Prepare to have your minds blown…and feels obliterated XD

Note: I do NOT own HTTYD, HTTYD2 and, basically, do NOT own anything.

Chapter 4: The Truth Comes Out

Zenna's POV

It didn't take long for me and Stryka to reach Berk. Once we had landed, I made my way to my house where my parents were outside and feeding Serpent and Serpentine. Stryka warbled a greeting to my parents' Hideous Zippleback, who both warbled back. My parents looked at me and, upon seeing my frazzled look, quickly led me inside. I chose to sit down for a minute while Mom brewed some tea and Dad lit the fireplace. Normally I would have told them that there was no need to fuss, but I was still in too much shock to complain.

"What is it, love?" Dad asked me, concern evident in his eyes. "Hiccup, Astrid and I were out exploring. We found this fort stuck in ice. And there were Dragon Trappers." I began. "Trappers? Heading this way?" Mom asked worriedly. I shook my head. "No, Mom. They're not planning to head to Berk. It's just that their leader…" I managed to say before sighing heavily and looked at the fireplace.

It was a long moment of silence before I found the courage to speak again.

"Their leader was Eret, Mom and Dad. I saw Eret again. He's a Dragon Trapper now." I said at last. Mom was pouring me a cup of tea when I said that while Dad was stoking the fire in the hearth. Instantly they sharply looked at me in shock, tea spilling over and the embers popping.

"Eret, Son of Eret? Zenna, are you sure?" Mom asked in bewilderment. "He was wearing the pin I gave him, Mom. I know it was him." I nodded gravely. "Good gods…" Dad muttered, shaking his head. "Yeah…Good gods indeed…Oh Thor, I never should have stayed away from him for so long…I could've at least taken Stryka and gone looking for him myself…" I murmured guiltily to myself.

Maybe…if instead of waiting for Eret to come find me, I could have been the one to find him.

I could have taken him on a great flight on Stryka, like when Hiccup took Astrid on that romantic flight five years ago, and shown him how wonderful it is to have a bond with a dragon. And maybe he wouldn't have to work for this Drago Bludvist, whom I'm pretty sure is bad news, and come live on Berk with his father and be one of us.

'Come to think of it…I didn't see Eret's dad with him…Wonder where he is…' I mused. "It's not your fault he's gone astray, love." Mom soothed me. "I've known Eret and his father for years, Zen. I find it very hard to believe that the boy who swore on his life to protect you at all costs would stoop to this kind of low, but it looks like he's changed…and not for the better." Dad said grimly.

I believed Mom and I wanted to agree with Dad. But I still felt this gnawing sense of guilt within me. Circumstances such as my move to Berk could have given Eret little happiness. I knew even back then that he and his father were barely scraping by. I could have implored my parents to let them come with us so we could start new lives together. But I didn't, and that was the regret I had been regretting ever since I left the South.

Plus, Eret had sworn to protect me. Solemnly swearing on his own life, in fact! It was one of the many proofs he had shown me that he really loved me. And I, for one, refused to believe that he had chosen the wrong path. I couldn't just sit here wondering. I needed to find Eret again.

I needed to know the truth.

Standing up, I headed outside and got on Stryka. Serpent and Serpentine crooned at me curiously as my parents also joined me outside.

"What are you planning to do, my dear?" Mom asked me, putting a hand to her belly as the baby had started moving again. "I can't accept it, Mom. The whole idea of Eret being one of the bad guys, I mean. That's why I need to get the truth straight from the source." I answered seriously. "You're going to go out there and find him? What if he is one of the bad guys now and tries to take Stryka away from you?" Dad asked worriedly.

Stryka warbled at me and I gently patted her head. If Eret had changed…I would make sure that my love for Stryka, my draconian sister, will overpower my love for him. But that, was something I hoped that will not come to pass. I prayed to the gods that I'll be successful in changing Eret's mind before looking at my parents with a grave eye.

"I won't let it happen, Dad. And besides, I know Eret better than anyone. He'll never betray me." I reassured my father before I urged Stryka up and we headed out.

What I didn't know was that Hiccup had the same idea of going after Eret and his crew…only his agenda was to go to Eret's boss and talk some sense into him. What I also didn't know was that he and Astrid were going to have to perform an act of mutiny in order to do that because Stoick had grounded all the dragons. Whatever the reason was, I'll find out later.

