𖣯 ✹ 🌷(makligr) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter eight; yrsa
❝ rumblehorn grumblehorn! ❞

     WHEN YRSA settled for a life away from home at Dragon's Edge, she expected crazy━living anywhere with the Twins just across the wooden walks was bound to be stressful and anything but peaceful. But she expected to at least have a good night's sleep, in her own bed, away from everyone to just rest and reset her social trough for the next morning. She didn't expect having to sleep, awkward and annoyed in the Club House with everyone else, waiting for the moment the alarm would be set off━

     That alarm would be Snotlout screaming with his backside on fire. 

     Yrsa gasped awake, flinging forward and annoying Helrose who jumped, startled. Snotlout screamed, running around the Club House centre in search of the water bucket they kept just for him. "AHHH! Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Ow! Ow! Ow! OW!" he dragged his behind against the wood past Yrsa. She shared a scowl with her dragon. "That's the third time this week!"

     Annoyed, Yrsa just kicked the bucket of water over from beside her, and it doused Snotlout from head to toe. He fell back, letting out a long sigh of relief. His head lolled to the side and he gave Yrsa a dumb grin. "Thanks, babe━" she kicked the bucket at him again and he screeched, holding up his arms to avoid being hit in the face. 

     Hiccup got to his feet as the shock of being woken up dispersed and he realised what the alarm had been set for again in the first place. "The Rumblehorn!" he rushed to the map hammered onto the wall. He scanned the many traps and found the one triggered. "It's headed for the Eastern beach! Come on, you guys!"

     Exhausted and groaning, the Riders ran to their dragons and jumped onto the saddles. They followed Hiccup through the very early morning towards the beach on the East side of the island. With her torch raised, Yrsa could see a figure swinging in the net from a large, thick tree as they came closer.

      They landed, hearing the sounds of very angry, muffled struggling. The net shook and swung━the Rumblehorn was far from happy.

      However, considering the damage they've found ... this figure looked rather small in comparison to what Yrsa had imagined the dragon to be. 

      "Finally!" sighed Hiccup as they landed. "We got it!"

     Yrsa slipped off her saddle and held the torch higher, trying to see. Hiccup rushed to her side, "Everybody stay back," he warned. 

     The Twins ignored him and just walked right up. Tuffnut frowned, he took a whiff━ "I didn't think it would be so smelly."

     Ruffnut arched a brow. She held up her own torch. "I didn't think it would be so hairy?"

     Then, to their shock, the trapped dragon began to speak. "You try shaving with a hook for an arm!"

      Yrsa shone the torch closer, and slumped in annoyance. It wasn't the Rumblehorn. They had captured a very angry, very smelly, and apparently very hairy, Gobber the Belch. 

      Tuffnut gasped with horror. "The Rumblehorn talks! Quick, smack it!"

     "Cut me down, you simpleton!"

      Yrsa didn't want to cut him down. In fact, she wanted to keep him trapped up there for a little while longer. It was funny. She hid her smirk, eyes sparkling in the light of her fire with a mischevious mirth. 

      "And it's got a bad attitude," she mused, playing along with the Twins' stupidity. 

      "Yrsa," Hiccup muttered, though she knew he was hiding his own amusement.

      "What?" she asked him innocently. "I only say the truth."

      Gobber gave up, "Eh! Never mind!" exasperated, he swung out his hook and with a simple swipe, cut himself free to the ground. The Twins gasped again, scurrying back. 

      "Gobber?!" exclaimed Tuffnut, finally catching on. Yrsa rolled her eyes. "What did you do with our Rumblehorn?"

      "He didn't do anything with the Rumblehorn," snapped Yrsa; it was too early for her to even deal with them for one second. "We caught him instead! Yay..."

       Gobber straightened up on the grass, frowning at the group of them. "Rumblehorn?" he echoed, incredulous. "What's a Rumblehorn?"

      "A new dragon that's been trying to chase us off the island," explained Fishlegs. 

      "Yeah," agreed Astrid, "us and everything else."

      "We've been trying to catch it and relocate it," said Hiccup. 

      "Yet, we caught you," mumbled Snotlout, leaning lazily against Hookfang's neck. He was still sour after having his pants nearly burnt right off. "Yay, us."

      "You're trying to catch a dragon with a net that can't hold a one-legged, one-armed Viking?" Gobber guffawed. He then snickered, "Amateurs."

      Tuffnut slid in beside Hiccup. Yrsa turned up her nose and stepped away. "Not too late to club him still. I can give him a little━" he swung out his fists to mimitate slamming down a mace onto Gobber's head. "You know." Then, he crossed his arms, smug. Hiccup deadpanned.

      "Yeah," he decided after a small pause, "we should just get back and check on the dragon base."

       Yrsa wondered whether she could club Tuffnut instead. But didn't say anything and just followed, wanting nothing more than to just have one peaceful night's sleep. 

◞ ★ ꒱꒱◜

     "IT'S━?"

    "TRASHED!"

