I can't stop thinking about the mysterious letter I gotten a month ago. Whoever they are, they said that me and the others would meet a threat worse than Dagur. A tribe of Dragon Hunters. As if this is the only thing to worry about, no. Another concern is that someone from the past joined them, someone from my old tribe, the Blooders.
The Blooders were where I was from and born before coming to Berk. I was the second son of their Chief, who hates me with a passion, even before my rebirth. I also had a brother who liked beating me up because I was weak. I was known as the Wretch and I hate the title and anything compared to it with a passion.
If it's true, which I doubt it is, I need to prepare for our new enemies as well as gain new allies. The mysterious Shifter said that me and my friends will meet more Shifters along the way on our journey. I wonder who these Shifters are and what species they are. I bet one of them is Songstress, a Death Song Shifter, who me and my friends helped in the past along with her bond sister. Then there's Tyse, a cheerful Night Terror Shifter, who we already befriended and she proved to be a reliable ally, ignoring her disturbing sadistic tendencies. Oh then there is that Snow Wraith Shifter that almost killed us.
Each of these Shifters have special powers like I do and I have to admit, I'm a little nervous on meeting our next Shifter encounter. Who knows what powers they are capable of. Despite my nervousness, I'm prepared to face them and befriend them. I wouldn't be the Alpha Shifter if I wasn't.
For now though, my worries are on another subject. For weeks, some dragon has been trying to kick off Dragon's Edge. They started wrecking everything around our base for no reason. This ticked me off. Months of hard work and some unknown dragon is wrecking everything? Not on my watch. Me and Tyse searched the island, but surprisingly the dragon eluded us. We were able to identify the dragon though. Qah Fonaar, translation for Armored Charge. I did not understand the name and Wolf said it is what it is. My friends renamed the species Rumblehorn and I have to agree with them.
We were all asleep in the clubhouse except for Tyse and Snotlout who were on Rumblehorn watch duty. I was resting next to Toothless and Hiccup dreaming sweet dreams of happier times. Snotlout was getting sleepy as he slowly closed his eyes only to snap back awake. "Ah!" He screamed looking around panicky before rubbing his eyes. Tyse was the only one not affected from the lack of sleep as her eyes remained alert on the forest floor.
"Why do we have to be the ones to stay up on Rumblehorn watch?" Snotlout mumbled before turning to his sleeping dragon. "Hookfang, I'm talking to you." The Monstrous Nightmare continues to sleep. "Let him sleep, Snotlout. He's been through a lot these past few weeks of this annoying Rumblehorn." Tyse spoke, not taking her eyes off the forest.
Snotlout sighed and said, "We're never going to stop this crazy dragon from tearing this place up." Suddenly, Tyse's ears twitch as one of her traps tripped and an alarm was sounded which caused the rope connected to Hookfang to pull, causing the dragon to awaken and spew fire on Snotlout behind making him scream in pain and in the process waking us up.
"Aaah! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" Snotlout yelled, running around the clubhouse and trying to put the fire off. "What the!" I growled as I watched the flaming idiot run around the place. "That's the third time this week!" Snotlout yelled in pain, dragging his butt on wooden floors before jumping into a water trough, sighing in relief. "Ahhh! Sweet relief." He said, sighing in relief as I shook my head.
"One of my traps was spring near the Eastern beach." Tyse said with a grin as Hiccup looks at the map of the locations of the traps. "Come on, you guys!" He said as we took to the air to finally catch that Rumblehorn.
After only a minute, we arrived and saw the netted dragon. "Finally! After so long we caught you, you eal eater!" I growled as the dragon continued to try to escape. "Everybody stay back! Let Matt and Tyse handle this!" Hiccup ordered as me and Tyse approached with claws unsheathed just in case.
Tyse took a sniff before covering her nose in disgust. "I didn't think it would be so smelly. Or hairy for that matter." Tyse commented. "You try shaving with a hook for an arm!" The dragon spoke, causing us to stop in shock. Wait a minute! That's not a dragon! "The Rumblehorn talks! Quick, smack it." Tuffnut encouraged as the creature reveals to be Gobber! What is he doing here!? "Cut me down, you simpleton!" Gobber ordered as we continued to stare at him in shock. "And it's got a bad attitude." Ruffnut added to our past comments.
"Eh, never mind!" Gobber says out of patience as he uses his hook to cut the net. Only for it to do nothing. "Huh? That usually works for other nets." Gobber quips as we snap out of our surprise. "Oh sorry, Mr. Gobber! I'll get you out! That net is made out of the strongest material I could make! Trade secret mind you." Tyse said as she goes to the contraption and daddles with it before a click was heard and Gobber lands on the ground.
"Gobber, what did you do with our Rumblehorn?" Tuffnut asked when he saw the blacksmith out of nowhere. Well to him anyway. "Rumblehorn? What's a Rumblehorn?" Gobber questions. "A new dragon that's been trying to chase us off the island." Fishlegs answered. "Yeah, us and everything else." Astrid added. "We've been trying to catch it and relocate it since it keeps evading Matt and Tyse." Hiccup explained as I looked away annoyed as Tyse scowls. That dragon hurt our pride of being the best trackers and hunters. Stupid dragon.
"Yet we caught you. Yay, us." Snotlout says sarcastically, leaning on Hookfang. "I have to admit you would have caught the dragon if it was able to hold a one-legged, one-armed Viking such as myself. Good going lass." Gobber congratulates as Tyse smiles. "Thank you, Mr. Gobber. I pride myself in my traps." She said bowing.
