Oh my God! Okay, wow, thank you for all the reviews and episode requests! Holy Jesus, the support's amazing! Anywho, sorry for the late chapter. School, exams, and just life in general is a butt. I have like, a mountain of homework to get through.
Orangecat64: AAAA TY for the review! Dude, I love "Snoggletog Showdown" fghtjhkugfdlfr- it's one of my favourite fics. Haha, yeah, Hiccup is many things, but a singer is not one of them. Yeah, I'll definitely do "The Zippleback Experience" at some point.
Anywho, enjoy these reactions to "Tone Death"!
Original episode was written by Art Brown and Douglas Sloan, directed by Robert Briggs
As the Witch vanished once again, the Vikings continued their discussions and murmurs with each other. Many of the Vikings were still quite awe-struck at the Witch's exit, glancing at the spot where she vanished, and back at the floating screen in the front of the Hall, where it shone bright and golden-white. Stoick especially, was unable to wrap his head around the Witch's magical prowess, while Gothi seemed completely unphased by it all.
The Riders, like many of the other Vikings, had taken to discussing what they had all just witnessed. The moving images, of course, not the Witch.
"Dudes, did you see how handsome I looked up there?" Snotlout had taken to flexing his muscles and boasting, "It was like a weird mirror, but cooler!"
"Yeah, how unfortunate," Astrid snarked, "As if one Snotlout wasn't enough suffering to deal with."
"Shut up, Astrid." He had wanted to continue, saying, 'You're just jealous of my huge muscles!', but was saved from a cruel and horrible death-by-Astrid's-axe as he was interrupted by the voice of the Witch coming from behind him.
"Boo!"
"AAARGH!" Snotlout tried to yelp, jumping back, though no sound came from him as the Witch had sealed his lips shut with her magic.
"Just a heads' up before I disappear again, else I irritate the Readers with my continued presence," The Witch turned to face the Riders, ignoring their confused expressions at that last part, "The next adventure that I will be showing everyone will include Death Songs, so be warned."
Immediately, the Riders gasped, and turned to face each other, exchanging glances, before turning back to face the Witch. A Death Song?! Being displayed in the Great Hall?! The Hall that held nearly every dragon on Berk?! Had the Witch gone mad?! Well, it was a Witch, so there was no surprise there.
Sensing their worry, the gang's dragons moved closer, crooning as a show of comfort while wondering what on Midgard was going on, having not heard the conversation. The Witch, also sensing their worry, continued, "I have managed to weaken the Death Song's melodious tune on the screen with my magic," The Riders sighed with relief, only to tense with her next words, "though I am not quite sure it'll work too well. The dragons won't be helplessly lured to the screen, but they will feel some sort of attraction to it, and the less intelligent ones may try to fly or walk towards it like moths to a flame."
The Riders grimaced, getting an idea as to what the Witch wanted them to do, as the Witch looked at them expectantly, "I trust that you may mention this to the others when the time comes and keep the dragons from blocking the screen?"
The gang nodded as the Witch gave them a smile.
"Wait," Snotlout demanded, "why do we have to do this? Don't you have magic?"
"Yeah," Fishlegs asked, "why can't you just tell everyone yourself?"
Too late, the Witch was already gone as the Riders groaned. This was going to be a 'Fun' job. The Twins were quite miffed that they would have to be the ones preventing the upcoming chaos rather than creating it.
The intermission ended soon after, all of the Vikings having finished their discussions and sitting back down as the screen began to whirl once more.
The screen fades from black to reveal the night sky; it's a full moon. The camera then pans to reveal a small collection of even smaller islands as a loud screeching is heard, and Hiccup and Toothless fly into view.
"Okay, gang!" He calls, "Stay with your teammate and lock down your specific island."
The camera cuts to reveal the rest of the Dragon Riders as Hiccup speaks, "This Dragon Hunter is sneaky,"
The camera reveals Heather and Windshear in the team as well, as Fishlegs explains for Hiccup, "He comes in, transfers his cargo, and slips out under the cover of darkness."
"Oooo-hoo-hoo!" Dagur squealed with a mix of delight at seeing his sister onscreen, and curiosity as to what she did while she was with the Dragon Riders, "Finally, I get to see some of the stuff you did!"
Heather smirked, "Why so curious, anyway? I told you most of the stuff we did."
Dagur pouted, "Yeah, but I never saw any of it!"
The camera zooms in on Fishlegs, "Very mysterious."
"Very boring," Snotlout remarks as the camera switches to him and Hookfang, "Can we get to it?"
Fishlegs huffed as the others rolled their eyes. Stoick facepalmed, that was Spitelout's son, alright.
As the team flies towards the islands, Snotlout and Hookfang fly ahead next to Hiccup and Toothless.
"So," Snotlout begins, "I need you to put in a good word for me, Hiccup."
The Vikings raised their eyebrows.
"What?" Hiccup responds, "With who, Astrid?"
"Puh-lease!" Snotlout waves his hand down, "I'm so over Astrid, you can have her."
"Oh, thank goodness for that." Astrid sighed with relief as Snotlout scowled.
"Wow, thanks," Hiccup says dryly, "I appreciate that."
"Anytime, I'm a giver."
The Vikings snorted as Snotlout turned to Ruffnut, "See? I'm so generous and cool-"
"The day you're generous," Fishlegs deadpanned as Ruffnut gagged, "Is the day Hiccup stops being such an adrenaline junkie."
"I'm not an adrenaline junkie!" Hiccup defended himself, "And don't bring me into this!"
"Yeah, sure," Astrid scoffed, "Mr. Building-A-Flight-Suit-and-always-free-falling."
"Free-falling!?" Stoick questioned.
Hiccup pouted as the other Riders and their dragons snickered.
"Listen," Snotlout started, "I know Heather's been dying to approach me, but her fear's got her 'scurred'."
"Hah!" Dagur laughed, "As if!"
Heather shivered at the very thought as Astrid, Mala, and Ruffnut sent her looks of sympathy. Fishlegs sent Snotlout an incredulous look as the latter scowled in return, before turning to Ruffnut, "I'm so over her, babe. Fishface can have her."
"Hey!" Fishlegs shouted as Ruffnut stuck her tongue out in disgust.
Spitelout groaned at the onscreen and offscreen interactions; Why, just why did his son have to flirt with every woman that crossed his path?
"Yeah," Hiccup stutters, "I-I-I don't think Heather gets 'scurred', Snotlout. Besides, I'm not so sure you're ready for a woman like Heather."
"She's far too, uh, sincere, honest, brave."
Heather blushed at the praise.
"I can fake honesty, I can fake sincerity, I can fake all those things."
The Vikings rolled their eyes again, and either scoffed, snorted, or snickered.
"Oh, yeah, and by the way, she's smart, too."
The snickers turned to chuckles.
"I can fake being smarters," Snotlout said with his arms crossed as Hookfang snorted.
The chuckles turned into outright laughter as Spitelout moaned in embarrassment. Snotlout flinched at father's groan, before deciding to save-face as he huffed at the Vikings' laughter, not quite understanding their reasons for doing so.
"What?" He asked, "I'm a great liar!"
The laughter grew stronger.
The Astrid and the Twins fly towards the land as Stormfly paused and screeched, having spotted the Hunters.
"Keep it nice and warm," a Hunter says, "This way, it's a beauty."
The dragons growled at seeing all those hunters as all the humans glared at the screen.
The Hunters continued to clamor as Astrid gestured for the other Riders to stop, "I think we should move in slowly, preserve the element of-"
"Coming in hot!" Tuffnut interrupts as he and Ruffnut fly Barf and Belch downwards, "Woo-ooo-ooo!" Ruffnut chirped.
The Vikings chuckled as the other Riders groaned.
Astrid sighs, "-surprise," She flies down as Tuffnut snickers, lifting the sheet that covered the Hunters' cargo, "Voila!"
"Dragon egg!" Ruffnut smiles.
