Hiccup couldn't believe how well his mission was going. Sure, he barely escaped capture and lost his companion along the way, but he'd achieved more than he aimed for. He had gained information on Berk's attackers and sent his companion back to the village to forewarn the Hooligans. He was also able to track down his father, who now flew with him back to Berk after Hiccup filled him in on the latest events. Everything was going smoothly, and if Hiccup knew his luck, he would bet his inventions that something wrong would hit him in the face, sooner and not later.
So when a fire ball shot between Thornado and Toothless and detonated several feet away, Hiccup knew his luck was up.
Thornado's right wingtip was singed when the round of plasma whizzed past. Injured, the Thunderdrum opted to return to its home turf, the sea. Thornado swam in agitated circles with the bad wing held aloft. It took an entire minute trying to pacify Thornado, who remained in the water no matter what his rider did. With a hand stretched in Hiccup's general direction, Stoick called for his son from their spot on the seawater. He couldn't do much more, and Stoick didn't like it.
Meanwhile, Hiccup and Toothless had their own problems. Toothless had veered to the right fast enough to avoid the blast. When they saw Thornado go down to the sea, Toothless attempted to dive for Stoick. The Night Fury had just folded his wings when something big collided with Toothless in mid-air. Toothless wrestled with the thing and they spun out of control, as they pelted towards the sea below them. The world was a blur to Hiccup, and he could only keep himself from being separated from Toothless by his death grip on the saddle. Finally, everything went still. Dazed, Hiccup looked around to see where the big thing went, and felt a hot fishy breath down his nape. Hiccup turned, and found another Night Fury's nose an inch from his.
"AH!" Hiccup yelled in shock, leaning back on his saddle as far as his harness would allow. The other dragon had latched onto Toothless' wing joints using all four legs, rendering Toothless unable to control flight and unable to fight without injuring his wings. Toothless roared at his assailant, and the assailant roared back. Hiccup, who happened to be in between them, covered his ears.
When the roars subsided into low ominous growls, Hiccup turned to the rider astride the other Night Fury's back. The girl grinned at him humorlessly. "Hello, Fishbone."
"Let my dragon go, Elene!" Toothless echoed his rider's sentiments with a growl.
"You're deluded if you think I'm going to do that," she answered coolly. "Now, tell me where Vee-vee is, Outlander."
"Can't your dragon track him?" Hiccup asked, motioning to the great big head between them. Elene's expression twisted for the briefest moment, and Hiccup knew he asked the wrong question.
"Just tell me where my brother is!" Elene shrieked, and for moment, Hiccup thought she might order her dragon to do something horrible. One look at Khor told Hiccup that the dragon definitely wanted to, and for a brief moment, Hiccup feared for Toothless.
"Okay, okay! No tracking!" Hiccup cried out, part of him wondering why such a mighty-looking Night Fury couldn't track like Evander said Night Furies could. Hiccup forced himself to think, which was harder than you would imagine. He wouldn't ask Toothless to retaliate with a tail whack or two; it would only aggravate the other Night Fury, or worse, its rider. He could wait for his dad to find them, and Thornado would do a sonic blast that would surely let Toothless escape. But it wouldn't stop the other rider from pursuing them, and Hiccup had a sneaking feeling that Evander's twin was not as merciful as Evander was. He thought Elene had the aura of a cold-blooded soldier. On the last time he was in a place where people wouldn't think twice to kill, Hiccup was snooping around for information, which was something he did have to bargain with. Then the option occurred to him.
"All right, I'll tell you where he is," Hiccup said, plastering a nervous smile on his face. What better way to wriggle out of a tight spot by giving the captor what she wanted? Inwardly, Hiccup hated using this strategy taught to him by Mildew, but with Toothless on the line, Hiccup was prepared to do anything.
Elene was noticeably calmer after that. She even sent another humorless smile his way. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Cough up, Fishbone, you and your dragon don't have all night."
"I'll tell you where he is," Hiccup repeated. Both Khor and Elene eyed him skeptically, but Hiccup stood his ground. "But not until you release Toothless."
