Author's Note: This has been edited since it's initial posting in part two.


We now had a destination given to us freely by a tribe that was genuinely intimidating. I do not think I have ever actually been intimidated in such a way as I was by the Hysterics. They wore the pelt of wolves, war pair resembling splashes of blood and carried impressive weapons. They had war drums that seemed to beat like the heart beat of Mother Nature herself and they howled as though they were animals. They lived their animal side, and I had never heard the Hysteric Howl before, but it lived up to the reputation. I couldn't count the size of their village from what little we had seen, but the Hall we were in was meant to house hundreds comfortably. If they truly became allies, if the rumors about their utter savagery and kill first, ask questions later attitude had been nothing more than propaganda; they may well be a powerful ally we could have.

The flight to the island known as the Murder Dungeons was short from Hysteria and it is one of the most southern islands in the Archipelago before the endless sea. No one remembers who the Danger Brutes were, or why the island was named as such; we've been there before. It was little more than a wild landscape with varying, though common dragon species. We've never seen any signs of anything special about this island, no caves, no ruins, not even the slightest inkling a former tribe ever inhabited the place. If they had washed up ashore there, then they were likely injured or something, as nothing else made sense as to why they couldn't have returned to Berk for help.

"Hiccup, we'll find them!" Astrid's voice breaks me from my train of thought as I nod, glancing at her, but say nothing as she flies closer. "We will." She restates and I nod, forcing a smile. I had lost my father not half a year ago, I was forced to draw the blood of another man. I honestly couldn't wait for this year to be over and to look to the new year after the solstice with new beginnings and a better future.

"I know." I answer under my breath, unsure if she could even hear me as the Murder Dungeons was now ahead of us. It too was littered with snowfall and I could already see various wild dragons roaming. There was a pack of Nadders off to the north western side that was flying into a nest, though we were coming from the Northeastern side.

Astrid then dives ahead of me and points out a beach area where there was a horribly damaged ship that had ran ashore. Neither of us wasted any time and we dived towards the ship. It flew the Berk colors and had severe damage, burn marks as well as a shattered hull. The mast was nearly in splinters. As we dove in closer, I saw movement in the shadows and couldn't stop myself as I tugged Toothless inside the hull.

"Mom!" I called out as we ran in, only to be met with darkness before a torch was lit in the corner and Eret stood there. He seemed wounded, his arm was sashed with a bloodied piece of cloth and he had a sword that he had dropped when he recognized me.

"By the gods, Hiccup. Thank Thor!" Eret exclaims and rushes me, lifting me off Toothless in a rib-shattering hug as Astrid walks in with Stormfly behind her. "And Astrid! I'm very grateful to see you both!" Eret exclaims with visible signs of relief as I nod.

"You too, where is my mother?" I ask and his face contorts as he winces and nods.

"We ran into a problem on our journey. On our way to Hysteria, we were chased by Trappers into a Water Spout that battered and blew our ship past Hysteria and here. We were so jarred, the dragons were below deck and they got knocked around bad. Valka was up top and a plank nearly ripped her leg off. She's in a nearby cave, we found one. We were chased when we landed. The Trappers, they took our dragons. I've been trying to ferry supplies, she's not in good shape." Eret rambles on, he was shaken, I could tell.

"Woah, woah. Eret. Take us to my mother. We have some basic supplies, and we'll get your dragons back." I state and he takes a breath and nods.

"Okay, sorry. We've been shipwrecked for about three days, the waterspout hit us a day before the snow. Most of the food we had was lost." Eret says as he leads us out of the ship and jumps on Toothless's back.

Directing me, we do a quick hop to a nearby cave that seems newer, possibly made by a dragon. There was firelight coming from within and as we dove inside, I see my mother laying out on a plank-built bed and a splint on her right leg.

"Mom!" I call out as she turns her head and tries to sit up, smiling.

"Hiccup!" She returns, and I land Toothless and rush over to her hugging her.

"We have food, some basic medicine. We'll fly you back to Berk in no time." I state, looking to Astrid who nods, smiling. My mother, however, shakes her head, pulling back.

"No, they have Cloudjumper and Skullcrusher. The trappers, they ambushed us after we shipwrecked and took our dragons while we were injured. Eret got hurt trying to save them but ultimately there were too many of them." My mother explains as I glance to Eret who nods.

"Aye, the snowfall that followed grounded them too, though with that lifting, they'll soon be able to leave by ship again. The ice plates are keeping them on these shores, due west." Eret explains.

"Alright, here." I begin, taking my satchel from Toothless's side and giving it to Eret. "This has my rations and food. Astrid, stay here with them, keep an eye out. I'm going to go recon their ships." I ask, much to Astrid's immediate refusal.

"No way, Hiccup, I'm not letting you go out there alone." Astrid states as I walk towards her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Astrid, please. It's just recon, I'll come back for you so we can get the dragons back, together." I respond, looking her softly in the eyes. I hadn't said it, but I needed to know my mother was safe. I trusted Eret, yes, but I trusted Astrid and Stormfly more, especially since they were both wounded. Astrid understood and nodded, she reached up to my cheek and pulled me in for a kiss. Parting, she smiled.

