Tunnel Vision:
"Cut him off! Make sure he doesn't escape!" Stoick ordered out to the teens.
"I didn't think he could move that fast", Hiccup panted atop of Toothless, before chasing the target through town again. "Astrid! He's coming your way!" she called up to the girl and Nadder above.
"On it!" Astrid replied, and waited until their target was just under them. "Stormfly, spine shot!" she ordered, and Stormfly shot her spines in front of the target, stopping the man.
"I won't do it Stoick! And you can't make me!" Gobber yelled. Hiccup and Toothless, and Astrid and Stormfly landed, each on each side of Stoick closing in on the one handed, one legged man. "None of you can make me!"
"Keep him surrounded!" Stoick said.
"A Viking is supposed to smell this way! Its a badge of honor!" Gobber cried with his ax in hand and not afraid to use it.
"Hurry", Fishlegs pressed to Aric as he was pulling the bucket from the well, Aric carrying a bucket of his own with the soap and scrubbing supplies. "We've gotta get that tub filled so we can give Gobber his bath."
"It's for your own good, Gobber", Stoick pressed.
"Actually, its for the good of the town", Hiccup corrected. Toothless warbled in agreement.
"Get in the tub", Stoick told him firmly.
Gobber wouldn't budge.
"Hookfang, toss him in the tub", Snotlout said behind Gobber. The Nightmare, instead, tossed Snotlout in the tub. The boy growled. "Every. Single. TIME! Doesn't this get old for you?"
"Of course not", Hookfang responded with a roll of his eyes.
Getting off Toothless, Hiccup pointed for him sneak behind Gobber, and the dragon nodded doing the deed. Hiccup then looked over to Astrid and they both looked to each other knowingly.
"I won't do it, Stoick", Gobber said with his ax raised.
"Now, Astrid!" Hiccup called, and when Gobber looked up to the Nadder, Toothless used his head to toss Gobber up and flip him into the tub.
"Boys, soap and water!" Stoick called to Fishlegs and Aric as he held a struggling Gobber down.
They flew in, but when time came to dump the water on him, Gobber only got a small puddle of water splashed on him.
"You're gonna have to do better than that", Stoick said.
"I-I can't, sir", Fishlegs cried.
"We both tried several times, but… Sir, the well's run dry", Aric told him.
Stoick looked up at them in disbelief, and Hiccup went to the well after her father to go see as well. When Stoick brought up the bucket and found it to be empty, there was no doubt about it. Somehow, the water was gone.
"I don't understand it. We just dug that well two summers ago", Stoick said.
"Water doesn't just disappear. There's gotta to be reason for this", Hiccup pondered.
Stoick just sighed. "We'll have to dig a new well. And until its done we'll have to ration water. Which means…"
"No more baths", Gobber said happily wrapping an arm around Hiccup's shoulders leaving Hiccup's nose victim to his stench. The smell was revolting. And especially at this proximity, Hiccup couldn't take it. She coughed and gagged trying not to throw up into the well. The lack of fresh air was nearly suffocating. "Always a silver lining", he continued letting go of her, and placing his hands on his hips. Hiccup still fell to the ground, though, having comically passed out.
000
Once Toothless had 'helped' wake Hiccup up, she called a meeting for the academy, and it wasn't too long before everyone came.
"Okay. We need to find a way to keep Berk supplied with water until a new well can be dug", Hiccup paced. She then stopped having a plan. "Ruff and Tuff, strap on the wash tub and head to Lars Lake to fill it."
"Okay, but that thing's pretty big. I mean, its bigger than Ruff's butt", Tuffnut laughed. "It could take awhile. Like a week or two."
Ruffnut punched him into the ground.
"Well, I was assuming you would use Barf and Belch?" Hiccup said obviously.
"Why would you think that?" Tuffnut questioned as he got up.
"Because―" Hiccup gave up trying sighing and slamming her head into her hand. "Aric", Hiccup pleaded.
"I'll go with them", he agreed, and Hiccup continued.
"Okay, Astrid, Snotlout, head to the mountain streams and fill as many canteens as you can."
"Mountain streams…" Snotlout mumbled. "Romantic", he then sang in a sing song voice putting his arm around Astrid. She then took his arm, twisted it, and kicked him away. "Ow!"
"Don't even think about it", Astrid told him harshly.
"Fishlegs, Meatlug, you're coming with me to find out what happened inside that well", Hiccup told them next.
"Um…" Fishlegs whined backing up. "You may not know this, but Meatlug and I don't do well in tight spaces."
Hiccup looked to him in disbelief.
000
Down at the cove, Astrid and Snotlout were collecting water. It was actually kind of peaceful Astrid supposed. That is until Snotlout decided to open his big mouth.
"You know Astrid, I've been thinking", he started.
