(A/N: Here we are, guys, we're at part one of the episode "Have Dragon, Will Travel". This is the second to last of the season one chapters and I'm happy to share it with all of you.
I'm not going to make this a three-part thing because I need to get this done, I've spent over seven months on this and I really want to move on. Because of that, this will likely be a very long chapter, sorry, but it's the truth. Don't have to predict it will be, I know it will be. Trust me, if I can stretch a two minute scene into close to a thousand words, stretching an episode like this will end with easily more than five or six thousand words (maybe as much as seven or eight thousand). I am going to be so tired after this.)
Y-U-*x-0-x-0-x*-U-Y
It had been little more than a couple of weeks since the riders found Speedy, the injured adolescent Speed Stinger, and he went back to his pack. Not much had happened since then, just minor conflicts between the wild dragons.
The one major event that did happen was when Snotlout believed that Hookfang was turning feral to be with a female Monstrous Nightmare. Hookfang wouldn't leave the side of the female, whom Snotlout had nicknamed Girl Hookfang. When he tried to get him to follow him, he cast him aside.
Snotlout was heartbroken, but he was undeterred, he was determined to get Hookfang back in his life. He tried to scare him with an electric eel, but again he threw him away.
The other riders tried to help him by trying to find him a new dragon to ride. He refused all of them, including the ones he named, and made the decision to leave the Dragon Riders.
Helene could especially sympathize with him, she remembered the pain she felt after losing Smog, Twirl, and Smokey. Although he annoyed her very often, this was one of the few times where she wanted to comfort her friend and fellow rider.
He wanted to say goodbye to Hookfang first, and discovered a nest of three eggs inside of Girl Hookfang's cave. That was when he also discovered something else, a Titan Wing dragon. It was a Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare!
Everything made sense, Hookfang was answering not a mating call, but Girl Hookfang's distress call, she needed help defending her eggs from the Titan Wing. Snotlout was relieved that Hookfang wasn't leaving him forever, but he felt obligated to help rid Girl Hookfang of the Titan Wing.
He knew how to do it, by using its size against it, but the only way to do that was to trap it in the training arena. He had never been able to fly inside and out of it before the dome closed, but it may have been their only chance. He and Hookfang made the decision to do it all on their own; it was the only way to force the large dragon to leave Girl Hookfang alone.
Although the Titan Wing was bigger, Hookfang had better maneuverability and they used this to their advantage. They made it to the dome before it closed and left, but the Titan Wing wasn't as lucky, he was trapped inside as it was closing.
Snotlout was glad to have his dragon back with him and the other riders and Girl Hookfang were glad that her children were safe. Overall, they were all happy that they didn't have to worry about the Titan Wing.
Nothing else major happened after that day, but Hiccup began to notice a decline in certain items, certain important items. Much of what was needed could only be found on Berk, so they planned a trip in order to restock.
After grabbing a couple of extra bags, they left for Berk one early morning. It was so early, it was still dark outside, but they had to get there as soon as possible in order to get back to Dragon's Edge before nightfall.
There were times during the flight where the riders' eyes would threaten to shut, their dragons also struggled to remain awake and alert. Snotlout and the twins fell asleep on the way there, but they were awake when they finally entered Berk's waters just after the break of dawn.
Although everyone was tired, they still went looking for the items they needed to take back with them. Hiccup gave everyone until just before the afternoon to get what they thought they needed.
They gathered together in the center of the village once their time for searching was over. Hiccup, Ladok, Astrid, and Helene didn't have many things to take back, but Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins had many things.
Hiccup could have sighed when he saw how much was brought back, most of it was miscellaneous that wasn't needed and had no real use. However, he decided to pack what he was taking back first before he said anything.
When he was nearly done, he reminded them, "Okay, now remember, gang, we're only taking absolute necessities to Dragon's Edge."
"I guess we're leaving you behind, Fishlegs," Snotlout remarked.
"Come on, you're better than that, Snotlout. Oh, wait, no you're not," he retorted, piling rocks into baskets attached to Meatlug's saddle.
Meatlug struggled to lift her legs when he was done with the rocks. She felt tired just from standing when she finally could. She tried to fly by rapidly fluttering her wings, attempting to give herself propulsion.
"Come on, girl, you can do it," he encouraged. "Lift your legs." Then, she collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
Hiccup rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Fishlegs?"
"What? Berk granite has a nicer finish," he claimed. "And you want the nicer finish." Meatlug consumed a couple of the granite rocks that fell out of the baskets. "Point illustrated."
Again, he rolled his eyes and decided to change the topic by asking his brother, "What are you bringing back, Ladok?"
