Plans going in the Dust

Alright, so I've had the idea for this story for a good while, months in fact, but of course life and other stories kept getting to me first, but I am excited to finally give you this story now.

I won't say too much about what it's going to be off the bat, so you'll just have to read on to find out.

Enjoy!

"Atten-SHUN!" Snotlout calls as he paces before Toothless, the Night Fury, Hookfang, the red Monstrous Nightmare, and Meatlug, the tan Gronkle. "Now, Hiccup has given me specific orders to take you rag-tag team of dragons on a special mission to sneak onto a Dragon Hunter base and collect information about a possible plan to attack Berk and/or Dragon's Edge while Hiccup goes to a chief conference with his dad. It will be dangerous, it will be thrilling, heck we may even lose one of you…" He glances over to Meatlug. "but mark my words, no matter what happens, we will see that this mission gets done."

It was then that Snotlout notices Fishlegs standing near Meatlug. He leaps over to him and asks, "FISHFACE? What are you doing here?"

Fishlegs holds out his arms. "What? Hiccup wanted me to come with you. I sat right next to you at the briefing."

Snotlout replies, "I recall no such thing!"

From behind, Hiccup tells Snotlout, "Fishlegs is right, Snotlout. You need him to come with you because you'll need someone who knows about directions and how to read maps."

Snotlout claims, "And what makes you so sure I can't find my way?"

Hiccup replies, "Snotlout, it took you an hour to get from your house to Berk's docks. You don't even live that far away."

Snotlout blinks to that. "Berk is a big village, it's easy to get lost." Hiccup simply stares at Snotlout before he lets out a sigh and complains in a tone that a child uses when told they need to clean their room. "Fiiiiine."

Hiccup nods and gets himself loaded onto the ship where his dad, Stoick, was waiting.

Snotlout lets out a puff of air. "Alright, this is fine, the more the merrier, I say. Now then, before we embark, let's make sure we know the players in this mission." He gestures to Toothless. "Toothless, the stealth master." Then to Fishlegs, "Fishface, the navigation." Then to Meatlug. "Meatlug, the…uh…*snaps his fingers* Gronkle." Then to Hookfang, "And of course, the best of the best, Hook-a-fang!"

Fishlegs lets out a groan. "Can we just go? The longer we stay here, the more time Viggo," leader of the Dragon Hunters, "will have to hatch out whatever plan he has! Besides, we've all known each other for years!"

Snotlout gets right into Fishlegs's face. "Are you the one leading this mission, Fishface?" Fishlegs just blinks to that. "What I thought. Now, I suppose it is time to embark!"

"Finally!" Fishlegs mumbles to himself as he climbs onto Meatlug's back.

Snotlout walks up Hookfang's wing and claims, "I shall now mount my valiant steed, so that we may get this mission underway." He takes is seat on Hookfang's saddle and states, "Now then, ONWARD!"

Fishlegs then claims, "Uh, Snotlout? Aren't you forgetting something?"

Snotlout thinks for a moment. "No, I did the introductions."

"Not that." Fishlegs adds as he flicks his head to the right towards Toothless, who perks his head up and gives an 'I'm waiting' expression.

Putting the pieces together in his mind, Snotlout nods. "Oh…right, the whole…tail thing. Can't you ride him, Fishface?"

Fishlegs replies, "I mean, I could, but I'm pretty sure Toothless's back is still sore from the last time I did." Toothless emphasizes this by stretching and bending his back up. "Besides, Hiccup rides Toothless all the time, and he is the leader of the Dragon Riders."

Snotlout simply nods to this. "I see your point. Very well then. Hookfang…" He pats the Monstrous Nightmare on the neck. "While I normally take you as my steed of choice, I'm afraid that I will need to look to a new steed for the course of this mission. Do know that you will still be in my heart." He walks over and gets on Toothless's saddle, slipping his left foot into the stirrup that Hiccup attached to accommodate his non-metal leg.

Meanwhile, Toothless was giving Fishlegs a weary look as Fishlegs tells him, "I know, it'll just be for this mission, I promise." Toothless knew that Hiccup wanted him to just suck it up and deal with it, so that's what he's going to do.

Once sat down, Snotlout claims "Ok, with that out of the way, I say…ONWARD!" With that, the three dragons spread their wings and take off, leaving Berk behind in a matter of minutes.

Once in the air, Snotlout struggled for a minute to work the contraption that connects to Toothless's red prosthetic tail fin. This was resulted by a roller coaster of a ride as Snotlout moves his foot in all directions. "Whoa, hang on, let me just…" He ends up doing a few spins in the air.

Fishlegs, who was staying a fair distance from the out of control Night Fury and rider duo, calls to him, "Snotlout, didn't Hiccup give you a cheat sheet for that tail?"

Snotlout scoffs. "You mean that piece of paper? Yeah, I wiped my butt with that. Besides, winners don't need no stinking cheat sheet!" he says as Toothless dives down. Snotlout does a few more movements of the stirrup until Toothless finally gets to a level, cruising altitude. Now relieved, Snotlout lets out a sigh. "Phew! Alright, that's more like it."

