Written at: 31 December 2021
Story Word Count: 8,396
Language: English (UK)
History:
Publish (FFN) – 28 May 2022
Publish (AO3) – 28 May 2022
Pairing:
- Hiccup (Toothless) x Light Fury
"Toothless?"
Hiccup looked back. He was in his nest, in his own quarter, in his dragon form. He was in the middle of flaming something into a furnace with his plasma. The molten mineral inside the furnace were shimmering with purple and black colour.
It had been a year since the nest's first dragon raid. The Secret nest were getting more comfortable under his management. While most dragons there liked to fight, Hiccup found out that everyone seemed to relish the fact that they know better than everyone.
More and more dragons immigrated and joined his nest. They almost had one thousand dragons living in the nest. Hiccup allowed the leader of the sectors to have subordinates under them. It significantly helped their management through chain of command.
After adding more sectors, Hiccup found out that his nest had become an information hub. There were very little that they did not know about the nests around them, and they knew a lot about humans and their activity around them. Because their nest were neutral, they kept it for themselves.
The Secret nest did raid some villages sometimes for resources. Hiccup rarely participated in those raids, mostly because he would be often busy with managing the nest. Indigo and Scorpion proved capable on coordinating and leading raiding dragons to attack villages without casualties from either side.
Hiccup emphasized them to check in with the Intelligence sector. It would not do well if they raided a village that did not have much on them to begin with.
"Cloudjumper." Hiccup greeted, recognising the dragon at the cave way. He jumped off the furnace and faced the visiting dragon.
The Stormcutter slowly walked into the cave. "Toothless." He started. "I heard your nest started raiding villages."
"That's true." Hiccup nodded. "What about it?"
"I'm starting to question which side you're really on." Cloudjumper admitted.
"I'm on the neutral side."
"That's not what I mean." The Stormcutter explained. "What I mean is… you're still spending time with humans at Berk. Your first raid was Berk. You're associating yourself with the humans, but you act as if you're just…" He wildly gestured to him. "… a dragon."
"There's nothing wrong with keeping my human side while doing my part as a dragon." Hiccup coolly spoke.
"That's the thing." Cloudjumper started. "Not that it was wrong, I just don't understand. You told me that you're a dragon, but you're still embracing that human side of yours. So, which one is it? A human or a dragon?"
"I am a dragon that can turn human." The Night Fury dryly spoke. "I thought you already know that."
"Well, you know what, fine." Cloudjumper threw her paws in the air. His wings ruffled behind him. "Whatever. Sorry, I'm just trying to understand you."
"It's okay." Hiccup slowly nodded. He understood what he was talking about. "It took me a while to really come to terms with who or what I am. I don't expect others to understand my thought process on this topic."
The Stormcutter let out a sigh. "I see…" He muttered.
After some time, he looked around. He noticed the furnace. "Hey, I've never seen something like that before." He commented as he approached.
"Oh, it's just my experiment." Hiccup explained, moving over to let him see inside.
"Experiment?" Cloudjumper questioned.
"I want to make a stronger sword." Hiccup told him, looking down into the furnace.
"Why?"
"Remember when I was kidnapped by the Outcasts?" The Night Fury asked. Cloudjumper nodded. Seeing that, he continued. "My sword shattered when I was fighting Alvin."
"It was a standard sword that I use for… basically almost all my life." He admitted. "There were parts that was replaced there and there, but it had been with me for a long time."
"When that shattered, I realised that I need a sword that's designed for my strengths and weaknesses." He continued explaining. "So, to make sure that it didn't shatter like before, I want to make another one that could endure a lot of torture. I experimented with mixing scales with certain types of metal."
"It took a while, since almost all metal refused to mix together with my scales." Hiccup admitted. "Then I found out Rock Eater can make stronger and lighter metal by eating and vomiting combination of them."
"That one can mix with my scales." The Night Fury explained. "I had been using my plasma flame to help the process, since the mixing was so slow for some reason."
"I guess it's a lesson learned for you." Cloudjumper commented.
"It is, yeah." Hiccup nodded.
They stayed silent. Hiccup started plasma flaming the molten alloy inside the furnace. They could see some melting black scales floating on top of the molten alloy. The Night Fury used his flame to melt those.
"Since you're off raiding villages..." Cloudjumper started. "Do you want to join us in our raids?"
Hiccup paused. "No. I have other things to do." He dryly spoke. "I'll tell my subordinates about it if you want my nest to join your raids."
"You can always ditch that village of yours and get all the free time you have for it." Cloudjumper suggested.
Hiccup turned to look at him. He gave him a deadpan expression. "Cloudjumper, unlike you and my mother, I actually still care about them." He admitted. "… well, not really. I care about my father. I don't care about the village."
That confused Cloudjumper. "Why?" He asked. "He can take care of himself."
The Night Fury jumped off the furnace. "You probably don't know what it felt like to not have a family." He explained, looking at him. "I do. I didn't know my mother died until I met her in the Dragon Sanctuary. My father is so overprotective of me until I proved to him that I can defend myself."
"I know my mother can take care of herself." Hiccup simply spoke. "I trust you and all the dragons in Dragon Sanctuary to protect her. But my father…" He sounded hesitant. The Night Fury looked away. "He was a Viking through and through. He fight dragons for a living."
"Don't you hate him for it?"
"Honestly?" Hiccup started as he stared right to his eyes. "… Yes. I hate him for killing dragons. I hate him for neglecting me. I hated him before because he was so overprotective of me. I hate him because he is a human."
The Stormcutter was taken aback. Hiccup continued speaking. "But for all the flaws he had, I understood him." He confessed. "He's the chief of the village. He protects his village. He was so adamant on protecting me because he doesn't want to lose me like how he lost my mother. Everything he does is to protect everything that he holds dearly."
"I don't blame him for it." The Night Fury firmly spoke. "He was still grieving for my mother. I'm willing to push aside my prejudice just so I can comfort my father, but there's only so much I can do for him."
Then, Hiccup let out a sigh. "I wish I could help him more." He reached up to the furnace and began plasma flaming the black blobs of partially molten scales. "I wish I could just kidnap him and tell him everything."
The Stormcutter took some steps forward to him. "So why haven't you?" He questioned.
