Episode 4: In Dragons We Trust
The wind whistled in The Three Weirdos' ears as they fell through the sky. Arms and legs splayed out to the sides, Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland were calm and relaxed. This was something they'd done loads of times before as part of their training.
As one flies through life, it's always good to know who you can trust and who you can't. And in Dragon Training, it all begins and ends with trust from both Dragon and Rider.
"Shall we flip?" Erland asked, folding his arms behind his neck.
"Three… two… one!" Zenna flipped over so she was facing the incoming ocean with the boys following her lead.
Three roars sounded through the clouds as Toothless, Stryka, and Embla swooped in and caught their Riders before they hit the water.
"Nice catch, bud. A little close," Hiccup quipped and gently patted his best dragon friend between the ears. Toothless huffed, "I think I caught you right on time." but his tail wagged at Hiccup's thanks.
"Good job, girl. You always come through for me." Zenna smiled at Stryka who cooed, "Thank you!"
"Thanks for the save, Embla." Erland grinned as Embla wrapped one of her head tendrils around his wrist.
"Honestly, you three have gotten too used to free falling," Embla sighed, rolling her bright yellow eyes fondly at her Rider.
With their Riders safe on their backs, the two Night Furies and Changewing flew up into the clouds.
Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland knew that they could always count on Toothless, Stryka, and Embla. And, every day, they did their best to let them know that, no matter what, their dragons could always count on them.
Hence, the addition of Trust Fall exercises to the Berk Dragon Training Academy's lessons. It was important that the other Riders and their dragons could develop their trust to such a level where they could count on each other during times of danger.
Once Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland rejoined their fellow Dragon Riders, they looked to Fishlegs and Meatlug.
"It's your turn. Jump!" Hiccup coaxed Fishlegs only for the latter to shake his head.
"I don't want to jump! I—" Fishlegs squeaked in protest before Erland butted in, saying, "You'll only be falling for a few seconds, Fishlegs. It'll be alright."
"You have to believe she's gonna catch you! It's a trust exercise," Hiccup said in agreement.
"I liked to do my trusting on the ground, thank you very much!" Fishlegs retorted and stayed on his saddle.
"Don't you trust Meatlug?" Zenna tilted her head to the side.
"I'd catch you the moment you started falling, Fishlegs," Meatlug rumbled.
"Meatlug is giving you reassurance. Just take a deep breath and fall. She'll catch you for sure," Erland told Fishlegs after translating Meatlug's words.
Snotlout decided to butt in with Hookfang. "Like this, chicken-legs," he said with a haughty smirk before falling off his Monstrous Nightmare, a "WHOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!" leaving him as he tumbled through the air.
Hookfang yawned and stayed up in the air with the other dragons, much to Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland's concern.
"So, should we mention something to Hookfang?" Tuffnut asked as he and his sister, Ruffnut, perched on Barf and Belch.
"Let me sleep on it," Ruffnut replied, fiddling with one of her braids.
Stormfly flew closer to Hookfang and squawked, "Your Rider's about to turn into a pile of body parts in the ocean!" At the same time Astrid shouted, "Hookfang! Get him!"
Hookfang finally looked down and went, "Oh, shoot…" remembering what he and the other dragons were here for.
"NOT FEELING THE TRUST!" Snotlout screamed as he tumbled through the clouds, getting closer and closer to the ground.
Tucking his wings in, Hookfang dove and managed to catch Snotlout. Unfortunately, he couldn't pull up and Snotlout wasn't able to maneuver him.
"Ahhhh! Comin' in too hot! AAAAAHHHH!" Snotlout shrieked as they crashed through a roof.
A roof that just so happened to be Mildew's.
"Of all the houses on Berk…" Erland smacked his forehead.
"Holy Shields, Snotlout, you and Hookfang get out of there quick…" Zenna muttered, annoyed at Snotlout and Hookfang but also fearing for their lives.
Back in Mildew's house, Snotlout and Hookfang recovered from their crash landing. Snotlout shook his head and, as his blurry vision cleared, found himself looking at the owner of the house he and his Monstrous Nightmare had crashed into.
"Mildew!" Snotlout gulped once he saw the old coot's scowling face. He and Hookfang then hightailed it out of the house, causing even more damage to the roof in their haste to escape.
Mildew looked up through the hole in his roof and saw Spitelout's boy and his brute of a dragon join Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland in making a hasty retreat.
"You'll pay for this!" he yelled as his pet sheep, Fungus, merely bleated.
Deciding it was a good idea to postpone Trust Fall exercises for the meantime, the Riders flew as far away as they could from Mildew's house, headed for the Academy training arena.
"Oh, something tells me we're gonna hear about this," Hiccup mumbled, already imagining how steamed his father would be when he and Toothless got home.
"Thanks a lot, you two," Zenna said sarcastically, glaring at Snotlout and Hookfang with her one violet eye.
"It wasn't my fault!" Snotlout protested. Hookfang growled and prepared to flame up and roast his Rider's butt, but stopped when Erland frowned at him.
'I'm disappointed in you, Hookfang. Not only did you wait until the last minute before saving your Rider, you weren't able to keep yourself in control and ended up crashing through the roof of the one Viking who hates dragons,' Erland mentally scolded the Monstrous Nightmare before looking at Hiccup, who glanced at him worriedly.
"I'll help you with explaining things to your father," he sighed. Given that he was the one person on the island who could actually communicate with dragons, Erland knew that Stoick was going to want to speak to him about today's fiasco.
That evening at the Haddock house, HIccup, Erland, and Zenna were prepared to be yelled at or lectured by the Chief. Stoick, however, started things off by placing a shingle on the table in front of them.
"Shingle again? Didn't we have roofing material for dinner last night?" Hiccup joked with a nervous chuckle. Zenna gently nudged him and shook her head, silently telling him that humor wasn't helping as Stoick was glaring at all three of them.
"Can I be the first to say that today's mishap isn't so different from when dragons first started living peacefully on the island with us?" Erland piped up.
"It was an accident, Dad. I'm sure Mildew's making it sound worse than it is," Hiccup added in agreement.
"A dragon and a huge, obnoxious boy crashed through his roof… twice!" Stoick told them.
Hiccup winced. "Well, sure, it sounds bad if you're gonna stick to the facts," he said.
"Can't the three of you get Snotlout and Hookfang to behave?" Stoick questioned, brows furrowed.
"We've tried, Chief. But it's like trying to tell a yak to lay eggs," Zenna asked, shaking her head.
Sighing, Stoick walked over to the three. "Of all the houses on the island, a dragon had to crash through Mildew's! You three know he hates dragons more than anyone else!" he said.
"We know. You might wanna talk to him about his attitude," Hiccup suggested.
"Or ship him off to another tribe. Berk will be a lot better off without him," Zenna chimed in.
"It's not like he's doing anything useful for the tribe other than planting rotten cabbages or anything," Erland said, taking out one of his daggers to inspect the edge.
What he didn't say out loud was "You could just kill him."
Hiccup and Zenna both lightly elbowed him in the ribs and he quickly sheathed his dagger before Stoick could get suspicious.
