Chapter 13 - Chapter 13: A Skrilling We Will Go

"Hey stitcher girl,

You know how I said never to trust the twins? Well, I meant it. And hey, if Hiccup says he punched me and knocked me out… he's lying. Did you know that Hideous Zippleback dragons have a sense, a weird one, of a life debt? Long story short, the twins are reckless, Hiccup saved their dragon… dragons? Whatever, he saved Barf and Belch and the stupid dragon kept following him around like a yak in heat.

Your aversion to large dragons is totally justified when it comes to Barf and Belch. They knocked Toothless and Hiccup out of the sky because they wanted Hiccup to ride them instead of the twins. Hiccup was fine, but it was getting kind of dicey for him and the twins were upset so they came up with an idea to put Hiccup in danger and let Barf and Belch rescue him. Apparently, Zipplebacks are both dumber and smarter than they were expecting because the first time the dragons saw through it and the second time Toothless had to save Hiccup. Completely hopeless.

That's when I got dragged into the mess. The twins decided that Hiccup was not believable enough and came to me. They said the Hiccup and I needed to stage a fight. Not too dangerous for Hiccup but believable enough that the dragons would believe they had saved Hiccup. I agreed, I got to punch Hiccup and stop the shenanigans with the dragons and the twins. Win win, or so I thought.

What the twins failed to mention is that Hiccup had no idea about their brilliant plan. So while I was pulling my punches Hiccup was all confused and angry. I should have guessed it then. I goaded Hiccup into hitting me and he didn't hold back… at all. I guess he had a lot of built up stress from the dragons and me attacking him just kind of pushed him over the line. Didn't know my scrawny cousin could hit that hard, almost as hard as you. So if Hiccup says he hit me and knocked me out, it's only because I knew the fight was fake and he didn't. I let him hit me. So, yeah, don't trust the twins… ever! On an unrelated note, know anything I can do for loose teeth?

Anyway, after the fake fight, Hiccup stupidly goes off on his own and gets himself captured by Dagur and Ryker. We didn't even know until we saw Barf and Belch give us a distress signal. The Zippleback was still following Hiccup. We all had to fly out and save Hiccup's butt. We were all just lucky not to get shot by any of those dragon root arrows. During the scuffle Ruff and Tuff saved their dragon from the hunters so now they aren't following Hiccup anymore. Crazy dragon… dragons?

We still haven't caught Ryker or Dagur. I don't know why we don't just hunt them down and have the dragons torch them once and for all. Hiccup says, 'That's not who we are.' He's too soft. They would all deserve it after Berk and all the trouble they've caused, especially Dagur.

How was your birthday? Did Gustav come around? Did you eat yak butter parfait without me? You better not have given any to Gustav. Any luck getting the new yaks? They should have calved by now. Been sniffing any carrots lately? Also, I never thought of this but how are you getting letters to me without going into town to the Terror mail rookery? Hope you're enjoying the blueberries. I will keep an eye out for other berry patches.

How's the sewing going? Are you all caught up? Also, Hiccup wants to know if you're making any more dragon scale tunics? He also says to ask your dad if there are any problems with the chair so he can brainstorm solutions. Like Hiccup needs more reasons to tinker. As if flying on dragons isn't enough, he's working on this cockamamy flight suit, or as Tuff calls it, 'Hiccups plummet suit.' The twins aren't the only ones who jump off cliffs. It drives Toothless nuts because he always has to bail Hiccup out. Honestly my skinny cousin would be long dead without his dragon.

Keep missing me and I'll see you when I see you.

Dragon Boy"

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"Dragon boy,

I hope you put some ice on those teeth or at least your jaw, although by now it's been a while and hopefully they are not still loose. Just eat soft foods for a while and avoid things like jerky. Yeah I know, it sucks, no jerky but take good care of your teeth and I'll send you back with a fresh pouch of jerky next time I see you. Thanks for the heads up about both the twins and Zipplebacks. No surprises there.

I can understand why you want to blast Dagur and Ryker but Hiccup probably has his own reasons for pulling his punches with them… even if he doesn't with you. Sorry, I just had to put one jab in there. Remember, Hiccup's got a lot on his shoulders as the chief's son. If you dragon riders just start taking people out it will look like a declaration of war or domination. It could impact Berk's standing in other communities, especially those we do trade with. In short, you could create more enemies than you would actually eliminate. But I also understand why you just want to finish them. A wolf that attacks once will come back again. Right? Kind of hard to make that call. Just be glad you're not responsible for making the choice or dealing with the blowback. Perks of not being the leader all the time, I suppose. Just be safe, okay, and don't take any crazy risks you don't have to. Your harem needs you, and so do I.

My birthday was wonderful. Thanks for the wolf pelt. It really is beautiful! I'm not sure what to do with it just yet except admire it though. Sneaky sneaky using Gustav as the messenger boy. He brought me two bunches of flowers, one he said you told him to give me, and the other was from him. He did hang around but we didn't have parfait. I opted for berry pie instead, although Gustav knocked the other half of the pie on the floor. Still a good birthday. And the best part is Shepherd finally found a yak in milk for us. Unfortunately the calf didn't make it. Sad, but still that means more milk. That also means more milking, so Shepherd really just got me extra work for my birthday. That's okay though, Gustav has volunteered to milk her when he's around. Not sure how I feel about that. I think I will get less milk if he does it. What should I name the new yak?

The garden is getting big. I've given up on the weeds for this year but everything is far enough along that it should be fine. The carrots still smell amazing fresh out of the dirt. Yes, I know I'm crazy. A carrot's just a carrot. I should be able to put a lot of food away in a month or two. Gustave says we have one of the biggest gardens on Berk outside of the farmers.

Oh fun news, we have five new baby chicks! One of the dark hens hatched them out. Fuzzy little things. I just have to keep the Terrible Terrors away from them, though the small dragon you have been sending with the mail is pretty well behaved. Maybe it's more about temperament than actual training with them. Dad likes her because she sits on his lap for a while after she delivers the letter. Dad needs a cat or something.

When I have a letter to send you I just tell Gustav or Shepherd and they bring me a T-mail dragon. Sometimes I have to wait a day or two to send them out. Gustav is going to go with me to pick more berries in the far meadow in a few days. He says they are ready. Honestly I have been so busy that I haven't gone to check on them yet.

I'm still behind with my sewing but I'm catching up. Tell Hiccup that I'm not currently working on a tunic but I could be if he wants one, but it will take a while. Ask him if he's okay with orange brown scales. I have a bunch of those already prepped. You remember, the ones you helped me with. If not, I'll need to know what colors and he'll have to provide scales.

Dad says the chair works well and his hands are much cleaner now but it's very bumpy when he's out in the yard, which he is a lot. I've made pillows for the chair but it can still be a rough ride. Sounds like Hiccup doesn't need other things to work on but if he gets bored he can work on that. Does the flight suit actually work?

I'm still missing you come back soon

Stitcher Girl.

PS. I always love berries but mushrooms are good too."

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"Stitcher girl,

Have I told you lately how crazy my cousin is? Remember that time I had to fly Gothi all the way out to that frozen island to get a tooth from a homicidal snow dragon. Yeah, Hiccup took us back there again. Apparently it's our job to protect all the dragons now, even the ones who actively try to kill us. We got news that Ryker and Heather were buying up cold weather gear… like snow blizzard clothes. The hunters were going after, yeah, you guessed it, another of those Snow Wraith teeth and, I suppose, the dragons attached to them.

We flew all the way out there and arrived in a blizzard. I got caught in a Thorston sandwich between the twins. Do not recommend it. Besides, Hookfang is way warmer. Hiccup and Astrid went off to scout the island while the rest of us made camp. Then Hiccup comes back and says he lost Astrid in the snow storm. Yeah right. Astrid's not about to lose anything or anyone she doesn't want to. She totally ditched him. Poor Hiccup. Haha!

Astrid finally comes back and we all go investigate a cave she saw. Well Ryker comes in behind us and we're trapped between the wild dragons and the hunters. Remember how I said Hiccup is too soft? Yeah, he went out to try and reason with Ryker. Of course it was, in fact, a trap and he almost got shot for his trouble. Ryker sealed us in the ice cave. Long story short, Snow Wraiths can burrow. Fun fact when you're not actually around then, unnerving when you're trapped in an ice cave with them. There were three of them. Ryker caught them but we saved them and set them free. Only Thor knows why. Probably to spread their icy misery somewhere else.

But the biggest twist, you remember how I told you Heather is actually Dagur's sister? Well she's totally a double agent! So cool! Apparently, Astrid has known since she and the others were captured. She's been sitting on that juicy tidbit all this time. Hiccup was less than thrilled. Trouble in paradise… Can't believe Astrid kept it a secret, I mean Toothless almost shot Heather out of the sky before he found out. It could have been a disaster. Lots of secrets from Hiccup these days, although he already found out about you.

Even though Heather is on our side she's going to keep playing double agent for a while longer. Not like we need any more trouble but Heather says that Ryker isn't even the man who leads the dragon hunters. The guy we really need to get to is Viggo Grimborne. Only trouble is Ryker seems to be the only person who's seen him. Apparently they are brothers. Heather hopes to get information about him so we can take him down once and for all and finish the dragon hunters. I don't envy Heather the tricky spot she's in. I wouldn't want to be her. Kind of worrying.

