The sun rose over the waking town of Berk, and a new morning had come to Midgard.
Hiccup and Snotlout were amongst the first ones up and out, but it seemed like the chief did not need to go wake up his friends himself. While making way through the slightly crowded yet somewhat quiet plaza, Hiccup noticed that the others were already down by Gobber's workshop, talking with the large belch himself who looked as tired as a dragon that was rudely woken up from its nap.
But in this case, Gobber was still his normal friendly self.
'Huh, they don't usually wake up this fast,' Hiccup thought to himself with a shrug. 'I guess they're so anxious to meet Snotlout that they all decided to skip breakfast...'
For the most part, everything was going normally as they went through the plaza, until Hiccup started to notice something.
He saw that some of the people around him, who were not as exhausted as most others, were distantly glaring at Snotlout. Though they dared not to lash out at him as he was in the presence of the chief, they still did not forgive him for what he had done to Berk.
"Traitor," one said, quietly speaking under their breath.
"Murderer," another spoke, low in their voice.
"...Useless," another whispered.
Snotlout understood not a word from them, but as they walked off, he was left puzzled, thus he looked back at Hiccup. "Why were they looking at me like that?"
"I- I don't know," replied Hiccup. "Must be the morning mood. I assume they're all tired... Regardless, just keep walking. Don't look at them."
Despite what Snotlout thought about them, he gave a shrug and continued on as Hiccup told him to, following him from behind.
From the distance, Gobber would be the first to notice Hiccup coming towards them, thus he waved his hand at the lad.
"Ah! Good morning, Hiccup!" called out Gobber, causing for everyone's eyes to shift towards their approaching chief. "Your friends here were just telling me that they were waiting for you."
To Hiccup, he found it peculiar. "Really? How come you guys were waiting for me? ...And what are you all doing up so early anyways?" he asked.
"Eh, we couldn't wait," spoke Ruffnut. "Before you left yesterday, we all agreed to wake up early and wait for you… as well as Snotlout."
The Twins responded with an "ugh" upon hearing that word, more so from Ruffnut as she did not like saying it.
"You both do realize that's not the reason," sighed Fishlegs with a facepalm.
Gobber however rose one of his brows. "Snotlout… what does he have to do with this?" he asked.
Hiccup however was a bit embarrassed. "Uhh… guys? I don't think you should be so loud."
Astrid gave a light chuckle. "Hiccup, it's not like Snotlout is around. For all we know, he could be-"
Immediately the look on Astrid's face changed. She noticed the serious expression on Hiccup as he stepped a few paces to the side, and there and behold was Snotlout Jorgenson who was glancing at them.
"Uh… hello?" he said, in a kinder tone than usual. After all, he expected more of a warm welcome rather with smiles and happy-looking grins on their faces.
Astrid looked back at Hiccup, both brows raised in shock. "You brought him here? You do realize there are other people around him that could be watching him!" she said in a whisper.
"Actually Astrid, he was brought to me by Gothi. Still, there aren't that many people up right now."
"But it doesn't matter! The entire island still hates hi-"
Immediately Hiccup placed a finger over Astrid's lips, silencing her. "I've got this under control, alright?" he said as he slowly removed his finger from her lips, and she gave a nod.
"Alright… also, don't do that with your finger again. Otherwise I'll go for the shin, and it won't feel good," she said, receiving a smirk from Hiccup as she grinned back.
Then Snotlout's voice spoke up. "Uh, guys? Am I just going to stand here or…?"
"You can come closer, Snotlout," nodded Hiccup as Snotlout proceeded to make his way more closer to them. "Astrid here was just telling me that she's… glad that you've awoken from your coma. Right, Astrid?"
"Oh- uhh… yeah," she replied, playing along. "In fact, we were all worried that you would never awake from your coma."
"Uhh… aye, Snotlout!" nodded Gobber in 'agreement.'
