The Dragon Whisperer

Snotlout watched as his cousin and girlfriend were led away, probably to the prison. After the stunt they pulled, they would be lucky to still be alive by the end of the day.

"Well, that didn't go as planned," Fishlegs said from next to him.

"Did you see Stoick? Who knew he could get that mad?" Tuffnut said.

"Considering his own son just committed treason, it's not surprising," Ruffnut commented.

"What do we do now?" Fishlegs asked.

"Maybe we try to convince Stoick ourselves," Snotlout suggested.

"Stoick the Vast? Good luck with that," Fishlegs said.

"Not to mention that if we say anything, we'll be thrown in jail too," Tuffnut added.

"Okay, then, what about Valka?" Snotlout suggested. "Maybe she has an idea."

"Good idea, except we don't know where she would be," Tuffnut pointed out.

"Actually, we can take a pretty good guess," Fishlegs said. "Odds are she's in the forest, as she probably would have followed Toothless."

"Then we need to find her, who knows what the Chief will do in the meantime," Snotlout said, leading the way into the forest.

Hiccup and Astrid were led to the prison and roughly thrown into the same cell. The barred door was slammed behind them. The cell was relatively small, with a single cot and a chamber pot.

"Well, that could have gone better," Astrid said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Much better," Hiccup deadpanned.

"So now what?" Astrid asked, hoping her boyfriend had some idea.

"I don't know. I didn't think this would happen," Hiccup admitted, sitting on the cot. "Worse, Toothless is trapped now and eventually they will kill him."

"Wonder why Stormfly didn't show up," Astrid mused.

"My mom probably kept her back so she wouldn't wind up captured too," Hiccup said. "Though there was no way she was going to be able to hold back Toothless."

"I'm amazed that he actually came to your rescue," Astrid said. "He must have run halfway across the island to get to the arena."

"And he ran to try and rescue us, and he protected me from the Nightmare after Stoick startled it," Hiccup added.

"So, what now?" Astrid repeated.

"I don't know. We face whatever my father has in store for our treason," Hiccup said. Astrid noted that he sounded defeated.

They waited several minutes. They could hear some faint arguing from outside the prison, probably all the Vikings that were upset by them committing their treasonous act.

Eventually, someone walked in, but it wasn't Stoick. It was Astrid's parents.

Ingrid looked furious and Alvar looked disappointed. "Mom, dad, I can explain," Astrid started.

"Silence," Ingrid hissed. "You are a disappointment, Astrid. You have not only disobeyed me, but you tried to befriend that monster."

"Mom…"

"No," Ingrid cut her daughter off. "I saw what you tried to do. You tried to befriend that demon, and you were doing it with him," Ingrid pointed a finger at Hiccup. "I told you never to be near him, but not only have you clearly not been doing that, you've been plotting your treason together."

"But…"

"AND… you've clearly befriended that runt as well. I saw you with him in there. You've been lying to me for years. That's the only explanation for why you're suddenly so friendly with that boy. You've been friends with him behind my back, and you've clearly had a relationship with him for some time as well."

"Mom…"

"How long?" Ingrid hissed. When Astrid didn't respond, she continued. "How long have you been friends with him behind my back?"

Astrid gulped before responding. "I never really stopped."

Ingrid stormed back and forth in front of the cell. "So you went back to see him immediately after I told you not too? And what else have you been doing? I know you went into the forest. Was it to see him instead of train? Were you taking your skirt off for him?"

"No!" Astrid protested. "Hiccup would never do that! He's a gentleman and we've never done that. I trained him, nothing more."

"And you expect me to believe that?" Ingrid raised her voice. "How am I supposed to know anything you've told me is the truth?"

Astrid had no response to that. She looked to her father, wondering what his opinion on all this was. He still looked disappointed, but that was it. He wasn't mad at her. That was some comfort, but not enough.

"I'm done with you, Astrid," Ingrid said. "I've tried, and I've tried, but it's clear to me now, you can't be what I want you to be."

"Mom…"

"Don't call me that. I have no daughter anymore," Ingrid said with a cold voice. She started walking away, grabbing Alvar's wrist to drag him along.