Hiccup paused. "… Because I know that he would never accept me for who I am." He admitted. The Night Fury turned to look at him. "He would never accept my mother for what she had become."
Cloudjumper looked away. Hiccup turned back to the furnace and began plasma flaming the partially molten scales. The Stormcutter moved back and stayed near the cave exit.
They stayed silent. The Night Fury was busy at the forge, while Cloudjumper was resting near the cave exit. Hiccup occasionally looked back to the cave exit, as if expecting someone to come into his quarters. The Stormcutter was staring at the ceiling, looking deep in thought.
Suddenly, Cloudjumper chuckled. "You know what." He spoke aloud, getting Hiccup's attention. "I think I understand."
He came close to Hiccup. "You care too much for a dragon."
Hiccup sighed. "Tell me something I don't know."
The Stormcutter looked smug. "You're behaving like an alpha dragon."
The Night Fury frowned. "How am I behaving like an alpha dragon?" He questioned.
"Us regular dragons would never care about each other like this." Cloudjumper explained. "You helped others without asking for anything in return. You fed them even if they're not from your nest."
"That's not normal dragon behaviour." The Stormcutter finished. "That's alpha dragon behaviour."
Hiccup was exasperated. "Well, whatever!" He threw his paws up. "Is it wrong to just be myself for once?"
"There's nothing wrong with it." Cloudjumper spoke defensively. "That's actually why dragons are so willing to follow you."
"I figured as much." The Night Fury rolled his eyes.
"That's why I came to visit you from time to time." Cloudjumper admitted. He moved to sit right in front of Hiccup. "That's why I followed you. When I see you, I don't see a Dark Chaser. I see an alpha dragon in all but power."
Hiccup was silent. The Stormcutter took a step back. "That's why you're so beloved by your own nest." He explained. "You're wise, smart and powerful. You're willing to make the hard decision for your nest, at the cost of your village."
"You led your nest through winter and survived with no death, when every dragon nest around you were dying from starvation." Cloudjumper explained to him. "You led successful dragon raids without any casualties at all! When was the last time anyone from your nest died from raid or an attack?"
Hiccup was silent. It took him a while to realise that he was right. There had never been any dragon deaths in his nest, at least battle casualties. There were dragons that died of old age, where they became sick and too weak to survive or recover. Those usually gets carried away by their family or buried in the island's graveyard.
"Nobody had died in a battle since the nest was made." Hiccup whispered.
"Exactly!" Cloudjumper smiled. "Toothless, when it comes to a nest, dragons die, a lot. Whether it was from battle or disease – It was a natural thing."
"You trained your dragons to be better than everyone else. Your leadership here made everyone happy." The Stormcutter explained. "You teach them and made them smarter than everyone else. You literally brought a new age of dragons in your nest!"
"I'm doing this to protect my dragons, Cloudjumper." Hiccup warned. "I'm doing this for them."
"That's what makes it all even better." Cloudjumper looked excited. "Toothless, that's why we love you! You're basically like an alpha dragon to us!"
"In all but power?" Hiccup sarcastically spoke.
"In all but power. Yes." Cloudjumper nodded.
"And you come here all alone because…" Hiccup tilted his head and raised one brow. He gave him a small smile.
"Valka is busy."
"And?"
"I want some attention."
"And?"
"And… I just want to be here."
"You speak so highly of me whenever you come here." Hiccup spoke as he began circling Cloudjumper, who were nervous at what he was doing. "Dragons don't usually do that unless they want something out of it."
Cloudjumper stayed silent. He kept his eyes on Hiccup. The Night Fury sat behind him. "Are you here offering yourself to me? To join my nest?"
"What?" Cloudjumper looked surprised. "No!"
"Then why are you here?" Hiccup questioned.
"I just want to see you." Cloudjumper admitted.
"Why?"
The Stormcutter turned his body around to face him. "Because you're the only one that's actually better than me." He admitted. "You defeated me, but you didn't take anything from me. You even healed me when you have no reason to. I felt indebted."
"Cloudjumper, that was years ago." Hiccup spoke, exasperated. "What is it with dragons and honour system? Just move on with it! I don't have time for this!"
"Toothless-"
"No." Hiccup firmly spoke. "You want to clear that debt? I'll give you something to clear it out."
"Protect Valka- no, my mother, with all your life." Hiccup growled. His tail twitched irritatingly. "If any harm ever come to her, just one bit, that's going to be your head in front of my nest entrance."
"But I'm already doing that." Cloudjumper argued.
"Then what are you doing here?!" Hiccup roared. "Why are you here instead of standing by her side?"
"But I-" Cloudjumper realised what he was trying to make him do. "Wait. I can't always be on her side!"
"Now you will." Hiccup growled. "I'm calling in all your debt to me. Protect her and always, always stay by her side. If you don't fully commit on that debt, I will tear your wings apart and feed them to the Corpse Eaters."
The Stormcutter gulped. He knew Hiccup was very much capable of doing so. He had never seen this side of Hiccup before. He was suddenly reminded that he was in a presence of a far, far more dangerous dragon.
And he looked angry.
"… Well?" Hiccup insisted. "What are you waiting for? Get out! GO!"
Cloudjumper quite literally ran out of the cave.
Hiccup slowly calmed himself down. He was irritated at Cloudjumper's attitude. Most of the things he had to deal with became more complicated because of the honour system that dragon had. While he had accepted the fact that he was the leader of a flock of dragons, it never stopped him from being annoyed at everything.
"Leader! Leader!" Two dragons came rushing into the quarter. They were Scorpion and a female dragon called Prickleboggle.
Prickleboggle was a green-coloured dragons that looked like a mixture of Monstrous Nightmare and Deadly Nadder. However, she was less intimidating in appearance, with the size of a Deadly Nadder. She had a pair of twisted horns, a long fin that runs down to her back and a larger one at their back. She had one pair of wings.
"Scorpion, Obeah, what is it now?" Hiccup addressed them, sounding exasperated. The Prickleboggle's name was Obeah. She was his most loyal dragon and the leader of Medical sector.
"Mating season is starting." Scorpion reported to him. "The dragons were fighting at the Medical sector."
