(A/N: Welcome to the second chapter, everyone, I'm sure you're eager to find out how things are going with Helene and Ripwave. Well, then you're in luck because you're about to find out.

Like I said in the first chapter, it was more of a prologue to introduce and explain a new character (what I call a "bridge chapter"). This chapter, however, starts with the beginning of "Race to the Edge" and continues forward. Naturally, it begins with the two-part pilot episodes "Dragon Eye of the Beholder", which I consider to be a couple of favorites.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys reading this new chapter. It may or may not be long like the previous chapter, but anything is possible, especially if you're writing it all yourself.)

V-Y-V-*o-I-o*-V-Y-V

Three whole years have passed since the war with the Berserker Tribe and many things have changed since then. The people have changed, the dragons have changed, and the village itself has changed.

Windmills were built on top of rocks that towered above the village. A feeding station was built for the dragons, it was bowl-shaped and filled with fish and had metal tanks filled with water inside of them and large bowls underneath them. Finally, there was a hanger under construction that would soon run under the village, made from the tunnels left over from when the Screaming Death and the Whispering Deaths attacked the village.

With Dagur imprisoned on Outcast Island for the better part of the past three years, all of the Dragon Riders began to do their own things with their dragons. The only time they were together was whenever they went searching for new dragons to document, but they never stayed together for long. They may not have noticed it, but they were drifting apart.

Snotlout was working at the armory with Gobber, who gave him the title of "official weapons tester". His job was all in the name, making sure all of the weapons worked and worked well. Surprisingly, he enjoyed his job, even though he was launched out of catapults and hit with weapons on a daily basis. It was usually Hookfang's job to get him out of a difficult situation.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut decided that instead of working for a living, they were going to dedicate their lives to the god of pranks, Loki. Their favorite target was Snotlout, he was especially easy when he was testing weapons. Barf and Belch were often dragged into their pranks, whether or not they liked to was a bit of a mystery.

Fishlegs had found his calling in teaching the children of Berk the history of dragons. He taught them about how it all began and took them on tours of all of the places where major events happened. Meatlug let the kids ride on her back during these tours, she enjoyed the additional company.

Hiccup was the only one still dedicated to searching for new dragons. He still wanted to keep searching, even though a new dragon hadn't been seen or documented in over a year, he wasn't giving up. Toothless went along with him because he liked to be in the air, he felt at home when he felt the wind under his wings.

Astrid was the only one who continuously stayed with him on his searches. She liked to get away from the island and the hectic antics of the twins in the village, although she would be lying if she said she wasn't getting tired of the repeated trial and error in the search for dragons. Stormfly, while she loved nothing more than to play with Toothless, was also a little tired of flying back and forth to Berk after spending the entire day not finding anything.

Finally, there was Helene, who had changed the most out of the Dragon Riders. Everything about her was different, anyone who knew her as an eighteen-year-old but not as a fourteen or fifteen-year-old would never guess that she had changed at all in those years.

This was especially apparent in her change of clothing. Three years ago, she wore clothing that told the people around her that she was a trader, or at least the child of one. Her clothing now that she was eighteen was vastly different.

She wore a tunic similar to the one she wore at fifteen, although it was slightly darker and the sleeves stopped at her elbows instead of covering her whole arms. Over it, she wore a dark-colored dragon scale shirt similar to what Alvin wore. Her pants were a charcoal black color with a red skirt around her hips and leather leg plates partially hidden under the skirt painted turquoise.

On her arms, she had leather wrappings that went from her wrists halfway up her forearms with three metal rings entwined in them. She still wore the earrings Smog left for her before departing from Berk for good.

Her hair was even styled in a different way as well. Locks of her hair that once framed her face were pulled tightly back to the back of her head and wrapped into a small bun before it was tied into a braid. Only the top most layer of her hair was tied, the rest of it was left alone.

She spent more time on Outcast Island with Alvin than she did on Berk with her friends. Ever since she found out she was his daughter she wanted to know as much about him and her mother as possible.

