OKAY GUYS, I AM DOING SOMETHING I HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE.
AND THAT IS:
A SNEAK PREVIEW. AND HERE IT IS:
"I said that you would pay, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," said Viggo. "And pay day has come."
THERE YOU GO. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A LITTLE WHILE. XD SHOUT-OUTS:
ShadowSpirit020: Yay, Windshear! :D SEASON FINALE! OH NO! D:
Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Haha, yeah. Well, you know me. Gotta keep it dramatic. XD
Prince Maggie: Awww, thank you so much! XD I'm glad you enjoy it so far, and the other episodes in this fanfiction series! :D Go Hiccup! XD And seriously, he's too noble for his own good. :D
Jo: THE FINALE IS HERE! :D :D :D
DragonChanger1: Definitely lots of tension. Definitely the beginning of the end. XD
wikelia: Yep, poor Hiccup. Save Dragon Eye, or save friends. :)
Animals Rule: Hahahaha, thank you so much! :D I'm glad you enjoy it! I'm not sure how much Hiccup!whump there will be in this story, but there will definitely be quite a bit of it in season 3B. :D
Carly Marley: I KNOW, RIGHT? I FEEL LIKE YESTERDAY I WAS JUST POSTING THE FIRST EPISODE, STILL DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO MAKE A SEQUEL! :D It's funny, since writing "I'm Your Brother!" I can't help but look at Hiccup and Heather as siblings. WHY COULDN'T THEY BE SIBLINGS!? XD Thanks for the review! :D
bella: We'll see what happens! :D
Dimensional Girl: Hiccup had better figure it out, yeah. :) Haha, I wish we could. XD
ilovedogs100: Veerrrry serious indeed. :)
HappyPup1: Yes! Prepare to be amazed! LOL! Sorry, I couldn't resist. XD
MoonTheNightWing: VIGGO. MUST. PAY! :D I love the way that OC sounds! :D Unfortunately, since this is the season finale and I already have so much planned out, I don't think I'll be able to put her in this story, but I'll definitely keep it in mind! Thank you! :D
SilverGhostWolf: Haha, aww, thank you! :D
Hiccup and Heather soared Toothless over the mountainside of Dragon's Edge, heading towards a cave located on the mountain's rocky face. Heather looked down at it, frowning.
"What are we doing, Hiccup?" she called, shouting to get her voice over the wind.
"We have to get the Dragon Eye out of its hiding place!" Hiccup called back, gesturing in the general direction of the cave. Toothless soared and touched ground directly outside of it; Hiccup and Heather dismounted the Night Fury and raced inside.
Tuffnut and Snotlout's fort was wrecked, as it always was, but it still made for great cover for the Dragon Eye. While Heather looked around, silently pondering why on earth it was this messed up, Hiccup moved a floorboard off the ground and pulled the Dragon Eye out of a hidden hole.
"Here we go," Hiccup said, blowing dust off its surface and brushing the rest of the dirt away afterwards. The head of the Dragon Eye was still dusty, and its ruby eye was a bit cracked, but other than that, considering how old it was, it was in perfect condition. "The Dragon Eye."
"Are you sure there isn't another way to stop Viggo?" said Heather uncertainly, as Hiccup headed out of the cave towards Toothless. Hiccup hesitated in his steps, considering.
"We don't have a choice," he said. "I don't want to give up the Dragon Eye by any means, Heather, but if it means saving Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut, I have to at least try."
Heather still looked uncertain. "I don't know, Hiccup," she said, and Hiccup glanced back at her questioningly. "I mean, Hiccup...I don't know much about the Dragon Eye, but when I was held captive by Viggo and Ryker, I overheard some conversations."
Hiccup glanced at Heather over his shoulder, freezing just before mounting Toothless with the Dragon Eye. He frowned at her in question, confusion, wondering what she was talking about. "...Like what?" he asked, unsure of whether or not he wanted to hear the rest of what Heather had to say.
Heather sighed heavily and looked towards the ground. She clearly didn't want to say what she was about to say, either.
"Nothing much," said Heather eventually, "just...a few things…"
Hiccup gave her a pointed look. "Heather, what did you overhear?" he asked, taking a single step away from Toothless and towards her.
