As far as contests went, this one struck Stormfly as downright unfair.

Stormfly was a fast and able predator. She could outpace a human even on the ground, and only Toothless could outpace her in the air. She had flockmates behind her, dragon and human, there to support her if she needed them.

Eret was a fragile, wingless, flammable human, stripped of his weapons, without friends or allies to call on.

Had Stormfly been alone with him, she would have happily given a head start. She might have even fetched a training sword from the rack for him, along with a nice big bangy shield, to make things slightly challenging. But she had flockmates here, and they would catch Eret if she didn't, and Eret was hers to catch!

The other dragons all waited for their riders, costing themselves time. That was their mistake, and one that Stormfly would fully use!

"I get you!" Stormfly crowed. She streaked towards her prey with her tongue flapping out, air rushing between her scales.

Eret kept running — he was on the ramp by then — without looking back. He puffed with the effort, his black hair bobbing with every step, running and running as if he truly thought he'd escape. But he was a human, with his short slow human legs, and he didn't stand a chance.

Stormfly grabbed him in her talons and winged up up up towards the sky.

"Flies-In-Storms catch human! Flies-In-Storms good hunter!"

Eret squealed like an errant fledgling, flailing in her grasp with wide eyes and open mouth. Stormfly clucked her amusement — she'd remember that face, for sure — and then looped smoothly through the air.

"Hey, no, stop that!" Eret shouted hoarsely, thumping at Stormfly's foot. "You let me go, you hear me? You let me go right now!"

Stormfly twisted her head, looking right at Eret's face with a single eye. Then she let that eye trail lazily downwards, loosening her grip by a small amount. "Human silly," she said. "Human very high. Flies-In-Storms drop human?"

Eret followed her gaze, saw how high they really were, and yelped. Stormfly hough-ed her mirth.

"W-wait, no! Don't let me go!" Eret said, wrapping his arms around that same foot. "Don't you dare let me go!"

Stormfly chirped in approval. "Human smart. Human learning," she said, flashing a grin.

Then she noticed her flockmates, watching and waiting on the ground below, just outside the arena's entrance.

Stormfly huffed. It would be fun to play with Eret for longer, and it was tempting to do so, even if it would keep Astrid and the others waiting. But there were very serious things going on, and there would be other opportunities for play. So Stormfly did one final loop and then coasted downwards, Eret keeping still within her grasp.

"Great job, Stormfly!" Astrid called out.

"Yes-yes!" Stormfly agreed, coming in to land. "Flies-In-Storms do good! Much good!"

She hovered in front of Astrid, carefully placing Eret on his feet. Then she landed just behind him, her chest puffed out in pride

Eret bolted towards the long wooden bridge that led to the rest of Berk, and Stormfly hough-ed at his antics. He'd been so tense when she placed him down; she'd known he'd try to run again. Did he honestly think this would ever work?

"Silly human," Stormfly called out. "Silly like hatchling! Get pinned like hatchling!"

She didn't even bother taking flight. She just rushed after him and caught him in a tackle, rolling over with her wings wrapped tightly around his fragile human body. That made him shout, of course, and he shouted again when she set him down onto his belly. He then tried to scramble upright, so Stormfly shoved him down with her snout.

Then she settled herself down with her head against his back, pinning him like the naughty hatchling he seemed so determined to act like.

No-one else had even moved. Astrid had simply watched with her arms folded, smiling smugly. Barf and Belch smirked, Hookfang snorted pleasantly, and Meatlug chuffed. Her fellow dragons knew she had this handled; they knew not to interrupt unless she needed it.

"Get off!" Eret yelled, shoving uselessly against the ground. He snarled, his arm muscles bulging with the strain. "Get this thing off of me…right…now!"

He was trying so hard to look and sound tough. But his rapid heartbeat gave away his fear. He was pinned and at the mercy of the very sort of creature he hunted, and he didn't like it one little bit.

That didn't strike Stormfly as funny, for some reason. So she purred, nibbling at his hair. "Silly human," she sang. "Human safe with Flies-In-Storms."

