=Normal POV=

{Friday, April 1, 2022-4:30 pm}

(Barbaric Archipelago; Dragon Island)

It took a bit of time with Stoick riding Toothless, but the Mayor of Archia himself led the team to Dragon Island; a location West of Berk and about an hour away. The dragons easily made it through the thick fog, and soon the volcanic island was revealed to them. Stoick and many other stared in awe, and surprise. Toothless had been the one to get the most of the way, and only because Stoick ordered Toothless to take them where they had to go, or he would never see Hiccup again. Toothless didn't want to be taken away from his human, so he obeyed and led the mass group to the island. It was a military battalion being deployed to war; there were so many people who turned out in such a little time to take care of this big dragon Stoick warned them was the cause of their dragons action so strangely. Reaching land, the dragons carefully set down and there was nothing but silence.

"Orders, Stoick?" Spitelout inquired, landing with Kingstail; his male Deadly Nadder.

"Use what we have, and attack that mountain until it cracks open. We'll take it by storm," Stoick said. Spitelout nodded, beginning to call out orders. "Whatever happens; it ends today!" he announced to the others. "Attack!" he called. Hollering and cheering, they used whatever they could. Rocks, guns, old-style weapons, even a couple of catapults. One rock hit the mountain, leaving a massive hole open. Dragons took to the sky, racing to get away in mass groups. Even the bonded and trained dragons seemed to retreat away from the island.

"Was that it?" Alvin asked. People began to cheer more, glad to have finished it.

"There's no way that was all of it," Spitelout rolled his eyes.

"Not a chance," Stoick agreed with Spitelout. "Hold your positions, and stay together," no sooner than the words left his mouth; the island began to shake violently.

"Over there," someone shouted bringing the attention to the hole they'd opened. The mountain began to crack more as breaking through the ground of the opening; a massive dragon rose as everyone's eyes widened, slowly backing away as the beast revealed itself. Stoick couldn't find it in himself to move.

"Odin help us…" Stoick breathed out.

"Stoick!" Alvin said. No answer.

"Stoick, what do we do!? You said big dragon, not a Red Death!" Spitelout shook his brother from his state of shock.

Stoick looked down, trying to figure out how to handle this. "I should have listened to…I was a fool," Stoick said, angry at himself. He should have listened to his son; his only son. Hiccup was right, and now Stoick had endangered many people by refusing to listen to Hiccup. "Evacuate!" he called.

"With what!? The dragons left, and we have no other way off the island!" Spitelout scolded.

"Lead them to the far side of the island!" Stoick commanded.

"What of you!?" Alvin asked.

"I can buy you a few minutes if I give that thing something to hunt…Go!" Stoick ordered. Spitelout and Alvin nodded. Stoick picked up a spear and threw it at Red Death to get the dragon's attention; it worked too. Red Death prepared to fire at Stoick as he covered his head to block himself even though it would be futile.

"FIRE!" a voice called. Stoick looked up, surprised and was shocked to see his wife, Gobber, and all of Hiccup's friends, including Hiccup on dragons; they fired a joint blast at the back of Red Death's head to throw it off and disorientate it for a few moments. The others landed as Stoick laid eyes on Hiccup.

"What…Are you doing here?" Stoick asked.

"What does it look like? I'm saving your butt," Hiccup retorted as Toothless hurried over to Hiccup, licking his cheek affectionately. "Hi, bud…" Hiccup rubbed his head. Red Death roared out, trying to focus once more. The dragons, though, they took off and wouldn't return when called.

"Hiccup, our dragons won't listen," Astrid said quickly.

"I know…I told you they wouldn't…Red Death controls them," Hiccup sighed; then he glanced at his father before glaring. "This is entirely your fault," Stoick looked down. "I told you that this was dangerous, and you couldn't handle it; that you couldn't win! Why in the name of Thor would you bring all the dragons here, ones that thing will take control over?! You're defenseless without dragons, and it's not even their fault like I told you!"

"I-I know, and I'm sorry I didn't listen…," Stoick said.

"You never do! I wasn't keeping secrets; I didn't know how to tell you or anyone that the Red Death from centuries ago had a kid or something and is living among us in the present day. I just wanted to make sure that we had some kind of strategy before coming after this thing! This is not a battle you charge into weapons blazing; this takes months of preparation, maybe longer!" Hiccup said.

"I should have listened to you…" Stoick admitted.

"Hiccup…Red Death is recovering…We need to do something…" Fishlegs squeaked in fear. Hiccup looked behind him at Red Death; then he saw everyone from around the island looking scared and not sure what to do; they had nothing to get away with because then dragons fled to get away from Red Death's control. Hiccup knew there was only one option left. Astrid saw something in Hiccup's eyes. Toothless snorted and motioned to Hiccup to get on his back. Hiccup headed for him his dragon.

"You got it, bud," Hiccup said.

"Hiccup…No. No; I know that look," Astrid said quickly.

"What's going on?" Stoick asked.

"Hiccup's gonna take Red Death on himself!" Astrid informed.

"What? Hiccup, no! It's suicide," Valka pleaded.

