Okay, these episodes may take me longer than I initially thought, but whatever lol. Also, just to clarify, I will only really be doing these when I really feel like it or have nothing better to do. FFN ain't really my main thing so sorry in advance if I make people wait. Though, doing this is pretty fun and even though I'll probably have a bunch of hiatuses, I will never cancel this series. Even if I do end up quitting, which is very unlikely, I'd probably put it up for adoption or something. Anyway, hope you enjoy!
ArtinandWritin: Thanks for the review and episode suggestion! Your wish is my command ;)
Claudia: I don't have an AO3 account and don't really plan on getting one anytime soon. People are welcome to repost my stuff there, though! Just be sure to credit me as the original author.
Original episode was written by F.M. De Marco and directed by Elaine Bogan
The screen faded from glowing white to black, and then it changed to show a seagull flying down into the Ship Graveyard. The seagull lands in the water while a Berserker ship floats in the background. The seagull flies off as a giant eel attempts to eat it.
The dragons and the Riders shuddered at the sight of the giant eel. Those things were not only disgusting, but they were terrifying!
A few Vikings, Stoick and Gobber included, shuddered as well, but for a different reason. They knew of the dangers lying in the Ship Graveyard, and had heard many a tale of those who attempted to navigate it, only to crash and never be seen again.
Savage's voice boomed through the hall, "Pull! Pull!" as The Reaper was lifted up by chains and the eels swam through the waters.
Dagur glared at the screen upon hearing Savage's voice.
"Traitor," he muttered under his breath.
"Keep pulling, you maggots!" Savage shouted from the ship, "Unless you want to be giant eel chum!" He knocked a shield off the ship, sending it crashing into a sea to be devoured by an eel. The screen cuts to Dagur, talking to the muscles on his arm.
"Hello, gorgeous. Mwah." He says as he kisses his muscles. He does a pullup on a dragon cage, and then kisses his muscles again after saying, "Oh, hello again."
"What?" Dagur practically shouts to the incredulous looks he received. Mala chuckled fondly. Snotlout, meanwhile, took this as an opportunity to flirt with Ruffnut.
"Glad I'm not the only one who takes good care of my muscles," He whispered, "Right, babe?"
"Ugh," Ruffnut replied, while Tuffnut punched Snotlout in the face for her. Spitelout's hand met his own face as he sighed at his son's incompetency, and Fishlegs just glared.
Dagur continues doing his pullups, "Work for me, baby! Work for Daddy!" He says to his muscles. Meanwhile, Savage approaches him to give him a report.
"The Reaper is starting to surface, sir!"
"I can see that!" Dagur shrieks.
"Oh, right." Savage replies, meekly.
"I don't know why I let him work for me," Dagur groaned at the same time as his onscreen self.
Dagur groaned, rolling his eyes, "Hello, gorgeous." He says to his other arm while he continues his routine of pullups. "So.. pretty!"
"Not as pretty as you, my Queen Mala-Pooh!" He coos to Mala.
"Oh, stop, my lovely Butterfly!" She coos back. The two continued flirting while Heather chuckled, a few of the married Vikings smiling fondly as they remembered their own days of endless flirting. Snotlout and the Twins gagged at the sappiness and affection, while Astrid knocked them on their helmets.
The Berserkers are shown boarding their ship, having looted The Reaper. One of them puts down a heavy metal trap.
"That's the last of it," He states. Dagur starts to pace around.
"Well," Savage begins, "Now we have everything of value from the dragon-hunting ship."
"No, not everything." Dagur throws a, well, dagger at a drawing of the Dragon Eye pasted on a mast behind Savage, Savage narrowly dodging.
The screen fades to Hiccup's hut, the real Dragon Eye being held in Hiccup's hands. He takes out one of the lenses and blow on it for a moment, before wiping it on his tunic and putting it back.
"Okay," He says to Toothless, "Give me a slow burn, bud."
Toothless complies, and a set of glowing images show up on the wall from the Dragon Eye.
"Woah.." Several Vikings breathe, "Amazing!" One says. A few Vikings are lost and do not understand the value of the Dragon Eye, while a few others begin muttering about the object being witchcraft.
"Okay, I've seen this before, but what happens if I push.." He pushes a button on the eye, and the images switch from a light purple to a glowing red. It shows the various Dragon Classes.
Those who have read the Book of Dragons recognised the symbols, and their eyes widened. Fishlegs let out a small squeal while Gobber leaned in, curious.
"Cool. Dragon Classes. What do you say we check out the Night Fury, bud?" Hiccup says to his dragon. Toothless groaned, tired, while Hiccup retorts with, "Try to contain your excitement, would you?" Toothless chuckles sarcastically, and groans as he goes back to sleep.
"Someone's grouchy," Astrid remarks, playfully.
"Now, Monstrous Nightmare gem," Hiccup pushes the buttons as the images switched, "Plus Night Fury, equals…"
Many of the more studious Vikings leaned in.
"Nothing," He says as the images fade to, well, nothing.
The previous Vikings slouched in disappointment.
"Okay," He reactivates the Eye and directs it to a wall which opens, revealing Astrid.
"Oh! Astrid class" He says, chuckling slightly to himself.
"Wait," Tuffnut started, "Astrid's a dragon?"
"Why didn't you tell us!?" Ruffnut continued.
"She's not a dragon, you idiots!" Snotlout snapped.
Hiccup's eyes widened in realisation as he remembered what day it was, and groaned, sinking from his seat on the bench to the floor while the others looked at him in concern.
"Hiccup?" Astrid asked.
"Oh, no." He moaned.
"Hiccup," Astrid starts, "We have a problem. A huge problem."
"Dagur?" Hiccup replied.
"Worse." Astrid says.
"What could possibly be worse than Dagur?" Hiccup asks, worry etched on his face.
"Aw, Brother!" Dagur cooed, "I'm flattered!"
"Oh no," Astrid groaned, also realizing what day it was. This was not good.
"Aah!" Gustav and Fanghook crash through the door.
"Gustav!" He cries triumphantly.
"Gustav?!" Hiccup cries unbelievingly.
"Gustav." Astrid states with a finality.
"Gustav!" Gustav says, as triumphant as his onscreen self, perhaps even more so, pleased to be onscreen.
"Gustav…" the other Vikings and the rest of the gang moan, the gang realizing what day it was.
"Gustav?" Mala and Throk asked curiously, not knowing who the teen was.
"Gust-Hat!" Dagur cheers enthusiastically as he nudged his apprentice.
"Gustav!" His parents shrieked, not pleased to see their son so far away from Berk, "What are you doing on the Edge, young man?"
"Eh heh.." Gustav laughs, nervously.
Gobber takes a sip from his cup of mead, eyeing both the screen and the Riders. "This should be good," he mused, "Looks like Ragnarok has come to the Edge early."
"Gustav, what are you doing here?" Hiccup says as he backs into his hut. Gustav begins taking a look around at Hiccup's stuff while Hiccup continues talking, "I- I mean, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"Some pleasure!" Snotlout groaned, smacking his own forehead. Astrid socked him in the arm, "Don't just say that out loud!"
Snotlout, the Twins, and Fishlegs entered the room. "Hiccup, did you hear Gustav is.." Snotlout trailed off, seeing Gustav and Fanghook in the hut, "..standing right beside you. Perfect."
He tries to fake a small smile as Tuffnut remarks from the side, "You're looking a little different there, Guster." Gustav hops off the furniture.
"Yeah," He says, "I'm growing a beard." He points to a single strand of hair on his chin. Tuffnut leans in, "Really? Let me see." The camera zooms in on his one stubble.
The Vikings laugh, "A beard, he says!" "What a tiny little nubble!" "My Great-Grandma SeaButt had more of a beard than that!"
Gustav let out an embarrassed laugh, his face turning nearly as red as Stoick's beard, and groaned uncomfortably.
"Alright, cut it out, you guys." Hiccup said in his defence.
"Hah! Even Ruff has more hair on her chinny-chin-chin than that!" Tuffnut mocks, pulling out Gustav's 'beard'.
"Ow!" Gustav cried, knocking into a chest with the Dragon Eye on top, "Ow!" he cried again, as Hiccup played with a loose string on his tunic.
