Chapter 22: Edge of Disaster (Part 2)
Previously on Race to the Edge
A distress call from Johann led to Hiccup, Hicca, Snotlout and Fishlegs to fly out with their dragons for a rescue mission. The remaining members of the Dragon Riders were divided due to a dispute between Astrid and Ruffnut. Later on, Raeda and Tuffnut stumbled upon Ruffnut getting kidnapped by Dragon Hunters. Upon discovering a fleet of Dragon Hunters ships near the Edge, it was a race against time for Astrid, Tuffnut and Raeda to prepare for an invasion.
Astrid stood at the edge of a cliff watching as four Dragon Hunter ships approached their island. This was it. This was what they spent the whole night preparing. All three of them have to be on their game because one mistake can lead to their demise.
She jumped off the boulder she was standing on and hid the Dragon Eye on the ground, covering it with rocks. "Just in case."
"Come on Astrid, my arms are starting to cramp." Tuffnut called, standing next to the ballista placed on one of the cliffs.
Raeda was at the ballista placed on the opposite side, her eyes watched the ships getting closer. She took a deep breath and glanced at the other ballista, her hands on the lever.
"Wait for it." Astrid instructed, keeping her eyes on the ships. "Now!"
In an instant, Tuffnut pulled the lever and his ballista launched a boulder right at one of the hunters' ships, sinking it. Astrid then sent a signal to Stormfly, who fired in the air above. As soon as she saw the signal, Raeda pulled her lever, firing a boulder into another hunter's ship with success.
She quickly signaled Sparkfire who picked her up and sent her to a catapult placed closer to the shores of the island but still on a higher ground.
Tuffnut, meanwhile, was celebrating. "Yes! Who kicks dragon hunter butt? Tuffnut kicks dragon hunter butt! Who kicks-"
"Let's not start kissing our own butts yet." Astrid said as she and Stormfly flew by.
"I didn't even know that was possible." Tuffnut said, looking at his own rear.
"This thing is far from over. Go!"
Tuffnut jumped off from his post, aiming for the zipline. He reached his target and grabbed onto the zipline, his weight and fall pulling himself down to the other end of the post. There at the post was a catapult similar to the one Rae was currently stationed at. He got off and stopped himself right at the edge of the cliff, where he was an inch away from falling.
He recovered and ran to the catapult that has a boulder covered with Monstrous Nightmare gel. Next to the catapult was a lit torch.
"Get ready Tuffnut!" Raeda yelled from her post. The boulder on her catapult was already on fire.
Tuffnut grabbed the torch. "Monstrous Nightmare gel plus open flame equals-" He lit the boulder on fire and launched at the same time Raeda did. Both boulders met their targets, sinking the two remaining ships.
"Fun for all! Well, not all Just for me, actually." That's when Stormfly swooped in and grabbed Tuff by her claws.
Rae got on Sparkfire and joined them. "Hey, Astrid, I was thinking, you know what would be great?" Tuffnut called.
"If we stuck with what seems to be working really well?" Astrid replied rhetorically.
"Uh, no. That wasn't it at all. I was thinking-"
"Save it, Tuff. That's what we're doing." Astrid dismissed.
"Meh." Tuffnut muttered, sticking his tongue out.
"Remember we're keeping all our options open for this." Raeda reminded Astrid.
They flew off to start the next phase of their plan.
(Linebreak)
Back with Hiccups group, they were in the same spot keeping an eye out for the wild, aggressive dragons.
"Okay, we all know the plan, correct?" Hiccup asked.
"Yes!" Both Hicca and Snotlout said.
"No!" Johann said nervously.
Snotlout ignored the older man. "We all know the plan, you and Hicca told us 25 times each. Just so you know, I still object."
"Objection still noted." Hicca said.
Hiccup turned to Johann. "Now Johann 'remember, your only job is to distract the dragon sentry on the far cliff. Approach it from the rear so that Meatlug doesn't see Fishlegs."
"Master Hiccup, why shouldn't Meatlug see Master Fishlegs?" Johann asked, looking at the Gronckle, who was excited to rescue her human.
"Because she might... well, we don't know what she'll do." Hiccup replied.
"Sure we do." Snotlout chimed in.
"Snotlout!"
"What? You don't think Johann should know what could happen to him?"
"Yes, I do. I think I should know what could happen to me." Johann said, trying to sit on Meatlug's saddle as the dragon continued to shake with excitement.
"Nothing is going to happen to you, Johann. Midnight and I will be close to you. You're going to be fine as long as you stick to the plan." Hicca reassured him.
(Linebreak)
In the ditch, Fishlegs stood nervously as the wild dragons surrounded him, eyeing the human with wariness.
"You may not know this, but where I come from, I'm known as a friend to all dragons." He said nervously, trying really hard not to make any sudden moves. Like running. Running away from winged creatures would definitely be a bad idea.
He saw one of the Nadders turn to a Monstrous Nightmare and started growling, seeming to communicate something. That gave him a good view of the side profile of the Nadder, giving him a startling discovery.
"Whoa. You sure do have a lot of scars, don't you?" He took a closer look at some of the other dragons and noticed the same thing. "All of you do, really. Wow, more than you should!"
