Chapter 44: Notlout
The Haddock twins and the Dragon Riders were making their way to an unknown island. Spitelout had finally created another storehouse on a different island and the people of Berk were celebrating his achievement.
"Hmmm. Pretty good turnout." Hiccup complimented.
"And not a Singetail in sight." Hicca commented.
"Of course it's a good turnout and there are no Singetails, guys." Snotlout said, as if he hadn't expected anything less. "The people love the Jorgensons."
"I think the word 'love' is too strong a word." Raeda commented as she glanced away, still at slight war with her feelings.
"Took the words right out of my mouth, Rae." Astrid smirked.
They soon landed on the island and enjoyed the crowd of people that were surrounding the new storehouse.
"Look at that!" Snotlout said smugly. "All of Berk has come out to admire the Jorgensons' handiwork!"
"Nah. Everyone's just here for the free food." Tuffnut commented.
"Nobody comes to these things to admire anything." Ruffnut added as she poured a large amount of meat into her helmet.
"Only you two can think of food in something special like this." Henry said with a rolled eye.
Stoick then cleaned his throat as he addressed the crowd. "In every Viking's life, there comes a time when you have to take a chance. Risk everything. Today, we celebrate a man who took the initiative. We now have a new off-Berk storehouse, thanks to—"
Suddenly the doors burst open knocking Stoick back and Spitelout emerged with his hands raised dramatically
"Spitelout Jorgenson, of the great Jorgensons!" Spitleout yelled.
The entire crowd cheered and Snotlout cheered the loudest. "Spitelout, Spitelout, oy, oy, oy!" He chanted as Spitelout made his way through the crowd laughing as they clapped and cheered.
"Hey, coming through!" Snotlout said, pushing through the crowd to join his father.
"Drink it in, friends." Spitelout said.
"We finally showed 'em all what it means to be a Jorgenson!" said Snotlout.
Spitelout narrowed his eyes. "Hey! We didn't show them anything, boyo. I did." He then approached his son and pointed him towards the other Riders where they were laughing and hanging out with one another. "Look at 'em. All clamoring for Hiccup and Hicca's approval. Workin' every angle. A Jorgenson doesn't ask permission to be great, that's the only reason we have this storehouse." He said.
"Dad, I think they're just having fun." Snotlout said, though he did sound sure.
"Oh, fun? A bit of a silly time?" Spitelout asked, turning him towards him. "Sharpen up, boyo! They're kissin' their way up the ladder. Thor only knows what they're sayin' about you." He told his son as Snotlout turned back towards them and began to imagine that they were saying negative things about him.
"Look at him over there," Astrid said mockingly.
"Who is he kidding, huh? He's ridiculous! Snotlout," Hiccup laughed.
"Look at that. Who does he think he is? What name is that anyway?" Hicca asked with a laugh.
"Snotlout." Tuffnut said.
"Snotlout?" Astrid scoffed.
"Snotlout," Henry said.
"Snotlout?" Raeda laughed.
"Astrid? A Hofferson!" Spitelout spat. "I wouldn't trust her to sharpen my ax. Raeda, she's been by the Haddock twins' side forever, always waiting for her chance. Or that Fishlegs, he and Stoick's kids are as thick as thieves. And those devilish Thorston twins. Nothing stings more than a dagger between the shoulder blades. And don't even get me started on Grimborn's boy or the Berserker girl, never know when they'll steal the glory right from under ya." he said with glare as Snotlout looked worried.
Tuffnut appears to be doing something quite funny causing all the other Riders to laugh.
"Right in there!" Tuffnut said.
"You wanna be like your old man?" Spitelout asked, pulling him towards him. "A great leader takes what's rightfully his. And if he doesn't, he'll be left in the dust. Do ya understand what I'm trying to tell ya?" He said
(Linebreak)
Later that night on the Edge, Snotlout was having a very bad dream. He could hear Hiccup and Astrid laughing and heard footsteps running behind.
"Who's he kidding, huh?" Hiccup's voice asked. "He's ridiculous."
Snotlout removed his blanket. "You mock me? Do you know who I am?" He yelled only to discover that his entire house was gone and that he was all alone with only his clothes on his back and his blanket.
"I used to be a Dragon Rider." Snotlout said, covering himself with the blanket.
Then someone dropped a coin in his helmet and he looked up to see Astrid. "Snotlout?" She asked.
Fishlegs sighed as he joined. "Poor little Snotlout." Je lamented.
"He had such much promise," said Astrid.
"How the mighty are fallen." Henry signed with a smile.
Heather then appeared. "Ugh. You know, I even secretly wanted to marry. But now? Ew!" She retorted as they all laughed and then left Snotlout.
The Thorston twins standing in a cart with a golden sheep inside it which was being pulled by Barf and Belch looking down at Snotlout.
"Look there, Sister. It's Snotlout." Tuffnut pointed. "Shall we stop and say hello?
"No, I'd rather polish golden sheep," Ruffnut said, gesturing to their cart.
"Onward, Sir Barf and Belch!" Tuffnut ordered. "And try and splash a little bit of dirt in Snotlout's face."
"Goodbye, peasant." Ruffnut waved as Snotlout then watched as Barf and Belch carried them away and dirt landed in Snotlout's face. He coughed and sputtered and then he saw the Haddock Twins, Midnight and Toothless approaching him.
"We always thought you'd become the leader of the Dragon Riders, but you never had what it too.," Hiccup said in disappointment.
"So, I found someone better than you." Hicca added with a grin gesturing to the side and to Snotlout's horror, Gustav appeared riding Hookfang.
"A-Gustav! And guess what?" he said with a smirk. "Hookfang's mine now!"
Gustav then laughed.
Then Raeda on Sparkfire landed in front of him with a smirk, "You always boasted about being a Viking but the truth is you're nothing but a crybaby who doesn't have the guts to do what's right." She mocked before giving a lovesick smile to Gustav, "Unlike my hero over here." She swooned and moved in to kiss Gustav.
It was at that moment Snotlout woke up with a start and sat up right taking deep breaths.
"No," Snotlout said frighteningly.
(Linebreak)
The next morning, the Haddock twins and the other Riders were making their way to a known area where the Dragon Hunter ships had been seen. Snotlout was still remembering what his father had said yesterday and the dream from last night and was looking at everyone with suspicion.
"All right, gang, stay sharp," Hiccup said, looking at them all. "There's been a lot of Hunter activity in this area."
"And based on their activity, we need to up our game as well." Hicca added.
"Maybe we should spread out, cover more ground." Astrid suggested.
"Yeah, good idea," Hiccup nodded.
"Spreading out seems like a good idea to cover more grounds." Hicca added in agreement.
They were about to move out when Snotlout made his presence known. "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Now, Astrid's making all the decisions?" he said with a small chuckle. "When did that happen?"
"Uh, guys?" Fishlegs spoke up.
"If Astrid is making all the decisions, we want to build a second story on our crib, you know?" Tuffnut asked. "Add square footage and enhance the curb appeal."
"Why do they get a better hut?" Snotlout asked indignantly.
"Nobody's getting a better hut!" Hiccup said in bewilderment. "And Astrid is not making all the decisions."
