A/n: Shorter than last time, another of TNT's ideas. I couldn't find any of the names of Eret's gang of dragon trappers anywhere, so I've had to leave them all unnamed. If anyone knows the actual names, or the generally accepted ones, let me know! (Also: over 100 reviews - wow! Thanks guys!)
After Eret had inexplicably left them in the middle of the sea, the small band of dragon trappers had been a bit confused. At first they tried to follow their leader, loyalty forcing them to press on even when they realised that he was going to Drago. In a stroke of luck - for them, at least - Drago was nowhere to be found by the time they arrived. Neither was Eret. And they'd thought that that was the end of that, unanimously deciding to leave and try to find a new leader, or a different job.
They'd been doing quite well for themselves until they were attacked.
It was a monster unlike anything they'd seen; they couldn't beat it even with their extensive arsenal of weapons. It didn't seem to be a dragon, either, which threw them slightly.
When a part of the boat broke off but remained floating, the strongest swimmer of the group hopped onto it and kicked off, promising to return with help.
In the middle of another patrol, Eret noticed something floating below them.
"Hey," he alerted Hiccup, "I'm going to check that thing out."
He swooped down, concentrating on what he had now identified as a piece of wood. He stopped short a few metres away, realising that the man who was trying desperately to kick in the opposite direction was actually one of the members of his old dragon trapping crew.
"Stop!" he called, Skullcrusher picking them up and lifting them out of the water. "It's me!"
"Eret?" the other questioned. "I thought you'd..."
"Nah. Can't kill me!" Eret said lightly, "But, where's the rest of you?"
"Oh! This monster - massive thing - attacked us out of nowhere! The others are still back there, trying to defend themselves."
"Oh..." Eret said plainly. "Okay. I'll get Hiccup, and we'll go help." he assured.
"Hey! Hiccup! Rescue mission - come on!"
It only took a minute for Hiccup to alert the rest of the patrol - it only consisted of Valka, and she tended to stay close by anyway - and get over to the fight. It was well underway by the time they arrived, with half the boat already underwater.
"You okay?" Hiccup asked, Toothless ducking down to pick two of them out of the water.
"No injuries," Eret reported from his place on the ship. "I'll take the crew back to Berk... should I get help?"
"We can manage," Hiccup decided, dropping the two crew members he'd saved off on Skullcrusher's back. "Now go!"
Eret nodded determinedly and shot off, with a promise to return as soon as possible.
"Right." Hiccup said once he'd seen the men get away safely, "Let's see if we can't talk sense into this thing."
Toothless moved in front of the beast's face, coming in at eye level with it. 'Hey...' Hiccup started hesitantly, hoping that the creature - whatever it was, it wasn't a dragon - spoke Dragonese.
There was no response, other than a sharp roar that nearly knocked Hiccup straight off Toothless's back. So... no Dragonese, I take it.
Valka tried next, coming in closer and waving her staff in a complex pattern. The tactic worked much better than Hiccup's, actually managing to grab the creature's attention, but didn't stop it from taking a swing at the two dragon riders. The blow glanced Hiccup, hitting him enough to knock him off Toothless but not knock him out.
The reaction from the dragons was instantaneous. Toothless dived down to catch his rider instantly, giving Cloudjumper a quick look that communicated the plan between the two. The older dragon then started flying around the creature, distracting it so that it couldn't dodge or block Toothless's alpha-powered plasma blast.
The two made short work of it, taking it out with only one hit.
"Toothless!" Hiccup admonished, watching the large monster disappear under the water, leaving slight ripples as it went under, never to resurface. "What was that for?"
'It hit you.' Toothless explained. 'And it didn't speak Dragonese; it couldn't be reasoned with. And it hit you,' he repeated, 'So I had to do something.'
Hiccup sighed, shaking his head at the overprotective dragons. "Fine. Well, we'd better be heading back now; there're some new residents to get settled in."
With Toothless's speed, Hiccup caught up to Eret before he reached Berk.
"What happened to the thing?" the former trapper asked.
"Toothless." Hiccup explained shortly, frowning disapprovingly at his dragon as he did. He still wasn't over the way the dragons had so quickly killed the beast, even if it had struck out at him. He'd been fine in the end, and the worst that would come of it would probably be a few bruises.
Eret nodded his understanding. "Want to meet the newest residents of Berk?" he offered.
Hiccup agreed, settling down to listen to Eret's dragon trapping tales while he waited for Valka to catch up.