Since Ladok didn't yet have a dragon, he was sharing Toothless' saddle bags with Hiccup. He took out a thick layer of papers, "I got a bunch of paper from your old bedroom at Dad's house."
"Why?" he asked. "We have plenty of paper back at the base."
He raised a ridged eyebrow, "Correction, you have a lot of paper. We need to stockpile it, not use it up in one week. I've seen you go through an entire journal in one day."
Hiccup felt embarrassed, what he said was true, he did use a lot of paper. In all honesty, he didn't know why he felt the need to have so much, not everything they came across needed to be documented, not all of it was too important.
"Uh, make sure to get extra charcoal and ink," he told him.
"Already covered," he responded, closing the bag.
"What are you taking back with you, Hele?" Astrid asked as she packed a container of polish and a sharpener for her and the other riders' weapons.
She shrugged, "Not much. Just some ingredients for a moisturizer for Ripwave. It's safe for other dragons too. I'll make a bunch so that everyone can use it."
Meanwhile, Ruffnut was hitting Tuffnut with weapons. Apparently, they were trying to figure out which ones were the best for hitting each other with.
"Not bad, that's a two. Do it again," he told her. She hit him with the mace she was holding again. He saw three of her with the impact, "Yeah, three. I still think we could do better."
"Yes we can!" she smirked, turning the mace in her hands. She hit him with it harder than before, leaving him very dizzy and barely standing.
"Ouch! Oh, yeah, that is a four. One, two, three, four…" He fell to the ground due to the state the impact of the mace left him in.
She smirked again, "I'll bag it and tag it."
Ladok was making sure that he had everything he needed before Hiccup decided it was time to leave, he looked up for a moment and his eyes became wide with shock and a little bit of fear. "Hiccup?"
He looked up at him from his bags, "Yeah?" He pointed at the stairs in front of them and he looked.
He saw their father, Stoick, coming down the steps with Bucket and Mulch. He could see the reason behind Ladok's expression, Stoick did not look happy.
"Which one of the usual suspects was out sinking boats on their dragon this morning?" he demanded. "I have my suspicions."
His sons exchanged glances, both of them looked perplexed. They had no idea what he was talking about.
"Sinking boats?" Hiccup repeated.
"Bucket and Mulch saw the whole thing. And don't try convincing me that there's anyone else in the archipelago that could pull something like this off!" No one said anything, they exchanged glances among each other, shaking their heads, silently communicating. If they had to convince Stoick of anything, it was that they didn't know anything. "Well? I'm waiting!"
When no one said anything, Tuffnut crawled over to Stoick on his knees, crying, "It was me, Chief! I couldn't control myself. I had to do it. What's wrong with me? Why do I do things like this? Why doesn't anyone do anything to stop me? Can't you all see that it's a desperate cry for help?!"
Everyone was shocked and taken back by his dramatic 'confession'. Stoick even seemed doubtful that he had done anything at all.
"What the hell are you talking about? None of that happened," Ruffnut reminded him.
"I know that, but I always wanted to confess to something," he replied. "I didn't overdo it, did I?"
"Yeah, I mean, overall, you seemed grounded, but still it was a little hard to believe," she responded.
Stoick growled in anger and frustration like a wild animal. When Ladok heard that, he suddenly knew where Hiccup got his growl from.
"Dad, the truth is, we've been together all morning," Hiccup admitted.
'For the most part,' Ladok mentally added.
"It couldn't have been one of us attacking the ship," he told their father.
"Well, if it wasn't one of you, I'd say we have a much more serious problem on our hands," he proclaimed.
"Rogue Dragon Rider?" Astrid questioned.
"Not good, not good at all," Fishlegs stated.
"No, it isn't. And we need to figure out who it is," Hiccup declared.
Everyone was flying over the ocean, looking for the ship Bucket and Mulch saw earlier that day. The one thing that was on all of their minds was who could have been the one who attacked it?
Hiccup spotted the ship and pointed down to it, "There it is, gang. Let's check it out."
The ship wasn't big enough to fit all of the dragons, so they had to jump down onto the deck. The only dragons that were able to land on the ship were Toothless and Meatlug, the others were sitting on a nearby sea stack.
"Okay, gang, let's spread out. Look for any clues," Hiccup told them.
While everyone got to work to do that, Astrid voiced her thoughts to Hiccup about who could have attacked the ship, "I've been thinking about this rogue Dragon Rider."
He seemed to know what she was thinking, "Dagur."
"It makes sense. If Dagur has a dragon and is attacking ships, then who's to say we won't be next?" she questioned.
"Hiccup!" Fishlegs called out to him. "You gotta see this."
He went over to Fishlegs and saw deep scratch marks in the wood of the ship's side, "Those are some deep gashes."