Elene started. "Toothless?"
"I'm not telling you anything unless you release my Night Fury," Hiccup decided. On cue, Toothless growled indignantly from below. "You can threaten me all you want, Elene, but you're a Nottlander. You're honor bound to respect Night Furies."
"Outlanders," Elene scoffed. "You're not in a position to say that. I'm in control here. And you think I'm bluffing?"
"Yes," Hiccup said firmly, meeting her eyes squarely. "Evander told me. Killing, or even just injuring a Night Fury is sufficient grounds for disgraceful execution."
Hiccup knew he hit home when she broke the stare and she patted Khor's great neck. "What do you think, Khor?"
The dragon snorted. Elene sighed. "All right. I hate to admit it, but you're right. We're at a stalemate. So here's what Khor and I will do. Khor will release… uh, Toothless, and you will be leading me to Evander. We'll follow closely. Deal?"
"Deal."
Khor released and followed Toothless, who shot out into the night. But they weren't heading to Berk just yet, and Elene didn't need to know that.
Finding Stoick again wasn't so hard. Hiccup supposed that his father having a human voice comparable to a Thunderdrum's helped. Elene was so stunned to see the chief on a Thunderdrum, she forgot her prejudice against Outlanders. Hiccup made a hasty introduction, during which Elene used the time to compose herself and hope that Hiccup didn't see her immense surprise. But Hiccup did. And Hiccup vowed to ask about it when things lay low.
Hiccup listened in Stoick and Elene as they forged a deal and cross-checked information on Berk's current condition. The Nottlander made sure that Stoick had a firm grasp of her objectives and her village's absolute secrecy policy that put Berk on the hot list for destruction, something that Hiccup seconded.
"Not unless that Whispering Death rider wipes it out first," Elene said grimly. "If my guesses are as good as a Night Fury's aim, then Berk will have been destroyed by now."
Stoick refused to believe this.
"Yer underestimating Berk, lass," Stoick told her. He didn't see his son's face grow even paler under the moonlight. "We've been fighting off dragons for generations. My tribe will be able to hold the village against the Outcasts."
Elene cast him a stormy look. "An occupational hazard, huh? I wish I could say that with more confidence for the Vikings who built wooden houses and fought fire-breathing creatures on a regular basis. But that's beside the point.
"The Outcast leader is not as deranged as the new Berserker leader I've heard of, but he's crazy about riding dragons and revenge on Berk. His dragon is a Whispering Death, and that dragon had a big grudge on Night Furies. If Khor wasn't the best fighter I've seen, I wouldn't be here right now." She looked at Hiccup pointedly. "Has your Night Fury battled a Whispering Death before? On Berk?"
Hiccup nodded mutely. The question sent shock waves through him, and he had a brief vision of stepping off a cliff as he watched Toothless take on a Whispering Death. But that vision was snuffed out by another grim possibility.
"What is it, son?" Stoick asked urgently.
"Alvin's surprise," Hiccup said, realizing the meaning of the Outcast's words. He explained this to them, and Stoick was suddenly struck with another wave of gut-wrenching worry for his homeland which he fought to control.
"Less talk, more flying!" Stoick declared, patting Thornado's head to get his dragon's attention. As an afterthought, he added, "And swimming."
...
Evander and Astrid directed their dragons towards the academy, where they decided to land. Snotlout and Hookfang, along with the rest of the Berk riders, joined them. Each dragon carried one or two survivors plucked from harm's way. Below, the ground Vikings who found stable land before the incident trooped towards the academy with Spitelout leading them. And though these Vikings were as rough as a dragon's hide, seeing their home destroyed in a matter of minutes left them at a loss.
The main part of the village, which included the town plaza, the armory, the food stock and several residential houses, was reduced to wooden and earthen rubble. A chunk of the cliff fell into the sea and took an otherwise fully functional catapult with it. Two Nadder riders swooped in to rescue those who had fallen with the catapult.
