(Normal pov)

The tension was thicker than blood.

The Hooligans knew it was best not to get in the way of Jorgenson and Hofferson rivalry. But right now? Rivalry would have to wait, because the dragons were raiding. And the dragons have been more aggressive and viscous then every before, they'd even take people along with whatever livestock they could sink their claws into.

Astrid exited her home with her trusty axe and shield in hand, she turned around to see her parents exiting the house, the Hoffersons nodded at each other and entered the mayhem. Astrid dodged a torrent of Nightmare flames and dived out of the way when a Gronckle came charging like a running bull. These dragons have gotten really nasty!

A gang of Nadders ripped through the barn and flew off with a net full of bleating sheep. The Vikings roared in outrage and went into overdrive, at this rate if winter didn't kill them, starvation definitely would. Astrid dodged a volley of Nadder spines, the Nadder landed in front of her and roared, Astrid remained calm and got in the dragons blind spot, she then struck the dragon in its blind spot, subduing it.

Nearby Vikings tied the squirming Nadder. "Watch it!! It's still got some juice!!" The Vikings dodged a torrent of the subdued Nadders fire and dragged it away, Astrid then saw something strange about that Nadder, it's thin slit pupils became orbs and began roaring in sorrow and pleading for... mercy?

What?

Maybe it's nothing.

Astrid then turned her attention to a burning home, it exploded and saw a child clutching her dying mother but failed to notice a Nightmare baring it's teeth above her. The young Hofferson sprinted toward the child and took aim as the Nightmare was about to sink its teeth into the child. She then let her axe fly; it's aim couldn't be more true, it embedded itself into the Nightmares skull, killing it instantly.

The child screamed at the Nightmare that fell behind her, Astrid ripped her axe out of the dragons skull and knelt before the child. "Shhh, it's ok, is mother still breathing?" The child placed her ear on her mother's chest and heard heartbeats, the child faced Astrid and nodded, the young Hofferson saw a man approach them.

"Daddy!"

"Oh thank Thor you're safe!"

The father hugged his daughter and nodded at Astrid. "Thank you young Hofferson." Astrid nodded in acknowledgment and moved to the next disaster. Astrid laid eyes on the smithy and saw Gobber and his new apprentice: Gustav Larson. Sadness swelled inside Astrid, because it seemed like only yesterday her beloved was admiring her from afar, she missed him so much. She'd been dreaming of Hiccup every day he was shipped to Outcast Island.

She dreamed of him being her future husband, she smiled lightly at the thought, Hiccup wasn't your average Viking, because he always skated on the line of defying tradition, he and Stoick had many arguments about this in public and in the Haddock household according to Hiccup. But regardless, she missed Hiccup with every fiber of her being, she prayed to the Allfather that her beloved was safe, where ever he was.

"ASTRID! MOVE!!"

She snapped out of her stupor and was nearly bulldozed by a Gronckle, she was tackled out of the way as the Boulder Class dragon slammed into one of the lantern poles; causing it to split and fall, Vikings moved out of the way in time as the the lantern spilled fire and landed on a nearby home.

"You alright?'

Astrid looked up to be greeted by Snotlout as her savior, he smirked at her and wagged his eyebrows. "Hey baby." She snarled at him and punched his nuts hard; causing him to scream in pain and clutch his sack, Astrid got up and dusted herself off and placed her axe to Snotlout's neck. "You have the audacity to to try and frame my mother of treason?!" Astrid pressed her heel into his nuts and he whimpered in both pain and fear. "You mess with one Hofferson? You mess with all of us! I hope the dragons don't kill, I plan on doing the honor myself. Stay the hell away from me and my family!" Astrid cut his neck and returned to battle, Snotlout slowly got up and snarled.

As Astrid saw the Hooligans loading ballistas and catapults, they were firing at the nearest dragon, but these dragons were coordinated; organized, and more deadly then previous raids. What was going on?

The leader of the dragon pack roared while clutching a yak in its talons; ordering the other dragons to retreat, the dragons rounded up their bounty of food and left Berk with a seizable amount.