"Not too late to club him still." Tuffnut says, elbowing my shoulder. "I can give him a little 'Ah! Uh!' You know, 'uh, uh, uh!" Tuffnut pretends clubbing something as I roll my eyes in amusement. "Yeah, we should just get back and check on the dragon base." Hiccup says, ignoring Tuffnut as we head back.
We arrived only to find our base destroyed. "Eh. Well, let's see what you've done with the place. It looks very, well…" Gobber observes the damage, trying to say that it looks nice
"Trashed!" Astrid yells in anger as I scowled at the destruction of our base. "Your words, not mine." Gobber commented cheerfully. "The Rumblehorn must have hit us while we were out chasing you." Hiccup guessed as I picked up a piece of wood and threw it to the side. Tuffnut then appears besides Hiccup. "Last chance. I can still club him. Come on, club, club, club. Join the club." Tuffnut jokes at the end as I chuckled a bit. That was some good thinking there Tuffnut.
"As much as I love a good clubbing, even my own, it will have to wait. You and I need to talk." Gobber says to Me and Hiccup as we look at each other confused. What could it be about? "I've come with disturbing news about your father." Gobber revealed rubbing his hook as I looked at Hiccup worried.
"Is he all right?" Hiccup asked worriedly. "Oh he's fine." Gobber waves it off cheerfully. I released a breath I was holding. Thank Noctis. "That's a relief." Hiccup sighed in relief. "But, then again, not so fine." Gobber mused as I looked at him annoyed. "Gobber, is Hiccup's dad okay or not?" I questioned wanting a straight answer out of him. "Oh, he's as fit as a dragon. Unfortunately, he's as ornery as one, too." Gobber said, causing me and Toothless to growl. "Excuse me." "Care to repeat that Gobber?" I asked insulted by that comment.
"No offense." Gobber apologized but Toothless covers his face with his tail as I glare at Gobber making him sweat, making him look away before turning to Hiccup. "I never seen him like this… angry, shouting at everyone." Gobber explained the reason why he is here. "Actually, that sounds like vintage Stoick the Vast to me." Hiccup surmised as I nodded.
"You think I would have sailed in a boat by myself for a week if it were 'vintage' Stoick the Vast? He's driving the village crazy!" Gobber yells at the end as I glance at Hiccup. "He does have a point." I said with a small smile. "All right, I guess I'd better see what's going on with him." Hiccup says mounting Toothless. "Good idea." Gobber agrees as I change into my Night Fury. "Need a ride back with us? On my brother's back of course." I quickly said the last part as Toothless glares at me.
"Actually, I think I might stay a while, help repair your wee dragon base. See if I can offer up some of my," Gobbers whispers. "dragon-killing experience," He speaks normally again. "to help defend against the Rumblehorn. If there's time, I'll take Tuffnut up on that clubbing." "It works with Ruffnut." I heard Tuffnut say to the side.
"You're hiding out from Stoick, aren't you?" I said, smirking in amusement of the one-armed Viking's fear. "One might look at it that way." Gobber answered with a shrug as I snorted. "Well, guys, I guess we're off to Berk." Hiccup said as we took to the air back to our home village.
We land on Berk and look around to find things quiet here. I transformed back into my human form and stretched my arms. "It sure is quiet here." I said as Hiccup nodded. "Hmm, it's quieter than usual." Hiccup guessed before we heard the sound of an angry Chief yelling. "Shoddy workmanship! That's what this is!" I heard clearly as I pointed the way. "Follow the sound of the angry Viking?" I questioned. "Follow the sound of the angry Viking." Hiccup agreed as we followed the sounds to the armory.
"I said I wanted these weapons arranged by deadliness!" We heard Stoick yell. "Swords…" Suddenly my hand instinctively caught the sword aimed at my head when it came flying out. 'Woah! That was too close.' Wolf says as I nod my head before taking cover next to Hiccup by the catapult.
"Axes," An axe lands in front of us, making us jump. "Bludgeons," Hiccup ducks as I was hit by a fast moving bludgeon. "OW! SON OF A EEL EATER!" I roared in pain covering my nose. That stung! "Maces!" I uncovered my nose only for a mace to strike me on the face, bouncing towards Toothless who covers himself with his wings, bounces off the wings and hitting the lever causing the sheep in the catapult to be launched out of here.
"Owwww. Why is it that my body protects itself from lethal wounds while it doesn't when it isn't life threatening? It makes no sense!" I groaned in pain as my scales cover my face and start healing my bruises.
As I deal with my pain, Stoick walks out, more madder than usual, before turning to the Viking who turns out to be Sven. "If I used them on you, you wouldn't forget how deadly they were! Gah! I can't believe it…" He then walks away as I get up fully healed. Sven then comes out of hiding when he sees us. "Hiccup, Matt, thank Thor you're here. You've got to help us. Your father has become unbearable!" Sven complained as I shook my head to shake the after dizziness as Hiccup speaks to Sven. "Well, to be fair, Sven, you did have the weapons out of order." Hiccup said calmly.
"That's because yesterday he told me to arrange them by length! The day before it was by pointiness! The day before that, it was by name! Did you know he gave each weapon its own nickname?" Sven exclaimed as I stood up. "I got to admit, that is weird, especially to him. We'll go talk to him, we promise." I said as we walked away to talk with Hiccup's father. 'I mean, seriously. Who names their mace Daisy?" "Because it makes you see daisies! I know I did!" I yelled, still feeling the impact of said mace.
