Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon except my OC's
Berk is currently suffering through its worst blizzard in history. It has been going on for about a week. All the villagers were either in their homes or in the Great Hall, all the doors and windows were locked and barricaded so that not even a small crack was left open. Right now, the Dragon Riders and their dragons are locked inside one of the pens in the Academy.
Hiccup decided to use the time they had locked in to in dragon lessons. "So, as you can see by the chart, proper wing control can be achieved by-" He was interrupted when a fire blasted into the stone board Hiccup was using to draw diagrams. Hiccup gave an irritated huffed before turning to the others. "Okay, okay, who shot that fireball?"
His eyes narrowed in on his cousin, who was whistling a little too innocently. Next to him, Hookfang was resting with the clear tell-tale sign of smoke coming out of his nostrils.
Snotlout noticed Hiccup glaring at him. "Why are you looking at me?"
"Come on, guys, I don't want to be here any more than you do. Can we just get back to training, please?" Hiccup pleaded.
But the others, not even his own twin, weren't cooperating. "I say we play Twenty Questions instead." Snotlout said. "Anyone? Anyone? Astrid, why do you love me so much?"
That comment caused Astrid to gag.
Tuffnut was in for the game. "Me, me, me. Okay, I'll go first." He said enthusiastically, raising his hand. He didn't notice Snotlout giving a silent signal to Hookfang. "Question number one-" The Monstrous Nightmare whacks Tuffnut back with his tail. "Ow! Ow!" But that didn't stop Tuffnut "How do you play Twenty Questions?"
"Uh, can we try to stay focused? Even for a second?" Hiccup pleaded again. "Sis, can you help me out here."
"Sorry bro. But I lost the focus after the third day here." Hicca apologised, looking up from her medical book.
"Hicca has a point. We've been stuck inside for a week straight because of this crazy weather. We're all starting to go a little nuts." Astrid said.
As if to prove her point, Fishlegs was currently talking to Meatlugs' toes while the Gronckle was lying down. "Ooh, Mr. Pinky, don't tell the others, but you are my favorite."
"Well it's not that bad if you have a way to cope." Raeda commented. Her way of coping was carving graffiti-like art all over the walls of the pen, even the ceiling (which she got done with the help from Sparkfire)
Barf and Belch were biting their own tails, while their riders were watching.
"Barf and Belch just found out they have tails!" Ruffnut explained to the others. "And it looks like they really hate that idea."
"Yeah, I got the same way when I found out I had a tail." Tuffnut said. He then started running in a circle, chasing his own butt. "You can't hide from me forever, invisible tail! I'll get you!"
Ruffnut chuckles at her twin as she walked towards Hicca and Hiccup. Her hair now fully grown back to the way it was before.
"I may have told Tuff that he has a tail, too." Ruffnut whispered to the Haddock twins.
"You can't hide from me for long!"
The doors to the pen opened bringing in a strong gust of cold wind and Stoick the Vast. "Odin's ghost, it's cold out there! Worst freeze in the history of Berk! My-My beard is frozen solid." The chief exclaimed.
This surprised the auburn twins. There must be an emergency if it would make the chief or anyone out in this weather to them. "So, Father, what brings you to the Academy?" Hiccup asked.
"Trader Johann hasn't reported to port. If he's trapped out in this storm, he won't last the night." Stoick explained. "I was think-"
Hiccup jumped in at the golden opportunity. "Oh, yes, I can go! You know, Toothless can help find Johann's ship in the darkness. He is the perfect dragon for the job."
"So can I! With me and Midnight we'll have two more pairs of eyes which will make the search easier and we'll be equipped with medical supplies and a qualified person who knows how to use them in case Trader Johann needs it." Hicca chimed in, also wanting to get out of here.
But Stoick was reluctant to send his children out in this weather. "Ehh, I don't know..."
"Please, Dad. If you ever cared for us at all, the way a father cares for his children, then you will let us leave." Hiccup pleaded.
Stoick looked around and saw why his kids were so eager to leave. It was a crazy scene in the Academy. The teens are either picking fights with each other or hugging their dragons feet or carving into the walls and the dragons were also picking fights and biting their own tails. If the Haddock twins didn't leave soon they may lose their sanity as well.
Stoick sighed. "Bolt the door behind you when you leave, please." He instructed his kids before he left.
The Haddock twins high-fived each other before leaving with their dragons, making sure to bolt the door to the pen on their way out.
