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❛ ᴋʜᴀʟᴇᴇsɪ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚  ▎❛ 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ᴛʜᴇ ғɪʀsᴛ ʀᴜʟᴇ
ᴏғ ғʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴄʟᴜʙ ꒱


❝ AS FAR AS YOU'RE
CONCERNED, IT DOESN'T
EXIST. THERE IS NO
DRAGON FLIGHT CLUB ❞

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Although it has been many years at this point since Daenerys had been without friends, her family an outcast of their village and feared by those who resided within it, she would always remember the stark loneliness that came from being shut out by the community. She would remember her deepest longing— besides that of unsupported flight— to have peers of her own. And then, when she did finally get them, the fear that they would abandon her because they deemed her unworthy of their friendship.

That was still her greatest fear, because her friends (and one in particular) also acted as her moral compass and helped to keep her from giving into the rage that marred most Targaryens. Without them to guide her, how long would it be until that anger made her snap and she became the Mad Queen of Dragons that she so dreaded? Daenerys was strong, both emotionally and physically, not one to break under pressure, but if put under duress and her captor threatened her with that, she wasn't sure if she could withstand the questioning. For as durable and brave as they were, all Vikings had their own fears, and that was one of hers.

In this present situation, Fishlegs Ingerman was currently facing one of his: the dark. While perhaps not as emotionally taxing, it was still a psychological strain that had him whimpering in the ropes that bound his arms to the chair he was sitting in. He squinted into the thick blackness that came from his rocky surroundings; they were so deep underground that not a sliver of light penetrated from the world above. Somewhere, he could hear the drip, drip, drip of water as it trickled from stalactites (the ones on the ceiling.) Otherwise, it was completely silent— and that was the worst part about it.

"Hello?" he called out into the nothingness. His breathing picked up as he tried to calm himself, rising rapidly almost to the point of hyperventilation. "Is anybody there? You can't— you can't leave me in here!"

When there was no response, it didn't take him long to cave, With a sob of terror, he burst out: "Okay! Okay, Hiccup is the leader of the Berk Dragon Academy! He rides a Night Fury named Toothless. Then there's Daenerys— everyone says she's mad, but she's just standoffish and blunt. She rides. . . well, we don't have a name for the species of her dragon, but he's huge and really scary! Th-then there's Astrid! She's mean, but in a nice way!

"Her dragon is a Deadly Nadder— shoots spine shots and loves chicken." He chuckled nervously as he tried to make the information sound appealing. "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."

There was the telltale whistle of Toothless' sonic boom as his purple plasma blast shot out of the dark to light the empty torches. The cavern filled with a golden glow, which brought relief to the shaking boy— but also guilt at the sight of his friends' disappointed faces. Fishlegs gave them a sheepish smile as he protested, "what? You know I hate the dark!"

His attempt at beating their practice run had been so weak that he got an unimpressed look from the Night Fury as he padded back to his rider. Even Meatlug, who was normally so supportive of him, wouldn't meet his eyes as she hung her head. Tuffnut scoffed at the blond's excuse. "Great. Fishlegs, more like Guppy Legs. Jeeze. . ."

Hiccup jumped in with more constructive criticism: "Fishlegs, you can't give in. Alvin will do a lot more than turn out the light to get you to talk. He had Dany and me locked in a dungeon, ready to be executed. Toothless was chained and muzzled for days." He took a deep breath and returned to the point he was trying to make. "You need to stick with what we discussed: your name, where you live, and nothing else."

"Alright, I'll work on it," he promised, just as exasperated with himself as they were.

"Mean?" Astrid repeated grumpily as they turned to leave. "I'm not mean."

Dany considered the boy's words, then shrugged. "Well, I am standoffish and blunt. At least he was honest."

Rather expectedly, Snotlout came up behind them and tried to put his arms around both of the girls, though the Targaryen ducked out of his hold before he could touch her. "Don't worry, ladies. I'm not picky when it comes to the personality of my women."

The Hofferson shot him a disgusted look and promptly elbowed the shorter Viking in the stomach— hard. He wheezed and clutched his chest, letting them get several steps away as he recovered. Dany gave her best friend an appreciative look as they resumed making their way out of the cave, only for her to freeze as Astrid suddenly realized something. "Hey— when you said Fishlegs was being honest, were you trying to convey that you think I'm mean, too?"

She very wisely decided not to answer.

When most of the riders had dispersed, the blonde stayed behind as she waited for the chief's son to be ready to leave. He seemed surprised to still see her there (though how he could miss Drogon's large form, she didn't know.) They fell into step as they left the arena, with the Targaryen offering, "want to walk back together?"

"Don't you have to start heading home?" he asked, looking behind them towards the path Dany usually took as she lived in the opposite direction.

