Ryu is in his room, leafing through the dragon book and going over it as he thinks about how he's connected to Thunder & the Dragon Realms. Suddenly, he realizes how he might be connected to it. He closes the dragon book and runs to the Dragon's Lair. He goes past the sensors after deactivating them. He jumps down into the entrance as he jumps down the steps of the rock formation. He doesn't see the group, but he can hear them talking
"Thank you, Jun." he can hear D'Angelo thank Jun for something.
Ryu hears her sigh
"I really thought that reverse psychology thing would work." Jun admits.
"Well, then it's back to plan B." Eugene states. "Brute force!" he reveals loudly.
"Guys!" Ryu calls out to the group, grabbing their attention.
Thunder comes up to him and purrs at him
"Hey, bud." he says to him.
They put their heads against each other, closing their eyes as Ryu scratches Thunder's chin. They open their eyes again as Ryu looks at the group
"I think I might have found the key to finally understanding my connection to Thunder & the Dragon Realms." he tells them, looking at Thunder for a bit.
"Ooh, conspiracy theories." Alex says excitedly. "Hit me." she demands.
Ryu then closes the book
"I was thinking, why would me & my brother's family have the Viking helmet that unlocked a box with this book unless the author was part of my family?" Ryu asks, revealing his theory. "But the thing is, his name was Hiccup Haddock. But our name is Kullersen. So that's not the same. So I'm not really sure how we got the helmet & book then. I kind of know what he looked like from drawings in the book and from the mural in that cave in the King's Realm, but that's about it." he explains.
"So, what now?" Jun asks him, wanting to know more.
"Yeah, 'cause if that's all you got, I was in the middle of shaking D'Angelo down for his haystacks." Eugene informs him before turning to look at D'Angelo, putting his left hand on D'Angelo's left shoulder, making D'Angelo lean away from him as the rest of the group looks at him.
"Well... sort of." he admits. "But look!" he continues, turning to a specific page as he shows it to the group. "This passage mentions his resting place. "Where there's a resting place, there's got to be a gravestone." he explains. "And gravestones have names on them!" he adds loudly.
"So, you wanna look for a dead body?" Tom asks him, shocked.
"Yeah, I'm in." Alex agrees, putting her hands on her hips.
"No, no, not the guy." Ryu answers, closing the dragon book and looking down at it. "The gravestone." he clarifies.
"Mm." Alex hums, putting her hand on her chin for a moment. "That's fine too, I guess." Alex says to him.
"Any idea where to start looking?" Jun asks him.
Thunder lifts up his right front paw for Ryu to use as a stepping stool
"It's in the Nature Realm." Ryu answers as he gets onto Thunder's saddle. "Come on, bud. Today's the day we solve the mystery." he tells him.
Thunder then flies up as they go to the Nature Realm
*In the Nature Realm*
The group is flying through the Nature Realm as Ryu is looking around in amazement. As he looks down, he can see a green Terrible Terror and a purple one
"Look at this place. The colors are unreal." Ryu says to the group.
Alex & Feathers then fly past him
"So, what's a Viking grave look like?" Jun asks him interestedly as she's seated on Wei. "An obelisk? Or like a henge, maybe?" she lists off the possibilities.
"Well, Viking burials differed from tribe to tribe, so I was just thinking we'd find a rock with designs that resemble the ones from the book around it and hopefully a name carved into it." he explains.
"If we're going on an epic quest, I'm gonna need my strength." D'Angelo states as he takes a small chocolate treat outta a small bag and eats it.
D'Angelo suddenly sees a set of arms close to the small bag that has the small chocolate treats in it. He quickly puts the bag in his other hand and holds it close to him. It's revealed that the set of arms belongs to Eugene Wong, who has his legs wrapped tightly around Webmaster's right front leg
"No!" D'Angelo says to him, wiggling his finger in a no motion.
D'Angelo then flies away as Webmaster lets out a squawk
"Hey! I see rocks." Alex calls out to the group, grabbing their attention and pointing at it. "There might be Vikings buried under them." she guesses.
"Good eyes, Alex!" Tom compliments her.
"Yeah, let's see what we can find." Ryu says as Thunder roars excitedly.
The group then lands their dragons near the rocks and gets off when they land. They spread around and went looking around. Alex sighs in defeat, shaking her head as she doesn't find anything. Feathers then squawks at her softly. Ryu & Thunder are inspecting a stone, hoping to find the designs they're looking for, while nearby Jun is looking at the ground with Wu & Wei
"Whoa." Eugene suddenly says. "Over here!" he calls out to them, beckoning them over and then running to what he found.
Jun & Ryu follow after him
"Eh?" he asks them, gesturing to a rock that somehow has moss in the form of Abraham Lincoln on it.
Ryu sighs in defeat
"There's nothing on it." Ryu tells him, putting his hands on his hips
"Well, what do you call that?" Eugene asks him, gesturing to it again.
Jun squats and takes a closer look
"Moss?" she answers, confused, thinking her big brother doesn't know what it is.
"Are you kidding?" Eugene asks her in disbelief. "It's Abraham Lincoln!" he shouts.
"Eugene, this is serious." Ryu says to him. "Don't you get what it's like to know you're connected to something and be so close to figuring it out?" he questions him. "It's not a joke to me." he tells him dejectedly.
