(A/N: I'm ready for this chapter, I'm eager to get on track with these episodes again. For those of you who haven't been paying much attention, this will be the parallel to "Crushing It".
I realize that I forgot to explain Thornado's departure in "Defenders of Berk'' in my prequel. I will explain that in this chapter, but not until later on in the chapter, most likely not until way onto the end.
Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoys reading this new chapter as much as I like writing it. Let's get on with this, shall we?)
Y-X-O~x~I~x~I~x~O-X-Y
It has been just slightly over a month since Ladok was found and joined their ranks as a part of the Dragon Riders. He had since grown closer to all of them, although he was still slightly wary towards them. He felt the most comfortable around his brother, Helene, and the dragons, all of which became more comfortable around him as well.
His voice returned when Gothi said it would, but it oddly wasn't healthy, sounding like he had a raw throat whenever he talked, although it certainly sounded smoother. In spite of that, he felt confident that it would sound like he remembered it in time.
He had a new home on Dragon's Edge, which was at a slightly higher elevation like Helene's was, and rather close to hers as well, along with Hiccup's. He had to stay with his brother until his new home could be built, but it was a good opportunity for them to bond a little more.
When his hut was finally finished, he hesitated to move into it, he didn't want to separate from his brother. He ended up doing so anyway, he knew Hiccup needed to have his privacy without his intrusion.
It was completely empty when he stepped into it for the first time, save for a wooden bed with only a thin blanket. He didn't expect it to be fully decorated, of course, but to him the barren space was a symbol of where he stood in their ranks, and of what he left behind with his mother.
True to his word, his brother got new clothes for him to wear and let him choose what he wanted and what he didn't. He was especially fond of wearing a sleeveless grey shirt with a greenish tint, chestnut-colored trousers, a brown leather singlet over the shirt. The singlet was similar to his brother's with the dragon scale pattern, yet the color was a little darker.
He also wore armor over his clothes as a form of extra protection because he didn't have his own dragon to protect him. His armor consisted of a chest plate, shoulder pads, gauntlets, cuisses, and greaves, made out of rather thin sheets of iron, which was quite heavy in actuality. He wished the metal was lighter, but there weren't many alternative options; at least it served its purpose of keeping him alive.
He had a feeling he would be needing his armor with everything that was happening lately. For the last couple of weeks, a mysterious dragon had been coming into their base and making a mess of it. Every morning, they awoke to the sight of broken bits strewn about the area.
For a while, it was only vandalism, and they hardly heard anything while it was happening. Then, they started to hear the dragon growling and roaring, as though it wanted them to wake up. Every time they heard it, they awoke to investigate, but it would already be gone, with its trail of destruction the only evidence of its existence; it was comparable to a ghost.
The only thing they could say about it was that each time it came through, there was a slight rumble felt throughout Dragon's Edge. It was small, comparable to a small, short earthquake, but it could definitely be felt. They were able to get the briefest of glimpses before it left and it appeared to have horns. Because of what they knew about this elusive dragon, they decided to call it a Rumblehorn.
This Rumblehorn wasn't only destroying the base, but it was also attacking the wild dragons that already inhabited the island, made it their home. It only attacked the wild dragons at first, but then attacked them with an assault twice as powerful.
The attacks were becoming worse with each new one, prompting them to attempt to stay awake and wait for the dragon to appear. It didn't work well, they all ended up falling asleep before it could show itself, and it was gone before they could see it.
They also tried setting traps for it, but it was smart, and did not allow itself to become trapped. The traps were more of a hazard for the boars the twins kepts and other animals on the island, but they were still kept active with the hope they might be able to catch it.
Now, they all slept in the Clubhouse, waiting for the next attack, hoping to capture it before it could escape again. They all slept on the floor or at the table with their dragons, so that they would have a better chance of getting to wherever the elusive dragon was.
Someone would stay awake and wait for the Rumblehorn to arrive, then wake up everyone and they would try to stop it. It was Snotlout's turn to have the unfortunate pleasure of being the lookout.
Snotlout was sitting on the floor with Hookfang asleep beside him, a rope tied to his horn, the slightest tug would alert him that someone or something was on the island. The stout rider was about to drift into sleep himself when his helmet fell onto his face, causing him to perk awake.
