Chapter 31: A View to a Skrill, Pt. 2 (Reign)

        A crescendo of thunder caused my eyes to fly open, right as it peaked. My heart pounded quickly as I attempted to figure out what was going on, or where I was. The barren wasteland around me tipped me off that I, unfortunately, hadn't landed on Berk. My eyes attempted to adjust in the darkness, but it wasn't until an intense flash of lightning that I figured it out. The decaying, leafless trees, the faint lights and battle cry-esque yelling from the form of an arena not too far off into the distance.

Of course, of all the places in the archipelago, I had to land on Outcast Island.

Based on the intense storm right above us, I assumed they'd taken the Skrill from us and had it down in that stupid dragon fighting arena. Ignoring the soreness that overtook me, I managed to sit up and reach out for my sword. My legs wobbled a bit as I stood, and once I was steady, I snuck closer to the arena, trying to get a better look. If Alvin were going to keep the Skrill anywhere, it would be down there. I tried my best to keep myself hidden-- a feat all of its own when you have bright red hair-- as I peered over the rocks right above the arena. A group of Outcasts were gathering around closer to the center, and I could hear the roars and thrashing against chains from the Skrill.

"That's a lot of Outcasts."

I jumped and immediately pulled the shield from my back, swinging my arm out to hit whoever had said that. I felt the strong wood strike something, and a familiar voice cried out in pain. Slowly, I lowered the piece of protection and stared at the figure of Hiccup, holding the side of his head in pain. Toothless sniffed his rider before looking at me with wide eyes, asking why I would hit Hiccup.

"Oh, my gods. Hiccup, I'm so sorry," I whispered as I crawled forward and helped him back up. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. I forgot you pack quite the punch." I chuckled before peering back down toward the arena.

"What are you planning, Alvin?"

"All I know is he's been planning something big with that Skrill." Hiccup casually glanced back at Ruffnut, who had popped up from behind another rock. I stared her down, shocked. Did everyone just end up here somehow?

"Alvin has the Skrill-- wait! Ruff?" A smile formed on Hiccup's face, indicating to me he'd been out looking for us. "You're-you're alive! I-I-I don't believe it! Where's Tuff?" I slightly whipped my head around to look at Hiccup, who seemed to be a lot more excited to see Ruffnut than me. I mean, I get he probably didn't expect to find both of us in the same place, and I'd hit him in the head with a shield, but still.

Ruffnut's expression dropped as she looked at us. "He didn't make it, Hiccup."

"What?" She paused for a moment, continuing to look at the rock below her, before it quickly snapped into a mischievous smirk.

"Kidding! He's right behind you." The two of us turned around and squinted at a tree in front of us, trying to figure out where he was.

"What's up, Hiccup?" Tuff's muffled voice asked from right in front of us. Was he... inside the tree? "Cool disguise, huh? It's kinda itchy."

"Uh... yeah. Not bad." The two of us glanced at each other and shrugged, not really sure what to make of the situation. I wasn't really sure how he'd get out of there, but if he got in, I suppose it couldn't be that hard.

"Yeah. Tuff hollowed out that tree so he couldn't be seen," Ruff told us, smirking as she stood uncomfortably close to my ear. "Problem is, he can't move."

"And I have Bark Beetles in my pants." Toothless approached the tree and curiously sniffed it, looking confused as to why Tuffnut's voice was coming out of something he'd previously established in his mind to be inanimate. "I'm starting to like them..." I crinkled my nose in disgust. "Hey, fellas, a little to the left. Really scratch around down there. See what you can find."

"That's... an image I could do without," I sighed, shaking my head slightly.

"Wait a second. How did you guys end up here?"

"When I went back for the twins, I got nicked by a bolt of lightning. I passed out, but Shriek must've flown until she found land, which... just happened to be this place," I informed him.

"Alvin grabbed the Skrill out of the water, we decided to follow it."

"Weird, right?" I stood there, starting at the tree, dumbfounded. Lately, the twins had somehow been proving they were geniuses, while at the same time getting themselves into the dumbest situations.

