Chapter 5: Dragon Bludvist

On the open seas at midday, Eret's ship carves a defiant path North, leaving the last glimpses of Lapland in its wake.

Eret stands on the bowsprit, eyeing the waves intently, searching the surface. He turns toward the deck, where his crewmen man the gunwale cannons, sights trained to the sky. "Keep your eyes peeled, lads!" He ordered his men. "With this wind, we'll reach Drago by daybreak, so best we fill this ship up with dragons and quick! It's no time to be picky. Not if we want to keep our-" He was cut off when one of his men spoke.

"Uh... Eret?" Ug pointed out to the sky nervously.

Eret turns in the direction Ug is pointing to see two pairs of dragons flapping toward them. "HEADS! OFF THE PORT QUARTER!" He called out to his mens as the crewmen swung the net cannons toward the back-lit, silhouetted dragons, drawing ever closer. "Net `em, lads! Take `em down!" He called out as he loaded a cannon and took aim. He spots the Haddock twins, Henry and Astrid riding the dragons. His eyes narrow, determined. "You're not getting away this time." Nets fly through the air. The Haddock twins, Henry and Astrid outmaneuver them and dive toward the ship, landing on the deck with a clatter. "And here I was worried we might turn up empty-handed." hH said in a slight mocking tone.

Astrid and Henry brandish their weapons in invitation. Hiccup indicates for them to lower it, then he and his sister hold up their hands in surrender.

"Nope. It's your lucky day." Hiccup started.

"We give up." Hicca finished as Eret's crew exchanged confused stares. As does Astrid and Henry.

"That's two Night Furies, a Deadly Nadders, and a Snifflehunch." Hiccup states as He dismounts Toothless and tosses a net over Astrid. "Four of the finest dragon riders west of Luk Tuk." He stated.

"That ought to make the boss happy, right?" Hicca asked the mens with a smirk as they looked on in confusion.

Astrid and Henry grumble. Hiccup takes Astrid's ax while Hicca takes Henry's sword, hands them to Eret, and escorts them past the men to the open live well.

"Excuse me." Hicca said to Eret's men as they led two of their friends down the ladder. Astrid glares at Hiccup while Henry gives a confusing look at Hicca, plainly hating the plan.

"What are you two doing?" Astrid asked them in disbelief.

"We're just giving up like that?" Henry asked in disbelief as well while also confused on what the Haddock twins were planning.

"Just go with it. Trust us." Hicca pointed out.

Toothless and Midnight try to follow them, but the Haddock twins hold them back.

"Toothless, stay." Hiccup ordered his dragon.

"Same goes for you, Midnight." Hicca added as their dragons obey. Hiccup flips the latch, lowering the hatch as Eret watches, confused.

"The dragons don't really care for cramped spaces, so they'll just hang out with you." Hiccups informs them.

"They're won't be any trouble." Hicca replied as Eret's men nervously directed their swords and spears toward Toothless and Midnight as they snarled at them.

"Unless you do that. Wooden boat, big ocean. How's your swimming?" Hiccup asked the men.

"Because the dragons might sink this ship and we are above icy water." Hicca pointed out with a smirk.

"Not good." One of Eret's men answered in fear as a burst of flame erupts from the live well, causing the crewmen to jump back. The Haddock twins thrust their Dragon Blades through the grate.

"Oops. Almost forgot. Can't have armed prisoners!" Hiccup pointed out.

"How is this a plan?" Astrid asked her boyfriend and his sister.

"We need to fool them to get to Drago, Astrid. So we can talk him out of this war thing." Hicca answered for her.

"Ah, okay. We see where you're going." Henry nodded, now understanding their plan.

Hiccup retracts the blade and offers it up. "Better give them yours sis." he said to Hicca as she brought up her Dragon Blade as well. A crewman cautiously takes it, looking it over. The pommel of the hilt is expelling green gas. "Just what every dragon trapper needs. One end coats the blade in Monstrous Nightmare saliva. The other sprays Hideous Zippleback gas. All it takes is a spark and…" he was interrupted when the curious crewman clicked the lighter, igniting the gas. Hiccup ducks as the sudden explosion sweeps over the deck. "Oh, yeah, there you go!" he called out as Toothless pawed at the embers.

"Once they see you as one of their own, even the greatest dragons can be trained, my dragon blade colors are Flightmare algae mixed with Monstrous Nightmare and Zippleback gas together so it could tell mines and Hiccups apart, right, girl?" Hicca said to Midnight as she and her mate gurgled and fell over. "But have any of you ever seen a sword turn into a battlestaff as well?" She asked the crew as she extended the hilt of her Inferno as another blade was brought out, extending a bit to form a fiery blue battlestaff with the middle part to hold on.