"These attacks are getting worse every time. Either that Rumblehorn's got to go, or we do." Astrid said examine the damage of the last attack as my flock appears and lands, merging and transforming back into my human form. "I spread my entire consciousness around the island and still no sign of it! I swear once I see that dragon, I am going to stab it, then stab it again, then stab it again, then I will rip out its heart and devour it as I watch it's eyes go lifeless! HAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed insanely, imagining the torture I will inflict before stopping, noticing everyone looking at me in horror.
I waved my hands in surrender. "Sorry about that. My sadistic side got ahead of me. I'm just a little mad that dragon is invading me so far, on my own island no less." I said sweat dropping, chuckling nervously. 'You really need to calm yourself.' Reghi squawked as I deadpanned at her. 'No.'
"Hey, our boar pit survived! Cool! I like a pit, but I love a boar pit." Tuffnut exclaimed as I walked to him, next to Gobber, who steps a little away from me. Oh come on! I'm not that bad once you get used to me!
"You call that a boar pit? Ha! I've dug my way out of shallow graves deeper than that." Gobber boasted. I walked over to Fishlegs as he observed the tracks of the Rumblehorn. I WANT TO KILL IT! No, calm down Tyse. Learn to breathe. Ahh, much better. "Would you look at these Rumblehorn tracks? If you take into account the width and the depth of the footprints, and the distance between them, I calculate that this dragon is…" Fishlegs calculated the tracks as I added my comments. "Large and heavy." I said. "One might even say beefy." Gobber added his own comment as I nodded to him.
"Does somebody want to tell me why we're rebuilding this place? He's just going to crash through and wreck it again." Snotlout complained as I rolled my eyes. "Maybe if you would let me help you build the wall, but nooooo. You wanted to be the big man." I said, crossing my arms. "Duh, because only men can do it." He said cockingly before screaming after I disappeared and reappeared right behind him, with my dagger right at his throat. "You forget that I'm a Shifter, and that I can gut you easily. Imagine my blade slowly caressing your skin as it easily slides through from top to bottom. Imagine your blood spilling from your body in seconds. This is a warning Snotlout. Do not anger me and do not think you are above me, okay?" I said, smiling widely with wide eyes as he nodded quickly.
I let him go as he kneels on the ground and praise it. "Well that's scary." Gobber sweat dropped as he jams his hook on a piece of wood and places it on his shoulder. "But she's right, if you would accept her help, you would have a defensive wall properly already. Well, don't just stand there. If you want to learn, follow me." Gobber then walks away to build the wall as we follow him. Wonder how Nightshift is doing? 'Probably wondering if you haven't scared everyone scaleless by now.' Reghi quipped as scowled. 'Shut up.' I growled as Reghi chuckles.
We followed Stoick to Gothi's farm and he was on the poor old woman. "For Thor's sake, you plow like an old woman!" She is an old woman, idiot! Gothi looked at him unamused as Stoick grumbled, insulting her. Do you not know how to respect your elders, Stoick! 'He really must be in a bad mood.' Wolf crooned as I scowled at Stoick's behavior. "This is how you plow! Oh, it's so simple! You can't even…" Stoick plows the fields while speaking insults.
We glanced at each other before Hiccup gets pulled forcefully by Gothi. "Ow, ow, ow!" Hiccup says in pain as Gothi let's him go. "Ah. Gothi! You know, personally, I don't know what he's talking about. I-I love your plowing." Hiccup compliments her as she and I look at him blankly. "Seriously Hiccup?" I asked, questioning him.
"You are by far my favorite plower in all of Berk. That-That's some good plowing, yeah." Hiccup ends with a stutter as I facepalm as Wolf laughs in amusement. 'This is too good.' 'This is embarrassing to see.'
Gothi starts writing agitatedly as I start translating. "He's out of control." "Uh, yes, I… I agree. He is totally out of control." Hiccup answers. Gothi writes more before slamming her stick on the ground firmly as I snicker at what she called Stoick. "Watch the language. He's still my father. We'll talk to him, we promise." Hiccup promises as we quickly follow Stoick, leaving a scowling Gothi behind.
We finally followed Stoick to the old training academy and we saw him doing target practice, missing the target every time. Okay that's not definitely normal. He's usually an accurate shot with axes. Stoick was about to throw the last one before he suddenly turned around and was about to throw the axe at us. "Ah! Dad, please don't kill me! It's your son!" Hiccup exclaims as I slightly unsheathed my sword ready for the attack.
"Hiccup! Matt!" Stoick exclaims cheerfully, throwing the axe over his shoulder and hitting the target right in the middle. Stoick brought his arms around us and squeezed us tightly, cutting our air supply. "Oh! Good to see you too, Dad." Hiccup strained as I resisted the instinct to claw and bite my way out of this dangerous hug. "Now please let us go so we can breathe!" I yelled as I felt my spine crack from the pressure.
Stoick put us down and patted us on the back hard, making us stumble. "Oh sorry! Just happy to see my sons!" Stoick says laughing as we rub our back. "Well, that's great. My… My cracked ribs and I are happy to see you, too. Matt as well." Hiccup says as I push my back and the sound of my spine is put back into place. 'Dang those hugs are dangerous.' 'I thought we were going to die there!'
