CHAPTER 8:

Ocean silently fumed. She and everyone else had heard the Lightning explosion, and that's when Landon explained what was going on. Her eye's darkened as Hiccup and Xzander flew back. "Well look who finally-" She broke off the moment she realized that a crate was on Hiccup lap. "How many?" "Four." Hiccup flew over, "I was able to identify two. A Nadder and Timberjack, but the other's don't seem familiar. Xzander told me that you can probably identify them. "Ocean took the crate and opened it up. Four dragons eggs. Hiccup was right about the Nadder and Timberjack, and the other two... "One is a Thornridge." She stated after a moment. "And the other?" Ocean took a deep breath, "Guy's, it's a Silver Phantom." "Oh no." Kira whispered, "What's 'oh no?' " Snotlout asked, looking to each Night Rider. "Silver Phantoms don't live in these parts anymore, which means we can't find it's mother or any other dragon of the same species." "B-but you guy's can still take care of it. Right?" All eye's turned to Ocean, who was lightly stroking the Silver Phantom egg/ She looked up to meet the groups stares. "Yeah. It will be a lot of work, but we can take care of it." Hiccup let out a sigh of relief. He knew that between Dagur, and the Dragon Hunters he and his riders could never take care of baby dragons. Hopefully the Night Riders had some sort of system. If they rescued dragon eggs a lot, they should. Shouldn't they? The group of dragon riders flew on for a while longer, mostly in silence. Each lost in their own thoughts. Ocean and the dragon eggs. Layla and Landon, both wanting to get home and sleep, now that they knew Ocean was safe. Kira, curious about Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout. Those three were of course trying to figure out how far Night Gem Island was from Dragon's Edge, and Xzander... Well, his mind was going from one subject to the next. Finally, Hiccup was able to switch places with Astrid, and he flew up next to Ocean. "So...How long have you guy's been rescuing dragon eggs anyways?" "Around three years maybe." "Three years!" Ocean nodded her head, "Yeah, I had just turned fourteen when we were first attached by Dragon Hunters. A couple of months, and many fights, later, we found the first dragon egg filled crate. We've been rescuing them ever since." Hiccup looked at his sister. He had missed a lot of her life, and with this bit of information, and from what Xzander had tolled him, it sounded like she had an interesting life. "You were only fourteen when you found Moonlight?" Ocean shook her head. "No, I was thirteen when I first found Moonlight. My birthday was about two months later, and it was only a couple days after that when the Hunter's attacked...When did you guy's have you're first Dragon Hunter fight?" Hiccup sheepishly looked away, "About two months ago." "Two months ago?" "Yeah, we never really wandered away from the Barbaric Archipelago until almost six months ago. I mean, we've been in wars before. With both the Outcasts and the Berserker's. But we didn't know of the Dragon Hunter's until recently." Ocean bit her lip to keep from laughing. How could a Dragon Rider not know of Dragon Hunter's until only two months ago? She thought. Instead of questioning it (she was saving that for later) she decided to ask him about the first time he and his riders had encountered Dragon Hunters. While they talked, their dragons also conversed.

"What's Hiccup usually like?" Moonlight quietly asked Toothless. She didn't usually talk with other dragons around humans, but she was too curious to keep quiet. "Hmm. It depends. When someone's in danger, he's one of the first to go try to rescue them. He, obviously, loves dragons. Is it bit naive. Smart, and kind. He likes to invent things. He is a leader, and cares for the people of his island. His friends are like his family, even if he won't admit it. He can get a bit obsessed with things, like defeating Dagur, and he can be unpredictable. Oh, and he is very protective of Astrid." "She's the pretty blonde-haired girl riding Stormfly, right?" "That's correct. Now, Princess--" Moonlight glared at him, "Moonlight. Not Princess." "Sorry. Bad habit. Moonlight, what is Ocean Rose like on a normal basis." "Just like with Hiccup, it depends. She can be very sweet and kind, especially when it comes to children or draclings. She can also be a bit silly, but that's only when she alone or around people she can trust. Ocean's a born warrior. From the stories I've heard, she's been training since she could walk. You don't want to get in a swordfight with her, or in the range of her arrows. She can also be a bit unpredictable, like Hiccup. You never know if she's going to kill a hunter, or put him in jail. She would do anything to protect a dragon. Ocean is one who loves art, and herbs. Her friends are her family, and she is betrothed to Xzander." Moonlight paused, "And she has a temper." "Sounds like her father...and her brother." Moonlight laughed, grabbing the attention of her Rider. "So Hiccup and Stoick have tempers." "Baaad ones." Moonlight laughed more and decided it better not to continue the conversation. "What do you think they were talking about?" Ocean asked Hiccup. "Why do you think they were talking?" Ocean pinched the bridge of her nose. "Hiccup. If vikings can talk and have friends, then why can't dragons?" Hiccup shrugged his shoulders. Truthfully he had a feeling that dragons conversed with each other. He just thought that it would be fun to tease her. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I swear, if you're messing with me..." She trailed off, and he started to laugh. They spent the rest of the flight sending jabs at each other. While the rest of the Riders watched, wondering how long it would take before they began to fight.