"We've talked about you thinking, Snotlout. It's not good", Astrid replied filling another bottle. "For anyone."
"Who says we have to give this water away?" Snotlout continued anyway putting another canteen into his basket.
"What are you talking about?" Astrid questioned slowly as she stood up.
"It's simple supply and demand. Follow me here; the people of Berk are parched, desperate for fresh water. And who's got all the water, Astrid? Snotlout, that's who", he laughed. "I'm gonna make a fortune."
"You're gonna charge people for water", Astrid relayed. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
"Is it?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Heh. Do what you want, Astrid. Just don't ask me to cut you in later."
000
Hiccup extended one wing, and then her other measuring out her wingspan to the width of the well. She then bent them as much as she could if in flight. Even that was too big.
"Fishlegs, you know as well as I do I'm not gonna fit in there", Hiccup said.
"Oh, well. We tried", Fishlegs tried to flake.
"At least", Hiccup halted him, "Not in flight."
Fishlegs turned back to her with a worried expression.
"Got any rope?" she asked.
"Oh… Not again…" Fishlegs whined, but went to get some rope anyway.
When Fishlegs came back, they tied it around Meatlug making sure it was secure. Then, once everything was said and done, Hiccup was sent down into the well with Meatlug carefully hovering above.
"That's it girl", Fishlegs encouraged Meatlug as Toothless whined and warbled his anxiety of Hiccup being down there. "Just keep it steady."
"Lower!" Hiccup called up. "Keep going, just a little more…and stop! Okay that's good. Hold it right there!"
Through the darkness Hiccup inspected the stones. It wasn't that dark this far in, so she didn't need a lantern due to her better vision. "The water level was way up here", she said to herself perplexed. The stones just above her head were lighter than the ones below marking where the water level had been. "And its still wet", she said surprised as she felt the darker stones. Taking one loose stone from the wall, she threw it down. Waiting a few seconds, she heard it land, but there was no splash. Not even a little one. The well couldn't have just dried up; it just wasn't possible. No. The water must have been…moved…somewhere.
"Fishlegs! Get me all the way down!" she called up.
"Are you sure?! It looks awfully dark and scary down there!"
"Fishlegs…!"
"Okay! Okay! Take her down, girl!"
"Slowly", Toothless moaned looking down to Hiccup.
Lower and lower Meatlug descended her, but of course a moment going right couldn't last long. Suddenly the rope began to sway swinging Hiccup with it. "Whoa…" Hiccup expressed as she held on for dear life. "AH… Fishlegs, wait!" Looking up, she saw Meatlug was no longer above the well like she was supposed to. What was going on?! Where was Meatlug?!
"Steady, Meatlug", Fishlegs placated.
Looking at the rope she saw it was stuck on a sharp rock. If something didn't change soon, it'd be cut.
"Meatlug! For once forget about the rocks!" Toothless roared, but it was too late as the rope broke and Hiccup fell with a scream down the well.
000
"Hiccup! Oh no", Fishlegs worried, before Toothless seemed to take matters into his own claws and recklessly jumped into the well following her.
"I'M COMING!" he roared out as he did.
"TOOTHLESS! HICCUP!" Fishlegs called out to them, but all he saw was darkness and then another roar from Toothless. "Oh no, oh no, oh no…"
Fishlegs' mind was racing. Meatlug had been attracted to a wheel barrow full of rocks forgetting her duty, and because of that now Hiccup was falling to her doom along with Toothless.
"I-I know, I'll just get Stoick! He'd know what to do, right?" He raced to where Meatlug was on the wheelbarrow. "Come on, Meatlug", he exclaimed getting on her as fast as possible. "We have to hurry!"
000
"AHHHHHHHHH―Augh!" Hiccup grunted when her scream was cut off by the impact of the soft and damp ground. Despite falling from who knows how high, Hiccup wasn't injured very much. Sore? Yes. Broken bones? No. After she got up, Hiccup heard Toothless roar for her, followed by the Night Fury himself nearly falling on top of her. She jumped out of the way, but when Toothless hit the ground she quickly rushed back to him. "Toothless. Are you okay?" she crooned lifting his head.
"I'm fine. You?"
"Yeah. I'm good."
Toothless licked her in response.
"HICCUP!" her dad's voice echoed down from above, and the two looked up from where they fell. "HICCUP!"
"WE'RE OKAY, DAD!" Hiccup shouted up.
"CAN YOU FLY BACK UP?!"
"NO! IT'S TOO NARROW!"
"Someone grab a rope! I'M COMING DOWN AFTER YOU, HUN!"
"DAD, DON'T! THEN ALL THREE OF US WILL BE STUCK DOWN HERE!"
"Well, THEN JUST STAY RIGHT THERE UNTIL I CAN THINK OF A WAY TO BRING YOU BOTH UP!"
