It was early in the morning, and Hiccup was riding around on Toothless, doing some early-morning scouting before breakfast. Everyone was taking turns patrolling the area while looking for Dragon Hunters. Hiccup wasn't exactly dressed in all of his Dragon Rider armor, as he wasn't exactly expecting to be up this early. But Toothless practically broke down the door to go flying.
"Alpha quadrant checks out," Hiccup noted as he pulled out a map and marked the area. He then took in the area he was in. "You know, Bud? We don't do stuff like this alone anymore." He said as he patted the Night Fury on the head. "Nothing but you, me, water, and..." he stopped when Toothless seemed to see something in the distance. "What is it?"
Hiccup wondered what had his dragon so spooked and put the map away, grabbing his spyglass and placing it against his eye. He looked where Toothless was looking and could make out the faint outline of the ship in the distance, causing him to feel concerned. There didn't seem to be any sails or anyone even on deck, it was just floating there in the foggy and rocky waters. It doesn't seem like they dropped anchor there, either; the anchor is still above water.
He said, putting the spyglass away, "Let's get a closer look and check out what's going on."
They flew toward the ship, which was located in dense mist. The shape looked as if it had seen better days, and there was no sign of life; but, to be on the safe side, Hiccup pulled out the newly fixed and developed Inferno sword.
Hiccup gave a hand signal to his dragon to follow and to prepare for the worst. Toothless got ready for a plasma blast if the occasion called for it as they made their way to the lower decks. However, there was no sign of life.
"Abandoned." Hiccup guessed as he placed his sword away. "Let's get out of here,"
He had prepared to mount his dragon again to make their escape from this ship. He heard a gasp and a scream from below decks. Slowly, with a firm grip on his sword, ready to light it, he made his way below deck.
"Hello!" Hiccup shouted down.
Toothless sniffed the air and stood on end, letting out a small growl. Clearly sensing that something was wrong, Hiccup continued to lead them through the lower decks, but they still saw no signs of life.
"Hello? Is someone down here?" Hiccup called out to the ship, hoping to find some sign of life. As he spoke, he then smelled something horrible and disgusting. He gasped for breath, saying, "Ugh! What is that smell?"
Hiccup then went and lit up Inferno so they could go even further into the lower decks. But when he reached the cargo area of the ship, he gasped in horror as he saw what was inside.
"No!" Hiccup whimpered in fear.
Then suddenly, a man's hand grabbed onto his arm; it was green and rotten-looking, and Hiccup felt the nails digging into his skin through his clothes. He screamed in terror and ran as fast as he could to the ship's deck.
Once they were outside, Toothless looked at him with concern.
"It's okay, Bud," Hiccup assured, holding his arm. "It's just a scratch." He then sighed as he fixed his sleeve a little. "Let's get back to the Edge."
Hiccup then mounted on Toothless and flew as far away from the ship as possible, not even realizing the danger he was in.
Back at the Edge, everyone was starting to wake up as they began to go about their morning routine. The younger twins meant going out flying for some breakfast for them and their dragons. The Thorston twins were looking for something to blow up. Fishlegs was mumbling as he slowly walked around the place. Heather was helping Anna decipher her brother's terrible handwriting.
Elsa was relieved when she heard Dagur actually had found Stoick. It was a good feeling knowing that he was out there somewhere, and they just needed to find him. But as she was walking out of her hut, she heard that strange call once again which made her concerned.
"What is it this time?" Elsa wonders where this call was leading her.
She wasn't exactly in any hurry to get out there, considering the last time she did, she was frozen in ice and they lost Olaf. Not a day went by she didn't miss that little snowman. He was a true friend to them. She missed how he seemed to brighten up everyone's day, especially with his stupid facts.
Like how turtles can breathe through their butts. As well as that weird comment on how water has memory. She sighed as she walked down the steps towards the food hut when she almost tripped over the Night Lights, who were currently playing with each other.
Elsa made her way into the hut and found everyone but the twins (both) were missing, likely fishing and blowing stuff up. She sighed as she walked over to Heather and Anna, looking at the book of notes.
"Anything useful yet?" Elsa wondered where her adopted father had gone.
"Not much. It seems Dagur also used this book, just added in whatever Stoick was saying to him." Heather explained why it was taking so long.
Anna said, "I do have some ideas, but there wasn't much to go on." She added, "All I've got so far is something about him being headed somewhere in the north, and these strange carvings that look like dragons. Nothing yet to pin down a location yet."
Elsa nodded and knew they were going to need a bit more time to decipher it. "I wonder how he will react to see all of this."
Heather chuckled as she looked at the book. "He might call you insane for cutting your hair."
Elsa chuckled as she scratched her head, remembering how long it had been since she cut her hair to save Scauldy. "Yeah, this will be quite a surprise for him."
That was when the twins flew in with Burple spitting out a catch load of fish for the group. Heather chuckled and was a little proud of them since it would have taken them hours to catch that kind of fest.
"And I say breakfast is served," Dak said proud of himself.
"Don't let it go to your head, Dak." Leyla brought her brother back down to earth. "Summer was the one who lead that catch to you."
"Yeah, but Winger was the one who blasted it," Dak said.
"Doesn't that mean we did the work?" Winger asks.
"Yeah, shouldn't we get the credit then?" Summer wonders.
Heather tried to get them to stop one-upping each other. "You're both heroes in my book."
That seemed to calm both Dak and Leyla down after hearing their mother figure. Then they heard a screech and watched Toothless fly in and land.
