My Version of Riders of Berk

A/N: FINALLY! It's finally DONE! YEE-HAW!

*takes a deep breath* Okay, that sounded like I had gone hyper there. But, I am excited that I'm finally done! I've been working on this thing for weeks, and now, you guys can now read the first chapter of My Version of Riders of Berk! And I know I'm not the only one who's been waiting for this.

Well, let's get on with Chapter 1 before I collapse in happiness. Roll it!

Chapter 1

How to Start a Dragon Academy

In the middle of the freezing cold ocean, there's a small island with high mountain peaks and evergreen forests. On one of the lower slopes where it meets the cliff sides, there stood a small village.

This is Berk. For generations, it was Viking against dragon. The battles were ferocious.

The Vikings of Berk did fight dragons, for it was everything one could do to get honor and recognition. Key word: was.

Then, one day, everything changed.

A black dragon swooped through the air and over the village, with a dive bombing sound and a happy shriek, with a small teenage boy on its back.

I met Toothless. Together, along with my friends, we showed that instead of fighting dragons, we can ride them, live with them, even train them.

Hiccup Haddock and his Night Fury, Toothless, did a couple of barrel rolls in the sky before soaring over to a large sea stack where the other Dragon Riders were waiting for them. Included in the group was Hiccup's foster brother, Ragnar Iverson, and their best human friend, Cosette Henderson. These three BFFs were known throughout Berk as the Misfit Trio. The other members of the Dragon Riders were Astrid Hofferson, Snotlout Jorgenson, Fishlegs Ingerman, and the Thorston twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. All of them were waiting with their dragons.

Ragnar's dragon was a Boneknapper named Fossil. Cosette had a rare, purple titanwing Grapple Grounder named Violet. Astrid had a blue Deadly Nadder that she called Stormfly. Snotlout had a red Monstrous Nightmare that he dubbed Hookfang. Fishlegs had a brown Gronckle he named Meatlug. And the twins shared a green Hideous Zippleback. Ruffnut rides the right head called Barf, while Tuffnut rides the left head dubbed Belch.

Hiccup and Toothless landed on the sea stack. "Okay, guys, best trick competition." He announced. "Who's up first?"

"Me!" Snotlout gloated as he stood up on Hookfang and flexed his arms.

"Actually," Fishlegs started to speak, "I think it's supposed to be-"

"Me!" Snotlout interrupted again.

"Sweet baby Thor in a thunderstorm." Astrid groaned. " GO!"

"Oh, don't worry. We'll go." Snotlout bragged as he sat back down and clutched Hookfang's horns. "And when we do, Hookfang and I are gonna light the sky on FIRE!" Snotlout screamed the last part as Hookfang flew down the sea stack all of a sudden.

While Snotlout was having his scream-fest, Hookfang flew through several sea stacks. At one, he flew so close that Snotlout's helmet scraped against it; sparks flying. Hookfang gave his rider a draconic smirk before he dove into the ocean. Soon, he twirled back up in the sky and landed on the seastack.

"I'm alive?" Snotlout asked himself as he ran his hands over himself. "I'm alive!" He then saw the looks on the others' faces. "Of course I am."

"My turn!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "Ready, Meatlug?" he asked his Gronckle. "Here we go!"

Meatlug's wings started flapping, then she and Fishlegs flew in a circle around the sea stack before landing. "Yes!" Fishlegs cheered. "New personal best!" He gave her a hug, which Meatlug licked his face in return.

"My turn!" Ruffnut piped in.

"No, my turn!" Tuffnut retorted.

"Guys." Hiccup broke in. "Same dragon." He reminded.

"Oh, right." Tuffnut realized, giving his sister a fist bump. Barf and Belch then flew towards the sea stacks.

"Go left!" Tuffnut pulled Belch to the left.

"No, right!" Ruffnut exclaimed as she pulled Barf's head in the opposite direction.

"No, right!"

"No, left!"

While they were arguing, they kept crashing into multiple sea stacks. Finally, Barf and Belch began to spin around, dodging the stacks and with the twins holding onto their horns. They then tossed their heads up, and sent their riders flying.

"This is awesome and scary!" Tuffnut exclaimed in panic as he and Ruffnut began freefalling.

Barf and Belch grabbed the twins before they hit the water and threw them back on their necks before landing. "We almost died!" Ruffnut gasped.

"Yeah, I know." Tuffnut agreed, before they both immediately sat back up. "Go again?"

"Hang onto your helmets, you two." Ragnar said, stopping them. "We'll show you how it's done. Let's get going, Fossil!"

Ragnar's Boneknapper soared over to the sea stacks, then began spiralling upwards. When they reached a certain height, Ragnar jumped off and performed three flips as he fell before Fossil came down after him and caught him in the air. After their stunt, they flew back.