The four of them flew out into the cold, with the humans rubbing on their arms to keep themselves warm.
"It's pretty dark out here, guys." Hiccup commented. "Okay, bud. do your thing."
"Go ahead, girl." Hicca said.
The two Night Furies used their echo-locations as their guidance along the vast ocean.
Hiccup looked down to see a thick layer of ice covering the ocean. "Wow! Look at that. I've never seen the ocean frozen solid before. No wonder Trader Johann can't get to port. No one could get through this."
"Maybe if you walked on the ice." Hicca commented.
Something below then caught their attention. They looked down and saw what appears to be clouds rapidly moving in one direction. The group above weren't sure but they could see movement among the clouds.
"Looks like someone decided to take advantage of the ice." Hicca commented.
"I don't know what that was, but I'm glad we're up here and it's down there." Hiccup said, he got a bad feeling of whatever that was.
The twins and Night Furies decided to continue on their search.
Hicca then spotted something. "Hiccup, look!" She said, pointing.
Hiccup looked and saw a very familiar ship. "There he is!" The Night Furies wasted no time and sped towards the ship, where they were greeted by Trader Johann.
"Master Hiccup! Mistress Hicca! You're both welcome sights for these weary eyes." Johann called out to them.
After Hicca did a check up on him and determined that he is in good health. They flew him back to Berk.
"In all my years on the briny deep, I have never witnessed a freeze quite like this one. Ice as thick as Thor's hammer! I even considered abandoning my ship and traveling to Berk on foot. I would have sent an airmail, but that would be too cruel for the poor dragon" Johann told the two teens, looking at the said dragon who was flying with them.
"Well, you won't have to worry about that now, Johann. Just enjoy the ride." Hiccup reassured.
Trader Johann was happy to hear that. "Excellent. We shall pass the time with stories of my grand adventures that are sure to warm your hearts and stoke the fires of your imaginations." Johann said excitedly. But Hiccup, Hicca, Toothless and Midnight all exchanged looks. This is going to be a loooong ride. "Did I ever tell you about the time I found myself up against the man eating metal masons of Minori Majore? Oh, it was spring. The smell of fresh jasmine was in the air..."
After what felt like forever for four of the five in the group, they were getting close to Berk just as Johann was concluding yet another one of his stories. "But it was not a yak; It was his daughter! I could not believe! She looked like a yak and her name was Yakmine. And that, Master Hiccup and Mistress Hicca, is how the king of Ennuden made me an honorary member of his royal court."
Hiccup felt immense relief when he saw Berk.. "Oh, look, we're here. Thank Odin." Toothless shook his head, also thankful.
"To think we left the pen to try to retain our sanities." Hicca muttered to Midnight. The female Night Fury warbled in agreement.
When they arrived, the weather improved immensely. There was no longer freezing cold winds blowing from different directions and some of the snow was beginning to thaw. Yet, the group that came back was put on the edge when they landed. That was because the village was completely trashed with no sign of anyone anywhere, which was strange since the villagers would take any chance they'd get to go out and enjoy the warmer conditions.
"Not the welcome I'm accustomed to, but nonetheless." Trader Johann said looking around.
"Where is everyone?" Hiccup wondered.
"It's too quiet here. That never happens." Hicca said, getting a bad feeling.
Trader Johann decided to share another one of his stories. "This reminds me of the time I landed on the island of the Red-
Hiccup silenced him by raising his hand. "Hello? Anyone?" He called out.
"Let's go to the Academy and see if the others are still there." Hicca suggested. Her brother nodded at that. Hicca turned to Johann before they walked away. "Johann look around the village and see if you can find anyone."
As the group split up, twins and dragons flew to the Academy, while the Terrible Terror decided to go look for some friends. Toothless and Midnight started sniffing around, hoping to get a scent of any villager. What they found was a new scent that was causing them to growl.
Hiccup opened the doors to the pen they were all in and hoped to be greeted by the rest of the dragon riders and their dragons. But they were instead greeted by four Terrible Terrors flying out of the pen.
The four of them then went to their house, hoping to find Stoick. When they arrived they mug that has been dropped to the ground with the contents spilled.
"Hiccup, something is definitely wrong here. Dad should've been out here waiting for us to come back to greet Trader Johann." Hicca said.
"Dad?" Hiccup called out, before he and his sister ran inside to look for their father. They looked, only to find it completely empty.
"What in the name of Thor is going on?" Hiccup asked.
"I don't know, but I don't like it." Hicca said, crossing her arms.
