The next morning came by like a flash for Hiccup. The snow had melted, and the sky was once more it's ordinary light blue color with clouds flying overhead, as well as on the horizon.

But the morning itself was not so welcoming.

Though he slept peacefully he felt himself quite tense and nervous for the fight that was soon to come. Every rider, even Arn who fought the orcs and their legions for years, felt it.

However, the blonde-headed viking did not get much sleep himself.

Under the dark of the night he went over to the great hall to further study the spell book Fishlegs found in the Berkian library, and so far he was actually getting somewhere.

Yet it was not enough.

Hiccup found Arn that morning by the runestone as both he and Toothless walked through the busy roads of the town, all while also taking note of the increased amount of guards and warriors that marched around in formation around the village, wearing the green, brown, and red colors of the Berkian Tribe, as well as their furred cloaks and scale mail armor around their legs and kilts.

Stoick was not joking when he was preparing an army. But would it be enough?

Hiccup made his way through the semi-crowded plaza, approaching Arn who glanced at the runestone while still holding the spell book with it's pages opened as he was murmuring to himself.

"Arn?" he called to get his attention.

The lad turned around, noticing both Hiccup and Toothless before giving them a wave. "Good morning, guys! Did you get a good night's sleep? How are you doing with your Dragonese?"

"My Dragonese is improving rather quickly. It's going great. As for my sleep, it could have been worse, but it was peaceful."

"Yeah," Toothless warbled in agreement. "I had a dream that I was in a lake full of fish and salmon. Couldn't have imagined if there was an eel in it."

Arn lightly chuckled. "Was there any part you didn't like about it?"

"Well, yeah. When I woke up."

Both Hiccup and Arn began to laugh, feeling more cheerful as Toothless looked at them with a semi-glare look. Eventually they both stopped laughing, looking at each other at first with embarrassment before Arn got talking.

"So… what are you doing here?"

"I came looking for you," replied Hiccup. "I noticed that you were awake early this morning… or rather the whole night, out of the hut with that spell book in hand. What exactly are you doing?"

"Well..." began Arn as spun back to look up at the runestone. "I wanted to get more into my research, and after hours of reading last night in the great hall I came here to inspect the runes on the runestone. Tell me, do these runes mean anything to you?"

Arn immediately turned to the first page of the spell book where last time they were greeted with magical fire runes on the back of the front cover. He pointed them out to Hiccup as they brightly glowed, but he merely gave a shrug.

"They're just runes. How would I know?"

"Well here's the thing," replied Arn. "I've been reading these runes closely, trying to figure out what they mean, but it turns out that the first part of this runic word on the back of the cover matches a set of runes on the stone. See?"

Arn pointed his finger up towards the runestone at a set of runes, and Hiccup was quick to spot them as he glanced between the book and the large stone. He was right. They matched.

"Well what does it say? Do you know what it means?" he asked intriguingly.

"I did a bit of reading through the book, and after a bit of looking I found out that these three runes alone make the word fúre which apparently means fire or ignite in runic. It must be a spell."

"Hmm… do you think maybe one of us could try casting it?" Hiccup asked jokingly, only for Arn to shake his head with a light laugh. As exciting as spells were, they knew it was best for them not to get ahead of themselves.

"I recommend against it. You know how dangerous magic can be!" replied Toothless as he nudged his head against Hiccup's shoulder. "Plus, you still have me - remember?"

"Hah, I'm getting too ahead of myself," nodded Hiccup. "In that case, I think we should just forget about trying to cast spells. There is no way in Thor we could ever learn magic."

"Agreed," replied Arn. "Anyways, I'll continue with my research in hopes of finding answers, and in the meantime I would suggest for you to go see Astrid."

Hiccup curiously rose one of his brows. "Astrid? Why? Has something happened?"

Arn responded with a shrug. "I saw her flying towards the town gates with Valka and the other riders this morning. It looked like something serious was going on. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about it…"

…

Hiccup's eyes were widened with a surprised and shocked feeling in him. "You have got to be kidding me."

"There's so many of them this time!" warbled Toothless, showing the same face Hiccup gave.

Both of them, along with Astrid, Valka, the riders, and their dragons stood by the opened gates of the town as literally hundreds of people from Clan Jorgenson - men, women, children, and even warriors - slowly swarmed through, tired and hungry.

Toothless, Stormfly, Meatlug, Barf and Belch, and Cloudjumper gazed at them as curious as their riders. What was going on?

"There's so many of them!" gargled Barf, as Belch replied in agreement with, "You know it! Look at them all!"

Meatlug let out hot air from her nostrils, almost as if she sighed. "I'm pretty sure Toothless already mentioned that. Question is, why are they all here?"

"Hmm… do you guys think they were kicked out like the others from last time?" squawked Stormfly, glancing at Toothless.

"Who knows," he crooned. "I don't get why Snotlout would kick out this many of his own."

"Perhaps he's gone mad," replied Cloudjumper in a murmured warble. "After all, Snotlout is Snotlout."

