Chapter 28: Speedyquick
Ship name. :)
Hours passed. The sun was traveling lower and lower in the sky, and Hiccup was still avoiding the other Go-Getters. He'd told Astrid he just wanted some time to think, which she'd accepted and went to tell the rest of the team.
At one point, he'd been staring into space and contemplating what might have happened if he'd stayed on Berk instead of leaving to find Johann, and he saw something green and orange-red move in the corner of his eye.
It was Quicks. The adolescent Speed Stinger was dragging his talons like they'd suddenly turned to stone, and his tail was drooping so low that it lagged behind him. He stopped at the edge of the lake, squatting down on his haunches and gazing forlorningly at his reflection in the still water.
Hiccup had never seen a sad Speed Stinger, but he was certain that was how Quicks must be feeling.
He must really miss Speedy.
The lead Go-Getter spent all day off on his own, alone with his thoughts. He thought about a number of things, but mostly it was about the wild Speed Stingers, as evidenced by the simple sketch he'd drawn in the dirt at his feet. With nothing but a thin stick with which to part the soil, he outlined the slender figure of the flightless dragons. The last details he filled in were its prominent crest and stingray-like stinger.
We need to get the pack off the island...but I don't want Quicks to have to say goodbye to Speedy. There's got to be something we can do.
As he finished up the drawing, he thought that he might have a plan for dealing with the Stingers. He nodded with satisfaction and stood up from the rock he was sitting on, glancing up at his paralyzed father as he did so. Thornado, who had wrapped his whip-like tail around the base of Stoick's boulder, emitted a sad noise. Hiccup's hand briefly brushed the Thunderdrum's nose as he passed by.
He met up with Astrid in another part of the cove. She came to him with a grim look on her face and reported, "Sundown's only a few hours away. The wild Stingers will be back for the rest of the food."
"I know," Hiccup replied. "Could you gather the others? We need to plan out our next move."
At this, Astrid gave him a smug look. "Way ahead of you on that," she answered, gesturing to the other Go-Getters as they approached from a different direction.
Brandyn walked right up to Hiccup and gave him a good-natured nudge in greeting. "Good to see you back, Hiccup."
"Oh, you're feeling better, I see," he remarked.
Far from put off by that, the older boy shrugged and willingly admitted, "Heather's taking it harder than I am. I'm worried about Sonata, too, but we're not gonna accomplish anything by sitting around and moping about it."
"We're all ready, Hiccup!" chirped Frida, saluting.
Giving her an acknowledging nod, Hiccup addressed the Go-Getters as a whole and announced, "Guys, these dragons only come out at night. So, we need to find out where they sleep during the day."
Then, he frowned, adding, "The only problem is that we need to do it before sunset, or..."
"You don't have to finish that sentence," Astrid shuddered.
"That pack practically came out of nowhere," Snivels said grimly. "They were like a pack of wild badgers, scavenging and...and…" He struggled to come up with an appropriate second verb.
Tuffnut, of all people, provided one for him. "And badgering."
That comment earned the male Thorston quite a few questioning looks - questioning his sanity, that is.
"What?" he said in his defense. "That's what a badger does. It badgers."
Ah yes, there was that classic Thorston stupidity Hiccup had been missing for the past day or so.
"Uh, yeah, thanks for that," the lead Go-Getter waved him off. More seriously, he started outlining his plan to find the invaders. "We'll need to spread out over Berk to cover as much ground as possible. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, I want you and Sarin and Ricin searching the village, just in case their nest is right under our noses."
Blinking with confusion, Ruffnut asked dumbly, "Well then shouldn't we be searching under our noses, not the village?"
She and Tuffnut promptly started crossing their eyes in an attempt to look at the area under their noses. A *smack* sound occurred as their Nidorino and Nidorina simultaneously facepalmed at the two of them.
"Ugh," Hiccup grunted, exasperated. "Anyway, Fishlegs, take Pad and search the beaches. Brandyn and Heather, you guys take Ninjark, Ra and Camazotz and scour the woods."
"I wanna help!" Frida declared enthusiastically.
Hiccup shook his head. "Sorry, Frida, but it's too dangerous for a beginning Go-Getter. Here's what I want you to do - search every patch of snow you can find and see if there's anything that resembles a seed."
"A seed?" Frida echoed, face scrunched up in confusion. "Why?"
"I'll explain on the way," Adhesive offered.
"As for the rest of us," Hiccup announced, looking at Astrid, Snivels and Blaze, "we're going underground. There's a small maze of Pokémon-made tunnels that extends for a few miles under the island. It's possible that they're somewhere down there."
His friends nodded, the plan making sense to them. Seeing that they understood, Hiccup opened his mouth to give the call to action, when...
"HOLD IT!" a familiar voice yelled.
Stunned at the unexpectedness of the interruption, Hiccup slowly turned around, almost afraid to see who it was.
Oh, no, he realized. Arceus, please, don't let it be what I think it is.
One Snotlout Jorgenson, no longer paralyzed from the neck up, was glaring at the Go-Getters and Viking Riders from where the twins had left him.
It is, Hiccup thought, astonished.
"No one's going on a Stinger hunt without me!" Snotlout insisted, and strained his neck until he'd forced himself away from the wall and into a standing position.
Hiccup recoiled in revulsion at the sheer wrongness of Snotlout's forced movement.
"Okay," Ninjark shuddered. "That is creepy on so many levels."
"Oh, perfect," Snivels grumbled, "his paralysis is wearing off. Whoopee."
Astrid shook her head at the Jorgenson, clearly not taking his demand seriously. She sneered at him, "Yeah, unless you plan on flying Hookfang with your teeth, you're not going anywhere."
She turned around to go mount Stormfly, leaving an outraged Snotlout glaring daggers after her.
"What do you mean? I'm fine!" he shouted. But his insistence fell on deaf ears, as the rest of the teens were now leaving, Pokémon partners at their heels, to get their dragons ready.
With a grunt, Snotlout stubbornly flexed his neck, trying to go after them. By rocking his head back and forth, he managed to waddle forward about two steps on his frozen legs before the momentum caused him to fall flat on his face.
"OW!" he yelped, then scowled. "Stupid arms and stupid legs..."
As he was berating his appendages for not moving when he needed them to, he spotted his Pokémon partner leaning against a rock, arms crossed. "Heat, a little help here?!"
The Magmar gave him a bored look and shrugged, as if to say, "This is your problem, not mine."
As Snotlout uttered a string of choice words under his breath, two sets of working limbs - one human and one Pokémon - strolled past his face, and he caught a glimpse of who they belonged to. At that moment, his eyes lit up with a flash of inspiration.
"Hey, Gustav!" he called out. "Get your butt over here!"
The Go-Getters and Viking Riders were just getting their dragons ready for takeoff when they saw something that made each of them separately wonder if they were hallucinating.
"Snotlout Jorgenson, reporting for duty!" announced Snotlout, easily moving his arm into a jaunty salute as if he'd never been paralyzed.
Every non-paralyzed creature in the area stood gawking in bewilderment.
"What in the name of Mew?!" Snivels half-shrieked and half-shouted.