The Vikings roared in frustration and shook their heads in disbelief, every turned to Snotlout, who was rubbing his still aching and sensitive nuts. "Whats your plan baby Jorgenson? The dragons made off with almost half our livestock! We'll never survive winter at this rate." The Hooligans roared in agreement and shouted toward Snotlout; demanding to take action.

"Send message to our allies for aid!"

"It is already Ylir! Winter will arrive in three moons!"

"Do something you useless boy!!"

Snotlout backed up as the people advanced on him, but Spitelout and the other elders stepped in. "People! Fear not! We will deliver message to the Bog, Meatheads, Peaceable, and our other allied tribes to send us aid, and in return we will pay them back, won't we chief?" Spitelout raised an eyebrow at his son, Snotlout regained himself under his fathers scowl and nodded. "Yes. Rest assured I will ensure we survive the winter this year. Now, lets clean up, yeah?" The people nodded and got to work repairing the village.

Astrid scoffed at Snotlout's attempt of calming the people, in reality, Spitelout pulls the strings, Snotlout is just a tool. The young Hofferson turned to her friends who shook their heads. "Snotlout was cracking under that pressure, we need Hiccup back desperately." Fishlegs said, the group hummed in agreement, they snickered as Spitelout was giving Snotlout an earful, the twins then spoke what was on their minds.

"Did you guys see how different the dragons were?"

"They were more... awesome."

Astrid and Fishlegs raised an eyebrow at Tuffnut while having an unamused face, Tuffnut merely raised his hands up. "Just pointing out what I saw." Fishlegs snorted but nodded. "Yes, they did seem more coordinated and organized today, thats bad news for us." Astrid looked out toward the early morning sunrise and saw the black dots of the swarm of dragons that raided them. "What is in their nest at Helheim's Gate?" The group looked at each other and shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe more of them?"

"Their babies?"

"An alpha."

The group turned to Fishlegs and he shrugged. "Think about it, every dragon nest has an alpha, maybe they raid us because they pay tribute to that alpha." The twins looked at each other then to Astrid, the Hofferson digested Fishleg's words, it does make sense, if the dragons do have an alpha at Helheim's Gate, they should find out if this alpha even exists.

"I'll speak to my family, they hold influence and power in the Hooligan council." The group nodded at Astrid, they then headed toward the Great Hall to grab some breakfast and then they'd get to work by repairing the village.

(Helheim's Gate)

The dragons that have raided every village in the Archipelago moved with haste, the Queen has grown impatient; eager to feast. Once the dragons exited the mist, they entered the nest to see the crypts full of dragons waiting for their offspring to return and pay tribute to the Queen. The raid leaders roared to the rest of the swarm and all the dragons released massive animals, both land and sea creatures: yaks, cows, sheep, sharks, nets full of fish stolen from fisherman, Vikings that were thrashing to free themselves.

The dragons released their bounty and the humans screamed as they entered the red mist, they couldn't see until they laid eyes on a massive tongue and slid down the esophagus of a gigantic dragon, before the world went dark.

The sounds of chewing echoed off the walls and then the sound of swallowing was heard, then finally a loud roar that caused the other dragons to wince slightly at their alphas roar. The Queen arose from the mist to face her raiding parties, the dragons landed and bowed down in fear to their Queen. Her breath smelled of blood and death, the other dragons feared they could be the Queen of Dragons next victim. The massive Stoker Class alpha growled at her brood and purrs menacingly at her hive.

::THE SNOWS WILL FALL WITHIN A MATTER OF DAYS. I REQUIRE MORE FOOD TO SUSTAIN MYSELF DURING THE INCOMING COLD. GO! BRING BACK AN ABUNDANT BOUNTY OF FOOD FOR YOUR QUEEN, OR FEEL MY WRATH. BE GONE::

Knowing it best not to make the Queen of Dragons repeat herself the whole hive left the nest and went out to continue hunting to deliver to their alpha. She was a cruel alpha, it should be her that hunted and brought food back for the hive, but to challenge or even question her rule would be a death sentence, so the dragons moved with haste, in fear of being devoured.