I'm skipping Reign of Fireworms. It's not that I didn't like it; in fact I find it to be one of the funnier episodes. Nothing of note comes from the episode to refer back to later, though, and there was seriously nothing I could think of to add to it. And believe me, I tried.
Sadly, it would have just been a waste.
Also, terribly sorry for the long delay (this puts me so far behind schedule, ah!). In short, there were behind the scenes issues, plus two-three weeks focused on finals. I also had to rewrite the first half of this chapter about 3 times, so I hope it all came out good. My original plan hadn't worked out.
Crushing It:
DING DING DING DING
Moon still high in the sky, their alarm rang, a chorus of bells screaming across the Edge. The riders all woke up in a rush and jumped out of their beds, before following a map Fishlegs had made to where the trap that set the alarm off was, one of several.
It wasn't long before the riders were gathered around a netter trap in a tree. It was holding something large inside, slightly swaying.
"We got him!" Hiccup leaped off Toothless. "Everybody, stay back!"
"I didn't think he'd be so smelly", Tuffnut said, completely disregarding what Hiccup had said as he and his sister walked up to it.
"I didn't think he'd be so hairy", Ruffnut said.
"You try shaving with a hook for an arm!" a voice exclaimed.
"The Rumblehorn talks!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "Quick, smack it."
"Cut me down, you simpleton!" Gobber shouted back.
"And its got a bad attitude", Ruffnut said.
Hiccup shook her head, holding the bridge of her nose as she wondered if the twins were actually this stupid, or simply liked acting like it.
"Oh, never mind", Gobber decided, then cut the net with his hook and dropped to the ground.
"Gobber? What did you do with our Rumblehorn?" Tuffnut asked.
"Rumblehorn?" Gobber asked. "What's a Rumblehorn?"
"A new dragon that's been trying to chase us off the island", Fishlegs said.
"We've been trying to catch him for weeks", Hiccup said, a little exasperated by that fact.
"Yet, we caught you", Snotlout said, unenthusiastic as ever. "Yay, us."
Gobber just looked at them as if they were all crazy. "You're trying to catch a dragon with a net that can't hold a one-legged, one-armed Viking?" he asked incredulously. "Amateurs."
"Not too late to club him still", Tuffnut slid over and muttered to Hiccup. "I can give him a little, 'Ah'! 'Ooh'!" he actually hit her that time. "You know, 'uh, uh, uh'!" he demonstrated once more, hitting the air as he held an imaginary club.
Hiccup looked at him with a deadpanned stare. "Yeah, we should just get back and check on the dragon base."
"Eh", Tuffnut shrugged.
When they got back to the base, they found it, well…
"Trashed!" Aric's arms flew into the air in frustration.
"Your words not mine", Gobber said. He'd been expressing how he was interested in seeing what they'd done with Dragons' Edge, given it would have been the first time he saw the base. This wasn't exactly the best first impression.
"The Rumblehorn must have hit us while we were out chasing you", Hiccup reasoned. It was really the only reason. That's just what the Rumblehorn did. Well, when they weren't on the base, that is. He just came in and trashed it, thinking if he destroyed everything enough, he could run them off the island. Well, he had another thing coming. As annoying as it was to clean up the mess he left behind and rebuild everything he'd destroyed, this was their home, their territory, and she wasn't going to let some new dragon come and tell her otherwise.
"Last chance", her musings were quickly interrupted by Tuffnut murmuring beside her. "I can still club him. Come on, club club club, join the club."
"As much as I love a good clubbing, even my own", Gobber said, "it'll have to wait. You and I need to talk", he pointed in-between them. "I've come with…disturbing…news about your father."
"Is he alright?" Hiccup immediately worried.
"Oh, he's fine", Gobber waved off.
"That's a relief", Hiccup sighed.
"But, then again, not so fine."
"Gobber, you're killing me. Is my father okay or not?!"
"Oh, he's as fit as a dragon. Unfortunately, he's as ornery as one too."
Toothless' ears shot up, before turning with a sharp growl.
"No offense", Gobber's hook and hand went up.
"Taken", Toothless growled again, before laying down on the grass and pointedly pulling his tail-fins over his face.
"I've never seen him like this. Angry, shouting at everyone."
"Actually, that sounds like vintage Stoick the Vast to me", Hiccup said.
"You think I would have sailed in a boat by myself for a week if it was vintage Stoick the Vast? He's driving the village crazy!" Gobber burst, and Hiccup leaned back a bit.
"Alright, I guess I better go see what's going on", she said.
"Good idea."
"You want to ride back with me and Toothless?" Hiccup asked as Toothless stood and she climbed on.
"Actually, I think I might stay awhile. Help repair your wee dragon base. See if I can offer up some of my…dragon-killing experience to help against that Rumblehorn. If there's time, I'll take Tuffnut up on that clubbing."
"It works with Ruffnut", Tuffnut called over.
"Ah, I get it. So basically you're hiding out from my father", Hiccup surmised.
"One might look at it that way", Gobber basically admitted.
"Well, bud, I guess we're off to Berk", she looked down to Toothless, and the two were off. It took them until the next day to arrive, the sun high in the sky as it reached late afternoon.
For it being so late into the day, however, Berk seemed oddly quiet. When they landed in the middle of town, Hiccup hummed at that fact, fewer people out and about than was normal.
"Quieter than usual", she muttered as she stepped out of the saddle, taking note.
"SHODDY WORKMANSHIP! THAT'S WHAT THIS IS!" her ears picked up on her father's voice, not that it was hard. Half the village could probably hear.
"Okay", Hiccup turned to Toothless, "Follow the sound of the angry Viking."
"I said I wanted these weapons arranged by deadliness!" her father continued to yell inside the armory as they approached. "Swords."
"Ah!" Hiccup jumped behind a catapult, Toothless ducking to the ground as a sword was suddenly thrown at them.
"Axes."
"Whoa!" she flinched as an ax was tossed, digging itself into the arm of the catapult.
"Bludgeons", he threw next, hitting the face of Toothless' wing as he used it as a shield.
"And maces."
The mace hit the lever for the catapult, a sheep sleeping inside launched. It screamed through the air.
