Chapter 8; Truth

After they returned Toothless and Honorstream to the cove. Eric and Knight return to Hiccup's home, and as Hiccup and Flare. They went to the blacksmith shop to work on the safety latch and to think deeply about everything that has happened in the last few days. After Hiccup was done with the safety latch, he heard footsteps. He turned to them and saw Stoick and Sword Walker. Hiccup then said to Stoick, as he was trying to hide his notes. "Dad! You're back! Uh, Gobber's not here so…"

"I know. I asked Eric where you were, and he told me you were here."

"You were looking for me?"

"Yes. And you've been keeping secrets."

"I have?"

"Just how long did you think you could hide it?"

"I… I… I don't know what you're…"

"Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it."

"Oh?"

"So let's talk about that dragon."

"Oh, gods. Dad, I'm so sorry. I… I was going to tell you. I just didn't know how to…" Hiccup said but stopped when Stoick started to laugh. Hiccup laughed nervously and then said. "You're… You're not upset?"

"What?! I was hoping for this!"

"Uh… You were?"

"And believe me, it only gets better! Wait till you spill a Nadder's guts the first time! And mount your first Gronckle head on a spear! What a feeling! You really had me going there, son! All those years of the worst Viking Berk has ever seen. Odin, it was rough. I almost gave up on you. And all the while you were holding out on me! Oh, Thor Almighty! With you doing so well in the ring… We finally have something to talk about." Stoick said as he took a seat. Hiccup didn't know what to say, and awkward silence filled the room. Stoick broke that silence by saying and pulling out a helmet. "Oh. Here, I, uh, I brought you something, to keep you safe in the ring."

"Wow. Thanks." Hiccup said as he took the helmet. Stoick then said to Hiccup. "Your mother would have wanted you to have it. It's half of her breastplate." Hiccup was a little grossed out, and Stoick said touching his helmet. "Matching set. It keeps her close, you know. Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held up your end of the deal." Hiccup put down the helmet and said with a fake yawn. "I should really get to bed."

"Yes, good. Ok, good talk."

"I'll see you back at the house. Thanks for stopping by and for the breast hat."

"I hope you like that hat. Well, uh… Yep. Good night." Stoick said before he left. Once Stoick was outside, both of them sighed with relief.

The next day was the final lesson for dragon training. The task was the top three students and their Pokemon were going to face a Gronckle with all of the skills they have learned. And the top three were Hiccup, Flare, Astrid, Spikeball, Eric, and Knight. As the Gronckle was flying around looking for them, Astrid said to Hiccup. "Stay out of my way! I'm winning this thing."

"Please, by all means." Hiccup said as Astrid and Spikeball left them. Hiccup then got up and saw Stoick watching him. As for Astrid, she was getting closer to the Gronckle and was ready to strike. But the moment she ran out of cover, she saw that Hiccup had already defeated the Gronckle, which really made her mad. Then Hiccup said as he, Eric, and their Pokemon tried to leave. "So, later."

"Oh! Not so fast." Gobber said as he and Coal stopped them. Hiccup then said to Gobber. "We're kind of late for…"

"What?! Late for what, exactly?" Astrid said, pointing her axe at Hiccup. And before Hiccup or Eric could say anything, Stoick said to everyone. "Quiet down! The elder Gothi has decided." Everyone then turned to a small old woman with a long staff. Gothi had been watching their training since day one, and now she would tell everyone who was the top trainy. Gobber first pointed to Astrid, and she nodded no. Gobber then pointed to Eric, and it was also no. But when Gobber pointed to Hiccup, she nodded yes. Everyone cheered, and Gobber said to Hiccup. "You've done it, Hiccup! You get to kill the dragon!"

"That's my boy!" Stoick said and after Hiccup, Eric, and their Pokemon were able to escape. They grabbed supplies and headed to the cove. As they entered the cove, Eric said to Hiccup. "Are you sure you want to do this? Leaving home and never coming back, isn't going to fix this."

"I have no choice." Hiccup said as Knack flew to Hiccup and Tera came out of Eric's bag. That's when they noticed that Astrid and Spikeball had followed them. She was sharpening her axes and Hiccup said as they jumped back. "What the…? What are you doing here?"

"I want to know what's going on. No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you. Start talking!" Astrid said getting closer to them. Eric then said to Astrid, as Spikeball checked out Knack and Tera. "About what?"