"No. Actually, it was good you followed it."

"We knew that. That's... why we did it."

"Okay." Hiccup didn't seem convinced, but he decided to move on. "Let's figure out what Alvin plans on doing with that dragon."

Lightning illuminated the clouds and thunder shouted as Hiccup leaned down and pulled out his spyglass to get a better look at the arena. Neither of us could hear what Alvin said, but when he emerged, he raised his arms in a grand gesture, and a few Outcast lackeys began dragging a Skrill out with as much strength as they could muster. It thrashed against the ropes tying it down, causing them to fling wildly. The moment its large body emerged from the cage, it spread its large wings and roared, attempting to intimidate the men before it.

"Yep," I sighed. "There it is."

"Yeah..." I heard Tuffnut mutter from the tree.

"Man, this is not good."

"No..."

"We are in serious trouble."

"With a capital 'T'-- no... 'S'. Wait..." I rolled my eyes and focused back on Alvin and his men. "Would you capitalize 'serious' or 'trouble'? Both?" Frustrated, Hiccup and I whipped around to glare at the tree. "I'll shut up now."

"Hang on..." Hiccup placed the spyglass in my hands and pointed me in the direction he'd been looking. My eye focused on a familiar old man approaching the pair of Outcasts.

"Mildew," I groaned. He looked off in another direction, and I followed him to see another set of soldiers, this group different from the ones normally seen on Outcast Island. "That's... weird. Those look like Berserker soldiers." My heart lept up into my throat as I watched Dagur confidently stride toward Alvin. "Dagur? Dagur and Alvin together..." I set the spyglass down, "with the Skrill? Really not good."

Intrigued, Tuffnut managed to get himself out of the tree and come to stand beside us. I sighed and stood back up, my eyes darting back and forth between the people around me as I tried to come up with a plan. Hiccup took back his spyglass and continued to give me a concerned look. My anger rose every second I thought of the two groups conspiring, attempting to control a poor dragon. A dragon I'd somehow connected with.

A new sort of determination filled me, and I turned around to face the others. My hands clenched into fists as I looked Hiccup in the eyes.

"We have to sneak into town and find up what Dagur and Alvin are up to. Hiccup and I can't go; they'd recognize us. Ruff?"

"Outcast food gives me gas," she immediately said.

"Yet another image I can live without." I shook my head before turning to the other twin. "Okay, Tuff. Looks like you're up. You need to go down there and get as much info as you can without being seen."

"Way ahead of you!" He seemed a little too excited for this to work. "I'll move like the wind. They won't even see me coming!"

Tuff dropped onto the ground and began to crawl over the rock. After a few seconds, gravity took over, and he went tumbling down, somehow managing to survive as he slid right in front of the arena. I sighed and shook my head, hoping he could make it through this without getting caught.

I rested one of my feet on the rock and leaned against my leg, staring down at the arena. There was a chance I could get down there and tame that Skrill, get it to be on our side. But there was no way I could get down there without being caught, and Shriek was too tired to be able to carry me down. Not to mention the fact she was a large, heavy dragon and could easily be spotted. I needed to get down there somehow, get the upper hand on my brother.

"Reign..."

I immediately jumped as my heart rate spiked again, nearly elbowing Hiccup in the face as I turned around.

"Whoa! You're jumpy today," he chuckled.

"It's been a strange few hours," I muttered, turning back to stare at the arena. Hiccup hesitated for a second, before placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I know that look." I looked at him as I stood up straight. "What are you thinking?"

"I need to get down there and try and tame that Skrill." Hiccup cleared his throat, ready to interject into my insanity. "Don't try and talk me out of this one. I almost did it when we were chasing it earlier. Maybe it's... I don't know, in my blood or something."

"Reign--"

"I know I hate that I'm a Berserker, but maybe just this once..." I crossed my arms over my stomach. "Maybe it can help us."

