Once again I apologize for the long wait. As I said, midterms... hellish inventions to make us feel bad. I managed to dish out another chapter for you anyway, I hope you enjoy it! and no, they're not done yet...

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

Crystal Light, Part III

They stood frozen for a moment, the flickering light of a torch coming from behind them and Dale's voice that ran angrily through the air, demanding that they turn around. They did so, slowly, hesitantly, knowing that they were in trouble. Big trouble. It would be of no use to enrage the man more.

As soon as they came face to face with him, they saw Dale, his dragon behind him. There was no sign of the other teens, it was just Dale and Starstruck. The dragon growled loudly as she approached them and they took a step back, away from the menacing dragon.

"Where have you been!" Dale demanded harshly, "do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Wrenlou didn't answer, but he adverted his gaze to the ground, biting his lip. Hiccup shuffled uneasily, fiddling with the hem of his tunic as he found the sand incredibly interesting.

"Answer me!" Dale shouted as he took a step closer.

Wrenlou kept his gaze fixed on the ground, but Hiccup couldn't take it any longer.

"We went to Crystal Cove!" he shouted out, immediately covering his head with his arms as he turned away from Dale, certain that the man would beat him.

But Dale paled at Hiccup's words, his eyes grew wide. The boys didn't see how Hiccup's words shocked him as he realized the kind of danger his students put themselves in. He gripped the torch so hard his knuckles were turning white. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his anger under control.

"You went what?" he asked, his voice trembling with his anger, "do you have any idea how dangerous that was? You could have been killed!"

"But we weren't, okay?" Wrenlou suddenly shouted, and Dale reacted faster than anyone would give the old man credit for.

He stepped forward, his hand shooting out and he slapped Wrenlou's cheek so hard it left a red mark. Hiccup stumbled back, afraid he would get hit next, but Dale paid no attention to him.

"Don't you dare speak back to me!" Dale hissed as Wrenlou stared at him, his hand on his cheek, "tell me, why should I not inform the Council of this?"

Wrenlou's eyes grew wide as Dale stared at him. If he were to tell the Council, they would be in even bigger trouble.

"You can't!" he blurted out, and Dale turned to him, his eyes dark

"And why not? Not only did you break the rules of Learners Bay and did you leave the Bay, you broke one of our most fundamental laws! One of the very laws our relation with the dragons depend on! Not to mention the fact that you put yourself, your friend and both your dragons in serious danger! Do you know how many things could have gone wrong? Wild Night Furies are very dangerous creatures, especially when nesting! You could have lost a limb, or worse, you could have gotten killed! What would your father have thought of that Wrenlou? Tell me, what would Aaron Dreycon, descendant of the very first dragon rider have thought when he learned his son had been killed by dragons because he invaded their territory?"

Wrenlou stared at him, his eyes filling with tears. "But nothing happened," he whispered, "we're okay."

"Yes, and you are very, VERY lucky," Dale sighed, running a hand over his face, "go to bed," he ordered, "but don't think this is over. I want you both on the beach, before breakfast, you understand? This isn't over just yet."

Dale watched the boys walk away, their dragons next to them and sighed deeply once he saw them enter their cabins. He turned to Starstruck, the dragon staring at him with round eyes and rubbed her nose.

"What am I going to do with them..." he mumbled, "I can't just ignore something like this, I can't. They deliberately put their lives and the lives of their dragons in danger," he sighed again, "come on girl, let's go to bed. We'll deal with them tomorrow."

After he closed the door behind him, he sat on the edge of the bed for a long time. He was genuinely scared of what Dale would do. Toothless crooned and tried to push him in bed, but he resisted the dragon, pushing him away each time.

"What was I thinking Toothless. Why did I push Wrenlou into taking me there? Why did I persist? I screwed up... I screwed up big... just like I always did..."

He curled up on the bed, hiding his head under his arms as the tears started to fall. He was sure that he would be send away now, that he would be forced to leave the island. Toothless curled around him, gently licking his hair in an effort to comfort him, and he curled up against the dragon's warm scales.

He didn't sleep much and he was up well before dawn. After just laying next to Toothless for a while, quietly listening to the dragon's heartbeat, he slipped out of bed and carefully opened the door. It was still dark, but the faint light of the sun was visible at the horizon above the sea. The sun itself was still behind the water, still hiding away from sight. He took a quick sprint towards Wrenlou's cabin and knocked softly. When no answer came, he pushed the door open, expecting him to be asleep.

He found him sitting on the bed with his legs crossed, Snowflake curled at his feet, her head and front paws on the bed as well, the rest of her body on the floor. He was reading something, but looked up when Hiccup entered.

"Can't sleep?" he asked softly while he closed his book and Hiccup shook his head.

"I'm scared," the boy whispered, "what if he sends me away?"

"Dale can't do that," Wrenlou said while he stood up and walked over to his small bookcase, setting the book back on the shelf, "only the Council can."

"So..." Hiccup walked closer to the bed as Wrenlou sat back down, "what happens if he tells the Council? What will they do?"

"They can do a number of things," Wrenlou said as he gestured to a spot next to him and Hiccup sat down, crossing his legs just as Wrenlou had, "the first isn't too bad. It's basically suspending us both for a time, a month, six, whatever they decide. They can't take our dragons away, but they can tale away our right to fly with them. If Dale were to tell them, and they would choose to suspend us, we wouldn't be allowed to fly."

"But, that affects the dragons too," Hiccup said, "that's not fair."

"That's just it. We are banned from flying with our dragons, the dragons aren't banned from flying."

"But Toothless can't fly on his own!"

"I don't think they care about that," Wrenlou muttered, plucking the blanket.

"What... what about the other things?"