"About that Starly? That BattleMon? And what training have you two been doing?" Astrid said to them and not long after that they heard a twig snap. Astrid pushed the guys down and Spikeball did the same with the Pokemon. As Astrid and Spikeball went closer to Toothless spot, Eric saw Honorstream picking out of the water. As Eric tried to keep Honorstream down, Hiccup said, trying to stop Astrid. "You're right. You're right. You're right. I'm through with the lies. We've been training together. So you got us. It's time everyone knew. Drag us back, go ahead. Here we go…" Astrid then bent Hiccup's arm and then pushed Hiccup down. "Ow! Why would you do that?!" Hiccup said, trying to get up. Astrid kicked Hiccup down and said. "That's for the lies." She then hit Hiccup's stomach with the butt of her axe and said. "And that's for everything else." Toothless then saw them and roared a little at Astrid. "Oh, man." Hiccup said as he got up and Astrid saw Toothless. Toothless then charged at Astrid. Astrid was going to attack Toothless with her axe, but Hiccup pulled her down and took the axe out of her hands. "No! It's ok! It's ok. She's a friend." Hiccup said to Toothless. As Astrid was watching Hiccup, Spikeball tried to give her back her axe, but Honorstream came out of the water and stopped Spikeball. "Whoa there! No need to hurt anyone." Eric said to Honorstream. After Hiccup and Eric calmed down Toothless and Honorstream, Hiccup said to Astrid. "You just scared them."

"I scared them?! Who are "them"?"

"Uh… Astrid, Toothless and Honorstream. Toothless and Honorstream, Astrid." Hiccup said before Eric said. "Don't forget to introduce Tera the Terapagos and Knack the Starly." Astrid and Spikeball then ran away. Hiccup then mimicked fanfare and said. "We're dead." Toothless and Honorstream then returned to their spots and Hiccup said to them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you two think you're going?"

"Yeah. We need to fix this now." Eric said as they started to mount Toothless and Honorstream.

As Astrid ran with Spikeball on her back. It was at that moment, Toothless picked up Astrid. As Toothless was pulling Astrid into the air, Spikeball fell off and Eric caught him while riding Honorstream. Also, all of the Pokemon were on Honorstream too. Mines Knack, who was flying close to them. Toothless then dropped Astrid off close to the top of the tree. Astrid then looked at Hiccup and said as Hiccup landed Toothless on the top of the tree. "Hiccup, get me down from here!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain."

"I am not listening to anything you have to say!"

"Then I won't speak. Just let me show you. Please, Astrid." Hiccup said and seeing no choice, Astrid agreed. Hiccup helped her onto Toothless, who wasn't happy to see her. Once Astrid was on, she said to Hiccup. "Now get me down."

"Toothless, down. Gently." Hiccup said and Toothless got ready to take off. "See? Nothing to be afraid of." Hiccup said, but Toothless didn't go down gently, he went up hard. "Well that's not good." Eric said as Honorstream followed Toothless. As Astrid was screaming and was holding onto Hiccup very tight, Hiccup said to Toothless. "Toothless! What is wrong with you?!"

"I think he's mad at Astrid for attacking you guys?" Eric said as Honorstream reached them. Toothless then roared at Honorstream and the two of them dived into the water. "Toothless, what are you doing? We need her to like us!" Hiccup said after they got out of the water and Eric said as they came out of the water. "I think he wants an apology from Astrid?" Toothless and Honorstream then started to rise and spin. Hiccup then said as Astrid was still screaming. "Thank you for nothing you useless reptile."

"Ok, I am sorry! I'm sorry. Just get me off this thing." Astrid said as they started to dive again. Toothless heard her and cooled down. He stopped a little ways from the water and started to glide. Honorstream did the same, but Eric pulled back, let Hiccup and Astrid have a moment alone on Toothless. With Toothless being gentle now, Hiccup motioned Toothless to go up. Toothless did go to the clouds, and Astrid saw the clouds giving a golden glow because of the sunset. It amazed her, but after the sun was gone, aurora lights started to fill the sky. It was also amazing, but what amazed her the most was seeing Berk. It was a beautiful view of Berk, lit up by torches. As they flew away from Berk, Eric joined them and said to Astrid. "So what do you think?"

"All right, I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's amazing. He's amazing." Astrid said, looking at Toothless. Honorstream felt a little jealous, and Eric said to him. "You're amazing too, Honorstream."

