My Version of Riders of Berk
A/N: FINALLY! Here it is, folks! Chapter 6 of "My Version of Riders of Berk"! So let's just get on with it because I'm pretty sure a lot of you have been waiting too long.
Here we go! Roll it!
Chapter 6
Alvin and the Outcasts
Continuing from the previous episode, all the dragons were still on Dragon Island. Meatlug and Stormfly were mostly passing the time moping around, missing their Riders.
There's an old Viking saying: "When your friends are roasting on the spit, it's you who feels the fire."
Hookfang was fighting with Barf and Belch, his body on fire. But the Trio's dragons, who were watching the exchange turning violent, roared loudly and the fight broke up.
Toothless then went over to where he put his saddle and nudged it sadly, still smelling Hiccup's faint scent on it. Fossil and Violet crooned softly at him, giving him some reassurance. Then they watched the Night Fury head up a cliff to look out towards the dreary horizon.
Mildew made the entire village believe that dragons are too wild, that we can't live together in peace. He's wrong, and I'm going to prove it.
Meanwhile, on the isle of Berk, the Dragon Riders were scouring the beach for any trace of the tools that Mildew used to frame the dragons, which were discovered by Hiccup and Ragnar. Hiccup was looking up at the sky, missing the feeling of being up there. Ragnar went over to his foster brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. Hiccup softly smiled at him.
Their brotherly moment was then interrupted by a loud groan from Snotlout. "We've been here for hours and we haven't found anything!" He complained.
"We've been here for ten minutes!" Hiccup corrected him. "And you've done nothing but build that!" He gestured to the small structure built from sticks and rocks.
"That is Snotlout Manor." Snotlout said, and then he turned to Astrid. "And all I need now is a queen." Astrid groaned in disgust.
Suddenly, Tuffnut playfully roared and began destroying the stick structure, stomping all over it. "What are you doing?" Snotlout asked, horrified.
"Storming the castle." Tuffnut replied.
"Down with the monarchy." Ragnar added with a smug smile.
"Come on, guys!" Hiccup said firmly. "I'm telling you, Mildew framed our dragons! Rag and I saw those dragon feet in Mildew's house and watched him throw them into the ocean."
"Um, I don't mean to be Norbert the Negative, but the ocean is very, very vast." Fishlegs pointed out, gesturing out to the sea. "And our chances of finding those dragon feet are about as good as Snotlout and Astrid- "
"Don't go there." Astrid threatened him to finish that sentence.
"Going nowhere." Fishlegs squeaked nervously. The idea was frightening and disgusting enough.
Astrid then came up to Hiccup. "Look, Fishlegs is right. Even if Mildew did throw them into the ocean, they're not just gonna wash up on shore here."
"I found it!" Snotlout called out, jumping up.
"Great!" Hiccup exclaimed and shot Astrid a grin. "You were saying?" But then, he saw Snotlout pick up an old bludgeon.
"I haven't seen this since I was a baby!" Snotlout said, smiling fondly. He hit his helmet with the bludgeon, and then hugged it. "You never forget your first bludgeon."
Ragnar slapped his forehead while Hiccup just sighed. He then turned back to the others. "Just keep looking."
Meanwhile, Gobber was fixing all of the weapons that were destroyed in the armory fire. Stoick was watching him as he finished an axe. "One down, 345 to go." Gobber said.
Stoick groaned. "Can't you do that any faster?" He asked. "Until you restock all of our weapons, we're completely defenseless."
"Maybe you should have thought of that before sending the dragons away." Gobber said as he started to sharpen the axe.
"You know I had no choice." Stoick said. "They destroyed the armory."
Gobber then decided to change the subject, slightly. "This would be a bad time to get attacked."
"I know, Gobber." Stoick said.
"Not that there's ever a good time, but this would be particularly bad." Gobber added.
"I know, Gobber." Stoick sighed, getting annoyed by what he was insinuating.
"Especially by Alvin the Treacherous, our oldest and most feared enemy, who will kill us all and take Berk for his own." Gobber continued.
"I got it, Gobber!" Stoick exclaimed annoyedly. Then he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Speaking of Alvin, how's Ragnar doing?"
"He's fine." Gobber said. "Hiccup managed to convince him to join him and the other kids for a walk on the beach. For the past couple of days, all those boys did was watch over Cosette."
"How is she?" Stoick asked.
"She's okay." Gobber assured him. "Gothi said that she just needs a little more rest, then she'll be as good as new. Then she'll explain what happened in the armory that night." Gobber then paused in sharpening the axe and sighed. "You know you need to tell Ragnar what happened all those years ago."
"No." Stoick said quickly. "I love that boy as if he were my own."
"I know." Gobber said. "But he's bound to find out sooner or later. It will be better if he heard it from you."
Stoick sighed slowly as chilling memories once buried deep within his mind began to resurface after so long. A baby screaming and crying, a woman weeping just as hard, the blood on the sand, a dagger bearing the murderer's crest stitched in the handle; it all came back.
"All right." The Chief finally conceded. "I'll tell him soon; the truth about what happened that night. I just hope he doesn't want to do what I wished I could've done all those years ago."
Meanwhile, a bit due north of Berk, was another island. Unlike Berk, there were still dragon attacks happening around, and the environment was cold, rocky and bitter, like the people who lived there. This island was called Outcast Island, and the leader of the tribe was none other than Alvin the Treacherous.
Alvin glared at the dragons flying above the island, streaming fire down to the cold stony ground. He was about the same size and build as Stoick, but he had wild brown hair with a matching bushy beard. He had a few scars on his face, his eyes fueled with fire. He wore a dirty tunic with a silver chest plate, brown boots and a helmet with long curved horns.
"Alvin!" An Outcast soldier called out to him. "They're coming back!"