But Hiccup took a closer look and discovered that, in fact, Snotlout had not miraculously recovered from his paralysis in a matter of minutes. He bent down and peered between his cousin's legs to discover a much smaller person standing directly behind him.
Right on cue, Gustav Larson popped out from behind the older boy with a cheeky little grin.
"I'm Snotlout's arms and legs," the preteen said with pride. "And together, we're..."
"Guslout!"
The two of them made that declaration as one, with Gustav puppeteering Snotlout into a jazz-hands motion.
"Stop with the hands!" Snotlout insisted.
"Personally," muttered Snivels, "I would've preferred Fahrenheit flown by Gustav instead of Hookfang flown by 'Guslout'."
Hookfang, who was resting nearby, made a sound that could've either been a snort or a laugh.
"Fahren-what now?" asked Gustav.
The noise that came out of Snivels's mouth sounded like a cross between a scoff and a gasp. "Did you really think that you could just name a Monstrous Nightmare on the cusp of adolescence whatever the heck you wanted and expect to get away with it? Every creature has a name. You can call him Fanghook if you want, but he'll always be Fahrenheit to his fellow dragons. And me and my fellow Go-Getters, for that matter."
Sanzaru the Darumaka gave the Larson boy a glare that practically screamed, I told you so!
It was about then that Snotlout cut in, with complete seriousness, "Hiccup, you need as much dragon power as you can get."
The team bigwings sighed. The Jorgenson had a good point, which he hated admitting even to himself.
"I can't believe I'm even saying this," Astrid said with a roll of her eyes, "but he's right."
Snotlout flashed her that flirtatious smile that she hated. "Ah, sweet and fair Astrid, you truly are a culo."
"Oh!" Snivels squeaked.
Blaze covered her mouth, like she was trying to hide a smile or stop herself from laughing.
Brandyn winced, looking nervously at Astrid.
Hiccup didn't know enough Spanish to know what Snotlout had said, but he could tell from the way they were reacting that it was probably bad.
Astrid, too. "What did he just call me?" she asked.
"I'm, uh," Snivels gulped, nervous, "not sure, but I think he just said you're, and I'm paraphrasing him here, a..." There was a lengthy pause as he shuffled a few feet away from the blonde. "...donkey butt." Then he laughed, even in spite of his apprehension.
Astrid exploded. "He said WHAT?!" She turned and glared daggers at her offender.
Poor Snotlout paled at the realization of what he'd said. Behind him, there was an unmistakable snickering sound. "Hey, shut up!" he snapped over his shoulder at the amused preteen who was literally the only thing holding him up straight.
Heather cleared her throat. "Obscenities aside," she said, "he does have a point."
Normally, Hiccup would be against Gustav and a paralyzed Snotlout accompanying him and the others on such a dangerous mission. In fact, he was still tempted to assert that they stay in the cove where it was safe. But like Snotlout had said, they'd need all the help they could get if they wanted to find the wild Speed Stingers before dark.
Especially Speedy. If Snivels is right about her and Quicks belonging together, then we need to figure out how to chase away the pack but keep her here.
"Hiccup, you know how bad it is out there," Astrid emphasized, folding her arms over her chest with a serious expression. "There are dozens of them."
He sighed, knowing that he couldn't argue. Desperate times call for desperate measures, after all...
"Alright, fine," he acquiesced. "But only because we're short on team members, Snotlout and Gustav can come."
"Yes!" exclaimed Snotlout.
After a pause, he twisted his head as best he could in order to look at Gustav. "Move my arm!"
Gustav dutifully held Lout's arm up so that the partially-immobile Jorgenson could do a thumbs-up. "Yes!" he repeated, to much better effect.
"And what do we do when we find them?" asked Camazotz.
Hiccup and Snivels exchanged looks of uncertainty. "Do you want to tell them, or do you want me to?" the Servine asked.
"You'd probably be better at telling it," admitted Hiccup.
"Telling what?" asked Astrid, arms folded across her chest as she glowered.
Breathing in through his long nose, Snivels faced everyone and said, "Quicks is in love with the pack leader's daughter."
Hiccup couldn't help looking stunned. He had expected Snivels to give a long, story-like explanation to what was going on, like he'd done when they'd gotten back to Berk and found the village empty and abandoned. The last thing Hiccup thought would happen was that the Servine would be blunt and bring the truth to light with a single sentence.
"Speed Stingers in love?" Fishlegs considered. "I'll have to make a note of that."
"But, then, what do we do about the pack?" asked Ra.
Hiccup brought everyone back on track before they could start thinking too hard about it. "We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there," he said. "We're losing daylight fast. We have to get moving."
This time, Gustav moved Snotlout's arm into a thumbs-up pose without needing to be prompted. "Okey-dokey, Hiccup!"
Putting the arm down, the Larson boy grabbed hold of Snotlout's waist and proceeded with the daunting task of moving the handicapped teenager one footstep at a time. It was strenuous work for a person that was much shorter as well as scrawnier than the one he was attempting to move.
Sanzaru hobbled ahead with a bit of swagger in his step, blowing a raspberry at the two boys as he passed them.
"So, do you have an actual plan?" asked Astrid.
In answer to that, Hiccup first had to ask a question of his own. "Snivels, is there any way for Speedy to stay here with Quicks?"
A little uncertainly, the Servine responded, "Well, yes. That is, if she's willing to leave the pack. Some do, some don't. You never know."
"I think we can work with that," the bigwings answered. "First things first, we find the wild Stingers."
The Go-Getters all nodded in affirmation.
Minutes later, several dragons rose into the air and disappeared over the edge of the secret cove, leaving a gloomily-lighted Viking and Pokémon statue garden behind them.
It was fortunate that the Pokémon-made tunnels that ran under Berk were large enough for a human or a dragon to walk through.
The unfortunate part was that the tunnels weren't wide enough for Hiccup and Astrid's group to all walk side-by-side. They had to enter in single file.
There was an eerie quiet as they trekked slightly downward, hands and wings brushing the walls to avoid getting lost in the dark.
It was Hiccup who broke the silence, with a question. "Are there any digging Pokémon still living down here that we might encounter?"
"Very probably," Snivels answered, which wasn't very definite. "An Excadrill's tunnels go for a hundred meters, so anything could pop out at us."
"There are Excadrill down here?" Blaze asked in response.
The Servine nodded curtly. "Most likely."
Astrid broke in with a question of her own, which was directed at her husband. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe Quicks's love affair was something that the rest of us had to know as soon as possible?"
"Well, yes," said Hiccup, "but I'm pretty sure that if you came home to find the entire village empty, and the cove filled with living statues, with no idea of whether or not your friends and family are safe, that information would slip your mind a little. And, just for the record, I didn't even know about it until Snivels told me, which was about two hours before we arrived with Mortem."
His wife started, only to relent after a moment of thinking. "Alright, I'll give you that," she said.
There was another prolonged silence as they descended further into the tunnels.
"This is going nowhere," Hiccup realized. "Even if the pack is down here somewhere, we won't find them before night falls. We should go back up top and regroup."
