"Dragon's speaking"
'telepathical speaking'
Thinking
"Dragons and Guardians: Riders of Berk
Author's note: Remember readers, Hiccup rides on Toothless's back while Aniu flies using her wings. And Barf and Belch is one dragon. Nava and the other guardians also fly while their wings and Nava and Aniu don't have dragons but they're still part of the gang. This note is here just to avoid confusion.
Chapter 5: In Dragons We Trust
Trust is extremely necessary to forming a bond with a dragon. And that was one of the reasons why Hiccup was plummeting through the sky with a content smile on his face. Many people would expect him to be screaming and flailing around but he was perfectly calm.
"As you fly through life, it's always good to know who you can trust and who you can't trust."
Hiccup flipped over so that his front was facing the ocean water as Toothless's baritone roar cut through the air. The Night Fury caught his rider expertly on his back. "Nice catch, bud. Even though it was a little close." Hiccup said, putting his prosthetic foot back into the stirrup that controlled Toothless's prosthetic tailfin.
"I know I can always count on Toothless, Aniu as well. And it's important for Toothless to know that no matter what, he can on me and Aniu."
Hiccup and Toothless joined their fellow riders, dragons and guardians who altogether were known as the Dragon Trainer Group. The dragons had just recently gained their saddles and the riders were testing them. "It's your turn. Jump.' Aniu said to Fishlegs. "I don't feel safe doing this even though I trust Fishlegs with my life. I don't trust myself to be able to catch him." Meatlug said.
"I don't wanna jump!" Fishlegs protested. "You have to believe she's gonna catch you. It's a trust exercise." Hiccup told him. "Hiccup, I don't think Meatlug wants to do it either." Aniu said. "I like to do trusting on the ground, thank you very much." Fishlegs said stubbornly. "Like this, chicken legs." Snotlout snickered and fell off Hookfang's neck with a whoop. Hookfang didn't even know his rider was gone.
"Uh, should we mention something to Hookfang?" Tuffnut asked. "Let me sleep on it." Ruffnut decided. "You might wanna look at where Snotlout might land." Nava said. "Hookfang, get him!" Astrid called down to Hookfang, who looked at her in confusion. Toothless roared at him and Hookfang remembered his rider who was currently in imminent danger of hitting the rocks.
"Not feeling the trust!" Snotlout screamed as he fell. Shrieking in alarm, the Monstrous Nightmare plunged done after his rider and caught him. But Snotlout landed on his dragon's head, preventing Hookfang from seeing where he was going. "We're coming in too hot!" Snotlout screamed and both he and Hookfang crashed through a roof of a house.
Regaining consciousness, Snotlout looked at the weapons on the walls, gulped and then came face to face with an elderly man who was glaring at him furiously. "Mildew!" Snotlout gasped in horror. With a scream from Snotlout, both he and Hookfang, flew upwards, crashing through the roof again. "You'll pay for this!" Mildew howled up to them before a small plank of wood hit him on the head. "Oh, something tells us we're gonna hear about this." Hiccup and Aniu both groaned.
That night, Stoick slammed two pieces of roofing material on the table in front of Hiccup and Aniu. "Shingle again?" Aniu asked."Didn't we have roofing material for dinner last night?" Hiccup asked sarcastically. Stoick glared at them. "It was an accident, Dad." Hiccup said. "I'm sure Mildew is making it sound worse than it is."
"A dragon and an obnoxious boy crashed through his roof...twice." Stoick said angrily. "Well, sure. It sounds bad if you're going to stick to the facts." Aniu said. "Of all the houses on the island, a dragon had to crash through Mildews." Stoick continued. "You know he hates dragons more than anyone else." Fengo (who had been staying silent throughout the conversation) said.
"We know." Aniu said. "You might want to talk to him about his attitude." Hiccup said. "Listen to me, Hiccup and Aniu. I gave you two the responsibility of training those dragons. Everyone knows that. All eyes are upon you two. Whatever those beasts (Toothless whined at his fellow dragons and himself being called beasts) do reflect on you and whatever you two do reflects on me, Fengo and Namara."
