Heellooo! Longer wait, sorry, but's a longer chapter so hopefully that makes up for it. Enjoy!

Shout Outs!:

Eris

Thank you!

CHSHiccstrid

Well onto his way of being healed nonetheless. Sad day. Oh...let's, let's not go there. For everyone but especially Loki's sanity. Though, Frigga would probably pound him into a pulp if he tried anything against Hiccup, so there's that comfort.

Jhousa

Soon!

SmolAvidReader

I'm glad, it was interesting writing it, I had fun with it. What was your first clue? I know! I'm internally crying as I write some of this.


Writer's Log Supplemental 41: "The Calm Before the Storm"

Hiccup sat hand in hand with Astrid, enjoying the sunset. Astrid relaxed on the blanket with the remains of their dinner laying abandoned, Toothless and Stormfly eyeing the left-overs. Hiccup leaned against her. "What do you say M'lady, want to go for a lovely night flight?"

Astrid grinned. "Of course."

They mounted their respective dragons and took off into the almost dark sky. Toothless and Stormfly chased each other out to sea while their riders laughed.

Hiccup leaned close to Toothless, they shot forward and up before spinning on their way back down.

Stormfly squawked and Astrid shouted at her betrothed, "Hiccup! Oh, you're on!"

Hiccup shot her a grin and whispered to Toothless. Toothless roared and darted into a blackened cloud, disappearing effortlessly.

Stormfly's nostrils flared before lurching forward and tracking Toothless' sent. She cawed as she and Astrid flew by the darker pair. Toothless barked in surprise before grinning and began echo-locating, tracking her almost as effortlessly. The game continued for a time, progressing to the dragons flipping so their riders could participate by smacking the other. Eventually, they broke through the clouds and the half-moon lit the baron waters below.

Hiccup was still laughing and sat back on the saddle, Toothless shook his head, the tremor continuing down through his tail.

Astrid was happily smiling as well, she couldn't remember the last time they'd just let loose like this.

Hiccup closed his eyes, enjoying the last of winter's wind. Toothless shifted below him and growled lowly, Hiccup was instantly alert and searching the waters. "What is it bud?"

The black dragon's earflaps twitched until they honed in on a direction then stood erect.

Hiccup sat straight again and turned to Astrid, all mirth gone. "Something's wrong."

Astrid stared at Toothless. "Does he know what?"

Hiccup looked down at his friend who shook his head with an annoyed growl.

Astrid gripped her saddle a little tighter. "Maybe we should head back…"

Hiccup shook his head. "No, not yet." He whispered into Toothless' ear, "Let's go find what's bothering you bud."

Toothless trilled happily and shot forward.

Astrid groaned, "Really? Come on Stormfly."

They flew in near silence, Astrid's glare sending more refute than words ever could. The dragons pressed on and shortly Stormfly's flight grew momentarily erratic, her nostrils flaring several times as she took in a scent.

"Woah!" Astrid leaned down to pat her neck and hold on tighter. "What is it girl?"

Stormfly only squawked then flew just as determinately as Toothless.

Hiccup frowned and Astrid was about to comment on it when he gasped and pulled up on Toothless' saddle.

Astrid saw why not two seconds later, as Stormfly turned slightly, a small boat lay almost invisible in the waters. And it was horribly familiar. They shared wide eyed gazes before he urged Toothless closer.

"We need to check it out."

Astrid shook her head with a firm look. "We need to get reinforcements."

Hiccup turned pained eyes towards her and she silently cursed him. "Astrid, by the time we get back to Berk and out, they'll be long gone. Besides, we've done this hundreds of times."

Her shoulders fell. "Fine. Only because I'm still ticked off at the Hunters."

Hiccup beamed. "Great! Let's come in on the other side and stay low to the water, that way the moon doesn't rat us out."

The water rippled as they silently flew. Hiccup gripped the saddle as they neared, irate that the Hunters were back and so close to their waters—especially when he and Astrid were having such a good date!

The ship drew within range and Hiccup pressed his hand against Toothless' flat head. "Light 'em up bud."

Toothless' eyes narrowed as his lips curled up with twisted glee, his body tremored as he prepared his fire. The ship lurched as the plasma blast tore through the bow, the deck instantly erupting with shouts as men ran about.

The two dragons shot up the side, Stormfly incinerating the sails and sticking several men with tail spikes.

A man fit an arrow to his bow string, only to be blasted over the side by Toothless. Astrid turned with a wicked grin. "Thanks babe."

Hiccup nodded to her and drew the Dragon Blade, attacking a brave but unfortunate soul. With the deck momentarily cleared he ran down to the hold—spying a Deadly Nadder, Changewing, Hobblegrunt and another he couldn't place the name too. He quickly opened the cells and the dragons ran out.

Hiccup ducked to the side of the ladder at a whistling from behind him. The man cursed as it missed and quickly reloaded. Hiccup's hand fisted, he'd left his shield attached to Toothless' saddle, before he threw it all to the wind.

The man fired another bolt and Hiccup raised his hand, focusing on a shield—the green lit up the hold as the arrow impacted against it then bounced away. He cursed, fiddling with another arrow.

Hiccup was quicker and launched at the man, swinging his burning blade. The man used his bow as a block then drew his own sword, Hiccup glared at him. Their blades met and he could better see his attacker, he oddly didn't look much like a Hunter. "It was pretty stupid coming back here. You should've taken your loss at Berserker Island."

The man snorted. "You're the one those idiots blubbered on about?"

Hiccup scowled, taking in the man more as they exchanged more blows, realizing with a start that this wasn't a Hunter—despite the ship—he was one of the remaining men from Drago's army. He felt even less sympathy now.

His attacks quickened to the speed that Loki trained him at—which was not meant for anything other than a god or master's swordsman.

The man yelped, eyes growing wide, as the boy became a blur and he presently found his sword lost.

Hiccup held his own blade level with the man's throat, the flames just shy of licking his flesh, his expression hard. "I will give you this one warning. spread it to everyone who's left.

"Berk will protect the dragons. Whether they are ours or the wild ones, they are under our protection. I have fought against trappers and Hunters for years before Drago and I will continue to do so. You attack dragons, you attack us, and we will retaliate."

The man could do nothing but stare at the blade in fear, quickly nodding to the young man's words and replaying the impossibly fast fight and that shield. Like so many before him, his heart trembled at the implications.

Hiccup turned and ran out of the listing hull. Toothless greeted him with a worried warble, nudging his still frowning face. He rubbed his snout as he mounted. "I'm alright bud. Let's get out of here."

Stormfly took off after them, Astrid shouting. "You alright? You look a bit flustered."

Hiccup's lips were thin. "Those weren't Hunters, Astrid, they were men from Drago's army. It sounds like they either stole or bought the ship from some Hunters."

Astrid cursed quietly before turning back to her betrothed. "This isn't good, what are we going to do?"

Hiccup's brows dipped more but from thought. "What we've always done. We need to get back to Berk and assemble the council."

Astrid nodded, a familiar and soft squawk from behind them caught her attention. She looked back and smiled softly. "Hey Hiccup? I think we have some tag-alongs."

