[Meanwhile, back on Berk]

"WHERE ARE THEY?" Stoick boomed, walking speedily out of Meade Hall to the Plaza. He'd known that Gobber had taken the gang on a camping trip without his permission (he would speak to Gobber about that later), and he'd eventually gotten over it, since he realized they were already gone and there was nothing he could do about it. But for them to have been gone way longer than they said they'd be, that was what concerned the chief.

"Why in Thor's name is this even a problem? Gobber is such an idiot," Stoick continued ranting as Snotlout's father, Spitelout, fell into step.

"They could've been captured, Chief. But they most likely got lost." Stoick waved him off.

"I don't want your theories. Gather a search party! We leave the docks at noon." Stoick would not, he absolutely refused to lose his best friend and Hiccup's old friends.

(Timeskip because I found my plans but they suck and there's a time gap between important scenes here)

Stoick looked into the mist from the front part of the ship, his eyes glaring into the abyss. He gestured for the men to row in a certain direction now and then whenever he saw something that looked significant or to avoid collision.

"LEFT, LEFTLEFTLEFTLEFTLEFTLEFT-" It was too late, and they had scraped against a rather sharp rock poking its way from between the frothy waves. "Thor dammit, Horge!"

Stoick thanked the gods above when it turned out the ship hadn't been damaged enough to be a problem, just a nasty scratch down her side. After a while more of sailing to no avail, they docked on the nearest shore they could.

It was a small inlet, just the right size for fifteen men. After setting up a ragged camp for the night, Stoick sat on a log by the dying fire.

He looked up at the stars, and he swore he saw one of those flying abominations, but it was too fast for him to have seen it clearly. He dismissed it as his old age playing tricks on him and after a while of looking at the sky, he walked back into his tent and fell asleep.

***

"I made you guys saddles," Hiccup stretched in the early morning light. The group looked at him, question in their eyes as Toothless approached, saddles piled onto his back. "Don't want rider rash now, do we?" Astrid shook her head and approached.

"Here you go, milady. One saddle for Stormfly- Oh, wait. That's Meatlug's. Hold on," He put the saddle down and went for Stormfly's saddle in the pile. Toothless had dumped them on the ground and went to lie down somewhere. He held up the correct saddle.

"Here." She smiled slightly and took it, walking to her dragon to try and figure out how to put it on correctly while he gave the rest their saddles. "Just put the saddle part on their back, where you want to sit, and adjust their straps according to the girth of the dragon."

Once everyone had their saddles on their dragons and were mounted, Hiccup smiled. "Looking like true dragon trainers! They grow up so fast."

Ruff and Tuff took off on their Zippleback, trying out the new saddle, as did everyone else. Hookfang had some fun tossing Snotlout around, the twins screaming as Barf and Belch zoomed through the sky, and Astrid preformed basic (yet elegant) aerial moves on Stormfly. It all seemed so pure.

As they were messing around, Hiccup was startled by a Monstrous Nightmare haphazardly flying up to him, almost crashing. It looked in poor condition, with chains around its neck and scratches along its underbelly and wings. there were even a few burn marks here and there.

"Uh, hey, whoa. Calm down!" He reached his hand out and after a few minutes of struggling, the Nightmare had calmed. The others were still flying, a few even out in he distance, and hadn't noticed the unexpected visitor.

"Where did you come from, big guy? Assuming you're a guy, of course. You could be a female, it's cool." The dragon roared slightly in impatience and came forward at Hiccup and Toothless, who'd woken up and taken an offensive stance behind his rider.

Hiccup pulled out Inferno in a - hopefully - nonthreatening manner. The flames eventually got the dragon to slow into a hypnotic state, and that was when he noticed the note.

He reached and slowly grabbed the piece of paper from the Nightmare's left hindquarter and unfolded it.

'I'm coming.'

Oh, Hiccup thought. This could either be a good thing, or a bad thing. Most likely bad, judging the circumstances and condition of the messenger.

He quickly hurried on Toothless and flew for his mother.

***

"Why would you give them such a large warning? No offense, sir, but we're nowhere near ready. Not for another few months."

The figure, cloaked in dark scales, grimaced at the man who spoke. His scarred face held a slight tinge of irritation, but quickly dissipated. "Because; if i'd given them little time to prepare, it wouldn't be nearly as fun to take them down. You know how much I like a challenge."

"I suppose, sir. But are you sure you should have done that? Why not wait a few more weeks?"

"I'm positive they'll still be powerless against me. Now go before I get tired of you contradicting my actions."

((YOURE WELCOME))