After rescuing the twins and losing the Dragon Eye, Hiccup was worried about another attack that could come from Viggo. Not wanting to be caught off guard again, Hiccup put together a plan to reinforce Dragon's Edge.
Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the Thorston twins were making the Gronckle Iron, while Astrid, Anna, and Elsa welded it to the foundations. Hiccup had the job of delivering the finishing pieces of Gronckle Iron to the girls.
Heather was mostly on patrol duty during this time and also kept an eye on the kids during this time. Since they got back from being captured, Heather rarely let the kids out of her sight. Hiccup had been a bit more lenient on that since he was more focused on making sure they were never in danger again.
"All right, Meatlug, there we go. Good girl," Fishlegs said as Meatlug spewed some lava into a mold. "Hey, you know what I just realized? This is a new record for Gronckle Iron production." He then dropped his prongs and hugged Meatlug. "Who's a good iron-making machine? Yes, you are."
"Whatever," said Snotlout as he handed over a sheet of Gronckle Iron to Hookfang, who was softening it with his fire so that it could easily be molded into the shape they desired. "If it weren't for Hookfang, that would just be a glob of uselessly regurgitated metal."
"Well, if it weren't for Barf and Belch," Tuffnut said as he and his sister placed one of the finished sheets in front of Barf and Belch, who began pounding them with their heads.
"We rest our case," Ruffnut said confidently.
"Uh-huh." Tuffnut nodded.
They kept working at it for hours, and eventually, the dragons began to tire from all the hard work, making progress even slower. Eventually, the Arendelle sisters, Astrid, and even Heather and the kids made an appearance. They had come to check in on the process and saw how tired everyone looked.
"Uh, Hiccup?" Fishlegs said, looking at their leader. He then looked to Meatlug, who was spewing up lava slowly. "I think Meatlug might be ready for a break. She's starting to lose her gag reflex."
"Well, I guess the perfect little machine isn't so perfect, after all," Snotlout smirked.
"Have you checked on your dragon?" Fishlegs asked. "Looks like the giant oven doesn't look too perky, either."
Fishlegs was right, Hookfang was so tired that he toppled over. Unfortunately, this ended up making him shoot out a burst of fire at Barf and Belch, who caused a small explosion. Then that sent the spark flying towards Stormfly, who got scared. Toothless and Luna shielded their kids while Windshear covered Dak, Leyla, and their dragons to protect them. Stormfly retaliated by firing several spikes at the twins and pinning them upside-down to a tree. Even Toothless and Luna were getting agitated as they snarled at the other dragons.
"Really? You too, Bud?" Hiccup asked as he watched his dragon chase them down.
"Luna, come on," Elsa said, unable to believe her dragon was doing the same thing.
The dragons were arguing amongst themselves.
"All right, that's it! Dragons, back to your corners!" Hiccup ordered his dragons.
The dragons obeyed and backed away from each other.
"Hey, Hiccup," Tuffnut said, still upside down. "Did you know that when you're upside down, you actually have a metal arm instead of a metal leg?"
Hiccup became increasingly confused as he watched everyone begin to act strangely. "What's going on around here?"
"Hiccup, we've been working really hard on these reinforcement walls," Elsa yawned and wiped her eyes. "Everyone is just tired. Look at the dragons."
Anna spoke for the dragons, "They're right; if they keep this up, they'll collapse. They need a rest."
"Not to mention they're slowly exhausting their abilities while Barf and Belch must have major headaches," Heather added as she did a check-up on each dragon.
"You two know that you could've used a hammer so you didn't have to use your dragons' heads," Elsa said to the Thorston twins while making a hammer of ice to prove her point.
"Where's the fun in that?" Ruffnut asked.
"Oh my Thor," Heather sighed as she rubbed her head.
"You know, Hookfang and I could really use a vacation," Snotlout said.
"Vacation?" Tuffnut asked, looking up or down depending on your perspective. "Count us in. We'll grab our straw helmets and a chilling tale of Viking murder to read on some enchanted beach, laughing as the waves crash against us."
"Guys, listen up; I know you're all tired, but let's not forget why we're doing this," Hiccup reminded them.
"Oh, because you and Elsa told us to," Snotlout said, giving Hiccup a meaningful look.
"No, because Viggo is out there. And when he realizes he can't use the Dragon Eye without the Snow Wraith Key," Hiccup said while holding out the Snow Wraith tooth. "He's going to come looking for it. We can't leave the Edge unguarded again. Not for the sake of us, not for the kids, and certainly not for our dragons."
"So, yay or nay on the vacay?" Ruffnut asked.
"Oh, gods," Hiccup groaned as he walked back to his hut.
Later that evening, Hiccup was doing some more work on his map to chart Dragon Hunter locations. That's when he noticed Astrid, Elsa, Anna, and Fishlegs entering his hut.
"Working on your map, huh?" Astrid asked.
"You've really put some effort into it lately, huh?" Elsa commented.
"Need any help?" Fishlegs asked.
Hiccup didn't even look at them. "No, thanks, I'm just kind of—"
"You sure? 'Cause, you know, Elsa, Anna, and Fishlegs are really great at writing maps." Astrid said with a small smile.
"Really great," Fishlegs said.
"We did do maps together to pass the time." Anna pointed out what she and the kids did to pass the time.
Hiccup looked up and saw that the three of them were sharing the same face that told a person that they wanted something.
"Okay, fine, out with it, you three," Hiccup told them. "You didn't come all the way up here because you love cartography, and I know Elsa is here to talk some sense into me if she is siding with you two." He said, knowing that they were there for a reason.
The three Vikings looked at one another and then gave Hiccup a business-like look.
"We object," Astrid told him.
"The dragons are practically going on strike." Anna dropped the facade.
"We think everyone could use a break," Fishlegs said as they bent down.
"And the Dragon Risers have begun to get really agitated since they have begun work too much, even dragons have their limits," Elsa added her concerns.
"Guys, I thought we went over this," Hiccup said.
"No, we didn't," Elsa corrected him. "We don't have to stop completely. We just need a short break so the dragons and the riders can regain their strength."
Hiccup was about to object again when Heather came through another entrance. "Hiccup," she said, "I think you should listen to them." She knew how worried Hiccup was about being unprepared for the next Dragon Hunter attack, but also saw he was starting to go overboard.
