Dawn cracks peacefully over Berk. Snow covering the land like a sheet of blanket, winter has finally arrived on Berk like it always did. A Monstrous Nightmare flies over the village.
"Here on Berk we made peace with the dragons,"
The Nightmare swoops down into the plaza, civilian Vikings smiling happily and going about their early morning chores, finally, with the help of the dragons.
"We're finally living and working together...and it only took us three hundred years,"
Overhead one of the houses, though, a Nadder and Nightmare are beginning the first throngs of a fight, scrapping at each other when they bump heads flying.
"There's one slight problem..."
The fight between the Nadder and Nightmare continues, flying in a chase and still scrapping along the way pettily.
"...We forgot to tell the animals,"
The Nightmare unknowingly flies down too close to the ground and nearly has a collision with some grazing sheep, luckily it's averted, but the sheep are too stunned and all quiver at the edge of the fenced grazing grounds while the dragons finally land to settle their fight.
Not a moment too soon, Mulch and Bucket run up with calm annoyance. This has obviously happened before.
Mulch shoos the dragons away, "Oh, not again. You go on now...you get, get, shoo!"
Mulch backs the Nightmare away over the fence while Bucket takes care of the Nadder. And the two dragons willingly listen, but the fight was delayed...not over. The two dragons give off one last warning growl.
"Now you know you're not supposed to be in here," Mulch tells the Nightmare.
With that 'tragedy' averted, Mulch takes a bucket and walks over to the yaks.
"Alright everybody, time to earn your keep," Mulch announces.
Bucket goes over to the chickens, pulling one out of its coop and looking at an empty nest. A place where eggs are supposed to be.
"It's chickens who lay eggs, right?" He asks Mulch.
"Do we really need to go over this again?" Mulch questions.
Bucket stands innocently, trying to convince Mulch that he doesn't need it to be explained.
"No..." He picks up a sheep and looks under it.
"Apparently we do. Well, pay attention Bucket,"
Mulch walks over to the animals, pointing respectively at each one he names for their provisions. "wool. Eggs. Milk, was that so hard now, see?"
Bucket looks around, obviously confused.
"Ugh, Observe," He walks over to the Yak, "Just grab the utter, like so, and pull," 'Nothing comes out!', "uh... Pull," 'Still nothing', "Pull!" The yak--fed up with being violated--snuffs Mulch away.
"Uh oh. I think we're empty. That's not good," Mulch says.
_____________________________________
RAVEN POINT FOREST
(HELA'S POV)
I walked through the trees stealthily stalking my prey which happens to be a wild boar, My trusted companion Fenrir by my side. Once I was at a reasonable distance I crouched and notched an arrow, Fenrir readies himself to pounce if I miss which I dought.
I took a deep breath and aimed for the head, but before I could take the shot I heard the crunching of snow coming from behind us which alerted the boar enabling it to get away.
With a sigh I put down my bow and turned to the direction of the approaching footsteps already knowing who it is.
"I thought I might find you out here," My betrothed said when she saw me.
"Well, you found me and you also spooked my prey," I told her with a soft smile.
"Sorry," She apologized not really meaning it if that smirk on her face was anything to go by, "So, what's on your mind?"
"That obvious, huh?"
"Still thinking about that riddle," She declares.
"Sigh, Yeah. I feel like the answer is very simple one and I'm gonna feel really dumb when it finally hits me. I mean the last part is obviously flame since wind is its enemy and the first part means it's something used to tell time but the middle part is throwing me for a loop," I tell her, "So I came out here to clear my head and look for a different angle,"
"You are thinking about it too hard, if it's as simple as you say then let it come to you naturally," She suggests reminding me again why I love her, "Now then how about we track down that boar together," She adds petting Fenrir.
"This way," I tell her following the tracks left behind. After half an hour of sneaking around the forest now relaying on Fenrir's nose since the falling snow covered the tracks we came upon two boars digging around in the snow for food completely oblivious to our presence.
"How about you give the bow another go," I whispered as I handed it to her. She looked surprised but didn't say anything.
She takes a deep breath before aiming. She slowly releases it and once she was sure she lets the arrow loose. I watched it fly through the air and into the boar's skull killing it instantly and startling the other one into taking off but Fenrir was hot on its tail.
"I did it?" She questioned surprised.
"Yes, you did. Have you been practicing? Because that was great shot" I said playfully. A high-pitched squeal is heard before it goes quiet.
"So what do I get for being such a great shot," She asks as put her arms around my neck.
"What would you like?" I asked placing my hands on her hips.
"A kiss would be nice," She says smiling her ocean-blue eyes gazing into my forest-green ones, I leaned forward causing her to close her eyes before planting a kiss at the edge of her mouth, with a smirk I pulled away leaving a confused Astrid.
"Now come on, let's take this back" I tell her as I walk towards the dead boar and take back my arrow.
