Chapter Text
Shields clashed together as Ruffnut swung hers towards her brother. Tuffnut blocked her blow with his own defense, grunting under the force of her attack. His sister let out a maniacal laugh as she beat her shield repeatedly against his, forcing the boy to the ground. He landed harshly on his back as the impact of his fall knocked his helmet askew. She punched the air victoriously as he fixed his helmet.
Gobber walked towards them once their bout was finished, nodding approvingly. "As I've said a million times and as Ruffnut has demonstrated so splendidly, the shield can be your most important weapon. Who's next?"
"Hold on!" Tuffnut held up his index finger as he stood. "I don't get to hit her back?"
The blacksmith rolled his eyes at the boy's protest. "On your own time. Hiccup, Astrid."
The blonde looked delighted and smacked her fist to her palm threateningly. Knowing her proficiency for fighting, Hiccup's eyes widened and he tried to stammer out an excuse: "well, I-I don't think it's really fair for me to be fighting—"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Astrid's leg kicked out of nowhere and barely missed his face. Jerking back in shock, he stumbled over his feet to get out the way of her oncoming punches. Ducking under her still-outstretched leg, Hiccup grabbed it and tried to twist it over his shoulder to unbalance her. He glanced back at her, proud that he'd deflected her attack.
Astrid took his momentary distraction as a chance to gain the upper hand. His expression fell into one of horror as she launched herself at him, pinning him to the ground. Putting all of her weight on top of him, the Hofferson grasped his arm and pulled it behind his back until it pinched his shoulder painfully. He groaned in pain, prompting a concerned rumble from Toothless, who'd been watching the fight.
Gobber stepped forward as Astrid kept her position, victorious. "When you're in a situation like this, it's best to remain calm and take deep breaths." He leaned down to address the trapped brunet, who had attempted to follow his suggestion with not much luck. "When that's not an option, I would advise playing dead." He flopped down as directed. "Just like that. Well done, Hiccup. Good form, Astrid."
"You okay?" she asked, turning to offer the boy a hand up.
He rolled his shoulder to try and get it back into place before he accepted her help to stand. "Never been better. Shoulder should pop back into place in no time."
She patted him on the shoulder consolingly— if not a bit patronizingly— as Gobber called the next pair up. "Snotlout, Fishlegs, let's see what you've got."
"Whoo!" Snotlout jumped up, getting himself ready for a fight by punching the air and bouncing on his toes. "I think we all know what I've got! Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi!"
However, there was no nervous tremoring voice that spoke up in response, which they were all familiar with. The older man looked around as if he thought the teen was hiding somewhere. "Fishlegs, don't be shy. Vikings can't rely on dragons alone to protect them! Huh. Thoughts on Fishlegs' whereabouts? Anyone?" When there was no answer, he shrugged. "Alright, change of plans. Snotlout and Daenerys."
Dany, who'd been quietly and contentedly observing the matches all morning, startled at the sound of her name. "W-what?"
Her confusion was hidden behind Snotlout's much more verbal protest of: "what? That's not fair! I don't hit girls!"
"Well, that's not going to go very well for you in a fight, now is it?" Gobber said sharply in response. "Girls are still going to hit you."
The Targaryen shot a slightly anxious look at Gobber. "But I'm a distance fighter— I avoid close-up combat at all costs, so I don't really need—"
"You might find yourself in a situation one day where you'll be glad to have the practice," the blacksmith cut across her, not unkindly, his tone far warmer than it had been when he'd spoken to Snotlout. "It's good to have some experience in a friendly arena."
"Can't I fight Hiccup instead, then, if I can't get out of this?" she pleaded, glancing over at the chief's son hopefully.
To her disappointment, Gobber shook his head. "No, lass. We all know that he'd go too easy on you."
Both teens in question flushed at the obvious comment about their strong (friendly— nothing else, really!) feelings for each other. She reluctantly set down her bow and arrows at her feet and took her flower crown from her head to place it next to her other items. After giving Drogon as stern look to not be so overprotective about her safety, she stepped into the middle of the small circle of teens. Snotlout, still grumbling under his breath, reluctantly squared off against her. He tried to maintain his bravado but there was a hint of uncertainty in his eyes as he faced Dany. After all, he'd never seen her combat skills before and didn't know what to expect.
