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❛ ᴋʜᴀʟᴇᴇsɪ. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚ ▎❛ 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜ ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛɪᴇs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʙɪɴᴅ ꒱
❝ YOU KNOW. . . MAYBE THE
TARGARYENS HAVE SOME
BERSERKER IN THEIR BLOOD ❞
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"How are we supposed to see up here?" Ruffnut whined.
The clouds lay thickly all around them, gray and heavy with the promise of rain. The twins flew on their Zippleback between Hiccup and Dany, though their cooperation could use some work. The quartet (including the Zippleback's two heads) bickered more than any of the riders combined, so they were trying to get them to practice their teamwork. "You're not. That's the whole point," the brunet told them for the umpteenth time.
"Oh. No, I still don't get it."
Dany sighed at how obtuse they were being. "You won't always be able to see," she explained. "You're going to have to trust Barf and Belch to guide you since their eyesight will almost always be better than yours."
"Like this!" Hiccup added, guiding Toothless so that he veered into some of the denser fog on a sharp angle.
"Why do they always have to speak in riddles?"
She had told Hiccup that this could only ever end in disaster, but he had been adamant that the twins should learn some kind of cooperation, even if it was their own style. But, true to form, they reacted as they always had: when one said up, the other said down.
"I say we trust us," Ruffnut declared.
"Yeah, I'm with you, sister."
"Barf, up!"
"Belch, down!"
Their dragon tried to follow their orders, but when one head went in the opposite direction of the other, they were sent spinning through the gray mist. Unfortunately for Fishlegs, this meant that an uncontrollable dragon was heading right his way. His eyes widened but they were going too fast to be avoided; their collision sent all three of them flailing through the air to land on the branches of a tree below.
It cracked under their wait and, once again, the siblings gave opposing directions:
"Belch, get me down!"
"Barf, go for help!"
The Zippleback flapped uncontrollably in the air as he tried to pick a direction to fly n, eventually whirling off and out of sight. Fishlegs whistled for Meatlug, who looked down at him at the noise. He did a series of hand gestures pointing to the twins. The Gronckle hovered over to them so the brother and sister could grab onto each of her legs as she flew them to safety— just in time, too, as the branch finally gave way.
"It worked! I can't believe it actually worked!" the blond exclaimed. He could only celebrate for a second, though, since his branch was about to have a similar fate.
Luckily, he'd stayed up there long enough that Dany and Drogon could swoop underneath him to catch the larger Viking. Fishlegs had become much more comfortable with Drogon over the past several months, though he would probably never be fully trusting around a dragon of his size. (The sharp teeth were a little off-putting.) Still, he was able to ride on Dany's dragon's back without too much fear, which was a huge improvement.
"Thanks, Dany," he said with relief.
"Anytime," was her cheerful response. As they made their way back towards Hiccup, she added, "hey, what was that hand thing you were doing?"
He puffed up slightly as he straightened in his spot behind her. "If you must know, I have been crafting some rudimentary hand signals for Meatlug just in case we get separated and they seem to have been well-received."
Dany twisted around to give him an impressed look. "Hand signals! Why didn't I think of that?"
Fishlegs blushed a little at her praise. "Oh, well, y'know. . . I've got a lot of free time on my hands that I spend with Meatlug, so. . ."
"That's incredible, Fishlegs!" Hiccup agreed.
"Yeah, I know!"
"We need to start working on those right away."
Excited to get started on their new project, Hiccup set them all to figuring out signals for their dragons once they returned to the arena. Drogon stood in front of Dany, watching her with his flame-orange eyes. His expression was one of exasperated amusement— as close as a dragon could get to that, anyway— that clearly asked, 'are we really doing this?'
"Yes, Drogon, we are really doing this," the blonde told him firmly. "You can't deny that it would be good in battle."
Drogon huffed. 'When do you expect do to battle, mother?'
"We're Vikings, buddy. You better get used to it. Now, when I do this—" Daenerys cupped her hands to her mouth and pushed them away, palms out. "—that means aldrnari. Okay?"
She did the gesture again. With a great sigh, as if this entire endeavor was so taxing, Drogon complied and incinerated the wooden target that was next to her. The blonde went over to her dragon and gave him an encouraging pat on the snout. "Great job, bud."
Drogon gave her an impatient look in response. 'I did what you asked. Can we be finished now, mother?'
"Oh, very well. Let's see how the others are doing." The Targaryen wandered over to where Hiccup was standing in front of Toothless. "Can I watch?"