The Vikings 'Ooooo'ed and 'Aaaah'ed at the sight, while the smarter ones were left to wonder, what species was that? The Riders' eyes widened as they remembered what day this was, and Stormfly chirped happily at the thought of seeing her friend again, albeit as a hatchling.
Tuffnut gasps in surprise as the Hunters begin shooting them with arrows and they both scream.
"Help!" Tuffnut shouts as the Twins run towards their dragon, the Hunters chasing them close by, "Aaah!".
One of the Hunters grunts as he pulls the cargo.
"Oh, no, you don't!" The Twins cry in unison.
Barf breathes his gas and Belch ignites it, causing an explosion behind the Hunter.
Hiccup pinched his nose in annoyance as the other Riders and their allies gave the Twins incredulous looks, "Guys, you need to protect the egg, not fry it!"
"Guys, we need to protect the egg," Astrid swoops down, "not fry it!"
Hiccup and Astrid blinked before giving each other a smirk as Stoick and the Hofferson Parents smiled.
The Hunters begin sailing away on a small boat, "To the ship, ay!" Astrid and Stormfly move the follow them.
"Fire!" One of the Hunters shout as Astrid gasps, arrows whizzing by as she and Stormfly dodge.
The Vikings gasped in worry as the Hofferson Parents stayed firm, knowing that their baby could handle it.
"Stormfly!" Astrid commands as the dragon gave a bright blast of fire, flaring up the sky.
Fishlegs and Heather see the flare and pause, before flying on their dragons towards the source of the light. Hiccup and Snotlout share a look before doing the same.
"We're never gonna get out of here!" One of the Hunters panic as another Hunter responds, "It's the egg they want!"
"They want the egg? Give it to them!"
The Hunters grunt as they prepare to launch the egg with a catapult.
The Vikings gasped, surely they wouldn't?
But they did. Astrid calls out to the other Riders as they approach, "Get ready to move, guys!"
"Fire!" The Hunters launch the egg.
The Vikings paled as the children shrieked, worried for the safety of the egg, as the dragons snarled nervously at the screen.
The Twins move to catch it, "We got it! We got it!"
"Back off, Twidiots." Snotlout and Hookfang fly in, "It's mine!"
"Back off, Snotlout!" Ruffnut shrieks as the egg continues to fall. The two dragons and their riders end up colliding and start to fall with the egg as they all groaned.
The Vikings groaned. The Twins and Snotlout would never work as a team.
Fishlegs and Meatlug approach the egg as it continues to fall, and Meatlug bats it away with her tail. The egg flies towards Astrid and Stormfly, who bat it back.
"Heather!" Astrid calls.
"Hey," Snotlout remarks, "That actually looks kinda fun!"
The entire Hall gave him disbelieving looks as Snotlout raised his arms in surrender and continued, "I mean we could do this without an actual dragon egg, like a game with a ball or something."
"That's.." Hiccup started as Astrid finished, "Actually not a bad idea."
The Twins cheered as Fishlegs squealed, "Oooo... We could call it Dragon Ball!"
"Dragon Ball?" Snotlout scoffed, "Sounds dumb, who would watch that?"
From somewhere in the distance, the faint, disembodied and hysterical laughter of the Witch could be heard.
"Well, why don't you come up with a name, then?" Hiccup suggested as the Riders continued discussing what to call their new game.
The Vikings chuckled as the Riders launched into conversation, only those teens would find a way to turn a dangerous mission into a sport.
"Got it!" The egg rolls perfectly off of Windshear's tail as Heather grunts.
The egg ends up balancing perfectly upside-down on the edge of the cliff as Heather panics, "Huh! No!"
The Hall grew tense as the Vikings stared at the screen with bated breath.
The egg falls off.
The Hall grew silent.
Suddenly, Hiccup and Toothless are seen swooping upwards, the egg in Hiccup's hands.
The Vikings whooped and cheered, as the dragons gave a sigh of relief, before cheering with their human companions. Toothless looked smug as his speed and agility was displayed, while Hiccup laughed and patted his head.
"Well, that was fun." Hiccup says as the camera zooms in on him, "Hey, I've got an idea, how about we get this back to the Edge, safely."
The scene cuts to the Edge's clubhouse in daylight, slowly zooming in.
A few of the Vikings winced at the sudden change in light intensity, while others blinked.
"It's definitely not a Changewing," Hiccup observes as the camera cuts to the egg, panning up to reveal him reading the Book of Dragons.
"Thank Thor," Fishlegs sighs in relief.
"And it's not the type of any of our dragons."
"Oh," Fishlegs chirped, the camera revealing him standing next to a sleeping Meatlug, "Can you imagine Meatlug with her very own egg?"
Fishlegs turns to give Meatlug a comforting rub, "It would be so cute, aww!"
The Vikings cooed at their own dragons, while those without dragons just smiled at the sight. Astrid, however, grimaced as she remembered the exploding eggs of the dragons' first Snoggletog.
Hiccup sighs before turning back to the book, "I don't think it's in here, Fishlegs."
"Well," Tuffnut adds, the camera revealing him with his hand on his waist as Chicken clucks from the table, "Someone certainly has their own ideas on what it is." Chicken coos and clucks before landing on the enormous dragon egg. Tuffnut gasps proudly and bends down, "Look who's feeling motherly! Aren't you, little chicken?"
"Wait," Ruffnut realises, "Doesn't this mean that Tuff is technically Garff's grandpa or something?"
The Vikings turned towards her with bewildered eyes. "I mean," She explained, "Tuff did adopt Chicken, and Chicken adopted Garff, so.."
The Vikings' eyes grew to the size of plates in realisation as Tuffnut gasped dramatically, "I'M A GRANDFATHER!"
"I'M A GRAND AUNT!" Ruffnut shouted.
"We're OLD!" The Twins gasped in unison and horror.
The Thorston parents fainted as Hiccup turned to whisper into Astrid's ear, "They have a really weird family tree."
Astrid chuckled as she pecked Hiccup's cheek, "You can say that again."
"Give me a kiss," Tuffnut said as he put his finger near Chicken. Chicken clucked in alarm and bit Tuffnut's finger, "Ow!" He clutched his hand, "Easy, pal! I'm on your side."
Half of the Vikings winced while the other half snickered at his pain.
Fishlegs chuckled as he stood beside Hiccup, who was watching the scene with amusement, "If you're gonna hatch that egg, I think you're gonna need a little bit more power than that, Chicken. But, it was a nice try."
"Don't listen to him, Chicken." Tuffnut put one hand on his hips, "Haters gonna hate, hatchers gonna hatch." He snapped his fingers, "And, buddy," He raised his hand before pointing it, "you're-a-hatchin'." Chicken clucks as Tuffnut puts both of his hands on his hips, and coos with her.
"We should check the Dragon Eye notes again," Hiccup says, taking the book from under his arm and looking through it again, "Just to be sure."
"Okay," Fishlegs says blankly as the two of them walk away, "But I didn't see anything in there about eggs or hatchings."
The camera cuts to a close-up of Chicken's face as she clucks some more, and lets out an especially loud one when she hears the egg crackling.
The Vikings gasped, while others leaned in.
The eggs cracks some more, as Tuffnut tries to alert the nerds. "Uh, guys?" He says, pointing at the egg.
"Not now, Tuff." Hiccup responds from off-camera.
"Okay," Tuffnut shrugs as he bends down to watch the egg hatch, his head resting on his hands with an excited smile on his face.
The Vikings chuckled while others groaned as Hiccup rubbed his neck sheepishly, grinning guiltily as he saw the situation from Tuffnut's point of view. The Twins, however, took no notice as they smiled obliviously while watching the screen.
The egg cracks some more as the two nerds turn around, hearing the sound.
"Tuffnut!" Hiccup shouts angrily as Fishlegs continues, "Why didn't you say something?"
"Really?" Tuffnut asks sarcastically with an eyebrow raised.
"Sorry, Tuff." The aforementioned Viking nerds apologised in unison while the other Vikings laughed. Tuffnut shrugged it off with an evil smirk, "I got you back, didn't I?"
