Sorry for the long wait ya'll. But it's here now. Hope it was worth the wait.
Bing! Bam! Boom! :
"Well, what do you think, bud?" Hiccup asked, her latest invention set and ready to go as it sat perched on a cliff near the village.
"Does it work?" Toothless wondered with a cock of his head from where he laid in the grass.
"We're about to find out", Hiccup smiled.
"Hiccup, are you up there?!" Stoick's voice called, and when Hiccup turned around she caught her father and Thornado flying up from below the cliff side. Her dad jumped down from the still hovering tidal dragon, then Thornado flew off on his own, though he usually never strayed far. "Thornado and I were busy surveying the village an—" her father stopped his stride when he came face to face with her quite large invention. "What in the name of Thor is that contraption?" he asked with a light chuckle as he peered inside the giant hole at the front.
"I call it... The Thunder-Ear!" Hiccup presented extravagantly. It was horn-like in shape, mainly comprised of metal slabs and sheets. There was one large hole at one end facing the ocean with another small hole at the other facing the village. "It can track dragon sounds from miles away", she led him to the other side with the small end. "And that hopefully includes our friend, the Screaming Death. And, you're just in time to see me demonstrate." Hiccup swayed back and forth on her heels.
"Alright, demonstrate away."
"Okay, now put your ear up to this", Hiccup gestured to the smaller end. Her father did so. "Toothless, plasma blast, if you will?" Toothless shot one plasma bolt, the blast exploding in the sky, and suddenly, they heard singing.
" "Well, I've got my axe, and I've got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face. I'm a Viking through and through!" " Fishlegs' and Meatlugs' voices came through the Thunder-Ear loud and clear. Hiccup couldn't have been happier by the success.
"Alright Fishlegs", Stoick smirked as he straightened from the Thunder-Ear, and Hiccup's smile faded. "You and Meatlug come out from where ever you're hiding. Very funny, hon. Joke's on the chief", he chuckled.
"Dad, it's not a joke."
Hiccup gave him her spyglass to prove it, meanwhile Fishlegs and Meatlug continuing to sing. Her father went back to placing his ear beside the Thunder-Ear after seeing just how far away across the ocean her friends were.
" "Well, I've got my club and I've got my blugden, and sixteen Berserkers locked in my dungen. I'm a Viking through and through"―hoo-hoo-heee-ee-ee-ee-ee-eee…"
"Ugh", he grimaced as Hiccup chuckled in her head.
"I think we can use this to hear enemy ships approaching as well" her dad then said. "That Thunder-Ear gets the Chief's seal o—" he stopped, something else coming through the Thunder-Ear. "Hang on." Leaning over, he turned the Thunder-Ear ninety degrees to the left.
"Stoick? Ha! He'd be lost without me", Gobber's voice came through. From the way the Thunder-Ear was facing over the village, Gobber could have been anywhere within it, all the way down to the docks. "I'm his right-hook-man, you might say. 'Course, he'd never admit it. And if you repeat this, I'll deny I was ever here."
Her dad hummed. "Right-hook-man, eh…" Little growls and chirps then came through, her dad moving the Thunder-Ear back, and then rearing back from the sound. "You can signal Fishlegs and Meatlug to stop. I don't know who's a worse singer? The boy, or the dragon."
Perplexed by the noises, Hiccup came closer to her invention. "Uh… That's not Fishlegs", she said. She moved her ear towards the nozzle, and immediately regretted it when loud gurgling noises came. "Yeah, no. Definitely not Fishlegs", she said rubbing her poor ear.
"Well, if it's not Fishlegs, then who, or what, is it?" her father asked.
"Well, it sounds a lot like baby dragon talk to me", Hiccup answered, the growls, chirps, and clicks sounding incoherent like a baby babbling. "But there's really only one way to find out."
And with that, Hiccup made her way to Toothless who'd evidently decided on taking a nap. Hiccup playfully shook her head at that.
"My thoughts exactly", her dad said, and then whistled. In response, Thornado flew up the cliff side, and her father smiled in a way no one could have ever predicted he would when it came to a dragon. That is, until he'd trained Thornado. "Ah, would you look at that?" he awed. "I never get tired of seeing that magnificent beast make his entrance." Jumping onto the Thunderdrum, he and Hiccup flew out.
000
"I thought it was coming from out here!" Hiccup said as she and Toothless led him and Thornado to the mysterious noise. Who would have ever thought his daughter would be a better tracker than him? Stoick certainly wasn't complaining, though. He was proud to see Hiccup succeed in things, even if it was only dragon related. It was also thanks to her expert knowledge that he had Thornado, though he'd never outwardly said it. And since Thornado came into his life, Stoick couldn't imagine chiefing without him. He was a great help to him and the village, and a greater companion.
"Whoa, Thornado!" his dragon suddenly bucked forward, Stoick quickly pulling back on the reins. "I'll do the steering, if you don't mind."