     Gobber held his hands up at Astrid's explosion of words, watching her storm past the destroyed arena they had only just finished building last week. Yrsa clenched her hands at the wrecked base; scattered wood, smashed stairs and ziplines, fractured roofing and even the stable doors had been bent in as if rammed by a very thick skull. 

      "Your words, not mine."

      Yrsa spun to Hiccup, having never been more angry over a dragon in ages. "The Rumblehorn must have hit us while we were out chasing you━" she added with a glower to Gobber.

     "Hey, don't give me that look, missy! Remember who in the forge you work for!"

     Tuffnut chose Yrsa this time to jump in beside, leaning in close━uncomfortably close (though anywhere near the Twins was uncomfortable close for Yrsa)━to whisper, even though Gobber very well could hear, "Last chance. I can still club him. Come on ..." he egged her on, bashing the air with his imaginary weapon. "Club, club, club...? Join the club..."

      Yrsa pushed him away and he tripped, then she stormed off. She heard Tuffnut mutter to Hiccup, "Between you and me, I really think she needs to lighten up."

     She was glad that Hiccup didn't give him any attention, turning to Gobber as he was pulled aside for a quick discussion. Yrsa went ahead with Helrose and started to help clean up the mess━for the third time this week. She was trying to heave up some wood with Helrose's jaws around the other end, tugging when Hiccup approached them, finished with his talk with Gobber.

      Yrsa and Helrose dropped the broken log onto the pile she was creating in an empty dragon water trough. "What was that about?"

      Hiccup rested a hand on Toothless's saddle, "Apparently my dad's going crazy, so, I'm heading to Berk to check up on him. See whether everything's okay. Gobber's staying━he wants to help you guys fix the defences."

      Yrsa nodded, then she realised she was going to be left with Snotlout, the Twins and Gobber. Even Astrid and Fishlegs won't keep her rooted━with her lack of sleep, she'll hate it. "Wait, wait," she stopped Hiccup before he got onto the saddle. "Can't━can't I come with you?"

      He knew exactly what she was worried about. He frowned. "Yrsa, we're all a team."

      "I know," she murmured, "but I don't want to be stuck here to deal with Snotlout and the Twins without you. It'll be torture."

      "You'll have Astrid, Gobber and Fishlegs," Hiccup's cheeriness made her glower. "You'll be fine, Yrsa." She rolled her eyes. This made his shoulders slump again, annoyed. "Snotlout and Twins are important to the team. And they're our friends, you should spend more time with them━"

     "Your friends," corrected Yrsa, scowling. "They were never my friends. I deal with them for you━nothing else. And why are you even friends with them?" she went on, throwing a hand towards him. "Snotlout's horrible to you, the Twins defy authority━and they have less than a brain between all three of them!"

      "You're not coming, Yrsa," Hiccup said, harsher this time. Her eyes widened, taken aback. There was a spike of ... hurt, in her chest to hear him like that. Was he angry at her? Why? (Now she was angry). "And as leader of the Dragon Riders, I suggest you learn to appreciate the others━one day they might not be there to help you when you need them."

      "What?" Yrsa let out, furious, but Hiccup fixed in his prosthetic, clicked Toothless's tail, and they were gone into the early morning sunrise.

       She watched him leave, feeling as though she had been struck with something heavy to the chest. 

      Yrsa soon clenched her hands though, turning back to Helrose who had been watching with a regal tilt of her head. She seethed to her, "Did you hear him?!" she glowered. "I suggest you learn to appreciate the others━? Who does he think he is? He can't control me. I could beat him in a fight easy!"

      (He wasn't trying to control her, she knew that. He was her leader, and she was his soldier━she was apart of a team that was supposed to work together, and she made that really hard, whether she wanted to admit that or not. She just never expected Hiccup would be the one to put her in her place like that ... she always thought he was on her side. That he understood; one of the only ones who did, which was why she trusted him so much. And he said that to her?)

     (Later on, Yrsa will respect the fact that he did; that he would be as blunt to her as she was to him. But today was not that day). 

     (Today, she just spun on her heel and stormed off to continue her work). 

     They worked to clean their outpost until the mid morning; when the sun was rising high over their heads and the last of night was now back under the waters. Yrsa was glad for the work, it distracted from her own toxic thoughts and anger. But having to yell at Tuffnut for the fifth time after he got distracted playing tag with Chicken really didn't help. 

      After dropping a pile of splintered wood into the troughs they were using for clean-up, Astrid flung her bangs out of her eyes and propped her hands on her hips with a tired sigh, "These attacks are getting worse every time. Either that Rumblehorn's got to go, or we do."

     "Hey!" Tuffnut suddenly gasped. Yrsa shot her gaze to the heavens, hoping the gods heard her prayers and got her away from the Twins immediately. "Our boar pit survived! Cool! I like a pit, but I love a boar pit."

     Gobber peered down over his shoulder and let out a loud bark of laughter. "You call that a boar pit? Ha! I've dug my way out of shallow graves deeper than that!"