The two grimaced and shuddered as they remembered the prank performed on them that day, while their dragons joined in on the laughter. That had taken forever to clean!
Hiccup sets the book back on the table as the two approached the egg, Chicken clucking loudly as the egg continues to crack. Tuffnut leans slightly forward, "Kind of makes you wonder what came first; the chicken, or the chicken."
"Uh, Were you trying to say 'the chicken or the egg?'" Hiccup asks, as Tuffnut shook his head blankly.
"No? I thought I was pretty clear."
"Dude," Ruffnut says, "It was obviously the chicken that came first."
"No, way," Tuffnut butts his helmet against hers as they stared at each other, "It was the chicken, not the chicken."
"Chicken."
"Chicken."
"Chicken!"
"Chicken!"
The two continued to fight as everyone around them rolled their eyes.
He screams and steps back as the egg bursts, the eggshells flying in every direction, and the camera cuts to reveal a small yellow dragon with black claws, orange wings and blue ear fins squeaking with its eyes closed. The hatchling slowly opens its wings and shakes his head, opening his eyes for the first time.
Collective cries of "Aww!" rippled through the hall as the female dragons cooed motherly. That hatchling was unbelievably cute! Stormfly chirped happily at seeing her hatchling friend, as Astrid scratched behind her dragon's horns with an amused chuckled. All of the young children, many of which owned orphaned hatchlings of their own that were rescued from Hunters, squealed at the adorable sight and hugged their dragons tightly.
A few of the more intelligent Vikings, however, were quite curious. They'd never seen this type of dragon before, and never saw it in the Book as the Riders had taken it with them to the Edge. They all asked the same question:
"What is that?" Fishlegs asked.
"It's familiar," Hiccup replies as the camera switches to show the dragon opening his eyes wider, "But I can't place it."
"You know, in hindsight, it was pretty obvious." said Fishlegs.
"To be fair," Hiccup pointed out, "Before this, we only had one other encounter with his species."
"True."
"Ha-ha!" Snotlout laughed, "The geniuses became the idiots."
The Vikings' curiosity as to what species it was grew further, while others raised their eyebrows at Snotlout's indirect compliment, giving the Dragon Riders questioning looks as the Riders gestured towards the screen.
The hatchling purred, before screeching loudly and high-pitched.
Everyone in the hall either groaned or winced at the ear-splitting noise, many of the Vikings covering their ears. The hatchlings, having far more sensitive ears than their human owners or adult brethren, cried loudly in pain, making the Vikings cover their ears tighter. The poor arm amputees of the village could only cover one ear, and they all groaned as the entire hall fell into noisy misery.
"Ah!" Tuffnut gasped, he and Hiccup covering their own ears and Hiccup closing his eyes as the hatchling continued to screech and Fishlegs stepped back with a wince, "Oh, no! No, no! Stop! Stop!"
Tuffnut screamed as Fishlegs spoke to Hiccup, who opened his eyes, "I liked him better when he was inside," Fishlegs said, covering his ears as well.
There wasn't a single Viking that didn't agree with him at that very moment.
The screeching continued as the screen reveals several small dragons flying away from their posts on the Clubhouse, trying to get away from the noise. Day turns to night, as the Moon shines high while the screeching shows no sign of stopping. The scene changes to show the interior of the Clubhouse, and by now, Toothless and all the other Riders have come inside.
Snotlout's talking turns into a shout, "Can someone please SHUT THAT THING UP?"
"Aww, it probably needs its mother." Heather reasons as she is shown standing beside him, "Poor thing, all by itself."
"That's what I was trying to say," Snotlout lies with his hand on his heart, "Because I'm so sincere!"
Heather looked at him, confused, as Snotlout continues, "Of course, these fools don't listen, but.." He paused and gestured to himself, "I listen."
Snorts and eye-rolls ran rampant through the hall.
"Sincere," Astrid snarked with her arms crossed, "Right."
"Listen," Hiccup said with a raised eyebrow, "Right."
Snotlout ignored them, and turned to Ruffnut. "You see?" He started, "I'm so sincere and listening-y, you have to love me!"
Ruffnut let out a "Bleh!" of disgust as she ordered Barf to gas him in the face, she and Tuffnut snickering while Snotlout stepped back with a cough.
Spitelout, by now, had his face in his hands as he rubbed his temples, his Son's idiocy having given him a headache. Snotlout pretended not to notice, and scowled at the Zippleback.
Heather puts her hand on her waist with a disbelieving look while the Hatchling continues to screech. Tuffnut is shown frowning, Chicken in his lap while he sits, and suddenly shoots his head and finger up, "I got it!"
"What?!" Hiccup shouts from the table as Astrid lowers her arms from her ears, she and Toothless turning their heads to face the male Twin, "What is it?"
"Garffiljorg." Tuffnut states with focused triumph.
"What?" The Vikings all asked.
"What?" Hiccup asked.
"Its name."
They gave the male Twin a blank stare.
"Who cares what we call it?!" Ruffnut shouts from the corner, "Not like it's listening to us anyway."
"Chicken cares!" Tuffnut says, pointing to his most prized possession, "I mean, it did come out of her!"
"Tuffnut," Hiccup speaks, "She didn't actually..."
Tuffnut and Chicken give him a glare as Hiccup stops himself, "N-n-never mind."
The Thorston parents chuckled, having been in similar situations during the Twins' visits and when they moved back in. That blasted Chicken was the only thing on Tuffnut's mind.
The scene switches to the Stables, still at night, as the Hatchling continues to screech. The Hatchling is shown in one of the wooden cage-stables, while the Riders look on in hopelessness and despair. Well, except for Snotlout, who just looks absolutely done.
A few short chuckles came out on the sight of their expressions, especially Snotlout's.
"Oh," Fishlegs sighed tiredly, "How are the dragons gonna get any sleep with this little guy in here?"
"It's them or us, Fishface!" Snotlout shouts as he walks away, "But, please, feel free to babysit that thing if you want to."
He walks past Heather, "Uh," She asked, "Maybe I should stay with it?"
"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Snotlout runs back, positioning himself behind Heather with an obviously faked politeness, "Oh, we're like two yaks in a stall, you and me."
The Vikings rolled their eyes as Dagur stared incredulously at the Hooligan. Snotlout, however, paid no heed as he turned to Ruffnut, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Ruffnut gagged, "Ugh."
"Ugh," Astrid almost snarled, standing behind Hiccup who held a serious expression, "Look, i-if we shut these doors," Hiccup shouts over the noise as he walked, "Plug our ears, and sleep under our beds," The camera cuts to the Twins giving each other a look as Hiccup continues, "We just might be able to catch a few winks."
Astrid was about to follow him until the Hatchling's screech grew even louder, wincing while Hiccup covered his ears. "Yeah, okay," He flails his arms about, "Let's just get out of here before our heads explode!"
The Vikings and Dragons sighed with relief, "Oh, Finally!"
The Riders made to leave as Tuffnut called, "Chicken, come on, it's bedtime." The chicken clucks as Tuffnut bent down, "Hey, I'll tell you the story about the angry chicken who took on the Buffalord!"
Chicken hesitates for a moment before bawking and running towards the screaming dragon. Tuffnut stood up, "She just ain't havin' it, she wants to stay with Garffiljorg!"
Chicken clucks, hopping towards Garff as he continues to screech. Chicken clucks rhythmically as the young dragon finally stopped, carefully listening to her tune. Garffiljorg crawled towards the bird and screeched softly, trying to mimic her tune.
The entire hall breathed sighs of relief once more as a few of the Vikings lowered their hands. Tuffnut glared at the screen, holding his Chicken close, as he remembered what happened next.
Hiccup and Astrid turned around.
"Oh, he stopped cry-" Hiccup nearly shouted before interrupting himself, "Uh, he stopped crying."
"That's because Chicken sang to him," Tuffnut states like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Didn't you hear that?" He chuckled as he put a hand on his hips before crossing them, "Oh, the pipes on that Chicken!"
