"Okay, so one night 6 years ago, there was a dragon raid. That's when everything changed. That was the night I shot Toothless down with one of my inventions. I told them I had shot a Night Fury down, but none of them believed me...and I'm glad they didn't. When Gobber brought me to the house, I snuck up from behind and went to Raven's Point where I found Toothless tied up in ropes. I was about to kill him, but I didn't because he looked weak and frightened just as I was, so let him go. He bounced on me, but didn't kill me, he just roared at me and flew away. That's what I thought until I went back after dragon training and noticed that one his tailfins was gone and that's why he couldn't fly away. The next day, after handling with Stormfly, a Deadly Nadder, Astrid told me to figure out on which side I was. Of course, I went to the cove to try to get closer with Toothless. After tossing my dagger in the lake, feeding him, eating a fish that was inside a dragon's stomach and trying not to step some lines he drew, we became best friends. That night, Gobber said that a downed dragon is a dead dragon and since Toothless couldn't fly, he was pretty much dead. I knew that since I was the one who took away his ability to fly, I was the one who had to give it back, so I made him a tailfin and after several crash-landings we succeeded, but there was a one little downside, he needed me to control the tailfin. Over that time, I learnt a lot of tricks to calm dragons down so I used these tricks at dragon training and that's how I got on top of the class. When I won the 'honor' to kill a Monsterous Nightmare, I knew I couldn't do it, so Toothless and I left. After a few hours of flying, we came across Heather who was in a wrecked ship. Then I showed her what it's like to be a dragon rider and gave her Windshear, before fighting the queen of a next that was terrorizing Berk, and I lost my leg. We then came across our own home that we call Dragons Edge. After a few months of being there, we eventually became boyfriend and girlfriend. During our time here, we started rescuing dragons from Viking villages and became known as the Night and Shadow Rider." Hiccup tells them.

"Okay, but why did you run away?" Asked Hala.

"I knew someone would eventually find Toothless and I didn't want that to happen, so we left. We wanted to be somewhere where both of us can be accepted. So we just left and became an incredible team." Hiccup explains.

"So, what happened afterwards?" Hala asks, getting invested.

"Well, we've spent years rescuing dragons, and a few years later, we got married and...we even have a daughter." Heather tells them.

Valka gasped. "I can't believe it," she whispered. "I'm gone twenty years and my son has a wife and a daughter."

Hiccup laughs nervously and scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah, her name's Hope. We left her with a friend while we were gone. Her name is Elsa and she was queen of Arendelle for a few years, now she lives in a enchanted forest as the fifth spirit of the forest. She has a younger sister named Anna who's queen of Arendelle now. She's married to an ice harvester named Kristoff. And we're not the only ones who's had kids, even our dragons have their own kids we call Razorfuries. We named them Blue, Echo, Delta and Charlie."

"You've gotta show us them sometime." Hala tells them.

"Yes." Hiccup agrees. "But right now we can talk to Drago together." He says, knowing they still need to stop him.

"What?"

"What?" Valka asked in confusion, her smile fading ever so slightly. By the tone of her voice, she thought Heather and Hiccup were joking. When Hiccup and Heather didn't reply, she frowned.

"There's no talking to Drago," Hala adds on.

What was so bad about Drago? Even the most powerful of people seemed scared of going up against him.

"But...but we have to-" Hiccup began.

"No," Valka cut in, shaking her head firmly in a clear motion to tell Hiccup and Heather both that her decision was final. "We must protectour own."

Hiccup groaned, and Heather understood why. Stoick was always telling Hiccup that they needed to protect their own, and now, his mother was telling them the same thing. Heather imagined Hiccup was pretty annoyed by the phrase "protect our own" by this point.

She knew she certainly was.

"Now come on," Valka said, gesturing to their dragons. "We should be getting back."

She mounted Cloudjumper, and Heather mounted Windshear reluctantly as Hala got onboard Scarlett. Hiccup swung himself lazily towards Toothless, his posture limp and slack.

