𖣯 ✹ 🌷(makligr) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter six; yrsa
❝ gone gustav gone! ❞

     YRSA TRIED not to let her eyes droop as she slumped against Toothless, watching Hiccup peer at the Dragon Eye. He's been at it for the past hour; switching and twisting lenses and pressing nobs. It was exciting at the start, to come over and see what they could come up with━what map's they'd find. But now, it was becoming repetitive. Even their dragons were over it; Toothless was trying to sleep. Helrose had been here, but then she got bored, and so she left with a quick glance at Yrsa. She let her, knowing the Dervish would have gone even without permission━she did what she wanted, as most Devilish Dervish's did. Yrsa suspected she was out chasing birds in the Edge forest right now. Or bathing in the sunlight by the lagoon.

      Yrsa could have left with her, but she stayed━she liked being in Hiccup's hut. It was simple and cozy. While the forge connected to its side was cluttered, inside Hiccup's quarters was neat and mild. His bed was above in the loft reachable by a ladder; his desk was littered with drawings and more pinned above to the left. Where he sat right now was by his chest underneath a wall full of Toothless's many tails on display. It was comfortable.

     All of their huts were different━a real reflection of themselves. Hiccup had given them free rein, and they all definitely used that to their advantage. It took a good month to build the Edge as it was at the moment━of course, there was still a lot to do. They had to set up their defences, build a few more gangplanks, ziplines and walkways. The stable storm doors were still in need to be painted and they were waiting for Johann to pass by to get the metal needed for the retractable roof of the dragon training arena. But it was starting to come to shape━and Yrsa was already attatched; she was very proud of it.

     And she was proud of her place, especially. Everyone sort of had their themes━Astrid's being small and functional and armed to the teeth with spires and bird skulls and weapons. The Twins had the largest; split into two with their boar pit, green double-headed Zippleback terrace and leather 'Balloons' as the Twins called them inflated with Zippleback gas to keep them hovering, attached with rope to their roof. Snotlout's━of course━had a great big, red, iron 'S' on top of his door. Yrsa hasn't been inside his hut yet, and she didn't want to━seeing all the 'S''s painted around it was enough to let her know everything she needed. Fishlegs's was calm and tranquil by the waters with a spacious yard with multiple gardens: herb, flowers, tree, mediation, rock ... and his hot tub, of course. Inside his hut was small, but the walls were covered completely with shelves for his wooden collectables and books with a corner just for Meatlug.

     But Yrsa's? Well, she wasn't exactly sure whether she had a theme. She just gathered as much as she could carry from her room at home in Berk and filled it up. She had all of her father's wooden toys he made her when she was younger, her first wooden axe and sword, this strange clay pot she found on Johann's boat three years ago ... She had a table Hiccup made her because she liked the way his own could turn and switch levels with a twist of the lever. On her walls she had plenty of Hiccup's drawings of her, Toothless, landscapes and Helrose, and some of her own she had tried to do and failed. Outside, she had her little garden of herbs and such━everything she grew for skin-care, hair-care, and food; since she was very picky. She had a little rock seating area where she could look out to the ocean with Helrose━perfect for her (or Toothless) to sunbathe or sleep. She had a stump for her axe throwing. She just ... well, she just had anything she wanted and needed for her. Operational, neccessary━her own place. Something she made, she built, and she could take pride in.

      She shifted against Toothless, letting her head fall and her legs curl up comfortably as she continued to watch Hiccup pull out another lens and blow on it gently to discard the dust. Toothless purred beside her, his chest slowly rising and falling. The heat of his scales was lulling her to sleep, definitely. But she forced her eyes to stay open as Hiccup glanced at her briefly, smiling to see her still with him. Her lips quirked into a little smile.

     "You wanna stop hogging Toothless for a moment so he can give me a low flame?" Hiccup arched a brow. Yrsa thought about it. She shared a glance with Toothless and instead just snuggled up to the Night Fury closer. Hiccup went dead-panned, but his green eyes were filled with amusement.

