▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

❛ ғɪʀᴇ & ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʜᴏᴡ ᴄʜɪᴇғ sᴛᴏɪᴄᴋ
ɢᴏᴛ ʜɪs ᴅʀᴀɢᴏɴ ( ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ) ꒱


❝ HOW DO YOU LOSE
 A WHOLE PERSON? ❞

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

Dany was dreaming that she could fly. It was a common dream of hers thanks to her constant presence on and around dragons. But this wasn't any kind of flying dream, it was the best: the unsupported kind, where she could stick out her arms and follow the currents and eddies of the atmosphere just like a bird. Wind tossed her silvery-blonde braids and threatened to tug the strands loose. She let out an ecstatic laugh, swooping low as she dipped under the fluffy, white clouds.

She could see Dragons' Edge from here, but only its rooftops. Tiny figures moved between the gaps in the buildings and she saw an explosion of flame— the twins, she knew. Normally, that kind of thing would set her teeth on edge but here, in her sky-high sanctuary, the burst of noise and smell of fumes didn't bother her. Instead, she waved down at them as she soared overhead and called out: "helloooo!"

They didn't hear her, too far away for her voice to reach them. She decided to shoot upwards again, drawing her arms close to her body to streamline herself. She spun like a top through the clouds, not at all minding the cold, dewy moisture that clung to her skin. Dany burst out into clear, blue sky. The sun shone warmly above her, higher than she would ever dare to go. She could see a multitude of different dragons flying in various distances, some near and some just mere specks on the horizon. None of them presented any danger to her; she was one of them. Her blood sang the same song as the dragons' did and she shared the same soul. 

Dipping below the clouds again, she now saw the sea stretching out before her, vast and shining in its expanse of blue. Sunlight sparkled off the waves, so bright it almost hurt to look at. Seabirds squawked nearby, causing her to turn her head towards them. She smiled and waved at her fellow sky-farers. They flocked around her, momentarily disrupting her flight so she had to stabilize herself to keep her balance. It was only once she had done so that she realized they weren't squawking: she could understand what they were saying. "Intruder alert! intruder alert!"

She frowned, not liking that her dream had suddenly become so serious. But the birds wouldn't let up. They kept repeating their alarm. They closed in on her so it became impossible to fly. Something jerked behind her navel and she felt her limbs grow heavy. She was no longer carefree and light like them, she was the intruder. She let out a yell as she began to fall, and fall, and fall.

Daenerys woke with a start to find that she was not soaring through bright blue skies, but tethered to earth and sleeping next to her dragon. It was dark but she could just barely make out the shapes of her friends as they roused from their own slumbers. She slowly realized that the 'intruder alert' had been Snotlout; their trap for the Rumblehorn had gone off, thus causing Hookfang to ignite his behind and startle them awake.

He was now dragging his butt on the wood to put out the fire as he complained, "that's the third time this week!"

Noticing the water trough nearby, he leapt towards it and jumped in with a mighty splash!, sighing once the flames went out. Hiccup was immediately wide-awake and he scrambled to his feet to go over to the map that was pinned up on the wall. Xs marked the places where they'd set traps and it didn't take him long to figure out which one had been triggered. "The Rumblehorn! It's headed for the eastern beach. Come on, you guys!"

Still a little groggy from sleep, they hurried over to their dragons. The only good part about sleeping in the clubhouse together was that Hiccup had made sure to build it large enough for Drogon to fit, so Dany didn't need to wait for him to appear. She climbed onto his back just like her friends did and they took off with Toothless in the lead.

They landed in a clearing not long after. Lifting their lanterns to ward off the darkness, the teens inspected the swinging net. Sure enough, there was a large, heavy-looking shape that dangled inside. Although sleep still clouded her brain, Dany knew dragons well enough to be wary of their finding. Most dragons would be thrashing in their bindings; like her, none of them enjoyed being kept from the sky.

Hiccup didn't seem to notice the oddness of this behavior, though, and declared, "finally. We got it! Everybody stand back."

The twins, of course, showed no fear and walked right up to their captive. Tuffnut tilted his head and observed the shape with critical eyes. "I didn't think it would be so smelly."

Ruffnut held up her lantern and squinted into the darkness. "I didn't think it would be so hairy."

The net wobbled as the being inside of it objected, "you try shaving with a hook for an arm!"

Dany sighed as she recognized the very familiar (and apparently angry, smelly and hairy) shape of Gobber. She knew her instincts had been right; as irritated as he was, his wrath was no match for a captured dragon.

Tuffnut reeled back in shock. "The Rumblehorn talks! Quick, smack it."

"Cut me down, you simpleton!" the blacksmith growled, somehow managing to turn himself enough so he could stick his head out between the ropes as he scolded them.

"And it's got a bad attitude," Ruffnut remarked.

The older man rolled his eyes. "Eh, never mind."

In one quick swipe of his hooked hand, he freed himself from his bindings. As he straightened and dusted himself off, Tuffnut shot him a reproachful look. "Gobber! What did you do with our Rumblehorn?"

