A few days after the incident with Gruffnut, they actually managed to follow that singular Dragon Hunter ship to even more of them. And with the help of Johann, they were able to interfere with a business transfer that was going down between Ryker and other dragon killers. They worked fast and we're going in so that they could save the dragons they were keeping.

Hiccup flew Toothless around while they were drawing the fire of the Dragon Root arrows they were throwing at them. "Fishlegs, flaming Boulder!"

Meatlug and Fishlegs flew in when a Boulder came flying, lit on fire, and was caught by Meatlug who ate it without a problem. "See, girl? I told you we would have time to eat."

Hiccup then flew in and shot a plasma blast that opened up the ship. "Alright, Bud. Let's set these guys free."

Hiccup then flew for a dive when Winger and Dak came up next to them. "Mind if we helped?"

"Uh..." Hiccup didn't see much of a problem, but was also a little worried. "Alright, but stay close."

"Got it!" Dak was happy to agree and Winger shot another blast on the other end of the ship.

The two of them flew in while the other Dragon Hunters were busy defending the other dragons. Hiccup and Dak made it down to the dragon-proof cages where Dak and Toothless flew through and opened the cages. They kept going and ended up meeting in the middle where their dragons shot open a hole and they escaped.

Their dragons were the first to take off, followed by the other species of dragon that they rescued. While they were doing that, Leyla was flying around and keeping her eye on her brother, missing the Boulder incoming.

"Leyla!" Summer tried to warn her.

But it was too late as the Boulder ended up hitting Summer and even Hookfang, sending both of the riders falling. Snotlout slipped and screamed as he fell as did Leyla.

"Leyla!" Heather was filled with worry when she saw the girl falling. Snotlout, not so much.

Besides, Snotlout was caught by the twins and was fine. But Heather dived as if her life depended on it so to catch up with Leyla. She quickly used Windshear's rail to wrap her up and drop her on the dragon's back.

"You okay?" Heather asked as she looked the girl over. "You okay!?"

"I'm fine," Leyla assured her. But then she started to worry about her dragon. "Wait, Summer!"

"I got her!" Cutter flew up and had Summer in his grasp.

"Yeah, but I think they damaged my wing." Summer was sorry to say.

Meanwhile, the twins tried to dodge incoming arrows when Ruffnut was flung off of Barf and Belch. Hookfang however flew in and quickly rescued her before she could hit the water.

"Really? He saves her?" Snotlout asks since Hookfang never cared about him. "Thanks a lot, Hookfang!"

"I know I'm not as sticky or annoying as Snotlout, but let's try and work together," Ruffnut asks of Hookfang as they fly in. "Okay?"

But that ended up being a huge mistake when a surprise net was shot and they were taken down. They smashed into the water and were going to be reeled in when Zippleback gas starts to climb its way up the ship.

"Okay, Snotlout, your gas, I spark," Tuffnut says as the deck gets filled by Zippleback gas.

"Yeah, I got it. I got it!" Snotlout says as he sparks it.

They quickly rescued Ruff and Hookfang which was all they needed to do before they all flew off and escaped the now-useless ships. Elsa and Anna flew around with Elsa shooting out blasts of mist to freeze the ships with Anna using Echo to screech and shatter pieces of the wood to cause the ships to sink.

"Yes! How awesome are we?" Tuffnut asks Snotlout.

"Let me think. Totally awesome! That's who we are." Snotlout answers as Hookfang and Ruffnut try getting free of the net.

"When you're done handing out the Viking of the Year awards, you mind getting us outta here?" Ruffnut asks sarcastically as she and Hookfang crawled up.

"Shall we?" Snotlout asks.

"We shall." Tuffnut agrees.

They all start flying away from the burning ships leaving the Hunters.

"That was..." "Indescribable." Snotlout and Tuffnut say.

"You! Get off my dragon." Ruffnut tells Snotlout as she's still ringing Hookfang.

"Actually, my boy, Snot, and I are gonna hang for a bit. You know, relive the glory of battle." Tuffnut tells his sister. "You don't mind riding Hookfang, do you?"