     "Would you look at these Rumblehorn tracks?" said Fishlegs, quite delighted despite the damage. Yrsa walked over, curious herself. She arched a brow at the large, flat footprints. "If you take into account the width and depth of the footprints, and the distance between them, I can calculate that this dragon is━"

     "Fishlegs," Yrsa cut him off with a stern gentle look. "Even Snotlout could tell that this dragon is huge by the damage caused."

      The Jorgenson spun around on his feet to glower at her, "Hey! I'm taking that as a compliment!"

     Yrsa narrowed her eyes back at him. "Oh, you would..."

     "Does somebody want to tell me why we're rebuilding this place?" then asked Snotlout. "He's just going to crash through and wreck it again."

     Gobber made his way over, "He wouldn't if you could build a defensive wall properly." With his hook, he jammed it into a fallen log. With a grunt, he hoisted it up over one shoulder and marched past. "Well, don't just stand there. If you want to learn, follow me."

     The Dragon Riders all shared a glance, before shrugging simoultaneously and rushing after him. 

◞ ★ ꒱꒱◜

     "I HAVE to admit, that's one impressive wall."

     Yrsa gaped up at the large stone defence wall; she had to crane her neck it was so high. Boulders stacked upon boulders towered above them all, cranked into each gap, nook and cranny with three sets of large watchtowers ontop of it all. She sat on Helrose's saddle, feeling a little woozy to look up so high. 

      "It should stop the Rumblehorn," went on Astrid, "at least from the ground."

     Gobber crossed his arms, proud, "I'm going to call her Greta━after my first love. Large, sturdy. Beefy, some would say."

       "And really sickening to look at," added Yrsa to herself, having to look away from the large wall in fear she'd might fall of her saddle. 

      A deep growl made her jump. They all spun around, gazing off to the distance after the echo━making them tremble in their boots. 

    "It's coming from the West!" Fishlegs stated the obvious, but Yrsa wasn't in the mood to comment. "And it's getting closer!"

     With a grit of her teeth, she pulled Helrose up into the sky. She and her Dervish twisted mid-air and towards the direction of the roar, landing on the top of the cliffs around the defensive wall to see a group of trees and bushes tremor. That must be where the dragon was.

     "Everybody, mount up!" she called down below and they nodded, all rushing to their dragons to follow. 

     Fishlegs offered Gobber to ride with him, but the stubborn blacksmith shook his head. He spread out his arms against his precious wall and cried, "I'm not moving! The wall will hold!"

     Just as he said those walls, the stones began to shake and crumble. Yrsa felt her stomach drop, "Gobber!" she shouted. "Get out of there!"

     He just yelled, rooting his foot and stump into the dirt to stand his ground as the wall shook. Until, finally, it settled, and the stone had not moved. Yrsa's breath hitched, achingly silent with the others as they watched Gobber laugh in victory. "Ha! Told you my Greta would hold!"

     But above, the watchtowers had lost their support. The shakes had weathered the wood and iron hinges. Before Yrsa or the other Riders could do anything, all three large watchtowers tumbled over the side. In seconds, Gobber disappeared underneath.

    "NO!" shouted Yrsa.

    She dived Helrose down, her heart racing. The others followed. Yrsa didn't think as she shouted orders, pointing at her teammates and to different parts of the collapse, desperate to reach Gobber in time. Even someone as head-strong as Gobber who's survived quite the horrendous tales was unlikely to survive something like that━those watchtowers were heavy wood and metal, and falling from that height━

     Yrsa's heart raced, her lungs ached for breath, but she found herself unable to take one until she saw the edge of a hook underneath the rubble.

     "There!" she pointed and Snotlout veered Hookfang down. The Monstrous Nightmare pulled off the large log of wood and there lied Gobber. 

     Breathing and alive.

     Yrsa sat back, slumping and hanging her head in dire relief. 

     They pulled away the last of the logs on foot, tugging Gobber from the rubble and onto his back at their feet. He dazed up at them, looking a little lost.

     "Gobber!" breathed Astrid, face pale with worry. "Are you all right?!"

     Gobber blinked, showing unfocused eyes. He soon grinned and pushed himself to sit up. He swayed a little, chuckling to himself as if there was something hilarious about this whole ordeal━Yrsa couldn't find anything hilarious. "Good morning, Mummy," he said. Her eyes widened. 

     She shared a glance with Astrid, suddenly very weirded out. 

     The backsmith waved his hook, very off-balanced, "Is it time for dragon-killing school?"

     And then he passed out. 

     Yrsa winced. "Oh, that doesn't sound too good."

     "Hey," shrugged Snotlout. He leant against the stone, giving it a pat, "at least this wall held. Of course━" he smirked at them, not bothered by Gobber's obvious injuries at all. Yrsa scowled at him, "━everything else got crushed━" he laughed, pointing down at Gobber's unconsious body. 

     Yrsa crossed her arms, "Really?" she snapped. "Gobber could've died!"

     "Ah! He's fine, look at him!"

     "Gobber is not fine━!"

     A roar from above cut them off. They glanced up, and a dark blur descended down at familiar speed. Hiccup was back, and Yrsa scowled all over again. The Twins, however, didn't seem to realise who it was. Tuffnut yelled in fury and jumped onto his saddle with his sister adjacent. 

