━━ chapter fourteen
a smokey tale

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

    ━━"Trader Johann is here! Trader Johann is here!"

    "Fishlegs, we know━we are literally standing in front of him!"

    Valkyrie batted her eyelashes at Hiccup as the bridge to Johann's ship extended out to the docks. He sighed at her, knowing the look she was giving him. It has been a good while since Trader Johann had come to Berkian shores with his glorious goods. After the Speed Stinger incident, it took him a little while to regather all of his sources. And now that he was back, Berk━as always━was beyond excited! (As long as there were no more Blue Oleander this time).

     "One thing," Hiccup told her and she grinned, giddy. "One thing, I'm buying for you━that's it. I already have to get a bunch of stuff for dad."

    Valkyrie kissed his cheek happily. "Yes! You're the best."

    As soon as the wood hit the docks, Fishlegs was running up, giggling with excitement. Watching him go, Snotlout scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning back against Hookfang. "Ppf! Johann Shmohann, that guy never lets me touch any of his cool stuff."

    Hott laughed at him as he ascended up the bridge, "Because the last time he was here, you broke half of it!"

    Snotlout gasped, offended. "It's my word against his!"

    Valkyrie rolled her eyes and flicked his helmet in passing. "Hey!" he snapped at her as she pulled Hiccup up into the boat, a little skip in her step. She tugged him towards the shiny things━aka, the weapons, excited for a present. As she did, Johann opened his arms, welcoming to the crowd of villagers that were starting to make their way to the docks.

    "I'm back!" he set a foot onto the edge of his boat, grining. Johann looked as extravagant as ever in his rich, red and blue silks and ornate dagger. His beard had gotten longer with a thicker braid at the tip, probably filled to the brim with his secrets and tales. "Ah, Berk! The crown jewel of the entire Archipelago!"

    Fishlegs found his favourite things on the ship━the books. "Over here Trader Johann!" The trader glanced back and chuckled whole-heartedly at the boy, who was on the tips of his toes in excitement. He stepped off and made his way over, arms clasped lesuirely behind his back. "Oh! What did you bring today?"

    Valkyrie gasped, looking over, "Flowers? Botany books?!"

    "Oh, many wondrous things, Mister Fishlegs and Miss Valkyrie," he gestured out to his stock. "Treasures from every coast and every shore! Like the pearls of Dinger━" he held up two glistening earrings. Valkyrie's eyes widened━they were so pretty. She glanced at Hiccup eagerly and he sighed, knowing full well she won't decide on anything to buy. "Perfect for that special lady in your life..." he shook them knowingly at Hiccup and Val. The chief's son gave Johann a look that said, not helping.

    "You know," Snotlout butted in, slipping in next to the two of them, "I could get you those, Val if Hiccup won't. Just say the word━"

    She turned her nose up at him and gave him a shove, "Yuck!"

    Valkyrie pulled Hiccup to the set-up of botany books. As she did, Snotlout called after her, "That's not the word!"

     She sifted through the books, checking what was inside to see whether they had plants she already didn't know about. As she did, Hiccup went off, looking at the inks, charcoals and parchments. He picked one up, feeling the texture as if that was supposed to change everything. Hiccup told Valkyrie it did━and that it was very important. Better quality parchment could hold ink drawings better than others. She didn't fully understand it, but took his word for it.

    Gobber joined them on the ship, limping around with his wooden peg leg thudding against the planks and peering at different crates. He was not finding what he wanted, apparently for he shook his head and announced, "Hmmm━nope!"

    Johann quickly jumped towards him, his salesman's voice slipping easily off his tongue, "Ah! Mister Gobber! What could I interest you in?"

    "Why don't you wow me Johann," replied Gobber, "knock me off my feet."

    "Foot," muttered Snotlout. Hott shoved him.

    "Putting me to the test are you? Okay━"

    "Hang on━" Gobber pushed him aside and walked up to a pile of ... something at the foot of the ship, covered in a knitted tarp. "What's under here?"

    "Oh! Nothing too exciting," said Johann following him, "just an old pile of━"

    Gobber slipped his hook under and peered in. He gasped with delight, "━Scap metal!" He ripped the tarp away. "It's perfect! I've run out of things to pound around here!"

