Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon
Chapter 18: Snotlout Gets The Axe
For today's training, the Dragon Riders decided to do some target practice. Each rider took turns getting on their dragons and flying towards the targets set up. They then had to strike the target with their weapon of choice.
It was Snotlouts turn and he chose an axe. "Coming in hot! Haha, that's right! Get some, Dragon Hunters, get some!" He cheered himself on as he hit each target. "Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi! Ha!" He was actually doing pretty well and he and Hookfang made the wrong turn at a target, ending up with them crash-landing. "Aaaahhh!"
Snotlout lands near Ruffnut and Tuffnuts feet. He looks up at the blonde twins who each held eight fingers, rating his performance.
"The judge from Berserker Island gave you a 6." Tuffnut commented.
"Uh, nice effort, Snotlout! We all need to stay sharp, especially with those Dragon Hunters on the loose." Hiccup reminded.
"Astrid, you're up!" Hicca said.
The blonde girl picked up her axe and was about to mount Stormfly when an unexpected guest dropped by.
"You really should loosen your grip there, boi-oh. It maximizes the bone shattering potential." Spitelout advised his son as his dragon, Kingstail, landed.
(A/N: I got the name of Spitelouts dragon from wiki)
Snotlout was surprised along with the others. "Dad?
"Spitelout! Eh, what a... what a pleasant surprise." Hiccup struggled with a decent greeting in front of the man who gave Snotlout his arrogance.
Spitelout then took out one of the spears sticking from the ground. "Eh, dull."
Snotlout quickly snapped out of his shock. "Haha, yeah, I was just telling them that, dad. Hey, did you see that-"
"I come with news from Berk." His father announced interrupting his son. "There's to be a union tomorrow between two proud houses: our family, House Jorgenson, and..."
"Please not Henderson." Raeda pleaded.
"Trust me lass, no one wants a repeat of 'the incident'." Spitelout said shuddering. "It is with..."
"What kind of muttonhead would marry into the Jorgenson's?" Astrid whispered to the Haddock twins.
"...Astrid's family, House Hofferson!"
Astrid eyes widened in shock. "..Wait, did he just say... House Hofferson?"
"That's as unprecedented as a Jorgenson-Henderson union." Fishlegs stated. "There has never been a union between these two families! Hoffersons have always disliked Jorgensons, and.."
"Jorgensons have always irritated Hoffersons." Astrid finished. Dread filled her face as she realised something. "Wait, this means Snotlout's gonna be... family?"
"Welcome to the club." Hicca said. The Haddocks were also joint with the Jorgensons through marriage.
Snotlout walked to Astrid and put an arm around her. "What's the problem, cuz? This is just going to bring us closer!"
His new 'cousin' elbowed him in the gut.
"Welcome to the family, lass. Now, onto business!" Spitelout continued.
He takes something out of his saddle and unwraps it.
Snotlout immediately recognises it. "Woah! The Jorgenson family ceremonial axe! There's never been a union without it!"
"Aye, and as you know, it will need to be present tomorrow at Berk's secret matrimonial site, the Island of Frigga, to chop down the ceremonial birch for this union to be official, so you, Snotlout, will be delivering it!" Spitelout said, presenting the axe to his son.
Snotlout took the axe, completely in awe at the honor he was presented with. "Sweet!"
"That's quite an honor, Snotlout!" Hiccup commented.
"This privilege is only given to the bravest and most virile member of the Jorgenson clan." The younger Jorgenson stated, holding the axe carefully. "And you guys are looking at him! Boom, baby! Whooo!"
"I would have done it myself if I wasn't already responsible for procuring the beasts for the union's ceremonial 400 boar feast." His dad said.
"But I'm the family's natural second choice for the job." Snotlout said, optimistically.
"Of course Hedgelout isn't available. He's still missing at sea..." His dad continued.
"Third choice. That's still good. Right?" Snotlout said, mostly to reassure himself.
"Ah, and then there was Griplout.."
"Griplout?" Astrid repeated.
"Are you talking about the Jorgenson that lost both his arms in that freak mutton accident?" Hicca asked.
"Aye, he just couldn't get a good enough hold on the axe with his teeth." Spitelout said. He then turned to his son. "Remember, a lot is riding on this, boi-oh. No axe, no wedding. No wedding, well, hopefully, you're smart enough to at least figure that out. Well, I have to be on my way. Boars don't grow on trees, you know."
