(A/N: If you didn't read it at the end of the previous chapter, this is the parallel to the episode "Frozen". It's the first episode to feature Speed Stingers and I do love this species of dragon, I even have a story with one in it.
If you haven't read the previous chapter, I would advise you to do so because Helene has a new dragon. Trust me, you will be lost if you don't.
While I wouldn't expect too much development between her and her new dragon, there's likely to be at least a little bit. If not for the development, then at the very least stay for some of the humor, which will be early on.)
X-X-o-X-X~*0-v-0*~X-X-o-X-X
It's been a couple of weeks since Helene tamed and trained Ripwave, her Shockjaw. Since then, they had proven to be quite the team, although there were still a few things that had to be worked on, such as her willingness to work with the other dragons. Shockjaws were a solitary species and rarely interact with others, which could make them potentially dangerous.
She didn't have a saddle yet, so she sat on her bare fins, which she figured was likely uncomfortable after a while. Her saddle was taking a little longer to be made because of her electricity, most of the materials the other riders used for their saddles were conductors for electricity, she needed something non-conductive to make it safe for her and the other riders.
Her father was supposed to arrive a week ago, at the end of the month, but a sudden change in plans prevented him from doing so.
Not that she was complaining, she was actually content with not having to see him.
However, as bad luck would have it, a snow storm rolled in the day after she received the news, which locked all of the riders and their dragons inside of the one of the stalls at the Academy. It was definitely a tight fit with seven people and six dragons.
Currently, Hiccup was standing in front of the rock slab with a journal in his hand. He was teaching them a lesson, but no one was listening, they were too tired to pay attention to him. All they wanted to do at this point was get out before they all went insane, which may be too late.
"...and so, as you can be seen by the chart, proper wing control can be achieved by-" Hiccup's lesson was cut short by a ball of fire being shot at the stone slab. "Okay! Who shot that fireball?"
Snotlout was 'innocently' whistling to himself while leaning against Hookfang. His dragon, meanwhile, had smoke coming from his mouth, proof he had shot the fireball.
"Why are you looking at me?" he asked, somewhat irritated but also a little smug.
"Come on, guys, I don't want to be here any more than you do. Can we just get back to training, please?" Hiccup questioned.
"I say we play… twenty questions instead. Huh? Anyone? Anyone? Astrid? Helene? Why are you two so in love with me?" he laughed, styling his hair.
Astrid gagged, feeling the bile in her stomach making its way up into her throat. Helene, on the other hand, had her dragon give him a jolt, and she did so, which caused him to seize for a few moments.
Tuffnut raised his hand, "Me! Me, me! Okay, I'll go first. Question number one-" he gets cut off by getting smacked in the head with Hookfang's tail. "Ow! Ow! Ow! How do you play twenty questions?"
Hiccup tried to get everyone back on track, "Uh, can we try to stay focused? Even for a second?"
"We've been stuck inside for a week straight because of this crazy weather," Astrid groaned.
"Yeah, we're all starting to go a little crazy," Helene added.
To prove their point, Fishlegs started talking to Meatlug's toes, "Ooh, Mr. Pinky, don't tell the others, but you are my favorite."
To further establish what they were saying, Barf and Belch started to bite at their tails. Apparently, they had just discovered those parts of their body.
Ruffnut laughed, "Barf and Belch just found out they have tails!" They started to run in circles, trying to chase their tails. "And it looks like they really hate that idea."
"I got the same way when I found out I had a tail." Tuffnut started to run around in circles, just like Barf and Belch. "You can't hide from me forever, invisible tail! I'll get you!"
"I might have told Tuff that he has a tail," Ruffnut whispered to Hiccup.
"You can't hide from me for long!" Tuffnut continued to chase his 'tail'.
A moment later, the door to the stall opened and Stoick came inside. "Odin's ghost! It's cold out there! Worst freeze in the history of Berk! My beard is frozen solid."
"So, father, what brings you out to the Academy?" Hiccup asked.
"Trader Johann hasn't reported to port," he informed his son. "If he's trapped out in the storm, he won't last the night. I was think-"
Hiccup was all too happy to respond to his father, "Yes, I can go! You know, Toothless can help find Johann's ship in the darkness. He is the perfect dragon for the job."
