Spike, Toothless and Stormfly landed in what appeared to be a workshop of our friends making Gronckle Iron.
"Uh, Hiccup? I think Meatlug might be ready for a break." Fishlegs told him as we dismounted. "She's starting to lose her gag reflex."
"Guess the perfect little machine isn't so perfect, after all." Snotlout teased, clearly not paying attention to his own dragon.
"Have you checked your dragon?" Fishlegs asked him and eyes Hookfang. "The giant oven doesn't look too perky, either."
"Huh?" Snotlout hummed and looked over to his dragon is time to watch him collapse. Crashing to the ground and blowing out a waste of fire that hit Barf & Belch, making them freak out and charge at Stormfly. She, of course, started freaking out and ended up hanging the twins to a tree with her spines.
"Uh, what?" Tuff asked as he was now upside down and hanging from a tree.
Toothless roared, trying to break them up but accidentally stepped on Spike's tail. Making the albino bare his teeth and roar, then tackle the Night Fury and start a fight. They rolled into Stormfly, knocking her over and making her fall on top of Meatlug, who fell on Barf & Belch. Barf deflating and spewing gas everywhere, Belch accidentally sparking it and when the smoke dispersed, we all had black sooty dragons.
"Wow," I said. "That was impressive."
Toothless roared weakly as he was at the bottom of the dogpile and looked to his rider.
"Really? You too, bud?" Hiccup said exasperatedly. "All right, that's it! Dragons, to your corners!"
"Hey, Hiccup." Tuff called from the tree. "Did you know that upside-down you actually have a metal arm instead of a metal leg?"
"What is going on around here?" Hiccup snapped. He'd been reeeeaaallly on edge since the whole me almost dying again /Viggo escaping incident.
"Hiccup, we've been working really hard on these reinforcement walls." I told him gently. "Everyone is just tired. Look at the dragons."
Hookfang conveniently coughed out a cloud of black smoke.
"You know, Hookfang and I could really use a vacay." Snotlout told him.
"Vacation?" Tuff repeated. "Count us in. We'll grab our straw helmets and a chilling tale of Viking murder to read on some enchanted beach, laughing as the waves crash against us."
"And we can surf on Seashockers!" I gasped at my amazing idea.
"Guys, I get that you're all tired, but remember why we're doing this." Hiccup said, frustrated but not having snapped... yet.
"Oh, because you told us to." Snotlout replied.
"No, because Viggo is out there. And when he finally realizes he can't use the Dragon Eye without the key, he's gonna come looking for it. We can't leave the Edge unguarded again." Hiccup said, snapping.
"So, yay or nay on the vacay?" Ruff asked.
"Oh, gods..." Hiccup sighed and then walked off.
As soon as he was out of earshot, everyone turned and stared at me desperately.
"Okay, okay. I'll talk to him." I said and put my hands up in defence. "I'll talk to him."
* * *
"Working on your map, huh?" I said awkwardly and walked up to Hiccup outside hit hut. "Need any help?"
"No, thanks, I'm kind of -" He looked up at me and immediately knew I was up to something. "What do you want?"
"I question isn't what it want," I said and stood really close to him. "It's what you want. What I can do for you."
Hiccup stopped what he was doing and stood up to look me in the eye. "Did they send you up here with the intent of trying to seduce me so they can go on vacation?"
"Is it working?" I asked, resting my arms around his neck and leaned in so our noses were touching. I then smiled innocently and batted my eyes.
"So, where are you thinking." Hiccup sighed and put his hands around my waist.
"Apparently, as you know, we've been making Gronckle Iron. A lot of it. Fishlegs said we've exhausted the supply of sandstone on the Edge. And as you know, no sandstone, no Gronckle Iron. Then Astrid told me there's a nearby island that has a huge supply of it. It's also deserted, quiet, and would be a great place to relax, and take a little break from real work." I explained.
"I don't really have a choice on this one, do I?" He asked and I shook my head. "Where is this island, exactly?"
