Hi, welcome to the next chapter, thanks so much for everyone who's already left reviews and favourites, it means a lot :)
"So let me get this straight." Snotlout repeated as Hookfang and Meatlug finally landed. "The heir to your tribe got kidnapped by bandits fourteen years ago, and now your chief is sick so they sent you, a mediocre swordsman and a slow little dragon to go find him?"
"Hey" Fishlegs protested. "What Meatlug lacks in speed, she makes up for in intellect and loyalty!"
"Yeah, sure."
Fishlegs slid down from Meatlug's back and looked around. "Is this it?" He asked. Snotlout had brought them to a small patch of dry land on the edge of the forest, framed by trees with the sea visible in the distance. There were several logs surrounding a pile of wood: a pre-made campfire.
"Yep, home sweet home!" Snotlout stretched as Hookfang lay down behind the logs and ignited the campfire. "Trust me, those dragon hunters will never find us here. They've been after me for a long time!" He sat down, his back against one of the logs. "Man, that was a long night! I need some rest!"
Fishlegs glanced around uneasily. This camp seemed fairly secluded, but he still didn't entirely believe that the dragon hunters wouldn't be able to spot them. He made a move to get back on Meatlug's back.
"Well, this has been fun and all but, we'd better get going, I've got to find the heir before Stoick gets any worse-"
"Really Fishface?" Snotlout raised an eyebrow. "You're going to leave behind the best chance you've got?"
"You?" Fishlegs laughed. "You think you're the best I've got?"
"Well, sure I am!" Snotlout said. "I'm a brilliant fighter, an all round Viking hero and Hooky is a Monstrous Nightmare! We could do way better than you and rocklug over there in finding your missing heir or whatever." He gestured to Meatlug, who was so busy munching on some rocks she had found on the ground that she didn't notice.
"Actually it's Meatlug!" Fishlegs said, arms folded. "And I'll have you know, I am Berk's finest dragon rider."
"Oh really? Are you sure you're not just Berk's only dragon rider?"
Fishlegs sighed. "Well, technically it's just me and a pair of lunatic twins on a Hideous Zippleback, but giving any kind of serious responsibility to Ruff and Tuff is a death sentence." Although Fishlegs was annoyed with Snotlout, he could see the other Viking's point. He and Meatlug didn't stand much of a chance now that a clan of dragon hunters were after them, and Snotlout had saved both of their lives. With a sigh, he slid down from Meatlug and went to sit by the campfire. Meantlug trotted over to Hookfang and attempted to make friends.
"So..." Fishlegs rapped his hand against his leg awkwardly. "Tell me about your tribe?"
"My tribe?" Snotlout raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, you don't just live out here by yourself, do you?"
Snotlout frowned and motioned at Hookfang to stop him from trying to bite a chunk out of Meatlug. "In fact that is exactly what I do. No tribe, no parents, no problems." He sat back comfortably. "Just how I like it." He pulled his helmet down over his face. "Now I'd suggest getting some sleep. The sun's coming up and I'd prefer to get to our next destination before nightfall." It was true, the first rays of dawn were beginning to appear over the horizon.
"Next destination? Where are we going?" Fishlegs asked. Snotlout yawned.
"Somewhere that might have a lead. Now shut up and let me sleep, Fishface."
Hookfang snapped in Snotlout's direction and nudged him so his helmet fell off.
"What?" Snotlout said angrily. Hookfang growled. "Oh right, your nightmare gel."
Hookfang settled his neck across Snotlout's lap as the Viking pulled out a small bottle and rubbed the contents into Hookfang's scales. "There you go. Now keep watch."
Fishlegs motioned for Meatlug to come over to him, which she did, and settled himself against her side to rest. It seemed like they might have found an answer to their problems after all.
...
As the sun came up over Berk, a pair of disgruntled, blonde and chaotic Vikings and their dragon made their way to dragon training arena.
"Where's Fishlegs?" Tuffnut yawned as he looked around the arena. "I thought he'd be here."
"He's always here at the crack of dawn." Ruffnut glanced around. "Unless..."
"Unless Meatlug finally snapped and ate him!" Tuffnut proclaimed. "I saw this one coming for a while now. It can't be easy on that poor, poor dragon, carrying his weight around all the time."
Ruffnut considered her brother's theory while Tuffnut awoke Barf and Belch, their two headed dragon, who had fallen asleep the moment they'd arrived. "Come on Belch, we need to train so we can go on that super cool mission and rescue Hiccup!"
Barf and Belch looked indifferent. They had never met Hiccup, and the twins could barely remember him themselves. They had only been four when the bandits had arrived and captured most of Berk's younger generation. They were some of the few to have survived the attack.
"Mission..." Ruffnut frowned. "That's it! The mission! That sneaky Fishlegged Viking must have gone to find Hiccup and the others without us!"
"Oh come on!" Tuffnut laughed a little while rubbing Belch's head. "He would never. Would he?"
Barf barfed up some gas in response.
"Oh when I get my hands on him!" Tuffnut proclaimed, seating himself ontop of Barf and Belch's right head. "Come on sis! We need to talk to the chief!"
The flight to the chief's hut was short, so the twins were still all fired up by the time they arrived.
"Right, you be the muscle, I'll do the talking!" Ruffnut said sternly as they landed.
"No way! You be the muscle, I'll do the talking!" Tuffnut argued. "You're so much more muscular than me!"
"No I'm not!" Ruffnut folded her arms.
"You are too!" Tuffnut punched her in the shoulder. "See, weak!"
