Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; if you're on this site, you know the drill. Also, thanks are owed to athingofvikings, who gave me a much-appreciated sounding-board for a few aspects of my planned world-building for this particular crossover; hope you like it.
Feedback: Appreciated as always.
The Dragon of Wanheda
When the Seashocker emerged onto an islet in the middle of the cove, Clarke winced at the sight of the brilliant blue skin marred by at least one spike, to say nothing of the creature's accompanying roar of pain. While she appreciated that Stormfly had been acting in self-defence, this was an animal in pain rather than an actual enemy.
"Oh no, he's hurt!" Fishlegs looked anxiously at the creature. "Astrid!"
"Stormfly was just reacting to being attacked," Astrid protested.
"Yeah, Fishlegs, what did you expect?" Snotlout pointed out.
"All right, everybody just calm down," Hiccup cut in. "We need to get the Seashocker back into the sea."
"Still not-" Snotlout began, before Clarke flew over and leaned over to slap Snotlout on the back of the head. It wasn't enough to really hurt him, even without his helmet, but it made her point as the other riders flew down to take a better look at the now-beached aquatic dragon. Clarke turned her attention back to the other riders, but saw Fishlegs land Meatlug on the island further 'inland' from the Seashocker.
"Should we-?" Clarke glanced over at Hiccup.
"It's easier to let one of us go in for the dragon right now," Hiccup affirmed as the other Riders took up formation. "We've dealt with a few wild dragons over the years; it's best not to crowd them before we've assured them that we're not dangerous."
Clarke nodded in acknowledgement of Hiccup's point, but she kept an eye on the largest of the group as he cautiously approached the Seashocker. Griffin wasn't the fastest dragon, but there should be enough time for her to dive down and get him out of harm's way if the Seashocker turned hostile.
Despite her concerns, Clarke was pleased to see that Fishlegs did rather well at approaching the Seashocker. There was a tense moment when the Seashocker generated some kind of electric sphere that knocked Fishlegs back, but the large Viking didn't seem to be that hurt by it, as he soon got back up and continued talking reassuringly at the sea-dwelling dragon.
"He needs to be with his pod, Fishlegs," Hiccup called down to his friend after a few moments of talking seemed to calm the dragon down a bit more. "It's too dangerous for him to stay here."
"I know, I know, you're right," Fishlegs responded, even as he kept his gaze on the beached Seashocker. "Can you just give us a minute?"
"You got it," Hiccup indicated the edge of the pool. "We'll go start blasting open the mouth of the cove."
Even as the rest of the riders flew off towards the cove entrance, Clarke stayed in position just above Fishlegs. As much as she liked Griffin as her dragon, blasting hot air wouldn't help to clear away the barrier that Fishlegs and Meatlug had created earlier, but she might be useful here in case the Seashocker turned hostile again. She was prepared to dive down when Fishlegs moved to pull out the Nadder spine still in the Seashocker's back, but after the initial burst of electricity her new friend seemed to be doing well. After Fishlegs carried out another check of the downed dragon, he returned to Meatlug and the Seashocker returned to the water, following Meatlug as Fishlegs led the way towards the cove.
"Everything OK here?" Tuffnut asked as he and Ruffnut flew up, Ruffnut apparently finally out of the pit that her twin had dropped her into.
"We're clearing a path out for the Seashocker," Clarke explained, indicating the other Riders up ahead. "You can help them break the lava wall."
"How do we know this isn't a trick and when we blast the wall-?" Tuffnut began.
"How could that make sense when the others are blasting the wall already?" Clarke indicated the other riders. "And don't act like the fact I'm not doing anything means anything; hot air isn't any use in a situation like this."
"Good point, well made," Ruffnut conceded. That settled, the twins moved in closer to the last remaining part of the wall, Barf generating the usual cloud of green gas before Belch ignited it with a suitable spark. With the wall gone, Clarke glanced back to see that Fishlegs was leading the Seashocker towards the exit, but that satisfaction ended when the dragon came to a conspicuous halt.
"Wait, why are you stopping?" Fishlegs looked at the water dragon in confusion. "Freedom awaits!"