Right now, I had to get to Eret and fast.

Stryka and I went back to the fort. To my disappointment, it was deserted. Stryka sniffed the air before looking at me. I sighed and walked around the carnage. Nothing but splintered wood and damaged supplies, weapons and traps everywhere. Then, a lone scrap of paper caught my eye. Picking it up, I traced Eret's handwriting with my fingers.

'Even the mighty wolf has to turn tail and flee when the hunter gives chase. I'm sorry, Zenna…But please don't come looking for me anymore…

Eret'

I was stunned. Why would he not want me with him? I could help him! Holy Shields, this was beginning to frustrate me!

But still, I had to smile at the part of his message that had 'the mighty wolf' in it. Back in our old home in the South, the wolves were considered as revered animals. We treated them with high respect. Eret and I respected them alright…and we even considered them as playmates.

(Zen's flashback starts)

'"It's alright, Zen. Come on, he won't bite." 11 year old Eret coaxed the now seven year old Zenna while he petted a large gray wolf. A pack of them was with the two children in the woods that day. Eret had decided to let Zenna in on a little secret-he had befriended the local wolf pack that hunted close to their village. In accordance to tribal law, this kind of secret was considered disrespectful as the wolves were supposed to be seen as sacred beings that should be respected from a distance and never treated like common housepets.

But Eret was never really one to follow tribe laws that seriously…and neither was Zenna. But of course, the young Fiersome girl was wary and decided to stay a good three feet away from Eret and the wolf and hid behind a nearby shrub. And once she saw that the wolf Eret was currently playing with was the alpha male, she was ready to turn around and run with her metaphorical tail between her legs.

"Eret, that's the alpha male of the pack! What if he doesn't like me?" Zenna squeaked nervously. "Well if he doesn't I'm sure that his mate, the alpha female, will." Eret chuckled, making Zenna all the more nervous and not to mention confused.

"How do you know the alpha female will like me?" the seven year old girl asked. Eret smiled. "She's right over there with you." He replied casually.

That's when Zenna realized that she had a companion with her in the shrub. The alpha female had been by her side all along!

"Holy Shields…" she squeaked, cautiously backing away. The alpha female trotted over to her, tail held up proud and high. If Zenna hadn't been so jittery, she would've thought the alpha female as a regal wolf queen.

"Uh…N-nice wolf…G-g-good Alpha Female Wolf…" the Fiersome girl stuttered as she warily held out her hand. Then, to her surprise and Eret's delight, the alpha female nosed her muzzle into Zenna's palm in kind greeting and sat at her feet. Zenna then stood still, amazed, before sitting on the dirt. This allowed the wolf to plop her furry head onto her lap and whine, asking to be petted.

"See, Zen? What'd I tell you? She likes you!" Eret laughed, leading the alpha male to his mate. Zenna now giggled as she gently petted the alpha female, enjoying the feeling of the soft, fluffy fur as she bonded with her new playmate. The alpha male along with Eret followed and, soon, the whole pack was with them. Both Eret and Zenna had a great time playing with the wolves. The alpha male even let Zenna get on his silver furred back and loped about the thicket, the young Fiersome girl shrieking with delight.

"Eret, how did you make friends with them? Was it magic?" Zenna inquired curiously as she cuddled one of the pups. "Nope. Just kindness, Zenna. As long as you have a kind heart, you can make friends with anyone." Eret had told her, while wrestling with one of the juveniles.

Zenna took Eret's words to heart that same day. As long as she was kind, she could befriend anyone…just how Eret had taught her…'

(Zen's flashback ends)

I sighed deeply and got on Stryka's back once more. That's when Stryka did one of the things she rarely did-talk.

"Awre wree stwill goowiingg two lwook fwor thwattt Errrwwreett peewwrrssoonn, Zzen?" she asked me. Needless to say, I was surprised to hear Stryka once again speak in human language. The only times she did that was when she really needed to say something to me.

I guess today was one of those times.

