Unbreakable Bonds

by Sam_Stew

Summary:

Dak and Leyla left Hutsgalor with the others after Grumblegard, except they got taken by dragon hunters not even a year later. The dragon riders had been attempting to take down Viggo and his hunters, but everything changes when they find the twins who can understand everything dragons say

Under construction (Fixing some plot holes I found, spelling, and adding somethings)

Chapter 1: From Innocence to Shadows

Summary:

Dak and Leyla had been off Huttsgalor for a few months, not expecting what would happen that very day

Notes:

I can't believe how far this has actually gone; 29 chapters is insane to me but it only felt right to at least rewrite the first chapter, so it made sense to the lore

It had been a few months since the Grumbleguard problem, Dak and Leyla willingly left Huttsgalor with the rest of the Rescue Riders to protect them all. The six of them were flying through a rainstorm, Burple was holding a dragon egg that Cutter spotted. 

“Why would any dragon put their nest way out here?” Burple complained 

“Wave Gliders put their eggs on sea stacks so they can see an enemy coming from far away.” Leyla explains 

“I guess they didn’t count on a giant storm like this blowing one of their eggs into the sea.” Dak chuckles 

“Good thing I spotted it.” Cutter bragged flying close to Winger. 

“Now if we could just find the sea stack with the nest.” Winger tells the five of them. 

“I’ll go up and take a look,” Cutter responds, flying up to get a better look. 

“Wait, Cutter, no! Stay down out of the wind!” Summer yells to no avail, 

Cutter starts being shook around by the harsh breeze making him fall down dropping the egg. “Oh, no!” Cutter yells 

Dak and Winger quickly try to catch the egg, Dak almost grabs it but slips because of the rain, “Shoot!” 

“Summer go!” Leyla yelled before jumping onto Burple. Summer dived into the water after the egg and caught it before it could be lost to the ocean. 

“Way to go summer.” Winger compliments. 

“Hey, I’m a water dragon.” Summer explains, “It’s what I do.” 

“Good news is,” Cutter starts, “while I was being tossed around up there I spotted the nest on the top of that sea stack.”

“But with all that wind how do we get it up there?” Dak asks. 

“I have an idea.” Leyla starts, “Burple you’re going to eat the egg-”

“I’m going to what!” Burple yells. 

“To store it in your stomach.” Leyla continues, “So we can get it back in the nest without it blowing away.” 

“Oh,” Burple mutters. 

“You didn’t think you’d actually have to eat an egg, did you?” Cutter asks. 

“You never know when it comes to Leyla’s plans.” Burple responds. 

“He does have a point.” Winger laughs. 

“We can discuss this more after we get the egg back in its nest.” Leyla responds to them. 

“That’s a good plan Ley.” Dak compliments. 

Burple stored the egg in his mouth, crawling up the side of the sea stack with the rest of the Rescue Riders following close behind. They reached the nest, seeing the three other eggs sitting in the base of the nest. 

“This is the right nest.” Burple sighs.  

“Did you have any doubts?” Cutter asks. 

“Yes.” Summer responds, “The momma Wave Glider will be so happy when she gets back to her nest. 

Leyla touches the wall of the nest feeling the rough material of the rocks it was made of, “You okay Ley?” Dak asks. 

“Yeah, I just-” Leyla starts. 

“Miss Huttsgalor?” Dak finishes walking towards her “I do too.” 

Dak opens his arms, allowing Leyla to walk towards him falling against his chest. Dak wrapped his arms around his sister resting his head against her shoulder. The two of them stood like that for a moment before Winger leaned in, as well as Cutter and Burple. 

“I have an idea.” Cutter starts, “Let’s get out of this rain.” 

“Great idea Cut.” Dak sighs, letting Leyla go from the hug. 

“Where should we look?” Leyla asks. 

“We could go to the cave I spotted earlier.” Cutter suggests. 

“Let’s do it.” Dak responds, climbing onto Winger’s back. 

“Yeah,” Leyla adds in, climbing on her dragon as well. 

The six of them leave the nest flying north towards the cave Cutter was leading them to, they were flying in silence for a brief moment before they heard someone yell “fire!” from below them. 

Summer moved back right before the arrow hit her, allowing it to fly by “What the hell was that?” Leyla asked. 

“I’m not sure.” Summer said, looking around. 

Dak was looking around as well, noticing the ships floating under them “I’m guessing that the arrow came from them.” Dak tells the group. 

“But why are they shooting at us?” Cutter asks 

“Cutter, could you look?” Leyla asks in response. 

Cutter focused his eyes toward the boat under them to see a boat full of hunters with bow and arrows and the entire deck covered in cages. 

“Guys I think there’s a dragon hunting ship under us.” Cutter guesses 

 Before any of them could respond, more arrows were shot at them, “Yeah I’m going to agree with that.” Dak says, more arrows were shot at the group of them. Most of them they could avoid until one of the arrows hits Summer. 

The fast fin started gliding downwards towards the ship. “Summer! What happened?” Leyla asks her dragon, getting no response. 

“Leyla, Summer.” Dak calls, flying towards them. 

Leyla and Summer hit the deck of the ship with a loud bang, Leyla quickly jumps up standing in front of Summer. 

“We have a dragon rider,” Ryker chuckles, walking towards the younger girl. 

“She’s not with Hiccup and his dragon riders though.” Heather observes, crouching down to get a better look at the girl. 

“I have no idea what you guys are talking about.” Leyla says to them. 

“Oh sure you don’t.” Dagur chuckles. 

“I really don’t know.” Leyla argues. 

“Take her and the dragon below deck.” Ryker yells, hunters walk over grabbing the two of them taking them below into the hold of the ship. 

“Sir there’s still dragons up there.” A hunter yells  

“Shoot them out of the sky!” Ryker yells, the hunters point their arrows up towards Dak and other the dragons. Again, they could avoid most of the arrows except for one, this time it hit Winger who had the same reaction as summer. Gliding down towards the ship below them, with Dak calling towards him. Cutter and Burple rush after the two of them, Burple successfully grabs Winger but misses Dak who crashes into the water near the ship. 

A net gets thrown into the water, pulling the younger boy onto the ship “There’s two dragon riders?” Heather asked.

“I guess?” Dagur questions. 

“How old are these two?” Heather asked, looking at the young boy that was being taken under the dock as his sister was. 

“They look pretty young.” Dagur observes. 

“I don’t care; all I care about is these two kids are riding rare dragons that I haven’t seen in ages.” Ryker tells the Berserker siblings. “Find out who these kids are and where they found these dragons” Ryker finishes. 

Dagur and Heather Walk down the stairs, going to find the two younger kids. While they walk, they were whispering a conversation. “How are we going to get these kids out?” Heather asked. 

“I have no idea, we need to tell Hiccup.” Dagur tells her. 

“Yeah we do, but have you ever seen the dragons they were riding?” Heather asks. 

“Nope never.” Dagur responds, “Obviously Ryker has though.” 

“He’s seen every dragon,” Heather sighs, “He doesn’t count.” 

The two of them reached the cell that had Dak and Leyla in it. Looking in the two of them were having their own whispered conversation that neither of the adults could here. 

“Hey kids.” Dagur starts, startling the two of them. Leyla looks over at the man, confusion etched in her features. Dak had the same expression. With both of them turned, Heather and Dagur finally got a better look at the two of them. They were definitely at least related, both having red hair and green eyes. Their faces were covered in a mix of freckles and scars. 

Heather looked back and forth between the two kids and her brother, “Dagur, they look shocking like you.” 

Dagur looks back at the twins, agreeing with his sister, “That’s terrifying.”

“Let’s hope they don’t act like you.” Heather mutters. 

“Hey.” Dagur mutters.  

“Do you guys need something?” Dak asks, interrupting Dagur and Heather’s conversation. 

“Oh yeah. Who are you two?” Heather asks. 

“Um, why?” Leyla asks in response. 

“We just want to know.” Dagur assures. 

“Weird.” Dak mumbles. 

“It’s not weird.” Heather replies. 

“I mean it kind of is.” Leyla argues, “Your boss basically kidnapped us.”

“You have a point.” Dagur mutters. The berserker siblings go to finish the conversation with the two, but Ryker’s shouts catches their attention. The two of them look at each other than the kids in front of them, before walking to find Ryker. 

Once the two of them were far enough away, Leyla starts looking around attempting to find her dragon. Her last resort was standing up to look out the cell door, but Dak grabs her arm before she can. 

“Probably not a good idea.” Dak tells her. 

“You’re right.” Leyla mutters, falling back down next to him. 

Heather and Dagur run up the stairs to the upper deck to find Ryker, he was pacing around waiting for the two. 

“We are sailing back to visit Viggo.” Ryker explains to the siblings. 

“Why?” Dagur asks. 

“Because he heard about the kids we caught and their dragons and wants to see them for himself.” Ryker explains 

“He’s not going to hurt them.” Heather asked. “Is he?” 

“Why does it matter?” Ryker asks. 

“It doesn’t, but they are like 12.” Heather tells him 

“Such an annoying age.” Ryker snarks. 

“We are all aware you don’t like kids.” Dagur assures him, “I’m pretty sure they don’t like you either.” 

“Good.” Ryker tells them. 

***

After a few hours, Dagur and Heather finally got away from Ryker to meet with Hiccup and Astrid. The four of them met on a sea stack, out of the way which hid the top. 

“Brother!” Dagur yells, towards Hiccup getting his attention. 

“Hey, Dagur,” Hiccup sighs. 

They talk about what has been with the dragon hunters and their plans, basically anything that Hiccup and Astrid need to know. After a while, Heather thought it would b a good idea to mention the kids. 

“So, something happened with Ryker today.” Heather starts. 

“What happened?” Astrid asks. 

“So he found a pack of dragons that he’s seen before, that were apparently rare or something. So Ryker being Ryker tries to shoot them out of the sky. What none of noticed is that two of the dragons had riders-” Heather starts explaining. 

“Other riders?” Hiccup asks, interrupting her. 

“Yes, these two kids were riding the dragons, both of them got shot of their dragons by Ryker.” Dagur explains. 

“Did he catch the dragons?” Astrid asks. 

“He caught one of them but all the others got away.” Heather explains. 

“Well that's a good thing, I guess.” Astrid adds in.

“Anyways Viggo wants Ryker to take the kids to him.” Dagur explains to the two of them. 

“Do either of you know why Viggo wants to see them?” Hiccup asks. 

“Yeah we have no idea why he wants to meet them.” Dagur says. 

“We have to get the kids out before Ryker takes them to Viggo.” Hiccup sighs, “Me and Astrid will start making a plan, but you two need to get these kids to trust you.” 

“There’s no way.” Heather responds, “We tried talking to them, and basically got told to go away.” 

“Well try harder.” Hiccup replies. 

“Fine.” Heather sighs, “We’ll try.” 

“Our best.” Dagur adds in. 

“Great.” Astrid mutters. 

“We’ll see you two again soon,” Hiccup tells them walking towards Toothless to leave. 

“Goodbye, brother.” Dagur tells him. 

“Bye.” Heather adds in.

Notes:

Sadly, I probably won't be able to get the king of dragon's chapter out for another week so this is all yall get sorry.

Chapter 2: The First Day of Captivity

Summary:

The first day, I wonder what the hunters will think of them.

Notes:

I'm very sorry for not updating let's just say the ao3 author curse got me too, cause currently I have a cold that is turning into pneumonia so yeah, I'm great I will be update more often now

Dagur and Heather had gotten back to the ship, they lied to Ryker saying that they saw a wild dragon but couldn’t find it again. Dagur was walking around the under part of the ship walking past the many cages that had dragons in them. He hated seeing the dragons like this, but he and Heather had to help Hiccup stop Ryker and Viggo.

Dagur continued walking around intel he stopped at the cage that had the two kids in it both of the two were sleeping. The girl had her head on the boy's shoulder while the boy had his head resting on the wall. Dagur took in how the kids looked, they looked so peaceful while they were asleep, he was standing in front of the cell for a little while staring off into space when he heard a small voice from in front of him. 

“What are you doing?” Leyla asks

“Oh, nothing.” Dagur responds to her. 

“Okay.” Leyla replies, looking towards her twin who was still knocked out. 

“Will you tell me who you guys are?” Dagur asks, hopefully. 

“You tell me who you are first then I will.” Leyla bargains, with a smirk that reminds the Berserker of his younger brother in many ways. 

Dagur thinks for a minute before looking back at Leyla, “I’m Dagur and the girl I was with yesterday is my sister Heather.” Dagur explains to her “Now you hold up your side of our deal.” 

“Okay, well sense we have a deal.” Leyla starts. “I’m Leyla and this is my twin brother Dak.” 

“I knew you two were twins.” Dagur mumbles. 

Dagur wants to continue the conversation, but he heard someone stomping down the hall, Dagur looked back at Leyla and mouthed to her that he’ll be back later before running off. Dagur left Leyla sitting in the cell with her sleeping twin and someone walking toward them. Leyla sat for a moment just listening to the person thumping down the walkway. 

A few moments later the one they call Ryker was right outside their cell staring at them, “Do you need something?” Leyla asks

“Yes, I would like to know where you found your dragon.” Ryker tells her. 

“Why would I ever tell you that?” Leyla replies. 

“Because I have ways of making you talk if you don’t.” Ryker tells her Leyla crosses her arms over her chest, just looking at him. 

“Okay you’ve made your choice.” Ryker tells her 

He calls over two guards to come and grab her. The guards opened the cell door which woke up Dak who was just confused. Dak bolts towards the men, getting pushed down by the man. Leyla's arms were grabbed as she got dragged out of the cell, leaving Dak alone sitting on the wooden floor.

"Leyla!" Dak calls, getting no response. 

Dak jumps up looking through the cell door, unable to find his twin. Slowly the boy steps back, falling down the wall resting his head on his knees. 

A while later Dagur walked back to the twin’s cell, he expecting to see the two twins but only one was there. Dak's head was still buried in his knees not noticing the man's presents “Hey where’d your sister go?” D

“Why do you care?” Dak asks, looking up at the man. 

“Because I do, so where’d she go?” Dagur repeats

“Your friend Ryker took her for something a while ago.” Dak explains to the man. Dagur looks at Dak before quickly walking away towards Rykers room on the ship, Dagur knocks on the door and hears a low voice say come in. Dagur walked in and saw Ryker looking very annoyed

“Hello, Rykie.” Dagur greets, looking around. 

“I’ve told you not to call me that.” Ryker growls at him. 

“But it's so fun.” Dagur teases, noticing the man's expression “Why are you so annoyed?” 

“Cause this little shit won’t answer any of my questions!” Ryker yells. 

“Hey name calling gets you nowhere.” Leyla cut in.

Dagur attempts to cover the fact he was laughing by coughing but by the look on Ryker’s face his attempt didn’t work, “Take her back to the cell. I can't deal with this.” Ryker sighs, looking towards the older red head

“Fine, Rykie. Didn’t think a kid could get you this annoyed.” Dagur teases, escorting Leyla out of the room. “So why are you trying to make him mad?” 

“It’s not really trying if it’s that easy.” Leyla comments. 

"You have a point there.” Dagur laughs, the two of them make their way back to the cell. Dak was sitting near the door, watching the hall. locking eyes with every hunter that passes the cage. Not long after Dagur makes opens the cell, Leyla walks in just to be tackled by her twin. 

“Leyla, are you okay?” Dak asks, grabbing his sisters face 

"I'm fine," Leyla assures, "I was annoying the weird bald dude.”

“Good.” Dak mutters, hugging his twin again. 

The Berserker watches the two, before walking away to find his own sibling, Heather was in one of the bigger cells that Windshear was kept in. The cage wasn't ever locked, just there. Heather had brought food for the dragon, who was already making her way through the bucket of food. The woman was kneeing in front of her dragon not noticing anyone enter 

“Okay officially Ryker hates the girl.” Dagur chuckles, walking in to meet his sister. 

“She’s been here for a day.” Heather states, not sparing a glace to her brother. 

“Well, she broke my record for how quick Ryker can swear at a person.” Dagur explains to his sister, who laughs quietly. 

“Ryker is so weird, swearing no, killing dragons yes.” Heather chuckles, turning towards her brother. 

“Yeah, it’s really weird but after he swore at her, she told him name calling gets you nowhere.” Dagur replies. 

“Oh, my Thor, she's a mini-Hiccup." Heather mutters.

"Oh, for sure, he got so annoyed that he had me take her back to her cell.” Dagur says. 

“If she’s already annoyed Ryker this much, what's Viggo going to do?” Heather asks, standing up from the ground. 

“I have no idea, but we really need to get both of them off of this ship before we get to Viggo.” Dagur replies, walking towards his sister. resting a hand on the dragon. 

“Three, don’t forget the dragon.” Heather interrupts. 

“Yeah, they had other dragons with them too.” Dagur remembers. 

“Yeah, they did.” Heather says, “The dragon is definitely a water dragon, but I’ve never seen anything like it.” 

“Me either, no wonder Ryker wants to know more.” Dagur laughs, "He seemed to know some about the dragons though." 

“Yeah, we need to meet with Hiccup again and make a plan to get them out of here.” Heather tells her brother. 

“I know but we can’t let Ryker catch on.” Dagur tells. 

“Yeah, we can’t let him.” Heather agrees, “Wanna go talk to them?” 

“Let's go.” Dagur agrees, walking out of the cage with his little sitter. leaving the dragon who was still enjoying her meal. The two of them were walking in silence when a shout caught their attention. 

“Leyla!” Dak yelps. 

“This wouldn’t be happening if you didn’t smart mouth the guards.” 

“I didn’t think he was going to hit me.” 

“You told him that his mom doesn’t love him because and I quote you're a stupid asshat.” 

“I know I could've made a better insult.” Dak sighs, before breaking out into laughter at his twin's face. 

“I’m so disappointed.” Leyla mutters, when Dagur and Heather finally make it to the cell the two of them take in the scene. Leyla was grabbing her brothers chin, using her sleeve to clean the blood of his face. 

“What happened here?” Dagur asks. 

“Dak, smart mouthed the guard, and the guard didn’t like it.” Leyla replies, looking at the two. 

“Oh.” Heather mutters, looking around making sure no one was around. 

“So, you're both smart asses, good to know.” Dagur mutters. 

“Anyways, what do you guys want?” Dak asks, pushing Leyla’s arm away. 

“Nothing.” Heather tells him. 

“Really?” Leyla asks. 

“Yes.” Dagur confirms. 

“Okay then.” Leyla mutters, they all sit in silence when the entire ship shakes. 

“What the-” Dagur starts but is cut off by Ryker yelling about a dragon attack. Dak rushes over to the window seeing the other dragons. 

"Uh- Ley." 

"I know." 

"What's happening?" Dagur asks, getting no answer, "What's happening?" 

Leyla rushes towards the door, pulling the key out of her bag, "You might want to back up." 

"Where'd you get that?" Dagur asks. 

“I pickpocketed you.” Leyla tells him, as if it was the most obvious thing while unlocking the cell. Dagur and Heather both stumble back at the opening of the door. 

The twins take their chance, running past the Berserkers siblings. Leyla runs over to where Summer was being kept, Dak wasn't far behind, and the hunters weren't either. Dagur and Heather were running to the upper deck leaving the twins, to deal with Ryker. Leyla used the key again, unlocking the door freeing the Fast Fin. Summer whips around, knocking the hunters away. 

The three of them make their way towards the hatch to the upper deck, the stairs were empty surprisingly. 

"Come on!" Dak yells. 

"Where did all the hunters go?" Summer asks. 

"I'm not sure." Leyla answers. 

"Doesn't matter, let's go!" Dak responds, pushing the hatch open. 

Just to be met with the weapons of hunters, pointing at them. Looking past the hunters, Dak could see the three other dragons already in nets. With Ryker standing above them. 

"Get them back in the cells!" Ryker yells, the twins were grabbed again getting shoved into a cell, as well as the dragons. Dak and Leyla were both resting on the floor, surrounded by the other Rescue Riders. 

“That was a nice try, kiddies but I know better than that now I have 3 more dragons.”

Neither of the twins responded or looked at him which made Ryker laugh at them. “Aw you both lost all your sass?” He walks away from the two defeated twins. 

Leyla and Dak sat on the floor, their dragons were put into different cells, cutter was across from them, Burple was down the hall, winger was on the left, and summer was on the right. 

Heather and Dagur were in another part of the ship discussing what happened, “I wonder how those two kids tamed that many dragons?” Heather wondered. 

“I don’t know sis, but we need to find out.” Dagur responds.

Notes:

Please comment there like gold to me

Chapter 3: Day Two

Summary:

The twins second day and secrets are revealed

Notes:

Two chapters in a week, I'm surprised for myself

It was the next morning when the twins saw Ryker again, he came to their shared cell with 4 other hunters. “What do you want?” Leyla asks. 

“Wanted to show you two something.” Ryker tells them then the cell door opens and the hunters grab them. They all start walking down the hall as Ryker points out all of the dragons then he gets to Burple. “This gronkle is going to make me meatal.” Leyla laughs which makes Ryker look at her, “What?”

“Have fun with that.” Leyla laughs. 

“Why do you say that?” Ryker asks. 

“Because Burple isn’t a gronkle he’s a rock spitter two different dragons, that do two very different things.” Leyla explains, “Did you lose your brain cells when you started balding?” Leyla asks innocently. 

Ryker didn’t like her question and smacked her neck which made Leyla fall to her knees. “I'm going take that as a no.” Leyla mutters as Dak helps her back to her feet. 

“Ley you just yelled at me for being a smart mouth and then you do the same thing.” Dak teases. 

“I had too, he gave me an opening.” Leyla laughs.

“Take them back to their-” Ryker is cut off by one of the dragons roaring. 

“She's fine Winger,” Dak says with his arm around his twin, an innocent response sounded so strange to Ryker the dragon could've been roaring just because or something else. Leyla and Dak were taken back to their cell and both sat back down on the floor, “Are you okay Ley?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine Dak.” Leyla responds, laying her head against the wall. They sit in silence for a minute until it’s interrupted by Heather.

“So did he do the dragon thing?” Heather asks. 

“Yeah he did.” Dak responds, “But didn’t finish it.” 

“Why?” Heather asks. 

“Ley pissed him off.” Dak says. 

“What did you do?” Heather asks. 

“I asked if he lost his brain cell when he was balding.” Leyla laughs, “then he rudely hit me, zero stars wouldn’t recommend.” 

“Wait Ryker hit you?” Heather asks, ignoring the girls other comment. 

“Yeah.” Leyla laughs, “I have no regrets.” 

Dak laughs as Heather walks away

Heather finds her brother and starts telling him what’s going on, “We need to get them out of here.” 

“Why such urgency?” Dagur asks. 

“Because the hunters and Ryker are getting worse both of the kids have been hit by one of the two.” Heather explains. 

“Oh, Ryker hit one of them? Which one?” Dagur asks. 

“Leyla, because she asked something about him balding.” Heather shortly explains. 

“Dang those two are fearless.” Dagur laughs. 

“Yeah, they are and that’s what scares me.” Heather states. 

“Why does that scare you?” Dagur asks. 

“Because, if they’re doing this now what’s going to happen when the guards and Ryker start getting worse.” Heather says, “And what about Viggo, they’re already been through enough.” 

“We need to make a way to get them off the ship.” Dagur tells her. 

“But how?” Heather asks. 

“I don’t know, at this point we might need to call it off, pull out and take the twins and their dragons with us.” Dagur suggests. 

“We can’t, we need to know Viggo and Ryker are planning.” Heather argues. 

“I know I know, we need to talk with Hiccup about it.” Dagur suggests. 

“Yeah, let's do it.” 

Dagur and Heather told Ryker that they saw something and they flew to meet the dragon riders. Dagur and Heather both rode on Windshear and met with the riders. They met with Hiccup, and the riders on a far away sea stack, “So what’s happening?” Hiccup asks. 

“You know those two kids we-” Dagur starts. 

“Wait kids?” Snotlout laughs. 

“Yes, Snot-hat.” Dagur states, “Anyways the two of them have effectively pissed Ryker off.” 

“And we need to get them off the ship as soon as possible.” Heather interrupts. 

“What did they do?” Fishlegs asks. 

“Well one of them asked him if he lost his brain cells when he was balding and the other is a smartass to everyone.” Heather explains. 

“Oh, thor-.” Hiccup starts. 

“I already love them.” Tuffnut cuts him off. 

“Can we make them dragon riders?” Ruffnut asks. 

“Oh yeah, they’ve also trained dragons.” Heather adds. 

“What!” All of them yell. 

“Yeah and these dragons are like some I've never seen before.” Dagur tells the group. 

“New dragons?” Fishlegs excited questions. 

“Yes Fishlegs.” Heather laughs. 

“Anyways we need to get them off the ship.” Dagur changes the subject. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Tuffnut says, “I wanna meet them.” 

“Me too!” Ruffnut yells.

“You can meet them once we save them.” Hiccup tells the group, “What do you know about them?” 

“We know they’re like 12, twins and their names are Dak and Leyla.” Dagur explains

“12! Damn they're younger than us.” Snotlout yelps. 

“Okay, what if we attack the ship, they’re on?” Astrid suggests. 

“That could work but, what if Ryker finds out about it?” Heather asks. 

“It might just be a chance we need to take.” Hiccup argues. 

“I agree the two of them need to get off that ship now.” Fishlegs cuts in. 

“And this is nothing about you wanting to learn more about their dragons?” Tuffnut asks. 

“I can have more than one reason.” Fishlegs argues, "But the priority is getting the literal children away from hunters." 

“Fine, fine.” Tuff mutters, "You have a point." 

“Where is the ship going to be?” Hiccup asks. 

“We should be near the Northern Markets.” Heather answers. 

“Okay, we'll get the plan started and get these kids out of here." Hiccup responds 

They said their goodbyes and the berserkers flew back to the ship, lying to Ryker about it being a trap. The two of them walked down the hall which had no other hunters in it. “Should we tell them kids the plan?” Dagur asks. 

“I think it would be a good idea, they’ll know what’s happening and it’ll be easier.” Heather says. They walk down the hall going to the twin’s cage but are interrupted by Ryker. 

“We’re meeting with some new allies.” Ryker tells the two. 

“Who?” Heather asks. 

“Some lady called Svetlana the Sly or something.” Ryker tells them. 

“Who set this up?” Heather asks. 

“Viggo, apparently he found out she knows something about the kids we have.” Ryker explains. 

“Okay then.” Dagur smiles, they both continue in separate directions, and the berserkers continue walking to the twin's cell. 

“What do you think this Svetlana knows about them?” Heather asks. 

“I have no idea, but we’ll find out tomorrow.” Dagur states, they made it to the cell to see the twins talking to each other in the corner. “Hi kids.” 

“Hi,” Leyla greets

“Random question-.” Dagur starts. 

“Random answer.” Dak cuts in. 

Dagur rolls his eyes but continues, “Whose Svetlana the Sly?” 

“Why?” Dak asks. 

“Because she’ll be here tomorrow, we were told she knows something about you two.” Heather explains. 

“Shit.” Leyla mutters. 

“Wh-what does she know?” Heather asks. 

“You wouldn’t believe it if we told you.” Dak interrupts. 

“Try us.” Dagur argues. 

“Fine fine, but you both must promise to believe us.” Dak tells them. 

“Okay we promise.” Heather tells the two

“Okay,” Leyla sighs, “When we were really little we were in a shipwreck that our parents died in but we didn’t because we were saved by a mother dragon, that raised us beside her own son Winger and in the years of her raising us we learned how to understand what dragon say.” Leyla explains. 

“What?” Dagur asks. 

“You both promised you’d believe us.” Dak argues. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Dagur studders, “You both realize this is hard to believe right?” 

“Okay, okay.” Leyla says, “Hold up as many fingers you want behind your back.” Dagur does what she says, still confused about what she’s doing. “Cutter?” 

Cutter looks up and looks to see what number, “Five.” he roars. 

“Five.” Leyla repeats. Dagur looked confused assuming it was a lucky guess and changed the number again with a roar that followed. 

“Nine.” Leyla says. Dagur changes it again with another roar following, “One.” Dagur gives up and throws his arms up, Cutter roars again unexpectedly. 

“Okay, now he said you gave up.” Leyla laughs. 

“That was-” Heather starts. 

“Amazing?” Dak smiles. 

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that.” Heather tells them. 

“We can’t let anyone else find out about this.” Dagur mutters. 

“Why?” Heather asks. 

“Because you know what people would do if they found out.” Dagur tells her, “It would be a disaster.” 

They all agree to make sure no one else finds out about it at least until they get out of there, Dagur and Heather, walk away leaving only the twins in the cell, “What do you think would happen if dragon hunters found out?” Dak asks. 

“I'm not sure Dak, but I don’t wanna find out.”

Notes:

I love comments, if you want

Chapter 4: The Great Escape - Part One

Summary:

The beginning of the the twins great excape

Notes:

As of July 2025, this chapter has been rewritten, so hopefully it flows better casue I did write at two in the morning

The next morning, most of the night was spent sailing to the meeting notation which made the news of the new ally spread easier. Most of the dragon hunters had at least heard of Svetlana and her crew, knowing stories about the people they’d faced. The hunters were watching the dragon rider's cell constantly, and somehow they found out Svetlana had information on them. 

“What do you think she's going to tell them?” Dak asks, once the hunters left. 

“Most likely the fact we can understand dragons,” Leyla sighs, 

“You never know, it could be about the Golden Dragon.” Dak argues, “But I really doubt that, I wonder if these hunters are even going to believe it Dager and Heather barely do.” 

“She’ll find a way to prove it.” Leyla responds, burying her face in her knees, “After this we’ll never have a peaceful day again.” 

“Did we ever in the first place?” Dak asks, dropping his head on his twin’s shoulder. The two of them sat like that for only a few minutes, that felt like hours to them. 

“Aw, isn’t that cute.’ Ryker teases two other hunters with him. 

“What now?” Dak asks, looking up at the man. 

“Our guest is about to board, best to get you two up there now.” Ryker explains, having one of the guards unlock the cell. 

“Sucks for her, I’m not moving.” Leyla mutters, “If she needs to see us so badly she can come down here.” 

“It wasn’t a request.” The two hunters enter the cell, forcing both of the twins on their feet. Holding the two of them by their shoulders, making it impossible to get away from them. “That little stunt you two pulled, won’t be happening again.” Ryker explains, grabbing the girl's face “And if it does your dragons will face the consequences.”  

“And what will you do, Mr. I work for my little brother.” Leyla responds, pulling her face back “Not as scary if you think of it like that.” 

“You’re lucky my brother wanted to meet you, if I had my way you both would be in a whispering death hole by now.” 

“Aw, well you don’t have your way.” Leyla argues, “Scared of your little brother, and a whispering death whole really?” 

“Not really creative if you ask me.” Dak cuts in, “And what would it do? We've been living with dragons our entire lives, I can assure you a whispering death is the least of our problems." 

“Maybe have your brother make a better punishment,” Leyla suggests, expecting a response from the hunter, which she did get just not in the way she expected. Ryker spun around, lunging at the girl striking her temple with enough force to knock her to the ground. 

“You two are nothing, and will never be.” Ryker spat, looking at the hunters, “Bring them up the deck I’m sure our guest is waiting.” 

The two hunters were left in shock at the older man’s actions, allowing Dak to rush over grabbing his sister’s face, “Are you okay?” 

“I’ll survive.” Leyla sighs,

“I’m going to kill him.” Dak mutters, moving to help his sister up, noticing the bruise already blossoming on the side of her face. The two guards finally snapped out of the trance they were in, grabbing the twins again, escorting them to the deck of the ship. 

They were in a more or less abandoned cover, Svetlana’s ship nearing quickly. Hunters were covering the deck prepared for anything, while Dagur, Heather, and Ryker stood up on the highest part of the ship. 

“Are we sure she knows them?” Dagur asks. 

“No, but she seemed very… persistent.” Ryker responds, walking down the stairs. 

“There’s no cover here.” Heather mutters, looking around, “any type of attack would be quickly dealt with.” 

“That’s exactly what they planned for.” Dagur sighs, the entire ship quiets once Svetlana and her crew begin to board. 

“Svetlana the Sly, I can only guess.” Ryker greets, “Welcome aboard.” 

“And you are?” Svetlana asks. 

“Ryker Grimborn.” 

“I could care less,” Svetlana sighs, looking over to the twins quickly walking away from the man, “The dragon talkers.” 

“What do you mean?” Ryker asks, walking towards the pirate. 

“I mean I’ve fought these two before many times, and they both have amazing and slightly irritating abilities.” Svetlana explains. 

“And those abilities are?” Ryker asks. 

“The two of them can understand what the beasts say.” Svetlana responds, the entire ship erupts into laughter. Ryker being the main cause, after minutes of it they finally quieted down again. 

“Talking to dragons? Impossible.” Ryker laughs, looking at the pirate, “What can they really do?” 

“Are you laughing at me?” Svetlana asks while signing her crew to start preparing to attack. 

“No, no.” Ryker tells her. “We just weren’t ready for your joke now, what can they really do?” 

“I told you the truth," Svetlana argues, "I've seen these two tamed the fiercest dragons, but if you do not believe me how about a demonstration." 

“Fine, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, bring up one of their dragons!” Ryker yells, a dozen hunters scatter running to grab one of the many dragons below. It took 10 minutes, but they eventually brought one of the dragons to the ship's deck. 

"Took them long enough," Svetlana sighs, looking at Ryker. 

Winger was being held down by multiple hunters, who severely overestimated how dangerous a young dragon was. Winger thrashed against the hunter's hold to no avail. Ryker watches with amusement visible in his face, looking over at the pirate, "What kind of demonstration would you like to see?" 

"The demonstration isn't for me." Svetlana responds, grabbing one of the hunter's axes, walking over to the downed dragon, "it's for you." 

Dak rushes over, grabbing one of the hunter's weapons as well standing in front of his dragons, "Don't touch him!"

Svetlana starts laughing manically, looking at the boy, singling to her crew to grab him, "You two have gotten a little more aggressive sense Huts-" 

"Don't even." Dak cuts in, being held back by two pirates. 

"Well- lets continue the demonstration," Svetlana sighs, looking back at the dragon rider, "I'm going to do an action of some sort and you're going to tell Ryker what it is." 

"How effective is that going to be, I can-" Dak gets cut off, getting harshly picked up and turned to face his twin 

"Now you little runt, tell Ryker what I am doing." Svetlana chuckles,  

"No." Dak responds, "You're insane, talking to dragons doesn't exist-" 

A sound of a weapon hitting through the wooden deck quickly cuts the boy's comment off, "If you want to save the dragon's life, prove it."  

"Fine! fine!" Dak sighs, listening for the answer, which Winger answers not long after. 

"He says you're- you're spinning the ax around, mainly aiming it the dragon hunters." 

"Thor," Ryker sighs, "That's incredible, can you imagine what a person could do with an ability like that?" 

"I can only imagine." Svetlana sighs, "To think of the cost someone would pay, to have a dragon talker at their disposable." 

"Change course!" Ryker yells, "We're heading to Viggo." 

"Viggo didn't want us back for a few more days," Heather argues, rushing over. 

"He'll forgive our early homecoming once he sees the abilities of these twins." 

"And then what?" Dagur asks. 

"We'll use them to catch more dragons, sell them to the highest bidder, whatever Viggo decides." 

"You can't sell them!" Heather yells, "They're just kids." 

"I'll do what I want." Ryker responds, grabbing the berserker's shoulder, "Viggo would hate to learn about this resistance, so I suggest both of you accept this choice.” 

“Of course, we were just making sure you wouldn’t do anything… irrational” Heather replies, looking at the twins, “Should we escort the two back-” 

A blast echos through the air, stopping all conversations, “Ryker,” Hiccup starts, sitting on one of the sea stacks, that guarded the area “I thought you were above kidnapping.”

Notes:

Comments are gold for me

Chapter 5: The Secrets of Escape - Part Two

Summary:

They finished their great escape

Notes:

I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, also it was a need for Leyla to be a smart ass if anyone was wondering

rewrote to make more sense and adding some more details

Hours before, Hiccup and the others found where the meeting was being held, seeing Grimborn's ship sitting in the cove. “This place is highly defensible, not easily accessed from the sky, there’s only one way in or out.”  Astrid explains, “They definitely chose this place for a reason.” 

“There’s got to be a reason.” Hiccup sighs, looking around, “Ryker would settle here unless there was a reason behind it.” 

“I’m going to guess that they're having a meeting or something.” Tuffnut cuts in, 

“Why do you say that?” Hiccup asks. 

“Cause there’s another ship coming.” Tuffnut responds, pointing at the nearing ship which quickly the entire cove settling near the other ship. 

“Can we get a better look at the ship?” Fishlegs asks, Hiccup grabs the telescope from his saddle bag, looking down at the ship below them. 

“Gods.” Hiccup huffs, handing Fishlegs the telescope. 

Looking down through the telescope the teen could easily see the two children, being held back by hunters. “They are just babies?” Fishlegs mutters, “I thought they were 12, they look like they’re 8.” 

“Something’s wrong here.” Hiccup mutters, looking down at the meeting. The group looks down at the meeting watching as the interactions happen, seeing one of the dragons being brought to the deck.

“Are they going to-?” Snotlout starts, getting interrupted by the sound of yells and wood breaking from below them. None of them could make out the screams or what anyone below them were saying. “We need to get down there.” 

“Before something worse happens.” Astrid cuts in, as they prepare the dragon that was being used as a demonstration was taken below the ship again. 

"I'll do what I want!" Ryker’s voice fills the area being the only clear one heard, 

“Come on.” Hiccup huffs, watching as Heather attempts to work with the older man. 

“Of course, we were just making sure you wouldn’t do anything… irrational” Heather replies, looking at the twins, “Should we escort the two back-”

Hiccup signals for Toothless to send a blast towards the ship, which echoes throughout the cove. “Ryker,” Hiccup starts, sitting on one of the sea stacks that guarded the area “I thought you were above kidnapping.”

The team dives down towards the ships, allowing the twins to take their chance. “Fire!” Ryker yells, the hunters turning to fire on the dragon riders. 

Dak and Leyla rush towards the bottom of the ship, none of the hunters paying attention to them. Only the dragons were below, all the other hunters abandoned their posts when the attack came.

“How are we going to get the dragons out?” Dak wonders, looking around. 

“I’m sure they’re a lever or something,” Leyla answers, “help me look.” 

Dak sighs, looking up seeing the lever in the ceiling, “I got it!” Dak yelps, pulling the lever down allowing the dragons to leave the cages. 

“Summer!” Leyla sighs, hugging her dragon. 

“Are you both okay?” Burple asks. 

“We’re fine,” Dak answers, “Come on we gotta go.” 

The group flies out of the ship, going up near the dragon riders who were attacking the ships from higher up. “Now that the kids are off the ships we can-” 

“Actually attack the ships?” Snotlout finishes. 

“Can we do a wall of fire?” Ruffnut asks. 

“That’s actually, somehow a good idea.” Fishlegs responds, with his answer, the Nut twins dive down flooding both of the ships in gas. Looking over at the younger riders who were watching them, “What are we doing with the kids?”

“All of you go sit on that sea stack, we’ll deal with you later.” Astrid instructs pointing at one of the many sea stacks. 

“No,” Leyla responds, “We will not being doing that.” 

“That’s so boring, why do we have to sit on the side?” Dak asks. 

“Cause you children.” Fishlegs answers. 

“These children have been riding dragons, much longer than you have.” Leyla responds, diving down towards the ships below them with the others following close behind, “This is our plan, Burple your job is to dive into the ships, break as much as possible, Cutter take out their sails, while me and Dak draw their fire.” 

“Got it.” Cutter yells, all of them go to their individual tasks, the other dragon riders making the tasks easier by distracting the hunter/pirates as well. 

“No!” Svetlana huffs, looking towards Ryker, “Don’t you have any other defences! This is so… disappointing!" 

“This’ll be no problem.” Ryker assures, looking at the dragon riders. 

Leyla flies above the ships, the two ships are starting to struggle. One small action could easily make them start sinking, “Summer, up to sinking the ships from below?” 

“Let’s do it!” Summer roars, diving down into the sea with her rider, Winger and Dak flew above taking out the nets hunters were trying to throw into the sea. Slowly but surely the ships started turning towards each other, wood cracking filled the air. 

“What’s happening!” Snotlout asks, looking down.

“My sister is sinking the ships from below.” Dak answers, "Obviously." 

“Weren’t you two told to stay back?” Snotlout asks, getting no answer from the younger boy, who was watching the sea. The two ships collided filling the area with a loud bang, but the dragon rider still hadn’t surfaced. 

“Where is she?” Dak asks, diving down towards the ships, even with the ships sinking dozens of hunters were still sending arrows towards them. Snotlout was watching from above sighing, before shooting down to catch up with the younger rider. 

Under the water, the two of them successfully got the ships to start sinking, the only problem was that they were now stuck underwater. Dozens of hunters were guarding the sides of the ships, waiting for them to resurface. “They aren’t going to last under there much longer.” Ryker laughs, looking over the side. 

“Shes just a kid.” Dagur argues, “Why exactly are you happy about her dying.” 

“It is a loss of profits, but we’ll still have the boy.” Ryker responds, 

“You don’t even have him,” Heather argues, 

“We will soon.” 

Up above them the dragon riders were still avoiding the dragon root shot at them, Dak’s eyes were still sent on the sea below them waiting. Before deciding he’s had enough, “Come on Wing,” 

The two of them shoot down towards the ships, drawing the fire of the hunters. Below them, the ships were taking the effects of Summer and Leyla. With Dak’s distraction the two of them were finally able to resurface, the dragon rider was leaning over her saddle trying to catch her breath. Flying up, crashing on one of the sea stacks, Fishlegs lands next to the two not long afterwards. 

“Are you okay?” Fishlegs asks, kneeling down looking the girl over. 

“Yep, definitely,” Leyla gasps, still trying to catch her breath again. 

“You stay here.” Fishlegs demands, going back down into the fight. 

“Thank Thor” Dak sighs, his eyes catching his twin on the sea stack, from below them a hunter fires sending an arrow flying towards the dragon, the arrow hits but not the dragon. Dak looks down at the injury, the arrow embedded in the lower part of his leg. “Oh come on,”

“Did you just get shot?” Winger asks, 

“Noo,” Dak lies, “it’s just a scratch.”

“Sure,” Winger responds, flying up to where the other rescue rider was, down below the rest of the dragon riders trying to finish off the rest of the hunters. Svetlana’s crew had already left, going to the other ship of theirs that was nearby. Svetlana was still on Ryker’s ship, watching as the dragon hunter attempted to stay in control. 

Dagur and Heather were still on the ship, thinking over their choices, before deciding their was better priorities, the two of them ran to get their dragons. Sleuther and Windshear were below the ship as well, neither of them were in locked cells making it much easier for the berserkers to leave. 

The two of them flew away from the ship, going towards the dragon riders who were all on a nearby sea stack out of firing range. 

“Dagur! Heather!” Ryker yells after them, “those traitors." 

“Well-” Svetlana starts, “This meeting has definitely shown me some stuff, as much as I would love to leave I need to meet your brother and to catch those twins.” 

“Sir what are we going to do?” 

“Keep sailing towards Viggo.” Ryker responds, “We need to inform him of what has happened.” 

*** 

It was night by the time the group made it to Berk, which was the closest island. Gothi was the best person for the injuries acquired, Dak's entire lower part of his leg was bandaged, he was passed out leaning against Leyla who was also sleeping. Leyla was more or less fine, she was coughing harshly the entire way to Berk hunched over her saddle. 

In one of the covered areas the dragon riders were sitting around a fire, “What are we going to do with them?” Snotlout asks. 

“We could just let them go,” Tuffnut suggests, “They did say they’ve been on their own half their lives anyways.” 

“That’s a horrible solution,” Fishlegs argues, “They’re 12, definitely shouldn’t be on their own.” 

“And they look like they’re 8.” Snotlout adds in. 

“Then what are we supposed to do with them?” Astrid asks, “We definitely can’t take care of them,” 

“We could barely handle Gustav.” Tuffnut cuts in. 

 “We could bring them to Berserker Island,” Heather suggests, “The island is already defensible,” 

“Yeah, but it needs to be rebuilt.” Snotlout argues, “Last time I checked your island was in shambles.” 

“You could make them help.” Ruffnut suggests. 

“Neither of them can stand currently.” Dagur argues. 

“Well after they’re better.” Tuffnut cuts in. 

“I agree, Berserker Island is the best option, we can easily defend it and it’s a less expected place.”  Dagur explains, 

“Great, now all we need to do is convince them.” Fishlegs responds, “Which I doubt is going to happen easily.”

“They barely listen.” Heather sighs. 

“Reminds me of some people.” Dagur chuckles, 

“Okay… but why was Gothi so nice to them!” Snotlout yelps, “She hated us at that age.” 

The group of them spend the rest of the night talking, waiting and planning, the twins both wake up around sunrise being greeted by the rest of their dragons. “I wonder what Duggard would think.” Dak grumbles, after a while of silence. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Leyla sighs, “We swore to stay away from Huttsgalor.” 

“I know,” 

“I didn’t know you two were awake.” Dagur greets, looking at the group. 

“It hasn’t been very long.” Leyla responds, “Do you need something?” 

“We wanted to run an idea past you guys.” Dagur starts, walking closer, “How you feel about living on an island.” 

“What island?” Dak asks. 

“Berserker island.” Dagur answers, “I know it used to be a dragon hunting tribe, but it isn’t anymore and-”

“Sure.” Dak answers, without another thought. 

“What?” 

“I said sure, we can try living on that island.” Dak confirms. 

“Oh, I did not think it would be that easy.” Dagur mutters, “Alright, we’ll be heading towards there soon then.”

 “Cool,” Dak mutters, watching the older man leave. 

“Why did you do that?” Leyla grumbles, “We don’t need supervision.” 

“It wasn’t for that,” Dak responds, “Just living in one place again.” 

“Hm,” Leyla sighs, “I guess, that’s a good reason.”

Notes:

I can honestly say that I love rewriting some of these chapters, adding more details, and making them longer has been so entertaining

Chapter 6: Navigating the Storm

Summary:

Protective Dagur starts

Notes:

I rewrote this chapter to match more with my current writing style, which will have a reason soon but that's going to take a minute before I tell everyone about that

Ryker and Svetlana, with whoever was left after the dragon rider attack, sailed towards Viggo’s island. It was packed with dragon hunters, who quickly went to start fixing any damage done to the ships. The two leaders walked into the woods towards a lone tent that was sitting near a cliff's edge. Inside was Viggo sitting with a game board in front of him. 

“Ah, Maces and Talons.” Viggo greets, looking up at the two. 

“Wha-” Svetlana mutters. 

“Brother.” Viggo greets, hugging the older man, turning to the pirate, “Lovely to meet you Svetlana.” 

“Hm,” Svetlana looks at him, “debatable reaction meeting you.” 

“Brother, our prisoners got away.” Ryker explains, “And we definitely need to focus on getting these two back.” 

“Why exactly, are you so focused on two kids?” Viggo asks, “Aren’t they 12?” 

“They have a revolutionary ability.” Ryker starts, “it’s something that could help us build-” 

“What is it?” Viggo cuts in. 

“The two of them can understand what dragons say,” Viggo looks at him with amusement, “I know it sounds crazy, but I saw it with my own eyes they did it.” 

“Have you hit your head recently?” 

“I can prove it to you once we get the two of them back.” Ryker assures. 

“Have you hit your head recently?” Viggo repeats, "Because there is no way that’s possible.” 

“They were raised by a dragon, or so I've heard.” Svetlana cuts in. 

“Okay- can I take a guess that Dagur and Heather left?” Viggo asks 

“They betrayed us, both of them had been working with the dragon riders.” Ryker informs. 

“Of course they did, brother, at this point you need to start suspecting the outcome of others so you know how to counter them.” Viggo laughs again, “Did you find anything else out about these kids?” 

“You know the myth of the golden dragon?” Ryker asks, Viggo nods. “Well the two of them have found it and know where to get it.” 

“Well isn’t that an interesting development. "Viggo laughs, turning his attention to the women in the room. 

“I want to help capture these kids,” Svetlana cuts in, “They’ve embarrassed us pirates enough, my crew can help as long as you pay us handsomely.” 

“Great,” Viggo answers, “let’s make a plan to get these kids.” 

***

Berserker Island was deserted, buildings destroyed from past attacks, the entire island showing past battle scars. The people who were still living on the island hadn’t even tried to help rebuild the town. Most of them living near the docks, which was the most busy area. 

“This place is… something.” Dak notes, looking over the island from above. 

“It was better, before it got attacked.” Heather responds, “And before someone took over.” 

“I’m well aware I wasn’t the best chief, I’m working on it.” Dagur cuts in, “we can work on my chiefing skills, once our island is rebuilt,” 

“Great,” Heather mutters, “As long as you stay normal, this time.” 

“I am normal!” Dagur argues, 

“I think he has some issues.” Cutter mutters. 

“What did he say?” 

“Nothing,” Dak mutters 

“Let’s get settled before I get insulted anymore.” Dagur grumbles. 

“Okay?” Leyla mutters, looking over at the man, already regretting not leaving. The group of them reached the island, flying over to get a better look at something, or well they were trying to. All of the dragons all of a sudden fly up, instead of flying over the island. 

“What the-” Dak mutters, looking at his dragon, “what’s going on?” 

“I don’t know,” Winger mutters, looking around. 

“We can’t fly over the island.” Burple cuts in. 

“Physically we can’t.” Windshear cuts in. 

“What did she say?” Heather asks. 

“She said something about not being able to fly over the island.” Leyla answers 

“Weird.” Dak mutters, looking around, “Maybe there's somewhere else they could land.” 

“Hm,” Heather mutters, looking around her eyes landing on the mountain, “Maybe they could land on the mountain.” 

“We can try it.” Summer responds, the group of dragons successfully land on the mountain cliff, none of the dragons feeling the effects from before. 

“What was that?” Burple asks.

“No idea.” Leyla sighs, looking around, “They could be something on the island, the dragons are allergic too.” 

“Or something that makes us sick.” Burple adds in, getting looks from all of the Rescue Riders, “That’s what allergic means isn’t it?” 

“Yeah,” Summer sighs. 

“Is there anything in your dragon diary, Ley?” Dak asks. 

“I doubt it.” Leyla answers, taking the book out of her bag, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” 

“The dragons seem fine up here, how about we plan to keep them up here when we’re on the island.” Dagur suggests, “We could build some stables up here, to protect them from the elements.” 

“Like the sleep cave!” Burple yelps, looking at the other dragons. 

“What did he say?” Heather asks. 

“Nothing important.” Dak assures, looking down into the town, “So what are we doing now?” 

“You’re not doing anything.” Heather cuts in, gesturing down towards his injury. 

“What-” Dak asks, “You can’t bring me to Berserker Island, and then make me stay in one place it’s type a child neglect or something.” 

“No it’s not.’ Leyla cuts in. 

“I’m pretty sure it is.” Dak responds, looking at the adults, “Don’t make me.” 

“I guess you can come into town.” Heather suggests, “But you can’t do much.” 

“I’ll take it!” Dak yelps, jumping up immediately regretting the quick action, Dagur looks down into the town noting the state the harbor was in. 

“While Heather and Dak deal with people, Leyla, will you help me with the docks?” Dagur asks. 

“No.” Leyla answers. 

“Actually too bad you have to help.” Dagur responds, starting to walk down the hill towards the town with the other three. 

“Why did you give me an option then!” Leyla argues, “This is child endangerment.” 

“No it’s not.” Dagur responds, “You'll be fine, and you need to interact with people.”
“I interact with plenty of people.” 

“half of them end up punching you.” Dak argues. 

“Shut up,” Leyla huffs, “That was only three of them.” 

The walk to the docks was silent, Heather and Dak split off once they got back into town, the harbor was the most filled part in the town, multiple crates of supplies filled the area. Ships from all over the archipelago filled the area, the two dragon riders jumped to start helping, (much to the younger one’s annoyance). It was sunset by the time the two of them finished, getting the docks cleaned up again.

“Leyla!”

“What now?” Leyla groans, turning to face the older man. 

“Do you want to find your brother?” 

“Yes,” Leyla answers, the two of them walk away from the docks into the town again. “That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.” Leyla grumbles, “The people here are fine, decently entertaining to be around 

“See I told you.” Dagur teases, “and you met people who don’t want to kill you.” 

“You can’t confirm that.” Leyla argues, looking around, “I guess, this island is decently cool.”   

“I know right.” Dagur chuckles, Leyla rushes in front of him looking at the abandoned building that filled the town, before starting to walk backwards to look at the older man, 

“What happened to-” Leyla starts, getting cut off by running into something, whipping around to face who it was, “Sorry.”  

“What where you're going, you little girl.” A man tells her. 

“Who are you calling a little girl?” Leyla asks, looking at the older man, “Maybe watch where you are going.” 

The dragon rider turns to walk away, but the man grabs her arm, “Hey!” 

“Do it again and I’ll make you sorry.” The man tells her. 

“Savage!” Dagur yells, running towards them and grabbing the younger girl from him. “She said she was sorry don’t be rude, remember I am in charge of you.” 

“She didn’t even say sorry!” Savage argues, looking at the girl who Dagur was standing in front of now. 

“Well she is.” Dagur responds, looking back at the younger girl, “You are right?” 

“I am very, very sorry.” Leyla confirms. 

“See,” Dagur sighs, looking at the man, “So leave it be.” 

“Fine,” Savage sighs, “I don’t get why you care, I haven’t even seen this girl before.” 

“Well get used to seeing her.” Dagur responds, “Because her and her brother are living here now.” 

“Why?” Savage asks, “We don’t need kids here, especially not little brats who can’t even watch where they’re going.” 

“Savage knock it off.” Dagur argues, finding his sister in the crowd of people, “Leyla go find your brother and Heather.” 

“No, I want to watch this.” Leyla argues. 

“Go.” Dagur repeats.

“Fine.”

Once the younger girl was out of ear shot, Dagur leaned in towards Savage, “What’s your problem?” 

“My problem!" Savage asks, “my problem is you’re going all soft for this random girl you’ve found, what happened to being berserk?” 

“Thor forbid, I wanted two orphaned kids to have a home, again.” Dagur argues, “Deal with it Savage.” 

“How did you even find them?” 

“They were shot down by dragon hunters,” 

“They’re dragon riders!” Savage groans, “You’re going against everything we stand for, we already have enough dragon riders around.” 

“We haven’t been killing dragons for years.” Dagur argues, “Calm down.” 

“Fine, just keep them out of my sight.” Savage grumbles, walking away. 

“Werdio.” Dagur mutters, walking towards the other three who were all watching the interaction still. 

“What was his problem?” Leyla asks, 

“He’s not a fan of dragon riders.” Heather explains, “Or anything really.”

“Well, that's fun,” Dak mutters, “Can we go see the dragons now?” 

“Yeah come on.” Dagur sighs, walking near the girl, “If you see him, do not interact with him.” 

“Why?” Leyla asks. 

“Cause I said so.” 

“That’s not a reason, but fine.” Leyla mutters, rushing up near her brother 

***

It was later in the night, both of the twins were knocked out cold near their dragons. Leaving only Dagur and Heather awake still, “What are we going to do with these two?” Dagur asks. 

“Who knows at this rate.” Heather sighs, looking over at them, “They really don’t like anyone.” 

“I can’t blame them for it.” Dagur mutters, “If they’ve been on their own for years, who knows what people have done to them over the years alone.” 

“Yeah I guess.” Heather answers, looking over at the two sleeping kids. “We need to keep them away from Savage.” 

“He hates Leyla.” Dagur chuckles, “Which she did not help with.” 

“Of course she didn’t.” Heather sighs, “I think her favorite thing to do is bully people." 

“Definitely.” Dagur sighs. 

The conversation stops there, the two of them going to sleep, only one of them succeeding in that. Dagur was up much longer, making sure nothing bad was going to happen. After hours of being up, the chief finally falls asleep much later.  

Notes:

A few edits happened in this chapter, first Dak and Leyla don't want to be on Berserker Island, second while I was rereading, I felt like Leyla was being a little too nice, so I fixed that, obviously, and I think it's much better. (Dak and Leyla are haters and we all know it)

I also rushed Dagur and the twin's relationship so much, so I'm fixing that a little bit making it take a little longer

Chapter 7: Fateful Ties

Summary:

The flightmare comes into the story

Notes:

I don't know how to feel about this chapter

The dragon hunter's base was filled with dozens more people than before, pirates from all over were there as well. Helping catch dragons and finding information about the riders. The Grimborns were in a tent with Svetlana making their next plan. 

"So, what's our plan?" Svetlana asks. 

"First we need to get the dragon eye." Viggo responds, 

"I did not sign up to help you get this dragon eye." Svetlana argues, going to leave. 

"Don't worry, I have someone on the twins still," Viggo cuts in, "But we need to focus on the dragon eye." 

"What our plan?" Ryker asks. 

"We need to find the flightmare." 

***

Heather, Dagur, and the twins had been living on Berserker Island for a few weeks now, they've started to adjust to each other even with all of Dagur rules for the island, because apparently the older man has a few too many enemies still living on the island. 

The group of them were eating on the mountain top, their dragons sitting around them, it was silent the only sound was random sounds the dragons were making. Well, it was silent before a terrible terror interrupted it, landing near Heather. 

"Ooh, terror mail." Heather mutters, grabbing it from the dragon. 

"A what mail?" Dak asks. 

                       Heather and Dagur we’ve gotten news from trader Johan about Viggo and Rykers plans, the two of them are trying to hunt down the                                 flightmare for some reason. None of us know where to find it, but we’re hoping that one of you two know. Meet us at the edge, and we’ll                         discuss our plan more. 

                       -Hiccup

Dak gets no answer to his confusion; Heather reads the note before basically throwing it at her older brother, "The flightmare?" 

“You mean that one dragon that can freeze someone in fear?” Dak cuts in. 

“How do you know that?” Heather asks. 

“We’ve seen it before; I mapped its food route easier to avoid it if you know where it is.” Leyla explains, pulling her dragon diary out flipping to the page with the map  

“Can we borrow that map?” Heather asks.

“Yeah, why?” Leyla asks. 

“We need to find the flightmare, to keep it safe” Heather explains. 

“I guess you can, then." Leyla mutters 

"Can we go?" Dak asks. 

"Uh-" Heather starts, looking over at her brother. 

“I don’t think it’s the best idea to take you two. Like Ryker knows what you can do and Viggo probably does now too, we all heard what Ryker wanted to do with you two." 

“I know I know," Dak grumbles, "but what if we stay back not near the action.”

"Neither of you would stay back." Heather argues.   

“I honestly think either of you should go.” Dagur argues, "We all know how Ryker can be." 

“Okay, what if I take the map and take it to the riders and you stay here with the kids.” Heather suggests. 

"That sounds-" 

"Do we get an option in this?" Dak asks. 

"No," Dagur responds, turning back to his sister, "Be careful"

“Always am.” Heather responds walking away to Leyla, “Can I borrow those maps to the flightmare?” 

“I guess, don't really get a choice in this.” Leyla grumbles, pulling her dragon diary out of her bag, “It’s in here, you can take this just be careful with it. It was my mom's. It's the only thing I have from her”

“I will keep it safe.” Heather assures before leaving with Windshear. 

“So, what do you guys want to do?” Dagur asks.

“I don’t know, can we go down into the town?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Dagur smiles and the three of them walk down to the town.

Leyla and Dak were sitting on a stone wall, while Dagur stood in front of them talking. Leyla stood up on the wall and made it so she was taller than the older man. “Now I’m taller than you.” Leyla laughs at him, "Fear me." 

"I'm terrified." 

"You should be." 

Dak jumps up to be taller as well, standing near his sibling, "now I am taller than both of you." 

"Not after I push you." Leyla threatens. 

"Let's not." Dagur cuts in, the boy's injury was more or less healed but falling from a higher height wouldn't help it.

Savage was near by watching the interaction, He rolled his eyes before walking toward his chief, “Chief!” Savage yells. 

Dagur responds by turning around and facing the man calling his name, “Do you need something Savage?” Dagur asks. 

“Just wondering if you were going to do anything else today.” Savage responds.

“Probably not, this and help around town.” Dagur responds. 

“Just remember you're a chief, not a father.” Savage responds walking away, leaving the three people confused. Dagur turned around to see the two kids no longer standing or laughing they were just sitting on the wall,

“What was that about?” Dak asks. 

“It was nothing bud.” Dagur responds. 

“Are you sure, you seem-” Leyla starts. 

“It’s fine.” Dagur snaps, “Sorry he was just annoying me.” Dagur apologizes, “How about I show you two something?” 

“Sure.” Leyla laughs. Jumping off the wall. 

“Ley help me, I'm injured.” Dak asks. 

“Really?” Leyla grumbles but walks over helping her brother. 

“Thank you.” Dak smiles. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Leyla chuckles, the three of them walk to a house in the outer part of the town, “What is this place?”

“This is where I grew up.” Dagur responds, opening the door.

“Seriously?” Dak asks, Dagur nods “Cool.” 

“Are we going inside?” Leyla asks.”

“Sure, if you want.” Dagur responds the three enter the mostly empty house, Dak and Leyla start looking around at the room, but they are interrupted by the horn alerting someone sailing towards the island. Leyla and Dak look at Dagur who looks just as confused as the twins were, Dagur walked towards the doo the young twins followed close, Dagur walked towards the docks and starts talking with someone. 

“Sir, there’s something you're going to want to see.” One of the people working says.

Dagur looks at the ships, noticing the sails which was on every one  f the ships sailing towards the island. It was a dragon that looked like it was being stabbed, Dragon hunters were sailing towards the island. 

“Shit.” Dagur mutters, “Okay everyone prepare for battle, those are dragon hunting ships sailing here.” Leyla and Dak stood behind the older man who was still looking pissed at the ships. “Okay, you two need to get up to the dragons.”

“What?” Leyla asks. 

“Why?” Dak adds. 

“Because, I said so. Go!” Dagur yells at them.

The twins turn around, running towards where their dragons were. Dak was running in front of his sister while Leyla was talking to people making them aware of what was happening. People were thanking Leyla while going into their houses, Leyla continues walking to where the dragons were but was stopped by Savage. 

“Excuse me.” Leyla responds, trying to get around the man.

“I wonder how the dragon hunters would react if I gave them you?” Savage asks her. 

“What!” Leyla yells trying to get away from the man. 

“You and your brother chanced Dagur, now I’ll get revenge on this.” Savage smiles, while grabbing her arm. 

“Let me go you asshole.” Leyla tells him but he ignores it, dragging her to where a dragon hunter was. 

“This was the best plan I’ve ever made.” Savage laughs at the girl again. 

“You planned this?” Leyla asks. 

“Of course, I did, when a kid is wanted by dragon hunters you know it’s important.” Savage tells her.

He teamed with the dragon hunter to get revenge on the chief of his island and while Dagur was distracted he was going to take one of them to the dragon hunters around the side of the island. They met the ship at the side of the island and Savage handed the young girl over to them. Savage was paid and walked away from the ship. 

Dagur had chased off the hunters and was going to meet the kids where he told them to go. He walked up the hill but only saw one of the twins.

“Dak, where's Leyla?” Dagur asks. 

“I don’t know she was helping someone while we were coming up, but when I turned around she was gone.” Dak responds. 

“Maybe she’s still in town or something.” Dagur responds, “Um, let's go look for her.” Dak stands up and walks down with Dagur. 

***

Viggo and Ryker had the flightmare, in a cage nearby when they saw a boat coming to the dock.

“Brother, do you know who that is?” Ryker asks. 

“Oh, just on schedule.” Viggo responds. 

“What is it brother?” Ryker asks. 

“Not an it brother who.” Viggo responds, “and for your information that person is who we’re going to train the flightmare.” 

“You got the twins?” Svetlana asks. 

“I have a twin, the girl.” Viggo responds. 

Notes:

Comments please I love them

Chapter 8: The Bonds We Forge

Summary:

Discoveries and secrets revealed

Notes:

I'm just saying Dak and Leyla would probably a least once not be able to handle all the dragons talking at once.

Leyla sat in the bottom of the ship, it was the second time she’d been taken by these people but the first time she had her twin. This time she was all alone, no one to talk with or laugh with nothing. She felt the boat stop, and voices coming towards the cell she was in. It was two people, one voice she recognized the other she didn’t, the one she recognized was Ryker but the other one wasn’t familiar in any way. Leyla sat in silence listening as the two men got closer and closer to where she was.

“Hello Leyla.” Viggo tells her. 

“How the fuck do you know my name?” Leyla asks, “Dat a little a weird dude.” 

“Child, you are a little shit.” Ryker tells her. 

“I would like to know how this random man knows my name.” Leyla responds. 

“This is my brother.” Ryker smiles. 

“Damn he’s even shorter than you yet he's in charge.” Leyla laughs. 

“That was not needed.” Viggo responds. 

“Yes it was, it was very much needed.” Leyla smiles, “So why was I kidnapped, cause first not very nice second, your brother should’ve known that I wasn’t going to do anything you wanted, third your brother punched me like an asshat.” 

“Did you just tell on me? To my brother?” Ryker asks. 

“Yeah, cause your parents aren’t around anymore, and I’m sure of that cause who would want to be a parent to a middle aged balding guy who kidnaps people for fun.” Leyla tells him. 

“What the fuck?” Ryker asks. 

“Oh, my you are worse than Dagur.” Viggo responds. 

“Ima take that as a compliment.” Leyla smiles, “So what do you need?” 

“You’re going to train a dragon for us.” Ryker responds. 

“No I’m not.” Leyla argues. 

“Yes you are.” Ryker tells her. 

“No.” Leyla responds. 

“Do it or we’ll get your brother.” Viggo bargens. 

“You touch my brother, and I’ll cut your eyes out.” Leyla threatens. 

“Sorry to tell you this kid but you look like a kicked puppy.” Ryker laughs, “Guards over here.” 

---

Heather flew back to Berserker island, meeting Dagur and Dak on the top of the mountain.

“So it was a,” Heather starts looking around, “W-where’s Leyla?” 

“From what we heard she was taken.” Dagur tells Heather. 

“By who?” Heather asks. 

“No idea, we got attacked by hunters and then she was gone.” Dak explains. 

“Wait, our island was attacked?” Heather asks. 

“Yeah, I don’t understand why though.” Dagur responds. 

“They used the flightmare as a distraction, to get the twins.” Heather tells them, “Ryker already talked about how the two of them could cost, so they teamed with someone on the island to get them.” 

“But who?” Dak asks. 

“Savage.” Dagur answers, “It had to be him, he was already hating them and would do anything to get them off the island.” 

“So savage teamed up with the hunters, to what get us off the island and get money?” Dak asks. 

“Pretty much, bud.” Dagur answered, 

“What did we do to him?” Dak mutters. 

“Nothing, he’s an ass.” Heather responds, Dak laughs at her answer but stay silent. 

“We’ll meet with the dragon riders, and make a plan to get her.” Dagur tells them. 

“And the flightmare.” Heather adds. 

“What if they wanted Ley cause they’d have her train the flightmare.” Dak suggests. 

“Wait, that's exactly what they’re doing.” Dagur responds, “They’re making her train the dragon for them.” 

“Shit.” Heather responds.

“How do we tell the others about it?” Dagur asks, “There’s no way they’d believe us.” 

“Yeah they wouldn’t.” Heather responds, “But we’ve got to try, so we meet the riders and explain what we think.” 

“Yes! Let’s go!” Dak yells 

“Dak, bud you can’t go.” Dagur tells him. 

“What! Why not?” Dak asks. 

“First, you’re still hurt, second, we can’t let you get taken too.” Dagur tells him. 

“This sucks,” Dak mutters, “She’s my twin, I can’t leave her.” 

“I’ll stay with him,” Heather tells her brother. 

“Are you sure?” Dagur asks. 

“Well someones gotta make sure he doesn’t follow us.” Heather laughs. 

“Rude.” Dak mutters. 

“Okay, I’ll go meet the others while both of you stay here.” Dagur responds. 

“Be safe Dag.” Dak mutters. 

“I will, kid.” Dagur tells him

(Just realized that Dagur doesn’t have a dragon so let’s ignore that to our best possibilities and Sleuther’s now here 👍cause I love him”

Dagur got on Sleuther and flew to meet the other dragon riders, they met on Dragon Edge. “What’s happened Dagur?” Hiccup asks. 

“Bezserker Island was attacked by the dragon hunters.” Dagur explains. 

“What? Is everyone okay?” Astrid asks. 

“Sorta, the island was attacked to get one of the kids.” Dagur explains. 

“Why?” Snotlout asks, “So they can be smart mouthed more?” 

“Because the kids can understand dragons, before anyone says anything they proved it we know it sounds crazy just right now we need to get Leyla.” Dagur answers. 

“Okay then, why would they want them? Other than them talking to dragons.” Hiccup asks. 

“We assumed that they were planning to make Leyla train the flightmare for them.” Dagur responds 

“Wait, that would make sense, they have someone train the dragon so they could use it.” Fishlegs responds. 

“You’re not seriously believing this?” Snotlout asks. 

“We can talk about it after we get Leyla back.” Dagur argues. 

“Okay, okay.” Snotlout responds. 