"Not bad, Rag." Cosette said with a playful grin. "But let's see how you can top off this!" She and Violet then took off in a burst of speed.

They flew around in circles in the air and when they stopped and headed up into the sky, Cosette slid down Violet's back and grabbed the tip of her tail before she could fall off. Violet then flipped her back on her as they headed back down and stopped in mid-air as their finish.

"Nice one." Astrid said when they landed. "It's my turn now." She then turned to Hiccup with a smug smile. "You might want to take notes." She turned to Stormfly. "Let's go. Yah!" They then took off.

As the pair flew around the sea stacks, Astrid began giving out commands. "Okay, Stormfly, tail flip!" The tip of Stormfly's tail then left a trail in the water.

"Now, twirl!" Stormfly then quickly spun around a few times.

"Quick! Upward spiral!" Astrid's Deadly Nadder continued spinning as she ascended higher into the sky.

"All right, Stormfly!" Astrid cheered when they finished and returned to the sea stack.

"Cool. But can you do it without the dragon?" Snotlout asked. His answer was a hard swing to connect with his arm.

Astrid then gestured over to Hiccup, who smiled. "Well, looks like we got our work cut out for us, bud." He said to Toothless, patting his head.

The two of them then took off and began flying downwards. But before they hit the water, Hiccup pulled Toothless up, and they flew across it, leaving some sprays of the ocean behind them.

They next flew around some seastacks before they began to close in on a narrow rock bridge between two stacks. Hiccup unhooked himself from the saddle and leaped off it. While he ran across, Toothless glided under the bridge. When they both reached the other side, Hiccup jumped back on his dragon before they flew upwards.

The others Riders cheered with awe as Toothless let loose three plasma blasts which exploded like fireworks. "They're still the best." Astrid said.

"Well, what would you expect from them?" Cosette asked before she and Ragnar flew up to join their best friend.

"Another win." Hiccup said to Toothless, who purred with pride. "Good job, bud." The Misfit Trio and their dragons then flew back to the village.

Yep, dragons. Most people on Berk would say life here is better since we made peace with them. Unfortunately, dragons are still, well, dragons.

When the Trio plus their dragons landed back on land, all they saw was chaos. Dragons were causing havoc everywhere: stealing food or laundry, and jumping on people's roofs. Vikings were trying to get back their belongings or to get them to stop jumping on their roofs.

"Incoming!" Someone shouted. The Vikings immediately stopped what they were doing and ran to take cover. Hundreds of dragons flew over the village, relieving themselves.

"Ew, gross, gross, gross, gross! Oh, that's disgusting!" Hiccup said as he and the others dodged everything that's falling from the sky.

"You can say that times five." Ragnar said.

"And we got this whole town cleaned up spotless yesterday." Cosette complained with her nose and mouth covered with her hand to block the smell.

Finally, the Misfit Trio and their dragons found refuge in an alleyway. But, they were not the only ones hiding there. "Hey, Mulch. Hey, Bucket." Hiccup greeted the two farmers.

Mulch was a stout little man with brown hair, a shaggy beard, and simple clothes. His right hand had a hook prosthetic. Bucket was a tall man with blond hair, a very long beard, and like Mulch, he wore simple clothes. His right hand also had a prosthetic hook, and as his name says, he wore a bucket on his head. Both men were using shields as umbrellas.

"Well, it's been an almost good day." Ragnar tried to break the ice.

"I guess you can say that." Cosette said, her voice still muffled from her hand.

Hiccup then began to speak. "Sorry about the-" He pointed up to further explain.

"Every day at three o'clock. They're regular, at least." Bucket commented. "A tip off the cap."

"Better than the days when it was kill or be killed." Mulch added.

"Only you two can see the bright side of this stink infestation." Ragnar said.

"Hey, we've got some fish for that father of yours." Mulch proclaimed. "Bucket, give the boys the cod."

Bucket held out a small sack, but it was torn at the bottom. "I ate it already?" Bucket asked, confused. "Was it good? Did I enjoy it?"

The Trio exchanged a glance before Hiccup spoke up. "Um, no, actually, Bucket, I don't think-" There was no further explanation as a Terrible Terror crawls away with the missing cod.

Most of us here on Berk are willing to take the good with the bad. But, there are those who will never accept the dragons, and will do anything to drive them away.

When night was starting to fade, in a run-down house outside of the village, there lived a grumpy old man named Mildew the Unpleasant, and he hated dragons more than anyone. He was snoring away when he heard his roof shaking. He begrudgingly went outside to investigate and saw a Gronckle sleeping up there.

"Dragons." He muttered. "I should've known." He shook his head, his long gray moving with it. He then held up a half-eaten cabbage. "Thinks he's at a cabbage buffet." He was going to complain this to the Chief.