"We are, girl. And we're not going to stop until we find him." I replied as we took to the skies to begin our search. "I dwon't gwet it, Zzennnaa. He'sss a baadd gwuyy. Wwwhhyyy dwo ywou waaannnaaa gwo fiinnddd him…?" Stryka asked me as we flew about. "It's…It's kind of hard to explain, Stryka…Eret's actually…a really important someone." I said haltingly.

"You love him?"

That perfectly pronounced sentence that came out of Stryka's mouth nearly made me fall off the saddle. I looked at her in shock and awe before composing myself. Stryka looked up at me with her one good eye, a curious toothless smile on her face. I had to smile at my beloved dragoness' intuition.

"Yes, I love Eret. He's my one true love, Stryka. And I have to find him again…I just have to…" I whispered.

Stryka didn't say anything else, and we continued our search in silence.

Eret's POV

"Keep your eyes peeled, lads! At this wind we'll reach Drago by daybreak. So best we fill this ship up with dragons and quick." I shouted to my men as I stood on the stern. To my relief, Zenna hadn't come flying out of nowhere on her Night Fury yet so there was still a chance that I could keep Drago from finding out about her…

'As long as we stay course, she won't be able to find us…' I thought as I carried on with, "There's no time to be picky…" before hearing one of my men say, "Ah, Eret…" I ignored him and continued, "Not if we want to keep our…"

That's when I heard the familiar sound of dragon wings flapping. Looking up, I saw the Deadly Nadder and male Night Fury from earlier! "HEADS! Off the port quarter!" I yelled. My men immediately scrambled to prep the net launchers.

"That's it, lads! Take 'em down!" I told them as I readied my own. I focused on the Night Fury that was being ridden on by that fire sword-wielding amputee.

"You're not getting away this time." I muttered before giving the command.

"Fire!"

Nets were launched in all directions! But much to my annoyance, not a single dragon caught. Then, just when I thought we were going to have to reload, the dragons and their Riders landed on deck.

"And here I was worried we might turn up empty handed." I sneered, pointing my sword at the Night Fury Rider. Oddly enough, he didn't look the least bit afraid. "Nope. It's your lucky day." He replied before putting his hands up declaring, "We give up."

I had to admit, this guy was courageous…and also strange.

"That's one Night Fury, one Deadly Nadder and two of the finest Dragon Riders west of luk tuk. That'll make the boss happy, right? Excuse us." As he said this, he and the Nadder Rider got off their dragons, took the Nadder Riders battle axe away, put a net on her and, then, escorted her and himself to below deck while making sure to shut the hatch behind him. "What are you doing?" the Nadder Rider asked him in shock.

Yep, this lad had officially lost his marbles.

I just watched in shock as the Night Fury tried to join his Rider. "Ah, Toothless stay." The boy told him, as if the beast were a mere friendly hound.

'Toothless? That Night Fury has some of the sharpest teeth in the entire dragon world! Could this day get even weirder?' I thought to myself. First Zenna, now this!

"The dragons don't really care for cramped spaces so they'll just hang out with you, they won't be any trouble." The boy told me, just as the men pulled out their swords.

Almost instantly, that Night Fury jumped up in surprise like a cat and promptly snarled at us, showing us two sets of perfectly knife-like teeth!

"Unless you do that." The boy added. I had to agree with him on this one, though. My crew? Not exactly the best compared to the rest of Drago's fleet.

The boy kept talking even though we weren't so interested. "You know, wooden boat, big ocean. H-How is your swimming?" he asked us. "Not good." Another one of my men admitted sheepishly.

See what I mean?

Suddenly the fire sword poked out of the opening! I had to admit, it was rather impressive. I even found myself wondering if Zenna had one…

"Oops, almost forgot, can't have armed prisoners." The boy popped up, still looking as calm as ever. I heard the axe girl whisper, "How is this a plan?" to him. I made sure to keep my eye on that boy. For all I knew, he was just putting on this little show to trick us…

"Just what every dragon trapper needs. One end coats the blade with Monstrous Nightmare saliva, the other sprays Hideous Zippleback gas." He informed us, ducking down as one of my men hit the switch to release the highly explosive Zippleback gas. Luckily I managed to flee the blast zone while the boy said, "All it takes is a spark and…"

Thank gods I didn't get caught in the explosion. My men? Eh, not so much.

