𖣯 ✹ 🌷(makligr) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter nine; yrsa
❝ when the earth trembles! ❞

      "YOU'VE been at this for hours," mumbled Yrsa, sitting on the wood outside the Club House and watching Hiccup hammer at the new 'telescope'; it was basically this huge spy-glass that'll help them see Dagur and his men if they decided to show up. 

     Hiccup sent her a look around the wood he hammered. He gave it a louder thud and she winced, giving him a scowl. "Was that really necessary?"

     He gave her a little smile. He hammered again and she rolled her eyes. "It's almost done."

    "You said that an hour ago," Yrsa slumped, staring through the eye-hole out to the ocean. "How long does it take to hammer an oversized spyglass to a deck? Come on," she stood up and made her way over. Taking Hiccup's shoulders, she gave them a shake. "Finish it! You can finish it━I know you can finish this. Come on, dragon boy! Labour away━!"

     "Okay, okay, okay━" he swiped his hands at her, pushing her off. "I'm finishing it. I'm just about finished."

      She pouted, reaching to give him another shake and when he went to stop her, she was ready, slipping her hands around his to squeeze his cheeks. Hiccup made a disgruntled sound and grabbed her wrists, pulling her away. "Stop," he told her, though he was very amused. He kept them together to stop her from annoying him and copied her pout. Yrsa's heart fluttered; he looked really cute like that, and she blushed. "This is serious," he told her. 

      Their dragons who sat back, watching, shared an annoyed glance. Toothless brought forward his tail, smacking Yrsa lightly on the back but enough to send her stumbling. If Hiccup hadn't kept her up, she would have fallen right on top of him. Her blush grew, and her confidence wavered, staring down at the boy who looked up at her through her arms with his hands secured around her waist; he looked just as flustered. Toothless made a gutteral noise━laughing at their situation. Helrose joined in a little before going back to looking at her wings shimmering in the sun.

     "Um," Yrsa managed, still staring at Hiccup's green eyes. They were both blushing like crazy. "Uh━Toothless━um━sorry━I'll just━we should ..."

     Hiccup jumped. He had been staring at something, she wasn't sure what though. "Yeah! Yeah━" he went━if it was possible━even redder and steadied her enough to step away, "━yeah, we should━I probably should━Toothless, here, bud━uh━"

     They stood apart from one another like they had been burnt. Yrsa hugged her stomach, turning to Helrose. She couldn't even make a mutter at how smug her dragon looked at Toothless's actions, she was too busy focusing on how Hiccup's fingers felt on her waist━it made her skin hot. They seemed to just fit; to work perfectly, to find the exact place to settle without trying━

     Stop focusing on it, Yrsa scolded herself. 

      Hiccup hammered a few more bolts into the foundations as Astrid landed Stormfly, eager to see the finished product. She jumped off her saddle and walked over to Yrsa, coming to a comfortable stance beside her. The moment just passed forgotten (thankfully), Hiccup stood up and examined his work. Then, he turned to Toothless. 

     "All right. I think one more plasma blast should do the trick, bud."

     They all hid their eyes at the explosion of blue and purple. The huge spy glass rattled, smoke wafted, and Yrsa coughed, waving the smoke away from her. Toothless laughed at her again. 

      Astrid crouched down to peer through the scope once the smoke dissipated, and was pleasantly surprised. "Nice!" she said. "I can see straight to the horizon."

     Hiccup propped his hands on his hips, satisfied with his work. "That should definitely make it harder for anyone to sneak up on us. Now, I wonder how the Twins' lookout tower is coming along."

     Yrsa chortled at the thought, "Oh," she said sarcastically, "I'm sure it's going great."

     Hiccup sent her a look, but it wasn't as stern as others. She just smirked in response. Yrsa crossed her arms and leant back against Helrose, watching Snotlout step out of the Club House, probably finidng Fishlegs's experiments with the Dragon Eye inside boring like he did everything else. 

     Seeing Yrsa, Snotlout's eyes lit up. "Oh, hey, Yrsa, I was just thinking about how beautiful━"

     "Gross," she cut him off and deciding to take a peak into the spy glass herself. Yrsa held the ends of the scope and gave it a little shake. It rattled to her right and she pointed over for Hiccup. He immediately walked around and started to hammer in the bolts more on that side. 

      She heard the sound of Helrose and Stormfly greeting each other, dipping their heads and flaring their wings with beaming, toothy grins. Recently, Stormfly and her other Deadly Nadder brethen had been taken out of the Sharp Class and placed into the newly found Tracker Class (they were, suprisingly, great at tracking. Stormfly could smell any chicken for miles to take a bite). 

     Pulling away and checking underneath, Yrsa searched for more imperfections that she knew Hiccup wanted to find, ignoring Snotlout's attempts to talk to her. Astrid rolled her eyes at him and threatened something about sending him off the edge of the Club House deck right now. 

      They were all interrupted, however, when out of nowhere, the Twins landed Barf and Belch with a thud onto the wood. 

      "Yrsa!" cried Tuffnut and she jumped, confused as to why they'd be talking to her. Sure, they saved her life during the Rumblehorn incident, but that didn't make them friends━Hel no. "Drop everything you're doing and bring your face."

     She arched an unimpressed brow. Ruffnut crossed her arms, looking very smug. "Prepare to be rubbed."

     Yrsa turned up her nose, disgusted. "Um ... I'd rather not."

      "Just come on!" Tuffnut waved his arms towards them dramatically. Then, he gestured to the others. "Oh, and you all can come, too, I suppose..."

