"Alright I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's... amazing. He's amazing." Astrid carefully reached down and patted Toothless' side.
"So what now?" Hiccup groaned. It was a problem without an answer. "Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're going to have to kill... kill a dragon."
"Don't remind me." A strange, unearthly din approached. Toothless' ear plates suddenly stood on end. Panicked, he abruptly dove, dipping into cloud cover. "Toothless! What's happening? What is it?"
Toothless barked at him. 'Quiet!' Suddenly, out of the dense cloud, a Monstrous Nightmare emerged. Kara hissed and ducked closer to Toothless, flying directly overhead.
"Get down!" Hiccup whispered to Astrid. Hiccup and Astrid ducked. The Nightmare called out. A Zippleback appeared to the other side of Toothless, boxing him in.
"What's going on?" Astrid asked quietly.
"I don't know. Toothless. You've got to get us out of here, bud." Toothless and Kara hissed. Other dragons, previously invisible in the thick clouds, appeared all around them. Hundreds of them, all carrying fish and game in their talons. "It looks like they're hauling in their kill."
The Zippleback eyed them ravenously.
"What does that make us?" Astrid asked. The dragons banked and dove in formation, plummeting through the thickening fog and weaving between towering, craggy sea stacks. They emerged at the base of a massive volcanic caldera, glowing with rivulets of lava. The flock of dragons fell into rank, funneling through a crack, and zipping through a winding tunnel. It gave way to a vast, steamy inner chamber, tiered with pocky shelves. Dragons of all breeds laid about, nested in hordes. The arriving dragons flew in, dropping the fish and game into a central pit, glowing red and shrouded in mist. Hiccup was amazed.
"What my dad wouldn't give to find this." Hiccup said, awed. Toothless and Kara peeled away from the procession, landing on a small shadowy shelf to keep a low-profile. Hiccup and Astrid peeked around, taking in the busy hive of sorts. They watched as the food continued to be dropped into the pit. "It's satisfying to know that all of our food has been dumped down a hole."
"They're not eating any of it." Astrid added.
Last to arrive was a dim-witted Gronckle. It hovered over the pit and regurgitated his paltry contribution - a pathetic little fish. As it fell into the steamy pit, a terrible roar rang out. The Gronckle tried to flee, but before it could, a gargantuan dragon head jutted from the steamy pit and snapped it out of the air, swallowing it back whole. Hiccup and Astrid recoiled, terrified.
"What is that?" The monstrous beast sniffed the air, seemingly aware of them. It neared the ledge where Toothless was hiding... and roared. Several dragons took flight in fear.
"Alright buddy, we gotta get out of here. Now!" Hiccup yelled. Toothless took flight, barely evading the monster's snapping jaws. The behemoth dragon lunged for them, snatching a Zippleback out of the air instead. Toothless disappeared into the winged exodus as thousands of dragons flee the caldera in fear.
"Wait, where is-" Hiccup cut off as he heard a screaming cry. Toothless snorted as Kara shot past.
Toothless glided into the cove and touched down on the moonlit beach. Astrid, her mind reeling, was talking Hiccup's ear off.
"No, no, it totally makes sense. It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers... and that's their queen. It controls them." She leapt off of Toothless and ran toward the village. "Let's find your dad."
"No, no! Not yet. They'll... kill Toothless and Hunter." He paused, meeting Astrid's eyes with a firm look.
Astrid, we have to think this through carefully. Astrid eyes him, incredulous.
"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragons' nest...the thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here. And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragons? Are you serious?" Hiccup stood firm, resolute.
"Yes." He said. Astrid was taken aback.
"Okay. Then what do we do?"
"Just give me until tomorrow. Kara and I will figure something out." Hiccup said.
"Kara knows too?"
"Yeah."
"Okay." Astrid punched Hiccup in the arm. "That's for kidnapping me."
Hiccup looked to Toothless for support. Toothless snorted, dismissive. Astrid grabbed him. He braced for another hit. She kissed Hiccup on the cheek.
"That's for, everything else." In the awkward wake of the moment, Astrid hurried off... into Kara.
"Oh, hey Astrid. Almost didn't see you there kissing my boyfriend." Kara said, smirking. Astrid's eyes widened and she looked back to Hiccup, who shrugged with a 'whoops' look, then ran off again. Kara laughed. "That was fun."
"Kara, what are we going to do?" Hiccup asked, falling back to sit on a rock and covering his face with his hands. Kara sat behind him and rubbed his back.
"You do what you feel is right, and I'll be right behind you." Kara said.
"To what, protect me? It's not me I'm worried about." Hiccup said, leaning back to look her in the eye. Kara smiled softly and leaned down to kiss his forehead.
"That's sweet of you, but I'll be fine. You know me, I can kill anything."
"But can you eliminate a threat without killing them?" Hiccup asked. Kara sighed.
"I'll do my best. But if you're in danger, that goes out the window. Deal?" She asked, holding up her pinkie finger. Hiccup smiled and hooked her pinkie finer with his.
"Deal."