The Dragon King: The Eye and the Alpha

by Threni

It has been one year since the events of "The Dragon King" and life on Berk is a good as can be expected. And then one day they receive a message from a mysterious tribe ordering Hiccup to return to them something he swears he never stole. What follows is series of adventures and discoveries that will forever change their lives...and could also destroy them.

3. Chapter 3

I Own Nothing

All Rights Reserved

Author's Note:

In response to Mana's review: I have seen bits and pieces of the new series, and I like what I see. I was already considering having Viggo put a bounty on Hiccup's head, and maybe have Hiccup turn the tables and put one on Viggo's head, but the section in the story where I would do this has not been written yet. And I do agree that Viggo makes a more effective villain than Drago, but in fairness let's remember that Viggo has had a lot more screen time to be fleshed out.

So far the new season of RTTE has not influenced my story much, mostly because these first chapters were written months before I even knew a new season was being made.

The next chapter will be posted on March 8.

This chapter was a lot of fun to write. Hope it's as much fun to read!

Chapter 3

Racing Day

It was the day of the race and Hiccup was busy applying red paint to his face.

"Son, can we talk a minute?"

"Better make it quick, we've got a race to win!" Hiccup grinned. Toothless laughed. Excitement was running amok in both of them.

"Very funny, but son we do need to talk—about your future."

Hiccup put the paintbrush down, his excitement punctured. "My future?"

"Yes, son. First of all: when can I expect my grandchildren?"

"Well, Dad, until alchemists figure out how to give men the ability to give birth, I'd say you're in for a long wait! Unless you want to adopt, you know the Romans often did that, in fact—"

Stoick shook his head. "Son, I'm trying to be serious!"

"Then in seriousness, if I play my cards right you have nothing to worry about,"

Stoick was intrigued. "Oh?"

"Yes 'oh,' and that's the shape Snotlout's mouth is going to be after losing the race!"

"Yes!" Toothless crowed loudly, "Team HicTooth Forever!"

"Toothless, you know I think combining two names together to make a new one is stupid!"

"And that's why I remind you about it!"

"Hiccup, will you listen?" Stoick said impatiently.

"Dad, the race starts—"

"When I say it starts."

Hiccup went back to applying the face paint. "Have you made the arrangements for the gifts yet?"

"Yes,"

"And kept it from Astrid?"

"She has no idea of what we're up to, I promise you,"

"Good. I've spoken with her mother and she had no objections. Then again, who would turn down a marriage offer from the Chief's son unless they really hated him?" He looked at himself in a looking glass and decided he was finished.

"Have you forged the morning gifts yet?" Stoick asked.

"I did those when I was with the Bog Burglars." He laughed "I had to have a Terror swipe one of Astrid's rings so I knew what size to make hers. It would be silly to hand her a ring that was too small or large for her finger. They're all finished. I'd say there's nothing more to do now but ask her." Now he gulped.

"And when will you do that? After the race?"

"That depends on who wins." He replied as he began applying paint to Toothless. "Maybe, if the moment feels right. If not, well, I'll think of something, as always,"

"Good. But I've been thinking about something else. You're all grown up, you're the Pride of Berk now, and I think it's time I made you Chief,"

Hiccup nearly dropped the jar of paint. "What?"

"It's time, Hiccup."

"For the race?"

"Son, would you please be serious?" Stoick said angrily. "You're my Heir and it's time for you to take up the mantle of Chief!"

"I was hoping to wait a little longer, actually," Hiccup said quietly.

"What are you waiting for?" Stoick cried in exasperation. Hiccup did not respond but looked at himself in the looking glass again. Stoick considered being angry, but thought better of it. Being angry and forceful in his decisions had helped drive them apart long ago, and they had only recently begun reconciling. "Look son, I don't mean you're going to be Chief as soon as the race is over! I just mean that you're ready for it, so maybe now you should start committing yourself to it!"

"I still say Astrid's the better choice for this,"

"We've been through this a hundred times and you know I disagree."

"And she does too!" Toothless added, "And don't paint so close to my eyes, it stings…"

"Look, Son, I don't want to pressure you to do this, but the fact is I'm not getting any younger, and I'd rather have you grow into your role while I'm still around to help you to,"

"I really hate it when he brings this up," he grumbled to Toothless,

"Hiccup," Stoick said, "You know I can't understand you when you talk to Toothless,"

"I'm just telling him what I think about this, Dad,"

"Well why not tell me what you think?"