I stretched my arm out and pointed to a tiny island on the map he was working on.
* * *
Hiccup, Astrid and I were finishing packing our saddles, Gobber and Stoick in the background having just arrived to take care of the Edge.
"All right. Viggo would most likely wait for low tide and try to penetrate the lower wall, then come up through the arena." Hiccup told his father who look semi-annoyed and amused. Like, how many wars has he fought in? I'm pretty sure he's good.
"Which is why you've secured it from the outside. Hiccup, Gobber and I have defended Berk from much worse than a bunch of namby-pamby Dragon Hunters." Stoick told his son.
"I know, Dad, of course."
There was flapping of wings and the twins landed with their dragon next to us, with some... interesting attire. Weird straw bucket-shaped hats and long flowery necklaces, they also smelled worse than usual. They dismounted and I noticed Chicken who was being held by Tuff.
"Ugh! Someone die? You two look like you're going to a Viking funeral." Gobber asked, slightly horrified.
Wait... am I missing something? We didn't dress like that at the funeral a few days ago. Then again, we were pressing matters at the time.
"And this is our vacation attire." Tuff grinned and they struck a pose.
"Uh, this is not a vacation." Hiccup told him.
"Call it what you will." Ruff began. "But we plan to kick off our shoes and let the worries of the day melt away."
Hiccup sighed and I laughed, clearly he wasn't going to enjoy our vacation.
Hookfang landed and Snotlout jumped off then gasped. "Did someone die? Was it Fishlegs?" He asked hopefully.
Fishlegs then arrived on Meatlug, ruining Snotlout's fantasy.
"No, it's not Fishlegs. I'm right here and ready to go." Fishlegs said.
"Go where?" Snotlout asked.
Did I forget to tell him? Oops...
"No one ever tells me anything. Hey, Chief. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to look after your base until you all return." Stoick told him.
"Return from where?"
"You remember that vacation we were talking about?" Tuff reminded him then turned to me. "The one that (Y/n) was supposed to get us?"
"Yes!" Snotlout yelled and jumped in the air.
"Well, it's not that. We're not going to a deserted island paradise to have any fun whatsoever. Instead, we're going to work, slave away in the sandstone mines."
"What?" He gasped in horror then spun and pointed a finger at me. "You were supposed to get us a vacation!"
"I tried! I mentioned that we needed sandstone and he used it against me!" I explained.
Thor knows, no one was actually going to go along with that plan, not even me. My plan was that if things got ugly I'd steal Hiccup's metal foot, hide it, then join the others. I was going on vacation and no one could stop me.
"All right, saddle up. We need to get there before dark." Hiccup told us and we got on our dragons.
Tuffnut instead walked over to Gobber with Chicken. "Remember, Chicken eats six times a day. Small portions. She's trying to trim down. Then she gets 'special time' before bed. You can read to her, tell her stories, massage her. But if you're reading stories, nothing too scary though. Horrible nightmares where she scratches and claws in the air. Stay about three feet away when she's sleeping."
Well, this is bound to end well.
"I got it, Tuffnut. I'll look after her as if she were one of my own." Gobber told him reassuringly.
"All right, everyone. Let's do this." Hiccup said and we took to the sky.
* * *
We landed in the middle of a small island, covered in lush trees, giant rocks and an awesome lagoon with a waterfall.
"This place is insane! Look at that lagoon! Last one in is a rotten two-thousand-year-old egg." Snotlout yelled, us making eye contact then dashing for the water.
I got there first and jumped in, plunging underwater then resurfacing and wiping my hair from my face. I can't remember the last time I swam in freshwater.
"Uh, all right." Hiccup sighed. "Fine, just a quick swim, then it's back to work."
The rest of the Dragon Riders and their dragons then charged into the lagoon, minus Hiccup and Toothless.
"Whoo-hoo!"
"Yeah!"
"Whoo-hoo! Whoo! Cannonball!" Fishlegs yelled and Meatlug joined him in his cannonball, much to our horror.
