A/N: Happy weekend! Here is Chapter 20, as promised! This one was fun because I was able to include a little more of the twins and Snotlout's trademark humor. I realized I'm not the best at balancing action with humor, so I'll try to do better with that in the future. I hope this chapter earns a few laughs anyway.

There's not much else to say, so I'll stop rambling and get on with it!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the HTTYD characters in this story. I only own my OCs, the plot, and my choice of words. Enjoy!

Chapter 20:

Overtaken

"ARE we there yet?"

The question came from a disgruntled Ruffnut, as she leaned haphazardly over Barf's saddle. After a stopover on a small island the night before, the group had risen early to continue their journey to the Edge. They had been flying nonstop ever since and it was nearing dusk. By now, everyone seemed to be getting grumpy and impatient.

"I'm hungry!" Tuffnut chimed in.

"Ruff. Tuff." Hiccup groaned, looking across the open sky at the twins' Zippleback. "How many times have we made this flight in the past year?"

"Too many!" Ruffnut whined. "I forgot how long it took to get there! I need to use the little Viking's room!"

"Why didn't you go before we left?" Astrid asked.

"Uh, I didn't have to go then! Duh!"

"I'm tired!" Tuffnut complained, throwing himself dramatically across Belch's horns, almost mirroring his sister. Chicken, Tuffnut's pet hen - which he had claimed needed a vacation after hatching and raising another nest of chicks - clucked in agreement.

"See?" Tuffnut said, pointing to his shoulder, where the hen was perched. "Chicken agrees with me."

"Look," Hiccup said, rolling his eyes. "You and Chicken can sleep and eat when we get to the Edge, okay?"

"Okaaaay," Tuffnut said. "But no guarantee I won't fall asleep in the saddle and plummet to my death."

"Well, if you do we might finally get some peace and quiet," Astrid shot back.

"Yeah, shut up, Twitiots!" Snotlout yelled.

"You shut up, Snotlout!" Ruffnut yelled back.

"Meatlug's wings are gonna fall off if we don't land soon," Fishlegs grumbled. "Just sayin'."

"Guys!" Hiccup groaned. "Come on! Enough with the bickering! I know everyone's tired and hungry and restless. I am, too. Just keep it together for a little while longer, okay? We're almost there."

He heard someone snicker behind him and glanced back. Ailee was shaking her head, grinning. "I get the feeling leading this crew is a lot like herding Terrible Terrors," she said.

Hiccup chuckled. "Sometimes worse."

Ailee laughed. For a moment, she rode in thoughtful silence. Then she nudged Shadow to fly closer beside him and spoke again. "Speaking of Terrible Terrors, I hope the one you sent makes it safely back to Wisperia with Gathnar's escort request."

"Don't worry," Hiccup said. "Sharpshot is the fastest and smartest T-mail Courier on Berk. I should know. I trained him."

"So what you're saying is," Ailee teased. "He's the best because he was trained by the best."

"That's not exactly what I said." Hiccup smirked. "But I kind of like the sound of it."

Ailee snickered. "All joking aside, I think it's great that your tribe is so accepting of dragons. One-half of our tribe has a long, dirty history of killing them, and I hope one day, we can put an end to that practice for good."

Hiccup swallowed a bitter lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. "We weren't always friends with dragons either. In fact, Berk also had a pretty lengthy history of killing dragons. That's actually how…"

He stopped the words right at the tip of his tongue. He had almost confessed to his biggest regret - trapping and nearly killing Toothless. Though it had resulted in him and Toothless becoming inseparable friends, he still regretted how it had happened. That he was the reason that Toothless couldn't fly on his own.

Not a day went by that he wasn't ashamed of how blind and foolish he had been. He was glad that Toothless had forgiven him because he wasn't sure if he could ever forgive himself.

"'That's actually how…'?" Ailee prompted when he let the silence drag on too long.

Hiccup shook his head. "Uh, that's actually how I met Toothless. I found him caught in a dragon trap in the woods." He glanced at Astrid, who shot him a quizzical look.

"Did you ever find the hunter who trapped him?" Ailee asked.

Hiccup gulped. "I…"

"Land ho!" Fishlegs yelled, saving him from a painful confession. "Land ho!"

Sure enough, Hiccup looked out and saw the familiar green cliffs of Dragon's Edge in the distance. The sun had just begun to dip low on the horizon, and the sky was a canvas of bright orange, purple, and pink.

"And not a moment too soon!" Hiccup exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Finally!" Ruffnut groaned. "My bladder is about to pop over here!"

"Food!" Tuffnut chimed in. "I've gotta have some food!"

"Yeah," Snotlout said, swooping in and plucking a few feathers from Chicken's tail. "If I don't get some grub soon, I might decide to have Chicken for dinner."

Chicken cackled, flapping her wings in indignation.