"Because you'd probably dismiss it and give me some "a Chief puts his people first" speech." Hiccup said in Dragonese.

"What was that?"

"Nothing,"

"I don't see what you're so hesitant about! You practically are already the Chief—or at least partly. You're already involved in running this place, you already lead dragons, and everyone listens to your suggestions—why won't you just take the final step and become Chief officially?"

"Yeah, why don't we?" Toothless asked.

"I'll tell you why: because I don't mind helping out with Berk's affairs, but I'd rather do it because I want to, not because I have to." Hiccup sighed, "There's no way out of this, is there?"

"Not unless you leave again," Stoick said, "and I really hope that you won't."

Hiccup had thought about it, but he knew Astrid would never forgive him if he did. And after all that had happened, leaving seemed like throwing away everything he had worked for just when it was starting to pay off. "How about this? I propose to Astrid. If she says yes, we get married, then we take a little trip together, and when we come back I'll take over the reins. And if she says no…we can start the following day. I'll need a big distraction if that happens."

"It's a deal." Stoick shook his son's hand and then realized there was wet paint on it. "Well then! Let's go and add another 'win' to the Haddock name! And where's a towel?"

"That's more like it!" Toothless cried. He darted enthusiastically out the door, but Hiccup moved a bit slowly. His mind was no longer on the race.

Nobody who had seen the Killing Arena a year ago would recognize it now. Among other things, it had been greatly enlarged. The chains covering it and the cells it once had were all gone, replaced with elevated wooden platforms, turrets, signal posts, and lots of room for the spectators, human and dragon. Before, the crowds looked down into a large enclosed pit. Now the positions were somewhat reversed. In the center was a large platform with five proportionally large baskets built into it.

Stoick took his spot in the Chiefs Seat, and a loud roar went up from the crowd. One thing that had not changed much over time was the noise. Vikings and Dragons alike were shouting for their favorite racer, making bets, yelling at others to be quiet so they could hear any announcements, or trying to spot the sheep that were nervously wandering around the area, among other things. Others just shouted for the sake of it. Regardless, everybody was excited and had no qualms about showing it.

And yet when Stoick raised a hand he somehow managed to make everyone fall so quiet they could hear the sound of the waves lapping against the masts holding up some of the stands.

"Well!" Stoick shouted, "Welcome to Berk's Seventh Dragon Race!" the silence ended at once and a loud cheer went up again. "Here today, for the first time since the very first race in our history, we have competing Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and Toothless!"

"As if they don't already know," Hiccup whispered to the Night Fury as they flew to the starting platform. As was customary they did a few spins, sending the crowd into an even louder frenzy. Hiccup saw several girls screaming and giggling, and one even fainted.

"Astrid Hofferson and Stormfly!" Another loud shout went up, especially from the men in the crowd. Astrid had painted blue and orange stripes in a watery shape around her face and on Stormfly's wings and head. She looked as excited as anyone and shouted as they flew to join Hiccup.

"Whoohoo! Guess who's going to win today!"

"You know you look really beautiful when you're this happy," Hiccup replied. Astrid punched him in the shoulder and the crowd roared with laughter.

"OW! Sheesh, I should call foul play on that one!"

"Don't try distracting me by flirting, Dragon Boy!" Astrid grinned, "Save it for the victory celebration!"

"As you wish, Milady,"

As this was going on Fishlegs had been introduced and was barreling over to join them. He had painted an orange and green circle on his face and had put stripe patterns of the same colors on Meatlug's legs and face. "Yeah! Who's going to win today?"

"I'm glad you have such confidence in me, Fish,"

"I wasn't talking about you, Hiccup!"

"He was talking about me!" said Astrid.

"Snotlout Jorgenson and Hookfang!" Stoick boomed.

Out of all the Riders Snotlout had gone the furthest in painting his dragon. Hookfang's wings and legs were thickly striped with yellow and red, and his head and horns had been painted soot black. He was almost unrecognizable. As for Snotlout, he simply had a red stripe on each cheek, one in between his eyes, and one running down his chin.

"Yeah! All you losers best watch out/Here's the champ; his name's Snotlout!"

The other riders snorted but he paid them no mind.

"And last but not least—" Stoick went on,

"Actually…" Hookfang sniggered,

"Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorsten and Barf 'n Belch!"