Stoick narrowed his eyes at Erland, but only said, "Listen to me. I gave you three the responsibility of training those dragons. Everyone knows that!" before looking right at Hiccup. "All eyes are upon you and your friends, son. Whatever those beasts do reflects on you. And whatever you do reflects on me."
"I'm sorry, Dad. You're right," Hiccup mumbled, bowing his head slightly. Even though he and his father were on better terms now, he still hated disappointing the latter.
"As for you, Erland," Stoick turned his gaze on the dark-haired seidr. "you need to make sure that the dragons stay clear of trouble. Especially the ones with Riders," he said with a stern frown.
"Chief, we've been over this before. I may be able to talk to the dragons, but, by no means, can I control their thoughts and personalities. Hookfang is as stubborn as his Rider and I can't always get him to follow my commands. Same goes for the wild dragons. They respect me, yes, but they're not used to civilization like some of the other dragons are. My point is that I can talk to them and reason with them. But I can't ask them to deny their natures," Erland retorted, his gaze sharp as flint.
Stoick merely held Erland's gaze until the lad turned to check on Embla who was now peering out of the window. The Changewing let out a soft hiss and Erland looked at her until she gave a nod and slipped out of sight. It honestly both baffled and unsettled Stoick how Erland was able to communicate with the dragons without even needing to speak or yell. And he couldn't deny that he was right. Riders or no Riders, dragons still followed their instincts and could never be fully tamed like a horse or a donkey.
Still, he was the Chief and his duty was to his people - even if some people were like Mildew. There still needed to be repercussions for what happened.
"You three and your friends are gonna go back to Mildew's house and fix his roof. Without your dragons!" he told the trio.
Erland merely shrugged, accepting the punishment.
"Got a break there, bud," Hiccup said to Toothless who padded over to him along with Stryka.
"Looks like we won't be flying tomorrow in the morning, girl," Zenna told Stryka who cooed and nuzzled her.
'Sorry, Embla. We're not going to be able to fly until that old coot's roof is fixed,' Erland mentally apologized to Embla, who let out a soft huff.
'Why not just leave the hole there so that wizened weasel catches cold and dies? He's not particularly that useful to the tribe in his advanced age,' Embla pointed out.
'Take it up with Stoick. I was going to suggest assassination, but that's a one-way ticket to banishment,' Erland replied.
Seeing that there was nothing more to discuss, Hiccup prepared to head upstairs to his room while Zenna and Erland turned to head out.
"Ah! Not so fast! Aren't you forgetting something?" Stoick took off his boots. "It's Boot Night. They need to be aired out," he told Hiccup and handed him the boots.
"UGH!" Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland all gagged at the foul smell coming from Stoick's boots. It was like somebody had left a pile of moldy socks soaked in fish juices and left to dry out in the sun.
"I think it's going to take more than air…" Hiccup muttered.
"Uggghhh, I was hoping I'd get to skip Boot Night tonight…" Zenna grimaced before heading out. No doubt her parents were also taking their boots to air out.
"At least the winds high up where the old goat and I live can drive off the smell." Erland wrinkled his nose, following Zenna outside.
Taking his father's boots outside to air out, Hiccup saw that his other friends were doing the same thing.
"Uck, I hate boot night!" Fishlegs complained, looking a bit green.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were holding a boot each. Ruffnut shoved the left boot she had into Tuffnut's face, making the latter gag. "Why is his left foot always so much smellier than his right?" Tuffnut grumbled, while trying to swat the boot away.
Astrid remained calm and just simply placed her parents' boots out on the doorstep and quickly went back inside.
As Erland passed by the Fiersome household, he saw Zenna rushing to put her parents' boots out. Once Embla dropped him off at Gothi's, he didn't need to be told twice when Gothi placed her boots on the floor after they'd eaten dinner. Like Astrid, he placed them outside the hut without any complaints while holding his breath.
The night slowly grew darker as the snow began to fall. The cold winter air would've done good for all the boots.
But in the morning…every single boot in Berk had disappeared.
Stoick was puzzled to find his boots gone when he woke up. Even Hiccup was scratching his head. He placed the boots right where he usually placed them whenever it was Boot Night the night before. How could they have disappeared?
"Where are my boots?" Stoick asked and then saw Gobber, Edgar, Bucket, Mulch and a few other Vikings come over, all barefoot.
"Where are your boots?" the Chief asked them.
"Nobody knows." Edgar shrugged.
"They've all been stolen! Every last one!" Gobber told his old friend.
"Oh! That explains why me feet are so cold." Bucket realized, slow as always.
"Who could have done such a thing?" Mulch asked.
Zenna had come with her father and was now looking at Hiccup, confused. Boots couldn't just disappear in the middle of the night. Well, unless they were stolen.
Erland arrived and, much to everyone's confusion, he was wearing his boots as always. "Why is everyone barefoot in winter? Is this some ritual that I haven't been introduced to yet?" he asked.
"How do you still have your boots?" Mulch questioned him.
"What about Gothi, Erland? Is she missing her boots as well?" Edgar asked.
"No, I saw her putting them on this morning. Mine were also done airing out," Erland replied.
Zenna put a hand to her chin. "Considering that Gothi's hut is pretty high up, it'd make sense that her boots and Erland's were the only pairs that weren't stolen. You'd have to be crazy to try coming up to Gothi's at night during winter when the steps are slippery and there's frost forming on the lift," she mused.
"Thank you," Erland said, feeling the tiniest bit of relief. At least nobody could accuse him of being a boot thief. Then he blinked. "But why would someone steal everyone's boots in the first place?" he wondered aloud.
That's when Mildew showed up, also bootless. "All I know is that they left a mighty big footprint," he stated, pointing at a large dragon footprint with his staff.
Fishlegs, who had joined the crowd, carefully took a look at it. "Oh! Those are Zippleback tracks. You can tell by the half-moon shaped arches. That's Dragon 101 guys, I don't gotta fill you in on that," he stated confidently.
"I never should've given him Dragon Tracking lessons…" Zenna facepalmed, knowing that this sort of info was just what Mildew needed to peg the dragons as the criminals.
Luckily Hiccup thought fast and said, "So a dragon walked through here - a Zippleback, according to my friend, Fishlegs. But that doesn't mean he took everyone's boots."
Mildew then replied with, "Well, there's just one way to find out. Follow the footprints."
Everyone then decided to follow the old man. Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland just looked at each other, praying that the Zippleback had been a wild one and had already flown off.
The footprints led all the way to the Dragon Academy. Barf and Belch were there, still sleeping.
Beside the Hideous Zippleback…was a huge pile of chewed-up boots.
"Oh Norns, no…" Zenna sighed, seeing Mildew's triumphant look.
"So there's a bunch of boots piled around a Zippleback. That doesn't mean—" Hiccup managed to say before noticing the villagers' displeased looks.
"Okay, fine, he took the boots," the one-legged teen said in defeat.
"We don't know that for sure, Hiccup," Erland reminded him before getting work on rousing Barf and Belch awake while the villagers complained.
"How are we supposed to do any work in this weather without our boots?!"
"This is outrageous!"
