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protectshisownSignificant Negative: Breaking Dagur's Heart TBH. (Defenders of Berk: S2:E3)
Summary
Teenage Hiccup and the dragon riders are doing a training mission of Astrid's design! No one is particularly excited for her training mission because hers is known to be really hard. And painful.
This particular exercise is about crossing Dragon Nest Island at night with no camping gear and no dragons. To everyone's dismay, but Hiccup agrees they need the lesson to improve stealth skills and how to handle wild dragons in a worst case scenario.
They get to the island and after some debate, its decided Tuffnut gets to skip the drill because he needs to keep their dragons from helping them on the other side of the island. Mostly because Fishlegs needs the training and Tuffnut is....well, Tuffnut doesn't so much Learn as Do anyway. Fishlegs would get more out of it.
They head out on separate paths with some complaining and Concern From Dragons, but the dragons follow Tuffnut.
Hiccup heads through the woods, usually choosing to distract or avoid dragons since part of it is stealth, but he's having little trouble from the dragons who do notice him. He walks a while until he notices a fire from a cliff edge and is unimpressed when he thinks someone else has broken stealth. He approaches the fire which has a number of weapons around and calls out for Snotlout because he thinks he's cheating and he'll go easy if he fesses up.
Then he gets tackled down by Dagur.
Dagur is excited to see Hiccup, talking about how Hiccup saved him from a Night Fury and anyone who knows Hiccup can see he is absolutely lying as he pretends that is totally what happened. Dagur starts to wonder why Hiccup is there and then concludes he's there to hunt dragons which Hiccup agrees with and says he's totally alone. When Dagur asks about the Night Fury, Hiccup says he got away, and Dagur is excited to hunt the Night Fury together now. Then he begins to howl and Hiccup reluctantly joins.
They sit by the fire a little bit and Dagur talks more. He's been thinking about Hiccup a lot, noting how Hiccup seemed to fight the dragon by getting inside its head despite being 'muscularly challenged.' He decided he had to do the same and has been on the island studying dragons. Hiccup is working real hard to bite his tongue, especially after he sees a Monstrous Nightmare Skull. Dagur comments on his shield and Hiccup pretends its Totally Normal, but Dagur's sister used to have one. (Listen, there's a reason Hiccup and Heather being siblings made sense For A Hot Second.) Dagur has also been on the island for days or weeks and is Extremely Touchy in regards to Hiccup who just feels awkward. Dagur also refers to him as Brother for the first time.
Hiccup goes along with Dagur, doing his best to keep Dagur from killing any dragons by making up ways it would alert the Night Fury to dissuade him. There is a lot more touchy and Dagur referring to Hiccup as small and delicate but smart in a lot of ways and yet they make a great team!
They end up running into Snotlout and luckily Dagur dismisses Snotlout's confusion for idiocy and forages ahead, allowing Hiccup a few moments to get Snotlout up to speed on the charade so he doesn't attack their dragons. Then they run into Fishlegs who is quicker on the draw. Dagur comments their definition of alone is very different.
Dagur then says they're alike in a lot of ways. Both natural leaders, sons of chiefs, who need to be eliminated to grab power which is Extremely Concerning to Hiccup because Stoick is alive and Dagur offers to assassinate him for him.
The entire time, the Vibes are REAL STRONG that Dagur is very much attracted to Hiccup even with the negging involved.
Then they run into Toothless. Who Dagur tries to shoot at despite Hiccup's delay tactics, luckily Astrid saw what's up and releases a horde of Terrible Terrors and acts like they got in the way of her kill. Allowing Hiccup to signal to Toothless to Leave because he's Safe Enough.
As Dagur retrieves his bolt, he orders the rest to get their dragons and leave, he can handle Dagur alone. Being his Brother and all. He follows after Dagur as Dagur follows Toothless and he tries to get Dagur to back off since Toothless isn't flying away. Could be a trap! Except Dagur claims a Trapper's Trap can Trap the Trapper. Which is. Hard to follow. Either way, he keeps after Toothless.
Dagur is herding Toothless even as Hiccup criticizes him when Dagur reveals he wasn't entirely alone. He sends off a signal and Hiccup finds out the Armada is actually off the shore. And while not sporting, Dagur doesn't care. He just wants the Night Fury dead.
Toothless gets pinned down by Dagur and Hiccup has to make the choice, telling Dagur he's not killing Toothless and signaling for Toothless to come to him finally. Dagur is shocked and Hiccup explains he was right before (a previous incident) that Berk doesn't hunt dragons anymore. Stoick and Hiccup lied to Dagur to keep the peace. Dagur is extremely hurt by this revelation and at being made a fool of, which Hiccup points out wasn't really that hard. Dagur declares them enemies and Hiccup accepts it but points out they have the dragons and tries to just leave.