"Oh, no!" Snotlout gulped and froze. I just swam away from them as fast as my body could take me.
Fishlegs and Meatlug caused a big splash and a wave that pushed us all backwards. Me laughing my ass off as Snotlout struggled the tread water over the wave.
"Spike!" I yelled and hugged my wet dragon. He roared and splashed water at me, making the 'oh so' responsible me splat water at him and us trying to send tidal waves at each other.
Hiccup jumped in the water and resurfaced behind me and flipped my hair over the front of my face. Blinding me to the outside world.
* * *
"Okay, guys. Got that out of our system. Now it's time for the other kind of fun. Working." Hiccup told us once we had all gotten out of the lagoon
I laughed and then continued reading my book as I sat upon I giant sunny rock with my dragon. Yeah, book or hard labour? Not something I even need to think about.
"Dude, lighten up. R-E-L-A-X. Relax." Snotlout told him.
"Take a load off, H." Tuff nodded, him tanning with his sister.
"Those rocks aren't going anywhere." Ruff added. "Unless you move them."
Hiccup groaned and then noticed Astrid and Stormfly sitting with us. "Oh, not you, too, Astrid. You're killing me."
"You got this, or should I?" I asked and looked up from my book.
"I got it," She replied and turned back to Hiccup.
"Hiccup, we're all behind you 100 percent." She began, then was interrupted as Snotlout shoved Fishlegs in the lagoon. Making everyone except for Hiccup and Fishlegs laugh.
"Oh, that's nice." Hiccup said sarcastically.
"But you can't expect them to be you." Astrid continued. "They're your soldiers. And good soldiers will work until their hands are raw and until their backs are almost breaking. But there does come a point when they need time to regroup, to forget about being soldiers and just be people."
"Amen," I said.
"You're right. I've been pushing them really hard." Hiccup sighed and I and thanked Thor, or Astrid, rather. Same thing. Not really.
"Snotlout! Snotlout! Oy! Oy! Oy!"
I then decided Snotlout was annoyed so I chucked a pebble at his head, making him stumble back then slip and fall into the lagoon.
"Hah, nailed it!" I grinned and high-fived Astrid.
* * *
"I have a bad feeling about this." I said and watched as the twins finished their 'cooking'.
It was getting dark and we sat around the campfire, somehow getting talked into letting the twins make dinner. I watched in disgust as they slunk from the shadow, holding what looked like mouldy fish. According to my nose, very salty, slimy, possibly mouldy fish.
"Dinner is served..." Tuff announced and held out his... um, masterpiece?
Heh, master piece of crap.
"What is that smell?" Fishlegs asked and held his nose.
Tuff came closer to us with the fish and my senses decided that the fish was blasphemous. Apparently, everyone agreed because we all started gagging and retching at the... smell, look, everything about it made me want to hurl.
"What is this?" Astrid asked and looked suspiciously down at the 'food' we'd been served.
"Oh, glad you asked, milady." Tuff grinned. "That would be salt-encrusted sea bass with a salted seaweed gravy. Mixed in with salt and all finished with a little pinch of salt on top."
"I think you mean, pound." I corrected and watched the mountain of salt on my fish crumble over the entire plate.
Hiccup bravely sniffed it and then tasting the... dinner. "Whoa, that is salty."
"Too much, you think?" Ruff asked.
Toothless sniffed the fish the snarled and batted it away from him.
"Oh, weird. The dragons usually love fish, no matter how bad it tastes." Fishlegs commented.
"That's because the salt absorbed the fish and it's back to just salt." I said and watched my dragon sniff my fish then run away growling. "No need to be so salty," I told Spike then laughed to myself.
Spike growled at my stupid joke and I countered by throwing a heap of salt from my fish at his face. He shook his head then glared at me and decided to go get some sleep. Far away from me.
"Hookfang won't even touch it, and I've seen him eat piles of yak dung. I mean piles of fresh-out-of-the -"
"Okay, we get it, Snotlout." Astrid thankfully interrupted Snotlout, it's not like I planned on eating but I still didn't want to hear the end of that sentence.