Scatty deposited her passenger Viking neatly on the ground. Evander coaxed her into the arena where Stormfly allowed her rider to dismount. He hopped down from the saddle, and his arms hung limp at his sides. "Alvin's dragon must have eaten the foundation and collapsed the tunnels. We're too late."
"No." Astrid refused to believe that the battle was over. "We can still fight. We're going to find Alvin, and we're going to give him what he deserves."
"All right, I'm with you," Evander said, looking around the riders that dotted the arena. "Er… I'd suggest you deal with them first."
"What?" Astrid asked, a hand clamped to her forehead.
"You're Hiccup's second, right?" Evander jerked his head to the collection of Vikings and dragons all around them. Spitelout was already managing the ground troops, but the riders were haphazardly strewn across the arena. "As the second, you should support the commander as best as you can. He'll count on you to keep Berk's riders in check."
Astrid flushed at the sudden reminder of her responsibility. She remembered her first rider meeting well. She was intimidated by all the adults looking down on her. It felt odd that a teen was assigned to give orders over the older riders, and it felt even odder and heavier now that they were in the middle of a real battle, and that she was injured. But she couldn't let her people down; they looked to her as their leader in Hiccup's absence, and it would not do for her to breakdown now.
She steeled herself and asked the riders to gather around her. After hearing the reports from the teams on their side of the battle, Astrid found out that they had sustained heavy losses. A Monstrous Nightmare and a Zippleback were downed by bolas and well-placed rocks, while several Nadders and Gronckles had been captured. Others were missing from the destruction caused by the tunnel collapse.
"All right," Astrid said, putting a hand on Stormfly for support. "Snotlout, you're on rescue. Take a team with you and look for other survivors. Watch out for stray Outcasts."
"You got it!" Snotlout winked at her. He flew off with Hookfang and several other riders before Astrid could respond.
Astrid looked up at the twins on their Zippleback. "Ruff, Tuff, you're on patrol. Any sign of the Outcasts, light some gas."
"Yeah!" Ruff whooped and banged her helmet against her twin. Moments later, Barf and Belch perched precariously on the metal web above the arena. Occasionally, a Nadder rider would swoop in to deposit a survivor, or a prisoner, the latter of which was thrown in the arena's dragon cages.
"Fishlegs," Astrid continued, "I need you to—"
She paused when she couldn't find the burly young Viking and his Gronckle. Anxious, she looked around the remaining riders, who returned sullen stares to her. "Where's Fishlegs?"
Snotlout and Hookfang swooped inside the arena at that moment. "Snotlout, have you found Fishlegs?"
"Meatlug probably dozed off somewhere," Snotlout replied casually as Hookfang set down another Hooligan. "They'll be back."
"Keep searching!" Astrid called, and Hookfang disappeared with Snotlout into the night once more.
"What are the rest of us going to do, Astrid?" asked a Nadder rider covered with soot.
Astrid turned to the other riders. "Gronckle riders, you can take the first shift of aerial patrol. Let Ruff and Tuff know about anything suspicious. The rest of you, tend to your dragons while you can, and take the next shift of patrol to let the Gronckles rest."
The meeting was dismissed when Spitelout demanded a report from Astrid.
"Yeh sure yeh don't want anything fer tha'?" Spitelout nodded to her wound. Astrid waved him off and proceeded to report everything from the aerial strike to their theory on how Berk was suddenly crumbled. Spitelout was not amused to learn that Evander failed to tell him about Alvin's dragon. He turned on the boy who was sulking in the background, but Astrid moved between them before Evander could do anything.
"As a dragon rider, sir, Evander is under my team. I can attest to his loyalty to Berk in this battle," she said, blinking spots out of her eyes. The next thing she knew was darkness and a vague tingling sensation where her arrow wound would have been.
…
Hiccup distracted himself from worrying by observing how Elene and Khor flew. Like Evander, Elene flew with practiced ease, and the dragon seemed to know what his rider was thinking. When Khor adjusted to the wind currents, Elene would move in unison with her Night Fury to remain in course. Toothless seemed to catch on what Hiccup was doing, and flew close to the Nottlanders.