Ladok knelt down next to him, dragging his fingers across them, "Yeah."
"Any idea what it could be?" Hiccup asked Fishlegs.
Ladok stood up to give Fishlegs room to examine the scratches. He took his place next to Hiccup to get a better look at the marks.
"This dragon is extremely powerful. It has the slashing attack of a Speed Stinger yet from the depth of the strikes it appears to be as strong as a Typhoomerang," he observed.
"Timberjack?" Helene guessed.
"I don't think so," he replied. "Timberjacks only have talons on their wings and tend to make a clean, straight cut all the way through. They don't have legs and these marks look like they were made by claws. I can tell that this dragon definitely has legs, but that's it."
"Big help, Fishface," Snotlout remarked sarcastically.
Hiccup ignored what Snotlout said and asked, "You guys, you find anything else?"
"This ship has been stripped of everything valuable," Astrid reported.
"Nothing over here! Right, sis?" Tuffnut asked Ruffnut as he hid something behind his back, something that looked metallic.
"Nope, no-thing," she corroborated, smiling innocently.
"Zilch. Not a thing in front, behind, or to either side of us," he was also smiling innocently, much like her.
"You know I can see that, don't you?" Hiccup pointed out dryly, eyeing whatever Tuffnut was hiding.
He sighed, "Alright, alright, but we get to keep it."
"Yeah, finders keepers," she agreed.
"Losers…" Tuffnut struggled to think of anything else to add, "...I… losers don't get this 'cause it's way too cool for a loser."
Ruffnut laughed, "Yeah."
Tuffnut held out what they found for everyone to see. It was shaped like the spines of a Deadly Nadder, except it was metallic and lacked color.
Fishlegs gasped, "A barb!"
"That looks like one of Stormfly's," Astrid pointed out.
"Which means the dragon we're looking for could belong to the Sharp Class," Fishlegs deduced. "In fact, I'd bet my Meatlug on it!" Meatlug growled worriedly. "No, no, don't worry, girl. It's just an expression, I'd never do that."
Hiccup grabbed onto the barb, but Tuffnut wouldn't let it go, "Tuff."
Tuffnut held it with his other hand, above Hiccup's, and Hiccup retaliated by doing the same. This continued until Tuffnut put his palm on the tip and accidentally stabbed himself with it.
He kissed his palm, glaring at him, "Ah, you!"
Ladok smirked to himself, thinking, 'Saw that coming.'
Hiccup looked down at the barb, "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Oooh!" Tuffnut chimed in. "Good game, Hiccup! You think of something and we'll try to guess what it is. If we do, we get a prize. Alright?" He and Ruffnut put the tips of two of their fingers on the temples of their heads. "Think away, my good man. And let the game begin."
"Hmmm. Let's see, I'm thinking you two are… muttonheads!" Snotlout retorted.
"Yes! I win!" Tuffnut cheered, while Ruffnut frowned.
Hiccup rolled his eyes at them, "I was actually thinking, if we find the dragon, we find the rider. And I have a pretty good idea of how we can find the dragon. We need to go back to the Edge."
"Actually, we don't," Ladok mentioned.
"Why not?" his brother asked.
He opened one of Toothless' saddle bags, the ones he had packed, and held up the Dragon Eye, a book - the book of dragons - and a handful of old papers - Bork's papers. "I grabbed them before we left. I figured we could use them if you decided to go dragon exploring."
Helene laughed to herself, knowing that what he said was exactly how Hiccup was, "Good thinking."
He smiled at her, "Thanks."
"Alright then, it looks like we're going back to Berk instead," Hiccup affirmed.
They left the shipwreck and flew back to Berk. Upon arriving, they went to find Bucket or Mulch to get a description of the dragon they saw. They found Bucket mixing paints in the Great Hall and decided to have him give as many details as he could.
"Sharp!" Bucket cried. "Did I say that it's sharp?"
"I know, Bucket. We've gone over that twenty times," Fishlegs grumbled as he drew the dragon he was describing.
"Well, it's got a very long tail and it can tie itself into a knot," Bucket informed him. Fishlegs showed him where he was in his drawing to see if it was accurate. "Yes. Yes, that's right. And two large wings to slice." He added that detail to the drawing and when he showed it to him, he ran away screaming.
"I'd say we're done with that," Ladok uttered.
"So, what's the verdict, Fishlegs?" Hiccup inquired.
Fishlegs showed them the finished sketch, an almost serpentine dragon with plated scales and a long, slightly spiked tail. "I've never seen anything like this in the book of dragons or Bork's papers."
"But there is one place we haven't looked yet," he mentioned. "Ladok, you got the Dragon Eye?"