Astrid's eyes widened as she spotted fog ahead of them...and Xzander was't turning to fly around it. "Uh, why are we flying towards the think fog barrier...thing." Ocean sped up to fly next to Astrid. "You'll see." Landon, who had been pulling grabbing something from his bag, looked to the other Night Riders. "Who's leading who?" "I'll take Hiccup!" Ocean called, "We both ride Night Furies, so it might be easier for both of us." "OK, then I'll take Snotlout." Landon said that like it was a terrible thing. Then again, it was. "And I'll lead Astrid." Layla tossed Astrid a rope. Or at the, the end of a rope, Layla had the other end. "Tie this to something, or hold on tightly. You've never been through the fog, and we don't want you guy's getting lost." Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. How hard can it be to find an island." Landon raised an eyebrow. "You can fly on you're own." He started to pull the rope back, but Snotlout quickly grabed it. "Wait! I-I mean if you insist." Astrid held back a snicker. "You ready?" Layla asked, receiving a nod. "Let's go."

Hiccup watched the island as they flew. They had been the first ones to enter the fog. OK so that wasn't entirely true, Xzander had flew in at the same moment as they had, but they were the first pair to enter the fog. It was when they flew in that Hiccup realized why they had to use the ropes. "Is it always this thick?!" He called to his sister. "Yep! It's one of our security systems." "OK." He started to sweat, just a bit. "Is it always this hot?!" "It's not that bad!" "That doesn't answer my question Ocean." "Yes and no. There are some geysers around here. They usually go off around this time of day." "What's the other security system?" "You'll see."

Hiccup's eyes widened as the island came into view. "Ocean...why do you live on an island with a HUGE VOLCANO!?" Xzander flew up next to the pair and laughed. "It's not a volcano." "B-but." Ocean giggled, "It's a caldera." Hiccup blushed, he should have figured that out on his own. "That makes more sense. Especially since Xzander said that there are fresh-water streams, and lakes, along with forests." Ocean didn't reply, and led Hiccup through a small opening in the caldera. He was once again shocked at what he saw. There was a huge lake, a nice sized, what Hiccup guessed to be, Great Hall, and obvious training ring and storage huts along with many paths. "Where do the paths lead to?" Hiccup asked, once he recovered his voice and Ocean landed in front of the large structure. "The paths lead to our huts, some more training grounds, and the dragon stables. Along with the weaponry." "You're guy's huts are apart?" "Well yeah. Mine is farther off in the forest, Xzander's is near a more rocky mountain, for obvious reasons. Kira's is down by the creek. Layla and Landon's hut's are in the valley, and Hunter--" "Hey you guy's are back!!" Hiccup looked up to see a young man with dark brown hair riding a Changewing, and a Thornridge following them. "Speaking of Hunter." Xzander muttered as he jumped off. The young man was a couple inches shorter than Hiccup, and just a bit taller than Ocean. "Good to see you're not dead Ocean." "Oh wow. You thought I was dead?" "N-no. I-I mean..." He broke off and looked at Hiccup. "Hi, I'm Hunter. This is my very dangerous dragon Kara," He patter the Changewing's neck and then turned to stroke the neck of the Thornridge, who had shyly made it's way forward, "and my very shy dragon Thorn." "Thorn, the Thornridge?" Hiccup attempted not to laugh, "Hey! He happened to be caught in some thorny bushes. His name was meant to be Thorn!" Ocean, who was also trying not to laugh, cleared her throat and turned to Hunter. "Hunter, this is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third." "Wait a minute. But that means that--" His eye's flicked from Ocean to Hiccup. "Wow. He even rides a Night Fury!" Hiccup chuckled, "That's Toothless." "Anyways. Hunter did anything happen while we were gone." "No. I was incredibly bored. All that there was to do was check on your herb garden." "That's not a bad thing Hunter." "Yes it is." He grumbled back. "Well. Now you're not going to be bored." Xzander had a sly grin on his face. "We have visitors."