Oh by the way, Hiccup says the orange brown is fine. I'll drag him over when we're home next because he's so skinny and you'll need his measurements. He is already planning upgrades for your Dad's chair.

Gustav better have gotten the good flowers. I know you like the little purple and yellow ones. Glad you got a new yak even if it is because of Shepherd. You do have an excessively large garden for only two people, especially when you're the only one taking care of it. Honestly you do everything you possibly can and then a whole bunch more. Kind of like Hiccup. No wonder I get roped into helping you guys so much. I would say have Gustav help you but it might be more trouble than it's worth. But I'm glad he can help you send the letters. Just have Gustav do it and don't bother with Shepherd. The guy is weird. He doesn't have a dragon and one would be so useful in his line of work. I couldn't have fixed the barn without Hookfang. Even Mr. Hofferson has a Deadly Nadder to help him lift stuff. Surprisingly tough dragons for their size. Still can't hold a candle to Hookfang though.

Anyway, I have to go. Hiccup says that Trader Johann is in trouble again and we have to go save the old geezer. More like Johann is the trouble. Anytime we get involved with that guy it always ends poorly. I know I said Gothi isn't my favorite but I'd take her any day over Johann. He tells the most boring stories and everything, and I mean everything, reminds him of one of his stories. Wish me luck and I'll write to you again to tell you about the trouble that is Johann.

See you later

Dragon Boy.

PS. You can't call the yak Yakety. That name is already taken.

PSS. We could always get your dad a dragon if he wants something to cuddle. Baby dragons are cute. But don't tell anyone I said that."

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"Dragon boy,

Say, how long do we have to keep up this code name business? Isn't Johann that chatty trader that comes to Berk every now and then? I met him once when I was little. My dad took me to the docks to buy some new boots. I only really remember having to stand there forever while he and my dad talked. I was probably about seven at the time. Can't say I blame you. Sounds like you survived your icy ordeal with the Snow Wraith and hey, at least you didn't have Gothi clinging to you this time. Do you even have snow gear? I suppose you have Hookfang but still, count me out. Burr.

I'm glad you guys have more allies than you knew about. It must be hard for Hiccup to make sound decisions without all the facts. Be careful. This Viggo guy sounds like trouble if he hides his identity for so long and so well. You dragon riders get yourself into enough trouble as it is.

Yes, Gustav did bring me the yellow and purple flowers. How did you know I like them? We decided to name the yak Bruiser. It was Gustav's idea after his first attempt at milking her. Three guesses why. I told him to warm his hands up first. But what do you expect from a kid whose family lives in the middle of town and has no animals outside of his dragon. But even if Bruiser is not a big fan of Gustav the five chicks are. He keeps bringing them worms and maggots so now anytime he shows up the chicks all rush to him. The mother hen is less than pleased with this.

We are getting lots of milk though. I have even sent some back with Gustav and it's still coming out my ears. You would not believe how much cheese and butter I have been making. Good thing I can store a lot of it under the house in the cellar. I'm going to need more containers and wax though. Do you think your mom wants some yak milk? Seriously though, with all this food to take care of, I'm way behind in my sewing even with Dad helping out. But hey, I found out something Gustav is actually quite good at. I mean, go figure since his mom is also a tailor, but Gustav has a very steady hand with a needle and thread. One way to keep him out of trouble I guess. Even so he's still pretty busy with the auxiliary riders and we only see him about twice a week.

Shepherd has been pretty busy as well. Apparently Phyllis Hofferson is now engaged to one of the Ingerman cousins. Quite a fast turn around. Maybe your family dodged an arrow with that one. So we haven't seen Shepherd for a while but it's okay because Mrs. Ingerman brings little Alice over when she visits. Dad loves to hold her and I love hearing all the news from the village. Most of Gustav's news is about the auxiliary riders. Apparently your dad's been missing a lot of training lately, off doing something for Stoick.

Do you think you guys will come home for the winter? Maybe we can actually make it to the Snoggletog feast this year. Anyway, I have to go. Bruisers making a fuss outside the barn. Probably needs to be milked again.

Stitcher Girl.

PS. No dragons, whether baby or otherwise, no matter how cute they are."

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"Stitcher girl,

I knew Johann was trouble! His message said he was being attacked by dragon hunters… he was being hunted by dragons. Fishface, Hiccup, and I flew out to help him, expecting dragon root arrows. We have the only working dragon armor at the moment and Meatlug is immune to dragon root. Fishface and Hiccup have been working on dragon armor for a while. It still needs work but it's better than nothing. Astrid was upset because she had to stay behind on The Edge with the twins. She hates being in charge of the twins, mostly because no one can really control them, it's more like directed damage control.

Johann's ship was being bombarded by wild dragons and I mean they were going after him. It took us a while and Fishface getting carried off by some of the dragons to figure out just why the dragons were so upset. Usually these types of dragons are pretty chill. They were attacking humans because they had been hurt and captured by dragon hunters. They were covered in scars. They even tried to 'save' our dragons from us thinking we were hurting them. Hiccup came up with another of his Hiccup specials ideas, which I warned him would spiral out of control. It totally did. But does Hiccup listen to me, no way.

It was kinda dicey for a bit there but I guess Hiccup's plummet suit works for something. He had to bail off Toothless and when the wild dragon saw his 'wings' they decided he wasn't a threat anymore. It was about then that Ruffut showed up riding Windshear, Heather's dragon. While we were helping Johann with his dragon problem The Edge was under attack. Another diversion and trap courtesy of Ryker. He's determined to get the Dragon Eye from Hiccup. We flew back with all the wild dragons tailing us.

You know how I said never trust the twins? Well there are, in fact, cases in which it pays to have them around. They are total harbingers of chaos but when they're on your side it's quite satisfying. Ruff got captured by the dragon hunters before escaping on Windshear and coming to get us. That left only Astrid and Tuff to defend The Edge and the Dragon Eye until we arrived. Astrid is the queen of tactics but even she couldn't hold off Dagur and Ryker's fleet for long. She never really saw the twins as much more than a nuisance but when her plans were all used up and there were still dragon hunters coming she finally agreed to try Tuffnuts ideas. Let's say I might feel sorry for the dragon hunters if they weren't in fact dragon hunters. All that pent up Loki energy makes for some wicked awesome booby traps and tricks. It was just barely enough to hold them off until we got back and could run them off. All those wild dragons tailing us were less than happy to see the dragon hunters. So yeah, Johann sucks and the twins are really quite clever and useful at times.

My mom could always use more yak milk. I swear Geoffrey would bathe in it if he was allowed and Adele is no slouch either. Pretty sure we don't have any yaks in milk right now. Just Yakety and he's getting old but he's big and makes hearty calves so he'll be around for a few more years yet. I have never complained about too much cheese or butter but I've also never been the one in charge of making it. As for the purple and yellow flowers, some fell out of one of your books when I was cleaning your room when your arm was broken. I figured you saved them because you like them.

Glad Gustav is useful for something other than yaking. He doesn't ever bring Fanghook around does he? Who knows what my dad's up to. Mom might know. As for winter gear I still have my old cloak but it's getting too small. Adele has been eyeing it for a while and I will probably give it to her. We don't usually need cold weather gear at The edge though, not me anyway. Not sure if the others will come home for winter but I will for sure be home for Snoggletog. Can't imagine the others will want to miss it either. Besides, we have to go. I missed last year so just try and keep your dad healthy. We could even convince Hiccup to bring him into town on Toothless. Toothless is the only dragon that doesn't disappear that time of year. And don't worry Toothless can walk him into town, not fly. Got to go but I hope to see you soon. We're about due for a supply run.

Dragon Boy."

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"What could have driven everyone off Outcast Island?" asked Snotlout, peering into the smoking ruins of what had once been a hut. The air was acrid with char and there was an unusual tang in the smell that he couldn't quite place. The hut was not alone in its fate, nearly all the visible huts on the rocky island of outcasts were in smoldering ruins. Yesterday morning they had been relaxing on The Edge but then the T-mail from Outcast Island had arrived. Three scrawled words. "Odin spare us."

"I don't know," said Hiccup grimly, bending to examine some strange marks on the ground.

"This wasn't the dragon hunters," said Fishlegs, patting Meatlug. "Oh it's okay girl. Whatever it was though, it has the dragons spooked."

And Fishface was right. Even Hookfang who was normally relaxed was tense and alert, heat radiating off him as he poised to burst into flames.

"Should we try and find the outcasts?" asked Astrid.

"You won't find them unless they want to be found," said Ruffnut, picking at the ends of her hair. She turned to Tuffnut. "Remember old uncle Albert, he was an outcast."

"Ah, old uncle Albert," said Tuff reverently, removing his helmet and placing it over his heart. "Life of the party and all time champion of the Thorston annual hide and go sneak games."

"So what happened to him?" asked Fishleg's, curious.

Tuff returned his helmet to his head with a shrug. "No one ever found him."

"With you two for family I bet he just hide and sneaked away," muttered Snotlout. Astrid snorted.

"Hey… hey guys," called Hiccup's wavery voice from the other side of a large boulder. "Do these scorch marks look familiar to you?"

They all came to see. "Thor, don't tell me that's what I think it is," said Snotlout.