"WE'RE FINE! THE WATER HAD TO GO SOMEWHERE! BESIDES, I HAVE TOOTHLESS WITH ME. WE CAN FIND ANOTHER WAY OUT!"
"She's right, sir." Hiccup playfully rolled her eyes as she could hear Fishlegs start when she and Toothless began walking off. "The Night Fury has the uncanny ability to navigate through dark caves and caverns! Even if she were alone, she could theoretically― And this is clearly none of my business…"
"WAIT!" Hiccup shouted up, seeing something strange in what was supposed to be an enclosed space. "IT LOOKS LIKE―LIKE A TUNNEL! THE WATER MUST HAVE GONE DOWN HERE WHEN THIS OPENED UP!"
"Well…Just be careful down there, hun! We'll be standing by if you need us!"
"Okay, Toothless. What do you say we find out where this leads?"
"I say this is the perfect time to practice your echolocation skills", Toothless warbled in response.
"Do you really think this is the best time?" Hiccup asked as they continued forward.
"Of course. You're underground and need to find your way out. What better time? You wanted to learn it, right?"
"Yes. But, bud, I can't even figure out how to make a sonar yet."
"Then this is the perfect time to try. And I would hurry. Its getting darker the further in we go, and there's no telling how many tunnels, twists, and turns there could be down here."
Hiccup stopped in her tracks and sighed. "Okay, okay. Here goes nothing", she muttered. Taking a deep breath, Hiccup readied herself. Then, she roared out. It still wasn't right, though, and did nothing but make noise. It was supposed to be more like a high pitched screech than a roar or a howl, and for some reason, Hiccup just wasn't getting it. "I don't understand what I'm doing wrong?"
Toothless stepped up, and showed her for about the hundredth time. "Like that. Try again. You should feel a slight vibration in your side frills when you do it."
"But I don't have frills?"
"Then your ears. Now come on, try again."
Again, Hiccup tried to make the sound, and finally a high pitch screech like Toothless' came out mapping out the tunnel in front of them.
"I did it. I actually did it!" Hiccup chirped excitedly. It might have taken her weeks to get it right, but she finally did it.
"Good! Now use it, and lead us out of here", Toothless instructed.
She did it again, and this time Hiccup followed it, listening carefully, her brain mapping out the area. "Uh…This way", she pointed to the left and they continued through another tunnel.
"You know, bud", she said as they walked on, "I don't know about you, but I'm getting the distinct feeling we're not alone down here."
"We hardly ever are."
They seemed to have been walking forever, when Hiccup began to loose the map. She let out another wave, and they continued on straight to a large cavern with a high ceiling. "These caverns run right under the town", she crooned with amazement as they passed through it.
Then, something crunched under her boot. "Toothless?" she moaned as she crouched down.
Through the inky blackness she couldn't see much, but from what she could, she could tell it was some type of broken shell. Taking a piece from the ground Hiccup sniffed it to get it's scent. While impossible for her to distinguish individual scents, the differences between species was simple, and this definitely smelled like a dragon.
"A dragon egg?" she crooned questioningly, cocking her head to the side.
What type of dragon it was from, though, stumped her. It wasn't anything she recognized. At least not to her recollection.
"A Whispering Death egg", Toothless growled in answer baring his teeth.
Hiccup stood up looking around the pitch black room. There something odd about this place.
"Toothless, give me some light."
Realizing the situation, Toothless obliged, and shot a plasma blast at a rock giving them a soft light.
It took a moment for Hiccup's eyes to adjust, but when they did, she saw the cavern was full of scattered egg shells.
"Look at all these…" she said, before seeing a crate sitting on the ground as well. "That's the Outcast crest", Hiccup realized slipping back to Norse.
"Toothless, light up the cave down that way", she pointed ahead, and Toothless did so.
More eggs. They were everywhere. And there were dozens of tunnels too lining the walls.
"You were right, bud. Whispering Death tunnels."
Toothless growled hatred again.
"Yeah, not my favorite dragon either. And I don't even want to know who made that" she stated with a bit of fright when she had turned to look at the other wall seeing the sight of a gigantic tunnel larger than any of the others.
"I don't recognize the scent", Toothless said perplexed after sniffing.
"That doesn't make any sense?" Hiccup sniffed for herself, and Toothless was right. Why she questioned him in the first place baffled her, but nevertheless, the scent was…different. The same, but different. And that's what was puzzling. "Well, whatever it is, we better keep moving."
000
"That's it! Keep the line moving; one bucket each!" Gobber announced as he gave each Viking one bucket of water from the wash tub Aric and the twins filled.
"Water, water, water, water, get your Snotlout's fresh mountain water here!"
Meanwhile, Snotlout the salesman was at work, and Astrid watched with her hands on her hips and a disapproving glare as a woman gave him a chicken in exchange for a canteen.