"Ugh!" Ruffnut wasn't a fan of this and just rolled her eyes. "Come on, Hookfang."

Hiccup and Toothless flew over toward Heather and Leyla. "Hey, Leyla, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Leyla promised as she was still being held by Heather. "Although, I don't think she believes me."

Heather started to loosen her grip on the girl and let her sit on Windshear on her own. "Okay, sorry, just...didn't want you to fall."

"It's alright," Leyla promised her and smiled, leaning back into the support. "It was a little nice."

Heather then sweetly wrapped an arm around the girl to keep her safe. Hiccup watched the interaction and was starting to put together what was going on.

Was Heather growing attached to the twins?


When they made their way back to the Edge, everyone scattered to do their own things. Summer was brought to the stables where Hiccup looked over her wing. Heather was with him and was pacing back and forth for some reason. Leyla and Dak were just outside waiting to hear about their friend.

"Well, good news, Summer. You only sprained it." Hiccup was happy to tell the dragon, who screeched in happiness. "Just stay off of it for a day or two, and you'll be fine."

Summer cooed as she caressed herself around Hiccup before going to find her friends. When she did that, Hiccup looked at Heather and knew they should have a small talk about that situation.

"So, I couldn't help but notice that situation out there." Hiccup commented. "With you and Leyla."

"What do you mean?" Heather asks him in curiosity.

"Come on, the way you jumped to save Leyla." Hiccup gestured to the doors. He then crossed his arms with a smile. "You're starting to get attached to Leyla, aren't you?"

"No," Heather stated as she saw Hiccup and sighed. "Okay, fine. But...come on, Hiccup. They're kids. They don't belong in the battles like us."

"Heather, they survived on their own in fights with Dragon Hunters." Hiccup defended those kids. "They can handle themselves. I can understand feeling responsible for them-"

"It's not just that," Heather admitted and looked out to the doorway. "I've been feeling...what's the right word for it?"

"Motherly?" Hiccup took a guess.

Heather felt a little shocked when she finally realized he was right. "Oh, gods..."

"You feel some sort of responsibility to them since you didn't grow up with parents." Hiccup took a wild guess.

"Wow, how'd you guess?" Heather was a little surprised to see how he followed along.

"Because..." Hiccup and something to confess. "I've...been feeling the same way."

"Really?" Heather was a little shocked to hear that.

"We both must feel this way since we never grew up with our parents." Hiccup guessed.

Heather smiled and was happy to hear she wasn't alone when she wondered about something. "Did it ever occur to you? Kids?"

"Of our own?" Hiccup asks in confusion. "Well, not really. Just guess I never really had a chance to really think of it."

"Well, how would you feel about it?" Heather was curious to know.

"I guess, maybe sometimes, just not any time soon with everything going on." Hiccup guessed, and it was as good as an answer if any.

Then their moment was interrupted by Snotlout and Tuffnut coming past riding in a cart. They cheered as they passed the two of them and crashed while laughing. But they ended up spooking Bruni who jumped and scorched the ground as he ran away.

"Best time ever!" The two of them proclaimed. Then they seemed to become surprised and eyed each other. "Oh, my Thor. I cannot believe you just said that. Me neither! Did we just think each other's thoughts?"

"I think we just did." Tuffnut was guessing. "Because that's what I just thought."

"You know what that means?" Snotlout asks as he took Tuffnut's shoulders.

"I have no idea," Tuffnut admitted.

"We just became official best friends!" Snotlout said with happiness.

"What? I have never had an official best friend!" Tuffnut confessed in shock. "Always unofficial acquaintances."

"Well, you do now." Snotlout proclaimed. "Come on." He then hugged Tuffnut. "Bring it in, but this time, for the real thing."

"Igs good, it's good. It's real." Tuffnut said as they two...hugged. It was hard to tell what they were seeing. "It's real enough."

"Hey!" Heather called out to the two, a little annoyed they interrupted a meaningful conversation for the couple. "Can you two go find somewhere else to do...whatever this is?"