Astrid turned to Raeda, Hiccup and Hicca. "Thank Thor I don't have to go to that ridiculous-"
"Oh, lass, your folks are expecting you to represent your family at the ceremony. So better get a move on!" Spitelout informed her.
Astrid growled in annoyance.
Raeda felt sympathy for her friend. "Aw, Astrid. You spoke way too-"
"And Raeda, you're representing the Henderson family."
"What?" The girl questioned. The Haddock twins laughed at both her and the blonde girl's misfortune.
"You too, Hiccup!"
Hiccup stopped laughing. "What? Me?"
"Aye, Stoick's orders. As the older sibling, you're representing the Haddocks!"
Toothless growled in annoyance.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Hiccup said to his best dragon friend as both Astrid and Raeda smirked at him. Hicca didn't dare say anything.
"See you at the ceremony! Onward, dragon! Spitelout, Spitelout, oi, oi, oi!" Spitelout chanted.
"Don't worry, dad! I got this!" Snotlout called to him.
He turned to see the rest of the gang giving him dubious looks/
"What are you all looking at? I can do this!" He then accidentally flings the axe to the other side of the arena. He rushes to get it.
Hicca waited till Spitelout and his dragon were out of sight. "He didn't say I have to attend." She said smirking at Hiccup, Raeda and Astrid.
"Don't you just love union ceremonies?" Fishlegs gushed to the Thorston twins, having attended many ceremonies before.
Tuffnut shrugged. "Don't know, never been to one."
Fishlegs turned to him in surprise. "What? Really?"
"Yeah, us Thorstons are not exactly the marrying kind. We're more of the mutton kind." Tuff said.
Thinking it over, Fishlegs made up his mind. "Well, as luck would have it, I'm somewhat of an authority on Viking union ceremonies. What do you say you both meet me at my hut later and I will teach you everything you need to know?"
"Great! Because we know very little about most things." Tuff said, his sister nodded in agreement.
(Linebreak)
Soon came the time for Hiccup, Astrid, Raeda and Snotlout to take off for the ceremony.
As they flew in the air, Snotlout still felt bitter about being the last choice for the axe. "Last one picked. He could have had more faith in me than that."
He turned to see the other teens giving him pointed looks.
"What? What did I ever do?"
"Well, there was the time you brought all those Changewing eggs, and nearly destroyed the village." Astrid reminded him.
"Fishlegs' fault." Snotlout said, crossing his arms.
"There was the time you released the Skrill from its ice block and nearly destroyed the village." Raeda pointed out.
"Thorston twins' fault."
"What about flying us into a waterspout and crash landing us on Outcast Island? That was terrific." Hiccup brought up sarcastically.
Snotlout still remained stubborn. "Act of Thor."
"Act of Snotlout!" Astrid retaliated.
The Jorgenson boy held the family axe up. "All I know is when I ride in with this axe, I'm gonna shove it in all their Jorgenson faces. Booo!" He tossed the axe back and forth in his hands.
"Isn't that axe supposed to be wrapped up?" Raeda asked.
Snotlout ignored her. "No axe, no wedding, boy-o-" He suddenly lost his grip on the axe and it started free-falling down to earth! "Oh oh-oh. Ah!"
Hiccup reacted quickly. "Toothless! Power dive!"
Toothless dove down for the axe followed by the other dragons.
"I don't see it!" Snotlout exclaimed, desperately trying to find the axe.
As they got closer, they found an island nearby.
"It's gotta be down there! We have to go and get it back!" Snotlout insisted, pointing to the island.
"It could be anywhere! That island isn't exactly tiny if it even landed there and not in the ocean." Astrid pointed out.
But Snotlout remained adamant. "We're finding that axe. We have 'till sundown."
They landed in the forest of the island and Hiccup led the way, using his sword to cut through the vines.
"Hey, is it too late to call Griplout?" Astrid jabbed at Snotlout as they continued to look for the axe with no luck.
"Hoho, that's funny! Keep it up, Astrid! Keep it up!" Snotlout said sarcastically.
"What if I made an identical axe?" Raeda offered.
The boy just scoffed at her. "I expect that coming from those mutton-headed twins, not you Raeda."
Hiccup stopped and spotted something.
Snotlout looked to where the auburn boy was looking and spotted the Jorgenson axe above a hedge. He laughed, feeling relieved. "Haha, there it is! See? I'll just grab it and we can get back in the air. Problem solved!"
