Chapter 27: Gem of a Different Color

"Vikings are strong, touch, and courageous. But courage is a funny thing, many are born with it. For some, it's a never-ending struggle and for others, well…they just don't know enough to be afraid."

After the encounter with the Smothering Smokebreaths and finding her long-lost toys, Hiccup made it her hobby in creating new ones, using new-found dragon species that she'll encounter in the near future, much to everyone's joy, except for Snotlout, of whom was still recovering from the incident, from loosing his golden necklace.

'Twas another dreary day on Berk, much how it was during the war with the dragons only a bit lively, if not laid-back. But if one were to take the recent events that had happened, the riders decided to brush up and refine their combat skills as well as their wild dragon self-defense training in the dragon ring.

"All right, lads and lassies, today we'll resume our good old-fashioned Viking training!" Gobber shouted as he grabbed everyone's attention of going down memory lane, causing most of the teens to smile in excitement. Now, at first, Hiccup wasn't exactly too keen of learning hand-to-hand combat techniques, most likely due to her small frame and her father's over-protectiveness, but thanks to the training regiments that Asher provided, she became confident in her fighting skills. Thought, maybe still a bit hesitant.

"First things first, we'll start the day off with combat, with the help of Ingolf here," Gobber said motioning to Asher's father that was standing in the ring with them.

Gobber then goes over the schedule for today's lesson alongside Ingolf, much to Asher's excitement and the others' dismay due to how 'hard' the Hoffersons do training. After getting out the old Viking equipment, Gobber called out to Ruffnut and Tuffnut to start off the class with weapons training as he unceremoniously handed a pair of shields to them.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you two are up," Gobber said.

Hearing that, the twins circled around each other with shields in hand like a pair of dogs until suddenly, Ruffnut takes the initiative, using her shield to bang against Tuffnuts this went on for a few minutes before Ruffnut knocks Tuffnut down to the ground, raising her arms in the air as she comes out victorious.

"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?" Gobber said as he takes up Ruffnut's shield and strengthens his claim of the said object's upsides before Tuffnut chimed in with annoyance.

"Hold on. I don't get to hit her back?" Tuffnut asked while he was still on the ground.

"On your own time. Hiccup, Asher," Gobber said as he huffed in annoyance and Ingolf rolled his eyes. Ingolf turned his attention over to his son and Hiccup.

"Moving on, Hiccup, Asher, you two are up next," Ingolf said as he sees Asher smirking, punching his fist in excitement and Hiccup widening her eyes in fear.

"Well, I-I don't think it's really fair for me to be fighting As—" Hiccup said nervously until she was interrupted by Asher throwing a few punches at Hiccup before she evades his attack, mildly impressing Ingolf and the others. Now the thing about Hiccup is, despite that she never engaged close combat before, she makes up for it in terms of reaction and speeds during to running away from dragon attacks.

"Hm, not bad," Ingolf said to himself as he sees Hiccup flipping Asher over her shoulder. She looks over with a smug grin, which doesn't last long because Asher knocks her to the ground and puts her in a rather painful arm lock which she can't escape from.

"When you're in a situation like this, it's best to remain calm and take deep breaths," Ingolf explained the said circumstance as he kneels slightly down-level before Hiccup gives him a strained/annoyed look as if trying to say, 'I can barely breathe as all'.

"When that's not an option, I would advise playing dead," Gobber chimed in, causing Hiccup to stop struggling and drops her head to the ground in defeat, causing both Asher and Ingolf to look at the blacksmith in confusion, unintentionally providing Hiccup with the 'element in surprise' tactic as she bumps her head with Asher's chin, making him loosen his grip slightly until she pins him to the ground.

"Ah ha, the old 'element of surprise'. Well done, Hiccup. Good form, Asher," Gobber said as Hiccup gets up, staggering slightly due to the impending pain from the head-butt and lets Asher up from the ground.

"You okay?" Asher asks Hiccup before feeling the stinging pain on his chin, making him gasp a little until Hiccup piqued in a strained voice.

"Yeah, never been better. Shoulder should pop back into place in no time," Hiccup said weakly as Ruffnut walked over to her and gave a high-five while Asher received a pat on the back from Ingolf. Gobber continued the lesson, only this time-

"Snotlout, Fishlegs, let's see what you've got," Gobber said looking at Snotlout.

"Whoo! I think we all know what I've got! Snotlout! Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" Snotlout shouted putting his fist in the air. Snotlout's usual bragging and chanting, much to everyone's, especially Ingolf's and Asher's, chagrin until they felt that something was off.

"Now Fishlegs, don't be shy. Vikings can't rely on Dragons alone to protect them," Gobber said as he, Ingolf and the riders scanned the arena for the husky teen, only to find out that he was nowhere to be found.

"Eh, thoughts on Fishlegs' whereabouts? Anyone?" Gobber asked as everyone then shrugged their shoulders.

….

With no news of Fishlegs' and Meatlug's whereabouts, the riders decided to postpone the lesson and went off into groups to start searching for their youngest member.

"You know, I never pegged Fishlegs the type to pull off a 'disappearing act' and keep to himself before, unlike a certain someone that I know, but this is rather a good thing," Asher said, mildly impressed by Fishlegs' supposed 'disappearance' while remarking it as a new change in pace while sparing a glance over to Hiccup.

"Huh, what?" Hiccup asked curiously as Asher continued to stare at her until she realized what the young Nadder rider means before she becomes defensive at that remark.

"Het, it's not as bad as it sounds," Hiccup defended.