"No dad, let him go", Hiccup told him. "I-I think he hears something."
Stoick let his restraint on Thornado go, the dragon now leading the way. It wasn't long before they were passing a sea stack to another behind it with—
"Baby Thunderdrums!" Hiccup exclaimed. Right there on the sea stack were three tiny Thunderdrums, one blue, one green, and one purple, chirping and hopping as they looked up at them.
"Odin's ghost. No wonder Thornado knew where to take us", Stoick said.
"But what are they doing all the way out here by themselves?" Hiccup asked, and Toothless seemed to grumble at that, to which Hiccup replied with a mildly annoyed expression. Whatever the two were bickering about now, it wasn't a new sight to see.
000
"Not this again", Toothless grumbled.
Hiccup just gave him an annoyed look. The three hatchlings below jumped into flight then, circling around her and her dad in excitement. Hiccup giggled at the playful actions, but her dad wasn't as happy when the green one tried taking his helmet.
"Ey, watch yourself laddie, I'm a Chief you know", he held his helmet down and tried shooing the hatchling away.
"Dad, they're just kids!" Hiccup couldn't help but laugh. "They're playing!"
"Well someone needs to tell them that playtime is over!"
That's when Thornado roared, and immediately the hatchlings quieted and flew back to the sea stack.
"Huh, well looks like someone just did", Hiccup said.
"Hahaha! I taught him that", her dad boasted.
"I thought I recognized that roar", Hiccup rolled her eyes. "You have to admit, they are kind of, well—"
"Cute? Cuddly?"
"I was gonna say, 'cool'."
"Sure you were", Toothless teased with a role of his eyes.
"Shush you. Anyway…" Hiccup looked back to her father. "Dad, uh—"
"Eh-eh, I know what you're thinking, and you might as well forget it", he said.
"Ha, knew it", Toothless boasted.
"We have enough racket on Berk with those twins."
Hiccup sighed and looked down to the little Thunderdrums. "No-no, you're right", she conceded, and Toothless perked up at that.
"Oh, so you'll listen to him…" he grumbled.
"Let's just say I learned my lesson, Toothless", she retorted. They're mother was probably just out hunting anyway. Why she left them on this sea stack wasn't any of their business. At least that's what Hiccup tried telling herself, even as another part felt otherwise. "I just hope they'll be okay", she decided to at least voice.
"Of course they'll be okay", her father said confidently. "They're Thunderdrums after all. Toughest dragon in the archipelago."
"Excuse me?" Toothless expressed his shock and insult to her father, Thornado letting out a low chortle.
Her father just smirked. "That's right. I said it." Her dad and Thornado turned around to fly back to Berk and Hiccup leaned in close to Toothless.
"We've created a monster", she rumbled.
"You're the one who wanted him to get a dragon", Toothless pointed out, then turned around for home too. Still, even as Toothless flew forward, Hiccup looked back.
It wasn't long before they got back home, even if the sun had already set, the days getting shorter and shorter. The Polar Night would soon be coming. It didn't last as long as the Midnight Sun, and there was some daylight for at least a little while, maybe an hour or two, but it was also a rough time for the village for a multitude of reasons as their village was plunged into darkness and the Northern Lights shone brightly overhead. Toothless loved it, but it was one of the reasons winter always made her dad so stressed. It seemed Thornado was helping with that usual stress, though.
Her dad led them to landing in front of Gobber's forge where said man walked out, his favorite panpipes in hand.
"Out for a little father-daughter flight, were we?" Gobber said in greeting.
"Actually, we were just testing the Thunder Ear", Hiccup told him.
"Thunder Ear. Is that what you're calling it? Catchy."
"Oh, I'm glad you like it, Gobber", her dad said much too happily; suspiciously so. "'Cause you and the Thunder Ear are on night watch together. All night, as a matter of fact." And there it was. Gobber's jaw went slack.
"You know, I'd love to, Stoick. Really, I would", Gobber started. "But I'm preforming my one Viking spectacular at the Great Hall tonight! I'm closing with a rousing rendition of the reindeer waltz on the panpipes. It's sublime."
Dad didn't seem up for letting Gobber slide on this one, though, his sarcastic smile never wavering. "I'm afraid the village will have to do without your panpipes tonight, Gobber. Because, my right-hook-man" he pat Gobber's shoulder with each of the three words, "is going to be doing his duty for his Chief. The one who'd be nothing without him."
Her dad walked off with a chuckle, Gobber still looking like he was at a complete loss.
"Thunder Ear", Hiccup explained.
"I've got different name for it", Gobber growled.
000
BOOM!
RUMBLE!
CRASH!
"Ah—What?!" Hiccup literally fell out of bed, Toothless growling on high alert. Racing downstairs she saw her father up too, sword in hand. "What's going on?!"
"I was just about to ask you the same question", he said, and then they rushed out to see what was causing all the chaos outside.