She shook her head. "With the ban on flying it would take too long to walk back and forth each day, so I'm staying at Astrid's— plus you'd need me here when the Outcasts arrive, anyway. The chief let me fly one last time to tell my parents, though, so they won't worry."

Her words brought up two very different emotions for him. The first was happiness as she called his father 'chief,' which she had started to do more and more since Bork Week. Before, she just referred to Stoick as 'Stoick' or didn't use any sort of title for him at all, but with his father making active strides to include the Targaryens again, she had been showing him the same respect. The other was guilt at the thought of forcing her to stay away from her parents due to the fact that he couldn't change his father's mind.

While it was true that Dany wasn't very good at reading people's tone or body language, she had some skill when it came to those she was close with. It was easier when the change was more drastic, too. Since their return from Outcast Island, Hiccup had thrown himself into preparing for war against Alvin. He tended to do this with literally any project he encountered: diving headfirst into it, then holding on as fiercely as a dog with a bone.

She knew that he stayed up late at night hyper fixating on their 'Outcast problem,' whether by making inventions or just watching the horizon. He had less patience now than he used to as well, even snapping at Fishlegs when the larger boy couldn't hold up against their practice interrogation. The change in him worried her, and she didn't think that her little rock presents would help this time— though if they had even the slightest chance, she'd give him all the rocks in the world. Instead, she tried to remind him that she was there for him— they all were.

"Hey," Daenerys began, nudging the boy next to her to get his attention. "You know we don't expect you to have all the answers, right?"

He frowned, not following her line of thought. "What answers?"

The blonde gestured vaguely around them. "To everything. All the time. It's okay to not know some things."

Hiccup only jerked his head back towards the arena, indicating their friends as he muttered, "they do."

"Then they can go stuff it," she said with her usual honesty. Her tone lightened as she attempted to tease him, "you're not chief yet, after all."

He sighed, glancing out at the sea for the thousandth time in the last two months. "It feels like I already am."

Dany thought that being chief sounded very lonely; you would always have to be there for your people, but could anyone truly support you in turn? She didn't want her best friend to doubt that even for a second, so she twisted her fingers in the fur of her vest for a moment to gather enough courage. Then— while attempting to do it oh-so-casually, of course— she caught the boy's hand on the next swing of his arm.

The brunet startled a bit, then relaxed as he became used to her touch. It was only when she asked her next question that he realized what she was trying to do— cheer him up by distracting him (and it was working, a little.) "Want to show me what you've made so far?"

🏹🏹🏹

It took somewhat longer to get to the forge than usual as Toothless kept stopping to look at the sunset with a hopeful gleam in his green eyes. He was used to taking an evening lap around the island with Hiccup, but that habit had obviously been shut down due to the riding ban. It didn't stop the Night Fury from pleading with them as best he could, though, as he bounced around them and excitedly swished his tail. Dany understood the itch, too, because how did you tell something (or someone) it couldn't do what it had been born to do? But they could only appease him with pats and head-scratches, which didn't really seem to work.

He only grew more impatient as they arrived at the forge and Hiccup started taking out his inventions. The moon had risen by this point and, in irritation at their continued denial, Toothless whacked the boy in the head with his tail. Dany hid her smile since she knew she wasn't supposed to support that kind of behavior. It wasn't like Drogon was taking it any easier, either. He kept huffing bursts of hot steam in rebuke for being grounded, not to mention the downright hungry look in his eyes whenever Stoick happened to be in his sight.

At least Drogon was confined to outside the forge, so they only really had to contend with Toothless' annoyance. He bumped into Hiccup purposefully, causing his rider to stumble, already top heavy with the shield he held in his hands. That was the last straw as the brunet told him sternly, "Toothless, you have to relax."

He pointed over to the corner where the black dragon was supposed to lay down. The Night Fury only half-did what he was told before roaring in protest. Then Hiccup gave him the signal to lay all the way down, which he did reluctantly. He turned pointedly away from the teens in grumpy protest.

As the boy let out a breath of relief, Dany turned her attention to the item he'd brought out. "That's not just a shield, is it? Otherwise I'd be very disappointed. Those already exist."

That earned her a little half-smile as he turned to present the shield to her. "You know me too well, Dany. At this rate I won't be able to surprise you anymore."

"I don't know about that," she said brightly. "What does this one do?"

"Well, I'm still working out the kinks, but. . " He triggered some sort of lever that was hidden from her view and rope shot out of the center. Except, he hadn't fully thought the plan through. While he had been intending to show her how it worked, he'd sort of. . . forgotten that he needed to aim it, too.

Since it was pointed directly at the blonde, the rope wound itself around her, making the teen let out a startled yelp. The sound quickly died on her lips as the action brought on a secondary consequence (though certainly not a negative one): as the length of rope was still attached to the shield, which Hiccup was still holding, making the boy travel with it. This resulted in them being pressed together with only the shield between them.