"Why do we have to be on Rumblehorn watch?" he grumbled. "Hookfang, I'm talking to you." The said red dragon let out a slight grumble himself before falling asleep again.
Unbeknownst to all of them, there was a new arrival in their base. But was it the Rumblehorn, or something else?
"We're never going to stop this crazy dragon from tearing this place up," he groaned, beginning to fall asleep again.
At that moment, the outpost's uninvited guest had unknowingly stepped through a tripwire, activating a trap. That trap was attached to a rope, the same rope wrapped around Hookfang's horn. As soon as he felt the tug on his horn, Hookfang released his fire on Snotlout, who jumped awake when he felt his pants lit on fire.
"Patrol alert! Patrol alert!" he cried, running in circles, startling everyone awake. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" He tried to extinguish the fire burning his pants by dropping to the floor and rubbing his rear end on the wood. "That's the third time this week!" Stormfly looked at Astrid and squawked, she only shrugged. He then jumped back into a wash tub full of water, finally putting out the fire. "Ahhh! Sweet relief. Ooh!" he shivered in relief.
Hiccup raced to the map he had up on a stone slab to determine where the trap was triggered, "The Rumblehorn! It's headed for the eastern beach! Come on, you guys!"
"Come on, you can ride with me and Ripwave," Helene tugged on Ladok's arm, leading him to her dragon.
He preferred to fly with Hiccup and Toothless, he still wasn't comfortable enough with the others to fly with them. However, he liked Helene, he liked her because she was the first of them to see as a person, and treat him as such, he was more than comfortable enough around her to fly on her dragon with her. He quickly mounted Ripwave with her, sitting behind her, holding onto her waist.
They left the Clubhouse for the beach, they were about to search it when they noticed that the trap set up had been triggered by something. Did they finally manage to capture the Rumblehorn?
They went up to the trap, and in the net was something, they did manage to capture something, but what could it be? Was it the Rumblehorn? Or something else entirely?
"Finally. We got it! Everybody stay back!" Hiccup held his arms out to gesture for them to not get too close.
Although he was convinced that they had finally captured the rogue and untamed dragon, Ladok wasn't as certain. He was doubtful because whatever it was in the net looked far too small to be causing all of the destruction. He doubted even a couple of Gronckles would be able to create such a path of terror if they tried.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut seemed to confirm that as they observed the net. They weren't the sharpest, but even they could make notable observations.
"I didn't think it would be so smelly," Tuffnut remarked.
"I didn't think it would be so hairy," Ruffnut grimaced.
"You try shaving with a hook for an arm!" the being in the net suddenly retorted, with a very familiar voice.
"The Rumblehorn talks!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "Quick, smack it!" Ruffnut nodded in agreement.
They held up their lanterns higher and they discovered why the voice was so familiar. The creature in the net wasn't a creature at all, it was Gobber! Why was he on their island?
"Cut me down, you simpletons!" Gobber demanded, clearly upset.
"And it's got a bad attitude!" Ruffnut added, grimacing again.
Gobber scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Oh, never mind!" He raised his hook and cut the net, landing on the ground once he freed himself.
"Gobber?! What did you do to our Rumblehorn?" Tuffnut asked, shocked, and completely oblivious to the fact that they never had the said dragon.
"Rumblehorn?" he repeated, confused. "What's a Rumblehorn?"
"A new dragon that's been trying to chase us off the island," Fishlegs answered, clearly sounding exhausted.
"Yep, us and everything else," Astrid added.
"We've been trying to catch it and relocate it," Hiccup explained.
"Yet, we caught you. Yay us," Snotlout sarcastically remarked.
"You're trying to catch a dragon with a net that can't hold a one-legged, one-armed Viking? Amateurs," he rolled his eyes.
Ladok had to agree with Gobber about that, he had seen wannabe Dragon Trappers use better traps than what they had. He had even told Hiccup about his concerns that the traps wouldn't hold, but he either didn't listen because he was sleep deprived - as they all were - or he thought he had enough experience with dragon traps to know what he was doing.
He shook his head slightly as he thought, 'I told you, big brother.'
Tuffnut went up to Hiccup's side, "Not too late to club him still." He began mimicking the motions of a mace or bludgeon being used, "I can give him a little 'Uh! Ah!' You know, 'uh, uh, uh'!"
Hiccup only gave him a blank expression, "Yeah, we should just go back and check on the dragon base."
