Hello, everyone! Happy Holidays from Western Canada! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable time, no matter where you are or what you celebrate. I took a few extra days to write an extra-long chappie here for the occasion. I hope you enjoy it. Special shout-out to Foxes-rocks, who created a dedication music video for some of their favourite HTTYD FF writers. Hopefully, we can sort a way to link it for those who would like to see it. I myself loved it!

Chapter Thirty-Five: Something Found, Something Lost

Rose crouched in silence, staring ahead without a blink or a tremble. She was crouched under the frost-bitten trees, her side pressed against the low trunk of an evergreen and slowed her breaths. Her fingers tightened around the bow string, an arrow nocked into place. There was an elk – a small one, but enough to feed at least a few people – nibbling at a scant patch of frozen moss. She would use the fur for a blanket for a few of the children, the meat for the people, the sinew for Hiccup, the bones for Gothi. The antlers had not yet been shed, and she knew someone would like to have them back in the village.

She took a deep breath and pulled the string back, pulling it taught and resting it right next to her cheek. Her arm, out straight and true, trembled only slightly, before she released. The arrow flew forward and hit the elk in the neck, making it scream painfully. Rose pulled her bow over her head and shoulder and sprinted forward, taking one, two, three, four long steps before she was on top of it, driving her dagger into its throat. It fell silent, and settled into the frozen earth with a final breath.

I could have caught it for you, the Changewing said as it slithered from behind.

"You would have scared it away, Stingbreath," Rose retorted as she pulled her knife free, cleaning it with some more moss. Stingbreath sniffed at the corpse and shied away slightly.

You are a Spirit Weaver. You do not take spirits away.

"I can still hunt for my people," Rose replied, resting a comforting hand on the Changewing's head, running it down her neck soothingly. "I will pray for this creature, and thank it for the resources, all of which we'll use until nothing is left."

I don't like it. Why can't you fish, instead?

"Fish are animals just like this elk," Rose snorted.

Fish are stupid animals whose purpose are to feed bigger creatures like myself and you.

"Just like this elk, then."

Stingbreath growled in frustration and shook her head about angrily. You humans are so frustrating.

Rose laughed and grabbed her rope from the saddle upon Stingbreath's back and tied the elk's legs. Together, they pulled the elk onto the dragon's back and Rose clambered up in front of it. She wrapped her furs around her tightly and urged Stingbreath into the air above the trees. Once they left the forest, Rose leaned back against the elk's body and she looked around herself, calm.

She yawned as she watched the first rays of the sun kiss the clouds as it ascended over the horizon. After seeing Astrid in the dreamland, she left and brought Hiccup some tea, potent in sleeping remedies. She didn't go back to sleep after that; she wanted to give Hiccup and Astrid some privacy. Having the same dreamland between the three of them certainly made things a lot more complicated.

Harbinger. Rose pondered Astrid's name carefully, asking herself questions in her mind.

The bringer of something, Stingbreath told her. Like frost before winter. An omen.

"Well, that's terribly vague."

The names we have given you, the Saviour, and the Harbinger are sacred and agreed upon, often influenced by the gods themselves. And what do we get in return? Pet names.

"I think Stingbreath is a lovely name," Rose argued.

Pah! Your name has layers upon layers of spirituality and meaning, for the past, present, and the future. Mine relays the fact I spit poison. The magnificence astounds me, I can hardly contain myself.

"Easy, girl. Save it for the fight."

Stingbreath went silent in her mind as Rose suppressed a smile. Soon, she told herself, soon they would be able to fly and find the others and bring Astrid home. Then they could be together as a family. Her smile, however, faltered at the though. What about Stoick? What if he never woke up? She pursed her lips and shook her head, shaking it from her mind. She had to stay hopeful, for everyone. He would be fine. She had to believe it.

They flew on, eventually landing outside the Great Hall. Everyone was barely stirring in their treehouses and huts in the forest, and Rose was about to dismount without a worry before Stingbreath growled, making her freeze.

