It turns out that finding the triplets and Lilias was not hard at all. They just had to follow the sound of maniacal laughter, the screams of terror, and the smell of burning wood.

"Aye, they're in for it now," Merida groaned.

"To be honest, terrorizing people when they first see a dragon is quite fun," Hiccup stated.

Merida frowned and Hiccup laughed.

"You should try it sometime," he suggested and flew down.

The women were grabbing any kids and animals- taking them away while the men grabbed buckets of water and poured it on the fire. The kids were flying above them and having a riot.

"Please be careful Young Masters and Lady! These beasts could tear you apart!" some people pleaded the children, not knowing they were the true masterminds.

"Everyone! The dragons are really nothing to worry about," Hiccup tried to reason.

A woman screamed and pointed toward Toothless.

"Princess watch out!" a man exclaimed.

He and a group of men left the buckets of water and traded them for swords. They ran towards Toothless, but Merida stood in between them.

"Stop! He's not dangerous!" Merida ordered.

The men stopped but kept their swords raised. Merida turned to Toothless and scratched him under the chin. Toothless immediately melted at her touch. The men stood baffled and lowered their swords.

"We have more important matters. You all need to put the fire out and try to remove anything else that's close that could possibly catch on fire," Merida instructed.

"You must be a really good Princess," Hiccup commented.

"Why do you say that?" Merida asked.

"Between putting out a raging fire and rescuing you, they chose to rescue you," Hiccup replied.

Merida shoved him playfully and walked closer to where her brothers and Lillias were.

"Ye devils are in so much trouble!" Merida exclaimed.

Lillias giggled at their pouting faces.

"You too Lillias!" Merida added.

"Says who?" Lillias taunted.

"You're future Queen," Merida replied.

Lillias looked directly at her making Merida notice her brown eyes were now russet.

"Lillias, just come down so we can speak," Merida reasoned.

Lillias shook her head, frustrating Merida. The triplets just watched as Lillias and their sister argued. Good thing they had grabbed a couple of pastries. They realized the whole "destroying half the festival" thing wasn't good, but they were also having fun watching everyone freak out so they opted to follow Lillias.

Lillias suddenly stopped and looked around.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

She looked down and noticed she was riding Hookfang.

"A dragon!" she exclaimed.

"Lillias! Stop playing around and get down here this instant before I personally ground you," Merida ordered.

"What!? Ye can't do that!" Lillias retorted.

"I'm your future Queen there are very few things I cannot do," Merida replied.

"Not if you don't get married," Lillias grumbled.

"What?" Merida asked.

"If you don't get married my brother Labhrainn can become king," Lillias replied matter-of-factly.

"What? Is that true?" Hiccup asked Merida.

"Who told you?" Merida asked her and avoided Hiccup's questioned.

"The big man with the giant muscles. He said he'd pay me to distract you. I told him it would take more than that, but that's all I remember," she replied.

"Why?" Merida asked.

Lillias shrugged. Hookfang and Stormfly flew down with the children. They all hopped off the dragons and stood awkwardly.

"What did he say he would do?" Merida raised her voice as she approached Lillias.

"Merida, calm down," Hiccup tried to reason.

Merida looked at the mess around her.

"He's planning something. I knew he was suspicious," Merida cried out.

"What could he possibly want?" Hiccup asked.

"Maybe he wants to steal some jewelry or a prized family heirloom," Merida suggested.

"How long ago did he ask you to distract Merida?" Hiccup asked the young girl.

"Umm, right after we put frogs in the Kings kegs," Lillias replied.

"Ye did what? Nevermind, how long ago was that?" Merida asked her brothers.

"About an hour," Hamish replied.

"What happened here?" Heather asked as she landed down with Windshear.

"We think someone might be trying to steal something from the castle," Hiccup replied.

Lillias gasped once she saw Windshear and stepped back. The triplets stepped forward and covered her.

"What's wrong?" Heather asked.

"Your dragon is scary," Lillias replied.

"What? No, she's not," Heather argued.

"The only reason we didn't take her was because she threw those spikes at us," Hubert stated.

"You scared her. Besides, Stormfly has spikes too," Heather replied.

"Alright, we have more pressing matters. You four, follow us. Heather, do you think you could go the beverage stands and tell them not to serve beer? They might be frog infested," Merida asked.

"That's a strange request, but alright. Which one?" Heather asked.

Merida turned to her brothers and they all looked away.

"All of them," Merida sighed.

"And if you see anyone from the other groups ask them to meet us in the castle so they can help us look," Hiccup added.

