Watching Race To The Edge

by Eikntt

A witch arrives on Berk, wanting to show the village what their Dragon Riders have been up to at the Edge. Takes place a few days after RTTE, months before HTTYD2. None of the episodes will be in order to make things easier and more fun for me, requests as to what episodes to show them are welcome! (Sorry for the slow chapters, I'm a very slow writer.)

5. The Zippleback Experience

Hi! Yes, hello, as some of the older readers can tell, I changed my username to Eikntt. I'm still the same person, nobody's hacked me or anything, nothing crazy happened, I just changed my username because of privacy reasons. I wanna seperate this writing identity from my main-internet-identity-thing and give myself some space. If anyone's confused about my gender because of it, I'm a girl. She/Her pronouns, though I'm fine with They/Them. Alright? Alright.

Robbie Streets: Thank you for liking this story! I don't drink coffee irl, more of a tea person, so... sorry, lol. Yes, I will show them Johann's betrayal eventually, maybe not super soon, though. Thank you for reading!

Aurora Borealis: An Aurora Borealis? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the Internet, localised entirely within the reviews?

Anywho, here's "The Zippleback Experience," requested by LadyArtemis13, OrangeCat64, Uh I Dunno, Aurora Borealis, and.. basically everyone in the reviews. I know you're all just waiting for them to see Hiccup punching Snotlout, lol.

Thank you for 100 follows!

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Original episode was written by Will Morey and directed by Jae Hong Kim.

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Astrid awoke with a start, her axe almost immediately in her hands as she felt something brush past her. Shifting her eyes around warily in case of a possible attack, she relaxed when she realised that it was nothing more than Stormfly's tail. Looking around, she saw that a few of the other vikings had awoken as well, though most were still fast asleep.

Hiccup included. Much to Astrid's fond amusement, Hiccup was laying sprawled face-down on a mattress right next to her, hugging Toothless' tail as if it were a pillow. The Night Fury himself was laying sideways, his tongue sticking out and his leg twitching as he flew through whatever pleasant dream he was having. Both the Rider and Dragon smiled as they snored, and Astrid found herself smiling as well.

He needed this, Astrid thought. Hiccup had been stressing himself out lately and was always so busy. Between the war against the Flyers, and then helping the Vikings set up the new Dragon Racing Arena, and then gallivanting off with Toothless to who-knows-where, and then deciding to work on all of his other projects including his new leg all at once, not to mention the fact that he had to be dragged into the Great Hall every other night for dinner just to spend some actual, quality time with the rest of the gang, it'd been a while since Hiccup got more than three hours of actual sleep.

Honestly, did he ever take care of himself? Astrid rolled her eyes as she looked at him in thought. This would do him some real good.

Deciding she wasn't going to wake up her boyfriend, Astrid stood up and stretched, taking in her surroundings. She looked out the windows of the Great Hall; it was still night. That should've been expected, really, the Witch did say that time would not continue outside, but it was still quite surreal to actually see.

Adjusting her kransen and heading towards Hall's bathrooms, Astrid pulled out a toothpick and a small brush from her pouch and began brushing her teeth... before hearing one of the stalls exploding behind her.

"Yes, it worked!" Came Ruffnut's gleeful voice from within.

"Morning, Ruff." Astrid greeted primly as the other girl emerged from the stall, closing the door behind her.

"Heya, Round-Head."

Ruffnut smirked at Astrid's exasperated look and cackled, "Whoever's gonna use that stall next is gonna have the most explosive crap of her life!"

"I'll be sure to tell that to Heather, then."

"Aw," Ruffnut pouted, "You're no fun."

"So I've been told," Astrid continued brushing before a thought came to mind, "Hey, so... are you and Tuff doing okay? You two seemed pretty out of it last night."

Seeing the Twins so quiet and depressed was just so weird. Did they really still blame themselves for the whole Fireworm situation?

"Huh? What are you- oh," the prankster deflated as she remembered what they'd watched, "Yeah, I guess. I don't know, it just kinda blows that we almost got the Edge burnt down."

"While you guys weren't exactly the ideal rulers.."

"Gee, thanks."

"Let me finish!" Astrid snapped, silencing the other girl, "As I was saying.. While you guys weren't exactly the ideal rulers, it's not like the Edge almost burning down was entirely your fault. I mean, you saw what happened, twice! The Fireworms were basically unstoppable until the Night Terrors showed up. Even if you guys weren't the rulers, the Edge would've probably almost burnt down anyway."

"Huh," Ruffnut remarked, eyes widening in surprise at Astrid's words, "I guess we haven't thought of that."

Her thoughtful look then soon turned into a frown, "But I bet Hiccup would've come up with using the Night Terrors if he didn't have to deal with us."

"Probably," Astrid shrugged, "But we'll never really know for sure, will we?"

"I guess not," Ruffnut cheered up, "Hey, thanks!"

"No proble- What the-? TUFFNUT?!" Astrid shouted furiously, instinctively grabbing hold of her axe's handle as she turned around to see the man standing by the room's entrance behind her.

"That was beautiful," Tuffnut sniffed and smiled as he wiped away non-existent tears, having heard the whole speech.

"Bro," Even Ruffnut was annoyed, "It's the girls' bathroom. Haven't you heard of privacy, dude?"

"Chicken needed to do her business!" Tuffnut defended himself as the aforementioned bird hopped over his shoulder, waddling towards a small hole near the corner to do her dirty work.

"And when you gotta go," He snapped his fingers, "You gotta go. Besides, I'm technically not in the room, I'm just standing outside the door."

"Ugh," Astrid rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna bury you alive."

"Hey, great idea!" Tuffnut perked up, leaning sideways to address his sister, "Ruff, we should totally bury someone alive!"

"Definitely," Ruffnut agreed, already formulating a plan in her mind, "What about Snotlout?"

"Well," Astrid pocketed her brush and prepared her egress, leaving the Twins to their schemes, "That makes things easier for me, since I don't have to repeat the pep-talk."

"Seeya later, Roundie!"

"Ughh."

It was much, much later when all the Vikings had fully awoken and (mostly) brushed their teeth. More than a few were quite grumpy at having been forced to fall asleep under the Witch's magic, but most of the rest were just enjoying themselves and calling upon the Witch's magic to summon breakfast. The mattresses had been turned back into Hall's old tables and chairs, much to Snotlout's disappointment. He was one of the last to wake up before hobbling over to sleep on Hookfang's snout instead, claiming that he 'needed his beauty sleep.'

Hiccup and Toothless had a quick flight around the Hall; a quick, circular lap near the ceiling. The Great Hall was only so big, after all. It wasn't much, but it would do for the time being. Once the two were done with that, Hiccup walked over to where Astrid sat.

"May I have this seat, Milady?"

"You may, Milord," Astrid smirked. She smiled as she saw that the heavy bags under his eyes had gotten much smaller.

The two shared a small laugh as Hiccup sat down and pecked Astrid's cheek, Toothless and Stormfly playing with each other behind them.

"You know," Hiccup started, sneaking a glance at the Hall's windows, "I-I-I'm not sure if I should say, 'Good Morning,' 'Good Evening,' 'Goodnight,' or even 'Good Morn-night.'"

"Good Morn-night?" Astrid raised an eyebrow before chuckling, "Yeah, this whole 'Time-doesn't-move-outside-this-place' thing is pretty weird. It's like a really long sleepover."

There was a pause. A concerned look flitted across Hiccup's features, as a thought came to mind.

"Astrid, are the Twins okay?" He asked, "They looked pretty down last night, and I saw you guys talking earlier, and-"

"Yeah," Astrid replied, "I knocked some sense into their heads."

Hiccup smiled, "Ah, the old Hofferson pep-talk treatment, then?"

"Yep."

As the other Dragon Riders sat nearby and the noise in the Hall grew into a loud din of unintelligible chitters, several lines of smoke appeared, gathering above the glowing screen and dispersing to reveal the Witch levitating above.

"Ahem," The Witch coughed into her hand and tapped her staff as the Vikings turned their attention towards her.

"My sincerest apologies for the sudden disruption and putting you and your dragons to sleep," The Witch began as she saw a small portion of the Vikings giving her suspicious glares, "I truly meant no harm in doing so; you would have all fallen asleep without my help anyways; albeit quite a while later and at fairly staggered timings, which wouldn't have been very fun."

"But," She continued, "Now that you are all fully rested and -I hope- eating breakfast, if you all could so very kindly settle down, we can begin watching another of the Riders' adventures."

Many of the Vikings scowled at being addressed by the Witch as if they were nothing more than school children, much to her amusement, but quickly settled down as she vanished and their curiosity overtook them.

The Twins noticed the Witch licking a rather familiar concoction of theirs as she reappeared and sat atop a ledge located on one of the hall's pillars; Ruff-Cream-or-Tuff-Cream. Or rather, Ice-Cream as they and the other Riders ended up calling it. Only it looked more sanitary.

"Uh," Tuffnut whispered to his sister, "Did you tell anyone else the recipe for ice cream?"

"Nada," Ruffnut responded. The Twins, as far as they knew, were the only ones who actually knew how to create the rare delicacy that the other Riders often practically begged them to make on a hot summers' day. Hey, it made them a decent amount of profit. Might as well, right?

"But..." She stroked her chin, "I did think about telling the recipe to my kids if I ever had any. Pass it down the family line, nab some quick gold for my descendants, you know."

"Ew," Tuffnut gagged at the very thought, "You think about having kids?"

'Motherly,' and 'Ruffnut,' did not belong in the same sentence.

"Did!" Ruffnut growled, smacking her brother in the face, "As in, past tense!"

"So..." Tuffnut's voice trailed off as his eyes widened in realisation, as did his sister's. The two then quietly shouted in synchronisation, "She's from the future!"

"Mutton-brains," Snotlout scoffed at the Twins' ramblings, still a bit groggy and half-awake from his slumber.

The Witch nearly choked on her morning dessert and almost dropped her staff as she heard the Twins' ramblings. She'd completely forgotten that the Twins were the ones who invented ice cream. Was she really that obvious? Oh, well. Of course it had to be the Twins who'd figured it out first. Go figure.

Meanwhile, the screen began to whirl.

The screen fades from black to reveal Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs and Meatlug carrying a large stone using a net and flying over a cluster of snowy mountains. Snotlout, Hookfang, Astrid, and Stormfly are shown flying behind, also carrying a large stone with a net.

"Alright, guys!" Hiccup called as the camera zoomed in on him, "Let's drop the foundation right about...here."

The Riders perked up, a mix of exasperated grins and groans made evident on their faces. Finally, something a bit more light-hearted.

The Twins faltered a little as they remembered how Barf and Belch had left them alone, as did the Zippleback themselves, but almost instantly cheered up as they realised this would likely mean they'd get to see Hiccup punch Snotlout again. Ah, what a delightful dramatic tale this was going to be.

Or rather... dramatic tail? Because dragons? Eh.

The four dragons let go of their nets, dropping the two large stones.

"That should work," Hiccup said, peering down, "Perfect location."