"What is going on out here?!" An angry sounding voice penetrated through the twin's argument. Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked up to see Gobber the Belch standing in the doorway to the chief's hut, arms folded, looking angry.
"Well, you see Gobber, Ruffnut here was-"
"Both of you get out of here and down the arena where you belong!" Gobber said sternly.
"But-"
"I will handle this, Gobber!" A strong, scots voice sounded from inside the hut. Gobber turned around.
"Stoick, you-"
Stoick came to the door ahead of Gobber. His illness was not treating him well, there were streaks of grey in his beard that hadn't been there a few weeks ago and he had lost a lot of weight. As his self appointed personal carer, Gobber was surprised to see him up and able to stand. Stoick's illness had ranged from extreme weakness, to high fever to delerium where he would call out for his departed wife or even his son. Not even Gothi could find a cure and the council had gotten so worried that they had even sent someone out there to find Stoick's lost heir.
"Chief!" Exclaimed Tuffnut. "You look great!"
Stoick was leaning heavily against the doorway, barely able to stand, but still stood with the confidence and authority of a chief.
"Why have you come to my hut at such an early hour?" He demanded.
"Well, you see chief-" Tuffnut began, but Ruffnut cut straight to the point.
"Did you send Fishlegs to rescue Hiccup and everyone else?!" She demanded, arms folded.
"Yeah, that." Tuffnut confirmed, folding his arms too.
Stoick sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Fishlegs is smart, competent, careful and good at what he does." He said slowly but sternly. "All things that you two are not."
"Hey, we're great at what we do!" Ruffnut argued.
"If what you do is cause chaos, then yes!" Gobber muttered from behind Stoick.
"I needed someone clever and tactical enough to complete this mission successfully and in as little time as possible." Stoick said sternly. "The two of you and your demented dragon are not the right candidates for the job!"
Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked at the ground. For a few moments, Tuffnut thought back to his vague memories of the kidnapping, of his friends being snatched up one by one, of him being completely helpless. He hadn't even been able to protect his own sister, she had had to protect him. If only he could have a chance to do it differently...
"We might not be perfect, chief." Tuffnut said slowly. Stoick looked down at him in surprise. "True, most explosion related incidents that have occurred on Berk were partially our fault-"
"Partially!" Gobber grumbled.
"And we might not be the smartest, cleverest, most tactical dragon riders," Tuffnut continued. "But we have something Fishlegs doesn't!"
"Good looks?" Ruffnut suggested.
"No, dear sister. We have the passion and determination enough to complete this mission five times over! Double that because there's two of us! Erm, quadruple if you count Barf and Belch."
"We can do this, sir!" Ruffnut proclaimed loudly. "We want Hiccup and the others back just as much as you do! And Barf and Belch are faster than Fishlegs and Meatlug anyway!"
Gobber glanced towards Stoick, who continued to stare down at the twins. "It's your call Stoick." He whispered.
Stoick gave a long sigh. Truthfully, he didn't feel well enough to be out here and arguing with the local troublemakers anyway. And Fishlegs might need all the help he could get, he was only one boy after all.
"Two days." He said gruffly. The twins looked up eagerly.
"Does this mean..." Tuffnut's face lit up with glee. Stoick nodded sternly.
"I will give you two days to give this mission your best effort. But, if you are not back after those two days, then you can consider yourselves grounded indefinitely!" He frowned. "Do you understand?"
"Oh yes sir, we understand!" Tuffnut said eagerly.
"We won't let you down!" Ruffnut agreed. The twins darted towards Barf and Belch, jumpy with excitement and climbed onto their respective saddles, before taking off into the air.
Stoick gave a small groan. Gobber looked at him concerned, then up at the sky where the zippleback and the twins were heading back towards the Thorston household, presumably to grab supplies.
If those crazy twins were their last hope then Thor help them all.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut had just finished grabbing provisions and weapons from their hut when Tuffnut had a thought.
"Hey sis?"
"Yeah?"
"You know when the chief said that if we're not back after two days then we'll be grounded indefinitely?" Tuffnut said, a crafty smirk appearing on his face. Ruffnut nodded. "Well, he didn't exactly specify if we were supposed to come back before those two days were up, or that if we came back before they were up, we would be grounded!"
Ruffnut realised what he was saying immediately and smirked a smirk to match her brother's.
"If we come back before the two days are up, he'll ground us immediately!" She proclaimed. "We can't do that to Barf and Belch!" She patted Barf's head fondly.
"We'd better stay away for a good while," Tuffnut said, still grinning. "Just to be safe. You know, until we find Hiccup and Astrid and... who else was it again?"
"Gustav?" Ruffnut offered.
"Yeah, him too."
The twins mounted their dragon and were about to take off when they saw their neighbour, Mrs Jorgenson, approaching from the Jorgenson hut across the street.
"Oh, hi Mrs J!" Tuffnut waved. This woman had been a second motherly figure in the twin's lives for a great deal of their childhood and they were both fond of her.
"Are you following Fishlegs to rescue Hiccup?" Mrs Jorgenson asked anxiously. Tuffnut nodded proudly.
"You'd bet we are!" He said excitedly. "Stoick's orders, old Fishylegs would be dead meat out there without us!"
"We're going to bring them all back!" Ruffnut added. "We're not coming back until those bandits see some justice!"
Mrs Jorgenson smiled happily. "Be safe, you two." She said, her eyes glistening with tears and hope. "Bring my boy back to me."
"We will." Said Tuffnut with sincerity, and Ruffnut gave a sincere nod. With a flew flaps of their wings, Barf and Belch carried the pair of Vikings high into the sky and out of sight.
Next chapter: Enter Heather and Astrid!