Glancing over at her, Hiccup became a little nervous about the fact that he would have an audience— an audience that he wanted to impress. He coughed to clear his throat. "Oh, um, sure. I mean, I can't promise much. . ." Then, he remembered what he'd promised himself, smiling slightly as he added, "milady. But I'll do my best for you."
As he'd hoped, Dany's face turned a bit pink and her eyes fell to her bare toes. She played with the ends of the fur on her vest as she waited for him to start. Turning back to the Night Fury, he clenched his hand into a fist. "Toothless, battle ready."
Toothless crouched and spread his wings, bearing his teeth. Hiccup pointed to the ground. "Toothless, plasma blast."
The brunet tossed up a wooden shield, which his dragon aimed for. It disintegrated under the force of the hit, and Dany clapped appreciatively. Grinning at her, Hiccup held up his hand for her to pause. "Wait, there's one more. Toothless, smile." He drew his finger across his lips.
His dragon tilted his head and gave them his trademark gummy smile. Daenerys went over to give the Night Fury a scratch under his chin. "Good job, Toothless. You're definitely more willing to learn than somebody I know." She shot a pointed look at her own dragon, who pretended not to notice.
Just as Hiccup opened his mouth to offer his help, another drawling voice got there first: "y'know, babe, I could teach that dragon of yours a thing or two."
Snotlout came over to them with a smarmy grin on his face. Dany gave him an uncomfortable look, as always too polite to tell him off. But then, an idea occurred to her that made her eyes light up. She turned to her dragon— who had always had it out for the shorter Viking— and cupped her hands to her mouth before she pushed them away, palms flat.
Drogon gave his own version of a smile, though it was much more menacing than Toothless'. He didn't need to be told twice to send a wall of flame directly at the dark-haired teen. Snotlout let out a very high-pitched screech and sprang out of the way so that it hit the far side of the arena. Outraged, the boy whirled to face his dragon. He pointed (though it was mostly at Drogon) towards them furious. "Hookfang, annihilate!"
The Monstrous Nightmare, of course, had his own agenda— plus Dany was pretty much the only dragon rider he liked, and Drogon was too big of a threat to rile up. So, he turned to Snotlout and let out a burst of flame towards his rider instead. Tuffnut snickered at his misfortune. "Bullseye!"
"If you guys are finished," Astrid cut in impatiently. "Stormfly and I have actual tricks to show you. Stormfly!" Getting her dragon's attention, she spread her fingers out in front of her. "Spine-shot!"
Her Deadly Nadder whipped her tail out toward Astrid, shooting spines right up to her feet. One of them landed on the edge of her boot, so she had to tug it out. "Well, it's better than last time."
"Meatlug, hug!" Fishlegs wrapped his arms around himself to demonstrate. The Gronckle launched herself towards her owner and tackled him in response. She licked him several times, earning a besotted smile from her rider.
"Hmm. That could actually be useful," Hiccup said thoughtfully. "Ruff, Tuff, your turn."
"Belch, come!"
"Barf, go!"
When he tried to comply, the Zippleback launched his heads in two different directions. The resulting jerk forced them back together again. The impact knocked him unconscious. Ruffnut growled angrily at her brother as she curled her hands into fists. They tried again.
"Barf, sky!"
"Belch, ground!" The Zippleback did another awkward somersault before he crashed back to the earth. Tuffnut cheered. "Ha ha! I win!"
Ruffnut whirled on him, snarling, "what do you think you're doing to my dragon?"
"Your dragon?" her brother scoffed. "Puh-lease. You've been breathing in Barf's gas again."
"Yeah, so?"
Their faces were inches apart by now as they glared at each other. Although they were used to the twins' arguing, this fight seemed a lot more volatile than the ones that usually occurred. Hiccup stepped forward with his arms upheld passively. "Guys, guys. Barf and Belch is one dragon. You have to use one signal at a time."
"Good idea. Barf, tackle Tuffnut!" The right head of their dragon swung forward to knock into the unsuspecting boy, sending him flying. He landed on top of Snotlout, who still hadn't gotten up after his dragon fired at him. "Heh. How was that?"
Fishlegs shuffled forward nervously. "I don't think it's what Hiccup—"
Tuffnut sat up. "Belch, eat Ruffnut."
The other head leaned down to take the girl's entire torso into his mouth. He lifted her up off the ground and gave her a little shake. Even despite all of that, she remained mostly unbothered except for a muffled, "uh. . . ow?"
Hiccup sighed. "Tuff, come on."
He rolled his eyes and let out an irritated huff. "Whatever. Belch, drop Ruffnut."