The camera zooms towards Fishlegs as he speaks, "I, for one, couldn't be happier that we're finally-"

"Setting up the new watchtower," Snotlout interrupts, him and Hookfang flying so suddenly and close that it scares the poor Gronckle, "We know."

Snotlout snickered as he saw Fishlegs grumbling unhappily in his seat. Sometimes it was like Snotlout had made it his personal mission to interrupt Fishlegs with every given opportunity, one of the few duties that Snotlout happily upheld. Not that he didn't care about Fishface or anything, but man did he get so boring sometimes.

"Wait, why did you guys need a watchtower?" One of the children asked, "You already have dragons that can fly all around the place, plus you've got all those cool Night Terrors and stuff!"

"That's what I said!" Snotlout shouted.

"Well," Hiccup took it upon himself to calmly explain, "Sometimes, the dragons need to rest. You wouldn't like standing and walking for hours non-stop, would you?"

The child shook his head in thought, no he wouldn't. He'd probably get tired enough to fall asleep after the first hour or so. Huh. He hadn't thought of that.

"That's why we needed the watch-tower," Hiccup continued, careful to use simple and quick language so the child could understand without getting too bored, "So both us and our dragons could rest and relax while also keeping a good look-out for any bad-guys."

"Oh!" The small boy nodded his head in understanding. Meanwhile, Snotlout nudged Fishlegs with an elbow, pointing at the two.

"See, Fishface?" Snotlout urged, smirking, "That's how you should explain stuff!"

"Oh, so now you want me to talk down to you like a little kid?" Fishlegs asked sarcastically, smirking as well. Snotlout's own smirk died down fairly quickly as his own words were turned against him. By someone who was actually a few months younger than him, no less!

"Shut up, Fishface." Snotlout scowled as Fishlegs smirked, the Twins snickering as they watched the scene unfold.

"We've been hearing about it for the past.. Oh, I don't know," The view switches to a close up of the rider as he counts his fingers, "week, month...What comes next?"

"It wasn't that long!" Fishlegs protested, crossing his arms to further drive his point as the Vikings gave him amused looks, "I only talked about it for a few days."

"Felt like a few years to me," retorted Snotlout with a mocking smile.

"Guys, look," Hiccup cuts them off before it devolves into an argument, "This is important. We've been seeing ships of the northern coast that have absolutely no reason to be there."

"Now with this," Hiccup gestures to the foundation of the watchtower, "We can send up an early warning signal if they come into our waters."

The gang flies downward, landing in the snow. The distinct lack of a Zippleback and two twins is noticeable.

"Where'd the Thorston lad and lass head off to?" Mulch asked.

"Probably wreaking havoc, somewhere," Spitelout responded, getting highly offended looks and dramatic gasps from the Twins, "What?"

"It's not just havoc, it's glorious havoc," Ruffnut corrected with a tut, "There's a key difference!"

"Yeah, because causing an avalanche and nearly getting killed is totally glorious," Astrid muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey, nobody really got hurt and nothing too important was damaged," Tuffnut shrugged, "T'was fairly mild for us!"

"Yeah, nothing important, except for all my legs," Hiccup deadpanned.

"Consider it motivation for you to make stronger ones," Tuffnut smirked, taking Hiccup by the shoulders, "And, considering your recent projects in the forge, I believe we're due for a thank you."

"...Right."

"If you're talking about Dagur and Ryker," Snotlout starts, "and that's who I assume we're talking about-"

"Actually," Hiccup clarifies, "I wasn't referring to-"

"Who were you referring to, then, Brother?" Asked Dagur, turning to look at Hiccup inquisitively.

"I... don't remember," Hiccup shrugged in embarrassment, "I think I was just talking about Dragon Hunters in general, maybe?"

"How about this?" Snotlout gestures with his arms open before retracting them, "Whoever's out there that shouldn't be out there, let's just get on these very effective fire-breathing war machines-" He points an arm towards Hookfang, "and go off and blast them into oblivion!"

"Because that's not who we are!" Hiccup says, turning around, "Since when do we go blasting people into oblivion?"

"Ah, oops, what's that I'm hearing?" Snotlout smirked, putting a hand to his ear before nudging an eye-rolling Hiccup, "Oh yeah, it's the sound of that not aging well at all!"

"Oh, give him a break, Snotlout," Astrid defended, "It's not like any of us knew that all those battles against the Dragon Hunters would lead into an all-out war. You certainly didn't."

"Thank you, Milady."

Snotlout put up his hands in surrender, "I'm just saying!"

"Don't worry, Hookster," Snotlout pat one of Hookfang's horns, "He doesn't speak for us."

Meanwhile, the sound of Ruffnut and Tuffnut whooping can be heard in the distance. As Snotlout and Hookfang turn around, the camera pans to show the Twins snow-surfing Barf and Belch down the mountain.

"Or them. Definitely not for them."

A small portion of the Vikings groaned. So that's where the Twins had headed off to. The others, however, being the daredevil-stubborn-mostly-safety-disregarding Vikings they were, did seem at the very least intrigued. Many of the younger ones even cheered, and, to their parents' utmost dismay, seemed like they wanted to try it out. It wouldn't be too different from Bob-sledding, now, would it?

Bob sighed in quiet relief. Well, at least now he didn't have to be everyone else's sleigh.

"Woah-ho-ho!" Gustav chirped in amazement and shook his Nightmare's head, "Fanghook, we've GOT to try that out!"

"It actually is pretty fun," Hiccup admitted, before throwing his girlfriend a sly look, "Astrid's a dirty cheater, though."

"Oh, ha-ha," Astrid smirked, "You're just mad because you lost, Haddock."

"Toothless' tail got frozen! What did you want me to do?"

"Here we go!" Ruffnut shouted as the camera zooms in. They steer Barf and Belch in a zig-zagging motion as they zip down.

"Oh, I love to cut through the fresh powder!" Tuffnut remarked, "Don't you, sis?!"

"Yeah! Just like a warm knife through yak butter!"

"..Oh, great," A viking sighed, rubbing his belly as it rumbled, "Now I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." His wife snarked, giving him a flat look.

The Twins snickered, "You're welcome!"

"Woo!" Ruffnut cheers as the dragon leaps off a rock, going faster and faster.

"Blast! Blast!" Tuffnut commands as the Zippleback shoots and ignites their gas.

The Vikings groaned in frustration, slapping a hand on their faces. Of course they blasted the snow as they slid down it. The Twins, meanwhile, took no notice and gave each other a high-five. No regrets!

"Yeah!" Another explosion ensues, "Zippleback, baby!"

"Those two muttonheads better not bring all that snow up there down on us!" Astrid shouted as she pointed at the aforementioned muttonheads.

Snotlout stares, impressed, at the two, as if wanting to try it himself, while everyone and every-dragon else looks either exasperated or apprehensive.

The Vikings who'd noticed gave Snotlout an incredulous look.

"It's not the snow I'm worried about," Hiccup starts as an avalanche comes crashing down, "It's the ice!"

'Ah,' The Twins realised in remembrance. Maybe just one teensy regret or two.

The occupants of the Hall gasped in alarm. That couldn't be good.

Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, and Fishlegs fly off on their dragons. Meanwhile, the Twins lose control of Barf and Belch, grunting as they roll this way and that, landing headfirst into the snow while the Zippleback continues falling.

Gobber's eyes widened as he realised just exactly what day this was, and a slow smirk crept up his face, much to the confused stares of everyone around him who obviously couldn't read his mind. So this was how it happened! Oh, this was going to be fun.

"That hurt!" The Twins dangle their legs in the air before being rescued. Tuffnut is pulled up by Stormfly's jaws, while Meatlug pulls out Ruff. The Twins hang upside down in their claws and watch in dismay as their own dragon struggles as they continue rolling down.

"Barf!" Ruffnut shouts in concern.

"Belch!" Tuffnut calls, worried.

The Zippleback smiled warmly at their riders' care and concern for them. Well, as much as they even could smile, given the massive underbite that evolution and biology had so very kindly handed to them that was unfortunately quite common in nearly every dragon species.

It certainly did well to give them a powerful bite as well as terrifying their enemies. Making facial expressions, though? Not so much. Thank the skies for their expressive eyes.

Hiccup and Toothless speed down the hill, trying to catch the falling dragon, "Come on, bud!"

Barf and Belch snarl, positively terrified, as the ice continues to rumble, and soon fall off the cliff.

The dragons crooned in concern, and yet wondered why the Zippleback didn't simply fly once they were in the air. Then again, the two-heads never really were the smartest of dragons.

Barf snorted in annoyance, and Belch 'tch'ed at the other dragons' not-so-silent query. As if they would be able to use their wings properly while panicking, falling at high speeds, being blinded by the snow, and all the while trying to escape an avalanche.

Just before they get swallowed by the snow, Hiccup and Toothless manage to rescue them in time and bring them out of harm's way. Toothless roars as he carries the limp dragon, before dropping them on the ground.

"Woah!" Tuffnut grunts as he and Ruffnut are plopped down as well, "Eugh.."

Stormfly squawks as she and Astrid land behind Hiccup and Toothless. Barf and Belch, now in life-debt mode, give Hiccup a lick.

"Ah!" Hiccup closes his eyes as he gets covered in dragon slobber, "Okay, okay. I-I get it," The Zippleback retreats, "y-you're welcome."

"Eugh," Hiccup groaned, resting his head on an arm, "That took me forever to dry out!"

Toothless, meanwhile, getting an idea, snickered. Tilting his head towards his human, the Night Fury stuck his tongue out and assumed a pouncing stance.

"Oh-oh-oh, no, Toothless!" Hiccup backed away in haste, "Toothless, don't-"

Too late! Quickly wrapping Hiccup in a bear hug, Toothless happily gave his little human a shower of slobber, much to the amusement of the chuckling crowd around them.

"Augh!" Was the only word the teen managed to get out before he was practically drowning in dragon saliva. Managing to escape the playful Night Fury's ticklish grasp, Hiccup wiped at his clothes and gave Toothless an equally playful glare, "Oh.. Okay, okay! You did that on purpose, bud! You know that doesn't wash out!"

"Eww," Hiccup looked down at his soaking, wet, and stinky armoured tunic, "Great, now I'm gonna have dragon slobber all over me while we watch!"

Toothless smirked, triumphant.

Hiccup moves to dismount Toothless, metal leg first.

"Uh, Hiccup!" Astrid warns, "I wouldn't do that if I were-"

"What-" Hiccup slips and falls on the ice as the metal gives way, "Ahh!"

Astrid flinches back, "..You."

"Oh, right."

Barf and Belch pluck Hiccup from the ground, an arm in each mouth, revealing Hiccup's twisted and broken metal leg.

"Doh..!" the Vikings winced, taking in the sight and giving Hiccup sympathetic looks.

"Ah, so that's how that happened!" Gobber said in realisation, which Hiccup confirmed with a nod.

"Oh. Uh..." Hiccup asks awkwardly, "Can you put me down, guys?"

Hiccup grunts in pain, nearly slipping over again before stabilizing himself with a hand on Toothless' saddle.