Khor spared them a glance, and flapped to gain altitude and to keep a comfortable to distance away from the smaller Night Fury. Toothless joined Khor after a few short seconds. Khor went into a shallow dive. When Khor saw Toothless behind him, he zoomed upwards and pulled into a tight loop. Determined, Toothless followed Khor's movements with respectable accuracy for a Night Fury with a prosthetic tail fin. Soon, the two Night Furies flew wingtip-to-wingtip.
"Toothless," Hiccup scolded. Toothless growled, and Hiccup smiled despite himself. "Nice work, bud."
"Khor, don't tire yourself," Elene chided, rubbing Khor's neck soothingly. "I'm sure Toothless just wants to check out your awesome flying skills and maybe copy a few moves." She smirked and added, "Like they could."
"Hey!" came Hiccup's indignant shout.
"A Night Fury might have chosen you to be a human partner, but you're still a jealous Outlander to me," Elene said coolly.
Khor huffed and tolerated Toothless' efforts in keeping up with him. That is to say, Khor and Toothless ended up racing towards Berk. With Khor not at his best condition and Toothless flying with an artificial tail, it made for a good competition. Despite his fatigue, Khor clearly had a rival, and he knew it even if he reached the island first with a few seconds to spare.
"VICTORY!" Elene cried out.
She turned to Hiccup and Toothless, but when she followed Hiccup's gaze, all traces of competitiveness were snuffed out of her. They landed up on the cliffs overlooking Berk, or what was left of Berk. Stoick caught up with them up in the cliffs some time after, with Stoick grunting about some stray Scauldron blocking the direct path towards the harbour.
"I guess we'll need new houses again," Hiccup said feebly, his tone being an ominous omen to Stoick, who leaned over the edge. Hiccup and Stoick stare in silent horror at their once thriving village.
"Where are all the fighters?" Elene wondered, squinting at what she could see.
"The Outcasts are probably nearby," Stoick answered. "Some of them will retreat into the woods or in the ships out in the sea. As for my men…"
"There!" Hiccup pointed towards the academy, which had remained intact and was now brightly lit. Hiccup wondered idly if the welcoming Zippleback was paying attention to its surroundings or busy snapping at each other's heads. He made to lead Toothless there, but Stoick stopped him with a raised hand.
"Son, I need ye to scout the island," Stoick said. "Elene, go with him. That way, we'll lessen your contact with Berk. If ye find anything, send up a fire ball nice and bright in the sky. We'll meet at the academy."
With a temporarily grounded dragon, Stoick was forced to make his way down to the arena through the ruins on foot. When he and Thornado drew near, Belch ignited Barf's gas and caused everyone in the arena to go on high alert. Stoick stomped inside. His imperious presence stunned the entire tribe into silence. Stoick stared deep into his tribesmen's eyes, and felt a wave of dread wash over him. He fought against it. And he won. Stoick punched a fist in the air. The entire arena broke out into a cacophony of war cries that meant one thing: their leader had returned.
High above, two Night Furies and their riders looked over the village from the cliffs.
"Elene," Hiccup began, "You told me you wanted to find your brother, but you ended up trading information with us and helping Berk. I need to know why you're doing this."
"You need my assurance that I won't betray you to the Outcasts? Okay, fair enough," Elene said, taking out a dagger from a pack attached to the saddle. She attached the sheath to the waist band of her flight suit. "I've already told your father, and I'll tell you again. I want my second-in-command. When I found that Vee-vee had tangled himself with you Hooligans, I realized that to get my brother back, I have to deal with the consequences of all this. And I'll do just that.
"I don't know how much my twin has told you, but I will tell you this. Nottlanders take honor and integrity seriously. I don't intend to go back on my word."
"You're really extra sure?" Hiccup asked skeptically. She stared back with a draconian ferocity that mirrored Khor's. And Hiccup mumbled, "Thanks."
"I'm not doing it for Berk!" Elene protested, but something in Hiccup's eyes told her that he already knew that.
