They landed inside the second floor which had been turned into a new dragon sanctuary, water spilling out of wounds in the tree bark, and a nearby lake providing fresh fish. Troughs made of scale steel were filled every day and cool water from the trees flowed through the interior of the metal, keeping the fish cold.
Not sparing a second glance at the many new dragons that had accumulated there, they ran to the elevator, before using the open space to fly straight up to the storage room where their supplies were stored.
Toothless and Midnight galloped over to Lavender and Sunset, all beginning to push gear and weapons into piles for their riders to pack. It was all a very organized and calculated system.
Allen and Elise were already there, their wooden chests flipped open, sliding on their scaled armor over their thin under-suit wear which was a tight-fitting shirt and pants. It was designed to be thick enough to protect the skin from getting blisters from the steel, but thin enough as to not make the Elites too hot in the armor.
"Jeysannia was needed at the Forge, so she just took her chest and left," Allen quickly supplied, to which Luneah nodded and began stripping of her training armor made of simple leather. Leathre was lighter than the scale steel, but it would not protect against arrows and swords like the scale steel armor would.
Although Allen and Elise had gotten there before them, Hiccup and Luneah finished at the same time, as they had done more improvements to their armor making it easier to put on.
"Where did the ships come from?"
"The northwest. In the direction of the barbaric archipelago. We haven't seen them before. The flagship had a huge Skrill painted on it."
Hiccup's head snapped up and his fingers paused in tightening his chestpiece's final buckle.
"Skrill?"
"Yeah."
"Dagur."
"What?"
He hurriedly checked each buckle on his armor, grabbed his gloves, helmet, arm guards, and boots before walking to Toothless and dropping them at his feet. Pulling the comfortable riding saddle off his dragon, he strapped the slightly heavier but much more durable saddle on and switched out the tail fin.
"Long story," he responded, checking the straps before climbing on Toothless, grabbing his gear and shoving it in his messenger bag.
"I just need to say hello to an old friend."
He placed his helmet on, and Toothless took off, cutting through the pine needles and flying towards the bay.
"What do you mean? How do you know me?!" Saphira exclaimed, stepping back and observing her necklace, only to find a tiny engraving on the side. Indeed it said 'Caldera Cay'.
How she'd never found it, Saphira had no idea.
"Where were you born?" Valka asked, crouching down and taking her hands.
"I... Don't remember. I was taken by Drago ten years ago. I was three."
"Dear, you are the heir and protector of the Defenders of the Wing! You are the true Queen! Your cousin, Mala, a close friends of mine took over when you died and your parents were captured. "
"I- I have a cousin?"
Valka chuckled breathily. "Yes, you do."
"I... I'm a princess?!"
"No," Valka stood up. "You are a queen."
Saphira started pacing. "I can't be a queen! I- I don't know how to lead, I can't walk without tripping over my own feet, and I can't-"
"That's not what a Queen of the Defender of the Wing does," Valka cut her off, reassuring her.
"All she is expected to do is to provide some sort of balance to her tribe, between the tribe members and the dragons."
Saphira nodded, looking out into the distance. "I think... I can do that."
Valka sent her a small smile. "I'm sure you can."
Valka held out her hand to Saphira. "Come. Let us take you back to your people."
Hiccup landed on a sea cliff right outside of town.
By now, he had buckled on his wrist guards, slid on his boots, and refilled Inferno. He had strapped the maximum amount of refil canisters to his thighs and had even more in one of Toothless' hidden saddle bags.
He pulled off his helmet and looked off into the ocean, where a large armada was gathering alongside the setting sun.
Just like he had been told, the largest ship, the flagship, had a huge skrill painted boldly on the sails.
Against the orange sky, the clouds were steeped with a brilliant but ominous looking scarlet, as if they were foreshadowing a bloody battle. Hiccup couldn't help but agree. This was going to be a war of huge loss.
Hiccup glanced up, and to the Eastern sky he saw the new moon, which was a good sign, as Toothless and Midnight would be at their strongest. Hidden in the night. It was what they did best.
Sighing and sliding his helmet back on, he took off towards the town square, where villagers were rushing past, the men and women clad in armor and swords in their hands. The women who could not fight and the children under sixteen, were rushing to the bunkers, which were underground and built to withstand the biggest catapults and most powerful dragon blasts.
Luneah landed on the other side, and they both walked toward each other.
"I'm feeling a strange sense of dejavu," he commented.
"Except this time, I won't kill our Chieftess and Heir." She lashed out, suddenly sarcastic and hurtful. Hiccup's eyes widened and he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Sorry, that was a bit harsh," she apologized, biting her lip.
"It's fine. Anyways... good luck."
She winked at him. "Good luck to you too, Captain."
He groaned. "Don't remind me. I don't want to lead."
Luneah rolled her eyes. "You're so overdramatic. You have a natural knack for this. The chiefing lessons back on Berk will surely benefit you now. Anyways, you're a master strategist. That's why you were promoted."
He smiled and kissed her on the lips quickly. "Thanks, love."
Luneah narrowed her eyes. "You just did that to get compliments, didn't you?"
"Partially, yes," he shrugged. "But the other part of me was really doubting myself."
"Awwe, Amare," she wrapped her arms behind his neck and kissed him. He felt her smile against his lips.
They broke apart when a loud whistle was sent in their direction.
"Yo lovebirds!" Allen yelled, atop Sunset. The dragon in question tilted her head in an owllike ism, her wings flapping furiously to maintain her hover. "We're in a war! Not a marriage ceremony!"
He flew off towards the Forge, and Luneah rolled her eyes. "He's lucky I love him."
Hiccup chuckled, mounting Toothless and sliding his helmet on, keeping the face plate flipped open.
"Yep. But I don't."
Hiccup took off, flying nearly full speed towards Allen, screaming something about 'I'm gonna kill you!'. Luneah took off shortly afterwards, laughing brightly at the two.
.