"Uh, it's exactly as it sounds. Here I am, keeping on my toes, triaging to be a good dragon killer when the next thing I know, I've been outclassed by the Chief's daughter who's prone of bruising herself on a daily basis and received quite the rare sweet 'treat'," Asher said playfully as Hiccup remembers the time when she first 'excelled' in dragon training before blushing at the last park, to which he smiled triumphantly.

"You basically admitted that me leading a double life and kidnapping you was a sweet thing," Hiccup said. Summing up what Asher meant as it caused the two teens to fall silent and blush furiously before Asher decided to change the subject.

"Uh, you know what, let's start searching for Fishlegs," Asher said seriously as his face started to cook down a bit and resumed his trek into the village, causing Hiccup to giggle lightly as she trailed behind him to help looked for Fishlegs.

As time went by, the sun had begun to sink into the horizon, unaware that he had caused his fellow riders to pull off an island-wide search party, it was revealed that Fishlegs and Meatlug had flown off an uncharted island located somewhere far from Berk. There, the young rider and spent the entire day relaxing along with his trusty companion as they reached to a secluded beach and watched the beautiful sunset together.

"What a glorious day, Meatlug. You and me on our own secret island. No dumb old hand-to-hand combat, and, more importantly, no a Snotlout for miles," Fishlegs said, sighing in bliss as he remarks how happy he is when pulling off an old trick from Hiccup's books. Reaching for a small rock and handing it over to Meatlug to eat before the wind blows over in his direction and he shivers slightly. Seeing her buddy shivering, Meatlug let out a lava blast to the ground as a means of keeping Fishlegs warm, much to his joy.

"There once was a dragon named Meatlug she was cuter and smarter than a sea slug when she met her pal Fish it fulfilled his greatest wish to love her and give her a big bear hug. Okay. That was bad, even for me," Fishlegs sang a song, symbolizing how much he dotes on the gentle Gronckle before Meatlug turned away from he husky teen and began digging into the sand.

Really? That bad?" Fishlegs asked. Fishlegs, seeing Meatlug's reaction to the song, meekly admitted that it wasn't pleasant as he sees how much Meatlug is digging and voiced out his concern about it before Meatlug finished digging and showed a multi-colored light emitting from the hole.

"What is that?" Fishlegs said in fascination.

….

The sun had long been gone from the horizon and it was dark. The only light emitting from he village were the torch's that were lit. They had the whole village on the lookout for Fishlegs, even his parents. Once Fishlegs reveals himself, his parents are not going to be happy.

"I'm starting to get a little worried about Fishlegs. Do you think he's okay?" Asher asked as the gang was together on the lookout as well.

"He looks okay to me," Ruffnut said pointing to a Fishleg's riding a Meatlug towards them but something was off.

"Is Fishleg's glowing?" Tuffnut asked seeing a glow on Fishlegs.

"Actually, he is," Hiccup agreed.

"Not for long," Snotlout said putting a fist to his hand.

"Uh, Fishlegs, where were you this afternoon?" Hiccup asked as Meatlug landed and Fishleg's dismounted still holding something glowing.

"You missed hand-to-hand combat. My hand to your face," Snotlout shouted in anger having missed his awesome showdown.

"I prefer to use the part of my body above the neck," Fishlegs said.

"What neck?" Snotlout said, smirking at his comeback.

"Oh, amusing. But I refuse to encourage your violet tendencies, Snotlout," Fishlegs said.

"Don't knock it till you try it," Snotlout remarked.

"He's glowing again," Ruffnut whispered to Tuffnut as they saw his bag was glowing.

"I know. Spooky," Tuffnut said.

"It's not me that's glowing. It's this," Fishlegs said reaching into his bag and pulling out a small rock that was shaded in many different colors and glowing a yellow, then a green, then a blue.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked.

"FISHLEGS!" And there came Fishlegs, mom and dad, Olaf and Saga, stomping down into the arena, really mad.

"Uh, Hiccup here, hold this," Fishlegs handed the rock to Hiccup and the teens then scattered. "Thanks guys!" Fishlegs said sarcastically as his parents arrived and almost everyone in the village heard a loud smack and Fishlegs 'Ahh'.

….

After the shouting had stopped in the arena, a meeting was held in the Great Hall. Hiccup had told Gobber about the stone and Gobber grabbed the entire village to meet up about this new discovery. Fishlegs and his parents were the last to come up with Fishlegs rubbing his bottom while wincing.

"Here Fishlegs," Hiccup said handing him the stone back.

"Wow," everyone said as the stone was revealed when Hiccup gave it back to Fishlegs.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked Gobber as that was the question on everyone's mind.

"It's a stone of good fortune," Gobber replied in suspense.

"Ooh," everyone said at the same time.

"My great uncle's wife's brother once told me of its powers," Gobber said going on with the tale.

"I thought he was mute," Mulch asked.

"Until he found the stone. Then we couldn't shut him up. This stone brings good luck to whomever comes in contact with it," Gobber continued.

"Stone of Good Fortune, huh," Snotlout said to himself rubbing his chin, thinking. Fishlegs then had a stampede on his hands. As almost the entire village wanted to touch the stone. Fishlegs fell on the ground holding the stone close to him.

"That's enough. Everyone, stand back," Stoick shouted marching over as he was the last person to arrive.

"Who found this?" Stoick asked.

"Uh, right here, chief," Fishlegs said putting up his hand as he was still on the ground. Gobber griped his arm and pulled him up.