"And it's for moment like these.." The one-legged viking turns around and pulls out another leg from Toothless' saddlebag, "..that I always carry a spare."

"...I should probably start doin' that," a random amputee remarked, rubbing her stump. The other amputees gave the woman, 'Are you serious?' glares, to which she returned with a defensive one. Always have a spare. They thought that was just common sense by now. Then again, Berkians weren't exactly known for having common sense.

The leg is replaced, and Barf and Belch watch curiously as Hiccup puts the mangled leg into the bag.

"So! If that's all you need from us," Tuffnut rubbed his hands together, "then we'll just be going back to..."

"Toothless?" Hiccup requests as the Twins begin walking off.

"Hey," Tuffnut shouts, pointing a finger as a plasma blast narrowly misses his foot, "Your dragon just shot at us!"

"Yes, I know," Hiccup leans back on Toothless' body, "I told him to."

The Vikings chuckled.

"Not cool, T!" Tuffnut points at the Night Fury, "Not cool at all!"

"Anyway," Hiccup stalks towards the Twins as Toothless growls in the background, "Since you two seem so eager to spend some time away from the group," He points at the two, "you get to pull the first two shifts of patrol duty."

"He's really become a tyrant," Ruffnut whispered, tilting her head as Tuffnut agreed, crossing his arms, "Power will do that to you."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and gave the Twins an exasperated glare.

The camera cuts to show all the Riders flying upwards, as the Twins and the Zippleback break off from the group to do patrol. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang fly back to their huts. The shot cuts once more to focus on Hiccup and Toothless landing outside their own hut.

"Ugh," Hiccup groaned, grabbing the handle to his door, "This leg needs to be filed down, it's pinching me."

He then proceeds to yelp as he gets buried under a large pile of fish.

"Oh, for the love of Thor!" Hiccup shouts, "Who did this?! Wait a minute, why am I even asking? Ruff?! Tuff?! Oh, I got another shift with your names on it!"

"Ah," Ruffnut remarked with a smile, and struck a bowing pose, "We're pleased that our reputation has caused any sort of Loki-ing to be attributed to us!"

"Truly flattering," Tuffnut agreed, "But alas, it was not us. It appears that our dragon, though, has learned-eth from-eth ze masters.. eth."

Perhaps it was the drowsiness that came when one had just recently woken up, but Hiccup couldn't stop the small, tired, but still friendly smirk creeping up his face, in spite of his better instincts, and played along, "Your reputation precedes you."

"Really?" Hiccup asks as Toothless dines in, "You're eating the evidence?"

"Infinite appetite, much?" Hiccup teased, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. Toothless only let out a draconic chuckle. Hey, it was fresh, raw, and delicious fish. He just couldn't let that all go to waste, could he? It would be such a shame to let such a gloriously plentiful pile of delicacies rot, unconsumed and untouched.

Pulling himself out of his own dramatically poetic thoughts, Toothless rumbled happily as he remembered the Witch's magic and a barrel of fish soon came descending from nowhere and plopping down in front of him.

"Fish addict," Hiccup teased once more. It was just a miracle how Toothless could eat so much in a single day and still remain around the same weight. Incredibly fit, too.

The scene cuts to reveal Hiccup and Toothless flying over the sea and around the island looking for the Twins.

"All right, where are they?" Hiccup whispered, scanning the area, "I guess you just look for a fire, or any other catastrophe, they'll be close by."

Toothless flies forward, until Hiccup notices something fly past behind them, and turns to look, not seeing anything.

"Huh?" He looks forward to see Barf and Belch flying without their riders towards them, "What the-"

They snatch him off of Toothless, leaving the poor dragon to fall with a loud screech.

"No, Belch!" Hiccup yells as his hand is shown stuck in Belch's mouth, "No, no, no, no! You drop me! You drop me right now!"

"Did you seriously just ask him to drop you?" Astrid asked, incredulous.

"Um.." Hiccup wasn't really sure how to respond, "..Yes?"

"Seriously?" Astrid deadpanned. She really needed to get him to work on not instinctively disregarding his own safety, "Couldn't you have just asked them to fly you down, safely?"

"I mean, falling would have been way faster.." Hiccup pressed his fingers together guiltily, as if he was a child being busted for mischief, which was way too adorable for Astrid to keep up her serious glare. Damn his dramatic flair!

"..and.. funner," Hiccup finally admitted in a quiet whisper.

Astrid rolled her eyes with a small smirk, "Adrenaline junkie."

"Am not!"

"Are to!"

Belch follows the command with a grunt.

"Woaaah!" Hiccup starts falling, "Toothless!"

"Hiccup!" Stoick bellowed in a state of fatherly panic, and then turned to look at the real thing with utmost incredulity, "Did you forget to hook yourself to the saddle again?!"

"Uh.." The teen shrugged, smiling sheepishly, "May-be?"

Stoick gave his son a blank stare.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay!"

Stoick sighed, and then gave his nervous son a warm smile.

"I know," Stoick replied with a soft laugh, "Just.. be more careful, next time, alright?"

Hiccup grinned, as did Toothless, "Aren't I always?"

Toothless snorted. Yeah, right. Hiccup would always forget and keep falling. It was practically the status quo, at this point. And yet still, no matter what, Toothless would always be there to catch and save him.

He manages to get back on Toothless and activate the tail, but alas, the two end up crash-landing straight into the forest below.

The Vikings winced.

Hiccup grunts as they land, before getting up and rubbing his own head.

"You all there, bud?" Hiccup asks as Toothless rises, shaking himself.

"I think I am.." He dusts himself off, looking down, "..and I spoke too soon."

He detaches and pulls up yet another broken prosthetic.

About half of the Vikings chuckled slightly at the lad's misfortune, while the other half, mostly all the amputees, winced and gave Hiccup sympathetic looks, which he returned with a grateful one.

"Heh, heh," Gobber chuckled as well, "And so that's how that happened!"

"..Yeah," Hiccup grumbled in confirmation.

"Oh, don't worry, bud," Hiccup consoles as Toothless crooned in concern, moving aside to let Hiccup hop over and open his saddlebag, "I always carry a spare for my spare!"

"And this whole little incident is why I now carry a spare for my spare for my spare," Hiccup sighed dryly, rubbing his temples, "Though, hopefully the new leg will be able to take much more damage."

"How many spares do you even have?" Fishlegs inquired, curiously.

"Eh..." The young heir made an incoherent hand gesture, "About.. seven, right now."

"Oh, thank goodness for that," Gobber huffed, crossing his arm and prosthetic arm, "Yer keep breakin' them in all those stunts of yours. They aren't cheap, ya know!"

Barf and Belch land near them with a screech, and drop a load of fish at Hiccup's feet.

"Wa-Wait a minute, it was you guys?" Hiccup asks, "You left me all that fish?"

"So proud," Ruffnut smiled, wiping a fake tear from her eye.

As if to confirm, Belch opens his mouth full of fish next to Hiccup, "Oh, okay, if you guys are here, and the Twin are Thor-knows-where, then.." Belch drops the fish and closes his mouth, "..Who's patrolling the island?"

"Tsk, tsk, brother." Dagur remarked, to the eye rolls of the rest. Well, no wonder Hiccup was so easy to capture that one time.

Hiccup couldn't help the lame joke that slipped out of his mouth next, and feigned a tired sigh, "Oh, Brother."

"Ha-ah! Hey!"

Toothless gently but firmly whacked Hiccup in the head with his tail for that, and rumbled with laughter. Dagur snickered quietly to himself as the Night Fury did so. Whether it was because of the pun or the slapstick, the world may never know. Probably both, though.

Quickly, Hiccup mounts Toothless and flies off, Barf and Belch hot on their trail. Meanwhile, the scene fades to show a rather beautiful looking beach on the other side of the island. The sound of two Dragon Hunters grunting is heard as a small boat pulls up on shore. Alarmed, one of the Night Terrors wake up, screeching.

"Dragon sentries!" Observes the hunter sitting behind. The other one sitting in front of the boat pulls up a bow, the arrow tipped with dragon-root, "Oh, this'll put it to sleep for a bit!"

He shoots, and the Night Terror falls to the ground, allowing the two hunters to dock their boat.

"Oh, no!" Fishlegs gasped, covering his mouth in concern, "Poor little guy!"

The humans gripped their weapons and glared at the screen while the dragons growled dangerously, as if they could just leap into the screen and finish off the hunters themselves. The few Night Terrors who were present screeched angrily and worriedly as they saw their fellow flock-mate fall.

"..Wait a minute.." Dagur realised, finally putting the pieces together, "..This is when I kidnapped you and the Zippleback ended up trying to save you by himself!"

"Bingo," Hiccup confirmed. The Vikings gave Dagur a sharp glare, only to be countered by the defensive looks and stances from the Riders, Berserkers, Defenders of the Wing, and their dragons.

"He's changed," Heather reminded the rest of the audience, who slowly backed down. She made eye contact with Mala, and they both nodded, as if sharing some sort of silent pact. Heather made a mental note to ask the Witch to show something that painted her brother in a more positive light.. his fake death, maybe?

The hunters jog onto the island unnoticed. The camera pans upward to the base, ominously.

Meanwhile, back on the Edge, the Twins are seen brisk-walking together near the arena, worrying their pants off about Barf and Belch.

"This is all your fault!" Ruffnut accuses.

"M-my fault?" Tuffnut pressed his fingers against his chest, "My fault?!"

"It's your attitude, bro!" Ruffnut crosses her arms and then points at Tuffnut's chest, as Tuffnut puts his hands on his waist, "It's always been your attitude. And it finally drove our beloved dragon away!"

Barf and Belch withered guiltily as they saw the Twins argue. Normally, they'd think nothing of it. Their humans fought all the time! But somehow, this felt.. different. Like somehow the fact that their humans were fighting over who had supposedly driven them away made the two-headed-dragon feel personally responsible.

"My attitude?" Tuffnut leans back a bit, "My attitude is fun, carefree, adventurous, and loves to take long walks."

"And it doesn't matter if it's on a beach or not!"

Ruffnut doesn't seem convinced, "You're ridiculous!"

"Oh, yeah? Well.." Tuffnut sniffs her.

The rest of the Riders, as well as a few of the other Vikings in the hall, gagged. The dragons didn't seem too weirded out, though. Sniffing each other for any pests or strange scents was just a normal occurrence for dragon-kind.

"you smell like a barrel of 20-year-old cod livers!" Tuffnut concludes, pulling back and crossing his arms, "That's what drove them away!"

"Hey!" Ruffnut protests, analysing her armpits, and I can't believe I just wrote that phrase, "This smell is not achieved easily."

"Yeah, you smell so good," Snotlout blinked multiple times at Ruffnut as he tried yet another fruitless attempt at flirting, "It's so.. faganté,"

"I think you mean fragrant, Snotlout," Fishlegs corrected, before sighing dreamily, "It is fragrant, though."

"UGH!" Ruffnut groaned loudly at the two flirtatious vikings as she pulled on her braids in frustration, "Can you guys just stop being so weird?!"