The Targaryen let out another exasperated breath; it was far too early in the morning to be dealing with the twins. But, if someone didn't set them straight, their confusion would only get more annoying. "There was no Rumblehorn, Tuffnut. There was never a Rumblehorn. It was just Gobber."

"So. . . you're saying you don't know where the Rumblehorn went?" the Thorston questioned her, his brows furrowing as he tried to make sense of her words.

"Ugh!" was her only response as she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

Gobber mostly ignored their exchange except for the one word he didn't know. "Rumblehorn? What's a Rumblehorn?"

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

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

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

"Yet, we caught you. Yay, us," Snotlout deadpanned as he leaned casually against Hookfang.

Gobber arched a brow at their reasoning. "You're trying to catch a dragon with a net that can't hold a one-legged, one-armed Viking? Amateurs."

"Small dragons can be dangerous— just look at Speed Stingers," Dany argued, crossing her arms. "And not all dragons breathe fire. We have all kinds of traps prepared for whatever the Rumblehorn actually looks like. You just got caught in one of the. . . less impressive ones."

She would know, too; she'd helped Hiccup design and set up those traps. With her. . . unique thinking and his skill, they'd tried to prepare for every eventuality. Gobber looked reasonably appeased by this, though it didn't stop Tuffnut from sidling up to their leader with a smirk.

"Not too late to club him still," he pointed out, swinging his hands as he would the aforementioned weapon. "I can give him a little 'ah! Uh!'" He elbowed Hiccup sharply in the stomach. "You know, 'uh, uh, uh!'"

Hiccup stared at him blankly, waiting for the younger twin to be done. Then, he dismissed the suggestion entirely and made his way back to Toothless, instead deciding, "yeah, we should just get back and check on the dragon base."

🏹🏹🏹

"Well, let's see what you've done with the place," Gobber stated once they'd landed on the outskirts of the Edge.

They planned to give him the grand tour, starting with their rather impressive entrance. But they were only able to show him the first sight before they all stopped in their tracks and stared at the scene before them in horror. To his credit, the blacksmith did his best to keep his insult to himself: "it looks very, well—"

"Trashed!" Astrid exclaimed frustratedly.

"Your words, not mine."

"The Rumblehorn must have hit us while we were out chasing you," Hiccup reasoned as he surveyed the damage.

Tuffnut sprang to his side again, muttering in a very loud stage whisper (that Gobber could definitely hear): "last chance. I can still club him. Come on. Club, club, club!" He swung his arm with the same motion as before. "Join the club."

"As much as I love a good clubbing," Gobber interrupted, "even my own, it will have to wait. You and I have to talk." The older man gestured between himself and Hiccup.

Dany wandered off, confident that Hiccup would fill them in with whatever the blacksmith was here for. She had just begun to direct Drogon to pick up some of the larger pillars when she heard the telltale whistle of the Night Fury's takeoff. She turned to watch Hiccup's figure grow smaller against the sinking moon before he eventually disappeared from sight. Gobber stumped over to her a few seconds later.

"Where's he going?" she inquired.

"Ah, off to Berk," he replied. "Now, here's a tip for you, lassie—"

"Wait, wait," the blonde cut him off. Her heart sank in her chest at his answer. It didn't make sense; Hiccup just leaving like that? "Did he say how long he'd be gone? Why didn't he tell us? He. . . he didn't even say goodbye." Her breath caught on the last word.

Gobber placed a hand on her shoulder. A reassuring gesture to be sure, but her skin instantly crawled as she felt his touch seep through her clothes. She could only imagine how sweaty his palms were— he certainty seemed like the type— and she jerked away from him. He seemed entirely unphased by her reaction and let his hand drop by his side. "I wouldn't worry, lassie. He's gone off to calm that father of his." He snapped his fingers as if remembering something. "Oh! An' he said that you were in charge while he was gone."

Well, that was something at least, she thought, her gaze flicking up to the moon once more. But still, to leave without saying anything? The idea made her chest squeeze with a terribly painful ache that she was sure, if it were permanent, would never fade

He's coming back, she reminded herself. And he's just going to see his father. It's not like he's off face Dagur by himself or anything. He'll be fine.

"Now," the blacksmith continued, unaware of her inner worry. He rubbed his hands together as he eyed up Drogon's size. "'bout that tip I mentioned. I know your dragon's big an' all, but. . ."

🏹🏹🏹

It took the better part of day to get Dragon's Edge in reasonable working order. Dany threw herself into the task, doing more than all the others to put things to rights. She was trying to distract herself from the hurt she felt at Hiccup's abrupt departure. Sure, he didn't owe her anything; not an explanation or farewell, but it wouldn't been nice. Even just 'see ya' would've sufficed. But no, he'd left without a word and had apparently thought that leaving her in charge would be enough to appease her. Well, it wasn't.

Astrid noticed her best friend running herself ragged. Dany refused to take breaks or even slow down, so she brought it upon herself to survey their progress as the sun rose higher in the sky. She paused, placing her hands on her hips as she looked around. "These attacks are getting worse every time. Either that Rumblehorn's got to go, or we do."