      Toothless managed to prop his head up and extend a slow flame without disturbing her and Yrsa smiled. She wasn't surprised to see the same map expand along Hiccup's wall showing a Whispering Death, Monstrous Nightmare and sea-dragon infested waters. They had been to all three places the map showed━a few of the places on the map led to habitats where specific dragons flourished and thrived, while others were grand, beautiful places filled with plenty of differing species.

     "Okay," murmured Hiccup to himself, "I've seen this before, but what happens if I push ..." he pressed one of the buttons at the bottom of the Eye, and the light changed suddenly to red. Yrsa's eyes lit up, her interest piqued as she saw a circle of new designs. "Oh!" Hiccup's brows shot up, surprised. "Cool. Dragon classes."

      An idea struck him and he glanced back at Toothless and Yrsa, "What do you say we check out the Night Fury, guys?" he pointed eagerly to the nob. Toothless just yawned while Yrsa leant back, returning to her comfortable position. Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Try to contain your excitement, would you?"

      Yrsa smirked, amused.

     Hiccup scoffed lightly at her before returning his attention to the Dragon Eye. "Now ... Monstrous Nightmare gem plus Night Fury equals ..." he held it up, excited, only for his shoulders to slump when nothing appeared━not even the glimpse of a light. "Nothing ... okay."

      He sighed, back to fiddling with the lenses when the rolling door of Hiccup's hut shot open. Yrsa jolted━completely forgetting her tired state, she jumped off Toothless's back and to her feet, quickly fixing her clothes and hair to make herself seem like she hadn't just been lying down. Toothless huffed at her, annoyed. She scowled back at him with a, don't start that. You'll sound like Hiccup. The Night Fury just looked away, as if rolling his eyes.

      Astrid burst into the hut under the purple glow of the Dragon Eye. She covered her eyes with her hand, heaving as if she had just run all the way up here.

     "Oh!" Hiccup chuckled, twisting the lens off, "Astrid Class!"

     It was a weak joke━a very weak joke. But he seemed very proud of it.

     "Hiccup, Yrsa," Astrid stood up, taking a deep breath to compose herself. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes, "we have a problem, a huge problem."

     All humour was gone. Hiccup's smile was wiped off his face. Yrsa stopped dusting her skirt to stare at her friend, startled. "Dagur?"

     "Worse!"

     "What could possibly be worse than Dagur?"

     "WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH━" Astrid let out a gasp as a purple and orange Monstrous Nightmare flew right over her. With a thud! she was pinned painfully to the ground underneath Fanghook, giving Yrsa and Hiccup a glare that screamed, help me. The boy on the dragon's saddle looked up, very happy with his landing with a bright grin on his youthful, peach-cheeked face. Yrsa's stomach dropped, and she let out an audible, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" as she recognised the dark tuff's of hair under a wide-brimmed helmet.

     "Gustav!" greeted the boy.

     "Gustav?!" exclaimed Yrsa and Hiccup as he hopped off the saddle.

     "Gustav," grumbled Astrid in agreement.

     Hiccup quickly hid the Dragon Eye behind his back as Gustav glanced around the hut, eager. Chest held up high, he marched around, gazing at everything Hiccup had to offer. Passing Yrsa, he winked and sent her a snap of his fingers. She turned up her nose, stepping away and towards Hiccup's desk. Gustav was worse than Snotlout and the Twins combined. (And no, she was not exaggerating).

     The chief's son chuckled nervously, backing up to his trunk and wall of dragon tails. Astrid could finally breathe again when Fanghook stood up, setting her free from underneath him.

     "G━Gustav, what are you doing here?" Hiccup sat down on the stool, shuffling the Dragon Eye out of sight. "I━I mean, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"

     Yrsa scoffed an incredulous, "Pleasure?"

     Fanghook whacked his tail playfully against Toothless's snout. The Night Fury growled. Astrid pushed herself to her feet, stomping to Yrsa's side and sitting down on the desk, arms crossed. She matched Yrsa's glare at the boy who gawked at the drawings and designs along the walls.

     "Hiccup!" Snotlout and the rest of the Riders ran into the hut. They all looked terrified. "Did you hear Gustav is..." Snotlout faltered, wincing at the sight. Fanghook jumped ontop of Toothless, trying to play while the dragon slumped, whining in anger, "standing right beside you. Perfect."

