Hiccup was silent as they continued to the burn site. The others called out to one another happily as they looped through the air, even Astrid. They were flying after all. But Hiccup was as silent as a rock.

"H-Hiccup?" Merida finally asked, touching his shoulder. "Why are you so quiet?"

"Did you just end it?" He asked tensely. She saw a muscle feather in his jaw.

"End... What, exactly?"

"Our... Whatever there is between us."
"I-" She was interrupted by a shout from Astrid, who was pointing at the house below, its charred skeleton still smoking. Merida never finished what she was was going to say, but inside, she knew that she didn't want to end it.

They landed gently on the ground, and Hiccup jumped off. Despite the fact that he was unhappy with her, at the very least confused, he still reached up and lifted her down.

"Thanks," she said quietly. He nodded and walked over to the remainder of the house.

"Toothless," He called. "Come see if you can catch a scent." Toothless scampered over and sniffed. "Is it the same dragon?" Hiccup asked. "The one who we've talked to?"

Toothless shook his head slightly. He was starting to learn the ways of humans, for example, nodding and shaking one's head. Hiccup sighed, knowing this was not a good sign.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Ruffnut asked, running a hand through her tangled blond hair.

"Nothing good," Hiccupn replied.

"It means," Fishlegs said grimly, "that the dragon wasn't bluffing. It means that there are more dragons, and it means they are as dangerous, too."

"Great," Astrid muttered. Merida watched as she carefully scuffed at the ashes, searching for clues.

"Found something!" Tuffnut yelled excitedly. He and Snotlout were kneeling on the ground, looking through the ashes. He stood up, waving his hand around.

"What's he holding?" Merida sked, squinting.

"It looks like a scale," Hiccup replied thoughtfully. He ran over to Fishlegs, stumbling on a brick as he went but regaining his balance. Merida just smiled.

Snotlout took it from Tuffnut and held it against Toothless's scales. It was at least twice as big.

"How big are these dragons, exactly?"

"Bigger than Toothless," Merida mumbled. "I wonder how big the leader will be."

"Huge," Ruffnut said. "I bet it could even be bigger than the Red Death."

The rest of the Vikings all glanced at one another worriedly. Merida knew what the Red Death was, but she hadn't been there to see it, and instantly felt left out.

Snotlout noticed and slung an arm around her shoulder, leaning in close.

"Don't you worry," he said with a wink. "You'll be able to see one just like it some day."

Merida wiggled out of his grasp, her face flushing red. "What are you doing?"

Snotlout shrugged and stepped away, glancing quickly at Astrid. She didn't seem to be jealous, much to his disappointment. Of course, he couldn't read her mind. If he could've read Hiccup's mind, though, he never would have flirted with Merida. Not after what just happened between her and Hiccup.

Fishlegs rushed up and snatched the scale from Snotlout's grasp.

"Hey!" Snotlout said indignantly. He reached for it, but Fishlegs swatted him away, sending him flying into a pile of ashes. Not knowing what he did, he turned to the others excitedly. "This could help me!" He said excitedly.

"Fishlegs," Ruffnut said with a laugh. "I don't think you realize your own strength."

Fishlegs glanced over at his shoulder, and saw Snotlout getting up painfully.

"Oh well," he said. "I have the scale, and that's what matters. See how it goes sorta invisible sometimes?"

They all took a closer look. It was true.

"Why does it do that?" Tuffnut asked incredulously.

"You know how when a bee or something dies, and its legs twitch afterwards from the nerves going all wonky?"

Everyone nodded.

"Sort of the same thing. When the scale falls off, it dies. There aren't nerves in the scales, but when it dies, it does the same sort of thing as the bee." He explained.

"How is this going to help?" Astrid asked. "We have a scale, so what?"

"Well, if I can look through some books and find out a few things about invisibility in dragons-there's going to be at least a legend-I might be able to mix a few things, and hopefully come up with a way to make this thing, well, not invisible. At least temporarily."

"Is he that smart?" Merida whispered to Hiccup. He shrugged.

"I'm not too sure."

Astrid sighed, and rested her hands on her hips. "Well?' She asked Hiccup. "What do we do now?"

Hiccup noticed everyone was looking at him expectantly, even Merida. He realized what it mean. It meant he was the leader, it meant everyone was looking up to him.

Everyone depended on him.

"I say we get Toohless-and the rest of the dragons-to follow the scent," he said.

Everyone agreed, although Merida looked a little bit perplexed.

"Okay?" Hiccup asked her.

"Something doesn't feel right," she muttered. Hiccup was about to ask her why, but was interrupted by Astrid telling them to hurry up.

Soon, everyone was following Toothless as he took flight, following the dragon's exact sense.

"How does he smell so well?" Merida asked, amazed.

"Dragons are like that," Hiccup said with a slight smile. "They're amazing."

Toothless led them to the forest once more, dropping down through the trees, right in front of...

A cave.

"Is this where the dragon lives?" Ruffnut and Tuffnut asked in unison.

"I think so, Hiccup said slowly. "But... It's not here, right Toothless?" The dragon immediately lifted his nostrils to the wind.

"Wait." Merida glanced at him. "Hiccup, something's not right."

"Why?" He asked, turning to her.

"The dragon knows we can find it... If this is where it lives, why would it show us? Why would it show us its home?"

"Because..." Hiccup didn't know what to say.

"It's a trap," Merida whispered in horror. "We fell right into its trap. and-"

Toothless roared, jumping back and staring at a spot in the trees. Everyone elses' dragons did the same, all staring at one spot in the tree.

"Run," Astrid whispered. And then, this time yelling, "RUN!"