"Hey!" Tuffnut called over to them excitedly. He was on the far side where his and Ruffnut's house was. "Our boar pit survived. Cool! I like a pit, but I love a boar pit."

Gobber wandered over and peered at the hole in the ground. He pointed to it with his hooked hand. "You call that a boar pit? Ha! I've dug my way out of shallow graves than that!"

"Would you look at these Rumblehorn tracks?" Fishlegs mused as he gazed at the dirt. The Targaryen stood next to him, finally stopping in her constant movement as something dragon-related came up. "If you take into account the width and depth of the footprints and the distance between them, I can calculate that this dragon is—"

"Huge," Daenerys finished for him. "Well, I guess there goes the option that it's a really tiny dragon causing all this damage."

"Does somebody want to tell me why we're rebuilding this place?" Snotlout wondered, though his tone lacked any actual curiosity and could be described as derisive. "He's just going to crash through it and wreck it again."

The blacksmith had input on this, too. "He wouldn't if you could build a defensive wall properly." He jammed his hook into a nearby log and hefted it onto his shoulder. When no one commented anything in return, he arched a brow at them. "Well? Don't just stand there. If you want to learn, follow me."

🏹🏹🏹

"I have to admit, that's one impressive wall," Astrid decided several hours later. With their dragons' help, they were able to stack large boulders— bigger than any human could carry— into a barrier that could probably withstand most destructive forces. It was at least five or six humans tall and sizable enough to cast a shadow over most of Dragon's Edge.

"It should stop the Rumblehorn," the Hofferson continued. "At least from the ground."

Dany frowned thoughtfully up at the stacked boulders. "If it really is a huge dragon, then maybe its aerial attack isn't so strong so we don't need to worry about it as much. I know it's hard for Drogon to get up to high speeds in the air, but he's definitely a force on the ground."

"Good reasoning," Fishlegs approved. "And he's also long, so his body weight's more evenly distributed. From what I could gather from the footprints, we're working with a more. . . compact dragon. Like my Meatlug," he added proudly. "So I'd agree that flying isn't it's strong suit."

Gobber crossed his arms and admired his handy work, ignoring their dragon-talk. "I'm going to call her Greta, after my first love. Large, sturdy. Beefy, some would say."

A deep roar caused them all to freeze. Their heads whipped around in the direction it had come from.

"It's coming from the west!" Fishlegs exclaimed, shuddering at the noise. "And it's getting closer!"

They ran for their dragons and took off immediately, leaving Gobber on the ground. Stormfly perched on top of the defensive wall while Drogon— too heavy for even their durable build— hovered in place slightly above her. Dany shielded her eyes against the sun's glare to scan the trees for movement that would indicate the Rumblehorn's approach. Trees off to her left shook fiercely, the motion drawing closer to them by the second.

Below them, Gobber stood with his back against the wall and his arms out. His face was drawn into a determined scowl as he declared, "I'm not moving! The wall will hold!"

The earth around him trembled. Small rocks tumbled down around him. But, amazingly, the wall didn't break. He laughed triumphantly. "Told you my Greta would hold!"

Unfortunately, his success would not keep. Above him, there came a loud groaning and creaking. He looked up warily. His eyes widened as they took in the fact that the watchtowers had lost their stability. They fell one after the other, too fast for any of the riders to fly down and save the blacksmith. To their dismay, he disappeared underneath them.

The teens flew back down to the ground immediately. Dany had Drogon remove the heaviest ones on top so the smaller dragons could contribute with the lighter items. Everyone worked quickly, anxious to make sure their friend had escaped relatively unscathed. They found him lying on his back with his arms splayed out. When he opened his eyes, they rolled in an unsettling, uncontrolled sort of way.

"Gobber!" Astrid addressed the man (as Dany felt sick watching his eyes.) "Are you alright?"

He pushed himself up, wearing a dazed, dopey grin on his face. He swayed a little as he slurred, "good morning, mommy. Is it time for dragon-killing school?"

Then, he passed out. The two teens exchanged an anxious look. They didn't have Gothi, obviously, and had no way of helping. . . whatever state Gobber was in. They couldn't afford to fly back to Berk, either; there needed to be at least two sane, responsible people on the island at all times. And Hiccup had left Dany in charge, which meant Astrid would have to go— and she would never leave her best friend (relatively) alone with Snotlout and the twins. (A fate worse than death, in both of their opinions.) So, they would have to figure out what to do with Gobber in the meantime while also dealing with the Rumblehorn problem.

"Hey, at least this wall held!" Snotlout pointed out, patting the rocks beside him. "Of course everything else got crushed."

"That's not funny!" Daenerys snapped as the Jorgenson laughed at Gobber's misfortune. Although she normally would've let his comment go, she couldn't forget the fact that Hiccup had left her in charge. Now, he was going to return to an unconscious family friend, no watchtowers and the Rumblehorn still on the loose. Some leader she was. 

