"Easy, Lightning" said the rider.
"Hey, there. It's OK, we're not a threat" said Hiccup.
Lightning calmed down and lowered his spines.
"I can assure you, we're strictly against dragon hunters" said the rider.
"Who are you" Hiccup asked him.
The rider took off his hood and mask, revealing a young man around Hiccup's age with dark and brown eyes.
"The name's Magmar. This is Lightning. Pleasure to meet you" he said.
They shook hands.
"I'm Hiccup, chief of Berk" he said.
"And I'm Valka, his mother" she said.
"Berk? I've heard about that place. Never really got time to go and see it" said Magmar.
"Really, now" Hiccup asked him.
"Oh, yeah. It's a long story. Come on, let's sit down and I'll tell you everything" he replied.
They sat down around the campfire as Lightning lit it with the end of his tail.
"Thank you, Lightning" said Magmar.
"Sounds to me like you have quite the smart dragon" said Valka.
"Oh yeah, Lightning is definitely a smart dragon" said Magmar.
"Why don't you start from the beginning, Magmar" Hiccup asked him.
"Sure. It all started a year or so ago. My old village was far up in the cold north. One day after I got done with my duties, I went exploring. You see, where I come from there's a lot of ice and snow. So, after stumbling across a cave, guess what, or rather who I found frozen in the ice" said Magmar.
Hiccup and Valka were taken aback as they glanced at Lightning, who was playing with Toothless.
"You mean you found Lightning frozen in Ice" Hiccup asked him.
"Yeah, but he wasn't frozen too deep in it. He was maybe 2 or 3 feet into it" he replied.
"And you just let him out" Valka asked him.
"Kind of. I just punched it out frustration after I realized I had to get back to the village" he replied.
"And when you went back, he was gone" said Hiccup.
"Yeah, he actually jumped me too and got on top of me" said Magmar.
"Then what happened" Valka asked him.
"In that moment, I thought that was it. That was how I was going to die. Instead to my surprise, he got off of me after sniffing me a couple of times" he replied.
"He was probably checking to see if you were a threat" said Hiccup.
"I wasn't. I didn't have any sort of weapons on me in that moment. After that, a sort of…friendship started. I started visiting him from time to time, occasionally bringing him food. He eats all kinds of fish, but loves Eels the most. Hence why we chose Eel Island as a place to stay" said Magmar.
Hiccup and Valka both smiled.
"Were you caught" Hiccup asked him.
"Yeah, after a while I got caught and was promptly banished for it" he replied.
Both Hiccup and Valka looked somewhat angry after hearing that.
"Banished? For befriending a dragon" Valka asked him.
"Yeah, my old village doesn't like dragons at all" he replied.
"What happened after that" Hiccup asked him.
"Well, I packed what was mine and instead of leaving on a ship, I got on Lightning and we both flew away. After flying around for a while, it hit me. Berserker Island, me and my whole village knows that they're friendly with dragons. So, we headed there" he replied.
Hiccup and Valka were taken aback.
"You went to Berserker Island? Did you by chance meet" he cut Hiccup off.
"Dagur? Yeah, great chief and a swell guy. After we landed however, that's when everyone just stopped what they were doing and just stared at us with wide eyes" he said.
"Did you any idea why they stared" Hiccup asked him.
"No, I didn't really know why they stared" he replied.
"You really don't know the story behind your dragon" Valka asked him.
"No, my village didn't know it. It was only after I met the Berserkers did I realize just how special Lightning is compared to other dragons" he replied.
"He's quite a dragon. I'll give you that" said Valka.
"Anyways…after being there a while, getting to know everyone and forging some new things, I realized where my calling was. To stop dragon hunters and protect dragons" said Magmar.
Hiccup and Valka smiled after hearing that.
"Then we said our goodbyes to the Berserkers and left. Then for a couple of months, we started going after Dragon Hunters, destroying their ships and setting dragons free. We settled down here on Eel Island for food. Me and Lightning became an unstoppable team" said Magmar.
"You and Lightning are more than welcomed to come back with us to Berk" said Hiccup.
"Really? Wow, thank you. I…I don't know what to say" said Magmar.
"It's the least we could do" said Hiccup.
"What exactly are those notes you got" Valka asked him.
"Oh, just a little bit of studying that Lightning and I were doing. His own Unique ability to combine shots and we've been experimenting to see what's effective" he replied.
"Oh, yeah? And what's been the most effective so far" Hiccup asked him.
"Quite a few have been effective, but a Night Fury plasma blast mixed with a Skrill lightning blast is the most effective. It's very explosive" he replied.
"Yeah, Toothless and I know from experience" said Hiccup.
"So, what now? Lightning and I pack up our things and we all head go back to Berk" Magmar asked him.
"Of course, no need to rush. We'll wait" said Valka.
"You hear that pal? We're packing up and going to someplace better" said Magmar.
Lightning smiled with joy and licked him.
"Lightning, we talked about that" said Magmar.
He felt the side of his face and it was of course, sticky.
"Of course, it's sticky" said Magmar.
He wiped his face as Lightning laughed. Hiccup and Valka laughed before Toothless licked Hiccup too.
"Really, bud" he asked.
Toothless just laughed. While Magmar was packing up, Hiccup and Valka noticed the large map of the archipelago with several places crossed out.
"What are these places crossed out" Hiccup asked him.
"Oh, those are dragon hunter camps and outposts we've hit" he replied.
"You've certainly been busy" said Valka.
"Yeah, but recently things haven't been going too well" said Magmar.
"Why is that" Hiccup asked him.
"Cause of who these dragons hunters follow" he replied.
"Who" Hiccup asked him.
"They call her Matron Maeve. I don't know who she is, but that she has an armada and her own dragons that she can command" he replied.
"We've dealt with things like that before. Shouldn't be too hard" said Valka.
"Yeah, except when Lightning ordered those dragons to stand down, they didn't. They all had some kind of harness strapped on the back of their heads. I don't know what those things are, but they seem to make them submissive to her and her men and unresponsive to others, even an alpha" said Magmar.
Hiccup and Valka glanced at each, concerned.
"Right, come on. Let's get back to Berk" said Hiccup.
Magmar and Lightning finished packing up and they began their journey back to Berk.
Meanwhile…
"Ah, here it is" said Maeve.
"What is it" Askari asked her.
"In this note are statements written by dragon hunters that used to work for Drago Bludvist. They said that the chief to the Berk, rides a Night Fury" she replied.
"Berk? I've heard of that place before. A village that made peace with dragons and even allows them to walk amongst them" said Bjarke.
"Ha! Sounds like a village that's full of imbeciles" said Askari.
"My thoughts exactly! We gear up and set course for Berk in a few days. Those fools will never see it coming" said Maeve.
"I assume we're taking the whole army" Bjarke asked her.
"Indeed, but first we'll go ahead with a few other ships to scout the perimeter" she replied.
"As you command, Matron Maeve" said Fuld.
"After that, we'll have a lot of dragons caged and ready to be sold" said Maeve.