Chapter 108

Hiccups POV:

It's been three weeks since I met Yvla and spent the day looking after her and, in that time, a whole lot of things have happened since then. For starters the eggs of Ikan and Akna had finally hatched after waiting so long to see three perfectly healthy and adorable chicks but until they were older I wouldn't know what gender they are until they were older and until then I couldn't name them but I often visited them using a ladder to get to their nest. Of course, the new hatchlings weren't the only new additions to the family though as I'd gone back to check on my wolves to find each of them had found themselves mates but hadn't had pups yet. Little Snowbell had mated with a black furred wolf with a white streak across his back that I had named Bolt, Rascal had mated with a pure grey wolf who with a black patch of fur on her forehead that looked like a crescent moon earning her the name Luna, Frost had taken a brown furred wolf with white underbelly I'd named Freya, Hazel had taken a strong white faced and bellied wolf with black back and paws I'd named Scar because of a nasty scar on his left hind leg and Shade had taken a white wolf with sprinkling of grey spots on her body so I'd named her Blizzard. They all now roamed the forest section of my island with my original wolves along with Maelstrom and Adal but I could tell the new wolves were still getting used to their new home and me. I still released wild boars into the forest for them to hunt down except instead of releasing two boars I now had to release four boars for them to hunt. On another note my jaguar cubs have reached the point of their age where they were half the size of their mother and uncle allowing them to explore the world around them alone. Other than that, things have been pretty quiet for me on my island.

As for the aftermath of the event, there were a whole lot of punishments handed out to nearly every teen who partook in the event. Snotlout had been forced to clean out every yak stall in the village and polish every pot in the great hall for abusing his command over Gustav and then taking credit for all his hard work. He wasn't the only one being punished as the twins were had been forced to do all of Gobbers laundry and tend to the yaks every day. They weren't the only ones though since a few other teens were also facing different punishments around the entire village for what I discovered was abusing the event by using the children they picked as either servants or scapegoats. It was this that reminded my father as to why the event was canceled in the first place as he got way too many complaints from both teachers and parents who weren't happy with how the children were treated by the older generation. From what I heard around the village, Yvla is the only child who actually enjoyed the event and that was because I treated her like I would a younger sibling instead of just some kid I was saddled with.

Sadly, it was because of this that I spent more time in the village looking out for her, as some of the other children were jealous that not only did she have a great day but also got to spend the day with me on my island along with a trip to the bazaar. It was from this I learned that children weren't allowed to go to the bazaar without a parent who often got so swept up in the new stuff to notice that there were things their children wanted to see but couldn't due to the large crowds and their parents never letting go of their hands. Along with this apparently the children had always been talking about what it must be like on my island and what it's like on my island since I first got it and now Yvla had gotten to see it all. They considered it unfair since they thought of her as the runt who didn't deserve to be the first one to see what they'd all wanted to see for months. The only child who didn't pick on her was Jamie Hofferson who had done his best to be her friend and I liked him for that. I had spoken with the parents of the bullying children but they had just said the kids were just being kids so in other words they weren't going to do anything.

That was all going to change tonight since earlier today I found some of the kids holding Yvla and Jamie against one of the huts with one of them I recognized as a boy named Lars getting ready to punch them. I stopped him and escorted all those who were helping him straight to their parents to talk but all their parents said was they were just playing and I should leave them to their games. When he said that my blood boiled since it was the exact same thing the Jorgensons and Thorstons said to Gobber when he complained about Snotlout and the twins bullying me. After that I got a major beat down from all three of them that resulted in multiple bruises, a black eye, a bloody nose and a broken arm while they just laughed and walked away with a slap on the wrist.

Tonight, I was going to make sure those parents knew how little Yvla and Jamie felt when they were being picked on by the other kids which brings us to where I am now and that's making my way up to the great hall with ten of my Anubis warriors walking behind me and Toothless at my side with Jamie and Yvla riding on his back. When we reached the doors I pushed the doors open and made my way in with my Anubis warriors and Toothless with the kids. We walked to the front of the great hall where my dad was having dinner with Gobber, Bucket, Mulch, Mr. Thorston and Spitelout and as we walked by the people all stopped eating as they took notice of us. It was then my father noticed my group and I before he stood up asking.

"Hiccup, what is goi- "I held up my hand silencing him before I turned to Gobber and said.

"Gobber tell me does the sentence 'they were just playing and I should leave them to their games' sound familiar to you?" He looked thoughtful for a moment before snapping his fingers and saying.

"Oh, yeah Spitelout and the Thorstons said that to me after I caught Snotlout and the twins bullying you when you were still a wee lad." I smiled.

"Good to see you remember Gobber because I heard those exact same words from the parents of a group of bullies who I caught holding young Yval and Jamie against a hut while a young boy got ready to beat them." It was then a group I recognized as the fathers of those children with a man I recognized as Lars's father walked up to me as he said.

"I told you they were only playing." I turned to him with a smile.

"Oh, I know that but do you think Yval and Jamie enjoyed it?" Before he could reply I signaled my Anubis warriors to begin the plan and they each quickly grabbed the men by their arms and pinned each of them to the wall making everyone gasp as I walked up to Lar's father who now looked afraid making me smile. "Oh, calm down my dear fellow after all- "I raised my fist on my real arm. "It's only playing!" I then delivered a good solid punch into his gut knocking the air out of him but when I pulled my fist back to deliver another punch a hand grabbed it stopping it and when I turned I saw it belonged to my father who was looking down at me with confusion and anger in his eyes as he asked.

"Hiccup, what in Thor's name do you think you're doing." I just smiled at him.

"Playing!"

"Hiccup this isn't playing this is assault!" I cocked my eyebrow.

"Really because I've been told this is all just a children's game."

"What psychopath calls this a children's game?" I pointed to the guy who was having trouble catching his breath.