Eret growled wordlessly, flailing his arms behind him, trying to twist away or else push her off. The fear was gone now, replaced by sheer indignation. That was funny, unlike the thought of him being scared of her, and Stormfly liked it very much.

"Get…off!"

"No," Stormfly said. "Human act like hatchling. Human very silly!"

Eret then froze, as Astrid sauntered in front of him while wearing a broad smirk. He looked around frantically — Stormfly didn't envy humans' narrow fields of vision one bit — and he saw what Stormfly had already seen: the other three dragons surrounding them, cutting off further escapes, with the other four riders all headed towards him.

"Nice try," Astrid said. "But in case you didn't notice, we're dragon people. We have dragons."

"And dragons are fast," Fishlegs added, coming to stand alongside her. "I mean, even a Gronckle can reach speeds of—"

"Alright, I get it, I get it!" Eret said. "Just get this thing off, already!"

"Uh, yeah, no," Snotlout said, joining his two fellow riders. "You don't take a toy from a dragon. Even I know that!"

"And people call us dumb," Tuffnut then added. "Right, sis?"

Ruffnut, though, didn't seem to be listening. She simply walked up to Stormfly's price, letting her gaze wander across his body. Then she crouched down, reaching out to squeeze Eret's arm; Eret grumbled, pulling that same arm further in.

Stormfly bared her teeth, warding the twin off. "No. Mine." Ruffnut quickly stepped back with her palms raised, though she grinned from ear to ear.

And Eret, Stormfly couldn't help but notice, relaxed a little under her jaw.

"Okay, look, I give up. Really," Eret said. "Just…get it off? Please?"

Astrid sighed theatrically. Then she bent herself down towards him, smiling oh-so-sweetly. "Oh, Eret. Son of Eret. Weren't you listening?" she asked. "You don't take a toy from a dragon."

"What the…I am not a toy!" Eret said. Which just proved how little he knew.

"Human toy. Human good toy," Stormfly crooned. She nibbled some more at his hair.

"Argh, just…tell it to move! You're its master, right? So make it move!"

Stormfly couldn't help it: she burst out laughing in rapid houghs, throwing her head upwards. That made the twins start laughing too, followed by Barf and Belch, followed by every dragon and by every rider except Astrid; the twins even fell over, trying and failing to hold each other up.

Eret looked around with a mystified-looking and hilarious face, not even seeming to notice that he was no longer pinned. Stormfly settled her head back onto him, keeping him in place.

"You people really are mad," Eret groused. "All of you. Mad. And what's so funny, anyway?"

Astrid slouched a little, a hand on her hip. "Her name," she said, "is Stormfly. And believe me, I'm not her master. Am I, girl?"

"No. Rides-in-storms friend. Good friend!" Stormfly said.

Talking to humans was such fun. They never seemed to know she was talking. Even Astrid didn't know. Even Hiccup didn't know!

"Wha…but…look at her!" Eret said, gesturing wildly. "She might as well be eating out of your hand!"

"Because we're friends," Astrid said, her face softening. "Stormfly's my friend. My best friend."

Stormfly knew that already, of course. But hearing it was no less wonderful, and she purred. Eret tensed at that — he could feel it on his back, Stormfly supposed — and he looked back at her with a squint and a frown.

Stormfly clucked at seeing yet another funny face. Though really, pretty much every face Eret made was funny. Perhaps his face simply was funny, no matter what he did with it.

She still hoped to fight Eret at some point. Eret was a trapper of dragons, and he surely knew much about fighting dragons — perhaps even things that Astrid did not! That would be fun to see, Stormfly thought, and useful too! Though, maybe she'd wait until after that nasty Drago Bludvist human had been dealt with, when there weren't such serious things going on…

…then she came to full alertness, as Astrid — special Astrid, precious best-friend Astrid — tapped on her snout.

Astrid winked at her — a human gesture that signified a fun trick, which Stormfly didn't yet know but would quickly work out — and then looked down at Eret once more.

"Okay, look. Eret. Son of Eret," Astrid said smoothly. "If you really want her off, then…why not ask her nicely?"

Stormfly's eyes widened. Her tail twitched slightly. She could see where this was going, and she already loved the idea of it! Eret, meanwhile, just squinted extra-hard.

