(A/N: Wow, it's chapter eight already, this is just amazing. Before I get ahead of myself, this is part two to the "Riders of Berk" finale "We Are Family." I don't have much more to say other than I hope you enjoy the new chapter. I'm really looking forward to it and I hope everyone else is too.)
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Smog had been following Hiccup and Toothless the entire night. It was tiring, but his trainer felt that they would need help if anything were to happen to them.
He followed them to an island nearly the size of Dragon Island. It didn't look like any place special, but then again neither did Breakneck Bog - and that was his home for most of his life.
Hiccup and Toothless landed atop a ravine on the island and he wasn't too far behind. He used the cover of a tree in a shaded area not too far from their landing spot to watch them.
Hiccup got off Toothless and cupped his hands on either side of his mouth and let out a Night Fury call. Miraculously, when he did, a Night Fury did appear, but it was behind some rocks and hard to see.
It could have been anything really, even a trick of the light, but Hiccup believed otherwise. "I don't believe it! A Night Fury! Go to him, bud."
Toothless happily made his way down the ravine and took cautious steps towards the rocks. He paused in his steps and looked back at Hiccup.
He gestured for him to keep going, "Go on, I'm right behind you." He turned around and continued to go towards the rocks and the Night Fury.
But then Hiccup noticed something very odd, the Night Fury suddenly wasn't there anymore. It was like it had vanished into thin air.
"Something's not right," he muttered. "Toothless, come back!"
Toothless began to make his way back to his rider, but he never made it. Bolas suddenly wrapped around him and Outcasts armed with weapons surrounded him. He fired plasma blasts at them, but he was muzzled before any of the attacks could hit any one of them.
"Toothless! No!" Hiccup immediately ran down to help his dragon. Before he reached him, however, he was captured himself.
Smog couldn't watch, but he couldn't do nothing either, they were his friends and they needed help. He opened his mouth and a small amount of fog came out, but then quickly closed it when Alvin the Treacherous suddenly appeared.
He remembered his ferocity and how Helene had to suffer through a near-death experience with him holding her hostage. He also remembered how he was captured himself, it was really only a twist of fate that she had been able to train a Monstrous Nightmare and that he was directly over them at that moment and helped them after he heard her song.
The chances of that happening again were slim. Even if Hiccup could escape and train a wild dragon, what were the chances of him and Toothless getting off Outcast Island in one piece? The gods may not be as compassionate with them as were with Helene while she was undercover.
He opened his mouth again and fog emitted from it once more. Once he was completely covered he flew down to Hiccup and Toothless, hopefully the same trick he used just a couple of months ago would work again.
He wasn't able to produce a lot of fog, as he is only one, lone Smothering Smokebreath and still quite small, but the light fog that surrounded the Outcasts was enough to confuse them. He landed on Toothless' back and began to chew through the ropes that restrained him.
He was able to break through one of the ropes, but before he could bite anymore, he was suddenly hit on the head. It was a staff that hit him, a staff ornamented with dragon teeth, it was Mildew's staff and Mildew was standing in front of him.
He growled at him and whipped his tail around, as if threatening to hit him with it. He raised his staff in preparation to hit him with it again. He brought it down, but Smog got out of the way before it touched him. It instead hit Toothless on the back, causing him to grunt and growl in pain.
He then swung the staff and this time it hit him. He was flung onto the fake Night Fury the Outcasts made. His tail got caught on the skin of the dummy and some of it was torn when he fluttered his wings and flew in place; he was far from finished with them.
"Smog! Fly away!" Hiccup yelled.
Ordinarily he would obey this command and fly back to Berk for help, but he was reluctant to do so. He was told to follow them in case they needed help and they do need help now, he couldn't just drop everything and disobey what Helene told him to do.
However, his mind was changed and he followed Hiccup's command when an arrow was shot at him. He flew away from the island as fast as his wings could carry him with a piece of skin torn from the dummy Night Fury stuck on his tail.
Astrid was fast asleep in her bed when she was suddenly awakened by her body being frantically and violently shook. She opened her eyes and rubbed them, she blinked and saw that it was Helene who woke her and she looked like she was in a panic.