"Hey, Hiccup. We were wondering where you could have gotten to. But you're just in time for dinner," said Heather as she walked over to hug him. However, he stopped her and pushed her aside, causing Heather to become concerned by his expression. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Hiccup still didn't talk as he walked into the room.
"What's wrong?" Elsa asked, having never seen Hiccup so quiet in her life. "Did you see something on patrol?"
"Yeah. You look like you've seen a ghost," Dak said with a chuckle, but noticing Hiccup didn't seem amused.
"What was it? Hunters? Trapped dragons? Viggo?" Fishlegs asked.
Then suddenly he felt an arm on his shoulder and turned to find Tuffnut standing there looking quite excited; the others then noticed that behind him was his sister, Astrid, and Snotlout.
"Oh! I love this game," Tuffnut exclaimed excitedly. "Okay, now it's my turn, everyone be quiet. Hiccup, is what you found bigger than a yak box?"
Hiccup shook his head and continued walking to the other side of the room. "I found a fishing boat."
"I'm supposed to guess before you tell me. Does anyone know how to play?" Tuffnut said indignantly. "But just for the record, a boat is bigger than a yak box. So, I'll just score this one win for the old T-nut. Scratch one off in the Tuffnut column."
Hiccup said as he stood silent for a moment. "The ship was just drifting out there. We went to take a closer look. But what we found inside it was…"
"Was what?" Snotlout fearfully asked.
"Bodies. The skin was all pale and green. We turned and got out of there as fast as we could." Hiccup recounted.
"Survivors?" Fishlegs asked in worried.
"One." Hiccup answered since he saw the others already dead when he got there.
"Then we need to go back out there and help them," Heather said.
"No," said Hiccup, halting their progress. "It's too late anyways." He then turned to them and became a bit stern. "Nobody goes out there. Until I say otherwise, that area is a no-fly zone. Do I make myself clear?"
Nobody had ever seen Hiccup this serious, so they all knew this must be serious. Everyone nodded their heads and saw that there was no disagreeing with him right now. Fishlegs, however, became pretty concerned when he heard what Hiccup was describing.
"Uh, Elsa? pale green skin? I hate to be the harbinger of doom, but..." Fishlegs says.
Elsa knew that he had picked up on what Fishlegs was contemplating and was worried. "I know what you're thinking, Fishlegs, but-"
"The Scourge of Odin." Fishlegs had already finished that thought.
"Okay!" Elsa immediately didn't want that idea to go any further. "Let's not just throw that word around too loosely, because-"
"Wait, back it up," said Snotlout as he approached in terror. "Did he just say 'Scourge of Odin'?"
Elsa sighed and knew that the panic was already setting in. "Yes, but there's no reason to panic."
"Right, no need to panic," said Snotlout sarcastically.
"The Scourge of what?" Dak wondered.
"The Scourge of Odin is just the plague that tore through the archipelago centuries ago, wiping out entire Viking villages! Yeah, why would we worry about that?" Snotlout asked as he started to panic and covered his mouth. "Quick, Hookfang! I need a mask for my mouth."
"Does that work?" Aggro wondered.
"Must be some mask if it can stop a disease," Cutter commented.
"Well, that's a long time coming." Tuffnut comments on what Snotlout said.
"Very funny," said Snotlout as he continued to run around. "I'm already feeling short of breath."
Ruffnut says, "We must burn our clothes!"
"No, no, no, no, no. No need to panic. I've got the answer," Tuffnut assured everyone. "Wait for it...!" he said and pulled out moldy bread. "Bing!"
"Moldy bread?" Anna asked. "You just keep that in your pocket?"
"I don't want to know what else he has in there," Echo says.
"You honestly think that's gonna cure the scourge?" Ruffnut asks.
"You bet, sis. Once I had a really bad cold. So, I decided to eat some moldy bread. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. But, boom! Instantly cured." Tuffnut explained to them. However, he noticed the look on all of their faces wasn't confident in his logic. "You scoff now, but one day, science will recognize my genius. They called old crazy uncle Henrik crazy."
"He is crazy, Tuffnut," Ruffnut reminded her twin. "He married his own beard."
"Okay, bad example. Let's go with your clothes-burning plan," Tuffnut went back to agreeing with her. "We'll keep them on you, just to be sure. Barf! Belch!"
Elsa sighed and realized she wouldn't be able to make any progress with everyone acting so crazy. Quickly stamping her foot on the ground, she froze the entire floor and caused everyone to either stop moving or slip.
"Let's not jump to conclusions and set ourselves on fire, eat moldy bread, or hyperventilate," Elsa tells the team as Snotlout is breathing into a mug.
"Snotlout, you can't catch the Scourge of Odin by breathing it in," Fishlegs informed him.
"I knew that," Snotlout says and tosses the mug.
"There hasn't been a single case of the Scourge for centuries. Plus, Hiccup got out of there right away." Elsa said as she walked up to him. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured her. "Listen, I didn't get much sleep. I'm going to go and lie down."
"Okay," Elsa guessed that was some sort of code. He couldn't stomach what he had seen and needed some time. "We can handle things out here for a while."
Nothing much else really happened the rest of that day. Everyone left Hiccup alone at the request of Elsa and Heather, and they didn't see much of him. Heather tried to check on him every now and then, but she ended up chasing the twins and whatever new thing that they had blown up.
