56. Skrill-power

Berk was no stranger to dragon attacks.

But it was usually a swarm of the beasts. Rampaging through the village, stealing anything edible.

However, this was just one dragon.

But it may as well have been an entire raid, all on its own.

The Skrill, especially a specimen as fully charged as this one, was a force to be reckoned with.

Even in his extensive history of dragon slaying, Stoick the Vast himself hadn’t managed to best one.

And the Skrill that was attacking the village was definitely an example of why this was the case.

It deflected attacks with a shield of electricity, coursing across its skin, while blasting lightning at any Viking daring enough to approach it. It swiftly dodged bolas and crossbow fire, with its great speed and agility.

Nothing was spared from its onslaught. It attacked anyone and anything indiscriminately.

It wouldn’t rest until it’d burned this village to the ground, singlehandedly.

Hiccup and Mirabel weren’t gonna let that happen.

They rushed into town, dodging lightning bolts, burning wreckage, and fighting through a crowd of frenzied Hooligans.

They’d located the teens, already hard at work dousing the flames. Hiccup approached them, while Mirabel kept running onwards. Off to retrieve Toothless.

“Guys!” He shouted, running up to them. “Stop what you’re doing!”

They all turned to him, confounded looks on their faces.

“Y-You want us to stop putting out fires?” Asked a baffled Fishlegs.

The twins smirked to each other. “I like the sound of that!” Ruffnut said.

Astrid gave him a wary glance. “Hiccup, what are you talking about?”

“Look, we can’t beat that dragon the usual way. It’s too dangerous…” He began to explain. “But I know how we can.”

A warble signaled Toothless’ arrival, as he bounded into view. Mirabel on his back.

He was already growling at the offending Skrill in the distance, even as Hiccup hopped onto him.

He faced the teens once more. “Get to the ring, and get your dragons. We’re gonna stop that thing.”

Fishlegs was quivering in his boots.

“B-But we haven’t even flown yet!” He protested. “How’re we supposed to fight a Skrill!?”

Hiccup regarded him with a mischievous grin. “I believe in learning on the job!”

And then they were off, flying into the sky to get an aerial view on the Skrill.

It was firing off lightning wildly from its position in the plaza, and it’d even managed to hit a few scrambling villagers.

“We gotta get it away from the village!” Mirabel shouted, over the winds and thunder.

Hiccup agreed, and brought them into a dive. Their hair whipping from the acceleration.

“Gimme a charge, bud!” He cried, and Toothless began readying a bolt of plasma in his throat.

Once they were close enough, he gave the command.

“NOW!”

Toothless fired the blast, directly at the Skrill’s back.

But the Skrill heard their approach, and turned around just in time. Firing its own burst of lightning.

The two blasts collided, and caused a massive pulse of energy to erupt. Launching Toothless and his riders back, crashing into a wagon.

Hiccup stood from their pile, wobbling with dizziness.

“Night Fury plus Skrill equals kaboom…good to know…” He said, eyes spinning.

As Hiccup helped her up, Mirabel couldn’t help but notice the electrified dragon charging right at them.

“Looks like we got its attention!” She exclaimed.

They both returned to their seats on Toothless, as Hiccup bristled with determination.

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.”

He urged the Night Fury to fly, and they began to dash around the island.

They stayed within the Skrill’s sights, but just out of reach, as it chased them.

They ducked and dodged several lightning strikes, and fired back with their own plasma blasts. Its electric shield protected it from damage, but it was still annoying. They were intentionally hitting the most irritating places possible, as to make the Skrill angrier.

“Are you sure we want to make the lightning dragon mad at us?” Mirabel asked, as it snapped at Toothless’ tail. Barely missing.

Hiccup looked back to her with a grin. “What, you don’t trust me?”

She gave him a deadpan stare. “Sometimes I wonder why I do…”

After a few minutes of the chase, they’d successfully gotten the creature’s focus off the town and solely on them. They ascended higher into the air, with the deadly dragon following them soon after.

Stoick had seen this.

He’d seen his son, that girl, and the Night Fury intentionally earn the ire of an incredibly dangerous beast. Just so they could keep the village safe.

He wanted to rush off after them, even though they were miles into the sky.

But he knew he couldn’t. It wasn’t physically possible. Not to mention that he had a village to attend to.

No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t wrap his head around how Hiccup was managing to work with that dragon. He decided to just ask, as Gobber suggested, the next time they ran into eachother.

Though that would be tricky, seeing as how Hiccup tended to avoid him.