He nodded and held it up, "It's right here."
They took a barrel and set it in front of a blank section of wall. Ladok gave the Dragon Eye to Hiccup, so that he could explain the idea in his head.
"So, I'm thinking, since Stormfly is a Sharp Class dragon," he began.
"Her magnesium blast could possibly illuminate some information about this new dragon," Fishlegs finished.
Astrid threw a couple of knives onto the barrel, creating a stand for the Dragon Eye. Hiccup set it on top of the barrel, sitting on the knives, facing the wall.
She guided Stormfly to the Dragon Eye, "Stormfly, easy now. Just enough to light it up."
Stormfly opened her mouth and produced a light flame, just as Toothless had done many times. When she did, an orange projection of a Deadly Nadder appeared on the wall.
"Deadly Nadder. I must have missed this the first time around. Who's got some chalk?" Fishlegs asked, forgetting what they were actually doing. "I have to translate it."
"Fishlegs, now's not the time," Hiccup interjected.
The projection changed to an image of a Speed Stinger. There was a lot of information about the flightless dragons that not even Ladok knew about.
'Who knew they like to eat snails?' he mused.
"Speed Stinger! One of my favorites," Fishlegs smiled excitedly. "There's always so much to learn."
"Oh, my Thor!" Snotlout gasped sarcastically.
Hiccup could have rolled his eyes, "I know, Fishlegs. I got it. Later."
Another image was shown, revealing an unfamiliar serpent-like dragon with a long tail, a nasal horn and plating covering the entire body. It looked exactly like the sketch of the dragon Bucket described, too much for it to be a mere coincidence.
Snotlout pointed at the projection, "That's it!"
"It's called a Razorwhip," Astrid uttered.
"Okay, Fishlegs, do your thing," Hiccup told him.
Fishlegs went up to the projection for a closer look as he interpreted what he was seeing, "Okay. Razorwhip, Sharp Class dragon, long, spiny, barbed tail."
"Yeah, we know that," Snotlout retorted. "Give us something new."
"You want to do this, Snotlout?" he snapped.
"Duh!" He went up to the projection as well, only to realize that translating the symbols was not as easy as it seemed. "I would… but I'm just… you know… I don't feel like it right now."
He rolled his eyes, "Continuing on." He tapped on one of the symbols he observed, "This symbol indicates that it can use its tail to wrap around a victim and literally squeeze the life out of them. Unless it's in a hurry, then it just slices you in half."
Tuffnut grinned as he heard all of this information, "Punch me, because I must be dreaming." Ruffnut obliged by punching him in the arm. "Ow!"
"Fishlegs, is there anything about this dragon that won't kill us?" Astrid questioned, annoyed.
"How about its eyeballs?" Ruffnut asked.
"No, poisonous tears," he replied.
"Poisonous! I love it!" Tuffnut cheered.
"Isn't it technically 'venomous', not 'poisonous'?" Ladok whispered to Helene.
"It's poison if you swallow it," she pointed out.
He shrugged slightly, "Good point."
"Yeah, poison's fantastic. Fishlegs, is there anything that might help us locate it?" Hiccup asked.
He scanned the symbols for something that could potentially help them, "Top speed, mating rituals, oral hygiene, feeding habits…"
Something he said caught Hiccup's attention, "Woah, woah, woah, wait. Go back to that one."
"Oral hygiene?" he questioned.
"No! Feeding habits," he responded. If we can figure out what this thing-" He was cut off by his brother using his tail to hit him in the back. Irritated, he corrected himself, "What this dragon," Ladok smirked, satisfied, "eats, then we might be able to figure out where it eats."
He hummed as he looked at the image of the Razorwhip's feeding habits, "Sea slugs!"
Tuffnut jumped, "Where?!"
"It eats sea slugs," Fishlegs elaborated.
"Slugs? I hate those slimy monsters," he shivered in disgust. "They're just snails without homes. Giant homeless snails."
"We've come across a few islands out there with waters just crawling with sea slugs," Ladok pointed out.
Hiccup nodded, "Right. Hopefully, our Razorwhip's feeling hungry."
"And hungry for sea slugs, not Vikings," Astrid tensely commented to Helene. She nodded in agreement and rubbed her arms to relieve herself of the nervousness she felt gathering in her stomach.
They searched many islands where sea slugs could be found in abundance, but they were yet to encounter the Razorwhip or its rider. The number of islands to search was waning, soon there would be no place to look and little hope of finding them.
They were closing in on another island, this one was farther away from Berk than the others they had been to. If someone wanted to remain undetected, the further away from the scene of an attack they were, the less likely it was they would be found.
"I have a good feeling about this island," Fishlegs proclaimed.