As the dragons continued conversing, the others all the meanwhile had a conversation of their own.

"I have a feeling Snotlout has once again gone too far," said Valka with her arms crossed. "What has he done this time? Astrid?"

"We don't know," shrugged Astrid as she concerningly eyed the many villagers walking through the gates. "I was on patrol with Stormfly, and before we knew it, a guard came by and informed me of this. He told me there's over three hundred of them - ten times the amount of people compared to last time."

"So then why are they here, hm? How do we know they aren't just going to backstab us, hm? Well? HMM?" asked Tuffnut in his usual weird tone, to which his sister shook her head.

"Uhh, maybe we should ask one of them what's going on? Duh?" suggested Ruffnut, pointing a finger towards the crowd.

Astrid sighed as she made her way closer to the crowd, before calling out "hey!" to what appeared to be a former Clan Jorgenson warrior as he was guided out of the long line of people marching into the village.

The warrior gave a sigh as he came eye to eye with Hiccup. "Have I done something wrong, Hiccup?"

"Not at all, warrior," he replied in a friendly manner. "We only want to ask you about Snotlout. The last group of people that came to our village were exiled, but this seems like something bigger... Please. Tell us what happened."

There was a moment of silence as the man weakly looked down at his feet in exhaustion. After what happened, he did not want to remind himself of it - yet he had no choice.

To Hiccup, he appeared as tired as the rest of the folk, yet he also seemed a little bit tensed.

"He… he had his loyal warriors beat us to a pulp," the warrior finally spoke. "In the middle of the night he sent two hundred of his best men towards the outer levels of the village where I and all of these people were, and he ordered them to beat the living Helheim out of everyone they could find. And it was not just his people, but as well as US, his own warriors who he believed were plotting against him. So in response, we rebelled and stood against his men, but we were outnumbered two to one."

"...We managed to only take out a few dozen of his men, but his loyal warriors slaughtered at least fifty innocent people. Men, women... children even. After that, we were dragged one by one outside the great hall until the place was crowded. There, Snotlout publicly announced our exile... This, is what he's done to us."

He gestured with his hands at his terrifically bruised face, and everyone gasped.

Fishlegs especially was stunned. "Oh my gods…"

"Snotlout…" sighed Hiccup, followed by a grunt. "I never knew he would go this far. First he angers my father, threatens our people, tries to kill me and my friends, and now THIS!? Killing his own!?"

"That damn son of a…"

Astrid shook her head in disappointment. "I am sorry," she said to the warrior. "You don't deserve this. None of you deserve this... But we promise you that Snotlout will be taken down."

"I will be glad to see the day when it happens - and I will be with you," the warrior replied. "I, and all of these people, stand with you. We are glad to be part of the Berkian Tribe once more."

"It is an honor to welcome you back, warrior," nodded Valka in approval.

The viking gave Valka a salute as he soon made his way off in the other direction away from them, following along with the last of the villagers and warriors as they poured into the town.

Astrid sighed, slowly blinking her eyes as she turned to face back to the others. "What do we do now?"

"Well," said Hiccup. "We may need to consult with Gobber about this. My dad is too busy with war preparations, so for now he's our best bet for helping us."

"Sounds fair enough," replied Astrid.

Fishlegs nodded in agreement. "Hmph."

"In that case you can all go on without me," said Valka as she swiftly mounted on Cloudjumper who stood near her. "I must go check on Stoick and make sure he is not overworking himself. He seems quite... different."

Hiccup nodded. "See you in a bit, mom."

And with that she and Cloudjumper hastily flew off until they could all no longer see her, and as soon as she was out of sight Hiccup turned back to the others and asked them, "So, are we off to Gobber's then?"

...

"What?! You must be joking! Did he really-?"

"Yup," Hiccup immediately answered Gobber. "Snotlout ordered his most 'loyal' men to beat those people to a pulp. It's clear to me that the Snotlout we all knew is gone."

Hiccup and the group now along with Arn sat around Gobber's long-table with drinks in front of them as they discussed the unpleasant news they were given that day, and oh how angry Gobber was. He was not pleased as his voice bellowed throughout the workshop.

He raged and roared like an infuriated dragon. He yelled like the Gobber the Belch that Hiccup once knew. "THAT DAMNED SNOTFACED SNOTLOUT! A PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A VIKING HE WAS! WHY I BOTHERED TRAINING HIM TO FIGHT IN THE PAST WAS BEYOND ME! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM I'M GOING TO SMASH HIS FACE IN WITH HIS OWN HAMMER! I WILL-!"

Gobber immediately cut himself off, realizing he now stood from his chair and was saying too much. Way too much. Everyone stared up at Gobber shocked and tensed. They had never seen him outburst over Snotlout like that before, and the Belch knew he had to take a step back and think.

He gently sat back in his chair. "Err- sorry… I've just never been this angry before... What Snotlout has done is something I never imagined."

Astrid let out a sigh. "I can't imagine how his dragon Hookfang must be feeling though. He deserves better."