"Smog hasn't come back!" she cried.
"What?" she questioned, sitting up in her bed. "Where could he have gone?"
She sighed and told her where she sent her dragon, almost as a confession, "I sent him after Hiccup and Toothless."
She was confused by this, "But Hiccup and Toothless are here on Berk."
"No," she claimed, "they left in the middle of the night, I sent Smog after them in case they needed help."
"Why would Hiccup leave without us? And why would they need help?" she queried.
She wasn't sure if she should tell her this, but she didn't have much of a choice. "Well, when I saw Bork's papers I saw that the ink looked to be in too good of shape, leading me to think they could have forged."
"Forged? But why would-" she gasped in realization and jumped out of bed. "We need to get our dragons and the other riders, now!"
They immediately ran out of their house and went to the homes of the other Dragon Riders. They weren't exactly too happy to be woken up so early, but there was no time for rest with Hiccup, Toothless, and Smog missing.
Once everyone was awake and alert of the situation, they went to the Academy to pack their saddlebags. It may end up becoming a long day, they would need these provisions.
They were just about to mount their dragons and take off when Stoick and Gobber walk in. It was really bad timing, as usual.
"Has anyone seen Hiccup?" Stoick asked. He then took notice of the fully packed saddlebags on every dragon, "And where are you all headed off to?"
"Uh, training exercise," Astrid answered nervously.
Of course, he didn't believe her and decided to ask someone with a weaker constitution. "Fishlegs?"
Fishlegs jumped and whimpered when his name was called, then he blurted out all at once, "We're headed to the Isle of Night to search for Hiccup, Toothless, and Smog! It's an island full of Night Furies, could be dangerous, maybe not. Wanna come?"
He looked at Helene next, "Why would your dragon be with my son and his dragon?"
She had to tell him, he was the Chief of Berk, the island she lived on, she was technically one of his people, "I sent my dragon after them because I was suspicious of the papers Hiccup found. And now all three of them are missing."
"Why are you here, Gobber?" Snotlout asked.
"I stopped by Mildew's place and it's completely cleared out, no sign of him anywhere," he informed Stoick.
"On your dragons, we're leaving now," Stoick commanded.
Everyone did as he told them to and got onto the backs of their dragons. Gobber got onto Thornado with Stoick, while Helene got onto Stormfly with Astrid.
They were about to take off, then Tuffnut spotted something in the sky. It was hard to make out, but it looked like a bird or something coming down towards them.
"Hey, is it weird that there's a bat flying in our direction?" he asked, pointing at whatever it was he was seeing.
They looked in that direction and saw what he was talking about. But it wasn't a bat or a bird, it was a dragon, and not just any dragon.
"Smog!" Helene beamed.
She did a dragon call so that he would know where to go. He heard the call and flew down towards the arena.
He flew inside through the chained roof and collapsed to the ground upon reaching them. His wings were so sore they were numb, he would have thought his wings had fallen off.
Helene immediately jumped down from Stormfly and knelt in front of her dragon. "What happened, Smog? Where are Hiccup and Toothless?" He started chirping and squawking weakly and lowly, but that was all he could muster.
She then saw something stuck to his tail. It was black and looked like dragon skin, but there was an odor to it that didn't smell like the hide of any dragon she had ever seen.
She took it in her fingers and played with it to figure it out. Gobber saw this and asked about it, "What do you have there?"
"It was on his tail," she replied.
He took it from her and examined it, looking at it and smelling it. The smell was very strong and smelled rotten and he knew what it was.
"What is it, Gobber?" Stoick asked.
"Dragon scales covered with ash from a charred Loki Tree," he responded.
"Loki Tree?" Snotlout repeated. "Never heard of it."
"That's because it only grows in one place," Stoick started.
"Outcast Island," Gobber finished.
"Hiccup and Toothless are on Outcast Island!" Fishlegs shouted.
"On your dragons," the village chief commanded. "We're leaving immediately."
Everyone quickly got back on their dragons. Once again, Gobber was with Stoick and Helene was with Astrid.
