiently on the deck of Goathi's home as the old woman examined Sightless slowly and methodically. The Gore Magala was patient as well, standing stock-still as he waited for her to finish.

At last, Goathi looked up from her observation of Sightless' injured wing and smiled broadly at Hiccup. Without bothering to write on her dirt-board with her staff, she unclipped the fasteners holding Sightless' splint in place and allowed the complex contraption to fall to the ground.

Hiccup couldn't help but return her grin. There was no translation needed.


If you find yourself on a team, there's always a role for you to settle into. It may not be as important as being the leader or the second-in-command, but if you find a way to make yourself shine in that role, you'll be as useful in your own way as everyone else.


Well, Sightless' wing has finally healed. With no splint and stirrup, no more annoying situations that involve it breaking at inopportune moments.

I'm so glad this episode is done. It was so slow and boring, I had to add in Sightless' wing being healed, some glory for Heatray, and even a funny Go Fish scene to make it good enough to be rewritten as a Monster Hunter crossover. I must admit, though, the scene where Hookfang "heels" for Fishlegs is just hilarious.

Send your reviews and look out for the next chapter!

Next chapter: The Night and the Fury (starring you-know-who!)