Alvin narrowed his eyes murderously at the attacking dragons. He then went over to an upturned catapult.
"Out of me way!" He shouted while pushing a nearby Outcast away, his voice heavy with an accent like a pirate. "You can't find good marauders anywhere these days." He muttered to himself. Alvin then used his strength to get the catapult standing up again, then used it to fire at a Deadly Nadder.
"Alvin, there are too many!" His right-hand man, Savage said. "We need to retreat."
Alvin gave one last hateful glare up to the dragons, and then reluctantly went inside their Great Hall. Everyone was safely inside just as a Monstrous Nightmare blasted the heavy iron door.
"Oh, I've had it with these dragons!" Alvin exclaimed, coming over to the center of the hall. "Is the ship ready?" He asked.
"We still have a little more work to do." Savage answered him.
"That's not my problem, is it?" Alvin asked rhetorically, glaring at Savage, who shrunk back a bit. He then turned over to a map on the stone table in front of him. "We sail for Berk immediately. We'll land here, under the cover of night." He said, pointing to a spot on the map.
"Why aren't we taking the whole army?" Savage asked.
"We're not there to fight Stoick." Alvin said. "We're there for one man: The Dragon Conqueror."
Savage smirked. "Oh, and you'll have him. We hear he's ten feet tall with the strength of a dozen men."
Alvin chuckled darkly. "Well then, he shouldn't be too hard to find, huh?"
Back on Berk, the "Dragon Conqueror" was once again trying to get his father to listen to him and Ragnar. "I'm telling you!" Hiccup said. "Rag and I saw a pair of Zippleback feet in Mildew's house! He must have used them to make the footprints of the dragon that supposedly stole the boots."
"There was also a Monstrous Nightmare claw there." Ragnar added. "He could've used that to tear apart the Great Hall."
"Well then, let's have a look at them." Stoick said.
Hiccup scratched the back of his head while Ragnar rubbed his forearm. "Yeah, um, there's a little problem there." The Haddock boy admitted. "We also saw him throw them into the ocean."
"And we still haven't found them yet." Ragnar added quietly.
"I know you're upset about the dragons, boys." Stoick said. "But you're going to need evidence to accuse a man of high treason."
His sons, both by blood and by foster relation, gave him disappointed looks and just left the house without a word. Stoick tried to stop Ragnar, but he was right on Hiccup's heels, silently saying that he was not in the mood for talking anymore.
Later, as the sun was setting, Hiccup and Ragnar were walking along a cliffside with Astrid. "Astrid, we'll prove Mildew did it." Hiccup said to the Hofferson girl. "We have to if we ever want to see our dragons again."
"But it's easier said than done without evidence." Ragnar piped in.
"I just hope the dragons are okay." Astrid said, worried about them.
"There's still a chance, though." Ragnar added. "Cosette was the only witness of the armory fire, so once she wakes up, we'll get our answers."
Suddenly, Astrid saw something near the far sea stacks. When she walked over to the edge to get a better look, she saw that it was a ship, but she couldn't see the sail. "Why would one of our ships be anchoring there?" She asked the guys, pointing to the ship.
Hiccup and Ragnar came over and they both pulled out spyglasses to get a better look. Once the ship was focused in their vision, they saw the crest on the sail.
"It's not one of our ships." Hiccup said as he and Ragnar removed their spyglasses. "We've got to tell Dad. Come on."
He and Astrid turned to head back into town but stopped when they saw that Ragnar didn't move from his spot. Hiccup came back over to him.
"Hey, Rag." He said. "Are you okay?" Hiccup then noticed that a weird look was glazed into his brother's eyes.
Ragnar then snapped out of his daze when he felt Hiccup shaking his shoulder. "Yeah. I'm okay." He said. "It's just that… I think I have seen that crest somewhere before."
Hiccup let that sink in for a few brief seconds, then shook it off. "We'll worry about that later, brother." He said, pulling his foster brother away from the cliff and they both joined Astrid in entering the village.
When the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, and the moon was climbing up into the sky, the Outcast ship had landed on a secluded beach. Once the ship came onto the sand, Alvin jumped off the boat and landed on the gritty shore. Everyone else onboard followed suit.
"Ah, it feels good to be back on the shores of Berk." Alvin said smirking.
"Good for you." Savage added with a sinister grin. "Not so good for them!"
"Let's find this Dragon Conqueror!" Alvin proclaimed. The Outcasts then followed their chief as they headed towards the village.
Minutes later, in town, everyone was gathered in the Great Hall, after Stoick called them all together once he heard the news from Astrid and his sons. "Calm down!" He said to the worrying crowd of Vikings. "This is no time to panic. That's what the Outcasts are counting on!"
"Stoick!" A Viking man came up to him.
"Sven, did you get a count?" Stoick asked him.
"I saw thirty men at least, all armed to the teeth." Sven reported.
"Without any weapons, we'll never be able to fight them head-on." Gobber said.
"No weapons! And Outcasts on our shores!" Mildew fretted. Then he pointed to Hiccup and Ragnar with his staff, who were standing away from everyone else. "All thanks to your boys and their dragons!"
Hiccup looked down at the floor, feeling a little hurt. Ragnar just placed his hand on his foster brother's shoulder and then glared fiercely at Mildew.
"Still think you have the village in the palm of your hand, old coot?" A familiar voice called out. Everyone turned towards the direction it came from and saw Cosette entering the Great Hall, hobbling slightly as she tried to maintain her balance to keep herself from getting a dizzy spell.
"Cosette!" Both Ragnar and Hiccup rushed over to their friend, and the three of them shared a group hug.
"You're awake." Ragnar said, feeling more relieved than he had ever felt before.