As he walked to the axe, Toothless, Sparkfire, Stormfly and Hookfang started growling.
"What is it, Bud?" Hiccup asked.
"Sparkfire, do you sense something?" Raeda questioned.
"What's gotten into them?" Astrid asked, looking at all four dragons.
Snotlout paid no attention to the dragons. "And it's in one piece? This could have gone way worse." He grabs the axe and pulls it out, but it wouldn't budge. "It's really stuck in there." He then felt the ground trembling. "Huh..."
"Snotlout!" Hiccup warned.
Suddenly the "ground" Snotlout was standing on moved vertically revealing that Snotlout and the axe were on the back of a dragon
"Oh no... Ok, now it's way worse!" Snotlout said, holding on to the axe.
The dragon roars and started firing at the three teens and the dragons. "Watch out!" Snotlout warned. The dragon then noticed the human on his back and tried to fire at him, but was unable to get him. "Hey! This is my family's axe. Give it up!"
"Snotlout, let go of the axe!" Hiccup shouted.
"No way, Hiccup. I'm not leaving this island without it." Snotlout said stubbornly. The dragon did not give up in trying to get him off. "Whoa!"
"He's gonna get himself killed." Astrid said to Raeda and Hiccup.
"What else is new?" Raeda said dryly.
Toothless, Sparkfire and Stormfly then started retaliating at the dragon by firing at it, luckily not hitting Snotlout. "Hey, watch it!"
That's when Hookfang stepped in and blasted at the dragon, being careful not to hit his human.
"Keep blasting, Hookfang, Rae you and Sparkfire cover him. "We'll get in close. Astrid, follow me." Hiccup ordered.
As soon as Hookfang stopped firing, Sparkfire immediately swooped in and fired spikes at the dragon, causing Snotlout to duck. The dragon used its wing to shield itself from the attack. It then spotted Astrid and Stormfly trying to sneak up to it and blasted at them, hitting Stormfly in the face.
The attack on her eyes caused Stormfly to waver in her flight. "Steady, Stormfly! Up, up!" Stormfly tried to steady her flight, but it was no use. She and Astrid ended up falling to the ground. Astrid recovered and quickly went to her dragon. "Stormfly, what's wrong?" Stormfly was still disoriented. "Hang in there." She turned to the group still in the air. "Guys, that blast does a number on the eyes."
The attacking dragon then fired at Toothless, who dodged in time. "Whoa! Good to know. Okay, bud, let's stay clear of those blasts."
"Hey dragon over here!" Raeda called right before Sparkfire blasted at it, getting its attention.
Suddenly the dragon blasted a fire wave, aiming for both Raeda/Sparkfire and Hiccup/Toothless.
"Sparkfire!" Raeda cried out as her dragon narrowly avoided getting hit.
"Toothless, look out!" Hiccup warned, but Toothless wasn't as lucky as Sparkfire as he got hit in the face with the blast, hindering his eyesight as well.
The boy and Night Fury fell to the ground. "Toothless! Hang on, bud." Hiccup comforted, coming to his dragons side.
Raeda and Sparkfire landed in front of the boys, facing the dragon who was now approaching.
Hiccup saw the dragon getting to blast at his best human friend and quickly took out his shield. "Rae, catch!" He tossed the shield at her.
Hearing him, Rae turned and caught the shield just as the other dragon started to fire. It hit the shield with a force, but the shield was able to withstand the blast "Whew! Thanks Hiccup." Raeda said, turning over her shoulder.
"Thank the Gronckle Iron." He replied.
The dragon was about to fire again, when Hookfang suddenly blasted it from behind, catching it off guard. "Don't let up, Hookfang! Pour it on!" Astrid cheered. The dragon must have reached its shot limit, because it decided to take a sharp turn to retreat, causing Snotlout to lose his grip on the axe and fall to the ground. "It's gone."
"But so is the axe." Snotlout moaned getting up. He looked to the direction of the sun before suddenly taking off to the direction of the retreating enemy.
"Snotlout, what are you doing?" Hiccup called to him.
"There's still time!" Snotlout replied without stopping, leaving the others behind.
Raeda looked at the other two teens, who stood where they were. "Are we going to go after him..."
"No!" Astrid said firmly with her arms crossed.
"Astrid, we have to." Hiccup argued.
"This is his mess. Let him clean it up." The blonde girl stated.
"Rae?" Hiccup asked, turning to her.
