I got excited over this chapter before I even began to write it. I just can't help it. I feel like I'm not supposed to get all fangirly over my own fanfiction, but I can't help it. School is almost here, and I just can't even. What I can't even, I don't know, but still. Enjoy…

"Grandma, what do we do?" Pache asked, her face determined.

Valka looked down at both the children, only six years old, and smiled confidently. "We have to save the dragons."

"Yeah!" Gabriel cheered, and ran into the fortress to get… Fortress. He hopped on the Hobblegrunt, and Pache got on Striker. They looked to the adult, who was not getting on her dragon. "What are you doing Valka?"

"You two go ahead. I need to get my suit on. I'll catch up with you in a minute." She replied, and ran into a cave that they made into an armory.

"Let's go, guys." Pache said, and the two took off on their dragons through the opening in the sanctuary. Almost immediately they dove down, blindly firing at the ground where hundred of soldiers, trappers, and dragon slayers stood. Dragons poured out of the icy mountain, two by two. If one got hurt, the other would help them. It was a strategy the dragon riders had made a while ago.

Catapults were blown up, ships attacked, men fell. The dragons used their "secrets" Valka had documented. The Zipplebacks with their flaming wheels, the Nadders with their single spine shots, and even the Gronckles who flew backwards to confuse their attackers.

"Yahoo!" Gabe shouted. He was having fun, despite the fear crawling through the back of his mind. He looked over at his best friend next to him, who was for some reason just hovering there with Striker. He turned around, and once close enough jumped off of his own dragon and landed behind Pache. Motioning Fortress to continue without him, he leaned forward to look at the girl. When he saw her shocked face, he became worried. "Ap?"

He waved his hand in front of her face. "What?" She asked, still staring ahead.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Ships."

"So? There are ships everywhere."

"Yeah but… these ones. They have the Berkian crest on them." Her eyes watered, and she smiled. "My family's coming for me."

Gabe looked ahead, and noticed that the flags had symbols on them, unlike Drago's. And, there were dragons coming at them… with people on their backs! Then, he was the one making a shocked expression. "Tha-that's Ainstatia ships! I see them! They have the quill symbol on them! It's my dad!"

The two children cheered, happy that they would be reunited with their loved ones once again. But, the relief ended when one of the ships nearly got blown apart by a cannon. They were in the middle of a war. They shouldn't forget that. Pache made a roaring sound, making the boy behind her jump.

"What the…" He was cut off by a roar, and immediately recognized it as Fortress's. Gabe turned, and saw the Hobblegrunt scooping in. She stopped next to them, and he jumped on her back. He looked over at the rider next to him, and grinned.

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's go help them." Pache said. But before he could tell Fortress to move forward, the girl next to him kissed him on the cheek. "For good luck." She told his blushing face, and moved forward. Shortly after, he followed, more motivated than ever, as his cheek burned from the warmth of that small gesture.

Valka, when the kids left toward the ships, had just gotten her armor on. But, for some reason, was in no hurry to leave the room, much to her dragon's confusion.

"Valka, why aren't we going out yet?" Cloudjumper crooned.

She sat down, and put her head in her hands. "Why now? Why at all?"

"I don't understand." He tilted his head.

"I thought I would just stay here for the rest of my days. That Berk would continue the way it was. My son, if he survived infancy, would become a dragon slayer and strong chief. He would gain a fine wife and they would have many strong children, unlike me. To hear from Pache, my granddaughter who is a bonded, how different things really are… it's just so much."

"What does this have to do with what's going on now?" The stormcutter walked over, and nudged her.

"I know it all sounds so silly, but… I know after this I will have to face my past. I'm still not sure I can do that." Valka stroked the dragon's head. "Oh.." She sniffed, "I'm being so ridiculous about this. There's nothing to worry about, so why am I? We have the advantage because of the Bewilderbeast, and oof."

She was knocked off the stone she was sitting on by Cloudjumper, who then offered her his wing. She took her staff, and hooked it together with his claw so he could lift her up and onto his back. Once done, he turned his head around to face her, making her laugh. "Worry not." He whined as she pet his scaled face.

"You're right. We can worry about that later. For now, let's just get out there and once and for all save this nest. For our ancestors before us." She said, and they flew off, the Bewilderbeast following after them, ready to fight for his subjects.

"No." Alvin swore under his breath as he watched Pache and Gabe fly to a different direction. He wanted to take them head on, as soon as possible. The little girl was scared to death of him, he was sure of it. Just seeing him would make her freeze in fear and beg for her life. He could kill her easily. But not with her going the opposite way from where he was.

"What's your problem this time?" Eret asked humorously, hopping off the ship next to the outcast, watching the children fly off.

"The little bugger joined their side." He said, talking about Gabe, finally noticing the boy. "Traitorous little…"

"Cough cough hypocrite cough cough."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Anyway, I'm sure it's no big de-eal.." Eret trailed off, finally seeing the other army of ships headed their way. An army that had symbols on their flags. "Ahem. Well, he is just a small boy, even if he does ride a dragon. Gotta go. Dragons to catch, war to win, see you later. Maybe." The trapper said, and ran off, taking down a dragon as soon as he got a hold of a bola. Odd thing that Alvin noticed, however, was that Eret wasn't heading toward the group of trappers. He was headed toward the center of the army.