"I don't go down easy, tough guy." Cosette assured him.
Hiccup was the first to break the hug. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"A little shaky still." Cosette said. "But nothing I can't handle. I'll say this though: I get knocked out for a couple of days, and then I wake up to see that innocent dragons were banished from the island."
"That's what we have been trying to tell them." Ragnar said, secretly happy that someone else besides Hiccup and himself believed that. "So what really happened that night?"
"Toothless and I heard something while we were waiting for you two that night." Cosette began explaining. "It came from the armory, so we went to investigate. I thought someone was inside because something had gone out the window when we came in. Then, I saw some lit embers nearing the powder barrels. I tried to leave, but they exploded. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in Gothi's hut."
"So the dragons were framed." Hiccup said. "Your witness was the one thing that we needed to confirm our suspicions."
"Unfortunately, we don't have time for this right now." Stoick said. He then turned to Mulch and Bucket. "Mulch! You and Bucket gather up the elders and the children." He ordered the two farmers. "Get them to Thor's Beach. They'll be safe in the caves there."
Astrid came up to Stoick, Snotlout following her. "We can help fight." She said, wanting to help defend Berk. "We've been trained as warriors."
"She may have been trained, but I was born a warrior." Snotlout boasted.
"Here. Take this." Stoick said as he handed Astrid an old but sharp axe, much to Snotlout's dismay. "It was Alvin's. But go with the others. You can protect them." Astrid nodded and then she and Snotlout left with the group that Mulch and Bucket were leading to the beach.
"Let us go and get the dragons, Dad." Hiccup asked his father. "If we have them, we can defend ourselves."
Stoick sighed. "Go." He complied. "But be careful. You don't know what Alvin is capable of."
The Misfit Trio nodded, and then left the Great Hall. Stoick then turned back to Gobber and two other Vikings.
"The rest of us, we'll head into the woods." He said as they began leaving. "No one knows that forest like we do."
"And when Alvin comes looking for us, he'll walk right into our trap." Gobber added.
Unknown to everyone, Fishlegs wasn't in the Great Hall the entire time. Instead, he was out on a ledge, looking up at the moon and lamenting about the loss of his dragon.
"Oh, Meatlug." He sighed. "I miss you. The moon is full, my heart is empty." He paused to think, unaware that there was a figure coming up behind him. "What rhymes with 'empty'?" He wondered aloud.
"Don't waste your time." A voice growled. Fishlegs froze in fear. "Nothing rhymes with 'empty'."
Slowly, the frightened Ingermen boy turned around and saw Alvin the Treacherous. The Outcast Chief grabbed him by the front of his tunic. "Who's the Dragon Conqueror?" He demanded.
Fishlegs was hyperventilating now, so he did the only thing he could think of at that moment. He let out an ear-piercing scream. Wincing at the shrill sound, Alvin threw the Ingermen boy off the cliff and into the ocean.
Back in town, the Misfit Trio were heading towards the docks. "If we leave now, we should be at Dragon Island by dawn." Ragnar said.
"And with our dragons, we'll be back in a few minutes; three at top speed." Cosette added.
"Good." Hiccup said.
Suddenly, they spotted two Outcast soldiers that were getting off a boat that was docked beside an empty Berkian ship. "Well, that puts a dent in our plan." Ragnar muttered.
"Head on back." Cosette suggested.
The Trio started back into town, but they quickly stopped when they saw more Outcasts searching throughout the village. It seemed like they were about to get spotted when Ragnar caught glimpse of a suitable hiding place.
He silently got his friends' attention and pointed to a large cart, or rather, under it. All three of them slid under the cart and laid on their stomachs until the Outcasts left the area.
A heavy breathing sound made their blood run cold. As they slowly turned around to see, they were surprised to see Fishlegs hiding under the cart as well, and the sudden sight of him made the Trio jump slightly.
"Ah! Fishlegs!" Hiccup quietly exclaimed.
"What in the name of Thor are you doing here?" Cosette hissed.
Fishlegs gulped nervously. "Alvin's looking for you." He said, pointing to Hiccup. "He's looking for the Dragon Conqueror." The Trio's eyes widened as they processed this new information.
Ragnar turned to his foster brother. "Is that what people are calling you outside of Berk now?" He asked. Cosette gave him a hard elbow jab to his bicep, making him quietly cry out in pain.
Hiccup however, answered Ragnar's question. "Apparently." He said.
Meanwhile, Alvin and a couple of Outcasts were at the burned-down armory. The Outcast chief picked up a badly dented sword. "Looks like Stoick isn't as armed as we anticipated." He said.
"From the looks of the armory, he isn't armed at all." Savage added sinisterly, making Alvin chuckle in a similar manner.
In a matter of seconds, they had arrived at the Haddock household. "Hmm, should I knock?" Alvin asked Savage. "I mean, what's the etiquette in these situations?" Then he settled for kicking down the door. "I think that seems about right." Alvin said as he came inside. "Stoick? Show your face!" He called out.
But the house was empty, save for a fire burning in the hearth. Alvin turned away from the doorway. "The old coward has turned and run." He growled.
One of the soldiers came up to him. "I spotted fresh tracks leading into the forest. And I heard reports of a big guys with a bucket on his head heading down to the beach."
"We'll split up." Alvin began giving out orders. "You four, go into the woods."
"Where are we going?" Another Outcast soldier asked.
"We'll go to the beach!" Alvin began leading the remainder of his troops towards Thor's Beach. "How many hostages do you think a Dragon Conqueror is worth?"
"Seven! No, eight!" Savage began to guess eagerly.
Unknown to the Outcasts, Fishlegs and the Misfit Trio were eavesdropping on them. "Oh, no." Cosette whispered.
"This is not good." Ragnar added.
