With the three of them working on the tail, Toothless had a new tail fin in record time. Hiccup was just doing the last minute quality control check when the other riders touched down by the forge. Astrid and Hiccup weren't pleased that they had deserted their dragon-sitting task. After Astrid told them about Scathach and Toothless going missing, Snotlout was the first to defend himself.
"Dragon-sitting?" Snotlout scoffed.
"Boring!" Tuffnut jeered.
Snotlout raised his meaty arms emphatically. "Why sit around and watch a dragon when we can fly on one?"
"Do you know how unnerving it is to have a Night Fury stare daggers at you?" Fishlegs asked. He muttered on about a certain Gronckle's stress levels, which the female twin ignored.
"And snarled at?" Ruffnut added.
"I do, and said Night Fury pinned me down on a rock while he was at it," Hiccup muttered.
"Ooh! What did he do next?" Evander asked eagerly.
"Well, he roared at me then left," Hiccup answered, with a slight shudder.
"And?" Evander prodded. The other didn't answer audibly, but Evander could just make out the mouthed words when Hiccup whispered, "I fainted."
"Face it, Dragon-nip boy," Snotlout said, sneering. "You're not in control of your dragon. Spend a couple of days with us, and you'll be good."
"Excuse me?!" Evander huffed, taking a step closer to the bigger boy.
"Okay, that's enough, you two," Astrid said, stepping between Snotlout and Evander. Astrid stared pointedly in the Nottlander's dark eyes. Snotlout continued to sneer. Evander stepped back and bared his teeth in a feral snarl.
"Never question my partnership with Scathach," Evander told Snotlout. It was said as plain as day, but it had a dangerous ring to it that threatened Snotlout's cheekiness. Snotlout frowned, and Hiccup knew this could be big trouble if he didn't intervene.
"Okay, Astrid!" Hiccup piped up. He put down the tail fin and joined Astrid between the feuding boys. "I volunteer to babysit Evander. Why don't you take Snotlout and the others to the great hall to plan our defense?"
"Baby-sit?" Evander cried out indignantly.
Ruffnut's eyes went wide. "What defense?"
"Why would we need to defend ourselves?" Tuffnut added.
Fishlegs gulped as he realized, "We're going to be under attack, aren't we?"
"Radical!" Tuffnut cried out, punching the air with a fist. "Who's raiding Berk?"
"Yeah, what problem are we into this time?" Ruff asked.
"The Outcast kind," Hiccup answered grimly.
…
Hiccup fully trusted Astrid to organize the dragons and their riders while he was going to find his father. Apart from the teens, several other Berk Vikings had been able to bond and ride their own dragons. If anyone else would be able to ready the riders of Berk, Astrid could. The riders, the other dragons and the other Vikings gathered in the great hall for supper and to discuss battle tactics. Hiccup kept an eye on Evander, who wasn't allowed in the meeting. It was one of the easiest missions Hiccup had had so far. He got along with the Nottlander fairly well, and they easily swapped Night Fury anecdotes on the way to the docks. Hiccup learned a few calming tricks and several hand signals from Evander, who had been impressed by Hiccup's progress in training Toothless on his own.
"What's Nott like?" Hiccup asked suddenly. The two boys each carried a basket full of fish for their dragons. Evander had surprised Hiccup when the former paid for the fish using a gold coin that Hiccup found fascinating. Evander laughed when he saw this, and he surprised Hiccup even further when he gave Hiccup one of the coins for the Hooligan to keep. Hiccup stashed it in a vest pocket. He'd have to examine it later. Toothless' new tail fin was strapped to Hiccup's back, and waiting to be attached to the Night Fury's tail.
Evander's eyes went wide. "Why are you asking me that?"
"I want to go there," Hiccup answered firmly, looking Evander in the eye. "And I want to be prepared when I do."
"Did you miss the part that no outsiders are allowed to enter? The sentries will shoot you down at first sight!" Evander shot back.
"I know that!" Hiccup snapped. Then his green eyes softened. "But I also know that I want Toothless to have other Night Fury friends. I don't know if hehad family before we bonded, but whenever I see Meatlug and the others with their families, I can't help but want Toothless to experience the same thing with his own kin again."