Now getting to Snotlout and Toothless's level, Fishlegs pulls up a map saying, "Ok, now, let's just go over the plan for once we get to the Hunter base."

Snotlout claims, "The plan is simple. Go in, take what we need, get out before we get caught. Done and done."

Fishlegs states, "That's not really a plan as much as it's an objectives list. Look, I looked at the map and saw a-"

Snotlout cuts him off, "Look, Fishface, we-"

"Ok, would you stop calling me Fishface?" Fishlegs calls. "We've been friends since we were kids, you know my name is Fish-LEGS! Why can't you just call me that?"

Snotlout thinks about that for two seconds. "I like Fishface better. Anyway, plans are for simpletons, a real Viking just shows up and does it, figuring it out as they go."

Fishlegs suggests, "I really think we need a better plan than this."

Snotlout waves it off. "Fishface, come on, we've done stuff like this dozens of times. I'm sure it will all be fine."

(Later)

Snotlout, Fishlegs currently find themselves running from at least two dozen Dragon Hunters on the Hunter base, having unsuccessfully gotten the information they need and with Snotlout forgetting to account for the fact that the whole base is heavily guarded by Hunters, leading to the two humans and three dragons being discovered soon after arriving.

The Draogn Hunters were shooting arrows laced with Dragon Root along with regular arrows as Fishlegs asks Snotlout, "Ok, now what's the plan?"

Snotlout yells, "CHEESE IT!" as they hop on a dragon and take off, not before one lucky Hunter shoots an arrow from a bow that goes right through the red fabric on Toothless's tail, creating a decent sized hole. Now feeling himself losing altitude by the minute, Snotlout looks back and claims, "I've been hit!"

Fishlegs nods and looks to Hookfang, "Hookfang, get under Toothless, help cushion his fall!"

Hookfang was about to do just that when Snotlout claims, "NO! We got this! Uh…Look!" he points to a large, dry, sand covered island just ahead of them. Snotlout claims, "Get ready, cause we're coming in hot!"

Fortunately, Snotlout and Toothless had just enough altitude left so they could crash right onto the sand which just did enough to cushion Toothless's landing, but not enough that Toothless didn't slide about 10 feet from the impact point.

Relieved to be on some form of ground and not in the ocean, Snotlout lets out a deep sigh as Fishlegs and Meatlug land next to them as Fishlegs asks, "Are you alright?" as he leaps off of Meatlug.

Snotlout replies, "Yeah, I think so."

Fishlegs replies, "Not you." He kneels in front of Toothless. "Are you ok, buddy?"

Snotlout scoffs. "Oh, sure, check on the dragon first, real sense of priorities."

Fishlegs rolls his eyes. "Toothless did just take a pretty big fall."

Snotlout adds, "Yeah, but I could've gotten hurt as well!"

Having quickly looked around Toothless, Fishlegs claims, "It looks like Toothless himself is ok, but his tail…well" Toothless lifts his tail to show the red fabric at the end had a lime size hole and the connecting rod that connects the stirrup to the fin itself was busted as well.

Snotlout nods. "Yes, I see. Very well, we shall head on to carry on the mission." He walks over to get on Hookfang's back.

Fishlegs raises a brow to that. "And you want to explain to Hiccup why we showed up without Toothless?"

Snotlout puts a hand to his chin. "Hmm, good point, those two are pretty close. Very well, we shall travel on foot to the nearest village."

"Uh, Snotlout, where do we go?" Fishlegs asks as he gestures to the desert island in front of them. Sure enough, everything from where they were standing to the horizon in front of them was sand, sand and more sand, with various sand hills to add to the experience.

Snotlout comments, "Huh, I've heard of a deserted island but this is ridiculous. Very well, we shall make do, I say we go…this way!" He points to a random direction. Toothless, however, sniffs around for a moment and gestures to a direction perpendicular to where Snotlout wanted to go and lets out a grunt. "Oh, so you think you know better?"

Fishlegs points out, "Actually, Snotlout, dragons tend to be pretty good at finding their way, maybe we should listen to Toothless on this one."

Snotlout scoffs. "As if I'm going to let some scaly beast boss me around. If you really think you know better than me, then go on! Get out of here!" Toothless shrugs and begins walking off, grunting to the other two dragons to follow him, which they do. Snotlout stammers, "Hey! Where do you think you're going? Meatlug, I can expect this sort of thing from, but you, Hookfang?" Hookfang gives Snotlout a good view of his backside before heading off. "FINE THEN! We don't need you! Just know there will be repercussions for this! You hear me? REPERCUSSIONS!" That last word was echoed throughout the empty field.

Fishlegs, who decided to stay behind, asks, "Snotlout, what did you just do?"

