Buffalord Soldier

For jubie1234

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You are both 18

Race To The Edge One Shot

Spoilers

********************

"Race you to Alpha quadrant!" you shouted over the wind.

"You're on!" Astrid took off, gaining the head start she'd need.

You lowered yourself against (D/N)'s saddle. "Come on, girl. Make them eat dust."

You sped off towards Alpha quadrant, exchanging flips, stunts, and bumps. Nothing too extravagant, since you were also both focused on your scouting duties. You had to do more scouting than the others, but it made for some good times and an excellent bond between you and Astrid. You also tagged along with Hiccup and Toothless sometimes, meaning you got to spend more time with your boyfriend.

The race had slowed dramatically, but was still on. You both looked around. You paused as Astrid started to say, "Alpha quadrant checks out. Nothing but water and-"

"Um, Astrid." You pointed to the horizon. The dragons caught sight of it, too, and growled.

"Yes? Oh, I see it. Let's get a closer look." She leaned forward on Stormfly, the race forgotten by the both of you.

You landed on the silent boat. (D/N) was alert, on edge, and ready to attack. "Creepy fishing boat." The type of boat was pronounced more like a question, since you weren't entirely certain it was a fishing boat. What kind of fishing boat had nothing on deck, no crew, and no fish? "Wait! I think I heard something!"

"What?" asked Astrid, following you below deck.

"I'm not certain. It was faint." You immediately covered your nose, complaining, "Ugh! What is that smell?"

"I don't know." You looked around the dark room, but saw nothing. "Abandoned. Come on, let's get out of here," she advised, just as frightened as you were. Stormfly and (D/N) were much too eager to leave the foul smelling room.

Suddenly, a soft groan echoed off of the walls. You both did a double take, glancing at each other before investigating.

"Hello? Hello? Is someone there?" Astrid paused, handing you a torch and having one herself. "Stormfly, torch."

"(D/N)." The dragons aided their masters and lit the torches. "Thanks, girl."

You slowly went further into the room, falling when the light reached many bodies. Pale, greenish, and dead bodies.

"(Y/N, look-" she tried to warn you, but the sickly man had grabbed you by the arm.

"No!" You yelled in surprise, pulling your arm away. You let out a hiss of pain as the man's nails scratched you.

The man collapsed as you dropped your torch, the light dimming. Astrid dropped hers in the shock of witnessing someone die. Her torch died out, leaving to two in the dark once again.

"Let's get out of here," she advised, running out. You followed her example and ran out, hopping on (D/N) along the way. You took off to the sky, holding your arm. "(N/N)?"

"I'm okay," you quickly dismissed. "It's just a scratch."

*****************

A teenaged boy and a night fury stood in front of a table. The boy made one last tweak to the device before stepping back. The night fury opened its mouth, letting out a small glow from the back of its mouth. The boy hid his eyes and reached for his side "Ah, one second, bud." He pulled out a familiar colored set of glasses and slid them on. "Okay, Toothless," the boy, Hiccup, smiled, leaning back while giving his best friend, Toothless, a thumbs up. "Spark it up."

Another boy walked into the room, holding his arm up to block the light created from Toothless's flame. "Interesting material." Toothless ceased his fire's life, allowing Fishlegs to lower his arm. Fishlegs studied Hiccup's glasses from afar. "Seems organic in nature."

"Deathsong Amber," he explained, taking off the glasses, "hammered thin. This is strong enough to stare straight into the eyes of a Flightmare."

Fishlegs smiled. "Fascinating. May I?" he asked, already reaching for the glasses.

Hiccup pushed his arm out further to hand him the glasses. "Please. I insist." He waited for Fishlegs to have the glasses securely on his face before signaling Toothless to work on his latest masterpiece again. The light forced him to cover his eyes, but with the glasses on, Fishlegs was able to watch Toothless work.

"Wow."

He was cut off from further talk about Hiccup's invention when two familiar dragons landed.

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked, sensing something was wrong. He took one glance at you before panicking. You were already exhausted and needed help climbing off of (D/N) "(Y/N)! Are you okay?" He rushed to your side and helped you down. "What's wrong? Did you see something on patrol?"