Toothless grinned at him gummily like an excited puppy. He folded and unfolded his new fins a few more times before finally letting Hiccup mount him.

Hiccup looked at Heather uneasily. "We have to talk to Drago," he whispered, loud enough for her to hear but not loud enough for Valka or Hala to hear. "If we don't talk to him, war will break out, Heather. You know it will, and I know it will, no matter how hard other people try to deny it. Dad said it himself. War is what Drago wants, no matter how you look at it. If we don't go to him for war, he'll come back at us with war. There's no way to avoid it...unless we change his mind."

Heather knew he was right. "As soon as we get back to the dragon sanctuary," she said, "we'll have to go out again."

Hiccup nodded. "Agreed," he said. Just like that, the dragons spread their wings, and took air.

-

Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins landed at Drago's camp, according to the directions given to them by Eret. As soon as they were close enough to the ground, Stormfly released Eret, and with a yelp of indignance, the trapper fell flat on his face into the snow.

He instantly tried to scramble to his feet, but Stormfly landed on top of him, her claws pinning him to the ground. Smiling, Astrid slid off her dragon's back and strode forward.

Stormfly could take care of Eret for now. She seemed to have taken a liking to him already.

Eret, unfortunately, did not feel the same way. "Aaagh!" he complained. "Okay! Look, I got you here, now get this thing off me!"

Astrid turned back at him, narrowing her eyes. "Never take a toy from a dragon," she said. She spread her hands and held them up. "Don't you know anything?"

"Gah!" Eret gasped loudly, struggling against Stormfly although it was in vain. "Why does this keep happening to me?" Stormfly wrapped her wings around Eret, which muffled his voice so that Astrid could just barely make out the end.

She and the other Dragon Riders ducked low to the ground and raced towards a small slope. As soon as they reached it, they looked over it, and gasped.

A fleet of ships. Dark, black ships, with soldiers on them, shouting orders to one another while others raced off to do other tasks Astrid didn't want to think about. Ship by ship, Astrid tried to count them, but then found that it was useless. She couldn't count them without missing one, or forgetting which ones she had counted and which ones she hadn't.

She squinted down at the ship that seemed the biggest out of the fleet. Chains were strung about it and then thrown into the water, the metal pulled tight to allow no slack. Bubbles rose up from the water and popped along the surface of it. Astrid looked down at it more intently, trying to figure out what in the world was causing it.

"What's down there?" Astrid wondered out loud. Although she had been speaking to mainly herself, Fishlegs still pulled out his small stack of dragon flash cards and looked them over carefully.

"Large diameter bubbles," Fishlegs counted off, "massive lungs...cold water deep dweller...I'm thinking class five leviathan, maybe six."

Class five alone was pretty big. Adding another class to it made it slightly bigger.

Astrid was formulating a plan in her head, trying to decide what to do and how to break in, when suddenly, shouts erupted from all around her, following by whiz, whiz, whiz. Astrid spun around as soon as the sounds met her ears, and she watched as darts sank into the dragons' backs and sides.

Tranquilizers. Tranquilizers shot by dragon trappers.

Astrid really, really, really hated dragon trappers. She could never emphasize that enough. She, the others, and their dragons were now on the deck of the ship, the dragons still tranquilized while the dragon riders had their hands tied behind their backs. The ropes bit into Astrid's skin, and she ignored it as best as she could, wishing desperately that she could somehow get her axe back from the trappers that stole it from her.

And then there was Eret, who was also being held back by Drago's men, although Astrid couldn't figure out why, exactly. Not that she cared.

She wanted to shout, to yell, to scream, to throw insults to the men aboard the ship, but then, one man stepped forward, and the soldiers parted a path for him to come through. He had long, dark hair that was in dreadlocks; not unlike Tuffnut's, but at the same time, completely different. Scars ran across the man's face sporadically and in no specific order. A cloak hung around his shoulders, half of it covering his right arm. It was silver, almost, and looked almost like…Scales.