"How are you supposed to get down there without being seen?" I moved my eyes to the horizon, watching as the sky began to paint itself with orange and pink to prepare for the sunrise.

"I don't know, but I have to try something. Maybe if Tuffnut comes back, we can use him as some sort of diversion." I shrugged as I allowed myself to look at Hiccup again. "But I may just have to charge in there and hope I don't get caught. One thing's for sure, though: we're not leaving without that Skrill. It's too dangerous in Alvin's hands, and even more so in my brother's."

As I attempted to formulate some sort of plan, Tuffnut came running back up the slope in the rocks, a look fueled by pure adrenaline coating his face. He sat down on one of the flat rocks, and Hiccup, Ruff, and I filed in across from him, eager to hear what he'd learned.

"The plan is to smash those dirty Berkians to pieces with both fleets! It's gonna be awesome." Hiccup and I glanced at each other, waiting for him to pick up on what was odd about that sentence before Hiccup spoke up.

"Yeah, um... you do realize we're the Berkians?" Tuffnut's expression immediately shifted.

"Oh, right." He hesitated for a moment. "It's still gonna be awesome."

"Two fleets and a Skrill are gonna be pretty tough to beat." Hiccup stood and placed a hand on his chin, trying to think things through.

"Alvin has made it pretty clear Dagur doesn't get the Skrill until after they destroy Berk. I think they have trust issues." The moment I processed Tuffnut's sentence, I nearly shot up.

"Wait, what did you just say?"

"I said they have trust issues." I ignored the condescending notes in his tone

"No. You said Dagur doesn't get the Skrill until after the attack. Think about it: no Skrill, no alliance. No alliance, no invasion." I began bouncing on my toes as I faced the group again. "Tuff, I need you to get back into town and distract the arena guard. Shriek and I are gonna free that Skrill."

"Uh, hang on a sec," Tuffnut interjected. "I'm pretty sure Dagur threatened to cut my legs off."

"So?" his sister challenged, smirking at him.

"I just wanted to put that out there." He looked his sister in the eye, neither of their expressions moving. "Ugh, fine. I'm going. But my legs are on your head." He pointed an accusatory finger at his other half, who remained unflinching. "Not... I mean, not- you'll be thinking about these legs.

"Okay..." I turned around and made my way over to Shriek, who had been laying down and attempting to recover from the tumble we took. Her yellow eyes slowly opened, looking at me with exhaustion as I smiled at her. "We have to go save another dragon."

She managed to pick herself up, and as the clouds rolled in, the two of us descended closer to the arena. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears as I looked down at the grim circle where I had once stood, attempting to tame a Monstrous Nightmare for my escape. Somehow, we always seemed to be drawn back to Outcast Island, no matter how hard we tried to keep away.

I climbed off my tired dragon and leaned over to see the arena guards already laying on the ground, unconscious.

"Good job, Tuff," I whispered, thoroughly impressed. "That was quick."

Carefully, I climbed my way down and landed right between the two guards. With a glance around, I made my way forward to find the Skrill. If I could pull this off, we might never have to worry about Dagur or the Outcasts again. This dragon could be our first defense.

But when I approached its cage, I found the bars burnt and melted, with charred ropes laying on the ground. I reached down and held one of them in my hand as Shriek sniffed it.

"It's gone." I jumped as I heard a clanking above me, but felt relieved when I saw it was only Tuffnut.

"Oh, good. I thought I was too late." He swung his way through the bars that made up the roof and jumped down, somehow not injuring himself in the process. "Nice job with those guards, by the way." I quirked an eyebrow at him and released the rope.

"What-what are you talking about? And where's the Skrill?" Tuffnut looked around, confused, before turning to see the empty cage.

"Uh oh."

"Uh, yeah uh oh," I snapped.

"If you don't have the Skrill, and I don't have the Skrill, then who has the Skrill?" From behind us, I heard uproarious shouts begin to rise. The gates to the arena burst open, and I quickly dashed away, knowing full well we couldn't afford to get caught.