Gustav muttered under his breath, that hurt! Meanwhile, a few of the other Vikings winced at his pain while another few snickered, none as loudly as the Twins, who were then knocked unconscious by Astrid.
"Hey, what's that thing?" He says, holding the Dragon Eye.
"Oh," Hiccup says, reaching out a hand to stop him. Too late, though. Gustav looked into the Dragon eye and was nearly blinded by it before he pulled back. "Woah!"
The scene changes to Gustav's POV, with golden dots of light blocking his vision as an after effect of looking into the Eye. "You see these spots?" He asks,
Dagur and Gustav groaned, that got so annoying, so quick!
"Is that how it looks like?" Hiccup asked Gustav and Dagur, interested by the change in perspective. They both nodded in confirmation.
"Some sort of sun sword?" he wobbled, dropping the eye into Hiccup's hands. "I'll take that. No, Gustav, It's not a sun sword." He passes the Eye to Fishlegs.
"It's the Dragon Eye," Fishlegs started as Gustav continued wobbling, "and it's very old and very fragile."
"Woah, these spots, they're not going away." Gustav knocked into a wall, sending one of Toothless' spare tails falling. "Ow!" He held his face in pain and Toothless caught the tail, annoyed. Fishlegs begins his lecture, "It isn't something to just be.. touched."
"Relax, Fishlegs, I know what I'm doing," Gustav says as he wobbles into the wall once more, knocking all the other tails off while Toothless snarls, irritated. "Hey!" Gustav and the tail both fall onto the ground as Toothless winced. Fanghook dropped one of the tails on Toothless' head.
"You're sure?" Snotlout scoffs.
Snotlout begins speaking, "Gustav, Gustav, over here," he puts his hand on Gustav's helmet, "Uh, when are you leaving?"
"That's funny, Snotlout," Gustav replies, "but I'm not leaving," he pushes Snotlout's hand off, "I'm moving here."
Snotlout gasps.
The Hall gasps as well, Gustav was moving into the Edge? They suddenly understood the Riders' pain, and either cringed or chuckled. Gustav's parents, meanwhile, glared daggers at their son. "Oh, no," his father began, looking ready to explode, "You're not moving anywhere, not on our watch."
Gustav gulped.
Tuffnut laughs, "Ha, ha! Yeah, yeah, you are," he slaps Ruffnut on the back, pushing her to the side as she looked at her twin incredulously.
Ruffnut punched her brother for that. Tuffnut punched back, and the two began a new fight.
"Imagine... he would never," he wipes a fake tear from his eye, and then comes to a realisation, "Wait, he's serious?" Ruffnut stares at him blankly.
"I'll get the stake and firewood," Tuffnut says as the Twins begin walking out.
The Larsons, Dagur, the other Riders and a few Vikings glared at him with their eyebrows raised as he shrunk behind his sister. The rest just chuckled.
"Oh, hold on, hold on," Hiccup pleads as the Twins turn around, Gustav still wobbling in the background, "No one is burning anyone at the stake."
"Hiccup's right," Ruffnut admits, "Let's just throw him off the cliff."
The glares turned to Ruffnut as she smiled at the thought of throwing someone off a cliff, oblivious to the stares.
Hiccup presses his hand to his forehead, "Guys, I'm sure there's a simple explanation!"
"Please tell me there's a simple explanation, Gustav," he says quickly as he turns to the wobbling boy.
Gustav rubs his eyes, "Yeah, very simple! By the way, do not look right into that sun sword thing, ha ha ha," he whooped, "Anyway, you said when I was ready," He posed, dramatically, "I could join the Dragon Riders."
"Well, I'm ready and I'm here to join!" He claimed, "Where's my hut?"
The camera zooms in on Hiccup's dismayed face.
The Vikings all groaned in unison, while the Larson parents chuckled slightly smugly.
The scene changes to Astrid, Stormfly and Hiccup standing outside Hiccup's hut. "Wait a minute," Astrid complains, "Why do I have to watch him?"
"I would do it," Hiccup replies, "but I'm making some, just, major breakthroughs with the Dragon Eye."
Astrid punches Hiccup lightly in the arm, "Ow," he cried, "W-Why would you do that?"
"That's for making excuses," she retorted back. The gang snickered at his unfortunate luck.
"So?"
"Well, I did promise him that when the time was right, I would train him to be a Dragon Rider," he says, holding the Eye, "I just didn't think that said 'time' would be today."
"Well, what am I supposed to do with him in the meantime?"
"I-I don't know, just.. keep him occupied."
The Larson parents and a few others snorted, nothing could keep Gustav occupied!
"Great," Astrid turns around, grumpily, "So I'm a babysitter."
Hiccup laughs, "Babysitter!" as he puts his hand to his forehead and Astrid crosses her arms, "No! I mean, come on. He's- He's 16. How much trouble could he possibly be?"
Gobber snorted, while Stoick coughed into his hand, "Lad, you weren't much better when you were at that age!" Gobber smirked.
"Alvin the Treacherous," Snotlout started.
"Me," Dagur continued.
"Literally stepping off a cliff," Astrid finished.
"Wait, what?" Dagur asked as the rest of the hall paled, gasped, and gossiped. Hiccup had jumped off a cliff?
"Oh come on!" Hiccup groaned, as the Riders held back their snickers, "Gee, way to take things way out of context. I did it to save Toothless, he was locked in a death-duel with a Whispering Death, alright?"
Stoick breathed a sigh of relief, having previously been as pale as a sheet, while Gobber laughed, "I swear, one of these days, you're gonna give everyone a heart attack!"
Smidvarg crash landed in front of them, shrieking as the camera zoomed in on him. "Smidvarg," Hiccup started to ask as the view changed to Smidvarg's view of them upside down, "What is happening?"
"What kind of name is Smidvarg?" Stoick asked.
"Tuffnut named him," Hiccup explained.
"Hey, Hiccup," Gustav's voice rang out, as the Night Terror gathered near him and Fanghook, "Did you know they could do this?" He flies into the mass of Terrors, sending them scattering, "Awesome!"
Astrid felt her irritation grow, those were supposed to be their first line of defence!
"Please?" Hiccup pleaded to Astrid, "I just need more time."
"Fine!" Astrid called as she boarded on Stormfly, "Gustav! Arena, now!" As Astrid flies off, Smidvarg approaches Hiccup.
"By the way, your timing.. impeccable." Hiccup says, casually as Smidvarg begins snarling angrily at him before walking away.
Toothless let out a draconic laugh, having finished his barrel of fish.
The scene changes to Astrid, flying with the sun behind her and romantic music playing in the background. She turns to look at Gustav, standing on Fanghook with his hands on his hips. "Oh, Gustav," she praised, "You're so much older and more mature, and I just love that rugged beard you're growing."
Astrid paled, thoroughly creeped out, "I did not say that!" She shouted before gagging, the rest of the Hall let out booming laughs as the Larson parents turned to Gustav, amused. Snotlout could only sit there and let out a satisfied sigh, she was so beautiful! Realising what he was doing, he turned to Ruffnut, "You beat her by a mile, babe!" Ruffnut gagged as she pushed Snotlout away from her.
Hiccup, meanwhile, couldn't resist gaping at the screen, his cheeks turning red, before turning to look at the real thing and smiling. Astrid truly was a Divine Beauty. Gustav, too, felt a blush creeping up on his face, out of both embarrassment at the others seeing his imagination, and because of how pretty Astrid truly was.
"Gustav!" Astrid shouts, angrily as Gustav is snapped back into reality.
"Oh! Hey, Astrid," Gustav greets, sitting on the floor, "I was just dream-"
"Uh-uh-uh," She stops him before he can continue, "Don't creep me out."
"Too late," the real Astrid retched, turning green.
She put her hands on her hips, "You're gonna help with target practice."
The scene reveals Stormfly and Fanghook also in the arena, "Do you think you can handle that?" She asks as Gustav stands up.
"Oh, I can handle that," he says, walking into Astrid, who pushes him away.
"Ugh," She points to a stack of target-barrels, "When I say 'throw,' you throw." Astrid walks off.
"Got it!" Tuffnut whispered to himself, grabbing hold of a piece of steamed yak he had summoned earlier and eyeing one of the Vikings in the crowd. Ruffnut, realising what he was planning on doing, snickered.