     Tuffnut's eyes widened as he settled his gaze on something wondrous against the ship's mast. "Whoa━" he let out, heart stolen immediately, "━it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!"

    Astrid frowned at him, "It's just scrap metal."

    "No," he rushed forward to the soon-to-be love of his life, "I'm talking about this mace!" he picked it up, gazing at the weapon in the sunlight. The metal gleamed, spikes adorning all around it. Tuffnut had become weak at the knees.

     "Whoa ..." he breathed like a love-struck fool. Valkyrie arched a brow, weirded-out, as she always was when it came to the Twins. "Hey, mace..." he murmured, running his fingers down the hilt tenderly. "You wanna come home with me, don't you?" He put on a high-pitched voice and replied: "'Yes, I do, Tuffnut! I wanna needlessly destroy other people's property with you!'" he returned to his normal voice and hugged the weapon, "Oh, Macey! You get me!"

     "Uh ...?" Valkyrie let out, glancing at Ruffnut briefly. She had a similar look on her face, staring down her brother with disgust. 

    "Don't look at me!" she told her in defence. "I'm not apart of this."

    Meanwhile, seeing Gobber awe-struck with the scrap metal, Johann's position changed. He━on the tip of his tongue━came up with a splender of tales to coax the blacksmith into buying it. "I see you are a gentleman that recognises quality when he sees it." Gobber took a broken sword and tested the metal by biting it. Valkyrie arched a brow. "This is the finest metal from the farthest reaches of the Archipelago!"

     Gobber was satisfying with what he was looking for and announced, "I'll take it all!"

    "Excellent," Johann clapped his hands joyfully, "always a pleasure, Mister Gobber."

    Toothless caught scent of something. Valkyrie watched him jump onto the boat and approach the scrap metal. He stuck his nose into it and soon backed up, snarling. She frowned, confused━

    Crash!

    They all spun back. Johann glowered. Snotlout chuckled nervously, holding his hands up in surrender as a pot fell behind him and smashed amongst the pile of platters and goblets. He quickly shuffled away, "Wasn't me!"

    Johann grumbled, "I really hate that kid."

     "Don't we all," mumbled Astrid in agreement.

     Valkyrie rolled her eyes and turned back to her books. She finished looking through them, finding a few that interested her before moving onto the ornate shieds. She heard Gobber struggle to move the pile of scrap metal. He gave up and turned to the chief's son with a sigh, "Hey, Hiccup, do you think you can spare a hook, son?"

    "Not a problem, Gobber. Hey, guys!" he looked over at the teens.

    Tuffnut hugged his new weapon, "Lets do this, Macey!"

    Snotlout hurried to Hookfang to help, but Gobber snagged his tunic with his hook, hoisting him up with a, "Not so fast, you. I paid good money for this scrap, I'll not have you dropping it into the ocean!"

    Valkyrie chuckled at the scowl on Snotlout's face.

    Astrid, Fishlegs and Hott helped cart the scrap metal back to the village with their dragons and some nice, strong rope. Valkyrie turned back to Johann's goods, unable to decide. She sighed and decided on nothing, putting away the botany books and the sword that caught her gaze and stepped off the ramp to where Hiccup, Toothless and Zephyr were waiting.

    "Nothing?" Hiccup arched a brow.

    Valkyrie rolled her eyes, "Too much to decide."

    He grinned, knowing that would be her answer. It always ended up like this. Valkyrie found so much she wanted and couldn't decide on a single thing. Which was why, he decided for her. Out of a pouch, he held up a small carved flower paper-weight. Valkyrie's eyes lit up and she gasped, rushing towards him and taking it.

    It was beautiful and elegant, something she'd never afford. But Hiccup was the chief's son and sometimes, he really liked to spoil her. "It's lovely," she said, smiling at him. "Thank you," she kissed him and they hopped onto their dragons, heading back home for the day.

    Valkyrie slept with the paper weight on her bedside table that night, happy. When she woke up the next morning, she smiled at it and gave it a brush with her fingers and got ready for the day. Zephyr sat, waiting patiently for their morning flight to gather flowers and take in the fresh air.

    But as she stepped outside, she found out that half of the village was already awake, arguing with each other. Walking out with Zephyr and through the crowds, she cought the gist of missing objects━from everyone. They were complaining, blaming one another. Valkyrie found out pretty quick that the old Frode ceremonial mallet had been one of the things stolen and he was furious. That weapon had passed through generations of their Clan, stealing it might as well be a death sentence for the perpetrator. Valkyrie quickly slipped away, not wanting to deal with his anger he expressed to a very surprised Silent Sven right now and found the others.

