Chapter 123: Fishlegs and Popcorn?/My Best Enemy

The dragon riders landed on the eastern beach in silence, taking an uneasy moment to breathe in the night air before dismounting from the backs of their dragons and readying their weapons and their lanterns. As soon as everyone was ready to depart, Hiccup remarked, "Okay, one of us is going to have to skip the drill and take the dragons to the cave on the other side of the island. That way, they won't try and help us.-" A loud squawk ricocheted from the edge of the forest, followed by an orange and blue blur, which resolved itself into a hostile Deadly Nadder as it landed mere feet away from the riders. Immediately, Toothless, Grump, and Hookfang sprang into action, leaping in front of Hiccup, Gobber, and Snotlout. They surrounded the Deadly Nadder, backing it up- back towards the trees- as it screeched, roared, and repeatedly lashed its tail, threatening to fire the spines that had given the species its common name. Hiccup belatedly finished, "...Just like that. Ok! So, who's going to watch the dragons?"

Fishlegs raised his hand and started, "I think the obvious choice would be-" "ME! I VOLUNTEER!" Fishlegs glared at Tuffnut, and protested, "But- but I have way more dragon knowledge!" Tuffnut countered, "Yeah- from a book! But I... I feel them. In... In here." He pressed his hand to his chest- right over his heart. Then Tuffnuts hand dropped to his stomach, which growled. "yeah- in my stomach! Besides, I did say "Me!" first!" Hiccup facepalmed and grumbled something under his breath. He then reluctantly told the rest of the riders, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Tuffnut is right! Fishlegs, no one can argue with your dragon knowledge, but if Dagur- or, gods forbid, some worse threat lurking out there attacks with wild- or for that matter captured and enthralled dragons- we need to be able to face them! At any time of day or night- even if we have no backup." Fishlegs stuttered- and struggled to come up with a counterargument to Hiccup's point. He finally griped, "I hate it when you make sense." ,at Tuffnut, who cackled and elbowed Fishlegs. The riders now took a moment to say goodbye to their dragons for the night.

Astrid fed Stormfly a roast chicken leg from her saddlebags and said, "See you later, Stormfly." Snotlout rested a hand on Hookfang's snout and told him, "You stay tough." Fishlegs gave Meatlug a goodnight hug, and she in turn gave him a good night lick and he remarked, "See you in the morning, Meatlug!" Ruffnut headbutted Barf and Belch, playfully smirking, "Play some pranks on Tuffnut for me, will ya?" Gobber fed Grump a briquette from his saddlebags, telling Grump, "You can have more coal when we get back to the forge, Grump. And don't set it on fire- again- when I get back to work!" Phlegma petted each of Snappy's heads in turn, reassuring them, "Okay Flytrap, Agaric, Sundew, and Snappy- I'll be back by morning!" Spitelout petted the spines on Kingstail's tail, barking, "Remember, Kingstail- a warrior never rests!" Wall.e and E.v.e. were nearly dogpiled by their own dragons- just about stopping the adults by raising their hands- as if stopping traffic. The hatchlings briefly scampered around their boots before they picked them up and handed them back to the adults, E.v.e. scolding the hatchlings, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you lot need to stay with Tuffnut!" Wall.e added, "Don't worry about us- we can handle this drill blindfolded!" Captain McCrea fed Bosun the contents of a can of spam, commenting to the other riders, "Now that we're here, this drill doesn't seem so bad..." Springtrap retorted, "I wouldn't be so sure..." as he gave his Monstrous Nightmare- Windgnasher Hybrid one last scratch beneath its chin. Hiccup started to leave, only to turn around and notice Toothless following him. He turned around, and reprimanded Toothless, "No-no-no-no-no! Toothless, you have to go with Tuffnut... I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's the boss!" Tuffnut grinned like a maniac and bragged, "That's right! You heard that! Boss-Man! Head Honcho! The Big... Boss... Honcho Guy. The Honch Boss. Hey, does anybody know where this cave is?" Everyone else turned around and stared at Tuffnut, their jaws collectively hitting the floor. Tuffnut smirked, "Just messing with you... or am I? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I don't even know!" He then began to lead the dragons off into the dark. Before everyone split up, Hiccup threw in one last reminder, "Remember everyone- this is about stealth, not speed. It doesn't matter how fast you get there. What's important is how you handle wild dragons if you come across them- alright?" Everyone except for Fishlegs started to move in different directions, as Hiccup finished, "Good luck, Everyone. I'll see you back at the cave." Fishlegs continued to stand where he was, seemingly lost in thought. Hiccup turned around to see him still standing in the same spot, looking for a non-existent sheath for his falchion. As soon as he realized that Hiccup was staring at him, Fishlegs asked, "What? I'm formulating a plan..." Hiccup reassured Fishlegs, "Fishlegs, you can do this. There should only be wild dragons out there..." Fishlegs grumbled to himself, "Aw man, I could have stayed in my nice warm bed this morning, Meatlug peacefully licking my toes, bot no-" "Move out, Fishlegs!" "Don't rush me, I'm having a moment!" Fishlegs's lantern suddenly blew itself out, and he ran after Hiccup, exclaiming, "Hiccup, wait! Can I borrow your candle for a second?!?"