Astrid climbs onto Stormfly and they fly off, completing a basic exercise course while doing barrel-rolls. As they dive into the arena and fly out again, Gustav holds a barrel. "She sure is something, isn't she, Fanghook?" He leans on his dragon's head. Astrid flies by, Stormfly and Fanghook having a quick call to each other.
"Okay, Gustav," Astrid says as they fly into the arena, "Throw!"
With perfect aim, Tuffnut threw the piece of yak across the Hall, landing beautifully and hard on Dogsbreath, Snotlout's childhood former friend. The two had split apart after a very specific incident of utmost ridiculousness, and needless to say, the Twins were looking for a little well-deserved payback.
"Oi!" He shrieked angrily as he rubbed the back of his head, while the Twins and Snotlout burst into laughter. Even Hiccup could not stop himself from chuckling slightly, though he did try desperately to hold himself back. Dogsbreath only grumbled and glared.
Unfortunately, Gustav is too dazed by Astrid's beauty to throw, and Stormfly shoots at the barrel still under Gustav's arm. Astrid grunts, throwing an axe to scatter the spines away and jumps off of Stormfly, Gustav ready to catch her.
The view changes to once more show Gustav's imagination, with the romantic music as Astrid falls violently onto Gustav and Stormfly lands. Astrid grunts as she gets off of Gustav, who just says, "Hi," from the ground.
The hall erupts with laughter at the awkward situation, while Astrid turns greener than a field of dragon-nip.
"Okay," She comments, "Definitely creeped out."
"Not as much as she is now!" Ruffnut sings, smirking at the puking Astrid.
The scene switches to the Twins' hut as Tuffnut's voice fades in, "Yeah, I'm telling you, if you get five boars," the door opens, "you can stack them on top of each other. It's a four-boar stack- Aah!" Gustav and Fanghook are shown sitting outside, Gustav smiling, lovestruck.
"What's he smiling about?" Tuffnut questions. Ruffnut puts her hands on her waist, "I don't like it."
The two turn to each other as Tuffnut speaks, "Whatever he's selling, I'm not buying."
"Yeah!" Ruffnut agrees, "We don't want your cookies!"
At this, Gustav stands up. "Hey, guys! Astrid dropped me off, told me to.." he gestures to the hut, "help out around here."
"Yeah, so?" Ruffnut snaps, "What's it to us?"
"You know that big hole under your hut?" Gustav responds, "Filled it in."
"Oh, no." Tuffnut breathes, "He doesn't mean-"
Ruffnut gasps in absolute horror.
Confused as to what that hole was and why it was under their hut, the villagers turn to the Twins, only to find them glaring at Gustav as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
The Twins run to the hole, filled-in with rocks and boulders and Chicken on top. Gustav stands to the side, looking pleased. "Oh!" Tuffnut gasps, "He filled in the boar pit." Tuffnut sinks to his knees, trying to push the rocks away, "He filled in the boar pit!"
Suddenly, they understand, and some even cry along with Tuffnut while others glare at Gustav.
Gustav, realising his mistake, looks less than pleased as Tuffnut cries, "Who fills in a boar pit!?"
Tuffnut screams to the heavens, mourning his loss. "BOOARRR PIIITT!"
A few snort at his theatrics, while others mourn with him in sympathy.
Tuffnut collapses onto the grass, "What kind of sick monster would fill in a boar pit?" He sobs as Chicken pecks on his helmet, "It's a boar.."
Gustav moves to apologise, but Ruffnut knocks him to the side, "Hey, back off!" She sinks to her knees alongside the sobbing mass known as Tuffnut Thorston. "Haven't you done enough?" She snaps.
"R-really sorry about that, guys." Gustav stammers, "Really!"
Hiccup couldn't help but find himself relating to Gustav, reminded of all those times when he was younger and trying to impress his Dad, only to mess it up.
The scene cuts to Fanghook, Gustav, Fishlegs and Meatlug meditating on rocks in a pond. Fishlegs claps and Meatlug spills a fireball into the lake, heating it up and allowing steam to spread.
Gothi nodded approvingly, causing Fishlegs to grin widely.
"This.. This feels weird, Fishlegs." Gustav comments.
"Trust me, Gustav, this is exactly what you need," Fishlegs says, knowingly. "You're not centered, you're all over the place. Shh. Just breathe in, breath out. Focus on avoiding all conflict."
"Ten yaks says he can't," Snotlout bets.
Ruffnut grabs the offer, "Sign me up!"
"Actually," Tuffnut grinned, "Make it twenty yaks!"
"You guys don't even have yaks!" Fishlegs had pointed out, only to be met with a "Shut it, Fishface!" from Snotlout.
Fishlegs gives Meatlug a thumbs-up and continues, "Breath in, breathe out." Unfortunately, Fanghook breathes too much out and struggles to put out a bush he set on fire. Fanghook blows, but more fire comes out and makes it worse.
"Aah!" Fishlegs panics, "My topiaries!"
Fanghook whimpers in apology while Gustav scratches under his chin.
"Huh," Snotlout blinks, "It wasn't his fault this time."
"Hey!" Gustav shouts.
The scene changes to Snotlout, Gustav and Fanghook walking into Hiccup's hut, "I have had enough of you, Gustav!"
"Stay," He commands, "Stay!" His helmet is, noticeably, on fire.
"Uh, Snotlout," Gustav points, "Y-your head-"
"Stop! I'm not falling for that again." Snotlout begins walking out and Gustav shuts his mouth.
"Aaaah!" He screams in the distance, as a splash of water and Snotlout's sighs are heard offscreen.
Spitelout facepalms and groans, while Snotlout grumbles grumpily. The rest of the hall snickers at his misfortune.
"What did you mean, 'again?'" Fishlegs asked.
"Shut it, Fishface!" Was his only reply.
Gustav turns to face the inside of Hiccup's hut, "Hello?" He called, "Hiccup?" He starts to walk in.
"Oh, no." Hiccup groaned.
"Oh, yes!" Gobber replied, a little too cheerily.
Gustav runs into the hut and messes around, eventually knocking into the wall. Not wanting to knock the spare tails off again, he steps back and falls off the chest, which opens. "Huh," He picks up one of Hiccup's spare legs,
"Hey!" Hiccup cries.
"What have we here?"
Gustav begins imitating Hiccup, "Gee, Gustav! There must be a simple explanation for you being here!" Fanghook laughs.
The hall erupts with laughter, with Snotlout actually in tears, "Oh, Cuz! He's got you pinned!"
"W-w-what?!" Hiccup sputters, indignantly, "I don't sound like that!" Toothless chortles as Hiccup stares at him, "Oh, come on, bud! Not you too!"
"Gotta admit," Astrid smirks, "That is pretty accurate, I'll have to take notes!"
"Astrid!" He clutched his stomach, pretending to be heartbroken, "How... could you!"
"That's karma for impersonating Stoick all these years!" Gobber laughs as he takes another swig of his mead.
"Gobber!"
"Wait, what?!" Stoick asks, the confusion obvious on his face.
Hiccup groaned, he didn't want to explain all that! Utterly defeated, he buried his head in his arms and fell back on his last line of defence, sarcasm. "T-t-that's a.. a truly flattering impersonation."
"Well, yeah, Hiccup, because I'm awesome!" he posed, dramatically, "You are awesome, Gustav! Definitely ready to be a Dragon Rider." He hops on Hiccup's spare leg and trips, him accidentally stepping on Fanghook's tail with the metal leg.
All the dragons in the hall winced, that had to hurt. Fanghook absentmindedly tucked his tail between his legs, while Gustav looked sheepish. From an outside point of view, he could see that he was pretty clumsy.
Fanghook lets out a burst of flame in pain, burning one of the spare tails on the wall. Gustav and Fanghook rush to put it out, "Oh, no. Oh, no."
"Oh, no." The crowd repeats.
Looking for a solution, Gustav's eyes land upon the Dragon Eye laying on a desk, shining from the fire behind it. "Oh, yes!" He cheers.
"Oh, no." The Vikings say once more.
Gustav grabs the Dragon Eye as Fanghook continues trying to put out the flames, and points it at a wall plastered with Hiccup's drawings. A map is shown, glowing yellow.
"Is that.." Gustav gasps, "A treasure map!? Oh, Fanghook!" He turns to his dragon, "We are so in!" Fanghook growls happily as the screen turns to black.