"Hah! This is too easy", Snotlout bragged when the woman left. "Who's dumb now, Astrid? The guy with a big cart full of loot, or the girl with a big mouth full of hot air?"
"You're taking advantage of innocent people", Astrid reprimanded.
"Correction. Innocent thirsty people?"
"We're supposed to be helping them. Not forcing them to pay us just to get a drink?"
"Yeah? Well while you 'help' people for free, I'm going to continue getting myself rich."
Astrid almost laughed. "You think so, huh?" she said before grabbing an arms full of bottles and tossing them to three men who were now no longer paying customers.
"Hey!" he yelled. "You're cutting into my prophets!"
Astrid simply crossed her arms with a smug smile.
000
"Oh, great", Hiccup grumbled when they came to a dead end. "You couldn't have told me we were going the wrong way?" she asked as they turned around to backtrack.
"If I did that, you'd never learn."
"You know, you're a really annoying teacher."
"And you're a really ungrateful student" Toothless shot right back.
There was a growl of anger just then. Not from one of them, though.
"Toothless, light", Hiccup shortly screeched almost afraid of what they'd find behind them as she turned around.
Toothless lit up the cavern, and right in front of them stood a Whispering Death youngling angrily roaring at them.
"AH!" Hiccup yelped frozen for a moment, Toothless having her back and shooting at the dragon. Then Hiccup ran for Toothless' back. "Lesson's over. We need to go! Now!"
And they were off through the tunnels with the Whispering Death chasing them. Toothless corkscrewed around another that whizzed passed them from the front, only noticed by Hiccup when the Whispering Death had done so. Toothless stopped as one popped out from the ground in front of them screeching.
"That's one", Hiccup counted.
"Two", Toothless joined when another popped up behind them.
"Three…" another showed, and then they attacked at once, Toothless narrowly escaping them all. "Oh, come on!" Hiccup complained as now three Whispering Deaths chased them down.
But then, the screeching stopped. They turned around and Toothless let out his sonar. Nothing.
"That's weird", Hiccup said motioning for Toothless to move forward. "Where did they go?"
Rubble fell on top of them, Toothless letting out a startled whine, and they both looked up.
"Eels!" Toothless roared.
"We have to stop them!" Hiccup cried. Without another word, Toothless rushed up into the tunnel.
000
"Astrid, cut it out!" Snotlout complained, holding her arm trying to stop her from giving a woman a free canteen. "This nice woman has to pay."
"I'm not letting you scam people like this!" Astrid roared back. "Ma'am, just take it", she tried reaching to her.
"Are you kidding me? No way, she has to pay up!" Snotlout pulled back.
"Would you stop it!"
"Why can't you just let me do what I want?!"
"Why can't you stop being a jerk?!"
Back and forth the two went bickering and fighting with the canteen of water. At this point the woman wasn't sure if she should stay to see where this went, or if she should just come back later.
Everything froze, however, when the ground rumbled and shook.
The woman looked back to her son, Gustav, who had been looking into a bucket, when the ground beneath his feet began to crumble. He stumbled back, falling flat on his back when a Whispering Death came up from the ground looking down at the twelve year old boy.*
"Stand back!" Gobber yelled, and just as the dragon was going to roast the boy alive, Gobber leaped in front of him blocking the Whispering Death's blast with his shield. He pushed the flames back, stepping forward until he reached the wagon in front of him, and kicked the wagon at the dragons snake like body. Then, Gobber punched the dragon twice, one on the side, and once on top, with his hammer hand until the dragon retreated back underground where it burrowed underneath to the baskets of water canteens causing them to be tossed away.
"Hey! You break it you bought it!" Snotlout yelled in response angrily, until the Whispering Death burrowed back in his direction. "Okay, store's closed", he quickly stumbled up and ran.
Stoick was quick to grab the horn that hadn't been used in almost a year now, the blasts of it heard to the far reaches of the village.
"Hold this", he then thrust it upon a man running his way.
"What do I do with it?!
"Keep blowing!" he ordered running off to join in defending his island as Whispering Deaths began swarming the village. "Quick! Everyone form a defensive line in the middle of town!" At Stoick's order, they all did as he said rushing to the middle of town.
"HOOKFANG!" Snotlout screamed as the Whispering Death still burrowing underground chased him. "HELP! HURRY!"
Hookfang swooped in and grabbed Snotlout off the ground with his claws, but the Whispering Death was relentless in its chase. It thrust out from the ground with its shrieking roar continuing to chase after Snotlout in the air.
"Stormfly, spines!" Astrid cut in, and the Whispering Death fled from Stomrfly's shooting.
"Astrid!" Fishlegs yelled shooting another away from her as it had come up behind her. "Nice shot, girl!" he then praised Meatlug.