Mildew turned around, and to his shock, saw several Gronckles that had gobbled up his entire cabbage field. "My whole field! Gone! That tears it, Fungus." He said to his pet sheep, who was just as grumpy as his master.

Mildew grabbed his helmet and staff, and he and Fungus started towards the village with a scowl on his ugly face.

That very morning, Stoick, the Chief of Berk and Hiccup's father, was getting instructions to the villagers with Gobber by his side. Right now, they were preparing to store food in the village storehouse.

"Stoick!" Mildew yelled, carrying Fungus under one arm.

"Ah, here comes Mildew with the complaint of the day." Gobber said sarcastically, not wanting to know what the old man has to say this time. "That is just what I wanted on this fine day."

"You picked a bad time, Mildew." Stoick said, also wanting to avoid talking with him. "I'm a little busy storing food. Winter is coming soon, and the first freeze will be approaching."

"It's the dragons again." Mildew said, ignoring what Stoick just told him. At the side of the storage house, the Misfit Trio and their dragons were watching the scene.

"Those demons are not fit to live among civilized men." Mildew continued to complain.

"Neither are you, Mildew." Gobber joked. "Why do you think we built your house so far outside of town? I thought you got a hint." The joke made the Trio snicker a bit.

"Oh, make your jokes." Mildew said, brushing it off with a huff. "Meanwhile, these dragons are eating our food. Upturning people's carts. Tearing houses into rubble!" As he spoke, he pointed with his staff to all the damage done. His explanation was getting others' attention.

"Mildew's right!" A Viking agreed, as a crowd begins to form around the storage house.

"They even disturb an old man's rest!" Mildew added. "Can't you see the bags under my eyes?" He asked, pointing to his eyes.

"He's right, he's hideous." Gobber quipped. The Trio held back another giggle from where they and their dragons were watching.

"These are wild and unpredictable beasts!" Mildew continued. He then tapped the bucket on Bucket's head. "They even cracked this man's skull like an egg."

"Eggs? I like eggs! Scrambled, over-easy, poached!" An oblivious Bucket exclaimed.

Mildew ignored the farmer's naive statement. "These dragons need to be caged!" He shouted. The crowd gave yells of agreement.

"I don't like where this is going." Ragnar stated to his friends.

"Should we step in?" Cosette asked.

Hiccup answered by stepping forward. "They don't do it on purpose." He said, with Ragnar and Cosette by his side, and Toothless, Fossil, and Violet came behind them. "They're just dragons being dragons."

"It takes time to adapt." Ragnar reasoned. "It's not like they will be immediately tamed when they arrived."

"Besides, dragons have been living like this for years." Cosette added.

"You know, you two really puzzle me." Mildew said, pointing his staff over at Cosette and Ragnar. "Your families were all but wiped out by these beasts that you call your friends. Your parents must be so ashamed of you." Ragnar and Cosette glared at him, but they visibly flinched when he said that.

Hiccup got in front of Mildew and gave him a red-hot glare that made his eyes seem like green balls of fire. "You don't talk about their parents." He snarled, surprising everyone around with his fierce and authoritative voice. "They would be proud of them for what they did."

Stoick placed a huge and gentle hand on Hiccup's shoulder, making him release his tension. He then spoke to Mildew. "Ragnar and Cosette are not dishonoring their families. Sigfried and Erik were some of my closest friends. I know their children are making them proud in Valhalla. They're loyal to their friendship with my son their whole lives, even when I wasn't there for him. They still are; that's honor."

Mildew grumbled, then went back to complaining about the dragons. "I still want these beasts caged."

"Look, Mildew, if there's a problem, I'll deal with it." Stoick said, ending the conversation.

"Oh, there's a problem, Stoick. And I think I speak for the entire village when I say that you better do something about it." With that, Mildew wobbled away, leaving Stoick to listen to the shouts of the crowd of Vikings.

Later that night, in the Haddock house, Stoick was pacing across the living room, trying to think of an idea. Gobber was sitting at the table, carving a wood duck. Over at one corner, the Misfit Trio and Toothless were listening. Fossil and Violet were much too big to fit inside, so they were just listening from outside the window.

"We can't just let the dragons run around like they own the place." Stoick said. "Hey, we could put up signs." He suggested.

"Signs? For dragons?" Gobber asked skeptically.

"No, for the people." Stoick clarified.

"Signs? For Vikings? We're not big readers, Stoick." Gobber reminded.

Stoick groaned. "Then we'll build a huge net and stretch it across the plaza." He said impatiently.

"Nets? You do know they breathe fire." Gobber pointed out.

"I know very well they breathe fire, Gobber." A frustrated Stoick replied. "Maybe Mildew was right." When they heard this, the Misfit Trio decided to step in when Stoick knocked over a chair in his frustration. "We have to figure something-"

"No, wait, Dad." Hiccup broke in, picking up the chair. "What if we deal with the dragons?"