Fishlegs took his turn guessing. "Hunters? Trapped Dragons? Viggo?"

Tuffnut was quick to push everyone aside, bouncing from one foot to another in front of y'all. "Oh! I love this game. Okay, now it's my turn, everyone quiet. Astrid, (Y/ N), is what you found bigger than a yak box?"

Astrid answered, passing you to fully depend on Hiccup. "We found a fishing boat." Her voice was low, shaky, and her and wrapped around herself for comfort.

Tuffnut frowned, not done with his petty game. "I'm supposed to guess before you tell me. Doesn't anyone know how to play? But just for the record, a boat is bigger than a yak box. So, I'll just score this one a win for the old T-Nut. Scratch one off in the Tuffnut column."

"It was just drifting out there," she continued, ignoring Tuffnut's murmurs. "We went to take a closer look. But what we found inside it was-" she cut herself off, not wanting to say it out loud.

"Was what?" questioned Snotlout, worried for his friends.

"Bodies," you answered for her, sitting down. "Skin was all pale and green. We got out of there as fast as we could."

"Survivors?"

You let Astrid answer, hiding your face into Hiccup's side. He chimed his fingers through your hair, worried. "One."

"Then we need to go back out there and help them," Hiccup started. "Toothless."

"Hiccup," you stopped him. "It's too late."

"Um, Hiccup, "pale green skin"? I hate to be the harbinger of doom, but-" Fishlegs trailed off, fear filling his thoughts.

"I know what you're thinking Fishlegs, but-"

Fishlegs voiced his suspicion. "The Scourge of Odin."

"Oh! Let's not throw that term around too loosely, because-"

"Wait," Snotlout cut him off. "Back it up. Did he say "Scourge of Odin"?"

Hiccup moved his arms in a calling manner. "Yes, but there's no need to panic."

Snotlout pushed himself off the wall he was leading against. "Right. No need to panic. The Scourge of Odin. Just the plague that tore through the archipelago centuries ago, wiping out entire viking villages! Yeah, why would we worry about that?" His eyes widened. "Quick, Hookfang! I need a mask for my mouth."

"Well, that's a long time coming," Tuffnut inputted.

"Very funny. I already feel short of breath."

"We must burn our clothes!" Ruffnut shouted with excitement, aiding the panicked atmosphere.

"No, no, no, no. No need to panic," Tuffnut insisted, reaching into his pocket. "I've got the answer for it. Wait for it. Bing." He held up some piece of bread. Moldy bread.

"Moldy bread? Like that's gonna cure the scourge."

"Why do you have that with you?" you asked.

Tuffnut inputted you. "That it will, sis. Once I had a really bad cold. So, I decided to eat some moldy bread. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. But, boom! Instantly cured. Okay, you scoff now, but one day, science will recognize my genius. They called old crazy Uncle Henrik crazy."

"Because he is crazy, Tuffnut. He married his own beard."

Tuffnut hummed in agreement. "Okay. Yes. Bad example. Let's go with your clothes burning plan. We'll keep them on you, just to be sure. Barf! Belch!"

Hiccup stepped in before the twins actually started attempting to take each other's lives again. "Let's not jump to conclusions and set ourselves on fire, eat moldy bread," he paused, glancing at Snotlout, who was hyperventilating into his shoe, "or hyperventilate."

"Snotlout, you can't catch the Scourge of Odin by breathing," Fishlegs informed.

Snotlout tossed his boot aside. "I knew that."

"There hasn't been a single case of the Scourge for centuries. Plus, the girls got out of there right away. Are you sure you're okay?" he asked you.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Really. Just a bit shocked," you answered, glancing at Astrid, begging her not to inform Hiccup of the scratch.

"Yeah," she confirmed.

********

Hiccup was sleeping peacefully when a dragon braking into his house woke him. "What? What? (D/N)? (Y/N)!" He jumped out of bed, got his dragon, and flew to your hut. "(Y/ N)?" he called it softly. You waited for your sudden coughing fit to end before responding.

"Hiccup? What are you doing here?" you asked, weakly sitting up.