"Now, how long before something's done about these creatures, Stoick?" Mildew waved his staff at the Chief. "How much more can we stand?!" he demanded.
Erland, on the other hand, managed to wake up Barf and Belch. 'Barf, Belch, I need you two to answer me honestly. Did you steal these boots?' he asked.
Looking at the pile of boots, Barf and Belch squinted.
"When did those get there?" Barf asked.
"We didn't steal these, Serpent Tongue," Belch said.
"Barf and Belch didn't take the boots!" Erland shouted, getting everybody's attention. "I just asked them and they have no idea how these boots got here. They're innocent."
"Oh, bah! You're really going to believe what that dragon says?" Mildew scoffed.
"Erland is the one person who can understand the dragons, Mildew. I don't think the dragons would lie to him," Edgar told the old man, giving Erland a reassuring nod.
Gobber then stepped forward. "Listen to yourselves! "My feet are cold!" You're Vikings! Everything is cold! I'll fix your boots for ya. You'll be back to work in no time," he addressed the crowd.
Stoick nodded his thanks. "You all heard Gobber. You'll be getting your boots back as good as new," ee told his people.
While the villagers were appeased, Mildew was not. "That's it? No consequences for these dragons?" he asked Stoick bitterly.
"They took our boots, Mildew. The world isn't coming to an end!" Stoick said sternly.
"If it were, the sky would be ablaze and Valhalla would be opening its doors wide open," Edgar chimed in.
"Well said, Dad," Zenna agreed with him.
"And don't forget that Barf and Belch are innocent. Erland said so," Hiccup added.
Mildew glared at him. "Oh, don't be so sure. Dragons are wild beasts. There's no telling what else they'll do behind our sleeping backs," he retorted.
"Even dragons need to sleep, Mildew. That's what they all do at night too. I highly doubt they'd be up to something in the middle of the night," Zenna told him off, folding her arms across her chest.
"If it was a wild dragon who'd done it, chances are that they've already left the island," Erland mumbled and glanced at the pile of boots. "Though why they took the boots and chewed them up is a mystery. Something tells me that a dragon wouldn't even do something like this…"
"They don't destroy things on purpose!" Hiccup emphasized.
"Bah!" Mildew grumbled, making Erland mutter, "Scrooge," under his breath.
"But you do have a point, Mildew."
At that statement, Erland and Zenna gave Hiccup shocked looks while Mildew said, "Uh-whuh?" in confusion.
Hiccup turned to the crowd and addressed them. "They are wild animals. And they need us to keep an eye on them. And rest assured we will do just that!" he proclaimed, standing tall and proud. Then he looked at Barf and Belch, who were watching him with tilted heads, and realized that their presence wasn't really helping.
"Will you get out of there?" he gently shooed the Zippleback away..
"You heard him, everyone. We'll keep a close eye on every dragon and make sure they don't get into any mischief. You can count on us," Zenna said confidently.
Trusting the Chief's son, his one-eyed friend, and the village Dragon Whisperer, the crowd dispersed. When everyone had left, Zenna looked at Hiccup. "Just out of curiosity, how exactly are we going to keep an eye over every dragon on Berk?" she asked him.
Hiccup was already one step ahead of her.
Once all eight Dragon Riders assembled by the island's largest catapult, Hiccup revealed his plan.
"We're going on night patrol."
While Zenna and Erland nodded in approval, the others were either apprehensive, not convinced, or excited.
"Night patrol! I love it!" Tuffnut declared before giving Hiccup a curious look. "What is it?" he asked, blushing when Zenna gave him a deadpan look that clearly said 'You're an idiot.'
"It's in the name, Tuff," Erland sighed and leaned against the base of the catapult.
"It's where we patrol at night. To keep an eye on the dragons. And make sure they don't get blamed for anything else," Hiccup explained for Tuffnut's sake.
Fishlegs raised his hand. "Um, have you cleared this with our parents? Because some of us might not be allowed out after a certain hour," he asked, his voice small.
"Not allowed? Or afraaaaid?" Snotlout teased him and got all up in Fishlegs' face.
"Hey!" Fishlegs waved him off. "Things happen after dark," he whispered.
"Don't worry, Legs. The guys and I talked to your parents and they gave us permission," Zenna reassured him.
Seeing that the others still looked unsure, Hiccup gave them a stern look. "Guys! We have to do this. You heard Mildew. He wants the dragons banished," he told them.
"And that's not okay. If we want the dragons to stay, we gotta do the night patrol and make sure they aren't blamed for any rule breaking," Zenna added.
"How it works: We patrol the village and keep an eye out for any dragons getting into mischief. We'll also inform the villagers what we're doing and ask if they've seen anything suspicious. It'll also help us find answers as to who or what stole everybody's boots last night," Erland informed everyone.
"Permission to shoot first and ask questions later?" Ruffnut asked with an eager grin.
"Permission to skip the question?" Tuffnut joined in.
"Both requests, denied!" Zenna told them with a glare.
"We're just patrolling! No one is shooting anyone!" Hiccup reminded the mischievous duo.
Tuffnut frowned. "I have a question. What's fun about that?" he asked.
"It's not supposed to be fun. It's a Hiccup Idea," Astrid said with a slight smile.
"Exactly." Hiccup smiled, not processing what Astrid said until he heard Erland snicker. Processing Astrid's words, his smile dropped. "What?" he asked while Zenna laughed and said, "I totally agree with you, Astrid."
As soon as the sun set, the Riders - their dragons with them - split up to go on patrol. Hiccup had gone one step further and gave everybody sashes with the initials of their little group.
Astrid sighed as she adjusted her sash and knocked on a door. "Hello, sir!" she started before realizing that a woman had answered the door. The woman took a bite out of a chicken leg and didn't seem to mind being addressed wrongly. "Ah, ummm— ma'am," Astrid corrected herself before straightening up. "My name is Astrid, and I'm with the Dragon United Monitoring Brigade," she said.
The woman looked at the sash and the runes stitched into it. "D.U.M.B?" she asked.
Astrid deflated upon hearing the name's acronym. It wasn't one of Hiccup's brightest ideas. "Yes, that is correct. Not my idea," she said. But, upon remembering the group's purpose, she put on a cheery facade. "But it is easy to remember. If you have any dragon-related problems, contact us. Just cup a hand on either side of your mouth and, at the top of your lungs, yell—"
SLAM!
"Dumb," Astrid muttered in defeat.
In another part of the village, Snotlout and Hookfang were doing their patrol. Things were going well and Hookfang was behaving for once. Suddenly, something moved in the shadows, catching Snotlout's eye.
"Halt! Who goes there!" the Jorgenson boy called out.
"Take a wild guess," Gobber answered back, making himself visible. He'd just left the Great Hall after dinner and was on his way home when he saw Snotlout and Hookfang.
"I don't think I like your attitude." Snotlout frowned, strolling up to the blacksmith.
"Right back at ya," Gobber fired back.
"Yeah, but I'm the one with the sash," Snotlout reminded him, puffing his chest out.
"Let me take a closer look at that." Gobber yanked on the sash to inspect it, despite Snotlout's protests.
What the two didn't notice was Hookfang sneaking off.