"We're sorry, Dad. You're right." Hiccup said, standing up. "We'll try harder next time." Aniu said, also standing up. You and your friends are going to go back to Mildew's and fix his roof without your dragons." Stoick ordered. "You caught a break there, bud." Hiccup said to Toothless. "Ah, not so fast. Aren't you forgetting something?" Stoick said, bending down and taking off his boots. "It's Boot Night. They need to be aired out." He handed his boots to Hiccup, who groaned in disgust and covered his nose.
Toothless sniffed and gagged. Aniu could smell the boots from right beside Hiccup, gagged and covered her nose. "I think it's gonna take more than air." Hiccup gagged and put the boots outside the front door. Then, he saw his friends put out their parent's boots.
"Ugh. I hate Boot Night." Fishlegs groaned. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were shoving their parent's stinky boots in each other's faces. "Why is his left foot always much smellier than his right?" Tuffnut asked in disgust. "Uh. Oh-no." Snotlout gulped back vomit and threw his parents onto the ground in front of him. Their smelly job done, every villager who had boots to air out went back inside their homes.
Snow slowly began to fall over Berk. The cold air would've been good for the boots. Around midnight, when everyone was fast asleep, a dragon's paw snatched a pair of boots, then another pair and another pair until every boot that had been left to air out was gone.
Villagers awoke the next morning and stepped out of their doors to collect their boots, only to find...there were no boots on their doorsteps. Stoick yawned and stretched as he walked outside to get his boots...but they weren't there. "Where are my boots?" He asked himself. Then Gobber, Bucket and Mulch walked over to him, each of them were barefoot. "Where are your boots?" Stoick asked them.
"They've all been stolen. Every last one." Gobber reported. "Oh, that explains why my feet are so cold." Bucket exclaimed. Then, Fengo, Namara, Aniu and Nava flew up to them. And none of them were barefoot. Hiccup and his friend still had their boots because the adults aired their boots out at a different time from the children and teenagers. "How come you still got your boots?" Stoick asked. "We use magic to air out our boots." Fengo said. "And because of that, we don't have to leave them outside." Namara said.
"Who could've done such a thing?" Mulch asked. "I don't think anyone, probably besides the Thorston twins, would've done this for a prank." Namara said. Mildew arrived at the scene. "All I know is they left a mighty big footprint." He said, pointing at three dragon footprints in a patch of snow.
"Oh, those are Zippleback tracks. You can tell by the half moon-shaped arches. That's Dragon 101, guys. I don't have to fill you in on that." Fishlegs said."Maybe I should've never have given Fishlegs Dragon Tracking lessons." Aniu sighed, facepalming. "Knowing him, Mildew is going to use this information to peg the dragons as the culprits." Nava said. "So a dragon walked through here."Hiccup said. "A Zippleback, according to my friend Fishlegs. But that doesn't mean he took everyone's boots."
Just then, Lefa, Rila, Boomer and Banger walked up to them. "Has anyone seen Barf and Belch?" Lefa and Rila asked. "Yeah, where's Dad?" Boomer and Banger asked. "Well, there's just one way to find out if that dragon took our boots." Mildew said. "Follow the footprints."There was a nasty grin on his face and everyone, including the two Zipplebacks followed the footprints.
The footprints led them to the arena where they found Barf and Belch sleeping beside a huge pile of stolen boots. Many of them were slashed and ripped. Lefa and Rila went to her mate's side. "Come on, Dad. Wake up."Boomer said, nuzzling Belch's head with his own. "Rise and shine, it's a glorious day today." Banger said, gently headbutting Barf's head. Barf and Belch woke up at the sound of his son's voices. "Hey, son." Barf said, nuzzling his son's heads with his own. "Good morning, love." Belch said to Lefa and Rila.