That's when her dad came out grumbling, not even Toothless able to catch what he was saying, before he turned back around. "If I used them on you, you wouldn't forget how deadly they were!" he shouted to whoever was still inside, then turned again, grumbling more as he stomped off.
Hiccup stared out after him in awe, and some concern. She'd never seen her father so mad before. Not even after her blunder in the Kill Ring.
"Hiccup!" she then heard Not-so-Silent-Sven's voice. How could she ever mistake that shrill tone? "Thank Thor you're here!" he said as he raced out from the armory. "You've got to help us. Your father has become unbearable!"
"Well, to be fair, Sven, you did have the weapons out of order", Hiccup pointed out. Yes, her father's reaction was…well, more than usual, but it wasn't as if he was mad over nothing?
"That's because yesterday he told me to arrange them by length!" Sven told her, Hiccup's ears slowly pointing down with concern as he went on. "The day before it was by pointiness! And the day before that, it was by name! Did you know he gave each weapon its own nickname?!"
By this point, Hiccup's ears had reached the lowest they could possibly go. "Well, I-I have to admit, that is really weird. Uh, alright, I'll go talk to him", she nodded to Sven, then began to go off in the direction her father went. She had to pause a moment, though, when she heard Sven mutter something else.
"I mean seriously, who names their mace 'Daisy'?"
After blinking for a moment, Toothless passing her, Hiccup shook her head and continued forward. "This just keeps getting weirder."
000
As Hiccup tried to figure out what was going on in Berk, the rest of the riders and Gobber were in the midst of cleaning up the mess the Rumblehorn left of their base. They'd been cleaning debris for most of the day now.
"Either that Rumblehorn's got to, or we do", Aric said as he looked at everything they still had to clean up, not to mention fix.
"Hey, our boar pit survived! Cool!" Tuffnut suddenly exclaimed. "I like a pit, but I love a boar pit."
"You call that a boar pit? Ha!" Gobber laughed. "I've dug my way out of shallow graves deeper than that."
Meanwhile, Fishlegs was crouched to the ground, examining some footprints the Rumblehorn left behind. Out of everyone on Dragons' Edge, Hiccup and Toothless were really the only ones who had seen the Rumblehorn. Whatever disagreement went on between them they didn't know, but somehow it led to this. All Hiccup told them was the Rumblehorn claimed they were on his territory, and he wanted them off.
"Would you look at these Rumblehorn tracks?" Fishlegs awed. "If you take into account the width and the depth of the footprints, and the distance between them, I calculate that this dragon is―"
"Hefty", Gobber supplied. "One might even say, beefy."
"Does somebody want to tell me why we're rebuilding this place? He's just going to crash through and wreck it again", Snotlout exclaimed, and Gobber sauntered over.
"He wouldn't if you could build a defensive wall properly", he said, then stabbed a nearby log with his hook, hefting it over his shoulder. "Well, don't just stand there. If you want to learn, follow me."
000
"For Thor's sake, you plow like an old woman!"
When Hiccup caught back up to her father, he was already yelling at someone else, that someone being Gothi. Why she was left attempting to plow the field, one hand holding her staff, the other trying to drag the plow around, was anyone's guess, but Hiccup had a feeling her dad might have had a hand.
Gothi looked at her father quite annoyed, as if she were about to come over and whack him with her stick ten times the amount she usually did to Gobber or Astrid. Instead, she just dropped the plow, and her father marched over.
"Gah…hag…" Hiccup swore she heard her dad say in between his mumbling. He picked the plow up and hefted it over his shoulders. "This is how you plow!" he yelled, then began doing it himself. "Oh, it's so simple. You can't even…"
"Huh", Hiccup hummed at the sight. "So, should I talk to him now, or wait?" she glanced to Toothless.
"Wait", he answered a little too fast.
That was when Hiccup suddenly felt something hook around her face, just as quickly pulled before Gothi with nothing more than a startled shout.
"Gothi!" Hiccup exclaimed, rubbing her cheek a bit. "Uh, you know, personally, I don't know what he's talking about. I― I love your plowing! You…are by far my favorite…plower…in all of Berk. Yep, that-that's some good plowing."
"Hiccup, stop", Toothless subtly bleated behind her.
Gothi shook in rage, then practically attacked the ground with symbols, writing with speed she'd never seen from the old woman.
"Yes, I-I agree, he's totally out of control", Hiccup tried to simmer her down. What she said next was punctuated with a firm smack to the ground. "Watch the language. You know, he's still my father. I'll talk to him, I promise", she said, then looked up to find her father gone.
000
It took awhile, but they finally found where her dad went off to. He was inside the academy, throwing axes and failing to hit the target. It was so unlike him. Hiccup knew something was wrong before, but now, seeing him unable to even hit a spot on the target, she knew there was definitely something wrong.
Landing outside the arena, Hiccup walked in, her father's back turned to her as he grew more frustrated with each miss, a female Terrible Terror not helping as she mocked him.
"Achem", Hiccup tried to subtly get his attention, when her dad suddenly turned on her, ax raised. "AH! Dad, please don't kill me, it's you're daughter!" she panicked.
"Hiccup!" her dad immediately exclaimed in joy, doing a complete one-eighty, before tossing the ax behind him and accidentally landing a bullseye. It wasn't as if her dad noticed, though, as in two great strides he was suddenly crushing her in a huge bear hug, lifting her off the ground.
"G-good to see you too, dad. Now, now if I could just, um, breathe?" she wheezed out. Finally, he let go.
"I'm sorry", he then pat her back far too hard. She nearly fell from the force. "Just happy to see my little girl!"
"Oh, that's great. My-my cracked ribs and I are happy to see you too", her wings stretched a bit. "What are you doing all the way out at the academy?"
"Oh, well, I come up here for the peace and quiet", he strolled over to where a saddle was propped up, for some reason sitting in the academy. He took a rag and began polishing the leather. "Tired of hearing people complaining. 'Stoick, you're being too tough', 'Stoick", he threw the rag to the ground, "you're being too picky'. 'Stoick, you're cutting off my air supply", he demonstrated by strangling the air.