Snotlout smirks and replies, "Cut off loose ends, that's what I did. Ok, this is fine, the two of us can find our way to a village, just watch!" He then smacks his lips a bit, finding them to be a bit dry. "I am feeling quite parched, though. Fishface, water bottle!" He snaps his fingers and holds up his hand.

Fishlegs stares at Snotlout in disappointment. "Snotlout…"

Snotlout adds with another snap, "I don't feel a bottle of water in my hand!"

Fishlegs replies, "No, Snotlout, you don't get it, all of our supplies are in the dragons' saddle bags."

Looking and seeing that the dragons were already well far away from him, Snotlout simply replies, "…Yak dung."

We soon find Snotlout dragging his feet through the sand on this scorching hot day. He was near dehydrated, beads of sweat were dripping down his face, and he was panting a ton.

It soon got to a point where Snotlout's legs give in and he collapses onto his hands and knees on the hot sand, croaking out, "Need…water…"

However, Fishlegs, who has been with him the whole time, looked completely fine as he asks, "Uh, Snotlout, are you ok?"

Snotlout lets out a dry cough as he asks, "H-how long have we been walking?" As it felt like hours had already gone by since they started walking.

Fishlegs thinks for a moment. "In total? About…10 minutes."

Realizing it really hasn't been that long, Snotlout comments, "Crud."

Fishlegs then suggests, "Look, maybe we should just take a moment and figure out our next move."

Snotlout shakes his head. "No…no, that's not an option. We are going to find those dragons, get that tail fixed, drink up, and then…we're going to get this mission finished!"

Having had enough of Snotlout's antics, Fishlegs raises his voice saying, "OK, could you just forget about the mission for two seconds?" He holds out his arms to the side, showing the emptiness they were in. "Look at where we are, we are in the middle of a desert island, we have no food, no water, no dragons and no clear way to get home!" He was pointing to each of his fingers as he was making those points. "Why are you so obsessed with completing this mission?"

Snotlout takes a moment to collect his thoughts before replying, "Y…you wouldn't understand."

Fishlegs blinks to that. "I'd understand better if you told me."

Snotlout lets out a sigh before turning around to sit down in the sand. "I just…don't want to be left behind."

Now even more confused before Snotlout started talking, Fishlegs states, "Care to elaborate?"

Snotlout lets out an even bigger sigh. "Look, Fishlegs, let's look at the facts, Hiccup's dad is the Chief of Berk, which means Hiccup is next in line, once he becomes Chief, well, what does that mean for guys like…us? And the twins? Astrid is probably going to marry Hiccup, so she's set there, but what about us?"

Now understanding a little bit better, and a bit concerned for his own safety, Fishlegs comments, "Well, Snotlout, Hiccup becoming Chief shouldn't change that much about the dynamic of our group. I mean, Hiccup is one of our best friends."

Snotlout scoffs to that. "Yeah, now, but we weren't exactly the kindest to him growing up, you know that."

Knowing that much was true, Fishlegs adds, "Come on, Snotlout, you can hold onto friends after becoming Chief. Take Hiccup's dad and Gobber, for example, those two have been best friends since Gobber still had all his real limbs, that didn't change when Hiccup's dad became Chief. Heck, Gobber practically helped to raise Hiccup."

Snotlout scoffs again. "So Gobber became a glorified babysitter, great. I don't know, I guess I just want to be Hiccup's right hand man, you know? Be the guy that Hiccup can rely on when he's not available." He lies back on the sand as he imagines that person he wants to be.

Now it became much more clear to Fishlegs, Snotlout didn't just want to stay as Hiccup's friend, he wants to be the next leader of the Dragon Riders. Fishlegs then explains to Snotlout, "Snotlout, there's more to being a team leader than what you think. Completing missions and coming up with plans is one thing, but that's not it, it's also good to know when to listen to those around you."

Seeing as he didn't have much other option, Snotlout lets out a deep sigh. "Fine. What do you suggest, Fishface?"

Fishlegs looks around for a moment before spotting a rock that had moss growing on one side. "Hey…hey! Snotlout, come here!" He gets up and rushes over to the rock. "Come check out this rock!"

Snotlout scoffs. "Oh great, Fishface wants to look at a rock, color me surprised."

Fishlegs shakes his head. "No, you don't get it, there's moss growing on this rock!"

"So?"

"So, moss can only grow if there's water nearby!" This gets Snotlout to perk up his head and look back to the rock as Fishlegs makes his way up a sand hill before calling, "Snotlout! You have to see this!"

Snotlout quickly gets up and runs up the hill to see an old, rusty looking village made up of wooden buildings. "A village! A VILLAGE! WE'RE SAVED! Ha, I knew I'd get us out of this mess." He then runs towards the village.

Fishlegs wanted to point out that he was the one who got them saved, but at that point he didn't care as he was just glad to not be in the middle of nowhere anymore. Once just outside the village's outskirts, Snotlout claims, "Ya see that? We found our way without a single dragon! I'd love to see the looks on their scaly faces now!"