When nightfall came, Heather retreated to her room to try and decipher where Stoick might have gone. There were a few strange markings that she felt she recognized, from her travels with the Wingmaidens. She decided to send a few notes to Atali to see if she could help decipher where he had gone.
Heather said, "Those are some weird-looking dragons." The dragons almost looked like statues from the sketches.
Then all of a sudden, her focus was interrupted when her door burst open. Heather shrieked and Windshear jumped to her feet and readied herself to strike. But both of them were shocked when they saw that it wasn't an attack or anything, but Toothless shrieking and running in circles.
"Toothless?" She was confused as to what was happening.
Toothless then turned to the door and looked up at Heather, giving a pleading look to her. Heather was wondering what was going on; she decided to follow Toothless as he made his way back to Hiccup's hut. She was now seriously concerned when she ran inside and wondered why Toothless had led her to his hut.
"Hiccup?" She made her way into his hut and wondered what was wrong. "Are you okay?"
Heather made her way up the stairs leading to Hiccup and Toothless' bedroom. What she saw was Hiccup sitting up and moaning, as if he had been hit in the head.
"Heather? What's wrong?" Hiccup wondered when he saw her there.
"I was going to ask you that," Heather commented as she walked over to him. "Toothless burst in and..."
Heather was interrupted when Hiccup began to cough; Heather noticed the scratch on his arm. She was shocked when she saw it and was worried, considering that she remembered him mentioning running into the Scourge of Odin.
The entire Edge had become...well, on edge after they were alerted to what happened to Hiccup. Luckily, all they needed to do was keep their distance unless it was necessary to approach him. Right now, Fishlegs and Heather were watching Hiccup while Elsa flew from Berk with Luna to get information on what could be happening to him. Figuring that it is the Scourge of Odin, they wanted to know if Gothi knew any kind of antidote that could cure the Scourge.
"So, how bad is it?" Heather asks Fishlegs in concern.
"You saw that scratch on his arm, right?" asked Fishlegs as he backed away.
Heather said, crossing her arms, "I thought it was something to worry about; especially when he said it wasn't anything to worry about."
"Thers no doubt about it. You saw how nervous he was when he got back from that patrol." Fishlegs said in worry. "He caught-"
"Okay, let's assume that he does. What's the cure?" Heather asked him, not wanting to hear him finish his sentence.
"I'm not sure. The only thing I know is that the Scourge moves swiftly, overtaking its victims within less than three moons." Fishlegs informed her of what he did know.
Heather looked up at the rising sun and started to worry. "One moon has already passed."
"I know," Fishlegs says. "Hopefully Gothi's notes will tell us something more." Fishlegs says as Elsa returns and Heather runs to snatch the notes.
"How is he?" Elsa asks as she hands the notes to Heather, worried for her brother.
"Not getting any better." Heather was sorry to say.
Elsa sighed as she walked over to her brother, leaving Heather to read the notes. "Hey, Hiccup," she said, "you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine, just feeling a little tired," Hiccup lied as he coughed a little.
Heather said, "Look, in Gothi's notes, there's a cure for the Scourge of Odin." She kept reading. "A green solution made from the saliva of a Buffalord dragon."
On hearing this news, Fishlegs started to look worried. So did Elsa. Heather felt like she was being left out on some important information she should be aware of.
"What?" Heather asks.
"It's just..." Fishlegs wasn't sure how to say it.
But Anna knew how to say it. "There are no more Buffalord Dragons left." Everyone turned to face Anna as she stood in the doorway. She didn't know Hiccup as long as Elsa or anyone else, but she was starting to see Hiccup as her brother as well and was worried for him. "They've all been hunted to extinction years ago."
"We don't know if they're gone for sure," Heather said firmly, knowing she'd do anything to save Hiccup. "If this is our only hope; we need to get out there and find one."
"We don't even know where to start looking," said Fishlegs. "There's no mention of the Buffalord anywhere. It's like they were wiped from history."
Hiccup groaned as he tried to stand up on his own. "Guys, look... I've already told you I'm..." He didn't even get to finish that sentence when he started to fall over. Elsa worked fast and grabbed him before he could hit the ground. "I'm fine," Hiccup insisted.
"Yeah, no, you're definitely not fine," Elsa said as she placed him back on the bed. "You are going to stay here until we find a Buffalord."
Anna asked, "How do you plan to keep him here?"
"It's times like this, I really wish Olaf was still here," said Elsa. She knew their snowman friend would have been useful in this situation.
"I'll watch over him," Leyla offered. She could see them all looking at her sheepishly from the doorway. "I can stay and make sure he doesn't go anywhere. I'll have Summer here to help."
Everyone was a little concerned, but they knew if Leyla kept her distance, Summer wouldn't be able to catch the Scourge. They would have someone watching Hiccup at all times and they could continue working on the Buffalord search.
By midday, the others were in the clubhouse, poring over every bit of information they had on dragons, from the Book of Dragons, to the sketches they'd made using the Dragon Eye. Snotlout and the twins would also be with them, having sifted through the piles of paper for any references to the Buffalord.
They only looked up when Heather returned from his hut.
"How is he?" Snotlout asked, actually sounding concerned for his cousin.
"Resting for now." Heather sighed as she placed her hands on her hips. She wished that she had something physical she could blame; that way, she'd have something to actually punch. She then looked to Anna and Fishlegs. "What have you guys found?"
"Nothing yet," Anna said as she kept her eyes on the notes, determined to help Hiccup without breaking focus. "I've done a double check through the Book of Dragons and even Leyla's Dragon Journal, but they only mention its existence and nothing about where it used to live."
