"Dragon's speaking"
'telepathical speaking'
Thinking
Dragons and Guardians: Riders of Berk
Author's note: 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 with their wings and Nava and Aniu don't have dragons but they're still part of the Dragon Riders. This note is here just to avoid confusion.
Right now the Dragon Trainer Group consists of: Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, Stormfly, Snotlout, Hookfang, Fishlegs, Meatlug, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Barf-Belch, Aniu and Nava.
Please read and Review!
This chapter marks the first appearance of Dagur the Deranged and he'll be causing a lot of trouble for the good guys in future stories and chapters.
Chapter 15: Twinsanity
"They say two heads are better than one, which is often true. But four heads? Eh, that's a few too many heads."
Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston were riding on Barf-Belch as the Hideous Zippleback flew through the cloudy sky. "How are we supposed to see up here?" Ruffnut asked loudly. "You're not. That's the point." Hiccup said, flying towards them on Toothless. "Oh, I still don't get it." Tuffnut said stupidly. "When you two can't see, you have to trust Barf-Belch to see for you." Aniu said.
"Like this." Hiccup said. Toothless flew into a patch of thick clouds to demonstrate. "Why does he always have to speak in riddles?' Tuffnut asked angrily. "He's not speaking in riddles. The instructions are simple. You have to let Barf-Belch do the navigating for you when you can't see." Aniu explained.
"I say we trust us." Ruffnut said. "Yeah, I'm with you sister. Belch, up." Tuffnut ordered at the same time his sister gave her order. Barf-Belch tried to follow both orders at once but lost control and accidently crashed into Meatlug. Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs fell from their dragons and landed on the branches of a dead tree which began cracking.
Seeing the trouble they were in, Ruffnut and Tuffnut called for their dragon but gave opposite commands with Tuffnut telling Belch to get him down and Ruffnut telling Barf to go for help but that only resulted in Barf-Belch spiralling out of control again. Fishlegs came up with a solution and whistled, alerting Meatlug. Her rider pointed at the twins and moved his finger upwards in a looping motion.
Meatlug understood the command and flew down to Ruffnut and Tuffnut, grabbing them and flying up just as the tree branch broke off. Hiccup and Aniu watched this with amazement. "It worked, I can't believe it worked!" Fishlegs exclaimed happily just before his tree branch broke.
Fortunately, Toothless caught the Gronckle rider on his back. "What was that hand thing you were doing?" Hiccup asked. "If you must know, I have been crafting some rudimentary hand signals for Meatlug just in case we get separated and they seem to have been well received." Fishlegs said, gesturing to Meatlug who was carrying the twins back to their two-headed dragon.
"Hand signals! That's incredible, Fishlegs. We need to start working on those right away." Aniu exclaimed, listening to the two boy's conversation.
In the Academy, the dragon trainers were raring to try them out. Their dragon's mates and hatchlings were there too. Thornado and Sonica had come to see what they were up to and decided to join. "Toothless, battle ready." Hiccup commanded. Toothless snarled, crouched down and flared his wings out in an attack position. "Toothless, plasma blast." Hiccup ordered and the shield he was holding up into the air. Toothless plasma blasted it and the shield was destroyed. "Good job, bud. Smile." Hiccup said. Toothless didn't seem to think this one was necessary but did it anyway.
"Not bad." Astrid praised her boyfriend "Stormfly, Arrow, spine shot!" Both Deadly Nadders launched an onslaught of tailspines, forming a circle of tailspines around Astrid. "Well, that's better than last time. Skyflier, Forestflier, Voilet, spine shot!" The three young Deadly Nadders copied their parents and shot tail spines from their tails. "Well done, you three have been improving." Astrid smiled.
"Okay, Sonica, tail whip." Aniu ordered. The purple female Thunderdrum whipped out her tail, sending a training dummy flying across the arena. "Okay, what about this. Thornado, sonic blast." Nava ordered and covered his pointed ears. The male blue Thunderdrum let out a sonic blast, sending another training dummy flying across the arena. "I'm glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that one." Nava sighed in relief, uncovering his ears.
"Hahahaha, Hookfang, annihilate!" Snotlout laughed arrogantly. Hookfang smirked and sent his rider flying into a wooden wall with a fire blast. "Okay, children. Watch me very closely." Firesnow said before setting herself on fire and shooting fire at a wall. Ignitis and Infernia copied their mother by setting themselves on fire and shooting at the wall.
"Meatlug, hug." Fishlegs said, wrapping his arms around himself. Meatlug flew at her rider and tackled him to the ground in an aggressive bear hug. Clobbertail was showing Stonecruncher and Sweetiepie how to eat boulders then shoot them out in the form of red-hot lava. "All of these things can be useful. Ruff, Tuff, your turn." Hiccup said.
"Barf, go."/ "Belch, come." Ruffut and Tuffnut gave their orders at the same time. Lefa-Rila and Boomer-Banger watched as Barf-Belch tried to follow both commands at the same time but failed. The Thorston twins glared at each other and gave their Hideous Zippleback another order. "Barf, sky."/ "Belch, ground." The poor Fear Class dragon couldn't obey that order either.
"Ha, I win!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing with my dragon?" Ruffnut asked her brother angrily. "Your dragon? Golly, you've been breathing in Barf's gas again." Tuffnut retorted. "Yeah, so?" Ruffnut hissed. "Guys, Barf-Belch is one dragon. You have to use one signal at a time." Aniu said. "Good idea. Barf, attack Tuffnut." Ruffnut agreed. Barf headbutted Tuffnut and sent him flying into Snotlout, knocking the Jorgenson boy over.
