That night, I took the dragons to the caves by the rock shelf where I first met up with the Outcasts. We stayed there for the night, so the others wouldn't find us. In the morning, I had Toothless stay with the other dragons, keeping them inside the cave.

I went for a walk around the island's shoreline. I climbed up a cliff using a steep, rocky trail along its front. When I reached the top of the trail, I still had about six feet of sheer cliff to climb. I jumped up so my hands grabbed the top of the cliff firmly, closing my fingers around some tree roots.

I struggled to pull myself up. Eventually, I twisted so my right foot caught the top edge of the cliff. Holding my breath in fear, I heaved myself to the top.

I rolled over several times in the grass. Then, I sat up, trying to regain my bearings. I turned away from the cliff. What I saw made me freeze, my heart sinking.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut sat there, staring at the volcano in the distance. As they saw smoke rising from the top, Ruffnut sighed.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she said. "So much potential..."

"For destruction!" her brother continued.

"Yeah!" they cheered, banging their heads together in celebration.

I had to get out of there without letting them see me. I glanced back at the way I came. Going that way would require a six-foot drop onto a twelve-inch ledge. There was no way I could do that. I would almost certainly slip and fall down onto the jagged rocks along the shore. If the rocks didn't kill me, the churning surf would.

I tried to sneak away from them by going off to the side. But before I had taken more than a few steps, my foot landed on a twig. It snapped, sending the twins twirling in my direction.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Hiccup Haddock, the Third," Tuffnut said.

"It seems to me that you are no longer the most… exemplary viking, my good Mr. Haddock," Ruffnut said.

"Umm… I'm pretty sure that's not a word," Tuffnut whispered to her. The two of them have similar arguments about words a lot. I tried to slowly slip off to the side as they continued to argue.

"It is indeed a word," Ruffnut said.

"Then I challenge you to define it!"

"Exemplary," Ruffnut explained as I was almost in the clear, "is an adjective, describing a thing which serves as a desirable model and represents the best of its kind." She smiled in triumph.

"Ahh, so it is a word. Then, dear sister, we must conclude that our friend Hiccup here is not an… um… ex-em-pry… model of escape," Tuffnut said, pointing at me as he struggled to pronounce the word.

"Look, look, um, I'll- I'll just be going now…" I faltered, about to take off running. I saw the twins grinning and nodding to each other. A second later, they pounced, tackling me.

"Guys– Ow! Ow!" I shouted as they pounded my ribs. "Would you stop that?!"

Holding my pinned to the ground, the twins stopped hitting me. Tuffnut leaned over me, his long, loose blond hair brushing against my face.

"You, sir, are a disgrace to our tribe!" he stated.

"I told you, I told everyone… I'm not one of you."

"Well, not anymore," said Ruffnut. "You call yourself an Outcast now."

"That's what I am," I said, laboring to breathe with them on top of me. "You- you heard Stoick say that I'm not welcome… that I'm not his son. All the tribe shunned me; all the family I have left hates me. What else am I?" I demanded.

I saw Ruffnut's jaw drop as she looked, wide eyed, at Tuffnut. His expression mirrored hers as they stared at each other, then at me.

They climbed off of me and stood over me. "Today is your lucky day," Tuffnut said, his voice thick. "My sister and I must confer about this matter."

"Just, just please don't let the others know I'm here. Please," I pleaded, looking them in the eyes.

"Your secret is safe with us," said Tuffnut, "until we figure something out between ourselves."

"Thank you," I breathed, scrambling to my feet and running away.