"They would not leave no matter how much I tell them to move!" Obeah pleaded. "Indigo and Ghost were fighting there as well!"
Hiccup growled. He ran out from the quarter with the two dragons following him behind.
The medical sector was made to be as comfortable as possible. They were meant for dragons that need medical attention. If there was one thing that dragons would use to describe them, they would call them beautiful.
It was very open and had a lot of space to move around. Most part of the ceiling was open to the sky, so dragons could drop injured dragons into the sector without many difficulties. There was also glowing crystals around the edges, which illuminated the darker section of the cave.
The ground had a lot of grass. It was intentionally made this way in case of rain, so the place was not flooded. There were rocks and trees right above the open ceiling, which were very comfortable when dragons needed to sunbathe.
There were plenty of different cave ways around. The entrance was slightly elevated to avoid flooding. They were meant for private rooms for injured dragons that wished for privacy. There were also balconies there, with some large bridges and ramps that connected one side with another. These were meant for injured dragons that could not fly.
Unfortunately, the whole place were packed full of fighting dragons. Flamethrowers, fireballs and roar of fury filled the sky. Hundreds of dragons were fighting each other, fighting dominance over males and females that they want to mate. It was a complete chaos.
That was the scene that Hiccup, Scorpion and Obeah arrived to. The Night Fury saw Indigo and Ghost there, fighting other dragons together. They looked like they were fighting for each other's affection.
Ghost was a male, red coloured Changewing. He was a medium-sized dragon, looking more like a tree version of a Monstrous Nightmare. He had a pair of teeth from their lower jaw, a pair of horn from the back of their heads, one horn on their nose, and a pair of antennae on his head.
Notably, Ghost was the leader of the Intelligence sector in the nest.
"HA!" Indigo shouted as she fired spikes towards a crowd of female Gronckles. "He's mine, you dragon dung!"
"Nobody get closer to us!" Ghost roared as he fired hot acid towards a Monstrous Nightmare. The attack missed but hit a crystal and melted them instead.
Hiccup growled. His eyes turned to slits. He took a step forward as his body crackled with green electricity. He charged a plasma blast and fired towards the middle of the sector. The plasma blast was green-purple coloured.
The plasma blast exploded right at the centre. It created a massive shockwave that struck all the dragons in the sector. It did not do any damage, physical or collateral, merely just passing through everything.
However, it did the effect. Dragons immediately lost control of their body. Their body crackled with purple-coloured electricity. They instantly stopped and fell to the ground, twitching from the paralysis.
"AH! I can't move!"
"What happened… I can't… move!"
"What is this? What's going on?"
Hiccup roared aloud. That instantly quietened the whole place. When that was done, he glowered at the downed dragons, who were staring at the nest owner in shock and fear. He was angry at the destruction that they had caused to the Medical sector.
"Leader!" One of them fearfully spoke.
"Few days ago, I made an announcement to all of you about mating season." Hiccup growled at them, making them wince. They remembered that announcement. "Under no circumstances ANYONE to fight inside the nest."
"We have a bigger place for this sort of situation!" The Night Fury snarled. "And you know where that is?"
The dragons were quiet. Finally, one of them spoke with small voice. "Training room?"
"OUTSIDE!" Hiccup roared. Everyone immediately cowered under him. "I kept most of the outer section of this nest as it is for this very reason! If you want to fight each other, you can do it on the island, but do it outside!"
Hiccup slammed his paw down. It tapped with a resounding thump. Everyone suddenly regained back control of their body. The Night Fury shouted. "Any injured dragons must stay here for recovery."
"As for the rest of you." Hiccup took a deep breath. Then, he bellowed a loud roar. "GET OUT!"
Dragons immediately scrambled and flew out of the nest. They stumbled around in panic, flying out from the nest to avoid the wrath of their leader. The injured dragons stayed in place, fearing for their lives. There was some that was unconscious.
When most of the dragons were gone, Hiccup could see the damages that had been caused. There were a lot of shattered crystals and burning trees. Various fruits and vegetables were destroyed and littered around the place. There was also splatter of acid, blood and scorch marks over the floor and walls.
It was a complete mess.
Scorpion and Obeah gaped at what they had seen. They had tried to stop the riot, but to no avail. They were shocked to see that their leader quite literally stopped hundreds of dragons from rioting in just a few minutes. They rarely see their leader in a full-blown fight, since he rarely deal with issues like this.
"Scorpion." Hiccup commanded. "Bring back Ghost and Indigo to me."
"Yes, Leader." Scorpion immediately obeyed. He flew up into the sky, going out from the nest.
"Obeah, deal with the injuries." Hiccup commanded. "I'm going to fix this mess."
"Y- Yes, Leader." Obeah obeyed.
Hours passed. Cloudjumper came back to the nest. He had Valka along with him. He noticed that there were a lot of dragons fighting outside at the centre of the island. The woman riding him was curious what it was all about.
Cloudjumper groaned. He rolled his eyes. "Mating season." He muttered.
He flew into the nest. There were not many dragons flying there. That was expected. He searched for Hiccup in his quarter but found no one there. He went looking for him around the nest sectors, but he was not around.
Finally, he reached the Medical sector. Cloudjumper and Valka gasped upon seeing them. The whole place was a mess. There were dragons cleaning up the place. Some of the injured were being tended by medical dragons. Hiccup was busy growing crystals around the place.
"What happened here?" Valka gasped.
"Toothless!" Cloudjumper shouted.
Hearing his name being called, Hiccup came to him and landed in front of him. "Cloudjumper, you came back." He spoke, relieved.
"What happened?"
"Mating season." Hiccup growled.
"Oh."
"Hiccup, what's going on?" Valka questioned, looking around. "Did your nest got attacked?"
"No." Hiccup shook his head. "It's mating season. Dragons would fight for dominance for their males or females. I told them to not do it inside the nest, but for some reason, they kick started it right in the Medical sector."
"Dragons did this?" Valka gasped.
"Unfortunately." Hiccup frowned. "I'm currently cleaning it up. Feel free to do whatever while I'm busy."
Hiccup walked away. However, before he took off into the air, he saw Scorpion coming down towards him. Behind him was Indigo and Ghost. Both looked injured and worn.