He walked to the Nadder to get a better look at the scars. "That looks like an arrow mark." He was about to reach out and touch it when the Nadder noticed and immediately threw a fire blast at him.
Fishlegs ducked just in time. "Okay, okay I get it. Touchy subject. No problem."
He and the other dragons got startled when one of the smaller Gronckles started screeching in distress.
Forgetting the danger he was in, Fishlegs ran to the Gronckle and had it lay on its back. One of the older Gronckles did not seem happy about this and Fishlegs noticed. "No, no, no it's okay. I can help."
He put his ear on the younger Gronckles stomach and listened for a second. After finding the right spot, he jabbed his elbow right at that spot, much to the surprise of the other dragons. A few more jabs and the Gronckle ended up spitting out a big rock that Fishlegs caught. "Ah. Quartzite. I thought so. Meatlug chokes on them all the time."
Now feeling a lot better, the Gronckle got up and joined its group.
"Psst. Hey, Fishlegs."
The Ingerman boy turned to see Hiccup and Toothless hiding behind a boulder. "We're here to rescue you. Are you okay?" Hiccup whispered.
"Hiccup!" Fishlegs ran to him and Toothless
"Yes, yes. It's us. Let's go while they're not looking." Hiccup urged, still keeping his voice low.
Fishlegs walked closer to the boulder. "Look at these dragons. They have scars all over them."
"Well, this is quite a diverse pack. They probably fight all the time." Hiccup inferred. "Now, can we just get out of here?"
"The scars aren't from other dragons, Hiccup. They're from humans. Those are arrow wounds, bola scars."
Hiccup realised the implementation. "Dragon Hunters. That explains why dragons that can usually be trained would be so aggressive"
"They attack humans 'cause they've all been hurt by Dragon Hunters." Fishlegs added.
Hiccup thought about that. "Then why would Dragon Hunters come near this place? Unless, they drove Johann here on purpose."
"Knowing he would send for us?" Fishlegs send for us.
"It was a trap and we flew right into it." Hiccup said.
"Speaking of flying, where's Meatlug?" Fishlegs asked, looking around.
"They're right over that ridge. Johann's riding her." Hiccup answered.
Fishlegs suddenly turned his head at him and narrowed his eyes. "Johann? You let Johann ride my Meatlug? My Meatlug?!"
And unfortunately that was just loud enough to reach Meatlugs sharp ears. Currently she was flying Johann in front of the dragon sentries. But once she heard her beloved human's voice, she completely abandoned the plan to search for him.
"Meatlug? Nice Meatlug." Johann said nervously as he noticed Meatlug suddenly getting excited. He was weary of the plan already and now it looked like they were going to get a curveball.
Hicca and Midnight, who kept a distance to avoid provoking the sentries, watched as Meatlug dove into the canyon with Johann screaming.
"Uh-oh." Hicca muttered.
"Aah! Whoa! Down Meatlug!" Johann pleaded, trying to steer her. It wasn't enough as Meatlug flew right by the boulder Hiccup and Toothless were hiding behind, alerting the wild dragons of their presence.
Hiccup smiled nervously at the dragons as Toothless jumped out from the boulder and took a defensive stance. All the wild dragons were growling at the new intruders.
"I knew this was going to happen!" Snotlout exclaimed, watching from a cliff with Hookfang.
"Please just get down here and help us." Hiccup said.
"Oh, sure. Come bail us out again. It's always the Snot that has to clean up the mess." Snotlout complained, as he got Hookfang to dive down.
"So not true at all, Snotlout." Hicca said as she and Midnight joined Snotlout and Hookfang.
"Don't hurt them. None of this is their fault." Fishlegs pleaded to his friends.
"Fishlegs, come on!" Hiccup urged, now that Meatlug landed.
Fishlegs was then surrounded by three wild Gronckles, including the one he helped earlier. Meatlug growled at those three dragons, getting ready to attack.
"Meatlug! No! Meatlug, no!" Fishlegs shouted, raising his arm up to her to stop. "There's too many of them and they don't know how lovable and awesome you are." Meatlug stopped her attack, looking at her human in confusion. "It's all right girl, don't you worry."
Now surrounded by wild dragons with a failed plan, Hiccup had no other option. "All right, guys, fall in behind me. We gotta regroup."
He reluctantly led the others away, except for Meatlug who was still looking at Fishlegs.
"Go, girl. It's okay, go with Hiccup." Fishlegs said.
Feeling sad, Meatlug flew off to join the others.
(Back at the Edge)
Ryker had the dragon hunters camp at an island near the Edge. He just got reports on what happened to the four ships he sent out.
"All ships? They sank all four ships?!" He exclaimed in outrage.
Dagur and Heather were with him along with Ruffnut, who was still tied and covered with a sack.
"I'd like to take this moment to point out that I did mention you'd be sorry for attacking the Edge. Just saying." Ruffnut gloated.
"The only thing I'm sorry about is that my men took you alive." Ryker growled drawing out his sword to point at the oblivious Ruffnut.