"How's that?" Ruffnut snickered. "Belch, eat Ruffnut." Tuffnut commanded with a grin. Belch grabbed Ruffnut's head. "Ow." The Thorston girl complained. "Tuff, come on." Hiccup sighed. "Whatever. Belch, drop Ruffnut." Tuffnut ordered. Belch obliged and dropped Ruffnut. "Ugh, I can't work like this." Ruffnut shuddered, wiping off dragon saliva.
"Oh, it's completely unprofessional." Tuffnut agreed. "I'm taking my dragon and going home." Ruffnut hissed. "You touch that dragon and I..." Tuffnut trailed off, running out of ideas for threats. "You'll what?" Ruffnut asked angrily.
"I...I don't know. I'll tell you tomorrow." Tuffnut said before he and his sister tried to pull their half of their Zippleback in different directions. "Uh, come on, Barf." Ruffnut grunted, pulling Barf by his nasal horn. "Come on, guys. Stop, please." Hiccup said. "Leave the dragon out of this, it's over." Aniu said.
"Oh, it's over alright." Ruffnut declared. "Yeah, it's so over it's under." Tuffnut growled. The Thorston twins stalked in opposite directions and poor Barf-Belch couldn't decide which twin to go with so his heads began to argue with each other. "What was that about?" Astrid asked. "Eh, they'll be back." Hiccup said. The twins always fought and argued, but hardly ever separated because of it, so why should now be any different?
After the lessons were finished, Hiccup, Aniu and Toothless went back to the Haddock house. The first thing they saw when they went inside was Gobber trying to fit a tight-fitting, decorated belt around Stoick's waist. Fengo and Namara were mending some of Stoick's clothes. "Suck in your gut, Stoick." Gobber said. "It doesn't suck in much more than this, Gobber." Stoick gasped out.
"It'll help if you lost some weight, Stoick." Namara chided as she mended a pair of Stoick's trousers. "Then you will have less trouble fitting into that belt." Fengo said, stitching a hole in one of Stoick's tunics. "Ah, the ceremonial belt. Is it that time again?" Hiccup questioned, going inside. "Yep. Tomorrow's the annual treaty signing with the Berserker Tribe." Stoick said. "I heard they were a bunch of blood-thirsty, barbarous brutes." Aniu said, shifting her wings.
"They got to change that name. When your chief's Oswald the Agreeable and you haven't been to war in fifty years." Gobber said. "Oh, please tell me he's not bringing that lunatic kid of his." Hiccup begged. "You barely ever talked about him and what makes him so bad?" Aniu asked, wondering why Hiccup disliked this 'lunatic kid' person so much. "I'll tell you more about him later and the subject never came up." Hiccup told her.
"Dagur? Oh, he'll be here." Gobber muttered. "Oh, great. And let me guess, Aniu and I have to stop him from breaking things." Hiccup groaned. "Actually, I have a more important job for you and Aniu. You two get to hide all the dragons." Stoick said. "From Oswald the Agreeable? Why?" Hiccup asked.
"Hiccup, just because we had peace for fifty years doesn't mean they still can't go, well, berserk. The dragons could be seen as a sign of aggression. They know we have guardians among us. Better blissful than bloody, I always say." Stoick said. "And the last thing we want is another Berserk skirmish. They tend to play for keeps." Gobber added. "Just hide the dragons, please." Stoick told Hiccup and Aniu before grunting as Gobber pulled the belt tighter.
The next morning, three Terrible Terrors walked through the forest. A green plasma blast exploded in behind them and the three, little Stoker Class dragons shrieked and flew up to join the flock of Berkian dragons being herded to a safe place. "Back in line! Back in line! Everyone, in line." Snotlout yelled at a bunch of Monstrous Nightmares he was in charge of. Astrid was in charge of the Deadly Nadders. Fishlegs in charge of the Gronckles. Ruffnut and Tuffnut had not shown up so Nava was in charge of the Hideous Zipplebacks. Aniu was in charge of the Terrible Terrors. Thornado and Sonica helped the dragon trainers out while Hiccup and Toothless made sure the mission was going smoothly.
Skyflier, Forestflier, Violet, Ignitis, Infernia, Boomer-Banger, Stonecruncher and Sweetiepie had learned how to fly recently and flew whenever they could. Their parents had decided they were strong enough to fly the short distance to safe place and let them rest on their backs one at a time whenever they got tired.
"Is Dagur coming? He's so cool." Snotlout asked eagerly. "Cool? Last time he was here, he used me as a knife throwing target and on another one of his visits, he tried to drown me." Hiccup said. "He what?" Aniu and Nava asked in disbelief and anger. "I hate him already." Toothless snarled. "Toothless just said he hates Dagur already." Aniu said. "Trust me. There's barely anyone who likes Dagur after they see what he's like." Hiccup told her.
"That guy should be locked up in a cage." Astrid said. "That's what he did to me. He wouldn't let me eat for three days." Fishlegs recounted. "Then he force-fed you rotten codfish heads." Snotlout laughed. "Thanks. I almost erased that from my memory." Fishlegs shuddered. "Look out, incoming Zippleback!" Nava yelled at them.
A very familiar green and red Zippleback flew past them in the direction of Berk and everyone recognized it as Barf-Belch. "Where's Ruffnut and Tuffnut? Someone get that Zippleback." Hiccup ordered. "I'm on it." Snotlout said. Hookfang flew after the two-headed dragon and Snotlout dropped onto Belch's neck.