Hiccup looked over and noticed she was there and even the twins were walking alongside her. He sighed and decided it might be best to just hear them out.
"As you know, we've been making Gronckle Iron. A lot of it." Fishlegs said. "In doing so, we've exhausted the supply of sandstone on the Edge. And as you know, no sandstone, no Gronckle Iron."
"Which means we will not be able to defend the Edge from Viggo and his Hunters," Anna explains to him. "We need to replenish our supply of sandstone in order to make more Gronckle Iron."
"There's a nearby island that has such a huge supply of it," Astrid said. "It's also deserted, quiet, and would be a great place to relax, and take a little break from our real work."
Hiccup looked at the three of them and could see that there was no way of dissuading them. "I don't really have a choice on this one, do I?" he asked.
"Not really. That's what we call a compromise," Elsa replied with a smirk.
"Okay, I get it," Hiccup said with a sigh as he looked at the map. "Where is this island, exactly?" he asked them.
Astrid then placed a finger on one of the islands on his map.
The next morning, they began to pack and asked Gobber to guard the island while they were away.
"All right. Viggo will probably wait for low tide and try to penetrate the lower wall, then come up through the arena," said Hiccup.
"Which is why you must secure it from the outside," Gobber finished. He then placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Hiccup, I have helped your father defend Berk from much worse than a bunch of namby-pamby Dragon Hunters."
"Of course," Hiccup replied.
"We know that the Edge will be in good hands with you protecting it while we're gone, Gobber," Elsa added as she walked over and grabbed Hiccup's shoulder. "Everything will be fine."
They then stopped and turned as the Thorston twins landed and just stared at their attire. They were wearing the most absurd helmets made of straw that was ever devised and had flower necklaces around their necks.
"Did someone die?" Gobber asked, looking quite creeped out. "You two look like you're going to a Viking funeral."
"This is our vacation attire," said Tuffnut as they jumped off the dragon's heads.
"Uh, this is not a vacation." Hiccup reminded them.
"Call it what you will. But we plan to kick off our shoes and let the worries of the day melt away." Ruffnut retorted.
"Hiccup, why did you even bother trying to convince these two?" Elsa asked, pointing out. "We all know how stubborn they can be."
Honestly, he wasn't sure why he had asked. "I'm not sure why I asked," Hiccup said honestly.
Snotlout then landed and stared at the Thorston twins' attire. "Did someone die? Was it Fishlegs?" he asked hopefully.
"No, it's not Fishlegs," Fishlegs said as he landed next to him. "It's me, I'm right here and ready to go."
"Go where?" Snotlout frowned. "No one ever tells me anything." He then noticed Gobber. "Hey, Gobber. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to look after your base until you all return," Gobber explains.
"Return from where?" Snotlout asked.
"You remember that vacation we were talking about?" Tuffnut asked.
"Yes!" said Snotlout hopefully.
"Well, it's not that," said Tuffnut, he then placed a hand near his lips and began winking at Snotlout telling him they were just doing the opposite of that. "We're not going to a deserted island paradise to have any fun whatsoever. Instead, we're going to work, slave away in the sandstone mines."
"What?" Snotlout exclaimed, clearly not comprehending that Tuffnut was referring to the opposite.
"All right, saddle up. We need to get there before dark." said Hiccup as he mounted Toothless.
"Let's go, Echo," Anna said as she mounted Echo.
Tuffnut had asked Gobber to look after Chicken while they were gone and was giving him a few instructions. "Remember, Chicken eat six times a day. Small portions. She's trying to trim down. Then she gets special time before bed. You can read her, tell stories, and massage her. But if you're reading stories, nothing too scary though." He then whispered. "Horrible nightmares where she scratches and claws in the air." He then returned to his normal voice. "Stay about three feet away when she's sleeping."
"I got it, Tuffnut," Gobber assured, who didn't think looking after a single Chicken would be a challenge. "I'll look after her as if she was one of my own."
"All right, everyone. Let's do this," Hiccup said.
"Next stop, Relaxing Island," Elsa called out as she gave a smile, thinking that maybe a break could clear Hiccup's head.
Once they all mounted their dragons, they took off into the air and headed straight towards the island paradise. Heather, Dak, and Leyla were already ready to go and flew off right behind them.
It was around midday when they reached the island, and it was a beautiful one. They landed near a large lagoon filled with clear fresh water, and the sun was just right, with hardly a cloud in the sky.
"This place is insane!" Snotlout exclaimed. "Look at that lagoon!" He then looked at the others. "Last one in their rotten 2000-year-old eggs," he said before tossing his helmet aside and jumping right into the lagoon.
"A perfect spot to relax," Dak commented with a smile at the lagoon. He then shoved past his sister and charged for the lagoon. "Catch ya later!"
"Uh, all right, fine, just a quick swim, then it's back to work." Hiccup conceded.
However, nobody paid any attention and Hiccup watched the other riders in the dragons jump into the lagoon.
"Cannonball!" Fishlegs yelled as he and Meatlug jumped into the lagoon, much to Snotlout and the twin's dismay.
"Oh, no!" Snotlout cried.
They then landed in the water knocking both Snotlout and the twins deep into the water. A bit of it landed on top of Toothless' head, who then started to look at the water with a suspicious look.
"What's the matter, bud? Don't feel like a swim?" Hiccup asked Toothless. "You can keep watch, then."
Leyla was curious about what he was doing and looked to Summer. "What is it, Summer? You love swimming."
Summer approached a few droplets and smelled something wrong. "Something doesn't feel right.
"Ah, okay. You can join us later," Leyla said as she shrugged and ran towards the water.
Then Hiccup shrugged and leaped into the water, soon joined by the others as Anna and Heather jumped into the lagoon. They soon began to relax, tossing water at each other, and having the most relaxing day they had in months. An hour later, they were still relaxing, except for Hiccup, who was determined to go back straight to work.
"Okay, guys," Hiccup. "Got that out of our system. Now it's time for the other kind of fun. Working."
"Dude, lighten up," Snotlout said, sitting on Hookfang's neck. "Relaaaax. Relax."