Astrid sat down on the cot and started to cry. Hiccup, sitting next to her, wrapped his arms around her. He had never seen her cry before except when she was younger, and when he had nearly broken up with her a year ago. She cried into his shoulder, the tears running down her cheeks and soaking his vest. He wasn't sure what to say. What could he say? She had been disowned by her family.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually, Stoick stomped in. Astrid had calmed down somewhat, though she was still a little decomposed. Stoick stomped back and forth in front of the cell for a bit before speaking up.

"I'm a fool, I should have seen the signs," he said furiously.

"Dad…" Hiccup said cautiously, getting up.

"We had a deal!" Stoick shouted.

"I know, I wanted to tell you, but…" Hiccup couldn't find the words to explain himself. "It's all so messed up. I wanted to tell you, but I could never really figure out how."

"So everything in the ring, a trick? A lie?" Stoick kept stomping in front of the bars. "And you even got Astrid in on it?"

"She was with me, she was helping me figure it out, I… Look, be mad at me, take this out on me, just please, don't hurt her, or Toothless." Hiccup didn't want to see Astrid hurt any more than she was.

"The dragon?" Stoick questioned. "That's what your worried about? Not the people you almost killed?"

"He was just protecting me. He came to save me, they're not monsters," Hiccup defended.

"They've killed hundreds of us!"

"And we've killed thousands of them!" Hiccup argued. "They defend themselves, that's all!"

Stoick continued his storming, apparently brushing off Hiccup's argument. Astrid would have laughed at how stubborn the two Haddock's were and absently wondered if it was a family trait.

"They raid us because they have to!" Hiccup continued. "If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves." It didn't look like Stoick was paying attention anymore. "Dad, there's something else on their island…"

That got the Chief's attention. His head snapped to look at his son.

"It's like no dragon we've ever-"

"Their island!" Stoick shouted. "So, you've been to the nest?" He leaned closer to the bars, and only now Hiccup realized what he had said.

"Did I say 'nest'?" he asked nervously.

"How did you find it?"

"What, no I didn't find it, Toothless did," Hiccup said. "Only a dragon can find the island."

Stoick's eyes widened, and both teens realized what he was thinking.

"Stoick, you can't," Astrid said, getting up, fear overriding sadness.

"Dad, no, you can't do that, you'll be killed," Hiccup pleaded. But Stoick was past listening.

"Stoick, don't. That queen will kill the entire village!" Astrid begged.

"You can't! It's too strong, you can't win this one!" Hiccup pleaded, but Stoick turned and started walking away. "Dad, no! For once in your life, would you please listen to me!" He reached through the bars to grab his dad's hand, but Stoick shook him off before turning on them both.

"You've thrown in your lot with them," he accused. "You're not Vikings." He looked specifically at Hiccup. "You're not my son," he said, his voice breaking. He turned away and marched out of the prison. "Ready the ships! We sail at first light!"

Hiccup sunk against the bars as he realized what he had just done. He had effectively killed the entire village.

Outside, Stoick stumbled for a brief moment as what he did hit him. He wasn't sure how to deal with his son and Astrid, but it would have to wait until after they attacked the Nest, which would have to wait until tomorrow, as it was too late to set sail today.

As he walked away from the prison, a lithe figure watched him. She had heard everything, and was disappointed in Stoick. "What have you done?" Valka questioned. If she didn't do something, Stoick would sail all of Berk to the nest, and the Red Death would kill them all. She had to fix this, and fast. She snuck away, to the forest. Hopefully the other teens would be there and she could plan something with them.

The teens came across the clearing that Hiccup and Astrid had used for training, hoping to meet Valka there. They had overheard Stoick's bellow and there was only one thing he could be preparing to do.

"He's going to attack the nest!" Fishlegs panicked. "If-if they go there, and awaken the Red Death…"

"We know, the entire village will be destroyed," Snotlout said, exacerbated.

"That would not be awesome," Tuffnut said. "We like destruction more than anyone," he pointed to himself and his sister.

"But that will destroy everyone and everything," Ruffnut finished.

"So what do we do?" Fishlegs asked.

"We stop them." Everyone turned to see Valka walking into the clearing. "We can't let Berk reach the Nest, so we prevent them from ever leaving the village."

"How do we do that?" Snotlout asked.

"It won't matter," Fishlegs said. "Once Stoick has made up his mind, it's impossible to change it. Even if we stop them from sailing, he'll just find a way around it and get to the Nest another way."