"How can't you even consider this to be a good idea? One man and one dragon against that?!" Heather screeched

"It's been done before," Gobber shrugged.

"Gobber!" Stoick scolded.

"What, Stoick? I didn't say I agree with his plan, but it has been done before, and you know exactly what I'm talking about…" Gobber reminded.

"What are they talking about?" Thuggory asked.

Stoick sighed as Gobber rolled his eyes. "Centuries ago, the ending of the three-hundred-year-old war between dragons and human was because of Hiccup's ancestor taking on a Red Death with his dragon. Just the two of them, and they won," Gobber explained.

"Yeah, you told us that at the house…What's it got to do with this?" Camicazi asked.

"And what none of you know because very few people know how to access the information is that my ancestor had a Night Fury. Because they are the only dragons that Red Death can't seem to take control of," Hiccup said. "My ancestor stopped a war that had been going on for hundreds of years, and now it's up to Toothless and me to stop a war from starting…" Hiccup grabbed the saddle and hauled himself on it, getting his legs in place on the stirrups. Red Death roared out, making everyone back up a bit. Stoick grabbed Hiccup's hand, looking afraid and fearful for his son.

"Son, no…It's my job to protect the island…" Stoick said. "Hiccup…I'm sorry. F-For everything…" he added.

Hiccup stared. "Yeah, me too…" he replied.

"You don't have to go up there," Stoick tried.

"As the Vikings would say; it's an occupational hazard. I told you…I don't want to lead people; I want to protect them. So let me do this…" Hiccup said.

Stoick smiled nodding. "I'm proud to call you my son," Stoick let go and stepped back. Valka kissed Hiccup's forehead, crying a bit. Gobber patted him on the back with a smile.

"You give that beast a run for its money, kiddo," Gobber encouraged.

"Oh, we will…" Hiccup replied.

"Good luck, Hiccup," Dagur said as the others nodded.

"Be safe," Heather added. Hiccup shook his head. Astrid put her hand on Hiccup's, grasping it slightly.

"Please don't go…" Astrid asked softly, trying not to cry. "I can't lose you too…"

Hiccup leaned over, lifting her chin. "You won't, I promise…But it has to be me; Toothless and I have to do this," then he kissed her cheek. Astrid smiled, blushing a bit and nodding. Astrid stepped back from him as Hiccup held the handlebars of the saddle. "Let's go, bud!" he called. Toothless crouched with a growl and launched into the sky as everyone watched. Toothless got in closer, then shot a warning blast, roaring at Red Death. Toothless started climbing higher as Hiccup looked back to see it wanting to go after the people on the ground, then he noticed something on the dragon. Wings.

"That thing has wings…Okay, let's see if it can use them!" Toothless fell slightly and whipped around, going in for a dive. "Make it count, bud. Let's get its attention," Toothless gave a huff-like reply as they got closer. "Now!" he called. Toothless charged a blast and fired it once they were in position. The blast hit hard, knocking Red Death over on its side as Hiccup and Toothless pulled out of the dive and veered off to get out of range. The dragon too deep breaths, then got up, raising its wings. The group on the ground watched in shock.

"It can fly!?" a few said in disbelief. Stoick, Valka, Gobber, and Astrid never took their eyes off the sky. Red Death took to the air, following Hiccup and Toothless.

"Well, it can fly," Hiccup said. Toothless picked up speed to keep the dragon following them. Red Death made a snap for them, and missed, then collected some gas in its mouth. "Here it comes…" Hiccup warned. Toothless darted left as the blast fired; Hiccup and Toothless narrowly missed being hit. "Time to disappear, come on, bud!" Hiccup cheered while changing the tail's positioning and they shot upward with Red Death following.

"Ah-hah! Smart laddie! Using the dark skies to hide with Toothless!" Gobber cheered with the others. "I knew he knew what he was doing,"

"It's not over yet, Gobber…" Valka reminded, staying close to Stoick. Red Death seemed to be hovering, looking around for the Night Fury, and Hiccup. Without warning, they saw Toothless whip into sight and fire a blast at Red Death and then dodged out of sight before the dragon. This happened over and over again with Hiccup and Toothless avoiding being caught; a total of at least eight shots hit Red Death's wings. Things were looking up; Hiccup was actually winning.

You've got this, Hiccup… Astrid thought, silently praying that Hiccup would be alright. Red Death grew annoyed as it prepared a blast and fired it all around to get Hiccup and Toothless out, and it worked. Toothless flew by the stream of fire as the tail fin caught fire. "Oh, Gods no…The tail!" Astrid panicked.

"If that tail goes, Hiccup and Toothless will lose altitude and plummet!" Fishlegs said fearfully. In the sky, Hiccup saw what happened.

"Okay…Time's up…Let's see if this works," Hiccup gulped a bit. Hiccup whipped Toothless around to fly by Red Death. "Come on! That the best you can do!?" he taunted as Toothless matched it with a roar of his own. Red Death followed after them.

"They're in a dive!" Thuggory announced, pointing upward at the figure of Toothless heading straight down with Red Death following right behind, trying to snap at them.