"Snotlout, what's up with you today?" Hicca asked in confusion, her cousin was never this questioning before.
"Guys!" Raeda, Fishlegs and Heather yelled.
"Hunter ships, dead ahead," Heather told them as they then noticed below them were three Hunter ships.
"All right, spread out in the formation. Prepare for a surprise attack," Hiccup ordered.
"If they don't see us right away, they won't have time to react." Hicca added.
"I vote to attack!" said Snotlout and flew down towards the ships.
"No, Snotlout! No!" Hiccup yelled and followed him.
"Don't!" Hicca yelled out.
The Hunters were now aware of their presence and their arches got ready and fired Dragon Root arrows directly at them.
(Linebreak)
Back on the Edge, chicken was patiently waiting for the Dragon Riders to return.
"Incoming!" Tuffnut yelled as he, Ruffnut and Astrid crash landed on the Edge with Dragon Root arrows embedded in the dragons.
"Is everyone okay?" Hiccup asked as he landed.
"Could be worse." Tuffnut said as he got up.
"Speak for yourself." Ruffnut said, who was right underneath Barf's head.
Heather helped Astrid up, who was clutching her chest. "You okay?" She asked
"Well that could've gone better." Henry noted as he pulled out an arrow in Wildstar.
"Tell me about it." Raeda said, hopping off of Sparkfire and cracking her back.
Fishlegs removed the arrows from the dragons and Hicca was rushing around grabbing the Dragon Root antidote for all the dragons that needed it.
"Here you go." Hicca said, pouring the antidote into Stormfly's mouth. "Here's the antidote." She said, having made enough antidote for all their dragons if they were ever hit with dragon root arrows..
Snotlout then landed with a face that said victory and Hookfang surprisingly unscathed. "Whoo! Now, that's how you lead a mission. Am I right?" he said looking at the others.
"You call that leading?!" Henry asked in disbelief.
"By almost getting your team killed?" Astrid added as she and Heather glared at him.
"Totally uncool." Tuffnut stated.
"So not cool!"Ruffnut's muffled voice said.
"Opposite of cool." Tuffnut finished.
"Little help?" Ruffnut groaned, gesturing to herself under Barf's head..
"No, thanks. I'm good." Tuffnut told her. "You help yourself."
"Okay, fine, maybe it was a little messy," Snotlout admitted. "But everyone, let's face it, I'm the reason we won."
Everyone just glared at him. "That's not exactly what happened, Snotlout," Hiccup told him.
"Let's discuss what happened because of you." Hicca said, recollecting the battle.
Astrid and Snotlout were flying side-by-side around one Hunter ship.
"You were supposed to cover our wing, blasting arrows, while we made a pass." Astrid said. "But you peeled off."
Snotlout flew down towards the ship leaving Astrid completely vulnerable to the archers which fired a volley of Dragon Root arrows at her.
"And Meatlug was lining up a perfectly good blast when you came out of nowhere to take the shot," Fishlegs added.
Fishlegs was maneuvering Meatlug into a perfect position for a lava blast, but then out of nowhere Snotlout appeared and shot him out of the way taking the shot.
"Out of my way!" Snotlout yelled.
"Snotlout!" Heather yelled and she and Windshear got slammed by an outer controlled Fishlegs and Meatlug.
Next second of Dragon Hunters net captured them.
"Oh, Thor!" Fishlegs whimpered.
"And we were about to spark our new move when you used us as a diversion," Tuffnut added.
The Thorston Twins were flying up the gas perfectly for the surprise attack, but Snotlout blocked their path leaving them vulnerable to the archers on deck and at the mercy of the Dragon Root arrows.
"And me and Hicca were about to go in for the frontal assault before coming blazing in and throwing us off course." Henry recalled.
Henry and Hicca were about to fire but the Snotlout flew past them with Hookfang on fire, causing them to lose control.
"Which in turn leads us, of course, to getting netted." Hicca added.
The hunters then fired nets at them as the six dragons and their riders got caught and fell.
"This meant that I had to divert from my own attack in order to cover our retreat," Raeda said.
Raeda could see the entire mission was falling apart and quickly took the initiative to create a distraction for them to escape. She had Sparkfirel use her fire to force one of the Dragon Hunter ships into one another. This caused a bit of confusion which Hiccup used to free Herny, Fishlegs, Hicca and Heather and together they were able to retrieve Astrid and the Thorston twins before making a hasty retreat.
"Hey, it's not my fault I had to cover for you guys."Snotlout said.
"Snotlout, we almost lost the battle because of you." Fishlegs stated. "If Raeda hadn't caused that diversion we'd never have escaped."
"It's called 'initiative' Fishface." Snotlout said dismissively. "You know that word, from your books?" He asked which immediately set the other riders off.
"You could have ruined something again!" Fishlegs yelled.
"You don't know what initiative is!" Astrid yelled.
"Is this all just a game to you?!" Henry demanded.
"All right. All right. All right." Hiccup said, trying to act as the voice of reason. He then looked at Snotlout. "Snotlout, why don't you gather up all the Dragon Root arrows, take them as far away as possible and burn them. We don't want the dragons anywhere near them."
"Especially what happened the last time they were near them when we first discovered dragon roots back on Berk." Hicca said, recalling how they first discovered dragon roots the hard way.
"What? Now?" Snotlout asked as he saw the firm looks on their faces. "Fine."
Snotlout then dismounted Hookfang and began to gather the Dragon Root arrows, though he always glanced over his shoulder at the others, like he thought they were gonna knife him in the back. He then made his way away from the Edge and the moment he was gone everyone turned to the Haddock twins.
"We know. We know. I'll talk to him, okay?" Hiccup promised. "But right now, We're much more concerned with the Hunters' supply of Dragon Root. They've obviously increased production."
"And we're running out of ingredients for the antidote." Hicca said, gesturing to her empty jar. "You know how long it takes me to find more and make the antidote."
"Well, hopefully, this'll help," Hiccup said, pulling out a map. "I pulled this chart off a ship. Might lead us to the source of Dragon Root."
"At least something came out of this mission." Hicca said as she and her brother looked at the map.
Astrid, Raeda and Fishlegs then moved over to look at the map.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Snotlout and Hookfang were making their way through the forest with the Dragon Root arrows.
"Hurry up, Hookfang." Snotlout told his dragon. "You saw their faces. The moment we're gone, they're gonna jump all over me."
'Didn't look that way to me.' Hookfang snorted.
They soon reached the edge of a cliff. "Forge, cliff, what's the difference?" Snotlout asked as he then tossed the arrows down the cliff expecting them to hit the water, but instead they hit a small ledge and he left without even noticing.
(Linebreak)
Later that night, everyone was gathered around a Mace and Talons game board as Henry and Fishlegs were facing each other again.
"Come on, man. Come on, you got this," Ruffnut said excitedly as she rubbed Henry's shoulders. "You can do this. You got this."
"Oh, I know what I'm doing." Henry said as he brushed Ruffnut off him as he focused. "The key to Winning is making your opponent make the move that you want."
The Haddock twins and their Night Furies then arrived and then they approached the game board. "Ah. Maces and Talons." Hiccup commented.