The door is open… and the lookout is sleeping.

Rose's eyes flicked up to the Great Hall doors, and they were indeed ajar, only slightly. But they were to remain closed, no exceptions, until sunlight kissed the wood, and the sun had not yet risen that far.

"Stay close," Rose whispered as she unsheathed her knife again. Rose carefully scaled the steps, one at a time, before she slinked through the doors. She stayed close to the wall, slowly approaching the conference chamber where Snowdrop and Stoick slept. She looked around herself and everyone too ill to stay in the forest was sleeping. The matrons were sleeping alongside the ill, and not one bed was empty.

Rose entered the conference room and found the oil lamp in the dark. She twisted the dial on it a touch to illuminate the room, just enough to make sure Snowdrop and Stoick were alright. And when the light of the flame illuminated the room, she stared confused for a moment, before a terrible shriek escaped her throat so loud, everyone in the Great Hall startled awake.

"I'm gonna find you," Hiccup breathed, trying to catch his breath. His cheek, sticking to Astrid's bare breast, was so wonderfully warm, so familiar. He had so much to tell her – about fixing Stormfly's wing to a degree, about the village, about Rose – but he wanted to wait. Here, he could breathe, and breathe in the scent of his wife, as she cradled his head against her chest.

But the suspension within the dreamland was cut short. Suddenly, his cheek was no longer clinging to Astrid's skin. He stirred reluctantly as his body was dragged back to Berk. He peeled open his eyes, still drowsy from the tea Rose had given him the night before. His cheeks were still flushed, a cold spot upon the side of his face where Astrid used to be. His hair clung to his forehead under a sheen of sweat, as if his body was truly spent. His legs were trembling and he struggled to sit up slightly upon his elbows. He groaned, rubbing the sweat out of his eyes, slowly realizing the cold within the air around him.

Wake up! he heard Toothless cry in his head. It was muffled, sleep still ebbing away from Hiccup. Get up!

"Huh? What?" he slurred. The house rocked as if something banged against the trunk below.

He looked around his makeshift treehouse and threw his furs off himself. He crawled from his straw mattress and stumbled towards the door. He poked his head out and squinted against the sunlight.

Toothless was at the bottom of the tree, pushing into it over and over again, cooing and grunting loudly. Come down!

"Bud, what's going on?" Hiccup asked with a frown. Suddenly, Stingbreath swooped overhead and Rose jumped down. Her hair in all directions, her tears frozen to her terrified face. She grabbed Hiccup by the shoulders and he grabbed hers in response. She could barely breathe, her face pale and red all at once, as if she had been running for her life.

"Someone broke into the Great Hall!" she wheezed. Hiccup's eyes widened, all thoughts of Astrid aside.

"What do you mean?" he asked quickly.

"I was out this morning," she gasped, frantic and shrill, "and when I returned, the doors were open and the lookout was asleep and I went into the conference room and – and – oh gods, I can't breathe –"

Hiccup gave her a shake, his own heart jumping in his chest. "I need you to tell me the rest. Please, take a deep breath and tell me what –"

"It's our dad!" she cried. "Stoick is gone!"

Hiccup blinked, his heart stopping in his chest. "Wait, what? No. No, oh gods."

"He's gone!" Rose repeated with a sob.

"When?" Hiccup choked. "When?"

Rose pulled back, throwing her hands about like a child swatting away a spark of fire. "What? I don't know! All I know is we have to find him!"

Hiccup's mouth fell open. "You mean, he's missing?!"

"What did you think I meant?"

"Well, dead! I thought you meant he died!"

"Hiccup, Stoick's bed is empty either way! Someone took him!"

The next thing he knew, he was on Toothless' back, the two of them flying as fast as they could to the Great Hall. He landed sloppily, sprinting up the steps two at a time, stumbling over his leg, which had loosened in his sleep. He threw the doors open and shoved past the matrons, who were all running about trying to figure out where Stoick had been taken, and how.

"Who was on lookout?!" he yelled as he shoved past the scared villagers.