"I'm with you Hiccup." She answered.
Hiccup turned back to Astrid. "Two against one."
Astrid sighed, dropping her arms. "Fine."
(Linebreak)
Back on the Edge, Fishlegs started on the twins Viking Union lesson. Hicca and Midnight came along to watch, bringing food so that the group could have lunch at the same time.
Which worked well into the table etiquette lesson, but not so well with Ruffnut and Tuffnut.
Fishlegs said as he and Hicca watched the blonde twins easily noisily while putting their legs on the table. "Okay, so table etiquette is not really your strong suit."
"Oh, yeah." Tuffnut burped, putting his plate down.
"Yeah we're getting that straightened out before you attend my union." Hicca said.
"You're getting married?" Ruffnut asked.
"Not at the moment but one day." Hicca answered.
"In the meantime, why don't we move on to the actual union ceremony?" Fishlegs said. He then starts moving the other three teens to stand in their respective positions. "Ruffnut, you can stand in for our bride, and I will be the groom. Tuffnut, you can be our officiator and Hicca, you can be a witness.."
"Nice. I'm finally official." Tuffnut cheered.
Hicca grabs a bouquet of flowers nearby her. "Who would have thought this day would come. I'm so happy for you both." She said, while wiping a fake tear.
Fishlegs then hands a scroll to Tuffnut. "Those would be the traditional Viking union words. You read them."
Tuffnut silently reads through the scroll while his twin runs away, not wanting to be the pretend bride.
Fishlegs catches her and brings her back to her spot, much to her annoyance. He then turns to Tuffnut. "Out loud."
"Oh, okay. I read them in my head. Anyhoo." Tuffnut then cleared his throat. "Ye, Fishlegs Ingerman, child of Odin, dost taketh Ruffnut Eugene Thorston, daughter of Freyja, to be his betrothed. And, by utterance of these words, this union may only be broken in the Halls of Valhalla. You may head-butt the bride. I just added that part."
"Great, so that's how a Viking union ceremony is performed. It's nice, isn't it? Now we dance." He took Ruffnut's hands and started while Hicca cheered and gave her congratulations.
Tuffnut looked at the words in the scroll when he remembered something. "Oh, wait a second. I knew it. This stuff all looked familiar. It's all coming back to me now. This is the same as when I trained with the town officiator back on Berk."
Fishlegs stopped dancing, much to Ruffnut's relief. "You did what?"
"I took a course in performing Viking union ceremonies. Slipped my mind." Tuff said.
"Did you really?" Hicca said, intrigued.
"I did. I am a man of many talents, after all."
"So you officially trained with the town officiator?" Fishlegs asked, his eyes widening.
"I mean, that's a lot of officiating, but yeah." Tuff answered.
"Tuff can perform Viking union ceremonies. We've just never been to one before." Ruffnut explained. "I can check that off my bucket list."
"Wait. Do you know what this means?" Fishlegs asked, starting to panic. Hicca figured out what it meant and covered her mouth in shock.
Tuffnut didn't get it. "Oh, yeah, I do. A whole new world is open to me. A new career. New potentiality, new possibilities. And all those happy officiated faces looking back at me into my eyes with gratitude." He looked at Fishlegs terrified face. "No? Okay, you go."
"It means Ruffnut and I just got married! And Viking unions are forever! It can only be broken in Valhalla."
Ruffnut at hearing this, processed it for a second and then turned to him getting ready to kiss him. Fishlegs held her back.
"Yeah I really never thought I would see this day." Hicca said, her eyes still wide.
(Linebreak)
Hiccup and his group manage to locate the dragon to a clearing, where they observe it melding scraps of metal onto itself.
"Interesting, reminds me of the Smokebreaths, except it makes an armour instead of a nest.
"If it welds my axe to its body, I'll never get it back." Snotlout said, wanting to get up and stop that dragon.
Hiccup stopped him. "Easy, Snotlout. We can't risk another dust-up with ol' Armorwing over there."
"Armorwing?" Raeda repeated. "That's clever, I like it."
"I cannot go to that wedding without the axe." Snotlout said.
"But, we can't get close enough to pry it free." Astrid pointed out.
Snotlout looked dejected until his face lit up. "Hey, you know what's near here? Hiccup, hand me your map." Hiccup was surprised, but gave him the map. Snotlout looked until he spotted an area. "Ha! That's it!"
"What's 'it'?" Hiccup questioned.
