Chapter 81: Guardians of Vanaheim
Hicca had patched up Heather and Rangar the best she could and then immediately took to the Great Hall so that they could explain what had happened.
"We thought we took every precaution," Heather said, cursing herself. "We were so careful to make sure no one followed us."
"But apparently, the Flyers took us by surprise and attacked us." Ragnar added, mentally kicking himself. "Even with the two of us, we were no match for them."
Astrid placed a hand on Heather's shoulder comfortingly. "Heather, you were going to visit your father's final resting place. I'd be surprised if you were thinking about anything but that."
"And you were at least there to make sure she didn't get killed, Rag." Henry told the Keatson boy.
"And there's no sense in beating yourselves up about it now, anyway." Hiccup added.
"Hold it, H," said Tuffnut holding his hand out. "A good self-flogging can actually be an excellent start to the day."
"How do you think we always arrive so alert and observant?" Ruffnut asked. "Hello?" She asked.
Tuffnut then began slapping himself in the face for reasons unknown.
Astrid narrowed her eyes on them. "You done?" She asked.
"Are we really ever done, Astrid?" Ruffnut asked.
Tuffnut then continued to slap himself and then collapsed and continued to slap himself.
"We tried to fight them off," Heather said, looking at all of them. "But there are a lot more of those Dragon Flyers than we thought."
"So many even a Boneknapper was overwhelmed." Ragnar added before wincing a bit.
Valerie looked troubled. "I thought ever since we freed the Deathsong, we cut up the supply of Singetails."
"I guess they capture a lot more Singetails than the ones we freed." Hicca said in a thoughtful tone. "They were doing this before we freed Garff's father."
"And they now know the location of the Dragons' most sacred place on Earth," Fishlegs quivered with fear. "Guys, this is a disaster."
Valerie looked at him. "You know we're trying to make Heather and Ragnar feel better, Fishlegs." she told him.
Heather shook her head. "No, Fishlegs is right. We need to make sure that Vanaheim is safe, no matter what we have to do." She told the Riders.
"Heather and Dagur at least trusted me to know about it to keep the secret. Which is why I wanted to go with her to make sure it was a clear trip." Ragnar said. "I owe it to them to make sure it stays safe."
"Uh, don't you mean whatever you have to do?" Snotlout questioned. "They didn't follow me there. Am I right?"
Raeda stared at him. "Are you insane, Snotlout? Seriously? Just tell me so that I can at least stop wondering why you say such muttonheaded things." She demanded as Snotlout looked at her nervously as she huffed and turned her back towards him with her arms crossed.
Heather then immediately picked herself up, but she quickly toppled over. Fortunately, Ragnar caught her before she collapsed.
"I managed to patch you two up, but both of you and your dragons are too injured to fly let alone fight." Hicca said.
Astrid nodded in agreement. "Hicca is right, you two should stay on Berk. Gothi will take care of you both."
The mentioning of Gothi reminded the Haddock twins that there was already someone badly wounded on the island.
(Linebreak)
After that meeting the two auburn twins immediately made their way back to their family's house and to their father's bedside.
"How am I supposed to make a decision like this, Dad?" Hiccup wondered out loud as he looked at his father. "Hicca and I can't leave you here, like this. But how do we stand by while the entire dragon race is in danger? "
"If the Hunters build a base on Vanaheim, the dragons' final resting place will be turned into the worst place for the end of their lives." Hicca said in worry, "Who knows what that will do? How will it affect the rest of the dragons? It could be a disaster."
The Haddock twins then closed their eyes then suddenly felt their father clutching their hands. They then immediately opened them and saw their father opening his eyes and looking at them weakly.
"Dad!" Hicca said happily.
"What's right is right, kids." Stoick said as he winced. "You both know what you need to do."He then lost consciousness again.
Hiccup and Hicca smiled and nodded and knew what they had to do. "Don't you leave us. You hear that, Dad?" Hiccup asked.
"We'll be back, we promise." Hicca added.
They then walked out of the house and Toothless and Midnight nuzzled Stoick affectionately before they followed the Haddock twins.
(Linebreak)
It was morning and everyone was saddling their dragons ready for the long flight to Vanaheim when they saw Hiccup and Hicca entering the arena.
"All right, gang! Gear up." Hiccup said, looking at all them.
"We're heading out to Vanaheim." Hicca added next.
"Oh, we're geared up," Tuffnut smiled. "In fact, we are locked and loaded."
Snotlout frowned at them. "Hey! I invented that line!" He retorted.
Tuffnut shrugged. "Yeah, I didn't see your name on it." He defended.
Snotlout nodded. "Well you could've asked me first." He told the Thorston boy.
"We're going to Vanaheim, and we're gonna make sure the Dragon Flyers never return," Hiccup explained as he readied Toothless.
"We have to keep the dragon's final resting place and make sure its secret stays hidden." Hicca added as she readied Midnight.
Astrid then approached them with a concerned look. "Hiccup, Henry and I can do this. You and your sister should be with Stoick." She told her boyfriend.
"He needs you both." Henry Added.
Hiccup looked at them. "If we stay here, there's nothing we can do, except stare at him and pray to the gods he gets better."
"We can't do anything for him now. We have to make sure to stop Krogan and Johann before things get worse." Hicca added determinedly.
Fishlegs frowned. "That sounds like a pretty good use of your time, actually."
Hiccup looked at him. "What about saving all dragon-kind from losing its most sacred resting place?"
Fishlegs smiled awkwardly. "You know, I'm glad you're the one making that decision."
Raeda looked at them all. "Look, whatever we decide to do we need to do it fast, there's no telling if the Flyers have already sent a message to Johann. If they haven't then we need to stop them before they do and if they have we need to defend Vanaheim."
Hiccup nodded. "Raeda's right, we can't waste time. Bring whatever you need to fight the Dragon Flyers."
"They're going to get ugly. We have to get uglier." Hicca declared
Snotlout smiled as he liked the idea.
"Not yet, Snotlout," Tuffnut said. Snotlout immediately turned towards him and saw that both he and his sister were looking at him repulsively. "Way too ugly too soon."
Snotlout narrowed his eyes. "Oh, is that supposed to be a joke?"
Tuffnut smiled at him and raised an eyebrow. "Am I laughing?" He then looked at him questionably. "That's a serious question. Sometimes I laugh and I don't know it. Am I laughing?"
He then gave off a short laugh.
Snotlout then turned to his cousins. "Hiccup? Hicca? Anybody?" He asked.
Raeda just scoffed and mounted on Sparkfire.
The Haddock twins, however, had other things on his mind and had already mounted Toothless their dragons. "All right, everyone." Hiccup then placed his leg in this stirrup. "Let's go."