"Yeah, Dany!" Astrid cheered from the sidelines, pumping her fist into the air. "Show him what you're made of."
The blonde sent her best friend an appreciative smile, though the Hofferson's encouraging words did little to ease the nerves that tied her stomach in knots. Snotlout threw a half-hearted punch in her direction, but his fist missed by a mile; even she knew he had more ability than that. Growing a little irritated that he was dragging this out when all she wanted was for it to be over, Daenerys took a deep breath. Remembering all the times that Snotlout had flirted with her uninvited (and even more so unwelcomed), she focused on all the time she'd wished that she could punch him— rather than the fact that he was her friend (however annoyingly) and she didn't want to hurt him.
Then, she struck.
Her fist came flying out of nowhere with a lightning speed that surprised all of them. The shorter Viking's head snapped back. She withdrew immediately, dancing out of striking distance before he'd even come to terms with what had happened. When he did, Snotlout's eyes narrowed as he realized he was going to have to take this seriously. Lifting his hands into the proper position, he made a much more concentrated attempt to hit her.
But, he was like a stone: solid and unmoving, graceless and slow. She flitted easily around his punches, always just out of reach to his increasingly-frustrated expression. Dany, on the other hand, was like water: fluid and shifting, steady and unrelenting.
As the sparring continued, the Targaryen found herself falling into a rhythm, her movements becoming almost instinctual. She dodged Snotlout's clumsy attempts at hitting her, her footwork precise and graceful. With each evasion, she felt a surge of confidence building within her. Snotlout, on the other hand, grew more incensed by the second. He couldn't seem to land a single hit on her, his attacks constantly thwarted by her agility. Despite his initial unwillingness, he was now fully engaged in the fight, determined to prove himself.
With a sudden burst of energy, he lunged forward, his fist aimed directly at the blonde's chest. But she was ready for him. With a swift twist of her body, she sidestepped his attack and countered with a swift jab to his side. He stumbled back, clutching his ribs in pain.
Astrid let out an excited cheer and rushed forward to punch the other blonde in the shoulder— hard. "You did it! I knew you could! Great job, Dany!"
The Targaryen smiled bashfully at her praise while Snotlout glared at them, still holding his side. "She only won because I went easy on her," he wheezed out grouchily.
"That's not what it looks like to me, lad," Gobber said with a faint smirk, clapping his real hand down on the shorter Viking's shoulder, making him wince. Snotlout shoved his hand away in annoyance. "She beat you fair and square. Nicely done, Daenerys."
She was feeling pleasantly warm and appreciated as their friends went their separate ways for the day, but the best exultation had yet to come from a certain brunet, who lingered behind the other teens' departures. Hiccup approached her once the were alone and offered a hand to her. "Congratulations, milady. Out of everyone, I'm glad it was you who got the honor that we've all been wanting to do to Snotlout for years. Trust me, you would not believe how many times I've daydreamed about that exact scenario."
Dany smiled, giggling a little at the thought of Hiccup punching Snotlout— it was certainly a nice image— and shook his hand. "Thanks, Hiccup."
He nodded towards the sky. "Do you have time to do a victory lap with me, milady?"
Blushing slightly at his use of his nickname for her, she drew on the remaining adrenaline and confidence she was feeling to reply, "I have time for several victory laps."
His bright, beaming grin at her response made her heart skip a few beats in her chest. After scooping up her deposited items, she turned back to Drogon and rolled her eyes at the unnecessarily smug look he wore as he eyed the chief's son with his flame-orange eyes.
"Shut up, Drogon," she grumbled as she hoisted herself up his leg.
--
Their 'several victory laps' turned into a picnic lunch, and then a skills race around the island (which Dany only lost because of Hiccup's unfair agility advantage.) Night was falling by the time they returned, and she could tell something was up from the lack of teasing about their prolonged afternoon together on Astrid's part as the blonde's gaze searched the darkening sky.