What they found was the three Thunderdrums they saw yesterday flying around and reeking havoc all over the village. They were propelling sheep with their roars, knocking apple carts over, terrorizing people; the hatchlings were out of control.
"Still think they're cool?" her father more stated than asked.
"Eh…I'm on the fence", Hiccup answered anyway.
"Well get off it and do something before we have to rebuild the entire village!"
"Yeah, I'll get on that. Bud?" Hiccup looked back.
"Way ahead of ya", Toothless angled his back towards her.
The duo got into the air, hovering above the village for a moment to gain their barrings of where the fast moving dragon hatchlings were, when Hiccup saw the blue hatchling destroy her latest invention with a sonic-roar. "Hey!" she exclaimed over her lost Thunder-Ear. "Alright. Guys, fun time's over!" she then announced, and the two zoomed down and through town, chasing after the three Thunderdrums destroying their village under the notion of playing. It was easier said than done.
Chasing the hatchlings all over the village, they didn't seem any closer to catching and wrangling them up, the dragons only causing more trouble. "Duck, Silent Sven!" Hiccup startled when the hatchlings came straight at him. He ducked just in time when the hatchlings swept over him, Hiccup and Toothless following their trail close behind, also sweeping right over his ducked head. "Sorry about that Sven!" she called down once they were passed. She then turned forward and groaned with what she saw. "Oh, come on", she groaned seeing the hatchlings fly into and ransack Gobber's forge.
"Ah! My shop!" Gobber screamed.
"S-sorry, Gobber!" Hiccup called down to him too when she passed, the hatchlings already back on the move. "I'm trying my best!"
That's when she lost them.
"Man, these guys are fast", she muttered.
"Where'd they go?" Toothless only wondered hovering above the ground.
"Awe, Meatlug, look at the little baby Thunderdrums", Fishlegs' voice cooed, and Hiccup and Toothless turned to the sound, seeing the hatchlings all eating fish from a spilled barrel and Fishlegs and Meatlug before them. "They are so cute!" he exclaimed and hopped off the saddle running to hug and pet them.
"No-no, Fishlegs, I wouldn't—"
The blue Thunderdrum chirped a sonic-roar and threw Fishlegs back into Meatlug.
"...do that", Hiccup finished with a sigh.
"Wow. Thanks, girl", he looked up to his dragon.
"Should I even bother asking what's going on?" Aric and Shadowstar joined Hiccup and Toothless in the sky, Astrid and Stormfly with them.
"Out of control baby Thunderdrums", Hiccup answered.
"Makes sense", Astrid nodded.
"And, I'm guessing you'd like them under control", Aric surmised.
"That would be preferred. Yes", Hiccup answered again. "Can you help me wrangle them into the academy?"
" "Thought you'd never ask" ", both Hoffersons said.
Three riders and dragons diving, the hatchlings slipped right passed them the opposite way, forcing the three riders to turn around.
"Wow. They're slippery little guys", Aric commented as they continued the chase.
"No kidding", Astrid said, just before the hatchlings passed a green and yellow Zippleback with one pair of twins riding him.
"Whoa! What are those things?" Ruffnut asked amazed.
"Loud, and destructive, dragons! We have to stop them!" Hiccup told the two.
"Au contraire; we must own them!" Tuffnut exclaimed.
"Immediately", Ruffnut agreed.
Snotlout and Fishlegs were soon to join the chase as well, each and every rider of the academy doing their best to wrangle and get the baby Thunderdrums under control, but the hatchlings were too slippery. Rather quickly, the Dragon Riders looked like a group of headless chickens flying around.
000
Stoick looked at all of this nonsense with a sigh and shake of his head. "Do I have to do everything myself?" he grumbled. Well, as the saying goes… Getting to Thornado, Stoick joined the fray, but he didn't need to be in for long. Cutting the babies off at one of the ramps, Thornado let out a roar that stopped the children right in their tracks. The once rambunctious dragons were now sitting nice and quiet before his dragon.
Hiccup and Toothless landed behind the hatchlings, followed by Fishlegs and Meatlug. "Well done, dad", Hiccup said with what sounded to be surprise.
"Look at that", Fishlegs then followed, noting the hatchlings' new calm behavior. "They're putty in Thornado's hand—paw—claws whatever."
"Okay, we want that one!" Tuffnut announced when he and his sister landed with their dragon, pointing at the green Thunderdrum.
"No, that one!" Ruffnut countered, pointing at the purple one.
"It's such a hard decision", Tuffnut mused. "Okay, we'll take the set."
"Quiet!" Stoick ordered. He had just about lost all patience he had left. He looked to his daughter, making sure she heard every single word he was to say next. "Hiccup, I want you to get those troublemakers off my island now."
"Okay. We'll go", Tuffnut responded. "But know this; our mother will miss us."
"Not you, the dragons", Hiccup corrected the boy for him.