"That's why we're going to kill the Red Death ourselves first," Valka said. Everyone stared at her before Tuffnut burst out laughing.

"Yeah, right. Imagine! There's no way we're going to…" he stopped when he realized she was serious. "Wait, what? Us kill it?"

"Uh, it's it supposed to be impossible to kill?" Ruffnut asked.

"We'll figure something out," Valka assured. "We'll leave before daybreak and get there just before nightfall."

"One problem, the Red Death can control any dragon that gets near it," Snotlout pointed out. "What about then, huh? It'll take control of the others."

"Yeah, not to mention that we don't have a dragon that strong," Fishlegs added. "Though a Night Fury would probably be a huge advantage."

Valka pondered on that and realized that Fishlegs and Snotlout were right. "Well, we'll have Toothless along, and you've all built up powerful bonds with your dragons. That should give them some protection."

"How are we going to bring Toothless with us? He's locked in the arena. Not to mention that Hiccup is the only one who can ride him, and he's locked up in jail," Snotlout pointed out.

"I have an idea about that," Valka said.

It was the middle of the night, and Hiccup and Astrid were huddled together to keep themselves warm in the frigid temperatures. Sleep was hard, and they were both plagued by nightmares of the Red Death swooping down and destroying Berk.

Hiccup nearly jumped awake after a bad one, and struggled not to cry afterwards, though he did jostle Astrid awake.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Everything," he admitted. "You've been disowned by your family, I've been disowned by my father, and I let slip how he can get to the Nest, but he wouldn't listen to my warnings about the Red Death, and tomorrow morning, he's going to sail the entire village, and probably Toothless, to their fiery deaths."

Astrid wanted to reassure him, but nothing came to her. It seemed hopeless, and they had lost everything with their gamble of trying to tame the Nightmare.

"I'm surprised you aren't trying to cheer me up," Hiccup said. "You always do when I talk like this."

"I'm too depressed, babe," Astrid said sadly. "We'll probably never see our dragons again, either."

Hiccup sadly nodded in agreement. He had come to like Toothless very much, enjoying the playful Night Fury so much, that the idea of him being killed by the monster he escaped was too sad.

"Not stuck in here you're not." They sat up and saw Valka standing in front of the bars, the keys in her hand.

"Mom!" Hiccup exclaimed, keeping his voice low. "How did you get in here? What about the guards?"

"Taking a little nap," she said smugly. "I've broken into and escaped places more secure than this." She went through the keys until she found the one that opened their cell, unlocking it and opening the door.

Hiccup hugged his mother. "Thanks for coming for us," he said.

"I'll always come back for you," she said. "I'm never giving up on my family again."

"So what now?" Astrid asked.

"Get to the arena. The others will meet us there," Valka said. "We're going to take down the Red Death ourselves."

Before they could respond, she ran off. Hiccup and Astrid quietly walked through the dark village, avoiding the guards and torches to not be seen. They reached the bridge that headed for the arena, and stopped there, worried that they would be seen. But the other teens came up and greeted them.

"Wow. Valka works fast," Snotlout said.

"We need to get to the arena," Fishlegs said.

"But what if Astrid and I are seen?" Hiccup asked.

"You'll be with us, they won't notice two more bodies," Tuffnut said.

"Now let's go!" Ruffnut said. "We have to be gone before sunrise."

They walked across the bridge, a few of the teens conversing with Astrid. As they did, Snotlout hung back with Hiccup.

"Hey, um, I want to talk to you. Is that okay?" he asked.

"I guess," Hiccup said.

"Okay, so, remember when we were younger, and I protected you from the bullying because you were my cousin?"

"Yeah, I also remember you stopped doing that after we were ten," Hiccup deadpanned.

Snotlout nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, um, about that, I'm… sorry."

"What?"

"It was mean, and I was being stupid because it was what everyone else was doing, and I didn't know any better, so I went along with everyone else because it was easier," Snotlout apologized.

"Oh, um, thanks," Hiccup said slowly.

"Also cause you're smaller and weaker," Snotlout said.

"Oh, thanks," Hiccup deadpanned.

"And slower," Snotlout added. "I forgot slower." He stopped to face the smaller teen. "So, should we hug or something, to seal the apology?"