For the time being, he decided to have faith in his son, and his companions. And turned back to assist his people.

Though he had to stop for a moment, and look up with confusion, when he saw seven other dragons soaring across the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Night Furies were incredibly fast, but Skrills were close.

It had managed to keep up with them, firing its blasts nonstop as they struggled to evade its attacks.

It only ceased when it ran out of lightning, in which case it would temporarily hover in place and summon another bolt. Recharging itself in the ever-present cloud that had settled over Berk.

“Okay, we led it out of the village! Now what?” Asked Mirabel.

Hiccup was about to answer, but he was interrupted by a bolt whizzing right over his head. Singing a tuft of his auburn hair.

“Right now, we dodge!” He yelled, willing Toothless into a barrel roll.

They soared around the spiraling mountain, lightning blasts leaving sears on the rock beneath them.

Hiccup adjusted the pedals, and Toothless’ tail-fin assumed a new position. They dropped into a dive, zooming towards the ocean at high speeds. The Skrill hot on their trails.

But when they were near the water’s surface, the Skrill suddenly stopped. Frantically flapping to change its course, and to get away from the sea.

Hiccup and Mirabel noticed this behavior, but they didn’t have time to ponder it. The dragon fired at them again, its lighting arcing across the briny blue when they avoided the hit.

Some fish bubbled up to the surface, on their sides. Not exactly alive anymore.

Toothless hovered in place, needing some time to replenish his plasma blasts. He began growling threateningly at their opponent, while his riders tried to think of a plan.

The Skrill readied another bolt, this one even bigger than any it had fired before. Cyan electricity raced across its body as it gave off a deadly scream-

But it never got to fire that bolt, as it quickly had to dodge an array of spines that were flying right towards it.

Hiccup and Mirabel watched with growing smiles, as the cavalry arrived.

Astrid flew in on Stormfly, blasting some magnesium flame at the Skrill to keep it at bay. The other dragon riding teens not far behind her.

“What took you guys so long?” Hiccup asked with a grin.

“They had some trouble with their first flights.” She answered. “Especially Snotlout…”

“No I didn’t!” The stout boy protested, while dangling from the Nightmare’s neck upside-down.

Camilo was flittering about on his Changewing, hooting and hollering without a care if the world.

Much to Isabela’s annoyance.

“Would you focus!?” She snapped, and her Snaptrapper hissed along with her.

The shifter ceased his loop-de-loops, and regarded her with a frown.

“When did you become such a killjoy- “His griping was interrupted by a jolt of electricity zapping by him, making him yelp in fear and nervously flap away.

The twins were not amused.

“Hey! No one messes with our Loki!” Tuffnut shouted, and they blindly charged ahead on their Zippleback.

Only for them to be hit point-blank with lightning.

They contorted into weird positions as the electricity coursed throughout their smoking bodies, before they both fell of their dragon.

They both landed on the antlers of Luisa’s Goregutter, before they could fall into the ocean.

“I-I think we got him!” Ruffnut sputtered to her twin.

Fishlegs buzzed around on his Gronckle, still not quite having the hang of the balance.

“Fishlegs!” Hiccup called to him. “What do you know about Skrills?”

The rotund boy stroked his chubby chin in thought.

“Well it’s got 14 attack, speed ranging from 11 to 19, jaw strength 5- “He was interrupted by Isabela.

“Do you know anything we can actually use?” She asked, ducking to avoid a surge.

“U-Um…” He struggled to think of a suitable response, before he was assaulted by flytraps again.

And then it hit him.

“Water!” He shouted. “Skrills can’t use lightning if they're wet!”

Tuffnut, back atop the Zippleback, scoffed.

“Well, that sucks. Where are we supposed to find water?” He asked.

While he sat on a dragon that was flying over the ocean.

Astrid flew over and whacked him in the helmet with her axe’s handle.

“Okay, we need to get it in the water. But how?” Hiccup wondered. “We can’t touch it, thanks to its freaky…lightning armor!”

Mirabel looked around, trying to find a solution.

She noticed that the storm cloud the dragon was using to draw power from only extended a bit beyond Berk. A few miles ahead, it was nothing but clear skies above the open sea.

“Over there!” She cried, pointing over Hiccup’s shoulders.

“We’ll make it use all its lightning, force it away from the storm so it can’t recharge, and blast it into the water!” She declared.

Hiccup was a bit shocked. “I didn’t expect such an…aggressive plan from you!”

She crossed her arms, and scowled at the dragon. “It interrupted Luisa’s date. It has to face the consequences.”