     Without another word, they took off. Yrsa frowned, incredulous. She turned to Hiccup, shaking her head. She sighed and stood up, ready to just head back to her hut, but he just took her arm and swivelled her to Helrose. "Come on," he said.

      She huffed, muttering a soft whine of, "Why..." but climbed up onto her saddle anyway. The group of them left the Club House and Fishlegs inside to follow the Twins towards the beach. 

     Yrsa spent the entire time thinking of what stupid thing they wanted to show her. Probably something to make her feel bad, or make fun of her, or just make her day worse. Sure, she might do it to them ... but what do they expect acting the way they did?

    They were waiting for them at the beach they were supposed to build a watch tower by with Barf and Belch standing tall, their wings spread to block their view as the others landed. Yrsa crossed her arms as soon as her feat landed on the sand, standing close to Hiccup with Astrid and Snotlout behind her.

     Tuffnut and Ruffnut held out their arms in front of Barf and Belch. "Dragon Riders!" announced Tuff. "You asked for it. We built it! Presenting you━" he turned to his sister and she brought her hands to her mouth to imitate a bugle, "━with our new rock lookout tower!"

     Yrsa leaned in to whisper to him, "They do know that we could see behind Barf and Belch when we flew here and that there's nothing there?"

     Before Hiccup could respnd, the Twins signalled for their dragon to take to the sky and reveal exactly what they all knew was behind: nothing.

     However, Ruffnut and Tuffnut seemed horrified by this fact. They gaped, frozen in shock.

     Snotlout shook his head, "You guys never disappoint, do you?"

     Tuffnut gasped, "What? No! Wait!" he spun back to them, pointing out to the ocean. "It was there a minute ago!" A revelation hit him. He narrowed his gaze onto his sister. "What did you do with it, Ruffnut?"

     She scowled right back at him. "What?! I didn't do anything with it!"

     "You lying she-beast! You were always jealous of my rock tower."

     "Your rock tower?!" This was the last straw. With a scream, Ruffnut launched at her brother, tackling him to the ground. As they wrestled with shoves, bites, and pulling hair, Yrsa sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Beside her, Astrid let her head fall into her palm. Hiccup winced while Snotlout smirked, enjoying the sight very much. 

     Before the Twins could seriously hurt the other with their blades they pulled from their sheaths, Hiccup stepped in with a, "Okay! Okay! Okay!" They heaved at either side of him, still grasping their weapons. Snotlout was on the tip of his toes with anticipation. Yrsa rolled her eyes at him. "Let's everyone step away from the sharp objects." Snotlout grumbled at this, very disappointed. 

     Ruffnut and Tuffnut dropped their weapons, but they still glowered at each other, tilting their heads around Hiccup. "Okay, look," went on the chief's son, "maybe this job was just too tough for you to do alone. I can always put Yrsa on the project with you━"

     "Oh, no," Yrsa spoke up immediately. Shaking her head and stepping away. "Hiccup, let's not be hasty, okay?"

      He glanced back at her, shoulders rising to say, Seriously, Yrsa?

      She stood her ground, glowering back at him to argue, Yes, seriously. 

      He tried to glower with more ferocioty, but she just clenched her jaw and turned her own to daggers━like their usual silent disagreements. It would go on like this, more and more and more; she will come out on top this time━

     "But we did built it, honest!" Ruffnut interrupted it and Hiccup spun back.

     "Trust me, H," sighed Tuff, "no one was more surprised about that than we were."

     Snotlout scoffed softly, "Bet I'd be more surprised."

     "No, I'd be way more surprised," agreed Yrsa.

     "Five mackerel?"

      "Please," Yrsa didn't look at him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction she was going to do this. In a whisper, she added, "Ten mackerel." They sealed the bet with a fist pump. 

     The air was suddenly split with Fishlegs's cry, "Hiccup! Yrsa! Hiccup━come quickly!"

     Hiccup and Yrsa shared an anxious glance. Astrid stared back up at the base, "That does not sound good..." she murmured. 

◞ ★ ꒱꒱◜

     THEY rushed back into the Club House. Bursting through the open door, Yrsa skidded to a stop, very confused at the sight of multi-couloured pools of Gronckle lava littered across the floor. "Fishlegs?" she let out, incredulous.

    "Careful where you step," he said, not glancing back at them.

     Yrsa and Hiccup shared another glance before picking their away around the puddles of dried fire, coming to an anxious stance behind their friend and Meatlug. Fishlegs had his head stuck in a book, the Dragon Eye still shining up to the roof. 

     "Fishlegs," said Hiccup, "what's wrong?"

     Fishlegs stared at them, shocked. "Wrong?" he echoed. He then chuckled. "Nothing's wrong." Yrsa crossed her arms at this, annoyed. "Except, I may have just made the greatest discovery in the history of Berkian civilisation!"

     Yrsa's eyes widened, intruiged. But she tried to not show it. She just jutted out her hip. "Have you discovered something better than an out-house?"

     He frowned at her. "Uh ... no."

     "How about a miracle medicial concoction that'll cure any common sickness?"

     "Um ... not that."

     "What about━?"

     "Just look at the ceiling, Yrsa!"

     She was startled by the outburst, but did as he asked. And once she saw it, she gasped. The Dragon Eye had created a map stretching all across the roof; orange in colour and focusing on the Boulder Class. But it included far much more than they've seen already, and, more importantly━

     "Oh, Fishlegs," breathed Hiccup in his awe, "is that...?"