Evander considered for a moment, then said, "Let's finish our mission first, then I'll think about it."
When he saw that Hiccup looked put out, he added in a low voice, "I think I can say this. Berk is a lot sunnier and more carefree than Nott. And you Hooligans smile a lot more than Nottlanders. Except maybe that girl. Astrid, right? I understand that I'm new here and everything,so she's within her rightsto be really cold and suspicious. But it's like she's expecting me to commit bloody murder any minute."
"Oh, Astrid?" Hiccup nearly tripped over an exposed rock, but a goofy grin crept on his face and his eyes sparkled when he said, "She's amazing like that."
Evander smiled ruefully. "Am I right in thinking that she really cares about you?"
"Yeah, I do too," Hiccup admitted distractedly. The smile was still plastered on his face. Evander shook his head, and continued walking with Hiccup leading the way.
…
"Scatty!" Evander called, to which the Night Fury promptly responded by bounding towards the boy and knocking him to the ground. The basketful of fish scattered, and Scatty visibly brightened. When Evander righted himself, he told the dragon, "We're going on a tracking mission, girl. Think you're up to it?"
Just as Evander said this, Toothless made a noise somewhere between a sob and a hiss. He trotted towards Scatty and softly groaned.
"We're all going together, don't you worry," Evander assured Toothless.
"It's the first time he's seen another Night Fury on Berk," Hiccup explained as reached his dragon. He set down Toothless' new tail fin and basket of food. Toothless started on his share immediately. "I can't blame him for wanting company of his own kind."
"That lucky guy," Evander said, grinning. He faced Toothless squarely, and the dragon narrowed his eyes. "Don't look at me like that, Toothless. I may not know how you ended up here, but I do know that Scatty's not easily impressed by male Night Furies. She's been courted ever since she made it into the elite patrol team, and she's never responded to anyone except you."
Hiccup smiled in response, and continued to work on attaching Toothless' tail fin. It fit perfectly. Hiccup moved to stand beside Evander, who had been talking to Toothless. Scatty held up a whole cod with her mouth, and turned to Toothless, who in turn, clamped his mouth over a mackerel. Both Night Furies tossed their fishes in the air, and allowed the other to catch it.
"You never told me why you shot us," Hiccup said, when they had a good laugh over their dragon's eating antics. "Or rather, why you missed."
The other boy was silent for a moment. He took the bread Hiccup offered and sat on the ground by Scatty. Hiccup did the same with Toothless.
"Hiccup," Evander began, "Does Berk have a set of rules they have to follow, too?"
"Ummf-hmmf." Hiccup nodded through a mouthful of bread. Evander took out the cold, slightly burnt fish from that morning and offered some to Hiccup.
"But you don't have any formal agreements when it comes to your dragons and war yet?" Evander clarified, ripping off a piece of bread and popping it into his mouth.
Hiccup nodded again. "We have this unspoken agreement that the dragons nest on Berk, and we train them so we can be friends with them."
After he swallowed the bread, Evander continued, "You might want to address that issue with the other riders, especially with the attack coming and all. Make it as clear as a Night Fury against white clouds that all you trained dragons are there as companions, that you train them to make sure you can coexist with them peacefully, and that you can defend Berk better against raids and all that.
"You never know when a next generation kid can overturn everything the whole town stands for. Or when another village will ultimately see dragon training as a threat. Nott has seen a good few tribes be wiped out by allied forces just because they were growing powerful than the allied bullies. It's partly why Nottlanders have lived like hermits for generations; to keep the outside world from ever deciding on a Nottlander massacre."
Hiccup winced. "Yeah, we're working on that. It's why dad is away; he's gone to negotiate a treaty."
"I'm thinking it's not going so well," Evander remarked, as he noticed Hiccup's glum expression. "The villages see dragon training as a threat. And as soon as the Berserkers hear of this, they'll... go berserk."
