The light of torches danced across the dark cave walls, barely revealing the identity of the figures just on the edge of the light. The ropes were starting to itch against my wrists while I attempted to make my undoing of them subtle behind my back. My heart raced against my chest as I looked over at the other figure tied up beside me, his head hanging low.

"Tell us about the dragons, boy," a low and gravelly voice demanded from the shadows. "Tell us how you train them."

"I won't talk," Fishlegs stated, his voice surprisingly stern. I continued to work on my ropes while he stalled with the interrogators. "You can't make me."

"Oh, I think we can."

One by one, the torches were blown out, eventually leaving us in total darkness. I started to panic and struggle against the ropes faster, knowing that the dark was one of Fishlegs' weaknesses. If I didn't move fast and get us out of here, he'd spill everything.

"Hello?" I could hear his breathing getting close to a level of hyperventilation. "Is anybody there?"

The first knot came undone, and the rope fell to the floor silently.

"You can't- you can't leave me in here!"

I started to work on the knot keeping my arms bound to the back of the chair, hoping my free legs would help me if someone tried to attack me.

"Okay! Okay, Hiccup is the leader of the Berk Dragon Academy!"

Dang it... I started to untie faster.

"He rides a Night Fury named Toothless. And there's Reign! She's got a temper, but it's really useful in fights. She rides a Thunderdrum named Shriek that has a seriously powerful sonic boom. Th-then there's Astrid! She's mean, but in a nice way!"

The rope was starting to loosen as Fishlegs spilled literally everything about all of us.

"Her dragon is a Deadly Nadder- shoots spine, her and Shriek love chicken." He chuckled at the end of his sentence. "Snotlout rides a Monstrous Nightmare. We're not actually sure who's more monstrous: him or the dragon. And then there's the twins. They share a Zippleback... actually, they fight over it."

Just as the rope around my arms fell away, there was the sound of a blast building up, and Toothless' purple plasma lit the torches once again. The group looked at Fishlegs, all with either angry or disappointed expressions, forcing him to talk once again.

"What? You know I hate the dark!" he defended. Toothless gave the boy an unamused look before padding back to his rider.

"Great. Fishlegs, more like Guppy Legs," Tuffnut insulted. "Jeez..."

"Fishlegs, you can't give in. Alvin will do a lot more than turn out the light to get you to talk. He had Reign and I locked in a dungeon, ready to be executed. Toothless was chained and muzzled for days." He took a deep breath as his face started to contort in order to calm himself. "You need to stick with what we discussed: your name, where you live, and nothing else."

"All right, I'll work on it."

"Mean? I'm not mean," Astrid muttered as most of the group turned to leave the cave.

"It's okay, Astrid. I like mean girls." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at Snotlout's advances, and they weren't even directed towards me. I stood up from my chair and caught up with Hiccup, falling in step beside him.

"So what's the point of tying me up again?" I questioned, sighing as I rubbed my red wrists. I was likely going to have a slight rope burn because of this, and if no one offered a good explanation, I wasn't going to be happy.

"You're the most likely person aside from myself Alvin would capture," he explained. "If you were tied up, Fishlegs couldn't rely on you suddenly jumping out of the shadows to save him."

"Still," I sighed. "Seems a bit cruel. I have a rope burn now, because you've made me do this with literally everyone."

His expression changed into a sympathetic smile as I touched my wrists again and looked at the deep red marks that were starting to just become a part of them, at this point.

"Sorry, I just want you to be prepared, too."

I shook my head and motioned for Toothless to stop walking, which blocked Hiccup's path. I moved to stand in front of him and leaned against the Night Fury, crossing my arms and glaring the young Viking straight in his green eyes.

"I know you want everyone to be safe, but I'm beginning to question your methods." He copied my body language as I explained. "You do this thing where you get so obsessed with something that it takes up all your time. First, it was killing a dragon, then it was training a dragon, and now, it's Alvin. It's like you don't know how to slow down, and it really worries me sometimes," I confessed. His expression shifted, and as his arms dropped to his side, he came to lean against Toothless right next to me.