Meanwhile, Stoick had Whispering Deaths of his own to deal with. He took a thick log post and swung it at each one, one after the other as they came, until one caught him from behind knocking the chief off his feet with a swipe of its tail. Stoick rolled side to side on the ground avoiding each move the dragon made to chomp down at him again and again. But then, he saw a piece from the broken wagon. It was flat and round like a round table top, and it was the perfect size for the dragon's wide circular mouth.
"Want something to chew on, do ya?", Stoick said before grabbing the stick attached to it. "Well, Dinner! Is! Served!" And with that, Stoick shoved the round table top like wagon piece into the Whispering Death's mouth causing the dragon to screech. It reared its head back taking Stoick with it and threw him away right into Gobber fighting another Whispering Death. "Odin's beard", Stoick said as he and Gobber got back up. "Gobber, take care of the village. I'm gonna see how our new friend matches up to Thornado."
"Where did all these Whispering Deaths come from?!" Astrid exclaimed beside Fishlegs and Meatlug as they both hovered in the air. "And why are they so much smaller?"
"They must be hatchlings!" Fishlegs answered.
"Younglings", Meatlug corrected.
"Right. Younglings. Sorry."
"What's the difference?" Astrid asked.
"Youngling is that stage where they're still technically newborns, but they've grown into almost full grown dragons. The problem is these guys probably just entered that stage."
"Why? Shouldn't that be good?"
"Actually, the opposite. Newly hatched Whispering Deaths can be more deadly than adults. Especially during the youngling stage. They don't have control of their jaw muscles or their spines. They're kind of like out of control saw blades."
"Sounds about right", Astrid stated.
000
"Yeah, that's it, bud! Keep going!" Hiccup encouraged Toothless as they flew through the twisty tunnel, the dragon letting out his sonar over and over making sure they were going the right way as they flew as fast as possible. "Will these guys ever make a straight tunnel?"
Finally, they made it out, exiting into the sky to witness the carnage already taking place. They were too late.
"We have to get in there, bud", Hiccup said with haste, and Toothless dived in for them to join the fight.
They landed outside the forge, and Hiccup dismounted and ran inside as quick as possible.
"Toothless, cover me!" she said as she left him out to guard, but it wasn't even a second more before he spotted a Whispering Death slithering towards him. He pounced, when the Whispering Death lunged and flipped Toothless to his stomach where she tried tearing his underbelly. Toothless kept her back though by pushing at the bases of her teeth with his paws. Eventually, through all the roaring and struggling she had him completely pinned on his back now only able to squirm away from her serrated teeth, but then Hiccup came to his rescue when a light suddenly shined on the Whispering Death. The youngling reared back with a screech of pain.
"Oh, you don't like that, do ya?" Hiccup rhetorically commented as she used her shield to reflect what little light they had on this cloudy day onto the dragon, before the youngling retreated flying away. "Rule number one, never forget a dragon's weakness", she then said to him. "Come on, Toothless!"
000
With that, Hiccup got back on to Toothless with her shield in hand. Toothless then got back into the air to chase after the Whispering Deaths plaguing their home when they also ran into Aric and Shadowstar.
"The Whispering Deaths' tunnels drained our water supply!" Hiccup told him.
"Yeah! Kinda figured that one out!" Aric responded. "We need to keep them in the sun light!"
"And that is why I have this", Hiccup stated referring to her shield, and they chased one Whispering Death after another away with the sun light's reflection.
"It's working!" Aric exclaimed in joy.
A fire ball then came to drive the dragons away, followed by a magnesium, and then lava blast.
"That's right! You better run!" Snotlout shouted as they were followed by the other riders, until the Whispering Death younglings flew off and away from the island.
"Haha! We did it!" Astrid exclaimed.
"I'm gonna miss those guys. They were dangerous, but cool at the same time. Kinda like me", Tuffnut said.
"I don't think this is over yet. Not by a long shot", Hiccup said foreboding. That strange scent. That huge hole. It all still stuck in her mind.
"Stop being so negative!" Snotlout complained. "Enjoy the moment, Hiccup. Buy some water."
But that scent lingered. Even now she could smell it. A faint scent getting stronger as time passed. Her mind halted and eyes widened. That scent was just a little too real. And how could a memory get stronger as if getting closer bit by bit?
An earthquake seemed to shake the earth, vibrations carrying into the air they hovered in. Her questions were about to be answered it seemed.
"What…is…that…?" Fishlegs warily asked.
Their answer was given in the form of a giant white scaled, red eyed Whispering Death like dragon at least five times larger than any of the others.
"Uhh… That is what I was afraid of", Hiccup announced. "Suggestions anyone?"
The dragon lunged at the group, and they all scattered out of the way watching as the dragon headed for their village.
"What is that thing?!" Snotlout exclaimed.
"Uh, Fishlegs, is that in the book of dragons?" Hiccup asked, only for a frazzled Fishlegs to answer with nonsensical blathering. "FISHLEGS! Is that thing in the book of dragons?!"