"Er… I don't know…" he trailed off.
"Please, Dad, if you ever cared for me, at all, the way a father cares for his son, then you will let me leave!" he pleaded through slightly gritted teeth.
Stoick looked at all of the chaos inside of the stall and sighed as he walked out, "Lock the door behind you when you leave, please."
After his father left, Hiccup grabbed his satchel and slung it over his shoulder. He motioned for Toothless to stand and they began to silently sneak away from the group.
Before they could make it out the door, an electrical stream was fired at it, causing them to freeze. He slowly turned around and saw Helene standing in front of her dragon, who's tendrils were lit up with her electricity, with her arms crossed and a serious look.
"Where do you think you're going?" she questioned, although it sounded more like an interrogation.
"Uh, just a quick fly around the island," he lied. She gave him a doubtful look and he caved in, telling her the truth, "Fine. My Dad wants me and Toothless to find your father's ship before the storm gets worse."
"Alright, I'm going with you," she casually declared.
He looked bewildered, "Wh- what? N- no, you- you can't-"
"And why not? It's my Dad, I am going with you," she declared again, this time much harsher than before.
"B- but," he tried to protest.
"If it was your Dad and I was going, you would be begging to go with me," she pointed out.
"Well, ye- yeah," he agreed with her.
"So, why should I be left behind if you're going out there to find my Dad?" she asked rhetorically.
He let out something that sounded like a combination of a sigh and a groan, "Oh, alright, you can come with me."
She smirked and thought, 'I knew I could break him.'
They left the stall with their dragons, he made sure to have his satchel and she made sure that she had a couple of supplies with her. He closed the door and he was about to lock it, but then considered not to. With the mental states of their friends, locking it might result in a very… messy outcome, to put it lightly.
He walked away from the door and mounted Toothless, asking her, "Ready to go?"
She climbed onto Ripwave and replied, "I'm always ready."
They took to the air and went in the direction of port, where they went straight from there, it was the most likely direction Johann would be traveling. If Helene knew her father, she knew that he was a man of habit, he would try to use the same routes as he always has before, it makes him seem more like the professional trader he was not.
"It's not night yet, but I hardly see a thing," she remarked.
"I know, it's pretty dark out here," he responded. He tapped on Toothless, "Bud, do your thing."
He did as he was told and howled into the distance. While there was nothing found in the distance ahead of them, there was something that caused the howl to bounce back and be redirected towards them from below.
Helene looked down, she then looked up again and held her hand out to Hiccup, "Hold it."
They both braked and he asked, "What is it?"
"I'm not sure," she answered. "Ripwave, fire directly below us."
She responded by doing just that, firing a single stream below them. When she did, they could see the light from her electricity refracting off a sheet of ice. But that wasn't all, there was actually a wide stretch of ice sheets that trailed across the surface of the ocean.
"Wow," she gaped. "Look at that. I've been on the sea my whole life and I've never seen anything like this."
"Me neither. It's no wonder Trader Johann can't get to port, no one could get through this," he claimed.
'I wouldn't be too sure about that,' she thought.
They continued to fly and search for her father and his ship. A short time later, they heard what sounded similar to a stampede below them on the ice. They looked down, but a haze prevented them from seeing anything as it passed, headed behind them.
Toothless and Ripwave both growled protectively as it passed. Both of their riders had to relax them, and they were beginning to wonder what that could have been.
"Whoa! I don't know what that was, but I'm glad we're up here and it's down there," Hiccup remarked.
"I hear you," she agreed, still trying to soothe her dragon.
Once their dragons were finally able to relax, they continued the search. Toothless howled again, and this time seemed to have detected something ahead.
"You find something, bud?" he asked. He warbled in response.
"Let's take a better look," she told him.
They flew into the direction of where Toothless got his detection. That's when they finally found what they were looking for, Johann's ship, and on the deck was Johann himself.
The first thing he saw when they approached was the dragon his daughter was riding. She was now an official dragon rider, which meant he didn't care what happened to her anymore. If she gets caught in the crossfire, so be it, she was nothing to him. She was as much a nothing as the dragon she rode in his eyes.