Tuffnut shrugged, "Eh."
They went back to Dragon's Edge with Gobber, where they were met with an unpleasant surprise. The base had been wrecked again; the Rumblehorn smartly used the distraction Gobber provided to invade it.
"Well, let's see what you've done with the place." Gobber eyed the mess the elusive dragon had made, "It looks very… well..."
"Trashed!" Astrid threw her arms up in frustration.
"Your words, not mine," he replied.
"The Rumblehorn must have hit us while we were out chasing you," Hiccup surmised.
Tuffnut came up to his side again, "Last chance, I can still club him. Come on, club, club, club," he mimicked the same motions as earlier. "Join the club."
"As much as I love a good clubbing, even my own, it'll have to wait. I've come with disturbing news about your father," he told him in a bit of a sheepish manner, which caught both Hiccup's and Ladok's attention.
"Is he alright?" Hiccup quickly asked.
"Oh, he's fine," he replied casually.
"That's a relief," Ladok sighed in relief.
"But, then again, not so fine," he added cryptically.
"Gobber, come on! Is our father okay or not?" Hiccup questioned, anxiously wanting him to get to the point.
"Oh, he's as fit as a dragon," he responded. "Unfortunately, he's as ornery as one too." Toothless growled at him. "No offense!" He huffed and covered his face with his tailfin. "I've never seen him like this! Angry, shouting at everyone."
"Actually, that sounds like vintage Stoick the Vast to me," he commented.
"You think I would have sailed by myself in a boat for a week if it were "vintage Stoick the Vast"? He's driving the village crazy!" he shouted.
"Alright, fine, I guess I'll go see what's wrong with him," he replied.
"Good idea," Gobber smiled.
"Ladok, wanna come?" he asked his brother.
He shrugged slightly and answered, "Sure. Why not?"
"You wanna ride back with us?" he asked him.
"Actually, I think I might stay a while, help repair your wee dragon base," he responded. "See if I can offer up any of my..." he whispered to them, "... dragon killing experience, to help defend against that Rumblehorn. If there's time, I'll take Tuffnut up on that clubbing."
"It works with Ruffnut," Tuffnut chimed in.
He smirked in understanding as he and Ladok climbed onto Toothless, "Oh, I get it. So, basically you're hiding out from our father."
"One might look at it that way," he replied.
"Well, looks like we're off to Berk," he smiled at his brother and Toothless.
Ladok held onto Hiccup's shoulders as they took to the air to begin their long flight. He looked down and saw Helene waving good-bye to them, he returned the gesture by waving back.
The sun was high in the sky by the time they arrived on Berk. The village was oddly empty and quiet, not all what Gobber had described back on Dragon's Edge.
Hiccup quickly took notice of this and commented, "Huh, quieter than usual."
Suddenly, they heard someone shouting, "Shoddy workmanship! That's what this is!" It couldn't have been anyone other than Stoick.
"Okay, follow the sound of the angry Viking," he deadpanned. Ladok and Toothless exchanged looks with each other.
They followed the shouts to the armory, where they were met with weapons being thrown out of it, along with more yelling, "I said I wanted these weapons arranged by deadliness! Swords," a sword was thrown outside, causing them to jump in reaction, followed by more weapons, "axes, bludgeons, then maces!" The carelessly thrown weapons scared a sheep that narrowly missed getting hit by one.
Stoick stomped out of the armory, fuming like a rabid animal. He was so angry he didn't even notice his own children.
"Swords, axes, maces, bludgeons!" he angrily grumbled under his breath. "If I used them on you, you wouldn't forget how deadly they are!"
Sven - formerly known as "Silent Sven" before he could talk - a sheep herder came running out of the armory, "Hiccup! Thank Thor you're here! You've got to help us! Your father has become unbearable!"
Ladok had no opinion about this man, other than he thought his behavior with his sheep was odd and unhealthy. He did hear that before he could talk he was known to be very short-tempered, but that it had all but dissipated after he suddenly found his voice. He also heard that he fought a Skrill with his head, although he thought that was dubious and that the Skrill more than likely flew away due to annoyance, not wanting to fight a deranged sheep-lover over a small meal.
"Well, to be fair, Sven, you did have those weapons out of order," Hiccup pointed out.