Tuffnut gasped. "How dare you?! Those were her favorite tail feathers, you…you…chicken plucker!"

"I'm gonna pluck both of you if you don't stuff it!" Astrid shouted.

"Mmm…" Snotlout hummed. "Stuffed Chicken. Sounds delicious, Astrid."

"Hiccup," Tuffnut said. "If you don't do something about your cousin right now, there's gonna be a new tourist spot on Dragon's Edge - The Snotlout Memorial Cemetery!"

"Yeah, and Snotlout's hut would make the perfect spot for it!" Ruffnut chimed in. "Once we blow it up and redesign the terrain!"

"Blow up my hut and you'll face the Wrath of Snot-Fang!" Snotlout retorted. "It's only slightly less terrifying than the Wrath of Thor!"

"Alright, Snotlout," Hiccup laughed. "Leave Chicken and the twins alone. I don't want any cemeteries on our outpost."

Hookfang tilted upside down above Hiccup, and Snotlout released his fistful of feathers right in Hiccup's face. Hiccup sputtered as a couple of the feathers almost went in his mouth. He glared up at Snotlout as he swatted the remaining feathers off of his clothes.

"On second thought," Hiccup said. "I might just help them dig your grave."

Ailee snickered. "Before you all start a full-blown war, can we actually get to Dragon's Edge?"

"Better get used to it, Ailee," Hiccup said with a grin. "This kind of back and forth is pretty normal among us Dragon Riders."

"Don't worry," Ailee said, tucking a stray lock of wind-tossed hair behind her ear. "I'll adapt."

Within the next few moments, the Riders drew near enough to Dragon's Edge to make out details among the huts. As they circled around from the western side, Hiccup looked across at Ailee. "You're gonna love this place, Ailee. It's got great views of the ocean, lots of interesting dragons, a volcano that -"

"Uh," Ailee interrupted. "Does someone else live here?"

"What?" Hiccup said, twisting back around in the saddle. "No. We left it -" He trailed off as he noticed several ships docked in the southern harbor. "- abandoned." He squinted at the crest on one of the ships' sails and frowned. "What in the name of Thor...?"

"Um, what are Outcast ships doing here?" Tuffnut asked as the twins' Zippleback pulled up alongside him. "And look, a Berserker ship, too! Did Alvin and Dagur decide to take an island vacation together?"

"That's weird," Ruffnut added. "Mala must not be the clingy type."

The Outcast crest was indeed woven into the fabric of all but one sail, and that one boasted a Berserker crest. Hiccup watched as men swarmed the island, unloading crates and barrels from the five ships and hauling them in wheelbarrows across the Edge.

But even more concerning were the dozens of renovations that had been made to the Dragon Riders' individual huts. Most had been crowned with the skulls of various dragons. Thatched roofs had been replaced with dragon hides. It was like a shrine to dragon hunting.

It was disturbing on too many levels and Hiccup felt nausea rising in his throat.

Dragon's Edge had been overrun by dragon killers - and Hiccup knew they had to get it back!

[THE END]

A/N: Oh, boy. And you thought things were finally settling down? Unfortunately, it will be a while before Hiccup and his friends can relax. They'll have to take back the Edge first, which will involve lots of high-flying action, close calls, and yes, even some major Hiccup whump!

BUT -

That will all take place in the next book. Yes, you read that right. This is THE END of Book One: Shadow and Fury.

I forgot to mention it in my first author's note, but this is only Part One of a larger series titled, The Heart of Baldur. (Think of it as Season 9 of the TV series.) I haven't decided exactly how many books will be in the series yet. I considered doing 13 to match the number of episodes in an average season, but that might be a little excessive. I don't think it will actually take half that many books to tell the story I want to tell. So that's still TBD.

For now, I'm still working on Book Two. It's titled, Over the Edge, and I'm setting a tentative release date of April 8, 2023.

I know that seems like a long wait. But I need to give myself at least 6 months to write a good story. (Recall that it took me about 3-4 years to be satisfied enough with Shadow and Fury to start sharing it, so 6 months is very generous.) I have the entire next installment outlined, so I generally know what I want to happen. But I only have a few scattered pieces of the story actually written. Chapter One is mostly done, but I don't want to give you that until I have the whole thing finished. The next book will probably have 20 chapters as well.

If my brain and schedule cooperate, I may be able to finish it quicker, since I now have a more thorough understanding of where I want to go with the plot. But don't hold your breath. It will probably be closer to April 2023 before I can even post the first chapter. I want to give my readers my best work - not trash. And trust me, my first drafts are almost always trash!

I'll probably update a few chapters - mostly to edit formatting issues - and who knows? I might decide to link in fan art or cover art for this story when I do.

I appreciate all my faithful readers, and I hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it! I will return with new story content ASAP!

For now, keep it crispy!

-Josie West