Finally. In Berk, humans and dragons live together... It just took a couple of centuries for that to happen.
But... there's a tiny problem: humans forgot to explain that to their livestock.
Which are delicious!
o0o0o
A Deadly Nadder and a Monstrous Nightmare started fighting and tumbled into a farmer's sheep pen, roaring at each other.
"You're so ugly!" the Deadly Nadder shouted.
"Your mother is ugly!" the Monstrous Nightmare growled back.
The poor sheep panicked so badly that they slammed into each other while trying to flee. Mulch and Bucket quickly approached the two bickering dragons.
"Oh no! Not again!" Mulch rushed toward them while Bucket herded the sheep away. "Shoo! Shoo! You know you're not supposed to be here!" he scolded the dragon.
The Monstrous Nightmare hopped out of the pen, snorting at the Deadly Nadder. Bucket pushed the Nadder out as well, and she snorted back at the Nightmare. Looked like that was the end of it, and the two dragons walked off in opposite directions.
"All right, guys, back to work," Mulch said, heading toward the female yak to milk her.
Bucket went to the chicken coop to get some eggs, but the chickens hadn't laid any.
"Uh... chickens lay eggs, right?" Bucket asked, holding a chicken up.
"Do we really need to talk about this again?" Mulch sighed while looking at him.
"Oh." Bucket lifted a sheep and looked underneath it for eggs.
Mulch sighed deeper.
"Yeah. Looks like we do." He approached Bucket. "Okay, pay attention. Wool—" he pointed at the sheep. "Eggs—" he pointed at the chicken coop. "Milk—" he finished, pointing at the yak. "Not that hard, right?" Bucket looked around, then back at him, still confused. "Ugh, watch." Mulch went to the yak. "You just grab the teats like this and pull! Pull—"
The yak kicked him since no milk came out.
"Oof... I think she's dry. That's not good."
o0o0o
Hiccup and Astrid were sliding down a snowy mountain, riding Toothless and Stormfly. Lua was just accompanying them—nothing better to do in the morning besides sleeping until breakfast.
"This is so fun! I can feel the snow on my scales!" Lua roared excitedly.
Toothless stuck his tongue out at her. Stormfly almost laughed.
Hiccup and Astrid cheered with their dragons' speed. Astrid slid ahead and had a mischievous idea. She tapped Stormfly, who understood and launched her spines.
Hiccup, Toothless, and Lua dodged them by inches.
"Astrid! / Stormfly!" the three yelled.
"Oops! Was that me?" Astrid joked with a grin.
"No hard feelings," Stormfly cackled.
Lua rolled her eyes as Hiccup maneuvered Toothless to slide faster and catch up. Toothless spread his wings to block Astrid's view.
"Hey!" she complained, trying to look past him. "Not fair!"
To avoid crashing into trees, Toothless moved his wings out of the way. Astrid wasn't so lucky; a branch slapped her in the face, making her eat snow. She spat it out.
Lua laughed and spotted a snow ramp, getting an idea. She slid toward it and launched herself, landing ahead of them. Using her tail, she flung snow on all four.
"Lua/Lua!!" they shouted, brushing snow away.
"No hard feelings!" Lua said, tongue out.
"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be?!" Astrid's grin turned more wicked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hiccup said innocently.
Stormfly suddenly spat a fireball, melting a snow pile and turning the ground slippery. Toothless and Lua lost balance and spun around.
"Payback doesn't hurt!" Stormfly teased.
"Why am I getting hit too?!" Toothless complained.
"Because I said so!" Stormfly replied.
"Her idea, but I approved it!" Astrid took the lead down the slope.
Hiccup heard something and looked back—an avalanche.
"Oh no." He tried to make Toothless fly, but the tail fin froze stiff. "It broke! Astrid!"
Astrid looked back and saw the avalanche. She and Stormfly shot into the sky for safety. Lua lifted off too, but saw Toothless falling behind.
"Oh no!" Lua flew lower.
"Help Hiccup! I'll be fine!" Toothless roared.
Lua angled herself toward his frozen tail so Hiccup could catch her. Even Astrid dipped Stormfly lower to help. But it was useless—the avalanche swallowed them at the bottom of the slope, pushing all four into a cave.
