Chapter 48

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After a long fly, we finally arrived at the island where Dagur said Viggo was keeping his gold. 

"All right, gang, diamond formation. Remember, we're heading into Viggo's domain. Expect the unexpected." Hiccup called out. We flew closer to the island and soared over a cliff, revealing a cluster of ancient stone runes. 

"Well, there's no one here. Didn't see that one coming." 

"Shut up, Snotlout." Storm growled. We all landed on the cliff and dismounted our dragons so we could look around. 

"Are you absolutely sure thisisthe right island?" Hiccup asked Dagur. 

"Yes, I'm sure. But Viggo might have moved the gold. He can be slippery." Dagur argued. 

"He's right, Hiccup. Viggo can be pretty crafty." I agreed, stepping up beside the Berserker. Hiccup hummed in thought, glancing back at the runes. 

"Something doesn't feel right." 

"This is an amazing find, Hiccup. Ancient Vikings must have lived here." Fishlegs stated, studying the runes. I glanced over the many runes, my attention immediately snapping to the one next to Fishlegs when I heard a yelp of pain. Standing at the foot of the rune was Snotlout who was holding his hand in pain while glaring at Storm. 

"Don't touch them, you idiot. We're here to find the gold, not destroy history." Storm snapped at her older brother. 

"Seriously, sis? If there was any gold here, Viggo's men would be all over this island." I frowned, inwardly agreeing with Snotlout even though I wouldn't admit it aloud. I started to walk around the runes, studying them. I paused by one, quickly running my finger along the bumpy surface, studying my fingertips after turning away from the rune. There, on my fingertips, was a collection of stone dust. Now, I had enough experience with rocks and stuff to know that ancient rocks didn't have stone dust. Only newly formed rock formations did. 

"Hiccup." 

"Melia." I looked up from my fingertips, noticing both Toothless and Lilac sniffing at the ground where the forest met the runes. After wiping the dust off my fingers, I walked over to where the two Night Furies stood, noticing a strange cluster of leaves on the ground. I bent down and brushed some leaves off of some cart tracks that led deep into the forest. 

"Hey, Hiccup. You need to come see this." I called. Everyone looked up at my call and came over to see what I'd found. 

"Where does it lead?" Snotlout asked. 

"Let's find out." Hiccup remarked, following the tracks into the forest. We followed the tracks for about fifteen minutes before they finally ended in front of something large covered with a tarp. 

"The tracks end here?" 

"I'm not seeing any gold. Are you seeing any gold? Is anyone seeing any gold?" Snotlout asked from atop Hookfang. 

"Bro, can you just shut up for two seconds?" Storm growled. 

"Expect the unexpected." Hiccup stated. 

"You wanna do the honors or shall I?" Dagur asked. Hiccup walked forward and pulled the tarp off of what seemed to be a shed made of dragon proof metal. 

"Don't get too close, guys. I'm sure Viggo boobytrapped this thing." 

"Fear not, my fearless leader, Ruff and I are the best boobytrap sniffers that have ever sniffed out a booby... trap." Tuffnut claimed. "All right. Check it for traps. But be careful." The Twins immediately hopped off of Barf and Belch and went into a stupidly thorough trap search for nonexistent traps. 

"Okay, clear out of there. I have a better idea." Hiccup remarked after the Twins were clearly finished. Once Ruff and Tuff cleared the area, Hiccup ordered Toothless to blast the door. However, when the smoke cleared, it proved exactly what I thought. The metal shed was dragon proof. 

"You tried your way, Hiccup. Now it's time to do it Berserker style. Right, Heather?" 

"Berserker style? You mean do something crazy?" Heather asked. 

"No. Everyone thinks Berserker means crazy. But what it really means is going full speed. All out, all the time. Total commitment to your Berserker brothers and sisters." At this point, it was clear that Dagur really wanted to prove himself to Heather. "So, if you wanna know what Berserker style really is. Show 'em our new move, Shattermaster." I glanced over at the green Gronckle, noticing that he was prepping himself for something big. "Shatter scatter." Once Dagur said that and let out a strange roar/battle cry, Shattermaster flew up into the air and rolled in midair before unfurling himself, aiming his tail straight at the shed door. "Not so dragon proof anymore." Dagur remarked after Shattermaster cleared the area, revealing the door had been busted down. 

"It would've been easier if I'd just lock picked it, but that was a great move." 

"Thank you, Melia." 

"Well, I guess we're too late. Viggo moved the gold." Astrid stated. I quickly walked over to see that the shed was indeed empty. 

"Nothing makes sense. No guards. No boobytraps." Hiccup remarked, running a hand through his hair. I stepped away from the shed, humming in thought as I walked back over to the tracks. 

"What's on your mind?" Storm asked, stepping up beside me. 

"The cart tracks seem to come this way, then go that way. Hiccup. Fishlegs. C'mere and check the track depth." Fishlegs and Hiccup came over and studied the tracks. 

"They're deeper coming in, and more shallow going out." Fishlegs stated. 

"Someone rolled the gold in here, then offloaded it and carried it away by hand. So this storehouse is just a decoy." Hiccup agreed, seeing my point. 

"The gold is somewhere else on the island." I finished. Dagur walked over and clapped a hand down on my shoulder, startling me. 

"In that case, I say we split up. Cover more ground. Viggo and his men could come at any time. The Berserkers will search the north. The dragon riders search the south." Dagur stated. 

"Wait. I... should go with them." 

"Okay. Three heads are better than two." Hiccup agreed. "Stay on the ground, send up a signal if you find anything." 

"Storm, Snotlout, and I will cover thesoutheast area of the island while the rest of you guys go southwest. As Dagur said, we need to cover more ground." I offered. Hiccup nodded in agreement. 

"Be careful, you three. Remember, expect the unexpected."

<I'm so excited for upcoming episodes, but for now this will have to do. I also want to let you all know that I'm planning this as a series, so once the "Shell Shocked" episodes are done in this story, I'll start making a new story that is based on the incredible events of seasons 5-6. Bye, guys>

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