With that, Ryu walks away from the Wong siblings. Jun gives her big brother a disapproving look
"What?" Eugene asks his sister. "It seriously looks like Abraham Lincoln!" he shouts, trying to justify himself. "Or maybe it's that Colonel chicken guy." he theorizes.
A few feet away, D'Angelo is about to eat another one of his chocolate treats, but stops when he can hear some rustling
"I hear you, Eugene." D'Angelo says to him, thinking it's him who's making the rustling sound as he eats the chocolate treat.
"What?" Eugene asks him, confused, revealing he's still standing at the rock that has the Abraham Lincoln moss. "You hear this, too?" he asks him as he blows a raspberry at him.
The rustling continues as it gets louder & louder
"Anybody else hear that?" D'Angelo asks the group anxiously.
The group stays quiet as they try to listen to it. The rustle continues as something purple with turquoise lowers itself sneakily behind D'Angelo to the small bag that holds the chocolate treats. The purple and turquoise thing suddenly grabs the bag as it disappears into the canopy. Feeling the bag removed from his hand, D'Angelo gasps
"Hey!" he yells, calling out to it as chirping can be heard. "My haystacks!" he shouts, looking up at the tree.
"Something's in the trees." Ryu realizes as he runs up to D'Angelo, followed by the rest of the group.
The culprit squawks as it flies through the branches of the tree. The culprit then reveals himself to be a turquoise, white & green-looking dragon with yellow eyes that resemble a draco lizard as he wraps his prehensile tail around a branch while holding the bag in his front paws while looking down at the group. He squawks & shrieks at the group
"Aw. It's kinda cute." Jun admits. "What the heck is it?" she asks, not knowing what it is.
"It's a dirty, rotten thief!" D'Angelo says angrily.
"Wait a second. It looks familiar." Ryu states, looking at a page in the dragon book. "Ah--" he begins, translating the name from runes to English. "They're called Vine Tails!" Ryu reveals loudly.
"And they just stole my haystacks!" D'Angelo says loudly, looking from the dragon to Ryu. "How does that book say we get 'em back?" he asks, annoyed.
Ryu reads the page again when suddenly a yellow Vine Tail with purple eyes grabs the dragon book with a squawk
"Ah! The book!" Ryu says loudly as he looks up at the dragon and so does Thunder. "They took the book! he yells.
"Don't freak out, Ryu." Alex says to him, trying to calm him down.
Suddenly, a purple Vine Tail with green eyes swoops down with a squawk and takes Alex's tablet
"My tablet!" Alex yells, turning to the purple Vine Tail
The purple Vine Tail lands on the branch next to the turquoise Vine Tail as they squawk & snarl while dangling the 3 stolen objects at the group, taunting them before running away
"Get 'em!" Alex says loudly. "Ah!" she screams.
Alex gets on Feathers as she continues to scream and chases after the Vine Tail that has her tablet
"Alex, wait up!" Jun calls out to her while seated on Wei. "You ever seen her this mad?" Jun asks Ryu.
"She's mad?" Ryu asks sarcastically as he jumps from Thunder to the branch where the yellow Vine Tail with purple eyes was a second ago, but the dragon jumped to another branch. "Well, at least her tablet can be replaced." he states.
Thunder roars at the Vine Tail and the small yellow dragon snarls back at him
"That book is old & priceless. It could fall apart at any second." Ryu explains. "And I'm not done translating and transcribing it yet." he adds.
*With D'Angelo*
The purple Vine Tail and a dull blue Vine Tail are playing a game of Keep Away with the bag that has the chocolate treats in it
"They're gonna eat all my haystacks!" D'Angelo shouts. "Or worse." he continues. "What if they melt and go to waste?" he asks, horrified.
"Come on, focus. We'll get everything back." Jun tells Alex, Ryu & D'Angelo.
"Yeah, it's us 6 against like a few of them." Tom explains.
Jun, Wu & Wei start to chase the yellow Vine Tail, who seesaws around the branches. He goes from branch to branch while chirping and Wu & Wei have a hard time keeping track of him. The yellow Vine Tail flies past them while squawking as Jun and Wu & Wei look at the dragon. He then flies in front of them as he drags them along using his tail, causing Jun and Wu & Wei to crash into a tree
"Ah!" Jun yelps in surprise.
"Jun!" Ryu calls out to her worriedly, looking up at her.
"I'm fine." Jun reassures him, holding onto a branch and slides down a bit. "Just get the book!" she tells him loudly.
Thunder growls as he & Ryu turn around to chase the yellow Vine Tail. The yellow Vine Tail continues to fly around the branches, running along them as well as running vertically on a tree trunk while squawking. Thunder runs up the tree as well with a roar, right as the yellow Vine Tail flies down, making Thunder jump down
"Whoa! Thunder!" Ryu says loudly in surprise. "U-turn!" he orders as Thunder lands back on the ground.
Thunder then runs after the yellow Vine Tail
"I'll cut 'em off!" D'Angelo shouts while Plowhorn is chasing the dull blue Vine tail who is holding the bag of chocolate treats.
The 2 Vine Tails meet up as they fly up, revealing that they played the Chicken game with the 2 dragon riders
"Watch out!" D'Angelo yells, seeing that Plowhorn & Thunder are about to crash into each other.