"I'll say!" Snotlout drawled as he dug into his ear, he and the other Riders remembering the times when they were awoken by Chicken's cocka-doodle-doos.
Chicken cooed and the Hatchling screeched, before spitting out a large projectile of amber, encasing the poor, honest bird, who squeaks and clucks in fear.
The very same aviary creature squawked fearfully, while Tuffnut held her closer in comfort.
"Shh," He cooed, "It's gonna be okay, Chicken. It's gonna be okay."
The dragon squeaked happily before spreading his wings and doing a little dance in celebration, and ran towards his prey. Tuffnut grabbed the ball of amber containing Chicken and pulled it out of reach, "Bad dragon! Um, does this look familiar to anyone but me?"
He held Chicken out, "Impenetrable amber cocoon, vicious hungry dragon," He pointed at Garff accusingly, "and terrified Vikings?"
"It's a baby Death Song, Tuffnut." Fishlegs said as he walked forwards, Hiccup and Astrid staring worriedly, "Believe me, we know."
A Death Song? That was new. "It's a new dragon species," Fishlegs explained to the Vikings, who had looked at them expectantly. An entirely new species? How many had the Riders discovered while on the Edge? They all suddenly noticed Sleuther and Windshear, and wondered what species they were as well.
"Oh, that's just perfect!" Snotlout snarked, walking away as the dragon screeched loudly and the screen cut to black. The screen then fades, to reveal Chicken clucking from the Clubhouse, Hookfang, Barf and Belch peering in from outside. Hiccup is shown tending to the encased Chicken, cutting off bits of the ember with a small knife, while Tuffnut sobbed hysterically in the background, pacing back and forth.
A few of the Vikings gave Tuffnut sympathetic looks as the latter whimpered at the memory. The other Riders rolled their eyes fondly. Honestly, Tuffnut and Snotlout could compete for the archipelago's most dramatic Drama-King.
"Tuffnut," Hiccup asked, "Could you please help me out?"
"And do what?" The Viking sobbed.
"Calm your chicken! It's not doing any of us any good to have the entire Edge freaking out."
"I'm here, Chicken," Tuffnut said as he bent down with an encouraging smile, putting a hand on the amber case where Chicken's shoulder would be, "Don't you worry, everything is gonna turn out.." He broke off and wailed, "I can't lie to a chicken!" He leaned forward and hugged Chicken tightly.
Tuffnut did the same as his past self and hugged his beloved Chicken like a pillow, Belch looking on with a twinge of jealousy.
"You know, that'd go much easier if you had some Monstrous Nightmare gel," Snotlout added as he leaned against the wall and pointed at Hookfang, "Plus, you could get yourself some rotisserie chicken while you're at it." He chuckled, "That sounds good."
"SNOTLOUT!" Shouted every Viking in the Hall as the Twins gave him the deadliest glare.
"Don't ever.." Tuffnut half-scolded, half-sobbed, "Don't you DARE ever joke about that again!"
Spitelout tutted quietly and shook his head, which honestly felt like a stab in the side to Snotlout.
"What?!" He tried to defend himself, "I was just trying to lighten the mood!"
"Oof!" He got punched in the gut by Ruffnut. The Vikings shook their heads, exasperated and annoyed. Had he no tact? Wait, nevermind, this was Snotlout they were talking about.
Tuffnut immediately pounced angrily on Snotlout as Hookfang groaned. Hiccup looks on with an deadpanned expression that says, 'I am so done with this, please kill me now.'
"You apologize to her right now!" Tuffnut shouted, pulling Snotlout up in a headlock, "You hear me?!"
"No!" Snotlout retorted as Tuffnut continued, "Nobody's rotissering Chicken!"
The Vikings winced as the Twins' glare hardened. Never before had they seen either of them so.. emotional. Sure, they would act emotional, but it was always easy to see that it was fake. Here, though, Tuffnut's rage was genuine, and it was terrifying. The Thorston Parents gave Snotlout a hard stare. There were lines, and they had been crossed.
Chicken clucked, "Nobody! So you keep that Monstrous Nightmare gel away from her!"
"Actually, Tuff, Snotlout may be onto something." Hiccup stood up and walked towards Hookfang.
Everyone stared at Hiccup as if he had sprouted three heads out of his neck. Stoick was the most bewildered, his expression not at all living to his name. How could his boy be so blunt? He was always so polite when it came to such matters. To Hiccup, the sight was comical, and he only nodded towards the screen.
"Oh sure," Tuffnut pushed Snotlout to the side, "What's next, roasted Toothless?"
Toothless gave Tuffnut a snort.
"Just stay with me here," Hiccup rubbed the blade harmlessly on Hookfang's chin, gathering the gel and approaching the Zippleback, "Remember when we were at Melody Island?" He gestured to the knife and held it out for Belch to ignite it, turning it into a flaming blade as Tuffnut gasped, Snotlout still catching his breath.
The Vikings gasped. A flaming knife?! They were even more shocked at the conversation that followed.
"So that's where you got the idea for Inferno!" Astrid realised.
"Yep!"
"Oh, man!" Dagur giggled like a mad child, "It's such a cool sword!"
Their eyes widened at the implications. Hiccup was a genius when it came to engineering and blacksmithing, true, and he was an expert on Dragons, outshone only by Fishlegs in that category, but surely not... there was no way...!
"Don't do it, Hiccup!" Tuffnut exclaimed as the one-legged Viking approached the trapped bird, "You'll singe her little feathers, and that's all she has in the whole wide world!"
Hiccup held the burning blade closer to Chicken as Tuffnut gestured to himself, "Except for me, of course. Feathers and me!"
Hiccup held the blade next to Chicken's head as the latter clucked in worry, melting the amber, "I'm just doing enough to get it started."
"Aah..." The Vikings realised. Gobber smirked, Hiccup always found a clever way to outdo himself. That was his former apprentice, alright.
"Now, that's my boy!" Stoick cheered proudly.
Heather chuckled as Dagur smiled fondly, "Of course you'd get the idea for the most awesome weapon on Midgard by helping someone." That was his little brother, always helping others. Hiccup blushed sheepishly at the praise, "Well, Viggo had something better."
"Viggo Grimborn?" Astrid asked, surprised.
"What could be more awesome than a fire sword?!" Ruffnut asked, incredibly incredulous. That thing had the potential to cause so much destruction, and just simply imagining it was beautiful!
"Oh, you'll see," Hiccup said in a cryptic whisper, "You and Tuff would definitely enjoy it."
The Twins gave each other confused and surprised looks.
"I won't go deep enough deep enough to get remotely close to Chicken," Hiccup said as he moved he flaming blade around and melted the amber, Tuffnut watching anxiously, "See?"
Chicken clucked as Hiccup called, "Now, Toothless?"
The Night Fury approached, holding out his front paw as he carefully cracked open the amber with a single claw. The amber shattered, and Chicken fainted. Tuffnut grabbed Hiccup by the shoulders, ecstatic, and literally threw him aside as he went to hold his Chicken.
"Nice," Ruffnut gave her twin a high-five as Hiccup laughed very sarcastically. Toothless fought the urge to snarl, he knew that the long-haired male had meant no harm in his actions, but he still didn't appreciate watching Hiccup pushed around like that. Astrid and Stoick shared the same sentiment.
"The Chicken is free!" Tuffnut cheered as Fishlegs and Heather holding Garff approach from the background, "Chicken is free!" He held his beloved bird to his face, a loving reunion.
Garffiljorg screeches in Heather's arms as she and Fishlegs approach, Chicken, terrified, clucks madly as Tuffnut growled, "You!" He turned to Hiccup, who was picking himself up from the ground, "We need to remove Garffiljorg from this island, immediately!"
Many of the Vikings wholeheartedly agreed. That thing needed to be returned home, it was far too loud! However, many of the other Vikings looked horrified at the prospect of abandoning a child.
"Okay, Tuff," Hiccup consoled, "Don't you think you're overreacting?"
"Nonsense!" Tuffnut shouted dramatically as he through Chicken upwards, the latter landing in Hiccup's arms and being put down on the floor.
