Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This story just came to me, and I just had to write it down! The story is set either during or after Defenders of Berk, and focuses on the dragons as well as Hiccup and Astrid's relationship. This is my first fan fiction.

Life on Berk is never dull. Whenever one adventure ends, another begins.

And you can never be sure what's waiting for you around the corner.

Hiccup was in his room with Toothless. He had been letting his mind wander, and his attention had turned to Astrid, his girlfriend.

It was plain to see that he was head over heels, well HEEL, in love with her. The only problem was that he had never been able to gather up the courage to tell her that. He had been trying to find the right opportunity to talk to her, just the two of them alone, without any of the other teens butting in. But whenever he came close to actually getting the chance to speak with her, it was always with a witness or two.

Toothless could tell that something was bothering his rider. He had been sitting at the table in his room, looking at his drawings indifferently. The Night Fury cautiously walked up to his friend and nudged him gently. Hiccup turned and looked at the Night Fury looking at him curiously, his large green eyes asking, "What's bothering you?"

"Toothless," Hiccup sighed, "I can't stop thinking about Astrid. I really like her, and I want to tell her that, but somehow I just can't. It's never just the two of us, there's always someone butting in and making things hard for me, no offense. I just want to spend some time with her."

Toothless just sat and listened, feeling sorry for his friend for not being able to tell the love of his life that he loved her. Yes, LOVED her. Hiccup had said that he liked her, but Toothless could tell that it was more than that. He was a dragon, and he had instincts. Why was it so hard for humans to express their attraction for each other? They're so weird.

Hiccup sat still and quiet for a while, thinking desperately, before an idea suddenly sprang into his mind. What if Astrid and I went to Dragon Island together? There aren't any people there who will interrupt us, and I was planning on going there to explore anyway! That might give me the perfect opportunity to tell her that I love her.

It was true; Dragon Island was pretty much deserted, since most of the dragons had come to live at the village. Yet, there were still many things to be discovered about the island, in case of a new dragon that needed to be trained.

Hiccup turned to Toothless, a big smile on his face. "Hey Toothless," he said, "what if Astrid and Stormfly came with us to Dragon Island, huh?"

The Night Fury looked at him as if he had just sprouted another head right in front of him. "That way we won't be lonely," Hiccup explained, hiding the fact that it was in his mind, a date. "And if we need help, they can, well, help us."

Toothless tilted his head and looked at the ceiling, obviously thinking. After a while, he looked back at Hiccup and nodded.

"Great!" Hiccup said. "We'll ask them if they want to go in the morning."

Toothless nodded again, and then bounded onto his bed. He scorched the surface of the bed and then lay down on the hot surface. Hiccup smiled as he watched his friend settle in for the night. He looked back at one of his drawings. It was a hand-drawn picture of Astrid. It had taken him a long time to perfect it, and it was one of his best. It looked almost realistic. Hiccup's smile widened at the thought of the two of them, hopefully spending time with each other on the dragons' old island home. Of course, they would need their dragons to get there.

Hiccup then stood up and made way to his own bed, catching a backward glance at the drawing of Astrid while doing so.

The next morning, Hiccup woke up early to go and ask Astrid if she wanted to go to Dragon Island with him. He found her outside her house with Stormfly, her Deadly Nadder. He stood at a distance, watching the two of them together. Astrid was feeding Stormfly a basket full of fish, with the occasional chicken drumstick. The chicken seemed to have a strange effect on Stormfly, increasing her speed when flying. Astrid had used this to try to beat Hiccup and Toothless when they raced. There had been a few times when she and Stormfly came close to winning, but the Night Fury would pull ahead at the last second.

After watching the two for a while, Hiccup slowly approached, remembering how protective Stormfly can be of her rider. Stormfly was the first to notice him as he approached, and her squawk of greeting alerted Astrid of their visitor. She smiled at the sight of Hiccup approaching them, which made his heart do a flip.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked casually once Hiccup had reached them.

"Well, you know how Toothless and I were planning on exploring the dragons' island?" he asked.

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

"Well...I was wondering if maybe you and Stormfly would like to go with us, you know to sort of...help out?" Hiccup said nervously. Well, I said it. No turning back now.

"Sure," said Astrid, "we'd love to come with you guys, right Stormfly?" The Nadder nodded and made a warbling sound.

"Really?" Hiccup asked, trying to hide his excitement.

"Yeah," Astrid said simply.

Hiccup couldn't remember a time he had been so excited. Astrid had said yes. To him! He felt like he was going to burst with excitement.

"So...tomorrow then?" he asked, trying to sound calm and collected.

"Sure, tomorrow sounds nice," Astrid replied.

"Okay," Hiccup said simply. If luck was with him, this could be the opportunity he needed to talk to Astrid and confess his feelings. "So, I guess I'll...see you later then."

Astrid nodded. "Yeah, see you."

Satisfied, Hiccup then turned and walked away, occasionally catching a backward glance of Astrid as he did so. When he was sure that he was far enough away that she couldn't see or hear him, he burst with overflowing excitement. "Yes! She said yes! I can't believe it!"

There was an amused snort, and he spun around to find Toothless giving him the smuggest grin.

"What are you looking at, you useless reptile?" Hiccup couldn't help but snark in his embarrassment.

Toothless shrugged his wings and made a sound that could have passed for a chuckle.

What do you think? Is it good, or can it use some improvement? Leave a review, and I'll update as soon as I can!

Chapter Text

I apologize if the first chapter was too short, I'll make sure that the remaining chapters are longer.

The next morning, Hiccup was practically bursting with excitement. He had already been looking forward to visiting Dragon Island, but now Astrid was coming with him. He quickly packed up some food and clean water - for both himself and for Toothless.

It took longer than he thought it would, mostly because he had to double-check that he had everything he needed, but once Hiccup was finished packing, he and Toothless headed outside toward Astrid's house. When they had gotten within a hundred feet of the establishment, Hiccup noticed something odd - Stormfly wasn't in her stable.

Had Astrid gone ahead to Dragon Island without him? Hiccup didn't think so. She wasn't the type to ditch her friends, or him for that matter.

Maybe she was waiting at the academy? He couldn't recall either of them saying they would meet there, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

Barely had he moved two steps when a sudden squawk from above his and Toothless's heads made him jump. He knew it was Stormfly, but it was still surprising to see the blue Deadly Nadder land elegantly right in front of them. Of course, Astrid was sitting tall and proud on her trusty dragon's back.

"And where have you been?" Hiccup asked playfully.

"Looking for you," she replied equally.

"Well, you found me," he joked.

To his credit, she actually laughed at that.

Toothless sat and watched their friendly back-and-forth banter. If there was one thing he didn't understand about humans, it was their odd courting rituals. Whenever dragons like him met someone they liked, they'd perform either a display of strength or a simple but elegant dance and then get on with the mating. From what he'd learned from his rider, apparently humans liked to beat around the bush a whole lot before finally uniting in romantic bliss. It would be so much easier, and less time-consuming, if they followed the dragons' example.

Growing bored with how long it was dragging out, the Night Fury gave them a rather irritated snort. Well? Come on, already!

"Right, let's go," Hiccup said quickly. Not that he understood what Toothless was trying to say, but he knew better than to keep his dragon waiting when it came to flying. In no time, he was situated in his usual position on Toothless's saddle, his prosthetic leg clicking into the mechanism that allowed him to control the Night Fury's prosthetic tail fin.

Within the blink of an eye, both dragons were in the sky, headed for the island where they had originally lived.

Hiccup would never forget the day they had first found the dragons' island. He and Astrid had been riding on Toothless, up in the night sky full of stars and colorful banners of light, when the dragon had suddenly started flying into unfamiliar parts. They'd quickly found themselves surrounded by dragons, all carrying food to their nest. The sight of the Red Death rising up from the pit to devour a Gronckle that had made the unfortunate mistake of bringing too little food still gave him nightmares. But now that the Red Death was dead, the dragons didn't have to steal food anymore.

However, even with the war over, very little of the dragons' island had been explored, and, for all they knew, there could possibly be a new dragon waiting to be discovered. That was why Hiccup had decided to go on this little expedition, which was most definitely not a date. By boat, it would have taken them a few hours at the very least. But on dragons, it was much faster - only a few minutes at the least.

They were about halfway there when a sudden wave of uneasiness washed over Toothless like a tsunami. The Red Death is gone, he thought to himself. What could possibly be wrong?

Little did he know, they were about to find out.

It was weird seeing Dragon Island so clearly when it used to be surrounded by a blanket of fog so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Quickly thinking up a plan for how to go about this, Hiccup turned to address Astrid, who was flying Stormfly right next to him and Toothless. "I'll take the left side, you take the right."

She gave him a simple nod and steered Stormfly to the right while he steered Toothless to the left. The second they landed on the rocky beach, Hiccup practically jumped off of the Night Fury's back and scanned the surrounding area.

Nothing so far.

Maybe there was more to be found inland. It was rather unnerving to see the dormant volcano towering over them - the fortress that had housed the tyrant queen. It was the last place anyone, human and dragon alike, ever wanted to go. Hiccup couldn't even look at it without receiving a myriad of memories of the horrors that had been hiding within.

Toothless didn't feel any better. He'd nearly lost his best friend to the Red Death. He dreaded to think about what might have happened if he'd been too slow catching his rider as they plummeted helplessly into the inferno.

Ultimately, Hiccup's curiosity proved greater than his anxiety. Wasting little time, he re-mounted Toothless. "Let's go check it out, bud."

It took some persistence, but eventually Toothless obeyed. He shot into the air like an arrow, kicking up some sand and dust from the beach.

If the volcano itself wasn't unsettling enough, staring down into the cavernous hole sent chills down Hiccup's spine. Thankfully, the edge of the volcano looked just wide enough for Toothless to safely land on. They'd have to be careful, though.

The Night Fury's claws slipped a little, but he recovered quickly. If it were up to him, he'd be flying as far away from this horrid place as possible. But it wasn't up to him, so here they were. Hiccup, I hope you know what you're doing.

The view on top of the volcano wasn't exactly pretty, but it was breath-taking in its own right. Hiccup could see nearly the entire island from up there. But he didn't see anything unusual, or better yet, rare. He carefully climbed down off of Toothless's back, making sure that there was a firm surface under his feet (er, foot) as he descended. Moving slowly, he sat on the edge of the volcano, looking out at the horizon. The sun was reflecting off the water like a mirror, there was hardly a cloud in the sky, and, somewhere in the distance, Hiccup thought could see the faintest outline of Berk.

Toothless didn't pay attention to what his rider was seeing. His focus was entirely on the large gaping hole in the side of the nest, from which the Red Death had emerged on that fateful day they had done battle with her. He couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

As attentive as Hiccup was, he was too hypnotized by the view to notice how nervous Toothless was. He sighed wistfully and uttered to himself, "Astrid would love this."

"What's that?" asked a familiar voice.

Hiccup was so startled, he nearly fell off the side of the volcano. Lo and behold, there was Astrid and Stormfly standing right next to him. "Sorry," Astrid said, chuckling at his reaction. "I saw you land and wanted to see what you were doing. Did you find anything?"

"No, not yet," he answered. "I was, just, uh...enjoying the view." He swept his arm out in front of him as a gesture to the horizon.

Curious, Astrid followed the gesture and was quickly taken by the sight. "It is a nice view," she admitted. Then, without any prompting whatsoever, she sat down beside him, their legs dangling over the edge.

Hiccup glanced at her. This could be it, he thought. This could be my chance to tell her how I feel. He felt his cheeks heat up at the thought. He was probably redder than a Monstrous Nightmare. He took a deep breath before he spoke. "Astrid?"

She turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

Come on. Don't screw this up.

"There's something that I want to tell you." He slid the tiniest bit closer to her, not caring whether or not she noticed.

It seemed she had, because she copied his action. "I'm listening."

Hiccup willed himself to look at her. "I..." As simple as it should have been to just say 'I love you', he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew as well as anyone that Astrid had been training to become a shieldmaiden ever since she was old enough to wield an axe. She was fiercely independent, and she never let anything stand in her way. If whatever was going on between them became serious, it could ruin what she'd been working for her whole life. He couldn't, he wouldn't, take that away from her.

"Hiccup?"

"I..." What could he say?

Astrid moved a little closer and gently grasped his hand. "It's okay," she said. "You can tell me anything. You're my best friend."

His heart sank. Best friend. Was that all she thought of him? He shouldn't have been surprised, after all, how could someone as amazing as her ever want to be involved with a scrawny little guy like him?

On the other hand, she wouldn't have kissed him if he was only her best friend, right?

He had to be honest with her. Even if it made her mad, it would be better for both of them if he told her the truth.

"Astrid, I...I love -"

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the moment was interrupted by Toothless. The Night Fury had been staring into the vast pit of the volcano, and something did not sit right with him about it. And he made that clear with a particularly loud warble.

Astrid and Hiccup both turned to look at the black dragon. "I think he wants us to check it out," she guessed.

Hiccup should have expected that he'd screw up yet another opportunity to tell Astrid his feelings. Didn't make it any less disappointing, though.

Wasting little time, Astrid stood up and mounted Stormfly, who immediately stopped preening when she felt the weight of her rider on her back. Hiccup slowly stood up, being careful not to slip, and mounted his own dragon. With a gentle nudge from their respective riders, the Night Fury and the Deadly Nadder dove straight down the mouth of the volcano.

When they landed at the bottom of the pit, the first thing Hiccup noticed was a wall of large rocks right in front of them. "Well, that's odd," he said in a lightly snarking tone.

When Astrid didn't answer, he turned around to see what was the matter.

Her face was stuck in a mask of complete fear, her eyes wide and her skin pale. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

Hiccup followed her line of sight, which was fixed on the rocks...no, something beyond the rocks.

The large stones were organized in a circle, he realized. And sitting right in the center of the formation was an oval-shaped, bump-covered object about the size of a prize-winning pumpkin. For about half a minute, Hiccup wondered what the mystery object could possibly be, and then it hit him.

A dragon egg.

And he had a worrying suspicion of who the egg's mother was.

The egg suddenly shifted a little, startling Toothless, who scrambled backwards so quickly Hiccup nearly fell off the saddle. It shook again, more urgently, and a crack splintered across its surface.

It was hatching. And Hiccup and Astrid knew all too well what happens when a dragon egg hatches.

"We should get out of here," he said fearfully.

Barely had the words left his mouth when the entire cavern lit up in an explosion of heat and light.

*KA-BLAM!*

Everything went black.

Cliffhanger! (I thought it would be more dramatic to leave the revelation of the baby Red Death until the next chapter.)

Chapter Text

I'd like to thank those who left a comment on this story. It's always satisfying to know that other people are enjoying it.

Hiccup didn't know how long he had passed out, but when he came to the first thing he noticed was a large black shape standing over him. He knew it was Toothless, but the sight of the Night Fury's big green eyes filling his entire line of vision startled him to full consciousness.

"Toothless!" he half-squeaked half-yelled, scrambling up into a sitting position. Next to him, Astrid was lying facedown with Stormfly standing over her, nudged her back with her beak-like nose. "What happened?"

The answer he got wasn't from Astrid, or Toothless for that matter. He froze with surprise at the sound of a small crooning growl coming from the rocky nest they'd discovered.

Where the egg had been was a rough-skinned ball of scales, as big as a sheep, that was lightly smoking.

Hiccup drew a breath. He had a feeling he knew exactly what it was.

A pair of wings unfurled from the ball, revealing four sturdy legs, a clubbed tail, and a semi-angular head with six little eyes. The baby dragon yawned, its eyes blinking as they adjusted to the dimly-lit cavern. It let out a sneeze and stared innocently at the nearest figure as if they were the answer to all of the questions currently running through its tiny brain.

Hiccup slowly pushed himself to his feet, his eyes locked on the dragonet, whose head tilted curiously as it watched him. There was no mistaking it.

A baby Red Death.

He took a tentative step back, and the dragonet wobbled forward after him on unsteady legs.

There was a light groan, and Hiccup remembered that they weren't alone. Astrid pushed herself up, rubbing her aching head with one hand. "Hiccup?" she called out. "What just happened?"

"You don't want to know," he told her.

Which wasn't the best answer, because she could clearly see what was going on with her own two eyes.

The sight of the dragonet triggered a myriad of memories she'd been trying so hard to forget. The giant head rising up out of the smoky pit to devour that poor Gronckle, the tyrant queen chasing Hiccup and Toothless up into the dark clouds, the massive explosion that had killed her and almost killed Hiccup as well had it not been for Toothless's quick thinking and even quicker acting.

Astrid would never admit that she still had nightmares about it.

Stormfly squawked a warning at the baby dragon when it strayed a little too close to her rider. The little Red Death shrank away, tucking its tail under its legs and folding its wings around its head. It looked more like a terrified puppy than a bloodthirsty monster, and for a fleeting moment Astrid felt sorry for the poor thing...but it was quickly squashed back down by the memory of Hiccup's near-fatal fall.

Speaking of whom, the baby Red Death's entire demeanor lit up almost immediately at the sight of the male half of the human pair. It barreled into Hiccup, sending him toppling to the rough ground beneath their feet.

"No!" Astrid cried. She jumped to her feet and reached for Stormfly's saddlebag where she had packed her trusty double-bladed axe in case of an emergency...

...but stopped when she realized what exactly was going on.

The dragonet was sitting on Hiccup's stomach, its tail wagging back and forth as it gazed down at him with a worshipful look. As soon as his vision stopped spinning, Hiccup gazed right back at the baby Red Death, his own two eyes slightly wide with confusion and surprise. The hatchling leaned its head down and licked him across the cheek, then made a warbling sort of noise that sounded remarkably like "Mama".

Hiccup had a pretty good idea what was bringing this on. The baby lay down on top of him, prompting an *oomph* from him as the air was knocked out of his lungs.

Toothless was quick to remind everyone of his presence with a warning growl directed at the dragonet, who scrambled off of the Night Fury's rider and curled back in on itself.

"No, it's okay," Hiccup said quickly, pushing himself back up in a flash. "No one's gonna get hurt. Everything is fine."

Toothless snorted indignantly, but backed down nonetheless.

A terrified whine brought Hiccup's attention back to the dragonet. Tentatively, he reached his hand out to pat the baby. The newborn Red Death unhesitantly closed the distance between them, nuzzling its snout into his outstretched hand with a happy-sounding croon.

Hiccup gulped. "Uh, Astrid?"

"Yeah?" she answered bluntly.

He looked over at her and said, with a mix of snark and embarrassment, "I think I just became a mother."

That afternoon, the small group had returned to Berk, and had headed straight for the Berk Dragon Academy. Despite their reluctance, they had brought the dragonet with them, seeing as it wouldn't leave poor Hiccup alone.