"Him along with the other parents of a few kids, Spitelout, the Thorstons and you."

"When did I call this a game?" I shrugged.

"When I was a kid and told you about how they were treating me including when the twins held me against the wall while Snotlout beat me." He looked down at this and sighed.

"Hiccup I'm sorry I allowed that to happen to you but this kind of thing needs to be dealt with by the parents."

"I know that dad but they refused to do anything about it so I decided to give them a taste of what it's like for the ones being forced to play those games." It was then the guy who was pinned to the wall spoke.

"Um excuse me but could you possibly have your warriors let us go while you two chat." I turned back to him to see the others nodding agreeing with him.

"Oh, but we're not done playing." I then delivered another punch to his gut before my dad said.

"Hiccup as your chief I order you to have your beasts let those men go." I turned to glare at him.

"Let's get few things straightened out and maybe they'll actually penetrate that large empty shell you call a skull." He looked like he was about to reply but before he could I continued. "I have my own island, I have my own house and I left this village because of parents like them who let their kids get away with abusing those weaker than them who then grew up to Snotlout and the twins." I took a breath. "And then there's you, the father who couldn't be bothered to do something about it since he'd rather sail off to search for the dragon's nest to face possible death over taking five minutes to actually be a good father and stand up for his son." I took another breath as I turned to the fathers. "Let's get something, straight shall we?" Before they could reply I continued. "Your kids need to be disciplined for hurting others or they're going to grow up to be like Snotlout and the twins who think it's alright to hurt others and destroy others property while blaming it all on others for fun because their parents allowed it to happen." Lars's father looked down as did the others before he sighed and looked up at me as he said.

"You're right Hiccup, we shouldn't have allowed this to go so far and rest assured in the future we will be disciplining our children and making sure the bullying stops."

"Good because if I find out you're doing nothing about it then I'll be the one disciplining you with the help of my wolves." I saw him gulp at this before I signaled my Anubis warriors to let him and the others go.

"In fact, we'll start now with a month-long grounding for each of the children." I smiled and nodded.

"That sounds suitable." They then walked away as I turned to face Yvlan and Jamie who were still sitting on Toothless. "The parents now know not to let their kids bully you so if they pick on you again go and tell them, if they don't do anything about it find me and if you can't find me then get Gobber, he knows how to contact me."

They both nodded as I helped them off Toothless while they both thanked me for my help before going to find their parents. With that I made my way out of the great hall with my Anubis warriors and Toothless following behind me but when I was halfway down the stairs I heard someone running behind me while calling my name. I turned to see my father running towards me but my Anubis warriors cut him off while holding their axes at the ready and snarling but I raised my hand signaling them to stand aside but keep their guard up. I looked at my father as he approached me with Gobber at his side as I asked.

"What is it?"

"I want to talk about what just happened in the great hall."

"If you have complaints about how I dealt with those men then keep them to yourself since it was you who refused to do your job meaning I had to do it."

"Refused to do my job?"

"A chief protects his own but like with me you couldn't be bothered to protect the runts from the stronger people."

"I protected you when you were young." I snorted at this.

"Please, Gobber was the one who protected me when the others would bully me since you could only be bothered enough to tell me to man up and walk away." He sighed.

"Hiccup I get it, I was a lousy father but I was also and still am the chief of this village."

"And as a chief you have a duty to protect the village and its inhabitants but you never once defended your son and heir from the torment he suffered."

"Listen Hiccup I get it but I didn't know how to deal with you back then since you were so different and I thought we'd put all that stuff behind us."

"That was when I thought you and the village had learned from the past mistakes about bullies but I now see that I was wrong."

"Wrong?"

"I thought you all would know bullying when you saw it now and would put an end to it but once again I find that your people still just turn a blind eye to it."

"Okay Hiccup I understand you hate bullies but wouldn't this have been easier if you just talked to the parents about it calmly and then let them handle it instead of having your beast pin them to the wall as you beat them."

"Gobber tried the sit down and talk when I was a kid and all that happened was it got me a bad beating resulting in my arm being broken so I figured the only way they'd understand that what their kids were doing wasn't a game was for them to experience it themselves." Gobber then said.

"Still don't you think you went a little too far lad."

"Gobber if there's one thing I know about Viking parents it's that in order to get the fact that what their children are doing to others is wrong into their heads you have to smash it in there with a hammer."

"Who told you that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You did!"

"Oh, right!" It was then my dad said.

"Alright Hiccup I get why you did what you did and to be honest with you I actually appreciate it."

"You do?" He nodded.

"I do since the last thing we need is another Snotlout and Thorston twins running around in the future." Gobber then said.

"Don't think Berk could survive that Stoick." He nodded in agreement before he turned back to me.

"I'll keep an eye on things with the younger children in the future and make sure the bullying comes to a stop." Gobber then said.

"And after your little show in the great hall I'm sure parents aren't going to be chalking it up to just children playing from now on." I nodded.

"Good because in three days me and Toothless are going on another exploration for new dragons and I'd like to be able to do so without needing to worry about Yvlan and Jamie."

"You really do care about those two don't you lad?" I shrugged.

"What can I say other than I see myself in them."

"Does this mean you might be taking on one of them as your own apprentice?"

"Who knows?" I then turned around. "Now if that's all I've got to get home to get to bed." I began to walk away only to be stopped by a hand landing on my shoulder and turned to see my dad with a sad look in his eyes.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For never being there for you, always putting my chiefly duties before my fatherly duties, passing off the bullying as playing, always ignoring your cries for help, always taking the other teens side over yours, all the times I ignored you and every other way I failed you as a father and I'm sorry I still think I can tell you what to do when you've got your own home with your own life to live."