"You three?" asked a doubtful Stoick.

"I thought you wouldn't be surprised by this, Dad." Ragnar said.

"Who else, though?" Hiccup replied confidently. "If anyone can control them, we can. We're the best men and woman for the job." He gestured to himself and his friends as he said that.

"You're not at that point yet, Hiccup. Neither of you three are." Stoick said.

"Not if you don't give us the chance to be." Hiccup responded.

"Besides, who took down a mountain-sized demon dragon when no one else could?" Cosette asked rhetorically.

Stoick glanced at Gobber, who nodded his approval. "Fair enough." He conceded. "You three will get your chance, starting tomorrow."

"I hope you know that you're doing, Hiccup." A worried Ragnar said to his foster brother once they were out of earshot.

"Don't worry." Hiccup assured him. "Besides, this is us we're talking about."

"I think that's why I said it." Ragnar replied.

The next day, the Misfit Trio and their dragons entered the plaza, where havoc is beginning. They decided to split up to cover more ground. "Okay, gang." Hiccup said confidently. "Things are gonna be different here from now on."

He then saw a woman trying to get a Deadly Nadder to let go of a basket of bread. He and Toothless went over there to help.

"Hold on! I'm here to help!" Hiccup said to the woman, who finally pried the basket away from the Nadder.

"No!" Hiccup shouted firmly as he placed his hand on the Nadder's snout. Instantly, the dragon calmed down. "Easy there." he soothed. So far, so good.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash that surprised the Nadder. A Gronckle was chasing a flock of chickens, tripping over barrels and handcarts. The Nadder then joined the chase.

"Okay. This is gonna take a while." Hiccup said. "Hopefully, Rag and Cosette are doing better than I am now."

Meanwhile, Ragnar and Fossil saw another Nadder fighting with a Monstrous Nightmare. Unfortunately, a couple of sheep got caught in the crossfire as they ran off, their wool in flames.

"Fossil, stop that fight!" Ragnar ordered. "I'll put out the sheep."

Fossil obeyed and loudly roared at the Nightmare and Nadder, causing them to stop and cower at the much larger Boneknapper. Ragnar chased the flaming sheep into the plaza, where he saw Cosette and Hiccup having dragon problems of their own as they were chasing dragons.

"Hey guys!" Ragnar got their attention. "Come help!"

Unknown to the Trio, the other Riders were watching from one of the catapult stands. "What in the world are they doing?" Snotlout asked.

"I think they're helping the dragons break stuff." Tuffnut said.

"Cool!" Ruffnut grinned.

The Trio were each holding a bucket of water, but one flaming sheep ran over Hiccup, causing him to drop it. Ragnar and Cosette slapped their foreheads with open palms.

"Violet, corral those Thor-forsaken sheep!" Cosette commanded, and her dragon obeyed her command.

"Wow, they can really use our help." Astrid commented, seeing how frustrated Cosette was.

"We'll get to it." Tuffnut responded, staring blankly at the scene below them.

"In a minute." Ruffnut added, sharing her brother's blank look.

The Trio finally managed to toss their water buckets onto the flaming sheep, trapped in a circle by Violet's tail. "Sorry about that." Hiccup apologized.

Just when things couldn't get any worse, a flock of dragons started flying above the village. "And, it's three o'clock." Astrid said.

The Trio looked up and saw the dragons doing their business. "Oh, no." Hiccup deadpanned.

"Take cover!" Ragnar shouted as he pushed himself and his friends under a house to dodge the incoming droppings.

Later that night, the Misfit Trio were tending to their injuries in Hiccup's room. Toothless was with them, while Fossil and Violet were watching from outside.

"Oh, everything hurts." Hiccup moaned as he rubbed his shoulder. "Even this." He picked up his prosthetic.

Ragnar rubbed some white medicinal cream on a scrape on his arm. "I thought we wouldn't need to run around with buckets of water anymore, now that raids have stopped. But, I think we ran all over the plaza in under five minutes!"

Cosette held a small ice block to her forehead. "Maybe next time, don't push so hard to the point where one of us can get a concussion." She glared at Ragnar.

He rolled his eyes. "My bad." He replied sarcastically.

"Guys?" A familiar voice called out.

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked, quickly putting his prosthetic back on. "Perfect." He dusted himself. "I don't look too beat up, do I?" He asked his friends, dragons included. Their answer were all unsure looks. "Oh, great." Hiccup sarcastically proclaimed. "Pity from all three of my best friends."

Astrid then entered the room. "Hey, Astrid! What a nice surprise!" Hiccup's tone definitely had false delight.

"So, how was your day, you three?" Astrid questioned, although she already knew the answer.