Dany's eyes went very wide, though not in fear— merely in surprise at the sudden change in circumstances. She didn't mind them (this was Hiccup, after all, not someone like Snotlout who would take advantage of the situation), even with her preference for personal space. She stood quite still within the binds, not making an effort to try and free herself both because of how much she trusted her best friend, and the small (very small. Tiny. Miniscule) part of her that enjoyed him being this close.

It sent her heart racing in a way that was like when she was flying on Drogon, but entirely different at the same time. She always felt safe with Hiccup, even now, when another part of her felt like she was free-falling towards the sea whenever she tumbled headfirst off her dragon's back. Her chest even felt a bit tighter, like Fishlegs' had earlier that day, and her breaths began to come a little more shallowly than she was used to. Her face felt warmer, too, though she just chalked that up to the heat of the smithy.

She'd been close to Hiccup before, after all, so this time was no different (really!) But in those previous occurrences, she hadn't noticed just how very green his eyes were, or the way the firelight in the forge made them glimmer a bit more gold. She hadn't noticed the exact pattern of freckles that dotted his nose and cheeks, or that he was just barely taller than her— tall enough that, when she looked directly at him, her eyes met his lips. She quickly jerked her gaze up to meet his as the thought crossed her mind which, in this case, was the lesser of the two evils.

Somewhere in the back of his suddenly fuzzy mind, Hiccup dimly realized that Dany's plan to distract him had worked, though perhaps not in the way she'd intended. The second there was barely an inch of space between them, all thoughts of Alvin, the Outcasts, the flying ban and impending battles disappeared from his thoughts. All he could think about was how she didn't even try to get away. Instead her violet eyes met his gaze and, with a jolt, he realized that she didn't immediately look away. He didn't think he'd ever looked into her eyes directly for so long, mesmerized by the unusual shades of purple that he found there.

His fingers trembled slightly against the shield as he fought to regain his composure but the blonde's proximity made it a futile effort. He swallowed hard, feeling a lump forming in his throat as he struggled to find the right words to break the tension. For as smart as he was, he suddenly could not form a single word in any language known to man. "I, uh. . ."

It felt like the world had narrowed down to just the two of them, cocooned in their own little bubble of warmth and friendship. In that fleeting moment, he found himself captivated by the way the firelight danced across Dany's features, casting shadows and highlights that only served to enhance her beauty. He marveled at the way her lips curved into a smile, the warmth of her presence enveloping him like a comforting embrace. Clearing his throat, he tried again without much success: "I, uh. . ."

The shing of a blade being unsheathed followed by the familiar voice of the blacksmith finally broke them out of their trance: "Hiccup! Nice to have you in the shop again." Gobber came to a stop, realizing for the first time that the brunet wasn't alone. "Oh, and, uh, Daenerys, good to see you too." Then he noticed the position they were in and scratched the back of his neck with the curve of his hook. "Am I, uh, interruptin' somethin'?"

That caused the pair to spring apart as if the fire from the forge had leapt between them. Hiccup was so hasty in putting distance between them that he nearly dropped his shield on his foot, catching it just in time as it slipped from his fingers. "No, no, I was just, um. . ." He gave the rope a little tug, hoping desperately it would draw in. He continued distractedly, "showing Dany the shield I made."

The blonde helpfully disentangled herself, looking much more composed than Hiccup. He hurriedly gathered up the loose cord and held it awkwardly in his hands as the retraction was one of the things he was still working on. The additional space between them helped clear his mind a bit and he added, "if we can't ride dragons we have to be able to defend ourselves somehow."

He turned away from Gobber to balance the shield against the edge of the table, then gave the rope another pull. This time, it wound itself back up neatly and the metal center decoration went back to its place. The blacksmith regarded him sympathetically. "You know, Hiccup, your father is just doing what's best for you. He's trying to keep you safe."

"I know," the brunet allowed. He gestured towards his dragon. "But the safest place for me is on Toothless."

Not quite knowing what else to say, the older man hung up the sword on a nearby peg as he said, "well, I'll leave you to it. I imagine you'll be here quite a while. Too bad, really; have you seen that moon? Can't imagine a more beautiful night for a flight." He looked decidedly uncomfortable at the sullen glares the teens sent him and he beat a hasty retreat. "Well, goodnight!"

"I. . . should get going too," the Targaryen put in quickly, feeling unexpectedly uncomfortable at the thought of being alone with her best friend. "I'll see you later, yeah?"

Already back to the task at hand, he offered a preoccupied, "yeah, see you."

Dany couldn't help but wonder if he really was already lost to his project, or just felt too awkward to say goodbye to her properly. (She definitely didn't like the second option.)

🏹🏹🏹

"You're awfully quiet tonight," Astrid commented as they went to go feed Stormfly. Drogon still hunted for his own food without the chief knowing, though Dany had instructed him to stay closer to Berk until further notice.