Plowhorn jumps over Ryu & Thunder, causing Ryu to gasp in surprise as Thunder growls at the surprise. Ryu then sighs in relief
"That was too close." he states.
*With Alex & Ryu*
The yellow Vine Tail and turquoise Vine Tail throw the dragon book & Alex's tablet back & forth between the 2
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Ryu says rapidly, being worried about his dragon book. "No, be careful with that!" he calls out to them.
"Ugh! If they crack my screen, I swear..." Alex says threateningly.
Ryu sees that eventually the turquoise Vine Tail gets his hand on the dragon book and chases after it
"Just... a little... bit more..." Ryu says as his hand is mere inches away from grabbing the dragon book.
The turquoise Vine Tail looks behind himself to see how close Ryu & Thunder are, chirping at them. Knowing how close they are, he front flips and throws the dragon book in the same movement toward the purple Vine Tail. The dragon book is almost with the purple Vine Tail, but Plowhorn catches it mid-air with her teeth while growling softly
"Woo-hoo!" D'Angelo cheers as Plowhorn lands. "It's a Plowhorn interception." he states.
A chirp & squawk can be heard as D'Angelo looks down to see that the dull blue Vine Tail has bitten down on the dragon book. The small dragon tries to get it in from her with a tug of war
Thunder approaches Plowhorn from the right, while Switchblade approaches her from the left
"Ha!" Ryu laughs. "This dragon thinks it can win a tug of war with Plowhorn?" he asks incredulously.
"There's no chance that this little dragon can win a tug of war with a Gembreaker." Tom states.
"Yeah, indeed." D'Angelo agrees with the Kullersen brothers. "You got another thing coming, little buddy." he says to the little dragon.
The dull blue Vine Tail growls softly as he extends his tail and the other Vine Tails bite down on the tail in front of them, linking them with each other, forming a chain of 6 other Vine Tails as they growl as well
The dull blue Vine Tail starts growling louder, closing his eyes and shaking his head. Suddenly, Plowhorn starts to slide forward, beginning to lose the tug of war
"Uh, guys?" D'Angelo asks. "Plow's gonna need a hand!" he shouts.
"Seriously?" Ryu asks him, shocked.
"You got to be kidding me." Tom states.
"Come on, bud. We can't let them get the book." Ryu says to Thunder.
"Yeah, we should be able to do this." Tom adds.
Thunder then bites down on Plowhorn's tail as Switchblade bites down on Thunder's tail. The Night Light & Deadly Nadder tug back along with the Gembreaker, causing the Vine Tails to come off the ground
Ryu, Tom & D'Angelo struggle along with their dragons
"These guys are strong." Jun notes.
"It's okay." D'Angelo says, trying to reassure the others. "Nothing can out-pull Plow." he tells them.
"D?" Tom asks him.
"Are you sure about that?" Ryu questions.
Both Plowhorn and the dull blue Vine Tail growl at each other. The Vine Tails strain themselves as the dragon book snaps out of Plowhorn's grip, causing Plowhorn, Thunder and Switchblade to get launched backward and hit the ground with a harsh thud. The Vine Tails run off as the dull blue Vine Tail has the dragon book wrapped around his tail and snarls & chirps at the group before running off as well
Ryu groans in light pain as he sighs in defeat
"They got the book." he says in defeat. "And the canopy's too thick to fly after them." he states, gesturing to the thick foliage.
"Don't worry. We'll get it back." Jun reassures him. "Maybe we'll have better luck on the ground." she suggests.
*Sometime later*
The group is now on foot, with their dragons at their sides. Ryu is walking in front of the group. He pushes some leaves aside to reveal a huge tree with turquoise roots visible going along it. The huge tree is surrounded by several plants unknown to the group. Ryu then looks to the right and sees the herd of Vine Tails
"There they are." he says firmly, pointing at them.
The dull blue Vine Tail drops the dragon book and squawks at the group
"Look! They dropped it!" Alex states loudly, pointing at the dragon book.
"Come on, now's our chance." Tom informs the group.
"Thunder, you think you can fly at them?" Ryu asks his dragon, putting his left hand on Thunder.
"Don't." Jun says to him, approaching him and making Ryu look at her. "Chasing them didn't work." she tells him. "They'll just take the book and run again." she explains.
"Then we need a way to bring them to us." Ryu figures out, gesturing to himself.
D'Angelo is munching on his chocolate treats. When he gets a feeling that he's being watched, he turns his head to the right to see Thunder, the Kullersen brothers, Jun & Alex looking at him. Ryu & Jun then walk up to him. D'Angelo realizes what they're planning
"Oh, come on! Nuh-uh! No! No!" D'Angelo says to them loudly, turning away, holding the bag close to him and holding out his left hand, trying to stop them.
"It was the first thing they stole." Jun explains to him.
"We are not using my haystacks to bribe those things into giving us the book back!" D'Angelo explains to her loudly.
"You don't think they'll like them?" Eugene asks him, coming up to him, making D'Angelo turn away from him.
"It's impossible not to like these!" D'Angelo yells at him.
"Prove it." Eugene dares him. "Ah..." he says, opening his mouth, pointing at it and hoping to get 1 of the chocolate treats.
"D, please. The sooner we get the book back, the sooner we can look for the resting place." Ryu urges him.