"Oh, uneventful." He lied, while Cosette and Ragnar had fake smiles. "Just hung around the plaza. You know."

"Yeah, I do know." Astrid replied, picking some rubble off Hiccup's vest that he missed. "We saw you guys out there. It's hard to believe you're still standing."

Hiccup gave up the act and flopped onto his bed with an exasperated sigh. "I'm gonna be seeing flaming sheep in my dreams for the next month."

"Us, too." Cosette and Ragnar agreed at the same time as they fell on either side of Hiccup.

"KIDS!" Stoick called from downstairs. The Misfit Trio immediately got back up when they heard him coming upstairs. "Kids, what's going on out there?" He asked. "The plaza looks like a war zone!"

"I know, it looks really bad." Hiccup began.

"Really bad." Astrid whispered. Cosette gave her a quick elbow jab to quiet her.

"But, this is only... Phase One of our... master plan." Hiccup continued.

"Oh, so you three do have a plan?" A skeptical Stoick asked them.

"Of course we do, Dad." Ragnar assured with a false grin. "We wouldn't just wing it."

"Yes, and it's a very complex plan." Hiccup said. "Lots of drawings, several moving parts; a step-by-step plan. Yeah, it's uh, pretty wild."

Stoick glanced at Ragnar and Cosette, who were smiling nervously, then sighed. "This had better work, and fast. Mildew has stirred up the whole island. If you three don't get those dragons under control, they'll be calling for their heads." With that, he left the room.

Toothless gave a worried coo about what Stoick had said. Hiccup gave his dragon a reassuring pat on the head. "Don't worry, bud." He said. "Your head isn't going anywhere."

"No dragon's head is." Cosette added.

"You do realize that they are, like, a bazillion dragons out there, and only three of you?" Astrid asked rhetorically. "I hope you guys really do have a plan."

"No worries." A confident Ragnar replied. "We always know how to improvise on the spot."

The next morning, the Misfit Trio gathered the other dragon riders in the vacant Arena and told them their idea. "That's your plan?" Ruffnut asked. "Train dragons?"

"Here?" Tuffnut added to the question. "Where we used to kill them?"

"Right, but we don't do that anymore." Hiccup said, placing a basket down. "That's why it's available."

"Actually, the dragons do seem a little nervous." Astrid pointed out as she patted a nervous Stormfly on the snout. The only dragons who didn't share the same jitters were Toothless, Fossil, and Violet.

"That's because they're very sensitive about this." Fishlegs informed them. He then cuddled his Gronckle lovingly. "Meatlug, especially. She lost a cousin here. We try not to talk about it." He whispered the last part.

"It's true, bad memories don't fade so easily." Cosette replied. "But soon, they'll adjust to the place."

"It's amazing that your dad just gave us the Arena." Astrid said to Hiccup.

"Yeah, it totally would be... if he did." Hiccup muttered nervously. "But, he didn't, so that's another thing we shouldn't talk about."

"Wait, so we're going behind your father's back?" asked Astrid.

"There we go, talking about it." Hiccup said.

"Last time we tried to talk to him about something like this, he disowned Hiccup, threw me and Cosette in prison, and nearly led an entire armada to their deaths." Ragnar reminded them. "Personally, that's something I don't want to relive."

"Alright, everybody." Hiccup changed the subject. "Here's the thing. The dragons are out of control. We want them to live in our world without destroying it, but they don't know how. So, we need to help them."

"So, we need to help the dragons destroy things!" Tuffnut exclaimed, completely misunderstanding what was just said. "We can totally do that!"

Ragnar and Cosette facepalmed at his stupidity while Hiccup tried to clarify. "Actually, guys, what I meant is-"

"Here's what we'll do." Ruffnut interrupted. "First, we'll make them really mad."

"No problem." Tuffnut said. "We anger everybody."

"Isn't that obvious?" Cosette muttered under her breath.

"Guys, this is serious." Hiccup cut in sternly. "Mildew wants our dragons caged. I don't know about you, but that's not okay with me."

"Us neither." Ragnar added, gesturing to himself and Cosette. "And, who knows if it will stop there if that old grouch gets his way."

"You're right." Tuffnut agreed, before gesturing to his sister. "She's sorry."

Ruffnut glared at her brother, and before she could punch him, Cosette beat her to it. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She said with a smile.

"Okay, next problem." Hiccup continued. "The dragons are eating everything in sight." He pulled out a loaf of bread from the basket that he brought. Toothless licked his lips when he saw the treat.

"Now, when a dragons grabs something it's not supposed to have, you can get him to drop it by giving him a little scratch just below the chin." Hiccup explained. While he was doing that, Toothless grabbed the bread. After he was done, Hiccup gently scratched his Night fury under his chin, making him let go of the loaf in bliss.

