Chapter 4:

Sorry if I'm taking too long, it's just that it's summer and things have been a bit busy (and totally fun!)

Toothless Junior was, in a way, a lot like his dad. He didn't have a missing tail fin, but he was able to fly pretty well. His best friends were his younger brother Starflight, and Hic.

Starflight was more of the silent type, often trying to seclude himself. But Junior was able to find him wherever he went. He was the only one that Starflight would talk to. Anyone else who tried to talk to him would be given the silent treatment. It wasn't that Starflight was a bad dragon, he just lacked self-confidence. He could fly, but he couldn't breathe fire. The closest he could get were a few smoke rings.

Junior thought that giving Starflight a private lesson would help, so he took him to a rocky outcrop and tried to teach him how to shoot a plasma blast. Starflight tried, but all that came out were smoke rings.

Then Junior accidentally stepped on his tail.

Startled, Starflight roared in pain, and a plasma blast suddenly shot out of his mouth and hit a nearby boulder, blasting it to bits.

Junior was flabbergasted. "Starflight, how did you do that?!" "I don't know!" Starflight said, equally surprised.

Junior thought for a minute about what had happened, and realized how Starflight might have done it. He stomped down on Starflight's tail, but this time, there was no plasma blast. "OW!" Starflight screamed, "What did you do that for?!" Junior shrugged. "Sorry."

Starflight resumed practicing, but there was nothing but smoke rings for the rest of the training.

But they could still call it progress, in a way.

Back at the Haddock home, Draco was reading the Book of Dragons in his and Camicazi's room. His sister had gone out to train in the woods with their mom, and his dad was working on a project in the forge. Heather was taking care of Hic. In his mind, Draco was finally alone.

He had read through most of the book, and had learned quite a lot about the other dragons that lived on Berk. He was already wondering when he could start training with Jet. He had been looking forward to riding on him for a while, and didn't know how much longer he could wait.

"Night Fury. Class: Strike. Able to use echolocation to navigate in the dark, often referred to as the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Trainable: Yes."

He flipped to the section about the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Monstrous Nightmare. Class: Stoker. Able to set itself on fire, usually when enraged or fighting with another dragon. Trainable: Yes."

He flipped through the pages for a few minutes before he noticed a dragon he hadn't heard of before.

"Speed Stinger. Class: Sharp. Able to paralyze its victims with the stinger on the end of its tail. Always hunts at night, striking when least expected. Trainable: No."

Draco had never heard of an untrainable dragon, he had thought that every dragon was trainable. After all, his parents were able to train Mortem, and the Red Death was previously considered untrainable. Maybe someday he could find ways to train every dragon that existed.

Just then, there was the sound of a door slamming outside of the room. Draco closed the book and opened his door just a crack so he could hear what was going on. He heard two voices, one of which he recognized as Heather.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Heather asked. The other person laughed before introducing himself to the frightened girl. "I'm Dagur, the chief of the Berserker tribe, and I'm looking for Hiccup and his Night Fury. You wouldn't happen to know where they are, do you?" "The Night Fury isn't here," Heather tried to explain, "He left." "Liar," Dagur said. "No, it's true, the dragons are gone, he left with them." "And you expect me to believe that?" Dagur asked, "He can't fly without his friend, can he?" Heather didn't answer. Draco stayed quiet, trying to make his presence unnoticeable. "If you won't tell me where the dragon is," Dagur said, "Then where's Hiccup?" "I won't tell you," Heather said, trying to stay as strong as she possibly could, which didn't come naturally. "Tell me, or I'll tie you up and throw you in as a snack for the Scauldrons!" Dagur yelled.

There was a small cry from Hic's room.

There was silence, and Draco knew that Dagur had heard the crying. He shut the door as the faint sound of footsteps grew louder, heading for the baby's room. There was a loud bang, and Hic's crying intensified. "No!" Heather screamed, "Leave him alone!" A minute later, Draco heard Dagur's footsteps retreating, as well as Hic's screaming. When he was sure that the man was a safe distance away, Draco opened the door to hear the rest of the conversation. "Tell me, who is this?" Dagur asked. Heather didn't say anything. "Is this yours?" Dagur asked. Heather still didn't answer. Dagur laughed. "Well, maybe he could be useful in getting Hiccup to tell me where his dragon is, since you won't talk." There was the sound of a door slamming, and all was quiet.

Thinking it was safe, Draco bolted out of his room to see Heather lying on the floor, wide-eyed. She quickly stood up, and turned to Draco. "Go get your parents," she said, "And hurry." Draco nodded, bolting for the back door and running into the forest.

Camicazi was practicing her axe-throwing with her mother. The girl was very careful with what she hit with the axe, especially with her mother around. "When will the dragons get back?" she asked before throwing her axe at a scarred tree. "They're usually back for the holidays," Astrid replied, sharpening her own axe. "But Snoggletog is tomorrow," Camicazi said as she retrieved her axe. "Then they should be back by tonight," Astrid said.

"Mom! Camicazi!"