"I didn't know... I don't want to..." He was trying to find a way to finish his sentence, but I could tell what he was trying to get at.

"I know, but that's because my issue is talking about things." I shook my head as I looked down, before slouching slightly to lean my head against Hiccup's shoulder. I had grown slightly, and was now a little taller than him. Though I'm sure that wouldn't last long.

"What are we gonna do?"

I chuckled. "Not a clue. But that's okay for now. We'll figure it out when the time comes."

My heart raced as I threw my sword up to block the axe from coming down on my head. I mean, I knew Astrid would never actually hurt me, but there was still the inevitable adrenaline of having a weapon brought far too close to your face. As quickly as she brought the axe down, I threw her back and kicked her square in her chest, nearly knocking the wind out of her and throwing her to the ground. She tried to get up, but as soon as she propped herself up on her elbows, I put my foot down on her chest to keep her from moving.

"I think Reign wins," Snotlout guessed sarcastically. I smiled and helped Astrid up as the sun started to peek through the clouds.

"Wow, you've gotten really tough." I snorted.

"Don't get me started. I think it's the inner Berserker starting to come out." Astrid's expression changed as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, don't be worried about it. You're not like him."

Ever since I'd learned that deranged Dagur was my brother, I'd started to become worried that I'd end up like him. I couldn't remember my people very well, but I didn't doubt that they were all like Dagur now that he was their chief. And maybe it just ran in the blood to snap one day.

"Hiccup! Reign's all yours."

I looked up to see Hiccup entering the Academy with Toothless, but as he got closer, I noticed his grim expression. Hiccup and I were supposed to go on a flight together, but something told me it would have to wait.

"What's wrong?" I asked as he got closer.

"My dad... said we have to ground all dragons until further notice."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"He said he didn't want to risk anything, and that all dragons had to remain grounded until further notice."

My suspicion rose. Hiccup sounded like he was giving in to what his father was saying, which was so unlike him.

"And you agreed? Just like that?" I questioned.

"What other choice did I have? He's the chief, who also happens to be my incredibly over-protective father."

"Well, we have to get him to change his mind!" I nearly jumped at the growl in Astrid's voice.

"Stoick the Vast? Um, good luck with that."

"So, what am I supposed to do with Hookfang if he can't fly?" The Monstrous Nightmare roared at his rider and ignited his tail. "You know what happens when his inner warrior is caged up?"

As if in response, Hookfang smacked his owner with his tail, sending him skidding across the ground. The only thing that stopped him was Astrid's foot as he slammed her foot on his face.

"That is what happens."

"We should've caged his 'inner warrior' a long time ago," Tuffnut chuckled. "That was awesome."

"Yeah."

"Look, I know this is going to be hard. But I'll keep working on my dad, and hopefully he'll change his mind."

"And what if he doesn't?"

I didn't want to lower Hiccup's hopes, but we had to think about every possibility. His eyes went to the floor for a few moments before he looked back up at everyone.

"I... don't know."

I sighed and stepped forward, then placed a hand on his arm to lead him out of the Academy.

"Come on, let's get going."

As soon as we were out of the Academy, I moved my hand down and slipped it into his before offering it a little squeeze and smiling at him. Astrid had followed us, since our training session had been cut short, but she remained silent as I talked to him.

"Look on the bright side," I tried to reason, "it's not like this is forever. It's just until we can get the Outcasts to surrender or... defeat Alvin."

"But who knows how long that will take?"

"It'll take as long as it takes, but it will happen."

"How do you know that?" I stopped and turned to face him.

"Because we're Berk. I know that sounds stupid, but has there ever been an enemy we haven't been able to defeat? Your dad is an excellent leader, and I know he's going to get Alvin to give up."

I should have known Astrid would have taken the chance to break the tense atmosphere.

"Wow, I forgot what I long walk it was from the Academy." I caught Hiccup smile. "Sure would be nice to be flying home."