"Ryker, we've been over this. We don't kill any of the Dragon Riders until Viggo tells us to." Heather stepped in. Ryker drew back his sword and walked away. Dagur joined him, leaving Heather and Ruffnut. "You need to be out of the way so you can't cause any more trouble." The raven haired girl whispered.
"Me? Trouble? Heather, you know me better than that." Ruffnut didn't even bother lowering her voice. "In fact, might I remind you, I tried to warn him and he wouldn't listen. You might want to think about putting your listening ears on, young man." This time she purposefully raised her voice so that Ryker could hear her.
Ryker did in fact hear and was glaring at her.
Heather quickly shoved Ruffnut. "No talking! I'll take care of her."
She took the sack off Ruffnut and tied her to a tree with her hands to her chest.
Ruffntu squirmed in the ropes. "You really think these ropes are gonna hold me? They're not even ti-."
Heather quickly put her hand over Ruffnut's mouth, trying to send some very obvious signals. "Hmm!"
She took her hand off and Ruffnut continued to talk. "Yeah, I mean, I could just seriously undo these and-" Heather once again covered her mouth and tried to silent signal her. She took her hand off. "What're you doing? Have something in your eye? Do I have something in my eye?"
Luckily, Ryker decided not to pay any attention to the Thorston girl. "Second wave! Go! Now!"
"Aye, aye!" The soldiers said.
Ryker turned to Heather. "You! Take the dragon and attack from the sky!"
Heather walked away from Ruffnut who kept talking. "It could be sand. I mean, we are on a beach. Or smoke. That always gets me."
(Linebreak)
Heather and Windshear flew up above the group of hunters as they moved through the forest at the Edge.
"Keep your eyes peeled." One of the hunters yelled.
"Nothing here!" Another hunter confirmed.
Heather spotted a dense group of trees ahead of them. "That looks like as good a place for an ambush as any, eh, Windshear?" Windshear zoomed right into the direction Heather pointed at, her rider started screaming. "Ambush! Retreat!" With the dense trees as the perfect cover, Windshear started firing off in different directions.
To the hunters, all they could see were multiple blasts. "Back to the beachhead!" Heather yelled. Not wanting to get blasted by dragons, the hunters ran away.
Heather and Windshear emerged from the trees as the hunters retreated. "Hope you're holding the fort, guys."
(Linebreak)
Another group of dragon hunters spotted Astrid and Stormfly in the air and ran after them.
"Keep up." One of the dragon hunters ordered as they continued the chase.
Astrid was relieved to see the trap she set up earlier and that the hunters were in the right spot for it. "Okay, Stormfly. Spine shots! Right where we practiced!" The blue Nadder fired spikes and the rocks that were restraining the pile of logs. Now without the rocks, the logs down the steep slope right into the dragons hunters.
They all saw the logs and turned to run in the opposite direction. "That better be the last of them. 'Cause that's all we got, girl." Astrid said. Unfortunately for her as soon as the logs cleared several dragon hunters emerged, all of them still determined.
"Oh, no!"
(Linebreak)
Savage walked to Dagur, Ryker and Heather with the latest updates on their invasion.
"Sir, unfortunately, we've had some injuries and several deserters." Savage reported.
"Deserters? Who?" Dagur asked.
"Skarsgard, Nygren, Lars #2." Savage answered.
Dagur didn't seem bothered by that. "Completely expendable. All three, including '2'."
"Lars #2 is my cousin." Ryker said sternly with a glare at Dagur.
"Oh, well, isn't that a great show of family support? Things get a little sticky and old Cousin Lars leaves us with our swords in our hands." Dagur mocked. "Tell me, is that how you hunters do things? 'Cause I'd rather know now…" Ryker growled and deepened his glare at the Berserker chief. "Relax. I trust you. Every family has a Lars #2. Now, back to the attack. I was figuring-"
He didn't get to say anything else when Ryker grabbed his throat. "I don't care how you do it. Just get it done. Do not let anything happen to the Dragon Eye. Everything else can burn to the ground." He let Dagur go with a shove and walked away.
Dagur glared at Rykers back. "I don't have to take that from that guy. Do I have to take that from that guy?"
Savage just gave a shrug, not sure which answer would spare him.
"Trap, snappy trap." Ruffnut sang, still tied to the tree.
"What is she mumbling about?" Dagur asked, annoyed by her interruption.
Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Hello! Obviously, it's a trap."
Dagur paper-thin patience was starting to end with Ruffnut. "Will you shut her up, please?" He turned to his sister.
"Gladly. Windshear!" Heather signalled her dragon who, in response, fired a spike at Ruffnut, hitting the tree just above her helmet.
"Okay, felt the wind on that one." Ruff commented.
Heather looked to see if any of the hunters were looking at them. When she saw it was clear, she looked to Ruffnut, coughed and pointed above herself. "Huh?" Ruffnut asked. Heather tried again, shifting her eyes to the spike above Ruffnut. The blonde girl looked at the spike above her. "Uh, I don't know."
Heather mentally groaned in frustration. "She's killing me." She muttered, before raising her voice. "I better check her ropes."