His sister shuddered once she was released from the dragon's hold, taking only a moment to recover before she was back to glaring at her twin. "I can't work like this."
"Ugh, it's completely unprofessional," Tuffnut agreed, finally rising to his feet.
"I'm taking my dragon, and going home."
He pointed towards the Zippleback heatedly. "You touch that dragon, and I'll—"
"You'll what?"
Tuffnut hesitated, not the best at coming up with threats on the fly. "I'll. . . I. . . I don't know. Don't rush me. Just. . ." His eyes shifted from the dragon to his sister. "Uh. . . uh. . . I'll tell you tomorrow."
They ran to their dragon and each tried to pull his head in a separate direction. A low rumbling started in Drogon's throat as he became displeased with their treatment of the Zippleback. Dany laid a reassuring hand against his cheek, warning him to not do anything and instead intervened herself. She hurried over to the twins and tugged at their hands, which were holding onto each of their dragon's lips.
"Stop, just stop. You can't pull him like that. If you can't agree on who goes with him, then just leave him be. It's over."
"Oh, it's over," Ruffnut growled, freeing her hand from the Targaryen's grasp. She turned her back on her dragon.
"Yeah, it's so over, it's under," Tuffnut retorted, doing the same.
They stormed off, heedless of what their fight did to the Zippleback. Each head tried to follow its respective rider, but of course that meant the body wouldn't move. They faced each other and snapped their teeth ferociously.
🏹🏹🏹
"Hey, back in line! Back in line!" Snotlout shouted from Hookfang's back. They were flying in formation with the rest of Berk's dragons between them. Some of the smaller Terrible Terrors had escaped from the pack and tried to make their way to the forest, but the Monstrous Nightmare redirected them.
They had been tasked with this duty as the chief didn't want anyone from the visiting Berserker tribe to know about Berk's new friends. He was afraid that their guests might see the dragons' presence as an act of aggression, and that that would make the Berserkers, well. . . mad (but not angry-mad, crazy-mad. Targaryen-mad, which was a whole other concern for Dany entirely.)
"Is Dagur coming?" Snotlout asked eagerly, his dark eyes bright with excitement. "He's so cool!"
Hiccup stared at him in disbelief. "Cool? Last time he was here, he used me for a knife-throwing target."
Dany hunched her shoulders, shrinking closer to Drogon's warmth. She tried to focus on the strong presence of her dragon underneath her and let the wind whip her friends' words away. She wasn't entirely successful.
"That guy should be locked up in a cage," Astrid agreed.
The Targaryen flinched at the blonde's words, the other girl's disgust apparent in her tone. It felt like a stone had been lodged in her stomach as the rest of the gang chimed in with their own reasons why they didn't like the visiting tribe, each crime that the Berserkers had committed more insane than the last. She wished she could drown them all out with the roar of the sea or turn back and fly on her own, but she had decided to help, so she was stuck.
"Hey, Dany!" Hiccup called to her, drawing her from her anxious thoughts. "You weren't here the last time the Berserkers were in town. Be careful around them, especially Dagur, okay?"
"You know," Fishlegs began before she could reply, "maybe the Targaryens have some Berserker in their blood. That would explain why everyone started to call them mad."
The stone moved from her stomach to her throat, sticking in place. She could swallow past it, but no words escaped her mouth. Luckily Astrid laughed at the boy's apparently outlandish suggestion. "That's ridiculous, Fishlegs. Dany's not mad— she's told us so herself! It's just a rumor."
"Rumors have to start from somewhere," the blond mumbled.
Begging the gods to give them a distraction— any distraction— the Targaryen had never been more relieved when an out-of-control Zippleback came spiraling through their group. The Hofferson changed the subject abruptly: "heads up! Incoming Zippleback!"
"Where's Ruffnut and Tuffnut?" Hiccup asked as Barf and Belch shot between him and Snotlout. "Someone get that dragon!"
"On it!" Dany called hastily. Drogon— bless his heart, who always knew what she needed— went as fast as he could after them.
Once they were directly parallel to the Zippleback, she leapt neatly from the back of her dragon onto the saddled one below. Belch's neck was much smaller than she was used to, but she quickly situated herself into position. That still left the other head, though.
"The Zippleback needs two riders!" the chief's son shouted over the wind. "Fishlegs, get in there!"
He laughed nervously. "I'm not sure this is really the best. . ."
Barf didn't give him a chance to finish. The right dragon head nudged Meatlug, sending her rider reeling. He caught the flailing boy, but not before the head emitted a stream of gas. Fishlegs gagged slightly and held a hand to his mouth. "I don't feel so good. . ."