     Tuffnut peered over Snotlout's shoulder, "You're looking a little different there, Guster."

     Gustav jumped down from the trunk, shoving his chest out proudly. Yrsa arched an unimpressed brow. "Yeah," he said, poking out his chin. He pointed at it. "I'm growing a beard."

     "Really?!" Tuffnut rushed forward in excitement. "Let me see!" he eyed the single hair pointing out of Gustav's chin. He laughed. "Ha! Even Ruff has more hair on her chinny-chin-chin than that━" he snatched it off, and Gustav cried in pain.

     Stumbling back, he hit Hiccup's trunk and noticed the Dragon Eye. "Oh! Hey, what's that thing?"

     "Oh..." they all winced as he snatched the relic up, peering at it with rough curiosity. He gazed through the light and screamed when it burned.

     "WHOA!" he let out, stumbling around. Hiccup followed him, grimacing each time the Dragon Eye was waved back and forth, trying to grab it. "You see these spots? Some sort of sun sword?"

     "I━I'll take that━" Hiccup caught the relic as Gustav dropped it. Yrsa face-palmed. Oh, gods help them. "No, Gustav━" he passed it to Fishlegs who took it gingerly, "━it's not a sun sword."

     "It's the Dragon Eye," said Fishlegs, apprehensive, "and it's very old and very fragile."

     Gustav continued to stumble around, waving his arms out blindly. "Whoa ... these spots, they're not going away━" thud, he hit one of the tail fins, "━ow!" it clanged down and Toothless only just grabbed it in his teeth before it hit the floor. Gustav rubbed his head.

     "It isn't something to just be touched..." went on Fishlegs, not noticing that Gustav wasn't really listening.

     "Relax, Fishlegs," scoffed the young teen. "I know what I'm doing━whoa!" thud! He hit the wall again. Yrsa cringed as the tails all came falling down onto poor Toothless. Gustav's back hit the floor.

     Fanghook picked one tail up in his teeth and tried to help Toothless, setting it on his head. The Night Fury might as well have steam coming out of his snout━oh, wait, nope, that's because he does.

     "Gustav, Gustav, over here━" Snotlout guided the boy to his voice before stopping him right in front with a hand to his helmet. "Uh, when are you leaving?"

      "That's funny, Snotlout," Gustav sniggered, trying to poke him in the shoulder but missing, "but I'm not leaving. I'm moving here."

     "What?" Snotlout's eyes widened.

     "What?" breathed Yrsa.

     "What?!" cried the rest of the Dragon Riders.

    For a second, they all thought he was joking. Until they realised he wasn't. The Twins stood there, eyes wide before Tuffnut threw his head back and whined. "Great," he grumbled. They spun around on their feet and trudged out the door. "I'll get the stake and firewood."

    Hiccup held his hands out. "Oh, hold on," The Twins stopped. "No one is burning anyone at the stake."

     Ruff grinned. She nudged her brother. "Hiccup's right. Let's just throw him off the cliff."

    "Guys!" he let out, annoyed. "I'm sure there's a simple explanation." He glanced back at Gustav floundering around blindly. "Please tell me there's a simple explanation, Gustav?"

     "Yeah, very simple," he rubbed his eyes. "By the way, do not look right into that sun sword thing." He laughed, sounding very much like Snotlout. "Anyway," went on Gustav, blinking vigoriously, "you said when I was ready, I could join the Dragon Riders. Well," he bowed formally, "I'm ready and I'm here to join. Where's my hut?"

     Hiccup stood there for a moment, gobsmacked. Soon, he let out another nervous laugh and guided Yrsa outside. She whistled her usual tune for Helrose to return, and turns out, her dragon had just been napping in her usual spot behind Yrsa's hut. As she returned and Yrsa greeted her with a hug around the neck, Hiccup told her his plan to deal with Gustav.

     She nodded, before back-tracking. "Wait a minute, why do I have to watch him? Why can't Astrid watch him?!"

