My fingers tensed against Shriek's scales, watching the ground below us with an intense focus, waiting for something to happen. My fellow riders hovered around me, trying their best to keep their dragons in the air. At any moment, we could be under attack, and we'd need to be able to scatter at a moment's notice. The closer we got, the clearer the figures on the ground became.

Then, from the wooden structures, boulders shot up in our direction, twirling in the air as they barreled toward us.

"Ambush!" Fishlegs cried, alerting those who couldn't see.

"Plasma blast!" Hiccup ordered. Toothless shot out single blast of purple energy, destroying the oncoming projectile. Meatlug caught the second one in her mouth and clamped down, and Shriek let out a sonic boom to shatter the last one to little pieces. We were expecting the next wave immediately after, but it took a few extra seconds, causing Hiccup and I to glace at each other with furrowed brows.

Suddenly, the next wave shot up unexpectedly, nearly striking the twins on their Zippleback.

"Whoa!" Ruff cried as Barf and Belch spun their riders upside-down. "That thing almost took my head off!"

"It did? Gobber, do it again!" Tuff called down. The projectiles began to come faster than we could handle them, and after Hiccup ducked to dodge an incoming boulder, he gave the order.

"Fall back, everyone! There's too many of them."

I nodded, and turned Shriek around and started to fly back toward the retreat point. Most of the rest of us started to follow, but of course, one person always had to break the ranks. Snotlout continued to hover in the place he'd been, looking down and Gobber and the rest of the villagers we'd gotten to help with the training exercise.

"You fall back! I'm going in to finish this!" Recklessly, he dove down toward the people on the ground.

"Snotlout, that is not the exercise!" Hiccup cried, trying to bring Snotlout back to us. "Wait!"

Gobber hit the dirt as Snotlout swooped in over his head, nearly knocking him over with Hookfang's claws. He fired a shot at one of the catapults, and I shook my head before turning back around. Now, Gobber would have to make a new one, which was just inconvenient. But, thankfully, it looked like Snotlout wasn't going to head back in, so no further destruction could ensue.

My mistake. I heard Hiccup and Toothless quickly turned, and the second my head snapped around, a boulder struck my body and sent me tumbling from Shriek. Adrenaline pumped through me as my arms flailed in the air, attempting to grasp at something that wasn't actually there. My screams ripped up my throat the closer I got to the ground, as though they'd somehow cushion my fall. I saw Hiccup and Toothless dive toward me, and just before I struck the ground, I felt an arm grab my waist, then the world went black.

I opened my eyes to see Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs hovering over me, varying degrees of concern written on their faces. Hiccup's eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of his skull. Slowly, I managed to sit up, disoriented with a throbbing pain in my head.

"Ugh. What... what happened." Hiccup kneeled down and placed a hand on my arm, his expression now intense.

Before he could explain, Snotlout and Hookfang did a loop overhead, and it all came back to me. When Snotlout hit the catapult, it most likely activated the trigger and fired the boulder in my direction. Hiccup hadn't been able to warn me in time, and I fell to the ground. But I think Hiccup had caught me before I actually struck the dirt.

"That's right! That's how Snotlout retreats!" The pair landed and strode in our direction, confident and cocky. "He doesn't. Click, click, boom!" Hiccup's expression contorted, into a sort of anger I'd never seen before. "What? Why are you all looking at me? I mean, listen, I know why you're all looking at me." He attempted to flex his biceps, but there wasn't much there. "What? It's Hiccup's stupid exercise."

"You have no idea what you did, do you?" he shouted.

"Yeah. Hookfang and I made the coolest trick shot ever." His dragon squawked in agreement.

"You almost got Reign killed!" Hiccup got up from my side and stormed over to Snotlout, getting close to his face.

"Come on, she's fine. Look at her." Fishlegs attempted to help me stand, but I stumbled back a bit. But his words struck something in me, and an anger caused me to stand up straight.

"Yeah, no thanks to you." I lunged forward, attempting to punch him, but Hiccup grabbed my waist and managed to hold me back.

"Okay, all right, easy there, Reign."