Hiccup looked back with mild surprise. Very rarely did freed dragons follow them anywhere just after their release. Toothless, however, was too busy laughing and warbling to the new dragons. Hiccup rolled his eyes, chalking it up to something to do with Toothless now being an alpha. It's just a few more dragons, not going to make a whole lot of difference.


A patrol of newer dragon riders returned to Berk looking grim. They fought their way through the crowded Hall to either the chief, council member, or Rider. They found Snotlout first. "Three ships of Drago's origin, about fifty miles northwest."

Snotlout frowned and nodded. "I'll go find Hiccup…"

That proved to be a more difficult task, one that involved finding his father and the twins before he found the chief himself. And said chief stood at the edge of the village helping to erect a new dragon perch.

Snotlout filled him in and Hiccup sighed. "Gather the Riders. We'll head out immediately."

The skirmish with the trappers was relatively quick. No major injuries to their side and all dragons had been rescued. Several gleeful roars followed them from behind all the way back to Berk. Hiccup's nose wrinkled as he estimated nearly thirty dragons happily trailing their alpha 'home'.

Snotlout flew Hookfang closer to Hiccup so he could complain. "Huh, chief, I hate to be the barer of bad news—not really—but…we're already running out of room on Berk without more dumb dragons following us home!"

Fishlegs' face pinched. "I really hate to say this but I agree with Snotlout."

Snotlout frowned and shook his head, hands thrown out. "Why does everyone say that when they agree with me?"

Ruffnut leaned against Barf's horns. "For the same reasons they say it about us."

Snotlout scowled at them. "That's because you two are idiots."

Tuffnut beamed. "Exactly!"

Astrid smirked while Hiccup looked to the sky and shook his head. "I know…but they just keep following us. Even the times that Toothless and I don't come, they still come to Berk."

Fishlegs nodded, eyes alight as he thought about theories as to why—spouting them off for only Hiccup to really listen to.

Astrid flew Stormfly closer to Toothless, face serious. "Hiccup, I know you love having the dragons on Berk—it's your dream coming true—but they're starting to overrun the place."

Hiccup frowned. "I know. I was thinking about trying to relocate some of them to islands we found while at the Edge—or to the Edge itself. Maybe introducing some to Berserker Island too. But I'm not sure if they'll stay there."

Astrid's face hardened as she thought. "Maybe we could have the Defenders act as an intermediary."

Hiccup nodded. "It's worth a shot."


That shot was only about fifty percent effective. And it mostly boiled down to dragon species who were more loner by nature and those who had any kind of pack mentality.

Hiccup did find a small loop hole when Dagur brought a few younger Berserkers who expressed a wish to learn to ride. If a dragon had a rider it was more willing to leave the island the alpha had built its nest upon. Either way, it still was not enough.

The Trappers were as relentless as the Hunters, having filled the vacuum they'd left behind. It seemed as if there was a skirmish every week now.

Hiccup sat in the back room of the forge, drawing up ideas to use the space they had to accommodate the growing population of dragons. He also was thinking about placing some perches and other dragon amenities in the forests of Berk, hoping it would draw the riderless dragons out of the village proper but still close enough to the alpha that they would be satisfied.

Despite the reason for needing the plans, Hiccup was quite at home in the small space with his paper and charcoal. Mind adrift in the memories of countless nights he'd spent in there.

There was a commotion outside, but these days there was always a commotion so he ignored it. Toothless suddenly stood and left his side, wandering out of the forge.

Hiccup paid him no mind, he often left to deal with the dragons, he figured now was no different. A dragon cooed just outside the door, he barely had time to turn before a large, silver head thrust itself into his stomach and nuzzled him affectionately and warbled happily. "S-Silverwhip?"

The Razorwhip's eyes shone with happiness and had they had the room, she would have circled him with uncontained joy. As it was, they were contained so her joy was mitigated to wiggling that nearly made the sturdy forge shake.

He laughed and hugged the head that continued to nuzzle him then sniff his hair and nuzzle him more. "Hey girl. Wow, you've really gotten big—too big to be carried around anymore huh?"

The dragon trilled.

He grinned. "Let's go outside so you're not squished in here."

Silverwhip carefully extracted herself from the forge and waited impatiently for Hiccup to follow.

He walked out to her, bounding around a mildly annoyed Toothless. She yipped and ran over to him, nudging his back. He laughed and mounted Toothless. "Okay, girl, let's go for a flight."

Toothless jumped with a happy roar and Silverwhip followed with a happy squawk. They played among the clouds and Hiccup locked Toothless' tail so he could glide with them. Silverwhip was delighted to have him fly on his own beside them, trying to engage Hiccup to play. He did so after reconnecting to Toothless, to which she softly warbled her complaint.

Toothless grinned, then arched his back, his fins popping open.

Hiccup chuckled and pressed himself flat against Toothless right before he turned sharply and lightly hit Silverwhip with a plasma blast.

Silverwhip squawked indignantly then roared, giving chase and the game resumed. By the time they finally came back to earth, Hiccup was pleasantly surprised to see Atali and Minden with new Razorwhip babies attached to their backs chatting to Astrid and his mother.

He dismounted and greeted them. "Welcome to Berk, Atali."

She nodded in greeting. "Thank you. I'm sorry for the short notice of a visit but we came to request your help."

Hiccup's light hearted face fell. "What's wrong?"

Astrid answered for her, grim and annoyed. "Ships, of both Hunter and Trapper origin."

Hiccup sighed but nodded. "Of course you will have our help."

Atali nodded her thanks. "I am glad Silverwhip found you alright. She's been going crazy these last few weeks until graduation day. We barely managed to hold her back until we were able to fly again and properly guide her to you." She smiled bemusedly. "Razorwhips are amazing dragons, but poor trackers. She never would have made it to Berk without having been here before."

Hiccup laughed and rubbed her snout.

She chirped before padding over to the little Razorwhip on Atali's back and crooning. The baby flapped her tiny wings then settled again. Silverwhip snuffed then took off into the village with childish glee.

Hiccup winced and turned to Toothless. "Hey bud, mind showing her the ropes…and keeping her out of trouble?"

Toothless glared at Hiccup.

Hiccup didn't back down. "Hey, you're the alpha, oh mighty one." Toothless huffed and rolled his eyes. "This is a part of your job description now."

Toothless stood and grumbled lowly, making sure Hiccup could hear him—Hiccup shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. Big baby boo."

Toothless paused and turned a scathing look at Hiccup, whose nose only wrinkled. "Then stop acting like one. Do you realize how many inter-village scuffles I have to deal with now?"

Toothless didn't answer him and walked away without another sound.

Atali smiled both happily and pained, having received the letter about the change in chiefdom.

Hiccup turned to the Great Hall. "Let's go gather the Riders then make a plan."

*O*

The Riders flew in diamond formation away from Wingmaiden Island after a patrol came back informing them of another small fleet of ships off the eastern coast. There were two smaller ships and a slightly larger one, something they'd come to realize where two, old Hunter ships and one of Drago's.

Hiccup half turned to them and shouted over the wind. "Alright gang, just like last time."

The twins cheered then dove out of the clouds, laying a thick stream of gas over ships then lit it.

