(A/N: In case you didn't read the author's note at the end of the first chapter, I'm switching around the episodes from the cartoon. This chapter takes place in the episode "Breakneck Bog" and Helene will be making a new friend.
I hope everyone enjoys this and likes where I'm going with this. I know it's a little unorthodox, but I think that's what makes me want to write this.)
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Helene was up on the deck of the ship, she was sweeping the wooden floor. Their previous customers from their last stop had left quite the mess behind.
She moved a stray strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. It was then she noticed that they were venturing into a foggy area.
She tried to see if there was something ahead, but she couldn't see through all of that fog with the naked eye. She picked up a spyglass and went up to the bow of the ship, placing the spyglass up to her eye.
At first, she could still see nothing, but when she focused harder she finally found something. She could see what appeared to be the outlines of several land masses shaped like stalagmites.
She put the spyglass down and called out to her father, "Dad! We're closing in on some islands!"
He smirked evilly and uttered to himself, "Oh, I know."
He directed the ship towards the islands with one island in particular in mind. It was almost time for him to put his plan into motion.
As they neared them, she could see more details of the islands. She gasped when she saw the distinctive hand-shaped island cluster.
'Breakneck Bog!' she thought.
It didn't take much effort for her to put the pieces of the puzzle together, he was purposefully heading towards Breakneck Bog because of the folklore behind it. Once the fog rolls in, ships and the people on them disappear, never to be seen again.
Johann stopped the ship just a few kilometers away from the island in the shape of a thumb: Breakneck Bog. He came down to the main deck and picked up the gangplank, throwing it into the water.
He grabbed his daughter's arm and pulled her toward where the gangplank was sitting on the water, "Come, Helene. We must leave before they take our ship."
"They?" she repeated. "Who are you talking about, Dad?"
He stopped in tracks and turned around, gripping her wrist so hard that she thought it would snap, "You should know better than to ask questions!"
He dragged her to the edge of the ship and pushed her. She held onto the wall next to her in order to keep her balance.
"What the hell are you waiting for? Get into the damn water!" he demanded.
She wasn't sure if she could do this, while she wanted to get into the water just to appease her father, she didn't want to because she knew what his ultimate plan was. They would be drifting in the ocean for a while and be found by Hiccup and the other riders. They would then go to Breakneck Bog to find their ship with a small chance of returning alive.
He grabbed onto her shoulder and squeezed it tightly, he then whispered in her ear in a hoarse, menacing voice, "You will get into the water, now! And you will cooperate fully with my plans!"
She swatted him and pushed him away from her. "No! I will not be a pawn in your game any longer!" she proclaimed.
He wiped his lip from her assault, "Well, then…"
He clenched his fist and punched her, which put her in a daze. Before she could recover, he put her into a chokehold and applied pressure to her back with his forearm and elbow.
In less than a minute she was unconscious in his arms. He dragged her still form below deck and left her in the ship's hold.
He went back up to the main deck and jumped into the water. He held onto the plank and swam away, not once looking back or having any regretful thoughts.
When Helene eventually woke up she had no idea where she was at first, but then saw the familiar surroundings. She wasn't sure how long she had been out or how she got below deck. The last thing she remembered was being on the upper deck with her father.
She gasped when she could suddenly remember the flash of a fist. She touched an area of her forehead just above her brow and flinched.
She started to rummage around for something reflective to look at her face. She tried to find a mirror, but couldn't, so she decided to use polished mace.
She looked into the shiny metal surface and saw a discoloration in the area of her forehead she touched. She sighed and put it down, touching her forehead where the bruise was again.
Suddenly, she heard something falling to the floor up on the main deck. It sounded like a barrel or some other hollow wooden object toppling over.
She grabbed the mace and made her way to the stairs. Cautiously and slowly, she made her way up to see what that noise was.
There was a lot of fog, but not enough to obscure her eyesight completely. She started to walk around, tightly gripped the handle of the mace as if it was her lifeline.