"Master Hiccup! And my sweet daughter!" he cried. "You're both a welcome sight for these weary eyes!"
Hiccup and Toothless landed on the deck, while Helene and Ripwave remained in the air. The Shockjaw could sense something about this man that did not make her want to trust him or his ship. She could also feel something wrong with Helene, she felt nervous and afraid, she could even feel the pulsation of her rapid heart rate in her wrists on her body.
"Will you not come onto the deck to give your dear father a hug?" he questioned in an innocent voice that sounded too kind to be genuine.
"I can't," she responded. "Ripwave only likes me and shocks anyone who tries to get too close."
He scoffed and laughed, "Oh, that's nonsense."
He reached a hand out to Ripwave, only for her growl at him before he could touch her. Her pupils were as thin as razor blades and she fired at him. She missed and it caused him to fall to the deck in shock.
She mentally laughed at her father's reaction, but on the outside gave him a look that said, "I told you." Ripwave still had slitted pupils and a warning rumble in her throat told him to stay away.
"Toothless and I can give you a ride," Hiccup offered.
"Oh, bless your soul, master Hiccup," he smiled.
Johann got onto Toothless' back and they were on their way back to Berk. Knowing him, he would probably be talking their ears off the entire time; lucky them.
"In all my years on the briny deep, I have never witnessed a freeze quite like this. Ice as thick as Thor's hammer!" Johann proclaimed. "I even considered abandoning my ship and traveling to Berk on foot."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that Johann," Hiccup replied. "Just enjoy the ride."
"Excellent. We shall pass the time with stories of my grand adventures that are sure to warm your heart and stoke the fires of your imagination," he declared.
'Oh, Thor,' Helene mentally groaned. 'I should have just stayed on Berk.'
"Did I ever tell you about the time I found myself up against the man-eating metal masons of Minori Majore? Oh, it was spring, the smell of fresh jasmine was in the air…" he trailed off as he went on to continue his story.
They flew through the rest of the night and well after the crack of dawn and Johann wouldn't stop with his constant stories. His fictional stories were driving the two riders and their dragons insane. Neither one would be lying if both at one point had considered dropping him into the ocean.
Johann was finishing one of his stories, "...but it was not a yak, it was his daughter! I could not believe! She looked like a yak and her name was Yakmine. And that, master Hiccup, is how the king of Ennuden made me an honorary member of his royal court."
"Yeah, great story, Dad," Helene muttered, leaning against the head of her dragon, who was really frustrated with hearing Johann talk about his stories.
"And I think so myself. Shall I say another?" he asked.
"Oh, look, we're here," Hiccup announced.
"Thank Odin," both of the riders murmured under their breaths. Their dragons agreed with them by growling in discomfort.
They landed in the center of the village, expecting everyone to come to see them, but they never did. The town was completely empty and quiet, eerily so.
"Not the welcome I'm accustomed to, but nonetheless," Johann uttered.
"Where is everyone?" Helene questioned.
Johann began to talk about another of his adventures, "This reminds me of the time I landed on the island of the Red-" Hiccup cut him off by holding up a hand.
"Hello?" he called out. "Anyone? Dad?"
They split up to look around the entire village for everyone, even checking the Great Hall. However, this search was in vain, no one could be found.
"What in the name of Thor is going on?" Hiccup muttered to himself. "Johann, Helene, anything?"
She shook her head, "Nothing."
"The whole town, master Hiccup, is empty," Johann reported.
"I know, it's very weird," he replied.
"I don't like this one bit." Johann then went on to talk about another of infamous stories, "There was one time I was on a trade run with a man who claimed to be a warlock and-"
"Dad, stop," his daughter uttered, and he did.
Hiccup spotted a movement coming from one of the houses. He was too far away and it was too quick for him to see what it could be.
"Let's go," he told Helene and Toothless. "Johann, stay here." She whistled for Ripwave to follow her as she went with them to investigate the house.
They went to the house and entered, Hiccup went inside first, followed by Toothless. He took slow steps in the doorway, not giving Helene and Ripwave room to get inside until he took a few more steps inward.