"Dumb. Well that suits you," Gobber remarked, looking at the acronym
Snotlout huffed and pulled away. "Okay, I think we're done here," he said, turning to where Hookfang was earlier. But upon seeing that his Monstrous Nightmare was gone, Snotlout groaned and hastened to go look for him.
Thor knew he was gonna get into hot water with Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland if they found him without his dragon.
Somewhere else, Fishlegs was nervous and looking around at every dark corner while he and Meatlug did their patrol. A snap of the twig made him jump. "Oh! What was that?" he squeaked, paling when he saw shadows creeping along the ground and walls of the houses.
A low growl came from somewhere and a larger shadow that looked like it belonged to a dragon emerged! That was enough to send Fishlegs running and screaming in fright with Meatlug behind him. Little did he know that the noises and shadows were just the Twins playing around, with Hookfang being the source of the larger shadow.
"Hmph! Meatlug and her Rider are such scaredy cats…" Hookfang huffed and went on his way, the Thorston Twins oblivious to his presence.
"Whoa…" The Twins both breathed out, amazed at how well their little prank had gone before looking at each other and asked at the same time, "Did you see me scare him?"
That then started an argument between the two of them.
"No, I scared him!" Ruffnut told her brother.
"No, I scared him!" Tuffnut shot back.
"No, me!"
"No, no, no!"
Ruffnut snarled and started grabbing at Tuffnut's hair.
"Hey! Ugh!" griped Tuffnut and he threw punches at his sister.
"It was me! I did it!" Ruffnut shrieked at him.
"Clearly me!" Tuffnut retorted
Barf and Belch just looked at each other and shook their heads, clearly not amused by their Riders' antics.
Meanwhile, Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland were patrolling the town from dragon back. Erland unhooked himself from Embla's saddle and slowly turned around so he was sitting with his back to Embla's front, and he looked down at the village, keeping his ears open.
'Hear anything?' Embla asked him.
'Nothing. And any wild dragon we encountered the entire day didn't know anything about the stolen boots,' Erland answered and turned around so he was sitting in his usual riding position on his dragon's back.
Stryka crooned, happy to stretch her wings alongside her mate on this beautiful moonlit night.
"Not one dragon out misbehaving, Hiccup," Zenna reported after scanning the whole area.
Hiccup smiled at Toothless who was also enjoying the cool evening air. "Well, Mildew will be happy to know what dragons do at night: they sleep like everyone else," he told his best dragon friend happily.
"I also took the liberty to go around the village earlier to ask anyone if they'd been out last night and saw anything suspicious," Erland piped up.
"Find out anything?" Hiccup asked.
"Nothing at all. Looks like the whole village was fast asleep by the time the boots were stolen. It can't have been our dragons and it can't have been any wild dragon living here within a ten-mile radius," Erland told him and Zenna
"And he says that we can't keep dragons under control." Zenna smiled at the duo.
"The Dragon United Monitoring Brigade's first night patrol is a success!" Hiccup proclaimed. To his bewilderment, Zenna and Erland winced.
"What is it?"
Zenna sighed and decided to be honest. "Can we please change the name Dragon United Monitoring Brigade to Berk Watch?" Zenna pleaded.
"What's wrong with D.U.M.B.?" Hiccup asked only to realize the blunder when both Zenna and Erland gave him deadpan looks.
"Ohhh… Right… Berk Watch does sound a lot better, now that you mention it…" Hiccup mumbled, the tips of his ears turning red.
"It most definitely does." Zenna nodded.
"When you and Astrid have kids, I hope she names them," Erland joked, coaxing a laugh out of Zenna and splutters of embarrassment from Hiccup.
With the night patrol complete, the Riders met up in the Dragon Training Academy to give their reports. Snotlout looked a little out of breath, but Hookfang was with him, looking sleepy. Satisfied, all eight teens and their dragons went home to bed.
The next morning…
"Hiccup! Hicc! Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, will you for the love of the Norns, WAKE UP!"
Yawning, Hiccup got out of bed and went to his window. Zenna was impatiently tapping her foot, Stryka at her side, looking frazzled.
"Morning to you too, Zen… What's up?" the emerald eyed teen mumbled sleepily.
"The Great Hall's been thrashed! That's what's up!" Zenna exclaimed exasperatedly.
The one-eyed girl's words immediately woke Hiccup fully and he was rushing to wake Toothless and his father.
Soon in the Great Hall, Stoick, Henna, Edgar, Hiccup, Zenna, Erland, and the rest of the Viking teens were surveying the damage. And the damage was plenty. The walls and pillars were covered in claw marks, tapestries were ripped to shreds…
Yep, the Great Hall had definitely been thrashed.
"Oh no…" Henna murmured, sadly looking at the ruined tapestries. She helped make some of them and now they were destroyed. All her work was destroyed in an instant.
"It's alright, love. There'll be plenty more wonderful tapestries for you to make for this place," Edgar comforted her.
"Who could have done such a thing?" Stoick wondered out loud.
"Oh, it looks like a dragon to me!" Fishlegs piped up, inspecting a post that was covered in claw marks.
"We don't know for sure, Fishlegs!" Hiccup said, worried that his friend's extensive dragon knowledge would worsen suspicions on the dragons.
"Sure we do. Look at these claw marks. It was obviously a Monstrous Nightmare. The spacing of the talons is dead on," his fellow dragon enthusiast informed him, completely oblivious to his friends' distress.
"Once again, thank you, Fishlegs!" Hiccup said begrudgingly.
"Oh, stop, it's just basic stuff." Fishlegs said, a little embarrassed at the praise he was getting.
"We know. Just stop talking already," Erland hissed but also inspected the claw marks.
"He is so naïve…" Zenna said, shaking her head.
"But how could this happen? We had every dragon accounted for at all times!" Astrid said in disbelief before turning to the other Dragon Riders and asked, "Right, guys?"
That's when Snotlout started sweating. "When you say, 'at all times' and 'every dragon', what exactly do you mean?" he asked.
"Oh no, this has 'Idiot' written all over it…" Zenna muttered under her breath. Honestly, she wondered why she was even friends sometimes with the pig-headed Jorgenson.
Erland turned from inspecting a tapestry, eyes narrowed. 'Hookfang, get over here. Now.'
Hearing Loki's voice in his head, Hookfang whimpered and slunk over to the Serpent Tongue. While Hookfang was being interrogated, Hiccup turned to Snotlout.
"Okay, what happened, Snotlout?" he asked his cousin patiently.
"Well, I was detaining a suspect who wasn't showing sufficient respect to the sash," Snotlout began, deliberately shooting looks at Gobber.
"I think I showed sufficient respect to a sash that says 'dumb'," Gobber said coolly.
"We've got to change that name." Astrid sighed, shaking her head slightly.
"I suggested Berk Watch. We can either make new sashes now or ditch the things altogether." Zenna told her.
Snotlout continued explaining. "Anyways, as I was questioning said suspect, Hookfang may have—and I'm not saying that he did—but it is possible he wandered off for a few…" trailing off, the Jorgenson boy looked at his friends and clammed up.