Everyone jumped on their dragons as soon as they could, guiding them into the air and making their retreat. But before Toothless, the last of them, could leave the ground, a ball of flame shot out from the trees, skimming Merida's leg and part of Toothless's tail. It didn't bother his scales, but Merida let out a shriek of pain.

"Go, Toothless!" Hiccup yelled. "We need to go!"

He felt the pain in his head, the warning sign.

'We told you to leave us alone.'

Toothless began beating his wings powerfully.

'But you didn't. And you've fallen into our trap.' Hiccup, dazed from the pain, realized that this dragon was female. Which mean they could breed.

Another fire ball shot out of the forest, missing the twins by inches.

'And now your friends will die.'

"You can't kill me!" Hiccup cried out, finally able to speak through the pain. "And I won't let you kill my friends."

They began to gain distance, and the dragon came into view. It looked the same as the other one, but slightly darker.

"Your aim sucks!" Snotlout yelled from his dragon. He swooped down over the dragon and poked out his tongue.

'Stupid boy.' She hissed, gleefully taking in a deep breath to incinerate Snotlout.

But the dragon under estimated the Vikings' dragons' power, and in moments they were safely out of range.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called out, bringing her dragon closer. "Is your head okay?" Hiccup nodded, and then stiffened. Merida.

She was hiding her leg with the skirt of her dress, pulling the hem down over the wound. But Hiccup could see tears in her blue eyes, and that scared him.

"Merida?" He whispered. "Are you okay?"
She stared at him, and then slowly shook her head. He watched as she lifted the skirt slightly, revealing blistery pink skin, surrounding an open burn that was chard and literally bubbling.

"Oh no," He gasped. "Merida, just.. Just hang on." He leaned over Toothless's neck, signalling the dragon to go his fastest. Merida had the sense to hold onto Hiccup, and they pair flew ahead of everyone so fast that they were out of view withing seconds.

"What happened?" Snotlout asked Merida, bringing his dragon to her.

"I think the fire hit her," she replied. "I didn't see it, but she was crying."

"Uh oh."

She just nodded.
...

Toothless landed extra gently for Merida, and Hiccup shot him a silent thank you. He slid down first, and then looked up at Merida.

"Think you can walk?"

She nodded bravely and jumped down, but instantly collapsed as soon as she hit the dirt. Hiccup didn't think, just scooped her up princess stlye and ran to the castle.

"Get help!" He gasped out to a guard. The guard obeyed, running away and yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Hiccup," Merida mumbled dazedly. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

"Your leg is showing me otherwise," Hiccup said, glancing once more at the mutilated flesh. He smelled, with a shudder, her burning flesh.

"I'm sorry for avoiding you," she said. He smiled gently and hugged her closer.

"Im sorry for kissing you. It probably wasn't the best move."

"Which time?" She said with a little laugh.

"Any of them." He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. "I'm not good enough to be a suitor of yours."

"Hiccup-" She began worriedly. She was about to tell him that she liked the kisses, and that he was a better suitor for her than anyone. But she was interrupted by her mother and father, both running in with a trail of servants following in their wake.

"What happened?" Elinor gasped, rushing to her daughter. Fergus scooped her out of Hiccup's arms and briskly carried her to the castle infirmary. Hiccup followed and updated them on everything that had happened.

"Those dragons need to be stopped," Fergus growled. "They've ruined houses, killed people, and threatened to overthrow my country. This is the last straw."

Hiccup was so surprised at Fergus's angry words that he paused for a second. In a moment though, he was following again, glancing anxiously at Merida. She was beginning to pale, and beads of sweat popped out on her forehead. When they arrived at the infirmary, a middle-aged healer immediately directed them to a bed and began to work. In a few minutes she had dressed the burn and applied a special herbal cream.

"Is she..." Fergus couldn't finish the sentence. The healer, whose name was Allison, smiled brightly.

"She'll be fine. A scar, yes, but she'll be fine." Hiccup sighed in relief and looked at Merida, who was starting to wake up. Everyone waited with bated breath, wondering what she was going to say.

"Should we go kill it?"

Hiccup laughed. "You should probably rest that leg, Merida." Merida smiled up at him and touched his hand gently. Eleanor watched them, dread slowly talking over her heart.

"I need to talk to Merida," she said to everyone. "Alone."

Hiccup, Fergus, and Allison all left obediently, but glanced at each other in confusion. Eleanor didn't sound happy.

"What is it, mum?" Merida asked, sitting up against her pillow. Eleanor gently brushed a red curl away from her daughter's forhead and sighed.

"I've made a mistake, Mer."

Merida ignored the fact that her mother called her "Mer", and honed in on the mistake part. Eleanor never made mistakes.

"What happened?" She asked almost eagerly. Eleanor was quiet at first, unable to look at Merida's face. Instead, she walked to the infirmary window and gripped the window sill tightly, her eyes not even taking in the magnificent view.

"Not too long ago, I met with England's King. You know our ties with the English are mediocre."

Merida nodded, beginning to feel nervous.

"The King has a son. His name is Phillip. And, after one of my arguments with you, I... I..." Eleanor burst into tears and ran to Merida, clasping her hands tightly. "I gave them your hand in m-marriage."

Merida stared at her mother, shocked. Feelings bubbled up inside herm the initial one being anger. But then something else came. Understanding. They had to improve their relationship with England. It was bordering Scotland after all. What better way to do it than a marriage? And, Merida realized, her mother had not done it in spite. She had done it for Scotland.

Part of the reason she forgave her mother right there, though, was because she felt pity for her. Eleanor, the woman who was composed, beautiful, flawless, was on her knees in front of her daughter, begging for forgiveness.

"It's alright, mum." She said faintly. But she knew what this mean. She knew that she would have to completely cut everything she had with Hiccup.

What killed her, though, was how happy Astrid would be.