Hiccup only blinked back at him, unable to really form a response to…all that. Instead, she turned her attention back to the saddle. "Hey, i-is that Thornado's old saddle?" she walked up to it, brushing her palm over the smooth surface. "Wow, dad, you've really kept it shiny."
"Well, just because one dragon is gone, doesn't mean I'm going to let a valuable piece of equipment fall into disrepair", he said, and it was then Hiccup realized why her dad was acting so irritable all of a sudden. He missed her. With her gone, the house was empty, and without Thornado, he didn't have anyone to fill that space. That was why Thornado's saddle was here, polished as if brand new.
"But, enough about me", her dad turned back to the ax embedded in the target, striding over and yanking it out with a grunt. "What brings my world traveling daughter back to Berk?" he asked, and Hiccup suddenly felt put on the spot. How was she going to explain to her father she was here because he was acting crazy?
"Well, see―" she stumbled. "I-I was just―"
"Eh, Stoick", Not-So-Silent Sven suddenly interrupted. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I've got those weapons arranged by deadliness, just like you wanted them."
"And who said I wanted them that way?!" her father yelled, the grip on his ax tightening. "Does anyone around here listen?! Arg―!"
"Whoa, hey, dad, dad, dad-dad", Hiccup sung at the end after immediately jumping in between her father and Sven, her large wings spread out to block him from view. "I just had a great idea!"
"If it involves hurling an ax at Sven's head, let's hear it", her dad replied, and Sven ducked behind a shield.
"Ooh, I hear me sheep calling", he said, then ran.
"Uh, yeah, I was thinking something more relaxing", Hiccup pulled her wings in. "Something to take the edge off?"
"Edge?! What edge?!"
Hiccup merely gave him the 'you're kidding, right?' look, and her dad's tense form deflated.
"Okay, I'm listening."
"Yeah… So, I was thinking, why don't you take a couple of days off, come with me to see the dragon base?" she offered.
"No, impossible. There's far too much to do around here.", her dad surprisingly, and yet predictably, refused.
"O-okay, dad. Well, tell you what", Hiccup walked around to his side, placing a hand to his back, and began leading her father out. "I-if I'm being honest, the reason that I'm really here is that I've got a dragon problem back on the island", she told him. Sure, it wasn't exactly the truth, but it wasn't a lie either. Her dad almost immediately perked up, and they stopped, her dad turning to her intrigued.
"Dragon problem? What kind of a dragon problem?" he asked.
"Well, you see, there's this new species of dragon we've gotten into a bit of a territorial…dispute with. I-I thought we could handle it, but we could really use your help."
Hook, line…
"Well, I…suppose I could spare a moment. If you really need me", her dad added, then turned and resumed the rest of the way out.
"Oh, we do", Hiccup affirmed behind him. "We really, really do."
…and sinker.
000
"I have to admit, that's one impressive wall", Aric said as they stood back and admired the new defensive wall Gobber had just helped them build. "It should stop the Rumblehorn, at least from the ground."
The stone wall itself was fairly tall, and stretched across the outer length of their base. It made a sort of semi circle.
"I'm going to call her Greta", Gobber said, "after my first love. Large, sturdy, beefy, some would say."
The sound of the Rumblehorn's roar suddenly filled the air, and everyone went on high alert.
"It's coming from the west", Fishlegs cowered slightly. "And it's getting closer!"
Aric had Shadowstar fly up to the top of the wall to see if he could get a look. It didn't take long to spot the dragon running at full speed through the trees.
"Everybody, mount up!" he said, and they immediately did, quickly getting up in the air. "Gobber, move!"
Gobber stood firm before the wall, though, his back to it and arms spread as if his added weight would keep the wall intact upon the Rumblehorn's assault. "I'm not moving! The wall will hold!" he exclaimed, when the Rumblehorn suddenly slammed straight into it. The ground shook like that of an earthquake upon impact, but the wall stood tall. "Haha! Told you my Greta would hold!"
After that, seeing the riders flying above, the Rumblehorn, for whatever reason, seemed to lose interest. He retreated back into the forest, and Aric and Shadowstar were about to lead the others back to the ground, when they suddenly heard an awful creaking sound. Looking back to the wall, he saw the watchtowers at the top tip backwards.
"Gobber!" Aric exclaimed in shock, but before anyone could do anything, the watchtowers fell with a crash and Gobber was crushed underneath. At once, he and the others flew back. "Hurry up and move those logs!" Aric ordered, everyone's dragons pitching in to help grab and lift the large, heavy logs to resurface Gobber. He and Shadowstar went in too, and as they lifted one of the logs in the pile, they finally saw Gobber.
"Gobber, are you alright?" Aric asked, the man flat on his back. He responded almost immediately, which meant he thankfully wasn't unconscious, but as he tried to sit up, he didn't sound completely there either.
"Good morning, mommy", he mumbled, slurring his words a bit. "Is it time for dragon-killing school?"
"Hey, at least his wall held. Of course, everything else got crushed", Snotlout put his two sense in, when yet another roar reached their ears.
000
With Dragons' Edge in their sights, her father behind her on Toothless' back, Hiccup had to admit she was kind of excited for her dad to see all the hard work she and her friends had put into their base, even if the Rumblehorn kept destroying it. She was also just happy to spend some quality time with her dad. If she were honest, she'd been missing him too, but she had her friends, Toothless, the Dragon Eye, and Dagur to distract her with that. Her dad just had Gobber and a bunch of rowdy Vikings, which was probably why he was so irritable and completely done with everyone on the island. A nice family outing with a little dragon wrangling was exactly what her father needed to get his mind back on track. Unfortunately, their welcome wasn't exactly what Hiccup had had in mind.
Upon Toothless' roar, they were suddenly bombarded with blasts from Barf and Belch and the twins.
"Incoming, yeah! Fire, fire! Use all weapons! Start blasting!" she could hear Tuffnut yelling over the cacophony of fireballs they were sending their way, Toothless expertly dodging each and every one.
"Hey, it's us! Cut it out!" Hiccup yelled down, and with no more fire, she and Toothless were able to land.
