Hiccup and Stoick are standing in front of a wall in the Great Hall, as Bucket paints a picture of them on a shield to hang on the wall - it goes up tomorrow.
Hiccup asks if Bucket really is a painter, as the guy lost half his brain in a dragon attack - hence the bucket he forever wears to protect his head.
Stoick nods, and says "Oh, yes. When he lost half his brain, he became an artist."
Hiccup isn't very reassured by the fact that Bucket blows a glob of paint from his palm onto the shield.
Later, Hiccup and the others are walking past the other shields and Fishlegs is naming them off. When they get to Hamish the first and his son, Snotlout does a nasally impression and orders them to kiss his boot. Ruffnut goes to do so, and Tuffnut gets into position to make him fall over behind him - it goes perfectly, Ruffnut pushing him suddenly and knocking him into the wall.
The shield depicting the Hamishes falls onto Snotlout, and a piece of paper with poetry written on it falls from the back of the shield. Gobber immediately takes it away, saying it's a map leading to a treasure Hamish the Second buried with his father - the clues are poems, and so complicated only a truly brilliant mind could crack them. And the search has killed and driven mad many brave Vikings - Gobber and Stoick tried, and barely came out with their lives and friendship.
Snotlout and the Twins don't look like they're dropping the subject when Gobber walks away, having plotting looks on their faces instead.
The next day, the portrait of Hiccup and Stoick is unveiled…and it looks nothing like Hiccup. The boy that's supposed to be Hiccup has big beefy arms and a muscular chest, flexing one arm while Stoick looks down at him.
Hiccup's horrified, and feeling a little betrayed - that's who Stoick wants him to be. The version of his son that he accepts, not the son he actually has.
He and Astrid leave, Hiccup literally walking into Bloom. "Hiccup! What's…what's wrong?" "Go see for yourself, Bloom. Go see who Dad wanted as a son."
Bloom's breath catches in her throat as Hiccup miserably pushes past her, and Astrid says "I'll keep him company. And let you know if he decides to go live in the forest."
Bloom makes her way through the crowd of people, hearing congratulations being said hundreds of times - right along with 'there's the son of a chief, if I ever saw one!' Bloom's blood starts boiling, and she sees the torches in the room start flickering and flaming wildly.
Calm, you need to stay calm. Getting angry will only- WHAT IN ODIN'S BEARD DID THEY DO, WHY DID THEY PAINT HICCUP LIKE THIS?!
Bloom instantly feels every bit of calm leave her body, and she tries to maintain an even tone of voice when she asks "Dad, who painted the picture?"
"Bucket, why, Bloom?"
"And, uh, don't you think he got something a little, oh, I don't know, off?" Gobber grimaces and backs away, taking five large steps away from the fire-haired teen.
"Uh, what exactly are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about how he painted Hiccup five times his actual size! And about how you have basically told him all his life that he wasn't good enough! To be a Viking, to be outside, to be your son. And now, you basically sum it all up by having him immortalized as a kid with Snotlout's build and a look like he's every bit as self-centered! Do you have any idea what that's telling him?!" She storms out before he can answer, making her way through the crowd that's rapidly parting before her.
When she gets outside though, the others are nowhere to be seen - but Gobber's window is open.
Twenty minutes later, Bloom's still found no sign of them - but she does hear Gobber saying that the map they found under the Hamish shield is missing. She runs up and asks "What?"
"Oh, it's the map from under the shield. A dangerous search for Hamish the Second's treasure. Chances are, the Twins took it and went with Snotlout."
"The paper that had poetry? List off the clues. Chances are, if nobody in history has found it, then Hiccup's trying to find it."
Stoick, Gobber, Brightfire, and Bloom are at the beach, and Gobber says the others were there about an hour ago - and they made more progress in an afternoon than the two of them did together in a month.
Bloom asks "What's the clue after the beach?"