"Uh…Snotlout?" Fishlegs points towards the far left where Toothless, Hookfang and Meatlug are spotted.

Snotlout blinks to see that the dragons got there first. "Oh, Misters and Miss wise dragons, eh? Well, four can play at this game! Come on, Fishface, we're leaving!" He says as he waves his hand and turns around before Fishlegs stops him.

"Snotlout…"

Snotlout turns around. "Or we could just stay here." He says before walking into the village. The dragons join them as Snotlout states, "It's about time you dragons got here, my mouth is dry as Astrid's humor." He plucks a water bottle from Toothless's saddle, opens it up and makes it go bottoms up. However, he found that not even a drop would come out. "What the? Hey, what gives?"

Fishlegs reminds him, "You did suggest that we dump our water bottles into the ocean to 'cut loose weight' so we could get to the Hunter base faster."

Snotlout then throws the bottle onto the ground saying, "Well, obviously I didn't know we'd be in this mess! Alright, fine, we'll see if someone in the village has something we can drink."

Once in the desert village, the boys and the dragons take note of how old and rusty the place looked. The men wore big hats and brown vests while the women wore hooded dresses, several signs looked like they were going to fall off at any moment, all of the buildings were made up of old wood and everyone rode horses to get around.

As they walked through, Snotlout asks, "Geez, it's like we traveled back to the age before steel, where are we?"

Fishlegs simply replies, "Durk."

Thinking that was an insult, Snotlout states, "Hey, I'm trying to figure out where we are too, there's no need for name calling."

Fishlegs replies, "No, that's the name of this village, Durk." He points to a sign that says 'Durk Barber'

"Huh." Was all Snotlout had to say.

Fishlegs then points ahead, "Hey, look, a saloon, maybe someone there has-"

"Has some water, yep, exactly, I was going to suggest that!" Snotlout states as they walk up to the saloon titled 'Durk Sit 'N Sip'.

However, as soon as they walked into the two doors, an overweight man with a deep voice, short black hair covered by a large, brown hat tells them, "Hey, you two have sand in your brains?" he gestures to a big sign saying, 'no pets allowed'

Snotlout scoffs to the sign. "Excuse me, but do you really think these dragons are pets?"

The man adds, "Look, kid, if ye can't walk or talk like a person, you're a pet, now tell those dragons to scram!"

Snotlout shakes his fist. "Why I outta-"

"Snotlout!" Fishlegs stops him. "It's…not worth it." He turns around and addresses the dragons. "Sorry, guys, you mind waiting outside?" Deciding not to put up a fight either, Toothless tells Hookfang and Meatlug to stay outside and wait for their humans.

With that out of the way, Snotlout and Fishlegs approach the bar to the saloon as the man behind the bar states, "Name's Clay, what can I get for you boys?"

Fishlegs asks, "Uh, could we just get some water?"

Clay nods. "I suppose so."

Clay then sets two shot glasses of water in front of Snotlout and Fishlegs. Snotlout picks up the small glass and states, "Uh…do I look like a chicken? I need more!"

Clay replies, "Look, don't know what to tell you, kid, the tap's been running low all week, gotta conserve for all the folks around here."

Snotlout replies, "If you think I give two piles of yak dung about the people here then-"

"Look, kid, do you want the water or not?" Clay asks in a stern voice.

"No, no! We'll take it!" Snotlout and Fishlegs slam the water down their throat in the blink of an eye, Snotlout going as far as to lick the glass for every last drop. "Oh, sweet nectar of Thor!"

Clay then comments, "You boys aren't from around here, are you?"

Fishlegs replies, "No, we're kind of lost, actually. Is there, by any chance, a blacksmith we could talk to?"

Clay thinks for a moment. "Well, there is old Rusty, but I'm afraid he's out for the day."

Fishlegs' eyes widen. "But there is a forge?"

Clay adds, "Well, yes, but I'm afraid Rusty took all of his tools with him, he's pretty particular about who uses his stuff when he's not around."

Snotlout then hangs his head after hearing that. "Then we really are stuck here."

Thinking for a moment, Fishlegs asks, "Uh, did Rusty say where he was going?"

Clay thinks for a moment before replying, "He said he was going yonder…" He points to the left. "To deal with some 'moving boulders' or something like that. I can hardly ever keep up with what he says."

Snotlout and Fishlegs give each other a glance upon hearing the term 'moving boulder'. Snotlout then asks, "Uh, moving boulders?"

Clay nods. "Exactly. Says it's some spiked boulders that seem to move on their own, no clue what he's talkin' about."

Now even more curious, Fishlegs asks, "Where exactly did Rusty say he was going?"

Clay replies as he points to his right. "He said he was going yonder. If you leave now, you might be able to catch him."

With that, Snotlout and Fishlegs rush out of the saloon, collect the dragons and make their way down the direction Clay pointed to. It took a bit of running in the hot sand, but the two eventually stumbled across an old, pencil thin man dragging a wagon filled with various tools and supplies. The boys run up to the man and Fishlegs asks, "Excuse me, are you Rusty?"