"It looks like a Skrill's attack," said Fishlegs, running a hand over the jagged scorch marks.

"I said not to tell me, Fishface," he shot back.

"Do you think it's the same one?" asked Astrid, glancing at Hiccup.

"There sure as Thor better not be multiple of them," Snotlout groaned. "One's bad enough to keep track of and it's sealed and ice."

Beside Hiccup, Toothless growled.

"There's only one way to be sure," said Hiccup.

In a few minutes they were staring down into an empty ice crevasse.

"Hiccup," said Fishlegs with a definite whine in his voice.

"How did it get out?" asked Astrid.

"Ask Hiccup," said Snotlout, pointing. "He and Toothless were the ones who sealed it in."

"It doesn't matter right now," said Hiccup. "We need to get it back before Dagur finds it."

Snotlout grimaced. "So we're going to track down a deadly dragon who shoots lightning? Hooray…" he said sarcastically. "Didn't we get enough of a 'shocking experience' from the Sea Shocker last week?"

"We won't have to track it," corrected Fishlegs, pointing. "It will follow the storm.

Sure enough to the south a storm was moving away from them. Lightning sparked in the dark clouds. "More like the Skrill is the storm," he said, holding a hand to his face and squinting. The bottom dropped out of his stomach. "Hiccup?" he asked looking at his cousin. "Isn't that the way…"

"Home," finished Hiccup with dread. "Guys we need to get to Berk now!"

But Snotlout was already on Hookfang pushing him for speed as they flew out over the ocean. The Skrill was a nasty piece of work and all that nastyness was headed straight for Sigyn and the rest of Berk. He'd already been too late once. Not again. They cut the normal flight of an hour in half and even Hookfang's breath was heavy and labored when Berk came into view, veiled in black clouds with a crown of lightning.

Snotlout surveyed the island looking for signs of damage, trying to keep his heart in his chest and not in his throat. Only one plume of smoke rose above Berk and it was plain to see from his vantage point that it was Hiccup's and Unkle Stoick's hut. He strained his eyes, trying to see through the driving rain in the direction of Sigyn's house. He was just able to see the break in the trees where her house was situated in a clearing. It looked untouched.

"Good news," said Astrid, pointing at five dragons circling over Berk. "It looks like the A-Team is already on the case." Lightning shot out from the Skrill hovering over the village narrowly missing one of the riders.

"Yeah, it might be a bit soon for the A-Team to take on a Skrill," said Hiccup. "We need to get in there and help."

"Should we tell them that forming a ring around Mr. Sparky is not a sound strategy?" called Ruffnut.

"I concur, sister," said Tuffnut. "Definalty not sound tactics."

As if Loki himself heard their words, a flash of lightning shot out from the Skrill's mouth as the dragon rotated, hitting each and every dragon rider and their mounts out of the sky.

"Get the riders," called Hiccup, going into a dive.

Snotluot urged Hookfang forward, aiming for his father who was plummeting toward the ground, a sparking lump in the storm. Hookfang's claws were out stretched, just a few feet from their prize when his father disappeared into the haystack below. In seconds, Snotlout was on the ground tearing the stack of wet hay apart in search of his father.

"Dad!" he yelled, praying to Odin there had been no pitch works in the pile. "Dad!" Had there been enough hay to soften his fall sufficiently? At last a boot poked out and Snotlout seized it, pulling his father into view, a tangy smoke floating off of him, his body plastered in bits of wet straw.

"Dad?" he called, shaking him. Nothing. He looked him over but could find no injuries, blood, or limbs bent the wrong way. Removing his helmet he put his head to his father's chest, relieved when the steady beat met his ears. His chest rose and fell in a natural rhythm.

"Dad, wake up!" he tried again, shaking him harder. Still nothing. He sat back and Hookfang pushed his head forward growling lowly. His father jerked upward, his fists swinging, narrowly avoiding Hookfang who pulled back. Snotlout caught his fathers fist, only inches from his head, and held it firm, recognising the warrior's haze in his fathers eyes.

"Dad! Dad, it's okay." His father swung with his other fist and Snotlout raised his arm to block the blow. "Dad, it's over!" His father's eyes found him and the wild look in them gradually faded. "You're okay. The Skrill hit you and Kingstail. You fell."

His father sank back into the hay, his hand raking through his gray streaked hair. His green eyes shifted from confusion to hard determination.

"Are you hurt? Anything broken?" he asked.

His father shook his head. It took a moment for him to realize his father was talking, or trying to. The words were all garbled, as if someone had taken all the letters, stuffed them in a sack, and then dumped them back in his father's mouth. His father sat up his expression souring. He tried to speak again with equally frustrating results.

Snotlout winced. "It's the lightning," he explained. "That's what's wrong with your voice."

His father raised a quizzical brow at him.

"You're not the only Jorgenson to be struck by lightning," he said with a smirk. "Same thing happened to me a few years ago. Look, are you sure you're okay… other than your voice?"

His father waved him off. Above them lightning forked across the sky, drawing their attention upward.

"Toothless, no!" cried Hiccup as his dragon flew towards this Skrill.

Snotlout snorted, gratified that even Hiccup had trouble with Toothless at times. Lightning built up in the Skrill's mouth only to be matched by the purple glow in Toothless's. The sky exploded in a daze of purple and white, knocking Toothless and Hiccup backwards. In a heart stopping moment he saw his cousin slip backward off Toothless and fall.

"Hookfang," he shouted, pointing at Hiccup, but a moment later his cousin's flight suit popped open around him and he glided safely onto the back of Skullcrusher behind uncle Stoick. "Never mind," he muttered. Above, the Skrill disappeared into the clouds that moved swiftly away from Berk.

"Come on Dad," he said, scooping up his helmet and getting to his feet. "We need to find the other riders. That Skrill will be back."

His father was unsteady on his feet but soon they had wound their way into town, making their way towards the plume of smoke rising from the Haddock house. Hookfang trailed behind them and Snotlout itched to get on him and check on the Helvig's, to be sure that Sigyn was okay, but getting away would be tricky with his father and the other riders about.

"Snotlout, are you two okay?" called Hiccup, as they entered the main square, waving to them. His cousin hadn't yet retracted his flight suit and it left him looking like a giant upright bat. Hiccup, Astrid, Stoick, and their dragons were all gathered in front of the remains of Hiccup's house.

His father let out a string of gibberish before grunting in anger.

"Nothing permanent," he replied, waving a hand. "Dad fell into a haystack and it cushioned the blow."

"Your dad's voice?" asked Astrid.

"Result of the lightning," he said. "Remember when I got struck a few years ago? I lost my speech too. It will wear off in a few days… probably." His father gave him the side eye. He shrugged. "Probably." His father let out a deep sigh.

"Who knows," said Stoick, coming to clap a hand on his fathers shoulder. "It could be an improvement." His father glared at his brother, his fist tightening.

Fishlegs puffed into view, Meatlug trailing behind him.

"Fishlegs, are you alright?" called Hiccup. "Have you seen any of the other riders?"

"We're fine, but all the other auxiliary riders are down."

"Is Gothi okay?" asked Astrid.

"Thank Thor, yes. But she's going to be busy treating the others. A few of the dragons have small wounds as well."

"Whoa!" called Ruffnut as the twins landed Barf and Belch nearby. "Hiccup, what lover of Loki worked over your house? Very chic!"

"And I thought we were masters of destruction," said Tuffnut, jumping down to admire the smoking ruins. "You know chief, the charred look is in right now. Ruff and I were thinking of doing the same to our hut back on the Edge."

"It was the first and only thing that twisted lizard went after," said Stoick, ignoring the twins' shenanigans. He turned to Hiccup. "Is that the same Skrill as…"

"Yes," said Hiccup, nodding. "We checked."

"Hiccup," said Fishlegs hesitantly. "You don't think it's well… out for revenge on you in particular?"

"Makes sense," agreed Astrid. "You were the one to seal it away last time

"And it would probably explain why it went to Outcast Island," said Fishlegs. "The Outcast's had it locked up on their island."

"Great," he grumbled, looking at his cousin. "So Hiccup is now a magnet for that Skrill."

"And that means the Skrill will come back here to Berk," said Astrid.

"We need to get it back into the ice before Dagur can find it," said Hiccup.

"Yes, but first we need to get you off Berk," pointed out Snotlout. "Someone else could wind up hurt… or dead."

"I hate to say it," said his uncle, "But Snotlout's right. With the auxiliary riders all down and the Skrill on the loose, Berk's people will be at risk."

Hiccup nodded. "Me and Toothless will go out and find the Skrill. The rest of you riders meet us back on the iceberg, but stay out of sight. Dig the trench deeper this time and we will seal it in again."

"You shouldn't go alone," argued Astrid. "It's dangerous."

"And that's exactly why we will go alone," said Hiccup. "The Skrill knows it's outnumbered. It won't come out if me and Toothless aren't alone."

Astrid opened her mouth to argue but was cut off by another panicked voice.

"Spitelout," called his mother, rushing into the square with Geoffrey in tow. "And Snotlout, oh thank Freya you are both safe." She came to embrace his father, looking him over. "I saw you falling out of the sky."

His father spewed another string of gibberish and his mother paused looking at him confused.

"Spitelout?"