"Remember that in the future and also remember that as a chief it's your duty to protect all members of the tribe including the younger generation who are being bullied." He sighed and nodded. "Good, because if I find out those kids are being let off with warnings for assault then I'll not only deal with the kids but their parents as well." I punched my prosthetic fist into my hand at the end making him understand what I meant and by the looks in their eyes they understood. "Now that that's out of the way I've got to get home get some more work done." They nodded as I mounted Toothless while having my Anubis warriors return to their sand forms and we took off.

4 days later

It's been five days since I spoke with the parents of Berk and showed them what their children wasn't play but assault and let them know that if they didn't do something then I would. Since that day I knew my message had gotten through to them since when I walked by the parents would try to avoid making eye contact with me while some would do anything to avoid me which was proven when one of them literally jumped through the window of a random hut when he saw me coming. Sadly a woman was taking a bath in that same room and judging from the sound of a splash followed by a scream he landed in the tub. This was proven when the guy ran out of the hut, soaking wet while screaming how sorry he was followed by a few things being thrown at him. The memory of this event is something that always brings up a small chuckle at how funny it was for me and I knew more than a few others found it funny as well. As for the kids who bullied Yvlan and Jamie, I am happy to say that they were finally being punished for their bullying. These punishments were mainly not being allowed outside to play, not allowed to see visiting traders and kept busy with chores that nobody enjoyed. My favorite sight besides the guy jumping through the window was the sight of those bullies being forced to clean out the yak stables under the supervision of one of the fathers who at the sight of me jumped into the dung pile. The sight of this truly put my mind at ease knowing that there was no chance of them getting away with bullying Yvlan and Jamie. This meant I was able to travel on another dragon recruitment trip without worrying about the other kids hurting them while I wasn't there to protect them.

All of this leads to where I am now which is on my ship the golden fury once more with Toothless at my side as I willed my ship forward towards a few islands I'd yet to visit. I had my god made weapons on me since I wanted to be ready if I ran into trouble, my calming flute with me in order to calm down any angry dragons so I could train them, my merrow cap incase I had to go after some tidal classes in the water and my dragon eye to read any lenses I might stumble upon. I'd left yesterday and made my way to Breakneck bog to pay the smothering smokebreaths a visit and I could tell by the way they swarmed me that they were happy to see me. I admit it's always nice to see them since when they're not ripping a ship to shreds for the metal they're actually rather playful and they didn't mind me taking any treasures they had. It was because of this my ships storage hold now had four bejeweled chests full of gold coins and jewels strapped to the floor, two large golden statues also strapped to the floor, five small statues of Viking men, two golden ship sculptures on the shelves, ten golden plates with golden goblets and a golden bejeweled bludgeon. Aside from the treasures I also found a bejeweled chest with a few good books for my library and knew they'd make fine additions to my collection.

It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by the sight of an island coming up and smiled before using my eagle eye to get a better look at the island and saw it to be your typical island with beaches surrounding it and a forest behind it and a snowcapped mountain in what looked to be the middle of it. I smiled at the sight of an island I'd yet to explore where I'd hopefully discover a new species of dragon to train and study. I turned to Toothless who was looking over the railing at the new island and said.

"Well bud, think we'll find any new dragons on this island since according to the dragon eye there were still a few dragons we've yet to find." He just growled and shook his head. "Love the enthusiasm bud, we'll start exploring the island as soon as we dock and have the ship back in my arm." He just crooned and nodded.

One hour later

This island seemed pretty normal except for the strangest thing that I found was all the dragonberry bushes I came across were squished as if something had been rolling on them. This was surprising since the dragon berry bushes were covered in green thorny vines and along with that the purple berries were poisonous. I admit the berries weren't lethal but the their juices wreaked havoc on the digestive system on both humans and dragons making for a long and painful time in the outhouse. I know this because I'd used them to prank Snotlout and the twins when I was younger which got me a day of freedom from their bullying and everyone just chalked it up to food poisoning. I chuckled at the memory as I looked around the clearing Toothless and I were standing in making Toothless turn to see what I was chuckling at. I looked at him smiling as I said.

"Just one of the few happy memories of my childhood involving dragonberry bushes." He just crooned but quickly got into his battle position and began growling towards the sky making me worry. "What is it bud?"

He just growled as a dragon with bright yellow and pale blue scales came flying into the clearing making Toothless but surprisingly the dragon just ignored us and made a beeline for one of the dragonberry bushes in the clearing. When it reached the bush it hopped right onto it and began rolling around in it as if its life depended on it. Toothless and I stood there watching the dragon confused as it kept rubbing the juices of the dragonberry's onto its body covering its scales in the purple juices. When it stopped rolling around in the bushes it stood up while turning its long neck towards its wings trying to scratch its wings where they met the body. I used my eagle eye to get a closer look at the part it was trying to scratch and saw it had light pink patches on it showing me that the dragon was trying to scratch a rash it had. I could tell that this rash was causing the dragon immense discomfort and it was trying to scratch it to stop the itching.

I figured if I was able to help it with the rash I might have an easier time training it so I signaled Toothless to keep his guard up but not to act until I gave him the signal to jump in. When I got within ten feet of the dragon it took notice of me and immediately began to growl while glaring at me before it lit the fire in its mouth making me stop. I saw the mistrust in its eyes but behind that mistrust I saw immense discomfort, no doubt because of the rash but fortunately I knew a way to calm it and show I was a friend or at least not a threat. Without hesitation I released my wings making the dragon jump back in shock as it stared at my wings before I held my prosthetic arm up while channeling a red crystal igniting my arm below my elbow making the dragon raise its head in surprise. I moved my flaming arm around a bit making the flames dance while the dragon moved its neck to follow the flames as they danced as the wind moved them as if they were dancing. I slowly walked towards it as I lowered my arm while saying.