     Hiccup rubbed his brow. "I would do it," he said, watching her prop her hands on her hips, furious at the very idea, "but I'm making some━just━major breakthroughs with the Dragon Eye."

     "Breakthroughs?" Yrsa grumbled. "We've been staring at the same map for the past hour!"

     "Yrsa, I did promse him that when the time was right I would train him to be a Dragon Rider," said Hiccup. "But I just didn't think that said time would be today."

     Yrsa glowered, realising she had little choice. "Well, what am I supposed to do with him in the meantime?"

    "I━I don't know! Just keep him occupied."

     "Great," she grumbled, crossing her arms and going to stand under Helrose's neck. The two looked very similar with their grumpy expressions. "So I'm a babysitter."

     Hiccup laughed at her words. "Babysitter━" like the idea was ridiculous. At her glare, he quickly fixed himself. "No, I mean, come on. He's━he's sixteen! How much trouble could be possibly be?"

     (Long story shot? A lot of trouble. A lot!).

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     "GUSTAV! Gustav!" Yrsa had been calling his name for the past minute and a half. But he was too busy goggling up at her face to pay any attention. Oh, she wanted to smack him! (Screw Gustav and his annoying face, screw Hiccup for making her watch over him, screw━gah!)

     He jumped back into focus and gave her a dumb smile. "Oh. Hey, Yrsa. I was just dream━"

     "Don't," she stopped him, leaning back. "Don't creep me out. You're going to help with target practice. Do you think you can handle that?"

     He stood up, still smiling like a goof at her. "Oh," he purred, "I can handle that━" she shoved him away and pointed at the barrels. Helrose growled, annoyed by Fanghook who was sniffing at her.

     "When I say throw," Yrsa spoke slowly and sternly, "you throw."

     With that said, she pulled herself up onto Helrose's saddle. She shuffled in her stance, settling in before they took off. Yrsa clung on professionally as they spun, weavving in and out of the posts of the open-roof training arena. Settling herself right on the saddle, Yrsa balanced her boots amongst the leather and was ready━holding onto the bars of her saddle━to run along the targets before landing back onto Helrose's back. They swooped down low past Gustav and Fanghook, who gazed after the girl and her dragon, lovestruck.

     (Eurgh).

     They took a lap of the arena, turning back around before Yrsa decided to shout, "Okay, Gustav━throw!"

     He didn't throw.

     "Oh, for the love of Thor━" Yrsa had to pull back harshly on her saddle to put off Helrose's aim. Her fire missed Gustav by just inches, scorching the metal edges of the arena. The sudden change in direction made Helrose bulk in surprise and accidentally throw Yrsa off. She flailed her arms as she fell forward, cursing to the gods. Gustav gasped, dropped the barrel and held his arms out to catch her━

     Yrsa landed right on top of him.

     Painfully.

     Helrose landed behind her. She snarled, furious at the boy that ruined their perfect run and made her balk her rider.

     Yrsa got back to her feet, her nose turned up at the, "Hi," Gustav sent her.

     "Okay, that's it. I am done with you," she shuddered and turned around. "You are going to Astrid, yes. Yes, Astrid can deal with you━that's if she doesn't kill you."

     For the next half of the day, Gustav was passed off from Rider to Rider. Astrid couldn't handle even thirty minutes with him. She had lost her cool and threw him off to the Twins to tell him to help out around there. It had been a disaster.

     Gustav had accidentally filled in their Boar Pit. Yrsa had heard Tuffnut's wails across the Outpost from where she was enjoying her afternoon flight with Helrose. The Twins then passed him to Fishlegs, who tried to keep the boy calm with a nice session at his rock garden, meditating. Until Fanghook set fire to one of his prized bushes, and Gustav was set down in front of Snotlout's hut. The Jorgenson didn't even try to deal with him before he took him to Hiccup's hut, where he hoped he would just lay low and wait for the chief's son to return.

     But no, of course not. He decided to go off without telling anyone for a dangerous treasure hunt, taking the Dragon Eye with him.