"Uh, definitely not", he said.
"Are you sure?"
"Hiccup, I think I would have remembered an all white boulder class titan wing Whispering Death with bright red eyes that bore a hole right through your very soul."
"Well, it looks like we know what that scent was now", Toothless commented.
"Yeah. Now, lets stop him! Toothless, plasma blast!" Hiccup stated.
The plasma blast hit the dragon straight on his side. It caused the dragon to only halt though, turn around, and then do something no other dragon had been known to do. It let out a piercing scream that made every being with dragon ears feel like their brains would explode. As the humans put their hands over their ears from the scream, the dragons wavered in their flight, Toothless and Hiccup flattening their ears as much as they could, as Toothless too fought to keep himself in the air, and Hiccup fought to keep herself holding on in the saddle.
"It's affecting our dragons!" Aric exclaimed.
"I know!" Hiccup struggled from the horrible noise. "That scream! It's― It's disorienting!"
At last, the scream stopped, and after only a few moments the dragons and Hiccup got their barrings back.
"Screaming Death! I LOVE IT!" Tuffnut shouted right before he ducked from the three Whispering Deaths who returned and swept passed him."Okay, maybe love's too strong a word", he amended.
"Hiccup, what are we gonna do?" Aric asked as Hiccup thought.
"You guys focus on the Whispering Deaths! I'll try to keep the Screaming Death busy!" she announced in response.
"Okay have fun! See ya!" Snotlout called over.
"Remember your flight club training!" Hiccup then shouted out as she and Toothless moved for the Screaming Death.
"I knew we should've gone that day", Tuffnut griped.
"Toothless, now!" Hiccup said, Toothless shooting a blast at the Screaming Death turning his attention from a fallen woman to her and Toothless. They turned back around for another shot at the dragon, and then another, but the dragon swerved out of the way and they couldn't dodge the tail swinging in their direction. They were hit and tossed across the village, Hiccup falling from the saddle during the crash.
Hiccup got up, but the Screaming Death hovered right in front of her, and before she could do anything he used his terrible scream.
"AHH!" she yelped trying to cover her ears and block it out. She couldn't hear, or even see, anything. There was just that scream hammering in her brain. It hurt.
The scream then suddenly stop, however, and looking up she saw her father on Thornado flying in. The Screaming Death retreated, and Hiccup went back to Toothless.
"Thanks dad!" she called up.
"I don't even want to know what that thing is. But we need to get it out of here", her dad said, as she grabbed her shield and mounted onto Toothless once again.
"Way ahead of you! I'll try to lead him away from the village!" Hiccup said before she and Toothless zoomed off.
000
Aric and Astrid led one of the Whispering Deaths over the forest, but now that they had it chasing their tails, they had to figure a way to get it off their tails.
"I have an idea!" Aric called over to Astrid.
"All ears!" Astrid responded, awaiting.
"Let's split up! It can't follow us both!"
"That's it?! Not much of a plan!" Astrid's face then lit. "Oh wait! Haha! Get a load of this Stormfly!" she exclaimed steering Stormfly right. "This is gonna be fun!"
"Shadowstar, evasive maneuvers!" Aric told Shadowstar once Astrid was away and getting set. The duo swerved through the trees, when he finally saw Astrid up ahead with Stormfly's claws bending an upcoming tree. They passed the two girls, and Astrid gave the signal.
"Now, Stormfly!" she shouted, and Stormfly let go letting the tree fly right into the Whispering Death's unsuspecting face. An old, and slightly modified, trick, but a good one.
"Oops. Hate it when that happens", Aric quipped.
The Whispering Death shook its head hissing to itself, but left nonetheless, the siblings having briefly won.
" "Yeah!" " the two high fived.
000
"Slower Meatlug", Fishlegs said as they led the second Whispering Death. "Wait for it, wait for it… Just a little closer, and…" Meatlug let one out gassing the Whispering Death behind her and causing it to screech.
It shook its head, and regained its focus and anger once again about to lunge forward for them, when Snotlout came barging in with a well aimed blast of Hookfang's fire.
"Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" he chanted in victory as the Whispering Death fell from the sky and to the ocean below.
000
Hiccup and her dad both fought with the Screaming Death firing sonic roars and plasma blasts after each other, but it was doing very little in even weakening the dragon.
"Okay", Hiccup started. "Let's see how he likes this", she said lifting her shield up and reflecting the sunlight from the clouds. When it hit the Screaming Death, just like all of siblings, he roared in discomfort and fled. "Just what I thought."
It didn't last long, though, as even though the light still shone, the Screaming Death came out flying straight through the sunlight all the way to them.
"Look out!" Hiccup shouted, their dragons swerving out of the way of the raging white dragon.