The man scoffs and replies in a squeaky voice, "What's it to you, boy?"

Fishlegs replies, "We need your help, we're stuck on this island and need to fix something up so we can get out of here."

Rusty squints to the two boys and looks back to the dragons behind them before asking, "Just where are you boys from?"

Not sure where this is going, Snotlout replies, "Uh…what's it to you?"

Rusty then adds as he skips over to Toothless, "And who did you talk to to make up this magnificent tail device?!" He gestures to Toothless's saddle and tail contraption.

Fishlegs was about to say that a friend made it when he begins, "Oh, well, uh-"

"I made it!" Snotlout states. "All me! Amazing isn't it." Fishlegs gives himself a face palm.

Rusty looks the device up and down, Toothless looking rather uncomfortable all throughout. "Yes…yes…so intricate! So…advanced! Hoooo, if only me pappy could see this now." He then notices the bent connecting rod. "Oh, looks like this joining stick is a bit messed up."

Fishlegs states, "Yeah, that's basically what we needed to see you about. Do you think you can help us?"

Rusty taps the iron tooth sticking out of his lower jaw with his finger as he states, "Well…it is a good device…tell ya what, boys, if you help me deal with the moving boulders, then I'll fix up whatever ya want, deal?"

Snotlout and Fishlegs exchange a hopeful glance before they reply, "Deal!"

So the three humans and three dragons begin to walk off into the vast desert. Fortunately, it didn't take long before they all came across something was so tall that it casted a shadow over all of them. "Dam!" Fishlegs comments.

Rusty then scoffs. "I thank you kindly to watch your language, city boy." He then looks ahead of him and stops in his tracks. "Oh…that kind of dam."

True to their word, right in front of them was a dam made of stacked stones and rocks that seemed to stretch for miles, and on the other side was a huge body of fresh water that the dam did a very good job at keeping in.

The boys wanted to keep staring at the dam, but that's when Rusty points out, "Oh, there they are! The moving boulders!" The boys look over and spot what looked like two house sized, spiky boulders that were nestled at the base of the dam.

"I knew it." Fishlegs comments as he lays a hand on one of the boulders and feeling a heartbeat before stating, "These aren't boulders at all! These are Catastrophic Quakens!"

Rusty scratches his head. "CatastraWUHA?"

Fishlegs shakes his head. "No, not wuha, Quakens. It's a species of dragon that live in dry environments like this."

Rusty lets out a slight chuckle. "Don't know what you've been drinking, boyo, but them looks like boulders to me."

Fishlegs replies, "That's the point! To protect and defend themselves, Quakens curl up into a ball, and with their rock-hard skin, they become as tough as boulders when they do so!"

Rusty nods. "I see. Look, all I know is that these dragons or boulders or whatever you want to call them are vermin, and vermin do not belong in my town, so what are we to do?"

Fishlegs replies, "Seems like we just need to relocate the Quakens then deal with this dam. That should get the water flowing back to Durk!"

Rusty nods. "Sounds like a plan, though before we get to it…" He has the boys and the dragons take him to the top of the dam where the water had risen, there he dunks his head in and takes big gulps of the cold liquid.

Staring at Rusty with confusion, Snotlout asks, "Really?"

Rusty looks back and replies, "Hey, can't move no dragons when I'm all dehydrated." Then goes right back to drinking.

Realizing their own thirst, Snotlout replies, "I was going to ask why you're not letting the travelers have first sip!"

"Same here!" Fishlegs states as they and the dragons rush over to the water and start drinking like they hadn't seen water in all their lives.

Now refreshed, the humans and dragons make their way back to the base of the dam where Fishlegs states, "Ok, now that we're hydrated, let's figure out how we're going to move these Quakens. I think we should start by-"

However, Snotlout holds up his hand. "Now, just wait a second there, Fishface. I think I should be the one to figure out how to move the Quakens."

Seeing as Snotlout was hungry for power, Fishlegs sighs. "Well…ok, just don't hurt them."

Snotlout raises a brow to that. "Are you su-"

"Yes, Snotlout. I am very sure that I do not want to hurt these Quakens!" Fishlegs replies.

Snotlout holds his hands up. "Alright, alright, no hurting the Quakens. Defeats plans A through D, but I will make it work."

Thus begins the Snotlout plans for removing the Quakens. His first thought was to hold up a bag of gold saying, "I've got 30 gold for the next dragons to leave this dam!" Not a single budge from either dragon. He tries the idea of showing the Quakens how to roll by doing somersaults on the sand, but to no avail. Snotlout then goes up to Rusty and asks, "Hey, uh, say we don't manage to move these Quakens, could we still get that fixer upper?"

Rusty, keeping his arms crossed, replies, "Move the vermin, or I have no reason to fix nothing."

Snotlout lets out a deep sigh. "I knew you were going to say that." He then approaches the Quakens saying, "You know what? Fine, don't move, see if I care…" seeing as how that bit of reverse psychology wasn't working, Snotlout then yells, "WHY WON'T YOU MOVE?"

