Before long, the Dragon Riders arrived on Berk. The island had more reptiles on it than it had in previous years. It had to accommodate all the new riders. The leaders landed and were greeted by Eret on Skullcrusher's saddle.
"How did it go?" he asked.
"Great!" Fishlegs informed him happily.
"We might even have some new students tomorrow," Tuffnut added.
"Yeah!" Ruffnut chimed in. "You should've seen us winning over that crowd of stiffs."
Gobber started to approach and lifted an eyebrow. "Where's Hiccup?"
"When you find out, let us know," Snotlout said, hopping off Hookfang's saddle.
The blond frowned slightly. "He's been disappearing a lot lately…well, more than usual."
"I wish he'd let us go with him," Astrid admitted.
"Maybe he just needs more time," Fishlegs offered.
"It's been a year," Snotlout commented, brows pinching together. "If she hasn't shown up yet…"
He trailed off as silence hit the group. They felt the weight of the unsaid words. The friends all wanted Valka to return for Hiccup, but it seemed like this was unlikely to happen. Tuffnut scratched his head.
"Not to be that Viking, but…"
"Don't say it, Tuff," Astrid requested, sighing.
"Should Valka come back?" he completed.
A deeper frown came over Gobber's face. The others saw this and wanted to say something, but he spoke first.
"I doubt it matters. She's made her decision. She doesn't see herself as one of us."
The man turned and hobbled back to his shop. Tuffnut felt bad for upsetting him, but he still believed this needed to be said.
"Let's get the Academy ready for the lessons tomorrow," Snotlout suggested, cutting the tension.
His friends agreed with this plan and headed that way. After a few hours, Hiccup and Toothless returned. They did not get far before noticing a blonde near the entrance of their hut.
"We can help you," Astrid said.
"I know," Hiccup admitted. "I guess part of me thinks she'll only show up if I'm alone." He paused, frowning. "Of course, this plan hasn't been working, so maybe I might as well use the extra help."
The Berkian looked over at her, seeing the sympathetic expression.
"None of you really want her here, do you?" he asked.
Astrid took a deep breath. "We want you to be happy and what's best for Berk."
"That's a nice way to avoid a direct answer," he commented, a small smile on his face.
Hiccup put an arm around the other Viking. She rested her head against his.
"I want what's best for Berk too and I keep trying to convince myself that Mom being here will be. I don't know if that's true or just wishful thinking."
"Let's see what happens. It might help to let her come to us. Looking for her could just push her further into hiding. For now, let's focus on the students tomorrow and having everything ready in case the neighboring tribes join."
Hiccup's smile became warmer, then he kissed Astrid.
"How did I ever think I'd be able to do this without you?"
The blonde shrugged. "We all make mistakes."
Hiccup chuckled and the pair said good night before parting ways. They went to sleep, but the dragons remained awake. Toothless's work was not yet done. Stealthily as always, the Night Fury crept out of the hut. He went towards the other homes, making a low sound that caught the attention of the rest of the dragons. They went to the main area of the island to greet him. With a roar, Toothless gave them his request. The flock took off into the night. They did not need to be gone long–just long enough to spread the message of the search. With so many reptiles also looking, it was only a matter of time before Valka was found. By morning, the dragons had returned and the Vikings were none the wiser. The leaders met up at the Academy, smiling when they saw the students. This smile became even larger when they spotted new faces.
"Welcome," Hiccup said. "We're happy to have you here."
"After careful consideration, we decided it would be best to see how this is for ourselves," the Hysteric chieftess stated.
"You'll love it!" Ruffnut informed her. "You'll be exploding stuff in no time."
Fishlegs went forward. "Before we get into that, it helps to understand what's going to keep the dragons from getting agitated. Happy dragons lead to happy Vikings."
Tuffnut called for Terrible Terrors which swarmed near the newcomers. Instinctively, the Vikings went to draw their weapons.
"Hold on," Astrid advised. "Just take a breath and try to stay calm."
Although skeptical, the students adhered to this suggestion. When they did, the little dragons lightly perched on their shoulders.
"Now that you've got that part out the way," Snotlout said, grinning, "the real fun can begin."
The Riders led the trainees through several exercises, each one having moderately more success than the last. When the class ended, the newcomers went over to the Berkians.
"This was better than I'd expected," one of them admitted. "You said that you do this every day?"
"Every noon," Fishlegs assured the trainee.
"Then you'll probably see us again tomorrow."
Happily, the team bid farewell to the other Vikings. Once they were gone, the friends grinned.