Hiccup relaxed his stance. The three dragons landed in front of him. The two worn down dragons took one look at their leader, before looking away. They looked scared and ashamed. They showed complete submission to their leader.
Scorpion instantly moved over. Hiccup approached the two. "Enjoyed yourself on that free-for-all?" He was sarcastic.
The two didn't answer. Hiccup huffed. "I picked you two because I know I can rely on you." He sternly spoke. "You two had done well in the nest. I trust you to be peaceful amongst each sector and make sure everything was done as efficient as possible."
"Today, you had proven to me that you can't be relied upon in a chaos." Hiccup declared. Their eyes went wide. "Instead of trying to calm things down, you participated in it."
"But…" Indigo's words died on her tongue when Hiccup glared at her.
"As a leader of this nest, I cannot do everything by myself." Hiccup slowly spoke. "Especially when the nest kept growing bigger. We almost hit one thousand dragon population. That's a huge number, and it's going to get even bigger when we got hatchlings coming in."
"That's why I choose you." Hiccup looked around. "All of you. I trusted all of you to help on my duties, because you had proven to me that all of you were reliable. I don't just pick random dragons in my nest to lead other dragons in nest sectors. It's something that you have to prove to me."
Hiccup looked back to Indigo and Ghost. "The only thing you two had proven to me today was your love and loyalty to each other." He spoke. "I approve you two as mates. However, your behaviour today is unacceptable. For that, you two will be punished."
The Night Fury looked to the side. He saw Obeah tending wounds from other dragons. "Obeah, come here."
"Yes Leader." Obeah spoke as she worked. After some time, she approached and came next to him. "What is it?"
"Starting from now, Indigo and Ghost will be helping you with your duties for three months." Hiccup declared. Indigo and Ghost stared at him with wide eyed look. "They will do their own duties in addition of helping you. I'm putting you in charge of what you want them to do."
Obeah looked at the two dragons. She hardened her expression, before looking back to Hiccup. "Understood, Leader."
"Good." Hiccup nodded. He looked back at Indigo and Ghost. "That's your punishment."
Hiccup moved to heal both of their injuries. As he did, both dragons looked resigned. For Indigo, dealing with food management around the nest were busy enough. Having to help Obeah with Medical sector meant that she would never have any free time at all!
It was the same reason for Ghost. Intelligence sector were all about espionage and counterintelligence. Their work were careful and deliberate, and every second counts when it comes to their duties. Being put to help the Medical sector meant that he would never have any free time at all.
When Hiccup was done, he took a few steps back. "I would say that I am ashamed of you two." Hiccup spoke. Then, his eyes softened. "But I'm not. I'm just disappointed."
After some time, his eyes hardened. "Do your punishment well. If I hear any of you causing trouble with Obeah, I'll make you clean dragon dung for a whole year in the living sector."
"Y- Yes Leader." Indigo and Ghost shuttered. They did not want to be the one to do that. It was meant to be something everyone do themselves!
With that said, Hiccup turned around. He had finished his part of fixing the Medical sector. The Night Fury flew up into the sky. He would be going back to his quarter.
Hiccup rested on his quarter. Cloudjumper entered the place, along with Valka. After that, Scorpion also entered the quarter. Three of them approached Hiccup.
"That was a mess." Scorpion commented.
Hiccup snorted. "It was definitely better than the egg season last year." He spoke. "Remember that?"
Scorpion winced. "Ah. That incident." He shuddered. "We almost gone to war over it."
It was an incident that was spoken with hush-hush tone around the nest. The Secret nest was created last year shortly after the mating season. It was no surprise that the eggs from their own nest were moved into the Secret nest, when the dragons migrated into Hiccup's nest.
After mating season, dragons would become pregnant and lay eggs roughly a month after the season. The egg would then hatch in a few weeks. Hiccup had made a large nursery inside the Medical sector to ensure that the eggs were safe and sound.
It was a place to keep eggs, hatchlings and younglings, in case they did not have the time or place to take care of them themselves.
The spoken incident was about other nests loitering around the Medical sector and leaving their own eggs in their nursery. Apparently, some dragons thought that leaving their own hatchlings in their nest meant that their children could get a free place at the Secret nest.
Joining Secret nest requires background check and a solid reason. Hiccup had given the Security sector responsibility to deal with dragon immigration going in and out of the nest. It was how they kept track of dragons around them. It was there to make sure that the nest was safe from inside attack.
Scorpion was put in charge of policies and requirements to join the nest. Apparently, some dragons that did not qualify for them decided to sneak their unhatched eggs into the nest. The unfortunate part was that there were a lot of unqualified dragons. Therefore, there were hundreds of them.
It was a clever plan; except they did not know of the fact that the medical dragons were trained to keep record of the eggs. It was done to make sure that the eggs were in order and healthy. They found out about the foreign eggs during the weekly check-up.
Everyone was mad and the eggs were almost destroyed. It caused an uproar in the whole nest and the surrounding nests. It was only because of Hiccup's intervention that the eggs were still alive.
Hiccup barred foreign dragons from ever entering the nursery and increased security. He demanded the responsible nests to take their eggs back, but of course, nobody admitted their own eggs. He was forced to accept the foreign eggs into the nest and organised a group of medical dragons to take care of them.
The eggs hatched and dragons adapted inside the nest. They were schooled and trained in the nest. In just a few months, they got their own place inside the nest, and despite their status as egg refugees, they were accepted by others without prejudice.
They knew of their own status, and nobody cared. They were fiercely loyal to Hiccup.
The outrageous part was when other nest suddenly decided to demand their hatchlings back. They suddenly admitted the eggs that they had placed in the nursery. The dragons had all hatched and grown up, living happily in the Secret nest. It was an impossible situation.
The dragons refused to go back, as they had lived happily and peacefully in Secret nest serving under Hiccup. They did not want to leave the nest, because they knew that it was where they belonged.
Other nests were angry. Their leaders quite literally demanded them back, or they would unite and go on a full-blown war against them. Hiccup's dragons were advanced and militarized. If they were ever going to go to war, they could take on several fronts at once.
However, it would be a bloodbath. Hiccup was trying to avoid that.
It was fortunate that Cloudjumper and Valka were there to help. They quite literally brought the Great King to stop a massive scale war from happening. He had declared that the dragons had made their decision. While Secret nest was completely neutral, the surrounding nests were under his territory.