"Snotlout looks like he needs help. Fishlegs, get on Barf." Aniu commanded. "I'm not really sure this is the best idea...whoa!" Fishlegs protested but Barf hit Meatlug in the side with his head and Fishlegs fell off and landed on his neck. Fishlegs held onto Barf's horns, causing the Zippleback head to breath out gas. "I don't feel so good." Fishlegs mumbled, feeling sick.
"It's the gas. Just try not to breathe any of it in." Hiccup said. "Yeah, that ship has sailed." Fishlegs groaned. "Whoa, hey! Somebody tell me how to work this thing!" Snotlout yelled, trying to climb up Belch's neck to reach his horns. "Whatever you do, Snotlout. Don't spark." Aniu said. But Snotlout had grabbed Belch's horns and pulled. Belch instinctively spat out sparks which ignited Barf's gas, causing an explosion that sent Fishlegs and Snotlout flying off Barf-Belch. Luckily, both boys landed on Hookfang.
"Okay, now I feel worse." Fishlegs gulped. "Then if I were you, I would not think about that rotten codfish head sliding down your throat." Snotlout said carelessly. Fishlegs's face turned green, he let out a small burp and vomited. "Oh, that is disgusting." Snotlout groaned, feeling sick himself. "Then you shouldn't have told Fishlegs about that memory." Aniu said.
Hiccup watched Barf-Belch fly away and glanced at Astrid. "Wait here. I need to find the twins to get that Zippleback under control before the Berserkers..." He said before a horn blew. "...are here." Astrid finished his sentence. "Great. Just great." Hiccup muttered. Quickly, Stormfly, Hookfang and Meatlug said goodbye to their families and flew back to Berk where they would hide in their rider's houses.
On the way back, Hiccup thought about something. What would Dagur do when he found out about Aniu, Nava, Fengo and Namara? He knew Dagur had an obsession with violence and weapons so would he see Aniu and her fellow guardians as weapons of war or not? With those troubling thoughts in his mind, Hiccup followed his friends back to Berk on Toothless.
Stoick, Gobber, Fengo and Namara waited on the docks as a big fleet of ships approached. All of them had a dragon with large wings, spiked back and long tail, a crown of spikes on the back of its head and two legs. The dragon had a bolt of lightning shooting out of its mouth.
Hiccup, Aniu and Nava ran up to them. "Hey, Dad. There's something you need to know." Hiccup said. "Not now, Hiccup. The Berserkers are here." Stoick interrupted him. The fist ship docked, a gangplank was lowered and a Berserker stepped up. "Presenting the high chief of the Berserker Tribe, cracker of skulls, slayer of beasts, the great and fearsome..." The Berserker herald announced. "Oswald the Agreeable?" Gobber asked, confused. The herald glared at the Berkian blacksmith and said "...Dagur the Deranged!" before stepping aside to reveal...
A man in his late teens with dark green eyes, blood red hair and an arrogant and bored look on his face that seemed to suggest he didn't care about the world or anyone around him. He wore traditional Berserker armour and clothing that showed his chiefly status. "Dagur?" Stoick asked in shock. "Deranged?" Gobber asked, unable to believe that this kid was the new chief of the Berserker Tribe. "Oh no." Hiccup groaned.
Just for fun, Dagur threw a dagger (no pun intended) at Hiccup's head. Fortunately, thanks to his increased reflexes from constant flights on Toothless, Hiccup ducked and the dagger stuck in the wooden pole behind him. Dagur frowned at this and stepped down the gangplank. "Dagur, where is your father?" Stoick asked. "My father has been 'retired'. He lost his taste for blood. I, on the other hand, am starving." Dagur sang the last word. Aniu frowned. The way Dagur said 'retired' didn't sit right with her.
"So, where are you hiding them, Stoick?" Dagur asked. "Hiding what, Dagur?" Stoick asked. "Do I look stupid to you?" Dagur asked angrily. "Trick question. Don't answer it." Gobber whisper-hissed in Stoick's ear. "We both know what's going on here. I have it on excellent authority that you are amassing an army of dragons." Dagur continued.
"Excellent authority? And who would that be, Dagur?" Stoick asked. "Never mind. Just know that if I find it to be true, then my armada will attack with the force of 50 000 brave, Berserker soldiers." Dagur said, looking excited at the thought of bloodshed and violence. His men grunted in agreement. "Stand down, Dagur. There won't be any need for the armada. Now, let's get to the treaty." Stoick said formally.
"Yes, let's. Now, according to the treaty: my visit starts with a tour of Berk, the armoury, the feast in the Great Hall, the killing arena. You do still kill dragons here, don't you?" Dagur asked gleefully. "Your father never found the tour necessary." Stoick said. "As you can see, I'm not my father, am I?" Dagur asked, smirking. Stoick glared at him and reached for his sword. "Not in front of the armada." Gobber whispered, stopping his friend from doing something he would most likely regret.
Then Dagur noticed Aniu, Nava, Fengo and Namara. "And who are these...people?" He asked, seeing their wings and pointed ears. "These two are Fengo and Namara, their daughter Aniu and their family friend Nava. They are guardians." Stoick said.
"I can see that." Dagur muttered and saw Aniu standing beside Hiccup. "And what exactly are you and your fellow guardians doing here on this place?" He asked her. "We came here to help the people of Berk with their dragon problem and drove the dragons away. We taught Berk the values of knowledge, peace, unity and friendship. Berk has become stronger because of it." Aniu said. Dagur let out a deranged laugh. "Peace, knowledge, unity, friendship? That's the stupidest thing I heard in a long time. What good are those when you don't have the weapons and power to back it up? See my men? They have waited years to taste true blood! I bet you can't even fight!" He exclaimed.