"So what now?" Astrid said to Hiccup, and Hiccup didn't say anything. Eric then said as they were flying above some steam. "He has no idea."

"Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you'll have to kill…" Astrid said but stopped and then whispered to Hiccup. "...kill a dragon."

"Don't remind me." Hiccup said as Toothless and Honorstream we're picking up a faint dragon call. Toothless and Honorstream then dived into the steam, and Hiccup said. "Toothless, what's happing?"

"Whatever is happening, is also affecting Honorstream." Eric said and then soon they saw other dragons with fresh catches. "Get down!" Hiccup said all of them got down, trying to avoid catching the attention of the other dragons. Then they noticed that there were so many dragons flying through this steam. Astrid then said to Hiccup. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. Toothless, you need to get us out of here." Hiccup said to Toothless, but Toothless couldn't leave. "I think something is calling them." Eric said as he tried the same with Honorstream. Hiccup then said as they were looking around. "It looks like they're hauling in their kill."

"Uh… what does that make us?" Astrid said and before Hiccup or Eric could answer, Toothless and Honorstream, along with a few other dragons, started to dive close to the water. As they got close to the water, they saw a lot of Steam Whips that were making the steam. Then they saw that the dragons were taking them to an island volcano. Toothless and Honorstream followed the dragons into a entice and inside they saw thousands upon thousands of different dragons. Eric then said to Hiccup and Astrid. "Do you have any idea on what this place is?"

"It's the nest." Astrid said and then Hiccup said. "What my dad wouldn't give to find this." Once they pasted over a hole of red steam, Toothless and Honorstream regained control of themselves and flew to a spot for them to hide. Hiccup, Astrid, and Eric then noticed that all of the stuff they had caught was being dumped into the hole. "It's satisfying to know all our food has been dumped down a hole."

"They're not eating any of it." Astrid said as the last dragon, which was a Gronckle, appeared. The Gronckle put one little fish into the hole and started to hove. But something in the hole roared, scaring the Gronckle. The Gronckle tried to fly away, but a gigantic light grey dragon head came out of the hole and ate the Gronckle. "What is that?" Eric said as they were shocked and the dragons backed away in fear. The dragon then sniffed the air, and could tell that there were more than just dragons inside the nest. Hiccup then said to Toothless. "All right, bud, we gotta get out of here."

"Yeah, Honorstream. We all need to leave now!" Eric said as the dragon had sniffed them out. The dragons tried to eat them. The dragon missed, but it scared all of the dragons. All of them, including Toothless and Honorstream, tried to escape. The dragon tried to climb out, but it was trapped. So it started to breathe in, creating a powerful suction force. And while Toothless and Honorstream did escape, a lot of other dragons became food for this gigantic unknown dragon.

As they were heading back to the cove, Eric said to the others. "What was that dragon?"

"I have no idea." Hiccup said before Eric said. "So we discovered that "Red Death"?"

"Yes, and good name." Hiccup said before Eric said. "Cool, but what was with that nest. It was like a giant beehive."

"I think your right Eric. They're the workers and the Red Death is their queen. It controls them." Astrid said before Eric said. "Not totally, but enough that they are forced to get it food by any means, or become food themselves."

"That's why they raid us." Hiccup said as they reached the cove. Once they landed Astrid said as she got off Toothless and Spikeball got off Honorstream. "Let's find Stoick" They then started to ran for the exit of the cove, but Hiccup stopped Astrid and Flare stopped Spikeball. Hiccup then said to Astrid. "No! No. No, not yet. They'll kill Toothless."

"Don't forget about Honorstream." Eric said as he side with Hiccup. Hiccup then said to Astrid. "We have to think this through carefully."

"Hiccup, Eric, we just discovered the dragons nest, the thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here, and you two want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?"

"Yes." Hiccup said with confidence and determination. Astrid was taken back a little, because the old Hiccup wasn't like the new Hiccup at all. Astrid then said to Hiccup. "Ok. Then what do we do?"

"Just give me until tomorrow. I'll figure something out."

"Ok." Astrid said to Hiccup, before punching his shoulder. "That's for kidnapping me." Astrid said to Hiccup, before kissing Hiccup cheek. "That's for everything else." Astrid said to Hiccup before she left the cove. Hiccup then turned to everyone, who was watching the whole show. "What are you all looking at?" Hiccup said to everyone and they all turned their head.