He assigned Green Death to keep the peace. The certain fierce alpha dragon were understandably furious of the situation. With a threat of complete annihilation, the surrounding nests immediately backed down. Nobody tried something like that ever since.
That did not mean Hiccup stayed silent. He set up the nest to be always prepared against any possible attacks. He himself planned on retaliating and waiting for the right time to come.
"Well, I'm glad I was there." Cloudjumper shook his head. He remembered that event as well.
Valka jumped off Cloudjumper. She approached the furnace and looked inside. It was a black-purple coloured lava, somewhat shimmering with red glow. "What is this?"
"It's my experiment." Hiccup told her. "I mixed my scales with some alloys I found around the nest. I want to make a sword that's strong enough for me."
Valka hummed. "Interesting."
After some time, the woman turned to face Hiccup. "Alright, young man." She sternly spoke. "What is it that I heard your dragon raiding human villages?"
Hiccup barely winced. "It was something that the nest had to do to gain resources." He answered. "We need their tools, weapons, nets, things to maintain the whole nest."
Valka crossed her arms. "Did you know that you can raid Dragon Hunters and Dragon Trappers instead?" She asked. "They have far more of those than regular settlements."
"Dragon Hunters and Dragon Trappers?" Hiccup questioned, tilting his head.
Valka looked surprised. "You've been here for years and never heard of them?"
Hiccup shook his head. "No. My dragons and I never heard of it. Cloudjumper did mentioned them before." He admitted. Their nest haven't gotten that far yet.
"Dragon Hunters were a group of people that hunt dragons." Valka lectured. "They kill dragons to harvest their body. They have far more better resources on dealing dragons. Given that your dragons were smart and extremely coordinated, raiding them would be more challenging for your dragons to do."
"I see…" Hiccup slowly nodded. "What about Dragon Trappers?"
"They capture dragons to sell them." Valka explained. "They don't have any central body that coordinates them. They come from anywhere and everywhere, working for their employers to capture dragons."
"Alright." Hiccup nodded. "I assume Cloudjumper knew about this?"
"Yes."
Hiccup looked up to the Stormcutter, who looked a bit smug. Then, he looked back to Valka. "I'll consider it. Come back in a month and I'll give you the answer."
"I'll be holding onto that." Valka nodded. Then, she turned around. "Come on, Cloudjumper. Let's go back home."
Valka mounted onto Cloudjumper's back. The Stormcutter then went out of the quarter, leaving Hiccup and Scorpion alone inside.
After they left, Scorpion asked. "What are you planning to do?"
Hearing that, Hiccup frowned. "I am considering on helping them. However, I'm not sure if it's a good idea."
"What seems to be the problem?" Scorpion asked, confused.
"We have no benefit on helping them at all." Hiccup explained. "We are comfortable as it is. Dragon Hunters and Dragon Trappers sounded like a whole new another threat."
"Leader, if I may…"
"Go on ahead."
"I think we need to think of them as a future threat against us." The Deathgripper spoke. "If what she said was true, it would be best if we strike against them first."
"Dragon Hunters and Dragon Trappers could be a threat for us in the future." Scorpion warned.
"I agree." Hiccup nodded. "However, repeatedly attacking them for no reason might be seen as taking a side. I would like to keep our neutrality. Valka and Cloudjumper works with the Great King."
"There is nothing wrong allying with the Great King." Scorpion grumbled.
"Where do your loyalty lie, Scorpion?"
"I apologise, Leader." Scorpion bowed. "I was out of line. I am loyal to you to very end."
"Your concern is noted." Hiccup absentmindedly spoke. "An alliance with the Great King would be good, but that meant we would lose our neutrality. May I remind you that most of our dragons made it back alive because nests around us acknowledged our neutrality."
"There were dragons around us that was somewhat loyal to an alpha dragon." Hiccup warned. "Including our own. If we lose neutrality, we could possibly lose some of our own."
"I apologise, Leader."
"Your apology is noted." The Night Fury responded. He hummed. "… alternatively, we can do clandestine operations."
"Black operations, Leader?" Scorpion sounded amused.
"Yes." Hiccup nodded. "It would require more training and some restructuring of Intelligence and Security sectors. However, if we wanted to help without being seen, we must do this quietly. Failure is not an option."
"I agreed with your decision, Leader." Scorpion confidently nodded. "We will not fail you."
"I want you to pick twenty best candidates to be trained for this." Hiccup ordered. "I will be personally training them. This will be something between us for now."
"Yes, Leader." Scorpion spoke.
"Good. You may leave."
With that spoken, Scorpion left the quarter, leaving Hiccup alone inside.
One month later, Hiccup was waiting for Valka and Cloudjumper.
The Night Fury was sitting at the corner of the medical sector. He was not wearing his backpack. The sky indicated that it was somewhat early in the morning. There was no patient around as not many flocks were visiting. He was listening to Obeah talking about her reports, who was sitting in front of him.
"It's about… 18 patients." Obeah spoke. "Most of them were visitors. 3 of them were nomadic flocks. None of them were from any nest."
"It was far fewer than the previous amount." The Prickleboggle lectured. "In the last seven… days, the daily average was roughly 500 dragons and 9 flocks from various nests. It was unusual for us to have barely any patients yesterday."
"Have you informed Ghost about this?"
"I have." Obeah nodded. "Intelligence sector is currently working on it as we speak. I suspect that there might be a joint dragon immigration moving away from the area."
"You have done well." Hiccup praised her. "Keep monitoring the amount. I want another report tomorrow for today's performance."
"Yes, Leader." Obeah bowed to him.
Suddenly, they heard several dragons frantically flying towards them. Looking at the source, it was Ghost the Changewing and Scorpion the Deathgripper. They both looked frantic.
"Leader! Leader!" Ghost shouted. The two dragons landed close to him. "Security Alert!"
Hiccup's eyes hardened. "Threat level?"
"Eight."
The Night Fury's eyes went wide. After the whole egg incident, he had set up several pre-emptive plans in case an attack do happen. One of them was types of alerts. Security Alert meant that there was a threat coming in.