He chuckled, before facing the rest of their group. “You heard the girl! Let’s start pushing it out of this storm.”

His face then grew serious. “This dragon is no joke, we need to work together if we’re gonna succeed.”

Unfortunately, working together would be trickier than it seemed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the forest, she had seen the storm approach.

She had seen the Skrill descending, and the chaos that had ensued.

She had seen the Night Fury lead it away. Flying off towards the sea.

With her.

She wracked her brain, trying to decide if she should follow after them.

She eternally cursed her terrible luck, being pulled by the tyrant’s call and forced to invade a human nest. The exact type of place she’d rather stay away from.

She’d managed to avoid detection, and snuck into a human-built cave. Hoping to just hide in there and wait until the chaos was over.

But then, she saw her.

As soon as a human girl walked in, with a bundle of sheep, she was tempted to run.

But there was something keeping her there. Something about this girl.

She was just…so…fluffy!

And the girl’s eyes, so big and round. Just like hers.

And the funny little noises she made to the sheep, and that weird snort she made while they were staring at each other.

This human seemed different than the others, somehow. She found herself utterly captivated by her.

Which is why she was jolted out of her usual pacifistic nature, when a Zippleback tried to attack the girl.

She felt bad, blasting her fellow dragon like that. She knew he wasn’t in the right mind. But she couldn’t allow him to bring harm to the human girl.

But the confrontation was overwhelming for her, she never liked fighting much. Not to mention that her hiding spot was compromised. She scurried out of the human-built cave as fast as she could. Not even sparing a glance to the human girl.

But for the next week, as she hid out in the woods, trying to plan her escape without falling prey to the call again…

She couldn’t help but think about her.

It shouldn’t be allowed to be that fluffy.

And when she saw her again today, walking amongst the trees, she was very close to making her presence known.

But then she’d left, back towards the human nest.

And was now on a Night Fury, along with a human boy, while fighting a Skrill.

And seven other dragons, and eight other humans, were chasing after them.

Could she really fly right into that mess?

…

…Yes.

She had to.

Because the thought of that fluffy girl being hurt, or even killed, was truly an awful one.

Spreading her four wings, she launched into the air to join them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They really needed to work on their coordination.

The plan was simple. Force the Skrill out of the storm.

But with Vikings and Madrigals on the backs of dragons, nothing could ever be simple.

Astrid had flown towards the dragon, Stormfly’s tail spines ready to be launched, until Snotlout barged in front of her.

“Watch out, babe! I got this!” Unfortunately for him, the spine shot that was meant for the Skrill hit his Nightmare instead.

The creature roared out in pain, and involuntarily set itself aflame.

Snotlout jumped with pain and surprise, as his butt was burned to a crisp. He ended up hopping off his dragon, and began plummeting to the sea below.

“I got him!” Luisa and Fishlegs shouted at the same time.

They both dove down to catch him at a rapid pace, and Meatlug ended up conking the Goregutter on the forehead.

Disoriented, the massive dragon flailed about in the air while Luisa tried to get him under control.

His tail managed to slap Meatlug, sending her rocketing towards the twins and their Zippleback. Knocking into their sides.

One of the Zippleback heads let out a cry of surprise, and accidentally released a cloud of gas. Seeing this, the other head dopily figured it was time to spark.

They ended up creating an explosion.

An explosion that spooked Isabela’s Snaptrapper, making them jolt in fear and throwing her aim off.

She ended up tossing the sleep bomb that was meant for the Skrill onto Fishlegs, and he fell into a blissful sleep atop the confused Gronckle.

Snotlout was still falling, screaming as he approached what was sure to be his watery grave.

But he was caught by Camilo, sitting on his Changewing with a smug grin.

He was caught by his underwear. Giving him a wicked wedgie.

“Nice of you to drop in!” He joked, earning an eyeroll from Snotlout.

“Just let me drown…” He groaned.

Hiccup, Mirabel, and Toothless witnessed these shenanigans with nothing but the purest of confusion.

The Skrill hadn’t even done anything. They’d incapacitated themselves.

The dragon was currently recharging itself, meaning they had a short moment before the fighting would start again.

They had to make it count.

Flying towards the group, Hiccup spoke out.

“Guys, come on! We can’t mess around here!” He said.

Isabela glowered at Snotlout, and every Snaptrapper head narrowed her eyes with disdain. “Don’t blame me for other people’s stupidity!”

“None of that, Isa!” Mirabel chided. “We’re a team! We gotta have each other’s backs!”