"Epic marathon." Heather told him. "But Fishlegs is about to win it for us."
"Only after five losses." Raeda commented as Fishlegs made his move, but Henry just immediately moved again, catching the Ingerman by surprise.
"I win, again." Henry said with a victorious smile as Fishlegs groaned in defeat. "But hey, it took me five more moves to get you this time, you're improving." He assured Fishlegs.
"Make that six losses." Hicca said with a smile with a chuckle.
Fishlegs growled and turned to Henry, "One more round!" He demanded as Henry shrugged and reset the board.
"How are you this good?" Heather asked.
"When you got a father who based his movements on the game, ya pick up a thing or two." Henry said with a smile as he got his pieces in place. "I may be the son of Viggo Grimborn, but I'm not that obsessed with this game like he is. But he did show me some moves." He added.
"We believe you." Hicca said with a smile to Henry.
"Any luck with the chart you pulled from the Hunters, Hiccup?" Astrid asked.
"Yeah, we have a good idea what chain of islands they're coming from." Hiccup said. "Hicca and I, along with Toothless and Midnight will do some recon tomorrow and search for the Dragon Root." He then noticed that they were one Dragon Riders short. "Wait. Where's Snotlout? He loves Maces and Talons."
"Yeah, he never misses this game." Hicca added. before turning to Henry.
"Don't look at me, I thought Heather invited him." Henry said.
"I thought Fishlegs invited him," Heather said.
"Uh, I thought the Thorston twins invited him," said Fishlegs.
"We thought Astrid invited him." Ruffnut said.
"I never invited him. I thought Raeda invited him." Astrid said plainly.
"I was but he said he had something else to take care of." Raeda explained.
"The Edge is under attack! Hunters are everywhere!" Snotlout yelled as he ran into the clubhouse.
At once all of them ran towards the door as quickly as they could, but all of them ended up being wedged within the door frame unable to move. It took them a few struggles but eventually they were able to free themselves and they quickly mounted their dragons. However, when they got into the air they found that the sea was completely calm and there was no sign of any Dragon Hunters.
They all looked at each other in confusion. "I don't see any Hunters." Henry stated.
"It's called a 'drill'! Hello? I was seeing how you'd all react in a crisis. And you will fail! Miserably." Snotlout said from the clubhouse then looked at the Haddock Twins. "Well, Hiccup, Hicca, obviously there are followers then there are leaders. Guess we know which ones we are, don't we?"
He then made his way back to the club and everyone looked at the Haddock twins.
(Linebreak)
Hiccup made his way to his hut and soon Snotlout joined him as he looked over the map.
"Did you find anything on the chart?" Snotlout asked. "Where are we attacking?"
"Snotlout! What is going on with you?" Hiccup demanded. "First, you ruined the battle. Then you play a prank that could have hurt someone."
Snotlout then turned towards him. "Listen, Hiccup. It's past time you all realize how important I am."
"What? What are you talking about?" Hiccup asked in confusion.
"I'm not gonna end up a beggar in the streets, eating a diet and watching Ruff and Tuff passing their golden sheep." Snotlout said firmly. "I'm just as good, if not better than the other guys. I want to lead the Dragon Riders when Stoick makes you chief and Hicca becomes Berk's healer."
Hiccup rubbed his head, getting a huge migraine. "Okay, but Snotlout, you can't just force your way into a leadership position. It doesn't work that way. You have… things you need to work on. Like, uh…" He tried to think of something as Snotlout stared at him "You need to sharpen your battle tactics, like Astrid. You need to be open-minded and resourceful Raeda. Uh, you need approval, you can be trusted like Heather. And you need to be thoughtful and strategic, like Fishlegs. Do you know what I'm saying?" He asked him.
"Yeah. You're saying I can't do it." Snotlout said, narrowing his eyes. "Well, guess what! We Jorhensons don't ask permission to be great." He stated, marching out of the hut.
Hiccup looked at Toothless having a feeling that this was going to end badly.
(Linebreak)
The next day Astrid was practicing her still skills with Stormfly. She was planning to sneak up on a herd of Terrible Terrors and round them up.
"There they are," she said looking through a bush.
Suddenly she heard rustling behind and saw Snotlout appearing out of nowhere. Somehow he had convinced Astrid to allow him to tag along to learn.
"There who are?"Snotlout asked, standing up straight.
Astrid quickly pulled him down. "Shh. The Terrible Terrors," she whispered.
"Oh, right. Why are we whispering?" Shotlout asked.
"Because we're practicing stealth and infiltration." Astrid explained slowly. "If those dragons don't know we're here, Hunters never will."
"Battle tactics. I like it." Snotlout complimented.
Astrid and Stormfly then made their way through the bushes to get a better position in order to surprise the Terrible Terrors. Snotlout and Hookfang began to follow her, but their footsteps were far heavier than hers.
She quickly turned on them and placed a finger on her mouth. "Shh!"
Snotlout then turned on Hookfang. "Yeah, Hookfang! Shh!"
Hookfang snorted with surprise, because it was him that was causing all the noise.
Eventually they reached an ideal position to launch a sneak attack.
"All right, if we can just—" Astrid started but then Snotlout then jumped out of the brush screaming and charged at the Terrible Terrors and Hoofkang followed him. Naturally, this made the Terrible Terrors aware of their presence and they quickly took off.
Snotlout, however, was able to grab one of them. "Don't fight it! It only makes it worse," he said as Astrid glared at him as he turned towards triumphantly. "Nailed it."
The Terrible Terror then slapped him across the face with its tail.
"You mean, you destroyed it," Astrid retorted. "The exercise isn't about surprising one, Snotlout. It's about tricking all of them."
Snotlout looks slightly crestfallen and to make matters worse they Terrible Terrors returned and were flying down towards him in an angry range. He quickly released the Terrible Terror and he and Hookfang made a run for it with the angry flock of Terrible Terrors directly behind them.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, The Haddock twins were doing a bit of recon on the islands for any trace of the Dragon Root supply chain. They were using their spyglass and saw several ships leaving an island.
"Now, there are some Hunter ships down there, guys, but I don't see any…" Hiccup started but his sister tried off.
"Wait a minute bro, look." Hicca said as she pointed to an area, Hiccup followed when he saw some sort of structure on the island.
The Haddock twins zoomed in closer and saw Hunter hacking a piece of Dragon Root and a bowling pot with Dragon Root in it. He then saw a Hunter placing several arrows inside the pot and laid them out on a table which was covered with Dragon Root arrows and then saw dozens of crates with hundreds of Dragon Root arrows in them.
"They have a ton of arrows, where's all the Dragon Root?" Hiccup frowned.
The Haddock twins began to look around the island through his spyglass and then saw green tarps so that he could blend in with the forest.
"Nice try, Viggo," Hiccup smirked.
"Let's head back and tell the others." Hicca said as they turned back and flew to the edge.
(Linebreak)
Henry was busy going through the ingredients within the supply hut in order to make more antidote for the Dragon Root when Snotlout appeared.
"Hey, Henry," Snotlout said loudly.
This caught Henry completely by surprise and he fell off his ladder as Snotlout winced, he sat up, rubbed his head and saw Snotlout.
