Back with Namari and Krogan, they were just arriving at Fang to meet up with her mother on their land. Once they arrived, Krogan was surprised at the mass of the fortress and saw these people could be useful.
"We have to expand to the mainland." One of their generals tells their leader
"And how do you propose we handle the Druun, general Atitãya?" Virana asks her. "Without protection, it would be a death sentence for our people."
"I might have a solution for that, Mother," Namari said as she and Krogan approached.
"My little morning mists." Virana was happy to see her daughter, but then looked toward the man. "And you have brought an outsider?"
"I have located Raya, but lost her due to someone else," Namari explained and looked at Krogan. "She's out stealing dragon gem pieces with a strange outsider."
"His name is Hiccup Haddock," Krogan tells the Chief. "He's a criminal who I have been chasing for some time."
"And you are...?" Virana hasn't been given a proper introduction yet.
"Krogan." Krogan introduced himself. "We were on the close for Hiccup when he escaped with your fugitive."
Virana looked over Krogan and towards Namari. "How dangerous is he?"
"He traveled with a fire-breathing reptile that managed to evade all of our troops and helped them escape our grasp," Namari confirmed, only getting more confusion from her mother. "He has offered him and his men's services to help track him down in exchange for us helping his injured creature."
"You trust him?" Virana asks.
"Enough." Namari saw it as an 'enemy of my enemy' situation. "I would like to take the army and intercept them in Spine."
Virana scoffed and looked down at the map. "If they're heading for Spine, they aren't going to find much to intercept."
"She's more capable than you realize," Namari informed her mother.
"And Haddock is dangerous. He and his reptile has terrorized us for years." Krogan built up how dangerous Hiccup is. "And I have men who have spotted them entering a land near here." He gestured to the Talon lands on their map.
Virana saw that this man and his men could be helpful for now, and he was here to take care of a possible threat to their land. "You have our support, but you must travel and stay with my daughter."
Krogan looked to Namari and saw they needed to earn their trust so he could get his hands on the Night Fury. "I will follow your lead. As soon as Hiccup Haddock and his demon are captured, I and my men will leave in peace."
If only they knew the truth.
The Shrimp-porium started to dock in Talon with help from Boun while the others got ready to head out. Hiccup and Toothless looked out to the world and were both surprised by how different this place was from everywhere else they have been. The entire village seemed to have been built on top of a body of water that seems to also keep the Druun out of their home.
"That is one way to protect yourself from Druun." Hiccup commented as he looked over the land. "Or even attackers."
"I know, right?" Sisu agreed with him as they looked out into the city. "People of Talon are geniuses."
Raya then approached them and sighed as she fixed her cloak. "Yeah. Talon may look nice, but it's a hotspot for pickpockets and con artists."
"Sounds like a few places we know," Toothless said to Hiccup who nodded, thinking the same thing.
"Yeah, but we always had a quick getaway." Hiccup reminded his friend as Toothless looked down at where his tail should be. "We gotta be more careful this time."
"Well, since I'm a human, we should be able to get around easier." Toothless shrugged as he looked over himself. "Still feels weird walking around on two paws."
"Feet." Hiccup corrected his friend.
"Lucky for me, empty pockets!" Sisu proclaimed, showing how she has nothing on her.
"Okay, so here's the good news," Raya said as she looked over the three of them. "I know where the gem piece is."
"And what's the bad news?" Hiccup asks, already knowing how this always goes.
"It's being held by the notorious Chief of Talon, Dang Hai," Raya explains, looking out to Talon and towards what Hiccup guessed was where the Chief was. "What Dang Hai lacks in style, he makes up in mean."
"Wow." Hiccup didn't know what to make of that.
"So, we're just going to have to turn up the charm." Sisu proclaimed as she was about to head off. "Let's get him a gift."
Raya however quickly stopped her, knowing that she couldn't risk Sisu getting lost or dying out there. "Sisu, I think it'd be safer for you if you stayed on the boat. Without you, we can't put the gem back together."
"But I want to help," Sisu stated.
"I know, and you will," Raya promises her. "By being safe." She then started to make her way off the boat as Hiccup was going to follow, trying to see if he could get pieces for Toothless' tail. "I'll be back before you know it."