She learned her mother's name was Freya and she and her father met as young children, but began to show an attraction towards each other as teenagers. She was apparently a very courageous woman and never shied away from a battle. She settled down after she and Alvin married and soon became pregnant with her. Even after everything Alvin did to their fellow warriors on Berk, she still stayed with him and left with him when he was exiled, despite being just days away from giving birth.

Everything she learned about her mother made her sad that she never got the chance to know her. It made her mad when she found out how she died, she felt almost disgusted when she was told it happened when she was a newborn, the day she was born.

Her father said she resembled her mother, that she inherited her beauty. With everything she learned about her, she wanted people to remember her, remember her name, so she decided to adopt her name as her surname. Her full name was Helene Freyadotter.

Her bond with Ripwave had gotten stronger in the past three years as well. Despite not particularly liking Alvin at first, she ended up enjoying his company, which allowed the bond between father and daughter to grow stronger as well. Helene was happy to know that her father and her dragon got along.

Whenever she had the chance, she would fly to Breakneck Bog to see Smog and his family. He and Twirl had a larger family with more offspring and Smokey was a full grown adult yet still retained his playfulness and mischief. She was initially nervous about introducing her new dragon to him first, and there was some conflict between them, but they put their differences aside to make her happy.

While on Outcast Island, she would often listen as Alvin talked with his soldiers, admiring how he chose his surprisingly eloquent words that showed his intelligence and leadership. She knew where she got her eloquence whenever she gave a soliloquy.

She began to become more involved with the affairs of leadership on Outcast Island recently. She and her father were in talk about the possibility of her taking over the Outcast Tribe and becoming chieftess. She was yet to tell Hiccup or any of the other riders about it, only Astrid knew.

Both of them had something to talk to Hiccup about, and decided to wait for him together. They sat on their respective dragons and waited for him and Toothless to do their morning flight around the island.

Astrid decided to pass the time by asking Helene a question, "So, do you think you're ready to become the leader of a tribe?"

She hummed as she thought about it for a couple of moments. Was she ready?

"Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm ready yet," she admitted. "It's not going to happen immediately, I'm going to be in training for when it does happen."

She smiled, "I see."

She could tell she was teasing her, but not in a mocking way, in a playful way, she decided to play along. "What about you? Are you sure you want to leave Hiccup all by himself?"

She quickly looked away, her eyes wide, and her cheeks flushed a bright pink. "I- I don't know what you're talking about."

A rather victorious smile was plastered on her friend's face. Astrid was so predictable, she was an open book under all of the rage on the outside.

Suddenly, she was asked, "How about you? A chieftess needs a husband, you know?"

Her smile dropped and her heart was in her stomach, it was something she hoped to avoid for a long time. "I'm- I'm not sure. I never really thought about it. I don't even know what type of man I would even like."

"What about Snotlout?" she suggested.

She smiled and scoffed, "Yeah, right."

"Fishlegs?" she suggested again.

"He has a high intelligence, so I guess I would be attracted to that, but I still wouldn't marry him," she responded honestly.

"Okay, that's fair enough," she replied. "Then, Tuffnut?"

She looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Are you kidding?"

She laughed, "Yeah, kind of."

She thought about it a little longer and finally gave her an answer for the question she asked her earlier. "If I were to pick my husband, I would want someone who's smart, loyal, and passionate."

She nodded and hummed, "Interesting. I like that you're not being too specific, you're open-minded. Your husband could be someone muscular like Snotlout, or skinny like Hiccup, with a brain like Fishlegs', or even someone a little more like Tuffnut. But it doesn't really matter to you, does it? That's what I like about you."

She smiled again, "Thanks, Astrid, I'm glad to hear that."

She did have a good point though, Helene had to admit. It was often said that if a woman was unmarried or not yet betrothed by the age of twenty, she would have a line of suitors a mile long for her hand. This would be especially true for her as the only daughter of the chief of the Outcast Tribe, especially now that she was to begin her training to take it over when her father retired.