"What are you even doing here in the academy?" I asked as I made sure nothing was out of place in my body. "Oh, well, I come up here for the peace and quiet. Tired of hearing people complaining…" Stoick then repeats what he heard as he cleans a saddle. "Stoick, you're being too tough. Stoick, you're being too picky. Stoick, you're cutting off my air supply."
Hiccup and I looked at each other before looking at him before our attention went to the saddle. Wait a minute? That Tornado's saddle!
Three years ago, Hiccup and I helped tame a Thunderdrum to be Stoick's dragon. The two of them were meant for each other. One day though, Stoick had to let him go because three hatchling thunderdrums needed him. Stoick never had another dragon ever since.
This is probably the reason why he's being aggressive to everyone. He misses his dragon. "Hey, hey, is that Thornado's old saddle? Wow, Dad, you really kept it shiny." Hiccup said as I saw my reflection on the saddle before smiling goofily, watching myself smiling in return. "Well, just because one dragon is gone doesn't mean I'm gonna let a valuable piece of equipment fall into disrepair. But enough about me." Stoick grunts as he rips his axe off the target. "What brings my world-traveler sons back to Berk?"
Hiccup was about to explain the reason but then Sven interrupted him when he walked in to speak with Stoick. "Eh, Stoick, I don't mean to interrupt, but I've got those weapons arranged by deadliness, just like you wanted them." Sven explained but Stoick then got angry. "And who said I wanted them that way? Does anyone around here listen?" Stoick was about to attack Sven but luckily we got in front of him.
"Dad, Dad, Dad! I just had a great idea." Hiccup said as I glanced at him in curiosity. 'What's his plan?' 'Probably a way to get Stoick away from Berk for a little while.' Wolf guessed. 'I would probably do the same.'
"If it involves me hurling an axe at Sven's head, let's hear it." Stoick says hostilely. Sven hides his face behind a shield before sayin. "Oh, I-I hear my sheep calling." He excuses before running away in fear. "I-I was thinking something a little more relaxing. Something to take the edge off?" Hiccup explained. "Edge? What edge?" Stoick says aggressively as we look at him questioningly. Stoick backs off and calms down. "Okay, I'm listening."
"Why don't you take a couple of days off, come with us to see the dragon base?" I offered as Hiccup nods. "No, impossible. There's far too much to do around here." Stoick denies and was about to walk away only for Hiccup to speak. "Okay, Dad. Well, tell you what, if I'm being honest, the reason we're really here is that we've got a dragon problem back on the island." Hiccup said as I smirked. 'Clever. Take two birds out with one stone. We take Stoick out of Berk for a few days.' 'And we can possibly take care of the Rumblehorn. Well done, Hiccup.' I congratulated mentally as Hiccup winked in my direction.
"Dragon problem? What kind of a dragon problem?" Stoick questions, smoothing his beard. "Well, you see, we're trying to relocate a new species of dragon and we thought we could handle it, but we could really use your help." Hiccup says as I added to his explanation. "Even as Tyse and I use our Shifter abilities, the dragon keeps avoiding us. We could use an experienced Viking who knows how to deal with a dragon." "Well, I suppose I could spare a moment, if you really need me." Stoick said, making sure we do. "Oh, we do. We really, really do." Hiccup agreeds as we walked out of the arena to hold back to Dragon's Edge.
"I have to admit, that's one impressive wall. It should stop the Rumblehorn, at least from the ground." Astrid says as she observes the giant wall we built. "It isn't like the walls in the days of the Ancient Shifters. Legend says that they made giant walls made out of Shifter iron. Basically it's Gronckle iron but from Gronckle Shifters. Something in them reformed the Gronckle iron into a more indestructible substance. Nothing could penetrate the tough steel they have made. Sadly they disappeared, went extinct because of their abilities and the formula to make Gronckle iron was stolen. As for the walls itself, it's somewhere out there, covered in plants and other stuff." I explained as I see Fishlegs writing erratically in his book.
"There's so much we don't know about the Shifters! And you say that you had the formula for Gronckle iron?" Fishlegs says giddy as I chuckle. "We were the creators of it, well, the ancient Shifters were until they disappeared." "What other legends do your people have? I would love to hear it!" "Many legends, Fishlegs. I will tell you after we take care of the Rumblehorn." I said as we looked at the wall. "I'm going to call her Greta, after my first love. Large, sturdy. Beefy, some would say." Gobber named the wall as I smiled.
Suddenly we heard a distant roar from the west as we turned to it. "It's coming from the West! And it's getting closer!" Fishlegs points as my arm separates and transforms into my Night Terror form and flew upwards along with Astrid and Stormfly. I switched visions with my clone sees and we saw the trees beneath us moving and heading towards us.
"Everybody, mount up!" Astrid orders as I switch my vision back to my original body and jump into the air, transforming the rest of myself into a swarm of Night Terrors and flew into the air along with Fishlegs and Snotlout who were riding their dragons. But Gobber refused to move. "I'm not moving! The wall will hold." Gobber exclaims as we feel the dragon hit the wall as the stone crumbles. It stops and Gobber cheers. "Told you my Greta would hold."
Suddenly the pillars on top of the wall where my sentries would be, starts falling, right towards Gobber! "Oh, Greta, how could you?" Gobber says before it lands on him.
We quickly started digging him out as fast as possible. "Hurry up and move those logs!" Astrid orders as multiple of my clones lift the logs and tossed them away along with the other riders. Astrid and I lift the last log and toss it before looking at Gobber concerned for his well being. "Gobber, are you all right?" I asked concerned for his well being. "Good morning, Mommy. Is it time for dragon-killing school?" Gobber asked before fainting. 'He's definitely not alright.' Reghi croons as I sighed in relief. 'At least he's alive.'