"That's it?" She asks making me chuckle.
"What?"
"When I said a kiss I meant a proper kiss not whatever that was," She said pouting.
"Aww, too bad, next time remember to be more specific," I tell her with a smile before hoisting the boar on my shoulder and walking past her.
"Your such a tease," I hear her grumble before following me, "What about Fenrir?"
"He'll be back once he finishes his meal," I say before hearing something in the distance making me turn in its direction only to witness an avalanche.
"Didn't Hiccup and Dawn go to that mountain?" Astrid asked worriedly.
"Those idiots," I stated before transforming, Astrid jumped on my back and we took off.
___________________________
BOTTOM OF THE TRENCH
(THIRD POV)
Underneath the snow is Hiccup sitting in pitch-black darkness, the only thing penetrating the silence is the sound of him shivering.
Dawn makes a small groan, catching Hiccup's attention.
"Dawn?" He calls out.
"Over here....Hiccup I'm freezing," Dawn responds.
"Come here! Where are the dragons?" As soon as he mentioned them the darkness is lit up for a brief moment as Toothless emits a small fire burst upwards at the snow that encases them, Hiccup and Dawn hold each other for warmth.
"Toothless?" Hiccup questioned.
Shadow shots off a fire burst as well, slowly melting the snow.
"Shadow?" Dawn asks.
The dragons continue to make small fire bursts until a hole is finally made in the encasement of snow, blanketing them in a small fraction of light.
"Whoa," Hiccup lets out astonished.
"Yeah," Dawn adds.
"I see daylight," Hiccup declares happily.
Toothless shoots a fireball up to the next layer of ice that traps them, making a path for them to get out while Shadow continues to melt the ice around them.
"We're gonna get out of here!" Dawn exclaimed with relief.
Hiccup and Dawn both look around, finally seeing that Shadow and Toothless spread their wings out and around their riders, blocking the falling snow to form the encasement.
"Look what they did..." Hiccup says in awe.
"They saved our lives..." Dawn adds.
Hiccup and Dawn turn to face each other, not aware of how close they're holding each other until their faces are only centimeters apart.
In the awkward wake of the moment, the two quickly break their hold on each other and scoot away to a respectful distance. Fidgeting nervously.
Hiccup scratches the back of his head, "Uh, um...that was...so..."
Dawn clears her throat multiple times, smoothing her hair away and smiling gently to herself.
" ...So, we're good now?" Hiccup asks awkwardly.
"G-good as new..." Dawn answers just as awkward. She looks around a bit before brightening the moment by lightly punching Hiccup's shoulder.
"Ow!" He exclaims but he still smiles at her, while their dragons look down on them.
The moment is cut short by a shadow covering the small light they had making them look up only to be met with the angry faces of their older siblings.
"Heyyy Hela, Astrid what brings you to this side of ravens point," Hiccup says but that only earns him a deeper glare from Hela making him shrink back.
______________________________________
FARM LANDS/BERK
"Ah, uh...there it is, mm hmm!" Gobber is underneath a yak, "inspecting things".
" Just what I thought," He rolls out from under the yak.
" She's not giving milk...none of them are," He states.
" We know that, Gobber. We want to know why," Stoick tells him.
" This reminds me of the time I moved my mother in with my goat. She was mean, ornery, ate everything in sight. The goat was so scared of her, she couldn't give milk," Gobber recounts.
"So, what are you saying, Gobber?" Stock inquiries.
"Mothers and goats don't mix. Same with farm animals and dragons. We stopped fighting dragons, so now they're around all the time. The animals are spooked,"
To emphasize his point, a nightmare flies over the farm animals grazing lands and the sheep and yaks scatter while the remaining sheep just faint.
"Like I said spooked,"
The realization is cut short when Bucket lets out a groan in pain, holding his bucket and his feet swerve in pain.
" Uh oh. You're bucket's not tightening up on ya, is it?" Mulch asks.
"No, I'm just..." Bucket starts but another wave of pain hits him, "Fiiiiiiine!"
He collapses and Mulch quickly makes his way over to Bucket's side.
"Well whenever his bucket gets tight it means a storm is coming," Mulch states.
" No storm, everything's fine," Bucket says in a strained voice.
Gobber and Stoick look at each other in suspicion.
"Bucket...," Mulch scolds.
" I don't want there to be a storm! If lighting strikes me bucket I could end up less intelligent," Bucket reasons. He cries out in pain again and Mulch places a hand on his bucket.
"Oh, ho ho! That's one tight bucket. And the tighter the bucket the bigger the storm," Mulch explains.
"But that's crazy. Storms don't hit this early in the season," Stoick says.
"And besides, who ever heard of predicting the weather with a bucket? That's what chicken bones and goose feet are for," Gobber tells them.
"If you recall that bucket of his predicted the blizzard of Olaf!" Mulch reminds them.