"We can't get close to that dragon, but something else can." Was all Snotlout said.
"You know, you never really make much sense, but this is bad, even for you." Astrid said.
"I'm used to this kind of planning from Hiccup and Hicca, but not from you Snotlout." Raeda said.
"We have an axe to steal and I know the perfect guys for the job." Snotlout said, getting up. "We're going to Breakneck Bog and we're training some Smothering Smokebreaths."
(Linebreak)
"Can you believe him?!" Ruffnut complained to Hicca in the Clubhouse. "He's been so distant lately. He doesn't even talk to me anymore, he doesn't spend time with me. This is the life he promised me?!"
Hicca, having recovered from the shock of her two friends' impromptu union, was at a loss on what to do, other than listen to Ruffnut's rants and offer her input. Midnight on the other hand was happily eating her fish, oblivious to the recent developments.
"Uh, Ruffnut, one, you guys have only been married for an hour and two, you know this union wasn't supposed to happen right?"
"Yeah? Well, it happened and he needs to take responsibility for it and where is he? He's not next to me, he's not behind you." Ruffnut went under the table. "He's certainly not under the table." She brought her head back up and rested on her arms on the table. "Is this the cursed life we have to live post-marriage? You need to get out, Hicca. Get out while you still can!"
"Okay, first of all, I'm not getting married anytime soon." Hicca said. "Second, I'm sure if you had an actual relationship with Fishlegs and had a planned union, married life would be amazing."
"So you're saying I should take charge in our relationship?" Ruffnut asked, perking up.
"Uh, that's not really..."
"You are absolutely right!" Ruffnut exclaimed, getting up. "No more moping around. If I want to see a change, I need to start it. Thanks for the advice, Hicca, I'm so glad we can still make time for our girl talk."
She left, leaving Hicca and Midnight. Hicca sighed, before turning to Midnight.
"Honestly, Midnight. I always thought Hiccstrid would be the two among us to get married." She said to her dragon, who just continued eating.
(Linebreak)
Fishlegs was in his hut with Meatlug. There were different scrolls thrown everywhere. "Don't worry, girl. There has to be some way to dissolve this union. It can't actually only be broken in Valhalla, right?" Fishlegs wondered, as he continued reading the scrolls. His research was interrupted when Ruffnut walked through his door, carrying a shark rug. "Um, what are you doing?"
"I'm thinking, I want to do a kind of dead animal - carcass thing in the corner there." Ruffnut answered, looking at said corners through a rectangle formed from her fingers.
"No, absolutely not! There'll be no dead animals in this home, Ruffnut." Fishlegs objected.
Ruffnut raised her eyebrows. "What did you just call me?"
"I just called you-"
Ruffnut interrupted him. "We're gonna have to lose that 'Ruffnut' thing. We're married. From now on, it's either honey, sweetie, dear or Snookie-pie. Got it?"
"Snookie-pie?" Fishlegs repeated.
"Better." Ruff then walked around the hut. "Now, we're gonna have to get rid of some of your stuff to make room around here. Let's start with those dragon figurines."
"But they're vintage." Fishlegs protested.
"And now they're gone." Ruffnut said, moving them in a box.
"What exactly are we making room for?" Fishlegs asked.
"For us." Tuffnut answered, standing at the door with the heads of Barf and Belch by his sides. "What? You didn't think we weren't part of this deal, did you?"
Meatlug went to Fishlegs and gave a growl. "Don't worry, girl, I will figure this out." He reassured, patting her.
Tuffnut suddenly came in for a hug. "I always wanted a brother. You've made us so happy, Fishlegs."
(Linebreak)
Snotlout and the others soon made it to the nest of the Smokebreaths on Breakneck Bog.
"Can I just remind everyone that Smothering Smokebreaths cannot be trained?" Astrid spoke up.
"Maybe, but they love metal and could be the only hope I have of getting that axe back." Snotlout said.
"Ugh." Astrid huffed.
"It's really strange seeing you like this." Raeda said to Snotlout as the group snuck in the nest.
"They must be out hunting. We got lucky." Hiccup said.
"This is perfect! We'll use whatever metal we pull to lure them to the Armorwing." Snotlout said.
"We need to work faster. They won't be happy when they see what we're doing to their nest." Hiccup said.
A distant sound caused Raeda to look up.
"Well Hiccup, you're right. They do not look too happy with what we're doing to their nest." She said, causing the other three teens to look up, just in time to see a smoke seeping into the cave.