Fishlegs said, "I spent the last few hours combing through my Dragon Eye research and found some old notes." He shrugged. "I didn't think much of them at first, but..."
Fishlegs then handed one of the papers to Heather, who looked it over and was relieved. "The Buffalord! But mostly on its appearance, nothing on location." She began to panic again. "There's really not much about it here at all."
Fishlegs stated, "It's big, has ram-like horns, and lives on the plains. That's something."
"Fishlegs, there are hundreds of islands out there, and most of them have grassy plains on them," Elsa said apologetically. "We've come across a hundred of them since we left Berk alone."
"Yeah, it doesn't really narrow down our search for this dragon." Dak added.
"We're gonna need something that narrows it down a little more," Astrid agreed.
"I'll keep looking," said Fishlegs as he went back to work.
Tuffnut then looked over some old drawings. "What's this stuff?" he asked.
"That's nothing," Fishlegs said dismissively. "Just some Dragon Eye tracings. No useful information. Just archaic dots and slashes."
Heather noticed the Thorston twins looking as if they had found something. "What? Wait, you guys saw something?" she asked, walking over.
"Yeah. We have a map." Tuffnut said.
"Wait, they do?" said Elsa in surprise.
"Duh! How do you guys not see that?" Ruffnut exclaimed.
They then placed the drawings on the table and rearranged them, and together they formed some sort of image.
"See?" said Tuffnut, pointing at the various markings. "These squiggles are water. That big nose is an island. Those slashes are sea stacks." He paused and then pointed to the image of a dragon. "And that there would be…"
"The Buffalord." Heather was relieved once again.
"How did you do that?" asked Snotlout in surprise, staring at the Thorston twins.
"We're experts at interpreting abstract images," said Ruffnut. "Watch and learn." She then pulled out several pieces of paper; one of them was just a straight line.
"A boat," Tuffnut said. Ruffnut nodded and showed him a picture with three lines. "A pineapple," she then said, showing him an oval which Tuffnut gasped at. "Mom."
Snotlout looked at Dak and Fishlegs, who simply shrugged at their behavior. Anna, however, was more interested in the drawings and seemed to realize something.
"Actually, I think I've seen this before." Anna said.
Anna then pulled out an old map that she had collected from her time with the twins out in the wild. She placed it down and laid the pieces of paper on top of it. She began moving them around until they formed some sort of landmark with the image of the Bufflord on it.
"We found it, guys! We found it!" Fishlegs exclaimed.
Heather slammed her hand down on the map in a fist. "We found the location. Just hope to Odin they still exist."
From Hiccup's hut, Leyla watched them fly into the sky to see if they could locate a Buffalord to save him. She was worried for him; she knew he definitely wasn't going to get any better anytime soon. He needed that antidote if they wanted him to start getting better.
"I think they found something," Leyla said as she walked back closer to Hiccup, still keeping a distance between them. She couldn't catch the scourge unless she got a cut or something from Hiccup, but she thought it was best to keep her distance for safety reasons. "They'll be back soon."
"Heh...I don't doubt it," Hiccup said with a smile. "But I think that was meant to reassure you, not me."
Leyla blushed as she began playing with her braid again. "I'm sorry. I'm just...I'm worried about you."
"I didn't say you couldn't be worried, kid," Hiccup assured her, knowing how scared she was. "We've been through worse than this. I'll be fine."
"I know, it's just...I was starting to feel close to you." Leyla explained as she started to close the distance a little. "It was like I had a father again."
Hiccup was beginning to understand why she was behaving this way and sighed. "I promise, Leyla. I'm not going anywhere." He then had to sit up so he could clear his lungs with a cough. "Yeah, I'm hurt right now, but I know you guys won't stop until you save me."
Leyla nodded as she approached and took his hand in hers to reassure him. "You're the best thing that could have happened to us, you know?"
Hiccup chuckled as he held the little girl's hand. "You and your brother are the best things to have ever happened to us."
Instantly, they mounted their dragons and flew toward the island on the map. Eventually, they found it; it was a small island with lots of grassy plains. They landed there and Heather turned to address the group.
"Now, these dragons were supposedly hunted to extinction," Heather reminded the riders. "So if there are any left, they will have developed a wariness toward humans."
"So if we see one, it will try to kill us on sight," Dak recapped.
Fishlegs added. "Which means we have to move quickly."
"And remember, according to Gothi, we have less than two moons to find this dragon and bring the cure back to the Edge," Elsa said, warning them of the urgency.
"Alright team, let's do this," Astrid said as they spread out.
Hours later, Windshear and Heather were flying over the island, but there was no trace of any dragons on it. They were both getting tired, but they pushed themselves to keep looking.
Heather nodded. "I know, girl. But we have to keep moving forward." She pointed at the stream. "Tell you what, let's grab a drink of water from there and we'll get back in the air."
They landed near the stream, and Windshear at once began to drink from it. Heather filled her jar and drank from it as well. Windshear then looked up and marched through the lake.
"What is it, girl?" Heather blinked.
She followed Windshear and found him sniffing a large pile of dragon poop; unlike the other piles she had seen, this one was green.
Later that night, Heather managed to gather the other Riders and they began to examine the poop. Fishlegs, in particular, was examining it with great interest.