"Well, I chalk it up to underdeveloped palates. Both human and dragon." Tuff told us, head-butted his sister then they put the fish in their mouth. We all watched as their faces twisted in disgust and their eyes start tearing up. Though somehow managed to swallow it.
"Ooh!"
"Uh, I need to lay down." Tuff said and straight-up fell off the log.
"Me, too." Ruff agreed and joined her brother.
"Did they actually go to sleep or just faint from the fish?" I asked no one in particular.
"Hard to tell with those two," Astrid said and I nodded.
* * *
"Everybody, wake up!" Fishlegs yelled.
I groaned and sat up, surprised that I was no longer cuddled up to my dragon as well as the yelling.
"Zip it, Fish Face. The sun's not even out." Snotlout mumbled and tried to go back to sleep.
Suddenly Meatlug appeared and started roaring and pushing at our dragons. Who woke up, all apparently very pissed off and tried to attack each other.
"Oh, Thor!" Fishlegs squealed.
"What's going on with the dragons?" Hiccup asked him.
"I have no idea. All I know is that Meatlug was sleepwalking, and when I found her she was in a really bad mood and chased me through the forest and tried to kill me." He explained.
I took a closer look at Meatlug, Stormfly, Hookfang and Barf & Belch and noticed they had what looked like glowing saliva dripping from their mouths. Now worried about my own, I looked over to Spike who wasn't glowing along with Toothless. The dragons growled and turned their attention on us, getting ready to attack.
"I don't think they're playing." Hiccup said as we all backed up, Night Furies trying to shield us.
"Stormfly, no!" Astrid yelled but her dragon blasted fire at us and we all jumped out of the way.
"This is all your fault, you know." Ruff told her brother.
"My fault?" Tuff repeated, shocked.
"Yeah. That stupid salty fish. They hate us because they went to bed hungry and now they're all cranky."
"That salt was properly pinched."
"Your brain is properly pinched."
The twins then both yelled and attacked each other.
"No, it's not the fish. Look at their saddles." Hiccup told us. "They've been chewed off!"
"It's a revolt. They're rising up against us!" Fishlegs panicked.
"Why would they do that?" Astrid asked.
"I don't know. Why would they?" Snotlout said sarcastically and looked at Hiccup.
"You think this is my fault?" Hiccup gasped.
Suddenly all the crazy dragons jumped at us and started firing, Spike and Toothless roared and started firing back.
"Okay, everyone split up. If we're together, we're vulnerable." Hiccup ordered and everyone scrambled away.
"And, uh, what about us?" I asked.
"It seems that Toothless and Spike are okay. We'll hold them off, you guys get out of here." He told me.
"What? No way, I'm not letting you risk yourself! I'm staying with you." I said, very much annoyed.
Hiccup and I had a small stare off then he turned to my dragon.
"Spike,"
As soon as he said his name, Spike flew at me and picked me up in his claws, flying us away from the fight while I yelled profanities. Suddenly I stopped yelling and struggling and became eerily silent. Spike noticed and looked upside down at me.
"Deathspike, you put me down. Right. Now." I hissed, using the full name card and staring him down.
Spike swallowed, as I don't think he's ever been called Deathspike since we met four years ago. He smartly made the decision to turn around and fly back where the fight had been. There was nothing there now.
"You better find that idiot, I need to hit him." I told my dragon who immediately started using his eco-location.
You get beaten and tortured for information one time, then almost die of a sacred plague and everyone decides that you can't fight anymore. I get protecting the people you care about but we literally face life or death every other week. And I sure as hell wasn't gonna flee while my friends were in danger.
Spike must have found them because he dove down and I was placed on the ground in front of Hiccup.
"Um..." He didn't have anything to say.
"We will talk about this later." I said with a glare. "Now let's go find our friends."