For once it was Snotlout calling the shots. "Everyone, grab as much metal as you can carry." He grabbed a mace from a pile and ran back to Hookfang. "Let's get these guys to the Armor Wing. Hookfang, wing blast!" Hookfang blasted at the smoke, blowing it away and giving the gang a clear path to exit the nest. They all flew off and right behind them were the Smokebreaths.
Snotlout looked back to see the herds of Smokebreaths following them. "Ha-ha! Is this the best idea I've ever had, or what?"
"Bar's not really high on that one, is it, Snotlout?" Hiccup quipped.
"Yeah, well your bar's so..." Snotlout tried to counter, only to give up. "Shut it, Hiccup."
(Linebreak)
"Silent Sven's wife has a fish-gutting station. I want a fish-gutting station, too!" Was what Hicca and Midnight walked into when they visited the Ingerman-Thorston house.
"But, dear, where will you put it? There's no room." Fishlegs protested, trying to be calm.
"I don't think this is a good time to visit." Hicca said to Midnight.
She was interrupted when the door of the hut was slammed open followed by Ruffnut shoving Meatlug out.
"Now there's room." She said walking back in.
Fishlegs walked out to console his dragon. "It's not so bad, Meatlug, we can make the best of it." He then noticed Hicca. "Oh, hey Hicca."
"Hey Fishlegs. I take it you didn't find a way to dissolve your marriage." She said.
"I don't even get time to read on anything. Married life has taken so much of my free time." He groaned.
"It hasn't even been a day."
"Hey, bro-in-law, wifey wants you back inside." Tuffnut called standing at the door. "She says you have to start learning how to fly Belch, ya know since you guys are married now."
"But, my Meatlug. She's my-" Fishlegs started to protest.
"Fishlegs! Get your butt in here." Ruffnut called.
"Coming, dear." Fishlegs answered, walking back in the house.
Tuffnut turned to look at Hicca and the two dragons. "Newlyweds, am I right?" He said to know one in particular. Meatlug just slumped down feeling depressed. "You said it, sister. Stay single pringle, even though I don't know what a pringle is."
Hicca just shook her head. Midnight imitated her.
(Linebreak)
Back to Hiccup and the others, they have successfully led the Smokebreaths to their destination and are now searching for the Armorwing Island.
"Yeah-ha! Just a little further, boys." Snotlout shouted to the Smokebreaths. "You're gonna be happy we ripped you off." They reached the nest of the Armorwing, where they found the dragon itself, to Snotlouts' relief. "Feast your beady eyes on that!"
The Smokebreaths eyes widened at the sight of the metal attached to the larger dragon that they immediately forgot about the group who invaded their nest and swooped down to the dragon to collect the metal.
The Armorwing tried its best to defend itself by blasting at them, but it was at a disadvantage due to the Smokebreaths number and size. The smaller dragons were able to avoid his blasts and worked in smaller groups to detach the metal off its body, including the axe.
"It's actually working!" Hiccup commented, impressed.
"That's it! Bring the axe to Snotty." Snotlout shouted to the group of Smokebreaths carrying his axe. He extended his arms to grab the axe as they flew towards him, but the Smokebreaths flew past him, not even stopping to give him the axe. "Hey, my axe! We had a deal, you little deal-breakers."
He and Hookfang started chasing after the Smokebreaths in the forest, not losing sight of the axe. He tried desperately to get Hookfang to catch up to them but it was tough to keep up because Hookfang was having a harder time navigating through the trees than the Smokebreaths.
Astrid and Stormfly flew past them.
"I got him, Snotlout. We'll funnel him towards you." Astrid said to the boy.
She has Stormfly fire spikes at the trees in front of the Smokebreaths, making them change their course. She then blasted fire at them to make them turn in the opposite direction, right towards Snotlout and Hookfang.
The Jorgenson boy did not waste his second chance and snatched the axe from the group. Hookfang then blasted at the Smokebreaths, sending them away. "Boom! Thank you." He said to Astrid.
Hiccup and Raeda stayed back with the Armorwing and watched as it continued to try, and fail, at defending itself against the Smokebreaths. It then fell to the ground and the smaller dragons continued to take more and more metal from its body.
"There's too many of them. We need to get in there and break this up." He said to Raeda and the dragons.
They flew closer to the Armorwing as some of the Smokebreaths flew away with metal. That's when Hiccup noticed something. "No scales! That's why it needs metal."