"See now, we're not so different?" It just tilted its head as I folded my wings onto my back but kept them out. "Now I'd just like to help you with that rash on your back." It just crooned while rubbing its foot in the squashed berries and pushing it towards me. "You want me to use the berry juice on the rash." It growled as I kneeled down and picked up a large glob of the berry juice in my prosthetic hand as the dragon lowered its body and spread its wings giving me easier access to where the rash was. "I'll take that as a yes."

I mounted its back and gently applied the juices to the rash earning purrs of pleasure from the dragon while Toothless slowly walked forward earning a growl from the dragon as its body slowly began to secrete some sort of liquid making me jump off before it could touch me. The reason for this was I didn't know what that stuff was and the last thing I wanted as to find out what this stuff did by experiencing it myself without knowing if it was lethal. I watched as Toothless stood his ground in front of the dragon but didn't take another step before I noticed red rash patches appear on the dragons scale meaning whatever that stuff was it was allergic. It was then my mind flashed back to a stoker class species of dragon I'd read about from one of the dragon eye lenses and then I realized what species of dragon this was. This dragon was a threadtail dragon which were known to be able to release poison from any part of their bodies but were surprisingly allergic to the poison they release which is why they spend so much time in dragonberry bushes using the juice to sooth the rashes that form as a reaction. The poisons affect wasn't lethal to humans but it could make the victim break out into itchy rashes like that of the dragons that supplied the poison. I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of the Toothless and the threadtail begin to circle each other but I could tell the threadtail was doing its best not to scratch. Knowing this was a sign that they were getting ready to fight each other so I took my calming flute out of my satchel and began playing a song to calm them both down. The second the music began to flow they both began to calm down but I didn't stop playing until they were both completely calmed before I lowered the flute from my lips and put it back in my satchel as I looked at the two dragons and said.

"Alright, now that you two have calmed let's stay that way since the last thing I want is a fight here." They both bowed their heads understanding what I meant. "Good, now let's get that rash taken care of." The threadtail crooned hearing this as I lead what I now saw was a male over to the dragonberry bush.

Four hours later

It's been four hours since me and Toothless met the threadtail who I'd named 'Itchy' since he was constantly scratching even after I helped rub the crushed dragonberry's into his scales to take care of the rashes. After the first time I rubbed the juices into his rashes he was pretty much trained and refused to leave my side but I think it just might be because he likes how it feels when I rub the juices in. Now my ships storage hold had plenty of jars filled with the crushed berries and Itchy was sitting down on the deck while watching the waves go by while enjoying the wind caress his scales. I was up front with Toothless next to me as the sight of the island known as Eternitree came into view making me smile at the sight. The reason is nobody goes near these woods due to disappearances when people go into the forest. Most people claimed the woods were sacred to Odin and anyone dared disrespect them would be taken by the Valkyries to be punished, some said it was pirates who used the dense woods to ambush unsuspecting travelers but I figured there was something else behind it. The reason I felt this way was because people used to think it was a fog monster or pirates that caused all the trouble at breakneck bog but it turned out to be nothing more than smothering smokebreaths gathering metal for their nest and I had the feeling something similar was happening here and I was determined to find out. I called Itchy over before I looked at him and Toothless as I said.

"Alright guys, let's solve the mystery of what goes on in the forest of Eternitree." They both growled and nodded as my ship drew closer to the island.

One hour later

We were deep in the forest and so far we hadn't found anything strange other than a ton of trees and multiple forms of normal plant life you'd find in a forest but besides that nothing. I was beginning to think this was a large waist of time and the rumors about people disappearing was just rumors. It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of Toothless and Itchy growling at something. I turned to see what they were growling only to see a pink sapling sticking out of the ground but by the way they were looking at it I assumed it was not something to go near. I had an idea of what it might be from a dragon eye lens and decided to test it so I reached into Toothless' saddlebag before pulling out a salmon I was saving for lunch.

I tossed the salmon at the sapling making it land straight on top of it before the ground burst open as a dragon quickly devoured the salmon before turning its tiny eyes towards us in a glare and I immediately recognized the sandy yellow and pale brown striped dragon as a mystery class known as the sweetdeath. It glared at me and then spat some of its acid at me but I held up my eagle shield blocking it before the acid fizzled out of existence on my shield. I saw the sweetdeath tilted its head in confusion but that glare quickly turned into a glare as I signaled Toothless and Itchy to circle around it to make sure it doesn't try to run away. Toothless and Itchy both slowly walked onto either side behind the sweetdeath that began looking around at us in what I recognized as a battle ready position. I took my calming flute out and began to play in order to get this sweetdeath to calm down so I could hopefully help it understand I wasn't a threat. The music soothed it as I watched it got out of its battle stance before I pulled my flute away from my lips and slowly made my way towards it but it growled at me until I raised my prosthetic arm and ignited it. The dragon growled in fascination as I moved my arm around and watched as the dragon's head followed it while I slowly walked towards it. When I was close enough I held out my prosthetic hand as I extinguished it and turned away before I felt my prosthetic gently pushed back. I turned and smiled at the sight of the sweetdeath pressing its muzzle against my prosthetic hand. I looked at the sweetdeath before slowly moving my hand to the top of its head and then giving it a gentle scratch making it croon in pleasure as I said.

"See now, we just wants you to join our group as a friend." It crooned as I moved my other hand below its head and began scratching making the once vicious dragon turn into a puddle of crooning goo. "Now why don't you introduce yourself to Toothless and Itchy?" It pulled away from my touch and turned to my dragons while growling in greeting while they did the same before I walked up and asked. "I'm guessing your kind are the ones causing the disappearances." The dragon I now saw was a he shook his head and began taking off and hovered above us while looking down at us obviously waiting for us so I mounted Toothless. "Let's see what our new friend wants to show us." He nodded and we took off.