"That's what you said about the last five islands!" Snotlout retorted.
"Isn't my fault," he responded, "I'm an optimist. I'm a 'yak bladder half full' kind of guy."
"I don't mean to burst your yak bladder, but does anyone consider what we're gonna do if we actually find this Razorwhip?" Astrid asked.
"You can marry it," Tuffnut replied.
"And what if Dagur's riding it?" she questioned pointedly.
"Well, then Ruffnut can have him," he answered, much to his twin's distaste. "It will be completed, but I will one day learn to love him as my own."
She was beginning to feel the disgust Ruffnut was, "Um, Tuffnut…"
He ignored her and continued, "Like a little babe, a child I carry in my arms. But he's too heavy…"
"Guys, look! Smoke!" Hiccup informed everyone.
Ladok craned his neck over his brother's shoulder, "A campfire."
"This dragon builds campfires?" Tuffnut grinned.
Astrid groaned and rolled her eyes, "Tell me the 'Twins serves a purpose' speech again. Quickly?"
Helene sighed, "Astrid."
"Yeah!" he cheerfully agreed. "I've only heard the 'Twins are muttonheads' speech, which is also very good."
"Okay," Hiccup groaned.
Tuffnut frowned when he didn't hear anything from him, "Okay, or you don't have to."
They landed in the spot where the smoke was coming from and discovered a campsite, where there were many crates and chests. In a fire pit were singed logs that still had embers burning on them, whoever had extinguished it had done so recently and they were likely still on the island.
Astrid looked inside of a couple of the crates and chests, "Could be the loot from the ship."
Ladok noticed marks on some rocks, identical to the ones on the plundered ship, "Hiccup, do these gashes look familiar?"
Hiccup looked at them and nodded, he knew they were on the correct island, "Alright, gang, let's split up and search the island for our rogue rider and Razorwhip. They can't be too far away. Fishlegs, you and Meatlug stay here, signal if they come back."
"You got it," he replied.
Everyone else proceeded to mount their dragons and left to search. They separated as soon as they were in the air in order to cover more of the island.
When they were gone, Fishlegs made a comment to Meatlug, "You know, Meatlug, ordinarily, I would pretend to be upset at being left behind. But to be honest, this time I just feel a lot safer being here with you-"
Fishlegs didn't finish what he was saying to her, and when she turned to look at him, he was gone. Without him there, she was left confused and wondering what she should do until someone came to the campsite.
Helene and Ripwave were searching near a cliff on the far side of the island, she wondered if perhaps the campsite they discovered may have been a decoy of some type. A place to lie and wait for unsuspecting enemies to wander into, using the plundered goods as bait. If that was the case, she thought it was possible to find out who this rogue was by looking for clues elsewhere.
After not finding anything, however, she began to doubt herself, "So much for my theory, girl. I've come up empty-handed again."
Ripwave was looking in some bushes, she lifted her head as she warbled. Helene noticed that she was holding something in her mouth, something familiar.
"What do you have there?" she asked. She dropped it into her hand and she gasped when she saw that it was a Razorwhip barb! "The Razorwhip-"
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a blue fireball came down onto them! Fortunately, they were both able to jump out of the way, but only by the skin of their teeth, a small fire was burning in the grass.
Helene had fallen to the ground as the result of shock when she had to jump to avoid the fireball, Ripwave was now standing over her, covering her entire body, as she growled up at the Razorwhip and its rider. She shot her electricity at them, but they avoided it and the metallic dragon unleashed its spines onto them. She shielded them using her wings, holding them out and allowing them to take the impact of the spines.
When she removed her wings, Helene looked up and she was surprised to see the Rogue Dragon Rider and their dragon standing at the edge of the cliff. She didn't know what they were planning, but Ripwave didn't want to wait and see, she roared with fury and released a stream of electricity with the strength of a rampaging herd of wild boars.
'Thor would envy her,' Helene thought, astonished.
The Razorwhip protected its rider in an identical manner to how Ripwave protected hers, by using its sharp, metallic wings to shield them from the attack. Although Helene was certain that the metallic appearance of this dragon was not real metal, the electricity from her dragon was dancing on its body like spawning salmon jumping through water.
Eventually, the electricity ceased, leaving a tired Razorwhip and a Rogue Dragon Rider with wide green eyes. Something about the rogue's eyes seemed familiar to her, but she wasn't sure what it was yet.
They climbed onto the Razorwhip and flew away as soon as it had recovered from the shock of Ripwave's attack. Almost immediately, Ripwave removed herself from her rider, so that she could mount her and follow them.
While she was flying over a river while following the rogue, she saw Hiccup and Ladok. She tapped on Ripwave, "Send a signal, quickly."