The baby Red Death was sitting right in the middle of the academy floor, looking up at the six humans that were standing in a circle around it. Well, it was mostly looking at Hiccup, but it would glance curiously at one of the others whenever they moved or made some kind of noise.

Hiccup and his friends stood in silence as they examined the dragonet. There was a mixture of anxious interest and ignorant boredom among them. The twins, to no one's surprise, were grinning rather maniacally at the sight of the baby Red Death, undoubtedly thinking of how much 'beautiful destruction' they could leave in their wake once the little guy grew up.

(At least, Hiccup thought it was a little guy. They still hadn't figured out a way to tell the difference between a boy dragon and a girl dragon - at least not until the breeding season came around.)

Fishlegs was the first to speak up. "Um, is that really what I think it is?"

"I'm afraid so," Hiccup answered.

"You actually found a baby Red Death?" Snotlout asked.

"Obviously," Astrid replied.

"Can I train it to eat my sister?" Tuffnut asked.

"Hey, I was gonna train it to eat you!" Ruffnut shouted.

"Nobody is going to train him to eat anybody," Hiccup said in as authoritative of a voice as he could muster.

Snotlout scoffed. "And what exactly is it you expect us to do about this thing?"

"I don't know," his smaller cousin admitted. "But we couldn't just leave him back there all by himself. He's only a baby."

"A baby Red Death," Astrid elaborated gruffly.

Hiccup sighed. "I thought we moved past that."

"How exactly did you find it?" asked Fishlegs. "Or him? Her? Uh...them?"

Hiccup had already been dreading the explanation for how this happened, considering the other really big reason why they had to bring the baby home with them. He sucked in a breath before he spoke. "Astrid and I went to Dragon Island to look for possible new species. We found this nest inside the volcano, and there was an egg in it. When the egg hatched, the dragonet saw me and must have imprinted on me, like a child with its parent."

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, wait," Snotlout cut in. "You think that it thinks you're its mother?"

"How else do you explain why he hasn't tried to eat me?" Hiccup asked by way of answer.

"It's actually not as crazy as you would think," Fishlegs said. "When baby dragons are born, they imprint on the first thing they see, which is usually their mother."

"And when the dragonet hatched," Astrid added, "Hiccup was the first thing it saw."

Hiccup ducked his head to hide the embarrassed blush that was now gracing his cheeks. His eyes met those of the dragonet, who blinked at him. Now that he was looking at them properly, the little guy did seem kinda cute. Definitely much friendlier than his real mother.

"This Red Death seems to be a lot different than the first," he mumbled to himself. "Maybe, if we can figure out a way to train him..."

He wasn't speaking loud enough for everyone to hear him, but Astrid did. "Train it?" she huffed. "After what its mother did to you? Are you crazy?"

Hiccup couldn't argue with her on that. The mere thought of the Red Death still made him feel rather queasy. The first Viking in three hundred years who wouldn't kill a dragon, and yet that was exactly what he'd done.

It helped to think of the Red Death as a monster rather than a dragon. In his mind, that's what she'd been - a horrible, unfathomable, tyrannical beast that was far beyond the point of redemption. There was no other choice; she had to have been killed.

It was the only way he could've saved everyone.

He knew better than anyone that he could have died in that fight. He was lucky to have made it out with only a missing leg, and he had Toothless to thank for it.

"Maybe it is crazy," he said. "But what else can we do?"

Astrid opened her mouth to retort, but came up empty. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.

"Well," Hiccup said, "who's with me?"

"Um," squeaked Fishlegs, "no thanks."

"Nuh-uh," Snotlout said. "There is no way I'm dealing with a baby dragon again! That thing's your problem, mommy."

The twins, who had been completely ignoring the conversation up until that point, stepped in. "Hey, Hiccup," Tuffnut said, "when the dragon's old enough, can we go out and blow stuff up with him?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes and snarked, "As long as you bring him back before dark."

"Aw, man!" Ruffnut groaned. "He's already talking like a parent!"

That left Astrid.

Hiccup turned to face her. "So, is it just you and me, or just me?" he asked.

Astrid shrugged. "You're gonna need someone to help you train that dragon," she said.

"So, you'll help?" he prompted.

She sighed in defeat. "Fine." Then she slugged his shoulder. "But I won't enjoy it."

Hiccup gave her a pained smile. "Believe me," he said, "I wouldn't expect anything else from you." He suddenly felt something nudge against his legs, and he looked down to find the dragonet rubbing up against him.

What have I gotten myself into?

"Great," said Snotlout, "now that that's settled, later losers!" He bolted out the academy's exit gate.

"I should probably get going, too," Fishlegs said meekly before beating a hasty retreat.

Hiccup turned to the twins. "I take it you guys are leaving, too?"

"That depends," the male Thorston answered. "Are you sure we can't train it to eat Ruffnut?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Hiccup deadpanned.

"Can we train it to eat Tuffnut?" Ruffnut asked, smiling big.

"No," Hiccup enunciated.

The female twin slumped in defeat. "Then I'm out."

"Yeah, me too," said Tuffnut. "Let us know when something exciting happens." Then he and his sister trudged out.

Astrid looked ready to stomp right out of the academy herself. From the look on her face, Hiccup could tell that she didn't want to be anywhere near the dragonet.

"You can go if you want," he told her. "I'm not forcing you to stay, or help."

"I know," she said. "But I'm not leaving you alone with that thing."

Hiccup knelt down and stroked the dragonet's back, earning a delighted croon from the infant. "He's just a baby, Astrid. He's not gonna hurt anybody."

Her posture relaxed a little, but she remained firm. "We'll see about that."

Hiccup wasn't sure whether to feel grateful or terrified. It was clear to him that Astrid hadn't gotten over what had happened with the dragonet's mother. And, honestly, he didn't blame her for it. No one had known how difficult defeating the queen would have been, not even Vikings like his father who had been killing dragons for almost their whole lives. But how could she be mad at such an oddly cute little baby dragon?

As if on cue, the dragonet flipped over onto his back and swatted his paws at Hiccup's hand like a playful kitten.

Hiccup smiled awkwardly at the baby Red Death. The thought of becoming a parent had crossed his mind sometimes, but he never thought it would happen this way.

So, it's Hiccup and his girlfriend(?) taking care of a dragonet who thinks Hiccup is its mother! I don't know about you guys, but it's actually kinda funny when you think about it.

Chapter Text

The name for the Red Death dragonet was suggested to me by a fellow writer because I was unfortunately lacking in ideas.

Hiccup never would have imagined that he would have to parent a dragon, let alone a Red Death. But here he was, in the arena, with his probably-girlfriend helping him raise a baby Red Death that had imprinted on him.

He was leaning against the wall, with Toothless curled up at his feet like a big black cat. He watched silently as the baby Red Death followed Stormfly around the arena. Like her rider, the Deadly Nadder didn't want to be within ten feet of the dragonet; she would run away whenever he got too close. The baby dragon kept following her, obviously curious about what exactly this birdlike dragon was.

"He needs a name," Hiccup said to no one in particular.

As luck would have it, Astrid happened to be close enough to hear him. "Hiccup," she growled, "you can't name that thing. Once you name something, you start to get attached to it!"

"Well, he's already become attached to me," he argued. "And if we're gonna train him, we'll need to call him something other than 'the Red Death', don't you think?"

Astrid hated to admit he was right. "You do what you want," she scoffed, "I'm not associating myself with that creature."

Hiccup continued to watch the baby Red Death as he tried to think of a good name. There was something about the dragonet that moved him. This dragon wasn't like his mother in the slightest; he didn't act at all like a merciless killer. He was curious about the world, and the creatures that lived among him.

He couldn't give the dragonet just any old name; he needed to pick the right one. But what sort of name would be fitting for a Red Death?

Death...

Hiccup wasn't too familiar with foreign lands, but he did recall a few words in another language that he'd found in some books. And one of them meant 'death' in a language known as Latin. It seemed interesting enough.

"What about Mortem?" he offered.

Astrid shrugged. "Yeah, yours is better than mine."

"And what name were you thinking?" Hiccup asked, half joking and half serious. "Vikingcrusher? Villagedestroyer? Boyfriendkiller?"

Her eyes went wide, and she spun to look at him. "What did you just say?"

"I said -" he started, then stopped as the realization sank in. "Oh."

Hiccup's relationship with Astrid was questionable at best. He liked to think of her as his girlfriend, but if she didn't think of him that way, then he was content to stay just her friend even if it broke his heart. It did boggle his mind whenever she came in and kissed him out of the blue, but he could never gather enough courage to ask her why.

"A-Astrid," he stuttered, "I am so sorry. I didn't mean -"

"Hiccup," she cut in. "It's okay."

"It is?" he blurted. "I mean, do you really feel that way?"

She gazed down at the academy floor, obviously thinking. If she needed time to figure out her answer, then he would be patient. He wanted the truth, even if it was something he didn't want to hear.

"Well," Astrid said, "I do feel something for you. I just haven't figured out what it is yet."

"That's okay," Hiccup told her. "Take all the time you need. I'll wait."

He was so kind to her, it was almost unfair. Even after being bullied by his peers, belittled by the adults, and even being disregarded, and temporarily disowned, by his own father, he had still fought for them. She had basically ignored him for almost their whole lives, and yet he had forgiven her so easily and accepted her as a friend. Maybe even more than that.

That last thought triggered a memory of that morning, just before they'd headed down into the volcano.

"So," she said, smiling a little in anticipation, "right before we found the egg, you were going to say something. What was it?"

Taken aback by her question, Hiccup stammered, "W-what?" Then his eyes lit up as he remembered. "Oh!" He instantly blushed a bright red. "Well, I, uh...th-that was just...I was trying...what I meant to say was..."

She had to stop him before he hurt himself. "Hiccup, it's okay. Just tell me."

He gulped. "Well," he squeaked, which prompted him to clear his throat. "Er, the truth is...I've known you for as long as I can remember, and you've always been the best at everything. You're strong, fearless, coordinated...I couldn't top that even if I wanted to." His gaze shifted to the floor, but he forced himself to look at her. "One of the reasons I kept trying to kill a dragon, no matter how many times I was scolded, yelled at, knocked down, insulted, ignored, or humiliated...I kept trying to be a hero, to impress you. And I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to have someone as amazing as you in my life."

He hadn't meant to pour his heart out to her, but he just couldn't help it. She needed to know the whole truth, and he wanted her to know how much, and why, he cared about her.

"So, you like me?" Astrid asked, eyebrow raised.

For a moment, Hiccup's mind drew a blank. How could he answer that? "You mean, like as a friend?" he asked. "Or...like-like?"

She just shrugged wordlessly, which didn't help at all.

Well, they say honesty is the best policy.

"No," Hiccup said. "I don't like you."

Astrid's eyes flashed dangerously. She looked like she wanted to punch him, kick him, and yell at him all at the same time. But she didn't get the chance to do any of those things before he finished.

"I love you."

He expected her to be shocked, or angry, maybe even pleasantly surprised. Instead she looked...amused?

"I know," she said, laughing slightly. "I distinctly heard you say 'love' back on Dragon Island before we were interrupted. And you specifically asked me to come with you instead of someone who'd be more interested in finding new dragons, like Fishlegs. Not to mention, you're always tripping over your words when you talk to me, you go out of you way to please me, and every time I end up in danger you get scared half to death." She folded her arms across her chest and gave him a wry smile. "How dumb do you think I am?"

Hiccup was completely gobsmacked. "Y-You knew? Then why did you ask - OW!" That last part came out as a cry of pain as her fist made contact with his shoulder.

"I wanted to hear it from you," she answered, still smiling wryly at him.

Hiccup thought he felt his heart do a flip. She had known how he felt about her the whole time, and yet she still wanted to hear him actually say it. But he didn't need her to say it back, at least not at that very moment. He'd told her he'd be patient, and he was going to hold true to that promise.

I did it. I told her. And she didn't kill me.

Something nudged against their legs, and they both looked down to see Mortem sitting at their feet. His six little eyes blinked curiously at Astrid.

She stared down her nose at the dragonet. "Alright," she sighed, "I'll admit he's kind of cute. But I've got my eye on him."

"That makes two of us," Hiccup joked lightheartedly. Then he glanced up at the sky, which had started to change from blue to orange as the sun began its journey below the horizon. "It's getting late. We should head back."

Another nudge, and he looked back down at Mortem. How am I going to explain this to my father?

It had been nerve-wracking, incredibly risky, and maybe just plain stupid to bring Mortem to the Haddock household. But when Hiccup tried to leave the sheep-sized Red Death dragonet in one of the academy's cages, the little guy gave him the most adorable 'don't leave me alone' face he'd ever seen, so here he was sneaking a forbidden dragon into his home, pushing him out of sight whenever a passing Viking headed their way.

By some sheer stroke of luck, Stoick happened to be working late that night, so the house was empty when Hiccup, Toothless, and Mortem arrived.

The dragonet gazed in wonder at this cozy place his admittedly strange mama had brought him to. There were so many new things he hadn't seen before, and he couldn't wait to explore it all.

"Well, here we are," Hiccup said as he shut the door behind them. "Home sweet home. For now." That last part was uttered under his breath.

Mortem's nose was all over the place. There were so many new smells! So much to explore is this big, strange world!

But when he wandered too close to the basket containing Toothless's dinner, the Night Fury jumped into his path and growled a warning. The dragonet scurried back to Hiccup, curling up behind his legs (or leg and a half) while trembling fearfully.

"Toothless, be nice," Hiccup scolded. "And Mortem, stay close." He led the dragonet to the stairs leading up to his room. "My dad could show up at any minute; if he sees you, he'll have your head on the wall and mine on a plate!"

His bedroom wasn't the best place to hide a Red Death dragonet, but it was a start. Mortem couldn't get into too much trouble in a room that had only a desk, a bed, and a large slab of rock for Toothless to sleep on, and Hiccup would be able to keep an eye on the dragonet here.

Mortem plopped down right in the middle of the room, having tuckered himself out with all the excitement he'd been through that day. So many strange things to investigate, and so little time.

"Okay," said Hiccup, "you can stay in here, but only for tonight. Understand?"

The answer he got was a rumbling sound from the dragonet's stomach.

"Food!" he realized. "You need food." He started backtracking toward the stairs. "You stay here; I'm gonna get you some food." Something bumped into his back, and he turned around to find a certain Night Fury standing right behind him. "Toothless, keep an eye on him for me."

Toothless stared after his rider as he retreated back down the stairs. He didn't look frightened, or hurt, so what was the matter?

The dragonet had made himself comfortable on the floor, right smack dab in the middle of the room where anyone who walked in could see him. Mortem gazed at Toothless curiously, and the Night Fury responded with a scowl. I've got my eye on you, mister.

Hiccup was only gone for about a minute before he returned, carrying the basket full of fish that Mortem had almost ran into earlier. "Okay, boys," he said in a strained voice, "dinner is served."

Something slammed downstairs, and then there came a loud booming voice that nearly gave the poor boy a heart attack.

"Hiccup! Where are you?!"

Stoick was home.

Another cliffhanger, I know. Can't have everything happen all at once.

Anyway, Hiccup managed to tell Astrid he loves her. Now all that's left is for her to figure out if she feels the same way.

Leave a review, and I'll update again ASAP!

Chapter Text

Fingers crossed for Hiccup getting Mortem out of the house before his father sees him.

Hiccup didn't want to think about what would happen if Stoick came up the stairs and found a miniature Red Death in his son's room. If Astrid didn't like Mortem, chances were the chief of Berk wouldn't take it any better.

A lot of what had happened between the Berkians and the nest queen had been at least partly Stoick's fault, but Hiccup chose to not hold it against his father. He was never a vengeful person, and he had to admit that some of the fault was his as well. He knew the chief still hadn't fully recovered from almost losing his only son, especially after having already lost his wife - Hiccup's mother - years ago.

Mortem didn't want to be away from his "mama", but if he stayed under the same roof as Stoick he'd be in perpetual danger. Hiccup needed to get the dragonet out of the house, somewhere safe where no Viking could find him, no matter how much the little guy cried and whined. It was the right thing to do.

"Hiccup?!"

Panicking internally, the chief's heir answered, "I'm up here, Dad! Be right down!" Moving quickly, he set the basket of fish on the floor and opened the lid, revealing its contents to the two hungry dragons in the room. Then he scurried for the stairs, stopping briefly to tell Mortem sternly in a lowered voice, "Do not destroy this bedroom!"

Stoick the Vast was sitting in his designated chair, pressing a block of ice to his forehead. He always did that when he came home from his chiefing duties; every day he would get a headache from all the demands that had to be met and the skirmishes between the villagers that had to be quelled.

"Rough day?" Hiccup asked casually.

His father gave him a half-shrug. "No more than usual." Moving and talking usually made the headaches worse, but the ice helped. "And what have you been up to?"

Hiccup scrambled for a believable answer. "Well, uh, you know, things at the academy have gotten rather...busy lately, so...yeah, I was thinking of calling it an early night." He forced a yawn. "You know how Snotlout and the twins are."

Something clattered upstairs, and he winced.

"What was that?" Stoick asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Uh..." Gotta think quick, Hiccup! "That darn Terrible Terror probably got in the house again. I'm gonna go shoo him out."

He bolted up the stairs, praying to every god he knew that his father wouldn't follow him.

The basket lay empty on the floor. There were papers scattered everywhere, and the desk chair was tipped over, likely the source of the clatter. Mortem was standing on Hiccup's bed, sniffing at something nestled in the headboard.

It was a gray doll-stitched dragon toy with four legs, two wings, a light spiked crest at the back of its head, a large nasal horn, and buttons for eyes. It had been a gift to Hiccup from his late mother that he had thrown into the ocean because it terrified him so much. It was pure luck that it eventually showed up in a fishing net and delivered to the chief by Johann, everyone's favorite trademaster, and now that the war against the dragons was over Hiccup could finally appreciate his mother's gift.

The toy didn't exactly resemble a single known dragon species, but seeing how it looked next to Mortem it did have some resemblance to the Red Death.

"Mortem!" Hiccup hissed under his breath. "You can't be fooling around in here! If my father finds you, he will literally kill you!"

The dragonet looked at him innocently. "What, Mama?"

Toothless rolled his eyes. "He can't understand us. He doesn't know that you're talking to him, or that you're calling him 'Mama'."

"How come?" Mortem asked.

"Because we're dragons," Toothless said, "and he's a human, and we don't speak like they do."

"Why?"

"Because that's just the way things are."

"Why?"

"Because, THAT'S WHY!" Toothless roared in frustration.

"Oh," Mortem said sadly.