"Hey, you wanna go someplace where nobody can tell us off?" Tuffnut asked Snotlout.

"I never thought you'd ask," Snotlout said with glee.


Tuffnut then showed Snotlout to the other end of the island and showed off some secret hidden cavern. Snotlout didn't seem to mind as he was a little surprised at the area.

"Uh, it's perfect!" Snotlout said. "Where'd you find this place?"

"I like to say that it found me," Tuffnut confesses.

"Great story." Snotlout shrugged. "Now, what shall we call this Shangri-La?"

Then the two of them tried to think of the right name. "The awesome Viking cave club North East!"

It didn't take long for the two of them to end up sitting in the middle of the cave. With nothing to do, they weren't sure what they were supposed to do. But there was a noise at the wall that cause them to jump.

"Who is it?" Snotlout asks, looking at Ruffnut.

"Let me in!" Ruffnut tells them. "Astrid is driving me nuts."

"No can do, poo," Snotlout said as he leaned on the wall. "This is a private club. To gain entrance you would have to-" Ruffnut then revealed that she had the Dragon Eye in hand. "Hang on a second." He then leaned back to the other twin. "It's your sister and she has the Dragon Eye. Should I let her in?"

Tuffnut considered the idea. "Well, I am kinda bored. Wait, we could do dragon shadow puppets."

And that was exactly what Tuffnut did when they let Ruffnut inside. He started to use that Dragon Eye to make shadow puppets.

"This place is a dump," Ruffnut commented.

Snotlout leaned back, having no idea what she was referring to. "It's a fixer..." he ended up sitting on some ribs. "Great bones, though."

"So, how'd you get your grubby little hands on that thing?" Tuffnut was curious to know how his sister got the Eye.

"I just told one Mr. Haddock that I was taking it," Ruffnut said with a grin. "And because he puts his full and unwavering trust in me, he handed it over with pleasure." But neither of them bought that story and just eyed her (even the dragons), wanting to know the truth. "Fine. I stole it when he was working on something with Leyla."

Then they heard Fishlegs gasp and looked to see he was in the doorway. "What are you doing with the Dragon Eye?"

"Hiccup let us borrow it." Snotlout quickly lied.

"Yeah, he knows we have it." Tuffnut lied.

"I stole it," Ruffnut added.

"I knew it!" Fishlegs cried. "You know he doesn't like you guys playing with it."

"That's why it's fun to steal it," Ruffnut added.

"You coming in or not?" Snotlout asks.

"Fine," Fishlegs decides to go with it. "I guess someone should be here who knows how to use the Dragon Eye correctly."


Dak and Leyla were giving their dragons a wash to get the dirt and the dust off of their friends. Summer was still with Hiccup and was just waiting for her to be finished.

"It's a good thing that Heather rescued you out there." Dak was happy about Heather's quick thinking out there.

Leyla had to admit she liked it when Heather held her, keeping her safe. "Yeah, it was...nice." She then realized where she stopped and jumped. "Of her. It was nice of her."

Aggro however noticed her slip-up. "Wow, what was that about?"

"I'll tell you what's up with her." Summer flew over and landed with them. "The same thing that's up with Hiccup and Heather."

"What are you talking about?" Winger was a little curious about what she meant.

"Turns out Hiccup and Heather have started to take a liking to Dak and Leyla here." Summer says as she circled the kids in question.

"What does that mean?" Dak wasn't following.

Leyla however was picking up the subtle (if that's what you call it) hints the Dragon was laying down. "You're saying they...see us as their kids?"

Summer nodded in confirmation. "That's why Heather reacted so quickly. She said she is starting to see you guys as their own flesh and blood."

Dak and Leyla then looked at one another in shock and confusion. Neither of them was quite sure how to react to this information, as neither of them had any parental figures since they were young. Anna was always seen by them as an older sister, never as a mother figure. Hiccup and Heather are the first adults (aka, anyone older than Anna) who ever showed them love and compassion. They welcomed them into their home without a second thought and protected them.