"Something about water turning to bone. That's the part that really stuck with me, as water doesn't turn to bone. Threw us for a loop, but I wanted to check the glacier."
Bloom hops onto Brightfire and speeds off when a huge chunk of the glacier falls to the ocean - yelling how this is all Stoick and his stupid shield's fault.
Stoick asks "What's that about? The shield? Why would Hiccup…oh. By Odin's Beard…"
Gobber nods, and says "He's trying to prove himself, Stoick."
"Bloom's not!"
"She never has, Stoick. If you listened to the girl growing up, she never had any inclinations to fight or kill dragons. Not a one. It was only ever about Hiccup with her. Never wanted to prove anything to anyone, 'cept how much she loves her brother. And half the village usually had the bruises to prove that."
Hiccup and the others are atop their dragons, and Hiccup's reading off the next clue - its main thing is a serpent's mouth.
Suddenly, they hear Brightfire's roar and see the Light Fury speed over - Bloom's onto them. She lands and dismounts before anyone can react, and marches over to Toothless' side with a furious look on her face.
"Bloom, look, I know we didn't tell you about going to search for the treasure, but- ow, ow, ow! Ok, I give! Let go! Please! Uncle, uncle! Odin's Beard, please let go!"
She yanked him down in a headlock, and is now yelling "Never go off on something so stupidly dangerous without me ever again, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third! Never again! If you do, I swear I'm hiding Toothless' saddle and making you ride with me!"
"Ok, I promise! Next time, we'll tell you we're looking for treasure! Please, let go of my head now!"
She does, glaring up at him before yanking him back down a second time - this time, to crush him hard in a hug. "I thought you were in there…"
That'd be why she was so furious. She thought we were dead. He doesn't mention the fact that he can't breathe right at the moment, saying "We got out. Our dragons, remember? It's okay, sis. We're all fine. Please stop crushing me to death…"
She finally lets go, and asks "What's the next clue?"
Astrid asks "Seriously? You're not going to insist we go back?"
"No, I am going to insist I go with though. By the way, why exactly didn't anybody fill me in before now?"
Fishlegs says "Her help would've been real good before. You know, with the whole Magni vs. Freya thing?"
Bloom raises an eyebrow at that, and Astrid says "Snotlout nearly got himself killed by trying to break the ice to get part of a key to the treasure. Freya, goddess of fire…"
"Right. Clue, please."
Hiccup looks at the page, then sees a rock in the distance - in the shape of a serpent rising from the sea. "We need to go there. There's another part of the key in the 'mouth' of that formation. Toothless?"
Fishlegs says "Hiccup, Toothless has a wingspan of forty-eight feet! You can't seriously expect him to be able to hold you steady in those winds!"
Bloom says "I'll get it. My wingspan is maybe two feet. Or did anybody forget about that as well?"
She takes off, and Hiccup says "Oh, this isn't the last we'll hear about this."
Astrid says "Did you expect anything else?"
"Nope. And I wouldn't ask for anything else either."
Bloom comes back ten minutes later with her hair wildly messed-up and another weird puzzle-fragment in hand.
Astrid gives her a hi-five, and Snotlout clambers down from Hookfang, saying "You know, Bloom. If you hold still, I'll fix that hair of yours. Maybe even - OW!" She grabbed the hand that was reaching for her, twisted it so he ended up on his back, and then slammed it into his face.
Astrid annoyedly asks "When are you ever going to learn to give it up, Snotlout?!"
"Sorry, I don't learn. And I don't give up so easy."
They get to the wall, and Bloom immediately guesses about the stars - and stops Snotlout just before he can pull one out. "It says 'in sync' Snotlout - there's multiple stars."
Astrid points to a second, and Hiccup has Barf and Belch pull them out - being the same dragon, they usually do things in sync. The wall somebody built in the middle of the forest opens, and everyone goes inside - only for it to close on them.
Bloom mutters "Yeah, search for treasure that's killed dozens of people before. Great idea, guys."