The Targaryen frowned absent-mindedly as she knotted her fingers in her fur vest. "Am I?"

Her friend gave her a concerned look. "Want to talk about it?"

Daenerys shook her head as she leaned against the stable doorframe to watch Astrid go about feeding her dragon. "Not yet. I just. . . I need to think about it first."

"Well, I'm here when you're ready to talk," the blonde offered. She held up a piece of fish for her Nadder. "If it's got anything to do with the flying ban, you don't need to worry— we both know that Hiccup won't stay grounded for long, and then the rest of us will follow. We'll be up in the air before you know it."

Dany's rather anxious expression smoothed into one of gratitude. While Astrid wasn't right, her guess had been pretty good, and Dany appreciated her effort. "Thanks, Astrid—"

Before she could say anything else, Astrid's dragon squawked in alarm as she sensed unexpected movement. Bothe girls tensed as they anticipated a potential threat, the Hofferson asking, "what is it, Stormfly?"

Of course, the dragon couldn't answer, but the whistle that signaled a rise in pressure told them what they needed to know. They both looked out into the night, but against a black sky, a Night Fury was impossible to see. The girls exchanged a meaningful look before Astrid hopped onto her dragon. She met the blonde's gaze expectantly. "Coming?"

Dany shook her head to clear it of the confusing thoughts she was currently experiencing; whatever had happened back in the forge wasn't important right now. While she certainly wanted to encourage Hiccup to take a break, they did have more important things going on than. . . feelings (or whatever it was.) It would be more productive to focus on Alvin and the Outcasts— something that had a clear and simple answer— than anything that would complicate her relationship with Hiccup. Once all of this was over, maybe (maybe) she could take this evening back out again to reexamine it. For now, it was better to keep things exactly as they had always been.

She accepted Astrid's outstretched hand as the blonde hauled her up on the Nadder's back. They took off without any more preamble, riding silently through the night as Hiccup tried to shake them loose. It was obvious that was what he was doing as he dove down towards the sea, then leveled out to weave between the sea-stacks, only to shoot back up towards the sky once more.

If they had been flying on Drogon, they would have lost the pair in seconds; Dany had to give Astrid credit for how far she'd come in her flying skills. The two girls leaned over Stormfly's back to give her as little wind resistance as possible, and the Targaryen heard her friend mutter, "alright Hiccup, what are you up to?"

He circled around one sea-stack, spiraling upwards to take advantage of the cloud cover. Dany could've sworn he glanced back at them just before he disappeared from view, darting to the left and out of their line of sight. Astrid landed Stormfly on one of the pillars jutted out above the water as they searched for the boy. Spotting a patch of red against an otherwise dark surface, Daenerys quietly got her friend's attention and pointed towards it. With a determined nod, the Hofferson guided her Nadder towards the rocky alcove.

They landed just behind him as they heard the brunet say, "nice flying, bud. I think we lost them."

"Think again, Hiccup."

He froze as a guilty smile appeared on his face before he turned to the girls. "Astrid! Dany! We were just. . . talking about you."

"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," Astrid chided him.

"Actually, no," he started defensively, "this is the part where I tell you my dad is wrong."

The Targaryen's expression brightened hopefully. "So does this mean we can fly whenever we want?"

His gaze dropped, his shoulders slumping as he answered with a lot less confidence, "I didn't. . . say that." Then he straightened to add, "but Dany, you know what we're up against. You were there on Outcast Island with me. You saw what Alvin is capable of."

"Yeah, I do," she agreed, her tone taking on a harder edge, "which is why I think flying around at night by yourself without saying anything is a stupid move. What if something happened to you? No one would know until it was too late." She scoffed at the sheepish expression that crossed his face. "Didn't think about that, did you?"

"No, no, I did," Hiccup replied. "And I thought I didn't want to get anyone else in trouble. I was. . . trying to do the right thing. Sort of."

"Dany's right, Hiccup," Astrid stated, siding with the blonde. "It's great that you wanna do the right thing but not if it gets you killed. So, if we're gonna ride dragons behind your father's back, we all need to ride dragons behind your father's back."

Understanding dawned in his eyes as the defensiveness melted away; that was something he could work with.

🏹🏹🏹

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

It was the next morning; the trio had stayed up most of the night working on an idea that they could present to their friends while also keeping it from Hiccup's father.

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

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

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

"As far as you're concerned, it doesn't exist. There is no Dragon Flight Club."

Snotlout exchanged a look with his dragon, who had his head bent towards them as he seemingly listened in on their conversation. "Hey. What do you think?"

Hookfang responded with a blast of fire that was aimed right at his rider's feet. It sent Snotlout flying backwards into a nearby cart. The boy didn't even bother to get back on his feet as he gave them a thumbs-up from where he lay. "He's in!"