"Large size. Unusual coloration," Fishlegs noted He then reached into it and grabbed a piece so he could sniff it. "Vegetation diet. Not the remains of any dragon unfamiliar with. And I know my dragon droppings."
"He knows our droppings that well?" Aggro asks in disgust. "Ew."
"Yeah, that's weird," Winger admitted.
"It has to be the Buffalord," Anna said. "It may explain why it lives on grassy plains; we've heard of herbivorous dragons before. We've come across a few of them before."
"Yeah, they're loads of fun." Dak agreed.
Fishlegs then held the piece of dung out to Heather who quickly moved away from it. "It's fresh. The last couple of hours," he said. "This dragon is still somewhere on this island."
"And, might I add, a very distinctive bouquet," said Tuffnut. "Sort of herbal. It's quite nice." He then picked a piece out and sniffed it just like Fishlegs had done earlier.
"Ew!" exclaimed Snotlout in disgust. He then saw Fishlegs sniffing it as well. "Double ew!"
"I'm with Snotlout," said Anna, looking a little green herself. "I know it doesn't smell like regular dragon poo, but please stop sniffing it like that." She pleaded, looking a little queasy. "You're gonna make me sick."
"Well, if it's here…we need to find it," Heather said as she looked around. She sighed and knew that would be a little difficult with how dark it was. "And of course it had to be at night."
"Hold on, I've got this," Aggro said as she stepped forward, knowing only a handful of them understood her. "Watch and learn."
Aggro then lit up the area so that it would be easier for her to see. Her method of lighting up the area was different from Hookfang's since she could glow instead of the usual Nightmare's way of lighting up by creating fire, which made it more difficult to see.
Heather used this opportunity to look around and noticed there were a few tracks in the ground that led away from the pile of poo. She could guess that the Buffalord had left in that direction since the tracks looked fresh.
"This way, come on." Heather said as she started to follow the tracks. "We've only got one more day to save Hiccup."
Aggro led the way, with Heather close behind her. They were following the tracks as they began to make their way through the island and up the hill. But as they reached the top of the hill, they found themselves at a dead end with the tracks.
Elsa guessed as she looked around. "The Buffalord must have taken to the skies."
"Great. So we're now back right where we started." Snotlout sighed in exasperation.
Heather looked around on the ground, feeling for anything that could help her out with tracking the dragon. But she was getting a little frustrated when she couldn't find anything to help.
Astrid said, "We've gotta hurry, Heather."
Heather was getting more frustrated. "I know."
"We've only got one more moon left," said Astrid, who had been growing increasingly concerned as time passed.
Heather, however, was more worried than she could have ever been. She had been there for Hiccup and Elsa the past year, and cared for them since she met them, but Astrid only now decided to care for them in the recent year.
"You know what?" Heather said, her voice filled with anger and needing to let it out. She also had a small boiling anger towards Astrid that seemed to have both burst at the same time. "I've had it." She stood up and turned to face Astrid, while Aggro noticed something. "You know, I can't help but notice how all of a sudden you have a care for Hiccup."
"What?" Astrid was a little confused by her friend's statement.
"You seem to only care about Hiccup now. Where was all of this when you all treated them like outcasts on Berk?" Heather asked as she looked not just at Astrid, but everyone else in the group. Elsa was also there, but she, Dak, and Anna stayed back. It seemed Heather had this built up, so it was best to let her blow off steam right now. Anna even covered Dak's ears just to be on the safe side. "They wanted to fit in with all of you, but you pushed them to the side. Belittled them for being different. You were going to stand by and let them be executed for crying out loud!"
Aggro then found something and looked at them. "Uh, guys?"
"Okay, we weren't exactly responsible for that," Astrid defended.
"Guys?" Aggro was still trying to get their attention.
"It's not like you put up much of a fight," Heather said with an angry look in her eye. "You didn't even care. You watched them disappear, and to you, until you needed them to help save your home, they basically never existed. I never blamed them for their faults—whether it was Elsa's magic or Hiccup's clumsiness."
Aggro cried out, "Guys!" Even though it sounded like a loud roar to them.
Heather and Astrid stopped arguing and turned to face her. Aggro was putting her nose to the ground, pointing something out to them. Anna walked over and felt the ground, shocked when she saw it was a dragon scale.
Anna whispered, "Dragon scales," as she examined the scales that had fallen in a trail. "This way!"
Heather and Astrid saw they were back on the trail and decided to stop their argument for now. Astrid thought about what she had said as Heather, Anna, and Elsa took the lead so she could have some distance. She was right; they were banished for the very same reason they were out learning. They ended the war against dragons, and were thanked by becoming outcasts from their own home. Stoick was banished for saving his kids, and then Berk was attacked because of it.
Astrid wondered if there was something she could do to help, but that would have to wait until Hiccup got better.
They made their way over the hillock just as the sun began to rise; however, when they reached the top, they were blinded by the sun and were unable to see anything.
"Nothing!" Snotlout yelled, who was shielding his eyes. "How could there still be nothing?"
Anna questioned, "You do know the sun is rising in front of us, right?" She continued, "We can't see in this bright light."
Cutter however, wasn't as affected by the sun as the rest of them were. He was able to look out and see that there actually was a dragon in the middle of the open field.
"No!" Cutter said and looked at Anna. "There's something out there."
"Is there?" Winger asks as he shelters his eyes with his wings.
When the sun's glare began to subside, everyone could finally see that the dragon was indeed there. They were relieved to know that their quest was nearly complete and all they needed to do now was retrieve the saliva.
