Elsewhere, miles away, an airship flown by Deathgrippers arrived on a heavily guarded island, surrounded by fleets of ships in every size, decked out with every possible weapon.
"Archers!" A trapper called out at the sight.
The occupant of the airship casually steps foot and into the arena, flanked by two Deathgrippers that snarl, drool dripping from their maws.
"Deathgrippers." Another trapper murmured.
In the arena, three warlords stand together, surrounding a table covered in maps and plans for attacks.
"The Dragon Riders attacked us here…" A man by the name of Ivar spoke, setting a wooden boat on a map, "...Off the eastern strait."
"Nnneeaoowww, BOOM." Came Ragnar the Rock. Burly but not… the brightest.
"Ragnar!" Chaghatai Khan scolded.
"Um, sorry."
"My dear warlords. How go your plans to go conquer the world?" Grimmel called, announcing his presence and pulling his hood down.
"Aahaha! Grimmel, my old friend. Thank you for coming."
As Ragnar approached Grimmel in a friendly manner, one of Grimmel's Deathgrippers tackled him to the ground, pinning him.
"Oh-ah!" Ragnar cried out, desperately angling his head away from the Deathgripper's massive teeth.
"A year since Drago's defeat, and no further along with your dragon army, I see."
"You can thank the young chief of Berk for that." The only woman of the troupe, Griselda informed. She tired of the antics of him.
"Stoick's boy?" Everyone in the archipelago knew of Stoick the Vast, greatly admired. And it was evident they all knew of Hiccup's ascension to the throne.
"Yup! He and his peace-loving Dragon Riders continue to raid our ships and steal our dragons." Ragnar groaned.
"Mmm. That does sound like a nuisance. But I'm in the business of killing dragons, not retrieving them."
Ragnar freed himself as Grimmel began to walk away.
"Huh? But, Grimmel…"
"That idiot boy has done all of the work for you, gathering the dragons in one place. Why bother me?
"Because a Night Fury protects the flock. Actually, two, Night Furies. Allegedly, a mated pair."
The air fell silent as Grimmel processed this information. There was no way…
"Not possible," Grimmel replied coldly.
"Hah, well, it seems two slipped through your fingers."
"Look, Berk's dragons will follow their Alpha, so we'll pay you to capture him and his mate and bring the flock to us. We even have your favorite bait!"
The group glanced over to a white dragon curled up in a cage, shivering from fright.
"The only dragon they left us from last night's raid."
"A female? How do you expect me to lure the Alpha if he already has a mate? Unless…" Ragnar grinned, seeing the wheels turn in Grimmel's head. If there was anyone who could formulate a plan that would work, it was Grimmel.
"So, do we have a deal, old friend?"
Suddenly, a Rumblehorn managed to free itself from its restraints, charging aggressively towards Grimmel, who doesn't budge.
"Watch out!"
Expressionless, Grimmel swung around, firing a projectile point blank towards the Rumblehorn. The dart made impact, sending the Rumblehorn unconscious and skidding across the dirt, just barely squishing Grimmel's foot.
"When all is said and done, this young chief will hand me the Night Furies." He finished. "They don't have a leader, just a boy.
Back on Berk, Hiccup was on a cliff, overlooking his village, reminiscing on a moment with his father as a boy. So much had changed; with all the new dragons and villagers, Berk had grown, and he deeply wished Stoick could've lived to see this.
He also wished Stoick could've lived to see Toothless grow, become the Alpha of Berk's dragons, and meet Blueheart and the other Night Furies.
Toothless, Blueheart, and Nightfire lounged on the clifftop with him this one evening. Hiccup and Zyrah would periodically share their dragons and let each other help babysit Nightfire. And tonight was Hiccup's turn. Plus, Zyrah was still dealing with her issues and would occasionally need time away from dragons.
As Hiccup was lost in thought, Toothless took advantage of an opportunity, grinning at his daughter.
Alright, quiet now. You're gonna sneak up and snatch his leg.
Okay!
Off to the side, Blueheart just rolled her eyes at her mate's antics.
This is a bad habit to teach.
Oh, come now, it's fun!