"Dragon Riders, let's ride!" Hicca called out as they all flew off out of the academy.
(Linebreak)
Soon they were all flying, but no sooner had they left Berk had something appeared from the horizon.
"Hiccup! Hicca!" Fishleg pointed.
The Haddock twins turned and saw sailing towards them were several ships which bore the Outcast crest.
"Let's go, guys," Hiccup said to his sister and their dragons.
"I got this," said Snotlout as he shot off towards the ships. "Snotlout, locked and loaded."
Hicca stared at him. "Snotlout, no! Wait!"
Toothless then quickly fired a plasma blast which cut Snotlout from the ships and caused him to fall into the sea.
"Hookfang!" Snotlout cried before he hit the water. He then shot his head off the water and looked at Hiccup. "Are you crazy? What'd you do that for?"
Hiccup looked at him. "Because he almost sank Alvin." He explained
"And not to mention those are the Outcast's crest on those ships." Hicca added while pointing at the sails.
Alvin then appeared from his flagship and looked at all them, but mostly at Snotlout. "Hello. Good to see not much has changed around here."
"Shut up, Alvin." Snotlout muttered before Hookfang flipped him onto his saddle.
The Haddock twins then landed on the deck and looked at Alvin. "So what brings you all the way over to this side of the Archipelago?" Hiccup asked.
"Yeah, what's the sudden visit?" Hicca asked as well.
Alvin chuckled slightly. "Well, heard old Stoick wasn't feeling his best." He then gestured to his heavily armed men. "Figured you two could use some extra hands, if you know what I mean."
Hiccup and Hicca looked at him gratefully. "We do. And we appreciate it. You have no idea how much better we feel knowing you're here." Hiccup said with a smile.
"We've been through tough times and worried that something might happen to him and Berk while we're gone." Hicca added with a grateful smile.
"He'll be safe on our watch," Alvin assured. "I promise you both that."
"Thanks, Alivn." Hicca said as Hiccup nodded to him gratefully and then took off into the air and soon led the others towards Vanaheim.
(Linebreak)
Soon they reached the outskirts of Vanaheim and the Haddock twins were feeling concerned that they might arrive too late.
"You know, the Sentinels are pretty serious dragons," Astrid pointed out.
"You think? They know how to take out practically every dragon there is." Henry reminded her of how tough they were.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Snotlout agreed.
"Astrid and Henry got a point." Fishlegs nodded.
"Totaly, they pack a punch." Raeda added in agreement.
"This is my first time here, so…" Valerie called out since this is the first time she had been to Vanaheim.
Astrid looked at them blankly. "But I didn't finish what I—"
"You were going to say that the Sentinels, because of their ability to counter every type of dragon fire, could take care of Hunters, everything might be back to normal." Fishlegs explained.
Astrid merely smiled indicating that was what she was going to say.
"Astrid, we were all there. And our dragons could agree on that." Raeda pointed out as Sparkfire squawked in agreement.
"Um, not to be negative or anything, but can anyone think of a reason why the Sentinels would attack their own island, besides the obvious fun factor?" Tuffnut asked, gesturing ahead of them.
The Haddock twins turned and gasped in horror, because Vanaheim was in flames.
"It was the Flyers," Hiccup said.
"They got here before us." Hicca said in horror.
Fishlegs had also noticed something quite disturbing. "Hiccup, Hicca, the Sentinels—They're…"
They all looked at the sea stacks and saw that the Sentinels were not standing guard as they normally did.
"Gone." Astrid finished.
Hiccup and Hicca looked at them. "Okay, let's see if we can—" Hiccup started.
"I found them!" Snotlout interrupted.
They immediately all flew towards Snotlout's position with him looking down somberly.
"This is them, right?" Snotlout asked, hoping that he was wrong.
They looked down and saw the Sentinels lying motionlessly on the beach.
"Oh my Thor." Hicca gasped in horror.
Hiccup looked at Snotlout. "Uh… you couldn't have mentioned the fact that they're all… Oh, never mind."
Snotlout narrowed his eyes at them as he flew down towards the beach. "Oh, and how would that have helped?" He asked rhetorically.
The moment he landed on the beach, the Haddock twins immediately dismounted and rushed towards the nearest Sentinel. "Oh, no. No, no, no, please no." Hicca said, checking its pulse.
She felt only solid rock-like skin.
Soon the others landed and Hiccup approached them. "Hicca?" He asked hopefully.
Hicca had placed her head against the Sentinel's chest, but she heard nothing. "Nothing." She turned to her brother sadly.
Fishlegs made his way towards another Sentinel, but he could hear a single heartbeat. "This one, too." He said.
"I've got another one," Raeda said.
"Not even a beat." Henry said to the next one.
"Same over here," Tuffnut said as he and his sister examined one.
"And here." Valerie said as check the one across from Raeda's.
Astrid placed a gentle hand on Hiccup's shoulder, but he was still depressed. "This is the cruelest thing I think I've ever seen," he said.
They then heard someone coughing as Toothless and Midnight immediately growled towards the fossilized teeth of the enormous dragon skull. Hicca then drew her Inferno, ignited the blade and turned to everyone.
"Nobody move," She ordered as she then made her way around the tooth and found a Flyer just sitting against it. He looked at Hicca and chuckled slightly.
Hicca gave a snarl, this man helped kill the guardians of this sacred place and had the gall to laugh? She yelled in anger and raised her blade.
Henry looked at her horrified. "Hicca, no!" He called.
"Don't!" Hiccup yelled as the others looked away in dread.
The Flyer closed his eyes as Hicca slammed the blade down, but he didn't feel anything. He opened his eyes and found that Hicca had plunged the blade into the sand and was looking at him furiously. "What happened here?" She demanded.
(Linebreak)
A few moments later they tied the Flyer up and the Thorston twins began to interrogate him.
Tuffnut examined him closely. "Well, well, well, it appears as if we have a lot to talk about, doesn't it, Mister…" He then looked at the Flyer. "What was your name?"
The Flyer refused to speak.
"Never mind. We'll just call you Mr Murderous Pile of Yak Dung," Tuffnut said, narrowing his eyes.
Ruffnut then approached him. "Here's how it's gonna go. You're gonna tell us everything that happened here, or else."
The Flyer narrowed his eyes at them. "We follow the girl Rider and her boyfriend here."
"You didn't follow me and I don't have a boyfriend," Ruffnut huffed.
"I said 'the girl and her boyfriend'." The Flyer smirked.
Ruffnut looked at him furiously. "Why, you! I—" She threatened, preparing to run him through.