"It's the gas," Daenerys informed him. She tried not to breathe too much, either. "Try breathing in through your mouth."
"I'm not opening my mouth any time soon," the blond grimaced. "My nose is already infected."
"Fishlegs, just hold on tight and focus on staying on. I need your help to keep both heads under control," she instructed.
Despite his protests, Fishlegs nodded and clung to the saddle as best as he could. Meanwhile, Dany focused on coordinating with Hiccup to corral the Zippleback. The wild dragon spiraled unpredictably, separating them more than she would've liked. As they neared, Drogon swooped in from above, roaring and snapping his jaws as he tried to assert dominance and guide the Zippleback towards the group. It seemed to work for a moment, but the Zippleback retaliated by shooting another burst of gas towards Drogon. The black-and-red dragon deftly avoided it, and Daenerys gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Don't you dare—" she started, realizing what her head was about to do. But, for all her dragon prowess, she was neither Ruffnut nor Tuffnut, and Belch opened his mouth.
The resulting explosion sent both riders into unintentional flight. Hookfang caught Fishlegs, much to Snotlout's dismay. "Aw, man! Why'd I have to catch you? I was aiming for Daenerys!"
"Drogon!" the girl in question yelped, still freefalling through the air. While they had practiced this many times by now, the application was much different than the theory. She hadn't accounted for the chaos that would be surrounding them when the recall was needed.
But, as always, a familiar black shape was there to run backup. She saw Toothless dart under her out of the corner of her eye, so she relaxed and allowed herself to enjoy the rest of the fall until she landed with a soft thump. Opening her eyes, she startled slightly to see Hiccup grinning down at her. "Nice of you to drop in, milady."
She blushed as she realized exactly how Hiccup had caught her— bridal style— and struggled to sit up properly. "I could've just landed behind you."
The brunet chuckled, the wind tousling his unruly hair as he helped the blonde into a proper sitting position, scooting backwards to allow her to act as driver. "Well, where's the fun in that? A little dramatic rescue never hurt anyone."
Their lighthearted banter didn't last as long as they would've liked as Astrid cut in with the unpleasant reminder of why they were here: "we need the twins to get that Zippleback under control if he wouldn't even listen to Dany."
"Yeah," the chief's son allowed, slumping a little at the thought of trying to get the twins to work together. "Preferably before the Berserkers—"
". . .are here," the Targaryen finished dismally as a horn sounded in the distance.
"Great," he sighed. "Just great."
🏹🏹🏹
Not even Dany's motherly touch could subdue the out-of-control dragon. She and Astrid worked together to try and get the Zippleback out of sight, but the two-headed dragon must have sensed the Targaryen's lingering agitation from all of the Berserker talk from earlier and he refused to listen to them. Only Barf and Belch's footprints remained as a way to try and track the Zippleback— and even that wasn't good, since they were right on the path of the tour that the Chief and Gobber were giving.
Lingering in the shadows between two houses, the girls waited until they saw Hiccup running past. Astrid reached out to snag the boy's arm, pulling him into the alley. "Hiccup, we have a big problem!"
"Oh, yeah, you're telling me," he retorted. "Dagur's the new chief!"
That earned him similarly shocked, horrified looks from the two blondes. "Okay, yeah," Dany agreed slowly, "you've got the worse end of the deal."
"What happened to his father?" the Hofferson asked.
"Apparently he retired," the brunet said, though he clearly wasn't convinced. He waved his arms around in exasperation as he talked, agitated by the unexpected turn of events. "And he thinks we're hiding dragons!"
"Well, we are," the Targaryen pointed out.
Astrid groaned. "Not helpful, Dany. Although, she's not wrong. That's why we need your help." She pointed at the ground to indicate the prints they'd found.
"Huh?" He looked down and frowned in dismay at the sight that greeted him. "Oh, come on! Barf? Belch? Here?"
A low growl sounded from across the way, causing the trio to look in the direction of the noise. To their horror, the two-headed dragon was happily eating a barrel of fish, completely oblivious to the approaching Vikings. They ran over to the Zippleback and lugged the barrel between the three of them to cajole the dragon to get out of sight. The dragon followed them eagerly, both of its heads focused on the food.
Unfortunately, the distraction didn't last long and the Zippleback shot out into the main clearing just as the chief, Gobber, and Dagur entered the storeroom. They were hot on the dragon's tail— er, tails. Hiccup scolded them in a harsh whisper, "Barf, Belch! Come back here!"