"Something tells me that this won't end well," Heather comments, amused by Gustav's enthusiasm.
"Agreed," Throk says.
"It didn't," the Riders say in unison.
"Of course it didn't," The Larson parents deadpanned.
The scene cuts to Gustav riding Fanghook, taking out a map and looking at an island. "That's it, Fanghook," he says, "just like the Dragon Eye said." Gustav rolls up the map, "All we gotta do now, is find the cave, grab the treasure, and guess who's gonna get his own hut on Dragon's Edge?" Fanghook roars happily in reply.
"Uh, Gustav!" The fly faster towards the island.
"Attaboy, Gust-Egg!" Dagur crowed proudly, "Way to take initiative!"
Gustav beamed at the praise.
"Are you serious?" Fishlegs and Snotlout said in sync.
They land as Gustav dismounts his dragon, and they both walk towards a cave. Suddenly, a loud rumbling stops them in their tracks.
The Vikings jumped at the sudden sound, and paled.
The ground quakes as a boulder falls from the ceiling. "Uh, I'm not worried." Gustav says to Fanghook, "Are you worried?" Fanghook snarled, worriedly. The two continue walking in. Gustav takes a look around the cave as Fanghook growls once more. They stop, it's too dark.
"Fanghook?" Gustav asks, "Flame up."
Fanghook ignites himself as Gustav checks the map, "Which way do we head?" Fanghook roars as a cracking from the ceiling is heard, Gustav stumbled as the ground shook, lighting the map on fire. Unable to put it out, it burns into ash on the ground.
"Oh, ah!" Gustav sighs.
He takes out the Dragon Eye, "Good thing we brought this along!"
"Gustav!" his parents shrieked, the Vikings all turned to glare at him. Gustav chuckled nervously as he hid behind Fanghook, "What? It was an awesome plan!"
"Running off recklessly into danger is one thing, but we did not teach you to steal." Gustav's father lectured, "We will be talking about this at home."
"Aw, what?" Gustav complained, "This was ages ago! I paid the price."
"Fanghook?" He asks, Fanghook lights a flame in his mouth, activating the Eye and showing the map. Gustav takes a look at it before turning, "I think.. we go this way." He walks as the sound of rocks cracking can be heard.
"It says it's just up this way." The ground quakes once more as he stumbles back, "Oh, whoops!" The ground beneath him cracks and splits apart.
"Gustav!" The Vikings shrieked in worry.
He nearly falls in, but is caught by Fanghook and pulled back.
"Whew," He gasps in relief, "Ah," but when he checks his tunic, he finds that the Dragon Eye has rolled off near the crack.
"Huh? No, no, no, no!" He reaches out to grab it and succeeds, but ends up hanging above the crack, "Whew," he sighs, "A little help here, Fanghook?"
He starts to slip off, "A little help!?"
He falls off, but gets caught by someone and is pulled up. Unfortunately, that someone happens to be a very angry Hiccup.
"Hiccup!" Gustav greeted as Fanghook growled worriedly.
All the other Riders and even a few Vikings winced and shivered, they knew better from experience than to make Hiccup mad. Snotlout rubbed his cheek, as he and the Twins remembered Hiccup punching him and losing all those teeth, and he wasn't even using his dominant hand!
"I can explain.."
The scene changes to Gustav and the Gang sitting in the clubhouse while Hiccup paces towards the teen, "Of all the irresponsible, insubordinate-"
His parents nodded as Gustav groaned, "Do I really have to listen to this again?"
Hiccup winced, his own words reminding him all too much of his father only few years ago. Even Stoick could see the similarities and visibly cringed, while Gobber sighed. Now this really wouldn't end well.
"Sorry about this," Hiccup whispered. Gustav waved it off in acceptance.
Tuffnut continued, "Don't forget idiotic, imbecilic, inane," as he listed the words with his fingers.
The camera switches to show Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs staring at him.
The vikings turned to stare at Tuffnut as well. Who knew he had that advanced of a vocabulary? The Riders, used to this by now, didn't even blink.
Tuffnut shrugged at the surprised looks he received, and said at the same time as his onscreen self did,
"What? I've heard a lot of words for stupid."
The Vikings snorted, they bet he did.
"I mean, come on, people say that more than my proper name!" He said as Ruffnut nodded and smiled.
"You two look way too proud of that fact," Snotlout remarked.
"It's an an art," Ruffnut started.
"T'is an acquired taste," Tuffnut added as the Hall gave them incredulous stares and exasperated groans.
Hiccup continued pacing around, "Of all those kinds of stunts you could have pulled, this was the worst." He turned to face Gustav, "Do you know what Dagur would do to get his hands on the Dragon Eye?"
"Hey," a Viking leaned towards Dagur and asked, "What would you do?"
"Invasion, threatening, kidnapping," Dagur shrugged nonchalantly, "Y'know, the usual."
"I just thought if I came back here with the treasure, you guys would accept me!" Gustav explained.
"First of all," Hiccup started, "there is no treasure. Second of all, we've already been there, and that entire island is honeycombed with the most unstable caverns we've ever encountered!"
"I'm sorry," Gustav pleaded, "I just-" He was cut off, "You could've been killed, Gustav." Hiccup's hands went down to his eye level, "Fanghook could've been killed." He gestured to the Monstrous Nightmare, who crowed.
"Look, this isn't Berk, Gustav," Hiccup paced back, his tone softening ever so slightly, "The rules are different out here. You have to be smarter than this!"
"I just wanted to prove myself," Gustav crossed his arms, looking away.
"Oh, you have!" Hiccup continued, "You have proven that you are not responsible enough," He continued speaking as Gustav grew a defiant look on his face.
Gobber sighed, he had seen that look all too many times on Hiccup's face. Stoick felt a chill down his spine, as that defiant, determined look seemed eerily familiar. Hiccup cringed at his words, and while he still agreed with his past self that Gustav could've thought more properly about this, maybe even asking him and the other Riders about the map first, he shouldn't have been so harsh.
Astrid, sensing Hiccup's discomfort, put her hand on his to show her support.
"You're not mature enough, and you're not trustworthy enough to be one of us!" Gustav's look hardened and Hiccup finished, "Now, it's- it's been a long day. We all need some rest." He and the other Riders started walking out, "We'll talk about this in the morning."
As Hiccup walked out, he turned to look back at Gustav, whose head was down, and silently sighed to himself as he continued walking.
The scene changed to show Gustav and Fanghook sitting outside at night, next to a barrel of fish. As Gustav brooded, he tossed a fish to Fanghook who swallowed it up with fervor.
"Talk about it in the morning," He repeated Hiccup's words as he tossed another fish, "Like there's anything left to say!"
Once again, Gobber, Stoick and Hiccup all cringed as they felt the familiarity creep up on them. Gobber and Toothless both sighed, remembering when Hiccup used to talk to them all the time about his problems. In Toothless's case, Hiccup still did on their midnight flights together.
Toothless and Fanghook turned to each other and nodded, they were always listening and would always be there to listen.
Fanghook growled in agreement as Gustav vented out his frustrations, "That's right! It's not fair. I did everything they asked!" He stood up, "I shovelled dragon poop for two years without a single complaint!"
The Vikings were stunned, they had never seen Gustav so angry before. In fact, they had never seen Gustav angry period!
Gustav gagged at the memories of shovelling dragon poop, thank gosh for his new (and infinitely more awesome, might he add) role as the leader of the Auxiliary Riders.
"For what?" He began pacing as he raised another fish into Fanghook's mouth, only to put it down, "So they can tell me I'm not good enough?"
Gobber winced, that was another look he'd found all too familiar.
His face turns from one of frustration, disbelief and hurt to one of determination as he puts his hands on his hips, "Well, I am good enough," he turns to face Fanghook, "We're good enough." He feeds Fanghook the fish and turns to pace again.
"And someday," he stopped, "they'll find that out, but it'll be too late."
"Uh, what is he doing?" Snotlout half-asked, half-shouted.
Hiccup, having seen all the similarities between him and Gustav and knowing what he'd thought of doing many times before, whispered, "I think I have an idea on that."
As if to answer Snotlout's question, the Gustav onscreen turns to mount his dragon, "We're leaving." He and Fanghook fly off into the moonlight. He hesitated for a moment, looking back at the Edge, before continuing his flight.