Neither Dagur nor Ryker were too bothered by their prisoner to care.
Heather walked close to Ruffnut and whispered. "Use the spine to cut your ropes. Take Windshear. They need help up there."
Ruffnut smirked. "Well listen up! I was just waiting for the right moment to pounce. And that moment is now." She quickly grabbed the spine and cut through her ropes. Then she head-butted Heather and ran for Windshear.
Heather probably would have been impressed by the escape if it wasn't for one problem. "And she's going the wrong way." She muttered, watching Ruffnut and Windshear fly away from the Edge.
(Linebreak)
Astrid, Raeda and Tuffnut all met up back in the Clubhouse once they all finished their defense tactics. Astrid was feeling defeated as she saw more hunters approach the Edge.
Tuffnut runs into the Clubhouse "There you guys are. Listen, I've been thinking a lot-"
"It's over, Tuff." Astrid interrupted. "We tried, but there's just too many of them. My plan didn't work."
Tuffnut then reveals the Dragon Eye he was holding. "I found the Dragon Eye. Someone buried it."
Astrid snatched the Dragon Eye. "I did that, to keep it from the Hunters."
Raeda spoke up. "One, it's better that Tuffnut found it rather than the hunters. Two, we still have another plan, right Tuffnut?"
"Absolutely right." Tuffnut agreed, before turning to Astrid. "Well, Astrid. You wanna be captured and tortured by crazed Dragon Hunters, or listen to Plan Tuffnut?"
Astrid raised her eyebrows. "Your plan? Well, what do we have to lose?" At this point, Astrid knows she had no other choice.
"Quite a bit, actually." Tuff answered honestly. "The huts, Fishlegs' topiaries, Macey, our lives Wait. That was a rhetockrical question. Was it? No, now I think that's rhetockrical."
"Tuff, have you been trying to say rhetorical this whole time?" Raeda asked.
"Yeah, that's the word, I think. Maybe. Probably." He answered.
If she was being honest with herself, Astrid didn't feel too comfortable leaving their fate in Tuff's hands.
(Linebreak)
Back with the other group, after the failed rescue mission, Hiccup gathered the others and explained what Fishlegs told him.
"So, lemme get this straight." Snotlout said after Hiccup finished explaining. "Those really crazy whacked-out dragons don't want to hurt our dragon?"
Hiccup nodded. "Right."
"They just want to hurt us?"
"Correct."
"Because they think we're Dragon Hunters and we are going to hurt them and our dragons?"
"That's about the size of it." Hiccup said.
"Oh. That is quite the conundrum." Johann commented.
"Look, why don't you just go in there and have a talk with the dragon in charge, tell them that we're not Dragon Hunters, and that these guys love us." Snotlout suggested, gesturing to their dragons.
"Snotlout it's never that easy for us. You should know by now" Hicca said.
Hiccup actually thought about that. "Actually, sis, there may be something to that."
"Thank you. Now, off you go. If you don't come back, we'll tell everyone you died heroically." Snotlout waved.
"I don't think those dragons are going to sit down and listen to us." Hicca said.
"Don't worry, sis, I've got a plan." Hiccup promised. "You, me, Midnight and Toothless will go in there and get the dragons really riled up and lure as many of them out as we can, starting with the leader. Then, Snotlout and Johann-"
"Uh, Master Hiccup, I feel as though one more ride on that dragon - may turn my insides into my outside." Johann spoke up, interrupting him
"You'll be fine, Johann." Hiccup promised. "As soon as we have them following us, you guys sneak in and grab Fishlegs. Without their leader, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Ha! We've heard that before." Snotlout commented, rolling his eyes.
"Well then you rile the dragons up and get them to follow you. That sound better to you?" Hicca challenged.
The Jorgenson boy put his hands up as a sign of surrender. "Hey, calm down, cranky. I was just exploring our options." He put an arm around Johann.
"All right, so can we go then?" Hiccup asked, getting on Toothless.
"Right behind you." His sister answered, getting on Midnight.
As they flew off, Johann spoke up. "This does remind me of a time-"
Snotlout immediately cut him off. "Johann, if you tell me one of your stories, I swear I will turn your insides into your outsides."
"For another day, then. Off we go." Johann concluded.
The Night Furies flew over the canyon, making sure they were spotted by the wild dragons. Their mission was a success as they managed to draw out all the dragons who were awake and on guard.
"Okay, bud. Let's see how long we can keep these guys busy." Hiccup said to Toothless.
"There's no chance for Snotlout to mess up on his part of the plan, right?" Hicca questioned.
"Hopefully not." Hiccup replied.
Suddenly one of the Nadders appeared in front of them and shot spikes at them. Midnight and Toothless split off to dodged the spikes and flew around the Nadder.
Not happy with the sudden attack, Toothless tried to retaliate until Hiccup stopped him. "We're not here to fight, bud."
"Midnight, sky!" Hicca commanded. Midnight flew upwards with Toothless and Hiccup joining them.
(Linebreak)
With the Haddock twins and the Night Furies distracting the guards, Snotlout, Johann, Meatlug and Hookfang flew into the canyon where the remaining wild dragons were sleeping.