"Hiccup, let me explain –" Tuffnut replied, holding his arms up. Hiccup grabbed Tuffnut's shirt and pulled him around violently, glaring into his scared eyes. "Ow, be careful! Chest wound, chest wound!"

"Did you fall asleep at your post?!"

"No, I swear, I –"

Hiccup shook him roughly again. "Tell me the truth!"

"I am! Gods!"

Tuffnut shoved Hiccup away as he rubbed his chest, grimacing. "I didn't sleep at all, actually. And I already checked in with the lookout in the air, and they didn't see anything, either."

"You were sleeping when I got here," Rose cried, shoving past Hiccup and shoving her finger in her face. "You liar!"

"Well, yeah, I dozed off for only a few moments but –"

Rose grabbed him this time. "I swear to the gods, if this is your fault –"

"The door can't be opened from the outside!" Tuffnut replied. "Not without making a loud noise, which would have woken me up, dozing or otherwise! The door was opened from the inside."

"Stoick was under Whispering Death venom for months!" Rose shrieked. "You're telling me he woke up and just left?!"

"Hiccup!"

Everyone turned as Gobber ran in, barely able to catch his breath. Hiccup and Rose both let go of Tuffnut as they shaved their way through the crowd to Gobber at the door.

"Stoick is missing, someone took him in the night," Hiccup told him immediately. "I want people in the air, I want all our tracking dragons geared up and ready to ride, and I want anyone without proper riding training on foot – they can't have gone far in the past hour or so."

"Now wait just a moment," Gobber gasped through exhausted breaths. "Everyone just calm down!"

"We need to find him!" Hiccup yelled. Gobber grabbed him with one arm and twisted him around so both of them were no longer facing the prying eyes of the worried and confused villagers. And they looked down the steps of the hall down the road to the abandoned wreckage of the village before the Battle of Berk, and Hiccup found himself growing very, very numb as Gobber whispered in his ear. Then, his cheeks flushed a blazing red. He turned to the villagers and raised his hands.

"Everyone… go inside. Gobber, go get Snotlout, Tuff, Fishlegs, Juniper… and a blanket."

Rose rushed over. "What? What did you see –"

"I'll go ahead," Hiccup said. "Just… give me a moment."

Toothless gingerly paused in front of Hiccup so he could mount him, and with his upon his back, Toothless slowly walked down the steps and back towards the village. Toothless snuffed at the ground as Hiccup looked around the rubble, keeping his eye out for any signs of movement.

"Dad?" he called out gently. "Dad?"

Toothless snorted at the ground loudly and turned, walking faster towards the forge. As they approached, they heard something clang with metal, like swords being knocked over. Hiccup cautiously dismounted and slowly walked towards the building, licking his lips. His heart raced in his chest and he swallowed as he called one more time.

"Dad? Are you in there?"

A shadow moved in the door, and there was a slurred sound, like a grunt or groan.

"Hic…Hiccup?"

Stoick stumbled towards the door of the forge, a rusty sword in hand, and he squinted in the light. Hiccup watched, his hands out. He looked to the sword, and looked back to his dad's face. His eyes trailed up and he had to suppress a smile; Snowdrop, in her time protecting Stoick's resting body, had tied an exotic and… creative assortment of bows and ribbons in his hair, making his frizzy hair poke up and out around the top of his head like a crown. His nightgown hung off one starved shoulder, and the back hung open so his bare backside suffered the cold of the morning.

"Wha… what happened?"

Hiccup trembled as tears began prickling at his eyes. The sound of his father's voice made his heart lift for the first time in what felt like aeons. "You woke up."

"To my village…" he breathed, looking about quickly. "Where are the houses? The people?"

Hiccup took a step towards him. "A lot happened since the attack. Come, let's –"

"Wait…" Stoick rasped, furrowing his brows. "Astrid… Alvin…"

Hiccup nodded, taking another step. "Alvin took many people… but we're going to get them back. Come out of the forge."