"There is just one other option," Wrenlou said softly, "but it's the one that would be the heaviest punishment."

"Why? What is it?" Hiccup urged, although he dreaded to find out.

"They wouldn't allow us to take the oath that allows us to live in Dragoncity."

"What... what would that mean?" Hiccup asked, his voice shaking.

"It would mean that we won't be allowed to live in Dragoncity, we won't be allowed to live in Lightcity, we won't even be allowed to stay on the island. Hiccup, we would be outcasts."

Hiccup stared at Wrenlou in shock and he felt tears rise up. He didn't want to be an outcast. He wanted to stay on the island, learn, grow, he wanted to become better that anyone had ever expected him to be. He felt an arm around his shoulder and looked up.

"The chance of that happening is very, very small. Dale would have to tell the Council, he himself doesn't have the authority to do that."

"Then what will he do?" Hiccup asked, wiping the tears from his face.

Wrenlou shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. The last time I got in trouble he had me sweep the beach."

Hiccup chuckled. "Sweep the beach? But isn't that..."

"... Completely pointless? Yes. But man, I was tired and sore... the blisters, unbelievable. Don't worry Hiccup, I'm sure nothing too drastic will happen. Dale can be tough when he's angry, but he never takes rash decisions. Why do you think he send us to bed first?"

"I... I don't know..." Hiccup mumbled while looking down on his feet, "why?"

"Because he didn't want to do things he would regret later on. I know him Hiccup, I've known him for a few years now. He can be harsh, but he's honest."

"I'm still scared," Hiccup mumbled, "I don't want to be send away again. I just found a home here, I can't lose it."

"You won't. I promise." Wrenlou gently squeezed Hiccup's shoulder, then stoop up and stretched his arms. "We best go to the beach. I really don't want to make him even angrier."

Hiccup nodded and slipped from the bed as well. As he approached the door, he realized that Toothless hadn't followed him, so he quickly ran towards his own cabin and found the dragon sleeping on the floor, head tucked under his wings. He woke the dragon and Toothless stretched lazily, turning away from him, curling up again.

"Toothless, come on, we're in trouble as it is," Hiccup begged softly and the dragon opened one eye, before slowly standing up and stretching again, yawing. He followed his rider, preening his wings while they walked towards the beach. It seemed like the dragon was oblivious to the trouble his rider was in.

When they arrived, they found not only Dale and Starstruck, but Broghan and Moonchaser as well. Wrenlou's brother had his arms crossed, a furious look on his face. The moment Wrenlou got close enough, Broghan lashed out, hitting his brother on his jaw. Wrenlou stumbled back, but Broghan was relentless, swinging his other fist directly at Wrenlou's chest.

"What on earth were you thinking!" he screamed while he wrestled Wrenlou to the ground, pinning him down by sitting on his chest, "how could you do that!"

Hiccup stood frozen as he watched Broghan's rage explode and he continued to try and hit his brother where ever he could. He didn't get much of a chance to actually hurt him much before Dale pulled him off the younger man.

"That's enough!" he shouted, holding Broghan by his collar as he continued to struggle, "Broghan, settle down! I will deal with this, okay?"

Broghan agreed, but the angry scowl didn't leave his face as he glared at his brother. He had managed to draw blood, and Wrenlou was pressing his hand against his nose, which was bleeding from the punch that landed on it.

"Right," Dale said as he crossed his arms, "I have decided to not inform the Council and keep this between us. That does not mean that you won't be punished for breaking the rules and endangering yourself and your dragons. I have to ask, why. Why would you break every rule there is and risk your lives to go there?"

"Curiosity," Wrenlou mumbled, "and Hiccup wanted to see the Queen."

"The Queen?" Broghan scoffed, "no one's seen the Queen since Shirlena!"

"Well, we did!" Wrenlou blurted out, then he bit his lip as both Broghan and Dale stared them in shock.

"You... saw the Queen?" Dale asked astounded, and Hiccup was the one that nodded.

"I don't believe you," Broghan said, crossing his arms, "you're just saying that."

"Believe what you like," Wrenlou said, "we still saw her."

"That doesn't change the fact that you put your lives at risk," Dale said, "and you will still be punished. For starters, you're not allowed to fly for a week, longer if I deem it necessary. Your dragons will come with us while you will stay here, completing this list," he handed Wrenlou a paper scroll, which the boy took reluctantly, "one more thing, that's today's list. You must finish every single item on that list today. If not, you won't get dinner."

Hiccup stared at Dale in shock. He couldn't possibly expect them to get all that done without the help of the dragons! But the men turned and walked away, Starstruck and Moonchaser pulled Toothless and Snowflake along. Both dragons were wailing, unwilling to leave their riders, but they had no choice and eventually followed Broghan and Dale. As soon as the men were out of sight, Hiccup turned to Wrenlou.

"All that in a single day? He can't mean it!"

"Look at it this way. It could have been far worse. Damn..."

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked while he pulled the scroll from Wrenlou's hands and unrolled it, his eyes flitting over the writing, "we'll never be able to do all this today," he groaned.

"Of course we will," Wrenlou said, wiping the blood from his face, "we'll make it work. Now come on, we're not going to get any further by standing here and whining about it."

Hiccup sighed. He had been punished before, sure, but never with hard labour. He looked from his own, barely muscled arms to Wrenlou's muscles arm and ran a hand through his hair. It was going to be a long day, that much was for sure. And he didn't even have Toothless by his side to help him.

"At least we don't have to sweep the beach," Wrenlou said, "that would have taken forever."

Hiccup smiled weakly. Maybe sweeping the beach wouldn't be so bad compared to the things on that list. Maybe sweeping the beach was easier. maybe he preferred sweeping the beach.