Dagur is a spiteful person in heartbreak though and hits Toothless with several bolas. Hiccup and Dagur start to fight and Hiccup shows off what the shield can really do. He can Captain America it, it has a bow and arrow attachment, and a grappling hook, able to herd Dagur until he could pin him under a branch. He manages to free Toothless and drive off Dagur and leave the island, knowing Dagur will be after them in the future.
Significant Negative: Skrill mistakes. (RTTE 2.11)
Summary
They visit Outcast Island to check on the Outcasts, only to see it deserted and the place wrecked. There's no signs of a Dragon Hunter attack, lack of ammunition and weapons, until Hiccup notices fractal scorch marks from lightning attacks. They head to an iceberg, to check to see if the Skrill is still there.
Its not. Which is a Concern when they sealed them away. They need to go after them before they can hurt anyone else or worse, Dagur gets ahold of them. They decide to follow a lightning storm leaving Outcast island in hopes of finding the Skrill, but unfortunately the storm is headed for Berk. They get there to see the Skrill attacking Berk and the A Team is doing their best, but the Skrill is far too much for them to handle.
Unfortunately, Toothless and Hiccup have some Disagreements on how to handle the situation, with Toothless heading off to fight the Skrill directly while Hiccup is trying to focus on defense. They end up getting separated, Toothless hitting the ground, and Hiccup managing to use the flight suit to save himself and landing on Stoick's dragon. Which is a new dragon for Rye's memories, INTRIGUE??? Stoick also gets to learn about flight suits!
The Skrill backs off and no one died and thankfully no serious injuries beyond Spitelout being unable to talk. But the only house that got attacked was Hiccup's. Its then they realize that the Skrill isn't randomly attacking, its seeking revenge on Hiccup and Toothless for sealing it in the glacier. Astrid points out they didn't have a choice, it was seal it or let Dagur have it, but Hiccup admits that explaining that to the Skrill isn't really an option.
They realize the Skrill will keep after Hiccup and Toothless, and Hiccup realizes the Skrill won't attack until it has an advantage. It won't attack when everyone else is around, so he sends them off so he can act as bait.
The others go to prepare the glacier and Spitelout and Snotlout are going on about revenge for his voice, but they focus on the trap.
Hiccup eventually draws in the Skrill, and they lead the Skrill to the glacier from earlier. Unfortunately, the Skrill doesn't fall for the trap and the Skrill actually tries to trap THEM in the glacier. Luckily his friends keep it busy long enough for them to get themselves out.
Unfortunately they need to come up with a new plan and they make an escape into a ship graveyard to buy some time. Toothless' tail catches fire and burns off and Hiccup has to make a replacement as they hide on a ship. Hiccup is feeling desperate and leads the Skrill to the Dragon Hunters, to let them take care of the Skrill. He waits until they down the Skrill with Dragon Root Arrows and net it, doubling back to try and steal the Skrill back.
Unfortunately, Dagur manages to cut off Hiccup's rescue and Hiccup realizes the mistake he's made, allowing Dagur to have a Skrill under his control.
Hiccup has to retreat to the Edge and while there's a freak out about the Dragon Hunter mark on Toothless' tail, since Hiccup used their own sail to fix it, he admits he kind of helped the Dragon Hunters unintentionally. He's messed up badly by letting the Hunters and Dagur get the Skrill. And he doesn't know how to fix it.
To the twins distress, since Hiccup always knows how to fix it. Also Tuffnut apparently has a painting of Hiccup above his bed??? (Hiccup is a hot commodity.)
Astrid cuts off Hiccup's guilt trip by pointing out he was doing his best to protect the dragon and his people and its not about how he fixes it, its about how they fix it, and everyone moves in to support him. They realize where the storm is headed, and they need to go the opposite way since that's how the Hunters will be able to control the Skrill.
They find the Hunters and Spitelout and Snotlout is on distraction duty as Spitelout charges in himself, and the rest go for the Skrill. They manage to find the Skrills cage, submerged in water so they can't fire. The Skrill is screeching at them since they don't trust them as Hiccup does his best to calm them, but the noise draws in Ryker and Dagur, who knew Hiccup was going to show up.
Dagur and the Skrill ALSO have a history.
The Dragon Hunters have most of the dragons and riders contained, and Hiccup looks to the Skrill and decides this is another the enemy of my enemy solution. Which might still get them dead, but he's desperate again and manages to lunge at the Hunters around Toothless and tells him to get the cage.
Toothless ain't HAPPY about helping the Skrill, but goes regardless and gets the cage tilted onto the dock. The Skrill blasts the Hunters, but get caught on the cage and is about to be fired when Hiccup gets in the way of the arrow. Toothless gets in the way for Hiccup, but manages to time it so the arrow hits his muzzle and not him. Giving the Skrill time to get into the air and charge up.
They ponder Hiccup and Toothless for a moment, before attacking the Hunters and manages to drive them off.
Then Spitelout shoots the Skrill with a Dragon Root arrow.