"Hey, at least this wall held. Of course, everything else got crushed." Snotlout says before a roar is heard and two dragons are flying in our direction. They're back! I smiled in joy before it was interrupted by the human Twins. "Incoming! Yeah! Fire, fire! use all weapons! Start blasting!" Tuffnut yelled as the dragons started firing on both Hiccup, Toothless, Nightshift and the unknown Viking behind Hiccup. They were able to dodged the blast, making me sigh in relief before glaring at the Twins.
"Hey, it's us. Cut it out!" Hiccup yelled as they landed. "Oh, okay. Sorry about that." Tuffnut apologies chuckling nervously. Nice to see you, Chief. You're looking very fit. Your hands seem to be rough… and well-worked. Anyway, welcome to Rumblehorn hell." Tuffnut dismounts and waves toward the damage.
"You weren't kidding about having dragon problems." Stoick muses as Nightshift questions me about everybody. "Everyone alright?" He asked as I grimaced, remembering Gobber's predicament. "Not exactly." I said wincing at the stare he's giving me. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asks, narrowing his eyes. I was about to respond when Gobber spoke. "Hello, lovies. Who'd like some figgy pudding?" Gobber says holding his boot as Stoick, Hiccup, Matt and Toothless looked at him strangely. "What's wrong with him?" Stoick asks.
"Well, Chief, you can start with the peg leg. And then you add in the hook and the bad breath, weird neck. I mean, look at his neck." Tuffnut explains out of context as Snotlout pushes him away. "He'll be fine. He got hit by a watchtower." Snotlout says truthfully before Gobber laughs at Toothless.
"Hahaha! Ah, you're killing me." Gobber almost hits Toothless with his hook. "Whoa! Careful!" "Who knew you were such a card? Ho ha ha!" "I'm out of here!" Toothless runs away from the insane viking making Nightshift chuckle.
"Hiccup, these Rumblehorn attacks are getting out of hand. We have to do something." Astrid said as Hiccup thought for a moment. "Okay, then, first things first. We start with-" Hiccup interrupted his father. "Astrid, you search the Eastern coastline. Ruff, Tuff, you have the West. My father and I will take the middle of the island. Fishlegs and Snotlout, you take care of Gobber and keep fixing the base. Matt and Tyse, you'll stay with the two of them in case the Rumblehorn comes back. We nodded in acceptance but Snotlout didn't like his role in the plan.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute there, dragon master." Snotlout complains as Gobber approaches and pokes him. "Hello, little fella." "How come I have to stay behind?" Snotlout questions as Gobber pretends to growl like a dragon holding onto him. "I'm a dragon. Ya! heh." I giggled at the perfect comparison.
"Okay, fine, you want to hunt the unstoppable, bloodthirsty dragon instead?" Hiccup questions. "Bloodthirsty dragon, huh?" Snotlout rethinks his decision. "Ooh, look at my tail. Do dragons chase their tails or do they breathe fire on them? I don't know." Gobber says as Snotlout chooses his decision.
"On second thought, I don't want to give you guys an unfair advantage. So I should probably stay behind and protect one of the archipelago's national treasures." Snotlout says putting his hand on Gobber's back. "The sun is a shiny potato covered in drawn butter." Gobber whispers in awe. "And the moon is a scoop of ice cream." I looked away to look at Hiccup walking away before seeing Stoick smiling at his son. I smiled before frowning. I wish my father could smile at me like that a century ago.
Toothless took me and my dad to the middle of the island so we can find the Rumblehorn but so far nothing. "Ah, it's good to be back up in the air again. No wonder you never come back to visit. This highland is spectacular." My father commented on our island.
"Thanks, Dad, but we're not gonna be able to keep any of it if we don't solve our Rumblehorn problem." I said back to him. "Right. When exactly did you start having trouble with it?" Dad asked as I flew Toothless to the right, weaving through a couple of pillars of rock.
"A few weeks ago. We didn't even know it was on the island. Tyse was angry about that. Nothing happens on the island without her knowing. And then suddenly it was everywhere. First is just went after wild dragons, then it started coming after us." I explained, remembering how Tyse destroyed Fishlegs' rock garden when she just found out about the Rumblehorn. Lucky for Fishlegs, Tyse helped fix his garden until it was brand new.
"And how many dragons has it killed?" Dad questioned. Surprisingly none. "None yet. This dragon is more than strong. It's fast, it's smart, and it's elusive. We've never even gotten a good look at it. Lucky for us that this dragon isn't a Shifter or we would have bigger problems." "This does seem like quite the challenge, doesn't it?" "Yes it does." I said smiling, welcoming the challenge.
My dad laughs and shakes my shoulders. "Look at the two of us… two Viking men on the hunt. Scheming to catch a wild beast." "See? You're cheering up already, right?" "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, son." Dad said.
Then suddenly, out of nowhere a familiar roar was heard in front of us before a couple of Deadly Nadders flew away. "Escape! We must escape!" I heard them say. This dragon must be very dangerous if those deadly nadders are flying away from it. "There!" My dad and I spoke at the same time as we landed where the Rumblehorn was.