Hiccup had witnessed the entire exchange, and although he couldn't understand what they were saying, he could tell that Toothless was not taking to Mortem very well. Hiccup walked over to Toothless to comfort him. "Take it easy bud," he said. "You have to be patient with Mortem."

Toothless rolled his eyes. Yeah, that ship has sailed already.

"Hiccup?" Stoick's voice called from downstairs. "Everything okay up there?"

"Uh, yeah!" he answered quickly. "Just, uh...getting the Terrible Terror out through the window! He's a tricky little guy! I think I should go and, er, escort him someplace safe, and...far away from here."

He quickly deflated, collapsing onto his bed. "Mortem, you can't stay here."

The dragonet stood over him, looking puzzled. Then he licked Hiccup's cheek.

Hiccup knew very well that Mortem was too young to fly. They'd have to walk the entire way to the cove.

Mortem had never been in the forest before. There were so many new sights to see, and so many new smells and sounds. He stopped once to eat some bark off an old tree, and immediately wished he hadn't.

"I suppose you've never heard of the saying, 'curiosity killed the Changewing'," Toothless snorted as he watched Mortem spit out the bark.

It had taken them almost an hour, but they finally made it to the cove. The first thing Mortem noticed was all the wide-open space. It was big enough for him to explore freely and discover new things.

Hiccup mounted Toothless, who jumped and glided into the cove with ease. Mortem watched as the two of them landed gracefully on the ground near the lake.

Once they'd landed, Hiccup looked back up at the baby Red Death on the ledge and called out to him, "Okay, Mortem, give it a try!"

Hearing and understanding his "mother's" words, Mortem jumped and tried to spread his wings like Toothless...only to end up crashing into the ground, stopping just mere inches away from Hiccup and Toothless.

"You'll get the hang of it eventually," said Hiccup. He then turned to Toothless and started to mount him, only to stop when he felt a slight tug on his vest. He knew exactly what it was.

"I'm sorry, Mortem," Hiccup said, gently. "But you have to stay here."

The dragonet tugged harder, pulling his "mama" down off the Night Fury.

"Mortem, no," Hiccup scolded. "Stop that!"

Frightened by his "mother's" sudden hostility, Mortem let go of Hiccup's vest and curled into himself, whining.

Hiccup sighed sadly. He hadn't meant to scare the poor dragonet. "Listen," he said in a much calmer voice, "I don't want my dad to mount your head on our wall, okay? I'll be back soon, Mortem, I promise. Just stay here."

The dragonet sat up and watched obediently as his "mama" mounted the Night Fury and disappeared into the night sky. Mortem was now alone in this vast, unfamiliar cove for the night.

Sleep would not come easy for a baby dragon without his mother.

When he reached home, Hiccup was greeted by his inquisitive father, who had obviously recovered from his killer headache.

"And where have you been this late at night?" the chief asked in his no-nonsense, demanding leader voice.

"Oh, you know," Hiccup said, trying to sound as calm and casual as possible, "Toothless likes taking a lap around the island before bed, and we were already escorting this wild dragon out of the house, so I thought..."

He didn't know if Stoick bought the story or not, but the chief didn't press any further.

Throughout the night, Hiccup was plagued by dreams of Mortem getting himself in trouble with the Vikings of Berk. After nearly getting killed by the tyrant queen of the Dragon Island, how could anyone learn to trust the dragonet, no matter how innocent he may be?

The next morning, Hiccup joined his peers for breakfast in the Great Hall. It had been a rough night's sleep for him, and he wasn't feeling particularly hungry, so he only grabbed a small plate of scrambled chicken eggs before slumping down on the bench next to Astrid.

For a while, nobody said anything. But the silence was broken when Astrid finally spoke up. "So, how'd it go with Mortem?" she asked.

"I had to take him to the cove," Hiccup explained. "He should be safe there."

"Who's Mortem?" Snotlout asked rudely.

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged a quick look at each other. Should they really be talking about this here in a public place?

"It's what I named the you-know-what," Hiccup answered in a whisper.

"The what?" asked a very confused Tuffnut.

Hiccup sighed in frustration. He whispered as quietly as he could, "The baby Red Death."

"Oh, that," Tuffnut said quietly.

"Maybe it's not a good idea to talk about this in public," Fishlegs said nervously.

Astrid listened to them converse in silence. She still hadn't gotten over the fact that Hiccup was now responsible for the offspring of the dragon that had nearly killed him. "So," she finally said, "what's the plan?"

"Plan?" Ruffnut groaned. "Why do we always have to have a plan for this stuff?"

Snotlout wasn't interested in discussing that topic either. "Just leave the thing on another island and be done with it already!"

"I can't do that to Mortem," Hiccup said. "He's just a baby!"

Fishlegs looked thoughtful. "This might be a good opportunity to thoroughly explore and learn more about the Red Death species."

"And if Stoick finds out about this?" Astrid questioned.

Hiccup leaned his head on the table. "If my father finds out, he'll kill Mortem. And then me. And then Mortem again."

"Um," said Fishlegs, "I don't think you can kill the same dragon twice."

"No, trust me," Hiccup grumbled, "he would kill Mortem twice."

"Well, you can't hide him from the chief forever," Astrid said matter-of-factly.

Despite knowing how right she was, Hiccup couldn't help but snark, "You wanna bet?"

It's been clear from the beginning that the other riders don't want much to do with Mortem, but, in all honesty, it would be quite surprising if they did. I'd be pretty apprehensive about getting close to a dangerous creature myself. Plus there's some slight PTSD at play here.

Leave a review, and I'll update ASAP.

Chapter Text

I sincerely apologize in advance for the short chapters and for how long it takes for me to update. To be fair, this is the first fanfiction I've ever written.

As much as he hated to admit it, Hiccup couldn't hide Mortem from Stoick forever. The dragonet's mother had been the size of a mountain, and there was no place on Berk that was spacious enough to hide something that big.

Mortem didn't even know how much danger he was in. Every adult Viking on Berk wouldn't hesitate to kill the poor dragonet if it meant preventing a repeat of the great war that had plagued them for three hundred years. And with Mortem always trying to follow Hiccup everywhere, keeping him hidden and safe was no easy task.

Hiccup was admittedly nervous about the potential dangers a fully-grown Mortem would bring. But they all knew so little about the Red Death species, and this could be an opportunity to learn more about them, like Fishlegs had said.

Of course, there was the question of how they could train Mortem. Perhaps if they taught him how to hunt for his own food, he wouldn't need to rely on other dragons to bring the food to him. Or was that something only a nest queen would do?

So many questions, and so little answers.

Hiccup had retreated into his little workshop in the back of the forge where Gobber worked. It was his own little private space away from home, where he could sketch drawings and invent new odd contraptions to his heart's content. Plenty of peace and quiet for him to think about what to do with Mortem.

Maybe a harness and leash could help keep Mortem in line...at least, until he outgrows it.

Well, it was a start.

He immediately set to work, sketching out different ideas for a harness that would fit Mortem. If he made the straps adjustable somehow, it would help accommodate the growing dragonet for a little while. But no amount of leather and metal in the world would be enough to fit around a mountain-sized adult dragon. Not to mention, the combined strength of every able-bodied person on Berk wouldn't provide enough pull on the leash to stop a full-grown Red Death from going where they didn't want him to - more likely, the line would snap right in half.

They'd have to use a chain. It was much stronger than rope, and Mortem would have a hard time chewing through it like Hiccup had seen some dragons do.

The sooner we get him trained, the more well-behaved he'll be.

It took a while, but after a few hours Hiccup had produced a prototype harness and leash for Mortem. The leather straps would secure around the dragonet's four legs, as well as the wings for extra leverage. A metal ring hung below where Mortem's neck would be - that was where the metal chain leash would clip on.

As Hiccup stood back to admire his work, he was startled by a familiar voice. "I thought I'd find you in here."

Luckily for him, it was Astrid. If it had been his father or Gobber the blacksmith, they would have questioned the harness that had been made. And then he'd be in real trouble.

Hiccup turned to find her standing in the entrance. "What is it with you and sneaking up on people?" he asked sarcastically.

Astrid shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "I thought you'd caught on by now." She noticed the harness prototype he'd made and moved in to get a closer look. "What's that?"

"A harness," Hiccup answered. "I made it for Mortem so we can train him."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you think it will fit him?"

"Well, there's certainly only one way to find out," was his reply.

Mortem was still waiting in the cove since the night before. He had gotten rather hungry, and there was almost nothing to eat in the cove, except for a small school of fish that lived in the lake. Mortem had tried many times, unsuccessfully, to catch and eat them. All he had ever ended up with was a mouthful of water, which didn't help much to satisfy his hunger, but it did help with his thirst.

The poor dragonet was starting to lose his patience when the sound of flapping wings caught his attention. He looked up to see a flock of five different-colored dragons flying side-by-side, each with a human riding on their back.

Mortem recognized the pitch-black scales of the dragon that accompanied his "mama" and was overwhelmed with joy.

The five dragons landed elegantly near the big tree that grew near the far wall of the cove, and Hiccup was the first to dismount. Mortem trembled with barely-contained excitement as his "mother" approached.

"I'm happy to see you too, Mortem," Hiccup chuckled. He looked over his shoulder at his friends. "Well, guys, who wants to come and say hello?"

Fishlegs ducked and hid behind Meatlug, his Gronckle. Snotlout pretended to fall asleep in the saddle of his Monstrous Nightmare, Hookfang. The twins looked bored. Only Astrid was standing at attention, like the shieldmaiden she was.

Mortem gazed at each of them innocently. Who were these strange creatures?

Hiccup deflated. "...Okay, then. Let's see if we can teach Mortem how to fish."

Toothless wasted no time at all. He sat down near the water's edge, watching patiently.

Mortem sat next to the Night Fury curiously. Whatever was this dragon doing?

It felt like an eternity had passed before Toothless finally moved. He lashed out into the water and came up with a flopping fish caught firmly in his teeth. Mortem jumped back in surprise; the black dragon was so fast!

"What exactly are we doing here?" Snotlout asked rudely.

"We're showing Mortem how to take care of himself," said Hiccup. Moving slowly, he readied the harness and chain leash. "And, hopefully, how to get along with people. We just need to give him a little push in the right direction."

He looped the leather straps around Mortem's limbs. The unfamiliar feeling drew the dragonet's attention back to him, but the baby Red Death didn't squirm or try to break free. He trusted his "mother" completely.

In little or no time at all, the harness was fastened tightly around Mortem. It was a perfect fit...for now.

"Okay, Mortem," Hiccup said, giving the chain leash a tug. "Come this way."

The dragonet followed him eagerly, his clubbed tail wagging excitedly like a puppy's.

"Why are you bringing him over here?!" Fishlegs shrieked fearfully.

"So he can get to know all of us," answered Hiccup. The larger boy's cry of fear had startled Mortem, so he gave another gentle tug on the leash to encourage the dragonet forward. "Mortem, this is Fishlegs and Meatlug."

The baby Red Death padded up and sniffed the friendly Gronckle and her nervous rider. Both of them eyed him warily.

"Snotlout and Hookfang."

The Monstrous Nightmare had curled up to sleep. He half-opened one eye to glare at the dragonet before resting his head right on top of his egotistical rider, who shouted something about repercussions.

"The twins Tuffnut and Ruffnut, and their Zippleback friend Barf and Belch."

Said twins were at each other's throats, as per usual, still arguing about who was gonna train Mortem to eat who. The Zippleback's two heads each grabbed the back of their respective rider's shirt in their teeth and lifted them off the ground. Unfortunately, that didn't help much. The two siblings still swatted and kicked at each other, shouting insults of varying obscenity.

"And, of course, you've already met Astrid and Stormfly."

The Deadly Nadder looked more relaxed than she'd been the day before. Perhaps she'd realized that this little dragonet wasn't going to hurt her?

Mortem sat down at Astrid's feet, looking completely innocent and compliant, like a model hatchling. Despite herself, she leaned down and patted him on the head, earning a delightful croon from the dragonet.

"See, guys?" Hiccup said. "He's not gonna hurt anyone."

As if on cue, Mortem sneezed, and a small puff of flame burst out of his mouth.

"You sure you don't want to rephrase that?" Astrid asked.

After that, Hiccup and his friends visited Mortem in the cove every day. The little dragonet gradually learned how to catch fish in the lake and hunt wild pigs in the forest for food, so he didn't have to order a single dragon to get it for him. Hiccup did occasionally let Mortem out of the cove to explore the woods, keeping Mortem on the leash so that he wouldn't wander off too far.

The days soon molded into weeks, and Mortem was growing unbelievably fast. In just one week, the harness was getting a bit too snug. Hiccup had already started working on a bigger harness, but he knew eventually the dragonet would become too big for any contraption to fit on him.

They were gathered at the academy - the one place on the island where the six of them could all work on studying dragons together without being bothered too much by the other Vikings.

"It actually makes perfect sense," said Fishlegs. "A dragonet that small would have to grow up pretty quickly to reach such a mountainous size."

"But how does such a big dragon lay an egg so small?" asked Astrid.

Fishlegs looked thoughtful. "Well, bigger isn't always better. Logically speaking, if the egg were any larger, the shell would be too thick for the dragonet to get out."

Hiccup fastened the final strap of the new harness and held it up for them to see. "What do you guys think? Will it fit?"

"For now, maybe," Astrid said. "But if Mortem keeps growing at this rate, your father will find him in no time."

"I know," Hiccup sighed, visibly deflating. "But how do you show the chief of Berk a baby Red Death without him pulling its head clean off its shoulders?"

"Beats me," uttered a completely bored-looking Tuffnut, who was slumped against one of the barrels they used for target practice.

"Just leave the thing on another island," said Snotlout. "It can take care of itself just fine."

Hiccup couldn't even begin to list all the things that were wrong with that plan. "And what's gonna stop him from coming back here to me? Eventually he's gonna figure out how to fly."

Fishlegs gulped nervously. "That's true."

"So, what?" Astrid scoffed. "We just keep monitoring Mortem until he gets too big to hide and hope that your father doesn't annihilate the poor dragon when he finds out? That doesn't sound much like a plan to me."

"Well, I don't know what else we can do," Hiccup admitted. "We can't leave Mortem someplace all by himself while he's still dependent, and if we leave him to die, we'll be no better than his mother was. He needs us, whether we like it or not, and we're gonna train him."

"You mean, you're gonna train him," said Snotlout. "That dragon imprinted on you, so that makes it your responsibility, Mr. Mom."

The twins laughed at that. "Mr. Mom," Ruffnut sniggered. "Good one!"

Hiccup went to the cove alone - well, with Toothless, but still - to fit the new harness on Mortem. Hopefully the longer and more adjustable straps would last a little bit longer than the prototype.

The dragonet was about the size of Toothless now, and he had the weight to match. Hiccup didn't want to think about what would happen if Stoick were to stumble on Mortem while out hunting for wild boars or spot him while flying over the village on Thornado the Thunderdrum. That was a milestone they were bound to reach sooner that he'd hoped.

The sound of beating wings preceded the arrival of Astrid and Stormfly. "I thought I'd find you here," the blonde said as she dismounted.

"It's the only place Mortem is safe," he told her, sitting down on a large rock by the lake - the same one where he and Toothless had bonded over drawing in the dirt. "I know you're right, Astrid - we can't hide Mortem from my dad forever. But if I introduce them to each other, and Stoick ends up killing Mortem, I...I'd never forgive myself."

She sat next to him. "I know you're scared," she said. "I am, too. But we'll figure something out, right?"

Her question caught Hiccup a little off guard. In stressful times such as this, it was easy to get flustered and lose his mind a little.

"Y-Yeah," he stammered. "We'll figure something out. We always do." Then he smiled at her. "Astrid, I...I can't thank you enough for helping me out with this. It means a lot to me."

Astrid smiled back. "It's no problem," she said. "After all, someone has to be around to get you out of trouble." That last sentence was dripping with playful sarcasm.

Hiccup's face turned bright red, and he replied with an equally playful tone, "And no one does that better than you."

His blush turned out to be contagious. I love you, she wanted to say. He really did mean a lot to her. Sure, she'd ignored him during the fight against dragons, but after that fateful flight on Toothless, her respect and appreciation for him and his compassion only grew the longer they were together.

And yet, she still wasn't sure.

But Hiccup would be waiting for it. And he knew it would be worth it in the end.

It'll definitely be worth it. For everyone, including us. (Well, us who actually ship it.)

Chapter Text

It always pleases me to get reviews for my story. I love knowing that other people are enjoying this, too.

Mortem wondered where his "mother" disappeared to everyday. "She" would always bring such strange creatures with "her" to the cove where Mortem was supposed to be staying for his own safety. Why? Were they his family, too? Could they be his aunts and uncles?

He loved his odd family. He loved his "mama" and "her" strange friends, because, really, how could he not? They all had so much fun together, eating lots of fish and playing games like tag (Mortem was always "it") or hide-and-seek (somehow tag always turned into hide-and-seek).

He didn't like staying alone in the cove. Every day the space seemed to get smaller and more cramped. He wanted to romp and play around in the forest with the other dragons.

He didn't particularly like the weird contraptions his "mama" was always fitting on him. They all got too tight too quickly, and whenever Mortem would find something interesting, his "mama" would always pull him back toward "her" with that long metal thingy.

And he most certainly didn't like his "mama" leaving him all by himself every night. Why couldn't "she" stay with him? Didn't "she" know how much he needed "her"?

Fortunately for Mortem, as he grew bigger, his wings grew stronger. Every day he would practice, flapping his wings like he saw the other dragons do, and soon he was able to hover off the ground. But that wouldn't be enough to follow his "mother" to wherever "she" went every evening.

He had no way of knowing that the Vikings who lived in the village all had very bad memories of his real, biological mother. Given the chance, they might kill him if they deemed it necessary.

Mortem couldn't fly out of the cove just yet. But he could climb.

The only easy way in or out of the cove was a ledge just wide enough for a Night Fury to squeeze through. The ledges were much too high for a dragonet in the Tiny Tooth stage to fly over, especially one of Mortem's size and weight.

He reared up on his hind legs and reached as far up as he could, his claws scraping the rocks desperately. He jumped and flapped his wings to give himself a boost. If he could...just...reach...

Got it!

His claws dug into soil and grass, and he pulled himself up and out. He was free at last!

...And if anyone saw him, he'd be in a world of trouble.

Hiccup couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Could he have forgotten something? Maybe he'd left the Book of Dragons in the cove by mistake while they were studying Mortem.

No, that wasn't it.

It couldn't be Mortem, could it? He should be in the cove, where it was safe. Only Hiccup and his friends knew where to find it, at least for now.