"Where did it go?" Astrid hissed.
"I-I have no idea," the brunet said with a sigh. "You guys keep looking, I'll go warn my dad."
Daenerys did her best to help corral the easily-distracted dragon, but she was hyper-aware of all of the Berserkers moving around the village, Dagur in particular. Although she had never met him, her mother had told her plenty of stories and she was determined to steer clear of him. The other blonde seemed to pick up on her unusual behavior and, during one of their many sprints to catch up to the Zippleback, she asked, "Dany, what's going on with you today? Usually you're great at this stuff!"
"Everyone has off days," the Targaryen offered meekly, refusing to tell her the actual reason— or, at least, all of it. "The Berserkers are unsettling."
Astrid slowed and gave her a reassuring look, her expression softening. "You don't have to worry about them, Dany. The chief will make sure nothing happens."
Daenerys gave her a tense smile. "I know. Why don't we try this. . ."
🏹🏹🏹
Hiccup stared up at the Zippleback with apprehension, uncertain as to how he would make the dragon leave the exact area where his father, Gobber and Dagur were. "Guys, you can't be here! Oh, come on," he said, exasperated. Dany was right— there was no way they'd listen. "Okay, think like Ruffnut and Tuffnut. I can't believe I just said that," he mumbled.
The brunet waved his arms in the air in an effort to get the two heads out of the line of eyesight. "Barf, Belch, sky!"
The door opened to reveal Dagur, but luckily he was still talking to Stoick and hadn't noticed the Zippleback right in front of him. "Nice weapons, very clean. No blood stains, pity. Ah, Hiccup, there you are."
He'd squeezed his eyes shut with his hands still raised, bracing himself for being caught, but when the Berserker chief made no mention of anything amiss, he opened his eyes slowly. "Dagur! I-I was just thinking about you. Hey, remember that time we went swimming and you tried to drown me?"
Dagur chuckled crazily for an exaggerated period of time, trailing off with, "oh, the laughs we had. Bored again!" He shoved Hiccup out of the way, suddenly stopping in his tracks. "Just a moment. Something. . . is going on here."
"I can explain. . ."
He whirled on the boy. "Where is it?"
"Look, it's just one drag—"
"Your leg," Dagur cut him off. "Never mind, I heard all about it."
Hiccup looked up nervously, but the dragon had great luck and had vanished just in time. Allowing himself a brief sigh of relief, the brunet asked, "you heard all about what?"
"You, the Red Death. Defeated it all on your own."
The chief's son stared at him in disbelief, feeling a bit guilty that Dany wasn't even being included in this rendition— but, knowing her, maybe it was better; she liked her privacy. "I'm sorry, what? Is that what people are saying? Look at me. How is that even possible?"
"Right?" Dagur agreed. "That's what I thought, too. But then, I heard about the trained dragons, and it got me, well, kind of tingly."
"Trained dragons?" Hiccup pretended to be shocked by the notion. "I do-I don't even— how would you train a dragon?"
"I don't know." The Berserker chief got in his face threateningly. "Maybe you got a Targaryen's help."
Now Hiccup didn't even have to pretend to be shocked as he stared at the man in surprise. A fierce sense of protectiveness surged within him, and he took a step forward as he narrowed his eyes at Dagur. "What do you know about Dany?"
The other man laughed, once again too long and mocking to be genuine. "That's what you're calling the Targaryen spawn? You know they're all mad, right?"
"Don't talk about her like that," he snapped, "she's not mad, but even if she was I'd rather have mad than deranged."
Dagur sneered at him, but before he could make any more digs at the Targaryen, Stoick finally joined them on the platform outside the storeroom. "All right, then. The feast is next on the tour, I believe."
🏹🏹🏹
They decided that they needed to go to the twins to get the dragon issue resolved. On the way over to the Zippleback-headed house, Hiccup fell into step with Dany. She didn't miss the concerned look on his face, so obvious and apparent that even she picked up on it. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she replied, frowning slightly at the unexpected question.
"Can. . . can we talk after this? Once the Berserkers leave?"
Even more confused, she nodded. "Of course. Am I in trouble?"
"No. I just. . . there's something I wanted to ask you without everyone else around."
That only made her more puzzled, and a knot of dread formed in her stomach. She immediately went to the worst-case scenario, but there was no way he could've found out, right? She'd never shared with anyone about her family heritage, so unless he went directly to her parents (which she didn't think was the case) there he couldn't possibly know. If that wasn't it, though, what was it?