"That was a bad one! It took us a week just to dig Mildew out," Bucket says.
"And the rest of our lives to wonder why we bothered," Mulch adds before turning to Stoick, "Trust the bucket, Stoick,"
"You trust the bucket. I want a second opinion," Stoick tells him before he and Gobber walk away.
______________________________________
GOTHI'S HOUSE
Gobber and Stoick go up to Gothi's house which resides high above the village built up on wooden stilts far too high to be safe.
"Gothi, I've come for your council. Is there going to be a storm?" Stock asks.
Gothi puts down a sandbag and grabs her staff, writing in a pile of dirt placed on her porch with it.
"What's she saying, Gobber?" Stoick inquiries.
"She says: "what do you think?" Huh?"
Both Stoick and Gobber look at each other in confusion, obviously not following.
Gothi rolls her eyes and points over to her house. Sandbags are placed by the door and windows are pinned shut.
"Ooh, How can you be so sure? Was it the chicken bones? Or the goose feet?" Stoick asks.
Gothi begins to write in the dirt again.
"She says she could hear Bucket screaming from way up here,"
______________________________________
WATCH TOWER
Hiccup, Hela, Astrid, Dawn, Snotlout, and Fishlegs are sitting on one of the unused dragon watch towers. Stormfly, Shadow, Troels and Toothless sitting happily behind their riders.
"...And then the dragons used their wings to block the snow," Hiccup retells what happened.
"I've never heard of anything like that. Not even in the Book of Dragons," Fishlegs states.
"I know! It was incredible. It was as if their protective instincts just kicked in!" Dawn says.
"Who'd believe it? The dragons we fought for years came to our rescue," Hiccup says.
"Yeah, if it weren't for them, we would've frozen to death," Dawn adds.
"You know what? You could've used your own bodies to keep each other warm," Fishlegs tells them.
Once again stuck in an awkward realization, Hiccup and Dawn look at each other, shocked and embarrassed, before scooting to opposite sides of the bench they share, giving nervous glances to each other.
They both try to cover their tracks, though it's hardly convincing to Hela and Astrid who give each other knowing looks.
"Um..."
"Who would do that?" Hiccup says.
"That's crazy...," Dawn adds.
"Hey, Dawn. If you're still cold...," Snotlout opens his arms out wide and kisses the air, beckoning her to him.
But Dawn is far from amused, and simply hits the side of the snow-filled catapult above him, burying him in snow. Astrid nods in approval.
"You know Hiccup, I don't know why you're surprised that Toothless saved you, like this is the first time. He did save you when the Red Death knocked you off his back even though he could have died once he hit the ground," Hela tells him but before he could answer.
"Hey, Hiccup, Hela!" Tuffnut calls out.
Everyone looks down at Ruffnut and Tuffnut on the docks.
" Your father's looking for you," Tuffnut tells them.
"He looked angry," Ruffnut adds.
"He's looked angry since the day I was born...But I'm sure there's no connection," Hiccup says before he and Hela mount Toothless and Troels respectfully and fly off toward their house.
______________________________________
HADDOCK HOUSEHOLD
Stoick paces the floor before a cooking cauldron, concerned about an impending storm. Hiccup, Hela, Gobber, Troels, Fenrir, and Toothless stand in the background, watching.
"There's a bad storm comin'. We could be locked in. We might not be able to hunt or fish for months!" Stoick states.
"But it's way too early for a storm. We're in the middle of winter! Devastating Winter isn't due for another month!" Hiccup says.
"Not according to Gothi," Stoick tells him.
"Was Bucket's Bucket tightening up on him?" Hela asks Gobber who nods a yes.
"Well, what are we supposed to do? We can't control the weather!" Hiccup says.
"No... but you can control dragons. If they don't stop scaring the animals we won't have any provisions to live on," Stoick says as he turns to Hela. The door opens making them turn to see Bucket and Mulch enter.
"Ah! Any luck?" Stoick asks as he grabs the bucket from Mulch's hand and turns it over. He shakes it. Nothing comes out.
"Not a drop. And this is after yankin' on that poor yak for three hours!" Mulch tells him.
Stoick, shocked, immediately looks at Hela with the silent implication that the dragons are responsible for this.
"What are you looking at me for? it's not like the dragons are trying to be scary. I mean, they don't even eat farm animals. They eat fish!" Hela defends.
"True... but they're huge, they breathe fire, and now that we've made peace with them, they're everywhere. The animals are terrified of them," Gobber tells her.
Stoick walks behind Gobber, "Here's where you two jump in and say 'We'll fix this'"
"Um, How? I mean I can tell the Dragons to behave around the animals but it'll take a long time for the animals to overcome their fear than however long we have before the storm hits," Hela points out making everyone silent.
Hiccup breaks the silence by asking an important question, "How long do we have before the storm hits?"