He had to figure out a way to introduce Mortem to the Berkians, preferably without a massive panic on the Vikings' end. It was only a matter of time before someone found out about his not-so-little secret.

...Maybe he should go check on Mortem, just in case.

It turned out, he had that thought just a little too late.

Flying on Toothless, the journey to the cove was much shorter. But when they got there, the Red Death dragonet was nowhere to be seen.

"Mortem?" Hiccup called out desperately. "Mortem!"

No response.

Don't panic. Mortem couldn't have gotten far. Hopefully.

Hiccup quickly steered Toothless back toward the village. They had to find Mortem before someone else did.

They'd only been flying for about a minute when Hiccup noticed a Deadly Nadder chasing after them. It didn't take a genius to recognize Stormfly.

"Hiccup, what's going on?" Astrid asked when her Deadly Nadder caught up with his Night Fury.

"Mortem's gone," Hiccup said, slightly panicking. "He got out of the cove. Have you seen him?" When she shook her head no, he added, "Gather the others. We have to find him before my dad does!"

The two of them split up, with Astrid steering Stormfly down toward the village while Hiccup and Toothless swooped over the forest searching for any sign of the baby Red Death.

"Mortem, where are you?! MORTEM!"

Still no response.

"How could this happen?" Hiccup muttered to himself. "No, scratch that - what was I thinking? I'm not Mortem's mother! This is the craziest situation in the history of crazy!" He slumped against Toothless's back. "Why do these sorts of things always happen to me?"

Toothless responded with a sympathetic croon.

All of a sudden, there was a big commotion near one of the storehouses, like the time just before the creation of the academy, when the dragons were going through a streak of disobedience. Only this time, instead of heading toward the mess, the Vikings were all running away from it, every one of them wearing a look of pure horror.

"The monster has returned!"

"It's going to eat us all!"

"Someone get the chief!"

Hiccup winced. "Da, da-da, we're dead."

It was one of the larger storehouses, capable of holding enough food to feed a village as vast as the one on Berk for at least five winters (though that didn't mean they ever had that much food). Mortem had his entire head stuck in a medium-sized fishing basket, slurping down every morsel he could find.

Hiccup and Toothless were there in an instant. The second the Night Fury's talons touched down on solid ground, Hiccup practically leaped off the saddle and scrambled toward the dragonet. "Mortem, what are you doing?!" he shouted. "You shouldn't be here!"

Mortem shook the basket off his head and gave his "mother" a guilty and submissive look.

"Go back to the cove!" Hiccup commanded, pointing to the forest. "If my father sees you, he's gonna -!" He froze at the sound of a loud thump from behind. He slowly turned around to look, expecting the worst. Thankfully, it wasn't who he thought it was.

All five of his friends sat atop their dragon mounts, which made them look bigger and more intimidating to Mortem.

The dragonet shrank back. He was in so much trouble.

"I'm afraid to ask," Fishlegs uttered.

Chancing a quick look around, Hiccup said, "Let's get him to the academy before my dad shows up."

The academy was much closer than the cove, and they could lock the gate so Mortem couldn't get out.

It took all six of them pulling on the chain leash to get Mortem moving.

"Come on, you big bozo!" Snotlout grunted. "Get off your lazy butt and move already!"

Hiccup provided a much gentler sort of urging. "This way, Mortem. Come to mommy." The realization sank in immediately and he grumbled under his breath, "I can't believe I just said that."

Nevertheless, it worked. The dragonet lumbered after them with a slight spring in his step.

"That's a good boy," Hiccup praised. "Keep coming."

Astrid looked equal parts amused and befuddled. Well, as long as it's working. "Come on, Mortem," she chimed in, "follow us."

They were moving faster now. Toothless and the other dragons had taken up the rear, shielding Mortem from view. In no time, they were approaching the academy gates.

"We're almost there," announced Hiccup.

Fishlegs let out a relieved sigh. "Good."

Mortem recognized the academy. It was the place where he met all of his aunts and uncles. Could it be their home? It certainly seemed big enough for them to live in.

No sooner after they'd all stepped inside, Hiccup commanded, "Tuff, Ruff, close the gate!" When they made no move to obey, he added, "NOW!"

"On it!" the twins replied in unison, a feat not often pulled off between them. They scrambled over each other, each trying to be the first to reach the lever that controlled the gate. They grabbed it at the same time and pulled on it, and the gate slid shut with a loud cranking sound.

Hiccup sighed in relief. "Okay," he said, "Mortem should be safe here...for now."

"Until word gets out to your father," Astrid said, matter-of-factly. "Some people saw him out there. We're out of time, Hiccup." She dropped the chain leash.

Hiccup shrugged. "Well, we all knew it was going to come to this eventually, right?"

"So, what do we do now?" asked Fishlegs.

There was a long silence before Hiccup finally said, "I'll try to talk to my dad. Assuming I can get a word in, maybe he'll see that Mortem's not a threat."

That was a pretty big "if", and they all knew it.

"You guys head back," he told them. "I'll stay here with Mortem until he falls asleep."

Snotlout and the two Nuts wasted no time bailing out the academy's exit. Fishlegs, however, stayed behind just long enough to utter, "Good luck."

Astrid didn't move at all. "I'm staying with you," she said loyally.

Hiccup winced. "Astrid, I appreciate it, but I can't drag you into this. This whole thing is on me; you don't have to stick around for my sake."

"Maybe, but I'm not letting you handle this alone," she said adamantly. "Haven't you learned, after everything we've been through, that we make a great team?"

"Well, yeah," he admitted. "I have to admit, even Snotlout and the twins have their uses...somehow."

He could have sworn he saw Astrid blush slightly. "I was...kinda talking about you and me..." she muttered.

Realizing what she meant, Hiccup sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and tried not to look at her.

Then, perhaps because she felt the situation was getting a little too awkward, she gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder.

Confession: the premise for this story was, for lack of a better word, borrowed from Godzilla: The Series.

Review and I'll get back to you ASAP!

Chapter Text

The point of this chapter is to explain why Hiccup has become so devoted to keeping Mortem safe. I'll be the first to admit that he wasn't too keen on the idea of raising the dragonet at first, for PTSD-related reasons.

It was taking a lot longer for Mortem to fall asleep than Hiccup would have liked. It was getting quite late, and sooner or later the chief would hear from the villagers about a Red Death sighting.

He prayed to the gods that his father wouldn't come barging into the academy demanding an explanation. Normally Stoick would have turned in for the night, and waking him up was a task not so easily done - once he fell asleep, he was out like a light.

Mortem had been led into the largest cage, whose door was barred like the entrance/exit instead of the solid wood of the others. Not very ideal, considering anyone could walk in and see the dragonet quite plainly, but it was the only cage in the academy big enough to house the rapidly-growing infant...for the time being, that is.

Hiccup was sitting on the floor next to the cage, his eyes practically glued on Mortem. The dragonet whimpered, and he reached in through the bars to pat Mortem's nose comfortingly.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't want it to come to this. But I can't have you following me everywhere. Those people out there, they don't know you like we do, Mortem. They could kill you the first chance they get. Please understand, I'm trying to protect you."

Mortem blinked his six eyes at his "mama".

A month ago, Hiccup would have never believed that such an innocent dragonet could be born from possibly the scariest dragon in all existence. He couldn't let Mortem meet the same fate as his mother, it just wouldn't be right.

Hesitating slightly, he went on, "Mortem, listen to me. I'm..." How was he going to explain this? "I'm not really your mother."

The dragonet titled his head, looking confused.

"Your mother is dead," Hiccup explained. "She wasn't like you at all. She was a monster who would have killed everyone if she hadn't been stopped. There was no other way." His shoulders slumped in defeat. "The truth is, I'm just some luckless kid who happened to be there when you hatched. I can't take care of you forever, Mortem."

He hoped the dragonet would understand what he was trying to say, if not the words.

"I want you to be safe. I want everyone to understand that dragons like the Red Death are not all bad. You taught me that, and now I have to teach them. I don't know how much longer you'll be safe here, but I'll figure something out soon. Or, at least, I'll try."

He'd forgotten, in that moment, that Astrid was still there with them. And that Toothless and Stormfly were curled up in the middle of the arena, waiting for their riders to finish up here so they could go home and rest.

So it was to his surprise that Astrid sat down right next to him. "And you won't have to do it alone," she told him.

He smiled gratefully at her. "I know."

Mortem crooned at them both. He'd certainly made an impression on them since the day they'd found his egg. Even Astrid seemed almost sad at the thought of the dragonet meeting such a foul end.

Without thinking, Hiccup blurted, "Do you want to pet him?"

Astrid was a bit surprised at the offer, but she didn't hesitate. She slowly reached her hand out, between the bars of the cage, toward Mortem, who eyed her curiously.

When her hand came in contact with Mortem's scales, she was surprised at how smooth they were. She'd patted Mortem before, but she never really paid attention to how his scales felt. There were a few bumps here and there, but they weren't rough or spikey at all.

Mortem had always loved his odd little family. Underneath this girl's tough exterior, there was a soft spot. You just had to dig a little to find it buried under all the hard layers.

Astrid. That's what he heard his "mother" call her.

No, not his mother. His mother wasn't here, that's what he understood. He didn't know what a "luckless kid" was, but this strange little fellow - or "Hiccup", as Astrid called him, which was weird - who he'd seen right after hatching didn't seem very luckless to him.

Could he be Mortem's father? He wasn't sure, and, at the moment, he didn't really care. Family was family, and, if one thing was certain, Mortem loved his family very much.

Astrid's hand ran over Mortem's nose, around his slightly flaring nostrils that breathed warm air on her, brushing against Hiccup's own hand. The two humans glanced at each other, their cheeks blushing a light red.

Hiccup quickly retracted his outstretched appendage and uttered, "Sorry." Without any prompting whatsoever, he added, "I shouldn't have let you get involved with this. I'm not an idiot; I know how much you don't like Mortem, and I don't blame you if you hate him. But he's just like the other dragons here - he has feelings, and he can learn. We shouldn't have to hate him because of what he is."

"No," Astrid said. She pulled her hand away from Mortem and clasped Hiccup's, their fingers intertwining with each other like pieces of a puzzle. "I don't hate Mortem. I never did. I just hated the reminder."

"Reminder?" he parroted, turning so that he was facing her fully.

She copied his action. "Back on Dragon Island," she elaborated, "when you fell into the explosion. I...I was terrified for you. I was afraid that I'd lost my best friend. You risked your life for all of us, even after all the trouble and grief that we caused you, and I couldn't bear it if you'd died without knowing how much you changed the world for the better. How much you changed me for the better. I...I really like you, a lot."

How was it that even after all that, she still couldn't form the words she wanted to say to him?

Hiccup was admittedly disappointed that she didn't say what he was hoping for. But she was being honest with him, and that was enough.

"Astrid," he said, "I don't expect you to...I mean, if you don't...you know, feel the same way, then you don't have to say it. I told you I love you because that's how I really feel. I can understand if you don't want to get involved with...well, some skinny miniature of a guy like me."

There was a moment of silence before she slugged him in the shoulder.

"OW!"

"You, sir," she said, smiling, "are the craziest muttonhead I've ever met. But," - she scooted closer - "you're also kind, smart, brave, and cute."

"Cute?" Hiccup echoed, sounding offended. "I can understand good-looking, maybe even handsome, but cute?"

"Yeah." Still smiling, Astrid reached up and ruffled his hair. "Sometimes you're just too cute for words."

Before he could stop himself, Hiccup blurted honestly, "I think you're beautiful."

She gasped softly, but she didn't look mad, or offended, or anything negative. In fact, she seemed pleasantly surprised.

Unconsciously, she leaned forward, and Hiccup found himself doing the same. However, before their lips could make contact, the moment was ruined by a deep rumbling sound coming from the cage. Drawing back, Hiccup looked into the cage, and Astrid's gaze followed his.

Mortem was curled up into a ball, snuggled up in his own wings, and lightly snoring. He looked so peaceful in his sleep; it was quite adorable.

"We should probably go," Hiccup whispered.

Astrid nodded. "Yeah."

The moon was high in the sky when Hiccup finally made it to the steps leading up to the Haddock household. He was expecting Stoick to be waiting at the front door with his usual disappointed scowl, demanding an explanation for why the villagers were running around screaming about a monster.

Hiccup had been dreading the inevitable discovery of Mortem's existence ever since he'd brought the dragonet to Berk. He'd grown quite fond of the baby Red Death, enough so that he didn't want the poor creature to be subjected to the way-too-harsh punishment of execution.

The gods must have been smiling down on Hiccup that day, because his father was nowhere to be seen. At least, he wasn't waiting outside.

But inside...

Hiccup opened the door just a crack and listened. The deep rumble of Stoick's obnoxiously loud snoring made the house tremor. Had news of Mortem's escapade reached the chief yet? Had he fallen asleep waiting for his son to return home with an explanation for what in Thor's name was going on?

Moving slowly, and super-quietly, Hiccup creeped into the house. He held the open a little wider so Toothless could slink in after him. Treading lightly, the human-and-Night-Fury duo headed for the stairs, nervously eyeing Stoick's sleeping form on his too-small bed.

It would have been a miracle that they made it all the way to Hiccup's room without awakening the chief, if he wasn't such a heavy sleeper.

"Looks like we dodged an arrow there, bud," Hiccup said. "But I wouldn't break out the mead just yet."

Toothless warbled, somehow expressing those same words even more so.

The young rider, who had somehow become a father, climbed into his bed with a worried sigh. "Here's hoping things will look better in the morning."

One reason I like writing about Mortem so much is because he has such a childlike innocence about him, and he clearly loves his odd, surrogate family. I always find such enjoyment in getting into his head to show what he's thinking, like, "there are so many wonderful new things here", or "I just wanna play", and, of course, "I love my mommy". He's just so adorable!

Post a review, follow, or favorite!

Chapter Text

I give you, adventures in babysitting. (Or, rather, dragonet-sitting.)

Astrid was up bright and early the next morning. She always was, first because of her personal training to become a strong Viking warrior, and nowadays because Stormfly loved to go flying first thing in the morning.

This time, however, Astrid had different plans. She wanted to get to the academy before anyone else did. Well, anyone other than Hiccup. She wanted to see if Mortem was still safe and unharmed.

If Astrid were to say that Mortem was a bad dragon, she'd know she was lying. The Red Death dragonet didn't seem to have a bad bone in him at all. She couldn't bring herself to even dislike him now. How could she when Mortem kept looking at her and Hiccup with those innocent, curious eyes of his? He was just too pure-hearted for his own good.

It turned out Hiccup had beaten her to the academy. But that wasn't a surprise. He was the most worried about Mortem's potential fate, so of course he'd get up early to check on the dragonet.

The cage had been opened, allowing Mortem to walk out into the arena. The dragonet's entire demeanor brightened at the sight of Astrid and Stormfly soaring in through the entrance.

"Well, good morning, my lady," Hiccup greeted semi-jokingly when he saw her.

Shaking her head in amusement, Astrid jumped off of Stormfly's back and landed gracefully on the academy floor. "I should have known you'd beat me here," she said.

Hiccup shrugged. "Well, Toothless wasn't going to let me sleep in anyway," he said. "And, actually, I was hoping to have a word with you."

"What about?" Astrid asked.

"I might have an idea," Hiccup confided. "If I can talk to my dad before word gets around about Mortem, maybe he'll be more receptive to keeping a Red Death dragonet alive."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

"No," was his honest reply. "But I'm a little short on good ideas, so we'll need to try anything. I'll need you and the others to keep an eye on Mortem while I'm gone."

She thought for a moment, then shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure, we can do that, no problem."

"Thank you," Hiccup said genuinely. "This...this really means a lot to me." Then, on impulse, he pulled Astrid into a hug.

She was quite a bit surprised at the sudden gesture. But she got over the shock quickly and returned his affection.

It lasted longer than Hiccup intended. He was reluctant to pull away. Just being around Astrid made his heart overflow with a warm, fuzzy feeling. It took several minutes for him to finally let go.

"I should warn you," he said, "Mortem can be quite a handful...maybe even two. Think you can handle it?"

"Yes," Astrid said with absolute certainty.

Hiccup nodded. "Okay, then. I'll try to be back as soon as I can." Wasting little time, he mounted Toothless, and the Night Fury took off like a shot.

Astrid eyed Mortem, who was sitting down right in the center of the academy, looking like a perfect, model dragonet. If luck was with her, and the other four, watching over him shouldn't be too hard.

But if there was one thing she had learned by now, it was that nothing involving dragons was ever easy.

Hiccup knew as well as anyone that discussing anything dragon-related to Stoick the Vast was like talking to a brick wall. It was a wonder how anything got through that thick skull of his. He sincerely hoped that his father was in a listening mood today.

He and Toothless found the chief in the Great Hall, surrounded by a crowd of panicked Vikings recounting what they'd seen the night before.

"It was a monster!"

"It tried to eat my baby!"

"It ruined all my crops!"

"What do we do?!"

Hiccup winced. He was pretty extra sure that Mortem didn't actually do those things. Even so, his idea was already off to a bad start.

The chief's voice bellowed over all the hubbub. "Everyone calm down!"

The entire hall went quiet.

"I assure you all that this situation will be dealt with accordingly," Stoick said. By chance, he happened to spot the familiar black shape of Toothless near the large doors that were the only way in or out of the Great Hall. "Hiccup!"

Uh-oh. "Yes?"

"I could use your help."

Gulping nervously, Hiccup made his way across the hall, Toothless at his heels, to stand before his mountainous father.

"It seems our people have spotted a Red Death here on Berk," said the chief.

"Red Death?" Hiccup squeaked. He cleared his throat and asked, "Are you sure? Maybe someone made a mistake...?"

He didn't like lying, and he'd been told that he wasn't all that good at it. But if Stoick was expecting a giant, mountain-sized Red Death instead of a Night Fury-sized dragonet, then maybe there was still hope for Mortem.

"Which is why I need you and your friends to investigate," said Stoick. "If there is another Red Death out there somewhere, we need to put a stop to this before it gets out of hand."

"Put a stop to this?" Hiccup echoed. "You don't mean we need to...kill it, do you?"

Sighing, Stoick stared down his nose at his miniscule son and said, "Hiccup, a chief has to protect his people at all costs. And a father has to protect his son at all costs. We can't afford another war. I'm trusting you to do the right thing. Is that clear?"

Hiccup deflated. His worst fear had come true. Stoick hadn't even met Mortem officially, and he wanted the dragonet dead. Or, rather, he wanted a hypothetical Red Death who may or may not exist dead before it could trigger a repeat of the great war that had plagued the Vikings for a good three hundred years.

A chief has to protect his people at all costs.