    Hott and Spikemoth brother joined them quickly, glancing at the Twins. He arched a brow, confused to see Tuffnut wailing on his knees. "Uh ...?" He crossed his arms and turned to Val, "So, the ceremonial mallet has been stolen."

    "I know," said Valkyrie, glancing back briefly at her fuming father. "So has a lot of other things from people's houses."

     Hiccup was also surprised to see them all up and huddled in the plaza. He and Toothless descended down the slope from his house, yawning. But the yawn turned into a frown as he slowly started to see the comottion.

     He stopped next to Val, taking her arm to ask, "Uh, what did we just walk into?"

    "A bunch of stuff got stolen from the village last night," said Snotlout.

    "Yeah," said Valkyrie. "Including the Frode's ceromonial mallet━which my father isn't exactly taking too well," she nodded to Mallory Frode who stamped down on an empty crate. All the teens winced. Mak and Erik were not helping the situation. They were cheering him on until Val's mother scolded them with a small smack to their helmets.

    "He's not the only one taking it pretty hard," Astrid gestured to Tuffnut who was still wailing, slamming his hands onto the cobblestone.

    "Macey!" he sobbed, "Macey! Oh gods━oh, gods━she's gone!" he dramatically fell back on his knees and screamed up to the dawn, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Barf and Belch shared a quizzical look.

     After he composed himself slightly, he turned to his sister watching him━a mixture of concern and annoyance. "You!" he pointed accusingly at her. "You were always jealous of her. You knew I loved her more because I told you every so often and I wrote it in your room on the wall!"

    "He only had it for a day," said Astrid, dubious.

    Stoick approached them after having just heard an earful from Valkyrie's father. She gave him a look of apology but he just patted her shoulder. She stumbled a little under his strength. "We ave quite a situation on our hands. Axes, shields, mallets, helmets, drinking goblets ... all stolen."

    Hiccup murmured these words to himself thoughtfully. "What do all these things have in common?"

    Snotlout scoffed, "Duh!" he tapped his helment. "They're all gone."

    "No," said Hiccup, "they're metal. Everything that's missing is metal."

    "Hiccup," Val said, "everything we own is metal."

    "It's a theory," he stressed, "work with me."

    Meanwhile, Tuff was still sobbing over his missing mace. Astrid sighed, pinching the bridge fo her nose.

    "Whatever is going on," said Stoick, "I need to find whoever is responsible before this panic gets any worse."

    "Or before our dad destroys every crate in sight," Hott winced as his and Val's father smashed another emtpy crate.

    "I'll deal with Mallory," sighed Stoick.

     "Gods, it's like the day mum's betrothal gift got lost," whispered Val.

    "Yeah," Hott added, glancing at everyone's scared glances. "He upturned the entire house and village before Mum found it above the fireplace."

     Gobber raced towards them through the crowd, "Stoick!" he heaved, skidding to a stop in front of them. "Bucket and Mulch are slapping each other with sturgeons!" he pointed to the fishermen who were whacking each other and forth.

    "What happened to their bludgeons?" asked the Chief, incredulous.

    "Stolen. Hence, the sturgeons."

    "In someways I guess that's probably better..."

    "Uh, Dad?" Hiccup shuffled to his side, turning to face him, "what do you say you take care of this sturgeon slapping and Val's father's ... uh ... crate smashing while Val and I do a little investigating." The chief nodded and he and Gobber set off.

    Val propped her hands on her hips, facing her boyfriend. "Investigating?" she asked. "What are you planning?"

    "To return to the scenes of the crime and see if we can find something about this metal thief."

    "Can they be really called a metal thief if everything we own is metal?"

    "Work with me here, Val."

    "Fine."

    Behind them, Tuffnut wailed in passing, "I miss her! She had such a weird voice!"

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

    ━━The first place they visited was Gobber's workshop. Valkyrie walked around the forge, glancing at the floors and benches, searching for anything that could give them clues. As she did, Hiccup spoke with the blacksmith.

    "Gobber, can you remember who has been here the last couple of days?"