"Knew it," Hiccup whispered to himself.
There was a second of silence and much blinking to be done, and then-
"GUSTAV!" Many of the Vikings shrieked, some in worry, and some in exasperation, while others groaned.
"-And then he got captured by me." Dagur added, putting the pieces together.
Gustav's parents were ready to faint, while the others looked at him in shock, some of the younger children even in awe, "Y-you got captured by Dagur?!" They asked in surprise.
"Yeah..." Gustav rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Not my most awesome plan.."
Both Fanghook and Dagur snorted, that was an understatement. Then, to everyone's utmost dismay, Gustav stood up and began posing dramatically in front of the kids, "You should've seen it! It was so heroic and cool!"
"We are gonna see it, Gust-O!" Snotlout scoffed. Astrid whispered into Hiccup's ear, "Wow, Snotlout being the smart one? Ragnarok must be coming." Hiccup let out a choked laugh as he spilled his drink.
Snotlout, who didn't hear what she said but knew it was about him, scowled. "Shut up, Hiccstrid."
Gustav spoke as he and Fanghook flew further away, "They're gonna be so sorry when they wake up in the morning and see that we're gone. Once they realise that we're missing, they're gonna be begging us to come back to Dragon's Edge."
"Those huts were lame anyway."
The twins gasped dramatically, and Tuffnut let out a fake sob, "Have you no heart?!"
"Yeah!" Ruffnut agreed, "We worked our helmets off building those!"
Snotlout coughed, "Yak dung," he said, "You guys got Barf and Belch to help you build it, Hookfang didn't even raise a claw for mine! Your hut wasn't even that good anyway!" He ignored the horrendously hurt looks on their faces, "Now, my 'S', on the other hand.."
"No one cares about your 'S', Snotlout!" The other Riders all shouted in unison before looking at each other, blinking and laughing. Snotlout scowled at them, but not without his lips twitching into the tiniest of fond smiles that those who weren't paying attention would most certainly miss.
The Vikings who had seen the conversation looked to each other in bewilderment, not quite understanding the Riders' inside joke, while some of the more dirty minded vikings, such as Gobber, sniggered quietly.
"I can't wait to get back to my-" Gustav is interrupted by a clatter as a net comes flying towards them, "Woah! Fanghook, dive!"
The Vikings let out screams and gasps of worry, some calling out his name. The Larson parents paled and held on to each other for support.
They dodged the first net, "Ha, ha! Missed!"
"Aah!" He screamed as another net launched and Fanghook let out a roar. The net caught them both, sending them falling and Gustav instinctively rushed to cut the ropes with a knife.
"Nice reflexes, kid!" Dagur praised as Gustav looked at him with confusion. Heather took it upon herself to explain, "Most people would be too busy screaming to try and cut themselves free in a situation like that."
Gustav looked between the two and grinned widely, lapping up the praise before regaining himself, "Well, y'know," He said, checking his fingers nonchalantly, "It's all part of the job."
The Vikings and their dragons rolled their eyes as one, but smiled nonetheless. A few chuckles could be heard, amused by his antics.
Fanghook let out a worried snarl as Gustav screamed, the two about to fall into the savage seas, "Aaah!"
The scene changes to Dagur stabbing Gustav's knife into the wooden frame of a boat, "Ha, Ha!" Savage laughed, Dagur looking utterly peeved, "We captured a Dragon Rider!"
Dagur's mood shifted quickly as he laughed, turning towards Savage and walking with him, "Oooh, Which one is it? Oh, I sure hope it's brother Hiccup."
"Nice to know that you were hoping for me," Hiccup said, dryly and amused. Dagur chuckled, "Well, of course! You're my little brother, after all!"
The Vikings, not really knowing about their so-called 'Brotherhood', were obviously confused as Stoick raised an eyebrow. The green-eyed disaster triplets, as in, Hiccup, Dagur, and Heather, giggled at their expressions. "They just like to call each other that, guys." Heather explained with a chuckle.
A resounding "Ooh..." was heard from the crowd, though some were left to wonder, how did that happen?
"Or, I suppose the girl would work too." Dagur shrugged.
"Which girl?"
"There's more than one?"
"Oh, for the love of-" Ruffnut snarled and nearly pulled her braids out, "Why do people keep thinking I'm a guy?!"
"It had to be your muscles, babe," Snotlout tried flirting again, "You're so strong and-"
He was interrupted by Fishlegs, "I don't think you look like a guy," he said, firmly.
Dagur pushed his way through a crowd of chattering Berserkers, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who this supposed 'Rider' was. Gustav sat with his arms crossed as Fanghook stood in a cage, "This is not one of Hiccup's Dragon Riders!" Dagur exclaimed, pushing Savage aside.
"Who are you?" He approached the boy.
"Larson," He said bravely, "Gustav Larson, and that's all you're getting out of me." He crossed his arms once again.
"Hmm," Dagur scratched his beard, "Fine, feed him to the eels."
The Vikings paled, and some turned to glare at Dagur, who chuckled and shrugged nervously.
"But I know Hiccup," Gustav panicked and said quickly as he was dragged away by the Berserkers, "I know the Dragon Riders and I have information!" They plopped him down on the deck as an eel jumped behind.
All the dragons instinctively coiled and whimpered as they spotted the eel, their riders and owners giving them comforting belly rubs and scratches.
"Oh?" Dagur questions, walking towards Gustav and grabbing him by the face, "What kind of information?"
"I can get you the Dragon Eye," Gustav replied.
Groans could be heard throughout the hall. No matter what, you should never give out information to the enemy!
"And what's the Dragon Eye?" Dagur asked, staring him in the face.
"That," Gustav pointed as Dagur let go of his face, "That's the Dragon Eye." Dagur blinked and turned his head towards a drawing of the Eye, "Oh!" He giggled madly to himself.
The scene changes to Gustav and Dagur, sitting at a table and Gustav feasting on the food. Gustav smacked his lips as he ate, and tossed a chicken for Fanghook to eat. He drank from a rather large cup before setting it down with a belch.
"Where'd you get all that food?" Heather asked, knowing how small the rations given on the ships were and the fact that Dagur would never share his food with anyone, much less a prisoner being treated like a guest.
"Eh," Dagur shrugged, "Pillaged it from somewhere, don't remember."
The Vikings' stomaches growled at seeing all that food, and there was suddenly a great deal more of food being summoned by the Witch's magic than there was before.
Tuffnut gasped, horrified at the mass chicken-eating before him, and covered his beloved Chicken's eyes. "Have you all no shame?"
"So," Dagur starts, Savage standing guard behind him, "Are you enjoying your meal?" Gustav hums in affirmation as Dagur continues, "Good," he begins cutting into his own food, repeating the "Good"s several times before continuing, "So, here's the plan. We'll draw Hiccup and the Night Fury into the open, neutralise the other Riders," He stabbed his knife into the table, "and seize the Dragon Eye by lethal force."
"As if there's any other force," Snotlout, Throk, Dagur and a few other Vikings say to the eye-rolls of the rest.
"As if there's any other force," Dagur states plainly, "I mean, really, come on."
Blinks ran rampant.
"Then the Dragon Eye will be mine."
Gustav leans back into his chair, "Yeah, that's one way to do it, and you might get the Dragon Eye," he leans forward, resting his elbow on the table with his head floating nonchalantly above, "Or Hiccup could crush you just like every other time you faced off against him."
Snickers ran through the hall at his comment. A few vikings, the Berserkers included, were impressed as his boldness, while others were exasperated as he tested the waters of Dagur's patience.
Savage raised his sword as Dagur held him back, "Mm, you have a better idea, Gustav?" Savage lowers his sword.
Gustav points, "Can you hand me the sauce, please?"
The snickers turned into laughter.
"I do," He states firmly as he was handed the sauce and promptly poured it onto his meal, "One that will guarantee Hiccup delivers the Dragon Eye right to us."
Many glares were sent towards the boy. Though they were at peace with the Berserkers now, back then, they were the enemy and Gustav was a good as a traitor! Dagur, noticing this, glared at them all with twice the ferocity, "He's not a traitor," Dagur started, "He had a plan, he tricked me! ME!" Dagur gestured to himself.