"I'm starting to get a little worried about Fishlegs," she commented as the pair dismounted from their dragons. "You think he's okay?"
"He looks okay to me." Ruffnut pointed up to the sky where Fishlegs and Meatlug had appeared, the Gronckle's wings buzzing as they descended towards the village.
Her twin squinted at the boy in confusion. "Is Fishlegs. . . glowing?"
For once, Tuffnut's observation wasn't completely off base. Hiccup admitted with some surprise, "Actually, I think he is."
Snotlout announced his approach by pounding his fist into his other palm, then cracking his knuckles menacingly. "Not for long."
"What, being beaten by a girl wasn't enough for you today, Snotlout?" Astrid snarked, smirking at him as she put a hand on her hip.
He glared back at her in response. "I told you already— she only won 'cause I let her. And besides, a good pummeling will prove that I haven't lost my touch."
Ignoring the boy's aggravation, Hiccup regarded the blond curiously. "Uh, Fishlegs, where were you this afternoon?"
"Yeah!" Snotlout agreed heatedly. "You missed hand-to-face combat! My hand to your face!"
Fishlegs took his time in climbing off Meatlug's back, careful of whatever the object was that he'd put in his bag. He didn't let the other teen's comment affect him as he replied evenly, "I prefer to use the part of my body above the neck."
This, of course, led to an open opportunity for the shorter Viking to jeer, "what neck?"
He met his friend's gaze with an unimpressed look. "Oh, amusing. I refuse to encourage your violent tendencies, Snotlout."
"Don't knock it 'till you try it."
The green light that came from Fishlegs' bag caught Ruffnut's attention. She leaned towards her brother to whisper loudly, "he's glowing again."
"I know," he murmured, eyeing the bag warily, "spooky."
"It's not me that's glowing," he explained, reaching into his bag to pull out the mysterious orb. "It's this."
They all let out various awed sounds as they watched the sphere change with shifting colors. Dany's dragon sense was tingling, but she didn't have enough information to say if it was true either way. All she knew was that round, glow-y objects tended to be of dragon origin.
--
They decided to see Gobber about it. Daenerys didn't think that was their best option— he wasn't known for being the smartest Viking, after all— but she was in the minority, so she went along with it. A crowd had gathered in the Great Hall as the news about Fishlegs' find had spread, so it was with great enthusiasm that the blacksmith announced: "it's a Stone of Good Fortune. My great uncle's wife's brother once told me of its powers."
The villagers were all, naturally, impressed by this, though the Targaryen wasn't so easily convinced. She wouldn't deny that there was a possibility that magic existed— the lived with dragons, after all— but she thought the title was a bit far-fetched.
Mulch, at least, seemed willing to doubt him as he frowned at the other man's story. "I thought he was mute."
"Until he found the stone! Then we couldn't shut him up," Gobber retorted, before he turned his attention back to Fishlegs. "This stone brings good luck to whomever comes in contact with it."
Snotlout gave the orb a considering look. "Stone of Good Fortune. Huh. . ."
That appeared to speak to everyone's interest and all of the gathered Vikings suddenly started shouting on top of each other. Dany immediately covered her ears with her hands as she hoped to block out some of the din. She wished that she had thought to bring Hiccup's ear muffs, had she known that they would be dealing with an unruly mob. Since she didn't have any additional protection, she just backed away from the encroaching crowd in the hopes of lessening the noise, her violet eyes guarded and mistrustful of their unexpected urgency.
Luckily, the chief stepped in before things got any further, his loud voice booming off the Great Hall as he called out: "that's enough! Everyone stand back!" Everyone scattered. "Who found this?"
"Uh, right here, Chief," Fishlegs said as he raised an arm straight up into the air due to his position on the floor. Gobber helped him up and he clutched the sphere tightly to him.
"It's a Stone of Good Fortune." At the mention of its properties, the audience started back up again as they offered their most valuable items. Stoick had to shout over them once more: "listen to me! This belongs to Fishlegs, and what he does with it is up to him."
