𖣯 ✹ 🌷(makligr) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter twenty-three; hiccup
❝ shock and awe! ❞

    HICCUP KNEW what day it was━immediately━the moment he returned from his morning flight with Toothless and saw all of his charcoal stuck up along his cabin walls━far out of his reach. He gaped, seeing them all in ridiculous places: some stuck to the support beams, some sticking out behind the ladder up towards his bed, a few set out around on the walls to make circles and other shapes━each and every one of them kept in place by dragon glue: a substance made with the saliva of a dragon and a few other herbs ... the perfect creation to be sure something had a very strong (and flame-protectant) stick. 

    He spun around, "What the━?"

    "Loki'd!"

    The shout made him jump, flinging his hands up over his head━he heard her laugh, very satisfied with herself. He scowled up at Yrsa who stood at the edge of the landing above, smirking and crossing her arms. 

    Hiccup's arms dropped, "Seriously?" he grumbled up at her. She stifled more laughter. "How long━" he jumped to try and grasp one of his charcoals off the wall. He missed it by a mile. "Seriously?" he let out again. "How much time did you waste doing this?"

     She climbed down, smug, "The perfect amount of time. Because you━" she waggled her fingers at him as she passed him to head to the door, "━just got Loki'd! By me," she grinned, tapping her thumbs against her chest. "Loki'd━by me. Me. I did this."

    "Yeah," he said flatly as he watched her give Toothless a hung under one arm as she started to leave. "Yeah, I━I got that."

    "By me," she added as she walked backwards away from his hut. He watched her go, nodding and smiling sarcastically. Yrsa dramatically pointed to herself, "I Loki'd you."

     "I heard you the first time!"

    "By me!"

    He sighed, shaking his head but the smile turned from being sarcastic into something genuine━knowing exactly how this day will play out. Little did Yrsa know that her hut was ... perhaps ... very much definitely in a similar sticky predicament.

     He casually leaned out the side of his hut, watching her run off to hers, very proud of what she achieved. Hiccup cleared his throat, looking down at his boot as she pulled open the door to enter inside━

    "HICCUP!"

    Hiccup stifled his chuckles to himself and stepped back inside his hut, feeling as though this day has already started off on a high. Every year, on Loki Day, was the only day Hiccup let himself fall intro the art of 'tricks' and the 'trickster' as the Twins always put it. It started when they were younger, and he realised how fun it was to trick and prank Yrsa━her reactions, as always, made him grin and smile. When he realised how flustered and frustrated he could make her over the smallest tease or practical joke, Hiccup kept on doing them. Loki Day, however, was when he went all out━and Yrsa went all out in retaliation. At first, it was to prove to him that she wasn't bothered, that she could trick and get the same reaction out of him ... after nearly five years, well, it had become an unspoken annual competition. (One that Hiccup won, every year━no matter how much Yrsa argued the fact). 

    And when they all gradually made their way to the Clubhouse for breakfast, Hiccup was still milling his laughter into his food to see Yrsa glowering at him from opposite the cold fire, drenched from head to toe.

    He glanced up, playing innocence. She went deep red and clenched her hands, "You know what I'm glowering at you about." Yrsa leaned forward and with a vicious tongue, told him: "I have to wash all of this out of my hair! Do you know how long it takes to wash my hair?" she pointed at the thick curls that had been pulled back into two braids. "A long time. And I mean a long time."

    Hiccup picked at the porridge, tilting his head and asking her with faux curiosity, "But I thought today was wash day?"

    The growl she let out very much could have belonged to an angry Terrible Terror. "You are going to pay for this━" she pointed her spoon at him.

    (Like he said: the best reactions). 

    "She's going to murder you," Snotlout spoke up, watching the two of them with a look that was mixture of disgust and confusion. When he saw Hiccup grin to himself, he leaned back, "Why are you smiling at that?"

    "This happens every year, Snotlout," spoke Astrid, very casual in regards to what was happening right in front of her between her two best friends. "I thought you'd be used to it by now."

     "I thought you'd be use to it by now━" Snotlout mocked Astrid in a very high-pitch voice. "Yeah? No, I will not get used to it━look at the way they are right now!" he gestured his spoon between the two of them. "It's freaking me out! Hiccup, stop━" he pointed the spoon onto him, "━you━you guys are supposed to be the mature ones. You're supposed to keep us safe on Loki Day from the Twins!"

    Astrid snorted to herself at that. Hiccup frowned and carefully pushed Snotlout's spoon away with his own before his porridge would drip. "If by that, you mean, more mature than you, Snotlout, then yes, we always are."

    His cousin made a disgruntled face. "Shut up, Hiccup," he muttered moodily before turning back to his food. When he saw Yrsa grin as well, Snotlout threw his hands up. "I give up!" he cried. "You were angry at him! You were just angry at him━!" the Jorgenson stood up and finished his breakfast early, disappearing in the back to wash up. As he did, Hiccup heard him mutter words along the line of: "I can never understand those two I swear to Odin━"

    "Wow..." Astrid whistled. "I think you guys just broke Snotlout."

    Yrsa rolled her eyes, "Snotlout's always been broken━"

   "I heard that!"

    "That was the point," she quipped back before standing. "All right," disgusted, she flicked her braids off her shoulders, "I am going to wash all of Toothless's slobber out of my hair." A horrible thought struck her and she spun back to Hiccup, "You mixed this with water, right? It's━it's actually going to wash out ... right ..." at his blank stare, her eyes widened, "Right?!"

    Hiccup shrugged, just to annoy her and grinned, amused to see her hold out her hands as if to strangle him before walking out, calling for Helrose angrily. Once she was gone, he went back to eating before he noticed the piercing all-knowing stare Astrid was sending him. 

    He slumped, "It wasn't Toothless's slobber, it was water and aloe vera," he told her evenly. "I would never do that to her hair━she loves her hair."

    Astrid only leaned forward, "And where did you get the aloe vera? It's too cold to grow it here. You can only get it from Johann's trade."