"Let's just hurry up with this ridiculous plan before it falls apart, which it will." Snotlout whispered.
Hookfang landed near Fishlegs and Snotlout and Johann were in disbelief at what they were seeing. "Is he actually sleeping?"
"It would appear so." Johann answered.
Indeed Fishlegs actually managed to fall asleep despite the situation he was in.
Meatlug walked to her human, but was upset to see him cuddling with the baby dragon he helped earlier.
Snotlout noticed this and smirked. "Jealousy is not a good look on you, Meatlug. Maybe you could 'wake him up'. Let him know how you feel."
Meatlug agreed with that advice and decided to do just so, by farting near him.
That actually managed to wake Fishlegs up without waking the dragon next to him.
"Meatlug? I knew that was you!" Fishlegs hugged his dragon, happy to be reunited with her.
"We came to rescue you. Now get your butt on that gas bag and let's get out of here before those lunatic dragons wake up and their pals come back." Snotlout urged, still whispering.
"But where're Hicca and Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked.
(Linebreak)
The twins in question were still being chased by the wild dragons. They kept firing to knock the twins off their dragons.
Midnight and Toothless did not take too kindly to this.
"It's okay, girl. It's okay." Hicca said to her dragon. "They're just trying to save you from me. They think I'm trying to hurt you."
A Monstrous Nightmare flew in front of them and fired, forcing Midnight and Toothless to split up.
Most of the dragons decided to narrow in on Hiccup and Toothless after noticing the Night Furies prosthetic tail. There were still a few dragons going after Hicca and Midnight but most were focused on Toothless and Hiccup.
Hiccup noticed this. "Higher, Toothless!" Toothless flew higher to shake off the other dragons but they were relentless. The leader of the wild dragons actually managed to overtake them and collided with Toothless, knocking Hiccup off.
Hicca turned to see her brother and Toothless falling. "Oh, no!"
As soon as Midnight saw them, she flew to try and rescue them but was getting hindered by the dragons still after her and Hicca.
"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled. Toothless tried to dive to save him but was stopped when two of the wild dragons sandwiched. He shook them off and dove to try to catch Hiccup.
Hiccup then realised that neither Toothless nor Midnight would get to him in time. "Okay, bud, I guess we don't have a choice."
He quickly attached the hooks attached to his sleeve with the hooks attached to the bottom of his pants and when he stretched his arms up, the wings to his flight suit opened. The flight suit worked as he stopped falling and started gliding across the sea.
He managed to land on a nearby sea stack with Toothless, assisted by Midnight, followed after him. Hicca got off Midnight.
"Boy, I'm actually glad you brought your flight suit along." Hicca said, hugging her brother.
"See? I told you it can come in handy." Hiccup said.
That's when the other dragons swooped in. Their leader and a few other dragons landed on the sea stack and the rest were hovering nearby. The four were surrounded.
The Night Furies took defensive stances, growling at the other dragons. Hiccup walked in front of them. "Easy, guys. No sudden moves." He then got an idea and walked closer to the dragons. Toothless stepped forward to protect Hiccup, when the boy stopped him. "Toothless, wait." Once he got close enough, he raised his arms to show the dragons his wings from his flight suit.
This actually caught the dragons off guard as they notice the resemblance with their own wings. They looked around the boy, wondering how a human could possibly have wings like them. "Pretty cool, right? Yeah, you see. We're not so different."
Understanding what Hiccup was doing, Toothless walked up to his human and put his head under his arm. Hiccup responded with a semi-hug.
"We're not like all those Hunters. We would never hurt a dragon." Hicca added, staying behind because she doesn't have her own flight suit.
The dragons looked at each other and considered this. The teens were behaving differently than the other humans they encountered.
(Linebreak)
Back at the Edge, the hunters were still relentless. They started climbing up some ropes tied to the cliff. They paused when they noticed a slime-like substance trickling down the ropes an into their hands
Confused, they looked up to see Tuffnut, Astrid and Raeda at the edge of a cliff looking down at them with identical smirks.
"Hello!" Astrid waved down. She turned to Tuffnut. "Ropes soaked with Monstrous Nightmare gel? I wouldn't have thought of that."
"It's smart, right?" Raeda said, nodding in approval.
Tuffnut turned to Stormfly and Sparkfire. "Would you two like to do the honors?"
Both the Nadders walked to the edge of the cliff and lit the ropes on fire.
When the hunters saw the fires racing down the ropes, they quickly jumped off.
"All right! What's next?" Astrid asked
"You're gonna love this." Tuffnut said.
"I hope you're good at impressions." Raeda said. Since she took the time to actually help Tuff set up his traps, he explained to her what each of them were.
(Linebreak)
Another group of hunters reached the bottom of the platform of the huts and were making their way up when they were intercepted by a spear thrown at them. They looked up and due to the limited light provided by the torches in the night, could only see a shadow figure.
"Take that, you lousy Dragon Hunter. You're dealin' with Stoick the Vast now, boy-oy-oy-oy-oy!" Tuffnut yelled, making his voice as deep as he could. He was hiding behind a scareship of Stoick that he and Raeda made earlier.