"The lightning messed with his speech," he said, already tired of giving this explanation.

"Oh! Oh let me guess," said Tuffnut excitedly. "He said he wants hairy halibut for dinner."

His father scowled and shook his head

"He wants a new pair of yak fur socks," guessed Geoffrey.

His father crossed his arms over his chest with a disgruntled rumble.

"He says he's fine," said Snotlout with an exasperated sigh. His father nodded, jabbing a thumb in his direction.

"And you?" asked his mother, stepping closer to examine him.

"I'm alright mom," he assured.

"Im glad," she said, hugging him briefly before turning to his father again. "I saw Kingstail headed toward the arena. There was a tear in one of his wings." His father nodded in understanding.

"Snoltout," called Astrid, mounting Stormfly as the others began to fly off. "We're leaving."

"I need to go mom," he said, turning to get on Hookfang. A heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him and he looked up at his father. He watched, frozen, as his father strode to Hookfang and mounted him. His father sat looking down at him expectantly. Hookfang stamped and snorted, clearly less than pleased.

"Dad?" he asked uneasily. "What are you doing?"

His father hefted his ax, pointing it at the receding storm clouds.

"He doesn't mean what I think he means, does he?" asked his mother, leaning close to him.

"He wants revenge," he said resignedly. His father leared menacingly, brandishing the axe at the sky.

"You'd think he'd had enough for one day." She added in a whisper, "Stubborn old yak. That Jorgenson pride is going to be the death of him one day. Still…" And he was surprised by the soft smile that played around his mothers lips as she watched his father. It reminded him of the smile that Sigyn sometimes wore. She shook her head, sighing heavily.

"Mom," he asked suddenly, catching her attention. "Everything's happened so fast and I haven't had a chance to… I wanted to go but… Gustav is injured…"

She searched his face. "Is there someone you would like me to check on, love?" she asked gently. He nodded, grateful she caught on so quickly.

"I'll see to it," she said with a nod. "You just focus on getting yourself and your yak of a father home safe. Leave them to me."

"Thanks mom," he said, hesitating before quickly hugging her.

"May Freya's blessings go with you," she called, grabbing Geoffrey's hand.

Snotlout turned back toward Hookfang. Quickly he climbed up behind his father but was unsure where to put his hands. With Sigyn he could scoot up behind her and reach Hookfang's lower horns, but his father was neither as petite nor as inviting. His father jerked up on Hookfang's horns, letting out a garbled command. Snotlout winced. Hookfang rumbled his discontentment.

"Come on Fangster," he urged. "We need to catch the others." Still rumbling, Hookfang took to the sky after the others and Snotlout was forced to grip the back of his father's belt. It was going to be an uncomfortable flight.

*************************

"How much longer do we have to sit on this ice cube," whined Tuffnut, rubbing his bare arms. "Its going to get dark soon."

"Yeah, my buns are about to drop off," complained Ruff. "We have been here on this iceberg for hours."

"Until Hiccup comes back with the Skrill," shot Astrid moodily. With nothing else to do she had begun to polish her axe… for the fifth time.

"How are we expecting to get the Skrill back in the ice," asked Snotlout, from where he leaned against Hookfang's side, soaking in his heat. "It's clearly too smart to fall for that trap again." He looked over at the cavern that had been meant to entrap the Skrill but had, hours ago, very nearly become Hiccup and Toothless's tomb.

Astrid paused, not looking up. "I don't know," she admitted. "But Hiccup will come up with something.

His father babbled something unintelligible, half-heartedly swinging his axe.

"What is that?" asked Fishlegs.

"Probably expressing his less than enthusiastic faith in Hiccup's brilliant ideas," he said, waving a hand.

"No, not your dad," said Fishlegs. "What's that?" He pointed out over the sea.

"Hiccup," said Astrid, her voice full of relief. She got to her feet, standing in a ready position with her axe held tightly.

They watched as a familiar silhouette flew towards them out of the evening sky. Only one silhouette… against a very calm sunset. Toothless landed and Hiccup dismounted, his back to them.

"Where's the Skrill?" asked Astrid, letting her axe fall to her side.

"And what's with the new tailfin T?" asked Tuffnut, pointing at Toothless's tail where the usual red fin had been replaced with the remnants of what looked like a dragon hunters flag.

"I… I lost the Skrill," said Hiccup quietly.

Snotlout shouldered off Hookfang. "How did you lose it? It was right up your…"

"Dagur has the Skrill," corrected Hiccup, his voice louder and impatient as he turned to face them.

"What?" they all said in unison.

"How did Dagur get it?" asked Fishlegs.

"He was too smart to fall for a trap and Toothless and I couldn't shake him. He shot Toothless's tail and we had to crash land on an abandoned hunter ship to repair it."

"And?" pressed Fishlegs.

"We needed an edge and the hunter ship gave me an idea, so we flew off in search of a manned hunter ship."

"You wanted the hunters to paralyze him with the dragon root arrows," guest Astrid.

Hiccup nodded and swallowed thickly. "I didn't know Dagur was on that ship and when they shot the Skrill they used some sort of catapult net to get the Skrill before me."

"That was the one thing you weren't supposed to do," shot Snotlout, irritated. "Now that maniac's going to go from island to island with that zap happy dragon and blast anyone who so much as blinks at him."

"I know," moaned his cousin. "I know, I messed up. I messed up big time. I just… I don't know… I didn't know what else to do. It all went so wrong. I'm sorry guys."

They were all quiet for a moment.

"All right, fine," said Astrid, stepping forward to put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "You're right, you messed up. You messed up big. but…"

"Ah, Astrid, aren't you supposed to make him feel better," asked Ruffnut. "Not worse."

"But," continued Astrid, shooting Ruff a look. "I can't say any of us would have done any better." Hiccup looked up at her. "Now the question is, how do we fix it, as a team?"

"Yeah, we can't just let Dagur have that magnificent dragon," said Fishlegs. "We're all here to help."

"Count us in," chimed in Ruffnut.

"Yeah, lightning, dragons, life-threatening peril," said Tuff. "You couldn't keep the Thorston twins away if you wanted."

Hiccup's gaze drifted to him and he surveyed his cousin in return.

"Fine," he said, throwing his hands in the air. "I'll help, but only because Dagur can't be allowed to have the Skrill. But we have to come up with a solid plan this time. You almost wound up a Hiccup-sicle. That Skrill's no joke so no winging it this time," he said, jabbing a finger in his cousin's direction. Behind him, his father let out an enthusiastic warble, raising his axe. "Dad says he's in," he interpreted. "So how do we even find Sparky?"

"The dragon hunters will head in the opposite direction of the storm so the Skrill can't harness the lightning," said Fishlegs.

"There's a group of islands in that area," said Hiccup. "It's in the other direction from the storm and the beaches have lots of hidey holes and caves to shelter in."

"Good, then we should check there first,' said Astrid, mounting Stormfly.

"If we hurry we can get there and sneak in under the cover of darkness," agreed Hiccup, going to Toothless.

"Don't forget that plan," shot Snotlout as he went to mount Hookfang.

His father had beaten him there. He paused, looking up at his father sitting in his spot trying to fly his dragon. Hookfang rumbled unhappily and his father waited for him expectantly. The other riders took off, leaving him and his father alone with Hookfang. He wasn't sure how the words escaped his mouth at that moment, maybe it was because they had been clambering to get out since he'd first seen his father mount Hookfang, maybe it was his frustration with the current situation, or maybe it was just plain irksome common sense.

"I'm going to fly Hookfang," he said, crossing his arms. His father arched a brow at him, but for once he didn't feel the need to backtrack. "He's not Kingstail," he continued stubbornly. "And you can't fly him like he is. You keep pulling and jerking on his horns and it throws Hookfang off. I'm not going to let you crash him again."

He waited, watching his father's expression but he didn't take it back. It was true after all, his father had crashed Hookfang at a critical moment against the Skrill. They were lucky to have avoided being barbecued, lucky that Hookfang had landed in soft snow, and lucky none of them had been injured. But luck wasn't good enough. A stacked deck was always better.

"We're going into a fight," he continued. "Against a Skrill and dragon hunters on dragon back. I know you have way more battle experience than me, but I know Hookfang better. I've trained with him for situations exactly like this. One shot from their dragon root arrows and Hookfang is down. I'm not going to take the risk of losing him just so you can fly him. I know that you're super practical and tactical and it might not matter to you which dragon you fly, but to me it matters. I'm not willing to replace Hookfang, he's my dragon."

He waited, the air tense as he watched his father for any expression or emotion. His father frowned slightly but he refused to look away. At last, to his relief and surprise his father grunted something unintelligible and slid further down Hookfang's neck.

The muscles in his back relaxed. He'd done it.

He strode forward to mount but his father surprised him further by reaching down, a hand extended towards him. It wasn't necessary, he rode Hookfang everyday, and his father knew it but he had reached down anyway. He hesitated and then took the offered hand. In an instant his father had heaved him up onto the saddle effortlessly. He relaxed, back in his place behind Hookfang's head. Remembering how unsettling it had been to have no hand hold, he scooted as far forward as he could so his father could still grip the end of hookfang's horns for support. In moments they were off following the others.