"It is getting difficult to handle this guy, Hiccup," Astrid said, appearing out of nowhere, as the Hatchling continued its crying, "You gotta admit!"
"She right, Hiccup!" Fishlegs agreed, "I mean, he just went after Chicken! How long before he goes after one of us?"
"He's gots to go!" Snotlout chipped in, pointing, "Back to Melody Island with you!"
Hiccup stepped in his way as Snotlout moved to grab the young dragon, "Snotlout, did you forget how the Death Song tried to eat all of us and our dragons?"
"WHAT?!" The Vikings all asked. Their parents especially had paled, their babies had nearly been eaten! And worse, nobody would've found their bodies if they were. A few of the dragons, mostly the younger ones, whimpered as the older dragons snarled protectively. Hiccup met their expectant gazes and gestured to his friend, "Fishlegs?"
"The Death Song is a cannibalistic dragon that uses its, well, song," Fishlegs explained hurriedly, "to lure its prey and trap them in amber to eat later!"
"You went to explore lands far from Berk," Stoick started as Spitelout continued, "and nearly got eaten?!"
The Riders chuckled nervously as their families gave them the hardest glares. Oh, boy. They were so dead.
"Well I had until you just brought it up," Snotlout rubbed the back of his neck, "Thank you for that."
Once again, the Vikings were all taken aback at Snotlout's friendlier demeanour. Snotlout wasn't one to thank others, was he? The latter refused to meet his father's eyes as he saw his mother smile at her boy. She was just so proud and happy that her baby had finally learned to reveal his softer side. Spitelout, however, was frowning, not in disappointment at his son showing weakness by admitting his faults like Snotlout had suspected, but in worry. Why didn't he get to see this side of him? Were Snotlout's friends really closer to him than his own father?
"Oh, no, no!" Astrid said, "It is too dangerous to go back!"
"And we don't even know if a baby dragon can bond with a dragon that's not its parent!" Fishlegs added as Heather stepped forward to speak, "You guys, he's too young to know right from wrong! He's just following his instincts."
The camera cuts to a close-up of Heather's face, the hatchling in her hands reflecting in her eyes, "I know what it's like to be all alone in the world,"
Hiccup, Heather, Dagur and even Toothless all nodded subtly, too subtly for anyone but the dragons with their keen eyes to notice. They had all known that feeling at one point, and for very, very long periods of time, too.
"We can't just shun him!"
"Hmm," Hiccup spoke, "Heather's right! We have trained everything from a Night Fury to a Night Terror," He put his hand on Toothless' head, "We can certainly train him not to eat us, right?"
"Yeah," Fishlegs chuckled, "We can try."
"We owe it to Garff!" Heather says, determined.
"Speak for yourselves," Tuffnut scowled as he held Chicken, Ruffnut standing behind him with her arms crossed.
The Hatchling continued to screech as Snotlout gestured towards him, "And what about that? Does anyone else, not named Hiccup, have an idea before I take a running leap off the top of the Edge?!"
"Nobody say a word," Astrid joked.
That got a few chuckles as Snotlout scowled.
"Funny, Astrid!" Snotlout shouted, "By the way, I'm over you, in case you haven't heard! And if I'm being honest with you, because I'm nothing if not honest," Heather's humming is heard in the background, "Did you hear that, Heather?"
Snotlout's smirk falls as Heather continues humming. The dragon slowly quietens down as she starts to sing,
"The sky is dark, and the hills are white
as the Storm King speeds from the North to-night,"
All the Vikings widened their eyes as they all recognised the old Norse Lullaby, a few of them even humming and singing along. Every Viking in the archipelago knew this tune, and it was either sung to them as children, or sung to children of their own.
The song meant many different things to many different Vikings. To Heather, it was a sweet reminder of how her adoptive parents always used this tune to calm her down, and now she had paid the favour forward.
"And this is the song the Storm King sings,
as over the world his cloak his flings:
'Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep.'
He rustles his wings, and gruffly sings.
'Sleep, little one sleep.'"
And sleep the little ones did. All of the extremely young children, the Twins, and their dragons had fallen asleep, their parents chuckling amusedly as a few fondly ruffled their hair. Some of the Vikings even continued the song, filling the air with something strange and yet oddly welcoming as the many voices chorused softly as one,
"On yonder mountain-side a vine
clings at the foot of a mother pine;
The tree bends over the trembling thing,
and only the vine can hear her sing:
'Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep;
What shall you fear when I am here?
Sleep, little one, sleep.'"
At this point, even a few of the adults had fallen asleep while the rest of the Hall chuckled quietly. Who knew that Vikings were good at singing?
"Wow," Dagur breathed, "Sis, why didn't you tell me you could sing?"
"Oh, stop," She turned red and gestured to her sister-in-law, "Mala's singing is better."
"Well," Mala blushed, "Only because you've been giving me lessons. It's nothing compared to yours!"
Fishlegs sniffed, wiping a tear from his eye, "That was.. that was just beautiful, Heather."
Snotlout imitated Fishlegs and kissed the air mockingly, "That was just beautiful, Heather." He kissed his own hand.
The Vikings rolled their eyes. Way to ruin the moment. Astrid synchronised with herself onscreen, "Ugh."
"Ugh," Astrid said, the only word on anyone's vocabulary when it came to Snotlout, "Thank Thor something worked."
"Well, would you look at that," Fishlegs piped in, "Garff wasn't the only one it worked on." The camera cuts to reveal Barf, Belch, The Twins, and Chicken all sleeping in one large pile and snoring.
The aforementioned were doing the same.
"It makes perfect sense," Hiccup realised as he stroked his chin and walked towards the sleeping dragon, "The Death Song sings to its prey to draw them in, that might be the primary way it communicates."
"And it might help us train it." Heather added.
"Interesting."
Snotlout coughed, "Yak dung!"
The Hatchling awoke on Snotlout's words and began screeching again, "Well, you better keep singing then."
The Vikings turned to glare at Snotlout.
"You mean, 'we.'" Hiccup shouted.
"I do?"
"Oh, yes, you do." Heather chided.
"Oh, yes, of course, I do."
The Vikings turned to face each other. The Dragon Riders were going to sing? Their parents leaned in, quite curious as to what songs their children sang. Gobber chuckled, "Oh, this is going to be interesting."
The scene changes to Hiccup and Toothless at the beach, Hiccup carrying the Death Song in his arms while the Night Terrors flew away. Hiccup put the Night Terror down and began to sing,
"Come listen my young dragon friend, and I will tell a tale,"
In an instant, Hiccup groaned and sprawled to the floor. They were going to see him sing! Stoick was quite intrigued, for he had never heard Hiccup sing before. Gobber, however, snickered and smirked. The lad was a somewhat decent singer when it came to songs he knew well, but when making things up on the spot or singing new songs, he was terrible!
"Of days when Vikings feared the sound of monsters' distant wail.
For was a time not long ago, when wars were bravely fought
against a foe we feared before a lesson we were taught!
That night of fury, one did dare to set aside his dread
and place his hand upon a winged villain's gentle head."
Hiccup visibly cringed while the Vikings held back their snickers at Hiccup's terrible singing and voice-shaking. Snotlout, however, cared not and laughed outright. Astrid rolled her eyes at Snotlout while Toothless smiled, remembering that fateful day at the Cove.
"Now time has passed, and what was once our cursed enemy
now carries us to battle against our threat across the sea!"
The Vikings were mildly surprised. Who knew Hiccup had it in him, and could deepen his voice like that? Gobber was not surprised. All those years Hiccup spent imitating Stoick, the lad was practically an expert on that. On singing, however, he was not.
"Wow," Tuffnut commented, "Who knew Hiccup's voice could get so deep?"
Astrid smiled fondly as she nudged her boyfriend, "You got carried away, didn't you?"
"Ah-hah," Hiccup blushed, taking her hand as he got up from the floor, "A little."
Hiccup stopped as he heard Garff's screech, looking down at his now amber-encased metal leg in disgust, "Ugh!"