Tuffnut quickly stopped her. "Later, Ruff. There will be time for all things violent."
"Like I said, we followed the girl and the boy, took care of those big stone-looking things, and had a look around," The Flyer continued.
Tuffnut folded his arms. "He's making this way too easy. And we haven't tweaked his ear or anything."
"Can't win every time," Ruffnut shrugged.
The Flyer rolled his eyes. "Look, we discovered the magnificent skull and thought perhaps it belongs to the King of Dragons," He said, gesturing to the giant's skull that towered above them.
Henry overheard this and muttered to himself, "Well at least we have an idea of what the King of Dragon looks like." He muttered quietly.
"Perhaps your mother is a greasy, slimy boar's butt." Tuffnut said. "We don't do 'perhaps' Mr Murderous Pile of Yak Dung. No, siree."
The Flyers shrugged. "Whatever. All I know is Johann will be very interested to learn of its existence. The others left to inform him, and when he arrives he shall pick through this place until there's nothing left but a pile of smouldering bone." He promised darkly.
The Thorston twins immediately looked at one another.
"Yeah, 'a pile of smoldering bone' is a bit above my pay grade," Tuffnut said. "We should probably tell Hiccup and Hicca."
"We heard it, Tuff," Hiccup said, as he and his sister are looking deeply troubled. "Let's go, everyone. We have to catch those Flyers."
"We can't let them get away. We have to deal with them before they get back to Johann." Hicca declared.
Everyone then immediately mounted their dragons and began to take off, but Meatlug appeared to be reluctant to leave.
"What is it, girl? Are you tired? Not feeling well?" Fishlegs asked. Meatlug then turned and looked at the dead Sentinels. "Have you been eating that mystery rock over next to the Monstrous Nightmare to me again?" He asked.
Snotlout turned on him. "Those are bones, Fishlegs. Bones!" He shouted.
Fishlegs then placed a finger on his lips. "Shh! Ix-nay in front of the Eat-Lug-May." He said through his teeth.
"Guys, we have to go now," Hiccup said. He then looked at Fishlegs. "Is she all right, Fishlegs?"
"What is Meatlug doing?" Hicca asked.
Meatlug growled softly and then immediately sat down upon the sand.
Fishlegs looked at him confused. "I-I-I don't know. She won't budge." He told the Haddock Twins.
"All right, Ruff, Tuff, Valerie, you stay behind with Fishlegs in case more hunters show up," Hiccup instructed the Thorston twins and Valerie.
The Thorston twins then rub their hands together as they looked at the Flyer while Valerie gave them a thumbs up.
"No problem, El Jefe," Tuffnut said snickering.
"The rest of us will deal with the rest and make sure they don't report back to Johann." Hicca finished.
The Haddock twins and the others then immediately took off, but before they left, Hiccup looked at the Thorston twins quickly.
"Oh, and no torturing the prisoner!" Hiccup said.
The Thorston twins looked immensely disappointed upon hearing this. "How does he always know?" Tuffnut said.
Ruffnut looked at him. "We've discussed this. Hiccup and Hicca Haddock are magical creatures. We haven't even seen two percent of his magical capabilities. Some would call him a wizard."
Valerie looked at them in confusion, "Wha?" She asked.
"How do they always have a Terrible Terror or a new tail or the Dragon Blade that just seems to magically appear out of nowhere?" Tuffnut pondered. "I mean, there it is, suddenly."
"Enough!" Ruffnut demanded and walked off with a splitting headache. "Ugh, my mind is going to places I don't want it to go."
Tuffnut shrugged and extended his hands dramatically. "Bam! A dragon blade." He said.
Valerie then looks at Fishlegs in confusion. "Do they ever stop sometimes?" She asked.
"How much time do you have?" Fishlegs asked back as Valerie widened her eyes, realizing what Fishlegs meant.
(Linebreak)
The Haddock twins and the others were desperately following the trail of the Flyers, in the hopes to stop them before they reached their outpost.
Hiccup was using his spyglass to keep an eye out, but so far all he saw was storm clouds. "I can't see them anywhere." He said.
"This storm is really too strong to even see ahead." Hicca added while squinting her eyes.
"It's called a head start, guys." Snotlout said. "Those guys are so long gone." They then heard the sound of thunder and turned towards the storm clouds. "Unless they flew through those huge storm clouds, in which case they probably jumped to their deaths." He said to the others.
The Haddock twins smiled as an idea appeared in their heads and Astrid, Henry and Raeda did the same thing as they realized what they were thinking.
"That's something we can use!" Hicca called out with a wide smile.
"Snotlout, that is brilliant!" Hiccup announced to their cousin.
"Really?" Snotlout frowned. "That seems fairly obvious to me." He admitted.
"No, Hiccup and Hicca are right," Astrid chimed in. "There's no way they'd have gone through that storm. It's way too dangerous."
"They would've gone around it, the most important thing on their minds is getting the message to Johann," Henry added. "They wouldn't dare fly into that storm just to shave off a few hours on their journey."
"Which is exactly why we are gonna go through it and meet them on the other side," Hiccup said.
Snotlout stared at them in shock. "Did you not hear me when I said, 'They would jump to their deaths'?" He stressed to them..
"Yeah, they would! We won't, Snotlout." Hiccup simply said. "Let's go."
The Haddock twins then immediately headed into the storm and Astrid, Henry and Raeda followed suit. Snotlout on the other hand was very reluctant to follow them, but did so anyway.
Snotlout then looked at them. "I want to go on the record—" he tried to say.
"Shut up, Snotlout!" The four of them yelled in unison.
Snotlout glared at them. "Yeah, nobody steals my catchphrase. Now let's get locked and loaded."
They then soon entered into the storm in the hopes to close the gap between them and the Flyers.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile on Vanaheim, Fishlegs and Meatlug were still with the bodies of the Sentinels. Fishlegs was following Meatlug, still confused about what was the matter with her, as she began to waddle around the Sentinels while Valerie was checking around Vanaheim to see the environment with Camo. With Fishlegs' permission, he allowed it.
"Girl, you have to tell me what it is." Fishlegs said. "Just give me a sign, a-a grunt, a growl…" Mealtug then suddenly spat out some lava. "Or you could just continue to do that. I guess they won't mind."
He then watched as Meatlug burped up more lava and was doing it next to the bodies of the Sentinels. In a few seconds he realized what she was trying to do and got the idea.
"Oh, I see." Fishlegs nodded. "You're making a final resting place. They must not have one here." He then immediately made his way over to Meatlug and patted her. "You're such a good girl. You've got the biggest heart of any dragon in the entire Archipelago."