One of their final stops were the twins, who were arguably the hardest to make understand. The siblings were hanging upside-down from the rafters of their house when they arrived. Dany and Astrid let Hiccup take the lead with the explanation. "So listen, this is very, very important. The first rule of Dragon Flight Club, is that there is no Dragon Flight Club."

This, of course, did not make any sense to them. "Okay, so, wait a minute." Tuffnut dropped down from the beam he and his sister were hanging from. "Is there a Dragon Flight Club?"

"Yes," Astrid answered pointedly as Ruffnut righted herself to join her brother. "There is a Dragon Flight Club."

Still confused, Ruffnut gestured to Hiccup. "But. . . he just said there is no Dragon Flight Club."

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

"Absolutely!" Tuffnut said cheerfully, only to let his face drop into a deadpan expression so obvious that even Dany could tell he was being sarcastic as he added, "not."

Ruffnut shook her head and put a hand to her temple to indicate a headache coming on. "Yeah. I think I need to lie down."

"Me too," her brother agreed, following his sister as they turned away from the trio. "Why don't you guys come back when you've made up your mind, and stop saying 'is' so much."

Seeing the frustrated expressions on Hiccup's and Astrid's faces, Dany nodded to the twins. "Let me try talking to them."

They gave her equally uncertain looks in return. "Handle the twins? By yourself? Dany, are you sure?"

The blonde smiled a little at Astrid's alarm, but she gave them another nod, this time with a glint of determination in her eyes. "I'm sure. You guys go talk to Fishlegs and we'll meet up later, okay?"

They glanced at each other, silently arguing whether they should leave her alone with the siblings, then Hiccup nodded. "Alright. Good luck."

Once they'd left, she went deeper into the Thorstons' house to find where the siblings had gotten off to. She tried not to be too put off by the strange stances they'd gone to 'lie down' in. Tuffnut was resting face-first into his pillow, with his knees pulled up as close to his chest as possible and his arms stretched over his head. It didn't look the least bit comfortable, but his sister didn't look much better. Ruffnut's helmet was sitting on the floor next to her as she lay on her back with her legs stretched straight up and her hands latched together over her head.

"Um. . . what's with the positions?" (Well, she did say 'tried.')

Ruffnut didn't even glance her way as she replied obviously (in a tone that implied the 'duh') "I'm trying to make all the blood go back to my head after I lost it because of Hiccup's terrible explanation."

"O-kay," she said slowly, deciding not to bother with explaining the science of that. "Well, can I talk to you about the Dragon Flight club?"

"You're still on that?" Tuffnut complained, his voice muffled by the pillow. "Fine. But if you say 'is' one time, I'm out."

Dany couldn't tell whether he was joking or not and she didn't have he facial expression to help her, either, so she took him at his word. This is going to be a lot harder than what I signed up for, she thought grimly. "Right. Well, to clarify things, there will be a Dragon Flight Club."

"I wish you guys would make up your minds about that," Ruffnut grumbled. "There is, there isn't— I don't have enough blood in my body to stop my head from hurting if you keep going on like this."

"There i—" The blonde stopped herself abruptly from saying 'is' and changed it to: "there will be. Our first meeting i— will be tonight. They were saying it doesn't exist because it was their convoluted way of keeping it a secret. Stoick's not supposed to know about it."

That got their attention and Ruffnut sat up properly, her eyes gleaming with interest. "You should have lead with that!"

Daenerys shook her head. "Hiccup doesn't want to admit to doing anything behind his dad's back, so this— uh, it's kind of his way of getting around that. It's easier for him to pretend the club doesn't really exist since it's an unauthorized version of the Dragon Academy— y'know, with the flight ban and all. But the important part is that no one, especially not the chief, finds out. Only you guys, Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs and I know about it."

Tuffnut straightened as well, pushing himself into a kneeling position to regard her flatly. "You know, if you'd just explained it to us clearly like that in the first place, we would have understood." He sniffed a little haughtily. "We know how to keep a secret."

"Right," she repeated, this time apologetically. "Hiccup definitely has the tendency to overthink things." ('You're telling me,' Ruffnut grumbled.) "So we'll see you tonight?"

"Definitely," the younger twin confirmed. Her eyes sparkled with their trademark sign of mischief. "Do you want us to find a way to keep the chief, ah. . . busy so everyone can get to the arena easily?"

"No!" Dany said quickly, "no. Stoick's not supposed to find out— that's the whole point."

"Well," Tuffnut put in thoughtfully, "some people might say it's more suspicious if we don't plan anything. But have it your boring way, I guess. It won't be our fault if the chief finds out on the first night. Just remember that we offered to do something out of the kindness of our hearts and you're the one who turned us down."