"Oh you know it," smiled Fishlegs, also instantly getting the hint upon hearing the tone in the others' voices.
Tuffnut however just shook his head and crossed his arms. "Wait a minute! Snotlout was not in a-!"
"Huh?" the confused Jorgenson replied.
Upon speaking however, Tuff was quickly elbowed by Ruffnut, who stood next to him with a displeasant look, for even she knew what she was doing. "Play along, you idiot!" she whispered.
Noticing the glare on Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, and her sister, as well as Snotlout's baffled look, Tuffnut gave a smile as he placed his hands up in gesture. "Yup, yup! You're right! He waaaas in a coma!" he spoke aloud.
"Oh brother…" sighed Hiccup with a facepalm, for not only was his reaction poorly timed, but as well as embarrassing. "Don't do that again, Tuff," he whispered, before looking back at Snotlout.
"Anyways… Snotlout," he began. "How about we get some breakfast in the great hall? I'm sure the others would be willing to come."
"Eh, you can count me out, then. I uhh... need to see to the forge," commented Gobber, with him being the only one unwilling while the others showed approving looks. In truth, he was not comfortable around Snotlout.
"...Wait, but what about Arn?" asked Astrid. "Is he up?"
"He's still asleep, but we can go on without him as I'm sure he'll stop by there first," answered Hiccup. "Plus, I'm certain Snotlout is quite hungry right now. After being in that coma, his stomach must be aching for something."
"Heh, you bet... But, what about Hookfang? When can I see him?"
"You'll see him soon, don't worry," Hiccup assured him. "In the meantime, I can tell you about some of the things that have happened while you were out."
"Sounds good to me, I guess... So where do we start?"
...
"So let me get this straight," began Snotlout who sat opposite from Hiccup and Astrid. "She was beaten by Arn in a duel?"
"I wasn't expecting him to be that good," commented Astrid as she sipped from her tankard of water. "But considering the fact that he was thrown into a raging war that he's been fighting for years, it would make sense how he's gotten that good."
"And were you angry afterwards?"
Astrid shook her head at him. "More like disappointed. After that however, I began training myself whenever I could. Of course, there are some people who don't know how to fight…"
Her eyes glanced over to the loudly conversing Twins who gave questioning looks back at her, unsure of who or what she was talking about.
"Uhh… what are you looking at?" asked Ruffnut.
Astrid sighed as she shook her head, looking back down at her bowl of porridge as she took another tasting spoonful from it. "I'd be surprised if they manage to do anything useful for the war to come," she said, speaking in a soft voice. "Last time we fought the orcs and their allies, those two banged up their weapons beyond repair."
"Well at least we have allies now, and not just ourselves," replied Hiccup. "I'm pretty sure that the elves and dwarves won't swing their weapons around as recklessly or stupidly as those two-"
"Hey! We'll have you know that we use our weapons better than most muttonheads, thank you very much!" exclaimed Tuffnut angrily.
Astrid rose a brow. "Were you two really eavesdropping on us?"
"Nah, you're just very loud!" replied Ruffnut, who spoke quite loudly herself.
"Well what about your use of magic?" asked Fishlegs with a smirk. "From what I remembered, you set your own foot on fire, Tuff. Remember?"
From this, Tuffnut knew what battle Fishlegs was referring to, but he couldn't say it aloud whilst Snotlout was in their presence. Instead he crossed his arms and said, "Shut up, Fishlegs," as he drank from his mug of mead.
Snotlout shook his head, slightly cringing at the thought of the Twins fighting. "I guess that's what they get for being muttonheads. Reminds me of when they pretended to be some sort of stupid statue or something. I dunno. They never achieved anything from doing that."
"And it feels like the old Snotlout is coming ever closer back to us…" Hiccup said in a low voice to Astrid, receiving a nod from the shieldmaiden.
"Huh?" asked Snotlout, swearing he heard his name get mentioned.