"That's because yesterday he told me to arrange them by length! The day before it was by pointiness! And the day before that it was by name!" he cried, clearly stressed. "Did you know he gave each weapon its own nickname?!"
Hiccup could hardly blink, Gobber was right, he was out of control. "Okay, I have to admit that it is really weird."
"You're not kidding," Ladok agreed.
"Alright, we'll go talk to him," he assured.
They left Sven at the armory and went to find their father. They found him at Mildew's old house - the grumpy old man had since passed away in the past three years from a prolonged illness.
From what Ladok knew about him, he hated dragons and instantly knew he would have hated him if he was still alive. Ironically, he died of pneumonia induced by prolonged exposure to the fecal matter of dragons.
"For Thor's sake, you plow like an old woman!" Stoick yelled.
The person he was berating was Gothi, who was not happy about what he said. She dropped the plow she was using in anger.
Stoick knelt down and picked it up, "Hag!" He held it over his shoulders as he plowed through the dirt, "This is how you plow! Oh, it's so simple! You can't even…"
His two sons watched from behind a dead tree as he plowed the dirt. If it wasn't for his behavior, they might see this as very humorous. One person, however, wasn't so amused.
Gothi's staff hooked onto Hiccup's hair and he cried in pain as she dragged him out into the open, "Ow! Ow! Ow!" He nervously met her upset eyes, "Go- Gothi! You know, personally, I don't know what he's talking about, I love your plowing!" Her face did not soften even slightly. "You are by far my favorite plower in all of Berk. That's- that's some good plowing, yeah."
Ladok kept by the dead tree, but tried to defend his brother, "Uh, yeah, plow, plow, plow!"
That only seemed to make her angrier as she clenched her fist and began to write on the ground. Hiccup tried to calm her, "Yes, yes, I agree. He's totally out of control."
She finished her angry message, which surprised both of them, it was clear enough for Ladok to see and read. "Hey, watch the language, he's our father."
"Uh, we'll talk to him," Hiccup assured her. "I promise."
They left the fuming elderly healer to find Stoick again after he left while they were talking. They followed him to other places around the village, watching as he upset other people, before following him to an unexpected place, the old Dragon Academy.
Stoick was throwing axes at a shield mounted on the arena wall with a target painted on it. He repeatedly missed it, no matter how many times he tried, much to his frustration and the amusement of a Terrible Terror.
Hiccup coughed to get his attention, he turned with an axe in his hand, prepared to throw it at them. Panicked, they cried in unison, "Dad! Don't kill us! It's us, your sons!"
He smiled and threw the axe over his shoulder, finally hitting the target, "Boys!"
He wrapped his thick arms tightly around both of them, holding them off the ground. Hiccup struggled to breathe, he never could get used to his tight hold. Ladok could breathe better than he could, but he didn't enjoy the feeling of his bones becoming bent.
"We're happy to see you too, Dad," Ladok rasped.
"Now, if we could just breathe!" Hiccup exhaled sharply.
He released them and laughed as he playfully hit both of them on the shoulder, "I'm sorry! Just happy to see my sons!"
Hiccup rubbed his sore ribcage, "That's great. My, my cracked ribs and I are happy to see you too."
"So are my bent ones," Ladok remarked as he rubbed his shoulder.
"What are you doing here out at the Academy?" his eldest son asked.
"Oh, I come here for the peace and quiet, tired of hearing people complaining. 'Stoick you're being too rough.', 'Stoick you're being "too picky".'," he did air quotes, then a choking motion, "'Stoick you're cuttin' off my air supply!'" Both of his sons exchanged looks at his explanation.
Hiccup decided to change the topic and noticed that he was cleaning a saddle, the saddle of his old dragon, Thornado. "Hey, is that Thornado's old saddle?" He ran his hand over it as he admired it, "Wow, Dad, you've really kept it shiny."
Ladok had heard about this dragon, their father's Thunderdrum. From what he knew, Thornado was a very powerful and trustworthy dragon, he bonded very well with Stoick in their time together. However, family came first for him, he chose three baby Thunderdrums he took under his wings over his rider. Stoick understood, of course, but it still very much hurt him to lose such a great companion and friend.
"Well, just because one dragon is gone doesn't mean I'm going to let a valuable piece of equipment fall into disrepair. But enough about me," he pulled his axe out of the shield, "what brings my world-traveling sons back to Berk?"