     Hiccup watched her, wary, "... And?"

    "Johann was last here two weeks ago. You've planned this long enough to make sure you got it from him."

     He continued to frown at her, "Okay ...?"

   The blonde shook her head, unable to believe him. "You are so obvious━it has been three years, Haddock. Do something━" she started to stand up, leaning forward threateningly, "━or I will lock the two of you in the stables and will not let you out until you do something. Oh, and if you don't do something to your mop of overgrown hair as well, I will cut it all off with my axe."

    Hiccup watched her go, a little scared. He subconsciously lifted a hand to push his hair out of his eyes. "You're ... you are full of threats today ..."

    Their morning was interrupted the moment Fishlegs came rushing into the Clubhouse. The Twins weren't far behind him, eyeing the way he skidded to a stop at the door, huffing and puffing and shouting: "HICCUP!"

    At his frantic tone, Hiccup was on his feet. All jokes were pushed aside. A dreadful weight dropped down into his stomach, "What?!" he let out, just as panicked. "What is it?!"

     Fishelgs heaved. It took him a few moments to catch his breath, before he said, "You would not believe the thing I just found!"

     "Ugh!" Astrid slumped down in disappointment, putting the clean plates back on the table. "Why can't it ever just be Dragon Hunters and not Hicclegs geeking out?"

     Hiccup frowned, "Hicc━what?" he shook his head. "Nope, I'm not gonna━Fishlegs!" he turned to his friend again, holding out a calming pair of hands. "What is it? What did you find?"

     "This morning," he rushed forward and the Twins rolled their eyes. Snotlout rejoined the group of them, and those still in the Clubhouse all listened to Fishlegs's wild tale, "Meatlug and I were just wandering around, gathering some new rocks to try━when I saw something in the water. This━this creature━a monster, even!"

     Snotlout scoffed, not believing his words for a second. "Oh, please," he grumbled.

    "It had two heads," Fishlegs continued, given him no mind. He held up two fingers in Hiccup's face. "Maybe three! And it made this weird sound━like nothing I'd ever heard before! It was like a━it was like a ..." jumping with excitement, Fishlegs produced his best roar that turned into a strange sound━almost like water sizzling against hot coals. 

     Snotlout gasped. His hands flew to his helmet. "Oh, my Thor!" he exclaimed. Hiccup sighed, hearing his sarcasm. None of them were amused. "That━that is incredible, Fishlegs."

    All except Fishlegs who grinned with delight, "I know, right?!"

    "WRONG!" shouted Snotlout and they all jumped, startled. The Jorgenson waved a finger in the air, "Not getting me on Loki Day! If it isn't already obvious to you all..." he started to wander out of the Clubhouse, completely unbeknownst to the rope dangling right in front of his own eyes. "I am way smarter than━WAHHHH━!"

     Hiccup sighed, his head falling into his palm as Snotlout was flung upside down to the ceiling. He hung there and the Twins laughed, high-fiving each other, "LOKI'D!"

    Snotlout screamed.

    Fishlegs rolled his eyes, "Yeah, obviously much smarter..."

    Once his shock fell away, Snotlout scowled. He drifted back and forth from the ceiling━he spun around, trying to catch them all in the eye, "Ha, ha, ha━fine. You got me. But I still don't believe━" he had to push himself to swing again so he faced the right way, "━Fishlegs about that creature in the lagoon."

    Tuffnut grinned. He held out a dramatic hand, "Creature in the Edge Lagoon," he announced. "Just when you thought it was safe to take a bath in a lagoon..."

     They all stared at him blankly.

     "Okay," muttered Snotlout. "Any day, now."

    Hiccup crossed his arms. He considered letting his cousin hang there for a little while. Until Astrid elbowed him and he sighed, "Yep, gotcha. Toothless..."

    He bit back a smirk when his dragon fired a blast with such strength that when the rope snapped, Snotlout fell right through the wooden deck and onto the grassy slope below. The Twins snickered. They all heard Snotlout let out a pain wheeze. Then he shouted: "YOU'RE NOT FUNNY, HICCUP!"

    "I think I'm pretty hilarious sometimes, actually," Hiccup muttered, a little smug. 

     "Look," Fishlegs spoke up once more, "You can Loki all you want. But I know what I saw."

     "Fishlegs," Hiccup tried. "We've been swimming and fishing in that cove for months. Don't you think we would've seen something if there was something to see?"

    Astrid agreed with him. "Are you sure it wasn't just the light coming through the fog? It can play really weird tricks on you. Especially at that hour."

    Tuffnut cackled, "Sounds like someone got Loki'd by the fog!"

    Ruffnut pointed to them all, "This is what I call 'Gaslighting.'" She propped her hands on her hips, proud of herself. "I just made that word up. It's pretty cool, huh?"

    Astrid shook her head, incredulous, "What even━?"

    Fishlegs clenched his fists, annoyed, "It wasn't the fog, you guys!" he exclaimed furiously. "There's something out there. Something real!" He took a deep breath and shoved past them. "And, as usual," he grumbled as he did, "you won't believe it until I prove it!"

    He stormed out into the morning. Hiccup watched his friend rejoin Meatlug and the two of them hovered off towards the Edge lagoon. He pursed his lips, not sure whether to follow or not. 

    Ruffnut pointed at him again, "Gaslighter."

◞ ★ ꒱꒱◜

   FISHLEGS DISAPPEARED for the rest of the morning and into afternoon, no doubt trying to search for the creature he had seen in the lagoon early this morning. He didn't ask for anybody's help, determined to do this alone and prove to them that he was right, alone. Hiccup sighed each time, but let his friend be. In the end, he made his way towards Yrsa's hut, finding himself wanting a place to escape Snotlout's endless screams at each Loki prank the Twins had made on him in just half a day. 