The other Riders swooped in under cover of the smoke, Snotlout and Hookfang attacking a smaller ship with vengeance—a mast and sail already out of commission. While Hookfang terrorized the Trappers, Fishlegs ran below deck to free the dragons.

On the other smaller ship, Tuffnut walloped a rushing Trapper with Macey, cackling with glee as he and his beloved mace were back in action. Ruffnut swung an axe at a man trying to sneak up behind her brother while Barf and Belch smacked another with their tail and sent them over the railing. The dual headed dragon stood guard on the deck while the twins ran below.

Stormfly shredded the sails of the largest ship while Toothless took out the ballista on deck. Pandemonium spread and weapons refocused on Toothless.

He jarred up and tucked his belly, letting a volley of arrows soar just underneath him. Hiccup gasped and threw his weight, spinning Toothless and clicked the fin to dart away—a grapple barely missing them.

Stormfly spewed her magnesium blast at a line of archers, hitting a few while others jumped back or over the side.

Wood squeaked as a trapper wheeled out a multi-arrow ballista and fired after barely a second of aiming it at the erratic Night Fury. Toothless roared in surprise and fear and dove before screeching as another line of arrows filled that path.

Hiccup pressed close to Toothless' back and hastily erected a shield. He could feel an arrow bounce against it. He couldn't see the second volley, but he heard Toothless curse their existence. He kept the shield as strong as he could and Toothless strained to try and pull up again. Hiccup felt several arrows collide against the shield by the tail.

Astrid shouted in irritation as a net shot over them and Toothless dove to the side.

Hiccup grunted as his balance was thrown off by the sudden maneuver, and he felt wind whistling past in his ears as he felt weightless. He opened his eyes to see Toothless twisting to get the saddle closer to Hiccup.

Toothless barked at his detached rider, and Hiccup quickly caught the saddle, reattached himself, and flew back up and over the ship. He glared at them then locked the tail. Toothless rolled his eyes but played along and shot at a group of archers before banking to the side as Hiccup jumped off his back to the other side and another volley took their place.

Hiccup held the hilt of the Dragon Blade while releasing the Zippleback gas. It seeped down to the deck as he arched high above the ship then sparked it. The air burned and the men coughed, ceasing to fire for a moment. Hiccup arced to reattach to Toothless, an arrow raced into his path forcing him to jerk away.

On the upper deck, where his attack hadn't reached, a trapper fitted a crossbow with another arrow.

Hiccup's hand itched to throw a Zipplebomb at the man, or his dagger, even a small wave of his magic—but even before the incident he hadn't progressed to the point of doing it fully without a movement, and both of his were taken up by the Dragon Fly and keeping himself airborne. He grit his teeth and prepared a shield.

The release mechanism clicked, but before the arrow had exited, a violet blast obliterated it. The man fell back with a cry of surprise and pain.

Toothless soared next to Hiccup and both landed on the deck, Hiccup stumbling.

Stormfly's squawk broke through the smoke even though they could not see her and captured the attention of the still conscious and remaining men, allowing Hiccup and Toothless to slip below and free the dragons kept there.

The smoke was cleared by the time they resurfaced and Stormfly stood proudly above her work, which Toothless barked his compliments on. Hiccup nodded to Astrid with a small smile. She grinned back and they took to the air.

Hiccup shouted over his shoulder to the other Riders. "Burn your ships. They'll make it on the one."

The twins cheered and proceeded to create a record for large explosions. Those who were regaining awareness on their ship jumped overboard before they lit the ship up. A mushroom cloud, resembling the one several months ago but much smaller, rose from the ship. They cheered, then high-fived each other.

Hookfang and Meatlug joined them after ensuring their ship was also doomed to a watery grave, if not as spectacularly as the twins'.

Well over a dozen squawks and roars followed them away from the ships and Hiccup could only shake his head, imagining what Gobber would say this time.


Hiccup drew in his notebook by candlelight. Toothless came up to him and bumped into his side, cooing tiredly. Hiccup smiled then yawned. "Yeah, okay bud, I'll come to bed now."

He blew out the candle and followed Toothless' gentle tugging on his sleeve to the dragon's slab, curling into his stomach and passing out inside their bond.

Early the next morning, Hiccup was in the forge, melting down old rods and other thin pieces before pounding them into shape.

Astrid eventually wandered in mid-morning with a plate and cup. She shook her head in annoyed fondness as Hiccup continued to hammer away, not even noticing her arrival. Toothless lifted his head and cooed in greeting. "Good morning Toothless," She said.

Hiccup apparently didn't hear her or was ignoring her for the moment. Either was just as likely with how determined he looked in trying to get a rod bent properly.

She set down her burden on the workbench, head tilting to look at his notebook and the schematics within. Her nose wrinkled but her voice was light and friendly mocking. "Another flight suit?"

Hiccup picked up the dimly glowing rod with the prongs, giving it another look over before quenching it. He finally looked up at her, dirt from the metal and coal—how that got there was a mystery—streaked his cheek and forehead. "Yeah. My current suit is good, but it can improve. With the raids becoming more constant and me using the Dragon Fly more and more, I've been noticing some flaws…Like the absolute uselessness of my hands."

Astrid sighed long suffering. "Well, take a break and eat before we have Loki storming down to Midgard again because you've worked yourself into exhaustion…how long have you been in here anyway?"

Hiccup took a bite out of the fish, his stomach realizing just how hungry it had been. "Just a few hours." He lightly glared at Toothless but tossed him a piece of the fish. "He makes sure I get sleep. Annoying dragon."

Astrid grinned and rubbed Toothless' head. "Good. At least one of you two care."

Hiccup snorted playfully.

Astrid took a seat by him, looking over the design more. "Huh, this could actually be really useful."

Hiccup's head fell sideways. "The Dragon Fly's always been useful. I don't know why you guys have been so adverse to it."

Astrid pointed to the book. "Well, one, until now—as you said—lack of hands. Which means no weapons."

Hiccup frowned. "Objection. You don't fall to your death if your dragon's been hit by Dragon Root."

Astrid's chin tilted up. "If we're in range of arrows, it's a death trap."

Hiccup scoffed. "I beg to differ, but fine. If you're falling, you can still get hit.."

Astrid shook her head but laughed. "Alright, fine, I'll yield."

Hiccup beamed and set down his cup. "Good! Because I've already drawn up some sketches for yours."

Astrid shook her head but flipped the page to look at the Nadder-esque armor-flight suit Hiccup had thought up.

He huffed and leaned on the table with an elbow. "Now if only I could find a way to make it more fireproof…"

Astrid grinned and kissed him on the cheek, knowing he'd figure something out sooner rather than later. "Well I gotta go. Stormfly's molting again—yay. She's going to go crazy then drive me crazy if I don't help her remove the flaking scales."

Hiccup kissed her back. "Understandable…" He glanced at Toothless who was scratching himself incessantly on his neck, a few scales popping off. "I probably should give Toothless a good scratch down as well."

A few scales fell off and Hiccup cocked his head, staring at them as his mind ran off with an idea.

Astrid shook her head as she watched him fade away from the present and walked out.

Hiccup picked up the fallen scales, looking at Toothless. "Mind if I take these?"