"How long was Hookfang gone, Snotlout?" Zenna asked, already having a bad feeling welling in the pit of her stomach.
"Seconds?" Ruffnut asked.
"Minutes?" Tuffnut asked next.
Finally Snotlout replied with, "Hours." Much to the other Riders' chagrin.
"Oh, that's way longer than minutes." Tuffnut remarked.
"Norns above, how? How can you lose sight of a dragon as large as Hookfang…?" Zenna mumbled, covering her eye and eye patch with her hands in an attempt to keep herself from freaking out.
"Serpent Tongue, I swear on my ancestors' names that I didn't do anything!" Hookfang defended himself as Erland silently questioned him.
'Well, if you didn't do this,' Erland gestured to the claw marks littering the Great Hall. 'Where did you go while Snotlout was on patrol?' he questioned the Monstrous Nightmare.
'Just around the plaza to find a place to nap while he did his patrol. I never even set foot near the steps to the Great Hall last night,' Hookfang replied.
But, just as Erland was about to let everyone know about this, Mildew arrived. "Oh no, it's true! The Great Hall! So many memories. My three weddings, their three funerals. Oh, the funerals!" the old man said in mock horror and wistfulness.
"He is a sick, sick old man," Edgar muttered under his breath.
"Quite right you are, love," Henna mumbled, disgusted at the old man's presence.
"A dragon must have gone on a rampage. I hate to say it, Stoick, but you're gonna have to—" Gobber managed to say to the Chief before he interrupted with, "I know what has to be done, Gobber."
"So do I!" Mildew proclaimed triumphantly.
"Hold it! Hookfang just told me that he was nowhere near the Great Hall last night," Erland interrupted, placing his hand against the Monstrous Nightmare's snout.
"Well, can you explain to me why there are Monstrous Nightmare claw marks all around us, Erland?" Stoick questioned him, hands on his hips.
Erland opened and closed his mouth a few times before looking at the floor, fists clenched.
'Ha! Your magic dragon speak can't get you and your friends out of this one, boy!' Mildew thought with relish upon seeing Erland unable to defend the dragons or himself.
Stoick's expression was grave. "Starting tonight, every night, I want all the dragons put in the Academy under lock and key," he told his son, who could only stare at him, stunned, along with Zenna.
"Every dragon, Stoick?" Henna asked worriedly. When the Chief nodded, Zenna's mother sighed.
"Serpent and Serpentine aren't going to like this…" Edgar mumbled, shaking his head.
Mildew then stepped forward with an incredulous expression. "What? That's it? Look what they did!" the old man gestured to the Great Hall's damage with his staff.
That's when Hiccup and Zenna decided to speak up.
"This just doesn't make any sense! A dragon wouldn't just come in here and destroy the place! I mean, none of the food was even touched!" Hiccup exclaimed, waving to the untouched supply of fish near the main fire pit.
"I don't know why dragons do what they do, but I'm not going to let them do any more damage," Stoick said.
"Mom, Dad, back us up here!" Zenna looked to her parents, pleading.
"I'm sorry love. But we have to follow the Chief's orders," Edgar sighed.
"What the Chief says goes, Zenna. I'm sorry." Henna said sadly. Zenna visibly slumped and looked at Hiccup, who looked just as defeated as she was. Looking at Erland didn't make them feel any better. Their friend was staring at the floor with his brow creased and hands fisted at his sides, but they were certain that his mind was racing with ways to defend the dragons.
"There's got to be an explanation… Hookfang wasn't here last night…" Erland muttered and raised his head. "If I can find proof that the dragons didn't damage the Great Hall, will you lift your order?" he asked Stoick.
"You're in no position to bargain with the Chief, boy," Mildew told him, only for Stoick to wave his hand at him in dismissal.
"I will consider it." Stoick nodded. For now, that was enough.
Late in the afternoon, the Dragon Riders took their dragons to the Dragon Academy. Thankfully, they were only going to confine them in the arena and not in the cages. Stoick was with Gobber and Zenna's parents when the teens flew over their heads. Serpent and Serpentine, Edgar and Henna's young Hideous Zippleback, was flying under the safety of Stryka's wings. Catching the adults' gaze, Hiccup and Zenna both gave them saddened looks before continuing on their way to the Academy.
"Oh, I hope Serpent and Serpentine don't have a rough night," Henna said, worried for the young Zippleback following Stryka like an obedient hatchling.
"They'll be alright, love. After all, Stryka will be there with them," Edgar reassured her but gave Stoick a look that clearly said that he was also uncomfortable with his decision to lock the dragons up.
"You had to cage the dragons, Stoick. You had no choice," Gobber told his old friend upon seeing the regret on Stoick's face.
Stoick heaved a sigh. The old blacksmith was right. If he hadn't done it, Mildew would've stirred up the island and the problem would've worsened. But still… it didn't feel right at all.
"I know. But to Hiccup, when I punish them, I'm punishing him, Zenna, and Erland," Stoick admitted.
"Yeah, those three all think the dragons can do no wrong," Gobber agreed, feeling sorry for his apprentice and one eyed friend.
"I just hope that he understands that while a father does what's best for his son, a chief must do what's best for the village," Stoick sighed.
"Well, for all our sakes, I hope Erland can find proof of the dragons' innocence. The lad looked just about ready to throw a knife at Mildew when the old coot left," Edgar remarked.
"Ah, I'll bet my right arm that when Hiccup becomes Chief, he and Zenna will be the first to pledge their loyalties to him. Those two will follow him to the edge of the world if they have to in order to prove their loyalty!" Gobber said jokingly, making the two Fiersomes laugh.
Stoick had to smile at that. He knew Zenna very well. Where he had failed as a father back then, Zenna was there to fill whatever hole Hiccup had when he was alone and needed someone. The one eyed girl had become his son's rock and had stayed loyal to him from the day they met. In return, Stoick remembered that his son had taken up the role of becoming Zenna's surrogate brother when Elias had died.
As for Erland, well, he was both wary but respectful of the young man. Gothi's ward could understand dragons on a level even deeper than what his son knew. It's almost as if he was a dragon himself with his calculating gaze that could possibly see into both man and dragon's souls. And he was shrewd and cunning, proving himself to be a capable advisor that Hiccup could turn to for guidance.
No doubt that, when the time came for his son to become his successor, Zenna and Erland would be by his side… and will stay with Hiccup to the very end.
Meanwhile at the Academy, the eight Viking teens were trying their best to make sure that their dragons were comfortable. Zenna and Stryka put together a bed of soft hay and some blankets while Serpent and Serpentine ate their dinner.
"Why do I have to be locked up in here? I've already got a nice cave out in the woods…" Embla grumbled.
"It's only temporary, Em. I'm sorry about this…" Erland apologized as he prepared a bed near Stryka's.
"I don't wanna sleep here…" Serpent whined.
"I wanna go back to the house, Stryka. I wanna sleep next to Mama and Papa!" Serpentine cried out, butting his head against Stryka's side.
"I'm sorry, my little one. But it will only be for a little while. Toothless and I will look after you," Stryka promised them.