"About a week," Mulch answers him.
"No problem. More than enough time to figure something out," Hiccup says trying to be optimistic but Bucket suddenly grabs his head and moans in pain.
"Correction: three days, six hours," Mulch says.
"Uh, okay... less time... might be more of a problem?"
______________________________________
DRAGON ACADEMY
DAY 1
All around Berk, the seas are troubled, the first hints of an approaching storm.
"Come on, big boy,"
In the training academy, the farm animals are placed with the two feuding dragons from earlier. Hela and Astrid are next to the dragons while Hiccup and Dawn slowly coax a yak toward the pair.
"You can do it. Come on," Hiccup tells the Yak as he pulls it by the horn and nose, panting and groaning with the effort. "You'll really like them if you get to know them,"
Pushing from the back end of the yak, Dawn lends her own encouragement, "The dragons look scary but they're just big, scaly reptiles,"
"Just like Snotlout," Tuffnut snickers but it's cut short when Snotlout grabs him by the shirt, lifts him in the air, and rears back a fist, ready to punch Tuffnut in the face. He pauses and looks Tuffnut up and down.
"You're the guy, right?" Snotlout asks threateningly.
"No!" Tuffnut responds with a high-pitched voice.
"Hey, back off," The Nightmare growls at the Nadder.
"What now," The Nadder screeches annoyed.
"You're in my personal space," The Nightmare hisses
"What space I didn't even move," The Nadder hisses back startling the yak Hiccup and Dawn had been coaxing encouraging it to run off.
"Hey behave both of you!" Hela tells them and they look away from each other with a huff.
"Why I'm I even here, this flame for brains is the one who started it," The Nadder says.
"I don't care who started it because you two idiots thought it was a good idea to fight near the animals when they're already terrified of you," Hela tells them shutting the Nadder up.
"Okay, what if we look at this from an animal's perspective?" Fishlegs pitches his idea before he gets down on all fours and begins crawling around on the ground. He circles the ground in front of the Nightmare.
"Oh, hello, Mr. Dragon! I'm just a little sheep here... walking... doing sheep things... Baaa!" Fishlegs says as three sheep stand by, watching Fishlegs imitate them. They are unamused.
"Baaa! You know he doesn't really seem so big and—" The Nightmare, fed up with Fishlegs' shenanigans, releases a deafening roar at the boy. Still on all fours, Fishlegs scrambles to safety and cowers underneath Meatlug, speaking to Hiccup and Hela.
"Sorry! But I'm siding with the sheep on this one," He says in a shaky voice.
Hela glare at the Nightmare who avoids making eye contact with her.
"Look, I've learned that once you have a positive experience with something you're afraid of..." Hiccup says as he grabs the baby sheep that tries to run off. "...it isn't so scary anymore,"
He herds the three sheep towards the dragons, "Okay, here you go boys...over here,"
"And that's what we'll have to do with these sheep. We gotta prove to them that they have nothing to fear--,"
The Nightmare sniffs at the sheep curiously. Its nose is tickled by the wool and it sneezes, releasing a short flame from its nostrils. The sudden action scares the sheep off. And the littlest one even catches fire!
"Seriously?" Hela says annoyed.
"Sorry,"
Astrid catches the alight sheep and Hiccup runs up to quickly pat it out.
"Ooh-aaah-at this rate we'll never get any milk or eggs," Hiccup declares frustrated.
______________________________________
DAY 2
Dark, stormy clouds roll in the sky. The reeds surrounding Berk are wild in the pre-storm winds.
Stoick gives off an aggravated sigh as he and Gobber walk around the village, boarding up homes and storage in preparation for the storm.
"Just as I feared. We haven't had time to fully stock the food storehouse!" Stoick tells Gobber.
He grabs a plank of wood from the ground and holds it across two doors.
"If this storm is as bad as I think it is, we're never going to survive!" Stoick says.
Gobber approaches with a hammer. "Not with this inventory,"
"We're going to need everything we can get from those chickens and yaks," He grabs the hammer from Gobber's hand and begins nailing the doors shut.
"I'm not really comfortable putting my fate in the hands of a brainless bird and a big woolly beast that sleeps in its own dung," Gobber says.
"Well, luckily our fate isn't in their hands. It's in my son and daughter's," Stoick says confidently.
______________________________________
DRAGON ACADEMY
The Academy is chaotic. Hiccup stands amidst hysterical chickens, hopping from foot to foot. Hela tries to slow down the yaks running back and forth.
In the background, the other teens watch, confused and uncertain. The dragons are bemused.
Still trying to maintain some semblance of control, Hiccup continues with his "lesson".
"Another way for the animals to overcome their fear is to show them that dragons are afraid of things too," Hiccup says.
The twins and Snotlout stare at Hiccup looking unimpressed. Fishlegs looks nervous.