What really got my attention was how playful the boy's Night Fury was. It was even batting away at the embers like an innocent kitten! Was that how Zenna's Night Fury acted like as well?

"Oh yeah, there you go. Once they see you as one of their own even the testiest dragon can be trained, right bud?" the boy said innocently.

Finally I lost my patience, said, "Gimme that." and snatched the contraption away from my men before hurling it off the ship. And to my surprise, the Nadder flew after it and retrieved it. To the dragon, I was playing a game of fetch with it!

"What game are you playing?" I asked the boy, all the more suspicious. "No game, we just want to meet Drago." He replied simply. "Why?" I had to be honest, I never thought I'd meet someone who would actually want to meet Drago.

"Because I'm going to change his mind about dragons."

Well that got me and my crew laughing. Was this lad actually serious?!

"He can be really persuasive." The girl Rider then stood next to him supportively. Patting the Night Fury, the boy told me, "Once you've earned his loyalty, there is nothing a dragon won't do for you."

"Pfft, you won't be changing any minds around here." I told him as-a-matter-of-factly. "I can change yours, right here, right now." The boy said as he pushed on some sort of lever and the Night Fury's red tail fin opened. That's when I realized that both Zenna's Night Fury and the boy's had lost important body parts…along with their Riders.

In this case, both the boy and the male dragon were missing once crucial part to help with their mobility.

In Zenna and her dragon's case, they were both missing their right eyes.

Then another thought entered my head.

'Had Zenna found somebody else? Was this one legged boy her boyfriend?'

I cast those thoughts aside and decided to test him. And what better way than a little showdown right here on my ship?

"Well seeing as Drago won't care if I give him to you dead or alive, I'll give you as long as it takes to remove that noisy, oversized head of yours. How's that?" I said casually as I waved my sword about, turning away from him.

"Fair enough." The boy said as I turned to look at him. Then I saw him look at the girl and ask, "Is my head really oversized?" to which the girl replied, "Your hair is."

Ha! I had to admit that that was funny!

"Hahaha, hilarious." The boy said sarcastically before facing me again. "So, you trap dragons and ship them north? To Drago?" he asked me. "Except when they're stolen by you!" I said sharply as I leaped onto the side of the ship to come at him from above! But the lad was a fast one. He cut some ropes holding some barrels in place and I found myself struggling to keep my balance!

"Right! By my good friend the Dragon Thief and his ice-spitting buddy." My opponent stated. "Your days of rescuing dragons are over. Drago has found the ice-spitter's cave!" I grunted as I tried to take a swing at his head. He ducked, much to my frustration.

"Soon, all of your dragons will be claimed for his army." I warned the boy as I continued my attacks. "Ah, the Dragon Army. How exactly did he pull that off? I mean dragons aren't really the easiest to train." He pointed out as I kicked the barrel off and glared at him.

"Even dragons know better than to cross Drago Bludvist." I said harshly as I grabbed him by the front of his armor. "Is this part of changing my mind?" I decided to ask. "That part's coming." The boy replied, loosening one of the pulleys used to hold up the sails and grabbed onto the rope and rode it up to the mast!

"Rope burn!" he shouted as he went up.

As much as I found that guy obnoxious, he was a rather worthy opponent.

"Come now, Drago's about to take over the world! You're either with him or against him!" I called up to him, climbing up as well. When I finally got up there, I readied my sword. "And the way I see it, against is a losing proposition." I told the boy as I backed him up to the very edge.

"Any last words to change my mind?" I asked coldly, ready to swing my blade. "Actually, yes. And it's more of a question actually…" the boy said before looking at me with a serious expression.

"Do you know Zenna?"

I nearly lost my balance and fell off the mast when he asked that.

"Because from the way she was behaving when we encountered you and your crew, it looked like that you two have a history. What kind of history that is, I'd like to know." He said, standing up to see eye-to-eye with me. I was so busy debating whether to answer him or not, that I didn't see him take out his knife and sever the rope holding the mast down.

We were instantly catapulted right off the ship!

"YOU IDIOT!" I yelled at the boy, who looked like was enjoying this moment of terror.

Strange, lost his marbles, a worthy opponent…might as well add completely insane to the list of things I could use to describe him!