"Why thank you, Astrid, for that observation, because I clearly don't have enough on my plate right now."

As we stopped, Toothless started to run circles around Hiccup and let out that little roar.

"What's with him?"

"It's sunset." I nodded.

"Right. I forgot you guys always take a lap around the island when it gets dark." Hiccup pet his dragon on the top of his head.

"He loves it."

Toothless roared again and looked between us and the setting sun, before sitting and staring out at the sky. How do you explain to a dragon that they can't do something they've been doing since they were a little lizard?

"Poor Toothless. No family, no night-flying... what's left for him, really?"

I shot Astrid a glare. How could she say that?

"Oh... kay. Why don't I just leave the three of you alone?"

"Yeah, that's... probably a good idea."

Once she was gone, I leaned forward and gave Hiccup a hug. The two of us looked over at Toothless as he stared out at the horizon, not understanding that he wouldn't get his sunset flight.

"I'm gonna go back home now, okay? Please don't do anything stupid."

Instead of responding with words, he just sighed, and I could feel a sinking sensation in my chest as I walked away from him and into the house. Astrid was sitting at the dining table, looking at the edge of her axe as though there were something wrong with it.

"What's your deal?" I demanded as I closed the door behind me.

"What do you mean?"

"That was pretty awful, what you said to Hiccup back there. You should apologize."

She set her axe down on the table and set her head in one of her hands.

"Sorry, I'm just upset about losing the ability to ride dragons."

"Did you not hear what I said back there? We'll get that back. We just need to give it time. You can't just go taking your frustration out on people who can't do anything about it."

"Hiccup could do something about it?"

I scoffed and placed my hands on my hips.

"Just don't do something like that again. He doesn't need one more thing to worry about."

Having finished my scolding, I sat down at the table and set my head in my hands.

"He'll figure it out. I know he will..."

"It sounds more like you're trying to convince yourself than tell anyone else." I shook my head.

"I'm just worried he's going to stress himself out."

The sun had set, and I decided to go out and feed Shriek.

"Hey, where are the chicken legs?" I asked, standing up.

"They're still out there, just outside their pens. That way, they can't eat them when they're not supposed to."

I chuckled and made my way outside, smiling at my Thunderdrum and Astrid's Nadder as they perked up. They always knew what time it was and when what happened, so when they practically started dancing around their pens, I wasn't surprised. I handed each of them two legs of chicken, then turned around to head back inside. But before I could, Stormfly started stomping her feet and making noise.

"What is it, Stormfly?"

A high-pitched whir echoed in the silence of the night, and a black blur shot past us in the sky.

"It's a dragon! And someone's riding it."

I stopped. A black blur? And that sound... there was only one dragon that made that sound.

"Wait a minute. That's a Night Fury."

I sighed and hopped onto Shriek. I hesitated for a moment before we took off. If I got caught, both Hiccup and I would get in serious trouble. But if I went up there and got him, he would at least have someone to defend him if they ran into danger...

"I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?" I asked my Thunderdrum before pushing her to take off. Once we found Hiccup, I had her follow at a safe distance for now so that I could observe without getting hit and knocked off my dragon by their tricks. "All right, Hiccup. What are you up to?"

Shriek darted back and forth right on their tail, but we were quickly starting to lose them. I had to keep up.

"Come on... come on."

I could have sworn I saw him glance back at me for a second, and I lowered my eyes. Was he trying to outrun me? Is he serious?

Somehow, he and Toothless managed to slip away, and I had Shriek land on the axe of one of our ignited sea stacks. I looked around and tried to spot them, but they were gone.

"Ugh."

I was just about to turn around, when I noticed a shadow with a striking piece of red land behind another sea stack. With a smirk on my face, Shriek flew over toward them just as Hiccup thought he was in the clear.

"Nice flying, bud. I think we lost her."

"Think again, Hiccup."

He stiffened and Shriek and I landed behind him, and it took him a moment to turn around. I crossed my arms and set a glare on my face as he looked at me.