They catch the Skrill in the net and head to the glacier and Hiccup watches as the others lower the Skrill. And he realizes they can't do this again. The Skrill may have tried to kill Hiccup and Toothless, but they also risked their own life to save them. If they seal the Skrill again, they're no better then the Dragon Hunters, its just another cage. Toothless is really not happy with this line of thinking.
He cuts the Skrill's net and they have a staredown where the Skrill seriously ponders them and Toothless is on edge, but the Skrill lets go of their charge and bows their head. Hiccup and Toothless relax, bowing their own heads, and watch as the Skrill flies off.
Astrid asks if Hiccup knew they wouldn't attack and Hiccup says sure, why not. He really Didn't Know, but things worked out despite Hiccup's...many mistakes, honestly.
Neutral Neutral: Losing all the gold. (RTTE 3.12)
Hiccup is waiting for Johann to arrive. Which he does, at a run, being chase by some thugs. Hiccup gets him on Toothless and get out quick. Johann pulled through, getting them the map to the dragon auction. Hiccup cases out the area, but all he can see are small dragons, not the prize of the auction.
He heads back to the Edge, putting together a plan. They need time to find the dragons and the only time they can guarantee the dragons will be there is for the auction. So they need someone to play distraction, pretend to be a buyer to keep Viggo busy. Unfortunately the only one Viggo nor Ryker has seen up close is Snotlout. Which isn't great, but then again, his obliviousness might make him a good enough liar to pull it off.
Johann points out the other flaw: lack of funds. They can't show up without gold. So Hiccup has to head Berk and ask for their entire stash of gold. Stoick and Gobber laugh when he asks them for it. They're quick to dismiss until Hiccup points out how much more dangerous Viggo would be if he made as much gold as he aims to with the auction, and that will eventually be a threat to Berk's dragons. This does get through to Stoick, who looks to his own dragon.
Hiccup then explains the plan of Snotlout being a distraction as a buyer, and find the manifest to be sure they have all the dragons, and Stoick is less then thrilled since he really doesn't trust Snotlout. Hiccup admits that Stoick's doubts are well founded, but he assures him he has a method to his madness and actually stares down Stoick. Who finally relents, but only on the condition that Gobber acts as Snotlout's valet to keep the gold safe.
They start the plan, Snotlout and Gobber off on their own, meanwhile the others hide out on Johann's ship, hidden in a secret room at the very bottom of the ship, using Toothless' wings to hide from sight, to make it appear empty. They manage to sneak onto the island and Hiccup is pick up the manifest after Gobber finds it.
He goes off with Heather and Astrid to find the caves with the bigger dragons. Which they do, only to end up captured after the twins and Snotlout are found out, putting the Hunters on alert. They're caged, and Berk's gold taken.
Viggo comes to gloat again, and gets Hiccup's angry silence until Toothless is brought forward as Viggo brags about his price and says if Hiccup's good, he might even let him watch him be bought. The vibe that Viggo sees a fun rival and Hiccup is forever pissed off at him continues.
Astrid assures him they'll figure a way out and they begin to try and figure a way out. Unfortunately the bars are dragon proof metal and the walls are largely iron ore, which makes it hard to force an escape.
After the twins run into the walls a few times, Gobber says he's already got a plan as he picks up some rocks. Gobber throws out the rocks, hitting the guards. It doesn't take long for Gobber's plan to arrive, a Hotburble dragon, named Grump. The guards laugh at Grumb, but Gobber asks the lazy dragon to help. Grump is suddenly quite motivated, mowing down the guards, and going to Gobber. Gobber had bonded with the dragon during his mission. Grump is also one of the few dragon types that can break through dragon proof metal easily.
They open up the cages for the big dragons and sew chaos dragons and fire. They split up to free dragons and get away, with Hiccup going to Toothless. Ryker is about to attack Hiccup when Gobber gets in the way, the two going one on one. Gobber also reminds Hiccup to go after Viggo for Berk's gold because he's got Ryker.
They go after Viggo, catching up to his ship, only to see Viggo throw the chest of their gold overboard. Hiccup dives after it and almost starts to drown when Astrid and Fishlegs go after them to pull them out of the water. Gobber also manages to catch up, riding Grump.
Its then they discover that the chest is actually full of rocks, not gold. It was a decoy to get Hiccup off Viggo's tail so he could sail off in the chaos of all the buyer's ships. Astrid points out all the dragons they saved and Hiccup just hopes Stoick sees it that way.
Gobber assures him he'll take the heat. They'll get the gold back. Gobber feeds Grump the rocks. He also slaps Snotlout for revenge for earlier as they head off into the sunset.
Neutral Positive: Getting the gold. (RTTE 4.8)
Summary
Hiccup is training with Toothless, which is one part fun flying, but also add in water diving. Toothless isn't fond of the water dives, but Hiccup insists its important to try new moves. They train a while longer, until they finally head for the Edge. Toothless is pretty tired.
