Hiccup, Bloom, and Astrid are waiting at the entrance of the ring, listening to Stoick make a big speech about how Hiccup is going to become a Viking - one of them, what he's always wanted to be. How he's proud of Hiccup.
Bloom could vomit at the words, and Hiccup's looking like he's right there with her - the one thing he's always wanted, and he'll only get it by doing the one thing he can't ever do. Hiccup turns to Astrid and Bloom, saying "If anything goes wrong, don't let them find Toothless or Brightfire."
Bloom nods, and Astrid says "I promise. Just…promise me nothing's going to go wrong."
Bloom mutters "I'll make it not go wrong, Hofferson."
Gobber walks over and says "Hiccup, you're up. Knock 'em dead."
Hiccup swallows, puts his helmet on, and heads out - and Gobber shuts the gate, typical. Bloom gives the older man a glare when his back is turned, now she can't run in if there's a problem.
Hiccup takes a shield and one of the knives from the rack, and says "I'm ready."
The Monstrous Nightmare is released, and it comes out on fire and crawling around the arena - and then it focuses squarely on Hiccup. As it advances, he drops the knife and shield, making all but two people watching wonder what he's thinking - but it's when he drops his helmet and says he's not one of them that the dragon decides it can trust him. Its pupils dilate, like Toothless' usually are when he sees him, but Stoick yells for the fight to be stopped and scares the dragon back into attacking.
Bloom's shout of "No!" and the subsequent slam that is the gate getting forcefully raised startle everyone for a moment, and then she's a blur of movement that tackles the Monstrous Nightmare's head as its about to roast Hiccup. She somehow manages to get into a riding position, yelling "Nobody hurts my brother!" The dragon freaks, running around the arena and slamming its body into the walls. "Not a dragon," slam "not a Viking," slam "nobody!"
The Monstrous Nightmare heads straight for Hiccup again, so Bloom pulls up on its horns and gets it flying. The little fact that it sets itself on fire but she doesn't seem to be in any pain doesn't escape people, and some call out 'Surtur-child! Demon-girl!' and such.
Bloom's distantly aware that she should probably be feeling some pain right now, particularly in the area of her legs, but she can't feel anything other than anger and a warm tingling sensation running through her body. The dragon grabs onto the top of the cage, running around the walls, and Bloom finally yells "Onto the ground!"
To everyone else, the dragon just roars; to Bloom, the dragon says "I'll kill them all!"
"Land this instant!"
"But-"
"LAND! Land or I'll make you land!"
Stoick opens the gates, people come rushing in…and the next thing either Bloom or Hiccup know, they're in the council hall and Stoick is furious. "I should have seen it, I should have seen the signs. You two disappearing into the woods all the time, the drawings, all of it!" Hiccup tries to explain, but Stoick cuts him off, asking "So, everything in the ring, all that, it was a trick? A lie?"
"Dad, I know, it's so messed up, I should have told you before now, but-"
Bloom says "You never gave us a chance to tell you. You go on and on about dragon-killing, you'd never listen to anything else! The dragons aren't dangerous in themselves, they're wild animals-"
"Not dangerous? They've killed hundreds of us!"
Hiccup yells "And we've killed thousands of them! We're all swimming in each other's blood here, dad!"
Bloom yells "They're defending themselves, that's all! They don't bring enough food to feed their tyrant, they'll get eaten themselves! There's something else on that island of theirs, something bigger and more dangerous than any dragon anyone here has faced."
Stoick latches onto one thing, and asks "Island? You've been to their nest?"
Hiccup nervously asks "Did we say that?"
"How? How'd you find it?"
"Look, dad, only a dr-" "I can find it."
Hiccup and Stoick both look at Bloom, who's looking sick to her stomach but resolute. "How? How could you find it?"
"I can find it. You aren't listening to us though, just like you've never listened to us. You can't fight this thing, Dad. You go there, you'll die. Anyone you take there will die. It's nothing you've ever faced, I can promise you that."
Stoick looks at Bloom, then at Hiccup, and says "You two, you've thrown your lots in with them. But if you can find this island, then you'll take us to it." He grabs Bloom's wrist hard, and drags her along.
When Hiccup tries to get him to listen to them, he says they aren't his kids and they aren't Vikings. Hiccup and Bloom trade shocked looks, and then Stoick drags Bloom away and leaves Hiccup on the ground.
Hiccup can only watch as Bloom's put into a cage, which is then put into the front of the lead ship - and as Stoick apparently says something to her and then walks away angrily, leaving Bloom standing completely still for a minute. The entire village, basically, is going to fight this dragon - is going to die, trying to scratch this dragon.