"Reign! We were just... talking about you." I relaxed slightly.

"So, I guess this is the part where I ask you if your father changed his mind, and you tell me he didn't, and you're going behind his back. Again." He tried to sour his expression.

"Actually, no. This is the part where I tell you my dad is wrong."

"So... he knows."

"I didn't say that." I scoffed and shook my head at him. "Look, you were there on Outcast Island, just like I was. You know what Alvin is capable of."

That wasn't the point.

"So you were just gonna fly around at night, all by yourself, and say nothing?"

"That... was my plan." My glare got more intense. "I didn't want to get anyone else in trouble. I was... trying to do the right thing. Sort of."

My anger started to melt away as I realized it stemmed from concern. He was alive, he was okay, and we were talking about this. And I couldn't believe I was going to say what I was about to say.

"We both know what the right thing is, Hiccup. But if we're going to ride dragons behind your father's back, we all need to ride dragons behind your father's back."

"Reign, you don't have to do this."

"Well, I'm not letting you do it on your own. That's not what..." I moved Shriek to stand next to Toothless and placed my hand on his. "That's not the kind of girlfriend I want to be. So we're going to come up with something. Together."

He smiled at me and squeezed my hand.

"Dragon Flight Club," Snotlout repeated. "I like it. What is it?"

Hiccup and I had stayed up most of last night trying to come up with something, and finally, we'd decided on Dragon Flight Club. It was just going to be our group of Dragon Riders, and we would go on patrol and fly around at night. But, of course, we'd come up with a catch to make sure no one else, particularly the chief- found out about it.

"It's a secret dragon flying society. We train at night, under the cover of darkness-"

"-sharpening our skills against possible attacks from Alvin," Hiccup finished.

"But remember, it's secret. Nobody can know."

"As far as you're concerned, it doesn't exist. There is no Dragon Flight Club." Snotlout turned to Hookfang and held his arms out.

"What do you think?"

Hookfang's response was to blast his rider into a nearby cart.

"He's in!" I turned to Hiccup and shrugged.

"Guess we better move on to the twins. But let's... be a little more careful about what we say around them."

Hiccup nodded, and I followed him into the twins' house. I nearly jumped at the sight of them hanging upside-down, mistaking them for some strange breed of dragon we'd never seen before.

"Uh, hey guys," I greeted awkwardly, not sure how to respond to this situation. "We, uh, we need to talk to you about something." They didn't respond, but their expectant blinking seemed to say they were listening. "We're starting this thing called Dragon Flight Club. It's basically our group of Dragon Riders, and we're gonna train at night, because it's dark and no one will see us flying."

"So listen, this is very, very important. The first rule of Dragon Flight Club, is that there is no Dragon Flight Club."

"Okay, so, wait a minute." Tuff dropped down from the beam he and his sister were hanging from. "Is there a Dragon Flight Club?"

"Yes." I stopped as Ruffnut jumped down after her brother. "There is a Dragon Flight Club."

"But... he just said there is no Dragon Flight Club."

"No. The first rule of Dragon Flight Club, is that there is no Dragon Flight Club. Get it?"

"Absolutely... not."

"Yeah. I think I need to lie down."

"Me, too. Why don't you guys come back when you've made up your mind, and stop saying 'is' so much."

Hiccup and I turned to each other with looks of frustration on our faces before we walked out and headed to explain everything to Fishlegs. We'd figured he'd be the hardest to convince, and I'd already talked to Astrid about it last night. He was the last member we needed on board, and we were going to try our best to convince him to join.

"Um, I'm not sure this is a good idea. Besides, I hate having to wake her," Fishlegs stuttered as he pet the top of Meatlug's head. "She's so beautiful when she sleeps." Meatlug let out a loud fart to contrast what Fishlegs had just said, but he didn't seem to care. Hiccup hopped down from the windowsill he had been sitting on.