* * *
"Nothing. They must have really split up." Hiccup sighed as we walked around with our dragons. "See if you can pick up any sounds, bud." Toothless used his eco-location and I was unhappy to see the other dragons light up in the trees. "Okay, those weren't the sounds we were looking for."
"Tell me about it," I mumbled and gripped my saddle tighter.
"I haven't seen them act like this since we trained them. They're hunting like wild dragons." Hiccup said and a bush behind us rustled.
"And apparently, they're still pretty good at it." I said as Spike prepared a shot.
Surprisingly Ruffnut jumped out of the bush.
"No! Don't shoot!"
Spike growled and distinguished the blast, smoke coming out of his nostrils.
"Ruff! Are you okay?" I asked and Spike ran over to her.
"No, I'm NOT okay. I'm cracking under the pressure." She said, very panicky.
"Ruff, you're fine. Have you seen any of the others?" Hiccup asked.
"You said split up!" She yelled.
"I know, but-"
My dragon senses from getting hit in the face with so many Terror's kicked in. "Duck!" I yelled and pressed myself against my saddle as Stormfly made a grab at us.
"We need to find the rest of the Riders. Fast." Hiccup whispered.
"Get on!" I whisper yelled at Ruff and she jumped on behind me before Spike and Toothless took off.
* * *
The sun had risen and we were still searching the forest when Tuffnut and Fishlegs came yelling from the trees.
"Hiccup! Run!"
They stopped in their tracks and started heaving in air, they must have been running for a long time.
"Why? What's the matter?" Hiccup asked.
"Hookfang. He landed in the woods and he's coming this way!" Fishlegs panted and sure enough, Hookfang basted fire in our direction.
"Indeed he is!" I yelled and we ran towards a break in the trees but stopped as Astrid and Snotlout came running out.
"Run!" Snotlout yelled.
"Barf and Belch are right behind us!" Astrid added.
"We played right into their hands." Hiccup gasped.
"Technically, dragons don't have hands, so that expression doesn't... Maybe 'We fell right into their talons'?" Tuff corrected him, still panting.
"The point is, we're about to be..." Hiccup began and looked to another which was now blocked by a growling Zippleback. "...surrounded.
We turned to another exit and started running, only for Meatlug to jump out and block that path too.
"Other way!" Hiccup yelled, turning to that last path that Stormfly conveniently landed and blocked.
"Hiccup, how long are we gonna to wait until we make our next move?" Astrid asked, clearly not enjoying being on the other end of her snarling dragon.
"What 'next move'? I'm out of next moves." Hiccup replied.
Not the response I was hoping for. Guess it's up to me.
"Toothless, Spike, Hiccup evasive maneuver 9!" I yelled to the dragons.
Toothless started firing at the other dragon while Spike shot the ground, sending up a huge smokescreen.
"This way!" I yelled and Spike ran down the path, leading our friends away from their dragons.
"There! A cave!" Hiccup pointed out and we all rushed in before Toothless shot the ceiling and trapped us in.
"Hiccup, that's not gonna hold for long. We need to find another way out of here."
Now that I was trapped in a small space with my dragon, I realized something.
"Man, you still reek of Tuff's disgusting salt fish." I gagged and waved my hand in front of my nose.
Spike simply smacked me with his ear fin as a way of saying 'You threw that blasphemy on my head, you idiot,'.
Snotlout let out a grunt and gave Hiccup the death glare.
"Just say it." Hiccup sighed and rolled his eyes. "I know what you're thinking."
"All I'm saying is we wouldn't be in this position if your tyrannical behaviour, due to your obsessive need to one-up Viggo, had not driven our poor dragons to the brink of insanity. There, I said it." Snotlout said casually and flipped his hair.
"Wow. That was both dramatically impressive and logically sound." Tuff commented and I nodded in agreement. Logic wasn't one of Snotlout strong suits.
"Thank you, Tuffy." Snotlout smirked, proud of himself.
"You all think this was my fault?" Hiccup asked and look at us.