Doing her best to push her worried thoughts aside for the time being, she entered the twins' house with Astrid and Hiccup. At first there was no sign of the twins, but then Tuffnut made an abrupt appearance by swinging down from one of the rafters of his home. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Hey, Tuffnut, feel like talking?" the brunet prompted him.
"Um. . ." Astrid added, bemused by his position, "can you come down?"
"Whatever," he grumbled, and swung down to the floor. He wobbled a bit as the blood rushed from his head. "Whoa. Yeah, I love that part."
"Look," Hiccup said, "about Barf and Belch. We need you and Ruffnut to get your dragon under control."
Tuffnut immediately shook his head. "Uh-uh. No. No, thank you. I am officially out of the dragon business, and the sister business, and the dragon and sister business. The 'disistisderness.'"
Dany squinted at him. "That's not a word."
Easily distracted— and grateful for the change of subject— the boy pointed at her. "Yes. Yes it is, because I just said it. If it wasn't a real word, I couldn't have said it. So there."
"What's going on with you two?" Astrid wondered, not allowing him to get off track.
He sighed and reluctantly reached to the side to grab a wooden utensil, which he held out in front of them. "Simple. Do you know what this is?"
"A spoon?"
"No, it's our spoon." He picked up a plate. "Just like this is our dish." An axe came next. "And this is our axe." He pointed to the animal in the corner of the room. "And our well-groomed stuffed yak. Everything is ours. Just once I want something to be mine." Tuffnut brushed past them. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go pack up my half of the yak."
The brunet's brows furrowed in confusion. "Go? Where?"
"I don't know," came the sad reply. "To my dark, soggy, alone place." He picked up his satchel. "Not to cry . . ." He sniffled and trudged out of the home. "This house. . . it has too many memories."
"Tuff!" Hiccup called after him, but the boy paid him no mind.
"Dark, soggy alone place?" Astrid repeated, uncertain as to what he'd meant. Unfortunately, neither Hiccup nor Dany had an answer for her.
🏹🏹🏹
Apparently, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were better hiders than anyone had given them credit for. The group had been searching for them for most of the day and they were running out of time. The Zippleback's luck had run out and it had burst into the feast full of Dagur and his men, who had claimed its life upon laying eyes on it. Now, they were racing against the clock to get to the twins' dragon before the Berserkers found him— and they needed the missing siblings for that.
"Hiccup, Dany," Astrid began, not looking forward to pointing out the obvious truth. "You heard Tuffnut. He went to his dark, soggy, alone place. That could be anywhere."
"Not really!" Snotlout chimed in as Hookfang flew level with Stormfly. "That could only be one place."
"What?"
The chief's son gave him an exasperated look. "What didn't you say something?"
"Why didn't you ask?"
Astrid wouldn't let him off so easily and she glared at him. "Snotlout! We've been looking for them all day!"
"And?"
"And if you don't tell us right now, I'm gonna throw you off that dragon!"
Snotlout raised a calming hand— which only made the blonde become more incensed. "No need to get violent. He's probably at the Lost Cavern. They used to play Hide and Go Kill there when they were kids."
Not bothering to argue with the boy further— knowing what good that would do— Hiccup gave the orders: "Astrid, you and Snotlout take the south entrance of the cavern." This did not help the blonde's annoyance and her glare turned on the brunet. "Dany, Fishlegs and I will take the north."
🏹🏹🏹
When they got to the cave entrance, Dany paused for a moment to give Drogon a pat on the snout before she turned to follow the other two boys into the tunnel since her dragon was too big to follow. Hiccup turned to his dragon and waved his arm through the air. "Alright. Do your thing: search!"
Toothless tilted his head as he came to understand the signal. Then, a plasma blast lit up the dark cavern. The Night Fury lead the way, followed by the humans as the Gronckle took up the position from behind. No one talked as they made their way down the short tunnel. It only took a moment for them to reach the main cave and when they entered it, they were surprised to see—
"Tuffnut?"
The teen squinted against the sudden, bright light from the torch. "Oh, its you guys again. Would you quit following me?"
They could hear Astrid's voice coming from the other side of the rock. "Ruffnut?"
"Would you quit following me?" the girl demanded.
Hiccup held up the torch in the hopes of seeing farther in the cavern. "Did you guys hear that?"
"Duh," Snotlout said as he came around the boulder. "It's called an echo."
Ruffnut poked her head around the rock, prompting her brother to make a face at her. "Ugh. What are you doing in my soggy place?"
"This is my soggy place," she growled, rising to her feet. "And I'm not sharing it with you."