We just missed him. "You see what I mean? Every time, we just miss it." I said as we dismounted Toothless. "Well, we didn't see it fly away, so it has to be on foot. But which way?" Dad questioned as I walked away a little before finding trees were knocked down. This is where the dragon went. "Over here." Check the direction of the trees he took down." I said pointing to the knocked down trees.
"After you, son." Dad encouraged me as I nodded and went ahead in front of him to follow the trail. "Ho ho, this is great" Dad said cheerfully as Toothless followed us.
We followed the tracks of the Rumblehorn for some time until it was close to sunset. I crouched down and observed the tracks, feeling them noticing that they were freshed but the weird part is that we should be right on top of it. "These footprints are fresh. We should be right on top of it." I told my findings to Dad. "It's like the beast can sense us coming, and then it changes direction. A worthy adversary."
We continue following the tracks, unaware that the dragon we are searching for was hiding behind us, growling.
"We have got to be getting close." I said as we went over a log, desperate to find this dragon. "Ah, I don't think so. We've been here before. Look at the broken branches on this side of the trail. The beast has doubled back on us." Dad said as I looked at the tracks. At least that explains why Matt and Tyse weren't able to find it. "Wait, you think it knows we're hunting it?" I asked. "No, I think it's hunting us." Oh that's perfect. "Oh, that's good! No, I prefer it much more the other way around." I said, not wanting a dragon to hunt me at all.
Dad walks away from me a little before stopping at the log we just went over in thought. "What are you thinking, Dad?" Dad grabs a hold off a large piece of branch before breaking it using it as a club. "I might have an idea on how we're going to catch this beast." Dad says before explaining the plan to me.
Dad's plan was to be the bait while me and Toothless were in the air, ready to spring the trap. "Well, I've got my club, and I've got my rope, and I smell like yak 'cause I don't use soap. I'm a Viking through and through!" Dad sang loudly before we heard the Rumblehorn roar.
The Rumblehorn walked out the bushes and we can see that it has relatively large wings, a wide torso, and a tail with a club-like hammer on the tip of it. It has a heavily armed front half of its body with firm armor plates on the neck and large lower jaw, a battle axe-shaped muzzle, and two, very sharp, elongated horns. I have to say that I'm impressed.
"Leave this island! Now!" The Rumblehorn roared. "Well, you're magnificent! And you've got a lot to say, don't you?" Dad commented on the dragon's appearance. "I said LEAVE!" The Rumblehorn roars. Dad tosses the club to the side and glares at the dragon. "Now, let's see if you can back it up."
The two of them charged at each other. Toothless and I appeared from the sky and got ready to launch the net. Just as I launched it, the Rumblehorn unexpectedly made a quick right, escaping the net. The plan didn't work. "Dad! Get out of there!" I yelled, seeing my plan didn't work and that it's too dangerous to try to capture the Rumblehorn. "Not a chance!" Dad yelled before lassoing the big horn on the dragon's muzzle. The dragon took to the air, but with all my dad's strength he pulled it down again. " Oh, no, you don't!"
The Rumblehorn glared at Dad as he glared back. This is getting dangerous. "Dad, let go of the rope!" I yelled. Suddenly the dragon takes to the air, bringing my dad along with it. "Dad, don't let go of the rope!" I yelled as they flew off very highly.
Dad suddenly loses his grip on the rope and plummets downward. The Rumblehorn dives down, to finish the stubborn Viking! But we already caught Dad and flew away, escaping the Rumblehorn's charge. "We'd better get back to Dragon's Edge for reinforcements." I said as Dad nods.
"Agreed. This isn't over, Rumblehorn!" Dad yelled as we flew away back to Dragon's Edge. Unknown to us that the Rumblehorn sniffed the rope and looked back to us determined. "I have to get them off the island before it's too late. Goddess wings guide me."
My brothers and Stoick made it back and seeing them without the Rumblehorn means they didn't get it like the rest of us. It was dark now since the sun setted over an hour ago. The three of them landed as we were cleaning up the last of the mess. "Where's Gobber?" Stoick asked as I pointed my thumb right behind me.
Suddenly a bunch of boars pass me, squealing, being chased by Gobber wearing face paint. "Boar pit." Snotlout answers as I nod.
"Okay, Gobber accounted for." Hiccup said as Tyse and Astrid approached him. "Hiccup, did you find the Rumblehorn?" Astrid asked. "If you did, were you successful in capturing it?" Tyse asked a second after Astrid. "More like he found us. And no we weren't able to." I answered.
"Gave us a good run, that one." Dad laughed as I rolled my eyes. "We're gonna resupply, and then we all need to go look for it." Hiccup said just as my ear twitched, hearing something distant coming. "Eh, I bet I can find him, like right now." Tuffnut says as Tyse's ear twitches hearing the same thing I did. "Oh, really." Snotlout questioned. "Oh, yeah." Tuffnut answers as me and Tyse turned to the distant sound. "Oh, really." Snotlout repeated. "Yeah." Tuffnut repeated his answer. Tyse and my eyes turned into slits, zooming in on what we were detecting. "How's that?" Snotlout questions. "Wait for it." Tyse and I growled seeing who it was. "Bing!"
Tuffnut points as we see the Rumblehorn coming towards us. How did he follow Hiccup and Toothless? They were too fast for them. 'Track of smell. I may have forgotten to mention that.' Wolf chuckled nervously as I growled inwardly. Always forgetting the most important information.