Hiccup sees Bloom look up at him, and waves halfheartedly - she does the same, then seems to turn towards the forest for a minute. Hiccup gets the message loud and clear - take care of Brightfire for her.
Once the fleet is gone, Astrid comes up and says "You must feel horrible. You've lost everything. Your father, your tribe, your sister."
"Thank you for summing that up nicely, Astrid. Really."
Astrid then demands an answer as to why Hiccup didn't kill Toothless - he couldn't, he wouldn't, he looked at Toothless and saw himself. Astrid asks "So, what are you going to do now?"
"Eh, probably something stupid."
"Ok, but you've already done that."
Hiccup gets a determined look in his eyes, and says "Then something dragon-filled. That's what Bloom would do. You get the others, get them into the ring. I'll get Toothless and Brightfire."
Astrid nods, and twenty minutes later she's got three confused boys and one confused girl in the ring.
Snotlout asks "Astrid, what's this about? Because, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm pretty sure Bloom was glowing orange before, though it may have been the flames that should have hurt her."
"It's about that. Hiccup should be here soon. With some help. We're going to save them."
Fishlegs asks "What? Who's he going to for- FURIES!"
Everybody but Astrid gets down, as Toothless and Brightfire blow holes in the cage around the arena. And Brightfire looks damn well furious, like she could blast all of Berk apart if that's what it took to find Bloom.
Hiccup gets off Toothless, saying "Guys, meet Toothless and Brightfire. Toothless is my dragon, Brightfire is Bloom's. And you all are getting your own."
Bloom's been standing silently in the cage, ever since Stoick said 'lead us home, devil' to her as they were leaving the docks.
"Which way?"
She doesn't even look when Stoick's angry, tight voice asks the question. She quietly says "You're asking me to lead you all to your deaths. But fine, if that's your final wish. There's a maze of rocks in the fog. Likely the missing ships as well." She can hear the same faint buzzing in her skull as before, growing stronger with every moment they're getting closer.
Hiccup leads the Monstrous Nightmare out of its cage, keeping it calm easily enough while Snotlout is acting all afraid while the skinny kid is perfectly calm in front of a dragon that nearly killed him - what a story to tell Bloom when they get her back, because they will get her back.
And the others bond with their dragons easily enough to, Astrid having the least trouble with the Deadly Nadder she picked to ride. The twins picked the Hideous Zippelback, and Fishlegs is on the Gronckle - what he figured, anyway.
Bloom watches in utter horror as the Vikings breach the rock wall of the mountain - dragons come flying out at top speeds, completely ignoring the Vikings trying to attack them in favor of escaping - because she can feel the control this thing has over them, and it hurts. It's actually giving her a headache - and it's mad.
About five dragons land on the ship, and she yells "No, go! Fly, get away! Save yourselves, I'm not worth your lives!" She suddenly sees the giant dragon break free from the mountain and screams "GO!"
Stoick and Gobber watch as about five dragons land around the cage Bloom is in, and then Stoick realizes the danger of that - his daughter is in a cage, defenseless, and she's surrounded by dragons that could kill her in an instant. What have I done?
They suddenly take off though, leaving Bloom looking around frantically, just as a huge monster of a dragon breaks free from the mountain. "She tried to warn us. What a fool I am."
Maybe a minute later, he sees yet another incredible sight - a group of dragons flying in formation, with…people on their backs.
AN: Hey, happy Easter everyone! Hope you all enjoy the holiday! I know I'm going to have a blast. Wondering just how Bloom will take having to share dragons with not just her brother but her entire tribe? Or how Stoick will get out of the hole he dug himself by disowning Hiccup and Bloom? Will he get out at all? Will Bloom decide she's fed up with Berk and the way they treat Hiccup, dragons, and now her? Read on and find out!
PS, got into Guild Wars 2, got a bunch of ideas for stories, those are turning into stories of my characters. You have been warned, I may spontaneously post a new story on a random whim - possibly as a celebration for surviving this semester of college, which has been rough for me.
PPS, getting Lasiks over the summer, as my eyesight is really bad. Will warn you all of the date, but please be patient about updates while my eyes heal. Also, taking summer courses - online, thankfully, those are pretty easy - so between those and chores I may be tight on updates for a short time. Sorry, but it is what it is.
Review if you've got suggestions! Enjoy! Also, recently found AO3, anybody know how to get on that site as well? Or how to get any images I can use for my stories? I can't draw to save my life, unfortunately, and I don't know if Google images are alright to use or not so I'm stuck here.