"I'm gonna kill you!" With a huff, I realized Hiccup wouldn't let me get anywhere near Snotlout, and pushed away. The moment he let go of me, he returned to glaring at Snotlout.

"That's it, I'm tired of this."

"I'm tired of this!" Snotlout blinked at Hiccup, confused. "What are you tired of?"

"You always have to do things your way," Hiccup clarified.

"Yeah, well, guess what? I look out for number one." In response, Hookfang spat out a quick flame, forcing Hiccup and Snotlout to duck so they wouldn't get burnt. "And one-a."

"How can we rely on you if you don't do what we ask?"

"What are you saying, Hiccup?"

"I'm saying, until further notice, you're suspended from the Academy."

Everyone's eyes went wide, and they looked over in Hiccup and Snotlout's direction. None of us thought Hiccup would actually do something like that, and yet... here we were. A part of me felt... wrong, knowing Hiccup had done this because of something that happened to me. But at the same time, he'd had it coming.

"What?"

"You're grounded."

"You can't ground me!" Snotlout argued. "You're not my dad."

"Yes, I can."

"Oh, really?" Snotlout leaned back, feeling the weight of Hiccup's glare. "Watch!"

With the attitude of a five-year-old, Snotlout stormed over to Hookfang, hopped up on him, and flew away, completely leaving the rest of us behind. I sighed and leaned against Shriek, meeting eyes with Hiccup.

"Ground this, dragon boy!" Snotlout cried as he flew away.

"Uh, am I wrong in thinking 'grounded' means staying on the ground? That looks an awful lot like, uh..." Tuff flapped his arms as though they were wings. "Flying."

"You didn't have to do that for me, Hiccup," I sighed, moving closer to him. He looked at the ground a moment before turning around.

"If we can't count on him during training, how can we possibly count on him the next time we run into Dagur?" The mention of my brother's name caused my face to contort bitterly. "Oh, uh--"

"Don't even start to apologize." I held my hand up, trying to get him to stop in his tracks. "You shouldn't apologize for saying a name. That makes no sense." He continued to stare at me for a moment, then reached out and started to examine the arm that had been struck.

"Are you sure nothing's broken? You don't feel anything off?" I chuckled and pushed his hand away.

"I promise you I'm fine. You caught me before I could hit the ground, right?" He nodded. "So then don't worry. If anything, I need to be alert. One of these days, you're not gonna be able to just swoop in and save me."

"Well, that's not true." I rolled my eyes and playfully slugged his arm.

"I've gotta be able to look out for myself as much as you do, and vice versa." I made my way over to Shriek and swung my leg up over her side. "Come on, we should all get back to the Academy." Hiccup climbed on Toothless and faced all of us.

"You take them back. I'm going to go out and look of Snotlout. He couldn't have gotten far."

I nodded and did as told, bringing the others back toward the Academy. Fishlegs and Astrid headed back home for a while, while the twins and I remained at the Academy. I didn't bother to watch them, knowing they couldn't do much damage in here. Nearly an hour passed before Hiccup came back.

"So, let me guess: Snotlout is still out flying?"

"You didn't hear it from us." Hiccup hopped down, and the two of us finally looked over at what they were doing. Leaving them on their own proved to be a mistake. In the short amount of time, they'd started putting things up in Hookfang's pen.

"And what are you two doing?"

"Well, we figured with Snotlout kicked out of the Academy, and our pen next to his, we could knock out a wall, create kind of a better flow, feng shui-- obviously, in remembrance of Snotlout. He will be forgotten-- sorry, will not be forgotten."

"Whoa, whoa, I did not kick him out of the Academy!" Hiccup corrected. "He's just on temporary suspension."

"Well, what choice do you have, after his flagrant disregard for your leadership? I mean, he deserves to have his pen... merged with another pen!"

"Yep. Your only remaining choice is total expulsion. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing the respect of the other riders." I stared, at them, dumbfounded, then approached Hiccup.

"Wow. They actually have a point."

"And we're not just saying that because we plan on putting curtains right here." Ruff gestured to the right wall. Tuff held up a piece of purple fabric.