     The Gang all waited for Hiccup to return with the rambunctious scamp in the Club House. They arrived as afternoon started to turn to dusk, and Hiccup was beyond furious. Sitting by the fire, Gustav couldn't meet his gaze, staring glumly at his shoes while Fanghook lied beneath him, glancing up, concered for his rider. Hiccup paced, and paced, and paced, his metal leg thunking against the wood.

      Yrsa stayed silent, sitting beside Astrid and watching him go back and forth.

     "Of all the irresponsible, insubordinate━"

     "Don't forget idiotic, imbecilic, inane," Tuffnut added, listening them off on his fingers. Hiccup sent him a harsh scowl, not in the mood. "What?" he shrugged. "I've heard a lot of words for 'stupid'. I mean, come on, people say that more than my proper name."

      "I can believe that," grumbled Yrsa to herself.

     Hiccup just ignored them. Gesturing wildly, he fumed, "Of all those kind of stunts you could have pulled, this was the worst!" Gustav shuffled his feet timidly. "Do you know what Dagur would do to get his hands on the Dragon Eye?"

     Gustav glanced up, shrinking under Hiccup's gaze. "I just thought if I came back here with the treasure, you guys would accept me!"

     "First of all, there is no treasure," said Hiccup, throwing a hand out to the teen. "Second of all, we've already been there. And that entire island is honeycombed with the most unstable caverns we've ever encountered."

     "I'm sorry, I just━"

     "You could've been killed, Gustav! Fanghook could've been killed." Gustav's gaze flashed with a pained look as he glanced down at his dragon. "Look, this isn't Berk, Gustav. The rules are different out here. You have to be smarter than this."

     "I just wanted to prove myself!"

     "Oh, you have," Hiccup shook his head. "You have proven that you are not responsible enough, you're not mature enough and you're not trustworthy enough to be one of us." He then sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Gustav set his jaw, glaring at his boots. "Now," then said Hiccup, softer this time, "it's been a long day. We all need some rest." He started towards the door. Yrsa glanced at the others before following; they tagged along, as well. "We'll talk about this in the morning."

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       TALKING IN the morning hadn't become an option. Waking up on the Edge to the singing of Terrible Terrors and the sun rising through the creaks of Yrsa's cabin door, she got ready and stepped out to head down to the stables, tying the last of her braids when the news hit her. Hiccup raced to her on Toothless, landing harshly on the wood outside her hut to tell her that Gustav and Fanghook were nowhere to be seen.

      Quickly waking Helrose up and pushing through her grumpy morning demanour, Yrsa searched the Edge with the others for their rambunctious annoyance. They split up, checking all the areas they could━even flying through the forest, near the dormant volcano and back-end beaches thinking that maybe Gustav took to exploring. But in returning back to the main hub, Yrsa soon realised at the shake of the others' heads, that Gustav and Fanghook were long gone.

      Back at the still-in-construction arena, Hiccup was the last to return. He slipped off his saddle, spinning around with a, "Anything?!"

      "I checked the Club House, your hut, even the stables. He's not there," said Astrid.

      Yrsa shrugged, "He's not on the back-end beaches, or the volcano━which, now that I think about it, is probably a good thing..."

      "Nothing else is on fire around here," added Fishlegs, "so he must be gone."

      Hiccup clenched his hands, taking a deep breath. "W━well," he rushed back to Toothless's saddle, giong a little flushed in his shame and stress. He was blaming himself, Yrsa knew he was, "we have to find him."

     The Twins thought about this. Tuffnut massaged his imaginary beard. "Or ... do we?"

      "Yeah!" said Snotlout, arms crossed. "Why are we worried? Shouldn't we be celebrating the fact that he's gone?!"

      Hiccup scowled and shook his head. "Not until we know he's safe."

      "Well," shrugged Ruffnut, "we could ask Fanghook."

      Yrsa propped her hands on her hips, frowning at the girl. "You know, we would━if he was here."

     Ruffnut just crossed her arms, smug. She bounced her brows at Yrsa, which only made her more annoyed. "Turn around," she said.