"Apparently, it doesn't mind", her dad said.
"His kind must not have that weakness", Hiccup concluded.
"Well we better figure out what it does have and quick."
The Screaming Death let out his piercing scream again, affecting Hiccup, Toothless, and now Thornado.
"Wh-What's happening!" her dad shouted over the roar as Thornado was likely wavering in his flight.
"It's the scream!" Hiccup managed. "It―Augh! Affects the dragons… Focus!"
Toothless shot at the Screaming Death, stopping his scream. But that only proved to make the dragon angry as he growled and flew straight for them. Toothless dodged away, but the dragon followed now solely focused on them.
000
Stoick tried to follow his daughter and the white beast, but a Whispering Death cut his path.
"Sonic blast!" he said, and Thornado hit the dragon with it distracting it for a little bit, but not long as it just shook its head and flew ahead. The dragon was then, however, interrupted by the twins sparking gas right in its face.
"Yeah!" Tuffnut cheered.
"I've got this. You go help Hiccup", Stoick told them. He didn't need them accidentally destroying the village instead.
"Where is she?" Tuffnut asked.
"Look for a giant white red eyed beast. That'll be your first clue."
"Okay. What's the second clue?"
"GO!"
The Zippleback flew off, and Stoick resumed in protecting his people. Those two would probably be of more help to his daughter than he could anyway. Even if it was the twins.
000
Meanwhile, Hiccup and Toothless flew away from the Screaming Death chasing them, dodging his spine projectiles along the way.
Hiccup tried the sunlight trick again, and when she shone the light onto the dragon he roared, but it wasn't a roar of pain or discomfort. It was more of a roar of frustration like when Toothless wanted something that Hiccup wouldn't give. That's when it dawned on her.
"It's actually attracted to the light."
"That would explain why he's chasing us so relentlessly", Toothless added in.
"Maybe that can be a weakness too. To the sea stacks, bud!"
With a roar of determination, Toothless beat his wings faster to the sea stacks. They raced and led the Screaming Death there making sure he was following, but that he wouldn't catch up.
"Need a little help?" Aric's voice rang, and looking beside her she saw Aric and Shadowstar racing alongside them.
"More than a little", Hiccup answered. "It doesn't have the Whispering Death's weakness. It goes after the sun light."
"So, how do we beat it?"
"By giving him what he wants!" she answered determinedly. "I'm gonna keep him following me. You guys get behind, and hit him with everything you have!"
Aric nodded about to depart, when Hiccup stopped him for a second.
"Just…uh, don't hurt him?! He is just a kid! she amended.
"Don't worry, Hiccup! We got this!" Aric told her, and then fell back.
The Screaming Death then fired, and Hiccup tried swerving Toothless out of the way, but they were going too fast and ended up hitting the sea stack beside them. The two ricocheted off the rock, crashing onto another, of which Hiccup flew off of Toothless face planting onto the ground.
The two both shook their heads from the fall, that crash probably one of their worsts, but before either could even attempt getting up, the Screaming Death appeared in front of them screaming at them to keep them a bay once again. Hiccup turned away, one hand place over an ear while the other was busy keeping her up, when the roar was cut off by a blast. Turning back around, she saw Barf and Belch and the twins.
"Barf, let him have it!" Ruff said, and Barf spewed out his gas. It was then sparked by Belch, which then hit the Screaming Death's face, followed by another blast from Hookfang on the other side.
"Not so tough after all, are ya?!" Snotlout boasted.
That only proved to make the youngling mad as he shot his spines towards him and Fishlegs.
"Ah!" Fishlegs yelped. "H-he didn't mean that, sir. I-I mean ma'am. Whatever you are."
"You were right the first time, Fishlegs!" Hiccup called up finally standing up again.
"Thank you!"
In his ever growing frustration, the youngling then shot out several shots of fireballs at once. Fishlegs and Snotlout screamed in surprise flying and dodging away from the assault.
Back on Toothless and ready to join the battle again, Hiccup took up her shield and angled the light onto the Screaming Death gaining back his attention from the others.
"Let's see if we can use his size against him", Hiccup said.
"I like the way you think", Toothless responded, and then leaped up into the air and into the clouds.
"Go, Toothless! Climb! Climb!" Hiccup roared over the youngling's screeches encouraging Toothless to push. They couldn't let themselves be chomped on. It'd all be over then.
Once up high enough Hiccup stopped him. "Hold… Hold… Almost…" She heard the youngling's hisses, the sound of him opening his giant mouth, and― "NOW!"
And Toothless dived escaping the Death's chomp. The youngling followed trying to close his mouth on Toothless' tail over and over. He didn't even care about the sea stacks in his way as they swerved this way and that. Like the Red Death, he simply smashed his way through them.