"What do you want, Snotlout?" Henry asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Just wondering what you were doing?" Sntolout explained.
"If you must know, Hicca asked me to check if we need more ingredients for the Dragon Root antidotes since our near failure cost us a lot of it." Henry answered as he glared.
Snotlout scratches were not sure what he was trying to get at. "I still don't know how you can count that many?" He noted.
"Trial and error, trust me it took me a long time to check these inventories while making sure either the Thorston twins, or you, don't waste our supplies." Henry said with deadpan at him.
Snotlout scoffed. "I bet I can do that." He said.
Henry raised an eyebrow. "Then be my guest."
Snotlout blinked and slowly made his way towards the inventory."Uh," He said as he looked at all the different ingredients and supplies in the hut. "It's simple, you just have to go in and open every one of them and count them." He then grabs each one as he starts tossing them out. "Like this jar, or this, or this, and maybe this as well." He said as he tossed each one.
Henry then noticed that Snotlout was about to throw something he shouldn't. "No, wait that's the—" He tried to warn but was too late, as Snotlout tossed some green liquid into a torch and seconds later there was a large explosion. When the smoke cleared, Snotlout and Henry were covered in soot, "Monstrous Nightmare gel." Henry coughed with a scowl.
"You really should have a list of labels." Snotlout coughed as the smoke cleared.
Henry held out the jar and pointed at the label on it. "It is labeled." He stated.
"Well, you should make it much clearer," Snotlout told him.
Henry glared at him.
(Linebreak)
Once Snotlout had cleaned himself up he saw Heather walking and holding some flowers in her hand.
"Heather. What are you up to?" he said approaching her.
"Nothing. Why?" she said dully.
"I just say you're heading towards my hut," said Snotlout. "With flowers no less."
"Don't get excited. They're for Astrid as a thank you for letting me borrow her ax," she said, holding out Astrid's ax threateningly.
"She loaned you her ax?" He stared in surprise. "She sleeps with that thing under her pillow."
"That's what friends do." Heather said bluntly.
"Man, nobody loaned me anything," Snotlout said, chuckling.
Heather narrowed her eyes. "Well, maybe because nobody trusts you to bring stuff back."
She made her way towards Astrid's hut, leaving behind a bewildering looking Snotlout.
"Building trust." Snotlout said with a smile.
(Linebreak)
Moments later, the Thorston twins exited from their hut and found Snotlout standing outside and saw that he was holding a crate of their stuff and some dead flowers.
"Snotlout." Ruffnut starred.
"I'm here to return everything I've ever borrowed from you guys." Snotlout said. "Hurray!"
The Thorston twins took a closer look at the crate and recognized the stuff in it.
"Hey! My favorite mug! My favorite pillow?" Tuffnut starred. "And wait a second, this is my favorite crate!"
"Fluffers!" Ruffnut cried, grabbing the stuffed animal. She then glared at Snotlout. "You didn't borrow any of this, you stole it!" He told him,
"Hey, you say 'stole,' I sayI say 'borrow,'" Snotlout shrugged, chuckling. "You guys trust me now, right?"
"Gimme that!" They said, grabbing the crate and dead flowers.
"Trust is a delicate bird with feathers of silk." Tuffnut told him with a glare. "And yours is dead."
They then slammed the door shut on him much to Snotlout's surprise.
Inside the hut the Thorston twins looked at one another.
"So, should we give back the stuff we stole from him?" Tuffnut asked, looking at the large crate of Snotlout's things they stole.
Ruffnut shook her head. "Nah, our bird's dead, too." She told him.
"Yeah," Tuffnut nodded.
(Linebreak)
Fishlegs returned to his hut and gasped in horror, because someone had pulled every single flower out of his garden.
"Someone ripped out all of my flowers! Fishlegs exclaimed and looked at Meatlug as he grabbed the now ruined stems. "Who would do such a thing, Meatlug?"
Meatlug was unable to answer, because she was fast asleep and drooling. "Oh, don't over-water it, girl." Fishlegs told her.
"Fishy! Hello!" Snotlout said, waving. "Playing in the dirt again, I say."
Fishlegs now realized who dug up all his flowers and glared at him. "You!" He snarled.
Snotlout looked around expecting to see someone behind him. "Me?" He asked, pointing at himself.
"You know anything about my missing flowers?" Fishlegs asked, trying to keep his anger in check.
"Nope. Can't say that I do." Snotlout said. "Oh, I did say Heather with some flowers earlier. Suspicious?" He said.
"Now, I have to replant the whole area." Fishlegs stated angrily. "The Zen is totally out of balance."
"I could… help… you." Snotlout offered chokingly as if each word was extremely painful.
Fishlegs scoffed and laughed. "You want to help me fix my garden?" He then gave him a suspicious look. "Why?" He asked.
"I'm just trying to be, you know, more thoughtful and strategic." Snotlout said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Truthfully, I've always respected your work, Fishlegs, and I really like… plants." He then placed his hands behind his back and gave him an innocent look.
"Oh, well, in that case, let's get started," said Fishlegs. "Your two basic types are ornamentals and edibles." He then chuckled slightly. "You don't want to mix those up, believe me. Then you have your floriculture—"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get i., okay," Snotlout said, holding his hand out. He then grabbed one of the dead flowers. "Let's take this one over there."
"Oh, no, no, no, no," Fishlegs said quickly, stopping him. "You have to be strategic in your planting. This type of topiary only grows in the sun. You see, some plants like sun, some like shade, some like partial sun, some like partial shade." He explained.
"Oh, my Thor!" Snotlout yelled. "Okay, how do you know what it's like? They don't talk."
"Hey. Snotlout gave us those flowers and they totally died," said Tuffnut as he and his sister approached Fishlegs.
"Yeah, can your magical garden bring them back to life?" Ruffnut asked as her brother handed the dead flowers to Fishlegs.
Fishlegs growled angrily and marched up towards Snotlout, who quickly ran for his life.
"Snotlout!" Fishlegs roared as Snotlout ran away.
In the Clubhouse above them, Raeda, who had been observing Snotlout behavior all day, watched him run and frowned in concern. From what she saw, Snotlout seemed to have been trying to help the others as best he can. "Something must be really bugging him if he's trying to be nice." She said to herself, having a feeling that Snotlout has been acting stranger than usual after his father's storehouse opening.
(Linebreak)
Later that day, the rest of the Dragon Riders were complaining to the Haddock twins, who had just returned from his recon mission, about Snotlout's antics.
"He totally ruined my training exercise," Astrid said.
"He totally ruined the supply house inspection," Henry said.
"And he totally ruined my serenity garden," Fishlegs added.
"And let's not forget, he almost totally got us killed." Heather pointed out.
The Thorston twins and Raeda were the only ones among them who didn't have any complaints and the Thorston twins just gave them dull looks.
"We're mainly here to watch the drama unfold." Tuffnut said.
"Snotlout hasn't bugged me, so that's a first." Raeda honestly said.
"You have to do something, guys." Astrid told the Haddock twins.
"Look, Snotlout is clearly going through something right now, and we need to be there for him," said Hiccup. "As hard as that can seem sometimes. We're a team. He's one of us."
"And we stick together, we have each other's backs, no matter what." Hicca stated.