Toothless snorted and went to cleaning behind his freshly descaled ears.

Hiccup grinned. "Thanks."

He looked the scale over in much the same way he had when he first discovered a trail of them leading to the cove he'd found Toothless in. He couldn't sew them together. Not only would that take an exuberant amount of effort for not very stable armor, but he also didn't want to make a second layer for the preexisting leather or material. For something like his Asgardian leather of the material of Toothless' tail, it wouldn't be practical.

He flipped the scale around in thought. He had some experimenting to do.


Toothless dove before flattening out. Hiccup turned to check on the tail and nodded, pleased with how well it was holding up. He flicked his helmet down. "Okay, bud. Let's put this tail through the ringer."

Toothless growled, eyes narrowing in determination.

Hiccup's stomach fluttered as they turned tightly then twirled before arcing skyward again. They whipped through the air, not staying in a straight line for more than a few seconds.

Hiccup looked back, pleased the tail was holding up without issues. He faced forward again. "Alright bud, take us lower and shoot the tail."

Toothless warbled up, turning his head ever so slightly.

"Just in case it fails."

Toothless acquiesced and flew lower before tucking his head and blasting his tail, point blank but not at full power.

They stayed airborne.

Hiccup stood on the pedals with his excitement while Toothless shot a blast further out and flew through it as it exploded. Hiccup was mildly annoyed but since he had his helmet on, his hair was spared. He leaned down again and lightly shook his friend's cheek. "Let's head back so we can run more fire tests on it."

Toothless snorted and turned out to sea more.

Hiccup frowned. "Com'on bud, we have work to do."

Toothless shook his head with a deep laugh.

Hiccup glared and in retribution clicked the tail closed so they fell.

Toothless barked in surprise but went with Hiccup and tucked his wings.

Hiccup yelped as they plunged into the cold waters. Toothless shot out a second later and Hiccup instinctively opened the pedal. He coughed and gagged, flipping his helmet up to spit water onto Toothless' head in retribution.

Toothless gurgled mischievously and Hiccup glared at him.

After a few more unsuccessful attempts, Hiccup relented—Toothless was dead set on going somewhere.

They flew almost due north for several hours and the air grew permanently cold while more and more icebergs littered the waters.

Hiccup sat up and looked around. They were far enough north to be near his mother's nest, but nothing that even resembled the broken nest appeared anywhere. He leaned close to Toothless. "Why are we here, bud?"

Toothless crooned and wiggled his head in the direction they continued to fly, eventually reaching land.

Hiccup frowned, the answer not being much of an answer, so rolled his eyes and kept them peeled. After another five minutes he felt something small pull on his magic. It didn't take a second for him to rear back and click Toothless' tail fin to make flying straight very difficult.

Toothless warbled with confusion back to his rider.

Hiccup's face was turning white. "What is wrong with you?! Get us out of here!"

Toothless shook his head and warbled again, reaching out through the bond.

Hiccup growled and shoved him and the small tug away, clicking the gears into a turn.

Toothless snorted and tried to fly straight, barking at Hiccup again. Hiccup ignored him and threw his weight into the saddle to turn away. Neither getting anywhere, Toothless finally collapsed his wings and good fin.

Hiccup jumped off the black dragon's back the instant they touched ground, taking his helmet off and throwing it a few feet before meeting Toothless' hard eyes. "What is wrong with you!?"

Toothless snuffed and tried to nuzzle his cheek, prodding their bond again.

Hiccup pushed both away. "No, no! Did that-that thing already mind wipe you again? Or are you now having memory loss from it?!"

Toothless glared at Hiccup, snorting and shaking his head.

Hiccup crossed his arms, feet firmly planted in the ice. "Then what is going on inside that skull of yours to follow a Bewilderbeast's call?"

Toothless lowered to the ground slightly and cooed, looking north again.

Some tenseness left his shoulders. "How can you be absolutely positive about that?"

Toothless warbled and slid his head under Hiccup's fisted hand, subconsciously prompting it to relax and habitually stroke his tiny spines, then gently pushing Hiccup through the bond towards the small tug.

Hiccup's magics carefully poked it before retreating behind the bond.

The tiny string-like-tug vibrated and seemed to grow a little brighter then stilled and dimmed.

Hiccup drew a long and tired huff. "If this goes awry, I'm gonna feed you eel for a month."

Toothless pulled a face but otherwise said nothing more.

Hiccup breathed slowly through his nose then he remounted and opened the fin.

Toothless took off with a happy yip and flew nearly another twenty minutes, until they reached an enormous, dragon made iceberg. He landed on one of the larger protrusions after circling once.

They entered through a crag and Hiccup grabbed the Dragon Blade to light their way through the teal lit ice, very tentatively following the small tug through the maze of ice. They proceeded downwards until the small probably-weren't-meant-to-be-tunnels opened up into a larger dome.

In a familiar nest rested the egg that he had fought to protect so hard half a year or more ago. Water lapped gently at a sudden drop off thirty feet away. That was no doubt supposed to be the proper way to enter the cave.

Hiccup stared at the egg. It was the first time since the attack he'd come into contact with anything actually related to a Bewilderbeast. And he was sorry to admit to himself that he wasn't quite ready for it yet. He turned to Toothless, fighting to keep his magics calm and not lashing out at the innocent dragon that resided within the egg.

"Okay, bud. It's here, it's safe. Nothing's going to happen to it."

Toothless shook his head and cooed at the egg, their bond wrapping comfortingly around the anxious magics.

Hiccup's lip curled up as he pleaded. "Bud, come on. It's fine."

Toothless shook his head and padded up to the nest and grabbed the egg then walked back to Hiccup expectantly.

Hiccup backed up as an unforeseen jolt of fear shot through him. "Uh-uh! What are you doing?"

Toothless' answering warble was muffled by the egg he gummily held.

Hiccup backed up and Toothless approached, hand out like he was trying to pacify a dragon then pulling back at the proximity of a Bewilderbeast. "Stop, please. I-I can't do this. It'll live, it's fine, it can hatch in peace and have a happy life without humans knowing about it or hunting it down or-"

Ice pressed into his back, trapping him. He whined like an injured dragon as Toothless cooed reassuringly, their bond wrapping tightly around him, but he still shook like a leaf. Toothless took another, careful step forward while Hiccup slid down the wall, trying to make himself as small as possible.

Toothless curled around Hiccup as best he could do with the wall in the way. Hiccup pressed against his back paws and tail, the furthest he could get from his head and mouth which still held the egg.

Toothless shifted again and Hiccup tensed, but otherwise remained frozen as Toothless carefully laid the egg in his lap then laid his head on his calves and continued to coo and warble to his rider.

After nearly five minutes Hiccup finally broke out of his trance-like state to push the egg off his lap. As his hand made contact with the shell, he noticed how cold the egg truly was. The tiny tug that had been silenced by Toothless drawing him tightly within the bond poked through with the physical contact. It was weak, and not just because the creature inside was small.

He finally started breathing normally again while his hand lingered on the egg, Toothless warbling with notes of apprehension to both his rider and the unhatched dragon. Hiccup carefully held the egg and stood, magics still warily hiding in the bond.

Toothless cooed happily and eyed his rider hopefully.