Of course, they had to take a few extra minutes to turn themselves around, since they kept getting into a tangle of limbs in the darkness and the narrowness of the tunnels.
Astrid muttered something about "stupid diggers" and "personal space" as they made their way back up where they came in.
Heather and Brandyn's group wasn't making as much progress in the woods as they would have hoped.
The woods were even more vast than the underground tunnels, and there were tons more places for a pack of flightless dragons to hide. Not to mention how the sun would be setting soon.
"I hope Sonata's okay," Heather said as she and Ninjark flew on ahead on Windshear. "Seeing her frozen like that and not being able to do anything about it...!"
"I know you feel helpless," said Brandyn. "I've been there, too. When I lost my parents at sea, I was terrified. I didn't know what to do." He steered Buck the Grapple Grounder in closer. "I'm scared for Sonata, too. But the only way we can help her is to find the pack before they can hurt anyone again."
Far above them, Ra and Camazotz flew over the forest, above the treetops. (Well, the Lunala flew. The Solgaleo did his weird thing of running on the air like it was solid ground.) They glanced down whenever they could, but didn't see any sign of Speed Stingers.
It was a fairly well-known fact that Legendary Pokémon drew strength from their special elements, and, as such, Ra's eyes were sharper than Camazotz's in the daylight. Looking around, he didn't see any possible hiding places that a Speed Stinger pack would hole up in while they waited for night to fall.
The flapping of wings reached his ears, and Ra turned his head just in time to see Windshear and Buck come flying up next to him and Camazotz.
"You guys got anything?" Ninjark asked, already anticipating the answer.
When the big white lion shook his head, Heather and Brandyn both let out a disappointed sigh before directing their dragons back down. There was still a lot of forest to search.
Unsure of what to do exactly, Frida dug into a pile of snow with her bare hands, which became numb from the cold. It wasn't fair to her that she would get stuck with a task such as finding a seed buried in snow after all that she'd done so far as a Go-Getter, even if she was still only in training.
She understood that the four older trainers were trying to keep her out of harm's way, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't appreciate it. But they could have at least provided more detail as to why they'd sent her out to look around for something as tiny as a seed in Arceus knows how many lumps of snow.
Well, at least she wasn't doing it alone. Pincher and Adhesive were digging through the snow, too. (Well, the adolescent Nadder was really more playing in the snow than looking through it.)
"So, Kyurem is able to see into the future," the Poipole explained as he worked, "and there's a prophecy about four trainers with this Big Heroic Destiny, and our quartet of human friends in Team Go-Getters fit what little description there is almost perfectly, mostly thanks to their Pokémon partners. And now there's this other prophecy about an upcoming event known as the Darkest Day that could spell the end of the archipelago if we don't find an organization known as the Expansion. One of the lines in the second prophecy says to find a seed hidden in snow, so that's why we're out here searching."
"But how are we supposed to find it?" Frida asked. "A seed is so tiny, and after that blizzard there's snow everywhere!"
"Oh, you won't find what you're looking for here," crooned a sultry voice.
Alarmed, the Junior Go-Getter whirled around, but saw no one. "W-who said that?"
"I did," said the voice as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Something tapped Frida's head, and she looked up. Floating right above her a was slim, pink humanoid whose lower half was all cloud and whose brown tail, which looked much like a snake, was wound around her neck like a scarf.
"Hello, little child," the Pokémon crooned.
"Enamorus!" Adhesive cried out in surprise as soon as he spotted her. "What are you doing here?"
"My name is Ugajin," she said in that sultry tone. "I draw strength from the power of love and affection."
The Poipole couldn't help but laugh cheerfully at that. "I'm guessing your love alarm has been going off a lot around Berk. Hiccstrid, Ebonyless, Snimber, Blazing Hawk, Brandther, Xylark, Ramazotz -"
"Okay, you've made your point," Ugajin interjected. "As for why I'm here, I will admit it's partially because of all the love you young heroes have been showing off in front of pretty much every creature in the vicinity. Reason number two, the word on the winds is you're looking for the Expansion."
Frida nodded. "Adhesive was just telling my about the prophecies." The girl tilted her head curiously and asked, "What do you mean we won't find what we're looking for here?"
"The seed hidden in the snow," the Enamorus recited, lifting one hand and examining her fingertips as though they had polish on them. "I know exactly what that is. It's Calyrex, the Legendary ruler of the Crown Tundra, and, last I checked, the leader of the Expansion."
"Oh." Adhesive's eyes lit up. "Oh, that makes much more sense! 'Find the seed hidden in the snow.' Calyrex is a Grass-type Legendary Pokémon that lives in the Crown Tundra, so if we find him, we find the Expansion!"
"Where is the Crown Tundra?" asked Frida.
"Southern Galar," said Ugajin, pointing. "That's pretty far southwest of here, and Hisui, which is where I'm from. It's about a one to two day flight from Berk, I'd say."
Adhesive gulped nervously. "I hate to sound negative," he said, "but I don't think we have that kind of time."
The Enamorus drifted further up into the air. "Fear not," she said, "I'll go find Sedge - that's the Calryex's name - and let him know you kids need his help. Once he hears that the Darkest Day is coming, he'll come riding right out with his steeds."
"You mean you'll help us?" Frida asked, sounding hopeful.
"My three older brothers are all too busy," Ugajin said by way of answer, "and I've got nothing important to do. So, yeah, I'll help. It's not like I'm looking forward to the Darkest Day any more than you are."
With that, she flew off into the sky to parts unknown.
After a moment of silence, Frida turned to Adhesive and inquired, "So, what do we do now?"
"We go tell Hiccup, of course," the Poipole replied. "Though we might want to wait until after we've sorted everything out with the Speed Stingers."
The minute Hiccup's group arrived in the middle of the village, the team bigwings made that 'thoughtful pose' that his friends were familiar with. They hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary in the Pokémon tunnels they'd searched, which discouraged him a little bit. But that was precisely why he'd sent the other Go-Getters and the Viking Riders to check all the other possible hiding places.
"Splitting up was a good idea," Snivels said encouragingly. "Surely at least one of the groups found something."
"That's what I'm hoping for," Hiccup said in reply.
Soon, more dragons started to descend upon the plaza to join them. The last to arrive was Hookfang, who was being flown solely by Gustav while the still half-paralyzed Snotlout was dangling from his claws and yelling something.
Hiccup raised an eyebrow at the sight. "Oh, this should be interesting..."
Just before the Monstrous Nightmare landed, he flapped his wings rapidly to steady himself while he flung out his legs and unceremoniously dropped Snotlout. The partially-imobile rider landed on his back and started indignantly shouting "repercussions" over and over. He finally stopped when Hookfang landed beside him and swung his tail, sending Snotlout skidding across the ground to collide with the wall of a nearby house.
Unsure how to react to that, Hiccup waited until things had calmed down before speaking. "Okay then..." he began. "Now that everyone's here, how did you all do? Find anything?"
Heather replied in the negative. "We searched everywhere we could think of, but the forest is too big."
"It's the same story with the tunnels," said Astrid.