No one said anything but Snotlout and the twins glared at him, while Astrid and Fishlegs looked away and I pretended to fiddle with my clothing.
"Okay, well, how about this? If the dragons have been driven to the brink of madness, as you say, why is Toothless completely unaffected?" Hiccup asked, clearly not going to admit how hard he'd been working us.
"Great argument. That would be just as logically sound if it weren't for one small thing." Tuff said and pointed to Toothless who had glowing purple spit running down his mouth and was growling.
"Oh great." Hiccup gulped.
I anxiously looked to Spike but he was still normal. Thank Thor, if he lost it and turned into a Screaming Death we would be completely screwed.
Toothless snarled at us and we all jumped back. Spike not sure what to do as he didn't particularly want to attack his friend.
Hiccup cautiously stepped towards his dragon with his arms up in defence. "Look at me. It's me, it's Hiccup. Toothless, whatever's going on, we can get through this." Toothless ignored this and advanced dangerously. "Just talk to me. Toothless, just relax."
"I am not going out this way!" Tuff yelled and started flinging things at Toothless, like his helmet and things on his belt.
Toothless got hit in the head which the helmet and Tuffnut sprinkled him with salt. Surprisingly, Toothless rolled over and start seizing.
"Whoa! What in the name of Thor was that?" Hiccup yelled at Tuff as he had possibly just killed Toothless.
"That, my friend, was salt." Tuff said and pinched his thumb and forefinger together. "Just a pinch."
"Salt?" We all repeated.
"Hey, I didn't see any of you stepping up, so I went with what I had. And what I had was salt." Tuff told us.
"And you fed us that stuff." Snotlout asked in horror as we might all start convulsing.
Suddenly, a painful high-pitched sound came from the thrashing Toothless... but he isn't making the sound. I groaned and my ears with my hands but still watching as Toothless shook his head and three parasite-looking creatures flung off to the floor, squealing.
What. The. Flightmare.
"Did you see that? It jumped out of Toothless' skin." Tuff asked in awe. "That was awesome. Quick! Put it on me! Put it on me!"
"No!" I said and smacked him across the back of the head.
"Of course." Fishlegs gasped. "A Grimora. That's why the dragons were hunting us."
"A Grim-what-a?" I failed at saying.
"Grimora." He repeated. "It's a rare parasite that attach themselves to dragons and release a toxin that causes them to turn wild. But Grimora usually only live in freshwater."
"The lagoon. Our dragons must have picked them up when we went swimming." Astrid added, catching on to our situation.
"They chewed off their saddles to get the Grimoras off of them. Not because they were rebelling." Hiccup grinned. "See? And you thought I was working them too hard."
We all just looked at him, very much pissed off.
"Okay, you're right." Hiccup sighed. "I was working then too hard. Point taken."
"Was that so hard?" I asked and lightly smacked him in the head.
"Okay, so all we need to do is find the rest of our dragons and throw salt on them." Ruff said, devising another crazy plan.
"You know that could work." Fishlegs responded thoughtfully.
"Sorry, gonna have to disagree with you there, Fishy. Out of salt." Tuff told us, shaking the empty salt jar. "Used the last of it on T and then, you know, the salt-crusted sea bass, which, I might add, no one liked. Everybody likes salt now, but when it was on the sea bass . . . Nuh-uh."
"Well then, we're just gonna have to lead them to the next best salt location." Hiccup said, possibly devising a completely ridiculous plan.
"Lead them? They're trying to eat us. Did you forget that?" Snotlout sassed.
"Nope, just don't let them catch you." Hiccup replied and got on Toothless. "Okay, bud. Plasma Blast!"
Toothless blasted the cave entrance back open and everyone rushed out. The dragons not immediately visible yet.
"Thank Thor, they're gone." Snotlout sighed in relief.
"I wouldn't get ahead of myself," I said, pressing myself closer to my saddle. Ironically at the moment all the dragons jumped out and roared at us.
"Meatlug!"
"Hookfang!"