Hiccup nodded, taking a breath to steady his nerves. "It's okay, we'll, we'll take it home—at least until it's healed." His face darkened as he glowered at his so-called best friend. "But I swear if you ever do that again…"

Toothless whined and rubbed his head all along Hiccup, staring pleading up at him. Hiccup purposefully kept his eyes averted as he walked back through the maze. After several twists and turns, he stopped—looking around before turning to Toothless and finally looking him in the eye again.

"I'm lost."

Toothless gurgled a deep laugh, nudging Hiccup's side but careful not to jostle the egg clutched in his arms. He led them back through the tunnels, echo locating a few times to undo the mess Hiccup had wandered into.

Biting air met them along with natural light. Hiccup mounted Toothless again, resituating the egg. Toothless stepped off the glacier and let the air catch his wings before flapping harder to gain altitude.

Hiccup breathed a bit easier out in the open air and thousand feet above the half-frozen ocean. He was still uneasy holding the egg. The baby dragon kept reaching out—curious about Hiccup—but received no response from him so he tired of that quickly.

The flight back to Berk was silent. Hiccup was still angry with Toothless, and Toothless begrudgingly accepted the silent treatment. They were about ten miles out from Berk when they ran into a patrol of Gustav and Fanghook.

"Thank the gods! You're okay!" Gustav cried, slouching in relief against the Nightmare's horns.

Hiccup frowned. "What's wrong? Is everyone okay? Berk?"

Gustav's face tightened. "Trappers came a bit close about two hours ago. The Riders easily took care of them but you weren't there…Astrid's scouring the island for you. I think she and Stormfly are about to head out and track your trail."

Hiccup nodded, tucking the egg closer to his stomach so it wasn't in full view then clicked the tail open to pick up speed. Toothless happily obliged, air whistling in his wake. They shot over the island for the village.

They just broke the tree line and very nearly collided with Stormfly and Astrid. Stormfly squawked in surprise while Astrid yelled, hands flying forward to grip the saddle and not be bucked off.

Toothless pulled a quick loop-de-loop, Hiccup grit his teeth to keep flush with the saddle and not drop the egg. Not with the torment Toothless put him through to get it.

Toothless and Stormfly 'hovered' while Hiccup stared at Astrid with his caught face. "I just want to say, in my defense, Toothless kidnapped me and I tried to stop him…he then proceeded to dunk us both into the ocean."

Astrid's eyes narrowed on both of them, Toothless having the decency to look mildly ashamed. "Land, now."

Toothless landed gently but with a small bounce. Astrid was already spewing a tirade before she dismounted.

"-And you're the chief! You can't just run off like that and—you're not out of this either Toothless! No one knew where you went, you've been gone most of the day—you can't do that when there's been Dragon Trapper activity every week now Hiccup. I was terrified they'd kidnapped you, again!"

Hiccup still sat on Toothless, letting her rant and get it out of her system and hiding the egg behind his back. "To be fair, Dragon Trappers have never actually kidnapped me."

Astrid's glare deepened and he shrugged in surrender. Stormfly sniffed the air before walking over to the pair and sniffing around them and shoving into Hiccup as he continued to shield the egg, only backing away when Toothless barked at her.

Astrid huffed loudly. "What was so important that Toothless 'kidnapped' you anyway?"

Hiccup shifted uncomfortably before revealing the egg.

Astrid stared at it in shock for a long second, then turned a burning look towards him. "You didn't."

"You're right, I didn't. Toothless did." He glared at the back of his head.

Toothless merely cooed and tried to look back, eyes wide.

Hiccup's stern face held. "Uh-uh, not this time bud."

Toothless faced forwards again with a snort.

Hiccup's eyes widened with shock before slapping an earflap. "That did not 'help', you all but shoved it in my face and told me to deal with it!"

Toothless growled and shook his head, clearly arguing the finer points.

Hiccup's face turned red but he fought down his rising anger, hopping off the traitor's back and standing well away from him. His face softened as he focused on the egg again. "It's not doing so well. I-I'm not sure why…it just doesn't feel tight."

Astrid took a breath before taking the egg from her betrothed's trembling arms, he hadn't even realized they were shaking until he no longer held the egg. "Let's go find your mother then…I don't suppose the book Frigga gave Loki said anything about this part of the process?"

Hiccup shook his head. "No, not so much."

She held the egg with one hand and grabbed one of his with her other. Hiccup shot her a thankful smile as they descended into the village.

*O*

Valka checked the egg over in the Haddock household, circling it several times before standing straight and shaking her head and looking up at Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs and Gobber. "I do not know what is wrong with it. After I gave the alpha the egg, he always tended to it alone. It seemed wrong to interfere."

Gothi observed the egg and gently prodded it a few times before shaking her head as well.

Hiccup sighed. As much as the egg unnerved him, it didn't deserve to simply die because no one was around to care for it. "So what can we do? Can we risk taking it back to Berserker Island?"

Astrid shook her head while Fishlegs answered. "No, Heather and I talked during her last visit. With the Bewilderbeast absent from their island, dragons have started taking root in their mountain. She also said that the ice in the cave was melting."

Hiccup's shoulders fell, eyes down while he tried to think of something. "And we have no way of tracking its mother…" Hiccup couldn't help the shiver that ran down his back.

Valka's face pinched, thinking carefully before saying, "Well, I'm not sure if this would work or yield any information…but, could you, you are…you have the same magic. Never mind, it's a stupid suggestion."

Hiccup tensed, frozen at her suggestion even if it was coming from a good heart.

Fishlegs, however, ran with the idea more. "There is a chance that could work. Do you know how deep-?"

"No!" Hiccup snapped, his magics flaring as well. "Absolutely not, I-I can't-"

Fishlegs' lips pursed, understanding Hiccup's fear but also fearful of just letting the dragon die. "But he's just a baby."

Hiccup bent over and gripped the table, forcing his breaths to come out evenly. "I know but, I'm not ready for that yet…if ever."

Gobber stroked his beard with his good hand. "Hm…well, ya kno', despite dragons bein' warm blooded creatures—they most often still sit on their eggs like a bird."

Astrid frowned. "Gobber, this is a creature from Jötunheim. I don't think they care about staying warm."

Gobber frowned. "I kno' tha'! Wha' I mean is, maybe they're the opposite way, keep 'em cooler instead of warmer."

Wrinkles appeared on Hiccup's forehead, thinking back. "Mh…I don't think so. That glacier we found it in was way colder than the nest under Berserker Island."

Valka joined the conversation, eyes narrowed. "It could be a balancing act. It needs to be cool but not too cold, just like how birds and dragons can accidentally over heat their eggs."

Fishlegs turned to Hiccup, trying to contain his excitement. "Hiccup, do you think you could make a faux nest, at least until it's healthy again? Ooh! I wonder if it'll hatch while it's here?!"

Hiccup side-eyed his friend before staring warily at the egg. "I suppose I can try…it's the least I can do I guess, but I hope it doesn't hatch here."

He stared at the egg for a moment before steeling his nerves and removing the bracer. His skin instantly turned blue and the temperature dropped several degrees. He reached for the egg and carefully cradled it again.