"Be that as it may be, I am willing to give you a demonstration in the arena." Aniu said, refusing to back down or be intimidated. "Maybe we should, with weapons, blood and pain galore!" Dagur agreed. "Okay, this guy is really crazy." Nava whispered. "He is also bloodthirsty." Fengo agreed. "And violent." Namara added.
As soon as the opportunity arose, Hiccup, Aniu and Nava high-tailed it out of there. "Oh, this is bad, this is bad. We have to find that Zippleback." Hiccup muttered. "And we have no idea where Barf-Belch is." Aniu groaned. "And we have a crazy, bloodthirsty lunatic who loves to kill dragons visiting Berk." Nava sighed.
The three friends went between two houses and nearly ran into Astrid. "Guys, we have a problem." The blue-eyed, blonde-haired Hofferson shield maiden said. "Oh, yeah, you're telling us?" Aniu asked. "Dagur's the new Berserker chief." Hiccup said. "What?" Astrid asked in shock. "Yeah, his father supposedly 'retired'." Nava said, emphasizing the word 'retired'.
"And he thinks we are hiding dragons." Aniu said. "Well, we kind of are which brings us to our next problem." Astrid said, pointing at a fresh set of Zippleback tracks under their feet. "Huh? Barf-Belch? Here?" Hiccup asked. "And he's over there." Aniu said, pointing at the Zippleback who was eating some fish from a basket.
And to make things worse, Dagur and his entourage were heading their way. Thinking quickly, Hiccup and Astrid ran over, grabbed the basket of fish and Aniu and Nava herded Barf-Belch away. "And we're walking, walking, walking. Here, we have our food storage. It's where we..." Gobber said. "Ooh, let me guess: store your food." Dagur said, sounding bored and walking away.
"No wonder they made him chief." Gobber muttered, disliking the lad's arrogance. "Another thing to dislike about Dagur." Fengo muttered. "Barf-Belch, come back here." Hiccup, Astrid, Aniu and Nava hissed as they chased the Hideous Zippleback past the Food Storage building. "Booooring. I want to see the dragon-killing things." Dagur complained, sounding like a spoilt brat.
"Follow me." Stoick grumbled, having just about enough with the deranged Berserker chief. Meanwhile, Barf-Belch had outran his chasers. "Where did he go?" Astrid asked desperately. "I have no idea." Nava said. "You guys keep looking. Aniu and I will go warn our parents." Hiccup said before he and Aniu ran off.
In the Armoury, Dagur was having a lot of fun swinging weapons around, pretending to kill dragons. "You want some of this, Gronckle? How 'bout you, Nadder? That's right, plead for your pathetic dragon lives!" Dagur exclaimed, throwing a sword at a shield. "He's really got a handle on that whole deranged thing." Gobber muttered.
"I'm about to make him eat this sword." Stoick hissed, pulling the sword out of the shield. "Why don't we see to signing that treaty now?" Gobber asked, stopping his friend before anything bad could happen. "Sounds like my father. 'Sign the treaty, Dagur.'. 'Leave that chicken alone, Dagur.'. 'Ooh, put down that axe, Dagur.'." Dagur complained.
"Your father is a great man and I'll not have you disrespect him." Stoick reprimanded. "My father was a coward. I intend to return the Berserkers to their former glory, something he was incapable of doing." Dagur growled defiantly. Stoick glared at him and saw a two headed dragon run past the Armoury with Hiccup and his friends chasing after it.
"Zippleback." He said before he could stop himself. "I knew it! Where is it? Ohhh, let me kill it!" Dagur squealed excitedly. "Looks like he really loves and enjoys dragon-killing." Namara whispered anxiously in her husband's pointed ear. Fengo nodded in agreement. Gobber laughed and closed the doors before Dagur could get outside.
"He's joking, Dagur. That Stoick, always the prankster." The blacksmith chuckled. "Tell me, Dagur. What are some of your deranged plans for the Berserker Tribe?" Outside the Armoury, Hiccup, Aniu and Nava were still looking for the Hideous Zippleback. "Barf-Belch?" The three teens called quietly.
They turned around and saw Barf-Belch hanging down from the roof. "Guys, you can't be here." Hiccup hissed at them. "There's a madman here who loves killing dragons so you are in danger." Aniu whispered urgently. "We're not leaving until we find our riders." Barf said. "If you don't leave, he'll kill you and mount your heads on his wall. What would Lefa-Rila and Boomer-Banger do if they find out their mate and father has been killed?" Nava asked quickly. "We're still not leaving without knowing where our riders are and if they're safe." Belch hissed.
Then, they heard Dagur's voice. "Nice weapons, very clean, no bloodstains, pity." The Armoury doors opened and Dagur walked out. Luckily, Barf-Belch had pulled his heads up and vanished from sight. The young Berserker chief saw Hiccup, Aniu and Nava standing in front of him, trying to look innocent and casual. "Ah, Hiccup. There you are. And your two guardian friends, Aniu and Nava, right?" Dagur asked.
"Dagur, we were just talking about you! Hey, remember that time when we went swimming and you tried to drown me?" Hiccup asked. "Yeah, shame that dragon shot that blue ball of fire at me. Bored again!" Dagur said, shoving Hiccup aside and walking past him, Aniu and Nava. Hiccup had a feeling that dragon was Toothless and made a mental note to give his Night Fury an extra basket full of delicious, fresh fish from the cove. He knew Toothless would be licking his lips at the thought of all those fish just for him. He spoiled his dragon sometimes.