"Oh!" Tuffnut realized. "Haha! You had me there for a minute, Chief! 'Cause we're also…troublemakers…"
"Dad, don't you think we'd be better off training them?" Hiccup asked next, instead of doing what Stoick asked. He had a feeling this was coming though. "Think about it. They're fast, powerful—"
"Destructive, loud, and OUT OF CONTROL!" he interrupted her attempts to convince him. There was absolutely no way he would be having three out of control dragons running around his village. They had enough troublemakers as it was.
"Uh, Chief", one said troublemaker voiced. "You're kinda making Hiccup's argument for her", Tuffnut pointed out.
"The lass has got a point, Stoick", Gobber literally stepped in. Stoick could already see the beginnings of a triumphant smirk form on Hiccup's face, despite her trying to conceal it. She knew Gobber had a way of convincing him. "A squadron of Thunderdrums would be tough for Dagur and the Berserkers to defend against."
And, once again, Gobber left him with a valid point hard to refuse or ignore. He really hoped he wouldn't regret this. "You really think you can get them under control, dear?" he made sure with Hiccup.
"I know we can", she told him confidently. "I mean, look how great Thornado turned out to be."
"Aye, that he is." And though it wasn't easy, the dragon fighting him at every turn, he had been able to train him with Hiccup's guidance. If he could do it with Thornado, well then how hard would it be for Hiccup to train a few small Thunderdrums?
"We can do it, Chief, please let us try", Fishlegs insisted further, and Stoick relented.
"Alright, fine. But at the first sign of trouble, they go. Thornado isn't their mother, or a babysitter. He's got chiefly duties, just like I do."
"Dad, you won't be sorry. I promise", Hiccup assured. "I…already have a whole plan laid out of how to train them."
Stoick doubted that to be true, but then again she'd surprised him before.
000
With a final stern look, Stoick flew off with Thornado, and the hatchlings were just as out of control as before. Luckily, with the help of the riders, they were able to lead them into the academy. That didn't fix the problem, though. The Thunderdums were still out of control and it left the riders to covering their ears trying to block out all the loud roaring.
"OKAY, NOW MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME TO ROLE OUT THAT BIG PLAN OF YOURS!" Aric shouted over the noise.
"RIGHT! RIGHT! BIG PLAN! UH, OKAY...!" Hiccup trailed.
"LET ME GUESS! YOU HAVE NO PLAN!"
"YOU'RE RIGHT! THAT WOULD BE CORRECT!"
"WELL DON'T YOU THINK YOU BETTER GET ONE BEFORE OUR EARS EXPLODE?!" Snotlout yelled.
"WAIT!" Tuffnut got a large grin on his face. "WAIT, OUR EARS CAN ACTUALLY EXPLODE?!"
"LET'S SEE!" Ruffnut roughly grabbed and shoved Tuffnut's face in front of a loudly roaring purple Thunderdrum.
"YES, EXPLODE! EXPLODE!" Tuffnut shouted.
"TELL US WHEN THEY DO!" Snotlout yelled over.
"COME ON, DON'T ENCOURAGE THEM!" Hiccup reprimanded.
"THE TWINS, OR THE THUNDERDRUMS?!" Fishlegs asked.
"BOTH!" Astrid answered.
"ALRIGHT, SO, UH, I GUESS THE FIRST THING WE SHOULD DO IS NAME THEM!" Hiccup finally decided.
"NO!" Snotlout roared. "FIRST THING WE NEED TO DO IS TO GET THEM TO SHUT UP!" he screamed louder, Hiccup cringing with the added volume. As if her ears weren't dying before.
"OVER HERE!" Fishlegs rushed forward. Between where the three Thundrums were clustered before Tuffnut, Fishlegs placed a single bunch of Dragon Nip. Within seconds, the hatchlings were quiet and still. At last, everyone could take their hands, paws, or wings, from their ears without risking permanent hearing damage. "Dragon Nip; old school but effective."
"Good", Hiccup sighed at the quiet. "But we can't have them lying around in a haze doing nothing all day."
"Yeah, that's what the twins are for", Snotlout agreed.
"Whoa, don't judge", Tuffnut took immediate offense. "We already did something today."
"Yeah", Ruffnut backed him up.
"What?" Snotlout challenged. "What did you do?"
"What did we do?!" Ruffnut exclaimed. "What did WE do?!" Ruff paused, before turning to her brother. "What did we do?"
"We named them", Tuff answered.
"Oh. Really?" Astrid asked, standing a bit surprised.
"This should be good", Aric crossed his arms in amusement, his eyes rolling.
"Oh, it is", Ruffnut affirmed.
"Ready? Okay, now, wait for it… Bing!" Tuff pointed to the green one on the left.
"Bam!" Ruff pointed to the blue one in the middle.
"And…" Everyone looked to the purple hatchling on the right. "…Lloyd. You can thank us later."
Silence stood in the academy, the other riders looking to each other or staring at the twins. "Call me crazy, but I'm thinking there may be a more logical choice than Lloyd", Fishlegs broke it.