But Snotlout just scoffed at Hiccup's tactic, and once again, tried to show off. "Well, that's how you and Toothless do it, but Hookfang and I, we do things differently."

He grabbed the bread and tossed it up to his Nightmare. "When I want this big boy to do something, I get right up in his face and say, 'DROP THAT RIGHT NOW'!" He yelled at Hookfang. "YOU HEAR ME?!" Hookfang did drop the bread, but then grabbed Snotlout and shook him around a bit. Snotlout's muffled voice then spoke up. "See? He dropped it."

"Only to probably eat you instead." A sarcastic Cosette answered.

"Should we help him?" Tuffnut asked.

"Yeah, in a minute." Astrid said.

"Let me sleep on that." Ragnar replied, enjoying Snotlout hanging from his dragon's jaws.

"Alright, we've got a lot of training to do." Hiccup announced, getting everyone back on track. "But together, we can keep the dragons under control."

As everyone started to get to work, Snotlout called for them, still inside Hookfang's jaws. "Uh, can someone do that chin scratching thing?" he asked.

Later that day, the Riders walked into the village, and it was surprisingly quiet.

"Huh, that's weird. No dragons." Fishlegs observed.

"That was easy." Ruffnut said.

"Lunch, anyone?" Snotlout suggested.

Hiccup turned to Ragnar and Cosette. "If things are too quiet around here..."

"It's not a good thing." Ragnar finished.

No sooner did the words leave his mouth, there was an explosion and a few screams.

Cosette facepalmed. "Did you have to say it out loud?" Their bad luck is really impeccable.

"Something tells me that the dragons went that way." said Astrid, pointing in the direction of the explosion.

The Riders all ran over there, and they were shocked to see that the main storage house was being raided by some familiar faces.

"Stormfly?"

"Hookfang?"

All the dragons lifted their heads from the baskets when they heard their names. The Misfit Trio looked into the wrecked storehouse. Nothing remained inside.

"They've eaten everything!" Stoick exclaimed as he came up to the storehouse, throwing a column to the ground. "We've got nothing left for the freeze!"

Mildew decided to step in. "I warned you, Stoick, but did you listen to me? No! Instead, you put a bunch of teenagers in charge!" The Dragon Riders all glared at the old cabbage farmer. "And look at what the dragons have done!" He continued. "Caging is too good for those beasts!"

"No!" Cosette shouted.

"You can't do that!" Ragnar yelled.

Hiccup and his friends turned towards his father. "Dad, I swear we can fix this. We were just starting to-"

"Enough, Hiccup." Stoick said. "How can I trust you three to control all the dragons when you can't even control your own?" He gestured towards Toothless, Fossil, and Violet, whose heads were in baskets, digging for fish.

"Oh, Toothless." Hiccup sighed.

"Not helping, guys." Ragnar groaned.

"At all." Cosette finished with exasperation.

Stoick entered the storage house and came out with empty baskets. "Bucket, Mulch, man the boats. We need another catch." He tossed them the baskets.

"It's too late, Stoick." said Mulch. "It took us six months to catch all that fish."

"Don't tell me it's too late." Stoick ordered. "We've got to try."

Mulch then back-pedaled. "Of course we do. Don't tell the chief it's too late." He pulled Bucket down to his ear level and pretended that it was him that said it. "You're always so negative."

Thankfully, Bucket was still half-clueless. "I don't know what it is with me." he said.

Hiccup tried again to reason with his father. "Dad, please. You got to listen to me." he said as Stoick got more empty baskets. "We know dragons better than-"

"Not now, Hiccup. I have a village to feed." Stoick said as he placed the baskets in a wheelbarrow. "The dragons have caused enough damage. By tonight, I want every one of them caged. Understand?"

"Bah!" Mildew scoffed as he decided to pour salt onto the wounds. "You can't just cage these dragons. You need to send them away now!" The Trio's eyes widened in horror as they listened to the villagers' agreements with Mildew's statement.

Stoick sighed. "You're right, Mildew. We'll cage them tonight, and in the morning, the Trio will send them off the island." He turned to the three distraught teens. "I'm sorry, you three."

Cosette only gave Stoick a disappointed glare, before running off, tears silently running down her face. Hiccup and Ragnar then went after her to try and comfort their friend.

Later that night, the dragon riders were quietly eating dinner in the Great Hall. But, they weren't hungry, because they were all upset about saying goodbye to their dragons.

"I can't believe we have to send them away." Snotlout complained.

"It's gonna be weird." Astrid said, slowly swirling her soup around with her spoon. In her mind's eye, she saw a Deadly Nadder in the broth. "I've gotten used to Stormfly's face being the first thing I see every morning."

"I'm with you there." Ragnar sighed, fiddling with a discarded dragon bone in his hand. "I've enjoyed carving Fossil's armor for him, and his family's, too."