---

Leyla was sitting in a cell, said cell was surrounded by other cells but those ones had dragons in them. All of the dragons were talking over each other making the area very loud. It was at least loud for the girl who was understanding everything they were yelling about. Leyla had her hands over her ears attempting to block out some of the sound from around her. So she didn’t hear the two men walking up to the cell she was in,

“Hey kid!” Ryker yells at her.

 Leyla looked up at the people, and uncovered her ears,

“What do you want?” Leyla asks. 

“You're going to do something for us.” Viggo smiles 

“No I’m not.” Leyla responds. 

“Yeah we’re not doing this again kid,” Ryker sighs, “Grab her.”

The hunter walked into the cell grabbing the girls arm dragging her out of the cell. Leyla’s arms were chained in front of her with cuffs, and the two men led her to the dragon. 

“So why can’t you two do this by yourself?” Leyla asks. 

“Because why would we when we have you.” Ryker responds. 

“That sounds creepy.” Leyla mutters. 

“Yeah, yeah kid.” Ryker laughs, they stop walking in front of one of the many cages. “So your here to tame this dragon.” 

Leyla looks into the cage and sees the flightmare, with a mouthguard covering its mouth. Ryker walks to the front of the cage and opens the door,

“What are you-.” Leyla asks, before being shoved into the cage with the dragon. Leyla's forehead meets the bottom of the cage, looking up from the ground Leyla meets the eyes of the dragon merely feet away from her. “H-hey.” Leyla smiles at the dragon. 

The Flightmare didn’t seem amused and growled at the girl, “What do you want?” The flightmare asks the girl. 

“So I don’t want anything, I was solved into the cell.” Leyla responds. 

“W-wait did you just answer me?” the flightmare asks. 

“Yes, I did.” Leyla smiles, noticing the dragon becoming more comfortable with her. She moves to rest her head on the cage, touching her forehead she feels blood beginning to drip down. “Well that’s just great.” 

“How can you understand me?” The flightmare asks. 

“It’s a great story but we don’t have time for it, we gotta get out of here.” Leyla responds. 

“How there’s no way out, this cage is dragon proof and there’s hunters everywhere.” The flightmare responds.

“I don’t know.” Leyla sighs. “I’ll make a plan and get us out of here I promise.” The flightmare nods and Leyla moves to pet its head. 

Ryker walks over to the cage with a bucket, opening the cage he threw the bucket in. “So looks like we were right, you can tame any dragon.” Ryker tells her. 

“It’s not taming. It’s talking idiot.” Leyla tells him. 

“Remember, we own you now little girl.” Ryker threatens. 

“Sure you do.” Leyla rolls her eyes, “You can say that all you want but one of us can talk to any dragon and one can’t.” 

“Yeah, yeah kid.” Ryker laughs, “Remember if we wanted we could sell you.” 

“You know everytime you talk I get more sick.” Leyla tells him she was going to say something else but some hunters started yelling. “Oh would you look at that, you guys are being attacked.” 

“Oh shut up kid.” Ryker tells her, walk away from the girl.

Leyla covered her ears again based on all the dragon roaring again, as she covered her ears she buried her face in her knees. 

---

The dragon riders fly to the island Viggo and Ryker were on. “Okay here’s the plan, we’ll find the flightmare while Dagur finds Leyla.” Hiccup tells them.

“How about I sneak around the other side of the island, they’d probably be keeping her somewhere over there.” Dagur suggests. 

“That sounds good, Dagur.” Hiccup responds. 

Dagur splits up from the group flying near the shore line, he gets off Sleuther and starts walking through the forest. Hiding from the hunters that were in the forest, he makes his way to the beginning of the many cages.

“So if I was Ryker, where would I hide a child?” Dagur asks himself.

He continues walking through the forest checking each cage to make sure Leyla wasn’t in it. He walks to what it looks like the middle of the camp, and sees the Flightmare. He walks over to the cage, and notices there wasn’t just a dragon in it. Leyla's face was still hidden in her knees while her hands were still covering her ears.

Dagur finds one of the keys to open the cage and opens it Leyla still hadn’t noticed the man. Dagur taps her head, which causes the girl to finally look up.

“Hey Ley.” Dagur tells her. Without another word Leyla jumps into the older man's arms, resting her chin and his shoulder. Once Leyla's arms were wrapped around Dagur he hugged her back, “You okay, Ley?” Leyla shakes her head, which causes Dagur to tighten his arms around her. “You're okay, you’re okay.” Dagur mubbles. 

“Can we go?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah, yeah of course we can.” Leyla moves away from the man allowing him to see her face, Dagur finally notices the cut across her face. “What happened?” Dagur asks. 

“It was when they put me in the cell.” Leyla responds. 

“Okay then, let’s go.” Dagur tells her, Dagur helps Leyla out of the cell and the Flightmare follows them and runs into the forest. “Let’s go home.” Leyla nods, and the two of them walk towards the shore where Sleuther was. They meet Sleuther on the shore and fly away from the island.

Notes:

Comments please I love them so much

Chapter 9: Homeward Bound

Summary:

First day back

Notes:

Posting this early cause I'm going to see Hamilton this weekend (My grandma's name is Hamilton I'd only go to the really play in my wildest dreams)

Dagur and Leyla flew towards Bezersker island, Sleuther flew over the ocean water with the sun setting beginning to set behind them.

“So do you think the Flightmare is okay?” Leyla asks, breaking the silence. 

“I’m sure the other riders got it out of there and it’s safe.” Dagur assures. 

“Okay,” Leyla mutters. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Dagur questions. 

“Yeah I’m fine.” Leyla tells him, “Is Dak okay?” 

“Yes, Leyla. Dak is fine, just very worried about you.” Dagur responds. 

“Of course he can’t survive without me.” Leyla laughs 

“Really?” Dagur laughs. 

“Yes.” Leyla responds. 

“Okay then you dork.” Dagur responds, Leyla laughs again and they continue flying in silence. 

---

They land on the top of Berserker Island, Dagur climbs off Sleuther then helps the younger person. Leyla barely landed on the ground when she was tackled by her twin.

“You dumb dumb, you can’t leave me alone, you're stuck with me.” Dak yells while hugging her. 

“Okay, okay.” Leyla laughs at him, while returning the hug. “Dak let me go.” 

“No, you got kidnapped so this is what you get.” Dak laughs, while continuing hugging her. 

“Dak.” Leyla laughs,

Dak finally let’s his twin go. Heather and Dagur laughed at the two kids, Leyla walks over to her dragon and pets her head. “Hi Summer.” 

“Don’t get kidnapped again, we need you.” Summer tells her, “You can’t leave us with Dak.” 

“Hey!” Dak yells 

“I mean she has a point.” Leyla laughs. 

“No no.” Dak mutters, “I’m very reliable.” 

“Says who?” Cutter asks. 

“No one asked you Cutter!” Dak yells again

“Okay, okay.” Cutter mutters. 

“This would be way more entertaining if we knew what the dragons were saying.” Heather tells her brother. 

“Yeah it would, but this is still pretty funny.” Dagur responds, “Okay, okay you dorks. How about you two stay up here while we visit someone.” 

“Who?” Dak asks. 

“You don’t need to know.” Heather answers, “Just wait here.” The two berserker siblings start walking down the mountain. “So what are you going to do to him?” 

“Nothing bad.” Dagur responds, “Probably.” 

“If you don’t I will.” Heather responds, “Who would purposely hurt those kids, they may be smart-asses but they’re funny and sweet when they want to be.” 

“Yeah that's them for you.” Dagur laughs. 

“So what did they do to Savage?” Heather asks. 

“I have no clue, Ley bumped into him a few weeks ago but nothing after that.” Dagur answers, “Wait he did for some reason yell at us that I was a chief not a dad or something.” Heather laughs which causes Dagur to question, “What?” 

“You act like their dad.” Heather responds, “You’ve been parenting them for a few weeks.” 

“I have?” Dagur asks, causing Heather to nod. “How’d I not release it?” 

“I have no idea, brother.” Heather laughs at him. 

They reach the town and walk towards Savage's hut, Dagur slams his fist on the door. Savage opens the door to face the berserker siblings.

“Hey Chief.” Savage says. 

“So this is what’s going to happen, you're going to get your stuff and leave the island.” Heather tells him. 

“What?” Savage yells. 

“You didn’t think we weren’t going to find out right?” Heather asks. 

“That little shit told you didn’t he?” Savage asks. 

Dagur grabs the man's collar, pulling him out of his hut “Savage this is what’s going to happen you’re going to get your shit and leave my island. Understand?”

“Chief-.” Savage starts. 

“You say another word and you won’t even be able to keep your stuff.” Dagur responds, throwing the man back into his house. “You talk to my kids again and you’ll see what happens.”

“They aren’t your kids.” Savage responds. 

“If they aren’t his kids then this isn’t your home anymore.” Heather tells him

“You can’t do this!” Savage yells. 

“Yes we can.” Heather tells him. 

“You're going to regret this.” Savage threatens as he grabs his belongings and walks to the docks. 

“So that was satisfying.” Dagur laughs. 

“I'm surprised you didn’t kill him.” Heather laughs. 

“I really wanted to but you know I couldn’t let the twins know.” Dagur responds. 

“So they are your kids.” Heather tells him. 

“Really, that's what you took out of that?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah.” Heather responds, “So let’s get back to your kids.” 

“I’m never going to live this down.” Dagur muttered 

“Yeah, yeah.” Heather responds, as they start walking back to the kids. 

---

Leyla and Dak were sitting on the hill, “So what do you think they’re talking to Savage about?” Dak asks. 

“Probably for selling me dragon hunters.” Leyla angrily says.

“Yeah, I wish we could see what was happening.” Dak tells her. 

“I mean we could have Cutter look and tell us what's happening.” Leyla suggests. 

“Ley you genus.” Dak tells her, before looking at Cutter, “Hey Cutter want to help us?” 

“Obviously.” Cutter responds walking over, “Okay they are knocking on his door, well more pounding on his door.” Cutter starts, “Okay now they are all talking, Heather told him something that made him really mad. Like he’s really mad.” Leyla laughs at Cutter's descriptions, “Okay now Dagur’s is tal- OH! Dagur just grabbed him and is talking in his face. That is so satisfying, the Savage dude is really mad again and Dagur just threw him.” 

“What?” Dak asks. 

“Dagur threw him into the house, anyways he was mad again and is now grabbing his stuff and is walking to the dock. Dagur and Heather are talking and starting to walk back up here-.” Cutter says. 

“Okay! Okay, that's enough we don;t need them to know about this.” Leyla cuts him off. 

“Yeah, that's probably a good idea.” Dak adds, “I’ve never been so happy we can talk to dragons.” 

“Because we spy on people more easily?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah, pretty much because that was the best thing I’ve heard this year.” Dak laughs.  

“Yeah it was.” Leyla laughs.

“What was?” Dagur asks. 

“Nothing.” Dak responds quickly. 

“Really?” Dagur asks. 

“Positive.” Leyla responds. 

“Okay then.” Dagur mutters, “So how about we start planning the dragon's stables.” 

“Do you only want to do that because of Savage?” Heather asks. 

“Yeah pretty much, just a way to twist the knife a little. And the faster we get the dragon's stables up then the dragon can be better.” Dagur adds

“Cause of the cold front coming?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah- Wait, how do you know?” Dagur asks. 

“We lived in the wild most of our lives so we know a lot of things.” Leyla tells him. 

“Oh yeah.” Dagur mutters, “I think it’s going to be too cold tonight for us to sleep out here tonight.” 

‘Where will we sleep then?” Dak asks. 

“We could stay in our old house.” Dagur responds. 

“That could work.” Heather adds, “Let’s get down there before it gets too dark.” 

“Okay.” Dagur says, “Then let’s get going.” 

The four of them start walking down the hill, Dak and Leyla walking in front of the older Berserkers.

“So are you going to tell them that you see them as your own kids?” Heather whispers to her brother.

“Not yet, not yet.” Dagur whispers, “I tell them eventually.” 

“Okay then brother.” Heather responds.

Notes:

Comments please I love reading them <3

Chapter 10: Family time

Summary:

A few weeks later

Notes:

Two chapters done in a week, so proud of myself

It was the start of the cold front, the dragon stables were almost done. Berserker Island was getting better by the day, especially with Savage gone, the Berserkers people were adapting to the dragons living with them. It wasn’t the biggest change, because of the dragons staying on the mountain.  Heather had left temporarily to help the dragon riders so it was only Dagur with the twins because of the cold front they had been staying in Dagur’s childhood home. Dagur was waking up to the rising sun, most of the time he was the first one up mainly because the two kids never wanted to wake up early while it was cold. Dagur walked out of his chosen room and into the living room, the fire had gone out during the night so he restarted it. The heat started to refill the house, Dagur started cooking breakfast for the family. 

“Dagur.” Leyla greets walking down the stairs. 

“Morning, Leyla.” Dagur responds. 

Leyla walks over to the fire and puts her hands in front of it, “It was so cold last night.” Leyla tells the man. 

“Yeah, it really was.” Dagur responds. 

Leyla walks over to the man and looks over to see what he was doing, “I miss Heather.” Leyla mutters. 

“I do too, why do you miss her?” Dagur asks. 

“I miss her cooking cause yours kinda sucks.” Leyla laughs. 

“Oh!,” Dagur responds, “Then you don’t need to eat.” 

“No!” Leyla yells, “I’m sorry.” 

“Are you really?” Dagur asks. 

“No, but I’m right Heather is a better cook.” Leyla answers. 

“Yeah, she really is.” Dagur admits, “Is Dak still sleeping?” 

“Yeah, probably.” Leyla responds, “I can wake him up.”

“No, let him sleep.” Dagur answers.

“Okay.” Leyla mutters, “When’s Heather getting back?” 

“In a couple of weeks, the others needed her help against Viggo and Ryker.” Dagur answers. 

“Oh man.” Leyla mutters, “That means we have to eat your cooking for that long.” 

“Really?” Dagur says stopping what he was doing. 

“Yeah.” Leyla laughs. 

“You're a brat.” Dagur laughs. 

“It’s what I do best.” Leyla responds, walking back to the fire. 

“Yeah, yeah you dork.” Dagu mutters. 

They continue talking until Dak walks down, “How are you guys always up before me?” 

“Because you don’t go to sleep until midnight.” Leyla responds. 

“What?” Dagur asks. 

“Ley!” Dak yells. 

“I forgot he didn’t know.” Leyla responds. 

“Really?” Dak yells. 

“Yeah, you dummy.” Leyla responds. 

“Dag, she’s calling me names!” Dak yells. 

“Leyla, be nice. Dak stop staying up all night.” Dagur responds, “Come on you dork, come eat.” 

“Wait Heather isn’t home still?” Dak asks 

“She’s not going to be back for a couple weeks.” Leyla responds. 

“Aw man, that means we have to deal with Dag’s cooking for the foreseeable future.” Dak whines. 

“My cooking isn’t-” Dagur starts. 

“Since when do you use words like foreseeable future?” Ley cuts in. 

“Ley, you were just told to be nice.” Dak yells. 

“I didn’t think you knew big words like that.” Leyla responds. 

“Okay, okay.” Dagur cuts in, “First stop bullying me about my cooking, second Leyla be nice, third Dak-” 

“Whoa what did I do!” Dak yells. 

“Nothing, just come eat.” Dagur responds, the twins walk over to the table. Dagur sets plates down on the table in front of each of them. 

“Have I mentioned-.” Leyla starts. 

“Don’t even.” Dagur cuts off

“Aw man fine,” Leyla mutters, causing Dak to break out in laughter beside her. They eat in silence, once they all finished Leyla collects the plates. 

“Ma’am I’m not done with mine.” Dak responds to Leyla talking about the plate. 

“What are you going to do, eat the plate?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah!” Dak yells. 

“Fine.” Leyla responds putting the plate back down 

“Thank you kindly.” Dak responds. 

“Have fun doing your own dishes.” Leyla responds, walking away. 

“What? That’s not my chore.” Dak responds, in the weeks of living together the three of them decided on chores to keep it fair. 

Leyla does dishes, and cleans the dining room

Dak fills the water, and cleans the living room 

Dagur, cooks and cleans the kitchen. 

“Well you wanted your plate back.” Leyla responds. 

“I didn’t know my joke would make me do more work.” Dak whines, “Dag tells her.” 

“No, I’m on her side, bud. You want your plate back so you can clean it.’ Dagur responds. 

“Fine,” Dak mutters, standing up and following his twin. “So what are we doing today?” 

“How about we finish working on the dragon stables?” Dagur suggests. 

“Yeah that sounds good.’ Leyla responds, walking back to the table. 

“Let’s go.” Dagur responds, “Okay then, let’s go.” Dagur responds while ushering the twins out the door. The three of them started walking to where the dragons were, it was about a 10-minute walk from the house to where the dragons were. Dak and Leyla were in front of the older man, walking through the town. Dagur greeted his people, while the two twins were staying silent. 

They made it too where the dragons were being kept, the stables were almost done. The most that needed done was putting the door on the building. The three of them walked over to their respective dragons to greet them,

“Hi Winger.” Dak greets. 

“Hey, Dak.” Winger responds,

They started working on the stables to put the door on it. Dagur and Sleuther flew above and were lifting the door, while the twins made sure it was in its correct place. The door was successfully put on it hinges, and put in place. Dagur landed and opened the door as far as it could be opened. 

“Okay then, let’s go inside.” Dagur says, pointing his arm towards the inside of the door. The humans and the dragons walk in and start looking around, “This place looks great.”

“Yea, it does.” Dak responds, while opening one of the wooden doors. 

“It’ll be way better than sleeping outside.” Summer adds. 

“What did she say?” Dagur asks. 

“Summer said, It’s better than sleeping outside.” Leyla answers. 

“Good thing we got this done before it got much colder.” Dak says. 

“Yeah, a very good thing.” Cutter laughs, “I don’t know what I would do if we had to continue sleeping outside.” 

Leyla and Dak laugh at the Razorwings comment, “So do we want to go back down to the town?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Dak responds, walking over to Winger “Enjoy not having to be in the cold.” 

“Don’t worry we will.” Summer responds.

They walk down the mountain, again with the twins walking in front of the older man. “What are we going to do now?” Leyla asks. 

“I have no idea.” Dak responds. 

“Yeah, me either.” Dagur adds. 

“How about we go down to the docks?” Leyla suggests. 

“Yes, let’s go!” Dak yells. 

They walk to the docks, Dagur greets the people there while walking. “How do you know everyone?” Dak asks. 

“Because I’m the chief of the island.” Dagur responds. 

“Oh yeah.” Dak mutters. 

“How’d you forget that?” Leyla asks. 

“I don’t know Ley, don’t question me.” Dak responds. 

“Seriously?” Dak asks. 

“Oh my.” Dagur groans. 

“Chief, you mind helping us unload the ship?” One of the Berserkers asks, interrupting the three's conversation. 

“Sure, we’ll help.” Dagur responds, walking over to the ship followed by the two kids.

The three of them help unload the ship. It wasn’t very full but it still took a decent amount of time, when they were done it was past midday. 

“Finally we’re done.” Dak groans while putting the last crate down. 

“You're acting like we’ve been doing this forever.” Leyla laughs. 

“We may as well have been.” Dak complains. 

“Stop whining Dak, we’re done.” Leyla responds. 

“Ley, stop bullying me.” Dak responds. 

“I’m not bullying you, I'm stating a fact.” Leyla responds. 

“Okay, that's enough for you two.” Dagur responds, getting in the middle of the two kids. 

“Fine.” Dak mutters, “What now?” 

“Well, the suns going to start setting soon so how about we start towards home?” Dagur suggests. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Leyla answers. 

“They start towards they’re house, by the time they’re home the sun has started setting. “So how about I start dinner, while you two clean up.” Dagur suggests. 

“That sounds good.” Leyla answers, “But again, I wish-” 

“I don’t need to hear about how bad my cooking is again,” Dagur cuts in. 

“Aw man.” Dak mutters. 

They make it their house, and Dak and Leyla run to their respective rooms leaving Dagur alone. Dagur started cooking dinner again, even though the twins wish it was Heather cooking. After a while Dak comes running down the stairs, then going over to Dagur and attempting to look over his shoulder.

“Why are you so tall?” Dak asks. 

“Genetics kid.” Dagur responds. 

“Not fair.” Dak mutters. 

“Sorry kid, maybe you will grow into your height.” Dagur tells him. 

“I hope so.” Dak mutters, Leyla walks down the stairs interrupting the conversation. 

“What are you guys talking about?” Leyla asks.

“About how tall Dag is.” Dak tell her. 

“Really?” Leyla asks. 

“Yep.” Dak laughs, “I wish I was as tall as him.” 

“Okay, then.” Leyla laughs, sitting over at the table. 

“Dak, go sit down.” Dagur tells him, Dak walks away towards the table Dagur follows close behind him. “Okay dinner time, and I swear if I hear one word about my cooking you aren’t eating.” 

“How rude.” Dak mutters. 

“Yeah yeah.” Leyla laughs. 

Dagur sets the food down and they all start eating. When they were done, Leyla again grabs the dishes and cleans them.

“Dak do me a favor and go to sleep at a decent time.” Dagur suggests. 

“I’ll try.” Dak mutters. 

“Okay them, go to bed, you dorks it past sunset.” Dagur tells them.

“Okay,” Dak responds, turning towards the stairs. 

“Goodnight Dag.” Leyla tells him, walking behind her twin. 

Dagur walks to his own room, and gets ready for bed as well. Quickly falling asleep, ignoring the twins in the rooms above him.

Notes:

Comments are gold for me

Chapter 11: How to gain a grandparent

Summary:

Stoick meets the twins

Notes:

Stoick becoming the twin's grandpa wasn't planned but I felt it was needed

It was the next morning, Dagur again woke up before the twins and he began cooking. “I don’t get why I cook for these kids.” Dagur tells himself.

“Because you have too.” Leyla cuts in. 

“Thor kid, why are you so quiet.” Dagur asks. 

“I don’t know.” Leyla responds, “So what are you doing?” 

“Making breakfast, and I swear if I hear one word about it child-” Dagur tells her. 

“But Heather is better than you.” Leyla mutters, cutting off the older man.

Dagur puts down what he was doing and turns towards the girl, “What did I just say?” Dagur asks. 

“I thought your old man ears wouldn’t be able to hear it.” Leyla laughs at him. 

“Oh really?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah.” Leyla smiles, backing away from him. 

“You know what?’ Dagur starts stepping away from the counter and walking towards the young girl. Leyla turns around and bolts away. “Why are you running?” 

“Because.” Leyla laughs, Dagur follows the girl and grabs her shoulders pulling her from running. Without a second thought he starts tickling her sides (NOT IN A WEIRD WAY IN A FATHER DAUGHTER WAY) “Dagur!” Leyla yells. 

“I must not be able to hear with my old man ears.” Dagur tells her, while he continues tickling her sides. 

“I’m sorry.” Leyla laughs. 

“Are you really?” Dagur asks. 

“Yes! Dag.” Leyla laughs. 

“Are you sure?” Dagur asks. 

“YES!” Leyla laughs. Dagur stops tickling her side and Leyla runs away to hide behind one of the chairs. 

“Are you going to bully my cooking again?” Dagur asks. 

“N- probably not.” Leyla smiles.

“Probably not? There's still a chance isn’t there?” Dagur asks. 

“Maybe, you’ll never know.” Leyla laughs. 

“What’s going on down here?” Dak asks, sleepy, walking down. 

“Dag is bulling me!” Leyla yells. 

“No I’m not.” Dagur argues. 

“I’m on Dag's side.” Dak tells them. 

“What! You're my twin!” Leyla yells, “You’re supposed to be on my side.” 

“Yeah, this is my revenge from yesterday.” Dak tells her. 

“Okay, okay.” Dagur argues, “Let’s not fight this early, come eat you dorks.” 

“Okay.” Dak says running over, Leyla following close behind. The two twins both sit down with Dagur joining them, once they are finished and cleaned up.

They all left their house to go to where the dragons were, “Hurry up!” 

“We’re coming Dak.” Leyla responds, walking close behind him. 

“Well, I have an idea for today.” Dak starts. 

“And the idea is?” Dagur asks. 

“Can we go on a flight today please?” Dak asks. 

“I guess that sounds good.” Dagur responds. 

“So we can?” Dak asks. 

“Yes.” Dagur responds. 

“Yes!” Dak yells.

They get to the top of the mountain, and each go to their dragon, “Okay, Sleuther.” Dagur starts talking to his dragon, “These dorks want to go for a flight.” Sluether roared in response, “So I’m going to take that as a yes.” 

“It was.” Leyla cuts in. 

“Great,” Dagur responds, “Then let’s go.” 

The three of them each got on their dragons, and flew away from Berserker island. Cutter and Burple didn’t go with because Cutter wanted to sleep and Burple didn’t want to leave Cutter alone. So they all leave the island, flying over many other ones.

“So do we have a plan for where to go?” Leyla asks. 

“Do you always need a plan?” Dak asks. 

“Yes.” Leyla responds, “It helps me think better.” 

“Okay Ley.” Dak responds. 

“So how about we stop by Berk?” Dagur suggests. 

“Berk?” Dak asks. 

“You know those other dragon riders that you met, they live there and I need to meet with the chief there.” Dagur answers. 

“Oh, why do you need to meet with the chief?” Dak asks. 

“Because Chief stuff.” Dagur responds 

“I don’t think that counts as an answer.” Leyla adds. 

“Really?” Dagur asks. 

“Yes.” Leyla responds. 

“Well it does-” Dagur says. 

“Does it though?” Leyla cuts. 

“Yes!” Dagur yells, “Anyways Berk is about a 20 minute flight from here so let’s get started.”

“Okay.” Both the twins mutter. 

“Great.” Dagur responds, the three of them fly towards the island of Berk. 

They’re met by Gustav, when they get there. “Hi Dagur!” Gustav yells. 

“Hi kid.” Dagur responds. 

“Who is that?” Dak asks. 

“Yeah I have no idea.’ Dagur responds. 

“Well that’s just great.” Leyla mutters. 

“What are you doing here?” Gustav asks. 

“I’ve come to see Stoick.” Dagur responds. 

“And who are the kids?” Gustav asks. 

“Oh this is Dak and Leyla, they’re a long story.” Dagur responds. 

“Okay, well Stoick is in the great hall.” Gustav tells him. 

“Thanks, we’ll go see him now.” Dagur responds, flying towards the great hall followed by the two twins. Dagur lands and enters the great hall with the twins following close behind him. “Hi, Stoick.” 

“Oh hi Dagur, I wasn’t aware you were visiting today.” Stoick tells the man. 

“Well I remember you wanted to talk to me about something so I came, sorry if it’s inconvenient.” Dagur responds. 

“Oh no this time is fine.” Stoick tells him, before looking behind the red headed man. Behind the man were two red haired kids with green eyes. “So who are the kids?”

“Oh, they are Dak and Leyla, we saved them from dragon hunters, and they came to live with me because well reasons.” Dagur responds.

“Okay then, well back on the matter for today.” Stoick starts, “Would you be willing to take Gustav to Berserker Island in a few months, I just need a little break from him, and you seem like the best person.” 

“Yeah, of course does he know why he’ll be staying with us though?” Dagur asks. 

“No, I had the idea to make up an apprenticeship or something for him.” Stoick says. 

“I think that will just work.” Dagur responds.

The two men continued talking as Dak and Leyla started looking around the building, Leyla was focused on the dragon near the fire in the room. It was a Rumble horn from what she remembered about them, she remembers each fact she remembered writing down. Rumble Horns were excellent trackers, and a very smart type of dragon. 

Stoick notices the young girl staring at his dragon, “He won’t hurt you lass.” 

“Oh that wasn’t my concern,” Leyla tells the man, “I’ve just never seen a Rumblehorn up close before.” 

“Oh,” Stoick responds, not expecting the girl's answer, “Well if you want you can get closer to him, even pet him if you want lass.” 

“Really?” Leyla asks. 

“Yes.” Stoick responds, both of the twins walk towards the dragon near the fire. Once they’re close enough Leyla carefully touches the dragon's head. 

“They’re even more amazing close up.” Leyla tells the man. 

“What’s his name?” Dak asks, from beside his twin. 

“His name is Skullcrusher.” Stoick responds. 

“That name is so cool!” Dak yells. 

“Yeah it is.” Leyla adds.

The two twins continue loving on the older dragon as the men talk quietly. 

“So tell me why are they with you?” Stoick asks Dagur quietly. 

“The two of them are orphans, they were shot down by dragon hunters and we saved them.” Dagur answers. 

“Do you know what happened to their parents?” Stoick asks. 

“Shipwreck, been alone ever since.” Dagur responded without adding the fact about the dragons. 

“Poor kids.” Stoick tells Dagur

“Yeah, well they have been fine living on Berserker Island.” Dagur tells him. 

“That’s good, those two have gone through enough.” Stoick tells him, “So thank you about Gustav and if those two need anything they’ll know where to find me.” 

“What and you become their grandpa?” Dagur asks, laughing. 

“You never know, Dagur, just keep them safe. They really seem like sweet kids.” Stoick tells Dagur. 

“Yeah, when they want to be.” Dagur adds. 

“Well that's kids for you.” Stoick laughs. 

“Yeah, I guess.” Dagur tells him, “Well we better get going, it was good seeing you again Stoick.”

“Good seeing you too, Dagur.” Stoick tells the Berserker. 

“Come on you two, we gotta go before it gets dark.” Dagur tells the twins. 

“Aw man.” Leyla mutters. 

“Already?’ Dak asks. 

“Yeah, sorry kids.” Dagur tells them, both of the twins get up and say their goodbyes to Stoick. Then all of them get on their dragons and leave. “So did you guys have fun?” 

“Yeah, Skullcrusher is so cool.” Dak tells him. 

“Yeah, and I learned way more about Rumble Horns.” Leyla adds. 

“Well that’s great.” Dagur responds. They land on Berserker Island, the dragons go in the stables and they start their way home. 

“So who’s Gustav?” Dak asks. 

“I think he was that kid, that greeted us.” Dagur responds. 

“Well at least we know his name now.” Leyla laughs. 

“Yep.” Dagur responds. 

The three of them enter the house with the sun finishing setting by the time they get there, “How about you two get ready for bed while I make dinner.” Dagur suggests. 

“That sounds fine.” Dak says as the two kids run up the stairs, Dagur starts cooking and is again met with one of the twins interrupting him. Dak walked behind the older man again attempting to look over his shoulder, “I can’t see.” 

“That’s because you're shorter than me.” Dagur responds. 

“Not fair.” Dak responds, turning and sitting at the table. 

“Sure it isn’t.” Dagur responds and continues cooking. Him and Dak also continued talking, he set the food down on the table. Confused on why the other twin hadn’t come down to join them. “Where’s Leyla?” 

“Probably writing in her Dragon Diary, she does it as soon as she learns something new.’ Dak tells him. 

“How long does it take?” Dagur asks. 

“It depends on what she’s learned, I can go see.” Dak tells him.

“No, I’ll go check on her.” Dagur responds, “You can eat.” 

“Okay.” Dak responds, Dagur walks up the stairs and walks to the girls room knocking on her door. 

“Leyla, dinners done.” Dagur tells her, with no response. “Leyla?” Again with no response. “Leyla, are you okay?” He cracks open the door and sees the girl at the desk, “Leyla?” again with no response he walks further into the room to beside the girl. Tapping on her shoulder he finally gets a response. 

“Holy shit Dag.” Leyla responds, jumping up, “How long have you been standing there?” 

“For 5 minutes, and you weren’t answering.” Dagur tells her.

“Oh yeah sorry, when I’m adding something to my Dragon Diary I kinda tune out everything else.” Leyla tells him. 

“It’s okay, just come down and eat before Dak eats it all.” Dagur tells her. 

Leyla runs out of the room to the dining room followed by Dagur closely behind her. The two of them walk down the stairs, and meet Dak at the table. 

“What were you doing?” Dak asks. 

“I was adding what I learned today in my dragon diary.” Leyla responses. 

“Oh that’s why you weren’t answering.” Dak laughs. 

“Yeah.” Leyla laughs with him. 

“Okay let’s eat you dorks.” Dagur says sitting down. 

“Okay then.” Dak laughs again. 

They all eat for the first time with no comments about how Dagur cooking was, after the were done they cleaned up the dining room. “Goodnight Dag.” Leyla tells him walking up the stairs. 

“Night, Leyla.” Dagur responds. 

“Goodnight Dag!” Dak yells. 

“Good night Dak, but why are you yelling?” Dagur asks. 

“Because it’s fun.” Dak responses running up the stairs behind his twin. Dagur rolls his eyes before going to his own room and laying down. 

---

“Okay so the flightmare got away, but we got the dragon eye.” Ryker tells Viggo, “No idea how we’re going to use it without the key.” 

“Oh, brother I didn’t only want the Flightmare because of its cost but its mist can be used as a way to break the lock on the Dragon eye.” Viggo responds. 

“What?” Ryker asks, 

“I’m not repeating myself brother.” Viggo tells him, “So let’s use the dragon eye to bring the dragon riders down.” 

“What about the two twins?” Ryker asks. 

“We’ll get them, brother.” Viggo responds, “We’ll get them.

Notes:

Is anyone else having issues with Ao3 recently because I have

Chapter 12: Calm before the storm

Summary:

The twins and Dagur meet Hiccup again

Notes:

Toothless telling the twins that Hiccup has a crush on Astrid was needed

It was a few weeks later, Dagur and the twins were getting up for the morning. Dagur was in the kitchen starting food for the twins and himself, when he was interrupted by a terror mail. The terrible Terror flew into his face blocking his view, he took the note of the terrible terror’s leg and started reading it. 

Dagur, we have gotten new about Viggo’s next plan, we have discovered when and where his next dragon auctions will be and we need your help to bring it down. Please meet us at the edge and bring the kids as well, I have a feeling they’ll be useful for this. 

From Hiccup 

Dagur stopped what he was doing and walked to where the twins were, he knew if Hiccup wanted them to come with then he had to have a plan. Dagur knocked on Leyla’s door mainly because it was closer to the stairs, Dagur didn’t get a response so he knocked again. “No.” He hears Leyla say from inside. 

“Leyla.” Dagur responds. 

“Why, it’s too early.” Leyla responses. 

“We gotta go.” Dagur tells her. 

“Go where?” Leyla asks 

“To meet the dragon riders.” Dagur answers.

“Why?” Leyla asks again. 

“I’ll tell you when you get up.” Dagur responds

“Don’t make me.” Leyla whines. 

Dagur walks to Dak room once he hears the young girl get up, like his twin he didn’t want to get up but eventually Dagur got them both up. The three of them walk downstairs, and both of the twins fall into one of the chairs in the living area.

“Why in the world did you wake us up so early?” Dak asks the older man. 

“Because we need to meet the other dragon riders.” Dagur responds

“That doesn’t answer why you woke us up so early.” Leyla cuts in

“Because we have to meet with them early.” Dagur answers, both of the twins groan at the older man, “Okay then let’s get going.” 

They all prepare to leave their home grabbing everything they need and leave towards where the dragon stables were.

“This is just cruel.” Dak whines while they walk.

“How?” Dagur asks. 

“Because you woke us up early.” Leyla complains. 

“It was barely sunrise.” Dak adds. 

“You too are going to be fine.” Dagur assures. 

“No we won’t.” Both of the twins respond. 

“Thor help me,” Dagur responds, to the twins' complaints.

They successfully make it to the dragon stables and leave the island this time with Cutter and Burple. 

“I’m going to tell Heather.” Leyla tells the group. 

“Tell Heather what?” Dagur asks. 

“That you made us get up this early.” Leyla answers. 

“Reall-.” Dagur starts..

“Yeah, it was very rude.” Dak adds. 

“Heather isn’t going to do anything.” Dagur laughs. 

“Yes she is.” Dak responds, “I also tell her you’ve been poisoning us with your cooking.” 

“Really?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah,” Dak laughs. 

“You had this coming, Dagur.” Sleuther roars. 

“I’m not even going to ask what you said.” Dagur responds. 

“He said-.” Dak starts.

“Nope.” Dagur cuts off, “I don’t think I can handle any more smart mouthing right now.”  

“He totally deserves this.” Cutter laughs. 

“Most definitely.” Sleuther responds 

After a while of flying they land on the landing pad at the edge, met by Heather and Hiccup. The twins both get off their dragons are run towards Heather,

“Heather.” Dak yells, hugging the older women. 

“Hey you dork.” Heather responds, “You miss me.” 

“Yes!” Dak yells, “And you're cooking.” 

“Cause Dag sucks at cooking.” Leyla adds, pushing Dak out of the way so she could hug Heather as well. 

“Dag?” Hiccup asks. 

“They insisted on calling me Dag instead of Dagur.” he answers. 

“Cause calling you Dagur is weird.” Leyla tells the man.

“No it’s not.” Dagur assures. 

“It’s weird for us.” Dak yells. 

“Anyways.” Hiccup starts, “How's been living with two kids.” 

“Um, they’re kinda brats, they bully my cooking a lot, but they're sometimes nice.” Dagur tells Hiccup, “Oh and your dad loves them.” 

“He does?” Hiccup asks, "Wait when did they meet my dad.” 

“Last week, we went because I had to talk to Stoick about something, and of course they came with me. So your dad’s dragon was in the room while we were talking and Stoick saw Leyla looking at Skull crusher and thought she was scared and assured her that he wasn’t going to do anything, and Leyla responds she's not scared, she was only looking because she’d never seen a Rumble horn up close before.” Dagur explains. 

“I hadn’t.” Leyla adds. “It was cool.” 

“The Rumble horn’s name was also cool.” Dak adds. 

“So brother, what are your plans?” Dagur asks. 

“Okay, we have discovered where Viggo’s next auction is-.” Hiccup starts explaining, neither of the twins were listening and were instead looking around. Leyla looks behind Hiccup and sees Toothless laying behind the man, so she walks towards the dragon with Dak following close behind. 

“Woah.” Leyla mutters, looking at the dragon “I have never seen a night fury before.”  

“And I’ve never seen a kid that looks so much like Dagur before.” Toothless tells the girl not expecting a response. 

“I get that lot,” Leyla responds, “No clue why, I don’t really see similarities between us.” 

“Did you just answer me?” Toothless asks standing up. 

“Yep.” Leyla responds. 

Toothless stands up and looks towards his rider, “Did you know?” Toothless asks his rider

“I think I broke the dragon.” Leyla mutters walking over to Dagur. 

“Why?” Dagur asks. 

“Because I answered it’s question.” Leyla responds. 

“Okay, don’t call me it.” Toothless tells her, “My names Toothless.” 

“Cool name.” Dak admires, “Not as cool as Skullcrusher, but an honest second.” 

“What are you talking about?” Hiccup asks. 

“Oh you didn’t tell them?” Dak asks. 

“I did, they didn’t believe me.” Dagur responds.

“What are you talking about?” Hiccup asks. 

“You know, how I told you and the other riders about the twins being able to understand the dragons.” Dagur starts. 

“And we didn’t really believe it.” Hiccup laughs. 

“Well, your dragon has now discovered that they can do it.” Dagur responds,. 

“Well, Dagur.” Hiccup starts, “You can see that this is kinda hard to believe.” 

“We can prove it.” Dak starts. “Toothless, tell us something about Hiccup no one else knows.” 

“Oh this sounds like fun.” Toothless starts, “He has a giant and when I say giant I mean giant crush on Astrid.” 

“He says you have a giant crush on Astrid.” Leyla laughs. 

“How? What?” Hiccup responds, with both Heather and Dagur dying of laughing from behind. 

“See we told you.” Heather laughs. 

“I actually thought you guys were kidding.” Hiccup responds, still flabbergasted at his best friend outing him. 

“Why would we kid about that?” Leyla laughs. 

“It just didn’t seem real.” Hiccup responds. 

“We know.” Dak responds. 

---

Viggo was in his tent, with a game of masons and talons sitting on the desk in front of him, when he was interrupted by his brother walking in “Viggo.” Ryker starts, “There's someone here to see you.” 

“Who?” Viggo asks, not standing up from his desk. 

“Says his name is Waldaondo or something.” Ryker responds. 

“Where is he?” Viggo asks, standing up from his desk, walking towards his older brother. 

“He’s down at the docks.” Ryker responds, allowing his younger brother to walk by him. Ryker walks close behind his brother as they walk towards the docks. “So are you just going to make him leave or are you going to hear what he has to say?” 

“It’s best to hear what a potential ally has to say.” Viggo answers

“Okay then brother.” Ryker responds, they make it to the dock and see the Waldaondo person. Walaondo was a man with short hair and was short himself, he was proudly waiting on the docks for the leader of the dragon hunters. 

“Hello Viggo.” Waldondo yells towards them, “I am Waldondo del Mundo: the first man to sail the seven seas without a boat, to tame a wild boar with the breach of my nose, to live in a pit for an entire year. I have heard you know something about two in particular twins who ride dragons.” 

“You mean, Dak and Leyla?” Viggo asks. 

“Correct, I have faced them many times.” Waldondo tells the man, “But I’ve never beat them so I’ve come to make a deal with you.” 

“And your deal is?” Ryker asks. 

“You get the two of them and their dragons and I’ll pay you for your time.” Waldondo tell the man.

“We’ll look into it.” Viggo responds. 

“Okay then, just make me aware if you decide to help.” Waldondo says climbing back aboard his ship. 

“Brother, what are we going to do?” Ryker asks. 

“We’re going to get those twins.” Viggo responds. 

“And give them to Waldondo?” Ryker asks. 

“No.” Viggo smiles, “If he’ll pay for them, I wonder if others would.” 

“Are you saying what I think your saying?” Ryker asks. 

“Yes brother, we’re going to get those twins and use them at the next auction.” Viggo responds. 

Chapter 13: Mastering the Auction

Summary:

Being of Viggo auction

Notes:

This chap was fun to write, while I couldn't sleep

Dagur and the twins were in the club house, also joined by the other dragon riders. “Are you sure they can really talk to dragons?” Fishlegs asks. 

“Yeah, let’s say they know things I wished they didn’t.” Hiccup responds, again paired with Leyla and Dak laughing at the man, 

“Like what?” Snot laughs, “Want the worse they could know?” 

Both of the twins look towards the dragon Snotlout flew in on, “Most embarrassing thing you know about him?” Dak asks Hookfang. 

“Oh there was this one time when he tried to fight Hiccup, but lost so badly and lost 3 teeth to Hiccup punching him.” Hookfang explains. 

“He said there was one time when you tried to fight Hiccup but lost so badly he punched your teeth out.” Leyla laughs while telling the man. 

“Who told them?” Snotlout yells. 

“Wasn’t me.” Dagur laughs, “I didn’t even know that happened.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know that happened either.” Heather laughs, “So I didn’t tell them.” 

“Fine, they can understand dragons.” Snotlout says giving up. 

“That is amazing.” Fishlegs tells the twins, “How’d you learn to do that? And can you teach it?” 

“I don’t think it can be taught.” Dak answers. 

“Yeah, no I don’t think so,” Leyla adds. 

“How we learned it is a long story.” Dak answers. 

“I think we have time for a long story.” Ruffnut yells. 

“No we don’t.” Hiccup tells the group, “We need to finish our planning to take out Viggo’s auction.” 

“Boring!” Tuffnut yells, “Why can’t we learn about the twins.” 

“Because, we need to take out Viggo.” Hiccup yells, “Unless you want him to keep taking dragons.”

“Wet blanket.” Tuffnut mutters. 

“I may be a wet blanket, but we need to stop Viggo.” Hiccup responds. 

“Fine, fine.” Tuffnut says. “We’ll stop Viggo then we can know about the twins.” 

“That sounds great.” Hiccup sighs, “So our current plan is to go to the auction with one of us discussed.” 

“Not trying to be rude.” Dak cuts off, “But isn’t auctions for rich people?” 

“He got a good point.” Astrid says, “They won’t believe it unless we’ve got something to prove it.” 

“We’ll figure it out but for now we need to scout out the island.” Hiccup says, “We’re all going to go check out the island. Which means, you're all going to have to be good and quiet.” 

“I don’t know how human friendships work but I think he’s treating them like children.” Dak whispers to his twin.

“Yeah I think so.” Leyla laughs while telling him. 

“What’s so funny?” Snotlout asks. 

“It’s a need to know basis.” Leyla starts, “And you don’t need to know.” Dagur laughs at the girl's comment. 

“Leyla, be nice.” Dagur mutters towards the girl. 

“I’m trying.” Leyla responds. 

“Are you?” Dak asks. 

“Meh.” Leyla laughs. 

“Anyways, we're going to check out the island so let’s go.” Hiccup continues, they all board their dragons and fly towards the island of Viggo’s auction. 

“So.” Fishlegs starts, flying towards the girl, “Any chance while we fly you’ll tell me about these dragons?” 

“Why?” Leyla asks. 

“Because, I’m intrigued.” Fishlegs responds. 

“Fine, Winger, the dragon Dak is riding is a common relative of the nightfury-.” Leyla starts. 

“Wait really?” Hiccup cuts her off. 

“Yes, like the night fury it’s very fast and agile, but unlike a night fury who blends in with the night the Swiftwing which is what Winger is blends in with the sky during the day time.” Leyla tells the group. 

“That is so cool.” Fishlegs mutters, “And what about the other dragons?” 

“Okay, um.” Leyla starts, “The Fastfin, Summer, which is my dragon, is amphibians. I don’t have to explain what that means right? Anyways, Fastfins can live in water and/or on land, the Fastfin is the Fastest dragon underwater also common to be living in pods.” 

“What about the other two?” Fishlegs asks. 

“Burple is a Rockspitter dragon, a common relative of the Groncle, except instead of eating rocks and making them into lava, Rockspitter dragons can instead store them in one of their 4 stomachs and then use them as weapons.” Leyla explains. 

“4 stomachs?” Fishlegs asks. 

“Yep, one for food and the three other for just about anything else.” Leyla answers. 

“And what about the sharp class dragon?” Fishlegs asks, pointing at Cutter.. 

“Cutter is a hybrid of a Razorwhip and A deadly Nadder, like razor whips Cutter has spikes that look like their made of metal, but like Nadders, Razorwings can find things easily, because of their above ordinary eye sight.” Leyla explains. 

“Holy.” Fishlegs admires. 

“You can answer this honestly, kid.” Snotlout starts, “Are you a Hiclegs love child? Cause you're certainly acting like one.”  

“Last time I checked, my parents were dead.” Leyla responds, “So I’m going to say no.” 

“OH!” Ruffnut yells.

“I’m sorry.” Hiccup tells Leyla. 

“No, it's fine.” Leyla responds. 

“That was hilarious.” Dak adds, laughing. 

When they were nearing the island, Hiccup instructed the group to land on a nearby sea stack. Getting off Toothless Hiccup pulled out a spyglass to get a closer look at the island.

“I see Terrible Terrors and a few crates of Fireworms.” Hiccup starts. “But where are they hiding all the big dragons?” Looking towards the bay near the island where the ships were, “Extra ships on the perimeter. Guards everywhere.” Looking up at the mountains on the island he notices what is on the cliffs,  “Catapults and watchtowers on the cliffs. Dragon Root arrow launchers on every sea stack within a half mile. There's no way in or out. Period.” 

“Hiccup, Hiccup, Hiccup, think positive.” Tuffnut smiles at his friend. 

“And how do you suppose I do that?” Hiccup asks. 

“Rapid-fire. Mug, half-empty or half-full?” Tuffnut asks his friend. 

“Definitely empty-.” Hiccup responds. 

“Don't waste your time.” Ruffnut cuts his friend odd

“It is, however, the perfect opportunity to put a big dent in Viggo's dragon trade.” Hiccup says changing the subject

“But how?” Astrid asks 

“Astrid, I'm sure Hiccup has an idea,” Dagur responds. “You do have an idea, right Brother?”

“Let me guess.” Snotlout starts, “Cruise right into the place and announce ourselves.”

“You know, I think we need someone to get close to Viggo.” Hiccup starts, “Keep him busy while we find the rest of those dragons.”  Looking around at the other riders, “Now, it has to be someone Viggo wouldn't suspect, because he's never seen him up close.” 

“That takes us out of the running.” Dak whispers to his twin. 

“Yep,” Leyla whispers back laughing. 

Hiccup ignores the two twins talking, and giggling and looks towards Snotlout, “Hmm.” Snotlout says noticing the others looking at him

“You've got to be kidding me.” Astrid cuts in. 

“Wait, no, he's the only one who was never captured by Viggo or Ryker.” Hiccup tells the group, “He's the only one they don't know.” 

“He's the only one who's clueless enough to actually pull it off.” Leyla says to the group. 

“Didn’t I just say, you need to be nice?” Dagur asks the younger girl. 

“You did, Dag.” Leyla responds, smiling at the man“And I am effectively ignoring it.” 

“Ha. Sounds like a real winner, Hookfang. Right?” Snotlout laughs,  “I'd hate to be caught dead with that guy. Wait, what?”

They all fly back to the edge and are met by Trader Johann, “Whose this random man?” Dak asks climbing off Winger. 

“This is Trader Johann, he’s a part of the plan.” Hiccup says. 

“Speaking on your plan, Master Hiccup.” Johann starts, “I hate to be the bearer of most unfortunate news, Unless you are hiding a pile of gold in the crevices of your tunic, you won't see the dragons, let alone bid on them.” 

“That’s what I said.” Dak cuts in 

“Okay, so we need gold.” Hiccup mutters, “What about Berks?” 

“You're going to ask your dad for all of Berks gold?” Astrid asks. 

“I was thinking about it.” Hiccup responds. 

“And you think he’s going to agree why?” Dak asks. 

“We’ll tell him and the counsel the plan and see what they think.” Hiccup responds. 

“Okay then brother.” Dagur says, “So we’re going to berk.” 

“Yep.” Hiccup answers. 

---

They all land on Berk in the middle of the town, Hiccup and Toothless walk towards the great hall leaving the others alone.

“Let's wait in the dragon arena.” Astrid suggests. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Heather answers, they all walk towards the dragon arena followed by their dragons. They entered the arena, the red headed twins in front of the entire group. 

“This place is cooler than I thought it was going to be.” Dak says, looking around. 

“Yeah.” Leyla agrees with her twin. 

“Okay, while we wait,” Heather starts, “Snotlout how about you get in your disguise.” 

“Okay,” Snotlout says, walking away. 

Leyla and Dak were running around chasing each other because they didn’t have anything better to do. Dagur and Heather were watching them laughing at the two kids, actually being able to be children. After a few minutes of waiting the group started hearing Stoick and Hiccup’s voices nearing the arena.

“Well, he's gonna have to be smart, crafty, quick on his feet,” Stoick’s voice is heard as they near the arena. “and, most importantly- Not Snotlout!” Stoick yells after seeing Snotlout being the one in disguise. 

“I'm clapping. When I clap, that means you two servants serve me!” Snotlout says pointing at the red headed twins who were standing near him, watching the interaction play out.

“Is he talking to us?” Leyla asks. 

“I think so.” Dak responds. 

“Who does he think he is?” Leyla asks. 

“Someone important.” Dak responds laughing. 

“Now, before you shoot this down, and by the way, you have every reason in the entire archipelago that you should, there is a method to my-” Hiccup starts rambling. 

“Madness?” Stoick yells at his son after seeing Snotlout. 

“Yes. I need you to trust me on this, Dad. It's foolproof.” Hiccup tells his father 

“Fool," maybe. "Proof"? Not quite with you on that.” Stoick responds looking down towards his son, who wears an annoyed look on his face “Oh, don't look at me like that, Son... Fine, on one condition.” 

“And that is?” Hiccup asks. 

“Gobber is going too.” Stoick responds. 

“Okay, then.” Hiccup responds, “We can work with that.” The group started to prepare to leave Berk looking towards the younger twins, “So based on the fact the dragon hunters don’t know what your dragons are they’ll stay back.” 

“Are we staying back?” Leyla asks. 

“No you guys are coming in with us.” Hiccup responds, “We need you two with the wild dragons.” 

“Okay.” Dak responds. 

“Then let’s get going, gang.” Hiccup says, the group of them board one of the two ships.

One ship belonged to Trader Johann and the other was a random Berk ship with a changed flag. Dagur and Heather were already in the lower part of the deck, Leyla and Dak getting down after them. Dagur reaches his hand out and helps both of the twins down into the lower deck then ushers them into the corner so the other could get down . The other riders jump down, and Johann seals the hole they were hiding in. Dak and Leyla were both sitting next to the older red head as the ship started sailing toward the island the auction was taking place on. They sat in silence as the ship sailed, Snotlout kept trying to talk but kept being shut up by the other in the lower part on deck. 

---

After a few hours of sailing, the group of them felt the ship stop. Johann walks off his ship and is met with coldness from the dragon hunters. “I'd turn it around. You've no business here.” Ryker tells the trader. 

“Says who?” Johann asks. 

“You haven't the gold nor the constitution to stomach this.” Ryker responds to the man. 

“While you certainly speak the truth, Mr. Ryker,” Johann responds  “I do bring your brother an offering.”

“What kind of offering?” Ryker asks,  “Hmm. Get Viggo. He needs to see this.”

“You must have misunderstood me, Mr. Ryker.” Johann responds, “I've simply brought an offering. I'd just as soon offload it and be on my merry way, if it's all the same to you.”

“Yeah, well, it's not all the same to me.” Ryker responds,  “Get Viggo.”

“No need, big brother.” Viggo cuts in.  

“Mr. Grimborn. What a pleasant surprise.” Johann tells the man. 

“Hmm.” Viggo responds. 

“As I was endeavoring to explain to your brother, I wanted to present you with these dragons for your auction as a sign of respect. And as an exchange for future safe passage in my trading lanes. Maybe?” Johann tells the two mean sheepishly. 

“Always in my way.” Ryker says to the man. 

“Trader Johann, perhaps I've judged you a bit hastily.” Viggo responds, “This is a splendid and most generous gesture.” 

Johann shows the man down into the lower part of the deck, Viggo was walking back towards the man stopping on the last step when he hears a creak from underneath his foot. 

“The downside to an old ship.” Johann attempts to joke, “Not nearly the quality and excellence you have, no doubt, come to expect from the vessels in your fleet. Perhaps when the day comes that you feel the need to part-” Viggo cuts of the man by dropping a piece of gold down on the ground, which it slips between the floorboards, after a few more seconds he hears the coin land, “The trade has been a bit, shall we say, "sluggish," lately. My stores are as empty as a tree following a ring-tailed lemur migration.” Interrupted by the younger man diving into the deck breaking a hole, then kneeling down to check out what was underneath. 

“We accept your terms. Offload Trader Johann's dragons and place them with the others.” Viggo responds standing up 

“Aye, sir. Ready to offload.” One of the hunters responds while walking away to retrieve help.

 Once all the hunters had left the ship with the dragons, Johann reopened the bottom of the ship. “My poor heart will surely not withstand any more of these harrowing moments.” Complains to the group of teens + two kids. Hiccup and Astrid climb out of the hold. Followed by Heather and Fishlegs, then Dagur. The twins attempt to try and get out but fail. Dagur reaches down and grabs Leyla’s arms and pulls her up then does the same for Dak. 

“Thank’s Dag.” Leyla mutters, towards the man. 

“No problem kid.” Dagur smiles 

They all go to their assigned tasks, Dak and Leyla got teamed up with Fishlegs and the other set of the older twins. “Now, once we find our dragons, we wait for Hiccup's signal.” Fishlegs tells them. 

“Yeah. Then we release the rest of the dragons.” Dak responds. 

“Belch! Barf!” Tuffnut yells, followed by his sibling 

“Meatlug!” Fishlegs yells 

They all duck behind some of the cells when some of the hunters pass, “Did you hear something?” One of the hunters asks

“I'm sure I did.” The hunter respond

“We're gonna get caught and thrown into a Whispering Death hole.” Fishlegs panics. 

“Fishlegs we got the twins, we’ll be fine.” Tuffnut tells the man. 

“If you believe we're gonna get caught, we're toast.” Ruffnut tells the man, hunters begging to surround the five of them but are stopped by Astrid and Heather.

“Keep looking!” Astrid whisper yells at them

“We rest our case.”Tuffnut smiles. 

Fishlegs walks up to one of the many cells and lifts up the cover, not seeing his dragon but instead seeing a changewing,

“Not my Meatlug. Right. If I think Astrid and Heather will show up to save us... Oh, what do we do if they don't?”

“You hide.” Leyla tells the older one of them 

“Where'd he go?” One of the hunters asks. 

“I don't see him.” Another hunter answers 

“ I heard somethin'.” A hunter says 

“Look under there.” Another hunter says 

Dak and Leyla were successfully hiding from the hunters when they saw Ruff and Tuff clinging onto one of the cells which was moving.

“I have a bad feeling about that.” Leyla mutters. 

“You and I both sis.” Dak mutters. The two twins continue hiding, not realizing the hunters are sneaking up behind them, The hunter grabs the twins arms stopping them from running, “Get off!” Dak yells at the hunter. 

“Well aren’t Viggo and Ryker going to be happy.” The hunter laughs at them, “Take them to a cell.” The twins were led to a cell which already held Heather and Astrid. Leyla and Dak were both shoved into the cell with the older teens. 

“You guys okay.” Heather asks them. 

“Yep.” Leyla responds.

They all start fiddling with the door, unsuccessfully but hear Dagur, Hiccup, and Toothless walking down the hall. Dagur and Hiccup are met with the many dragon hunters who also grab them and shove them into a cell. 

Viggo walks up to the cell, which was filled with all of the dragon riders. “Assuming this is all Berk's gold, I'm guessing that Berk will take quite the hit on his bottom line. That is most unfortunate. But please know that it is all going to a wonderful cause.” Viggo tells them, “As are your dragons and those twins.”

“What!” Hiccup yells 

“You can’t take them or sell our dragons!” Heather yells. 

“Watch us,” Viggo laughs, having his hunters grab the twins out of the cell. “All of them your dragon and these twins. This one will fetch a considerable price.” Viggo says pointing towards the night fury which was tied up, “Almost a pity to sell him. But I'll get over it. If you're good, I may even let you watch.” 

“Okay, you want to sell the dragon, we know that.” Astrid starts. 

“But why are you trying to sell two kids?” Hiccup asks. 

“Because, these two kids can talk to dragons and understand what they say.” Viggo responds, “You know how many people who would love to be able to do that, well now they’ll be able to.” Viggo leaves with out another word taking the dragons and the twins with him. 

“Hiccup, we have to get out of here and stop them from selling our dragons.” Fishlegs says. 

“And the twins.” Dagur cuts in. 

“We will.” Hiccup responds. 

Leyla and Dak were put into a cell near the stage Viggo and Ryker were on. “So this is just great.” Dak mutters. 

“Yep.” Leyla mutters, “Never thought we’d get sold.” 

“I wonder how much we’ll cost.” Dak laughs. 

“That’s your concern?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah.” Dak laughs. 

“Yeah, kiddies get out all of your laughs now because you won’t have them after this.” Ryker laughs at them. 

“Why do you ruden everything?” Leyla asks the man. 

“Brother, have the hunters bring the twins onto the stage.” Viggo yells, Ryker laughs and covers the cell they were in with it’s cover. 

Ryker pushes the cell onto the stage allowing his brother to say,

“Everyone this is one rare prize.” Viggo starts, “This isn’t a dragon but something just as good as one.” Viggo walks towards the cage and rips off the cover, to show the audience the two red haired children “These two children can understand everything the dragon says, very useful, very needed. Bidding starts now.” Neither of the twins were expecting the amount of hand and shouts that started, “Oh and everyone, they both can do it so both can be sold together or separately.” 

“What!” Dak yells. 

“You can’t do this.” Leyla adds. 

“Yes he can, and he will.” Ryker laughs. 

The amount of hands double, and the shouts increase as well. “Sold to the Viking with the blonde hair!” Viggo yells. “Take them to the ship.” The twins' cage was led away from the stage leaving chaos. The blonde viking was walking in front of the cage which was being pushed by hunters. 

“Hey hey!” Some starts yelling towards the blonde Viking, “You don’t need both of them, if they can do the same thing.” 

“What are you offering?” The blonde Viking asks. 

“I’ll pay 1,000 gold for one of them.” The man states. 

“Okay, hand it over.” The blonde Viking says, the gold was handed over and the man looks towards the cell. “So which one you want?” 

“I don’t care.” The man says, “I just take the girl.” The cell was opened and Leyla was grabbed out. 

Dak reaches for his sibling's arm unsuccessfully, not being able to reach it, “Ley!” 

Leyla was grabbed out by her waist and tossed to the ground, “Pleasure doing business with you.” The man says to the blonde Viking. The blonde viking talks Dak away leaving Leyla with the man. Leyla jumps up and starts backing away from the older person, as he and his men follow her. “Where are you going to go little girl?” 

Leyla looks around as she is surrounded, then she hears her name being yelled. Dagur jumps off Sleuther and stands in front of the girl. Chasing away the men, turning around to face the girl. “Leyla, are you okay?” Dagur asks. Leyla looks up at him and rushes to hug the man. 

“They took Dak.” Leyla mutters into the man's shoulder. 

“Who did?” Dagur asks, holding the girl in his arms.

“The blonde guy.” Leyla responds. 

“We’ll get him back I promise.” Dagur tells her, “Get on Sleuther, let’s go.” Leyla and Dagur climb aboard Sleuther. 

“Okay, what way was Dak taken?” Dagur asks. 

“North, towards the docks.” Leyla answers. 

“Okay, then let’s go.” Dagur responds as the two of them start flying north 

Notes:

We love protective father Dagur

Chapter 14: Lore Stuff

Summary:

I felt like this story needed some lore, creds to Jcartist_10 cause I got the idea from them

Notes:

The next chap should be out soon

This takes starts in the 3rd season of rtte, and before the RR timeline but the hunt for the gold dragon already happened 

 

Dak and Leyla found out about hunter/pirates trying to find and take the egg through Waldondo who they met in the markets. 

 

The also already know Selvana and Eric 

 

Arggo will be coming into the story soon

 

Berserker island is getting rebuilt earlier cause Dagur is good and can be a good leader

 

Like in the show the Dragon Riders were very weirded by Dagur’s new personality but they got used to it after learning how Dagur was then. 

 

Heather and Dagur were both double agents, and neither of the had met Viggo

 

The twins talking to dragons is a big thing once people are proved of it, and people want/try and use the twins to 

understand the dragons. 

 

Stoick is the twins honorary grandparent

 

Gobber has met the twins 

 

After the latest chap the stories timeline is in early season 4

 

Leyla has Aquaphobia which is a fear of drowning, (After she almost did when she was little, Cannon in the how I met Summer ep) 

 

Dak is terrified of spiders and makes Leyla take them out for him. 

 

Dagur already sees the twins as his kids

 

Dagur is a horrible chef (has been mentioned multiple times) 

 

Dagur trained Sleuther after he saved him while he was living in the wild, left after Ryker started taking over and returned when he found out about Heather joining. 

 

Dagur, Heather, and Hiccup act like siblings (Cannon in the show) 

 

Dagur sees himself in both of the twins, 

 

Leyla can’t listen when she's working and she’ll zone out when shes planning something 

 

Snotlout once asked Leyla if she was a Hiclegs love child, cause of her knowledge of dragons which then caused him to get smacked by Dagur 

 

The twins call Dagur, Dag because in the beginning of them all living with each other the twins both almost called him dad on two separate occasions so they played it off saying they said Dag and now its just his nickname 

 

The dragons tell embarrassing stories about their riders to the twins at random times 

 

Heather had just adopted the twins as her niece and nephew 

 

Dak isn’t allowed to cook ever cause he will either burn the kitchen down or poison someone or both 

 

Dagur and the twins go to berk at least once every two weeks

 

Dagur has started to see Stoick as a father figure 

 

Dak is either the first one up or the last one up and there is no in between 

 

Fishlegs has borrowed Leyla’s dragon diary and was broken at all the dragon she knew about it 

 

Snotlout and Dak aren’t allowed out, without another adult 

 

Tuffnut and Ruffnut call Leyla and Dak the mini twins and/or mini Dagur 

 

If you say something wrong in front of Leyla she will automatically correct you, she's corrected all of the dragon riders at least once

 

Gobber has started teaching Dak how to black smith 

 

Stoick adores both of the twins 

 

Hiccup and Leyla have talked about dragons for hours before 

 

Dak and Leyla aren’t defenseless without dragons and both know how to use a weapon 

Leyla - Axe 

Dak - Sword

 

Dagur helps both of the twins learn how to use their weapons

 

Leyla loves the rain and thunderstorms 

 

Dak once told Tuff that he loved lighting storms and Tuff told him quote, “You are a Berserker.” 

 

Dak and Leyla never get sick, like the whole village could get sick and they’d be just fine 

Chapter 15: The ship

Summary:

Dak is saved from the ship

Notes:

I wrote this very sleep deprived so it might not make sense but I don't care

Dak was sitting in the bottom of the ship sailing away from the island, people kept walking back and forth in front of the cell.

“Hey kid.” The man who took him, Aage was his name, started talking to the red haired boy. 

“No go away,” Dak muttered, not looking at the man. 

“That’s not very polite.” Aage told him, “Maybe I should’ve taken the girl she would’ve been more poli-.” 

Dak laughs and cuts off the man, “First, if you ever touch my sister I’ll kill you second, she would be way worse than me.” 

“Oh my.” Aage tells the boy walking away. 

“He's an idiot.” Dak mutters to himself, the bottom of the ship was empty after the older man left leaving the red-haired boy alone.

All Dak could think is that he was glad he was taken, he wouldn’t know what to do if he allowed Leyla to be taken instead of him. He has to protect her, it was his promise to their mother, Dak I had promised their mother that he would protect Leyla and Winger. Which is a little weird based on the fact that Winger was a dragon but nevertheless he promised to protect them no matter what. 

---

Dagur and Leyla were flying to find Dak, “Dag how are we going to find Dak?” Leyla asks the older man. 

“We are going to find the ship that he’s on.” Dagur responds. 

“But how are we going to do that?” Leyla asks, “He could be on a different ship or going in a different direction, or-.” 

“Leyla!” Dagur yells, cutting the younger girl off, “We’re going to find him, we know the ships are going north and I doubt they would transfer ships from what I’ve heard about the person that took Dak he’s a bit of an idiot.”  Dagur smiles when he hears Leyla’s laugh cut him off from speaking. the two of them fly in silence before Leyla interrupts it, “Dag look!” She yells pointing down to a ship sailing in front of them. 

“See I told you we’d find him.” Dagur tells her. 

“We don’t know Dak is on that ship.” Leyla argues. 

“Well we’re going to check it out, okay?” Dagur tells her. 

“Okay, Dag.” Leyla tells the man, Sluether dives down towards the ship alerting the people on the deck of the ship. 

“Sir Dragon riders!” One of them yells. 

“They must be here for the boy!” Another one yells. 

“Shut Up!” Aage yells. 

Dagur jumps down off the triple strike onto the deck of the ship, “Dagur what are you doing!” Leyla yells at him.

“This isn’t going to be difficult!” Dagur yells at her, “They’re idiots.” 

Leyla rolls her eyes at the man, “Okay Sluether let’s help Dag.” 

“Yep,” Sluether responds, diving down towards the ship. Sluether starts burning the sails of the ship while his rider fights some of the hunters below. Dagur grabbed one of the hunters' abandoned axes off the ground, using it to take down more of the hunters.

“Hey Leyla!” Dagur yells at the girl. 

“What Dag?” Leyla asks, flying over the man. 

“Go get Dak while I deal with this.” Dagur responds to her. Leyla jumps off Sluether onto the ship’s deck, the girl runs down the stairs to the lower part of the deck. The red-headed girl started looking in the cells for her twin brother but was stopped by one of the hunters. 

“You aren’t getting any farther.” The hunter tells the girl.

Leyla starts looking around for anything she can use to stop the man, the one thing she found was an ax hanging from the wall. Leyla grabs the ax from the wall, "Hang on there little girl.” 

“Who are you calling, little girl?” The red-head asks the man, swinging the ax at the man. She hit the man in the leg with the ax, he drops to his other leg giving Leyla the opportunity to run by him towards the other cells. “Dak!” 

“Ley?” Dak asks. The female twin stands in front of the door to the cell, “You need a key.” She looks around turning to the man she took down, Leyla runs over grabbing the keys from the man in pain. Running back to Dak she unlocked his cell, “Where’d you get the key?” 

“The man in pain on the ground.” Leyla responds, “Let’s go.”

The two twins, run by the man on the ground and up the stairs to the upper deck. Dagur had taken out all of the men except for one. Aage was still standing watching, Dagur fight. Sleuther dives down towards the group landing on the ship, Dagur walks over to the younger boy kneeling down to his level. 

“Are you okay Dak?” Dagur asks the boy. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Dak responds, Dagur looks unsure at the boy’s responds but stands up either way. The three of them look over to the man watching them. 

“H-hey.” Aage tell them. 

“So are we going to do this the easy way or-?” Dagur starts. 

“Easy way.” Aage responds, jumping off the ship into the ocean. 

“Dang he is an idiot.” Leyla mutters. 

“Hey that’s what I said.” Dak laughs.

“Let’s get going and meet the other dragon riders.” Dagur tells them. 

“Yeah.” Dak responds, the three of them climb aboard Sluether and start flying towards Viggo’s auction. They get closer to the island starting to see smoke, “Whoa what did we miss?” 