"Adhesive and I got nothing," Frida reported.
"Us too," Fishlegs sighed, dejectedly patting Meatlug's neck.
"I got stung," said Tuffnut. He swung his legs back and forth, bored, unintentionally proving that he wasn't telling the truth.
"No, you didn't," Snivels deadpanned.
"Sure he did!" Ruffnut disagreed, grinning. "He couldn't feel his invisible tail!"
The Servine facepalmed. "Okay, I'll admit, it was funny the first time, but now this is just getting ridiculous."
Stressing internally, Hiccup glanced around at the group with his brow furrowed in confusion. Surely they'd covered all of Berk, yes? Unless Redcap's pack had already left Berk for good - which he highly doubted was the case - then they must have missed some crucial spot.
"Have we checked absolutely everywhere?" he stressed to the others. After a pause, he turned to the only rider who hadn't yet said anything. "What about you, Snotlout? Did you and Gustav check your caves?"
"Pft! Really?" Snotlout shot back from where he was sitting. "I'm insulted, Hiccup! Of course we did! Do you think that I fell off my dragon and spent hours trying to get out of the sand? Ha! I didn't!"
"He fell off his dragon and we spent hours trying to get him out of the sand," Gustav instantly revealed, smirking.
Hiccup shook his head with exasperation. Leave it to Snotlout to screw something up.
"Well, that indirectly solves the mystery, at least," he snarked out loud. "Now we know where to look."
He got back up onto Toothless and prepared to head out to the beaches. Before he did, he saw something fast move in his peripheral vision. He turned to look, and caught a glimpse of Quicks's tail disappearing behind a house.
"Get Snotlout back on his dragon and let's go," Hiccup ordered the nearest riders, which happened to be the twins.
His tone leaving no room for argument, the leader of Team Go-Getters lifted off and set a course for the beaches. The rest of the group, minus the Thorstons, their Nidorino and Nidorina, Gustav, Heat, Sanzaru, and Snotlout, followed him.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut dutifully reached under Snotlout's arms and used their combined strength to pull him up. Grunting with exertion, the two siblings dragged him over to Hookfang with some effort, and then with an additional burst of strength, they hauled him back up onto the Nightmare's neck in proper riding position.
Although Snotlout couldn't turn around to glare at his "co-pilot", he gave the air in front of him his best death glare, and growled lowly, "Gustav, make me punch you."
The smaller boy reached out, grabbed Lout's large arm, and used it to smack him roughly in the face. The twins burst out laughing, drowning out the arrogant Jorgenson's yell of pain.
"Never gets old," remarked Tuffnut, and shared a head-bash with his sister.
The sun was already low enough to touch the horizon when Quicks arrived at a secluded beach. As madly as he was in love with Speedy, even though they'd literally just met, he couldn't let Redcap and the pack remain on Berk. Not if it meant his friends or his family would get hurt.
Speed Stingers weren't known for their sense of smell, but Quicks's nose was just strong enough to pick up Speedy's scent from where they'd last seen each other. He wanted to at least give her a proper goodbye before the Go-Getters sent the pack running.
Her scent had led him to the beaches, in front of a cave up on a rocky cliff that likely contained the slumbering pack.
"Speedy?" He called into the darkness, trying to be quiet so as not to awaken any of the others. "Are you in there? It's me, Quicks."
A head poked out into the fading light, eyes blinking with drowsiness. "Quicks?"
It was Speedy. Thank Arceus.
"I know I shouldn't be here," he told her, "but I have to warn you. My friends are on their way to chase off your pack. If you want to stay with them, I respect your decision, even if it means we'll never see each other again. But, if you want to come with me, I can promise that the Go-Getters will protect and care for you just like a real pack."
"Why?" Speedy asked, stepping out of the cave. "Why do you want me? You hardly know me. Why are you in love with me?"
"Because you're just like me," Quicks said. "I saw it in your eyes the night we met. Being in your father's shadow, feeling like all of your decisions are being made for you, wanting to make something of yourself without being judged by who your father is. I think we both want that, and the only way we can is if we start over on our own. I'd love to get to know more about you, Speedy. Do you want to know more about me?"
She stepped up to him, and his heart jumped up to his throat.
"Well," she said after a long pause, "I already know that you're nicer than most Stingers I've met. You don't force anything upon anyone; you allow others to make decisions for themselves and you respect their choices. And when we met last night, you were trying to save your father, weren't you? You saw me creeping through the dark and thought I might have been up to no good, that I was trying to help Redcap kill Raptor. That tells me that you try to protect your family when you think there's danger, and I admire that. So, yes, I'd love to know more about you, Quicks."
The two young Speed Stingers drew closer until their snouts were centimeters apart. Their tails twined together, their stingers clicking softly as they made contact.
"Speedy!"
For a terrifying moment, she feared it was her father. When she turned her head around and met the eyes of Sprint, it didn't make her feel any better.
"What are you doing?!" the older Speed Stinger demanded, stepping out of the cave to confront the pair.
Speedy quickly untangled her tail from Quicks's and turned around fully. She made sure to position herself directly between Quicks and Sprint. "What I should have done in the first place," she said. "I don't belong in this pack, and neither does my father. I'm staying here with Quicks, whether you like it or not."
"What?!" Sprint shrieked. "You don't know anything about him!"
"I know he'll be a better mate than you," Speedy retorted.
Sprint raised his tail threateningly. "Well," he hissed, "your father will certainly be pleased to find that you led Raptor's son right to us."
"I did not!" Speedy roared. "I wouldn't dare!"
"Who do you think he'll believe?" asked Sprint. He started circling around, looking for an opening, but she followed his movements. "You brought Raptor's son here, and I killed him. Once Redcap hears that, he'll have no choice but for us to mate so we can secure the pack's future. Sounds perfect to me."
Speedy raised her own tail and bared her teeth. "I won't let you kill Quicks!"
Sprint flared out the sail on his head to appear larger than he already was. "Fine," he growled.
Then he lashed out. But not with his tail.
He lashed out with his claws.
He struck low, slicing at Speedy's legs. The female Speed Stinger howled in pain as she collapsed on the beach. Speedy readied her tail to sting her attacker, but the older dragonet leapt back out of range.
"That's what happens when you get in my way," he snarled. "You're lucky I didn't kill you."
"I would rather die than mate with you!" she shrieked. She tried to stand up, but her leg was too badly hurt.
Quicks stood frozen with shock at what was happening. A fire burned in his belly as he pivoted toward Speedy's offender. "Sprint!"
The older dragonet lifted his head and met Quicks's eyes, his own burning dangerously.
Red-orange sails flared out to their maximum, Quicks stepped over the injured Speedy, his tail raised at the ready. "Leave her alone! If it's me you want, then fight me!"
He didn't have time to react before Sprint pounced on him.
"Quicks, no!" Speedy cried, struggling to stand up.
The younger male Speed Stinger blacked out for a few seconds, and when he came to, he found Sprint glowering down at him. He tried to move, but the older male had him pinned. Quicks slashed and kicked and bit at every part of Sprint that he could reach, but he didn't even flinch.