"Just a moment. Something is going on here." Dagur said suspiciously. "I can explain." Hiccup nearly stammered. "Where is it?" Dagur asked. "It's just one dragon..." Hiccup stuttered. Aniu and Nava cast discreet glances up at the Armoury's roof. To their relief, Barf-Belch had left. "Your leg. Never mind, I heard all about it." Dagur said.
"Heard all about what?" Hiccup asked nervously. "You, the Red Death. Defeated it all on your own." Dagur continued. "Nava and I helped him along with the other teens." Aniu said quickly. "Me? Look at me. How could I have done that all by myself without help?" Hiccup asked, gesturing at himself. "Right? That's what I thought too. But then, I heard about trained dragons and it got me kind of tingly." Dagur said.
"Trained dragons? How would you even train a dragon?" Hiccup asked nervously. "I don't know. How would you?" Dagur asked, staring Hiccup in the face. "Is everything alright here?" Stoick asked, walking outside. "Everything's fine, I think." Nava said. "Anyway, Aniu. You promised me a demonstration of your powers in the Arena. How about we do it now?" Dagur asked hopefully.
"Okay, we'll do it now, then. In the arena." Aniu agreed, hoping Dagur didn't have any ulterior motives. The arena is this way." Stoick said, leading Dagur and his men to the arena. As they walked, Nava stepped up to his girlfriend. "Aniu, are you sure you know what you are doing?" He asked her anxiously. "Nava, I'm sure. I won't tell or show him all my powers. Just my nature magic and my animal forms except for my dragon form." Aniu assured him. Nava softly smiled and kissed Aniu on the cheek.
In the Dragon Training Academy, Aniu stood in the centre of the arena while Dagur, his Berserkers, her parents, Nava, Hiccup, Stoick and Gobber stood around the arena, watching her. "Well, we're waiting." Dagur snapped impatiently. Aniu took a deep breath and decided to start with her signature element: fire. Her glowed red and fireballs formed. Waving her hands around, Aniu manipulated the fire to fly around her in beautiful streams. Aniu even set her wings on fire with no harm done. Turning into her Barn Owl form, Aniu flew up and the fire curled into hoops which she flew through.
The flames vanished and Aniu chose wind as her next element after turning back into her human form. Gentle gusts of wind and air blew around the arena, blowing softly at the people watching her. Smiling, Aniu continued with her performance. She bended a ray of sunlight and made it spread in a circle around her. Forming a snowball in her hands, Aniu threw it into the air where it exploded and began snowing. Using water magic, Aniu made it lightly rain but no one got wet.
Aniu's hands glowed green and the stone floor of the arena erupted into large spikes of rock. Fresh grass spread along the area floor. Aniu turned into her wolf form and jumped up onto a rock spike before running in a circle around the academy. Aniu turned back into her human form and shot two bolts of lightning up at the sky. For the finale, shadows spread out from Aniu and darkened the arena. "That's it." Aniu said, folding her arms and letting the shadows dissipate.
Some Berserkers applauded but Dagur wanted something else. "Now that you have shown me what you can do with your magic, why don't you show us how well you can fight against someone like me without magic?" Dagur asked. "Fine." Aniu said. Dagur grinned and hopped down into the academy, holding an axe in his hand. "Be careful, Aniu." Hiccup, Nava, Fengo and Namara whispered nervously.
Dagur and Aniu circled each other and Aniu observed Dagur for any weaknesses she could use against him like she had been taught. Dagur didn't think to do the same thing and rushed at Aniu with his weapon raised. Aniu dodged and tripped Dagur up as he ran past her. Dagur got up, retrieved his weapon, growled and charged at Aniu again but she deflected and parried his attacks using moves she had learned throughout her life. The duel took a short while and after using a series of punches and kicks, Aniu finally knocked Dagur unconscious with a punch to the face.
The Berserkers stared in shock at Aniu's fighting skills. The guardian girl was much smaller than them and yet she had managed to defeat their chief by using her brains, speed, agility and smaller size against him. And Aniu had sure to vanish her wings before the duel started so she wouldn't have an unfair advantage. Dagur got up and ran at Aniu just as she was about to walk out of the arena, screaming a battle cry. Aniu spun around and her face gained a 'seriously?' look. She waited until the Berserker chief was close enough before jumping up, spinning around in mid-air and landing a roundhouse kick up Dagur's helmeted head. Dagur fell unconscious for real this time. "And the winner of the duel is Aniu!" Stoick announced.
The Berkians started cheering. Dagur woke up half-an hour later and knew he had lost the fight. That's it. I really want that guardian girl and her fellow guardians as my weapons. He thought darkly. Everyone went back to the village and Barf-Belch was still trying to find Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Toothless was with the Zippleback, trying to convince the dragon to get out of the village. Hiccup, Aniu and Nava separated from the others and ran over to the two dragons. "We need the twins." Hiccup said.
Later on, Hiccup, Astrid, Aniu, Nava and Toothless entered the Thorston House. "What are you guys doing here?" Tuffnut asked, swinging down and hanging upside down from a rafter. "Hey, Tuffnut. Feel like talking?" Hiccup asked. "Um, can you come down?" Astrid asked. "We want to talk to you face to face." Aniu said. "And we can't do that when you are hanging upside from a rafter." Nava said.