     "INCOMING!"

     "Wait, Tuff━" Astrid's words were smothered by the wind of their take off, and they could do nothing but watch as they shot up to Hiccup and Toothless at full speed with a explosion seconds later.

     Hiccup dodged just in time, coming into better view with a shout of, "HEY! IT'S US! CUT IT OUT!"

     Behind him on Toothless's saddle, was his father. He dived in to land and the Twins followed, albeit a little disappointed. "Oh, okay," muttered Tuffnut. "Sorry about that." He chuckled nervously at the chief's glower. "Heh━nice to see you, Chief. You're looking ... very fit. Your hands seemed to be rough and well-worked. Anyway!" they landed and he held his hands out with a grin. "Welcome to Rumblehorn Hel!"

     Stepping off Toothless, the father and son approached them. Stoick glanced up and around, a frown on his face. "You weren't kidding about having dragon problems."

     "Is anybody hurt?" asked Hiccup. 

     Yrsa went to reply, then she reminded herself she was angry at him and just crossed her arms. Astrid rolled her eyes and spoke for her, "Well, sort of," she pointed to Gobber who stirred. After a moment, he got to his feet, spinning around on his feet and giggling to himself.

    "Hello, lovies," he said in a high-pitch voice. He gave them a wave with a waggle of his fingers. "Who'd like some figgy pudding?" He held out his own boot. Yrsa turned up her nose and had to hide her sudden need to gag. 

     Hiccup and Stoick stared as if not sure whether to be concerned or incredulous.

    "What's wrong with him?" the chief decided to say after a second. 

     "Well," started Tuffnut, "Chief, you can start with the peg leg━" he listed them off on his fingers. "And then you add in the hook ... and the bad breath, and weird neck. I mean, look at his neck."

     "He'll be fine," quickly butt in Snotlout. "He got hit by a watchtower."

     Gobber suddenly broke out into hysterics at Toothless. "HAHA! You're killing me!" he swung his hook and Toothless yelped, pulling his head back. "Who knew you were such a card?!"

     The Night Fury scowled and just walked away, wrapping his slender body around Yrsa in greeting before sitting down beside Helrose. The two of them judged Gobber with identical gazes. Yrsa winced again, fingers to her lips. When Gobber's laughter made him stumble closer, both dragons quickly wrapped their tails around Yrsa to pull her in closer to their chests. 

     "Hiccup," sighed Astrid, "these Rumblehorn attacks are getting out of hand. We have to do something."

     Hiccup furrowed his brows in thought. Stoick nodded. He raised his voice and began, "Okay, then! First thigs first. We start with━"

     His son cut him off without realising, a plan already formed. "Astrid, you and Yrsa search the eastern coastline." She nodded and walked over to the girl stuck into the deadly two dragon protective hold. "Ruff, Tuff, you have the West." The Twins sent a salute and thumbs up. "My father and I will take the middle of the island. Fishlegs and Snotlout, you take care of Gobber and keep fixing the base."

     "Got it."

     "Whoa, whoa, whoa━" Snotlout flung out his hands, not particuarly happy with this plan, "wait a minute there, dragon master." He flinched when Gobber started to poke his shoulder and cheek, giddy. 

     "Hello, little fella!" he cooed. 

     Snotlout gagged, "How come I have to stay behind?!"

     Gobber then growled, holding up his hand and hook with a menacing glare, "Rawrrr━" he pulled Snotlout close to his chest. The eighteen-year-old hunched up; but he looked more exhausted than anything. "I'm a dragon! Yah!" 

     Yrsa wished she had some way she could capture a moment in time forever. She could just take a ... what would the word be? Either way, she just wanted to have this particular moment in her saddlebag ready to be used as leverage. 

     "Okay, fine," smirked Hiccup, "you want to hunt the unstoppable, bloodthirsty dragon instead?"

     Snotlout considered this, "Bloodthirsty dragon, huh ...?" 

    Gobber peered at his behind and gasped with delight. "Ooh! Look at my tail!" He pulled Snotlout even closer and whispered, "Do dragons chase their tails or do they breathe fire on them? I don't know!"

     Snotlout wafted the smell back towards Gobber with a short gag, but said nonetheless, "On second thought, I don't want to give you guys an unfair advantage. So I should probably stay behind━" he threw an arm over Gobber's shoulders, "━and protect one of the Archipelago's national treasures ..." he said this very sarcastically.

     Gobber's mood changed. He let out a sob, gazing up at the sky, "The sun," he wailed, "is a shiny potato! Covered in drawn butter!"

     Snotlout nodded, but with no sincerity. "And the moon is a scoop of ice cream!"

     Hiccup looked like he wanted to say something, but thought the better of it.

◞ ★ ꒱꒱◜

     THE WHOLE day was unsuccessful in the search for the Rumblehorn. Yrsa and Astrid got back to the base, annoyed and grumbling to one another about how dry their expedition had been. The Twins had similar luck, and so they were all drained as night came, just watching Fishlegs and Snotlout continue to rebuild, Gobber have his fun in the boar pit, and waiting for Hiccup and Stoick to return.