"Look at us!" Snotlout cheered. "We're regular role models. I should've known I'd be amazing at that ever since I took Gustav under my wing."
"Does it still count if you gave him up as an apprentice?" Tuffnut asked.
"Doubt it," Ruffnut added.
Fishlegs smiled proudly. "Well, I'm technically the only one who's been called an excellent teacher, but I think you all did really well too."
He chuckled at the playful frowns sent his way and the group began clearing up everything so that the area would be ready for the next day. They had nearly finished this when they saw Eret. His expression was one of worry.
"There's a ship approaching," he said.
The leaders' brows rose in confusion.
"It's not one of the Outcasts?" Snotlout asked.
Eret shook his head. "I don't recognize it."
Hiccup hesitated for a moment before turning to his friends. "Toothless and I will go see who this is while the rest of you wrap up here."
"Are you sure?" Fishlegs inquired.
His friend nodded. "Maybe it's another Viking trying to learn from us."
Unsurely, the other leaders agreed and the duo left. Hiccup and Toothless flew towards the harbor, stopping on the dock. They saw the ship and the stranger. Toothless's eyes widened and he immediately began to snarl. Hiccup glanced down at him in surprise.
"What's wrong, Bud?"
"Fascinating," the newcomer said, focus locked onto the dragon.
Hiccup looked at him, eyeing him suspiciously. "Who are you?"
"I'm Grimmel the Grisly, you're Hiccup Haddock, and you're," he added, eyes narrowing at the Night Fury, "Toothless."
Hiccup began to frown. "How do you know his name?"
"I make it my business to know everything about Night Furies."
An uneasy feeling consumed the Berkian. His grip on Toothless's saddle tightened. Hiccup glanced towards the ship again, trying to gauge how many Vikings were with the stranger. To his surprise, he saw none.
"Why are you here, Grimmel?"
"Because I see no point in quarreling with tribes. My request is simple. Will you hand over your Night Fury?"
Immediately, Hiccup glared at him. "What?"
"I'm sure you heard me," the man said, an irritated expression on his face. "It's one dragon. I'm not asking for the others. Berk can have all the dragons it desires except the Night Fury. That isn't unreasonable."
"Maybe not to you, but when a random Viking shows up and demands that I hand over my best friend, it seems pretty unreasonable."
Grimmel's expression hardened. "They don't belong around Vikings. Consider this me helping you. It'll just end with your tribe being slaughtered."
"Then that proves you don't know as much about Night Furies as you thought. Toothless would never do something like that."
The other Viking started to look bored. "I'll excuse your naivety this once because you've only met a single Night Fury and it was after you wounded it. Maybe pity changed your perception. That's why I came here to ask first. Night Furies can destroy entire tribes, leaving nothing but ashes and corpses in their wake. Your family, friends, and anyone else you've grown accustomed to seeing will be killed. You might not care if that happens to Berk, but I have a mission I've set out to complete and no one's stopping me."
A pit formed in Hiccup's stomach. "What mission?"
"You haven't guessed yet?" Grimmel asked, eyebrow raising. "I've heard you Berkians were a clever bunch when you wanted to be."
Hiccup chose to ignore the snide comment. "So, you're a Dragon Hunter or a Trapper?"
"Don't insult me," the older man scoffed, offended. "I'm a dragon slayer. My mission is killing every Night Fury until they've gone extinct."
The trainer tried to take a breath. He regarded the man suspiciously.
"I don't see any Vikings with you. Are they all waiting back on your island?"
"No," came the plain reply. "I work alone."
"In that case, you must be a liar. There's no way you could single-handedly exterminate the Night Fury species."
"I've neither had the option nor need for backup and unfortunately, I haven't exterminated the entire species yet."
"I suppose that's why you're here."
Grimmel chuckled. "You really couldn't know less about Night Furies if you tried. This won't be my last kill, but it'll be the start of the last. My work should be complete soon."
Rage entered the young chief, filling him with heat. He hated the amused expression Grimmel wore and how they contrasted with his cruel eyes. This anger became hotter when Grimmel's gaze moved from him to the dragon.
"I see you remember me, Toothless," he said, smirking. "Good because I remember you too. You were just a hatchling, but you had so much fight in you. If your parents had half as much, it might have been more of a challenge to spill their entrails over the grass."
Immediately, the Night Fury opened his mouth and fired a plasma blast. It loudly made contact, but Toothless's and Hiccup's eyes widened when they saw the smoke clear. Grimmel lowered a shield, swiping away some ash with his hand. When he looked back at Hiccup, the expression was deadly.