When she lost her first battlestaff from Johann during their final battle with him on Berserker Island when they protected the egg of the King or Queen of dragons while also losing her first Inferno, she saw fit that she would combine the two weapons while also making the upgrades Viggo showed them in his fire sword after the inspiration, so Hicca made a weapon that is both a retractable fire sword/battlestaff into one weapon. Which is very effective and fitting for her fighting skills.

"Oooo!" Eret's men said in awed at seeing Hicca's weapon being both a fire sword and a fire battlestaff.

"Give me those!" Eret orders his men as he snatches the dragon blades and hurls them overboard. Stormfly and Sparkfire bolts after them. "What game are you playing?" He said in suspicious of the Haddock twins.

"No game. We just want to meet Drago." Hiccup simply said as Stormfly and Wildstar brought his and his sister's dragon blades return in a flash, dropping it at Eret's feet like a fetching dog, tongues wagging. Eret throws them again, frustrated. Stormfly and Wildstar return with them just as quickly.

"Why?" Eret questioned.

"Because me and my brother are going to change his mind about dragons." Hicca explained, which resulted in Eret and his crew to laugh. Astrid and Henry poke out as well.

"They can be really persuasive." Astrid pointed out.

"Just like what happened to Trader Johann, as if you two remember." Henry added as he reminded them of their final battle with the dragon hunters and flyers.

The Haddock twins simply patted their, thoughtfully. "Once you've earned their loyalty, there is nothing a dragon won't do for you." Hiccup pointed out as Eret scoffed it off.

"Puh! You won't be changing any minds around here." Eret stated the outside of their rules.

"We can change your minds. Right here. Right now." Hicca stated as she and Hiccup walked up to their perspective Night Furies as Hiccup sets Toothless' tail in the locked, splayed position. Causing Eret to sneers, suspicious.

"May we?" Hiccup asked but then suddenly, he and his sister were snatched into the air! Dragons blur past.

The crewmen scramble to the net cannons as a flurry of wings streak past, gashing holes in the sails and slicing through rigging.

"Dragon riders!" Eret called out as Toothless and Midnight shrieks and bounds up the mast, spotting Hiccup and Hicca in the talons of a Monstrous Nightmare. The Night Furies relax, realizing that it's Hookfang.

"Put us down! Snotlout! What are you doing?!" Hiccup questioned their cousin.

Snotlout looks back to see if Raeda witnessed the save. "See how well I protect and provide?" He asked Raeda.

Raeda chuckled, "Yes, very good rescuing Snotlout and whoa-!" She said before dodging a net that whizzes past her.

"Aggh! What is with all the nets?!" Tuffnut questioned in surprise as he and Ruffnut dodge the nets too.

Ruffnut turns to the culprit. "Hey watch it! That was close…" She stops as she spots Eret, firing nets from the deck of the ship. She looked at Eret's glistening biceps, shuddering as he blasts the net cannon, aimed directly at her. "Oh, my." she said dreamily, as the net unraveled. "Me likey." she said as the net enveloped Ruffnut as she yielded to it, blissfully. "Take me." she added.

Hiccup and Hicca flips upside-down in the Hookfang's talons and kicks off, pulling their wing-suits flaps.

Eret takes aim, but Henry shoves him, throwing off the shot, "OH NO YOU DON'T!" he called as Astrid steps in.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Astrid called out to both trappers and their team.

Hiccup and Hicca glides unsteadily towards the ship and collides with its sail. They slide down the canvas and drop to the deck. Toothless and Midnight lands behind them.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?!" The Haddock twins called out angrily.

Suddenly, Gobber and Grump land on the deck, scattering Eret's crew. "We're here to RESCUE you two!" He called out.

"We DON'T NEED to be rescued!" Hiccup shouted.

"We were trying to get to Drago until-" Hicca was cut off.

"ENOUGH!" Stoick's voice shouted as he and his Rumblehorn, Skullcrusher touched down on the bow heavily. Stoick dismount Skullcrusher, fuming in rage.

"Dad?!" Hicca exclaimed, "How'd you find us?!"

"We followed the trail of chaos you two always seem to leave." Alvin answered as he flew in on his new Whispering Death he named Groundspitter.

Eret blocks Stoick, cocky and confident. "Well, didn't you just pick the wrong ship, eh? I am Eret, son of -" He was cut off when Stoick shoves his face aside, sending Eret slamming into Grump. Before he can react, Gobber clubs Eret on the head, sending him collapsing to the deck. Grump then sits on him, smothering him into submission. "Get... this... thing... off... me!" he demanded with a panting and suffocating.

Gobber turns to the other crewmen, with a smile. "Anyone else?" he mockingly asked as Eret's men eye the Vikings, armed and flanked by their dragons. They set down their swords. "That's what I figured." He said with a smile.

Stoick walked up to his children. "You two. Saddle up. We're going home." he ordered them.