Heather swallowed. "Hiccup, the Dragon Eye is more than just an heirloom to the hunters," she said. "They want to use it to hunt and capture all the dragons in this world. They want to hunt down every last species, every last dragon, until they're no more."
Hiccup looked at her, understanding her fear entirely, and then looked down at the Dragon Eye. All this fuss, all of these problems, all these kidnappings and war, all for this stupid, stupid, Dragon Eye…
It wasn't worth it in Hiccup's opinion. The Dragon Eye wasn't worth more than the lives of Hiccup's friends. The friends who were more like family to him than actual friends.
"We're just going to have to make sure that doesn't happen," said Hiccup, and now, he did mount Toothless, slipping the Dragon Eye into the Night Fury's saddlebag along the way.
"Hiccup, please," Heather tried. "There has to be something else we could do instead, instead of giving up the Dragon Eye. Who knows what he'll do with that kind of power."
"Heather, if there was another option, I would take it, you know I would," said Hiccup, feeling defeated, "but there isn't. We have to give the Dragon Eye to Viggo and his men. We don't know what they'll do to the other riders or their dragons if we don't."
Heather looked down. "I never should have done what Viggo wanted me to," she said, her voice a low growl. "It's my fault they're in danger…"
"Heather, stop blaming yourself!" said Hiccup, dismounting Toothless once again and stepping towards her. "Come on! We don't have any time left to waste! It'll all be okay in the end, I promise, alright?"
Heather swallowed, but didn't reply.
"Come on, Heather," Hiccup prompted, once again getting on Toothless' back. "Show me which island you left Windshear on, and we'll get going! But first, there's one more thing I have to do…"
Heather got on Toothless' back behind Hiccup, and Toothless shot into the sky, flying back towards the forest. He landed on the forest floor what felt seconds after taking air, and Hiccup, without dismounting, cupped his hands around his mouth and performed a perfect Changewing call.
For the longest moment, nothing happened.
And then, the eight Changewings of Eyelicker's pack materialized out of nothing and stepped forward. Eyelicker growled in excitement and sped right over to Hiccup; Hiccup rubbed the dragon's soft scales momentarily, and then got down to business.
"We're going to need all the backup we can get if we're going to take out Viggo," said Hiccup to the Changewing. "Do you think you guys can help us out?"
Eyelicker took a moment to look at each of the members of his pack. Then, turning back to Hiccup, he growled in agreement.
"Pefect!" said Hiccup, smiling. "Now, next stop: we find Windshear. Heather, what did the island look like? Were there any defining features that could help us find it again?"
"As a matter of fact, there was," said Heather, smiling for the first time in a while. "The island was covered in these giant, spear-like rocks. One really big one - as big as a mountain, in fact! - stood in the middle of it."
Hiccup paused. Something about that description seemed familiar. "Is there anything else about the island that stood out?" he asked Heather.
Heather nodded. "The sand," she said. "It was black like charcoal, and it smelled like burning firewood."
"We've been there before!" said Hiccup, excited now that he knew where he was going. The more he knew, the better the chances were of him getting to Dark Deep on time and rescuing his friends. "According to Bork's notes, that island is called Arrow's Crevice!"
"You know where to find it?" said Heather, eyes brightening with excitement for the same reason as Hiccup.
"I do!" Hiccup confirmed, nodding in reassurement. "Come on! Toothless, head for Arrow's Crevice! Let's see how fast you can fly!" He turned Toothless, whistled to the Changewings, and the dragons shot into the sky, flying towards their new destination of Arrow's Crevice.
They soared over the open ocean, further and further away from the Edge. Heather watched the waters, searching for any sort of landmark, but there was nothing. Nothing until they came up on Arrow's Crevice itself.
"Is that the island, Heather?" Hiccup asked; Toothless circled around the dark, ominous shape of Arrow's Crevice. The trademark giant arrowhead-like mountain of stone stood in the center of the island like a gigantic trophy, and around it on the ground were scattered smaller boulders of the same nature.
The sand was black, charred, like charcoal, and the smell of smoke and rust hung in the air. This was definitely Arrow's Crevice. Hiccup would recognize it anywhere.
"This is it!" Heather confirmed, nodding.
"Okay, bud," Hiccup said, rubbing Toothless' head, "take us down, slowly. We don't want to scare any of the Arrow Furies around here."