This time, the crowd wasn't to be tamed and they resumed trying to bargain for the 'stone.' Noticing their desperation, Hiccup quickly placed a hand on Fishlegs' arm and began to guide him towards the doors. "Maybe we should get you out of here. . ."
"Both of you," Astrid added as she glanced at the Targaryen's edgy posture and took the brunet's lead. She placed her hand on Dany's sleeve— being careful to avoid the skin-on-skin contact that the girl disliked— and gently prodded her towards the entrance since, with her hands over her ears, the blonde couldn't hear what their next move was. Daenerys shot her a grateful look as the Hofferson created a wall with her body, providing a buffer against the masses.
--
Fishlegs decided that his newfound 'good fortune' was took more effort to maintain than it was worth, so he thought it was best to return it to the island it had come from. Dany came along both to escape the crowds and to provide muscle in the form of Drogon as no one in their right mind would mess with a dragon of his size. If anyone did disagree with Fishlegs' choice, they would have to face her dragon's teeth first. Thankfully they met no resistance as they flew to the 'secret' island the blond had found.
"You sure you want to do this, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked as they closed in on the strip of land.
"There's too much stress! You saw that mob; they ran right over me." Daenerys grimaced at the memory, more than grateful that she hadn't found the stone-that-might-not-be-a-stone.
"Like a sack of flour," Astrid agreed.
"I just want to put this thing back where I found it and never think about it again," he declared. "Stone of Good Fortune. . . Yeah, right. . ."
Meatlug took a sharp turn downwards without warning, prompting a startled shout from her rider. Toothless let out an uneasy growl while Drogon bared his teeth, both dragons picking up on the change in their surroundings that their riders could not. Still, Dany and Hiccup could tell when their dragons were acting agitated, and they exchanged a wary glance. The brunet returned his gaze to the island ahead as he mumbled, "they sense something."
"Other dragons," the blonde added, just as quietly. Her own violet eyes were already scanning the treetops as they came into view. She frowned at the sight of the now-familiar glowing that came from up ahead. "Fishlegs, I thought you said you found it buried in the sand?"
"I did."
Hiccup focused on where the Targaryen was looking and pointed towards the strange tree-lights. "Then what's that?"
"Are those. . .?" Astrid began tentatively. They were flying close enough to the trees now to see each stone that was nestled amongst the branches. The 'gems' were resting on clumps of bark and leaves, almost as if they were—
"Dragon nests," Fishlegs and Dany confirmed for her, followed by the girl's muttered, "I knew it!"
"Okay," she allowed, eyeing the glowing lights as they flew by, "but why would a dragon fill its nest with gems?"
"Not gems," Daenerys corrected her, and Fishlegs' eyes widened in realization.
He smacked a hand to his forehead in shock of what he had nearly done. "They're dragon eggs! How did I miss that? The egg I dug up must have fallen out and gotten buried." He hugged his bag protectively against his chest. "I can't believe I almost kept this baby away from its mother."
"But you didn't," the brunet reminded him. "Now, let's put this egg back and get out of here."
The other boy nodded, and as quickly as Meatlugs' wings would allow, he flew to an empty branch and placed the egg gently on it. A growl rumbled low in Drogon's throat as he hovered slightly higher than the others, his flame-orange eyes flicking back and forth to stay alert. Dany patted him between the shoulder blades as she usually did to calm him down, but it barely helped.
Toothless was also similarly restless, prompting Hiccup to remark, "their mothers must be close."
"Yeah, really close." Astrid said as Stormfly's tail stiffened and she stuck out her spines. "Fishlegs, say goodbye, and let's go!"
"Okay, okay" he answered hastily, changing his tone to coo at the orb: "goodbye, little color-changing dragon egg."
He returned it to its rightful place and they wasted no time in leaving the mothers to do their job. But, even though they had done the right thing and returned the baby, apparently the dragon moms weren't too happy that it had been taken in the first place. As they flew away from the forest, the sound of creaking trees made them look back.
The felled trunks cut a swath through the otherwise untouched landscape, allowing them to see the path of. . . whatever was in pursuit of them. "They're following us!"
"Yeah, but what are they?" Astrid asked, glancing behind her to see if any shape was discernible.