    He nodded, excited. Hopping onto Meatlug's saddle, they flew up to the ceiling to show them. His finger was shaking as he pointed at the imagery, beaming. "This is a Gronckle, and here is the boulder surrounded by water and the dual mountain peaks!" He squealed. "Dark Deep! It's Dark Deep!"

     "I can't believe it!" Yrsa chuckled━she really couldn't. Dark Deep was━until now━something they thought fiction, or an island long lost by natural means. There was only mention of it, but never a map, never anything more. But here it was. "The ancestral home of all the Gronckles. Of the entire Boulder Class!"

     "It's real, guys!" Fishlegs clapped his hands, almost jumping off the saddle in his enthusiasm. "And we finally found it!"

     Yrsa grinned, fingers to her mouth. Her heart pounded with her own excitement. Something not many people knew━because she didn't let them know well, was that she enjoyed learning abou dragons, and discovering them just as much as Hiccup and Fishlegs did. Learning from Toothless without realising brought forward an eagerness she never shook off. Astrid would call her a nerd, and she'd scoff at it if she wasn't alone with them, but it was true. Yrsa was a little bit of a 'dragon nerd' as Snotlout would declare. 

     "Yeah. What's so great about this?"

     Speaking of Snotlout.

     Yrsa froze up. The panic she felt was stupid━really stupid. And yet, she replaced her excitement with a stone expression, crossing her arms and glaring. She didn't think Snotlout had seen her so unwinded, and that brought a wave of relief over her. Why does she even care what they all think of her? What was she so scared of━it made her slump a little. Not sure whether she was ashamed of herself, or just sad. 

     Fishlegs scowled down at the Jorgenson. "Do I really have to explain?"

     "Your boring discovery? Yes."

    Fishlegs rolled his eyes, but said, "Dark Deep is an island that, up until now, we were never sure existed. It's not in the Book of Dragons anywhere. However, in Bork's papers, there is a mention of it, but only briefly and in context to a completely different species. If we were able to find Dark Deep, it could unlock so many secrets, not only of Gronckles, but the entire Boulder Class of dragons. Do you understand how amazing this is?!"

     Hiccup smiled at Yrsa, and she found herself able to reply with one of her own just for him that no one could see. She discreetly nudged his arm. But Snotlout was the complete opposite. In fact, she believed he hadn't even been listening. Instead, he was too busy trying to dig wax out of his ear with his finger. Yrsa turned away, disgusted. 

     "Check that!" he said, wiping his finger on his pants. "I absolutely don't care."

      And then he left. 

      Yrsa quirked a brow. Why would he even ask if he didn't care? Just to say that? What an idiot. 

     "Hiccup, Yrsa," Fishlegs hovered down to their eye-level. "I've taken the liberty of charting a course based on these encryptions. This island is farther than we've ever flown before." Meatlug clattered; she was just as excited as her rider━if not more. Fishlegs hugged her, laughing. "But I've never seen Meatlug so excited! Just think, I will be the first Berkian to ever set foot on Dark Deep! What an honour!"

     Hiccup laughed softly, taken aback. He held up his hands. "I get it, Fishlegs. But we should go with you━" he gestured between him and Yrsa. She nodded. "Just in case you need help."

     "Okay," mumbled Fishlegs, a little disappointed, "you can come, too ... But I'm the first one to step foot! Promise? You can be second and third!"

     "I'm second," Yrsa said with no hesitation. She stared Hiccup down, waiting for him to object. "You're third, Horrendous."

     He had promised Fishlegs he wouldn't go first, but Yrsa knew he was going to be cheeky about it with her. He smirked, "Only if you beat me and Toothless━" and like that, he broke out into a run to the door. Yrsa gasped and rushed to follow.

     "Hey! Not fair! Get back here you one-legged━! I will grab my axe! HELROSE!"

◞ ★ ꒱꒱◜

    YRSA should have brought ear-plugs. She wanted to see Dark Deep. She was excited. She loved a good trip to a new island to discover things about dragons. But did she enjoy Fishlegs's singing? Especially when he hadn't stopped since they left the shore of Dragon's Edge? No, she did not. 

      Helrose also hated it. She threw her head around at the Vikings deep voice in front, echoing along the waters out of tune and not at all nice. Yrsa slumped, agreeing with her dragon very much. "I hear you, girl," she muttered. "If I had some rocks, I would pelt them, trust me. Boo!" she whispered, mimicking throwing at Fishlegs's back. 

     While she was annoyed, Hiccup was amused. He shook his head, chuckling as he soared Toothless in beside their friend. "Fishlegs!" he laughed. "I haven't seen you this excited since Snoggletog morning when we were seven."

     "I remember that Snoggletog," mused Yrsa, thinking back. 

     "Yeah," Hiccup sent her a grin over his shoulder. "You tried to push me into a Terrible Terror den."

    "For the last time!" exploded Yrsa, having heard this too many times. "You were looking for trolls! I was trying to help!"

     "How did you think a Terrible Terror den was a troll den?"

     "Gobber told me they lived there!" Yrsa argued. "I was seven! I believed him!"

     "Guess we now know who keeps stealing Gobber's socks," muttered Hiccup to himself. 

      It felt good, Yrsa will admit, to fly out here with just Hiccup and Fishlegs without the others. But even with Fishlegs here, singing his annoying song, it still felt like she was alone with Hiccup. They were just flying across the water, joking and laughing and subtly flirting with one another despite their agreements. Yrsa felt happy like that, like this; she felt free to be the person she enjoyed. She person she felt comfortable to be. She couldn't be the person she was around Hiccup around anyone else. He brought out a side to her she loved. 