The brunet tossed the torch aside as he stepped forward, allowing it to land on the cold stone and it snuffed out, leaving them in semi-darkness. "Okay, listen, please. We need you guys to get your dragon. It's important."
"I didn't want it to have to come to this," Dany started apologetically, "but Barf and Belch are in real trouble. I did everything I could, but they need you."
Tuffnut crossed his arms importantly. "I'll go, but not with her."
His sister glared back at him. "Yeah! I'm not going anywhere with her either."
"Yeah! Wait, what?"
Hiccup shook his head. "No, you don't understand. You both have to go! Guys, listen— whether you like it or not, you're connected to each other, and the two of you are connected to your dragon. Just like me and Toothless."
"And me with Stormfly," Astrid added, scratching her dragon under the chin.
"Us, too," Fishlegs agreed as he hugged Meatlug.
"And how I am with Drogon," Dany finished, smiling softly at the thought of her dragon waiting loyally outside for her.
"We can get you another spoon, another dish, another stuffed yak," Hiccup insisted, "but what we can't get you is another Barf and Belch." The twins didn't reply for a moment and he leaned over to Daenerys. "You think they got any of that?"
Tuffnut sighed, though his head still hung low. "Fine." Each sibling spat on their hand before they shook on it. After they'd knocked each other with their helmets, Tuff boasted, "you know, I did spit a little more into my hand."
"They got it," the Targaryen confirmed, some fondness tinging her tone. As wary as she would always be around the twins, they were still her friends, and she wanted them to be happy.
Hiccup clapped his hands. "Okay! Let's go. We're out of time."
"So why is this so important anyway?"
Snotlout, who'd been leaning against a rock and picking at his nails, blurted out: "the Berserkers are hunting down your dragon to use its blood for ink."
The group turned to stare at him incredulously. "What? Is that not what's happening?"
🏹🏹🏹
The teens ran into the Dragon Training Academy arena in a panic, crying out: "help the dragons are attacking!"
They pointed to where Hookfang clung to a giant chain that held up the metal dome of the enclosure. In the chaos, Snotlout pointed sharply at towards the Berserkers. The Monstrous Nightmare poked his head through the gaps in the metal and opened his mouth to release a great gust of flame. The Berserkers were now more focused on protecting themselves than killing the twins' dragon.
"What is going on?" Gobber asked Stoick, not quite caught up on the plan.
His chief pulled him to the side and said pointedly, "Gobber. Dragon attack!"
The blacksmith's eyes widened in realization. Raising his voice, he called out: "dragon attack! Everyone out of here!"
Stormfly and Meatlug came in through the entrance, and while the Nadder shot out spines from her tail, the Gronckle jumped forward into a 'hug.' Drogon whipped his long tail around the circle of stone, knocking some of the Berserkers off their feet.
"We must protect our honored guest." Gobber tried to usher Dagur out of the arena.
Dagur pushed him out of the way. "Run if you want. But Dagur the Deranged will not retreat!"
He turned back to the dragon that he intended to kill, though his men had released their heads so the Zippleback towered over him. A rumble started deep in their throats and only intensified at the sight of the twins. From the ledge above, they signaled for each of the heads to do what they did best: create chaos. Barf spewed gas while Belch lit it, sending Dagur flying backwards.
He hit the solid rock wall and fell face-first on the ground. Astrid circled her finger in the air and Stormfly swept her tail to make the Berserker chief fall once more, his shield and sword clattering out of his hands. The Zippleback was still on the loose, though, and as soon as he recovered, Dagur scrambled to his feet with a spear in hand. He launched it at the two-headed dragon with a determined yell, but a black blur whisked through the entrance to catch it in his mouth.
"A Night Fury! They do exist!" he exclaimed, awed.
Toothless growled and took his battle stance. Hiccup jumped between them with a shield on one arm and a knife in the other. He halfheartedly brandished the weapon at his dragon. "Back, you. . . fiend, you," he ordered. "You'll not harm my friend, Dagur."
He brought his shield back, which hit the man behind him in the nose and sent him reeling. Taking the opportunity, Hiccup pointed down sharply. It only took a second for the Night Fury to warm up his plasma blast, but that was long enough for the brunet to push the Berserker out of the way. The shot hit the wall just where their heads had been.
The chief's son guided Dagur out forcefully. He used his shield to push the man over, calling after him: "please, Dagur, save yourself! You owe it to your people!"
It was then that Toothless tackled Hiccup, which was enough to send Dagur running, even if it was just actually playfighting. Stoick pretended to tug on the Night Fury's tail to get him to release his son. A final shot from Hookfang was enough to get them out of the arena for good.
