"Do you think they miss us?" Lua asked Hookfang.
"Think? Obviously!" Hookfang snorted "If they don't, we'll burn their butts!"
That made Lua laugh and smile. Hookfang chuckled briefly before diving down, and Lua followed.
"And here we are! A perfect little place for a nap, don't you think?" Hookfang nudged her.
"Yes, yes..." Lua lifted her head as she noticed a glimmer.
Hookfang looked at her, confused, as Lua crept forward silently toward something.
Lua moved slowly, hypnotized by the shine hidden between the stones. Hookfang arrived right behind her, letting out a loud sigh.
"What are you doing? Did you see something?" he grumbled, flapping his wings "Oh Lua, it's probably just bird poop reflecting. Let's explore more."
Lua didn't blink. Her snout was pressed to the ground as she dug with her claw until she pulled out something... metallic.
It was a Viking buckle, old, partially rusted, but still carved with spiraling details like those on a warrior's armor. She stared at it as if she recognized the object.
"This is... Human..." Lua whispered, frowning.
Hookfang peeked over her shoulder and snorted.
"Wow. A piece of trash." he looked at her and then, with a mischievous grin "Gonna collect it? Start a museum? ...What even is a museum? That just came to mind."
Lua shoved the buckle back into the hole and pushed dirt over it, as if it were dangerous for it to fascinate her so much. Hookfang tilted his head.
"You're acting weird."
"I'm not."
"You are. Since when does a Skrill bury metal and then just ignore its existence?
Don't tell me you don't know Skrills are crazy about metal."
Lua looked away. She could never tell him she used to be human.
Hookfang would judge her — or worse, attack her.
"Well... I don't think much about it."
"Huh? How did you grow up then? In a Timberjack nest?" Hookgang teased.
"I definitely grew up different," she muttered.
The answer was dry. For a moment, silence lingered. Hoofang stared at Lua, curious, but then shrugged, as he always did when something felt too complicated (just like his rider).
"Well, whatever it is, if we find a full suit of armor, we split it. I get the helmet." said Hookfang with a smile.
Lua laughed, relieved by the change of subject.
"And I get the sword." She said, amused.
"For what? Cutting the tail of anyone who spits fire wrong? You don't even have arms to hold a sword." Hookfang snorted, but he was having fun.
"Look who's talking! What would you want a helmet for? With that huge head of yours..."
"Lua!" he snapped, offended.
Hookfang shoved her with his body, and Lua huffed before pushing him back. Both dragons walked on, unaware that a dragon black as night was watching them.
Toothless observed the interaction and grumbled before walking away.
o0o0o
After exploring Dragon Island...
Lua and Hookfang glided to a sunny clearing at the top of the island. Down by the shore, the other unfairly banished dragons were gathered:
Stormfly sunbathed, her scales glimmering.
Meatlug rolled lazily against some rocks.
Barf and Belch argued... with themselves, as always.
Lua narrowed her eyes.
"They're pretending we never existed," she grumbled.
"After you 'supposedly' set the village's weapons storage on fire, everyone turned their backs." Hookfang snorted, nostrils flaring with a short flame of indignation.
"But I was against the plan... It was a plan that was working..." Lua muttered, head low.
"Oh yeah? Well, they're idiots! Hey... How about we do a little something?"
"Something?" Lua tilted her head. "What kind of something?"
"You in or out?"
Lua paused. She had nothing left to lose.
"I'm in."
Hookfang slapped his tail on the ground.
"Then listen. Here's what we're gonna do..."
o0o0o
REVENGE PLAN: STORMFLY
Lua and Hookfang flew discreetly along the cliff until they found Stormfly's little nest of stones, the spot she used to sharpen her spines.
Carefully, Hookfang replaced half of the stones with bird poop and even some dragon droppings.
Later, Stormfly rubbed herself proudly on the stones...
"HEY! YOU SMELL LIKE VIKING MANURE!" Barf yelled.
Stormfly jumped, sniffed her own scales, and shrieked in outrage, firing spines everywhere.
Behind bushes, Lua and Hookfang struggled not to laugh — but failed.
Hookfang accidentally set himself on fire, and Lua leapt back in surprise.
o0o0o
REVENGE PLAN: MEATLUG
Lua and Hookfang originally planned to build a throne of rotten fish around Meatlug while she slept. But when they approached and saw her curled up, softly snoring and licking a rock...
Hookfang looked at Lua. Lua looked back.
"...She'll cry," Lua whispered.
"And then I'll feel like garbage." Hookfang added.
They sighed, frustrated — until Lua smiled.