"Promise me you'll come back to me before you attack them." She whispers softly and I nod, smiling.

"I promise." I answer her and she sighs, nodding. We part and I hop on Toothless and glance back at my mother and Eret, then to her as she smiles weakly.

"Be safe, and careful." She adds and I nod, taking off down the cave to its mouth and outside.

I dart out on Toothless and we stay low to the ground. Had I not promised Astrid like that, I would be going with a vengeance. I felt angry, I felt a rage. They had attacked my mother and Eret mercilessly, driven them to a dangerous waterspout and stolen their dragons. These trappers were no better, and in fact, worse than the Hunters. The hunters sold them for money, the trappers were weaponizing them for war. Hugging Toothless to increase our aerial maneuverability as he darts low while we head northwest, I gaze down at this beautiful dragon beneath me and think to the dragons that had already been taken or slain. So much lost life, so much of nature polluted due to human greed and lust for power. Without remorse, without a care for their neighbors, for women or children or their fellows.

I felt the burning rage inside me as all I could think about was burning their ships to the ground, trapping the trappers on an island full of wild dragons. Letting nature run its course when they have no supplies. Letting them die. Each blink as I rode was an image of a first-person view of Toothless's full powered blast as it erupts from his mouth and explodes on the side of one of their ships. Breaching their hull, shattering their deck and freeing the dragons. My fists tightened and clenched around the saddle as I squinted away. This wasn't me, this couldn't be. I wasn't a man driven by revenge or anger; that was never the answer. No, I had promised Astrid, and that's one thing I would never break. Being a Chief, making challenging decisions would change me, they'd make me grow. But Astrid, Astrid would ground me and keep me true.


I felt a pang of concern when Hiccup took off, as though he was hiding more than his concern but also his guilt and his anger. He couldn't hide it from me, I could see it all too well. Like when he hunted Viggo after setting up Heather; or when we hunted Krogan and his flyers for what they did to Vanaheim. Those moments where he became briefly engulfed in rage, they quickly died down and his true side would reappear. A part of me was concerned, with his ending of Krogan, that the side that was more like Stoick the Vindictive would take hold. I knew that Hiccup Haddock the Stalwart, Hiccup the Honorable; the one who always aimed for peace, I knew he would never lose.

"Astrid?" Valka's voice jars me from my train of thought and I glance over to her and nod, smiling as I take some of the medicine from the pouch and apply it to her leg.

"Gothi had given us all some provisional herbs, this should help tide you over." I explain with a smile and she nods.

"How'd you find us, anyways?" Eret asks, sitting next to me and Valka while frying up the fish we had brought and taking a drink of water. I laugh lightly and sigh.

"Funny story, the Hysterics actually pointed us this way." I begin and hear Eret choke on the water.

"Ah-hem, what?" Eret asks as Valka narrows her eyes.

"Do tell?" Valka asks and I nod. I recount the meeting, the bone shivering howl that echoed through the trees, the drums. Their leader, Silver Claw and his followers. How they seemed to communicate as though they were animals, carrying weapons and wearing wolf hide, layered in war paint. I recount White Fang and the others I had seen, how they accepted our invitation and then told us about you. How they saw us protect the Doomfang.

"Incredible. Sounds terrifying, to be honest." Valka admits.

"Yeah, it certainly was intimidating. I was worried we'd need to fight our way out. They had us dead to rights though, I couldn't even count how many there were but it was a larger tribe than ours, or so it seemed." I add and Eret shrugs.

"Well, the important thing is they agreed to the summit, so we can skip them on our trip." Valka says and I shake my head.

"No, no, no. I seriously doubt Hiccup will be okay with that. You both need time to mend, he may well fly to each island himself. With me, of course." I explain and both Eret and Valka smile.

"We, as in the people of Berk, are lucky to have you both." Valka admits and I blush, looking away sheepishly as Eret puts his hand on my shoulder and laughs.

"Don't fret, Astrid. Just so you know, when you two finally do wed, you'll be the most respected Chief and Chieftess in the Archipelago." Eret adds as I scoff, shaking my head and moving away.

"Yeah, thanks." I mutter awkwardly. I still wasn't a fan of talking about the whole marriage thing. We knew we would be married, but the fact that everyone kept pushing it, like they were planning out our future for us… it both irritated me and made me feel uneasy. Luckily, the awkwardness was short lived as I heard the powerful wings of Toothless as Hiccup returned. Without even thinking, I rush to his side as he jumps off Toothless and hug him. It was almost instinctive. "How-how was it?" I stumble my words and refuse to look back at Eret and Valka who must be beaming.

"Well, there are three ships. All anchored, several dinghies on shore with what seems to be most of their crew in tents or around campfires. No cages: any dragons must be below deck. Two of the ships have scorch marks, which means that we should check the third one first. The undamaged one is probably holding the dragons. They seem unaware of us; I figure you and I can hit them hard and fast and free those dragons before they can react." Hiccup explains, looking right at me and smiling, holding my hands to his chest. He glances to Eret and Valka. "You two will stay here, no arguments. We'll be back soon, then we'll return to Berk." He states and when I glance behind me, I see them nod and Valka has a smile on her face, one befitting a mother who has full confidence in her son.