Meanwhile, Fishlegs, Rusty and the dragons were just standing by wathing Snotlout make a fool of himself as Rusty comments, "Not exactly a dragon whisperer, is he?"

Fishlegs replies, "He can't even get his boot laces to work with him." On cue, Snotlout ends up tripping on his untied boot laces and falling right in front of them.

Snotlout gets back up and states, "That's it! That is IT! Enough games, I am getting rid of these Quakens whether they like it or NOT!" He has the dragons meet in front of him as he says, "Toothless, Hookfang, Gronkle, show your stuff."

Not seeing much other option, the dragons open their mouths and begin to charge their blasts, that's when Fishlegs gets thinking, "This doesn't make sense, why would the Quakens be here if they know a village is nearby? Unless…" Then something occurs to Fishlegs, so he asks Rusty, "Rusty, how long has this dam been here?"

Rusty thinks for a moment. "Ya know what? I don't think I've ever seen this thing before. And I've seen every corner of this island."

Hearing this, Fishlegs holds up his arms and yells, "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" the dragons swallow their own blasts, making smoke come out of their noses.

"Oh, NOW what?" Snotlout asks.

Fishlegs asks Rusty, "Rusty, can I borrow your hammer?"

Rusty then picks up his hammer and holds it close. "Like heck I'm letting some stranger use old Betsy!"

Snotlout raises a brow to that. "You named your hammer?"

Rusty looks to both sides. "Things get lonely at the shop."

Fishlegs then states, "Look, if what I'm thinking is correct, then I should be able to move the Quakens without harming anyone."

Rusty considers this before replying, "Well…if it's to get rid of the vermin…fine, just don't hurt old Betsy, she's the best hammer a fella could ask for."

Putting the strange phrase out of mind, Fishlegs approaches the rock next to the Quakens and uses the hammer to gently hit the rock twice, the sound of which caused the Quakens to shake a bit as they roll away from the dam and open up to reveal their bulky dragon forms. Seeing the dragons alive, Rusty comments, "Oh, I knew I should've brought an extra pair of skippys."

Snotlout thinks to himself, "Man, this guy seriously reminds me of Gobber. Smells like him too."

With that done, Fishlegs turns around and points out, "Look!" He points to a small, spiky object nestled just in front of the dam.

"Huh? Mini boulder?" Rusty asks.

Fishlegs replies, "No, it's an egg!" Then it all occurs to Fishlegs. "That explains everything!" he has the other two humans move away so he could slip out and explain, "These Quakens must be parents to this egg and are probably protecting it! They must have also built this dam to make this area as dry as possible for the egg's development, as Quaken babies grow best with little water!"

Rusty states, "Well, I suppose that much makes sense, but how can we get them out of here?"

Fishlegs thinks about that. "Well, we're too far out from Dark Deep…Rusty, do you know of any nearby rocky or dry islands?"

Rusty taps his metal tooth again before replying, "Ah think I know just the place!"

Since Toothless still couldn't fly, Hookfang and Meatlug fly Snotlout, Fishlegs and Rusty out with the Quakens and the egg, which was safely perched in the mother Quaken's mouth, as they find another fairly large island that seemed to be as full of rocks as the Quaken's natural home, Dark Deep.

Fishlegs explains to the Quakens, "There's lots of delicious rocks to eat on, there's no natural predators, and, best of all, there's no town or village on this island for you guys to bother. What do you think?" The father Quaken takes a sniff around the island and seems to like what he smells.

Meatlug lands in front of him and scoops up a rock in her mouth that she munches on, which the father Quaken does to a similar rock, seeming to like the taste. Rusty comments, "Yes, I think this will work out nicely!"

The Quakens then take the egg and go off to start building a nest as Fishlegs states, "Well, with that done, let's bust that dam! And, Snotlout, I think this is where you come in."

Snotlout's eyes light up like a young child seeing presents on Snoggletog morning. "I get to go boom boom!"

Fishlegs nods. "You get to go boom boom!"

Snotlout pumps his fist. "Now we are TALKING!" They head back to the dam where Snotlout points out some points on the dam for the dragons to hit. The dragons hit each target with accurate precision, causing the water behind the dam to begin to drizzle out as Snotlout calls out, "INCOMMING!"

Hookfang and Meatlug fly the humans away while Toothless leaps to the side as the dam bursts open, sending a rush of water down towards Durk. On Durk, the saloon owner, Clay, was just wiping down his bar when suddenly the glasses start shaking. "What in the hell?" he steps outside and sees all the water rushing in and filling up a riverbank that flows just behind Durk, making the whole town cheer as they now have running water again. Durk tips his hat saying, "Well I'll be a donkey's behind, those boys did it!"

Flying in on the dragons that could fly, the boys and Rusty get praise from the whole town for saving them from becoming Durk jerky. Feeling very accomplished, Snotlout comments, "We really did do a good thing, didn't we?"