Chapter 9:
Things had gone smoothly at first. Everyone was introduced to each other, and they all headed to the Great Room (which, as I'm sure you guessed, is the equivalent to a Great Hall, just maybe a bit smaller), after getting the extra dragons situated in the stables. But of course, that was before Hunter started to flirt with Astrid. Before Snotlout got Layla mad, and before one of the eggs started to hatch.
"Which one is it?" Kira asked, "Thornridge. Do you think..." The red-head rolled her eye's and took the egg, "I'll handle it." Ocean gave her a gracious smile, it wasn't that the girl didn't love taking care of draclings, but she had some other things on her mind.
"Okay, I know that everybody is tired, so who want's to bunk with who?"
"I'll take Hiccup" Xzander said stepping forward, "My hut is closest to Ocean's, so..."
"OK, Snotlout?"
Xzander looked to Landom, "Landon, I know you're gonna want to help Kira," he then turned to the black haired young-man next to him "so Hunter?"
"Yeah, yeah, Snotlout can bunk with me."
"Good." Ocean smiled at the group, " Then Astrid can stay at my place. Layla, do you think you can take her and my dragons there?"
"And what will you be doing."
Ocean glanced at Xzander. "Uh, I need to take care of a few things." The other girl caught on, as did Landon. "Come on Hiccup, I'll take you over to Xzander's."
"Uh, okay..."
Within minutes the pair was alone. "So," Xzander crossed his arms and turned to Ocean. "Are you ready to tell me why you left?"
No a little voice inside of her whispered, contradicting the "yes" she uttered.
She took a deep breath, and turned away from him. Not because she was scared or anything...OK she was. "I left because you would all be safer with me out of the way."
There, she said it. She didn't think that she felt any better, but at least she said it.
"Ocean Rose. What do you mean, 'we'd all be safer without you?'"
"Xzander, the battle before this previous one...It was horrible! Kira got hurt! Moonlight got hurt! You--" Her voice cracked. "You almost died. You were unconscious for a week. That scar will always be there..."
Xzander walked over a few steps. "Ocean, the battle had nothing to do with you."
"It had everything to do with me."
"And how do you figure that?"
She turned and looked him in the eye. "I know that, because both of us know that the Dragon Hunters, the Grimbornes, have wanted me dead for years. And if they can't get close enough to kill me. Then they'll go for the next best thing..."
"Kill the people you're closest to." Xzander finished for her. He started to hold out his hand. "Ocean--"
Ocean took a step back and swiped at her eye's. "I uh, I need to get to my hut. Astrid's there, and..."
"Ocean..."
She shook her head. "Not now 'Zander. We can talk in the morning."
With that she exited the Meeting Hall, leaving behind a slightly concerned, and a pinch angry, dragon rider. He wasn't angry at her. He was angry at himself. At the dragon hunters. And mostly, at the Grimbornes.
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Ocean opened the door to her hut with a long sigh. "What happened?" Astrid asked her.
Ocean jumped a bit, on her walk to her hut she had forgotten that the older girl was there. "Oh, n-nothing."
"Yeah, sure."
"Really Astrid. It's nothing."
Astrid looked at the younger girl curiously, but dropped it. "So, where will I be sleeping?"
Ocean nodded her head to the back of the hut, "The guest room's back there."
Astrid laughed as she opened the door. "By guest room you mean very very small cave that hardly has enough room for a bed."
"Details."
Astrid laughed again, and walked over to Ocean, who was grabbing a folded blanket from a chest.
"You know, you're more like your brother than you realize."
"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"
Astrid shrugged as she took the blanket.
"It depends. Hiccup can be...stubborn. It's gotten him in trouble."
Ocean gave an irritated sigh and walked over to her desk. "Are you trying to tell me something?"
"Ocean, I know that we only met a couple of days ago, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you and Xzander are in the middle of an argument."
"It's fine, Astrid."
"Mmm, by the way you're getting defensive, I have a feeling that it's not."
Ocean looked at Astrid out of the corner of her eye. Why do I feel safe with a person I JUST MET?! "Xzander and I aren't in a fight, per say. It's more of a disagreement."
Astrid lifted her eyebrow. " A, disagreement."
"Yeah. He wanted to know why I ran off. I told him. He wanted to talk about it. I didn't. End of story."
"Was there a lot of yelling?" Astrid asked softly. In return she got a small laugh.