No one answers the boy’s question, Sluether notices the dragon riders hovering over the island and flies towards them. “Brother!” Dagur yells towards Hiccup. 

“Dagur,” Hiccup sighs, seeing the man, “We lost the gold.” 

“How much of it?” Dagur asks. 

“All of it Dagur.” Hiccup responds, the group of the teens + Gobber were all looking defeated. “Let’s go back to Berk, Dagur you and the twins can go back to Berserker island.” 

“Okay, brother just keep me informed.” Dagur tells the boy flying away towards where the other dragons were. The group of dragons had been waiting on a sea stack watching the action, the twins jumped off Sluether running towards their dragons. 

“What happened?” Winger asks. 

“We’ll tell you later.” Leyla responds. 

“Let’s just go home.” Dak sighs. 

“Let’s go kids.” Dagur tells the group.

Dak and Leyla board their dragons and the group takes off the sea stack towards Berserker island.

Chapter 16: 400 years of Berk

Summary:

400 year of Berk/ Midnight Scrum

Notes:

Gobber is the chaotic uncle to everyone

Three weeks later

Dagur had gotten up earlier in the morning mainly because the three of them had planned to go to Berk for the festival. Stoick had invited the three of them to join, so of course they were going. The only part that was going to be difficult is that. Dagur had told Stoick that they would be there early to help set up, but that also means getting the twins up early. 

Dagur walked up the stairs to the twin’s rooms, knocking on the closest door. The man was expecting either no answer or a mumbled go away but instead he got in. Dagur walks in seeing both of the twins hanging out in Leyla’s room, the two of them are sitting on the girls bed talking. 

“You guys are up early.” Dagur chuckles. 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we?” Dak asks. 

“Because when I tried to wake you guys up early I was told no and to go away.” Dagur responds. 

“Well that was because we didn’t want to go.” Leyla responds. 

“And we want to go to Berk.” Dak adds. 

Dagur chuckles at the kids reasonsoning, “Okay then let’s go.” 

Dak and Leyla jump off the bed running towards the door, the three of them start walking towards the dragon stables. The two twins were running in front of the man, who was getting left behind. The group of them walk into the stables walking towards their dragons. 

“We’re going to Berk, wanna join?” Leyla asks the other two dragons that didn’t have riders. 

“If it’s okay with you guys,” Cutter starts, “I wanna stay here and sharpen my spikes.” 

“I stay too,” Burple tells the girl, “So Cutter won’t be alone.” 

“Okay you two.” Leyla responds, climbing onto the back of her dragon. 

The three riders and their dragon leave the island flying towards Berk, “I can’t wait to see Skull crusher again.” Dak tells the group. 

“What about Stoick?” Dagur asks the boy. 

“Stoick too.” Dak adds. 

The girl red-head rolls her eyes at her brother's comment, “Really Dak?” 

“Yep.” Dak chuckles. 

The group of the riders land on Berk, met by Stoick and Skull crusher, “Welcome to Berk.” Stoick greets. 

“Hi Stoick.” Leyla tells the man unmounting her dragon. 

“How is Berserker Island?” Stoick asks, turning to the older man. 

“It's great Stoick,” Dagur responds, “How Berk?” 

“It’s been more difficult without gold, but with trade we are doing fine.” Stoick responds. 

Stoick leads the group of Berserkers to where Gobber was working, “Hi Gobber!” Dak yells towards the man. 

The one-armed man turns around to see the twins and the chief of the Berserkers, “Heya, kids!” Gobber yells, walking towards them, “How’s everything on Berserker Island?” 

“Good.” Dak responds. 

“Great.” Gobber laughs. 

“How’s Grump?’ Leyla asks, looking at the dragon. 

“Grump is lazy but is very helpful with metal.” Gobber responds, 

“That’s cool.” Leyla tells the man

“So how can we help?’ Dagur asks the older men, after Stoick walked over joining them near Gobber. 

The group of them start helping the older men but are interrupted by the Dragon Riders arrival, Stoick stops working to look over at his son's landing of his dragon, 

“Don't be too hard on him about the gold, Chief. It wasn't all his fault. We were lucky to get off that island in one piece.” Gobber mutters towards his friend. 

Stoick does not reply to his friend, instead stepping forward to meet his son  leaving the others behind him. Hiccup doesn’t attempt to meet his father’s eyes with Toothless standing close behind him. After a long moment, Hiccup raises his eyes to meet his father’s.

“What do you think is going to happen sis?” Dak asks his twin. 

“I don’t know Dak.” Leyla responds. 

“How's life in the Great Beyond, Son?” Stoick asks. 

“Wasn’t expecting that.” Dak mumbles

Dagur sighs hearing the boys comment, “Dak.” 

The three of them watch the interaction between the father and son, which was interrupted by Snotlout attempting to tell something to the chief but cut off by Hiccup. They continued watching, unable to hear what was being said. They watched as Stoick put his arm around his son’s shoulders, pulling the younger one closer. 

“Always remember, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Stoick tells his son, loud enough for the group behind him to hear. 

“Yeah. Got it. Loud and clear.” Hiccup responds to his father. 

“Now, go enjoy yourselves.” Stoick tells the teens, “A party like this happens only once in 400 years.” 

Stoick walks away from the group of teens, leaving them all to celebrate the party. Heather walks over to her brother and the twins who were still helping Gobber. 

“Hi Dagur.” Heather sighs. 

‘What’s wrong?” Leyla asks the older teen. 

“Nothing Leyla.” Heather assures, “Hiccup is just being extra stubborn.” 

“What time?” Dagur asks his sister. 

“He’s got a bounty on him.” Heather responds. 

“Oh gods.” Dagur responds, “Let me guess Viggo?” 

“Yep.” Heather sighs. 

---

Later, the celebration is in full swing. A group of village children march in a parade down the town, toting pennants. As Gobber acts as the announcer, attempting to shout over the crowd. Dagur and The twins ended up sitting near Stoick waiting for the dragon riders to start their performance.  

 “We Berkians have come a long way in 400 years.” Gobber announces to the audience “For a long time, we were at war with the dragons, hunting them, killing them.” In the crowd you could see Skullcrusher being petted by the chief of Berk and the twins as they listen to Gobber’s speech. 

“But that all changed one day when some of our youngest Berkians had the guts to step up and take a stand.” Gobber told the audience, before pointing to the night sky. “Ladies and Vikings, the time has come to look towards the future of Berk. I give you Hiccup and the Dragon Riders!” 

With a gust of wind the dragons flew over the audience of Berkians, the crowd started cheering at the dragons. 

Astrid and Heather fly towards each other quickly closing the gap between them, the two teens stand on their dragons saddles. The dragons skim within inches of each other, and the girls leap before they can collide, clinking their bracelets together in salute as they pass through the air, before landing on their dragon's saddles again. 

Astrid pumps her fists in the air, as the crowd goes more wild. Snotlout and Hookfang start diving down towards a pile of wood. Hookfang lit  his body up on fire, flying over the pile of wood which got lit on fire. 

In the middle of the night sky, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were gliding upwards with Barf leaving a trail of gas behind them. The gas started to sketch out the face of viking, the zipple back dives back down lighting the gas trail on fire. Revealing the Viking face, Meatlug and Fishlegs were seen flying through one of the gas Viking eyes. Reaching the other side mostly unhurt other than Fishlegs helmet on fire. Toothless and Hiccup start flying through the night sky unseen by the audience until the night fury fires causing another reaction from the crowd. 

The dragon riders landed, accepting the praise of the crowd. Dagur jumped up followed closely by the twins towards the dragon riders. Leyla ran over to Heather who was talking to some of the younger Vikings, Heather noticed the girl and accused herself from talking to walk towards the others.

“Heather, that was so cool.” Leyla yells at the teen, stopping right in front of her. 

“Thanks Leyla.” Heather responds, “Maybe one day I’ll teach you how to do it.” 

“Really?” Leyla asks the teen. 

“Yep.” Heather responds. 

“No no no.” Dagur interrupts, “You aren’t doing that I’ll have a heart attack.” 

“That’s because you’re old.” Leyla responds, ducking behind Heather who was laughing at the girl's comment to her brother. 

Dagur and the twins said their goodbyes to the dragon riders and the chief leaving the island, “That was so cool!” Dak tells the two others. 

“Yeah.” Leyla responds, remembering the move Heather did. 

“Just remember, don't try any of that.” Dagur tells the two of them. 

“Boring.” Dak yawns. 

“Dak.” Dagur sighs. 

“When are we going to get home?” Leyla asks, leaning on Summer’s head. 

“We should be home in a few minutes.” Dagur responds. 

“Cool.” Dak mutters. 

---

The three of them arrived at Besersker island, landing in the stables on the top of the island. Dak unmounted Winger who sighed and walked into his area. “That thor we’re final here.” Winger tells the boy. 

“Rude.” Dak mutters towards his dragon. 

“Dak come on!” Leyla yells at her twin. 

Dak sighs walking towards his twin and the older man, “You don’t have to be mean.” 

‘How was I being mean?” Leyla asks her twin. 

“I don’t know.” Dak sighs. 

“Are you just tired or something?” Dagur asks. 

“He probably is.” Leyla responds, the three of them start walking down the mountain. Dak again was walking faster than the other two behind him.
‘Hurry up.” Dak yells at them. 

“Dak.” Leyla sighs. 

“We’ll be home soon bud.” Dagur tells the boy. 

“Yes.” Dak answers. 

The three of them enter the house, each walking to their separate rooms. 

---

The next morning, Dagur was attempting to sleep in when he was awake by his door being slammed open

“Dag!” Dak yells, 

Dagur jumps up grabbing his knife from the table near his bed, “Dak.” Dagur sighs. 

“There’s a Terror mail for you.” Dak tells the older man.

Dagur sighs standing up from his bed, “Where is it?” Dagur asks. 

“Ley has it.” Dak answers. 

“Okay come on Dork.” Dagur tells the boy, pushing him out of the room. 

Leyla was sitting at the table working on her dragon diary, the scroll from the Terrible Terror next to her. Hearing the two boys talking behind her she grabs the paper turning around to face the new people. 

“Here, Dag.” Leyla tells the man, throwing the paper towards him. 

Dagur catches the paper that the girl threw and unrolls it. 

Brother Hiccup has been taken by bounty hunters. We need you to keep watch to see if you can find anything, we are going north to find Hiccup we will Terror Mail if we need anymore help 

 -Heather

 

Dagur rerolls the paper setting down on the table, “What was it?” Leyla asks the man. 

“Nothing.” Dagur responds, he wasn’t planning on telling either of them about what was on the scroll. Knowing them they’d want to go help. 

“Sure.” Leyla mutters. 

Dagur walks towards the fire turning his back to the twins who were still at the table, Leyla takes her chance and grabs the paper of the table tucking it into her bag. Dak watched his twin with confusion etched in his face. 

“Hey Dag, can me and Dak go see the dragons?” Leyla asks the older man. 

“Sure, just be back here by midday.” Dagur responds, Leyla grabs her twin's hand and runs out of the house. 

“Ley, what are we doing?” Dak asks her, once they were out of ear-shot of the older man.

“Dag is hiding something.” Leyla answers, grabbing the paper from her bag. Reading what it says, before passing it to her brother. “See he’s hiding stuff.” 

Dak reads the paper, sighing, “Okay so?” Dak asks. 

“Why did he lie?” Leyla asks her brother not expecting an answer. 

“I don’t know.” Dak responds, the two of them walk in silence towards the dragon stables. 

“Does he not trust us or something?” Leyla suggests. 

“Maybe, I mean we are just random kids.” Dak answers, they may have been living with the man for many months but he always seemed to be hiding something from them, “We’re only here because of the hunters.” 

“Yeah, if we never got shot down we never would’ve been here.” Leyla adds. 

“Maybe he just doesn’t want us around anymore.” Dak suggests, 

Leyla doesn’t respond, and they continue walking up the mountain. Neither of them walk into the stables when they reach them and instead go and sit near the edge looking over the island. After a bit the dragons come out and join the twins. 

“What’s wrong with you two?” Cutter asks, lying down next to the girl twin. 

“Dagur is lying to us.” Dak responds, laying down on Winger who was sitting behind him. 

“Why?” Summer asks.

“We don’t know.” Leyla responds. 

“He probably just doesn’t trust us.” Dak mutters. 

“I doubt that.” Sleuther cuts in getting the group attention. 

“Why do you say that?” Leyla asks, looking towards the dragon. 

“He sees you guys as his own kin.” Sleuther answers. 

“Wait really?” Dak asks, sitting up from his dragon. 

“That’s what I’ve heard.” Sleuther assures the twins. 

“Okay but why is he lying to us?” Leyla asks the dragon. 

“Probably to protect you guys.” Sleuther responds, “What did he lie about anyways?” 

“Hiccup was taken by bounty hunters, and he said it was nothing.” Dak answers. 

“Oh he lied for a good reason.” Cutter cuts in.  

“Yeah knowing you two you’d guys want to find him.” Summer tells them.

“And as I just said, he sees you two as his kin.” Sleuther tells the twins, “He wants to protect you guys.” 

“Yeah that makes sense.” Dak responds standing up, “Ley we better start walking back Dag said to be back by midday.” 

“Yeah.” Leyla responds, standing up. 

The dragons go back into the stables and the twins start walking down the mountain. “So that really cleared stuff up.” Dak mumbles. 

“Yep.” Leyla adds, “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Yeah me either.” Dak responds. 

The two twins walk into the house, Dagur was working on tribles matters at the table. 

“Dag we’re back.” Leyla tells the man closing the door behind her brother. 

Dagur looks up from what he was working on to look at the twins, “How were the dragons?” 

“Fine.” Leyla responds, taking her bag off and setting it down on the table. The bag opens making both Leyla's dragon Diary and the scroll fall out of the bag. 

Dagur looks at the two things that landed on the table, “Hey I was looking for this.” Dagur tells the girl grabbing the scroll from the table, “Did you take it?” Leyla doesn’t answer, looking down to not meet the older man’s gaze, “Leyla.” 

“Sorry.” The younger girl mutters, “I didn’t know you’d still need it.” 

Dagur sighs crouching down to the younger girl's level, “Why did you take it?” 

“I thought you were lying to us.” Leyla responds, “That’s why we went to see the dragons, to talk about it.” 

“Leyla.” Dagur sighs, “I only lied to protect you guys, I know you both would've wanted to go and help.” 

“I know, Sleuther told us.’ Leyla tells the man. 

“See I only lied to protect you both.” Dagur tells the girl, “I can promise not to lie to either of you anymore but you guys won’t lie to me either promise.” 

“Promise.” Leyla tells the man

 Dagur stands up again, looking towards the other twin. “What about you Dak?” 

“Yep, promise.” Dak responds. 

“Great,” Dagur chuckles, Leyla looks up to meet the man's eyes, “Sorry for taking the terror mail.” 

Dagur moves the younger girl's hair out of her eyes, “It’s okay Leyla, I’m sorry for lying to you guys.” 

“Hey one question?” Dak asks. 

“Yes bud?” Dagur asks turning to the boy. 

“Sleuther said you see us as your own kids.” Dak starts, “Is it true?” 

Dagur laughs, looking down at the twins. “Dang Sleuther.” The man mutters, “Yes, I see you both as my kids” 

“Really?” Dak asks excitedly. 

“Yes, Dak.” Dagur responds, 

“Cool.” Dak mutters to the man.

“Okay so, while you guys were gone.” Dagur starts reaching for another paper that was on the table. “We got a terror mail from Heather.” 

Leyla grabs the paper from the older man and unrolls it. 

Brother we found Hiccup he’s fine, everyone is fine, we are going back to the edge tonight

 say hello to the twins for me. 

-Heather 

“Good think Hiccup is save.” Leyla tells the two.

“Yep.” Dagur responds. 

“Can we eat?’ Dak asks, “I’m starving.” 

“Yes Dak.” Dagur laughs. 

Notes:

This chapter took way longer than I thought it would.

Chapter 17: Goldy

Summary:

Gold rush

Notes:

Doesn't anyone else think that Dagur would be a girl dad cause I think so

Dagur and the twins were flying towards the Northern Markets, Cutter and Burple both stayed on Berserker island reasoning being that they didn’t want to have to fly far, 

“So what or who are we looking for again?” Dak asks. 

“My father Oswald the Agreeable, for the millionth time Dak.” Dagur tells him. 

“Okay okay, I was just wondering.” Dak mutters. 

“Didn’t you ask that same question 20 minutes ago?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah I did Ley, I’m seeing how annoyed I can get Dag.” Dak tells her. 

“Remember I can ground you.” Dagur yells. 

“You wouldn’t dare.” Dak yells back. 

“Anyways, what are we hoping to find at the Northern Markets?” Leyla asks the man. 

“Someone who knows something about my father.” Dagur responds. 

“Okay.” Dak mutters, the group of them land in the forest outside of the Northern Markets. Their dragons stayed in the forest, to not draw attention to the group of them, while the three of them walked into the markets, Dagur had a cloak that covered his face, while the twins wore hoods that also covered their faces. Dagur walks up to one of the stalls in the market while the twins look at another one. 

There were many hunters in the northern markets as well, them being the reason for the three dragon riders to hide their faces.  One of the hunters, who was tiny compared to them, was bragging about something to another hunter. “Viggo trusts me to know where his gold is.” 

“No way.’ 

“Yeah, Viggo doesn’t trust anyone.” 

“Well, I know where his gold is.” the main hunter tells the others. 

“Wait, even Berk’s gold?” 

“Yes.” 

Dagur turns around hearing the conversation, walking towards the group of hunters grabbing a weapon from the nearby stalls. Dak and Leyla stayed back watching Dagur and the hunters, 

“I hear you know where Berk's gold is?” Dagur asks the group of hunters. 

“N-no where did you hear that?” The hunter asks the man, watching as the other hunter's creep away from the two men. 

“Just now.” Dagur responds, “Tell me where the gold is, and you’ll probably live.” 

“You don’t scare me.” The hunter tells the man. 

Dagur laughs, spinning the ax he grabbed in his hand, “Really?” 

“Yeah, never mind.” The hunter tells him, the man starts rambling about everything he knows. Which was a lot but half of it wasn’t even about Berk’s gold, so Dagur slowly started getting more annoyed at the man. Sighing Dagur puts the man in a choke hold, after getting what he needed to know about Berk’s gold. The man quickly shuts up making Dagur let him go, the man runs scared from Dagur being laughed at by the other hunters. 

Dagur walks towards the twins who were watching the entire interaction, Dak was amazed at what Dagur did and Leyla was a little scared at the choke hold he did on the man. 

“Okay, we need to go to the dragon's edge.” Dagur tells them, walking out of the Markets. 

“Did you find anything out about your father?” Leyla asks. 

“No.’ Dagur mutters, “But this is more important.” 

The three of them walk into the forest climbing onto their dragons, “Where are we going now?” Winger asks. 

“Dragon’s edge.” Dak responds, “Dag found something out about Berk’s gold.” 

“Where is it?” Summer asks.

“Yep.” Leyla responds. 

“Let’s go.” Dagur tells them, flying up on Sleuther towards Dragon’s edge followed closely by the twins. 

---

Dagur and the twins landed near the stables on Dragon Edge, walking towards the club house. Dagur stood next to one of the entrances to the club house overhearing the conversation.

“I’m filing a grievance.” Snotlout says, towards the two girls sitting across from him, “You distracted my partner with your big brown eyes.” 

“They’re green.” Heather responds, laughing at the boy. 

Dagur walks into the room leaning against the wall, “Still getting beat Snot-hat?” 

“Haha.” Snotlout tells the man\

“Dagur.” Heather tells her brother walking towards him, “What are you doing here?” 

“I have something to tell Hiccup.” Dagur responds, “He around?” 

“He’s testing some new invention.” Heather responds, “Are the twins with you.” 

“Yeah.” Dagur responds, “Why.” 

“I want to see if Leyla can beat Fishlegs at maces and talons.” Heather responds. 

“Yes!” Snotlout yells, turning to Fishlegs “You’ll win for once.” 

---

“How is she beating you?” Snotlout asks, watching his partner play the game of maces and talons. 

“I don’t know.” Fishlegs responds, moving one of his pieces, “I thought you’ve never played before?” 

“I haven’t.” Leyla laughs, moving one of her own pieces. 

“You’re cheating then!” Snotlout yells, pointing at the girl. 

“How would I cheat in a game I’ve never played before.” Leyla asks the older teen, Snotlout huffs, turning his back to the girl. 

Heather laughs, putting her hand on the younger girl’s shoulders, “Just face it Snotlout she's better at this game then you.” 

“No!” Snotlout yells, turning to Fishlegs, “We still have a chance to win.”

“No, we don’t.” Fishlegs responds, gesturing toward the game board showing the boy’s obviously losing. 

Leyla moves her last piece winning the game, looking up at the older teen in front of her, “That was fun.” Leyla tells the teen standing up.

Astrid walks up to the girl, who was attempting not to laugh at the angry teen. “Nice job kid.” 

“Thanks.” Leyla responds, 

Dagur was standing in the corner watching the interaction of his daughter and the other riders. The second later Hiccup and Toothless walk in, Hiccup’s hair was wet from diving in the water, Toothless laided down on the ground hiding his face from the group. Hiccup looked around the room, visibly confused when he saw Dagur. 

“Dagur what are you doing here?” Hiccup asks the man. 

“Oh yeah, I found something out.” Dagur responds. 

“What?” Heather asks. 

“I found out where Viggo hides his gold.” Dagur responds, making the whole room go silent, the other riders staring at him with wide eyes. “And if I remember correctly some of the gold-”

“Is Berk's gold.” Astrid interrupts, 

“Bingo!” Dagur responds, pointing at the blonde 

“And we can get it back and cripple Viggo in one blow!” Hiccup yells, turning towards the exit “Let's ride”

\“Whoa Hiccup.’ Heather starts, the teen sighs turning to face Heather, “We need a plan.” 

“No, we don’t” Snotlout responds, “Let’s just go in dragons blazing like always.” 

“Okay then.” Heather responds. 

---

The dragon riders were flying towards the island that was holding Viggo’s gold. Dagur was flying close to the twins, while Heather was flying close to Astrid.

“Hey, Astrid.” Heather starts flying closer to the other female teen. 

“Yeah, Heather?” Astrid asks. 

“I’ve been thinking, and I think it’s time for me to go back to Berserker Island.” Heather answers. 

“What?” Tuffnut yells, “What are we going to do without your cooking?” 

“Really Tuff?” Heather asks, turning to the teen. 

“Yes, you can’t leave us with Ruffnut’s cooking.” Tuffnut tells the girl. 

“Can’t you learn how to cook?” Leyla asks, overhearing the conversation. 

“No.” Tuffnut responds, rolling his eyes, “Why would we.” 

“We know how to cook.” Dak responds to the teen. 

“You’ve lived on your own half your life; you have to know” Tuffnut tells the twins. 

“Aren’t you like nineteen?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah so.” Tuffnut responds. 

Leyla was about to respond but was cut off by the older redhead, “Leyla no.”  Dagur tells the girl. 

“Leyla, yes.” Dak argues, flying over his twin. 

“No.” Dagur tells both of them, “Don’t do it.” 

“Leyla, do it.” Dak laughs.

“Question.” Astrid starts, looking towards Dagur. 

“Yeah?” Dagur asks. 

“What were you trying to find before you found out about the gold?” Astrid asks. 

“We were trying to find where Osvald is.” Dagur responds. 

“You’re looking for our father?” Heather asks.  

“Yes.” Dagur responds, “I thought, I didn’t kill him and you definitely didn’t kill him, he's got to be out there somewhere.” 

Heather doesn't answer, Hiccup interrupting the silence 

 “Alright gang, Diamond Formation. Remember we’re heading into Viggo's domain,” Hiccup tells the group, catching their attention, “expect the unexpected...  The group fly over the island expecting hundreds of hunters and ships, but nothing was there, no hunter camp, no one protecting where the gold should be. “What the?”

“Well, there's no one here. Didn't see that one coming.” Snotlout tells the group. 

They all fly down, landing on the island and start to look around 

“Are you absolutely sure this is the right Island?” Hiccup asks, turning to Dagur and the twins. 

‘Yes, I'm sure, but Viggo might have moved the gold. He can be slippery.” Dagur responds. 

“Hmm” Hiccup thinks, “Something doesn't feel right.”

The group starts to look around, Fishlegs finding something that excites him. It was stone formations, with writing on them 

“This is an amazing find, Hiccup.” Fishlegs says to the other teen, “Ancient Vikings must have lived here.” Snotlout reaches to touch the stones, causing Fishlegs to smack his hand “No touching! We're not here to destroy history, we're here to find the gold.” 

“Come on Fishlegs, if there was any gold here this place would be crawling with Viggo's men.” Snotlout tells the blonde teen. 

“He has a point.” Leyla mutters. 

Hiccup looks down at the group finding tracks, Hiccup and the others start following them through the woods finding something covered in a sheet. 

“Hmm. The tracks end here?” Fishlegs says, looking around confused. 

“I'm not seeing any gold.” Snotlout says to himself, turning to the person next to him which was Dak “Are you seeing any gold?” Dak shakes his head, causing Snotlout to ask everyone “Is anyone seeing any gold?”

“Snotlout, expect the unexpected.” Hiccup tells the teen.

“You want to do the honors, or shall I?” Dagur asks his brother, 

Hiccup walks toward the shed grabbing the tarp, the removal of the tarp shows a shed made of metal.

“Ok don't get to close guys. I'm sure Viggo booby-trapped this thing.” Hiccup says, holding his arm in front of the others. 

“Fear not my fearless leader.” Tuffnut tells the teen, pushing him out of the way, “Ruff and I are the best booby trap sniffers that have ever sniffed out a booby... trap.”

“Alright, check it for traps but be careful.” Hiccup tells the two. 

“Ok, time to out-think the thinker. Watch for the trip lines!” Tuffnut yells, dropping to the ground looking around, “hmm... You think you're so smart Viggo. Falling axes!”

“Nothing.” Ruffnut tells her brother helping his up. 

“That's because he's going to kill us with ... crossbow arrows!” Tuffnut yells, tackling Ruffnut to the ground. 

“Hmm...?” Hiccup thinks, looking around. 

“Still nothing,” Ruffnut sighs, “this guy is tricky.” 

“Hmm…” Tuffnut thinks, sniffing the air, “What a second... I knew it... Stun Gas!” Tuffnut chokes, falling to the ground. 

“Relax, that was just me,” Ruffnut tells her brother 

“Ok clear out of there, I have a better idea.” Hiccup tells the twins, waiting for them to be behind them,  “Give it a good one bud.” Toothless fires a blast at the shed “Oh, what the!” Hiccup yells, looking at the still intact door, “It must be reinforced.” Hiccup sighs.

“What now?” Snotlout sighs. 

Dak looks over to his twin who was staring at the door, “I think Ley has a plan.” 

The group of teens, look over to the girl who was looking at the door, “Okay,” Leyla starts, “The Gronkle is common relative of the rock spitter and from what I’ve researched they should both be able to do this,” 

“Less explaining.” Snotlout cuts in. 

“The gronkle should be able to roll into the door and break it down.” Leyla tells them. 

“Thinking like a Berserker I see.” Tuffnut laughs. 

“Let’s just try it.” Hiccup tells them, turning to Meatlug who was walking to be able to roll into the door. 

“This better work kid.” Meatlug tells the girl, rolling into the door. 

The metal door broke down when Gronkle hit it, Meatlug walked out of the shed now with a broken door. 

Hiccup and Astrid, walk into the shed hoping to see the gold but instead saw nothing. 

“Well, I guess we're too late. Viggo moved the gold.” Astrid sighs 

“Nothing makes sense, no guards, no booby traps.” Hiccup starts listing 

“What are you thinking?” Astrid asks. 

“Well, it looks like the cart tracks comes in this way then go off that way.” Hiccup explains, pointing at the tracks on the ground, “Fishlegs look at the depth of the tracks.”

“Yeah, they're deeper going in and shallower going out.” Fishlegs agrees

“Someone rolled the gold in here then offloaded it and carried it away by hand. This storehouse is just a decoy. The gold is somewhere else on the island.” Hiccup explains. 

“In that case I say we split up.” Dagur tells the group. 

“I agree.” Hiccup responds, 

The group of them split up, Dagur, Fishlegs, Heather, and the twins in one group while Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout and Ruff and Tuff in another group. 

Dagur walks up to his sister, “Heather, I might've found someone who knows something about Dad.” 

Heather stops walking, turning to her brother, “Really? Who?” 

“A shifty little guy at the Eastern Markets” Dagur responds, watching as the other three in their group walk in front of them. 

“If we go to find him, what about the twins?” Heather asks, after the twins were out of hearing range. 

“I don’t know sis.” Dagur responds, looking at the twins who were teasing each other. “We can’t leave them.” 

“I know Dagur.” Heather responds, “What if we take them with us, they’ve already helped us rebuild Berserker Island, they’d be plenty helpful.” 

“I’ll think about it.” Dagur responds. 

Dagur and Heather catch up with the others, who were all standing in front of a cave. Fishlegs was looking not pleased with having to go into the cave. Seeing that Fishlegs wasn’t moving Dagur walks up patting the teen on the back. 

“Don't worry Fishlegs we’ll search this one, sometimes I miss the pleasant Zen of a deep dark cave.” Dagur tells the teen, walking towards the cave the twins following him, “Here goldie goldie goldie goldie!” 

Fishlegs looked at the Berserker who was outside the cave still, “So.” Fishlegs starts. 

“So.” Heather responds, making the two of them laugh. 

 “Look Heather, I-I know Dagur is your brother and your blood, but we still need you, I need you.” Fishlegs tells her Heather doesn’t get a chance to respond, with Dagur running out of the cave after terrible terrors attacked him. 

“You kind of deserved that Dag.” Leyla laughs at the man. 

“I will ground you.” Dagur threatens. 

“No.” Leyla gasps. 

Heather laughs at the girl's reaction, looking at her brother who also started laughing. The group of them stopped when they heard a sudden loud noise, the younger ones ran over to the cliff where they could hide behind the rocks, the older ones followed the kids also hunching behind the rocks. 

They saw multiple ships in the harbor that used to be empty, the other dragon riders were in cages separated from their dragons, Hiccup was nowhere to be seen. 

“Oh, this is bad, really really bad.” Fishlegs starts panicking  

“Heh funny, Hiccup was never that easy to capture when I was chasing him.” Dagur quietly laughs. 

“Not the time Dag.” Leyla mutters. 

“Viggo.” Heather tells them looking at the group of hunters below them. 

The group of them backed away from the cliff so they could talk louder, “We can't just sit here, we need to rescue them now. Before Viggo disappears.” Heather tells them 

“We should save them Berserker style; I have the perfect plan!” Dagur smiles, looking at the group 

“No!” Fishlegs interrupts, “Dragon Riders rescue Dragon Riders! I have known Hiccup my whole life and he's my best friend Dagur, whenever I have needed him, he has been there for me, and now he needs me. We are doing this my way.”

“That was beautiful man, just beautiful.” Dagur tells him. 

“That was a little much.” Dak mutters. 

“Yep.” Leyla responds. 

The group of them, climbing on their dragons Fishlegs had already explained his plan to them. Giving each of them a role, they take off flying towards the harbor full of ships. 

“There they are, you four attack the flanking ships. Meatlug and I will take out the lead vessel. Got it?” Fishlegs tells them. 

“Yep.” Dak mutters. 

“Sure.” Leyla responds. 

They pass over the closest ships getting a reaction out of the hunters. 

“Dragon Riders!”

“Do your thing!” Fishlegs yells at the four of them. 

"Fire, Fire!" Dagur yells as his dragon fires on the ships. 

Fishlegs fires on the ship's expectation the ship to break, but instead the ship showed a green metal. 

“What!? Dragon Proof Ships!” Fishlegs yells. 

“Gotta respect the hustle though.” Dak mutters. 

“Really?” Leyla asks, her twin. 

“Yep.” Dak laughs. 

“Okay, that didn't work, anyone have any other thoughts that you know, I mentioned earlier.” Dagur tells, the man. 

“Fine, we’ll try it your way.” Fishlegs tells him. 

Dagur explains his idea to the group, all of them going to their tasks. Summer and Leyla flew by Sluether allowing Leyla to jump onto the other dragon. Summer dives down into the water begging to push the ships into each other, Sluether dives down towards the ships, firing on the hunters on the deck. Heather and Windshear started taking out the sails while Fishlegs and Dak took out their defenses

Hiccup was seen on the deck of one ship while Toothless was on another ship, Hiccup grabbed a rope swinging towards the ship his dragon was on. Toothless jumped into the water followed by Hiccup, the two of them met in the water before flying into the sky out of the water. 

“That was so cool.” Dak admires. 

The group of dragon riders took down the ships, chasing them away from the island. Hiccup lead the group back to the island, landing in front of the Viking ruins. 

“I’ve found the gold.” Hiccup tells them 

“How did you figure out where the gold is?” Astrid asks. 

“A few things tipped me off. First, the tracks leading to the store house didn't make sense. Then the hunters with shovels and pickaxes, like they were building something, but ultimately Viggo gave it away himself, when he pointed to a map of the island over his desk. There weren't any Viking ruins on Viggo's map. Hit it bud!” Hiccup tells the group. 

“Genius!” Fishlegs admires. 

“It was hiding in plain sight all along.” Astrid adds. 

“Thanks bud.” Hiccup tells his dragon petting his head. 

The group of them started loading up the gold, Heather and Fishlegs were talking farther away from the rest of them. 

“I have to go.” Heather tells Fishlegs.

“I know.” Fishlegs sighs. 

“They can't do it without me.” Heather responds. 

“And you need to find out about your family, your heritage. You've been looking for a home since the first day I met you Heather, and maybe this is finally your chance to find it. Just know that we will always... I will always be there for you.” Fishlegs tells her, Heather smiles, kissing the other dragon rider on the cheek. 

Dagur and the twins walked towards the two others, 

“She'll be safe with me.” Dagur tells the man, shaking his hand 

“She better be.” Fishlegs responds. 

“Be safe out there.” Astrid tells Heather, as she was mounting her dragon 

“Let us know if you find Oswald.” Hiccup tells Heather

“I will, and thanks Hiccup, for everything.” Heather tells him

The other three mount their dragons, flying up from the island 

“Until we meet again Dragon Riders!” Dagur yells at the others, flying away from the island.

Notes:

IT STARTED SNOWING WHERE I LIVE AND IM VERY SAD ABOUT IT

Chapter 18: Shell Shocked

Summary:

Shell-shocked parts 1 and 2

Notes:

This is a long one

The dragon riders were flying through the night towards Viggo camp,  “Everyone ready? A-team?” Hiccup asks. 

“Aye!” Stoick yells. 

“A-team!” Gustav yells. 

“Oh, yes!” Spitelout tells the teen. 

“Berserkers?” Hiccup asks, turning to the four of them. 

“You know it,” Heather smiles. 

“What do you think, bud?" Hiccup asks Toothless, who roars in response,  “I was hoping you’d say that.” 

When they started approaching the island, they started being able to hear the hunters. 

“Just finishing up his rounds.”

“Nothing over here!”

The group of them go to their assigned rolls, Leyla and Summer dived into the water swimming underneath one of the ships. Summer climbs up the side of the ship allowing her rider to pull one of the hunters off the ship. 

“Yes.” Leyla whispers.

Spitelout and his dragon flies over the ships taking down the hunters, “Spitelout, Spitelout, oy, oy, oy!” Spitelout whispers just loud enough for the girl helping him to hear. 

“Really?” Leyla whispers, at the older man's actions. 

Dagur was setting a trap up, “I guess the trapper trap can trap the trapper.” Dagur says to himself, a hunter start sneaking up behind the Berserker, “Hello? Have you met my sister? The Berserker?”  

“Hi.” Heather laughs,

“I promise you; she lives up to the name!” Dagur laughs. 

 Windshear grabbing the hunter, whipping him into the water, “See ya!” Heather yells. 

Dak and Fishlegs were taking down the hunters in the camp, “And now it’s time to introduce the band. I’m Fishlegs. And, on tail bludgeon, we have Meatlug.” Fishlegs tells the hunters attempting to fight him, Meatlug swinging around smacking the hunters 

Dak and Winger fly over the group, blasting a tree making it force the hunters off the cliff into the water, “Have a nine swim.” Dak yells to them, after the hunters hit the water. 

Hiccup, Gobber, Astrid and Stoick were taking down Ryker and Viggo. Astrid was holding the tent door open for Hiccup who entered, Hiccup ran to the table grabbing the dragon eye from Viggo. 

“I’ll take that.” Hiccup tells him. 

“Really? “I’ll take that?” Tuffnut asks, bringing Hiccup out of his plan.

 The group of them were in Berk’s great hall discussing their plan, “Seriously, that’s the best you can come up with? This is your moment; H. Books will be written about it. Children will act it out. Some adults will act it out, but it won’t be as cute as the children. You need a killer catchphrase. One line that will withstand the test of time. As the sands and the ocean pass, your words will remain. I mean, you’ve just defeated one of the toughest, most ruthless villains in the world.” 

“Who let’s face it, everyone thought was smarter than you.” Ruffnut laughs, looking at his friend. 

“Really? Everyone?” Hiccup asks, looking around the room. 

“Well, you know, there’s no hard data, but if you had to guess…” Tuffnut starts. 

“Ok I’ll tell you what, I’ll work on something cool to say when I take him down. Happy?” Hiccup tells the older twins. 

“Ah, ah, ah. Au contraire, mon frère. We will work on something better for you to say to him when we take him down. Trust us, we gotcha. It should be something with a growl, and, I mean, like?” Tuffnut laughs leaving the town hall with his twin. 

“Now, that’s what I call a plan.” Stoick tells his son patting him on the shoulder leaving as well, with Gobber right behind him. 

Astrid left the great hall, followed by Hiccup closely behind her, only the four Berserkers were in the great hall. Heather looks over to the younger twins who were sitting on one of the tables.

“You two ready for this?” Heather asks them. 

“Yep.” Leyla responds. 

“How about we go find the others?” Dagur suggested. 

“Yeah, let's do it.” Dak responds, jumping up. 

The group of them walk out of the great hall, Dak and Leyla ran down the stairs followed by Dagur and Heather laughing at them. Hiccup and Astrid heard them, quickly stopping talking, 

“I have a feeling Hiccup and Astrid are dating.” Leyla whispers to her twin. 

“Why?” Dak whispers back. 

“Just a feeling.” Leyla whispers, 

---

The dragon riders, leave Berk flying towards Viggo’s island, Hiccup and Toothless were leading the group of the dragon riders, when the older twins flew up next to him 

“Okay, we’ve been giving this a lot of thought and here’s what we have so far.” Ruffnut starts 

“Is that an axe in your face, or are you just happy to see me?” Tuffnut tells the other teen, Hiccup looked at the other rider annoyed “No? Ok. Not a problem”

Ruffnut has Barf and Belch move, allowing her to be next to Hiccup “Viggo, this is going to hurt you a lot more than it’s going to hurt me!” Ruffnut tells Hiccup. 

“Goodnight, and good luck!” Tuffnut yells, “Wait. No, no, no.”

“Give it a rest, will you?” Snotlout asks. 

"We didn’t say you were involved in this, Snotlout.” Tuffnut tells the Jorgenson

“Although that line wasn’t half bad.” Ruffnut starts, “Give it a rest, will ya, Viggo?”

“Oh for the love of... “Hiccup starts, but cuts himself off when he sees Viggo’s island, “Riders, ready! Just like we practiced!” 

Summer and Leyla dive swimming under the ships, then climbing up the side like they practiced. No one was there, Leyla gets off her dragon climbing onto the deck of the ship. 

“What the?” Leyla asks, looking around the empty deck and the sunken ships surrounding it

Looking up at Spitelout who landed on the ship next to her, “Oy?” 

Dagur was looking at one of the broken traps, turning to his sister who was also confused “What’s going on?” Heather asks, looking at her brother. 

Dak, Fishlegs, and Snotlout were looking around the empty camp, “ Ugh! What a rip off!” Snotlout yells. 

“Oh, looks like someone beat us to it.” Fishlegs tells the group. 

“The question is who.” Stoick asks. 

The team met back up near Viggo tent, Hiccup walked into the tent which was empty. A game of Maces and Talons sitting on the table.

“Oh Thor! What is it going to take to catch this guy?” Hiccup yells. 

 Hiccup flips the table knocking everything off of it, when the game board hit the ground, a hollow sound comes from ground underneath a tarp. Hiccup walked over to the tarp ripping it from the ground revealing a trap door. Hiccup opens an underground hatch. Toothless attempts to release a plasma blast, but Hiccup quickly stops him from using this action.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold your fire!” Hiccup tells his dragon 

Inside the trap door, Viggo is dirty and injured, “I never imagined that these words would come out of this mouth, but, my dear Hiccup, I am overjoyed to see you.” Viggo tells the teen. 

Hiccup calls the others into the tent, “What happened here? Viggo, where is the Dragon Eye?” Hiccup asks. 

Suddenly Stoick enters the tent, walking towards the man, “You come after my son. You come after my home.” Stoick tells the man grabbing him by the neck. 

Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who were standing next to Dak and Leyla, took the opportunity to cover the younger twins' eyes from the men, “You are aware we’ve seen worse?” Dak asks. 

“Shhh, no you guys are just babies.” Ruffnut laughs, watching the two older men interact. 

“Now you get to deal with me!” Stoick yells, about to slam the man he was holding into the ground. Hiccup jumps in front of his father stopping him 

“Dad, wait! Revenge is not a plan. Remember” Hiccup tells his father. 

“That was for you. For me, it goes down a treat.” Stoick responds, holding the man up. 

“Let Viggo speak.” Hiccup tells his father who finally put the hunter down. Viggo leaned against the table behind him, looking over at Hiccup. 

“Ryker’s lost all sense of reason. He’s on his own and unfortunately managed to sway the soft minds of the Dragon Hunters. My brother has turned them against their leader.” Viggo explains 

“And that right there is why I love my sister.” Dak says to the room. 

“You better.” Leyla responds to her twin. 

“Ryker’s plan, as simple-minded as it is, is to wipe out the Dragon Riders and all of your allies.” Viggo explains. 

“Yeah, h-how is that different from every other bad guy we’ve ever dealt with?” Hiccup asks. 

“And defeated!” Fishlegs yells. 

“The difference, my dear Hiccup, is project Shell Fire.” Viggo tells the teen, turning to the older set of twins, “You two remember that don’t you?”

“Just remember, if Viggo, you go!” Ruffnut yells 

“That’s right. Today’s your day to burn, and we’re the torches with the fire that burns!” Tuffnut yells, getting in the man's face. 

Viggo turns to Hiccup. Looking confused, “I’m sorry. Did I miss something?” 

“Guys, guys maybe not now.” Hiccup tells the twins, turning back to Viggo, “Tell me what project Shell Fire is. We know it’s some sort of weapon. Is it a boat? A Dragon?” 

“In due time, I will divulge all. Project Shell Fire, the location of the Dragon Eye. But only if you help me stop my brother and send me on my way.” Viggo explains to the group of dragon riders. 

“Yak dung!" Snotlout yells covering it up with a cough "Oh, I’m sorry. I had something in my lying throat!” Snotlout shouts. 

“Snotlout is right, Hiccup.” Fishlegs agrees, “We shouldn’t trust Viggo as far as we can throw him.” 

“Agreed. Trusting me is, shall we say, a stretch. Therefore, as a show of good faith, I will tell you where and when my brother will strike next. Give you time to save some of your allies, which he systematically intends to destroy.” Viggo starts, “The next attack is on the Defenders of the Wing. This will be followed by the Outcasts,” Viggo looks to the four Berserkers who were standing outside the tent watching the interaction, “Berserkers” Turning to Stoick and Hiccup who were watching, “and Berk itself, in no particular order. While Ryker is no tactical genius, he still manages to hold some things close to the vest.” The group of dragon riders leave the tent, Viggo still sitting in it “Time is of the essence Hiccup. It is the ability to make expeditious decisions that saves lives.” 

Astrid points at the tent, looking towards Hiccup “There is no way we’re believing one word this guy says.” 

“We can’t just ignore it, Astrid. There are too many lives at stake.” Hiccup tells her desperately.  

Stoick walks over putting his hands on his son's shoulders, “Agreed. Gobber and I will take the auxiliary riders back to Berk. Just in case.” Stoick relays to the group. 

Gobber agrees, walking towards his dragon. 

“Heather, Dagur, and the twins make sure Berserker Island’s ready.” Hiccup tells them, the berserkers climb on their dragons leaving the island. 

The four of them start flying towards Berserker Island, “Okay when we get home, we need to fortify our defenses.” Dagur tells the other three. 

“I agree.” Heather states. 

The four of them land on Berserker Island, their dragons going into the stables. 

“What do you think Project Shellfire is?” Dak asks the three other riders. 

“I have no clue.” Leyla responds. 

“Ley, you’re supposed to be the smart one.” Dak yells at her. 

“Really?” Leyla asks, turning to her twin. 

“Yes.” Dak exclaims. 

“Anyways, let’s start working.” Heather tells the twins. 

“Okay,” Dak responds, running out of the stables followed by Leyla closely behind him. 

---

The four of them secured the island warning the other Berserkers about what was coming, many of the people started helping after finding out what was happening. By the time they finished securing the island, the sun had set and many people went to their homes leaving only the four dragon riders. 

The four of them were sitting in their home, the fire had been started and most of them were starting to get tired. Dak was leaning against the older man, Dagur had his arm wrapped around the younger boy’s shoulders. Leyla was sitting on the floor next to the fire, lastly Heather was sitting next to her brother and Dak. The younger boy had just started going to sleep when he was awakened by a boom. 

Dagur jumps up, accidentally knocking Dak on the ground. Heather ran to the door, with Leyla close behind her. Outside it was mad, there were blue fire balls being fired at the island many people were attempting to get out of their now burning houses. 

“We have to help our people.” Heather tells her brother, turning to face back inside their home. 

“Then let’s go.’ Dagur responds, walking towards the door followed by the boy twin. 

The four of them ran to the town, towards the people who were panicking. Dagur and Heather ran over to start helping them while the twins ran over to the cliff to look over what was happening. 

“The blasts are coming from behind the sea stack!” Leyla yells, towards the two adult dragon riders. 

“Can you see the ship?” Heather yells towards the twins. 

“No!” Dak yells. 

“Dak, Leyla, get to your dragons!” Dagur yells at them. 

“Okay.” Dak yells, grabbing his twin's arm dragging the red head. The twins ran up the mountain path, towards the dragon stables. Bursting through the door awakening the dragons who were sleeping. 

“Oh, come on.” Cutter whines, looking towards the out of breath twins, “Why are you waking us up?” 

“Island is under attack.” Leyla responds running towards Summer. 

“What are we supposed to do?” Sluether asks. 

“Honestly I think they only had us come up here so we wouldn't get hurt.” Dak sighs, leaning against his dragon brother. 

“That is exactly what’s going on.” Winger laughs. 

“No one asked you.” Dak yells, 

Dagur and Heather run into the stables mounting their dragons. 

“What’s going on?” Leyla asks them. 

“Project Shell fire.” Heather responds, “Let’s go see what it is.” 

“Okay.” Dak yells, 

The four of them leave the stables, with Cutter and Burple following them. Flying away from the island they see Hiccup and the others nearing the island. 

“Brother!” Dagur yells towards them.

“Hiccup! It came at us out of nowhere.” Heather explains. 

More of the blue fire balls are shot in their direction causing all of the dragon riders and dragons to weave around them. 

“We need to split up!” Astrid yells, towards Hiccup. 

“You’re right.” Hiccup tells her, “You’re with me.” Pointing at the other dragon riders, “You guys go with Heather, Dagur and the twins, save wbo you can and meet us back at the edge.”

“And where are you two going?” Snotlout asks. 

“To find whatever this Shellfire is and stop it once and for all.” Hiccup responds. Hiccup and Astrid fly towards the source of the fires while the others fly towards the island on fire.

“You guys felt that right?” Snotlout asks the group. 

“Definitely.” The older set of twins responds at the same time. 

“You have no idea what I’m talking about?” Snotlout asks. 

“No clue.” Ruffnut responds. 

“And strangely we’re not that broken up about it.” Tuffnut adds. 

Leyla rolls her eyes at the older teens before signaling her dragon to dive, getting out of the conversation, Leyla and Summer dive down towards the water, allowing Summer to collect water before flying back up. 

“Hiccup, Astrid. Something is up with them.” Snotlout tells the older twins. 

“Oh that!” Tuffnut and Ruffnut respond. 

“Yeah, well, I know what it is though.” Tuffnut starts, “It’s obvious, I’m sorry you had to hear it from me, but Hiccup is dying.” 

“Were you dropped on your head as a baby? Because you say so much idiotic stuff.” Leyla asks them not thinking either of the older twins would hear her. 

“Hey!” Tuffnut yells at her. 

“That’s ridiculous!” Tuffnut yells, Leyla sighs expecting something better than what her twin said, “It’s Astrid who's dying.” 

The younger redhead sighs but continues listening. 

“And she's trying to spend as much time with Hiccup, so she breaks it to him slowly.” 

“You two muttonheads have no idea how to read people.” Snotlout tells the older twins, “They’re not dying. They’re spending all this time together because Hiccup clearly has a gambling problem and Astrid is trying to help him conceal it.”

“By Thor! You’ve got it!” Tuffnut yells. 

“No, no, not that.” Leyla sighs, looking at the older Berserker who just shrugs their shoulders. 

The girl and her dragon fly over one of the fires, after finally getting out of the conversation, the fast fin blasting it with water as they pass. The other dragon riders, either left their dragons and ran into the town or are also helping put the remaining fires out. 

Once the people were safe and the firing stopping the group of them flew back to the edge where Hiccup told them to meet. 

---

Back at the edge, Hiccup and Fishlegs were pacing around attempting to figure out what the dragon was. 

“Tidal Class for sure. If I had to guess, Titan Wing. Bigger than a Submaripper. Long range firing capabilities.” Hiccup explains to the blonde teen. 

“Tidal Class Dragons don’t attack humans, Hiccup. They just don’t. It’s not in their nature. They’re forcing it to do that.” Fishlegs tells his friend. 

“I know they are Fishlegs.” Hiccup sighs. 

“Not trying to interrupt.” Leyla starts from where she was sitting, “But from what I've seen that sounds like a Shellfire.” 

“Yes, Leyla, we know the name of their plan.” Snotlout starts, “We need to know the dragon.” 

“The dragon's name is Shellfire,” Leyla tells the man, “Stupid.” 

“Hey!” Snotlout yells. 

Dagur sighs, looking towards the twins who were sitting on one of the benches. He would usually talk to Leyla when she was rude or a little too sassy but he couldn’t. They’d lost their home as well, and Leyla was acting out in anger 

Hiccup turning to Heather and Dagur, Dagur had his arm around his younger sister's shoulders

“Dagur, Heather, I’m sorry about Berserker Island. We all are.” Hiccup tells them. 

“At least we managed to save most of our people.” Heather responds, “But to rebuild”

“I’ve been trying really hard to manage my anger, Hiccup. But Viggo? He gots to go.” Dagur tells his adopted brother. 

“Hey, that’s my line.” Snotlout yells

“Sorry, Snot-hat.” Dagur says to the younger one. 

Dagur comment got a laugh out of the shorter dragon rider dragon, 

“What are you looking at?” Snotlout asks, turning to his dragon who laughed again, “No laughing.”

“Not a chance.” Hookfang tells his rider

“So, what’s our next move?” Astrid asks Hiccup. 

“I don’t know. The only thing I do know is we’ve got to find Viggo soon or Ryker and the Dragon Eye could be gone for good.” Hiccup tells the room. 

“Good luck with that. What do you think Viggo’s going to do? Walk in here and turn himself in?” Snotlout joking asks. 

“Not helping, Snotlout.” Fishlegs tell him. 

“Does he ever help?” Leyla mutters. 

“Okay!” Snotlout yells towards the girl. 

“Maybe Ryker will give us more time?” Astrid asks, interrupting her friend.

“I highly doubt that.” Hiccup sighs, “I need to clear my head.”

“I’ll hold things together while you're gone. Take your time. We’ll be fine.” Astrid tells her lover.

Hiccup leaves the room, so Snotlout turns back to the girl sitting on the bench, “What did I do to you?” Snotlout asks. 

“Your voice is annoying.” Leyla responds. 

“Leyla!” Dagur yells. 

“What it is.” Leyla mutters. 

Snotlout turns to Dagur and Heather, “She must get it from you,” Snotlout says pointing at Dagur, "like father like daughter.” 

“Snotlout how about you go for a walk.” Astrid tells him, pointing to the exit which Snotlout stomps towards. Dagur looks towards the younger girl who was looking at Snotlout as he leaves. Both of the twins looked exhausted from the events that had happened. Dak had his head resting on Leyla’s shoulder and Leyla was staring into the distance after Snotlout left. 

Astrid walks over to the older Berserker, whispering for only him to hear, “You should talk to her.” Astrid tells him. 

“Yeah, I know.” Dagur whispers back. 

“Do it now, before shit goes down.” Astrid tells the man, before walking away. 

“Leyla.” Dagur starts getting the girl's attention, “Let’s go for a walk.” 

“I thought that what Snotlout was doing?’ Leyla asks. 

'He'll be back soon, and you're not exactly cooled off.’ Astrid cuts in. 

“Fine.” Leyla sighs, standing up. 

“Ley.” Dak whines, “You were my pillow.” 

Heather laughs before sitting down next to the boy allowing him to rest his head against her. 

“Thanks, Heather.” Dak mutters. 

Dagur puts his hand in the center of the younger girls back leading her, 

“I’m sorry for being rude to Snotlout.” Leyla tells the older man.

“I know.” Dagur tells her, stopping her from walking, “Why were you doing it though?” 

“I don’t know.” Leyla sighs, turning away from the older man. 

“Leyla/” Dagur starts, turning her shoulders so she was looking at him, “Really?” 

“Fine,” Leyla sighs, “I got angry about Berserker Island, and he was making it worse.” Leyla tells Dagur. 

“He does that.” Dagur laughs, “You calmed down?” 

“Yeah.” Leyla sighs.

“Are you going to yell at Snotlout?” Dagur asks. 

“No.” Leyla answers, “Probably.”

“Great, let’s go back.” Dagur tells her. 

The two of them walk back to the club house, expecting only Snotlout to be back but are met with someone else.

---

Viggo was pacing back and forth in the club house, Hiccup and Astrid watching him. The two red heads walk in and look around at everyone. Leyla walked over to sit next to Heather and Dak, Dak fast asleep on the women's shoulder.  “I don't trust the guy.” Astrid tells the others in the room. 

“You know he'd actually be pretty fun to hang with, I mean if he weren't trying to kill us all the time.” Tuffnut tells them. 

Leyla was going to say something, but Heather put her hand over the younger girl's mouth. 

“No.” Heather whispers to the girl. 

“You gotta love the way he talks.” Ruffnut starts, imitating Viggo, “Hiccup, I'm afraid our time together has come to an end. I must now kill you if you have no objections.”

“Like he's not gonna have objections. And then I'll go.” Tuffnut laughs, imitating Viggo as well, “All of your Dragon Riders must also go. With my sincerest apologies.” 

Leyla looks over to Heather, who just attempted to shrug her shoulders but was stopped by Dak sleeping figure.  

“I'm with Astrid. This is all just one big game to him, Hiccup.” Fishlegs, tells Hiccup with the two dragons around him. Meatlug and the Eruptodon near him. 

“Ryker is coming to try to wipe us all out along with his brother. Are we really gonna take any chances with Viggo here?” Astrid asks. 

“You guys are right, I've got this.” Hiccup tells them, before grabbing Viggo leading him to the dragon stables which were used as a makeshift cell. Hiccup shoved the older man into the cell, closing it behind him 

“Hiccup, you must reconsider.” Viggo tells the teen. 

“I'm sorry Viggo, there's just too much bad blood for us to trust that you'll do anything but try to, well you know.” Hiccup responds.

“And the Dragon Eye's return, it did nothing to assuage your concerns?” Viggo asks. 

Astrid scoffs at the man's question, “Not enough.” 

“Ryker will attack this island with my Shellfire dragon. I'm afraid he won't stop until all of you are, well, you know.” Viggo tells them. 

“That's encouraging, as always, Viggo.” Hiccup tells the older man. 

“You see that's just it!” Viggo yells, "I could be of considerable assistance in helping you defend your home if you would allow me.”

“We'll take that under advisement.” Astrid responds. 

The younger set of twins walk in, getting the attention of the teens. “I’m sorry, but how do you guys handle them all the time?” Leyla asks. 

“Snotlout or the twins?” Astrid asks. 

“Both.” Leyla tells her. 

“I have no clue kid.” Astrid laughs. 

The older set of twins run into the stables,” they're here, well I mean not here exactly but very soon, soon they will be here. I'm thinking we might need to start getting ready.” Tuffnut yells at the people. 

Hiccup turns to the girl twin, “Translation, Ruff?”

“Dragon Hunters. Multiple ships headed this way” Ruffnut translates. 

“We didn't wanna bum you out you know what with all the,” Tuffnut drops his voice down into a whisper, “deadly disease and everything.”

“But we figured is it really our place to deny you the right, to die during battle instead.” Ruffnut tells the teens. 

“What in the name of Thor are you two talking about?” Astrid asks. 

“They're both in denial.” Ruffnut tells her brother. 

“I don’t think they are.” Leyla tells them. 

“Classic stage one.” Tuffnut tells his twin, ignoring the girl. 

“No, not really.” Leyla tells them. 

“Sad seeing them so vulnerable.” Ruffnut tells her twin

“Are you even listening?” Leyla asks, Dak laughing next to her. 

“Just make sure he doesn't try to escape.” Hiccup tells the older set of twins Leyla and Dak run out to find Heather, Dagur, and their dragons. 

All of the dragon riders met in the club house, Hiccup was in the middle of them explaining his plan.  

“Alright gang, we have until dawn, they'll be in range by then.” Hiccup tells them. 

“Hiccup I have a thought,” Snotlout starts, “and I'll follow me on this, okay come along for the ride, I don't know about you guys, but I'm not completely attached to this place alright, let it burn to the ground. I mean it's been fun, great views, but is it worth dying over, that's what you have to ask yourself. Alright, let's take a vote. Anyone.” Snotlout asks, raising his hand. 

“Snotlout, if we don't stop them here, where do you think they're going to go next?” Hiccup asks, 

“Uhhh.....” Snotlout thinks. 

“Berk!” Hiccup yells. 

“Berk, Berk, Berk.” Snotlout responds repeating the word slowly getting quieter 

“How’d you do not know that?” Leyla asks. 

“Shut up.” Snotlout tells the girl. 

“They're going to go to Berk, our Berk. We have to make our stand here and do whatever it takes to stop them.” Hiccup tells the group, Dagur, can you, Dak, and Sleuther cover the back side of the edge. Dagur with the time you've spent sneaking around, you'll have an advantage.”

“On our way, and uh, I take that as a compliment by the way, you know the sneaking around part.” Dagur tells his brother with Dak walking next to him. 

“Of course you do. Snotlout, you and Hookfang, get the Gronckle Iron walls on the huts. Fishlegs, take the Eruptodon hatchling to the center of the island, and find a safe place to hide.”

“Wait, he gets to hide!?” Snotlout asks, "Well, we can all hide just well.”

The older twins walk in the room 

“Hey! There's no crying in Maces and Talons.” Tuffnut tells Hiccup,  “What do you think? Our catchphrase, we already got the Viggo stamp of approval.” 

Leyla turns to Hiccup, “Can I go with Fishlegs, please?” 

“No sorry, Ruff, Tuff, Leyla, and Heather, you take on the first wave of ships.”

“Don't worry your pretty little head, we're on it.” Ruffnut tells Hiccup walking away with the other people on her team. 

“I'm not worried.” Astrid responds. 

Ruffnut turns around walking backwards, “Talking to Hiccup. You'll have it before you can say Ultimate Destruction, my friend!”

Tuffnut turns around, seeing Astrid and Hiccup not moving. 

“Uh, are you guys coming?” Tuffnut asks 

“Um, I think they need to discuss some final strategy, alone.” Heather tells them, turning around. The older set of twins were walking ahead with Snotlout. 

Heather and Leyla walking somewhat close behind them, “Do they not have brains?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah, probably not.” Heather tells her. 

“Are Astrid and Hiccup together?” Leyla asks. 

“I’m pretty positive about it.” Heather tells her. 

“I knew it.” Leyla mutters, getting a laugh out of Heather.

---

Ryker was standing on the Shellfire, which was surrounded by other ships. “Remember, I don't want prisoners. I want bodies.” Ryker tells the hunters. 

“Ready?” The hunters, grabbed their hammers, banging them on the Shellfire’s side. 

The dragon fires at the island, stopping the dragon riders from preparing. 

“Incoming!” Snotlout yells. 

“Everyone to their huts. We have to wait out the initial attack.” Hiccup tells the other. 

The dragon riders ran to their huts, Leyla and Heather going into Astrids. 

“I hope the others are okay.” Astrid tells the others. 

“Astrid, I'm sure Hiccup is safe.” Heather responds. 

“Heather, you’re going to just let Leyla know?” Astrid asks, pointing at the younger girl. 

“No, she figured it out.” Heather tells her friend. 

“It was obvious.” Leyla tells her.  

“Really?” Astrid asks. 

“Yes.” Leyla tells the women. 

---

The dragon riders met back up in the club house after the brunt of the attack was over, 

“Okay, I'm not sure about you, but there's no way I'm sitting through that again.” Snotlout yells, “We have dragons, we should be out there sinking their ships.”

“The fire isn't coming from the ships; it's coming from the Shellfire.” Hiccup tells his cousin. 

Viggo enters the room getting the group's attention, “I hate to be the one to say I told you so but-” Viggo starts. 

“How did you get out!?” Hiccup asks the man. 

“My friend Snotlout was good enough to allow me to use the facilities.” Viggo responds, putting his arm around the teen's shoulders. 

“Oh, he did, did he?” Hiccup asks. 

“What? He scares me. And besides when you got to go, you got to go, and who knows that better than me?” Snotlout explains. 

Leyla turns to Heather, “I’m really trying to be nice.” 

“I can see.” Heather laughs. 

“Hiccup, you must allow me to assist you for the sake of us all. The Shellfire range is over a mile, Ryker is using ships, my ships to be exact, to protect it.” Viggo tells them. 

“Then we need to get past the ships.” Astrid tells the room. 

“We better do it quickly.” Turning to the group who was in charge of taking out the ships, “you're up.” Hiccup tells them 

“We're on it.” Ruffnut tells him, the group of them walking out. 

“Hey! What about me?” Snotlout asks. 

“Just look after your new best friend there.” Hiccup responds, gesturing to the older man. 

“Where's the fun in that!?” Snotlout asks. 

“It's not supposed to be fun.” Hiccup tells him walking out, turning around before leaving,” And I don't care how scary he is, do not let him out of your sight again.”  

Hiccup and the others started attacking the ships. “We need to slow them down a little and move on. If they fire on us, we fire back.” Hiccup explains, "Look out!”

“Hiccup!” Astrid yells, seeing the Shellfire, 

“Shellfire. I know. Let's go!” Hiccup tells them, “Uh, are you guys seeing this?” Hiccup asks after seeing the hunters slam hammers into the dragon’s sides. 

“Unfortunately.” Astrid responds.

“Of course it wouldn't fire at us on its own.” Hiccup explains. 

“And we can't take them out without endangering the dragon.” Heather adds. 

“I'm sure that was their plan.” Astrid sighs. 

“Why are we worried?” Tuffnut asks, “We can just have Leyla talk to the dragon, and calm it down” 

“What!” Leyla yells, looking at teens whose idea it was. 

“And what happens if she gets killed?” Heather asks. 

“It would be a monetary loss.” Tuffnut responds. 

“No, that’s a bad idea.” Hiccup tells him. 

“Yeah, we can’t do that.” Ruffnut yells, “Dagur would kill us.” 

“Oh yeah.” Tuffnut sighs, “Dang it, I thought we could make use of Leyla and her abilities.” 

“I’ve helped way more than you have!” Leyla yells at the teen, “All you’ve done is make catchphrases.” 

“Okay, okay.” Hiccup sighs, “Let’s do this.” 

The dragon riders, fly over the ships getting the attention of the hunters

“Dragon riders off the starboard bow!”

“Split up.” Hiccup yells to them diving out of the way of arrows. 

“I got him.” 

Leyla and Summer dive into the water, steering the ships to crash into each other. Leyla and Summer flew out of the water meeting with the other dragon riders. 

“They're running scared!” Ryker yells. 

“Let's regroup. There's no way to control it without hurting it.” Hiccup tells them.

“We could do my plan.” Tuffnut yells. 

“No!” Heather yells back. 

“We might not have a choice.” Astrid sighs. 

“To sacrifice Leyla?” Tuffnut asks, excitedly.

“No to hurt the Shellfire!” Astrid yells. 

“No. There's gotta be another way.” Hiccup responds, turning towards the edge to see Snotlout flying towards them, “Whoa! Aren't you supposed to be watching Viggo?! Is that the stables on fire?”

“You said don't let him out no matter what.” Snotlout responds. 

“Snotlout, use your brain!” Hiccup yells. 

“It’s still up for debate if he has one.” Leyla yells 

“Good Thor, you're so mercurial. Viggo taught me that. I don't know what it means.” Snotlout yells to them, “It's the gambling losses. This isn't really him.” 

“Go. We'll be fine.” Astrid tells Hiccup who flies to get Viggo 

---

Dagur, Dak and their dragons were flying through the woods on the back of the edge, when Dagur was hunters surrounding a gronkle. “Okay, Dak!” Dagur yells, towards him, “time for a lesson on bullying.” The two dragon riders fly over the hunters. Their dragons firing blasts at them, the two of them land, taking out more of the hunters. Then surrounded by more, “Lesion, going to have to wait. Let's bury them instead!” 

“Go free, Mr. Gronkle!” Dak yells towards the dragon. 

“Find refuge in the forest!” Winger adds. 

Winger and Dak fly up firing on the ship that was attacking, the two of them turn around to face Dagur and Sluether who were both still, taking out hunters on the beach. The ship behind them attempted to fire a boulder but was stopped but the ship shook and knocked the hunters into the water. Dak and Winger fly over to see two dragon surfaces. 

“Dak is that you?” Gill asks. 

“Gill, Fathom!” Dak yells, towards the divewings, “What are you doing here?” 

“We were migrating and saw the commotion, wanted to help.” Fathom explains. 

Dagur and Sluether fly to the other dragons, “Friends of yours?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah,” Dak responds, “This is Gill and Fathom, they're dive wings.” 

“Cool.” Dagur smiles. 

“You guys better get out of here.” Dak tells them, “More dragon hunters are coming.” 

“Okay.” Gill tells the boy, “Tell the other we say hello.” 

“Yeah, I will.” Dak responds, the dive wings fly away leaving only the two dragon riders and their dragons. 

“How many dragons do you know?” Dagur asks. 

“A lot.’ Dak responds, flying down to attack the dragon hunters. 

---

Leyla and Heather were flying over the ships attacking the island, Snotlout and the twins were not far behind them. Snotlout and twins land on nearby ships taking down the hunters on them. Barf and Belch blow up the ship they were on before flying away. Heather and Windshear were taking down more off the ships stopping when they saw the Shellfire fire again. 

“Come on!” Heather yells. 

The other dragon riders fly behind her towards where the Shellfire would be. 

“I don’t see anything.” Snotlout tells the group, before the Shellfire fires again, “Scratch that!”

“More dragon riders.” Ryker tells his crew, “Take them down!”

The hunters start firing arrows, harpoons, and nets at the group of the dragon riders. The older twins were flying towards one of the ships but were knocked off their dragon by are harpoon flying towards them. Snotlout looks over at the twins who were now in the water before turning back to the hunters firing at them. Hookfang avoid the arrows, but had to dive when he couldn’t find a way out. Snotlout and Hookfang underwater face the Shellfire, Snotlout screams before the two of them swim back up. 

Hookfang’s head was only out of the water, allowing his riders to see what was happening. 

Heather flew by them, jumping off her dragon when there was a Harpoon aimed at her. Heather surfaces grabbing onto a piece of wood. Leyla and Summer fly by them, avoiding the weapons fired at them, but from behind hunters were readying to fire a net at the girl and the dragon. The net was fired only hitting the rider knocking her off of the fast fin. Leyla was dragged down by the net into the ocean, Summer was close behind her rider helping Leyla get out of the net that knocked her down. The two of them resurface to see the others looking at the dragon. 

“Time to finish them off!” Ryker yells, “Do it!” 

The hunters slam hammers on the dragon's sides, “Oh boy.” Snotlout yells, “This is going to hurt!” 

“And there’s no cover out here!” Heather yells, the dragon readies a blast towards the dragon riders and their dragons who were in the water. But was stopped by another dragon, The Submaripper hits the Shellfire in the stomach taking the dragon under the water. 

“What was that!” Tuffnut yells. 

“That my friend was a submaripper.” Ruffnut responds. 

“Where did that come from?” Snotlout asks, “And why is it helping us.” 