"Fishlegs, this is a defining moment in the history of the Berk Dragon Training Academy. Hundreds of years from now, when they're building statues of us in the middle of town, they're going to hearken back to the courage it took for us to stand up for what we know is right, regardless of the consequences."

I raised an eyebrow at Hiccup. What was he on about? This made no sense, not to mention talking about a statue of him being built wasn't exactly something he would think about.

"So... I get a statue?" Fishlegs was excited now. But clearly, that wasn't the point Hiccup was trying to make, as he sighed and let his arms drop to his side.

"Yes, Fishlegs, you get a statue."

"I'm in," he declared with a smile.

"Great," I interjected, before Hiccup could say anything else stupid. "Our first meeting is tonight. Be at the Academy by sunset with your dragon."

Hiccup and I walked out of Fishlegs' house, and the moment the door closed, I turned to him.

"What was with all that statue and glory business?" I questioned.

"I don't know. I guess I got lost in... some wild fantasy. Why?"

"It was just very not you. I didn't expect something like that to come out of your mouth."

"Sorry?" I laughed.

"It's not something you apologize for." I took a breath to still my laughter and smiled at him. "I'll see you tonight."

Everyone was lined up with their dragons in front of Hiccup and I as the sun was setting. Somehow, none of us had gotten caught sneaking out of our homes, and with our dragons, no less. If anyone was suspicious, they hadn't bothered to say anything.

"Okay, Dragon Flight Club members. You know why you're here." Tuffnut scoffed.

"Speak for yourself."

"We need to be ready for riders on any type of dragon: from a Typhoomerang, to a Scauldron, to a Changewing, even a Whispering Death. So, Reign and I have put together some training exercises."

"Can we go already?" Snotlout demanded as Hookfang roared.

"Let's mount up. First stop, Changewing Island."

I climbed up onto Shriek and pet her side reassuringly. I could tell she knew something was up, maybe even that something suspicious was happening, but she was going along with it anyways.

"It'll be okay, girl. If those Changewings try to hurt anyone, we're leaving right away." I looked over at the boy on his Night Fury. "Right, Hiccup?"

"Exactly."

He tightened the strap for his peg leg and pat Toothless twice to get him to move. We all looked around cautiously as we exited the Academy, and the second the coast was clear, we took off around the side of the island we knew no one would be on. My heart rate stilled as Berk started to fade into the horizon behind us, but my stomach still churned at the thought that Alvin and his Outcasts could be out here, just waiting for us. But I did my best to hide it, and by the time we reached the home of the Changewings, no one had noticed something was going on.

"There it is!" Hiccup called back to everyone else. "Changewing Island!"

"Oh, yeah! Stones of Good Fortune." I shook my head. We had explained to the twins that those 'stones' were actually Changewing eggs, but they didn't seem to want to believe us. "A lifetime of good luck. I can't wait to get my hands on one of those."

"Tuffnut, we've been over this. Those are not Stones of Good Fortune. Those are dragon eggs."

"Leave them alone, please," Fishlegs begged, clearly recalling what happened last time. "I really don't want to re-visit the Changewing debacle."

We landed on the island and made sure to keep a safe distance from the Changewings and their daily routines. The large dragons darted between the trees and changed their colors to stalk the boars they were following, in order to catch them without being spotted.

"Changewings hunt like wolves," Hiccup explained. "One dragon lures a single boar from the herd-"

"-then the other Changewings surround it," Fishlegs finished.

I watched as a triangle of Changewings closed in on a single boar. Its eyes were wide, and it let out a small, pathetic squeal, begging for its life. Every instinct I had was telling me to look away, should the Changewings decide to pounce right in front of us, but if Hiccup was going to launch a training exercise from this, I needed to be ready. Closing my eyes could put me behind.

"Hey! Don't we know that boar?" Tuffnut shouted, possibly a little too loud.

"Yeah, we do. That's Bjorn Boar!"

"Are they serious?" Astrid sighed.

"You leave Bjorn alone!"

"Clearly, they are."