"Whatever." Tuffnut said before flipping himself off the rafter and landing on his feet. "Whoa, yeah. I love that part." He said, enjoying the adrenaline rush. "Look, about Barf-Belch. We need you and Ruffnut to help us get your dragon under control." Hiccup said, getting straight to the point. "No thank you. I am officially out of the dragon business. And the sister business. And the dragon and the sister business." Tuffnut protested. "What's going on with you two?" Astrid asked.
"Simple. You know what this is?" Tuffnut asked, holding up a spoon. "A spoon?" Hiccup asked. "No, it is our spoon, our dish our axe. And our well-groomed, stuffed yak. Everything is ours. I'm sick of ours. Just once, I want something to be mine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go pack up my half of the yak." Tuffnut said, picking up a satchel.
"Go, where?" Aniu asked. "I don't know. To my dark, soggy, alone place. Not to cry. This house has too many memories." Tuffnut said solemnly, walking out of the house. "Tuff!" Nava called out. "'Dark, soggy, alone place'? Ugh." Astrid said. "Yeah, I really don't wanna know." Hiccup said.
That night in the Great Hall, it was time for the feast. "Did you get that Zippleback under control?" Stoick asked Hiccup and Aniu in a low whisper. "We're working on it." The two best friends whispered as Dagur stood up from his seat.
"A toast to death in battle." The Berserker chief proclaimed. "To your father." / "To Oswald." Everyone else proclaimed. "Fine, whatever. To Oswald, to Oswald, to Oswald. Blabbity, blabbity, blah!" Dagur sulked, sitting down and stabbing a knife into his cake with an angry pout on his face.
"Well, on that cheery note, shall we sign the treaty and send you on your way?" Gobber asked hopefully, unravelling the scroll. "Great idea! Let's sign that treaty. Bring us the dragon's blood!" Dagur exclaimed. "Uh, did you just say 'dragon's blood'?" Hiccup and Aniu asked nervously. "Yes, he did." Fengo and Namara sighed.
"Heh, heh. Don't be ridiculous, Dagur. Your father and I haven't signed a treaty in dragon's blood for years." Stoick chuckled. "Why would that be a problem, Stoick? Unless of course, you don't kill dragons anymore." Dagur asked. "We still kill dragons." Stoick protested. "The problem is we killed so many, there isn't a dragon within 200 miles of this place." Gobber played along. And at the worst time, Barf-Belch crashed through the doors, still looking for his riders.
"Except that one." Gobber said, dumbstruck. "The Zippleback! It's a sign! A head for each chief! It's gonna be amazing! Tonight, we hunt dragons!" Dagur laughed maniacally, leaping onto the table. "Yeah, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!" The Berserkers cheered. "You need to find that Zippleback before he does." Stoick hissed at Hiccup and Aniu. "Things just got a whole lot harder." Aniu sighed.
Early in the next morning, all the Dragon Trainers (except for the twins) grabbed their dragons and flew around the forest to search for Ruffnut and Tuffnut. "Hiccup, Aniu. You heard Tuffnut. He went to his dark, soggy, alone place. That could be anywhere." Astrid said. "Not really. That could only be place." Snotlout said. Hiccup, Astrid, Aniu and Nava stared at him. "What?" Snotlout asked. "Why didn't you say something?" Aniu asked in disbelief.
"Why didn't you ask?" Snotlout shot back. "Snotlout, we've been looking for them all morning." Astrid said, annoyed. "And?" Snotlout questioned. "And if you don't tell us right now, I'm going to throw you off that dragon!" Astrid exploded. "No need to get violent. He's probably at the Lost Cavern. They used to play Hide-and-go-kill there when they were kids." Snotlout said.
"Astrid, you, Snotlout and Nava take the south entrance. Fishlegs, Aniu and I will take the north." Hiccup said, flying away on Toothless, followed by Aniu, Fishlegs and Meatlug. "Let's go." Astrid exclaimed. Snotlout winked flirtatiously at her, causing Astrid to groan. "You do realize I'm still here, right? And Snotlout, stop flirting with Astrid. You know she doesn't like you." Nava said.
At the Lost Cavern's northern entrance, Toothless, Aniu and Meatlug landed and Hiccup and Fishlegs dismounted their dragons. "Alright, bud. Do your thing: search." Hiccup ordered, holding a flaming torch in his hand. Toothless grumbled but obeyed.
"Pretty dark in here. If you need to hold my hand, Astrid, it's okay." Snotlout said smoothly as he, Hookfang, Astrid, Stormfly and Nava entered the Caverns. "Sure, Snotlout." Astrid said smoothly. Snotlout grabbed what he thought was Astrid's hand and said "Ooh, soft as I thought I would be." Before realizing it was the end of Stormfly's tail he was holding. "Eww." The Jorgenson boy yelped, letting go.
Hiccup, Aniu, Toothless, Fishlegs and Meatlug were still searching through the Caverns when they saw... "Tuffnut?" Hiccup and Aniu asked. "Oh, you guys again. Would you quit following me?" Tuffnut asked angrily. "Ruffnut?" Astrid and Nava's voices asked. "Would you quit following me?" Ruffnut asked them angrily. "Did you guys hear that?" Aniu asked. "Duh. It's called an echo." Snotlout said, walking around the rock.
Then Ruffnut and Tuffnut saw each other. "Toothless, plasma blast." Hiccup ordered. The Night Fury shot a plasma blast at the ceiling, spreading light across the cavern. "What are you doing in my soggy place?" Tuffnut asked his sister angrily and standing up. "This is my soggy place and I'm not sharing it with you." Ruffnut told her brother furiously and standing up as well.