"What do we do?" Fishlegs asked Hiccup.
"Go to the woods and warn my father." Hiccup said. "We need to get ahead of Alvin and warn Mulch and the others." The others nodded in agreement before splitting up. Ragnar grabbed his personal sword and Cosette got her bow before following Hiccup.
Deep within the woods, Stoick, Gobber and the other two Vikings were discussing their plan to ambush the Outcasts. "When they come looking for us in the forest, they'll have to go through here." Gobber said, gesturing to a certain path.
"Alright. What do we have?" Stoick asked him.
Gobber began listing the "weapons" they brought. "Two frying pans, a rolling pin, and a kitchen knife."
"And what are we going to do when we find Alvin?" Stoick questioned. "Bake him a cake?!"
Gobber picked up the knife. "Eh, a pie would be nice, too." He said. "Who doesn't like pie?"
He then threw the knife towards a large tree. When the blade got stuck in the trunk, the tree split in half. "Huh, that could work, too." Gobber said, while the others were stunned silent.
Heading towards Thor's Beach, Mulch was leading the elders and the children in a line. "Hurry now!" He called out. "The caves are just ahead." Just then, he noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Bucket?" He asked.
A little girl with brown hair and blue eyes came up to him. "He went back to get my lamby." She said.
"Oh, for the love of-!" Mulch exclaimed as he went towards the back of the line and into the woods. "Why am I always looking for Bucket? I mean, why can't he- Bucket? It's like keeping track of a half-wit pig!"
Just then, Bucket appeared, carrying a stuffed toy lamb over his shoulder. "Ugh, Bucket!" Mulch said. "You had one job: bring up the rear."
"But the little girl!" Bucket said. "You should've seen the look on her face, big blue with the tears welling up."
Mulch sighed. "Ah, your bucket's hard, but your heart is soft. Come on, come on."
They started back down the cliffside path, only to be cut off by Outcast soldiers holding up spears. "Uh-oh." Mulch realized.
Soon, Alvin appeared before them. "You made it easy for us, Bucket." The Outcast chief said, grinning slyly. "It's hard to miss a half-wit and his lamb."
He and his soldiers then forced Mulch and Bucket forward and lead them to the others hiding at the beach. However, hiding behind some trees was the Misfit Trio. "We're too late." Cosette groaned quietly.
Ragnar was quiet for a couple of extra seconds. The more he thought about it, the more he thought that he had heard Alvin's voice from somewhere before, like years ago.
Hiccup noticed his foster brother's silence. "You alright, Rag?" He asked him.
Ragnar snapped out of his daze. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said.
Cosette shared a glance with Hiccup. Something was off about their friend. Hiccup had told her what happened earlier when they first spotted the Outcast ship.
However, it was not the time to worry about Ragnar. "So what do we do now?" The Henderson girl asked the Haddock boy. But the answer was silence as Hiccup looked towards the beach.
Back in the forest, a few Outcast soldiers were chasing Gobber. The chase went on until they reached a cliff with no chance of escape. "Looks like you win, boys." Gobber said, holding up his arm and prosthetic up in surrender.
The Outcasts were about to take him when Stoick suddenly appeared and slammed one of them on the head. The other two Vikings then attacked the others. "And the tables have turned." Gobber said, proud of their successful plan, looking down at the unconscious Outcasts.
Suddenly, there was something rustling in the trees ahead. "Over there." Stoick said.
The Chief and Gobber went in different directions to try and follow it. Stoick soon saw someone running in some nearby bushes. He quickly gave chase and jumped at it. He was about to punch it only to see that it was Fishlegs.
"For the love of Thor, Fishlegs!" He exclaimed. "I could've killed you!" He released the Ingermen boy, who was trying to regain his normal breathing rate.
"Thank you, sir, for not killing me." Fishlegs said.
"What are you doing here?" Stoick asked him.
"Alvin the Treacherous grabbed me." Fishlegs began to explain. "He looked really treacherous."
"I know they're here, Fishlegs." Stoick said, wanting him to get to the point.
"Yeah." Fishlegs said. "They're here for Hiccup."
"Hiccup?" Stoick breathed as he tried to think about what Alvin would want with his son.
"Rag and Sette are already with him." Fishlegs tried to assure him. "I'm sure he'll be fine."
However, Stoick only got more concerned, mostly now for both of his sons. Alvin might not hurt Ragnar, but knowing how stubborn the Iverson boy is, he might be the one who might do the killing.
Over at the beach, Alvin and his men had already taken everyone hiding there captive. "For those of you who haven't figured it out, I am the one and only Alvin the Treacherous." The Outcast chief proclaimed. "And let me be clear, that name was earned."
"Alvin?" Tuffnut snickered. "How'd he earn that?" His sister laughed at the joke.
"Your chief has abandoned you." Alvin continued. "But Stoick don't concern me. I'm not here for him. I want the Dragon Conqueror."
Mildew smirked, knowing who Alvin was talking about. "Say goodbye to Hiccup." He sneered to Astrid, making her tense up visibly, and started to reveal what he knows. "Alvin-" But Astrid quickly knocked him out with a punch to the face. She quickly caught him before he fell to the ground. Alvin looked over at her suspiciously.
"My grandfather's frail." She lied with a false smile. "He needs his nap."
Alvin seemed to buy the lie as he continued with his interrogation. "As I was saying," he resumed as Astrid roughly dropped Mildew, "tell me who the Dragon Conqueror is, and you may all go free."
"Conqueror?" Snotlout scoffed. "I'll show Alvin who's a conqueror." He carefully made his way up to Alvin when the Outcast chief had his back turned, his bludgeon in hand. He was about to bash the weapon onto him when Alvin turned to face him with a glare, making him freeze.