"Take a load off, H," Tuffnut said.
Dak promises, "Those rocks aren't going anywhere."
Ruffnut reminded him, "Unless you move them."
Hiccup groaned and looked at Heather and Elsa, who showed no signs of wanting to leave on their faces as they walked up to him.
"Oh, not you guys, too. You're killing me," Hiccup groaned, hoping that they would have his side in this.
"Hiccup, we're all behind you one hundred percent," Heather said to him.
"We know when to take things seriously, but don't you think after all of the labor and hard work we put in for months, our dragons and us deserve this long break?" Elsa said to her brother.
Unfortunately at that moment Snotlout just shoved Fishlegs into the lagoon. Hiccup looked at the two of them skeptically.
"Oh, that's nice," Hiccup replied skeptically.
"Look, you can't expect them to be you," Heather said. "They're your soldiers. Good soldiers will work until their hands are raw and until their backs are almost breaking."
Elsa explains to him, "You don't want them to mutiny against you, do you? If you keep on pressing them to work hard, eventually they will be worn out and collapse."
Heather nodded. "There does come a point when they need time to regroup, to forget about being soldiers and just be people."
Hiccup sighed, conceding to their points. "You're right. I've been pushing really hard." He then looked at the other Riders, who were enjoying themselves. "They deserve this."
Elsa smiled at her brother and said, "I'm glad to hear that."
Later that night, they made camp in the clearing and were preparing to turn in. While they were sitting, Dak and Leyla were near Heather and Hiccup while their dragons were resting a short distance away from them.
"So, have you guys been doing alright? We haven't really had much time to talk since the whole Viggo thing. I mean, after everything that happened with Viggo..." Hiccup asked.
Leyla smiled and played with her hair. "That's okay. We understand. You were just trying to protect the base."
"Even if it's driving everyone insane." Dak comments and looks at the dragons. "And them."
Hiccup smiled and sighed as he sat between the two and Heather sat next to Dak. "Yeah, look...we've been a little more protective around you guys," he said.
Leyla eyed Dak and they both remembered what Summer had told them the other night. Was this some sort of confession on behalf of the two of them?
Heather explained to them, similarly to how Summer had. "And we never really planned to have...well, when we started this war against Hunters, we never planned to have kids in on it."
"I guess because of this, we've become a bit more protective," Hiccup sighed and caressed Leyla's head. "And since you've joined us, we've started viewing all of you as family."
Leyla was amazed to hear it officially from them. "You have?"
"Yeah." Heather nodded as she pulled Dak close as Hiccup did for Leyla. "You guys are amazing. Sweet. We would be happy to call you guys a member of our family."
Leyla says, "It's been so long since we've had real parents. Or any kind of parental figures."
"Yeah, Anna is more like a big sister than a parent," Dak agrees.
Then they just sat there as Anna and Elsa were a little surprised at what they were seeing. Suddenly, the twins appeared, carrying several plates.
"Dinner is served," Tuffnut said in a posh voice.
Instantly a terrible smell entered their noses, making their eyes water.
"What is that smell?" Fishlegs asked, waving his hand in front of his face.
The others shared their reactions as they retreated from the smaller of the two exiting the Thorston twin's dish.
"What is this?" Anna asked while pointing at what could only be described as a lump of slime.
"Oh, glad you asked, milady," said Tuffnut. "That would be some salt-encrusted sea bass with a salty seaweed gravy. Mixed in with salt and all finished with a little pinch of salt on top."
"So basically you're giving us salt for dinner," Elsa said.
"Indeed we are, my good lady," Ruffnut said as she and her brother sat down.
The Riders on the dragons nearly hurled from a single whiff of the stinky fish.
"Oh, weird," said Fishlegs, who watched as Meatlug spewed some lava. "The dragon usually loves fish no matter how bad it tastes."
Dak tried to take a bite out of the fish, but he couldn't keep it in his mouth. "Yuck! Even I can't stomach this. I don't think any of the dragons would stomach it either."
Leyla comments, "Well, almost." She sees Summer eating them without a problem. "She does like her food salty," she adds.
"Hookfang won't even touch it, and I see any piles of yak dung," Snotlout said. "I mean piles of-fresh-out-of-the—"
"Okay, we get it, Snotlout," Astrid said, shuddering at the thought.
"No need to finish that sentence," Elsa said, shuddering.
"And that's a gross thought that I'll never get out of my head," Heather said in disgust.
"Well, I chalk it up to underdeveloped pallets," Tuffnut said. "Both human and dragon."
The two of them head-butted one another and then began to eat their own creation. Almost instantly, they regretted even putting a single gram of it in their mouths. They were practically watering in the eyes.
"You two alright there?" Hiccup asked, trying to sound concerned but couldn't restrain the smile on his face.
The teenage twins nodded and continued eating. When they had finished, they appeared as though they were about to vomit.
"I need to lie down," Tuffnut said.
"Me too," Ruffnut said.
The two of them then collapsed on the ground.
The other riders shrugged and began to settle down for the night. Fishlegs pulled his blanket over his body and looked at Meatlug, who was scratching herself quite ferociously.
"It's okay, girl," Fishlegs said calmly. "It's sleep time. It's a deep, sleepy time." He then leaned back against Meatlug and soon he and the other Dragon Riders fell asleep alongside their dragons.
Hours later, Fishlegs awoke after suffering from a nightmare. He woke up suddenly and noticed that Meatlug was not next to him.
"Meatlug? Meaty? Where are you?" Fishlegs asked, getting up. There was no answer. "Oh, no. It's not safe out there for a Gronckle all alone in the wild."
Fishlegs began to wander deep into the forest in search of Meatlug. He walked past a bush, not realizing that a chewed-up saddle was hidden behind it.
As he got deeper, you found that the island was not as peaceful as he would have liked. He was now feeling even more stressed and frightened than ever before.
"Quiet and serene, my butt." He quivered. "Meatlug? Here, girl. It's Daddy."
Then something drew a dash right past him spinning him around and quickly put up a fighting stance, but saw nothing.
"And I'm really scared, so it'd be great if you can come out and…" Fishlegs then found Meatlug hovering in mid-air. "Is she sleepwalking?"