"It's a stone of good fortune," Gobber said to Stoick.

"We want to rub the stone," a female Viking shouted.

"Let me have it," a male Viking said making a grabbing motion.

"Come on, now," another male Viking pleaded.

"Please, my baby, she needs good fortune," a female Viking said holding a baby out. Tuffnut was standing next to the women and let out a terrifying shout.

"Aah! That's a baby? I thought it was a bundle of sticks wrapped in bacon," Tuffnut said pointing to the baby.

"Never mind, Tuffnut," Stoick said rubbing his head in annoyance.

"Three yaks for the stone!"

"Four chickens!"

"20 sheep, and my firstborn, Gustav," Mrs. Larsen said holding up her child.

"Me? Huh?" Gustav said in confusion.

"Listen to me!" Stoick shouted quieting everyone down for the moment. "This belongs to Fishlegs, and what he does with it is up to him."

"I'll give you two yaks!"

"Four chickens!"

"Three chickens!"

"Maybe we should get you out of here," Hiccup said pushing Fishlegs out of here followed by the gang. They were walking down the steps when Snotlout couldn't be quiet anymore.

"20 sheep and Gustav Larsen? You're turning that down? Come on, what do you want for it?" Snotlout said shouting the last bit. Everyone stopped to look at Snotlout.

"You can't have it, Snotlout, not for any price," Fishlegs said holding the stone closer to him.

"Oh, I think I can. You seem to forget, when Snotlout wants something, he just takes it," Snotlout said.

"How badly do you really want it, Snotlout?" Asher said walking closer up to Snotlout.

"You want a go," Snotlout said.

"Yeah, if you can take it," Asher replied.

"Woah, woah, woah," Hiccup said coming in between them. "Let's take a breather. It's been a stressful day, let's just all go to bed. Please." Hiccup pleaded as she looked at Asher and Asher looked down at her.

"Fine," Asher replied, and they all walked down the steps but Snotlout, who didn't look happy at all.

"Must be upsetting," a voice said coming up next to Snotlout. Snotlout rolled his eyes at who it was.

"What do you want Jensons?" Snotlout asked looking over and saw the Jenson brothers.

"It just looks sad, how the mighty Jorgenson is bowing his head to whatever anyone says," Radcliff said crossing his arms and smirked.

"I thought the Jorgensons were mighty and didn't listen to anyone," Radford said.

"Yeah they just take what is theirs," Radburn

"Whatever it takes," Radcliff replied. "Didn't know how much of a coward the Jorgensons have become."

"So sad how far the Jorgensons have fallen," Radford said before they all laughed and continued walking down the stairs. Snotlout watched them leave and grew very angry.

"Okay. That's it. Take it, it is," Snotlout said.

….

"Hiccup," Fishlegs said grabbing Hiccup's attention as they were walking to there houses. Ruff and Tuff had already ditched them going to their house to sleep. Fishlegs stopped walking and Hiccup and Asher turned to looked at him.

"Yes, Fishlegs," Hiccup said.

"We need to do something. Grab your dragons. I'm putting this 'Stone of Good Fortune' back where I found it," Fishlegs said. "Meet me by the docks in the air." Fishlegs then ran off.

"Wait Fishlegs," Hiccup shouted but he was already gone. "Why couldn't we do this in the morning?" Hiccup groaned.

"Come on, it's another adventure. You love adventures," Asher said.

"Yeah, but not in the middle of the night," Hiccup said. They went their separate ways not knowing that someone was following them.

….

"You sure you want to do this, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked as her and Asher were following Fishlegs on their dragons.

"There's too much stress. You saw that mob. They ran right over me," Fishlegs answered.

"Like a sack of flour," Asher commented.

"I just want to put this thing back where I found it and never think about it again. 'Stone of good fortune', yeah right. Whoa, girl. Where are you going?" Fishlegs said as Meatlug was going a totally different direction then where they found the egg. Hiccup and Asher followed but then Toothless let out a small growl.

"They sense something," Hiccup said placing a hand on Toothless' head to calm him down.

"Hey, I thought you said you found it buried in the sand," Hiccup said as they flew over to the trees away from the beach.

"I did," Fishlegs said.

"Then what's that?" Hiccup said as they looked down and above the trees were….

"Are those-," Asher asked.

"Dragon nests," Fishlegs said and there were many. All the nests were at the very top of the trees near the beach.

"Okay, why would a dragon fill its nest with gems?" Asher asked.

"Because they're not gems," Hiccup replied as it finally clicked on what the stone was.

"They're dragon eggs. How did I miss that? The egg I dug up must have fallen out and gotten buried. I can't believe I almost kept this baby away from its mother," Fishlegs said sadly as he held the egg closer to his chest.

"But you didn't. Now let's put this egg back and get out of here," Hiccup said not wanting to meet the mother of these eggs. The mother was not going to be happy that we stole their egg. Meatlug lowered herself next to one of the nests and Fishlegs took out the egg from his bag. Toothless started growling again, he was agitated.

"You're right, bud. The mothers have got to be close," Hiccup said patting Toothless on the head. Stormfly started to fly side to side, squawking loudly and then readied her tail into spikes as if an attack was about to come.

"Yeah, really close. Fishlegs, say good-bye, and let's go!" Asher shouted.

"Okay, okay, okay. Good-bye, little color-changing dragon egg," Fishlegs whispered to the egg before placing it in a nest. They then flew off, but they heard rustling and growling behind them, catching up.

"They're following us," Hiccup shouted as they kept turning their heads but couldn't see anything.