"Oh, okay. Sorry about that", Tuffnut said, when he must have finally noticed her father was with her, because he began to nervously chuckle. "Heh-heh, nice to see you Chief. You're looking very fit. Your hands seem to be…rough, and…well-worked. Anyway, welcome to Rumblehorn hel", Tuff finished in introduction, dismounting from Belch's saddle.
"You weren't kidding about having dragon problems", her father said, and though on any other day Hiccup might have laughed or chuckled at the remark, she didn't like the look Aric had on his face. Something must have happened while she and Toothless were gone.
"Is anybody hurt?" she asked.
Aric responded with a bit of a half shrug. "Well, sort of." He turned back, directing to Gobber, and it was only then Hiccup noticed the state of her old mentor. Eyes unfocused, barely standing on his foot and peg-leg, he didn't look good.
"Hello, lovies", he said. "Who'd like some figgy pudding?" he held a boot in his hand, offering it to them as he also looked passed them.
"What's wrong with him?" her father stole the words right from her mouth, though he said it as more of a statement.
"Well, Chief, you can start with the peg-leg", Tuffnut started. "And then you add in the hook, and the bad breath, weird neck, I mean, look at his neck!"
"He'll be fine", Snotlout cut in. "He got hit by a watchtower."
"Hahaha!" Gobber suddenly screamed in laughter at Toothless, who had gone up to inspect the strange acting man. Toothless sat on his haunches, Gobber nearly swiping his underbelly with his hook. "Ah, you're killing me! Who knew you were such a card!" Uncomfortable, Toothless went back to all fours and back to Hiccup.
"Hiccup, these Rumblehorn attacks are getting out of hand", Aric said to her. "We have to do something."
000
"Preferably soon", Astrid said. "I don't know how much longer I can take cleaning up after that thing."
'That thing' clearly meant that Rumblehorn the kids were trying, and failing, to deal with. Well, it was a good thing Hiccup brought him, 'cause Stoick already knew just what to do.
"Okay then, first things first", he started, "We start with―", when Hiccup suddenly jumped in.
"Aric, Astrid, you search the eastern coastline. Ruff, Tuff, you have the west. My father and I will take the middle of the island. Fishlegs and Snotlout, you watch Gobber to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble, and keep fixing the base."
"Got it", Fishlegs affirmed, but Snotlout had other ideas.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute there, dragon master", Snotlout mocked.
"Hello, little fella", Gobber approached and cooed at him.
"How come I have to stay behind?" he questioned, almost in a whine. Stoick idly wondered how Hiccup was going to handle it.
"Rawr, I'm a dragon", Gobber continued.
"Okay, fine", his daughter didn't miss a beat. "You want to hunt the unstoppable, bloodthirsty dragon instead?"
"Bloodthirsty dragon, huh?" Snotlout mulled over.
"Ooh, look at my tail", Gobber exclaimed, before going into a loud whisper to Snotlout. "Do dragons chase their tails, or they breathe fire on them? I don't know."
"On second thought", Snotlout decided instead, "I don't want to give you guys an unfair advantage. So, I should probably stay behind, and protect one of the archipelago's national treasures."
"The sun, is a shiny potato. Covered in drawn butter", Gobber said next.
"And the moon is a scoop of ice cream", Snotlout responded, and though Hiccup looked on disturbed, or perhaps it was just confusion, Stoick couldn't help but smile, even as his old friend was completely out of it and she and her friends began readying themselves to head out. He'd only seen Hiccup lead her friends a few times, but this was the most he'd ever truly seen her take charge, especially in his presence.
The council had been reluctant to allow Hiccup clearance to go on her little expedition on account of their wants for Hiccup to start training to become Chieftess. They weren't at all impressed with Hiccup's performance as acting Chief, neither when he had been captured by Dagur or when he'd left Hiccup in charge of the Regatta, no matter how he disagreed.
However, seeing Hiccup take charge at that moment, knowing exactly what job to give to which person, on top of expertly handling the ones who didn't agree, in this case Snotlout, quickly and effectively, Stoick would say Hiccup was getting all the training she needed right here. Of course, there would still be things he needed to teach her, and leading a group of friends was rather different than leading an entire village, but it was a start. Here on Dragons' Edge, whether his daughter realized it or not, Hiccup was essentially the Chief of her own island. At that moment, he couldn't have been prouder.
000
Getting up in the air, Hiccup, Toothless, and her father searched their section of the island. Meanwhile, her father seemed lighter than air.
"Ah, it's good to be back up in the air again", he commented. "No wonder you never come back to visit; this island is spectacular."
"Thanks, dad", Hiccup smiled, though she felt a twinge of sadness at his comment of never coming to visit. True, she didn't come by often, and when she had it was always for some other purpose than to visit her father, but it wasn't as if she'd never seen him since coming to Dragons' Edge. Even now, her motive for spending time with him had come from a place other than to simply visit, but she was still spending time with him, right? It wasn't as if she'd just abandoned him?
"We're not going to be able to keep any of it, though, if we don't solve our Rumblehorn problem", Hiccup brushed those thoughts off, the Rumblehorn back to the forefront of her mind. That problem was much simpler to think on than her relationship with her father at the moment.
"Right", her father said. "When exactly did you start having trouble with it?"
"A few weeks ago. We didn't even know he was on the island, then suddenly, boom, he shows up out of nowhere. He's been trying to run us off the island ever since."
Her father hummed. "And has he killed any dragons?" he asked.
"No. He mostly just destroys our base, so far. This dragon is more than strong. It's fast, it's smart, and it's elusive. The riders haven't even gotten a good look at him."
"And you have?"
"Once. When Toothless and I were out flying. I…might have made him mad?" her voice pitched up. She sighed. "In any case, now he's playing a giant game of cat and mouse, us being the mice."
Despite her less than optimistic tone, her father chuckled. "This does seem like quite the challenge then, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it does", Hiccup, despite the situation, smiled back at him.
"Haha! Look at the two of us", her father spoke happily. "Two Vikings on the hunt, scheming to catch a wild beast."
"See? You're cheering up already, right?"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, dear."
Hiccup still smiled, though. Despite the denial, he was having fun. That was when rustling in the trees sounded, and a flock of Deadly Nadders raced up to the sky.