D'Angelo lets out a loud, annoyed groan
The group gets on their dragons and they walk towards the Vine Tails
"My grandma only sends me these once a year, but sure!" D'Angelo begins, very annoyed with what he has to do. "Let's give them to some random dragons we just met!" he says loudly, not happy with this at all. "Probably won't even savor them," he grumbles.
Plowhorn growls softly, feeling her rider's annoyance
What they don't realize is that a vine is starting to move on its own
"Everyone. Take it easy." Ryu cautions them.
The yellow Vine Tail shrieks loudly at the group
"D! You got this!" Ryu encourages him.
D'Angelo sighs and holds out his hand to the Vine Tails that's holding the bag of chocolate treats. Plowhorn grumbles as she tries to take another step forward, but a vine is wrapped around her right front & back leg
"Keep going!" Tom tells him.
"I'm trying. Plow stopped." D'Angelo informs him.
Thunder looks down, seeing vines wrapped around his right front & back leg, causing him to growl
"Is something wrong?" Ryu asks his dragon.
Thunder struggles as Ryu notices the vines wrapped around Thunder's legs
"Hey, guys?" he calls out to the group, confused. "These vines. Thunder's tangled in them." he says to the group.
"Wu and Wei are, too." Jun states, seeing the vines wrapped around Wu's & Wei's legs.
"What kind of plants are these?" Alex asks fearfully.
Suddenly, the plant on his left opens up and Ryu can see the teeth inside the plants
"Ah!" he yells. "The dragon-eating kind!" he answers.
"Seriously?!" Tom asks loudly in astonishment.
Eugene screams loudly as a plant hisses at him and his dragon
"Plow! Come on, girl!" D'Angelo encourages his dragon.
Suddenly, a vine wraps around Wei's neck. Jun sees this
"Get off of them!" she yells at it, starting to kick it.
Meanwhile, another vine wraps around Wu's neck
Eugene continues to scream loudly
"No, no, no, no, no!" he says rapidly as Webmaster is being dragged to a dragon-eating plant.
The plant growls fiercely at the duo
"Quick! Feed them your coconut things!" Eugene yells at D'Angelo.
"To plants?" D'Angelo asks him, shocked. "That is a crime!" he yells back at him.
The plant continues to growl fiercely at Eugene & Webmaster as Eugene looks at it
"Ah! We're on the menu next!" Eugene yells at D'Angelo.
"D! You're close enough to that clearing to jump free of them!" Alex shouts at him, standing on top of Feathers.
Feathers' legs & tail are tangled in several vines
"You wanna leave our dragons?" D'Angelo asks her, shocked.
Plowhorn's tail is also tangled in a vine
"We can't do any good for them here! We're sitting ducks!" Jun explains to him.
A vine is wrapped around Wei's muzzle to prevent it from opening
"Jun's right." Ryu says, agreeing with her. "We can find a way to help them over there. But over here, we're just plant food." he explains to D'Angelo as he stands up on Thunder's saddle. "Come on!" he beckons to the rest of the group behind him.
He leaps from Thunder with a small grunt and lands on Plowhorn's back. D'Angelo then leaps from Plowhorn to the ground in front of her. Jun has leaped from her dragon to Thunder to Plowhorn as Ryu holds her hands to steady her. Ryu then leaps off of Plowhorn to the ground in front of her. Jun then leaps off of Plowhorn to the ground in front of her. Tom leaps from his dragon to Wu & Wei to Thunder to Plowhorn. Alex leaps from her dragon to Switchblade to Wu & Wei to Thunder to Plowhorn as Tom holds her hands to steady her. Tom then leaps off of Plowhorn to the ground in front of her. Alex then leaps off of Plowhorn to the ground in front of her. Finally, Eugene leaps from his dragon to Feathers, Switchblade, Wu & Wei, Thunder, Plowhorn and then to the ground in front of her. Tom then grabs Alex's right hand with his right hand and grabs Eugene's right hand with his left hand, pulling them to him
The group then looks at their dragons, who roar loudly, trying to free themselves
"Okay. These things must have a weakness." Ryu says, making his little brother & Jun turn to look at him.
"Yeah, everything has. We just have to find it." Tom adds.
"Ryu..." D'Angelo drags out.
The Vine Tails squawk and hiss at the group as the Kullersen brothers & Jun turn around to look at each other
"This just got worse." Jun states.
"We're caught in a death sandwich!" Eugene exclaims. "All this to find some dumb name on a gravestone?" he asks Ryu angrily. "Way to go, eldest Kullersen!" he yells at him sarcastically. "At least there's time for one last meal, I mean..." he finishes, trying to get a chocolate treat from D'Angelo, but he holds the bag away from him.
The Vine Tails growl at the group
"We're dead." Eugene says in defeat.
Everyone, minus Ryu, closes their eyes and looks away
"I don't think so. It feels like we're missing something." Ryu theorizes, putting his right index finger & thumb on his chin.
The Vine Tails snarl at the group before charging at them. The group, minus Ryu, starts to scream as he stands his ground against his eyes on the dragons. Ryu sees the dull blue Vine Tail drop the dragon book as he and the other Vine Tails run past the group
"Guys, stop screaming." Ryu orders them as he picks up the dragon book.
The group, minus Eugene, opens their eyes and looks at him.