“Who wants to have someone’s back?” Tuffnut asked, puzzled.

“I’d rather have the front! That’s where all the good stuff is!” Ruffnut cheered.

“Hiccup and Mirabel are right!” Astrid proclaimed. “We all have our own strengths. And if we use them together, we can take that thing down!”

“Here that, babe? Astrid says I’ve got strengths.” Snotlout grinned to Isabela. “She’s totally into me, so if you want a piece of this you better hurry- “

His bragging was interrupted by a cactus.

He struggled to remove the pokey plant from his face, as his Nightmare rumbled with laughter.

A crackling above signaled that the Skrill had finished recharging.

“Alright, we’re out of time!” Mirabel said shakily.

Hiccup faced them all with a determined glare. “Stick to the plan. Draw it out, burn it out, knock it out.”

“We can do this.” He said. “I believe in us!”

Despite the sappiness, they actually began to look inspired by his words. They all nodded, determinedly.

That Skrill wouldn’t know what hit it.

And the first thing that hit it, was a sleep bomb. Courtesy of Isabela.

The flower bud dissipated against the dragon’s shocking shield, doing nothing to make it drowsy.

But the burst of pollen served to obscure its eyesight, just for a moment.

And a moment was all that was needed for Stormfly to launch a magnesium blast at it, while it couldn’t see them coming. The Skrill, howling with rage.

The pollen haze clearing, it eyed Astrid with murderous intent.

“You want me?” She asked, waving her axe around tauntingly. “Come and get me!”

Stormfly took off in the opposite direction, with the Skrill close behind. She nimbly dodged a powerful shot of electricity.

But before the Skrill could begin charging up another, a blast to its side knocked it off course.

“Over here, fatty!” Snotlout goaded, flying away from Astrid.

Snarling, the Skrill chose to follow him instead. Attempting to hit him with several bolts as well.

But it quickly had to dodge to the left, and then the right, to avoid two showers of molten lava. Thanks to Fishlegs and Luisa, hovering above.

“Look out below!” Fishlegs cried out, intentionally late.

Hissing with agitation, it ascended and tried to blast the two of them as they flew away.

The Gronckle’s frantic buzzing managed to evade the lightning. But the Goregutter was a big, slow target.

It grinned sadistically, and began charging its mightiest bolt yet-

Until a plasma blast hit it from behind.

Surprised, it lost its balance and feverishly flapped to right itself. It looked up to see Toothless flying into the distance.

Screeching to make its hatred known, it made to follow them. Intent on frying them until they exploded.

It didn’t notice that everyone else had begun to follow it.

It chased them relentlessly. Firing off jolt after jolt after jolt, with each one missing. Though some were a bit too close for comfort.

After a few more minutes, it finally ran out of juice.

Snarling, it flew up to the storm to recharge.

Except, there was no storm.

It looked back to see that it was currently outside its lightning storm, and under the clear sky.

It hastily tried to return, but its path was blocked by Fishlegs, Luisa, the twins, and Camilo.

Turning the other way, it was also intercepted by Hiccup, Mirabel, Astrid, Isabela, and Snotlout.

It was surrounded.

And now that its electricity was fully depleted, its lightning shield was gone.

Before it could fly over or under them, Hiccup gave the word.

“FIRE!”

All at once, every dragon shot at the Skrill. Plasma blasts, magnesium flame, kerosene gel, acid, lava, explosions…

An arsenal of incineration was unloaded upon the unsuspecting Skrill.

“We’re almost there! I can feel it!” Hiccup cried. “Just keep going until it falls in the water!”

It writhed about in pain and anger, helpless to cease this onslaught.

Or so they thought.

It had the tiniest sliver of electricity left in it.

Mustering up the last bits of its power, it used this sliver to fire at Toothless, just as he’d fired a plasma blast.

The resulting burst knocked everyone away, but Toothless especially was blown back.

He was blown back so hard, that both his riders were launched from their seats.

They floundered around in the air, screaming, trying to grasp onto anything that could save them.

Hiccup was close enough to Toothless to get back on. And as soon as his feet hit the pedals they rocketed towards Mirabel.

Hiccup held his hand out for her to grab, and she did the same with hers.

The wind whipped their faces as they stretched closer and closer, they almost had each other.

Just a bit more….

A golden blur snatched up Mirabel right from under Hiccup’s nose, and whisked her away.

Toothless quickly spread his wings to bring them to a halt, and they swiveled to see just what had happened.