"A Buffalord. Alive!" Snotlout was so excited to see.
They made their way down the hillside and slowly approached the Buffalord. Now they got a better look; they could see that it had golden-brown scales and that its head was similar to a tortoise's, with horns growing on either side, like a yak, and a single horn growing atop the skull. It also had very large wings, and four short legs positioned close to the middle of its body. Its body was quite bloated, so it must have been about thirty feet tall.
Anna commented in surprise, "That is the biggest, fattest dragon I've ever seen."
Elsa slowly made her way towards it and looked at the others. "You guys distract it," she said. Then she started making a cup with her ice. "And I'll get its saliva."
Fishlegs reminded her, "Be careful. We don't know anything about this dragon."
"I know," Elsa said. "But we need to make this quick. We're running out of time."
Fortunately, the Buffalord seemed more interested in grazing than any of them. Which was good, since one look from it had sent Fishlegs, Dak, Snotlout, and the Thorston twins running when it opened its mouth and yawned.
"Retreat!" Snotlout yelled.
Elsa, who was leaning against the wall, looked at Heather and Anna, who simply shrugged.
Who would have thought a dragon that had been nearly wiped out could be so docile around humans? Astrid said as she approached it head on and saw it didn't even seem to acknowledge her existence.
"You're telling me," Heather said in agreement as they kept their distance, but made sure that the Buffalord's attention was on them and not Elsa, who was making her way slowly towards its mouth.
"Okay," Elsa said, extending a cup. "Easy." A drop of saliva landed in the cup. "Finally," she said, looking at the others and holding the cup up high. "We got it!"
They all cheered.
"That was easy." Snotlout said.
"A little too easy," she said in agreement.
"Who cares? Let's get back to the Edge and get this to Hiccup." Anna said.
Elsa quickly mounted Luna and was ready to go. "Yeah, let's go," she said. But when she looked down at the cup, her eyes widened. "What the…" She gasped in shock. "The saliva dried up!"
"Oh, I knew it was too easy," Aggro said with a sigh.
Fishlegs sighed. "What do we do now?"
Elsa thought for a moment and looked at the dragon. "We can rope him and take him back to Dragon's Edge. It shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
"Yeah, let's just hope this pudgy one can even get off the ground," Dak said, jerking a thumb to the Buffalord which was still grazing.
A little while later, they roped the Buffalord, who didn't even seem bothered by anything they were doing.
"It's remarkably docile for a dragon of its size. Almost yak-like," Fishlegs said curiously.
"No wonder it was so easily hunted," Snotlout said, now seeing how the Buffalord was nearly wiped out.
"Yeah, he's got a point," said Cutter as he poked the dragon. "You gotta toughen up there, Buffy. You're giving us a bad name."
"Aww, he's kind of cute," said Ruffnut.
"Heather, can we keep him?" Tuffnut asked eagerly as Heather walked past them holding the rope firmly in her hands. "I promise I'll walk him and feed him and stuff. We only know he doesn't smell because of his poop. And he doesn't even act like it. Not like Ruffnut, who acts like her poop doesn't smell."
"We need to get him back to Hiccup," she said firmly.
They tied the rope onto Luna's tail and Elsa mounted her. Seconds later, they took off and almost immediately, they lost the slack; it became apparent that the buffalord didn't want to leave its home.
"Come on, big guy! Come on!" Elsa exclaimed, panicking at the realization that they had only a few hours left.
Eventually, the Buffalord took off, and they all soared off into the air. At first, everything was peaceful, but as soon as they were a few yards away from the island, the Buffalord began to act up. Almost immediately, it inflated and spiked out in every direction, looking like a puffer fish.
"Guys! I think something's wrong with the Buff." Snotlout called.
"Something's happening alright," Anna called out.
"What? We have no idea," Echo commented.
It had grown twice its normal size, snapping the rope and causing the other Dragon Riders to be pushed back. Elsa turned to face the Buffalord as it fired a large stream of fire from its mouth.
"No!" Elsa shouted as she blasted mist to stop the fire from hitting her. "We need to stay with it. We have to get back to the Edge."
Cutter muttered, "I knew I shouldn't have told him to toughen up; me and my big mouth."
Heather added in shock, "Looks like this dragon isn't as defenseless as we thought."
It then shot the spikes from its body, nearly impaling Fishlegs and the twins. It then turned around and started chasing Dak and Snotlout, shooting fire from its mouth. It then quickly landed back on the island and returned to its normal size, letting out a lazy grunt, as if nothing had happened.
"Okay. What was that about?" Snotlout asked as they flew behind it.
"He appears to be fine, so long as he's on his island," said Fishlegs.
"We try to move him; he will go crazy again. I don't see how we're going to get him back to the Edge," Anna said grimly.
"Great. So, now what?" Dak asked.
Heather could only see one option. "If we can't take the Buffalord to Hiccup-"
"Bring Hiccup to the Buffalord," Elsa finished and knew she had the fastest dragon. "I'm on it."
It was nearly sunset when Elsa returned with Leyla, Luna, and Hiccup, who was being carried by Toothless, who had also been carrying Hiccup on his back. They could tell just by looking at him from the ground that he was in even worse shape than before.
When they landed, Hiccup slid off Toothless' back, and Heather caught him in a bridal carry. He looked even worse than when they had left the Edge; his eyelids were pale green, his nose was fiery red, and he could barely speak a word. He was also shivering, indicating that he was cold.