Hiccup waited till the three Hideous Zipplebacks were listening before speaking. "So there's a bunch of boots piled around a Zippleback. That doesn't mean..." Stoick picked up a boot with bitemarks in it. "Okay, fine. He took the boots." Hiccup said reluctantly. "How are we supposed to do any work in this weather without our boots?" One Viking asked. "This is outrageous!" Another exclaimed.
"How long before something is done about these creatures, Stoick?" Mildew asked. "How much more can we stand?" Many Vikings began yelling out complaints and agreements. "Oh, listen to yourselves. My feet are cold." Gobber said. "We're Vikings. Everything is cold! I'll fix your boots for yah. You'll be back to work in no time."
"You all heard Gobber." Stoick announced. "You'll be getting your boots back as good as new." Many Vikings continued chattering. "That's it?" Mildew asked incredulously. "No consequences for these dragons?"
"They took our boots, Mildew. The world isn't coming to an end." Stoick said. "Oh, don't be so sure. Dragons are wild beasts. There's no telling what they'll do behind our sleeping backs." Mildew said. "Mildew, you'll be surprised to know that dragons have feelings, emotions and thoughts too." Aniu said. "Oh, do they now?" Mildew sneered, not believing Aniu at all. Winged freak. He thought viciously. With all their notions of peace and prosperity.
"They don't destroy things on purpose." Hiccup said. Mildew scoffed at him. "But you do have a point, Mildew." The old man stared at him in shock. "They are wild animals and they need us to keep an eye on them. And rest assured, we will do just that. Would you get outta here, please?" Hiccup said, directing his question at the three Zipplebacks who were listening to everything they were saying. BarfBelch, LefaRila and BoomerBanger left.
Then Hiccup and Aniu noticed a footprint Barf and Belch had left behind as they walked outside the arena. They looked at another footprint, the one BarfBelch had supposedly left when they walked inside the arena. But they were different.
"We're going on Night Patrol." Hiccup and Aniu told their friends later that day on an abandoned catapult. "Night Patrol! I love it!" Tuffnut piped up enthusiastically. "What is it?"
"It's where we patrol, at night, to keep an eye on the dragons and make sure they don't get blamed for anything else." Hiccup said. "Um, have you cleared this with our parents?" Fishlegs asked nervously. "Because some of us might not be allowed out after a certain hour."
"Not allowed, or afraid?" Snotlout sneered. "Hey, things happen after dark." Fishlegs said, annoyed. "Guys, we have to do this." Aniu said. "I'm agreeing with her." Nava said. "You heard Mildew, he wants the dragons banished." Hiccup said. "Permission to shoot first and ask questions later." Ruffnut requested eagerly. "Permission to skip the questioning." Tuffnut requested. "We're just patrolling. Nobody is shooting anyone." Hiccup told them. "I have a question." Tuffnut said, raising his hand. "What's fun about that?"
"It's not supposed to be fun." Nava said. "It's a Hiccup idea." Astrid said. "Exactly. Wait, what?" Hiccup realized what Astrid said about him. "Ooh, Hiccup. You just got burned by your girlfriend." Aniu and Nava snickered. "You're ones to talk, lovebirds." Astrid smirked at the two guardians, who blushed and moved away from each other. The teens tried to come up with a good name, but it wasn't very good at all.
That night, Astrid (who was wearing a sash with the patrol's name on it) and Nava knocked on a Viking's door. It was decided that Astrid would do the talking. "Hello, sir." Astrid said confidently, only to realize that the person she was talking to was in fact a woman who was eating some chicken. "Uh, ma'am." Astrid corrected herself. Nava made a quick 'keep talking' gesture from where was standing out of the woman's eyesight.
"My name is Astrid and I'm with the Dragon United Monitoring Brigade." Astrid said. "DUMB?" The woman asked, pointing at Astrid's sash. "Yes, that is correct. Not my idea." Astrid admitted. "But it is easy to remember. If you have any dragon-related problems, just contact us. Just cup a hand on either side of your mouth and at the top of your lungs yell..." The woman closed the door in her face. "...DUMB." Astrid finished her sentence. "Well, on the bright side, it could've gone a lot worse." Nava said optimistically.