"For you, sir." Snotlout said, handing him the bludgeon. Astrid and the twins groaned at his cowardice.
"Well, you better check your trousers, son." Alvin said, pushing the Jorgenson boy aside. "I think you soiled yourself."
Astrid got the hatchet that Stoick gave her and threw it at Alvin. However, he caught it before the blade could hit his head.
"Why, me old hatchet." He said, recognizing it. "I was wondering when I would get this back."
Savage roughly brought Astrid up to Alvin. The Outcast Chief turned to face her, putting the hatchet away. "Trying to kill Alvin the Treacherous?" He asked, laughing. "You're not as smart as you look." He circled around her he was behind her. "Tell me, who's your Dragon Conqueror, eh?" When he saw that Astrid wasn't going to talk, he tugged hard on her braid, making her yelp in pain. "Tell me!"
"Leave her alone!" A voice ordered. Everyone turned to see Hiccup standing behind a boulder on the cliffside.
"Hiccup!" Astrid exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"
Hiccup didn't acknowledge her as he lithely jumped down from the small cliffside to face Alvin. "I'm the Dragon Conqueror." He said.
But Alvin and the other Outcasts just laughed at his proclamation. "You?" Alvin asked after he released Astrid. "Stoick's little embarrassment?"
"Now the Pride of Berk." A voice corrected. Everyone looked back to the cliffside and saw Cosette jumping down beside Hiccup, her bow ready to fire an arrow at any moment. Ragnar followed suit, sword in hand.
Alvin's eyes widened when he saw Ragnar. The young Iverson boy looked a lot like someone he once knew. Even the way he was glaring at him was reminiscent of her.
"You look a lot like your mother." He said to him.
Everyone had their jaws dropped. But Ragnar tightened his grip on his sword. "How do you know my mother?" He demanded, wanting to test him.
Alvin had a sinister grin form on his face. "Thora and I go way back." Ragnar's eyes slightly widened. So he did know his mother, but he didn't know that she had died years ago.
Alvin's grin curled more at the shock in the boy's eyes before it turned into a hateful frown. "But then, your father, Sigfried, took her away from me!" He snarled.
Suddenly, Ragnar felt his knees growing weak. That memory he was trying to recall came back all at once. His mother screaming and crying, himself as a baby doing the same, and the blood that was on the blade of an Outcast sword. His father's blood.
"It was you." Ragnar breathed, trying to fight back his tears. "You killed my father!"
Everyone gasped in shock. Alvin however, laughed. "You're quite the insightful one, aren't ye?" He asked a trembling Ragnar. "Ye were just a babe, and quite a squealer. Ye almost made me ears bleed." Ragnar would've smirked if he wasn't trying to wrap his head around this revelation and if his legs weren't wobbling.
Hiccup looked at Ragnar with a pained look, and then glared hatefully at Alvin. "You leave him be!" He said, surprising Alvin with his strong tone of voice. "It's me who want, isn't it?"
Ragnar finally dropped down to his knees, also dropping his sword. Cosette ran over to him and tried to comfort him by wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"Why you?" Alvin asked Hiccup.
"I drove the dragons from Berk." Hiccup proclaimed. "Look around. You don't see any on this island, do you?"
As Alvin looked around the beach, Hiccup nodded at Astrid, silently telling her to play along. She nodded back, knowing what must be done.
"It's true." Astrid said, going along with Hiccup's plan. "All the dragons are afraid of him. He even conquered a Night Fury!"
Alvin stared dubiously at Hiccup, and then he came over to tower above him. "You're bluffing." He said.
"Am I?" Hiccup challenged. "Well, there's only one way to find out. Take me to Dragon Island." Alvin looked down at him, still suspicious. But he then ultimately made his decision.
Cosette wanted to join Hiccup, but he subtly made a motion with his hand to say back. He motioned with his eyes, and she glanced over at Ragnar, who was still on his knees, his eyes wide and blank. She then sat down beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
Ragnar was still breathless over the truth of his father's death. Alvin killed him. Alvin killed his father. He was the reason why he was left fatherless for a month until his mother died protecting him in a raid. Though he was under Stoick's care alongside Hiccup, he still would wonder occasionally what his life would be like if his parents were still alive.
Slowly, his dark blue eyes began glaring icy blue balls of fire at Alvin as he began leaving the beach with some of his men surrounding his foster brother while a few other soldiers stayed behind to guard everyone else. His hand found his sword's hilt, and he grasped it tightly.
He was going to make Alvin pay.
A couple of hours had past, and everyone was tensely quiet. Cosette even fallen asleep against a boulder. The Outcasts that stayed behind were still standing guard around them.
Suddenly, they were ambushed by Gobber and Stoick, startling everyone. Once all the Outcasts were disarmed, Stoick began interrogating the soldier he had by his shirt.
"Where's Alvin?" He demanded. His answer was the soldier spitting on him. He was about to punch him when Astrid came up to him.
"Alvin took Hiccup." She said.
"WHAT?!" Stoick exclaimed.
"He gave himself up!" Astrid informed. "They're on their way to Dragon Island."
Cosette then came over to them. "Ragnar's gone, too!" She said.
"What?!" Stoick exclaimed again.
"He must've snuck off earlier." Cosette theorized. Then her face went pale. "And I have a bad feeling I know where he went." Astrid and Stoick had a sick feeling settling into their stomachs.
Dawn was breaking as the Outcast ship sailed the ocean towards Dragon Island. Hiccup was held back at spearpoint by two guards. Alvin then appeared in front of him.
"I'm sure your father's told you plenty about your island's most feared enemy." Alvin said smugly.
"Uh, who is that?" Hiccup asked, and then pretended to just realize what Alvin was saying. "Oh, right. You." Then he decided to get under his skin with some of his dry wit. "No, uh, not really."