He then ran to another scareship and yelled in the same voice he used for Stoick. "Oh. Snotlout! Snotlout! Oy-oy-oy-oy-oy-oy!" He fired a crossbow at them.
The hunters were cautious and weary by this. It was hard for them to see Tuffnut sneaking around in the dark, making them unable to tell what was going on. What they do know is that the Edge wasn't as vulnerable as they thought.
Astrid was standing behind a Hiccup scareship when she noticed a hunter walking closer to her, though he couldn't see her.
"I mean, who hunts dragons anyway? Dragons are our friends." Astrid said in a nasally voice, imitating Hiccup. She threw a spear at the hunter, which he deflected with his shield.
Raeda, who was hiding behind a Hicca scareship, laughed quietly at Astrid's Hiccup impression. "Close enough." She said to herself, before clearing her throat. "I'm a healer until you mess with the ones I care about." She then fired a crossbow at the hunters.
Tuffnut ran up the Fishlegs scareship positioned above all the hunters. This time he didn't even bother trying to sound like Fishlegs. "Whoo! I'm Fishlegs! This is how I sound! It's really me!" He then dropped a barrel filled with rocks on the hunters causing them to run back. "That's right. You don't want none."
Not prepared for this ambush, the hunters decided to retreat. "Fall back!"
(Linebreak)
A third group of hunters were navigating through the forest of the Edge, when they spotted Sparkfire flying above them.
"Get the Nadder!" One of the hunters yelled.
They shot arrows at Sparkfire, which she managed to dodge. She blasted at them before flying away. The hunters ran after her, not wanting to let her or her rider escape.
What they couldn't see was that Raeda wasn't flying on Sparkfire. She was actually hidden in the bushes next to one of the many loaded crossbows that were rigged and surrounding a clearing in the forest.
"If this actually works, all hail Tuffnut." She said to herself as she waited. She spotted her dragon above and sure enough there were shouts from the hunters following right behind. As soon as they got to the spot she hit the trigger of the crossbow, leading to a domino effect of multiple crossbows firing at the hunters from different sides.
The men yelled in panic as they tried to avoid the arrows while figuring out the ones responsible.
Raeda took that chance to escape, raising her hand up for Sparkfire to grab her and fly away.
(Linebreak)
Dagur was leading another group of hunters in a different part of the forest, unaware of the chaos happening to the other group. "Keep moving, men."
Astrid and Stormfly then flew in from above and Stormfly started shooting spines at them. Unfortunately since she was too high up and her view was blocked by the trees, she couldn't get one accurate shot."
"They can't shoot at us through this canopy of trees." Dagur said with a smirk. "Nice try, Astrid! Your puny little Nadder spines are useless from up there."
With no other choice, Astrid and Stormfly had to fall back. Dagur was looking at the direction they flew off to when his eyes landed on some trees up ahead of him. There appeared to be some shadow figures hiding behind them. "Look, there they are, in the trees. Fire, boys! Fill 'em full of wood!" He ordered.
The hunters immediately fired arrows at the figures. Unbeknownst to them, they were actually firing at some more scareships. But these scareships were different. Once they got pierced, they released a familiar green gas.
Dagur was about to walk away when he sniffed the air. "What's that smell? I know that smell. It's Zippleback gas." His eyes widened. "She was driving us right into a trap!" He looked at and saw two hunters about to light up some of their arrows. It seemed that they didn't hear him. "Gah. Not the flaming-
BOOM!
"-arrows." Dagur coughed, his face now covered with ashes as were the other hunters.
(Linebreak)
Back at the hunters temporary base, Ryker watched as his soldiers, along with Dagur, walked back wounded, burnt and disgruntled.
This combined with the frustration of losing his hostage, was pushing Ryker to a breaking point. "I swear, I will wear those Night Fury's heads as a hat."
"I called dibs already on the hat thing a long time ago, so back it down, big boy!" Dagur objected. "Besides, that wasn't a Night Fury. It was just Zippleback gas." As he said this, he realised something. "Wait a minute. No Night Furies."
"So?"
"So? There were no Night Furies! Which begs the question, where was Hiccup, Hicca and their little plasma-blasting buddies? For that matter, where was the Gronckle and the big orange one with the dim-witted kid?"
Ryker understood what he was saying. "Of course! They split up!"
This newfound information strengthened the hunters' resolve to take over the Edge.
(Linebreak)
After using up most of Tuffnut's defenses. The three teens met up back at the Clubhouse to assess the situation. Tuffnut looked through the spy-glass and saw that there were still many dragon hunters approaching the Edge.
"Why does it still feel like we're not even making a dent in them?" Raeda asked.
Tuffnut put the spy-glass down in frustration. "Oh, come on! Are these guys serious? What is it gonna take?" He took a deep breath. "Astrid, Raeda, take Sparkfire and Stormfly and go. These Dragon Hunters are never gonna give up, no matter what we do. I'll hold them off so you two can make it out."
"No way. I'm not leaving you." Astrid said firmly.
"Me neither." Raeda agreed.
"Okay, then how about I take Sparkfire and Stormfly and you two hold them off?" Tuffnut offered.