"Um, I don't know if that's – ow!" Hiccup squeaked when Snotlout embraced him in a bone crushing hug. "Ooh, kay. That's enough, I accept your apology."

After Snotlout let him go, they caught up to the others and reached the arena. Hiccup opened it up, allowing the others to walk in. He went over to the cage he knew contained Toothless and flung it open. The Night Fury looked up and smiled when he saw his human.

Toothless ran and butted against Hiccup, knocking him to the ground and nuzzling him. "Oh, I'm so sorry this happened, bud," he apologized.

Toothless warbled, and Hiccup realized there was a leather strap around his mouth that was preventing him from talking. He took it off, and Toothless stretched his jaws wide open in a yawn before talking. "It's fine. As long as you're alright." They hugged as best they could, before a flap of wings was heard, and Stormfly and Cloudjumper flew in, Valka on the larger dragon's back.

"Astrid!" Stormfly shouted, nuzzling her rider and preening her hair. "You're alright!"

"Of course I am," Astrid said, trying to push the overeager dragon off.

"So now what?" Tuffnut asked.

"Get your dragons out and prepare to fly with them," Valka said. Fishlegs and the twins went over to the cage of the Gronckle and Zippleback respectively and opened them, greeting their dragons.

"Um, what about me? I don't have a dragon," Snotlout pointed out.

Hiccup pondered on that and had an idea. He went over to the cage with the Monstrous Nightmare, Toothless at his back, ready to protect him if needed. He pulled the lever and the cage opened. He walked in and saw the large dragon was trying to sleep. Its eyes opened when he saw Hiccup, and he looked at the human warily.

"It's okay, sorry about earlier," Hiccup said, holding his hand out. "We mean no harm, and we need your help." The dragon raised its head and Hiccup's hand was now hovering over its snout. "There's someone I'd like you to meet." He led the dragon out, making sure he was as non-threatening as possible.

"You're that human the dark wing protected," the Nightmare said. "You don't seem like a threat now. Are you a friend to us?"

"Yes, I am. I meant what I said earlier," Hiccup confirmed. "Now, let me introduce you to someone."

He had led the dragon so he was next to Snotlout. He grabbed his cousin's hand, pulling it towards the large dragon.

"What are you doing?" Snotlout almost panicked.

"It's okay," Hiccup assured, placing the teen's hand on the dragon's snout, then he lifted his own hand so only Snotlout's was touching the dragon.

Snotlout was half expecting the dragon to bite his hand off, but instead, it looked at him with large, trusting eyes, and he could feel this dragon's warm breath on his hand, and it felt… amazing.

Hiccup saw his cousin's elation and walked away to get some rope. "Where are you going?" Snotlout asked.

"Well, we're going to the Nest, so you're gonna need something to help you hold on," Hiccup answered. He looked over at the other teens and their dragons, and then remembered something he had been working on in the forge. "But you know, I have saddles ready in the forge. We can stop by there and put them on."

"Good idea," Astrid said.

"So we go to the Nest, but what's going to stop the rest of the village from trying to follow?" Snotlout asked, still touching the Nightmare.

"Oh, I've done a little sabotage to prevent the ships from sailing," Valka said. "By the time they fix the ships, we'll be done."

"You know, we're betraying the Viking way by doing this," Tuffnut pointed out. "If they find out, we'll be condemned and they'll declare us traitors."

"Stoick has made that plainly clear," Astrid said sadly. "Hiccup and I aren't Vikings anymore."

"No," Hiccup agreed. "We're… something else. Something new."

"Like what?" Snotlout asked. "What are we?"

Hiccup looked around at the others, thinking it over. "We're… riders of dragons. Dragon Riders."

"Dragon Riders," Astrid whispered. "Yeah, we are. Dragon Riders."

"Alright everybody, mount up," Hiccup said. "We're heading for the Nest, and the Red Death."

Under the cover of night, several dragons flew away from Berk with humans on their backs, heading for the lair of the Red Death. Dawn was close, but no one would discover the missing dragons or prisoners before then. As they flew away, Hiccup pondered on what they would do once they got to the Nest, how they would kill the Red Death. He wasn't sure how they would do it, but it was the only way to stop the massacre of his village and end the war between humans and dragons once and for all.

End of Chapter 16