"Like what?" Ruffnut asked.
"Uh…Boom?" Fishlegs offered.
"Oh yeah, I guess that could work", Tuffnut said dryly. "No. Way. …How 'bout Daren?"
"Sorry, Lloyd", Ruffnut said.
"Alright, now that that's all taken care of", Hiccup took it upon herself, once again, to move things along as she stepped up to the twins, "let's try some actual training."
"Uh, voting is still open on the Lloyd thing though, right?" Tuffnut checked first. "Right?"
Hiccup didn't answer, giving them a tired look before groaning and walking back to the group.
"Daren's still on the table, right? Yes? No?"
000
Once the three came out of their daze, training began. The three stood in a line beside each other as they seemed to just naturally do. Hiccup stepped up to the blue Thunderdrum, Bam, and slowly, expecting a sonic blast, extended her hand, but the hatchling met it easily with virtually no hesitation.
"Wow", Hiccup was geniually surprised. "That could have gone far worse."
That was when Bam sonic blasted her, Hiccup thrown back into Fishlegs, knocking him over, and caught by Toothless. "Ow", Hiccup grimaced as Toothless put her back on her feet, her spine screaming.
"You mean like that?" Fishlegs asked from where he laid on his back on the ground.
"Yep, exactly like that."
Next, Astrid tried getting them to know simple commands like 'stay', but that only resulted in the hatchlings preferring to circle Stormfly. "Stay... stay…" she repeated over and over, much to its failure. "Clearly 'stay' isn't in their vocabulary." Hiccup only shrugged.
After that, Snotlout tried his own method. "This is what you guys need", he said, setting up a barrel target. "Something you're supposed to destroy. Hookfang, show 'em how it's done." On cue, Hookfang fired and shot the barrel, of which Snotlout replaced and turned back to the three hatchlings for them to follow, gesturing to the target. They only stared and chirped at him. "Here!" he shouted. "Right here, Thunder-dumbs! Do I need to spell it out for you?!" he walked in front of the target and straight up to them. "DESTROY!" he pointed, and the Thunderdrums fired, but at Snotlout instead, throwing him right into a stacked pile of barrels next to the target. "Bullseye", Snotlout laid there.
Fishlegs tried next. "Alright, I'm gonna show you how to disarm an attacker", he told them, and Bing took it upon himself to start the exercise early, swiping Fishlegs' sword right out from his hand. "My sword!" he exclaimed and chased Bing around the arena, the dragon stopping to a hover above Fishlegs. Then he tossed it to Bam who tossed it to Boom. "Gimme that, no! C-come on, you guys, this isn't the exercise!" Fishlegs jumped as the three played a dragon version of monkey in the middle. They even got Meatlug to join when Bam tossed it to her, Meatlug tossing it back to Boom. "What? You too, Meatlug?" Meatlug just licked him.
Next was Aric with his flying formation drill, something he surprisingly got them to do. The Thunderdrums were flying together in a controlled formation around the academy.
"Wow, nice work, Aric", Hiccup looked at them surprised at how well they were behaving.
"Yep. We'll have these guys trained in no time", Aric said, when the hatchlings suddenly saw and blasted Snotlout into barrels again, their formation and controlled flying completely forgotten.
Hiccup held her head and groaned.
Last up was the twins, who decided they wanted a turn at teaching them something. Hiccup let them, and the twins stood before the sitting hatchlings.
"Okay, here we go. Repeat after me", Tuffnut said, then began to belch 'A'
The hatchlings followed suit, trying to replicate.
"B", Ruffnut belched next.
The hatchlings followed again.
"Hey, uh, not to be a wet blanket but, how is this helping anything?" Hiccup quickly stepped in.
"How is it hurting?" Tuffnut asked.
"C", Ruffnut continued the lesson, and this time the hatchlings sonic blasted the twins. They flew across the arena into Snotlout and a pile of recently re-stacked barrels.
"See? They love it!" Tuffnut popped out.
Hours passed like this with little progress in getting the three hatchlings in any form of control. They were zipping around the academy again, just as out of control and loud as when they started, the riders attempting to once again try and get them to sit still, when suddenly, they did, coming to a stop before the entrance.
"Well look at that", Hiccup said, happily surprised. "Finally getting through to them. Well, someone is", she looked up to see Thornado walk in, and that gave her an idea. "Hey, Thornado, what do you say to a little follow the leader", she asked, circling her finger around. Thornado simply gave a nod and led the hatchlings into a flight, circling the inside of the academy as Aric had tried to train them earlier. This time, though, the hatchlings didn't break it, and they followed Thornado's lead perfectly. "That's promising, eh bud?" Hiccup looked to Toothless as Thornado landed with the three.
"It's like they've imprinted on him", Toothless said curiously.
"Imprinted?" Hiccup asked.