The small party Hiccup had requested flew down and landed behind Hiccup, making Stoick jump and frown, holding up his sword sloppily.

"Easy, dad, it's just some riders," Hiccup said, closing the distance between them. He reached behind his father's back and closed his nightgown, covering his back and rump. "Do you remember them?"

Stoick scoffed. "I'm weak, not senile. I remember them all."

Juniper rushed over from the back of Meatlug and threw a large fur over Stoick's back. He shivered as she grabbed his arm and began leading him towards the pack of dragons, who looked upon him timidly. "We have to get you back to the hall, Stoick, you'll freeze."

"I'm fine," he grunted. "No… there… there was something I was looking for…"

He tried to move away back into the forge, but Hiccup and Juniper stopped him. But when they asked him what it was he was searching for, he couldn't respond. He would frown and grumble and shake his head, but it would not come back to his mind. They pulled him towards Toothless and helped him into the saddle. They walked back towards the hall, where Gobber was desperately trying to keep the villagers inside, to avoid prying eyes. They respectfully made a path for Toothless to carry Stoick and Hiccup back to the conference room. Juniper shut the door behind them, leaving Hiccup sitting at the side of the bed, watching as Stoick wriggled uncomfortably in his bed. Juniper sent for food, fresh food, and attended him as he looked over to Hiccup with a confused and tired look upon his features.

"When do you plan to rebuild the village?" he asked sleepily. "You haven't been able to clear away the rubble in the past few days?"

"Days?" Hiccup replied. "Dad… you've been asleep for weeks. Moons! Over two moons!"

Stoick paused and looked down upon himself, looking at the backs of his hands.

"My fingers are sticks," he slurred. Hiccup chuckled as he reached over and took one of Stoick's hands. "If it's been moons, why haven't you rebuilt the village? Refortified the island?"

"Well, I have," Hiccup replied.

He continued to explain to Stoick about how he rebuilt the village, but in the nearby forest. Treehouses and huts made Stoick blink and raise his eyebrows, nodding slowly as Hiccup continued. And when Hiccup told Stoick about the Hangar, and how it took a single moon to erect it for the wild dragons, he smiled a loose smile and gave Hiccup's hand a gentle squeeze.

"You've grown. Don't know how," Stoick sighed hoarsely after taking a sip of water, "but you know… you're thicker."

"Cauli's been doing her rounds on me," Hiccup sighed. "Trying to fatten me up before we fly in."

"Not likely, if I couldn't do it with your mother's cooking, she can't do it either."

Hiccup paused and pursed his lips. Mum. He didn't know about Rose, he remembered.

"When do we fly in?" Stoick grunted.

"You are not flying anywhere," Juniper piped in. "Not with you in your state."

"C'mon, woman, I've been asleep for ages."

"No," Juniper repeated.

"We haven't set a definitive plan," Hiccup admitted, jumping over Stoick before he could speak. "It's a complicated situation. We need more people, but there's no where to go. Alvin wiped out the alliance, the remaining are here. And we have more dragons than we can count, but it too doesn't feel like enough."

"It never feels like enough, son," Stoick sighed. "When I lost your mother, sailing after her was futile. I never had enough food or water on the boats, never enough men to support the cause long enough to pursue it fully. And now I've lost her forever."

Hiccup swallowed painfully and, as if on cue, Rose entered the room slowly, carrying a bowl of stew, made with the fresh elk she shot earlier. He looked to Stoick with wide eyes as she slowly approached the table. Juniper was quick to swoop in, trying to grab the bowl of stew.

"Thank you, Rose, you can leave now –"

"Juniper," Hiccup said, making Juniper stop before she touched the wooden bowl.

Rose looked over Juniper's shoulder to Hiccup, her eyes red, as Juniper pursed her lips and took her leave, returning to Stoick's side silently. Stoick looked between Hiccup and Rose, his eyes wondering.

"You remember Rose?" Hiccup asked Stoick quietly. He motioned for Rose to come closer with a welcome arm, which made Stoick grunt in disapproval.