Mirabel was being gently held in the talons of a midsized dragon, with scales a pale gold in color.

It had a light cream underbelly. With baby blue highlights at the tips of its spines, its three tail-fins, its crest, under its chin, and on its crown of frills.

Its four mighty wings beat majestically, and its flat face was currently locked into a sneer. Glaring at the Skrill with its round, yellow eyes.

The Vikings and the Madrigals all wore various expressions of shock.

“What the heck is that?” Camilo asked.

Hiccup’s jaw was agape. “I-It’s a…”

“STORMCUTTER!” Fishlegs finished, squealing with a dorky glee.

The four-winged dragon’s sneer turned into a look of concern, and it glanced down to the girl in its grasp. Its pupils as round as could be.

It tilted its head, and gave off a questioning trill. Inquiring if she was alright.

Mirabel was staring up at the dragon with wonder, her glasses nearly falling off her wide eyes.

While not quite satisfied with her lack of an answer, the Stormcutter still had unfinished business.

Returning its glare to the Skrill, it fired off a mighty torrent of flame. Hitting it square in the chest.

Already beaten down from the previous attacks, the Skrill couldn’t take any more. It lost consciousness, and spiraled out of the sky. Hitting the sea with a splashing crash.

They all looked down to the rippling waters, where the dragon had fallen.

“Hiccup…” Fishlegs began, tentatively. “I don’t know what a lone Skrill was doing attacking the village, but I don’t think it’s a good sign…”

“It wasn’t stealing any food, either. It was just...burning everything.” Astrid stated.

The scrawny teen responded. “Maybe…maybe the queen sent it just to attack us. To weaken the village, so it could get more food in the next raid…”

The thought put pits in their stomachs.

Truly, the Red Death was a malicious and cunning beast.

“So…we knocked it out.” Camilo said. “It shouldn’t be mind-controlled anymore, right?”

“We can figure that out later…” Isabela seethed, as she whipped around to face the Stormcutter.

“Get your dirty claws off my sister!” She shouted.

He Snaptrapper stormed ahead, ready to fight for the bespectacled girl.

But the bespectacled girl herself halted their charge with a shout.

“STOP!!!”

Isabela ceased her charge, and stared at her sister. Perplexed.

Mirabel looked up to the now frightened dragon, recognition in her eyes.

This was the dragon that had saved her.

And it’d just saved her again.

She hadn’t found it, it had found her.

“…It was you…” She said, softly. “You were the dragon in the armory…”

The Stormcutter glanced back down to her, and she didn’t miss the recognition flashing in the creature’s eyes as well.

With a gentle smile, the girl pet the dragon’s leg. “I never got to thank you!”

Very carefully, the dragon returned her to Toothless’ back. Before hovering beside them.

Toothless observed the new arrival with curiosity, while the Stormcutter sniffed at him.

Mirabel then leaned forward, and hugged its neck.

“Gracias, Mariposa…”

The Stormcutter serenely rumbled with contentment.

“So what do we do with this guy?” Luisa asked, her Goregutter holding onto the sleeping Skrill they’d just retrieved from the ocean.

Hiccup decided they should place the Skrill on a nearby sea stack, as he feared bringing it back to Berk would only cause panic.

They soared over, and came in for a landing. It was a decently sized sea stack, so every dragon could fit.

As soon as they did so, it was already starting to stir. Scampering to its feet and glaring at the group with suspicion.

All the humans watched with apprehension, while the dragons growled. Warning it against trying anything.

But surprisingly, the Skrill dropped its hostile attitude. Its head spines lowering, to show it meant no harm.

Very briefly, it dipped its head downwards. Thanking them for releasing it from the queen’s control.

And then, the purple dragon was off. Flying out to chase storms into parts unknown.

Hiccup formed a grin, as he watched the dragon go.

“Congratulations, gang!” He said, turning to the group. “Not only did we save the village, we just freed another dragon!”

“And…we found a new friend in the process!” He said, as he watched the Stormcutter gently twirl a strand of Mirabel’s curls in a claw. Eyes bursting with fascination.

It shouldn’t be allowed to be this fluffy.

“You know…” Mirabel started, trying not to giggle as her locks were played with. “You can mess with my hair all you want…”

She turned, and glanced up to the Stormcutter’s round eyes. “If you come back with us!”

In response, the dragon plopped its large head onto Mirabel’s. Its tongue poking out of its mouth.

“I’ll take that as a yes!” She giggled.

Isabela eyed the creature with a bit of caution. “What’s it need four wings for?”

