"Okay, role call!"

Horrendous put one hand on his hip and gestured to the terrible terrors.

After his reunion with Toothless, Valka had led him and his dragon to where she'd been keeping the rest of his thunder. A part of him grew angry at seeing how they had been cornered and watched by other dragons, as if his dragons were dangerous, but he also could not fault Valka for being careful; dragons who saw Drago as the alpha, for instance, may not be so quick to join the Bewilderbeast's thunder and might even try to do some damage. At least he was now reunited with nearly all of his thunder, Spine who'd been left behind in Berk the only one missing.

The terrible terrors - who had all decided that Serrated was the best perch when Horrendous wasn't around - squeaked and squawked at seeing Horrendous.

"Come on, come on, role call!" Horrendous said again, stepping away from the thunder as they tried to jump on him. The thunder finally quieted. Serrated started with a low croon, followed by Aorta, Blossom, and Crackle. It fell apart after that, as Pine started to call but Stormy squeaked right over him. Pine jumped at Stormy angrily and the two fell off of serrated to wrestle on the cold icy floor. Umber let out a few sharp barks, as if trying to make themself heard. All form of decorum dropped and Serrated sprang over to Hiccup, nuzzling him and rumbling in his throat. The rest of the thunder quickly joined in, jumping all over Hiccup and chittering away.

"Okay, we'll work on it," Horrendous sighed, going for exasperated but ending up fond.

Toothless hissed at Serrated, batting at the other dragon. Toothless had been glued to Horrendous' side since their reunion. Serrated responded in kind, growling and scales shimmering red.

"Hey, bud, it's okay! Serrated, this is Toothless. He's my best bud. See, my armor? It matches his." Horrendous stretched out his arm. Serrated sniffed it and looked at Toothless. Toothless, snarled again. "And Toothless, this is Serrated. He's been helping me out while you've been gone. And you're both going to get along, aren't you?"

Toothless and Serrated stared at each other for a while until Serrated finally let out a huff, shaking his head and backing up. Some of the terrible terrors returned to Serrated, while one or two jumped onto Toothless curiously. Toothless grumbled and shook himself a bit, but endured it nonetheless.

"I have never seen another human treat dragons so well," Valka praised, a hand up to her mouth as she held back chuckles of amusement.

"Like I said, they're my friends. And Toothless, he's my family." Horrendous scratched the top of Toothless head mindlessly. It was like he'd had a lost limb return to him. Or, well, not really, because having Toothless back was so much more than Horrendous getting his leg back.

"What strange fate, to bring the nightfury and yourself both here," Valka mused, as she turned and began to lead the way out of the little cavern the thunder had been kept in. Horrendous and his thunder followed after her.

"Well…" Horrendous scratched the back of his neck, "It's a relief that you found Toothless, but my ending up here wasn't entirely an accident." Valka noticeably tensed, so Horrendous was quick to add, "But I haven't told anyone else about this." That was, of course, a lie in several ways you could spin it, but he hadn't told anyone on current-Berk (and Eret didn't count).

"... you are a very strange one," Valka said, but still continued to lead the way to the Inner Sanctuary. Horrendous kept up fine with her, with Toothless getting himself underfoot whenever Horrendous needed help, anticipating Horrendous perfectly. Their time apart hadn't been nearly enough to unsync the two of them, and it made Horrendous smile. No matter what happened, now that he had Toothless by his side, he'd be able to get through it.

They arrived at the corner of Inner Sanctuary where Valka lived, amenities for a human set about. Cloudjumper flew over to the ledge, cooing to Valka, and Valka patted his head.

"I apologize if I have been a terrible host so far; it isn't often, or ever, that we get human visitors, and I avoid going into villages as much as I can," Valka examples, going over to the melting water that flowed in a constant stream and collecting some into a cup, which he handed to Horrendous. Horrendous drank from it greedily, unaware he'd been so thirsty until the water was blessedly at his lips. "I am Valka, and this is Sanctuary, where dragons may be safe from vikings and hunters. This here is Cloudjumper. He is as much 'mine' as it seems Toothless is 'yours'."