Dany wanted to say that it didn't matter what it was that was chasing them, just that they got away from it— but she didn't think that would help anyone be less on edge. Instead she simply urged Drogon faster, guiding him above the tree line so she could use the full wingspan.
"I don't see anything back there!" Fishlegs added.
The invisible force suddenly wasn't so invisible anymore as a long, thin dragon burst into existence for a moment— just long enough to shoot bright green acid at the riders. It missed them, but still startled the group, especially as it melted straight through the bark of a nearby tree.
"Whatever it is, it's shooting some kind of acid at us," Hiccup told them, guiding Toothless out of harm's way just in time.
"Invisible, acid-shooting dragons? Great. . ." Fishlegs complained as Meatlug swung her stocky body back and forth to avoid the projectiles.
"We have to get out of these trees."
Dany hunched low on Drogon's back to give him the least amount of wind resistance possible. He swept his wings down in a great gust of air, pushing them forward and away from their pursuer. She kept an eye on the others down below, but there wasn't much she could do to help, not wanting to risk setting the entire forest on fire with one of Drogon's blasts. Thankfully when they reached the open water, the dragons stopped trailing them.
--
The next morning, they gathered in the Great Hall to look up more information about the dragon they'd encountered yesterday. Dany sat opposite of Fishlegs as Hiccup and Astrid crowded on either side of him. Toothless loomed over the trio as if he, too, were curious about the new species they'd come across. The Targaryen's hands were busy with a whittling knife and block of wood, not making anything specific as they didn't know what the dragon they'd found actually looked like. Instead, she was just letting the golden shavings litter the table in front of her until the entire chunk was shaved away. A crown of Lungwort flowers decorated her silvery-blonde hair and she occasionally blew the purplish-pink petals out of her eyes as she worked, sending the smaller sandy pieces skittering across the table.
"Sprays hot, burning acid. . . here it is! It's called a Changewing, according to the Book of Dragons." Fishlegs announced once he'd found the right page.
"Where are the drawings?" Hiccup asked, leaning closer to get a better look.
"Invisible," Dany reminded him simply.
He nodded in realization. "I guess you can't really draw it if you can't see it."
"Listen to what it says," the blond stated as he began to read aloud: "'this remarkable dragon is able to change the color of its skin to blend in with its surroundings.'"
"Does it say anything about eggs?" Astrid wondered as she scanned the page, too.
Fishlegs' eyes went wide with panic, half-afraid that the aggressive girl was blaming him for the ordeal. "No. Those didn't look like dragon eggs, right? If I had seen that, you know I never would have gone and stolen—"
"Fishlegs!" He snapped out of his spiral and looked at the brunet. "Calm down. None of us knew."
"Well. . ." Dany spoke up quietly, drawing out the word hesitantly as all three pairs of eyes snapped to her. "It was just a hunch. I mean, no one's ever seen a plain, glowing rock before, right?" She shrugged, avoiding their gazes by sweeping some of the sawdust into her hand. "I didn't have enough proof to say anything, though. It just goes to show that no one could have really known, so you don't have to feel guilty about it."
"Exactly," Hiccup agreed. He placed a reassuring hand on the larger boy's arm. "Even Dany wasn't certain. The only thing that matters is that it's a good thing we brought that egg back to its mother. Who knows what they'd do if the eggs were still on Berk?"
Fishlegs was beginning to look marginally reassured— at least until the twins arrived with Tuffnut holding a suspiciously glowing orb in his hand. Hiccup eyed it warily. "Uh, what's that?"
"Uh, I don't know," he answered dryly as he tossed the egg between his hands. "Maybe a lifetime of good luck."
He and Ruffnut banged their helmets together, which caused Ruffnut to fall down from the force of the blow. She popped back on her feet a moment later, grinning, as her brother danced in celebration. Astrid's eyes narrowed and she lunged forward with her hand outstretched. "I'll take that!"
Tuffnut was protective of his good luck, though, and snatched it out of her grasp. "Over my cold, dead body!"
They raced towards the doors as the blonde called after them: "where did you get it?"