The two of them walked out and rejoined Toothless and Midnight, who were still on high guard after discovering the new scent. The four of them then met up with Trader Johann.
"Johann, anything?" Hiccup asked.
"The whole town Master Hiccup, it's empty." The trader reported.
"I know. It's very weird." Hiccup said.
"Do you think that maybe Berk was under attack while we were gone?" Hicca asked, worriedly.
"Doubt it. Not even Dagur would want to sail under the harsh weather, he wouldn't be able to even if he wanted to. Plus if there was fleet of ships sailing for Berk, we would have spotted them while we were in the air." Her brother answered.
"Well whatever is going on here, I don't like it one bit." Trader Johann said.
"That makes two of us." Hicca said.
Trader Johann then thought of yet another story. "There was one time I was on a trade run with a man who claimed to be a warlock and..."
He stopped when he and the others suddenly saw a figure running inside one of the houses.
"Let's go, Toothless. Johann, stay here." Hiccup said, before he and Toothless ran to the house.
"Midnight stay with him." Hicca instructed before she ran to join her brother.
Hiccup got in the house before his sister and started looking around, to find whoever came here. He was so busy looking around that he didn't noticed the figure above him, until he turned around the and saw someone falling on him before his vision turned black.
"Hiccup! Hiccup!" A very familiar voice called to Hiccup, bringing him back to consciousness. The Haddock boy blinked a few times before he eyes went to Hicca and Toothless who were right in front of him. "Hicca? Toothless?" But the two of them were suddenly moved out the way and Fishlegs immediately came into view, causing Hiccup to jolt backwards. "Whoa! Don't ever do that again!"
Fishlegs immediately hugged Hiccup. "Hiccup! Oh, thank Thor! I'm so sorry I fell on you!"
"Okay, Fishlegs." Hiccup breathed out. Fishlegs was hugging him a bit too tightly.
Sensing her brothers' discomfort, Hicca stepped in. "Okay, Fishlegs give him some room to breathe." Fishlegs let go of Hiccup. "Mind explaining to us exactly what's going on here? This place is a ghost town. We could not have been gone for that long."
Fishlegs started walking around nervously. "Fast, really fast, too fast. Speedy. Oh, and there sting, paralyzing sting!" He muttered, loud enough for the twins to hear.
"Whoa, hold on, Fishlegs. What are you talking about?" Hiccup asked.
"Slow down and just tell us what happened." Hicca instructed.
"Speed Stingers." Fishlegs simply said.
The twins eyes widened at that, knowing the particular specie from the Book of Dragons.
"Speed Stingers? Here?" Hiccup asked.
"That can't be." Hicca said, shaking her head
"It all started just after nightfall." Fishlegs started to explain as he walked to the lit up fireplace to warm his hands. "They don't fly but they're fast. Faster than any dragon I've ever seen, and they hide in the shadows. Scavengers, looking for anything they can find. One drop of their venom can paralyze a human or dragon in an instant. They move in a pack following a leader who directs them like a war chief. By the time Stoick ordered everybody to the cove the entire village had been overrun."
"Well, where are the Speed Stingers now?" Hiccup asked
"I don't know." Fishlegs answered. "The sun came up and they disappeared, but they'll be back. They come out at night."
"I don't understand, why did you come back here, Fishlegs, why not stay with everyone at the cove?" Hiccup asked.
"Yeah you'd be a sitting duck for the Speed Stingers." Hicca agreed.
Fishlegs brought the twins and Toothless to another house. On the roof of the house stood Meatlug, who was paralyzed and in a fighting pose.
"Just look at her up there, so majestic." Fishlegs commented.
The Haddock twins and the male Night Fury were shocked to see Meatlug up there. "How did we miss that?" Hiccup wondered.
"Seriously, we were even flying around here."
"She tried to draw them away so I could escape. I just couldn't leave her." Fishlegs told them.
Trader Johann and Midnight joined the group. "How did we miss that?" The trader noticed as well.
The group then worked together to move Meatlug from the roof to a wheelbarrow so that they can all go to the cove. Fishlegs and Trader Johann were on the roof working on moving Meatlug while Hicca was inspecting the paralysed dragon, taking some mental notes.
"Well the good thing is that this is not permanent. According to Borks' notes, paralysis from speed stingers are temporary. Bork had enough experiences with Speed Stingers to know this." Hicca informed the others
"So, she eats rocks, you say?" Trader Johann grunted as he tried to push Meatlug from behind. "That makes sense."