Valka walked over to the firepit, already lit, and as Hiccup watched a terrible terror flew to the ledge, carrying a stick, and dropped it into the pit before flying off. She sat down on the stump before the fire, and Horrendous sat down on the ground, which had a rug laid out so he at least wasn't sitting on the bare freezing rock ground.

"I'm Horrendous the Crafter. It seems you've already known Toothless. There's also Serrated, the hobblegrunt, and then the thunder of terrible terrors: Aorta, Pine, Crackle, Blossom and Umber." Horrendous gestured to each in turn. Each squeaked at their name, and Valka smiled fondly.

"You seem to have amassed quite a thunder for yourself," she noted.

"Yes. Like I said, I was somewhat aware of this place before, and now I come with a big request: I would like you and the Bewilderbeast to help me stop the dragon raids on Berk."

Volka stared at Horrendous, as if she couldn't believe she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Horrendous sat patiently, waiting for it to sink in.

She stood suddenly, walking to the ledge. Horrendous did not follow her this time, sitting where he was and taking a sip of the freezing water he'd been given and warming himself by the fire.

"Who are you?" she asked, and Horrendous understood what she was asking for.

"I am a cousin of the Chief of Berk, Stoick the Vast." As if he needed to tell her his name. She was still turned away from him, but he could hear her give a humorless chuckle as she said,

"Yes, now that you say that, I can see the resemblance. Then do you know who I am?"

"Before I arrived here? No." When Horrendous had first found himself in Sanctuary, that had been the truth. Could one borrow a truth from a past experience? He'd just have to hope he sounded honest. "Now that I have met you? Yes. I am aware of what you are to my, my cousin. But that doesn't change the reason I'm here, and what help you could give me."

What Horrendous wasn't saying, of course, was that this was not just about the Red Death. This was not just about saving Berk. If he wanted just to do that, he would saddle up Toothless, thank Valka for her hospitality, and then depart to take it on himself, perhaps picking up Eret along the way. This was about saving her family, faster than before, with more time for the family to be united. What could have changed, if Valka had returned sooner? Maybe things would be worse, but Horrendous supposed they were about to find out. He knew that he would have rather had his mom back sooner, if he had been given the choice. Especially right now in his life, when he was first discovering a connection with dragons and it felt like it was him against all of Berk.

"You have… a kind heart, then. That is to be respected, especially coming from that island of Vikings," Valka said, still not looking at Horrendous. Horrendous had to bite his tongue to stop himself from defending Berk; they could be terrible, yes, but those vikings were his family, his home. "How do you think the Alpha and I can help you to stop the dragon raids?"

Despite everything, she had yet to say no. At least Horrendous had that going for him.

"The dragon's nest, or more specifically, the nest of another Alpha." When they had first gone up against the Red Death, they had called her a Queen, like a queen bee in a hive. Now, though, Horrendous knew what she really was; the Alpha of the dragons in the area. And she had been for decades, maybe even centuries. "I know where it is. If the Alpha was taken out, then the dragons would no longer pillage Berk trying to feed her. The conflict would be over."

"I'm afraid it's not nearly that simple." Valka sighed, but she returned to the fire, sitting back down and looking grim. "To free the dragons from an abusive Alpha is not bad, I hope you understand that is not what I am saying. But to claim this would solve matters… that is not such a simple thing. Without the Alpha to command them, the dragons would fight each other for dominance of the now Alphaless nest. Those dragons who are not interested in that would flee and spread out, finding a new nest, and in doing so, they will surely go to Berk seeing refuge. And instead, they would find vikings. The vikings would also become suspicious of the end of the dragon raids; you know about dragon hunters. Berk, I fear, would possibly become that."

"I understand your fear," Horrendous said, but shook his head, "But I think you're only thinking of the worst-case scenario. Thinking about the best; everybody on Berk would be safe, and the dragons would be freed. Surely that would be worth it."

"..."

Valka stared into the fire. Horrendous stayed quiet, letting her think. When she didn't say anything for a while, he said,

"Please, Valka. Think about the family you still have left on Berk. Think about your son, Hiccup."

"Oh, my precious little Hiccup," she whispered, and when she looked at Horrendous her eyes were dewy with tears, "You have been to Berk recently. Is he… is he still alive, then?"

"He is," Horrendous assured her.