"Remember Magnus the Merciless? He was a pretty scary guy," Astrid reminds them, Fishlegs shudders. "I was afraid of him until I learned that he was afraid of the dark!"
" So during the day: merciless," Tuffnut says waving his hands majestically.
"And during the night... Tuffnut!" Ruffnut says.
Tuffnut roughly elbows his sister. "Ow!"
"Hey! That's a real problem," He defends embarrassed.
"I'm just saying: Knowing he was afraid of something made him less scary to me," Astrid tells them.
"Yes," Hiccup says as he reaches into a basket and pulls out two eels, "So let's show the yaks that dragons are afraid of things too,"
Standing between two yaks, Hiccup holds up the eels. The effect is immediate: the Nadder and the Nightmare rear back from the eels. The yaks share contemplative looks.
"I think it's working!" Dawn says in a sing-song tone.
Hiccup smiles at her. His brief distraction causes his grip to slacken on one of the eels and it slips from his grasp. The eel slithers on the ground towards the Nightmare. Frightened, the Nightmare spins to get away. Its tail accidentally strikes a sheep, sending the animal flying into a wall.
Hela incinerates the eel before it can spook the other dragons. She sighs frustrated, Astrid approaches and puts a comforting hand on her back.
______________________________________
GREAT HALL – DAY 3
Lighting crashes across dark skies. Vikings climb the Great Hall steps for refuge, burdened by their belongings.
"Bring in everything you need! We down know how long we'll need to be hunkered down!" Stoick announces, Fenrir standing next to him.
Mulch drags Bucket up in a wheelbarrow, taking one step at a time. Bucket is unable to do more than moan and grip his head.
Gobber and Stoick look down at them with concern.
"How's Bucket doing?" Stoick asks.
"Look at him! He usually loves a wheelbarrow ride," Mulch says.
Bucket continues to whimper. He can't focus on anything but the pain.
Another round of lightning lights up the sky. The Vikings pause in their travels to watch and worry grows. They are running out of time.
"Mulch, I'll take care of Bucket. You and Gobber go find the kids and bring them here,"
Gobber and Mulch nod and set to task.
______________________________________
DRAGON ACADEMY
Now dragons and animals are panicked in the Ring.
Hiccup and Dawn chase around chickens, trying to catch them, whilst Hela and Astrid focus on the dragons.
"Hey! Calm down! Get back over here!" Astrid tells the Nightmare as she pushes him back by the snout, Hela doing the same with the Nadder.
Hiccup walks up with two chickens under each arm. " You know what I'm learning from all this? Chickens are really, well, chicken,"
"What if we showed them how much they have in common with the dragons?" Fishlegs says, everyone look's at him confused. "They both lay eggs right? A Terrible Terror laid one last week!"
He picks up a Terror egg and sets it down on the ground. Three chickens see the egg and run to it. One jumps up and settles on top of it.
"Alright, see? An egg's an egg, right ladies?" Hiccup says to the chicken.
Hela has a sudden realization, "Wait, did you say last week?"
"Yes, why?" Fishlegs asks not following.
"Then that means at any moment it's ready to...," Molten cracks begin to form along the egg's shell. It is the only warning before it explodes. The chickens are sent flying and Hiccup and Dawn duck for cover.
"... Hatch,"
The animals are startled again and once more run amuck in the training arena.
Gobber and Mulch walk through the entrance.
"Everybody out, the storm is here!" Gobber announces and Right on cue, a light dusting of snow begins to fall slowly yet steadily.
"Ah, wha-wait! We haven't made any progress with the animals!" Hiccup says.
Gobber ignores him and goes about collecting the animals and herding them out of the Ring.
"Your father wants everyone in the Great Hall!" Gobber tells him
"Take the others. I need to stay and keep working with the animals. They're...still afraid," Hiccup says.
"Look, brother, I want this to work as much as you do but let's think logically here. If we couldn't accomplish anything in 3 days how are you gonna do it in a few hours at best or minutes at worst," Hela asks him but he doesn't answer knowing she's right so he reluctantly agrees to leave.
______________________________________
BARN
Lightning illuminates the scene in front of them, the barn buried under snow and frozen shut.
"So much for the barn," Gobber says.
"There's no other place to hold them!" Mulch yells over the roaring winds that suddenly picked up.
The animals, the dragons, and the teens are all outside. They are at a loss on what to do next.
Hiccup suddenly points off into the distance. "The Great Hall!"
"So, we're gonna have the dragons and the animals under the same roof? We know that won't work," Mulch says.
"We have no choice, come on," Hela tells him.
With no further argument, the group sets off. They struggle to move through the worsening storm whilst keeping animals from panicking around the dragons.
"Alright, keep 'em separate!" Mulch tells them.
Astrid runs to block a sheep from wandering off the path, "This way!"