"Doesn't seem so hard to do," Snotlout whispered to himself. At Dagur's proclamation, many of the Vikings calmed down and turned back to the screen, while some turned their glares to Dagur instead, to which Mala, Heather and the Riders returned to defend him, and others looked at Gustav inquiringly.
"More mutton thigh, friend?" Dagur smiles. Gustav hums in agreement before stabbing a utensil into a cooked chicken.
Tuffnut was absolutely mortified, clutching Chicken in his hands as she squawked in fear. "H-how.. dare you!" He sobbed, covering her eyes once more.
The scene changes to Hiccup and Toothless landing in the Arena after a search, "Anything?" He asked the other Riders, Astrid and Snotlout have already landed.
Gustav leaned in, curious as to what their reactions to him leaving were.
"I checked the Clubhouse, your hut, even the stables!" Astrid replies, "He's not there." The Twins and Fishlegs land as well, "Nothing else is on fire around here," Fishlegs reports, "so he must be gone."
Gustav raised his hands, gesturing incredulously, "Oh, come on!"
The Vikings, Fishlegs' parents especially, were quite surprised. Since when could Fishlegs get so rude? Was he only like that with his friends? A few of them hollered and cheered, proud that Fishlegs had grown some sort of a backbone. Fishlegs blushed as a villager slapped him on the back.
"Well, we have to find him." Hiccup says.
"Or.." Tuffnut rubs his chin as Ruffnut smiles, "Do we?"
"Yeah," Snotlout walks up, "Why are we worried? Shouldn't we be celebrating the fact that he's gone?"
Ouch. That hurt. That stung far more than it needed to. Snotlout was supposed to be his hero! Gustav felt a hot wave of anger rush over him, and he and Fanghook gave Snotlout a steely glare. Celebrating, huh? The other Vikings also glared at Snotlout, who shrivelled under everyone's gaze. Gustav was a nuisance, that much was true, but they had also learned from their mistakes with Hiccup not to treat anyone that badly ever again. A few moments passed before all Helheim broke loose, demanding justice, and the eerie silence was broken.
"Celebrating?!" "What is wrong with you?" "How dare you speak like that!"
"SNOTLOUT!" Spitelout bellowed, his voice thundering over the rest, "What-"
"Everyone, QUIET!" Hiccup shrieked, trying to calm everyone down as Toothless shot a blast on the ground. Gustav was stunned, and his smile at being defended was enough to be about the size of a Terror! Silence swept through the hall, as Snotlout slowly emerged from his hiding spot behind Hookfang. "This was a year ago," Hiccup spoke, "and yelling at him for this isn't going to help anyone! Snotlout has, shockingly, changed since then."
Gustav hardened his glare, as did many other Vikings, as Snotlout stepped towards him. "Look," He started, "I'm a muttonhead, alright?" He scowled at the nods sent his way, "But that doesn't change the fact that I said that about you, so I guess what I'm trying to say is.." He paused, and made an odd face as if he was holding a particularly large sneeze, "I'm sorry."
Gustav was shocked, the Dragons stunned, and the other Vikings astonished! Snotlout Jorgenson had.. sincerely apologised? It was unheard of! It was a sign of Ragnarok! It was.. heartwarming. Hiccup smiled as Snotlout offered a handshake in apology. Gustav stared at his hand before taking it, and accepting his apology with a joyful smirk.
"Not until we know he's safe." Hiccup replies.
"Well," Ruffnut starts, "We could ask Fanghook."
"And, Ruffnut," Snotlout snaps back, "How do you supposed we do that?"
"Looks like someone's been spendin' too much time with Hiccup," Gobber whispered to Stoick and Spitelout as they nodded in agreement, "The sarcasm's spreading!"
"Turn around."
Snotlout turns around to see Fanghook landing down, screeching in worry for his rider. Toothless runs towards him, the two sniffing each other before communicating. "Fanghook," Tuffnut walks towards them, "Where's Gustav, boy? Where's Gustav?"
A few moments pass as Fanghook groans and slowly shakes his head. Tuffnut yells in frustration and turns around, "Argh! He's not talking, you guys. He's completely shut down, typical." He crosses his arms and walks off as Fanghook snarls in the background.
"Since when did you speak Dragonese?" Snotlout scoffed. The other Vikings rolled their eyes at Tuffnut's antics, while the Dragons gave low roars in annoyance. A few of the more observant Vikings in the hall noticed the scroll attached to Fanghook's horn, and leaned in with curiosity.
"Hey, hey, Fanghook," Hiccup soothes as he walks towards the dragon, "Hey, it's okay." Fanghook continues shaking and snarling, "Easy, boy, easy."
The Vikings smiled. That was Hiccup, alright. He could soothe any dragon. Some even bet that he could soothe a Whispering Death if he wanted to. The dragons themselves felt calmer at the sound of Hiccup's voice, the boy held far too much sway over them.
Hiccup kneels down and holds Fanghook's head in his hands to take a look, "Well, doesn't look like he's injured," he says as Fishlegs walked towards them, "But he's definitely upset," The camera zooms in on Fishlegs' face as his points towards the scroll, "You guys, look."
The camera cuts to Fanghook's head, and zooms in on the scroll attached to his horn.
Many of the Vikings "Oohh"ed at the observation, and were pretty curious as to what it said.
Hiccup takes the scroll and reads, "Dagur. He wants to make a trade. The Dragon Eye.." his voice cracked, "for Gustav."
The Vikings felt a pang in their chests as they heard Hiccup's voice crack, the expression he bore was pained and genuine. Gustav felt guilty for making Hiccup worry so much.
The scene changes to Hiccup packing things into Toothless' saddlebag as the other Riders approach.
"I don't like this, Hiccup." Astrid speaks as she put her hands on her waist.
"Well, we have no choice."
"You sure we have no choice?" Tuffnut asked, his eyes shifting around, "Like, none? Zip? Zilch?"
Glares and incredulous looks were sent Tuffnut's way as he watched the screen, oblivious to the heads turned towards him.
Coincidentally, there was a Zippleback in the hall whose names were Zip and Zilch, and they raised their heads in confusion as they heard their names being called. Their owner chuckled upon seeing their reactions, and scratched their chins as they laid back down to sleep.
Hiccup turned to face them, "This is all my fault anyway."
The Vikings sighed, Astrid especially. He always found a way to blame himself somehow, "You can't blame yourself for everything, Hiccup."
"But it was my fault!" Hiccup retorted, "If I wasn't so harsh on him, he never would've left in the middle of the night!"
"Yeah," Snotlout started, "and you had a good reason to be harsh, he almost got himself killed!"
Gustav's guilt immediately grew at Hiccup's words, and hesitantly approached him, "Dude, look, you already apologised, and it was my fault too! I was being stupid."
"Ninguno?" Tuffnut speaks in spanish.
Many Vikings raised their eyebrows while others blinked, what language was that? Fishlegs leaned towards Tuffnut and asked, "Hey, when did you learn to speak Spanish?"
The other Riders looked at each other before turning to Tuffnut. Come to think of it, why hadn't they ever asked how Tuffnut knew so many languages? They all wondered this, and not even Hiccup knew as many languages as Tuffnut did! Tuffnut leaned back in his chair, acting nonchalant, as he casually stretched his fingers, "Oh, my dear compadre, t'is a dangerous question. You see, I-"
"Tuff stole a language dictionary from Hiccup's room," Ruffnut clarified as Tuffnut frowned, clearly not appreciating his theatrics being interrupted as Snotlout snickered.
"Hey!" Hiccup turned to glare at the Twins, "So that's where that went, I've been looking for it forever!"
"Wait, you had a language dictionary?" Astrid asked, "How? When? Why?"
Hiccup shrugged, "Got it from Johann.." He drawled out the name and narrowed his eyes as if it were a dirty word, "..a few years back during one of his visits. I got bored of reading the same books over and over again."
The villagers were not all that surprised that Tuffnut had stolen a book from the young heir, but were even more surprised that he had stolen a book and had read it. What other secrets were the Twins hiding? And what was that all about when Hiccup drawled Johann's name?
"I never even gave the kid a chance," Hiccup says as he stood up, grasping the Dragon Eye in his hands.
"Ni portugal?"
"Tuff, that's really not helping at all."
"Yeah."
"If I wasn't so busy tinkering with this thing," He held up the Eye, "I don't know, maybe I could've kept him busy."