"Yeah, but what are they?" Asher asked as he couldn't see anything behind him, but the sound was near.

"I don't see anything back there," Fishlegs replied. Hiccup turned around and saw a dragon appear before shooting something green at them, then disappearing again.

"Whoa!" Hiccup shouted as Toothless dodged the spray. It is a tree and the green slim burned right there the trunk causing the tree to fall. Toothless dodged the falling tree. "Whatever it is, it's shooting some kind of acid at us," Hiccup shouted.

"Invisible, acid-shooting dragons? Great," Fishlegs said as another spray of acid was shot at them, making the dragons dodge again.

"We have to get out of these trees," Hiccup said as Toothless kept having to dodge the sprays of acid. Finally, they made it out of the trees and away from the island. They heard the rustling of the trees stop and a final roar from the dragon. The three flew back to Berk not knowing that they were followed.

"Like I said, if I want it, I take it. Suckers," Snotlout said riding Hookfang as they went towards the island, looking for the Stone of Good Fortune.

….

Finally, when morning came, Fishlegs, Hiccup, and Asher went to the Great Hall to look at the old Book of Dragons to see if they can find the dragon that chased them yesturday.

"Sprays hot, burning acid, here it is," Fishlegs said reading a page from the book. "It's called the Changewing. According to the Book of Dragons."

"Where are the drawings?" Hiccup asked as she looked at the book not seeing any pictures.

"There are none," Fishlegs said.

"I guess you can't really draw it if you can't see it, but I saw a glimpse of it. It was red with a long mouth and horns on the side of it head. Of course, that doesn't really help," Hiccup said thinking back on what she saw.

"Listen to what it says, 'this remarkable dragon is able to change the color of its skin to blend in with its surroundings'," Fishlegs said.

"Does it say anything about eggs?" Asher asked.

"N-no. those didn't look like dragon eggs, right? If I had seen that, you know I would never have gone and stolen-," Fishlegs was going on a rant.

"Fishlegs, calm down. None of us knew," Hiccup said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"But I should have. I should have known," Fishlegs continued.

"All I know is, it's a good thing we brought that egg back to its mother. Who know what they'd if the eggs were still on Berk?" Hiccup said as the door to the Great Hall was opened and the twins came in. All three gasped in shock when they saw what was in Tuffnut' s hand. "Uh, what's that?" Hiccup asked as she saw the color changing egg.

"Uh, I don't know, maybe a lifetime of good luck," Tuffnut said tossing the egg up and catching it.

"I'll take that," Asher said reaching over to take it but Tuffnut went out of reach.

"Over my cold, dead body," Tuffnut said as he and Ruffnut ran off out of the building.

"Where did you get it?" Asher shouted to the retreating twins.

"We traded for it," Ruffnut replied. Asher crossed his arms in distraught.

"Traded with who?" Hiccup shouted the question even though she probably already knew the answer.

….

Outside of Snotlout's house was a huge group of villagers shouting out trading values to have a Stone of Good Fortune. Snotlout, Spitelout, and his mom, with the help of Gustav were trading the stones for livestock, as that was how Vikings traded.

"All right, all right, all right, all right, all right. Everybody, settle down. Settle down. I got six yaks and three chickens from the woman with the hook arm. Do I hear seven and four?" Snotlout shouted out.

"Anyone want to trade a higher value!" Gunhild, Snotlout's mother shouted.

"I hear seven and four!" Gustav said pointing over to Bucket.

"Seven and four, Gustav, from the guy with the bucket on his head. Oh, and he's throwing in a matching set of battle axes. How cool," Snotlout shouted out.

"Seven and four, plus the axes. Come one, folks, only one left," Spitelout shouted.

"Good luck for the rest of your life. Going once, twice…And sold. Gustav, give Bucket his stone of good fortune," Snotlout shouted out.

"Well, that is it, folks. I only had three stones, and I'm all sold out, so it's time for me to pack up," Snotlout said but the group with no stones still stayed hoping that the Jorgensons would have more stones.

"Hello? Go away. It's over!" Gunhild shouted, making the Vikings scatter in fear.

"We have more livestock now," Gunhild said grabbing the chickens.

"Good job son. We have enough food to feed us for months," Spitelout said as he led the yaks and sheep to their pins. Snotlout stood there with his hands on his hips glad for the acceptance from his dad. Finally, Hiccup, Asher, and Fishlegs came running over to Snotlout.

"Snotlout, what are you doing?" Hiccup said.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting rich," Snotlout said.

"But you can't," Fishlegs said pleading.

"I already did. The gems are gone," Snotlout replied.

"Gone," Gustav chimed in.

"They're not gems. And they certainly don't bring good luck." Hiccup said.

"Puh-lease. They're bringing me good luck. I'm up to my neck in weapons and livestock," Snotlout said, pointing to the weapons behind him and the one yak that Spitelout missed.

"Snotlout, those are dragon eggs," Asher said.

"Uh, Changewings, to be exact," Fishlegs added.

"Chanewings, schmange-I don't care what they are! All I know is I'm rich, and you're not," Snotlout said crossing his arms and leaning on the yaks.

"We're rich, and you're not," Gustav chimed in again, leaning on a sheep.

"Snotlout, listen to me. We need to get those eggs off of Berk before something really bad happens," Hiccup said trying to reason with Snotlout.

"Uh, you do not want to separate a dragon mother from her egg, especially one you can't see that shoots acid," Fishlegs said.

"Really? You did," Snotlout said accusingly to Fishlegs.