"Well, uh, you see-" Hiccup began before Sven suddenly walked in.
"Eh, Stoick, I don't mean to interrupt, but I have those weapons arranged by deadliness. Just like you wanted them," he reported politely.
"And who said I wanted them that way?!" he shouted out of nowhere. "Doesn't anyone around here listen?!"
'Bad timing,' Ladok mentally remarked.
Before he could do something regretful, Hiccup tried to stop him, "Whoa! D- Dad! Dad! Dad! I just had a great idea!"
"If it involves me hurling an axe at Sven's head, let's hear it," he responded.
Sven quickly grabbed a shield to protect himself as he left, "Oh, I hear my sheep calling!"
"I was thinking of something a little more relaxing," he put forward, his back to Stoick. "Something to take the edge off."
"Edge?! What edge?!" Stoick gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the axe. Hiccup looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, Ladok gave him a similar look with his arms crossed. He calmed himself and lowered the axe, "Okay, I'm listening."
"Yeah, so I was thinking why don't you take a few days off, come with us to see the dragon base?" he suggested.
He thought about it briefly before he gave a declining response, "No, impossible. There's far too much to do around here."
Hiccup looked at Ladok, pondering whether or not to tell him about the 'problem' back on Dragon's Edge. Ladok shook his head, believing it to be a bad idea, but with all of the trouble it was causing them, it may not be much of a choice.
"Okay, Dad, well, tell you what, if I'm being honest, the reason we're really here is that we have a dragon problem back on the island," he confided.
Ladok dragged his head down his face in frustration, 'Hiccup!'
That information piqued his interest as he asked, "A dragon problem? What kind of a dragon problem?"
"Well, you see, we're trying to relocate a new species of dragon," he explained, "and I thought we could handle it, but we could really use your help."
"Well, I suppose I can spare a moment if you really need me," Stoick replied, his tone of voice revealing that he was trying his best to hide his excitement.
"Oh, we do. We really, really do," Hiccup tried to sound content and optimistic, only to hide that he was only just realizing the reason for his brother's denials and frustration. He mentally groaned, 'Oh, gods, what did I just do?'
"Are you sure about bringing Dad along?" Ladok whispered to him.
As much as he wanted to assure him that it was a good idea for him to come with them to help, he couldn't due to his own growing doubts. He didn't give him an answer.
While the brothers were gone, the remaining riders and Gobber worked together to repair the damages to the base. During the reconstruction, Fishlegs found a milestone in their pursuit of capturing the Rumblehorn, tracks it left behind in the soft ground. With them, he was able to calculate the approximate size of the elusive dragon, which was the largest breakthrough since the attacks first began.
Gobber suggested that they build a wall around the base to stop the Rumblehorn from entering the base on foot. They got to work on it immediately, finishing in good timing with their dragons to help them carry the heavy rocks and boulders used in its construction.
The ultimate test of the wall came when they suddenly heard the roar of the Rumblehorn approaching. It held well, with hardly a pebble falling out of place, but the watchtowers they had built for the Night Terrors to perch on at night fell down onto him. When they cleared debris, they found him still alive, but delusional with a severe concussion.
Suddenly, they heard distant growling approaching from just over the base. Hookfang, Barf and Belch all fired at the incoming dragon, only to discover that it was Toothless, carrying the Haddock family.
"Hey, it's us! Cut it out," Hiccup called out to them.
They landed on the ground and the three Haddocks dismounted Toothless. The said black dragon stretched his back once they were off, carrying three individuals was a challenge for a dragon of his size.
"Oh, uh, sorry about that," Tuffnut chuckled nervously. "Great to see you, chief. Your hands seem to be rough and… well-worked. Anyway," he dismounted from Belch as he greeted him, "welcome to Rumblehorn hell!"
"You weren't kidding when you said you were having dragon problems," Stoick commented as he looked around at all of the destruction.
"Is anybody hurt?" Hiccup asked.
"Well," Astrid began, somewhat awkwardly, looking back at Gobber, "sort of."
"Hello, lovies, who'd like some figgy pudding?" Gobber held out his boot.
"What's wrong with him?" Stoick asked.
"Well, uh, chief, you can start with the peg leg, then you can add in the hook, and the bad breath… weird neck! I mean, look at his neck!" Tuffnut pointed at his own.
