Chapter 6:

A quick leap forward to the second movie, with all of the OCs in it. I haven't gotten a lot of reviews for the new chapters, and I'm kinda disappointed.

Two years had gone by, and the Dragon Riders had made a new sport: dragon racing. They held many competitions, most of which were won by either Astrid or Hiccup. Draco and Camicazi often complained about not being able to participate, since they believed that they were old enough to compete in the races. But their parents knew that their children wouldn't be able to match the other Riders' dragons.

Hic had grown into a rather shy boy, often hiding behind or standing next to Junior, holding his father's old stuffed dragon toy, which he had dubbed "Buttons," in his arms. He rarely said anything to anyone except for his parents and Junior. The Night Fury seemed to understand the boy better than even his own parents. No one knew why, but Hic was rather afraid of getting out into the world, even with his family. The little boy had never left his spot under Junior's wing whenever he was out of the house, even when the dragon moved. He stayed under Junior's wing, watching the dragon race with his brother and sister. Hiccup, Toothless, Mortem, Feral, Rex, Roan, and Regina were nowhere to be seen.

The other Riders were all competing, with Snotlout and Fishlegs giving the sheep their dragons caught to Ruffnut. For some reason, they had shifted their attention on the female twin in hopes of wooing her. Astrid always questioned it, but the two men always shrugged it off. With the twins with 9, Astrid with 3, and Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Hiccup with 0 points each, it was soon time for the black sheep, which was worth 10 full points.

Hic watched, holding tightly on to Buttons, as Fishlegs grabbed the sheep just before Stormfly could catch it in her talons. Fishlegs quickly passed the sheep to Ruffnut, who began fighting Tuffnut for it. That didn't stop Astrid from leaping onto the back of their dragon to get the sheep. Hic watched his mom approach the twins on dragonback, getting closer. "Come on, Mommy," he whispered under his breath, his hold on Buttons tightening. Much to his relief, Astrid snatched the sheep out of the twins' grasp and landed safely atop her dragon. From somewhere in the crowd that had gathered, Hic could hear his grandfather cheering, "That's my daughter-in-law!" Hic continued to watch as Astrid nearly threw the black sheep into her sheep-collecting net.

The race was over, Astrid had won with 13 points.

Hic sighed in relief, and turned to look at his siblings. But Draco and Camicazi weren't there. Eyes wide with worry, Hic peeked out from underneath Junior's wing to search the skies. But all he saw was the retreating silhouette of his mother on her dragon, leaving to search for her husband.

At that time, both Mortem and Feral were swimming in the water with their children. Roan, Regina, and Rex were each half the size of the two giants, and they were each taking turns resurfacing from underwater. Mortem could see the approaching form of his father on Toothless's back, and headed for the surface with Feral. The family of giants followed their children's game, resurfacing again and again. Mortem kept his three left eyes on his father, and then raised his wings out of the water as he surfaced. Toothless flew under his wing, and then darted up into the clouds, spinning. Mortem watched them until he couldn't see them anymore. He turned back to his twin children, who were wrestling playfully in the water. He smiled. His children had grown up fast, but there was still much for them to learn.

Mortem soon heard a noise from above and looked up to see Hiccup and Toothless free-falling. He tried to ignore the urge to help as he watched them. In what he would describe as half a second, Hiccup suddenly pulled a pair of leather wings out of his flight suit, catching a draft and soaring into the air. Toothless followed by spreading his own wings. With the two of them soaring through the clouds, Mortem noticed an unfamiliar land up ahead. Feral swam up next to him. "Could that be one of the new places your father had mentioned?" she asked.

Mortem thought through the list of places that Hiccup had named, but he couldn't remember an island he had described that resembled the one they saw. "No, it isn't, let's check it out."

The island was too small and too high up for them to climb up on it, but Mortem and Feral were able to see the land while standing on their hind legs. Mortem wasn't used to balancing on two legs instead of four, but Feral was. Mortem placed his front paws on the side of the island to balance himself, just as Toothless and Hiccup came crashing down out of the forest. Mortem's eyes widened at the sight and warbled. "It's okay, Mortem, we're okay," came Hiccup's muffled reply. There were a few clicks, and then Hiccup stood up and removed the helmet he was wearing.

Mortem sucked in a breath. Astrid told him many times how much she liked Hiccup's new look, and now even he had to admit that it was rather...different. And not in a bad way. He warbled, and Hiccup turned to look at him. "I've never seen this place before," he said, "We should put it on the map." Mortem felt weight on his back and knew instinctively that Roan and Regina were climbing on him to get a good look at the place. He turned to look at Toothless, who seemed annoyed with something. The Night Fury flicked a small pebble at his rider, hitting him in the head. Hiccup turned to the dragon. "Toothless!" The dragon turned away, growling. Mortem gave him a look of confusion before Roan covered his three right eyes with his paw and climbed up on the island, with Regina following. Mortem rubbed his eyes with his paw, and when he opened them, Hiccup was on the ground with Toothless on top of him.

"He's down! And it's ugly! Dragons and Vikings, enemies again! Locked in combat to the bitter...!"