She then heard ceramic breaking and whipped her entire body around, extending out the spiky weapon. There was nothing there, nothing but the remains of a shattered plate.
She sighed and knelt down to pick up the scattered pieces. She swept the pieces together into a circle with her hand. She was about to pick them when smoke was suddenly blown in her face.
She closed her eyes and used her hand to fan the smoke away. She looked back at the ceramic mess and that's when she saw what had caused the smoke.
It was a small dark gray dragon with a large head with skull-like features, a long tail with spikes positioned in a way that looked like smoke from a fire, and bright golden-yellow eyes that almost looked to be glowing. This dragon almost reminded her of Terrible Terrors except it was slightly larger.
It stood on its hind legs and spread its wings out as wide as possible. It hissed at her, which caused her to fall back in reaction. She grabbed the mace and extended out at the small creature.
Her entire arm was shaking due to nervousness and it caused the head of the weapon to sway slightly from side to side. The motions caused it to follow the movements with its head, as if it was in a trance. It got down onto all floors again as it continued to mimic the motions.
She saw this and tilted her head to the side, curious and intrigued. This was something she certainly wasn't expecting, nor does she think she's ever seen this before.
She gripped the handle with both hands, which caused it to stop trembling. When she did it was like it came out the trance and started growling at her. She removed a hand and it stopped its growls when the mace started swaying again.
She then raised the spiky weapon and lowered it, then repeated those movements several times. It followed her actions with its eyes at first before escalating to moving its entire head, just as it did before.
Carefully, she began to slowly stand up, which caused it to perk with alarm. She raised the mace and it stood up on its hind legs again to copy the gesture.
She held up the weapon to keep the small dragon occupied while she opened a basket. She took out a crab that had been traded to her and her father just the other day.
She put down the mace and knelt down, presenting the red shellfish to it. It spread its wings to show hostility and wariness.
"It's okay, uh, boy, it's just a crab," she spoke softly. She placed the crab in front of him, but stayed in that spot instead of leaving.
He sniffed it with caution, he wanted to be sure it was safe. He then took it in his mouth and used his strong maw and sharp teeth to break the shell, several pieces of it fell out of his mouth and onto the deck. He eagerly ate the meaty crustacean once it was freed from its protective armor.
She took in a few deep inhalations through her nose before she carefully reached her hand out. She closed her eyes as she took in calmer breaths to ease her mind, as if hoping that a calm mind would prevent her hand from getting bitten off if he felt irritated by her presence.
She opened her eyes when she felt something warm in her palm. She was surprised to see the dragon had come to her hand and allowed himself to lean into it, even closing his eyes.
She wasn't entirely sure what to do next, she's never been in this position before. She's seen her friends on Berk interact with their dragons, but she never thought that she would ever be in a situation like this where she would have to interact with one on her own.
"Uh, okay, I guess I should give you a name. Then, how about…" she thought about it for a second, "Smog? How does that sound to you?"
He squawked and chirped in delight at his new name. She smiled and laughed at his reaction to his name.
"I'm glad to know you like it," she giggled.
Suddenly, she heard a sound similar to the one she heard earlier. Smog heard it as well and immediately went on the offensive to protect them from any danger. She went for the mace, but was shocked to discover that it was gone.
She stood and went to look around for the source of the sound. Smog fluttered his wings and flew beside her.
More fog began to roll in and metal objects began to disappear left and right. It was very difficult for her to see who or what the culprits were.
She noticed a milk jug suspended in the air and gradually rising. She grabbed onto it and it became a tugging war with a foggy creature she couldn't see. Although, she couldn't help but to notice that this 'fog' smelled like smoke.
Smog assisted her in retrieving the milk jug by flying into the smoke. She couldn't see what was going on, although she could hear some kind of altercation between Smog and another dragon.
She was suddenly able to retrieve the metal jug without a problem, but Smog hadn't returned from the smoke. Then, a gray blur suddenly crashed into the deck right next to her.
She took a closer look and saw that it was Smog fighting with a dragon the same species as he, but it was larger than him. He was able to fight it off and it flew away empty-handed.