Rusty, who was riding on Hookfang right behind Snotlout, replies, "You sure did! Now, how's about I hold up my end of the deal?"

Within minutes, Rusty puts together a new connecting rod that he clips onto Toothless's tail device, making it functional again. With the rod clipped on and tested, Rusty comments, "Well, that should do it, boys."

Fishlegs comments, "Thank you, Rusty, we owe you big time."

Rusty holds up his hand. "Don't sweat it, it's the least I could do. Well, you boys best be on your way, and if you ever want to stop by again, we'll be happy to have ya."

Snotlout gets on Toothless's saddle and slips his left foot into the left stirrup to open up the red tail fin before replying, "Thanks again, Rusty! Now, onward!" Toothless, Hookfang and Meatlug spread their wings and begin to fly off in the direction they came.

Once airborne, Snotlout comments, "Alright, Fishface, how are we going to get back to Berk?"

Fishlegs pulls out a map and looks it over. "Hmm, well Durk isn't on any of our maps, but if we head in the direction that we came, it should, at least, give us an idea of where we are." Just then, Meatlug lets out a few grunts, making Fishlegs look up to see a ship right in front of them. "Hey, look!"

Snotlout comments, "A ship! We're saved! Let's go, Toothless!" Toothless begins to fly faster with the other dragons and Fishlegs in tow. The ship itself was pretty nondescript, no marks of paint or weapons to suggest who or which tribe/village it might belong to, and the sail had no tribe symbol on it whatsoever, also the wind seemed to have picked up quite a bit, making the ship move somewhat fast.

Fishlegs notices all of this plus something else. "That's weird, where's the crew?" he asks as he doesn't see a single person on a single wood board of the ship. "Also, we don't know whose ship this is!"

Snotlout replies, "Beggars can't be choosers, Fishface, let's head in and ask questions later." Fishlegs was quite uneasy about this, but didn't see much other option. Once on the deck, the boys hop off their dragons and have a look around to see not one person. Snotlout calls out, "Hello? HELLO? Lost dragon riders here!" not a single voice minus Snotlout's own echo.

Fishlegs comments, "Huh, where is everybody? Let's check below deck." The two dragon riders and three dragons move their way below the main deck to find even more nobodies, just a bunch of crates that seemed to just sit on the floor of the ship.

Snotlout comments, "Huh, still no people. Think this is some kind of cargo ship?"

Fishlegs replies, "Maybe, doesn't explain why there's nobody on board." Now curious, Fishlegs opens up one of the crates and inside were several small bottles of a green substance. Fishlegs picks up one of the bottles and holds it against the sunlight before realizing what it is. "Hey, Snotlout, look! This crate is full of Hideous Zippleback gas."

Snotlout opens up another crate and finds bottles of a green gel that he instantly recognizes. "And this one has Monstrous Nightmare gel."

Fishlegs thinks for a moment. "A ship full of nothing but crates of Zippleback gas and Nightmare gel, both of which are highly flammable and explosive, why would there…"

"Uh, Fishlegs? Might want to come see this." Snotlout points outside. Fishlegs pokes his head out of one of the windows and sees a ship drifting by with Berk's tribe symbol perched on the flag. "Isn't that the ship that Hiccup and the chief are on?"

Fishlegs nods. "It is, and it seems like this ship is heading right towards them. Wait…" Fishlegs put the pieces together in his mind. The fast moving ship, no crew, crates of explosive dragon substances, this could only mean one thing… "This ship is a BOMB! And it's heading right towards Hiccup and the Chief!" This gets a shocked and concerned reaction from the dragons, mostly Toothless as he now knows his favorite human is now in grave danger.

"WHAT?!" Snotlout yells out. "W-we have to warn them!"

Fishlegs replies, "Even if we get there in time, there's at least 2 dozen people on board! How can 3 dragons get them all out of there before this ship collides and blows up?!"

Snotlout thinks about that for a moment. "Uh…the wheel!" They make their way up to the Captain's Quarters where they find that the ship's wheel had been broken off, nowhere to be seen. "Oh, that's just convenient!"

Fishlegs then states, "Snotlout, you're our leader, so it's now up to you to figure out how to not only save our lives, but the lives of both our best friend and our Chief!"

Now Snotlout was deep in thought, he knew he needed to come up with something quick, something that would ensure the safety of everyone currently involved. And that's when it hits him. "Fishlegs, take Hookfang and Meatlug to warn Hiccup, if I don't make it to you in time then tell everyone to jump ship!"

Fishlegs asks, "What are you going to do?"

Snotlout replies as he begins to walk to the ladder that leads to the lower deck. "You'll just have to trust me. Come on, Toothless!" Toothless follows Snotlout down.

Not seeing much other option, Fishlegs hops on Meatlug and the two of them and Hookfang fly off towards Berk's ship.

On the ship, Hiccup was leaning against the rail facing towards the incoming ship asking, "How much longer will it be before we get there?"