Fishlegs trudged through the woods, quietly grumbling to himself, "Cold, and miserable, and- what the?!? Who's there?!?" He stopped dead in his tracks and held his lantern up, swinging it around as he looked for the source of the rustling bushes. He saw nothing. Reluctantly starting to walk again, Fishlegs groused, "Thanks, Astrid! My death will be on your hands!" Another rustle- this one much closer to him- and a growl so loud it made the hairs on the back of Fishleg's neck stand up. He again held his lantern up, and prepared to defend himself with his falchion. This time, he tried to reassure himself, "It's probably just Ruffnut- I wouldn't put pulling a few pranks during the drill past her..." A second growl- somehow louder than the first- startled Fishlegs into turning around. He found himself face to face with a massive Typhoomerang. Its bright orange eyes darted towards the lantern in Fishleg's hand, its cat like pupils reflecting green in the light. Fishlegs counted four massive horns srpouting from the back of its massive yellow head. He backed up a few steps, and tried to drop into a crouch, lowering his falchion and lantern. As he backed away from the Titan Wing, Fishlegs tried to reassure it, "Look, this is just a misunderstanding..." The Typhoomerang took a step towards Fishlegs and roared in pain. Fishlegs dropped the falchion and the lantern and screamed.

E.v.e. slunk over the top of a solidified lava flow, and began to descend through the craggy, eroded terrain with ease. She was making good progress- she was already wending her way around the north slope of the volcano, and she was fairly sure that nobody has spotted her... at least not yet. She had already spotted Gobber venturing into the entrance of an old lava tube, and several wild dragons going about their nightly business. So far the only dragon that she'd had to handle directly was an unusually aggressive Skybreaker- and that had required some well timed dodging and an arrow removal. She clambered atop a particularly large boulder to check her bearings- and spotted a light in the distance. Stumped, she asked herself, "...Campfire? I thought Astrid said no camping gear..." She resumed navigating the lunar landscape of gullies, lava tubes, and craters, grousing, "Snotlout- or Spitelout- you'd better have a good explanation for this..."

By the time E.v.e. strolled into the clearing, it had become clear that the campfire did not belong to either Jorgensen- or any Berkian for that matter. A grisly collection of dragon body parts, hunting equipment, arms, and armor were strewn about the campsite as if its inhabitants had dropped everything and ran. E.v.e. cautiously approached one of the gruesome trophies- a detached wing which had been propped up with a pike through the shoulder- and studied it closely. It was decently large, with five fingers, a sesamoid thumb claw, and... it was hard to make out any patterns in the dim, flickering fire light, save for a strip of skin on the trailing edge which seemed to reflect the firelight more effectively. A twig snapped behind her, and E.v.e. whirled around, grabbing the nearest thing she could to use as a shield. She found herself face to face with Widowmaker... who was currently aiming a crossbow at her.