She petted his head as a thanks, "Good boy, now let's get off this ship."
They went over to the side of the ship and her heart almost stopped when she looked down. They weren't in the water or even on or near a beach, they were up in a tree.
She fell to the floor and felt dizzy, "I think I'm about to be sick."
He fluttered above her and growled in concern for her. She was able to calm herself down enough to reassure him by petting him on the head.
"It's okay, boy, I'm alright, just a little shaken up is all," she assured her new friend in a soft voice.
She used the floor to steady herself as she stood up. She looked over the edge of the ship and sighed softly.
"I guess we'll have to find another way to get to the ground," she uttered.
Smog was too small to carry her to the ground, she would have to improvise and find another way. That would definitely be a bit of a challenge.
She saw a bundle of rope sitting on a barrel and another on the floor next to it. That gave her an idea. And Smog could help her out with it.
She picked up those two rope bundles and made her way below deck. She set them on the floor and went back up to look for more. As if knowing what she was looking for, Smog came up to her with more rope in his claws.
She laughed and took it from him, "Thanks." He squawked in response.
They went below deck together and she got started on tying the ropes together to make one long line. He helped by taking the ends into his mouth and pulling on them as tightly as possible to make sure it's stable for a girl her height and weight.
She tugged on the knots to be sure they were strong and they were. At least it would be for a few minutes, if she's lucky.
"Okay, that's good," she set it on the ground and looked around for something to hold it down.
Smog flew up to the upper deck and came back with a plank that had been ripped from it. In the wood was a cribbing spike.
"Actually, that's exactly what I was thinking of using," she smiled. "Can you help me get it out?"
He took the head of the cribbing spike in his mouth and pulled it out with ease. He dropped it into the palm of her hand.
"Thank you." She placed it on the wall in order to get an idea of how she was going to nail it in. "Now all I need is a-" she looked away from the wall and saw Smog holding a mallet in his mouth. She took it from him, "Thank you."
She had the end of the cribbing spike pointed at the wall with the end of the rope in between. He held down the rope with his front foot while she used the mallet to hammer the nail.
Once it was nailed, she tested it by pulling on it to see if it was firm. She nodded in satisfaction to herself and started to throw the rope out the window.
Once the last of it was out the window, she used a crate to help her climb onto the window sill. She slung her leg out so she was straddling it, she grabbed onto the rope and moved her other leg out the window.
Carefully, she began to slowly climb down the rope. She was nervous and terrified, but did her best to keep her emotions in check, she made sure to keep breathing through her nose to keep her body calm on the inside. Smog flew out of the window and fluttered beside her to be certain she made it to the end of the rope safely.
The rope eventually came to an end and it was not at the ground floor. She was just a couple of feet above a branch, which didn't appear to be very sturdy, but then again the whole tree wasn't very sturdy to begin with. To make things worse, it looked like it was some distance from the ground.
She climbed down to the very tip of the twine before she let go. She sighed in relief when the bottoms of her shoes made contact with the branch.
She knelt down on the branch to look at the ground to get an idea of how much further down she had to go. It looked like she still had about a hundred feet at the most.
"Oh, that's just perfect," she muttered to herself with a frown.
The nearest branch from the one she stood on was ten feet below her on the opposite side of the tree. From where she stood, it appeared to be her best chance to get down.
She stood up and started towards the base of the branch. There, she saw a dead vine that stretched down to just a couple of feet above the other branch.
She was about to get ready to start climbing downwards again, when Smog suddenly grabbed onto her tunic and flew up. Before she knew it they were in the air and he was starting to make his descension.
He carefully set her down onto the forest floor and landed on the ground right next to her. He squawked up at her, expecting a reward.
She knelt down and patted his head, "I don't have any more crabs on me, but I promise I'll give you two when I can give them to you. How does that sound?" He squawked again.
She then took notice of something she hadn't noticed earlier. It was a group of dragons and not just any group either, they were the dragons of her friends on Berk.