His question was soon answered when Meatlug slowly spun around. "Oh, thank Thor. I'm here to take you…" He stopped when he saw her eyes were fidgety, slitted with lava dripping down her maw like she had rabies and she looked quite hungry, "home?"
Meatlug landed on the ground snarling, spitting lava everywhere.
"All right! All right!" Fishlegs cried as he slowly backed away from her. "I knew she was too tired. But I pushed her." He then began to slap himself. "Bad Fishlegs. Bad!" He then looked to Meatlug, hoping that she would calm down. "Okay, listen, girl. I promise, no more work until you've…"
Metalbeak then charged him and he screamed. He quickly ran as fast as his little legs could carry him and dodged every time Metalbeak fired a lava blast at him.
"You know, this is really Hiccup's fault if you think about it," Fishlegs said as he ran for his life. "Shouldn't you be mad at him?"
Meatlug clearly didn't see it that way, because she just fired another lava blast at him.
"Help! Someone! Anyone!" Fishlegs cried in terror, trying to wake the others.
Meatlug kept on chasing him down through the forest but eventually lost him when she reached a hollow tree trunk. She kept on sniffing and snarling and eventually flew over the tree trunk and into the forest.
After a few seconds, she left, and Fishlegs climbed his way out of the tree trunk. He then quickly made his way back to camp to warn the others about his encounter with Meatlug, but when he got there, he saw the other dragons acting the same way as Meatlug.
"Everyone, wake up!" Fishlegs cried.
"Zip it, Fish Face," said Snotlout tiredly. "The sun's not even out."
Fishlegs groaned as Snotlout fell back to sleep and then looked at the dragons, who looked extremely vicious now, and worst of all Meatlug had now joined them. "Oh, Thor!"
Hiccup then awoke and saw the situation. "What's going on with the dragons?"
"I have no idea," Fishlegs explained. "All I know is that Meatlug was sleepwalking and when I found her she was in a really bad mood and chased me through the forest and tried to kill me."
At once the Riders stood up when they saw the dragons dripping liquid fire from their mouths. Dak and Leyla looked at each other when they noticed even their dragons were acting strangely, all except Summer for some reason.
Dak looked at his dragon in concern, never having seen this kind of behavior from him. "Winger, if this game you and the others are playing isn't funny," he said.
Hiccup said to him, "I don't think they're playing."
"Windshear, what's wrong, girl?" Heather asks, worried about what was wrong with her dragon.
"Now Aggro, don't look at me like that." Summer said, not liking the crazed look in her dragon friend's eyes.
Anna tried to calm Echo down as she didn't spout lava like the others. This was mainly because she could not create it.
"Stormfly, no!" Astrid cried as she saw Stormfly preparing to fire.
Stormfly and Windshear then fired a stream of fire at them, but fortunately, some of the riders were able to hide behind some rocks before they hit. Echo then came flying in and sent a sonic blast to send Winger flying away. Elsa quickly used her powers to keep some of the dragons back as Luna tried to help protect them. Seems only Summer, the Night Lights, Toothless, and Luna were the only dragons not affected by whatever was going on.
"Something is wrong with them," Anna said in a slight panic. "I've never seen any of them act like this."
Ruffnut glowered at her brother and declared, "This is all your fault!"
"My fault?" Tuffnut asked, staring at his sister.
"Yeah," Ruffnut stated. "It's because of that stupid salty fish. They hate us 'cause they went to bed hungry and now they're all cranky."
"That salt was properly pinched."
"Your brain is properly pinched."
The two of them then jumped at one another and began wrestling on the ground.
"No, it's not the fish," said Hiccup. "Look at their saddles." They all turned and saw the saddles laying on the ground as if they'd been chewed apart. "They've been chewed off."
"Judging by how they chewed their saddles, they were desperate to get them off," Heather noted, but she was confused. "Windshear has never done anything like this before."
"Neither has Winger or Summer," Leyla comments as she looked at Summer.
"Don't look at me." Summer wasn't sure what was going on.
"But truth be told, they only recently got those," Dak recalled that they never used saddles before joining the group.
Fishlegs said, "It's a revolt! They're riding up against us!"
"Why would they do that?" Elsa inquired, expressing her disbelief.
Snotlout glared at Hiccup. "I don't know. Why would they?"
Hiccup stared in bewilderment, "Do you think this is my fault?"
Then Hookfang and Winger fired two fire blasts over their heads.
"How about we discuss whose fault it is after we're safe from our crazy dragons?" Anna suggested.
The dragons then made their way toward them, but Toothless and Luna placed themselves between them and the riders. They fired plasma blasts at them, to scare them off as Summer used herself as a carrier for the Night Lights.
However, the other dragons outnumbered them and slowly began to surround them.
"Toothless and Luna are no match for all of the other dragons." Hiccup pointed out in concern.
"And I don't feel good about attacking our dragons," Elsa pointed out as she instinctively had her hands raised, ready to shoot. But she didn't want to hurt them if she didn't have to, they were still their friends.
"Okay, everyone split up." Hiccup said, looking at the Riders. "If we're together, we're vulnerable."
"Got it!" Tuffnut yelled as they ran towards the forest.
Astrid and Heather were about to split off with the kids when they stopped and noticed that Hiccup and Elsa weren't coming with them.
"Hiccup, Elsa, come on!" Heather yelled.
"It seems like Toothless and Luna are okay." Hiccup said, looking down at his dragon.
"They're the only dragons that haven't chewed off their saddles," Elsa said as she and her brother mounted their dragons.
"We'll hold them off until you guys are clear. We'll find you." Hiccup said.
"Try to stay out of those jaws!" Leyla told them.
"Oh sure, that should be easy enough," Dak said as both of them ran into the forest.
"I'll keep them off your trail." Summer offered as she ran off with the Night Lights to hide from her friends. "Not gonna be easy with Cutter's eyesight." Then she got an idea when she saw the dense forest ahead. "Yet again, he can't find what he can't see."
Metalbeak then tried to blast the Night family with a lava blast, but they were able to dodge it and Toothless fired a plasma blast at her, which she dodged. They soon found themselves surrounded by Stormfly, Echo, Windshear, Burple, Aggro, Hookfang, Barf & Belch, and Meatlug.