"It's for the best, Sisu. You don't know much about being a human, so it'd be safer if you stayed here." Hiccup said as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She's just looking out for you."
"If you two see any hungry faces, send 'em my way," Boun asked of them as he tied the boat to the bay.
"You got it, Captain," Raya said as she and Tuk Tuk walked off.
Before leaving, Hiccup looked at Toothless. "Bud, you should also stay here. You still haven't really got your legs down yet, and we can't risk people finding out about you."
Toothless sighed and saw that he did have a good point, giving a nod before looking back at Hiccup. "Alright, but the moment I think something is wrong, I'll come to find you."
"Fair." Hiccup decided and smacked Toothless in the back. Then he fixed the cape that Raya gave him to blend in to not be spotted. "See you in a minute."
The three of them started to make their way through the marketplace of Talon. Hiccup had never seen anything like this with this many people around. He saw several people selling homemade items or selling food around the street.
Hiccup quickly ducked to dodge a person carrying some baskets on a bamboo stick.
Raya watched the amazed Hiccup as he looked around amazed by everything.
"First time in a marketplace?" Raya asked him.
"Not many places have a marketplace like this." Hiccup commented as he walked to her side.
"Well, stay close," Raya warned him. "We'll find your fragments so you can leave, you just have to trust me."
"Trust you?" Hiccup was shocked to hear her say.
Raya then heard herself and started to stutter. "Well, I-I meant-"
"I trust you, Raya," Hiccup promises as he thought of something. "As long as you trust me."
Raya became eerily quiet when she heard him say that. She hasn't really gotten to know someone in a long time, and she didn't really know how to do so. But then she thought of how he has been trying to at least understand and know her. And maybe even without her knowing, she saw he was someone worth trusting. He is the only person that she has told the plan, he hasn't tried to hurt her or Sisu since they met, and he even helped her escape Namari.
"I... I'm not sure I'm there yet." Raya was sorry to say.
Hiccup nodded, knowing that it wouldn't be that easy for her to trust him after everything. "It's okay, I understand. But I trust you all the same."
"Why?" Raya wonders.
"You saved me from drowning, healed me, kept me safe from the Druun, and reunited me with Toothless." Hiccup listed the reasons why he trusts her. "I'll keep working to earn your trust."
"Thanks." Raya was happy to see he was going to let her decide when she can trust him. Then they stopped when they saw a house built out on the outskirt of the city. "Alright, there's Dang Hai's house." She took out some Jade from her purse and handed it to Hiccup to find his pieces. "You try and see if you can find your parts, and I'll score that Dragon Gem."
"Got it." Hiccup agreed when he suddenly heard a baby crying. "What?" He then looked down an alley to see a baby girl crying out. She was wearing a two-piece purple outfit with a red belt to keep her pants up. "Raya?"
Raya then saw where he was looking and eyed the alley. "Oh. What the...?"
The baby then noticed the two of them and stopped crying, starting to reach out to them. Hiccup and Raya looked to one another, no idea what to really do. They looked to the house and back to the baby, both of them coming to the same conclusion.
"Okay." Raya sighed as she walked over to the baby.
Hiccup also walked with her and watched as Raya struggled to pick her up. She kept her arms stretched out and watched the baby babble and squeal with glee at the two.
"Hey there, baby, toddler, thing...whatever you're called." Raya didn't really know what to do or say.
"Wow, you're not much of a baby person, are you?" Hiccup asked with a smile.
"I just haven't really been around them much," Raya admitted while behind them, Tuk Tuk was being met with three monkey-looking creatures wearing hats. They quickly offered him food and the animal started to chow down. "Been on the run for years, as you recall."
"Fair enough." Hiccup shrugged and started to look around the area for the child's parents. "Hey, who's baby is-" But that's when he looked and noticed the creatures ransacking Raya's purse. "Hey!"
That got Raya and the creature's attention as Raya noticed what was happening. "Ongis?" Then they noticed that the now named Ongis were holding their Dragon Gem pieces. "Drop 'em!"
Suddenly, before either of them knew what was going on, the baby pulled down Raya's hat over her face and kicked her back. Hiccup was shocked by this and was ready to stop the kid when she threw some dust at him, blinding Hiccup for a second.