"I told you, I'm more than capable of doing this job alone. You've annoyed me now, Hiccup. I've heard you were a Viking of logic and peace. It's the only reason I chose to not attack you as soon as I learned what creature you harbored here." The man let out a sigh. "Apparently, you aren't going to give me Toothless peacefully, so I'll have to take him by force. It's almost a shame. After decades, I was hoping to finally have a simple slaughter." Grimmel's unhappy expression changed to one of fascination. "But I am interested in seeing how it will be to kill the famous Toothless. I'll see you soon, Hiccup."
A surge of adrenaline and panic hit the Berkian. He was not going to have a repeat of Drago. He could not wait for the villain to make his move. Each step the stranger took towards his vessel seemed like one more towards the death of Hiccup's loved ones. The sound of the plasma blast had attracted the other leaders' attention. They flew towards the harbor and saw the newcomer leaving.
"Block his exit!" Hiccup called out.
The rest of the Dragon Riders went near the ship, surrounding Grimmel. With open jaws, the reptiles prepared for a fight. Grimmel glanced at them before turning to Hiccup.
"So many friends," he commented. "I think they'll be the first to suffer."
The man reached towards his back.
"He's got someth–"
Snotlout could not finish his sentence as a flaming pouch hit the ground. It exploded into a puff of red. Fishlegs let out a cry as it made contact with his skin. Automatically, he covered his nose and mouth.
"Nobody breathe in! It's Fire Fern!"
The group drew back, but they were not fast enough to prevent it from making contact. Airborne components of the plant coated their skin. The fern earned its name and Hiccup painfully gestured towards the village.
"We need fresh water!" he informed the others.
Quickly, they followed him deeper into the tribe where they rinsed their arms, necks, and faces in the water. It slowly began to ease the burning sensation. When they were done, a lot of their skin was red and raw. Eret speedily went to get Gothi. He brought her back to the others, so she could give them ointment for the irritated skin. Snotlout nearly smothered himself in all of the medicinal creams.
"I think I inhaled some of it," he said, hyperventilating.
"No, you'd be dead by now if you did," Fishlegs told him, grimacing as he covered an arm in the ointment. "It just feels like it's inside of us."
Snotlout was a little relieved, but he quickly frowned. "Who. In Thor's name. Was that?!"
The friends looked at Hiccup, seeing his upset expression.
"A dragon slayer. His name is Grimmel and he's the one who's been hunting the Night Furies into extinction."
"Him?" Astrid asked. "But he's just one Viking."
"In his defense," Ruffnut said, "he did just escape from all of us like it was nothing. So, I can kinda believe it."
Hiccup's frown was still troubled and he got off Toothless's saddle to look the dragon in the eyes.
"Toothless knew him," he stated. "Grimmel killed his family in front of him."
The friends gasped, sad expressions on their faces. After looking at one another, their gazes became determined.
"Then we need to show him what happens when the Night Furies aren't fighting alone," Astrid said.
Meatlug nuzzled her head against Toothless and the other dragons did the same. Toothless grinned in appreciation at his friends. It had been so many years since he had seen Grimmel. The man looked different from when they had met, but Toothless would always recognize that scent. It was one of death. Even then, it filled his nostrils. The dragon let out a pitiful warble as he pawed his snout. Hiccup patted his head, easing some of his worries however slightly.
"Grimmel clearly knows a lot about plants," Fishlegs stated. "We don't know what other kinds he uses or how much worse the effects can be than this."
"We'll just have to prepare for anything," Astrid said. "We need to know as much about him as possible."
"Maybe we can find his base," Snotlout suggested.
"I didn't recognize his sails," Hiccup admitted. "He's got to be from outside the Archipelago, but that leaves a lot of options. Mala or the Wing Maidens might be familiar with him."
The twins flew with Barf and Belch, then frowned in discouragement as they landed again.
"We can't see him anywhere," Ruffnut complained.
"He's a fast sailor, wherever he's from," Tuffnut said, then gasped. "Maybe he's part Speed Stinger. Or a Lycanwing!" He saw his friends squinting at him and shrugged. "Okay, maybe not, but a Lycanwing would be a terrible Viking to have to fight."
"Lycanwing or not," Snotlout said, "we'll find that guy. He only escaped this time because we didn't know what we were up against."
Hiccup nodded his head, then looked at Toothless. "We aren't going to let him finish his mission, Bud."