Ten minutes later

We came to land in front of a cave where there were multiple broken weapons and discarded pieces of Viking armor which explained what happened to those who came to the island. I slowly dismounted Toothless looking around as the sweetdeath landed in front of me and growled while pointing towards the cave with his head but Toothless and Itchy growled towards the cave. I just walked in front of them and held up my hands as I said.

"Don't worry boys, I'll keep my guard up in that cave but I feel we can trust the sweetdeath."

They just growled and nodded as I followed the sweetdeath into the cave with both Toothless and Itchy at my sides. When we entered I didn't see anything of interest since it looked like a typical cave but as we walked deeper into the cave we slowly made our way to the back where much to my shock there were multiple large piles of gold coins, statues and jewels but it was the item on the top of one of these piles that caught my attention above all else. Sitting there on top of a pile of gold coins was a single dragon eye lens making me smile as I turned to the sweetdeath that had picked up a single small gold Viking statue and brought it to me before offering it to me. I took the statue before the sweetdeath walked back to the pile and picked up another statue of a boat this time and offered to me. I took it and asked.

"Are you saying I can have all these treasure?" The sweetdeath nodded making me smile at the thought of what information I could find on the new dragon eye but first I had to get all these treasures to my ship.

1 hour later

The treasures from the cave were all now safely stored in the ships hold where it will remain until I get home and could put it in the vault where it belongs. As for the sweetdeath, it followed me to my ship where I gave it a barrel of fish to thank it for the treasures and after that it didn't want to leave me so I named it Sweet-tooth and he was now napping down in the dragons nesting area along with Itchy. Toothless and I were in my bedroom testing out the new dragon eye lens to see what information it held and would show us. I looked down at the dragon eye in the palm of my hand with the new lens loaded in before I turned to Toothless and said.

"Give us a low burn bud so we can see what new knowledge this lens holds." He opened up his maw letting the light from a slow burn shine through the dragon eye revealing new information that was going to take me a while to decipher.

Next day

I'd woken up this morning from a comfortable sleep in my ships bed with a new determination thanks to the new knowledge I had gotten from the new lens. The lens spoke of an island that was home to a gecko like species of dragon known as flame whippers. They got their name because of their long tongues that they are able to use like a whip to lash their flames at their victims or prey. Along with this they also have the ability to separate the lower parts of their tails that were filled with a paralyzing poison and would grow back within a week. The tails would then still wiggle around luring predators to them who would then eat them and fall victim to the paralyzing poison and become easy prey for the waiting dragon. I knew if I was able to train one of those dragons then I'd be able to use their tales to have an easier time hunting boars and capturing them alive along with other possibilities but firs I needed to find the dragon.

This brings us to where I am now which is on an island where the flame whippers were said to inhabit with my dragons at my sides. Now we were walking through the woods with our guard up incase we ran into any form of trouble since flame whippers are said to be rather territorial. It was then we were stopped from walking forward by what looked like flaming whip cracking down in front of us before being pulled back. I looked up to see a yellow and blue dragon glaring down at us as it stuck to a tree until the Sweet-tooth ran up to the base of the tree and let out a roar followed by a few growls. This new dragon that resembled a giant gecko with wings slowly crawled down the tree with its glare never leaving my dragons and I. Sweet-tooth walked up to it and began growling while using its head to gesture towards me or to be more precise my right side that had my prosthetic. The dragon glared at me but I knew what Sweet-tooth wanted me to do so I held up my prosthetic before igniting it like I did before and repeated the process I did with the Sweet-tooth calming the new dragon and getting close enough to train it. When my hand was placed on its muzzle I smiled and gave it a gentle scratch on the head making it growl in pleasure as I said.

"See big guy, we're not here to cause any trouble." It just growled and enjoyed me scratching it while leaning into me wanting to be scratched some more which I was happy to oblige.

Four hours later

It's been four hours since we met the flame whipper and in that time not much has happened other than all the dragons beginning to pester me for some attention so I had to do some serious scratching for each f them. Other than that we'd explored a bit only to meet a few more flame whippers but with the first one we met following us they didn't do anything more than tilt their heads in curiosity as they watched us walk by. After that we got back on my ship to leave except the flame whipper from before decided to join us and now had the name Whiplash because of how he used his tongue like a flaming whip. Along with that we'd also sailed again and come to dock on an island, which is known for its marshes and how many a Viking had met their end in these marshes which is where we are now except me and my dragons were flying above the marshes. The reason for us being here is besides the various treasures that might be found trapped in the marsh I heard tails of dragons that were said to occasionally pull travelers from the marsh when they were stuck. So far we'd pulled out four wagons that were still in decent condition and still had their cargo that I was going to go through later. I looked down at the marsh as we flew by before turning back to my dragons a said.

"Alright guys let's take a break from exploring." They all growled and nodded before we looked for a place to land and saw some large boulders sticking out of the marsh by a dead tree. "We can land on those rocks and rest there for now."

They each growled before we all came to land on the boulders with Itchy landing on one of the dead trees branches. I dismounted Toothless and looked around at the marshland and had to say it was a rather beautiful landscape to admire and hard to believe it could cause so much trouble for travellers. I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of wood breaking and turned to see the branch Itchy had been sitting on had broken sending poor Itchy falling down into the mud. I ran up to check on him as he flew out of the marsh and landed on the boulder as I ran up and asked.

"Are you alright Itchy?" He placed his left leg down and let out a short roar before falling on his right side. "What's wrong pal?" He just roared and used his head to gesture to his left leg which I saw now had a big scratch on it. "Don't worry pal, we have some stuff back on the ship that can help."