"Really?" Alvin asked. "Not a word?"
"No." Hiccup replied.
"Nothing?"
"Uh-uh."
"Nothing about Alvin?"
"Nope." Hiccup was pretending to look at his nails when he said that. The Outcast chief growled at the Haddock boy making fun of him. "Look, 'Al'." Hiccup said, pushing away the spears and coming up to Alvin. "All I care about is that if I do what you say, you'll leave the people of Berk in peace."
"On me word, son." Alvin said. Hiccup only gave him a wary glance.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Ragnar was hiding on board the ship behind some barrels. He had to wait until they arrived at Dragon Island. Once Hiccup got to their dragons, then he would take his revenge.
Further behind out on the sea, a Berkian ship carrying Stoick, Gobber and the rest of the Dragon Riders was sailing, following the Outcasts. "When we get there, we'll lay down cover fire with the catapults." Stoick began laying out his plan. "Astrid, Cosette, you get your dragons."
"No!" Snotlout said as the twins armed a catapult. "Save your cover fire for the others, sir. I can handle myself." He tried to be cool as he leaned on the catapult. But then, he accidently pushed down on the lever and fired the catapult.
Gobber rolled his eyes, unamused. "I'll fire a few extra rounds to cover that one." He said.
"Sir!" Tuffnut said as he and his sister walked up to Stoick. "We would to personally volunteer to kick Alvin's butt." He punched his palm while Ruffnut put on a menacing look.
"This isn't about Alvin." Stoick said to them. "This is about Hiccup and Ragnar. We're here to bring them home."
Cosette looked down at the floor, then up at the Chief. Stoick caught her gaze. "I know what you're going to ask me, lass." He said.
Still she said it. "Why didn't you tell Ragnar about what happened to his father?"
"He was only a baby and he still had his mother at the time." Stoick said. "At first, I thought that Thora would still raise him, though alone, and then eventually tell him the truth when he was old enough. Obviously, that wasn't what happened."
"When were you going to tell him?" Cosette asked.
"Earlier, and it would have been last night, but then the Outcasts came." Stoick answered. "But now that Ragnar knows the truth, and he didn't hear it from me, one of my worst fears might come true. He has been set on revenge, and he won't stop until either he or Alvin is dead."
Cosette's eyes widened in fear. But she shook her head. "No. That won't happen." She replied. "Hiccup will make him see reason. If anyone can do it, it's either me or him."
Stoick briefly looked at the horizon. "I hope so, lass." He said. He can't let anything happen to either of his sons.
The Outcast ship had at last reached Dragon Island. Alvin and his soldiers were following Hiccup onto the shore. Occasionally, Alvin would shove him with the blunt edge of his sword.
"Hey, is the sword really necessary?" Hiccup asked him.
Alvin didn't answer, for he was distracted by something in front of the group. "Odin's ghost!" He exclaimed. Slowly crawling over the rocks towards them was Toothless.
Alvin was shocked. "Is that a…"
Hiccup hid a smirk. "Night Fury." He confirmed. "The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself." The Outcast soldiers quickly armed themselves, ready to attack. "Ah, stop!" Hiccup shouted, holding out his arms, then quickly put back on his façade. "Uh, it will only make him angrier." He then started to back slowly towards his dragon. "Watch and learn."
"By all means, proceed." Alvin chuckled, then turned to Savage. "I hope you're not squeamish. You're about to see a dragon eat a boy."
Once Hiccup was close enough, Toothless playfully and joyfully pounced on him and started licking his face. "I missed you, too." Hiccup whispered, getting back up. "We'll catch up later. Right now, follow my lead."
Both boy and dragon then started to pretend that they were fighting as Hiccup backed towards the rocks where Toothless' saddle was. "You can't defeat me!" He shouted with a false sense of bravado. "You dirty dragon!"
Toothless then used his wings to cover what Hiccup was doing. "I am the Dragon Conqueror!" Hiccup quickly put on the saddle and checked the tailfin. Once he knew that it still worked, he got on his dragon.
By now, Alvin was starting to get suspicious. "Hey! What are you doing with that dragon?"
Toothless turned around and showed his Rider sitting on the saddle. "By the way, it's not really 'Dragon Conqueror'." Hiccup said. "It's 'Dragon Trainer'!" He then whispered his command to Toothless. "Now!"
Before Alvin could try and attack them, Toothless took off into the air. His eyes widened in surprise and amazement. "Great thunder of Thor!" He exclaimed. "He is the Dragon Conqueror! Fire!"
As the Outcasts began firing at the Night Fury and his Rider, no one noticed Ragnar sneaking around onto the beach, his sword in his hand. "Did he seriously not just hear Hiccup say, 'Dragon Trainer' five seconds ago?" He mumbled to himself.
The Iverson boy then steeled his nerves. "No matter." His eyes were focused on Alvin. Finally, he started charging at the Outcast chief, his sword held high above his head, a war cry emitting from his throat.
Alvin just had enough time to see the son of Thora and Sigfried trying to take his head off before he blocked it with his own sword. "Whoa, lad!" He exclaimed, pushing Ragnar away with his sword. "You certainly have a fiery spirit, just like your mother."
"You don't talk about my mother!" Ragnar yelled before he swung his sword again.
Hiccup looked down at the ground as he and Toothless dodged arrows, and he was surprised to see his foster brother fighting Alvin. "Ragnar, what are you doing?" He shouted.
"Getting revenge!" Ragnar answered as he continued fighting. "It's because of this traitorous son of a witch that I'm an orphan!"
Hiccup watched with terror as Ragnar continued his rampage to spill blood. Finally, when something large and tall caught his eye peeking out from behind some of the foliage of the island, he had enough.
