Chief Benja was making his way through the castle and over to the table where he found the other chiefs of the lands were already waiting. Chief Namaari of Fang, Chief Ross of Spine, Dang Hai of Talon, and the new Chief of Tail after the last one's death Chief Patti. Raya was also there as she was one of the few people who knew most of their approaching enemies from the stories that Hiccup told her.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Benja tells his fellow chiefs.
"Is this perhaps about your daughter stepping up to take her place as chief?" Ross asks.
"No," Benja told them. He looked over to Raya, who was a little confused but also showed fear about what could happen next. "It's nothing like that. We've been warned that enemies are approaching the shores of our land."
"Enemies?" Dang Hai asks in confusion. "Who?"
"Dragon Hunters," Benja said, causing the room to burst into shock and muttering.
"I thought we vanquished their kind when the Princess and her friends reformed the Dragon Gem," Patti commented.
"We cut off a limb, but not the head that we once thought," Raya explained as she stepped forward. "Krogan wasn't the leader of the Dragon Hunters."
"Their leader is a man named Drago Bludvist," Namaari informed the others. "He and his men captured me. I saw what they were capable of. Five years ago, the group that attacked Fang was small compared to the army he was coming to attack us with. And he isn't coming alone."
"We were warned that he has made alliances of his own," Benja said as he showed the other chiefs the other lands on a map Hiccup made up. He pointed to a couple of lands near Berk. "He's aligned himself with the likes of Berk, Outcast Island, and the Berserker tribe."
"And trust me, they live up to the name." Namaari commented with a scoff. She caressed Sharpshot who approached his friend and laid on her neck. She was relieved to see her friend was safe and sound after being shot with a dragon root arrow. "They're hell-bent on locating and eliminating all dragons."
"And they have found their way to our shores to accomplish the task." Benja finished. "We must prepare for the worst, and hope for the best."
"I have sent word to Defenders of the Wing and the Wingmaidens," Raya told them. "Asked for any assistance they can offer, or to stay clear of Kumandra for some time."
"And where might I ask is the Princess' betrothed?" Patti wonders when she notices there was no sign of Hiccup. "Shouldn't he be here to go over this?"
"Uh..." Raya wasn't sure how to explain this one. "He's currently occupied with a new development that occurred. His mother had shown up." Many people in Kumandra were aware of Hiccup's mother's fate and the Chiefs were clearly confused. "Yeah, turns out she didn't exactly die like Hiccup believed."
Hiccup and Valka were still exploring all of Kumandra with one another. Valka has yet to meet a lot of Hiccup's new friends like Tong, Boun, Noi, and just about anyone other than Raya and Benja. Hiccup showed his mom how much he had learned by flying and being able to communicate with Toothless.
Taking a break on top of one of the mountains above Spine, Hiccup was showing the map he had been working on in his spare time while he and Raya were rescuing dragons everywhere.
"And from Dragon Island, I found this archipelago… " Hiccup was saying when he then watched as Valka was drawing a map of the world in the snow.
"There," Valka said as she had apparently done the same thing as Hiccup was doing.
Then Hiccup showed his mother to the cracks in the ice that worked as an updraft. This caused their dragons when their wings were opened to hover in the updraft. Valka stood as she then walked amongst Cloudjumper's wings and showed Hiccup how much time she had with these dragons.
She then dropped down aside from Hiccup on Tootholes before repeating the action and walking among Toothless' wing before dropping off. Before Hiccup could panic, Valka came back up with Cloudjumper having caught her.
"Oh...when I'm up here, I don't even feel the cold," she said, almost dreamily. "I just feel…"
"Free," Hiccup completed her thought. He knew the feeling after all the time when he and Toothless were running from the Hunters.
Valka smiled at her son as he smiled back. "This is what it is to be a dragon!" she said as if she were telling them an amazing secret.
Hiccup smirked at his mother, yet to show off his best features. "It's all well and good to call yourself a dragon," he said, as he stood and prepared to dive. "but can you fly?" On the last word, he leaped to his feet and ran, jumping off Toothless in one quick movement. "Whoo!"
Valka gasped as she wondered what her son was doing. Then she watched as Hiccup emerged from the clouds. He had spread the wings to his flight suit, the wind caught him, and then, he was flying, gliding smoothly across the sky with Toothless right behind him.
Valka smiled as Cloudjumper pursued Hiccup...just around the same time a small mountain of snow appeared in front of him.
"Oh, no! Toothless!" Hiccup cried in terror.
Toothless was quick to catch up. He must have been expecting something to go wrong, because he was able to wrap Hiccup in his wings and barrel through the mound of snow, hitting the ground.
Valka landed her dragon around the same time Hiccup jumped out of a pile of snow, cheering. "Ha! Woo-hoo!" he exclaimed. "Man, almost!" he said, turning back to face the Night Fury. "We just about had it that time?"
Toothless sneezed and then glared back at his rider. "You have seriously got to stop that." He swung his tail at Hiccup's legs, tripping the man just as Hiccup finally regained his footing. "No more constant jumping without seeing where you are going."
Hiccup nodded as he had to agree with him there. "Alright, got it. Yeah."
As soon as he was standing again, Valka reached their side and examined Hiccup's flight suit, smiling in awe. "Oh, incredible," she gasped. "You are truly remarkable, Hiccup."
"Well," Hiccup said, "You're not so bad yourself." He compliments his mother.
Valka laughed at her son when a screech filled the air. Looking over, they noticed a Terror Mail coming in with a message tied to his foot. When it landed on Hiccup's shoulder, he took the note and quickly read it.