Astrid and Hiccup fly over the dragon riders in the water to watch the dragons. 

“They’re alive!” Heather yells. 

“Thank, Thor.” Leyla adds. \

“For the last time, they’re not dying it gambling!” Snotlout yells. 

“So the dagger was to stir up the water and cause the Submaripper to surface?” Hiccup asks the man behind him. 

“Precisely.” Viggo responds. 

“But, how could you know it would react like this?” Hiccup asks. 

“Hiccup, the Submaripper is the natural and hated enemy of the Shellfire. A little fact I kept in my tunic for a day like this.” Viggo explains. 

“The Dragon Eye!” Hiccup yells. 

“Precisely.” Viggo responds. 

Hiccup turns to the other riders who were out of the water, “The Shellfire is tied up with Submaripper. This may be our best chance to take out the rest of the ships.” The dragon riders spilt up going to attack the other ships. 

“Don't you dare leave this ship! You stay and fight like Hunters! Come back here! Do you hear me?” Ryker yells at them. The Shellfire fires at a ship that Toothless was on, the night fury flying out of the way before being hit.  

“Okay. That was way too close. Viggo, I need to drop you on the beach. You're slowing us down.” Hiccup tells the man. 

“Pity. I was going to enjoy watching Ryker go down with the ship.” Viggo says, Hiccup dropped the older man down on the beach of the edge, “We may be adversaries, Hiccup, but my respect for you is beyond what I could possibly put into words.” 

Dagur and Dak who were still in the back of the edge were now surrounded by dragon hunters, “Berserkers last stand!” Dagur yells, Dak and Winger fired at one of the dragon Hiccup and Toothless helping as well. Hiccup lands in front of the two red-heads. “Whoa! Brother!”\

“That's the last of 'em.” Hiccup tells the Berserkers 

“Well done, brother!” Dagur comments. 

“Get back to the Edge.” Hiccup tells them. 

“Where are you going?” Dagur asks. 

“I have a feeling Fishlegs is in trouble. Go, brother.” Hiccup tells him 

“Brother!” Dagur yells as Hiccup leaves 

---

Heather and the other dragon riders were taking out the remaining ships, “That's the last of them.” Heather yells to the rest of the group. Looking over at the Shellfire, she sees Ryker slowly getting angrier at the dragon 

“Come on. Do something!” Ryker yells impatiently. 

The Shellfire, done with Ryker and his cruel treatment, breaks free from the chains holding the ship in his back. The dragon rises making the ship with Ryker on it fall into the ocean. 

“VIGGO!” Ryker yells, before hitting the water unable to survive because of the ship on top of him. The Subrippper makes a whirlpool taking the dragon proof ship into its mouth. Killing the hunters and Ryker.

“O. M. Thor! The Submaripper. Submaripper-ama.” Tuffnut yells. 

“Hate the smell. Love the dragon.” Ruffnut adds on. 

Most of the dragon riders fly up to meet Hiccup and Astrid at the top of the volcano. Heather and Leyla on the other hand flew to the club house where Dak and Dagur were waiting. Leyla jumps off her dragon and runs into the club house with Heather close behind her. Dak hugs his twin, while Dagur and Heather start talking. 

Heather and the others talk with Hiccup and the other dragon riders before going back to Berserker Island to start rebuilding what was destroyed. 

Notes:

Giving Leyla the same anger as Dagur was needed Idk why, but I felt like it was needed and Aunt Heather cause why not.

Words 6821

Chapter 19: Gustav on Beserker island

Summary:

Gustav is now on Berserker Island
Many a bunch of time skips leading up to something rotten on Berserker Island

Notes:

Gustav is 14 years old in this because you'll see

It had been a few weeks since the Shellshock, Berserker island was still under construction but was mainly rebuilt. The only thing needing to be finished is the trading area. Dagur had woken up and walked out to start the fire, the man walked into his living room expecting no one to be there, but there was someone there. 

“Good Morning.” Dagur mutters not realizing he wasn’t one of the twins 

“Good morning.” Gustav replises. 

Dagur whips his head around to face the boy after hearing his voice, “What are you doing here?” 

“Your Berserker apprentice is ready to start!” Gustav tells him. 

“Why are you here so early?” Dagur asks. 

“Well Stoick told me  I was supposed to leave 2 days from now but I thought earlier was better.” Gustav responds. 

In this case earlier was not better, Dagur and Heather still hadn’t figured out where to put the boy, all of the rooms in the house were taken, and the idea of him and Dak sharing a room sounded like a new level of hell. 

“Okay then.” Dagur mutters. 

“Where am I staying?” Gustav asks. 

“I’ll tell you in a little.” Dagur responds, he really needed to talk to Heather. 

Dagur started the fire before sitting down in one of the other chairs, the two of them sat in silence until Heather walked down the stairs. Heather turned to face the people in the living room seeing her brother and Gustav. 

“Gustav, what are you doing here?” Heather asks. 

“He came early.” Dagur sighs. 

“To make a better impression.” Gustav adds. 

“Okay, I’ll make more breakfast than normally.” Heather sighs, walking into the kitchen. 

“Thank you.” Gustav yells. 

Dagur walked into the kitchen to meet his sister, “He’s early.” Dagur sighs. 

“I saw.” Heather responds, “How are we going to do this again?” 

“No idea.” Dagur responds, “He’ll be here for 2 months, we can handle that.” 

“We can try.” Heather sighs. 

Gustav was in the living room, looking around unaware of the Berserker siblings' conversation. He looked up when he heard someone coming down the stairs. 

“Dag!” Leyla yells. 

Gustav looks at the girl, she had red hair, the most gorgeous green eyes, she had a scar across her temple. Gustav looked at the girl with awe until she noticed. 

“Do you need something?” Leyla asks, turning to him. 

“N-no.” Gustav responds. 

“Why are you even here?” Leyla asks. 

“So I can see you.” Gustav responds. 

“Excuse me?” Leyla asks. 

“Oh, I said I wanted to be early.” Gustav corrects. 

“Okay then.” Leyla sighs walking away from the teen, towards the two others in the room. “That was weird.” Leyla mutters towards Heather. 

“Gustav attempts to flirt with every girl.” Heather tells her. 

“For how long?” Leyla sighs, falling into one of the table’s chairs. 

“I don’t know Ley.” Heather tells her, patting the girl on the back

“Oh come on.” Leyla sighs, “How are we going to handle him for two months?” 

“No idea.” Heather sighs. 

Dak runs down the stairs next, again getting the attention of Gustav. The red head doesn’t even look at the boy and runs into the kitchen. 

“What is he doing here?” Dak whispers 

“He came early.” Leyla sighs. 

“Seriously.” Dak asks. 

“Yep.” Leyla responds. 

“Where is he staying?” Dak asks.
“No idea.” Dagur tells him. 

“This is going to be the longest two months of my life.” Dak complains. 

“You guys are being dramatic.” Dagur tells them looking up at the boy in the living room, who was now messing with the fire. 

“Really Dag?” Leyla asks, turning to the man. 

“Yeah, what’s the worst he can do?” 

---

 

The next week, Gustav turns out to be a shit load of trouble. With the fake apprenticeship Dagur had to spend a bunch of time with him. Gustav kept telling Dagur a bunch of nonsense ideas to help the island, and usually without permission saw them completely through. Such as theWal-market, Gustav had the idea of the market but instead starting to rebuild he made wooden cut outs just to show his vision. 

Dagur and Gustav were walking through the town, Gustav was rambling about one of his newest ideas, The two of them passed by a training area which had both of the twins and Heather. The three of them were all training with their weapons, Heather had her hinged metal weapon, Leyla had a two sided ax, while Dak had knives. 

Dagur would’ve usually stopped to help the twins with anything they needed but with Gustav with him it wasn’t as easy, because first Gustav got weird around Leyla, second Gustav had been annoying the twins for the past week, and third he would want to join. 

“Okay what do you think?” Gustav asks, pulling the man out of his thoughts. 

“What?” Dagur asks. 

“My plan for the town.” Gustav corrects. 

“Oh, it was great.” Dagur responds. 

“So we can do it?” Gustav asks. 

“We can look into it.” Dagur responds. 

“Great, I’ll start telling everyone.” Gustav tells him. 

“How about for now you study Berserker history more.” Dagur suggests Gustav studying the island’s history was Leyla's idea, she said “he may as well attempt to learn something.”

Gustav nods running off, Dagur turns around walking back towards the training area where the rest of his family was. 

“Hey Dag!” Dak yells at the man when he walks in. 

“Hi.’ Dagur responds, grabbing one of his axes from the other weapons. 

Dagur walks up to his daughter watching her practice, Leyla was practicing throwing her ax, and she was getting pretty good at it. Both of the twins had been spending more time in the training area so they didn’t have to listen to Gustav and his rants. 

Leyla threw the ax at the target in front of her again, this time hitting near the middle. 

“Nice job Leyla.” Dagur compliments.

“Thanks Dag.” Leyla responds, grabbing her ax from the target. 

“We haven’t seen you in forever.” Dak sighs.

“I know, Gustav is a lot.” Dagur responds. 

“We know.” Heather tells her brother 

“We only have 7 more weeks with him.” Dagur tells them trying to see the bright side. 

“That’s still two months.” Dak complains.

---

 

The second week, Leyla was at the kitchen table working in her dragon diary. Dagur and Dak went fishing so only her, Heather, and Gustav were there. Heather was working on her ax, in the living room and Gustav was nowhere to be seen 

The two girls were sitting in silence working on their own tasks when Gustav burst through the door, 

“Dagur I have the-.” Gustav yells, “Where’s Dagur?”

“Dag went fishing with Dak.” Leyla responds, not looking at the boy. 

“Oh, want to hear my idea?” Gustav asks. 

"Not really I’m doing something.” Leyla responds. 

“Okay, so my idea is to plant a bush in the middle of the square-.” Gustav starts. 

“Why did you even ask if I wanted to hear?” Leyla asks herself, closing her dragon diary. 

“And when it’s done we can shape it into a Skrill so we can still have some part of Berserker history in the town.” 

“And the stone relic in the middle of the square isn’t history?” Heather asks. 

“This is cooler than that relic.” Gustav responds. 

“Not really.” Leyla mutters. 

“Have you told Dagur this idea?” Heather asks.

“No but he’s going to love it!” Gustav yells, running out of the house. 

“Is he serious?” Leyla asks Heather. 

“He sounds serious.” Heather responds. 

“I’m starting to think he just does his ideas without any permission.” Leyla mutters. 

“That is exactly what he’s doing.” Heather responds, “Have you seen the square?” 

“With all the wooden cut out houses?” Leyla asks. 

“Yep.” Heather responds, “Dagur was so confused when he saw it.”

“To be fair Dag is usually confused.” Leyla teases. 

“Really?” Heather laughs. 

“Yeah.” Leyla laughs with her. 

---

 

Gustav and Dak were doing chores for Dagur who was still working. The two of them were tasked to chop up firewood which Dak was having a lot of fun with. 

“So,” Gustav starts, “How is Dagur being your dad like?” 

“He’s not my dad.” Dak answers 

“Yeah, and the sky isn’t blue.” Gustav responds. 

“Really?” Dak asks. 

“Yeah.” Gustav responds, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dagur so parental, he hates nicknames but you and Leyla are allowed to call him Dag.” 

“He doesn’t care.” Dak responds, cutting another piece of wood. 

“He cares when anyone else does it.” Gustav tells the boy. 

“Heather and Hiccup calls him names.” Dak argues. 

“Yeah, because Dagur see them as family.” Gustav rebuttals, “Like how he see you and Leyla.” 

“Fine,” Dak sighs, “He’s sorta out dad.” 

“Gald to see your not in denial anymore,” Gustav laughs, “On another note, is Leyla-” 

“Nope.” Dak cuts him off. 

“You didn’t even know what I was going to ask!” Gustav yells. 

“You were going to ask something about Leyla liking you.” Dak responds, “And she doesn’t.” 

“How can I make her like me?” Gustav asks. 

“I don’t think anything can make her like you.’ Dak mutters. 

“What was that?” Gustav asks. 

“Nothing.” Dak responds, “I don’t know how to make her like you.”  

“Aw man.” Gustav mutters. 

Dak quietly laughs as the two of them continue cutting wood. 

---

 

Dagur was working on trading agreements when both of the twins burst through his door, Dagur looks up to see Dak slamming the door behind him. 

“Dagur send that rat back home.” Leyla demands, “I can take this anymore.”

“Rat! Leyla!” Dak laughs. 

“I can call him if I've been the one he's been attempting to flirt with.” Leyla yells. 

“Oh!” Dak yells

“Stoick wanted a break from him.” Dagur responds by cutting into the twins' conversation. 

“Well he's got enough of a break.” Leyla responds, “I need a break.” 

“We.” Dak corrects 

“Yeah we need a break.” Leyla tells the man. 

“He’s been here for a month and a half. We can handle a few more weeks.” Dagur tells them. 

“You can I can’t!” Leyla yells, 

“Send him back to Berk please.” Dak begs. 

“Fine, I’ll terror mail Stoick that you two are dying and want Gustav sent home.” Dagur sighs. 

“Good.’ Dak responds. 

“He’ll agree with us.” Leyla adds. 

Dagur writes the terror mail, sending it the other chief, “Where even is Gustav?”
“Doing one of his ideas.” Dak responds. 

“Do I even want to know which one?” Dagur asks. 

“Prolly not.” Leyla laughs.
“Where is he?” Dagur asks. 

“He’s in the square.” Dak tells the man. 

Dagur sighs, getting up and walking towards the square. 

“You think Stoick will take him back?” Dak asks his twin. 

“He better.” Leyla responds.

Notes:

Aggro was going to be introduced in this chapter but then I had a plan for angst so next chapter be prepared

Chapter 20: Aggro's entrance

Summary:

Aggro arrives

(TW this chapter includes blood, swearing, and branding)

Notes:

This chapter took me way too long to write but it might be my favorite so far

The sixth week with Gustav, he still hadn’t changed. He still keeps telling everyone his ideas without warning. Dak and Gustav were working with Dagur in the town square. 

“How much longer are we going to do this?” Dak asks the older redhead, 

“We’re almost done, you dork.” Dagur responds. 

“Thank thor.” Dak sighs. 

“I personally think that this was a great experience.” Gustav tells Dagur. 

“Really.” Dak asks, turning to the boy. 

“Yes.” Gustav smiles. 

“No it wasn’t.” Dak responds rolling his eyes as walking away. Dak walks away towards Dagur who was attempting not to laugh at them. “I’m going to go see what Ley’s doing and see if she wants to go for a flight, if we’re done.”

“Okay, Dak.” Dagur sighs, “be home before sunset.” 

“I know.” Dak responds, running away. 

Dak runs to where he thinks Leyla would be, which is the training area, Dak runs in seeing Leyla practice throwing her ax again, “Ley!” Dak yells. 

Leyla turns to look at her twin, “Hey Dak, Gustav isn’t with you right?” 

“Nope.” Dak responds, “Wanna go for a flight or something.” 

“Yes.” Leyla responds, Dak ran towards the weapons bin grabbing his knives from it. 

“Just in case.” Dak tells his twin, who still had her ax, both of the twins leave the arena running towards the stables. 

The two twins ran up into the dragon stables, opening the doors the dragons looked up to see them. 

“Hi.” Sluether tells them, “Dagur isn’t with you?” 

“He’s with Gustav still.” Dak tells the dragon. 

“Oh poor him.” Sluether laughs. 

“Hey Gustav is fine!” Fanghook yells at them. 

“We never said he wasn’t.” Summer tells the dragon, “Anyways what are you two even doing up here?” 

“We wanted to go for a flight.” Dak tells her. 

“Sounds good to me.” Winger tells them. 

“Okay, how about you two?” Leyla asks turning to Burple and Cutter. 

“Yes!” Burple yells. 

“I don’t know.” Cutter tells them. 

“You’re coming.” Leyla cuts in. 

“Fine, let’s go.” Cutter tells her. 

The group of them leave the island flying south, “Where are we going?” Burple asks. 

“We could go see grumpy pants.” Dak suggests, “We haven’t been there in forever.” 

“He’s so old he might not remember us.” Cutter jokes. 

“Want to say that to his face?” Leyla asks the dragon. 

“No!” Cutter yells, “It was just a theory.” 

“A stupid one.” Summer mutters. 

“Hey!” Cutter yells. 

“What if GrumbleGaurd blows us off his island again?” Dak asks. 

“He blew you off the island.” Leyla responds, “not me,I’m his favorite.” 

“No you're not!” Dak yells. 

“No Ley is definitely his favorite.” Winger tells his rider. 

“No one asked you.” Dak mumbles

The group of them fly over islands until one looks different, they’re was a warning fire most likely caused by a dragon in the center of the island.
“Guys!” Winger yells, getting the group's attention, “I think we should check that out.”

“Yep.” Leyla responds, the 6 of them fly towards the island at the center of the fires. There was a small red dragon in the middle of it, nothing else was around her except the fires 

 Leyla and Summer dived towards the fires, Summer blasting them with water as they went down. Leyla jumped off her dragon, walking towards the red one. 

“Hey there.” Leyla tells the dragon, which turned to face the girl. 

“Stay away!” Aggro yells. 

“Hey it’s okay.” Dak tells her standing beside his sister, “We’re here to help.” 

“Wait.” Aggro starts, “Did you just answer me?” 

“Yep.” Dak smiles. 

“How?” Aggro asks.

“Raised by a dragon.” Leyla tells her. 

“What are you doing anyways?” Dak asks. 

“Scaring off the hunters.” Aggro responds, firing more blasts. 

“Hunters?” Dak asks. 

“Would you look at that?” The dragon riders turn towards the voice seeing a group of dragon hunters, “It the little Berserkers.” 

“I don’t like that nickname.” Dak yells. 

“That’s all you're focusing on?” Leyla asks. 

“Yes!” Dak yells, “Imagine a battle where we get called the little berserkers.” 

“He’s got a point.” Cutter laughs, “Not very intimidating.” 

“Oh shut up Cutter.” Leyla tells the dragon. 

“Oh so it is true.” The hunter laughs, “You can understand them.” 

“Objection,” Dak starts, “Nuh uh.”

“The fuck you mean, nuh uh?” The hunter asks. 

“I mean, you're delusional.” Dak tells the man, “Talking to a dragon is impossible.” 

“I just watched you!” 

“I think you’re imagining things.” Leyla tells the man, “Anyways, who are you even working for isn’t Viggo like dead?” 

“Oh a new person his nam-.” The hunter starts by being stopped by another hunter slapping his hand over his mouth. 

“Shut up! You tell them anything then the dragon riders will know.” 

“Oh yeah.” The hunter replies, turning back to the dragon riders, “You thought you were being smart.” 

“No, I just thought you were dumb.” Leyla tells him. 

“Get the kids,” The main hunter tells the rest, “we’ll put them in their place.” 

“Hell no.” Dak tells the hunters, both of the twins jump onto their dragons, the 5 dragons attempt to fly over the dragon hunters. 

“Dag is going to kill us!” Dak yells towards his twin. 

“I know.” Leyla sighs, “But we need to get away from these hunters first.” 

“Told you.” Aggro tells them. 

“No need for being a smart mouth.” Leyla mutters. 

“I’ve been told it helps.” Aggro laughs. 

“You can do it when we get out of this alive.” Dak yells. 

“So Dagur can kill you later.” Cutter laughs. 

“Shut up, Cutter!” Both the twins yell at the dragon. 

“We need to get help!” Burple yells. 

“Help from who? We can’t signal Dagur from here he won’t see it.” Leyla tells the dragon. 

“Oh.” Burple replies, “What if one of us flies and-.” 

“Can’t understand us.” Summer cuts in. 

“Oh what if-” The rockspitter is cut off by something wrapping around his tail pulling him down, “Something's Got me!” 

Dak and Winger turn around to blast the chain, but the chain remains intact. “Dragon proof really!” 

“Yep!” The hunter laughs having his men pull the dragon down. 

“Totally told you!” Aggro yells. 

“Not the time!” Leyla responds, flying down to attack the hunters. With Aggro following close behind her, “Can you fire at the hunters?” 

“Yep!” Aggro yells splitting up from the dragon rider. 

Dak and Winger dive down as well, firing blasts at the hunters which were attempting to shoot more arrows at the group of them. 

“Ley!” Dak yells, “What’s the plan!” 

“I haven’t thought of one yet!” Leyla yells back. 

“You’re supposed to be the smart one!” Cutter yells at her. 

“I’ve been told.” Leyla responds, “Dak you and Winger are the fastest, fly to Berserker island and tell Dag what’s happening.” 

“No way!” Dak yells, “I’m not leaving you guys.” 

“Neither of us are.” Winger adds on. 

“Seriously?” Leyla asks. 

“Yep.” Dak responds, “So make a new plan.” 

“Okay,” Leyla sighs, not being able to make her plan before both her and Summer are shot down. Dak grabs his twin's hand before she hits the forest floor, Cutter flies under her allowing Leyla to jump onto the hybrids back. Dak and Winger fly to fire at the hunters who were now attempting to put a net over the fast fin, Summer had been shot with dragon root so she wasn’t fighting very well. Cutter and Leyla fly over summer cutting the ropes that were holding her down. Leyla jumps off Cutter grabbing her ax from Summer’s saddle, Dak jumps off Winger who lands beside him.

“What now?” Dak asks, his twin. 

“No idea.” Leyla responds. 

“They’re defenseless.” One of the hunters laughs. 

“I wouldn’t say defenseless.” Dak responds, throwing one of his knives at the hunter. Which hits him in the shoulder, Dak runs over to the man ripping his knife out. 

“You little shit.” The hunter tells him, gripping his injured shoulder. 

While Dak and Winger were dealing with the hunters on one side, Leyla and Cutter were dealing with them on the other. Leyla threw her ax at one of the hunters near her, hitting the man in the arm and Cutter was firing spikes at the hunters nearing them. Aggro and Burple were providing air support while the twins fought, Burple dived down collecting rocks before throwing them back at the hunters. 

“We can’t do this guys!” Burple yells. 

“Yes we can!” Winger tells the purple dragon. 

“They’re just measly hunters.” Aggro adds, “This’ll be easy.” 

“It would be easier if we had a plan!” Cutter yells. 

“I’m working on it!” Leyla yells hitting another hunter with her ax. 

“We’re way above our abilities here.” Summer tells them she was attempting to stand even with the dragon root. 

“We can do this!” Dak tells them, 

“Can you?” One of the hunters laughs. 

“No one asked you!” Leyla yells. 

The hunters started closing in on the twins and the dragons, both of the twins were still attacking the hunters with their weapons. Leyla threw her ax at one of the hunters expecting to hit him somewhere in the shoulder but another hunter used his own weapon to block the ax. Leyla’s ax was now in the hand of one of the hunters, who was holding it in victory. 

“Shit.” Leyla mutters. 

“What now?” Aggro asks the girl. 

“No idea.” Leyla sighs. 

“Giving up.” One of the hunters laughs. 

“Not yet.” Leyla mutters, turning to Winger, “Go to the docks now!” 

Winger looks at his rider who shakes his head, so Winger took off from the island alone. 

“That was all you got?” One of the hunters laughs. 

“Get the dragons.” The main hunter laughs, nets were thrown over the dragons and Dak and Leyla were grabbed by other hunters. Leyla and Dak were brought to the hunters camp, which was in the middle of the island both of them had their hands tied behind their backs. 

“What now?” Dak asks. 

“Hope Winger got to the docks.” Leyla responds. 

---

Dagur and Heather were outside, Dagur was pacing around looking at the time. 

“They should’ve been back by now.” Dagur tells his sister. 

“They’re fine, brother.” Heather responds. 

“And how do you know that?” Dagur asks. 

“Because they’re berserkers.” Heather tells her brother, “And a little too much like you.” 

“You make that sound like a bad thing.” Dagur laughs. 

“It’s not.” Heather responds, looking at her brother's face who looked confused, “Okay a little bit, but they can handle themselves, they'll be home soon.” 

“Okay.” Dagur chuckles, “Anyways, where is Gustav?” 

“Attempting to learn berserker fighting techniques.” Heather responds. 

“How do you know that?” Dagur asks. 

“I saw him in the arena.” Heather responds.

“Oh,” Dagur responds,“That arena is definitely getting used more now.” 

“Mainly because neither of the twins want to be around Gustav.” Heather tells her brother. 

“Good point.” Dagur laughs. 

“Chief!” One of the dock workers yells, Heather and Dagur turn to the man. 

“What’s wrong, Anders?” Heather asks. 

“One of the dragons is at the docks?” Anders responds. 

“Which one?” Heather asks. 

“The blue one.” Anders responds, “I think his name is Winger.” 

“Show us where he is.” Dagur tells the man. 

---

 

Dak and Leyla were sitting in the middle of the hunters camp, their dragons were in cages on the other side of the camp. 

“This sucks.” Dak mutters, 

“Yep.” Leyla agrees. 

“We’re going to be grounded for life.” Dak sighs. 

“Oh most definitely.” Leyla tells her twin. 

“Hey kids.” The main hunter tells them. 

“Go away.” Leyla responds. 

“Excuse me?” The hunters asks. 

“I told you to go away.” Leyla says again. 

“Leyla stop.” Dak whispered towards her.

“Why are you still here?” Leyla asks the hunter who was still standing in front of them. 

“Okay,” The hunter laughs, before waving more hunters over. “I knew this was going to happened to one of you guys.” 

“What?” Dak asks. 

“Well you two are seen as the children of Dagur the Deranged, who was a dragon hunter so why not show what you're a part of.” The hunter explains. 

“We aren’t dragon hunters.” Dak tells the man. 

“Oh I know, so we’re going to do something else to show you guy’s heritage.” The hunter tells them. 

“Do you even know what that word means?” Leyla asks. 

“And now I know who's going first.” The hunter laughs, grabbing the girl's arm. 

“Hey!” Dak yells jumping up only to be pushed back down by one of the hunters. 

“What even is your idea?” Leyla asks as she was being dragged forward by the man.

“A way to show your family is apart of the dragon hunters.” The hunter tells her. 

“You already said that.” Leyla cuts in. 

The hunter doesn’t say anything but hands the girl to another hunter before walking over to the fire, grabbing a metal rod from it. Holding it up the top of the rod was red hot, A rectangle with some spikes coming out of it was its shape, inside of the rectangle there was a dragon head, a monstrous nightmare in the middle, the middle of the dragon’s head covered by a sword. 

The hunter turns back to the girl whose shoulders were being held by a hunter, “Take your glove off.” The hunter tells the girl. 

“And why would I do that?” Leyla asks. 

“Because if you don’t.” The hunter starts pointing over to Dak who now had a hunter holding his shoulder with a knife in his other hand, “Your brother pays the price.” 

“Leyla don’t!” Dak yells. 

Leyla sighs, pulling one of her gloves off. The hunter holding the rod walked closer to her, grabbing her arm which now wasn’t covered by her glove. “Make sure she doesn’t move.” The hunter laughs, Leyla's shoulders were grabbed again, as the man connected the burning hot metal to the younger girl's skin. 

---

 

Dagur and Heather followed Anders to the docks where Winger was, the Swiftwing was standing near the docks looking around, before seeing the two older berserkers. 

“Dagur! Heather!” Winger yells. 

“Something is wrong.” Heather tells her brother, the two of them run up to the panicking dragon.

“Dak and Leyla need help!” Winger yells. 

“This would be a good time to know what the dragons say.” Dagur mutters. 

“Yep,” Heather responds, “Winger we’re going to get Windshear and Sleuther meet us near the stables.” 

“Okay.” Winger responds by taking off towards the stable. 

“Now let’s go!” Heather says to her brother, the two of them running towards the stables. Dagur slams the stable doors open, getting the attention of the other dragons. 

“Dagur what’s wrong?” Sluether asks.  

“Dak and Leyla are in trouble.” Winger tells the dragon. 

“What!” Windshear yells, “We need to help them.” 

“Let’s go then.” Winger tells them. 

Dagur and Heather climb on their dragons following Winger out of the stables, “This way!” Winger yells towards the others.  The three of them fly towards the island the hunters base was at, the group of them fly over the island firing at the hunters base. 

“I see the twins!” Heather yells. 

“Where are they?” Dagur asks. 

“Near the fire pit.” Heather responds. 

“I’ll get them while you free the other dragons.” Dagur tells her. 

“Sounds good.” Heather tells him. 

The two of them spilt up, Sluether firing on the hunters who were near the fire pit Dagur jumps off his dragon running towards the twins. 

“Hey Dag.” Dak mutters.
“What happened to just going on a flight?” Dagur asks. 

“We found a dragon in trouble.” Dak tells him. 

“We’ll talk about it later, Dak go help Heather free the dragons, Leyla help me take down the rest of camp.” Dagur tells them. 

“Okay.” Dak responds, running over to his aunt. 

Dagur looked over to his daughter, who was standing by his side. She was only wearing one of her gloves, the other one was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s your other glove?” Dagur asks. 

“I’ll tell you when we’re done.” Leyla responds. 

“Okay, let’s go.” Dagur tells her. 

Dagur and Leyla took down the hunters that were still near the fire, while Dak and Heather freed the other dragons. 

“You two okay?” Heather asks the boy after the dragons were freed.
“Define okay.” Dak mutters. 

“What do you mean?” Heather asks. 

“We’ll explain later.” Dak mutters. 

The hunter camp was taken down, all of the hunters ran away after the dragons started attacking, The four of them were sitting in the center of the town, Leyla was resting her head on Heather's shoulder as Dak was sitting beside Heather as well. 

“What happened?” Dagur asks, looking at the twins and the other dragons. 

“We saw a signal fire, went to check it out, hunters attacked, got taken, Winger was sent to get you, got branded-.”
“What was that last one?” Dagur asks. 

“Winger was sent to you.” Leyla responds. 

“The one after that.” Dagur responds. 

“Got branded.” Leyla mutters, moving her arm so the burn was more visible. 

Heather grabs the younger girl's injured arm, “Which one did it?” Heather asks.

“The leader or something.” Leyla responds. 

“Who already ran away.” Dagur mutters, 

“Dak grab the bag from Wind Shear.” Heather tells the boy who jumps up running towards it. Dak grabs the black cloth bag, before running back to his aunt. 

“Here Heather.” Dak tells her. 

Heather looks through the bag, grabbing some of the bandages from it. Heather grabbed the younger girl's arm again, wrapping the badge around it. “There we go.” Heather mutters. 

“Can we go home?” Dak asks. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Heather responds. 

“Wait.” Leyla starts, “What about Aggro?” 

“Aggro?” Heather asks. 

“The fire fury we found.” Leyla explains. 

“Well,” Aggro starts, “I was migrating with my flock but I got lost in the storm and got lost here then I saw those hunters.” 

“Where are you going now?” Dak asks. 

“I don’t know.” Aggro responds. 

“Why don’t you come with us?” Sluether asks. 

“What?” Aggro asks. 

“Come live with us.” Sluether repeats. 

“We have plenty of room.” Winger asks. 

“Fine, I’ll come with you guys.” Aggro responds. 

“Okay now let’s go home.” Leyla tells them. 

“And what about the fire fury?” Dagur asks.

“She’ll come with us, if thats okay.” Leyla responds. 

“That sounds great.” Heather tells them, “Let’s go now.”

Notes:

I'm going to drop this chapter and run hope you enjoy

Chapter 21: Something rotten on Berserker Island

Summary:

Something rotten on Berserker Island with a few more surprises

Notes:

The only reason this chapter took forever is because I really hate writing Gustav and school

Two weeks later, Dagur and the twins were setting up the ceremony for the ending of the berserker apprenticeship. Dak and Leyla were moving benches into the arena, while Dagur was working on something else.  

“I’ve never been so happy to have been woken up early.” Dak tells his twin. 

“Really?” Leyla wonders, “Why?” 

“You know why.” Dak answers, “Gustav is going back to Berk today!” 

“I’ve been counting down the days.” Leyla laughs. 

“This has been the longest 2 months of my life.” Dak complains. 

“I can’t wait to know what silence is again.” Leyla responds. 

“Yes!” Dak yells. 

“Actually maybe I never knew what it was like.” Leyla mutters. 

“Hey!” Dak yells, “But you're not wrong.” 

“I’m never wrong.” Leyla tells him. 

“Yeah, good point.” Dak laughs. 

The two twins continued helping set up but was interrupted by Heather walking in 

“Leyla!” Heather yells, walking into the arena, “Your bandage needs changed.” 

“What if we don’t change it so it gets infected and my arm falls off so I don't have to see it anymore?” Leyla asks Heather in a joking manner. 

“Leyla!” Dak yells, smacking his sister.

“No.” Heather tells her, “definitely not.” 

“Aw man.” Leyla mutters. 

“Soon you won't even notice it there.” Dak tells her, setting his hand on her shoulder

“I don’t think that will ever happen.” Leyla responds to her twin looking down at her still healing burn that Heather was rewrapping. 

“Sorry Ley.” Dak mutters. 

“It’s not your fault.” Leyla responds. 

But Dak felt like it was his fault, Leyla was his sister he was supposed to protect her and he couldn’t he had to watch as she went through pain not being able to help her. He had promised their mother that he would protect both Leyla and Winger which is funny because Winger is a dragon but anyways it was his job to protect all of his family and he couldn't. 

“When are the dragon riders getting here?” Leyla asks Heather, pulling her twin out of his thoughts. 

“They should be here around midday.” Heather responds, standing up from her spot on the bench. 

“Cool.” Dak responds, “Ley wanna go see the dragons?” 

“Yeah sure.” Leyla answers jumping up. 

“Dag where going to see the others!” Dak yells. 

“Okay,” Dagur responds. 

The twins run out of the arena going towards the dragon stables on the top of the mountain, but Leyla stops running before they reach them. “Dak!” Leyla yells. 

Dak stops running and turns around to face his twin, “Yes!” Dak yells. 

“Why have you been acting like it was your fault?” Leyla asks.

“What do you mean?” Dak asks. 

“You have been constantly apologizing for what happened with the hunters.” Leyla explains. 

“Oh,” Dak mutters. 

“You know it’s not your fault right?” Leyla asks her twin. 

“But it is my fault.” Dak responds, “It’s my job to protect you but you got hurt protecting me!” 

“Dak.” Leyla starts. 

“No,” Dak interrupts, “I should’ve protected you, I should’ve stopped it from happening but I didn’t!” 

“Dak.” Leyla starts again, “If it’s anyone's fault it’s mine, I was making him angry the entire time of course it would’ve happened and there is nothing you could’ve done to stop it, I would never blame you no one would. okay?”

Dak looks down after hearing his twins statement, Leyla walks over to him pulling the boy into a hug, 

“Okay, Ley.” Dak mutters hugging his twin back. 

“Now let’s go see the dragons before Gustav gets there.” Leyla tells her twin. 

“Let’s go!” Dak yells, running up the hill with Leyla behind him. 

The two of them enter the stables getting the dragons attention who were there, both of the twins ran over to their dragons. “Hey guys.” Winger tells them. 

“Hi.” Dak tells his dragon, “This is the best day ever.” 

“Because Gustav is leaving?” Cutter asks. 

“Exactly.” Leyla responds. 

“Just one more day with him.” Dak tells the group. 

“Hey!” Fanghook yells, “Gustav is fine.” 

“Yeah, but you’ve dealt with him for half of your life.” Sleuther responds, “So he must have broken you.” 

“He’s got a point.” Dak laughs.

“What are we talking about?” Gustav asks, walking in. 

“Nothing.” Leyla responds, turning her back to the boy who just walked in,

“Why do you guys talk with your dragons so much, it’s not like you can understand them.” Gustav asks. 

“Because they can offer more of a conversation than you ever could.” Leyla whispers. 

“What?” Gustav asks. 

“Nothing,” Dak responds, “Ley want to go find Dag.” 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Leyla responds, the two twins run out of the stables leaving the boy from Berk extremely confused, once the twins were out of earshot of the boy, “It’s so funny he still doesn’t know.” 

“Yes,” Dak laughs, “He constantly looks confused when it comes to dragons.” 

“I love correcting him so much.” Leyla chuckles. 

“Who doesn’t, he is always wrong.” Dak responds. 

“It’s almost midday we should find Dag and Heather.” Leyla tells her twin. 

“Yeah let’s go.” Dak responds. 

They ran to the arena which was already filling up with some Berserkers for the ceremony, Leyla ran up looking around one side while Dak looked around the other side.

 Dak and Leyla meet up near the middle of the stage, “Did you find Dag?” Dak asks his sister. 

“Nope.” Leyla responds, “Maybe they’re at the bridge near the docks.” 

“Let’s check.” Dak responds, running out of the arena. 

---

Dagur and Heather were at the dragon stables, with Gustav who was still confused with Dak and Leyla. 

“I thought the twins were here?” Heather asks the teen. 

“They just left.” Gustav responds. “Do you know why they’re so secretive around their dragons?” 

“Yeah I do.” Heather responds. 

“Why?” Gustav asks hopefully. 

“Why would I tell you?” Heather asks. 

“Ugh.” Gustav sighs, “I’m going to find out soon.” 

“Sure.” Sluether laughs. 

“Well, are the dragon riders going to be here soon?” Gustav asks. 

“We’re going to meet them now.” Dagur replies. 

“I’ll wait up here.” Gustav tells them. 

“Great.” Heather tells the boy, climbing onto her dragon flying out of the stables with her brother following her. 

“Do you think he’ll ever find out?” Dagur asks Heather. 

“Probably not.” Heather chuckles, “Not unless one of the twins tells him. 

“I doubt they will.” Dagur replies. 

---

“Keep up Ley!” Dak yells, running in front of his twin. 

The two of them left the arena running towards the bridge that was next to the docks.

“Oh come on Dak!” Leyla yells back, running after him. 

Dak stops short of the beginning of the bridge turning around to face Leyla, who was barely reaching the spot he was. 

“I win.” Dak tells her. 

“That wasn’t a fair race!” Leyla responds, “I didn’t even know we were racing!” 

“You gotta be prepared.” Dak laughs at her. 

“Oh shut up.” Leyla responds. 

Dak's response was interrupted by the berserker guard’s snores behind them, he was standing in front of a table slouched against the wall out cold. 

“Is he sleeping?” Dak asks. 

“I think so.” Leyla responds, looking at the man. 

“I don’t think that’s a part of the job description.” Dak mutters. 

“I would certainly hope not.” Leyla responds. 

Dak's response was again interrupted but not by the guard, the dragon riders had just arrived waking up the sleeping man. 

“Welcome to Berserker Island, where dreams become realities. Name?” The guard asks them. 

“Haddock, H-Hiccup.” Hiccup responds. 

“And Hofferson, Astrid.” She adds on. 

“Uh, we're here for the ceremony.” Hiccup attempts to explain. 

“Did not ask you that. Next?” 

“Ingerman, Fishlegs.”

“Move. Move.” Snotlout tells them pushing Fishlegs out of the way, “Jorgenson, Snotlout Gary.” 

\Snotlout doesn’t wait for a response from the man and walks away from him. The soldier looks down at the paper in front of him, which leads to him grabbing Snotlout before he could make it off the bridge. 

“Hold it. Not on the list.” 

“What?!” Snotlout yells at the man. 

“Oh, no, it has to be on the list” Hiccup responds, "Can you look again?”

“Only Jorgenson I see is a "Snothat "." The guard replies after looking over the page again. 

The two redhead twins burst out laughing from behind the guard, with Hiccup and Astrid laughing with them. 

“That’s not my name.” Snotlout responds. 

“Brother!” Dagur yells from above them, getting the attention of the people. 

“You all made it!” Heather tells them to land next to where the twins were standing. 

“Stand down, guard. They're on my personal guest list.” Dagur tells the man, who puts the note down and slouches against the wall again 

“Yes, Chief.”

Dagur dismounts his dragon walking towards Hiccup who was standing near the bridge still with Astrid next to him. 

“You hear that, H? "Chief"!” Dagur laughs, “Any problems getting here?”

“No. It was an easy trip.” Astrid responds, hugging Heather who was standing next to her brother. 

“Right up until the time that my name wasn't on the list.” Snotlout interrupts. 

“It wasn't?” Dagur asks, walking up to the guard who stood up straight again, “Oh, heavens.”

“No, no, it was.” Leyla tells Dagur laughing. 

“It was just a slight-” Hiccup starts. 

"Snot-hat". The guard whispers to Dagur, who bursts out laughing at the name. 

“I'm so sorry. I'm usually dead on with remembering names, Snotpocket.” Dagur tells the group,  “They are all more than welcome on our little slice of Berserkedness.” Dagur puts his hand on Snotlout's shoulder before hitting the teen on the back of the head, "You too, Snotlip.”

"Snotlip". You too, Dagfart.” Snotlout mutters

“So who is your apprentice, Dagur?” Tuffnut asks the man 

“We should go up to the stables so that you can meet them there.” Dagur responds walking towards Sluether. 

“We’ll meet you in town Dag.” Leyla tells the man who nods, allowing the two twins to run towards the town. 

The rest of them mounted their dragons flying towards the stables which sat on top of the mountain, “As you will undoubtedly see for yourselves, the Berserker landscape is only outdone in its majesty by the Berserker people.” Dagur explains. 

They continue flying where Heather and Dagur were leading them when the dragons started having problems. 

“Whoa. Whoa! Easy, bud. Easy, bud.” Hiccup tells Toothless. 

“Yeah, our dragons have been having a little trouble adjusting.” Heather explains. 

“Yeah. Had to build the stables over the village.” Dagur tells them, pointing at the stables they were nearing. 

“They look very familiar.” Astrid responds. 

“We may have stolen-” Dagur cuts himself off, rethinking what word he wanted to use, “borrowed the plans from you. But having them way up there keeps the dragons much calmer.”

“That's odd. Dragons are normally very adaptive creatures.” Fishlegs responds. 

“Maybe they're just reacting to living amongst all the crazy Berserkedness!” Tuffnut yells. 

Not long after the group lands in front of the stables, all of the dragons visibly calming down from how they were before. “They seem fine now.” Hiccup notes. 

“Weird, right?” Fishlegs asks his friend. 

“Definitely.” Hiccup answers. 

“So, Dagster.” Snotlout starts walking up to the man who was petting his dragon. 

Dagur turns to the teen annoyed, “Dagur. It's Da-gur. No "S," no "T".” 

“Yeah, no, no. I know. I was just, um-” Snotlout attempts to explain. Sluether raises his tail, making the teen stop attempting with the nicknames,  “Uh, so, Dagur. The Berserker Apprentice Program. What's up with that? Why would you want to be an apprentice? Answer all my questions.”

“It's not just an apprentice, Snothole.” Dagur responds, walking away, “It's the apprentice. A Berserker apprentice. We spent months combing the region for the baddest, smartest, craziest Viking in and outside the Archipelago.”

“You did?” Snotlout asks. 

“Oh, yeah. And who'd have thought the candidate would be right in our neighbor's backyard the whole time?” Dagur asks, not expecting an answer. 

“Really? Do we know him?” Snotlout asks. 

“Do you know him?” Dagur asks laughing, “Come on out, boy! Reveal yourself and your many skills and talents! The first Berserker apprentice to ever grace this crazy land. I present to you…” 

“Gustav.” The boy cuts the man off. 

“Gustav?” Astrid and Hiccup ask at the same time. 

“Him?” Toothless asks. 

“Gustav?” Dagur replies. 

“The super Berserker apprentice.” Gustav responds. 

“WHAT?!” Snotlout yells. 

“Turns out, some people truly understand the value of the Guster and relish the qualities he brings to an apprenticeship program. It's like I was born to be Berserk.” Gustav tells them. 

“Up high. Down low. Bam!” Dagur tells the boy as they do a hand shake. 

“I don't understand.” Snotlout tells the two of them. 

“I didn't either, Snotnose. I thought, "Who could possibly live up to the high standards that I, in particular, would demand of an apprentice to call my own?" Dagur explains. 

“This guy?” Snotlout asks, pointing at Gustav who had a smug look on his face. 

“This guy.” Dagur confirms. 

“But it's Gustav. He's just a fake me. Why accept imitation when you can have the real thing?” Snotlout asks. 

“Silly, Snotface. He's been studying Berserk history, learning all the Berserker songs.” Dagur responds. 

“Let me guess the history was Leyla’s idea?” Fishlegs asks Heather who he was standing near. 

“Yeah, obviously.” Heather responds. 

“And I've been practicing all the latest Berserker fighting techniques.” Gustav adds on ignoring the other conversation, practising some of the moves he learned. 

“Can't wait to see that.” Dagur mutters, “My little super apprentice is even graduating two weeks early.”

“Oh, stop it, you.” Gustav responds. 

“No, you stop it.” Dagur responds back. 

Hiccup and Astrid look at each other then to Heather who shrugs her shoulders at the two boys. 

“No, you stop it.” Gustav repeats. 

“You stop it.” Dagur responds, getting more serious. 

“No, you stop it-” Gustav responds, not understanding the man was done. 

“No, you stop it.” Dagur tells him. 

“Oh.” Gustav mutters. 

“Oh, I'm gonna be sick.” Snotlout responds, looking up the mountain seeing a rock break off. “Dagur! Dagur!” Snotlout runs towards the man knocking him out of the way with Gustav as well 

“Boulder!” Gustav yells when they were both already on the ground. 

“Good lookin' out, Gusterama!” Dagur tells the boy. 

“Guster on the spot, bro.” Gustav responds.  

“What?” Snotlout asks the man. 

The three of them got up off the ground, Dagur had his arm around Gustav’s shoulders, “What do you say you lead these guys on a tour of my domain?” 

“It would be my pleasure, oh, chiefly one.” Gustav replies, turning to the dragon riders who were watching, before walking down the mountain “Everyone choose a buddy. Don't want anyone to get lost in the ol' tour de la Berserkers.”

“Is that French?” Dagur asks Hiccup and Astrid who were next to him, before following the boy “I love French! Oui, oui.”

“French. He doesn't know French.” Snotlout mutters, “What's French?” 

“So, just how Berserk you think we're talking? Majestically speaking, of course.” Tuffnut asks the boy while walking behind him. 

“Mini boar toss?” Ruffnut asks hopefully. 

“Mini Berserker toss?” Tuffnut asks in the same tone as his twin. 

“Mini Berserker on a mini boar toss?” Ruffnut asks mixing the two other questions. 

“Don't toy with my emotions.” Tuffnut responds to her. 

They walk into the town, causing the Nut twins to stop talking. 

“This is what we call phase one.” Gustav tells the dragon riders near him, spinning around showing the Berserker people sweeping the ground. Who stop working and turn to wave at the dragon riders. 

“What is that, a smile? Wait, you happy?” Tuffnut asks, stomping one of his feet annoyed “That's the best you can do on Berserker Island?”

“Boring!” Ruffnut yells. 

“What's a Nut gotta do to see some action around here?” Tuffnut asks. 

“I'm tellin' ya.” Ruffnut sighs, grabbing her twins hand using it to slap his face. 

“Ow! Whoa!” Tuffnut yells at her. 

“That's what I'm talking about.” Ruffnut laughs. 

The group of them walk over a hill that shows the next part of the island, “These will be phase two.”

“And what will be the difference between phase one and two?” Hiccup asks, pointing back. 

“The number. Hello? Little slow on the uptake over on Dragon's Edge.” Gustav laughs at the teen. 

“Yeah, right. It was a stupid question.” Hiccup mutters. 

“Ugh.” Snotlout groans walking down into phase two with the others. 

“This will be our trading zone. You want it, we got it. You need it, we'll get it.” Gustav explains to them. 

“Tell them what you wanna call it, Gusmaster.” Dagur asks the boy. 

“The Wall Market!” Gustav yells, “Get it? Wall Market. Wall Mark-et. Get it?”

“I don't. But okay.” Hiccup mutters. 

“Genius, this kid! G-nius. Get it? Oh, oh!” Dagur tells them 

They walk towards the center of the town, Gustav stands in front of the bush holding his hands up, “And for la piece de résistance, le Skrill! Oh. Yeah. Cue lightning sounds.” 

The rest of the dragon riders catch up, staring at the Skrill in front of them. Dagur walks up to the boy putting his arm around the boy’s shoulder again. 

“Isn't he amazing, Snotrag? Can't believe you let this gem of an apprentice get away.” Dagur tells the dragon rider. 

“Shootin' 'em out!” Gustav laughs, doing finger guns. 

The horn signifying the event started sounding, getting the attention of the dragon riders, they entered the arena Dagur walked up onto the stage while the rest of them sat down on the benches. Dak and Leyla were near Heather watching the stage. The audience were talking, not noticing the man who was attempting to get their attention. Dagur clears his throat attempting to get the audience to stop talking. 

“Shut up!” Dagur yells, finally getting the attention of the audience. “It is in times like these that I'm reminded of something my great-uncle Haggard used to say, "There we were, three against a thousand. Toughest three we ever fought." Anyhoo, today's about only one man. One man who I'm going to miss as his apprenticeship comes to a sad but beautiful end.” Dagur gestures out to the island before pointing to his heart, “There will be a huge hole here and a bigger hole here.” 

“Aww.” The crowd coos, Dagur laughs not noticing what was happening with the guards behind him. 

“Mnh-mnh.” Hiccup mutters, noticing what is happening behind his brother, “Hey, Astrid.” 

“And that man is none other than-” Dagur starts getting cut off by two of “his” shoulders grabbing him by the shoulders pinning him, “What the?”

“Uh, part of the ceremony?” Fishlegs asks. 

Savage walks up onto the stage, holding a sword to the chief’s throat. “Savage? What in Thor's name do you think you're doing here?” Dagur asks the man. 

“Something I should have done when you joined those dragon riders. I'm takin' control.” Savage responds, “And I have help this time, Seize them.”

“Go!” Astrid yells at the crowd. 

A bunch of hunters climb off the stage walking towards the crowd, Heather flips one of the benches over, forcing two hunters to the ground “Move!” Heather yells. 

The crowd ran out of the arena, Tuffnut was watching with joy “Finally, something berserk!” Tuffnut yells happily before being grabbed by his twin who drags him out of the arena. The dragon riders run into the woods getting the hunters to follow them, not noticing the missing twins. 

Dak and Leyla were running in another direction in the woods to the same place as the dragon riders, “Leyla, we got to get to the dragons.” Dak tells her. 

“I know, I know.” Leyla responds. 

“Who do you think Savage is working with?” Dak asks. 

“I don’t know.” Leyla responds, “Why do you even care?” 

“I was wondering if we knew them already.” Dak responds. 

The two of them reached a cliff that looked over the docks, “Um Dak.” Leyla starts looking at the ships nearing the island. 

“Yeah, Ley?” Dak asks, looking around. 

“I think I know who Savage is working with.” Leyla tells the boy. 

“Really who?” Dak asks excitedly. 

“Erik the Wretched.” Leyla responds. 

“Seriously?” Dak asks, the excitement leaving his voice, “I thought it would be someone cooler.” 

“I was hoping it wasn’t another pirate.” Leyla mutters. 

“At this rate we’re going to have to deal with Waldondo again.” Dak groans. 

“Don’t even say his name.” Leyla responds, “You’ll jinx us.” 

“But hey if pirates are around than Marena could be.” Dak tells her hopefully. 

“Yeah, maybe.” Leyla responds looking at the hunters who are now flooding the docks. 

“We got to get the stables.” Dak tells her. 

“I know.” Leyla responds, turning to face her twin, “If we keep up this hill we should reach the stables.” 

“Let’s hope Savage and Erik don’t know about it.” Dak responds, walking through the woods with his sibling. 

---

The dragon riders were on a cliff looking over the stables watching the hunters who were standing in front of them. “What are you thinking?” Astrid asks Hiccup. 

“That they look like they're waiting for us.” Hiccup sighs, all of them ducking when a hunter turns to the cliff, “Heather, is there another way to get inside there?” 

“No, unfortunately.” Heather replies. 

“Then we have to take them on.” Fishlegs responds, getting the others in his group to look at him confused, “What? My Meatlug is in there.”

“Okay. We're gonna need some sort of-” Hiccup starts. 

“No, no, no. I completely disagree.” Tuffnut cuts him off, walking towards the hunters near the stables. 

“Well, I disagree with your disagreement.” Ruffnut responds. 

“Well, then let's have these fine fellows settle it.” Tuffnut responds, gesturing towards the guard in front of them. 

“Suit yourself. Gentlemen.” Ruffnut starts, before she hits her twin, making him spin in a circle. Distracting the hunters allowing the dragon riders to run by them without being noticed “Would you call this a legal battle tactic?”

The hunters turn to Hiccup whose hand was already on the lever to open the stables, “How's it going?”

Ruffnut pushes her brother into the hunters next to them, making them fall onto the ground “Whoa! Seemed legal to me.” Ruffnut laughs, shutting up when the hunters put their weapons in her face, “Whoa! Hmm.” The weapons fell down when Stormfly shot them out of the hunter's hands. Toothless fires at the hunters making them run down the mountain. 

“Well? What did they think?” Tuffnut asks from the ground. 

“I don't know if they loved it so much, but we did.” Hiccup responds 

“Uh-huh.” Tuffnut mutters falling down on the ground again. 

Dak and Leyla ran from behind the stables getting the attention of the dragon riders, “Are you two, okay?” Hiccup asks, looking at them. 

“Yep.” Dak responds. 

“Just peachy.” Leyla mutters, “On the other note we found out who Savage is working with.” 

“Who is it?” Hiccup asks. 

“A pirate named Erik the Wretched.” Dak responds. 

“A pirate?” Tuffnut asks excitedly. 

“Yeah.” Leyla responds. 

“How do you know exactly?” Hiccup asks. 

“We saw his ships.” Dak responds. 

“And you know for sure?” Fishlegs asks. 

“I think I’d remember a ship I’ve sunk.” Leyla responds. 

“What!” Heather asks. 

“I’m so proud.” Ruffnut tells the girl. 

“When did you meet him before?” Heather asks. 

“When we were looking for the golden dragon.” Dak responds. 

“The Golden Dragon?” Fishlegs asks excitedly.

“You mean the dragon who only lays an egg once every 100 years, an egg that is made of solid gold?" Hiccup asks. 

“Yep.” Leyla responds. 

“Did you find it?” Fishlegs asks. 

“Yes.” Leyla responds 

“Where?” Fishlegs asks. 

“I think we have more important things to do than tell stories.” Astrid interrupts. 

“I agree.” Heather responds. 

“Fine, but we’re talking more later.” Fishlegs responds. 

“Okay.” Astrid tells the teen. 

Hiccup mounts his dragon signifying Toothless to fly up attempting to fly to take down Savage. “That isn’t going to work.” Leyla mutters. 

“Hey, hey! Hey, hey.” Hiccup tells his dragon as they land. 

“Told you.” Leyla mutters again. 

“Who would have thought that on Berserker Island, the people would be normal and the dragons crazy?” Tuffnut asks. 

“I've never seen him like this.” Hiccup tells the group. 

“Well, there was the Red Death. That made him act all weird.” Fishlegs responds. 

“True.” Hiccup mutters. 

“And Melody Island. And there was that time he ate that eel and started shooting at you.” Fishlegs explains. 

“Okay, fine. Fishlegs, I have rarely seen him like this.” Hiccup sighs. 

“Sorry, Hiccup. Perhaps the dragons have an allergy to some flora on the island.” Fishlegs responds, “Maybe there's some wild Dragon Root around here. I can gather samples.”

“Uh. Look, we don't have time to figure this out.” Heather tells them, “Dagur is in danger. Our whole island is in danger.”

“Not to mention Snotlout and Gustav,” Astrid tells them “Who knows what those two have gotten themselves into?"

“Something horrible probably.” Leyla mutters. 

“Knowing Gustav.” Dak adds on. 

“You two hated Gustav being here?” Astrid asks. 

“Yes.” Leyla responds, “Who wouldn’t?” 

“You’re right he’s very annoying.” Tuffnut tells the girl. 

Hiccup laughs at the conversation, grabbing a telescope from his saddle bag to take a closer look at Savage’s men. “Savage's men are everywhere. If the dragons are sick, we can't risk taking them into battle.” Hiccup tells the group.

“I'm a Berserker, Hiccup. Dragon or no dragon, I'm bringing back my brother.” Heather tells her adoptive sibling, grabbing her weapon. The other dragon riders grabbed their weapons including Dak and Leyla whose weapons were with their dragons. 

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were arguing over a spear, neither of them having their own weapons with them, “Give it to me! I want it.” Tuffnut yells. 

“Come on, give it!” Ruffnut responds, grabbing the spear from her twin. 

The group of them ran into the town attacking the hunters who were protecting the arena, “The hunters are mainly around the arena!” Astrid yells. 

“That’s where Savage must be!” Hiccup responds. 

“And the pirate!” Tuffnut yells. 

Hiccup attacks one of the hunters who knocks the teens sword out of his hand, Toothless fires down on the town allowing Hiccup to get an opening. Grabbing his weapon Hiccup starts showing Toothless where to fire, taking out groups of hunters. 

The dragon riders enter the arena seeing both Savage and Erik on the stage, “Dragon rider!” Savage yells. Savage and his hunters jump off the stage attacking the dragon riders, Savage grabs Heather arm putting his sword to her neck. “Oh, no, you don't! Stand down! All of you.” The dragon riders drop their weapons allowing the hunters to close in on them. 

“Hey, I have a question.” Dak asks Savage. 

“What!” Savage responds. 

“Why did you pick Erik out of any pirate you could’ve chosen?” Dak asks. 

“What?” Savage asks. 

“Why is that your question?” Hiccup asks. 

“Because they are cooler pirates.” Dak responds 

“I’d personally pick Selvana.” Leyla tells the man. 

“Selvana can’t do anything.” Dak responds, “She's like 3 feet tall. What is she going to do kick me?” 

“I see neither of you two have changed.” Erik starts. 

“I see you still haven’t found the golden dragon.” Leyla responds. 

“You know Waldondo has been looking for you two.” Erik tells them, “Who would’ve known your two have been living on Berserker Island.” 

“Don’t even say his name.” Dak responds, “I’d rather not have to see him.” 

“Who is Waldondo?” Tuffnut asks. 

“Hes-” Erik starts. 

The man is interrupted by Dagur and Snotlout yelling, flying into the arena with ropes. Snotlout kicks Savage freeing Heather while Dagur lands on his chair. 

“Ah, it's a good day to be me.” Dagur laughs. 

“I still hate your laugh.” Savage responds from where he was pinned to the ground. 

“I think he’ll live.” Dak responds to the man. 

Dagur stands up from his chair jumping off his stage, helping his sibling up who was still on the ground. “Is everyone okay?” Dagur asks them. 

“We’re fine.” Hiccup responds. 

“Great.” Dagur sighs. 

“Who was the other man in here?” Snotlout asks.

“Erik the Wretched.” Leyla responds. 

“And that is?” Snotlout asks. 

“An annoying pirate.” Dak responds. 

“I think we’ll need to talk more about that later.” Heather suggests. 

“Definitely.” Dagur responds. 

It was later that day; the arena was reset up allowing for the berserker people to walk in again. The crowd was sitting around again, except the dragon riders were standing to the side watching. Gustav was standing on the stage waiting for Dagur to call him up. “Shut up! This trophy goes to the most deserving Viking in the land, a Viking that exemplifies what it truly means to be a Berserker.” Dagur tells the crowd. 

“It's fake anyway. I don't care.” Snotlout mutters. 

Dagur turns to Gustav who was about to walk onto the stage, “Unfortunately, it's not you, Gusthat. Snotlout, get up here and take what is rightfully yours.” 

“Oh, Thor!” Snotlout yells walking towards the stage. Standing next to the Berserker, who handed him the trophy.  The crowd erupts into the cheers at the man, Dagur steps back to where Heather and the twins were standing watching. 

“You engraved the most stupid name on that trophy didn’t you?” Leyla asks the man. 

Dagur doesn’t respond, only quietly laughing, “He definitely did.” Dak mutters. 

“Oh, my Thor! You like me, you really like me!” Snotlout yells holding up the trophy. 

After the ceremony, the dragon riders left including Gustav leaving only the Berserkers.

The four of them were eating dinner for the first time without Gustav, Heather turned to the twins who were still eating not noticing her. “Are we going to talk about those pirates?” Heather asks. 

“I’d rather not.” Leyla mutters. 

“What happened?” Dagur asks. 

“Erik and Selvanna are just pirates who wanted the golden dragon, Waldondo on the other hand wanted something else.” Dak explains. 

“What did he want?” Heather asks. 

“To sell us and our dragons like Viggo did.” Leyla responds.

“Oh.” Dagur mutters. 

“Yeah, we really don’t like him.” Dak responds. 

“No wonder.” Heather responds. 

“Is that all?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Leyla responds. 

“Okay.” Heather responds. 

Pirate Island 

Erik walked onto pirate island, Selvanna was there as well the two of them were walking together into the hall. 

“Did you see those dragon talkers again?” Selvanna asks. 

“Yeah, I did.” Erik responds. 

“Where were they” Selvanna asks. 

“They were living on Berserker Island.” Erik responds, “With Dagur the Deranged.” 

“Dagur? They’re living with Dagur?” Selvanna asks. 

“Yep.” Erik responds. 

“There’s no way to get them away from that island.” Selvanna groans. 

“Oh don’t worry,” Waldondo cuts in, “Our new associates will make this easy.” 

“And who are these associates?” Selvanna asks. 

“You’ll see.” Waldondo responds.

Notes:

No more Gustav so hopefully more chapters quicker

Chapter 22: Updated lore

Summary:

Some updates have been made to the lore in this that needed to be shared for this to make sense

Notes:

My process is I change things as I go, not many things have been changed but this was a big one I felt needed to happen

I felt like the lore wasn’t making much sense and I wanted to tie more of Rescue Riders into the fic so some of it has been changed 

The entire beginning of Rescue Riders has happened like first season (Aggro’s intro hasn't happen tho), they left the island after Grumblegaurd, well mainly Magnus cause he got the town against them, (Except for Duggard  Hannahr, Elbone, finn, his mom, and Marena) 

The baby dragons went to Grumble guard who realized what was actually going on and took them in, the RR didn’t go back to Huttsgalor after Grumble guard knew what actually happened though because the island was still against them or they thought it was, the hunt of the golden dragon has happened but neither of the other movies, 

everything for the race to the edge side is the same

All other lore for RR and the pirates won’t make much sense with how I wanted this story to continue so the change was needed hopefully it’ll make more sense now 

Ignore all the other lore I’ve given for the pirates, I’ll eventually go through and deleted it 

Next real chapter should be out either friday or saturday this week 

Chapter 23: Searching for Oswald

Summary:

Searching for Oswald and Sins of the past

Notes:

I'm really excited to post some of the later chapters, hopefully I can finish these ones first

This was going to be two chapters, but I decided it would be better as one

It had been a few weeks since Gustav left, and the 4 berserkers weren’t on the island nor were there dragons. They were searching a cave that Heather found, but the cave started collapsing making the four of them half to rush out. 

“On your left! And your right! And, well, everywhere!” Dagur yells, making sure the three others were going to make it out of the cave fine. 

“Faster, Windshear!” Heather yells, the four of them successfully reach the exit of the cave before it could collapse on them, Windshear lands allowing her rider to look through the journal they were using. “I'm not sure where we went wrong.” 

“I'll tell you where we went wrong. We followed another clue from dear old Dad's diary of death, and it led us into a trap. What a shock.” Dagur responds, landing beside her. 

“We're close, Dagur. I can feel it.” Heather responds to him, “We have to keep looking for him. Oswald wouldn't have given up on us.”  

“The only thing we're getting close to is Valhalla! You're trying to find "clues" in what is mostly meaningless gibberish.” Dagur yells, Heather sighs, turning away from her brother, “And trust me, as someone who's spent most of their life in varying states of existential crises, I know the meaning of meaningless!”

“I'm heading home.” Heather tells him, walking to Windshear, “You do what you want, but I'm not stopping until I find our father.” 

Dagur walks up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Please don't get killed, Heather.” Heather turns to face him, which allows Dagur to pull her into a hug, “I like having a sister.”

Heather sighs, hugging her brother back before mounting her dragon, and flying away from the other three not noticing what Dagur was hiding. 

“That was kind of harsh.” Dak mutters, walking up to the older man. 

“I’m aware.” Dagur responds to the boy. 

Leyla grabs the book that Dagur was hiding behind his back, opening it, “What happened to stealing is wrong?” 

“You pickpocketed someone in the northern markets because they insulted dragons. I took the book so Heather won’t get hurt. The two are not the same.” Dagur responds. 

“In my defence he gave an opening.” Leyla mutters. 

“Doesn’t mean you can pickpocket someone.” Dak responds, looking at Dagur “What now?” 

“We’re going to see what Hiccup can find in it.” Dagur responds, walking towards Sluether grabbing the book from the younger girl’s hands. 

“Hey.” Leyla mutters, looking at the man who didn’t respond. 

“Got it.” Dak responds running towards Winger, Leyla sighs walking over to her dragon as well. 

Taking off from the island Dagur was leading the group of them, “So Dag.” Leyla starts, “What are you hoping for Hiccup to even find?” 

“Hopefully a clue and if he can’t he can tell Heather there’s nothing to find.” Dagur responds.

“So, you’re having Hiccup tell her cause she won’t believe you?” Leyla asks. 

“Pretty much.” Dagur responds. 

“And you're sure she’d believe Hiccup, why?” Dak asks

“Because Hiccup is better at explaining things like this.” Dagur responds. 

“Whatever you want to tell yourself.” Leyla mutters. 

As they neared Dragon’s edge, they started hearing Tuffnut’s yells, “Oh, no! Really, Astrid? Terrible chicken puns at a time like this? You are better than that.”

“But had Chicken really flown the coop, or was there something more sinister going on? Only time would tell. Or would it? Ooh.” Snotlout replies to the screaming teen, the three of them land near the stables getting the attention of Snotlout. “Dagster!” 

Snotlout runs to Dagur expecting a warmer response but is pinned into the stable wall, “You know I hate nicknames, Snothat.” Dagur responds to the teen. 

“Nicknames are for buds.” Snotlout responds, “I thought we were buds.” 

Dagur sighs, letting the teen down, looking around to find Hiccup but couldn’t. “So, uh, Hiccup around?” 

“In his hut.” Snotlout replies, Dagur walks over to find Hiccup leaving the twin who were watching the older set of twins not realizing the man’s absence. 

“What are they looking for?” Leyla asks. 

“Chicken.” Astrid responds. 

“Who?” Dak asks. 

“His pet chicken.” Snotlout explains. 

“Oh.” Dak mutters, “What is with people and having an obsession with animals.” 

“Dak.” Leyla responds. 

“I know, I know.” Dak responds. 

“What was that about?” Snotlout asks. 

“Nothing.” Leyla responds. 

“Hm.” Snotlout responds, walking away from the two. 

Dagur knocked on the door of Hiccup’s hut, walking in a few seconds later. “Dagur.” Hiccup greets the man confused. 

“Hiccup, I need your help.” Dagur tells his brother, handing him the book. 

The teen takes the book flipping through it, while Dagur continues talking “If she keeps following this diary, she's gonna get killed. She's become reckless. And I don't mean that in a cool, swashbuckle-y kind of way. I don't know if you've noticed, but people in my family can get a little fixated on things, like ruling an archipelago, controlling a Skrill, killing you.” 

“And you're afraid Heather's got the same obsessive nature.” Hiccup responds. 

“We're Berserkers.” Dagur responds, “It's in our blood! Please, Hiccup, look through my dad's diary and see if there's anything in there. A clue, a sign, a harbinger of doom. Something!” 

Hiccup keeps looking through the book in his hands, “Well, Oswald certainly didn't want anyone to know what he was working on.” 

“Exactly!” Dagur yells, “So when you tell Heather there's nothing in it worth following, she'll listen to you! She won't listen to me because she's a stubborn, headstrong, stress-inducing-” 

“Sentinel.” Hiccup cuts his brother off. 

“Well, not the word I would've chosen.” Dagur responds. 

“No, this sketch.” Hiccup responds, handing the book over to the Berserker, “It looks like it might be a Sentinel dragon. There's only one place those dragons live: Vanaheim.”

“What? Where?” Dagur asks. 

“I’ll explain later, first we need to get everyone.” Hiccup responds. 

The two brothers leave the younger one's hut, the red-haired twins were still watching the blonde ones. Dagur walks behind them with Hiccup walking up to Astrid explaining what was going on. 

“What’s going on?” Leyla asks the older man. 

“We might’ve found where my father is.” Dagur responds. 

“Really?” Dak asks, “Where?” 

“On an island called Vanaheim.” Dagur responds. 

“Wha-” Dak starts. 

“The resting place of all dragons?” Leyla asks. 

“Yes.” Hiccup responds, cutting into the conversion. 

“How’d you know that?” Fishlegs asks. 

“I’ve heard stories about it.” Leyla responds, she had an entire page in her dragon diary on it, her and Dak were told stories about it when they were younger. 

“That's what Vanaheim is?” Dagur asks Hiccup. 

“Yes.” Hiccup responds, “The last resting place for all dragons is Vanaheim.” 

“And where might we find Oswald?” Dak asks. 

“Hopefully.” Hiccup responds. 

They walk over to the stables preparing their dragons for the long flight to the island, “You excited? Because I am pu-umped.” Dagur tells the group, “How far is it to this retirement island, anyway?”