Despite his magics hiding within the bond, simply touching the egg allowed for some direct access to the other. Against his wanting too, Hiccup felt the hatchling trill through his magic. From the egg proper, he could feel the dragon shifting to be closer to him.

He stood awkwardly, shoulders hunched and eyes wide, unsure of his next move now that the hatching was happy and the pulse of his magic—which beat like a heart—was steadying out to more normal patterns.

The other occupants knew by his face that Gobber and Valka's theory had been proven correct. Gobber laughed and 'lightly' patted Hiccup in the back, still sending him stumbling. "Congratulations, 'Iccup, yer a father."

A distinctively draconic whine tumbled from his lips, he turned to Astrid pleadingly but she shook her head.

"You're the only one with blue skin here. Sorry babe."

Hiccup's lips curled as the hatchling prodded curiously along the Familiar bond, his magics shying away and hiding still, hoping it would give up. Unfortunately, being a baby who knows nothing of the outside world leaves you with plenty of curiosity and time. Hiccup looked around before setting the egg down in the corner just under the stairs so it wouldn't get underfoot.

Fishlegs frowned, watching as Hiccup walked away. "What are you doing? It needs you."

Hiccup blinked, shrugging off the last of the hatchling's prodding's. "I still have chiefing to do and I can't lug that egg around all day, and I'm not staying home bound because I'm suddenly stuck with it."

Astrid stood next to him, staring at the egg. "Can you make it a nest? Summer's here and it's going to get too warm for it. Then at night you can lay with it and keep it at your temperature. From your face it seemed to like that."

Hiccup paled to an almost human skin tone. "You want me to sleep with it?!"

Valka took his hand. "Not necessarily, but you are the only one who can keep him at a proper temperature. The nest is a good idea so you can do your 'chiefing'."

Hiccup glared at the egg.

Valka pulled him closer, looking at the egg with some sadness. "It's not his fault, Hiccup."

Hiccup looked away with a sigh. "I know. I thought I was okay now…guess I wasn't. It, I know it's just a baby but it still makes me nervous—my magic doesn't like him either."

She breathed almost silently. "I wish I could help you more…"

Hiccup turned with a sad smile. "I know mom. You just being here and, not being afraid of me is honestly more than I could've asked for."

Gobber decided to cut in. "Alright, the lot of ya, out. Hiccup, take Astrid an' go flying or something. Too much depression around 'ere for one day. I'll go tell the council tha' you weren' actually ditching them on purpose, for once."

Hiccup's cheeks turned a darker blue before turning red as he replaced the bracer. "Thanks Gobber."

Gobber shooed them out of the hut. "Go on, you too Fishlegs. The egg'll be fine for another few hours. Worst comes to worst Hiccup can just freeze his house over."

Fishlegs grinned while Hiccup groaned at the reminder of his new job.


Hiccup sat in the cove with Toothless curled around him and the egg in his lap, using it as a makeshift table to do some sketching. He'd finally managed to catch a break from the village and enjoy the quiet. Summer was unfortunately at its peak so they sat in the shallows of the little pond, long since frozen over by the local Jötunn.

A shrill bawk caught the attention of dragon and rider, both heads quickly whipping around to the source—only to receive faces full of feathers as Chicken shot by and kicked off Hiccup's sketch book then proceeded to make herself comfortable on top of the egg.

"Awe!" Tuffnut cried, running over before bending down and grabbing his knees to stare at his beloved pet. "Chicken's wanting to roost again!"

Ruffnut snickered. "I don't think she's going to do much good."

Tuffnut gasped and covered Chicken's ears. "Hush you! She doesn't need to know that! Let her be a happy mother again."

Hiccup shook his head and grabbed his notebook, carefully untangling his legs from around the egg so Chicken didn't lose her perch. "What are you guys doing here?"

Tuffnut shrugged. "Quiet day in the village and a bit too warm, even for us, to be Loki'ing people."

Ruffnut lay on the dirt right next to the frozen pond that was giving off glorious waves of coolness. "Then we wondered where you were because no one had seen you-"

"Then worried that you might be suffering from heat sickness again like you did during the change. So we came looking." Tuffnut finished, joining his sister and moaning in relief. "It's so delightfully cool."

Hiccup laughed quietly. "Glad I could be of use."

Ruffnut's head poked up and grinned. "I'm not moving from this spot, ever. At least, not until dinner."

"Hey!" Tuffnut sat up. "Now would be a perfect time to test out our idea!"

Ruffnut's face brightened. "Oh my Loki, it would be!"

They turned to Hiccup, Tuffnut shouting as they ran out of the cove, "Don't move, we'll be right back!"

"We're gonna need your Jötunn help!" Ruffnut added just before she disappeared into the crack.

Hiccup blinked and shared a look with Toothless who watched them go in equal confusion.

"Any idea what that was about?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Not a clue. I can only hope that they're still not going on about that frozen yak milk idea of theirs."

He opened his notebook to the sketch again before pausing, head turning with his shoulders and eyes wide. "Loki!"

Loki stood there, smirking at his Chosen—too amused with the amount of time it took for him to recognize his presence. "Hello, Liten Listig."

Hiccup jumped up and Loki quickly brought him into a hug, his skin turning blue with the contact. He beamed as he pulled away. "You chose a heck of a time to come back, right in the middle of Berk's heat wave."

Loki's nose did wrinkle at that. "Yes…I wish I had known that ahead of time. I would have waited a few weeks."

Hiccup laughed and guided him to the pond where they took blissful refuge from the encompassing heat.

Loki sat gracefully on the ice, about to ask Hiccup what had happened since he'd left—but a quiet squawk from a chicken on a large white and brownish-red-tipped egg halted that train of thought. "What are you doing with the King of Dragons' egg?"

Hiccup glared at Toothless who only lightly grumbled. "The short of it is that mister I-am-alpha kidnaps me to answer apparently-dying-hatchling's call after its caretaker was murdered then promptly threw it in my lap and now I'm the only one on Berk that can keep it at proper temperature unless you can find its actual mother."

Loki blinked, a little shocked at how quickly Hiccup spoke, all while glaring at Toothless who just tucked his tail tighter and proceeded to take a nap. "Well, that is something, I suppose."

Hiccup grunted in agreement and grabbed his book, closing it and stowing it away. "It was a pretty rough first month. My magics refused to leave the bond while it was around. I had to have Astrid or mom take it outside every time I re-ice the house."

Loki's eyebrow quirked at that.

"But eventually it started calming down. At least, as long as the bugger didn't try and touch it. They didn't play well together. They still don't really but he's curious and doesn't quit." Hiccup sent the egg a mock scowl. "It's getting better though, I suppose."

Loki smiled weakly. "Well, do you think they can ignore the creature within the egg long enough to spar?"

Hiccup frowned, staring at the ground as he processed Loki's request. "I, guess? I don't know what they have to do with the Dragon Blade and your dagger doesn't-"

Loki laughed. "No, spar—with your magic."

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Oh! I-uh-yeah. Especially if we move a little ways away."

Loki nodded and stood. "Good, let us go then."

Hiccup hurried to his feet with a grin.