"I remember Rose, yes. The girl you plucked off Outcast Island, who gifted the bond to you and Astrid, whom, I must remind you, is your loving wife."

"Hiccup and I are not involved," Rose was quick to say. "I'm not here for him. I'm – I'm –"

In a rare turn of events, she wasn't sure what to say. She stood there in front of her father, clutching the bowl of soup she had made the way her mother had taught her.

"Dad, this… is going to be hard to believe," Hiccup admitted carefully. He pulled himself from the chair and onto the bed, sitting by Stoick's thin legs. Stoick looked between the two of them over and over, trying to figure it out as Hiccup tried to find the right words. "Rose?"

Stoick's eye twitched as Rose licked her lips. "Umm… well. I…"

"Rose knows mum is alive," Hiccup blurted. Stoick looked over and Juniper almost dropped the extra blanket from the corner. Rose nodded, going along with it.

"She's alive, Stoick," Rose repeated. "She still fights, she was still alive the last time I saw her."

Stoick didn't move. But he looked to Hiccup who nodded, and Stoick looked back up to Rose. It was as if he didn't know whether it was easier to accept it or deny it.

"Alvin has her? After all these years?"

"Yes," Rose confirmed, her voice shaking. "She convinced him to keep her alive. And me."

Juniper looked between Stoick and Rose, and suddenly, she dropped the blanket on the floor and covered her mouth. Everyone looked over as she pointed between Stoick and Rose. Hiccup's jaw dropped.

"Juniper, before mum was taken, did she see you for anything?"

Juniper clamped her mouth shut, her cheeks growing red. Stoick sat up slightly.

"Would someone tell me why Juniper is having a fit?" he asked grumpily.

"She was pregnant when she was taken," Rose stammered in a flurry. "Juniper was the only one who knew."

Stoick looked at Rose, his eyes bigger than his fists before his slumber. "What?!"

"It was early," Juniper concurred. "Hardly showing, after the trouble we had with Hiccup, she wanted to keep it secret until she knew for sure it had stuck."

Stoick reached out and grabbed Rose's hand. "This child – did she have it? Did it stick?"

"It did," Rose replied, tears filling her eyes.

"No, don't cry, tell me they're alright, too," Stoick begged, his voice breaking.

"The child is fine, dad," Hiccup said. "And no longer a child," he said, a tear falling down his cheek, smiling up at Rose as she squeezed Stoick's hands.

"Hi," Rose said through a large smile and a loud sniffle. "I've been wanting to meet you my whole life."

Stoick squinted at her for a single second before his own jaw dropped. "Wait – you?"

Rose nodded, and Stoick stared at her, looking to Hiccup as tears filled his own eyes. Soon, everyone in the room was wiping tears from their eyes as Stoick stared up at Rose.

"Valka always wanted a daughter," he whispered, breaking down into sobs. "Oh – oh gods –"

Hiccup and Rose sat on the bed, holding him as he held his two children, and he rocked them both as Juniper covered her mouth with one hand, smiling.

"This is a lot to take in," Stoick hiccuped through sobs. "But… gods… I always wanted another child, and you look just like her."

Hiccup nodded and wiped his tears away with a fist, nodding. "No one knows about this, we wanted you to be the first."

Stoick smiled again and refused to let them go, trying to crush them with his weak arms. "What a morning!" he laughed with a wheeze and a cough. But then he faltered and pulled away, grabbing both of Rose's arms, his face serious.

"I'm so… so sorry about how I treated you," he murmured, as if recollecting on the spot. "When you bonded Astrid, I thought –"

"It's okay," Rose was quick to say. After the village thought Rose had killed Astrid, Stoick interrogated Rose forcefully. But Rose would rather move on from that, already knowing he had his reasons, and he had no idea of who she actually was. Remembering, though, was not easy for Rose. It never was.

There was a knock on the door, and Juniper jumped, rushing over. She opened it and one of her matrons began speaking to her in hushed voices. Stoick, Rose, and Hiccup all looked over, wondering why Juniper's face shifted from happiness to confusion.