She didn't have time for the terror trio's usual quips or stupidity; they had to sort things out with the blacksmith and then get back out there to track their pest. (She mentally apologized to the dragon; she knew the Rumblehorn was only trying to live its life; it wasn't the Rumblehorn's fault that there were now people living on its island.) Before she could even begin to figure out how to get the situation under control, a roar sounded above them.

The Targaryen had conflicting emotions as she recognized the dragon it belonged to. On one hand, she was happy that Hiccup was back, safe, with them. On the other, she was still annoyed about his lack of communication and embarrassed by her inefficiency. The twins, however, had no such qualms. Somehow not recognizing their leader's dragon, they aimed Barf and Belch's heads at the sky.

"Incoming!" Tuffnut shouted. "Fire, fire!"

Ruffnut let Barf spew a stream of green gas while her brother sparked it to life with his dragon. Snotlout followed suit, directing Hookfang's flames in the same direction.

Luckily, Hiccup was not the most skilled evasive maneuverer out of all of them for nothing, so he escaped their onslaught unharmed, calling out an irritated, "hey, it's us. Cut it out!"

"Oh, okay," Tuffnut said, as if he had not just accidentally attacked his chief. "Sorry about that! Nice to see you, chief. You're looking very. . . fit. Your hands seem to be rough and well-worked. Anyway, welcome to Rumblehorn hell." 

As they dismounted from Toothless' back, Stoick commented, "you weren't kidding about having dragon problems."

"Is anybody hurt?" Hiccup asked, directing the question at the Targaryen.

Dany winced and glanced behind her to where Gobber was still lying on the ground but was now stirring faintly. "Um. . . not. . . permanently?" she offered hesitantly. "He, uh, got hit by a watchtower."

She tensed, waiting for him to scold her for being such a shoddy leader, but the blacksmith spoke before he could. Gobber's voice was a slow drawl as he greeted them, "hello, lovies. Who'd like some figgy pudding?" He removed one of his boots from his hook and held it out in front of him, shaking it at them enticingly.

The two men stared at their friend with a mix of concern and unease. "He got hit by a watchtower, you say?" Stoick mused.

"Uh, yeah," the blonde confirmed, then hastened to explain, gesturing to the stack of rocks next to her. "He taught us how to build a defensive wall— a really good one; it even held back the Rumblehorn!— and it was strong— no, sturdy. Uh, beefy? I don't remember what word he used to describe it. Anyway, everything was going well, but then the ground shook and—"

Hiccup, who had been listening with increasing amusement, finally let out a short laugh and reached out, gripping her shoulders gently. "Dany. Breathe."

She stopped mid-sentence, blinking at him in confusion. "So. . . you're not mad at me?"

Hiccup gave her a look of complete bewilderment, as if the mere suggestion was absurd. "Why would I be mad at you?"

From behind them, Astrid let out a long-suffering sigh and muttered, "idiots."

"Well. . . you left without saying anything," she offered more quietly so the twins wouldn't hear her explanation. (She certainly didn't need to give them any more reasons to tease her.)

Hiccup's expression softened as he squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. "I know. And I'm sorry about that." He let out a small sigh as he admitted, "I should have told you. I just—" He lowered his voice so that his father wouldn't hear his next words: "the reason why Gobber came was because my dad was in. . . uh, a worse mood than usual and I didn't want anyone back home to take the brunt of it, so I left quickly."

Dany studied him for a moment, then nodded in understanding. "Okay. Just. . . next time, tell me, please?"

"I promise," Hiccup agreed without hesitation.

Gobber's raucous laughter made them turn their attention towards the blacksmith again. "Ah, you're killing me!" He swung his hook at Toothless in a 'good on you!' sort of way. The dragon let out an uncomfortable warble and shuffled away from him. "Who knew you were such a card?"

The Night Fury fell back onto all fours and slunk away to escape the older Viking's loopy-ness.

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

Hiccup looked thoughtfully off into the distance for a moment as his mind whirred to come up with a plan. His father, on the other hand, just started talking. With a definitive slam of his fist against his palm, he began, "okay, then, first thing's first. We start with—"

"Astrid and Dany, you search the eastern coastline," the brunet interjected. "Ruff, Tuff, you have the west." They gave him a thumbs-up and salute, respectively. "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," the Ingerman confirmed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute there, dragon master," Snotlout— predictably— protested. His face scrunched up in annoyance as Gobber poked his finger in his cheek.

"Hello, little fella," the blacksmith cooed.

"How come I have to stay behind?" the shorter man exclaimed.

Gobber growled and waved his arms in the air menacingly as he pulled the teen towards him. Snotlout's expression went flat and he went limp in the older man's hold, giving up immediately on trying to free himself.

"I'm a dragon!" Gobber declared in a rasping voice. "Yah!"

Dany's lips quirked up in amusement, extremely glad that she was not in Snotlout's position. She didn't even feel bad for him; most days, he deserved this treatment as karma. Even Hiccup couldn't help but smile at the annoyed look on the other teen's face. He placed a hand on his hip and arched his brow as he stated blandly, "okay, fine, you want to hunt the unstoppable, bloodthirsty dragon instead?"