"I'm hoping it wouldn't get to that," Hiccup admitted. "It's not like I'm training Toothless and the others to be weapons. I don't ever want to use Toothless or any other dragon as a weapon for war. Especially the conquering-other-lands kind."
"Is that why this Alvin person decided to launch a huge scale dragon invasion on Berk? To claim it?" Evander asked.
"Probably." Hiccup replied, his eyes glinting. "So why did you fail to shoot me?"
"You are wily, you know that?" Evander sighed. Hiccup was not be distracted. "Anyway, all Nott villagers swear the oath of secrecy I told you guys about. And when I say secrecy, I mean absolute secrecy. No one else, apart from the villagers and Night Furies, is supposed to know where the island is. And if an outsider found out, or saw one of the islands' inhabitants…"
"Annihilated," Hiccup finished darkly.
Evander grinned sheepishly. "I was going for 'neutralized.'"
Hiccup shrugged. "You already told us about that. But you missed your shot."
Evander gestured to Hiccup and Toothless. "Duly proven."
"A Night Fury never misses," Hiccup reminded him.
"Very rarely," Evander agreed. He looked up at Scatty, who was enjoying her food. He lowered his voice. "But a Night Fury has never aimed like that for another Night Fury before. I haven't killed anyone either. I… can't. We couldn't."
Hiccup swallowed a piece of slightly burnt fish and sent Evander a good-natured smile. "I think I understand why."
Surprised, Evander gaped at him. Hiccup was starting to become less of the Viking he was expecting him to be. "You do?"
Throughout the rest of dinner, Hiccup told him how he met his Night Fury, and the some of the adventures he'd had with the dragon. Evander made a great audience. He didn't make faces, nor interrupt while Hiccup was talking, and he reacted in just the right places. He had laughed when Hiccup told him about the fish he shared with Toothless, had grimaced when Stoick restrained Toothless as a dragon guide to the nest, and had gasped when the gripping tale of the Red Death was done.
"You know,Berk still has the attack to prepare for," Hiccup reminded Evander once they'd had a nice light-hearted laugh over Hiccup's one-legged misadventures following the Red Death's death.
"You don't need to tell me," Evander groaned.
Hiccup's thoughts swirled in his head. He didn't plan to get shot by another Night Fury, and he most certainly didn't want Berk to be attacked by any tribe, Berserker, Outcast, nor Nottlander. Hiccup thought it was a coincidence that Evander found himself on Berk on the same day that the Outcast attack was predicted by Gothi. He trusted the Nottlander enough that Evander wasn't going to destroy Berk, but after turning Evander's explanation of Nott village and its Code over and over, Hiccup was led to believe that there was more to this random attack than just vengeance. Something must have triggered Alvin to mobilize the Outcasts. But what?
"Evander, don't you think it's a bit odd?"
"What is?"
"The timing of Gothi's prediction and your arrival here, I mean."
Evander's brow furrowed, and he frowned. Hiccup realized what his words suggested, so he tried to amend. "Hey! I'm not accusing you or anything. I just thought there might be something else to the attack that we're not taking into account."
"Maybe," Evander said, apparently deep in thought. Finally, he stood up and stretched. Scatty followed suit. "We'll figure it out somehow. Scatty and I will be off to our cave. See you at dawn, Hiccup."
Hiccup frowned. This person was going to help him find his father in the morning. It didn't seem right to Hiccup to let him sleep outdoors,despite what Evander said about outdoor training. But, knowing Evander, Hiccup had to go about this subtly. "Aren't you going to look for something to help track my dad with?"
"We can take of this tomorrow before we leave," Evander told him. "I was planning on using you as a basis, actually. But it helps if you have something that has his aura and scent. Like a spare boot, or cape."
"I have a whole house full of his stuff," Hiccup replied.
"That'll do!" Evander told him, and mounted Scatty. Before they could take off, Hiccup found himself inviting Evander to his home for a sleepover.
"Are you sure you won't mind me staying there?" Evander asked, wide-eyed.
…
"I wouldn't mind having company at home since it's just me and Toothless," Hiccup assured him for the third time. Hiccup led the way inside, and Toothless lit the tinder stone for warmth.