Meatlug suddenly farts in his face. "Ooh, oh, dear. That's quite an effect." Trader Johann said before he fainted and fell off the roof and into the wheelbarrow.
"Movement! You're right, Hicca. The effects are wearing off. This is very good. Come up and help, Hiccup." Fishlegs called.
Hiccup climbed up the roof and looked around. "Uh, where's Johann?"
Hicca pointed to the ground, where the wheelbarrow is.
"I'm okay, guys. I actually landed on me fluffy bits." Johann called out from the bottom of the wheel-barrow.
"Any idea how long the paralysis lasts, sis?" Hiccup asked.
"No idea. The notes only mentioned that it will wear off, but not when." Hicca answered.
"How do you guys think the Speed Stingers got here? They can't fly." Fishlegs wondered.
"If I had to guess I would say it was because the ocean is frozen solid, creating an ice bridge from island to ours." Hiccup inferred, remembering his sisters' comment on being able to walk on the iced-up sea.
"I bet you that was the speed stingers we saw back when we flew over the ice bridge." Hicca said.
"We need to get to the cove right away." Hiccup said.
He and Fishlegs worked to push Meatlug off the roof and into the wheelbarrow. They succeeded and Johann only got a second to see Meatlug falling before the Gronckle right on top of him into the wheelbarrow. "Oh. I'm alright." He called out.
After Hicca did a quick examination on Johann to make sure that he was indeed alright, the group made their way to the cove. When they entered, Hiccup and Hicca saw many of the villagers completely paralysed. They walked in and looked around the frozen vikings until their eyes landed on their dad, who is among the victims.
"Dad." Hiccup and Hicca both said sadly as they looked at their dads' frozen form. The chief was in a battle pose, looking to be in the middle of a fight with a Speed Stinger before he got stung.
Gobber, who didn't get stung at the attack, walked up to the twins. "He gave as good as he got, Hiccup. It took six of those Speed Stingers to freeze the poor bugger."
Stoick tried to say something, but it only came out as a muffle thanks to his paralysed mouth.
"You bet ya, Chief." Gobber replied.
"What did he say?" Hiccup asked.
"No clue. Don't want to make him feel worse than he does." Gobber answered.
"We should have been here. Hicca, Toothless, Midnight and I could have helped." Hiccup sighed.
"We could have saved dad and the others." Hicca agreed.
"Nonsense, kids. There were too many of them. Nothing would have mattered." Their mentor reassured. "Tell you one thing, those Stingers would be dining on smoked sturgeon and yak jerky tonight, if it weren't for your father." He said gesturing to the crates full of said food.
Stoick tried once again to say something, but again it came out as a muffle.
"Couldn't agree with you more, Stoick." Gobber replied, winking at the kids.
"Hiccup! Hicca!" Two voices called out. Hicca and Hiccup turned to see Astrid and Raeda running to them, both girls relieved to see the Haddock twins. Astrid gave Hiccup a hug and if it wasn't for the situation then Hicca and Raeda would have definitely teased them for that.
"Astrid. Raeda. How's everyone else?" Hiccup asked, referring to the rest of the teens.
"Everyone's fine." Astrid answered.
"Well not everyone." Raeda said, looking in a different direction.
The auburn twins looked at where the Henderson girl was looking at and saw the Thorston twins messing with a paralyzed Snotlout.
"Stop hitting yourself." Ruffnut said, before using Snotlouts' own hand to slap himself.
Tuffnut did the same with Snotlouts' other hand. "Stop hitting yourself Stop hitting yourself. Stop picking your own nose. Stop scratching yourself."
Astrid, Raeda, Hicca and Hiccup watched the scene. "Actually, when you think about it, it's really not so bad."
"I did try to stop them." Raeda said.
"Did you just tell them to stop in a low voice, knowing they wouldn't hear you?" Hiccup asked knowingly.
"Maybe." Raeda answered. He knew her well.
"Oh, come on. Your face isn't that ugly." Ruffnut said to Snotlout. A thump sound was then heard. "Oh, wait."
The teens continued to wait around in the Cove with the rest of the villagers, frozen and non-frozen. Hicca was looking at the paralysed victims, on the look-out for signs of movements that will indicate that the effects are starting to wear off, while Hiccup was sitting near his father drawing a Speed Stinger in the dirt with a stick.