"Bloodthirsty dragon, huh?" Snotlout repeated. He gave Gobber, who was now pretending his behind was a dragon's tail, a once-over. "On second thought, I don't want to give you guys an unfair advantage. So I should probably stay behind and protect one of the archipelago's national treasures."

"The sun is a shiny potato covered in drawn butter." The blacksmith's voice trembled as if he were moved by his metaphor.

Snotlout rolled his eyes but put an arm around the Viking's shoulders to direct him back to their base. "And the moon is a scoop of ice cream."

🏹🏹🏹

Dany had always considered herself a relatively good tracker. When she was younger, she had spent hours wandering the woods, tailing after whatever dragon she'd stumbled upon and they would never know she was there. She made a game of it, entertaining herself by trying to go as long as possible without being detected. She was sure that her bare feet had helped her a lot in this— one of the reasons why she didn't wear shoes besides the fact that they were sensory hell for her— as they made no sound on the forest floor. (That had been another game: seeing how quiet she make herself as she walked.) She also knew how to read footprints and scan the area for signs of disturbance.

So, when she suggested that they land their dragons to take a look around, Astrid had given her only the mildest of 'are you serious?' looks (because surely their dragons could find another dragon, right?) But she always forgot how very dragon-like her best friend was, so she decided to let her take the lead.

Once they'd landed and dismounted, Dany observed the area with keen eyes. They first caught on some broken branches— normally not something unusual, but with what she'd seen of the shaking trees earlier. . . She continued to look around, crouching low to the ground to search for any kind of indentation of a pawprint. Astrid wanted to laugh at the funny way the position made her walk, but she pressed her lips together so she wouldn't break her best friend's focus. It wasn't until Dany was right underneath the disturbed area that she saw the first, faint signs. The tracks were massive but old. Some dirt had filled in the deepest parts of the indentations; only the deep, gouged claw-marks could be seen clearly.

She chose the direction and moved forward slowly, her violet eyes constantly sweeping the trail— a displaced stone, another light footprint. She pressed forward, her focus narrowing entirely to the evidence before her. The forest became a blur around her. She no longer heard the bird sounds or other creatures moving about. Astrid wasn't even a presence to her, nor was her best friend's muted protest of 'wait up!'

Drogon lumbered behind her, the ground shaking slightly beneath his heavy steps. He huffed, smoke curling from his nostrils as he watched her with an expression bordering on exasperation. He was used to this: his rider getting so absorbed in her task that she forgot everything else, including where she was going. So, like always, he made sure she didn't stray too far into trouble. 

When her path veered too close to a thick tree trunk, Drogon nudged her aside with his snout. When she was about to step over a loose patch of soil that would have sent her tumbling, he swung his tail just enough to shift her trajectory. And when the trees were too dense to see ahead, he snorted a burst of flame, clearing a path just enough for her to continue undeterred. Dany barely noticed any of it, her mind too consumed with the trail.

It wasn't until the thick forest gave way to a small clearing in the middle of the island that she finally noticed she wasn't alone. Hiccup and his father stood in the center and they were both frowning. Stoick had his arms crossed over his chest. "We've been here before."

But the brunet's attention drifted to a different kind of intruder that he'd laid eyes on. He grinned at her. "Well, look who's wandered straight into our territory."

Dany snapped out of her hyperfocus so fast that she physically startled. She turned sharply to find Hiccup and Stoick standing a few paces away, both surveying her with raised brows.

"Uh," she started, blinking rapidly as the world around her realigned. Right. Hiccup and his father were covering this section. Right. She wasn't alone.

Hiccup smirked. "You have that look again. The 'I forgot I have friends' look." Dany opened her mouth to object but before she could, he tilted his head and asked, "so. . . where's Astrid?"

Her stomach dropped.

Oh.

Oh no.

Drogon chuffed beside her, and that was when she realized— she hadn't heard Stormfly's wingbeats in a while or heard Astrid's voice.

She had completely left her behind.

Dany winced guiltily. "I. . . forgot. I forgot Astrid!"

Hiccup crossed his arms and laughed quietly. "You don't say? How do you lose a whole person?"

"Well, it's better than losing half of one, son. That's just messy." Stoick chuckled at his joke.

The blonde only managed a weak smile in response, then mumbled, "I should probably go back for her. . ."

Hiccup waved a hand. "Astrid can take care of herself. Besides, we could use your help. I think it knows we're hunting it."

"No," Stoick corrected him gravely. "I think it's hunting us."

"Oh, that's good!" his son exclaimed sardonically. "No, I prefer it much more the other way around."

Daenerys frowned. "Really? Because I would think us tracking it would be better. . ."

"Sarcasm, Dany," the brunet reminded her, though more fondly than anything else.

"Oh, right," she realized, looking a little embarrassed to have missed that.