Unseen by the flightless dragonets, the Go-Getters and the Berk Viking Riders were quickly approaching the beaches. Once they were close enough to see what was going on, they pulled up on the saddles, directing their dragons to stop and hover.
"What's happening?" Hiccup asked, eyes wide at what he was seeing.
"It's Quicks and Speedy," said Snivels. He squinted and leaned forward a little to get a better look, holding the white fur mane around Verne's neck to keep himself from falling off. "But I don't know who that third Speed Stinger is."
"Should we do something?" Frida asked, uncertain.
Hiccup didn't answer. He did want to help Quicks, but he was worried that if they interfered, they might wake up the rest of the pack.
If either of them stung the other, the fight would be over easily. Quicks wasn't nearly old enough for his venom to work fully, and he feared that Sprint was. If Sprint could still move, even partially, he could potentially keep up to fight, or worse, lie to Redcap about what was happening. And if Quicks couldn't move, he'd be a sitting duck for Sprint.
Quicks jabbed his tail barb into Sprint's flank.
Sprint shrieked in rage. He kicked Quicks out from under him as he fell over, his legs stuck in a frozen limp.
Moving quickly, as he had been named for, Quicks stood over his half-paralyzed opponent, his teeth bared in a snarl.
The older dragonet could still move his body from the torso up. He looked up at would-be victim with wide eyes and asked, "You wouldn't hurt an injured dragon, would you?"
Even in spite of the alarms that were going off in his head that told him that Sprint was trying to trick him, Quicks faltered.
That turned out to be enough for Sprint. The older dragonet lunged up, claws outstretched and teeth bared. But not fast enough.
Quicks sidestepped the attack.
Sprint's momentum threw him forward, tumbling head over paralyzed heels over the beach cliff's edge. He lashed out one last time, his claws grabbing at the rock to stop his fall. But with a paralyzed lower half dangling over the drop, and not enough arm strength, he plummeted.
Or he would have, if Quicks hadn't rushed over to the cliff edge and caught the older dragonet's crest in his teeth. The younger male dug his heels into the rock and pulled as hard as he could, trying to save his rival from dropping.
Sprint caught a glimpse of the injured Speedy watching the proceedings. She was eying him with fear, whereas with Quicks she was giving a look of admiration.
"Trying to be a hero, are you?" accused the older male. "You think if you look noble, she'll love you more? Well guess what, you little coward? She'll never be yours!"
He clawed at Quicks's legs, and the younger dragonet let out a screech of pain. Unfortunately, in order to do that, he had to let go of Sprint.
Speedy and Quicks both watched with shock as Sprint disappeared over the edge. The young male stood frozen looking over the drop, watching helplessly as Sprint landed back-first on a large rock near the bottom. There was a loud, sickening *CRACK!, and the older dragonet's body flopped lifelessly over the stone.
"No," Quicks whimpered, horrified at what he'd just seen.
The sound of wingbeats preceded the official arrival of the Go-Getters and the Berk Viking Riders. Their dragons' feet hit the rock with muffled thumps behind the young Speed Stinger.
Snivels was the first to dismount. The Servine practically threw himself of off Verne's back and ran over to crouch beside Speedy. Looking her over, his leafy hand brushed her injured leg, causing her to cry out in pain. "She's hurt," he announced to the others.
Hiccup turned to Hookfang, the only dragon present with more than one rider. "Thanks, Gustav," he smiled at the not-quite Dragon Rider. "You stay here with Snotlout and Hookfang."
"Right," answered Snotlout, sticking out his arm for a thumbs-up. At this, his eyes widened with delight. "Hey! I did that all by myself!"
As if on cue, Tuffnut, who was directly beside the Jorgenson boy, grabbed his hand and pushed it up so that the thumb got stuck inside one nostril.
Ignoring the slapstick comedy routine going on beside him, Hiccup slid off Toothless's saddle and joined Snivels at Speedy's side.
"We need to get her out of here," Hiccup decided, nodding to his Servine partner.
Stealing a glance at the horizon, Fishlegs gulped audibly and questioned, "What about the pack?"
"We'll have to improvise," answered Hiccup.
Leaving the cliff's edge, Quicks walked up to the trainer-and-Servine duo, looking shaken.
"Who was that?" Snivels asked in Dragonese.
"His name was Sprint," Quicks told him. "He wanted to be Speedy's mate, but she didn't like him at all. He was terrible." He carefully twined his tail with the injured female's. "She wants to stay with me."
Snivels relayed the information to his friends in Norse so they would all understand.
A sound came from somewhere in the nearby cave, and several pairs of red eyes pierced through the darkness at the intruders outside.
"Uh...Hiccup...?" Fishlegs quavered, nervously.
Without replying, the team bigwings turned around and followed the Ingerman's gaze to what he suspected he'd find, but was hoping he wouldn't anyway - Redcap and the Speed Stingers stalking into the muted light as the sun disappeared over the horizon. They were fully awake but didn't seem aggressive just yet, merely curious about what these strange creatures were doing on the beach.
But no matter what kind of mood the raptor-like dragons were in, the fact that Quicks and Speedy were at the center of attention went unchanged.
Suddenly, the lead Stinger charged toward his injured daughter with lightning-fast speed. Hiccup and Snivels jumped back, and their friends went on the defensive as well.
However, Redcap's attention wasn't on them, at least not directly. He turned back to his subordinates and shrieked loudly, calling them to action. The stripe-less dragons immediately looked alert, their red eyes flashing and their muscles flexing as they prepared to pounce.
Redcap turned back toward the Go-Getters, snarling. Without warning, he leapt right at Hiccup, his claws and teeth glinting in the fading sunlight. Fortunately, Hiccup was able to use his draconium shield to block the assault, and Toothless was quick to come to his defense. The Night Fury roared and shot a plasma blast that pushed the lead Stinger back.
Shrieking loudly, Redcap directed his packmates to move forward. Only then, right as the Speed Stingers reached the group, stream of fire hit the ground right in front of them and they all jumped back, chirping with alarm.
In front of an astonished and impressed Hiccup, Hookfang flying up above their heads, and Snotlout started to freely pump his arms toward the sky repeatedly.
"Yeah!" the Jorgenson shouted. "Snotlout, Snotlout, oi oi -"
However, before he could finish his catchphrase, Redcap leapt through the air from out of the darkness, slicing his stinger across the cheering teen's buttocks.
As soon as anyone could blink, the paralysis rapidly spread through poor Snotlout's body for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. Hiccup could just make out a muffled and exasperated, "Oh, come on!" being uttered through his cousin's unmoving lips, right before Gustav directed Hookfang to a safer location.
Hiccup's heart raced frantically as Redcap came toward him, Toothless, and Snivels next. Muscles tensed, he gripped his draconium shield while the lead Stinger warily circled the human-Night Fury-and-Servine trio, searching for a weak spot.
"Father, no!"
Redcap turned towards the sound of his daughter's cry and saw her struggling to stand on her injured leg. Behind her stood a young Speed Stinger, around her age, that he'd never seen before.
"Where's Sprint?" Redcap demanded.