He slowly made his way to you. "(D/N) seemed a little worried, so I-" he stopped as you entered another coughing fit.

***************

After your coughing episode, Hiccup gathered the rest of the riders, sending Snoutlout to hurry to Berk for Gothi's notes.

"Hiccup, will you stop pacing?"

He didn't answer, just stood still for a moment before starting to pace again, the urge too strong to ignore. Fishlegs and Astrid pulled him aside. "What is it?" he asked, worried.

"You saw that scratch, right?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup shrugged, though he was very shrugged about it. "She said it's nothing."

Fishlegs said something before Astrid could. "You know (Y/N). It's not nothing."

"All the signs are there, Hic-" Astrid was cut off by a cough, "-cup."

"Not you too, Astrid," Hiccup begged.

She cleared her throat. "I'm fine. It was just one cough."

"You sure?" he asked. Astrid nodded. He bogged back and continued their previous conversation. "All right, let's assume for a second that you're right. What's the cure?"

"I'm not sure. The only thing I know is that the scourge moves swiftly, overtaking it's victims in less than three moons," answered Fishlegs.

"One moon has already passed," Hiccup reminded, worried.

"Snotlout is on his way back from Berk with Gothi's notes. Hopefully, they'll tell us something more."

Just as Astrid reminded them of Snotlout, he landed. And dashed inside, tossing Fishlegs the notes. Hiccup and Fishlegs immediately started going through Gothi's notes.

"Hey (Y/N), how are you feeling?" was the first thing he asked.

"I'm fine. Everyone just please stop worrying."

"Fishlegs, look! In Gothi's notes there's a cure for the Scourge of Odin. A green solution made from the saliva of a Buffalord dragon." He was so excited; no one wanted that hope to fade, for hope was all they had. "What? What is it?"

Fishlegs didn't want to be the one to tell him the bad news. "Well it's just," he trailed.

"There aren't any more Buffalord. They were all hunted to extinction during the Scourge's last outbreak," Astrid said, softly.

"We don't know if they're gone for sure. We need to get out there and find one."

"But we don't even know where to start looking. There's no mention of the Buffalord anywhere. It's like they were wiped from history."

You sat up to tell everyone, "Come on, I told you guys, I'm fine, so please-" but passed out in the middle of your sentence.

*************

"How is she?" Hiccup was asked, since he stayed behind to watch over you.

Hiccup answered Snotlout while walking to Fishlegs. "Resting. What else have we found, Fishlegs?"

"Well, I spent the last few hours combing through my dragon eye research and found some old notes. I didn't think much of them at first, but," rather than finish, he let Hiccup take a look at his discovery.

"The Buffalord! But nothing on its location. There's really not much about it here at all."

"It's big, has ram-like horns, and lives on the plains. That's something. I'll keep looking."

The twins, suddenly interested in helping, walked up to the table. "What's this stuff?"

Astrid absent mindedly pushed their hands away, but to no avail. "That's nothing. Just some Dragon Eye tracings. No useful information. Just archaic dots and slashes."

The twins stared at it, then nodded to each other. They knew something.

"What? Wait, you guys see something?" Hiccup wondered, desperately praying their random sparks of genius would strike once more.

"Yeah. These make a map."

"Duh. How do you guys not see that?"

They started moving around the four pieces of paper they had been studying. "See? These squiggles are water. That big nose is an island. Those slashes are sea stacks. And that there would be-"

"The Buffalord."

"How did you do that?" Snotlout asked in disbelief.

"We're experts at interpreting abstract images. Watch and learn," Ruffnut asked, a bit snug. She suddenly pulled out pieces of paper. One with a single line drew in the middle.

"A boat," Tuffnut named.

"Mm-hm," agreed Ruffnut, tossing the paper aside to show another paper with three straight lines.

"A pineapple."

"Mm-hm," Ruffnut hummed, switching to a piece of paper with one circle.

"Mom!"

"Mm."

"Um," Astrid hummed, not knowing what to say.

Hiccup ignored them and focus on the map. "Actually, this looks familiar." He started to correct the map the twins had been so kind as to make.

"We found it, Hiccup! We found it!" Fishlegs cheered upon Hiccup's completion.