"It's kind of like the Boneknapper dragon in a way." Raeda commented.
Astrid and Snotlout joined the two of them, the latter firmly holding on to the Jorgenson family axe. "What's happening?" Astrid asked.
"The Smokebreaths think the Armorwing is one giant piece of metal. We can't let them pull its armor apart. It'll be defenseless."
"So, what do we do?" Snotlout asked.
"Follow me." Hiccup said. He and Toothless guided the others towards the pile of metal they gathered from the Smokebreaths nest and picked a piece of metal. The others followed suit. "We have to fly it through the Armorwing's blasts."
Astrid blinked. "We have to what?"
"Trust me." He said. He and Toothless flew to the Armorwing with the Night Fury carrying pieces of metal in his claws. The Armorwing saw the duo and immediately blasted at them, prompting Toothless to use the metal he was holding as a shield. The metal then started to weld into each other.
"Oh I see where you're going with this." Raeda said, before directing Sparkfire to grab some of the metal as well. As soon as Sparkfire got the metal, they flew right in front of the Armorwing and Raeda casually waved to it.
The Armorwing immediately blasted them and Sparkfire quickly did the exact same thing Toothless did and used the metals as a shield.
Snotlout and Astrid followed suit, grabbing pieces of metal to give to Toothless and Sparkfire to weld. Suddenly the Armorwing turned to Astrid and Stormfly catching them off guard and prepared to fire at them.
That's when Snotlout and Hookfang swooped in and blocked the blast.
"I owed you one." He said to her.
The Smothering Smokebreaths continued to attack the Armorwing and steal pieces of metal from its armor, causing the larger dragon to roar in pain and collapse on the ground.
The Smokebreaths were about to take more when Snotlout and Hookfang stepped in. "Hey, Smokies, check this out!"
He diverted their attention to Toothless and Sparkfire, each dragon was holding a large chunk of metal. The Smokebreaths eyes widened at the sight and immediately forgot about the Armorwing and the small pieces of metal scattered around. They grabbed the larger chunks of metal from the two dragons and flew off with it back to their nest, leaving the group alone.
With the Smokebreaths finally gone, the Dragon Riders were able to gather the remaining pieces of metal and offer it to the Armorwing as a form of apology and a peace offering. They were a little cautious, knowing there was a possibility that the Armorwing could attack them in revenge at any moment.
The Armorwing looked at the pieces of metal on the ground and slowly grabbed one piece with its mouth and welded it back on its body. It then gave out a loud appreciative roar and continued to rebuild its armor.
Hiccup sighed in relief. "Whew! Well, I think we earned its trust, but I still wouldn't push our luck."
Astrid looked up at the sky. "Sundown! Snotlout, you need to get out of here."
"She's right. Go. We'll be right behind you." Raeda agreed.
Snotlout didn't need to be told twice. He clenched the axe in his hands, got on Hookfang and took off.
(Linebreak)
Unfortunately for Snotlout, even with Hookfang flying at top speed, they still reached their destination late. The place was a complete mess, as if a storm had passed through and the only other person there was Spitelout who was just staring at the horizon, not even acknowledging the new arrivals.
"Oh, no. Hookfang, we're too late." Snotlout said, getting off his saddle.
The others caught up with him and took in the scene in front of them.
"Snotlout, we'll say it was our fault." Hiccup offered.
"Yeah. We can say we're the ones that made you late." Astrid said.
"I even got a good cover story ready." Raeda added.
Normally Snotlout would jump at this chance, but this time he shook his head. "No. It was my fault. I got this."
The other three watched as the Jorgenson boy walked to his dad.
As soon as he reached his dad, he got straight to the point. "I know what you're gonna say, Dad. I messed up again. I ruined the union ceremony. And I let you down, and all the Jorgensons down." He didn't even look at his dad as he talked. "But you have no idea what I went through to get this here. I risked my life and my friends' lives fighting a gigantic torch-breathing dragon for this stupid thing." He held the axe up. "And if that's not good enough for you, then I guess I'm never going to be good enough for you! I said it! So, here is your stupid axe, and sorry about the ceremony." He handed the axe back to his father.
Spitelout just gave his son a look before speaking. "What in Thor are you going on about, boy-o? There's not going to be a union."
Snotlout finally looked at his dad. "Wait, what?"