"We better get out of here too, guys." Hiccup said to his sister and their dragons.
"I agree," Elsa said in agreement.
They then took off and fired plasma blasts down at them. Meatlug began to fire lava blasts at them, but they were nimble enough to dodge them and they soon landed on a rock formation.
Then Stormfly fired several spikes at them. They were able to dodge them, but Hiccup and Toothless lost their balance and fell into the lagoon.
"Hiccup! Toothless!" Elsa yelled out as she heard Luna roar to her mate in concern.
They watched as their dragons tried to blast them but they dodge and flew high enough that the night sky made them invisible with the help of Luna's camouflage technique. The dragons looked down at the water, waiting for them to come up so they could blast them. However, when they didn't come up they flew off to hunt down the other Riders.
Seconds later, both Hiccup and Toothless emerged out of the lagoon as Toothless shook off the water.
"We better find the others before the dragons do." Hiccup said.
He then quickly mounted Toothless and they flew off into the air, hoping against hope that they were able to track down the other Riders before the dragons do.
Hiccup and Toothless then began searching for any trace of the other Riders.
"Nothing," he said. "They must have really split up. See you can pick any sounds, bud."
Toothless roared into the air and at once quickly backed away when he sensed both Stormfly and Hookfang flying overhead.
"Okay, those weren't the sounds we were looking for," said Hiccup when he noticed the two dragons.
He then saw Hookfang landing on a ridge and took off seconds later with Stormfly close on his tail.
"I haven't seen them act like this since we trained them," Hiccup frowned. "They're hunting like wild dragons." Then suddenly they heard a rustling sound behind them. "And apparently, they're still pretty good at it."
Toothless prepares to fire a plasma blast at the bush.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold your fire!" Elsa yelled as she, Ruffnut, and Luna emerged from the bush.
"Don't shoot!" Ruffnut cried.
"Elsa! Ruff! You okay?" Hiccup asked as Toothless ceased the blast.
"Apart from being hunted by our loyal dragons, we're completely fine," Elsa said sarcastically.
"Yeah, we're anything but okay," Ruffnut added. "I'm especially cracking under the pressure."
"Ruff, you're fine," Hiccup said. "Have you seen any of the others?"
"You said 'split up'!" Ruffnut cried.
"We haven't found anyone else ever before you found us," Elsa said. "I found Ruff after Winger and Echo forced me away from you."
"Okay, then—" Hiccup stopped when they heard the sound of snarling and flapping of wings. "Get down!"
They quickly hid underneath the tree and watched as Cutter and Meatlug flew overhead.
"We need to find the rest of the Riders," Hiccup whispered. "Fast."
"And figure out what's wrong with the dragons," Elsa added in the same whispering tone.
Ruffnut quickly mounted on Toothless with Hiccup, as they ran through the forest in search of the others.
Fishlegs and Tuffnut were wandering quietly through the depths of the forest when they spotted Meatlug flying overhead.
"Meatlug! There's my Meatlug!" Fishlegs exclaimed.
Meatlug turned towards the sound but saw nothing except for a bit of movement in the trees. Assuming it was some sort of wild animal, she flew off into the distance. Tuffnut had shoved Fishlegs into a bush with his hand over his mouth.
Fishlegs stared at Tuffnut as he removed his hand. "What are you doing?"
Tuffnut asked in disbelief, "What are you doing? Trying to get us a one-way ticket to Valhalla?"
"My dragon is still in there," Fishlegs said. "I can reason with her."
"Did you see the look in their eyes? That was the look of a killer. I know this because I see it in my own reflection. Pure killer," Tuffnut whispered to Fishlegs, who would have screamed had he not quickly placed a finger over his lips. "Shhh!"
Meanwhile, Astrid, Anna, and Snotlout were hiding in the bushes as their dragons flew overhead. They had been accidentally separated from the twins and Heather and were searching for them or Summer.
"I never should have trusted that dragon," said Snotlout. "The way he looks at me sometimes, I know he's thinking of me as a dinner, or a light lunch, at least. I should have picked a less ferocious dragon, like a Nadder or maybe a Snifflehunch or even a...
"Snotlout, if you don't shut up your piehole, I'm gonna leap into the open and play with them to eat us both," Astrid snapped.
"And not to mention, if you keep talking, our suddenly wild and crazy dragons are going to find us even faster. So, please, zip it." Anna added.
Then they heard the flapping of wings overhead. "Shh! I hear something," Snotlout whispered.
They looked up and saw Echo, Meatlug, and Hookfang searching for them. Seconds later, the three of them flew off.
"They're actually hunting us," Astrid said. "How did it come to this?"
"This can't just be from all that hard work, can it? I mean, Echo didn't put in as much work as the others," Anna said.
"Let's just hope Hiccup and Elsa get them before they get us," Snotlout said.
Heather ran with the twins until she found a large tree with dense foliage, providing ample cover from any prying eyes. She sighed in relief as she sat down on a nearby rock.
"Whew. Okay, we should be safe for now." Heather told the twins as they took a seat. "I never thought I'd be running from Windshear."
"Yeah, I don't understand what got into them," Leyla said in confusion. "In the years we've been with dragons, I have never seen any that turned so..."
"Crazy?" Dak finished his sister's thought.
"I was going to say predator-like," Leyla admits.
"Why would they do this?" Dak questions. "Why now?"
"And why hadn't it happened to Summer or the Furies?" Heather was just as curious as them for some answers. "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure Hiccup will find a way to save them." Then she heard rustling in the bushes that got them to jump and stand back to back, creating a small circle. "That is if they don't find us first."
It was morning and Hiccup, Elsa and Ruffnut had yet to find anyone. Then suddenly they saw Fishlegs and Tuffnut running towards them.
"Hiccup! Run!" Tuffnut cried.
"Why? What's the matter?" Hiccup asked although he had a pretty good idea.
"Hookfang and Winger," Fishlegs cried. "They landed in the woods and they're coming this way!"
Then suddenly they saw fire shooting out from the bushes.
"Oh, he certainly is!" Hiccup yelled out.
"Other way! The other-other way!" Elsa yelled.
They quickly turned hoping to run in the opposite direction, but then Astrid, Anna, and Snotlout ran out in front of them.