"So? That was an accident," Fishlegs replied.

"Accident, on purpose, rich, poor-who cares? They're gone, and I have a no-return policy. Tell'em Gustav," Snotlout said getting the cart ready with all the weapons that the Jorgensons received from the trade.

"No returns," Gustav said pushing the bucket full of matching axes.

"If you want them, you'll have to take it up with my customers," Snotlout said pulling the cart off, ending the conversation.

"Oh, it's all my fault," Fishlegs said as he walked over to Meatlug who had came over at some time during the conversation with Snotlout.

"It's not your fault, Fishlegs," Hiccup said trying to help calm Fishlegs down.

"Yes, it is. 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 angry mother Changewings," Fishlegs said sitting next to Meatlug with his arms crossed.

"When you put it that way, it really is his fault. Just saying," Asher said. Hiccup looked over at Asher with narrowed eyes.

"Not helping Asher. Look, it doesn't matter whose fault it is. We just have to find those eggs," Hiccup said. Hiccup then looked over and saw the Jensons walking over to Snotlout, high-fiving him and punching his arm, all of them laughing. Hiccup narrowed his eyes at her bullies.

"Thanks Snotlout, you are the best," Hiccup heard Radford say to Snotlout.

"Something tells me that Snotlout didn't come up with this plan by himself," Hiccup said. Asher and Fishlegs looked over.

"Or they could have egged him on with his own plan," Asher said. Hiccup and Fishlegs looked over at him.

"Okay, I didn't mean to make that pun," Asher replied.

The first people that they were searching for were the twins, wherever they were.

….

The twins were on a cliff looking down at a pit of baby Fireworms.

"Okay, when I count to three, shove me really hard into the pit," Tuffnut said holding the Stone of Good Fortune.

"Uh, are you sure? You remember what one of those things did to you?" Ruffnut asked.

"Oh, please. I'm holding the stone of good fortune. Those skin-melting Fireworms won't stand a chance against me," Tuffnut said readying himself at the edge.

"Okay. Thank you, Thor," Ruffnut said as she gladly ran and pushed Tuffnut off the cliff.

"Aah!" Tuffnut screamed and was almost in the pit when he felt something grab his legs. He looked up and there was Stormfly and Asher. "Hey, what are you doing?" Tuffnut asked angrily.

"Saving your skin…literally," Asher said and Stormfly set him down back on top of the cliff with now Fishlegs and Hiccup and their dragons standing with Ruffnut.

"Guys, that's not a good-luck stone. It's a dragon egg. And its mother is a dangerous dragon that blends in with just about anything and spits hot, burning acid and destroys whatever is in its path," Hiccup said.

"Okay, so, like, if a tree for example were spitting acid and melting everything within its sight—" Tuffnut said.

"You're saying that would be one of these dragons?" Ruffnut finished.

"Wow, they go it on the first try," Asher said surprised.

"We're not stupid," Ruffnut said.

"At least I'm not. And besides, there's one right behind Hiccup," Tuffnut said pointing to some trees that ended up falling down, melted at the trunk. They all turned around as the tree started moving and nothing could be seen. Toothless growled. As they squinted their eyes, they could see a shape of a dragon blending in.

"Whoa. A Changewing," Fishlegs said.

"Hiccup look!" Asher shouted as the Changewing revealed itself and then quickly moved in front of a rock just to blend in again.

"It's amazing. It really does blend in," Hiccup said in astonishment.

"Hiccup, hurry. Train it so we can keep it," Tuffnut said still holding onto the dragon egg. "And have it spit acid at Ruffnut." Ruffnut looked at him angrily and punched him down. This caused the Changewing to strike. It spit acid right where Tuffnut was and flew up into the air spitting more acid at the other Vikings. Everyone dodged the blast. The acid hit the trees behind them causing them to fall and the Vikings had to dodge again from the falling trees. Hiccup looked around and heard more rustling in the trees.

"More Changewings are coming," Hiccup shouted. Tuffnut got up, still holding the egg, looking at one of the Changewings.

"Nice try, but as you can see, I am holding the stone-ow!" Tuffnut stopped talking as a Changewing grabbed him and started shaking him aggressively. The shaking caused Tuffnut to let go of the egg, tossing it into the air. The Changewing threw Tuffnut away and chased after the egg. "Ah!" Tuffnut screamed as he then hit the ground. The Changewing caught the egg and all three flew up into the air leaving them along.

"Did you see that?" Hiccup said pointing to the three Changewings.

"At least they're gone," Ruffnut said.

"Uh, they're not gone," Hiccup replied, not happy with what was about to come.

"How do you know?" Asher asked.

"Because the Changewings worked as a team to save that one egg," Fishlegs replied.

"Wait. Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Asher asked.

"Oh, that's what she's saying. Wait. What are you saying?" Tuffnut asked.

"None of the Changewings are going to leave until all their eggs are safe," Fishlegs replied.

"And they are going to tear apart Berk until they find every last one," Hiccup said.

….

By the time they reached Berk the sun was about to set.

"Come on, we have to tell my father before those Changewings come for a surprise attack," Hiccup said as they led the dragons to her house.

"So, what you're telling me is that our village is about to be under siege by wild dragons we can't see," Stoick said trying to understand what he was hearing.

"Yes, they are red if that helps," Hiccup replied.

"Oh, don't forget the hot, burning acid," Tuffnut added. The group looked at him. "What? It was awesome."

"Well, grab your dragons, then. We'll fight them off," Stoick said. "I'll grab Ingolf."