     He continued on past her door until he reacted the side of her hut, stepping onto the grass of the small secluded area she liked to keep. A place where she liked to grow herbs, rest in the sun and read with a perfect view of the ocean and the slopes below. He already see Helrose sunbathing her dark scales by the rocks. He felt Toothless nudge past him to bound over and annoy the Devilish Dervish. He startled the dragon awake, knocking her over with a gummy grin before forcefully settling himself to rest leant against her side. Helrose huffed at him, annoyed. She met Hiccup's gaze across the grass as if to ask, Get him off me. 

     Hiccup replied with a hand gesture for her to 'Play Nice'. He tapped his wrist and then tapped the little smile he made on his lips. She huffed at him again, but listened. 

    He stepped down off the walkway and made his way over to Yrsa who was running her fingers through her damp hair. "Got it all out?" Hiccup asked cheekily.

     She scowled at him, "It wasn't even dragon slobber━you're insufferable."

    Hiccup chuckled. He flopped down beside her, spreading out his legs on the grass. "Happy Loki Day."

     Yrsa rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She pulled all of her hair off her shoulders to fall down her back. She was just in her tunic and leggings, enjoying the surprising warmth the sun bore down onto them. "Did you get all of your charcoal off your walls?"

     He scoffed, "Yeah, eventually."

     She snorted lightly to herself. Hiccup's smile turned gentle, finding himself unable to look away from her. Astrid's words nagged at him in the back of his mind and he pursed his lips. It wasn't as easy as she made it sound. They had just managed to get things back on track after another argument, and Hiccup hoped that they were on the right track now. But he was too scared to overstep━to ruin anything. 

    His feelings never faded━Gods, no. Even when they had their troubles and they took their space and time, Hiccup never stopped falling for Yrsa. If anything, all of that has happened recently seemed to only just make him fall for her harder. 

     But he just ... and he knew she felt this way too ... he just wanted to make sure they had figured out everything they needed to figure out before they take that step. He didn't ... he didn't want to ruin anything. He wanted it to be perfect. 

     Yrsa noticed his stare. She shyly glanced over and he blushed, quickly looking away. She pursed her lips, too, growing rosy at the cheeks. "Um," Yrsa cleared her throat and leaned back on her hands, gazing upwards at the sun. "I━uh━I'm glad we're okay again."

     Hiccup nodded. He couldn't ignore how close their hands were on the grass━inches from touching. "Yeah, yeah," he nodded again, heart racing. "Yeah, me too."

     She crossed her bare feet over each other, "I'm sorry. You know that, right?"

      He glanced at her again, his heart pacing back to an even pace to see the shame in her eyes. Hiccup sat up, "I know," he reassured her. "I'm sorry, too. You know that, yeah?"

     Yrsa heaved a gentle breath, "Yeah. I just ... I wanted to tell you, about everything. And I realised how dangerous it had been the moment you nearly hit Heather━"

     Hiccup shook his head. "I wasn't angry at anyone except myself," he cut her off and she met his gaze, her own widened. "I wanted ... I wanted to be angry at Heather, at Astrid, at you ... but I couldn't. In the end, I was just ... I was terrified that I lost you, and it would have been my fault."

     He heard her breath hitch. For a moment, he knew Yrsa didn't know what to say. Eventually, she looked down at her feet and mumbled, "I was trying to protect you."

     "I know," he said in the same tone. He did. Yrsa always tried to protect him━like he was always trying to protect her. "But ..." Hiccup took a deep breath, "... But you're important to me, Yrs ... More important than any secret, or any lie Heather was telling."

     "And you're important to me," Yrsa shot back quick and sure. The stare she held was something Hiccup couldn't quite describe. "You ... you mean a lot to me, Hiccup, okay? All I could think about was ... was how I didn't want you to ..."

     "To kick myself over hurting Heather."

     "Yeah," she swallowed something hard into the back of her throat. "So ... so I would━I would do the same thing again, for you. That's how important you are to me."

     She kept staring at him for a while longer, and Hiccup didn't know what to do━or to say. They both understood what she meant. He wasn't sure how he felt about the thought that she would risk her life to protect him, but he also knew that if he had been in her position ... he would do the same to protect her. 

     Yrsa finally looked away. "But either way, I'm glad━I'm glad we're not fighting. I hate it when we fight."

     Hiccup sighed, "Me, too."

     He carefully shuffled closer to her, until their shoulders were pressed against each other. Yrsa shoved him and he chuckled, letting out a soft, "Hey!" to which she grinned, mischievous, but let him stay there. And so, the two of them sat in a comfortable silence, happy in each other's company. 

     Hiccup's heart pounded, but he found enough courage to brush his fingers over hers that rested near his━until his hand completely covered her own. She didn't glance at him, but he saw her lips quirk upwards. She did not move her hand. He held his breath as he rubbed circles around her knuckles, slowly until his fingers slipped into the indents of hers, and there, they stayed, rested amongst hers in the blades of grass. 

    "Let's make a deal," Yrsa suddenly said.

    His heart jolted, startled, "Y━yeah?" 

     "Whenever we have a fight," she locked his gaze. "And you make me so mad because you're insufferable━" he rolled his eyes with a smile, "━or you're mad at me because I'm impossible ... Promise me, that no matter what..."

     Hiccup's brow arched, not sure where she was going with this, "... That we'll always stay friends?"

     She shook her head. "No ... that━that no matter what, we don't walk away from each other without promising that we will make our way back?"

     He frowned, wondering what made her want to make such a deal ... but he held out his other hand nonetheless, promising by it with every breath in him. "Deal."

     Yrsa shook it with a small smile. She looked pleased. "Deal," she echoed in a gentle mutter. 

    It was mid afternoon when Fishlegs finally returned. He dragged the entire group of Riders out to the Edge lagoon where Hiccup frowned to see a wall of rock cascaded down; trapping the water in from the ocean. He rested a hand on Toothless's neck, flying in adjacent to Fishlegs who was bursting with excitement to prove that he had been right. 

    The sun glared down onto them. It was a really strange hot day for this time of the year, and they had all lost their furs to simple light-weight tunics. Even Hiccup had to pull off his leather armour, desperate to breathe in the humid air. Gazing down at the water, he had this sudden urge to drop down and swim━the water looked so cool ...