"Let's do something she can laugh at later. No smell. No trauma. But still stupid enough."
Hookfang's eyes widened.
"I love when you talk like that."
Five minutes later, using smashed berries and tree sap, they painted colorful dots all over Meatlug's back.
When Meatlug woke up and stretched near the lake, she saw her reflection... and gasped.
"What... what IS THIS on my back?!"
Barf and Belch roared with laughter. Stormfly nearly tripped when she saw the markings.
But instead of crying... Meatlug giggled. Then fully laughed — even posing to show it off.
From afar, perched on a rock, Lua and Hook-Fang bumped claws.
"Mission accomplished," Lua said.
"And no tears." Hookfang puffed proudly.
o0o0o
REVENGE PLAN: BARF & BELCH
For them, Lua and Hookfang got creative.
They glued (with very sticky tree sap) a piece of bark to Barf's nose and another to Belch's tooth.
The result? Every time one spoke, the other thought something was stuck and tried to pull it off.
This created an infinite loop of:
"Stop poking me!"
"Get that off my tooth!"
"I didn't even touch you!"
Eventually, they spun in circles until they fell into a mud puddle.
o0o0o
Lua and Hookfang flew to a clearing laughing their heads off.
They talked about each prank.
"The look on Belch's face was the best!" Lua mimicked him trying to remove the bark.
"You should've seen Stormfly later! She kept grumbling while trying to wash the stink off!" Hookfang squeaked in a high voice.
After calming down, Lua asked:
"And Toothless? Any ideas?"
"Honestly, no. I feel like we'd never catch him by surprise. He's a Night Fury!"
"You're right. He's too smart to fall for something like that..." Lua sighed. "Wow, when did it get dark so fast?"
"Time flies when we're having fun. I saw a cave when we were getting the berries. Let's go."
Lua nodded. Hookfang opened his wings and led the way.
o0o0o
Inside the cave:
"What a picturesque cave," Lua sniffed as she entered.
"It's not humid, no strong wind... Perfect!" Hookfang smiled and then ignited himself.
He heated a section of the cave wall, stretched his wings, and curled up.
"Come here." he signaled with his head.
Lua looked around, uncertain... almost like she was waiting for someone's permission.
"Come on already!" Hookfang growled impatiently.
"Alright, alright..." Lua hopped toward him.
Hookfang adjusted himself once she settled beside him. The Monstrous Nightmare tucked a wing under her body and curled around her.
Lua purred at the warmth of his scales. She nestled into his long neck and breathed deeply.
He gave her one last look before falling asleep.
Outside, something moved — Toothless emerged from the bushes.
He had calmed down and wanted to talk to Lua, to settle things.
Following her scent, he reached the cave — only to find her sleeping beside Hook-Fang.
Toothless frowned, nose twitching, but didn't cause a scene.
He took one last look, turned, and walked away grumbling.
o0o0o
Lua woke first and poked Hookfang, who only groaned and went back to sleep.
"Fine then, I'll come back with breakfast." She flew out.
Having lived with Hiccup, Lua had become something she never expected: a morning person... or rather, a morning dragon.
She landed by a stream and began fishing when she heard a sound.
To her side stood Toothless, a few fish in his mouth.
They stared at each other — Lua turned away and continued fishing.
"Lua," Toothless said after dropping the fish.
Ignored.
SPLASH!
Lua dove her head underwater and caught a fat fish. Toothless watched silently as she devoured it.
"We need to talk, Lua."
Ignored again.
He tried several more times.
Lua kept fishing, eating, then collecting some fish for Hook-Fang.
"Are those for him?" Toothless asked, nose twitching.
"And why does that matter to you?" Lua replied coldly, not looking at him.
"...I'm sorry..." Toothless lowered his head.
Lua raised a brow.
"We... I acted wrong," he admitted. "We treated you badly for something that wasn't your fault, and I want to apologize."
Lua snorted.
"You of all dragons should know how I felt," she growled. "I was called a monster and blamed for something that wasn't even my fault."
They stared directly at each other.
"I won't hate you. I couldn't hate any of you. But... I'm sad. And it'll take time."
She grabbed the fish and flew off.
"I know... I really am sorry..." Toothless murmured as she left.
o0o0o
Back at the cave:
"He's still sleeping?!" Lua stared at Hookfang, who was even snoring.
She smacked his face with her tail.
"Ow!" Hookfang blinked "What was that for?"
"Breakfast, sleepyhead."
Hookfang rolled his eyes but accepted the fish happily.
(I think Hiccup and Alvin will appear soon. Hm... I need to prepare for the battle.)