     Did she want to be that around everyone else? Yes. But also, no ... while she wanted to feel included, and to let herself feel included with the others, she liked━well, she liked having something special with Hiccup she had with no one else. It made it something she looked forward to. Something for no one except them; just them. Like they were in the Cove back when they were fifteen, and Yrsa was just starting to realise all the things she didn't know about Hiccup, and how it only made her like him more. So much that she still did three years later. 

     Was it wrong to not want to share that with everyone else? Could she find a way where she could still keep that? 

     Maybe Yrsa was scared of losing the connection she had with Hiccup. If others saw her like this, it'd be less special. She was scared that maybe Hiccup had lost interest. That after three years, the reason why he hadn't done anything to let her know that he was ready to try something was because he didn't like her like that anymore. And yet she had; her feelings only grew stronger ... Yrsa didn't want to admit to herself that maybe three years was too long, and that she was waiting for something that will never come. 

      Yrsa thinks she's scared of a lot of different things, all stemming from her stupid insecurities. 

      They reached Dark Deep late in the day; the sun was just inches from the water's edge under dark blue clouds. 

      Yrsa sat up in her saddle, her excitement returning to see a jagged and rocky land; little vegetation━nothing but caves, caverns and split mountains. One might be a volcano. Or maybe used to be one. 

     She glanced at Hiccup, a quick smile on her face. Before she gave him the chance, she dived Helrose down. He chuckled and followed. They hovered, waiting for Fishlegs to touch the rocky earth cheering before Yrsa and Hiccup started their small race.

     (Yrsa won; obviously). 

    She grinned at him, giving him a light punch in the arm. Hiccup just shook his head, smiling.

     Meanwhile, Fishlegs was jumping and gasping━Yrsa had a feeling he had forgotten how to breathe for a short moment. "I can't believe I'm actually here!" Meatlug scowled and shoved him. "Sorry, girl!" he quickly corrected. "We're here."

     Then, he got back to singing and dancing. Yrsa's shoulders dropped and she scowled. She's heard this song over and over and over. Toothless and Helrose growled. Standing with them, Yrsa matched their expressions, watching Fishlegs prance around, tired of the same song at this point. Very tired. 

     "And the rocks are all rocky!
     With families of rocks and ...
     feeding ... their ... rocks..."

     Fishlegs finally ran out of lyrics. He cleared his throat, sheepish. He glanced back at them, "I'll work on that last part."

    "Please don't," said Yrsa. Toothless and Helrose both huffed in agreement. 

     Hiccup didn't look so excited anymore. In fact, he looked a little nervous. It made Yrsa frown and she, Toothless and Helrose followed him. "Hey, I love the song ... it's just one thing. Where are the roaming Gronckles?"

    Yrsa realised. He was right. She glanced around; the island seemed deserted. "Yeah..." she said, arms falling. "Fishlegs, you think that perhaps we landed on the wrong━?"

    "Oh, no," he laughed at her like she was stupid. She frowned. He got a bit like this without realising when it came to dragons and his ideas. He believed he knew everything (Well, he usually did, but not all the time...). "That's Gravel Lake━" he pointed to the different formations, "━and that's definitely the dual peaks of Mount Grunt. Guys, this is Dark Deep."

     Toothless reached their side and warbled, skeptic. Hiccup sighed, "Yeah, I'm with you, bud."

    "As long as there's no Screaming Death," mumbled Yrsa, shrugging. "I guess it'll be okay ..." Her words trailed off at Meatlug's roar. She thought the worst, until she realised it was her greeting cry, not a growl. 

     Following it, Yrsa heard Fishlegs say happily, "Look! Meatlug found some new friends!"

     They found them standing at the edge of a gorge, looking down at a group of three Gronckles chewing on some loose rocks. Fishlegs rocked backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet, giddy. "Told you there were Gronckles here!"

     Meatlug flew down to meet them, beating her little wings eagerly. But at their growls, she faltered. Yrsa frowned, that was uncharacteristic for Gronckles. Fishlegs's face dropped, nervous, and he started to climb down into the gorge.

    "Fishlegs, wait━" Hiccup started, but was ignored. He glanced at Yrsa and she sighed, pulling herself up onto Helrose's saddle, knowing they'd be going down with him. 

     They landed just as Fishlegs got off from the ground, cracking his back from his small fall. "That's strange behaviour for a Gronckle," murmured Hiccup; they eyed the three dragons who backed up, continuining to growl. "They're usually pretty friendly."

     Just as he finished, the whole cavern shook as a thundering rumble passed. Yrsa gapsed, clinging onto the bars of her saddle. Helrose hunched, anxious. Fishlegs jumped. Once it subsided, he said carefully, "That could be what's doing it. No one likes an earthquake."

     At Toothless's sudden snarl, Fishlegs pointed, "See?"

     Helrose flared up her wings. Yrsa rocked in the saddle, trying to keep herself centred as her dragon roared out in front of them. She followed her gaze, confused, but wary. Her heart began to race. There was the crackle of breaking rock━it was getting louder and louder.

     She and the boys all narrowed their eyes, confused. They leant forward, trying to peer through the dark caves. Yrsa was having trouble seeing; through the crack of sunlight, she thought she saw spikes━some grey mass heading straight towards them.

     It wasn't until it got closer that she saw━

     "RUNAWAY BOULDER!"