"No." The Haddock twins said.

Stoick rolled his eyes. "Of all the irresponsible -" He was cut off by his kids.

"-We are trying to protect our dragons and stop a war!" Hiccup told him.

"How is that irresponsible?!" Hicca asked.

"BECAUSE WAR IS WHAT HE WANTS, KIDS!" Stoick yelled out in anger. Hiccup and Hicca glare at him, frustrated.

Alvin then walked over to Stoick, and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Stoick, you need to tell them." He said, knowing Stoick had to tell his kids what he knew about Drago.

Stoick sighs, and nods before looking in awe somberly. "Years ago, long before you two were born and before Alvin was banished, there was a great gathering of chieftains to discuss the dragon scourge we all faced," he started.

(Linebreak)

Flashback:

In the Viking's Hall, a hulking, cloaked figure strides confidently into the fire-lit hall, interrupting a council meeting of Viking chieftains.

Into our midst came a stranger from a strange land, covered in scars and draped in a cloak of dragon skin. He carried no weapon and spoke softly, saying that he, Drago Bludvist, was a man of the people, devoted to freeing mankind from the tyranny of dragons.

One of the chieftains among the others is Stoick, some twenty years younger, seated in a throne, studying the impudent stranger with suspicion while stroking his beard.

He claimed that he alone could control the dragons and that he alone could keep us safe, if we chose to bow down and follow him.

The Viking council erupts in mocking laughter.

Flashback cut off:

(Linebreak)

Snotlout, Fishlegs, Valerie and the Thorston Twins snicker.

"Control dragons? Please." Valerie snorted.

"Stupid." Ruffnut stated.

"Good one." Tuffnut comment but Stoick still has his serious face.

"Aye. We laughed, too…" Stoick said grimly as he continued his story.

(Linebreak)

Flashback continues:

Until he wrapped himself in his cloak and cried out, intimidating Drago's voice.

"Then see how well you do without me!" Drago Bludvist yelled out as he pulled the dragon skin cloak over himself and marched toward the door. Above, dragon fire rips through the ceiling, bringing down flaming timbers, followed by dragons covered in heavy metallic armor. They blast fire as panic ensues.

The rooftop suddenly burst into flames, and from it, armored dragons descended, burning the hall to the ground.

End of Flashback:

(Linebreak)

Back in the present, Stoick finished the story as he still had goosebumps of that day.

"I... was the only one to escape." Stoick said in singing regret.

The Dragon riders exchange spooked glances.

Alvin turned to Dagur and Heather, "Your grandfather also perished in that blaze, and your father blamed Berk for it, and nearly declared war until Stoick explained what happened." He said.

Heather looked shocked beyond word as Ragnar placed a hand on his shoulder while Dagur looked away with a frown.

"Whoa." Raeda broke the silence. "That is a new level compared to what we face over the years." She added as Stoick nodded his head in agreement.

"Kids, men who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with." Stoick said to his kids.

"Maybe." Hiccup said in not gonna stop there as his sister nodded in agreement with him.

"Kids…" Stoick tried to reason with them more but was cut off.

"We're still going to try, Dad." Hicca stated as she and Hiccup mounted Toothless and Midnight and locked eyes on their father.

"This is what we're good at. And if we could change your mind... We can change this too." Hiccup added as he looked at Toothless. "Come on." He said to his dragon.

"Let's go, girl." Hicca said to Midnight as the two Night Furies along with their riders, took to the air, leaving everyone stirring in awkward silence.

Astrid and Henry mounted Stormfly and Wildstar. "Let's go." Astrid said to her dragon and to Henry as well.

"We have to follow them." Henry said.

"No!" Stoick yelled to them.

"But Chief-" Henry was cut off by Stoick.

"Lead the others back to Berk. I've had enough mutiny for one day." Stoick ordered as Henry and Astrid stirs, conflicted, as Stoick stomps toward Skullcrusher, fuming. He passes Ruffnut, who's busily fondling Eret's biceps as he lays crushed under Grump.

"Ooh, I like that." Ruffnut said dreamily.

"Ruffnut!" Stoick called out in anger.

"Ugh! Okay!" Ruffnut said in petulant as she stopped fonding over Eret's biceps and went to her brother and their dragon as they took off. Ragnar and Heather however looked at each other and nodded.

(Linebreak)

In the sky at sunset, miles away from the boat they were from, The Haddock stares ahead, frustrated, as Toothless and Midnight glides over a bed of clouds, glowing in the low, Arctic sun.

Hiccup and Hicca yell, then slumps back onto their saddles.

Toothless and Midnight recoils, sensitive to the Haddock twins upset.

The steam from their breath mixes in the frigid air. "Don't worry, guys. We're not gonna let anything happen to you two." Hiccup started.

"We promise." Hicca added as she petted Midnight's head.