Before I could mount Toothless a roar from above got my attention and I looked up to see a dragon with green scales that had brown speckling all over its body and wings and had four horns. It landed next to Itchy who stared up at the dragon wondering what it wanted but I couldn't sense any form of hostility coming from the dragon, despite this though I stood ready to hop in to protect my friend and I could tell my other dragons were ready to do the same. The dragon looked down at the wound while tilting its head before it lowered its head down towards it and let out a purple mist onto the scratch. Itchy gave a whine of pain that turned into a growl of relief surprisingly as the dragon stopped releasing the mist onto the wound that had surprisingly sealed up. It was then I realized this dragon was none other than a prickleboggle, the very dragon I'd come looking for knowing it's healing icy breath would come in handy so I slowly approached it as Itchy slowly stood up. That's when the prickleboggle took notice of me and let out a startled roar but Itchy turned to him and gave a gentle growl calming the dragon as I slowly walked towards it while quietly saying.

"Easy there big guy, I just want to thank you for helping Itchy." It tilted its head, as I got closer. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm a friend to dragons." It slowly walked up to me while never letting its eyes move from me making me smile a little. "See now, I'm not so bad." It just growled as I held my hand out and turned my head before I felt the all too familiar feeling of a dragon's muzzle being pressed against my hand before I turned to smile at the prickleboggle. "There now see?" I then gave it a gentle scratch making it croon in pleasure. "I don't suppose you know where we can find some old wagons with their cargo still intact do you?" It just pulled its head back and began hovering before I mounted Toothless and we took off.

5 hours later

It's been five hours since I met and trained the male prickleboggle that I had given the name Frostburn because his frosty breath could heal but it could also cause a lot of burning pain and in that time a lot has happened. Frostburn took both my dragons and I on a grand tour of the marshlands that he called home and was all too happy to show us where some old wagons that still had their cargo intact were. I had spent a good few hours flying in and out of the marshes collecting multiple barrels, chests, statues and the occasional wagon that was still in good condition. I'd also spent my time getting to know Frostburn and learnt he was a gentle dragon who didn't like to fight that much and preferred to stand back and help those in need and in return those they helped became rather loyal to their healer. This was proven when Itchy stuck to Frostburns side through the gathering of wagons and their cargo. Now my storage room was partly full with a lot of different items that were mostly treasures like gold and jewels but occasionally there were books and maps to be found in some of the crates.

Now we were docked on an island known as Overcast Island because for some reason the weather is more often than not overcast but despite the lack of sunlight the plants thrived on it forming large grassy meadows. I figured that we might find some dragons roaming the wide-open fields. This brings us to where I am now which is flying on Toothless with my other dragons at my sides enjoying the peace the island had to offer. It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of a roar of pain coming from the field below. I looked down to see a dragon I recognized as Thunderclaw running through the fields but what was strange was this one was alone since they normally travelled in groups. It was then I noticed there was something on its leg and when I used my eagle eye I saw it was stuck in a dragon snapper trap. I immediately turned to my dragons and said.

"We've got to stop that dragon before the wound on its leg gets any worse with that trap on its leg." They each growled and nodded before we all swooped down cutting it off and surrounding it making it stop and look around in panic as I dismounted Toothless while holding my arms out. "Easy there, we're not going to hurt you."

The dragon glared at me before letting out a roar followed by releasing a stream of green fire at me but I held up my eagle shield blocking the fire before it stopped as my dragons growled at it. I lowered my shield and signaled my dragons to calm down but their glares never left the thunderclaw, which continued to glare at me as I pulled out my calming flute. I then began playing a soothing song and the effects were almost instant as all my dragons and the thunderclaw stopped glaring and began swaying their heads to the tune. When I stopped playing I could see the thunderclaw still didn't trust me. I released my wings making the thunderclaw step back in shock only to screech in pain when it stepped on the leg that was stuck in the trap. I folded my wings back into my back and raised my arm once more before igniting it making the thunderclaw growl in confusion as I slowly walked towards it. When I was close enough I held my prosthetic hand out and turned away before waiting a few seconds until I felt a muzzle press against my prosthetic hand. I smiled and turned my head to see the thunderclaw pulling away from me and saw it wasn't as mistrusting of me now as before so I decided to take care of that trap on its leg so I said.

"Alright now, let's take care of that trap on your leg." I could see the fear in its eyes so I gave its muzzle a gentle rub. "Don't worry It'll be fine but I can't deny when it first comes off it's going to hurt." It growled but lowered its head making me smile. "Let's get that nasty thing off." I walked over to its side where the trap was while taking note that this thunderclaw was a female with light blue scales and white underbelly before looking at the trap and wincing at the sight. "Nasty piece of work this and its teeth are lodged pretty deep into your leg and might leave some scars but other than that no signs of infection." I looked back up at her head smiling. "You're going to be just fine." I then turned back to the trap and placed my hands between the teeth. "Brace yourself for the pain girl." She growled and nodded while closing her eyes before I pulled the trap open making the thunderclaw roar in pain and pull its leg up which fortunately is what I wanted as it got it out of the trap that I pulled away before turning to Frostburn. "Alright Frostburn come here and help with the wound." He growled and nodded before running up and began spraying his ice on the wound as I walked up to the front of the thunderclaw and began gently rubbing its muzzle. "Don't worry, Frostburn's ice will help the wound heal faster."

She just growled and nodded while I looked down at the snapper trap that was now in my hands and noticed something odd about it. This trap wasn't old and rusty but looked to be brand new and it was clear that the trap was set up recently meaning someone was trying to hunt dragons here recently. I turned back to face the thunderclaw and asked.

"Do you think you can take me to where this thing came from girl?" She growled and looked down with fear and sadness in her eyes meaning something bad had happened when she got this trap on her leg. "Don't worry girl, I promise you that nothing bad will happen to you with my dragons and me around." She just growled and nodded before she began walking away with us following her.