"I love flying with Violet and her family almost every sunrise." Cosette added. "Now, all that will be gone."

"Every night before I go to sleep, Meatlug will lick my feet. Who's gonna do that now?" Fishlegs whined.

"I volunteer Tuffnut." Ruffnut tried to brighten the mood. However, it failed.

"Whatever." Tuffnut said blankly. "What time should I be there?"

"Come on, guys." Astrid said with a heavy sigh as she stood up from the table. "Let's get this over with."

"This is the worst day of my life!" Fishlegs groaned as he, Snotlout, and the twins joined Astrid in leaving the Great Hall. "We're never gonna see our dragons again."

The Misfit Trio stayed behind. "What are we going to do now?" Ragnar asked.

"We can't let this happen." Hiccup replied, crouching down to pet Toothless. "Our dragons are the best friends we ever had, next to each other." Ragnar and Cosette joined him in petting their Night Fury friend.

"There has to be something we could do." said Cosette.

Just then, Mildew arrived in the Great Hall. "Oh, Toothless, I'll miss you so much." He said mockingly, earning a growl from Toothless and burning glares from the Trio. "You three want to know what your mistake was? Thinking dragons could be tamed! A dragon's gonna do what a dragon's gonna do. It's their nature, and nature always wins." With that, Mildew walked away from them back outside.

"Hiccup, when you become chief, please, for all that is good in Midgaard, banish Mildew from Berk." Ragnar muttered.

"I second that." Cosette agreed.

"I'm really thinking about it." Hiccup growled.

When Mildew left the Great Hall, a strong wind blew inside and extinguished the Hall fireplace. Toothless immediately re-ignited it with a small plasma blast. "Oh, thank you, Toothless." A female Viking said to him.

"Now, that's proof that dragons can be helpful." Cosette stated.

Hiccup then got an idea. "You know what? Mildew is absolutely right!"

"Huh?" Ragnar and Cosette gave him confused looks.

"I'll explain everything on the way. Just get your dragons and follow me." Hiccup said as all of them left the Great Hall.

Meanwhile, the other Dragon Riders arrived at the Arena, ready to say goodbye.

"I'm sorry, Stormfly." Astrid sad tearfully as she petted her Nadder one last time. "Now, go." She pointed to the Arena. Reluctantly, Stormfly led the other dragons into the Arena.

Snotlout placed his had over his chest. "I feel like there's big, sharp, teeth ripping at this thing in my chest." he said.

"That's what it feels like when your heart is breaking." Astrid explained.

Even though he knew it, he still denied it. "I don't have a heart! I'm not a girl."

The Riders watched the gate slowly began to close with tear-filled eyes.

"Don't close it!" A familiar voice cried out.

They looked up and saw the Misfit Trio flying in with Toothless, Fossil, and Violet. The Trio quickly jumped off their dragons, and Hiccup pulled back the lever, making the gate reopen.

"We're not locking them up!" He said, facing the other riders.

"What happened? Did you change your father's mind?" Astrid asked hopefully, which quickly faded to suspicion. "Or are we going behind his back again?"

"Uh, one of those." Hiccup admitted as Cosette and Ragnar beckoned to the dragons to step out. "Look, the dragons are going to do what they're gonna do. It's their nature. We just need to learn how to use it." The Dragon Riders gave the Trio hopeful smiles.

The next day, Bucket and Mulch were in a boat, trying to catch some fish. "It's empty again." Mulch said, looking down at the net, still empty.

"Did I eat them already?" A clueless Bucket asked. "Did I enjoy them?" Mulch groaned. "Oh, am I being too negative?"

Then, Hiccup and Snotlout flew over to the ocean. "Snotlout, scare up some dinner." Hiccup told him before he and Toothless flew off.

Snotlout and Hookfang then began to dive into the water. "Dragon attack!" Bucket yelped.

Hookfang quickly dove into the sea, and scared many of the nearby fish into the waiting clutches of the net. "Hey, thanks, dragon!" Mulch called out happily as Snotlout and Hookfang resurfaced.

"That's right!" Snotlout proclaimed as he flew away with Hookfang. "That just happened!"

Back with Hiccup, he, Astrid, and Fishlegs flew over to Mildew's cabbage field.

"Afternoon, Mildew!" Astrid greeted him as Stormfly made deep trenches in the soil with her tail spines.

After Hiccup sprinkled seeds into the trenches, He announced, "Three o'clock! Time for the fertilizer!"

Before Mildew could ask, Fishlegs led a flock of dragons onboard Meatlug. "Okay, Meatlug. Let 'er rip."

The dragons then relieved themselves, providing the fertilizer. "Smile, Mildew!" Hiccup called. "We just saved you three months of work!" Then, he and Toothless flew off again.