"Sometimes when a hatchling loses their mother, they'll imprint on another dragon of their own species."
"It's a survival instinct", Hiccup understood, and realized that's probably why they followed them to Berk in the first place. They were following Thornado.
"Wow. I hardly recognize them", Aric commented with a chuckle, the hatchlings staring up at Thornado almost perfectly quiet and still.
"No, what did you do?!" Tuffnut exclaimed, sounding highly upset. "You've ruined them" he put his hands to his face. "Oh, Lloyd! I'm so sorry, Daren."
"Thornado?! Thornado!" Stoick's voice called, and soon the chief was entering the academy. "Come now, we have chiefing to do."
Thornado hesitated, looking to the three hatchlings before him first, before going to where Stoick stood. Stoick then looked at the three himself, the hatchlings wagging their tails as they watched Thornado.
"Hmm, well that's an improvement. Well done, Hiccup", he said, then turned and walked out.
"Ah, well no, dad, it's actually―" Hiccup called to correct him, when suddenly, just as Stoick and Thornado we out of sight, Bing, Bam, and Boom shot after them. "Tuffnut, the gate!"
"On it!" Tuffnut responded, then pointed to the exit/entrance.
"For the love of…", Hiccup growled, annoyed.
"What?!"
Hiccup crossed her arms.
"Okay a little clarity next time, would help."
000
The hatchlings having escaped, Hiccup and Toothless found themselves right back where they'd started. Chasing baby Thunderdrums. "Oh, come on", Hiccup whined.
"HICCUP!" she cringed at her father's voice. "I thought you had them under control!" he shouted, Thornado stopping to a hover next to her and Toothless.
"Well, I did. Sort of. But―"
Her dad's glare intensified.
"Okay, I really didn't."
Below, the hatchlings were once again wreaking havoc, roaring their sonic blasts all over the place. One's waves even hit Stoick, the blast forcing him to rear back. "Agh!" his arms came up at an attempt to shield himself. "Will these dragons ever quiet down?!"
"Sure!" Fishlegs shouted over, hands covering his ears. "Once they find their grownup voice!"
"And how long will that take?" Stoick questioned.
"Ehhh, shouldn't be more than a couple of…years?"
Her dad growled, looking at her.
"Uh, yes?" Hiccup winced, before signaling Toothless to move, and they rushed down into the village to help corner the hatchlings.
000
"Just want you to know", Tuffnut started, the twins having cut the hatchlings off above the village first, "We're big fans."
Hiccup and Toothless then swept in from behind the babies, but suddenly Bing, Bam, and Boom noticed and scattered, and Toothless couldn't stop in time.
" "Look out!" " the twins screamed, and both Toothless and Barf and Belch swerved away from each other, the twins screaming as their dragon fell into an out of control spin into someone's house.
The hatchlings continued their play-time around the village, until Snotlout cut the purple one off between two buildings. "Haha! End of the line, Bing! Or are you Lloyd?" Boom-Llyod sonic blasted him in the face.
Bam was then intercepted by Fishlegs and Meatlug after the blue Thunderdrum had just sonic blasted all the sheep in Silent Sven's farm. "You leave those sheep alone!" he demanded, until Bam directed his roar at him. "Never mind, I wasn't that close to them", he steered Meatlug clear.
000
Once again, Stoick watched all of this with a scowl. "Ugh, ridiculous! They look like Gobber wrestling a greased yak!" The purple one destroyed one of their watchtowers, and Stoick sighed. It seemed as if he and Thornado were going to have step in again.
"Don't even think about it!" Astrid and Stormfly blocked the Thunderdrums, conveniently forcing them into a detour right to where he and Thornado were diving. Thornado stopped and blocked the hatchlings' way, then he roared and once again successfully quieted the three down. Thornado landed before the dragons, just as Hiccup and Toothless landed behind the them.
"Remember how you said I wouldn't be sorry?" Stoick started with sarcasm.
"This is outrageous!" a villager shouted from their near destroyed home.
"Uh, yes?" Hiccup winced.
"Well I'm officially sorry. You need to find those dragons a new home, Hiccup. The Thunderdrums have to go!"
000
It wasn't easy, but after luring them with Dragon Nip, the riders finally got the Thunderdrums to Dragon Island. The hatchlings sniffed and explored the area, seeming curious, but passive about the new place.
"Okay, Bing, Bam, and Boom", Hiccup started anyway. "Welcome to your new home, Dragon Island!" she presented. "You're gonna love it here. Plenty of room, lots of new dragons to annoy― I mean meet. Here, you can be as loud as you want. It'll be great."
The hatchlings didn't seem too thrilled though, as they growled and chirped, but not with the same enthusiasm as they had had on Berk and with Thornado.
"Whoa", Ruffnut seemed to notice it too. "This is kinda sad."
"Yeah", Tuffnut agreed. "Reminds me of the time our parents took Sam, our pet yak, out to that farm to live."