"Astrid!" Hiccup called through the darkness.
"Hiccup! I'm cold," Astrid trembled.
"Where are the dragons?" Hiccup asked.
Toothless shot a plasma blast at the snow blocking the entrance.
"Toothless?"
Then Stormfly breathed fire to help melt more.
"Stormfly?"
Lua followed next. Her lightning punched through the snow.
"Lua?"
Light filled the cave. The three dragons formed a circle around their riders, shielding them from the cold with their wings. The two humans were huddled together.
"I see the light!" Hiccup exclaimed. "Look what they did!"
"They saved us!" Astrid said, impressed.
Suddenly, they realized how tightly they were holding each other. They quickly backed away, nervous, embarrassed, awkward. Lua nearly burst out laughing—her favorite couple was just getting started.
o0o0o
All the dragon riders gathered to discuss this new dragon behavior.
After spending so long in the cold, Lua felt strangely sleepy. She curled up and fell asleep. Toothless watched her with worry; she had been sleeping more and eating less ever since the snow began. But Lua explained her species could hibernate for years by conserving energy.
"Lua, wake up, we have to go," Hiccup nudged her.
Lua yawned and stretched like a giant cat. Toothless watched.
"She's been super sleepy ever since it started snowing," Fishlegs murmured. "I'll write it in the dragon manual later."
Hiccup mounted Toothless and headed home with Lua trailing behind, half-asleep.
o0o0o
Inside their warm house with a crackling fire, Lua finally felt awake enough to listen to Hiccup and Stoick's conversation.
"With the storm coming, we won't be able to hunt or fish. We might be stuck for months," Stoick said, pacing.
"A storm now? We're mid-winter—big storms shouldn't hit for another month," Hiccup said.
"Not according to the elder," Stoick grumbled.
"And what am I supposed to do? I don't control the weather," Hiccup shrugged.
"No. But you do control the dragons. If they don't stop scaring the livestock, we won't have supplies to last the storm," Stoick said just as Bucket and Mulch walked in. "Any luck?"
"Nope, none. And I tried milking that poor yak for three hours," Bucket groaned.
"Oof... we're doomed," Lua muttered when everyone went silent.
"No doubt about it," Toothless agreed.
Hiccup suddenly stood by Toothless and Lua, resting his hands on them like pets.
"They don't want to scare anyone, Dad! They don't even eat our animals—they only eat fish!"
"Yes! But they're enormous, breathe fire, and now that they wander freely, the animals are terrified!" Gobber explained.
"This is where you say: 'I'll fix it!'" Stoick demanded.
"Fine," Hiccup sighed. "How long until the storm hits?"
"One week," Mulch answered.
"Perfect. Plenty of time."
"You never say that. It's a rule," Lua said.
"Rule?" Toothless tilted his head.
Suddenly Bucket groaned in pain.
"Correction: three days and six hours," Mulch translated Bucket's groaning.
"Oh. That's... less time. I might have a problem," Hiccup swallowed nervously.
o0o0o
The next day, Lua decided not to join the training. Not for lack of Hiccup trying—he pushed, pulled, poked—but she was far too lazy to get out of bed.
He sighed and continued with Toothless.
Lua only got up when the weather warmed slightly—well, not the sun, since dark storm clouds hid it, but it was warmer than before.
"Mmmh!" She stretched and went for a flight.
The house was empty, but the front door was unlocked—nobody was foolish enough to steal from the chief's house. Lua spread her wings and flew around the village.
The riders stayed inside the Dragon Arena trying to help animals lose their fear of dragons, but nothing worked.
"So what happens now? Oh right, soon the storm hits, the food storage gets ruined, and the livestock run off because of the dragons," Lua muttered as she landed near Gothi's hut.
The elder stepped outside, hearing a sound. She stared at Lua, and Lua stared back. Gothi allowed the dragon to rest there—for now.
Being mute, she couldn't complain verbally—only smack things with her staff.
"Man, I wish I understood this..." Lua looked at the sand drawings.
She gazed at the horizon, sadness covering her face. She loved—no, adored—waking up here and becoming a dragon. It felt like a dream come true.
But she couldn't help missing home, her father who didn't understand her, and her old life in the city.
"Does he miss me? Is he looking for me...?" Lua wondered. "Will I ever go back...?"