A couple of minutes later, they saw Hiccup and Toothless flying by. They were just doing a normal flight, but for them a casual flight could turn into a free fall.

"There they are, let's go," Astrid told her. She patted Stormfly on the side of her head, telling her it was time to go.

"Ready, girl?" Helene asked Ripwave as she spread her wings and repaired for flight.

They took to the air and started to fly after Hiccup as he and Toothless flew over the entire village, trying to catch up to them. They stopped only briefly to wave to the children Fishlegs was teaching before flying away again for the two girls and their dragons to continue to chase after them.

Toothless was undoubtedly a fast dragon, but so were Stormfly and Ripwave. Hiccup heard a caw from Stormfly and a light discharge from Ripwave, he knew they were following him.

He turned his head to look at them, "Hey, there you are."

"Hiccup, we've been chasing you since the armory," Astrid told him.

"Well, I thought we'd try out the far north today," he replied.

"Uh, Hiccup, can we talk to you about something first?" Helene inquired.

"Yeah, sure, if you can catch me!" He smiled eagerly as he and Toothless started to fly much quicker and left them behind.

Astrid groaned, "Ugh! Why does he always do this? I swear, one day I'm gonna-"

Helene quickly interjected before she went too far, "Just let him be, let him be happy."

Their dragons started to fly much quicker in order to catch up to them. It took them a little bit of time, but they were eventually able to get caught up to him when they saw him and Toothless suspended in the air as he looked through a spyglass. It was obvious he was trying to find a new species of dragon, it was almost pitiful.

"I'm just going to say it, I have a really good feeling about today," he told them optimistically.

"You say that every time we go searching for new dragons," Astrid sighed. She tried one more time to talk to him, "Hiccup, while we have a second, I wanted to talk to you about-"

He suddenly tossed her his spyglass and enthusiastically pointed at something, "Whoa! Look, look, look, look! Do you see that? There's definitely some movement up ahead. Long neck, large head, behind that rock formation."

This time, Helene tried talking to him, "Yeah, uh, anyway, Hiccup? We needed to talk to you about-"

Once again, his enthusiasm got the better of him and he flew away before she could finish. Astrid groaned and rolled her eyes when he did.

"This is it, Toothless! A new species of dragon, bud!" he enthusiastically grinned.

They circled around the rock formation and came to a halt. The 'new' dragon he spotted was nothing more than Barf and Belch, their necks were encircled in order to make it appear as if they were one dragon. Not surprisingly, the twins were on top of their dragon.

"Loki'd!" they exclaimed in unison.

"You totally thought Barch was a new dragon!" Tuffnut jeered.

"Oh, come on! Did not!" he lied, obviously embarrassed. "Let's go, bud."

They flew away, he was quite clearly upset that he fell for their prank. Barf and Belch untangled their necks now that they served their purpose.

"Wow. Who crapped in his mutton?" Tuffnut remarked.

Asked scoffed and rolled her eyes, "When are you muttonheads going to grow up?"

She and Helene flew away to find Hiccup, they still needed to talk to him. They found him sitting on top of a sea stack, looking very sad.

They landed on either side of him and Toothless on the sea stack. They dismounted their dragons and walked up to him, flanking on both sides of him as they stood next to him.

"Hiccup, those guys are muttonheads, but you have to admit, we've visited every island, every sea stack, and every rock in the archipelago twice! And we haven't spotted a new dragon in a long time," Astrid pointed out.

"This can't be all there is. There has to be more out there!" he affirmed stubbornly.

"What if there isn't, Hiccup? What if we're done? What if the search is over?" she questioned.

"It can't be," he uttered, still refusing to believe it, although he was beginning to lose hope.

She sighed, "Well, it's over for me." He looked up at her, his eyes showing fear and disbelief. "I've been meaning to tell you, Stormfly and I… we're joining the Berk Guard."