"He fell over the cliff," Quicks admitted. "He's dead."
Redcap turned to face the intruder fully, sails flared out and tail raised threateningly. "You killed Sprint!"
"No!" Speedy protested. "He didn't do it!"
With a mighty caw, Stormfly came spiraling down from the sky, darts flying from her tail one after the other. However, they were not aimed at Redcap, who was too close to Speedy and Quicks, but at the pack. The venomous projectiles nailed the ground in front of the Speed Stingers' talons, forcing them back even further, hissing and shrieking with rage.
But Hiccup couldn't focus on them for long. Redcap looked ready to attack Quicks, and the Go-Getters couldn't let that happen. He could hear the flightless dragons shrieking and chirping back and forth, but he didn't understand any of it. He'd have to remind himself later to ask Snivels for lessons in Dragonese; it'd be helpful if he, and some of his other friends, could actually understand what the dragons were saying.
Redcap made his move, his mouth dropping open with a screech as he darted forward on his powerful legs. Quicks scrambled backwards as the pack leader's venomous stinger plunged into the ground where the dragonet had been standing less than a minute ago.
"Run, Quicks!" Speedy shrieked. "Run!"
Seeing no other option, he turned tail and ran away as fast as his adolescent legs could carry him.
Redcap started after Quicks, avoiding a plasma blast from Toothless as he sprinted away.
"Hiccup, they're too fast!" Astrid warned him from above.
"Not for a Night Fury!" Hiccup responded confidently, pulling himself back up into Toothless's saddle.
The ebony dragon lifted into the air in a heartbeat, streaking after the Speed Stingers.
Redcap was quickly gaining on the retreating Quicks, his tail lashing out multiple times as he advanced. The red-orange striped dragonet avoided each sting and then lurched forward, ignoring how his leg muscles throbbed with exhaustion. But it wasn't enough to escape the pursuing Redcap.
Quickly, Hiccup took a chance and nudged Toothless's side. The Night Fury spurred forward, the blue glow of plasma emanating from the back of his throat. Aiming carefully, he shot at Redcap's feet. The fire exploded, and the lead Stinger stumbled to avoid the sudden heat. He ended up tripping over his own talons and falling to the ground in a heap.
"Thanks!" Quicks exclaimed, panting with exertion from his brief battle with Sprint and his escape attempt from Redcap.
Unfortunately for the young male, it took Redcap only a second to get back up on his feet and resume the chase.
Even worse, the sound of several rapidly-approaching sets of talons meant that the rest of the pack was following.
Hiccup had the span of two seconds to wonder what in Arceus's name was going on when he heard the familiar sound of his wife calling out his name. He turned around in the saddle and was greeted by the sight of his friends flying several dragon-lengths behind him and Toothless.
Snivels and Verne caught up first. The Servine-and-Noivern duo were carrying the injured Speedy, keeping her nestled as comfortably as possible in the white fur around the Sound Wave Pokémon's neck.
"The pack took off almost as soon as you left," Snivels explained. "Redcap's their leader. Wherever he goes, they go."
"What about Speedy?" asked Hiccup.
The Servine looked uncertain. "I'm not a medical practitioner, but it looks like a laceration. She said Sprint did it."
"Hey, guys," Astrid called out to the conversing friends. "Quicks is starting to slow down!"
Indeed, the poor dragonet was losing ground fast. Redcap was close enough to bite Quicks's tail, if he wanted to.
"Hang in there, Quicks!" Snivels called down. "Try to lead them to the ice bridge!"
Quicks managed to pick up the pace a little. "I am trying!"
So far, the Go-Getters and the Viking Riders had followed the wild Speed Stinger pack off the beach, through the deserted village, and were just starting to come up to the ice bridge. They were making progress...but they still had a long way to go.
Hiccup could see that the young Speed Stinger wasn't going to make it. Not without their help. "We have to slow the pack down!"
His wife responded, "I'm already on it!"
She and Stormfly pulled ahead of Hiccup and Toothless, diving down upon the flightless dragons. Fireballs rained down and successfully drove Redcap back.
The Lead Stinger twisted and turned, but no matter where he tried to go, one of the two dragons would swoop in and batter the ground with more projectiles. Frightened each time by the proximity of the blows, he would always jump away to relative safety. Although he didn't realize it, he and the pack were being forced backwards.
Finally, Astrid pumped her fist forward and yelled, "Stormfly, spine shot!"
Darts flew from the Deadly Nadder's tail to spear themselves into the ice, driving the wild Speed Stingers further back. Launching the small projectiles with pinpoint accuracy, Stormfly was able to use multiple rounds to scare Redcap into stopping. Now realizing his prey was escaping, the Lead Stinger lifted his head up and screeched.
Quicks tried, but he couldn't resist glancing over his shoulder to see what was going on. That split-second of not looking where he was going was enough for him to misplace his footing. He slipped and fell right off the ice and into the frigid ocean water.
"NO!" shrieked Speedy.
After a long, tense moment, Quicks surfaced, gasping for air, clawing at the ice in an effort to pull himself up and out of the cold water.
"Uh, guys?" Adhesive could be heard calling. "I think we've got company!"
Hiccup initially thought he was referring to the wild Speed Stingers. But then he noticed several dark shapes gliding through the ocean water, their jagged fins slicing through the surface like hot knives through butter.
"Sharks," Brandyn said with a shudder. "Why did it have to be sharks?"
The words were barely out of his mouth when Quicks finally managed to pull himself up onto dry land. Snivels and Verne landed on the ice first, which crackled a little under the Sound Wave Pokémon's weight but didn't break.
Speedy limped off of the Noivern's back to check on her love interest. "Are you okay, Quicks?"
"I'm alright," he crooned. "Cold as ice, but fine."
The ice crackled several more times as the Go-Getters landed their dragons. Hookfang, Meatlug and Barf and Belch circled above like vultures, their riders serving as backup in case they were needed.
Ahead, there was nothing but open water, and the ice started to grow narrower. "There's the ice bridge!" Hiccup exclaimed.
Unfortunately, it was at this point that the Speed Stingers caught up.
Tumbling off of the saddle, Hiccup got to his feet as quickly as he could and reached for his draconium shield, expecting a fight. But the Speed Stingers swarmed straight past him and his friends in order to circle Quicks and Speedy, who were standing near the edge of the ice bridge, one cold and the other injured.
"Should we fight them?" asked Heather.
Before he could answer, Hiccup considered their options. They couldn't just stand by and do nothing, but if they tried to fight off the wild Speed Stingers, they could end up putting Quicks and Speedy in more danger.
"I don't know," he lamented.
Toothless let out a shriek as two pairs of talons ran over his back and launched off his head. Raptor and Streak propelled themselves over Redcap's head and landed right in between him and Quicks.
"Stay away from our son!" Raptor growled, flaring out his red crest.
"Your son killed a pack member!" Redcap growled back.
"No, I didn't!" Quicks protested. "Sprint hurt Speedy, so I paralyzed him. He started falling over the cliff, and I tried to save him, but he attacked me, and I couldn't hold on. I didn't kill him, at least not on purpose. Father, please, you have to believe me!"