    He scratched his head with his hook. "Hmm ... hard to say," he decided. "Business has been booming. There's only forty-one shopping days left till Snoggletog, you know━got to get ready for Black Plague Friday, you know!"

    Valkyrie nodded, agreeing, "Yep!" she peered under one of the work benches. "Everyone's either coughing or shopping ..."

    Hiccup joined Valkyrie in scouting around. He narrowed his eyes at the stone floor, hands on his hips, "No footprints..." he said after a while.

    Gobber followed him, "This metal thief won't get the best of me!" he said. "I've set booty traps that are guaranteed to nab it━" there was a clink.

    Valkyrie frowned, standing back up to see Gobber freeze right in his spot. She shared a glance with Hiccup, "What's the matter━?" she walked around the workshop only to gasp to see Gobber surrounded by crossbows.

    Gobber laughed nervously, "Heh ... it would appear that I've trapped myself in my own booby. No one ... move ... a muscle ..."

    Hiccup went to say something but Valkyrie just gently lowered his hand, shaking her head. They decided to leave Gobber, wanting to get out of there as quick as they could. The next place they visited was the Twins' home. Tuffnut showed them around the home and straight to the place of the crime.

    Valkyrie groaned, not sure what she expected━but she definitely didn't expect an entire shrine to Macey, filled to the brim with painted shields, flowers, leaves and small fur blankets. The space where Macey was supposed to lie was obviously empty under the wooden threshold taken from what seemed to be the side of a wagon.

"This is where Macey was before her━" Tuff narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his sister, "━disappearence, quote, unquote."

"I didn't take your stupid mace!" snapped Ruff.

"It was her favourite spot," went on Tuffnut, gazing longingly at the shrine he had made. "She just loved watching the sunset, or this wall, just depending on which side I left her on."

"This is weird," Valkyrie whispered to Hiccup.

"Yeah," he replied, leaning into as they watched Tuffnut sob over the flowers and leaves, "even for the Twins."

"Hey!" Ruff heard him. "Leave me out of this one!"

They travelled to the door, looking at the wall, floor and handle for any scuffs. It was hard, considering the Twins' homes were filled with them. "Strange," murmured Hiccup, "no forced entry, not a single footprint ..."

"And no eye witnesses," sighed Valkyrie.

"I just don't get it."

"I do," said Ruff. They glanced back at her expectantly. She scoffed, "Ha! And you call yourselves detectives?"

"Uh," Hiccup frowned at her, "first of all, no, we don't call ourselves detectives, and second, what's so obvious?"

Ruff smirked and beckoned them foreward. When they were close enough she whispered, "What you're looking for, is not just a metal thief━it's a ghost metal thief!" she nodded, like she had just figured it all out.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

They left after that, no closer to figuring out what had happened than they had been at the start of the day.

"Well," said Hiccup once they were outside, "that was helpful, as usual."

"It's getting late," Valkyrie reached a hand up to Zephyr who met it with his snout fondly. "We should start again in the morning."

"All right," Hiccup kissed her goodnight swiftly and she smiled to herself. She watched him leave, blushing before spinning on her heel and walking to her house just to the right. She went to sleep that night, unbeknowest to the smoke that swelled around her with the growls of miniature dragons.

When she got up the next morning, Valkyrie turned her room upside down searching for her mallet and her armour. The thief had gotten to her, as well! Zephyr woke up with a surprise as she ventured out to the stables and checked under his wings, thinking that maybe she accidentally left them out here. But they were nowhere in sight.

She was furious, stomping out of the Sanctuary and to her friends who were also without their helmets and pauldrons. Seeing her, Hott burst out into laughter. Valkyrie never went without her armour, and now she just wore her tight tunic shirt, leggings and skirt━she felt cold and she felt bare.

But worst of all, her mallet had been taken━something Hiccup made for her and she cherished.

She was in a terrible mood. So much that she punched her brother in the shoulder. He cried out, clutching it. He had lost his helmet, too, his blonde hair all over his face. Fishlegs saw them and said, "The theif hit you guys, too, huh?"

Snotlout grumbled, "Ugh! I feel naked without my helmet!"

"Me, too," sighed Tuffnut. "But I made a sketch of the thief. It came to me in a dream, see, my self conscience is wokring overtime━" he showed him a drawing of ... himself. "Like a sports team that just can't win."