Seriously, being weird was her and Tuff's job! What was going on with them? These guys were like brothers to her! She could probably handle it if it was just Snotlout doing the flirting, but now Fishlegs was in on it, too! She couldn't choose between them! It was even weirder considering the fact that Heather, who was practically married to Fishlegs before she moved out, was sitting right there next to them!

Speaking of whom, Heather put out a comforting hand on Ruffnut's shoulder as she retreated from the two boys, and offered her a sympathetic smile. Barf and Belch guarded their space, using their necks, tails, and wings to refuse anyone else's entry.

"You'll get used to it," Heather consoled. Meanwhile, her thoughts went elsewhere, as she gazed at Fishlegs, before looking down sadly. She knew things just wouldn't work out between them, their directions and goals in life were just too different; And yet, she still couldn't help but mourn their relationship for just a single moment. She then proceeded to mentally slap herself before her woes were given too much time to form and turn darker.

"Yo," Ruffnut looked over at Heather in concern, snapping her out of her thoughts, "Uh.. are you okay?"

"Huh?" Heather responded, "Oh, uh.. yeah."

Ruffnut looked sheepish, seemingly reading Heather's mind, "Yeah, so... sorry about uh.. You know.. Fishlegs, and stuff."

Heather put on a cheerful smirk. Ruff clearly wasn't exactly the best at being comforting, but the fact that she at least tried did give Heather a little ease. The Zippleback unfolded, sensing that the two of them had calmed.

"Well, then!" Ruffnut perked up considerably, as if nothing bad had happened at all, and glared at her brother, "At least someone out there appreciates this smell!"

Tuffnut stook out his tongue.

Meanwhile, growling is heard in the distance as Hiccup, Toothless, Barf, and Belch fly into view behind them, causing the Twins to turn around.

"Hiccup, you found them!" Tuffnut points as he and his sister run towards them.

"Where did you two go?!" Ruffnut asked worriedly, she and Tuffnut holding Barf and Belch by their heads, "You had us worried sick!"

The Twins look on in confusion as the Zippleback leaves the Twins' sides.

"Wait, where'd they go?" Hiccup starts, still on Toothless, who watches the two-headed dragon as they move beside them, "Well, let's start with they filled my hut with fish, crashed me and Toothless out of the sky, and, for their finale, they broke my second spare.." He points to what is not his metal leg, but rather his real one, "..leg!"

Hiccup blushed sheepishly, now realising his blunder, as a few good-natured laughs and chuckles broke out within the hall.

"How do you even forget where your metal leg is?" Snotlout snickered.

"I-I-I was just tired!" Hiccup defended himself, but to no avail.

"So, if my calculations are correct," Ruffnut pointed a hand, resting her elbow on the other arm, "and they usually are..."

"...that would mean," Tuffnut had his arms crossed, "that our dear Hiccup is on his..."

"Last leg!" They chorused in unison, triumphant smiles on their faces, and then the Twins start laughing uncontrollably.

The Twins started laughing in freaky synchronisation with their past selves. A few of the other Vikings, Hiccup included, rolled their eyes exasperatedly, but the rest of the Hall just laughed along with them.

"Get it? See what we did?" Tuffnut asked, he and his sister still giddy with laughter, "It's because of your leg. You don't have any more!"

The camera switches to show our beloved Hiccup, clearly tired and unamused, as Ruff continues giggling.

"I think he gets it," Ruffnut tilted her head.

"Uh, yeah, yeah," Hiccup held a hand out, "Listen."

"Well, if you wanna flip the script," Ruffnut approached as Hiccup dismounted, "the new leg is slimming!"

"Not that you need to be slimmed," Tuffnut follows, "I mean, I think, for your height, you're probably an ideal weight. Healthy."

"The four of you.. belong together," Hiccup directed Barf and Belch towards the Twins as Toothless watches, "Now, please, can you get back on patrol a-and..." He walked back with a shrug, "try to keep these two... well.." He paused, raising up his hands, too tired to really think of what else to say, "Oh, yeah, just go."

A few snickers were heard.

"Last leg.." Hiccup muttered as a grin broke out on Toothless' face, "Oh, don't laugh, Toothless!" Hiccup says as he mounts, "You're above that!"

"Literally," Tuffnut joked, "Get it? Cause it's- because he-"

"We get it, dude." Ruffnut rolled her eyes at her brother's lame attempt at a joke. Unknowingly and coincidentally, she'd taken the words right out of Astrid's mouth, who now had nothing else to say except for a single, "Ugh."

And they take off, leaving the Twins trying the hold on to Barf and Belch, who shake this way and that trying to get them off.

"Bad dragon!" Tuffnut scolds as they fall off the dragon's necks, and the Zippleback flies off after Hiccup and Toothless.

"Attitude!" Ruffnut accuses.

"Cod livers!" Tuffnut rebuts.

Meanwhile, Hiccup and Toothless fly straight ahead, until the sound of the Zippleback's growls alert Hiccup to their presence.

"Oh, for the love of.." Hiccup rolls his eyes, "Okay, bud. Let's ditch the Zippleback."

They swerve to the side and fly downwards, going through a hole in the cliffside and up, out of the arena, but Barf and Belch are hot on their tails.

"Oh, get away from me, you crazy dragon!" Hiccup shouts as he and Toothless head towards the forest, trying to lose them below the leaves. It doesn't work.

"Ugh," Hiccup groans as the Zippleback appears by their side, snorting. "Are you serious?"

They zoom upwards, swirling around a mountainside. Barf and Belch stop for a moment, looking between their heads in confusion, before zooming forwards.

Toothless roars quietly as he and Hiccup emerge from a cave, the Zippleback flying right past them.

"I think we lost 'em!" Hiccup smiled, until he hears a growl from behind. "..And they're behind me, right?"

Sure enough, the camera pans outwards to show Barf and Belch right behind them. Toothless growled in annoyance.

Toothless rolled his eyes as the rest of the Great Hall chuckled in amusement.

The scene switches to the interior of Hiccup's hut at night. Hiccup stares, sitting up on his bed, as the Zippleback stares back.

"I think I'm starting to see Zipplebacks in my sleep," He sighs, laying down.

Barf and Belch watch as Toothless crawls atop his stone slab, warming it up with his fire before stamping out the flames and laying to sleep.

After a while, Belch bumps his head on Barf's, who growls in annoyance before widening his eyes in realisation.

Getting a pretty terrible idea, the two prepare their gas and spark, circling around on the floor.

The Twins glued their eyes to the screen, with a stupidly large grin as they realised what their dragon was about to do onscreen.

"They didn't.." Astrid's jaw hung open.

"They did," Hiccup confirmed.

Hiccup awakes with a pained gasp as he the quakes cause him to knock his head against the ceiling, and Toothless growls worriedly as Hiccup moves out of his bed.

"What, what?" He falls on the floor, "Gah!"

As the ground continues quaking, Hiccup crawls next to Toothless on the stone bed to see Barf and Belch having done with their twirling. Barf let out his gas and Belch prepared to ignite.

The Twins guffawed, "No way!"

"Oh no, wait," Hiccup held out a hand and shouted, "DON'T!"

Once again, too late. Flames burst out of each end of the hut and the view switches to show Hiccup walking out of his front door, the inside of his hut smoking and him being covered in soot with wide eyes.

The Vikings laughed at the sight of the young heir's face, and even Hiccup himself couldn't stop chuckling at how simply ridiculous he looked. Oh, that was priceless!

Hiccup's eye twitches, and he lets out a cough, before falling sideways to the ground. The screen blacks out.

"Rest in pieces," Snotlout joked, faking a solemn look and a melancholic voice.

"Okay," Hiccup says as he rubs his eyes, getting up as the scene changes to show that it's the morning. Unfortunately, he gets tackled by the Zippleback the moment he awakes.

"Ugh!" Hiccup exclaims as he pushes away the two heads. Toothless looks on and snorts unhappily.

"Someone's jealous," The short Jorgenson teased. Toothless probably didn't really take well to having his time with Hiccup being interrupted by a two-headed maniac.

"Daw," Hiccup bent down and rubbed Toothless' head, as the silly Night Fury's grumpy pout turned into a gummy smile, "You know you'll always be my favourite dragon, bud!"

Toothless cooed and rumbled happily as the rubs turned into gentle scratches, hitting the sweet spot between his ear-flaps. No doubt about it.

The view changes once again, as the Dragon Hunters use a spyglass to observe the scene from afar.

The mood shifted instantaneously as the Vikings gripped their weapons. The dragons let out a low, angry growl.

"Those hides will fetch a high price at the Northern Markets!" One Hunter remarks.

"Focus," The other Hunter says as he puts down the glass, "That's not what we're here for."

"Well, how are we supposed to take him if he's guarded by two dragons?"

"We wait, until he's not guarded by two dragons!"

"No, duh." Snotlout snarked.

"Wow, what an elaborate plan.." Dagur clapped slowly and sarcastically, causing the Riders and many others to chuckle, "Geez, no wonder we never actually won against you guys."

The two Hunters retreat into the woods, preparing their scheme.

The scene fades away to show Toothless, Barf, Belch, Hiccup, Fishlegs, and the Twins gathered outside Hiccup's hut. The sound of Gobber hitting his hammer against an anvil is heard, revealing his presence as well. The camera cuts to a close-up of Gobber's face, slowly zooming out as he hammers at one of Hiccup's spare legs.

Hiccup sits on a rocky part of the platform morosely as the Zippleback watches, a broken prosthetic in each of their mouths.

"Give me those!" Hiccup suddenly snaps his head up, trying to pry the legs from the dragon's mouths. In retaliation, Barf and Belch surround him with their necks.

"What is this?" Tuffnut asked in incredulance as he and his sister stared.

"A neck hug?!" Ruffnut growled, putting her hands on her hips. Tuffnut crossed his arms, "I never got a neck hug."

Getting an idea, Barf and Belch surrounded the Twins with their necks, and squeezed gently, picking them up from the ground. The Twins laughed, trying to pry their heads away as they realised what their dragon was doing.

"Okay, we get it, you're sorry!" The Twins breathed as the silly Zippleback put them down, but not before encasing them in dragon slobber.

"You know," Tuffnut bragged, "They totally learned that from me."

"Yeah, right." Ruffnut retaliated, "I taught them that."

"O-kay, guys," Hiccup split them up before the situation to devolve into yet another Thorston fight, "You both had a hand in it, alright?"

Barf giggled at the sight. Meanwhile, Belch turned his head around and nodded upwards, giving Toothless a smug look, as if he and Barf had defeated the Night Fury in some sort of game.

Toothless rolled his eyes at the other dragon's antics and lay down to sleep.

Gobber stopped hammering for a moment and turned his head to address Hiccup, "So, you ruined all your legs, eh?" He hammered once again, "Every single one?"

"Argh," Hiccup grunted, pushing Barf away.

"Well, all but this piece of garbage," He complained as the camera panned downward to show a stiff wooden leg, "Which, let's be honest," He said as he tested it, "can we really call it a leg? I mean..."

"...Uhh..." Gobber paused as the camera panned down to reveal that the boy's wooden leg is identical to Gobber's wooden leg.