"Run!" Snotlout yelled.
"Barf and Belch and Windshear are right behind us!" Astrid yelled.
"And so are their teeth!" Snotlout yelled.
Then finally Dak, Leyla, and Heather ran through the bushes and came to a halt. They seemed to have been running for some time.
"Burple, Echo, and Stormfly are closing in!" Heather warns them.
Summer then came flying in and had the Night Lights with her. "Aggro is coming!"
"We played right into their hands." Hiccup said, realizing they were surrounded.
"Technically, dragons don't have hands, so that expression doesn't make sense," Tuffnut suggested. "Maybe 'we fell right into their claws'?"
"Now, really?! You wanna correct expressions now?!" Snotlout asked in disbelief.
"The point is, we're about to be surrounded." Hiccup stopped when some of their dragons jumped out.
"We taught our dragons well," Anna commented.
Seems that their time with their dragons really gave them some skills and tactics they used in the past. They quickly turned to the left, hoping they could escape that way. Unfortunately, Meatlug, Burple, and Cutter soon appeared.
"Other way!" Hiccup yelled, heading to the right.
But that route was blocked by Cutter and Windshear.
"Hiccup, we've run out of options," Anna called out.
"Yeah, the only way we can run now is to get into trouble!" Snotlout whimpered.
The dragons slowly moved forwards forcing them to back up against one another, they were completely surrounded and there was no opening for them to escape through.
"Okay, how long are we gonna wait until we make our next move?" Astrid asked.
"What next move? I'm out of next moves." Hiccup said.
"Same here," Heather added.
"Not exactly what we wanted to hear," Dak stated.
"Elsa, I think we might need you to get us out of this," Anna told her sister.
Elsa saw that she was right, but still didn't want to harm them if she could help it. So, doing the only thing she could, she created a giant blast of mist that blinded the dragon's vision. Suddenly, Luna and Toothless roared and began firing random plasma blasts. This caused the dragons to disperse, creating an opening for them.
"That way!" Elsa yelled, pointing to where she cleared a path from the smoke.
They quickly ran through the smoke, uncertain of their destination, but certain that their dragons would follow closely behind them.
Hiccup then notices a cave in the distance. "There! A cave," he says.
Seeing that it would keep them hidden from their dragons, they ran into the cave and Elsa fired a chunk of ice at the opening, trapping them inside, but keeping the dragons out. After the Haddock siblings dismounted their dragons, Toothless began to scratch himself furiously.
Fishlegs quivered and said, "Elsa, that's not going to hold for long. We need to find another way out of here."
"Or else the dragons are gonna have Dragon Rider for dinner," Leyla added, starting to tremble.
Hiccup then saw Snotlout glaring at him with his arms crossed. It was abundantly clear that he had something on his mind and wished to say it.
"Just say it. I know what you're thinking," Hiccup stated tiredly.
"All I'm saying is we wouldn't be in this position if your tyrannical behavior, due to your obsessive need to one-up Viggo, had not driven our poor dragons to the brink of insanity, Hiccup," Snotout said, furiously. "There, I said it."
Tuffnut just stared at him. "Wow. That was both dynamically impressive and logically sound," He said open-mouthed.
"Thank you, Tuffy," Snotlout nodded.
"You all think this was my fault?" Hiccup asked as he stared at all of them.
All of them just stood silent, even Heather, Anna, and Elsa were unable to look him in the eye.
"Sorry, Hiccup. But you really did push the dragons too far at the start of this trip," Elsa honestly told her brother.
Hiccup blinked before recomposing himself. "Okay, well, how about this? If the dragons have been driven to the brink of madness, as you say, why are Toothless, Summer, and Luna completely unaffected?"
"Great argument. That would be just as logically sound." Tuffnut said, who then looked over Hiccup's shoulder and pointed, "If it weren't for one small thing for Toothless."
Elsa heard some low growling when she turned and widened her eyes at Toothless. "Uh, Hiccup…"
Hiccup slowly turned around and saw that Toothless had the same mad look in his eyes and was dripping purple liquid fire from his mouth. He went crazy just like the other dragons.
"Oh, great," Hiccup moaned.
Toothless slowly made his way toward them with a hungry and fierce look in his eyes. The Riders slowly backed away as Hiccup tried to calm his dragon while Luna stood in front of them and roared at her mate to snap out of it.
"Toothless, what's wrong? Snap out of it!" Summer roared in concern, not wanting to hurt her defense as Toothless just roared at her as she flinched.
Luna was shielding the Night Lights as they trembled to see the way their father was acting towards them.
"Look at me. It's us, it's Hiccup." Hiccup said calmly. "Toothless, whatever's going on we can get through this. Just talk to me." Toothless roared and kept on pressing his advance. "Toothless, just relax."
"I don't think he's in his right mind to talk, Hiccup," Elsa said in worry as she pushed Hiccup back as noticed her dragon's hesitation to hurt her own mate. "And I don't think Luna has the guts to hurt her own mate."
"I'm not going out this way," Tuffnut said.
Then he tossed his helmet at Toothless and when that didn't work he threw some sort of dust straight at the Night Fury. The moment that it actually touched him, Toothless went totally wild as if he was in pain.
"Whoa, what in the name of Thor was that?" Hiccup asked, staring at Tuffnut in amazement.
"That, my friend, was salt. Just a pinch," Tuffnut answered.
"Salt?" They all stared at Tuffnut in bewilderment.
"Hey, I didn't any of you stepping up, so I went with what I had. And what I had was salt." Tuffnut explained.
"And you fed us that stuff?" said Snotlout in bewilderment.
"But salt doesn't even hurt dragons," Leyla commented, having never seen dragons act like this around ordinary salt. "What is it making Toothless act like that?"
Then suddenly they heard a high-pitched sound that was emanating from Toothless. It was so loud that they had to cover their ears while Luna cringed at the high-pitched noise as she tried to block it out.
"Hiccup, it's coming from Toothless," said Fishlegs.
They all stared at the Night Fury and then something small fell off him.
And that's when they watched Toothless go back to normal like nothing was Luna warbled in joy as she went to her mate and nuzzled him. The Night Lights were relieved to see their father was okay. The others look at the ground and saw what could only be described as winged worms with tiny legs and sharp teeth.