"Daddy, I wish it were that easy. No matter what we do, they won't go away until they get what they want," Hiccup said.

"They just want their babies. Oh, it's all my fault," Fishlegs said putting hands on his head, regretting bringing the egg to Berk. The door then slammed open and Gobber came in.

"Stoick, I just realized something. It's not a stone of good fortune. It's a Changewing egg. I always get those two confused. So, what are you all up to?" Gobber said all in one breath.

"Hiccup, what are you suggesting we do?" Stoick asked.

"I think we should get everyone off the island until we can get the eggs back with their mothers and the Changewings are gone. Hopefully, it's not too late," Hiccup said.

"In all the year I've been chief, we've never turned in fear of anything. I'm not about to start," Stoick said. A scream was heard outside. They all ran outside and there were the Changewings. They weren't attacking anybody, they were just searching.

"They're looking for their eggs," Hiccup said as a Changewing spat out acid, irritated that she couldn't find her egg. Stoick grabbed a giant log and was about to hit it when it flew to the air and disappeared.

"Where did it go?" Stoick asked.

"That would be the 'blending in, can't see it all' part," Hiccup said walking up to her dad.

"I see it. Hey, I got this, chief," Tuffnut said as he walked past Stoick and Hiccup. "Stay, dragon. I am now your master," Tuffnut said as he placed his hand on a wooden post. Not feeling any resistance, he turned around and put a thumbs up.

"It's gone, isn't it?" Stoick asked.

"Oh, long gone," Hiccup replied. Another Changewing came by but then Jungleclaw came up with Ingolf riding it firing at the dragon.

"You and the others find those eggs. We'll handle the Changewings," Stoick said. "Thornado!" Thornado flew up and fired at a Changewing.

"Come on," Hiccup said as they mounted onto their dragons.

"They're everywhere, and they're nowhere! You have to do something, Stoick," a screaming Viking said. A Changewing flew to a building before disappearing. Stoick and Gobber looked at each other before storming the house. They started to hit it with all their might. They finally stopped and nodded at each other but instead of hitting a dragon they just destroyed the building as it crumbled to pieces. The same Changewing unblended itself and roared at them before flying away causing destruction to the houses looking for her egg.

"Hiccup was right, it's hard to fight what we can't see, Stoick," Gobber said.

"To the docks! Everyone aboard the ships! We're evacuating the island!" Stoick shouted to the terrified Vikings.

….

Bucket wasn't aware of the attack on Berk so when a strange dragon came out of no where attacking him, he ran screaming.

"Somebody help me! Ahh!" Bucket screamed as the dragon followed him because of the egg Bucket was holding.

"Your egg, Bucket! It wants your egg!" Asher shouted as he heard Bucket screaming.

"What egg? Aah! Aah!" Bucket shouted as he tripped at the docks letting the egg go, rolling on the docks. The Changewing landed, picked the egg with its mouth and flew off, leaving Bucket alone.

….

"I need your stone, Mrs. Larsen," Fishlegs said as he found her rolling a carriage with her youngest boy.

"But my boy, Gustav. Snotlout said no returns," Mrs. Larsen said as she traded her son for the egg.

"We'll get Gustav back. Where is it?" Fishlegs said as then a Changewing came up from behind scaring Mrs. Larsen causing the carriage to roll down the hill which caused the blanket to lift up and the egg to be revealed.

"Ahh! My baby!" Mrs. Larsen screamed.

"We got it. We got it," Fishlegs said as he stirred Meatlug to the carriage followed by the Changewing. The Changewing was about to fire but Hiccup and Toothless were right behind it. Toothless fired a plasma blast getting the Changewing off Fishlegs tail. Then Stormfly came hitting a spine shot at the Changewing which slowed it down. The carriage flew onto a wrap causing the baby and the egg to fly in the air. Fishlegs quickly caught the baby and the Changewing caught the egg.

"Aw, Meatlug. Look at the baby," Fishlegs said until he got a good look at the boy. "Baby? Ugh." Fishlegs shuddered. "Wow. Maybe Tuffnut was right."

….

By the ships it was a catastrophe. People were shouting, screaming, and all running to the ships.

"If you don't calm down, I'll take you by the scruffs of your necks and—" Gobber shouted.

"Not helping, Gobber," Hella said as she was helping with the loading of the ship.

"There's no reason to panic, people," Stoick shouted to his people.

"Dad, stop the evacuation. We got them all. The Changewings are gone," Hiccup said as they flew over to him.

"Then how do you explain that?" Gobber said pointing to another Changewing near the docks, looking at the ships.

"There are four of them," Hiccup said not remembering the fourth one.

"But there were only three eggs," Fishlegs said.

"They're going for the ship," Asher replied. Hiccup looked down and saw her bullies and Snotlout. They were going down below the ship. The memory of Snotlout and her bullies came to mind when they were high fiving and laughing.

"Snotlout must have given them an egg," Hiccup said. Asher and Fishlegs looked down noticing Maarika and the Jensons and even Snotlout.

"What do they want with—" Gobber asked.

"It's not the ship. It's what's in it. Another egg," Fishlegs said as he deduced the eggs location. "We need—"

"Hang on Fishlegs," Hiccup said cutting him off.

"What are you going to do?" Asher asked.

"Something I should have done a long time ago. It's high time I teach these bullies a lesson. You guys keep the Changewings busy I'll get Snotlout, Maarika, and the Jensons." Hiccup said as her eyes showed a glint of determination, something that rendered everyone speechless before Hella broke the ices by grabbing Stoick's attention.

