Disclaimer: The How To Train Your Dragon franchise does not belong to me :(

Author's Note: Hey everyone! *ducks rotten dragon eggs* Sorry I'm so late! I have been a very poorly human. This chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but I reckoned it was better than nothing. Smattering of Hiccstrid and Eddlegs for you, ShadowSpirit020 ;)

Chapter Five

"Hey, uh, Hiccup?" Snotlout's voice echoed around the cove. "Are you sure this is gonna work? 'Cos, you know, I don't mind a bit of mauling myself, but I guess you guys would."

"Keep your voice down!" Astrid hissed at him. Edda just rolled her eyes, turning her gaze to the calming waves that lapped over the sand below them.

They were standing on a rocky outcrop, half of which overhung the beach, the rest jutting straight out over the ocean. They had ventured out early that morning, while the western edge of Berk was still in shade, a precaution against being spotted by tidal dragons.

"Relax, Snotlout," Hiccup replied from underneath the contraption. "It'll work." He got to his feet and surveyed his handiwork critically. "Hopefully."

"I hope there'll be an explosion," Tuffnut grinned deviously.

His sister agreed. "There hasn't been nearly enough of those, lately."

"There aren't going to be any explosions, I'm afraid, guys," Edda told them, a little disappointed herself. "It doesn't work like that."

"Hey," Tuffnut waved a finger in the air, "I heard 'spring-loaded' in there, somewhere. That totally counts."

"True," she inclined her head, conceding the point.

"The springs are for propelling the fishing lines," Hiccup lifted the lid up for them to see. "They're set to release at different times to minimise the noise when they hit the water."

"So the dragons don't notice," Astrid nodded. "Huh, clever."

"That was Edda's idea, actually." Hiccup grinned over at his cousin.

Fishlegs smiled shyly over at her. "Good thinking," he said.

Edda shrugged modestly. "Let's see if it works, first."

"Okay, guys, here we go!" Hiccup cranked up the machine and stood back.

At first, all seemed to go smoothly. Gears turned, and the fishing lines released, one by one. Snotlout peeked over the boulder he was hiding behind.

Suddenly, a splintering sound rent the air, and the front panel of the contraption flew clean off. The gang watched as the rectangular piece of wood performed several somersaults in mid-air, before belly-flopping spectacularly into the sea.

Hiccup crawled over to the edge of the cliff, and peered down. "Well, that went well," he remarked.

Fishlegs was gazing down warily at the beach. "Uh. . . Hiccup?"

An enormous screech was all the warning they got before the ledge they were standing on was blasted from below. They just managed to dive to safety behind Snotlout's rock before they got toasted, but Edda's face was still stung by a shower of hot sand.

"Sand Wraith!" Fishlegs whimpered beside her.

"Guys, dragon calls," Hiccup ordered.

Hearing their riders, the dragons emerged from the forest at the top of the hill, where they had been hiding, and took to the air. Toothless, unable to fly without Hiccup, perched on the cliff and looked down at them unhappily.

"Toothless, distract him!"

The Night Fury fired a few plasma blasts at the Sand Wraith to draw his fire away from the others. They wheeled around and plucked their riders from the ledge. Meatlug, less agile than the others, landed beside her and Fishlegs.

He clambered into the saddle and held out his hand. "Edda, get on, quickly!"

She was reaching for his hand, when something grabbed her from behind and tossed her backwards. She screamed. Seconds later, a fiery sand blast hit the ledge just in front of Meatlug. The terrified Gronckle took to the air.

Edda found herself dangling from the cliff, hanging on to a thin branch for dear life. Swinging herself towards the rocky edifice to get a foothold, she almost lost her grip when, instead of hard rock, her foot came into contact with soft flesh. Suddenly registering the red tendril in her hand, Edda clung to Stalknip for dear life.

Above them, Toothless and the Sand Wraith were still battling it out. Hiccup had somehow managed to climb on, and the fight had been taken to the air. A loud, screaming, whoosh sounded next to her, as the two hurtled past.

Stalknip took the opportunity to flee the scene. Half-flying, half scrambling up the cliff-face, the dragon had turned yellow with fright. Somehow, she made it up to the grassy knoll, and proceeded to plunge headlong into the forest.