They were about to take off, when Stormfly felt something on her leg. It was Smog, he was using his claws and wings to slowly climb up her leg, there was no way he was letting his trainer go without him.
"No, Smog, you're not coming with us," she told him sternly.
He started squawking, although it was still a little weak, she could tell that he was stubbornly telling her that was going with them. She gave him a look that said "no", but he then started to growl.
Frankly, this was very shocking to her, he doesn't usually growl at anyone, let alone her. He was just too stubborn to take 'no' for an answer.
She finally caved in and sighed, "Fine," she patted the space behind her, "get on."
He gave his own version of a smile to no one but himself, he knew he would eventually break her. He finished his climb and came to a rest behind her, curling up his body like he was lying in his nest.
They had been flying in the direction of Outcast Island for a couple of hours by this point, but with all of the anxiety and worry it seemed much longer. With everything on everyone's minds, a couple of hours seemed like an eternity.
With each passing minute they got closer to Outcast Island and closer to Thor knows what. The second they were spotted over the Outcast controlled waters, arrows and boulders would be shot at them from every direction.
"What's the plan?" Astrid asked Stoick.
"Alvin knows we'll be coming in from the sky. We have to find another way onto Outcast Island," he surmised.
He did have a valid point, Alvin wasn't dim, he would be expecting them. And he would most likely have an ambush waiting for their arrival.
Then, Helene saw something in the ocean when she looked down, it was her father's ship; her blood went cold with fear. It might be where she grew up, but that didn't make much of a difference considering the type of man her father was.
However, this might be the one time that ship and the man on it would be able to do something good for once. As much as she didn't want to, this may be their only chance to get to Hiccup and Toothless without being seen.
"Chief!" she called out to Stoick.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Look down," she responded.
Everyone looked down at the waters below them and saw the ship. They were surprised to see it, but they weren't complaining, it was exactly what they needed.
"Is that?" Gobber asked himself.
"It is," Stoick confirmed.
They all flew down towards the ship and landed their dragons on the deck. Johann came out from below deck when he heard the roars of the dragons and the 'thump!' when they landed on his ship.
He didn't like to have the Dragon Riders on the deck of his ship and he hated the dragons themselves even more. He quickly noticed that Hiccup and Toothless weren't with them.
'So the ninety-pound boy and his little dragon are in trouble,' he thought contently. 'How marvelous.'
He gleefully mused to himself about the fantasy of Hiccup watching as his precious dragon was torn apart. The thought of the weak-willed boy witnessing the bloody, gory death of his dragon sent pleasuring chills through his body.
For now, however, he would smile and act as the friendly merchant he was not. And that was what he did.
"Stoick! To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked.
"Johann, it's urgent, we need you to take your ship to Outcast Island," he stated, speaking in a rather rushed voice.
"Of course, it would be my pleasure," he smiled.
He then took notice of his daughter as she got down from Stormfly's back. He had to be sure she did not tell anyone about his true occupation.
"Helene, how are you?" He pulled her into an embrace, she didn't return it, her body just went limp as soon as he touched her. He then whispered harshly in her ear, "You didn't tell them anything, did you?"
"N-No, I swear to the gods I didn't," she whispered back.
"Good." He pulled away from her and turned back to the others.
She thought she would fall to the floor when he finally let go of her, she was very shaken up and her whole body felt like gelatin; she would have thought that all feeling was lost, but she did not feel any numbness. But she was also relieved and could feel her body gradually returning.
Smog noticed the slightly traumatized expression on her face - how no one else saw this was a mystery to him - and went over to her. He stood on his hind legs and chirped to get her attention.
She looked down at her dragon when his chirps hit her ears. She watched as her little dragon tried to walk around on his hind legs but would end up falling on the floor, this caused her to laugh.
He got up from the floor and shook his head, the fall put him into a slight daze. He flew up to be level with her eyes and started to fly around in circles with smoke coming out of his mouth. He made hoops with it and flew through the halos of fumes and did a twirl once he was out of them. She smiled brightly at the trick he performed for her.