'Thanks Fishlegs.' Meatlug growled.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile elsewhere on the island the Thorston twins were guiding the Flyer and he was more than a little nervous with the maces in their hands.
"Hey, I thought your bosses said you couldn't torture me," The Flyer said, looking at the two of them.
They then turned towards him and Tuffnut patted his mace, giving him a frantic look. "We're not gonna torture you."
"We just have a few questions." Ruffnut said. "I admire your aplomb in all this."
The Flyer blinked at them. "I-I don't know what that is."
"Neither do I," Tuffnut said. He then turned his gaze back upon the Flyer. "It's not important. Question one: what's the job like?"
"'The job'?" the Flyer blinked in confusion.
"Being a murderous killer who rides a dragon," Tuffnut simplifies the question.
The Flyer was a bit taken aback with this, but quickly regained his composure. "Oh! Oh, i-i-it's all right, I suppose. I mean, they leave you alone pretty much, as long as you don't screw up. Then they kill you."
"I see," Tuffnut said, scratching his chin.
"How are the hours?" Ruffnut asked.
"And what about vacations? Do they give you days off?"
"When you take them, do you get paid?"
The Flyer blinked. "Oh, yeah. I had to take off, uh, three days last month to go to my cousin's wedding. No problem. Still got the same in my gold pouch that week."
Tuffnut looked at him curiously. "And what about if you get hurt? What then? Do you have a healer?"
"Actually, we got a bunch of 'em. I like this one—Jorn. He's got the gentle touch."
"Uh, I see."
Ruffnut looked at him. "We only have two healers, and what is an old lady and she does not have a gentle touch. She's, like, the opposite of gentle—anti-gentle! She's like a-a hurter, not a healer."
Tuffnut nodded. "No, she just has this big stick and—" He then rubbed his forehead as if he were living the pain. "Man, can a little woman swing it.
"The other one shouts at us every time we enter the room," Ruffnut continued. "I have no idea why, we are his best customers, there again we don't actually pay him, we do see him every day."
The Flyers shuddered. "Oh, sounds awful. Have you ever thought of a career change?" He asked, thinking he could motivate them to switch sides.
The Thorston twins looked at one another and then laughed.
"Imagine. I would never," Tuffnut laughed and then leaned in towards his sister. "Not the sharpest bulb in the shed, is he?" He asked.
Ruffnut laughed. "Yeah, not at all." She agreed.
They then smiled at the Flyer, who immediately felt nervous once again, realizing that they had more loyalty than he thought..
(Linebreak)
Valerie is searching around Vanaheim with Camo as they are seeing the resting mounds of dragons as she looks in awed.
"To think, a place like this actually exists." Valerie said in awed. "An Island that is the final resting place for dragons." She added.
Camo then noticed something, and walked over to a mound with some very specific bones.
Valerie followed Camo's gaze as she gasped in surprise. "Changewings. This must be their resting place." She said softly.
Camo gazed at the Changewing mound sadly as Valerie gave him a hug on the head.
"Hey, don't worry, boy. You are far from joining them. But this will be a great place to finally rest your wings." Valerie said softly as Camo purred at her touch and nuzzled her.
(Linebreak)
Fishlegs meanwhile was assisting Meatlug with making the graves for the Sentinels. While she was dumping lather around them, he planted some of the small trees containing the food they like around them.
"You take all the time you need, girl," Fishlegs said, looking at Meatlug. "We want to make this perfect." He then remembered the important mission that Hiccup and Hicca were on. "With that being said, Hiccup and Hicca could probably use our help right about now. So, if there's any way you could take your time, but at the same time hurry up things just a little…"
Then suddenly he heard stone cracking and it appeared to be coming from one of the Sentinels. "What in the name of Thor?" He then made his way over towards one of the Sentinels and then suddenly saw it moving. "It moved. It-it moved!" He gasped.
He then quickly placed his ear against the chest of the Sentinel and heard a sliw but audible heartbeat. Fishlegs gasped and immediately began checking the other Sentinels and found that their hearts were beating as well.
"It's alive!" Fishlegs yelled excitedly and turned to Meatlug. "All these dragons are alive, Meatlug!" He cheered.
(Linebreak)
Unaware of this fact, the Haddock twins and the others were still flying through the storm in the attempts to close the gap between them and the Flyers, but it was rough going. The winds were powerful, the rain was stinging their faces and lightning bolts were shooting out in all different directions.
Snotlout in particular was having a hard time as he was nearly blown off course, but Hookfang persevered and kept up with the others. Suddenly a bolt of lightning appeared directly in front of them and the others barely had time to avoid it.
"This is insane!" Snotlout roared. "Usually my plans go perfectly. I'm not taking the blame. This is—"
"Not your plan, Snotlout," Astrid reminded.
"This was Hiccup and Hicca's plan!" Raeda called out.
"And besides, your plans never work!" Snotlout called out.
"You can blame us!" Hiccup yelled. "Just stop talking and keep flying!"
"We gotta stop those Flyers before they get to Johann! So shut up, Snotlout!" Hicca yelled out.
Snotlout jumped is another bolt of lightning shot past. "Fine!" he stated.
The Haddock twins were the first one to exit the storm, but then they came to a complete stop. "Uh, guys?" Hiccup asked first.
"We think we found them." Hicca spoke next.
Soon the others joined him and that's when they found an entire patrol of Flyers ahead of them.
"There's a lot more than we expected," Henry commented in surprise.
Snotlout looked at his cousins. "Like I said, my plans never fail. Snotlout!" He declared and immediately Hookfang ignited himself, but that caught the attention of a single Flyers as he immediately swirled around.
"They see us," Hiccup said dully, looking at Snotlout.
"We lost the element of surprise." Hicca said while looking at Snotlout as well.
Astrid narrowed her eyes at Snotlout. "That's weird. Wonder how it could have happened." She asked sarcastically.
Raeda looked at Snotlout. "Like they said, your plans never work!" She yelled with a glare.
"Thanks for giving us away, Snotlout!" Henry yelled out.
Snotlout blinked at them. "What? I didn't do anything." He said innocently.
All the Flyers were now heading straight towards them.
(Linebreak)
Fishlegs meanwhile was at Oswald's hut, scavenging through what remained of it, hoping that there was something that could explain the strange phenomena happening to the Sentinels.
"Come on," Fishlegse said as he began tossing empty crates over his shoulders. "No. There has to be something in here about those dragons. Oswald the Agreeable studied them for years. He must have learned something."
The Thorston twins and Valerie then entered the hut dragging their prisoner along with them and were watching as Fishlegs ransacked the entire place.
"Wow. Nice mess, Fishy." Tuffnut said impressively.