Astrid walked up to Hiccup. "It's going to be dark soon. The Speed Stingers will be back for the rest of the food. Everyone wants to know what we're gonna do."
Hiccup looked up to see his father. Getting motivation, the boy stood up. "Gather the other Dragon Riders. We're heading out."
Astrid did as she was told and soon the other dragon riders (except for Snotlout who was still paralysed) were assembled and waited as Hiccup joined them. "Okay, we're ready." Astrid said.
"Guys, these dragons only come out at night, so we need to find where they sleep during the day." Hiccup explained to the rest of the team. "The only problem is we need to find their nest before sundown or-"
"Can we not think about the 'or', please?" Astrid interrupted.
Fishlegs agreed to that. "Yeah, they came out of nowhere like a pack of wild badgers, scavenging and, uh-"
"Badge-ge-ging." Tuffnut chimed in. The others gave him a look. "What? That's what a badger does. It badges."
Hiccup continued on. "Well, thanks for that. Uh, let's go."
The seven teens were about to walk to their dragons when a voice stopped them. "Hold up. You're not going on a Stinger hunt without me." Snotlout called out, his head starting to recover from the paralysis. He jerks his head and somehow manages to get himself to stand up.
"Whoa. That is seriously creepy." Tuffnut commented.
"Looks like his paralysis is starting to wear off." Hicca commented.
"Lucky us." Fishlegs muttered.
"Snotlout unless you plan on flying Hookfang with your teeth, you're not going anywhere." Astrid said to Snotlout.
"Which means that there are some perks to this mission." Raeda commented.
"What do you mean? I'm fine." Snotlout said. But he was soon proven wrong when he tried to take a step forward and ended up falling face first to the ground.
Unable to move the rest of his body, Snotlout was stuck to the ground. "Stupid arms and stupid legs." He muttered, as the other teens started getting ready to leave. He sees Gustav, who also didn't get paralysed from the Speed Stingers, walk by him and got an idea. "Hey, Gustav! Get your butt over here." He called out to the younger boy.
As the rest of the teens finished the prep, they were surprised to see that Snotlout had somehow got up from the ground and was saluting them. "Snotlout Jorgenson, reporting for duty." He said, as his hand went down.
"What the-?" Astrid wondered. How was Snotlout doing this?
Hicca had the same thought. "No way. I have been examining all the paralysed victims since we got here. Your paralysis could not have worn off that fast."
Hiccup found the answer when he looked behind Snotlout and saw Gustav standing there, controlling Snotlouts' arms.
"I'm Snotlout's arm and legs." The younger boy explained. "And together we are..."
"Guslout!" Snotlout and Gustav said in unison as Gustav moved Snotlouts' hands to do jazz hands.
"Stop with the hands." Snotlout hissed and Gustav complied.
Snotlout noticed the reluctant look on Hiccup and Hiccas' faces. "Hicca, Hiccup, you two need as much dragon power as you can get."
"I can't believe I'm actually about to say this but he's right." Astrid said reluctantly.
"You're kidding, right?" Hiccup asked in disbelief.
"You heard what Gobber said. There are hundreds of them." Astrid pointed out.
"She does have a point, bro." Hicca admitted.
Hiccup sighed in defeat. "Oh, alright. Fine."
"Yes." Snotlout said in triumph. He looked at Gustav. "Move my arm." Gustav moved Snotlouts' right hand so that the Jorgenson boy could give a thumbs up. "Yes!"
"Let's split up and search for possible Speed Stinger hiding spots." Hiccup said to the others.
"You find the place, send up a signal. If not, then meet up back in the centre of the plaza in two hours." Hicca added.
"Okey-dokey, Hiccup and Hicca." Gustav said, before starting to push Snotlout to Hookfang. It was a tough task for the ten year old since Snotlout was taller and heavier than he was. "Come on. Little bit further. Move with me."
"Fishlegs, how's Meatlug doing?" Hiccup asked.
"She's raring to go Hiccup. Look at her." Fishlegs gestured to Meatlug who was struggling to fly because although her wings could move, her tail was still paralyzed causing her to dragging the lower half of her body around. She ended up crashing into some crates.
"So, what's the actual plan?" Astrid asked.
"Or are we going to wing it." Raeda asked.
Hiccup turned to Fishlegs. "Fishlegs, you said they follow their leader in a giant pack, right?"
"Exactly. That's what I saw." Fishlegs confirmed.
"So the plan is: find the Speed Stingers, capture their leader, use it to lure them away." Hiccup explained.