Evander sighed with relief. It felt great to be warm in a proper house. But his spirits sank when he thought of his twin and his parents. He had a gut feeling they weren't enjoying themselves as he was. His parents would be worried sick, even if Evander knew they'd never reveal it to anyone. Evander could think of several vile situations that Elene could find herself in, and it included being shot down by those Berserkers. Evander hoped not.
A low rumble shook Evander out of his thoughts. When he looked up, Hiccup grinned at him from upstairs.
"C'mon, you've got to see this!" Hiccup beckoned Evander to join him.
When Evander reached to top of the stairs, Toothless was nudging Scatty gently on a stone slab which Evander supposed to belong to Toothless. When Scatty obliged and flamed the slab, Toothless settled down on the space beside Hiccup's bed.
"I don't mind you guys, and Toothless won't, either," Hiccup told Evander with a tone of finality, and Toothless heartily agreed.
"Well, in that case, thanks!" Evander said gratefully, and settled down by Scatty's side. She wrapped a wing around him, keeping the boy warm. His head poked out comically, but Hiccup didn't comment on it, not with Scatty there. So after Hiccup put away his flight suit and saddle, he tucked himself in bed, and tried to sleep.
"Evander, how did you meet Scatty?" Hiccup asked, when sleep wouldn't claim him. He glanced at the other boy, who became sober. "Oh, right. Yeah. Oath of secrecy."
"It's all right," Evander told him. Evander's gaze landed on the stuffed Nadder at the bed's head rest and idly wondered if the missing motherly presence in the household might have been responsible for the existence of that toy. "It's just that… I've…"
He shook his head. "What am I thinking? Scatty chose me, not the other way around."
"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked. Evander was silent for a few moments.
"In Nott," Evander explained, "we have a very different way of bonding with dragons for the very first time. Children are left alone in a Night Fury nest, and a pair is formed once a rider and a dragon realize that they could work together to get out of the nest. Usually it's male to male and female to female. But me and my twin, we're oddities. We're not the biggest kids in our generation, and yet my petite sister bonded with the largest male dragon and named him 'Khor.' With alltherobust males I could have bonded with, the dragon who chose me was the smallest,and one of the few females of her generation."
Evander's gut squirmed. It was drilled into every Nottlander child that the outside world was to be treated with extreme caution, aside from the oath of secrecy. Outsiders were not to be trusted, especially with the secrets of Nott. That he was describing a Nott tradition to an outsider went against his instincts, but it wasn't the first time he'd done that today. Strangely, it felt nice to be able to share his dragon experiences with Hiccup. Evander found the boy easy to talk with. Hiccup wasn't obnoxious, rude nor intimidating; he spoke with kindness, sincerity and with the more-than-occasional sarcasm, which wasn't very Viking-like at all to Evander, but the Nottlander didn't mind. Instead of a strong robust body, the boy had been equipped with a ready mind, efficient working hands, and a witty tongue.
"You talk as if dragons are more than just pets," Hiccup observed.
Evander frowned. "Dragons aren't pets. I thought you knew that, especially that you're bonded with a Night Fury. They are life partners, animal companions. Pets have a master-beast ring to it, if you catch my drift."
Hiccup shared a moment with Toothless before he answered, "Well, Toothless is my best friend. He's not just my pet dragon."
"You know," Evander added slowly, eyeing Hiccup's left leg, then shifting his gaze back to the male Night Fury curled up beside Hiccup. "Toothless is lucky that he found you. No one in Nott would help a fallen Night Fury. If Toothless had been shot down at my place, he would have been grounded for good."
Hiccup shot a quick smile to Evander. "It wasn't easy. I had to sneak into the forge to make the saddle and tail fin. When I was learning how to fly Toothless, I had to make sure we wouldn't be seen, or we'd both be dead. But it sounds like you've had your fair share of shenanigans with Scatty."
"If we live through this mission and siege, I'll definitely consider telling you," Evander said, yawning. He slipped his head under Scatty's wing, and soon, all Hiccup could focus on were their nearly synchronized breathing. Not long after, Hiccup drifted off into the realm of dreams too.