By the time they stepped inside, something fell from the beams above and landed on Hiccup, knocking him out. She was shocked to see it was Fishlegs!
"Fishlegs! What the hell are you doing?!" she shouted. "Get off Hiccup!" Toothless shot a plasma blast at him to be sure he got off him.
He did and she knelt down beside Hiccup and tapped him on both sides of his face. "Hiccup? Hiccup!" She looked up at Fishlegs, "What the hell were you thinking?! Were you trying to kill him?!"
"I- I…" he stuttered, unable to give her a good response.
She tried waking him up again, but he wouldn't wake up. She would ordinarily use smelling salts or something pungent to wake him, but she had nothing of the sort.
She looked up at her dragon and an idea formed in her head. It might be a bit of a risk, but hopefully it would work.
She called over her dragon, "Ripwave, come here."
She obeyed her and came up to her and him. She grabbed Hiccup's hand and held it up to her tendrils, his hand was barely touching them. She pointed to her chin and she got the message to spark her tendrils, sending a very small jolt through his hand and into the rest of his body.
Miraculously, it worked, he was awake, dazed but awake nonetheless. Due to his dazed state, he immediately called for Toothless, but jumped to his feet when he saw Fishlegs suddenly appear in his face.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Don't ever do that again!"
Fishlegs immediately hugged him and pulled her into it, "Hiccup! Helene! Oh, thank Thor! I'm so sorry I fell on you!" They slipped out of his tight embrace and backed away slightly.
"Okay, Fishlegs," Hiccup stretched out his back.
Fishlegs then started to mumble things that they could hardly keep up with, "Fast, really fast, too fast, speedy. Oh, and their sting, paralyzing sting!" He sat in front of the fireplace when he calmed down slightly.
"Slow down, Fishlegs, we can't understand you," she told him.
"What are you talking about?" Hiccup asked.
He turned to face them with a crazy look in his eyes and whispered, "Speed Stingers."
"Speed Stingers? Here?" she questioned.
He nodded, "It all started just after nightfall. They don't fly but they're fast, faster than any dragon I've ever seen, and they hide in the shadows. Scavengers, looking for anything they can find. One drop of their venom can paralyze a human or dragon in an instant. They move in a pack, followed by a leader who directs them like a war chief. By the time Stoick ordered everybody to the cove, the entire village had been overrun."
"Well, where are the Speed Stingers now?" he inquired.
"I don't know," he answered. "The sun came up and they disappeared, but they'll be back, they come out at night."
"I- I don't understand, Fishlegs, why did you come back here?" he asked.
"Yeah, why not stay with everyone at the cove?" she asked as well.
He led them outside and pointed up to the top of a house. There, they saw Meatlug, she was paralyzed with her mouth open. She was in plain sight, how did they miss her when they landed in the middle of town?
Fishlegs sighed, "Just look at her up there, so majestic."
Hiccup and Helene looked at each other and he rhetorically asked, "How did we miss that?"
"She tried to draw them away so I could escape," he claimed. "I just couldn't leave her."
Johann came up to them and saw Meatlug's paralyzed form, "How did we miss that?"
"We have to get her down," Fishlegs turned to Hiccup, squeezing his shoulders.
He escaped his grip and reassured him, "We will, Fishlegs, don't worry."
"But how?" Helene questioned, turning slightly towards her father.
One way or another, Johann was convinced to climb up to the roof with Fishlegs to get Meatlug down. She might be on the small side compared to the other dragons, but what she lacks in size, she more than makes up for in weight.
Johann struggled to pull her off the roof, "So, she eats rocks, you say? That makes sense." Helene snickered silently to herself. Suddenly, Meatlug let out a guffaw flatulent in his face, putting him into a daze. "Ooh, oh, dear, that's quite an effect." He fell back, landing inside of a wheelbarrow. Helene struggled to hold in her laughter.
Fishlegs grinned, "Movement! This is very good! It means the paralysis is only temporary. Come up and help, guys."
Their dragons helped them up onto the roof and even came up with them. With all of their strength combined, they should be able to get her down.
"Uh, where's Johann?" Hiccup asked.