Fishlegs sighed. "They're right, guys. While flowers can be replanted, fractured teams can take years to fix." He told them as they nodded.
"Just so we're clear, the tides have turned," said Tuffnut. "There's not gonna be any banishing of anyone?"
"No banishments, Tuff." Hiccup said.
"We don't banish anyone." Hicca added.
"I should have stayed in bed," Ruffnut grumbled.
"I should have stayed under that bed," Tuffnut grumbled.
"The only question now is how we're going to fix this," Henry said with his hands on his hips. "I mean, this is Snotlout we're talking about." He reminded them.
"I agree that Snotlout's a member of the team," said Astrid. "But we have a mission to destroy the Dragon Root and, as Henry just said, this is Snotlout we're dealing with. How are you two gonna snap him out of it?"
"I'm sure they have an idea for that, right?" Raeda asked, turning to her best friends.
The Haddock Twins had to think on this. Then Hiccup remembered what Snotlout asked him last night.
(Linebreak)
Moments later, The Haddock Twins were giving a briefing of the island where the Dragon Root was being harvested and how they were going to take it out. He had pulled out a board and had already marked the island with chalk.
"Now, Viggo's growing the Dragon Root in these fields underneath camouflage tarps." Hiccup said, marking the location on the board. He then guided towards another location on the board of the island.
"They make the arrows over here. And this is their stockpile. The island is heavily fortified." Hicca pointed.
"Sounds complicated." Astrid said, glancing at Snotlout.
"If by 'complicated' you mean 'impossible,' and if you mean by 'impossible' you mean 'not possible,' then I—I actually… I'm lost now," Tuffnut said, confusing himself.
Fishlegs chuckled lightly. "Nothing's impossible. I'm sure Hiccup and Hicca have a great plan."
"We're gonna do a practice run, here at the Edge, just to make sure we're perfect." Hicca said.
"And Snotlout's gonna lead the mission." Hiccup finished.
"Me? Now?" Snotlout was surprised.
"Yes, you. Now." Hiccup said while the other Riders who weren't expecting this were him giving grim expressions. Snotlout was also surprised by this motion and was nervous.
"All right," Snotlout said, trying to look confident. "Right, okay, I'm the leader. So…" He then looked at the Haddock twins for help.
"So, that means you have to pick who dropped the barrel of Monstrous Nightmare gel on the arrows stockpile," Hicca said, pointing at the board.
"It has to be a precise drop, so Toothless and Midnight can blast it." Hiccup said next.
The Thorston twins immediately raise their hands excitedly.
"Please! Pick us!" Ruffnut begged.
"Let us do it! Monstrous Nightmare gel!" Tuffnut pleaded.
"I'll do it. I'll do it." Snotlout stated.
The Thorston twins groaned in disappointment.
"You sure?" Hiccup asked.
"This is a big responsibility." Hicca told him.
"Do I not look sure?" Snotlout asked.
The Haddock twins rolled their eyes and with that they went their separate ways.
Astrid then approached Hiccup and Hicca with a slightly concerned look.
"Are you both positive about this?" Astrid asked.
"He needs a confidence boost. This'll be good for him," said Hiccup as he got Toothless ready.
"If he can do this mission it might just get to this crazy behavior of his to finally stop." Hicca said as she got Midnight ready.
"Yeah, but guys…" Astrid tried to say but the Haddock Twins hand already mounted up.
"That's why we're doing a training run," Hiccup said as if he could read Astrid's mind. "I'll be right there in case something happens." He assured her.
"And with this kind of burden, maybe Snotlout will actually pull it off." Hicca added as they turned and saw Snotlout punching the air as he got his muscles ready. He then head-butted Hookfang and after the two of them have managed to overcome their headaches that came after as the boy mounted onto his dragon.
Astrid gave Hiccup and Hicca a look before making a way to Stormfly.
"Let's hope Snotlout gets his act together though." Hicca said as she and Midnight took off.
Hiccup sighed and seconds later he and Toothless took off.
(Linebreak)
A few seconds later the Dragon Riders were all in the air preparing to do the practice run. Hookfang was carrying a barrel of Monstrous Nightmare gel and Snotlout was leading in the front.
"All right, Riders." Snotlout said, looking at them. "Astrid, Raeda, Heather and the Thorston Twins, take out the catapults." The four dragons then made their way down towards where the catapults were located. He then turned to Fishlegs. "Fishfa…legs, focus on the farm." Fishlegs nodded and flew down. "Henry, you and your dragons take out the arrows." Henry nodded and dove down, "Hiccup, Hicca, Midnight and Toothless, get into position to blast the barrel and burn the fields!"
The Haddock twins nodded and moved into position.
Astrid then her group down towards where they had set up practice dummies to shoot at.
"Spineshot!" Astrid and Raeda yelled.
"Fire!"Heather yelled.
Stormfly and Sparkfire fired several spikes at the dummies and Skull and Windshear last of the dummies with their fire breath attacks. The twins then came flying down unleashing a gas and spark attack annihilating the dummies.
Fishlegs was charging down at the makeshift farm they had created and was screaming like a berserker. Meatlug then fired several lava blasts at the makeshift farm, destroying it.
Henry flew over the crates meant to hold the Dragon Root Arrows and signaled his dragons to fire.
Snotlout was leading Hookfang towards the target they had placed within the forest with Hiccup and Toothless directly behind.
"All right, bud. Get ready," Hiccup told Toothless.
"Wait for the signal girl." Hicca told Midnight.
"Can't mess this up, Hooky," Snotlout said looking down at his dragon. "We gotta be perfect." He added.
'You got it.' Hookfang growled and dove down.
But as they were getting closer Snotlout's nerves began to act up as he took a breath to calm down. Astrid and the others soon rejoined Hiccup and noticed that Snotlout was acting a bit unusual.
"What's wrong with Snotlout?" Astrid asked.
"I dunno," Hiccup said, now looking concerned.
"Why is he making Hookfang fly like that?" Hicca wondered as Snotlout and Hookfang were zigzagging all over the place, like they were unable to fly in a straight line.
"Straighten out, Hookfang. This is our shot," Snotlout said as he tried to keep Hookfang steady.
'I'm trying.' Hookfang said as he felt Snotlout was forcing him in one direction one second then in another later.
Snotlout looked at the target, but his nerves were making it distorted and he was unable to focus. "We cannot mess this up." He said.
Suddenly the nightmare he had before was starting to eat away at his psyche.
"He had such promise," Astrid said with a frown.
Snotlout shook his head and tried to get the thought out of his head.
"He's all over the place," Heather noted.
"Hiccup, I think we might have to abort the training exercise," Hicca told her brother, concerned for their cousin.
Snotlout began hyperventilating, as his nightmare kept him from steering Hookfang right.
"I always hoped you'd become the leader of the Dragon Riders, but you never had what it takes. Did you?" Hiccup said with a pitting smile as Snotlout saw the target.
"Drop it. No, don't drop it, Hookfang!" said Snotlout panicking.
'Snotlout make up your mind! I'm getting dizzy!' Hookfang roared in confusion as he and Snotlout were flying in circles.