"Yeah. Didn't think you had it in you," Ruffnut said, equally impressed.
"But if I might, a good ransacking has to be done correctly and in a disorderly fashion to achieve for effect." Tuffnut said
"Uh, I don't think he was…" Valerie tried to speak, but the Thorston twins then immediately each grabbed a weapon.
Fishlegs immediately held his hand out to stop them, "Wait, guys, I'm not—"
The Thorston twins then immediately began running around the shack swinging their weapons like crazed madmen, knocking over tables and slicing across the stone wall.
"Guys, come on." Valerie said while shaking her arms.
"I'm not ransacking." Fishlegs yelled. "I'm searching. There is a big difference."
Ruffnut laughed. "Or is there?" She asked.
She then immediately tossed a crate over her shoulders and then falling out of it was a piece of parchment as well as a Dragon Eye lens. However, no one noticed but the Flyer and he saw this as his perfect chance to get away, his eyes then turned towards the blade of an ax close by. He then very carefully made his way over towards it and began to cut the ropes.
"That's it! I command you to stop!" Fishlegs yelled at the Thorston twins.
Valerie flinched in surprise by that. "Oh boy." She muttered, knowing that they are in for it.
The Thorston twins immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at him, a little stunned with his outburst. He then noticed the Dragon Eye lens at the foot of the Dragon Flyer and completely mesmerized, he made his way towards it, he was about to grab it when suddenly the Flyers snatched it.
"What?" Fishlegs stared.
The Flyer then quickly ran out of the hut.
"He's getting away!" Valerie called out. "Weren't you two supposed to be watching him?"
Tuffnut turned on his sister. "Weren't you supposed to be watching him, sis?" He asked.
"I was ransacking!" Fishlegs said defensively. "I can't watch and ransack at the same time."
"That—That is a—that's a fair point," Tuffnut admitted.
"No time to argue! Let's just go!" Valerie yelled out.
They quickly then began chasing after the Flyer, who was heading straight towards the bushes.
"There he is!" Fishlegs pointed.
The Flyer then immediately jumped behind the bushes, but then they heard the squawks of dragons and the deafening cries of the Flyer.
"That sounds incredibly painful." said Tuffnut wincing at every single shriek.
Then everything went quiet and the Dragon Eye lens was tossed out of the bushes.
Tuffnut looked at his sister. "It's definitely not worth being a Dragon Flyer." He stated.
Valerie cringe from that. "I do not want to know what kind of dragon found him or find out what it did to him." She said with a shudder.
Fishlegs picked up the lens. "Finally! Everything we need could be right here on this one lens." He said to Valerie and the Thorstons.
"The final Dragon Eye lens." Valerie cheered. "Now we'll finally find the King of Dragon."
"Awesome." Tuffnut beamed. "Let's go. Who's got the Dragon Fury Eye?" He asked.
"Not us," Fishlegs said regretfully.
Valerie winced, "Oh right, it's back at the Edge with the other lenses." She remembered.
"Well, that wasn't very good planning," said Ruffnut.
They then heard cries above them. "Hey, look," Tuffnut pointed up.
They then saw flying overhead as a flock of Grim Gnashers.
"What are those things?" Valerie asked in surprise.
Fishlegs groaned in disgust. "Grim Gnashers?" He answered for Valerie while really hating those dragons.
"Whatever they are, they look hungry." Ruffnut noted.
Fishlegs eyes widened as a horrible thought entered into his head. "Wait. The Sentinels!"
He then immediately ran off towards the beach as quickly as he could leaving the Thorston twins and Valerie behind bewildered.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, the Haddock twins and the others were being attacked by the Flyers and doing everything they could to avoid getting struck by fireballs.
"We need to regroup," Hiccup said as he joined the others. "Back into the storm. They won't follow us."
"That's one of the Singetails weaknesses. They might get spooked." Hicca added, remembering how Skrills lightning blasts neutralized the Singetail's fire.
Immediately they began flying into the storm as quickly as they could, but sadly the Flyers followed them into it. Now not only do they have to avoid the fireballs, but also the lightning raining down on them.
"Uh, guys, I think we may have underestimated them." Astrid told the Haddock twins.
Henry nodded. "Yeah, they're even crazier than we are!" He yelled.
"They must've got over their spooked weakness!" Raeda called out.
Snotlout looked at his cousin. "You know, I'm sure you'll make a great chief one day, Hiccup. Just know that I will not be living on your island." He stated.
"Well, that's so comforting, Snotlout, but right now we need to figure out a way to neutralize these guys," Hiccup said.
"I can think of plenty of ways to neutralize—" Snotlout tried to speak but Raeda called out.
"For the love of Thor, Snotlout! Can you at least be more serious while on a task like this?!" Raeda called out, unaware that lightning was about to hit her.
Snotlout saw this as he went wide-eyed. "Raeda, watch out!" He called out as he and Hookfang pushed Raeda and Sparkfire out of the way then was immediately struck by lightning and both of them were sent plummeting towards the sea.
"Snotlout!" The four Riders cried as they dived down after them.
Hiccup was able to grab Snotlout and Raeda grabbed Hookfang before they struck the water. The two of them were barely conscious, in fact it was a miracle that they both were still alive after taking a lightning bolt to the head.
Unfortunately the Flyers were still on their tail and now they could even fight back if they wanted to. Hiccup began to look around for a place for them to regroup and that's when he saw a small island and next to it a wrecked boat that was large enough for them to hide in.
"Look! This way!" Hiccup pointed.
"Riders, take cover in that wrecked ship!" Hicca called out.
Immediately they began flying towards the ship as quickly as they could and frankly found a hole in the deck. They then quickly entered inside of it and hide from the Flyers.
(Linebreak)
Once inside the shipwreck, Hicca began to tend to both Snotlout and Hookfang.
"Snotlout!" Raeda said as Snotlout groaned and rubbed his head, "You okay?" She asked worriedly.
Snotlout gave a half chuckle, "Don't worry, it wasn't the first time lightning struck my noggin'." He assured as he knocked his helmet.
Raeda gave a chuckle. "That is true. And Thunderbolt is one of them when he struck you when we were kids and caused your voice to go babbling, which made more sense than you usually do." She chuckled as the others chuckled as well.
"Hahahah. Yeah, true." Snotlout muttered with a small smile as he then turned to his dragon, while Hookfang looked a little hurt from the lightning strike. "It's okay, Hooky," Snotlout said as he held Hookfang's head as if he was holding a small child. "I'm not gonna let that big, bad, lightning bolt hurt you ever again." He promised.