"Um, Tuffnut," said Astrid, "that's you."

"What? No it's not."

"Yes, it is," nodded Hott.

"No, it isn't. I think I'd know myself━" he turned it around and his eyes widened, "Oh! Huh ... I guess it is."

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. She crossed her arms with a grumble and a pout. She glanced up when she heard a Night Fury's moan, and Hiccup and Toothless landed in front of them.

"Hey, guys!" Hiccup jumped off the saddle. "I know who the theif is. Or, should I say, I know who our thieves are."

"What do you mean?" asked Val.

"Adolescent Smokebreath dragons."

Fishlegs gasped, "Of course!" he realised with an exclaim. "Smokebreaths steal metal to build their nests."

Valkyrie's arms fell away angrily. "That's the second time they've stolen my mallet, now!"

"Well, technically, last time you gave it to them━Ow! My kneecap!" Tuff hopped around on one foot for a little while as Valkyrie watched him with her hands on her hips, smug.

"But why would Smokebreaths be on Berk?" asked Hott.

"Ahah! Hott, coming in for the big win!" grinned Fishlegs. Valkyrie's brother didn't look amsued. "Smothering Smokebreaths normally don't stray far from their home on Breakneck Bog."

Hiccup rubbed his brows, "That's the part I'm still unclear about. But we'll get the metal back, somehow." He met Val's eyes. "I promise. We'll get your mallet back."

She just felt ashamed she had let them take it. She didn't meet his gaze, shuffling her boots.

"I've been robbed!" shouted a voice from the forge.

Valkyrie jumped, looking over. Gobber ran out of his workshop, waving his hook around frantically. "The thief evaded my booby traps," he shouted, "and took all the metal I bought from Trader Johann! Left me with nary a scrap of ... scrap!"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "I think I might know how the Smokebreaths got here..."

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━"You're telling me Johann just took scrap metal from Breakneck Bog from a Berserker?!" Snotlout shouted, waving his hands around in his anger. "Is he stupid?!"

"Snotlout," Valkyrie chided. "Johann didn't know━"

"━Oh, sure━"

"━and besides, we have other things we need to worry about. We're without weapons, catapults and only a small set of dragons able to defend Berk while Dagur's out there with an entire Berserker and Outcast armarda."

"Valkyrie's right," said Hiccup. They stood in the Academy as the sun set, discussing the problem at hand with their dragons sitting, waiting behind them. "We have to find that misisng metal. Especially the weapons."

Tuffnut sobbed at the mention of the word weapon, "Oh, Macey must be so alone and scared out there!" Astrid threw her head back, groaning with her annoyance. "It's hard out there for a mace." He turned to Belch and sobbed into his neck. "Oh, Macey!"

"Maybe the Smokebreaths took the metal back to Breakneck Bog?" offered Astrid.

Fishlegs shook his head, "I don't think so. Smokebreaths can't fly long distances carrying a lot of weight."

"That means they're here somewhere on Berk," said Valkyrie. "Which is good. We're sure to be able to find them quicker."

Ruff was distracted. She arched a brow at Snotlout already on Hookfang's saddle. "Hey," she tilted her head at him, confused, "Snotlout, how'd you get your helmet back?"

He laughed, smug. He fixed the helmet on his head better. "It's my spare. A real warrior is never without his helmet."

"Can't say the same for his brain," mumbled Val off-handedly.

"Hey!" he shot her a glare. "What is it with you today? You are so up my━"

A single projectile spike shot towards Snotlout and made his helmet spin. He clutched it, glowering, "Hey!" Valkyrie smirked. Ever since he taught her how Zephyr could shoot single spikes from his tail, the dragon and rider were taking every chance to show off.

"Snotlout, come on," scolded Hiccup, "please focus."

"Oh, come on!" he gestured a hand out to her, "Really? Just because she's your━" Zephyr sent another, squawking happily. Snotlout ducked. "HEY!"

"If the Smokebreaths didn't take the metal back to Breakneck Bog, they must have started building a nest somewhere here on Berk, like Val said."

"Awesome!" cheered Tuffnut. At their glares, he faltered. "Not so awesome?"

"Definitely not awesome," grumbled Hott. "How're we going to find them?"