Toothless then plopped down, his head resting on Hiccup's stomach. Hiccup groaned before the Night Fury started licking him. Roan and Regina noticed them and started licking Hiccup as well. Mortem shook his head, getting down on all fours and taking in a mouthful of water. As he climbed up the side of the island once more, he heard Hiccup complain, "You know that doesn't wash out!" Mortem lifted his head above Hiccup and dumped the water on him. Hiccup cried out in surprise and looked up. "Oh, thanks," he said in a sarcastic manner, "Now I'm all wet." Mortem gave him a skeptical look before igniting a fire inside his mouth. He lowered his head and opened his mouth, exposing Hiccup to the warm flames, which quickly dried him off. When he was through, Mortem shut his mouth and extinguished the flames. All washed up and dried out, Hiccup pulled out his sketchbook and unfolded a map that he had made. Mortem turned to look at Feral, who had Rex climbing on her head trying to get onto the island. He shook his head, smiling. He didn't mind calling Rex his son, since he and Feral were mates. But at a few rare moments, it seemed weird to him.

"What should we name it?"

Mortem turned to his father, who was looking at Toothless. Hiccup always gave Toothless the honor of naming the new lands they discovered, which ended up with some weirdly named places that even Mortem wouldn't call by name. Toothless reached under his left front leg and started scratching there with his mouth. "Itchy Armpit it is." Mortem fought the urge to roll his eyes as Roan and Regina exchanged giggle-like noises. "At least he gives Toothless some credit," Feral said to her mate. "Do you really want to go there?" he asked. Feral nudged him. "At least try to be happy for them, they're our family." "I am," Mortem said, "It's the naming thing I'm a little annoyed about."

"Hiccup, there you are!"

All the dragons turned to see Astrid on Stormfly, landing on the edge of the island. Hiccup looked over his shoulder. "Afternoon, my lady. Where've you been?" Toothless bounded forward to meet Stormfly, who squawked in approval.

"Oh, winning races, what else?" Astrid said as she walked over to Hiccup, "The real question is, where have you been?" She sat down next to Hiccup as he answered, "Avoiding my dad."

"Oh no," Astrid groaned, "What happened now?"

Mortem sighed. Here we go, he said in his thoughts.

Roan, Regina, and Rex stopped playing and sat down to listen as Toothless and Stormfly continued socializing. "Oh, you're gonna love this," Hiccup said, adjusting himself so that he was looking at Astrid. "I wake up, the sun's shining, Terrible Terrors are singing on the rooftop," he handed Astrid his pencil so she could draw the land for him on the map, "I sauntered down to breakfast thinking all is right with the world, and then I get, 'Son, we need to talk!'" He stood up, imitating his father.

The giant dragonets started laughing at his imitation.

Astrid rolled her eyes and started to imitate Hiccup. "Not now, Dad, I've got a whole day of goofing off to get started!"

Even Mortem had trouble containing his draconic laughter. He'd seen other people imitate his father, but never Astrid. Hiccup chuckled. "Okay, first of all, I don't sound like that, what is this character? Okay, and second...what is that thing you're doing with my shoulders?"

Mortem was momentarily distracted by his children's laughter, but he was able to hear Hiccup imitate his dad again. "You're the pride of Berk, son, and I couldn't be prouder."

Mortem was about to laugh when Astrid started to imitate Hiccup again. "Aw, thanks Dad, I'm pretty impressed with myself too!"

This time, Mortem did laugh. He was able to calm himself down enough to hear Hiccup explain why he was there. "You're all grown up," he said, still imitating Stoick, "And since no chief could ask for a better successor, I've decided..."

"To make you chief!" Astrid finished.

Feral looked at Mortem. "That's what this is all about?" she asked.

Mortem shrugged. "Apparently." Roan and Regina suddenly ran past them after Toothless and Stormfly, who were racing each other around the island. The four dragons dashed past Astrid and Hiccup, accidentally knocking them down. "Kids!" Mortem roared, "You've got to be more careful, you could hurt someone!"

Roan and Regina hung their heads as they walked over to their father. "Sorry, Dad," they said in unison.

Mortem sighed before he nuzzled them. "It's fine that you both want to play," he said in a much gentler voice, "But you need to be careful. We're big dragons, which means that we can cause damage without meaning to. You just need to be more aware of your surroundings." He turned to look at Rex. "The same goes for you too, buddy." Rex gave a slight nod, showing that he understood.

As Mortem talked with his and Feral's children, Hiccup sat down near the edge of the island, disappointed. He was soon joined by Astrid, who started to braid his hair. There was already a small braid, which she had done the last time they had talked. "What you're searching for," she said, "Isn't out there, Hiccup." She stopped braiding his hair and placed her hand over his heart. "It's in here." Hiccup gave her a small smile before looking out on the horizon. Astrid finished braiding his hair. "Maybe you just don't see it yet," she said before kissing him on the cheek.

Hiccup silently thanked Mortem for dumping the water on him earlier. As Roan and Regina caught Astrid's attention, Hiccup noticed something in the distance. "There's something out there," he said. He grabbed Astrid's chin and turned her head so she could see it.

Smoke.

This took me only two days to type up. It might be a while before the next update, but we'll see. Any idea where Draco and Camicazi ran off to? Review, follow, or favorite.