She lights a fireball in her hands, and Astrid says "Too late to back out now. Unfortunately."
Fishlegs asks "Is it getting hot in here, guys? Because I really think it's getting hot in here."
At everyone's questioning looks, Bloom defensively says "Hey, do not look at me."
When they get to a chamber with six pedestals with identical objects on them, Bloom says "Guys, I know why it's so hot in here. Fireworm dragons! They burn hot as the sun - Tuffnut, don't touch it! 'Hot as the sun' is very, very hot!"
Hiccup reads off the next clue, which says 'something pure, something strong, look to yourself first and you won't go wrong.' Bloom says "It's a choice! We have to pick one of the pieces. And if we pick the right one, something happens. Like, maybe, a way out opening!"
Fishlegs says the iron one, as that's strong - but Astrid points out the detail about iron not being pure and suggests the gold.
Bloom's keeping the Fireworms away with Brightfire and Toothless, while all the others are at the edge of the room. Hiccup picks up the piece that's been polished to a shine - steel, he realizes - and nothing happens for a moment.
And then, the floor falls out from under them!
The next thing he knows, he, Bloom, Toothless, and Brightfire are suspended in the inside of a glowing orange bubble - which is falling to the ground fast! They don't even feel a thing though when it hits the ground, but they feel the ground when Bloom lets go of the bubble and they all suddenly drop the foot down hard.
"Ah, jeez, Hiccup. You think you got the right one?"
"Yeah…I think I did! Because, I think we're about to find the treasure!"
Bloom makes another fireball in her hands, and Hiccup sees a spot on the floor - a spot that could be filled by the three pieces of the key! He fits them together, inserts them into the spot, and turns them - a door opens. Bloom says "Hiccup, you're a genius."
"So are you, you know."
"I just know things about dragons, Hiccup. And know that your too important to me to lose."
They get inside, and find that there is, in fact, a lot of gold lying around along with nine statues made of pure gold. Bloom whistles, then says "Somehow, I didn't think there was actually a treasure. What's with the paper?"
Hiccup pulls the rolled up paper out of the stone ring, and reads "This treasure was passed from father to son. I leave it to you, the next worthy one, for only a hiccup could get this far. From one to another, be proud of who you are." He unrolls it to find…Hamish the Second was a hiccup.
Bloom breathes out "This is amazing…"
"I guess being a hiccup isn't all that bad after all."
Bloom suddenly starts laughing, and says "No wonder so many 'big, strong Vikings' couldn't figure it out - he meant for only another like him to!"
Hiccup starts laughing to, right up until the stone circle the paper was in slides back into the floor. "Oh, that can't be good." Hiccup looks at the floor and sees another riddle. "In between the body and mind, a choice must be made on what you find. At this moment you must look to yourself, as only one path will give you true wealth."
Two more pedestals suddenly come up from the floor, one with a hammer and the other with a quill. Hiccup chooses the quill, and Brightfire and Toothless lock their wings around their riders to protect them from the dirt.
Up top, everyone's desperately trying to dig their way back into the cliff when the hill suddenly collapses, and they look over to see Brightfire and Toothless in the same position the two of them plus Stormfly were in for the avalanche.
Stoick runs over and grabs the both of them in a bone-crushing hug, and then Hiccup shows them the 'treasure' - the picture of the real Hamish the second. Bloom says "Dad, I'm painting the next shield."
They all laugh, and then Stoick agrees - and the next picture has Hiccup as he really is, holding a scroll with Stoick looking proudly at him.
AN: Hey, everyone! Sorry I'm so late on the update - school started this week, so you know how it goes. Crazy, crazy, crazy, trying to make sure everything's done. On the off-chance this chapter looks different, there was a Windows update. It switched Edge over to a new format - and it changed the spacing a bit, from what I can see.
Anyway, I hope you all like this one! Hope you all liked Bloom's displays of her temper where Hiccup's involved.
Enjoy! More updates coming soon! Please review!