"Really?!" Hiccup asked as he wiped the dust from his eyes.
"A con baby?!" Raya couldn't believe that her world has come to a point she could say that.
The baby ran over to the Ongis and one of them picked her up and they ran away with the Gem pieces. Hiccup and Raya both got up from the ground and chased after the baby and the Ongis.
Toothless sat on the boat eating some soup, keeping a close eye on Sisu. She on the same part was also watching him, more on curiosity than cautious like Toothless. He wasn't as trusting of these people as Hiccup was. After everything they'd been through, he wasn't one to let his guard down around new people.
"That's your third bowl." Sisu commented on Toothless' eating habits.
"Hey, I haven't eaten anything but fish in years." Toothless informed her, pointing the spoon at her. "This is a new taste to me. And could you stop staring?"
Sisu sighed and looked out to the city. "Sorry, I'm just a bit worried about Raya and Hiccup." She then started to shutter in fear. "This is giving me bad feelings. Chief Dang Hai does not sound like someone you could smooth talk. And Raya didn't even bring a gift."
"Sisu…if that chief stole that gem piece from Raya's land, then what's the point of giving a gift?" Toothless asked her, not following her logic.
"That's it." Sisu proclaimed, standing to her feet. "I'm going shopping." Then she remembered something. "Oh, wait, I don't have any money."
"You're an adult. You could just put it on credit," Boun informed her from the port.
"Oh… Uh, what's credit?" Sisu didn't know anything about what changed in the human world over a hundred years.
"It's kinda like a promise. You take what you want now, and you promise you'll pay it back later."
"Pay it back later? Huh! What an amazing concept. Thanks, Captain Boun," Sisu skipped off when Toothless jumped ahead and stopped her.
"Whoa! You're not going anywhere, Sisu," Toothless tells her.
"Why not?" Sisu wonders.
"Raya told you to stay on the boat and Hiccup told me to keep an eye on you," Toothless reminded her. "We need to stay here until they either call for help or they come back."
"And what if something goes wrong and they can't call for help?" Sisu asks him.
Toothless mostly used to just obeying Hiccup's orders to stay safe. For his and Hiccup's sake, so he didn't know what to say. He actually didn't know what to think because that was usually all Hiccup. Sure, he'd jump in and think for himself every now and then to save Hiccup, but he'd never really disobeyed an order.
"Come on," Sisu said as she walked off to the market, wanting Toothless to come with her. "What's the worst thing that could happen?"
Toothless then looked annoyed and sighed after hearing her say that. "She jinxed us."
And jinx she did.
Toothless watched Sisu as he tried to make sure she stayed out of trouble. But he didn't realize just how much trouble she was getting into. She constantly went around getting items and promising to pay them off with credit.
But then after some time, the people started to become furious with the newcomers. They started to surround the two of them, getting Toothless worried that he can't transform to protect them.
"Your credit isn't good here." One of them told Sisu, explaining what Boun either left out or didn't know.
"I don't have anything, but if I could just find my girl Raya, she has a sword, dried eats, two Dragon Gem pieces," Sisu started to accidentally sell Raya out.
"What?" Toothless questioned as he looked back to Sisu. "Sisu, stop talking."
"You better pay up, binturi," one guy said.
"This isn't a charity," another cursed.
"Who do you think you're stealing from?"
Toothless then growled at the man and pushed Sisu aside to face the man. The two started to stare the other down, Toothless not used to this lasting longer than a second. He's used to them being scared of his dragon form that they just backed away.
But then Sisu and Toothless saw everyone moving aside to reveal an elderly woman with a tall pink hat. She came up to Toothless and pushed the man off of the dragon/human.
"Get away from them." She demanded. "Can't you see that she's new in town?" She then gestured to Sisu and led her forward. "Come, don't be afraid. Something tells me that you could use a tour of this place."
"No thank you. We'll be on our way," Toothless tried to pull Sisu away but Sisu wouldn't move.
"Oh, thank you," Sisu said with a smile.
"It's okay, dear," The elderly woman kindly took her arm and led her away. "Everything's going to be alright."
"Sisu…" Toothless tried to speak up. "We have to go."
"Come on, Toothless. If we befriend her, she could bring us to where Raya and Hiccup are." Sisu said, and that's something that Toothless did want.