"That's… oh, I… He was such a small thing, when I left. So small amongst the vikings. I have worried, you know, that he would have been…"

Horrendous nodded understandingly. He knew that infants and children died too often in the clan, made worse by the dragons raids and the dreary weather.

"I left my clan to be amongst the dragons. I only visited Berk recently to see how they were fairing, and while they are still alive, seeing the youths… I want to protect them from the danger ahead, and from growing up to be their parents. Won't you help me?" Horrendous begged.

"... alright. I will talk to the Alpha, and if he agrees, then we will help you to kill the Alpha. But I have a condition: the vikings of Berk must swear to ever kill dragons again."

Horrendous winced. It was an alright enough demand, but to think that the vikings would actually go for it, especially where they currently were in their relationship with dragons…

"Valka, I believe there is good in the vikings, but you need to give them time-" Horrendous started, but she was already shaking her head.

"That is my demand. If they decline, then I will leave the nest… for now. Not forever, I promise you I will destroy it, but they will feel the consequences of their actions first. They will endure dragons raids knowing that they would've stopped it. Vikings only understand violence, and that may be what it takes for them to understand," Valka said, and Horrendous wasn't so sure she was right. However, she seemed to believe she was, and he realized that at this time, he could not sway her.

"... okay," Horrendous nodded.

"I will go speak with the Alpha," Valka said as she rose again, though Horrendous got the distinct impression that she was more to get away from him.

She climbed onto Cloudjumper and flew to a different part Sanctuary. As soon as she was out of sight, Horrendous groaned and fell backwards, right onto Horrendous. His thunder of dragons crowded around him, making various hums and purrs of concern. Valka didn't know, of course, the kind time crunch they were on; Horrendous had already sent the message to Stoick to return early. They had to get to Berk while he was there, and before he learned about Hiccup's real dragon training. Horrendous had thrown the comfortable and predictable timeline to the wind, and now that the future was uncertain, he found himself filled with anxiety.

"This better work!"

oOo

"So Eret is a dragon rider."

"Yes."

"And Horrendous was a dragon rider."

"Yes."

"And the dragon that is right now with the night fury-"

"Toothless."

"Toothless is probably one that belongs to Eret."

"Yes."

"And if that dragon does belong to Eret, it could be only the first of the coming attacks from Eret and Horrendous' clan."

"I guess?"

Hiccup sat on the couch in his house as Astrid paced back and forth in front of the fire.

"So then, what? We're just going to sit around and wait to be attacked? The village might believe us now about Eret and Horrendous being dragon riders, unless they think it's just Eret and Eret is crazy, which, from what I heard during dinner in the Meade Hall, is the general consensus, but would that help? It might prepare us somewhat, but we've never had to fight dragon riders before." Astrid made a frustrated noise, twirling her ax in her hand to give herself something to do.

"I… have an idea of something we could do." Hiccup at first had not wanted to voice his idea; it sounded crazy in his own head, much less spoke out loud. However, seeing as they weren't coming up with anything, what choice did he have?

Sometimes, it felt like the world did have a plan, and things fell into a place like they did for a reason. Right now, that was how Hiccup felt. He had spent his whole life, trying to figure out what his purpose, a twig amongst vikings, was. Only fear stopped him now from claiming that purpose. Fear he shoved aside, as best as he could.

"Well? What is it?" Astrid gestured for him to keep talking.

"Well, maybe the best way to combat dragon riders would be… with dragon riders."

"You're going to go up against the coming fleet on your own?" Astrid raised her eyebrows. Hiccup shook his head. He stood up, and she was trembling a bit, but he stole himself. The idea in his head… oh, it was kind of exciting, wasn't it?

"No, not alone. If there were more of us who were dragon riders,"

"Then we could stand a chance." Astrid nodded slowly, but her brows were scrunched up in thought. "I could try, I guess, but there's no way anyone else in the village would join you."

"Maybe not the adults, and maybe not if it were just me. But if I have you, maybe, we can convince the others in dragon training…" Hiccup let the sentence fall away. He waited with bated breath for Astrid's answer. Really, this relied on Astrid being on Hiccup's side.

"... it won't be easy. We can't just tell them. We have to show them that it's possible, present them all the evidence we've found..." she trailed off in thought.

But that wasn't a no.

Hiccup grinned.