Five minutes passed of green light and magic, offensive and defensive, exchanged between the patron and Chosen. Loki grinned from behind his shielding. "You have been reading and practicing, I see."

Hiccup shielded himself from another attack before flinging out his own magic in a small but 'deadly' strike that managed to pierce Loki's shielding and make him yelp as it struck his hand. He beamed as his magical father glared. "Of course I have. I'm not going to let becoming chief make me stop."

Loki stood and gestured for Hiccup to relax as well. "I am pleased to hear that, as well as see your progress."

They wandered back to the pond and Toothless shifted to accommodate them, Chicken cracking an eye before ignoring them and settling on the egg once again.

Hiccup chuckled and they fell into light conversation, why Loki was here—avoiding his brother who wanted to drag him along on a quest to Muspelheim for some crown or another—and how Hiccup was adjusting to becoming chief.

They were interrupted by the twins barging in, this time on Barf and Belch. Tuffnut jumped off and was the first one to reach them, empty handed he noted. "Hiccup, Hiccup! We-"

He stopped dead in his tracks, causing Ruffnut to crash into his back. "Ohf! Hey, watch it!"

She poked her head around his back just to stare in surprise as Loki smiled amusedly back. She grinned and shouted his name at the same moment her brother did and both crowded around the two. They spoke quickly and over each other about pranking ideas and if he wanted to join in on any of them before she suddenly stopped, remembering the reason they'd arrived in such a rush.

She turned to Hiccup, unexpectedly turning serious. "We have a problem. Spitelout just got back from patrol and intercepted a Terror Mail for you from Dagur. They've spotted Trappers near their island."

Tuffnut nodded, unusually serious as well. "Yeah, I think Spitelout mentioned the letter saying something about a dozen ships—too many for him and Heather to take on alone."

Hiccup cursed and grabbed the egg, dislodging Chicken with an angered series of clucks as she flew back over to Tuffnut, and mounted Toothless who was already standing and ready to go. Loki mounted fluidly behind him and they were in the air headed back towards the village.

Once they landed Hiccup turned and held out the egg. "Can you take this back to my hut? You'll see a nest for it, just leave it there."

Loki nodded and accepted the egg, letting Hiccup hurry up to the Hall to gather the other Riders and head out. He walked quickly but not hurriedly to the hut standing a few yards away. Upon opening the door, he was met with a blast of freezing cold—so stark from the baking world outside. While he held the egg, the little dragon within prodded around his magic, curious about the new being holding him.

Loki nearly jerked at the foreign touch but didn't, the hatchling wasn't being intrusive, merely curious and sniffing around the edges so-to-say. His own magic, the Jötunn most notably, reached out to the curious and similar magic—startling both when they made contact.

Similar to Hiccup's first experience, the little being was happy and playful, the temporary bond from proximity conveying its feelings. Loki's Jötunn pulsed happily as the young Dýrsvell touched again and vibrated within its egg. Loki couldn't help the smile that cracked his lips as he continued to hold the egg. He was lost in wonder until a Night Fury's roar followed by those of a Gronkle, Nadder, Nightmare, Stormcutter and Zippleback.

His smile dropped and quickly deposited the egg, sparing a second to look back—confused by his Jötunn's longing at its absence—then ran out. He followed the gaggle of dragons and spotted a black dot leading their ranks and teleported behind his rider.

Hiccup looked back with an amused smile. "Welcome abroad. Didn't know if you were going to make it."

Loki's face remained passive but a glint of reprimand lit in his eyes. "Trappers. You didn't mention them earlier."

Hiccup looked away. "Slipped my mind."

Loki made himself comfortable on the saddle. "We have some time now. How about you fill me in?"

Hiccup sighed but complied.


Loki had taken to toting around the egg instead of Hiccup, the latter very happy to let him do so. They currently sat on the hill overlooking Berk in meditative states. Loki on the little being within the egg while Hiccup focused on his skin, he currently sat in his blue and was trying to 'pull on' the more human skin.

While he had been meditating for months, focusing on the feeling of both skins, it still felt foreign and was difficult like all first time uses of a spell. To make things easier, he was only focusing on his hand for the moment. Several minutes passed and Hiccup's brow dipped, he focused harder on the feeling but his magics were confused.

Hiccup growled after they refused to cooperate and broke out of his quasi trance.

Loki tore his attention away from the egg to look at Hiccup, eyes concerned. "What is wrong Liten Listig?"

Hiccup crossed his arms in frustration. "My magic's confused and I don't know how to make it any clearer…" His angered look fell into one of near sorrow. "I've… I've forgotten what my skin feels like."

Loki set the egg aside and grasped his hand, he focused on his Asgardian skin and pushed that towards Hiccup. He felt Hiccup's magic jolt slightly at the sudden change, it being different from the protective skin-illusion he'd worn for the last year or more. Loki could remember when the reverse happened to him, when he'd been trying to reach out to his Jötunn form—how, despite it being his natural form, it eluded him so. Though, part of that was Odin's handiwork but part of it had been just the sheer oppositeness of the form.

Hiccup started slightly but quickly focused on the feeling as it passed over him. Loki had stopped just beyond his wrist, so he tried to copy it up to his elbow. His Æsir thrummed and tried to mimic the other magic, but the Jötunn pulsed against it, not pleased to give up its rightful place. Hiccup mentally and physically, scowled at it before pushing the feeling of change more. He focused on the warm instead of the cold, light pink instead of pale blue. He felt the sensation from his hand slowly creep up his arm almost to his elbow.

Hiccup opened his eyes and let go of his magics with a gasp, not realizing until now that he had forgotten to keep breathing. The cold skin overtook the warm flesh back to his hand where Loki's magic kept it at bay until he let go.

Loki smiled proudly at him. "For one with no experience whatsoever, that was not a bad first attempt."

Hiccup smiled up at him then collapsed back on the grass. "Uh, I think I'm done for today."

Loki laughed lightly. "Yes, I believe so."

Not a second later Gobber shouted, running up the hill and slightly out of breath. "'Iccup! There ya are. We gotta dragon problem at Not-So-Silent Sven's."

Hiccup frowned. "Why isn't Toothless helping?"

Gobber cringed. "There lies the problem. Sven was having some Gronkles help him plow a field, apparently one got a bit overzealous and dug too deep…"

Hiccup was already standing but titled his head in confusion.

Gobber continued, face grim. "Hiccup, ya gotta understand that with all tha new dragons around, there's always one within a few yards."

Hiccup's chest started to constrict. "Gobber! What happened?"

"It unearthed a large hunk of Dragon Root. Sven couldn't get it out before a Raincutter spotted it and attacked the Gronkle, which called curious dragons to the site which-"

Hiccup was pale, and not due to his skin, and took off running through the village but not before finishing Gobber's thought. "Started a dragon brawl."

The older men followed him through the village to the farm. Hiccup stood at the edge of the chaos, staring at the mass of wings and limbs as they fought madly and blindly over the exposed Dragon Root. Hiccup felt his stomach clench at the swirling colors…how was he going to get rid of the Root without potentially accidentally getting killed?