Astrid looked at him. "Snotlout, the chances of getting struck by lightning more than once are, like, one in a billion."
"Really?" Snotlout questionably as he got in front of Astrid. "Might want to check your math, Astrid, 'cause I counted at least three times for me just in the last year!" He pointed out.
Hicca nodded. "In fairness, he has been struck by lightning more than anyone else I've ever known."
"Yeah, you really gotta keep count, Astrid. Because Snotlout had the worst luck with these things." Raeda pointed out while raising an eyebrow at the Hofferson girl before turning to Snotlout in concern, "Still that was a pretty bad one, are you sure you're okay?" She asked him.
Snotlout gave a slight chuckle. "Like I said, I had worse hits before. This is just the tip of the iceberg for me." He assured her.
"Still, why'd you take that hit for me?" Raeda asked, confused as to why Snotlout would do such a thing.
Snotlout just smiled coolly, "Do I need a reason to help my girl?" He asked, though forgetting where they were.
Raeda smiled and shook her head before immediately grabbing Snotlout by his shirt and kissing him, which surprised him and the others behind them.
She broke away after a moment, and gave him a smile, "Thanks Muttonhead." She said, apparently forgiving him.
Snotlout smiled back before looking over her shoulder and then his eyes widened in realization, "Umm, Rae?" He said nervously, pointing to the others.
Raeda raised a brow before she realized what she just did and in front of who, "Oh, Yak dung." She muttered before turning to the Haddock Twins, Henry and Astrid, who stared at them wide eyed and jaws hanging, Hicca even dropped her healer's bag. "Umm, surprised?" She said sheepishly while blushing.
"Oh. My. Thor." Hicca said slowly.
"How?" Hiccup started in shock.
"When?" Henry sputtered.
Astrid blinked before crossing her arms, "I thought you were hiding something." She said with a small smile at Raeda.
Raeda let out a nervous chuckle as Snotlout peaked over her shoulder, just as embarrassed, "I'm guessing you want some info?" He asked with a finger up.
Fortunately the focus of their secret relationship was immediately shifted when suddenly the entire boat shocked, he didn't take them long to figure out that it was the Flyers pelting them with fireballs.
"They're getting stronger, more fearless." Hiccup noted.
"They already got over their fear of lightning. Which makes them harder to deal with." Hicca added.
"We may not be able to hold them off much longer." Hiccup then placed his hand on his forehead. "What were we thinking?"
"We thought we had them." Hicca said before sitting down.
Astrid and Henrylooked out of the window and saw the Flyer still pelting the ship with fireballs and it didn't look like they were going to let up any time soon.
"They are still firing on us and it looks like none of them have left." Henry noted.
"Yeah. At least we're keeping them occupied so they aren't getting back to Johann and telling him about Vanaheim." Astrid said positively.
"We guess that's a positive," Hiccup agreed. He then leaned back, shaking his head in disbelief. "This was a really bad decision, Astrid—really, really bad."
"We should've just stayed with our father." Hicca said as she leaned back next to her brother.
"Yeah, you're both probably right," Astrid agreed.
Hiccup looked at her. "You're not supposed to just agree with us like that, Astrid. You're supposed to tell us we did the right thing in a tough situation."
"Same goes for you, Henry." Hicca added to her boyfriend.
Astrid smiled as she approached him. "We could tell you that, but it will be the truth. And you both know that."
"Yeah, you two already know the choices you both made." Henry added with a smirk.
"That is true." Hicca admitted.
Hiccup sighed. "Yeah, we guess we do."
The ship then shook once more.
Astrid and Henry then knelt down towards the Haddock twins.
"Hiccup, you two and Hicca can make 100 decisions every day. They aren't all gonna be correct." Astrid said as she then placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulders.
"And Hicca, you and your brother can make the tough calls that no other can do. Which also turned out good in the end." Henry added while placing a hand over Hicca's.
"That's right. What's important is that you keep making decisions, that after you fail, you move forward." Astrid finished with a smile.
Hiccup and Hicca smiled at their lovers. "Where do you two come up with this stuff?" Hiccup asked as Hicca chuckled.
"Does it really matter?" Astrid asked with a small smile..
"I think the point is trying to make is that as long as you both learn from your mistakes you can avoid making the same ones," Henry said, folding his arms while smiling at the Haddock twins. "It's like inventing, you see a flaw and you fix it. You just don't give up, not until you finish what you set out to do."
Hicca smiled at her boyfriend. "Thanks, Henry." She said as Henry nodded.
The ship then shook again and Snotlout was starting to get really annoyed.
"Have I mentioned how much I hate lightning?" Snotlout asked as he sat down next to Raeda, rubbing his head. "I mean, I really hate it. A lot." he added.
"Yeah, and lightning doesn't exactly like you either." Raeda commented.
"Not as much as you do." Hicca teased.
Raeda blushed as she gave a look at Hicca in annoyance. "Not gonna let that one go, are you?" She asked.
"Nope." Astrid said with a teasing smirk.
"How're Hookfang and Sparkfire?" Hiccup changed the subject as he rose to his feet.
"Hookfang will be fine." Snotlout said.
Hicca looked at Hiccup. "I still wouldn't recommend flying, he still is a bit dazed."
"And Sparfire is still exhausted from flying so fast while carrying Hookfang." Raeda added.
"But Hookfang's saddle is toast, though." Snotlout pointed out before scowling. "Of course, it was made out of metal. Mr lightning's favorite meal!" He yelled out while looking at the ceiling.
Raeda looks at Snotlout in surprise. "Hookfang's saddle is made of metal?" She asked in surprise.
"Yeah." Snotlout answered. "Gobber made it out of metal so that I can ride on Hookfang without getting my butt roasted. But apparently, it only makes the lightning want to hit me even more!"
The Haddock twins' eyes widened. "'Metal.'" Hiccup gasped.
"Yes, metal. Have you not been paying attention, Hiccup?" Snotlout asked. "It always goes for metal—usually on my head!"
"Not that, Snotlout. It's the metal part that will help us!" Hicca called out.
Hiccup then turned to the stash of bolas that were in the cargo hold. "Henry, you and Snotlout help gather and untangle as many bolas as you can, girls get the dragons ready to fly." He ordered as he and the other two boys moved away.
Raeda then turned around only to find both Hicca and Astrid very close to her, "Ahh! What?!" She asked in surprise and annoyance.
"You mind telling us how Snotlout won your heart?" Hicca asked with a smirk.
"Yeah. Because Snotlout Jorgenson finally winning a girl over him and it's you of all girls is too good a story to miss." Astrid added with a teasing tone. "I want all the details."