    "The last time I saw the creature, it was heading for the deepest part of the cove," said Fishlegs as they approached the centre of the body of water. They all carried buckets of fish in their arms, hoping to attract the possible creature to the surface. 

    "Is it more like a giant fish? Or a big snake?" Yrsa was asking, only just hearing of this incident now. 

    "I don't know!" let out Fishlegs. She arched a disbelieving brow. "It was hard to tell from underwater. Everything looked kind of fuzzy and misshapen."

    Snotlout leaned forward through Hookfang's horns, sneering, "You sure you weren't looking at Meatlug?" He laughed at his joke, finding it genius.

    "Ha, ha," grumbled Fishlegs. "Very funny."

    "Well," Hiccup offered, tugging at his red tunic sleeves, annoyed at the weather. "Whatever it is, we'll find it."

    "After that, can we swim in the water?" huffed Astrid, blowing her fringe out of her eyes. "It's so hot!"

    "Yes, please," begged Yrsa, slumping in her saddle. "I am melting like it's Thawfest over here."

    They reached the centre of the lagoon and pulled their dragons to a hover. Hiccup glanced around, finding the surface of the water very still, considering.

    "Okay," spoke up Fishlegs again, "let's fan out and find the creature. Don't get too close to the water."

    "How do we know it's even real?" demanded Snotlout. 

    "Because it bit me! Look!"

    Yrsa frowned at their friends' leg. Hiccup made a face, too. It didn't look like a bite mark━there weren't even any indents in Fishlegs's skin. Instead, it was inflamed and red, almost like━ "That doesn't look like a bite, that looks like a burn?" Yrsa said what they were all thinking. She made a face, bewildered. 

     Hiccup sighed, "All right, gang━" he brought them all back on track, "━grab your buckets. We're gonna chum the water to see if it'll show itself again."

    When his cousin snorted indignantly, Hiccup slumped, rolling his eyes. He shot him a scowl as he crossed his arms and sat back in his saddle, throwing his nose up into the air. "Not me!" he argued. "Nuh━uh! No way. Loki Day trick. I can smell it from a mile away. Haha!"

    "What you're smelling," Astrid pointed at him, "is yourself."

   "Shut up, Astrid."

    Hiccup's nose twitched. His brows furrowed. He thought he was going crazy for a moment, but he could smell something━and it wasn't Snotlout. He pulled Toothless upwards to frown down at the water. The others followed, all except his cousin who stayed, stubborn in the same spot. He kicked his legs up onto his dragon's horns and rested his hands behind his head. He didn't notice the churn of the water below; bubbles exploding up as if something was boiling beneath the waves. Steam curled upwards. 

    "Uh ..." called out Hiccup, unsure, "... Snotlout...?"

    "No, Hiccup!" snapped his cousin. "Seriously, do you even believe this?" he chuckled, ludicrous. "I mean, how dense does he think we are?"

    "Snotlout!"

    "What?!"

    Beneath them, the ocean exploded. Waves burst forth, showing them with rain that made them gasp━in pain━as it stung at their skin, so hot it felt like they were being sprinkled with acid. Hiccup hid his face, trying to squint through the falling water when he heard a high-pitched zap! that cracked loudly in the sky. With it, followed Snotlout's terrified scream. 

     The waves dispersed, and there, leapt forth a creature made of electrical current. It's blue scales shimmered like water━showing a glimpse into an under-skeleton that was alight in power. Forks of lighting scattered across the creatures body; wrapping around it and darting towards the necks of two, diamond-pointed dragon heads. Just by its mere touch, Hookfang and Snotlout convulsed in an electrical attack. It dived back underneath the water, and Hiccup forgot how to even think.

     "That's ... that's ..." Fishlegs was stammering in his amazement. "That's not a creature at all!"

     Yrsa gasped, "It's a dragon!" She grinned broadly. "Oh, my Thor━It's a Seashocker!"

    Astrid's head fell forwards to her saddle the moment she heard their excitement, "Ugh, great."

◞ ★ ꒱꒱◜

    THEY ALL LANDED on the lagoon shore. There were a mix of emotions. Fishlegs was dancing around, cheering and singing his favourite Hooligan songs in his excitement at what they had found. Astrid took time to sharpen her axe, scowling as he pranced around her, as if wondering how hard she needed to indent her weapon into his head to make him stop. Snotlout was still smoking, his black hair charred and his mood terrible. He huffed and he shook out all of his trembles, picking furiously at his burnt clothes. Yrsa decided to throw sand at him, for no purpose at all other than to hear him scream out in anger. The Twins were huddling behind, and no one really wanted to truly know what they were doing. 

    Hiccup stood by the waters very edge, holding his hand over his eyes as he stared out into the afternoon sun. He tried to find the dragon again amongst the shallow water, and had this terrible feeling settle in the pit of his stomach to then catch a glimpse of the wall Fishlegs made in the distance. 

    "A Seashocker!" Fishlegs was saying, kicking his legs up in a little jig. He chuckled with delight. "Right in our cove! And I found him."

    Tuffnut turned away from whatever he was doing. He kicked some leaves backwards nonchalantly with a very unimpressed stare. "You mean ... you trapped him."

    Fishlegs froze. He went bright red at the cheeks, "I didn't━!" he stamped his foot, huffing a breath of frustration to know that Tuffnut was right. "Argh!"

     Hiccup turned to his friend, taking his arm to make him turn around. He grinned, admittedly excited himself. "I━I━I gotta tell you, Fishlegs! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'm not sure I'd believe it."

    Fishlegs lit up again, "Right? Seashockers are extremely difficult to spot because they hardly ever surface."

    Snotlout let out an obnoxious sigh. 

    "Yes!" added Yrsa, rushing back to meet them with her finger held up. "Because they're deep water dragons!"