"He'll be fine," Snotlout chimed in casually. "He got hit with a watchtower."
Gobber suddenly started to laugh hysterically at Toothless, who was standing on his back legs, "Ah, you're killing me. Who knew you were such a card?" He started laughing again and Toothless left after having enough of him.
Ignoring Gobber, Helene immediately got Hiccup back onto the problem with the elusive dragon, "Hiccup, these Rumblehorn attacks are getting out of hand. We've got to do something about it."
"Agreed," he responded.
"Okay, then, first thing's first. We start with-" Stoick began before he was interrupted by Hiccup.
He immediately started to give everyone an assignment, "Astrid, you and Helene search the eastern coastline. Ruff, Tuff, you have the west." Ruffnut gave him two thumbs-up and Tuffnut gave a salute. "My father, Ladok, and myself will take the middle of the island." Toothless groaned silently at the thought of carrying all of them again. "Fishlegs and Snotlout, you take care of Gobber and keep fixing the base."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute there, dragon master," the sarcasm in Snotlout's voice was clear.
Gobber came up to him and poked his cheek, "Hello, little fella."
"How come I have to stay behind?" he asked.
Gobber suddenly grabbed his head and started growling, "I'm a dragon!"
Ladok snickered at what Gobber was putting Snotlout through. Even though he knew that it was due to a bad concussion.
"Okay, fine, do you want to hunt the unstoppable, bloodthirsty dragon instead?" Hiccup asked.
He considered the option, "Bloodthirsty dragon, huh?"
Gobber looked at his rear as he started tipping his hips, "Ooh, look at my tail! Do dragons chase their tails or do they breathe fire on them? I don't know."
'They chase them,' Ladok thought.
Snotlout wrapped his arm around Gobber, "On second thought, I don't want to give you guys an unfair advantage. So, I should probably stay behind and protect one of the archipelago's national treasures."
Gobber raised his arms as he looked up at the sun, "The sun is a shiny potato…" he brought his hands to his chest and closed his eyes with a smile, "...covered in drawn butter."
"And the moon is a scoop of ice cream," Snotlout added. Gobber happily nodded.
As they all stared at the strange interaction between Snotlout and Gobber, Ladok whispered to his father and brother, "What do you say we leave right now?"
"I'm with you," Hiccup answered.
"Let's go," Stoick responded.
The three of them got back onto Toothless, who wasn't too thrilled to have so much weight on his back. He already had to fly with them for half a day, he was tired.
Before they could leave, Helene suddenly spoke up, "Wait, maybe you should take Ripwave with you."
Hiccup wanted to protest, he felt more dragons would prevent them from finding the Rumblehorn, but then he looked down at Toothless. He could tell he was exhausted after all of the flying he had to do and the weight he carried; he would be tired too if he had to carry more than six hundred pounds of grown men.
"Uh, are you sure about that, Hele?" he asked, still unsure.
She nodded, "It's fine, she's comfortable enough around all of you to let you ride her. I can fly with Astrid and Stormfly."
Once she was finished, Ladok got off from Toothless' back and went to Ripwave, climbing onto her back. He was slightly nervous about sitting in the Shockjaw's saddle without her rider, but he didn't think that she would try to throw him off purposefully.
"Thanks, Helene, I really appreciate it," he smiled at her. His smiles weren't the most attractive thing in the world due to the shape and structure of his head and face and his pointed teeth, but she returned it with her own.
"No problem," she replied. "Try not to be too crazy."
"I won't," he responded, holding onto the saddle.
"I was talking to Ripwave," she smirked slightly as she walked away.
His eyes went wide when she said that and his hands gripped the saddle tighter. 'What did I just get myself into?' he thought.
Y-X-O~x~I~x~I~x~O-X-Y
(A/N: Sorry, guys, but I'm stopping here. I've been working on this for three weeks, I'm five thousand words into it, and I'm only halfway through the episode. So, I decided to make this a two-part thing, otherwise it would end up being eight to ten thousand words by the end.
I love writing for you guys, but ten thousand words is too much. I was exhausted after chapter five, which was over eight thousand!
Sorry about all that, the bottom line is that I'm tired and I may have bit off more than I can chew. I promise that I'll finish the episode in the next chapter and that it won't be too long of a wait.)