      She arched a brow, incredulous, but did as she said. Yrsa gasped, jumping back to see the purple Monstrous Nightmare screech in disarray as he landed roughly in the arena. Toothless rushed over to him with a series of warbles and cries to check what was wrong. Fanghook just paced around, scales lighting up in fire with a parchment scroll tied to one of his horns.

       "Oh, okay, wow," mumbled Yrsa, hands to her chest in her startlement. "I guess we can ask Fanghook."

        Tuffnut shoved past her and raced to the dragon. He skidded to a stop in front of him with a breathless, "Fanghook, where's Gustav, boy? Where's Gustav?!" Fanghook just moaned in response and Tuffnut wailed. "Ah! No! He's not talking, you guys!" He turned to them. "He's completely shut down. Typical."

     Yrsa pinched the bridge of her nose, taking deep breaths to keep her need to snap down in the pit of her stomach. Fanghook let out another terrified shriek and Hiccup held his hands up, walking up to Gustav's dragon gently. "Hey, hey, Fanghook. Hey, it's okay ..." he stretched out his palm and Fanghook started to calm down, etching towards the touch. "Easy, boy ... easy ..."

     They could assess him now as his the fire on his scales dimmed. "Well, he doesn't look like he's injured━Yrsa?" Hiccup frowned as she marched up to the dragon. "What are you━?" she just snatched the scroll from Hookfang's horns. She waved it at Hiccup and he faltered. "Oh. Oh, okay."

      She passed it over and he quickly unrolled the parchment. His eyes skimmed as he read the ink. Then, he glowered. "Dagur," he growled. "He wants to make a trade. The Dragon Eye for Gustav."

       Astrid nodded, and she was already rushing to Stormfly. "Okay, let's go━"

     "No," said Hiccup, standing up. "He says I have to come alone."

     Yrsa's eyes widened. "What?" she let out. Then, she shook her head. "No, you can't. It's obviously a trap."

      He sighed and turned to her, "Yrs━we have no idea what Dagur will do to Gustav if I don't."

      She clenched her hands, wanting to argue. Dagur was probably ready with arrows, catapults, nets and chains━and Hiccup and Toothless will be overwhelmed no matter how capable they were. Yrsa wanted to ignore him, jump onto Helrose's saddle and go after Hiccup despite it. But he was right━they couldn't risk Gustav's life like that.

      Yrsa glanced around at the others, finding the words she wanted to say stuck in the back of her throat. Things such as be careful, and come back safe, didn't seem to work━like there was a cog stuck and whirring, keeping her trapped in this facade she hated, but kept up despite it. "Are you sure?" she instead asked, voice a little softer.

      Hiccup's brows dropped, gentle. "We have no choice, Yrsa."

     "You sure we have no choice?" frowned Tuffnut. "Like ... none? Zip? Zilch?"

      The chief's son sighed, ignoring him to mutter, "This is all my fault anyway."

     "Ningueno?"

      "I never even gave the kid a chance!"

     "Ni Portugal?"

     "Tuff," Hiccup sent him a weak scowl, "that's really not helping at all." He glanced back down at the ransom letter. "If ... If I wasn't so busy tinkering with the Dragon Eye, I don't know━maybe I couldn've kept him busy."

      "Uh, yeah, nobody can keep Gustav busy," said Fishlegs, trying to reassure him. Astrid nodded.

      Hiccup just set his jaw and hoisted himself up onto Toothless's saddle, ready to head back up to his hut to grab the Eye and then off to Dagur's ship. Yrsa's heart thundered. "W━wait━" she stepped forward before he could. He glanced at her, a little slumped in his saddle. Yrsa felt her throat close in. "I━I━" she felt the others' gazes on her, and she was back to clenching her hands. She quickly took a deep breath and turned her words harsh━something she didn't mean, but couldn't stop. "You should at least have one of us to back you up out there. Dagur is going to be ready, even you and Toothless wouldn't be able to get out of that."

      His eyes flashed a little in his frustration that she wasn't listening. "Dagur was very clear," he told her, stubborn. "I have to come alone. That's it, Yrsa. No negotiation."

       Yrsa went to say something else, but stopped. Her gaze dropped to the floor, feeling something in her heat up in anger━she couldn't even tell him good luck in front of everyone else. What was wrong with her?