   "Exactly! Which explains why it didn't take my bait━"

   "━It only eats deep-sea fish!" the three of them finished together. 

    The rest of their friends all watched, bored out of their minds. Snotlout crossed his arms, "Geek mode," he muttered. Astrid spun her axe, nodding in agreement. "Fully engaged."

    "Okay━!" let out Tuffnut slowly after a short while, "━can we step away from the onslaught of dragon knowledge?"

    Ruffnut smirked from his side, "With pleasure..." 

    They took a few steps back. But while Tuffnut stopped, snickering quietly under his breath, his sister continued. Her boots scuffed the leaves Tuff had discreetly shuffled nearby and then━

     Ruffnut cried out as she dropped down into a steep hole. There was a loud thud! Tuffnut cackled, running to the edge to shout down at her, "LOKI'D!"

     "WHAT?!" her voice echoed up from the ditch. "I THOUGHT WE WERE ON THE SAME TEAM?!"

    Tuffnut cracked his knuckles. Snotlout sniggered. "Yeah, sorry, sis. A team is only as strong as its weakest player."

    "AS SOON AS I GET OUT OF THIS HOLE, IT IS ON!"

    Tuff sent them all a mischievous side glance. He whispered to them, "Just wait until she sees the snake I put down there..."

     Right on cue, Ruffnut squealed so loud they all winced. There was a hiss.

    Even Astrid was impressed. She and Snotlout shared a grin. The Jorgenson bowed his head respectfully to the younger Twin, "You are truly a master."

    Tuff crossed his arms with a proud smirk.

    "JERK!"

   "I think she saw it."

    Hiccup chuckled nervously at the group of them. "Oh, Gods..."

    "How lucky are we?" meanwhile, Fishlegs was saying, grinning out into the stretch of water. "Oh! To be able to study a Seashocker this closely?"

     The dragon burst through the water once more━twisting up in the open with a crack! of lightning before it dived back beneath. Hiccup breathed a chuckle, unable to believe the sight. He couldn't wait to get back out there and observe it. 

    "Okay," he glanced at Fishlegs, a little wary at how eager his friend was━and how hard it was to get him to listen when he was like this. "But we have to be careful. We don't want to hurt the dragon."

    "Or scare it," added Yrsa. Hiccup nodded. "He's probably already startled."

    Fishlegs scoffed a chuckle at them both. Yrsa sighed, shooting Hiccup a knowing glance. "Oh, please," he said to them━almost chidingly. He tsked his tongue, "when would I ever hurt a dragon?"

    Hiccup and Yrsa shared another look. 

    They took back out into the sky, soaring over the lagoon and following the Seashocker as it darted through depths. It swam around in spirals, slipping through narrow fissures between rocks and diving deep underneath shallow caverns. Toothless was a bit nervous━Hiccup could feel how tense he was, watching the sea dragon move swiftly with a nervous growl. He rubbed his dragons' scales, quickly noticing his dragon wasn't the only one that was apprehensive.

    Fishlegs marvelled at the sight, "Oh! Guys!" He pointed the to dragon as it swept underneath. "Look how fluidly it moves through the water. Truly masterful."

    "What's it even doing here?" asked Snotlout, just as anxious as Hookfang━neither one wanted to be zapped anytime soon. 

    Hiccup was blank for a moment. "It━" he shrugged, watching the creature with a sudden sadness. "It must've gotten separated from its pod."

    They heard its screech from underwater━muffled, but not happy; the creature was distressed. He kept darting back and forth in his movements, sweeping the side of the lagoon━he was trying to find a way out. 

    "He looks kind of agitated," noted Astrid, growing concerned. 

    "Oh, great idea, Fishlegs!" Snotlout flung up his arms at her comment. "Let's mess with the angry zapper-heads!"

    Hiccup winced, hating how he was on a similar page. He glanced at Fishlegs sheepishly, "Yeah, I actually think I agree with Snotlout on this one. The Seashocker looks stressed. I think we should help it out of the cove."

    His friend merely waved him off, "I know, I know, I know━but after I get some measurements!" He veered Meatlug off to the side. Hiccup sighed after him. "Yrsa, can you position yourself near the tail, and then I'll come over here and ..."

    Snotlout drifted Hookfang close beside Hiccup, "He's not listening to you."

   "I know."

    "This is a really bad idea."

    "Yes, it is."

    "You should listen to me more often."

    "Nah, I shouldn't."

    Hiccup watched from a close distance as Yrsa and Fishlegs hovered dangerously close to the water. Astrid joined him with the same, troubled look on her face. She gripped her saddle tight, as if prepared to dive in to help if something happened. 

    Yrsa gently pulled Helrose to spread her wings by the spot Fishlegs pointed out. Just as the Seashocker swan underneath, Fishlegs turned Meatlug onto the point of its wings and he let out a cry of joy. "Hoo! Based on the Seashocker's length and colouration, I'd say it's a healthy, young adult male."

    Hiccup saw the depths of the lagoon light up. He gritted his teeth, "Oh no━" he pushed Toothless down. "Guys, watch out━!"

    Both Yrsa and Fishlegs gasped, tugging their dragons out of the way just in time as the Seashocker leapt forth in a light show of deep blue electricity. Helrose balked, screeching out in fury with her wings spread out━Yrsa struggled, clinging onto her saddle bar tight to desperately try and calm her dragon down. "Whoa! No, Helrose! No, girl━it's okay!"

    Hiccup reached them. He pulled up in front of Yrsa, stern. "All right, Fishlegs. I think we've seen enough."

    "Don't worry," Fishlegs rolled his eyes with a good-natured smile. Hiccup clenched his hands around Toothless's saddle. "This kind of impulse behaviour is completely age appropriate."

    The water exploded again as the dragon flung upwards to attack. "Look out, bud!" Hiccup spun Toothless out of the way of a blast that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. His dragon twisted his body around to fire down into the water━a warning shot that only aggravated the Seashocker more. He surfaced again, this time aiming straight for Yrsa and Helrose. Stormfly reacted quickly, sending a sharp volley of spines straight downwards between them. One nicked the Seashocker's wing and it screeched as it fell back down into the water.