Leyla said to her with a dreaded tone, "He doesn't have much time."
"Shh!" Heather whispered calmly to Hiccup. "Just rest. We're gonna beat this. I promise you. You just need to keep fighting, and hold on." She then laid him down next to a rock and looked at her boyfriend. She had never felt this more desperate in her life or this scared. The only time she could think of was when her father died, and her brother disappeared. "You need to stay with us," she said, cupping his cheek and offering a smile. She had lost so many people; she wasn't going to lose him. "I can't imagine a world without you in it."
Leyla backed off to let them have a moment and looked at the others. "Where's the Buffalord?"
"Right over there," Astrid said as she pointed to the dopey-looking dragon who glanced at her and simply grunted before resuming eating some grass.
Leyla raised an eyebrow at the sight. "That's the dragon that was causing you guys so much trouble?"
Dak then let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Don't let that fool you."
Elsa then made her way to the buffalo and carefully took another sample of saliva from it. She quickly made her way over to Hiccup and presented him with the cup.
"Here. Here you go." Elsa said as she poured the saliva down his throat.
However, there was no effect; in fact, Hiccup looked even worse than he had been.
Heather exclaimed in a panic, "There's nothing happening."
Anna said, "It may take some time for the antidote to work."
Hiccup then coughed, rather violently, and began to shiver even more than before. Yes, he was definitely getting worse.
"No. She's right, something is wrong." Astrid said in agreement as she looked at Hiccup with worry.
Fishlegs then looked through Gothi's notes again. "It says the green solution of the Buffalord will cure the Scourge." He read in panicking. "'Green solution'. 'Cure'. That's all it says."
"But the Buffalord saliva is clear," said Elsa, growing more perplexed. "What does it mean, 'green solution'?"
Snotlout turned and saw the Thorston twins eating grass. "How can you guys eat at a time like this?"
"Hey, people deal with stress differently, okay," said Ruffnut defensively.
"And we're eating what the Buffalord eats, because, hey, who doesn't want sweet-smelling droppings?" Tuffnut asked.
"It's a victimless crime," said Ruffnut.
Leyla, however, wasn't questioning it; she studied it. When she looked closer, the saliva that was exiting from the Thorston twins' mouths was green. She gasped as she realized that there had to be a special connection between the island and the Buffalords.
She said in realization, getting their attention. "I've got it... The herbs. It must be what the Buffalord eats, mixed with its saliva, that creates the antidote."
"Which would stand to reason as to why it won't leave this place," Fishlegs said. "It can't be away from the herbs it eats."
"So, we just need him to eat the herbs to create the green solution," said Heather, her face full of worry and clutching Hiccup's hand. "Hang in there, Hiccup. Just a little longer. Please." She caressed his face once more. "For me. For us."
Snotlout began to lead the Buffalord toward a patch of herbs. "Come on, Big Buff," he said as the Buffalord followed. "You worked up a healthy appetite trying to kill us earlier. So eat." He demanded, pointing to the herbs. "Eat!"
Buffalord did just that and took a huge bite out of the herb. Heather slowly made her way toward the Buffalord with the cup in her hand.
"Come on. Keep going. Eat it up," Heather said.
In no time at all the Buffalord's saliva began to turn green.
"Yes!" Fishlegs cheered.
Heather was about to take a sample when, out of nowhere, a net fired. She quickly rolled out of the way, but the net trapped the Buffalord without it even struggling. They turned and found Viggo and Ryker leading their Hunters toward them.
"Viggo!" Elsa snarled as she began to freeze the ground beneath her.
The hunters quickly surrounded the Buffalord, and Viggo smiled at them. "Hello, friends. Thank you so much for this gift," he said, gesturing to the Buffalord. "I do apologize that you won't be able to use it to save your little friend."
Viggo pointed at the sickly Hiccup. Astrid, Anna, and Snotlout slowly backed away as their dragons landed behind them, preparing for a fight.
"But how?" said Fishlegs. "There's no trace of this island anywhere. How did he find it?"
"Who cares?" Snotlout retorted. "We've been dying for some action."
"And if he gets that dragon, we'll never be able to cure Hiccup," Leyla pointed out.
Then both Dak and Snotlout took to the air, only for a hunter to aim his crossbow at them.
"Let's knock some down for Hiccup, girl," Elsa said to Luna.
Then a hunter appeared with a cart, no doubt so they could transport the Buffalord off the island. The three of them then charged straight at the Hunters.
Ryker said, "Dragon Riders. Incoming."
The three dragons use their breath attacks on the Hunters, but it was more of a warning shot than anything else.
"Show them no mercy," Viggo ordered before pointing to the Buffalord. "But safeguard our prize."
The Thorston twins and Snotlout then took flight as well, leaving Fishlegs and Astrid to tend to Hiccup. The hunters began to fire their bolts at the riders, but they proved too agile. Snotlout managed to nearly take out one of the Hunters, but he rolled away just as the fire blast struck him.
"Guys, I can't get a clear shot," Anna said.
"Me either," Elsa added.
Then one of the Hunter's bolts struck Barf and Belch, and they landed on the ground. They were about to take down the twins, but Elsa fired a blast of mist at the Hunters. Luna then used her plasma blast to push the other hunters back, in order to protect the Thorston twins from any more arrows.
"Pull up, riders," Heather said as she grew increasingly agitated with Viggo. "We can't risk harming the Buffalord."
"If that dragon gets hurt or worse, we lose the cure," Elsa added.