The two girls looked at him for a second before all three of them started laughing.
"Kidding. I almost got you though, right?" Tuffnut asked.
"Yeah, you did." Astrid admitted. Once they finished laughing, Astrid got serious again. "All right, whatever we're gonna do, we need to do it fast."
"What do you think about another crazy, out of control, brilliant idea?" Tuffnut asked.
Raeda seems to know what Tuff was talking about. "Do you mean-"
"Yep it's time." He said. He turned to Astrid.
Astrid just gave him a smile. She didn't know what the plan was, but she's trusting Tuffnut and his trickery which was something she never thought she would do before.
(Linebreak)
After finally gaining the wild dragons' trust, the four dragon riders, Johann, and their dragons reunited and set off back to the Edge. There was just one thing.
"Uh excuse me? Did you know there's an entire pack of angry wild dragons following you?" Fishlegs asked Hiccup, gesturing to the group trailing right behind them.
After Hiccup showed them his "wings", the wild dragons were very curious about the boy and wanted to learn more about him and his little group. Right now they were wondering why the boy wasn't flying on his own right now.
"You don't say." Hiccup said sarcastically.
"You're losing your touch, Hiccup. I mean, they're literally, like, right behind you!" Snotlout said, being serious.
"I know, Snotlout. And I couldn't be happier about it." Hiccup said.
"All right! Hiccup has officially lost his mind." Snotlout declared.
Fishlegs looked back at the dragons. "Well, they're not trying to eat us. So I'd say something's changed."
"They saw Hiccups' wings and they knew he wasn't a threat." Hicca explained as her brother gestured to the wings on his flight suit.
Fishlegs was amazed by that. "This is an amazing discovery."
"And we have the Dragon Hunters to thank for it." Hiccup said.
Snotlout squinted his eyes as he spotted a figure ahead getting larger. He then realised it was Windshear. "Speaking of which, is that not Heather?"
They were all surprised to see Windshear flying towards them, but were even more surprised to see Ruffnut, the one flying Windshear.
"There you are. Hey, where'd you get all the cool dragons?" Ruffnut asked.
"Long story." Hiccup said. "Why are you riding Windshear?"
"Equally long story." Ruffnut said. "Right now, we need to get back to the Edge before there's no Edge to get back to."
(Linebreak)
This time Ryker led the hunters for the final attack at the Edge. They were at the lower lands of the outpost.
"Don't stop until you kill every last one." Ryker ordered.
"Good evening, Mr. Ryker." A voice called, causing the hunters to look up. There standing on top of the cliff were Tuffnut and Chicken, the former holding the latter and petting her. We've been expecting you.
Ryker wasn't too bothered to see Tuffnut. "You can start with this one. But save the chicken. I like chicken." By the tone of his voice, he did not mean Chicken as a pet.
Even Chicken seemed to notice as she started clucking a little nervously. Tuffnut calmed her. "Not to worry, my little fricassee. You won't be on anyone's menu tonight."
He gave out a loud gibberish-sounding chant to the skies above.
The hunters were all confused, but at this point realised that there was definitely something about to happen and they needed to keep a look-out.
And something did happen.
The Night Terrors flew up at the sound of Tuffnut's call and took the form of a Night Fury.
The soldiers took one look at the Night Terrors formation and backed away in fear.
Ryker stayed where he was. "Hold your ground!" He ordered. He saw that one of the hunters had dropped a bow and a dragon-root arrow and picked them up. He then fired at the white Night Terror, shooting it down. This caused the other Night Terrors to scatter.
He then turned to Tuffnut. "You don't think I've seen what Night Terrors can do? You people never learn."
That's when Astrid and Stormfly swooped in. "I could say the same for you, Ryker. Stormfly, now!"
Stormfly fired at the Night Terrors, causing them to attack the hunters head on. Just because their leader was gone doesn't mean they were completely defenseless.
Some of the hunters tried to aim their arrows at the small dragons but were stopped by arrows fired by Raeda who was standing on the cliff a few feet away from Tuffnut. As she was reaching to fire more arrows, she discovered her quiver empty.
"Uh-oh." She muttered to herself. Quickly, she grabbed the flail Astrid and gave a dragon call to Sparkfire. The Nadder flew in and grabbed Raeda by her shoulders and brought her down to where the hunters were.
She fired at the hunters as she landed, forcing them to use their shields and flew back up to fire spines at them from above. Raeda, armed with her flail, attacked the hunters from ground-level.
Stormfly landed to the ground with Astrid smiling at the success of Tuffnuts plan. Suddenly she was knocked right off Stormfly and onto the ground.
She looked up and saw Dagur as the culprit.
"Hello, Astrid." Dagur said in a menacing voice, drawing out his sword.
Astrid drew out her axe and charged at Dagur and the two battled it out. It was a close battle, but Astrid had the upper hand as she knocked the sword out of Dagurs hands
Ryker, Heather and two of the hunters started scaling the cliffs where Tuffnut was.
The Thorston boy noticed this and turned Chicken around to face him. "It's not over for us, Chicken. We do not go out like this. Promise me you'll fight till the end." He said with such great intensity.