Meanwhile, Snotlout and Hookfang were walking around the village. "Halt! Who goes there?" Snotlout called out when something moved in the shadows. "Take a wild guess." Gobber said. "I don't think I like your attitude." Snotlout told him. "Right back at ya." Gobber replied. "Yeah, but I'm the one with the sash." Snotlout said, behind him Hookfang walked away. He was getting bored with the proceedings and wanted some sleep. "Let me take a closer look at that." Gobber said, grabbing Snotlout's sash with his hook-hand and lifting Snotlout off the ground. "DUMB? Well, that's suits you." Gobber said. "Okay, I think we're done here." Snotlout squeaked nervously.
Fishlegs and Meatlug were nervously walking around the village when two scary shadows appeared on the ground in front of him. "Oh! What is that?" Fishlegs asked himself, already scared. He didn't know it was just Ruffnut and Tuffnut playing a prank on him. Hookfang, curious to see what they were doing, walked up behind them. His shadow was cast on the ground and scared Fishlegs and Meatlug away. "Did you see me scare them?" Both twins asked each other at the same time. It quickly launched into an argument.
"No, I scared them."
"No, I scared them."
"No, it was me."
"No, it was me."
"No, it was clearly me."
"Everyone looking could tell I did it."
Hookfang walked away and was out of sight as Hiccup and Toothless flew over the village. Many dragons were sleeping in whatever available space they could find. "Well, Mildew will be happy to know what dragons do at night. They sleep like everyone else." Hiccup said to Toothless. Meanwhile, Aniu was patrolling around the Great Hall. "Well, nothing's happened so far and I think it will stay that way." Aniu said to herself.
But she didn't notice the Great Hall doors open and something slip inside. The figure travelled around the Great Hall, leaving claw marks on the walls and statues, tearing tapestries to shreds and wrecking other stuff.
The next morning, Hiccup and Toothless slept in their beds until a rock was thrown through the window and hit the wall. "Hiccup Haddock! Toothless! Can you , in the name of the gods, please wake up!" Aniu yelled from outside. "What is it, Aniu?" Hiccup groaned, walking to the window. "You and Toothless have got to come to the Great Hall. "We're on our way!" Hiccup called down. "Let's go bud." The Night Fury growled and left his bed. 'I wonder what's going on?" Toothless asked himself as he, Aniu and Hiccup flew to the Great Hall.
Inside the Great Hall, Viking were examining the damage. "Who could've done such a thing?" Stoick asked. "Oh, looks like a dragon to me." Fishlegs said, examining claw marks on a pillar. "We don't know for sure, Fishlegs." Hiccup said. "Sure, we do. Look at these claw marks. It was obviously a Monstrous Nightmare. The spacing of the talons is dead-on." Fishlegs said. "Once again, thank you, Fishlegs." Aniu said, annoyed. "Oh, stop. It's just basic stuff." Fishlegs said, embarrassed.
"But how could this happen?" Nava asked. "We had every dragon accounted for at all times. Right, guys?" Astrid said. When you say at all times and every dragon what exactly do you mean?" Snotlout asked. Hiccup, Aniu and Nava face palmed. "Okay, what happened, Snotlout?" Aniu asked. "Well, I was detaining a suspect who wasn't showing sufficient respect to the sash." Snotlout told them. "I think I showed sufficient respect to a sash that says DUMB." Gobber said.
"We gotta change that name." Astrid sighed. "I'm thinking that something like Berk Watch will be way better." Nava said. "I agree." Aniu said to her boyfriend. "Anyways, as I was questioning said suspect, Hookfang may have, and I'm not saying he did, but it is possible he wandered off for a few..." Snotlout continued. "Seconds?" Ruffnut supplied. "Minutes?" Tuffnut asked. "...hours." Snotlout finished, everyone groaned.