"I'll. . . keep that in mind," the Targaryen answered warily. She began to back towards the door, not quite liking the predatory gleam in the twins' eyes now that they'd recovered from Hiccup's 'riddle.' She was sure they'd cause some kind of trouble before their meeting tonight, anyway, and she certainly didn't want to be anywhere near them when they did. "See you!"

🏹🏹🏹

They all gathered in the arena as the sun was going down, just after dinner under various excuses for evening activities. At the sight of the twins' presence, both Hiccup and Astrid gave her impressed, mildly curious 'how did you do that?' looks. Dany just smiled at them mysteriously, deciding not to say that the twins needed to be spoken to bluntly— which was her specialty.

The brunet paced in front of them as he gave the group a rundown of what to expect. "Okay, Dragon Flight Club members. You know why you're here."

Tuffnut scoffed. "Yeah, no thanks to you."

Hiccup ignored him and continued, "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, Astrid, Dany and I have put together some training exercises."

"Blah, blah, blah," Snotlout mocked him as he leaned against Hookfang. "Can we go already?"

The Monstrous Nightmare roared as if to accentuate his point, prompting the chief's son to acquiesce. "Let's mount up. First stop, Changewing Island."

Dany had to recall her dragon with her whistle as he had been out hunting, but quickly followed orders once he'd arrived. Drogon was pleased to be back in the air again and he reveled in it by flying at a consistently faster speed than he usually went. He seemed to particularly relish the thought of going behind the chief's back. Daenerys herself was just as pleased, feeling as if a lost limb had been regained (though that analogy might have been in poor taste. . . sorry, Hiccup.) She flew above her friends to let the cool night air surround her. She flung out her arms so they were outstretched by her sides, savoring the freedom of being airborne once more.

They reached the island faster than she would've liked, its bare trees sticking starkly up against the starry sky. Since it wasn't mating season, the entire island was dark, lacking the glowing orbs of the Changewing eggs. She sort of missed the bright colors, though certainly not the disaster that had followed.

Tuffnut, too, recalled the place more fondly than the rest of the group. He let out an almost nostalgic sigh as he remembered, "ah! Stones of Good Fortune. A lifetime of good luck. I can't wait to get my hands on one of those."

Dany sighed; if the twins were ever going to be on the same level as the rest of them were, it was going to take a lot more than just 'clearly explaining' things to them. There was no teacher in the world who had that much patience. Astrid rolled her eyes, similarly exasperated. "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."

They stayed alert for any signs of rustling leaves that would indicate Changewing movement as they flew as low as they dared over the ground. Drogon's nostrils flared as he caught the scent of something that was distinctly not dragon, and flew towards it. The Targaryen trusted her dragon and let him lead the way, the others following suit as she quietly got their attention. Drogon slowed when they reached a clearing where the sound of snorting and snuffling reached their ears.

Below them was a small herd of boars who were rooting in the dirt as they ambled along. One seemed to sense danger and grunted, alerting the others to keep moving. As the riders watched on, Hiccup narrated for them, "Changewings hunt like wolves. One dragon lures a single boar from the herd—"

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

The dragons did exactly as the boys said. First one closed in on the weakest of the group, then directed it towards the waiting Changewings that were camouflaged against nearby trees. They slithered downwards to form a three-dragon circle around the animal, trapping it in the middle of a barren expanse of ground with no hope of escape. Or, there would have been no hope had Tuffnut suddenly sat up straight in his saddle.

"Hey! Don't we know that boar?" He didn't bother to lower his voice, even in hearing vicinity of wild dragons.

His sister followed his gaze, then confirmed, "yeah, we do. That's Bjorn Boar!"

"Are they serious?" Astrid groaned.

Tuffnut answered her by pointing sternly in the Changewings' direction and scolding them: "you leave Bjorn alone!"

"Clearly they are," Hiccup allowed, only finding the energy to be mildly annoyed by this.

The twins' loud conversation drew the Changewings away from their meal. The dragons stared up at the riders threateningly, focusing on the intruders that that dared enter their territory. Tuffnut's eyes widened with alarm as they growled up at him. "Uh, you're on your own, Bjorn!"

They launched after the riders without further ado, shooting green acid as they went. The group peeled off in different directions in the hopes of splitting up the dragons. It was easy to keep Drogon away from them as they deemed him too big a target to worry about; they went after the easier 'prey' instead. Her friends were still in danger, though. She watched the path of falling trees that the other teens flew just ahead of as she tried to figure out a way to help them.

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

"Not very comforting when you're on the slowest dragon!" Fishlegs retorted, earning a disgruntled grumble from Meatlug. He hugged her comfortingly in response. "I'm sorry, girl. It had to be said."

Dany saw her chance, then, and instructed her dragon on what to do. He swooped down as close to the trees as he could— though the new clearing that the Changewings were making helped quite a bit— and caught up easily to Meatlug. Fishlegs didn't react until it was too late; only after Drogon's claws secured carefully around the Gronckle's pudgy body to give her a boost along.