Stoick ignored the teens' conversation and walked a few paces forward, moving his hands to his hips as he looked around critically. Hiccup recognized the expression on his father's face and wondered, "what are you thinking, dad?"

The chief pulled a branch free from a fallen tree and turned to face them. "I might have an idea on how we're going to catch this beast."

"I'm not so sure I like this plan," the Targaryen remarked, gazing mistrustfully at what she viewed as a weapon in the older man's hands.

He gave her a reassuring smile. "Not to worry, lass. This isn't to hurt the dragon. You'll see." He turned his gaze to Drogon appreciatively. "I've always admired that dragon, you know, but I'm afraid he'll give us away with what I have in mind. Perhaps you two could. . .?" The older man gestured towards the sky with the hand holding the rope.

"Oh! Right, of course," Dany agreed. She and Hiccup made their way over to their respective dragons and mounted them. The chief was momentarily buffeted by a gale-force wind as Drogon took off before the air stilled again, only leaving fluttering leaves as a sign they were ever there.

Now alone in the clearing, Stoick began to beat his club against the ground as he belted out his own version of the very famous Viking tune: "well, I've got my club and I've got my rope and I smell like a yak 'cause I don't use soap. I'm a Viking through and through!"

A loud growl sounded in response as the Rumblehorn became agitated by the excessive noise. Dany couldn't blame him; if she had still been on the ground, she wouldn't be happy, either. Then, they saw it: the dragon that had been wreaking havoc on the Edge for weeks. It was big (though not quite as big as Drogon) and hefty, just like Fishlegs and Dany had predicted. Its scales were a shiny, green metallic color that bled into red around its face and small wings. She'd been right about that, too— it could fly, but its ground assault was its strong suit. The Rumblehorn had three massive. . . well, horns on its nose and on either side of its head.

It let out another roar as it faced off the chief, but he merely chuckled in response. "Well, you're magnificent! And you've got a lot to say, don't you?" Stoick threw his club to the side as it growled once more. "Now, let's see if you can back it up!"

He let out a fierce yell and charged at the same time that the Rumblehorn did. Daenerys watched the large dragon, impressed by how easily it moved despite its size. Hiccup swooped down with Toothless, a net extended in his hands. However, the Rumblehorn seemed to sense him and he looked up with an irritated snort. The brunet tossed the net but the green dragon was able to dodge it while still maintaining his advance. Alarmed, Hiccup called out: "dad! Get out of there!"

"Not a chance!" Stoick retorted as he threw his rope so that it wrapped around the dragon's horn. He pulled it taught and, with a mighty leap, swung around to the Rumblehorn's back.

When he landed, the dragon tried to fly away, but he yanked on the rope and brought it down to the ground with a harsh thud. Dany gasped, not liking the chief's rough treatment. "Hey! Don't you said you wouldn't hurt him!"

The Rumblehorn lay still and let out a low rumble. Stoick stared into its eyes and tried to get it to submit. Nervous about the dragon's sudden change in demeanor, Hiccup advised, "dad, let go of the rope!"

Stoick was abruptly pulled into the air as the green dragon launched into flight. He let out a startled yell and Hiccup hastily amended his instruction to: "dad, don't let go of the rope!"

The Rumblehorn gained altitude quickly, much to Dany's amazement. She didn't get long to admire him, though as her best friend's direction prompted her into motion: "come on!"

She followed him as they flew upwards in pursuit of his father. Clouds had blocked their view of the large dragon not long after their ascent, so they had no idea what was happening. Wind whipped at her hair and made her eyes water, but she continued to urge Drogon to follow the Night Fury's path. As it turned out, it was lucky they did since they saw that Stoick had lost his grip on the rope and was now plummeting back towards the land. Toothless dove underneath him and caught him just in time as the Rumblehorn sailed past on its way back toward the forest.

"We'd better get back to Dragon's Edge for reinforcements," Hiccup decided.

"Agreed."

🏹🏹🏹

It was full dark by the time they returned to the base. Everyone else was already there, either goofing off or actively helping. Astrid, naturally, was in the latter group, though she stopped once Drogon had landed and Dany's feet were back on the ground. She marched over to her friend with a scowl, though her eyes held a playful glint in them.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up," Astrid teased her. "You know, it's pretty lucky that you ride the biggest dragon ever or else you'd probably forget him, too."

Daenerys winced as her expression fell. "Oh, Astrid, I-I didn't mean to—"

The Hofferson held up a hand, cutting her off. "Do you know how long I stood there, Dany? Alone, abandoned, lost in the depths of the wilds?" She sighed dramatically.

She opened and closed her mouth, her guilt written all over her face. "I—"

Astrid cracked, a grin breaking through her mock severity. "Relax, I'm messing with you."

"Wait, what?" the Targaryen wondered, confused. Nearby, they vaguely registered Gobber's high pitched 'yoo-hoo!' as he ran after a squealing sheep.

The blonde chuckled, nudging her shoulder. "You do this all the time. I'm practically used to being left behind by now."

Dany exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding and smiled sheepishly. "That bad, huh?"