" "There!" " they each pointed.
"Like father, like daughter", Toothless rumbled.
They flew down to the spot they saw the Nadders flee, but it was quiet, and there was no Rumblehorn in sight.
"You see what I mean?" Hiccup complained as she dismounted with her father. "Every time, we just miss him."
"Well, we didn't see him fly away, so he has to be on foot. But which way?" her dad pondered, and that's when Hiccup spotted the trees.
"Over here", she called. "Check out the direction of the trees he took down."
"After you, hun", her father said, and with a nod, Hiccup led the way. "Hoho, this is great", she could hear him absolutely grinning in unbridled joy.
As they walked through the forest, following the trail of clues seeming carelessly left behind by the Rumblehorn, Hiccup was growing ever more confused. "These footprints are fresh", she knelt down to what seemed like a newly made trail. "We should be right on top of him."
"It's like the beast can sense us coming, and then it changes direction", her dad seemed to mull over. "A truly worthy adversary."
"I…suppose you could put it like that", Hiccup said as she stood back up, wondering why he said that as if he were appraising the dragon. She supposed her dad was just excited to have a real challenge for what probably felt like forever, but Hiccup really just cared about catching the Rumblehorn―the real trespasser, might she add―and getting him off her island.
"We have got to be getting close", Hiccup said exasperated after some time wandering around more. The sun was already going down.
"Ah, I don't think so. We've been here before. Look at the broken branches on this side of the trail", her dad pointed, and Hiccup noticed it. They were walking in circles! That was just great; all this time, and they'd just been walking around in circles like a couple of fools. What her dad said next though, gave Hiccup pause. "The beast has doubled back on us", he said.
"Wait, you think he knows we're hunting him?" she asked.
"No. I think he's hunting us."
"Oh, that's good! No, I-I prefer it much more the other way around", Hiccup said sarcastically, when her dad walked off to a fallen tree. "What are you thinking, dad?"
Breaking off a thick branch, her father turned back around. "I might have an idea on how we're going to catch this beast."
000
With Hiccup and Toothless hidden in the trees, Stoick stood out in the open, a rope and club-like branch in hand. His daughter might know dragons, but she didn't know how to hunt dragons, and when a dragon starts hunting the hunter, the best and only course of action to take was to lure the beast out. That was why he stood seemingly alone, making a load of noise and vibrations on the ground.
"Well, I've got my club and I've got my rope", he sang loudly as he slammed the branch hard against the ground over and over, "and I smell like a yak 'cause I don't use soap, I'm a Viking through and through!"
000
A roar sounded, an angry, fed up shout, and Hiccup could tell it was from the Rumblehorn. Not only did the dialect match, but it was clear the Rumblehorn was annoyed with her father, unknowingly taking their bait as he emerged from the brush and stalked up to him with a present snarl. His back was arched high, his body low to the ground and wings slightly spread out. If that wasn't language for a threat, Hiccup didn't know what was. Hiccup stayed put, though. Her father had handled much more dangerous dragons in the past and made it out fine.
"Well", she heard her father voice, amusement coating it. "You're magnificent! And you've got a lot to say, don't ya?"
"Where is the alpha?!" the Rumblehorn roared. "I know you're hiding her!"
"Now, let's see if you can back it up", her father challenged, and he and the Rumblehorn suddenly charged at each other.
That was Hiccup's cue. Sweeping in from behind, Hiccup held a net to be thrown. The Rumblehorn must have seen them coming, though, because just as Toothless came in range and Hiccup let the net go, the Rumblehorn dodged it.
"Dad! Get out of there!" she immediately shouted, but why Hiccup thought he would listen she would never know.
"Not a chance!" he replied, and instead threw one end of his rope at the Rumblehorn, wrapping it around his large red horn. Her father then, with the momentum of a high leap boosted by the rope and its anchor, pulled the Rumblehorn to the ground, the dragon crashing in a heap before her father with a cloud of dust. The dragon was far from down, though.
"Dad, let go of the rope!" Hiccup warned, but it was already too late. The Rumblehorn stood and leaped into the air, her father left dangling. "Dad, don't let go of the rope!"
Toothless raced after them, Hiccup hoping to catch up to the two, but as her dad seemed to try and climb the rope to get to the dragon for whatever insane reason, he lost his grip and fell.
"Dad!"
The Rumblehorn turned to a nose dive after him, though it didn't look it was to save him, more akin to the when the Red Death nose dived after her and Toothless.
"Oh, you want a piece of me on the way down, don't ya?!" she heard her father yell as they got closer. The next second, her and Toothless swooped in and caught him, her father landing on Toothless' back instead of the ground still hundreds of feet below.
The Rumblehorn came out of his nosedive, and for a brief moment, as he landed and Toothless flew the opposite direction, they made eye contact, the Rumblehorn giving her this unreadable look, before it was cut off.
"We'd better get back to Dragons' Edge for reinforcements", Hiccup then said, and her father agreed, before shouting back.
"This isn't over, Rumblehorn!"
000
Watching the half-breed alpha and large human get away, 'the Rumblehorn' was furious. When he'd first returned to the island, he'd been surprised at the nest that had been made on what had been his home, but he tried to be civil.
…The half breed alpha looked at him with an uncertain look. She didn't seem to trust his story of how the land her pack had built their nest on was his. It was a regular stop in his migration patterns, merely a nice place to stay during the winter, which he could feel coming very soon.
"The only thing I don't understand is why we didn't sense any markings to suggest the territory had been claimed already", the half-breed said as she crossed her forearms, and 'the Rumblehorn' was starting to become irritated.
"I already explained that", he began to growl, losing patience with the young alpha.
"No, I think you've made your case. But I'm sorry; this territory has our claim now. You're still welcome to stay, though. After all, Dragons' Edge is, well, Dragons Edge", she shrugged, and in response, 'the Rumblehorn' stood taller to show just how much bigger he was to the small half-breed and her Night Fury companion. Then, he roared…
'The Rumblehorn' turned to a rope laying on the sand, the same rope that human had looped around his horn, and he sniffed it. A trail opened for him then, and looking to the distance, 'the Rumblehorn's' nostrils flared.