He came back to her and nuzzled her face with his own, purring as he did so. She smiled and scratched the back of his head affectionately. He really knew how to cheer her up when she needed to.
"Helene," Astrid spoke, the hatch to the storage below deck was open, "come on."
Everyone else had already gone below deck and the other dragons were gone. The dragons were most likely going to get onto Outcast Island by pretending to be wild. Smog wouldn't have to, he was small enough to hide on the ship with them.
She and Smog went down with the others to hide out with them. Astrid wasn't too far behind and closed the hatch behind her when she jumped down.
They were down in that storage hole for a while, but no one could tell for how long. They wondered how far or close they were to Outcast Island.
That question was answered when the ship came to a stop and they could hear voices. They were primarily the voices of Outcast soldiers and Johann's infamous "my favorite of all the islands I've traveled to" marketing line.
Helene rolled her eyes, her father really was nothing but a swindler. Smog did the same thing and squawked quietly, as if he could read her mind and agreed with her.
Johann then made a mention of "something special" for Alvin the Treacherous and they could hear steps in the direction of where they were hiding out. Light then lit up the dark space and that was their cue to come out. They jumped out and attacked the Outcasts; they never saw it coming.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut started to jump on one of the soldiers. It was quite enjoyable for them, not so much for the soldier.
"Way better than just punching him," Tuffnut remarked.
Fishlegs tosses another soldier overboard, "That felt really good. Is that wrong?"
"Nope," Astrid replied, punching a soldier and dusting off her hands in satisfaction.
Stoick grabs one of the soldiers by his armor, "Now, where's my boy and his dragon?"
"I- I don't know," he cried.
He raised his fist, threatening to punch him, "Want to think harder?"
He finally told him that they both escaped, but at separate times. Meaning it was unlikely that they would find them together.
They took to the air again after reuniting with their dragons. Apparently, dragon calls were more effective than first thought.
They flew around for a little while before they finally spotted something. There was some kind of commotion going on near the prison.
It was three dragons, a Changewing, a Scauldron, and a Whispering Death, chasing a Deadly Nadder. One the back of the Deadly Nadder was Hiccup... with Mildew? Why in the world would that old man be on a dragon of any kind?
The three dragons eventually crash and the Nadder was able to escape with Hiccup and Mildew safe and sound. At least there were no human fatalities, no decent human fatalities.
They landed near them and got down from their dragons. Everyone, especially Stoick, was relieved to see Hiccup was alright.
"Hiccup! Oh, thank Thor you're alright," he smiled at his son.
"I am, but Toothless is in trouble," he stated.
"And Mildew is on the back of your dragon," Tuffnut pointed out.
"I know," he replied.
"Weird!" he exclaimed.
Gobber grabbed Mildew off the dragon, "Gotcha! I should run you through right now."
Hiccup stopped him from doing anything, "No, no, no, Gobber! Gobber, no! He helped me escape." He turned to his father, "Dad, I owe Mildew my life."
Everyone looked at him like he had grown horns and a tail. They were silent and unable to speak until it was broken by Tuffnut.
"Getting weirder!" he remarked.
"I'll explain later. Right now, I have to get to Toothless," he told them.
Astrid remembered the dragon calls and how well they worked before, why not try it again? "Or bring him to you."
He cupped his mouth and let out the Night Fury call. After a few suspenseful moments, they got a response from Toothless.
It wasn't long before they could finally see the said dragon. He was alright and happy to see them, especially his rider.
"There he is." Hiccup got off his Nadder and ran to his dragon. "Toothle-" Toothless tackled him and he fell to the ground, but he just laughed. "Are you alright, bud? Oh, I am so sorry, Toothless. This was all my fault."
Toothless then suddenly hears something and growls. He got off Hiccup, who stood up knelt beside him.
"Whoa, what's the matter, bud?" he asked.
He got his answer when Alvin suddenly appeared. "Hey there, boy! You weren't gonna leave before we finished our business, were you?" He scowled at him. "That's what I would expect from Stoick's little runt."
"Oh, boy," Gobber muttered.