"No. Xzander and I can both lose our cool pretty quickly, but it hardly seems to ever be around each other. The few times we've argued have been...really quiet ones. Like..." She broke off and shook her head.
"Like you know the words might hurt the other person and you don't want to make it even worse." Astrid suggested slowly.
"What do you do, read minds?"
The older girl laughed. "No...I have a temper. When I was younger, I would snap at everybody...and then I started to get close to Hiccup. I mean, I always liked him," Ocean raised her eyebrows,
"AS A FRIEND." Astrid quickly finished, holding her hands up, "The closer I got to him, the more my temper cooled. Sure, I'd still blow my top, but by the time we headed for the Edge, the last fight Hiccup and I had that included actual yelling, was when we were fifteen, maybe sixteen."
"Wow," Ocean whispered, "Is that why you're not telling Hiccup about Heather. Because you're scared that you guys will have you're first yelling-argument in years?"
"That's part of the reason. But don't change the subject! You care about Xzander. You're betrothed to Xzander. If he thinks that you two should talk this out, maybe you should."
Ocean narrowed her eyes. "I don't like that you're making sense. Fiiinnneee. I'll talk to him. In the morning...Now," She put her hands on her hips. "we're going to talk, about Heather."
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Hiccup paced the floor of the hut Landon brought him too. The place was... nice. Built on a rocky cliff, for obvious reasons. Quite a bit of the hut was also stone, which, once again, made quite a bit of sense.
"Should have had Snotlout build his hut like this." Hiccup muttered, looking around. "Only without all of the weapons." The weapons. Xzander had to have as many as Astrid, maybe even more. It was crazy! bludgeons, knives, daggers, swords, hammers, maces, and so much more.
A squeaking sound made Hiccup turn to the doors. Yes, doors. It seemed that every Nigh Rider had double doors to make sure that their dragons could get inside. Smart.
"So?" Hiccup asked as Xzander closed the door. "What's up?"
Xzander scowled, "You're sister is one of the most stubborn people I know."
Hiccup, being, well, Hiccup, tried to lighten the mood. "I'll take that as a compliment. Wait till you meet my father, then you'll know stubborn."
Xzander crossed his arms, "If your father is more stubborn than Ocean, then..." He gave a low whistle.
"So, what has Ocean done to be labeled 'incredibly stubborn'?"
Xzander shook his head as he walked towards the back of his hut, "Nothing for you to worry about." He muttered as he grabbed a blanket and tossed it to Hiccup.
"She is my sister."
"And she's my betrothed." Xzander looked away, "Hopefully" he whispered under his breath. He nodded to the back of the hut while clearing his throat. "Guest bedroom is back there." He headed up the stairs, "See you in the morning."
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Snotlout looked around the hut. The walls were covered in furs, and weapons, like a normal hut. Really, that was all there was. Of course, the only rooms he had been in were the living room and guest room, but...
"So, what's the stories with the girl's?"
Hunter glared at Snotlout, his dark eye's flashing, "Stay away from them."
"Why? You can't have all three."
"No. I want you to stay away from them because you remind me of me."
"That doesn't-"
"Ugh. Layla and I once dated, but it didn't work out. Kira is special. She's like my sister. You hurt her, you get me."
That scared Snotlout. Hunter was taller and more muscular. "A-and Ocean?"
A sly smile appeared on the dark-brown haired boy's face. "She's betrothed to Xzander."
"Yep! I'm leaving her alone. I'll leave them all alone."
Snotlout cautiously backed up into the guest room. "Ya know, I'm going to bed. Have a good night."
With that, the conversation was over.
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Fishlegs nervously paced the small space in Gothi's hut. She and Gobber had been going over Valka's letter for hours, and it was making Fishlegs extremely nervous.
"Well?!" Fishlegs yelled, "Oh, I-I'm sorry, I just..."
"It's OK Fishlegs. I think we have our answer. Gothi?" The Healer nodded her head, "Well Fishlegs. Do you want to tell the Chief or should we wait for Hiccup?"
Fishlegs eye's widened. He shouldn't have been so shocked, Ocean did resemble Hiccup and Stoick. But still, Hiccup had a sibling. The chief had a daughter!
"W-we should wait for Hiccup and Ocean."
Gobber smiled softly. "What's she like?"
"She seems nice. She rides a Night Fury. She has dark auburn hair and deep dark blue eyes. She--"
"Hold it! Hold it! Did you say that she ride's a Night Fury?!"
"Yesss."
Gobber clamped his hand on Fishlegs shoulder and Gothi prodded him in the back with her stick. "Come on boy. We have some talking to do.