Clarke's confusion about this turn of events increased when the Seashocker, just visible underwater, turned around and swam back into the cove. Fishlegs' confused exclamation neatly summed up Clarke's own confusion about this turn of events, but the unasked question was resolved when she saw two more figures swim into the cove.
"Scauldrons!" Hiccup called out.
"They're the water dragons that use scalding hot water as a weapon, right?" Clarke called over to Hiccup and Fishlegs.
"And they're also the Seashockers' natural predators!" Fishlegs added (Clarke wondered if that had been part of the original engineering or something that had developed over time; it was hard to imagine the person who made dragons setting it up so that they'd eat each other).
"All the noise from blasting the wall must have drawn them in!" Hiccup observed.
"The wall…" Fishlegs said in self-frustration. "The one that I put there… Meatlug, what have we done?"
"Something stupid-" Snotlout began before Astrid flew above the other rider to slap him in the head.
"Maybe let's just get this Seashocker out of here and berate ourselves later?" Clarke put in. "Two on one don't strike me as good odds in any situation."
"OK," Hiccup said, looking down at the just-visible sight of the Seashocker swimming rapidly around the small islets in the cove, the Scauldrons just behind the first dragon. "Everyone, spread out and flank the Scauldrons; just try and distract them."
To Hiccup's credit, everyone followed his orders, but it was hard to see what they could do while the enemy dragons remained underwater. The Seashocker could stay ahead at least for the moment, but every time he prepared a charge to fight back the other dragons just accelerated their pursuit.
"This isn't going to work!" she said, looking around at her friends. "The Seashocker's outnumbered and his attacks seem like they're luring the others in!"
"The Scauldrons must track the Shocker by following its shocks," Hiccup observed, looking anxiously at the underwater battle before one of the other dragons exited the water. The Scauldron was a large green creature with a thin neck and a cauldron-like main body, as well as a very circular head, which flew with surprising speed for its bulk.
"You stay away from him!" Fishlegs called out, Meatlug moving in with surprising speed to ram the Scauldron in the side. Clarke privately questioned whether shoving the water dragon back into the water was a good idea even before the other Scauldron came at Meatlug from behind, but Hiccup flew in on Toothless and managed to knock them both back with a plasma blast before they could do more than roar at Fishlegs.
"Where'd the Seashocker go?" Clarke called out, realising she'd been distracted from her attempts to track the original underwater dragon.
"He's making a break for the opening!" Astrid called out from another part of the cove, before another brief burst of electrical energy confirmed the fleeing dragon's location. "Two Scauldrons, moving fast!"
"We'll lay down some cover fire," Hiccup called out. "Astrid, cut them off!"
Astrid began to head for the Scauldrons, only for her and Stormfly to suddenly jerk backwards with what looked like a bola around Stormfly's middle.
"Wha-?" Clarke began.
"Loki'd!" the twins called out, flying up from a point just below Astrid, their arms outstretched as though they'd just thrown something.
"What?" Fishlegs looked at them in outrage. "No! I cannot believe you two! Loki'ing right now!"
"Astrid's the crown jewel, Fishlegs," Tuffnut explained nonchalantly. "When you have a shot at Loki'ing Astrid, you've gotta take it."
Fortunately, Clarke was spared from worrying further about Astrid when the other blonde flew up to join them, her and her dragon free once again, although the glare she gave the twins made it clear that punishment would be coming later.
"Hiccup, would you please tell them that they have to stop doing all these Loki tricks?" Fishlegs looked over at the group leader.
"Actually, Fishlegs," Hiccup said, a new excited tone in his voice, "I actually think that Loki might be the key to saving the Seashocker."
"Now you're talking!" Tuffnut said, as the twins' dragon practically shot upwards.
"I wouldn't get too excited if I were you," Hiccup said with a pointed stare at the twins.
Clarke wasn't entirely sure if calling this new plan a 'prank' accomplished anything more than getting the twins out of the way for a while, but it at least allowed the rest of the group time to set up their own parts of the strategy. With Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Barf and Belch having taken up position by the cove entrance with a bucket of fish, the other riders waited until one of the Scauldrons surfaced following another failed attack on the Seashocker, blasting them with a stream of hot water that only just went through the middle of their flying formation.