"Wha?" Eret went. "Ask a dragon? Nicely? How mad do you think I am?"

Stormly purred and licked at the back of his head; Eret grumbled and shuddered in response. Astrid stared down at him, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, fine. Fine," Eret said. Stormfly could easily imagine him rolling his eyes. "As if this'll actually…fine." He took a deep breath. "Stormfly, please get off of me."

Stormfly stood up, her tongue lolling freely from her open mouth, just waiting for Eret's reaction that would surely be brilliant and hilarious and—

Eret spun his head to face her. "Wha…what?" He stared from the ground, not even thinking to stand. "N-no, that's…that's a trick, that has to be a trick, that…how'd you train her to do that? How?"

His heart was beating rapidly again, Stormfly could hear. His face seemed to have paled slightly, and his eyes had gone extra-wide. He had fear bleeding out from him as freely as caught prey. But it wasn't a fear of her, but a fear of…of…

…what was he afraid of? Getting off of him had clearly done this, but as for why, Stormfly hadn't the slightest clue. She ruffled her wings, feeling her posture droop. This had seemed like a joke at first, and a good and funny one at that. But now, for whatever reason, this very much felt not funny.

"Human free. Human should stand," she chirped, gesturing with her head.

Eret stood up, his gaze fixed upon her throughout. "You know what I'm saying," he said, pointing with a shaking finger. "You know. What I'm saying."

"Well, yeah," Tuffnut said. "Duh."

"Wasn't that, like, obvious?" Ruffnut added, rolling her eyes dramatically. "And here I thought you were smart."

"It's not just Stormfly either," Fishlegs added, tapping his fingers together. "All our dragons do. They—"

"Oh, come on, you can't expect me to believe that!" Eret said, raising his arms to the sky. "That's ridiculous! Mad!"

But his heartbeat had quickened further, and Stormfly saw the slight tremble in his gait. He whirled around to face her.

"Okay, no. No way. She trained you to do that." He glared with all the ferocity he could muster, not even slightly covering the fear fear fear that churned beneath. "This is just some stupid Viking trick that you—"

Stormfly shook her head rapidly. Eret froze.

"Then…then you really…"

Stormfly nodded repeatedly. Human signals still felt strange to her, but she had long learned the value of using them.

Eret backed away a step, open-mouthed and with his arms fallen to his sides, his stance screaming afraid and shame in equal measure.

"Human afraid," Meatlug whimpered. "Why afraid?"

Stormfly chirped wordlessly, wondering much the same.

"Human small. We big," Hookfang said, not quite looking in Eret's direction.

"No," Stormfly said. She knew it wasn't that. He was a trapper of dragons; he was used to being smaller than his prey. It was something else, something to do with her and Astrid's trick, something about—

"We clever," Barf said, smirking wide.

"Like human," Belch said, smirking just as wide.

"Human think not clever, like prey," Barf said.

"Human wrong," Belch said. "So human afraid."

That last statement was punctuated with a sharp hiss that stole Eret's attention. The Zippleback heads moved in towards him, their long necks letting them almost reach his face.

"Okay, fine, so the Nadder is smart," Eret said. "But you? You're a Zippleback! A Zippleback, with your tiny empty heads!" He straightened, puffing himself out in a doomed attempt at looking big. "You don't know what I'm saying, do you? There's no way!"

Barf and Belch closed their eyes, smirked even wider, and shook their heads. Eret relaxed his shoulders, his body radiating with relief.

"Right," he said. "Well, there you go then. It was all just a trick. It—"

Then he went rigid, realizing just a little late. Barf and Belch reared back, both heads ringing out in rapid hough-hough-hough sounds.

"Good one, B!" Tuffnut called out.

"Yeah, great going, B!" Ruffnut agreed, giving the Zippleback a thumbs-up.

Eret's head snapped between the twins and their dragon, his heart hammering furiously. And still, for some reason she couldn't place, Stormfly wasn't even slightly enjoying it. She watched quietly with one eye, her wings and tail drooped towards the ground.