"Okay, listen, please. We need to get you guys to your dragon. It's important." Hiccup interrupted. "Barf-Belch is in real trouble." Astrid said. "You are the only ones who can save Barf-Belch." Aniu said. "We have to hurry before it is too late." Nava said. "I'll go but not with her." Tuffnut said, pointing at his sister. "I'm not going anywhere with her either." Ruffnut agreed. "Yeah! Wait, what?" Tuffnut asked dumbly.
"You don't understand. Both of you have to go." Hiccup said. Ruffnut and Tuffnut glanced at each other and looked away. "Guys, listen. Like it or not, you are connected to each other as twin siblings. And the two of you are connected to your dragon. Just like me with Toothless." Hiccup continued. "And me with Stormfly." Astrid added, giving Stormfly a hug. "Us too." Fishlegs put in, referring to Meatlug and himself.
"We can get you another spoon, another dish, another axe, another stuffed yak. What we can't get you is another Barf-Belch." Hiccup finished. Astrid stood beside her boyfriend and smiled at the twins. "Do you think they got any of that?" Hiccup asked her. Ruffnut and Tuffnut glanced at each other again."Fine." Tuffnut said and both Thorston twins spat in their palms and shook hands before gently headbutting each other.
"You know, I did spit a little more in my hand." Tuffnut said to Ruffnut. "They got it." Astrid told Hiccup with a smile. "Okay, let's go. We're on a time limit." Hiccup said. "Why is this so important anyway?" Tuffnut asked. "The Berserkers are hunting down your dragon to use his blood for ink to sign the treaty." Snotlout said casually. Everyone stared at Snotlout in shock and disbelief because of the lack of sensitivity. "What? Is that not what's happening?" Snotlout asked. "What?! Please tell me you're joking!" Ruffnut shrieked, grabbing Snotlout by the shoulders and shaking him.
"Unfortunately, Ruffnut, that is what's happening." Nava said. "Hiccup and I heard Dagur say it himself." Aniu said softly.
Meanwhile, Boomer-Banger had managed to escape from his mother and flew back to Berk to look for his father. "I think Dad's this way." Boomer said, trying to go in one direction. "No, I think Dad's this way." Banger argued, trying to go in another direction. The two heads were so busy arguing that the young Zippleback didn't notice three Berserker soldiers approaching until one man yelled "I see a little Zippleback there!"
"Let's get it!" Another man yelled. Boomer-Banger took off running while the men chased them. "We can lose them in the trees!" Boomer yelled. "Well, let's find a good tree to climb!" Banger agreed. The young green and blue Zippleback rounded a corner and leapt up into the branches of a large tree. "Don't make a sound or move a muscle." Boomer whispered to his brother-head. The men ran past the tree, unaware that the object of their pursuit was hiding in its branches. "That was close." Banger whispered once the men vanished.
Certain the danger had passed, Boomer-Banger lowered themselves to the ground."We need to find Dad while staying out of sight until these men leave the island." Boomer said. "Yeah, I'm with you, brother-head." Banger agreed.
The Dragon Trainers found Barf-Belch trying to find his riders in the forest. "There they are. We gotta get you and Ruffnut down there." Hiccup told Tuffnut, who was riding behind him on Toothless. But Berserkers ran out of the trees and captured Barf-Belch. "No!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut cried out. The dragons, Aniu and Nava landed in the trees. "What are we doing here? We have to get our dragon." Tuffnut whispered desperately.
"We can't afford to be spotted by the Berserkers." Aniu told him. Dagur approached Barf-Belch with a bloodthirsty, insane grin on his face, drew his sword and prepared to bring it down on the poor Zippleback's heads. But Stoick blocked his sword with his own sword. "How dare you?" Dagur asked, glaring at the Berkain chief.
"How dare you? We're supposed to slay this dragon together and that's what we'll do in the arena where dragon slaying is done." Stoick told him angrily. Dagur reluctantly sheathed his sword. "To the arena." He ordered. Stoick, Gobber, Fengo and Namara exchanged worried looks and followed the Berserkers as they walked away, dragging Barf-Belch with them.
The Dragon Trainers waited until they were gone before landing on the ground. "The chief isn't going to let them kill our dragon, is he?" Ruffnut and Tuffnut asked desperately. "He won't have a choice unless we can figure out a plan." Nava said. "I have a plan. One word: Annihilate!" Snotlout commanded.
Hookfang blew a stream of over his rider's head. "Or not." Astrid said, smirking at Snotlout's stupidity. "Actually, that could work." Hiccup said.
"According to the treaty: the killing of the dragon must be..." Gobber read from a piece of paper but Dagur yawned and interrupted him. "I want the head on the right." The young Berserker drew his sword and advanced on Barf-Belch. "I'm putting a stop to this. If it means war, it means war." Stoick hissed, drawing his own sword and creeping up on Dagur. The Berserkers attention was fixated on their chief.
Dagur held his sword above Belch' head and grinned, savouring the soon-to-be-kill. Stoick was about to strike him down when Hiccup, Aniu, Astrid, Nava and the other Dragon Trainers ran into academy. "Help! Dragon attack!" Hiccup and Aniu screamed. Hookfang climbed down the chain holding up the ceiling of the arena and spat fire at the Berserkers.