"Sleep, little Meatlug in your bed, where yummy little boulders dance in your head," Fishlegs sang to Meatlug only to get sad growls from his Gronckle, who refused to sleep.
"That usually works! Our whole bedtime routine is upset! She won't even lick my feet, thanks to—" Fishlegs whined miserably.
"Watch it, Fishlegs! At least my dragon doesn't need a lullaby and a blanky," the Jorgenson boy taunted the husky Ingerman before noticing his friends glaring at him.
"Actually, it's your fault that all our dragons have to sleep in jail," Ruffnut pointed out.
"Yeah. You don't see our dragon going on a rampage and wrecking stuff," Tuffnut said in agreement before Barf and Belch stomped on a box and smashed it into splinters.
Hiccup, Zenna, Erland, Astrid, Snotlout, and Fishlegs looked at the Twins.
"Well, not any good stuff," Tuffnut mumbled.
"That still doesn't help our situation, Tuff," Zenna said blandly.
Hiccup, on the other hand, was still thinking hard. "I don't think a dragon wrecked the Great Hall or stole the boots," he said out loud.
"Thank you!" Erland said as he paced about. "Barf and Belch didn't steal the boots. And it makes no sense why a wild dragon would steal and leave them piled up in one place. Same for the Great Hall. While I understand that scratching one's claws against a post is needed for dragons to develop healthy claws, they wouldn't completely wreck a whole room if there's one good post to scratch…"
"None of us wants to believe it either, but you three saw the proof," Astrid told the Three Weirdos and gestured to some of Barf and Belch's footprints in the snow.
"What proof? You saw the footprints, too. They were supposed to be made by a Zippleback, but they were no deeper than mine. Look at these! I could lie down in them!" Hiccup said, gesturing to the footprint. Zenna knelt down and began to inspect the footprint from all angles, her eyebrows scrunching up in concentration.
"Erland, do these footprints look different from the ones near the stolen boots?" she asked.
Approaching the footprints, Erland placed his hand in the footprint. "They're much deeper compared to the ones from yesterday morning. Ah, if only I could have made a cast of them earlier…" he murmured.
"Well, there could be a lot of explanations why a dragon made shallow footprints," Fishlegs informed the trio.
"Like, hello, he was trying to be sneaky!" Ruffnut chimed in.
"That's true…" Erland muttered, standing up with a skeptical look on his face as he tried to figure something out.
"All right. Well, how do you explain the Great Hall?" Astrid asked.
"Well, for one, the supposed dragon hadn't stolen any of the food. A dragon wouldn't thrash a place if food was what they were after," Erland replied.
"You're right. They could just take the food and leave. Maybe they'd upturn a few tables, but that's probably the only damage they could have caused," Zenna said in agreement.
The Riders' musings were interrupted by Hookfang flaming up and growling at Barf and Belch when the Zippleback started squabbling.
"Snotlout, do something about him, please? We're trying to think over here," Hiccup told his cousin.
"Yeah, I gave up thinking. Never been happier," Tuffnut said nonchalantly.
"I'm not the boss of him. He always does that when he gets angry!" Snotlout shrugged.
Hookfang, still peeved, walked away. And what he left on the Academy's stone floor got Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland's attention: a single Monstrous Nightmare footprint with scorch marks from the Stoker Class dragon's intense fire!
"Or goes on a rampage," Hiccup said in realization and Erland perked up.
"That's it! That's what was off with the claw marks in the Great Hall!" he exclaimed.
"That's how we can explain the Great Hall! We've got to tell my Dad about this!" Hiccup shouted, grabbing his best human friends by the hand. Along with Toothless, Stryka, and Embla, the trio headed for the Great Hall.
Erland stopped just as they were about to climb the steps. "Hiccup, you and Zenna talk to your father. I'll keep watch with the dragons," he suggested. Night had fallen and the darkness made for good cover for anyone up to no good.
While Hiccup and Zenna went on ahead to explain their findings to the Chief, Erland sat on the steps with Toothless, Stryka, and Embla.
'Don't take this the wrong way, you three. I just want to make sure,' Erland silently told the three dragons when they looked at him.
"It's alright, Loki. We understand," Embla said, nuzzling her Rider.
'If anyone comes by with plans to frame us for their crimes, we'll catch 'em in the act!' Toothless stood on alert, his tail swishing.
Erland nodded and continued his watch. Meanwhile, inside the Great Hall, Hiccup and Zenna found Stoick.
"Just hear me and Zenna out, Dad. When a Monstrous Nightmare gets mad, his whole body bursts into flames. Look at these walls! Not one single scorch mark," Hiccup told him, gesturing to the columns and tapestries.
"Plus if a dragon went on a rampage last night, there would be telltale signs such as the scent of smoke or even more severe collateral damage. Judging by the ruined tapestries and columns turned scratching posts, the damage is surprisingly not as severe as usual," Zenna added.
"Hiccup, Zenna, until I have solid proof that it was something else, the dragons stay where they are." Stoick told the two teens before continuing on with directing the Vikings who were doing the repairs.
Outside, Erland had taken to walking around the plaza with the Embla behind him while Toothless and Stryka flanked him. Suddenly, all the dragons stopped and sniffed the air.
"Serpent Tongue, there's something off about the armory," Stryka reported.
"The usual smell of iron, smoke, fire, and leather is being smothered by something else," Toothless said after taking a long inhale.
"Stay here." Erland started walking towards the armory, but Embla gently caught hold of the back of his shirt with his teeth.
'Loki, wait. What if there's something in there?' Embla asked, yellow eyes showing worry.
'Then I will deal with it, Embla. For now, best that you three keep a distance so the villagers don't get suspicious. I'll be fine,' Erland reassured the Changewing with a gentle pat to her snout. Embla released him and he carefully made his way into the armory.
A sharp acrid smell reached Erland's nostrils as he tried to make out the interior of the armory in the moonlight. When his eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, he realized what was inside.
There had to be at least two or three barrels and the smell was coming from them. Whatever was inside them, Erland knew enough to know that they were highly flammable and explosive.
"Shit. I need to get these out of here," he muttered.
But he'd barely taken a step when something hit him in the back of the head and everything went black.
Hearing a loud thud, Embla roared in alarm and lumbered over to the armory where she found her Rider on the floor, knocked out. Toothless and Stryka followed her, breaking protocol, and helped Embla drag Erland out as fast as they could.
KABOOM!
It was a good thing they got out of there in time…
Back in the Great Hall, Hiccup, Zenna and Stoick were helping with the repairs when they heard people screaming, "Fire, fire!"
Quickly, they rushed out to see the armory in flames.
"The armory! Grab some buckets!" Stoick ordered quickly but stopped short when he saw two familiar Night Furies and a Changewing looking at the fire in shock.
"Toothless?" the Chief said in shock.
"Stryka?" Henna and Edgar had joined him and were now staring at their daughter's one eyed dragon.
Embla, who'd been lying on the ground with her wings tucked closely to her, shrieked in distress and opened her wings.
"ERLAND!" Hiccup and Zenna yelled upon seeing their friend lying unconscious against Embla. Rushing over, they checked his injuries and found blood trickling from the back of his head.