     Yrsa sat by herself, as usual, picking away at the dirt under her nails. Helrose took this chance to have a quick nap, curled around her with her head on Yrsa's lap. She was still in a mood from this morning, and not finding the Rumblehorn again only made her worse. But Astrid wasn't deterred by her stand-offish moments. Instead, she just walked over and sat down opposite her with a look that demanded, spill.

     "It's nothing," grumbled Yrsa in a way that told Astrid it was definitely something. "Hiccup and I just had an argument, that's all."

     Astrid tried to keep the knowing smirk to herself. "What was it about this time?"

     Yrsa huffed and couldn't stop herself from exclaiming in a whisper, "He knows why I cannot work with Snotlout and the Twins and yet he had the idiocy to say I should learn to appreciate them. He told me to stay━ordering me around like I'm just one of━" she crossed her arms, glowering down as she dared not finish her sentence, knowing how bad it sounded.

     But Astrid knew. She quirked a brow, "Like one of us?" she finished, gesturing at herself at the others.

     At the hostility to her tone, Yrsa flushed, "You know what I mean," she mumbled. 

     Her friend rolled her eyes and leant back on the stone, propping her legs out. "I do know what you mean," she said. "But I just think you hate being told the truth."

      Yrsa's eyes widened at this. Was she━? She scoffed and shook her head, looking away. Astrid wasn't understanding. 

     "He was being blunt with you like you're blunt with him," went on Astrid, not at all intimidated by the glower on Yrsa's face. "And Yrsa━you got to remember. He's the leader, you're a member of his team━he can order. And you constantly defy him just like Snotlout and the Twins do."

     "I do not!" Yrsa blanched at the comparison. "I do nothing like they do. I appreciate, and I respect him, and you know how I feel about him ..."

    "Yeah, I know," grumbled Astrid. "But that doesn't put you any higher than the rest of us━at least not the way you think it does. You know, Yrs, if you actually took a moment to breathe, and let yourself act the way you do around Hiccup and I, you might enjoy your time here better. It's not as horrifying and as scary as you make it sound."

     Yrsa slouched, finding it hard to meet Astrid's gaze. She glared at the tips of her boots, giving Helrose a gentle rub on her neck. "I know ..." she mumbled, but refused to say anything else. The conversation had ended there, and not because of the return of Hiccup and his father. 

     Astrid glanced over her shoulder and stood up, attentive for the next move. Yrsa gently woke up Helrose to stand up as well, but with her arms hugging her stomach and her eyes still settled on her shoes. 

     "Where's Gobber?" asked the chief. 

     Just then, a set of squeals followed by a, "Yoo━hoo!" dashed past. Snotlout arched a brow at Gobber chasing the set of boars from the Twins' pit. 

     He shrugged, holding the firewood he had gathered for tonight's watch. "Boar pit."

     Hiccup sighed, "Okay, Gobber accounted for," he made his way over to Astrid and Yrsa, brows furrowed slightly at the way Yrsa wouldn't look up. 

     "Hiccup," Astrid said as he came close, "did you find the Rumblehorn?"

     "More like he found us," he muttered, scowling. 

     "Ha!" laughed Stoick from beside Toothless, giving the Night Fury a scratch. "Gave us a good run, that one!"

      Hiccup looked exasperated by his amusement. "We're going to resupply, and then we all need to go look for it."

      Yrsa nodded, taking a deep breath to get herself back to normal. The last thing she needed━or anyone, really, was for her to be down and in wallowing in her thoughts. She set her face and squared her shoulders, placing on her best regal look; as if she had never been upset at all. "All right," she said. 

      Hiccup met her gaze and gave her a stiff nod of his own. They were still tense; the argument fresh, but she knew he was relieved she was at least back to her old self for now. 

     She even rolled her eyes when Tuffnut spoke up, "Eh, I bet I can find him━like ... right now."

     Snotlout dropped the firewood onto his pile and glowered, "Oh, really."

      Tuffnut was staring up at the night sky, "Oh, yeah."

     "Oh, really?"

     "Yeah!"

     Yrsa crossed her arms, sending him a short glare, "And how's that, Tuffnut?"

      He just continued to watch the sky, excited. "Wait for it ..." then, he pointed. "Bing!"

      She frowned, confused. Then, she heard the roar. Gasping, she twisted back around with the others, eyes wide as a large silhouette descended under the light of the moon. 

      Hiccup had a similar look upon his face, "What the━Ah! Hey, everybody? On your dragons! We need to draw him away from Dragon's Edge. It tracked us all the way here!"

      Stoick smirked at this, thoughtful, "Impressive," he murmured.

      Hiccup ran past him, jumping onto Toothless's saddle with a snap of, "Dad, let's catch him first. Then we can admire him."