"Can someone please tell me why we're risking everything to help this thing?" Snotlout protested from his own position on Hookfang.
"Because that's who we are," Clarke looked over at Snotlout. "We protect the dragons, particularly when it's from our own mistakes."
"I hate that about us," Snotlout muttered.
"They're underwater!" Astrid called out, even as Stormfly dived down closer to the surface of the water. "I can't get a clear shot!"
Which puts pay to the idea that the rest of us could do anything, Clarke thought to herself. If Stormfly and her spines couldn't get a good shot at the Scauldrons, none of the other dragons had an attack that could only focus on the individuals in an underwater environment.
"They're in a feeding frenzy," Hiccup confirmed. "It's too dangerous to get any closer."
Looking down at the pool, Clarke could tell that the other riders were just as anxious for a chance to act as she was, but it was also clear that they couldn't do anything right now. The water soon calmed, but the complete lack of activity was almost more worrying in Clarke's experience; the dragons all apparently had to breath air, so even if one of the competing sides had won, surely someone would have surfaced by now…
"What happened?" Fishlegs asked, taking Meatlug down closer to the water. "Where did he go? Hiccup, did he just…?"
"Oh, man," Snotlout said, the surprisingly solemn tone at least assuring Clarke as to why the rest of the Riders kept him around in the first place.
"We tried everything, Fishlegs," Astrid said. "I'm sorry."
"Me too," Fishlegs," Hiccup affirmed.
"And me," Clarke added, before glancing over at Hiccup. "I… guess we should head back?"
"I am not leaving," Fishlegs said, even as Hiccup nodded at Clarke's observation. "Not yet. This is my fault and if somehow, some way, he is still alive, then it is my responsibility to get him back to the safety of his pod."
"Fishlegs-" Hiccup began.
"Hiccup, he is a fighter," Fishlegs insisted. "He is gonna make-"
As though responding to some cue, the Seashocker suddenly emerged from the water and leapt over Fishlegs' head before landing back in the water. Fishlegs' cheer of joy was cut short when the green Scauldron emerged on a direct path for Fishlegs, but the dragon was drawn away again when the twins charged back into the fight, a line in the water behind them and a large electric eel just visible at the other end. Just as Hiccup had hoped, the electrical discharge drew the Scauldron's attention, while the sight of the eel itself definitely inspired some sense of panic in the dragon.
"I'm pretty sure I said a few small eels," Hiccup looked back at the twins.
"On Loki Day, you go big or you go home," Tuffnut shrugged.
"It's working," Fishlegs said triumphantly, as the other Scauldron appeared and began to chase the eel. "The zapping eel is confusing the Scauldrons."
"Who knew you could Loki Scauldrons?" Tuffnut observed with a grin.
"Let's Loki 'em even more," Hiccup said firmly. "Come on, bud."
With that command, the other dragons dived towards the water, firing blasts of fire (and gas in Barf's case) to force the Scauldrons back. With Griffin's hot air still ill-suited to this particular task, Clarke stayed in a higher position, occasionally calling out directions to the other riders to attack from a different angle. When the Seashocker began to head for the cove entrance once again, Clarke didn't even need to call out to Fishlegs before he was leading the way to safety, but kept up her initial position until she saw Fishlegs stand up and literally jump off Meatlug. She quickly directed Griffin over to see what was happening, but only reached the cove entrance in time to see Fishlegs be suddenly forced out of the water, screaming all the way, a distinctive blue glow in the water below him before he landed on the nearest beach.
"Are you all right?" she called out as she took Griffin in towards Fishlegs, Hiccup and Toothless close behind her.
"Fishlegs, are you all right?" Hiccup repeated, as the rest of the Riders came up to join them. When Fishlegs reached up to his head, Clarke was startled to see a brief spark of electricity pass between his head and fingers, but he seemed to shake it off with no obvious problems, so she guessed it was just minor static.
"That must have blown him twenty yards," Ruffnut grinned. "New record!"