Dragon scales to be exact.

This was Drago Bludvist. Astrid figured that out easily. What Stoick said about him being covered in scars, and wearing the cloak of dragon skin...plus, there was an atmosphere that hung around the tall, muscular man that would have made almost anyone want to do what he said.

That would explain why Eret had his mind so set on doing what Drago wanted. Astrid understood. Eret was like a slave, almost. All the dragon trappers were like slaves. Some of them might have done it willingly while others were forced, but they were all slaves. All under the power of someone who would have no problem killing them, and probably no guilt afterwards, either.

"Drago!" Eret said, sounding way too cheerful for his own good. He jerked away from the soldiers holding him, demanding, "Get off me!" as he went. As soon as he finished making his break away, he laughed. "Always great to see you, my friend! Keeping warm up here?"

Drago didn't answer. He continued walking forward, towards the trapper, who was beginning to look worried and frightened. "Well!" he said. "As you can see, I'm here right on time with a new batch of dragons, just like I promised!"

Astrid couldn't help but notice how...desperate he sounded.

Then, suddenly, Hookfang stirred and let out a roar of fury when he realized he was chained down and unable to move. "Watch out!" a soldier shouted as he and a few others sprang away from Hookfang. "He's waking up! Keep him steady!"

More soldiers jumped in and grabbed the ropes and chains, pulling on them hard so they could slam Hookfang back to the ground. Astrid looked back at Snotlout, and the boy's fury was not hidden.

"Give me some backup here!" another soldier shouted.

"Watch out!" someone else yelped.

"Drop the ropes," Drago ordered. Astrid winced at the sound of his voice. It was gravelly and dark and deep, almost as though he had swallowed a bucket of nails.

Hookfang glared at Drago, sucked in a deep intake of air, and blasted fire straight at him. Astrid thought for a moment that it was the end of Drago Bludvist, but it was all wishful thinking, she supposed, because Drago pulled his dragon skin cloak in front of him to shield himself from the dragon's fire, and continued walking forward.

Hookfang finally backed off, and when he did, Drago pulled out a large staff, and screamed, swinging the staff in the air over his head. Astrid wanted to cover her ears. The man's terrible voice paled in comparison to how terrible his screaming sounded.

Hookfang lowered his head to the ground, just as Drago reached him. Drago then lifted his foot and pressed it against Hookfang's snout. Hookfang didn't even fight back.

"Hookfang!" Snotlout shouted angrily.

"Hey!" Ruffnut protested, but no one was listening to either her or Snotlout.

"What are you doing!?" Astrid demanded, hoping that her voice was enough to make at least one of the soldiers turn and answer her, or at least notice her, but none of them did.

Drago leaned close to Hookfang's face, staring the dragon in the eyes. "You belong to me now," he said.

There were a few moments of silence, and then, Eret spoke up. "And as an added bonus," he said in a very businessmen type manner, "I also caught you their riders. No extra charge!"

"What!?" Astrid exclaimed. Eret didn't capture them. They captured Eret and forced him to show them the way to Drago. That's the only way the trappers got their hands on the dragon riders. "Are you kidding me!?" she yelled.

"Aww, but you were so perfect!" Ruffnut complained.

Eret continued talking. "Turns out," he said, "there's a whole bunch of them out there. They're-"

Eret never got to finish what he was saying, because Drago lurched forward, his hand snaking out, his meaty fingers closing into a death grip around Eret's neck. Eret opened his mouth as if to gasp, his hands clawing at Drago's.

"How many?" Drago snarled, right in his face.

Astrid didn't pity the trapper whom Drago was currently strangling. Hiccup would have pitied him, but not Astrid. "Drago doesn't have them after all," she whispered to herself. Hiccup, Heather, Stoick, and Gobber were not in Drago's clutches.

Maybe it was time for her to come up with a plan of her own.

"HOW MANY!?" Drago roared, holding Eret even tighter if possible.