Helene pointed down, "Down there."
Johann called out to them from the wheelbarrow, "I'm alright, I actually landed on me fluffy bits."
Helene rolled her eyes, 'Really, Dad?'
"Fishlegs, what's the deal with this paralysis? How long does it last?" Hiccup questioned.
"I don't know, Hiccup. There's nothing about it in the book of dragons or Bork's papers," he responded. "How do you think the Speed Stingers got here? They can't fly."
"If I had to guess, I would say it's because the ocean is frozen solid, creating an ice bridge from their island to ours," he concluded.
"We need to get to the cove right away," she stated.
Together, they somehow managed to push Meatlug off the roof. She landed in the wheelbarrow where Johann was, just as he was getting out of it.
"I'm alright," his voice was muffled.
They got Johann out of the wheelbarrow and began to make their way through the forest to the cove. It would be the first time Hiccup and Toothless would be there since the first time they met.
Eventually, they made it there and were met with an eerie sight. All around them were paralyzed Vikings, appeared to be suspended in time during a battle, and among them was Stoick, his father. He was frozen with his mouth open and his sword in hand, as if he was engaging in a fight with the Speed Stingers, or preparing for a fight with them.
Hiccup frowned when he saw his frozen father, "Dad."
Gobber was one of the lucky ones, he was unharmed, and came up to Hiccup to comfort him, "He gave as good as he got, Hiccup. It took six of those Speed Stingers to freeze the poor bugger."
Stoick managed to vocalize something, but it was so muffled due to his paralyzed vocal cords that it was unintelligible. His son wasn't sure how to feel about it, but Gobber apparently knew what he was saying, or at least thought he did.
"You betcha, chief," he replied.
"What did he say?" Hiccup inquired.
"No clue," he whispered to him. "Don't want to make him feel worse than he does."
He frowned again, "I should have been here. Toothless and I could have helped."
"Hiccup," Helene spoke, but whatever she might have to say next died on her tongue.
Gobber waved his hand, "Nonsense, boy, there were too many of them, nothing would have mattered. Tell you one thing, those Stingers would be dining on smoke sturgeon and yak jerky tonight if it weren't for your father." Stoick tried to speak again, only for the same outcome. "Couldn't agree with you more, Stoick." He shrugged to Hiccup.
Astrid sees Hiccup and Helene and runs to them, embracing both of them, "Hiccup! Helene!"
"Oh, Astrid," Hiccup was very taken back by her sudden hug, Helene was as well. "How's everyone else?"
"Everyone's fine," she answered. "Well, except for…"
They saw the twins messing with Snotlout's frozen body, using his own hands to slap himself. He had been paralyzed when the Speed Stingers invaded the village.
"Stop hitting yourself," Ruffnut snickered.
"Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop picking your own nose," Tuffnut used Snotlout's hand to shove a finger up his nose.
"Actually, when you think about it, it's not that bad," Astrid remarked.
Helene smiled and laughed, "Agreed."
"Oh, come on! Your face isn't that ugly," Ruffnut mocked. "Oh, wait."
"It's going to be dark soon. The Stingers will be back for the rest of the food. Everyone wants to know what we're gonna do," Astrid informed him.
"Gather the other riders, we're headed out," he declared.
They gathered together the other Dragon Riders and informed them what Hiccup told them. They got them all saddled up and ready to go for a flight.
"Okay, we're ready," Helene reported.
"Guys, these dragons only come out at night, so we need to find out where they sleep during the day," he announced. "The only problem is we need to find their nest before sundown or…"
"Can we not think about the "or", please?" Astrid pleaded.
"Yeah, they came out of nowhere like a pack of wild badgers," Fishlegs added. "Scavenging and, uh-"
"And badge-ge-ging," Tuffnut finished. Everyone looked at him questionably. "What? That's what a badger does, it badges."
"Well, uh, thanks for that," Hiccup replied. "Let's go."
"Hold up," Snotlout's voice suddenly spoke. The paralysis in his head and vocal cords were beginning to wear off. "You're not going on a Stinger hunt without me."