Toothless nodded in agreement and zeroed down towards the charred sands. He landed, dust flying up around him, and Heather and Hiccup quickly dismounted. Hiccup glanced around at their surroundings; they had landed in a familiar clearing. The same clearing in which they had found Ember's egg, what felt so long ago.
Heather took out her horn and blew on it, loud and long. She waited a few moments, looking around expectantly, and for the longest time, nothing happened.
But then, Windshear roared back, and the Razorwhip dropped out of the sky, silver armor-like scales gleaming in the bright sunlight.
"Windshear!" cried Heather, and she raced towards her dragon, throwing her arms around her neck. "I'm so glad to see you again, girl!"
Windshear nuzzled Heather back. For a brief moment, nothing else happened, but then, a second dragon dropped out of the sky, followed by a third and a fourth.
Hiccup looked at them.
A black dragon with a purple V of scales marked on his forehead blinked back at him. A circle of scales like a single spectacle rounded one of the dragon's toxic green eyes, and its head tilted.
Hiccup couldn't believe it. "Ember?" he said.
The Arrow Fury, Ember, squealed in excitement and tackled Hiccup to the ground, licking his face happily. Ember was definitely a lot bigger than the last time Hiccup had seen him; now, the dragon was nearly the size of Toothless, and had as many deep purple scales as he did black ones.
"Okay...okay!" Hiccup laughed, pushing Ember away. "I'm glad to see you too, Ember! Wow, you've grown…"
Ember bounded away, and he and Toothless reconciled by tackling each other to the ground, rolling through the charred sands like two brothers. Hiccup stood up, brushing black soot and sand off his shirt, and looked at the other two dragons who had landed.
Ember's mother and father, looking no different from the last time Hiccup saw them.
"Hello," said Hiccup, waving at them; they nodded their heads respectfully in response.
"Hiccup, who are these?" Heather asked, approaching him, Windshear right behind her.
"Oh, that's Ember," said Hiccup, pointing over his shoulder where Toothless and Ember were playing, "and these are Ember's mother and father. They're a rare breed of dragon called the Arrow Fury."
"They look a lot like Night Furies," said Heather matter-of-factly.
"Yes, they do," said Hiccup. "They're a half-breed. Half Night Fury, half Odin's Nightmares, which are extinct now." Hiccup glanced to the side; he could see black and purple scales scattered across the ground from when Ember had molted over the months.
"Huh," he said, walking towards them, taking a single scale up in his hand and bending it to test its strength. It didn't even bend slightly under the pressure, as sturdy as a thick coin.
"What are you up to, Hiccup?" said Heather, approaching questioningly. Behind her, the eight Changewings landed and looked at Windshear and the Arrow Furies in obvious confusion. Neither party moved.
"Oh, nothing," said Hiccup. "Except...I think I'm going to take a few of these as a precaution." He grabbed a handful of Ember's scales and stuffed them into his satchel. Heather watched him, confused.
"A precaution?" she asked. "A precaution for what?"
"Nothing," said Hiccup, "I'm probably just overthinking things. Anyways, we should head to Dark Deep. We only have three days to get there, or our time is up."
Heather nodded in agreement, though she watched him suspiciously for another moment before turning and making to mount Windshear. Toothless pulled himself away from Ember and sauntered forward, towards Hiccup, who mounted him, clicking his prosthetic into the foot pedal.
"Ready, Toothless?" Hiccup asked, and Toothless spread his wings.
At the last second, Ember raced up, roaring to get Toothless' attention. Toothless paused, looking back at Ember, waiting for him to elaborate. Ember spread his wings and shot into the air, hovering just over Toothless.
"Um...what?" said Hiccup. "You want to come with us?"
Ember nodded in agreement and did a celebratory cartwheel through the air. "I don't know, Ember," said Hiccup uncertainly, scratching the back of his neck. "It's going to be dangerous. We're going against the dragon hunters."
Ember didn't have a chance to respond, because Ember's mother and father also took to the sky, hovering in the air with their dragonet. Hiccup looked at the three Arrow Furies, at the Changewings, and then, at Heather.
"Well," Hiccup said, "the more the merrier, right?"
Heather smirked and nodded her agreement. Toothless, the Changewings, and Windshear spread their wings, and the two riders and the company of dragons shot towards Dark Deep.
There was a long road ahead of them.