A longing coo turned into a possessive growl. Hiccup turned and grabbed the harness of Toothless, who he spotted nearby, trying to pull him away while he was trying to prowl forwards. A stray dragon limb hit him in the head, but he hung on. Another set of blue arms wrapped around Toothless's neck and pulled back with ease that Hiccup did not have. Toothless shook his head once he was out of range of the Root's smell and warbled then sniffed Hiccup, making sure he hadn't hurt him.

Hiccup reassured him through the bond as he addressed Gobber. "Get Grump, and Fishlegs and Gothi—we'll probably need them after this fight finally dies down. Loki and I will distract the dragons as best we can. Toothless, go to the village and make sure no other dragons come near here."

Toothless barked in understanding and bounded off, glad to be away from the mind boggling plant.

Gobber ran off as well to get the Boulder class dragon and healers.

Hiccup turned to Loki, a bit wary and already annoyed. "Have any tips?"

Loki smiled and rolled his shoulders and neck, preparing for battle. "Don't get caught in any scuffles."

Hiccup glared lightly at him. "Alright…I'll try to distract the dragons and you pop in there and grab the Root then pop back out and wait for Gobber."

Loki glared lightly at him. "That is a foolish plan."

Hiccup's lip twitched. "Well I can't teleport so…"

Loki huffed. "It is still reckless."

"Welcome to the life of Hiccup." Hiccup laughed as he moved away and started making noise and wild movements to draw as many dragons towards himself as possible.

Loki rolled his eyes before teleporting next to the hole in the ground, a few dragons remained near the Root and snapped instantly at him. He threw up a shield and felt a Nightmare crash into it from behind and jumped into the hole. The Root was half his height, wonderful, and the dragons grew more enraged as he neared the source of their mind-altering state.

His shield shuddered as a Hobblegrunt slammed into it. Reacting quickly and before his shield failed, he grabbed the Root and teleported it and himself to a cliff well out of sight and smell of the dragons.

The absence of the Root was immediate on the nearest dragons, taking precious seconds longer for the further ones. The smell still lingered but it was no longer as present and sharp as before, allowing the dragons to think clearly again. Once they could, most stopped and stared at each other dully before turning to Hiccup who watched them warily. They stood around glassy-eyed for several more minutes until the Dragon Root fully wore off and they finally flew away or tottered off.

Hiccup shook his head as the madness died, he huffed a strand of hair out of his eyes and started back to the village. The strand of hair didn't move out of his eye so he swept it away with his hand, only to be surprised when it came back wet. His eyes narrowed in on his hand as he pulled it away.

His skin was still blue, having forgotten to replace the bracer in his haste, but the wetness on his hand was not clear from dragon spittle—it was red, bright and glinting in the sunlight. Tentatively he reached up and touched his forehead. It was wet. Gingerly he ran his fingers along it more until he found the flap of skin and then the long gash. Now that he was aware of its existence, it started to dully throb.

He grit his teeth and clenched his eyes, hissing at the tension that put on his forehead. "This is just great…Loki's going hound me mercilessly about this."

He made his way to the village tiredly, not sure if it was from the adrenalin wearing off or if he really was losing that much blood. He was betting, hoping, on the former because while blood did slowly drip between his fingers as he tried to hold the wound closed as he walked, it wasn't gushing or anything.

He walked along the outskirts of the village and faintly thought he heard Toothless' questioning bark but ignored him in favor of finding cover before everyone saw him. He pushed the door to his hut open and grabbed a bowl then turned to the frozen bucket, concentrating on the water and warming it up so it thawed.

It was an odd, foreign, feeling to thaw something while in his Jötunn skin but other than tingling unnaturally it ignored the violation of its nature. He dipped the bowl into the water and grabbed a rag, then took a seat and proceeded to try and clean the wound. 'Try' because other than a vague throbbing feeling of his entire temple with a slight stabbing pain where he presumed the gash to lie, he was left groping in the dark.

The door to the hut creaked open and a black head poked itself in with a curious and concerned warble.

Hiccup smiled tiredly at his best friend. "Hey bud."

The warble turned a bit frantic as he shoved himself into the hut and proceeded to sniff Hiccup from head to toe before focusing on his forehead.

Hiccup endured it emotionlessly, only moving to ring out the rag and dab the wound again, knowing it was a useless cause to try and stop a worried dragon.

"Hiccup?" Valka peered around the door before her eyes widened and gasped as she took in his state. She ran over to him, taking the rag and better wiping the wound. "What happened? Gobber didn't say anything before he was off to collect Fishlegs and Gothi. Is this from Sven's problem?"

He nodded and proceeded to relay the event to her. He gagged halfway through when Toothless decided to intervene on her ministrations and apply his own, some of the thick spit falling into his mouth. Hiccup hissed as the rough tongue scraped over the opened flesh and Valka chastised him but he warbled apologetically and nudged his cheek.

Hiccup held his head lovingly and he settled down, allowing Valka to wrap a bandage around it.

She sat down and for a moment they stayed in uncomfortable silence until she brought up a rare species of dragon and he was all too happy to discuss it with her.

Loki returned about an hour later to the domestic scene after ensuring the Root was destroyed and scattered. A small panic about the wound, and subsequent healing later, they left for the Great Hall and dinner. Cooking any food in the Haddock household was now impossible as it had been turned into a temporary ice cave.


Hiccup held the egg, less tentatively than he did before, but he couldn't help but miss the presence of the other who'd gratefully taken on the task. Loki, like always, had to return before anyone but Frigga noticed his absence—especially since historically he'd only been able to hide in the Asgardian library for two weeks before he'd either be forced out or someone found him.

After Loki had taken temporary custody of the egg, it had become a bit easy for Hiccup to… adjust. Watching Loki and it 'interact' with no adverse feelings or consequences had helped despite the fact that the same had been true every time before that with their interactions. It wasn't prodding at Hiccup as much as it had before, either. The thought niggled at the back of his mind, but he was too grateful for it to have stopped to think of that much more.

The weather was already turning cold again and Hiccup accepted the change with open arms of joy. He looked over the maps again and mentally checked off a few islands.

He placed the egg inside his hut again and mounted Toothless before taking off. Astrid and his mother had already been notified of his plan to find the egg a good nest for it to hatch in, away from people, away from the constantly persistent and annoyingly growing threat of Trappers.

He'd made notes about its original nest, location such as how far underground it had been along with the ice that had surrounded it. Not like the ice of the iceberg but a mix of ice and cool but still comparatively warmer earth. Now all he had to do was find a suitable island, cave, and build the proper nest. Then he could check on it every now and then under cover of night when they couldn't be tracked and it could live freely.

He had minor doubts and worries about the plan but with the threat of the Trappers growing every week—he simply just did not want to risk it again. The thought still clung to him that he was the reason for its initial upset of home and parentage, that he was why it needed to be rehomed like this…

He shook those thoughts away and pressed close to Toothless, letting him speed through the air and play a bit as they made their trek.


And done, finally. So the next chapter will be the start of HTTYD3, yay! However, I'm not sure when it will be out. I have finals freakin enormous projects that are coming due and causing untold stress. Also, I haven't figured out a way to watch it on my laptop versus my tv, I can't really write out there, so I'm still figuring that out. I think I might have figured something out but we'll see. Hope you enjoyed and have a good weekened!