He shook it off, thinking of it as an unimportant detail. Then, an idea struck his head.

A truly treacherous idea.

Turning his head to one of the armored dragons, he smiled. "If my way of doing things didn't work before..." He walked toward the submissive creature. "Then I'm going to have to do things a different way."

Drago, at this moment, didn't care what his prisoner did. He figured the man would either die in the crossfire, or run off. On the other hand, since Alvin and him both wanted the same thing, revenge against the bonded, then what would be so bad letting him loose. It was only natural for the former outcast chief to attempt to hurt the dragon riders, and if he prevailed, miraculously, then what harm would there be in that. It might work out well for him.

Currently he was in the center of all his troops, ordering them around. He wasn't surprised that they weren't doing so well. It was, after all, the beginning of the battle. When the two children on dragon backs flew out of the nest, he was slightly baffled. Had Alvin lied to him? He said there was only one child. Then again, his son had mentioned a young boy on the ship with the outcast.

"Drago!" He heard a voice call his name, and turned toward the sound. It was the man he was just thinking about.

"What is it?" He asked in his scratchy voice.

"Ships. With crests on their sails."

"What do they look like?"

"A red dragon with a sword through it's gullet, and quill. I only know one as Ainstatia."

"Berk." Drago smiled, knowing all too well about the chiefs he had burned to the ground.

Stoick was the first to laugh at him.

"What do we do?" Eret asked, and for a moment Drago didn't see a trained dragon trapper.

For a moment, he saw his little boy.

He frowned and said, "Whatever comes, keep hitting the mountain. We need to draw out the alpha."

"Aye, sir." He spoke respectfully to his father. It was how he was raised. Sometimes, Drago forgot that he got that accent from him, before his voice got raspy from the dragon's fire. The dragon skin cloak protected him on the outside, but there were still toxins flying in the air afterward. And taking deep breaths to scream for the beast's to submit didn't exactly help his vocal chords.

Turning toward the dragon riders' home, he chuckled as the ice spikes began to slowly fall one by one.

It won't be long. Drago thought. More ice cracked open from the giant fortress. Won't be long at all.

Reveling in how his dreams and accomplishments, after so many years, were coming true, he laughed a bone-chilling laugh that made the men close enough to hear it get goosebumps. They weren't fond of their leader, but as much as they hated to admit it, he was their saving grace.

The older men, those who were the first to join him, knew that once upon a time he wasn't such a bad guy. He would share wonderful, though few, stories, of his family. The scarce amount of children would listen attentively, as he gave much detail in a short amount of time. One of which, Eret was his name, would get a special glint in his eye. He was the only orphan on that ship, raised by Drago himself since he was a baby. It was only natural he wanted to hear of family, considering he didn't have one.

Ther leader over time, however, grew darker as revenge clouded his mind. He would stop coming to drink with them at night, and would speak more harshly to them. As weeks passed, and more blood was shed, his heart grew unlit, even for the boy he considered a son. One day young Eret was seen with a branding mark, said to be given to him by the strange man himself.

They could hardly believe it. But, it was true since he had a mark right on his chest. Surprisingly, the boy didn't seem too afraid of the man afterwards. Things seemed to continue as they were. It's not surprising that as the boy grew he would be high ranking. He became the best trapper of the entire armada, even becoming a legend among sailors.

As the army grew, much change happened. Ideas that seemed impossible became possible. For example, the dragons being used. They could hardly believe that it worked. After that, all doubt of what they could accomplish faded away, and many more followers were made. Then there were inventions such as one trap that if a dragon got too close to the ground it would get a net slingshotted at it. Then, there were others with names like the gronckle cannon, the nadder nabber, the snuffle, the zipple catcher, and the dragon catcher.

As their army grew more of their morals were lifted to the point that not even the scary leader could drown them. In fact, he even encouraged them in the many speeches he gave. Despite his raspy voice, they were happy to know that the old Drago was still in there somewhere. Those that knew him from when he was a kinder man were dismayed by his failing health. It wasn't spiraling down drastically, but it wasn't getting any better. The fumes he constantly breathed in from the dragons weren't good for his lungs.

They actually worried for him, and as much as the younger generation taunted them for their craziness, they still considered him a friend.

And they would stick with him to the end.

Hiccup looked up, noticing how much darker the clouds were getting.

"Looks like a storm's coming on." He said, turning to Astrid. "Astrid." He repeated. But, she didn't hear. Her surprised face was looking forward, toward the fight they were about to head into. Hiccup knew about Drago, and as much as he usually tried to avoid the man, it was obvious that confrontation was the only thing that was going to happen.

He turned his head straight, and saw two dots coming toward them. He squinted, trying to make them out.

"Oh my God." He heard Richard say next to him.

"What?"

"Gabriel."

He focused harder, and finally saw it. "Pache." He breathed out, in a relieved voice.

Finally.