"Well," shrugged Hiccup, "there's only one way to catch a metal thief, and that's━"

"Oh! Oh! Wait!" Tuffnut cut him off, jumping forward eagerly. "Don't tell me! With a net!" he soon shook his head. "No, no, no━wth a rope!" Hiccup stared at him, annoyed. "No? Okay. Oh ... oh! Don't say it," he held his hands out proudly, as if presenting something. "With a ropey net."

"I was just gonna say with metal."

"Oh!" Tuff slammed his foot in defeat. "It was on the tip of my tongue! Stupid tongue━" he held it out to his sister, pointing at it. "Flick it. Come on, flick it!" She smirked, happy and did as he asked. He cried out in pain, but soon let out a satisifed, "Oh, yeah."

Hiccup shook his head and continued, "So, we need to gather all the metal from the arena and bait a trap that the Smokebreaths won't be able to resist. We lure them in, let them take the metal, and follow them right back to the nest and all our missing weapons."

A small, mischevious smile started to tug at Valkyrie's lips. "You did say all the metal, right, Hiccup?" she eyed Snotlout. It took him a second to realise.

When he did, he gaped at her, offended. "What? Oh, you have got to be kidding me?!" he pointed to Hiccup. "What about his leg?! That's made of metal!"

"Snotlout!"

"What?! All I'm saying is fair is fair."

"Snotlout, please!"

"Agh! FINE!"

They gathered all the metal they could from the Academy and set up a trap in the centre of Berk that night. Valkyrie was very pleased to set Snotlout's spare helmet on the top of it all, determined to get back everything that was stolen from her━especially the mallet Hiccup made for her.

Setting back down in her hiding spot with the others, they all peered around the wagons.

"I still think we should've flipped a yak pie for it," grumbled Snotlout, once again without his helmet.

"Shh!" Hiccup told him from Valkyrie's other side. "It looks like they've taken the bait..."

The group of Vikings all looked over to see a smoke cloud descend down from the sky. It swooped around the pile of metal, wrapping it up in a grey haze. Hiccup turned to the team, none of them realising two troublesome twins were missing. "Okay, very important," he began. "No one do absolutely anything until I give the signal━"

"Get 'em!"

In the smoke was an explosion of fire. Valkyrie grumbled, hating how she didn't see it coming. The Twins dived Barf and Belch right into the haze, trying to grasp a Smokebreath. The others watched, annoyed as the smoke began to dissipate with the metal.

"Yet another plan perfectly executed," sighed Hiccup. "Dragons, everyone!"

Valkyrie whistled and Zephyr was there to take her by her tunic and swing her up and onto the saddle.

"I got one!" Tuffnut was shouting, there was the sound of scuffles.

"I got one, too━!"

"━Ugh, and its skin feels all sweaty and clammy, like a girl..."

The smoke had disappeared to show the Twins had instead trapped each other. Barf and Belch whined, twisted up in their fight. Realising, Ruffnut shoved her brother away with a snap of, "Hey!"

"Look!" Hiccup pointed to the cloud of smoke disappearing towards the woods. "There they go━follow them!"

The Dragon Riders took off after the teenage Smothering Smokebreaths. They ascended up and over towards the cliffs and the forests around Dragonscale Cliff. Valkyrie twisted Zephyr around as best as she could, trying to follow from above the tree tops as the Smokebreath's dipped down. They split up and the Riders followed. Valkyrie and Astrid took a group of the adolescent dragons heading back to Berk while Hiccup and Hott continued after the main one. Fishlegs and Snotlout raced after the group of smoke that went to the left.

Reaching Berk, Valkyrie cursed to see the Smokebreaths had disappeared. She shared an annoyed glance with Astrid, the two of them hovering. They decided to head back to the forest when Stoick rushed up to them.

"Valkyrie, Astrid!" he shouted. "Where are the other riders and Hiccup?"

Val frowned and they landed, confused. "After the Smothering Smokebreaths to get the weapons. Why, what's wrong?"

Stoick pointed to the horizon line and Valkyrie's eyes widened to see the Berserker armada. Her shoulders slumped, letting out a, "Come on, seriously?" She turned to the chief and nodded, "Okay, I'll go back and find Hiccup and Hott, Astrid, you get Fishlegs and Snotlout. We'll meet back up here."