"Salutations, Dragon Riders." Johann broke them out of their minds. They looked over to see him and noticed Heather and Hiccup walking up. "Ah, Master Hiccup and Miss Heather. Pleasure as always to make dock at your shores."

Elsa and Anna even flew in and landed their dragons near Toothless and Windshear. "Johann, you said you have something important to tell us."

"As a matter of fact, I have information on the whereabouts, or at least the soon-to-be, of the leader of the Dragon Hunters," Johann informed them.

"Huh. We always thought that Ryker guy was the leader." Anna commented in surprise.

"No, as it turns out, his younger brother is the leader, Viggo Grimborn," Johann confesses as he pulled out a map. "I was having a few drinks with some of these rascally rapscallions. They slipped out that they were planning to go after the tenacious Flightmare."

"The Flightmare?" Dak was surprised to hear.

"We've come across that Dragon a few times during our travels," Leyla admitted as she pulled out her book. "Yeah, Flightmare. Its mist has the capacity to freeze someone as if they were frozen in fear."

"That doesn't sound friendly," Elsa said in worry.

"Sounds like he's planning something." Hiccup was worried about what the Hunters could do with a dragon like that.

"Any ideas where we can find it?" Astrid asks the Dragon Whisperers.

"We mapped a few points that it likes to frequent. So we could avoid them." Leyla said as she showed the map attached to the book.

Burple shuttered as he recalled the dragon. "That dragon isn't what you call friends."

"Yeah, we definitely need to keep the Hunters from getting it." Anna proclaimed.

"Hiccup, you know, thus could be the best way we could capture him," Heather commented.

Hiccup considered the idea and looked at Leyla's map. "Well, let's see...from recent sightings, we know that they won't be traveling far." He then saw that their best bet to locate them would be in two locations. "Okay, but we might need to split into two groups, just so we can be sure to cover our bases."

"Splitting up into two teams." Astrid recapped and crossed her arms. "Sounds easy enough."

"Then rally the troops. We're going Dragon Hunter hunting." Hiccup proclaimed.


Hiccup took Heather, Ruff, Tuff, as well as Dak and Leyla to one of the locations further away due to the speed their dragons possess. While they did that, Elsa leads Astrid, Anna, Fishlegs, and Snotlout to the closer location due to their dragons being slower

"Whoa! Leyla's tracking and mapping skills are quite extraordinary." Fishlegs complimented as he looked over the copy of the map they made for their group. "I'm a little jealous."

"She's self-taught," Anna admit she was a little proud to hear Leyla was getting recognized. "Thanks for noticing."

Out with Hiccup and his group, they were just coming up to their island. Leyla was leading them on summer as Hiccup and Toothless stuck by them. Due to all of them being out for this mission, they decided to leave Aggro, Burple, and Cutter back to keep their eyes on the Night Lights.

"We should just be coming up on it now," Lela promises.

Hiccup was looking out through his spyglass when he noticed an approaching island. "There, I see it."

"Can we just talk about the elephant in the sky for a second?" Tuffnut asks the group.

"No." Hiccup quickly shut that down.

"Okay." Tuffnut seemed to just ignore him. "Why do we think this Viggo wants the Flightmare so badly?"

"Maybe he likes the way the algae it eats makes you glow," Dak said as he flew back to talk to them. "I know I do."

"That guy tried to eat you when you did that." Winger reminded Dak.

"Yeah, you didn't seem to get it that it was a rare algae." Leyla agrees with Winger.

"You know what, Dak?" You may not be that far off." Hiccup confessed. "He's got to have something planned from either its algae or its paralyzing spray for something."

"We could ask him ourselves if we were waiting for him when he gets there," Heather stated as they started to fly over the island.

Taking a moment to land, they quickly came up with a plan to lure the dragon away using its algae. All they needed to do was lure it away and be sure that Viggo didn't get it. Taking a moment to look around the island, they quickly found the algae and followed it to the Flightmare. It wasn't hard to locate and they got their first look at the Flightmare in person.