Heather and Astrid express concern for how much Hiccup is pushing himself and Toothless, but Hiccup says he'll rest when Viggo is gone. Then Dagur shows up, saying he knows how to hurt Viggo. Dagur is there with Shattermaster the Gronckle.
Dagur explains they had been alone a while, hadn't eaten in days, while on the search for Oswalrd the Agreeable, Dagur and Heather's father. Since neither sibling killed him, Dagur figures he must be out there somewhere. Dagur then explains he found the wimpiest Dragon Hunter, comparing him to Hiccup's size. The Hunter ended up singing like a canary. Hiccup asks what the Hunter said about Viggo and Dagur says he'll tell if Hiccup calls him brother.
Hiccup is Not Impressed.
Dagur relents at Hiccup's look and then says the Hunter told him where Viggo hides his gold. Viggo also apparently has Berk's gold. If they could get the gold, they could cripple Viggo and help Berk in one go. Dagur also says he wants some of that gold so Heather and him can go find their father and rebuild their tribe as a family. Heather is less for this plan.
They begin their flight and Hiccup is focused ahead, ignoring most of the chatter. Only really notices when Dagur declares his wishes for the first mission of Riders and Berserkers to go well.
They spot the island and Hiccup stops short when they don't see people. They see some old ruins, which Fishlegs is excited about and Hiccup usually would, except he's way more concerned about Viggo at present. The fact they don't see people is worrying, since the gold should have high security.
Hiccup finds some tracks and eventually find a storehouse made of dragonproof metal.The twins look for any traps, but no luck. Hiccup tells Toothless to fire to see if anything happens or if it can break down the door, but no go. Dagur then steps up, explaining the Berserker style isn't crazy, but about going at everything full speed all the time, dedicated to Berserker brother and sisters. Then Dagur then sends Shattermaster forward, using full force and gronckle hide to bust through the door.
Dagur also uses this to bond with Heather, who is the most unsure of all this.
The storehouse, however, is empty. Hiccup thinks its weird. No traps, no guards, even if Viggo moved it, not having any evidence of these things is weird. Fishlegs and him look at the tracks and realize they don't make sense. Coming in is deeper, but going is lighter, which means for the gold to leave, it was carried by hand. Its all a decoy. The gold is still on the island.
They split up, Fishlegs with Dagur and Heather, and the other five head off the other way. There is no luck in finding the gold and while Astrid doubts its here, Hiccup is sure its there. He's sure its a trick from Viggo, he just has to out think him. But they finally spot some Hunters and Astrid wonders if its just buried, but they stealth off after them.
They spot the Hunters with a number of tools, but no gold. However, Snotlout and the twins expose their location and they chase after the Hunters. Unfortunately, its another trap as they get caught in a net.
They get brought to the Dragon Hunter ships and Hiccup is brought to Viggo's chambers for he can gloat. Viggo is poisonously friendly and Hiccup very much does not want to play along, acting very hostile at first. Viggo confirms the gold is indeed on the island, but Hiccup could have spent months looking and never find it. Hiccup looks at the map, and there is a shift from his cold disrespect and anger to something snarkily smug. (Which honestly should be a tell to Viggo at this point, but Viggo is way too happy to have a game opponent play along to realize Hiccup's snark is rare around him.)
Hiccup says they might surprise him. Viggo assumes its their impending rescue. Viggo continues, more compliments for Hiccup's efforts, and it's a shame the game will have to end, with Hiccup fairly quiet (which also points to how much Hiccup is genuinely intimidated by Viggo), until blasts upon the ship alerts then to Dagur, Heather, and Fishlegs coming to the rescue.
Viggo compliments their loyalty and tells Hiccup he'll have a front row seat to their destruction, meaning there's another trick still in play. Hiccup demands to know what he's done, and Viggo brags about what a feat of engineering it was to pull off, so much testing, and how much Hicccup's own efforts forced him to figure it out. A metal boat is a hard thing to make float, after all.
Viggo also has That Vibe where his interest in Hiccup is Deeply Personal. (Listen, he calls Hiccup Dear at one point, I can't help Hiccup is a hot commodity. He's the delicate princess of the archipelago.)
Then something hits the boat HARD, sending them all flying around the room, and giving Hiccup the opportunity to bolt for the door and escape. He manages to get topside with Ryker on his tail, whose flailing sword he uses to break his cuffs and he finally spots Toothless on another ship. He swings off the ship and Toothless dives off his to meet him in the water. It also becomes clear the ships all have Gronckle sized holes in them.
They make their escape and after the heat dies down, Hiccup has them double back. He explains with all they saw on the island pointed to building something, and when Hiccup saw the map, he knew. There were no ruins on them.
They go to the ruins and with a blast from Toothless, they see the ruins aren't ruins, but camouflage for the gold. They gather as much of the gold as they can. Heather also announces she will be going with Dagur to look for their father. They part ways, Hiccup asking for them to tell them if they have any luck, and Heather thanks him for everything he's done, and they part ways.