"I just needed to hear it from you," Hiccup said, "'cause, it's kinda hard to ride into battle with a dragon who thinks my own dragon is his rival, and with someone who's friendly enough to call me 'fishbone' and a 'jealous Outlander,' y'know?"
"Fine." Elene sighed. "Let's just get this over with."
Elene and Khor zoomed towards the forest. As Toothless flew over Berk, Hiccup noticed something.
"Bud, can you land there?"
Once they were on the ground, Hiccup examined a tunnel that remained intact after the collapse. What he saw confirmed his suspicions that Alvin used the tunnels underneath Berk to destroy most of the village. But knowing this only opened new doors for questions, the most important of which surrounded the Outcasts' exact whereabouts. Hiccup reasoned that the intact tunnels were the Outcasts' escape routes to a camp somewhere in the forest. He and Toothless ventured deeper into the tunnel until they arrived at an intersection.
Beside him, Toothless hissed.
"What is it, bud?"
Toothless' eyes were slits, and he was apprehensive about something that lay ahead in the tunnel to their right. Toothless fired. The shot hit the ground a few feet away from something, a very reptilian something that thrashed wildly.
"Toothless, you just made it mad!" Hiccup cried out, and had to pull on Toothless' saddle to stop the Night Fury. In the light that Toothless' fire generated, Hiccup saw the familiar hide of a Whispering Death. The worm-like dragon crawled and joined them in the fork road. A large man was upon the dragon, which was clearly in distress following Toothless' bright fire.
"Ah, if it isn't 'iccup. I was 'oping you'd come."
There was no mistaking it. Hiccup would know that gruff voice and that big figure anywhere. "Alvin."
"How does it feel to have your village crumble before your eyes, 'iccup?"
"Why don't you tell me, Alvin?" Hiccup shot back, arms folded defiantly. "I didn't see how it happened."
"Oh? Shame," Alvin said in a mock sad tone. "No matter, I'm not done with Berk yet. I'm sure you'll see the second phase of my plan soon enough. I only hope you'll be there to see it and regret not joining me."
"I'll never betray Berk!"
"Oh, but you already did, when you taught that sheep-loving old man how to train dragons," Alvin answered, his teeth bared in a sinister smile. "Pity he didn't make it here. He would have loved to see the spectacle on your beloved academy!"
Hiccup could hold Toothless back no longer. Toothless lunged at the Whispering Death, but it was ready for the Night Fury. Alvin's dragon lashed with its tail and caught Toothless' back before the Night Fury could dodge. Hiccup lurched forward as Toothless slammed into the wall of the tunnel.
Hiccup was conscious enough to see Alvin's dragon clamping its mouth at the tunnel ceiling, and the earth shook all around them. The Whispering Death slinked back into the tunnel and left Hiccup and Toothless in the crumbling fork road.
"We can't let them destroy the academy!" Hiccup said. He and Toothless followed the Whispering Death's path. Hiccup flattened himself as best as he could while Toothless ran as swift as his short legs would carry him. As he ran, Toothless sent out a special roar that allowed him to get his bearings. Hiccup made a mental note to ask Evander about this ability; he can take care of that later. Hiccup heard the other dragon ahead of them. Night Furies were fast in the air and fast enough on land, but they were outmatched by a Whispering Death underground. Hiccup knew that Toothless couldn't catch up with it.
"Toothless, warning shot!" Toothless fired a small fireball that hit the Whispering Death's tail end. Hiccup heard the other dragon wail in pain, but it continued to traverse the tunnel upon its master's orders. A crumbling sound came from up ahead.
"Another one!" The next shot hit the wall of earth that zoomed up to meet them. The force of the fireball was strong enough to punch a hole that allowed Toothless to scurry through. "Good one, bud! I see light there. Alvin must have gone through that hole!"
He and Toothless reached the hole where a shaft of moonlight shone through. Toothless slowed down as they neared the patch of light. Hiccup realized they were in a bad position. The Whispering Death had led them to an intersection where five tunnels met. Hiccup could hear the distinct sound that gave Whispering Deaths their fearsome reputation. Alvin had probably lured them to the Outcast camp, where Alvin's dragons were ready to pounce once Toothless came near enough.