"Oh, that's way longer than minutes." Tuffnut said. To make matters worse, Mildew arrived. "Oh, no, it's true. The Great Hall. So many memories. My three weddings. Their three funerals. Oh, the funerals." He said. A dragon must've gone on a rampage." Gobber said. "If a dragon had gone on a rampage, it would've most likely done it in the village." Fengo said. "And plrenty of things would've been burnt." Namara said.
"I hate to say it, Stoick, but you're gonna have to..." Gobber continued. "I know what has to be done, Gobber." Stoick said. "So do I." Mildew said, hurrying to Stoick's side. He was desperate to have Stoick banish the dragons. Stoick turned to Hiccup and Aniu. "Starting tonight and every night, I want all the dragons put in the academy under lock and key." He said. "What? That's it?" Mildew exclaimed. "Look at what they did!"
"What you think they did, Mildew." Aniu said, causing Mildew to glare at her. "This just doesn't make any sense. A dragon wouldn't just come in and destroy the place." Hiccup said. "None of the food was even touched." Nava said, gesturing to the piles of untouched fish placed around the Great Hall. "And we all know how much dragons love fish." Astrid said.
"I don't know why dragons do what they do but I'm not going to let them do any more damage." Stoick said, his decision final. Then he, Gobber, Fengo, Namara and Mildew (who looked over his shoulder and sneered at the teens) left. The dragon trainers all looked at each other sadly.
In the late afternoon, just before dusk, the Dragon Riders flew their dragons to the academy. Their dragons families followed them. Stoick, Gobber, Fengo and Namara stared up at the teens. "You had to cage the dragons, Stoick. You had no choice." Gobber said. "I know. But to Hiccup, when I punish them, I'm punishing him." Stoick sadly.
"Yeah, that boy thinks the dragons can do no wrong." Gobber said. "I just hope he understands that while a father does what's best for his son, a chief must do what's best for the village." Stoick told him. "I believe Hiccup knows that you're trying to be a good father to him and a good chief to the village at the same time." Fengo said. "Being a leader, chief or even a king means you must make sacrifices for the good of what you rule over." Namara said wisely.
In the academy, the dragons were very upset and had to be comforted by the dragon trainers. "Sleep, little, Meatlug, Clobbertail, Stonecruncher and Sweetiepie in your beds, where yummy little boulders dance in your heads..." Fishlegs sang to the Gronckle family, but they growled and turned their heads away.
"That usually works. Now, our whole bedtime routine is upset. Meatlug won't even lick my feet, thanks to..."Fishlegs said. "Watch it Fishlegs. At least these dragons (he pointed to Hookfang, Firesnow, Ignitis and Infernia) don't need a lullaby and a blankie." Snotlout snapped.
"Actually, it's your fault that all our dragons have to sleep in jail." Ruffnut said. Barf and Belch were behind their riders and Boomer and Banger was behind his *father being comforted by Lefa and Rila. "Yeah, you don't see our dragon going on a rampage and wrecking stuff." Tuffnut said. Barf and Belch (who was arguing with Hookfang) stepped forward and accidently crushed a wooden bow under his paw. "Well, not any good stuff." Tuffnut said.
"I don't think a dragon wrecked the Great Hall or stole the boots." Hiccup said. "None of us want to believe it either, Hiccup, but you saw the proof." Astrid said. "What proof? You saw the footprints too. They were supposed to be made by a Zippleback but they were no deeper than mine. Look at these. I could lie down in them." Hiccup said, gesturing at a Zippleback's footprint in a patch of snow.
"Well, there could be a lot of explanations as to why a dragon made shallow footprints." Fishlegs said. "Like, hello, it was trying to be sneaky." Ruffnut interjected. "All right. Well, how do you explain the Great Hall?" Astrid asked. "The dragon, if it was a dragon who did that damage, showed no signs of trying to be sneaky." Nava said. Everyone was distracted by Hookfang and BarfBelch, who were roaring and snapping at each other. "Come on, you two. Break it up." Firesnow said. When she had no luck, the female Monstrous Nightmare groaned.