"Oh, uh, that's- that's great, I'm… happy for you." He looked away from her, sulking. He then asked Helene softly, "And… and what about you, Hele?"

She looked down for a second before she looked at him again, "I'm sorry, Hiccup, but I'm done, too. My Dad wants me to start my training to become the next chief of the Outcasts."

"Ch-chief?" he shakily repeated.

She nodded, "Yeah. My Dad thinks it's time, and I think I'm ready."

"That's, uh, that's great, I'm happy for you too," he smiled slightly before he frowned.

The two girls mounted their dragons again, it was time for them to go. Before they left, Astrid tried to give him a suggestion, "Look, maybe you should give some thought to what's next for you and Toothless."

Helene gave him a soft smile, "Don't be sad, Hiccup. Just because we have our own lives now doesn't mean we can't still be friends. I'll still be on Berk and so will Astrid and all of our friends."

After that, they departed the sea stack and went back to the village. That left Hiccup and Toothless alone, it was just them now, he never knew having the company of his best friend could be so lonely.

After staying overnight at Astrid's house, Helene and Ripwave were ready to depart from Berk for Outcast Island. They had breakfast and left in the late morning hours, hoping to get there in the early afternoon.

Not long after leaving Berk, she saw a Terrible Terror with a note attached to its leg. She saw that the note had the crest of the Outcast Tribe on it, meaning her father sent it.

She whistled for the Terrible Terror to come to her, it did so and perched on her arm. She removed the note from its leg and read it.

She gasped, "Oh, no! We have to go back to Berk!"

She immediately turned Ripwave around and they raced back to Berk. She landed in front of the Haddock household and ran inside as soon as she dismounted her dragon.

"Hiccup! I just got a message from my father! Dagur's out!" she cried, out of breath when she was finished.

"I know," he answered, his voice a little too calm for her comfort at that moment.

"You know? How?" she questioned.

He turned to face her and took a couple of steps to the side. There, laying on a makeshift bed made of shark skin, was Johann, he looked like he had just washed up onto shore. The twins were inside as well, acting surprisingly mature, their clothes were soaked with salt water.

"You and the twins go gather the other riders, we'll meet at the Academy," he told her.

She nodded, "Right. Let's go, you two."

All three of them rushed out of his house and mounted their dragons. They split up to find the others and get them to the Academy, the twins went to get Snotlout and Helene went to get Fishlegs and find Astrid.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut found Snotlout and Hookfang at Gobber's workshop and told him of the situation, telling him to go to the Academy. Helene found Fishlegs teaching the children about dragons and their Classes, she told him what happened and he went straight to the Academy before she could finish.

She still needed to find Astrid, preferably before she could join the Berk Guard. If she joined, she wouldn't be able to get her to come with her because her recruiter would have her get started on her training immediately.

She tried checking with her parents, but they said she had already left. She flew around the entire perimeter of the village, but she couldn't find her there. Her only option was to fly around the island and hope to find her.

Finally, she spotted her, she was a little ahead of her, but that was no problem for her. She and Ripwave easily caught up to her and Stormfly.

"Astrid! Astrid!" she called out to her.

She looked back at her, "What are you doing here, Helene? I thought you left already?"

"There's no time for that, we have an emergency!" she responded.

"Can- can it wait?" she asked. "I have to get to the Berk Guard recruiting station before noon."

"Hiccup needs you, we have to go to the Academy, now!" she yelled.

She blinked and looked away from her, "I- I can't I-"

"Dagur's escaped!" she shouted.

She immediately braked her dragon and looked at her with wide eyes filled with what she could only assume to be fear and anger, "What?"

All seven of the Dragon Riders were standing together in the Academy, something they hadn't done in quite some time. Hiccup stood in front of a map of the archipelago, a map he once called too blank and too small.