“Look, Vanaheim is an incredibly secret place. You cannot tell anyone about it.” Hiccup tells the three berserkers. 

“Oh, don't worry. I'm great at keeping things to myself. Anger, frustration, rage.” Dagur responds. 

Hiccup turns to the twins who were watching them, “Yeah we got it.” Leyla tells the teen. 

“Yep.” Dak responds. 

Fishlegs had gotten his hands on Oswalds journal and was looking through it himself, “Hiccup, look at this!” The teen shows one of the many drawings in the book to his friend. The drawing was of a giant skull, no other details signifying what type of dragon it was. 

“Hmm” Hiccup mutters, “Never seen a dragon like that before.”

“Vanaheim,” Fishlegs responds, "it's so full of mysteries and mythology! This is just a thread in the tapestry of its deep, rich history.”

“Ready, bud?” Hiccup asks his dragon, who was standing behind him. 

Interrupted by Ruffnut’s shouts coming from inside the stables, “All right, straight ahead. Now profile. Okay, spin back around. One at a time, I want to hear a squawk.”

“This is pointless. Look at this pathetic gaggle of wannabes.” Tuffnut yells, looking towards the line of chickens, except from the one dragon “I mean, that one's not even a chicken.”

“So I take it. Chicken is still missing.” Hiccup tells them, looking into the stables. 

“She skipped dinner last night. She never misses dinner,” Tuffnut tells the group, “unless it's one of her relatives on the menu.”

“Hmm, perhaps it was foul play. It was a small town with a checkered past.” Snotlout starts, changing his voice to seem like a narrator, “She was a chicken on the edge who had been pushed to the brink.”

“Why are you talking like that?” Leyla asks the teen. 

“It’s funny.” Dak adds on. 

“The brink?” Tuffnut asks, ignoring the girl's question “Oh, Thor, not the brink. I mean, a precipice maybe, but not the brink! We must widen the search!”

“Think on a grander scale!” Ruffnut yells, throwing stuff around with her brother. 

“Chicken!” Tuffnut yells. 

Hiccup looks towards Astrid who knows exactly what he was asking, “I'll stay behind.” 

“Thank you.” Hiccup responds 

“Can we go?” Dagur asks, “I mean, not that your chicken hunt isn't of great importance, but let's be real here, people.”

Hiccup nods, mounting his dragon taking off from the island with the rest of the team, “I really hope we find something about Dad on your island of decomposing dragons, Hiccup, for Heather's sake.” Dagur tells the group. 

“I don’t think that’s a good way to describe the island.” Leyla responds. 

“Definitely not.” Dak adds on. 

“Should I have brought Heather with us?” Dagur continues ignoring the questions, “Oh.What's that I'm feeling? Ooh. Oh, what is that? Must be guilt. Blah! Ooh, I don't like that.” 

“You said her obsession had become dangerous.” Hiccup tells his brother. 

“I said that?” Dagur asks, “Sounds about right.”

“Then you're doing the right thing.” Hiccup responds. 

“There it is!” Fishlegs yells. 

“All right, gang, here's the plan.” Hiccup starts, “We land, look for Oswald, and then cover ourselves in fruit.”

“Not that I don't appreciate a good fruit bath now and again I mean, the last one was just” Dagur starts, “Uh, but I really don't see how it's gonna help.”

“To escape, Dagur. To escape.” Hiccup responds. 

“So those statues are really dragons?” Leyla asks, looking towards them. 

“Don't worry. They're not gonna bother us on the way in. Maybe on the way out.” Fishlegs explains to the girl. As they fly by the dragons they start hearing crack noises signifying the dragon's awakening, “Uh, Hiccup?”

“Are you guys sure this is the right island?” Dagur asks, dodging one of the sentals attacks. 

“Just ride it out!” Hiccup yells at them, as the dragons use the wind to send them away “They remember our scent from last time! They know we're not sick dragons. They've-”

“Adapted, I know!” Fishlegs cuts in, “It's so fascinating.” 

Dagur looks over at the twins who were having an easier time avoiding the blasts, the sentinels send another blast at them, this time knocking Dagur off Sleuther. Toothless and Hiccup dive down towards the falling berserker grabbing him before he could hit the water. 

“Know what else I personally find fascinating?” Dagur asks them, “Not getting killed!”

While the sentinels were distracted more dragons flew onto the island, “Hiccup?” Toothless asks. 

“I see them, bud.” Hiccup responds to the dragon, “Hey, Fishlegs?”

“Are those sick dragons?” Fishlegs asks. 

“Must be.” Leyla responds. 

“Oh! So they're letting those little shifty dragons on but not us?” Dagur asks, “I didn't come all this way not to get Heather some answers. Follow me!”

“Go, girl!” Fishlegs yells, Dagur leads the other four through the dragon’s wind clap towards the island. Thankfully the wind stopped them from dying when they reached the island. They were on the beach of the island, all of them were knocked off their dragons lying on the beach.

“No offense Dag but-” Leyla starts

“That was brilliant,” Fishlegs cuts the girl off. 

“Not the word I was going to use.” Leyla mutters.
“You knew the gust of air from the wing clap would slow us down just enough so we wouldn't be smashed to bits.” Fishlegs admires. 

“Yeah. Let's go with that.” Dagur responds, brushing the sand off himself. 

Hiccup looked towards his dragon who was looking at the sentinels who were returning to their resting place, “Let’s start looking.” Hiccup tells the group. 

“Got it.” Dak responds, helping his sibling off the ground. 

After an hour of walking around the island they were standing in a circle in the woods, “Trying to think positively here, but it feels like we've been walking in circles.”

“That’s because we have been.” Leyla responds, looking around still. 

“We have?” Dak asks. 

“Probably.” Leyla responds. 

“Wait, I found something!” Fishlegs yell, pulling the teeth he found out of the wood, “I've never seen teeth like this before. Maybe Sharp Class?”

“And there are more over here.” Hiccup calls, grabbing teeth out of the wood as well. 

“Great! So besides finding a bunch of dragon teeth, the diary led us to another dead end.” Dagur groans, walking over to one of the rocks on the beach and leading against it “Yippee!”

“We've got to be missing something.” Dak responds. 

“Hmm.’ Hiccup mutters, Toothless jumps up onto rocks getting closer to the stone figure, growling at it. “What is it, bud?” 

Hiccup looked over to his dragon looking up to where he was looking, seeing what was really in front of them. “Uh, gang, you might want to see this.” 

The four others follow, looking at the skull Hiccup was, “Oh, my Thor.” Fishlegs says in aw looking between the skull and the drawing of it

"Oh, my Thor" is right! Wait, what is he right about?” Dagur asks. 

“The skull. It was in the diary, Dagur.” Hiccup explains, “It proves Oswald was here.”

“And possibly still is.” Leyla adds. 

“Ahh. I hadn't thought of that.” Dagur responds, turning his voice quieter, “Hadn't thought of that at all.” 

They walk into the entrance of the skull, Hiccup and Toothless guiding them, “Okay, Toothless.” Hiccup tells his dragon, Toothless sends a blast echoing through the skeleton. Hiccup looks back nodding to the rest of them. The dragons take off flying through “Whatever this dragon was, it was bigger than the Red Death.”

“And it's been here for a very, very long time.” Fishlegs adds. 

Toothless fires at the wall stopping them from going any farther, releasing them into the woods. 

“Hmm.” Dagur mutters, after hearing something flying around them. 

“Oh, we're close. I can feel it!” Fishlegs tells the group. 

Toothless stops suddenly looking around, “Something’s here”

“What is it, bud?” Hiccup asks, looking towards the twins who were looking around as well, “What did he say?” 

“He said something’s here.” Dak translates. 

“What is it?” Fishlegs asks. 

“No clue.” Leyla responds, continuing to look around. 

As if they were waiting for the girl's response a dozen of the dragons come out of the woods attacking the dragon riders, sending their teeth at them. 

“Hiccup, these are the same teeth we found earlier.” Fishlegs explains, “These dragons aren't sick.

“They're hunting.” Hiccup responds, the dragons continue firing teeth at them. 

Toothless fires around attempting to get them to stop, one of the dragon's fires teeth at Sleuther who backs up suddenly throwing his rider off. Meatlug and Toothless fire again at the dragons, sending them flying away. 

“They should be gone for now.” Meatlug sighs, Fishlegs turn to the twins who shrug their shoulders. Neither of them was paying attention to what the dragon said.

Hiccup turns around in the other direction looking through the bushes, seeing something. The teen starts walking through the bushes, ignoring the questions of the other riders. 

“This wood has been salvaged from a Berserker galleon.” Hiccup notices looking at the hut built into the mountain side. 

“He was shipwrecked.” Dagur mutters, walking towards the door. 

“So do we knock?” Fishlegs asks. 

“Uh.” Dagur starts, chuckling, “Maybe we should take a snack break before heading in. Anyone hungry? Feeling a bit peckish.” Dagur tells them, walking away from the door, getting looks from the other riders. “I'm kidding! Gotcha!” The berserker walks back up the door, looking at Hiccup, “I mean, someone had to do it, right, Hiccup? The Berserkers needed a leader!”

“Dagur, are you all right?” Hiccup asks. 

“I mean, oh, uh, yeah, sure, maybe it was a bit of a power grab, taking over the tribe the moment Oswald went missing. It's crazy, but I never really regretted it until just now.” Dagur tells the group. 

“Dagur, open the door!” Hiccup yells at him. 

“Okay, I can do this.” Dagur mutters walking up to the door, “Omm. Uh, Daddy?” 

---

Dagur places his father's helmet and shield on a pile of rocks, “This is all my fault. He-he was stranded, Hiccup. He died here all alone.”

“You had no idea where he was.” Hiccup responds, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulders. 

“I-I-I never sent a search party! I mean, I-I had a lot going on back then, being evil and all. But I should have tried.” Dagur tells Hiccup looking at the pile of rocks,

“You feel guilty. That's totally normal.” Hiccup responds. 

“I was a villain.” Dagur responds, brushing Hiccup’s hand off. 

“No, you were a kid.” Hiccup responds, “A misunderstood, diabolical, slightly maniacal-” Hiccup cuts himself off, “Yeah, okay, fine, so you were a bad kid. But none of that makes a difference. He was your dad. He loved you no matter what.” 

“I guess we'll never know.” Dagur mutters. 

Fishlegs was in the house with the twins, looking around, “Uh, guys?” Fishlegs starts getting the attention of the two, “I think you need to see this.” 

Hiccup walks up to stand next to Fishlegs and the twins while Dagur stands near the door “Look, you were right, Hiccup. They're hunters.” Fishlegs tells him, pointing at one of the many pictures on the wall. 

“Oswald named them Grim Gnashers.” Leyla tells them, writing it down in her dragon diary to remember. 

“They prey on the sick dragons.” Hiccup reads. 

“And apparently, Oswald would help the Sentinels drive them off.” Fishlegs says, turning to Dagur who was watching them, “Your dad was a hero.”

“Of course he was. He was a Berserker.” Dagur responds, smiling. 

Toothless starts looking around noticing a box on top of  the shelf, “Bud? What is it?” Hiccup asks the dragon. The dragon knocks the box off, two papers rolling out. 

Dagur kneels down and picks them up looking at the names, “One for Heather, and this one's for me?” Dagur walks out of the house leaving the other four alone. 

“Is he okay?” Dak asks his twin. 

“Hopefully.” Leyla responds 

Dagur climbed one of the ladders, walking to the edge and sitting down he pulled out one of the papers he found, opening it. 

Dagur, if you're reading this, it's likely too late. I most certainly have perished in pursuit of the answers to questions that may never be revealed. But I assure you, I rest peacefully. I want you to understand that I always loved and missed you every day. You did what I would have done. You took care of our people. I'm proud of you for that.

“Proud. He said "proud.” Dagur mutters looking up from the paper.

I can only hope you've outgrown your crazy destructive stage. 

Dagur looks up laughing quietly, 

As for me, this island has become my home. My only regret is that I didn't get to see you and Heather grow up together. But I'm confident you took good care of her and protected her from the evils that lurk in the archipelago. 

“Oh-ho, he got that one wrong.” Dagur laughs embarrassed. 

 Always remember, you are Berserkers. It's in your blood. I only hope you and Heather can find the same peace that I have here in Vanaheim and perhaps in Valhalla.

“Whoa. That was heavy.” Dagur sighs, looking up at the sunrise before hearing a dragon near him. Looking down Dagur sees a group of Grim Gnashers attacking a gronkle, he whistles getting the attention of his sleeping dragon. Dagur runs over the edge of the platform jumping onto his dragon, Sleuther flies over to the vulnerable dragon. “This is for you, Daddy!” Dagur yells, knocking the dragon into the sea. 

Hiccup, Fishlegs, and the twins fly overhead firing on the dragons who were attacking, “Dagur, aim for the leader!” Hiccup yells. 

“On it!” Dagur yells back. 

“Fishlegs, you cover the Gronckle!” Hiccup explains. 

“You heard him, girl!” Fishlegs yells, flying towards the dragon. 

“Twins with me!” Hiccup yells towards them. 

“Got it!” Dak yells back. 

Dagur chases the leader into the wall, “Surprise!” Dagur laughs, firing on the dragon who avoids it. Following the dragon down, more Grim Gnashers fire their teeth at the man. “Whoa! Whoa-ho-ho-ho!” 

Toothless fires on the dragons attacking chasing them off, “Thanks, T.” 

The flock of Grim Gnashers regroup in front of them, showing them, they needed something more.

“We need more dragon power!” Hiccup yells. 

The Grim Gnashers fire their teeth again at the dragon riders, this time they were blocked by something else. The Sentinels fly in front, blocking the teeth, sending them into the sea. The Grim Gnashers separate flying in different directions, Dagur and Sluether fly up towards where the leader was. 

“Work for me, baby! Work for Daddy!” Sleuther fires on the dragon causing it and the others to fly away from the island, “Yeah, that's right! This is Oswald's island, you shifty sky vermin!” 

Dagur flies down to where the other dragon riders were waiting for him. “Hey, for a battle with no fatalities, that was actually pretty fun!” 

The Sentinels start surrounding them, not attacking, just listening. 

“Hey, guys, it feels like it's probably time to go.” Hiccup says to the group, turning to Dagur who had his eyes on the island still. 

“Uh, Dagur?” Leyla asks. 

“Yes, I believe you are right.” Dagur responds, turning to fly away from the island.

“Uh, Hiccup? We might need to go back down for the fruit.” Fishlegs tells him, aware of the dragons attempting to surround them. 

“I don't think it'll work this time.” Hiccup responds, the sentinels leave the circle allowing the dragon riders to pass by them. 

“Uh, what are they doing?” Dagur asks. 

“Looks like they're thanking us.” Hiccup responds. 

“Whoa.” Dak mutters. 

“As you were!” Dagur says to the dragons, saluting them. 

“Y-You know they're all blind, right?” Hiccup asks him. 

Dagur doesn’t get a chance to respond, Fishlegs was already telling them about what he found, “Whoo-hoo-hoo! Look at this! Hundreds and hundreds of fruit recipes.” 

“You know, Fishy, your commitment to discovery is unparalleled.” Dagur tells the teen 

“I know.” Fishlegs replies. 

Dagur looks down at the note in his hand that had his sister’s name on it, “I need to get this to Heather.” 

“Well, maybe sometime you could bring her back here. Seems like we've earned the Sentinels' respect, which is pretty impressive.” Hiccup responds to the berserker. 

“Oh, wait, so I earned respect?” Dagur asks, “I'm so used to just demanding it. That's crazy.” 

“You know what, Dagur? Going in that hut may have been the bravest thing I've seen you do.” Hiccup tells him. 

“Well, I couldn't have done it without all your Hiccup-y guidance.” Dagur responds. 

Fishlegs was looking through Oswalds papers that were in front of him, stopping when he saw something familiar, “Hiccup. Is this what I think it is?” Fishlegs asks. 

“What?” Hiccup asks, flying over to grab the paper, “A dragon eye lens.” 

“How does Oswald know about them?” Fishlegs asks. 

“We can figure it out later.” Dagur responds, “We need to tell Heather what we found.” 

“To Berserker Island?” Fishlegs asks, Hiccup nods signifying that they could start flying towards the island. 

The five of them were on berserker island stables, their dragons were resting as they talked 

“Dag, you okay?” Leyla asks, dismounting her dragon. 

“Huh? Me? Sure. Fine. Never been better. I mean, how often do you get to tell your sister that the father she's been maniacally looking for is dead? I'm just peachy.” Dagur responds to the girl

“There is something to be said for closure.” Fishlegs responds, getting a look of annoyance from Dagur, “Or maybe not.”

“Chief!” Berserker Guard calls. 

“I love it when they call me that.” Dagur mutters. “Ah, never gets old.”

“So good to have you back.” the guard tells him. 

“And good to be back.” Dagur responds, “Where's Heather? I have news for her.”

“You didn't hear?” The guard asks, “She left with Trader Johann for the Northern Markets. Apparently he found a man who says Oswald is alive.” The dragon riders look at each other before running to their dragons and taking off to the sky out of the stables, “Not quite the reaction I was expecting.”

“Hiccup, Johann and Heather are walking-” Fishlegs starts. 

“Into a trap.” Hiccup cuts him off, “I know.”

“Which is why we have to get there immediately!” Dagur yells, flying by the two talking, “Come on!”

---

They landed in the Northern Markets, the sun was rising and the markets were empty more than usual at least. 

“I swear this place used to have more people.” Dak mutters as they follow the adults who were walking around. 

“It did.” Leyla responds. 

Dagur stops at a booth to question someone, but the person wouldn’t. “Are you listening to me?” Dagur questions the man, grabbing him by the back of his shirt, “Am I speaking in some foreign tongue? Huh? Tell me where my sister is, or your head will end up on the end of a long pole attached to my ship!”

“I guess he didn't get the part about being discreet.” Hiccup mutters, watching the interaction. 

“Actually, that is pretty discreet for Dagur.” Leyla replies. 

“That's actually fair.” Hiccup tells her. 

Dagur whips around to his brother still holding the man by his shirt, “Hiccup! This one won't talk. What do you think we should do?” 

“Dagur, call me old-fashioned, but I'm not sure that this is the way we want to go about getting people to help us.” Hiccup replies, causing Dagur to drop the man he was holding. 

“Oh, it's not?” Dagur asks, “Oh, I'm sorry. Too soft, right?” He doesn't wait for a response and throws the man into the chicken feed near them. “I should really work them over!” 

“No!” Hiccup yells, “No, please. Do not work over anyone.” 

“Oh, all right, I'll tell you! I'll tell you!” The working Dagur was terrorizing yells. 

“Huh. I guess you're right, Hiccup.” Dagur tells him, turning to the man, “Well, let's hear it.” 

“There was a fight. A short, stocky, loud-mouthed Viking here to b-buy chicken feed was with a b-beautiful raven-haired woman and the merchant they call Johann.” the Chicken Feed Salesman explains. 

“Tell me more about the girl.” Dagur responds, grabbing the man, “Was her hair truly like a raven or more like a crow? That's an important detail!”

“Dagur, he's clearly talking about Heather.” Hiccup tells his brother, making him put the man down again, “So what happened with the fight?”

“It ended in a stalemate, as far as I could tell. Then the three d-dragon riders fled north, followed by a large group of dragon f-flyers. I'd hate to be them riders, if they're found. They'll end up like, well…” The Chicken Feed Salesman grabs a handful of the feed, looking at the riders before crushing it. 

“Please let me hurt him.” Dagur asks the group, walking towards the man but held back by Hiccup, “Please? Just just a little?”

“No, no, not even a little.” Hiccup answers, “Not today, Dagur.” 

“So tomorrow?” Dak whispers to Leyla. 

“No.” Leyla replies. 

“This is all on me, Hiccup.” Dagur sighs, turning away from the man’s booth. 

“Dagur, remember, Heather is a Berserker, and she has Windshear, so those are two amazing warriors we're talking about.” Hiccup tells him. 

“And Snotlout is there too.” Fishlegs adds. 

“So we subtract one warrior?” Leyla asks. 

“I hate to say this, but Snotlout can actually be pretty handy in an air battle.” Fishlegs replies. 

“Fishlegs is right. We'll find her. Won't we, bud?” Hiccup asks his dragon. 

“Of course.” Toothless responds. 

“Where are we going to check first then?” Dak asks. 

“North.” Leyla responds, “It would be the best place to start looking.” 

“She had a point, if they fled north, we have to follow.” Fishlegs responds. 

“Let’s go then.” Dagur tells them, climbing onto Sleuther. Hiccup nods getting on his dragon as well, 

They fly north looking to find Heather and Snotlout, stopping when they see people on a sea stack. 

“I think we found them.” Dagur tells the group. 

Hiccup grabs his telescope out of his saddle bag looking at the hunters, “Krogan and his fliers are around a cage, I can’t tell what it is though.” 

“Can you see Heather?” Dak asks. 

“No.” Hiccup responds, “She must be on the sea stack.” 

“If Heather is on the sea stack, couldn’t we guess Windshear is in the cage.” Leyla asks. 

“She has a point again.” Fishlegs mutters. 

Krogan’s fliers started clearing, revealing the cage on the sea stack, “Leyla’s right.” Hiccup tells them, “It’s Windshear in the cage.” 

“So what now?” Dak asks them. 

“We’re going to sneak up on them and get them.” Hiccup responds. 

Before they get the chance to move, the dragon fliers leave the sea stack with their leader. 

“Are they leaving?” Fishlegs asks. 

Krogan flies by the cage with the dragon, knocking it into the ocean. 

“We have to go now!” Dagur yells, flying towards the other dragon riders with the others following. Heather jumps off the sea stack going towards her dragon underwater. 

“Heather is down there!” Snotlout yells at them. 

Dagur dives down into the water after his sibling, the other dragon riders stay above the water surface. Sluether wrapped his tail around the chain at the top of the cage pulling it up with Heather and Windshear. 

“Sis, what did I tell you about swimming at this time of year?” Dagur asks the girl. 

Toothless fires on the lock of the cage freeing the dragon, Heather jumped on the back of her dragon flying up with the other dragon riders 

‘I would have gotten you, but I figured Dagur had it, so-” Snotlout tells her. 

“Are you okay?” Leyla asks the woman. 

“I'm fine, but they got my Dragon Eye lens.” Heather responds, gesturing to the empty spot on her belt. 

“Your what?!” Hiccup asks, looking at her, “That thing on your belt, that was a Dragon Eye lens. How did we miss that?”

"And how did they know that?” Dak asks. 

“Only one way to find out.” Hiccup responds, flying after Krogan and his fliers. Toothless fires on the leader making him drop the dragon eye lens on one of the sea stacks. 

“No!” Krogan yells. 

“He dropped it!” Leyla yells.

“I'm on it!” Hiccup responds, going down towards the dragon eye lens. Krogan regroups with his fliers, having them fire to defend the lens. 

“Brave? Perhaps.” Krogan laughs, flying down towards the lens “Successful? Not quite.”

“Hang on, Johann.” Snotlout laughs, flying down in the same direction as the hunter, “And try not to-” Snotlout is cut off by the older man screaming, “Scream in my ear!”

“Master Snotlout, what are you doing?” Johann asks, clinging to the teen. 

“Playing Chicken.” Snotlout laughs, grabbing the bag of chicken feed, “Or Chicken Feed.” 

Krogan stops going for the lens and turns his focus to the teen going towards him, flying towards to prepare an attack. Snotlout throws the bag at the man, whose dragon fires on it in an attempt to stop it the attempt didn’t work, causing a bigger distraction of popcorn getting in the man’s face.

“Archipelago Gold, baby” Snotlout yells at the man, “For the Viking who enjoys the finer things in life.” Snotlout dives down grabbing the lens from the sea stack, ”Snotlout!”

Snotlout throws the lens at Hiccup when a dragon flier fired on him, Hiccup didn’t catch it hitting it towards Dagur. “Dagur! Heads up!” The lens went over the man's head and into Dagur’s hands who threw it to Fishlegs. 

Fishlegs flew over Snotlout dropping the lens, both of the men on the dragon reached up to catch it. Johann puts his hand over Snotlout, knocking the lens down into Krogan’s hands. 

“Oh, no!” Snotlout yells. 

“Oh, dear! It appears as if I've mucked things all up once again.” Johann tells the group. 

“Of course you did, Johann.” Snotlout yells, having Hookfang fly over to the other dragon riders, “It's what you do!”

“It's gone.” Hiccup sighs, “They have the lens.”

“Hey, Hiccup.” Fishlegs says getting his friends attention, “We got Heather and Windshear.”

“You're right, Fishlegs.” Hiccup responds, “You're right. And given the choice, there is no choice.” 

The dragon riders went into the direction of the edge to talk about everything that conspired that day. 

---

“So you just threw it at some random guy on a dragon because things were getting a little toasty for you?” Tuffnut asks Snotlout after finding out what happened to the chicken feed, “Where's your gumption? Where's your chutzpah, eh?”

“Clearly, he's lost it. Look at him. He's chutzpah-less.” Ruffnut responds. 

“Tragic and sad.” Tuffnut says his face dropping. 

“Or maybe the best day ever.” Snotlout tells them, taking his helmet off holding its contents to the twins. 

“Hmm. Okay, I'll bite.” Tuffnut mutters, grabbing some of the popcorn. 

“It looks like little fluffy clouds.” Ruffnut tells them, grabbing some as well. 

“And it tastes like Valhalla itself. It's corn, but when it gets heated with your dragon fire, it pops open, and you get this.” Snotlout responds, holding it up and eating it. 

“Hold on. Hold on.” Tuffnut tells them holding his hands out, “There's one final test we need to do to be sure. Go on, Chicken.” Tuffnut places popcorn in front of the chicken, who starts eating it, “Brilliant. What shall we call it?”

“Popped, you said?” Ruffnut asks, “Popped corn?”

“Perfect.” Tuffnut responds, “We shall call it wait for it: The clouds of corn.”

“Rolls trippingly off the tongue.” Ruffnut laughs. 

“Yes. Yes. But I still feel like it's missing something. Something salty.” Tuffnut starts looking around. 

“Mm. Something creamy.” Ruffnut adds on. 

“And yet at the same time, something sweet.” Tuffnut finishes. 

“Yak butter!” The two nut twins yell simultaneously, running to find what they wanted to add. 

“So, none of you guys saw that, right there on Heather's belt?” Tuffnut asks. 

“Hey, you didn't see it either.” Leyla responds to him. 

“So not the point.” Tuffnut responds, running off with his sister.

“Has anyone seen Dagur?” Hiccup asks, the group. Dak points up to one of the platforms which had both Dagur and Heather on it. Heather had a paper in her hand, while Dagur was holding her.  “He must have told her.”

“Told her what?” Astrid asks. 

“That we found Oswald.” Hiccup replies. 

“At least she can put it behind her.” Astrid responds, leaning into Hiccup. 

“Let's hope.” Hiccup responds, putting his arm around her. 

“What was in the letter?” Astrid asks. 

“Closure.” Hiccup responds. 

“Ew!” Snotlout yells at them. 

“You know what’s really gross?” Dak asks the man. 

“What?” Snotlout asks. 

“Whatever this outfit is.” Leyla laughs, “You look like you got robbed and they couldn’t take anything because you were so poor." 

"Or they didn't want anything you had." Dak adds on

“Hey.” Snotlout yells, Dak was laughing beside his twin watching him, Snotlout storms out leaving the twins still laughing at him. 

Notes:

Halfway through I forgot that I didn't put Cutter, Aggro, or Burple so let's just say they stayed on berserker island

Did anyone else notice how Astrid randomly appears in sins of the past, bc she's supposed to be on the edge with the twins but shes in the fight scene with Krogan and I only just noticed this while writing this chapter

Beginning to tie more of what happened in the first season of Rescue Riders, if you couldn't tell when they were talking about people's obsession with animals, they were talking about Duggard

Chapter 24: Chain of Command

Summary:

The beginning is no bark all bite the rest is chain of command

Notes:

I totally forgot about Plain Sight and by the time I remembered I already finished this chapter, so it did happen I'm just not writing it

After the dragon riders discovered about Johann, all the island that got materials from him had to find a new way to get them. One of the things all of the islands needed was willow bark, it didn’t grow on any of the islands that needed it. Willow Bark was an important part of most medical care on the islands, it was the main ingredient in basically everything and not very many islands had it. 

“Dagur, where else could Willow Bark be?” Dak asks the man, the three of them had been searching islands around the archipelago attempting to find Willow Bark before they ran out of medicine.

“We have a few more islands we could check.” Dagur replies, looking at a map.  

Leyla looks over the man’s shoulder looking for a certain island, “If I had to guess what island had Willow Bark, I would say that one.” Leyla points at an island on the map. 

“Hazard Island?” Dagur asks the girl, “Sounds like a great island to take the two of you.” 

“It’s not that dangerous.” Dak cuts in, “The most dangerous thing is Grumpy pants.” 

“Grumpy Pants?” Dagur asks. 

“Grumbleguard.” Leyla explains, “He’s a forever horn, the oldest living dragon.” 

“A cranky one.” Dak mutters. 

“Hmm?” Dagur asks. 

“Dak pissed him off the first time they met so he got blown off the island.” Leyla explains, grabbing the map from the man. 

“What exactly did you do?” Dagur asks him. 

“I snuck on to his island, which he really didn’t like.” Dak responds. 

“And that’s when you got blown off the island?” Dagur asks him. 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Dak answers. 

“Anyways.” Leyla starts changing the subject, “Hazard Island is where we have the highest chance to find it.” 

“And how far is Hazard Island?” Dagur asks her. 

“Like 30 minutes south.” Leyla responds 

“Then let's go.” Dak yells, running towards his dragon. 

“Yeah, I agree.” Dagur responds, walking towards his dragon with Leyla near him. 

“Where now?” Summer asks them. 

“Hazard Island.” Dak responds. 

“Well there will definitely be Willow Bark there.” Winger responds. 

“We only have to deal with Cranky pants.” Dak laughs. 

“Wanna call him that nickname to his face?” Summer asks the boy. 

“No I’d rather not.” Dak responds. 

---

The three of them flew towards Hazard Island, Dagur was looking around following where the twins were leading. As they flew to land on the island, the wind started. “What is this?” Dagur asks them. 

“Grumpy-pant’s power.” Dak responds, “It’s his defence for the island.”

“I thought you guys were friends now?” Sleuther asks. 

“We are.” Dak responds. 

“He probably just doesn’t see us,” Leyla responds, “He is old.” 

“You want to say that to his face?” Dak asks. 

“He knows that he’s old.” Leyla responds, “It won’t offend him.” 

“But it does when I say it.” Dak argues. 

“Maybe it’s because you say it.” Winger suggests. 

“Sh.” Dak whispers towards the dragon. 

“Get away from my island!” Grumblegard yells at them. 

“It’s us Gumblegard” Dak yells back, Grumblegard stops blowing wind at them allowing the three to land on the island. 

“Saw the triple strike, didn’t see either of you.” Grumblegard explains to the two of them. 

“So you start attacking.” Dak asks the older dragon. 

“You should’ve known I would.” Grumblegard responds, “What are you two doing back here, going back to Huttsgalor or something?” 

“No, definitely not.” Dak mutters, “We’re trying to find Willow Bark.” 

“Then you’ve come to the right place,” Grumblegard tells them, walking away with the rest of them following, “Here is the Willow Bark.”
“Thanks Grumblegard.” Dak mutters. 

“Can you two grab the bags we brought?” Dagur asks them. 

“Yeah sure.” Leyla responds, the two twins run towards their dragons grabbing the bags off. 

“So who are you two, and how do you know the twins?” Grumblegard asks Sluether. 

“We saved them from dragon hunters a few months ago.” Sleuther responds, “And they started living on Berserker Island with us.” 

“Good for them, after Hutsgalor I thought they’d never settle down again.”

“Hutsgalor?” 

“It was the previous island the rescue riders lived on.” Grumblegard explains. 

“Rescue Riders?”

“Oh you don’t know anything about before.” Grumblegard mutters, “You might want to talk to them about that.” 

“Got it.” Sleuther responds to the older dragon. 

“We got the bags Dag!” Dak yelled running up the older man. 

“Great, let's start collecting bark.” Dagur responds. 

Dak turns to Grumblegard, “Are we allowed to?”

“Yes.” 

“Just wanted to make sure last time we tried to take tree bark you weren’t happy.” Dak explains. 

“If I didn’t want you guys to take it, why would I lead you to it?” Grumblegard asks. 

“He has a point, Dak.” Leyla tells him. 

“He could’ve just been being mean and wasn’t going to give us it.” Dak explains his reasoning or attempts to. 

“That’s your entire reason?” Leyla asks. 

“Okay, okay.” Dagur mutters, getting in the middle of the twins, “You two can argue all you want after we’re done, got it?” 

“Yes.” Both of the twins respond. 

“Now, let’s start.” 

The three of them gather plenty of bark with their dragons and Grumblegard’s help, Dagur was attaching one of the bags to his saddle while the twins were talking. 

“Where are the babies?” Dak asks. 

“In my cave.” Grumblegard responds, “You guys came during nap time.” 

“Aw man, I was really wishing to see them.” Leyla responds. 

“You can see them another time.” Grumblegard responds, “I’m not waking them up.” 

“Understandable.” Dak responds. 

“Come on you two!” Dagur calls, “We still need to drop some of this bark off at Berk before sunset.” 

“Yeah, we got it.” Dak responds, turning to the older dragon, “See ya, Grumblegard.” 

“Bye, Grumblegard.” Leyla tells him. 

“See you kids.” Grumblegard tells them, walking away to his cave. 

“We have enough right?” Dak asks, climbing onto Winger. 

“Yeah, we should.” Dagur responds, “At least until we find another trader to trust.” 

“Do you think Hiccup and Stoick already got Willow Bark for Berk?” Leyla asks. 

“They might’ve but it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Dagur explains. 

“I guess so.” Leyla mutters. 

They take off from the island flying towards Berk, landing near the docks where they saw the dragon riders. 

“Hi Dagur.” Gobber greets, “What are you three doing here.” 

“Just wanted to drop off some Willow Bark, I know it’s hard to find.” Dagur explains, handing one of the bags over. 

“Thank you, Dagur.” Gobber tells him, “I’ll tell Stoick you dropped by when he gets back.”

“Where is he?” Leyla asks, from the back of her dragon. 

“Funny enough, he went to find Willow Bark.” Gobber explains. 

“Well at least you have some now, even if Stoick brings some back.” Dak tells him. 

“Yeah, thank you.” 

“Anyways, where is everyone else?” Dagur asks. 

“In the great hall.” Gobber explains, “Three new traders showed up and the twins are having a cooking competition.” 

“Are they cooking?” Dak asks, “Or the traders?” 

“For the island's health I really hope the traders.” Leyla mutters. 

“It’s the traders.” Gobber tells them, “I’ll tell you about it the next time you visit.” 

“Okay, we better get back to Berserker Island, before it gets any darker.” Dagur tells the man. 

“Bye.” Gobber tells them, walking towards the great hall. 

“I can’t wait to hear how that goes.” Dak chuckles. 

“It’s going to be entertaining for sure.” Leyla responds. 

---

It was a few days later, Stoick sent them a terror mail thanking them for the Willow Bark. Gobber sent one as well telling what happened because he couldn’t wait until he saw them next. Dagur had gotten up before the twins as usual and was starting the fire. 

It was getting towards the colder months in their archipelago, it hadn’t snowed on any of the island yet but the cold was slowly creeping in. Heather joined Dagur not long after, going to the kitchen to start cooking, since Heather returning to the island both of the twins had effectively banned Dagur from cooking which he wasn’t necessarily mad about. 

After a while one of the twins came down to join them, Leyla sat down in one of the chairs near the fire watching Heather cook. “How’d you sleep?” Dagur asks the girl. 

“It was freezing.” Leyla responds. 

“Yeah, winter must be coming early this year.” Heather cuts in. 

“We need to get more firewood.” Dagur mutters, looking at the pile that had been shirking over the days. 

“Take Leyla and go get some, it’ll be a little longer until this is done anyways.” Heather responds. 

Dagur turns to the girl who was now laying in the chair, “Fine.” Leyla sighs standing up. 

“Come on, you dork.” Dagur chuckles while walking out of the house with the younger girl. When he opened the door a terrible terror comes flying through the door landing on the table. 

Heather stops what she was doing grabbing the note from the dragon, 

Dagur, 

We’re meeting with the other leaders to find a place to hide the dragon eye lens

Astrid and Fishlegs will meet you at Berserker Island to show you the way to Defenders of the Wing while Me and Snotlout get Atali 

Fishlegs Astrid, and the twins should be there at midday 

“How about you take the twins, and I’ll handle things here.” Heather suggests. 

“Are you sure?” Dagur asks. 

“Yes, brother.” Heather responds. 

“Can I wake Dak up?” Leyla asks hopefully. 

“No,” Dagur responds, “I’m not in the mood to deal with a fight right now, I’ll wake him up.” 

“We don’t fight that often.” Leyla responds to the man who was walking up the stairs. 

“You did last time Dak woke you up.” Heather argues. 

“Nevermind then.” Leyla mutters. 

---

“I don’t get why we had to wake up so early for this.” Dak complains, they were flying towards defenders of the wing with Astrid, the nut twins and Fishlegs

“It was almost midday when we got to Berserker Island.” Astrid responds to the boy. 

“He’s running on his own timeline.” Leyla explains, “It doesn’t help that he stayed up half the night. 

“Leyla!” Dak yells. 

“I thought we talked about that?” Dagur asks the boy. 

“We did.” Dak responds, “I didn’t listen.” 

“So, then you can’t complain.” Leyla responds, “This is a self-made problem that is easily fixed.” 

Dak groans at his sister's comment, leaning back in saddle, “How much longer until we reach this Defenders of the Wing anyways?” 

“Not much longer.” Fishlegs responds. 

“Thank Thor.” Dak mutters. 

The group of them land on the island, greeted by Mala and Throk who were waiting for them. 

“Welcome Dragon riders.” Mala greets. 

“Hello Mala.” Fishlegs replies, getting off his dragon with the others. 

“We already have the meeting set up in the middle of town, all we need is Hiccup Haddock and Atali.” Mala explains. 

“Great.” Astrid smiles. 

Mala turns to the Berserker who were standing near the dragon riders, “Dagur the Deranged I’ve heard much about you.” 

“Pleasure to meet you.” Dagur replies. 

Mala looks behind him to see the twins still on their dragons watching the interaction, “And those two are?” 

“Dak and Leyla.” Astrid answers, “They’re with Dagur.” 

“Hi.” Dak greets. 

“Hello.” Mala tells them. 

“Well let’s get this meeting started.” Fishlegs tells the group, walking over to the meeting spot with the others. 

Astrid and the other dragon riders were sitting on one side of the table with Dagur and Mala sitting on the other. The twins were watching the interactions from where they were sitting on the ground. 

“Once Hiccup arrives with Atali, we've got to figure out a strategy to deal with the Flyers and now, Johann.” Astrid explains, putting the bag of dragon eye lenses on the table in front of the leaders, “Until then, we have to find a safe place to keep the Dragon Eye Lenses.”

“Might I suggest we place them inside our volcano. It's far from the easiest location to access.” Mala suggests to the group

“Inside an active volcano?” Dagur chuckles, “That's what you're proposing?”

“Yes.” Mala responds.

“Well, what happens when, you know, it erupts?” Dagur asks the women. 

“He has a point.” Dak whispers to Leyla

“If it erupts, we have the Eruptodon to manage its lava flow.” Mala explains to the man. 

"If," "when," same thing really.” Dagur responds, "And you're sure your "Great Protector" can handle a full-scale eruption? Of course you're not. Berserker Island is the obvious choice. Our Berserker guards-”

“Allowed a coup to take place right under their noses.” Mala cuts the man off, “I do have that correct, right?” 

“She has a point.” Leyla responds to Dak. 

“To be fair it was also Erik with that one.” Dak argues. 

“This one thinks she's got it all figured out.” Dagur laughs, looking at the dragon riders, “But she really has nothing figured out!”

The older twins were eating popcorn watching the interaction between the two leaders, Dak nudges his twin who was attempting not to laugh at Dagur’s responses. 

“I wonder how this will end.” Dak whispers to her. 

“I bet on a fight.” Leyla responds, “And Miss Mala would totally win.” 

“No, Dag would,” Dak responds. 

“No.” Leyla argues, “It would be Miss Mala.” 

“Let’s wait and see then.” Dak responds. 

“Okay, let's just all calm down for a second.” Astrid tells the adults. 

“I'm calm!” Dagur yells, scaring the nut twins making the two of them drop their food, Dagur starts laughing looking at the dragon riders, “Do I not look calm? I mean, I'm not crazy. It's her, right? I mean, look at me.” 

“Dag definitely is not calm.” Dak mutters. 

“He’s lying to himself.” 

Astrid and Fishlegs share a glace before Fishlegs stands up with Meatlug following “We got this. Meatlug, drop spin.” Meatlug spins, draping her tail to create a circle in the dirt, “This is what I like to call "common ground." Won't you join me?” 

Mala and Dagur look at each other before walking over to Fishlegs standing in the circle with him, “Oh this’ll be fun.” Leyla mutters. 

“Definitely.” Dak responds, standing up to hear what’s happening better, “We should get closer.” Leyla nods standing up beside him, walking closer to the adults 

Mala and Dagur turn their backs to each other, with Fishlegs in between them, “Now we can have a calm discussion.” 

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Leyla mutters. 

---

It was sunset now; both of the redhead twins were sitting on the table that was previously being used to have the meeting watching as the adults attempted to stop the leaders from murdering each other. 

“Told you it would be a fight.” Leyla tells her twin. 

“And I still am betting for Dag to win.” Dak responds. 

Mala and Dagur were both talking over each other neither of them wanting to hear the other one

“I've been leading the Defenders of the Wing for years now.” Mala tells the group

 “This girl thinks that she has been in more battles than me? I mean look at me, I'm battle-hardened.” Dagur interrupts as the woman talks. 

“Alright, okay!” Fishlegs yells interrupting the two adults, “I understand what you're saying. Dagur, Mala wants you to know that she's been through more conflicts than you have hairs on your head.”

“Oh, my hairline!” Dagur yells at the woman “Really? Oh, well, um, sorry, it was on my father's side.” 

“This is getting entertaining.” Dak mutters. 

“You said it kid.” Tuffnut responds. 

“You can tell Miss Conquest over there that although she hopes her plan works, hope is, in fact, not a strategy!” Dagur yells past Fishlegs towards the woman. 

“Ugh!” Mala yells in response. 

“I think she heard you.” Fishlegs mutters towards the man. 

“Hope is instrumental!” Mala yells at the man getting in his face. 

“Hope is not a strategy” Dagur yells at the woman. 

The two of them continue to argue cutting each other off 

“To keeping”

 “Hope” 

“morale” 

“Is not a strategy.” 

“high, if you knew”

“Hope”

“Anything!” 

“is not a strategy. Infinity!” Dagur yells, cutting the conversation to the end. 

The older twins pull Fishlegs away from the arguing leaders, who continues arguing in the background

“Fishlegs, Fishlegs, Fishlegs.” Tuffnut starts, “Obviously mediation isn't your forte.”

“Obvi. What you need are professionals.” Ruffnut tells the teen. 

“And it just so happens that Ruff and I have mediated every Thorston family squabble, since before we could talk.” Tuffnut tells the group, “Yeah, we did a couple in the old womb. Don't you worry. We'll have this situation under control before you can say-” 

“Tightrope.” Ruffnut interrupts. 

“Tight, what?” Fishlegs asks. 

“I’m concerned already.” Dak mutters. 

“I’m always concerned when it comes to those two.” Leyla adds on. 

---

“Tightrope!” Ruffnut yells looking up at the rope they put up already. 

“The first one to knock the other off the rope wins!” Tuffnut explains. 

“Tightrope, tightrope, tightrope, tightrope.” Ruffnut yells over and over as the two leaders start getting closer on the rope. 

“Uh, do you two even know what "mediation" means?” Astrid asks the nut twins. 

“Yeah, the act of spending time in quiet thought or reflection.” Tuffnut answers. 

“Usually resulting in clarity of mind and relaxed bowels.” Ruffnut responds. 

“Uh, that's meditation, sort of.” Leyla responds to the twins. 

“Hold on, hold on. Who's the authority on mediation, you or us?” Tuffnut asks, pointing at the younger girl, turning to Astrid, “And who's the authority on relaxed bowels? Ruffnut. I thought so.”

“Ugh.” Astrid tells the two of them. 

“I think there's a better way to-” Fishlegs starts. 

“Nope!” Ruffnut yells, turning to her twin “So after this we should do trust exercises.” 

“That sounds genius.” Tuffnut responds, “We could do a trust walk over lava.” 

“What!” Dak asks. 

“Oooh next we could do a trust fall off something really high.” Tuffnut suggests. 

“These ideas aren’t good,” Leyla mutters. 

“Well, I don’t care what either of you two thinks.” Ruffnut yells at them, “Let's start now.” 

---

“I still don’t like this.” Leyla mutters, watching Dagur and Mala prepare to cross the lava over a bridge. 

“You and me both.” Fishlegs responds to her. 

“Okay, forward.” Mala tells the man holding his shoulders, “Carefully, carefully.” Dagur attempts to go another direction, causing Mala to start yelling at him “No, no, no. Don't go left.”

“Oh, oh!” Dagur yells, before they make it on solid ground,

“I was expecting something more entertaining.” Tuffnut mutters. 

“Yeah, me too.” Ruffnut responds. 

 “Oh.” Dagur sighs, kneeling over to get his breath back. 

Ruffnut walks towards Mala with a blindfold covering her eyes then leading her to a higher spot, Dagur was at the bottom of the cliff with Tuffnut ready to catch the woman. Mala falls down into the berserker arms, 

“Caught you, Mala.” Dagur chuckles, “Not as bony as I thought you were.” 

“What did you say?” Mala asks pulling off the blindfold 

“Kidding! Kidding.” Dagur tells her, smiling. 

Dagur and Mala start to become bashful around each other, 

“That’s disgusting.” Leyla mutters, watching the two adults. 

“You’re telling me.” Dak responds. 

“I can't believe this is actually working.” Astrid tells them. 

“Can you believe that this is actually working?” Tuffnut asks his twin. 

“I mean, that is the dumbest thing we've ever come up with.” Ruffnut adds in. 

“They're eating it up.” Tuffnut laughs. 

“I'm going back for seconds.” Ruffnut chuckles. 

A Terrible Terror flies in and grabs onto Fishlegs' face, much to the teens annoyance, “Ugh, the face. It's always the face.” Fishlegs grabs the note allowing the dragon to fly off. 

We need help immediately at Wing Maidens 

Krogan and his flyers are attacking 

We need help right now 

“Oh, no. The Dragon Flyers have attacked Wing maiden Island.” Fishlegs yells to the group. 

“Mala! Dagur!” Astrid yells getting the two leader’s attention, “Hiccup's in trouble.” 

Mala and Dagur both run towards Sleuther, flying off shortly followed by the rest of the dragon riders. 

“Are the kids going to help fight the dragon fliers?” Mala asks them. 

“Probably.” Tuffnut yells. 

“I wouldn’t worry about them, they’ve been flying dragons since they were like four.” Ruffnut adds on. 

“Technically we were two.” Dak corrects. 

“Where are your parents?” Mala asks them. 

“We don’t have time to go into that story.” Leyla tells the woman, looking at the island in front of them. 

“Okay everyone!” Astrid yells, “We don’t know what we’re flying into but we got to be prepared, we find Krogan and get him dealt with.” 

“Got it.” Dak yells. 

They fly towards the dragon fliers, Krogan was flying over the forest, Hiccup and Snotlout were in front of him. Krogan attempts to fire on the two, but was stopped by Sleuther. 

“Get ready to fire from the side!” Mala yells to Dagur 

“On your command, Mala.” Dagur responds. 

“Gross.” Dak mutters, following Sleuther with Leyla. 

Krogan's Singetail fires at Sleuther, causing Sleuther to get yelled at the defender of the wing leader, “Roll, dragon, roll! Now!”

Krogan looks around to see his Flyers being taken out and now him, being outnumbered, wisely chooses to retreat flying away from the dragon riders. 

“We make a pretty good team!” Mala and Dagur tell each other at once 

“Jinx!” Dagur gasps. 

“Jinx?” Mala asks the man. 

“I can't believe we ever argued.” Dagur responds to her 

“Nor can I, Dagur the Deranged.” Mala replies. 

"Deranged." Dagur says in aw, laughing, “It sounds so royal when she says it.” 

“Obviously.” Mala responds. 

“Another successful Thorston mediation.” Tuffnut yells “Ha-ha! Now go relax those bowels, people.” 

“If they continue acting like that, I’m going to murder you.” Leyla tells the older twins. 

“Just be happy they aren’t trying to murder each other.” Dak responds to her. 

“I guess,” Leyla mutters, looking at the two adults who were now flirting, “It’s still gross.” 

“Yeah, definitely.” Dak laughs. 

Minden was given the bag of lenses; the leaders were in the nursery and the dragon eye lenses were put into a hidden drawer. “These will be safe here.” Minden tells the group turning to face them. 

“You still quitting?” Snotlout asks the girl 

“My judgment isn't the best. I've proven that these past hours.” Minden responds to the dragon rider. 

“Nonsense!” Atali responds to her, “Are you overeager? Yes. Reckless? Yes. But so was I. You're a Wingmaiden. And your resolve will make you a great leader someday.” 

Atali walks away to the other leaders leaving Snotlout and Minden more or less alone.

“Oh, my Thor Dak I think Snotlout finally found someone that he doesn’t annoy.” Leyla tells her twin, just loud enough for Snotlout to hear. 

“I didn’t know that he could do that.” Dak responds. 

“I didn’t know a person like that existed.” 

“Both of you shut up.” Snotlout yells at them. 

“We can get black mail from Hookfang” Dak suggests ignoring the dragon rider’s comment, “and tell her everything he doesn’t want her to know.” 

“How can they get black mail from a dragon?” Minden asks Snotlout. 

“Long story,” Snotlout replies, 

“Tell me part of it.” Minden asks. 

“It’s not really my story to tell.” Snotlout replies. 

‘Hmm.” Minden responds, “I might just have to take them up on their offer of telling me your embarrassing moments.” 

“What?” Snotlout asks. 

“I’m only kidding.” Minden laughs. 

Dagur was laughing at the twins and Snotlout when Mala walked up to him, “Out of everything I thought of you being parental wasn’t one of them.” 

“A lot of people tell me that.” Dagur laughs, “But I’m stuck with the two of them.” 

“Hmm.” Mala mutters, looking at the twins who were still laughing at Snotlout.

---

The dragon hunters base was fuller than normal, there weren't only hunters there but pirates as well. Selvanna, Erik, and Waldondo were all in a tent with the other leaders. 

“Are we sure this will work?” Selvanna asks. 

“Yes.” Waldondo replies, “We send a terror mail to them that seems to be from Marena asking them to meet in Hutsgalor for something important.” 

“Where we capture them and get everything we need.” Krogan continues. 

“Then we trade them to the dragon riders for the lenses.” Johann finishes. 

“We'll be rich and get everything we need.” Erik tells them. 

“You three better follow through with your part after this.” Krogan tells the pirates. 

“We will don’t worry.” Waldondo tells them, “Just don’t underestimate those dragon talking twins.” 

“Dragon talkers still seem a little out there.” Krogan mutters. 

“We’ve seen it multiple times.” Selvanna responds, “Even Ryker believed it.

“My brother would believe anything.” Viggo interrupts walking in, “I wasn’t aware of a meeting.” 

“Sorry we thought you were busy.” Johann responds. 

“Sure.” Viggo mutters, “So the twins, what's the plan for that?” 

“We’re going to lure them out and get all we need from them and the dragon riders.” Johann responds. 

“Honestly I think those two are too smart for this plan.” Viggo responds. 

“Well personality they are two kids I doubt they’ll think hard about this.” Krogan responds to the man. 

Krogan and Johann walk out leaving the rest of them alone, “They have no clue what they’re dealing with.” Erik mutters, “I bet those two could calm down the red death if they wanted too.” 

“I wouldn’t doubt it from them.” Viggo responds. 

“This is going to be entertaining.” Selvanna laughs, walking out with the other pirates. 

Notes:

The self-made problem part was based on a conversation I had with my mom today

Chapter 25: Huttsgalor

Summary:

A Terror Mail from Huttsgalor?

Notes:

HAPPY NEW YEAR
I am totally starting it with updating my Httyd fics so watch out for more updates in these fandoms

It had been a few days since the meeting of the leaders, Dagur and Heather were both asleep but they twins weren’t. Dak was in Leyla’s room sitting with her. 

“Are you ever going to tell Dag about your nightmares?” Leyla asks her twin. 

“Will you?” Dak argues, 

“Good point.” Leyla sighs. 

“How would we even start talking about the nightmares?” Dak asks, “Tell him we’ve been keeping secrets about our past and that we used to live on an island called Huttsgalor but left because a weirdo rallied the island against us making us leave?” 

“Yeah,” Leyla sighs, leaning back onto her bed, “This sucks.” 

“Yep.” Dak responds. 

The two of them sit in silence when they hear something coming from outside, Dak jumps up looking out the window seeing a terrible terror sitting outside staring at them. 

“It was just a terrible terror.” Dak sighs, turning to his twin. 

“Weird.” Leyla mutters, walking up to her brother looking out the window as well. 

“Why do you say that?” Dak asks her. 

“Because that terrible terror was a terror mail.” Leyla explains. 

“It’s the middle of the night, who sends a terror mail this late?” Dak asks. 

“Let’s go find out.” Leyla responds, grabbing her shawl from where it was sitting on her chair. 

“Leyla.” Dak sighs, following her. 

“We’ll be quick, Dag won’t even know.” Leyla responds, running down the stairs. Dak was close behind her grabbing his own shawl from where he left it on the table. 

“Ugh.” Dak sighs again, throwing on his shawl following her out of the house. 

The terrible terror was sitting on one of the benches that was outside, Leyla grabs the note from the dragon allowing it to fly away. 

Dak, Leyla 

I know the both of you are staying away from Huttsgalor but we need help, pirates are constantly in our harbors taking resources away from people who need them. Duggard doesn’t know I know where you two are, but I hope to get a response to this, Even if with the two of you living with the dragon riders you’ll always be the Rescue Riders and we need you now. 

-Marena

“How did she find us?” Dak asks grabbing the paper away from Leyla 

“It’s not unknown that we live here now.” Leyla mutters, “I wasn’t expecting it to travel all the way to Hutsgalor though.” 

“What are we going to do?” Dak asks, “Marena is asking for help.” 

“I know, I know.” Leyla mutters, “What if it isn’t from Marena? The pirates know where we are and that we trust Marena.” 

“We need to help.” Dak responds, “We are the Rescue Riders still.” 

Leyla sighs, turning away from Dak, “Fine, let’s go.”

“Yes.” Dak whisper yells. 

“But first we need to get our weapons from inside then we go to get the dragons.” Leyla explains. 

“What about Dag and Heather?” Dak asks. 

“We leave the note in one of our rooms, and hope to be back before they notice.” Leyla responds. 

“Okay.” Dak responds, “Let’s go.” 

The two of them follow through Leyla’s plan leaving the note in Leyla’s room on her desk, walking up to the dragon stables the two of them walk in attempting to be quiet. 

“Guys.” Dak says attempting to wake the sleeping dragons. 

“Dak what?” Winger asks, looking up at the boy, standing when he sees what Dak had in his arms, “What’s going on?”

“We got a terror mail from Huttsgalor.” Dak responds. 

“And?” Summer asks, looking at her rider next to her. 

“Marena is asking for us to come,” Leyla responds, attaching her gear to her saddle. 

“Are we going?” Cutter asks. 

“I thought we talked about never going back.” Burple cuts in. 

“We did, Burps.” Dak sighs, “But we’re still the Rescue Riders and Huttsgalor needs our help.” 

“Fine.” Cutter mutters. 

“Where are you going?” Windshear asks the group. 

“Hutsgalor.” Summer responds, “It’s not far from here.” 

“And where is Heather and Dagur?” Windshear asks. 

“At home, sleeping.” Dak replies to the dragon. 

“You aren’t going alone.” Sleuther tells them. 

“We won’t be alone.” Leyla responds to the dragons, “I bet we’ll be back by morning.” 

“If you're not, we’re taking Dagur and Heather to find you.” Sleuther tells them. 

“We left a note in case anything goes sideways, we will be fine.” Leyla explains to the dragon. 

“Okay,” Sleuther sighs. 

Dak, Leyla and the others leave the island flying through the night sky, Aggro is lit up allowing the rest of them to see better. 

“So what happened on Hutsgalor?” Aggro asks the group. 

“We were living there for a few months, and we found baby dragons that needed to be fed. So Dak snuck onto Grumblegard’s island which then caused Grumblegard to attack Hutsgalor. A man named Magnus got the island against us, making us leave. We were found by Dag about a year later.” Leyla explains. 

“And what about the pirates?” Aggro asks her. 

“While we lived on Hutsgalor there was this woman named Marena, she- well helped us in a way.” Leyla attempts to explain. 

“After scaring the shit out of Burple.” Dak laughs. 

“It wasn’t funny.” Burple mutters. 

“It was,” Cutter responds. 

“It was also funny when Burple scared you.” Leyla chuckles. 

“Hey!” Cutter yells, “Marena’s story was terrifying.” 

“Can you continue the first story?” Aggro asks. 

“Yeah, anyway Waldondo and Marena used to be friends, we don’t know what happened between them but Marena doesn’t trust him anymore. One day Waldondo came to Hutsgalor and wanted our help to find Odin's gem, which happened to already be with Marena, so she knew it was a trap. We went with him to find it and got captured by him, Marena freed us, and we didn’t see Waldondo again until he found out where to find the Golden dragon.” Leyla continues explaining.

“Woah, let’s back up.” Aggro tells them, “More about the treasure hunt of Odin’s gem.” 

“We’ll tell you later,” Dak responds, “Let’s continue with this story.” 

“The Golden Dragon only lays an egg once every 100 years, and the egg is made of solid gold. The pirates found out where to find it. Waldondo stole a map from Selvanna the Sly, and brought it to us. We captured him and brought him to Marena who forgave him for some reason. We went on the hunt to find the golden dragon, that’s where we met Erik the wretched.” 

“The pirate that teamed up with Savage?” Aggro asks. 

“Yes.” Leyla responds, “Erik thought we were going to help him, when he discovered we weren’t he had his hunter attack us, then ran away. It just happened he went down the wrong tunnel, we went down the right one and when we found the next step. Selvanna revealed herself, it turned out she had been following us the entire time.” 

“How did you not notice that?” Aggro asks. 

“We- I don’t know.” Leyla sighs, “We got our map stolen by Waldondo who happened to be following Selvanna, he trapped us in a cave and left with the rest of the pirates. We got out of the cave and Cutter had the idea to make them fight each other.” 

“Genius right?” Cutter asks. 

“It would’ve been if they didn’t team up to try to fight us.” Burple responds. 

“Hey-” Cutter responds. 

“Anyways!” Leyla yells, “They teamed up and tried to fight us, we found the golden dragon, her egg and made the plan to make the pirates think the egg was gone.” 

“And it worked?” Aggro asks. 

“Yep.” Leyla responds, “The pirates should still think the egg is gone but you never know with them.” 

“Well that was a great story.” Cutter responds to them, “But I see Hutsgalor.” 

The sun was rising now and people were coming out of their homes in Hutsgalor, the Rescue Riders landed on a sea stack looking at the island. 

“Nothing has changed.” Leyla notes looking through a telescope. 

“What now?” Dak asks, “Is what Marena said true?” 

“No.” Leyla mutters, “The harbor looks just the same as when we left.” 

“Then the terror mail wasn’t from Marena?” Burple asks. 

“We still should talk to her.” Dak responds. 

“Yeah, but I really don’t want to deal with Duggard.” Leyla mutters. 

“We might have too, Ley.” Dak responds, walking up to her, “Duggard was on our side, he won’t be mad at us.” 

“That wasn’t my concern.” Leyla responds, “If he sees us, he’ll invite us to return to living here.” 

“Then we’ll explain what’s happening now.” Dak replies, “Duggard will understand, hopefully.” 

“Okay, let’s go.” Leyla says quietly. 

---

The island of Hutsgalor was different after the Rescue Riders left, not physically but something always felt gone. Elbone wasn’t trying any new jobs anymore, he didn’t see the point of it. The danger of the jobs wasn't worth it anymore. Hannahr had an old piece of belzuim sitting on her desk, she told herself she’d never use it in metal. The Rescue Riders are the ones who gave it to her so she wanted to keep it. 

Magnus on the other hand loved the Rescue Riders being gone, he started making more inventions which continuously didn’t work. Not long after the twins left Magnus’s nephew, Axel came to live with him much to the older man’s distress. 

It was the earlier hours of the morning, Duggard was walking through the town helping with his tasks for the day. 

“Good morning, Duggard.” Hannahr greets. 

“Morning, Hannahr how are you today?” Duggard looks towards the woman who was looking into the horizon, not answering Duggard, “Hannahr?”

Duggard looks out to where Hannahr was looking, seeing why she was reacting, the rescue riders landed in the middle of town not far away from them. The people already outside stopped talking, and were staring at the twins. 

“Dak? Leyla?” Duggard asks, walking towards them. 

“Hey, Duggard.” Dak greets, the chief walks up to them taking their appearances in. 

They didn’t look very different. The only difference was that both of them had extra scars covering their skin, “W-where have you two been?” Duggard asks. 

“A little bit everywhere.” Leyla responds. 

“And you never came back here?” Duggard questions. 

“We didn’t think it would be the best idea.” Dak responds, “With everything that happened here.” 

“Anyways,” Leyla sighs, “Is Marena here?” 

“Yes, why?” Duggard asks. 

“We got a terror mail from her.” Dak responds. 

“A what mail?” Duggard questions. 

“It doesn’t matter, is she home?” Dak asks. 

“Yeah, she is.” Duggard answers, “Go see her.” 

“Thanks.” Leyla sighs, walking back with her brother towards the dragons behind them. They take off away from the chief towards Marena’s home. “That was weird.” 

“Yeah.” Dak responds, “What do you think?” 

“That we need to talk to Marena and get out of here.” Leyla responds. 

“We’re just going to leave again?” Dak asks. 

“You got a better idea?” Leyla asks in response. 

“Well no.” Dak replies, “What are we going to do, we all saw Duggard and Hannahr’s faces.” 

“They looked like they saw a ghost.” Summer notes, “Or well two.” 

“I'm just happy Finn wasn’t in town.” Dak sighs, “He was already crushed enough that we left the first time.” 

“I know.” Leyla sighs. 

They land in front of Marena’s house, both Dak and Leyla dismount their dragons and walk towards the woman’s door. Dak knocks on the door, stepping back to wait for a response. “I swear if she’s behind us.” Dak mutters.
“Above you actually.” Marena responds to them, jumping down to see them, “Rescue Riders.” 

“Hi Marena.” Leyla greets. 

“So where have you all been?” Marena asks. 

“Wha-wait you don’t know?” Dak asks.

“If I had known I would’ve come to see you.” Marena responds, “I’m not heartless, I did sort of miss you too.” 

“Oh how kind of you.” Leyla mutters, “Anyways so didn’t send us a terror mail?” 

“No.” Marena tells them, “Why?” 

“Because we got a terror mail that was apparently for you.”  Dak explains. 

“It was definitely not me.” Marena tells them again, “Do you have it with you?” 

“No, we left it at home.” Dak responds. 

“And where is home now?” Marena asks. 

“Berserker Island.” Leyla answers. 

“Hmm?” Marena asks, “You two are living on Berserker Island? A dragon hunting tribe?” 

“They don’t hunt anymore.” Dak responds. 

“Dag already got told what would happen if they started hunting dragons again by Heather.”  Leyla explains. 

“Is Dag short for Dagur?” Marena asks concerned. 

“Yeah.” Dak mumbles. 

“Let me get this straight.” Marena starts, “You two are living with Dagur the Deranged, Chief of Berserker Island, the most insane dragon hunter?” 

“First, he’s not a dragon hunter anymore, second, he’s not that insane.” Dak responds. 

“Didn’t he almost kill Savage?” Leyla asks. 

“Okay in Dagur's defense, who wouldn’t want Savage dead?” Dak asks in response. 

“Okay,” Marena sighs, “We can talk more about all of this later, but more about the terror mail?” 

“Yeah, we got sent one about midnight saying that Huttsgalor needed our help.” Leyla explains, “It said it was from you, but now that I’m thinking about it you’d never send for help.” 

“We should’ve known that.” Dak whispers. 

“So who have you two pissed off lately?” Marena asks, getting weird looks from both of the siblings, “It could be from one of them as a trap.” 

“Okay there's Erik, Savage, Krogan, Viggo, Johann, Selvanna, Waldondo and some random hunters.” Leyla explains. 

“Okay,” Marena sighs, “You two have definitely pissed some people off.” 

“Yeah, Leyla was trying though.” Dak laughs. 

“Why?” Marena asks, looking at the girl. 

“Because it’s fun.” Leyla laughs, “And they never see it coming.” 

“I-” Marena starts, but doesn’t finish cut off by a loud bang coming from Huttsgalor, “I would guess that came from the person who sent the terror mail.” 

“Yep.” Dak responds, running towards his dragon brother with Leyla running towards Summer. 

“Let’s check it out.” Leyla tells her sibling. 

---

It was morning on Berserker Island, Dagur was up early as usual and starting the fire. Heather joined him not long later and started cooking. “Are the twins up yet?” Heather asks her brother. 

“No.” Dagur responds, looking up the stairs to see if either of them were coming. 

“Weird, Leyla is usually up by now.” Heather mutters. 

“Complaining about the cold.” Dagur laughs, looking up the stairs again. 

“I did hear something from their rooms last night.” Heather starts, “Maybe they were up late.” 

“Probably.” Dagur laughs again. 

Heather finishes cooking and places everything on the table, “Okay, maybe we should wake them up.” 

“I’ll check on them.” Dagur responds, standing up from the chair he was in. 

He walks up the stairs to the first room, which was Leyla’s, “Leyla?” Dagur calls knocking on the door. Usually he would get a response quickly, but it was silent on the other side of the door. “Leyla?” Still there was no response so he opened the door. 

“Leyla?” The girls room was empty, her weapon and bag was gone and there was a note sitting on her bed. Dagur walked up, picking the note up, reading through it. 

“What?” Dagur mutters reading through the letter, the berserker runs to the other twins door which was empty as well his knives gone. 

“Are they up?” Heather yells from the lower level. 

Dagur runs out to where his sister was, “They’re gone.” 

“What do you mean they’re gone?” Heather asks. 

“Both their rooms are empty and their weapons are gone.” Dagur responds, “And this was on Leyla’s bed.” 

Heather takes the note from her brother reading it over as well, “Rescue Riders?” Heather asks, while she reads. “Okay they went to Huttsgalor.” 

“I don't know anything about Huttsgalor.” Dagur sighs, “I haven’t even met the chief.” 

“Wait.” Heather starts, “Doesn’t Stoick know him, I swear I've heard him talk about Huttsgalor once or twice.” 

“Let’s go to Berk and see if he knows anything.” Dagur suggests. 

“Okay, great.” Heather responds, running out of the house with her brother towards the stables.

---

The two berserker siblings were flying towards Berk, “Why do you think they didn’t tell us?” Dagur asks. 

“Tell us what?” Heather asks in response 

“About Huttsgalor and Rescue Riders all of it.” Dagur responds. 

“It might’ve been a sore subject for them.” Heather replies, “I don’t know why they didn’t tell us.” 

“When we know they are okay, both of them are grounded for life.” Dagur sighs, looking out at the island in front of them. 

The two of them landed in the middle of town greeted by the A-team, “Dagur, Heather.” Gobber greets, “How are you two?” 

“We don’t have time for small talk.” Heather sighs, “Where is Stoick?” 

“In the great hall.” Gobber answers, “Why?” 

“We’ll explain after the twins are back.” Dagur responds, walking with Heather and their dragons towards the great halls. 

“Wait, where are the twins?” Gobber yells after them with no response. 

Stoick was in a meeting with Spitelout and a few other people when Dagur and Heather entered the room. “Dagur, Heather I wasn’t aware you all were coming today.” Stoick tells them.

“This wasn’t planned but we need to talk to you now.” Dagur responds. 

“Okay,” Stoick responds, gesturing for the other people to leave the room, “What’s wrong?”

“Do you know the chief of Huttsgalor?” Heather asks. 

“Yeah, Duggard why?” Stoick responds. 

“Because the twins went to Huttsgalor after getting a terror mail and Duggard was mentioned.” Heather explains. 

“Do you have this terror mail?” Stoick asks. 

“Yeah,” Heather responds, handing the paper over. 

Stoick reads it over, looking up at the berserkers, “I’ve met Marena a few times, she is not someone who sends for help.” 

“So, the twins walked into a trap.” Heather assumes. 

“Maybe.” Stoick sighs, “It can’t be Duggard trying to trap them though.”

“How do you know?” Dagur asks. 

“He’s a kind person; I would never see him attempting to hurt the twins or anyone.” Stoick explains, “Marena wouldn’t either.” 