A sharp bolt of lightning strikes down and hits a tree. The tree snaps in half, falling in front of the Nadder. Startled, the Nadder's tail spikes eject and it whips the Nightmare across the face. The Nightmare's body ignites as it roars in pain. All of the animals are startled. The yaks and sheep run off toward the hills in different directions.
Snotlout sees the yaks coming his way and takes a ready stance, bracing his hands out before him, "Hey, I got this under control!"
The first yak charges Snotlout and uses its horns to toss the boy over its head. Snotlout cries out as he's airborne and lands on his stomach in the snow. Three more yaks trample over his body.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" He slowly reaches behind him and holds his lower back, wincing, " Ooooh... ow! Okay, everything hurts,"
Fishlegs is spun around in his attempt to stop yaks and sheep from running every which way. He falls to the ground. Two sheep run over his body, as does Ruffnut. She runs straight into a flying chicken that clings to and flaps against her face.
Hiccup makes a leap for a nearby sheep but he miscalculates and ends up clutching snow. The sheep runs off into the storm, disappearing along with the rest of the livestock. All the teens have failed at stopping the animals from escaping into the storm.
Hela stares after the animals with her eyes she can still see them. A determined look crosses her face. She turns to Hiccup seeing the same determined look, with a nod they've both decided. They turn and run towards Troels and Toothless.
"Where are you two going?" Gobber asks.
"We're going after them!" Hela tells him.
"Forget it! We'll never get them rounded up in this storm!" Gobber tries to reason with them.
"You can't but I can, the cold doesn't bother me," she says as she hops on Troels saddle.
"Plus if we don't, we starve to death," Hiccup says.
"No! Your father will kill me if I left you out here--!"
"Sorry, Gobber," Hela tells him before they take off.
"Hiccup! Hela! Come back here!" to Astrid and Dawn, "Astrid, Dawn, will you talk some sense—" From the corner of his eye, Gobber notices Astrid and Dawn running to Stormfly and Shadow.
"Ah--No, no, not you too!" They take off after Hela and Hiccup. "You're not going with-"
All around him, the other teens are taking off on their dragons. Gobber spins trying to target any single teen and fruitlessly reaching out to them.
"Ach! Get back here all of you!"
The teens are gone and Gobber is left in the storm, dumbfounded, and unable to complete the task Stoick assigned him.
______________________________________
GREAT HALL
The storm patters heavily outside.
Inside, the Vikings huddle around the fire pit trying to keep warm. Large torches and candles blaze in the corner of the room and tables, providing light and warmth.
Without warning the massive wooden doors of the hall burst open, the freezing wind whistling in.
"Move those tables against the doors!" Stoick gestures to two Vikings standing beside him.
They rush forward each with a wooden table under their arm to brace the door. Just as the door has been braced shut, Gobber burst in.
"Stoick! The barns been destroyed! The animals have scattered!" Gobber calls out.
"Where're Hiccup, Hela, and the others?" Stock asks.
"I tried to stop them, Stoick. They went after the animals," Gobber explains as he gestures towards the door with his hook. Without a word Stoick dutifully walks toward the door.
The door of the hall swings open again suddenly; this time it's Mulch accompanied by two yaks.
"I caught these two. I figured at least with these we'd be able to start a new herd," Mulch says.
Stoick and Gobber exist the hall, passing Mulch and the yaks. As they leave, Gobber gestures to the yaks.
"You might want to take another look, Mulch,"
Mulch bends over to inspect the yaks' "private regions", apparently surprised by what he sees.
" Oh! Uh, never mind boys!"
He waves at the two Vikings watching the door and walks away. The two Vikings each push one side of the hall doors closed.
______________________________________
WOODS OUTSIDE BERK
Two dark-winged silhouettes glide through the storm. From one of the silhouettes burst a blinding pulse of light, illuminating the snow-covered trees to either side. It's Troels, Hela, Toothless, and Hiccup, followed closely by Astrid, Dawn, and the others on their dragons.
"You find as many as you can. We'll herd them back to the Great Hall," Hela orders.
Fishlegs shivers and rubs his arms in an attempt to get warm, "Can we swing by my house? I'd like to get my heavy coat,"
"Check this out!" Tuffnut slaps himself in the face hard. " I'm so cold I can't feel my face,"
Ruffnut slaps his face with a grunt.
"Didn't feel it!"
"That takes all the fun out of it!" Ruffnut tells him.
The group cleared the forest. Below, among clusters of trees, the farm animals can be seen against the snow.
"There they are, come on!" Hiccup says, Toothless dives forward. The other dragons and riders follow suit, herding the scared animals from the air.
"Yaks to the left!" Fishlegs calls out.
"Chickens to the right!" Snotlout swoops in from behind Fishlegs, sending Meatlug spinning like a top in mid-air.
"Hey! I'm flying here!" He yells back before guiding Hookfang beside the panicking chickens. He gestures for the chickens to follow him. "Chickens! Over here! Follow me this way. Come on!"