"What are you doing here, Oxton?" The icy tone of Widowmaker's voice ruffled E.v.e.'s feathers- and she took a step back. "What are you doing here, LaCroix?" Widowmaker pounced, forgetting that she had a loaded crossbow in her hands. E.v.e. dodged the bolt with a curse and sprang off a tree at the edge of the campsite, segwaying into a pounce of her own. Widowmaker narrowly rolled out of the way and sprang to her feet, reloading the crossbow in one swift motion. E.v.e. growled and sprang her plasma cannon, firing a blast. Widowmaker leaped out of the way, deliberately firing her crossbow this time. E.v.e. blinked out of the way, leaving the bolt lodged firmly in the flank of a disembodied tail. Her blast reflected off a detached wing and exploded against Widowmakers back, knocking her off balance an catching her off guard. Another bolt whinged past E.v.e.s head, striking the tree behind her with a sharp crack. E.v.e. launched herself off the disembodied head she had been perched on, and tackled Widowmaker, pinning her foe to the ground. "...The Berserkers aren't hunting dragons, are they?!?" Widowmaker shoved E.v.e. off herself, nearly sending her rolling into the campfire. The two arch enemies began to circle around the campfire, staring each other down. The tension was electric- almost palpable- as each waited for the other to make the next move. A loud crackle erupted from the shadowy labyrinth of bushes beyond the edge of the campfire. Widowmaker hissed and loaded her next bolt. E.v.e. spread her wings, preparing to demonstrate her newest skill. Seeing this, Widowmaker started shifting her aim towards E.v.e.s throat... E.v.e. noticed the movement, and deployed her wing blast from a standing start. For a brief second, the campfire burned more fiercely, its flames rushing at Widowmaker with the sudden blast of wind. She was caught up in it a second later, screeching, "QU'EST-CE QUE?!?" as she was blasted backwards into the darkness, the twang of the crossbows rope indicating a misfire. E.v.e. dropped back to all fours with a snarl. A long, tense moment passed- and Widowmaker sprang back out of the darkness, roaring at the top of her lungs. E.v.e. braced herself for the inevitable tackle...

CRACK! E.v.e. leaped out of the way as a Titanwing Typhoomerang barreled into the campsite, its massive yellow head swinging towards her. Wait a minute, yellow head? Hadn't E.v.e. met this Typhoomerang before? Widowmaker slammed into the trunk of a tree, her crossbow firing a fresh bolt. With a sickening thump, it landed in the flank of the dragon. The Typhoomerang roared in pain, a heated howl rushing straight up from the campsite. For a brief moment, the flames threw garish shadows across the whole campsite. Widowmaker recovered and wheeled to face her towering new foe. Instinctively, Widowmaker raised her wings and hissed, her tail exploding into a lashing bottlebrush of fury. The Typhoomerang roared back, and raised its own wings, kicking up a cloud of dust. The distraction was all E.v.e. needed. She launched herself as high as her own legs would allow, curled up into a ball in mid air, and let gravity do the rest. She slammed into the ground- hard enough to produce a shockwave, which left a crater in the ground and flung Widowmaker into the shadows. E.v.e. heard one last furious scream, "LENA OXTON, YOU LITTLE-" CRUNCH! An out of breath Fishlegs stumbled into the campsite a moment later. For a long moment, the viking, the dragon, and the synth stayed where they were, breathing heavily. Once he'd regained his breath, Fishlegs asked, "What on Odin's Green Earth is Widowmaker doing here?" E.v.e. shrugged. "I asked her the same question... Oh Crap!" Fishlegs's eyes widened. "If Widowmaker was here a moment ago..." E.v.e. finished, "... then so is Dagur. And he's not the only dragon hunter..." She plucked her makeshift shield- a dragon hunter's helmet- off the ground and showed it to Fishlegs. The Typhoomerang growled in disgust at the sight, and Fishlegs reassured it, "No, no, no, It's okay, Popcorn... there are no dragon hunters nearby." Popcorn huffed and snapped at the bolt lodged in its flank. Fishlegs reached for the helmet, asking, "May I see that?" E.v.e. passed it to him with a slight nod, her nubs flattening in concern. Fishlegs breathed, "Single row of straight, plain horns, leather sewn inside of padding edge, full leather face guard... This is a Grimborn Helmet. In other words, it's bad news!" E.v.e.s face fell, and her shoulders drooped. She collected her sword and her lantern (dropped at the start of the fight), and got straight to the point, "We need to find the others. If it hasn't already, then this drill is about to go sideways." Fishlegs nodded in agreement, then cursed as his lantern went out for the third time that night. E.v.e. relit it with a low powered, carefully aimed blast, and they set off to find the others, pilfering several other Berserker and Grimborn weapons- not to mention a few that looked different from both tribe's weapons- as evidence on their way out of the campsite.