The Dragon Riders split up each of them looking in different areas of Berk, hoping to find a sign of the Speed Stingers.
But for Fishlegs the challenge was more on being able to get their dragons to fly properly.
Fishlegs struggled because Meatlug still hasn't fully recovered from her paralysis and swaying in the air while spewing lava. "It's okay. It's okay, you're doing your best." Fishlegs reassured. Unable to carry her paralysed weight along with Fishlegs', Meatlugs' wings gave up and she and Fishlegs ended up crashing in the forest. Despite the setback, Fishlegs continued to look around.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were tasked with looking in each house to see if the Speed Stingers were hiding there. The twins barged through each doors, each twin armed with a spear and ready to use if needed.
Tuffnut slowly walked into one of the houses. He yelped when he got stung in the butt and dropped to the ground. "I've been stung! I can't feel my tail!" He exclaimed.
Ruffnut laughed as she walked to him holding her spear up, revealing that she was the one behind the 'sting'.
"When this paralysis wears off, you're dead." Tuffnut threatened, still on the ground.
Meanwhile Snotlout facing problems similar to Fishlegs. Since he was still partially paralysed, Gustav was the one who was actually steering Hookfang. But the boy was seated behind Snotlout, so he has to rely on Snotlouts' navigation. "Okay, up, up. Up is where the sky is, down is where the land is."
Despite this, Gustav still had trouble steering Hookfang properly. "I can't see, Snotlout! Your head's too big!" He then got an idea and lightly tapped Hookfangs' neck with his heel. The Monstrous Nightmare seemed to understand and suddenly jerked his head, causing Snotlout to fall off his saddle and into a hole in the ground. This allowed Gustav to steer Hookfang better.
"There will definitely be repercussions for this!" Snotlout shouted to Gustav, his voice muffled by the dirt.
Two hours later the teens all gathered in the centre of the plaza.
"Seriously, no one found anything?" Hiccup asked
"No." Raeda answered
"Not a single Stinger." Astrid said
"Us neither." Fishlegs admitted.
"I got stung." Tuffnut informed the others.
Ruffnut rolled her eyes at her twin. "No, you didn't."
"How could this be? The Speed Stingers could have just decided to leave Berk." Hicca said.
"Have we checked every cave?" Hiccup asked Snotlout, who was tasked along with his cousins to check the cave.
The Jorgenson boy looked away, deciding not to answer that.
"Should have known." Raeda muttered.
"Snotlout, did you check your caves?" Hiccup asked.
"Really? I'm insulted, Hiccup. Of course I did. Do you think I fell off my dragon and spent hours trying to get out of the sand? Ha-ha. I didn't." Snotlout said, a little nervously.
"Gustav?" Hicca questioned.
"He fell off his dragon and we spent hours trying to get him out of the sand." The younger boy answered immediately.
"Gustav, make me punch you!" Snotlout demanded. Gustav did just that, only he made Snotlout punch himself instead of the boy.
Tuffnut and Ruffnut laughed at that. "Never gets old." Tuffnut said.
"Well, then, we know where to look. Let's go!" Hiccup said as he lead the team to the caves Snotlout was supposed to check.
The dragon riders arrived at the cave with Stormfly carrying a large cage to keep the leader of the Speed Stingers in. Hiccup, Hicca, Fishlegs and Raeda got off their dragons. Hiccup took out his shield while Hicca brought out her battle staff and Raeda had her bow ready. "Thanks, Gustav. You stay here with Snotlout and Hookfang." Hiccup said to the younger boy.
"Right." Snotlout answered, holding his right arm out to give a thumbs up. "Hey! I did that all by myself!" He realised happily.
Tuffnut took the chance and shoved Snotlout's still-extended arm right into his face. He and Ruffnut chuckled at that.
"Okay, gang, we have to move fast, because it will be sundown soon, and we need to get that Lead Stinger out of there. Without him, the pack is useless." Hiccup reminded the team.
He, Hicca, Raeda, Fishlegs, Midnight and Toothless then walked slowly and quietly into the cave. They looked around for the lead Stinger, being careful not to wake up the rest of the Stingers.
Fishlegs got the others attention. "Guys, there he is." He said, pointing to the Speed Stinger sleeping around a stalactite. The Stinger was clearly the leader of the pack as the red highlights on the scales separate it from the other Speed Stingers.