The Changewings heard Ruff and Tuff's shouts, and one by one, perked their heads up and looked in our direction. Their beady eyes glared right at us, and the twins reared back as one of them roared.

"Uh, you're on your own, Bjorn!"

We all pulled back our dragons and made them fly away just as the Changewings spat their sickly, green acid in our direction. A glob flew right past my arm and nearly hit me, causing Shriek to list back and forth slightly.

"Whoa, whoa, girl!"

"Keep your distance!" Hiccup shouted back to us. "Their acid is only effective at close range."

"Not very comforting when you're on the slowest dragon!"

"There's too many of them," Snotlout complained. "And they come out of nowhere!"

I looked up just in time to see two Changewings heading straight for Hiccup and Toothless. Their heads were reeling back, and I could see spheres rising in their throats as they got closer.

"Hiccup!"

He maneuvered Toothless out of the way of the blasts of acid, and I managed to catch up to them and keep at a steady pace as we escaped. I glanced at him for a moment, then looked around at the trees and sky. That's when an idea hit me.

"Wait a minute. If they don't have anything to camouflage against-"

"-then we take away their advantage!" Hiccup finished.

Everyone pulled their dragons up and climbed closer and closer to the stars. I could still hear the Changewings heavily flapping their wings, and it was starting to get closer. Quickly, I turned Shriek around and had her send out a sonic boom that sent one of the Changewings tumbling backwards, then Hiccup dove under us and shot at the other Changewings trying to pursue us. We were finally all in the clear, and with our heart beats starting to return to normal, we headed home under the cover of night.

"Okay, so that could've gone better," Hiccup muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Everyone, go home. We'll meet again tomorrow night."

Hiccup tried to walk away, but before he could, I grabbed his collar and yanked him back.

"Ow. Reign, ow!"

"That was a disaster," I hissed as soon as the others were out of earshot. "What are we supposed to do?"

He stuttered for a moment, before finding the words. "I don't know, Reign. The twins caused the problem today."

"Which we should have seen coming," I added. "Look, I think we just need to be more careful, maybe start with something less dangerous."

He looked down at the ground, his green eyes bouncing for a few seconds, before a smile crossed his face, and he looked up at me.

"I've got it."

It took me a few seconds, but I caught on to his idea.

"Hiccup, no."

"Much like the rings inside a tree, the scorch mark can tell you the age, and thus, the size of the Typhoomerang in question."

I shook my head and stood behind the others as they crouched in front of the Typhoomerang scorch marks. Despite my protests, Hiccup decided our training tonight would be on Typhoomerangs. But, sensing the danger in tracking these dragons, I'd decided to stand behind everyone else and keep watch. Not to mention the fact that we were still on Berk, where we could easily be caught.

"They're still warm."

"Which means it wasn't here too long ago," Astrid concluded.

"And, if you look at the mark, you can tell which way it came from and which way it was headed."

"I know which way it's headed without all that stupid stuff," Snotlout declared, standing up.

"Oh, really?" Astrid challenged. "Where's it going?"

"It's not 'going'. It's coming, at us, right now!"

We all looked into the sky to see a large Typhoomerang heading straight for us, roaring before it shot out a huge cloud of fire.

"Uh, anything else we needed to learn?" I approached Hiccup at the end of his question and grabbed onto his arm.

"Nope!" Tuffnut answered hastily.

"We're good."

All of us jumped on our dragons and took off, hoping we had enough of a head start to escape the angry dragon. That was the only thing we were concerned about, which unfortunately, steered us straight into a different kind of trouble.

"Uh, hey Hiccup?"

"Yeah, Tuffnut?"

"When did your dad join Dragon Flight Club?"

Hiccup's eyes went wide as he looked from me, back to Tuffnut. His expression was souring as he realized Tuffnut must have asked that for a reason.

"He didn't."

"Oh, weird, 'cuz he's right there."

Quickly, Hiccup and I stole glances down, and sure enough, a large figure sat atop a blue Thunderdrum. It let out a roar that caused me to jump, and I flashed my eyes back to Hiccup, panicked.