Hookfang's eyes narrow as he veers off course flying straight toward a tree.
"Wait. Where are you going? Ahhhhh!" At the last moment, Hookfang glides to the right, narrowly avoiding a collision. While near the ground Fishlegs herds the sheep from the back of Meatlug.
"Sheep! Hey sheep, this way! Baaahh! Baah! Baah! Hey, it's working! Baah!" The sheep follow Fishlegs directions. They flock below a fallen tree. Fishlegs and Meatlug follow but get jammed between the tree and the snow-covered ground. He can only watch as the sheep run away.
From behind the fallen tree swops Astrid and Stormfly in hot pursuit of the sheep. "I got them!"
Stormfly catches up to the sheep and levels out above them.
"Now!" At Astrid's order, Stormfly sends a barrage of tail spikes flying toward the sheep. The spikes form a perfectly oval pen enclosing the sheep.
"Gotcha!"
The celebration is short-lived as Snotlout flies by on Hookfang, knocking half the tail spikes over. The sheep scatter in all directions.
"Snotlout what are you doing? You're all over the place!" Astrid yells at him.
"You try herding chickens with a dragon that doesn't listen to you!" He yells back.
Hela and Troels go after the Yaks and see them heading toward the forest they speed up. Troels fires a concussive blast in front of them drawing them back and causing them to split up. Three of them heading for a cliff.
"I go after those three. You herd the others back to the group," Hela tells him.
"Got it," Troels says as Hela jumps off his back.
She unfolds her wings and bursts forward after the three Yaks. She catches up to the Yaks and levels out above them. She ignites her hands and sends a stream of flames in front of them creating a wall of fire. The Yaks stop.
Back with the others, Dawn spots three sheep on the ground ahead. She points them out to Hiccup as he soars past.
"Hiccup! Three sheep!"
The Sheep traverse a snow-covered ledge. As they turn a corner the smallest sheep loses traction and slips over the edge. It lands on an icy ledge below and begins sliding toward the brink of the cliff. Helplessly the sheep falls off the cliff, plummeting to its death.
A dark shape soars past, catching the petrified sheep. It's Toothless and Hiccup. Toothless looks down at the sheep with a reassuringly friendly smile. Gently Toothless puts the baby sheep down safely.
"Good job, bud," Hiccup praises.
Dawn flies in, barely visible at first through the worsening storm.
"Hiccup, the storm is getting worse! I can't see anything!" She tells him as Astrid and Stormfly join them.
"Come on bud, give us some light," Hiccup says. Toothless shoots a bright white fireball into the distance, illuminating the snow-covered ground. In the distance, two large figures can be seen. "Stray yaks twelve o'clock!"
"I see them and they are huge," Tuffnut says as they head toward the figures. They dive down and pick up the supposed yaks in one clean swoop.
"I got the yaks," Tuffnut yells.
"Put me down right now!" Stoick shouts.
The twins share and quick glance and comply, releasing Stoick and Gobber onto the snow below beside a real yak.
"Do I look like a yak to you?" Gobber yells after them unfortunately for him he does somewhat resemble a yak. The yak beside him snorts and walks away.
Toothless lands in front of Stoick, and Hiccup dismounts. Hela and Troels join them. The three Yaks standing in the background.
"You shouldn't be out here," Stoick tells them.
"Dad, I'm sorry we let you down," Hiccup says his voice breaking. Hela puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's not your fault, neither of you. Now come on, I'm taking you both back," Stoick says.
In the background, Astrid and Stormfly land, and Astrid dismounts next to her sister who's shivering and wraps her arms around her.
"Which way?" Gobber asks as he approaches.
"Follow our tracks," Stoick tells him pointing toward the direction they came. There are no tracks, only snow, and trees in what can be seen through the snow.
The storm rages all around them, making it impossible to see very far at all.
"So much for that idea," Gobber says.
Fishlegs approaches alongside Astrid and Dawn, the three of them shivering. And they're not the only ones.
"Sir? What do we do now?" Fishlegs asks.
Stoick observes as the teens shiver and hold their arms for warmth. They are going to freeze to death out here. Gobber notices the same dilemma, and glances at Stoick for his say-so.
"Everyone, come together," Stoick tells them.
The teens don't waste any time forming a circle and huddling in together. Hela's wings are wide open around them. Their dragons observe nonchalantly until Toothless and Troels get their attention.
Hiccup looks up from under his father's arm to see the dragons form their own circle around them. They extend their wings around the Vikings, protecting them from wind and snow. The Vikings watch in amazement.
"What are they doing?" Stoick asks.
"They're protecting us," Hiccup tells him.
"It's their natural instinct," Dawn adds.
Each dragon takes a turn breathing flames into the middle of the huddle, providing warmth and light.