"Ragnar, this isn't you!" He shouted from above. "I get that you're angry! But the truth is, you do have a family! You always did have one! Don't lose sight of who you truly are!"
His foster brother's words finally started to fade away the red that Ragnar had been seeing. For a long second, he caught his reflection in the sword's blade. His breath became hitched as he looked around him, seeing that his brother was risking his life by telling him to stop, even though he's vulnerable now, to save his. That was what his parents did for him, and they knew that his life was important than theirs.
When he caught sight of the large object that Hiccup saw, Ragnar started to smile. But then it vanished when Alvin tried to swipe at his stomach. He dodged it, a smug smirk forming on his face.
"You're right." He called up to his foster brother. "That's not who I am."
Ragnar start to retaliate against Alvin, this time seeing clearly. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw some of the Outcasts firing at his brother, looking like they might hit their mark.
"Hiccup, look out!" He cried out as he held Alvin back at sword point.
Hiccup quickly saw the arrows zooming towards him and Toothless, but he knew that they couldn't dodge in time. He braced himself for the impact, but then suddenly, a ball of fire was shot, obliterating them. Hiccup flew towards to who shot that fireball.
"Hey, what took you so long?" He asked teasingly.
"Why? Did you miss me?" Astrid questioned in the same teasing tone while on Stormfly.
Then Cosette came on the other side of Hiccup, riding on Violet. "Where's Ragnar?" She asked worriedly.
"Don't worry." Hiccup assured her, then looked down at where Ragnar was watching, along with the dumbfounded Outcasts. "He's seeing clearly now."
Cosette breathed out a sigh of relief, then she started giggling as Violet started to nuzzle her. "Yeah, I missed you too, girl." She said. "And I'm okay."
Soon, the other Dragon Riders appeared, riding their own dragons, while the Berkian ship came out of the thick fog.
Ragnar smiled at the sight. "I think the cavalry's here." He said. Then he resumed his fight with Alvin by kicking him in the stomach while he was distracted.
"Hiccup! Cosette!" Fishlegs shouted to them, alerting them of the Outcasts, who had snapped out of their daze and were firing arrows and boulders again.
After a few minutes of evading all of the flying projectiles, Hiccup decided to try a different tactic. "We've got to get closer!" He shouted.
On the Berkian ship, Stoick was giving his own orders. "Aim for their catapults! If we knock them out, the dragons can finish off the ship! Fire!" He and Gobber then began firing their own catapults at the Outcast ship.
"Move offshore!" Alvin ordered as he and his men got back on their ship. The Outcasts started to guide their ship out into open water.
"Here's our chance!" Hiccup exclaimed. "Come on!"
As the Riders got closer to the ship, Cosette noticed something onboard the vessel. Her eyes then widened when she recognized it, or rather him.
"Hiccup!" She yelled, getting his attention. "He's got Ragnar!"
Hiccup's eyes zoomed in on the deck, and sure enough, Ragnar was being held captive, his arms pulled behind him, and Alvin's sword near his neck. He gasped, and he and Cosette tried to get closer, but there were too many arrows.
"Look out!" Hiccup warned as he and Cosette were forced to back away. Astrid came beside them and saw the situation.
"Hold your fire!" She ordered. "He's got Ragnar!" All the other Riders obeyed, except for one.
Snotlout let Hookfang release a stream of fire. It didn't burn anyone, but when it had hit the water, steam billowed up and began to cover the ship. "What are you doing?" Astrid asked him.
"I heard you say 'fire'." Snotlout said.
"She said 'hold your fire'!" Hiccup emphasized.
"Now you said it!" Snotlout retorted back.
"They're two different things, muttonhead!" Cosette shouted in exasperation.
"No, he's right!" Stoick called up from the boat.
"Thank you!" Snotlout said to the Chief.
"Fire again, Hiccup! All of you!" Stoick shouted.
Hiccup was at first confused by what his father meant, and then he saw the thick fog that accumulated from where Snotlout had fired near the ship. The realization then hit him.
"Everyone, fire into the water!" He ordered.
"Aye-aye, fearless leader!" Cosette replied for everyone.
One by one, the Riders ordered their dragons to fire into the ocean surrounding the ship, causing more smoke to form. In a matter of seconds, the fog had enveloped the ship.
The Outcasts were getting a little nervous by the fog. Alvin, however, was just getting frustrated by the shadows that kept flying by the ship. "Fire!" He ordered.
"At what?" One of the soldiers asked.
"Everything!" The Outcast Chief shouted.
The soldiers obeyed, firing arrows at whatever shadow passed by them. Soon, a large shadowy figure started to slowly approach them. Alvin removed his sword from Ragnar's neck and threw it towards it. A loud thump was heard as the blade made contact, but the figure kept coming. Alvin's eyes widened while Ragnar smirked as they both recognized what the figure was.
It was the Berkian ship. Before any of the Outcasts could react, the ship named into theirs, making it rock in place. Ragnar saw his chance to escape and grabbed a nearby pole. He whammed it into Alvin's face, then his stomach, forcing him to let go.
Ragnar ran to the other side of the ship and whistled sharply. He turned around to look at Alvin, who had recovered from the slam of the pole. The Iverson boy smirked at him.
"Love to stay and chat, but got to fly!" He said with a mock salute of his arm.
A loud and powerful roar was heard from Dragon Island. Fossil launched himself up into the air and soared over to the Outcast ship. Ragnar jumped off the boat and grabbed his Boneknapper's tail. He climbed up to his neck as they flew away.
"Impeccable timing, pal." He said to his dragon. Fossil pushed back his head gently to nuzzle his Rider, making him laugh. "Yeah, yeah. I missed you too."