"Huh?" Tom says, confused.
"Any second now!" Eugene whimpers loudly.
"They gave the book back?" Tom asks Ryu, confused.
"Yeah." Ryu answers. "I think I know why." he says to him, gesturing to the Vine Tails, who are using the group's dragons to get to the huge tree.
The group turns to look at the Vine Tails, seeing what Ryu sees as they hear the Vine Tails squawk & chirp. They climb the trunk of the tree, go each to a different branch, grab a fruit and start to eat it. The purple Vine Tail shrieks at the group before taking a bite outta the fruit
"They used us." Jun realizes out loud.
"They took our stuff to lure us here, so they could use our dragons to get to the tree to eat its fruits." Ryu explains.
"Some mammals in the wild understand basic bartering." D'Angelo informs the group. "Manipulation!" he clarifies loudly. "Trading goods for services." he explains.
"What a bunch of tricky jerks!" Eugene yells, annoyed. "Who manipulates people for food?" he asks, not realizing that's what he's been trying to do to D'Angelo with the chocolate treats.
D'Angelo gives him a deadpan look for this
"We can't worry about that now." Ryu tells them. "Our dragons won't last much longer with those carnivorous plants." he says to them.
The group's dragons continue to struggle with the vines and roar at the plants
"Thunder, lightning blast!" Ryu orders loudly, cupping his hands around his mouth.
Thunder roars and shoots a lightning blast at the carnivorous plant. The plant whimpers, closes and drops down when it gets hit with the lightning blast. Wu & Wei shoot their icy & fiery blast at 2 different plants, making a whooshing sound. Switchblade blasts a magnesium blast at a plant. The plants whimper, close and drop down when they get hit. Feathers screeches her sonic blasts at 2 plants, making them close. The group covers their ears when Feathers does her sonic blasts and uncovers them when she stops
"Plow! Hit 'em with the loog!" D'Angelo orders loudly.
A carnivorous plant growls at Plowhorn until she hits it with a loogie blast. The plant closes and drops down when it gets hit with the loogie blast. Thunder growls uneasily. Wu & Wei snarl, also feeling uneasy. Feathers growl uneasily at the plants, glaring at them. The carnivorous plants open up again and hiss loudly at the group's dragons
"It's not working!" Jun exclaims loudly.
A plant roars loudly
"These plants seem to be dragon-proof!" Ryu states worried & astonished.
"If blasts don't work, what will?" D'Angelo wonders, looking at him.
Eugene runs through them, bumping into them, causing the duo to grunt from being hit so suddenly. Eugene charges at a carnivorous plant
"Brute force!" he declares as he kicks a closed plant. "Ugh!" he grunts.
The carnivorous plant grunts as it raises its 'head' and turns to look at Eugene. It then opens up, baring its teeth and shrieks loudly at him. This startles Eugene as he turns around
"Help!" he yells out and as he's about to run away from it, he stumbles.
He then gets back and runs to D'Angelo, panting a bit and hiding behind him, causing D'Angelo to look at him in disappointment. Ryu then thinks of something
"Maybe we should fight vines with vines." Ryu suggests confidently with a smirk as he crosses his arms.
Plowhorn growls as the group swings a vine towards her and catches it in her maw. From front to back, it's Ryu, Eugene, Jun, Tom, Alex and then D'Angelo
"Alright, everybody." Ryu begins. "On three!" he tells them loudly. "One, two, three." he counts.
The group starts to pull on the vine as Plowhorn firmly bites down on her end of the fine. They all strain, trying to pull Plowhorn free. They groan loudly, giving it their all by pulling on the vine. The group grunts loudly as they continue to pull on the vine. The vine eventually snaps, causing the group to get launched back. Jun, Tom, Alex and D'Angelo fall to the ground as Eugene falls on top of them. Ryu hits the ground as well, but just a little bit away from them
"It's not strong enough." Ryu realizes.
"Nothing's strong enough to pull them free, and we're running out of time." Jun states.
Thunder growls & roars as he's dragged closer to the carnivorous plants, with the vines wrapped around his legs. Ryu hears some Vine Tails squawking, causing him to look up at them. He sees the yellow Vine Tail & purple Vine Tail working together to pluck a fruit from a branch while chirping. Ryu looks down at his dragon book as an idea starts to form in his head. He then turns his head to Alex, who's looking down at her tablet. Ryu goes up to her
"Alex, I need to borrow this." he says to her before taking it from her and walking away.
"Hey! Not cool!" Alex yells at him softly, not happy about this.
Ryu leaps up on Plowhorn's back, then leaps on Thunder's back, then leaps to Wu's & Wei's back, then to Switchblade's back and then to Feathers' back
"Ryu!" Tom & D'Angelo exclaim.
"What are you doing!?" Jun asks him, confused.
Ryu leaps from Feathers' back to Webmaster's back
"I have an idea." he tells the group. "Trust me!" he shouts.
He leaps from Webmaster's back to the base of the huge tree with a grunt. Suddenly, a vine rises and is coming towards Ryu
"Look out!" Tom & D'Angelo exclaim.
Thunder shoots a lightning blast, hitting the vine as electricity zaps around it, causing it to drop to the ground and remain still. Ryu turns his head to look at Thunder, who growls at him before his face hits the ground
"Thanks, bud." Ryu thanks him. "I'm gonna get you out of here." he reassures him. "I promise." I promise.