Snotlout struggled to stand up straight, he leaned forward and managed to stand up, which seriously freaked out Tuffnut, "Whoa. That is seriously creepy."
"His paralysis is wearing off," Fishlegs uttered.
Helene sarcastically remarked, "Lucky us." Ripwave growled in agreement.
"Snotlout, unless you plan on flying Hookfang with your teeth, you're not going anywhere," Astrid stated.
"What do you mean? I'm fine." He tried to take a step forward, only to fall to the ground, "Stupid arms and stupid legs." He sees Gustav walk by and calls out to him, "Hey, Gustav! Get your butt over here!"
While the other riders were getting ready to leave, Snotlout suddenly came up to them. His arm raised and he gave a salute, much like a soldier would.
"Snotlout Jorgensen, reporting for duty!" he announced.
"What the…?" Astrid trailed off.
Hiccup looked behind Snotlout and saw Gustav holding his arms. "I'm Snotlout's arms and legs, Hiccup. And together we are… Guslout!" Gustav made Snotlout shake his hands.
"Stop with the hands," Snotlout whispered. He then stated, "Hiccup, you need as much dragon power as you can get."
"I can't believe I'm actually about to say this, but he's right," Astrid agreed with Snotlout, despite the distaste it left in her mouth.
Hiccup looked at her in disbelief, "You're kidding, right?"
"Hiccup, you heard what Gobber said, there are hundreds of them out there," Helene pointed out.
He finally caved in, "Oh, alright. Fine."
"Yes. Move my arm," he told Gustav. He helped him give a thumbs up, "Yes!"
"Let's split up and search for possible Speed Stinger hiding places," Hiccup told everyone.
"Okey-dokey, Hiccup," Gustav replied. He then helped Snotlout move away, "Come on. Little bit further. Move with me."
"Fishlegs, how's Meatlug doing?" Hiccup asked.
"She's raring to go, Hiccup," he answered. "Look at her."
They looked at her and saw that she was indeed looking better than before, but she still wasn't one hundred percent. The upper half of her body was back to normal, including her wings, but her lower half was still paralyzed, so she was dragging herself along.
"So, what's the actual plan?" Helene whispered to Hiccup.
"Fishlegs, you said they follow their leader in a giant pack, right?" he questioned.
He nodded, "Exactly, that's what I saw."
"So the plan is this: find the Speed Stingers, capture the leader, use it to lure them away," he announced his plan to everyone.
"Let's hope this works," Helene muttered as she mounted Ripwave.
Everyone was sent to different places on the island to find where the Speed Stingers could be resting. Since the village was on the south side of the island, it was thought the Speed Stingers would be as well since they were scavengers, and scavengers typically stay closer to the area where they find the most food until there's nothing left.
Helene and Ripwave were flying through a deep cave on the southeastern most part of the island, using the electricity from her tendrils as their only source of light. They found nothing and they were at the end of the cave, nowhere left to go.
"We should turn back around and go back to the cove," she told her dragon. She growled and turned around, flying out of the cave.
They went back to the cove, landing near the water, where Ripwave went to cool off for a second after her rider got down. They were the first ones back, the other riders arrived a short while later.
"So, anything?" Hiccup asked.
Helene shook her head, "Nope."
"Not a single Stinger," Astrid reported.
"Us neither," Fishlegs responded.
"I got stung," Tuffnut replied.
"No, you didn't," Ruffnut told him.
"Have we checked every cave?" Hiccup asked again. Snotlout looked away, appearing somewhat guilty. "Snotlout, did you check your cave?"
"Really? I'm insulted, Hiccup. Do you I fell off my dragon and spent hours trying to get out of the sand?" he laughed. "I didn't."
"He fell off his dragon and we spent hours trying to get him out of the sand," Gustav announced, making Snotlout upset.
"Gustav, make me punch you!" he yelled. Gustav instead made him slap himself again.
Tuffnut snickered, "Never gets old."
"Well, we know where to look," Helene shrugged slightly.
Hiccup nodded, "Let's go." He got onto Toothless and they were about to take off, before he turned to Gustav for a moment, "Thanks, Gustav. You stay here with Snotlout and Hookfang."