Hiccup however was quick to respond. "O- Oh, nothing, Snotlout. It wasn't about you. I was just reminding Astrid of…"
"Of…?"
The young chief sighed. "It's nothing, alright?"
"If you say so, chief," nodded Snotlout in acknowledgement, to which both Hiccup and Astrid sighed lightly under their breaths as if thinking to themselves, 'that was a close one.'
But before they could say anything else, another voice out of nowhere suddenly spoke up, and it wasn't one of theirs.
"Did you guys really go on having breakfast without me?"
Everyone's eyes and heads turned to the side, and from out of the shadows came Arn who looked slightly exhausted, but still well enough awake to stand straight.
"...Who's he?" asked Snotlout. "And how did he get in here? I'm pretty sure we would've seen him come in."
And Snotlout did have a point. Surely they would have heard and seen the doors to the great hall open if Arn came in, and yet here he was.
"W- When did you get here?" asked Hiccup.
"I snuck out of the hut after you left," smirked Arn. "I went to the great hall, knowing that you guys would probably show up there. Guess I was right."
"And you left Toothless all alone?"
Arn shook his head. "Nope. I brought him with me. He's actually right there behind you."
Suddenly Hiccup felt a nudge against his lower back, causing him to nearly jump in shock from his seat. But as he turned around, he saw the familiar black figure of Toothless sitting there with a delighted smile on his face.
The dragon warbled in laughter. "Did I scare ya?"
"Yeah," chuckled Hiccup as he held his hands around Toothless's head, greeting him. "How are you doing bud?"
"Could be better. I had a dream that I was swimming in a lake filled with fish. The good part was that there were a lot of fish. The bad part was that it was just a dream."
"I mean, you can't swim, you know," Hiccup stated. "...Then again, I never trained you for that."
As the conversation between both viking and dragon went on, Snotlout sat there with bewilderment in his expression, yet he was also intrigued. "Hiccup… are you, talking to Toothless?" he asked, to which the young chieftain nodded.
"I know it may seem weird to you, but dragons actually have their own language, called Dragonese. To you guys, you hear it as their growls, roars, and so forth, but I hear it differently. Learning Dragonese, you'll be able to understand them and hear them speak in it. Tamed dragons like our own can be spoken to in common since they're smarter and understand us better, but if it's a wild dragon, you'll need to speak in full on Dragonese."
"Wow… and who taught you all of this?" asked Snotlout, standing from his seat.
"That would be me," replied Arn as he approached Snotlout with his hand raised out. "I'm Arn. Arn Lotharsson."
"Snotlout," said Snotlout, taking hold of Arn's hand firmly as he shook it. "Snotlout Jorgenson."
"I uhh... know who you are, Snotlout," Arn nodded. "Hiccup told me all about you. He told me about how you are a great dragon rider. As well as how you… well..."
"...How you fell into a coma," Hiccup answered for him.
"Yeah- that," sighed Arn. "Still, it's good to see that you're awake at last. And speaking of which, I think there's someone who would like to see you now that you're here."
"Who?"
"Someone you know," the blonde viking smirked.
Arn turned his head around and let out a sharp whistle, as if he was calling for someone to come forward, to which Snotlout shifted to face towards the direction Arn was facing, and from the shadows he heard the sound of what seemed to be claws hitting the stone floor, but then he began to make out a red winged figure slowly walking towards him...
It was a dragon. A Monstrous Nightmare. And as it came out from the shadows, a wide smile of relief appeared on Snotlout's face.
"Hookfang…"
…
"Life… such a pitiful thing," said Drago, who spoke to himself in a low tone beneath the sound of the howling wind. "I used to believe that dragons had no place in this world, save for as slaves, and that only the people who I set out to rule truly deserved it; the race of humans... But the truth is, no one has a place in this world, not even them. Time and time again, many stood against me, refusing to see what had to give. They could have had everything, just as I had..."
"...But instead, they took it from me. All of it. And now, I will give them nothing. I will leave them with nothing."