Hiccup captured everyone's attention by slamming his hand over the map. "We found a location. Now let's hope to Odin they still exist."

********

Upon landing, the gang decided to split up to save time.

"Now, these dragons were supposedly hunted to extinction. So if there are any left, they will have developed a wariness towards humans."

"Which means we have to move quickly."

"And remember, we have less than two moons to find this dragon and bring this cure back to the edge."

*********

After flying for hours, Toothless let out a humble of complaint. He wanted a brake.

"I feel you, bud," his rider assured, "but we have to keep pushing forward. Tell you what, let's grab some water from that stream and we'll get back up in the air."

They landed next to the stream, from which Toothless eagerly drank his fill. Hiccup did the same beside his dragon, soothing his throat. His thoughts strayed to how (Y/ N) was doing when he was interrupted by a curious growl.

"Toothless?" He looked in the direction Toothless was staring. "What is that?" He quickly had Toothless send out the signal and waited a few minutes for everyone else to come. He asked Fishlegs what he thought it was.

Fishlegs, being his usual weird but intelligent self, went to sniffing and studying the green pile slowly. "Large size. Unusual coloration. Vegetarian diet. Not the remnants of any dragon I'm familiar with- and I know my dragon droppings. It's fresh, Hiccup. Last couple of hours. This dragon is still somewhere on this island."

Tuffnut took his turn to smell it. "And, might I add a very distinctive bouquet. Sort of herbal. It's quite nice."

"Gross, Tuff!" Astrid complained.

Snotlout cringed, "Ew." Fishlegs took a closer whiff. "Double Ew."

Hiccup walked over to Toothless and pulled out a small bag. "Well, if it's here, I think I might know how we can find it. This dragon-tracking equipment. Now, it's not field tested, but it's worth a shot."

"In the dark?" Snotlout asked as Hiccup threw a familiar substance on the ground.

"Flightmare algae, of course!"

Hiccup continued on his now visible path.  "Now, hopefully, a dragon this large doesn't move too fast."

The gang followed the trail for a few minutes before the trail ended, leaving the anxious group of teenagers to worry.

"Now what?"

Hiccup took out a new invention of his, kneeling to get a closer look at the grass. "It must have taken to the air here."

"It's like a spy glass," observed Fishlegs.

Hiccup absent mindedly nodded, "But for looking at things close up."

"Oh, fascinating."

Hiccup was in no mood to geek out, so he didn't further the conversation. "This way."

"How do you know that?" Snotlout asked, worried about wasting precious time.

Hiccup held his evidence up for everyone to see. "Dragon scale. Let's move."

"Nothing," Astrid complained after a while. The gang stopped at an edge of a cliff, the sun blinding them from seeing what's beyond.

"How could there still be nothing?"

Hiccup slipped on the goggles that allowed him to stare straight into the eyes of a Flightmare. He perked up, hope keeping him going. "No, not nothing. Look closer."

He handed the goggles to Snotlout.

"A Buffalord. Alive!" He took them off to pass it to the rest of the gang.

**********

Hiccup edged beside the Buffalord as the gang went up to distract it. But the giant dragon had Snotlout shouting, "Retreat!" for the first time, and the gang scurried off.

Hiccup huffed in annoyance at the gang but continued to get the saliva. "Okay. Easy. Finally. We got it!" He quickly ran back to the gang.

"Well, that was easy," observed Astrid.

Hiccup hopped on Toothless, looking into the cup. "Now, let's go. What the- it dried up!"

"What? No way!" Astrid shouted.

"Oh, come on!" Snotlout exclaimed.

Hiccup moved the cup upside down to prove his point. Sure enough, it was dry.

"What do we do now?"

"We rope him and take him back to Dragon's Edge. It shouldn't be too hard, right?"

The gang was easily able to tie a rope around the eating beast.

"It's remarkably docile for a dragon of its size. Almost yak-like."

Snotlout laughed, "No wonder it was so easily hunted. You gotta toughen up there, Buff."

"Aww, he's kind of cute," cooed Ruffnut, which gave her twin a horrible idea.