"Aye... but as much as how you lads and lasses want to take care of him, we can't hope to fight him with our eyes gazed towards the orcs," replied Gobber, now speaking with reason. "Along with that, we do not know how many more people will come into our town as a result of his actions. Until only his loyal warriors and companions remain, we should not move against him. One way or another, he will be unable to fight us, and we will finally be able to put down Snotlout for all he has done. His threats will no longer matter. We will be the ones coming for him."

"Indeed," Hiccup said in agreement. "Be rest assured guys, Snotlout will be brought to justice after we finish our business on the Island of Tomorrow… if we make it out, of course."

"We'll make it out as long as we believe in ourselves, and our victory," said Arn, staring at the mead in his mug. "As long as we stick together, the orcs won't be able to harm us that easily."

"Let's hope it's worth it," giggled Tuffnut. "I've been waiting to bash in more orcs with Macey."

"Your mace? But wasn't it destroyed after you tried shattering those dragon-proof chains? Not to mention they were enchanted with fire magic."

Tuffnut crossed his arms, rolling his eyes at Astrid. "Pfft, fine, I'll use my spear then… if it's good enough against the orcs."

"As long as your weapons and armor can handle it, you should be fine," replied Arn. "Plus, from what I've seen so far, you guys shouldn't have much trouble with them anyways."

Hiccup gave a lip trill as he lifted up his mug. He stared at it for a moment before giving a shrug as he took a rather large drink from it, more than usual.

"Careful with that mead, lad," warned Gobber. "You'll feel smashed if you drink too much."

"Just trying to ease myself, Gobber," said Hiccup. "I don't want to feel intimidated for the battle tomorrow. I need my sanity kept intact, as well as my mind…"

…

Dusk came quicker than they anticipated. The group and their dragons all sat isolated around a large bonfire in the great hall, unable to get any form of early sleep. They simply sat in their chairs, waiting until they felt like they were ready to fall asleep.

Yet they were all almost completely silent.

None of them spoke or let out a peep. Here and there they let out a cough or sneeze, but that was it. The atmosphere as a whole however felt dreadful, and for a time the entirety of the great hall lacked much noise aside from the blazing flames of the bonfires and braziers.

Until they heard something that sounded like music.

Before the group left Gobber's workshop, the viking offered them his old lute which he had not played in a long time, not since his incidents with the Boneknapper, and the first to call dibs on it was Arn surprisingly.

And it was then that he began to play the lute, surprisingly knowing his notes despite him being a little bit rough. But to the others, it sounded good.

"What is that?" gargled Barf and Belch in unison.

"That's a musical instrument," lightly crooned Toothless, glancing back at the dragon with a motion of his head as they listened. "Humans call it a lute, I believe. I listened to them a few times before, and I think they are good. Although Arn isn't too bad, I actually kind of like the way he is playing."

"I agree with you too, Toothless," chuckled Hiccup.

Once again, Hiccup's ability of speaking Dragonese caught the attention of the others, especially Astrid's as she asked, "What did he say?"

"He said he likes the sound of lutes, as well as Arn's playing."

"Pfft, just playing a lute? Now that's not enough," replied Ruffnut as she leaned back in her chair. "I wanna hear some real music. I think Arn should sing."

"S- Sing?" stuttered Arn, now seeing as how everyone was in agreement with Ruffnut's idea.

"Yeah!" said Astrid cheerfully. "Why don't you? Some playing and singing could really improve this atmosphere."

Arn shook his head in denial. "But I haven't sung in a long while. How do you even know if it will sound good?"

"Just give it your best shot," nodded Hiccup with a grin now on his face. "If anything, you'd do better than Astrid. She can't sing at all."

"Hey!"

Arn let out a light chuckle at Astrid's reaction, but sighed as he laid his eyes back on the lute. He then bobbed his head in a nod, now willing to take it.

"Alright," he said. "Here goes nothing…"

Slowly but surely he began to tap his foot in a rhythm, making a beat as he began strumming on the strings of the lute. The melody sounded peaceful and harmonic…

And then, he begun to sing, rather quite pleasantly.

"The nights are young, the days are long, the stars glow blue tonight."

"Where one will fall, another will rise, yet both still bring their light..."

"Far-away over mountains… over rivers and valleys, through lands of bright."

"Vikings explore riding dragons of old, over the highest heights…"

"...Before life, the Allfather knew his world would bloom,"

"From war comes peace, from those of whom-"

"Found stars in lakes with crystal runes,"

"Where warriors would wake from their sleeping tombs…"

"Yet as Odin looked down he quickly saw,"

"The world he made - from magic raw,"

"Midgard was born, we came to be,"

"For it was Odin who woke us and made us free…"

When writing the last scene of this chapter I had a bit of an Aragorn feeling since in the Lord of the Rings, both in the books and movies, he tended to sing, so you guys can see where I am kind of drawing a parallel with Arn in that scene. Of course, just use your imagination for how it sounds. I can guarantee there will be more scenes like this later on... with other characters!

Next chapter, the battle for the Island of Tomorrow begins.

But until then,

To be continued...