The Vikings shared the same sentiment while the amputees of the Village gave Hiccup sympathetic looks, the latter of whom shivered at the memory. It was always a disgusting hassle to clean their prosthetics.
The scene cuts to Fishlegs playing his pan flute, Garff screeching and trying to imitate his tune while Meatlug watches in the background. Garff starts spitting amber as Fishlegs dodges, his flute-playing going faster and faster. This goes on for a few seconds before Fishlegs stops, the Hatchling having fallen asleep.
'Huh,' The Vikings thought to themselves. Fishlegs had a knack for musical instruments, who knew? Well, the Ingermans did, and they all cheered proudly as Fishlegs' talents were finally revealed. Fishlegs blushed at the impressed looks he received, especially from Heather.
"Phew," He sighed before turning to see an amber-covered Meatlug. The latter growled and shook her wings in annoyance.
Chuckles rang through the Hall as Meatlug grumbled at the memory.
The scene cuts to Snotlout flying a flaming Hookfang at night. The Death Song is shown sitting on Hookfang's head as Snotlout sung,
"I killed my first boar when I was just a boy,"
The Jorgensons' eyes widened as they all recognised the tune of their family's anthem. Stoick smiled, remembering when Valka sang the same tune, albeit with slightly different lyrics since she wasn't a boy.
"a big ol' battle axe was my favourite toy!
Each of my enemies, they all have been destroyed;
For I am Snotlout, Oi, Oi, Oi!
Snotlout, Snotlout, Oi, Oi, Oi!
He's all man and you're all boy."
"Huh," Astrid mused, "He's actually not that bad of a singer."
"Oh, yeah!" Snotlout gloated as he kissed his biceps and turned to Ruffnut, "You hear that?"
Ruffnut, rudely awakened from her slumber, glared at him dangerously.
"Yes, I said it, try me if you dare,
I'll chill you to the bone with my steely glare!"
"I don't think he liked you challenging him, Snotlout." Fishlegs observed as Snotlout groaned, "Yeah, I noticed."
The scene changes to the Twins' hut, where a knocking could be heard as Tuffnut opened the door and exclaimed in surprise. Snotlout is seen carrying Garff by the scruff of his neck, he and Hookfang both covered in amber.
"You guys are up," He grumbled, "Take him."
Tuffnut gasped as Garff screeched, backing away from the approaching Snotlout, "No, no, no. No!"
Chicken is seen walking towards them. Garff licked his lips as he spotted the tasty-looking poultry.
"He's fine," Snotlout tried to soothe as Chicken hid between Tuffnut's legs, "He just gets a little cranky when the music stops, okay?" He dropped the Hatchling onto the floor and walked away.
"Snotlout!" Hiccup sighed as Heather continued, "You can't just drop a baby on the floor!"
"Oh, come on!" Snotlout groaned, "He was fine!"
Stormfly and a few other dragons, most notably the mothers, snarled angrily at how the dwarfish human had treated the young Hatchling.
"That's all. So, ha-ha, you're gonna have so much fun." The door shut as Snotlout flew away on Hookfang, laughing. Tuffnut screamed and Chicken clucked, Garffiljorg approaching the terrified bird. Tuffnut, worried for the safety of his precious bird, started singing,
"No, Garff, no!
You must not hurt Chicken.
For Chicken is a friend, will see you to the end!"
The Vikings chuckled as Snotlout laughed, "Hah! You're worse than Hiccup!"
"Hey!" The Twins and Hiccup said in unison as the laughter grew stronger.
Ruffnut pushed him aside and sang quickly,
"No, Garff, no! You cannot eat Tuff's chicken.
Eating that bird's heart will tear Tuffnut's apart!"
Tuffnut rose from the ground,
"Why must you eat my pet?
It is the only one I'll get."
Barf and Belch grumbled in envy while the Vikings cringed at Tuffnut's singing.
Ruffnut put a hand on her hips, not amused, as Tuffnut continued,
"And then all I'll do is fret,
because we only just met.
Something else that rhymes with met!"
More chuckles rang out in the Hall while others rolled their eyes.
Ruffnut rolled her eyes and added,
"But, how long, how long?
How long can we keep this up?
Can we keep this up, keep this up?"
Chicken jumped on Tuffnut's head and gave an ending crow. Garffiljorg proceeded to pounce on them all, screeching as the Twins screamed. The scene changes to the interior of Hiccup's hut, revealing Hiccup pouring Monstrous Nightmare gel into the hilt of a small sword.
The Vikings all wondered what Hiccup was doing, while Dagur and the Riders leaned forward, curious about the process of building Inferno. Gobber turned to Hiccup with a raised eyebrow, "What'yer doing, lad?"
"You'll see in a bit," Hiccup replied.
He lifted the sword in concentration and pressed a few buttons on the canister, as the gel is seen spreading out into a shallow canal on the blade.
"Hmm." He lowered the sword, "Well, that was supposed to work."
"HICCUP!" The voices of all the other Riders shouted from outside. Astrid and Stormfly landed first, covered in amber.
"Aw," Tuffnut whined as he voiced the thoughts of many of the Vikings in the crowd, "No Astrid song?"
"What did you sing, anyway?" Hiccup asked.
"Ugh," Astrid winced at the memory, "You don't wanna know."
"This is officially out of hand!" She shouted, "We cannot go on like this!"
"Yeah!" Ruffnut grunted, the camera revealing all the others also covered in amber as Tuffnut wailed his song. Snotlout gestured grumpily at his amber-covered helmet.
"But we can't abandon him," Heather pointed out, oddly not coated with amber, "We just can't! I'd never forgive myself."
"I'm sick of rhyming with 'met'!" Tuffnut complained in the background as Hiccup and Toothless walked forwards, the sword in Hiccup's right hand.
"We won't abandon him," Hiccup addressed them all, "We'll do what we should've done to begin with; We'll take him to be with his own kind."
He pressed a button on the hilt of the sword as Astrid shouted, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"Yes," Hiccup confirmed, now wielding a sword with a burning blade.
The Vikings gasped while others blinked and rubbed their eyes to make sure that they weren't seeing things.
"We're going to Melody Island to find that Death Song!" He held out the flaming sword as the camera zoomed in on its fire, a determined look on Hiccup's face.
The Vikings were speechless. Hiccup had just invented a flaming sword! Something they'd only imagined Valkyries and deities to wield. They all turned to Hiccup, gobsmacked, while Gobber egged him on, "Mind showing us, lad?"
"Er," Hiccup complied, "N-not at all!" He pulled out the sword, looking quite different from the one they'd seen onscreen, which they concluded must've been due to adjustments and upgrades, and Hiccup pushed the button and activated Inferno.
They were all awestruck as they watched the flames burn. He truly had a Dragon's soul. The Riders, Berserkers and Defenders, having seen the blade so many times before, smiled slightly smugly. Hiccup blushed at all the attention he was getting, and after a while, he deactivated the sword.
"Seriously," Ruffnut broke the silence, "What could Viggo possibly have had, that was cooler than that?!"
The scene changes to the Clubhouse at daytime. Heather's humming could be heard as she carried the Hatchling while flying Windshear, and the camera pans downwards to reveal the rest of the Dragon Riders gathered at the arena.
"Hey, genius," Snotlout drawled, turning to Hiccup, "Have you thought of the fact that the Death Song mind-melts our dragons?"
"Actually, I have." Hiccup responded as Toothless growled.
"Good, good, good, good, good, good." Snotlout replied, "So, do you have a plan for that, or are we just gonna wing it?"
"Pun intended!" Tuffnut chuckled as Hiccup gave him and Ruffnut two pairs of moss earplugs, "Get it? You said 'Wing it'. You know, and dragons have-"
The Vikings rolled their eyes.
"We get it, Tuff." Astrid said as she held Stormfly's chin.
"We're gonna handle that, Snotlout," Hiccup said, ignoring Tuffnut and giving Fishlegs a pair, "By using these."