She stood up and walked over to them with Smog following her. He initially growled when he saw them, but relaxed when he saw that she wasn't afraid of them, a sign to him that she trusted them.
"Toothless, Hookfang, Stormfly, Meatlug, Barf and Belch," she gasped, "but that can only mean one thing!"
She looked up and saw her father's ship falling out of the tree! The brittle wood had given out from under it.
She and Smog got out of the way and joined the other dragons. The ship landed on the ground in relatively good shape, it was still intact, although it was still damaged a little.
Her friends soon emerged from the wreck and Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut immediately made a beeline for their dragons without noticing her presence. Fishlegs was about to do the same thing when he noticed her near their dragons, although didn't see hers right away.
He came up to her and gave her a bear hug, "Helene! Thank Thor you're alright!"
She slipped out of his embrace, "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. How did you guys know where to find me?"
"You're Dad," Hiccup answered. "He was pretty shaken up when we found him, but he was a mess when we asked where you were."
'Is that so?' she thought. "Well, what did he say happened?"
"He says he doesn't remember a thing after a thick fog rolled in," he told her.
"That's funny, I remember it a little differently," she mentioned.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can tell us all about it back on Berk," Snotlout interjected.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" she asked.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because there's a metal-stealing fog monster out there that probably wants to kill us!" he shrieked.
"Guys, there isn't a fog monster," she shook her head slightly with a slight sigh, she also had a hand on her hip.
"Oh, yeah? How do you know? Have you ever seen it?" Tuffnut questioned.
"Actually, yes," she smiled with her hand in the same placement. She used her fingers to whistle for Smog and he came right over, hovering above her. "This is your fog monster." He squawked at them. "His name is Smog."
"Incredible," Fishlegs gasped. "You were able to successfully train a Smothering Smokebreath!" All of the other riders gave him looks. "What?"
"You knew about the dragons here all this time!" Astrid practically yelled.
He smiled nervously, "Well, uh, I wasn't exactly sure if they actually existed."
"So you went with 'fog monster' instead?" Hiccup crossed his arms.
"Well, fog monster or no fog monster, I'm getting out of here!" Snotlout shouted.
"I'm not leaving without that chest!" Hiccup declared. "Helene, do you know what's in it?"
She shook her head, "No, I don't. I just know that my Dad got it in trade about a week ago or so."
"Too bad, so sad! See you back on Berk!" Tuffnut interjected.
He, Ruffnut, and Snotlout started to leave as their dragons walked away with them on their backs. Although the dragons weren't sure if they really wanted to leave.
Astrid called out to them to stop them, "Guys, wait! That chest is from his mother."
"Yeah, yeah, sad story, now if you'll excuse us…" Snotlout trailed off as they continued to take their leave.
"C'mon, guys, how would you feel it was your mother?" she inquired.
The dragons stopped moving and looked up at their riders. Grudgingly, they turned around and got down from their backs.
Snotlout pointed at Astrid, "I hate you." He then pointed at Hiccup, "And this does not mean we're really friends."
He smiled at them, "Thanks guys, really. Now let's find that chest!"
"How are we going to find it?" Snotlout groaned.
"Yeah, I don't know if you guys noticed, but this island is kind of big," Ruffnut pointed out.
"No problem. We'll just follow Smog. Do you think you can?" Helene asked her dragon, who squawked in response. He flew upwards and started to fly away.
"Dragons, everyone," Hiccup commanded.
They did exactly that and went to their dragons, mounting them. He was about to get onto Toothless, but Helene put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm going with you," she told him. "That's my dragon. I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."
"Whoever said I was going to say that?" he asked with a grin.
He got onto Toothless' back and she sat behind him. She held onto him as they ascended along with the other Dragon Riders.
"Alright, gang, follow that Smokebreath!" he pointed in the direction Smog was flying.
As they followed the small dragon, she looked down. When she did, she got this mix of conflicting feelings. She felt nervous and it felt like her stomach was in knots, but she also had this surreal and sobering feeling too, in a good way. In some way, she felt like she was on top of the world as she soared above it on Toothless.