It didn't take them long to search Hiccup's islands and find the dragon hunters. They were less than subtle, probably too busy celebrating their new acquisition. The group landed on the beach and snuck under the cover of the trees, the moon giving what light it could.

"How many did you see Fishlegs," asked Hiccup, as they gathered in the dark.

"Maybe seven hunters gathered around a campfire up the beach. They were guarding some dragon cages."

"What about Dagur and Ryker," asked Astrid.

"I didn't see them," said Fishlegs.

"Sounds like a trap," said Snotlout, pressing in. "If the Skrill is here, so is Dagur. He wouldn't let it out of his sight."

"Snoltout's right," said Hiccup, beginning to draw a diagram in the sand. "We shouldn't underestimate them just because we don't see them. We also can't forget that they have dragon root arrows. We need to be careful."

"What do you propose?" asked Astrid.

They began to discuss plans and options.

"Okay can everyone agree on that?" asked Hiccup, glancing up at Snotlout, several minutes later. "Any concerns?"

"Ah, yeah," said Tuffnut raising his hand. "Where's Spitelout?"

Snotlout looked around. Tuff was right. His dad was missing.

"No one saw where he went?" asked Astrid. They all shook their heads.

"Okay we need…" started Hiccup, but they all froze as the howls of pain and the clamor of weapons reached their ears. "And that would be where Spitelout went."

The other riders turned to look at Snotlout. "What," he said defensively as he went to mount Hookfang. "He's my dad. He's the melee king. Of course he went off on his own."

"Okay, okay," said Hiccup. "I guess that throws our plan out. I think… Snotlout, where are you going?"

"Probably to bail my dad out of a tough spot," he admitted. "He hasn't dealt with dragon hunters, Dagur, or Ryker before."

"Good point. Okay, twins you go with Snotlout. We might as well use this as a distraction. Cause as much mayhem as you can."

"It will be our pleasure," said Ruffnut, bowing.

"Yeah I love maniacs and mayhem!" said Tuff.

Hiccup winced. "The rest of us will try to get to the Skrill. Be careful."

Hookfang leapt into the night sky, the twins racing ahead. Snotlout pulled Hookfang higher, avoiding the stream of Zippleback gas below. If this was a trap, and it probably was, they had all just flown right into it.

*******************************

"I told you it was a trap," shot Snotlout to Hiccup as they were pushed roughly towards the other riders on the beach. They were surrounded by dragon hunters.

"Hey it wasn't our dad who barreled into a dragon hunters camp," said Astrid. "You're the one who was so gung-ho for a plan."

Behind them, his father let out an angry string of garbled speech, waving at them.

"You have something to say, Spitelout?" she shot angrily at his father. "Well, go ahead, say it! This was a dragon rider mission, not a Berk berserker mission, that means you still answer to me or Hiccup. When we get back I'm going to put you through your paces in the arena!"

His father grumbled angrily but didn't try to speak again.

Snotlout and Hiccup both glanced at Astrid and exchanged a look. She was definitely in a mood.

"What about the dragons?" asked Hiccup in a whisper.

"Hookfang and the twin's dragon are back in the clearing over there paralyzed," he said, jerking his head toward the trees.

"Stormfly is down to," said Astrid, coming closer.

"That leaves only Meatlug and Toothless," said Hiccup, frowning.

Meetlug was already in one of the hunter's cages and Toothless was being held down by six hunters, muzzled.

"Hiccup, Hiccup," came an irksomely familiar voice. "How could you try and take my Skrill from me?" Dagur strolled into view from the shadows, Ryker behind him. "I told you he'd come back for my Skrill," he said over his shoulder. Dagur leaned toward his cousin, their faces inches apart. "Brother, I can't believe you could be so heartless. We only just got reacquainted."

"He did bring us quite a bounty with all these dragons," said Ryker with a smirk as he went to examine Stormfly and Meatlug.

"But nothing as magnificent as my Skrill," said Dagur, turning to coo at the growling Skrill. It was locked in a cage that had been pushed part way into the sea. Dagur had learned from his past mistake.

Snotlout watched the berserker, his chest constricting, his fists tightening. Dagur was responsible for what had happened to Sigyn. The memory of her frightened blood smeared face peering up at him from the ruins of her barn flashed in his mind. Dagur had done that and he wanted nothing more than to throttle the redheaded berserker.

"Snotlout," whispered Hiccup, nudging him, bringing him out of his violent imaginings. He looked at his cousin. "Do you think you and your dad can get Toothless free?"

"What are you thinking? asked Astrid quietly.

Hiccup looked at the Skrill. "That the enemy of my enemy…"

"Might kill us all," she finished dubiously.

"Yes, but he might also help us."

"What's with you and suicidal plans," he hissed. "Have you forgotten that dragon wants to fry you and Toothless?"

"We can't let dagger keep the Skrill," argued Hiccup. "He'd head straight for Berk."

"I know that but…"

"Do you have a better idea?" pressed Hiccup. "Besides, you're the one who said your dad is the melee king."

Snotlout glanced over his shoulder at his father who nodded at him. "No," he admitted grudgingly. "Fine." He slipped back to stand by his father who jerked his head at the two hunters closest to them. Snotlout nodded.

"Hiccup, I can't believe you fell for my trap, brother," said Dagur, turning back to face them. "I'm a little disappointed. I thought you were smarter than that."

"Oh, I had a little help," said Hiccup, flicking his wrist behind his back.

His father moved faster than he would have thought possible. He simply thanked Thor the hunters had been too busy with their dragons to think of binding their hands yet. Clearly they had never heard of Spitelout Jorgenson. Before the men pinning Toothless could react two of them were on the ground, unconscious. Snotlout rammed his shoulder into the belly a third as he rose in surprise, before driving an elbow into his throat. It was all Toothless needed to shake free of the others.

"Toothless, the cage!" called Hiccup, pointing to this Skrill as he bounded across the sand. The beach broke out in pandemonium.

Snotlout ducked the blow of one of the hunters, opting for a low blow in return, driving the hunter to his knees in pain. A strike to the side of his head finished him. A roar of anger behind him prompted him to spin. He caught the fist of a hunter attempting to drive an axe into his skull. He struggled against the larger man, his arms trembling as he fought to push him back. There was a sickening thwack and the man before him crumpled, revealing his father.

"Dad," he gasped, stooping to retrieve the fallen hunter's axe. His father gave a devilish grin and gestured to a group of four hunters advancing toward Astrid and Fishlegs, a club in his hand. But at that moment there was a crashing clank as Toothless toppled the Skrill's cage back onto the sand where it could channel its lightning… and channel it, it did. The sky split open, the force of the energy blowing the door off the Skrill's cage. It crawled out, growling, its mouth humming with sparking white energy.

The dragon hunters began to flee, no match for the Skrill's power. But when the dragon tried to take flight it's tail caught in the bars of the cage. Seeing this, Dagur quickly seized a bow and dragon root arrow. Ever the hero, his cousin ran towards the Skrill, trying to shield it from Dagur. Thorking heroism.

"Hiccup, get out of there," he yelled, charging Dagur, the axe raised. The bow released. He was too late. But the arrow that had been intended for Hiccup and the Skrill was intercepted by Toothless who collapsed to the ground paralyzed.

"Toothless," cried Hiccup, throwing himself over his dragon, heedless of the sparking dragon behind him.

Snotlout barreled into Dagur, knocking him to the ground. Rolling onto his back Dagur swung out with the bow, catching him across the face. He staggered back, momentarily dazed as he swung the axe blindly in the direction of the berserker's manic laughter. His feet were swept out from under him and he fell on his back. He blinked blearily and a sudden crushing pressure closed around his throat. Dagur's face was inches away, grinning widely down at him, his eyes wild and crazy.

He brought a knee up and swung his fist at the same time, connecting with Dagur's jaw but missing the lower mark. Dagur was knocked to the side, and the pressure on his throat vanished. A streak of white light arched over him. He turned on his side, coughing, and spotted Dagur running across the beach, cackling madly as he dodged lightning. The skrill was in the air raining sparking vengeance down on the dragon hunters below. Snotlout staggered to his feet, looking for the others. The hunters were in full retreat and it wasn't long till they and the dragons were alone on the beach.

"Snotlout, are you ok?" asked Hiccup, appearing beside him. He nodded, rubbing at his throat. His face throbbed, but it didn't feel like anything was broken. Hiccup came to look him in the face and drew in a hissing breath.

"That's going to bruise," said his cousin.

"We should get out of here," said Astrid rushing over, his father and the others close behind.

"We can't till our dragons recover," said Snotlout, his voice raspy.

"Well we should at least take cover," said Ruffnut, pointing to the Skrill which was careening back down the beach toward them. But before any of them could react his father had a dragon hunter's bow in his hand. The bow released and the Skrill fell out of the sky screaming. His father let out a cheerful whoop, pumping his fist in the air.

"Well that solves that problem," said Astrid dryly.

"And that solves the other," said Fishlegs, pointing out to sea where a dragon hunter ship was sailing toward the horizon, the moon glinting off its sails.

"Well, we are going to be here overnight," said Hiccup. "Ruff, Tuff, and Astrid, see if the hunters left anything useful behind. Fishlegs take Meatlug and bring the other dragons here to the beach. Spitelout, secure the Skrill."

He watched the hunter ship sail away as the others moved off to their given tasks. His arms were tight across his chest and his jaw creaked.