"Moss ear plugs!" Fishlegs hooted, "Awesome!"
"Right?" Hiccup responded enthusiastically as he gave the ear plugs to Astrid, "I custom-made them for each dragon to keep out the Death Song's call."
"Great," Snotlout snarked, nodding his head towards Hookfang, "As if this guy needs another reason to not listen." Hookfang snorted a breath of smoke, knocking his helmet off as Snotlout yelped and gave him a glare.
Hookfang and Snotlout repeated their actions, earning a few chuckles from the crowd.
"You didn't happen to make any for us," Astrid asked jokingly, "Did you?"
"Oh!" The Twins chorused, "Burn!"
"Shut up, Twidiots!" Snotlout grumbled. The rest of the Vikings were torn between chiding Astrid for being so rude, or laughing. After all, this was Snotlout they were talking about.
Snotlout laughed extremely sarcastically, "Very funny, Astrid. You should take that comedy routine on the road!"
Astrid mounted Stormfly as they flew off, "Maybe I will."
"Oh, 'Maybe I will.'" Snotlout mimicked as Hookfang growled in agreement, "Except you shouldn't because it's completely contextual!"
"You know the word 'Contextual'," Astrid deadpanned, "But you used 'Smarters' in a sentence? I can't even decide if you're illiterate or not."
"Very funny, Astrid!" Snotlout snapped, stepping forward as the Twins chanted, "Fight, fight, fight!"
Hiccup, not wanting to see his cousin smooshed into a pile of goo, stood between them, "Okay, guys. L-let's just break this up before it starts, alright?"
The two gave each other deadly glares.
"Oh, and by the way," Hiccup turned to the crowd, "You might want to hold on to your dragons." He nodded towards the Riders, silently asking them to explain what to do as they approached the other Vikings.
The scene changes to show all the Riders flying as the group, Hiccup and Toothless taking the lead. Garff is shown purring in his sleep, cradled in Heather's arms while Fishlegs watches from afar, admiring Heather and his own handiwork. Hiccup turns to ask, "Fishlegs, how did you swing that?"
"Dragon Nip!" Fishlegs replied, holding a small batch of the stuff, "I wasn't entirely sure it would work on this particular species.." He winced, "It only took a couple tries to get close enough to knock the little guy out." Meatlug grumbled, amber covering her ear as Fishlegs apologised, "Sorry, girl."
"Just make sure he's awake when we get there," Hiccup commanded, "We need him alert and focused."
The camera cuts, zooming out of Snotlout's face, revealing Astrid flying on Stormfly from behind.
"How do you get a one-armed Jorgenson out of a tree?" Astrid asked as Snotlout's expression turn to one of hurt and confusion, "You wave to him!"
All the other Riders laughed, the camera switching to the Twins as Heather whooped in agreement.
The Riders, Astrid especially, all winced at the glares they received from the Jorgenson family. How dare she insult their family name like that? A few other Vikings, including Stoick, had glared with them, while most others just laughed. The Hofferson Parents, however, were not impressed.
"Astrid," Her father started, "What did we always tell you about insulting others?"
Astrid sighed in defeat, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say it at all."
"Exactly."
"Wave to him," Snotlout grumbled to himself in confusion before scowling, "That's not even funny. Oh, I just got it, it is funny!"
"How do you sink a Jorgenson battleship?" Astrid called out, "You put it in the water!"
The Riders continued laughing as Fishlegs asked, "Do another one! Come on, more, one more!"
"FISHLEGS!" The Ingermans shrieked. How could Fishlegs be so rude? Even if it was to Snotlout! They'd raised him better than this!
"I'm sorry!" He pleaded. Hiccup winced as he gave Snotlout a sympathetic look, while the latter looked away with an unreadable expression on his features. The two had far more in common than most would realise.
"Yeah, more!" Heather cheered.
Snotlout mimicked their laughter mockingly. "That's right, laugh, all of you," He snarked before laughing sarcastically, "But don't come running to me when you're out of Nightmare gel."
"Alright, gang," Hiccup interrupts, "The Death Song strike is very precise. Streamlined."
The camera cuts to reveal Melody Island, surrounded by fog as Hiccup continues, "So we need to spread out. That way, it can only go after us one at a time." The gang flies downwards and into the fog, as the camera pans to reveal them having landed on the island.
"Hey, how do you confuse a Jorgenson?" Astrid joked, "Put him in a round arena and tell him to go to the corner."
Que more chuckles and glaring.
At this, Hookfang chuckled as Snotlout scowled, "You don't even understand jokes."
Hookfang huffed. Meanwhile, Hiccup and Toothless walked out of a cave, "It's not in there. That's good news for Garff."
"And bad news for us," Snotlout said after turning to the other Riders, suddenly serious.
"All right," Hiccup mounted Toothless, "Let's find this guy."
They flew off as the screen changed to show the gang flying across the sky, the sun blaring behind them. The growls of the Death Song could be heard from afar, but the dragons remained unaffected thanks to the ear plugs.
All the dragons fought the urge to fly towards the screen, their owners holding them tightly back. The smaller dragons, such as the Terrible Terrors and the Hatchlings, screeched and shook in their owner's arms, flapping their wings hysterically. The Riders spread out, and took it upon themselves to soothe the Dragons, unfortunately unable to pass around earplugs.
"The ear plugs are working, Hiccup," Fishlegs observed.
"Great," Hiccup sighed, "Now let's get in closer. Everyone on high alert."
"No kidding," Snotlout quipped as they dived down. The gang flew into the foggy mist, going through twists and turns and coming across a collection of dragon bones encased in amber.
Nearly everyone, Viking and Dragon, bowed their heads. A few of the Vikings even took off their helmets, as a show of respect towards the fallen dragons. Mala and Throk stood up and bowed from their waists, as was tradition for the Defenders of the Wing. The parents covered their children's eyes as they whimpered sadly at the sight.
The group continued flying, the fog getting progressively thicker. Heather looked on in worry as Garff began waking up, screeching softly. "Oh, no." She called, "Hiccup?"
"Yeah," Hiccup whispered back, "Got it."
Hiccup and Toothless turned around, Hiccup gesturing for the others to stop. The other Riders turned around and halted as Heather hummed quietly.
"Shh!" Fishlegs pleaded to the Hatchling as it fell back to sleep, "Shh-shh-shh!"
Suddenly, they both came crashing down as amber was spit on them.
"Fishlegs!" Heather groaned.
"Heather!" Fishlegs called.
The Vikings turned to smile at them as Fishlegs and Heather blushed. Snotlout waggled his eyebrows playfully, egging on the two love-birds.
The two Riders and their dragons fell to the ground, coated in amber as Fishlegs whimpered. An adult Death Song, large and terrifying, with beautiful patterns on its wings, flies into view and roars.
The Vikings gasped and paled, worried for the safety of the Riders.
"Remember," Hiccup calls to the remaining group, "If we don't bunch up, it can't- Gah!" The Death Song spit out multiple shots of amber as he and Toothless flew out of the way, "Head's up!"
Astrid and Stormfly get hit first, then comes Snotlout, Hookfang, the Twins, and Barf and Belch.
All the Vikings shrieked in horror, completely forgetting that this was in the past. The Riders' families held on to each for dear life.
"Aah!" Snotlout shrieked, "I forgot how much I hate this guy!" He screamed and groaned as he and Hookfang fell to the ground, the Twins and Zippleback having already crashed. Astrid gasped as she saw Stormfly's tail covered in the amber, and the Death Song landed, giving a mighty and melodious roar. All the Riders are trapped, but Astrid grunts in an effort to set herself free.
The Death Song growled, Garff flying in and growling back. The baby dragon screeched as he landed.
The Vikings watched with bated breaths. Now or never.
"Never thought I'd be happy to hear that," Snotlout remarked from his amber trap. Garff continued screeching as the adult Death Song approached, growling and then spitting just in front of the Hatchling. The child returns the favour, spitting before the adult's legs.