Gothi sensed her sadness and stroked her neck. Lua purred—a dragonish smile spreading.
Feeling better, Lua launched into the sky. She knew she had to wait two days and some hours before interfering in the story, so she trained her flight and accuracy instead of watching Hiccup fail the first try.
o0o0o
Finally—the time arrived! Lua considered trying to stop the animals from fleeing, but she knew she couldn't hold back that many. So she just let events unfold.
Maybe later she could change other events... and maybe even get an official rider!
Dragons and animals were being herded into the Great Hall for shelter.
Suddenly lightning struck a tree, making it fall and startling Stormfly, who fired her spines by reflex—spooking Hookfang, who lit up in panic, frightening the livestock. They bolted, and no one could catch them.
"Hiccup, no! In this blizzard we'll never gather the herd!" Gobber warned.
"Not alone. But with Toothless and Lua, I've got a chance!" Hiccup mounted Toothless.
"No! Your father will kill me if you don't come back!" Too late—Hiccup, Toothless, and Lua were already gone. "Astrid, talk some sense into—no! Not you too! Come back!"
Everyone ignored Gobber and flew off after Hiccup to rescue the animals. Gobber swallowed hard.
o0o0o
Hiccup led with Toothless, Lua at his side.
"Find as many as you can! We'll guide them back to the Great Hall!" he ordered.
"Uh, can we swing by home? I forgot my rain cloak..." Fishlags shivered.
"Ha! Look at this!" Ruffnut slapped herself. "I'm so cold I didn't feel that!"
Tuffnut punched her, but she didn't react. Tuffnut pouted—no fun if she couldn't feel it.
Hiccup gained altitude and spotted groups of animals.
"There they are!"
Lua dived toward one group, ready to herd them, but Hookfang—panicking—slammed into her, knocking her into a snowbank.
"Hookfang!" Lua roared.
The dragon didn't hear her. The riders were losing control of their dragons.
She shook off the snow, only to spot some chickens.
"Hi," she said with her best smile.
Unfortunately, a Strike-class smile resembles a crocodile showing a thousand sharp teeth. The chickens squawked and ran.
"Oh..." Lua watched helplessly.
She took off again, trying to grab animals with her claws, but all escaped. Frustrated, she huffed—apparently she needed more training.
She heard Hiccup, Stoick, and Gobber and descended. Stoick seemed to be scolding Hiccup, insisting everyone return to the Great Hall.
"Which way?!" Gobber asked—they were lost.
"Gobber, follow the tracks," Stoick pointed—only for the snow to erase them instantly.
"That won't work," Gobber said.
"Sir... what do we do now?" Fishlegs asked, shivering violently.
Stoick saw how the teens trembled.
"Come here, everyone," he said, extending his hands.
The older Vikings tried to shield the younger ones from the cold. Toothless lifted his head.
"Come on, guys," he roared to the dragons.
All dragons approached and circled around the humans, sheltering them with their wings.
"What are they doing?" Stoick asked.
"They're protecting us," Hiccup answered.
"It's natural instinct," Astrid added.
The dragons breathed fire to warm the area—except Barf & Belch and Lua, for obvious reasons.
As they warmed up, Toothless spotted a sheep couple huddling around their lamb, desperate to keep him warm.
Toothless approached; the adults fled, but the lamb stayed.
He called to it with a soft, friendly rumble, knowing livestock were sensitive to harsh roars. Toothless ran back to the group and waited.
The lamb hesitated, but stepped forward into the warm circle.
Soon the parents joined. Then the rest of the animals, encouraged, gathered too—everyone united by the same goal: warmth and safety.
The Vikings were shocked but delighted at this new harmony.
o0o0o
When morning came and the storm calmed, the dragons pushed away the snow covering them—not bothered much; after all, most were living, breathing fire.
They eventually returned to the Great Hall. The doors opened, and Hookfang was the first out, roaring. Vikings tensed—until they saw sheep hitching rides on his back.
Peace had finally returned, and livestock began producing milk and eggs again now that their fear had passed.
Okay. Maybe they aren't that delicious after all.
Animals are our friends, and we don't eat friends!
Hehehe. Today was a great day—I can't wait for the next adventure.