"What do you mean she's not in the Hangar?" she asked her matron.

"I went to collect her myself, but she's not there."

"She may have gone to Gothi's, then, check there."

"I already did. But –"

Hiccup stood. "Is everything alright?" he asked. Juniper didn't turn at first, and Rose stood next to Hiccup, glaring over at the matrons.

"Did Snowdrop spend the night with you?" Juniper asked Hiccup nonchalantly over one of her shoulders. Hiccup shook his head and Rose looked over to Snowdrop's empty bed.

"Did you check the Hangar?" Rose asked.

"Wait!" Stoick grunted, waving to Rose and Hiccup. "I was – I was looking for something –"

Rose sat down again, placing a hand on Stoick's leg. "What is it?"

"I was about to wake up, I could feel it, but then I heard Snowdrop – I heard her speaking to me as I came to," Stoick began, squeezing his eyes shut so he could remember clearer. "She… she was going…"

"Going where?" Hiccup asked. Rose was about to back Hiccup up when she paused, her eyes going vacant.

"Wait…" she whispered shakily.

"Snowdrop was… leaving," Stoick finished. "It was her I was trying to find –"

"Stormfly is gone," Rose gasped, snapping back to her own mind. "The dragons saw them leave together hours ago. They're going after Astrid –"

"We have to go after her," Hiccup said immediately.

"She's gone beyond my range," Rose argued stopping him from the door.

"That's not going to stop me," Hiccup growled, grabbing Rose's hand and pushing it away from his arm. "We have to find her before she finds them. If they see Stormfly's wing, they'll know I built it, and even then, it won't keep them in the air! I can leave the village to Gobber and dad for a day or two. But you and I are going. Now."

Hiccup and Rose left the hall as fast as they could, shoving past people who tried to stop them. Toothless and Stingbreath met them on the steps and soared off the cliff. They searched for hours, turning this way and that, never taking a break as the sun rose and hung high in the air behind a thick sheet of storm clouds. But no matter where they went, there was no sign of Snowdrop. There was no sign of Stormfly. There was nothing but chunks of ice floating atop a swelling sea, growing restless as the stormy season crept towards Berk.

We have to go back, Toothless panted, tired and weak. We should continue the search tomorrow.

Hiccup looked onward over the water, his hands clenched into fists around the reins. Tears had frozen over his cheeks long ago. He had already screamed his voice away trying to find her, visions of finding her body in the ocean in the back of his mind.

"There won't be a search tomorrow," Hiccup barely uttered.

He had gained his father back, the one person he had wanted to talk to over these past two moons. And yet, he had lost everything all over. Astrid's life, her entire being encompassed in Snowdrop's chubby cheeks, her unruly blonde curls, her eyes identical to hers. And she was gone. There was no way Hiccup's wing would last the night. He knew that. The damned blueprints had always told him that. He wanted to hurt himself, knowing he had put that thing on Stormfly, knowing it wasn't ready.

They had no choice but to turn back. They returned long after night fell to a sombre village. And when Hiccup stiffly dismounted without saying a word, the village bowed their heads as Hiccup climbed the steps of the Great Hall, parting the crowd as they went, offering hushed words of empty comforts and sympathies. And Hiccup nodded to most until he reached the top of the steps, where Stoick stood propped up by Gobber and Juniper.

Stoick knew. He still asked if they found anything, and Hiccup shook his head. Stoick's eyes filled with tears once more as he reached forward to his son with one arm, embracing him for a long moment in front of the entire village. Cauli placed a fist over her chest as her chin trembled and Barb shifted as Netmug put a rare and comforting hand on one of her shoulders. Hiccup pulled away from his father and took a deep breath.

"I need… to say something…" Hiccup murmured, gently moving away from Stoick. He faced the village on the steps, and no one spoke. Quiet hung over Berk like a heavy blanket as Hiccup tried to find words from parched lips, and looked up with puffy eyes.