Summary
Teenage Hiccup and the dragon riders are doing a training mission of Astrid's design! No one is particularly excited for her training mission because hers is known to be really hard. And painful.
This particular exercise is about crossing Dragon Nest Island at night with no camping gear and no dragons. To everyone's dismay, but Hiccup agrees they need the lesson to improve stealth skills and how to handle wild dragons in a worst case scenario.
They get to the island and after some debate, its decided Tuffnut gets to skip the drill because he needs to keep their dragons from helping them on the other side of the island. Mostly because Fishlegs needs the training and Tuffnut is....well, Tuffnut doesn't so much Learn as Do anyway. Fishlegs would get more out of it.
They head out on separate paths with some complaining and Concern From Dragons, but the dragons follow Tuffnut.
Hiccup heads through the woods, usually choosing to distract or avoid dragons since part of it is stealth, but he's having little trouble from the dragons who do notice him. He walks a while until he notices a fire from a cliff edge and is unimpressed when he thinks someone else has broken stealth. He approaches the fire which has a number of weapons around and calls out for Snotlout because he thinks he's cheating and he'll go easy if he fesses up.
Then he gets tackled down by Dagur.
Dagur is excited to see Hiccup, talking about how Hiccup saved him from a Night Fury and anyone who knows Hiccup can see he is absolutely lying as he pretends that is totally what happened. Dagur starts to wonder why Hiccup is there and then concludes he's there to hunt dragons which Hiccup agrees with and says he's totally alone. When Dagur asks about the Night Fury, Hiccup says he got away, and Dagur is excited to hunt the Night Fury together now. Then he begins to howl and Hiccup reluctantly joins.
They sit by the fire a little bit and Dagur talks more. He's been thinking about Hiccup a lot, noting how Hiccup seemed to fight the dragon by getting inside its head despite being 'muscularly challenged.' He decided he had to do the same and has been on the island studying dragons. Hiccup is working real hard to bite his tongue, especially after he sees a Monstrous Nightmare Skull. Dagur comments on his shield and Hiccup pretends its Totally Normal, but Dagur's sister used to have one. (Listen, there's a reason Hiccup and Heather being siblings made sense For A Hot Second.) Dagur has also been on the island for days or weeks and is Extremely Touchy in regards to Hiccup who just feels awkward. Dagur also refers to him as Brother for the first time.
Hiccup goes along with Dagur, doing his best to keep Dagur from killing any dragons by making up ways it would alert the Night Fury to dissuade him. There is a lot more touchy and Dagur referring to Hiccup as small and delicate but smart in a lot of ways and yet they make a great team!
They end up running into Snotlout and luckily Dagur dismisses Snotlout's confusion for idiocy and forages ahead, allowing Hiccup a few moments to get Snotlout up to speed on the charade so he doesn't attack their dragons. Then they run into Fishlegs who is quicker on the draw. Dagur comments their definition of alone is very different.
Dagur then says they're alike in a lot of ways. Both natural leaders, sons of chiefs, who need to be eliminated to grab power which is Extremely Concerning to Hiccup because Stoick is alive and Dagur offers to assassinate him for him.
The entire time, the Vibes are REAL STRONG that Dagur is very much attracted to Hiccup even with the negging involved.
Then they run into Toothless. Who Dagur tries to shoot at despite Hiccup's delay tactics, luckily Astrid saw what's up and releases a horde of Terrible Terrors and acts like they got in the way of her kill. Allowing Hiccup to signal to Toothless to Leave because he's Safe Enough.
As Dagur retrieves his bolt, he orders the rest to get their dragons and leave, he can handle Dagur alone. Being his Brother and all. He follows after Dagur as Dagur follows Toothless and he tries to get Dagur to back off since Toothless isn't flying away. Could be a trap! Except Dagur claims a Trapper's Trap can Trap the Trapper. Which is. Hard to follow. Either way, he keeps after Toothless.
Dagur is herding Toothless even as Hiccup criticizes him when Dagur reveals he wasn't entirely alone. He sends off a signal and Hiccup finds out the Armada is actually off the shore. And while not sporting, Dagur doesn't care. He just wants the Night Fury dead.
Toothless gets pinned down by Dagur and Hiccup has to make the choice, telling Dagur he's not killing Toothless and signaling for Toothless to come to him finally. Dagur is shocked and Hiccup explains he was right before (a previous incident) that Berk doesn't hunt dragons anymore. Stoick and Hiccup lied to Dagur to keep the peace. Dagur is extremely hurt by this revelation and at being made a fool of, which Hiccup points out wasn't really that hard. Dagur declares them enemies and Hiccup accepts it but points out they have the dragons and tries to just leave.