Edda ducked as branches and leaves flew in her face. Her heart lurched as she realised they were going in the wrong direction. "Stalknip, no!" she pleaded, tugging at the Changewing's neck. "We need to go back to Berk!"

The dragon ignored her, instinct taking over. She continued to run toward the heart of the forest, where she had been hatched. Edda gave up fighting, glad at least to get away from the danger.

After what seemed like an eternity of running, Stalknip finally slowed. Edda was about to get off when the dragon made a leap for a nearby tree. Climbing up the great pine, she stopped halfway and curled around its trunk, skin turning a mottled brown to blend in with the bark.

The Changewing had Edda held safely against the tree, beneath her head and her wing. The girl rested her head on Stalknip's soft underside and caught her breath.

"Thank you," she whispered.

After a while had passed, and the dragon still hadn't moved, Edda looked up at her.

"That's your plan, is it? Stay up here all day?"

She struggled experimentally against the Changewing, who merely pinned her harder to the tree.

"I'll take that as a yes. . ." she sighed. "You know, if you want me to train you, you're going to have to start doing what you're told."

Stalknip growled plaintively.

"Yeah, yeah, don't give me that. I know you're just a big softie, really," Edda smiled, running her fingernails over her soft scales.

The effect was most extraordinary. A split second later, Edda found herself plummeting down through the undergrowth. Bracing herself for the impact of the hard forest floor, she was taken aback once more when she felt herself land on a much softer, scalier surface, and bounce off into the bushes.

She was still sitting there, dazed, when a concerned nose came sniffing through the undergrowth. Stalknip's head emerged from the bushes, and whuffled her hair apologetically.

Edda leant on the obliging Changewing's great head, and got to her feet. "It's okay, girl." She laid a hand on her cheek. "It was my fault, too."

"Now," she muttered, "How to get home. . ."

She scanned the surrounding area. No paths marked the virgin forest – only the shallow, meandering tracks of animals, that would lead her nowhere. She knew Berk had to be somewhere south of here, so she inspected the trees for the lay of the moss. Moss usually grew away from the north, she knew. Getting a vague bearing from this, she tried to pinpoint the location of the sun in the sky, but the canopy was so thick, she couldn't tell where it was.

Not knowing how far north-east or north-west she was from Berk, and what obstacles she might encounter inland, she decided to head in the direction Stalknip had come and follow the coast back around to the village.

It took a good hour before she began to hear the sound of waves in the distance once more. Relieved that she had not got herself lost, she made her way towards the sound, stopping just before she left the tree-line. Stalknip followed reluctantly behind her, stealthily climbing from tree to tree.

The sound of the surf soothed her frayed nerves a little, but she kept herself alert. She didn't want to attract any more unwanted attention of the tidal dragon variety, today. The gulls wandering about gave her a good idea of the relative safety of each cove that she came across.

After a while, Edda came across a small inlet where a river ran into the ocean. There were no gulls to be seen, which put her instantly on edge. Movement caught her eye at the further end of the inlet. She quickly ducked behind a tree. Scauldrons.

Her cheek pressed up against the rough bark, Edda edged round a little so she could observe the dragons and wait for them to pass. With a start, she realised they had their young sheltered in the little cove.

The parents bent their long necks down to feed them. The scrawny youngsters screeched and swallowed the meagre catch in an instant, begging for more. The adults, however, were empty-mouthed, and headed back out to sea in search of more fish.

The coast was clear, but Edda remained where she was. Her mind was puzzling over what she had seen. Scauldrons were at the top of the food chain, but now it seemed they could barely even provide for their young. Their own scales had looked dull, lacking the usual sheen that could be seen from afar.

Edda's previous theories crumbled to dust under this new evidence. Even a foreign competitor couldn't rid the ocean of that much fish. There must be a fish shortage. But why?

She looked up at Stalknip, clinging upside down to a nearby tree. Hypnotic yellow eyes stared back at her.

"We've got to tell the others," she whispered. "Any chance you'd fly me the rest of the way?"