Barf n' Belch looked bizarre. On Ruffnut's side, the wing was painted with yellow, green, and blue and made a kind of diamond shape. Ruffnut's face mixed Snotlout's design in terms of shape with Astrid's design in terms of color. Tuffnut, on the other hand, had painted in yellow and black some indistinguishable shape on his dragon's wing. It looked as though he had just waved the brush around randomly and called it good—and he very well might have. As for his face, Tuffnut had gone to the extreme. It was all yellow except on his cheeks and around his eyes and nose, which were black. The black around his eyes made them seem to bulge out, giving him a very unearthly and downright creepy appearance.

Stoick waved his hand for silence again. "Now, this time around, the race is in two parts. First there will be a contest to gather the sheep. Once a contestant has collected five they will make three laps through the obstacle course. The one to complete the laps and make it back to the starting podium will be the winner!" More cheers rang out, as was to be expected. Stoick nodded to Gobber. Gobber grabbed a flag, counted, and started waving it around. A loud sound of confusion rose from the crowd and the racers.

Stoick slapped his fist against his head. "Gobber, the green flag means "Penalty Point!"

Gobber put it down sheepishly. "Oops,"

"It's the orange one."

"Gotcha," he grabbed the orange one and waved it. The Riders took their positions and waited.

The audience leaned forward in their seats and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Stoick rounded on Gobber again. "Gobber, will ya blow the horn already!"

"Ah'm just so outta it today," the smith moaned. The sound of a cow mooing filled the air.

"And they're off!" Stoick shouted, "And Gobber is relieved of duty!"

"Ah c'mon, it was still funny, wasn't it?"

The Riders scattered in all directions, trying to find the sheep. The sheep, who were almost horrified at what was going on, had huddled together in small groups, hoping the rule "safety in numbers" would apply. Most of the groups were hiding under whatever structure they could find. The Riders of course were forbidden to hurt the sheep—and anyone who did was disqualified and fined. But they had ways of getting them into the opened.

One group of sheep was hiding in between two sheds, where the dragons could not reach. Hookfang suddenly dropped at one end, drew himself up to full height, put on an evil expression, and lit himself on fire. The terrified sheep ran for the other side of the gap. As soon as they started moving Hookfang and Snotlout were up in the air again, swooped over the roofs, and came right down on the first sheep that left the hiding place.

"Gotcha!" Snotlout shouted, "Snotlout 1, the rest none!"

"Not quite true!" Fishlegs shouted back. Meatlug had a sheep in her claws. They swooped over to his basket, dodging the Twins, who had gotten Barf n' Belch's necks twisted up and were spinning out of control. It was one of their favorite pastimes.

Stormfly and Toothless were right behind Hookfang, each with their own sheep.

"So everyone but the Twins has one sheep!" Stoick boomed. "Will those two be able to control themselves or will they—they did! They've crash landed in their own boar pit!"

"Sorry, guys, but there aren't any sheep in there!" Astrid shouted as she swooped past.

"There should be!" Tuffnut yelled after her.

"Yeah, it's a boar pit! Sheep are like boars, aren't they?" Ruffnut said groggily. "Whoa—Tuff, I'm seeing three of you."

Fishlegs had discovered that his dragon could barely fit in between the two sheds that a group of sheep were hiding between. If they just stayed there he would make 5 easily. Unfortunately, Snotlout swooped over to join him, hoping for an easy catch of his own, and Hookfang's presence sent the sheep scattering.

"Darn it, Snotlout!" Fishlegs shouted.

"It's not my fault if those muttonheads scare so easily!"

Meanwhile, on another side of the racecourse, Hiccup and Astrid both spotted a sheep. It had apparently decided "safety in numbers" also meant "bigger target" and, either bravely or foolishly, had struck off on its own. Stormfly dove first. Toothless waited and then dropped right in front of her.

"Hey!" Astrid shouted. Stormfly shrieked angrily.

"Get it, Bud!" But Stormfly suddenly swung her tail and flung spikes at them. Toothless spun around to easily dodge them but the distraction allowed Stormfly to barely get ahead.

"That was totally uncalled for!" Hiccup shouted,

"Oh sorry, did we do that?" Astrid asked innocently. At that moment the Zippleback came out of nowhere and lunged for the sheep but missed.

"Come on, Belch, we can do it!" Tuffnut shouted. The sudden attack had made the sheep change direction. Toothless zipped around the Twins and grabbed it. Stormfly shot over to take it from him. More by instinct than intent, Toothless swung his tail and swatted the Nadder's face, bonking his prosthetic tail on Stormfly's horns.

"Hey!" Astrid shouted again,

"My sincerest apologies," Hiccup said smugly as they flew to their basket.