"Remember the plan!" Hiccup yelled. "You'll be fine as long as you remember-"
And everyone ran off screaming with their dragon following.
"...the plan." Hiccup finished. "That wasn't the plan."
"They'll figure something out." I said and waved it off.
We flew around for a bit and thankfully found everyone reuniting with their dragons. Hiccup landed Toothless landed on a boulder while Spike and I landed next to the others. Apparently, that was a smart decision.
"Good job, guys!" Hiccup called.
Toothless sniffed the boulder and the big surprise, the Grimora jump on Toothless, causing him to snarl.
"No, no, no, no! We gotta get you in the water." Hiccup yelled as Toothless bucked and tried to get Hiccup off his back. "Stay with me!"
Hiccup screamed as Toothless took off in the air.
"No, Toothless, the water!"
Toothless flung Hiccup off his back and dangerously close to a cliff, making me go from concerned to mortally terrified.
"No, Toothless!"
Toothless shot a Plasma Blast at Hiccup, but he dodged and ran around a tree. Hiccup, much to horror, ran into him and pushed him off the cliff. Both of them going over and into the sea.
"Come on. Come on." I muttered nervously, biting my lip and splitting it.
To my immense relief and relief to my painfully drumming heart, Hiccup on Toothless flew out from the water.
"Oh, thank Thor." I sighed and slid off my saddle.
Hiccup and Toothless landed on the beach and Hiccup dismounted and patted his dragon.
"Welcome back, bud." Hiccup said and was interrupted by me slamming into him.
"Stop almost dying!" I yelled against his chest as I death-hugged him.
"Sorry, it's gonna have to happen a few more times if we're going to even the score." Hiccup chuckled and pet my hair.
* * *
We were all back on Dragon's Edge, standing at the stables and checking up on how Stoick and Gobber managed while we were gone.
"Hookfang and I decided, no more vacation for us." Snotlout told us and made an 'x' with his arms.
"I think a better plan would be when we need a break, we'll just stay a little closer to home." Astrid said.
"I'm all for that." Fishlegs agreed, nodding.
"Actually, the best plan would be for me to lighten up a little on my Viggo obsession." Hiccup confessed.
"Thank you," I said and leaned my head against his arm, not being tall enough to reach his shoulder.
"And tyrannical behaviour." Snotlout added. "Don't forget that."
Everyone laughed and Gobber entered the Stables with a chicken.
"Hey Gobber, you decided to get one of your own? Can't blame ya." Tuff said and eyes the chicken.
"No, this is yours. This is 'The Chicken', himself." Gobber insisted.
He didn't kill Chicken or something...right?
"Uh, no it's not." Tuff said and crossed his arms.
Stoick then walked from the stables with another impostor chicken.
"He's right. The real Chicken is right here, isn't he?" Stoick said and held up the fake. "Just read him a story and everything."
'Come on, at least find a chicken that's the right colour'
"That's great, Chief, but nope, not my chicken, either." Tuff told him. "Different chicken."
Stoick groaned. "Tuffnut, by order of the Chief of Berk, this is your chicken!" He ordered.
They totally killed Chicken.
To my surprise, we heard clucking and the real Chicken waddled up and jumped in Tuff's arms.
"Hey, Chicken! Come here, come here. Yes, that's it. You have a good time playing with Uncle Gobber? Of course, you did. Come on, my one and only Chicken, I'll tell you a new story. It's got dragons and little slimy leechy things that turn them into killers. It's hard to believe it all happened, but it's a true story. You're gonna love it." Tuff rambled and walked off with Chicken.
Stoick and Gobber tossed aside their impostor chickens, crossed their arms (or arm) and turned on one another.
"Can't believe you tried to fake a chicken. You're the chief, for crying out loud." Gobber scoffed.
"Me? Yours didn't even look like a chicken, it looked like a rooster." Stoick retorted.
"I'm good at weapons. I'm not good at chickens..." Gobber huffed and turned his back to the chief.