    "NO!" cried Fishlegs. "STOP!"

    Snotlout had to fight his dragon to pull back. The Monstrous Nightmare had burst into flames at the sight of them being attacked. "Hookfang! Calm down!"

     The sea dragon flopped out onto the dry rocks, wheezing a pained moan that made Fishlegs's brows lift in horror. "Oh, no. He's hurt." He clenched his jaw, livid. He spun to the blonde sitting on the Deadly Nadder's back. "Astrid!"

    "Hey!" she snapped back, defensive at his sudden hostility. She hovered at Yrsa's side. "Stormfly was just reacting to Helrose being attacked!"

    "Yeah, Fishlegs!" Snotlout dived in to Yrsa and Astrid's defence, as well. Hookfang snarled, matching his rider's anger. "What did you expect?"

     "You just put yourself and Yrsa into danger!" said Astrid angrily. "Don't get mad at us!"

    "All right!" Hiccup tugged Toothless upwards in between them, stopping their argument before something happened. "Everybody just calm down, okay? Yrsa, are you all right?" 

     She nodded, gently coaxing Helrose to settle, "Yeah."

    "Okay, good. Now, we need to get the Seashocker back into the sea━" Fishlegs just dived past him and Hiccup huffed, growing angry himself. He scowled, watching him land by the wounded Seashocker's side.

     Snotlout hovered over his shoulder, "Still not listening."

    Hiccup sent him a side-glare. He twisted his clenched grip on his saddle before dipping Toothless gently down to follow. The two of them hovered above as Fishlegs struggled back onto his feet, shaking his head with a wince. The Seashocker whined, slumping to the dried rocks━a burnt stench filled the air; Hiccup had seen the sky light up in a billowing cloud of electricity, and the action had weakened the dragon even more. 

     "Whoa!" huffed Fishlegs, startled. He fixed his helmet on his blonde hair. "That was a doozy━phew! I didn't know you could do that..." he frowned at the way the dragon wheezed. The two heads brushed the tips of their snouts against each other, sharing worried moans. "Looks like you didn't know you could do that, either..." he flinched, holding up his hands when they screeched as he took a step closer. 

     Fishlegs faltered. He pursed his lips and Hiccup saw his shoulders weigh down. "I guess you're not used to being in shallow water, huh? And you're probably pretty hungry, too and we don't have any deep-sea fish."

    Hiccup sighed. He spoke up, "He needs to be with his pod, Fishlegs." His friend glanced up. He looked upset. "It's too dangerous for him to stay here."

     Fishlegs twiddled his thumbs. "I know," his gaze hung heavy. He turned back to the dragon lying on the shore. "You're right ... Can you just ... just give us a minute?"

     Hiccup nodded. He took a deep breath and turned Toothless back towards the others. "Yeah," he smiled. "You got it. We'll go start blasting open the mouth of the cove."

    He left his friend alone with the dragon. Hiccup understood━he really did. He has seen Fishlegs bond with dragons that gave him a chance of knowledge, and made him feel stronger about himself many times. When he said goodbye to them, it always made him feel as if he was saying goodbye to a better side of him. 

    The others were still all hovering at the centre of the cove. Hiccup explained to them what the plan was. They all nodded, pleased and together, they started to melt and blast away the rocks. Stormfly helped a great deal━for with her magnesium fire, the white hot sparks turned the rocks into a sizzling pile of ash at every breath. 

     Hiccup didn't realise the Twins weren't around until they returned━flying out from the crevices of their huts set out in the valley of cliffs. He should have wondered why it had gone so silent all of the sudden. 

    "What's going on?" Tuffnut asked as they rejoined them by the cove edge. "Oh!" he held up a finger, wincing as he quickly added: "Don't ask about your huts..." he gestured to them all. Astrid arched an incredulous brow. 

     Ruffnut nodded, "Yeah!" she grinned━they all were nervous of that grin. "They can be fixed."

     Yrsa narrowed her eyes at them. After a small dubious silence, she demanded, "What did you do?"

     The Twins shared a mischievous snicker. 

     Hiccup realised he didn't even want to know. He took a deep breath and did his best to try and focus on the problem at hand━his hut? Whatever they did to it? That was a future Hiccup problem. He sighed, "Never mind. We need your help to clear a path for the Seashocker." He gestured to their work━they had managed very well without the Twins. Almost all of it was gone. "Blast the last of the lava wall."

     They shared another glance. Tuffnut crossed his arms and leaned back in his saddle. He stared at Hiccup suspiciously. "How do we know this isn't a trick?" he accused. "And when we blast the wall, the whole cove━" he flung out his arms, "━explodes?"

    Hiccup was over this. He leaned forward, giving them his best glower. "Really?" Immediately, Tuffnut huffed.

    "Fine."

    The Twins spun downwards. With a spark, the rest of the wall exploded in a noxious firestorm breath. They high-fived, proud of their work. Hiccup glanced back to see how Fishlegs was going. He smiled a little, relieved to see his friend helping the dragon back into the water. He and Meatlug were now leading the creature out towards the sea. 

     "All right," Hiccup scratched Toothless's ears, "here they come."

     Astrid cheered a little, happy to see the dragon leap upwards and back into the ways, darting gleefully towards freedom ... until he stopped. Fishlegs frowned over the edge of his saddle. The Seashocker had been just inches from being reunited with the ocean, and yet, he did not cross the lava wall. 

     Hiccup watched him hover, uneasy through the deep blue. 

    "Wait," Fishlegs called down to the dragon, "why are you stopping?" he gestured out to the distance. "Freedom awaits!"

     His stomach dropped when the Seaschoker shrieked out in terror and spun himself around━the water rippled as he darted back into the depths of the cove. Fishlegs stared, confused, "What?"

    Hiccup's heart began to race with dread. He glanced over his shoulder, and he soon realised what had happened. His breath hitched, "Scauldrons!"