Raeda looked at them with a nervous and embarrassed look as she gave a sheepish chuckle. "Don't we have Flyers to take care of?" She asked nervously.
"Oh no, no, no Henderson." Astrid told her with a determined smirk. "After enduring so much of your teasing with Hicca over years, I am not letting this opportunity slip through my fingers."
Hicca gave an amusing look. "Better tell, Raeda. Because I don't think she'll leave you alone. Even with those Flyers out there." She advises with a smirk.
Raeda gave a sigh of defeat as she took a breath. "Okay, where do I start?" She asked as she then begins to explain everything on her crush and relationship with Snotlout from when he got her head on straight during the Screaming Death mission, when Snotlout went through his slum during the dragon root mission that she realized her feelings, her supporting him during the defenders of the wing king trials, when she kissed him back on Wingmaiden Island and when their relationship started when they saved the Armorwing. "And that's pretty much how it started." She finished her explanation.
Astrid and Hicca were amazed by what they heard, "Wow. Didn't think Snotlout had that side to him." Hicca said in surprise.
"Even I'm surprised that Snotlout can actually be sincere." Astrid said with wide eyes.
"Snotlout is full of surprises. He may be too proud of himself at times, but he does care for others and has proven to be a great warrior, at least most of the time." Raeda said with a fond chuckle. "Snotlout just has a habit with his old personality, but that's just how he is." She added.
"I have to see it to believe it." Astrid commented.
"Snotlout really has changed a lot to win your heart, Raeda." Hicca added with a small smile.
Raeda gave the same smile Hicca or Astrid made when they thought of Hiccup or Henry, "He has, and I'm proud of him for it." She said happily as the other two girls could tell Raeda's love for Snotlout was real.
(Linebreak)
It was now night and Fishlegs was running as quickly as he could towards the beach and watched as the Grim Gnashers flew straight at the Sentinels. Thankfully the Thorston twins and Valerie appeared on their dragons knocking one of them back with Belch's head on one while Camo shot acid at another.
"Ugh, could you hurry this along, Fishlegs?" Tuffnut asked as he ducked to avoid a Grim Gnasher coming at them. "'Cause there are definitely more of them than there are of us."
"And soon, there will be none of us!" Ruffnut added.
"So please, hurry up and find out what's up with the Sentinels!" Valerie finished.
"I'm working on it!" Fishlegs told them as he frantically looked for a book. "I'm trying to find something—any clue as to why they won't wake up completely."
"I'd help out, but—" Ruffnut started before her brother yelled.
"Incoming!" Ruffnut then quickly knocked one of Grim Gnashers away and Tuffnut did the same thing with another one.
"Camo, acid storm!" Valerie commanded as Camo spun around, releasing a barrage of Acid blasts as the Grim Gashers flew to avoid them but just kept coming back.
"Do not stop doing what you're doing, please!" Fishlegs cried out.
The Thorston twins and Valerie kept on keeping the Grim Gnashers at bay, but there were just too many of them.
Fishlegs kept on looking through the book in his hand hoping for an answer, until finally found the page he was looking for. "Got it! I think." He shouted.
"And take that!" Tuffnut said, tossing one of his boots at a Grim Gnasher.
Fishlegs looked at Oswald's sketches of the Sentinels and began to read his handwriting. "The Sentinels. 'Boulder Class.' Makes sense. 'Tough epidermal layer.' Oh, that's nice. 'Ability to remain motionless for days at a time.'" He read, taking note of all the facts.
"Fishlegs, I really don't want to interfere with your progress…" said Ruffnut as she tossed her boot at a Grim Gnasher, "but can you stop geeking out and find something we can actually use?!"
"We're getting our tails handed to us with these guys!" Valerie yelled out as well as Camo whipped his tail at the dragons.
Fishlegs took a point and continued to look through the book frantically. "Here it is!" He cheered.
"Yes!" Tuffnut cheered.
Fishlegs face then fell. "No, that's not it."
"Oh, come on." Tuffnut groaned.
"Seriously, Fishlegs?!" Valerie questioned in annoyance.
"Wait, wait, wait." Fishlegs said as he quickly looked up at them. "Sorry. It is. It says right here. 'The Sentinels aren't dead. They're in a state of hibernation.' It happens when one of them is injured. Only thing that can speed it along is…" He then lowered the book and saw Meatlug still spewing lava around the Sentinels, "Heat!" He then closed the book in disbelief. "I can't believe it. She was helping them heal. My Meatlug is a genius!" He then quickly rushed over towards one of the Sentinels, but it was still fast asleep. "Oh, it's working too slowly. We need more heat!"
The Thorston twins then immediately beamed upon hearing those words.
"Did you say you need the 'heat'?" Tuffnut asked, smiling.
"What are you two thinking?" Valerie wondered.
The Thorston twins didn't have time to answer Valerie as they then immediately laughed as they immediately flew down towards them. Immediately they began unleashing gas around the Sentinels and Fishlegs and Meatlug ran as quickly away from it as they could. Tuffnut then immediately sparked it causing a massive explosion on all the Sentinels. When the smoke finally cleared the Sentinels were back on their feet and were ready to fight.
"They're back," Tuffnut sidtarted.
"seriously ticked off!" Ruffnut added.
"And ready to kick some Gasher tail!" Valerie finished with a smirk.
The Sentinels then immediately took flight and the Grim Gnashers charged at them. However, the Sentinels really performed a wing blast that knocked the Grim Gnashers back and soon they were treated away from the island.
The Thorston Twins and Valerie immediately cheered.
Fishlegs was now in the air riding on top of Meatlug. "We did it, guys. We did it!" He declared.
"Who needs a paid vacation when you control life and death? Am I right?" Tuffnut asked.
"You are indeed, oh, brother of mine," Ruffnut nodded. "Although vacation pay would be very nice." She commented.
"Found our seventh lens, revived the Sentinels and saved an entire island," Valerie recounted, "My kind of day." She held her hands as Tuffnut high-fived her right hand and Ruffnut high-fived her left hand.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile at the wrecked ship the Dragon Flyers were still attacking it with everything they had. Hiccup was looking out of the window and saw a storm cloud close by.
"We have to lure them into the storm," Hiccup said.
The Haddock twins, Henry and Astrid then immediately left the ship carrying a bunch of bolas. The Flyers saw them leaving and immediately began chasing after them and they immediately fired fireballs at them. Quickly the two of them flew up towards the clouds and the Flyers soon followed them.
Astrid looked at the Haddock Twins. "Where're Raeda and Snotlout?" She asked.
"Snotlout says that Hookfang is in too rough a shape and Raeda said that Sparkfire needs to catch her breath from carrying him, so they're staying in the ship to rest up." Hicca explained.