Both girls turned to see Draco running to them. "Draco, what's wrong? What happened?" Astrid asked. Draco stopped, out of breath. "Someone...came...to the house...took...Hic." "What?" Astrid asked. Draco looked up at her. "Someone asked Aunt Heather where Dad and Toothless were, and he took Hic!" "Who?" Astrid asked, desperately. "Someone named Dagur," Draco replied. Astrid's eyes widened.

"Oh, no."

Junior and Starflight were heading back to the village when they heard the sound of a baby crying. They hid in the shadows as the watched a strange man walk by with Hic in his arms. "Go and get the others!" Junior said to Starflight, who then flew off. Junior watched as the man started to head to the docks, where a ship with a strange crest on its sail. Just then, an axe came flying out of nowhere, narrowly missing the man's head. "Let him go, Dagur," said a voice. Both Dagur and Junior turned to see Astrid standing nearby. "Or what?" Dagur asked, "Do you really think you can stop me?"

"Put him down, Dagur."

Dagur turned to see Hiccup standing a few feet away, holding his Gronckle Iron shield. "What have we here, two dragon trainers trying to save a poor, innocent baby?" Dagur asked. He then noticed the wedding rings on their fingers. "Oh, no. Are you serious?" He burst out laughing before looking at Hiccup. "You married Astrid?" He laughed some more before he noticed Draco and Camicazi hiding nearby. "Oh, and got busy! It's a whole family of dragon trainers!" "If you don't put our son down this instant, so help me, I'll..." Astrid was cut off by Dagur. "This," he said, holding Hic out, "Is your son?" Astrid didn't answer. Dagur smiled wickedly. "I guess it was a good idea to take him, after all."

Junior bolted out into the open, roaring at top volume, in an attempt to scare Dagur away. But Dagur stayed put. "The Night Fury!" He thought that Junior was Toothless, which made sense, since they looked very much alike. But Junior wouldn't hesitate. He quickly ran behind Dagur to prevent him from escaping. Dagur caught a glimpse of Junior's tail as he did so, and noticed that this Night Fury had both tail fins. "What the...?" There was a screech, and Jet and Eclipse appeared beside their brother. Dagur turned to see more Night Furies snarling at him. He was completely surrounded. Junior bolted forward, snatching Hic out of Dagur's grasp and flying up into the sky. After making sure he was a safe distance away from the villain, he dove down and landed in between the baby's parents. "Hic!" Astrid ran over and scooped up her son.

Dagur was furious. "This isn't the end of it! I will get your son eventually! I'LL GET YOUR SON!" Junior lunged forward, standing behind Starflight, as the others all charged up their fire. Dagur gasped as he realized what was taking place. "Oh, no." This time, he wasn't going to laugh. Junior stomped down on Starflight's tail just as the other Night Furies fired their plasma blasts. Although there were only smoke rings that came out of Starflight's mouth, the plasma blasts all blasted Dagur, exploding on contact. A minute later, Dagur's smoking helmet fell to the ground with a clatter.

That was the last of the Berserker chief.

Hiccup turned away from the wreckage to see Astrid hugging their son close. Hic had stopped crying, and was snuggling into his mother's embrace. Hiccup set his shield down before walking over to meet his wife. "Is he okay?" he asked. Astrid nodded, holding her son close. Hiccup embraced her gently. "We almost lost him," he heard Astrid mutter. "But we didn't," he said, "We got him back, and that's all that matters." Astrid hugged their son tighter. "I love you both so much," she said.

Hiccup was temporarily surprised. He usually used those words whenever he was talking to Draco and Camicazi. It seemed a bit weird to hear Astrid say it, but it didn't make him hesitate. "I love you, too."

The twins both groaned in disgust.

Later that evening, Astrid started carrying Hic around with her whenever she was out in public. Despite Hiccup constantly assuring her that their son would be okay, she wouldn't leave him.

"You're being overprotective," Hiccup said as they walked in the plaza, "He'll be fine." "How can you know for sure?" Astrid asked, holding Hic in her arms. "Because we have friends willing to do what they can to help us," Hiccup said. Astrid stopped walking, and Hiccup turned to face her. "He reminds me so much of you," Astrid said, looking at her son, "He was there for me when you weren't. I love him almost as much as I love you." Hiccup sighed. "If anything happens, I will do what I can to make sure that he's safe, Astrid. I promise." Astrid looked up at him. "Thank you."

At that moment, there was a loud, familiar roar. The roar of a Red Death. And that could mean only one thing.

"Mortem!"

Sure enough, the Red Death was leading the other dragons with Feral swimming underneath him. The Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus landed in the water, and the other dragons all landed in the plaza. Hiccup rushed to meet Toothless. Draco and Camicazi heard all the noise and ran to meet their brother. Mortem let Roan and Regina jump off his back to meet his siblings. Rex soon joined them.

Astrid watched them from a distance, and was soon joined by Stormfly. The Nadder nuzzled her rider and the baby in her arms.

The Night Furies soon arrived, led by Jet, and welcomed their parents and new sister.

All was well.

If any of you think this was rushed, I just want you guys to know that I have been trying to come up with good material. Dagur is dead the family is back together, and Starflight had shown the first signs of breathing fire. Review, follow, or favorite.