"Do you want a nut to crack rather than your teeth," asked Hiccup beside him.

He glanced at his cousin and let out a strangled breath. "I can't believe he got away again."

"We'll get him," assured Hiccup, placing a hand on his shoulder. "For now, it's probably for the best. We still have to find this Viggo guy."

"I don't like it," he said, letting his hands fall to his side. "That's twice since we left that Berk has been in danger."

"Worried about a certain tailor?" asked Hiccup quietly.

"Maybe," he admitted, glancing around to see they were in fact alone.

"Well the good news is we'll head back to Berk for a day or two until the A-Team is back on their feet."

"Wait," said Hiccup, as Meatlug and Fishlegs lowered the net containing the Skrill into the ice crevasse.

"Wait? Wait what?" said Snotlout, glancing over to his cousin only to see the expression that always meant Hiccup was going to say something he wouldn't like.

"We can't do this."

"Sure we can," he said. "Lower Sir Zaps-a-Lot into the ice crack and seal him in. Boom! No more Skrill."

"I mean we shouldn't do this," clarified Hiccup.

"Hey, H," called Tuffnut. "Are you sure Skrilly didn't zap you too? You're sounding discombobulated."

"No listen," said Hiccup, raising a placating hand. "If we do this we are no different than Dagur or the hunters. We're just using a different type of cage."

"No," he argued, coming to stand in front of his cousin. "If we put him back in the ice he can't come after us or anyone else. If Dagur had him, he'd be sure to come after us and everyone else he wanted. Big difference."

"Hiccup," said Asrid, coming to stand beside him. "The Skrill wants both you and Toothless dead."

"It did," agreed Hiccup. "But when it had the chance to attack us it chose to help us instead."

"You mean it chose to go after Dagur first," he pointed out. "Pretty sure it was coming back to finish the job when my dad shot it."

Hiccup shook his head. "I don't think so. Besides, the Skrill only wants revenge on us because we trapped him in the ice in the first place. It got out once. Who's to say it won't again. And next time it might not be content just coming after me and Toothless. What if instead it targets all of Berk like it did with Outcast Island?"

"So we make sure it doesn't get out," he said, feeling desperate.

Hiccup shook his head. "No, this… this is wrong."

Snotlout sighed, shaking his head. There they were, those three words and he knew his cousin wouldn't change his mind. He trudged through the snow toward Hookfang and retrieved his axe.

"Fine, whatever," he grumbled, pointing his axe at Hiccup. "But when he tries to attack you, we paralyze him and stuff him in ice. Okay?"

But Hiccup was already advancing towards the Skrill, knife in hand. Astrid stood her axe also at the ready and to the side his father had a dragon root arrow nocked and ready. Toothless growled as Hiccup began to cut through the net, his green eyes never leaving the Skrill. The Skrill growled but made no move to struggle or attack.

He gripped his axe tighter, ready for anything. In moments the net was in pieces on the ground. The Skrill stood, watching them, rumbling lowly, tense but no electricity buzzing near its mouth.

"Easy," said Hiccup, holding out a hand towards the Skrill.

"You already lost a leg, Hiccup," said Ruffnut. "I would try and keep both hands."

The Skrill growled, snapping at Hiccup who hastily pulled his hand out of reach. Toothless growled, a purple glow building in his throat. The two dragons squared off, glaring at each other. Toothless let out a roar that left his ears ringing for a moment and to Snotlout's astonishment the Skrill backed down, its head lowering in deference. After a moment Toothless snorted and dipped his head, though not as low.

"What… what's going on?" asked Tuffnut, from atop Belch. "Why are we looking at foreheads?"

"It seems to be a sign of respect or submission," said Fishlegs, dismounting Meatlug. "Fascinating."

The Skrill backed away from the group towards the sea.

"And that means what for us?" asked Snotlout, still not relaxing.

"Well, I don't think we'll have to worry anymore about the Skrill," said Fishlegs. "He seems to have come to terms with Toothless."

With a final roar the Skrill turned and leapt into the air. His father raised a fist, shaking it at the Skrill yelling garbled words. A small arc of lightning left the Skrill and struck his father who fell backwards into the snow.

"Dad," he said, running over to him, dropping the axe. His father sat up, snow clumps falling off him. "Dad, are you okay?"

"I'm all right Boy-o," said his father before pausing and grinning. "More than all right, no thanks to that overgrown zap lizard."

A few minutes later they were on their way back to Berk. They flew over Outcast Island only to see the outcasts had already reappeared and were beginning repairs.

"You know boy-o," said his father behind him. "If yer truly stuck on this dragon, the least you could do is put more handhold on yer darn saddle."

"Not a bad idea," he said, his thoughts drifting back to a freckled blonde on Berk.

***********************

Snotlout and Hiccup stood on his front porch peering inside. It was plain to see his mother had been worrying. He'd opened the front door to an immaculate house. His mother must have been stress cleaning, and stress cooking by the smell of it.

"Mom," he called as he and Hiccup came inside and closed the door.

"Snotlout?" His mother appeared from the back room. "Oh, thank thor your… what happened to your face?"

"It's fine mom, just a bruise," he said.

"Where's your father," she asked, glancing behind them at the door.

"He went to talk to Stoick about the Outcast's," he said, pulling out the bench of the family table. But before he sat his mother had caught him up in one of her bear hugs.

"Talk?" She asked pulling away to examine his face, frowning.

"His voice is back," he said, sinking down on the bench, letting his helmet clatter on the table.

"Hello, Hiccup," said his mother, drawing his cousin into her embrace. Despite spending much of his childhood under his mother's care, Hiccup had never really grown accustomed to his mothers affection. His mother, for her part, had always gone out of her way to give Hiccup that affection. But no matter how often his mother did this, Hiccup always seemed awkward in his moths embrace.

"He… hello aunt Freda," said Hiccup when she had released him.

"You boys hungry?" she asked, bedding over the cauldron in the hearth.

"Starving," he said, sitting up.

"Brother," called Geoffrey, running up and leaping on the end of the bench as though it were a squirming piglet. "You're back! Did you and dad beat up that sparky dragon?"

"Sort of," he said, watching Geoffrey scoop up his helmet and place it on his head.

"Sort of?" asked his mother, sliding two plates of thick meat gravy over smashed potatoes in front of them. Snotlout pulled the closer one to him and began to eat.

"The important thing is the Skrill won't bother Berk anymore," said Hiccup, picking up his fork and fiddling with it.

"I want some," whined Geoffry.

His mother sighed but fixed another smaller plate.

"Well that's good then," she said, sinking into the chair at the end of the table. She pushed a bowl of her sweet nut rolls toward them. "I'm just glad everyone is safe."

"Yep," said Geoffrey around a mouth full of potato, as he pushed Snotlout's helmet further up his head. "Even Sigyn is safe."

"Geoffrey," shot his mother, glancing at Hiccup worriedly.

"It's okay mom," he said, smearing butter on his roll and trying not to show the relief he felt at the news. "Hiccup knows."

"Oh," she said, relaxing. "When did that happen?"

"After Dagur's attack," he said.

"I suppose that explains Torben's new chair. One of yours Hiccup?"

Hiccup nodded, chewing.

"Well, Sigyn and Torben are quite well," she continued. "They weren't even aware the storm was anything but. Imagine."

"Sigyn's pretty," piped up Geoffrey. "She gave me lots of yak milk and this." He held out a blue drawstring pouch for Snotlout's inspection. "Now I can keep my bugs in it."

Snotlout leaned away from his brother's little bag. "Where's Adele?"

"Oh, she's been hanging around with one of the Ingermen girls lately. She'll probably spend the night there," said his mother with a wave of her hand. "Which reminds me. Hiccup dear, with your house in shambles we'll make up a bedroll and you can stay downstairs with Snotlout tonight if you like. Your father's been staying with Gobber and I dare say you'll be more comfortable here."

Hiccup glanced over at him unsure. He shrugged his indifference.

"I think that would be preferable, thank you," said Hiccup.

*******************************

"I'm coming," called Sigyn, snatching a bucket of clean water and rag off the table and heading to the barn where Bruiser was pushing against the barn door.

"Isnt it a bit early to be milking?" asked Shepherd, following her out into the yard. He'd shown up about ten minutes ago looking harried.

"Tell that to the yak." She pushed Bruiser aside so she could get to the handle. "I told you, she needs milking three times a day or she starts to bawl and her utters bulge. She way over produces." The door finally open, the yak made it beeline for the milking stall and she followed, grabbing the stool.

"I didn't know that was a thing," said Shepherd, leaning back against one of the barn pillars.

"Neither did I." She tucked the stool under her and wetting the rag cleaned the teets. "I've been milking so much that I'm beginning to dream about it. That and churning butter." She dumped the bucket and set the rag aside before beginning the chore she was growing to dread. It was quiet for a long moment. "So… was there a particular reason you stopped by?" she asked, glancing over at Shepherd. "Your mom brought stuff yesterday."

He shook his head, his eyes steady on her. "Do I need a reason to come visit?"

"No, I just expected you to be busy rebuilding Chief Stoick's hut."

"Did my mother tell you that I was working on it?" he asked with a smirk.