"Did you see that?" Tuffnut stared in amazement. "It jumped out of Toothless' skin. That was awesome. Quick! Put it on me!"
Leyla gasped in recognition. "Wait a minute," she said, taking a closer look. "These are Grimoras."
"Of course," Anna said, examining the little worms. "That's why the dragons were hunting us."
"A Grim-what-a?" Snotlout frowned.
"Grimora. It's a rare parasite that attaches itself to dragons and releases a toxin that causes them to turn wild," Leyla explained as the Grimoras scuttled away. "They're kind of like the dragon form of fleas."
"That explains why I'm not acting like them. Fastfins and other water species of the dragon are immune to them, that must be why I'm not affected." Summer pointed out. "But Grimora usually only lives in freshwater."
"Yeah, Summer's right. If they live in freshwater, how could the dragons have picked up on them?" Dak questioned.
"The lagoon," Astrid said suddenly, realizing how those Grimoras got on their dragons. "Our dragons must have picked them out when we went swimming."
"They chewed off their saddles to get the Grimoras off of them. Not because they were rebelling." Hiccup said. He then smirked at the others. "See? And you thought I was working them too hard."
The Riders narrowed their eyes at him and even Toothless and Luna were giving him a funny look.
"Seriously, dude?" Anna asked her sister's brother with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay, you're right, I was working them too hard. Point taken." Hiccup admitted as he placed a hand on Toothless' head.
"Okay, so all we need to do is find the rest of our dragons and throw salt on them," Ruffnut said.
"You know, that could work," Fishlegs said.
"Even just a little bit managed to snap Toothless out of it," Elsa added after seeing the amount of salt Tuffnut threw at the Night Fury snap him out of it.
"Sorry, gonna have to disagree with you there, Fishy," Tuffnut said to them. "Out of salt. Used the last on T and then, you know, the salt-crusted sea bass, which, I might add, no one liked. Everybody likes salt now, but when it was on the sea bass… Nuh-uh." He said as he crossed his arms in annoyance.
"So, we're gonna have to leave them to the next best salt location." Hiccup said.
Anna said, "The ocean. It's the only salty enough place to get the Grimora off our dragons."
"Lead them? They're trying to eat us!" Snotlout said. "Did you forget that?"
"No, just don't let them catch you," Hiccup said to him.
"That somehow doesn't reassure me," Snotlout said.
"Well, if you have a better plan," Hiccup said, knowing that a bad plan was the only plan they had.
Leyla offered, "I can get Summer to the ocean so she can help us." She knew Summer could squirt water at them if she got seawater.
"That can help," Elsa said.
Then Hiccup and Elsa mounted their dragons as they faced the cave-in. "Okay, bud," Hiccup said. "Plasma blast!"
Toothless fired a plasma blast at the ice wall, freeing them. Then, before the smoke settled, they ran for it. However, when they emerged outside, they found the dragons were nowhere to be seen.
"Thank Thor, they're gone," Snotlout sighed with relief.
They then heard a roar behind them and turned to see Hookfang on the cliffside ablaze. Soon the other dragons joined him and all of them snarled at their riders.
Hiccup yelled, "Remember the plan! You'll be fine as long as you remember..." He started to say, but then he and Elsa saw the Riders running for their lives with their dragons chasing them down. "The plan," he finished.
"So, what should we do?" Elsa wonders.
"Hopefully they can take care of themselves," Hiccup guessed. "If we intervene, the dragons might figure out what we're doing."
Fishlegs was running as fast as he could with a pair of Pyrite stones in his arms. He was running as fast as he could towards the shoreline with Meatlug running close behind him and her teeth literally inches away from him.
"Please, don't eat me. I love you," Fishlegs begged as Meatlug kept on trying to take a bite out of him. "Oh, Thor!"
Elsewhere Astrid was also heading to the shoreline being chased by Stormfly. She eventually managed to reach the sea and jumped into the water.
"Keep coming, Stormfly!" Astrid told her dragon.
However, Stormfly, inches away from the water and simply pastes up and down trying to find a way to get to her.
"Come on in," Astrid said. She then tried throwing water at her. "Bath time. You love bath time."
Elsewhere, Anna was being chased by Exlo as she dodged the constant barrage of sonic attacks.
Anna looked up at her dragon as she saw Echo falling into the trap. "That's it, girl. Follow the prey," she muttered as she then went to the edge of the ocean. But when she looked back, she noticed there was no sign of Echo. "Wait... where did you go?"
As Anna was looking around, Echo was beginning to sneak up to pounce on her. Anna however realized what Echo was doing when she heard innocent cricket chirping. but before she could do anything, Anna jumped and pinched her dragon under her neck, which caused her to go limp as she hit the ocean water.
Anna smiled as she watched Echo splash into the water. "That should do it," she said.
Anna then starts to pace when she sees the Grimora coming off of Echo as the Featherhide gets up and squawks in confusion.
"What happened? Where am I?" Echo asked in confusion as she turned and saw Anna running towards her and hugging her. "Anna?"
"Glad to have you back, girl," Anna exhaled.
Echo was still lost. "What happened?"
"You weren't yourself for a while there," Anna said in relief with a smile as Echo purred and nuzzled her rider. "I'm glad you're okay."
Meanwhile, Fishlegs had reached the shore and was running as fast as his little legs could carry him. He eventually stopped and faced Meatlug, who snarled at him.
"Pyrite. It's your favorite, girl!" Fishlegs said. Meatlug just snarled and Fishlegs was forced to toss the rocks into the sea. "Go get it!"
Meatlug then jumped into the sea and Fishlegs gestured their waiting, hoping it worked. Then he saw the Grimoras shooting out of the water and Meatlug jumped back onto the shore and tackled Fishlegs to the ground and began licking his face off.
'Fishlegs!' She growled happily.
"It worked," Fishlegs cheered with relief as he hugged his dragon. "It actually worked!"
Dak ran towards the edge of a cliff with his dragons following closely behind him. Leyla said she had a plan and all Dak had to do was run to keep the dragons together.
"Come on, fellas, come and get me," Dak called determinedly.