A Flightmare slightly resembles a mix between a Night Fury and a Fireworm, with brightly glowing scales. Its natural faint glow is greatly enhanced and weaponized by the consumption of a specific type of glowing blue algae that forms a staple part of a Flightmare's diet. Flightmares are covered in tendrils, replacing spines in the locations the latter would be, mostly back, wing tips, tail, and head.

"There she is," Leyla confirmed.

"Alright. We need to stay together and make sure Viggo doesn't get near the Dragon." Hiccup tells them.

"How will we know when Viggo gets here?" Fishlegs asks when Toothless growls and they see a ship approaching.

"There's your answer," Heather says.

Hiccup nodded and knew it was time to put their plan into action before he arrived. "Okay, Ruff, Tuff, make sure you get enough algae-"

"To lure the Flightmare away because it's protective of its food. We know." Ruffnut tells him and takes the empty sack.

"This guy never stops," Tuffnut groaned. "Lure the Flightmare. Don't eat the algae."

"Ridiculous. I mean, why would we eat the algae?" Ruffnut asks and they both get the same idea.

"Why wouldn't we eat the algae?" The twins both ask and they take off.

"Hiccup, we've got a bit of a problem," Heather says and Hiccup looks to see more ships are coming with Viggo than they expected.

"Hiccup, you might wanna see this, too." Dak calls Hiccup over where he sees even more ships.

"I don't understand. Johann said that Viggo was planning on coming alone. This is a lot more than alone." Snotlout states.

"Johann said that he got it from some of the Hunters." Hiccup was starting to realize they were led into a trap. "And I have a feeling that that's what they wanted him to think."

Flaming boulders were then shot at them and they quickly ran to their dragons. Taking to the skies, the twins were their only hope to keep the Flightmare away from Dragon Hunters.

"Everyone, keep the Hunters away from the Flightmare." Hiccup tells them and they flew in for an attack.

Windshear flew down the middle of two layers of ships and spun around to send her spines in two directions at once. Dak flew around as Winger used his speed to get around the arrows that were closing in on them. He then shot out a blast into the center of the ship, causing a small shockwave that knocked everyone over.

Hiccup flew around and Toothless tried to get a few shots in as Leyla and Summer flew closely behind. Except due to not being as agile and flexible as Toothless, Summer ended up getting hit with one of their arrows. Luckily not a dragon root arrow, but it quickly took Summer down.

"Leyla!" Heather cried when she saw her fall. Leyla then crashed onto the ship as Summer yanked the arrow from her foot. The Hunters started to close in, and a wave of anger started to rise within heather. "Hang on!" She then flew Windshear down closer and leaped off her to land on the ship. "I'm coming!"

Hiccup was going to help out when he stopped and noticed the twins screaming and covered in algae as they flew past. He was confused about what was happening, but then the Flightmare flew over and its mist sprayed out as it followed the twins around.

"Okay, that's not exactly the way that I would have done it." Hiccup admitted. "But that is one way to go."

Heather leaped onto the Dragon Hunter ship Leyla and Summer landed on, tackling a Hunter who aimed a crossbow at her. She then ran and drew her axe as she used it as an anchor and kicked another Hunter. Using it as a way to block the incoming sword, she then smacks and sends the Hunter flying.

Looking down to the deck, she saw Summer and Leyla backing up against the mast. "Leyla, I'm coming!"

Running and leaping off the top of the boat, she ran on top of the Hunters, using their meets as a means to reach them quicker. Leyla and Summer watched in amazement as Heather flipped and landed in front of them like it was nothing. Spinning to trip the first two, she raised her hand as Windshear flew down and grabbed the three. Allowing Heather to climb up and take summer and Leyla in her claws.

"Nice job, girl," Heather said as they helped Leyla onto Summer's back. Summer quickly flew on her own and moved Leyla up to Heather. "You okay?!"

Leyla had to admit, it was terrifying, but was relieved when she knew Heather was coming. "Yeah. Thanks to you."