"I'm good with fabrics. Who knew? I also do some needlepoint." Hiccup jumped forward and snatched the fabric out of Tuff's hands.

"No one is knocking anything down. I will talk to Snotlout when he comes back." I sighed and grabbed the soft, purple fabric from Hiccup, tossing it onto the ground.

"You don't know when that's going to be, though."

"But he'll come back eventually." I shrugged and nodded, acknowledging he had a point. "I--I'm gonna head home for a little while." He jumped up on Toothless, but before he could fly away, I called out.

"We're still on for tonight?" The hardened look on his face softened, and he smiled at me.

"Of course."

I couldn't fight the giddy smile on my face as I headed home myself. Hiccup and I had managed to be together for a year, and while we didn't want to make too big of a deal about it, that sort of thing always constituted a date. And I figured maybe I could look a little nicer. I went through the process of getting clean, but instead of tying my hair up like usual, I hesitantly left it down. It dried in a large, uncontrollable mass of curls. I'd just started the last steps in getting ready, when a commotion started to rustle outside. Curious, I headed out into the masses.

Hookfang landed in the center of the village, his rider obscured by the light behind him. But the taller, bulkier frame told me it wasn't Snotlout. He was, however, in his arms. The figure set Snotlout down, who remained unmoving once on the dirt.

"Is that Snotlout?" one woman asked.

"Is he dead?" Everyone went silent for a moment, as though grieving a loss they didn't know whether it had happened or not yet. Then, out of nowhere, they erupted into cheers. "Viking funeral! Hey, bring out your dead Vikings!" My eyes went wide as my eyebrows flew up. How could people get excited about a funeral? And, did that man just imply there were corpses just laying around in the village?

Thankfully, Snotlout sat up, holding his head.

"No..." he muttered. "No funeral." People groaned in disappointment.

"Okay, okay, what's going on here?" I watched as Hiccup and Chief Stoick fought their way through the crowd, trying to get closer to the scene. "Who in the--"

They stopped short in front of Snotlout, but that wasn't the reason they hesitated. My eyes followed their gaze, and I gasped. Beside Hookfang, the light around the figure finally faded, and left standing there was the confident figure of none other than Alvin the Treacherous. In all honesty, I was more surprised he was alive, over the fact he was here on Berk and had, implicitly, rescued Snotlout.

Hiccup's eyes rested on me, and he made his way over.

"Putting things on hold?" I asked as I watched two villagers seize Alvin and lead him toward the Great Hall.

"Unfortunately, it looks that way." Everyone followed Chief Stoick and Gobber, flooding in to watch what I assume would be the trial of Alvin.

"We really should be used to putting things on hold at this point." He sighed and moved a chunk of my hair from my face.

"Something tells me we're gonna have to do that a lot more in the future." My stomach fluttered as he headed toward the Great Hall.

'The future'? For a reason I couldn't explain, I liked the sound of that.

I quickly climbed up the steps to the Great Hall, arriving just in time to hear Gobber read off all the charges. He'd be thrown in a cell for sure, but we had to consider the fact he had saved Snotlout and brought him back here, free of demands.

"Alvin the Treacherous, you are hereby charged with the following crimes: treachery, attempted treachery, premeditated treachery, conspiracy to commit treachery, and-- well, you get the idea." I leaned over to Hiccup, not tearing my eyes from the scene. People shouted and jeered in Alvin's direction.

"How can you be charged for both attempted treachery and actual treachery?" When I didn't hear a response, I looked over to see him shrug his shoulders.

"Settle down, everyone." Chief Stoick didn't even have to shout. The people just quieted down at the gesture of his arms. Once the crowd fell silent, he focused his eyes on Alvin. "Alvin the Treacherous, you will be remanded to our jail until a proper sentence can be handed down."

"Is this how you treat a man that saved a valuable life?" Alvin demanded, staring daggers up at the three of us.

"'Valuable life?'"

"Snotlout?" I rolled my eyes at the twins.

"I know you, Alvin." Chief Stoick stepped closer to Alvin. "You didn't do this for Snotlout. You did it for yourself."