     The three Gronckles shrieked in alarm. Fishlegs ran to Meatlug while Yrsa and Hiccup urged their dragons onwards to slow it down. Toothless's plasma blast didn't leave a single mark, which struck as odd, but they had no time. They kept shooting more and more fire blasts; surely the rock would splinter. But it stayed strong, and only just seemed to barrel to them faster. 

    Soon, they had no choice but to flee. 

    Yrsa's ears rattled at the sound of the runaway boulder on the stone; crashing and thundering. It was so close to getting them; on their tails. She searched for a space to fly back up, but the crevice was too narrow for a quick escape. 

     Then, Hiccup saw a dent in the cavern where the stone widened. "Fishlegs!" he shouted and pointed. Together, the Riders, their dragons and the three Gronckles all leapt to the side of the cavern, pressing as close to the stone to let the boulder pass. Yrsa hunched up, eyes clenched close as she clung around Helrose's neck. 

     But it passed. And they were safe.

     Yrsa let out a long sigh. She led Helrose back out to the canyon with the others, peering after the boulder. 

     "Ho!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "That was close."

     But Toothless hadn't stopped growling. Yrsa's stomach twisted; she had a bad feeling about all of this.

     And she was right.

     For then, miraculously, the boulder stopped moving. It stayed there on the slope for a second, before━to their shock and horror━it started to roll backwards. 

     "Uh ... when was the last time we saw a boulder roll uphill?" asked Hiccup weakly. 

     "Um, never?" squeaked Fishlegs. 

     "Yeah ... me, neither."

     The strange, large and spikey boulder grew its speed. Fishlegs hunched up in his saddle. "How is that possible?!"

     "No time to find out!" shouted Yrsa. She tugged Helrose around and the group of them darted away up the slope. They needed to find a larger break in the cavern to fly out━right now it was too narrow, and too small. Heart racing, she glanced back at the boulder. She's never seen one spikey like that, or roll uphill, or gain speed while rolling uphill on its own. 

     "We can't avoid it!" cried Fishlegs. 

     Shooting over his shoulder, Toothless lit up the canyon in purple. It shook the walls, made loose rocks fall, but did nothing to falter the deadly rage boulder coming straight for them. 

      Yrsa urged Helrose faster. One of the loose rocks fell and struck her cheek. She winced, but kept going, wiping the blood from the cut with her hand. She looked around, desperate for an exit, when she saw it.

     "There!" she pointed to a cave delving into the side. "In there!"

     Hiccup, Fishlegs, their dragons and the Gronckles followed, darting into the break in the cavern and away from the boulder that trampled onwards. The force they went through made them all tumble off their saddles. Yrsa's shoulder sparked with pain as she hit the stone, rolling across it. 

      There was a moment where she was dazed, trying to blink her eyes back into focus. Sunlight streamed through a small crack above, but unless they could somehow squeeze through impossible small crevices, they were stuck.

     Yrsa didn't realise Hiccup was at her side until he helped her up. He kept his arms at her elbows, steadying her as she fixed her balance. She shook her head, and finally started to get back to normal. "I'm fine," she mumbled, but didn't pull away. She knew if she did, he would argue, and they didn't need that right now. Yrsa just pressed her palm to the cut on her cheek, trying to stop the bleeding. 

     Hiccup sighed at the small crack of daylight. "It doesn't look like we can fly out, bud..."

    Helrose got to her feet again and hurried to Yrsa. She chuckled, wrapping her arms around her dragon's snout as she nudged against her, checking whether she was okay. "I'm okay, girl, I'm all right━how about you? Are you okay? I'm sorry." 

    "It's okay," said Fishlegs. He scratched Meatlug fondly as she whimpered. "I think we lost it."

     "Then let's move out," said Hiccup. He then added in a whisper: "Quietly."

    Yrsa nodded and followed him. Together, the group stepped back out into the cavern. It was hauntingly silent. Yrsa glanced around. She didn't see the strange, spikey boulder anyway. She was still nervous though, and kept a hand on Helrose's scales. 

      They only got a few paces before Fishlegs's stomach erupted into a series of grumbles. Yrsa slammed her foot and glowered at him.

     He jumped at her fierce glare. "What?" he whispered. "That's what happens when you don't eat third breakfast."

      The cavern shook. Yrsa squealed━she wasn't proud of it. Her hands flew to her mouth, eyes wide and staring as the boulder returned with the sound of Thor's thunder with it. Helrose growled, hunching her back. Toothless stepped in next to Yrsa and Hiccup, prepared to protect them both. 

      "Uh, guys?"

      "We see it, Fishlegs," replied Hiccup, crouched as if ready to fight with his fists. 

      The boulder barrelled towards them before it came to a sudden stop. Then, with a final spin, it unwrapped. Yrsa gasped, shocked to see that it wasn't stone. Instead, it was a very large, very spikey and very scary-looking dragon with beady black eyes and a split jaw that looked as though it could open three-ways like a fly-trap flower. 

      "What in the name of Thor?" she managed, but her voice sounded more like a whimper than anything. 

      And when it roared, the entire earth trembled. Yrsa cupped her hands to her ears, wincing. She saw rows of razor sharp teeth in a wide-brimmed, split-open jaw and a throat big enough to swallow them all whole. 

     Then, it charged.

     They all screamed. 

     Yrsa grasped Hiccup's arm and pulled him away just as the dragon brought his tail around. A spiked-club three times the size of a Gronckle slammed against the canyon walls. They tripped, falling at the quaking ground. Above, shield-sized boulders fell. Yrsa screamed again,  hiding her face under her arms. Hiccup followed her example, huddling in close as the rocks spilled down towards them; a set of leather wings jetted out over them, and the rocks bounced off harmlessly from Toothless's strong scales. Yrsa looked up to see Helrose had done something similar for Fishlegs while Meatlug and the Gronckles all huddled together. 