      Yrsa climbed up onto Helrose's back and took to the night sky with the others, the wind blowing back her braids with a cool chill of oncoming winter. As the Rumblehorn grew closer, she could finally see what it looked like. It was large and strong indeed, with scales no short of bright flurescent armour; like the shell of a ginourmous beatle with three, sharp horns and a row of very sharp teeth. 

      They ascended to meet him, only to be cut short by the fleeing flock of Night Terrors. Yrsa flew up her arms, hiding her face from their talons as they screeched, darting around them and along with their usual, high-pitched shriek. 

     "Where are all the Night Terrors going?" asked Hiccup once they had passed on, further and further away from the island and to the clouds. 

     "And why isn't the Rumblehorn following us?"

     Stoick was right. While they had been distracted by the fleeing Night Terrors, the large dragon just dived past to their base, not giving them a second glance. Yrsa's eyes followed him, trying to see what he could possibly be after, until she saw, and her heart dropped. 

     "Because it's going after Gobber!" she exclaimed. 

     Poor Gobber was ignorant. He was too busy happily chasing after his runaway boars to notice the dragon diving right after him. Hiccup didn't waste a single second. Spinning Toothless around, he joined the Rumblehorn in the dive with his father clinging on. 

     "Let's get his attention, bud!"

     The explosion of purple into the dark clouds did nothing to alter the Rumblehorn in his determination. He just ducked his head and went straight through, the impact only rattling his armoured-scales like a little pesky shake. 

     He landed with a mighty thud, only metres from Gobber who continued to laugh and cry out, "Come back!" to the squealing boars. He roared, and more flocks of Night Terrors took off, screeching and darting up to the clouds. Yrsa and the others still above gasped and veered out of the way, not wanting to be swarmed a second time. 

      Astrid managed to dive down as the Rumblehorn charged Gobber. "Stormfly━spine shot!"

      Her Nadder flung her tail in between her legs, emitting half a dozen poisonous spines that jetted along the ground in front of the Rumblehorn. He just ran through them, and they crushed and were knocked away. 

     Yrsa's heart stopped for a moment. "Helrose! Wind-storm!"

     Holding on tight to her Devilish Dervish, Yrsa closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, ready for the high-speed tumble Helrose dipped down into. The world around her was a blur, the wind rushed in her ears, and with a flurry of her tail and wings, a miniature tornado erupted in front of the Rumblehorn. 

      He faltered for a second at the dragon and her rider amongst the blurred wind. Then, at the exact right moment, he brought forward his clubbed tail and Helrose was struck━stunned━to her side.

     The momentum stopped suddenly and Yrsa yelled in alarm as she was flung from the saddle at the high speed. Helrose hit the ground a little while away, dazed, but not dangerously hurt. Yrsa screamed, limbs flailing as she flew towards Fishlegs's rock-garden. She heard Hiccup shout her name. 

      She would have hit it, and she didn't even want to know what would have happened next, if it weren't for a dragon's head belonging to a long neck attatched to a second. Yrsa gasped, startled at the sudden stop. 

      She was tugged upwards away from the rock garden, just seconds from going splat. Yrsa looked up to see Barf's wide gaze stare at her with a flicker of mischief. Further up, Ruffnut and Tuffnut worked together to veer their dragons back towards Helrose. Yrsa was speechless━and the Twins didn't say anything either. Ruffnut just had Barf drop her down next to her dragon and off they were again, not even waiting for a thank you. 

      Yrsa took a few moments to breathe, not sure what she felt━or even if she comprehended what just happened. She watched the Twins fly towards the Rumblehorn in their attempt to stop it before she turned to Helrose.

      "Helrose!" she cried, throwing her arms over her. "Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay?!"

      Yrsa suddenly felt the need to sob, hoping that her dragon was okay. But when Helrose turned her head, opening her eyes and purring at her distressed rider, that made her cry istead. She flung her arms around her tighter, body shaking as her tears fell. She was okay━Helrose was okay. 

      Call Yrsa whoever you wanted. Mean, arrogant, prideful, not at all sweet and not at all easy, but if there were two things that broke down the harsh facade she built with stone foundations, it was Helrose and Toothless. Her dragons were the key to the locked door; she would do everything and anything for them. 

     She jolted herself back to the situation at hand when Toothless's plasma blast went off course. The Rumblehorn ran straight past. Stoick had pulled Hiccup up last minute and altered Toothless's aim. 

     Yrsa's breath hitched, tears still on her cheeks as she frowned up at the chief, very confused. Hiccup shoved him off of his shoulders, angry, "Dad, what are you doing?!"

     Gobber finally caught up with his boars. He petted the poor animal on the back with his hook, until the boar saw the Rumblehorn and screeched. He ran away and Gobber's frowned; stumbling in his pivot, he turned to see what had happened. The Rumblehorn had skidded to a halt right in front of him. 

     Helrose got back onto her feet, shaking off her daze. Yrsa hated to get her back into action so soon, but with Gobber's life on the life, she climbed up onto the saddle, ready to fire.

     But she hesitated. 

     The Rumblehorn was still yet to attack. He did not gather fire, or ram his horned skull against Gobber's chest. He just roared at him, sounding rather distressed. 