“Me and Heather can go to Huttsgalor and see if we can find them.” Dagur sighs, turning to the older man, “Thank you Stoick.” 

“I can help.” Stoick responds, following the two berserkers. 

“You don’t have too.” Heather responds. 

“I want to,” Stoick responds, “And anyways I’ve been needing to meet with Duggard.” 

“Okay,” Dagur sighs, “Let’s go.” 

Notes:

Did I have to end on a cliffhanger no did I really want to yes

I just realized that the terrible terrors keep flying over the berserker island so headcanon is now that terrible terrors can fly over the island bc they have the minds of baby dragons

Chapter 26: Pirates and Hunters

Summary:

The attack on Huttsgalor

Notes:

This one took me awhile to write, I'm sorry hopefully more chapters will come out quicker

Dak, Leyla, and Marena flew towards Hutsgalor from the woman's house. The docks had hunters flowing from them into the town, “So it definitely was a trap.” Dak mutters looking into the town. 

“We should’ve seen this coming.” Leyla mutters as well. 

“So you got a plan Leyla?” Marena asks the girl. 

“Not exactly.” Leyla answers. 

“I have one.” Dak cuts in. 

“N- What is it?” Leyla asks. 

“We can go fight them,” Dak suggests. Leyla sighs, looking from her twin back into the town, “Yes!” 

“I didn’t say anything.” Leyla replies to her brother’s excitement. 

“But you’re thinking about it.” Dak smiles. 

“I don’t know, you two.” Marena tells them, looking into the town. 

“Fine.” Leyla sighs. “I don’t have any better ideas.” 

“Yes.” Dak mutters. 

“You two know how to fight right?” Marena asks, looking over to the weapons on the twin’s saddle’s. 

“Yep.” Leyla responds, “but we can’t just fly over them,” 

“Because of dragon root arrows?” Dak cuts in. 

“Yep,” Leyla assures, “So we sneak into the town, from the back of the great hall surprised them.”

“And the dragons are going to?” Marena asks. 

“Watch from above and cover us.” Leyla responds. 

“Got it.” Winger responds to the girl. 

Both of the twins grab their weapons from their sandals allowing for the dragons to get higher around and a better view of the village. Dak and Leyla started down the hill with Marena following close behind them, “So did Dagur teach you how to use those weapons?” Marena asks the two.

“We knew how to use them.” Dak argues, “We didn’t use them here, it wouldn't have helped Magnus’s opinions on us.” 

“You have a point.” Marena sighs. 

“Has he gotten any better?” Leyla asks. 

“No, if anything worse.” Marena answers, “And his nephew lives here now.” 

“He has a nephew?” Dak asks. 

“He has a family?” Leyla asks, interrupting her brother’s comment “Surprising.” 

They were behind the Great Hall; Leyla was looking into the town attempting to see what was going on. There were pirates and dragon hunters in the town, either trashing it or questioning people. 

“I don’t understand.” Duggard asks the hunter in front of him, “What do you want the Rescue Riders for?” 

“You don’t need to know.” The hunter responds, looking around the town, “What does it matter they don’t live here anymore.” 

“They are always welcome here.” Hannahr argues. 

“Shit.” Leyla whispers, looking at the dozens of hunters and pirates in the town,  “We are way above our abilities right now.” 

“We can do this.” Dak argues. 

“Last time we thought that I got branded with the hunter symbol.” Leyla responds. 

“You can’t use that in an argument yet.” Dak tells her, “It hasn’t been 2 months.” 

“Can we go back to the branding?” Marena asks. 

“We’ll explain when we're done.” Leyla responds, walking around the side of the building with her twin to get a better look. 

“Neither of you are getting out of this without explaining.” Marena whispers to them. 

“Sure.” Dak whispers, looking into the town. 

“Oh shit.” Leyla mutters, noticing the fliers over the town. 

“Are you kidding me?” Dak whispers, “Those pirates teamed up with the dragon hunters?” 

“Are you really surprised?” Leyla asks. 

“Well- not really actually.” Dak responds. 

“See.” Leyla mutters. 

“So, what now?” Dak asks, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go into the town now.” 

“It was your idea in the first place.” Leyla responds. 

“Yeah, and I’m saying it’s not a good idea anymore.” Dak explains. 

“Shocking.” Leyla mutters. 

“Rude.” Dak responds. 

“So, what now?” Marena asks. 

“No idea.” Leyla mutters, “I would say we definitely need more help though.” 

“We could send a terror mail to Dag.” Dak suggests. 

“He probably isn’t even on Berserker Island right now.” Leyla responds 

“Why do you say that?” Marena asks. 

“Because knowing him, he’s probably trying to find us.” Leyla responds. 

“You have a point.” Dak mutters. 

“Exactly.” Leyla responds. 

“Hmm.” 

---

The three dragon riders were flying towards Huttsgalor, Stoick was in front leading the Berserker siblings towards the island. 

“We are going the right way, right?” Dagur asks.

“For the fifth time, Dagur, yes.” Stoick responds. 

“Just making sure.” Dagur sighs. 

“I know you’re worried.” Stoick starts “But they’re fin-”

“I’m not worried.” Dagur argues. 

“Sure, keep telling yourself that.” Stoick replies. 

“Hmm.” Dagur sighs, “Are we going to get there soon?” 

“Yes.” Stoick responds, “We will reach Huttsgalor soon.” 

“Great.” Heather sighs, “I don’t think I could handle Dagur asking if we’re there yet again.”    

“Hey!” Dagur yells. 

“Am I wrong?” Heather asks her brother. 

“No.” Dagur mutters. 

“Exactly” Heather responds

It was long after that the three adults were able to start seeing the island of Huttsgalor, from where they were they were able to see what was going on. There were pirates flooding the island, more ships were sailing towards the islands; these ones had the hunter symbol on the flags and were being escorted by more fliers. 

“I would say the twins definitely fell into a trap.” Heather notes. 

“Yeah, I would guess so.” Dagur responds.

“So, what now?” Stoick asks. 

“I would say we should deal with the ships first.” Heather suggests. 

“Good plan.” Stoick responds, flying down to attack the ships with the other two. 

The hunters on the docks started attempting to fire at the dragon riders, missing most of them. Stoick and Skullcrusher crash into the side of one of the ships sending it flying into another making both starts sinking. 

“Nice job, Skullcrusher.” Stoick compliments to the dragon who roars in response. 

“Is that Stoick?” Hannahr asks, looking out at the dragon riders. 

Duggard looks to where Hannahr was looking to see the three dragon riders, two of them were too far to tell who they were but the closest one was definitely Stoick. 

“Yeah, that’s Stoick.” Duggard mutters. 

“Since when does, he ride a dragon?” Hannahr asks, not expecting an answer. 

“No idea.” Duggard responds. 

Most of the dragon hunters in the town went to the docks to help protect the ships, some of them stayed in the town still dealing with the people of Huttsgalor. 

“Oh, we are so dead.” Dak notes seeing the three dragon riders attacking the ships.

“More hunters?” Marena asks. 

“No Dagur and Heather just arrived.” Dak explains. 

“Oh, you guys weren’t kidding about that.” Marena mutters. 

“No.” Dak sighs, “Oh we are in so much trouble.” 

“Definitely.” Leyla responds. 

“So what now?” Dak asks. 

“Well with Dag and Heather distracting the hunters, this is the best time to deal with the hunters and pirates in the town.” Leyla explains. 

“Good idea.” Marena compliments. 

“Thank you.” Leyla responds. 

Looking around the building the town had fewer hunters and pirates now, the three dragon riders were still sinking ships and dealing with hunters near the docks. “If there are pirates here, when are Selvanna and Eric?” Dak asks. 

“You just jinxed us.” Leyla responds 

“I didn’t jinx us.” Dak argues. 

“Rescue Riders!” Selvanna yells, getting the two’s attention. 

“I told you.” Leyla mutters. 

“How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?” Dak asks. 

“Maybe just don’t try to jinx us!” Leyla yells. 

“All I did was ask a question, at this point Waldondo is going to show up.” Leyla argues. 

“If he does, I get to yell at you!” Dak responds to her 

“Why do you get too?” Leyla asks

“Because you said his name, and when you say Waldnodo’s name he always appears.” Dak explains. 

“Fine,” Leyla sighs. 

“Great,” Dak smiles, “Now let’s deal with these hunters and pirates.” 

“I’ll distract the pirates you two deal with the hunters.” Marena tells them, not waiting for a response to disappear. 

“Sometimes, I wish she’d tell us her entire plan.” Dak mutters, 

“Yeah, me too.” Leyla responds, grabbing her ax and running into the town with Dak. 

“There you are!” Selvanna yells. 

“Yep.” Leyla responds, “We were visible before, no idea how you did see us.”

“Are you trying to get attacked?” Dak asks. 

“I’m seeing how pissed off I can get her.” Leyla responds. 

“That is a horrible idea.” Dak responds. 

“Yeah, I agree with Dak!” Duggard adds in. 

“But it’s so much fun.” Leyla responds. 

“Fun until you almost die?” Dak asks. 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Leyla answers. 

“You have a problem.” Dak whispers. 

“So do you.” Leyla argues. 

“Are you two almost done!” Selvanna yells. 

“No.” Dak responds, “A few more minutes.” 

“No!” Selvanna yells. 

“I don’t remember distracting her, being part of the plan.” Marena cuts in, from behind the pirate. 

“It technically wasn’t.” Dak starts, “But Ley is a meany sometimes.” 

“A meany what are you, eight?” Leyla asks him. 

“If I was eight, you’d be eight too.” Dak responds to her. 

“Hmm.” Leyla sighs. 

“Can we get to the fighting part of this?” Selvanna asks. 

“We are.” Dak responds.

“Fighting with me!” Selvanna yells, “Not each other, me!” 

“Oh, I guess.” Dak mutters, “Boring but okay.” 

Marena doesn’t let the woman get far, before she knocks the woman out with her staff, “It would’ve been funner if we kept arguing.” Leyla mutters. 

“Yeah, it would’ve.” Dak agrees 

“You two have problems.” Marena mutters. 

“Hmm.” Leyla mutters, shrugging her shoulders. 

---

The town was empty of hunters, all of them were dealt with by Dak, Leyla, and Marena. Marena came out from the fight unscathed, the twins on the other hand both had their fair share of cuts and bruises caused by the hunters. The three adult dragon riders were still dealing with the dragon fliers; dozens of ships had been dealt either sinking or sailing away. The fliers on the other hand were still in the air attacking, the rest of the dragons were helping fight the fliers off. 

After a while the fliers were chased away, the twins were helping clean up when they hear an irritating voice, “What are the Rescue Runts back here!” Magnus yells. 

“Thor give me strength.” Leyla mutters, 

“They came to help with the pirates and dragon hunters,” Duggard explains, to the man who continues walking over. 

“And who sent for them?” Magnus asks, “You all know I have my mechno dragons.” 

“Do I want to know what those are?” Dak asks. 

“Probably not.” Hannahr responds. 

“Okay, then I’m not going to ask.” Dak mutters. 

“Technically no one sent for us, it was a trap.” Leyla explains to the man. 

“See it’s their fault our island got attacked!” Magnus yells, “We shouldn’t let them stay.”

“We weren’t planning too.” Dak cuts in. 

“Go live in the wild again!” Magnus yells at them. 

“We live on an island.” Dak responds, “So shut up.” 

“Your voice is really irritating.” Leyla cuts in, “So please for the love of thor can you stop talking.” 

“You little!” Magnus yells, interrupted by the dragon riders flying into the town. 

Dagur and Heather both jump off their dragons walking towards the twins, “Are you two okay?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah, we’re fine, Dag.” Leyla responds. 

“Great so I can kill you two myself.” Dagur tells them, “What were you two thinking!” 

“We were thinking that we didn’t want to get you dragged in.” Dak responds. 

“That is not a reason.” Dagur argues, “You don’t disappear in the middle of the night and not tell anyone!” 

“We told Sleuther and Windshear.” Leyla responds. 

“We can’t understand them like you can.” Heather argues. 

“Oh yeah.” Dak mutters. 

“What do you mean?” Stoick asks. 

“We’ll explain later.” Leyla answers. 

“Are all the hunters dealt with?” Heather asks. 

“Yep.” Dak answers. 

Dagur looked at his two kids, now noticing he injuries that littered their skin, “I would say we should go home, but we’re starting with defenders of the wing,” 

“What, why?” Dak asks. 

“You two are injured and it’d be best.” Dagur responds. 

“We’re fine.” Leyla argues. 

“Do you two really want to argue with me?” Dagur starts, “the two of you are already in enough trouble.” 

“Fine.” Leyla sighs. 

“So, uh can we back up for a minute.” Duggard cuts in, “First you two are living with Dagur the Deranged!” 

“Yeah.” Leyla responds. 

“He’s a dragon hunter.” Hannahr responds. 

“Not anymore.” Dak argues. 

“Heather threatened him.” Leyla adds in. 

“Okay, second sense when do you ride a dragon?” Duggard asks, looking over at Stoick. 

“For a while now.” Stoick answers. 

“Okay, we need to have a proper catch up,” Duggard tells him, “but for now we’re going to start cleaning up and-” 

“We’re going to defenders of the wing.” Dak finishes, 

“Yep, wherever that is.” Duggard responds 

“We’ll see you later, Duggard.” Leyla tells the man, looking at the rest of the dragon flying down so they could leave Huttsgalor. 

“See you, Rescue Rider.” Duggard responds, watching them leave their previous home. 

“Thank Thor, they aren’t staying.” Magnus sighs. 

“I’m going to punch you if you talk again,” Hannahr responds, walking back to her shop. 

“Oh-” Magnus mutters, walking back to his house. 

---

“Sir, the plan didn’t work.” A hunter explains. 

“I’ve been told.” Krogan responds. 

“What now?” 

“You’ll find out soon.” Krogan responds, walking away from the hunter into the tent. 

"What now?" Waldondo asks. 

"Well we helped you, so now you get to help us." Johann answers.

"You didn't even capture the twins." Waldondo argues. 

"That wasn't part of the deal." Johann responds. 

"You said you'd help us, never did you specific we had to succeed." Krogan argues. 

"That's-" Waldondo starts. 

"I don't want to hear it." Johann cuts him off, "You and the other pirates are going to help us, whether you like it or not." 

"Got it, sir." Waldondo responds walking out of the tent leaving the men. 

"Do you think we can trust him?" Krogan asks. 

"Doesn't matter," Johann assures, "He'll be dealt with eventually."  

Notes:

This one took me so long cause I kept writing the fight scene not liking it then rewriting it I did that a ridiculous amount of times

Anyways, the next chapter is the beginning of building Mala and Dagur's relationship cause the show did it horribly

I extremely appreciate comments and kudos when I receive them, I love receiving them as well so if you have any ideas or just something to say about this chapter comment them, please

Chapter 27: Defenders of the Wing

Summary:

After the battle on Huttsgalor, 3 of the berserkers go to defenders of the wing

Notes:

Mala and Dagur's aren't as clingy with each other, and I won't be fixing it because I refuse to write that sorry

Dak and Leyla were both sitting on a bench on defenders of the wing, the two of them were being patched up by Mala and Throk. The two adults were concerned about what happened to the twins, Dagur had explained it briefly to them when they arrived but most of their questions weren’t answered. 

“And you’re all done.” Mala tells the girl, after placing a bandage on her arm. 

“Thanks.” Leyla mutters. 

“It’s no problem.” Mala assures walking over to where Dagur was, he was standing to the side watching the interaction. 

“Thanks for helping.” Dagur tells the woman. 

“Again, no problem.” Mala assures, “Are you going to explain what happened?” 

“The twins went to the old island they lived on, it was a trap and they got attacked by Johann.” Dagur quickly explains. 

“Oh,” Mala sighs, “Why them? Just two kids who did nothing to them.” 

“Well there’s another reason,” Dagur sighs. 

“Hmm?” Mala asks. 

“This is going to seem not real but-” Dagur starts. 

“Dagur, just tell me.” Mala interrupts. 

“The twins can understand what dragons say.” Dagur explains. 

“What?” Mala asks. 

“The twins were raised by a dragon, who taught them how to understand what dragons say.” Dagur explains again, “I know this seems absol-” 

“No, honestly it somehow makes everything make more sense.” Mala interrupts.

“Okay,” Dagur sighs, “I thought you were going to say something like they’re insane or something.” 

“No,” Mala chuckles, looking over at the twins who were talking now, “How about you three stay here for the night, all of you can rest and leave in the morning.” 

“That sounds like a great idea.” Dagur complements. 

“I’m full of them.” Mala responds. 

“Sure.” Dagur chuckles. 

Dak and Leyla were watching the interaction between the two adults, definitely not willingly which Leyla made clear through her facial expressions.  

“Have I told you they disgusted me?” Leyla whispers to her twin. 

“Yeah.” Dak responds, looking over at the adults. 

“Why did Heather have to go home?” Leyla complains, looking over at her twin, “She should have to deal with this as well.” 

“You mentioned.” Dak mutters, “And she went home to protect Berserker Island in case the dragon hunters attack.” 

“I know that.” Leyla sighs, looking back over to the two adults, “It’s just so gross.” 

“Isn't it good that Dag is happy?” Dak asks. 

“No,” Leyla answers, “If I have to see that everyday, I’m going to puke.” 

“Really?” Dak asks. 

“I'm going to kill those twins.” Leyla mutters. 

“You know what, I’ll help.” Dak responds. 

“Good.” Leyla answers, “We can start planning it in the morning.” 

“Great idea.” Dak compliments. 

“I know.” 

---

The next morning, the four of them were sitting around eating. Throk was there as well sitting near Mala, he had joined them earlier that morning. 

“So, you two can understand dragons?” Throk asks. 

“How do you know that?” Dak asks. 

“Dagur doesn’t talk quietly.” Throk responds, looking at the Berserker chief. 

“Oh,” Dagur sighs. 

“You know you really don’t Dag.” Leyla cuts in. 

“No one asked for your input.” Dagur assures her. 

“I did.” Leyla argues, “My opinion is very important to me.” 

“Really?” Dagur asks. 

“Yep.” Leyla smiles. 

“Anyways,” Throk mutters, “How can you do it?” 

“Didn’t you hear the part?” Dagur asks. 

“No,” Throk answers. 

“We were raised by a dragon.” Dak replies, interrupting Dagur’s response. 

“That’s incredible.” Throk admires. 

“We better get going soon,” Dagur starts, getting the twins' attention, “Can you two go find the dragons?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Dak answers jumping up, running to find their dragons with his twin. 

“I’ll go help them.” Throk tells them, following the twins. 

“They don’t seem to like me.” Mala mutters. 

“It’s not you.” Dagur assures, “Dak and Leyla can be very judgmental when they first meet someone. You should’ve seen when they first met Snotlout.” 

“What was that like?” Mala asks. 

“Well, they just started bullying him.” Dagur explains, “Honestly I thought it was my fault at first, but they’ve always been like that apparently.” 

“How do you know that?” Mala asks. 

“When me and Heather first found them on Huttsgalor there was this man that started screaming at them,” Dagur explains, “And they just went straight into telling this man every little thing they hated about him.” 

“Did he deserve it?” Mala asks, “did he do anything other than yelling at them?” 

“Yeah probably, when we showed up, he told the twins they should go back to the wilderness, apparently he knew that they were raised by a dragon too.” Dagur explains, “I also think I heard him call them Rescue Runts.” 

“Logically the runt part isn’t technically wrong.” Mala responds. 

“What do you mean?” Dagur asks. 

“Well, it's probably because they were malnourished, they are physically smaller for their age, most kids their age are usually much taller than what they are now.” Mala explains. 

“How did I not know this?” Dagur mutters. 

“It’s not your fault.” Mala assures. 

“And how do you know that?” Dagur asks, turning to face the woman. 

“I said they were malnourished; stunted growth is one of the long-term symptoms of malnourishment.” Mala explains, “Even with regular eating when they get older it doesn’t help with the stunted growth, they seem perfectly healthy now, I swear.” 

“Thanks.” Dagur mutters. 

“It’s no problem.” Mala assures, “Now we might want to go help those three.” 

“Probably a good idea.” Dagur chuckles. 

---

It was a few weeks later, all of the Berserker family were on the Defenders of the Wing Mala invited them for something. Her and Dagur had been talking more, much to both of the twins' annoyance and Dagur knew why they were there. 

“The trials?” Dak asks, while the four of them walk to find Mala. 

“To become a king?” Leyla asks, adding on, “Are you trustworthy enough for that?”

“I’m the chief of an island we live on.” Dagur scoffs. 

“No offence but I think Heather does more work.” Leyla argues. 

“Offence taken.” Dagur mutters. 

“But she does.” Dak argues. 

“Okay, maybe you can work well chiefing the island together.” Leyla suggests 

“I’m going to make both of you sleep outside.” Dagur threatens. 

“No, you won’t.” Mala argues hearing the conversation, “You’re too parental for that.” 

“You can’t tell them that.” Dagur chuckles, “I have to keep my scary demeanor up.” 

“I think it’s already gone.” Leyla mutters, making the older man whip his head towards her. 

“You’re sleeping outside.” Dagur tells her. 

“No, I’m not.” Leyla laughs, walking towards Mala, “So what exactly happens in these trials?” 

“Good question,” Mala responds, explaining the trials to them as they walk to the town square. 

“So, if you die, who gets custody of us?” Dak asks, while Dagur prepares for the first trial. 

“Heather.” Dagur responds. 

“I did not agree to that.” Heather argues. 

“Rude.” Leyla mutters 

“Hiccup then.” Dagur corrects, stretching his arms. 

The three of them look at each other concerned before walking up to where Mala was, “If he dies, you're stuck with us.” Leyla mutters towards the woman. 

“I doubt he’s going to die.” Mala responds. 

“You never know.” Leyla mutters, “If he does, you're stuck with us, you have to agree to this.” 

“Okay, I agree.” Mala assures. 

“Agree to what?” Leyla asks. 

“If Dagur dies, I’m stuck with you and your brother.” Mala answers, looking over at Throk who was overhearing the entire conversation. He was shocked at the tone and threats Leyla was using but Mala was fine with it, and she was literally a child, so he didn’t do anything. 

“Great.” Leyla smiles, hearing Dak chuckling behind her overhearing the conversation as well. 

The crowd was prepared for the first of the trials, Dagur was standing in front of a bridge of rocks floating on the lava, preparing to run across them. 

“Maybe you two should not watch.” Heather suggests. 

“It’ll be fine.” Dak mutters. 

Thankfully Dagur finishes the first trial successfully, completely unharmed as well, the other sighed that it happened was the burns covering his boots.

“He’s fine,” Dak notes, looking over at Leyla

“Thank Thor.” Leyla sighs. 

“What’s next?” Heather asks Mala. 

The next trial goes off well, Dagur successfully makes it through the maze full of water and eels. Most of the dragons didn’t watch because of the eels though, well mainly Burple the other dragons joined so he didn’t feel alone. 

“He made it out okay, again.” Dak notes. 

“Again, thank Thor.” Leyla mutters, the next trial wasn’t happening until sunset so Mala and Dagur were talking while Dak, Leyla, and Heather were walking around. 

“Your daughter threatened me.” Mala tells the man. 

“She did?” Dagur asks, ignoring what Mala called Leyla. 

“Yeah,” Mala answers, “She said that if you died, I would be stuck with her and Dak.” 

“Yep, that's something Leyla would say.” Dagur mutters 

“They’re a lot like you; it’s kind of shocking honestly” Mala mutters. 

“I know.” Dagur sighs, “In my defense they’ve always been like this.” 

“I’m aware.” Mala responds. 

The two of them continued talking until they heard a horn signifying the next trial, “Time for the last trial.” Dagur mutters. 

“I have no doubt you won’t complete it.” Mala tells him, before walking away to find Throk. 

Dagur followed closely behind her to the area of the next trial, it was in the center of town near the eruptodon statue. Stone pillars surrounded a throne that Mala was sitting on, with dozens of people surrounding them. Dagur was standing near Throk with Heather, Leyla, and Dak standing in the audience behind him. 

“You have to race to Queen Mala and allow this arrow to pierce your flesh instead of hers.” Throk explains to Dagur, “If you survive you will become King of this island if not...” 

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Leyla mutters, watching as Throk prepares to fire an arrow towards Mala. 

“Me either.” Dak agrees. 

Dagur turns to the three who were watching him, before showing Throk he was prepared for the arrow to be fired. Throk fires the arrow towards the queen, Dagur jumps in front of the arrow allowing it to pierce into his shoulder. Mala stands up walking towards Dagur, he was on one knee looking at Mala with the arrow sticking out of his shoulder. 

“Nice job.” Mala smiles, helping her fiancé up. 

“Thanks.” Dagur mutters. 

“We have our king!” Throk yells, the audience erupts into cheers towards the couple who were standing side by side. Mala looks towards the twins who were watching with Heather in the audience gesturing for them to come up, Dak and Leyla look at each other before running up to the couple. 

Dak tackles Dagur in a hug while Leyla walks up to Mala, “I guess you’re still stuck with me.” Mala smiles. 

“I’m okay with that.” Leyla answers, hugging the older woman who happily hugs her back in return. 

Notes:

I don't think the malnourishment part is very accurate; I did do a lot of research on it before hand though so hopefully it is.

Mala explaining malnourishment to Dagur was a last-minute decision, but I thought it was sweet for Dagur and her relationship and with how much Dagur cares for the twins

Honestly, I could've named this chapter how to gain another parent but I didn't cause I have plans for that name

As I've been saying a lot in my notes in my other fics, comments and kudos motivate me a lot and I love receiving them

Chapter 28: Mi Amore Wing

Summary:

Mi Amore Wing with the twins

Notes:

Mala and Dagur's flirting is getting dialed down cause I couldn't keep writing it like that sorry not sorry

The family was in the medical center of the defenders of the wing, Mala was mixing herbs to put on Dagur’s injury while Leyla watched. Dak was sitting next to Dagur distracting him or attempting too. Heather was talking with Throk outside, Mala didn’t want the room to be too full. 

“If you don’t mind.” Leyla starts, getting Mala’s attention, “If you put cloves in it, it’ll sting less when you put it on the wound.” 

Mala steps back allowing the younger girl to reach the bowl, “Go for it.” 

Leyla steps to where Mala was standing adding clovers into the mixer, the defender of the wing queen watched from behind her. “There.” Leyla says, dusting off her hands. 

“Let’s see how well it works.” Mala responds, grabbing the bowl and walking towards Dagur. He had removed his armor top and was only in a stained tank top making it easier to bandage the injury. 

“Why am I the test dummy?” Dagur asks. 

“Why not?” Leyla asks. 

“She has a point.” Dak laughs. 

Mala focuses towards the wound again, after being distracted by the twins, applying the mixture to it. Dagur takes a shape breath at the contact but with the clovers it didn’t sting as much so he wasn’t complaining. “Leyla can you grab the bandages for me?” 

“Sure,” Leyla responds, grabbing the bandage from the counter and handing them to her. 

“Thank you.” Mala mutters, turning her attention back to the wound again, starting to wrap the bandage around her fiancé’s shoulder. “And you're all done.” 

“Thanks.” Dagur responds standing up. 

“You really need to wash your shirt though.” Leyla cuts in. 

“I’m aware.” Dagur responds. 

“So why haven’t you done it yet?” Leyla asks. 

“Okay first-” Dagur starts. 

“Well we’re having a feast to celebrate.” Mala cuts in, making the two stop arguing, “Would you like to join?”

“Sure,” Dagur answers, looking towards the twins. 

“Yeah, sure.” Dak answers, with Leyla just nodding. 

“It’s in the town square, meet me when you all are done.” Mala tells them, walking out. 

Dak and Leyla turn back to Dagur who was putting his armor back on, “No offence Dag but this was one of your worst ideas.” Leyla notes. 

“It wasn’t that bad,” Dagur responds. 

“Hmm, debatable.” Leyla answers. 

“Really?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah.” Leyla smiles, walking out of the room with Dak. 

“You two are brats.” Dagur notes. 

“You love us.” Dak answers. 

“I guess.” Dagur mutters, after the twins were out of ear shot, following close behind them. 

---

It was the next day, Heather returned to Berserker Island while the four of them traveled to the edge. Mala and Dagur were being affectionate, making the twins look at each other in disgust. It wasn’t long until they reached the edge seeing the dragon riders who were working on something involving metal. 

“Yeah, like if there was a dragon that could somehow reuse all this junk.” Ruffnut tells the group. 

“Armorwing!” Hiccup and Fishlegs yell at each other. 

“The Armorwing?” Snotlout asks, “That thief?”

“This great deed shall be known forevermore as…” Tuffnut starts cutting himself off to think, “ re... doing the thing.”

“Yeah, We'll figure it out, bro.” Ruffnut responds, putting her hand on Tuffnut’s shoulder. 

“Re-figure it out, bro.” Tuffnut responds, in the same voice as before. 

Dagur and Mala land near them on Sleuther followed closely by the twins. “Hiccup!” Dagur yells, getting his brother’s attention. 

“Dagur.” Hiccup starts, looking at each of them, “Mala.” Hiccup notices the bandage covering Dagur's shoulder that was peeking out from under his armor, “random injury.”

“Are you guys, okay?” Fishlegs asks. 

“Never better!” Dagur yells, “Why do you ask?” 

“Never mind.” Fishlegs mutters. 

“We have a very important announcement, Hiccup Haddock.” Mala starts. 

“I just finished the Defenders of the Wing King Trials.” Dagur laughs, “Nailed it!” 

“We are getting married.” Mala finishes. 

“Yes, we are.” Dagur chuckles. 

“I'm over the moon!” Mala laughs. 

“Huh?” Snotlout asks. 

“Oh-ho-hoo!” Fishlegs laughs, looking at the couple. 

---

They were all sitting in the club house standing around Dagur and Mala 

“Eskimo.” Dagur laughs. 

“Mm, butterfly.” Mala mutters. 

The two of them continue flirting as Dak and Leyla look disgusted, as they look around the room. Snotlout gags, making half of the room look over at him. 

“You are the Dagur in my heart and the king of my kingdom.” Mala tells the Berserker. 

“And you are my Queen Mala-poo.” Dagur responds. 

“I’m going back to Huttsgalor if you continue doing that.” Leyla threatens, making the two adults look over at her. 

“Leyla!” Dagur scolds.

“I mean it.” Leyla responds. 

“That isn't going to stop them.” Dak mutters, “They know you’re lying.” 

Dagur and Mala continue flirting again, ignoring the twins' complaints. 

“Uh... Hiccup?” Astrid starts. 

“They did seem to get along after the Twins' whole mediation thing,” Hiccup explains, making the same disgusted face as the twins, “but... ugh.” 

“Marriage?” Fishlegs asks, turning to the two, “Wait, w-when? How?” 

“Let me set the scene, Fishy.” Dagur starts, “One day, I was sitting pondering this one little spot of fat that I just can't seem to get rid of no matter how many crunches I do. Then it just-- It hit me, Fishy.”

“Or more specifically, I hit him.” Mala responds, punching Dagur. 

“Ah, it was love at first fight.” Dagur sighs, turning back to Mala, “Hit me again.”

“Oh, no, no.” Mala responds, the two of them continue talking about it. 

“Hey, lovebirds. Know what you're gonna need?” Ruffnut starts, getting the couple’s attention, “You need someone to plan the wedding.”

“We offer our services to the rightful king and queen.” Tuffnut explains, “It will be the grandest event the known world has ever known. That which it cannot know, it will not, but this, the known world, will know what it is.”

“Uh-huh.” Ruffnut agrees

“You've done this before?” Mala asks. 

“Never.” Tuffnut responds, “Not even a kid's birthday party. Not worried about it though. It's gonna be awesome, 'cause we're the best in the biz.” 

“Don't focus on those Nuts, my queen.” Dagur tells her, “Your boo is yearning for your affection,”

“Would it be insulting if I barfed everywhere?” Snotlout gags. 

“Not at all.” Dak assures, “We wouldn’t blame you.” 

“Good to know.” Snotlout responds. 

“Well, I think it's kind of sweet. Proof that true love knows no bounds.” Fishlegs explains, looking over at Hiccup and Astrid, “Right, guys?” 

“Hey, how come you guys never use sappy names or rub your beards on each other?” Snotlout asks the two of them. 

“Uh, because we don't have beards, Snotlout.” Hiccup responds. 

“Drop the act.” Snotlout tells them, “It's obvious what true love really looks like.” Gesturing over to Dagur and Mala. 

“O-okay, look,” Hiccup starts, “Astrid and I have a different kind of relationship, built on years of friendship.”

“Right. Yeah, um, years of friendship.” Astrid mutters, looking around the room, “I’m going to go lie down.” 

“Are you okay?” Hiccup asks, getting no response, with Astrid walking out of the room. 

“I don’t think she is.” Dak mutters. 

---

Astrid, Hiccup, Fishlegs, Snotlout and Leyla were flying towards the island that the Armorwing was on. Dak and Mala stayed back on the Edge. The five of them landed in a clearing on the island, placing down the net filled with metal. 

“Hopefully the Armorwing will accept it.” Hiccup mutters, looking at the pile. 

“Why? Hiccup? Why?” Dagur asks, grabbing his brother by his shoulders. 

“Uh, uh, well the dragon uses metal to protect itself, so it would–” Hiccup starts explaining. 

“No!” Dagur yells, making Hiccup stop talking, “Why must I be away from my beloved? My heart bleeds without her, like it's been ripped from my heaving chest and left to die on a lonely, distant rock.”

“Aw, that's so beautiful, Dagur. Very poetic.” Fishlegs compliments. 

“Ugh.” Astrid mutters in disgust. 

Leyla laughs quietly at the teens' response to Dagur, Hiccup on the other hand was concerned at what was wrong. “Hey, is everything all right?”

“Hiccup, brother!” Dagur yells, getting Hiccup’s attention.

Astrid was watching the brothers annoyed, Leyla walked towards her noticing the pendant she was wearing, “That’s a pretty pendant.” Leyla tells her. 

“Thank you, Leyla.” Astrid smiles, happy that at least one person had mentioned it. 

“Will you honor me by being my best man?” Dagur asks, sniffling “Before you answer, I-I know I don't deserve you, but I-I just can't imagine that glorious day without you by my side.”

“Uh, Dagur, I-I don't-- I don't know what to say.” Hiccup chuckles. 

“Say yes.” Dagur threatens. 

“Uh.... uh, yes.” Hiccup responds, making Dagur jump up off the ground. 

“Oh! Brotherly hug?” Dagur asks. 

Snotlout walks over to Astrid who was watching the two brothers still “Hiccup hasn't even chosen a best man? Ugh! That's weird, right?” 

Astrid doesn’t respond, only elbowing Snotlout in the stomach, the sound of a dragon running through the woods interrupts all of them, “Oh, hey it's the Armorwing. Quick. Everyone hide.” Hiccup explains, rushing to hide behind a bush with the other dragon riders. 

The Armorwing lands in front of the pile of metal, sorting through it picking the pieces it liked the most to adds to its armor. 

“It's working, Hiccup.” Fishlegs mutters looking out at the dragon. 

“Hiccup?” Astrid starts. 

“Yeah?”

“Have you n-noticed anything?” Astrid asks, standing in front of the teen, “I mean does anything look, like, I don't know, different to you?”

“Yes! How could I miss that?” Hiccup laughs, making Astrid sigh happily, “Right in front of my face the whole time. A Dragon Eye lens! The Armorwing has a Dragon Eye lens on it.” 

“I can't believe it!” Fishlegs yells, “A Dragon Eye lens on a dragon? How did you see it, Hiccup, hidden in all that metal?”

“Of course he did. Hiccup would never miss something as important as that.” Astrid mutters walking away. 

“Oh,” Leyla mutters, looking at the woman. 

Hiccup looks towards the Armorwing getting an idea, explaining it to the other dragon riders. 

“Don't you die before my wedding.” Dagur threatens pushing Hiccup forward. 

Hiccup approaches the Armorwing reaching his hand towards the dragon snout, attempting to calm the dragon down. He got close before the dragon fliers interrupted them, shocking the dragon making it run away. 

“Hyah! Come on!” The dragon flier whips the Singetail making it fire at the two of them, Toothless jumps in last minute saving Hiccup from the blast. 

“Thanks, bud” Hiccup mutters, before climbing on the back of his dragon. 

“Flyers coming in hot!” Astrid yells, flying up as well. 

“Hyah!”

“Aah!” Fishlegs yells, as him and Meatlug flies towards the ground. 

Snotlout and Hookfang fly up firing at the dragon fliers chasing them off. “Yeah! Keep flying, suckers!” Snotlout yells, “Me and Hooky chased 'em off, guys. Hookfang! Snotlout! Oy, oy, oy!”

“No, you didn't. They were scouts.” Astrid explains, “They left to go report in.”

“You say "scouts," I say "deadly assassins." Snotlout replies, “Who's to say who's right?” 

“Astrid's right.” Hiccup cuts in. 

“Ha!” Leyla yells at him. 

“Shut up you two!” Snotlout yells in response. 

“Look, as soon as Krogan finds out we're here, he'll be coming to find out why we're here.” Hiccup explains, “We have to find the Armorwing and get the dragon lens off him before they get here.”

---

Dak and Mala were following the Nut twins into the club house, the only really wanted Mala but Dak tagged along not giving the older twins a choice. 

“Mala, Queen of the Great Protector and someday half Berserker,” Tuffnut starts, “if you'll please, close your eyes. Jeepers creeper, shutter those peepers.”

“Is this entirely necessary?” Mala asks, covering her eyes. 

“Probably not.” Dak notes looking round. 

“Shut 'em!” Ruffnut yells, before realizing what she did, “Your Majesty.”

“Picture this.” Tuffnut starts, “The Sun is starting to set over the island, leaving the sky a dingy, rusty orange. Your guests have just finished eating-- not completely finished. You know, they're still pokin' around with the potatoes. They're hungry for more. They want something sweet yet tangy.” 

Ruffnut and Tuffnut both back up towards the table behind them, it was covered with a sheet hiding what was under it, Ruffnit grabs the sheet ripping it off revealing the food underneath. 

“Voila!” Ruffnut yells. 

“Oh?” Mala asks, staring, realizing what she was looking at, “Oh.”

“That looks poisoned.” Dak mutters, noticing the food was bubbling. 

“Sweetbread sherbet.” Tuffnut starts, picking the plate up, “Ah! My own personal brainchild. Don't ask me where I got the filling.”

“And this one,” Ruffnut starts when her brother is done, picking her own plate up, “I call Mangy Mutton Meringue for obvious reasons.”

“Quite obvious.” Mala mutters. 

“You aren’t actually considering this right?” Dak asks her

“Now, get ready to have your wings blown up.” Tuffnut starts dramatically, grabbing the last plate of the table, “I present you fermented flesh flambe!” 

“The pinnacle of pastry perfection” Ruffnut explains. 

“Harvested form the fangs of a rabid Grim Gnasher.” Tuffnut adds in. 

“Foam to table.” Ruffnut tells the two. 

“Ahem!” Tuffnut yells, holding the plate in front of Barf and Belch, “I said femented flash flambe!” The zipleback fires at the attempt at a desert lighting it on fire, as well as Tuffnut’s hair. 

“We're still working on the tableside presentation.” Ruffnut laughs, looking at her brother. 

“There will be no dessert served.” Mala cuts in, making the two nuts stop their planning. 

“Thank Thor.” Dak mutters looking at the desert.

“It is not in the tradition of the Defenders of the Wing.” Mala explains to them, walking out, “That time is reserved for the Dance of Blades, which Dagur and I will perform for everyone in attendance.”

“The Dance of Blades?” Ruffnut asks, throwing the plate behind them. 

“Sounds awesome.” Tuffnut admires. 

---

The leftover dragon riders were searching for the Armorwing still, walking around the pathways of the island 

“The Armorwing has to be here somewhere.” Fishlegs explains, looking around to find the missing dragon. 

Hiccup runs up to Astrid who was walking in front of them, “So a-anything you want to... talk about?” Hiccup asks her. 

“If you don't already know, I'm not telling you.” Astrid replies. 

“See that?” Dagur whispers to Snotlout, “Classic passive-aggressive move.” 

“He should quit now before it's too late.” Snotlout replies. 

“Look, if you don't tell me what's wrong, Astrid, how am I supposed to help?” Hiccup asks her. 

“Ugh!” Astrid yells, turning to face Hiccup. 

“And it's too late.” Snotlout mutters. 

“Hiccup, I've been wearing this betrothal necklace all day. Did you even notice? No. Never mind.” Astrid scoffs, “No, of course you didn't.”

“Uh, oh, hey!” Hiccup starts, backtracking what he said before, “Wow. No, it looks gr-- It looks great.”

“Seriously?” Astrid groans. 

“Uh... no, no. I mean, yes. Well, it does-- It does look great on you, but–” Hiccup cuts himself rethinking what he wanted to say, “What would you like me to say?”

“Do you have any idea how that feels, Hiccup?” Astrid asks him. 

“Astrid, just because I didn't notice the necklace right away doesn't mean I don't care.” Hiccup explains, “I don't know. When it comes to accessories, I'm not the noticing type.”

“Hiccup I would recommend shutting up.” Leyla cuts in. 

“Leyla.” Dagur scolds. 

“I was just giving him advice, so he doesn’t get punched.” Leyla explains. 

“Oh, well, you had no problem noticing the lens on the Armorwing.” Astrid argues, ignoring the other comments already made, “Oh, right, wait a minute, because it's a dragon.” 

“Astrid–” Hiccup starts. 

“She has a point.” Leyla cuts in again. 

“Leyla.” Dagur scolds again. 

“It's like I'm invisible to you.” Astrid explains. 

“I noticed the medallion right away.” Snotlout laughs. “Never too late to join Team Jorgenson” 

Astrid whips around towards Snotlout glaring at him which quickly made him shut up

“Okay, yeah, you know... yeah, just an option.” Snotlout mutters. 

“I don’t think anyone would willingly want to marry you.” Leyla assures him. 

“Dagur and Mala have known each other a few months, and they can't stand to be apart. We've known each other our whole lives, Hiccup, and I've never felt further away from you.” Astrid explains, taking off her Betrothal Necklace throwing it at Hiccup, 

---

“Dak, why exactly did you grab the training dummy that looks like Dagur?” Mala asks him. 

“Because he made me mad.” Dak explains, “And this is my act of revenge.” 

“Oh really?” Mala laughs. 

“Yes, and his fiancé killing a dummy of him sounded funny” Dak smiles, sitting down with Winger to work on something else. 

Mala started training not noticing the nut twins start walking towards them, 

“Ah, the Dance of Blades. Such beauty. Such grace.” Tuffnut admires watching her. 

“Ugh, such a shame there's no dessert.” Ruffnut cuts in. 

“Look at how effortlessly she…” Tuffnut starts getting cut off when Mala stabs the sword through the dummy Dagur’s heart. 

“Whoa!” Tuffnut yells, “plunges the sword right through Dagur's heart” 

“That's definitely gonna leave a mark.” Ruffnut adds in. 

“Wait a minute.” Tuffnut starts, “Is this whole wedding just a twisted setup so she can kill him after the ceremony? It's so obvious!”

“And he fell right into her tangled web of passionate lies.” Ruffnut mutters. 

“Poor Dagur.” Tuffnut mutters, “He'll never see it coming.” 

“Got to give her Viking cred, though.” Ruffnut adds in, “I, She should be in the Loki Hall of Fame.” 

“Mala, Queen of the Great Protector and someday half Berserker and soon-to-be slayer of the deranged,” Tuffnut starts, getting her attention, “anything else we should, uh, know about your... traditions?” 

“Yes, actually, there is.” Mala starts, looking over the dummy in front of her, “Every guest at the wedding will be receiving a very special gift from me.” Mala slices Dagur's head off, making it fly towards the nut twins, who both start screaming, dropping the head before running away.

“You did that on purpose.” Dak laughs watching them, “I can’t blame you with how those desserts looked.” 

“They definitely looked like they were poisoned.” Mala agrees. 

“But what is the gift everyone is going to get?” Dak asks. 

“Gift bags with Eruptodon trinkets carved from lava.” Maa explains. 

“That is so cool.” Dak admires. 

---

The dragon riders found the Armorwing, and were watching it from a distance. 

“Look, we have to get the lens.” Hiccup explains, “If we don't, Johann, Viggo and Krogan will hunt down the Armorwing until they have it.” Hiccup starts walking towards the dragon, getting fired at before he could. “Aah!”

“And how exactly are we supposed to do that?” Snotlout asks. 

“Oh, Snothat.” Dagur starts, grabbing his helmet walking towards the Armorwing

“You know, I thought we were past that! My name-” Snotlout starts, cutting himself off, “Oh, I get it. It's 'cause I'm wearing a hat.”

“He still doesn’t like you.” Leyla tells the man. 

“Oh shut up” Snotlout replies. 

“I know a thing or two about winning over people that want me dead.” Dagur starts, walking backwards “Well, Mala, Heather, uh, Savage, Alvin... Ooh, that merchant from the Northern Market... most of the Archipelago, really.” He turns to face the dragon holding the helmet up towards him, “I have a gift for you.” 

“Dag, I don’t think this is a good idea” Leyla cuts in, 

The Armorwing whips its tail around smacking the helmet out of Dagur’s head sending it flying towards Snotlout’s head, “Ha! Try again.” Leyla yells, to Dagur. 

“No!” Snotlout yells from behind the tree. 

“Come on, guys. We can't let him get away.” Hiccup tells the group, running over to Toothless. The group of them chase the dragon throughout the woods, cutting it off making it fly up out of the trees. 

“Calm down. We're not here to hurt you.” Fishlegs attempts to tell the dragon. 

“Leyla do your dragon talking stuff.” Snotlout tells her. 

“Snotlout try to be useful for once.” Leyla argues, matching his tone. 

“Can you try to be nice to me?” Snotlout asks. 

“Nope.” 

“Leyla, just try to calm the dragon down.” Fishlegs suggests. 

“Fine,” Leyla sighs, looking down at Summer who understood what she was asking. Leyla doesn’t get a chance to calm the dragon down, the Armorwing shoots up leaving them. 

“Toothless, climb!” Hiccup yells, following him. “When my scouts told me you were chasing an Armorwing, I was pretty sure I knew why, but I didn't expect you to deliver the dragon and lens right to me.” Krogan laughs, “Thank you.” 

Toothless prepares to fire at him, but the Armorwing gets in the way accidentally shielding Krogan “Careful, Night Fury, you don't want to hit the poor Armorwing” Krogan laughs. 

The rest of the dragon riders flies up, seeing Krogan and his fliers “Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!” Dagur laughs, “Who doesn't love a good face-off?”

“You have friends. I have friends.” Krogan explains, “The difference is, I don't care if mine live or die. Now!” 

Krogan and his fliers start firing, making the dragon riders have to fly up around the Armorwing. “Watch out for the Armorwing!” Hiccup yells. 

The Armorwing heats up the metal on his tail, throwing it towards one of the flyers knocking him off his dragon 

“Look out!” Hiccup yells. 

“The Armorwing has another defensive move.” Fishlegs laughs, “What an amazing dragon!” 

“Big deal.” Snotlout scoffs, “It tosses metal. So can Gobber.”

“Hiccup, the Armorwing.” Leyla starts, noticing the empty patch in it’s armor. 

“I know.” Hiccup responds, “It's a powerful move, but it leaves him vulnerable.” 

Krogan noticed the patch as well, having his dragon fire at the weak point. The Armorwing went down into the woods underneath them. 

“He's hit!” Astrid yells. 

“Fall back!” Hiccup yells, in response, “Protect the Armorwing!” 

---

“It's right over here, Mala.” Tuffnut explains, leading her to the stables, “Just a little bit further.”

“Yeah, we want to show you some.. fancy place settings.” Ruffnut explains. 

“And why would place settings be in stables” Mala asks, the zippleback lands in front of them, making Mala stubble back. 

“G-grab her! Grab her. Grab her. Get her quickly.” Tuffnut yells towards the dragon. 

“Have you lost your collective mind?” Mala asks the nut twins. 

“Come on, Barf and Belch!” Ruffnut yells. 

“Say uncle. Say Uncle Tuffnut. Say your favorite Uncle Tuffnut.” Tuffnut yells, before Mala grabs him by the shoulder, throwing him on the ground, “Okay, now, yes, uncle, uncle. What you want me to say? I'll say what you want me to say.”

“Auntie.” Mala replies, tying the twins up before walking out of the stables. 

“Since it's going to be a bloody wedding, uh, I don't think white linen is the way to go.” Tuffnut explains to his sister. 

“Definitely something that complements red.” Ruffnut suggests. 

“A forest green might be nice.” Tuffnut explains, “Really a dark, dark, forest green. Something where you can't see the evidence of a murder.” 

“What the heck happened?” Dak asks from the doorway. 

“Mala is planning on killing Dagur.” Ruffnut explains. 

“Oh, oh no.” Dak mutters, “Where did this thought come from?” 

“She cut off Dagur’s head.” Tuffnut explains, “While practicing the dance of blades.” 

“I don’t think so.” Dak mutters. 

“Dak free us so we can deal with her.” Ruffnut suggests. 

“No,” Dak laughs, walking away. 

“Dak!” Tuffnut yells after him. 

---

The dragon riders were in a cave with the Armorwing, the flyers constantly blasting the entrance making rocks collapse. Dagur and Snotlout were standing at the cave entrance while, Fishlegs and Leyla were tending to the injured dragon. 

“Ugh! We're sitting ducks down here.” Snotlout yells, turning to face the rest of them. 

“He's right, Hiccup.” Dagur starts

“For once.” Leyla cuts in. 

“It's only a matter of time until we all go boom!” Dagur continues ignoring Leyla’s comment. 

“He can't fly, Hiccup.” Fishlegs explains, walking up to Hiccup, “He's not gonna make it.” 

“We have to do something. Come on! Hiccup!” Snotlout yells at him. 

Hiccup looks over at Astrid who returns the look walking over to him “I'm with you.” Astrid explains to him. 

“I know.” Hiccup responds, before thinking for a minute, “Okay, here's what we're gonna do.” 

Dagur and Sluether fly from the cave entrance, getting the attention of the flyers “Come on, Strykey!” Dagur screams, “Make me proud!” 

“He's trying to escape with the lens!” Krogan yells, noticing Dagur. 

Noticing the flyers and Krogan chasing the Berserker, the others go to the next part of the plan, “Okay, bud, now's our chance.” 

All of them carry the Armorwing leading it away from the island, Krogan stopped chasing Dagur, turning to face the island again. 

“Why are we stopping?” 

“He's getting away!” 

Krogan doesn’t respond, only flying back towards the island making his flyers follow close behind confused. 

“Hiccup!” Fishlegs calls, noticing the flaming fireball flying towards the, 

“Ah!” Hiccup shouts, getting out of the way of the fireball.
Down below them a dragon hunter ship started firing arrows at more fireballs at them. 

“Fire!” 

Hiccup and Astrid look at each other both getting the same idea, “Snotlout, Leyla, Fishlegs, I know you guys can carry the Armorwing all by yourselves.” 

“What?” Snotlout asks. 

“I didn’t agree to this” Leyla cuts in, “You can’t leave me with him.” 

“Too bad,” Snotlout responds.  

“Hiccup and I have some unfinished business.” Astrid finishes explaining to them, before flying away with Hiccup. 

“This sucks.” Hookfang mutters. 

“What did he say?” Snotlout asks her. 

“He says you suck.” Leyla answers. 

“No he didn’t.” Snotlout argues. 

“How do you know?” Leyla asks, “I’m the one who can understand dragons, not you.” 

“He has a point.” Fishlegs laughs. 

“Shut it, Fishface.” Snotlout replies. 

The commotion behind them continues, Dagur flew back into the fight getting the flyers attention off of Hiccup and Astrid. 

“Remember me?” Dagur teases, before a blast from Krogan comes flying towards them, “Ooh. Testy.” 

“Oh, no! Dagur!” Astrid yells, noticing Krogan was preparing another blast. 

“This one's for you, Mala-poo.” Dagur yells, turning Sluether to fire on Krogan. 

“Oh, no. Krogan!” Hiccup calls getting his attention, grabbing out the lens, “You want the lens? Go get it!” 

Hiccup throws the dragon eye lens into the ocean with Krogan following close behind it 

“Uh oh!” Dagur yells. 

“Hiccup, what did you do?” Astrid asks him. 

“I gave them the lens.” Hiccup answers, looking out to the three dragon riders holding the Armorwing still, “And maybe that will come back to haunt us someday. All I know is today we are saving this dragon.” 

---

The dragon riders were all back in the club house, Dak was explaining what happened with the nut twins to Leyla, while Dagur and Mala got back to their flirting. 

“Oh, Eskimo, butterfly, ooh!” Dagur mutters, “I thought of you, darling, every time I sent a dragon flyer screaming and plunging into the sea.”

“Disgusting.” Leyla mutters. 

“You are too sweet.” Mala responds. 

“Yeah, but what about the Dance of Blades?” Tuffnut asks, holding up the head of the dummy Dagur, “Nothing sweet about disembowelment.” 

“The Dance of Blades is the first dance between the bride and groom.” Mala explains to them “Traditionally, it takes place on the royal lawn, on fresh "blades" of grass.”

“Oh. Okay, well, than that is a terrible name for that dance.” Tuffnut replies. 

“And what about the gift that everyone is getting after the ceremony, huh?” Ruffnut asks. 

“Gift bags with Eruptodon trinkets carved from lava.” Mala explains to them, “I'm sure by now Throk has worn his little whittler to the nub.”

“What? Sweet!” Ruffnut laughs. 

Hiccup takes Astrid's hand and pulls her outside of the clubhouse. “Don't say anything. I was being silly.” Astrid tells him. 

“No, you weren't I should have noticed that necklace right away, but it's not about that.” Hiccup starts explaining, “I've been taking you for granted. I have, and I realized that today. I couldn't have done any of this without you, Astrid, not the Dragon Riders or the Edge. You've always been there for me, and I want to always be there for you. I love you, Astrid Hofferson, with everything I have. And I always will.”

“I know you do. We don't have to be like them. I mean, we have a different kind of-- Oh!” Astrid gets cut off by Hiccup kissing her, taking her by surprise. 

“Um…” Fishlegs mutters. 

“Oh, my.” Mala chuckles. 

“Even more disgusting.” Leyla notes. 

“They’re worse than Dag and Mala.” Dak cuts in. 

“Okay. Come on, Meatlug. Let's go make some Gronckle Iron for the Armorwing.” Fishlegs starts leading most of the group away. 

“Question.” Dagur starts walking away with them, “Why were you using the training dummy that looked like me?” 

“Oh, Dak picked it out.” Mala answers. 

“Really?” Dagur asks the boy. 

“Yeah, I thought it was funny.” Dak explains. 

“It was funny.” Leyla cuts in. 

"I'm hilarious." Dak notes. 

"Sure." Leyla mutters. 

Notes:

Someone please tell me I'm brave for writing Dagur and Mala like that for an entire chapter, even if I cut like 13 of their flirting bits

This week has been actual shit, so this chapter definitely took a while, I would explain what all happened but if I did this would be more words than the actual chapter so I'm going to ignore it

Chapter 29: Building Relationships

Summary:

Just a bunch of one-shots I’ve been wanting to write that lead up to the King of Dragons episodes

Notes:

I love writing this silly family so much

Nightmares 

It was the middle of the night on Berserker Island, Dagur was up late as usual. There was another cold front on Berserker Island, so the sound of a fire cracking filled the room. Heather was at dragon's edge staying for a little helping with the changewing migration. 

Dagur was working on a sketch, he usually only worked on it at night mainly because no one else knew he could do it. When Dagur was younger, his father, Oswald, was constantly complaining about different things he did mainly when he was sketching saying he had better things to do. Oswald always acted kind and caring to him in front of other people, but in private it was a much different conversation. 

Their home wasn’t very big, at least compared to some closer to town. Even if the chief was living there, it was a two-story house, one bedroom downstairs, and three in the upper part of the house. In the house you could easily hear most sounds that came from upstairs, if you really listened. 

Dagur got pulled from his thoughts when he hears a sudden noise from upstairs, it was a shocked yelp followed by a bang. Dagur jumps up to find the place the noise came from, first peeking into Dak’s room. 

He was still knocked out cold, his armor was hung up in the corner of the room. Which was newly rearranged, again. 

“When did he do this?” Dagur mutters, looking around the room before continuing down the hall. Leyla’s room was next, Dagur repeated what he did for Dak’s room expecting to see her sleeping as her twin was but she was wide awake sitting on the floor with her face buried in her knees. Her hair was down covering most of her face, she wasn’t wearing her purple vest only her striped oversized shirt and her bright green leggings. 

“Leyla?” 

Leyla jolts up looking at the man in front of her, “Oh Dag, did I wake you?” 

“No.” Dagur responds, walking into the room and sitting beside her. 

“Then why are you up?” Leyla asks. 

“Why are you up?” Dagur mimics. 

“It’s nothing.” Leyla mutters, resting her head on her knees. 

“Then why does it look like you’ve been crying?” Dagur asks her, she quickly wipes her cheeks, erasing the evidence of the previous tears. 

“I said it was nothing.” 

“Hmm.” Dagur mutters. 

Leyla looks down at her wrist, the brand was healed enough that it didn’t need to be constantly bandaged. Usually it was covered with her gloves, but Heather insisted that the wound needed some time without the gloves on. 

“Oh,” Dagur mutters, standing up, reaching a hand towards the younger girl, “Come on.” 

“Hmm?” Leyla asks, taking Dagur’s hand. 

“Let’s go.” Dagur tells her, ushering her out of the room.

“Go where?” Leyla asks. 

“Downstairs.” Dagur answers. 

“That really answers my question, thanks.” Leyla mumbles. The two of them walk down the stairs into the living room, Leyla falls down onto one of the chairs watching Dagur walk into the kitchen, “What are you doing?”

“You’ll see.” Dagur answers, a few minutes later Dagur brings a cup over to her. 

“What’s this?” Leyla asks, taking the cup. 

“Tea.” Dagur answers. 

“Since when do we have tea?” Leyla asks, it wasn’t naturally grown on the island only coming through trade which was rare enough already. 

“Mala gifted it to me.” Dagur explains. 

“Oh,” Leyla mutters, looking into the cup. 

“She experienced one of my nightmares last time we were staying on the island.” Dagur starts, explaining sitting down next to her, “So afterwards she gifted me some of the tea grown on the island, for the next time I had a nightmare.” 

“I didn’t have a nightmare, though.” Leyla argues. 

“Sure, you didn’t.” Dagur responds, “Nightmares aren’t something to be ashamed about.” 

“I’m not ashamed about having it, I’m ashamed of what it was about.”  Leyla explains. 

“And what was it about?” 

“The dragon hunter symbol, that’s burned in my arm.” Leyla mutters. 

“The day you got it?” Dagur asks. 

“No,” Leyla sighs, “What my dragon mother would think of it. I’m literally wearing the symbol of the people who killed her.” 

“She was killed by the Grimborn's?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah, I never really realized it until now but the only thing I remember from the attack is the Grimborn's symbol.” Leyla explains, “which is now physically ingrained in my arm.”

“Leyla, you didn’t choose to have it.” Dagur starts, “She would understand it’s not your fault.” 

“I know.” Leyla mutters, bringing her knees up to her chest again. 

“Do you want a hug?” Dagur asks. 

“No,” Leyla answers before thinking, “Yes.” 

“Come here.” Dagur says 

Leyla moves over falling into Dagur’s chest hugging him, feeling his arms wrap around her back. 

“Thanks Dag.” Leyla mutters, 

“It’s okay, Leyla.” 

After a minute Leyla moves from the hug falling onto the chair again, she looks over at the table noticing the open notebook. Dagur was working on the fire which was dying out, so Leyla took her chance to look at the page. 

It was a drawing of her, Dak, and Mala, it looked like it was started the last time they were on Defenders of the wing. 

“Did you draw this?” Leyla asks, getting Dagur’s attention. 

“Yeah,” Dagur responds, grabbing the notebook from the table, “I’ve been working on it for a little bit.” 

“I didn’t know you could draw.” Leyla notes.

“Most people don’t.” Dagur answers, “I wouldn’t seem very scary if my enemies knew I drew in my spare time.” 

“How would that make you less scary?” Leyla asks. 

“I don’t actually know.” Dagur mutters, “My father always insisted that it would make me seem weaker.” 

“Oh,” Leyla mutters, “Your father seems like a piece of work.” 

“He was.” Dagur responds, looking out the window noticing how late it was, “You okay to go back to bed?” 

“Yeah,” Leyla answers, she hugs the older man again before making her way up the stairs, “Night Dag!” 

“Goodnight, Leyla.” Dagur chuckles. 

---

Injuries

Dagur and Dak were working outside while it was warm again, they needed to get more firewood for the fire. They were making their way through the woods attempting to find already fallen down trees. It was Heather’s idea to attempt to use already dead trees so they’d burn easier. 

“How much longer?” Dak complains. 

“We just need to find one more tree.” Dagur explains, they already found 3 and piled them in their backyard area. 

“Aren't the three we found enough?” Dak asks. 

“We need enough to last until the next freeze is over.” Dagur explains.

“I hate when it’s cold constantly.” Dak mutters. 

“I know, you complain about it constantly.” Dagur laughs. 

“Hey.” Dak complains. 

“We’re almost done, then you can bother Leyla as much as you want.” Dagur tells him. 

“Why didn’t Ley come anyway?” Dak asks. 

Leyla stayed home with Heather who arrived back that morning, while Heather unpacked her belonging Leyla was working in her dragon diary. 

“She wanted to work on something.” Dagur explains. 

“Aw man.” Dak mutters, looking around, “I have an idea.” 

“What is it?” Dagur asks. 

“We get a look from above.” Dak answers. 

“And how exactly would you do that?” Dagur asks. 

“Like this.” Dak answers, running over one of the trees and starting to climb it. 

“Dak,” Dagur starts, looking up where Dak was climbing. 

“It’ll be fine.” Dak answers, climbing on the tree more. 

“Be careful!” Dagur yells up at him. 

“I always am.” Dak answers. 

“Hmm.” Dagur mutters. 

Dak stands on one of the branches looking around, he notices a fallen tree not far from them. “I found one Dag!”

“Great, now get down!” Dagur yells. 

“One sec.” Dak answers, looking around more. 

“Dak,” Dagur starts. 

“There’s one more tree just north of-” Dak doesn’t get to finish his answer, slipping off the branch he was standing on falling out of the tree. The boy hits multiple branches on the way down before finally landing on the ground.

“Dak!” Dagur yells, running over to him, “Are you hurt?” 

“Only my pride.” Dak answers, feeling a sharp pain in his arm looking down seeing the cut that ran down it, “Oh and probably that.” 

“Come on,” Dagur starts, helping Dak up, “Let’s get you home.” 

“We can still finish collecting the trees.” Dak argues. 

“No,” Dagur answers, “We have enough for now,” 

“Fine,” Dak mutters, the two of them start walking back towards their home. It was a short walk of only 10 minutes, but half way through Dak started stumbling. 

“Dak, are you okay?” Dagur asks. 

“I’m getting a little dizzy, actually.” Dak answers. 

“Okay,” Dagur mutters, looking over Dak again, “I really wish Mala was here, she’s way better at this than me.” 

“So is Heather.” Dak adds in. 

“Heather is home.” Dagur remembers, “Thank Thor.” 

Dak was still obviously not well, now starting to have difficulty standing. 

“I’ll carry you back.” Dagur tells him. 

“No, I’m not a baby.” Dak argues. 

“You’re having trouble walking.” Dagur explains “Would you rather faceplant?

“No,” Dak responds, looking at Dagur, “Fine.” 

“Great.” Dagur responds, picking the younger boy up. 

“This is humiliating.” Dak groans, lending his head against Dagur’s shoulder. 

“You’re the one who fell out of the tree.” Dagur argues

“No need to remind me.” Dak mutters. 

The two of them make it back to their home, Dagur places the younger boy down on the chair before going to find Heather. 

“What happened?” Leyla asks, walking towards her twin. 

“I fell out of a tree.” Dak mutters. 

“How exactly did you fall out of a tree?” Leyla asks. 

“I was trying to find fallen trees from a higher point.” Dak answers, “Then I slipped, and fell 10 feet.” 

“Are you okay?” Leyla asks. 

“Mmh,” Dak mutters. 

Heather walks into the room with Dagur and some supplies, sitting on the table in front of Dak. 

“So, you fell out of a tree?” Heather laughs. 

“Yeah sadly,” Dak mutters, moving his arm so she could see the injury. Heather grabs Dak arm cleaning the area surrounding the injury. 

“Hmm,” Dak breathes sharply. 

“Sorry,” Heather mutters, bandaging the injury, “Anything else?” 

“No-” Dak starts. 

“He hit his head on the way down.” Dagur cuts in. 

“Dag it’s nothing.” Dak argues. 

“I think it is something,” Dagur argues, “You almost face planted on our way back.” 

“Fine,” Dak mutters. 

“Are you dizzy or anything?” Heather asks. 

“Not really anymore.” Dak answers. 

“Hmm,” Heather sighs, “I think he’ll be fine but if it worsens we should send for Mala.” 

“Got it,” Dagur answers. 

“Thanks Heather,” Dak mutters. 

“It’s no problem, Dak.” Heather answers standing up and walking out of the room. 

Dak curls up leaning into Leyla who was sitting beside him, “Are you okay Dak?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah, I’m just tired.” Dak answers. 

“Okay,” Leyla mutters, “Do you want help up to your room?” 

“No, I'm fine here.” Dak answers. 

“If you’re sure.” Leyla responds, standing up to go to her room. 

Dagur sits down where Leyla used to be, allowing Dak to curl up, leaning on him as he did with Leyla. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to your room?” 

“Yeah,” Dak assures, “You can go to your room if you want, though.” 

“Nope, I’m okay to stay out here.” Dagur responds, wrapping his arm around Dak. 

“Okay,” Dak answers, after a while the two of them fell asleep on the chair. 

***

It was much later when Dagur woke up again, he felt Dak still curled up in his side. 

“Dang kid,” Dagur chuckles, reaching down to lift Dak up to take him upstairs but the temperature of the boy's arm stopped him in his tracks. “Shit, you're burning up.” 

“Hmm,” Dak mutters, starting to stir. 

“Dak, bud you gotta wake up.” Dagur tells him, shaking his shoulders. 

“Why?” Dak whines. 

“Because you’re burning up.” Dagur answers, standing up from the couch. 

“Why can’t I sleep then?” Dak asks. 

“You need water.” Dagur answers, bringing a cup over to the younger boy, “Drink.” 

“Okay,” Dak mumbles, grabbing the cup and slowly drinking it. 

“Feeling any better.” Dagur asks after a few minutes. 

“A little.” Dak answers. 

“Good,” Dagur sighs, sitting next to Dak again, “If you don’t get any better by the morning we’re going to Mala.” 

“Okay,” Dak mutters, leaning back into Dagur’s side again. 

The next morning, Dak was visibly better. No difficulties in anything that was happening the day before, Dak was awake early for once, woken up by Dagur. 

“Are you feeling better?” Dagur asks him. 

“Yep,” Dak smiles. 

“Good,” Dagur mutters, “Now can you go get Leyla?”

“Sure.” Dak answers, running to find her. 

---

Protective Parents

Leyla, Dak, and Dagur were all on Defenders of the wing; they were invited by Mala. There was an event on the island which Mala thought that Dagur and the twins should be invited to. Mala was showing Dagur around a part of the event while Dak and Leyla explored the rest of the island. The dragons were all resting around the town watching the festival. Throk was tasked with following the twins making sure they didn’t get lost. 

“How long has Throk been following us?” Dak asks his sister. 

“The entire time we’ve been exploring.” Leyla answers.

“Do you think Dag asked him too?” Dak asks. 

“Probably.” Leyla answers 

“He babies us a lot.” Dak mutters. 

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Leyla answers, “Wanna lose our babysitter?” 

“Yes, let's do it.” Dak responds looking around. 

Throk wasn’t far behind them, just far enough so he thought the twins couldn’t see him. There was a crowd not far in front of them, that would make them able to lose the older man. 

“Come on.” Leyla says, grabbing her twins hand running ahead into the crowd. The two of them run into the crowd, weaving their way around the people, they made it out the other side of the crowd running down an alleyway. 

“I think we lost him,” Dak whispers. 

“Me too,” Leyla answers, “So what now?” 

“Hmm.” Dak thinks, “Wanna explore the forest?” 

“Sure.” Leyla answers. 

***

After Throk loses the twins, he looks around the crowd for a moment before giving up and going to find Mala and Dagur. 

“Uh, Mala.” Throk starts. 

“Yes, Throk?” Mala asks. 

“I lost the twins.” Throk answers, “They ran through a crowd, and I couldn’t find them.” 

“Why were you following the twins?” Dagur asks. 

“Mala asked me too.” Throk answers. 

“Why?” Dagur asks, turning to face Mala. 

“I’ll let you explain.” Throk mutters, walking out of the room. 

“I just wanted them to stay safe.” Mala answers. 

“Hmm, you don’t think your island is safe?” Dagur asks. 

“No, I know my island is safe.” Mala answers. 

“So why is Throk following the twins?” Dagur asks. 