"What the!" Hiccup says surprised to see the dragon before ordering us on our dragons. "Hey everybody? On your dragons! We need to draw him away from Dragon's Edge! It tracked us all the way here!" "Impressive." Stoick says impressed. "You can admire him once we catch him, ok?" I said as take to the air.
Suddenly I got surrounded by Tyse's bond siblings before they flew away from here. "Tyse? Why are your siblings leaving the island?" I asked flabbergast. "I-I don't know! We always protected the island from any threat. If they're leaving…" Tyse didn't finish her sentence before leaving, chasing her siblings for answers.
"Well we lost the sentries and why isn't the Rumblehorn following us?" Stoick questions as the Rumblehorn ignores us and heads towards the island. "Because it's following him." Hiccup points downwards where we see Gobber still chasing one of the boars.
"Mr. Boar, come back, please. I just want to have a friendly chat." I hear with my dragon hearing as we chased the Rumblehorn. "Let's get his attention, bud." Hiccup says as Toothless charges a blast and fires, only for the Rumblehorn to dodge it and land. "Leave! The Waters are coming!" The Rumblehorn roared as multiple dragons left the island.
I was about to shoot but I stopped and hovered, leaving Hiccup, Toothless and Stoick to continue on. 'What did he mean by the waters are coming?' 'I don't know. I'm as confused as you.' Wolf growled in confusion. "This doesn't make sense." Stoick says as I turn to the dragons flying away. "The Waters are coming! The Waters are coming!" They squealed. Wait a minute! The Rumblehorn never harmed the dragons or killed anyone! It just warned them to get away!
Stoick realized it too and stopped Toothless from striking the dragon. The Rumblehorn gets in Gobber's face and roars loudly. Just as it stops Gobber begins snuggling it. "Oh, look, it's Pepe, my favorite pet yak. We didn't eat you on Snoggletog morning after all. No." Gobber says as the Rumblehorn looks uncomfortable and confused. "W-What?"
"If that dragon wanted to hurt people, he'd have done it by now. Something else is going on here." Stoick said as I flew by them. "He's right, Hiccup. You haven't heard it. The Rumblehorn wants everything off the island because 'the Waters are coming'." "What does that mean?" Hiccup asked, never hearing the saying.. "Only one way to find out. Put me down next to him." Stoick said just as we land in front of Gobber and the Rumblehorn.
Stoick dismounts as I transformed back to human form and approached the two. "Ha ha ha! Stoick, you remember Pepe?" Gobber said as we joined in pretending. "Yes, yes, Gobber." Stoick said sweetly. "Pepe and us need to have a little talk." I said as we walked past him. "Hiccup, have you met Pepe?" We heard from behind us as I chuckled before changing my face sternly.
The Rumblehorn growls lowly before doing a small roar. "What is it you really want, dragon?" Stoick asks. "And what do you mean the 'waters are coming?'" I questioned. The Rumblehorn points its snout towards the ocean and growls. "It's not safe here." The Rumblehorn growls, making me make a confused expression. "He says it's not safe here." I answered everyone before the Rumblehorn slammed its head to the ground and roared.
All the dragons except for me and Toothless flew in the air and flew in circles in a panic. "I think you're right." Hiccup answered, wondering why we aren't safe here. The Rumblehorn knocks Stoick upwards, surprising us, before landing on the Rumblehorn's neck before flying away. "Whoa, big fella! Hold on there!" Stoick yelled as I transformed into my Dragon form. "After them!" I yelled as we chased the dragons.
I then see something in the distance, rising. "Hiccup? Do you see that?" I questioned as Hiccup narrowed his eyes and looked closely "The sea level. Is it rising?" Hiccup urges Toothless to go faster and I follow them. We got closer and we see a giant wave. A wave big enough to destroy the island. We quickly flew back to everyone and told them our findings "There's a giant wave headed for us. The Rumblehorn knew it and was trying to get us to leave. He was trying to save us! That explains why he was chasing Gobber." "This wave is big enough to destroy the island itself. If we don't do anything, we'll lose our base." I said, feeling nervous about what's coming.
"I'm not buying it." Tuffnut says before turning to the rest of us. "Okay, guys, real quick… How long does it take to learn to swim?" He questions. "No one has to swim. We just need to block the wave from hitting the camp." Hiccup answered. "Isn't it a little late for that, Hiccup?" Snotlout said. "No! Gobber's rock wall… that's big enough to stop the wave. We just need to reinforce it."
We quickly took the air and start reinforcing Gobber's wall to make it stronger and withstand the giant wave but I don't have any hope. It's just too large. The Twins knocked a bunch of small boulders into the wall as Hiccup placed a boulder on it. "The Wave is coming! Hurry!" Fishlegs urges as we see the wave getting closer and quickly.
"The wall's not going to be high enough to stop that wave!" Fishlegs yelled, watching the wave get closer and closer. "And it's cracking!" Astrid yells as water leaks out of the wall. "The wave is just too big! That type of wave destroys islands" I yelled looking at the giant wave.
"Nightshift!" I heard and turned to see Tyse's swarm land on a piece of the wall, merged and changed into her human form. "We can't stop the wave but we can lower it and turn it into a smaller wave!" Tyse yelled, making me focus on her. "How!?" I asked desperately. "You need to dance with me!"
"...WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS, RIGHT NOW!" I yelled enraged that she would joke in a time like this! "I'm not joking! Legend says that the ancient Shifters are able to control the waters and stop waves from destroying islands. It is an ancient and traditional dance and I need your help to enact it!" Tyse reaches her hand out to me to take it. "What if you are wrong! What if this doesn't work!" I yelled seeing the ridiculousness of her plan. "I don't even know if this will work. I can only trust myself and our goddess. And I need your trust as well."