Heather hopped on Windshear to look for the beverage stands. Merida, Hiccup, the dragons, and the kids quickly made their way to the castle. Before going inside Merida grabbed Lillias' shoulder and looked at her brown eyes.

"I'm sorry that I got angry at ye," Merida apologized.

Lillias only stared back until Merida let her go.

"Why don't we alert your kingdom?" Hiccup asked as Merida paced around the throne room.

"No, that would cause a panic," Merida replied.

"What if you placed guards around the entrances and exits while we search?" Hiccup suggested.

"That would be wise, but the main problem is what the other kingdoms will think when they see the guards. My mum thought they should take turns guarding and enjoying the festival," Merida sighed.

"You just need 2 per entrance and exit. Not enough to cause suspicion, but enough to alert us if they see Gaston trying to get in or out, and they could still take turns," Hiccup replied.

"Good idea! We'll also need a small group to look after the wee devils," Merida commented.

She placed Lillias on her mum's throne, Harris on her dad's, Hubert on her's, and Hamish on the large throne the triplets usually share. Once they turned 8 years old her parents thought it would be better to get them an actual throne rather than a wooden bench. She also placed Stormfly and Hookfang on both sides for extra measures.

"I'm going to call the guards inside. Stay right where you're at," Merida warned them.

She opened the doors and asked the guards to take care of the children. The guards accepted despite being afraid of the dragons and went inside.

"Don't let anyone but Astrid and Snotlout take the dragons," Merida informed the guards.

She, Hiccup, and Toothless stepped outside of the throne room.

"Tuffnut and the MacIntoshes should be here," Hiccup reminded her.

"Ye're right. I think I can remember where Aileas' room is," Merida said and led the way.

Finding the room wasn't hard seeing as both Callum and Tuffnut, along with Barf and Belch, we're right outside her door.

"Let me in, please? I don't usually say it," Tuffnut whined.

Callum stood sternly with his arms crossed. He was usually very timid looking, so seeing him like that was unnerving.

"Tuff? What are you doing here?" Hiccup asked.

"Huh? Oh hey guys! I was just looking for the kids. Nope, not around here," Tuffnut replied and looked around.

"We found them already. Now we need help finding someone else. A French guy named Gaston," Hiccup informed him.

"Hiccup what's going on?" Astrid asked from behind them.

She, Stormfly, and Ryan were walking towards them. They were probably able to find them with Stormfly's help.

"We need to find a French man. He's large, has black hair, and blue eyes. He claims that his name is Gaston, but who knows," Merida replied.

"Alright, do you have anything of his that Stormfly could use to track him?" Astrid asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Merida stated.

"Looks like we'll have to do this the old fashion way," Hiccup replied.

"Right. Astrid you, your dragon and I can start with the underground rooms. Hiccup, you, Toothless, and Ryan can search the ground-level rooms. Tuffnut, you, your dragon- dragons?-, Callum, and Aileas can search the second level rooms," Merida instructed. "Is that alright with everyone?"

The rest nodded and everyone separated into their groups.

~~~In the Cellar ~~~

"Wow, you guys sure do drink a lot," Astrid whistled.

The cellar was filled with large kegs of what Astrid could only assume was alcohol.

"Aye, and this isn't even all of it," Merida agreed and laughed.

"So, what made your dad decide to send a message to Berk?" Astrid asked.

Merida wondered if she meant now or 20 years ago. She figured she meant now, so she answered.

"Well, we both missed our friends. He and I hadn't seen Stoick and Hiccup in years," Merida replied with an unusually soft voice, "How did, you know, it happen? If you don't mind me asking."

"A crazy lunatic named Drago Bludvist took control of Toothless and ordered him to attack Hiccup... Hiccup didn't want to hurt Toothless; he tried to make him snap out of it... Toothless got ready to fire, so Stoick," Astrid told the story.

"Aye, my father almost died saving me as well. It's natural to be protective for the people close to ye," Merida replied.

"Like ye and Hiccup. I know ye don't like me- that much is true."

"No! It's not like I hate you it's just," Astrid tried to say something.

"I understand where ye're coming from. I'm a stranger and you don't know if I'm trustworthy or not," Merida told her. "I just needed to know that he was happy on Berk."

"I guess I understand you too. Friends are precious, especially when you don't have many," Astrid replied.

"Last time we talked he was a wee lamb, but I'm glad he has someone like ye to help him," Merida clarified.

"Thank you," Astrid responded.

They continued to walk in silence- not the usual awkward one this one was the comfortable silence you have when two people start to understand each other.