Raptor looked back at his son. "I do believe you," he crooned. Then, to Redcap, he growled, "My son is not a killer. If anyone's to blame for the death of a pack member, it's you! I knew the moment I met you that you were a reckless fool who doesn't think of the benefit of the pack. You think I haven't noticed that some members have been lost since I was forced out? Scuttersweep. Whiztail. Alacrity. Talonrush. Momentum. All dead. Killed by your rash decisions, Redcap! And for what? For nothing!"
Redcap didn't answer. He just stood there, his gaze as hard as stone. But Raptor could see in his rival's eyes just how ashamed he was. Far too often a dragon would take over their or someone else's pack because being the leader was a position of power - they wanted to feel strong and important, and leading a pack was an easy way to achieve that. Redcap had never thought about how anyone but himself would be affected by his decisions and desire for power, not even once.
There was a hard jolt that made everyone stumble. The sharks that Adhesive had spotted earlier were starting to get aggressive.
"Why are there sharks here?!" Brandyn shrieked fearfully, sounding more like a terrified schoolgirl than a trainer of the prophecy.
"They must have smelled Quicks's blood when he fell in the water," Snivels reasoned.
When the sharks jolted the ice, Speedy couldn't remain standing on one good leg. She fell, and the cold surface cracked beneath her.
Realizing his love interest was in danger, Quicks grabbed on to her crest with his teeth, like he'd done to Sprint only minutes before, and pulled her away from the water's edge.
"Don't let go," Speedy told him.
Not wanting to risk releasing her to give an answer, Quicks gazed into her eyes meaningfully.
Redcap could see them from over Raptor's shoulder. He couldn't quite believe that his rival's son was actually trying to save his daughter's life.
"Hiccup," cried Snivels, "we need to get the pack out of here!"
"We need to get out of here!" Brandyn screeched.
Hiccup wracked his brain trying to come up with a plan that would work, but he kept coming up empty.
But Redcap didn't need a plan. He already knew what he had to do. He slipped right in between Raptor and Streak, heading straight for Quicks and Speedy.
"Stop him!" shouted Blaze.
Either way, it didn't matter, because Redcap grabbed the two dragonets by the scruff of their necks and half-tossed half-pushed them onto thicker ice.
"Father!" Speedy called out, fearful of what was about to happen.
Quicks released his love's crest to voice his own objection. "What are you doing?!"
Speedy's father looked at them both, locking eyes with Quicks and demanding, "You take care of her!"
In the span of a single second, the ice broke from under Redcap's talons, the pack leader plummeted into the cold, dark water and was seen no more.
For a long moment, everyone was silent and still.
Then Raptor raised his head and screeched. All at once, the pack responded, swarming over to greet their reinstated leader. The Lead Stinger shared once last glance with his son and told him, "Good luck," before turning tail and fleeing across the ice bridge. All of the Speed Stingers followed their alpha away, and soon, they were vanishing from sight, never to return.
Incredulous, Hiccup asked, "What just happened?"
"I'll explain later," Snivels promised.
The Berk Viking Riders landed right behind the Go-Getters, looking just as stunned and disbelieving as everyone else.
"Well, that was anti-climactic," Snotlout groused.
He was promptly rewarding for his complaining by Gustav tipping him sideways from behind, causing Snotlout's paralyzed body to swing upside-down and dangle beneath Hookfang's neck.
"Is that better?" the Larson boy grinned.
Hookfang took off just then, and Snotlout flopped comically underneath the Monstrous Nightmare, his paralyzed legs keeping him in place.
"Hey, put me down!" he screamed in protest. "Repercussions! Repercussions!"
As they flew off, Snivels couldn't help but ask, "How is Snotface's paralysis wearing off already?!"
Hiccup only shook his head and smiled at the sight.
There was a mighty roar, and a great blue Thunderdrum descended from above, carrying the mighty chief of Berk and his trusty Beartic upon his scaly back.
"There you all are," Stoick said as he got down from Thornado's saddle. "Gobber said you'd gone looking for the Speed Stingers, and I've been searching for you all over the island."
He stopped and surveyed the riders and their creature companions. Every single Pokémon and dragon looked winded like they'd just come out of a battle, and there were two injured Speed Stinger dragonets lying injured on the ice.
Stoick sighed and asked, "Alright, what did I miss?"
"We'll explain later," Hiccup swore. "But for now, Quicks and Speedy need medical attention, and I think we could all do with a good, long rest after today." He boarded Toothless and joined the other riders - Go-Getters and Vikings - in flying back toward Berk, now safe thanks to them.
When dawn broke, it was to the villagers of Berk bustling throughout the plaza, repairing the damage that the wild Speed Stingers had caused during their temporary takeover. Stoick and Gobber led the movement, helping out with the heavy work wherever they could.
"Nasty creatures, those Speed Stingers," Stoick commented, flipping an overturned wheelbarrow right-side up.
Wryly, Gobber replied, "Yeah, but we got a few 'nasty creatures' of our own around here."
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate - of course - Snotlout and the twins. The former was still paralyzed from the neck down, angrily shouting at the laughing Thorstons as they relentlessly teased him. Sarin, Ricin, Heat, Gustav, and Sanzaru joined in the fun as well, which probably didn't make it that much more pleasant for the immobile pig-headed teen. They then started to torture him further by spinning him in place, which turned his heated threats into loud protests.
Stoick snorted, slightly amused, and lumbered off to help a pair of Vikings hoist up the giant torches that normally stood in the plaza.
Meanwhile, at the Raven Point living quarters, Snivels was wrapping bandages around Quicks and Speedy's wounds. The two dragonets were curled up against each other, resting.
Frida was talking with the others. "Isn't it romantic how Quicks and Speedy fell in love when their fathers were enemies?"
"This actually isn't the first time there's been a pair of star-crossed lovers," Adhesive replied. "And, believe me, this ending is better than most stories."
"Do you think we'll ever see Raptor and Streak again?" asked Camaztoz, staring out at the horizon.
"I think those Speed Stingers are better off left alone," Ra answered, following her gaze.
A loud hurricane of exclamations filled the air as a certain Siren dragonet was reunited with her adoptive mother.
"Mama sabladay! Sana awight! Mama Papa sabladay!"
"I'm so glad you're alright," Heather cooed, nudging the Siren's nose with her own, earning a giggle from Sonata. "You had me so worried, little song."
The dragonet chirped in reply, "Sana awight."
The raven-haired girl chuckled warmly. "I love you, Sonata. Can you say 'I love you'?"
"Awuvyu," Sonata tried.
Astrid found herself smiling fondly at the little family as they interacted. A month ago, it wouldn't have been as interesting to her.
The sound of wingbeats preceded the arrival of Hiccup and Toothless. The black dragon descended from the sky so fast it looked like he was going to crash, but he pulled up at the last minute and landed gracefully on his talons. His rider was hunched over a little, and in one arm he was holding a vase-sized bottle with a picture of a squid on it.