"We gotta head back. Raya and Benja have told everyone what happening, and seems that Erret has something to report." Hiccup was worried about what was going to happen.
In the deep part of the jungle that was just a small distance from Fang, the away team from the Dragon Hunters was making their way through the forest. Snotlout was carrying an axe since he was told to bring back firewood after the mission was over.
"Ugh!" Dagur cried in annoyance. "We have been walking for HOURS!" His screeching scared off a handful of dragons and birds in the trees but they didn't notice. "And have not found a single dragon."
"They're likely closer to the center of the island." Fishlegs took a guess. "Most dragons prefer the open fields, and the outer side of the jungle is likely to attract predator dragons."
"Yeah, very interesting Fish-Face, but I was promised dragons," Snotlout stated. "And so far, I don't see a reason to even believe this is where that girl went."
Then a loud roar got their attention to a clearing where the water and bridge that was leading towards Fang. When they made it to the clearing, they watched as some small kids came running past and giggling as a few small yellow Terrible Terrors were chasing the kids playfully. Then they heard some adults talking and looked to see a Monsterous Nightmare with a teen on the back. He slid off the dragon and held what looked to be some sort of tray.
"Look at that, Scorch," Boun said as he gave his dragon a pat on the head and looked at the time they made. Their conversation couldn't be heard by the Berk spies, since they were on the other end of the bridge, but they could see everything. "We made it here under ten minutes. Personal best." He then scratched the dragon under the chin. "Who's the best dragon deliverer? You are!"
"Well, there's your dragon," Astrid commented.
"Incredible," Fishlegs said as he saw the young boy showing no fear of the creature. "Usually Monsterous Nightmares are usually predatorial and usually don't act so...calm."
"Likely the work of the Dragon Conqueror." Astrid took a guess.
"Let's kill it!" Dagur said as he reached for his sword.
"Whoa!" Astrid quickly stopped him. "We can't go in there swinging. We need to..."
Before Astrid could finish, a screech filled the air. A screech they all heard in their nightmares after that day in the arena. They watched as a Night Fury came flying down and landed right beside the young boy after finishing his delivery.
Valka and Cloudjumper were right behind them and the group remember the stories of the Chief's wife being taken from Berk on a Stormcutter and wondered if this could be one of the same.
"Hey, Boun." Hiccup greeted him. "You delivering some food?"
"What can I say, Hiccup?" Boun said as he jumped on Scorch. "I love my work."
Hiccup chuckled as he scratched Scorch's chin. "Well, Boun. I have someone I want you to meet."
Valka then approached and chuckled when she saw the young boy riding the dragon. "Hello."
"Hey." Boun greeted as he leaned on Scorch's head, which Scorch didn't seem to mind. "Name's Boun."
"Valka." Valka introduced herself.
"Valka?" Boun was slightly confused. "Isn't your mom's name...?"
"This is my Mother." Hiccup confirmed.
Bunn was now even more lost as he looked at Valka and Hiccup back and forth. "Your...your mother?"
"Yeah, I know, it's a lot to take in. But I can't stay and explain it." Hiccup sighed. "We need to head to Heart."
"Wait a minute." Astrid took out her spyglass and started to look through it, trying to get a clear look at the Night Fury rider's face. "Is that...?"
It was hard to tell considering he looked nothing like the last time that they saw each other with Hiccup being the scrawny nobody. But there was something that made Astrid believe she knew who he was. Getting a close look at his face, she looked closer and the forest green eyes and a small scar on his cheek were all she needed to confirm. She let out a loud gasp, that seemed to immediately get the attention of the Night Fury as he looked to where the gasp came from. He hadn't heard a voice like that in Kumandra and he knew mostly everyone. With his dragon sight, he was able to see some things better and he noticed something retreating into the forest.
"Hiccup?" Toothless got his rider's attention. "I think they're here."
Hiccup spun to face his dragon in fear. "What?"
"Someone's in the forest," Toothless warned him.
Hiccup raced to jump on Toothless and the two took off to make their way over towards where Toothless saw them. When they reached the area, they heard rustling in the bushes that were heading for the cliffside.
Hiccup and Toothless knew they had to act fast, so they took to the skies, flying high above the clouds to avoid being seen from below. As they soared towards the cliffside, they could see the armada ships that had been parked on their shores. The entire fleet was now visible, and the sheer size of it was overwhelming.
Hiccup was starting to panic a little inside, considering that all of their enemies were here.
"No." Hiccup whispered in fear and saw that they now no longer had time to prepare for their arrival. "They're here."
Astrid and the others made it back to the shore where she saw that they were already starting to set up basecamp off of the boats. She couldn't believe what they had discovered. Hiccup was here. Now it makes sense. He was the Dragon Conqueror.
"Astrid?" Stoick was surprised to see them return already. "What are you doing back here so soon?"
"Chief, it's Hiccup." Astrid was quick to tell him everything.
"Hiccup?" Stoick wasn't following.
"Hiccup is here. He's the Dragon Conqueror." Astrid explained.
The tension was palpable as Stoick stood frozen, taking in the world of Kumandra. Hiccup stood above, looking down on him, visibly shaken by the sight of his father's arrival. No, not his father. Stoick was never a father figure to Hiccup. It was Benja who had played that role in his life.
The dragons were at the center of this conflict. These Hunters and other tribes had come to take them away and threatened to destroy their home. It was a painful realization for Hiccup, but at this moment, Stoick was the enemy. He had arrived with the clear intent of taking their dragons away.
As the gravity of the situation sank in, Hiccup flew off to join Raya and plan their next steps. He began to fly off to where his mother was before heading back to Heart. It was clear that a lot of work needed to be done if they were to protect their dragons and their home.