Then, they suddenly turned, obscuring the youngling's view of them for a single moment. It was enough though. In that moment the duo stopped in front of a large sea stack, Hiccup's shield out and reflecting light. The Screaming Death charged, but just as he was about to ram into them, Toothless flew up and out of the way leaving the Screaming Death to crash into the rock head first.
The youngling fell to the ground, boulders and rocks falling in an avalanche and onto the dragon's wing causing the child to scream out in agony. The sight broke Hiccup's heart. After all, he was just a child; an impulsive child, but a child nonetheless. The Screaming Death rammed his head into the boulders on his wing breaking them apart, but when he tried to fly another pain filled cry echoed out and he fell back to the ground.
"His wings are hurt", Hiccup said aloud, feeling bad. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, but it was necessary to keeping her village safe. Now, he couldn't hurt them. The fight was over.
The Screaming Death's siblings then came to answer their brother's cries, and they lifted him up with their bodies, carrying him under his wings and tail away from Berk.
"Whoa, look at that", Fishlegs expressed amazed.
Toothless growled in determination and anger, still battle ready as he pulled to go forward, but Hiccup pulled back in response. "Whoa, bud. Whoa… He's hurt. Let them go."
Toothless let it known he was unsure through a small warble, but didn't proceed trusting her as usual. Still, though, Hiccup looked out watching them just a little bit longer until they were passed the horizon.
000
When they got back to the village, work was already being done in fixing the village. It was work the people were used to, and everyone fell into their usual jobs.
"Dad", Hiccup approached with Toothless beside when she found him helping to clear out debris, like fallen watch towers off the roads. "Can I have a word with you for a moment?"
"Of course, dear. What is it?" he asked as he worked.
"While Toothless and I were underground", she gestured to them both, "we found a cavern filled with Whispering Death eggs and an Outcast crate." Her dad walked down the road, and she followed. "I think Alvin planted those eggs knowing they would hatch and tear Berk apart. He may not be riding dragons yet, dad, but he is using them."
"We'll deal with Alvin and his wild dragons later", her dad said. "Right now we have to fix our water problem."
"You guys, look!" Fishlegs happily voiced, gaining both Hiccup and Stoick's attention to the well. "The well is filling back up."
The two Haddocks went to go see for themselves, and indeed water had filled the well.
"The Whispering Deaths' digging must have created a new channel for the water, and redirected it back to our well", Hiccup concluded with amazement.
"Right", Gobber then said across the way. "Well, I'll be…going now", he tried weaseling his way out, only to be stopped by Stoick's hand.
"Not so fast, Gobber", he grabbed his shoulder.
Before he even knew it, he was forced into the tub and scrubbed down by the twins, struggling like it was the worst torture they could have given him. As funny as it was, though, especially when her father mentioned his ears and how he was sure he saw a bird flew out of there, Hiccup couldn't get a certain thought from her mind. As such, she decided to take Toothless, and go to think on the cliffs away from the noise.
000
After Gobber's forced bath, Aric had decided to go for a little flight by himself; just him and Shadowstar. During the flight, however, he noticed Hiccup and Toothless sitting on a cliff by themselves. She'd disappeared a little after the twins had started scrubbing Gobber down, and hadn't seen her since.
"Hey", Aric greeted as Shadowstar went to land next to Toothless. "We missed you at the scrub down. You should have seen what came out from between his toes."
"I'm more concerned about what came out from under Berk", Hiccup responded seriously.
"What are you talking about?", he asked not seeing the issue. "That thing's long gone", he chuckled.
"I'm not so sure", she shook her head. "Whispering Death hatchlings are known to return to their birth place, and claim it as their own. It's why Night Furies and Whispering Deaths were always natural enemies.", Hiccup informed petting Toothless.
"So, what exactly are you saying?" he asked becoming serious himself.
"I'm saying I don't think we've seen the last of the Screaming Death."
That wasn't good. And if Hiccup felt the Screaming Death would be back, chances are she was probably right.
"First Outcasts, then Dagur, and now this Screaming Death", Aric summed up. "Something tells me we're going to be in for quite the ride."
*I know he looks younger, but according to Hiccup in Race to the Edge he's 16 by that time, so he has to either be twelve or thirteen here. Also, please disregard those dates I spoke of in the Animal House scenes short I did. I failed to account for not only Hiccup's birthday, but also when the Snoggletog reference was (if we're to assume the holiday is in December). I thought it was in Tunnel Vision, but apparently its all the way in Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. If I were to redo them I'd say probably almost all, if not all, of Riders/Defenders of Berk happens within one year, that year being approximately 1011.
Also, just to get you guys up to speed with the timeline, a full year hasn't passed just yet since the events of the first movie. That's why I keep saying nearly. A time of reference will be coming after Flight of Passage in the form of a short I thought of, so keep a look out for that.
Hint: By that time, it'll be the end of summer (within the series. not in real life). Approximately, August.