"Stay with me buddy, we're good. Just a little bit longer…" Hiccup urged. The ground was getting closer now. "Hold, Toothless…" Hiccup said quietly knowing his friend heard. Hiccup listened for the gas to form and at the last second; his eyes opened. "NOW!" Hiccup yelled as Toothless turned, falling back first and shot a high-powered blast at the gas in Red Death's mouth. Instantly, the dragon's eyes widened, and it tried to put out its wings to slow the descent to the ground, but to no avail. Red Death's wings began to burn from the inside out. Hiccup and Toothless pulled up as Red Death hit the ground, face full of fire first. The beast exploded upon contact. The body began to burn up as Hiccup and Toothless were flying to escape.

"Where's my baby!" Valka demanded with worry.

"There! Heading up the tail!" Dagur informed. Hiccup tried to work the pedal, but the tail was gone and snapped off the rig.

"No…" Hiccup said breathlessly as he looked up seeing the end of Red Death's clubbed tail nearing. Toothless was losing altitude. "NO!" he yelled right before the collision.

"HICCUP!" Astrid yelled in fear.

"SON!" Valka and Stoick called immediately after. Hiccup and Toothless separated as Hiccup began falling almost lifelessly into the blazing inferno below. Toothless roared for his friend, then changed his direction to dive straight down after Hiccup. Both of them disappeared into the flames.

. . .

It did not take long for the fire to fade once the Red Death's body was incinerated from the blast. All that was left was thick fog and ashes falling slowly. The area was quiet as everyone tried to look around, but there was hardly any visibility.

"HICCUP!" Stoick called while moving around aimlessly with no direction, but clear panic and worry in his tone. "HICCUP! Son!" he tried again.

"The dragons are back…" someone mentioned.

"Archian Prep students, dragon calls!" Dagur yelled. The riders did so as their dragons came forward and into view. "Wing blasts," each rider mounted and gave their dragon the command. The wings of the dragons rose, then flapped forward as a lot of the smoke and ash was blown away; allowing others to see.

"Stormfly," Astrid said as her Nadder squawked. "Find Hiccup and Toothless, girl," Stormfly sniffed around and glided Astrid over to where Toothless's figure was seen lying unconscious. "I've got Toothless!" she called to Stoick. Almost everyone hurried over as fast as they could but didn't crowd. Stoick tripped and hit his knees before Toothless. Valka's eyes widened with tears.

"No…No…Hiccup…" Valka began to cry. Stoick lowered his head, tears also forming.

"I did this…" Stoick whispered, but anyone close could hear it. Toothless groaned a bit, slowly beginning to awaken as his eyes set on Stoick and huffed almost. "Oh, son…I'm so sorry…" Stoick let the tears slip. Heather buried her face in Dagur's chest. Ruffnut and Tuffnut put their arms around one another. Snotlout stood with his father, just blown away almost. Fishlegs was near Heather, trying to offer comfort. Eret had Ragna. Camicazi held onto Thuggory. Nadia stood between both couples. Everyone was lowering their heads, and Astrid was the last one to lower her head and cry.

"Y-You promised…" Astrid whimpered. Toothless adjusted a little as he moved his wings to unfold revealing Hiccup between his legs.

"Hiccup!" Stoick moved closer, pulling Hiccup into his arms and moving the hair from his face; then finally lowering his ear to Hiccup's chest. There was a heartbeat. "H-He's alive! You brought him back alive!" Stoick announced, overwhelmed with emotion. Everyone began cheering, clapping, and happy that Hiccup was alive, and he had defeated Red Death with is Night Fury. Astrid and Valka held one another, crying tears of joy. Stoick was still holding Hiccup up with one arm. "Thank you, for saving my son," Stoick put his hand on Toothless's head. The dragon crooned weakly and laid his head down.

Gobber came over now, inspecting more. "Well, ya know…Most of him," Stoick and Valka instantly glared at the man.

"We need to get back to Archia Isle; he needs medical treatment, like now," Valka reminded her husband. "The leg is gone, and it looks like there isn't much bleeding either. Perhaps the flames from the blaze cauterized it because it is clean and dry too…"

"I can take him on Stormfly," Astrid offered. "She's the second fastest dragon next to a Night Fury," she added while wiping her eyes. Stoick and Valka nodded as Astrid got up and climbed on Stormfly quickly. The Nadder lowered more as some of the taller males helped settle Hiccup's unconscious form against Astrid, and she put her arm around him.

"Go, we'll be right behind!" Stoick told Astrid.

"Stormfly, top speed!" Astrid urged. Stormfly took to the sky and headed East towards Berk. Soon, they were out of sight.

"Everyone else, find your dragons or hitch a ride with someone else!" Spitelout ordered. This took quite a bit of time, but Stoick, Valka, and Gobber were gone with their dragons and Toothless being carried by Cloud Jumper towards Berk to meet Astrid at the hospital and get an update on Hiccup. The eighteen-year-old had saved the entire island, and at the initial start; no one believed he could defeat Red Death by himself. However; Hiccup pulled it off and got severely injured doing so. One thing was for sure; everyone hoped he'd be okay and they'd never doubt him again. Hiccup was a saving grace this afternoon and today marked the rise of a hero and the fall of an enemy.