The hunters surrounded the Buffalord, making it impossible for them to get a clear shot.
Heather pleaded, "Viggo, release that dragon. You have no idea what you're doing."
"Oh, I beg to differ, my dear Heather," said Viggo smirking. "I'm keenly aware of my actions. This dragon is exceedingly unique." He then placed a hand on the Buffalord. "It will elicit a considerable bounty on the open market." Viggo then looked straight at Hiccup, who continued to grow more pale. "You should have left well enough alone. My fishing boat was no place for you or any of your Riders."
"Your fishing boat?" Heather gasped in surprise.
"It's simple, really. Supply and demand. I knew where to get the supply; if I could only generate the demand." Viggo says and looks at Hiccup who's clinging onto life.
Fishlegs gasped as he looked at his friend, "You're a monster!"
"Fishlegs," Viggo said in a hurt voice. "I'm shocked. I'd have thought you were above name-calling. Monster? No. Savvy businessman? Indeed."
"And what if the dragon was extinct?" Elsa asked of him.
"I tend not to dwell on the 'what if's, my girl," Viggo says to her. "Leaves you barren."
"What are we waiting for? Let's take this psycho out already!" Snotlout said and Heather agreed as she got ready to blast him with her staff.
"What are we waiting for?" Snotlout asked. "Let's take the psycho out already!"
"Ryker," said Viggo.
Ryker then drew his sword and placed it near the Buffalord and raised it.
"No!" Heather yelled.
"I would think twice about your actions," Viggo advised.
"And your profits?" Elsa pleaded.
"As I said, business is business." Viggo simply said. "This? Oh, it's a loss I'm willing to incur. The question is, are you?"
Elsa looked down at Hiccup, who was getting even worse. As much as they all hated it, they had no choice. They couldn't just let him kill the Buffalord.
"Okay, Viggo," said Heather in defeat. "You win. Take him. Take the dragon. But leave us with what we came here for the Scourge antidote. Buffalord saliva." She snarled and Windshear readied her tail. "I'm not leaving here without it. That's a loss I'm not willing to take."
"Do we have a deal? Or are we both leaving here empty-handed? Your call." Elsa asks Viggo.
Viggo decides to allow it and calls off Ryker as Heather flew down to take the saliva. She approached and grabbed a cup off of the cart as she approached the dragon. Windshear was watching her back so there were no last-moment dirty tricks.
"I've truly missed our time together, you and your dragon riders are much to admire, Heather. My brother leaves something to be desired in the repartee department." Viggo says as Heather doesn't even face him but looks angry.
As soon as she takes it, she walked over to Hiccup and pours it into him. As he swallowed it, they see it work as the color returns to his face and he is even able to stand up and hug Toothless as he's happy his Rider is going to be okay. Luna ran over and engulfed him in a hug, to which Hiccup chuckled and returned the gesture.
"I'm afraid our time must end, Hiccup," Viggo promises him and leaves with the Buffalord. Hiccup looked on, not breaking the hug and seeing Viggo leave. "We will continue our contest in due time."
"He won't get far. Let's go after him." Tuffnut says.
"No. Stand down. We agreed to let him leave the island with the dragon." Heather said with a grin. "And that's exactly what we're gonna do."
On the Dragon Hunter ship, Viggo was watching the island and anticipating the arrival of the Riders, who he expected would attempt to rescue the dragon.
Ryker says to Viggo, "The beast has been secured in the transport ship."
"Excellent," Viggo said as he saw that there was nobody coming. "A bit disappointing. But then again, they are men of their word. Something to admire in that."
But that was when, suddenly, the Buffalord felt the distance between himself and the island. He began to swell up again and fought back, breathing fire to try and escape the ropes and burning the ship in the process.
"What's it doing?" Ryker asks.
Viggo realizes that the riders must have known this would happen. "Release it! Release the beast!" he shouts at the men, as the buffalord flies off and the ship begins to sink.
The dragon returned to the island, and the riders saw he was going to be okay. Hiccup wasn't sure what he had just witnessed, and neither was Leyla.
"Wow, that happened," Leyla said.
"Yeah, it sure did," Hiccup chuckled. "Well, there's only one thing left to do."
"There do I see my father, my mother, and my brothers and my sisters. They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave shall live forever."
Everyone flew over the ship with the last of the Scourge of Odin on it. They shot a flaming arrow and watched as it started to burn Viggo's ship down. They knew that it was the mercy thing to do if there were any survivors on that ship, so they sighed in relief. They returned to the Edge, leaving Hiccup and Heather behind.
"What are you thinking about?" Heather asks him.
"This might be just the beginning." Hiccup tells her. "Something Viggo said about knowing where the supply was." He recalled what Viggo said, even though he was barely conscious at the time. "You don't think he could have unlocked the Dragon Eye, do you?"
"How could he have done that?" Heather asked. "He doesn't have a Snow Wraith Key."
"Well, he found the Buffalord on his own. And we need to find out how." Hiccup replied. But he decided to put that on hold and smiled at Heather. "Thanks for going through all this for me."
Heather said, "You'd have done the same for me in a heartbeat."
"I can't imagine a world without you in it, either," Hiccup admits, and the couple fly off back home.
Elsa watched as they flew back to the Edge and started to make their way toward Hiccup's hut. And then she smiled. She was about to walk back to her room when all of a sudden she heard the voice calling out to her again.
She looked out and wondered what it was that was calling her. What was this strange calling?