"Gotta go."

"The Skrill is gone," I heard a soldier cry. "Sound the alarm." A horn pierced through the cacophony of voices, alerting every Outcast there was a problem. I swung my leg around to get myself up onto Shriek.

"Tuff, you go get Ruff and Hiccup. I'm gonna try and find that Skrill before Dagur does."

I patted Shriek's neck to make her take off, and when we got high enough into the sky, I saw a fleet of Berserker ships approaching the Outcasts. Alvin and Dagur stood at the front of their ships, deadlocked in a starting contest as they shouted at each other before Dagur raised his axe and cut away a rope behind the sail. The cloth fell away slightly to reveal the Skrill, roaring angrily and drawing lightning into its body.

"Okay, girl," I whispered to my dragon, leaning down so she could hear me better. "Let's go get that Skrill."

As Dagur and Alvin fought on the deck of the Berserker ship, I tried to get Shriek in as close as possible. I might have to take a leap of faith, but at this point, I was willing to try anything. I just needed to get the Skrill out of Dagur's hands. What we did with it from there would depend on whether or not I could tame this thing. I was just about to swoop down, when Dagur used Alvin's body as a spring board and grabbed the ropes on the Skrill. It screamed and summoned more lightning before firing in Alvin's direction several times before forcing him to jump ship. But Dagur wouldn't give up, and he made the Skrill fire into the water, causing a large explosion of blue light to bubble up in the water before fading away. Alvin never emerged from the water, the only sign he had been down there was his helmet floating to the surface.

"That's not good..." I watched as Dagur spoke to the Outcast soldiers. "I need to come up with a new plan, and fast."

With slight regret, I turned around and headed back to shore, finding the others waiting. Hiccup immediately raced toward me, but I refused to leave Shriek.

"It looks like Dagur's made a deal with the Outcasts. Alvin's..." I sucked in a breath. "Most likely dead. I need to get in there and at least get on that Skrill, but Dagur has it on ropes he won't let go of."

Shouts on the horizon drew my eyes over to the ocean, where I saw the fleet of ships coming back into the docks. They were going to re-group, and it wouldn't be long after that until they'd go to attack Berk.

"I need ideas here, guys," I begged, my voice wavering slightly. They all glanced at each other, before Hiccup turned back around and got up on Toothless.

"I can distract Dagur and let you get close to the Skrill. But you'll have to be fast," he warned.

"Hiccup..." I sighed and leaned against my hands before sitting back up. I hated asking him to do something like this, but we were out of options. "Please be careful."

"You, too." Hiccup took off before I left the ground, and I watched as he approached the docks, shouting. "Why wait?"

With that, Shriek took off, and we snuck around the armada. I could see Dagur's ship from here, I just needed to get there without a Berserker or an Outcast seeing me. Thor, this would have been so much easier if I'd done this the first time.

"Hiccup..." Dagur growled.

"I thought we'd settle this like real Vikings. Just you and me."

Shriek hovered in front of the Skrill, their golden eyes locking. I thought it would immediately begin to scream and thrash, but it remained oddly silent, offering both of us curious looks. I'd seen Hiccup do this a thousand times, I'd even done it a couple myself. The Skrill had even more of a temper than my Thunderdrum, so it could be I had a limited window once I tamed it. But at the moment, it seemed to trust me, and I'd take that.

Slowly, I inched my way forward and extended my hand out. The Skrill growled at me, so I closed my eyes and turned my head away, hoping that would work. For a while, I felt nothing, then right before I opened my eyes, a scaly nose pressed into my palm and nuzzled it. A wide smile stretched onto my face as I opened my eyes and faced the Skrill again. Shriek hovered closer to the dragon, and I managed to swing my legs over its body and climb on.

The dragon suddenly began to list, and I looked down to see Dagur holding the ropes. I... hadn't thought this part through...

"Me and my Skrill against you and your Night Fury?"