"I'll always have your back," Heather promised and they flew out of the range of the arrows. "Hiccup, there are too many of them."

The twins passed Dak who almost got hit by the Flightmare's mist. "And the Flightmare isn't helping us here!"

"We'll be fine if we stay from its mist." Hiccup assured them as he tried to avoid it.

"Dak, can't you tell it we're the good guys?" Tuffnut asks him as he flew next to fly with him.

"Yeah. Tell it to come in for the big win." Ruffnut adds, agreeing with her twin.

The Flightmare screeched and Dak was scared at what he heard. "He doesn't seem to wanna talk."

Hiccup then thought about it as he looked down at the ships and towards the Flightmare. A plan was starting to come into his mind as he eyed the reins and the algae they collected.

"You know what? You guys are brilliant." Hiccup tells them.

"I don't know about brilliant. But we do have a certain glow about us." Tuffnut jokes. "Get it? Because of our faces."

"And the brilliance is short-lived." Hiccup says as they and the Flightmare follow them.

"He is persistent. You have to give him that much." Viggo says as he watched Hiccup come flying in.

"Yes. Well, in this case, his persistence will not pay off." Ryker says as they fly in and they shoot the arrows.

The team flies overhead as they kept dodging the boulders and the arrows as well as they could and drops algae over the deck. Ryker laughs at the lame plan he seems to have come up with as Heather smiles seeing his plan.

"Oh, no! You got us." Ryker mocked them just as the Flightmare comes in and starts attacking them.

"Ryker, I'd like you to meet my friend, the Flightmare." Hiccup introduces them as the Flightmare starts freezing everyone.

They stayed back and watched from a distance as they watched the Flightmare start to freeze all of the ships. With that one out of the way. The others took care of the one ship when Hiccup saw someone he thought to be Viggo. But he was interrupted when they watched the Flightmare taking a moment to eat, causing them the perfect moment to capture.

"The Flightmare!" Leyla said in worry.

"Don't worry, we're on it!" Dak said as he and Winger went flying in.

"Wait, no!" Heather and Hiccup tried to stop him.

But Dak and Winger were however already in a dive and had no way of stopping now. He went down and was then caught when a net came and wrapped around him. He and Winger went crashing into Hunter's ship and caused them to jump in fear.

"Dak!" Leyla wasn't thinking clearly and just went lying in.

"No, Leyla!" Heather was starting to get mad that they weren't listening.

Then it didn't take long for an arrow to come and shoot Summer, causing them to also crash and get reeled in from the ocean. Hiccup was starting to get worried and knew he needed to stop this at the source.

"Heather, you and the others keep trying to get the twins." Hiccup eyed the ship he spotted Viggo on. "It's time I and Viggo got properly introduced."

Heather watched Hiccup fly away and knew they needed to save them. But when she looked around, she noticed that the twins were having a hard time dodging the arrows, boulders, and everything they were throwing at them. She knew that she couldn't do anything for the twins now and they needed to come up with a better plan.

"We need to get out of here!" Heather hated the taste of those words. She didn't want to leave the twins, but the most they could do was get away and try to come back with a plan. "Retreat!"

They flew away and got out of their range just as Hiccup flew and landed on the ship. He looked around and noticed there was no sign of anybody, meaning Viggo was already long gone. He jumped off of Toothless and searched the ship to try and find him, but there wasn't any sign anyone was even on the ship.

"Where is he?" Hiccup asks in shock.

Heather then came over and landed Windshear as she got off her and screamed and slammed her axe into the boat. "We couldn't even get close! There were too many of them!"

"What about the Flightmare?" Hiccup was hoping for one victory.

"No." Heather was sorry to admit it.

"Viggo, too." Hiccup was mad at how easily they were tricked. "This guy isn't messing around. Our dragons may not be enough. We're going to have to out-think this guy, outsmart him. Or the twins..."

"Don't say it." Heather didn't even want to even entertain the idea. "Please. Don't say it."

One thing was for certain. This war was far from over.