"Hiccup, can we keep him? I promise I'll walk him and feed him and stuff. We already know his poop doesn't smell. And he doesn't even act like it. Not like Ruffnut who acts like her poop doesn't smell." The last comment earned him a punch from said sister.

Everyone else ignored them.

"We need to get him back to (Y/N)," reminded Astrid.

"Come on, big guy. Come on!" encouraged Hiccup.

The beast took to the air nicely, following the gang for a while before its eyes widened.

"Guys? I think something's up with the Buff."

Suddenly, the Buffalord puffed up, forcing the other dragons to stagger back. It turned and fought to return to its home.

"No! We need to stay with it. We have to get it back to the Edge."

"I knew I shouldn't have told him to toughen up. Me and my big mouth," Snotlout scolded himself.

"Look Out!"

"Whoa!" Fishlegs exclaimed, as the Buffalord escape the gang's grasp and returned to munching on the herbs.

"Okay. What's that all about?" asked Tuffnut.

Fishlegs answered, "He appears to be fine, so long as he's on his island."

"Great. So, now what?"

"If we can't take the Buffalord to (N/N)," trailed Hiccup.

"Bring (Y/ N) to the Buffalord. I'm on it." Without waiting for instructions, Astrid raced back to the Edge.

**********

Hiccup bounced to his feet as (D/N) landed, a sleeping you on her back. The jostling of the landing woke you up, but Hiccup was quick to take you into his arms. He leaned you against a rock, patting your back when you coughed. You had paled with a sickly green tint, worrying Hiccup about your possibility of survival. Still, he had determination and hope.

"Just rest," he whispered. "We're gonna beat this. I promise you, (N/N). You just have to keep fighting, and hold on. You need to stay with us. I can't imagine a world without you in it." He quickly bounced to his feet. "Alright, we need to move quickly." Without much caution, he gathered more saliva and brought it back to you. "Here." You took a sip but recoiled at the taste. "No, no. You need to drink this, (N/ N)." He brought the cup to your lips again, then waited a minute. "Nothing's happening."

"Maybe it takes some time for the antidote to work."

"No, something's wrong."

"It says the green solution will cure the Scourge. "Green Solution." "Cure." That's all it says," informed Fishlegs, scanning Gothi's notes.

"But the Buffalord's saliva is clear," noted Astrid, genuinely confused. "What does it mean, "green solution"?"

They stopped, distracted by a munching sound. Everyone turned to see the twins sitting on the ground and eating the herbs the Buffalord ate.

Snotlout stomped over to them. "How can you guys eat at a time like this?"

"Hey, people deal with stress differently, okay?" Ruffnut defended.

"And we're eating what the Buffalord eats, because, hey, who doesn't want sweet-smelling droppings?"

"It's a victimless crime."

"Wait, Hiccup," trailed Astrid, noticing the saliva on the train's chin green, not clear.

"It's all over my pants," noted Tuffnut.

"That's it! The herbs! It must be what the Buffalord eats, mixed with the saliva that creates the antidote."

"Which would stand to reason why it won't leave this place. It can't be away from the herbs it eats," reasoned Fishlegs.

"So, we just need it need it to eat the herbs to create the green solution. Just a little longer, (N/N). Just a little bit longer."

Meanwhile, Astrid and Snotlout were already guiding the Buffalord to a patch of herbs.

"Come on, Big Buff. You worked up a healthy appetite trying to kill us earlier. So eat! Eat!" commanded Snotlout.

"Finally!" Snotlout yelled, ruining the mood.

Hiccup smiled and reached out to collect his prize, only to be stopped by a net capturing the Buffalord.

"Viggo!"

"Hello, Hiccup," Viggo greeted, in his annoyingly cheery voice. "Thank you so very much for this gift. I do apologize that you won't be able to use it to save your little friend."

"But how?" asked Fishlegs, probably more to himself. "There's no trace of this island anywhere. How did he find it?"

"Who cares? We've been dying for a little action."

Hiccup hopped on Toothless and took the higher ground, in the sky. "Let's make this count, bud." The gang circled Viggo and his men, waiting for an opening.

"Hiccup, I can't get a clean shot," Snotlout complained.

"Neither can I," Astrid called.