Toothless didn't trust her but also knew Sisu was gonna need someone to keep her safe. "I hate this world."
Hiccup, Raya, and Tuk Tuk chased the baby thief and her Ongis companions across the market when they came to a bridge. Tuk Tuk couldn't get on because of his size so he rolled off in a separate direction.
As they were just catching up to her, the baby suddenly leaped off the bridge and onto the boats below with the Ongis and the gem pieces.
"Gotta admit, that kid is brave." Hiccup admired.
"Admire her later, catch her now!" Raya asked of him as she tried to keep up with her.
Spotting Raya and Hiccup still chasing them, the child jumped on wooden planks to fire a basket of fruit and food at them. But with swift skills, Raya slashed the fruit and food in half with her sword.
Hiccup then finally showed off his retractable sword and used it to slice the fruit coming for him.
Raya took a look back to make sure he was fine when she noticed the sword. "A sword?!"
"Yeah, I needed some way to protect myself. Just never needed to use it until now." Hiccup explained as he retracted it.
Raya decided to talk about how that works later as they slid over the deck of a bridge. Raya landed right on a boat in front of them as Hiccup made it in time to jump and follow. But when they think they have them cornered, the Ongis formed a chain and the biggest Ongis swung himself and his family right over their heads.
Bye. The baby mouthed to them.
They landed on the opposite deck, and she laughed. Still, Raya and Hiccup chased after them.
"Man…she's so fast," Hiccup panted and took a moment to breathe.
"Ahh, diaper!" Raya dodged the incoming fire.
"Huh?" Hiccup asked, only for the diaper to smack him in the face.
The force of the diaper also sent Hiccup slipping and falling onto the wooden floor. Raya saw he was hit and quickly stopped to see if he was okay.
"Hiccup!" Raya cried.
"Go!" Hiccup tells her, holding his head from the impact. "I'll catch up!"
Raya decided to do as he said, knowing she couldn't lose those dragon pieces. The baby slipped on another pair of pants and she and the Ongis leaped through a hole in the wall. Quickly Raya leaped through the same hole and rolled to the floor.
The baby and Ongis reached another alleyway when suddenly Tuk Tuk appeared out of nowhere and kicked his back into a fence of holes blocking the thieves' ways. They smashed their heads through the holes and then fell on their backs right at the feet of Raya.
Raya opened her hands. The baby hit her hands on the stomachs of the two Ongis who had the Dragon Gem pieces in their mouths, and they spat them up right into her hands.
"Thanks," Raya spat, sheathing her sword as she kneeled to the child. "But using your baby charm to rip people off…is super sketchy." She then poked the baby's nose, earning a smack from the child to push her arm away. "Now, where are your parents?"
The baby just blew a raspberry in her face followed by a "hm" at her companions and they waddled off, except one Ongi who formed the position of a person turned to stone.
"Oh," Raya breathed. "Right," she stood up, watching the baby give some berries to her adoptive family.
Guess they didn't really have much of a choice. They were doing what they had to do to survive.
Raya then got worried when she looked and didn't see Hiccup coming. "Uh...Tuk Tuk? Where's Hiccup?"
Down the street back where he was hit, Hiccup groaned as he moved out of the crows. He sat back up against the wall and rubbed his head, tossing the diaper away.
"Thank Thor that wasn't a full one." Hiccup counted his blessings.
But then a stand caught his eye when he saw one was selling leather he needed for Toothless' tail. Seeing some good come from the chase, Hiccup used the Jade that Raya gave him to buy the needed material for Toothless' tail.
Getting enough leather for the tail, as well enough for a second time just in case, he started to make his way down the path Raya took. He wondered how far she could have gotten when someone noticed him.
Four men in spiking helmets were watching them from the shadows. They were following Hiccup as he met up with Raya, who wondered if he was fine and even felt the part of his head that got hit.
"That's him," One of the soldiers confirmed.
"But where's the Night Fury?" Another one questioned.
"Don't know. Get word to Krogan. We'll capture him and wait for our fellow Hunters to bring him to our leader." Their leader stated.
One soldier disappeared whilst the rest followed Hiccup and Raya from a far distance. The two of them started to walk off and were ready to get the third Dragon Gem piece.