Chicken remained silent, causing him to shake her. "Promise me!" Chicken then gave a bawk. "I knew I could count on you. You take the little ones. The big one is mine."
He threw Chicken right at the two hunters and she actually managed to make them off.
Ryker watched two of his soldiers get taken down by a chicken before looking back up at Tuffnut. "All right, Ryker. Gimme back my sister!" The blonde boy demanded.
Ryker smirked. Clearly his sister didn't make it back to them. "I'll tell you what, get past me and she's all yours."
Tuffnut jumps off the cliff right into Ryker. "Aah!" He was actually able to knock into Ryker, causing both of them to fall to the ground. Tuff quickly recovered from the fall and landed a few punches on Ryker.
Ryker got up just as Tuffnut tried to kick him with both feet, causing Tuffnut to kick his chest. Ryker stood still as Tuffnut fell to the ground.
With a smirk, Ryker drew out his sword and raised it high up in the air. Tuffnut tried to back away, but still laid on the ground.
Ryker was about to strike when he was stopped by an explosion from above.
That caught everyone's attention as they looked up to see Hiccup, Hicca and the rest of the gang, including the pack of wild dragons arriving to the battlefield, with the sunrise in the background
"Why do they always have to make such a production out of everything? I really hate them." Dagur muttered, despite being held at axe point and cornered to a cliff wall. Astrid definitely heard that and delivered a strong punch at his face.
Having been caught up by Ruff on the invasion, Hiccup was not surprised by what he was seeing and immediately took charge. "All right, gang, let's clean up this mess."
The dragons all scattered to fight the hunters. The wild dragons definitely remembered the hunters and had no problem assisting the Dragon Riders in this battle.
Raeda called out to her dragon and got on the saddle to join her friends in the air.
"Yeah! I love the smell of Zippleback gas in the morning!" Snotlout yelled, amidst the chaos of the battle as Hookfang continued to fire at the soldiers.
Heather, still climbing the cliffs, spotted Windshear. She pulled out her horn and blew it, getting her dragons attention. Windshear, who was still carrying Ruffnut, flew to where her human was.
Heather let go and landed right on the saddle in front of Ruffnut.
"Hey, Heather." Ruff greeted.
"Hey, Ruffnut." Heather greeted back. She then punches Ruffnut off the saddle. "That's for improvising."
Luckily for Ruffnut, her brother and their dragon were there to catch her.
"Hey, sis. How's it hanging?" Tuffnut asked.
"I cannot figure that girl out." Ruffnut said, referring to Heather.
"One might say she's an enigma wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in yak bacon." Tuff commented, as his sister made her way to Barf's saddle.
"One might." Ruff agreed. "Shall we wreak some havoc?"
"We shall. Get 'em!"
And they too joined in firing at their hearts content.
The hunters, definitely not prepared for this many dragons attacking them, starting retreating.
Dagur, still facing off against Astrid, saw that he had no chance to win this fight. "Hey!" He called to his sister, waving her down.
Astrid turned to Heather and the two exchanged secret look off understanding before Heather had Windshear fired some spines, which Astrid dodged. This "attack" allowed Heather and Windshear to swoope in and rescue Dagur.
"Ryker!" Hiccup called to the dragon hunter. Ryker looked to see the Haddock twins and their Night Furies side by side, glaring at him.
"It's over, Ryker," Hicca exclaimed.
Begrudgingly, Ryker mentally agreed. "We will meet again, Haddocks!" With that he raised his arm for Windshear to grab and they along with the other hunters finally left the Edge, ending the invasion.
(Linebreak)
After the victorious battle everyone took a well deserved rest as Hiccups group recounted their adventure and their discovery.
After finishing the story, the group went outside the dragon stables.
"How did you manage to hold them off for so long?" Hiccup asked Astrids group.
"Let's just say the three of us brought our best assets to the table." Raeda answered.
"It's called teamwork." Astrid added. "Right, Tuff?"
"I'll go along with that. Since I am the captain of Team Tuffnut." Tuffnut said.
"Well, you must be feeling extra guilty." Ruffnut spoke up, addressing Astrid.
"Actually, I am." The Hofferson girl admitted with no hesitation.
"And sorry." Ruff added.
"Definitely."
"And completely, 100 percent embarrassed and exposed." Astrid remorse quickly turned to irritation. Ruffnut noticed that. "Too much? Sorry. I accept your apology, my dear Astrid." She said that last sentence with a semi-bow, causing Astrid to smile.
Guys, we've got to return these dragons to their island. We just do not have the room." Fishlegs said as he opened the doors to the stables where some of the wild dragons were running around.
Hiccup agreed. There was enough chaos on the Edge as it is. "Okay, who's up for a field trip? You guys have to see this island."
He led the group, including the wild dragons back to the island.
That's when Johann came out of the stables.
"Hello? Is anybody here?" He called out. "Master Hiccup? Miss Hicca? Hello? Where is everyone?"
After the hectic events he just endured, he wasn't sure if the silence was a good thing or not. And Smidvarg running up to his shoulders definitely did not help him.