They eventually landed a couple hundred feet away from a large cave. Smog looked back at them and roared, he then flew over to his trainer and nuzzled her face with his.
"Good boy," she scratched the side of his face.
"So that's it? The chest is in there," Hiccup uttered.
"Then what are we doing out here for? Let's get in there and take it!" Snotlout shouted.
"That might be an issue," Helene chimed in.
"Dare I ask why?" Fishlegs asked nervously.
"The Smokebreaths stole a bunch of metal from the ship and Smog tried to help me retrieve it by fighting off one of them," she mentioned.
"In other words, he betrayed the flock and they're unlikely to let him back in," Astrid concluded.
"Fishlegs, anything you want to say?" Hiccup asked.
He was a little caught off-guard by that, "Uh, right! Smothering Smokebreaths are territorial, they hide themselves in a veil of smoke, and…" He trailed off due to shock when they all looked up and saw the Smokebreaths carrying the ship to their cave. "And they make their nests by taking metal and welding it all together."
"That doesn't sound very comfortable. Or does it?" Tuffnut asked himself.
"It's not supposed to be, they do it to protect themselves against larger dragons," he explained.
"Man, I wish I could see in there," Hiccup muttered.
"Yeah, you do!" Tuffnut used a spy glass to look at his hand, although faced it the wrong way.
"Where did you get that?" he asked.
"Duh, from the ship," he answered, "or whatever that was in the tree."
He growled from his throat and took from him. He held it up to his eye and looked at the cave. Fortunately, the opening was large enough for him to look inside with ease and what he saw was surprising.
He saw them welding the metal altogether with the use of their flames to melt it. It was certainly interesting to see them work together to create the protective nest.
"They're melting it all together," he informed them. He looked around a little and spotted the chest on top of a mound of unmelted metal. "The chest, it's in there."
"How are we going to get it, Hiccup? They're very territorial and protective of their nests," Helene pointed out.
"We'll have to draw them out with something," he uttered.
"With what, though?" Astrid asked.
They heard whistling and all eyes landed on Snotlout, who was polishing the golden necklace he took from the ship. He looked at them obliviously, "What?"
They had him use the necklace to draw out the Smothering Smokebreaths from their cave. Meanwhile, they would fly in and get the chest while they were busy with him.
Hiccup got off Toothless' back and climbed up the metal mound. He grabbed the chest and got back onto his dragon just as the Smokebreaths came back into their cave.
They were about to leave, when Snotlout cried out to them, "No! Don't leave me!" The small dragons were trying to meld his necklace to their nest, which was back around his neck.
As much as Hiccup would like to leave Snotlout to fend for himself, he was still their friend and fellow rider. No matter how much his arrogance annoyed them and got them into trouble countless times.
"Plasma blast!" he commanded to Toothless.
He did as he was told and fired a purple fireball out of his mouth, which caused the Smothering Smokebreaths to scatter. Hookfang grabbed his rider in his mouth and threw him onto the saddle on his back.
They made a beeline for the cavern exit and immediately flew away. The Smokebreaths, however, weren't done yet with them and flew after them.
One of them tried to steal Snotlout's necklace, but he wouldn't give it up. Even Hookfang's growls weren't enough to make him give it to them.
"Snotlout, give them your necklace!" Helene shouted.
"No! It's my shiny!" he protested.
Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Well, it's you or your shiny."
He let that sink in for a moment before he finally took it off and threw it back at them. It was a loss, but it was a little hard to ride dragons without a body.
Astrid took out an axe from her saddle bag, "Anything you have that's metal, throw it at them!"
Everyone heeded her advice and took out every metallic object they had, throwing them over their shoulders back at the smoky cloud behind them. One by one, the dragons flew back in contentment at the new additions to their nest.
It looked like the last one of them was gone and they all thought they were home free, however, that was not yet the case. One of them suddenly grabbed onto Hiccup's leg and tried to pull it away, pulling him off of the saddle. As a result, Toothless' tail retracted and all three of them were plummeting towards the ground.