Stalknip blinked, and stayed exactly where she was. Edda sighed. "Come on, then, feet!"

Fifteen miles and several blisters later, Edda found herself practically shoved into her bed at her uncle's house, a warm brick by her feet, a multitude of blankets cocooned around her, and a bowl of steaming broth in her lap. It was when Astrid attempted to spoon-feed her some broth that she put her foot down, though – metaphorically speaking.

"Astrid," she said, taking the girl's wrist in a firm grip, and eyeing the spoon still hovering near her face, "Carry on as you are, and you will be wearing that broth. I have my pride, after all."

Astrid laughed, and looked a little guilty. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, lowering the offending spoon, "I guess I got a bit carried away. I was so worried about you."

Hiccup snorted from the doorway. "You should be grateful she didn't punch you, in that case. That's what I always get."

Astrid blinked innocently. "But I make up for it afterwards," she grinned at him.

"Yeaurgh." Edda mock-grimaced, noting Hiccup's glowing cheeks. "I don't think I wanna know."

Astrid turned back to her. "Seriously though, Edda, we're so sorry about what happened. We had a search party out for hours, but we just couldn't find you."

Edda reached out and patted her friend comfortingly on the hand. "It's okay. Stalknip was looking after me."

She paused for a minute. "Speaking of which, has anyone seen her? She disappeared after Astrid spotted me."

The two teenagers shook their heads.

"Sorry," said Astrid, again looking a little sheepish. "I must have scared her off. I still can't believe she went in and rescued you like that! Changewings are normally so skittish."

"It's amazing," Hiccup remarked, coming over to perch at the end of her bed. "You've really formed a close bond with her, and it's only been a few days. It took me weeks to get Toothless to trust me properly."

Edda blushed at the praise. "Yeah, well," she shrugged awkwardly, and smiled, "I had the advantage of living in an already dragon-friendly neighbourhood."

Hiccup laughed at that. Just at that moment, the front door slammed, and Fishlegs came barrelling in.

"Edda!" He wheezed, resting his hands on his knees. "Thank Thor you're okay! Meatlug and I just came in from looking for you."

Edda was startled at his level of concern, and felt heat rush to her cheeks. "You were still out looking for me?"

Fishlegs stopped for a moment, not knowing how to respond. Snotlout and the twins chose that exact moment to burst in behind him.

"Woah, Edda!" Snotlout exclaimed, eyeing her ruined boots. "You walked all the way back? That's tough, man! I mean, I've done it once or twice, but it still hurt, so-"

"Thanks, Snotlout." Edda replied, giving him a smile. For all his false bravado, she knew a genuine compliment when she heard one.

"I told you we didn't need to keep looking for her," Tuffnut folded his arms and looked pointedly at Fishlegs.

"It was funny though," Ruffnut snorted, next to him. "'Edda? Edda!'" she imitated in a high-pitched voice, making her brother double over with laughter.

"Yeah," he said, wiping tears from his cheeks. "With Meatlug falling asleep and crashing into everything. Classic."

"Hey!" Fishlegs snapped. "At least I was doing something."

"We were doing something, too!" Ruffnut put her hands on her hips. "We were yak-tipping over at Sven's. That totally counts."

Hiccup sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Edda decided that enough was enough.

"Alright, you guys," she said, loudly. "Normally, I would be entertained by this, but I have had a very long day. Kindly take it outside?"

Saying goodbye, the twins left the way they had come, Fishlegs shooting her an apologetic look before following them out of the door. Snotlout still stood there, arms crossed over his chest.

"I would have gone with them, but Hookfang was tired, and-"

Edda silenced him with a hand. "No need to explain, Snotlout. Right now, all I want to do is sleep."

Snotlout left the room with a level of meekness that would have impressed his own mother. Hiccup got to his feet and rested a hand on Astrid's shoulder.

"We'll let you rest now, Edda," he said. Astrid got to her feet beside him.

"Yeah," she said, laughing, and making her way out of the room. "I've never seen Snotlout so scared in his life. We'd better get out of here!"

Edda barked a laugh, already muffled by the pillows she had turned her face into. For once in her life, she fell asleep straight away.