She shook her head, trying to get a stray hair out of her face. "No, Mrs. Jorgenson mentioned that it was a casualty of the Skrill. I just assumed you and Mr. Hofferson would be the ones to rebuild it."

"What was Mrs. Jorgensen doing here?" asked Shepherd with a raised eyebrow.

"My guess is Snotlout asked her to check on us because he and the other riders had to leave to take care of this Skrill so quickly. She even brought Geoffrey over with her."

"I see," he said with a small frown.

"I wonder when they'll get back," she said, leaning back against the stall, giving her hands a break. "I heard the auxiliary team took quite a hit. I hope Gustav is doing okay."

"Fishlegs got back just as I was leaving," said Shepherd, looking toward the barn door.

"Oh that's good," she said, her stomach doing a funny little flip-flop. "That must mean Snotlout is back too. His mom seemed pretty worried when she was here."

They fell into a tense silence as she resumed milking, both absorbed in their own thoughts.

"Sigyn," began Shepherd, before pausing. She glanced over at him and was surprised by the determination in his eyes. "I would like to…"

He was interrupted by the heavy beat of wings, the murmur of familiar voices, and the crunch of boots outside.

"She's in the barn," called her father's voice from the porch. The boots approached.

"I'm just saying, I knew that Skrill wouldn't attack," said Hiccup's voice.

"Whatever," said Snotlout, pulling the barn door open. "I think you're just eager to send us all to Valhalla. Someday your luck's going to run out, Hiccup Haddock. Sigyn, you in here?"

"Back here," she called, trying to calm the warm frothy feeling in her chest.

"Hey tell Hiccup he's crazy," he said, pulling the door closed before turning to find her. She sucked in a quiet breath. There was a dark bruise spreading across the left side of his face from chin to cheek. "He's convinced…" continued Snotlout, but he fell silent when his eyes slid over Shepherd leaning casually against a pillar. His jaw tightened and he folded his arms over his chest. Beside him, Hiccup grew still and glanced between the two of them.

"Ha… hey," said Hiccup. "How are you Sigyn?" He stepped forward, deliberately nudging Snotlout with an arm as he passed.

"Hey Hiccup," she said, still watching Snotlout scowl at Shepherd. Shepherd for his part was busy examining his nails. "I see you two made it back in… one piece," she offered.

"No thanks to Hiccup," said Snotlout, catching her eye. She smiled and he relaxed… a little. He strode over, deliberately not looking at Shepherd and came to lean against the stall wall behind her, draping his arms over the edge and looking down at her.

She tipped her head to look at him. "So why is Hiccup crazy?" she asked, resuming the milking.

"Why isn't he crazy," he said with a grin.

"Perhaps because calling the future chief crazy is unwise," said Shepherd with a pointed look at Snotlout.

"H… ha. Yeah…" said Hiccup, fidgeting uncomfortably with one of the straps on his belt. "Sure, future chief."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive, Ingerman," shot Snotlout, glaring at Shepard. "In this case the singular boot fits."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, glancing at Hiccup. But Hiccup seemed not to care or notice Snotlout's jab about the leg.

"It could be damaging to your future," said Shepherd. "But I suppose that's your own affair."

Snotlout looked at Hiccup who glanced up at him and shrugged. Snotlout snorted. "Yeah, pretty sure that longship set sail a long time ago. Besides, shouldn't you be fixing the current chief's house?"

"It's being planned," said Shepherd, cooling.

"He's not just having it rebuilt the same way?" asked Hiccup.

"He wanted it big enough to more easily accommodate a dragon."

"Oh," said Hiccup. "Hopefully it won't take too long. The longer my father has to bunk with Gobber the more irritable he'll get." He turned to Snotlout. "Remember how cranky he was when he showed up that time he got Skullcrusher? And he had his own bed and cooking at that point."

"I wouldn't want to be on Berk in a week," said Snotlout, snickering. "Luckily we can hightail it back to The Edge by then."

"Wouldn't you be better served finding real work to do on Berk, instead of playing dragon club?" said Shepherd, shouldering off the pillar.

"Future chief's orders," said Snotlout with a false grin, putting both hands behind his head. "Hiccup's the leader of the Dragon Riders. Besides, someone has to track down Dagur and the other dragon hunters, and take care of things like the Skrill."

Shepherd snorted but didn't respond. He came to stand in front of the stall, looking down at her as she milked. "Sigyn," he said. She didn't look up. "Is there anything you need from town?"

She shook her head. "Nothing I didn't tell your mom yesterday."

"Very well. I'll come back another day when you're less… busy," he said, and with this he left. It was silent in the barn for a long awkward moment.

"I… I'm going to go see your father," said Hiccup, rubbing the back of his neck. "I have some upgrades for his chair."

In a moment later it was just her and Snotlout in the barn.

"What did Shepherd want anyway?" he asked, scowling.

"I don't know," she said, trying not to let him see her smile. "He was about to tell me something when you showed up."

"Well, good riddance," he said.

She hissed as her hand cramped and she shook it out. He came around the stall wall and kicked at the stool, jerking his head behind him. Gratefully, she stood and let him take over, massaging her hand. It was quiet for a moment save for the squirt of milk in the bucket and she watched as he leaned his head against Bruiser's side, relaxing into the big animal.

"So, you going to tell me what happened to your face?" she asked.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to ask."

"Well?"

"You do know I get injured all the time, right," he said, glancing up at her.

"I suppose so," she said, rubbing her arm.

He sighed. "It was Dagur."

"You fought with him?"

He nodded. "He got away… again."

It was quiet for another long moment as she searched for something to say.

"How are your teeth? Still loose?"

"Nope," he flashed her an exaggerated toothy grin. "Jorgenson teeth. Although now you owe me jerky."

"Well, you could have jerky or…"

"Or?" he asked, interest peaked

"Well, I do happen to have an excess of yak butter."

"Parfait?"

"If you churn the butter."

A few minutes later Bruiser was dry and they turned her out to graze. Hookfang uncurled himself from under the tree and came to inspect the new yak, his tongue flicking.

"Be nice," said Sigyn, rubbing under his chin, making him thrum.

"Want to go riding again later?" asked Snotlout, watching her.

She pointed at the bucket of milk in his hand.

"I'm going to be here a few days. Besides, it could be a short ride."

She laughed. "Okay, yeah I do want to go. But after I take care of this."

Inside, her father was seated at the table. Hiccup was on the floor, her father's chair in several pieces in front of him and tools strewn on the floor.

"Snotlout, you weren't fried," said her father, pulling a long string of thread as he stitched.

"Not fried," confirmed Snotlout, placing the milk on the counter. "Though not for lack of trying. My dad got zapped twice. Oh, mom sent this." He went to the porch and brought in the milk bucket she had sent with Mrs. Jorgensen two days prior.

She had liked his mother, a large plump woman with kind patient eyes. With her came a boy who could only be Snotlout's younger brother, similar in looks save for the eyes. Snotlout had not been joking. While the adults had talked on the porch she had taken Geoffrey inside. The moment he had spotted the fresh milk he had promptly asked for some. He'd drunk four large mugs full, and likely would have tried for a fifth if his mother hadn't hauled him home. She had enjoyed watching and listening to Geoffrey, imagining Snotlout must have looked similar at the same age. Adorable!

"She sent some bread and wax," said Snotlout, pulling her out of her musings as he took the items from the bucket.

"Good, I was running low." She began to scoop the thick cream off the top of the milk and into the butter churn.

Snotlout walked to the trap door under the stairs and lifted it.

"Good Thor, Sigyn! I know you said you were getting lots of milk but this is ridiculous. I bet that's more cheese and butter than is in the great hall."

"You're telling me. My hands and arms will be stronger than yours by Snoggletog. Look I'm getting new calluses from the churn."

Letting the trap door fall closed he came to examine her hands, running a finger over the rough patches in her palms. Frowning, he flipped her hand to see red dry skin. He reached for the container of butter on the table and scooped some out on his fingers. Taking her hand again he began to massage the butter into her skin. She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. His small frown quirked up slightly when he met her eyes and her stomach flipped, but he didn't stop till the butter was gone.

"Mom does that in the winter when her hands get red," he said, shrugging as he let go.

"So what do you think," she said, grinning as she made a fist. "Think I could hit harder than Hiccup now?"

He groaned. "Not you too. I am never going to live that down."

"Probably not," agreed Hiccup, a screw between his teeth as he tapped something into place. "Not with the twins around anyway."

"It's their fault," said Snotlout, moving the wolf pelt off a chair so he could sit.

"You should have known," said Hiccup, frowning as he struggled to fit two pieces together. "When have I ever gotten into a fist fight with anyone?"

"Easy, when we were kids. Remember?"

"What I remember is you picking fights with me constantly and having to hang around your mother to avoid you," said Hiccup.

"Hey, I still have a scar on my side where you bit me!" shot Snotlout, raising his tunic to reveal an old pink scar in the shape of small teeth.

"I was four," said Hiccup. "And if I recall, you had a fistful of my hair and wouldn't let go."

Her father chuckled.

"Besides, the point still stands. You should have known something was fishy when the twins came to you and said I would fight you."

"I figured you were getting desperate after the twins almost killed you with those logs and Barf and Belch buried you in fish and roasted your hut," said Snotlout, folding his arms over his chest. "And it was supposed to be a fake fight."