000
When Hiccup, Toothless, and her dad returned back to the base, the sun had set and construction was still underway it seemed. They landed in the arena pit and her dad looked around for a moment after dismounting behind her.
"Where's Gobber?" he asked as Snotlout and Fishlegs were carrying planks of wood.
"Yoo-hoo!" his voice suddenly came, finding Gobber with face paint and chasing a group of boars. "Come back, please!"
"Boar pit", Snotlout said.
"Okay, Gobber accounted for", Hiccup commented, before Aric suddenly walked in.
"Hiccup", he rushed up, "Did you find the Rumblehorn?"
"More like he found us", she told him.
"Haha, gave us a good run, that one", her dad cut in.
"We're gonna resupply, and then we all need to go look for him."
"Eh, I bet I could find him", Tuffnut jumped in. "Like, right now."
"Oh really", Snotlout said disbelievingly.
"Oh yeah."
"Oh really?" Snotlout said again.
"Yeah", Tuffnut affirmed again.
"How?"
"Wait for it… Bing", Tuffnut pointed, and looking up to the sky, there was the Rumblehorn flying straight for them before the moon.
"What the―?!" Hiccup exclaimed. "Everybody, on your dragons! We need to draw him away from Dragons' Edge!" she told everyone, before talking to herself. "He tracked us. All the way here", she said disbelievingly.
"Impressive", her father said, his gaze still up to the dragon.
"Dad, let's catch him first, then we can admire him?"
Getting onto their dragons and into the air, the riders flew to intercept and lead the Rumblehorn away, but were suddenly cut off by Smidvarg and his Night Terrors, seemingly fleeing the island in a state of panic.
"Where are all the Night Terrors going?" Astrid asked, but that wasn't their only problem. The Rumblehorn flew straight passed them, not even sparing a glance.
"And why isn't the Rumblehorn following us?" her father asked this time, and Hiccup knew exactly why when she saw Gobber still chasing a boar.
"Because, he's following him", she said, and with Gobber's current state, there was no way he could defend himself. Whether or not the Rumblehorn knew that, Hiccup knew exactly why he was doing it.
…The Rumblehorn challenged her, right then and there. Hiccup didn't know what to do. The last thing she wanted was to fight, especially when she'd just offered to share the island with him. He could even stay in the base if he wanted to.
Hiccup's head shook back and forth. "No."
That was what started all this. That one word. And as she looked to Gobber, the Rumblehorn now on the ground running towards him, completely unsuspecting, she knew what words would stop it.
"I accept!" she roared, loud and clear, and the Rumblehorn stopped. Toothless giving her an uneasy look, she had Toothless land, and dismounted. She looked back to her father. "Take Toothless up for me", she told him, but her father gave her an uncertain look, something of concern, or maybe confusion, flitting by. "Trust me."
Scooting up in the saddle, her father took control of Toothless' tail, and after grabbing Gobber against his will, Toothless flew up back to the others, Gobber promptly dropped with Snotlout, much to his visible dismay. With her father, brother, and mentor safe, Hiccup looked back to the Rumblehorn.
"A little underhanded using a defenseless man, don't you think?" Hiccup said, a slight growl slipping through.
"I don't take weakness for an answer", the Rumblehorn told her, his growl intentional, meant to scare her.
"I'm far from weak."
000
As Toothless flew him and Gobber back to the riders, the kids were visibly confused.
"Hiccup!" Aric called. "I don't understand. What is she doing?" he looked to him, but Stoick knew about as much as he did.
His daughter was standing across from the Rumblehorn, the latter of which was lowering his stance as if preparing for a fight, and Stoick couldn't understand what was going on. His daughter was doing the same, though she seemed to be taking a much more defensive position than that of the Rumblehorn. He couldn't help but notice her lack of a weapon.
"Fishlegs, spill", Aric suddenly sounded again, almost demanding.
"I-I think… she accepted a challenge?" Fishlegs practically squeaked the last word. The riders went silent, and that didn't sit well with Stoick. His head snapped back up to the group.
"And what is that?" Stoick asked, knowing anger was showing in his increasing worry.
The kids seemed to glance to each other, a nervous tension rising in the air as time ticked on. That was when a roar caught their ears, and all eyes went down to Hiccup and the Rumblehorn. The Rumblehorn rushed at Hiccup, and Hiccup dodged with a jump.
"Fishlegs!" Stoick looked back at the boy with a glare, ordering him to tell him exactly what was going on that instant. His daughter dodged yet another attack before getting into the air. At least Hiccup was at more of an advantage now.
"I-it's a battle between two dragons to settle…well, a-anything really", Fishlegs finally explained.
"Like a territorial dispute", Aric stated.
"Exactly", Fishlegs affirmed.
"But why would Hiccup accept it? We could have taken him no problem", Snotlout said.
"Because it's probably what the Rumblehorn wanted all along", Fishlegs said. "A challenge to settle the disagreement."
"And that must be why he only ever destroyed the base; he was just trying to get Hiccup to fight him", Astrid added.
"Well, it looks like he got what he wanted", Aric looked back to the fight, and so did Stoick.
000
Dodging from one attack to another, a fireball this time, Hiccup knew she couldn't keep this up forever. Without anything to fire back, though, she was left with limited options. It wasn't as if she had her own claws, or fire, or anything really. All she had was her speed and wits. That might have been all she needed, though. The Rumblehorn was large and bulky, and that served him well for heavy straight on attacks, but it probably didn't bode well for maneuverability.
"Alright. My turn", Hiccup muttered, then turned and flew for the mountains. Just as she predicted, the Rumblehorn followed, but as Hiccup maneuvered around and through the rocky terrain and, quite literally, mountainous obstacles, he wasn't slowing down.
000
At last Hiccup was putting a plan into action it seemed, he and her friends following the battle with their dragons as they cheered her on.
"Come on, Hiccup!"
"Get him!"
"Don't hit the mountain!"
But as the Rumblehorn didn't crash, or even slow down, even as Hiccup was trying to bait him to, Stoick began to grow increasingly worried. If this didn't work what else could she do? She had no weapons, no dragon, and no physical strength of her own that could match that of this dragon. All his daughter could do was fly away, but even that appeared to be futile, and she couldn't very well dodge and weave forever.