"Oooh, if that's how you want to play it, Haddock," Astrid grinned wickedly, "come on, girl!"

Meanwhile, Fishlegs and Snotlout were vying for the same sheep. Their dragons were diving towards the fleeing animal at high speed.

Fishlegs suddenly pointed. "Look! A naked woman!"

"Where?" Snotlout shouted eagerly, looking left and making Hookfang do the same. They realized the mistake too late. They crashed into the ground and Meatlug rose out of the chaos with the sheep in her grip.

"THAT WAS HITTING BELOW THE BELT YOU DIRTY ROTTEN FOUL NO GOOD—!" Snotlout yelled after the gleeful Fishlegs.

Snotlout mounted again and went in search of the Twins. He spotted them going after a sheep. As he drew near he suddenly shouted "Look! An explosion!"

"Where?" Tuffnut shouted. He turned Belch's head and they rammed into Ruffnut and Barf. Snotlout grinned and swooped in for his prize. Unfortunately, Hookfang somehow misjudged the distance and they instead ran into a fence. The Twins quickly sorted out their tangled, flew over the Nightmare, and got their first sheep of the day. As they flew to their basket they passed Stormfly, who had a sheep in each claw.

"So the score is now: the Twins have 1, Fishlegs has 2, Astrid has 3, Hiccup has 2—make that 3, and Snotlout has 1."

"Ah shebluck!" Snotlout shouted as he swooped in to grab another sheep.

"She-what?" Fishlegs said to Meatlug, who only snorted. The Twins had gone after Hiccup to try and steal from him, but Toothless whipped around a house and they lost him. So they went for Fishlegs, who had just grabbed another sheep.

"Give up the sheep!" Tuffnut commanded dramatically.

"Never!" Fishlegs roared as he heroically clung to his prize.

"We will have that sheep!" Ruffnut declared as they went after him. Snotlout had spotted the commotion and decided to join in. They were converging on Fishlegs. Hiccup meantime was flying for his basket and decided to have a little fun. Right before the Zippleback and Nightmare crashed into the Gronkle the Night Fury zipped in between the three of them. His sudden actions saved Fishlegs, for they made the Twins and Snotlout pull up instinctively.

Astrid meanwhile was flying overhead with two sheep firmly in Stormfly's claws. Snotlout went after her.

"I'll be taking that!" he shouted, "Get her, Hookfang!" The poor sheep must have thought it was going to be pulled apart as Hookfang tried to tug it from Stormfly's grip. Neither of the dragons would let go and both pulled hard.

"Stormfly, drop," Astrid ordered, "We'll get another one." Seconds later they dropped their second sheep into the basket.

"So Astrid and Hiccup were tied at 4, Snotlout now has 2, Fishlegs has 3, and the Twins—the Twins have 2 now! Astrid and Hiccup just need one more sheep apiece and they can advance to the next part!" Stoick announced.

"Not if we can get there first," Fishlegs mumbled. "Come on, Meatlug!" They moved past Snotlout, who was shouting something at the Twins. Meatlug then spotted another sheep and got it without a problem. And then the horn sounded.

"Astrid has five sheep! She may now advance to the obstacle course!" Stoick shouted. "And Hiccup now has five sheep as well! He's right behind her!"

The two dragons were vying for first as they shot towards the sea stacks. Right before they reached a sea stack a plume of fire burst forth from it. As arranged, Shamrock the Treejumper was hiding behind it.

"Watch your tail!" Astrid shouted, concern overriding her competitiveness.

"Relax!" Hiccup grinned, "The tailfin's fireproof—watch out!" There was another shot that nearly hit Stormfly. He glanced back and spotted Meatlug coming after them with as much speed as she could muster.

"It won't be long before Snotlout and the Twins come now that the competition for the sheep is largely gone," Hiccup observed,

"That'll only be our problem if they can catch us!" Toothless laughed as he dodged another jet of fire. Suddenly a pile of rocks went tumbling down in front of them.

"Did you know that was going to happen?"

"Nope! Watch it! We need to catch Astrid!"

They were now dodging Sea stacks left and right. After a few more minutes they neared the end of the lap. Stormfly was ahead of them but they were gaining. By now Snotlout and the Twins had finally gotten their sheep and had begun their laps.

"Astrid has just 2 laps to go and Hiccup is right behind her!" Stoick shouted, "This could be a close one!"

Behind one of the sea stacks a small boat was lurking. Two people hooded and clad in black were in it.