…
Despite the grim objectives of the mission, their dragons were at least having a bit of fun, much to their riders' amusement.
After a quick bite at the great hall, Evander tagged along as Hiccup rummaged through the house and held out one of Stoick's non-ceremonial belts for Scatty. She sniffed it fervently, committing the scent to memory. Toothless did the same at just about the same time. They stood stock still for a few moments. Then suddenly, both Night Furies were raring to go outside.
"He's mimicking her," Hiccup noted, curiosity glinting in his eyes.
"No; it's like he's trained like Scatty is!" Evander exclaimed, as Hiccup opened the door. Evnader sincerely wondered about Toothless' origins. He was beginning to think that Hiccup's dragon partner had once nested at Nott, but he set these thoughts aside to focus on the mission at hand.
After a pre-flight check, they took off. Toothless and Scatty flew once around Berk to determine a lead; Toothless found it first.
With a powerful beat of his jet black wings, Toothless tore through the sky near his top speed. He wasn't going to do any fancy flying moves today, yet he was ecstatic; Toothless was glad he could fly with another dragon without worrying about leaving the other behind. But Scatty was more than a match for Toothless. She had a complete set of wings and fins, and the fact that she was slightly smaller and lighter helped too. Scatty taunted him as she flew past Toothless. This only made Toothless more excited.
Soon, the little speck called Berk Island disappeared behind them. Hiccup was wondering how many more Night Fury secret arts he could learn from Evander when the other boy turned to him.
"So, which way to Outcast Island?" Evander asked.
"What? We're supposed to be tracking my dad!" Hiccup protested.
Evander scoffed. "Come on. Night Furies can cover the estimated distance in less than two days. Time is not our main problem. Knowledge of the opponent, however..."
"The Hairy Hooligans have been fending off dragons for three hundred years," Hiccup told him with certainty. "We can handle a few stubborn Outcasts."
"How about Outcasts riding dragons?"
Hiccup's composure faltered. "That might be more of a problem. We don't know how many riders and trained dragons they have. But when I was held at Outcast Island, I saw a Scauldron, a Changewing and a Whispering Death in cages."
Evander considered for a moment, then shook his head. "Too bad I wasn't paying attention when dad was lecturing about those Outcasts. All I know is that they were banished Vikings from different tribes, and they can be cunning. Anything else we know about? Battle strategies? Formations? Aces?"
"I don't know," Hiccup admitted, looking very cross.
"Then why don't we find out?" Evander suggested. "You don't look like someone who works out a plan without knowing all the details."
Hiccup grinned. "You, sir, are starting to know me disturbingly well."
Evander shrugged. Hiccup veered off to the left, and Toothless rumbled in apprehension.
"We'll use the clouds as cover," Hiccup shouted over the roaring wind, once he determined they were in Outcasts waters. "We do a once-around over their island, gather as much information as we can, and fly off. Remember, just a QUICK look. We still need to locate my father."
"Gotcha."
"And watch out for the catapults. They throw nasty nets and bolas that can bringdown a Night Fury. Stay clear of stray dragons and their riders."
"Got it. Anything else?"
"Don't be seen!"
"The fog will do that for us," Evander assured him, but as the island came into view, a thin layer of fog failed to hide the entirety of Outcast Island, a gloomy outcrop of rock jutting above the sea. Evander groaned. "Berk looks so much better."
"Yeah," Hiccup agreed. As they flew closer, they pulled up into the cloud layer to avoid being seen. He called to Evander, "Okay, change of plans!"
Evander glanced at him warily.
"How do you feel about terrorizing a few Outcasts?"
…
A.N.: I had fun developing the bond between these two riders and their dragons. I wish I could have included the other riders as well, but that won't happen until chapter 6. To those who find long conversations boring, I can tell you that the action begins next chapter. Thanks again, Cke1st, for ironing out the kinks in this chapter.
In the next chapter, Hiccup, Evander, Toothless and Scatty find something (or someone's?) else on Outcast Island, with upsetting consequences.