Ripwave howled like a whale and craned her neck up as she fired her electricity up into the sky. Hiccup, Ladok, and Toothless heard the distinctive sound of her firepower and they immediately flew up to join them.
"What's going on?" Hiccup called out to her. He was actually struggling to keep up with her, she was flying so fast that he had to adjust and readjust Toothless' tailfin with the pedal just to talk to her.
"The Rogue Dragon Rider!" she responded. "We can't lose them!"
Hiccup was stunned and struggled to think of a plan for the situation, "Uh… d-do you have any ideas, Ladok?"
"Wh- what about the combo attack you came up with?" he suggested. "The one with Helene."
He thought about it for a second and nodded, "It's worth a shot." He called out to her again, "Hele! Let's try the Shocking Plasma Blast!"
The Shocking Plasma Blast was something they had developed as an offensive attack in case the firepower of their dragons was not strong enough alone. It was discovered by accident when Toothless and Ripwave were playing and got carried away. They rarely used it, if at all, but it might be enough to stop the Razorwhip, and therefore the rogue as well.
"Can you get ahead of them?" he asked.
She smirked to no one but herself, "They're fast, but not fast enough."
Ripwave roared as she flew into the forest to fly through the trees, allowing Toothless to close in on the Razorwhip while she flew ahead. She moved her wings faster as she came out of the forest, now flying in front of the metallic dragon. She turned around and halted, flying in suspension while she and Helene waited for Hiccup's command.
He mentally grinned seeing them in position, "Now! Toothless, plasma blast!"
"Ripwave!" Helene ordered.
Toothless fired a plasma blast and Ripwave shot her electricity. The attacks met, causing an explosion of purple electricity with a barrier and core of plasma. The Razorwhip and rogue rider were caught in it, paralyzing the dragon and causing them to plummet to the riverbank below.
They landed near them, just as the rogue stood up and their dragon's paralysis began to wear off. They noticed the mysterious rider reach for something, possibly the unusual dual-ended ax they were carrying.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hiccup warned them. Toothless and Ripwave prepared him for another attack if they had to.
"I wouldn't, either," they responded with a feminine voice, removing their hood and facemask.
Hiccup and Helene were shocked when they saw the face of the Rogue Dragon Rider. It was a dark haired young woman, but not just anyone, it was Heather! The girl they helped years earlier!
"Heather?!" they exclaimed in unison, stunned.
Ladok shook his brother's shoulder, "Who's Heather, Hiccup?"
Heather willingly took them to the places where she and her Razorwhip had ambushed the other riders while they were searching. Fishlegs was in a tree at her campsite, Ruffnut was stuck in a tree as well, but Tuffnut was unconscious on the ground, Snotlout was caught in some rocks in the river, and Astrid was trapped in a cave with Stormfly.
They took everyone back to the campsite, where the other dragons were waiting for them. Snotlout, Astrid, and Fishlegs were not happy with Heather, not at all.
First to complain was Snotlout, "You rolled me into a river!"
Next, it was Astrid, "You trapped me in a cave!"
Finally, there was Fishlegs, "You left me dangling in a tree!"
"And I have to admit, the chicken move? That brought back some memories," she remarked.
Hiccup tried to get them to calm down, "Guys, now I'm sure Heather has a really good reason for doing what she did. Right?"
She sighed, "Look, I've been living on my own out here for years and I made more than a few enemies. I didn't want you guys to be involved. I needed to send you back to Berk."
"You couldn't have just, I don't know, said that?!" Snotlout snapped.
"Would you have listened?" she retorted.
"She does have a point. We're a pretty stubborn group," Astrid commented.
'Isn't that an understatement?' Helene thought.
"I don't listen to anyone!" he declared.
'Now that's an understatement!' Ladok mentally chuckled.
"Heather, whatever problems you have, whatever enemies you've made, we can help," Hiccup told her. "You don't have to be out here alone anymore."
"Hiccup, please, just let this go," she pleaded.
"We have a base not far from here," he informed her.
'Four, five hours away. Yeah, not far at all,' his brother thought sarcastically.
"Why don't you come back with us?" he suggested. "Nothing permanent. We'll get you some provisions and catch up. You can see how you like it."
Tuffnut groaned and woke up from his coma from when he fell out of the tree Ruffnut was found in. The first thing he saw was Heather's Razorwhip standing over him.
"Whoa, Razorwhip. This is the best dream ever. Like I can reach out and touch it." He reached his hand out and felt the metallic hide, "I can reach out and touch it! Mmm… cold, scaly." He got down on one knee, "I, Tuffnut Thorston, take thee, Razorwhip, whatever your last name is, insert it here, to be my-" He then noticed Heather and stood up, "Oh, hey, Heather. What are you doing in my dream? At my wedding? I didn't put you on the list."