Eventually, that appeared true. The Rumblehorn fired a fireball, and still trying to bait the dragon, Hiccup couldn't dodge it in time. Instinctively protecting herself, her wing took most of the blow, but it was still all it took for Hiccup to be thrown to the ground and into the field below.
" "NO!" " her friends yelled.
"Hiccup!" Stoick shouted, Toothless screeching as well. His daughter was down, and the Rumblehorn was landing before her, placing a paw on top of her chest to keep her pinned to the ground. He was about to dive with Toothless to get her out of there, when Fishlegs and Meatlug stopped him.
"Chief, no!" they got right in front. "A challenge is only between two dragons. If any of us interfere, the outcome becomes null and void and they'll have to start over. It won't make a difference."
"Fishlegs is right, sir", Aric said next. "We need to trust Hiccup to make it out on her own." As the boy looked back to the scene, though, he looked just as worried, almost as if he too just wanted to rush down there and save her. In fact, Stoick knew the look all too well, as it was the same one he'd had 18 years ago.
000
Crashing to the ground from the fireball that'd been thrown her way wasn't one of her better moments, but Hiccup was glad for her wings' ability to protect her. If not, well she didn't want to really think about that, especially when the one who shot the fireball at her was currently pinning her down with just one paw on her chest. Hiccup fought to get it off, or at least be able to wriggle out, but the Rumblehorn was keep her locked tight.
"Yield", the Rumblehorn growled at her.
Hiccup didn't, though. Instead she fought more underneath his paw. It probably wasn't her smartest decision, what with her current position, but Hiccup wasn't anything if not stubborn. She wasn't going to give up their home so easily, not when they'd worked so hard to build it, not when she'd offered to share it!
The Rumblehorn roared next, an ear splitting roar almost akin to when she'd first met Toothless, when she heard her father.
"Get your paws off my daughter!" he screamed with a roar of anger. When Hiccup looked, he wasn't on Toothless, but charging at them from the ground, Toothless gliding and landing on the ground far behind him. Her eyes grew wide. "ARRRGGGHHH!"
Suddenly the Rumblehorn was shoved off, Hiccup free to roll over and watch as her father now fought against the Rumblehorn. As Toothless rushed to her side, the Rumblehorn looked stunned, until her dad punched him in the face. It was now a fight between the Rumblehorn and her father, her dad using nothing but his bare fists to punch the Rumblehorn back.
000
Stoick hadn't been able to take it anymore. Seeing Hiccup pinned, relentlessly fighting but unable to break free, set off his parental instincts ten fold. At that moment, challenge or no challenge, his little girl was in trouble. Stoick jumped, much to Hiccup's friends' surprise, and landed to the ground with a heavy thud. He hadn't been worried about Toothless, his entire focus on the dragon hurting his daughter. He swore he saw red, right before he charged.
It was his turn with the beast.
"You want a challenge, eh? I'll give ya a challenge!" he shouted as he punched the Rumblehorn's face side to side, before the Rumblehorn retaliated with a hit from its horn, throwing Stoick back to the ground. He got up, and he felt a smirk spread across his face. He hadn't had a fight like this since he and Thornado went at it their first time meeting.
He lunged at the dragon again, but this time, there was a smile.
000
'The Rumblehorn' jumped back from the human's next advance, before running around him and charging himself, horn at the ready. He'd been shocked at first, when the human had practically body slammed and shoved him off the little half-breed alpha. Then he became angry.
How dare that human interfere with their challenge. Then he claimed to take her place as well, and that made him even angrier. It wasn't the human's place!
The human dodged his attack this time.
As their fight progressed, though, and he noticed the human's smirk, followed by a smile, he noticed how he began to feel exhilarated. This fight, it was nothing like the half-breed had posed. It was challenging, exciting, a real fight.
'The Rumblehorn' charged again, anger no longer a factor behind it. Now this was a challenge.
000
"Hey!" a screech caught Hiccup's ears, her eyes leaving the fight to Smidvarg flying must have doubled back, his pack not with him. "What do ya think you're doing?! Retreat! Retreat! Retreat for your lives!" he screeched, then immediately rushed away.
"Retreat?" Hiccup muttered, then looked to Toothless, her dragon looking at her with the same bewildered expression. Retreat from what? The Rumblehorn? Deciding to check it out, Hiccup quickly got up onto Toothless and into the air. Just before rushing off, though, she checked on her father. He was still locked in combat with the Rumblehorn, at times able to get the Rumblehorn's head pinned to the ground by his horn, but the Rumblehorn was, as her father put it, 'quite the challenge', and it seemed as if he was enjoying it. She could see his smile from up there. And was that a smile on the Rumblehorn's face?
In any case, Hiccup and Toothless rushed off, not even stopping to address their friends despite how odd it must have looked, not even caring when Aric shouted for her to wait. Smidvarg had gotten quite the head start, but she and Toothless were able to catch up quickly. Just as they were about to, though, Hiccup wanting to question the little dragon more about what he'd been screeching about, something odd caught her eye in the distance.
"Toothless, the sea level; is it rising?"
Seeing it too, Toothless sped forward, no longer following Smidvarg, and it was then that Hiccup didn't need to ask the Terror anymore. A giant wave was headed straight for Dragons' Edge, and it was big enough to destroy their entire base, not to mention drown anyone and anything still on the island.
They rushed back, and Hiccup shouted, "Stop! Stop!" Toothless landed and Hiccup slid off all at once as her father and the Rumblehorn stopped to look at her, the Rumblehorn in the middle of a struggle with her dad as he'd been pushing against him with her dad's hands gripped on the base of his horn. Her friends and their dragons landed.
"There's a giant wave headed for us, fast", she told them urgently. "That's why the Night Terrors were fleeing, and what Smidvarg was trying to warn about."
"Ohhhh, yeah, not buying it", Tuffnut said. "Okay, guys, real quick. How long does it take to learn to swim?"