Just as it seemed as if they were about to be met with a certain death, Smog fought off the larger Smokebreath and forced it to let go. He was able to get it to fly away in failure and thus allowed Hiccup to get back into the saddle. They flew upwards when he got his metal leg back onto the pedal and rejoined the others.
Fishlegs let out a deep exhale, "Oh, Thor, I don't think I'll ever sleep again!" He collapsed onto Meatlug and she reached her tongue up to lick him.
Smog caught up with them and went immediately to his trainer. He nuzzled her nose and forehead with his snout and purred.
"Good boy," she smiled. "Thanks for the help."
Hiccup grinned back at them, "Yeah, thanks. And it looks like you have a new best friend."
"Hiccup!" Fishlegs called to him. "We should take him back with us to Berk. It'd be a great opportunity for us to learn more about Smothering Smokebreaths."
"Yeah, sure, let's take the metal-stealing dragon back with us where he can make a new nest on Berk and we get blamed for it!" Snotlout shouted.
"That's not going to happen," she declared.
"Oh, yeah? And why not?" he retorted.
"Because he's my dragon," she responded solemnly.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Hiccup asked with a smile.
She nodded, "Yes, I am. We're going to Berk. What do you say, Smog?" He squawked happily.
They made it back to Berk with Johann's damaged ship. They set it down on the dock and released the ropes.
"We'll have to clear the forest to fix that ship," Gobber remarked.
"We're glad you're alright, Johann. Is there anything we can do for you?" Stoick asked.
"Yes, just give me five minutes alone with the three who dropped me back in the ocean!" he snapped.
Hiccup landed Toothless nearby and he and Helene got down from him. Smog fluttered next to her and nuzzled her face with his while purring, causing her to laugh.
Johann was surprised to see her there, but was even more shocked to see that the Smothering Smokebreaths hadn't torn her to shreds and that she had even been able to befriend one. Perhaps he shouldn't have let her be around Hiccup and the other riders so often.
If he doesn't go up to her and greet her, happy to see her alive, that would cause some suspicions to fall on him and he feared it wouldn't be long before they found out about him and his true plans. For now, he would keep up the charade he's been keeping for many years by happily greeting his daughter.
"Helene! Oh, thank the gods you're alright!" He came up to her and pulled her into a hug, which she did not return.
Smog separated them and shrieked at him, snapping his jaw as well as if threatening to bite him. She placed a hand on his back, which calmed him, but he still growled at him.
"He's just very protective," she told him.
"Uh, yes, I see," he laughed nervously. He cleared his throat, "Are you ready to get back to braving the high seas with me once the ship is fixed?"
"Um, actually, Dad, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," she rubbed her arm in nervousness. She took in a deep breath through her nose, "I've been talking it over with Hiccup and the others and…" she took in another breath, "and I'm staying here on Berk. I want to learn more about dragons."
He was very taken back by this, "Wh-What? Why?"
"Look, Dad, I- I have a dragon now an-and I just think it w-would be better f-for me if- if I stay here," her voice was very shaky.
He knew that arguing would be futile if the son of the chief was on board with her decision. At least he could look at the bright side that he could continue with what he loves to do the most. And that was not trading or anything to do with the trade at all.
"Fine, then," he placed a hand on her shoulder, which caused her to internally flinch. "If this is what you want, you can stay here."
He removed his hand, which relieved her greatly. She could hardly stand it when he touched her because it gave her flashbacks.
Stoick then came up to them and placed his large hand on her shoulder, but she did not flinch, "Not to worry, Johann, we'll take care of her."
'Oh, thank Gefion!' she thought gratefully. 'She sides with me.'
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(A/N: I think this is a good place to stop for now. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
One thing I forgot to mention previously, along with switching around the episodes, I'll also be skipping some of them completely. The reasons why I'm doing that are because, first off, there are too many episodes for me to cover and, second off, I want there to be room for my own chapters. I might write my own chapter for the next one, but I'm not quite sure yet.)