Ryu then starts climbing the huge tree as he goes to a branch where the dull blue Vine Tail is taking a bite out of a fruit while squawking happily.
"Psst! Hey!" he calls out to him quietly. "Listen. We need your help." he tells the dragon as he stands up on the branch.
The dull blue Vine Tail squawks at him warningly and then whips his tail close to him
"Ah!" Ryu yelps in surprise. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" he says rapidly. "Look. Here. For you. Trade." he tries to explain, handing over his dragon book with Alex's tablet resting on top of it.
The dull blue Vine Tail lets out a confused squawk
"You can have this stuff if you help us." Ryu informs him and gestures to the group's dragons tangled in the vines, being pulled to the carnivorous plants.
The dull blue Vine Tail looks between the other dragons and the tablet & dragon book, trying to make a decision. He then whips his tail at the tablet & dragon book, wrapping the 2 objects in his tail. He then runs past Ryu and climbs up the tree. This causes Ryu to stand up and look at the dragon
"Wait. Wait, no! No! Hey, come on! You have to help us!" he yells at him.
Ryu is looking at the purple Vine Tail who has his tail wrapped around the trunk of the tree, the yellow Vine Tail who is holding onto a half-eaten fruit and the dull blue Vine Tail who has his tail wrapped around the tablet & dragon book
The Vine Tails squawk at Ryu
"It's called bartering!" he tells the dragons. "I give you this, and you help!" he explains loudly. "Not cool!" he yells at them upsettingly.
Plowhorn growls & roars as 1 of the carnivorous plants sticks itself to her back and she can feel its teeth. Another plant near Wu & Wei snarl loudly as there are a lot of vines wrapped around the dragon. The other dragons of the group struggle to free themselves from the vines. The dull blue Vine Tail, opens the book and looks at it with the 2 other Vine Tails. He then snarls before going around the tree branches with the other Vine Tails, snarling at some Vine Tail to get their attention and then looking down at the group's dragons, who are now mere inches away from the carnivorous plants. 1 of the plants growls at Thunder, who roars back at it as he gets dragged closer and closer to it. Thunder then snarls as he looks up behind him at Ryu. The flock of Vine Tails chatter as they jump off the tree, form a chain link, and fly towards Thunder. The dull blue Vine Tail then lands on Thunder's saddle, causing Thunder to growl at him
"What are they doing?" Alex asks, confused.
"They're gonna help us!" Jun answers happily.
"Trust him, bud." Ryu tells Thunder. "It's okay." he reassures him.
The dull blue Vine Tail wraps his tail around the handles of Thunder's saddle. Thunder & the dull blue Vine Tail growl as they pull and strain to free Thunder from the vines his legs are tangled in
"You think this will work, D?" Eugene asks D'Angelo, turning his head to look at him.
"They out-pulled Plowhorn before." D'Angelo informs him. "If this doesn't work, nothing will." he declares.
Ryu grabs the purple Vine Tail and pulls him to him, trying to add some strength to the pulling of Thunder. Thunder roars when he feels the vines constricting around his legs. Eventually, with the amount of force the flock of Vine Tails and Ryu is pulling, they're able to free Thunder from the vines. The group cheers when they see that the Vine Tails are able to free Thunder from the vines. Ryu drops down from the huge tree to the ground as Thunder comes up to him
"Yeah, Thunder!" Ryu shouts happily. "Think you can help us, bud?" he asks him.
Thunder looks at the carnivorous plants as it roars fiercely at them. The Vine Tails squeak as they form a chain link again, while the Vine Tail on Thunder keeps his feet firmly in place. The dragons start pulling as Ryu pulls on Thunder's left front leg. The dull blue Vine Tail gets to Wu & Wei, who are snarling & struggling as the dull blue Vine Tail grabs Wu by the neck. The Vine Tails, Thunder & Ryu are easily able to free Wu & Wei from the vines
Next, they free Plowhorn. Ryu strains a bit because it's harder to get Plowhorn free, seeing as she's a heavier dragon. Plowhorn growls in slight pain, seeing as the carnivorous plant's teeth are lodged in her before she eventually gets free from the vines and the carnivorous plant. When Plowhorn gets free, she gets launched forward and bumps into Ryu, causing her to grumble while he grunts in surprise at being hit by the heavy dragon
The Vine Tails squawk at him. Ryu then looks up at Switchblade, Feathers and Webmaster. Switchblade lets out a sad screech, while Feathers and Webmaster each let out a sad squawk
Ryu then climbs up onto Plowhorn's back with a soft grunt. The dull blue Vine Tail is seen sitting on Thunder's head; the purple Vine Tail is holding onto Plowhorn's horn; and the turquoise Vine Tail is at the left of Plowhorn
"Don't worry!" Ryu reassures them. "You're next." he points at them.
The Vine Tails squawk in agreement
A little while later*
The rest of the group's dragons are free now as they fly to their riders
"Yes!" Eugene cheers happily with a laugh, seeing that his dragon is okay.
"You had me worried there, girl." D'Angelo says to Plowhorn, who lets out a soft grumbling purr in response as they put their heads against each other.
"Happy to see you're okay, pal." Tom says to Switchblade, who lets out a soft screeching purr in response.