"No one has to swim. We just need to block the wave from hitting the camp. Of course, we can't very well do that while fighting", Hiccup's eyes went straight to the Rumblehorn. "Truce? For now?"
Glancing to her father and then to her, after a moment, the Rumblehorn gave a firm nod, stepping back as her father did as well.
"Great", Hiccup smiled.
"Okay, cool, Rumblehorn's on our side now, but how are we supposed to build a barrier in time? Isn't it a little late, Hiccup?" Snotlout questioned.
"No, Gobber's rock wall", Astrid said. "That's big enough to stop the wave. We just need to reinforce it."
Without delay, they set to work. Their dragons carried and flew additional rocks and boulders to make the wall taller, they had Meatlug fill in the cracks with her lava spews, as well as Stormfly and Shadowstar's spines, but as the wave got closer and the tide became higher, water was spilling in at every turn.
"The wall isn't going to be high enough to stop that wave!" Fishlegs exclaimed in alarm.
"And it's cracking!" Aric exclaimed.
"You handle the cracks, dear!" her father shouted from below, then got onto the Rumblehorn, who was standing beside him. "I think we've got an idea!"
The Rumblehorn took off with her father on his back, and all Hiccup could say was, "Wait, we?!"
Nevertheless, Hiccup had them continue, Meatlug, Stormfly, and Shadowstar working faster and harder at plugging up the cracks as Barf and Belch threw boulders to Toothless to place at the top of the wall. When Toothless landed with another boulder and Hiccup looked up, she gasped in horror. The wave was right before her, high above their heads and ready to crash at any second.
000
Stoick and the Rumblehorn stopped before a nearby sea stack, time running out, but Stoick was nothing but calm.
"Alright, boy, let's finish this", he said, and the Rumblehorn charged forward. Blasts of fire came next, hitting the sea stack to weaken it, the dragon not slowing down. "Full speed, big fella!" The Rumblehorn rammed right into the sea stack, and the pillar fell right on top of the wall. The wave hit, and it was just high enough, nothing more than splashes making it over. His daughter's base was safe.
000
The next day the riders had set to work disassembling the wall, or at least making it smaller. They doubted another wave like that would come again any time soon.
Once finished, Hiccup and Fishlegs stood to watch as her father and the Rumblehorn bonded; it was the only word Hiccup could think to describe what she was seeing as they flew together. Or, had they bonded last night, and this was the aftermath? She wasn't entirely certain. In any case, they were up in the air, her father whooping at the thrill. She hadn't heard that sound since Thornado left. It was nice.
"Look at this guy", Fishlegs said beside her. "He's amazing."
"Haha, yes. You can say that again, Fishlegs", her father said fondly as the Rumblehorn stopped to a hover before them.
"You know, guys, this is a whole new class of dragon. We need a name."
"Well, it tracked us down", Hiccup thought out loud. "How about, Tracker Class?"
"Tracker Class?" Snotlout questioned. "Hahaha, yeah right. That sounds like something I would come up with."
"Perfect."
"Tracker Class it is!" Fishlegs agreed.
"What? You like it?" Snotlout exclaimed. "Aw, come on!"
Hiccup, Fishlegs, Toothless, and Hookfang all laughed.
000
Later in the day, Gobber was acting normal again and ready to head home with her dad. Together, she and her father headed down to the docks, finding Gobber in his boat and preparing to set sail. The Rumblehorn followed them.
"Gobber", she greeted. "I'm really glad you're back to normal."
"Yeah", Gobber agreed. "Not sure what all went on, but I'm sore in places I didn't know I had."
"So", Hiccup then turned to the Rumblehorn, "the issue of who gets the base."
"Keep it", he interrupted.
"What?" she asked, caught off guard.
"Your sire proved a worthy opponent. Besides, I won't need it anymore."
Hiccup's eyes creased, her head tilting. "Dad, what...?"
"Oh", her father only laughed. "He must have told ya. Skullcrusher will be coming to stay with me from now on, isn't that right, fella", he pat the dragon affectionately.
"Skullcrusher, huh?" Hiccup repeated. "Fitting."
"I'm glad I let you insist I come here, dear. Might 'ave never met him otherwise. He truly is a magnificent dragon", he gave the Rumblehorn, or Skullcrusher scratches. Skullcrusher seemed to lean into the attention.
"You know, dad, when I first came back to Berk, I thought you were missing me", Hiccup confessed. "But it was Thornado all along, wasn't it."
"Aw, I do miss that magnificent beast", he stopped and turned back to her. "We had some connection, he and I."
"I get it", Hiccup moved closer to Toothless, giving him a little scratch under the chin as he leaned towards her chest. "I can't imagine what it would be like without Toothless."
"Aw", Toothless cooed.
"Well, Thornado will never be replaced, but this guy… We're a lot alike, he and I. We're both protectors, both leaders."
"Both fighters", Hiccup muttered. After all, wasn't that how their bonding started? In a fight? It didn't make what her father felt Skullcrusher was false, but it was still true. Thinking over last night and what she had seen, it was almost the same as to what he and Thornado had bonded over. Mutual respect through strength of will and body, as well as her father's instinctive need to protect. It wasn't hard to see the same respect in Skullcrusher as Thornado had for her father.
"Both hard-headed too!" Gobber called over from where he'd already sailed from the dock.
"Hard-headed, ya say?" her father said as he mounted. "Skull-crushing's more like it!"
"Like I said", Hiccup leaned to Toothless, "fitting."
They waved goodbye to each other after that, and her father began to turn Skullcrusher away, about to take off and follow Gobber back. Hiccup began to turn as well, when her father suddenly spoke.
"And, by the way, hun?" he said, and Hiccup turned back to face him. "I do miss you. A lot, in fact."
Hiccup couldn't help her smile.
"Alright, big fella, let's get back to Berk", he turned his attention back to Skullcrusher, and the dragon took off. "I've got the perfect saddle waiting for ya."
Staring after her father, Hiccup almost didn't notice Toothless sneaking up behind her, until his big dragon tongue licked the entire side of her face. "Toothless", she laughed.
"Come on!" he bound back to the others, standing a little ways away.
"Alright, guys!" she followed. "We have a lot of work to do, so let's get to it."