The large boy let out a squeak of fright as he felt the talons wrap around him and he squeezed his eyes shut. "Please don't eat me," he whimpered.

Daenerys could only shake her head at the resurgence of his fear of her dragon. She was only trying to help, after all! Meatlug, on the other hand, seemed completely at ease with being Drogon's hitchhiker. Her little wings buzzed along as if they were truly doing any work in the face of the larger dragon's forceful propulsions.

The other riders weren't so lucky and were quickly becoming overwhelmed by the Changewings. One of them swooped over Snotlout's head, causing him to narrowly miss an acid projectile. "There's too many of them and they come out of nowhere!"

Hiccup had the misfortune of flying straight towards two Changewings, which he narrowly avoided by ducking against Toothless' back. He glanced upwards for a clearing— anything to give them the upper hand— and an idea struck. "Wait a minute. If they don't have anything to camouflage against—"

"—then we take away their advantage!" Fishlegs concluded, having partially recovered from his shock of being grabbed out of midair by a very large dragon.

"Up!" Astrid called to them as she angled Stormfly towards the sky. "Up, up, up!"

When they were successfully able to ward off the Changewings— with the Nadder shooting some spine shots and Toothless' plasma blasts— Drogon released Meatlug to let her fly on her own. Her rider at one last complaint as he clutched at his head in dismay: "what did I say about the Changewing Debacle?! Was no one listening?!"

🏹🏹🏹

Fishlegs Ingerman was pleased to say that he had learned from the interrogation practice a few days ago. When the chief caught him outside of his home, he thought he was surely done for— but he'd held strong, even as a breeze caused all the torches in the Great Hall to become extinguished and engulf them in sudden darkness. He proudly recounted the events during the next Dragon Flight club meeting (and yes, perhaps he embellished a little.)

"He put the screws to me," he recalled. "I-I thought I was gonna crack. Especially when the lights went out 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.

Hiccup ignored the complaint as he nodded approvingly at the larger boy. "You did great, Fishlegs."

"Yeah," Dany agreed, feeling as if his accomplishment should be recognized; she knew that courage didn't come easily to him. She continued sincerely, "way to really put that practice to use."

He beamed at their praise, made a little more confident that when, if he ever had to do it for real, he might stand as much of a chance as the rest of his friends. The twins were unaffected by the previous evening's events, more focused on what the present night held as Ruffnut changed the subject to ask, "so, what are we doing tonight?"

"Nothing," was the brunet's simple response.

"That doesn't sound fun at all," Tuffnut whined.

"It's not supposed to," the Targaryen scolded him. "With the chief on our tail— literally— we have to lay low for a little while."

Hiccup nodded in confirmation. "Exactly. Until this blows over, we need to be invisible—"

Of course, the universe loved to prove him wrong and at that moment, Hookfang came soaring into the area with a windblown Snotlout on his back. The shorter Viking was no less eye-catching as he shouted, "hey! Guys!"

Before he could say anything else, the chief's son chided him, "Snotlout, what did I tell you?" He slapped his palm to his forehead in exasperation. "No dragons."

"Yeah!" Tuffnut chimed in smugly— for once he wasn't the only one out of the loop. "Even I knew that."

Hiccup knew it was a battle not worth fighting, though, and moved on. "What's so important, anyway?"

Snotlout leaned causally on Hookfang's horns, examining his nails with unhurried carelessness. "Let's just say I may have saved this entire island. Alvin and the Outcasts are attacking as we speak."

They tensed at this admittedly expected— but also still surprising— news. They'd always known the Outcasts would come for Berk, it was just a matter of when. Dany knew that Hiccup had spent so many nights preparing for this moment, but the fact that it was here was a whole different story entirely. Wanting to make sure that he knew she was behind him, she walked over to stand by his side and asked him evenly: "so, what do we do now?"

He met her gaze— something that she was beginning to allow him to do more often rather than just looking away— and seemed surprised at the lack of hesitation in her question. She stood tall next to him, her shoulders squared and her feet spread confidently apart, her bare toes almost rooted steadfastly into the ground— an immovable object when it came to protecting what she loved. The sight of her unwavering resoluteness gave him the boost he needed to start giving out commands as they planned their attack against the Outcasts.

🏹🏹🏹

After getting the chief up to speed, they set out. Using the cloud cover to their advantage, they flew towards the enemy ships undetected until they were right above them. There were five ships in total, so not impossible odds against the Dragon Academy. Dany unslung her bow from her shoulders and strung it, preparing to take her position as archer to make the rest of the battle easier for the others.

"I'm going to draw their first round of fire," Stoick announced. "While they're reloading, you attack. But not before."