Suddenly, the Berkian's eyes started to widen. A smile crossed his face.
"Woah," Tuffnut said, "you look really hopeful for somebody who just found the Night Fury exterminator. What did we miss?"
"Something Grimmel said…he said that Toothless isn't going to be his last kill."
"How does that make sense?" Snotlout asked. His eyes started to widen as well. "Unless…"
"Unless Toothless isn't the last Night Fury!" Fishlegs exclaimed, squealing in delight. "That would be amazing!"
The twins went over to the dragon.
"We'll finally get to see if they all look this cute or if you're just a fluke," Tuffnut said.
Hiccup chuckled and could not keep the grin off his face even in spite of the situation.
"He might not have meant to, but he just gave us what we needed. If we can find the other Night Furies, we can keep them safe."
"So, is that going to be our plan?" Astrid asked. "Find the Night Furies, then fight with them to stop Grimmel?" Her eyes sparkled with fierceness. "He won't be able to win against all of us, especially not after the Furies are led by their new king."
Toothless beamed proudly and let out a happy noise. Hiccup smiled as well and nodded.
"Right. We'll prepare some supplies, then set out in the morning. Eret, can you stay here to keep Berk safe in case Grimmel returns?"
The former Trapper nodded his head. "Gobber and I will take care of matters until you all return."
A grateful smile came to the friends' faces.
"I knew the Night Furies couldn't be gone and Grimmel just proved that," Hiccup said. "Wherever they are, we'll find them."
The leaders began gathering items they would take and preparing for their voyage. As they did, the day made way to night. On Wing Maiden Island, the Vikings were resting with their baby Razorwhips nearby. They slept so soundly that the strong smell of chamomile did not awaken them. If anything, it added to the relaxation that they felt. The aroma blew in the wind, covering the entire island as normal rest became deeper slumber. A large pot was filled with the flowers and they were boiled until the emitted smells were pungent. These even affected the Razorwhips. None of the mothers were able to stop Grimmel from entering the island. He boldly strode over the land, stopping at the first hut he found. The Viking entered and spotted a baby dragon. It was so fatigued, but it began to stir because of the sound of footsteps. Lethargically, it raised its head to roar, then stopped. It was grabbed. Grimmel found the thin creature's neck easy to snap. It let out a soft cry before it went silent. Then the man turned his attention to the sleeping warrior. Slitting her throat was also a simple matter for him.
Grimmel went to several more homes to repeat this process, selecting which he would venture into. His attention moved to the largest hut. That had to be their leader's. With a smirk, he entered and set something down on the base of Atali's bed. The Viking turned away and began leaving the island. Soon, the tranquilizing effects would wear off. Therefore, he returned to his ship and began to sail away. He had gotten far from the island by the time the Vikings awoke. Atali heard some cries outside. Feeling surprisingly sluggish, she began to sit upright. Atali's eyes widened when her attention moved to the bottom of the bed. She saw a baby Razorwhip's broken body. Its blood soaked through the sheets. Sadness and anger filled the warrior and she quickly exited the hut to see what had become of her home. At this same time, the Riders were preparing to go on their voyage. They loaded up the saddles, feeling equally nervous and eager.
"This has to work, Meatlug," Fishlegs commented, petting the Gronckle. "We can't let Toothless or the other Night Furies get hurt anymore."
The Gronckle gave him an encouraging roar and the Berkian grinned in response. He knew that their group could be successful and they had the determination to find those hiding reptiles.
"Is everyone ready to head out?" Hiccup asked, looking out at the group.
"Ready!" came the response.
Taking a breath, he hopped onto Toothless's saddle. They were about to begin their flight when the sunrise became difficult to see. Dragons were covering the sky. It was challenging to tell what they were doing, but gradually, the Berkians saw that they were keeping a dragon in between them. It was like they were forcing it to fly. In fact, they were carrying it despite its struggles. Hiccup's eyes widened as he recognized the creature. The reptiles got closer, putting the reptile and its rider on Berk. A tense silence followed as both stood, eyeing the group unsurely.
"Mom?" Hiccup said, noticing a proud look on Toothless's face.
He could not focus on that for long because he saw another dragon which cast a shadow over the ground. The Berkians looked up again. This time, they were really sure that their eyes were deceiving them. A sleek dragon with scales black as night and intelligent eyes hovered above them. Its gaze locked onto Toothless and the twins' jaws nearly dropped to the floor. They could barely form words but managed.
"Another Night Fury!"