All his life, Hiccup had never once believed that he would be a good chief. Nowhere near as great as Stoick the Vast. After all, how could he? He was nothing like the other Vikings - no bulging muscles, no great physical strength, he couldn't even lift anything heavier than a sword.

A father has to protect his son at all costs.

Mortem couldn't fend for himself. He still needed Hiccup to take care of him. He didn't understand why everyone was so afraid of him, or that his life was in danger. Hiccup couldn't let Mortem die. He may not be the dragonet's biological parent, but Mortem was still his son.

Mortem's just like me, Hiccup realized. People expect certain things from both of us based on who our parents are. But that doesn't mean we're anything like them.

He remembered that his father was waiting for an answer to his question. Steeling himself, Hiccup looked into Stoick's eyes and said, with as much confidence as he could muster, "Yes."

Astrid had known that looking after Mortem, without Hiccup, wouldn't be easy. But she hadn't expected things to spiral out of control as quickly as they did.

Mortem was rather confused to see his "father" gone while his aunts and uncles were all here. But he still loved to play with them. So, when the other four Dragon Riders came into the academy to help take care of him, the dragonet ran over to greet them, and so began another wonderful game of tag. Everyone was running in circles around the arena, Mortem chasing after pretty much anyone while Astrid tried to reign him in.

"Mortem!" she shouted. "Stop fooling around!"

They passed Fishlegs, and he quickly jumped in to help. "Come to your Uncle Fishlegs!"

Snotlout stayed off to the side to avoid getting dragged into the chase. "How much longer do we have to put up with this guy?"

Astrid gave him a half-scoff half-laugh. "I was going to ask the same thing about you."

That got Tuffnut and Ruffnut roaring with laughter. "She got you good!"

"Shut up!" Snotlout snapped at them.

Mortem was starting to get tired of running around in circles. He slowed to a stop and flopped down onto the academy floor, breathing heavily. Astrid quickly caught up and leaned against his flank with a sigh.

...Only to jump back when his stomach rumbled loudly.

"Did anyone bring any fish?" she asked.

Fishlegs let out a nervous squeak. Snotlout looked bored. And the twins looked clueless.

None of them had brought anything to feed Mortem.

Motivated by his hunger, the dragonet picked himself up and headed for the exit. He knew from the night before that there was plenty of food in the village.

"Stop him!" Astrid shouted.

Too late. Mortem was already out the gate and off running.

Astrid didn't waste any time. "Fishlegs, get Hiccup. The rest of us will try to catch Mortem."

"Uh, no thanks," said Snotlout. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "I never wanted any part in this! Sorry, babe, but you're on your own."

As much as Astrid wanted to hit him where it hurts for calling her "babe" for the umpteenth time, every second wasted was a second Mortem got closer to danger.

"Stormfly!"

The blue Deadly Nadder stood at attention, and her rider was on her back in a flash. As soon as you could blink, they were soaring out the exit and into the sky.

By some stroke of luck, the village was empty when Mortem arrived. Everyone was still gathered in the Great Hall to address the Red Death sighting from the night before.

There were so many interesting things to see - houses, the forge, stray sheep and chickens - that Mortem briefly forgot his hunger...until he noticed a few Terrible Terrors eating some small fish that they had caught themselves.

He'd never seen such small dragons like them before. Maybe they could help him get some food to eat. And after that, they could play a game of tag or hide-and-seek.

Mortem lumbered over, and the Terrible Terrors scattered fearfully. The dragonet stopped only to slurp up some of the leftover fish before he hurried after them.

When Astrid and Stormfly arrived about a minute later, Mortem was in plain sight, chasing after a small flock of very frightened Terrible Terrors. "Oh my gosh," the blonde uttered to herself before steering her dragon down toward the village, "Mortem!"

The dragonet froze at the sound of his name. Stormfly landed right next to him and grabbed the chain leash of his harness in her teeth.

"Playtime's over," Astrid said firmly. And thus, they began their journey back to the academy.

It was a miracle no one had heard all of that.

Hiccup and Toothless were waiting at the academy when Astrid, Stormfly, and Mortem arrived. As soon as Hiccup saw them enter, he started rapidly firing off panicked questions. "What happened? Is Mortem okay? Did anyone see him?"

"I don't think anyone saw him," Astrid answered. "Well, except for some Terrible Terrors."

Mortem perked up at the sight of his "father". He tugged the chain leash out of Stormfly's mouth and stumbled forward, landing right on top of Hiccup.

"Yeah," Hiccup said as best he could after having the air knocked out of his lungs. "I'm happy to see you, too, Mortem."

"Took you long enough," Snotlout griped. "Next time, find someone else to take care of that thing for you."

Astrid growled in frustration as she dismounted her Deadly Nadder. "How did the talk with Stoick go?"

"Not good," Hiccup groaned. "He says we need to 'put a stop to this'" - he made air quotes as he recapped his father's exact words - "which probably means killing the Red Death."

Everyone was silent. Even Snotlout and the twins.

"B-but," Fishlegs stammered, "Mortem is just a b-baby. And he's so nice. How can we...?"

"I don't know," Hiccup sighed. "I don't know..."

That night, Hiccup had retreated up to his room. He was sitting as his desk, staring solemnly at the drawings that were scattered across the hard wooden surface. He heard the sound of Stoick's heavy footsteps ascending the stairs but didn't bother to look up. He wasn't sure he could face the chief after their talk in the Great Hall.

"Son," Stoick said in his gentlest, most fatherly voice, "I know I'm asking for a lot from you. Killing one Red Death was hard enough, and I understand if you feel like you can't handle that responsibility again."

If only you knew, Hiccup snarked silently.

The chief continued. "But I want you to know how proud I am of you. You've done many great things since that fight, and every time you've surprised me. Yes, you're quite frustrating and hard to understand sometimes, but I couldn't have asked for a better son."

Hearing that was cold comfort. Hiccup could easily imagine Stoick taking all of that back once he found out what had been going on right under his nose for the past month or so. He was reminded, uncomfortably, of the night Stoick had returned from his last unsuccessful attempt to find the dragon's nest - the night before Astrid had followed Hiccup all the way to the cove and found Toothless. The chief had been so proud of his son then, and it had all been rendered moot when the Night Fury showed up to save his best friend from getting incinerated by an angry Monstrous Nightmare.

Hiccup forced himself to turn around and face his father. "Thanks, Dad." Then he noticed that Stoick was holding a piece of paper in one hand and asked, "What's that?"

"A marriage contract," was the chief's blunt reply.

"Let me guess," Hiccup deadpanned. "Ms. Svenson and Mr. Endergard are tying the knot again?"

The Svenson girl and the Endergard boy had gotten married to each other thrice before. The first time lasted about five weeks before the first divorce, then the second marriage was about three and a half weeks long before another divorce. Everyone had thought that the third time would be the charm, but to everyone's disappointment it barely lasted a single day.

To his credit, Stoick did laugh at that. "Actually, it's for you."

"WHAT?!" Hiccup jumped back in shock and fell right off his seat. "Whoa!" He quickly picked himself up. "You can't be serious."

"Hiccup." Now came that no-nonsense chiefly voice. "It's high time we put your future into consideration. You're fifteen, almost sixteen. I married your mother at thirteen. We've put this off long enough, and now it's time to face the facts. You need a wife."

Hiccup gulped nervously. "And who, may I ask, is the unlucky bride?"

Stoick sighed. "Hiccup, I'm not blind," he said. "I've seen how close you and Astrid have gotten. I just got done talking with her parents, and we are all agreed. You'll be married before the snow sets in."

Hiccup's shoulders slumped in defeat. Astrid's gonna kill me.

It was no secret that Astrid wasn't partial to weddings, and all that it entails. She was a strong, independent Viking warrior. She wasn't even sure if she loved Hiccup the way he loved her.

The last thing Hiccup wanted was to make her unhappy. How could he face her tomorrow after having that bombshell of news dropped on him?

"Well," said Stoick, "it's been a long day. You get some sleep. I have preparations to make." With that, he descended the stairs back down to the ground floor.

Hiccup sighed again. "Great," he snarked to himself. "As if I didn't have enough on my plate already."

Toothless had been watching the scene silently from his slab of rock. He hated seeing his best friend look so upset. He stood up and walked over to the desk, nudging Hiccup's hand with his nose.

The young Viking absentmindedly patted the Night Fury's head. "What am I gonna do, bud?"

I read somewhere that real-life Vikings married as young as twelve. And nowadays, depending on where you live, the age of majority is eighteen. Fifteen or sixteen seems like a good compromise to me.

Be sure to leave a review!

Chapter Text

Things are about to get complicated...

A father has to protect his son at all costs.

That phrase had been echoing in Hiccup's head the whole night through, depriving him of sleep. As long as Mortem remained on Berk, the dragonet was in constant danger. They were running out of places that were big enough to hide him. And they couldn't just dump him on another island, like Snotlout suggested. Mortem was still too young to look after himself.

Hiccup couldn't help wondering what would have happened if he'd revealed Mortem to Stoick that first night. Would his father have killed such a harmless, newly-hatched dragonet just because of its species? Hiccup hoped not.

Maybe Stoick would have spared Mortem then. But he certainly wouldn't now, not with panic spreading through the village so quickly. Even if Mortem meant them no harm, they'd rather eliminate a potential threat first and ask questions later. They were Vikings after all, it was practically in their nature.

But not Hiccup's.

He needed to act fast to save Mortem's life.

The sun wasn't up yet; the horizon was tinted a pinkish-orange by the approaching dawn. Hiccup had barely gotten any rest that night, but sleep was the last thing on his mind. He needed a plan to save Mortem, and he needed it fast.

Astrid and Fishlegs were his go-to consultants for ideas. Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut hardly ever offered anything useful. But the six of them were the only things standing between Mortem and certain death. Eleven, counting their dragons. (Or would Barf and Belch count as two dragons? Separate heads, same body; it got rather confusing at times.)

Briefly, he wondered if Astrid had perhaps heard about their recent engagement. But he pushed that thought aside and realigned his focus to the more pressing matter at hand.

He knew they couldn't bring Mortem back to Dragon Island. Aside from the post-traumatic stress, there wasn't enough food there to sustain a dragonet of Mortem's current size - one and a half times the size of Toothless - let alone a fully-grown Red Death.

There were other islands nearby with plenty of food and luscious vegetation. But, should they bring Mortem there, how could they convince him to stay and not follow them back to Berk?

Hiccup would have to discuss this plan with his friends at the academy. It would be a little while before they woke up.

I should head over early and check on Mortem.

Toothless was still asleep, but he liked to wake up early so he and Hiccup could go flying in the cool morning air. Surely he wouldn't mind getting up earlier than usual. They could take a quick lap around the island and then swoop into the academy where Mortem was waiting.

The Night Fury was still curled up on his slab of rock that he had heated with his fire before going to sleep. Hiccup quietly got out of bed - startling Toothless awake was the kind of mistake you only made once. He tiptoed across the room and knelt over the sleeping reptile.

"Toothless?" When he got no response, he reached out and patted the Night Fury's shoulder. "Come on, bud, wake up."

Grumbling, the black dragon curled into a tighter ball. It's too early.

Hiccup couldn't help but find the situation a little ironic - normally he'd be the one getting the rude awakening in the early morning when he would much rather sleep in, and now here he was trying to rouse Toothless from his slumber while the Night Fury wanted to sleep more.

"Toothless, get up," he said a bit louder. "We've got work to do. One lap around the island, and then we bring Mortem his breakfast and get him ready for relocation."

Groaning tiredly, the Night Fury uncurled himself and glared at his rider with half-lidded eyes. Fine. Have it your way, "mommy".

Mortem woke up that morning to the rising sun shining in his eyes. He yawned and stretched himself. Or, at least he tried to stretch.

The cage his family kept him in was starting to get cramped. He'd outgrow it in no time.

Maybe now his daddy would let him out and show him the world. There was still so much to see.

*Grumble grumble*

After breakfast.

There was a screeching roar, and a black shape swooped in through the academy entrance. Toothless landed neatly in the middle of the arena, and Hiccup, with a fishing basket slung over one shoulder, dismounted and approached Mortem's cage.

The dragonet squirmed excitedly.

"Good morning, big guy," Hiccup smiled. "I got your breakfast." He pulled the lever on the wall next to the cage, and the barred door creaked open agonizingly slowly.

Mortem squeezed under the door as best he could. His snout nudged Hiccup, and the one-legged rider obligingly dropped the basket to the floor. It tipped over, and its contents spilled out with a wet splatting sound.

Motivated by his hunger, the baby Red Death slurped up the fish with surprising speed.

"Slow down, Mortem," said Hiccup. "You don't want to get a stomachache, do you?"

His dragonet son titled his head at him, clearly not understanding what a stomachache was.

As the sun climbed higher and higher into the sky, Hiccup grabbed the multi-purpose-scoreboard he used for teaching and pinned up a map of the archipelago. He had crossed off Berk, Dragon Island, Outcast Island, Berserker Island, and a few others that were much too small to house a full-grown Red Death. The nearest place that Hiccup had deemed suitable for Mortem was called Green Island - full of vast forests with plenty of ecosystem to spare for a growing Red Death dragonet, and it was only a few hours' flight from Berk.

All he needed was his friends' input on how to get Mortem there without anyone seeing him.

As usual, Astrid arrived first. "Morning, Hiccup."

"Uh," he choked. Did she know about the wedding? If her parents hadn't told her already, she'd find out once Stoick announced it to the whole village. "G-good morning, Astrid."

She regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "You're acting weirder than usual."

"Just, uh, nervous for Mortem," he said hastily. Technically, that wasn't a lie. Hoping to change the subject, he asked, "Where are the others?"

"At the Great Hall," Astrid replied. "Apparently your father has a big announcement for the village."

Uh-oh. Hiccup was pretty extra sure he knew what the "big announcement" was about.

If everyone's gathered in the Great Hall, we could bring Mortem to Green Island while they're busy. I'd rather have the whole gang here to help me, but there's no time to lose.

"We can't wait for them," he said. "We need to get Mortem out of here now."

They had the harness on him in record time. The whole time, Mortem was blissfully unaware of the urgency of the situation. He nudged each of them with his nose, hoping they would play with him.

"Stop," Astrid scolded.

The dragonet whimpered and backed away.

Hiccup had been making himself busy hooking the chain leash onto Toothless's saddle so that Mortem would follow them to Green Island. He wasn't sure if the dragonet was old enough to fly yet, but now was as good a time as any to find out.

"Okay, I think that should do it," he said to no one in particular. "Let's get flying."

Mortem regarded his daddy with a tilted head and blinking eyes.

"I'm sorry, Mortem," said Hiccup, "but you're not safe here. We found a new home for you, and we're taking you there. I promise I'll come and visit as often as I can. I don't know when I'll see you again, but it might not be for a while."

The baby Red Death didn't understand the words, but he did understand one thing - he was leaving the only home he knew. He gave a crooning whine and slumped to the ground, gazing sadly at Hiccup.

The sight alone nearly broke the poor guy's heart. "I didn't want it to have to come to this, Mortem, but it's for your own good."

They couldn't wait any longer. They needed to go.

Toothless and Hiccup led Mortem outside the academy, with Stormfly and Astrid taking the rear. With the Night Fury pulling from the front, and the Deadly Nadder pushing from behind, the dragonet had no choice but to go forward.

Once they were outside, Toothless took to the air, flying higher and higher until the chain leash was pulled taut.

"Come on, Mortem," Hiccup said. "Fly!"

The dragonet looked up at him. He watched Toothless's flapping wings keeping him aloft and gave his own wings an experimental flap.

"That's it," Hiccup encouraged. "You can do it! Flap those wings!"

Astrid joined in. "Fly, Mortem!"

Invigorated by their words, the dragonet flapped harder and faster. Slowly, surely, he started lifting off the ground.

"Attaboy!" Hiccup praised. "You're doing it!"

Mortem crooned with delight. He was flying! He was really, actually flying! He rose higher into the air, after Toothless, and Stormfly and Astrid followed.

"Go, Mortem!" she cheered.

Hiccup laughed delightedly. "Okay, next stop - Green Island."

The three dragons headed south, where it was warmer. Hiccup and Fishlegs had theorized that the warmer weather was the reason why there was so much more foliage on Green Island.

But to get there, they had to pass over the village. Despite knowing that most, if not all, of the population of Vikings would be inside the Great Hall, the thought of bringing Mortem there in broad daylight was nerve-wracking.

What Hiccup wasn't counting on was Stoick coming out to look for him so he could properly announce his son's engagement to Astrid.

Though, in hindsight, he should have expected it.

The chief wandered aimlessly around the village, calling Hiccup's name at the top of his lungs. He instinctively looked up at the sound of flapping wings, expecting to see Toothless soaring.

Well, he did - as well as a blue Deadly Nadder and a bulky-looking dragon.

What is that?

Briefly, the sun shone in the chief's eyes, depriving him of a good look at the strange creature. But as they flew on, heading south, Stoick began to notice some distinctive features. Even now, he could still remember the giant, imposing figure of the Red Death, and its ruthlessness. There were very few dragons who could match its sheer might.

Some of the villagers had claimed they'd spotted a Red Death a couple nights ago. It seemed odd at first, because where would a dragon as big as a mountain be able to hide itself effectively?

But seeing the familiar gray bulk, clubbed tail, thick legs, and ragged wings, all the pieces started coming together.

A baby?!

If that thing got loose, the war could start all over again. They couldn't afford three hundred more years of fighting over precious food.

"GOBBER!"

It didn't take long for Stoick's right-hand blacksmith to answer the call. He was surprisingly fast on a peg leg. "What's the problem chief?"

"Gather the Berk Guard," the chief ordered. "I just found the beast." He pointed at the bulky gray dragon that was flying south.

Now, Gobber had also gotten himself up close and personal with the first Red Death, so of course he'd remember it as well as Stoick did. As the village blacksmith, he'd spent more time forging weapons than using them in battle, but he still had his fair share of experience in the war.

Neither of the two men could see the harness and chain leash Mortem was wearing - Stormfly's position behind the dragonet was blocking their view. To them, it looked like the monster was chasing after Hiccup and Toothless, and Astrid and Stormfly were pursuing it.

"Right away, chief," Gobber said. Then he took off running back into the Great Hall.

Because Mortem had never flown before, he wasn't a very fast flyer. Hiccup was beginning to think that this plan wasn't the best plan after all.

His concern was quickly proven correct as the sound of people shouting manifested below them.

"Hiccup," Astrid said worriedly, "we've got company."

Wincing internally, he looked down.

The village was practically overrun by Vikings scrambling for their weapons and wheeling catapults out into the open.

"Yeah," Hiccup sighed, "I really didn't think this plan through."