Half an hour later

We've been travelling with the thunder claw for half an hour now and in that time, I'd grown angrier as we had also stumbled upon six other snapper traps that could hurt any roaming dragons. I used my scimitar throwing knives to disarm them since I didn't want to risk letting alerting the ones who set them up to our presence with the sound of any of my dragons' blasts. The traps were now slung over my shoulder since I didn't want to risk any dragons accidentally messing with them and wanted to return the traps to their rightful owners with a warning about hunting dragons when I'm around. It was then I heard yelling from over the hill and from the sounds of things it wasn't good so I ran to see what it was with my dragons running right behind me. When we got to the top I signaled my dragons to stay low since I didn't want to risk them being spotted while I looked down at the camp below using my eagle eye to get a better look and I was not happy with what I saw. There were ten men with the leader wearing a polar bear pelt with the upper part of its head resting on top of his head. I looked down and saw he was yelling into a cage full of thunderclaws that the thunderclaw we were with was looking at longingly showing that they were her flock. I gave her a pat on the muzzle and said.

"Don't worry girl, I'll free your flock soon and make sure those men pay for what they've done." She growled and nodded as I turned to my dragons. "Don't interfere unless I signal you to since the last thing we want is for those men to add you to their captures." They all growled and nodded. "Good and don't worry about me." I released my khopesh blade and held it up. "I've faced worse threats than these men." I then turned back to the men down below. "They don't stand a chance."

I then slowly made my way down towards the men with my khopesh in hand determined to free the dragons and capture the men who were caging them. I slowly walked towards the group and when I was fifteen feet away from them they still hadn't noticed me. I smiled at this as I stabbed my khopesh into the ground turning it into quicksand but I made sure to only stab the tip in a little so when the men came up they'd sink so slowly they wouldn't notice until it was too late. It was then one of the men wearing a hood took notice of me and pointed me out to the other men. Their leader walked to the front and asked.

"And what are you doing here lad?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

"Obviously we're trapping dragons."

"But what do you want with them exactly?"

"Listen lad what we do with them is none of your business so just go home because we've got work to do."

"If your work involves checking traps then don't bother." I then tossed the traps at his feet. "I've already taken the liberty of disarming and gathering them." I then looked to the cage. "And if your business is with those dragons then don't worry because I'll be setting them free just as soon as I've dealt with you lot." They all laughed at this.

"Very funny lad but do really think you stand a chance against the ten of us." Five of the men walked towards me all holding their weapons and surrounded me all stepping onto the quicksand with one of them saying.

"If I were you I'd be pretty scared now lad." I sighed and shook my head.

"My dear fellow, in the past I've faced six armed giants, regular giants, harpies, sirens, minotaur's, demons, undead warriors, dragons the size of mountains, a lion with armor like skin, a powerful sorceress with an army of monsters, a giant stone jaguar being controlled by a mad high-priest, a titan with the ability to control time and so much more." I shrugged while sinking my khopesh a little deeper making them sink faster. "At this point in my life there's very little that scares me." They all stared at me as they sunk into the ground before the one in front of me burst out laughing and said.

"Good one lad you really had me going for a moment there." He then leveled his stare at me. "Alright now lad let's get back to-" He stopped when he realized he was talking to my chest. "Are you getting taller?" I shook my head while sinking my khopesh a little deeper into the ground.

"No, you're just getting shorter as you sink into the ground." He looked down as did the others and realized they were now up to their waists in the ground.

"What in the world." He immediately slammed his hands into the ground to try and push himself out as did the others only to get their hands stuck as well.

"Don't worry I'll make sure you don't fully sink in but enough to be trapped." It was then their arms were up to their elbows so I pulled my khopesh from the ground making it harden trapping the men before I walked pat them while putting my khopesh away, releasing my gauntlets and making my way towards the remaining men. "Alright boys, who's next?" They stared at me before the leader yelled.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE, GET HIM YOU FOOLS!" The four of his remaining men charged at me but all I did was swing my right gauntlet while releasing the lion head and they went down for the count allowing me to walk past them and to the leader who was backing away. "WHAT ARE YOU?" I collapsed my left gauntlet and took two of my scimitars throwing knives before throwing them and pinning the leader by his upper arms to the cage.

"I'm just a guy who's been in too many battles with beasts and powerful psychopaths to put up with guys like you." I was right in front of him at this point and released my left gauntlet again. "Now tell me, are you going to make things easy and answer my questions or am I going to have to get creative to get the information I want?" I held up my right gauntlet while channeling a red crystal creating a swirling fire in the mouth.

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know just don't kill me." I nodded while smiling.

"Good!" I then signaled my dragons down. "We'll talk as soon as I've released the thunderclaws."

3 hours later

It's been three hours since I captured the men who were hunting thunderclaws and that time has been nothing but busy for both me and my dragons but I believe it's been worth it. When I interrogated the leader of the group I took out I learnt there were four other groups on the island with three ships circling the island to capture any dragons that tried to fly away and were going to pick up the captured dragons every three hours, along with this I also learnt where they set up the traps to disarm them. Along with this I learnt they were trapping dragons for an employer who desired them all alive for some reason but they'd never met their buyer before since they always send one of his three generals, Ragnar the Rock Chaghatai Khan or Griselda the Grevious, to pick up the dragons and each of them were very strong warriors in their own right. From this information I knew they were going to cause trouble in the future but for now I needed to focus on dealing with those on the island. As for the thunderclaws they had caged I broke the locks and they all came stampeding out but all happy to be free again and after the thunderclaw we helped calmed them down I was able to have Frostburn tend to those who were wounded and help sooth them all while planning out what to do to take down the other groups of trappers and bandits.

Once all the thunderclaws were settled down I released my ship and summoned my Anubis warriors to help me out but I started out with summoning just three not wanting to spook any of the dragons with the appearance of a small army. Once the dragons were calmed down from the first ones and understood that they meant no harm I was able to slowly summon the rest of my warriors and have ten of them load the prisoners onto my ship and lock them in the dungeon while the others looted the campsite for anything that was either useful or valuable while a group of others went to gather the traps. Once all of that was taken care of I'm guessing the thunderclaws didn't want to leave me since they tried to follow us with the one we helped leading them. I could tell they weren't going to leave us so I loaded them onto my ship and they were now all resting in the nesting area except for the first one who I'd named Thundra as she refused to leave my side.