Hookfang set himself on fire. "Snotlout, do something about Hookfang, please. We're trying to think over here." Aniu said. "Yeah, I gave up on thinking. Never been happier." Tuffnut said. "Snotlout." Hiccup demanded when Hookfang continued to growl angrily. "I'm not the boss of him. He always does that when he's angry." Snotlout said.
As Hookfang stomped around, the male dragon left a Monstrous Nightmare paw-shaped scorch mark on the stone floor of the academy. "Or goes on a rampage." Hiccup whispered to himself, staring at the scorch mark."That's how I can explain the Great Hall. I gotta tell my dad about this." Hiccup leapt onto Toothless's back and the Night Fury flew out of the academy. "I'm coming with you!" Aniu shouted, flying after her surrogate brother.
It was night time when they reached the Great Hall and Toothless waited outside while Hiccup and Aniu tried to explain their findings to Stoick, Fengo and Namara. "Just hear us out, Dad." Hiccup said to his father. "When a Monstrous Nightmare gets mad, its whole body bursts into flames." Aniu said.
"Look at these walls, not a single scorch mark." Hiccup said, gesturing at the walls. "Hiccup, Aniu, until I have solid proof that it was something else, the dragons stay where they are." Stoick said firmly.
Outside, Toothless was sleeping until he heard a distant clatter. Walking down the stairs until he was outside the Armory, he went inside the building. A Viking who was emptying a bucket outside his window saw him. "Hello? Anyone in here?" Toothless called out as he walked through the building, seeing all the weapons on the shelfs and hanging of the walls. A window opened and Toothless stared at it.
Then he heard a familiar hiss and saw a barrel which held an explosive liquid catch on fire. Then, it exploded, Toothless barely ran out the doors in time. "Fire! Fire at the Armory!" Many Vikings screamed. Hiccup, Aniu, Stoick, Fengo and Namara heard the commotion and ran outside and down the stairs.
"The Armory! Grab some buckets!" Stoick shouted. The Vikings did what they told to do and threw onto the flames. Aniu and fellow guardians helped by using water and ice magic to put out the fire, but it was too late. Then Stoick saw Toothless sitting on the stairs, watching the fire in shock. "Toothless?" He asked, mortified.
"It was him!" A Viking shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the Night Fury. "He set the Armory on fire!" Hiccup dropped his buckets in shock. By the time the fire was finally put out, the Armory was nothing but ashes and smoldering wood. "Every one of our weapons gone." Stoick said. Vikings were known for keeping their personal weapons in their own homes but those weren't enough.
"Prudence! My poor darling. I'm so sorry. You should've had a long, bloodletting life." Gobber said, holding a melted and badly twisted sword in his hands. "She didn't have to die, Gobber." Mildew said, arriving on the scene. "Hiccup's dragon left us utterly defenceless!" Many Vikings began chattering.
"Dad, you know Toothless wouldn't do this." Hiccup said desperately. "They're innocent, Stoick. They would never do this." Aniu begged."Sure, listen to your boy and his best friend, Stoick. That's what got us into this mess. See what happens when you leave your dragon all alone to wait outside?" Mildew sneered, directing his last sentence at Hiccup.
"What did you say?" Hiccup asked as soon as he realized that there was something suspicious about Mildew's question. "Cindy! Oh, I guess your throat- slicing days are over." Gobber wailed, holding another sword.
Stoick sighed. "These dragons have done too much damage. It's no longer safe to have them on Berk. I want them gone." He said. "What?" Hiccup and Aniu gasped."Finally!" Mildew exclaimed happily. "Round them up and take them all to Dragon Island." Stoick ordered Hiccup and Aniu. Then he stepped forward to make an announcement to the villagers.
"By the end of the day tomorrow, there will be no more dragons on Berk. " He said. Astrid, Nava and the other Dragon Trainers gasped. "Oh, what a glorious day that will be." Mildew said wistfully. "Party at my house!"