"What could I possibly have to gain from coming here? I did it for us both, Stoick. Now, I have a proposition for you."

"Not interested." With that, Chief Stoick turned away from Alvin and headed back toward his original position, coldly observing the scene. "That's it, everyone. Go home."

"Hiccup, Reign!" We turned our heads to see Astrid and Fishlegs running toward us. "Snotlout just woke up. And apparently, Alvin wasn't the only big, nasty creature on that island."

"The Screaming Death... it's closing in on Berk." I glanced at Hiccup, my eyes widening slightly.

"Well, that's fantastic news," Hiccup deadpanned. He stopped and took a deep breath, then gestured for us to follow him. "Come on."

We all jumped up on our dragons and headed toward the Academy, beginning the practice drills for the Screaming Death. The four of us flew in a circle and fired at a target over and over again. The three of them worked on their precision, while I tried to see how loud I could get Shriek to scream. Maybe she could temporarily disorient the thing.

"Come on, you guys. Focus. We need to figure out a way to stop the Screaming Death from reaching Berk."

As we made another round, Snotlout flew into the Academy, causing Fishlegs and Meatlug to crash into him and fall onto the stone. As usual, he exercised a disregard for the training going on.

"Hey everyone! Did you miss me? Of course you did." Hiccup, Astrid, and I landed, glaring at Snotlout. Hiccup hopped off Toothless, but never, for a moment, dropped his hostile demeanor. I'd never seen him before, nor did I think he could ever be like this.

"Snotlout, I'm very happy you're okay."

"Ha. I'm more than okay." He glanced at Astrid, who rolled her eyes.

"You broke the rules again, and you almost got yourself killed in the process."

"So?"

"So you're still suspended."

"What?" Snotlout seemed outraged by the thought he wasn't now considered a hero. "I found the Screaming Death, and I captured Alvin the Treacherous."

"Weren't you unconscious when you 'captured' him?" Astrid challenged.

"Unconscious like a fox." I furrowed my brow, wildly confused.

"How does that make sense?" I muttered.

"Look, nothing's changed. You're still suspended, I'm sorry. Come on, Hookfang." Hiccup led him into his pen and locked him up, making sure to slide the bar into place for an extra layer of protection. I knew he didn't like this, but it was the only way to get Snotlout to obey.

"You can't do this, Hiccup!" Snotlout protested. "You can't take away my dragon!"

Hiccup shook his head, but refused to budge. We got on our dragons without another word and headed back toward our homes. The sun had begun to set, and Hiccup and I finally decided things had died down enough to finally go out. We flew on our dragons to the cove where he'd first introduced me to Toothless, trying our best to forget about the excitement of the day. We laughed and held each other, enjoying the others' company for a while, before the squawk of a Nadder sounded above us, and we watched Astrid land.

"Hiccup, Reign, I'm so sorry." She shifted her gaze to just Hiccup. "Alvin asked to see you."

We glanced at each other curiously, but I knew he had to go.

"Just be careful." I warned, squeezing his arm.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" I nodded, and hesitantly, he climbed on Toothless and headed toward the jail. Astrid turned to me with wide eyes.

"I really am sorry I had to interrupt, Reign." I waved my hand dismissively.

"It's fine. It's getting late, anyways. Let's head back."

Once Astrid and I returned from the cove, we locked up Stormfly and Shriek for the night, then settled in for dinner. The rest evening was peaceful, filled with the light chatter of sisters spending time together. Strange how I could do nearly the same thing, but the dynamic was so different when you just switched the person you were with.

"I've never seen you with your hair down," Astrid observed, pointing her fork at me.

"Oh, uh, yeah." I self-consciously reached up and patted some of the mop. "I actually kind of forgot it wasn't tied up."

"It's a huge mass," she laughed, "but I think it looks good."

The serenity didn't last long, however, when a loud, heart-stopping horn cut through the silence of the village.

"Oh, my gods. That's the warning signal." I jumped up and reached for my sword and shield before the two of us rushed out the door.

"You go find Hiccup. I'll help check out what's going on."