"What the-oh! Quick, evasive cloud maneuvers."

Everyone yanked on the reigns of their dragons to guide them up into the cloud cover. I couldn't see a foot in front of my face while we were up there, but I knew it was safer than risking down below, where all Chief Stoick had to do was look up in order to see us.

"We have to stay up here in the clouds until we're right above town," Hiccup shouted from somewhere in the void.

"What are you two doing?" Astrid questioned.

"We can't see in the clouds!" I heard Tuffnut yell below me.

"Yeah, it's too cloudy."

"Hence the name 'clouds.'" I muttered, shaking my head.

"Uh, you guys? If your heads are out of the clouds, my dad can see you."

"Uh, not going to disagree with you there."

I heard a familiar roar; one like Shriek's, but louder. I looked down to try and see the chief, check on how close he was to us, but the cover was too thick, and I couldn't catch the source of the noise.

"Oh... all right, guys. Split up, go home, and please keep the dragons out of sight."

Following Hiccup's instruction, I quickly yanked on the saddle to get Shriek to go higher into the cloud cover. They were now mere wispy tendrils beneath me, and I could vaguely see the others branch off in their own directions to head toward home. I so desperately wanted to relax, high above the world, but my eyes kept bouncing around, hoping Chief Stoick wouldn't suddenly pop up from below the cloud cover. Berk soon came into view, and the moment Shriek touch landed, I hopped off and raced up into bed. I tried my best to fall asleep, but found it difficult with a hammering heart and adrenaline.

One would have thought, given the close call the club encountered the night before, meetings would have ceased for the time being. But, the next night, Hiccup summoned Astrid- who came back not long after me after the Chief Stoick scare- and I to the Academy, to talk about what happened. Apparently, Fishlegs was caught, and the chief and Gobber tried to interrogate him. Thankfully, the training paid off, and Fishlegs didn't cave.

"He put the screws to me," Fishlegs recalled. "I-I thought I was gonna crack. Especially when the lights went out." He almost seemed to laugh at himself that time. "But-But I held firm because I know the first rule of Dragon Flight Club, is there is no Dragon Flight Club."

"Oh, great, not that again," Tuffnut groaned from the background.

"You did great, Fishlegs," Hiccup encouraged.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" Ruffnut questioned. My hopes were set on going back to bed and closing the book on this risky idea.

"Nothing."

I fought back a smile and nearly started toward the exit.

"That doesn't sound fun at all."

"Look, my dad is onto us. It's important that we lay low until this blows over. We need to be invisible."

In one of the most beautiful moments of irony, Snotlout suddenly descended from the sky on a fully-ignited Hookfang, screaming at us to be heard over the thunderous beat of his dragon's wings.

"Hey, guys!" he shouted as Hookfang landed.

"Snotlout, what did I tell you?" Hiccup chastised, slapping his forehead with his palm. "No dragons."

"Yeah! Even I knew that."

Hiccup sighed and chose to move on.

"What's so important, anyway?"

"Let's just say I may have saved this entire island."

Astrid and I glanced at each other skeptically, but chose to hear out whatever story he'd decided to tell.

"Alvin and the Outcasts are attacking as we speak."

Immediately, everyone tensed up, and I felt my hand reach for my sword. This was far more serious than Snotlout's casual tone and relaxed posture implied- not that he was known for taking anything seriously.

"Alvin..."

Hiccup's shoulders slumped in defeat, and more of reality started to kick in for me. This was what Hiccup had been trying so hard to prevent and prepare for, and now that the moment was here, we all were caught off-guard and wildly unprepared. Now, more than ever, he needed someone to help boost his confidence. And that's just part of what girlfriends do.

"So, what do we do now?"

He looked back at me, as though confused I'd made no means to protest at first, but quickly, he melted back into the same old, scheming Hiccup.

"All right, gang. This is what we've been training for. But before we do anything, we have to get my dad," he explained. "Follow me. I'll go in there and wake him up, you all wait outside in case he needs extra persuasion."