"Berserkers, to the boats!"
Gobber ran after them as they retreated. "What about the treaty?"
"Consider it signed!"
🏹🏹🏹
The sun was throwing the last of its colors across the sky in a spectacular show of pinks, purples and golds as Dany and Hiccup settled themselves at the edge of their favorite cliff— the one that overlooked the docks and the sea. They sat side-by-side, comfortably close so that their shoulders brushed occasionally if one of them shifted. Toothless did a couple of laps below them as he skimmed the waves while Drogon sat in a crescent shape behind them, the warmth from his scales keeping the chill of the evening air at bay.
Dany had picked a couple of wildflowers that grew near the edge of the cliff and had begun to weave a flower crown. The brunet's gaze flicked between the girl beside him and the sunset as he wondered how to start the conversation he'd intended to ask about.
"Are you sure I'm not in trouble?" the blonde questioned him, though her tone was mostly teasing. Her lips quirked faintly as she grinned at him.
"No," Hiccup said with a shake of his head. "I . . . I just don't know. . . where to start."
"I find that the beginning is usually the best place," she offered.
"It's just. . . Dagur said something kind of strange while he was here, and Fishlegs speculated about it. . ." he began hesitantly, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
He saw her stiffen and she accidentally crushed the stem of the flower that she was holding. "You want to know where the rumors about the Targaryen madness come from," she sighed, her voice taking on a slightly bitter edge.
Although that was true, Hiccup still frowned at her reluctant words. She seemed to hold herself rigidly, suddenly guarding herself from being as open with him as he was used to. Forgoing the usual caution that he treated her with, the boy reached over to lay his hand gently on top of hers, though Dany still avoided his gaze. "Dany. . . whatever the truth is, you know it won't change anything, right? We'll still be your friends, you'll still be important to m— us."
"I heard how you went on about Dagur," she argued softly, her voice catching as her hands curled into fists under Hiccup's. "Astrid said that he should be locked in a cage."
"That's because Dagur is deranged," the brunet insisted. "You're nothing like him, Dany."
"I appreciate that, Hiccup," she admitted, her fingers slowly unclenching beneath his reassuring touch. "But it's not just about what Astrid said. The rumors about the Targaryen madness have been haunting my family for generations. It's like a ghost we can't escape, and what's worse is that it's not. . . it's not all lies."
Hiccup's brows furrowed in concern as he listened. "What do you mean?"
She took a deep breath and explained, "before Oswald the Agreeable, there was another Berserker chief from a different family. Khal Drogo." When the brunet started at the familiar name, her lips twisted into a wry smile. "Yes, Drogon is named after him. He was the one who made the Berserker name feared among all the clans— at least, that was until he fell in love. He met my grandmother on one of their raids and he spared her life. After that, the tribe became less and less aggressive until Oswald's father decided he'd had enough of Drogo's ways.
"My grandfather left in disgrace and ran to Berk, where he started a family. He took my grandmother's name— Targaryen— to hide from the Berserkers who still sought after him to avenge their clan's downfall. He could never quite escape the madness, though, and that was what tarnished my family's name. Berserker blood still runs in me, and as I get older, I'm afraid. . ." She choked on her words, not wanting to confess one of her deepest fears. "I'm afraid I'll lose control completely one day. Mad Queen of Dragons, that's what they'll call me."
The brunet's expression softened even as determination flashed through his green eyes. "Dany, you are not your ancestors. You've proven time and again that you're nothing like the stories suggest. You've always fought with us for peace, not war."
She nodded slowly, appreciating his support, yet the fear still lingered in her eyes. "I know, Hiccup, but what if it's in my blood? What if there's a darkness inside of me that I can't control?"
"Then we face it together. We've faced countless challenges side by side and I'm not about to abandon you now. If you ever feel that darkness creeping in, lean on me, on our friends. We'll find a way to overcome it, just like we always do."
Dany managed a small smile, touched by his unwavering support. "I don't know what I would do without you."
"You'll never have to find out," he reassured her. "We're in this together, no matter what comes our way. And I won't tell the others, either. I promise. You don't have to say anything until you're ready, if you ever are."
The blonde hesitated for a moment before she flipped her hand around so that her fingers laced through his. Hiccup startled at the unexpected action as he was used to her keeping her distance, but the girl gently squeezed his hand to keep him from pulling away. Then, steeling her courage, she leaned forward and placed her lips briefly on his cheek— so softly that it wasn't any more than the brush of a butterfly's wing. "Thank you, Hiccup."