Far away from Berk, on the Island of Tomorrow, Drago Bludvist stood at the top of his towering fortress, overlooking a large horde of the Dark Legions amassed down below by the thousands from within their city of war; the same city that Stoick tried to burn before he himself was burnt to a crisp.
Yet the dead chieftain's efforts were for naught, at least that was what Drago believed.
The warlord slightly smirked at the thought of this, though was more amused at the sight of the rest of the island all around him, even as it continued withering beyond its deceased state. It was nothing but a husk of its former self. After all, his master's chaotic magic had corrupted everything.
Along with this, the clouds over the island had grown ever darker ever since Berk had fled in defeat. Thunder boomed as if the roar of a hundred dragons were blocking out all other sounds, and green lightning crackled the skies like a tempest of death and destruction.
To Drago, it was soothing.
His twisted daydream would be interrupted however as a dark viking armored in black plating from head to toe approached the warlord. His dark tattered cloak blew in the wind, and at the sound of his steps, Drago turned around to face the warrior, gazing at his green eyes that glowed menacingly from underneath his helmet.
"Grr… I did not summon you to come here, warrior. What do you want?" he questioned angrily, causing his own green eyes to flare as he slammed down the base of his bullhook. "Do you not see that you are disturbing my-"
"A thousand pardons, warlord, but He of the great chaotic fire wishes to speak with thee. I hast been sent as His messenger."
"He?" asked Drago.
The felled warrior bowed his head. "Indeed. And when thou art ready, He shalt be ready to speak with thee."
Drago nodded as he motioned with his hand to the warrior to begone, and the blackened viking calmly made his way off, leaving the warlord alone on the roof of the tower.
Without anymore disturbances, Drago took a dozen steps back from where he stood, and readied himself. He then laid down his bullhook before kneeling down and chanting out the words, "Alsh draz, Maldragor!"
Out of nowhere, a burst of green chaos fire suddenly shot upwards in front of Drago - away from where he stood, and in the flames, a black cloud of darkness came forth - crackling with chaos lightning, yet it was no ordinary cloud.
It was a shadow. A shadow of Drago's evil master.
The warlord stood to his feet. "You wished to speak with me, Master, and here I am. What do you ask of me? What is your bidding?"
For a moment there was silence as Drago awaited for his master to address his words, and then what came next was the voice of something outworldly. Something terrifying to drive the weak-willed insane. It was a deep voice that bellowed with the sound of fire and ash, as well as with the booming thunder which was enough to cause the ground to lightly vibrate beneath Drago's feet…
Maldragor, the Dark Master, spoke.
"It is time, Drago… after waiting for so long, the warlocks have finally prepared a spell for the final ritual. It shall be Midgard's doom, and no power in this world will be able to stand against the Dark Legions. Not even the Wings of Midgard…"
"But my Lord," said Drago. "Won't they still try to stop you?"
"They are of no concern to me," the Dark Master laughed. "The descendant of Horren Haddock, as well as his weak companions, do not have the powers that their ancestors once had, and two of the seven Wings are still not aware of their powers…"
Drago chuckled. "Then I assume we have nothing to worry about?"
"Indeed. But regardless, there is something else you must know... The Wings of Midgard and their leader are mustering a host of men, dwarves, elves, and dragons to move against me. The Alliance of Midgard, as they call themselves, want war."
"So I will give them war…"
Drago gave a nod. "What are your orders, Master?"
"Gather all of your forces on the island, and bring them back to the Legionblight. The Island of Tomorrow has no further use to me… for now. Once you arrive, you will sound the call to arms and begin preparations, for in a month's time, I expect you to march down to Southern Valnr with a host at your back; it will be there where you shall prepare the circle of conjuration for the final ritual..."
"...That day shall be Midgard's last, and not even the gods themselves will be able to stop me."
"And where exactly shall we perform the final ritual…?"
...
Thanks for reading!