     Yrsa hunched again when the dragon let loose a second roar, and more rocks fell. She had to pull Hiccup closer to avoid one boulder that shattered at impact near them. They both looked away as some sharp pieces flew near. 

     "Impressive!" said Fishlegs, grinning with a hysterical laugh. Yrsa wanted to hit him. "Definitely a Boulder Class!" He glanced at them briefly. "'Catastrophic Quaken' as the name?"

     "Not now, Fishlegs!" snapped Yrsa. 

     The shower of rocks had dispersed and they could run to their dragons. Yrsa jumped up onto Helrose's back and she let loose a column of fire at the Catastrophic Quaken. It flinched at the flames and bellowed back, furious. Hiccup took the lead next. With Toothless's agility, he manouvered around the Quaken with a bright sonic blast. Launching up onto the rocks above, they waited for the exact moment to jump away from the Quaken's rock-shattering tail, creating enough room for the lot of them to fly out. And they took the chance with no hesitation, leaving the new and scary dragon behind. 

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    "REALLY? More Gronckles?!"

     Yrsa's back was sore from falling off of her saddle and hitting the stone. She was not in the mood for Snotlout. They arrived back home at the Edge at early morning, shaken, with many questions and very sore. 

     "Just a few stray Gronckles," said Hiccup, gesturing after the three they had brought back with them as they bounded towards Fishleg's rock garden. "We should be able to handle that."

     Ruffnut scoffed, "Just a few strays, he says," she grumbled. 

     "Yeah," agreed Astrid, "you should really have a look at this." She pointed behind her to the arena. They frowned, but followed. Reaching it, Yrsa's arms dropped and her eyes widened.

     "What?" she let out.

     It was Gronckle festival. Groups and groups of the dragons wandered around the open arena, clattering with each other and chewing the foundations. Yrsa groaned. She was too tired and too sore to deal with this. 

     "So this is where all the Gronckles from Dark Deep went," realised Hiccup. 

     "Can you believe they flew all this way?" said Fishlegs. "Gronckles may be slow, but they are tenacious."

     "Yeah," Tuffnut leaned back against a nearby tree. "Tell me about it." His eyes widened to see one of the Gronckles snatch a chunck from the arena foundation. "Hey! Don't you put that rock in your mouth" The orange Gronckle just sneered and started to run off with it. Tuffnut chased after him. "You have no idea where it's been, mister!"

     "Hiccup," stressed Astrid. "These guys are out of control. We have to get them to their island."

     Hiccup winced, "Yeah ... there might be a problem with that."

     "Uh━huh," agreed Fishlegs. "They've been chased from their homeland by a giant Boulder Class dragon. The Catastrophic Quaken, to be exact."

     "He just named it that," explained Yrsa at the confusion upon Astrid's face. "It's big, it's scary, and it's probably made me have back problems for the rest of the week."

     "Quaken Shmaken━" Snotlout shoved his way in between her and Fishlegs. She stumbled a little, shooting him a dark glare. "You let one lousy dragon take over Meatlug's entire island?"

     "It's not that simple, Snotlout," argued Fishlegs. 

     "Sure it is," said Snotlout and Hiccup crossed his arms, sighing. "Quaken, one. Meatlug━" he blew a raspberry with a thumbs-down, "━pathetic."

      "Okay━" Hiccup pushed Snotlout back a little as he cackled. "Let's drop it. We have a bigger problem here. We need to wrangle all these wild Gronckles. And, since I unfairly doubted the Twins, I put them in charge."

     "What?" Yrsa's mood grew worse at this. 

     "Awesome!" Tuffnut returned with only just a piece of the foundation the Gronckle he had been chasing took. "It'll be nice to get to know these guys a little bit better. We got off to a little bit of a rocky start on our relationship━" he broke out into laughter. Yrsa threw her gaze to the heavens. Don't throw them off a cliff, she repeated her usual mantra to herself. 

     "You see what I did there?" asked Tuff, still laughing, but they all just left, walking away without a word. "No? Okay, I'll explain it later. My humour can be quite complex. HEY! Don't you dare eat that rock, Junior Tuffnut, Junior!"

     Yrsa was glad when she got back to her hut with Helrose and could just sit back and relax. She sat down on her bed, kneading paste for her cut into a bowl. Helrose was already asleep, snoring her day away in the corner. 

     She was definitely going to have a sore back━she could feel it now. It was going to be rough sleep. Yrsa sighed, stopping working at the salve to slump in her posture and gaze around her room. It was growing, slowly, with more knick-nacks she found, little things Hiccup made, a cool rock she found out in her morning flight with Helrose. Some sea-shells and stones from the lagoon. Turning to her desk, she fixed her eyes on a paper weight her father made her. The patterns swept around the bottom, telling a story of travellers on waves with a Scauldron reaching his head out of the ocean surface. Her grip around her pestle went loose. 

      Yrsa missed her dad; every single day━sometimes, it was as fresh as the day she lost him. Just nine, coming back from her day with Astrid and seeing all those Vikings at the docks, horrified at her father's body in a fishing boat. 

      Her mother never told her how he died, but she always had a feeling that some Viking had too big opinions on how he felt about dragons, or his differing beliefs, and hit his axe just a little two hard to the head; threw him into a boat and made it seem dumbly like a fishing accident. 