"They're coming around again," the first one muttered.

The second nodded. "We might have to wait until dark before trying to land now,"

"What are they doing anyway?"

"Racing, I guess. Using dragons for personal entertainment; isn't it disgusting?"

"The Queen will be furious when she learns about that,"

"She'll be even more furious if we fail such a simple task. Just land, leave the message somewhere it can be found, and sail off; those were the orders and what happens? We nearly get caught before we even land! I told you we should have waited until nightfall!"

"And I told you it would be too risky sailing around these stacks and making our way to a village in the dark!" The first one snapped.

There was a long silence. Then the second one said "You know, if this is a race those riders will probably came this way again…tie the message to an arrow."

"Are you that good a shot?"

"I think so. If it works it'll make a darn good impression on them,"

Astrid and Hiccup had completed the second lap. Fishlegs was gaining on them. The remaining Riders were also coming up but were finishing only their first lap. For them it was now a battle over who would not get last place. Dodging fires, boulders, sea stacks, and now a Scauldron, they were flying much closer together than they had all morning.

"Here they come," one of the men in the boat warned. "Get ready,"

"I am ready," the other said. He took very careful aim and released the shaft.

"Excellent shot," the first said, "the message has been delivered,"

"Let's get going before they find us,"

Toothless and Stormfly were nose to nose now. In a few minutes they would cross the finish line.

"Hiccup, don't you dare think of throwing the race!" Astrid suddenly shouted.

"You didn't mind when I did that for Thawfest," Hiccup yelled back.

"That was for Snotlout's sake, not mine!" she shouted back. "But what am I saying? You won't have to throw the race anyway!" Stormfly inched ahead. The winner had to touch the starting podium first. Toothless caught up to the Nadder. They would reach the podium in less than a minute. They could see it now. The dragons summoned up the last of their energy to put on the final burst of speed. The tension in the crowd grew higher and higher. Stomachs were twisting into knots. People were standing still as statues, afraid to blink and miss something.

Stormfly slammed into the podium. Toothless slammed into Stormfly. The crowd went nuts.

"ASTRID IS THE WINNER!" Stoick bellowed, but for once nobody could hear him.

Astrid tried to maintain her sportsmanship, but it was hard not to scream victoriously. Hiccup picked himself up from the tangled mess and then hugged and kissed her. Toothless was less gracious. He whacked her lightly with his tail. Nobody had time for anything else when Meatlug and Fishlegs barreled into them.

"That's my daughter! That's my daughter!" Greta shouted loudly, as if nobody was aware of the fact. "Oh Olaf, if you could only see her now…"

"YEAH!" Stoick shouted, "That's my future daughter-in—"

Gobbber slapped him. "Stoick, that's supposed to be a secret,"

"Oh come on, how secret can it be when he kisses her in front of the whole village?" Stoick demanded.

By this point Snotlout reached the podium and the Twins were not far behind. For them the only real joy in finishing was the party that would come in a couple of hours. Still, te Twins were impressed with the falling rocks and fire—in fact Ruffnut's hair was slightly singed. Snotlout was switching between trying to inflate his accomplishment and dismissing his low placement as an Act of Thor. As for the dragons, Stormfly had accepted her victory like Astrid, Toothless was only slightly morose now, deciding even the best had an 'off day' now and then, Meatlug was licking Stormfly, Barf n' Belch were oblivious to what was going on, and Hookfang was snickering about how he had sabotaged his rider's chances of a better finish.

Suddenly Hiccup uttered a cry of shock. "Tuffnut, why is there an arrow stuck in your helmet?"

All eyes turned to the Thorsten male. He took his helmet off curiously and saw there was indeed an arrow imbedded in it. A piece of parchment was tied to it. The very tip of the arrow had made its way through the metal; had the helmet been slightly thinner it would have probably have managed to pierce his skull.

"I…almost died?" Suddenly he began screaming. "I almost died! I almost died! I…almost died?" he suddenly looked delighted. "Whoohoo! I almost died! Yeah! I almost died, yeah!" he started jumping around and strutting as if he had been the winner of the race.

Hiccup was more interested in the parchment. As he read it he frowned.

Stoick, seeing something was wrong, had leapt onto Skullcrusher and flown over to join them. "Read it out loud," he ordered.

"'To the Dragon King: We know you stole the Dragon Eye. You will come alone to Green Island and return it. If you do not we will come for it ourselves and we will not hesitate to kill anyone who gets in our way. You have two days.'"