“I don’t know.” Mala sighs. 

“They have you wrapped around their little figures.” Dagur chuckles. 

“No, they don’t.” Mala argues. 

“Sure.” Dagur mutters, “They definitely know how to win over people” 

“Like you?” Mala laughs. 

“Well, they have to get it from somewhere.” Dagur answers, “So now do you want to help me find the twins?” 

“Sure,” Mala responds. 

***

Dak and Leyla were still exploring the forest, walking away from the town and festival. “Should we go back?” Dak asks. 

“We probably should.” Leyla answers, turning to go the other direction. 

“Do you think Dag is going to be mad at us?” Dak asks. 

“Maybe.” Leyla answers, “He can be overprotective at times.” 

“I think everyone knows that” Dak chuckles, “Remember when he almost killed savage?” 

“That was a fun day.” Leyla laughs 

“I kinda wish he did off Savage.” Dak mutters. 

“Yeah, but then he wouldn’t be stuck on Outcast Island right now.” Leyla answers. 

“Good point.” Dak mutters. 

After a while the twins made it back into the town, the festival was still going full swing. Lanterns of different colors were lighting the square, music was playing loudly throughout the town. 

“Should we find Dag?” Leyla asks. 

“We probably should.” Dak answers 

“Dak! Leyla!” Dagur yells. 

“I think he is looking for us.” Leyla notes, turning to find Dagur’s voice. 

“Yeah, I think so.” Dak responds. 

Dagur’s eyes land on the twins who were both still standing in the middle town, “There you two are.” 

“Hey, Dag.” Dak tells him. 

“Where did you two go?” Dagur asks. 

“Why did you have Throk babysit us?” Leyla asks in response. 

“I didn’t.” Dagur answers. 

“That was me,” Mala cuts in, “Sorry.” 

“Why?” Dak asks. 

“Because I wanted to make sure you both were safe.” Mala explains. 

“You could’ve just told us.” Leyla tells her. 

“And you would’ve been fine with it?” Dagur asks. 

“Well no.” Dak answers. 

“Then that’s why she didn’t tell you.” Dagur responds. 

“Okay,” Dak sighs, “I understand why you did it, and it’s okay.”

“Really?” Mala asks. 

“Yeah,” Leyla responds. 

“Now can we go back to the festival?” Dak asks. 

“Sure.” Mala chuckles. 

---

Take your grandchildren to work day

Dak and Leyla were on Berk visiting Stoick, Dagur and Heather were dealing with matters on Berserker Island so they couldn’t join. The three of them were in the great hall with some of the other elders, Stoick was in the middle of a meeting, so the twins obviously decided to join. 

“This is boring.” Dak notes 

“I know.” Leyla responds. 

“Um Stoick.” Spitelout starts, hearing the twins' conversation “Why are Dagur’s kids here?” 

“They’re visiting.” Stoick responds, looking over at the two. 

“Where’s Dagur?” Spitelout asks. 

“He had to deal with trivial stuff.” Leyla cuts in. 

“So, you two just get to watch the meetings?” Spitelout asks. 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Dak answers. 

“Sorry, I didn’t realize the meeting was today.” Stoick explains. 

“We are, great company,” Dak cuts in, "thank you very much.”

“I never said you weren’t.” Stoick cuts in. 

“Hmm.” Leyla mutter 

“Can’t they do anything else?” Spitelout asks, “This seems boring for kids.” 

“It is.” Dak responds. 

“We’re hiding from Gustav.” Leyla adds in, “He doesn’t need to know we’re here.” 

“Understandable.” Gobber laughs. 

“I can’t blame them.” Spitelout mutters. 

“You have to deal with him every day.” Dak responds. 

“Isn’t he literally in charge of you?” Leyla asks. 

“He thinks he is.” Spitelout responds 

“Astrid put him in charge.” Gobber explains. 

“Why did she do that?” Leyla asks. 

“Because he was the most experienced rider or something.” Spitelout explains.

\“That sucks for you.” Leyla laughs. 

“Can we go back to the meeting?” Stoick asks. 

“Well, the kids you are babysitting are entertaining.” One of the elders' cuts in. 

“I’m not babysitting them.” Stoick argues. 

“Sure.” 

“How about we continue this meeting later.” Stoick suggests. 

“That might be for the best.” Spitelout mutters, “Let’s go.” 

Most of the elders leave the room, leaving only Stoick, the twins, and Gobber. 

“Sorry for cutting your meeting short.” Leyla tells him 

“It was for the best.” Stoick responds. 

“Okay,” Dak mumbles. 

Dak and Leyla spent the rest of the day on Berk spending time with Stoick, by sunset the two of them flew back to Berserker Island. Dagur met them at the stables, walking with them back towards their house. 

“So how was Stoick?” Dagur asks. 

“We made him cut his meeting short.” Leyla responds. 

“Why?” Dagur asks. 

“They couldn’t finish the meeting with us in the room.” Dak explains 

“Oh,” Dagur mutters, “Did you do anything else.” 

“Hide from Gustav.” Dak adds in. 

“Why?” Dagur asks. 

“Cause he’s annoying.” Leyla explains. 

“That’s fair.” Dagur responds. 

By the time they got home it was after sunset the only light coming from the torches in the house, Heather wasn’t there she went to Vanaheim ro visit their father’s final resting place. They all went to sleep awoken by a terrible terror the next morning. 

Dagur was reading it when the twin awoke, it was from Gobber. 

Dagur,

Stoick was attacked by dragon flyers last night while he was on patrol, he’s stable now but Gothi can’t tell if he’s getting better or worse. Hiccup has been notified as well, we just thought it would be best to notify you, Heather and the twins. 

Gobber 

“Dag what’s going on?” Dak asks from the top of the stairs. 

“Is Leyla up?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah, I heard her.” Dak answers, “Why?” 

“Can you go get her?” Dagur asks. 

“Sure.” Dak answers, walking away to get his twin. 

Leyla was working on her dragon diary in her room when a knock interrupted her, “What?” 

“Dag wants to see us.” Dak responds. 

“Why?” 

“I don’t know.” Dak answers, “He wouldn’t tell me.” 

The two of them walk down where Dagur was, he was still holding the terror mail from Gobber. 

“What’s wrong, Dag?” Leyla asks. 

“There was an accident last night.” Dagur explains, “Stoick was attacked by dragon flyers last night.” 

“Is he okay?” Leyla asks. 

“No, currently he’s in a coma. Gothi doesn’t know when he's going to awake.” Dagur explains. 

“How can this happen?” Dak asks, “We just saw him last night.” 

“It was after you two left.” Dagur responds. 

“Does Hiccup know?” Leyla asks. 

“Yeah, Gobber sent for him as well.” Dagur explains. 

“So, what do we do now?” Dak asks. 

“Hope that he gets better right now that's all that we can do.” Dagur answers. 

Notes:

I’m definitely going to do another one of these chapters so if you have any one-shot requests comment
them and I'll see what I can do

Chapter 30: End of Beginning

Summary:

The calm before the storm

Notes:

mainly silly family stuff before King of Dragons

It had been a few days since the Berserkers learned about what happened to Stoick, and Heather. Heather’s attack happened not even a day after Stoick's; she wasn’t as badly injured, but she still needed medical help. Gothi helped patch up the burns she received from the flyers. Heather was back on Berserker Island by the next day, all four of them were now sitting in the living room of their home. 

“Are you sure you’re, okay?” Dak asks. 

“Yes, Dak.” Heather responds. “You don’t have to keep asking.” 

“I just want to make sure.” Dak responds. 

“Well, I appreciate it,” Heather chuckles. 

“What even happened?” Dagur asks, they heard a little when she first arrived but not the whole story. 

“Krogan flyers followed me to dad's final resting place.” Heather starts, “Attacked me and Windshear, then the sentals, and that's all I know. Me and Windshear were gone by the time they started doing whatever they were there for.” 

“Hm,” Dagur mutters, looking at his younger sister. She was covered in visible injuries, the worst ones were covered with bandages, a few bruises covered her face as well. Windshear got the brunt of the attack, burns covering her skin and a few arrow marks, she was in the stables with the other dragons patched up as well. 

“Hey,” Dagur starts, looking towards the twins, “Can you two go get more firewood, the fire is dying out.” 

“I thought we had plenty?” Dak asks, looking towards the pile of wood. 

“It's going to get colder tonight.” Dagur explains, “Winter is coming, and we need the wood inside before it starts snowing.” 

“Okay,” Dak mutters, leaving the house with his twin. 

“I thought winter wasn’t coming for a few more weeks.” Heather tells him. 

“You're right.” Dagur mutters. 

“Then why-” Heather starts. 

“Because if Dak and Leyla were in here you wouldn’t say what actually happened.” Dagur explains. 

“I told you the truth.” Heather responds. 

“Sure,” Dagur mutters. 

“Fine,” Heather sighs, turning towards her brother, “Me and Windshear were resting on one of the sea stacks near Vanaheim, the flyers were ruthless. Taking down the sentals as if they were nothing, and I couldn’t even help protect them. It was my fault they found the island, and I couldn’t do anything.” 

“Heather, it wasn’t your fault.” Dagur starts, “You were going to dad’s final resting place. I wouldn't expect you to think about anything else.” 

“That’s what Hiccup told me.” Heather mutters. 

“Well, you should listen to our little brother.” Dagur replies, “He sometimes knows what he’s talking about.” 

The two of them sat in silence before shouts from outside got their attention, “Dak! What are you doing!” 

“Seeing if I can find more wood.” Dak explains, Heather and Dagur look at each other before going outside to see what the twins were doing. Dak was already half up one of the pine trees near their house, Leyla was near the base watching him climb. 

“Dak-” Dagur starts. 

“It’ll be fine.” Dak assures. 

“Should we remind you that the last time you tried this, you fell out of the tree?” Heather asks him. 

“It’s only because it was raining earlier that day.” Dak responds. 

“No, it wasn’t!” Leyla argues. 

“Dak just come down!” Dagur yells up. 

“Fine,” Dak groans, climbing down the tree standing beside Leyla, “Can I not climb trees anymore?” 

“Yes,” Dagur responds, 

“What!” Dak yells. 

“I would rather not have to deal with you falling out of a tree again.” Dagur explains. 

“It was one time!” Dak yells. 

“Hm.” Leyla mutters. 

“Don’t start, Ley.” Dak responds, “Are you going to ban Leyla from going to random islands.” 

“Whoa here!” Leyla screams. 

“I could.” Dagur responds. 

“You shouldn’t!” Leyla argues. 

“If I can’t climb trees, Ley can’t go to random islands.” Dak tells Dagur. 

“Okay, okay,” Dagur mutters, “You can climb trees just be careful.” 

“Yes!” Dak yells, turning towards the tree again. 

“Not now though.” Dagur tells him. 

“Why not?” Dak asks. 

“Because we still need to get firewood.” Leyla responds 

“Oh yeah,” Dak mutters, grabbing his twin's hand “Come on, Ley.” 

The two of them run to the pile of wood, leaving Dagur and Heather alone, “He’s going to fall out of a tree again.’ 

“Oh, I know.” Dagur responds, “Hopefully Mala will be around when it happens.” 

“Hopefully,” Heather mutters, “Because I don’t know how many head injuries that kid can take.” 

“Yeah, I have no clue.” Dagur mutters. 

---

It was later in the day, Heather and Dagur were walking around the town with the twins. They were a little bit behind them, as usual Dak and Leyla were walking in front of the berserkers. 

“Hurry up!” Dak yells towards them. 

“We aren’t going anywhere important!” Dagur yells back. 

“My patience is very important!” Dak argues. 

“Who told you that?” Leyla asks him. 

“It’s my opinion.” Dak responds. 

“A bad one.” Leyla mutters. 

“Hey-” Dak starts. 

“Okay, okay.” Dagur laughs, getting in between the two of them, “You two can fight as much as you want when we get back home, deal?” 

“Deal.” The two of them respond. 

The four of them walk towards the docks, Dagur and Heather observing their surroundings while the twins were walking near them. The island has grown so much sense they started rebuilding, people enjoyed living on the island. It wasn't a war zone anymore and it was actually a nice place to live. 

“Ah! Peace and quiet.” Dagur yells, looking around, “Everyone in their right place, doing what they do proudly for the Berserker name.” He cuts himself off with a sigh “I got to say, guys, I'm bored as hell.” 

“Are you trying to teach the twins more swear words?” Heather asks. 

“Okay, first that’s not a swear word, second-” Dagur’s argument was cut off by a horn sounding, “Incoming ships? Were we expecting guests? I mean, I'm not even cleaned up. I don't have guests on my calendar.” 

Heather looks through a telescope looking towards the incoming ships, “That's because they're uninvited guests.” Heather tells him, handing the telescope over to her brother. Dagur looks through, seeing the dozens of dragon hunting ships sailing towards their island “Still bored, brother?” 

Dagur and Heather both pull out their weapons, standing in front of the twins whose weapons were still at their house. Dagur looks towards the ship before starting to laugh maniacally.

Notes:

This chapter was really short but hopefully the next one will be longer, I just needed to get the beginning of the King of Dragons done.

As always, I'm extremely grateful for everything I've gotten with this fic.

As I said in the last chapter, one-shot requests are wanted for this fic I have another one of those chapters planned so if you have any ideas comment them

Chapter 31: King of Dragons

Summary:

King of Dragons part 2

Notes:

I can’t believe this is the last chapter of rtte, I never thought I’d get so far into this fic thank you everyone for all the support I’ve gotten

The dragon hunter ships were closing in on the island, dragon flyers were in front of the ships protecting them for air attacks

“Dragon Flyers! On the horizon!” One of the soldiers shouts. 

“Train your catapults and arrows on the ships behind the Flyers and wait for my signal to fire!” Dagur explains. 

“Dagur, are you crazy?” Another one of the soldiers asked.  

“That's been established.” Dagur tells him, “Just trust me!” 

“Come on, Krogan.” Dagur mutters, as the dragon flyers get closer to the island, “You know you want some of this. Bring it in for the real thing, big boy.” 

The flyers get closer to the island, blocking the ships behind them. Krogan and his flyer’s prepare to fire on the docks, but all the dragons suddenly fly back from the island as if it physically hurts them. 

“Huh? Dragon!” Krogan screams, “What is wrong with you?” 

Dagur turns to the soldiers who were watching the flyers, “Now! Fire!” Dagur yells. Boulders are lit on fire, and thrown at the unprotected ships. Krogan and his flyers were flying up towards the top of the island attempting to attack still. 

“Get over that island.” Krogan tells the flyers, all of them fly up towards the sun unknown of what it was hiding. Hiccup flies out of the sun, firing on the dragon flyers with the rest of the dragon riders. 

“Krogan, this ends now!” Hiccup yells at him. 

The nut twins fly over the man releasing gas, over him and his dragon. “Yeah! How do you like us now, Krogey?” Ruffnut yells at him. 

The two of them fly back around, allowing for the next part to happen, “Here's a little singe to go along with that tail.” Tuffnut explains, having his dragon light the gas. 

Unfortunately, Krogan and his dragon dived out of the way of the explosion, the two of them were hovering over the forest. Hiccup and the dragon riders surround him, not allowing him to even attempt any other ideas. 

Dagur looks back at the twins who were standing in the back watching the entire fight, the entire area erupted into cheers from the berserker guards. The dragon riders fly above them towards the dragon stables on top of the mountain. 

Hiccup looks down at his older brother, who gives him a thumbs up showing his approval.

“Come on, let’s go meet the dragon riders.” Heather tells the three of them. 

“I wonder why they attacked us.” Dak questions, “I thought they were looking for the king of dragons.” 

“They were.” Leyla mutters. 

“I bet Hiccup knows what’s happening.” Dagur assures them. 

The four of them meet the dragon riders outside the dragon stables, Mala was there with them standing near Hiccup. 

“What’s happening?” Heather asks, “Why are we being attacked?” 

“Shouldn’t they be looking for the king of dragons?” Leyla asks. 

“They are.” Hiccup responds. 

“Here?” Heather asks, shocked. 

“And I'm guessing it's beneath the island.” Hiccup explains, “That's why dragons can't fly here.” 

“It's his defense mechanism.” Leyla cuts in. 

“Exactly. He has the ability to control the minds of other dragons.”

“Well, no wonder Krogan and Johann want him so badly.” Astrid states. 

“The King of Dragons is a Berserker.” Dagur chuckles, moving to stand next to Mala, “Ha! It makes perfect sense to me. I mean, what else would he be?” 

“Uncle Fenris, that's what.” Tuffnut cuts in, “It must be him.” 

Dagur looks towards Hiccup and Astrid in annoyance, before looking back to Tuffnut “What are you talking about? What are they talking about?” 

“Well, our great-uncle on our mother's side…” Tuffnut starts. 

“Fenris Thorston.” Ruffnut cuts in. 

“Fenrisulfr Thorston, to be exact, went missing when we were kids. His name literally means "down below".” Tuffnut explains to them "Fenris, Fenris, tall and fair, who did you let braid your hair?" That was the poem we youngsters used to recite to him. And Fenris would reply, "Hair. Mouth. Cheese of yak. Come, Sintar. Bring the melon." 

“What is wrong with you?” Leyla mutters. 

“Can I ask a question?” Astrid asks, furiously, “What's wrong with the two of you?” 

“Where would you like to begin?” Ruffnut asks. 

“Why do you make up these family members?” Astrid asks. 

“It's not your Uncle Fenris under this island. It's the King of Dragons.” Leyla tells the twins. 

“Is that what you'd have us do?” Tuffnut asks the two of them, “Take away our creative minds and be like the rest of you simpletons? Okay, fine. We'll try it your way. What do you think Johann's doing right now, sis?”

“Uh, he probably sent a second fleet to attack from the south as the first fleet re-engages from the north.” Ruff explains. 

“Why would you say such a thing?” Tuffnut asks, putting his hand on his chest shocked. 

“Because that's what they're doing.” Ruffnut responds, pointing over her shoulder at the men, “I mean, that is them, right?”

“What the…” Hiccup asks, looking at the hunters. 

“You see?” Tuffnut asks, “You see what happens when we get real? Things get real.” 

The ships and flyers start attacking the town, dozens of boulders were flying into the two. Some lit on fire some not, buildings were falling or burning as the people were running out of the town. 

Screams were echoing through the mountains, making the dragon riders hear them. Dagur and Snotlout were crouched down looking into the town, people were still attempting to evacuate. 

“Look.” Dagur states, pointing to what was happening in the town, the two of them turned back to the group “Those are our people down there!” 

“We'd rather die in battle than hide in shame.” Heather tells the dragon riders 

Both Heather and Dagur take out their weapons, icy determination shown in their faces. Leyla and Dak weren’t far behind them, watching the interaction. 

“No one's hiding.” Hiccup assures, “And we're not gonna stay here either. But our chances of survival without dragons are extremely slim, to say the least.” 

Spitelout walked over to the group of the dragon riders, looking towards Hiccup “Aye. That it is.” He turns to the acting chief  “A decision would be a good thing right about now.” 

Hiccup looks at the group, before turning back to the battle raging in the town “We need to stay calm.” 

“No, we have to stay strong.” Dagur objects, grabbing Hiccup’s shoulder, “Fight.” 

A new sound starts echoing throughout the mountains, a dragon cry. Hiccup and Dagur look around to investigate the sound, to both of their surprise the Wingmaidens were landing on the top of the mountain. Flying down to attack the dragon hunters. 

“Holy Razorwhip, baby.” Tuffnut yells, looking around. 

“Wingnut!” Ruffnut yells, getting the baby dragon’s attention. 

“Wingnut?” Dak asks, looking at his twin

“Hm.” Leyla responds, shrugging her shoulders. 

Minden flies down taking down three dragon hunters at once, Snotlout was watching from where he stood on the mountain, “That's my girl!”

“What?” Leyla asks.

“There’s no way.” Dak responds. 

“Told you.” Snotout yells at the twins. 

“Hey, that's Wingmaiden to you, Snotlout.” Minden chuckles. 

“I didn’t know that was possible.” Leyla mutters. 

Astrid turns towards Hiccup who was watching the Windmaidens, “Hiccup, how did they?”

“Sent a Terror Mail from Defenders of the Wing Island.” Hiccup explains, “Wasn't sure they'd get here in time.”

“How can baby Razorwhips fly over the center of the island?” Fishlegs asks. 

“Maybe because their senses haven't fully developed,” Leyla suggests, “it helps offset the effects?” 

“Or maybe it's a window for our dragons.” Dagur suggests. 

“Only one way to find out.” Astrid responds. 

“Astrid, listen-” Hiccup starts. 

“I'll be fine. We'll be fine.” Astrid assures him, “Johann and Krogan have probably gotten a head start. You and Toothless need to find the King of Dragons before they do and get him to safety. If not, this war will go on forever. Hey. Your dad would be so proud of you right now. I know I am.” The two of them share an affection kiss before Astrid runs over to the dragon riders leaving Hiccup with his dragon 

“Ew” Dak mutters

“There’s better times for that.” Leyla adds in. 

“All right, Dragon Riders!” Astrid yells at them, “Get ready to fight like you've never fought before! This is our time! This is where we shine!” 

The take off into the sky leaving Hiccup and Toothless to their own task, “Dagur, Heather, Dak, Leyla, Ruff, and, Tuff, engage with the Wingmaidens. Full frontal attack.” 

“A little engagement for our engagement.” Dagur chuckles, looking over his shoulder at Mala, “I like it.” Mala kisses the man on the cheek, making the younger twins share a disgusted glance at each other. 

“Nothing like a full-frontal attack to kick the day into high gear.” Tuffnut yells, looking towards his twin. 

“I'm with you, brother!” Ruffnut yells in response. 

Heather flies close to her brother, “And I'm with you, brother.” 

“Spitelout, Snotlout, you two outflank them on the northern side, then squeeze.” Astrid explains to them, “Got it?”

“Oh, we'll squeeze 'em, all right.” Snotlout smiles, looking at his father. 

“Like a ripe tomato under me armpit.” Spitelout responds 

“What does that even mean?” Dak asks. 

“No idea.” Leyla responds. 

“Hey, Dad, it's fun to be doing this with you.” Snotlout tells his father, 

“Took the words right out of my mouth, boyo.” Spitelout explains, “Couldn't be happier to be your wingman!” 

“Fishlegs, you're with me.” Astrid yells. 

The two Jorgonsons fly down towards the ships, both firing on them. “It's go time, dragons!” Spitelout yells. 

“Flyers coming in hot, people.” Snotlout yells. 

They continue fighting, the air starts to become thick with ashes from the fires below them. It was getting harder to breathe for them, let alone be able to see. 

“Astrid!” Fishlegs yells. 

“I know, Fishlegs.” Astrid responds, tightening her grip on her weapon, “But we're staying and fighting.” more dragon hunter ships were sailing towards the island, the smoke from below was becoming thicker. A loud roar echoes throughout the area, getting a reaction from the dragons 

Dak and Leyla, cover their ears at the sudden loud voice echoing around. 

“That must be the King of Dragons!” Astrid yells. 

Fishlegs looked over at the twins, who were looking around for something, “What did the dragon say?” 

“You’re going to want to see for yourself.” Leyla responds. 

A dragon flyer suddenly comes out of the clouds flying towards Astrid, he fires a blast at her which she uses her ax to block. Unfortunately that was the only block it could do, the entire metal top was burned off. The dragon flyer comes back preparing to fire another blast. But suddenly the flyer got shot off his dragon,  

“What the?” Astrid asks, looking around seeing the dragon the blast came from, “Garff!”

Hundreds of dragons fly by them, attacking the ships and flyers. All different dragons were there, even ones which are enemies to each other. 

Heather flies near Fishlegs and the twins, who were all looking around “where did all these dragons come from?” Heather asks 

“That roar must have been a distress signal.” Fishlegs guess, looking over to the twins, “All available dragons.” 

“Yep.” Dak confirms. 

“Dragons incoming!” multiple dragon hunters scream. 

“All right, everyone!” Astrid yells, looking at all the other dragon riders meeting again “Work with each other and the other dragons. Let's finish this.” 

They fly down towards the ships, firing on the ships and dragon flyers. Arrows were shot all around at them making it harder to fly. Dagur and Mala fly by some of the hunters, Sleuther using his three tails to grab them carrying them away from the ships. Dagur looks back at them chuckling quietly. The hunters were thrown towards another one of the ships, knocking down the hunters on the ships. 

Leyla flies towards one of the flyers that was hovering over one of the ships, remembering the move she saw Heather do months before. Summer understands what she’s planning flying faster to help her rider, Leyla jumps towards the dragon knocking off the flyer. Leyla briefly stands on the singetails back, taking the harness off before jumping down to Summer. 

“Cool.” Dak mutters, watching his sister flying next to her, “Dag’s gonna kill you for doing that.” 

“I know.” Leyla chuckles. 

The titan wing dramilion appears on one of the ships, firing into the deck making an explosion. Krogan’s singetail stands in front of the other dragon, firing into the air showing no threat. The dramilion adds to the fire, as the two dragons fly up into the air. 

The hundreds of dragons surround them, flying in a circle. The dragon riders were watching the two from the sidelines. 

“Yes!” Spitelout shouts. 

“Go, Titan. Go, Singey. Go, Titan. Go, Singey.” Tuffnut sings, the two dragons fly in two separate directions signifying the end of the battle. The hundreds of the dragons separate, flying back towards their homes. 

“That was-.” Leyla starts. 

“Amazing.” Dak finishes. 

“Yep.” Leyla says in aw. 

The group of them, fly towards where the opening of the cavern was. Hiccup and Toothless were both walking out, Hiccup’s hands were fly carrying the dragon egg

Fishlegs runs up to the duo, with the rest of the dragon riders close behind him, “Oh! Oh, my Thor. Is that the King of Dragons' egg?” 

“Amazing.” Leyla mutters, looking at the egg. 

“Hiccup, what did the King of Dragons look like?” Fishlegs asks. 

“I never even saw it, but it saved me.” Hiccup answers, “It saved us all.”

“What about Fenris? Did he help?” Tuffnut asks. 

“This has his fingerprints all over it.” Ruffnut responds. 

“Uh, sure. Why not?” Hiccup responds, looking around, “Oh, wait. Uh, where's Krogan? You guys have him, right?” 

“No. We thought you had him.” Astrid responds. 

Fishlegs puts a hand on Hiccup’s shoulder, “Hiccup, the King of Dragons is safe. That's all that matters.” 

 

“This is Dragon's Edge. It's remote, it's dangerous, and until recently, it's been our home. It's also been a home to our dragons. As far as the egg goes, Atali and the Wingmaidens knew someone who knew someone who had a safe place to keep it. With Johann out of the picture it will remain safe. As for the lovebirds,” the scene cuts to Hiccup and Astrid kissing, “No, those lovebirds.” Dagur and Mala’s wedding continued, both of them wearing white ceremonial clothes. Dak and Leyla were standing near Dagur watching the ceremony, “Their future seems to be pretty certain.” 

It was after Dagur and Mala’s wedding, Dak and Leyla were both knocked out lying on one of the couches. Dagur and Mala were both changed into more comfortable clothes, Dagur was looking towards the twins. The two of them were fighting over the couch in their sleep. 

“One of them is going to fall off.” Mala chuckles, looking towards the sleeping twins. 

“Oh I know.” Dagur chuckles, turning towards Mala. 

“They’re good kids.” Mala mutters, sitting down next to Dagur. 

“Don’t I know it.” Dagur chuckles, “They deserve everything.” 

“And they’ll get it.” Mala responds. 

“Really?” Dagur asks. 

“Yep.” Mala answers. 

“Well then-” Dagur starts, cut off by a bang from behind them. 

“Dak, you mother-” Leyla groans, from where she was on the ground. 

“You okay, Leyla?” Dagur asks. 

“Yes.” Leyla responds, standing to get her spot back on the couch, she pushes Dak aside to lay back down where she was. 

“The first day of the rest of our lives.” Mala chuckles.

“Yep.” Dagur confirms. 

Notes:

You didn’t think this was the end of the story, did you? More chapters are coming don’t worry this is not the end
(DESCENDANTS REFERENCE)

As I said before I need one-shot recommendations so if you have any comment them and I'll see what I can do

Chapter 32: Freaks

Summary:

Dagur, Mala, and the twins were at the Northern Markets, not expecting to learn more about the twins past

Notes:

This was going to be in a one-shot chapter but it was too long so it gets it's own chapter

Dagur, Mala and the twins were all at the Northern Markets, Throk was with them as well walking farther behind. 

“I thought this place used to be more crowded.” Dagur mutters, looking around. 

“It did.” Mala assures, “Not sure what happened, hopefully there will be less dragon hunters now.” 

“For all of our sake.” Dagur mutters. 

“Sense there’s like no one here, can we go explore?” Dak asks. 

“Hmm, I don’t know.” Dagur starts. 

“Dag, we’ll be fine.” Leyla assures, “We have the dragons, and our weapons.” 

“Fine,” Dagur sighs, “Meet near the ship at midday.” 

“Thank you,” Dak tells him, grabbing Leyla's arm running away from the adults with Summer and Winger behind them. The rest of the dragons were on Defenders of the Wing still, Burple was scared and Aggro volunteered to stay with him. Cutter only stayed because he wanted to sleep more. 

“What should we look at first?” Leyla asks her twin. 

“I don’t know.” Dak responds, looking around. 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” A voice echoes throughout the markets, “boys and girls, and sheep of all ages,” 

“Ley,” Dak starts, “Do you recognize that voice?” 

“Yeah,” Leyla mutters, looking around 

“I am the amazing Arno and I am thrilled to welcome you to my spectacular, my stupendous, my sensational Carnival of Dragons.” 

Dak and Leyla walk towards the booth, it was near the water showing off the newly build ship. Summer and Winger were behind them, watching them. 

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Summer tells them, “We should go get Dagur and Mala.”

“I agree with Summer,” Winger responds. 

“We’re just looking,” Leyla assures. 

“Then we’ll get the adults?” Summer asks, “We all remember what happened last time.” 

“Yes,” Dak responds, looking down at the ship. 

There was guards now, Arno was at the booth selling tickets to people before showing them to the ship, “Looks like Arno learned from his mistakes.” Leyla mutters 

“Are we going to get Dagur and Mala?” Winger asks. 

“Soon,” Dak assures, “We just need to see if he has any dragons.”

“It’s a carnival of dragons,” Summer responds, “Of course he does.” 

“We just need to see what type.” Leyla responds. 

“No,” Winger responds, “We need to get Dagur and Mala.”

“Live a little,” Leyla chuckles, putting her hood on walking towards the ship. 

“This is a bad idea.” Summer starts. 

“It’ll be fine,” Dak responds, doing the same as Leyla. 

“Those two are going to end up in a fight.” Winger sighs. 

“Yep.” Summer responds, “Should we get Dagur and Mala?” 

“Probably, but I kind of want to watch.” Winger responds

“2 minutes.” Summer responds, lying down to watch.

Leyla sneaks over to the booth, grabbing two tickets before walking towards the ship with Dak.

“We’re not Dragon carnival inspectors this time?” Dak asks jokingly. 

“No,” Leyla answers, “that didn’t work last time.”

“Aw man.” Dak mutters, “I’m out of a job.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Dak chuckles, the two of them stand in the time behind some people there was a person checking the tickets allowing people to board. 

“Tickets please?” The guard asks, the twins when they get up to him. 

Leyla hands them over to him, not saying a word he lets the two of them aboard allowing them to sit in the audience. “We’re in.” Dak mutters. 

“You spend too much time with those nut twins.” Leyla mutters. 

“I know.” Dak sighs, the two of them sit in the audience looking at the stage. The belzuim cage was upgraded, now built out of dragon proof metal. The controls were made out of a different metal, that was probably iron at least what Leyla guessed. 

“He’s definitely learned from his mistakes.” Leyla mutters, looking around. The audience was filled with dozens of people, some hunters, or people that were from nearby islands. All of them were people who weren’t the biggest fans of dragons or only believed dragons could be used for entertainment. 

“Welcome one and all!” Arno yells, standing in front of the control panel, “To Arno’s spectacular, my stupendous, my sensational Carnival of Dragons!” Cheers erupt from the audience, minusing the two twins who both made their way to the back to not be noticed by the older man. 

“Today, you are going to witness something astonishing, something remarkable,” Arno starts. 

“Looks like his script still hasn’t changed.” Dak chuckles. 

“First up in my fantabulous flock of fantastic flappers is the Deadly Nadder!” Arno yells, gesting towards the cage that had an adolescent dragon in it, “Don’t let this dragon’s small size fool you, she definitely packs a punch.” 

“Shocking, he knows the name.” Leyla laughs, just loud enough for Dak to hear. Dak laughs quietly in response, knowing Leyla’s reaction last time they saw Arno. 

“The next amazing creature we have here today is…” Arno starts, stopping for dramatic effects, “The terrifying Grim Gnashers.” This time there were three dragons sitting in the cage, again all of them were adolescents. Small enough that none of them knew how to fly, so the three of them were standing on the floor of the cage. 

“Those are barely hatchlings.” Dak guessed, looking over to his sister for approval of his suggestion. 

“Are we really surprised?” Leyla asks, “He took Burple when he was just an egg.” 

“Good point.” 

“Last but not least!” Arno yells, catching the audience's attention again, “The mighty Dramillion!” 

“A Dramillion?” Leyla asks, again as the other he was an adolescent as the rest of the dragons. He was old enough to fly, but his fire blasts weren’t under control. The dragon kept switching to different blasts, unable to control the power of them, “This incredible dragon can mimic any blast he sees!”

“That’s not true.” Leyla mutters. 

“I doubt he cares.” Dak responds, looking back at Winger and Summer who were watching them. “We need to get Dag and Mala.” 

“I know.” Leyla answers, looking around the crowd was filled to the brim, the guards were on either side and up above them. “We need to get past these guards.” 

“Arno didn’t spare any expense.” Dak mutters. 

The show continued all of the dragons were standing side by side in the end, Arno was taking a bow to the audience. Looking up at the crowd when his eyes land on the two sitting in the back. Most of their faces were hidden,  they were talking quietly. “Thank you all for coming!” Arno yells, walking towards the audience, “hope to see all of you again.” 

The crowd start towards the ramp to leave the ship, all of them were talking loudly about the show as they left. Arno looks towards the twins, whose hoods were still up covering their faces. The man looks back at his guards who were standing near the ramp helping anyone who needed it, and gestured to grab the twins. 

“We need to find Dag and Mala.” Leyla mutters. 

“I know.” Dak responds, the two of them were about to step off the ship when they were grabbed by the guards. It wasn’t hard for either of them to escape their grip, but in the struggle both of their hoods fell down. Arno was staring at them, he recognized them almost immediately. He could never forget their faces, the two children that took everything from him. 

“What is the problem?” Dak asks, hoping the man didn’t recognize them. 

“The problem?” Arno laughs, “The problem is that you two took everything from me!”

“You did it to yourself.” Leyla argues. 

“Everything was fine until you two took my dragons, destroyed my ship, and took my gold!” Arno screams, walking towards the two of them. 

“You were abusing those dragons.” Dak responds, “You didn’t deserve anything.” 

“Especially from us.” Leyla adds in, Arno says no response, only walking towards her and striking her against the face. Leyla stubbles back before looking back at the man, he was smiling proudly now. “You’ve gotten weaker.”  

“What did you say?” Arno asks, getting closer to the girl. 

“She said nothing.” Dak cuts in, trying to protect his sister from saying something smart assy. 

“I said, you’ve gotten weaker.” Leyla repeats, ignoring her brother's attempts to stop her. 

“You little-” Arno starts, walking towards them. Dak grabs his twin's arm dragging her away, back into the markets. 

“Why do you piss people off so much?” Dak asks her.

“It’s fun.” Leyla chuckles. 

“Is it fun every time you get hurt because of it?” Dak argues. 

“Well… no.” Leyla answers. 

“Exactly.” Dak answers, “Why you being the reckless one?” 

“Why are you being the responsible one?” Leyla argues. 

“Touche” Dak mutters, running around the corner. Arno’s guards were still chasing them through the markets, while Summer and Winger flew above them, providing cover fire when the men got too close for comfort.  

“Where do you think Dag is?” Leyla asks. 

“I think I heard him say something about wanting to look at weapons.” Dak answers. 

“There’s over a dozen weapon stands here, that doesn’t narrow down the search.” Leyla argues, she glances up at the sky looking at when the sun was, “It’s almost midday, didn’t he say to meet him where we split.” 

“Yes.” Dak responds, realizing his sister's plan. 

“Let’s go meet him.’ Leyla answers.

“Then get grounded.” Dak mutters. 

“Yeah,” Leyla sighs, “We’ll deal with that later.” 

---

Dagur, Mala and Throk were still making their way through the markets, they needed to find new weapons for the island as well as some more materials. 

“It’s almost midday.” Dagur mutters, looking towards Mala. 

“Should we go meet the twins?” Throk asks. 

“We probably should.” Mala responds. 

The three of them go to the meeting place, neither of the twins had arrived yet in fact there was barely anyone there. 

“Where are they?” Dagur mutters, looking around. 

“They’ll be here soon,” Mala assures, “I doubt anything happened.” 

“Hm, debatable” Throk mutters, he’s been the one usually making sure the twins didn’t get into trouble when they went to new islands. Most of the time, the two of them found it anyway. 

They look down the street, seeing the two twins running towards them. “Why are they running?” Mala asks. 

“They definitely got into trouble.” Throk responds. 

Dak and Leyla ran to stand beside Dagur, looking down the street at Arno’s guards closing in on them. Throk steps in front of the entire group, standing in front of Mala. 

“Is something wrong?” Dagur asks, moving to be in front of the twins. 

“Dagur the Deranged.” One of the guards say in awe, looking towards him. 

“That’s me.” Dagur responds, walking towards them, “Do you need something?” 

“Our employer would like to have a conversation with those two.” The man explains, pointing at the twins, “So if you just step aside we can finish this.” 

“No, that's not happening.” Dagur responds,  “So either we go with them or your employer is out of luck.” 

“Well–” 

“Why do you care? Do you even know these kids?” 

“Yes, I do.” Dagur responds, “They live with me.” 

“Oh,” 

“Yeah, oh.” Dagur repeats, “So are we all going to see your employer or not?” 

The two guards looked at each other before walking back towards Arno’s ship, Dagur and Mala watched them until they were out of sight before turning to the twins.

“So-” Mala starts. 

“What the hell was that?” Dagur asks them. 

“Uh…” Dak starts looking towards his sister. 

“Something that happened a while ago.” Leyla explains, “We can tell you the entire story later, but their boss is abusing dragons for his own gain and we need to help them.” 

“And how do you know this?” Throk asks. 

“We’ll explain later.” Dak responds. 

“Okay, where is their boss?” Dagur asks. 

“The docks at the edge of the markets.” Leyla answers. 

“Got it.” Dagur responds, “You two go back to the ship and wait, while we deal with this.” 

“What?” Dak asks. 

“Why do we have to go back to the ship?” Leyla finishes. 

“Because their boss seems to want something from the two of you.” Mala explains, “Which means you two did something to him.”

“We can handle it.” Leyla assures the adults. 

“We’d make a pretty good distraction.” Dak adds in. 

“I don’t know.” Dagur mutters.

“Just let them come.” Throk tells the royals, “They’ll be there either way.” 

“He has a point.” Mala chuckles. 

“Fine.” Dagur responds, looking towards the siblings, “Don’t do anything reckless.” 

“When have we ever done anything reckless?” Dak asks. 

“Do you want the list?” Throk asks. 

“What?” 

“You have a list?” Mala asks. 

“Yes, it’s three pages long, double-sided.” Throk explains 

“When did you-” Leyla starts. 

“Doesn’t matter.” Throk responds, “We have to deal with this dragon trapper.” 

“I feel like it does matter.” Dak responds. 

“How did we not notice?” Leyla mutters 

“You two aren’t very observant.” Throk responds, “Like Dagur.” 

“Hey-” Dagur starts. 

“Dragon trapper.” Mala cuts in, pushing the two men towards the dock, “You two can argue all you want afterwards.” 

“Lovely.” Leyla mutters.

The group of them start walking towards the docks, Sluether and the two other dragons were walking behind them preparing to fire if anything happens. Arno was at his ticket stand with a line of hunters in front of him, the guards were standing on either side of the booth. 

“Is that him?” Dagur asks. 

“Yep.” Leyla mutters. 

Dagur and Throk push their way through the line, getting many angry shouts. The two men were standing in front of the booth, Arno was looking up at the two men visibly confused. 

“Hello,” Arno greets, “What can I get started for you?”

“We’ve gotten some information that you are using dragons,” Throk starts. 

Arno looks behind him seeing the twins standing near Mala, the man quickly stands up walking towards them.

“Those two freaks told you?” Arno asks the men. 

“Freaks?” Dagur asks. 

“Yeah, they can understand dragons,” Arno attempts to explain, “They definitely are freaks.” 

“Because they can do something you can’t?” Throk asks. 

“Because they can do something no one can.” Arno responds, standing up walking towards the twins. “Honestly it is an amazing ability, earned me plenty of gold. Well until they escaped.” 

“You used the twins for money?” Mala asks. 

“Yeah, anyone would.” Arno chuckles, looking around finally recognizing the two adults, “Why do you two even care? Aren’t you Dagur the Deranged and Queen Mala, I wouldn’t think you’d care so much about random orphans.” 

“Well you’re incorrect.” Mala responds, stepping in front of the twins attempting to cover them from the older man. 

“How do you even know these two?” Arno asks. 

“They live with us.” Dagur explains, “I would’ve thought your guards would’ve told you that.” 

Arno whips around looking at the guards, who both turn away. “Well you were incorrect, they didn’t inform me of that.” 

“Hm.” Dagur mutters, “Anyways we need to deal with the other topic.” 

“What topic?” Arno asks. 

“The dragons you’ve captured and are using for money.” Mala responds. 

“Oh that.” Arno mutters.

“Yeah,” Dagur mutters, “So we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” 

“What’s the worst you could do?” Arno asks, signaling for his guards to prepare. 

“We have three dragons, and highly trained adults.” Dak cuts in. 

“You have a point.” Arno mutters, walking towards his ship telling the guards to let the dragons go. 

“That was easier than I expected.” Dak mutters. 

“Now,” Arno starts, walking back towards the group, “Those kids owe me.”

“Owe you what?” Throk asks. 

“A lot of things.” Arno responds, “They ruined my life, stole my dragons and my gold.” 

“I think they had a good reason.” Mala assures the man, looking towards the ship that was allowing the baby dragons to leave. The group of them flew away supporting each other flying. 

“Now that the dragons are free.” Dagur starts, walking towards Arno, “You better not capture any more dragons, or else we won’t let you off as easily.” 

“Oh what are you going to do?” Arno asks. 

“I vote to put him in a jail cell.” Leyla cuts in. 

“Restrict his food like he did for us.” Dak adds, slapping a hand over his mouth at the adults faces, “Shoot.” 

“Well now they know.” Leyla mutters.

“We’re talking about that.” Mala tells them. 

“Yeah we know.” Dak mutters. 

Dagur turns back towards Arno who was watching them, “Get lost.” The man and his guards run to the ship, sending off and sailing away, “Now that’s dealt with.” 

“You two better start talking.” Mala tells them. 

---

They were back on Defenders of the wing, it had been a few hours since they returned from the Northern Markets. Dak and Leyla started explaining some things that happened with Arno when they were young. 

“Dak, what did you mean by, restrict his food like he did with us?” Mala asks. 

“When we were with Arno he wouldn’t feed you unless you performed as he wanted you too,” Dak explains, “And most of the time me and Leyla didn’t do as he asked, so most of the time we didn’t eat for days.” 

“Oh gods.” Throk mutters. 

“So when we escaped we stole all of his gold as an act of revenge.” Dak explains. 

“Is that the worst that he did?” Dagur asks. 

“I mean he also got physically violent when we didn’t do what he wanted.” Leyla adds in, “which happened a lot.” 

“Gods.” Mala mutters, looking towards Dagur. He was focused on the twins, who were both sitting in front of them. Dak and Leyla continued explaining all that had happened before going up to bed. 

“So should we go find Arno?” Throk asks. 

“We should bring Hiccup and Astrid.” Dagur adds in, “I bet they’d help.”

“And Heather.” Mala adds in. 

“Great, we'll meet with them soon.” Throk responds. 

“I’ll start the plan.” Mala starts walking away. 

“I bet Stoick would help.” Dagur tells Throk. 

“I think anyone would help when it comes to the twins.” Throk argues. 

“Good point.” Dagur mutters.

Notes:

Giving Dak and Leyla more trauma because I can

As I said before I need one-shot recommendations so if you have any comment them and I'll see what I can do or just comment if you have anything to say, I love getting comments

Chapter 33: Dragon Racing!

Summary:

A visit to Berk is interrupted by the incoming danger of dragon hunters

“ This... is Berk . The best kept secret this side of, well, anywhere. Granted, it may not look like much, but this wet heap of rock packs more than a few surprises. ”

A cluster of sheep, hiding nervously between buildings as shadows of passing dragons race by. The group moves as one, receding into a shadowy alley, pushing one sheep out into the light. It's suddenly snatched and carried into the air. 

“Life here is amazing, just not for the faint of heart. See, where most folks enjoy hobbies like whittling or needlepoint, we Berkins prefer a little something we like to call–”

A wash of vibrant colors blurs by. Dragons Barrel past at a dizzying speed. Their riders swipe, kick, and roll into one another while they weave neck in neck between the houses, docks and revamped structures of Berk.

“Dragon Racing!” 

The dragon riders were flying over a crowd of Berkins, Fishlegs and Meatlug were leading them. 

“WHOOOOOOO!” Fishlegs shouts. 

The dragon riders were all in their early twenties now, it had been a year since the battle of Berserker island. Fishlegs and Meatlug had captured a sheep, which Meatlug was carrying in her claws. Well she was, until Hookfang slams into them making Meatlug’s grip on the sheep lessen. Snotlout grabs the sheep, holding it up with pride. 

“Oh, I'm sorry, Fishlegs! Did you want that?” Snotlout mocks, holding the sheep up to the viking. All he gets in return is a glare from the older viking. Fishlegs knocks his leg into Meatlug signaling for her to speed up, unfortunately for them, Snotlout and Hookfang shoot back out of their reach. 

“No, Snotlout! That was mine!” Fishlegs screams after him. 

Snotlout falls up next to the Nut twins and their dragon, “I’ll give you 20 gold pieces if you help me win.” Ruffnut suggests to the viking. 

Snotlout thinks for a second before throwing the sheep up to the girl, “Here ya go.” 

“I better get that gold when you win” 

“No promises.” Ruffnut mutters, 

“Come on, Barf!” Tuffnut says to the dragon, “We’ve got a game to win.” 

Barf starts to peel off, spewing gas. Tuffnut mocks Snotlout by holding up his coin bag which was empty. 

“Let's blow this place, Belch!” Ruffnut shouts, Belch ignites the gas, sparking a flashy explosion, and leaving Snotlout behind in the smoke. 

As they rush past the main bleachers, Ruffnut drops her sheep into one of five baskets suspended over a chasm at the lap crossing. Each backboard bears an image of its corresponding dragon. The Barf/Belch basket filled to the brim with sheep. Stoick looks at the baskets before turning to the crowd. 

“Ha-ha!” Stoick laughs, “That's nine for the Twins, Astrid and Leyla are tied with three, Dak’s not close behind with two and Fishlegs and Snotlout trail with NONE!” 

The empty basket on the end catches the chief's eyes, its backboard painted with an image of Toothless.

“And Hiccup is... nowhere to be found.” Stoick mutters, “Hmmm.” 

“Scared him off with the big talk, didn't ya, Stoick?” Gobber asks. 

“He definitely did.” Dagur chuckles, "My brother is probably halfway to the edge by now." 

Astrid flies above Snotlout smacking him on the head, making his helmet go off center, “What are you doing, Snotlout?! They're going to win now!” Astrid yells at him. 

“I’m not doing anything.” Snotlout responds. 

“She’s bribing him.” Leyla cuts in. 

“Seriously!” Astrid yells. 

“20 gold is 20 gold.” Snotlout tells them 

“Ruffnut?!” Dak asks. 

“She doesn’t even have 20 gold,” Astrid tells the man. 

“She doesn’t?” Snotlout yelps, looking towards the female twin. 

Dragons used to be a bit of a problem here. But that was five years ago. Now, they've all moved in. And, really, why wouldn't they?

The racers chase each other through a sprawling hangar and into a vast cave, teeming with colorfully painted dragon stables. They exit through the far side and circle back through the village, blasting past many of its dragon-friendly additions.

We have custom stables... all-you-can-eat feeding stations... a full-service dragon wash... Even top-of-the-line fire prevention, if I do say so myself.

In the village, a baby Gronckle sneezes, accidentally setting one of the Viking houses aflame. Astrid thankfully notices, she peels away from the other dragon racers, and yanks open a spout on the overhead network of aqueducts, dousing the flames with a surge of water.

Stoick watches amused, the racer round the island again searching for the missing sheep, the man turns to Gobber and nods. 

“It's time, Gobber.” Stoick tells the man. 

“Righty-ho!” Gobber chuckles, before turning to the crowd, “Last lap!”

A horn sound echoes throughout the village, the dragon racers turn to each other, all of them knowing what the sound meant. 

“The Black Sheep!” Leyla mutters, already thinking up a plan. 

“Come on, Stormfly! We can still win this thing!” Astrid tells her dragon, flying past the younger rider. 

“Come on, Barf!” Ruffnut yells. 

“Let's go!” Tuffnut adds. 

“Go, Meatlug!” 

Gobber loads the Black Sheep onto a catapult, giving the animal one final pet, “This is your big moment. Have a nice flight!”

He pulls the trigger, launching the Black Sheep into the air. Leyla spots it and steers Summer into a steep climb toward it. “Up, up, up!” Leyla mutters. 

In a flash, Fishlegs and Meatlug fly in and nab the sheep before the younger rider could grab it. 

“No!” Leyla shouts, signaling to Summer to chase the older rider. 

“Yes!” Fishlegs celebrates, “Good job, Meatlug!”

Fishlegs flies in front of the group, but again Snotlout does the same trick. Slamming into the gronkle making them drop the sheep which conveniently falls into Ruffnut’s hands. 

“I'm totally winning!” Ruffnut shouts. 

“I helped!” Snotlout adds in, flying next to them. 

She rams Barf into Hookfang, sending Snotlout into an uncontrolled spin. He slams into Fishlegs, sending their dragons tumbling head over tail. Shouts from the crowd fills the arena, 

“No!” Snotlout yells, looking up from where the two of them were. 

“Whoo-hoo!” Ruffnut yells, “No one can stop me now!”

“Except for me.” Tuffnut responds, reaching for the sheep in his twin’s hands, “We're attached, genius! Quit trying--

“Hey!” Ruffnut yells, starting a game of tug of war. 

“--to steal all my glory!” 

Unfortunately for them, Leyla notices her opening. The dragon rider and her dragon, start following close behind neither of the nuts noticing their presents. Leyla stands on her saddle, using her arms to keep her balance steady. 

“Get 'em,” Dagur mutters, watching his daughter from the sidelines. 

“It's MY glory!”

“Always ruining EVERYTHING!”

“NO SHEEP, NO GLORY!”

Leyla leaps off of Summer, runs up Belch's spindly neck, and plucks the Black Sheep from the Twins' hands. “Gotcha! Ha-ha!” Leyla laughs, she tumbles through the air onto Summer who speeds up away from the twins black sheep in hand. 

“Whoa!” Tuffnut says in aw. 

“Leyla!” Ruffnut yells. 

“Well played!” Stoick shouts, turning to the crowd, “That's my granddaughter!”

“Really?” Leyla sighs, looking towards the stage. 

Dak speeds up flying next to his sister, who still was holding the sheep. The finish line was fast approaching, making her not notice Fishlegs and Meatlug creeping up on her. Fishlegs suddenly rams Meatlug into Stormfly, sending Leyla off-course. She recovers and sees Snotlout flying headlong toward her, war hammer cocked, aiming at her. 

“Uh, excuse me!” Snotlout yells towards her. 

Leyla looks around seeing her brother's right underneath her, she jumps down just in time to miss the hammer. Which goes right into Fishlegs face.  

“Oh!” The crowd grimaces,

Leyla lands on Winger, with Summer following close behind. 

“Usually, I would try and steal the sheep.” Dak starts, “But you’re competitive today, and know where I sleep so, not today." 

“Probably for the best.” Summer laughs, allowing Leyla to jump onto her. 

“Watch it.” Leyla mutters. 

Leyla and Summer fly back up towards the finish line, the other dragon riders were still distracted. Well of them subtracting one, Astrid was close behind her. 

“Not happening!” Leyla yells back at the dragon rider, signaling for Summer to dive down into the water below them. The two of them dive down into the water, Stormfly and Astrid stop just before hovering over. While the two of them were looking around. Summer shoots out the other side near the finish line, allowing Leyla to put the sheep in her basket. 

“That's thirteen!” Stoick shouts, “Leyla takes the game!”

“The crowd comes unhinged, the screams from the crowd echo throughout the town. Leyla flies over the crowd, basking in her victory.

“Yes!” Leyla shouts, looking towards the stage which had Dagur signaling where to meet afterwards. 

Yep. Berk is pretty much perfect. All of my hard work has paid off. And it's a good thing, too, because with Vikings on the backs of dragons, the world just got a whole lot bigger.

The three Berserkers were walking around Berk after the Dragon race, Heather and Mala were also on the island but they missed the race. The two women were working on trivial stuff with some of the elders of the island, Stoick skipped out on the meeting using the race as his excuse.  

“Who won?” Mala asks walking up to the three with Heather, 

“I did.” Leyla answers, with pride. 

“Good job.” Heather chuckles, setting her hand on the younger girl’s shoulders. 

“It was an amazing race, one of the best.” Dagur explains. 

“That’s only because one of your kids won.” Spitelout yells from the side. 

“Exactly.” Dagur responds, "You'd be saying the same thing if Snotlout won!" 

"No, I wouldn't." 

“Ruffnut bribed Snotlout to help her win.” Dak cuts in. 

“How much?” Heather asks. 

“20 gold pieces.” Dak explains. 

“I don’t think she has any.” Heather mutters. 

“Even if she did, she isn’t going to pay for it.” Leyla adds in. 

“Oh definitely not.” Heather chuckles. 

***

It was later in the day; the dragon riders were racing around the island while the Berserker family walked under them. 

“Come on, Meatlug! Woohoo!” 

Snotlout flies near Gothi's hut, scaring her Terrible Terrors. Once they land again he flies past again making another reaction come from the dragons. Gothi grunts and shakes her fist at them, getting a laugh out of the teen. 

Stoick was walking through the town, in front of the rest of the family. As he walks he greets the people he’s near. 

“Hey, how are you? Beautiful day. Hello, Spitelout, great game today.” Stoick was making his way through the crowd up to the building that Gobber was in. Gobber is at his smithy doing dentist work on a Zippleback

“Any sign of him?” Stoick asks. 

“Ah, he's probably flown off the edge of the world by now.” Gobber responds, “You sure you want that kid running the village? You can still delay your retirement.”

“Oh, he's ready.” Stoick assures, “You'll see.”

“Are you sure though?” Leyla asks

“Leyla.” Dagur scolds. 

“Just wondering.” Leyla mutters, looking around with her brother. 

Hiccup and Astrid arrive on their dragons, getting a cheer from Stoick, “Haha! There he is!” gesturing to his son, looking back at Gobber, “Huh? The pride of Berk!” 

“Who finally decided to show up for work.” Gobber teases, “Yay. “

“Sorry.” Hiccup apologizes, “Got held up.” 

Stoick walks up to his son, setting his hand on Hiccup’s shoulders 

“Hey, Dad, could I have a word?” Hiccup asks. 

“Something you're itching to tell me?” Stoick asks quietly. 

“Not quite the itch you're thinking of," Hiccup answers, "but yes.” 

“Good man!” Stoick yells, “Now, lesson one. A chief's first duty is to his people. So…” Stoick turns out to the crowd of villagers who were waiting, “Forty-one? Forty–”

“Could we just talk in private for–” Hiccup starts cutting off his father.

“That's me! That's me! I'm next!” A villager shouts running up to the window. 

“If we could just talk–” Hiccup starts. 

“Excuse me, I've been here all day!” The villager complains, “Okay, I want one of those high seaters, with lots of spikes and a big stowage compartment.”

“Absolutely! You got it, sir!” Stoick responds, walking away with Hiccup. 

“Dad, this is actually a little more important than building saddles.” Hiccup explains, as he starts collecting the materials.  

“Ah-ah! Lesson two.” Stoick yells, “No task is too small when it comes to serving your people.”

“Dad.” Hiccup starts, attempting to gain his father’s attention. 

“Oh, excuse us, Grump.” Stoick mutters, walking over the dragon. 

“Look, can we just talk?” Hiccup asks. 

“Grump!” Gobber yells, looking towards the forge, the fire slowly dying down, “You let the forge die down again!”

Grump grumbles standing up just enough to send a blast towards the forge, lighting the wall behind it. Hiccup yelps in surprise, while Gobber groans. Pouring water on the fire, filling the room with smoke 

“That's it, Grump.” Gobber yells, “You're going up for adoption!”

“He didn’t do anything wrong.” Dak argues. 

“You’re going up for adoption.” Gobber tells the boy, 

“What!” Dak yells, turning to Dagur and Mala who were both laughing. 

“One of these. And this…” Stoick mutters, as he collects materials for his son. 

“Dad!–” Hiccup screams. 

“There you go!” Stoick responds, handing the crate over to his son, “Go on. Have away.”

“But seriously, I really need to tell you about this new land we came across.” Hiccup starts. 

“Another one?!” Dagur asks, walking over to his brother. 

“Any new dragons?” Fishlegs asks. 

“We didn't stick around to find out.” Hiccup responds, “These folks weren't particularly friendly.” 

“Oh, really?” Gobber asks, “Your Night Fury and Deadly Nadder didn't bring them cheering to the rooftops?” 

“No, this was different.” Hiccup argues, “Not the standard run-for-the hills hoo-ha I've come to enjoy. These guys were trappers. Dragon trappers.” 

“Trappers?” Mala asks. 

“You should’ve seen their fort. All blown apart and stuck in giant spikes of ice.” Astrid explains, “It was weird.” 

"That's so cool," Dak mutters, to his sister who shakes her head in response 

“I've never seen anything like it. And worst of all, they thought we did it!” Hiccup shouts. 

“Y'know, you two are gonna get yourselves in serious trouble one of these days.” Gobber tells the two, “Not everyone appreciates this way of life.”

“Gobber's right, son. Best we keep to our own. Besides, you'll have more important uses for your time.” Stoick explains, turning on a saw for his son “Ha-ha, Once we make the big announcement!” 

Hiccup turns off the saw, looking his father in the eyes, “They are building a dragon army." Hiccup explains, looking around the room, "Or-or at least the guy they work for is. Uh, "Dargo Bloody Fist" or something.” 

Stoick’s expression grows serious, turning to Gobber and Dagur who both already knew. 

“I'll bloody his fist with my face if he tries to take my dragon!” Tuffnut yelps, adding into the conversation. 

“Or mine!” Ruffnut adds. 

“You're such a moron.” Tuffnut groans. 

“Something I’d agree with.” Dak mutters. 

“Dak.” Mala scolds 

“What?” Dak asks. 

“Bludvist?” Stoick asks, suddenly serious and alarmed, grabbing his son by the shoulders “Drago Bludvist?” 

“Uh yeah.” Hiccup responds, “Wait. You know him?” 

Stoick storms out of the room, Hiccup and the others following close behind. 

“Stoick?” Dak asks, attempting to get the attention of the man. 

Stoick continues walking, ignoring the calls from the others, the group of them walk into the dragon hanger. Stoick starts yelling instructions “GROUND ALL DRAGONS!”

“What? Why?!” Hiccup asks, following his father down a staircase. 

“SEAL THE GATES!” Stoick yells, “LOWER THE STORM DOORS!” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Dak starts. 

“What is happening?” Leyla asks. 

“You heard the man!” Gobber yells, looking around at the people, “Lock it down!” 

“No DRAGON or VIKING sets foot off this island until I give the word!” Stoick screams. 

“So we’re stuck here?” Leyla asks. 

“Apparently.” Dak mutters. 

“Because some guy you knew is stirring up trouble in some faraway land?” Hiccup asks. 

“Because Drago Bludvist is a madman.” Stoick explains, grabbing his son’s shoulders, “Without conscience or mercy. And if he's built a dragon army... gods help us all.”

“Stoick-” Dagur starts, looking at the man. 

“Get them into their pens!” Stoick yells, walking through the hanger again with the rest following. 

“Aye, Stoick!”

“Quickly!” Stoick yells. 

“Then let's ride back out there.” Hiccup suggests, “We'll follow those trappers to Drago and talk some sense into him.”

“No.” Stoick insisted, “We fortify the island.” 

“It's our duty to keep the peace!” Hiccup yells. 

“Peace is over, Hiccup.” Stoick tells his son, “I must prepare you for war.” 

“War?” Dak and Leyla ask, mimicking each other actions, looking at their counterpart before looking towards the older Berserkers and Mala 

“Dad, if Drago's coming for our dragons, we can’t wait around for him to get here.” Hiccup tells his father, “Let’s go find him and change his mind.”

“Some minds won't be changed, Hiccup.” Stoick assures, “Berk is what you need to worry about. A chief protects his own.” Stoick turns back to the workers, “SECURE THE STABLE! LATCH EVERY STALL!” 

Hiccup looks towards the closing doors, getting an idea which Astrid saw. 

“Hiccup, don’t!” Astrid yells at him. 

“I have to.” Hiccup responds, kissing her on the check before running towards Toothless. 

“THIS WAY! QUICKLY!” Stoick yells, getting the rest of the group's attention. Hiccup and Toothless blast past the chief heading for the closing exit 

“HICCUP!” Stoick yells. 

The door the two of them were heading for closed completely, making them have to look for another exit. 

“Come on!” Hiccup mutters, Toothless turns diving throug the gap of another closing door. Successfully getting out. 

“Hiccup!” Stoick yells. 

Astrid and Stormfly blow past Stoick and slip through the storm door before it shuts, leaving Stoick fuming. 

“Mount up!” Stoick yells at the rest of the riders. 

“Stoick are you sure-” Leyla starts. 

“Yes,” Stoick answers, not letting the younger girl finish her sentence. 

“Alrighty then.” Dak mutters. 

The rest of them mount up on their dragons, flying North towards where Astrid and Hiccup went, “Stoick, are you sure this is the best decision?” Mala asks the man, from where she was on Sluether. 

“Yes, for the safety of the tribe and my son.” Stoick answers. 

“Who even is this Drago person?” Dak asks, getting no answer from any of the adults. 

The group of them started nearing the ship, Hiccup and Astrid were both standing on the ship attempting to talk with the trappers. 

“I can change yours. Right here. Right now.” They hear Hiccup tell the man, he pushes Toothless’ tail lever forward, spreading the prosthetic tail. “May I?” Without any planning Snotlout and Hookfang dive down grabbing the dragon rider from the ship, while Barf and Belch start attacking a part of the ship. 

“Dragon riders!” Eret screams, getting his crew’s attention. 

“Hiccup!” Toothless yells, climbing onto the top of the boat. Relaxing when he realized that his rider wasn’t in any type of danger. 

“Put me down! Snotlout!” Hiccup yells, “What are you doing?”

Snotlout doesn’t even get a chance to say his non-existent response, because the ship starts shooting nets at them. 

“Aggh! What is with all the nets?!” Tuffnut asks. 

“They’re dragon trappers, you’re riding a dragon!” Leyla yells at him. 

“There’s no point.” Dak tells her, More nets are thrown towards them, one barely missing Ruffnut. 

“Hey, watch it! That was close-” Ruffnut yells, cutting herself off when she sees the man on the ship “Me likey. Take me.” 

“Ruffnut!” Dak and Leyla yell at her, mimicking each other's actions again, attempting to stop the older rider to no avail as the net covers her. 

Hiccup pushes off Hookfang and glides back to the ship with his flightsuit,

“HOLD YOUR FIRE!” Astrid yells, running over to push Eret away from the net catapult as he fires, causing the net to barely miss Hiccup. Hiccup glides to the sail, grabs a rope and rides it down to the deck.

“WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?!” Hiccup screams, looking around. 

“We’re here to rescue you!” Dagur answers. 

“I don't need to be rescued!” Hiccup responds. 

“We tried to tell them that.” Leyla tells the man. 

“ENOUGH!” Stoick yells, shutting up any arguments. 

Eret walks towards Stoick, attempting to seem intimidating “Well, didn’t you just pick the wrong ship, eh? I am Eret, son of–”

Stoick doesn’t listen, shutting the man up by pushing his face away from him. Making him stubble back towards Gobber who hits him over the head. Eret falls over, as Grump drops on top of him pinning him to the deck. 

“Get... this... thing... off... me!” Eret gasps out

“Anyone else?” Dak asks looking around at the hunters who were cowering around the ship. 

“That’s what we figured.” Leyla mutters. 

Stoick walks over to his son, “You. Saddle up. We’re going home.” 

“No.” Hiccup answers. 

“Of all the irresponsible–” Stoick starts. 

“I’m trying to protect our dragons and stop a war! How is that irresponsible?” Hiccup asks 

“BECAUSE WAR IS WHAT HE WANTS, SON!” Stoick screams, making the rest of the dragon riders look at him confused. Realizing he has to explain what happened.

“Years ago, there was a great gathering of chieftains to discuss the dragon scourge we all faced. Into our midst came a stranger from a strange land, covered in scars and draped in a cloak of dragon skin. He carried no weapon and spoke softly, saying that he, Drago Bludvist, was a man of the people, devoted to freeing mankind from the tyranny of dragons. He claimed that he alone could control the dragons, and he alone could keep us safe, if we chose to bow down and follow him.”

Nearly everyone laughs, not including Gobber, the twins and Mala, Gobber knew the story, Dak and Leyla have seen things that could make grown men cry and well Mala, she's hardly shows emotions in front of enemies 

“Stupid.” Ruffnut mutters. 

“Good one.” Tuffnut mutters. 

“Aye. We laughed, too... Until he wrapped himself in his cloak and cried out, "Then see how well you do without me!". The rooftop suddenly burst into flames, and from it, armored dragons descended, burning the hall to the ground. I… was the only one to escape.”

The vikings looked at each other clearly disturbed by the story “Men who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with.” Stoick explains. 

“Maybe.” Hiccup responds. 

“Hiccup…” Heather starts. 

“I’m still going to try. This is what I’m good at.” Hiccup explains, looking at his father, “And if I could change your mind... I can change his, too.”

Hiccup turns to his dragon, flying off from the ship “Come on.” 

Astrid climbs Stormfly, already having the idea of following. “Let’s go.”

“No!” Stoick yells, looking at Astrid, “Lead the others back to Berk. I’ve had enough mutiny for one day.”

Dagur looks towards Heather who was going with the dragon riders, “Make sure the twins actually make it back to Berk.” 

“You’re going with Stoick?” Heather asks. 

“He’ll need all the help he can get.” Dagur explains, “Just don’t let the twins do anything stupid.” 

“I’ll try.” Heather answers 

Ruffnut is lying on the deck, admiring Eret who is still pinned beneath Grump, “Ooh, I like that.”

“What are you doing?” Leyla asks the girl, disgust covering her face. 

“Why is there a child here?” Eret asks, looking up at the crimson haired teen

“Why are you here?” Dak mimics, standing near his twin. 

“gods there’s two of them.” Eret groans, smacking his head down into the deck. 

“Dak! Leyla! Ruffnut!”

“Ugh! Okay!” Ruffnut sighs standing up, before she leaves with the younger twins, she plants an indirect kiss on Eret, who is completely disgusted. Looking up at the younger siblings asking for help, that never comes. 

“Why’d you do that?” Dak asks. 

“He’s amazing.” Ruffnut responds. 

“Okay…” Dak mutters. 

“Get back to berk!” Stoick yells at the dragon riders before taking off with Gobber, Dagur, and Mala. 

“So what now?” Dak asks.

Notes:

Stoick being a proud grandfather was very much needed

Also, Fishlegs/Heather and Snotlout/Minden are both still together because I love them, and I didn't want to write the love square, triangle thing

Chapter 34: A Kidnapping

Summary:

Stoick and the other three search for Hiccup, while the rest of the dragon riders, well kidnap someone

Notes:

Rewrite cause i forgot a plot line I wanted to write

The three dragons were flying in the direction Hiccup went, snow was pouring down, making it difficult to see clearly. The frozen sea underneath, showing the colder climate more clearly 

“Boar-headed!” Stoick yells, flying in the front “Just like his mother! She could never stay put either.” 

“Ah, he’s just twenty. And a Viking. I mean, could there be a worse combination? Ha! When I think of how stubborn and senseless YOU were back in the day..” Gobber cuts himself off looking at Stoick. “Well, not much has changed, actually.”

“You know what he’s like.” Stoick sighs, “He won’t give up, and if Hiccup finds Drago, before we find him…” 

“Bah!" Dagur cuts in, "NOTHING can hurt Hiccup so long as that Night Fury’s around. It’s a Night Fury!” 