Dagur is a spiteful person in heartbreak though and hits Toothless with several bolas. Hiccup and Dagur start to fight and Hiccup shows off what the shield can really do. He can Captain America it, it has a bow and arrow attachment, and a grappling hook, able to herd Dagur until he could pin him under a branch. He manages to free Toothless and drive off Dagur and leave the island, knowing Dagur will be after them in the future.
Significant Negative: Skrill mistakes. (RTTE 2.11)
Summary
They visit Outcast Island to check on the Outcasts, only to see it deserted and the place wrecked. There's no signs of a Dragon Hunter attack, lack of ammunition and weapons, until Hiccup notices fractal scorch marks from lightning attacks. They head to an iceberg, to check to see if the Skrill is still there.
Its not. Which is a Concern when they sealed them away. They need to go after them before they can hurt anyone else or worse, Dagur gets ahold of them. They decide to follow a lightning storm leaving Outcast island in hopes of finding the Skrill, but unfortunately the storm is headed for Berk. They get there to see the Skrill attacking Berk and the A Team is doing their best, but the Skrill is far too much for them to handle.
Unfortunately, Toothless and Hiccup have some Disagreements on how to handle the situation, with Toothless heading off to fight the Skrill directly while Hiccup is trying to focus on defense. They end up getting separated, Toothless hitting the ground, and Hiccup managing to use the flight suit to save himself and landing on Stoick's dragon. Which is a new dragon for Rye's memories, INTRIGUE??? Stoick also gets to learn about flight suits!
The Skrill backs off and no one died and thankfully no serious injuries beyond Spitelout being unable to talk. But the only house that got attacked was Hiccup's. Its then they realize that the Skrill isn't randomly attacking, its seeking revenge on Hiccup and Toothless for sealing it in the glacier. Astrid points out they didn't have a choice, it was seal it or let Dagur have it, but Hiccup admits that explaining that to the Skrill isn't really an option.
They realize the Skrill will keep after Hiccup and Toothless, and Hiccup realizes the Skrill won't attack until it has an advantage. It won't attack when everyone else is around, so he sends them off so he can act as bait.
The others go to prepare the glacier and Spitelout and Snotlout are going on about revenge for his voice, but they focus on the trap.
Hiccup eventually draws in the Skrill, and they lead the Skrill to the glacier from earlier. Unfortunately, the Skrill doesn't fall for the trap and the Skrill actually tries to trap THEM in the glacier. Luckily his friends keep it busy long enough for them to get themselves out.
Unfortunately they need to come up with a new plan and they make an escape into a ship graveyard to buy some time. Toothless' tail catches fire and burns off and Hiccup has to make a replacement as they hide on a ship. Hiccup is feeling desperate and leads the Skrill to the Dragon Hunters, to let them take care of the Skrill. He waits until they down the Skrill with Dragon Root Arrows and net it, doubling back to try and steal the Skrill back.
Unfortunately, Dagur manages to cut off Hiccup's rescue and Hiccup realizes the mistake he's made, allowing Dagur to have a Skrill under his control.
Hiccup has to retreat to the Edge and while there's a freak out about the Dragon Hunter mark on Toothless' tail, since Hiccup used their own sail to fix it, he admits he kind of helped the Dragon Hunters unintentionally. He's messed up badly by letting the Hunters and Dagur get the Skrill. And he doesn't know how to fix it.
To the twins distress, since Hiccup always knows how to fix it. Also Tuffnut apparently has a painting of Hiccup above his bed??? (Hiccup is a hot commodity.)
Astrid cuts off Hiccup's guilt trip by pointing out he was doing his best to protect the dragon and his people and its not about how he fixes it, its about how they fix it, and everyone moves in to support him. They realize where the storm is headed, and they need to go the opposite way since that's how the Hunters will be able to control the Skrill.
They find the Hunters and Spitelout and Snotlout is on distraction duty as Spitelout charges in himself, and the rest go for the Skrill. They manage to find the Skrills cage, submerged in water so they can't fire. The Skrill is screeching at them since they don't trust them as Hiccup does his best to calm them, but the noise draws in Ryker and Dagur, who knew Hiccup was going to show up.
Dagur and the Skrill ALSO have a history.
The Dragon Hunters have most of the dragons and riders contained, and Hiccup looks to the Skrill and decides this is another the enemy of my enemy solution. Which might still get them dead, but he's desperate again and manages to lunge at the Hunters around Toothless and tells him to get the cage.
Toothless ain't HAPPY about helping the Skrill, but goes regardless and gets the cage tilted onto the dock. The Skrill blasts the Hunters, but get caught on the cage and is about to be fired when Hiccup gets in the way of the arrow. Toothless gets in the way for Hiccup, but manages to time it so the arrow hits his muzzle and not him. Giving the Skrill time to get into the air and charge up.
They ponder Hiccup and Toothless for a moment, before attacking the Hunters and manages to drive them off.
Then Spitelout shoots the Skrill with a Dragon Root arrow.