"Don't worry, Fishlegs," Tuffnut folded his arms as he spoke in an authoritative tone. "In time you'll be able to feel your legs again. I mean, probably-"
"He'll be fine," Clarke glared over at Tuffnut. "And this is from the healer, remember?"
Granted, she didn't know what an electric blast from a Seashocker could do to someone, but if Fishlegs could still move this soon after being caught in the blast it couldn't have been that bad.
"That was one of the gutsiest moves I've ever seen, Fishlegs," Astrid said approvingly.
"Hey, it's nothing I wouldn't have done," Snotlout said.
"And yet you didn't do it," Clarke observed with a wry grin at the short Viking. "Why?"
"'Cause I wanted to give Fishlegs a taste of the Snot," Snotlout grinned at his associate. "Tastes good, doesn't it?"
"…Does this man ever think about what he's saying?" Clarke looked over at Astrid.
"At this point, it's easier to just go with it," Astrid shrugged. As Fishlegs got to his feet, the rest of the group stepped aside to let him see the Seashocker, now swimming back into the sea and out of the cove. It was hard to be sure from this distance, but as the riders returned to their dragons and flew up to get a better look, the increased number of glowing underwater lights suggested that the Seashocker had found more of its kind, so at least it should now have a chance to get to safety.
"Look at that, Fishlegs," Astrid smiled in approval at her friend. "You did it. You won."
"We did it," Fishlegs said, looking around at the other riders with an approving smile as the Seashocker leapt into the air in the distance before resuming its swim to safety.
He's right, Clarke thought with a smile. We did do it… we got that dragon home…
As she watched the dragon return to the water, Clarke was suddenly struck by the thought that her own people still needed that kind of help, but she pushed that thought down; she had spent so long trying and failing to help her people fit into life on the ground, was it really so wrong of her to want to get away from that stress and find something where she could genuinely see that she was making a positive difference?
They didn't want me there; it's better if I just stay here…
If there was one thing Viggo hated more than having to hire outside help, it was having to hire outside help that took this long to respond to his offer. He appreciated that the man before him had a reputation for ruthlessness that sometimes disturbed even Viggo- if nothing else, it was best to leave things alone if you didn't want to get the wrong kind of reputation outside of their particular circles- but after everything the Berkian riders had achieved recently, it was best to go to the top to solve the problem they posed before it became too significant.
"And you are certain that it was a Night Fury?" his guest asked, pale hair all the more vivid in the candlelight that illuminated the room as they spoke.
"Do you think I would have called you here if I was not certain?" Viggo replied. He was particularly proud of his word choice in that moment, suggesting at respect for the other man while privately reflecting his disdain for the lengths the man was reputed to resort to in order to achieve his goals. "That dragon has been becoming a thorn in my side, and I require expert assistance to deal with it before the threat becomes too great."
"I will of course seek confirmation before I act."
"I would expect nothing less," Viggo nodded. "And you will understand that payment will be provided once you succeed in getting my lost treasure back from the Haddock boy?"
"Barring the initial deposit, of course."
"Of course," Viggo conceded. "I would prefer it if the other dragons were taken alive, but I… understand if you claim the Night Fury for yourself once everything is resolved."
The loss of that dragon would be a particular blow to his possible finances, but in the grand scheme of things, it would be more profitable to eliminate Hiccup Haddock's best weapon against him than to simply try and sell said dragon after abducting it. On the bright side, that same fixation meant that Viggo should be able to guarantee the chance to sell the other dragons so long as he offered his new hire the chance at the one he truly wanted, so he wouldn't be coming out of this mess with nothing but the knowledge that his enemies had been dealt with.
"Excellent," the other man nodded at Viggo. "Then I will see you in a week with the Night Fury's skull and your lost artefact."
As Grimmel the Grisly left his room, Viggo wondered just how much Hiccup Haddock would suffer in the confrontation that was to come.
AN: Quick question; did anyone expect this guy to show up at this point?
Be assured that I have a plan regarding Grimmel appearing this early, which should all become clear once his storyline has concluded; hope you enjoy what's coming up.