Hiccup raised his shield and fired the bola at the lead Stinger, tying it up. "Got him." He said. Toothless then climbed up near the stalactite and brought the Stinger quietly to the ground without waking it or any of the other Stingers. The four teens started dragging the Stinger out of the cave, but none of them and the two dragons ever noticed the lead Stingers eyes opening.
Fishlegs looked back as they were walking out of the cave and noticed that the lead Stinger was wide awake and fully aware of what was going on. "Um, guys?" Hiccup, Hicca and Raeda turned around and saw that not only was the lead Stinger awake, but the rest of his pack were awake as well!
Hicca, Hiccup and Fishlegs quickly dragged the leader out of the cave while Raeda helped Midnight and Toothless keep the rest of the Stingers back by shooting arrows at them.
"Get this Stinger into the cage right away!" Hiccup instructed frantically. But the leader suddenly broke free from the ropes and roared at the three teens. It tried to sting them but luckily they were able to dodge it. Toothless then came to their rescue and fired a plasma blast at the Stinger, keeping it away from the teens.
The lead Stinger then roared to the rest of its' pack, telling them to come out. The others were going to only to be blocked by a wall of fire, which luckily was set after Midnight and Raeda made it out of that cave.
The teens looked up and saw Snotlout, Gustav and Hookfang in the air. The Jorgenson boy recovered from the paralysis and was the one who had his dragon make the fire wall, having reclaimed the drivers seat. "That's right. Snotlout, Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" As he chanted while pumping his fists up, the lead Stinger jumped up and stings Snotlout, paralysing him once again. "Oh, come on!" The Jorgenson boy managed to say before he was completely paralysed.
Midnight and Toothless then confronted the leader.
"He's too fast, Hiccup and Hicca!" Fishlegs warned.
"Not for a Night Fury!" Hiccup countered.
"They've got this." Hicca said with full confidence.
The lead Stinger then tried to sting Toothless and Midnight, but both Night Furies were able to dodge swiftly, proving Hiccups' point. The leader then decided to go after the Haddock twins instead and tried to sting them, but Hiccup was able to protect himself and his sister thanks to his Gronckle Iron shield. But the Stinger knocked the shield out of Hiccups' hands. Luckily Toothless was fast enough to catch the shield in his mouth and toss it back to his human, who caught it. "Thanks, bud." Hiccup said. He then got on the saddle. "Astrid, follow us!"
Astrid caught on his plan. "I think I know where you're going with this." She got on Stormfly and the two quickly worked to help Toothless and Hiccup executed their plan. First Toothless fired a few plasma blasts to get the Speed Stinger to move back, then Stormfly shot a line of spikes to make the Stinger move right into the cage that was already set up. One final blast from Toothless locked the leader into its' new prison
"Yes! Got him!" Hiccup exclaimed in triumph.
Unfortunately, the rest of the Stingers were not about to lose their leader. The rest of the pack jumped over the fire wall and surrounded all the Dragon Riders and Dragons. Now the riders faced a new dilemma, how could they fly the lead Stinger out of there without getting stung by the other Stingers?
"Hiccup, Hicca, there's just too many of them! We're surrounded!" Astrid said.
"Well, if anyone has any ideas, no matter how crazy it may sound, now would be a good time to speak up." Hicca said, looking at the all the Stingers surrounding them.
Help did come, but not from any of the teens, their dragons or Gustav, but from Stoick the Vast and Thornado! The former having finally recovered from his paralysis. The Thunderdrum gave out a sonic roar, causing the Speed Stingers to back away from the group.
"Dad, you're okay." Hiccup said, looking up to his dad.
"Thank goodness!" Hicca said, sighing in relief.
"You two didn't think I'd let both of you have all the fun, did you?" Stoick remarked as Thornado landed. The chief got off his dragon and walked to the cage, glaring down at the lead Stinger. "Remember me?" He turned back to his kids. "Now get him off my island."
"You heard the chief." Hiccup said.
"Astrid will you do the honors?" Raeda offered.
"With pleasure." Astrid accepted. Stormfly grabbed the cage with her claws and flew to ocean where there was still a path of ice formed above the water. Predictably the rest of the Speed Stingers ran after the duo, trying to get to their leader, but they still weren't ready to give up yet.
One of the Speed Stingers jumped up and stung Stormfly, causing the blue Nadder to fall on the ice, dropping the cage. Luckily for Astrid, the rest of the dragon riders were with her
"We'll get the cage! Ruff, Tuff, cover Astrid!" Hiccup instructed as Toothless swooped in to grab the cage. The two of them then flew off, followed by the Speed Stingers with Hicca and Midnight following behind them to try keep the Stingers from getting close to them.