The Vikings laughed outright, and the amputees were the loudest. Yes, it was always an uncomfortable experience having to fall back on old spares, especially after you'd gotten used to the luxury of having newer and better ones.

Some of the older Vikings, Gobber included, preferred the simplicity of their old peg legs, which always made complaining about their prosthetics just the teensiest bit awkward.

"Oh, right." Hiccup says in realisation, "Yeah, uh-" he swallowed back his words, "O-of course we can!" He scratched his head, and repeated the Twins' previous words, "It's very slimming on you, Gobber."

"Parrot," Astrid said with a fond smile.

Barf begins licking Toothless' head, as Belch licks Hiccup. Neither of them appear to be enjoying it in the slightest.

"Really?" Tuffnut deadpanned, "Right in front of our faces?"

"We're here, you know," Ruffnut gestured to herself and her twin, "Right here!"

"That's weird," Fishlegs pointed out as the camera zoomed out to reveal him standing next to the Twins, "Zipplebacks are normally fiercely loyal. Why are they doting on Hiccup and ignoring you two?"

"Well, didn't Hiccup pull them out of the way of a deadly avalanche?" Gobber asked as the licking continued in the background.

"Yeah?" Hiccup responded.

"Well, there you go!" Gobber stated matter-of-factly, "Same thing as my cousin, Bard. He saved a Zippleback from a Changewing. The two-headed beast wouldn't leave him alone, for years!"

Bard sighed sadly as he remembered the glorious beast, and its unfortunate fate. If only he wasn't so blind to the great dragon's true nature.

"How did that happen?" Hiccup asked, genuinely curious. Fishlegs, thinking roughly the same thoughts, continued for him, "You know, what with the whole war going on?"

"It was an accident," Gobber explained, having had to help his cousin chase the dragon away from his home for too many nights to count, "He was trying to hunt dragons to.. well, you know," The Riders grimaced, nodding for him to continue, "It just so happened that the Changewing that he was trying to make a trophy out of had almost killed a Zippleback."

"A sneaky one, that.." Bard remarked as the memories came back to him, "Couldn't hit him fast enough, and he dodged all the catapults and spears we threw at him, so we just gave up trying."

"Well, what happened to the big guy?" Tuffnut inquired, "Ooh-oh! Actually, let me guess; Uh.. explosion? Rockslide, maybe? Ooh, a dramatic and overly-emotional battle to the death?"

"¿No es correcto?" He continued his guesses while the others gave silent stares, "Okay, then.. what about drowning?"

"Close enough," Bard answered sadly, "He was caught in a storm while fish-hunting and got torn to pieces by a tornado."

The Hall went silent, the Vikings and dragons bowing their heads and a few taking off their helmets in respect for the fallen Zippleback. It sickened him to think that all those years ago, he felt relief at seeing that the blasted beast had finally been killed. Now, he only wished he'd gotten to know the poor dragon better.

"So," Tuffnut asks, "this could go on for..."

"Ever." Gobber confirms the boy's thoughts, "It's a life-debt."

He continued as Hiccup listened intently, the two-headed dragon having finally stopped licking.

"Barf and Belch will now serve Hiccup for the rest of their lives or until the debt is repaid. Whichever comes first."

"D-Does this mean we could be stuck with Barf and Belch forever?" Hiccup asks fearfully.

"Does this mean we could lose Barf and Belch forever?" Tuffnut asks, equally fearful as he shared a concerned look with Ruffnut.

"Yes," Gobber replied to both of them, "and yes."

"Why are you being so calm?" Snotlout asked Gobber, with a half-annoyed and half-amused snort.

"Oh, come on. It's Hiccup! No offence, lad, but danger follows you wherever you go! Yer explorin' and stunt-flying doesn't help much, either."

Gobber leaned back in his seat, resting himself against a sleeping Grump, "Ah, I figured the two scale-heads would be able to save you by the next week!"

"Thank you, Gobber, for your unwavering confidence in my abilities."

"Anytime, lad!"

Hiccup and the Twins exchanged looks of distraught and horror, before the silence was interrupted by Barf and Belch both licking Hiccup's hair.

Hiccup shielded his head with his arms as the Zippleback snorted near. Hiccup looked as if he'd been sentenced to an eternity in Helheim.

Astrid, Stoick and a few of the other vikings in the hall, silently felt their hearts melting at the puppy-dog-eyed expression, and internally cursed themselves. Damn Hiccup and his adorableness! He was over nineteen, for goodness sake, how could he still manage to be so cute?

The scene changes once more as Hiccup turned around a corner. The Zippleback revealed themselves, having approached the same area from a different corner. Belch snapped his head around as Hiccup retreated, both he and Barf scanning the area for any sign of him.

Hiccup stood, back facing the wooden post he was hiding behind, and took a glance. Barf and Belch, detecting Hiccup's presence, turned their heads around with a roar. Hiccup ran, and the dragon took chase.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called monotonedly as he ran across a bridge and suddenly fell through a trapdoor.

"Ah." He quote-on-quote 'shrieked' as a rope hung him upside down. "Oh, no."

The perspective zooms out for a moment as he swung from side to side, "No! I'm so scared and in need of help!"

The Vikings cringed as the scene played out, and many gave Hiccup incredulous looks.

"What?!" Hiccup asked at all the looks he was given.

"Seriously, dude?" Snotlout sighed, "We really gotta teach you how to act,"

First Fishface and his terrible poems, and now Hiccup with his terrible acting. Snotlout snorted; everyone on Berk knew Hiccup was a bad liar, so it was no wonder that he couldn't act. It seemed like the two nerds had another thing in common now: they both sucked at theatrics. Snotlout made a note to himself; One day, he would teach them 'ze ways of le theatre'.

"Barf! Belch!" Please, help me!"

For a moment, the Zippleback did nothing as they watched Hiccup swing from side to side, seeming entranced by the movement. Belch hit Hiccup first, and Barf hit back. Soon enough, the Zippleback's heads began hitting Hiccup back and forth like it was a sport.

"Wait, no, that's not- tha-that's not the sa-"

The Vikings winced with each and every hit. Hanging upside-down seemed bad enough, but being hit back and forth was sure to be a nauseating experience.

"What happened?" Tuffnut asked, appearing and peering over the wooden platform above while Hiccup tried to stop Barf and Belch from hitting him, "They were supposed to save you!"

"Great." Hiccup sighed as the batting grew faster, "You're not- not helping me!"

"Hey, they're playing 'Bat the Nut'!" Tuffnut observed with a happy smile, "Ruff, hurry! 'Bat the Nut'."

Ruffnut quickly appeared by his side, "I got next!"

"What?" Ruffnut asked as the Vikings gave disbelieving looks.

"Aah!" Hiccup fell to the ground as the rope snapped. He lay on the grass, as Barf and Belch gave him another lick.

"Guys, t-the point was for Barf and Belch to think they're saving my life."

"You're right, Hiccup!" Ruffnut realised as Hiccup pushed the dragon's heads away, "Our dragon is way too smart for this."

"Exactly," Tuffnut smirked, "I guess we'll have to put you in some real danger!"

The Twins looked at each other and retreated, laughing mischievously.

"Oh no," was the general reply of the audience.

"Uh," Hiccup sat up from the grass, "that's.. not what I meant!"

The scene then switches instantaneously to show a pile of logs stacked on top of one another. The Twins reveal themselves, looking laughably tiny in comparison.

Stoick paled at the size of the logs, and turned to glare at the Twins.

"It was fine!" Ruffnut answered the unspoken question, "We had it all under control."

They share a quick look as the camera pans outwards, revealing that the stack of logs is situated on top of a steep hill. Hiccup walks in front of it, and sees Barf and Belch stalking upwards in the forest.

"Now, Tuff!" Hiccup called upwards.

"You actually went along with their plan?!" Stoick questioned, giving his reckless son a look. Those logs looked as if they could squish any Viking.

"Wow," Snotlout smirked, "You must've been really desperate."

"It was fine, Dad!" Hiccup assured, "Toothless was there, and he wouldn't let anything happen to me."

The view pans quickly upwards as the Twins hopped behind the logs, revealing a sort of primitive seesaw lever system made of a log on a rock.

"This is the best plan to kill Hiccup, ever!" Tuffnut grinned as he lay a hand on the lever.

"You mean, pretend to kill Hiccup?" Ruffnut narrowed her eyes.

"Sure. Tomayto, tomahto!" Tuffnut smiled as he jumped, pushing their side of the log down, causing the logs to tumble downwards.

The Vikings and dragons rolled their eyes. Same old Twins.

"Come on, Barf and Belch..." Hiccup bit his lip, "Let's get moving. Logs rolling.." His breath hitched and his voice turned more desperate as he looked at the rolling logs, "Skinny lives to save!"

Barf and Belch snarled worriedly as they too saw the tumbling logs, and ran forwards to save him. The Twins watched in anticipation, as the two-headed dragon moved swiftly, dodging trees and skipping over rocks. Unfortunately, they're quickly thwarted as they suddenly crash into a tree. They become dizzy, and faint.

The Zippleback in question flinched; that wasn't fun.

"Oh, Thor!" Hiccup panted anxiously as he watched. Hiccup ducked down, grabbing his head. Just as the logs were about to flatten him, a plasma blast blows the logs to smithereens.

Hiccup looked up to see Toothless situated on a rock nearby. Hiccup sighed in relief, welcoming the Night Fury with open arms.

"Thanks, bud."

The tender moment is interrupted yet again, as the Zippleback, having regained consciousness, gave Toothless more licks.

"So close, yet again.." Tuffnut sighed as the Twins watched from afar, "We need to account for the topography next time."

Gustav raised his hand in question, "What's topography?"

"Scenery, or the environment," Now it was Hiccup's turn to explain the complicated-word-of-the-hour, "Such as the locations of man-made or natural structures, like trees or rocks."

"True that," Ruffnut sneered, crossing her arms, "Stupid tree."

Hiccup glared at the Twins angrily, trying to keep the Zippleback at a distance. The Twins gave nervous smiles and thumbs up in response.

The scene changes to the exterior of the Twins' hut at night, and cuts to the interior, with various plans and papers scattered all over the place. The camera pans upwards as Ruffnut scribbles something on one of the papers.

"Oh, geez.." Ruffnut sighed, hiding her face in embarrassment as she remembered what was to come.

"Too dumb," Tuffnut said as the view shows him sitting on the opposite end of the table. He pointed at a few of the plans, "Not dangerous enough. That can't work."

"Wait," He gasped, taking hold of one of the sheets, "Wow! That, is awesome! Hiccup would never go for it... Would he?"

"No," Tuffnut tossed it aside, "That's way too destructive. Even for us."

The Vikings exchanged looks of unease. Hiccup quirked a brow in mild curiosity, but decided against asking.

"Do I even want to know?" Heather asked.

"Trust me," Fishlegs informed, recollecting his memories, "I've been in their hut; You don't wanna know."

"Ohh-kay, then."

Ruffnut growled as her pencil snapped, and tossed it across the table with a roar of anger, before crossing her arms.