"How could this have happened…?" Hiccup breathed out as he pressed his hand against Erland's wound to stop the bleeding.
One Viking pointed an accusing finger at Toothless, Stryka, and Embla. "It was them! They set the armory on fire!" he shouted accusingly.
"How dare they?" a Viking woman on the scene gasped.
Hiccup and Zenna looked at Toothless, Stryka, and Embla. All three dragons whimpered and shook their heads.
"No… No, they can't have." Hiccup also shook his head.
"You three would never do… this." Zenna gestured to Erland and fished out a wad of clean linen rags from her small pack of medical supplies. Pressing it against the wound, she heard Erland groan as her friend struggled to open his eyes.
"Erland? Erland, stay with us!" Hiccup yelped when the older boy's eyes fluttered open.
"Not them… Wasn't… them…" Erland muttered, making Hiccup and Zenna's eyes widen.
"Who? Who was it?" Zenna asked urgently.
"...Don't know… Didn't… see…" Erland whispered before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he lost consciousness once more.
"Erland! Erland!" Hiccup and Zenna's shouts blended in with the dragons' roars, attracting the adults' attention. Quickly, Edgar and Henna went over and, reassuring the two teens, took Erland to bring him to Gothi with Embla following them. Hiccup and Zenna could only watch, feeling utterly helpless, before Stoick managed to bring them to join in the effort to put out the fire.
By the time the fire was finally put out, the armory had been razed to the ground. Warriors could only stare at the smoldering ruins of the place where they had all gotten their weapons for battle made and maintained.
"Every one of our weapons…gone!" Stoick muttered in disbelief.
Gobber picked up a ruined sword. "Prudence! My poor darling, I'm so sorry. You should've had a long, blood-letting life," He said mournfully as he cradled the twisted up weapon.
Mildew walked up to him, face set in a grimace. "She didn't have to die, Gobber. Hiccup and Zenna's dragons left us utterly defenseless," he said in mock condolence while glaring at the two Dragon Riders.
"Dad, you know Toothless and Stryka wouldn't do this," Hiccup tried to reason with his father.
"Not only that, but they turned on their Dragon Whisperer!" Mildew shouted to the crowd.
"They didn't hurt Erland! Chief, you have to believe us! Erland said that it wasn't them before he passed out," Zenna pleaded.
"She's right! Dad, you know that Erland commands respect amongst all the dragons on this island. They'd never attack him," Hiccup implored.
Stoick struggled with his thoughts. The dragons looked like they'd set the armory on fire, but did they attack Erland as well? All evidence seemed to point to that conclusion.
Mildew scowled. "Sure, listen to your boy and his friend, Stoick. That's what got us into this mess!" he exclaimed, the villagers also shouting angrily in agreement.
As he began to leave, Mildew looked at Hiccup and Zenna with his watery blue eyes gleaming. "See what happens when you leave your dragons all alone to wait outside?" he sneered.
While Zenna could only glare at the old man, Hiccup carefully considered Mildew's words.
Something the old man said didn't sound right…
"What…did you say?" the one legged boy began to question Mildew when Gobber held up another destroyed sword and exclaimed, "Sadie! Oh, I guess your throat-slicing days are over." In sheer regret.
Tired of all this, Stoick heaved a sigh and looked at his son and his best human friend. "These dragons have done too much damage. It's no longer safe to have them on Berk," he said.
If that was already hurtful enough, the next few words Stoick had to say were like daggers to Hiccup and Zenna's hearts.
"I want them gone."
"WHAT?!" both teens shrieked in horror.
"Finally!" Mildew shouted in triumph.
"Round them up, and take them all to Dragon Island." Stoick ordered Hiccup and Zenna before they could even protest.
Facing the crowd, Stoick announced, "By the end of the day tomorrow, there will be no more dragons on Berk!"
While some villagers were somewhat relieved, others were stunned, speechless and horrified. Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were shocked and could only gasp.
Mildew, on the other hand, was really pleased. "Oh, what a glorious day that will be…Party at my house!" he whooped before grinning wickedly at Hiccup and Zenna. "Don't forget, you two. Right after you drop off your dragons, you'll be fixing my roof." He reminded them before leaving.
"Okay, that's it! Let me at him!" Zenna cried out, taking out her battle sticks and charged towards the old man but was held back by Hiccup.
"Zen, just leave him be!" Hiccup told her off. Still feeling royally irked, Zenna put away her sticks and just scowled at Mildew's retreating form.
"This is wrong…" Hiccup muttered as he looked at his grief-stricken friends.
"I know, it's horrible. It's the worst day of my life…" Astrid said sorrowfully.
"No, Astrid. Something here doesn't add up," Hiccup told her, the gears in his brain whirring.
"All I know is I'm losing my dragon…" Fishlegs whimpered.
"For now, yeah. Okay, but I-I just need time to fix this." Hiccup tried to reassure his friends, but to no avail.
"What are you talking about? It's over," Snotlout grumbled, walking away followed by Astrid and Fishlegs.
"Forget it, it's over," Ruffnut said despondently.
"Yeah, forget it," Tuffnut agreed glumly as he and his sister left as well.
Zenna was the only one who stayed behind.
But when Hiccup looked at her, he was shocked to see tears streaming down Zenna's face.
"I'm gonna lose Stryka…?" she whispered fearfully. Hiccup pulled her into a hug.
"We'll find a way to prove them innocent. Once we do that, the dragons will be allowed to return to Berk. But for now, we have to leave them at Dragon Island. But don't worry, Zen. We will get them back," he whispered to her.
Zenna sniffled and wiped her tears away as she and Hiccup let go of each other. She had to be tough now! This was not the time for an emotional meltdown!
But still. Having to part from Stryka…
The greatest dragoness in all of Midgard and the one non-human creature she had considered as her own flesh and blood… it was painful for Zenna to even think about.
One look at Hiccup's determined face, however, was enough to strengthen Zenna's resolve.
"Okay?" Hiccup asked her gently.
Wiping the last of her tears away, Zenna nodded. "Okay." She replied with a steady voice.
Toothless and Stryka whined and stayed close to them as they made their way to Gothi's hut. There, precariously perched on the roof, Embla whimpered as Edgar and Henna emerged from the elder's hut.
"How's Erland, Mom and Dad?" Zenna asked them.
"The lad took a pretty hard blow to the back of the head. Gothi says he'll most likely wake up tomorrow," Edgar sighed, letting Zenna latch onto him for comfort.
"Zenna, love, you look like you've been crying." Henna saw her daughter's tearstained cheek and gently wiped her face. "What's happened?" she asked.
Hiccup told them Stoick's decree and the two were horrified.
"Blast that Mildew… Blast him and curse him! If he hadn't riled the crowd up over these past few days!" Edgar shook his fist at the sky.
"There has to be a way to prove their innocence! Embla would never raise a claw to Erland!" Henna protested, the Changewing roaring as if in agreement with her.
But there was little anyone could do. That night, all of the Riders slept close to their dragons.
Embla, meanwhile, could only poke her head into Erland's bedroom window and gently place her head against his chest, hoping he would wake up before she had to be sent away.