Dagur yanked on the ropes, angering the dangerous dragon. It didn't shoot yet, but I had to be careful. Another tug on those ropes and I'd be in serious danger. Hiccup's eyes went wide as he looked at me, sitting on the back of one of the most tempestuous dragons in the archipelago, trying to come up with a plan. I casually waved and raised a finger to my lips to keep him from giving me away, then very carefully, I stood and spread my feet apart to attempt and take a stance that would both help me keep my balance, and hopefully lessen the pain of a shock if the Skrill channeled more lightning.

"Take this!"

The Skrill shot lightning from its mouth, throwing me slightly and causing Hiccup and Toothless to fly out of the way. I couldn't fall, otherwise Dagur would see me (and, of course, I would get hurt), and this whole thing would be worthless. Dagur allowed the Skrill to pull him up onto the rock of the island, while Hiccup and Toothless landed on the other side of the gap. It fired another blast of lightning, chasing the pair off the ground again. I needed to do something fast, otherwise we wouldn't get our chance. Dagur continued to use the Skrill to chase Hiccup and Toothless, and a plan started to form in my mind. I either needed to cut the ropes, or just jump down and take out Dagur. Both of those were risky and stupid, but those were the only real options I had. The two finally came to a stop, and I got ready to jump.

"Want to see superior warrior-ness?" Dagur taunted. "Just keep watching."

"Really, Dagur? I'm still here!" I jumped off the back of the Skrill and managed to land without Dagur spotting me. "Fire Toothless, now!" Toothless fired a couple of plasma blasts at the dragon to distract it.

"That's it?" Dagur cackled as he spoke. "I was hoping for something more challenging."

I took my chance. With a sudden burst of strength, I lunged forward and knocked Dagur to the ground, grabbing the ropes from his hands just before he let them go. He laid there in shock for a moment, attempting to process what happened before turning around to stare up at me with wide eyes. I smirked as I looked down on him, suddenly feeling incredibly powerful.

"What? You said you wanted a challenge," I teased.

"Sister? But... where? And how?" My fingers released the ropes, and I raised a hand in the air, keeping the Skrill by my side. It flew a little closer to the ground and roared.

"I'm a Berserker. That's how."

With a simple gesture forward, the Skrill fired a blast of lightning at Dagur, causing him to writhe in pain before falling off the edge, unconscious. The Skrill remained in the air and began to scream wildly, while Shriek landed next to me and allowed me to climb up on her back.

"I really don't think he's gonna be leading an invasion anytime soon." The Skrill had lost control of itself again. It thrashed in the air and fired a blast of lightning at Hiccup and Toothless, causing them to jump out of the way. "Whoa! Wish I could say the same for this guy!"

Hiccup and Toothless took off, and the Skrill began to chase them. I followed close behind, unsure of what to do. I didn't even know where Hiccup and Toothless were going, but at this rate, I hoped it wasn't back to Berk. I saw Hiccup's head turn to the left and stay there, and I followed his gaze to see a glacier. I groaned as they took a sharp left, heading right for it. I absolutely hated the cold, but I couldn't just sit out here and wait for them. I followed Hiccup and the Skrill toward the glacier, trying my best to contain the shivers as we neared the large chunk of ice. The Skrill suddenly fired lightning at the ice, causing a large bit of it to fall and nearly crush Hiccup and Toothless into the water. They managed to just slip past it against the large formation and lure the Skrill into a tunnel in the glacier. My hand flew to my mouth and I watched with wide eyes, waiting for something, anything to happen that would give me a sign of life. The world was dead silent for a moment, causing my heart rate to rise.

Then, from over the other side of the ice, Hiccup and the twins emerged, coming closer to Shriek and I. A felt a sudden shudder of cold pass through me as my muscles relaxed, indicating to me it was time to go home. The twins led as Hiccup lingered behind to talk to me.

"That thing back there with the Skrill?" I turned and looked at him with a curious gaze. "It was stupid, but... also really impressive."

My cheeks turned red as I looked down at my dragon, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

Maybe being a Berserker wasn't so bad after all.

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