Stoick jumped onto the Outcast ship and gave Alvin a long-awaited punch to the face, knocking his old rival to the floor. "You're a coward taking my son." He said bitterly. "Both of my sons."
Alvin picked himself off the deck. "I take what I want. You know that, Stoick!" He shouted. "Thora's boy was a bonus, though. He was a worthy opponent, just like his father. Maybe if he was under my tutelage, I'll make a Chief out of him."
Stoick felt his blood boil at that statement, and he caught Alvin's fist when the latter tried to give him a right-hook to his face. "You will never have either of them." He growled before he tried to land his own punch. But Alvin caught it.
Both of the Chiefs had equal strength, but then Alvin kneed Stoick in the chest, causing him to fall over. Alvin tried to punch him again, but Stoick quickly ducked the blow and delivered his own punch into Alvin's stomach, and then an uppercut to his jaw, knocking him back.
Stoick started to walk away from him, but then Alvin grabbed a nearby anchor line. The Outcast Chief swung it towards his old rival, and Stoick barely dodged it. Alvin swung it a second time, and Stoick dodged it again, causing it to hit the ship's masthead.
Stoick got back on his feet, but one foot was placed on the rope tied to the anchor. Alvin pulled on the rope and tripped him, sending him back onto the floor. Alvin continued to swing the anchor at him, but Stoick dodged each one until the anchor got stuck in the masthead.
Stoick saw his chance and wrapped the rope around Alvin's hands, and gave him one last punch. The force sent Alvin flying, and the masthead broke, dragging the Outcast Chief along with it. Stoick then pushed the Berkian ship away from the Outcasts and jumped aboard.
He looked up at the Riders. "Now, Hiccup!" He shouted. "Burn the ship!"
"With pleasure, Chief!" Cosette complied for everyone with an affirmative salute.
"Here we go, guys! Hit them with everything you've got!" Hiccup ordered.
The Dragon Riders swooped down towards the Outcast ship. The Outcasts quickly jumped off to avoid plasma blasts, pulse blasts, fire, gas and lava shooting down from above, engulfing the ship in a fiery furnace. It was over.
Afterwards, the Misfit Trio came over to the Berkian ship, Hiccup landing on the deck with Toothless, while Ragnar and Cosette jumped off their larger dragons. "Hiccup, what were you thinking?" Stoick asked his biological son.
Hiccup exchanged a glance with his friends before he answered. "I was thinking…. all I needed to do was to get to Toothless, and together, we'd be able to make things right."
Stoick smiled at him before he turned to his adopted son. Ragnar looked down at the deck with shame. "I'm sorry, Dad." He said. "I, I was just so angry, and I wasn't thinking clearly."
Stoick placed a gentle hand on Ragnar's shoulder. "It's in the past, Ragnar." He said. "Just know and always remember that your parents loved you very much. As do I."
Ragnar looked up at his foster father with thankful eyes, tears starting to well up. Throwing caution to the wind, he threw his arms around Stoick. The Chief was a little startled, but quickly returned it. Hiccup joined in the group hug, with Cosette following.
As the Dragon Riders flew triumphantly back to Berk, the ship following them, Alvin had shown that he and the rest of his men were washed up on the shore of Dragon Island.
The Outcast Chief briefly glared at the sky before he started laughing. The other Outcasts stared at him with surprise at his reaction. "They ride dragons!" Alvin exclaimed, a sinister grin forming on his face. "We get that boy, and we'll ride dragons!"
The Outcasts eventually joined their chief in his evil laughter. This wasn't over yet. The war had only just begun.
It was sunset when the Dragon Riders and the ship arrived back at Berk. The villagers saw them arriving; the ship at the docks and the Dragon Riders overhead, and they began cheering.
"You hear that, bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless, listening to the cheers. "You're home."
"Everything's back to normal." Cosette said, petting Violet's head.
"Let's hope it stays that way for at least a couple of weeks." Ragnar added, running his hand across Fossil's head.
"Agreed." The other two chuckled.
"Though, where's the fun in that?" Hiccup asked, a smirk on his face. Ragnar and Cosette just laughed.
They all circled around back to the docks and landed. The cheering Vikings came over to welcome the dragons back. However, there was one person who wasn't pleased, obviously.
"What are you all cheering about?" Mildew asked. "Don't you remember what these beasts have done?"
"Yes." Stoick said sharply, coming up to the old man. "They saved our lives." He narrowed his eyes at him, daring him to make a complaint. Mildew tried, but ultimately kept his mouth shut.
As Stoick left, the Misfit Trio came up to him, their glares just as firm. "And we may not be able to prove what you've done, but I know that we will never forget it." Hiccup proclaimed coolly, but there was a bitter edge to his tone.
"You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us." Ragnar gave Mildew a warning, who only gave the Trio a seemingly confused look in return.
When they turned to leave, Cosette gave Violet a subtle signal with her hand, tilting it in Mildew's direction. As the large Grapple Grounder passed the grumpy cabbage farmer, she swept her thin and snake-like tail under his feet, making him fall right on his bottom and he cried out in pain.
Cosette smirked at her little trick. Hiccup and Ragnar looked behind them, saw what she did, and they both gave her knowing grins. They all shared a fist bump as they continued following the Chief, along with the other Dragon Riders and their dragons.
It's funny how an attack by your greatest enemy can change things overnight. My friends and I set out to prove that our dragons would never hurt us. What they proved is that they'll always protect us.
A/N: Pretty dramatic, huh? I've worked months on this. Well, I hope it was worth it.
I hope I won't take forever on Chapter 7. I love working on this story, but I'll be in my second semester of my senior year of high school, so I do have to focus more on my studies. I can't goof up now.
However, I hope y'all enjoyed it. Please leave a review about what you think.
Got to fly! ;)