The riders were getting really concerned now, "What is he doing?" Henry asked.
Raeda watched as Snotlout was spinning around like a tornado, and in the brief moment she saw the look in his eyes. Fear, desperation to prove yourself. Things she'd only seen once, many years ago.
In his panicked state, Snotlout remembered his father's words, "You wanna be like your old man?" His father's voice said and to his horrified shock, it was coming from Hookfang. "A great leader takes what's rightfully his." Hookfang continued.
"Droop it now, Hookfang!" Snotlout ordered.
"Look out!" Hiccup yelled.
"Take cover!" Hicca told the other riders.
Hookfang then released the barrel and it came straight towards them. Toothless and Midnight were about to blast him with a plasma blast, but at such close range it would annihilate them both. Fortunately, Fishlegs arrived in time and shot the barrel with a lava blast.
Once the smoke cleared they turned to Snotlout who had finally got control of himself and his dragon.
Snotlout then saw the disappointed scowls on everyone and realized that he had failed. Raeda however frowned in concern, as she started. understand what was going on.
"So that's what's going on." Raeda said to herself.
(Linebreak)
Later at the Edge, everyone was still recovering from the failed training exercise. Hiccup, Hicca, Midnight and Toothless soon landed after having a talk with Snotlout.
"So, how's Snotlout?" Fishlegs asked.
"Not good." Hiccup said. "He's not going on the mission. He's grounded himself, indefinitely."
"Which is really surprising that he would ground himself." Hicca added.
Everyone was quite shocked by this.
Henry then noticed another of them was missing. "Hey, guys? Snotlout's not the only one missing." He said, "Where's Raeda?"
The other Riders then notice that the Henderson girl and her Deadly Nadder were not with them.
(Linebreak)
Snotlout was wandering around the Edge and soon reached the cliffs, he had a blanket and a rucksack on a stick and sat down and watched as the wind blew dust on his face.
"Might as well get used to sleeping in the dirt," Snotlout said sadly.
He then noticed the other Riders were leaving the island to attack the Dragon Root production island. He could see that Meatlug was the one that was carrying the barrel of Monstrous Nightmare gel.
Hookfang then appeared and gave him a gentle nudge, 'Come on Snotlout, you can't let one screw up get you down.' He told his rider.
"Knock it off, Hookfang," Snotlout told him.
Hookfang then gave a really hard nudge. 'Climb on. They need us.' Hookfang growled, gesturing his saddle.
Snotlout glared at him. "Stop it. I'm not going, Hookfang. Just leave me alone," he told the Nightmare and began to walk off.
Hookfang growled angrily, 'So that's how you wanna play?' He growled as he raised his tail and then swatted Snotlout off his feet.
Snotlout got back onto his feet and glared at him. "I said I'm not going and there's nothing you can do that will change my mind," he yelled firmly as he crossed his arm.
'Nothing eh?' Hookfang asked as Snolout turned to him and saw the dragon was charging at him with his jaws wide open. He screamed and next second Hookfang had grabbed hold of his leg and was hanging upside down over the cliff.
"It's not happening," said Snotlout stubbornly. "And get used to the fact that we're beggars. And stay away from Gustav. He's nothing but trouble."
'What? Why would I let Gustav ride me when he has Fanghook?' Hookfang asked.
"Alright Hookfang, you can stop playing around." Hookfang turned and saw Raeda flying in with Sparkfire, "We both know that's not gonna work." She said as she dismounted from Sparkfire.
Hookfang snorted and tossed Snotlout back onto solid ground as he slid across the rock and was only stopped when Raeda placed her foot on his helmet. Snotlout looked up and saw Raeda staring down at him with her hands on her hips. "Raeda? Why are you here and not going with the others?" He got up and straightened his helmet.
"I'm here to check on you." Raeda explained, "That practice run failure was clearly different from the other ones you managed to mess up." She stated.
Snotlout just frowned and crossed his arms, "So what? A mess up is still a mess up." He said.
"That's not the point, you are not yourself, usually on a mission, you have your head in the game and take them seriously." Raeda said as she looked at him in concern. "What is wrong, Snotlout? You've been like this ever since your dad opened his new storehouse."
Snotlout stood quiet for a bit before he gave a sigh. "Well, my dad told me that you guys don't give me the kind of respect he gets from the rest of the village." He explains as he rubs the back of his head, "Since then, I've been having nightmares about getting kicked off the team, left in the dirt, the Thorston Twins with their golden sheep, you guys replacing me with Gustav to ride Hookfang and…" He trailed off, not wanting to tell Raeda about the last part.
"And what?" Raeda asked with a raised brow as Snotlout gulped and gestured for her to come closer. She leaned and he whispered into her ear, and once he was done she shot back, "WHAT?!"
"Yeah, don't know how that part showed up." Snotlout shrugged with a sheepish grin.
"Yeah, but that is so weird and disturbing!" Raeda pointed out while shuddering at the thought. "Me kissing Gustva?! Not if I was in a dragon's stomach!" She yelled out, swinging her arms to the side.
"Yeah." Snotlout said in some relief as he shook his head and continued. "But the point is, that after that, I've been trying hard to prove myself that I can be as good as he is by showing you guys I'm fit to lead the Dragon Riders." He explained.
"So that's why you went from disobedient to helpful lately," Raeda said in realization.
Snotlout then frowned, "Yeah, and when that didn't work, I thought that Hiccup and Hicca giving me the chance to lead this practice mission would be my big shot and then…" Snotlouth then gave a thumbs-down and blew a raspberry, "It goes up dragon crud." He sighed.
Raeda then sighs as she now understands why Snotlout was causing trouble with the other Riders and why he was acting so strangely during the practice run. "So that is why you were so desperate to lead the Dragon Riders and why you want to earn their respect, because you think you're not good enough." Raeda said.
"Yeah, you probably think I'm being a muttonhead for thinking that." Snotlout sighed sadly.
Raeda just shook her head, "I don't think that at all." She said, "Because from what you told me, it sounds more like you're scared of being a disappointment to your father than being left in the dust." She guessed.
Snotlout looked down when Raeda said that as he sighed. "I just want my dad's approval so badly that I was so desperate to be what he wanted me to be but apparently, I'm just good at making things worse." He said while sitting down in shame. "You wouldn't understand."
Raeda then looked away solemnly, "Actually, I understand better than anyone." She said.
Snotlout looked at her in surprise. "You do?" He asked.
She nodded, "You know the reputation my family holds?" Raeda asked him, reminding him of the Henderson's legacy of being great warriors on Berk. "Well, having that kind of legacy over your head can really cause some problems if you're tasked with trying to make your family proud instead of doing what you think is right." She explained.
Snotlout then remembered when Raeda was trying to keep her family reputation alive when her parents wanted her to be a warrior instead of a painter before they let her choose her own life.
"Yeah, I remember. And I also remembered that Astrid had the same thing with her uncle." Snotlout said, remembering how Astrid cut herself off from the Haddock Twins to train herself to fight the Flightmare.
"Yeah well, that was like that for me. My parents had me constantly training, molding me into the warrior they and every Henderson before me was like. Everyday I felt like I was carrying a Monstrous Nightmare on my shoulders while walking on eggshells." Raeda honestly said as she continued. "But I didn't let that stop me." She added with a small smile
"Why?" Snotlout asked.