Toothless snorted. Oh, you think so?

On the ground, the Vikings saw a miniature version of the Red Death flying right behind the chief's son and his Night Fury, and wasted no time loading the heaviest rocks they could lift into their catapults. Maybe Hiccup wasn't the best Viking by normal standards, but he was very important to the village, especially when their lineage was concerned.

"FIRE!" Stoick ordered, pointing his sword at the dragonet.

"No, wait!" shrieked Fishlegs's voice.

But it was too late - at the pull of their levers, the catapults all launched their cargo, the boulders headed straight for the young Red Death.

Astrid saw the oncoming rain of rocks first. As a trained warrior, she set aside her initial fear and shouted a warning to Hiccup.

"INCOMING!"

Her intended whirled around so fast he almost fell off the saddle. "Oh, great," he groaned, his heart dropping into his stomach.

But the dragons had heard Astrid's call as well, and Toothless and Stormfly swerved away from the falling boulders. Mortem, however, wasn't as lucky. One of the rocks collided with his left wing, and there was a loud, sickening *SNAP* as the dragonet cried out in pain.

Hiccup watched helplessly as Mortem's wing hung limply at his side. The dragonet plummeted, and Hiccup had all of one second to remember that the chain leash was still hooked onto Toothless's saddle before he and the Night Fury were forcibly yanked down toward the hard, unforgiving ground below.

Despite the wind howling in his ears, Hiccup could hear Astrid shout his name as he and Toothless and Mortem rapidly descended. For a moment, his life flashed before his eyes, and then he blacked out.

As much as I hate to admit it, there's something darkly ironic about how Hiccup's attempt to save Mortem put the poor dragonet in danger.

Stay tuned, and, in the meantime, please leave a review!

Chapter Text

Don't be too mad at Stoick; he is quite overprotective of his son, you know. Mortem being a Red Death means danger and evil to him. But of course, he'll be proven wrong by the end of this.

When Hiccup came to, he found himself lying flat on his back. He could feel soft grass underneath his being, and he could hear Toothless groaning in pain. The first thought that popped into his head was Mortem.

Groggily, he forced his eyes open. Astrid's face hovered in front of him, close enough that her breath tickled his cheeks. In any other situation, he'd be starstruck by how beautiful she looked up close. But not right now; Mortem was his biggest concern.

"Hiccup," Astrid sighed in relief. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," he replied, sitting up. "Where's Mortem?"

The answer he got was a pained, crooning whine. Behind him, just a few feet away, Toothless was sprawled out in the dirt while Mortem had curled himself up into a ball, both of them sore from the crash landing but very much alive.

They were near the edge of the forest, and the adult Vikings hadn't arrived yet; Hiccup guessed he'd only been out for a minute or two. But he could hear their shouts rapidly getting closer to their location.

Mortem was a sitting duck.

Hiccup scrambled to his feet (or foot and a half) and hurried over to the two injured dragons. Toothless was already picking himself up, shaking the dirt off and grunting a little as he recovered from the crash.

"You okay, bud?" asked Hiccup.

The Night Fury warbled in reply. I'm fine.

Mortem, however, was not. His wing hung limply at his side, obviously broken. There was no way he could fly in that condition.

Hiccup jumped at the sound of wingbeats. When he looked up, he expected to see his father on the back of his trusty Thunderdrum. As relieving as it was to instead find the other four Dragon Riders swooping in to see what had happened, there was still the pressing issue of Mortem's vulnerability. The six or eleven/twelve of them wouldn't be enough to protect the poor dragonet from a mob of angry villagers.

Normally, Fishlegs and Meatlug were the slowest of the group. But this time, they were the first to arrive on the scene. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," Hiccup answered. "But Mortem's wing is broken; he can't fly."

Then came the sound of heavy footfalls headed their way.

"I think you've got bigger problems, Mr. Mom," Snotlout said.

Leading the charge was Stoick on Thornado. The Thunderdrum landed heavily before the teens and their dragons, the rest of the village arriving on foot soon after.

"Hiccup!" Stoick shouted. "Get away from that thing right now!"

Hiccup started but stopped when someone brushed past him and stood protectively in front of the injured dragonet.

"He's not a thing," Astrid declared boldly. "His name is Mortem, and he's our friend!"

A wave of surprised gasps and confused murmurs rippled through the sea of onlookers.

Hiccup himself was rather surprised to see and hear the one friend who he knew held the strongest animosity toward the Red Death stand up for the dead queen's offspring. It filled him with hope. With her rep as the most promising Viking warrior, Astrid could easily be more persuasive than Hiccup. If she said that Mortem was their friend, surely everyone would listen to her.

That sentiment was quickly squashed down, however, when the chief bellowed, "Have you gone mad?! THAT'S A RED DEATH!"

"Dad, stop!" Hiccup blurted, staggering forward. "He's just a baby; he doesn't understand. Just leave him alone!"

"But it was attacking us!" Someone protested.

"Attacking?" Astrid scoffed. "You muttonheads almost got Hiccup and Toothless killed!"

"What are you talking about?" asked another Viking.

Hiccup wordlessly unhooked the chain leash from Toothless's saddle and gave it a demonstrative tug. Mortem's head perked up, revealing the harness.

Stoick blinked a few times, making sure that what he was seeing was real. Then his expression became stony and he asked in a low growl, "You've been harboring this thing?"

"I found him on Dragon Island," Hiccup tried to explain, wincing as his voice cracked. He sounded like a five-year-old pretending to be a chief. "He hatched right in front of me; he thought I was his mother. I couldn't just leave him there by himself."

"You found a baby Red Death on Dragon Island and BROUGHT IT HERE?!" Stoick roared.

"Well, I didn't know what else to do!" Hiccup shot back, and with a surprising amount of force.

After that, it became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. No one dared to speak; no one was bold enough to get in the middle of the confrontation between the chief and his smaller-than-average son.

Finally, Hiccup spoke, much more calmly, "Yesterday, you told me that a father should protect his son no matter what." Then, his eyes set with determination. "I don't care what you do to me; I'm not going to let you kill Mortem."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Astrid looking at him with pride and what he could have sworn was admiration. ...Could it be possible that she did have some feelings toward him? Maybe their marriage wouldn't be too much of a disaster after all.

He forced the thought away for the time being and kept his gaze on his father's rage-filled eyes. He'd been in this position before, back when Toothless had saved him from the claws, teeth, and fire of a rampaging Hookfang in the arena. This time, however, he wasn't yielding. He couldn't.

The stare-down between father and son seemed to last an eternity and a half. Stoick was a stubborn as a yak, but Hiccup couldn't afford to back down.

Finally, with a little persuasion from Toothless and Thornado, the chief relented. "Get that thing out of my sight," he ordered. "I never want to see it again." Then he turned and addressed the villagers. "We're done here."

As the Vikings dispersed, Hiccup let out a relieved sigh. Maybe Mortem wasn't entirely safe yet, but at least the Berkians weren't going to kill him.

Okay. We're gonna need a new plan.

"So," he said awkwardly, "anyone know where to find an extra-large blanket, or something?"

They had to settle on a fishing net.

It wasn't much. Poor Mortem was dangling over the raging sea with each of the net's four corners held in the talons of Stormfly, Meatlug, Hookfang, and Barf and Belch. The dragonet's wing had been splinted, but he still couldn't fly by himself, not until it had fully healed.

Hiccup and Toothless were in the lead, of course. They'd been to Green Island before, and they knew the way quite well. Besides, Mortem was Hiccup's responsibility; he'd gotten his friends into this mess, and now he had to clean it up.

"Are we there yet?" asked Tuffnut.

Astrid glared at him. "That wasn't funny the first fifteen times you said it, either."

"Actually," Hiccup said, "we are." He pointed ahead, where a spot of green stood alone on the vast blue ocean.

Snotlout whooped with joy. "Land ho!"

His cheers soon turned to screams, however, when his Monstrous Nightmare set himself ablaze.

"HOOKFANG!"

That moment of hilarity broke the tension that had been hanging over them since that morning. Even Hiccup couldn't resist a chuckle.

It quickly died down, however, when they touched down on the shores of Green Island. With Hiccup and Astrid's gentle urging, Mortem crawled, slowly and reluctantly, out of the fishing net and onto the sand. His heavy talons were swallowed by the beach, and his splinted wing trailed down at his side.

Hiccup sighed dejectedly. "Well, Mortem, this is it. Your new home."

The dragonet looked back at him. What do you mean, daddy?

"Let's pack it up, gang," said Hiccup, turning to address the other riders. "I told my father we'd be back by dinnertime."

Wait. Mortem's daddy was leaving without him?

The dragonet hobbled after Hiccup, nudging his back with his nose, wailing. Don't go!

Hiccup sighed sadly. "I can't take care of you anymore, Mortem. I'm sorry."

Cooing sadly, the baby Red Death nuzzled him. I'll miss you.

Hiccup hugged the dragonet's snout. "I know," he said, his voice on the verge of breaking. "I'll miss you, too. But I promise, I'll come and visit as soon as I can."

Behind him, Toothless warbled in disappointment. Maybe he didn't like seeing Hiccup so unhappy, or maybe he had gotten attached to Mortem in his own way. The world may never know for sure.

Mortem suddenly pulled out of Hiccup's embrace and walked over to Astrid. After a moment's hesitation, the dragonet nuzzled her. Bye, mommy.

"Okay," Snotlout interrupted loudly, "enough with the tearful goodbyes. Let's go home already!"

Gasping, Fishlegs scolded, "Snotlout!"

"What?" he protested. "I'm just saying, he's a dragon. Get over it!"

Hiccup gave Mortem one last hug, then turned and walked away dejectedly, back to his friends. They all mounted their dragons and took off into the sky, the fishing net dangling in Stormfly's talons.

Mortem stood alone on the beach, crying out desperately for his daddy to come back. He didn't stop until after sunset, long after they had disappeared on the horizon.

The whole time, Hiccup was too afraid to look back. He knew that if he did, he'd surely change his mind and try to bring Mortem back to Berk with him. But he couldn't.

So, he kept on flying.

Not the end! There's still more to come. Like a proper climax, for one thing...

Review, follow, or favorite!

Chapter Text

The real trouble is just beginning...

Hiccup and his friends had managed to return to Berk about mid-sunset. Dinner for Vikings was usually after dark, but after all that had happened that day, Hiccup wasn't feeling particularly hungry.

Still, it was conventional to join the rest of the tribe in the Great Hall.

He sat at a table with his fellow riders, despondently stabbing his spoon into a bowl of soup.

"He looks miserable," Ruffnut said in a very loud whisper.

That earned her a hard shove from Astrid.

"So, what's the plan now?" asked Fishlegs. "I mean, we'll have to check on Mortem regularly to make sure his wing is healing, right? We might be okay as long as we make it back to Berk before nightfall."

"Oh, please," Snotlout said, "don't tell me you're still afraid of the dark, Chickenlegs."

"Actually," said Hiccup, "Fishlegs has a point. Our parents, especially my dad, might get suspicious if we, for lack of a better word, disappear from Berk for too long. And who knows what'll happen if they ever catch us visiting Mortem."

"We can't visit too often, either," Astrid added. "We should wait a few days before heading back to Green Island. It's the smart thing to do."

Tuffnut whooped with joy, throwing his arms up in the air. "Field trip!"

A lot of Vikings turned their heads to stare at him.

Finally, Hiccup could relax. All in all, it had been a pretty normal day on Berk - dragon fiasco in the early morning, a long flight to another island, and making it back home in time for dinner, capped off with Ruff and Tuff annoying everyone around them with their muttonheadedness.

"Everyone!" Stoick bellowed over the friendly chitter-chatter of the many Vikings that had been eating their supper. "I have an announcement."

All of the color drained from Hiccup's face. This is it. My last day alive. Astrid, if you're gonna kill me, please make it quick.

The chief waited until he was sure he had everyone's attention before he continued. "It is with great pride that I declare my son, Hiccup, will soon be married!"

A wave of gasps and murmurs rippled through the sea of onlookers.

Wincing, Hiccup hung his head on the table. I'm done for.

"After careful discussion with the Hoffersons, it has been agreed that their daughter, Astrid, and my son will be wed before the first snow. It will surely be the most momentous occasion we've ever witnessed!"

The hall erupted with joyous cheers from the adults.

Hiccup kept his head down, avoiding his friends' gazes. For a moment, he felt light-headed. I'm dead. I am so dead. Astrid killed me, and now I'm dead.

"Are. You. SERIOUS?!" hollered Snotlout.

"Um...congratulations," Fishlegs offered.

Something nudged Hiccup's shoulder, but he didn't look up. He couldn't bear to see whatever incredibly livid expression Astrid probably had.

"Did you know about this?" she asked.

He couldn't lie to her. "Yes," he squeaked. "My dad told me about it last night."

Snotlout made an odd sort of scoffing sound and pounded the table with his fist. "You knew and you didn't tell us?!"

"I didn't know what to say," Hiccup tried to explain. "And I didn't get any say in the arrangement, either, in case any of you were wondering about that."

"I was," said Astrid.

She didn't sound very angry. If anything, she sounded disappointed.

Of course she's disappointed. Why wouldn't she be? She's gonna be stuck with scrawny little me for the rest of her life.

All around Hiccup, the Vikings resumed their suppers with more gusto, pouring themselves tankards of mead and chatting excitedly about the upcoming wedding. Every now and again, someone would clap his shoulder and congratulate him, but still he kept his head down.

His bowl of soup sat untouched right in front of him on the table.

It took hours for the hall to empty. If it were up to him, Hiccup would have headed straight home the instant his father had finished his announcement. But he'd already disappointed Stoick once today, and he couldn't afford to do it again so soon. So, despite himself, he stayed.

Finally, the Great Hall grew quiet. Everyone must have gone home.

But when Hiccup lifted his head off the table, he found that he wasn't completely alone after all - Astrid was sitting right next to him.

She was staring at the wall straight ahead, her expression a neutral mask. Privately, he wondered how long she'd been sitting there like that. Probably a long time, judging by how hooded her eyes were.

"Listen," he said, stuttering a little, "I, uh...I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I only found out last night, and there was just so much going on with Mortem, so...I really didn't know how to tell you."

She didn't react, if she was even listening at all.

Hiccup didn't know what else to do, so he kept talking. "I know that marriage isn't on your list of things you want to accomplish in life, and I don't blame you for being upset about it. But you can still be independent." He scooted closer to her, just a tiny bit. "Astrid, you've always been the strongest, most fearless, and most talented person I know. You deserve the best life possible. Even...even if I'm not part of it." Gingerly, he reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. "All I want is for you to be happy."

Still no response from her.

Defeated, Hiccup stood and headed for the giant doors leading outside.

...Only to stop when Astrid's hand grabbed his wrist.

Da, da-da, I'm dead.

"Hiccup." Her voice was soft and quiet, which was most unlike her. She pulled him back down on the bench, then turned to face him, the corners of her mouth turning up into a shy smile. "You already make me happy. You also make me confused, frustrated, worried, and really, really annoyed."

He actually laughed at that.

"But don't think for one minute that you're not good enough for me," she said, more firmly but with that playful tone she used whenever she teased him. "You faced a monster dragon the size of a mountain on the back of a Night Fury. I can't think of anyone else who could have pulled that off."

"I think about it all the time," Hiccup confessed. "The Red Death - Mortem's mother - she was more monster than dragon. At least, that's what I tell myself. I'm the first Viking in three hundred years who wouldn't kill a dragon, remember? Some days, I can't stop thinking about what happened on that island. It was her or us, and it still eats me up inside. I don't need a metal leg, or a proud father, or even an orphan dragonet to remind me of something like that." He hung his head and finished meekly, "No one does."

He hadn't meant to pour all of that out. But Astrid had just told him her truth, so maybe it was best that he return the favor. Plus, they would be married soon, and he'd rather there not be any secrets between them.

Astrid was the kind of person who said what was on her mind, without restraint. It wasn't very often that she found herself at a loss for words. But what could she say to Hiccup after what he'd just told her? No one, not even her, had once thought to ask him what slaying the Red Death felt like. She imagined it must have troubled him to some degree, but even with how well she knew him by now she never would have guessed just how much it hurt him emotionally.

Gently, she folded her arms around him and pulled him in for an embrace. He stiffened for a moment, then relaxed and hugged her back.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear. "I didn't realize."

They sat in silence for a while, seeking solace in one another's arms. It had been a stressful day for both of them. They both needed a hug.

"Astrid," Hiccup finally said after several minutes, "do you really mean it? You're happy with me?"

She pulled back enough for him to see her smile. "Yes. I am."

Half-hearted as it was, he smiled back at her. "Thank you," was all he could say.

For perhaps the first time in his life, Hiccup was actually looking forward to marrying Astrid. Yes, he'd been dreaming of it since he was old enough to understand what love was, but, up until the point in time when Toothless was shot out of the sky, the possibility of it actually happening was slim to none. (He would have rather proposed to her than have his father arrange a contract with her parents, but he wasn't complaining at the moment.)

It didn't matter to him whether or not she loved him back. They had the rest of their lives for her to figure it out, and he'd wait the whole of it if he had to.

In the meantime, her companionship was all he needed.

A fleet of ships was sailing across the sea, nearing their destination quickly with the wind pushing at their sails. As the isle of Berk began to peek out from the horizon, the captain of the vessel chuckled to himself.

"There it is!" laughed Alvin the Treacherous. "Now we just gotta sneak in and make off with as many dragons as possible!"

"And with the Berkians all asleep, snug in their beds," Savage piled on, "they won't notice a thing until we're long gone!"

Below their feet, in the belly of the ship, one of their Whispering Deaths hissed and rattled her teeth alongside their evil laughter. She'd do anything to get as far away from that wretched island where those barbarians had been holding her prisoner as possible, and nothing, not even a bunch of plucky teenagers on dragonback, was going to stand in her way.

Outcasts on the horizon! What's gonna happen? Only one way to find out...

Review, favorite, or follow!

Chapter Text

So, I left us off on a rather suspenseful note last chapter. And now we've reached unlucky number thirteen...

For the record, I am not superstitious.

Mortem's first night away from Berk was, to put it plainly, rough.

He'd spent the whole rest of the day on the beach, crying for his daddy to come back and take him home. Now the sun had set below the horizon, and the sky was dark. Behind Mortem, the nearby woods were full of the chatter of nervous wildlife.

Between the trees, the piercing yellow eyes of the local dragons observed the Red Death dragonet that had been delivered to their metaphorical doorstep. Deadly Nadders, Gronckles, Hideous Zipplebacks, Monstrous Nightmares, and Terrible Terrors.

But no Night Furies.