The chief flew downwards to do exactly as he said, easily catching the Outcasts' attention with the size of his dragon. Alvin retaliated by shooting boulders in his direction, forcing him down towards the water to avoid them. Thornado let out a soundwave blast that rocked the boats and had the soldiers scrambling for purchase. A volley of arrows followed next, aimed at the dragon's leathery wings— the weakest part in the otherwise formidable creature. They were met with another sonic burst, spinning the weapons on their heads and back towards the Vikings who'd fired them in the first place.

Some Outcasts jumped overboard to avoid them while others shot another round of boulders. This time, Stoick caught one with his bare hands, grunting with the effort of doing so. "Now, Hiccup!"

The teens let their dragons do the work for them as they shot fire-y blasts down towards the opposing Vikings. Dany stayed aloft as— she often said— Drogon was not made for close combat. She fired her own arrows down at the soldiers, forcing more into the water to avoid her impeccable aim. She heard Hiccup's shout of "Changewings!" but kept course, knowing that the other teens would protect Berk. Her battle was with the Outcasts. The Outcasts, who foolishly assumed that all the Dragon Academy members would go after their bait.

The torrent of firepower ceased for a moment as Alvin mistakenly guessed that they had a break in the fight. It gave Drogon the perfect window to swoop lower than he usually would have, his talons outstretched to secure around the mast of the first ship. There was a great tearing noise as her dragon pulled it free, as easily as sliding a hot knife through butter. Shards of splintered wood flew everywhere, followed by a splash! as Drogon dropped the mast in the water. The action threw waves over the side of the boat, drenching the Outcasts as an added bonus.

Shouts of alarm soon followed as the Vikings began to abandon ship due to the giant hole that had formed right in the middle of it. Dany aimed for the next boat, but Alvin was quick to get his soldiers back to work. They had no choice but to fly higher to avoid the boulders he sent their way.

Hiccup rejoined their battle, having given the task of Changewing herding to Astrid and the others. He flew lower than Drogon dared, speeding right along the ship's side to offset their balance in the water. Stoick came at them with another detonation of sound, clearing the path for Dany's dragon as the Outcasts recovered. With another large rending sound, a second mast was torn from its ship due to Drogon's claws. A following explosion of purple fireworks (made by combining Toothless' and Thornados' shots) convinced them that it was time to turn back.

"They're retreating!" Hiccup exclaimed as they watched the ships leave.

"Well done Hiccup— and Daenerys," his father congratulated them. (Although she didn't want to admit it, it did feel nice to have the chief's praise.)

They also turned around, heading back to Berk after a battle hard-won. But still. . . to both teens, even though they had fought, it felt a little too. . . easy. Stoick noticed the expression on his son's face and frowned in concern. "What is it?"

"I don't know. I just figured Alvin would. . . have a little better plan than this," the brunet remarked.

"He may be an Outcast," the Targaryen conceded, "but he's not stupid— well, as far as Outcasts go, anyway. He should've known that fighting fire-breathing dragons with wooden boats wouldn't go in his favor. . ."

"Let's just be thankful that he didn't," Stoick told them, but neither teen could shake off the feeling that this was only the beginning.

A/n: first chapter of Defenders of Berk!! Only nineteen more to go before RTTE :) (You guys have NO idea how excited I am to write for that one— I've been setting up a few things in this book that you won't even know about until certain episodes, then I hope you'll have an 'ohhh!' moment once you realize 😁.)

I hope— for people who read more than one of my books— they think of me as a slow burn enthusiast. This series is an  especially long slow burn since I kind of want to mimic the pattern of Astrid/Hiccup's relationship in the show (which is a minor spoiler.) But whereas before the stove wasn't even on, this act is when we've got a bit of flame going under the pot. It won't get to a simmer until RTTE so I hope you'll stick around 'til then. (And once we get to s4 of RTTE, hold on to your pants— then the pasta will be ready! (Does this analogy even make sense??))

Anyway, this book is cross-posted on ao3 (I have the same username over there if you prefer reading on that platform!) It's done ok, but I've only gotten two comments on Khaleesi since I've started it (unlike on here— by the way, thank you so much guys! Seeing your reactions makes me excited to post every week 😊.) One wasn't even really related to my writing, just to the episode in general. The other one was the first hate comment I've ever received (woohoo I guess?)

I've since deleted it because I don't need that kind of negativity in my life (plus it was written by someone who didn't know English very well and was quite confusing.) But they did make one valid point: I focus a lot on the Dany/Hiccup relationship and not so much on Dany/everyone else. Which, even though that's the main romantic relationship of the book, I can see what they were getting at. So I've made it a point in this act to focus more on Dany's friendships with the rest of the gang (as in her interactions with the twins in the chapter) to hopefully better flush out her character. 

(If I'm being honest, I've ignored Dany's friendships with everyone but Astrid and Hiccup since the HTTYD characters are REALLY hard for me to write off script. 😭)