Nightfire snuck up behind Hiccup with a gummy grin and clamped her jaws around his leg, pulling at it like a puppy with its chew toy. Broken out of his train of thought, Hiccup glanced down and then lifted his leg up, giving Nightfire a mock disappointed face.
"Oh, come on, this again?" He playfully scolded. He gently thrashed his leg around, Nightfire's body wriggling in response. Behind him, Toothless was laughing, Blueheart just looked tired.
"Oh, all right. No point in telling you it's not a chew toy, huh? Is this what you want? Oh, do you want this leg? Do you want my leg? Go get it.
With a laugh, Hiccup detached the leg, and Nightfire dropped to the ground, bouncing on her feet as Hiccup threw his leg over the cliff edge, and Nightfire darted after it. She was still a hatchling, but Hiccup was already impressed by her speed.
"Daughter of the Alpha and fastest dragon in the archipelago, and she's already that fast!" He remarked. As he finished his comment, Nightfire flew up overhead, dropping his leg next to him, covered in slobber.
Ignoring her, he pulled his map out and laid it flat, scanning through it.
Then a squawk called his attention as Stormfly and Astrid pulled up.
"Oh! So this is where you come to get away from Gobber."
Stormfly landed next to Blueheart, and the two females acknowledged each other; Stormfly beginning to play with Nightfire and Hiccup's leg.
"I…have no idea what you're talking about."
Astrid dodged Nightfire tossing Hiccup's slobber-covered leg over to Stormfly as she took a seat next to Hiccup.
"Well, he's right, you know." Hiccup turned to her in surprise.
"R-Really? You think you and I should…"
"Oh, gods, no. We're nowhere near ready for that!"
"No, that's... that's crazy."
"I mean, he's right about all of this." She gestured out to the village, still bustling with activity even during sunset.
"It does seem like the whole world knows about us now."
"Yep. And the more dragons we bring back here, the bigger of a target we become."
Suddenly, Nightfire managed to drop the leg on Astrid's lap, where she threw it to the side, wiping her hands on Hiccup in disgust.
"Ugh."
"I just wish there was some way to make them leave us alone."
"There might be. Dad used to talk about an old mariners' myth. Of a secret land at the edge of the world, where dragons lived totally out of reach."
"Well, sailors are known for tall tales."
"True. But what if it's real? It could be the answer to all of our problems." Astrid stared at Hiccup incredulously. He always had insane ideas, but this was definitely at the top of the list.
"How? By moving the dragons there?
"Uh-uh. All of us."
"Seriously? And abandon our home of seven generations? The home your father left you to protect."
"Uh…"
"Yeah, I think we need a real solution, Hiccup."
Behind the couple, Nightfire was now actively gnawing on the metal part of the leg, snarling at Stormfly, an action that earned a light nudge from Blueheart about being rude.
"Well, we could just take Gobber's advice and tie the knot. That should fix everything. But, if you're having doubts about yours truly, I'm pretty sure Rurik's available!"
"As if! He's four years younger than us! Plus, Zyrah and Konall seem to be getting it on. They could easily tie the knot before us!" Hiccup gasped at the idea of his best friend, four years their junior, possibly marrying before him.
"Oh! Playing dirty now, huh?"
"You asked for it. Looks like there might be a wedding after all."
"Oh, how dare you!" With a devious grin, he reached forward and pulled her close, attempting to tickle her, "That is a low blow. No, no, you are not getting away."
With a devious grin of her own, Astrid then grabbed his arm, twisting it painfully.
"Owww! Okay, okay! You win, you win! You always win!"
"You knew what you were getting into."
"Uh-huh. Right."
Suddenly, Nightfire perked her ears up, hearing a weird sound coming from the forest.
Mama, papa, you hear that?
Hear what? A distant dragon call echoed from the woods; this time, Toothless, Blueheart, and Stormfly heard it. The two former standing on either side of their daughter.
I do hear it. Doesn't sound familiar, though. Blueheart observed. Before she could get another word in, Nightfire impulsively took off into the forest below.
Virva! Toothless roared, getting Hiccup and Astrid's attention.
"Oh great, Nightfire." Hiccup groaned. When he and Astrid stood, Toothless took off after his daughter, Blueheart right behind him.
"Guys! Wait up!"