"Yeah, I would've cried all night. Except for those delicious yak steaks we had for dinner", Ruffnut then reminisced.
"Oh, nothing better. And to eat them in those soft yak jackets…"
"Okay, great. Check you later", Snotlout dismissed himself, and he and Hookfang, followed by the rest of the riders, flew out.
Hiccup stayed a moment more, though, not feeling right about just leaving them here like this. But they couldn't stay on Berk. It simply wasn't a place for baby Thunderdrums, that much was made abundantly clear. Still, this didn't feel right.
"They'll be fine, Hiccup", Toothless assured her, and coxing her on, they quickly caught up with the others.
"They'll be happy there", Hiccup was more telling herself than her friends. "They'll love it."
"What's not to love?" Fishlegs jumped in. "It's an island full of dragons!"
"And, I mean, we can come visit them, right?"
"Sure, but they won't be there", Tuffnut said.
"Why not?" Hiccup asked.
"'Cause they're right behind you", Ruffnut answered.
Hiccup looked behind her and Toothless, and there they were flying right behind them: Bing, Bam, and Boom. "Wh-what the— Oh, great. What do we do now?"
"I'll tell you what we do", Snotlout said. "We ditch 'em!"
Snotlout and Hookfang turned back towards Dragon Island, the hatchlings following, thinking it was some game of chase, when Hookfang banked left into a cave and the hatchlings continued forward. Snotlout and Hookfang were making their way back, each with their own smirks. "Stupid baby dragons", Snotlout boasted, until the hatchlings cut him off and threw him off Hookfang with a sonic blast.
Hiccup winced as she watched her cousin fall, when she noticed Hookfang. "Uhhh, Hookfang?" she asked, the dragon still flying as if Snotlout were still on his back.
"HOOKFANG!" Snotlout screamed, and that got the dragon's attention.
"Snotlout?!" Hookfang roared in surprise, and dove for his rider.
"Hahaha, wow", Astrid laughed. "That was fun! Let's try Snotlout's plan again!"
"Ehh, I think I have a better plan in mind", Hiccup responded.
Said plan was luring them back to the island with fish, and leaving while they were busy eating. Leaving the pile behind a rock face the hatchlings wouldn't be able to see them leave, the riders cautiously, but quickly, left.
"I say we take the long way home this time", Aric suggested in a whisper, and their dragons took flight.
When they made it back to Berk, however, Stoick was there with Thornado and Bing, Bam, and Boom right beside him. Hiccup was left flabbergasted.
"I just― are you― How?!" she threw her hands to the air.
"Never mind", her dad dismissed. "It looks like Thornado and I are going to have to give you dragon training geniuses a hand."
"You've created a monster", Toothless rumbled up to Hiccup, the girl's ears pinned down paired with a tired, unamused, expression.
The sun setting, her dad led her and Fishlegs out to Dragon Island, the rest of the academy staying on Berk. Thornado kept the hatchlings in front of him like a shepherd would sheep.
"I hope this works", Hiccup expressed.
"Thornado has a way with them. It'll work", her father said looking back at them. Boom began to wander off, but Thornado quickly put a stop to it.
"Back with your brothers!" he roared, and Boom immediately veered back to the pod.
"At a boy, Thornado", her father praised. "Sometimes you need to show teenagers a little tough love. That's right. I said it", he looked back to Hiccup.
"Oh, gods", Hiccup rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath. She wasn't even gonna bother explaining that hatchlings were the equivalent to babies or children; not adolescents.
Landing on the island, Hiccup and her dad both stepped down from their dragons. The hatchlings clicked and rumbled, seeming confused and upset they were on the island again. "Okay, so, this is it", Hiccup said. They looked up at her, their heads tilting with eyes that showed their confusion and sadness. "Look, guys, Berk just isn't the island for you", she tried to explain, crooning softly. "There's too many Vikings, and not enough places for you guys to play." The three began to whimper, their cute, big, puppy dog eyes boring into her. "Oh, no. Nonono, stop making that whimper sound", Hiccup whimpered herself. "Don't make this any harder than it already is."
"Let's let Thornado have a word with them, Hiccup", her dad seemed to pick up on her whimpers in response to the hatchlings'. Hiccup stepped aside and let Thornado step before them.
"Quiet", Thornado roared, and the hatchlings stopped. "You have to stay here. Understand?"
The hatchlings hesitantly chirped in response.
"Well, that's done", her dad said. "Put that in the book of dragons", he mounted back on Thornado, and Hiccup did the same with Toothless. "Thornado, back to Berk."
With that, Thornado took off, and Hiccup and Fishlegs followed, the hatchlings whimpering and shrieking when they left the island, clearly wanting to follow as they stared up at them.
"Don't look back, dear", her father said, Hiccup looking ahead at his words. "Remember, tough love", he told her. She wondered what Thornado really thought of all this, though. The dragon rarely ever spoke a word, only speaking when he felt he needed to. Was the bond between him and Bing, Bam, and Boom mutual, or had it all been one sided?