Her best friend smirked. "Let's just say, if I had a coin for every time you ditched me mid-mission, I'd own half of Berk."

She grimaced, then let out a small, guilty laugh. "Okay, okay. I'll do better next time."

Astrid arched a brow. "You've said that before."

Dany raised a hand in mock surrender. "Alright, fair. But for what it's worth, I really am sorry."

The other woman grinned, shaking her head. "I know."

As they went over to the rest of the group, the blonde shared, "we found the Rumblehorn, you know."

"Really?"

"Well. . . more like he found us," she admitted, just as Hiccup was telling the other riders much the same.

"Gave us a good run, that one," Stoick remarked, though he sounded more delighted than anything else.

"We're going to resupply and then we all need to go look for it," the brunet informed the group.

Tuffnut glanced up and grinned. "Eh, I bet I can find him, like, right now."

"Oh, really?" Snotlout challenged, crossing his arms.

"Oh, yeah," he confirmed incredibly smugly.

The Jorgenson still wasn't convinced and couldn't wait to hear what kind of stupid reasoning Tuffnut had this time. "How's that?"

His eyes stayed on the sky. "Wait for it." Then, he lifted his hand and pointed towards the moon with a sly smile. "Bing!"

A familiar roar filled the night and made them all turn to look in the direction Tuffnut had indicated. Hiccup's eyes widened. "What the—? Hey, everybody! On your dragons! We need to draw him away from Dragon's Edge. It tracked us all the way here."

"Impressive," Stoick murmured.

"Yeah," Dany conceded, her gaze also on the approaching Rumblehorn.

"Come on, you two!" the chief's son scolded them. "Let's catch him first. Then we can admire him."

However, as they rose to meet the Rumblehorn in the air, they were swarmed by fleeing Night Terrors. Dany frowned, remembering her dream from last night. Or was it two nights ago? Her lack of sleep was blurring the days together.

"Where are all the Night Terrors going?" Hiccup wanted to know.

"And why isn't the Rumblehorn following us?" the chief added.

The brunet's eyes tracked the green dragon's path to figure out his motive. His stomach sank as he realized that their flight had left Gobber undefended and the Rumblehorn considered him an easy target. "Because it's following him."

In his state of delirium, the blacksmith had no idea that imminent death was approaching from behind. Even with Toothless' high speeds, they were too far away to do anything— and they could accidentally hurt Gobber if they had, anyway. So, the best plan was to go for distraction. "Let's get his attention, bud."

Bright purple sparks exploded in the Rumblehorn's face, but he wasn't deterred from closing in on his mark. It landed heavily on the ground behind the oblivious Gobber, who only continued to laugh and egg on the sheep he was chasing. As it began to bullrush him, Astrid cried out, "Stormfly, spine shot!"

The Nadder swung her tail to release her spikes. While normally a very effective offensive method, it was of no impact to the Rumblehorn who continued to run straight through them.

"Drogon, aldrnari!" Dany's call joined Snotlout's and the twins' as they had their dragons breathe a ring of fire in front of the Rumblehorn. But, the dragon's thick, armor-like hide made him basically impervious to the heat and he remained unaffected as he ran right through.

Daenerys was too far away to hear the chief's and Hiccup's exchange, but the next thing she saw was the Night Fury's mouth opening to reveal his glowing purple throat. She realized that she didn't need to know what they'd talked about; the sinking feeling in her stomach was enough to tell her. She couldn't believe Hiccup would do such a thing— purposefully hurt a dragon. She'd almost let the Rumblehorn do whatever it wanted to Gobber; dragons' lives were far more important than any human's, in her opinion. (A quiet voice in the back of her heard argued what about Hiccup's? She pretended she hadn't heard it.)

She leaned forward slightly and prompted Drogon to cease hovering and start moving forward. He was confused by the signal she was giving him: get to full speed while flying at the Nightbound One? That did not seem like something his mother would choose to do, so he hesitated to make sure he was understanding her correctly.

It was lucky that he had as Hiccup's sudden shout of, "dad, what are you doing?" and the following purple blast exploded off its mark.

Dany settled into her seat on her dragon's back, relieved that she didn't have to go to drastic measures to protect the Rumblehorn. She would've caught Hiccup, of course, but he probably would've been mad at her for interfering. She gave Drogon an appreciative pat between the shoulder blades, grateful that he'd second-guessed her reaction.

Below them, the Rumblehorn had caught up to Gobber, who'd been petting the boars (much to their displeasure.) But, at the sight of the large dragon, they ran away, squealing in terror. When the blacksmith turned to face the creature, the riders tensed, expecting the worse. They were understandably surprised when all it did was roar in the older Viking's face. Loudly, to be sure, but he remained relatively unharmed except for residual ringing in his ears.

"Oh, look!" Gobber exclaimed happily. "It's Pepe, my favorite pet yak! We didn't eat you on Snoggletog morning after all!" He nuzzled the dragon's horned snout and the Rumblehorn did nothing except chuff in reply.