      She never knew who did it, and she didn't think she'll ever will. She's come to terms with that, but that didn't mean she didn't stop missing him every time she saw something that reminded her of him. Especially when she was starting to lose her memory of the sound of his laugh.

      Yrsa clenched her jaw and forced herself to look away. She took a deep breath and went back to prepping her salve. When she heard the knock on the door and the creak of it opening up, she knew Hiccup had come to check on her.

      "Shouldn't you be watching the Twins to make sure they don't do anything stupid?" she told him as he stepped inside. 

       He shrugged, peering at her new set of shells. Yrsa glanced over, curious for his reaction. She'd admit her mood brightened a little when she saw him smile at the set of them, carefully picking one up to examine the shape. Hiccup set it back down and met her gaze, "Just came to see whether you're okay."

     Yrsa gave him a blank look, "Hiccup, I'm fine. We do this all the time. I've experienced worse than a scratch and a sore back for a few days."

     But when she heard him sigh and make his way over, she knew there was something else. "What?" she asked him, setting her bowl in her lap and leaving it for now. Yrsa arched a brow at her best friend. "What's wrong?"

     Hiccup pursed his lips and brought the stool over from her desk. He sat down opposite her, shoulders slumping. He didn't meet her gaze, staring thoughtfully at the etchings she carved into her bedposts. "I just told Fishlegs I decided we're just going to leave Dark Deep and the Quaken. He's upset."

     Yrsa frowned, "Well," she slipped her fingers around the bowl, holding it casually. "What can we do? What does he expect you to do?"

     Hiccup shrugged, "I don't know. I think he wants us to take it back for the Gronckles. But is it right to interfere?"

     Yrsa didn't know either. She shrugged as well. Hiccup sighed, as if expecting her to have the answer━to somehow back him up. She found that despite being leader, and showing so much confidence, Hiccup was desperate for her to tell him what he was doing was right. Despite being smart, and brave, and capable, he never believed it━even after everything they've been through. 

     But Yrsa wasn't there to just back him up. She refused to do that unless she did think it was right. Hiccup knew what he was doing; he needed to believe in himself. She wished he did. "You'll figure it out," she decided to say. "If you think staying and leaving the Quaken alone is the right thing, then it's the right thing. If things change, you'll figure something out then. For now, you made a decision, and that's it."

     "And if I'm wrong?"

     "Then you're wrong," said Yrsa. "And then we go back and do what we do. That's how things work. You just need to believe that what you chose is the right thing until it isn't, otherwise people will start to not hold you in such a high regard as they should."

     Hiccup nodded. It was quiet for a moment, then he smiled at her. Yrsa frowned. "What?" she asked, confused. "What are you smiling at? What is it?"

     His smile grew, "You complimented me; straight, no back-end. You hold me in high regard."

     Yrsa rolled her eyes. Chuckling, she didn't take it back. "Don't let it get to your head. You've known that for ages."

     "Yeah," he reached for her bowl. She was confused, but let him take it, "but it's nice to hear you say it. So, thanks."

      Yrsa knew she was blushing. She looked away. "Yeah, well, I do," she mumbled. "I respect you, a lot."

      She waited for him to say something. When he didn't, her heart started to race. Had she said too much? But then she felt something cool on her cheek. Yrsa froze, and her heart didn't slow down. It just got faster when she snapped her gaze back over. She grew flustered as she watched Hiccup place the salve carefully on her cheek. It was quick, simple, but it sent her into a frenzy. 

     As she watched him, she begged, Do something. Let me know. Please, Hiccup, don't let me be falling alone. 

     But when he finished, he just smiled at her and sat back. "There. You should get some rest. See you later, Yrs."

     Yrsa watched him leave, thinking nothing of how he made her feel right then and there. When he gave her a wave and stepped out of her hut, she clenched her fists. Gods, Hiccup, sometimes you make me want to hate you. 

◞ ★ ꒱꒱◜

      YRSA did end up having a rest, and her back hated her for it apparently. But she was woken from it pretty quickly when Astrid came bargng into her hut to tell her to saddle up, for Fishlegs and Snotlout had gone back to Dark Deep with the intentions on taking on the Quaken themselves. She never thought Fishlegs would fall down to the likes of Snotlout in decision making, but apparently, he had. 

     (And Hiccup was not happy about it).

     In fact, Yrsa has come to realise. So far, there's been a pattern in leaving Fishlegs and Snotlout alone and then there being complete chaos and danger following. Changewings, Thor Bonecrusher, now this ...

     "We need to find these muttonheads before they get themselves killed!" said Hiccup. Yrsa agreed, and she went to say something when she saw something hurtalling towards them from the horizon.

     She pointed, "Look! There! Flaming-Annoying Muttonhead incoming!"

     The distant island of Dark Deep was coming into view, and with it, shot Snotlout and Hookfang with Fishlegs and Meatlug not with them. Yrsa glowered, expecting nothing less. 

     They all halted mid-air, metres of the shore.

     "Snotlout!" called Hiccup. "Where's Fishlegs?!"

     Snotlout laughed nervously. He clung on tight to Hookfang's horns. "You know," he began, sitll chuckling, "that Quaken was a lot bigger than he said it was."

     Hiccup gaped, horrified. "So you just left him?!" He clenched his hands around Toothless's saddle. "Oh, my gods..."

     He dipped Toothless down into a dive, and Yrsa and Astrid followed. Behind them, Snotlout tried to keep on going straight for the edge, but Hookfang snarled. Realising, Snotlout glowered down at his dragon. "Oh, fine! But my death is on your horns, Hookfang!" And they followed. 