"Toothless, can hatchlings imprint on a dragon who doesn't share that bond?" she asked.
"No. If a dragon won't reciprocate, the hatchling will know", Toothless said, and it hurt to think Thornado might have been hurting right now, even if just a little, and her father would know.
"Dad", Hiccup started, but stopped when the sounds of roars and shrieks reached her ears, the appendages perking straight up. Thornado seemed to hear it too, as he suddenly stopped, startling her father, and turned around. Toothless stopped too, followed by Meatlug, and they saw three dragons, a teal-blue Zippleback, a red-blue Deadly Nadder, and a maroon Monstrous Nightmare, all surrounding Bing, Bam, and Boom.
"Looks like they may not be welcome on Dragon Island either", Hiccup said, noting how their stances were threatening and menacing, the three hatchlings huddled up against one another back to back. "Maybe that's why we found them out on the sea stacks to begin with!"
"Awe, they were probably chased there", Fishlegs said.
Thornado growled.
"Well, I guess we're not gonna let any wild dragons bully our boys, are we", her dad said, mostly directed towards Thornado.
"Tough love, eh?" Hiccup pointed out.
The Deadly Nadder flicked his spikes out, tail poised to strike, and Thornado stormed ahead and blast all the dragons away with one sonic-roar. The hatchlings flocked and huddled towards Thornado, then the three enemy dragons returned. With a battle cry from Stoick, Thornado charged.
From above, Hiccup and Fishlegs were watching Thornado protect Bing, Bam, and Boom, but when they left them on their own to fight the three oncoming dragons, a fourth dragon came from behind the hatchlings. It was a maroon-purple Monstrous Nightmare, and he was stalking closer.
"Okay, bud, light 'em up!" Hiccup said, and Toothless dove and fired, landing a hit to the Monstrous Nightmare. The dragon was thrown up and over Bing, Bam, and Boom, and Toothless landed in the spot the Nightmare had once been before the hatchlings.
A purple Nadder then roared, and the hatchlings startled, the dragon about to strike her spikes, when Fishlegs' voice boomed with a battle cry. Meatlug came barreling in and fired three consecutive lava blasts, chasing the Nadder away. "Hahaha, yay team!" Fishlegs cheered.
With each dragon they blasted away, though, more only came, trying to push the hatchlings and them off their island for whatever reason.
"Hatchlings", Thornado then said. "Follow me."
"HICCUP! FISHLEGS!" her dad then shouted covering his ears, seeming to know what the Thunderdrums were gonna do. They covered their ears too, and then the four Thunderdrums attacked with a sonic-roar together, hovering and turning to all sides so that every dragon was blown far far away.
000
When Thornado landed, Stoick uncovered his ears, and heard his daughter give a sigh of relief.
"Fwoo", she uncovered her ears. "Sure taught those wild dragons a lesson."
"Yeah, this time", Fishlegs said, and pointed to the cliffs where more wild dragons were gathering.
"What are we gonna do with these guys? We can't take them with us, and we can't leave them here", Hiccup expressed, and Stoick looked down to Thornado where he was nuzzling and being nuzzled by Bing, Bam, and Boom. With a barely audible sigh, he dismounted, and began doing what he knew he had to. He crouched to the saddle on Thornado's back.
"Dad? Are you…okay?" Hiccup asked hesitantly.
"Yes, dear. I think we both know what we have to do, don't we, Thornado", he then said, undoing the saddle, and then removing it.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
"I'm setting Thornado free. Do what any chief would do in this situation. Or any father", he told her as he saw how the little dragons doted on Thornado, and how he did the same. "These boys won't survive without ya. Right now they need you more than I do", he then told Thornado.
Thornado then looked up at him with what he could only assume was a smile, and he clicked and growled quietly. It even sounded somber, like he was saying a thank you, or an apology. "Oh, I understand. I'd do the same thing", he said in response. "Doesn't mean I won't miss ya." He placed a hand to Thornado's snout, and getting down to one knee, Stoick gave one last goodbye to his friend, one he would never soon forget. "Take care of your new family."
000
"Take care of yours", Thornado said back, and her dad stood again. He turned and walked towards her and Toothless, and Hiccup looked up at him with a mix of emotions she couldn't quite express. He was just letting him go? Just like that? Couldn't there have been another way? Yet, looking to the new family here on Dragon Island, maybe there wasn't. Her dad got on Toothless behind her, and he and Meatlug took off.
After a few moments, Hiccup finally decided to say something. "Hey dad", she glanced behind with her eyes, "you did the right thing." She looked forward again, but didn't miss her father's whisper.
"Goodbye old friend", she heard, and then a call from Thornado. A call of goodbye.
And thus we finally make it here. The finale is next folks! And again, just to remind people, don't worry, I am doing Race to the Edge. A couple stories just need to come out first though before I do.