In the forest, Ragnar, Cosette, and the twins were scaring some boars with their dragons. Hiccup and Toothless then came along and helped herd them into a storehouse.

"Yee-haw!" Cosette whooped as Violet closed the storehouse doors with a flick of her tail.

"A whole week of work done in an hour!" Ragnar exclaimed.

"This is awesome!" Fishlegs grinned.

"How did you know that was going to work?" Astrid asked as she and Hiccup landed.

"Because they're dragons, and they're going to do what dragons do." Hiccup explained as he slid off Toothless. "We just have to work with them and not against them. You know who we should actually be thanking, though?"

"There they are, Stoick." The voice belonging to who they were just talking about said.

"Speak of the devil." Cosette muttered.

The Riders turned and saw an angry Mildew with Stoick. "Those dragons don't look like they're in cages to me."

"No." Stoick said as he glanced at the Misfit Trio. "This is not what I asked for."

Minutes later, the Dragon Riders were in the Arena, being watched by several Vikings. Stoick walked in front of them with Gobber by his side. The riders were in the center, and they were worried.

Fishlegs was panicking. "Oh, no! What's Stoick gonna do to us?"

"I'm too pretty for jail!" Ruffnut complained.

Tuffnut scoffed. "Where'd you hear that?"

Before his sister could punch him, Stoick spoke up. "You all disobeyed my orders... and there will be consequences."

"I told you guys we were gonna get in trouble." Astrid whispered to the Trio. "You never listen to me!"

"We never listen to anyone." Cosette retorted back to her.

Hiccup takes a step forward. "Dad, if anyone's going to get in trouble, it should be me."

"Nope." Stoick said. "You all had a hand in this."

"Oh, this is going to be great, Fungus." Mildew said to his sheep. "It's about to get ugly."

"You took over this place without asking." Stoick began, making the riders flinch. "You released the dragons against my wishes. Things are going to change around here. That's why I-"

"You're getting a Dragon Training Academy!" Gobber cut in.

"Wha-?" A surprised Mildew exclaimed.

"Gobber!" Stoick exclaimed. "I wanted to tell them!" The Dragon Riders looked at each other with relief and happiness at the news.

"I'm sorry." Gobber apologized. "You're right. Go ahead."

"Well, you told most of it!" Stoick retorted.

"You can tell them about how proud you are of them." Gobber suggested.

"Gobber!" Stoick shouted again, then he turned to his sons. "Eh, boys, well, what he said. You all made me proud." He walked over to the lever that controlled the doors where the dragons are kept. "This Dragon Training Academy is for you."

He pushed down the lever, and the doors opened. The Riders then greeted them with big hugs.

"Hookfang, my buddy!"

"Stormfly! I missed you so much!"

"Meatlug! Oh, who's Daddy's little baby?"

"Barf!"

"Belch!"

"Fossil! Ha, ha! Come here, pal!"

"Violet, oh, hey girl!"

"Hey, bud!" Hiccup hugged Toothless.

"Oh, I'll get those dragons yet." Mildew grumbled, and then he stole away.

Stoick came up to the Trio and their dragons. "Now, all you three have to do is train them." He said.

"Not a problem, Dad." Hiccup said as Ragnar and Cosette wrapped an arm around him, and he returned the gesture. Their dragons gathered behind them. "After all, we've got them." Astrid cleared her throat at him, and they turned to the other Riders and their dragons. "And them, too."

That night, Hiccup was drawing a picture of the Riders with their dragons. Beside that picture was one of just him, Ragnar, Cosette, and their dragons.

Dragons can't change who they are.

Hiccup looked at Toothless, who was warming up his stone slab bed. He looked outside and saw Ragnar heading to the stable with Fossil, carrying some carving tools.

But who would want them to? Dragons are powerful, amazing creatures.

The scene then shows a sleeping Fishlegs with Meatlug subconsciously licking his feet while she slept.

The following morning, Astrid wakes up to see Stormfly in her bedroom window.

In the sky, Cosette was flying with Violet, her mate, Flare, and their five hatchlings.

Later that morning, Snotlout and Fishlegs onboard Hookfang and Meatlug hung the new sign for the Academy.

"Berk Dragon Academy. I like the sound of that." said Astrid as she lightly punched Hiccup's shoulder.

And as long as it takes us, me and my friends are going to learn everything there is to know about them. Wouldn't you?

The Misfit Trio are then seen flying across the sky, their dragons roaring with excitement.

A/N: FINALLY! *collapses in my chair* It took freaking forever to write this thing! But, it was all worth it. I hope you guys enjoyed it. To Arwen the Storyteller, see if you can spot the idea you gave me a while back. ;)

Next chapter will take a while, but, I'll try to post a new chapter every three or four weeks, depending on my schedule.

Well, I'll see y'all in Chapter 2!

Got to fly! ;)