"You're not dreaming, Tuff," she told him, amused. He stood as stiff as a board with his jaw dropped as her Razorwhip gave him a friendly nudge.
"Oh! Well, in that case… Razorwhip attack!" he cried, running away from her dragon. "Run!"
"I see nothing has changed," she commented, her voice full of laughter.
"Same story, different year," he replied. "Let's head over to Dragon's Edge."
"You're not gonna give up, are you?" she asked.
"Not likely," he answered casually.
She let out a playful sigh, "Okay, Dragon's Edge it is."
Helene put a hand on her shoulder, smiling, "You're gonna love it!"
While everyone was happy to see their friend Heather again after over three years, Ladok was a little suspicious. He didn't know her, but he thought the lengths she took to try to get them to leave the island were extreme. Throwing Snotlout in a river with harsh rapids, trapping Astrid in a cave she couldn't get out of, leaving Ruffnut and Fishlegs in trees, putting Tuffnut into a coma, almost setting Helene on fire; her actions were not the work of a friend. She didn't want them to retreat back to Berk at all.
The Dragon Riders took Heather and her Razorwhip to Dragon's Edge, where they showed them around the base. They showed them everything, their huts, the arena, the stables, and even some of the island's geography, such as the lagoon. After the tour was finished, everyone went into the clubhouse to talk.
"Wait, where did you find her?" Tuffnut asked Heather.
"More importantly, can we ride it?" Ruffnut added enthusiastically.
"Did you miss me?" Snotlout asked flirtatiously, as the wannabe gallant philanderer he was. "I think you did. That's why you threw that tree at me, isn't it? Playing hard to get. Me likey." He reached for her, but she was saved by Astrid grabbing and twisting his arm. "Aah!"
"Never mind him. How did you train a Razorwhip? It's incredible!" Fishlegs smiled.
"Actually, I owe a lot to you, guys," she mentioned.
"To us?" Astrid inquired.
"To me. She meant to me," Snotlout interjected. "I mean, how much more obvious can she be? Ahh, women, I totally understand them."
Helene was growing tired of hearing his constant flirting with Heather, besides that she could tell that she felt very uncomfortable. She swept her foot behind his and hooked the toe of her boot to his ankle. He was on the floor when she pulled her foot back to rejoin her other.
He gave a thumbs up, "Okay, great. Catch you later!"
Ladok chuckled and whispered to Helene, who he was standing next to, "Nice one." She smiled with a slight laugh.
Heather began to tell them the story of her dragon, "When I found Windshear-"
"Awesome name!" Tuffnut chimed in. "I bet you ride like the wind, shearing through it! Get it? I used both of the words in its name to explain why he's called that!"
Hiccup groaned, "Oh, gods." He mentally added, 'And Windshear is a girl dragon.'
"Tuffnut, wind shear is a variation in wind velocity occurring along a direction at right angles to the wind's direction, often tending to exert a turning force," Fishlegs corrected.
'Fishlegs does have a nice brain. He's so smart,' Heather thought, a tint of blush beginning to ghost her cheeks. She then proceeded to tell them her history with Windshear, "Anyway, when I found her, she'd been hurt in a fight with a Typhoomerang. Windshear held her own," she pressed her forehead to her dragon, "didn't you, girl? But she needed to be nursed back to health. Then, when she was better, I used the training you guys taught me on Berk." Then, the empathy and love she was showing her dragon transformed into something fierce, and demonstrating this by taking out her axe from earlier, "We've become the perfect team, we're unstoppable. I mean, look at her! No one can take us down. And if they try, they'll be sorry for it!"
Everyone was stunned by the sudden change in her personality. It was nothing like the friendly, innocent girl they had initially met years earlier.
Ladok was now slightly terrified of her, so much so that she found him moving away from Helene and going to Hiccup instead. He wanted to be closer to his brother when he felt this way.
Snotlout laughed, "I guess she's pretty cool, but not as cool as this! Hookfang, flame up!" Hookfang stood behind his rider as his entire body ignited.
She smirked, not impressed, "That's cute. Windshear, tail slice!"
He screamed as her tail scraped the wooden floor surrounding him. When nothing happened, he laughed again, "What's so great about-" A circle of the floor disappeared from under his feet, leaving him hanging by a support beam, "Okay, we'll call it a draw!"
"Whoa. What else can she do?" Fishlegs excitedly asked.
"Her breath can burn the flesh off a human from a hundred feet away," she responded proudly.
"You gonna get me outta here?" Snotlout asked, still holding onto the support beam.