I look deeply into Tyse's eyes, seeing the determined fire and her resolve to see it through. "Alright. I trust you, Tyse." I said landing beside her and transforming into my human form. She smiles to me before looking determined at the incoming wave. "Follow my movements."
Tyse stomps her right foot to the ground causing a crack and I repeat her movement. She crosses her arms together and leans backwards before unexpectedly snaps forwards arms out to the side moves like a wave. I repeated her movement. Tyse punches straight, spins gracefully before making a low punch to the left side. She stomps her left foot forward and makes a circular motion from her back to her front. Soon she repeats the first step.
I followed her movements until we were in exact sync. I felt something resonate from my very being. Feeling a power I only felt when my Alpha powers were released. Tyse eyes glowed yellow as my eyes glowed green with a hint of blue sparks. The giant wave starts glowing and slowly shrinks. "Faster! The speed were going through won't be enough to shrink the wave!" Tyse yelled as we went at a faster pace.
The wave continues to shrink more quickly but the glow sputters when I start losing the rhythm, sweating and straining. "We can't go long like this." I panted as I glanced over see Tyse sweating and gasping in breath. "W-We can't stop. B-But this isn't working. We need music to help bring our rhythm b-back."
I glanced over to our friends and see them continue to fix the cracks, Toothless notices our struggle and roars at others. The dragons begin chirping and roaring in rhythm, in song. "Uh, what are the dragons doing?" Snotlout asked, confused when his dragon started roaring in rhythm. "Cool! Matt and Tyse are glowing!" Ruffnut says pointing at us as we start glowing, refreshed and smiling. "Shall we continue?" I asked as Tyse nodded. We then quickly started going back to dancing to shrink the wave.
The wave glows brighter and constantly shrinks until it was the size of the camp. Even though we saved the island it will still hit the base. "At least we saved our island, but the base will still be destroyed. Sorry, Nightshift." Tyse apologized as we stopped dancing and watch the wave get closer. I glanced to the right and smiled before tapping her shoulder. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. We may have to move though. Like now." I said as a giant rock pillar fell to our location. "OH SCALES!" Tyse cried as we jumped off just before we could get squished.
The wall completely stopped the wave and the base was saved. It was now morning and we were watching Stoick riding on the Rumblehorn. "I can't believe it, guys." Fishlegs started. "If that Rumblehorn hadn't warned us, we would have been wiped out." We watch as the Rumblehorn flew tricks in the air and Stoick laughs in excitement.
"Look at this guy." Fishlegs continue. "He is amazing." "Yes! You can say that again, Fishlegs." Stoick chuckles, stopping for a moment before continuing flying on the dragon. "You know, guys, this is a whole new class of dragon. We need a name." Fishlegs asked in excitement. "Well, it tracked us down. How about Tracker Class?" Hiccup suggested. "Tracker Class?" Snotlout laughs. "Yeah, right! That sounds like something I would come up with." "Perfect." "Tracker it is." Tyse and I said fistbumping. "What!? You like it!? Aw, come on!" Snotlout yells in disappointment and walks away making us laugh at him.
We were now on the docks about to say goodbye to both Stoick and the back-to-normal Gobber. "Gobber, I sure am glad you're back to normal." Hiccup says with a smile. "Yeah, not sure what all went on, but I'm sore in places I didn't know I had." Gobber says feeling his body, checking for anything out of place. "Well, sons, I'm glad I let you insist I come here." Stoick thanked us patting on the Rumblehorn. "You know, Dad, when I first came back to Berk, I thought you might be missing us. But it was Thornado all along." Hiccup says with a small smile before I shouldered him. "You just figured that out. I found out right after I saw the saddle." I said laughing.
"Aw, I do miss that magnificent beast. We had some connection, he and I." Stoick said, remembering the good times with him. "Oh, I get it." Hiccup agreed as he rubbed Toothless's head. "No, I can't imagine what it would be like without Toothless or Matt." "You'll be lost without us." Toothless growled. "Just like our first Snoggletog with the dragons." I laughed remembering how Hiccup was depressed when we left.
"Well, Thornado will never be replaced, but this guy…" Stoick scratches the Rumblehorn's neck. "We're a lot alike, he and I. We're both protectors, we're both leaders." "And you're both hard-headed." Gobber added as he begins sailing away. Stoick mounts on the Rumblehorn. "Hard-headed, you say?" Stoick questions. "Skullcrushing's more like it. Wait, that's what we'll call you. Skullcrusher!" "I'm honored."
We were about to walk away but Stoick stopped us. "And by the way, sons? I do miss you. A lot, in fact." Stoick says sincerely as we smiled. "All right, big fella. Let's get back to Berk. I've got the perfect saddle waiting for you." Stoick speaks to Skullcrusher as they take off. Toothless nudges his head on Hiccup's back before licking him, making me laugh. All right, guys, we have a lot of work to do. So let's get to it." "And no slouching! By the time were done we will make this place the cleanest in the archipelago!" I ordered with a smile, ready to clean up.
We should have forced the Rumblehorn to help us clean up now that I think about it. He started this mess after all.
Hey everybody! Another chapter is done for this month and I think I'll post the next chapter a little early. I hoped you enjoy the story and don't forget to follow and comment. To the Great Beyond, Dragon Riders!