"Right," Snotlout gave a thumbs up. "Hey, I did that all by myself!" Tuffnut cut his victory short by shoving his hand into his nose.
The rest of the Dragon Riders left the cove and went to the cave Snotlout was supposed to search. They brought a cage with them to hold the lead Speed Stinger in after they captured it.
Hiccup and Toothless landed right in front of the mouth of the cave, "Okay, gang, we have to move fast, it'll be sundown soon and we need to get that Lead Stinger out of there. Without him, the pack is useless."
They cautiously walked into the cave, looking for the Speed Stingers. It wasn't long before they found the flightless dragons and the leader, who was hanging upside down from a stalactite. His larger size and red stripes and fin were indistinguishable.
"Hiccup, there he is," Fishlegs told him, gesturing to the Lead Stinger.
Hiccup used his Gronckle Iron shield to fire bolas at him, wrapping him up. "Got him." Toothless jumped up to the stalactite and carefully got the lead dragon down.
They began to take him outside to the cage, but they wouldn't get too far. As if the pack could sense their leader was being taken away from them, they all awoke at once and followed them out of the cave. They made vocalizations that were more than enough to awaken the leader, he growled when he saw he was tied up and being taken away from his pack.
Fishlegs noticed the pack coming out of the cave, "Um, Hiccup?"
Hiccup saw the Speed Stingers coming out, "Get this Stinger in the cage right away!"
Unfortunately, the speedy dragon was able to get out of his restraints using his sharp tail and claws. He tried to sting Hiccup, but he was able to avoid it and Toothless shot a few plasma blasts at him.
He roared commandingly to his pack to come to him, and they began to make their way to the mouth of the cave. Before they could reach him, Hookfang fired down on them, blocking them from their leader.
Snotlout was now unfrozen and moving his arms victoriously, "That's right! Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" His victory was shortened by a Speed Stinger leaping up and stinging him in the leg, paralyzing him again, "Oh, come on!"
Hookfang fired at the Speed Stingers again, ensuring that they were stuck inside the cave. Which left the Lead Stinger on his own to face the riders and their dragons.
"He's too fast, Hiccup!" Fishlegs cried.
"Not for a Night Fury!" he declared.
He and Toothless had a standoff, circling each other while growling with obvious hostility. Finally, the first move was made by the Speed Stinger, he did a flip and tried to sting Toothless, who retaliated by firing a plasma blast at him again.
He then faced Hiccup, who held up his shield to stop himself from getting stung. The Speed Stinger flung his shield away, but Toothless caught it and flung it back to Hiccup.
"Thanks, bud," he grinned after retrieving his shield.
The Lead Stinger then ran up the rocks of the cliff the cave was connected to. Toothless shot more plasma blasts at him, but he dodged every one by leaping to another rock.
Toothless then jumped up the rocks to catch him, but he kept managing to jump away. He jumped off the rocks and back to the ground, away from Toothless.
A couple of the other Speed Stingers reunited with their leader by running through the fire, but the others stayed behind when Hookfang roared at them. The Lead Stinger screeched and roared for them, and they obeyed the command by leaping over the fire.
"Astrid, follow us!" Hiccup commanded after he got back onto Toothless.
"I think I know where you're going with this," she replied.
They flew around the Lead Stinger, who roared every time they tried to get close. Toothless shot a couple of plasma blasts, but he jumped back to avoid them.
"Stormfly, time to spike that Stinger," she told her.
She got the message and shot her spines down at him, causing him to back into the cage. Toothless then finished it by firing another plasma blast, closing the cage and trapping the Lead Stinger.
"Yes! Got him!" Hiccup grinned.
The Speed Stingers, distraught without their leader, began running and jumping around. Unfortunately, it gave the riders nowhere to go because one false move would get them stung.
"Hiccup, there's just too many of them!" Astrid shouted.
Then, they heard a familiar roar, the roar of a Thunderdrum, which chased away the Speed Stingers. It was Thornado and Stoick was riding him, completely free of his paralysis.
"Dad, you're okay," Hiccup sounded very relieved.
"Well, you didn't think I'd let you have all the fun, did you?" he remarked. He went up to the cage and sneered at the Lead Stinger, "Remember me?" He growled at him. "Now, get him off my island."