He patted Toothless neck to get the dragon's attention. Sensing danger as well, Toothless halted, and looked back at Hiccup, who said, "Bud, we need to find another way out. Could you do that special roar thing you just did?"
Once more, Toothless opened his mouth and let out a distinctive roar. Hiccup braced himself as Toothless turned back and raced through a tunnel to their left. The eerie whispering behind them grew louder, and Hiccup hoped no Outcast would greet them as he saw light ahead. This time, Toothless didn't slow down, and Hiccup trusted his dragon's judgment. Toothless poked his head outside the hole.
The good news: they were in a forest clearing, and they saw no immediate signs of Alvin and the Outcasts.
The bad news: something dark and big was zooming towards them. It fired.
Toothless jumped out of the way just in time. The fireball detonated deep inside the tunnel. Several shafts of bright light illuminated the forest, indicating locations of tunnels. The forest was filled with cries of Whispering Deaths, which made the hair on Hiccup's nape stand on end.
The 'big dark something' landed lightly beside Toothless.
"You made it!" exclaimed Evander, who looked like someone lifted a Gronckle off him. Upon realizing his uncharacteristic exuberance, Evander stared into Scatty's jet black scales that gleamed under the moonlight. Could he admit that he, an elite rider of Nott and second-in-command in the frumentarii, found comfort in seeing an Outlander rider return safely to his homeland, when that was an established disadvantage for Nott? Shouldn't he be glad that one of Nott's rival towns was now nearly wiped from the map?
In his mind's eye, he saw his father's angry glare, and his mother's disappointed frown bearing down on him. But when he looked up again, he saw Hiccup's face which bore no jest, hate nor malice. The Outlander never did. It was no surprise that somewhere along the way, Evander had started to trust this Outlander called Hiccup.
Evander lurched; Scatty butted Toothless excitedly, and Toothless rumbled in return. When Hiccup raised an eyebrow, Evander rolled his eyes. "Don't mind her. She's probably venting to Toothless how annoying your flock of Terrors are. Those little gits stayed after the other dragons left Berk. So how did your end go?"
Hiccup gave Evander the short version of how Elene had chosen to help Berk in the hopes of finding her twin. Evander was speechless for a moment, and recovered to bring Hiccup up to speed. Hiccup was clearly distressed in finding that Astrid was hurt and poisoned.
"Gothi says she'll be fine," Evander assured him, conveniently leaving out the part that he had administered a primary antidote. It was a special blend from the Nott healers, and Evander saw no need to tell Hiccup that. "But she'll be out for the rest of the battle. Scatty sensed Toothless on our way back, and here we are."
"No one followed you?" Hiccup asked. Evander shook his head. "Good. We need to find the Outcast camp and stop Alvin from demolishing the academy. It looks like he's gotten a few Whispering Deaths to do it."
An explosion from a hundred feet away dragged their minds back into the battle.
The two Night Furies took off immediately, and flew into the fray. Hiccup and Evander saw Khor rise up from the smoke with a number of dragons behind him. Scatty and Toothless followed them, and easily overtook the other dragons and their disgruntled Outcast riders in a climb. The Outcasts slipped and slid during flight, and they held on their dragons backs in the wrong places. One rider was strangling his Monstrous Nightmare by a four-limb grip. A blue-green Nadder was trying to buck off its rider, who was pulling at its head spikes. Hiccup didn't know which side he felt sorry for, the mistreated dragons or the clueless riders.
They passed by Hookfang and Meatlug, but their riders were nowhere to be seen. When Khor finally levelled and circled high above Berk, the herd behind him followed his lead. One rider slid off his Nightmare and landed on the bucking Nadder below.
"What's happening?" Hiccup asked Evander, whose face was surprisingly lit up with a smile. Scatty and Toothless flew side-by-side with Khor just in front. "Why are all these dragons suddenly following Khor? And why are you smiling?"