Stoick, his father, comes up to him and replies, "Not much longer, just another day."

Hiccup complains. "We'd be there by now if we flew!"

Stoick replies, "Some day, Hiccup, you'll have to learn how to do things without the aid of a…dragon?" he says as he looks up to see two dragons flying in.

"I get it, I get it." Hiccup replies. However, Stoick grabs Hiccup and turns him around and points towards Fishlegs, Meatlug and Hookfang, who were coming in rather fast. "Fishlegs?" Hiccup asks. "What is he doing here?"

Meatlug lands on the ship and Fishlegs leaps off to say, "Hiccup! You guys are in danger! Grave danger!" He points to the incoming ship that Snotlout was still on. "That ship is full of crates of Nightmare gel and Zippleback gas and is heading right this way!"

Hiccup's eyes widen. "That ship is a bomb! Ok, Dad, alert the crew!" Stoick nods and does just that. Biding to his habits, Hiccup commands, "Toothless, let's…oh, that's right. Wait, Fishlegs, where's Snotlout?"

Fishlegs replies, "He's on that ship right now with Toothless, didn't tell me what he was doing though."

Hiccup looks out to the ship and comments, "Whatever it is, I hope he makes it out ok."

Inside the other ship, Snotlout had coated the walls and floor of the ship's lower deck in the green gel before claiming, "Ok, Toothless, that should do it!" He draws a line of the gel towards the ladder before leaping on Toothless and taking to the air. Once they get a good distance from the ship, Snotlout calls out, "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Toothless then fires a Plasma Blast into the ship, igniting the gel which ignited the containers of gas and additional gel, causing the whole ship to blow up right where it sat.

The explosion sent clouds of fire and smoke in every direction, and was powerful enough to create large waves that went right to Berk's ship as Hiccup yells. "HIT THE DECK!" everyone on board gets down and grabs something as the ship rocks side to side from the large waves, almost seeming like it's going to tip over at one point.

In the midst of this action, Stoick goes up to Hiccup and yells, "AND YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE BORING!"

After 30 full seconds of constant rocking, the ship stops moving so Hiccup could get up and have a look to see the other ship had burned up so much from the explosion that it collapses and sinks right to the bottom of the sea, and from the thick cloud of smoke, Snotlout and Toothless zoom through, showing they were very much alive.

Seeing his best friend is ok, Hiccup pumps his fist yelling, "YEAH, BUDDY! WHOOOO!" as the whole crew cheer on the two for saving them from receiving the burning end of that explosion.

After they settle, Snotlout and Fishlegs explain everything that happened that day to Hiccup, from being trapped on the desert island to moving the Quakens and all the way up to Snotlout pulling off that heroic moment. While scratching Toothless's chin, Hiccup comments, "But I don't get it, why bother blowing up the ship? Wouldn't it be easier to just sink it?"

Snotlout rubs the back of his head before trying to explain, "Well, you see…uh…"

Fishlegs pats Snotlout on the shoulder claiming, "I think what he's trying to say is that, if he just sunk the ship, someone could've come along and found it, along with the explosives, and use that to cause even more damage. Right, Snoltout?"

Seeing what Fishlegs was doing, Snotlout claims, "Uh…yeah! That's it! That was the whole plan!"

Hiccup exchanges a glance with Stoick before smiling and stating, "Wow, I never would've come up with that. That was some smart thinking, Snotlout. I'm proud of you. And, uh, if it ever comes up again and me, my dad or Astrid aren't available, I think I know who I can call."

Snoltout smiles wide and a single tear drops from his face. "That's…all I ever wanted to hear!"

Hiccup then adds, "Just, uh, don't let this one victory get to your-"

"YEAH!" Snotlout claims as he pumps his fists. "I did it! I made Hiccup proud! WHOOO! Snotlout, Snotlout, oi oi oi! Snotlout, Snotlout, oi oi oi!"

As Snotlout was cheering, Hiccup adds, "…head. Too late."

Stoick pats Hiccup on the shoulder. "Ah, he's had a long day, let him have this one."

Hiccup chuckles to that. "Alright, alright…" Hiccup then gets a look of concern.

Stoick asks, "What is it, son?"

Hiccup sighs. "This could not have been a coincidence. I mean, a ship full of dragon based explosives heading right towards us? Someone had to have planned that, knowing where we would be at what time."

Stoick nods. "You thinking Viggo?"

"Maybe." Hiccup replies. "But I don't think Viggo would go as far as to blow the two of us just to get to Toothless. I think there's…someone else. Someone who knows a thing to two about ocean wind patterns and how to load up a ship to be the perfect explosive…and I bet my shirt that it's someone right under our nose."

Stoick then holds Hiccup closer and tells him, "Whoever it is, they must be a real coward to try blowing someone up first before we even know who they really are."

And from a nearby sea stack, Johann, the known trader of the archipelago, grunts as he states, "…Dam Dragon Riders, always foiling my plans to destroy that Night Fury…"