Mirabel raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s your dragon need four heads for?” She snarked.

Aghast, Isabela hugged her Snaptrapper heads close to her. “Don’t listen to her, baby. She didn’t mean it…”

“It kinda looks like an owl.” Luisa said, as she and her Goregutter observed it from behind. Much to her surprise, it turned its head all the way around to face her. “Woah! It really looks like an owl!”

Seeing Mirabel interacting with the dragon, her own dragon, made an explosion of joy well up from within Hiccup

Toothless sidled up to him, and he gave the Night Fury some loving pats.

“We did good today, bud!” He uttered.

Camilo shifted into Hiccup, and his Changewing turned its scales a color identical to Toothless’.

“We did good today bud!” He repeated, in a ridiculously nasally voice. Before both he and his Changewing doubled over with laughter, in their normal states.

“As fascinating as this is…” Fishlegs meekly mumbled. “Can we head back now? Meatlug’s feet are starting to bother her!”

He was given a multitude of weird looks. “What!? They are!”

Despite the weirdness, the rotund boy had a point.

It was about time they returned.

“Alright, guys…” Hiccup hopped back onto Toothless. “Let’s ride!”

…Then he was given a multitude of weird looks.

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to work on that catchphrase.” Mirabel said with half-lidded eyes.

With a groan, Hiccup pushed his feet into the pedals.

“Let’s just get out of here…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They’d flown back to Berk, victorious. Though Mirabel was a bit unsteady, still not being used the differing sizes between Toothless and the Stormcutter she’d named Mariposa.

They were all in high spirits, after their triumph. And after they’d dropped most of the dragons off at the ring, they decided to share a meal together at the Great Hall.

But not Luisa.

Luisa was going to finish her date.

The Madrigals just let her go, without following her or coming up with any other hare-brained scheme to meddle in her affairs.

Hiccup was honestly impressed by the level of self-control.

Time passed as they ate, drank age-appropriate beverages, and made merry conversation.

Fishlegs regaled Mirabel with Stormcutter factoids.

Camilo and the twins discussed plans to build a statue in his image.

A few Vikings had even come up to them, thanking them for taking care of that Skrill. And remarking that using dragons to defeat dragons was a strange, but effective strategy,

But the highlight of the night was when Isabela had managed to beat Snotlout in an arm-wrestling competition, using only her raw strength. And their tables exploded into cheers and laughs of hilarity.

Snotlout looked at his trembling hand with betrayal.

“Did I just get punked…by Isabela?”

Astrid sighed, coming down from her laughter.

“Y’know, I never would’ve expected it…but we make a pretty good team!” She said.

“Yeah!” Tuffnut exclaimed. “We’re like a bunch of…Dragon Sit-on-top-of-ers!”

“Or…Dragon Riders.” Hiccup said, eyeing him strangely. “Dragon Riders works too.”

He received near unanimous agreement.

“Meh…” the male twin slumped over, defeated. “I liked mine better…”

Soon, it was time for the Viking teens to take their leave. Leaving just the three and a half Madrigals in the Hall.

Though they’d soon be joined by their missing member.

Luisa stomped into the Hall, a carefree smile on her features. Immediately, she was bombarded with questions.

“How’d it go?” “What happened?” “Are we gonna have to take him back with us?”

Luisa chuckled at her relative’s antics. “Pinky’s really nice, but I just wasn’t feeling that…spark. Y’know?”

“I told him we should just be friends, and he agreed.” She took her seat, and shrugged. “Oh well, it’s no big deal.”

Her blasé attitude was a stark contrast to the bundle of nerves she was this morning.

“She goes on one date, and acts like she’s been on a million!” Hiccup snickered.

“It’s called self-confidence, Hiccup!” said Mirabel.

“Not that you’d know what that is…” Camilo mumbled under his breath.

This earned him a smack to the back of the head, from the scrawny teen. And laughter from the other Madrigals.

A warbling brought their attention to Toothless, who was bounding around Mariposa.

Toothless was bouncing like an oversized puppy, but Mariposa was most fascinated by his prosthetic tail. Sniffing at it with intrigue.

Noticing this, he Night Fury sat and held his tail out. Presenting it proudly.

The Stormcutter observed it, fascinated by the pretty colors.

Hiccup and Mirabel saw this, and grinned as brightly as possible. The girl rested her head in her boyfriend’s shoulders, and he sighed with contentment.

They’d been the best of friends. They still were, in truth. But now there was also the passion of romance attached.

They really hoped their dragons could be friends too.