Mrs Larson snorted and muttered under her breath, "Nobody can keep Gustav busy."
"Uh, yeah," Fishlegs started, "Nobody can keep Gustav busy."
This earned a few chuckles around the hall as Mrs Larson blinked.
Astrid walked forwards as Hiccup mounted Toothless, "At least let us back you up out there."
"Dagur was very clear, I have to come alone. We don't know what he'll do to Gustav if I don't follow his demands to the letter. No, we can't risk it."
The Vikings groaned, of course he had to come alone!
Astrid's gaze softened as she lowered her arms. "I'll be careful," Hiccup states, "I promise." He, Fanghook and Toothless take off, leaving the Riders behind on the Edge.
The scene cuts to the Ship Graveyard, panning towards Dagur's boat. The dragons and the Rider are spotted by Savage, "There!" He points. Toothless gives a roar as the three land on the ship, Gustav running towards his dragon. "Fanghook!" He cheers as the two reunite, "Oh, I was worried about you, boy."
The vikings smiled at how close the two were. Gustav had really bonded well with his dragon, and the fact that he was a Monstrous Nightmare made that all the more impressive. Fanghook crooned as he let Gustav scratch the sweet-spot under his horns.
"Aww," Dagur mocked, "dragon and Dragon Rider love." His face turns to one of utmost disgust, "Makes me want to hurl. Blech!"
Dagur laughed at his onscreen self, oh how things have changed! He scratched Sleuther under his chin as the dragon gave a content snarl. He loved his dragons, Shattermaster and Sleuther were the second-best things to happen to him!
"My, my." Mala observed, "You've certainly changed for the better."
"You can say that again," Heather agreed with a smile.
Toothless snarled as the Berserkers raised their weapons, ready to strike.
The Vikings gasped and paled, while others snarled dangerously at the screen, grasping their weapons.
"Yeah, I see 'em, bud." Hiccup responds, "Gustav, are you okay?"
Gustav nodded with a smile in response as Dagur shoved him aside to walk forwards, Hiccup held out his hand. "That's close enough, Dagur."
"Oh," Dagur scoffed, "Wow! Where's the trust, after all we've been through together?" He gestured as Hiccup stared plainly, his eyes narrowing, "No? Nothing? No.. hiccupy barbs, quips, snappy comebacks? But I really love those." He continued talking as he put his hands on his waist, "We've developed such a nice shorthand, you and I."
The Vikings, despite their worry, fear and anger, rolled their eyes at Dagur's blabbering. "Get on with it, already!" Spitelout yelled.
"Dagur, let's just get on with this." Hiccup states as Toothless growled, "Send them over."
"You first!" Dagur pointed.
Hiccup's expression hardened as Toothless growled, the camera panning from them to Dagur, Fanghook and Gustav, "You have no choice," Dagur started, "One false move and my men will take out you, the Night Fury, and the kid! So roll it over and I'll let him go."
Hiccup looked over to Gustav, who nodded. He dismounted Toothless and rolled the Dragon Eye over. Dagur picked up the eye and looked it over, "Oh, it-it really is one beautiful artifact," Dagur held it to his face to look through it as if it were a telescope, "And I hear it can be very useful to those who possess it? Hmm? Is that true?"
Heather chuckled at her brother's enthusiasm, he was like a child when it came to these sorts of things.
"Gustav, let's go, it's okay." Hiccup walked forwards as Toothless roared, spreading his wings out.
Gustav stopped for a moment, hesitating and looking back towards Dagur, "Yeah, about that, Hiccup.." He scratched the back of his head, "I've been treated much better by these guys than I ever was treated by you and the Dragon Riders." He crossed his arms as Dagur laughed, "And the plot thickens!" He says in a singsong voice.
The Vikings all gasped, Gustav had joined the Berserkers! Already forgetting for a moment what Dagur told them about this being a plan to trick him, many Vikings turned as one to glare at Gustav, who hid behind Dagur.
Hiccup is taken aback for a moment before warning, "Gustav.."
"You could've given me a chance, you know?" Gustav says with his arms crossed, "All you guys ever did was tell me I wasn't good enough, tell me I didn't belong." Gustav paused, "Well, I belong here."
The Riders shrank guiltily as the conversation passed.
"Gustav," Hiccup walked over as Toothless growled, "You have no idea what you're getting into."
"Oh, yes, I do, Hiccup. I know exactly what I'm doing."
Hiccup narrowed his eyes as Dagur sung, "Awkward! Well, I'd say your work is finished here, brother," He turned to walk as he held his hands behind his back, "Ordinarily, this is where I would double-cross you and fill you full of arrows, but the kid is squeamish. He made me promise to let you go," He stood beside Gustav, "and in return, he's gonna take me to a treasure."
Suddenly, it clicked. Many of the Vikings' eyes widened as they began to realise Gustav's plan. "And that's when I figured out what he was doing," Hiccup smiled as he gave Gustav a high-five, the latter looking incredibly proud and smug at his own brilliant idea.
Dagur groaned and shook his head, "I can't believe I believed that!"
"That's right, Hiccup. We have the Dragon Eye and Fanghook's fire, and you know what that means." He looked at smug as he was in real life as Fanghook growled and the camera zoomed in on his face, "Untold treasure awaits."
Hiccup, eyes widening slightly as he caught on and realised Gustav's plan, decided to play along as he turned to mount Toothless, who growled. "You are going to regret this," he warned.
"I don't think so, Hiccup." Gustav responded, crossing his arms as he and Dagur looked triumphant. Hiccup and Toothless flew away from the ship, Hiccup sneaking a second glance back as Gustav and Fanghook played.
"You know," Dagur says to Savage, "I'm actually gonna feel bad when I kill this kid."
The Vikings, Gustav included, paled as he turned to Dagur, "You were gonna kill me?!"
"Yeah, sorry." Dagur shrugged, "What did you expect? Keeping you imprisoned forever?"
Gustav shuddered, "Yeah.. kinda.."
"Eh, not exactly my style. Besides, it's a waste of resources, no offense, Gusterama."
"None taken."
The scene cuts to reveal the same island that Gustav had gone to before, Gustav halting in front of the cave entrance, "This is it."
Dagur approached him impatiently, "Why are we stopping?"
"No reason," Gustav shrugged, "I was just kind of impressed that you trusted your men enough to show them exactly where the treasure is hidden," He then added in a quieter tone, "Especially when there's so much of it."
"Clever," Heather complimented. Nearly everyone in the hall was impressed with Gustav's cunning.
Dagur thought about it, and ordered his men, "Stay here."
"Why?" Savage questioned.
Dagur, growing irritated, turned to face him with mock politeness, "Oh, uh, let's see, uh.. I don't know, maybe because.." He shouted the next few words, "I SAID SO!?"
The Vikings all flinched as they heard Dagur's shout, a few of them even instinctively covering their ears.
"That's so loud!" Snotlout complained as Dagur laughed at their reactions.
Dagur stormed off as Savage took a moment to regain his composure, feigning enthusiastic support. "Oh, good idea, sir!" He praised, "We'll stay here."
Dagur handed Gustav the Eye as he turned to his dragon, "Fanghook, slow burn."
Fanghook gave a small, but by no means slow burn as the map lit up and Gustav raised it against a rock.
"Ah, I see. You outdid yourself, Hiccup," Dagur smiles, "I love this thing." He walked towards Gustav, looking at the map and entering the cave. The three walked in and then stopped as loud rumbling was heard and rocks from the ceiling fell.
"Uh, so.. uh," Dagur stuttered, "Does-Does that happen a lot?"
"Woah, Dagur can stutter?" The Twins smirked. They were quickly silenced by the glares of the Berserker siblings and Mala.
"You get used to it."
They continued walking for a few moments before Dagur complained, "Are we there yet?"
Sleuther rolled his eyes, Dagur always said that when they were on long flights.
"We're close, very close."
"Good, that's what I wanted to hear." Dagur chuckles as he approaches Gustav holding the Eye. Suddenly, Gustav turned around, aiming the light at Dagur's eyes. Dagur shrieked and stumbled back, blinded by the Dragon Eye's light.
"Oh," He gasped, "Bright light, bright light, bright light!"