"Because I had two friends who saw me for who I truly was, and were there to help me find the courage to tell my family that whatever greatness I end up doing, it's got to be what I want to do and not what they want me to." Raeda said with a smile as she turned to Snotlout. "And the same can work for you, Snotlout."
"You really think so?" Snotlout asked.
Raeda smiled, "I know so. But if you want the other riders to respect you, you gotta show them you're more concerned about them than yourself. And I've seen you are capable of doing that." She said before Snotlout looked down in thought and she crossed her arms, "So, what're you gonna do?" She asked with a smirk.
Snotlout thought of what Raeda said as he took her words to his heart as he gave a determined smile as he stood up. "I am going to be me and not some guy who isn't me, cause I am me!" Snotlout declared as he turned to the cliff, "Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi-Oi-Oi!" He chanted as Raeda laughed in amusement.
Unfortunately, while he was distracted, he had one foot over the edge as he tipped over, "Oh Thor," Was all he could say before he fell. "Aaaahhh!"
"Snotlout!" Raeda cried out as she, Sparkfire and Hookfang looked down the side of the cliff and saw that Snotlout had just landed on a grassy ledge. "Oh thank Odin." She said relief before looking down. "Are you okay?!" She called out.
"Ow!" Snotlout response in a muffled voice. He then rolled over, grateful that he landed on something not remotely painful. "Oh, my Thor. I'm okay, Raeda! I landed on some grass!" He called out before he touched the grass. "Grass. Nice, soft grass." He said in relief.
"Hang on! We'll fly down and get you out of there!" Raeda said as she moved to mount onto Sparkfire.
Snotlout then noticed the Dragon Root arrows embedded in the grass and noticed that Dragon Root sprouts were growing out from them.
"Ha, look at that." Snotulut said as he got up as Raeda flew next to him. "Little baby Dragon Root. Guess you guys like growing in the sun."
"Are these the arrows that Hiccup and Hicca told you to get rid of yesterday?" Raeda asked in surprise while making sure Sparkfire was a safe distance from them.
"Yeah, uh funny story actu-" Snotlout stopped his excuse when he realized something almost immediately. "Wait a second." He then pulled out one of the Dragon Root sprouts. "Dragon Root grows in the sun." He said
"Wait, they need to be in the sunlight like other plants?" Raeda asked in surprise by this discovery, "But that can't be right, that camouflage tarp would block out most of the sun." She pointed out..
"Yeah, but if they need to be in the sun to grow," Snotlout started as he widened his eyes. "Then the Hunters must be hiding something else underneath those camouflage tarps." He gasped.
Raeda gasped as well, "Viggo wanted Hiccup and Hicca to find those tarps!" She realized.
"We gotta warn the others." Snotlout said as he dropped the Dragon root into the ocean and looked up at the cliff. "Hookfang!" he yelled.
'You got it!' Hookfang said as he flew off the cliff.
Snotlout then jumped and Hookfang caught him, he then turned to Raeda, "Come on Rae! Our team needs us!" He said as he and Hookfang flew off as fast as Speed Stinger.
Raeda watches Snotlout go with surprise at his new attitude before she smiles. "Right behind you!" She called out as she and Sparkfire followed after them, having a feeling that Snotlout got his confidence back.
(Linebreak)
It was late in the evening when the Haddock twins and the other Riders approached the island unaware that they were falling into a trap. They were soon spotted by the Dragon Hunters on the island
"Dragon Riders! Approaching from the south," A Hunter warned, pointing his sword at them as the other Hunters got their arrows and catapults ready.
"Diamond formation, gang. Stay low to avoid the catapults," Hiccup ordered. "Fishlegs, ready the barrel."
"We'll only get one shot. Make it count!" Hicca told him.
"Ready," Fishlegs said as he and Meatlug flew into position.
Hiccup looked down at Toothless. "All right, bud. Let's do it." He said.
"Dragon Riders, let's ride!" Hicca declared as they then dove down towards the island.
"Loose!" The Hunter ordered.
The Hunters then fired their arrows at them and they quickly scattered.
"Focus on the catapults." Astrid ordered.
"Right with you, Astrid." Heather said.
"Let's do this." Henry said.
Then all three of them then flew down towards the catapults and unleashed their dragons' fire on the catapults, destroying them. The twins then moved in position to confuse the archers.
"Hit the gas!" Ruffnut yelled to Barf.
Barf unleashed the gas that began to surround not only the archers but also the farms. Two of the hunters retreated into the farmhouse, but the twins just kept on following them, still unleashing gas in all directions. They soon flew out of the back door and took up a position over the farmhouse.
"Do it, Sparky!" Ruffnut yelled.
"Spark it, Belch! Spark it, boy!" Tuffnut ordered his dragon.
'Kaboom time baby!' Belch roared as he sparked the gas and seconds later there was a huge explosion which took out the entire farm and the archers.
With Astrid and the others distracting the defenses the Haddock Twins and Fishlegs moved into position towards the Dragon Root arrow stockpile.
"Wait for it. Wait for it," Fishlegs told his dragon as they moved over the stockpile. "Now!" He yelled as Meatlug dropped the barrel.
"Hit it, bud!" Hiccup yelled.
"Give it to them, girl!" Hicca yelled.
Toothless and Midnight then fired their plasma blasts directly at the barrel which landed directly in the middle of the Dragon Root arrow stockpile causing a huge explosion and yells from the Hunters at the stockpile exploded.
"Nice shootin', Toothless," Hiccup complimented, rubbing his dragon on the head.
"Good job Midnight." Hicca smiled at her dragon, "Now, let's fire some Dragon Root and go home." She said to her dragon.
The Haddock Twins then guided Toothless and Midnight down towards the tarp unaware that they were flying directly into a trap. Under the tarp were Hunters manning ballistas and aimed directly at the Haddock twins and the Night Furies.
"Steady." The Hunter said, manning the ballista. "We've got the Night Furies dead to rights." He said, moving into position
Once Hiccup and Hicca were in position, they fired the ballistas. The bolts sored up into the air heading straight towards the two Night Furies and would have killed the both of them if Snotlout, Reade, Sparkfire and Hookfang hadn't appeared in last-second and pushed them out of the way.
"Snotlout?!" Hiccup exclaimed.
"Raeda?! What are you-?" Hicca tried to ask.
"It's a trap!" Snotlout and Raeda yelled.
Then to prove his point the Hunter fired another bolt at them, but thankfully it missed them.
"Watch out!" Hicca yelled out.
"Evasive action!" Hiccup ordered.
"Circle back around!" Astrid yelled as they scattered.
Hiccup and Hicca spun in the air and fired plasma blasts at the tarp, burning it away revealing the ballista, Snotlout then flew down towards it.
"Wait, Snotlout!" Astrid yelled but Raeda stopped her.
"Don't worry, he's got this." Raeda said as Snotlout avoided the bolts that were being fired directly at him and had Hookfang ignite. They then flew down over the other tarps and burnt them to a crisp revealing even more ballistas.