"We traded for it!"
"Traded with who?"
--
Since the twins wouldn't rat out their seller, the quartet resorted to finding the source themselves— not that it was hard. They'd only left the Great Hall for a few minutes before they came across a crowd (Dany was seriously considering abandoning the whole thing for the safety of her house in the country. What was with Vikings and mobs, anyway?) This time it was headed by Snotlout and a young boy, Gustav.
"All right! All right! All right!" he called. "Everybody— settle down! Settle down! I got six yaks and three chickens from the woman with a hook on! Do I hear seven and four?"
"Seven and four!" the younger boy echoed, ever Snotlout's mirror. They were even dressed the same, as if he were the brunet's 'mini-me.'
Bucket threw up his hand to claim the price and the short Viking pointed at him. "Seven and four! Gustav, the guy with the bucket on his head!"
Dany grimaced at the smug, taunting smile that Snotlout wore. He seemed even cockier than usual with the success of his auction and a wagonload of weapons behind him. His grin grew even bigger as Bucket lifted up a barrel of yet more weapons. (Well, they were Vikings.) "Oh! And he's throwing in a matching set of battle-axes. How cool!"
"Cool!" Gustav chirped a second later.
"Seven and four— plus the axes." Snotlout addressed the crowd again, "come on, folks! Only one left! Good luck for the rest of your life. . . going once! Going twice. . . and sold! Gustav! Give Bucket his stone of good fortune!"
The older man all but squealed as Gustav gave him the 'stone' and he ran off, presumably to tell Mulch. "Well— that's it, folks. I only have three stones and I'm all sold out. So it's time for me to pack up!" When the crowd lingered, his tone hardened. "Uh, hello? Go away! It's over!"
"Snotlout, what are you doing?" Hiccup demanded as they closed in on the brunet one he was alone, save for Gustav.
Snotlout remained unphased by the urgency in the other boy's question as he counted the weapons in his cart. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting rich!"
"But you can't!" Fishlegs protested.
"I already did. Gems are gone."
"Gone," Gustav added brightly.
The four of them exchanged 'what now' looks as Hiccup tried to explain the situation. "They're not gems and they certainly don't bring good luck."
"Puh-lease." Snotlout jumped down and approached them. "They're bringing me good luck. I'm up to my neck in weapons and livestock."
"Snotlout!" Astrid's said sharply. "Those are dragon eggs!"
Fishlegs held up a finger as he specified, "uh, Changewings, to be exact."
"Changewings, schmange-wings I don't care what they are! All I know is I'm rich, and you're not."
"We're rich and you're not," Gustav agreed.
"Snotlout, this is serious," Dany put in, knowing it was probably futile to reason him but thought she should try anyway. He gave her the same, smarmy, 'you know you want it' smile he wore at the auction.
"I know," he conceded with a surprising amount of sincerity. She wanted to believe she'd gotten to him, but previous history told her not to expect so much. This proved to be true as he went on, "I'm serious about us. You and me, tonight. You bring dinner and I'll bring the view." He pointed to himself in case 'the view' wasn't obvious.
The Targaryen stared at him in dismay. "You're mad."
"That's why we'd be so great together," Snotlout said. "Look, if my charming personality alone isn't enough to convince you, how about one date with me and I'll get those stones back for you."
"Can I come?" Gustav piped up hopefully. "And I thought we said no returns?"
The teen waved a hand towards his face until it had found the boy's mouth to cover it. In a quieter voice, Snotlout hissed, "shut up, I'm going for it."
It had been several seconds since he'd suggested the trade and Dany hadn't turned him down, which was making him more confident the longer she went without answering. Her prolonged silence made her other three friends look at her, Hiccup's expression one of mild horror. "You're not seriously considering it, are you?"
Dany shrugged, mumbling tentatively, "well, if it'll get the dragon eggs back. . ."
"No way," the chief's son argued. "You can't go out with him just to get the dragon eggs back!"
She frowned in confusion at his unexpectedly heated disagreement. "What's it to you, anyway? I'd do just about anything to make sure dragons are safe."