The audience flinched back in surprise at the sudden outburst. Then again, they really shouldn't have been so shocked.

Tuffnut stared for a moment before picking it up.

"What is it, sis?" He asked, "I haven't seen you this sad since Bjorn Boar lost in the inter-archipelago sectionals."

"Oh, Bjorn Boar. That was a sad day..." Ruffnut sighed, "But this is worse! Do you realize we have nothing?"

Barf and Belch whimpered sorrowfully as they observed the redness of the on-screen Ruffnut's eyes. That only meant one thing; one of their humans had been crying. Their Riders nearly never cried, and seeing that they were the direct cause of that crying was just a heartbreaking notion to bear.

The Vikings saw this as well, and gave the Twins looks of sympathy, the rest of the Thorston family especially so. The Twins flushed at the pitiful stares they received- Honestly, they really didn't need the Vikings' pity, this all happened ages ago! They were over it. Still, it did feel pretty nice.

"Nothing, I tell you. If we don't think of something, we may never get Barf and Belch back from that tyrant!"

She raised her arms in frustration, "Why, Tuff? Why?! Why do they love him more than us?!"

The Zippleback could feel their heart ache.

"No!" They'd wanted to shout, to scream in their riders' faces, "We love you two the most out of any other humans! We've never thought any living creature higher than you! You two are our humans! Our reflection!"

But dragons couldn't speak Norse, and so the two-headed dragon settled for another option; They pulled the Twins closer, letting them feel the warmth of whatever biological mechanism a dragon had that produced fire, and moved their heads and necks in a way that they were facing their humans face-to-face, and nuzzled them warmly with all they had.

The Twins were a bit confused, but didn't question it, and sunk straight into their touch. They'd seen dragons do this before with their young or their mates, and supposed this was their way of apologising. The other dragons knew better. If they could describe it in the human tongue, they'd say that it was like a traditionally draconic equivalent of a human hug, though more sentimental: Barf and Belch considered the Twins their blood; their family. Just as the other dragons considered their humans their family.

Barf and Belch certainly loved and cared for the other humans; the other Riders especially so. They trusted Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs with their lives, and were extremely grateful for all they'd done, but nobody truly understood Barf and Belch better than the Twins. The Zippleback loved them for that, and they'd sure as Helheim make sure the Twins knew that.

Ruffnut slammed her hand upon the table.

"It's the forbidden fruit." Tuffnut sat next to her, "You always want what you can't have. The dragon's always hotter on the other side!"

He stroked his chin and tapped his fingers on the table.

"We need help," Tuffnut continued, "We need someone diabolical. Someone completely devoid of any continence or human emotion whatsoever!"

"I can only think of one man that soulless," Ruffnut remarked, raising her head with an evil grin.

"Viggo?" Stoick asked.

"Ryker?" Heather inquired.

"Astrid?" Snotlout suggested jokingly, to which the person in question responded with an angry, "Hey!"

"Yours truly?" Dagur wondered out loud.

"Stop that," Mala scolded, nudging her husband's elbow upon hearing his self-deprecating comment, "You were never soulless, even when aligned with those barbaric Dragon Hunters."

"But I-"

"If anything," Heather cut him off, "You were a little too soulful."

The scene fades to show Snotlout leaning against the walls outside Hiccup's hut.

"Oh, come on!" Snotlout yelled at the screen, only to be left unheard as the sounds of his protests were drowned out by the booming laughter that echoed in the hall.

"T'is' a compliment, oh soulless one," Tuffnut clarified, trying to appease the angry viking, "We entrusted you, and only you, my dearest, greasy-haired fellow, with this sacred duty... Of making Hiccup mad."

"Oh.. Wow," Snotlout drawled, the sarcasm practically rolling off his tongue, "Gee, thanks."

Some 'sacred duty' that was, he lost two teeth just to get that dumb dragon off of Hiccup's back!

Snotlout smirked as the door opened, and Hiccup walked out of his hut with a yawn, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"Hey!" Snotlout calls with a more deep and 'macho' act than usual.

"He-Hey?" Hiccup responds, looking gravely tired. Suddenly, Snotlout punches Hiccup in the face.

The Vikings gasped, too shocked to do anything else.

Hiccup falls on the ground with a grunt.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Hiccup shouts from the ground. First the Zippleback's life-debt, and now this?

"You didn't.." Astrid growled at Snotlout and the Twins, the former shrugging sheepishly. Now this was going way too far, and Toothless, Stoick, Gobber, as well as quite a few others shared similar sentiments.

Ruffnut snickered in confirmation, "He did!"

"Why I ought tah-"

"Okay," Hiccup interrupted Gobber, who had begun to raise his hook-hand in a threatening manner. He didn't want any of his friends getting into trouble because of him!

"W-why don't we all just... Uh, continue watching?" He suggested. It's not like he hadn't suffered physical injuries before, what was everyone so mad about?

"Hiccup Haddock, I'm calling you out!" Snotlout smirked, punching a fist in his palm, "Defend yourself!"

Hiccup looked on incredulously, "D-D-D-Defend my-"

He looked up in shock as Snotlout picked up an axe and swung it downwards, "Yaaaaaa!"

Hiccup flinched, reopening his eyes to see that the axe had stuck itself to the floor.

To say that the atmosphere was weird was an understatement. The Berkians' expressions varied from anger, to confusion, to amusement, and to annoyance.

"Fight me!" Snotlout whispered, quickly scanning the skies.

"What, what? What are you doing!?" Hiccup asked with a yell.

Hiccup cringed. In hindsight, it really should have been obvious what his cousin was actually trying to do.

"I said, fight me!" Snotlout said with a hushed whisper, before screaming to the skies, "What's that, Hiccup? You want to fight to the death?!"

"What?!" Hiccup didn't get the message, "Who sa- who said that!? Nobody said that!"

"You did!" Snotlout hissed, picking up the axe and swinging it forwards. Hiccup just narrowly dodges, ducking down.

The viewpoint changes to that of a spyglass, moving upwards to see Barf and Belch flying towards the hut with a netful of fish.

"Here they come!" Tuffnut said as he lowered the spyglass, "Life-debt no more!"

"You think Snotlout'll get barbecued?" Ruffnut asked as the Twins looked on in excitement.

"Yeah, Hookfang does that to me on a daily basis," Snotlout commented dryly, eliciting a chortle from said Monstrous Nightmare, "So thanks, but no thanks."

"Sis, I'm afraid to tell you," Tuffnut shrugged as his sister nodded, "I always knew Snotlout would end up as collateral damage!"

Meanwhile, Snotlout let out a scream as he chopped a plate in two. Hiccup looked on in exasperation, walking behind him as Snotlout struggled to life the axe.

"OW!" Hiccup exclaims in pain as Snotlout flicks the back of Hiccup's head, "I'M NOT GONNA FIGHT YOU, SNOTLOUT!"

"You see that?" Snotlout calls out to the sky, "The future chief is a coward!"

Hiccup's expression changes, resolute, and actually offended this time.

"You heard me," Snotlout continues, "Come on, hit me!" His voice lowers, "You know you want to."

"Fine," Hiccup stalks towards his cousin, putting a finger on the other boy's chest, "But remember, you wanted this."

Hiccup pulls back his right arm, and Snotlout seems delighted to receive the upcoming punch.

A few of the Vikings looked at Snotlout as if he had gone insane.

But just as Hiccup is about to deliver the blow, the camera switches to the Twins wincing as a loud cracking sound, possibly the sound of Snotlout's jaw breaking, is heard.

The Vikings widened their eyes in shock. Some of them burst into laughter, while the others simply gaped or gasped.

"Aw, what?" The Twins whined in disappointment, "We didn't get to see the actual punch again!"

"Argh!" Snotlout screamed, grabbing his own face before looking up, "What'd you do that for?!"

"Oh," Snotlout raises a finger, "hold on. I gotta take a-"

The poor Jorgenson collapses to the ground, unconscious.

All heads -Viking and dragon- turned to Hiccup.

"Slobbering scallops, boyo." Spitelout chuckled, his voice wavering as he failed to hide the laughter in his voice. His eyes were as wide as the base of the goblet that he held in his hand.

The Vikings couldn't believe it, Hiccup had actually punched Snotlout.

Most of them knew, of course, even before the end of the three-hundred-year war, that a truly angry Hiccup was not something to be messed with, and the fact that he was certainly capable of violence, as proven more than enough times in the war against the Dragon Hunters and Flyers.

Still, they never would've thought even for a single moment that he'd actually end up punching an ally, let alone his own cousin and fellow Dragon Rider.

Hiccup fidgeted in his seat as everyone stared at him in impressed awe. Punching Snotlout in the face wasn't exactly Hiccup's proudest moment, even if he was extremely tired and ticked off. While a tiny, minuscule part of him was pretty dang proud of the fact that everyone saw him punch Snotlout in the face, the other part didn't like it one bit. It just wasn't him.

On the one hand, he punched Snotlout. On the other hand, he punched Snotlout.

"That's my boy!" Stoick crowed, breaking the silence with a proud laugh, "About time that boy got what was comin' to him!"

It wasn't really the fact that Hiccup had successfully knocked Snotlout out with a punch, but it was more about the fact that Hiccup had gotten enough confidence that he actually stood up for himself, knowing just how self-neglecting and self-deprecating his son could be. Though the punching thing did help as an added bonus. Hah, that old growth spurt did wonders.

"Hiccup, that was amazing!" Astrid praised, her eyes blazing with uncharacteristic excitement and very characteristic pride.

"Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh.." Hiccup gave a nervous and fake chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so.

"Sorry, Snotlout," He apologised with a whisper. Snotlout had willingly taken the hit to try and help him end Barf and Belch's life debt, even if he didn't expect it to actually be that painful, or if he just wanted to make Hiccup mad. Knowing just how vain and selfish Snotlout could be, that spoke volumes of how much Snotlout actually cared, if he was willing to risk getting hurt for something as silly as this.

"Yeah, you better be sorry," Snotlout grumbled under his breath. His beautiful face got damaged! Well, on the bright side, at least the holes left in his gums made him look scarier. Plus, they did look like pretty cool battle scars... if nobody asked how it happened.

"Note to self," Heather mumbled, "Don't make Hiccup mad."

Hiccup stared for a moment, looking sorry, before turning around to see another pile of fish being dropped off by Barf and Belch.

"That was incredible," Ruffnut stared in amazement as the Zippleback screeched and flew off.

Tuffnut agreed, "Who knew that that scrawny, little one-legged viking had that in him."

"Oh, brother." Ruffnut sighed, "That's it. There's nothing left."

"Guess Gobber was right. We've lost our dragon for good."

"But on the bright side," Ruffnut lifted a finger, "Snotlout did just get punched in the face."

"Yeah! ...If only I could enjoy it."

"Alas," Tuffnut struck a dramatically mournful pose, "It appears that our fates have failed us!"

"What does that even mean?" Snotlout asked to no-one in particular, to which the random viking sitting near him just shrugged.

"Mom, Dad," The camera switches back to Snotlout, who awakes for a short moment, "Hiccup punched me. I'm really thirsty."