"If that dragon wanted to hurt people, he'd have done it by now," Stoick shouted so they could all hear him. "Something else is going on here."

The brunet landed and let his father climb off the Night Fury's back. As the chief approached, Gobber chuckled to himself before he greeted his friend, "Stoick! You remember Pepe?" He turned to where the rest of the riders were observing them cautiously and waved his hand at Hiccup. "Hiccup, have you met Pepe?"

He only received a muttered 'oh, gods' in response. Daenerys was far too interested in the chief's interaction with the Rumblehorn to give the blacksmith's odd behavior a second thought. She watched as he approached the large dragon, who roared in his face once more. But, just like before, it didn't attack him. Rather, it turned its head towards the horizon with a strange sense of urgency.

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

It slammed its head into the earth as if in agreement. The riders' smaller dragons squawked nervously in response and the teens suddenly couldn't control them as they took off in a circular formation.

"What is happening, what is happening, what is happening?" Fishlegs chanted in fright.

Drogon stayed steady underneath Dany just like he always did but she could feel his muscles bunch up underneath her legs as he tensed. She placed a hand on the warm scales of his back. "What's wrong, bud?"

The Rumblehorn unexpectedly scooped Stoick up with his horn and flung him onto his back, making the chief protest, "whoa, big fella. Hold on there."

Hiccup and Dany followed their friends up into the sky and out to sea. At this height, it wasn't hard to see what was wrong. Hiccup shielded his gaze against the odd, shimmering glow of the waves. "The sea level— is it rising?"

Dany had never seen anything like it. She and Drogon sailed above the water and drew closer to the unusual wall. It was nothing like the defensive wall they'd built with Gobber; this was not strong and unyielding. It was. . . changeable, rising forever upwards as it gathered speed. They flew under the curl of the water and she stuck her hand out to let her fingers trail through the cold current. Drogon's wingtip sliced through the wave, too, wavering under the force of the pressure.

They returned to the Edge to tell the rest of the gang the news. "There's a giant wave headed for us. 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."

"I'm not buying it." Tuffnut shook his head. "Okay, guys, real quick— how long does it take to learn to swim?"

"Longer than the amount of time we have," Daenerys told him briskly. "But we don't need to swim; we've got dragons and a pretty big wall. If we just made it a little taller, I'm sure it would be enough to keep the water from reaching Dragon's Edge."

Everyone pitched in without complaint— a rarity for them, but they were all proud of the base they'd built and no one wanted to see it be destroyed. They piled more rocks on top of the already existing ones. The twins pushed boulders down from the sides of the nearby cliffs. Toothless worked on building up the wall. Meatlug, Hookfang and Drogon fired blasts of hot flames to temper the rocks.

Despite their hard work, the already-rising water levels showed just how weak their wall really was. Water poured through the cracks; no matter how many times Stormfly plugged the holes with her spine shots, more appeared.

The chief came through with a plan that saved the day: he used the Rumblehorn's hard-headedness to his advantage. Working together, they rammed into a tall sea-stack that stood close to the shore. After a couple of solid hits, the base cracked and tumbled off its foundation. Just as the wave was crashing down on their wall, the pillar toppled over and fortified it, leaving the riders to just be hit with a little spray of sea water.

🏹🏹🏹

The next morning after their first good night's rest in a long while, they began to make serious efforts in rebuilding their outpost. The 'dragon-nerds' (as they were termed by the other half of the academy) marveled at the Rumblehorn's newfound ability.

"I can't believe it, guys," Fishlegs stated. "If the Rumblehorn hadn't warned us we would have been wiped out."

"Yeah," Dany agreed, looking at the green dragon in awe. "I wonder how long he's known."

"Look at that guy. He's amazing," the Ingerman continued to enthuse.

"Yes!" Stoick, who hadn't gotten off the Rumblehorn's back all morning, concurred with a pleased chuckle. "You can say that again, Fishlegs."

"You know, guys, this is a whole new class of dragon," the blond realized. "We need a name."

They all thought for a moment, but it seemed like the obvious choice was the best one: "well, it tracked us down. How about Tracker Class?"

"Tracker Class?" Snotlout laughed, overhearing their conversation. "Yeah, right! That sounds like something I would come up with."

The Targaryen shrugged. "Why not? It fits."

Hiccup nodded. "Perfect."

"Tracker Class it is," Fishlegs decided.

"What, you like it?" Snotlout threw his arms up in frustration. "Aw, come on!"

Not long after the Jorgenson stomped away to sulk, Gobber and the chief were ready to depart. Stoick decided to take the Rumblehorn— now called Skullcrusher— with him as his new dragon. Dany was happy that they'd found each other and she hoped they'd be just a perfect a fit as she and Drogon were (or, at least, nearly perfect, since no one could top them— sorry, Hiccup.)

A/n: sorry for another boring chapter (I will probably keep apologizing until we're out of s1🤣) I was tempted to skip this episode entirely but the completionist in me said uh-uh. Anyway, one more boring episode before we get to at least some mildly interesting ones!