"Don't forget, you two." Mildew said, rounding on Hiccup and Aniu. "Right after you drop off that Night Fury, you will be fixing my roof." Sneering at the two upset teens, he left. "Okay, that's it!" Aniu hissed before charging at Mildew, but Hiccup held her back. "What's your problem, Mildew?" She yelled angrily. "You only care about yourself and no one else. To make yourself happy, you gotta make everyone else sad and unhappy. You always complain about things when they don't happen as you want them to happen. You're nothing but a selfish, arrogant, ugly, spiteful, rude, boastful, smelly old man!"
Mildew slowly turned towards her. "Well, you're nothing more than a winged freak!" He spat at her. Hiccup felt a rush of anger at what Mildew had called his best friend. Aniu's emerald green eyes flashed angrily and her wings flared out slightly. "You better take that back before I punch you in the face." She hissed.
Mildew growled and left. "This is wrong." Hiccup said, letting go of Aniu. "I know. It's horrible. It's one of the worst days of my life." Astrid said sorrowfully. "No, Astrid. Something here doesn't add up." Hiccup said."We have to do something about this." Nava said. "All I know is that I'm losing my dragon and her family." Fishlegs whimpered, walking away. "For now, yeah. Okay. But I-I need time to fix this." Hiccup said. "What are you talking about? It's over." Snotlout said. "Forget it. It's over." Ruffnut said. "Yeah, forget it." Tuffnut said."Guys, don't give up on hope. You just have to keep hoping that everything will be fixed and the dragons will be allowed to come back." Aniu said but none of them listened to her. Hiccup's green eyes narrowed in determination then he heard sniffling beside him. He turned to look at Aniu. "You okay?" He asked her gently. "No, I'm not." Aniu said. Hiccup gently gave her a hug, putting his arms around her lower back under her wings. "We'll get the dragons back, I promise." Hiccup whispered. Aniu smiled and wrapped her arms and wings around him too.
The next morning, Hiccup and his friends flew their dragons to Dragon Island, each of them were visibly upset. Nava decided to ride on Arrow's back and Aniu rode on Firesnow. The Rider Dragon Hatchlings were on a ship below them. Once the riders landed, they took their saddles off their dragons. Once the boat anchored down, the hatchlings leapt off and ran up to their parents.
"I'm gonna miss you guys." Astrid and Nava said, giving each of the five Deadly Nadders a hug. Ruffnut and Tuffnut made sure every one of the three Hideous Zippleback's heads a hug. Ruffnut sniffled as she hugged Boomer and Banger. The young Zippleback crooned and nuzzled his heads into her shoulders.
Fishlegs grunted as he placed another stone onto a pile of rocks for the four Gronckles. "Okay, you guys. There's plenty of rocks if you get hungry." Fishlegs sniffled and took Meatlug's saddle off her back. "And Meatlug, don't eat any limestone. You know it doesn't agree with you." Almost sobbing, he walked away, knowing if he stayed any longer, it'll be too painful to say goodbye. Meatlug whimpered sadly and collapsed onto the attempted to comfort his mate while Stonecruncher and Sweetiepie cuddled their mother.
"Be strong, guys. I know you lot are going to miss me." Snotlout said to Hookfang, Firesnow, Ignitis and Infernia. Then the four Monstrous Nightmares were distracted by a flock of birds and chased after them. "Okay. They're crying. They're crying on the inside." Snotlout said, his voice shaky.
Hiccup slowly took Toothless's saddle off the Night Fury's back and both he and Aniu gently scratched Toothless behind the ears. "We'll be back for you. We promise." Hiccup said to his dragon. The two teens walked away and Toothless followed. "No, Toothless. You have got to stay here and take care of the other dragons." Aniu said firmly. Toothless stared at them with big, round, sad eyes. "It's gonna be okay, Toothless. Trust us." Hiccup said, holding out a hand. Toothless crooned sadly and placed his snout into Hiccup's hand. Unable to help themselves, Hiccup and Aniu gave Toothless a hug. Hiccup gently put Toothless's saddle under a rock and both he and Aniu walked back to the ship. Toothless and the other dragons sadly watched them go. All the hatchlings looked like they were going to start crying.