"Ah, walk it off, boyo. You're a Viking!" Spitelout waved nonchalantly, earning him a very sharp and steady glare from his wife. Hookfang snapped his head towards Spitelout and gave an even sharper glare, having heard the man's remark with his sharper draconic hearing.

"Oh, sweetie," Mrs Jorgenson cooed in concern as she turned back to look at the screen. Snotlout blushed at that, and the other Vikings chuckled. Well, that was embarrassing, to say the least.

"So much for being 'completely devoid of any continence or human emotion whatsoever'," Phlegma remarked, signing air quotes with her hands.

"Clubhouse, now." Hiccup calls, spotting the Twins. He supports Snotlout's head as he faints on the floor again, "And.." He flicks his gaze towards Snotlout, "..get him some ice."

The scene changes to reveal Hiccup pacing around the interior of the Clubhouse. The Twins watch, sitting boredly on the central table as Snotlout sits in a chair nearby, holding an ice-block to his head.

"Well," Hiccup stopped his pacing as the view cuts to reveal Toothless sitting next to him, "a little warning would've been nice!"

Snotlout pointed to the Twins, unable to speak.

"Well, to be honest, Hiccup," Tuffnut began, "We figured out what was ruining our plans."

"It was you," Ruffnut explained.

Hiccup pointed a finger at himself, "Me?"

Him? The Vikings thought in confusion.

"You, my friend, are a terrible actor," Tuffnut stated.

"So.." Hiccup gestured towards his cousin, who looked on with wide eyes, "you made Snotlout attack me?"

"'Surprise' is the word we prefer to use!" Ruffnut pointed a finger upwards with a smile.

"We needed a real reaction from you," Tuffnut continued as the camera panned towards him.

"And boy, did we get one!" Ruffnut chuckled as the camera zoomed out, "Eh, Snotlout?"

Snotlout sobbed, digging a hand into his mouth before pulling it out with a gasp, "That's my tooth!"

"YER KNOCKED ME BOY'S TOOTH OUT?!" Mrs Jorgenson shrieked in horror, immediately standing up and scaring the living Helheim out of everyone around her. Her poor baby boy got permanently injured!

"It's fine, mom!" Snotlout consoled, blushing. Needless to say, he was a tad bit embarrassed. He just didn't really see what the big deal was! After all, vikings lost teeth all the time! Heck, even she had a few stone teeth of her own.

"We're Vikings," He continued, "it's an occupational hazard and all that, remember? I mean, it was just a few teeth.."

"There were MORE?!"

Snotlout zipped his mouth shut, "N-nevermind.."

"Great," Ruffnut snickered, "Way to get grounded."

"Unfortunately," Tuffnut continued, "we weren't expecting Thor's mighty hammer to meet Snotlout's paper jaw."

"Well then," Stoick said with a light chuckle, "That's certainly one way to word it."

"Aaargh!" Snotlout yelled angrily in response.

"So.. okay," Hiccup continued pacing, "you do realize if Barf and Belch had actually tried to save me, Snotlout would've been roasted alive?"

Snotlout gasped and glared at the Twins.

"Yeah," Ruffnut admitted, "We took that into account in our risk assessment."

"Oh," Hiccup turned around and rubbed his forehead, "this situation has gotten way out of hand."

"Please, Hiccup. You've gotta help us!" Tuffnut pleaded, "We're completely lost without our dragon. We have nothing to live for," His voice wavered, "Don't you understand?!"

Chicken let out a loud bawk.

"Oh, except for you, Chicken," Tuffnut clarified, stroking the bird's feathers, "Ruffnut, though? Eh.."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes with a scoff.

"We will get you your dragon back," Hiccup replied, turning around. "But you two have to stop! Stop your plans, stop your schemes, okay?"

"I'm gonna figure this out," He turned to leave as the group gazed morosely, "I just need time alone."

Toothless moved to follow him, then stopped.

"You too, bud," Hiccup said, walking off as Toothless crooned.

Snotlout starts coughing, and spits out another tooth.

"Two!?"

"Congratulations, boyo!" Spitelout exclaimed in pride, which received a fair share of chuckles and laughs from all over the hall. Ah, the joy of completing the unspoken rite-of-passage of losing or knocking out your first adult tooth in a rowdy battle with a friend. Oh, to be young again. His son had completed another step to becoming a man!

Snotlout rolled his eyes, resting his head on his arm as he leaned back on his now sleeping dragon.

"Hey," Tuffnut suggested, a mischievous twinkle in his good eye, "Maybe ol' Snotifficus Loutificcus over here should be the new Toothless!"

The other Riders chuckled lightly. Oh, they were never gonna let Snotlout live that down. Snotlout knew that, too, and, in spite of himself, (Hah, see what I did there?) chuckled as well.

Toothless chortled. Hah, as if!

"Maybe we could just call him Less-Teeth?" Ruffnut suggested with a devilish grin, "Cause he still has a lot of teeth left, and none of them are retractable like T's are."

"Great idea!" Snotlout agreed, much to everyone's surprise, "Give me a dumb and non-threatening name, and then when I actually strike..."

He made a gesture, punching his fist in the air, "Bam! The unsuspecting loser gets killed by the shock of how awesome I really am!"

The other Dragon Riders rolled their eyes, not bothering to hide their fond smirks. Leave it to Snotlout to hear an insult and somehow manage to turn it into another way to stroke his ego. Toothless hid a rumble of quiet laughter, for that was pretty much the basis for how his and Hiccup's true names operated nowadays. Many times did a lone and inexperienced Dragon Hunter stray into the Archipelago and mistake them for demons.

"Aw, man!" Tuffnut complained, "Now I wanna have the Less-Teeth nickname!"

"You do have the noticeable gaps in your teeth to prove it," Fishlegs admitted, "We'll give you that."

"You can be... uh," Snotlout spun his hand around in some strange gesture, "Even-less-teeth!"

"Yes! More numbers in my nickname!" Tuffnut slammed his hands together, feeling triumphant, "Those are numbers, right?"

"Letters," Hiccup corrected.

"Yeah, whatever."

The scene cuts to the outside of the clubhouse. The camera pans down to the forest below, revealing Hiccup walking along. The Zippleback's heads peak out from a bush, and they move to another, following Hiccup as he wanders. Hiccup turns around as Barf and Belch make a curdling sound, but the dragon hides away just in time.

"Huh?" Hiccup wonders out loud as the curdling continues.

Just as he turns back around, a sack is suddenly thrown over his head as a large hand pulls him back.

The Vikings gasped while the dragons snarled in alarm, and the tension had risen in the Hall almost immediately.

"Argh!" He shouts as the Dragon Hunters drag him into the bushes, "oh, oh. Really, guys? What did I say?"

"I said-" Barf and Belch watch, roused up by the noise, "I don't- OW!"

"What happened?" Stoick asked -well, bellowed more like it- in alarm. Sure, the situation was clearly long since over by now, but the lad certainly didn't need any lasting injuries! What if they'd poked him with a sword?!

"I was fine, I think it was just a few thorns from the bush," Hiccup replied hurriedly, "Nothing too crazy!"

"Come on, I'm serious!" Hiccup rants as the Hunter lugs him over his shoulder, "Would you let me go? No, seriously! Just put me down!"

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Barf and Belch turn to each other with an agreeing snarl, and ran off, their minds set on saving their savior.

"Augh," Hiccup grunts as he is set down, the sack still on his head and the lighting telling us it's night, "Okay, this is the single worst plan you have ever come up with."

"Oh, I don't know, brother," Dagur's voice is heard off-screen as the sack is removed, and Hiccup looks up in shock.

"You're our prisoner," Dagur continues as the perspective switches to show that he, Ryker, and the two Hunters, are present as well, located on a boat.

"Seems like a brilliant plan to me!" He continues as the camera zooms in on him. Dagur giggles madly, nudging Ryker's shoulder as Hiccup stares, clearly just done with it all.

The Riders and Berserkers chuckled at Hiccup's expression, trying to ease the uneasy atmosphere floating around in the Hall and lessen the hard glares sent Dagur's way.

"Geez," Fishlegs placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder in sympathy, "That day was not your day, huh?"

"What gave it away?" Hiccup dryly remarked, though his amused smile betrayed his tone.

The camera cuts to black, before cutting to ship's exterior.

"So," Dagur monologues before the view cut to a top view of him approaching Hiccup, "looks like your little island stronghold isn't so strong after all!"

"It's completely unguarded from the North," He continues, "You know, doesn't take much to put in a watchtower."

Dagur perked up in realisation, remembering the opening dialogue from minutes prior, and burst into laughter.

"Wow," Astrid remarked as the audience chuckled quietly, the tension lessening slightly, "Talk about bad timing."

"Yeah," Hiccup chuckled as well, turning to face Dagur, "Figures you'd take advantage of the fact that we had no watchtower right as we decided to start building one."

"Ah," Dagur smiled, "Isn't fate artistic, brother?"

"No watchtower," Dagur chuckles as Hiccup stares, baring his teeth, "What do you do without a watchtower? It's... It's preposterous."

The scene fades to a view of Toothless' face back at the Edge. The view shifts to his back, as he stares unblinkingly into the night while the sun sets. The camera zooms into the sky for a bit before cutting back to Toothless, who snarls with focus, as if knowing something bad was happening out there.

Hiccup smiled fondly, placing a palm on Toothless' head and rubbing gently, "You always have my back, huh, bud?"

Toothless crooned in happiness as Hiccup grinned. Sometimes, an overprotective dragon came in real handy.

The camera pops back to the Clubhouse as Astrid and Fishlegs are seen carrying crates behind him.

"What's Toothless doing here?" Astrid wonders.

Suddenly, the Twins stumble into the clubhouse.

"Have any of you seen Hiccup?!" Ruffnut questioned.

"I thought he was with you two," Fishlegs replied.

"No, he bailed on us, and guess who's gone, too?" Ruffnut crossed her arms, "Can't trust anybody!"

"They're probably out there having the time of their lives," Tuffnut started, "blasting everything in sight!"

"Without Toothless? Hel, no," Stoick remarked. Those two were inseparable in soul.

"Remember when random destruction was our thing?" Tuffnut asked his sister sorrowfully.

"Seems like yesterday," Ruffnut wipes at her eye.

"It was. It actually was."

"Wasn't it more than one day, though?" Snotlout asked, distinctly remembering the hilarious sight of Barf and Belch decimating Hiccup's hut in the night.

"Ah, especificidades não importam," Tuffnut dismissed with a wave of his hand, "It's about the feeling."

"Right," Snotlout drawled, turning back to the screen, more confused than before.

"Now, here we are!" Tuffnut continued, "No dragon, no destruction. No fun."

"Something's wrong," Astrid turned around, "If Toothless is here, and Hiccup's not..."

Toothless growled at the implications, turning back to face the sea.

Meanwhile, on the Hunter ship, chattering from the Dragon Hunters is heard as Dagur paces around Hiccup.

"We are gonna extract every little piece of dragon knowledge from that tiny coconut-shaped noggin."