As Hiccup struggled to come up with a response, Astrid added pointedly, "and Berk. You saw how that acid burned through wood."
The blonde shrugged. "I said what I said."
Unable to come up with a decent answer to Dany's question, Hiccup shook his head to refocus on the issue at hand. "Snotlout, listen to me. We need to get those eggs off of Berk before something really bad happens."
Snotlout looked at the Targaryen with anticipation. "I didn't hear a no—"
"I'll give it to you: no," Astrid answered firmly for her. Dany sighed, both relieved she didn't have to say 'yes' to Snotlout but also a little guilty that she'd given up an easy way to protect the eggs.
"Fine," he said with an unaffected shrug. He turned back to his weapons and prepared to cart them off. "If you want them, then you'll have to take it up with my customers."
"Oh, this is all my fault," Fishlegs sighed as the pair walked away. He turned; his head lowered in shame as he went to seek comfort from Meatlug.
"It's not your fault, Fishlegs."
"Yes it is!" he reasoned, landing with a heavy thud on the stone path as he sat down. "If I hadn't gone to that island and brought that egg back, then Snotlout wouldn't have known where to go get them, and we wouldn't be in danger of imminent attack by mother Changewings!"
"When you put it that way. . . it really is his fault." Astrid put her hands up in self-defense at the annoyed looks that came from both Hiccup and Dany (even she knew that wasn't the thing to say when trying to make someone feel better!). "Just saying."
Hiccup went over to the blond to put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Look, it doesn't matter whose fault it is. We just have to find those eggs."
--
"So, what you're telling me, is that our village is about to be under siege by a bunch of wild dragons we can't see?" Stoick summarized his son's news, which they had promptly informed him upon their return to the village. He stood before them, pacing in front of the fire as he took in their store.
"Oh!" Tuffnut interjected, lifting a finger to add eagerly, "don't forget the hot, burning acid." When he received incredulous stares in response, he tacked on a defiant, "what? It was awesome!"
"Well, grab your dragons, then. We'll fight them off," the chief said decisively.
Hiccup spoke up, wincing at the additional bad news he had to tell his father. "Dad, I wish it were that easy. No matter what we do, they won't go away until they get what they want."
"They just want their babies. Oh, it's all my fault," Fishlegs cried, burying his face in his hands once more. Dany gave him a sympathetic look, knowing that he cared about the dragons almost as much as she did (but she would argue that she liked them even more.)
The door burst open to reveal a frazzled Gobber, who didn't notice the teens in the chief's company as he exclaimed, "Stoick, I just realized something! It's not a Stone of Good Fortune. It's a Changewing egg! I always get those two confused." Then he noticed the rest of the group and continued casually, "so, what are you all up to?"
If she had been more prone to outbursts of emotion in public settings, Dany would have smacked a hand to her forehead at the blacksmith's carelessness. As it was, she just let out an exasperated sigh while she thought to herself: you couldn't have realized this sooner? I almost had to suffer through a date with Snotlout. Snotlout!
Stoick gave his friend a flat look before he turned back to his son. "Hiccup, what are you suggesting we do?"
"I think we should get everyone off the island until we can get the eggs back with their mothers, and the Changewings are gone," he offered. "Hopefully, it's not too late."
The older man looked exceptionally displeased with this idea and scoffed at the thought. "In all the years I've been chief, we've never turned in fear of anything. I'm not about to start."
He'd barely finished his sentence when a woman's scream pierced the night, causing them all to face the door. The chief ran outside to see what was going on, the teens and Gobber hot on his heels. Various Vikings burst out of their homes as the Changewings tore them apart to look for their eggs. The mother roared in frustration when she came up empty-handed— er, clawed. The Vikings ran off, shouting in fear.
"They're looking for their eggs!" Hiccup announced when they'd reached the crest of the hill, which gave them a view of the chaos in town.
Another Changewing shot acid at a door, which promptly disintegrated upon contact. The Viking that was hiding behind it yelled and threw down the chest he'd been holding so he could flee. The dragon picked it up with its teeth, shook it, then tossed it aside when it realized there weren't any eggs.