The next day, with Gobber and Zenna's parents sailing a boat below them, the seven Dragon Riders flew to Dragon Island. The dragons all looked just as down as their Riders.
"I'm gonna miss you…" Astrid whispered to Stormfly who warbled sadly.
Fishlegs had put together a pile of rocks for his dragon and looked at her sadly. "Okay, Meatlug. There's plenty of rocks if you get hungry. And don't eat any limestone. You know it doesn't agree with you," The husky blond Viking told the Gronckle, voice breaking as he said the last few words.
When Fishlegs left, Meatlug crooned sadly… and then fell asleep. Luckily, Fishlegs didn't see this so his feelings weren't hurt.
Snotlout took off Hookfang's saddle and looked his dragon in the eye. "Be strong, buddy. I know you're gonna miss me—" he managed to say before Hookfang spotted a bird and decided to chase after it, leaving his Rider all alone.
"Okay… He's crying… he's crying on the inside!" Snotlout said as he sadly watched his stubborn dragon chase after the bird.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut both took turns hugging Barf and Belch's heads while their Hideous Zippleback's necks intertwined in their own version of an embrace.
Hiccup and Zenna both took off Toothless and Stryka's saddles and placed them on the ground, all the while staying close to their Night Furies' sides. Nearby, Embla was slumped down on the sand, looking miserable. Toothless and Stryka padded over to her and nuzzled her sides.
Hiccup and Zenna watched with aching hearts. Erland was still unconscious by the time they left, and it was only through promising her that they would find out who hurt him were they able to get Embla to come with them. Now, they walked over to her, Toothless, and Stryka and embraced them.
"We'll be back for you. We promise," they both swore and began to leave. Toothless and Stryka rumbled worriedly and followed them to the beach, where Hiccup and Zenna turned around and stopped them.
"No bud! You and Stryka gotta stay here… and take care of the other dragons…" Hiccup told Toothless, tears welling up in his emerald green eyes.
"Mom, Dad, it's time…" Zenna said to her parents. Edgar and Henna came up to Stryka with a cooing Serpent and Serpentine between them.
"Take care of him, Stryka dear," Henna told the one eyed dragoness, caramel brown eyes glossy with unshed tears.
"They'll feel much safer as long as you're here. Make sure they eat properly and don't get into any fights." Edgar nodded to Stryka sadly as the Hideous Zippleback youngling trotted over to Stryka and warbled softly.
Toothless and Stryka looked at their Riders, who smiled brokenly.
"It's gonna be okay, Toothless. Trust me…"
"Everything's going to be alright, Stryka. I promise."
Saying this, Hiccup and Zenna both gave their two Night Furies one last hug before they boarded the boat and sailed back to Berk, Toothless and Stryka sadly watching them from the shore…
As they sailed back to Berk, Hiccup and Zenna could only wonder about how they were gonna possibly make things right. Mildew had, once again, bested them and they had to do something fast. The old man may not have realized it, but thanks to him and his stupid complaints, Berk had lost their final line of defense against any hostile attacks!
Then Hiccup suddenly said, "There's something Mildew said that I can't stop thinking about. H-he said 'see what happens when you leave your dragons to wait outside?' He knew Embla, Toothless, and Stryka weren't with me, Erland, and Zenna just before the armory fire."
Zenna looked at Hiccup curiously, the gears in her brain turning.
"So…?" Astrid asked uncertainly.
"So… so, he lives on the other side of the island. What was he doing in town? And how would he know where we were before the fire?" Hiccup asked, getting agitated.
"Unless… he was the one who did it!" Zenna concluded, her one violet eye flashing in anger.
Astrid looked at the two best friends in surprise. "You two really think he set that fire?" she asked them.
"I think he did all of it. And I think he did it so my Dad would get rid of all the dragons…" Hiccup said grimly.
"Sabotage and high treason," Zenna said simply.
All three of them lapsed into silence for a few moments.
Finally, Astrid looked at Hiccup and Zenna. "That's a pretty serious accusation. How are you two gonna prove it?" she asked them. The two best friends could only look at each other seriously.
They didn't have any plans now… but where there's a will, there's a way.
And they were going to find it.
"I. So. Hate. This." Zenna groaned as she hammered in another plank, muttering curses with every strike of the hammer under her breath.
She and Hiccup were currently fixing Mildew's roof while the old coot was out. But as they were doing the job, the unbearable itch to drop into Mildew's house (quite literally considering the fact that the roof had a huge hole in it) and snoop around was so intense that they decided to throw caution to the wind and risk it.
'Loki would be proud of us,' they both thought as they executed their plan.
Lowering themselves into Mildew's sorry living space, Hiccup and Zenna looked around. Hiccup spotted three shield paintings of Mildew's three wives, all marked with x's as well as an unmarked painting of his pet sheep, Fungus.
"Wife…wife…wife…" Hiccup mumbled, looking at the wives' paintings. "Three-timer…" Zenna muttered.
Upon seeing Fungus' portrait, Hiccup wrinkled his brow in disgust. "Hmmm…well, Mildew definitely has a type," he quipped and turned away from the wall of paintings, shuddering.
"Like my father said, he is a sick, sick old man." Zenna shook her head.
The duo kept looking around. At one point, Hiccup and Zenna peered into a cauldron that stank to high Valhalla, making them gag. Then they saw something hiding under a white sheet. When they uncovered it, both teens found a staff made to look like a Monstrous Nightmare claw and a pair of fake Zippleback feet!
"What the…?" Hiccup mumbled in shock.
"I knew that old bag was cruel but this takes the fish…" Zenna growled, feeling angry all over again.
Just as they were figuring out what to do next, they heard footsteps approaching! Mildew was back!
"Climb, climb, climb!" Hiccup hissed at Zenna. The one-eyed girl quickly shimmied up the rope and clambered onto the roof. Hiccup was next and held on tightly to the rope.
"Come on, Hicc, hurry!" Zenna whispered fearfully. Hiccup was almost to the roof when the door opened.
"I'm home, ladies!" Mildew announced and turned to his wives' paintings. "What's that you say…? Nothing? Perfect!" he said happily.
Hiccup nervously dangled from the rope while Zenna was frantically trying to pull him up. Fungus was ambling about in the house when a small drop of sweat dripped down from Hiccup's face and plopped onto his wooly little head.
Zenna pulled at the rope with all her might when Fungus began to bleat. Once he was within arm's reach, she grabbed Hiccup by the back of his tunic and yanked him out onto the roof.
"That was just too close…" Zenna told the brunet. Hiccup nodded grimly before he and his best human friend watched Mildew exit his house with the two pieces of evidence they so desperately needed.
"Ah, these served us well, didn't they, Fungus? Shame we have to get rid of them," Mildew said to his sheep before tossing the fake Monstrous Nightmare claw and Zippleback feet over the cliff and into the ocean.
"There goes our physical evidence. What do we do now?" Zenna groaned miserably. Hiccup could only look out into the horizon with a steely gaze.
Right now, he and Zenna didn't have any evidence to show that the dragons weren't responsible for any of the recent mishaps…
But one way or another… they were gonna make things right once again…