They catch the Skrill in the net and head to the glacier and Hiccup watches as the others lower the Skrill. And he realizes they can't do this again. The Skrill may have tried to kill Hiccup and Toothless, but they also risked their own life to save them. If they seal the Skrill again, they're no better then the Dragon Hunters, its just another cage. Toothless is really not happy with this line of thinking.
He cuts the Skrill's net and they have a staredown where the Skrill seriously ponders them and Toothless is on edge, but the Skrill lets go of their charge and bows their head. Hiccup and Toothless relax, bowing their own heads, and watch as the Skrill flies off.
Astrid asks if Hiccup knew they wouldn't attack and Hiccup says sure, why not. He really Didn't Know, but things worked out despite Hiccup's...many mistakes, honestly.
Neutral Neutral: Losing all the gold. (RTTE 3.12)
Hiccup is waiting for Johann to arrive. Which he does, at a run, being chase by some thugs. Hiccup gets him on Toothless and get out quick. Johann pulled through, getting them the map to the dragon auction. Hiccup cases out the area, but all he can see are small dragons, not the prize of the auction.
He heads back to the Edge, putting together a plan. They need time to find the dragons and the only time they can guarantee the dragons will be there is for the auction. So they need someone to play distraction, pretend to be a buyer to keep Viggo busy. Unfortunately the only one Viggo nor Ryker has seen up close is Snotlout. Which isn't great, but then again, his obliviousness might make him a good enough liar to pull it off.
Johann points out the other flaw: lack of funds. They can't show up without gold. So Hiccup has to head Berk and ask for their entire stash of gold. Stoick and Gobber laugh when he asks them for it. They're quick to dismiss until Hiccup points out how much more dangerous Viggo would be if he made as much gold as he aims to with the auction, and that will eventually be a threat to Berk's dragons. This does get through to Stoick, who looks to his own dragon.
Hiccup then explains the plan of Snotlout being a distraction as a buyer, and find the manifest to be sure they have all the dragons, and Stoick is less then thrilled since he really doesn't trust Snotlout. Hiccup admits that Stoick's doubts are well founded, but he assures him he has a method to his madness and actually stares down Stoick. Who finally relents, but only on the condition that Gobber acts as Snotlout's valet to keep the gold safe.
They start the plan, Snotlout and Gobber off on their own, meanwhile the others hide out on Johann's ship, hidden in a secret room at the very bottom of the ship, using Toothless' wings to hide from sight, to make it appear empty. They manage to sneak onto the island and Hiccup is pick up the manifest after Gobber finds it.
He goes off with Heather and Astrid to find the caves with the bigger dragons. Which they do, only to end up captured after the twins and Snotlout are found out, putting the Hunters on alert. They're caged, and Berk's gold taken.
Viggo comes to gloat again, and gets Hiccup's angry silence until Toothless is brought forward as Viggo brags about his price and says if Hiccup's good, he might even let him watch him be bought. The vibe that Viggo sees a fun rival and Hiccup is forever pissed off at him continues.
Astrid assures him they'll figure a way out and they begin to try and figure a way out. Unfortunately the bars are dragon proof metal and the walls are largely iron ore, which makes it hard to force an escape.
After the twins run into the walls a few times, Gobber says he's already got a plan as he picks up some rocks. Gobber throws out the rocks, hitting the guards. It doesn't take long for Gobber's plan to arrive, a Hotburble dragon, named Grump. The guards laugh at Grumb, but Gobber asks the lazy dragon to help. Grump is suddenly quite motivated, mowing down the guards, and going to Gobber. Gobber had bonded with the dragon during his mission. Grump is also one of the few dragon types that can break through dragon proof metal easily.
They open up the cages for the big dragons and sew chaos dragons and fire. They split up to free dragons and get away, with Hiccup going to Toothless. Ryker is about to attack Hiccup when Gobber gets in the way, the two going one on one. Gobber also reminds Hiccup to go after Viggo for Berk's gold because he's got Ryker.
They go after Viggo, catching up to his ship, only to see Viggo throw the chest of their gold overboard. Hiccup dives after it and almost starts to drown when Astrid and Fishlegs go after them to pull them out of the water. Gobber also manages to catch up, riding Grump.
Its then they discover that the chest is actually full of rocks, not gold. It was a decoy to get Hiccup off Viggo's tail so he could sail off in the chaos of all the buyer's ships. Astrid points out all the dragons they saved and Hiccup just hopes Stoick sees it that way.
Gobber assures him he'll take the heat. They'll get the gold back. Gobber feeds Grump the rocks. He also slaps Snotlout for revenge for earlier as they head off into the sunset.
Neutral Positive: Getting the gold. (RTTE 4.8)
Summary
Hiccup is training with Toothless, which is one part fun flying, but also add in water diving. Toothless isn't fond of the water dives, but Hiccup insists its important to try new moves. They train a while longer, until they finally head for the Edge. Toothless is pretty tired.
