Land of the Dragons (HTTYD Fanfiction)

Chapter 11

Okay! I am back!

Hiccup's jaw dropped. "You two trained them?" he asked. "Yup!" they said proudly in unison. Then, Hiccup smiled, and applauded. Then the other original riders did. Then everyone else did too!

When the applause died down, Annie stepped forward. "I cannot thank you enough for doing this! I can't imagine how you did it!" Soren and Lila shared a smirk. "You really can't!"

"Well," Hiccup said, "I was going to save this for later," he stepped forward, "But I have a special job for you two. I'm appointing you my second-in-command!" There was a shocked silence, then everyone applauded again.

"Your team will be appointed the A-Team, to take over from us when we are indisposed. Good job! Now, who wants breakfast!" And the original riders and Berkians alike dashed off to the Great Hall, leaving Soren and Lila alone.

"I just realized something," Soren said, "Hiccup said 'second-in-command', not 'second-in-commands'. What does that mean?" "You two now officially count as one person!" Ruffnut said, as she passed by. "Congratulations!" "Aw come on!!" Lila and Soren said at the same time.

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An hour later, the Dragon Riders were all flying in the sky, where Sarah and Annie were teaching formations. Over breakfast, Hiccup had explained what the situation was, and the Berkians all readily agreed to help. So they were learning formations while they got ready for the time when they would have to patrol, coming in 2 or 3 hours.

"V formation!" Sarah yelled, and the Dragon Riders pulled into V formation. "Diamond formation!" Annie yelled, and the Dragon Riders switched to diamond formation. "Good!" Sarah yelled, "Now, I'll show you team formations!"

As the morning progressed, the Dragon Riders learned more and more formations, and they were starting to feel ready to take on the task. Then, 10 minutes later, their time came.

There was a whistling noise, and two large Night Furies hovered in front of Shadow. The King and Queen of Dragons. "We are returning to the Hidden World now.' They seemed to say, 'Good luck!' Then, they flew off.

Immediately following, there was an explosion on a neighboring island. "Alright riders! Go!" And teams of riders flew off, to deal with the archipelago, while the original riders assessed from afar.

It quickly became clear that the new riders could handle this, and by sunset, Hiccup was feeling confident that they could leave. "I never expected them to catch on so fast!" Tyler said, "Me either," Hiccup said, staring at the A-Team efficiently dealing with a large Stoker Class mob, "Me either."

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Over the next two weeks, the Berkians fell into a rhythm. A couple teams would leave for patrol an hour, and return at the end of their hour for another team to take off. This way, the riders got plenty of rest, nothing like the disaster of the first two days, with only six Dragon Riders as a mediator for an archipelago.

Between patrols, the original riders also taught the New Berkians how to gather wood, fill the food storage, cook, fight more efficiently, even build with the help of the dragons! And as the Berkians learned, they began putting them to use.

Pretty soon, the grain storage was always full, and New Berk was completely repaired and painted! And by three weeks, the Berkians that had helped Hiccup in the forge had made armor and Gronckle Iron weapons for everyone.

Finally, Hiccup began to believe that things might stay this way. And that made him happier than he had been in a long time.

Of course, he still missed his parents, but they all knew it wasn't possible to go back yet. Not until they could change the minds of the people about dragons. But that time was coming, it was coming very soon.

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Out on patrol, a team of Berkians with Monstrous Nightmares and Nadders were circling, searching their area for trouble. Then, on the horizon, one rider spotted something. "Are those..." she said, then gasped. "...Dragon Hunter ships?!!"

Immediately, the whole team was on alert. "Jose!" the leader of the team ordered to a Monstrous Nightmare rider, "Tell the riders at New Berk that there are Dragon Hunter ships bearing...oh no. Not that insignia..." Jose nodded nervously, and took off. "Evacuate the islands around here!" the leader said to everyone else, "We cannot let those hunters get their hands on the dragons!"

Jose and Juan the Monstrous Nightmare shot through the sky, making a beeline for New Berk. Juan's wings pumped up and down faster than they ever had before, and in minutes, they reached New Berk. "Don't bother landing!" Jose yelled, "We can crash right next to Hiccup!" Juan just nodded, and closed his wings, rocketing for the street Hiccup was walking down.

BOOM! The pair crash-landed right in front of Hiccup and Jose grabbed on to Hiccup, gasping for breath. "What is it?" Hiccup asked worriedly. "Dragon....Hunter....ships!.....Bearing.....Bludvist.....insignia!" Jose choked out, pointing west. Then he collapsed, unconscious.

"Odin, no..." Hiccup whispered. Then, he yelled, "Ready the Dragons! I need 15 teams!"

Immediately, there was a bustle of activity, as the Riders mounted up and the dragons took off. "I need my second-in-command!" Hiccup yelled, and Soren & Lila were at his side immediately. "Good." he said, "I need you guys to man the village until I get back. If you see a Night Fury signal, bring the rest of the riders." Soren nodded. "We can do this." Then, Hiccup mounted Shadow, and was gone.

With a piercing whistle, Shadow shot through the air, leading nearly 100 Berkians towards the direction Jose had pointed. The other original riders also followed, falling into formation directly behind Hiccup and Shadow.

"Annie, you take charge of the troops. I'm going to scout." Hiccup said, and Annie nodded. Then, he patted Shadow, and the pair were off, shooting to danger.

 It took just over a minute for Shadow to reach the rest of Jose's team, who waved them over. "We evacuated the islands, but the ships have no interest in them. They seem to be heading straight for New Berk!" the team leader said, with no pretense. Hiccup nodded. "Show me the ships." The leader gulped, and lead Hiccup and Shadow over the top of a volcanic island.

And there they were. Rows and rows of ships that stretched backwards in a long and wide streak, that dominated the entire ocean surrounding. And each ship was outfitted with so many weapons. Spears and arrows and bolas and sword stuck from every available surface, all aimed and ready to fire. And at the lead, was an immense flagship, with a hooded figure at the prow.

"Oh no..." Hiccup breathed.