"It's Khor," Evander explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He's dominated over the other dragons."
"He's like a Red Death?" Hiccup asked, horrified. But Evander didn't elaborate.
Elene risked a glance. She called back at them saying, "Evander, I need you to do a Janus (1) for those runts. Then you two go back for the prisoners at the camp. GO!"
Evander paled. He explained what a Janus was to Hiccup, who expressed the same distaste.
"So it's 'join us or else we send them to Valhalla'?"
"Or to the Underworld," Evander said, "but same difference."
Hiccup screwed up his face. "I won't do it."
Evander said nothing, but Hiccup knew that the Nottlander agreed wholeheartedly.
"We'll round them up and hand them over to my dad. He'll do the chiefing," Hiccup suggested. "But will your twin be all right up here?"
"Trust me, she will. I pity those newbies," Evander assured him, jerking his head back to the Outcast riders who were in varying degrees of irritation over their dragons. They both winced when one let out a stream of colorful swear words. "Time to go?"
"Right!" Hiccup nodded, and both boys flew to their side of the herd. It didn't take long for the Outcast riders to decide. Most of them chose to surrender, while two stubborn ones remained loyal to Alvin. A few moments later, Scatty and Toothless had plucked those riders off their dragons, who defected from the group and followed them.
When Evander and Hiccup landed at the arena, everyone was psyched up to fight. Stoick had the two prisoners of war locked in one of the dragon cages sooner than Hiccup could explain the situation. The renegade dragons, a Nadder and a Monstrous Nightmare, were quickly subdued by the Vikings with a help from Hiccup and Evander, and Gobber had them in separate cages as well. Several Vikings were to wait at the arena to receive the flock of dragons arriving with Khor and Elene, and Evander was making sure they'll be ready for the onslaught while Hiccup faced his father.
"So, now all we have to worry about are the ground and sea troops?" Stoick clarified.
"Don't forget Alvin and his dragon," Hiccup reminded him.
"That's one dragon against all of us. We can take them," Stoick said. The other Vikings murmured their agreement, and Stoick was more than ready to join them. But upon reading Hiccup's expression, Stoick stopped himself. Instead of dismissing his son, Stoick said, "Come on, out with it. Ye've got something else on yer mind, and I want to know if it concerns our tribe."
"Alvin has leverage over us, dad," Hiccup blurted out. "It's just him and a few stunned dragons that might come around at any minute and are more than ready to collapse what's left of Berk. Dad, I don't know how much Alvin can control them. I think he's biding his time somewhere underground, waiting for the best chance to strike. Probably."
Stoick stayed silent, contemplating. Hiccup waited with bated breath.
"I know Alvin, son. He won't attack unless he has people behind him. Take those people away, and he'll slink away like his treacherous title says he is. So that's what I'd like to do with those ruddy Outcasts who've taken the Great Hall. I'd like you to take your riders and look into this dragon problem and fix it."
"I won't let you down, dad," Hiccup said more bravely than what he thought he felt. Stoick put a hand on his son's shoulder. Hiccup nearly buckled under the force of Stoick's hand.
"Son, you know what happened the last time you fought a Whispering Death," Stoick told him quietly. "But if I could trust this mission to anybody else, I would rather ship myself off to Thor-knows-where. Don't lose another leg."
'Or any other body part,' Hiccup added in his thoughts.
Stoick nodded, and stomped off towards the other Vikings. Once the chief's back was turned, Hiccup released a breath he just realized he was holding. Once again, the village's survival was at stake, and Hiccup's father had entrusted a very important mission to him. It was not the first time Hiccup was in this position, but he still felt like he had swallowed a whole glass of yaknog. With a nudge from Toothless, Hiccup forced himself back to reality and began to plan. What he came up with was certainly not foolproof, but it was worth a shot.
He and Toothless passed by Gobber, who was sewing a Monstrous Nightmare's torn wing. They walked past a grieving rider shedding tears over a Gronckle with a spear sticking out of its mid-section. Finally, they joined Evander and Scatty by the entrance, where Ruff and Tuff were poking fun at the Nottlander's riding suit.