"Hope that's a promise you can keep." The Twins turned and saw Heather and Ragnar flying towards them, "Hey guys." Heather said with a smile.

"Heather? Ragnar?" Hicca said as she sat up, "I thought would've told you to-"

Ragnar chuckled, "Your dad may be a chief, but he's not our chief." He explained, "If this Bludvist guy is as Dangerous as your dad Says he is, you're gonna need some backup."

Windshear, Skully, Toothless and Midnight's perk up as they sensed something. They glances over their shoulders to see a disturbance in the blanket of clouds. A strange and arresting masked warrior rises from the clouds, standing upon something unseen. Its armor and cape flap in the buffeting turbulence.

The warrior eyes the four Riders and their dragons pulling up alongside them. Hiccup and Hicca senses the approaching figure in their periphery and sits up, flustered.

"Aw, come on, Dad! Really?!" Hiccup yelled in anger.

"Are you still trying to…" Hicca tried to say before Heather stopped her.

"Um, guys? That's not Stoick." She said, looking at the masked person in shock as Ragnar and the Haddock twins whirls then freezes in shock, mouth agape.

"That's definitely not our dad." Hicca pointed out in shock.

"It sure is not." Ragnar said in agreement.

The warrior stares blankly, tilting his head in curiosity while cutting a menacing silhouette. Then, just as gradually as he rose, the warrior dips back beneath the clouds, disappearing.

"Where'd he go?" Ragnar asked, looking at the clouds.

"Okay." Hiccup said in alarm. "No sudden moves guys." He said to his sister, their friends and their dragons.

Suddenly, the warrior explodes out of the clouds before them, standing atop a large dragon. They circle the Haddock twins, Heather, Ragnar, Windshear, Skully, Toothless and Midnight, forcing them to tread air. The warrior points a staff towards the riders, unnervingly, as they return to face them.

"Hold on, hold on." Hiccup said to Toothless.

"Easy, girl. Easy." Hicca said to Midnight.

The two Night Furies, Razorwhip and Boneknapper growls a warning. Suddenly, they're ambushed from behind. The Haddock were plucked off of their dragons by two dragons and carried off.

"Hiccup! Hicca!" Both Heather and Ragnar called out as they dodge some incoming dragons that tried to catch them as well as they flew out into a small distance.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cried out as his male Night Fury was falling when his tail was unmanned.

"Midnight! Help Toothless!" Hicca called out as the female Night Fury rushed down to save her mate as the Haddock twins were carried off.

"We have to go after them!" Ragnar called out to Heather.

"But we can't just leave Toothless down there! He can't fly without Hiccup!" Heather pointed to Toothless falling as Midnight flew down after her mate.

"Midnight got it covered! They want us to save Hiccup and Hicca!" Rangar pointed out. "They are Night Furies, even on the ground, they are stronger together!" He reasoned.

Heather looked to where Midnight and Toothless were falling while looking to where the Haddock twins were taking off with the mask rider and his dragons as she looked conflicted as she gave a sigh.

"Okay, but we're going back for Midnight and Toothless once we rescue Hiccup and Hicca." Heather said.

"Got it." Ragnar nodded as he looked ahead. "Let's go!" He called out as he and Heather flew off as fast as they could to save the Haddock twins while also making sure the dragons and the mask rider didn't see them.

Toothless plummets helplessly. He flaps wildly then crashes through the ice into the black, frigid water. FaIling and crying out, he struggles to stay afloat.

'Toothless!' Midnight voice is heard as she flies down to her mate and pulls him out of the water. 'Are you okay?' she asked in worried.

'Aside of being freezing and wet in this weather, I'm alive MIdnight.' Toothless replied as his mate licked him in the cheeks as Midnight purred from that in relief.

They both watch as the Haddock twins disappear into the night sky, carried off in the talons of the strange dragon - one of tens that accompany the warrior in a cavalcade while Heather and Ragnar flew after them to try and save them.

'We gotta help them!" Toothless bellows in distress as he desperately tries to take to the air, but can't due it to his tail.

'Toothless, we both know you can't fly without Hiccup. And I can't leave you alone out here. We need to find another way.' Midnight told her mate. 'I just hope Heather and Ragnar can save them.' She warbled in worry.

'I'm sure they'll save them. They never leave their friends behind, like us.' Toothless warbled reassuringly while nuzzling Midnight as she nuzzled back.

What the two Night Furies didn't know was that a group of spiny dorsal fins split the ice, carving a path towards them.

Beneath the ice, a pod of Seashockers approach, two-headed, with Manta Ray-like wings gliding silently in the gloom. Fixated on the Haddock twins, Toothless and Midnight are caught by surprise as the Seashockers surface and drag them under. Hiccup and Hicca's helmets pop to the surface, marking all that remains.