"What is going on?" Gobber asked, confused. "Gobber, dragon attack." Feno told him. "Oh, dragon attack. Everyone, out of here!" Gobber understood. Stormfly and Meatlug flew into the arena and stared down the Berserkers. At a hand signal from Astrid, Stormfly launched tail spines at a soldier. Fishlegs gave his dragon a hand signal and Meatlug tackled another Berserker.
"We must protect our honoured guests." Gobber exclaimed, trying to drag Dagur out of the arena but got shaken off. "Run if you want, but Dagur the Deranged will not retreat." The Berserker chief said, drawing his sword and facing Barf-Belch who had been freed by Namara while everyone else was distracted.. "Barf, gas." Ruffnut whispered, moving her hand away from her mouth as if blowing a kiss. Barf blew a cloud of gas out of his mouth.
"Belch, spark." Tuffnut ordered, pointing at his mouth. Belch ignited his brother-head's gas with sparks. Dagur was slammed into the wall by the resultant explosion. Astrid gave her Deadly Nadder another hand signal and Stormfly whipped Dagur with her tail, sending him flying into another part of the wall. Barf-Belch head-butted Berserkers away and ran out of the academy.
Dagur grabbed a spear and flung it at the Zippleback with scream but Toothless ran into the arena and grabbed the spear in his jaws, snapping the weapon in half and spitting the pieces at Dagur's feet. "A Night Fury. They do exist!" Dagur exclaimed. Toothless snarled at him hatefully.
"Get back, you fiend! You will not harm my friend Dagur." Hiccup said, holding a shield and dagger in his hands. He stood between Dagur and Toothless and hit 'accidently' hit Dagur in the chin with his shield. Hiccup used the distraction to give Toothless a hand signal. Toothless fired a plasma blast and Hiccup shoved Dagur out of the way just before the blast hit the wall.
By now, all the Berserkers were running out of the arena. "Please, Dagur. Save yourself." Hiccup pleaded. Toothless pretended to attack his rider and pinned him down. The other Dragon riders were fending off their dragons. Stoick grabbed Toothless's tail and tried to pull the Night Fury off his son. "You owe it to your people." Hiccup yelled.
"Berserkers, to the boats." Dagur ordered, narrowly dodging fire blasts from Hookfang. The Berserkers ran out of the arena and Gobber ran after them. "What about the treaty?" He asked. "Consider it signed!" Dagur yelled and ran away. The fake dragon attack only ended when the Berserker ships had vanished over the horizon now everyone was cleaning the arena up.
"Well done, Hiccup and Aniu. I doubt we'll be seeing much more of Dagur the Deranged." Stoick congratulated. "Let's hope not." Hiccup said and hugged Toothless.
"I used to think that four heads was a little crazy and I wasn't wrong."
"I still Dagur's pretty cool." Snotlout told Ruffnut and Tuffnut who snapped their fingers. Barf-Belch used his gas and sparks to cause an explosion right in front of Snotlout. "Dad!" Exclaimed two voices. Boomer-Banger flew into the arena and ran up to his father to give him a hug and an nuzzle. "Boomer-Banger!" Lefa-Rila yelled angrily, flying into the arena.
"How could you sneak away from us?" Lefa asked angrily. "We got worried about Dad and went to look for him." Boomer explained. "Please don't punish us."Banger begged. "We have half a mind to ground you for a whole week." Rila snapped. The female Zippleback turned her attention to her mate. "Are you okay?" Lefa-Rila asked, nuzzling Barf-Belch. "We're fine." The male Zippleback chuckled.
"But Aniu and I will take crazy over berserk any day of the week."
Once the clean-up was finished, Aniu and Nava went outside to talk. "Something tells me we can expect more trouble from Dagur the Deranged. A whole lot more." Aniu said. "Well, let's hope it doesn't happen for a while." Nava said. But before he left, Nava leaned in and gave Aniu a kiss on the lips.
Aniu returned the kiss and they parted after a few seconds. "I love you, Aniu. I always will." Nava whispered, leaning his forehead against hers and staring into Aniu's emerald green eyes. "I love you too, Nava. I always will for the rest of our lives." Aniu whispered, staring into Nava's sapphire blue eyes. She noticed that her golden-brown fringe was mixing with Nava's silver-blonde fringe.
"Are we interrupting something" someone asked. Aniu and Nava turned around to see Hiccup and Astrid staring at them. "Yes, you are." Aniu said. "Oh, we'll give you lovebirds some private time then." Hiccup said. "Actually, we were just about to leave." Nava said. Both he and Aniu flew away.
"You know, something tells me we are going to be seeing a lot more of Dagur." He remarked. "I'll be fine with it just as long he doesn't try to hurt anyone we care about or he will find himself on the receiving end of my axe." Astrid said. Hiccup smiled and kissed Astrid on the lips. Astrid returned the kiss and they parted seconds later. "I love you, Astrid Hofferson. I just never had the courage to say that till now." Hiccup whispered, staring into Astrid's ice blue eyes.
"I love you too, Hiccup Haddock." Astrid whispered, staring into Hiccup's emerald green eyes. The pair hugged and Astrid ran her fingers through Hiccup's dark brown hair while Hiccup ran his fingers over Astrid's golden-blonde hair."Come on, let's go. They'll be wondering where we are." Hiccup said. Astrid smiled and they called their dragons. Toothless and Stormfly came over, let their riders get on their saddles and took off.
Is anyone excited for episodes 14 to 26 of Dragons: Race to the Edge? I sure am. This chapter must be the longest chapter I have ever written on this site because it is 14 pages long on Microsoft Office. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Updated: 5.01.2015 Australian Time