"Okay, but…but…you!" Eret stepped over to Meatlug, so quickly and suddenly that Meatlug backed up a step. "What about you, eh?" He jabbed a finger towards her face. "You're just a Gronckle. A big, fat, sleepy Gronckle. I've caught so many Gronckles I could…and they would have me think that you were smart enough to—"

Meatlug whimpered, then nodded her head twice. "Afraid not needed," she said. "Why afraid?"

Eret darted from Meatlug like he'd been physically struck. And all at once, Stormfly knew why. Because Barf and Belch had been completely right: Eret was a trapper of dragons, who must have trapped so many kin, who must have thought he was hunting simple animals.

Eret looked all around himself, looking like he wanted to run again while having nowhere at all to go. Astrid and Fishlegs both looked concerned, and even the twins looked oddly thoughtful. Snotlout had wandered off meanwhile, slouching near his own dragon.

"Hey, it's okay," Fishlegs said quietly. "We didn't always know either. I mean, if it weren't for Hiccup, we'd still be…"

Eret stormed past him, Fishlegs stepping instinctively out of the way. He marched all the way to Hookfang and Snotlout, who watched with bored expressions.

Stormfly followed quietly, watching and listening, her tail and wings now slightly raised.

"And…and the Nightmare?" Eret asked. "Even the Nightmare?" His voice was barely a squeak by then, as though fervently hoping that Hookfang was different, as though that would change anything at all.

Hookfang glanced at Eret a moment longer, looking completely disinterested. Then he swung his tail at Snotlout, who ducked it just in time.

Snotlout rose at once, glaring at his dragon. "Hey, what gives, I didn't say anything that time!"

Hookfang met his human's eyes for a moment, then he looked pointedly at the trapper.

"Even the Nightmare," Eret said, his voice scarcely a whisper. "Even…oh gods…" His heart thump-thump-thumped in his chest, picked up easily by Stormfly's hearing. "But…that's not…dragons don't…how?" He spun around to the other riders. "How'd you do this? Tell me! How?"

He was making a face, Stormfly could see, but very much not a funny one. His chest heaved, and his arms quivered.

"Well…we didn't really do much," Fishlegs said. "I think it was mostly—"

Stormfly had heard enough. She'd seen enough, besides. She tapped Eret with her snout, and Fishlegs went quiet.

"Come," Stormfly said, nosing Eret towards the arena.

Eret didn't fight it. He walked numbly as directed, his sunken posture practically screaming lost, with everyone else following behind. Stormfly heard no sounds from anyone save for their breathing, a gentle wind blowing up above.

Once they were all in the arena, Stormfly stepped into Eret's oh-so-narrow field of vision. Then she nosed up and behind him, drawing his attention to the painted wood over the arena's entrance, to that symbol of the small-but-fierce black dragon who they all owed so much: Toothless, the Night Fury, a hero of Berk…and alpha of his flock, however much he denied it.

Eret gazed up at the painted wood, seeming to crumble even further in on himself, to the point where Stormfly wondered if he'd fall. "The…Night Fury?" he asked. "You know what I'm saying because of…the Night Fury?"

"Yes," Stormfly said. Then she remembered that Eret wouldn't understand that, because humans were all very silly in that one specific way, and so she nodded twice.

Eret blinked at her, tensing as though to bolt again. But then he just sagged, screaming defeat without a single sound.

"We're…not really sure how," Fishlegs said. "But…Toothless did seem to have a lot to do with it."

"Right," Eret said. "I…right."

He looked downwards, his hands clenched into fists. He shut his eyes tightly, his breaths quickening. But then, all at once, he stilled. He stood tall and straight, his breathing steady, his heart just starting to slow back down. He looked across at Stormfly and her flockmates, his mouth a firm line.

"There's…some things you should know," Eret said. "Some things I didn't tell you. About…him. About Drago."

He'd told them some things already. But he'd been lying then, if only by not saying certain other things, and Stormfly had sensed it once. His body had made the lies obvious, from the shifts in his eyes to the tension in his limbs to the tiny little wobbles in his voice.

This time, Stormfly sensed no lie. This time, his body sang nothing but truth.