Outside the circle, the sheep watch as they huddle together protecting the baby sheep. Toothless notices and bounds over quickly. The parent sheep scatter in fear, but the baby simply closes his eyes and cowers into the snow.
Toothless stops right beside the baby sheep. When the sheep opens its eyes he gives it a friendly look and gently pushes it toward the group of Vikings. Toothless gestures toward the group with a reassuring purr. The other dragons and Vikings watch silently as the baby sheep decides to join them. With Toothless by its side, the sheep joins the circle cautiously. When they see it is all safe the baby sheep gives a small BAAH to the other sheep, prompting them to join the huddle as well.
More animals join the growing circle for warmth. The sheep and chickens huddle together, while a pair of yaks cuddle in on each side of the twins.
The baby sheep cuddles up in front of Toothless. An unspoken bond has been made and the animals can finally feel safe with the dragons.
"Your dragons are really something," Stoick says.
"Yeah, they are," Hela says.
With a grin Troels shoots a celebratory shot of fire into the air, illuminating the snowy night sky. Toothless joins in and the other dragons follow suit. Toothless shoots the final shot, which explodes in a glorious halo of blue light.
______________________________________
WOODS OUTSIDE BERK – SUNRISE
1 WEEK LATER
The dragons and Vikings wake to the sun peeking out over the horizon. The storm is over and an arctic fog overlooks the North Sea. They made it through the storm.
The dragons shake the snow off their wings. Fish bones form a small mountain in the middle. Help and Troels being the ones who went out to fish.
Hiccup, Hela, and Stoick watch the sunrise. Stoick turns towards his kids and gives them a brief and gentle nod, brimming with pride. They return it with a proud and hopeful smile, feeling accomplished.
Outside the Great Hall, the Vikings ascend the steps outside the hall with sheep slung over their backs. Behind them, yaks and dragons follow with more sheep mounted on the dragons backs.
GREAT HALL - SAME TIME
The doors swing open, revealing the Vikings and farm animals. The happy chatter of the other Vikings in the hall can be heard as the teens enter. Mulch and Bucket turn away from the fire pit to greet the survivors.
"They're back! And they're alright," Mulch says.
"And the animals are alright too!" Bucket adds.
"Uh oh. Here come the dragons,"
Hookfang enters with a quiet roar, bowing down to allow the family of sheep riding on her back to disembark.
"Will you look at that," Mulch says surprised.
"Hey, everyone!" Dawn calls out. She gestures an arm towards Hiccup as he enters with Stoick and the last of the farm animals. Under his right arm is a chicken. He raises his left hand triumphantly, in it a chicken egg.
"The chickens are laying eggs again!" He announces. The crowd cheers happily.
"I was right. Chickens do lay eggs," Bucket says.
Hiccup places the chicken on the ground and watches the crowd, his dad and sister by his side. There is finally harmony among the farm animals and the dragons well some of them.
"We made our peace with the dragons when we saw that we could trust them,"
Gobber throws a fish to Barf and Belch, who catches chews it up.
"Turns out they actually have instincts to protect us. All of us,"
Stormfly folds a wing over a couple of sheep protectively.
"Life on Berk just got a little warmer,"
Hiccup, Hela, and Stoick exchange smiles before turning to watch as the doors to the great hall close.
Hela walks over to a table and sits down. She watched as people, dragons, and animals in harmony with each other a smile on her face. Fenrir and Astrid approach her with Astrid carrying two cups of mead, she hands one to Hela before sitting next to her.
"Thank you," Hela says before taking a sip. Fenrir lays down next to them and starts chewing on something catching Hela's attention.
"What do you got there bud?" She asked before trying to get it out of his mouth only managing to break a piece of it.
She looks at the thing which is covered in wolf spit confused, "What is that? It's not a rock it's too soft?"
"I think that's candle wax," Astrid tells her.
"Ugh, Fenrir spit that out now!" At her order, he spits out the other chunks before giving the puppy dog eyes.
"Don't give me that look it's not getting you out of this mess. You know you're not supposed to eat candles—" She pauses, "Wait, candle?" Her eyes widen as a sudden realization hits.
"That's it!" She exclaims excitedly before rubbing Fenrir's head, "Fenrir you're a genius,"
"What is it?" Astrid inquires.
"I've finally got the answer to the riddle thanks to Fenrir," Hela tells her as she walks toward Troels Astrid following. She takes out the book from a bag that was attached to his saddle and opens it, "Candle,"
The words start to glow before the ink starts running. It spreads out turning the whole page black before it starts sinking in leaving behind a map.
"This map leads to the edge of the archipelago," Astrid realizes.
"Well, I guess that just means we've got one hel of a journey ahead of us," Hela tells.
----------------
Author's note:
If you happen to find any spelling error please do comment it and if you have any suggestions I would be happy to hear them. So don't be afraid to comment your ideas... :)