Threat level range from one to ten. One meant that it was a rogue group of dragons trying to attack. Ten meant that they faced full scale war against alpha dragons, with said alpha present coming to their nest.
Eight meant that large groups of dragons were heading towards them, in which those dragons belonged to an alpha. The alpha dragon itself were not present.
"Arrival?"
"Three hours!"
"Begin defence code 2!" Hiccup barked orders to the sector leaders. It was a battle readiness code for the nest. That meant get ready for full scale war, with possible nest annihilation. "Pull everyone back home! Move it!"
The others immediately flew away to the other sectors. In case of Obeah, she was barking orders to the medical dragons to evacuate everyone deeper into the nest.
In just under one hour, the whole nest was high on activity. A lot of dragons were patrolling the sky, moving in formations. Incoming dragons were interrogated and moved away. Everyone was on extremely high alert.
Hiccup was flying in the sky. He was leading two groups of dragons, with four dragons on each group. One group were all Skrills – a medium-sized dragon with spikes on the back of its head, with an appearance somewhat like a sleeker Monstrous Nightmare. The other group were all Triple Stryke – a medium-sized dragons that looked like a bigger version of Terrible Terror with three sharp tails.
The two groups were flying in diamond formation side by side, and Hiccup was flying on the middle front of the group. They were circling around the nest, watching for any disturbances that might occur. They watched dragons below them, patrolling the sea and air, keeping guard of the whole place.
Moments later, they saw what they were expecting. Massive hordes of dragons coming from one direction. They were heading directly towards them. Ghost had briefed everyone that it might be the direction they would be coming from. They were completely hostile, as they had almost killed their scouts.
"Identify!" Hiccup shouted.
There was a pause, before the Triple Stryke at the front shouted. "Roughly 10,000 of them! Five groups!"
"Any sign of alpha?"
"None."
"Inform the others!" Hiccup barked an order.
The two groups of dragons split to separate direction. Hiccup flew up higher in the sky.
He frowned. They were overwhelmed by tenfold. The odds of winning were slim, as he only have a thousand dragons in the nest. However, he did not become a leader of almost a thousand dragon for nothing. He had been practicing, after all.
The Night Fury flattened and began gaining speed. Soon, he broke the sound barrier. His wings were covered in vapor, as loud boom reverberated across the sky. His dragons looked up and amazed at the speed that he gained at such a small amount of time.
He observed the enemy. They were uncoordinated, weak. He could smell them in the sky. They were flying too tightly together. However, no matter how weak they were, the enemy still had the number. He needed to lower their moral before the actual fight. They were almost closing in into the nest.
He observed his dragons. Most had broken from their route and headed towards the enemy dragons. They stayed in formation, knowing that they have strength in cooperation and coordination. It was something that he trained them to do, after all.
Fearless, even in the face of death. He was proud of his dragons.
Deciding on what to do, Hiccup reached hypersonic speed. His body were covered in plasma, as he went fast beyond any other dragon had ever seen. He dove right to the side, reaching far left end of the enemy dragon crowds, and sharply turn to the right.
His body crackled with green electricity. He fired multiple shots of plasma blasts. The first one exploded into a huge explosion, cutting first crowd of dragons in half. The second one exploded further, taking the second crowd of dragons with it. The rest of the shots spread apart and exploded on the other crowds, taking them down in a large, fiery explosion.
Hiccup flew up high into the sky. He reached his dragons' airspace. Looking back at the enemy, he smirked. He saw thousands of dragons fell from the sky. He had cut their enemies in half.
While the explosion was not that massive, they were flying too tight together. He exploited that advantage by firing at the most concentrated ones. That should be enough for his dragons to take down. He needed to recover and rest for some time, as those shots had taken a lot of his energy.
Some of the enemy dragons saw what happened and tried to run. However, the friendly dragons had reached them. Battle clashed, as fireballs, acid and flame were thrown around. Dragons were fighting with everything they got.
Hiccup's dragons were coordinated. They circled and flew around enemy dragons in formation, using each other as bait to take down the opposing dragons. The roaming dragons moved to intercept any enemies that tried to sneak into the nest. The defensive dragons covered their flanks and escape routes. Everyone kept their speed to make sure they could immediately run away from danger.
Barely any words were spoken amongst them, as they trust each other to know what they were doing. Soon, they were slowly winning against opposing dragons. Thanks to their coordination, they were winning against all odds.
Their efforts were not without casualties. Four dragons in formation were surrounded and overwhelmed. They died when they were trapped in a Zippleback smoke and exploded. A dragon's throat was slit when they did not see a Monstrous Nightmare coming after them. Three dragons in formation died when baiting enemy dragons to lead them to an ambush.
Those who survived but wounded immediately retreated to the nest. Their retreat were covered by the defensive dragons that roamed the escape routes. They went to the Medical sector, get themselves patched up as quick as possible, and immediately went back to defend the nest. The medical dragons were trained to work as fast as possible for war time condition.
It was complete chaos. Coordination and familiarity helped friendly dragons identify each other. Sometimes, there would be friendly fire made by enemy dragons. There was no such thing happening with friendly dragons.
After an hour of battle, Hiccup was ready. He dove down once more and fired multiple plasma blasts to their enemies. They exploded, allowing him to enter their airspace without trouble. He dodged and weaved around the battle, using his claws and fire to take down as much dragons as possible in one pass.
It was thrilling. He was fast and nobody could catch him. Flanking was something that he was designed for. The sheer strength and firepower he possess meant that nothing could stop him.
He slashed his claws and cut an enemy Gronckle's wing, slit a Deadly Nadder's throat, tore a Timberjack's wings and butchered a Terrible Terror into pieces. He exited one crowd, moved on to another crowd and repeated the process of tearing them apart.
Eventually, his dragons were getting bolder. Three hours later, the enemy dragons were faltering, and they began retreating. The friendly dragons circled around the battlefield, taking down the remaining dragons that had not fled yet. It was easier for them to do, as they became spread apart and easier to overwhelm.
The friendly dragons did not chase the retreating dragons. They let them be, as the main purpose of the battle was to defend the nest. Once the remaining enemy dragons were captured or killed, they instantly moved to pick up the wounded and flew back into the nest. The remaining, healthy dragons roamed around the sky, watching for any potential danger to the nest.