"Hundreds!" Astrid shouted in place of Eret, taking a confident step forward while Drago turned in her direction, his horrible, sunken eyes staring straight into hers. "A whole island full!"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Eret choked out desperately. "My men are hunting them down as we speak. They won't know where you're hiding. I promise you that."

"Oh, yes they will!" Astrid continued, taking another step forward. Drago dropped Eret back onto the deck, his full attention on Astrid. Astrid stepped forward again. Confidence. She had to be confident. "They know we're missing, and they have tracking dragons. If you so much as touch us, Night Rider is gonna kick-"

"Night Rider?" Drago said in disgust, testing the name on his tongue and saying it as though it were a curse word.

"He's not a problem!" Eret gasped, rubbing his bruised throat tenderly. "Really. Trust me."

"He's only the son of Stoick the Vast!" Astrid bragged, making sure her voice was loud enough for everyone on the ship to hear. "He's the greatest Dragon Master And trainer this world has ever seen!"

"Dragon Master?" Drago repeated. Astrid nodded, and Drago stepped forward, right in her face. "I, alone, control the dragons!" he said, and then smiled smugly.

"Nope," Tuffnut said, shaking his head and closing his eyes. "Mmm-nnn."

"Sorry!" Fishlegs said with a half-laugh.

"And unless you let us go, right now," Astrid continued, "he will blast through here on his Night Fury, and blow your entire fleet of ships to splinters!" She thought for a few more moments. Hiccup wasn't the only rider who was intimidating. "And don't get me started on his wife!" Astrid went on. "Shadow Rider and her Razorwhip. Together, they're are an unstoppable team. They will destroy your fleet as if it were child's play!"

"Then they'll be crying like babies!" Ruffnut giggled.

"Funny and beautiful," Snotlout said, bumping his shoulder against Snotlout's.

"Good one, babe!" Fishlegs said.

Ruffnut made a noise in disgust and tried to move away from them, but to no avail.

"Yeah," Tuffnut said. "Like babies. They always cry. Real tiny ones…"

Drago grabbed Eret again, holding him tightly by his throat just as Eret got his breath back. "First there was four riders," Drago snarled, thinking of Valka and Hala first then came Night and Shadow. "And now, all of Berk. And you lead them to me!" He threw Eret across the deck, and soldiers moved out of the way, leaving Eret to crash to the wooden floorboards.

"Drago!" Eret cried, sounding very pathetic. Astrid wondered if maybe, just maybe, Eret wasn't all heartless. Maybe he was terrified of Drago. Maybe that was all it was.

But she wasn't going to trust him. No. She didn't think she would ever truly trust him.

"STOP ALL PREPARATIONS!" Drago commanded his soldiers in a loud, demeaning voice. "WE MUST ATTACK THE DRAGON RIDER'S NEST AT ONCE!" He was savoring it, clearly enjoying every moment of everything he was saying. It made Astrid want to gag. "WE WILL TAKE DOWN THEIR ALPHA!" Drago went on. "AND THEN, WE WILL TAKE BERK!"

Astrid could have sworn her heart skipped a beat. Oh no. She'd revealed too much, perhaps. Yes, she was certain now that she had revealed too much. What was Drago going to do with her and the others? Was Hiccup even looking for them? Eret had said his men were hunting him down...what if he was already captured?

"Drago!" Eret said once again.

"And get rid of him!" Drago ordered.

Soldiers around them took up weapons and got ready to throw them. Eret looked ready to cry. "Oh, Drago please…" he begged.

One of Drago's men threw the weapon straight at Eret, but at the last second, a blur of blue scales ran in the way and shielded the trapper.

Stormfly.

Astrid didn't have time to shout or yell at her dragon to get back before another soldier shot a dart at the Nadder. Another tranquilizer. Stormfly collapsed to the deck, sleeping instantly.

"Stormfly!" Astrid cried. "No!" Men held her back as she tried to run forward towards her dragon.

She'd said too much. Way too much.