That's when I also heard Zenna's voice accompanied by the shriek of a Night Fury.

"ERET!"

I managed to spin myself about and caught a glimpse of her speeding towards me on her dragon, a look of pure shock on her face. That was also the same time, I think, when the other Night Fury came flying up out of nowhere and grabbed me. I saw the boy on its back and he pulled a lever, opening the tail fin and pulled up.

And it was a good thing it did because I was close to hitting those rocks earlier!

But to add to my misery, the boy and his Night Fury both decided to take me on a joyride. "Make it stop! Make it stop! Someone make it stop!" I shouted, not really caring to enjoy the thrill of being airborne and desperately praying to the gods for mercy.

Zenna and her Night Fury finally reached us and flew alongside. "Hold on!" the boy smiled as his Night Fury went for a dive! "Hiccup, he's had enough!" Zenna yelled, frantic.

Even if I was terrified, I found myself thinking, 'What kind of a name is HICCUP?' before I got dropped off. Still stunned from that near-death experience, I watched Zenna and her dragon land. And mind you, I had never seen Zenna so angry.

The boy, who I now knew as Hiccup, had just finished praising his own dragon when Zenna marched up to him and bonked him hard on the head with one of the sticks she carried.

"Ow! What? I was just trying to get him to see what you and I see!" Hiccup flinched. "By traumatizing him, Hiccup?! Really?! And how in Odin's name did you two get airborne earlier?! What? You two got catapulted or something?!" Zenna shrieked at him.

I watched as the two of them had a really loud conversation, my men also watching as words flew back and forth.

"Actually, yeah. We were having a little talk up on the mast of his ship."

"The mast of his…! Wait, were you two fighting?!"

"Well, he started it! I was just trying to convince him that our dragons are friends!"

"You couldn't have just waited for me? I can talk to Eret without having things escalating into a showdown!"

"Astrid and I would have waited, but then we found out from your parents that you went on ahead to go find him! And really, Zen, what is going on with you? It's like you two know each other!"

Finally Zenna all but screamed, "That's because we do know each other!"

I swear everyone had their eyes locked on me and Zenna once she blurted that out. I glanced at Zenna and she caught my eye. She reached into her pocket and pulled out my note.

"While the wolf flees, the hunter continues the chase and is relentless in pursuit…" she began quoting an old saying from our old home. "…so the wolf has a choice: keep its tail between its legs and keep on running…or face the hunter, claws sharp, fangs bared and ready to fight till the end." I finished for her.

In the South, members of the Wolf Pack Army were taught to be as fierce as wolves. Aside from giving respect to our enemies before we delivered the death blow, we were taught that we could either run away from our enemies when they overpower us…or keep on fighting until our last breath.

I'd been gone from the South for a long time and I never forgot our code…and neither did Zenna.

"That's pretty poetic. Where'd you two learn that?" the blonde girl asked, stepping forward. "It's a part of the South's fight code of honor." I informed her. "Where Eret and I are originally from." Zenna added, looking at me with a small smile.

Then she looked at Hiccup, the dragons, the girl before finally looking at me.

"Astrid, you and our friends were always curious as to why I never had any relationships with any of the boys back on Berk, right?" She directed her question to the blond axe wielder. The girl, Astrid, looked surprised but nodded.

"Well…now you know why. It's because I had already found someone long before I came to Berk." Zenna sighed before finally doing the formal introductions.

"Eret, these are my friends Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Astrid Hofferson, our dragon friends Toothless, Stormfly and Stryka. Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless, Stryka and Stormfly, this is Eret, Son of Eret…my childhood sweetheart."

You may now hurl your deadly reviews at me.

I'm so sorry for leaving you guys on such a huge suspenseful cliffhanger, but I really couldn't help myself XD

I decided to add in a deleted scene from HTTYD 2 because I thought it would make things more interesting. Plus, I wanted to give Eret a little more credibility. Over the next few chapters, I'll make sure to switch from Zenna's POV to Eret's POV to keep things going and in order to avoid any missing parts. I won't always have double POVs but, anyway…I hope you guys liked this update ;)

And don't worry, my Riders and Defenders of Berk story shall continue. Dragon Flower will be posted on Sunday night, I promise ;)

G2G!

-GuardianDragon98