Alex sighs in relief, seeing that Feathers is okay, as they close their eyes and hold their heads against each other. Feathers purrs, enjoying her rider's touch
"So glad you're back." Alex says to her dragon. "Of course, it would be nice to have my tablet, too." she admits, looking at Ryu, who's seated on Thunder's saddle and putting her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, about that." Ryu begins as he gets off of Thunder. "These dragons like to trade, and they still need help getting back and forth to that tree." he explains, gesturing to the huge tree.
"I'm not staying here forever playing Dragon Dash Delivery Boy for these things." Eugene snarks, walking up to him and gesturing to the Vine Tails.
They hear a squawk as Ryu looks behind him to see the turquoise Vine Tail on a rock. He squawks at him & Eugene again. Ryu then gets an idea of how to help the Vine Tails
"I don't think we need to." he replies.
Ryu then explains his idea as the group gets on their dragons and fly to the bouldered area
"Smallest to largest." he tells the group. "That big one is all you, Plowhorn." he says to her.
"She's on it." D'Angelo informs him. "Giddy up, girl." he says to her.
Plowhorn grabs the big boulder as the other dragons grab some boulders as well, though slightly smaller. They then go back to the huge tree with vines and carnivorous plants area and drop the boulders on the vines. The plants squeal as they feel their vines getting hit by the boulders. The purple Vine Tail hops along the boulders and looks down to see if the vines will grab him. He sees that the vine is trying to get to him but is unable to because of the boulder that's above him. Seeing this, the purple Vine Tail squeaks happily as he hops along the other boulders to the huge tree, where he's followed by the other Vine Tails. They go back & forth from the jungle to the huge tree that has their fruit
"It works!" Jun cheers happily. "Look at them go!" she says, overjoyed.
The turquoise Vine Tail runs around close to Ryu & Thunder before looking at him
"No need to trick any unsuspecting dragons now, right?" Ryu asks the turquoise Vine Tail.
The turquoise Vine Tail squawks in response before running in circles, trying to catch his own tail and squawking excitedly. This causes Ryu to laugh happily. The turquoise Vine Tail then hops along the boulders to the huge tree again as it chatters to a yellow Vine Tail
As thanks, the Vine Tails drop the dragon book
"The book!" Ryu exclaims.
The turquoise Vine Tail squawks and drops the tablet on top of it
"They dropped my tablet!" Alex exclaims, bumping into Ryu. "It's past warranty!" she grumbles.
Alex groans, irritated, as she hops along the boulders, followed by Ryu. Alex picks up her tablet as Ryu picks up his dragon book. He then looks it over to see if there's any damage
"Not a scratch." he states. "Phew." he breathes out in relief.
Alex checks her tablet as a few beeps can be heard as Ryu walks away
"You are so lucky this still turns on." Alex informs the turquoise Vine Tail seriously, looking up at him.
She lets out an angry hiss at the dragon, who squawks at her in response and then climbs even further into the huge tree
"Now, I think if we head back to the bouldered area, we can still--" Ryu begins to say, having his dragon book open.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jun interjects rapidly, stopping her boyfriend from finishing that sentence. "You're not seriously gonna keep looking for that resting place after all we've been through today?" she asks him, surprised.
"Well, I mean, that is why we're down here in the first place." Ryu explains to her, having closed dragon book and holds it against his chest as Eugene walks past him from behind.
"Uh, that's gonna be a hard no from me because Eugene the machine needs his rest." Eugene informs him, causing Ryu to look at him.
Eugene then goes to sit down at what looks like a seat carved into the trunk of the huge tree
"I know you don't understand, but being this awesome really takes it outta you." he explains arrogantly as he puts his arms behind his head and puts his right leg over his left leg.
Ryu doesn't really listen to what he's saying as he looks over at where he's sitting and begins to realize something
"Eugene..." he begins as he looks back & forth between the drawing in the book and where Eugene is sitting. "I think..." he dragons out. "the drawing isn't a gravestone or a carved rock. It's the base of a tree." he explains. "This tree!" he exclaims.
We get a view of the drawing again before it gets moved away, as we can see Eugene sitting in the seat that resembles the drawing
"The book wasn't talking about a final resting place." Ryu realizes, closing the book. "It was a place he came to relax." he guesses, running up to Eugene and opening the dragon book again.
He then shows the drawing to Jun. Eugene was now sitting up
"Those aren't Viking carvings." She tells him. "They're roots." she says to him.
"Huh?" Eugene says, confused and looking behind him to see the turquoise roots and the big root around him. "Oh, yeah." he replies, pretending he knew that already. "Of course." he adds with a small laugh as he stands up. "And, uh, I discovered it, so you're welcome." he tells them as he steps aside.
He then pops his tongue
"Pop a squat, eldest Kullersen." he offers.
Ryu walks over to the seat. He sits down, closes the dragon book and puts it to his left. He grunts softly as he tries to sit comfortably. He sighs contently as he leans back against the trunk of the huge tree. He sees the jungle in front of him as the dull blue hops past him, squawking softly
"He wasn't wrong." Ryu agrees. "This is a pretty nice resting place." he admits, looking around at the jungle and his dragons.
As Jun is sitting close to his side on a root, she notices something carved into the tree, causing her to gasp in surprise
"Hey, Ryu." she calls out to him, grabbing his attention. "There's something carved into the tree." she tells him, standing up.