I nodded and sprinted toward Hiccup's home. He burst through the door and met me in the middle. I noticed some of his brown hair was matted and knotted, indicating he'd been asleep. I held back my urge to laugh, knowing we had more pressing issues.

"Reign, what's going on?"

"I have no idea. I just got out here."

I watched as a group of people rushed past us, and among them ran Astrid. She spotted Hiccup and I off to the side, still as confused as before, and broke away to come closer to us.

"It's Dagur. He was spotted by the Academy."

My blood ran cold for a split second, before being replaced by anger. My hands balled into tight fists, and I turned on my heel, sprinting toward the Academy. I could finish things with my brother, here and now. He made the mistake of bringing the fight here to us, to me. I ran all the way to the Academy, finding the dragons angrily roaring and squawking at each other, circling something. I pressed my hands against the bars of the gate, trying to figure out what was going on. The others caught up to me soon after, and eventually, Hiccup and Toothless landed, having done a scan from above.

"Dagur put Dragon Root in the arena so the dragons will attack each other," he informed us. Snotlout suddenly pushed through the rest of us, panting slightly.

"Hiccup! I need to tell you something."

"Snotlout, not now," he snapped

"But, it's important!"

"I said not now." He focused his gaze on Fishlegs and Meatlug. "All right, Fishlegs, this is all you. Toothless and I can't go in there because he'll be affected by the Root. You and Meatlug have to fly in and get that root out of there, while the others distract their dragons."

"You hear that, girl?" Fishlegs leaned down to look Meatlug in the eyes, a worried expression on his face. "It's up to us." I was about to rush in, when Hiccup reached out and stopped me.

"I need you to help me look for Dagur."

I nodded and climbed on the back of Toothless with him. We took to the sky, and while Hiccup kept an eye on our friends in the arena, I darted my eyes around in an attempt to spot my brother. There was no sight of him by the time Meatlug and Fishlegs got the Dragon Root, but before they could get out of there, the gate slammed shut. Hiccup and I glanced at each other and landed Toothless quickly, spotting two Berserker guards standing by the gate. My eyes narrowed as I slid off, drawing my sword and approaching them.

"Open that door right now, or—"

"Or what?"

My eyes flickered up to see my brother, surrounded by men with crossbows aimed right at me. He crossed his arms with a satisfied smirk, thinking he'd cornered us, but I wasn't going to let him win, no matter what it took.

"Dagur, what do you want?" Hiccup shouted.

"What I've always wanted: The Night Fury. Hand him over, and we leave peacefully. That's your choice—your dragon, or your friends. Oh, isn't this exciting! What will he choose, ladies and gentlemen?" Hiccup and I looked into the arena, seeing our friends growing more and more weary by the moment. "So, Hiccup, what's your answer?"

"The answer is, we'll run you through and open the gate ourselves."

A relieved smile crossed my face as my eyes darted over to the source of the voice, seeing Chief Stoick and several other Vikings standing, armed and ready to fight. This was my chance, to cut Dagur down to size once and for all. Hiccup glanced at me, and I nodded before I rushed up to face my brother.

He stared at me with a smirk, then drew his weapon, ready to attack me. But before either of us could take a swing, a figure jumped over and landed between us. I stared at the tall, lumbering form of Alvin the Treacherous, facing down Dagur.

"You!" Dagur seemed just as shocked as I had been he was alive.

"Yeah, me. I don't go down so easily."

"Alvin!" From behind me, Chief Stoick tossed a sword into Alvin's hand, properly arming him. "Well, don't just stand there." He looked down at me.

"You got 'im?" I smirked and nodded.

"I've got him."

Alvin ran off to deal with the Berserker and Outcast soldiers, leaving me with my brother again. We wasted no more time, running at each other and swinging our weapons. His large bludgeon struck my shield, allowing me to throw it back toward him and swing my sword. I nicked his arm, but that only irritated him more. His swings became more forceful and erratic, to the point I couldn't fend them off anymore.

The last thing I remembered was someone grabbing me by my hair from behind me, then Dagur bringing his weapon down near my head and losing consciousness.