Fishlegs, now seeing this without being trapped in amber casing and clouded by fear, squealed in intrigue. He whipped out his notebook and readied his eyes for observation, preparing to add new information to the Dragon Manual.
"Well," Hiccup mused before flying closer, "At least they're not shooting it at us."
The Adult roared melodically while Garff look on in confusion. The Death Song looks irritated for a moment, before repeating its tune. Garff, however, only screeches to the tune of the Norse Lullaby. The Riders looked at each other in worry as the Adult comes closer, repeating the same tune, trying to get the strange Hatchling to repeat after it. Now, Garff sings to the tune of the Jorgenson Anthem as Hiccup and Toothless landed.
"Hey," Hiccup dismounted, "I-I-I think they're bonding!"
Garff once again screeches to the tune of the Norse Lullaby, and the Adult whacks him away with its tail, knocking Garff into the rocky wall.
The Vikings gasped, and, if it was even possible, seemed to get even paler. Stormfly whimpered at seeing her friend knocked around, while Astrid gave her a rub.
"Shh," She soothed, "It's okay."
"Garff!" Heather shrieked in concern.
"That can't be good!" Snotlout shouted and Fishlegs piped in, "Hiccup!"
Hiccup unsheathed his sword, but it was too late. "Aah!" He winced as he and Toothless were encased, the Death Song roaring in their faces.
"I knew this was going to go bad," Snotlout panicked, "Why does no one listen to me?"
Garff whimpered as he forced himself up. The Death Song roared its tune once again as Snotlout yelped. It turned around as it heard Fishlegs humming to himself nervously, Garffiljorg repeating his tune while the Death Song warbled angrily.
A few of the smarter Vikings were confused. While the rest of the village only saw a raging dragon, they could tell that there was something else going on. What was wrong? What did that Death Song want?
"Fishface!" Snotlout hissed, "What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry," Fishlegs whimpered, "I hum when I'm nervous!"
"I can think of literally every other scenario where you were nervous and didn't hum, Fishface!" Snotlout exclaimed as Fishlegs huffed.
"Hum later! I heard they love humming in Valhal-"
"Hey, that's my favourite lullaby, and I was the one who taught it to Garff."
"Well that might be the problem," Hiccup realised, "He's singing our songs, the ones we sang to him, and the Death Song doesn't like them."
The Vikings "Aah"ed in realisation. Of course!
"You know," Snotlout quipped, "Everyone's a critic."
The Death Song sang again as Garff retreated behind a rock. The Death Song turned to approach Astrid, before roaring its tune and huffing.
"So, what do we do?" Astrid asked.
"Uh, keep singing," Hiccup called out, "Maybe we can find a song it does like."
"I'm sorry," Tuffnut casually replied, "But I'll need some time to prepare. This golden throat is a very delicate instrument."
The Death Song roared, grabbing Tuffnut in its mouth as he gasped and sang,
The Vikings held their breaths worriedly. The Thorston parents bit their lips, knowing that the Twins had gotten through much worse, but seeing one of their babies in the jaws of a new and deadly dragon did not ease their worries.
"Oh, Death Song. Oh, Death Song,
You're big and bad and you kill a lot.
And you spit out goo that looks like snot!"
The Death Song paused for a moment before shaking its head, Tuffnut still in its jaws as he screamed, "Help!"
The Vikings winced as the Thorston Parents held on to each other.
Snotlout sang next as Garff watched in amusement,
"Ooh, it's a scary, scary bad dragon!
He's gonna kill us all,
He's gonna kill us!
I hope he doesn't,
I hope he leaves soon."
"Hey!" Ruffnut shouted, "That doesn't rhyme."
"Oh, like it knows!"
Tuffnut continued screaming as the dragon stopped shaking his head, roaring at Snotlout.
"Aah!" He shrieked as Tuffnut fell from its jaws, "Okay, sorry."
"The hotness of your goo
gives me deja vu!"
"Yep, that's it," Ruffnut commented, "Much better."
Astrid sang as the Death Song growled,
"The beauty of your wings
makes us all want to sing,"
They all winced painfully upon hearing Astrid's overly high-pitched singing. Well, at least it was better than Tuffnut's.
The other Riders joined in as Garff chirped happily,
"Want to sing,
Want to sing,
Want to sing, want to sing"
Ruffnut finished,
"All of us want to sing your death song,
we all want to be like you and growl!"
She screamed as the Death Song ran towards her, before Garff flew in between them and finally repeating the Adult's tune. The dragon is surprised, as it watches Garff fly upwards, continuing the song. The two met in the air, both roaring the same tune melodically.
The Vikings sighed in relief, as they and their dragons smiled, happy that the Hatchling had finally managed to bond with his own kind.
Garff screeches, pausing and looking at Heather.
"Go on, Garff," Heather smiled, "It's okay!"
Garff repeats his tune as he and the Adult flew away, leaving the Riders be.
Claps and cheers of joy filled the Hall as they all laughed and whooped.
"Wow!" Ruffnut screamed, "Woo-hoo!"
"I don't believe it." Hiccup said, "Garff saved us!"
"Yep," Heather mused, "We saved him, and he saved us."
Tuffnut gasped, "I just had a thought."
Astrid faked a dramatic gasp as the Vikings chuckled, "It's the end of the world!"
"Somebody save us!" Ruffnut joined in, increasing the laughter.
"Now that they're both on the same team, what's stopping them from both eating us?"
Toothless passes Hiccup his sword using his tail, which Hiccup activates and uses to shatter their amber casing.
"Hiccup, that's brilliant!" Fishlegs praised, "If you find the weak spot in the cocoon, the rest will crack and fall apart!"
"Exactly," Hiccup said as Toothless shook himself free, "Now, let's get out of here before they get their appetites back."
The gang is shown flying away from the island, Hiccup admiring his flaming sword.
"You know, if that were like, twice the size," Astrid observed as she and Stormfly flew behind him, "It would make a really cool sword."
"Exactly. I'm gonna call this, 'Inferno'."
The other Riders gave each other a look as Hiccup defended himself, "I mean, look at it!"
"Nah," Tuffnut commented, "Doesn't have the right uh..." He made a waving motion with his finger, "Je ne sais quoi."
"Je ne sais quoi?" Hiccup questioned, "How did you.. all right, I'll come up with something different."
He held up the sword, "Of course, I will have to make some adjustments. Lengthen the shaft, add another canister for more Monstrous Nightmare gel," He continued as the Riders gave each other amused looks.
The Vikings did the same, and turned to each other, amused. Stoick and Gobber chuckled fondly, he was always so enthusiastic when it came to his inventions.
"Make the gas canister airtight. Oh, I am getting to work on this thing right away!"
"And that's the last we'll see of Hiccup this week," Astrid joked as Hiccup and Toothless flew further away, all the other Riders laughing in amusement.
The entire hall laughed amusedly at Hiccup's enthusiasm. Gobber nudged his former apprentice, "Always have to work on something, eh?"
Hiccup chuckled with a sheepish grin as the laughter continued. Gobber smiled, remembering the new and dangerous projects that Hiccup had been working on. That lad was far too inventive for his own good!
"Ooh, he's a scary bad dragon," Snotlout sang as the Riders flew off into the distance,
"He didn't kill us,
I'm glad he didn't!
Now we can go home!"
And the screen cut to black.
The Vikings turned to Snotlout, some with questioning looks, while others looked amused.
"What?" Snotlout blushed, avoiding his father's unreadable gaze. Mrs Jorgenson smiled knowingly, glad that Snotlout wasn't afraid to show his true self around his friends, while Spitelout, utterly confused, turned to her with a bewildered expression.
"Nice singing, Lout," Hiccup nudged, "You should take that musical routine on the road!"
"Very funny, Hiccup."
So, what'ya think? Snotlout's singing deserves much more appreciation, tbh. Actually, Snotlout in general deserves much more appreciation. He's a cool dude. Please leave reviews!
Next up, "Reign of Fireworms," requested by Shiranui12.
Fun fact: Did you know that the song Heather sings is an actual poem by a guy from the 1800s?