"What?" Ryu asks in surprise as he gets up and looks at the carving she's pointing at.
Ryu studies the carvings as the runes change from runes to English for him
"What's it say?" Jun asks him, making Ryu look at her.
"Yeah! Don't keep us hangin'!" D'Angelo exclaims excitedly. "Does it say Kullersen?" he asks him.
"Or is it a Viking death curse?" Alex asks excitedly. "All who sit in this tree chair are doomed." she says her idea for a Viking death curse.
"It says..." Ryu drags out. "Haddock." he reveals, deflated.
"Haddock." Jun repeats. "Like the author of the book and like the fish?" she asks him.
"Ha!" Eugene laughs loudly. "All this was a wild fish chase?" he asks incredulously.
He then sees the look Alex, Tom & D'Angelo are giving him
"That stinks, man." he tells Ryu, leaning against the trunk of the huge tree.
"Look, it's just another dead end." Jun says, putting her left hand on Ryu's right shoulder to try to comfort him. "It doesn't mean there aren't more answers out there." she explains.
This causes Ryu to smile a bit. Alex then walks up to him
"Sorry, Ryu." she says to him.
D'Angelo then walks up to him as well
"Even though you didn't find any answers about your family, maybe I can share a little bit of mine." D'Angelo tells him.
D'Angelo opens the bag a bit, making it crinkle. Realizing what he means, Ryu lets out a soft laugh and smiles. He then takes 1 of the chocolate treats outta the back and eats it whole. When he eats it, he can taste the creamy chocolate draped over crunchy coconut flakes
"Oh, wow!" Ryu exclaims, impressed.
D'Angelo holds the bag out to Jun while putting his right arm over Ryu's shoulders. Jun takes 1 of the chocolate treats and takes a bite. She & Ryu look & smile at each other. D'Angelo holds the bag out to Tom & Alex as they each take 1 of the chocolate treats
"I'll share with all of you because you're my best..." D'Angelo begins to explain.
Eugene then takes his chance, puts his hand in the bag and takes 1 of the chocolate treats. This causes the group to look at him
"buds." D'Angelo finishes his sentence, annoyed.
"Even me?" Eugene asks him.
"Just eat the chocolate." D'Angelo tells him, giving up.
"Mm. You weren't kidding." Jun says to him, holding up the half-eaten chocolate treat. "These are amazing." she compliments.
"Your grandmother is... Mm, wow." Alex compliments, with her mouth still full of the chocolate treat.
She then looks down in the bag to see that there are still a few more of those chocolate treats
"Aren't you gonna have any?" Alex asks him, confused.
D'Angelo's stomach can then be heard rumbling
"I may have eaten too many." he confesses.
The group then laughs softly, realizing what he means
*Sometime later*
The Kullersen brothers enter their dome, where they see their mom working on her laptop on the couch
"Hey, boyos." Olivia calls out to them. "Everything okay?" she asks them.
They sit down on the couch, leaning back against the back of the couch
"Eh..." Ryu utters.
"That good, huh?" Olivia asks jokingly.
"I've been trying to figure something out." Ryu answers. "I thought whoever wrote this book might be connected to me in some way." he reveals, holding up the dragon book and handing it over to his mom.
"Ryu..." Olivia says, surprised. "Where did you find this?" she asks in curiosity, picking up the dragon book.
"Uh-- Uh, it-it's a long story." Ryu answers, letting out a nervous laugh. "I'm trying to figure out if we're descendants of the author of the book." he explains. "But the thing is that his family name is "Haddock" and I found it again somewhere else today." he adds.
"Haddock?" Olivia repeats questioningly.
"Yeah, it's also the name for a fish species, but I know a fish didn't write the book." Ryu continues.
"Ryu..." Olivia begins.
"What is it, Mom?" Ryu asks her.
"Haddock isn't indeed just a fish. It's indeed also a name." Olivia informs him. "My great-grandfather was a Haddock." she reveals.
"Wait, really?" Ryu asks, amazed. "That means we're Haddocks, too." he realizes. "And the author of the book was named Hiccup Haddock." he tells his mom, picking up the dragon book. "And we had the helmet. And I found the box. And then this book--" he gushes.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Ryu." Olivia says to her eldest son. "What are you saying?" she asks him.
"This Hiccup guy seems to be the greatest dragon rider there ever was." Ryu informs her, holding up the dragon book. "And I'm related to him." he adds. "The 3 of us are." he tells them.
He looks away and sighs in amazement at the discovery
"What am I supposed to do with that?" Ryu asks technically himself out loud.
"I guess that's up to you, boyo." Olivia informs him, putting her right hand on his left shoulder.
Ryu puts his right hand on top of his mom's left hand. She laughs happily as they put their hands down
"Tell us more, Mom." Ryu requests.
Tom moves to sit on his mom's left while Ryu is sitting at her right and shuffles closer to her. Olivia opens the dragon book
"I wanna know everything there is to know about our family." Ryu tells her. "Starting with our Great-Great-Granddaddy." he requests.
"Well, he was a very big man with a very big beard and he loved onion rings." Olivia reveals.
Well that's it for this episode/chapter.
Hope you all enjoyed it.
Have a good day/afternoon/evening/night