The dragons then attempted to grasp him, but he deftly dodged their attempts by ducking. When he subsequently arrived at the precipice, he peered over the edge and gasped in horror as he realized his lofty height.
Dak then looked over to the dragon approaching. "Uh, any chance we can talk about this?" he asked. But Winger snarled and approached, ready to charge a power blast. "Guess not!"
Dak then shielded himself with his arms and waited for the approaching death. But that was when Leyla and Summer flew up from the cliffside. Then Summer charged up some water and sprayed it down on her friends, causing them to freak out like Toothless. Seconds passed and the Grimoras shot out of their ears and scurried off into the woods.
Aggro comments, shaking her head in disbelief. "Whoa... What... what happened?"
"Yeah, how'd we get up here?" Burple asks as he looked around.
"Where is everyone else?" Winger questions. "Last thing I remember, we were sleeping at the camp."
"And why are we wet?" Cutter asks, looking over himself.
"It's a long story." Summer said as they flew down and landed next to them.
Dak then approached and hugged his friends. "We're just glad you're all okay," he said.
Leyla then joined in hugging their friends, just as the Night Lights joined in and started piling onto Cutter again.
"Do you guys ever get tired of this?" Cutter asks honestly.
Meanwhile, Astrid was having trouble getting Stormfly into the sea.
"Come on, Stormfly. You love the water." Astrid said. Still, Stormfly refuses to put a single talent into the water. "All right. I hate to do this girl but you're not giving me much of a choice."
Astrid then tried to stay in her blind spot and then rolled and scratched Stormfly beneath her chin. Instantly, Stormfly toppled over and fell fast asleep. The sea brushed against her scales and almost immediately the Grimoras flew off her.
Stormfly regained consciousness and looked at Astrid happily. 'Thanks, Astrid.'
"There's my girl," Astrid said, hugging her. "Don't worry. We won't tell anyone about your soft spot. We'll just keep that between you and me."
Snotlout was hiding from Hookfang in the forest, quivering.
"Come on, remember all those great times we had burning places down together? You want to throw all that away?" Snotlout asked if his dragon heard him.
He then heard a snarl directly behind him and turned slowly to find Hookfang behind him. The next second Hookfang fired a fire blast and nearly toasted him if he hadn't jumped up to his feet in time.
"Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Snotlout yelled as he ran towards the cliff.
He jumped and dived towards the sea and Hookfang followed him. Hookfang did manage to travel between his jaws, but luckily they had just landed in the ocean and the Grimoras removed themselves from the dragon's scales.
'Snotlout?' He released Snotlout and they flew out of the sea.
"Yes, 5000 pounds of dragon power back in action!" Snotlout cheered as they flew back to the island.
Heather was running for her dragon as Windshear tried to shoot her with its spines. However, she managed to skid to a stop just in time before running around them. She looked up and noticed her dragon was still closing in.
Heather challenged her dragon to perform better, "Come on, girl, you know that you're going to have to try harder than that."
Windshear seemed to take the challenge as she flew in to get a closer attack on Heather as she neared the cliff. However, when she had to fly past two different branches that blocked her vision, Heather took the time to get away and vanish. Windshear started to look around and tried to find out where Heather went.
Heather snuck behind the tree and took a moment to try and catch her breath. Once she started to get a sense of where Windshear was, Heather went in for her strike. She ran in as fast as she could and tackled her dragon by the neck. They fell off the cliff and landed in the ocean.
Seconds passed and then Grimora flew out of the water. A second later, both Heather and Windshear emerged from the sea. Heather cheered with relief as Windshear performed a loop-de-loop.
"Yes! We're back," Heather cheered.
The twins were also running from their lives, each of them had a pair of buckets that they filled with seawater, and chasing after them was Barf and Belch.
"Stop spilling the water, will ya?" Tuffnut yelled at his sister.
"Stop yelling at me, will ya!" Ruffnut shouted back.
"I'm sorry! I yell when I'm terrified! You know that!" Tuffnut retorted
"I do know that, but it doesn't make it okay!" Ruffnut yelled.
They soon entered the forest and immediately the Thorston twins started zigzagging, to confuse Barf and Belch. This worked as two-headed dragons twisted their necks around and knocked their heads into one another.
"Now!" Tuffnut yelled as the two of them then tossed the bucket of seawater over their heads and the Grimoras removed themselves from their scales. "See you later, you leeches." He mocked them, as they watched the Grimoras hide under a rock.
"Oh, that is so much better," Barf growled in relief.
"Big time." Belch agreed.
Hiccup and Elsa then arrived landing on the rock where the Grimoras were hiding. Elsa quickly blasted it with ice to keep them away.
"Good job, guys," said Hiccup.
"Okay, I don't know about you guys, but I've had enough vacation time for one day," Elsa joked.
Heather flew in and landed. "I second that motion," she said.
"Same for us," Dak said on behalf of himself and his sister.
The other Riders then approached them and laughed at them.
Later that morning they return to the Edge, completely exhausted from their 'vacation'.
"Hookfang and I decided, no more vacation for us," Snotlout stated.
"I agree." Hookfang snorted.
"Yes, I need a vacation from my vacation," Anna laughed.
"I think a better plan would be when we need a break, we'll just be a little closer to home," Astrid suggested.
"I'm all for that," Fishlegs said.
"I agree, closer to the Edge is good," Leyla added as she slipped off Summer.
"And the best idea would be for me to tone it down on the Viggo obsession." Hiccup told the group. "It could have saved us all the trouble."
Heather walked over and kissed him on the cheek. "That would be a great start," she said.
Dak then ran over to Hiccup and Heather. "So, moving forward, do we call you guys 'Mom' and 'Dad'?"
Hiccup and Heather looked at each other before looking down at the twins. They saw that the twins definitely had begun to see them as parents, but they weren't quite sure they were ready to acknowledge it. They were willing to accept they were parental figures, but not to officially become parents quite yet.
Heather offered, "I think we should stick with calling us Hiccup and Heather for now."
"Yeah, let things just happen," Hiccup agreed with her.
Anna and Elsa watched as the twins and loving couple wandered into the edge of the forest. "That's an interesting thought," Anna commented.
"I never really saw Hiccup as much of a father," Elsa admitted to her sister. "But he seems to have grown into it quite quickly."