"Oh, a brawl broke out at the rehearsal dinner. It's a good thing you didn't get the axe here earlier. It would've got really ugly." Spitlelout explained. "But, nice work anyway, son. I knew I could count on you." He patted his son on the back before walking off. "Whelp, if we're done here, I have 400 boars to return."
Snotlout watched as his dad walked off. Hiccup, Astrid and Raeda joined him. "He knew he could count on me." He said to them.
Indeed one the very few times Spitelout Jorgenson ever gave his son a compliment.
"Spitelout, Spitelout! Oi, oi, oi!"
(Linebreak)
After getting the full story on the failed union, the group flew back to the Edge, having a lot to talk about with the union and the new dragon.
They were greeted by such a strange sight when they reached the Edge. Tuffnut was trying to ride Meatlug. "Trying" being the keyword because the Gronckle was doing everything she could to shake the Thorston boy off her saddle. She only wanted her human on her saddle.
"What in the name of Thor?" Hiccup muttered.
"Guys!" Hicca called, as she and Midnight landed, having spotted the group flying. "You guys are back a lot earlier than I expected."
"Yeah, that's a long story. But first uh-?" He looked back at Tuffnut and Meatlug.
"Come on, girl. We're related. Come on, come on, girl. Come on." The Thorston boy grunted.
"What's going on here?" Hiccup asked.
"This? Well,while you guys were gone to the Hofferson-Jorgenson Union, we kind of had our own impromptu union."
That's when Tuff noticed them. "Guys, meet the Ingerman-Thorstons. We're the model of a modern Viking family."
"Are you actually saying that Ruffnut and Fishlegs got married?" Raeda asked, raising her eyebrows.
"We've only been gone a day! What possibly could have happened?!" Hiccup asked incredulously.
"You know, you remember how I studied with the officiator, back on Berk? While you guys were gone, I accidentally married Ruff and Fishlegs." Tuff explained, still holding to the rowdy Meatlug. "But, despite that little snafu, we're all very happy now." Meatlug then decided to give up and collapse to the ground. "Well, most of us anyway."
Astrid crossed her arms, looking amused. "Uh. Tuffnut, I hate to break it to you, but you can't perform Viking unions."
Tuffnut was surprised at that. "Wait, what? I can't? Are you sure?"
Snotlout snorted. "You never completed your training because the officiator jumped off a cliff halfway through your first lesson. That was so funny."
The memory suddenly came back to Tuffnut. "Oh, right, yeah. It was probably a bad idea to hold classes on the edge of a cliff. I mean, we lost a lot of good educators that way, especially the ones I pushed."
At that moment Ruffnut and Fishlegs flew in on Barf and Belch.
Fishlegs then noticed the others. "Wait. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the union?"
"Ha. Long story." Snotlout said.
"But we did find a new dragon." Hiccup quipped.
Fishlegs and Hicca's eyes widened at that. "Really? A new dragon?" Hicca asked.
"Great, I get married and no one calls me anymore!" Fishlegs complained.
"Fishlegs! My feet need massaging. They're getting sweaty again." Ruffnut called.
Fishlegs silently groaned. "Coming, dear."
He turned back to Ruffnut, when Tuffnut came up to him. "Hey, bro-in-law, remember how I married you and Ruff? Well, it turns out that I can't marry people after all. So, presto! Union dissolved." Was how he explained it.
It took a few seconds for Fishlegs to process that information. "What? Oh, that's incredible! I haven't been this happy since my wedding day." He exclaimed happily. He stopped when he suddenly thought of it. "My wedding day..." In the midst of everything he was so concerned about the fact that he was married to Ruffnut that it didn't really settle in that he got married and that he spent the whole day being a married man.
Silently, Ruffnut lowered Barf so that she could be at an eye-level with Fishlegs. She then rubbed her nose against Fishlegs' in an affectionate way.
"Aw, my door is always open." Fishlegs offered.
"And I guess you can keep the shark." Ruff said, talking about the same sharkskin she brought earlier.
The same sharkskin that toppled out of the door of Fishlegs hut.
"Fishlegs married Ruffnut. I guess anything is possible." Astrid said.
"Well, one thing's for certain, no Hofferson will ever marry a Jorgenson." Hiccup added.
"Never say never, right, Astrid?" Snotlout said with a wink.
"Never." Astrid said, dryly, causing everyone else to laugh.
"How long is 'never'?" Snotlout asked.
"Are you guys going to tell us about the new dragon?" Hicca asked.