    At first, he hadn't seen them. Their green scales shimmered with the waves of the deep ocean water━until their heads lifted up from underneath the surface; billowed jaws with gills, long necks that connected to a large body with strong wings made for deep sea swimming. These Tidal Class dragons were aggressive, they were crazy fast for being so big, and they had the ability to blast forth boiling hot water that could melt the scales off even a Screaming Death. One of them was a nightmare, two of them was a punishment from Niflheim. 

    "Oh, no!" cried Fishlegs. "Scauldrons are Seashockers' natural predators."

    Helrose threw her head nervously. Yrsa held onto her saddle tighter. "All the noise from blasting the wall must have drawn them in."

     Fishlegs slumped in his saddle. A horrible realisation hit him, "The wall ..." he breathed, shameful. "The one that I put there ... Meatlug, what have we done?"

    It was a frenzy to keep up with them. All three dragons raced through the shallow water of the cove━they dashed around sea stacks, leapt over rocks and ducked underneath eroded boulders. They all tried to follow, but even Hiccup was having trouble. In the end, he had to pull Toothless of a dive, cursing as he narrowly missed a spray of boiling water. 

    "We have to do something, Hiccup!" shouted Fishlegs. 

    "We're trying!" Yrsa snapped back in the same tone. "You try and stop a dragon feeding frenzy!"

     "The Seashocker can't fight off all these Scauldrons by himself!"

     "We can't fire accurately without the possibility of hurting the Seashocker! They're moving too fast!"

     Yrsa was right. But Hiccup couldn't find himself able to say it, not at the distraught look on Fishlegs's face. He had to try, for him. He considered everything he knew about these sea dragons, his mind racing just as fast as their swimming bodies below. All of them were reckless, and could end up with one of them getting hurt━none of them held a likely chance of working. 

     But they had to try. "O━okay," Hiccup managed to find one that was the least dangerous, "spread out and flank the Scauldrons. Just try and distract them."

     "Oh, great!" Snotlout let out sarcastically as they all split up. "What a great idea, Hiccup! I just hope you know that my last words when I'm boiled alive are going to be: THIS IS STUPID!"

     Hiccup kept his chest close to Toothless's saddle, letting his dragon reach full speed in-between the sea stacks. The hot wind scorched against his cheeks, but he pushed onwards, tilting his body with the Night Fury's━keeping them in a singular, fluent movement. He chased after the Scauldrons, trying to get close enough to grab their attention. He was the only one with a dragon fast enough to swoop near the ocean surface and dart out of the way in the nick of time, feeling the hot boil of Scauldron fire dangerously close to his legs. 

     Astrid and Yrsa kept trying to distract the large dragons by blasting low flames that bubbled the water near the Scauldron's wings. They dived in and out━interlocking each other in flight patterns to keep the Scauldrons confused and unable to focus on a singular target. But when it got too much, they merely gave up on them and returned to the Seashocker━the depths sparked not far from their left, and like they were tranced, the two sea dragons dived after it. 

     Fishlegs noticed, "Wait..." he flew in next to Hiccup who gritted his teeth, annoyed at how he was only proving himself right. "Every time it looks like he loses them, he zaps and they find him in seconds."

     Hiccup considered this. Another burst of electricity exploded from the right, and moments later, the Scauldrons were dashing towards it. He pursed his lips, "The Scauldrons must track the Shocker by following its shocks━"

     One emerged. It flew over the surface━a vicious creature with a wingspan of about a hundred and four feet. At the sight of it, Fishlegs turned murderous. "You stay away from him!"

    He screamed with fury as he forced Meatlug downwards into a steep swooping dive. His Gronckle folded her wings, turning into more of a battering ram instead of a hovering hummingbird. Just as the Scauldron was about to close in on the Shocker, Meatlug barrelled into its side. The large sea dragon crashed into the waves. 

     Hiccup gasped and rushed to follow. He knew Meatlug wouldn't be able to turn at last minute━and when the second Scauldron lifted upwards into the air, his billowed jaw expanding like a maddened pufferfish, Hiccup shouted: "Now, bud!"

    The sky exploded in purple smoke. One shot after the other, Toothless stunned the Scauldrons back into the cove depths. He spun the two of them out of there and Fishlegs cheered. "Yeah!" he laughed, throwing his arms up. "Thanks, Hiccup!"

     He sent him a thumbs-up, grinning as he arced back around. The two friends met up in the middle, frowning down at the water that had gone suddenly still. 

    "Where did he go?"

    Astrid pointed to the lava rock, "He's making a break for the opening!" she told Fishlegs. The Seashocker shimmered in the reflection of the sunlight, riding the currents back out towards the endless ocean. But just as he was about to cross the broken wall, he trembled with a shocking blast between his two heads. It was frustrating━the way nature worked. A Seashocker called for its pod by electrical shocks, they emitted them naturally in response to danger in order to try and ward off predators, or when they were extremely distressed. But these shocks also brought danger right to them, and it was why━Hiccup started to realise━they must travel in pods, to keep themselves safe against predators that were made to hunt them ... just as they were seemed to be made to attract them. 

     Alone and scared, the Seashocker had no pod to defend himself against the Scauldrons that were drawn to his distressing calls. While they scared off two of the sea dwellers, only two more took their place, surging through the wave━speeding closer and closer to the cove.

    "Two more are on their way!" Yrsa pointed them out. 

     Hiccup clenched his jaw. He was pulling at thin sticks for a plan. "Okay━we'll lay down some cover fire. Astrid, cut them off!"

    The Hofferson nodded. With a determined grit of her teeth, she urged Stormfly onwards, when━

    She yelped, startled when all of the sudden, she and her dragon jerked backwards━far, far away back to the shore form the spring of a rope. The Twins leapt up in their saddles, delighted. "YEAH!" they cried. "LOKI'D!"

    "What?!" Fishlegs shrieked, furious. "No! I cannot believe you two! Loki'ing right now!"