Knowing that it was over, Hiccup significantly slowed himself down. He lowered his altitude and came close to his allies. After some time, two dragons came and flew in formation next to him. They were Ghost and Scorpion.
"Report!" Hiccup barked.
"The enemies were retreating." Scorpion reported. "We captured 30 hostages and counting."
"We got 300 injured, 200 wounded and…" Ghost shuddered. "80 deaths. We're still counting."
Hiccup clenched his paws. His dragons died that day. That was expected, but it saddened him. "Collect our dead." He ordered. "We had won the battle today. Let the others rest. I will be at the medical sector."
With that note, Hiccup flew down into the nest, leaving the two dragons flying alone in formation.
"Do you think Hiccup would accept, Cloudjumper?"
Cloudjumper was flying up in the sky. It was evening in the sky, and they were heading towards the Secret nest.
"I'm sure he will." Cloudjumper shrugged. He knew Valka could not understand him, but his noise and gesture was enough to make her understand.
After some time, they break out of the clouds. They got a full view of the Secret Island. Cloudjumper and Valka gasped upon seeing the sight.
"What the…" Valka trembled.
The sea was red with blood, literally. There were thousands of dead dragons floating there. Gronckles, Deadly Nadders, Nightmares – all different dragons piled up and spread around the oceans. There were large body parts floating as well, such as wings and heads.
Up in the sky, hundreds of dragons were circling in formation. Some were flying above ocean and picking some of the dead. They entered and exited the nest through various entrances in different places. It looked like they were collecting some of the dead.
"What happened here?" Cloudjumper wondered.
They did not notice that they were getting surrounded. When Cloudjumper did, it was too late. Four dragons on his left, four on his right. Another four on top of him and another four under him. They were all behind him.
"Under the name of Secret nest, surrender!" One of the dragons – a Deadly Nadder shouted.
Knowing that they were surrounded, Cloudjumper spread his paws. Valka saw what happened. She rattled her staff, telling them to stand down.
However, the dragons ignored her. "Tell the human to stand down or we will shoot you down!"
As if to emphasize the seriousness of the situation, the dragons prepared their attacks. Gas build up in their mouth, as they waited for a response. Cloudjumper panickily shouted. "Ignore her! We surrender!"
"Follow us." The Deadly Nadder warned. "Try anything funny and we'll end your life!"
Cloudjumper obeyed. He wondered what in the world happened to the nest.
Several hours had passed. It was afternoon close to night-time. Things were calming down.
Hiccup had finished healing the dragons in the medical sector. They had won the battle, but they were still on full alert. He had buried their own dead at the island grave. The dragons were grieving that day, as they had lost members of their family.
While most dragons were desensitized with deaths, it was the first time the experienced it in a very long time. Living in Secret nest had made them comfortable, as the management was great, and dragons rarely died other than natural causes. It allowed them to bond and know more of each other. They finally learned how to live and love in peace.
And now, they learned grief and suffering of war.
Hiccup had lowered the alert, somewhat. They had successfully driven them back. The prisoners were all captured and kept underground. However, some dragons were kept in rotation, making sure that there was no sudden attack from the others.
The Night Fury was sitting at the security sector area. Ghost, Scorpion, Obeah and Indigo were there with him. They were resting at the centre of the area, waiting for Hiccup to say anything. The Night Fury looked deep in thought.
After some time, Hiccup sighed. "That completely ruined my day." He spoke. "… have Red Death nest made demand yet?"
"No." Scorpion shook his head. "There's no other dragon at all in our area. They're completely gone."
"Our scouts reported that all surrounding dragons were running away from vicinity." Ghost reported. "They had fled the area when the battle started. We are on our own."
Hiccup looked at Obeah. "Do we have the final casualty report?"
The Prickleboggle straightened herself. "We had counted everyone." She spoke. "91 of our dragons were dead. 541 dragons made full recovery from the battle."
"Enemy casualties?"
Obeah looked hesitant. "We reported at least 9000 dead dragons found and identified floating in the ocean." She reported. "There were a lot more that we could not identify."
"Our scouts got the final number on enemy belligerent." Ghost reported. "There were at least 12,000 attacking dragons. Roughly 500 dragons fled the battle. We have captured 45 dragons."
"Resource?"
Indigo straightened herself. "All normal." She reported. "No enemy dragon managed to get in. We still have supplies for 14 days."
Hiccup fell silent. After some time, the sector leaders held back a gasp. They could see the obvious proud expression on his face. Their leader were proud of them for bravely facing against the odds and won.
"I want every sector to take some rest for 7 days." Hiccup ordered. "Let everyone gather their thoughts together. However, make sure to keep everyone on guard in case of another attack."
"Yes, Leader." The sector leaders chorused.
"Scorpion, under no circumstances for any outsider to come inside the nest." Hiccup ordered. "Lead them away from the nest. If they insisted, capture them. If they retaliate, kill them. Tell them we are on high alert and not to be visited for their own safety."
"Yes, Leader." Scorpion bowed.
Hiccup looked at Indigo and Ghost. "I am relieving you two from your punishment with Obeah." He declared. "Indigo, I'm putting you on charge with cleaning up the ocean with our Corpse Eaters. Ghost, you're on full time duty for your sector. Do not disappoint me."
Indigo and Ghost looked relieved. "Yes, Leader."
The Night Fury looked at Obeah. "Make sure all the elders, eggs, hatchlings and younglings are safe and healthy." He ordered. "Get them out of the bunker but keep it open in case of another attack."
"Yes, Leader." Obeah bowed to him.
"Ghost, Scorpion, stay with me. The rest of you are dismissed."
With that said, the rest of the sector leaders flew away. Ghost and Scorpion stayed behind. After it was clear, Hiccup asked. "Have you interrogated the prisoners?"
"No." Scorpion shook his head.
"I want to see them." Hiccup grunted. "Lead the way."
The prison area was under the security sector. There were metal cages there with dragons in it. Dragons were guarding the place, making sure that nobody tried to break out of the place.
Scorpion led Hiccup and Ghost down a long hallway. There were rows of prison rooms there. "Along this line were all the prisoners." The Deathgripper explained. "We had to restrain some of them because they attempted to commit suicide."