"You say that as if you don't panic over the twins ever minute, they're doing something stupid." Mala mutters, just loud enough for the man to hear. 

Stoick notices Hiccup's helmet floating in the water, nudging Skullcrusher to dive down towards it. He scopes it out of the water, looking over the helmet before putting it near the dragon’s nose allowing him to smell it. 

“Find him, Skullcrusher. Find him.” 

Skullcrusher sniffs the helmet, looking around to find the scent, “I’ve got him!” 

***

The other riders are on a small iceberg, waiting. “I don’t like it.” Astrid sighs, looking around at the others “They should’ve been back with Hiccup by now.”

“I don’t like it either. Eret, Son of Eret, was the man of my dreams.” Ruffnut yells, “My everything!”

“You just met him.” Leyla argues, 

“Maybe go on a date before deciding he's the love of your life.” Dak adds, Heather chuckles quietly standing behind the twins. 

“What if Drago shot them down?” Astrid asks, ignoring the conversion “What if...they need our help? We have to find them.”

“W-wait, What? No, but Stoick said…” Fishlegs stutters. 

“It doesn’t matter what he said, if they’ve all been captured.” Astrid responds, “Come on!” 

“Alrighty.” Heather mutters, immediately following Astrid 

They start towards the direction they last saw the ship, “So we’re just going to kidnap him?” Leyla asks. 

“Yep.” Astrid responds. 

Eret’s ship was sailing through the icy sea, he was standing on the front of the ship

“Do we go back?” 

“We’ve nowhere to go!” Eret yells, “Nothing to sell! And no heads to call our own, if we don’t turn up with dragons and fast–”

Eret gets cut off by Stormfly snatching him from the ship and flying away “Careful what you wish for!” Astrid laughs. 

“ERET, SON OF ERET!”

“What is this?!” Eret asks, attempting to look around. 

“A kidnapping.” Leyla explains, "Isn't that obvious." 

“Yay! Can he ride with me?” Ruffnut asks, “Can he? Can he?” 

“Ugh!” Tuffnut groans. 

“One date at least!” Dak yells at her, "Please!" 

“There’s no use.” Heather chuckles. 

“You’re gonna show us the way to Drago.” Astrid explains. 

“And help Dragon Riders sneak into Drago’s camp?” Eret asks, letting go of Stormfly's leg, “Just kill me now.” 

“That can be arranged.” Astrid chuckles, “Stormfly, drop it.” 

Stormfly drops Eret from her clutches, the man goes speeding towards the icey sea. “Good girl! Stormfly,” Astrid compliments, petting the side of her dragon’s head, “fetch.”

“ALL RIGHT! OKAY! I'LL TAKE YOU TO DRAGO!” Eret yells, getting grabbed by the dragon just before hitting the sea. 

“Works every time.” Astrid chuckles

“And they call Dag insane.” Dak mutters. 

“Well, he is too.” Heather chuckles, “It’s a Viking thing or so I've been told.” 

***

The dragon riders were creeping up the side of a mountain covered in snow, Eret showed them exactly where to find Drago and his camp. Eret gets dropped in the snow, jumping up to attempt to run but Stormfly lands on him stopping any more attempts. 

“Agghh! Okay! I got you here,” Eret yells, “now get this thing off me!”

“Never take a toy from a dragon.” Astrid responds. 

“I thought you knew everything about dragons.” Leyla chuckles. 

Stormfly broods over Eret like a mother hen on an egg, “Gah! Why does this keep happening to me?” Eret yells as the dragon riders leave him with the dragon. 

On the mountain the dragon riders could see what was happening down in the camp, a bunch of ships were surrounding a part of the sea. Bubbles covered the surface of the water “What’s down there?” 

“Large diameter bubbles, massive lungs, cold water deep dweller, I’m thinking class five leviathan, maybe six.” Fishlegs guesses. 

“I think class 8.” Leyla guesses, making Fishlegs start thinking again. 

“And you broke him,” Heather mutters. 

Unknown to them, Drago’s men were creeping up on them shooting tranquilizer darts at the dragons.

“Ambush!” Hookfang yells, before collapsing. 

Leyla and Dak whip around towards the dragons, looking around for what Hookfang was talking about. 

“What’s wrong?” Heather asks the twins. 

“What did Hookfang say?” Snotlout asks, walking near the younger twins. 

“Fishlegs!” Meatlugs yells, getting the group’s attention 

“Meatlug!” Fishlegs rushing down with the other riders. 

“Hookfang!” 

“What's wrong, girl?” Fishlegs asks. 

Drago’s men surround them, pointing their weapons at the riders, “Don’t move!” 

***

The group of dragon riders were taken into Drago’s camp, their dragons tied up and knocked out. Eret was in front of all of them, being held by some of Drago’s men. 

“Drago!” Eret greets, “Get off me! Always great to see you, my friend! Keeping warm up here? Well, as you can see, I’m right on time with a new batch of dragons, just like I promised."

Hookfang starts to stir, looking around in attempt to find his rider, 

“He's waking up!” 

Soldiers run towards the dragon attempting to tranquilize Hookfang again, Hookfang whipped around his tail, hitting the soldiers. 

“Give me some backup here!”

“Watch out!” 

The men were grabbing rope attempting to put the dragon back down, Drago was watching when he decided something. 

“Drop the ropes.” Drago orders. 

The men back up from the dragon allowing the leader to walk towards Hookfang, who fires at Drago in an attempt to stop the man. Drago on the other side, shields himself with his cloak. Drago starts to scream, swinging his bullhook. Hookfang stares at the man, slowly dropping his head, allowing Drago steps on his snout

“What the hell?” Leyla asks. 

“Hookfang!” Snotlout shouts. 

“Hey!” Ruffnut yells. 

“What are you doing?” Astrid asks. 

Drago ignores the comments and questions from the dragon riders, his focus solely on the dragon in front of him kneeling down towards the beast, “You belong to me now.” 

“Insane much?” Dak asks, getting the man's attention. 

“And as an added bonus,” Eret starts, “I also caught you, their riders. No extra charge.”

“What?!” Astrid yells, looking at the man, “Are you kidding me?!”

“You mother-” Leyla starts, getting cut off by Ruffnut. 

“But you were so perfect!”

“Turns out, there’s a whole bunch of them out there. They–” Eret starts. 

Drago doesn’t allow the man to finish, grabbing him by the throat, “How many?”

“Drago doesn’t have them after all.” Astrid mutters. 

“HOW MANY?!”

“Hundreds!” Astrid answers, “A whole island full!”

“Technically 3 islands.” Leyla adds in. 

“You’re not helping.” Heather scolds. 

“I know.” Leyla smiles. 

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Eret assures or attempts to, “My men are hunting them down as we speak. They won’t know where you’re hiding. I promise you that.”

“Oh, yes they will!” Astrid yells, getting Drago’s attention, “They know we’re missing and they have tracking dragons. If you so much as touch us, Hiccup is gonna–”

“Hiccup?”

“He’s not a problem.” Eret starts, jumping up in front of Drago, “Really. Trust me.”

“He’s only the son of Stoick the Vast…” Astrid starts, walking towards the man, “his heir to the throne of Berk... and the greatest Dragon Master this world has ever seen! “

“Dragon Master?” Drago asks, “I ALONE control the dragons!”

“Nope.” Heather chuckles. 

“Sorry!” Fishlegs adds in. 

“And unless you let us go, right now, he will blast through here on his Night Fury and blow your entire fleet of ships to splinters!” Astrid explains, stopping short right in front of the man, who looks down at her. 

“Then they’ll be crying like babies!” Ruffnut yells, grabbing the attention from Astrid 

“Yeah. Like babies.” Tuffnut mutters, looking around, “They always cry. Real tiny ones…” 

Drago whips around looking back at Eret, grabbing his arm, “First there was one rider. And now all of Berk.” 

“Did you not hear me say three other islands?” Leyla asks. 

“And YOU lead them to me.” Drago mutters, loud enough for Eret to hear before throwing him across the dock. 

“Drago!” Eret yells. 

“Stop all preparations! We must attack the dragon rider’s nest at once!”Drago turns back around facing the dragon riders, “We will take down their alpha… and then we will take Berk!”

“You're overreacting!” Eret yells. 

“And get rid of him.” Drago tells his men, walking away. 

“Drago please…” Eret starts, the only response he received was Drago’s men throwing weapons at him. Eret ducks down, getting covered by Stormfly much to his surprise. Tranquilizer darts are shot at the Deadly Nadder, knocking her out. 

“STORMFLY! NO!” Astrid yells. 

Eret looks back at Stormfly, amazed that she attempted to protect him.

“Sir.” Someone in the crowd starts. 

“What!” Drago yells, looking for the person. 

“If I’m not mistaken, those two.” pointing at Dak and Leyla, “Are the Rescue Riders.”

“So?” Drago asks. 

“The Rescue Riders are rumored to be able to understand dragons, you might not want to get rid of those two.”

“That’s a lie!” Dak yells, "He's lying!" 

“Talking to a dragon isn’t a thing!” Leyla adds in, “You heard wrong!” 

“Hm, I don’t think so.” The person responded, walking out so everyone could see them, and it turned out to be a very familiar face. 

“Waldondo?!” Dak asks 

"Are you kidding me?" Leyla asks. 

***

Dagur, Mala, Stoick, and Gobber found where Hiccup should be. They made their way through the caves of ice, finding the dragon sanctuary in the middle. 

“This is amazing.” Mala mutters, looking around, “How is this built?” 

“You can ask, after we find Hiccup.” Stoick responds, Toothless is sleeping when they spot him, before suddenly awoken by baby Scuttleclaws. Looking at Hiccup, annoyance visible in his face.

“Well, bud, we can’t wait around for Drago to attack this place.” Hiccup chuckles, “We’ve gotta find him first.” 

Toothless looks down when he feels something on his tail, pulling it up to find a baby Scuttleclaw nibbling on his tail.

“Really?” Toothless asks the baby

“Let’s go.” Hiccup tells his dragon. 

Stoick sneaks up behind Hiccup, covering his mouth with his hand. “Easy now.” Stoick mutters, calming down Toothless. 

“Oh, it’s only you.” Toothless mutters. 

Hiccup pushes away from his father, “Are you kidding me? How'd you get in here?”

“The same way we’re getting you out.” Stoick responds, grabbing Hiccup by the arm dragging him. 

“We?” Hiccup asks. 

“All clear!” Gobber yells, 

“Toothless. Come.” Stoick tells the dragon; Hiccup follows his father finding Mala and Dagur with Gobber. 

“What are the twins here too or something?” Hiccup asks, getting no response by his father pushing him through the tunnel. “Dad! There’s something you need to know!”

“Yeah, yeah, tell me on the way.” responds Stoick. 

“This isn’t an on-the-way kind of update, actually…” Hiccup explains. 

“I’ve heard ENOUGH, Hiccup.” Stoick sighs. 

“...more of the earth-shattering development variety.” Hiccup continues. 

“Yeah, just add it to the pile.” Stoick responds. 

“Dad, unlike most surprises I spring on you, this one you’ll like. I promise!” Hiccup assures, “You just have to handle it delicately, so..”

Gobber and Dagur were both looking into a cave, before looking back at the chief, “Uh, you might want to take this one.” Gobber mutters, walking back.

Stoick draws his sword, before walking towards the cave opening. 

“Dad, can you put the sword away... please?” Hiccup asks, to no avail. 

Stoick was already in the room staring at what he assured was Hiccup’s surprise. 

“I know what you’re going to say, Stoick. How could I have done this? Stayed away all these years. And why didn't I come back to you? To our son. Well, what sign did I have that you could change, Stoick? That anyone on Berk could?” Valka explains, Stoick stays silent, slowly moving closer, “I pleaded so many times to stop the fighting, to find another answer, but did any of you listen?”

“This is why I never married. This and one other reason.” Gobber mutters to the three. 

“What?” Mala asks. 

“I know that I left you to raise Hiccup alone... but I thought he’d be better off without me. And I was wrong, I see that now, but…” Valka backs up against the wall, on the verge of tears, “Oh stop being so stoic, Stoick. Go on... SHOUT, SCREAM, SAY SOMETHING!” 

Stoick touches Valka’s cheek, the woman stares at him, fear etched in her features. 

“You’re as beautiful as the day I lost you.” Stoick mutters, just loud enough for her to hear. 

Valka quietly weeps in relief; Stoick softly kisses her. A relieved and overjoyed Hiccup smiles, looking back at Gobber and the couple. 

***

Drago was looking towards Waldondo who was explaining everything, “I’ve personally seen those two talk to dragons, it’s incredible. They can talk they’re way out of anything if it involves a dragon. Those two could tame the red death if they wanted to.” 

“How does that help me?” Drago asks, “I already control the dragons, having those two twins alive just seems to be another threat against my abilities.” 

“Drago-” Waldondo starts. 

“Toss him,” Drago laughs, looking as Waldondo is grabbed by his men and dragged away. Drago’s ship sails towards the dragon’s nest. Drago was standing above looking down at the riders and Eret. Who were all at the stern, preparing to walk the plank. 

“Could this day get any worse?” Snotlout asks. 

“Uh, let me see.” Tuffnut starts, “You'll jump into freezing cold water and then die from drowning.”

“And here I thought we escaped the pirate ideas.” Leyla mutters. 

“Yeah, walking the plank is such a pirate thing to do.” Dak adds, looking down into the water. 

Eret walks next to Dak, looking over the side as well, “Looks refreshing.” Eret states, looking at Astrid then Dak, “Please, ladies and children first.” 

“You are a steaming heap of dragon-” Astrid starts, 

“Duck.” 

Astrid ducks just as Eret knocks out Drago’s soldiers, grabbing their weapon and unchaining himself. Looking back at Astrid, who was shocked at the action. 

“Warn the others!” 

The remaining soldiers attack the group, or well try too. Eret knocks them, one trying to run away which the hunter shoots a dart at him. Making him fall against the deck, knocked out cold. 

“Get ‘em, you son of an Eret!” Ruffnut yells .

“Ew.” Dak gags. 

Eret gets rid of the rest of the men, before turning to face the dragon riders. 

“Okay, I love you again.” Ruffnut smiles, running towards the man. 

Dak and Leyla look at each other mirroring the disgust in each other's faces, which Tuffnut catches up on, “You guys can still jump.”

“I’m considering it.” Leyla mutters. 

“Leyla.” Heather scolds. 

“What?” 

“So?” Eret starts, “Are we going to save your dragons and get out of here or not? Check every trap. They’re here somewhere.” They split up looking for the dragons, Eret goes with Ruffnut while the rest of them split up in other groups. Dak and Leyla teamed up, searching for their dragons the others in their own groups. 

“I hope Dag is okay.” Dak mutters. 

“He’s only searching for Hiccup.” Leyla assures, “And Mala is with him, she’s terrifying.” 

“Good point.” Dak mutters. 

The two of them pass by Eret and Ruffnut overhearing their conversation, “Anyone coming?” Eret asks, 

“I don’t know. You just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep crankin'.” Ruffnut explains, her eyes focused on the man. 

“If she gets caught, can we leave her?” Dak asks. 

“Definitely.” Leyla answers, grabbing her brothers arm rushing towards another one of the traps. Eret was standing on top of the trap, looking down before jumping, seeing Stormfly bound in front of him,

“Thank you for saving my life.” Stormfly pushes her head into the man’s hand, “Now let me return the favor.” 

Notes:

I love this chapter so much, but I am nowhere near ready to write the ending of the next one

I wanted to write Drago's reaction to the dragon talking a whole 180 from my other fic, and I think I did it justice

As I always say, I extremely appreciate comments and kudos both give me more energy to write

Chapter 35: Battle of the alpha dragons

Summary:

The battle of the alpha dragons

Notes:

This took forever, cause my manger doesn't believe in days off

In the dragon’s den, the dragon riders were all talking. Hiccup was rambling about everything that’s changed on Berk and the surround islands 

“Mom, you’d never recognize it. Where we used to make weapons, we now build saddles, wing slings -- we even fix dragon teeth. You wouldn’t believe how much everything’s changed.” Hiccup explains, looking back at Dagur, “And you wouldn’t believe what Beserker Island looks like now.” 

“Your son’s changed the archipelago for the better.” Stoick tells the woman, ”I think we did well with this one, Val”

“Thanks, Dad.” Hiccup mutters.

Stoick moves to wrap an arm around the woman, causing her to drop the fish she was preparing. Two of the dragons jump for it, Cloudjumper and Toothless. Only Cloudjumper gets any, 

“Oh, ha-ha. I got it.” Stoick assures, cleaning up the mess. 

“Really?” Toothless asks the older dragon, giving her a look of disappointment. 

Cloudjumper regurgitates some of it for Toothless, “Here.” 

“Thank you.” Toothless responds, eating the fish, well what was left of it. 

“I’m... a little out of practice.” Valka mutters. 

“Well, y'know…” Stoick starts, “I didn’t marry you for your cooking.” 

“I hope not,” Gobber mutters, “her meatballs could kill more beasts than a battle axe. I’ve still got a few knocking around in here. Ha-ha.” 

“Are you okay?” Mala asks. 

“Totally.” Gobber smiles, taking a bite from Valka’s cooking grimaces in disgust, and feeds the rest of his plate to Grump. 

“Why do I have to eat it?” Grump asks, looking up at his rider. 

“Hmm,” Gobber mutters, looking towards his dragon who pushes the food away. 

“Where’s the twins when you need them?” Dagur mutters, looking towards Sluether who was chuckling quietly. 

“And once you move back in, with all your dragons, Drago won’t stand a chance.” Hiccup explains, “Everything will be okay!”

“Slow down, son. It’s a lot to take in.” Stoick responds, setting a hand on his son’s shoulder. 

“Oh, gotcha.” Hiccup mutters, falling down next to his brother. 

“I don’t think I've ever seen you this excited.” Dagur chuckles. 

“This is a good thing,” Hiccup responds. 

“I never said it wasn’t.” Dagur assures. 

Stoick quietly starts to whistle a tune; it was unfamiliar to half of the room. The other half recognized it almost immediately, “Oh, I love this one!” Gobber tells the three, settling down into his seat. 

“Remember our song, Val?” Stoick asks, walking close to her,

I’ll swim and sail on savage seas, with ne'er a fear of drowning. And gladly ride the waves of life, if you will marry me. No scorching sun, nor freezing cold will stop-

“Will stop me on my journey! --” Gobber screeches out, getting glares from the rest of the room, “Sorry.”

If you will promise me your heart... And love…

Stoick abruptly stops singing, waiting for the woman to hopefully answer

And love me for eternity. My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me. But I've no need of mighty deeds, when I feel your arms around me.

But I would bring you rings of gold. I'd even sing you poetry 

Oh, would you?

And I would keep you from all harm If you would stay here beside me.

I have no use for rings of gold. I care not for your poetry. I only want your hand to hold.

I only want you near me!

To love to kiss, to sweetly hold. For the dancing and the dreaming. Through all life's sorrows and delights, I'll keep your love inside me. I’ll swim and sail on savage seas, with ne'er a fear of drowning. And gladly ride the waves of life if you will marry me!

“Me-eee-e!” Gobber cuts in, shutting up when Hiccup elbows him “I’m still goin’... I'm done.” 

“Ah…” Stoick laughs, “I thought I’d have to die before we'd have that dance again.” 

“No need for drastic measures.” Valka chuckles, her hand settling on the man’s shoulder. 

“For you, my dear... anything.” Stoick assures, Hiccup stands up walking towards his parents “Will you come home, Val? Will you be my wife once again? We can a be a family! What do you say?”

“Yes!” Valka laughs, Stoick wraps his arms around the two pulling them into a hug

Gobber runs up, wrapping his arms around the group, tightening the hug more, “Great! I’ll do the cooking!”Making the room erupt into laughter, at his comment

“Thank Odin you didn't listen to me, son.” Stoick tells the teen, “We never would have found each other.” 

The dragons that were watching all suddenly hear something, but the nightfury is the only one who makes a noise about it, growing quietly. 

“Toothless?” Hiccup starts, “What’s happening?” 

Valka runs through the cave system to a spot where she could overlook what was happening outside; there were dozens of ships approaching the island. Some men were setting up traps on the group, while other ships were firing boulders at the ice. 

Hiccup was close behind his mother, looking over her shoulder “Oh, no…”

Stoick appears next to his son with the others right behind them, “Val! It’s all right, it's all right. We’re a team now. Now what do you want to do?”

“We have to save the dragons.” Valka answers. 

“Aye. You got it!” Stoick responds, looking towards Hiccup, “Come on, son.” 

---

Drago was standing on Valka’s Island, “Whatever comes, keep hitting the mountain!” The man screams at his men, “We need to draw the Alpha out, Ready the traps!” 

Unknown to the man, the dragon riders were preparing to start their plan. Zippleback gas the traps look around, smelling the gas, just before it ignites. 

‘Surprise!” Tuffnut laughs, flying out of one of the traps, “Yeah!”

“WHAT?!” Drago shouts, looking around. 

The dragon riders flew out of the traps, firing on the hunters below. Astrid was riding behind Fishlegs on Meatlug, when Eret flew by, getting their attention. 

“You really are full of surprises.” Astrid chuckles, jumping onto her dragon behind the man, “Let's go!”

“Dragon Riders coming through!” Tuffnut yells. 

“Fire!” 

The dragon's riders fire down on the hunters and their traps, Snotlout’s laughs filling the area. 

Barf breathes gas all over the trap, lying over the ground which Stormfly flies over lighting. The dragons underneath fly up freed from the hunters 

“CUT THEM DOWN!” Drago screeches. 

Nets and arrows were shot towards them, the youngest of the group were easily dogging them, unlike the older set of twins. 

“They’re cheating,” Ruffnut mutters, watching the twins. 

“Oh definitely.” Tuffnut responds. 

“It’s not cheating.” Dak agures. 

“We’re smaller targets.” Leyla explains. 

“Excuses, excuses.” Ruffnut argues. 

Astrid and Eret were attempting to move out of the way of the many nets, fireballs, and arrows shot at them. They were flying up towards the ice, which was collapsing from the boulders. “Up, girl! To the left, Eret! That’s it!” 

Eret was attempting to fly the dragon, with the dragon rider telling him what to do, “Look out!”

A large icicle falls towards them, but is destroyed by a blast from Toothless, “Yeah baby!”

“Take 'em down!”

“Heads up!” Gobber shouts. 

Grump uses his tail as a bludgeon to knock some of Drago’s men unconscious, “Ho ho ho!” 

Toothless flies past getting Drago’s attention, “Dragon Master.” he mutters. 

Hiccup flies towards Astrid and Eret, looking towards them, “Welcome aboard, Dragon Rider!”

“Thanks.” Eret responds, “I think.” 

“Where have you been?” Astrid asks. 

“Oh, y'know.” Hiccup starts, gesturing to the scene in front of him, “Catching up with Mom.” 

Valka, dressed in battle armor and riding on Cloudjumper, emerges from the sky. Summoning the Alpha who breaks his way out of the nest and roars

“Whoa…” Eret mutters. 

“That's your mother?!” Astrid asks. 

“Uh- What!” Leyla asks, looking over. 

“Well, now you know where I get my dramatic flair.” Hiccup responds, flicking his helmet down flying away from them.

Drago looks towards the challenger, “The Alpha! Now we have a fight!”

The Alpha dragon freezes some of Drago’s soldiers and traps, the zippleback take their chance attacking in balls of fire running over the men. One of them gets caught in one of the traps on the ground. 

“There!” Hiccup yells, getting Toothless attention, “Come on, Toothless! Show them what you got, bud.”

They fly down towards the trapped dragon, firing a blast that frees it. “Thatta boy!” 

Valka and Cloudjumpers were flying over, the traps getting caught in one of the many nets fired at them. Crash landing near Drago

“I've waited a long time for this!” Drago laughs. 

“You cannot take our dragons!” Valka yells, “They are controlled by the Alpha!” 

“Then it's a good thing I brought a challenger.” Drago argues, turning to the sea. He screams loudly, waving his bullhook. The water churns, making the ship capsize. The challenger surfaces from the water, it was visibly bigger than Valka’s. Shackled in chains around it’s horns. 

“Another one?” Hiccup asks. 

“I WAS WAY OFF! THAT IS A CLASS TEN! CLASS TEN!” Fishegs yells, flying away from the dragon. 

“Oh gods.” Leyla says. 

“This is not going to turn out well.” Heather adds. 

“Definitely not.” Dak assures. 

“No.” Valka mutters. 

“Come on!” Drago yells towards the dragon, “Take down the Alpha!”

“No.” Valka repeats getting up quickly to fight the man. Drago trips her, settling his foot on her chest as he did with Hookfang before. He uses his bullhook to remove the woman’s mask. 

“This is the masked dragon rider?” Drago laughs, before preparing to kill the woman. 

Stoick runs over, shoving the man away before turning his attention to his wife, “Thank you.”

“For you, my dear... anything.” Stoick responds. 

Stoick and Drago take up fighting stances as the two Bewilderbeasts roar loudly and strike their tusks together, signaling the start of their battle. 

“Val, you think you can stop them?” Stoick asks. 

“I'll do my best!” Valka responds, jumping on her dragon, “Come on, Cloudjumper!”

“Dak, Leyla, go see what you can do!” Dagur yells at them. 

“Got it!” The twins say in sync. 

“Why are you sending children to help?” Stoick asks. 

“We’ll explain later.” Dagur responds, flying back up to continue destroying ships with Mala behind him. 

“You..” Drago starts, staring at the chief, “I watched you burn!” 

“It takes more than a little fire to kill me!” Stoick argues. 

The Bewilderbeasts begin to fight, as do Drago and Stoick. The two battles happen in sync, as Valka and the younger twins attempt to calm down the dragons. 

Valka was using one way to calm the dragons down, while the twins were using their own way. Neither of their attempts were working.  

“Oh come on!” Dak complains, after the dragons weren’t listening. 

“What were you expecting to happen?” Valka asks, before noticing what they looked like, “Why are there children here?” 

Dak and Leyla look at each other before turning their gaze back to the woman, “We’ll explain later.” 

The dragons continue fighting, Valka’s Alpha stops to the three’s  attempts, but his challenger doesn’t. The older dragon shoves him down, at the same time Drago hits Stoick shoving him into the ground as well. 

Gobber flies past, noticing what was happening, “Stoick!” The man passes over his prosthetic mace, which Stoick uses to his advantage. 

The two Alphas continue to ram heads. Drago’s Bewilderbeast knocks over Valka's, and the riders can only watch in horror as the dark Alpha gores the white Alpha's belly with his tusks, killing him.

“No!” Valka yells, looking down. 

“No.” Astrid mutters. 

The new Alpha, standing over the corpse of the fallen king, roars loudly and takes control of the dragons. The youngest of the riders, cover their ears at the sound echoing around and the returning roars. 

“We’ve won.” Drago yells, looking up at the three riders knowing what they could do, “Now finish them!” 

“What did we do?” Leyla asks, looking towards Dak. 

“For once, I don’t know.” Dak answers. 

“No!” Stoick yells flying up with Dagur not close behind, The Bewilderbeast starts shooting ice at the three riders, “Hold on! Skullcrusher, go! Come on!” 

“Right behind ya, Stoick!” Dagur explains

The ice blasts, making Valka lose her grip on Cloudjumper. After she struggles to hold onto cloudjumper, she finally gives in, falling down. Stoick, thankfully, jumps off his dragon catching the woman. The two of them hide behind the ice, making the dragon turn its attention to the two other riders. 

The twins continue avoiding the blasts, being a smaller size. Even after Valka falls the dragon doesn’t stop, Leyla looks around getting an idea, “Dak come on!” 

She flies off, getting a look of annoyance from her brother, “I swear if she does something stupid” 

“It’s basically in you two’s blood.” Winger chuckles. 

“Don’t even.” Dak starts. 

The two twins fly around distracting the dragon, which keeps shooting ice at them. A blast is shot right above Summer and Leyla, shocking them. The girl falls off her dragon, quickly caught by her twin. 

“I knew you were going to do something stupid.” Dak chuckles. 

“It was a good distraction.” Leyla argues. 

“I guess.” Dak responds, flying up so Leyla could get back to Summer. 

“STOP! Stop!” Hiccup yells getting the man’s attention

“This…” Drago starts, looking over the young adult, “ is the great Dragon Master? The son of Stoick the Vast? What shame he must feel.”

“All of this loss, and for what?” Hiccup asks, “To become unstoppable? To rule the world? Dragons are kind, amazing creatures that can bring people together.”

“Or tear them apart.” Drago adds, unhooking his prosthetic arm, showing Hiccup his stump. Hiccup is horrified. “You see, I know what it is to live in fear. To see my village burned, my family taken. But even as a boy, left with nothing, I vowed to rise above the fear of dragons and liberate the people of this world.”

“Then why a dragon army?” Hiccup asks. 

“Well, you need dragons to conquer other dragons.” Drago explains. 

"Or maybe you need dragons to conquer people.” Hiccup argues, “To control those who follow you... and to get rid of those who won’t.”

“Clever boy.” Drago laughs. 

“The world wants peace. And we have the answer, back in Berk, the entire archipelago,” Hiccup explains “Just let me show you.”

“NO!” Drago yells, “Let ME show YOU.”

Drago summons his Alpha again, pointing at Toothless 

Stoick looks towards his son and Drago, “What…? Hiccup! Come on, Gobber!”

“Okay, change of plans.” Gobber responds, following the man. 

“No dragon can resist the Alpha's command.” Drago explains, “So he who controls the Alpha, controls them all. “

Drago commands the Alpha to take control of Toothless, who starts screaming and thrashing in pain

“Toothless?” Hiccup asks, “You okay, bud? What’s going on?”

“Witness true strength. The strength of will over others.” Drago explains, “In the face of it, you are nothing!” 

The Alpha takes control of Toothless. His pupils shrink into frighteningly narrow slits and he turns on Hiccup.

“Kill him,” 

“Uh, what did he just tell you?” Hiccup asks, backing up from the dragon, “Toothless, what’s the matter with you? What're you doing? Knock it off! Stop! Snap out of it!” 

“Uh- Hiccup!” Dak starts. 

“What exactly did he say?” Eret asks the twins. 

“Uh-” 

Stoick runs to Hiccup, as Hiccup was attempting to calm his dragon down. “Toothless! No! Toothless! Don’t!” Hiccup shouts, backing up from the dragon. 

The mind-controlled Toothless charges a plasma blast, preparing to kill Hiccup. “Hiccup!” Stoick yells. 

“STOP!” Hiccup yells, unsure if he was telling his father or his best friend. 

“SON!” Stick yells. 

“DAD! NO!” Hiccup shouts. 

Stoick jumps in front of Hiccup and takes the shot, being killed instantly. Drago looks back, deciding quickly that Stoick’s death was better than Hiccup’s.

Hiccup stand up looking at Toothless before his sights landed on his father, “Dad!”

“Stoick…” Valka calls, the two of them collapse near the body. 

“No…” Hiccup starts, not knowing what he should say, “you…”

Valka checks for a heartbeat but hears nothing, Valka looks towards Hiccup who still refuses to believe it. 

“No.” Hiccup mutters. 

The Bewilderbeast turns away and stops controlling Toothless. His eyes widen once more as he comes to his senses, realizing in horror what he's done.

“No, no, no. No…” Hiccup rambles, grabbing onto his father’s arm attempting to roll him over but failing. The other dragon riders land on the ground beside the scene, all knowing what happened to their chief. All of them had different mixtures of shock, sadness, and anger in their faces, 

Dagur’s hand lands on both of the twins' shoulders, they were staring towards the scene, neither of them having any visible reaction to the event. Mala was standing close behind, looking at the scene. Knowing there's nothing she could do, with her vast knowledge of first aid. 

Astrid runs over collapsing near Hiccup, who rested his head on her shoulder. 

Toothless sees Hiccup grieving and goes to Stoick’s body, “Stoick?!” Toothless asks 

“No! Get away from him!” Hiccup yells, pushing the dragon away. 

“Hiccup?” Toothless asks, backing away

“GO ON! GET OUT OF HERE! GET AWAY!”

“It's not his fault.” Valka assures, “You know that.”

The Alpha takes control of the dragons again. All their pupils shrink into slits as the Alpha takes command of their will.

“Good dragons under the control of bad people…” Valka explains. 

As the Alpha roars, the Viking teens' dragons are controlled as well. They fly away toward the Alpha.

“Wait, don't go!” Snotlout yells, towards Hookfang. 

“Summer?” Leyla asks. 

“...do bad things.” Valka finishes. 

Toothless, controlled by the Bewilderbeast, tries to fly but falls multiple times. Drago subdues him with his bullhook and forcibly rides him.

“GATHER THE MEN AND MEET ME AT BERK!” Drago yells, flying off. 

“Toothless!” Hiccup yells, running towards them but stopped by his mom. 

“No, don’t!” Valka responds. 

“Move out!” Drago yells flying away 

Drago and his Bewilderbeast head towards Berk, while his men prepare to sail. All the dragons follow as well, being led by the alpha. 

Notes:

The twins not having reactions to Stoick's death was just the little bit more angst I needed

Chapter 36: Loss of a Chief

Summary:

Stoick's funeral and the beginning of a new plan

Stoick's ship drifts out to sea. Snotlout retrieves two arrows. Gobber hands a bow and arrow to Hiccup during his eulogy for Stoick.

“May the Valkyries welcome you, and lead you through Odin’s great battlefield. May they sing your name with love and fury, so that we may hear it rise from the depths of Valhalla... and know that you've taken your rightful place at the table of kings. For a great man has fallen. A warrior. A chieftain. A father. A friend.”

Hiccup shoots a flaming arrow to light Stoick’s ship. The others follow suit.

“I'm sorry, Dad.” Hiccup starts, the dragon riders are standing around.

Dagur and the twins were standing near with Mala and Heather not far. The dragon riders were all wiping tears away, not including the twins who still didn’t have visible reactions, yet. 

“I’m not the chief that you wanted me to be. And I'm not the peacekeeper I thought I was. I don’t know…”

“You came early into this world.” Valka explains, “You were such a wee thing. So frail, so fragile. I feared you wouldn’t make it. But your father... he never doubted. He always said you'd become the strongest of them all. And he was right. You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon. Only you can bring our worlds together. That is who you are, son.” 

“I was so afraid of becoming my dad. Mostly because I thought I never could. How do you become someone that great? That brave? That selfless? I guess you can only try.” Hiccup looks up at the rising sun, before turning to face the group, “A chief protects his own. We’re going back.”

“Uh, with what?” Tuffnut asks. 

“He took all the dragons.” Ruffnut adds. 

“Not all of them.” Hiccup argues. 

“Is it the baby dragons?” Leyla asks. 

“Yep.” Hiccup confirms.

“And how exactly are we supposed to train them?” Eret asks. 

“Make it a competition or something.” Astrid tells them, “We can get really competitive to do something first.” 

“Leyla and Dak aren’t allowed to compete then.” Tuffnut cuts in. 

“Why not?” Dak asks. 

“Because you guys have an advantage.” Snotlout responds. 

“And what is this advantage?” Valka asks. 

“They can understand dragons.” Tuffnut explains. 

“That was true?” Eret asks. 

“Yep.” Leyla chuckles. 

“That’s not possible.” Valka argues, “I’ve lived with dragons for 20 years, and I can’t even do that.” 

“Well that sucks for you.” Leyla responds, “But we were raised by a dragon, young children can easily learn how to do certain things. That most adults will most likely never learn if not taught properly.” 

“You have a point.” Valka sighs, looking towards her son. 

“Come on guys.” Hiccup tells them, walking towards the icy mountain. 

---

The dragon riders make their way into the mountains, finding where all the baby dragons were staying. The youngest of them were huddled together, using each other for warmth while the older ones stood around protecting them. 

“Baby Scuttleclaws?” Leyla mutters, getting Valka’s attention. 

“Not many people can recognize them that easily.” Valka responds. 

“She’s been studying dragons her entire life, she’s a show off.” Tuffnut explains. 

"That's just the nicer way of saying a 13-year-old is smarter than you." Hiccup laughs. 

"No." Tuffnut denies 

Valka walks closer to the baby dragons, who all allow her to near them. The rest of the dragon riders attempt to follow, but the older baby dragons react. Attempting to seem intimidating by roaring, but most of the roars came out as hisses. Most of them back up, not including the younger set of twins. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Leyla assures, reaching her arm out for the dragon to trust her. One of the oldest babies walk towards her, allowing the girl to scratch its chin, “See no one going to hurt you.” 

The dragon purrs at the girl's touch, moving its head closer to the girl allowing her to reach his head easier. 

“Show off.” Tuffnut coughs. 

Leyla chuckles quietly, looking back at the older dragon riders, whispering just loud enough for them to hear, “I win.” 

“You weren’t even-!” Snotlout starts, shutting up when Astrid hits him over the head. 

“Good try Snothat.” Dagur chuckles, walking up near the twins.

Dak was kneeling down near his sister, petting the dragon as well. Who was enjoying all the attention, which got the attention of the older baby dragons who all start to wander over. Mala wasn’t far behind, kneeling down as well with the other dragon riders. 

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were pushing each other, attempting to get to a baby dragon. Who stood staring at them, before looking towards Heather, and waddling towards her. 

“No-” Tuffnut starts. 

“Come back here little guy.” Ruffnut calls, to no avail. 

The baby Scuttleclaw was already being treated by Heather, lying her head down in her lap. Ruffnut and Tuffnut look at each other, before their eyes land on two dragons that look similar. Calling them over, attempting to “Train” them.  

Eret was standing behind them all, watching. 

“You aren’t getting back to Berk by just standing there.” Dak chuckles, turning to the man. Looking towards the older set of twins, “If Ruff and Tuff can do it, you probably can.” 

“Good to know.” Eret responds, attempting to shoo the boy away. 

“Are you scared or something?” Dak asks. 

“No.” Eret denies. 

“Hm,” Dak mutters, looking towards the last baby dragon that was big enough to fly, “Well you better get started, unless you want to be left behind.” 

Dak goes to move back towards his twin, noticing the older man didn’t even move, “They aren’t going to bite.” 

“Probably.” Leyla cuts in, making Dak whip around to see his twin laughing quietly. 

“You used to be a dragon hunter; you could totally do this.” Dak assures. 

Eret walks over, reaching a hand out towards the last baby. Who automatically walks over, allowing the man to pet them. After a while, of gaining the babies trust Hiccup stands up. 

“Alrighty gang,” Hiccup starts, “Let's get to Berk.” 

---

They all are seen riding the baby Scuttleclaws through the ice caves, they all were having a difficult time. Well not counting Dak and Leyla. Them being smaller made it much easier for them, the rest of them were struggling to fly straight. 

“Fly straight, will ya?!” Ruffnut yells. 

“I don't want to die!” Fishlegs screams 

“You’re not going to die!” Heather assures. 

“How do you know!” Fishlegs responds. 

“We can’t fly these things!” Tuffnut complains. 

“Yeah, no kidding!” Fishlegs starts, getting cut off when the baby Scuttleclaw crashes in to snow pile. 

“But won’t that Bewilderbeast just take control of these guys, too?” Astrid asks. 

“They’re babies.” Hiccup responds, “They don’t listen to anyone!”

“Yeah, just like us!” Tuffnut yells 

“So, you're a baby?” Leyla asks. 

“Uh- no.” Tuffnut responds. 

“This... is…” Gobber starts, crashes into the wall and recovers quickly, “very dangerous!” the man crashes again and recovers again, “Some might suggest this is poorly conceived.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that I never listen.” Hiccup responds. 

“So –” Gobber starts getting cut off, “what IS your -- plan?”

“Get Toothless back and kick Drago’s–” Hiccup starts, getting cut off when flying past an iceberg. 

Gobber was looking towards Hiccup, before looking forward to seeing the ice wall approaching, “Heads up!” 

“And that thing.” Hiccup chuckles, watching Gobber struggle. 

Gobber crashes into the ice again, not even hearing what Hiccup said. 

“Are you okay?” Leyla asks the man, while he recovers again.

“I’m great.” Gobber responds. 

“Sure.” Leyla mutters. 

The group of them flew in the direction of Berk, all the older riders still struggling while Dak and Leyla both made their way to the front. 

“Showoffs!” Tuffnut shouts. 

“Sucks for you!” Dak chuckles. 

“Where are they’re parents?” Valka asks. 

“Right there.” Gobber responds, pointing at Dagur and Mala. 

Dagur was struggling as the other riders, Mala wasn’t having much of an easier time. “Well adoptive parents.” Gobber adds, “I’ll catch you up on everything after.” 

“Alright Gobber.” Valka chuckles. 

Notes:

beginning Uncle Eret is needed, I already one-shot planned for that when I'm done

I have the rest of this fic already finished, so more chapters later this week.

I extremely appreciate comments and kudos when I receive them, I love receiving them as well so if you have any ideas or just something to say about this chapter comment them

Chapter 37: Battle of Berk

Summary:

The final battle of Berk

Notes:

I wrote this at 2 am this morning so some things might not make sense

The dragon riders were approaching Berk, seeing the Bewilderbeast attempting to climb up onto the island. Dragons were flying around, forming a massive swarm of dragons from all the islands. The sun was rising over the island, allowing them to see all the ice covering the town. Multiple building were destroyed encased in spikes of ice. 

“No…” Hiccup mutters. 

“He took all the dragons!” says Fishlegs in shock. 

“Distract the Alpha.” Hiccup tells them, “Try to keep his focus off of Toothless.”

“Uh... how?” Tuffnut asks. 

“Have you forgotten who you’re riding with?” Eret asks, “There isn’t a dragon alive that I can’t wrangle!” The baby Scuttleclaw dives down, randomly for the fun of it. Shocking the former dragon hunter, “Except for this one!”

“Amateur.” Snotlout mutters

“Says you.” Leyla argues. 

Hiccup flies into the village while the rest of them sneak around, leaving the baby dragons and going to tasks to distract the dragon. Fishlegs and Heather went towards the horn, while the rest of the group went to help with the sheep. 

The dragon rider, getting the attention of the village, 

“Look, it’s Hiccup!”

“What?” Drago asks, looking around. 

Hiccup sneaks toward Toothless on a Scuttleclaw, Drago was about to turn when a sheep flew up in front of his face. Both him and the Bewilderbeast look down, seeing no one. 

The group of them were all hiding behind buildings, Snotlout was muffling his laughs with his hand. Once they look away again, the distraction continues, Eret was helping Dagur bring the sheeps over. While the teens shot them up, 

“Keep 'em coming!” Ruff yells, putting the black sheep in the catapult. 

“Black Sheep, baby!” Snotlout yells up, getting the dragon’s attention. 

He looks down at the group, preparing to fire but is distracted by the town horn echoing throughout the town. 

With the distraction the sheep gets shot up, landing on the alpha dragon’s nose. Annoyed, the Alpha blows the sheep away.

“Ten points!” Snotlout yells, preparing to run with the others when the dragon prepares to fire again, “Uh-oh…”

Fishlegs blows the horn again, laughing quietly. 

This time the dragon doesn’t give another chance, firing ice at the horn. Making both of the dragon riders, having to jump off. 

“We’re okay!” Fishlegs yells. 

Hiccup is close to the hypnotized Toothless, ridden by Drago. Drago whips around finally seeing the boy, as he tries to reunite with his friend.

“You certainly are hard to get rid of.” Drago tells him, “I’ll say that.”

“Toothless? It’s me, bud.” Hiccup starts, ignoring the older man, putting a hand on his best friends face, “It’s me. I’m right here. Come back to me.”

Toothless still has a blank-eyed look on his face, but already we see his pupils widen for a second and he visibly begins to show signs of resistance

“He is not yours anymore.” Drago insists, “He belongs to the Alpha! But, please, oh great Dragon Master, try to take him. He will not miss a second time.”

“It wasn't your fault, bud.” Hiccup assures, “They made you do it. You’d never hurt him. You’d never hurt me!” 

Hiccup puts his hand on Toothless's snout. His eyes widen and narrow as he mentally struggles against the Alpha.

“How are you doing that?” Drago asks. 

“Please. You are my best friend, bud.” Hiccup assures, ignoring Drago again. 

Toothless appears to almost break free, but the Alpha concentrates harder and Toothless's eyes narrow again.

“My best friend.” repeats Hiccup. 

Toothless breaks from the Alpha's control. His eyes widen and he smiles at Hiccup, whimpering happily. 

“Hiccup!” Toothless smiles. 

“Atta boy, that's it!” Hiccup laughs, standing up on the baby dragon, “I'm here!” 

“Enough!” Dragon yells. 

Drago hits Toothless with his bull hook, but Toothless grabs the hook and yanks him off.

“Yeah!” Hiccup yells. 

Toothless tips over with the absence of a rider, Hiccup jumps after him.

The night fury turns in the air, staring at his rider, 

“Hang on! Almost there buddy. Almost there!” Hiccup assures. 

Hiccup reaches him. He mounts Toothless and the two take to the air.

“Do something!” Drago yells, getting back on the alpha. 

“We need to get those two apart.” Hiccup tells his dragon. 

The dragon riders were watching from the ground, all of them were helping the villagers who were in the town while the attack happened. All of them were looking up at Toothless and Hiccup, watching the fight. 

Hiccup rips fabric from a nearby flag as they dodge the Alpha's ice blast.

“We gotta block him out, Toothless.” Hiccup explains, “Do you trust me, bud?” 

“Yes,” Toothless replies, getting blindfolded by his rider. 

“We can do this.” Hiccup assures, setting a hand on his dragon’s head, “You and me. As one. That's it. Now let's try this one more time!”

The two of them fly over the crowd, getting cheers and applause 

“Take him down, babe!” Astrid yells. 

“Go, Hiccup!”

“Go get 'em.” Valka mutters, watching from the back of the baby scuttleclaw

“Take control of it!” Drago shouts. 

The Alpha tries to hypnotize the blindfolded Toothless but fails. Hiccup covers Toothless' "ears". 

“Shut it out, Toothless!” Hiccup explains. 

“STOP THEM!” Drago screeches. 

“NOW!” Hiccup yells, locking Toothless' tail. Toothless passes over Dragk 

Drago starts chackling, before seeing the empty saddle 

Toothless is flying upside-down, his blind-fold falling away, and without Hiccup in his saddle.

Hiccup, gliding on his flight suit, flies past and surrounds Drago with Zippleback gas and lights it. Drago falls off the Alpha, his bullhook landing just out of reach.

Hiccup uncontrollably glides towards the Alpha's tail almost colliding with it.

“Not again.” Hiccup complains, “TOOTHLESS! IT'S NOW OR NEVER! Come on, bud!” 

Toothless uses his split tail fins to speed up and catch Hiccup before he can hit the Alpha's tail.

“Hold on!” Hiccup yells, They narrowly miss crashing into the tail.

“Yeah! We did it!” Hiccup laughs. 

Hiccup swoops down on Drago, who is on the ground. He stops Drago from grabbing his bull hook by throwing Inferno.

Drago screams, looking down at his burnt hand. 

“Hold him there Toothless! It's all over now.” Hiccup explains, tucking away the flight suit. 

Unknowingly the Alpha rises up behind Hiccup, as Drago watches. 

“Or is it?” Drago laughs. 

“Oh, no!” Hiccup shouts, running towards the man. 

The Alpha breathes ice at Hiccup, but Toothless dives in. Both are frozen solid, to groups horror. 

Valka runs forward, falling on her knees banging on the ice, “No! No…”

As Valka attempts to break the ice, it slowly starts glowing, 

“Hiccup.” Valka sighs, resting her head against the ice before moving away. 

The ice breaks in an explosion and both Toothless and Hiccup are revealed to be alive and well. Toothless is very angry and his back fins are glowing electric blue.

Toothless roars a challenge at the Alpha, briefly looking back to Hiccup to reassure him.

“He's challenging the Alpha!” Says in shock. 

“To protect you.” Valka adds. 

Toothless fires at the Alpha, whose tusks smash the icicle Toothless was perching on, but Toothless jumps back and fires again. The Alpha loses concentration and control of the other dragons, with Stormfly being the first dragon to be freed from control. Toothless tells them to come and fight.

“No, no, no, no! No!” Drago yells, climbing on the dragon, “Fight back! Fight! FIGHT! What's the matter with you?” 

All the dragons, from Berk, the Sanctuary, the other islands, even Drago's own armored dragons, fly over to Toothless' side. Hiccup made his way to his dragon, sitting in the saddle again. 

“Now do you get it?” Hiccup asks, “This is what it is to earn a dragon’s loyalty. Let this end now.” 

“Never!” Drago denies, “Come on!”

Toothless directs all the dragons to open fire on Drago's Bewilderbeast. The Alpha is pummeled by a huge bombardment of dragon fire.

“FIGHT!” Drago yells, before a fireball is shot at him. 

Drago loses his prosthetic arm to the armored dragon's fireball. The Alpha, having been struck hundreds of times, is very angry and roars at Toothless. Toothless fires one more shot right at the Bewilderbeast's face, breaking off one of his tusks. The severed tusk crashes to the ground as the Bewilderbeast roars in pain.

[Toothless aggressively roars in triumph, and the terrified Bewilderbeast bows in fear of him.

“The Alpha protects them all.” Hiccup explains. 

The Bewilderbeast leaves, plunging into the sea with Drago still on his back, and the Vikings cheer.

The dragons, including Cloudjumper, who is very proud of his Night Fury friend, bow to Toothless, the new Alpha. Toothless smugly soaks up the attention and roars in victory, and the dragons join in.

Hiccup jumps off his dragon, touching their foreheads together, “You never cease to amaze me, bud. Thank you.”

Toothless gets an idea, starting to lick his rider, “Toothless!” Hiccup complains, “You know that doesn't wash out.”

Laughter echoes around, as the dragons make their way back to their riders. 

“Stormfly!” Astrid calls, hugging her dragon. 

Sluether lands in front of Dagur and Mala, the man settles his hand on the dragon snout. 

“Thank Thor.” Dagur sighs, setting his forehead on his dragon's cheek. 

Dak and Leyla were being tackled by their own dragons, “That was horrible.” Summer explains. 

“It looked like it.” Dak responds. 

“Are you okay?” Leyla asks them. 

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Winger responds, “Are you two, okay?” 

“Yep.” Dak responds. 

“I will say,” Valka starts, getting the twin’s attention, “I didn’t believe it at first, but that is a revolutionary ability.” 

“Well… thank you.” Leyla responds. 

“But maybe learn some manners next time.” Valka chuckles. 

“That wasn’t even the worst of it.” Dak chuckles. 

Heather was near Fishlegs, her hands settling on her dragon’s head. The two of them were both hugging their dragons. Hiccup hands were on Skullcrushers horn, comforting the dragon. 

“That was some pretty fine dragon wrangling back there.” Eret compliments, “You'd make a good trapper.” 

“Y'know, Skullcrusher's gonna need somebody to look after him now.” Hiccup explains, turning to allow Eret to walk towards the dragon. 

“Me?” Eret asks, 

Hiccup nods as an answer, as Eret’s hands settle on the dragon’s horn

“I'd be honored.” 

Valka walks towards her son, brushing his hair out of his face, “Your father... he’d be every bit as proud as I am.”

“Thank you.” Hiccup responds, “I’m really glad you’re here, mom.”

“And here I’ll stay.” Valka assures. 

Astrid grabs Hiccup’s arm, pulling him towards her, “See? I told you it was in here.” 

Astrid pushes down on the button that opens, Opens Hiccup’s gliding suit fin.

“Ha, ha. Still doing that one? That’s hilarious.” Hiccup chuckles, grabbing Astrid waste, “Come here, you.”

“Ooh.” Gobber mutters, covering Dak and Leyla’s eyes. 

“Ha ha.” Dak mutters. 

“You’re hilarious.” Leyla adds. 

Gothi taps Hiccup's shoulder and gestures for him to kneel. She uses coal to draw the Chief symbol on Hiccup's forehead.

“The Chief has come home!” Gobber yells. 

“Long live Chief Hiccup!”

“Long live the Chief!”

“Long live the Chief!”

“Long live the Chief!”

“Long live the Chief!”

The cheer was being echoed around, as the dragons all fire into the sky.

---

A Terrible Terror tries to lift a sheep in a dragon race but fails. Barf and Belch swoop in and snatch it. Ruffnut and Tuffnut tug-of-war for it. Ruffnut wins. Holding it up in victory but it’s stolen by the younger boy. 

Dak flies around, with his twin following close behind, Eret and Skullcrusher join the flight, shooting by Hiccup and Toothless who were repairing a house. 

“This... is Berk. A bit trampled and busted and covered in ice, but it's home. It's our home.” 

A giant statue of Stoick was being carved in the mountain of the great hall, the dragon riders fly by seeing the almost complete statue. 

“Those who attacked us are relentless and crazy. But those who stopped them? Oh, even more so!” 

Astrid swoops past Hiccup laughing, Hiccup watches finally giving up and going to join the race,

“We may be small in numbers, but we stand for something bigger than anything the world can pit against us.”

Valka and Gobber are removing the armor from the dragons that Drago captured, with the help of Dagur, Mala and Heather. 

“We are the voice of peace. And bit by bit, we will change this world.”

Gobber pauses working to fire the black sheep. Astrid and Stormfly get ready to catch it as in the last race, but Hiccup and Toothless grab it from below her.

“You see, we have something they don't. Oh sure, they have armies” 

Toothless flies under the baskets while Hiccup jumps above them, throwing the black sheep into Astrid's basket.

“and they have armadas... But we... have… ”

All the riders land at the chief's viewing stand, standing around the chair in the middle. 

“Our Dragons!”

Notes:

I wish I could've fit more of the found family in this chapter, but it was seeming to busy so the next chapter is going to have a ton

Is this the end? No there’s one more chapter obviously

I extremely appreciate comments and kudos when I receive them, I love receiving them as well so if you have any ideas or just something to say about this chapter comment them

Chapter 38: Epilogue

Summary:

The aftermath of everything

Notes:

The last chapter, enjoy

this one took me a while, with work and school but I hope you all enjoy

The months have passed since the king of dragons, and the battle of Berk. the Archipelago had changed for the better, more and more dragons were seen flying around based on Toothless being the King of dragons. Defenders of the wing were getting better and better by the day. The Eruption was growing into the role she took a year before, the village was getting more trade, getting more materials that they never got before. 

The sun was rising over the island, the light was slowly creeping throughout the town. Mala and Dagur were both up early, Mala was working on trivial work. While Dagur was sketching something, “I don’t understand why you only sketch in the mornings.” Mala notes. 

“I don’t know, I always have.” Dagur explains, looking up at his wife, “It’s just a habit at this point.” 

“Hm,” Mala mutters, looking back down at the book in front of her. 

After a while, they heard someone entering the room and falling down in one of the chairs, “Morning Leyla.” 

“Hi Dag.” 

Mala turns to face the girl, her braid was messed up sticking up in different places. The younger girl, hand a blanket draped around her shoulders as she curled into the couch, “How’d you sleep?” 

“Horrible.” Leyla answers, looking up at Mala. 

“Why?” 

“Dak was sleep talking again.” 

“And how would you know that?” Dagur asks, not turning to face the girl, “It’s not like you stayed up too late.” 

“Nooo, definitely not.” Leyla huffs. 

“Hmm.” Dagur mutters, “Sure, kid.” 

A few minutes later, Dak makes his way into the room with the other three falling down onto his sister. Instead of sitting on any of the other chairs in the room, “Dak!” Leyla groans, pushing the boy off. 

Dak fell onto the ground with a bang getting the attention of the two adults, the fall effectively knocked any extra drowsiness from the teen. “Really?” Dak asks her. 

“Yep.” 

“You're a mea-” Dak starts. 

“Don’t even start.” Dagur cuts in. 

“She started it!” Dak shouts. 

“Did not!” Leyla denies. 

“Why do you two fight every morning?” Dagur chuckles, turning to face the two. 

“The same reason you complain whenever we wake you up earlier.” Leyla responds. 

“Yeah pretty much.” Dak agrees. 

“So it's your fault they fight every morning.” Mala chuckles looking over at Dagur, “They definitely get from you.” 

“Haha you're hilarious.” Dagur mutters. 

“Are we doing anything fun today?” Dak asks, his voice full of hope. 

“We need to visit Berk, I promised Hiccup.” Dagur responds, “And Heather is going to be there too.” 

Dak jumps up from the ground, looking towards the adults “so when are we leaving?” 

They were flying towards Berk, not long after, Dak and Leyla were racing each other while Mala and Dagur weren’t far behind. Aggro, Cutter, and Burple were all still on Defenders of the wing, Burple was too enchanted by all the rocks on Defenders of the wing to leave. Which was strange to the twins, because they’ve lived there for almost two years. Apparently Burple found a new vein on rocks that he wanted to try, Cutter stayed behind to sleep mainly and Aggro stayed to annoy Cutter and keep Burple company. 

As the four of them neared Berk they saw the newly rebuilt building, all painted with bright colors. The island was crawling with dragons, but not enough that they would overpopulate the island. Hiccup and the others were in the great hall Heather and the others had already arrived. Minden and Atali were in the room as well, talking with Valka. 

All of the allies had met Valka not long after the battle of Berk, Atali and Valka became close friends during the time. Heather was talking with Astrid, both of the women were sitting on one of the tables. 

All the dragons were outside, either playing or resting and when the group landed the three dragons ran to join. Well Summer and Winger went to join the fun, Sleuther went to sleep as soon as he could. The four of them walk into the great hall which was filled with conversation.

“Brother!” Dagur greets, walking over to Hiccup. 

“Dagur,” Hiccup responds, Eret was nearby. 

Eret and Dagur weren’t necessarily the closest, most of their interactions were arguments about the most random stuff. Eret adored the twins on the other hand, he had multiple conversations with them, when he told Hiccup about it, the chief responded that it was just the two’s effect on people. 

“Eret!” Dak calls, crashing into the older man’s side. 

“Hey kid.” Eret greets, looking at the boy who was nearly up to his shoulders in height, “I think you need to start shrinking, at this rate you’ll be taller than all of us.” 

“Well it’s not hard to be taller than Snotlout.” Leyla mutters, sitting on one of the nearby tables. 

“What was that Leyla!” Snotlout yelps. 

“Nothing, your hearing thing.” Leyla denies, “Again.” 

“I am not!” Snotlout shouts, looking at the other riders, “You guys heard it too right?” 

“Nope.” Heather responds, “You are losing it.” 

“For sure.” Ruffnut adds. 

“I hate you all,” Snotlout groans, leaving the room in defeat. 

Eret looks at the girl, who was laughing quietly while she looked around the room. “You're a brat sometimes, you know that.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Leyla responds, jumping up from the table to walk over to where Dagur was. The king was still having a conversion with Hiccup, the two of them were discussing something random. 

Dak looks over at his sister, following close behind. Sitting next to her on one of the tables near the two chiefs. 

“Anyways-” Hiccup continues, not noticing the younger girl behind him. 

“This is the most random conversation you've had to date.” Leyla cuts in. 

“Definitely.” Dak agrees. 

“Neither of you have to listen to it.” Dagur assures her. 

“That takes the fun out of annoying you.” Dak answers. 

Dagur looks over at Hiccup who he hears chuckling, “Don’t look at me, they takes after you.” 

“At this rate I’m leaving both of you here.” Dagur threatens, pointing at the two. 

“How would you even do that?” Leyla asks, gesturing over at the open doors where Winger and Summer were playing with the other dragons. 

“I’d figure it out.” Dagur answers. 

“First would you?” Dak asks. 

“Second, even if you did, Mala wouldn’t let you.” Leyla adds. 

“And how do you know that?” Dagur asks. 

“Cause she loves us more than you.” Leyla answers, attempting not to laugh at the man's reaction. 

Dagur looks back at Hiccup, who was still listening to the three, “I’m leaving them here, your on babysitting duty.”
“I did not agree to this.” Hiccup answers, “I have more important things to do.” 

“Hey!” Dak huffs, “We’re plenty important.” 

“Make Eret babysit them.” Astrid suggests. 

“No, they'd be more bratty than normal.” Dagur responds. 

“I think they’re plenty bratty because of you.” Eret argues, walking over to the group. 

Not far in the room, Tuffnut starts yelling “fight” at the two men. 

“Okay, okay.” Hiccup sighs, “Let’s not start fighting.” 

“We’re having a civilized conversation.” Dagur responds. 

“I don’t think you can do that.” Leyla mutters. 

“I don’t think either of them can.” Dak adds.

The day goes on, and as the hours pass the group of dragon riders make their way out into the town. Dak and Leyla were sitting on the steps outside the great hall with Mala near them, while the dragon riders were walking through town. With Heather and Dagur with them. 

Leyla was reading one of the many books Gobber had given to her to read. Dak was looking over her shoulder every now and then. Looking at the pages, they were filled with old pictures of dragons. Their text was messy written, compared to most people’s handwriting, the younger boy could only make out some words. Based on the fact most of the pencil marks were smudged. 

“How can you even read that?” Dak asks her. 

“Slowly.” Answers Leyla. 

“Boring.” Dak groans, looking around. 

“You could go find Dag.” Leyla suggests.

“And be in the middle of him and Eret, no thank you.” Dak responds. 

“Then stop complaining.” Leyla tells him, not looking up from the book. 

“I wasn’t.” Dak argues, looking back at Mala who was going through her notes she took either in the week during a meeting, “Mala was I complaining.” 

Mala looks up at the two kids, “no.” 

“Ha see.” Dak yells. 

“She wasn’t listening.” Leyla argues, “She's been going through meeting notes half the morning.” 

Dak whips around towards the woman, before turning back to his twin, “Good point.” 

“Yep.” Leyla mutters,

Dak looks at her annoyed before looking down into the town below them, his eyes landing on Gobber’s blacksmith shop. Gobber was working most of the morning, after greeting the dragon riders. “We could go see Gobber.” 

“We?” Leyla asks. 

“You can read anytime.” Dak argues. 

“Fine.” Leyla huffs, putting the book back in her bag. 

Mala watches as the two leave towards Gobber’s, before looking back down to her notes. Gobber was working on a saddle when the twins entered, he turned to face them “Hey kiddos.” 

“Hi Gobber.” Dak responds, the man stops what he’s doing walking over to the two. 

“Where are the others?” Gobber asks. 

“Attempting to get Dag and Eret to not fight.’ Leyla answers, looking around at the project. 

“Makes sense.” Gobber chuckles, “They’re always fighting, it gets entertaining.” 

“Definitely.” Dak laughs, 

Gobber’s eyes land on the book peeking out of the younger girl's bag, “You taking good care of that book, it was a family heirloom.” 

“No, uh actually I threw it in the ocean.” Leyla smirks. 

“Ha ha, you're hilarious.” Gobber responds 

“I’m almost done with it.” Leyla tells the man. 

“Perfect, I have another book for you, well actually it isn’t a book.” Gobber explains, “It’s some papers filled with dragon research.” 

“You’re going to trust her, a child with Borg’s notes?” Snotlout asks from the entryway, he and the nut twins found their way over to the blacksmith. Leaving the others behind, “You slapped me when I even tried to look at them.” 

“Leyla’s not going to lose them, like you would.” 

“You have favorites.” Tuffnut complains. 

“Obviously, you only figured that out now?” 

“Rude.” Tuffnut mutters, looking towards the twins, “Oh Dagur is looking for you two.”

“Burying the instructions as usual?” Leyla asks. 

“We weren’t helping find you two, it just happened.” Snotlout chuckles, looking around, “I think he’s at the great hall.”

“So helpful as usual.” Dak mutters, looking towards his twin who was already almost to the door, “Bye Gobber.”

“See ya, kids.”  

The twins make their way up to the great hall, with the three dragon riders behind them. “Don’t you three have anything better to do?” Leyla asks. 

“We have to go to the great hall too.”  Tuffnut responds. 

“You just want to see if Eret and Dagur got into a fight.” Snotlout responds. 

“I doubt it.” Dak mutters, getting a look from his twin, “Well maybe.” 

The group walk into the building, Dagur and Mala were sitting around one of the bigger tables talking with the dragon riders. The queen of the defenders of the wing finally put her notes down. The two youngest run over sitting near the adults, Mala was talking with Valka about dragons. For the millionth time, the two of them could spend hours talking about dragons, and dragons alone. 

Dak and Leyla rush over sitting in the seats near the two royals, while the other three dragon riders push their way into the seats. The group were all eating, when Tuffnut got the bright idea to start a fight. Well a food fight, the Nut twin, takes one of the apples sitting at the table, hurling it at Snotlout who was sitting on the older side. 

“Tuffnut!” Snotlout yelps, throwing something back.

“Snotlout!” Tuffnut mimics, throwing something back at the man, hitting Astrid in the process. 

“Are you kidding me!” Astrid yelps, looking between the two. 

“Well anyways-” Tuffnut starts, cut off by Astrid throwing food at him. 

The room basically falls into chaos, everyone starts throwing food at each other. Dagur took his chance to smack Eret in the face with something that was nearby. Dak and Leyla ducked under neath the table, not wanting to be targets. 

“Can you believe we’re the youngest here?” Dak asks his twin. 

“No.” 

The room was still in chaos, Mala took here chance and walked away not wanting to be in the middle of the food fight. No one tried to stop her, knowing that if they hit her with any food they would end up getting punched. 

After a while the fight slows, the room was a disaster and everyone (-Mala) was covered in food, even the twins who were under the table. 

“So who thought that was a good idea?” Leyla asks.

“Me, I did.’ Tuffnut responds, “And it was a great idea.” 

“Sure.” Dak responds. 

The dragon riders team up to clean the room back up, well more like Astrid made most of them help. It was dusk by the time the room was cleaned, and the people were cleaned up again. Mala was the only one not made to help clean, as she was the only one who didn’t join, and her being the queen and everything. Heather left a while before everyone else, she was the only other one who got out of cleaning. 

The defenders of the wing family left once it was long past sunset, the only light they could see was the moon lighting their way. Dagur and Mala were in front of the twins and their dragons for once, the younger dragons were playing most of the day and the twins weren’t attempting to speed up any. 

“Well.” Mala starts, “Those two are going to knock out as soon as we get home.” 

“Oh definitely.” Dagur responds, “Maybe we won’t hear any complaints tomorrow.” 

“That’s being a little too hopeful.” Mala responds, “They take after you.” 

“I’m aware.” Dagur sighs. 

They were back on Defenders of the wing not long after, Dak and Leyla instead of going to their rooms fell down on one of the chairs in front of the fire. It wasn’t necessarily cold, but the dark made it worse. 

“Aren’t you two going to go to bed?” Dagur asks. 

“Yep.” Dak mutters, using his twin as a pillow. 

“Your bedrooms are the opposite direction.” Dagur chuckles 

“It’s warmer here.” Leyla explains. 

“Alrighty.” Dagur sighs, walking away. 

“Night dad.” 

Dagur stops in his tracks looking back at the two who were effectively knocked out cold now, he turned towards Mala who was attempting not to laugh at her husband’s reaction. 

“You heard that right?” Dagur asks, “Because I might have imagined it, but maybe-” 

“I heard it, Dagur.” Mala interrupts, “So stop spiraling.” 

“I’m not spiraling!” Dagur huffs, looking back at the sleeping twins. 

“Yeah, sure.” Mala chuckles, “You can talk about it in the morning plenty, but now how about you go to sleep before you start spiraling again.” 

“Not spiraling.” Dagur huffs, falling down in one of the chairs near the fire. 

“What are you doing?” Mala asks. 

“They had a point, it’s warmer out here.” Dagur responds. 

Mala walks into the back of the house grabbing three blankets, coming back the queen threw one at her husband's head and laid the other two of the sleeping twins. Mala walks over to Dagur who was fighting with the blanket on his head, sitting beside him. 

“Well-” Dagur sighs, once he gets the blanket off, looking over at his wife smiling “Sleep over in the living room?”  

Notes:

It only took 38 chapters, but Dagur finally got called Dad, I was going to do it sooner, but I didn't want it to seem too predictable, so it took a while, sorry

I loved writing all the dynamics in this fic, Uncle Eret definitely became one of my favorites. Fun fact most of them were heavily based on relationships from other shows.

I’m so sad this fic is over; I will still be writing one-shots when I get ideas for this fic. So, you all will still be getting some type of content from this fic still, I’m extremely grateful for all the comments and kudo’s I’ve received on this fic.

If you have any one-shot requests, comment them, and I’ll gladly write them.

I hope you all enjoyed this fic as much as did writing it ♥️

Chapter 39: NEWS

Summary:

not a real chapter, just some information for this Au

Well I lied that was not the end, I am happy to announce that this fic has a sequel, said sequel isn't going be nearly as long as this fic but I wanted to write in the Au again and the idea came to me 

 

It's httyd 3 in this Au, with new characters, mostly new plot, and a few special Ocs

 

It's still a wip, but I do have a name for it already, It is called Eat Your Young (I'll tag it here once it's actually posted 

 

I hope everyone who loved this fic will love this sequel just as much 

 

(THE DRAGONS AREN'T LEAVING, that's one thing I can easily confirm now but you'll have to wait and see for everything else. 

Notes:

The fic was going to be done two days ago, but uh... our water got shut off and then someone stole our kitchen sink pipes so it's been a fun week

Anyways I can't tell how often this fic is going to be getting update yet, but I'll try to figure it out once the fic is actually posted, anyway look out for it

The Fic Link - Eat Your Young

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of What if.... Httyd