     Gobber flinched at the sound. But as it fell away, he opened his eyes and broke out into a bright, happy beam. "Oh, look!" he cried. "It's Pepe━my favourite pet yak!" he threw his arms around the dragon's snout. The Rumblehorn froze, taken aback. "We didn't eat you on Snoggletog moring after all!"

      Yrsa didn't realise Snotlout had landed down next to her until she heard him say, "Yrsa! Thank gods you're okay━"

     She just held a hand up, watching what was happening with a racing heart and bated breath. Gobber was full on hugging and scratching the Rumblehorn, and the dragon they all thought to be so aggressive did nothing. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, but he was docile━he just let Gobber carry on. 

      Up above, Stoick called down, "If that dragon wanted to hurt people, he'd have done it by now. Something else is going on here."

      Glancing over, Yrsa could see Hiccup's face contorted, like he wanted to contradict those words, but decided to say instead, "Like what?"

      "Only one way to find out. Put me down next to him."

      Albeit reluctantly, Hiccup dived Toothless down and Stoick leapt off the saddle. Hiccup instead rushed to Yrsa, and Snotlout rolled his eyes when Yrsa gave him attention instead. 

      "Are you okay?" Hiccup asked her, urgent. He checked Helrose, too, and the Dervish nuzzled into his touch. 

      "We're fine," said Yrsa, breathless. And like that, the argument they had; the tension between them had dwindled to nothing. As always with them. They might get under each other's skin (constantly), but they also knew that with what they did, it wasn't good to focus on everything they disliked, or were miffed about━especially when today, Yrsa could have possibly died if the Twins hadn't saved her life.

     Yrsa flushed a little bit in embarassment. Not because the Twins saved her and wounded her pride, but because they did, despite what Yrsa said about them. Hiccup had been right this morning. But there was little time to focus on that, either. So, she just managed a small, reasuring smile to Hiccup. 

      "Go after your father," she then said. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid like you might."

      "You sure?" he frowned, but was already walking back to Toothless.

      Surprising even herself, Yrsa shrugged and said, "I got Snotlout here, I'll be fine."

      Snotlout froze. Mouth agape, he pointed at himself; for a moment he hadn't even comprehend what Yrsa said━or believed it. When he did, a grin formed onto his face, and it made Yrsa almost want to take it back.

      But she didn't, because the way Hiccup smiled briefly, hopping back onto Toothess's saddle, made Yrsa's chest grow warm like a hearth. 

      Beside her, Snotlout grumbled, "You know, Yrsa, I have two feet━"

      She elbowed him harshly in the stomach. 

     Meanwhile, Stoick the Vast had approached the Rumblehorn. The dragon pushed his feet into the dirt, dragging them back with a low growl. Stoick narrowed his eyes in reply, "What is it you really want, dragon?"

      The Rumblehorn swung his head, huffing smoke out of his nostrils. But he glanced towards the ocean with a whine. 

     Stoick frowned. "I think this dragon is trying to tell us something."

      Whatever it was, he was growing impatient with it. The dragon roared and brought his armoured snout to the earth. It shook and the rest of their dragons froze up. Their eyes slitted, they shared a few fearful squawks. Yrsa gasped and clung on tight when Helrose suddenly took to the air, the others not far behind. 

      Fishlegs shrieked like a Night Terror. He clung onto Meatlug as they flew around in circles. "What is happening, what is happening, what is happening?!"

     "What's wrong, girl?" let out Yrsa, trying to see what was causing their dragons such distress. But in the frantic way they spun, looking anywhere except the saddle made her sick. Below, the Rumblehorn had tipped Stoick onto his back. Hiccup yelled, but Stoick wasn't scared.

      He just held on with a bellow of, "Whoa, big fella! Hold on there!"

     Then, they took to the night sky, as well. Hiccup gritted his teeth, "Go get 'em, bud!" he called and they shot up to follow. As they joined Yrsa and the others, their dragons settled in their flight, turning and following diligently behind the Rumblehorn.

      Yrsa fixed her seat, gripping the front of her saddle with a frown. They were heading out to the water. She narrowed her eyes, peering into the night━

     And then, she saw it.

    "Look!" she pointed. 

     Hiccup's eyes widened as he saw it, too. "The sea level━is it rising?!"

     It was.

     At the horizon, there was a dip in the water; a slope of a single, metres long wave stretched from side to side, growing higher and higher━and coming straight for Dragon's Edge. It would be on them by the hour. Even less. 

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     HICCUP scouted onwards to check the rising water levels. The rest; Yrsa, Astrid, Snotlout, the Twins, Fishlegs, Chief Stoick and their dragons all waited at the Edge shores. Yrsa was nervous, fiddling with the wraps around her arms. As Hiccup returned, she could tell it wasn't good just at the grim look upon his face. 

     He landed Toothless in front of them, "There's a giant wave headed for us," he proved what they had feared. "The Rumblehorn knew it and was trying to get us to leave. He was trying to save us! That explains why he was chasing Gobber."