"What?" Hiccup frowned, though more jokingly than anything, and raised an eyebrow, "My head doesn't look like a coconut, d-does it?"

"Uh, yes it does," Dagur replied, holding up his fingers in a square as if to frame it in his mind's eye, "It's more about the abstract shape. You know, like how you have long, brown hair like a coconut, and how your head's pretty oval-shaped?"

"That's.." Hiccup gestured with his hands, as he tried thinking of the proper word, "..Vague, I guess? I still don't get it."

"Wait, what's a nonocut, again?" The boy named Clueless asked. Not that they'd want to admit it, but many of the other Vikings were equally as clueless as to what a coconut was.

"It's called a coconut, and it's a large, hard, brown, hairy, and nut-like fruit originating from Southwest Asia and Melanesia," Fishlegs explained, happy that he'd finally gotten his chance to shine and display his vast knowledge on botany, "Though, the term coconut can also refer to the species of palm tree that the fruit originates from, and-"

Snotlout rolled his eyes as his friend started giving yet another totally boring lecture, and slowly tuned it out. Meanwhile, however, the Vikings nodded in realisation, taking in the new knowledge, well, some of them, anyway, and chuckled. Any of the previous tension had been alleviated by the comedic conversation and the lecture that followed.

"I can totally see it," Tuffnut stated matter-of-factly, completely tuning out Fishlegs' lecture, "I mean, it's kinda obvious."

"Nah," Ruffnut dismissed her brother's train of thought, "It's more like a... cat. Like how the braids kinda resemble a tail?"

"It's a coconut!" Tuffnut pinned his head against hers.

"Cat!" Ruffnut accepted the challenge.

"Coconut!"

"Cat!"

"Coconut!"

"Cat!"

The occupants of the entire hall rolled their eyes as the Twins entered yet another argument with each other. It was always either that those two got along freakishly well, or they were at each other's throats.

Dagur crossed his arms, "We're gonna use you to take us to every island that Dragon Eye has led you to."

"And if I don't?" Hiccup replied curtly.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho," Ryker laughed as he approached, unsheathing his blade, "I hope you don't."

Hiccup stared at the blade, and then back at Ryker, as if challenging him.

Ryker laughs for a moment, happy to complete to job, when an explosion suddenly occurs from behind them. The camera whirls around the ship as Barf and Belch attack, spreading gas all over.

"YEAH!" The Twins cheered, pumping their fists in the air as they watched their dragon rescue Hiccup. The Vikings cheered as well, though none cheered louder than the Zippleback's two proud riders.

Hiccup looks on in disbelief, "What the-"

Ryker growls, looking around for the attacker as Dagur groaned. The Zippleback continues spreading the gas, and ignites. Chaos erupts as the men clamoured about, sparks of fire and ash from the explosion floating all over. Dagur dusts himself off as Ryker grunts, turning around to see Hiccup screaming behind.

"Aaah!" Hiccup yells, running to try and making his escape. Dagur and Ryker unsheathe their weapons..

"Real stealthy, Hic." Snotlout snarked, "Nice knowing ya."

"Wait for it," Hiccup said as he held up a hand.

...Before looking up. Barf and Belch land with a growl in front of Hiccup, roaring dangerously at the attackers.

"First time in a.." Hiccup pauses to catch his breath, "..good long while that I've been happy to see you guys."

The Zippleback looks onward to see a group of Dragon Hunters running towards them, weapons raised. Hiccup manages to break free of the rope binding his arms and grabs hold of one of the Hunter's arms, pushing him back with a grunt.

The Vikings watched with dropped jaws. They knew that Hiccup had physically grown by so much over the years, but.. this? By Níðhöggr's teeth, considering just how large that Hunter was, and how much training and experience the Hunter had probably undergone for more than a decade, that was downright impressive!

Belch tosses the Hunter overboard, and he and Barf both knock the remaining Hunters out. Just as more Hunters approach, the two heads look at each other and send an explosion to the sky.

The explosion is seen from the Clubhouse.

"That's Barf and Belch!" Tuffnut started, facing his twin with worry.

"That's their distress signal!" Ruffnut explained. The Twins duck as a Nadder's growl is heard off-camera, and the rest of the Dragon Riders swoop out.

"Hey, wait!" Tuffnut shouts as the others leave, "That's our dragon out there!"

"What do we do?!" Ruffnut asks. Their faces light up as an idea comes to them both, and the camera zooms out as the Twins turn to look at Toothless.

"Hey, T," Tuffnut begins, "how you been?"

Toothless looks at them as Tuffnut cackles, and recoils unhappily.

Laughter rumbled through the Hall. Toothless rolled his eyes, rumbling with an unamused snort.

Meanwhile, on the ship, Hiccup grunts as he pushes back a Hunter's axe, kicking him in the shins and sending him tumbling towards Barf and Belch, who knock him to the floor.

Whistles could be heard as the crowd cheered, watching with rapt attention at all the action, grins on nearly all of their faces. The tension had completely gone, by now, and they were eager to see how it ended.

"I've had enough of this," Ryker pushes another Hunter out of the way as Dagur watches. Hiccup takes an axe and starts guarding himself against another.

"Dayum," Gobber whistled as he and Stoick looked on with pride, "Someone's been workin' out, eh, lad?"

Hiccup blushed, "Well, riding a dragon, fighting two wars, flying at extremely high speeds, and constantly getting into danger will do something to you."

Hiccup gasps as Ryker knocks him over, and screams as Ryker prepares his final blow. But just before that happens, Barf and Belch toss Ryker down with their tails.

"Phew!" Hiccup sighs in relief as Ryker falls on the deck, "Nice job, guys!"

"Get us out of here," He says, touching Barf's head with a smile.

"Oh, boys!" Dagur calls as he pushes a ballista forward. Barf lets out a storm of gas in response as Dagur flinches back, "Oh, no."

"Oh," Dagur cringed as the Vikings chuckled, "Well, I was an idiot."

Shouting is heard as the explosion launches everything into the air, and Ryker somehow manages to get tangled in a rope, hanging from the mast upside-down.

"And now I owe you one," Hiccup says, looking at the dragon.

The debt had been fulfilled, the Vikings realised with a blink.

"Time to go!" Hiccup shouts as more Hunters approach. Another explosion sends the Hunters flying overboard, as Hiccup, Barf, and Belch fly away from the ship. Hiccup looks back for a moment as a familiar snarl is heard.

"Hey!" Hiccup hears Tuffnut call as the other Dragon Riders nearly run him over.

"Oh, no, no no, no, no!" Hiccup shouts as the Twins come flying on Toothless, and the six of them come crashing down.

"Hiccup!" Astrid calls.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup shouts as they fall, managing to get back in the saddle and steer them out of harm's way right before they hit the ocean.

"Woah!" The Twins shout as they, too, fall towards the sea, Zippleback in tow. A net suddenly shoots out, trapping Barf and Belch as Dagur laughs maniacally.

The Thorstons gasped in concern, none more so than the Thorston Parents. They knew the Twins were tough survivors, but how did they manage to escape this time?

A muffled crash is heard as the view switches to underwater. The Twins swim towards their trapped and unconscious dragon, pulling the net in an attempt to free them.

The audience watched, some biting their bottom lips with bated breath.

The Twins pause, and share a look as Tuffnut points down. Ruffnut and Tuffnut swim to the bottom of the net, and begin pulling together.

"Yes!" Ruffnut cheered as the four broke out of the water. Tuffnut shared the same sentiment, "Back in the saddle, baby!"

The Vikings cheered once more, louder than they had before during the past half-hour. That was pretty clever of the Twins, a few had conceded. It seemed the Twins were more intelligent than they let on.

Dagur growled in frustration as they swooped away. The Dragon Riders regrouped as Hiccup called, "Let's get these hunters away from Dragon's Edge!"

"Woah," Ruffnut called as they all swooped into action, "I missed this!"

The Twins high-fived as the camera followed them.

"You can say that again, sister!"

"Take out the catapults!" Astrid commands as she and Stormfly narrowly dodged a flying boulder. Dagur looks on as the dragons wreak havoc upon the ship.

"Get us out of here!" Dagur orders. A plank of wood falls on him, and he faints with a thud.

Chuckles rang through the hall as Dagur rubbed the back of his head sorely. That hurt!

The Dragon Riders watch as the ship sails away, smoking and burning.

The scene cuts to daylight, and back on Dragon's Edge.

"So," Astrid begins as the view switches to show her and Hiccup on a walk together, "looks like the old life-debt has been repaid."

"Barf and Belch saved me from the Dragon Hunters, and Ruff and Tuff saved their dragon from drowning. Thank Thor, everything's back to normal."

The conversation is interrupted by a hitting noise.

"Yeah!" Tuffnut chuckles as the camera pans to show the Twins hanging upside-down, surrounded by Barf and Belch, "Hit me again!"

The Vikings snickered, a bit weirded out, but overall still glad to see the Twins back to their old selves and shenanigans. They hadn't realised how much they appreciated the Twins' comedy before this, and unknowingly began to see the two Thorstons in an oddly new light.

"Me next!" Ruffnut cheered excitedly as they continue playing, "Me next!"

Hiccup gave a half-shrug, "Well."

Astrid crossed her arms fondly, "Normal for us, anyway."

"Argh!" Out of nowhere, Snotlout took a running start and pounced upon an unsuspecting Hiccup, "Will someone please tell this lunatic it's over?!"

"Snotlout!" Snotlout cheers triumphantly as Astrid shook her head at the two fondly.

"Snotlout!" The short Dragon Rider cheered in synchronisation with the screen, much to Hiccup's chagrin and the Hall's laughter.

Remembering her mental note, Heather approached the Witch, who'd appeared yet again in a pile of smoke.

"Hey, uh... what's your name, again?" Heather asked, not wanting to seem rude to someone who was probably a powerful seidhr practitioner, and being unsure if just calling her 'Witch' would be considered derogatory or insulting.

"The Witch," The Witch responded, nonchalant and friendly.

Heather blinked, disbelieving.

"Your name is literally 'The Witch'?" She asked.

"Well, for the sake of this story and because of the fact that I'm just too lazy to come up with another name right now, yes. Call me the Witch," The cloaked woman explained, "Besides, it can't be any worse of a name than what you Vikings have."

"Ah.. okay, Witch," Heather bit her lip, a tad confused at what the Witch meant by 'this story,' and continued, "Uh.. hey, so.. I was wondering if.. maybe, for the next moving-picture-thing, you could show something about Dagur being a good person?"

The Witch seemed to consider this for a moment.

"Hm... Sure," She finally responded with a smile, "Why not? Right after this next one, though. I'll still need time to think of which instance specifically.."

---

Hope you enjoyed! Sorry for not saying what was coming next in the previous chapter, it was posted pretty late at night and I forgot, lol. Next up is Blindsided, because I think we all deserve some nice Hiccstrid content after all the rest-of-the-gang heavy episodes. Also would be fun to write about the entire village being massive Hiccstrid shippers.

Suggest which good-Dagur-featuring episodes to do after Blindsided, please!