On the boat, the Dragon Trainers stared miserably at the place where they had left their dragons. Hiccup, Astrid, Aniu and Nava leaned sadly against the wooden mast. "There's something Mildew said that I can't stop thinking about." Hiccup told them. "And what's that?" Nava asked. "He said "See what happens when you leave your dragon alone to wait outside."" Hiccup said. "He knew Toothless wasn't with me just before the Armory fire."
"Yeah, plus Mildew was always at the scenes of the crimes." Nava said. "Mildew must've put a dead fish in one of the boots and lured Barf and Belch to the arena." Aniu said. "So..." Astrid said slowly. "So he lives way out from the village. What was he doing in town and how would he know where we were before the fire?" Hiccup asked.
"You really think he set that fire?" Astrid asked. "I think he did all of it and I think he did it so my dad would get rid of all the dragons.' Hiccup said. "That's a pretty serious accusation." Astrid said after thinking about it. How are you gonna prove it?" Hiccup thought about it and when they got back to Berk, he and Aniu started fixing Mildew's roof. They waited until Mildew and Fungus were long gone.
After hammering in some wooden planks and nails, the two teens decided to drop into Mildew's house (quite literally considering the fact that the roof had a huge hole in it. Hiccup uncoiled a length of rope and slid down it into the house. Aniu turned into her Barn Owl form and flew inside.
Looking around, they saw that Mildew had decorated his house with dragon heads, weapons and pictures of himself slaying dragons. Then they noticed four shields depicting pictures of three, huge and very ugly Viking women and Fungus.
"Wife, wife, wife." Hiccup said, looking at the three women, their pictures were marked with Xs, showing that they were dead. "Well, Mildew has a type." Aniu said, grimacing at the pictures. Hiccup saw a pot hanging off a hook, opened it and sniffed, only to nearly lose his lunch. It was probably Mildew's food or washing.
Aniu noticed a dragon's paw sticking out from under a curtain. "Hey, Hiccup. You better come and see this." She called out. Hiccup hurried over and pulled back the curtain. Both of them gasped, they saw a pair of boots designed to look like Hideous Zippleback feet and a stick with four Monstrous Nightmare claws on the end of it.
Hiccup picked them up to get a better look but the door rattled, letting the two teens know that Mildew was back. Aniu quickly flew up through the hole in the roof and Hiccup scrambled up the rope, but didn't get to the hole in time before the door slammed open and Mildew and Fungus walked inside.
"I'm home, ladies!" Mildew announced to the pictures on the shields. Aniu was starting to believe that Mildew was a bit senile. "Did yah miss me? Oh, what did you say? Nothing? Perfect." Then Mildew noticed the curtain which the dragon boots and claws were kept. Luckily, Hiccup managed to put them exactly where they had been before climbing up the rope.
Mildew picked them up. "Ah, these served us well, didn't they, Fungus?" Mildew asked. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone found them. "Shame we have to get rid of them." Hiccup (while to what Mildew was saying) felt a drop of sweat fall off his face and saw it land on Fungus's head. The sheep looked up, saw him and bleated.
Mildew walked outside, carrying the evidence Hiccup and Aniu needed to prove the dragon's innocence. Hiccup quickly pulled himself up the rope and clambered onto the roof. Together, he and Aniu watched Mildew throw the evidence into the ocean.
"Do you have someone you can trust with your life? If so, you don't know how lucky you are. You'll find life is much easier to deal with if you have that person by your side no matter what. I know I can always trust Toothless and Aniu with my life."
I don't even know whether to say "/ his/ him, he, she, her, etc" or "their" when referring to a multiple-headed dragon.
This chapter was 11 pages long on Microsoft Office.
Updated: 15.09.2015 Australian Time