Ladok groaned and went over to the hole, reaching his hand down to him, "Grab on. I'll pull you up."
"One single blade of her tail is as deadly as the sharpest battle-ax," Heather continued.
"Great having Heather back," Astrid commented to Hiccup. "She's so… I don't know, intense, hardcore. I love it!"
"Yeah, it's great," he replied, uneasy. "She's definitely grown up since the last time we saw her."
"Hiccup, it's been three years. We were just kids, we've all grown up," she told him.
"Yeah, but she was so sweet, and now she's so…" he tried to think of what to say, "I don't know."
"Edgy? What's wrong with that? I like it," she smiled.
"Astrid, there's edgy and then there's destroying ships," he pointed out, "which I still need to ask her about."
"Well, do me a favor and wait until after I ask her about her battle-ax," she requested. "I want her to show me how to make one for myself."
While they were talking, a green Terrible Terror flew into the clubhouse with a note on its leg. Hiccup held out his arm for it and saw the insignia on the note, the Outcast crest.
"It's for you, Hele," he informed her.
He sent the Terrible Terror to her and it landed on her shoulder. She took the note from it and read it, "It's from my father. He says there's a council meeting tomorrow that I must attend."
Ladok, who was still helping Snotlout out of the hole, dropped his hand from the shock of this information, causing him to fall onto the floor. "Wh- what? You're leaving tomorrow? When will you be back?"
She shrugged, "That's a little hard to say. These meetings can take a while, sometimes they carry on into the next day."
Heather, who was fighting the twins with her battle-ax, heard what she was saying and she was confused by her words, "When did Johann become a part of a council?"
Helene was slightly confused when she heard that question, but then she remembered that she didn't know about her real family, "Johann isn't my father, he adopted me. My real father is Alvin the Treacherous."
Her jaw dropped as she blocked Ruffnut and Tuffnut, causing them to fall to the floor, "You're an Outcast?!"
She nodded, "I found out three years ago. Since then, I've been trying to reshape Outcast Island for the better. My Dad is very proud of me, he wants me to take over the tribe when the time comes."
"Oh, so he really has changed?" she asked in a slightly disquiet voice.
Again, she nodded, "Yes, and I'm sure if you asked him for an apology now, he would give it to you."
She had no time to respond to her, because Astrid had her axe ready to go against hers. She thought she was being sneaky by trying to challenge her while she was still up against the twins, but she was ready for her.
Hiccup felt completely left out, everyone wanted to be around Heather. He was glad to see her, but he couldn't get his mind off of the ships she destroyed.
"I don't suppose you want to talk to her, do you, bud?" he asked his dragon. Toothless knocked him to the floor while laughing as he raced to her and Windshear. "Yeah, thanks again for everything."
While he was on the floor, he heard someone come up to him, it was his brother. Ladok held out his hand to him, offering to help him stand.
"Need some help?" he asked.
He smiled and took his hand, "Thank you."
It was late into the night, everyone, rider and dragon alike, were asleep. Almost everyone. Heather was awake, locking the doors of all of the riders' dragons. It couldn't have anyone following her for what she had planned.
When one of the dragons stirred, she immediately reassured them, "Hey, hey. Sssh! It's okay." The dragon went back to sleep and she proceeded to lock the stable, "Sorry, guys. Nothing personal."
She went over to Windshear and climbed onto her. She looked at the other dragons one last time to be certain that they were asleep. Then, she took off in the night sky, flying to a place that only she and her dragon knew.
Unbeknownst to them, three more individuals wanted to know for themselves. Once they were gone, Toothless, who was hiding on the ceiling, spread his wings, revealing Hiccup and Ladok.
The brothers held onto him as he dropped to the floor. They removed themselves from his body in order to get onto his back.
Hiccup put his foot into the pedal as he thanked his brother, "Thanks for staying up with me."
"Thanks for letting me come with you," he replied.
He patted Toothless on the head, telling his dragon he was ready for flight, "Ready, bud?" The Night Fury howled. "Let's get some answers."
Y-U-*x-0-x-0-x*-U-Y
(A/N: I know, this was a longer wait and I'm so sorry it took me a month. In my defense, this is well over 7,000 words and I recently started classes.
Anyway, with that aside, how did you like it? Even though it took me an eternity I still liked it, and if you did then you're going to enjoy the next chapter too. It's the last chapter of season one and it's going to be a real shock for everyone. If you think back to "Secrets and Silence" in the chapter where they first meet Heather, there's at least one detail that explains what I'm talking about.
I'll really try not to take so long with the next chapter, but I can't make any promises. But if you're willing to wait, one thing that I can promise is that it'll be very enjoyable.)