"Stoick!" Hella shouted.

"Right, you all heard my daughter!" Stoick gave the order as he and the others flew off to keep the Changewings preoccupied, while Hiccup and Toothless flew down and land on the front of the ship, resolving to put the Jensons in their place and hopefully talk some sense into Snotlout. Maarika, Hiccup believes, wasn't so involved so Hiccup would leave her alone.

"Going somewhere?" Hiccup said in an uncharacteristically calm tone as she and Toothless boarded the ship to confront them, shocking Calder, Mulch, and Bucket as they stayed quiet and watched the scene unfold.

"Who's asking?" Maarika asked coyly.

"Yeah, who's asking?" Gustav repeated the same gesture.

"Calder, can you please escort Maarika out to the docks and oh, Gustav, go find your mother," Hiccup said very calmly, causing Maarika to flinch at the young girl's tone as Calder escorted her off the ship along with Gustav, now scared as he goes searching for his mother.

"Ah man, I can't believe you," Radcliff said.

"Yeah, I know, I was really starting to like that kid," Radford said dejectedly while Radburn seethed with annoyance due to Hiccup sending Gustav and Maarika away, though the Jenson brothers showed looks of slight terror at the Haddock girl's unwavering new-found confidence.

"Now tell me, where is the egg Snotlout?" Hiccup asked as she hoped he would be reasonable with her.

"None of your business," Radburn replied instead.

"Yeah, why should we listen to the runt of the litter?" Radford scoffs and taunts the young rider along with Radcliff as they continued to mock her while Hiccup remained silent looking at Snotlout the entire time. Snotlout however was shocked at how the Jensons treated Hiccup. He was never around when the Jensons treated Hiccup like trash. He had only heard rumors, but he didn't think that they were true, or he hoped they weren't true. The Jensons continued with their verbal assaults.

"Snotlout," Hiccup asked again. Snotlout was about to say something when he was interrupted by Radcliff.

"Don't you dare be a coward Jorgenson. You just proved yourself to us that you were a true Jorgenson. Doing anything you want, taking whatever you want. Don't you turn back on us," Radcliff said.

"Is that what they have been telling you Snotlout? Snotlout you are a true Jorgenson. Jorgenson's don't bow to anyone nor are they cowards. Sure, Jorgensons can be stubborn but you prove to us everyday what a Jorgenson can do. You are a dragon rider. One of the first Jorgensons to ever ride a dragon. That shows true courage, more then what the Jensons show. All the Jensons show is that they would still an egg from a dragon mother," Hiccup said.

"Big words from you, brat," Radcliff said seething.

"Yeah, can you own up to those words, Hiccup?" Radford said not noticing how Hiccup was coming closer.

"Aah!" Radford screamed as Hiccup cried out fiercely as she delivers a hard punch to his face, effortlessly knocked him out and preceded in kicking Radcliff in the groin as she puts him in the Hofferson Headlock, causing the older boy to let out a girlish scream as the air was filled with loud crashes and glass-shattering sounds.

By the time she was done, both Radford and Radcliff had passed out from Hiccup's outburst as they collapsed on the deck, groaning in pain while a speechless Radburn looks on with astonishment as Hiccup marches over to him with anger flaring up in her eyes.

"Now, you listen here. You guys can do whatever you want to me, threaten me, make fun of me, and mock my knowledge, but what you guys will not do is make fun of my friends, use my friends for your own gain, and do not stand between a baby dragon and its mother. Do I make myself perfectly clear, Radburn?" Radburn nodded at her before passing out in fear, however not before he had clearly wet himself. Hiccup turned to Snotlout.

"Snotlout, please?" Hiccup pleaded. Snotlout nodded.

"It's down below, in the basket on the table," Snotlout said turning away in shame. Hiccup nodded before going down to retrieve the egg. She came back up with the egg in hand, before mounting Toothless but she didn't take off right away.

"We could really us your help Snotlout," Hiccup said before Toothless flew off. "Fishlegs!" Toothless flew next to Meatlug. "Here. I think you would want to give it back to it's mother." Hiccup handed the egg to Fishlegs. Fishlegs then left going to where the Changewings had flown off to.

….

Meatlug landed in a secluded spot before Fishlegs dismounted.

"Okay, Changewings, I know you're out there. Come and get me." Fishlegs yelled out.

It was really quiet. Fishlegs started walking leaving Meatlug behind. As Fishlegs walked he started to hear the rustling of trees. He moved away from it then another. He backed up before hitting something, hopefully a tree. Something green dripped in front of him onto the ground. He looked down and there was acid burning the leaves. Another drop. Fishlegs looked up and screamed.

"Ahh!" Fishlegs tried to go left and then right but was surrounded and when he tried to go straight the fourth one was there. He got a really good look at their teeth.

"And we're all here. Hi, I'm Fishlegs. I've read a lot about you-clearly not enough. Okay, here's how this is going to work. I'm going to give you this egg, and you're going to take it. And you're going to leave Berk in peace. I promise you if you don't burn me with that hot acid, I will spend the rest of my like making sure no one ever tried to take your eggs again. Sound good?" Fishlegs said quickly as he handed the egg out.

The one in front hit his hands up catching the egg as it was in the air. Then the other three started roaring really loud. Fishlegs closed his eyes in fear before hearing the flap of wings. He opened his eyes and he was alone.

"Well, I guess that's that," Fishlegs said as he tried to take a step before passing out.