     Tuffnut made a face. "I'm not buying it," he decided. "Okay, guys, real quick━" he glanced at them all, "━how long does it take to learn to swim."

     "No one has to swim," stated Hiccup, determined. "We just need to block the wave from hitting the camp."

      "Isn't it a little late for that, Hiccup?" countered Snotlout, though with less enthusiasm than his usual defiance. 

     "No!" said Astrid, an idea striking in her blue eyes. "Gobber's rock wall━that's big enough to stop the wave. We just need to reinforce it."

     They got straight to it. Working together, the young Dragon Riders gathered rocks from wherever they could find and placing them ontop of each other to build the wall. The Twins sent rockslides down from above, Yrsa and Hiccup had Helrose catch boulders thrown up by Snotlout, setting them on top. But the water was rising too quickly. Soon, it started to leak through the cracks and into the shallow ground, and the wave was yet to hit. Once it did, they were sure to be swallowed, even with this reinforcement. 

     "We need to get to higher ground," Yrsa decided, eyeing the wave getting dangerously close. But Hiccup shook his head, stubborn. "Hiccup━" she stressed. "We can rebuild. We can't do that if we're dead. We should grab what we can from our huts and head to the mountain caves."

     "We still have time," he argued, though Yrsa could see the hesitation in his eyes. He was getting worried, too. "Come on━keep moving!"

      "It's cracking!" exclaimed Astrid, starting to agree with Yrsa's plan. "We're just building uselessly, now!"

      Then, Stoick fixed his gaze on a nearby shore sea stack. He clenched his jaw. He turned his new Rumblehorn towards the stone tower. "You handle the cracks, son!" he called down to Hiccup. "I've got an idea."

     Yrsa didn't know what he planned on doing, but she just hoped to the gods it will work. Hiccup nodded and glanced back at them, "You heard the man!"

     "On it!" said Astrid and had Stormfly spine as many cracks as she could. Fishlegs dipped Meatlug down into a lava spew that crept into the spaces, drying into hard molten rock. The rest of them continued to build the wall higher and higher, reinforcing the cracks as they did. Helrose was growing tired, already strained from her fall before. Yrsa coaxed her to keep on going, promising a special treat━and everything else━if they were to survive this.

     But soon, they were out of rocks. They couldn't build any higher without fear of it collapsing onto them. And the wave was so close it roared in Yrsa's ears louder than any sea dragon. 

     There was a dreadful silence as they settled in the shallow ground, hoping that their wall will hold knowing full well it wasn't enough. Yrsa's breath hitched in the back of her throat, unable to say anything as she began to see the wave grow higher over their work. About to descend upon them. It was too late; they were stuck here. The Rumblehorn's effort; their effort, wouldn't be enough.

     Yrsa felt everything within her sink. She thought back on her life━all the things she wished she had done, said; she wished she spent more time with her mother, listened to every single story from her grandmother. She wished she had visited her father's grave. She wished she could say thank you to the Twins. She wished she could read through the Book of Dragons with Fishlegs. She wished she could smack Snotlout; but not with a glare, but amusement. She wished she could've said more earlier today to Astrid, and ...

     Her gaze drifted to Hiccup to see him already looking at her. The water started to spill through the cracks they reinforced. Their wall was going to collapse; Yrsa wondered what would hit them first; the water or the rocks. 

     But she didn't focus on that. She just kept her eyes on him. There was so much she wanted to say, she decided it was best to say none of it. Because she had a feeling, deep down, Hiccup knew all of it. He nodded at her, and she took a deep breath. 

     They were going to die, but all that mattered to Yrsa right now was that he was with her. 

      At the thunderous rumble, Yrsa gasped and hid her face in her arms. She turned to Helrose, expecting a horrible impact━the earth shook around her, and she felt spits of water ... but that was it.

      It was quiet for a moment; the water lapped and coursed against their wall and the cliffs surrounding. But ... but they were alive.

      Yrsa peeked her eyes open, and they widened to see the sea stack Stoick had flown to down over the top of their wall. It blocked the wave just in time; and just enough. A miracle. 

     She could breathe.

     As the silence ended, soon followed relieved cheers. Yrsa let out a breathless laugh, unable to believe it. It might've been a little hysterical, but they had survived━they were alive, and the Edge was safe. Yrsa turned to hug Helrose, burying her face into her neck and her dragon leant into her touch, purring. She shed a tear no one saw, but she smiled. They did it. They had done it.

     Glancing up again, she set her eyes on Hiccup once more. He smiled at her. She smiled back. But it was different; strange. It was more than a friendly smile, or a smile that they understood there was something more, but they agreed to wait. It was ... it was alarming, because Yrsa realised that she wanted to see that smile for the rest of her life. Whether it was as her friend, or as something more. She just knew that no matter what, she wanted Hiccup in her life━until the very end. 

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      no one: 

      stoick the vast and skullcrusher: *cracks an entire sea stack on itself*

      this chapter was important for yrsa development hehehehe. 

     also i made that scene above way more climatic than it actually was in the show ahaahahah.