       Hiccup's gaze bent in seeing the way her nostrils flared. "I'll be careful," he then said and her gaze shot up, surprised. How did he know? How could he read her so well?━Even in three years of friendship, Yrsa was closed-off. She let down her guard around him, definitely, but to be able to not say anything; to not even show a glimmer of concern and yet Hiccup to understand that was exactly how she felt━did he really pay that much attention to her? To the point he had started to know her back-to-front like she was the very palm of his own hand. Hiccup gave her a subtle smile. "I promise."

       With that said he took off with Fanghook following, and Yrsa felt as though he took part of her with him.

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    YRSA ACTUALLY felt ... sorry when Gustav returned with Hiccup after tricking Dagur. Thanks to Gustav, they had managed to get back the Dragon Eye and the treasure they never found. The kid had potential━and none of them saw. She felt a little ashamed, arms crossed and twisting her boots in the ground as they returned in the very late afternoon under pink and yellow skies.

      They weren't hurt. Maybe a little bruised and scathed. Hiccup had a nick on his cheek from what seemed to have been from falling rock. But they were okay, and they were alive, and Yrsa could breathe a little easier. She peered at the treasure chest Hiccup held, her own curiosity and excitement peeking through her harsh exterior in the glint of her dark eyes. But while she wanted to look at what was inside, there was something she needed to reluctantly say.

      With a sigh, the Dragon Riders took turns in apologising to Gustav (as of Hiccup's orders). Yrsa was the last and with a indigiant grumble, she stepped forward and began, "Look, Gustav, I━"

      He cut her right off with a finger to her lips.

     Suddenly, Yrsa held no regret whatsoever. To the side, Hiccup faced palmed with a quiet, "Oh, gods..."

      "Uh━uh," said Gustav, "stop right there, sweets. I can't stay," he sighed, as if this was the most terrible thing to muster. "My mum would kill me. She usually notices I've been gone after three days━ow!"

      Yrsa had grabbed his finger and gave it a swift twist. Gustav yelped, hopping away from her and blinking tears out of his eyes. He tried to regain his posture and pride, clearing his throat and hiding his jarred finger behind his back. "All right, Fanghook," he spun on his toes and rushed to his dragon, jumping onto the saddle, "let's go." They took to the air. "Take care, babe!" he called down despite it. "Don't worry, Gustav will be back soon!"

      She glowered, furious. Hiccup snickered beside her. She was going to elbow him, but was caught off guard as he opened the treasure chest. Instead, Yrsa's eyes widened and she and the other Dragon Riders shuffled to look over his shoulder inside. "What's that?"

      "Oh, just something I found at the bottom of the cave," said Hiccup. Out of it, he showed another Dragon Eye lens, grinning.

      Fishlegs gasped, "A new lens!"

     "Yeah," smirked Hiccup, "there was treasure in those caves after all. The Dragon Eye was giving us clues on how to find it all along. We just weren't looking in the right place."

     "And if there's one of these out there," said Fishelgs, "that means there has to be more." He let out a squeal in his excitement.

     "Huh," mused Astrid, crossing her arms and jutting out her hip. "And to think, we never would've found that without Gustav."

     Hiccup's eyes lit up mischeviously. "Oh, awesome! So, let's just tell Gustav━"

    "No!" all the Dragon Riders exclaimed immediately before spinning on their feet and plastering fake smiles on their faces as they waved goodbye to the teen. Hiccup laughed at them, shaking his head.

      Yrsa slipped in right beside him, and whispered so the others couldn't hear. "I'm glad you're okay."

       Hiccup glanced at her with a smile. "I always make it out."

       He does, she thought to herself, blushing a little under his gaze. He always does, doesn't he?

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      a/n: pretty sure Gustav is voiced by sharpay's brother in hsm; what's his name? ryan! yeah, him.

      I actually love Gustav ahahahaha.

       also, toothless, yrsa and Helrose are their own gang and hiccup is just like :((( include meeeeeeee 😂😂😂 jk they love him equally ...

      what do you guys think of what we have of Yrsa's hut so far?