"Let's go." I say softly and he nods. We don't wait, we hop on our dragons and fly out, darting up towards the sky then back down low to the ground so we can move swiftly without being seen. Trappers were used to looking up, they weren't used to looking at eye level for a threat.

We had peeled off of the land and were skirting the water as we flew towards them. I was pushing Stormfly as fast as she could go to keep up with Toothless. We were both low, hugging our dragons and as we rounded the next cliff face, I saw the three anchored ships. Hiccup and I didn't need a battle plan for this, we didn't need to talk it out. We had spent so much time together, we knew each other more deeply than most could imagine. We knew how each other fought, how we cried and how we loved. This would be no different. Hiccup was no fighter, but he was the most shrewd warrior when fighting for what he loved. Skullcrusher was the last line to his father, Cloudjumper was his mother's dragon. Eret and Valka both injured; he had plenty he loved to fight for.

There were people on the decks, but they were not prepared for the utter speed and ferocity in which we begun our attack. In unison, we laid to waste the attachments on the main decks on our first sweep. It seems that even our dragons were fighting with renewed vigor against this tireless enemy; and dozens of trappers jumped into the sea to avoid the flames.

On our second circle, we landed and breached the hold on the third ship that was previously undamaged. Hiccup, as most times, was right. There was more than just Skullcrusher and Cloudjumper here, there was also a Razorwhip, Nightmare and Nadder that were all imprisoned. There were six cages; and the sixth cage held another dragon, one that was unresponsive. The trappers had either let it die, or killed it; a Gronkle. One of the sweetest dragons that existed, snuffed from life thanks to merciless trappers. I glanced at Hiccup and saw a tear escape his helmet as he clenched his fist and turned away. Hiccup nodded to me and then to the Gronkle and I nodded quietly and then had Stormfly take the the deceased into her talons so we could properly bury it. No dragon left behind, living or dead. We quickly flew to the other two ships and and Hiccup searched them while I circled, he found more cages but they were empty, thankfully.

We then led the dragons out and then, as we were flying up, Hiccup dove back down and fired another volley at the three ships. Straight into the hull that breached all the way to the water and soon, they were taking on water and starting to sink.

The Razorwhip, Nadder and Nightmare all flew to the beach and fired volleys at the tents before breaking off. The Nadder and Nightmare were probably returning to their flock, and the Razorwhip, well, who knew. Skullcrusher and Cloudjumper followed us back to the cave.

"Hiccup, what about the other trappers?" I ask and for a long moment, he doesn't answer. I can finally see him shake his head and sigh.

"We should come back and transport them to Berserker Island or Outcast Island, somewhere where they like having prisoners." Hiccup answers finally, though I could tell it was strained. He didn't hurt any of the trappers, not directly, but he did strand them on an island with wild dragons and little to no provisions. He was wrestling with that abrupt decision; it was almost vindictive in a reaction to the sight of the Gronkle. I only nod and I land at the mouth of the cave as Cloudjumper and Skullcrusher fly in. Stormfly gently lays the Gronkle on near the entrance as Toothless lands next to me and looks up concerned at Hiccup as I nod, patting Toothless on the side and walking over to Hiccup.

His back is to me as he dismounts and I wrap my arms around his chest, pressing my body to his and holding him tightly. "We'll make it through this, and we'll save every dragon we can." I say softly and I feel him nod as his hands hold mine.

"I-I'm sorry." He whispers and I shake my head. He rotates and I take off his helmet, I can see his eyes are red as though he had been fighting tears. Mine were almost no better, as the sight of a dead dragon no matter what happened was heart wrenching.

"Don't apologize. You saved how many dragons by sinking those ships. You did the right thing." I whisper, leaning up and kissing him. He returns the kiss and I feel his hot breath as he sighs.

"It didn't feel right." He mutters and I nod.

"The right choice isn't always the easiest. We'll come back and get them taken to Berserker Island, let Dagur treat them to Berserker Hospitality. In the mean time, we'll give him a proper burial and then..." I pause and he nods.

"Get my mom and Eret back to Berk. We can talk more about our next action then." He says and I nod, pulling away and I feel his hand stop me. As I turn back, I see him smile. "Astrid, I love you." He says confidently and I nod, smiling.

"I love you." I respond, returning to his arms and kissing him again. Together, while Eret collects their gear and loads the dragons with everything they can carry, Hiccup and I create a deep hole with our dragons then lower the Gronkle inside so it can rest in peace.

We load up Valka and Eret on their dragons and then make our way back to Berk. It takes a couple hours, flying slow due the injury, but we get there in due time and soon enough, Valka and Eret are both with Gothi who reassured us they would both be fine. Now, we return home to rest. Hiccup needed it, I needed it; we needed it, together.