The Vikings had to admit, they were extremely impressed by Gustav's ingenuity. A few closed their eyes at the sudden change in lighting.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Dagur stumbled back as he heard more rumbling, seeing the ground splitting under him. Dagur laughed as the caverns failed to swallow him whole, and Gustav hid as he slithered around.
"Gotcha!" Dagur cheered, only to lose his triumphant smile and he heard a voice from behind, "No, we've got you." The camera pans to revealed Hiccup, Toothless and Fanghook standing behind Dagur, "Good work, Gustav."
The hall cheered as one, patting Hiccup and Gustav on the backs as Stoick yelled, "That's my boy!"
Gustav gave a nervous nod as Hiccup continued, "Oh, what's the matter, Dagur? No barbs, no comebacks?" Hiccup mocked, "I thought we had a shorthand, I thought you loved that stuff!"
Dagur, despite now being the Riders' friend now, grumbled while the others laughed at the sheer irony of Hiccup's statement. His mood changed significantly as he realised something, and turned to Hiccup, "Daw, Brother! You remembered what I said!"
"Well, of course," Hiccup stood up and bowed like a gentleman, "It was an important situation, after all!"
Dagur turned around quickly and snatched the Dragon Eye from Gustav's hands, Gustav stumbling back into the dragons' side. Dagur laughed maniacally as he tossed the Eye around in his hands.
"Dagur, you hand over the Dragon Eye." Hiccup demanded.
"I don't think so!" Dagur said as he waved the Eye around.
"I'm not asking," Hiccup states as Toothless shot a blast at the ground, opening a large gash.
"Oh," Dagur smirked, "It's a long way down, isn't it?"
Toothless shot another blast as Dagur dodged and Hiccup spoke, "Dagur, you've got nowhere to go." Toothless shot another blast, "It's over."
"It's over? Really?" Dagur held the Eye in front of him as he dropped it into the hole, "Whoops!"
The Vikings gasped in horror.
"Oh, no!" Gustav hurried to grab it, "Ah!"
"Gustav!" Hiccup cried as he fell into the hole, Dagur laughed and got away.
"GUSTAV!" The Vikings shrieked in concern.
The children screamed for the safety of their friend, as the adults gasped. The Larson parents were hyperventilating by now and had taken to holding each other for support, and a few Vikings even fainted.
"Come here," Gustav dived as he and the Eye continued falling among the rocks, he snatched the Eye and cheered, "Got it!" He continued falling as Hiccup and Toothless flew down, "Hiccup!"
"There, Toothless!"
Toothless dived down before spreading his wings to slow himself down, Hiccup reach out and grabbed Gustav's arm. "We got you, Gustav," he says as he helped Gustav get on Toothless, "Let's get out of here."
The Vikings cheered, though that cheer was cut short when...
..The group made to fly off before getting hit by a boulder and falling, "Aaaah!" Hiccup screamed, "Toothless!" The dragon roared in response, "Don't worry, bud!" Hiccup dived towards the dragon, "Hang on, bud!" After a while of struggling, Hiccup managed to mount Toothless and the two hovered, just inches away from crashing to their deaths.
"I'm gonna have to come up with something in case that happens to us again." They dived down to grab Gustav, who screamed until he was caught. "Fanghook!" He chirped, "Yeah!" The cave continued to rumble, "Thanks, boy." The group flew out to a different part of the cave as they let out sighs of relief.
"You okay?" Hiccup asked.
"Yeah. Hiccup, I'm really sorry!"
"I'm sorry too, Gustav." The cave rumbled again as Hiccup turned, "You're still irresponsible, immature and reckless, but the way you handled yourself with Dagur, maybe you do have what it takes to be a Dragon Rider.. someday."
"Someday?" Gustav asked, "I will take someday!"
Gustav cheered, knowing that 'someday' had already come now that he was the leader of Astrid's Auxiliary Riders. He smiled at his team, who smiled fondly back. The boy was still very reckless and immature, but he was, admittedly, a great leader.
The cave rumbled as the dragons growled, "What do you say you and me find a way out of here?" Hiccup asked. Fanghook trotted forwards as he and Gustav flew out, revealing a chest shining in the sunlight.
"Ooooo.." The Vikings perked in curiosity.
"So, there was a treasure!" Gustav exclaimed, "I was right!"
Snotlout took the opportunity to raise his hand first, "I call dibs!"
"You can't call dibs on that treasure, moron!" Astrid scolded with a whisper so that nobody could hear her, knowing it would be explained later, "It was a Dragon Eye lens, remember?"
Hiccup, shocked, dismounted Toothless as he opened the chest and gasped, "What the Thor is this?"
"What?" "What is it?" The Vikings asked and murmured. Hiccup shrugged as he gestured back at the screen.
He closed the chest and ran back to Toothless, "Let's go, bud."
The scene changes to Gustav, Fanghook and all the Riders standing back at the Edge. The sky is pink with a few hints of orange, a clear sign of sunset. Astrid spoke, "Gustav, I-"
"Uh-uh," Gustav placed a finger on her lips, "Stop right there, sweets."
Astrid shot Gustav a menacing glare as Snotlout gaped at him. If he did that, he would be killed!
Astrid looked back incredulously, annoyed and barely holding in her anger as Gustav continued to speak, "I can't stay, my mom would kill me." Gustav shook his head, "She usually notices I've been gone after about three days."
"Ugh," Gustav groaned, "I got the worst lecture when I came home."
"You didn't even leave a note!" Mrs Larson shrieked, "I was worried sick!"
Gustav walked towards his dragon while Astrid stared in disbelief, "Alright, Fanghook, let's go."
"You take care, babe!" He called, "Don't worry, Gustav will be back soon!"
Hiccup held Astrid back from breaking Gustav's wrist, as the Vikings breathed a sigh of relief at him going back to Berk. Even on screen, Gustav was incredibly stressful.
Hiccup walks forwards with the chest in his hands as Astrid asked, "What's that?"
"Oh, just something I found at the bottom of that cave," Hiccup opened the chest as took the 'treasure' out for the rest of the gang to see.
"Oh," Fishlegs chirped, "A new lens!"
Murmurs, questions and theories rippled through the hall. A new Dragon Eye lens? What, were they just scattered around the world?
"Yeah, there was treasure in those caves after all. The Dragon Eye was giving us clues on how to find it all along, we just weren't look in the right place."
"And if there's one of these out there," Fishlegs started, "There means there has to be more." Fishlegs cheered like a fangirl as Astrid spoke up, "Huh, and to think, we never would've found that without Gustav."
"Oh, yeah!" Gustav cheered before pumping his fist in the air, "Uh-huh, you're welcome! Ah, Gustav!" This earned a few amused chuckles from the crowd as Dagur ruffled his hair, Fanghook snarling happily.
"Alright, awesome!" Hiccup smiled, "So let's just tell Gustav."
"No! No, no, no!" The Riders pleaded and groaned.
Chuckles and laughter rang out in the hall, while others joined in on the "No!"-ing.
The gang turned around to face Gustav and Fanghook, waving goodbye as the two flew away.
The screen cut to black.
The Vikings got up and stretched themselves while the screen slowly faded to its usual shining golden-white colour. The villagers talked amongst themselves, discussing the events that had unfolded on screen, while the Larsons hugged and decided to have a quick talk with one another.
"Gustav," Mrs Larson started, "I know we've never been the most.." She grimaced, "..attentive family on Berk to you, but-"
"I know," Gustav smiled, before hugging his parents again, "You don't have to tell me, I love you guys, too!"
"You were so brave, son!" Gustav's father cheered, hoisting Gustav up so he could sit on his shoulder, "We're so proud of you!"
Hiccup smiled at the happy family as Astrid stood beside him. Suddenly, several clouds of smoke started to form and gathered around in the middle of the Great Hall. The clouds dispersed, revealing the Witch once again. She cleared her throat, as the Vikings finished talking and turned to look at her.
"So," She clapped her hands together, "Did you like it? Do you want to continue?" She asked.
"YES!" The Vikings all said at once.
The Witch smiled, "I'll let you all talk a little while more before the next episode starts, once you're ready, you may all sit down and the screen will start again!" and with that, the Witch disappeared once more as she left the Vikings to their own devices.
Thank you for reading! I hope this was good and up-to-standard. Next episode they will react to is Tone-Death! A.k.a, the episode where the Riders sing and try to raise Garff! Stay tuned, folks. The fun has just begun...