"You punched me in the face first thing in the morning," said Hiccup, exasperated. "It didn't feel fake."

"I could hit you again with my full force and you could compare the two," suggested Snotlout, leaning forward and making a fist.

"How about you put your mighty strength to work on this butter instead," she said, setting the churn down in front of him with a thump. He scowled but began to pump the churn. "Tell me what happened with the Skrill," she prompted.

The boys bickered back and forth as they began to retell the past two days, but Sigyn was supremely content. It was enjoyable to have people to talk and joke with as she worked. The story of the Skrill and the resulting side comments carried them until, with a pleased sigh, Hiccup stood her father's chair up right again.

"Done," he said, clambering to his feet and wiping his hands on his thighs.

"So, what's the difference?" she asked, tying the pillows back in the chairs seat.

"Well, these springs here should help make it a smoother ride over rough ground and the bigger tires in the front shouldn't get stuck as much."

"Test it first," shot Snotlout, getting to his feet. "You never know with Hiccup's inventions. Your dad might wind up bouncing out of the seat all together."

The three of them pushed the chair outside into the front yard. Hookfang was in the far field, snoozing in the shadows near Bruiser.

"So who's going to test it?" asked Snotlout, scratching the back of his neck.

Sigyn sat in the chair and began to push herself back and forth across the yard before turning towards the hill leading to the garden.

"Well, it's smoother," she said, straining to push the chair up the incline. "But I take it back. My dad definitely has the strongest arms around if this is what he does all day everyday."

Her arms and hands quickly tired and the chair began to slip backwards down the slope. Snotlout caught the back of the chair and she suddenly lurched forward as he began to run, pushing her around the yard before charging up the hill, gathering speed as they went. They reached the top and stopped… but only for a moment, for as she reached to take hold of the wheels, one of her hands slipped. The other hand forced that side's wheel forward, turning the chair. Snotlout, who was bent over catching his breath, had let go of the chair. Gravity ensued and the chair started back down the hill at an ever increasing speed… right towards the tree Hiccup was currently leaning against.

"Snotlout," she screeched, jerking her hands back from the wheels as they spun faster. He let out a string of curses and charged down after her.

"Hiccup watch out," she yelled, as the chair barreled towards him and the tree. He looked up and in his hand he held his prosthetic leg, apparently adjusting it.

His face grew pale for a moment before hardening. Dropping the prosthetic, he knelt on what remained of his leg and put his hands out to catch and brace for impact. Behind her, Snotlout was breathing hard, his boots pounded after her and the errant chair.

"Move Hiccup," she yelled, slouching in the chair and raising her feet, hoping to absorb most of the shock with her legs and save herself and the chair. Hiccup didn't move. The chair raced toward him and she screamed, closing her eyes. But instead of the crash she had been expecting, her world tipped backwards. She braced, hoping her head didn't hit hard. It didn't. In fact, the chair slid to a cushioned stop. Everything stilled. Behind her, Snotlout groaned painfully. She cracked her eyes open and saw the branches of the tree above. She glanced towards the tree trunk and Hiccup popped up between her feet, his hands braced against the underside of the chair, relieved.

"Off…" groaned Snotlout, his voice high, his breath coming out in a hiss.

She turned her head. He had yanked the chair backwards sliding his legs under it to cushion her fall.

"Are you okay?" she asked. He shook his head, his eyes closed, wincing as he fell back on the ground, his hands covering his groin. Instantly, she knew what must have happened. She froze, trying not to move.

"Um, Hiccup, is your leg back on?" she asked, watching Snotlout's pained expression.

"Hang on," he called, before getting to his feet. Seeing his cousin, Hiccup winced. "Hold still, Sigyn."

Hiccup came and stood over Snotlout. Bending, he lifted the back of the chair and pushed it forward. Snotlout curled up on his side with a moan. Hiccup set the chair down and she scrambled to her feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked, crouching beside him. He grunted.

"Give him a minute," said Hiccup, righting the chair.

She scooped his helmet out of the dirt and gently stroked his hair.

"Sorry," she said quietly. He shook his head but didn't speak for several long moments.

"Told you," he said at last, though he remained curled.

"Told me what?" she asked, confused.

"Always test Hiccup's contraptions," he said, his voice cracking slightly.

She couldn't help it. She laughed. Hiccup laughed.

"That's what you have to say," she said. Snotlout nodded.

"Well at least now I know what the next problem to solve is," said Hiccup, turning the chair to face them. "It needs breaks."

"Clearly," grunted Snotlout. After a long while his body began to relax and he got to his hands and knees.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'll live," he said, getting slowly to his feet, though he was still hunched. "Not the first time, not the last. Geoffrey can be… exuberant, and he kicks in his sleep."

"Sit," said Hiccup, pushing the chair closer.

He shook his head. "I'm fine. I'm a Jorgenson."

"That was never in question," she said, "Pretty sure the only reason you're in so much pain is because of how much ah… Jorgensenness you have."

Still holding his belly, he turned his face toward her, grinning weakly. "You better believe it babe."

Hiccup cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, shouldn't you protect your… Jorgenson family assets?" He pushed the chair closer still.

Grumbling's Snotlout sat in the chair, his body relaxing a bit and Hiccup pushed him towards the house.

"The chair needs something to rest feet on," said Snotlout. Hiccup turned to observe the boot tracks in the dirt behind them.

"Noted," he said.

"That's painful," said her father sympathetically as they entered the house.

"How…" began Hiccup.

"We keep telling you, he's got stellar hearing," said Snotlout, rising gingerly and sinking into the padded chair by the hearth. "But the good news is your chair is no longer bumpy, provided you avoid crashing into trees or people."

"I'll keep that in mind," said her father with a grin.

"Here," she said, placing Snotlout's helmet back on his head.

"Thanks," he said, adjusting it.

"This one's done," said her father, pushing the simple tunic forward on the table. "What else do you have to keep my hands busy?"

"Nothing at the moment," she said. "Want to take your chair for a spin?" She pushed the chair towards him and held it in place as he lifted himself into it. In a few moments he was situated and he pushed himself out into the yard.

"I should probably get going," said Hiccup, grabbing his bag. "The others will start to look for me if I'm gone too long and I should go see my dad."

"Hold on," she called, bringing him up short. "If you're serious about the dragon scale tunic, I need your measurements."

He let his bag slip to the floor and she took his measurements, marking them on a new section of twine before writing his name on a scrap of parchment and tying it to the twine.

"What do you think of this color," she asked, pulling a handful of scales from a pouch. Hiccup picked one up.

"Looks fine," he said. "Next spring?"

"Unless this winter is really slow," she said, nodding.

"That's fine. Thanks Sigyn," he said, grabbing his sack.

"No problem, after all it's literally my job."

"Well, thanks anyway. I'll see what I can do about brakes and the foot rest before we head back to The Edge in a few days." he said, waving goodbye. They listened to the crunch of Hiccup's boot and metal leg slowly receding.

"So, do you think you're up to standing straight?" she asked, turning to Snotlout.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I need your measurements." She pulled out his old measuring cord checking the name.

"What for?"

"That's a surprise."

He eyed her skeptically but rose slowly to his feet. She advanced on him with the twine and charcoal. He was still, letting her shift and lift his arms moving him into different positions.

"Hmm…" she hummed, examining the tape, comparing the old and new marks.

"What?" he asked suspiciously.

"You've grown."

"Don't tease me," he said, folding his arms over his chest.

"No really. Look." She held the twine out towards him. "See, this is the old mark and this is the new."

"And this measurement is what?"

"The width of your shoulders." There was about an inch and a half difference.

"And this one?" he asked, pointing.

"Diameter of your bicep."

He raised an arm flexing. "Cool."

"And this one too."

"That is?"

She paused, watching his face. "Your height."

His eyes widened. "I got taller?"

"Well, yeah, since last fall when I took this measurement. A little over an inch."

He stood up straighter and she was surprised to see he could just about look her in the eye. A grin split his face and his hand snaked around her waist, pulling her close to him. She tried to stifle her squeak of surprise but didn't quite manage it, dropping the twine on the floor. His grin only grew.

"I knew it," he said in a playful warning tone.

"Knew… knew what?" she asked, not quite able to ignore the grip of his fingers on her lower back.

"I knew I would grow on you Sigyn Helvig."

******************

Whew. Okay you lucky ducks, another massive chapter dump. Okay I have to know. Are these chapters too long for you as a reader... I mean do you get lost and wish they were broken up a bit more. I could break them apart and start posting several smaller chapters at a time if that works better for you. This chapter was just shy of 15,00 words. That plus the 14,000 from last chapter a few weeks ago and I have written a small book... in a month.

anyway how was the chapter. were the letters boring or entertaining. I use them as a way to fast track time. what did you think of Snotlout's interactions with his father in this chapter? Hiccup and Snotlout? Snotlout and Shepherd? Sigyn and Snotlout. I have recently brainstormed up some amazing ideas for the future of this story and I'm excited to get to them. also if you see the new art just know that i only colored it. Line art and concept belong to Madpatti. If your a httyd fan and you have not see their art, go check it out!

please chat with me! let me know I'm not the only one excited about this story. And if you have Httyd or Snotlout groups on social media share my story. Hope to see you around and happy reading!