"Look how black and shiny it is!" Hiccup heard Ruff say.
"How come we never noticed it before?" Tuff was asking, and both twins made to stroke it. Evander shrunk back from them with a dark look. Hiccup stepped between them and shared his plan.
"That's crazy," Ruffnut said, banging her helmet against her twin.
"And stupid," added Tuffnut.
In unison, they leaned into Hiccup and shouted, "We like that!"
…
All the Hooligans were motivated with the return of their chief, and they were motivated even more that the captured Hooligans were returned to them after their flock of Terrors launched a highly successful rescue mission on the Outcast camp under the leadership of Berk's pre-teens.
"We surrounded them," a wiry boy called Reginar was telling the Vikings, much to the gusto of his peers. "Gnak and I threw the fish—"
"Right in the ugly Outcast's face!" Gnak added.
"Then we released the Terrors—" Yrsa exclaimed, throwing her Terrible Terror in the air.
"—and WHAM!" Reginar yelled, slamming his fist into a shield Gnak held. Gnak tumbled over and was lifted to his feet by his mother.
"Hel is served," Yrsa finished, a radiant smile gracing her round face. Her Terror licked her cheek affectionately and proceeded to nip the end of her braid. As Reginar continued to tell the tale of how he had instructed his other friends to release the captives, the other kids added on to his story in multiple degrees of enthusiasm. The flock of Terrible Terrors flew about excitedly, wondering what could make their human children so worked up. Evander had to take Scatty out of the arena to keep her from using the little dragons for target practice.
When the children finished, Stoick and the rest of the veteran Vikings congratulated them heartily and sent them back to the refugee camp before marching off to take the Great Hall and the forest camp.
Their Viking fighting spirit leaked into the riders as well. With renewed determination, the riders and their dragons grabbed their equipment and flew into position. Hiccup was checking everything just in case, but he still felt something bad would happen. It was just his luck.
"Is everybody in position here?" Hiccup called as Toothless hovered over a tunnel where Ruff and Tuff were fighting over a length of rope. The cries of confirmation from the group of riders surrounding the tunnel greeted him.
"Uh, I have a question." Tuffnut held up the rope hanging limply from his hand. "We're really going to capture dragons with jaws that can chew rocks into dust using these?"
"And a couple of nets?" Ruff added as she yanked the rope from Tuff's grip, and the grappling hook dangled precariously beneath. Belch had to swerve out of harm's way.
Hiccup nodded. "Thank you for repeating that question. But yes, we are. Stay in position and wait for the signal. Then you'll have your go. Make it count!"
Hiccup and Toothless zoomed high above the forest where the Nottlander twins awaited them. They found Elene scowling at her brother, who was chuckling merrily. Elene had succeeded in herding the Outcast riders to the arena, and had them under quarantine, courtesy of the Berk Dragon Training Academy and associates. Hiccup left his Gobber in charge of the Outcast riders to distract his mentor from asking about the Nottlanders.
"Elene's still recovering," Evander said in amusement as Toothless flew beside Scatty. "Apparently the 'commander' is shocked that you guys managed to train other dragon species. I hate to say this, but I told her so!"
"I hope this plan of yours works, Outlander," Elene said, ignoring Evander's teases and surprising Hiccup with her less-than-venomous tone as Khor flew easily beside Toothless. "It's not what I had in mind, but it's a good plan."
"Which is the best thing you have to say for an Outlander, isn't it?" Evander taunted his sister. Then he turned to Hiccup before she could retort. "Are you ready?"
Hiccup squared his shoulders and stared back. "No."
And they scattered to set up their counterattack.
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Author's Note: Beta work by Cke1st. What did you think of the chapter? Like it or hate it? Tell me why in a review! ConCrit is appreciated.
(1) Janus - In Roman mythology, he is considered as the god of transitions and is depicted as having two heads.
In the next chapter, we'll see how well Hiccup's counterattack will go, and whether or not anybody will lose a body part.