Astrid sighed and then smiled at Hiccup. "Looks like it's us, then."
Hiccup smiled at her. "Always." He said before backtracking a bit, "Was that corny or…"
Astrid chuckled. "Probably. Nice, though."
"And a great time for us to have a couple duo." Henry finished with a smirk.
The four of them then immediately spun around and began tossing the first wave of bolas at the Flyers. Their aim was spot on as they wrapped themselves around the Flyers, they kept on tossing the bolas as the Flyers kept on firing fireballs at them.
"Keep throwing them," Hiccup ordered. "Hopefully the lightning will do the work for us."
"Knowing how metal is, lightning never resists good metal." Hicca commented.
They kept up the pace with the bolas and Astrid managed to snare two of them at once and they collided with one another causing the Flyers to fall off. Once they managed to trap all the Flyers they immediately flew towards the storm and unable to control their dragons the Flyers followed them into it.
Henry then threw two more snares at the Flyers, which caused them to get tied up as well as they struggled to break free.
Hicca then tossed some more on the Flyers as they were out of bolas as she turned to her brother. "Hiccup, that's all of them tied up!" She called out as her brother nodded.
"All right, Toothless. Move, move, move!" Hiccup yelled as they climbed.
Hiccup then immediately tossed Balder into the storm and a bolt of lightning struck it and began to strike all the flyers that were trapped within the bolas. All of them fell off their dragon simultaneously.
Hiccup smiled at the spectacle. "It really does love its metal." He commented.
The Flyers fell into the ocean and quickly swam to the nearest island and watched as their Singetails flew off into the distance. It was at that point that Raeda and Snotlout arrived.
Hiccup smiled at them. "Wow, Hookfang and Sparkfire! You're both all better. Too bad you guys missed all the fun."
"Yeah, we wanted to be here, but we figured you guys had it under control, and Hooky needed some extra recovery time. Didn't you, big boy?" Snotlout cooed, patting Hookfang on the head.
'Hehe, yup.' Hookfang growled happily.
"I agree with him," Raeda said, looking at the four of them. "Besides, you four make a pretty good team together than we do." She added with a smile.
Astrid smiled at them. "I guess you're right, but I think we got somewhere else to be." She tops them.
"Yeah, we gotta get back to the others." Henry nodded in agreement.
They then immediately took off and headed back towards Vanaheim in order to meet up with the other Riders.
(Linebreak)
It was morning when the Haddock twins and the others reached Vanaheim they saw a flock of Grim Gnashers flying away from the island as quickly as they could.
"What?" Hiccup starred in surprise.
"Grim Gnashers?" Hicca asked in surprise.
They then turned and then saw the Sentinels positioning themselves upon the sea stacks once again.
"The Sentinels?!" Raeda gasped in shock.
"They're alive!" Hicca cheered happily.
Hiccup blinked. "Wait, we thought they—" He tried to say.
"They were, my friends," Tuffnut interrupted him as he and his sister flew out to greet them. "But you two are not the only wizard twins around here, it seems." He explained.
Hiccup and Hicca looked at the others as they headed towards the island. "Does anybody have any idea what he's talking about?" Hiccup asked.
"Yeah, we can tell we miss something here." Hicca said in agreement.
"I do!" Ruffnut said as she raised her hand enthusiastically.
"Anybody besides Ruff?" The Haddock twins both asked.
Valerie then came up, "Long story short, the Sentinels were just asleep, trying to recover." She explained.
Fishlegs then flew towards them quite cheerfully. "And it was thanks to my baby Meatlug that we woke them up." He said, "She knew they were alive the whole time, that's why she wouldn't leave."
"Whatever." Tuffnut shrugged. "If you want to split hairs, yeah."
The Haddock twins sighed with relief. "Thank Thor this place can stay a secret now." Hiccup said in relief.
"The Flyers will never report back to Johann and Vanaheim has still remained secret." Hicca added with a smile. "I mean, who knows what could have happened if they found out?" She wondered.
"Oh, and as long as we're talking about good news…" Fishlegs said as he reached towards one of his pouches and pulled out the Dragon Eye lens. "Lens number seven, I believe."
Everyone just stared at him in bewilderment.
"The seventh and final lens to the King of Dragons!" Hicca called out in shock.
"Fishlegs, how?" Hiccup asked stunned.
"Seems Oswald knew even more than we thought." Fishlegs said.
Henry then shook his head and smiled, "Finally, we have all seven lenses!" He declared.
"And Johann still has a measly six." Snotlout added with a smirk.
"Meaning, we can find the King of Dragons before he does!" Raeda proclaimed with a smile.
Hicca beamed as things were starting to turn around for them, "Hiccup?" She started, looking at her brother eagerly.
Hiccup smiled and nodded, "Alright gang, back to the Edge." He told his friends, "And next stop: The Island home of the King of Dragons!"
The Riders all cheered and flew back to the Edge. Then Hicca remembered, "Hey, what happened to that Flyer you were watching?" She asked Fishlegs, Valerie and the Thorston twins.
The four stiffened and then looked at each other with a cringe look as Fishlegs spoke. "Let's just say that he won't be reporting to Johann as well." He said nervously.
"Yeah, he won't be doing anything at all for now on." Valerie added with a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, totally, nothing." Tuffnut agreed while Ruffnut nodded, both looking nervous.
The others look at them in confusion as they give a shrug, not knowing what that means, but as long as Vanaheim is safe, they have nothing to worry about as they continue flying home with the completion of their quest closer than ever.
(Linebreak)
At the new Dragon Flyer base, hunters were busy creating a large dragon proof cage, now doubt meant for the King of Dragons, and were preparing the ships ready to sail. Johann was standing upon a cliff observing everything when Krogan approached him with a disgruntled face.
"Let me guess. Your scouts aren't back yet, and they've been gone too long, so something must be terribly wrong." Johann assumed mockingly as he turned to face him with his arms behind his back.
Krogan merely growled at him in annoyance, which told Johann everything.
"No matter," Johann said dismissively. "What's important is that we have the final Dragon Eye lens."
"You were going to tell me where you managed to find it?" Krogan guessed.
"I didn't find it. It found me," Johann smiled. He then immediately gestured toward a dragon proof cage where it was tied to it was none other than Gruffnut. "Krogan, may I introduce Mr. Gruffnut Thorston." He said.
The Singetail inside the cage then immediately roared, frightening Gruffnut, who was captured when Johann, Krogan and the Hunters found him and had acquired the lens he found on the chest he took.
It seemed that getting to the King of Dragons would not be as easy as the Dragon Riders first thought.