     They cackled without a care in the world. "Astrid's the crown jewel, Fishlegs," said Tuffnut smugly. "When you have a shot at Loki'ing Astrid, you've gotta take it."

     Astrid and Stormfly returned. Blonde hair dishevelled, scratches on her cheeks━the Hofferson looked ready to burn Ruff and Tuff alive right then and there. Her Deadly Nadder shook the jolt out of her joints, swinging her tail angrily. She matched her rider's deadly glare.

    "We'll talk later," she sneered. The Twins rolled their eyes. "Oh, yes. We will."

    "Seriously?" Yrsa crossed her arms, not at all amused by their snickering laughter. "Could you not think of a better time to pull your dumb pranks? We're trying to save a dragon, for Thor's sake! Hiccup━tell them."

     Instead, a brilliant idea struck Hiccup. He sat upright in his saddle, his heart rising into his throat with a new thrill. He started to grin, a little maniac. The others frowned, a little scared by his abrupt change of mood. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "Yrsa━I actually think that Loki might be the key to saving the Seashocker!"

     Her mouth dropped, "Wait, what?"

    "Now, you're talking!" cried the Twins gleefully but Hiccup just held out a finger━

     "Ah━ah━" he waggled it in their direction. Amongst his excited thrill, he felt a smug satisfaction. He had a brilliant plan━a brilliant plan to also finally get back at the Twins. "I wouldn't get too excited if I were you..." 

◞ ★ ꒱꒱◜

    LOKI SAVED the Seashocker, and Hiccup realised he was never going to stop hearing about it. The Twins were ridiculously smug that he had 'accepted' their God. They returned with a crazed gigantic electric eel, and the shocks disorientated the Scauldrons so much, that the Seashocker managed to reach the ocean and reunite with his pod. And Hiccup had never seen Fishlegs so happy━to see the dragon have his happy ending; to hold his own redemption for what he had done unknowingly, and Hiccup believed Fishlegs had learnt a very important lesson today. 

    But there were two others that learnt a very important lesson, as well. As everything started to settle down, and they all returned to the Clubhouse to enjoy a well-deserved meal ... as soon as they realised the Twins had decided not to join them, Hiccup had a fantastic idea. 

     The others were all, entirely, in agreement for it. 

    It was time that they, themselves, planned their own Loki trick. 

    Together, each and every one of them came up with how they wanted to get back at the Twins━for them finally to get a taste of their own medicine. All of the weight Hiccup held over Heather and the Dragon Hunters━and this Viggo lifted the moment he was surrounded by his closest friends━his family━and spent a good hour just being ... well ... young. All of his responsibilities, and his brooding thoughts left him for the first time in a long time, and Hiccup got the chance to be eighteen. And he didn't realise how much he missed having fun, and laughing, and joking around until he was filled with a light, gleeful heart once again. 

     It was probably a bit mean (and how delighted Snotlout and Yrsa were by it was probably a little concerning), maybe had gotten a little bit out of hand. But they just kept adding more and more ideas━the group of them all got carried away, they all wanted a break from everything that has happened: a reason to laugh. 

     And they were laughing. They were smiling. Yrsa still ordered them all around and made sure they strategically wrote out blueprints on what they were doing. Astrid still pushed Snotlout over after he made stupid jokes. Fishlegs still twiddled his thumbs and muttered, "Guys, I think that is a bit too much..." until Hiccup just grinned and agreed to it all, his mischievous streak running wild. 

    Because in these moments, he remembered the true reason he didn't want the adventure to end. The true reason why he loved this island so far from home. Why all the dangers and battles had become worth it, because amongst it all, he had them. Since they all decided to follow him to fight the Red Death, Hiccup had gained the largest family he could have ever wanted. He went from being so lonely, to realising he would never be alone again. 

    There was something more precious than the dragons they found, the places they explore, the names they came up with and the achievements they make. Something more precious than any Dragon Eye or lens. What was the most precious was the memories they always make in between. And this was one of those memories Hiccup will never forget. 

     It was wild. It was crazy. It was out of pocket and very much the most insane thing they had ever done in their lives━Hiccup has done. There was no rationality, there was no maturity ... they were just kids being kids, and he loved every second of it. 

    The Twins had no idea what was coming. Hiccup had tricked them into coming up towards his hut with the promise of a reward. They did not except the pounds of mackerel falling right onto their heads as soon as they opened his door. They did not expect having to run away from Toothless only to prance around vicious metal spikes Yrsa had meticulously planted━all the way down to where they desperately tried to escaped down the ladder; crack! They fell through the wood, landing in a groaning heap on the grassy lope as Fishlegs laughed. Ruffnut and Tuffnut screamed, dodging smoke bombs made of Monstrous Nightmare gel from Snotlout who had created an entire battle station above right beside his big, red, iron 'S'. They had dashed to their hut for cover━

    Until the hut shuddered. It trembled. It creaked and then it snapped off something ... Ruffnut and Tuffnut were crying out curses to the gods as the group of them all lifted the building up off the ground, with their friends still inside. Astrid cackled as she led the fray ... all the way to a sea stack an entire stretch of ocean away. 

    They set them down amongst the rocks, grass and a single, lonesome tree. Nothing else stood for leagues━on every side, was endless blue water.

     The Twins scrambled to their doors, gaping outside in horror at their friends hovering above them on their dragon's saddles.

     Astrid saluted with a smirk, "Enjoy your new home, guys! I hear the neighbours are really quiet!"

    And together, they all shouted━laughing and with bright smiles on their faces: "LOKI'D!"

    That day was the best Loki Day Hiccup has ever remembered. 

◞ ★ ꒱꒱◜

    a/n: family things ^^^^^^

    filler episode equals filler chapter, sorrrryyyyyyy. 

    I just don't like this episode I don't know why. I like all the Loki pranks and stuff, but ugh, it was boring to write the sea shocker plot line sorry Fishlegs. 

     I tried to put as many cute scenes as I could in this chapter lol. 

    (minimal editing)