Mortem had never felt so alone. When Hiccup left him in the cove, or the academy, the dragonet knew that his daddy was nearby. Now he was on a whole separate island, surrounded by strange dragons.

I wanna go home. I miss you, Daddy. When are you coming back?

Maybe he had been naughty, and this was his punishment? Mortem didn't think he'd done anything wrong. But there had been a lot of angry people yelling at him, so he must have done something naughty.

I'm sorry, Daddy.

Mortem stayed on the beach the whole night through, waiting for Hiccup to come get him. The sand got stuck between his scales, making his skin itch, and the cold, salty ocean water lapped at his claws, leaving a chill in its wake. No, he would not sleep.

Hiccup had retired to his bed for the night. He still felt all warm and mushy inside from his earlier heart-to-heart with Astrid. His fiancée.

He was getting married! To Astrid!

Now that the worst part was over, he could finally be happy about it. Sure, the circumstances weren't what he'd hoped for, but marrying Astrid was a dream come true for him.

His joy evaporated, however, when he remembered how disappointed she'd looked, and sounded, before their talk. Maybe she wouldn't mind marrying him, but did she really want to? Did she actually love him that way? Would she ever?

Stop worrying, said a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like his father. She'll learn to love you. It's just a matter of time.

...Gee, thanks, Dad.

On the other side of the room, Toothless lay curled up on his rock slab as usual. All of a sudden, the Night Fury's ears perked up and he sprung awake.

Startled by the dragon's sudden movement, Hiccup sprang right up out of bed, looking like he'd just seen a ghost. "What is it, bud? What's wrong?"

There was a clattering noise from outside, drawing the pair's attention to the window.

Moving slowly and quietly, the one-legged rider and his trusty Night Fury crossed the room and poked their heads out the window, their green eyes scanning the outside. There was no moon that night, so the sky was darker than usual. But they could definitely see the outline of something moving about below them.

And whatever it was, it could speak.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" it said in a hushed voice that wasn't really so hushed at all.

"Of course," growled a second, gravelly voice. A much larger shape stalked up, towering over the first. "We take the dragons, and the boy, and Chief Stoick'll do anything we say, even hand over Berk itself, to get 'em back."

Hiccup knew that voice. It haunted his nightmares.

Alvin the Treacherous.

"And how are we supposed to steal them without anyone noticing?" asked the first voice. Probably Savage, Hiccup guessed. "Them beasts will squawk and roar up a storm if we so much as touch a scale on their bodies!"

"That's what I'm counting on," Alvin said. "The dragons start acting up, and we grab little Hiccup in the chaos and make way back to Outcast Island with no one the wiser!"

Except us, Hiccup snarked silently. Beside him, Toothless made a snarling sort of noise deep in his throat. There was no way he'd let Alvin, or any Outcast for that matter, within ten feet of his beloved friend, and Hiccup could count on that.

There was a muffled boom from the village, followed soon after by a cacophony of startled dragons.

"The plan's in motion," Alvin observed. "Let's go pay the good chief a visit, shall we?"

Hiccup ducked back into the house. Had they noticed him and Toothless eavesdropping? If they had, neither of them had mentioned it. Maybe their plan somehow involved Hiccup catching wind of what was going on so they could set a trap for him later? It seemed rather convoluted, more convoluted than one would expect from a brute like Alvin. But he had tricked Hiccup before, with fakes notes and a map to a deserted island that was supposedly the home of the Night Furies.

If Hiccup was going to outwit Alvin and the Outcasts, he'd have to be ready for anything. And he was going to need his friends to make it work.

There was a loud bang from the lower level of the house as the chief of the Outcasts practically threw the front door off its hinges. Even someone as heavy a sleeper as Stoick couldn't sleep through that.

Like lightning, Hiccup strapped the saddle and prosthetic tail onto Toothless and pulled himself up onto the Night Fury's back. He couldn't let Alvin catch them here. He had to warn the others, and fast.

They were out the window like a rocket, making a beeline for Astrid's house.

If someone had told Astrid a year ago that, one day, she'd be getting married to Hiccup, she would have decapitated them with her axe on the spot. Her whole life, she wanted to be a shieldmaiden - a fierce, independent woman who protected her people from all the demons and monsters that ran amok.

But as she lay in her bed, reflecting on all that had changed since then, she realized that she could no longer picture her future without Hiccup in it. She'd never really thought they'd be married, but she wouldn't have minded if it ever came to that. And she certainly wouldn't have kissed him if she didn't feel something for him.

Had she been arranged to marry Snotlout, perish the thought, he would be strutting all over the village bragging about it, while she would be on the next boat off of Berk...or tearing him limb from limb. Hiccup, on the other hand...he valued her happiness over his own, he'd said as much earlier that evening. If given the choice, he might even let her call off the wedding if she wanted to.

She probably couldn't, though. Not when her parents and the chief of Berk had so heartily agreed with the arrangement. If she tried to back out of the marriage, she'd surely bring great shame upon her family. And, if she was being honest with herself, she wasn't really sure she wanted to call it off.

Just thinking about how Hiccup was willing to sacrifice his own happiness for her brought a smile to Astrid's face. He was willing to do anything for her, because he loved her so much.

And now that she thought about it - all the risks he had taken for the good of others, how he kept trying no matter how many times he failed, all the crazy and amazing ideas he came up with that somehow worked, and even the little things he did like helping her sharpen her axe - she was pretty sure she loved him, too.

*KA-BOOM!*

The village was under attack!

Like the trained warrior she was, Astrid sprang out of bed, pulling her double-bladed axe from its hiding place under her pillow, then bolted toward the window to call for Stormfly.

The explosion had also awakened the Deadly Nadder; she was standing at attention, looking miffed that her beauty sleep was disturbed.

"Come on, girl," Astrid said, "we've got work to do."

Stormfly lashed her tail and squawked eagerly. With a mighty flap of her wings, she soared up to the window, and Astrid leapt onto her back in one fluid motion.

"Astrid!"

A large dark shape - Astrid knew right away it was Toothless and Hiccup because how could it not be? - flew right up to the Hofferson house. She couldn't help but sigh with relief; while she hadn't been actively thinking about it, it was nice to see that her future husband hadn't been hurt by whatever had caused the big boom.

Future husband. For some reason, that thought made her feel all giddy and mushy inside.

"Hiccup," she said, not wasting any time, "what's going on?"

"The Outcasts are on Berk," he answered urgently. "They're after me and the dragons. Alvin and Savage just invaded my house, and I don't know how long my dad can hold them off. We have to gather the others."

"You go ahead," Astrid told him. "I'll hold them off."

Hiccup had expected her to say that, and he wasn't going to argue with her. She was the best fighter he knew; she could handle herself and then some. "Good luck," he said.

"You too," was her simple reply.

It was time to bring justice down upon the bad guys!

Another cliffhanger. Sort of. Maybe? I dunno for sure. Gotta save some of the action for later.

Review, follow, or favorite! (It's not really required, but I do appreciate it.)

Chapter Text

Last chapter, the Outcasts started to invade Berk, and Hiccup began gathering the other riders to fight back. Will they succeed? Let's find out.

Hiccup had complete faith in Astrid. Aside from him and Toothless, she and Stormfly were the best of the best. They could handle Alvin until the other riders showed up.

At least, he hoped they could. The Outcasts were by far the most formidable foe they'd faced since...well, since Mortem's mother.

Below them, the villagers and their dragons were already engaged in combat against the invaders. The earlier explosion, most likely the Outcasts blowing the doors to the dragon stables, had awoken quite a few Vikings.

From what he'd heard Alvin and Savage discussing outside his house, Hiccup guessed the raid on the stables was supposed to be the distraction - with everyone too busy fighting off the Outcasts to keep them from stealing the dragons, the Berkians wouldn't notice them kidnapping the chief's son until it was too late. Even if Alvin wasn't nearly as smart as Hiccup feared, he still needed to be careful. One wrong move, and he'd be the Outcasts' prisoner...again.

It was easy to spot Snotlout and Hookfang - a big flying fireball zooming through the air while his toasted rider screamed like a little girl. (Even in dire situations such as this, it was still funny.) But where were Fishlegs and the twins?

As if to answer his question, the plaza was suddenly filled with sickly green, flammable gas. One little spark, and the entire village was rocked by the force of the blast.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut whooped and cheered with joy. "I love the smell of fire in the morning!"

Hiccup couldn't help smiling at the sight of the hapless Outcast soldiers running toward the shore to douse their flaming beards.

Finally, he spotted Fishlegs and Meatlug bumbling through the air like a drunken bee. The poor Ingerman looked confused and scared and tired all at once. "Hiccup, what is -?"

"Outcast attack," he said quickly. "They're after me. We need a plan."

Snotlout came flying up, looking peeved. "Where's Astrid?"

"Holding off Alvin and Savage," Hiccup answered. He's probably upset that I'm marrying her. Nevermind the fact that Astrid would rather swallow a live eel than wed Snotlout.

(For the record, he actually did hear her say that once before.)

"By herself?" squeaked Fishlegs. "I mean, don't get me wrong, she and Stormfly are great, but Alvin is the chief of the Outcasts, remember? He's a real force to be reckoned with!"

"So is Astrid," Hiccup said confidently.

In all honesty, this wasn't the first time Stoick had been so rudely awakened in the middle of the night. No matter how heavy a sleeper he was, no one could sleep through a dragon raid.

Or, in this case, an Outcast attack.

A loud clang echoed through the house as the Berk chief's sword clashed with that of Alvin the Treacherous. Between the two, Stoick would rather take a dragon raid.

"Surprised to see me, old friend?" the Outcast chief asked mockingly.

Stoick growled, "Ambushing me in the middle of the night. I should have known you'd stoop this low, you treacherous brute!"

"Well," Alvin said with a psychotic smirk, "my name was earned, after all."

The chief of Berk was many things - big, loud, pig-headed, immensely strong, and stubborn as a mule - but a fool he was not. He knew Alvin well enough to expect the leader of the Outcasts to use underhanded tactics against his foes. He could hear Savage's footfalls on the wooden floor behind him, and the *shing* of a sword being pulled out of its sheath. Stoick shoved Alvin off with all his strength, then whirled around and clocked the Outcast chief's second-in-command right in the jaw.

Dazed, Savage toppled to the floor with a thud.

"Enough games," Stoick said, turning to face his adversary. "This is between you and me, Alvin! No one else!"

"As much as I'm inclined to agree," rumbled Alvin, "I don't have time for you right now. I have all the forces necessary to take over this lovely island of yours; surrender now and maybe I'll consider letting you all go in peace."

Stoick responded with a skeptical grunt. He trusted the Outcast chief as far as he could throw the island they stood on.

"But sir," groaned Savage, still on the floor but still conscious, "what about the boy? Don't we need him to train our dragons? And what about trading him to the chief for Berk?"

It might have been a concussion talking, but spelling out Alvin's plan to Stoick the Vast was a very typical thing for a poorly-educated Outcast soldier to do. Even Savage had his moments.

"New plan!" Alvin grunted. He thrust his sword, but Stoick countered. "Hand over the Dragon Conqueror, or we destroy your village!"

"Over my dead body!" Stoick bellowed defiantly.

"And mine!" cried a voice from outside.

The doorway was suddenly blocked by the unmistakable form of a Deadly Nadder.

"Astrid," said Stoick, "where are the others?"

"Hiccup's getting them," she answered. She sat straight and tall, one hand on Stormfly's saddle and the other grasping the handle of her axe. "We're gonna drive the Outcasts away once and for all!"

Stormfly squawked eagerly, her tail raised like a scorpion's.

Alvin chuckled darkly. "I like your spirit, girly! Why don't we see how well six little dragon riders fare against my armada?"

Little?! Astrid wanted to shout. But she couldn't let him goad her into a fight; the whole island of Berk was at stake here, and so was Hiccup's life. Losing their home would be a devastating blow to everyone, but losing Hiccup, her fiancé...Astrid couldn't imagine her life without him.

There was a rumble beneath their feet, and the entire house shook.

Then, right in the middle of the establishment, a Whispering Death erupted from below. Splinters and chunks of wood flew everywhere as the floor was torn apart by the spikey dragon, and everyone, even Alvin, jumped back to get away from the beast.

Astrid's grip on her axe tightened until her knuckles turned white. She should have known Alvin had a trump card to turn the tide in his favor. How could she fight a Whispering Death?

"How do you like my new armada?" the Outcast chief asked with a sinister, almost triumphant, grin.

Oh, how Astrid wanted to slice his face clean off.

The Whispering Death tunneled up and up, through the ceiling of the house and into the night sky above, before it finally stopped. Its milky eyes landed on Astrid and Stormfly, and it dove down toward them with a screeching roar.

Astrid nudged Stormfly's sides, and the Deadly Nadder shot up, fire blasting from her maw. The flames scorched the Whispering Death's eyes, throwing off its aim, and it landed with a crash.

*BOOM!*

*CRACK!*

*FWOOSH!*

More Whispering Deaths burst out from under the earth like giant killer dandelions. Astrid and Stormfly were surrounded.

Below them, Alvin and Stoick had resumed their duel. They had forgone the swords and were duking it out with their bare hands.

The Berk chief faced his foe like a raging storm cloud, his anger fueling the power of his punches. "You invade our island," he growled, ducking a swing from the Outcast chief, "you hurt my people, you threaten my son, and now you destroy my house!" He landed a solid blow right in Alvin's face. "I will not stand for this!"

His fist of fury sent the big, ugly man reeling back a few steps. Alvin spat out a tooth and grinned wickedly at his foe. "Same old Stoick." Behind him, the first Whispering Death lifted her head up and shook it a little to gather her bearings.

Stoick didn't care if Alvin somehow managed to conjure another Red Death (a fully-grown, rampaging, totally evil Red Death, to be exact); he wasn't going to let the Outcasts take over Berk.

And neither was Thornado.

The Thunderdrum lunged at the first Whispering Death with a loud, bellowing roar. The serpentine dragon took off flying into the night air, her head throbbing painfully from the explosive sound.

She ended up right in Astrid and Stormfly's line of fire. The bright light of the Deadly Nadder's magnesium flames assaulted her eyes, and she swerved away. The other Whispering Deaths - her children - followed her, their hides slightly smoking.

Astrid watched them retreat with a scornful look. She wasn't normally one to taunt, but she couldn't help saying, "I think you just lost your armada, Alvin!"

The Outcast chief had been on the receiving end of several powerful punches from Stoick the Vast. Faced with the mighty chief of Berk and an equally mighty Thunderdrum with no backup, Alvin was left with just one other option, and he didn't like it one bit.

"New plan," he grumbled, hoisting a semi-conscious Savage onto one shoulder. "Retreat and regroup!"

Then he booked it.

In hindsight, Groundsplitter should have known that her warden's plan was doomed to fail. He was the bad guy, and bad guys always lose. And if the ugly warden always lost, then she and her dragonets would never be set free.

She'd always known, deep down, that she couldn't trust that brute. But she chose to anyway, because she didn't have any other choice. And now her little baby Whispering Deaths were probably going to be stuck in prison their whole lives because of it.

Maybe it was time to change tactics. If there was one thing Groundsplitter had learned, it's that the Night Fury Rider was a very smart little bugger. If she brought him with her back to her prison, he could easily find a way to free all the dragons. Then she and her family could fly far away from that horrible island and never come back.

Because he was the good guy, and good guys always win.

Spotting the Night Fury in the middle of the night was not easy, but Whispering Deaths were adapted for navigating dark underground tunnels. The downside to that was their eyes becoming super sensitive to bright lights.

It was that light sensitivity that helped Groundsplitter spot the blinding blue light of the Night Fury's trademark plasma blast. And where there was the Night Fury, there was the Night Fury Rider. The two were practically inseparable.

Below her, the humans were running this way and that, some of them on fire and others carrying those sharp metal pointy things. Nothing she hadn't seen before, so she paid them no mind.

Flying in the dark sky ahead of her, there was a red Monstrous Nightmare, a green Hideous Zippleback, a brown Gronckle, and...there he is!

The Night Fury.

And on his back was, of course, his rider - the runty little human who was the answer to all of Groundsplitter's problems.

Quick as a whip, she spiraled toward the black dragon, bursting past the other three dragons. The image of a startled Night Fury filled her vision, and she lashed out, wrapping her tail around the rider's waist and yanking him off the black dragon's back. The Night Fury plummeted toward the ground, for reasons Groundsplitter didn't know, and the Night Fury Rider cried out in alarm.

She could feel the heat of the other dragons' fire heading her way; she swerved to avoid them and made a beeline for the shore, where her warden's ships were docked. The sounds of frantic wingbeats followed her; she spun around and blasted a few rings of fire at them, causing them to scatter. A bolt of blue fire grazed her head, and she responded with her own fire. The Night Fury - the obvious culprit - leapt out of the way, but the flames scorched his tail.

The ships were already sailing back out to sea, loaded with injured humans and a very angry warden. Groundsplitter resumed her journey after them, confident that she had effectively fended off her pursuers.

Her captive was flailing in her coils and emitting fearful shouts, but she ignored it. He was her ticket out of prison, and she wasn't going to let him go anytime soon.

Mortem was already restless, with the itchy sand and the cold ocean water down on the beach, but something else was keeping him awake. He still missed his daddy, and he wanted to go home very much, but this feeling was different.

The inexplicable sense that something was wrong; that someone he loved was in danger.

Then it hit him.

The Red Death dragonet pushed himself to his feet, his six eyes fixed on the horizon with new meaning.

Daddy's in trouble!

Technically, yes, he is. But it's not all black and white.

Leave a review and let me know if you're still enjoying this story.

Chapter Text

Here's a question - why is it that things always seem to get worse before they get better?

Mortem couldn't fly with his broken wing. But he had to reach his daddy somehow; his daddy had put everything he had into saving him and now it was time for Mortem to return the favor.

So, he swam.

It was no easy feat. Red Deaths were known for a lot of things - the large size, the seemingly limitless supply of fire, the six eyes, ruling over the much smaller dragons with an iron claw - but being aquatic was not one of them. Mortem wasn't even sure if he could swim. But with a broken wing, there was no other option.

The baby Red Death started running in the ocean water with his thick-as-tree-trunk legs, tail wagging and one uninjured wing flapping. He sunk below the surface, down and down through the water, like a rock. He thrashed wildly, churning the water, motoring his legs, trying to rise back up. And rise he did, but not fast enough.

He was going to drown.

All of a sudden, air! Sweet, beautiful, fresh air filled his nostrils, and he breathed it all in. His nose had managed to break the surface of the sea; the rest of him was still underwater. But at least he wasn't sinking anymore.

It would be a long swim back to Berk, assuming his daddy was still there. Somehow, Mortem doubted it. But one thing was sure - his daddy needed help.