"Pull up, Riders. We can't risk hurting the Buffalord. We need it. Viggo, release that dragon! You have no idea what you're doing!

Viggo countered, "Oh, I beg to differ, my dear Hiccup. I'm keenly aware of my actions. This dragon is exceedingly unique. It will elicit a considerable bounty on the open market. You should have left well enough alone, Hiccup. My fishing boat was no place for you or any of your riders."

"Your fishing boat?" Astrid gasped.

"Move him," Viggo ordered his men, who immediately started their work. "It's simple really. Supply and demand. I knew where to get the supply, if only I could generate the demand."

"You're a monster!" declared Fishlegs.

"Fishlegs, I'm shocked. I'd have thought you were above name-calling. "Monster"? No. "Savy businessmen"? Indeed."

"And what if the dragon was extinct?" dared Hiccup.

"I tend not to dwell on the "what-ifs," my boy. Leaves you barren."

"What are we waiting for? Let's take this psycho out already!" Snotlout said, time ticking.

"She's running out of time, Hiccup," Fishlegs reminded, watching you enter another coughing fit.

"Toothless."

Viggo narrowed his eyes. "Ryker." Ryker pulled out his blade and brought it to the neck of the Buffalord.

"No," Hiccup panicked, forcing Toothless not to attack.

"I would think twice about your actions, Hiccup," warned Viggo.

"And your profits?"

Viggo shrugged. "Like I said, business is business. This? Oh, it's a loss I'm willing to incur. Question is, are you?"

Hiccup held his hands in front of him in a defenseless manner. "Okay, Viggo. Okay, you win. Take him. Take the dragon. But leave us with what we came for, the scourge antidote. Buffalord Saliva. I'm not leaving here without it. That's a loss I'm not willing to take."

"No. Hiccup. Don't give him- Not for me," you called, faintly.

Hiccup ignored your pleas. "Do we have a deal? Or are both leaving here empty-handed? Your call."

Viggo nodded, signaling his men to let Hiccup collected the saliva.

"I've truly missed our time together, Hiccup. My brother leaves something to be desired in the repartee department." Unhappy with the loss but unwilling to risk a life of a friend, Hiccup kept a firm face as he collected the antidote. "My boy, don't look so morose. It takes all the fun out of it. All's well that ends well. Hmm?"

Hiccup ignored him and walked straight to you, bringing the cup to your pale lips. You groaned. "I know. I know. Just drink."

Within a minute, color was returning to your once pale skin. You opened your eyes and sat up by yourself.

"It's working!"

"I'm afraid our time must end, Hiccup. We will continue our contest in due time." Viggo signaled for his men to leave.

"He won't get far. Let's go after him," Tuffnut cheered.

"Yeah, I'm sick of that smug-"

"No. Stand down. We agreed to let him leave the island with that dragon. And that's exactly what we're gonna do," Hiccup ordered, firmly.

It wasn't too long later that a faint call of, "Hiccup!" was heard, followed by the Buffalord returning home.

Hiccup smirked. "Well, that leaves just one thing to do."

*************

"There do I see my father, my mother, and my brothers and my sisters. They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave shall live forever."

With the end of the condolence, you fired a flaming arrow at the boat. The others copied your example, letting the dead Vikings rest in peace.

After watching the boat burn, the others slowly made their way back to the Edge.

"What are you thinking about?" you asked.

"This might be just the beginning."

"Of what?"

"Something Viggo said about knowing where the "supply" was. You don't think he could have unlocked the Dragon Eye, do you?"

"How? He doesn't have a Snow Wraith key."

"But he found the Buffalord on his own," reminded Hiccup. "And we need to find out how."

"You know, you make a good point. The Dragon Eye originated from his ancestors. Maybe there is a hidden second key we missed. It would make sense, with how cautious the Dragon Hunters are and everything." Hiccup agreed, though not liking the possibility. "Hiccup, I just wanted to say thanks. I really owe you."

Hiccup smiled, "It's no big deal. You'd have done the same for me."

"I can't imagine a world without you in it, either," you said, softly, knowing he heard you. In the peace of the sunset, you flew home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~