After all that was taken care of I lead my Anubis warriors in attacking the other camps and capturing their inhabitants all of which were now in the ships dungeon cells and what I was able to steal from their camp was now in storage. As for the dragons they captured which ranged from Thunderclaws, Nadders, nightmares gronkles and zipplebacks and now they'd all been checked over by Frostburn who was able to tend to their wounds before they were all loaded up onto my ship. I didn't mind taking them back to my island though since there was still plenty of room in the dragon nests both in the bewilderbeast nest and Volcana's volcano. Besides I had the feeling trappers would be coming back to this island for the dragons and I wanted them to be safe and with my alpha's to keep charge of things there really wasn't anything to worry about, plus there's Scardian and his group to help out with training them for the different flight positions in case they were called into battle and if the man buying these dragons was like Krogan then they would need to know how to do help fight back against any possible flyers.

Anyway, when we attacked the second and fourth camp we were also able to attack the ships that had come in to collect the dragons and it was through this I learnt some new things about my own ship. The first ship we attacked was already docked and they were in the middle of loading up the dragons so we were able to rush them and board the ship capturing its crew, freeing the dragons and looting it of anything valuable or useful. The second ship we attacked wasn't as easy though as they had just set sail so while I gave chase with my ship twenty-five of my Anubis warriors attacked the camp the others joined me on the chase and it was on this chase I made some discoveries about my ship defenses and attack systems. When I was able to pull up along side the enemy ship the top deck opened up on the side the ship was on before a large gangplank with a metal spike on its top underside rose out and dropped onto the enemies' deck allowing my Anubis warriors and I to board the ship and attack the crew capturing them all and looting it. Some of them tried to make a run for it but they were either caught by my Anubis warriors or by my ships ropes tying them up when they tried to get back to their own ship. Those crewmembers were all in cells, their ship looted, their dragon catches being tended to in the nesting area by Frostburn and their ship sunk since I didn't want the dragons to think I'd use it on them.

Now however I was standing just behind the figurehead of my ship, pursuing the last remaining ship being controlled by a crew who caught wind that someone was attacking their ships and their men so they were making a break for it and were a good distance away. I willed my ship to go faster so I could catch up to them and save whatever dragons they captured. I wanted to capture the ship so bad and I'm guessing my ship could understand that and increased its speed before the ballistae at the front launched forward nailing the ship in the back and began reeling the ship in. I smiled at the sight until the front part of my deck that I was standing on began to lift up and I looked down to see the sides of the front of my ship were splitting open while the bottom lowered down as a bright blue light shined from within. I didn't know what was going on but I had the feeling that when I get home I'm going to need to run my ship through some tests when I got home. I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of screaming and look down to see the enemy ship being pulled into the light and being ripped apart as the crew members were pulled in. Once the ship was fully pulled in I heard screams of panic and roars from dragons in distress down below and ran to see what was going on.

When I checked where the screams were coming from I found my ships cells now held the crew of the ship all trapped in their cells as they screamed to know what was going on and where they were. After that I ran to see what all the roaring was about to see what was going on with the dragons and saw multiple new dragons running around in the nesting area in fear. Seeing all the panic I took out my calming flute and began playing the tune to calm them all down. As I played their roars of terror slowly came to an end as they all gathered around me to enjoy the music. When I knew they were all completely calmed down I stopped playing and looked around at the dragons and said.

"Alright you lot keep calm, you're safe now and I'm not going to hurt you." A brown and blue nadder tilted its head in confusion but I just walked up to it and gave the side of its head a scratch making it purr in pleasure. "I'm going to take you all to a safe place where you'll be protected and taken care of but for now Frostburns going to give each of you a look over and tend to any wounds you may have." A green nightmare growled at me before I turned to it and looked in its eyes. "You can trust me." It just growled as I walked up to it and took its horns before bending them to the ground making it growl in pleasure. "See I'm not so bad." It just growled as I let it up and nuzzled my chest. "Now if you'll all excuse me I've got to go check up on some things but I'll be back in a few minutes."

They all growled and nodded before I left the nest while signaling Toothless to keep an eye on things while I was away so I could check the storage room. When I did I discovered there were more items in the storage room more than likely from the ship so I now knew where the items and those on board went. I was still wondering what happened to the ship however as it clearly wasn't in either my storage room or with the prisoners. It was then I decided that perhaps I might find my answer in my bedroom and went to check it out. When I made it to my bedroom I found much to my surprise a new cabinet next to my desk and when I opened it I found out where the ship was only now it had been shrunk down and in sailing on stormy waters a bottle that rested on a tiny wooden stand with the name of its model and the day it was taken down. Now this impressed me and knew I'd need to do more tests with my ship when I get home but for now I needed to tend to the new dragons, check on the captives and do inventory on what I gained from the ship so until I get back home the tests will have to wait. Along with this I still had to worry about the commander of the three generals that the dragons were supposed to be delivered to but I had a feeling I'd be meeting them soon enough and I'd be ready for whoever they are and whatever they were planning.

AN: Hey all sorry for the longer than usual wait but I do have a good reason for the longer wait. My aunts from out of town are here for a visit meaning more family time, along with that my mothers birthday was yesterday so we spent the day celebrating and on top of all this my computer's program crashed so I lost half of what I'd written and had to restart. Anyway for those of you who haven't realized it yet, the last message about HTTYD 2 was a joke and will be the next chapter. It was originally going to be this chapter but I decided on doing one more recruitment trip since he's going to need the prickleboggle to help out with tending to the wounded dragons. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I shall see you all next time but until then have a nice day and please review kindly.