I smirked and nodded in his direction before vaulting myself up onto Shriek and following quickly behind. There was clattering and muffled yells from inside the hut, but thankfully, Hiccup and his father emerged from inside together.

"Hey, Chief," Fishlegs greeted awkwardly. Chief Stoick looked over all of us, before sighing and getting onto Thornado.

"Okay, gang, fall into formation. Dad, you fly in the front."

We all agreed and took to the skies, attempting to catch the Outcasts before they reached our shores. The ships soon came into view beneath the dense cover of the clouds, perfectly in that circular formation they always formed.

"I'm going to draw their first round of fire," the chief announced. "While they're reloading, you attack. But not before." He made sure to glance at his son when saying that.

We watched as Chief Stoick swooped down to nearly level with the ships, then began narrowly dodging large boulders catapulted in his direction, and tiny arrows attempting to pierce the delicate leather of Thornado's wings. He dove just onto the surface of the water and splashed it up a bit onto the faces of the Outcasts, causing the boats to rock, and caught an impending boulder with his own bare hands.

"Now, Hiccup!"

On cue, the rest of the Dragon Riders dove downward, firing at the bottoms of the ships in hopes of stirring them before igniting. Shriek emitted a powerful blast that shook one boat so hard, it nearly capsized, and I affectionately patted her back following the matter.

Then, suddenly, one Outcast per ship opened a cargo hold, and a large pack of red dragons with distinct, leafy, ornate antennae came shooting out.

"Changewings!" Hiccup cried, alerting to group of the danger we were about to face. Rather than coming straight for us, they began a path toward our island.

"We can't let them get to Berk!" Astrid pointed out, alerting those who weren't aware of what just happened.

"If they go into town, they'll tear Berk apart, and we won't be able to see them."

Our group quickly turned around and began a pursuit of the deadly dragons. Snotlout and Hookfang managed to get beneath them and shoot out a ball of fire to stop them in their tracks. The now frantic Changewings attempted to go around, but we started firing at them with everything we had, and eventually, they got turned around and gave up their trip to Berk.

"Reign, you and the others herd them towards Changewing Island," Hiccup ordered. "Make sure they don't head back this way. I'm going to help my dad."

For a moment, I was hesitant to agree and risk something happening to Hiccup, Toothless, Chief Stoick... or all three. But, at the same time, all members of that party proved they could handle themselves, even in a dire situation. It was time to let the past go, and move on. We'd all grown and become stronger, and were capable of handling ourselves... even Fishlegs.

"Got it!"

Hiccup rushed back to help his father, and with the flick of my wrist, the remaining Riders formed a 'v' shape around the Changewings, corralling them between all of us and, thankfully, keeping them from escaping. We managed to get them back to their island, and as soon as they all landed among the trees, all of us turned around to head home.

By the time we got back, the sun was nearly up, and I was in desperate need of sleep. Yawns fought their way out of my mouth as I trotted back toward the Hofferson hut, but before I got the chance to go inside, I watched Hiccup and Toothless land. I would have just left well alone, were it not for the fact Hiccup appeared to be moping. Despite my exhaustion, I chose to approach.

"Hey, Hiccup!"

He appeared caught off-guard when he first turned around, but as soon as he saw it was me, he relaxed into a smile.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, now standing directly face to face with him. That didn't last long, however, as he soon leaned against his trusty Night Fury.

"I don't know. I just... thought Alvin would've had a better plan than he did. He retreated really quickly, it was suspicious."

I sighed. Here he went again, thinking about the things he couldn't, at the moment, control. Gently, I mimicked his body language, staring straight ahead as I spoke.

"Well, maybe he does," I shrugged. "But what's important is that he didn't get to Berk, and nothing's happening to it today. We'll have to be prepared, but for now, everyone is safe. And I want you to understand that, so please don't let yourself obsess over this."

He offered a tired smile, before leaning his head on my shoulder. We both sighed, and watched the sky paint itself back to life as the sun rose.