     They found Fishlegs and Meatlug being chased by the Catastrophic Quaken. Out of the darkness of the canyons, the dragon looked way meaner and scarier━and larger, too. He charged after Fishlegs and Meatlug, extending out his wide, split-jaw full of sharp teeth, and would have encased their friend and his dragon without problem if they didn't send stunning shots to knock the Quaken askew. He turned and roared at them, giving Fishlegs and Meatlug enough time to get away. 

     "Catastrophic Quaken?" said Astrid as they rose up into the air, trying to taunt the dragon away. "Perfect name━that thing is huge!"

      The Catastrophic Quaken followed them upwards, wings beating waves of wind. They stood their ground. Yrsa stared right into the dragon's eyes, feeling herself tremble. Helrose purred nervously. He growled. For a moment, he didn't do anything.

      Then, he tucked himself into a ball and hurtled back to the ground. Yrsa knew this wasn't good even before he hit. As soon as he did, there was a shockwave. She yelled in alarm as they all went spiralling away, as if pushed by a god-like invisible force. It took a moment to regain control. Yrsa and Helrose spun like crazy, getting closer and closer to the cliffs. Gritting her teeth, Yrsa grasped the bars of her saddle and tugged with all her might. Just in time, Helrose pulled out her wings and they skidded to a halt in the air, only inches from impact.

     Fishlegs and Meatlug hadn't been as lucky. Being on the ground when the shock hit, they were sent flying into the canyon, screeching. The Catastrophic Quaken roared, trying to follow. He tried to dig his head through the narrow cracks, but when realising he was two big, he turned on his feet and left to find another entrance. 

     Yrsa, Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout all regrouped, shaken from the Quaken's attack, but pushing through to head after Fishlegs. They needed to reach him and Meatlug before the Quaken did. 

     But the sight they found wasn't something they expected.

      Meatlug stood between Fishlegs and the Quaken, teeth bared, wings hunched━she snarled at the large dragon, not moving. He tried to scare her off, but she dug her claws into the earth. 

      "What?" breathed Astrid, but they didn't have an answer.

      For a few terrifying seconds, all there were was the growls of the stand-off between the two dragons. Both waited for the other to make the first move. Fishlegs cowered, unsure whether to step in and pull his dragon away.

      But then their growls stopped.

      Meatlug sat back, eyes wide up at the Quaken and he tilted his head at her. A different exchange passed between them, and like that, she began to wag her tail. Grinning, Mealtug fluttered her wings up to his snout, and the two Boulder Class dragons touched noses.

      Fishlegs was just as shocked as the rest them. His jaw dropped, "It's working."

    "It's working!" grinned Hiccup.

     Yrsa, Snotlout and Astrid were still behind. "What? What's working?" asked Yrsa. "One second, they were ready to fight and now they're best of friends?"

     Behind, the Twins had finally caught up with the group of Gronckles. The entire herd that had fled from here to Dragon's Edge returned, setting themselves on the ground. The Quaken didn't scare them off. Instead, he smashed a large boulder into dozens of rocks, and the Gronckles went crazy for it.

     Tuffnut frowned, "I thought everyone said that thing was tough? Doesn't look so tough to me."

      Hiccup guided Toothess down next to his friend, "Fishlegs," he said, smiling, "that was just about the craziest and bravest━but, mostly craziest━thing I have seen anyone do."

     "You were right, Hiccup," said Fishlegs, happy. He watched Meatlug eat the rocks with the others beside her newfound friend. "Fighting dirty isn't me. That was me."

     Hiccup gave him a nudge, "It sure was."

     Yrsa decided to join them. She slipped off Helrose's saddle and placed a hand on her scales and Toothless's as well. "I'm still confused. What did you do?"

      Fishlegs glanced at her briefly, "The Quaken was just being defensive. It was scared and all by itself. It wasn't angry at all."

      She blinked, suprirsed. But, that soon fell away as she watched the Quaken shatter more food for the Gronckles, bright and happy with round, gentle eyes. By far different than he had been before. She chuckled, shaking her head. Things are never what they seem in her life━in life in general, especially when it came to dragons. 

      Yrsa leant against Helrose and gave Toothless a scratch. She was also constantly reminded just how much she loved dragons, too━especially the two at her side right now.

     "Whoa! Fishlegs!" Snotlout's voice broke the calm air. He jumped off Hookfang's saddle, holding a hand up to Fishlegs as he walked up to him. "That was awesome! Just like I taught you." He scoffed, puffing out his chest proudly. "No need to thank me. Success is its own reward."

      Fishlegs arched a brow, unimpressed. "Oh, really, Snotlout? Tell me more." As Snotlout opened his mouth, Fishlegs cut him off and walked off, "Oh, yeah, that's right. I just remembered I don't care."

     Hiccup laughed at the look on his cousin's face and Yrsa smiled again. Snotlout lowered his arms and cupped his hands, emotional. "I taught him too well," he croaked. 

      Astrid chuckled, and with a final goodbye to the Gronckles, the Catastrophic Quaken and Dark Deep, the Dragon Riders headed back home. 

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     a/n: not edited, lol sorry?

     no one:

     me: *adds every possible hiccup and yrsa moment in every chapter* hehehe, sweet

     also, these kids are making things way too complicated for themselves than they need it to be without even realising. it ain't gonna make things better, like--

     but as always, we love the drama. 

     i'm sorry for this chapter, i don't particularly like it ahaha. but here we are. hope you enjoy it despite my annoying insecure babbling! love you all!