Ebony was there in a flash, nuzzling her mate's neck affectionately. Toothless nuzzled her back, happy as a lark that his precious love had recovered from her paralysis with no ill effects. The tender moment was interrupted by their dragonets swarming around excitedly, but it didn't falter their parents' joy.
"You're back early," Astrid observed. "Did you get Johann back to his boat?"
"Sure did," Hiccup said as he dismounted. "Had to hightail it out of there before he could start one of his stories. He gave me this." He held up the bottle for everyone to see. "Squid ink. You know, to make up for the bottle that got smashed."
"That was nice of him," commented Brandyn in a tone they couldn't quite place.
Hiccup nodded in agreement.
"Uh, guys?" Frida piped up, nervously. "Before I forget, there's something Adhesive and I need to tell you. We met this Pokémon in the woods while we were searching through the snow. She said her name was Ugajin."
"Ugajin," Hiccup echoed thoughtfully. "I don't think we know her."
"She's an Enamorus," the Poipole explained. "She told us that 'the seed hidden in the snow' is Calyrex, a Grass-type Legendary Pokémon that lives in the Crown Tundra. I told her we were busy, so she flew off to find a Calyrex named Sedge, who she said is the leader of the Expansion, so he can help us stop the Darkest Day."
All at once, everything made sense to Hiccup. Of course some lines in a prophecy weren't meant to be taken literally. But they didn't have much of a lead to work with, so he hadn't been sure where they were supposed start with the searching.
"Thank you for telling us," he told them. "We should try widening our search area, see if we can't find the Expansion ourselves." Then, he paused as he suddenly thought of something. "Hey, Snivels? For our next class at the academy, how would you feel about giving lessons on how to speak Dragonese?"
Tying off Quicks's bandages, the Servine beamed at his trainer. "I think that's a great idea!"
Elsewhere
Four large Pokémon sat in a grassy clearing. Before them was a set of recently-made playing cards, all of them face-down so they couldn't see what symbols they displayed.
The gray and white deer Pokémon was using his psychic powers to levitate his cards in front of his face, keeping them close so his fellow players couldn't peek - specifically the gray and purple cat-weasel with the crazy claws.
The two others were a large brown bear with a gray pelt and a beige mantis with a rocky exoskeleton.
"Ursa, do you have any threes?" crooned the Sneasler, her eyes glinting.
The Ursaluna slammed her paw down and declared with a thick Russian accent, "Go vith the fishing!"
The Kleavor rolled his eyes and said, "For the last time, it's 'go fish', not 'fishing'."
"Oh, come off it, Broadaxe," said the Wyrdeer. "What's important is that we're all having fun."
The Snealser snorted. "If this is your idea of fun, Yezo, they why do I even bother hanging out with you anymore?"
Yezo didn't get a chance to comment on that before the ground started rumbling beneath their feet. "Well, that can't be good."
"It certainly isn't," said a sultry voice from up in the air.
The four Hisuian evolutions looked up to see Enamrous floating above their heads.
"Ugajin," Yezo greeted. "What brings you here?"
"Headed for the Expansion," Ugajin answered. "The Darkest Day is nearly upon us, and the Trainers of Destiny are gonna need all the help they can get. And if you're playing cards, I'd recommend keeping an eye on Kamaitachi, she tends to cheat."
"Blabbermouth," grumbled the Sneasler.
The Wyrdeer ceased his psychic powers, allowing his cards to drop. "We should probably go look for the Expansion, too," he said. "With these quakes becoming more frequent, we'll need someplace to lay low. In the meantime, we best send the twins to find the Trainers of Destiny."
"The twins?" Broadaxe repeated. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure," retorted Yezo. "Dak and Leyla are the most capable of navigating the islands, especially with their dragon brother. Taimen! Legion!"
At his call, two large, green fish-like Pokémon, one with red spots and plumes of smoke around its tail and one with pale blue spots and smoke, surfaced from the nearby river.
"Signal the Rescue Riders," Yezo commanded.
Nodding, the two Basculegion raised their heads, opened their mouths, and each fired a black ball of black and purple energy with black static around it into the air, where they exploded in a wave of energy that pulsed through the cloudy sky.
No sooner after the double Shadow Ball had faded, a small group of flying creatures appeared from out of the clouds. A medium-sized blue dragon landed first, carrying a ten-year-old boy with red-orange hair and a Pikachu on his shoulder. They were soon followed by four more dragons - a stout purple one that looked a lot like a Gronckle, a bronze-brown one with knife-like spikes, a small red one with ram-like horns, and a thin green one with a red-orange-haired girl and an Eevee riding on her back.
"Yezo, is something wrong?" asked the girl, in flawless Pokéspeak.
"We have a new assignment for you kids," the Wyrdeer explained in a calm voice. "Follow the river to the ocean and keep going straight until you reach the island of Berk, home of the Dragon Master. Find him and lead him and his team to the Expansion. The Darkest Day is coming, and fast. Are you up to the task?"
The Rescue Riders conversed amongst themselves for a few minutes, in a sort of hybridized version of Dragonese and Pokéspeak, before the blue dragon answered, "You can count on us!"
"Alright," said Dak, "let's go!"
Faster than anyone could blink, the Rescue Riders took off into the sky. They soared over the river, following it to where they knew the estuary was.
"Isn't this exciting?" Dak enthused. "We're finally gonna meet the Dragon Master, legendary tamer of the Night Fury and friend to all dragons! Winger, Shocker, are you guys excited?"
"Sure am!" chirped the Pikachu.
"So am I," the blue dragon replied. "But not too excited."
The green dragon flew in closer, so their wingtips were within an inch of each other. "It's okay to be excited," she said. "Even I'm a little excited. We've heard so much about the Dragon Master but have never had the chance to actually meet him until now."
"I just hope we can reach him in time," Leyla said anxiously, "and that we can help him stop the Darkest Day."
"Don't worry," the Eevee purred. "If we work together as a team, there's nothing we can't do! Have a little faith."
The girl smiled and patted her partner's head. "I know you're right, Eve. But this is way bigger than anything we've faced so far."
"Hey," the small red dragon snorted, "if you can handle me and Cutter, then you can definitely handle something like the Darkest Day."
That wasn't as reassuring as Leyla would have liked. "Thanks, Aggro." Then she patted the green dragon's neck and asked, "Summer, can you fly any faster?"
"Not too fast," said the purple dragon. "I don't wanna get left behind."
"That won't happen, Burple," Winger assured. "Rescue Riders never leave one of their own behind!"
It was going to be a long flight to Berk. But Dak and Leyla and their fellow Rescue Riders knew it would be worth it when they finally meet the Dragon Master.
The Trainerverse is starting to expand a little. (The Expansion = Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, get it?) For the record, I haven't actually watched the Rescue Riders series, but I have thought about watching it. And it would probably help if I did watch it, right?
Yes, Brandyn does have galeophobia (fear of sharks), and it may or may not have to do with the boating accident that killed his parents.
And, not that it's particularly important, one of the dead pack members Raptor mentioned - Alacrity - was Speedy's mother.
Now, if you would be so kind as to leave some reviews, I always look forward to seeing what you guys think!