And Mortem had to save him, before it was too late.

Really, it shouldn't have been a surprise that Hiccup was in danger once again. But Astrid was still angry, because she'd done her best - they'd all done their best - and somehow it wasn't enough.

They'd lost fights before but losing on their home turf stung a lot more. Even more so since they'd lost to the Outcasts, their oldest and most feared enemies...well, human enemies, that is.

When Astrid walked through the giant doors of the Great Hall, she was greeted by the sight of literally every other Viking on Berk with their weapons in hand. Stoick, of course, was up at the front of the massive room, not even flinching as every able-bodied man and woman loudly declared justice for one of their own being kidnapped.

Astrid wanted to shout, but it died in her throat. She'd been feeling sick to her stomach since the night before. She should have been strong enough, should have been fast enough, should have been able to protect Hiccup when that Whispering Death went after him. She couldn't bare thinking about what they might be doing to her future husband.

That was probably what upset her the most - she and Hiccup were supposed to be getting married, and the Outcasts might kill him before then. Before Astrid had the chance to tell him just how strongly she felt for him.

But she set all that aside for the time being; she had to be strong and brave for her friends, and her people, especially now when they needed it most.

"Everyone!" Stoick's voice boomed through the hall, and everyone fell silent. Nobody dared to talk over the chief, especially with such a serious matter at hand. "This is a dark time for all of us. My son, our heir, has been kidnapped by the Outcasts, and there is a new Red Death on the loose. But we're Vikings; we've faced tougher challenges, and this one will be no different. We will defeat our foes, and we will save Hiccup!"

As quickly as the Berkians' spirits lifted, it came to a screeching halt when Astrid argued, "Mortem isn't a threat. I thought we established that."

She and the other riders had gathered next to the chief, along with Gobber, in case he needed people to back him up. Fishlegs, sensing where this might be headed, gave a nervous squeak and took about half a dozen steps backwards.

Stoick gave Astrid the side eye. "We can't take any chances with that beast, even if it is only an infant."

"Mortem hasn't hurt anyone," Astrid said boldly. "He's not dangerous."

"Yet," said Stoick. "We've all seen what he'll grow into. I have to prioritize the safety of this village, and my people."

"Are you?" Astrid shot back. "Or are you too haunted by your mistakes to accept the truth even when it's staring you right in the face?"

The hall became so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

The chief turned to glare at his future daughter-in-law eerily slowly.

That hit the mark, Astrid realized. This whole situation with Mortem is personal to him; Stoick doesn't want to risk a repeat of what happened on Dragon Island - he doesn't want to see Hiccup risk his life like that again. Every time he looks at Mortem, it reminds him of what he nearly lost.

I felt that way, too, before I got to know Mortem. How can we make the chief understand?

"Prepare the other riders," Stoick ordered sternly. "Once Hiccup is safe from the Outcasts, we'll address this...Red Death situation."

Astrid said nothing; she just glared right back at him.

Don't worry, Mortem. Your daddy and I won't let them hurt you.

Mortem had hoped that when he woke up, he'd be back home with his daddy and all of what he'd been through with the angry chief and getting dropped off at another island would have been a dream.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Instead of the dry, stone floor of the arena, he found himself lying on cold, wet sand. When he opened his eyes, all he saw was the glaring light of the sun - no familiar faces, or the worried but caring eyes of his daddy.

He remembered swimming - his head above the water, his legs kicking and his tail thrashing, his broken wing weighing down while the other rowed through the water for extra propulsion. He was a slow and clumsy swimmer, and he'd been tired from the events of the previous day. He'd found an islet, devoid of any life save for a few trees and a small flock of peckish seagulls, and rested there for the rest of the night.

Mortem was still tired, and his broken wing didn't hurt any less than it had the day before. But he couldn't give up, not now. His daddy was in trouble, and he had to save him.

When he gave his wings an experimental flap out of innocent curiosity, his left wing practically exploded with pain, prompting a loud cry from him. He still couldn't fly; he'd have to keep swimming if he was gonna get anywhere.

Wait a minute.

What was that on the horizon?

It was rather far away, and Mortem's vision was limited despite having six eyes, but he could see it was a sort of oblong wooden bowl-thing floating on top of the ocean. He seemed to recall his daddy once calling it a "boat". And on that boat, there were two large figures with dark, messy fuzzy stuff all over their faces.

Mortem recalled that there were a lot of big, hairy people back home, and that they were all very loud and angry-looking. What if those two strangers had come looking for him? It they had, were they gonna bring him back home to his daddy?

Probably not. His daddy was in trouble, Mortem could feel it. And he had a feeling that the two strangers in that boat had something to do with it.

There was only one way to find out.

Mortem didn't really like swimming at all - he felt completely out of place in the water, like he didn't belong there at all. But with a broken wing leaving him unable to fly, swimming was currently his only method of travel.

He could hear the two strangers talking as he swam closer, faintly at first and a bit muffled from the sound of the ocean waves.

"I'm telling you, I heard a dragon."

"What kind?"

"I don't know! Maybe it's a new species! We should get it for Alvin!"

"Need I remind you he sent us all the way out here in a five-man vessel to see how Berk is handling his kidnapping that pathetic Hiccup boy? We could be back on Outcast Island celebrating our triumph right now, but no! You go and steer us out into the middle of nowhere because you don't want us to go home empty handed! And now you wanna go chasing after a dragon with NO WEAPONS?! We're practically cannon fodder!"

"Well, it could get us a promotion! How about that?"

"...Fine. But if that dragon sets our boat on fire, or bites your arm off, don't come crying to me."

Hiccup. Mortem knew that name. They're talking about Daddy!

What if Hiccup wasn't back home? What if something bad had happened to him somewhere else? If those two guys knew where Mortem's daddy was, then maybe they could lead him there.

Problem was, Mortem was already getting tired of swimming. And he didn't have time to wait for his wing to heal well enough for him to fly.

There was one option left, and it was risky - hitch a ride with the strangers.

By now, he was close enough to nudge their boat with his shoulder. Which is exactly what he did.

"Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"Something just bumped the boat."

"You must be crazy."

"No, I really felt something - Whoa!"

Whatever argument he was planning to make, it was interrupted by Mortem surging out of the water and grabbing the side of their boat in his front claws. Just the weight of his front half alone nearly caused the "five-man vessel" to tip over.

"See?" Viking One said, pointing at the jumbo-sized dragonet. "I told you! New dragon!"

"Shut up and do something before it tips the boat over!" shouted Viking Two.

Viking One gabbed Mortem in a headlock and pulled with all his might. It was rather uncomfortable for the dragonet; he'd never been handled like that before. But he had to get to his daddy, so he pulled himself up and into the boat.

It was fairly spacious, big enough to hold the two full grown men and a dragonet the size of a Night Fury. But somehow it still felt cramped to Mortem; he was used to having much bigger places to romp around in or on.

"Great," Viking Two grumbled unenthusiastically. "Now can we go home?"

"Hang on," his companion said. "It looks like that little Hiccup beat us to it." He pointed to Mortem's left wing, which still had the splint on.

There was a moment of silence before Viking Two said, "So what? We can still take it to Alvin."

"Oh, so now you admit my idea is a good idea."

"Just help me turn this boat around, you idiot!"

Mortem curled up in the middle of the vessel, ignoring the two strange men as they bustled back and forth across the deck trying to steer the ship in the right direction. He was wet, his wing still hurt, and he was tired, but he couldn't rest now. He couldn't rest until he and his family were back home, safe and sound.

I'm coming, Daddy.

So, basically, it's a race to Outcast Island to save Hiccup. Who will get there first? The suspense!

Review, follow, or favorite!

Chapter Text

Now let's see how our favorite hero is doing, shall we?

Really, it was so annoying that Hiccup was a prisoner of the Outcasts again. He probably would have been frustrated by that fact if he wasn't so terrified out of his wits. You would be, too, if you were caught in the clutches of a dragon as scary as a Whispering Death.

The dragon hadn't let go of him even once. The whole way to Outcast Island, Hiccup wracked his brain trying to figure out why this mother Whispering Death was so possessive of him all of a sudden. And now here he was, effectively stuck in her cage because she refused to release him for whatever reason.

Alvin loomed over him like a mountain - just like Stoick, only a thousand times scarier. The Outcast chief eyed the helpless little heir of Berk like a hawk observing its prey. And at the moment, with the Whispering Death's tail curled around his torso, Hiccup felt very much like prey.

But he couldn't let the Outcasts, especially Alvin, see how scared he was. If he showed any fear, Alvin could easily use it against him. He had to be brave.

"You might as well get comfortable," Alvin rumbled, a sneer curling across his unsightly face. "No foe has managed to get past my Whispering Deaths yet. My offer is simple - train my dragons, and I'll...consider letting you go alive. Should you refuse, then it's off to the chopping block. Either way, Berk loses its only heir, and with Stoick lacking a successor he'll have no choice but to hand his tribe over to me."

"Or he could just name someone else his heir," Hiccup deadpanned, "and you'll gain pretty much nothing from getting rid of me. Honestly, Alvin, isn't this starting to get a little old? You threaten me, I refuse your offer, then you try to kill me, and I somehow manage to get away by the skin of my teeth. It's the same old routine, every single time. Don't you ever get tired of it?"

Alvin's triumphant expression didn't falter save for a slight twitch in one eye. Behind him, the guards were staring at Hiccup as though he'd just upended eighty million words on their heads and they were trying to put them in the right order to make a book.

"Sir," Savage said meekly, "if I may...he does have a point."

That earned him a clonk on the head.

"You stay out of this!" ordered the Outcast chief. Then, to Hiccup, he growled, "So, you wanna be a smart mouth, huh? Then consider this prison your new home."

Save your breath, Alvin, Hiccup snarked silently. I've heard it all before.

The cell door slammed shut with a loud clang, leaving him trapped with a Whispering Death breathing down his neck. Alvin grabbed Savage's shoulder in a firm grip and stalked away, dragging his second-in-command with him. All but two of the guards followed suit; the remaining two stood on either side of the cell, weapons in hand, to make sure that their human prisoner didn't escape.

Hiccup didn't really have much of a plan. Obviously, he had to escape. But he only managed it last time because he had help.

Speaking of which, he hadn't seen or heard any sign of Mildew anywhere. It wasn't too much of a stretch to assume Alvin had had the old man executed...was it? Knowing Mildew, the safer assumption was that he had betrayed Berk and joined the Outcasts completely freely. And if that were true, then he could be anywhere, working with Alvin to figure out how to break their prisoner.

Well, I'm not falling for any of their tricks this time.

Only now did the Whispering Death finally relinquish her grip on his torso. Her teeth and spines clacked together as she stared him down, looking almost expectantly, as if she were asking, "So, what's your plan?"

She's just as much a prisoner here as I am, Hiccup realized. She wants to escape, and she needs my help to do it. That's why she brought me here.

But if they were gonna get anywhere, they had to trust each other.

It was time for the "hand thing", as he'd heard the other riders call it.

Hiccup lowered his gaze to the floor, which had been fitted with a layer of thick, hard metal to keep the Whispering Death from tunneling out of her cage. He remembered all too well that the development had been his suggestion from the last time Alvin had him in his grasp. Which meant that everything these dragons had to endure now was his fault.

Pushing his guilt away for the time being, Hiccup stretched his left hand out toward the dragon. It was a ritual he'd done several times, the first with Toothless, of course. It was how he showed the dragon that they could trust him, at the same time silently asking them, Can I trust you?

He expected the Whispering Death to bite his hand off or impale him on her spikes. What he felt instead was the smooth scales of her snout - the only part of her body that wasn't spiky - pressing against his palm.

Quick as lightning, Hiccup lifted his head, his emerald eyes meeting the milky white of the Whispering Death. "Alright," he whispered, so as not to alert the guards, "if we're all gonna get out of here, we're gonna have to work together."

The serpentine dragon responded with a soft hiss. I trust you.

Toothless couldn't bring himself to leave the chief's house and face the village, not after he'd failed to save his best friend from being kidnapped the previous night. He'd been in tough situations before, but losing Hiccup to a Whispering Death - the one dragon he disliked, if not hated, the most - was especially shameful for him.

He stayed slumped on Hiccup's bed the whole night long, too worried to fall asleep. He couldn't bear to imagine what that dreadful Alvin person was doing to poor Hiccup.

Maybe he could have caught them if he could fly on his own...

No, he'd made his decision that last winter - either he flew with Hiccup, or he didn't fly at all.

He heard footsteps on the stairs, ascending up toward Hiccup's room. Probably the chief coming to scold him for not doing a better job protecting his boy. Everyone was on edge about what had happened, but none more so than Hiccup's father.

"Toothless?"

That was Astrid's voice.

He heard her approaching, but he didn't lift his head. He just stared at the wall right in front of him, on the opposite side of the room from where the stairs were. He was too ashamed to face her, even if she was his closest friend besides Hiccup and Stormfly.

She patted his head soothingly, and he relaxed a little.

"I know you're worried," Astrid said. "I am, too. But we're gonna save him."

Toothless willed himself to look at her, but only out of the corner of his eye. She didn't sound angry, and she certainly didn't look angry, either. She looked...sad.

"It's not your fault," she told him. "You did what you could. We all did." The bed creaked a little as she sat down. "Toothless..." She sighed. "Bud, I can't do this without you."

Bud. Only Hiccup called Toothless by that moniker. If there was any way for Astrid to get through to the Night Fury, it would surely be that. And she was going to marry Hiccup soon, which would make Toothless her dragon as well...right?

Finally, the Night Fury lifted his head and looked at her fully. She wasn't just sad, he realized - there was also fear in her eyes.

They were both afraid of losing Hiccup forever.

"Please," Astrid said, her voice on the verge of cracking. "I need your help."

Toothless blinked. Only now did it occur to him - What am I doing? Hiccup was in danger, and here he was lying on his rider's bed moping when he should be working with Astrid and the others to save his best friend!

Eyes set with determination, the black dragon pushed himself up, the bed creaking loudly as it strained to hold his weight, and stepped down onto the floor. Then he padded around the bed to where Astrid was sitting, turning to the side so she could clearly see the saddle on his back.

The invitation was clear.

Smiling, Astrid pulled herself onto Toothless's back in one fluid motion. It didn't feel exactly the same as riding Stormfly, but the Night Fury couldn't fly by himself and she was the one person he trusted the most, aside from Hiccup of course.

They shot out the window and made a beeline for the academy.

Hang in there, Hiccup. We'll be there soon.

Mortem didn't know what he was going to do when he found his daddy, or what kind of trouble his daddy was in. He didn't even know where the two strange men were taking him...or who they were, for that matter.

One thing was certain - they weren't headed for Berk.

He wished they were. Mortem desperately wanted to go home to his mommy and daddy, and all of his weird aunts and uncles. He wanted his wing to be all better, he wanted to eat all the fish his hungry stomach could hold...he wanted everything to be right again.

The sky above the sea and the boat that carried Mortem and the two Vikings became dark and cloudy as they sailed on.

"How much further is it?" asked Viking One.

Viking Two snorted. "We'd be there by now if you didn't go lollygagging off!"

"Well, my 'lollygagging' got us a new dragon! And a possible promotion!"

"Oh, please. You call that a dragon? Looks more like a boulder with legs and wings!"

"Call it what you want, but this beast could be our ticket to higher ranks!"

"...Alright, fine. But if Alvin scolds us for being late, I'll tell him it's your fault!"

Suddenly, there was a loud grinding sound, and the boat skidded to a halt. That could only mean one thing - they'd reached land.

The island was as dark and gloomy as the clouds above. The ground was dry and cracked, the mountains tall and jagged, the trees bleak and barren. If Berk had an exact opposite, this would be it.

Where am I?

"At last," Viking Two sighed with satisfaction. "Home sweet home."

Mortem shuddered. It didn't look like home, and it definitely wasn't sweet.

There was a small group of similarly-grubby-looking Vikings waiting for them on the rough and rocky shores of the island. One of them, much less hairy but only slightly less dirty, approached the ship and said, "This had better be good."

"Where's the chief?" asked Viking Two.

"Alvin's busy with his prisoner," answered the stranger.

"Prisoner"? Mortem didn't know that word.

"Well," said Viking One, "you can tell him we got a new dragon." He pointed a finger at Mortem, who had scrunched himself up into a ball trying to make himself look as small as possible.

"And what of the Vikings of Berk?" asked Viking Three.

Viking Two shrugged. "Not much activity sighted. Probably planning a rescue. We'd know more if someone" - he glared pointedly at Viking Two - "didn't go off on a wild dragon chase!"

"Of course they're planning a rescue," Viking Three said. "We have their Dragon Conqueror who also happens to be their chief's heir! What else can we expect from them?! They'll never surrender that easily! Now, put that dragon with the others and get back to work before Alvin bursts a blood vessel!"

The next thing Mortem knew, there were chains on his legs and around his neck, and about half a dozen men were pulling and tugging him down a dark hallway. He could hear the angry growls and scared warbles of other dragons, but none of them sounded familiar. And as he passed their cages, he could see that none of them looked familiar either. Some had long necks and big bellies, some were red one second and invisible the next, and some were long and thin and had no legs.

And in the cage with the biggest of the legless dragons was a very familiar figure with a very familiar voice.

"Mortem?!"

"Daddy!" Mortem tugged at his chains as hard as he could. "Help me, Daddy!"

The scary Vikings yanked the poor dragonet's chains with great force. "Keep it moving!"

Mortem dug in his heels and pulled again. He had to get to his daddy somehow. But there were too many Vikings, and he wasn't strong enough. They dragged him down the tunnel, away from Hiccup, and shoved him into the largest of the cages.

The metal door shut with a loud clang, and Mortem was trapped. He retreated into the corner and tried to curl himself up into a ball. He wished he wasn't so big, he wished his wing was all better, he wished he was back home, and most of all he wished his daddy was right there with him.

The Viking from the shore stared at the dragonet through the bars. "Perfect," he told the others. "I'll go tell Alvin we're ready." Then he left.

Mortem had seen how scared the other dragons were - how they cowered away from the Vikings as they walked down the hall, whimpering like scolded puppies, their scales covered with scratches and bruises. Whoever these people were, they certainly weren't very nice. Not at all.

Then it dawned on him. They're gonna hurt Daddy!

Somewhere inside Mortem, something snapped. For the first time in his life, he wasn't scared. And he wasn't sad, either.

He was angry.

Never threaten a dragon or his family; it's hazardous to your health.

Anyway, Mortem made it to Outcast Island first. Now how long before the Dragon Riders of Berk get there?

Please leave a review, and don't forget to follow and favorite! (If you haven't already.)