"I'm not waiting anymore," he whispered. No one heard, but the Hangar doors below parted slowly, and dragons began slinking out, filing behind the villagers and watching Hiccup tentatively, their wings twitching and their teeth showing through trembling lips.

"I'm not waiting anymore!" he repeated, yelling towards the dragons. His voice cracked, and more tears flowed, but he did not weep. His tears were hotter than fire, and burned his skin. He sucked in another breath and it filled his lungs with hot air, making his blood warm and his neck tense. "Two moons have passed, if not more, since Alvin and Dagur together took our lands, our people, our families, our dragons. Two moons have passed and we have rebuilt our homes in an effort to hide the fact that we persevered, hiding in fear of another attack."

He looked over to Rose for a moment. "We have worked our hands to the bone in an attempt to rebuild and we have succeeded. We have spent our resources healing the injured and we have succeeded. We lost all our chiefs, and yet we succeeded. We have proved that we cannot be broken, that evil men can take anything, but they will never have what we have!"

Some villagers began nodding, mumbling to each other. The riders surrounded Hiccup and Rose, smiles tugging at their lips.

"Snowdrop refused to wait. She, a girl of only four winters, hijacked a Nadder and flew after her sister. And although… she was not successful… I'm going to be."

He swallowed as his voice shook again. "I owe it to her, to her unmoving spirit that taught me so much, to stop waiting. We owe it to her. We owe it to our brothers, our sisters, our families. We owe it to the dead, who fought to keep us standing tonight."

Hiccup looked to Toothless next to him, who looked up at him with adoration. Hiccup mounted him and addressed the village with one final breath, his shoulders rising and his blood boiling and his body ready. "The alliance may be in tatters, but there are nomads. There are clans who may not be loyal to us on paper, but they do not deserve the torment of Alvin and Dagur. We are taking back our lands, and we are taking back our seas. We are taking back our people and if we fail, we die knowing we tried. Either way, they will know. They will hear our screams and cries, they will feel the heat of our flames, and the world will know: the Saviour is coming, and will repay them for the torments and tortures they have made us endure for generations. If you ride with me, I cannot guarantee you will survive. But I'd rather die trying knowing I flew after those we lost. I am not waiting anymore!"

Cheers roared out among the people. Cauli flung her fist in the air, and Stoick pursed his lips tightly, wanting to say something but holding it back. The original riders rested a hand on each other, creating a web of connection between all of them, ready to fly, to fight, as they had spent the past five years training for.

"Rose looked down towards the dragons, her heart flipping uncomfortably.

We will change everything, Stingbreath murmured in her mind. You could only cage him up for so long.

Rose swallowed her reply and looked back to her brother, saying a small prayer in her mind.

The family only just got back together, she thought bitterly.

And now it's time to get the rest of it, Toothless said gently. You stopped him from saving her the first time. Don't do it again. He was never a confident chief. But if we get him back in the air, we will finally have a chance.

Rose nodded slowly, closing her eyes and stifling a tremble as the rest of the village ran in every direction to gather their supplies.

"We're flying out under the cover of darkness," Hiccup told Stoick and Gobber. "We'll head south beyond the alliance borders and find some supporters."

"If you are seen, then Astrid and Valka will be in danger," Rose warned.

"Which is why we are flying by night," Hiccup replied. "The original riders, Rose, and myself are going south to find some sort of trader, someone who can bring more resources to Berk under oath. We'll find out where this new island is and we'll make a plan with Astrid in the dreamland so she can warn the other hostages. By then, Stoick should be in better shape to help and the villagers will have more time to prepare. We'll return in a week, maybe two, to make final preparations. Once we know where they are, we're going in with everything we got."

"What we got isn't much, Hiccup," Gobber said bleakly.

"I know that…" Hiccup replied. "But I have to try. Something inside me is saying I've got to get Astrid out of there before the next moon. And if they're underground, as Astrid told me in the dreamland, we only have that much time before the snow sets in. After that, we won't be able to get them out. We can't let that happen."