Just as the Speed Stingers were about to reach Astrid, the Thorston twins swooped in. "Incoming!" Tuffnut announced, just before Barf and Belch made a ring of fire around Astrid and Stormfly, protecting them from the Speed Stingers..
"Here we go!" Ruffnut cheered.
Midnight and Hicca continued to protect their boys from the Speed Stingers, until the wingless dragons decided to switch their target on the two girls. This forced Midnight to fly away, protecting her rider from the paralysing stings.
One of the Speed Stinger then tried to sting Hiccup, only to get his prosthetic leg instead. "Weren't expecting the old metal leg, were ya?" Hiccup commented. They were about to reach a safe place to drop the cage when another Speed Stinger jabbed Toothless' prosthetic tail, puncturing it and causing the boys to call. As they got up, they found themselves surrounded by Speed Stingers. Hiccup readied his shield, only to find it out of bolas. "Out of bolas. Toothless." The male Night Fury was about to blast the Stingers, until he found that he couldn't. "And no plasma blast. Great."
The Speed Stingers started closing in on the duo until a voice called out from above. "Hookfang, fire!" Was all the warning they got, before they dodged a fire blast. They moved away from the Haddock boy and the Night Fury and went towards their caged leader, allowing Hookfang to fire at the ice, creating a gap in the pathway from Berk and more importantly, keeping the Speed Stingers away from Berk.
"Nice shooting, Snotlout!" Hiccup praised.
"Ha! No problem, Hiccup." Snotlout said smugly.
He was suddenly pushed off his saddle and ended up hanging upside down from Hookfangs' neck again. "Yeah, no problem, Hiccup." Gustav repeated as he took over steering Hookfang again,
"Hey! Put me down! Repercussions! Repercussions!" Snotlout yelled as Gustav flew them back to Berk, with the older boy still hanging upside down.
With the threat of the Speed Stingers gone, the Dragon Riders were able to bring all the villagers back to Berk, where most of the victims have fully recovered from their paralysis. The ones who have recovered went to work on fixing the damages caused by the Stingers.
Stoick and Gobber were supervising. "Nasty creatures, those Speed Stingers." Stoick commented to Gobber.
"Aye, we have a few nasty creatures of our own around here." Gobber said.
The chief followed Gobbers' gaze and saw the Thorston twins and Gustav messing with a paralysed Snotlout. Having been recently stung, it will be a while for Snotlout to fully recover. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were not about to waste a good opportunity and kept spinning Snotlout around, with Gustav joining in on the fun. Right now Snotlout could only move his face, as he tried threatening them to stop messing with him, but to no avail.
With the blizzard gone, the ice has melted over the ocean, allowing Trader Johann to be able to continue his travels. Hiccup, Toothless, Hicca and Midnight dropped him off to his ship.
"Thank you guys again for the rescue, Master Hiccup and Mistress Hicca."
"No problem, Johann. I'm just glad everything's back to normal." Hiccup said.
"Well, as normal as it can be for us." Hicca added.
They were about to leave, when Johann stopped them "Oh, before you go, I have something for both of you. A little token of my appreciation." Johann took out a large bottle and a book and handed it to the twins. "Pure squid ink, wrestled from the colossal squid of the Northern Waters. And a copy of the research on herbal medicines by Eliya Thorn."
Hicca's eyes widened at the book. "Eliya Thorn, one of the most well-known healers in all of the Archipelago? This is golden. Thank you so much Trader Johann!" She squealed as she snatched up the book.
"Yeah, thanks, Johann." Hiccup said, graciously taking the bottle. He remembered Johanns' last visit, when he bought a bottle of ink, only to drop it before he could even use it. Looks like the trader came through with his promise.
"Yes, there is actually a wonderful story that goes along with that bottle." Johann said as he got ready for another story. "Ten summers ago, deep under the currents of the Northern Waters, I was staring directly into the black eye..."
But his audience wasn't really enthusiastic about listening to yet another story. "Hey, guys, what do you say we get out of here?" Hiccup said to the other three.
"Yes please." Hicca replied. "Sorry Johann, but we hear our dad calling us." The four of them left before Johann could say anything else.
"Wait, where are you guys going? I haven't finished my story yet. He was about to ingest me. Great big teeth!" Johann called out, wondering if they were going to come back.