…..

Back at the docks, Stoick and Gobber along with some of the other adults were helping everyone move back into their houses. Hiccup and Toothless were in the air making sure none of the Changewings decided to take revenge on Berk stealing their eggs. Hiccup was looking out into the horizon when she heard the flap of wings. She looked over and saw Hookfang and Snotlout.

"Hey, Hiccup," Snotlout began.

"Yes, Snotlout," Hiccup replied.

"I just want to say thank you. You know for calling me basically brave and courageous," Snotlout said. Hiccup nodded.

"And it's true Snotlout. You are courageous and everything I said stands true but why did you steal those eggs? What were you trying to prove?" Hiccup asked.

"I wasn't going to steal the eggs even when Fishlegs didn't want to sell me it but I was still mad. I wasn't going to do anything but then the Jensons came and they…they said I was a Jorgenson and that the Jorgensons had fallen low. That we are weak for following orders and…I just wanted to prove myself, I guess. That I can take care of my family," Snotlout said. Hiccup motioned Toothless to go closer.

"Snotlout, the Jensons were just using you for their own gain. That's all they do. You are not weak. Snotlout you wanted to prove yourself but from where I'm standing and the rest of the gang, you already have. If you don't see that yet then hopefully in the future you can prove it to yourself because everyone can tell you that have proven yourself, but you have to admit it to yourself as well," Hiccup said as she turned to look to the horizon again. Snotlout was thinking long and hard before smirking and chuckling. Hiccup looked over with a raised brow.

"What?" Hiccup asked.

"I knew you would warm up to me eventually. When's our wedding?" Snotlout said. Hiccup scoffed.

"Glad your yourself again Snotlout," Hiccup said sarcastically as Toothless took off.

"Hey, wait. We need to plan the wedding, the cake, I was thinking yak milk cake and…."

….

The next morning was busy but that is to be expected when the village is attacked by dragons. Jensons weren't heard from the entire day but then again, the Jensons were left on the ship the entire night as they were still passed out. Hiccup had told her father how the Jensons manipulated Snotlout into stealing the eggs. So, no one really wanted to help them out of the sun. They were going to have a bad sun burn when they wake up. The adults helped with the building except for Gobber and Ingolf who were going over combat training again with the dragon riders. Hiccup was sitting down with the New Dragon Book and was drawing the Changewing as Fishlegs described it.

"I'm tell you, up close, face-to-face, it was much more ferocious" Fishlegs said as he was walking behind Hiccup and then stopped to look over her shoulder. "I'm just saying. One of us was there and one of us wasn't." Hiccup shook her head with a smile before rubbing the mouth off and redrawing it longer with its bottom teeth poking upwards and out of its mouth. "That's it, now do the teeth and the hot dripping acid. Perfect." Fishlegs said as Hiccup drew the acid.

"You know Fishlegs," Hiccup began as she started writing down the facts about the dragon.

"I know Hiccup, we need to find one and study it," Fishlegs replied.

"No, so we can train it," Hiccup said with a smile as she looked up at Fishlegs.

"Snotlout, Fishlegs, you're up," Gobber shouted for them.

"Excuse me. There's something I need to take care of. Snotlout that it would be funny to poor water all over me yesturday night when I finally got to sleep," Fishlegs said as he went to get a shield. He and Snotlout then circled each other, waiting for one to strike. Hiccip continued who writing until Asher came up and sat next to her.

"So, I heard what you did to the Jensons," Asher said. "That was pretty awesome." Hiccup blushed at the comment.

"Yeah, my dad and Gobber were pretty impressed too. Today at breakfast in the Great Hall they were retelling it. I'm pretty sure they didn't see the fight, it was over exaggerated a lot," Hiccup said.

"Yeah, 'the mighty Hiccup punched Jenson across the bow of the ship'," Asher said trying to make a Stoick voice. Hiccup laughed.

"You were there?" Hiccup asked,

"Oh yeah, it was quite entertaining," Asher said as they both laughed.

"Having courage isn't the same as having no fear. It's about being afraid and pushing forward anyway, whether that means saving a baby dragon, protecting those you love, or giving a special someone the butt-kicking they so richly deserve."

Authors note:

Sorry for the delay but I was studying for another test, the ASVAB. Thinking about joining the Coast Guard as an officer so I had to get like a really good grade, which I achieved, YAY. So every time when I wanted to write I just kept thinking about the test so my mind was nowhere near writing. So, hopefully more writing for me.

So, the end conclusions

Saving a baby dragon: check

Protecting those you love (or like): Snotlout check

Giving someone the butt-kicking they deserve: the Jensons Check

Thank you to Yuuguregurl21 for the amazing ideas and also filling in a lot of gaps…like the beginning, the little cut scene with Asher and Hiccup, and also the fight scene with Hiccup and the Jensons, the credit goes to her.

I really don't understand why they couldn't at least add the parents of the kids in the show or movies. Like are we to assume they are dead. We now Snotlout has a mom and dad. He mentioned his mom in Dragon's Edge. We also know Astrid has a mom and dad through many episodes as they are mentioned. Ruff and Tuff have a mom but never mentioned a dad. Fishleg's parents I don't think r ever mentioned. Like is he an orphan and the producers didn't want to mention it. Or have they mentioned Fishlegs parents and I missed it?

Thanks for the reviews:

Yuuguregirl21

Musical Ninja

Starrat

Xenocanaan

Althea Sirius

Mana: I shall take your comments into consideration

And thanks to all who have liked, and followed my story.