"Such is war." Hiccup muttered as they walk.
"We also found a dragon carrying a human." Scorpion explained. "We do not know of their motive, but we captured them nonetheless."
Hiccup frowned. "Strange." Did Red Death managed to get humans to cooperate with her dragons?
He looked at each prisoner as they pass. There was a restrained Monstrous Nightmare, Deadly Nadder, Deadly Nadder, restrained Hideous Zippleback – very common dragons around the area. However, he stopped and froze upon seeing one of the prison cells.
It was Cloudjumper and Valka. They were just resting there, inside the prison cell.
Hiccup suddenly remembered. Cloudjumper and Valka were supposed to come to his nest today. They had come at the worst possible timing, and therefore, immediately captured when found.
Ghost and Scorpion paused when they realised Hiccup had stopped. They looked back to see their leader. "Leader, is there something wrong?"
"Scorpion." Hiccup calmly spoke. "Do you know who these are?"
Ghost and Scorpion approached him. They went to check the cage. "It was the Four Wing and the human." The Deathgripper explained.
That gained the two prisoners' attention. Cloudjumper looked up. "Toothless?" He warily spoke. "Is that you?"
The Changewing and Deathgripper were confused. They knew their leader?
"Hey Cloudjumper." Hiccup greeted them.
"Toothless!" Cloudjuper jumped. He ran close to the cage bar. "You have to get us out of here!"
"Hiccup?" Valka questioned. She sat up from the ground. "Is that really you?"
"Yeah, it's me." Hiccup admitted. "Give me a moment to deal with this."
"Leader, you know them?" Ghost asked.
The Night Fury turned to look at his nest leaders. "Ghost, Scorpion, this Four Wing is Cloudjumper and that human is Valka." He introduced them. "Cloudjumper, mom, this is Ghost and Scorpion."
"Ghost, Scorpion, you've made a huge, terrible mistake." Hiccup patiently explained. "These were not Red Death dragons. These were representatives from the Dragon Sanctuary."
Both Ghost and Scorpion immediately paled at what he just said. They had imprisoned politician from an alpha dragon nest! It would cause even more disaster!
"Now if you don't mind." Hiccup continued speaking. "Release them from their prison and let me handle this."
Scorpion literally dashed to open the cage. He scrambled on pushing something onto the wall next to the cage, before the bars of the cage fell and sink down into the ground.
"Finally!" Cloudjumper exclaimed. They both got out of the prison. "That took a while!"
"What happened out there?" Valka questioned. "I saw a lot of dead dragons."
Hiccup grimaced. "We were attacked."
Valka and Cloudjumper gasped. "Attacked?"
"Yes." Hiccup nodded. "Let's go somewhere private. This is not something that can be discussed here."
Later, the four dragons and human arrived at Hiccup's quarter. They moved to the centre of the cave, before rested themselves there.
They were all silent, staring at each other. Nobody knew where to start the conversation.
Cloudjumper was the first one to break the silence. "When and who attacked your nest?"
"Red Death attacked my nest just recently." Hiccup answered. Cloudjumper gaped.
"Red Death?" Valka questioned.
"It's that alpha dragon at Helheim's Gate." The Night Fury explained.
"You fought Red Death's dragons and survived?!" Cloudjumper exclaimed, amazed.
Hiccup grimaced. "It's… not something to be excited about, Cloudjumper." He softly spoke. "We lost a lot of dragons today."
That seemed to sober him up. The Stormcutter looked down. "I'm sorry."
"How many dragons were there?" The human asked, concerned.
Hiccup looked sad. "… we had over 1000 dragons in our nest." He spoke. "We just lost a hundred of us."
"How many were you fighting against?" Cloudjumper asked.
"We counted our enemies." Hiccup explained. "Our scouts found roughly 12,000 of them in total. 9000 dead dragons found floating in the ocean. 500 fled the battle. The rest were missing, presumably dead."
Valka and Cloudjumper were stunned. That was a huge gap of numbers there.
"Y- You actually won?" Cloudjumper trembled.
"Why do you sound so surprised?" Hiccup growled at him. "You act as if we weren't supposed to survive!"
Ghost and Scorpion readied themselves. If the two were hostile, they could take them down easily.
"Hiccup, calm down." Valka soothed. "I… I don't really understand what he said, but I know what he might had said."
"I'm sorry for Cloudjumper, Hiccup." The woman apologised. "We were just… surprised and shocked to see you attacked. The number of dragons attacking your nest is absurd!"
"I understand the disbelief." Hiccup spoke as he slowly calmed himself down. "However, I was not surprised by the outcome. I had trained my dragons to go through Hel and back. They had fearlessly faced against the odds and won the battle."
"Red Death nest do not have any of our capabilities." Hiccup explained. "That was why they lost."
They were silent for some time. Hiccup then remembered why they were there. "Now, you've come here to get my final answer about dragon raid against Dragon Hunters and Dragon Trappers, right?"
"We do." Valka nodded.
Hiccup took a deep breath. "I'm going to have to postpone it." He declared. "Right now, the whole nest is at war against an alpha dragon nest. We cannot take any risk that would reduce our strength. We're going to stay in our comfort zone until this problem is dealt with."
"I already have something planned for you, but that plan went right off the window the moment we got attacked." The Night Fury patiently explained. "I hope you understand."
"I… I do." Valka spoke, saddened. "Do you… need any help with your problem?"
"This is something that Cloudjumper can do." Hiccup told her. Then, he looked at Cloudjumper. "Tell the Great King that Red Death had made a move against us. Red Death's nest is still under his domain. It should buy us some time to think of something."
"I- I will." Cloudjumper nodded.
"Thank you." Hiccup softly spoke. "Now, I will let you two leave. However, once you do, you cannot return here until next month. We're still recovering from the attack."
"Ghost and Scorpion will lead you out." The Night Fury finished. "I'm sorry, but I'm taking every precaution here to make sure that we're safe."
"I understand." Valka nodded. She mounted onto Cloudjumper's back. "Alright. We're going back home. Lead the way."
Cloudjumper went out of the quarter, followed by Ghost and Scorpion from behind. Hiccup was left alone there, thinking and contemplating about things that just happened that day.