They set off to the forest again, but not in search of Smokebreaths━no, they had been too late. They had no choice but to fight with what they had ... eight trained battle dragons and no weapons. Valkyrie let out a growl of frustration on her saddle as she and Zephyr went as fast as they could to the last point she had seen Hiccup and her brother. Dagur must have known they would be defenseless. Johann had gathered that metal from a Berserker, on Breakneck Bog.

Was Johann really that stupid?

It struck Valkyrie seriously odd━why didn't Johann know about the Smokebreath's sooner in his trip to Berk? Wouldn't have they tried to steal his metal in the time they did hatch?

She didn't have time to think about it. Johann was lovely and annoying, but he didn't always think.

Valkyrie was grateful when she found the boys by a circle of trees. She managed to hover Zephyr in close enough to call down, "Hiccup! Hott! Thank Thor, I finally caught up to you!"

"Val!" Hiccup was relieved to see her. He pointed up at the circle of trees. She followed his gaze to see a bunch of metal stuck amongst the branches━all of their missing weapons, goblets and such. "We found the Smokebreath nest and━"

"We don't have time for that now," she said.

Her brother noticed the look on her face. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

"Stoick spotted something on the horizon━a much bigger problem," she told them gravely. "Dagur and his armada. He knew we'd be defenceless."

Hiccup glowered, setting his jaw.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━"What is this guy? King of armardas?" grumbled Hiccup, peering through his spyglass at the fleet approaching Berk through the sea stacks. "Does he go anywhere without one?"

"It's like he knew we were gonna be defenceless," said Astrid.

"It's because he did," said Valkyrie. They wer back in Berk by the watch towers, talking amongst the rest of the village. She stood beide Hiccup, the two of them trying to figure out a plan. To the outside eye, one might consider them to look very much like leaders, a future chief and chieftess ... "Trader Johann bought the scrap from a Berserker from Breakneck Bog."

Astrid nodded, realising, "Dagur planted those dragons. He knew what they would do."

"Hiccup," Stoick turned to his son, "you found the Smokebreath nest. You and the other riders go to it and get our weapons."

"No," he shook his head, tugging at his hair, "they'll be protecting it by now. We don't have enough time to fight the Smokebreaths and get back here before Dagur attacks."

"Then I say we head out there and blast those Berserkers with what we've got!" said Snotlout, pouding his fist.

Valkyrie shook her head, "That would be unwise. Even with the lot of us and our dragons, there's too many of them to be able to take out all those ships. We'll be shot down instantly."

"Well ..." Tuffnut tried to be helpful, "if we cut ourselves in half, we'd be ..." he counted the numbers on his fingers and grinned, holding up two, "twice as many!"

Astird pinched the bridge of her nose. She turned to the younger Twin. "Just once, try stopping it between here━" she tapped her temple and then her lips, "━and here."

Tuffnut frowned, looking at his hands as he tried to register what he said.

"No, wait," Hiccup's eyes widened and he snapped his fingers, "he's actually onto something!"

Tuff grinned, "See?" he pointed his finger smugly at Astrid. "I'll get an axe."

"What? No," said Hiccup. "You don't need an axe. We don't need more of us. We need more dragons."

The chief frowned, "What are you saying, son?"

"Why fight against the Smokebreaths when he can fight with them?" He turned to the village, "Everyone! Bring any metal you might still have in your houses. It doesn't matter how small it is."

Stoick was at his side immediately. "You heard my son!" he shouted at the Vikings when they hesitated.

It was a scurry of gathering spoons, helmets, armour and plates. Gobber gave Hiccup his very own hook. Valkyrie didn't think he fully understood what the plan was. But they kept going. The Dragon Riders gathered the metal in nets and carted them towards the nest. The Smokebreaths took the bait, just how they wanted and they turned the direction back towards Dagur's armarda.

The Berserker chief was certainly not expecting the piles of metals falling onto his ships, frowning as the riders left them.

Then, the Smokebreaths attacked. Valkyrie smirked to hear their screams as their amour, weapons, helmets, shields━everything metal from their boats were stolen. The village of Berk was smug to see the entire armada crumble as their ships fell apart, all the bolts and nutts taken, leaving nothing to keep them together.

Once again, Dagur's plan was foiled ... but not for long.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

     a/n: gotta love fuqin macey ahahahaha Tuff is a iconic king.

     also, fuq Johann.