"Hiccup!" Stoick yelled. Alvin started laughing and Hiccup stood up. "Hiccup, no! We got what we came for!"
"Do it, boy. I'm right here!" he chuckled. "Now!"
Outcasts then appeared with weapons in hand. Before Hiccup and Toothless could get away the soldiers threw bolas at them and they got tied up in them.
"He's down!" Gobber shouted.
"Dragons, everyone!" Helene commanded. "Smog-" she was about to give him a command, but he was gone. Not just him either, all of the dragons were gone.
"Uh, would love to, but as you can see…" Tuffnut trailed off.
Mildew scoffed, "Trusting dragons. This is what it gets you."
"Wait. Look!" Astrid pointed up.
They looked up and saw their dragons, they fired down at the Outcasts, who fled in fear. They tried to fire back with their arrows, but Smog stole their crossbows.
"Yeah! We taught them that! We didn't teach them that, did we?" Tuffnut asked Ruffnut, who shrugged. "I don't think so."
Stormfly and Hookfang then pick up Hiccup and Toothless and bring them to the others. Smog used his tail to slice off the ropes of the bolas.
"What happened?" Hiccup asked.
"The dragons saved you on their own," Helene answered.
"Looks like they took their training to a whole new level," Astrid commented.
"We can catch up later, but right now we have to get out of here," Stoick stated.
More Outcasts came shouting with numerous weapons in hand. They quickly mounted their dragons and began to take flight. Gobber was with Stoick on Thornado again while Helene was on Hiccup's Deadly Nadder. Mildew clung to the tip of the tail while screaming.
She rolled her eyes and shouted back at him, "Mildew, get your ass up here!"
He looked down at the ground, he gave himself a mental smirk, his job was done. "Tell Hiccup I'm sorry!"
He let go of the tail and went tumbling on Outcast Island. He was immediately grabbed by Alvin and a sword was at his neck.
"Mildew!" Hiccup cried.
He tried to turn Toothless around, but Helene stopped him, "Hiccup, no, there's nothing we can do for him now."
"But-" he tried to argue, but she stopped him.
"Alvin has him now, but we will come back," she assured.
"She's right, this isn't over yet," Stoick told his son. "For now, I'm just glad to have you back." Toothless growled in agreement, causing everyone to laugh.
They weren't the only ones, Helene was glad that Smog wasn't hurt during his flight to the Isle of Night and on his way back home to Berk. If something happened to him, she wasn't sure what she would do, she would probably be forced to live with her father on his ship again. The thought sent chills through her, but that would never happen while Smog was with her.
The next day, Bork Week went along as planned and that included the parade. The riders trained their dragons the whole night for this, but it would all be worth it, it was least they could do for the people of Berk, as well as the dragons.
First, a flock of Gronckles flew together in a straight line and spewed their lava, which exploded and gave off an effect like fireworks. Next, a group of Deadly Nadders flew in a wide 'V' formation, it was majestic to see even though it was not as flashy as the Gronckles.
Finally, the Dragon Riders came in with their dragons also in a 'V' formation, although it was tighter than the Nadders. Toothless was front and center with the other dragons flanking his sides. Smog was the only exception, he flew directly behind him and created their entrance with his smoke. He also used his flame to light it and give it a color. It was breathtaking for all to see.
Toothless finished the performance by firing a few plasma blasts, all of which exploded. The explosions left behind a firework effect like what the Gronckles did in their wake. It was the perfect finale for this parade. And not just for the parade, but for everything that they went through the past couple of days.
These past days were chaotic and nerve-wracking and also showed that you can't trust everything you see or hear, no matter how it may seem. But there will always be this light at the end of the tunnel and in the end, that light will be what leads you home to the arms of everyone who loves you. It was the absolute perfect ending and the only thing that made it more so were the dragons that would always be there.
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(A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this and all of the hard work I put into it. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to get this done and I'm just blessed that I was.
This will be the last chapter for a few weeks, but I will continue to work on this in the meantime. Until then, please continue to vote on my poll and leave a review or two. Even if you don't, I still know that I have the support of a few people who will always be here for me and this story.)