Heather and Astrid express concern for how much Hiccup is pushing himself and Toothless, but Hiccup says he'll rest when Viggo is gone. Then Dagur shows up, saying he knows how to hurt Viggo. Dagur is there with Shattermaster the Gronckle.
Dagur explains they had been alone a while, hadn't eaten in days, while on the search for Oswalrd the Agreeable, Dagur and Heather's father. Since neither sibling killed him, Dagur figures he must be out there somewhere. Dagur then explains he found the wimpiest Dragon Hunter, comparing him to Hiccup's size. The Hunter ended up singing like a canary. Hiccup asks what the Hunter said about Viggo and Dagur says he'll tell if Hiccup calls him brother.
Hiccup is Not Impressed.
Dagur relents at Hiccup's look and then says the Hunter told him where Viggo hides his gold. Viggo also apparently has Berk's gold. If they could get the gold, they could cripple Viggo and help Berk in one go. Dagur also says he wants some of that gold so Heather and him can go find their father and rebuild their tribe as a family. Heather is less for this plan.
They begin their flight and Hiccup is focused ahead, ignoring most of the chatter. Only really notices when Dagur declares his wishes for the first mission of Riders and Berserkers to go well.
They spot the island and Hiccup stops short when they don't see people. They see some old ruins, which Fishlegs is excited about and Hiccup usually would, except he's way more concerned about Viggo at present. The fact they don't see people is worrying, since the gold should have high security.
Hiccup finds some tracks and eventually find a storehouse made of dragonproof metal.The twins look for any traps, but no luck. Hiccup tells Toothless to fire to see if anything happens or if it can break down the door, but no go. Dagur then steps up, explaining the Berserker style isn't crazy, but about going at everything full speed all the time, dedicated to Berserker brother and sisters. Then Dagur then sends Shattermaster forward, using full force and gronckle hide to bust through the door.
Dagur also uses this to bond with Heather, who is the most unsure of all this.
The storehouse, however, is empty. Hiccup thinks its weird. No traps, no guards, even if Viggo moved it, not having any evidence of these things is weird. Fishlegs and him look at the tracks and realize they don't make sense. Coming in is deeper, but going is lighter, which means for the gold to leave, it was carried by hand. Its all a decoy. The gold is still on the island.
They split up, Fishlegs with Dagur and Heather, and the other five head off the other way. There is no luck in finding the gold and while Astrid doubts its here, Hiccup is sure its there. He's sure its a trick from Viggo, he just has to out think him. But they finally spot some Hunters and Astrid wonders if its just buried, but they stealth off after them.
They spot the Hunters with a number of tools, but no gold. However, Snotlout and the twins expose their location and they chase after the Hunters. Unfortunately, its another trap as they get caught in a net.
They get brought to the Dragon Hunter ships and Hiccup is brought to Viggo's chambers for he can gloat. Viggo is poisonously friendly and Hiccup very much does not want to play along, acting very hostile at first. Viggo confirms the gold is indeed on the island, but Hiccup could have spent months looking and never find it. Hiccup looks at the map, and there is a shift from his cold disrespect and anger to something snarkily smug. (Which honestly should be a tell to Viggo at this point, but Viggo is way too happy to have a game opponent play along to realize Hiccup's snark is rare around him.)
Hiccup says they might surprise him. Viggo assumes its their impending rescue. Viggo continues, more compliments for Hiccup's efforts, and it's a shame the game will have to end, with Hiccup fairly quiet (which also points to how much Hiccup is genuinely intimidated by Viggo), until blasts upon the ship alerts then to Dagur, Heather, and Fishlegs coming to the rescue.
Viggo compliments their loyalty and tells Hiccup he'll have a front row seat to their destruction, meaning there's another trick still in play. Hiccup demands to know what he's done, and Viggo brags about what a feat of engineering it was to pull off, so much testing, and how much Hicccup's own efforts forced him to figure it out. A metal boat is a hard thing to make float, after all.
Viggo also has That Vibe where his interest in Hiccup is Deeply Personal. (Listen, he calls Hiccup Dear at one point, I can't help Hiccup is a hot commodity. He's the delicate princess of the archipelago.)
Then something hits the boat HARD, sending them all flying around the room, and giving Hiccup the opportunity to bolt for the door and escape. He manages to get topside with Ryker on his tail, whose flailing sword he uses to break his cuffs and he finally spots Toothless on another ship. He swings off the ship and Toothless dives off his to meet him in the water. It also becomes clear the ships all have Gronckle sized holes in them.
They make their escape and after the heat dies down, Hiccup has them double back. He explains with all they saw on the island pointed to building something, and when Hiccup saw the map, he knew. There were no ruins on them.
They go to the ruins and with a blast from Toothless, they see the ruins aren't ruins, but camouflage for the gold. They gather as much of the gold as they can. Heather also announces she will be going with Dagur to look for their father. They part ways, Hiccup asking for them to tell them if they have any luck, and Heather thanks him for everything he's done, and they part ways.