Ever one to help out his villagers, Stoick leapt into action and pulled a long pole from the ground with a grunt. He charged fearlessly at the Changewing, who startled with a roar and fled to the nearest natural object— a rock— and camouflaged herself. The chief stumbled to a halt with the post still held aloft, confused by its disappearance. "Where did it go?"
Hiccup joined his father and pointed out, "that would be the 'blending in, can't see it at all' part."
"I see it." Tuffnut stuck out his hand to stop them from getting closer. "I got this, Chief." Doing his best impersonation of Hiccup or Dany— it wasn't a very good impression, clearly— he held out his palm over where he thought the dragon's snout was and said sternly, "stay, dragon! I am now your master." He reached out and set his fingers down on the stone, then turned and gave them a thumbs-up as if he had actually achieved his goal.
Dany sighed again and turned to go fetch Drogon, knowing that getting on their dragons would be the next step. As she left, she overheard the chief ask, "it's gone, isn't it?"
"Oh, long gone," the brunet confirmed.
Daenerys let the other teens deal with getting the eggs back— the villagers were probably more likely to listen to her friends, anyway— and joined Stoick and Gobber in dealing with the Changewings. While they dealt with the problem in a head-on approach, she focused on the root: you couldn't fight what you couldn't see.
So, she went to one of the storage sheds in search of quicklime, a thick, white liquid that they sometimes used to paint their houses. If she was able to pour it somewhere on the dragon, it would be visible in the dark and make it easier to track them. It took her longer than she would've liked to reach the shed due to all the ducking and avoiding acid she had to do, but eventually she got two buckets— as much as she could hold— and made her way back to the Chief's house for Drogon. She hung the handles of the buckets on his spikes as she climbed up his leg, then secured them on his spines before they took off.
The village looked even more destroyed from the sky than it had from the ground, so she felt reassured that a little firepower wouldn't do too much additional damage. Admittedly, Drogon wasn't the best dragon to use for this endeavor since his bulk would make aiming difficult, but she would make do.
The Changewings were visible when they threatened the villagers, so she flew as close to the road as she could. One was noising at some barrels near the town center. She made a beeline for it and, while it was distracted, she tossed the entire bucket in what she hoped was the vicinity of its back. The liquid landed with a splat! that startled the dragon, causing it to become invisible again— but not as much as it usually was. She grinned at her success and urged Drogon to snap his teeth in its direction.
It shot off into the sky in an attempt to shake them, but now that she could see the mother's path, they quickly changed directions to pursue it. The second bucket of white paint sloshed against Drogon's side as they climbed higher, staining some of his red-black scales. The cool night wind whipped her tangle of silvery-blonde curls into messier knots and stung her cheeks, but she didn't care in the exhilaration of the chase.
Drogon and Daenerys wove after it as the lithe dragon twisted and turned, their practice in the sea-stacks around Berk paying off nicely. Her dragon's larger, more powerful wings helped them catch up quickly. Once they were close enough to give warning (but not enough to permanently harm), the Targaryen called out, "Drogon, aldrnari!"
He let loose a gust of flame that singed the Changewing's tail. It squawked in discomfort and changed course, shooting away from the village and back out to the open sea to avoid the dragon's fire. As they flew over the docks, the blonde could see the Vikings who had gathered by the boats, meaning that Stoick had gone through with the evacuation after all— though it seemed to be called off as no one appeared to be in an immediate rush anywhere.
She relented in their chase, allowing the mother to fly off to join the other teens on the ground. "All clear?"
"Yep. Fishlegs is dealing with the last of them now," Hiccup answered, pausing as three consecutive roars sounded from somewhere in the village. "I think they worked it out." He then glanced at Drogon's white-spattered scales. "What's with the paint?"
"Oh— it was for the Changewings, to even the playing field."
Understanding dawned in his expression a moment later and he nodded appreciatively. "Good thinking."
Dany smiled and straightened on Drogon's back, pleased that he approved of her plan. The night only got better when she learned that Fishlegs had scared the yak dung out of Snotlout in order to get the Changewing's egg back— something she definitely wished she had been there to witness.