AN: Hey, everyone. Wow, its been a REALLY long time since I updated this story. Sorry! I got caught up in schoolwork, and my other story, and just...wow. I know, horrible excuse, but that's how it went. I haven't abandoned this story - I'd put it up for adoption if I did, I swear - but it just sorta went to the wayside for the time being. At any rate, I'm done with school for winter break! Anyway, enjoy! reviews are appreciated!
Hiccup's falling through the air, but its not a suicide attempt - it's a trust-exercise. He trusts Toothless enough that he's not panicking about the rapidly approaching water - sure enough, the Night Fury catches him.
Fishlegs, for one, refuses to let himself fall off Meatlug - he's going to stick to land-based trust, thank you very much.
Snotlout proves he's an idiot when he just falls off Hookfang without giving his dragon any warning of what he's doing - and if it weren't for Bloom's in-the-nick-of-time intervention of using her powers to keep them from crashing through Mildew's house, they would've gone straight through the roof.
And that night…its Boot night. The weekly night where everyone's boots are left outside to air out.
When everyone wakes up to get their boots the next morning, though…they're all missing. Some shallow Zippelback tracks lead to the arena, but Hiccup and Bloom point out the fact that the presence of dragon tracks in a town where dragons now live doesn't prove anything other than the fact that one walked through the town at some point during the night.
Mildew suggests they follow the tracks, which leads to Barf, Belch…and a massive pile of torn-up boots. Everybody's outraged, until Gobber reminds them that everything is cold and they'll get their boots good as new.
Bloom says "Here's a question though, people. Why, for Odin's sake, would a dragon with a sense of smell a lot better than ours, take everybody's stinky boots? You all know they smell, that's why we have Boot night in the first place! So, anybody care to explain? Or how Barf and Belch got underneath all the boots? Or why the tracks were so shallow, coming from a being that's a few hundred pounds easily and couldn't make a shallow print if it tried? Or, even how the boots are still recognizable as boots?"
Nobody comes up with a viable theory, and Mildew says "Your just trying to distract us! The dragon took the boots! Tore them up!"
Bloom rolls her eyes, and says "Or, it was a town prankster who got the better of everyone last night."
"A prankster wouldn't tear them all up!"
Bloom's patience suddenly snaps like a twig, and she says "Or, somebody's got something against dragons and wanted to frame them."
Mildew backs up a step, and asks "Are you accusing me of-"
"No, Mildew. Just a theory. And right now, it seems like the best one here - since, a, dragons don't have hands and would have to pick up all the smelly boots in their mouths, and b, they don't have any reason to take the boots in the first place."
Mildew gets a furious look, his face turning bright red, and storms out.
Bloom says "Alright, I'll stay with the dragons tonight. In here, no less. That way, we'll know none of them will sneak out or get into trouble." She pulls Hiccup closer, and whispers into his ear "Keep an eye on Mildew. I had a bizarre dream last night, him wearing some freaky shoes and pinching his nose." Hiccup looks at her strangely, but she just shrugs and says "I don't know, but it was really, really vivid. Like I wasn't dreaming at all. Only problem is, I woke up shortly after in bed and couldn't go back to sleep, so Brightfire and I went for a late-night flight."
That night, all the others go out around the village while Bloom stays with their dragons in the arena - not jail, not exactly, but more of an alibi. None of them were very happy about the fact, but Bloom brought a massive fishing net of fish to bribe them into staying put with.
Yet, somehow, the Great Hall gets destroyed. Scratched and torn up, despite the fact that every dragon was accounted for - they were with Bloom, sleeping while she was in the arena with them.
It looks like a Monstrous Nightmare tore up the hall, but Hookfang was sleeping the whole time - curled up, occasionally flaming up when his dreams turned wild.
Hiccup says "Dad, this shouldn't be possible! The dragons were sleeping in the arena with Bloom! There's literally no way Hookfang could've done this!"
Bloom says "Besides, anybody noticing the lack of scorch marks? You know, the ones that happen when a Monstrous Nightmare gets angry and its body bursts into flames? Including its claws? If a Monstrous Nightmare had done this, the place would've burnt to the ground. And the food? It's all still here! What kind of wild animal, acting on instinct, would tear a place up but leave every piece of food behind? And, uh, how could a Monstrous Nightmare actually fit through the doorway without breaking it?"
Mildew's face turns purple this time around, as people start talking amongst themselves and agreeing with her points.
Bloom watches suspiciously as the old man leaves, and whispers to Hiccup "I'll be back, Hiccup. There's something I need to check. Be back later." She heads out the door, calling "Going flying with Brightfire! She can't get into any trouble like that, now can she?" and hops on.
They take off, going faster than anybody can track.
Mildew shakes his head and says "Soon, that's going to be a thing of the past…"
Bloom has Brightfire head up into the clouds, and then says "Mildew's house. Now."
"I agree, Bloom. He's up to something, I could smell him all over those boots."
"I'm sorry you smelled them at all, Brightfire. Let's go!"
They fly to Mildew's house faster than ever before, and Bloom runs inside. "Good thing that moldy old wart always has that sheep with him. Fungus, that's what they should both be called."
She starts looking around, not even going near the pot over the fire…and finds a pair of boots modeled after a Zippelback's foot and a staff with a claw like a Monstrous Nightmare's claws at the top. "This is it. Brightfire, remember how you told me I can make things disappear and reappear? How I can store them until I need them?"
"Yes, Bloom."
"We need to do that. And I need to figure out how you know all this stuff I can do." She focuses, trying to imagine a little pocket space that only she can access - the boots and staff disappear, and Bloom starts chuckling quietly. "See how long the dragons will be banished now, Mildew."
"He's coming!"
"Let's go, Brightfire!"
They take off, and maybe ten seconds later, Mildew comes up the path towards his house - laughing in a sinister tone of voice. "Toothless blamed for the Armory fire, I can't wait to see those filthy dragons gone."
Bloom feels every drop of blood drain from her face, and says "Brightfire, back to the village! Through the clouds though!"
They take off, but aren't in time to stop the dragons from being banished to dragon island.
Bloom desperately tries to get the Zippelback boots and clawed staff from wherever she sent them, but can't - she's either too desperate, too angry, or she just needs practice doing it. Either way, she fails Brightfire when her dragon needs her the most - that's what she sees it as, anyway.
On the flight to Dragon Island, Bloom calls "Hiccup! It wasn't them! It wasn't the dragons! Any of it!"
"Then…who was it?"
"Mildew! That stinking son of a traitor framed our dragons!"
Hiccup looks shocked, then angry, and says "I hope you can prove it, Bloom."
"If I could get the boots and staff he used to frame them back from wherever it is I sent them!" She looks dangerously close to crying, making Hiccup burn with fury at Mildew - she's only ever cried once, once that he knows of anyway.
"You…you have the stuff he used?"
"Yeah, somewhere! I had to get it out of there before he came back! Believe me though, it had his stink all over it! The boots and the staff! If I can get them back, we can get our dragons back from all this. And then, I'm going to drag Mildew out to the forest and feed him to Shift! That traitorous, stinking, grouchy old man!"
Hiccup swallows nervously, watching as Bloom starts glowing orange in her fury and her hair starts lifting up over her head. "Hey, Bloom, I'm upset to. But we have to get back to Berk in order to prove Mildew framed the dragons. And then we can deal with him."
Bloom slams her fist into her open hand, making it perfectly clear that she will personally, and painfully, deal with Mildew's framing of her best friend on the whole island.