He looked up at Astrid, "You heard the chief."
"With pleasure," she replied.
She and Stormfly took the caged Speed Stinger out to the frozen ocean, where they were followed by the pack and the other riders. The Speed Stingers tried to free their leader multiple times, but Helene had Ripwave shock them every time they tried.
Eventually, one of them managed to sting Stormfly, which caused her to fall to the ice. Hiccup and Toothless came down and got the cage.
"I got the cage! Ruff! Tuff! Cover Astrid!" Hiccup commanded.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut had Barf and Belch create a ring of fire around Astrid. The Speed Stingers either ran around it or over the flames.
A couple of the fleet-footed dragons caught up to Hiccup and tried to sting him, but he deflected them with his shield. One even tried for his leg, fortunately for him it was his metal leg.
Unfortunately, although they weren't able to get him, they were able to get Toothless. One of them leaped and managed to knick Toothless' tail, but it was enough to send him down to the ice. The impact upon hitting the ice was more than enough to shatter the cage and free the Lead Stinger.
Hiccup's shield was out of bolas, he used them all when he captured the Lead Stinger. And to make matters worse, Toothless was unable to fire anymore plasma blasts due to the Speed Stinger venom.
Just as it seemed the Speed Stingers were about to get them, Hookfang fired down on the ice, melting it. By melting the ice it prevented the Speed Stingers from getting Hiccup and Toothless.
"Nice shooting, Snotlout," Hiccup complimented.
"No problem, Hiccup," he replied.
Gustav pushed him away, so he was hanging upside down from Hookfang's saddle. He crossed his arms and smirked, "Yeah, no problem, Hiccup."
Hookfang began to fly away, with Snotlout still hanging upside down. "Hey! Put me down! Repercussions! Repercussions!"
"Hey, need a ride home?" Helene asked Hiccup in a somewhat playful manner.
He smiled, "Thought you'd never ask."
With the Speed Stingers gone and back to where they belong, and with the ice melting, things were starting to get back normal. Almost normal anyway, Snotlout was still paralyzed and the twins and Gustav were making the best of it, for them at least.
While the village was being cleaned and put back together, Hiccup and Helene were taking Johann back to his ship. As much as she couldn't believe it, Helene was actually kind of sad to see her father leave, not because she liked her father, but, in all honesty, she got a good laugh out of his misery.
'Oh, Thor,' she thought with a slight grimace. 'I'm becoming my father.'
Once again, upon arriving at Johann's ship, Hiccup and Toothless landed on the deck while Helene and Ripwave remained in the air. Neither one wanted to get too close to him.
"Thank you again for the rescue, master Hiccup," Johann thanked him.
"No problem, Johann," he replied. "I'm just glad everything's back to normal."
"Oh, before you go, I have something for you. A little token of my appreciation." Johann picked up a large bottle of squid ink. "Pure squid ink, wrestled from the colossal squid of the Northern Waters."
Hiccup took the bottle, "Wow, thanks, Johann."
Then, as usual he began talking about how he got it, "Yes, there is actually a wonderful story that goes along with that bottle. Ten summers ago, deep under the currents of the Northern Waters, I was staring directly into the black eye…"
Helene whistled down at Hiccup and gestured her head in the direction of Berk. He smiled and nodded, getting back onto his dragon's back. While Johann wasn't looking, they took to the air again and flew back to the island.
X-X-o-X-X~*0-v-0*~X-X-o-X-X
(A/N: This was another lengthy chapter, but I actually don't mind, I had a lot of fun with this. Gustav isn't my favorite character, but I actually enjoyed writing his dialogue and actions.
I hope everyone could see the connection between Helene and Ripwave, even if it's not too obvious. I promise that there will be more development between them later on as this story continues on. I honestly can't wait and I hope you guys stick around to see it.
I don't know what I'm going to do next at this time, I don't have anything in mind. I better figure it out soon because students, including myself, are finally allowed to go back to school in my state. I'm happy I'm going back to school, I've had a case of cabin fever for a year, but this means I'm not going to be able to update as much as I want to.)