"Now we can mow the field," Snotlout said, flying next to the Haddock twins. He then flew up to the Thorston twins. "Follow me. I'll draw their fire." He ordered.
"You got it!" Ruffnut yelled as they followed him.
"We'll flank 'em," Astrid said, leading the others.
The Hunters focus their efforts on Snotlout and the twins, but now that they could see the ballistae they could avoid the bolts. The twins then used their gas and spark attack on one of them blowing it up.
"Watch it, bud," Hiccup said as they approached a ballista that was taking aim at them.
"Easy does it, girl." Hicca said as they then dove and fired two plasma blasts destroying it and then did the same for a second time.
Astrid and the others made their way towards another batch of ballistas and unleashed dragon fire upon them.
Raeda then noticed that the Haddock Twins were under fire, "Snotlout, peel off and help Hiccup and Hicca," Raeda ordered.
"No way," Snotlout said, remembering the last time he peeled off from a teammate.
"Go! I'll be alright!" Raeda assured.
"I'm not leaving your wing!" Snotlout said stubbornly.
"Snotlout! Please! Trust me, I'll be fine!" Raeda promised, "Go! Now!" She ordered.
Snotlout turned to his cousins and nodded before flying off.
A Hunter manning a ballista was taking very good aim at Hiccup and Snotlout realized this in the last second. The Hunter fired just as Snotlout peeled off to help Hiccup and took the full brunt of the bolt.
"We're hit!" Snotlout yelled as Hookfang lost control.
"Snotlout!" Raeda yelled out in fear as she watched Snotlout and Hookfang crash on the ground and the Jorgenson boy was knocked unconscious with several Hunters surrounding him. When Raeda saw this, she felt something inside her snap as she and Sparkfire dove down, "Get away from him!" She yelled in rage as Sparkfire blasted at the Hunters who scattered instantly.
The Hunter manning the ballista quickly aimed directly towards her, but the Haddock twins and their Night Furies turned towards him a little too quickly for his liking.
"Now, finish it." Hiccup commanded.
"Fire!" Hicca yelled as they flew down and fired a plasma blast taking out the ballista.
With the ballistae finally destroyed the other Riders quickly landed ground as Raeda rushed over the unconscious Snotlout. "Snotlout!" She said in worry as Hicca approached him the moment she dismounted and grabbed her medical kit.
"Hicca, how bad is he?" Heather asked.
"It took quite a bit of a hit." Hicca said as she started to examine him.
"Snotlout?" said Astrid breathlessly.
"He took the hit for you guys." Henry said to the Haddock twins in shock.
Fishlegs looked at Hicca. "Hicca?" He asked.
"Is he…?" Raeda added, with worry on her face.
"I'll do everything I can." Hicca promised. The first thing she did was place her ear against his chest. "He's got a heartbeat. Just knocked out from impact." She said in relief.
Upon that news everyone relaxed and then Snotlout coughed and sat up.
"Did we win?" Snotlout asked, looking at everyone.
"Yes, Snotlout. We won." Raeda said with a relieved smile at him.
"That was some move, Jorgenson." Astrid said, crossing her arms with an impressed smile.
"That had to be the craziest, stupidest, most reckless thing I've ever seen you do!" Henry stated before giving a smile, "Not bad, Snot." He said as Hicca and Hiccup helped him up.
"You saved our lives." Hiccup said, looking at him.
"Thank you Snotlout." Hicca said with a grateful smile.
"Yeah, two times." Snotlout said, holding out two his fingers.
The Haddock Twins just gave a conceding smile, letting Snotlout have that. Raeda then came up to him, and punched his shoulder, "Told ya, you had in you." She said with a grin.
"But if the Dragon Root crops aren't here, where are they?" Fishlegs frowned.
Snotlout and Raeda thought together for a moment and then the setting sun. They then followed its rays down upon a mountain in the distance and realized where they were. They then looked at each other with a smile as they nodded to one another.
"I think we know where we can find them, guys." Snotlout said as Raeda nodded.
"You do?" Hiccup asked as the other Riders turned to them.
"Follow Snotlout. He knows where the Hunters hid the Dragon Root crops." Raeda told them as she gave Snotlout a smile and he returned it as he mounted Hookfang.
(Linebreak)
Snotlout led the Dragon Riders towards the base of the mountain where they saw an entire crop of Dragon Root. Upon arriving the Thorston twins began to unleash their gas upon the area and the other Riders ignited it burning the Dragon Root crops to a crisp.
"You see, Hiccup, Hicca, some plants grow in the sun, and some in the shade, and some in the, some…the partial something, and some and the almost partial… the something," Snotlout said, trying to remember what Fishlegs had told him.
Fishlegs merely just facepalmed himself as Raeda chuckled.
"At least he's trying, Fishlegs." Raeda said with a small smile.
"You know, I gotta say, we're pretty proud of you, Snotlout," Hiccup said.
"Today you prove that you really do have potential to lead the Dragon Riders someday." Hicca told him. "But who really knows what the future holds for any of us?" Ragnar
"Yeah, I've been thinking," Snotlout told them. "Whatever greatness I end up doing, and trust me, it will be great, it's gotta be what I want to do. Not what my dad wants me to do." He said as he looked at Raeda who gave him a smile.
"You know, we may not be so different, after all." Hiccup said.
"We have the same feeling of being who we wanted to be instead of what our family wants us to do." Hicca added.
On that note the Riders started to make their way home and Snotlout began to realize what it meant to be a leader. Leaders lead by example not by pushing others aside and doing whatever they want.
(Linebreak)
Back at the Edge, Raeda and Snotlout walk together as they are heading for each of their huts to rest after today's mission.
Snotlout was the first to speak. "Hey, Rae. Thanks for snapping me out of it. I shouldn't let what my dad said get to my head." He said with a small smile.
"You helped me when I was not myself during the whole Screaming Death search a while back. So, I figured I'd return the favor." Raeda said with a smile in return.
"Yeah well thanks." Snotlout said as he continued. "You know, I'm starting to get why Hiccup and Hicca had someone as awesome as you as a friend."
"Really?" Raeda asked curiously. "What's that?"
"You're always there for your friends when the going gets 'em down." Snotlout said with a smile.
Raeda smiled back. "Well, that's true. I always do. Like how Hiccup and Hicca were treated by outcasts to the rest of Berk I was their only friend before we befriended the dragons." She noted as they reached her hut.
Snotlout then chuckled, "Well, after today. If you ever lead the Dragon Riders someday, I'd follow you anywhere." He said.
Raeda blushed and brushed her hair behind her ear, "Th-thanks." She mumbled.
"Well, Goodnight!" Snotlout waved as he walked towards his hut.
"G-Goodnight, Snotlout!" Raeda waved back as she watched him go as she gave a sigh with a smile and walked back into her hut. "He sure is something else." She said with a chuckle before she widened her eyes in shock. "Wait, what did I just say!?" She asked herself in shock before she felt the heat coming off her cheeks. She turned to her mirror on the wall and saw her reflection that she was blushing.
At that moment, Raeda could no longer deny what she felt. "Oh my Thor, I'm in love with Snotlout." She muttered to herself in shock as she slowly sat on her bed, trying to process that she's in love with the Jorgenson boy.