"All we got out of Johann before he passed out was this, Dagur escaped Outcast Island by commandeering his ship," he reported. "He threw Johann overboard about… here," he pointed at an area just a couple of miles away from Outcast Island.

"Oh, so what you're saying is Dagur could be anywhere could be anywhere by now?" Snotlout retorted.

"Well, technically… yes," he responded.

"Oh, great, great, great, great. So that just leaves… I don't know, let me think about this… the entire ocean to search!" he snapped. "No thank you."

Johann walked into the arena and went up to Hiccup, greeting him, "Master Hiccup."

"Johann, you're awake," he smiled.

"And feeling much better, thank you for asking. More importantly, I have more than a strong suspicion of where our nefarious foe may be heading," he gestured to the map, chuckling lightly.

"Outside the archipelago?" he inquired, a little hopeful that he might say an affirmative.

"No, just inside the fog bank in our outer group of islands," he replied.

"We've never been out that far," he uttered, feeling a little disappointed for some reason, yet also a little hopeful.

"When Dagur commandeered my precious ship," his voice cracked a little with sadness that Helene knew wasn't genuine, "he also came into possession of a very important map, one that leads to a graveyard of ships, hidden in that fog bank," his voice grew serious as he finished.

"Wow. That's the first place I'd go," Snotlout retorted sarcastically.

Johann tried to continue, "If I may be allowed to finish-"

Snotlout interjected, "Johann, last time we let you finish, we ended up on Breakneck Bog. So, no, no finishing."

Hiccup had enough, he wanted to get back on topic, "Enough! What's so special about this graveyard and why would he go there?"

"Well, you see-" he began with a grin.

He quickly interjected before he went too far and told them a long, fictional story, "The short version, please."

"Please, Dad," Helene appended.

She still had a bit of a habit of calling him "Dad" and "father" because it was what she called him for the majority of her life. Her mouth felt like it had to be washed out with soapy water when she called him that.

"It's where I store all my treasures and wares," he told them simply.

Everyone's jaws dropped, he was never right to the point, he wasn't that type of person. He must have really struggled not to tell them a long story, even if they were all fictional.

Tuffnut gaped, "Wow. Concise to the point? Who knew he had it in him?"

Then, like a bee to a flower, he started talking about another of his stories, "Which reminds me of the first time I was labeled as "concise"! He was a young man, very ugly, I actually-"

"Johann!" Hiccup interjected.

He stopped his story, "Yes?"

"Focus. Is there anything else?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact, there is one ship you must avoid at all cost. It's called… the Reaper." Everyone looked afraid yet intrigued as he talked about it, "Riddled with booby traps from stem to stern. Barely made it out with my life, only time I dared venture aboard. Oh, wow!"

"Helene, did you know about this?" Hiccup questioned.

Johann sent her a quick glare, telling her not to tell him anything. Ripwave growled at him and her tendrils discharged slightly.

"I've never been there personally, but I did hear about it a few times," she replied.

"Okay, Toothless, let's go," he told his dragon. He then looked at all of his friends, unsure if they would consider it, but he suggested to them nonetheless, "Unless, of course, any of you can make time out of your busy schedules to capture a dangerous maniac?"

All six of them looked at each other, as if communicating through exchanged glances. In the end, it wasn't a difficult decision to make.

Astrid stepped forward, "We're with you, Hiccup. All of us."

Everyone else nodded in unison, which brought a smile to Hiccup's face. He was glad that he and his friends were going to be together for this mission, it wouldn't be the same without them.

V-Y-V-*o-I-o*-V-Y-V

(A/N: So? How'd you like it? Has my writing improved or pretty much the same? Nevertheless, I hope everyone enjoyed reading this.

After writing this for a week straight, I decided to make this a three-part pilot instead of a two-part. I did the same thing with the last three chapters of "Secrets and Silence" and I think it worked out very well with that, so I decided to try it again.

If everyone liked reading this, then I hope you stay for the next. Until then, please stay safe, everybody, and I will be here waiting for you.)