Chapter 12

In the end, Hookfang beat Meatlug, Toothless beat Hiccup, and Toothless won against Hookfang. So then they had the losers fight against each other, resulting in Barf and Belch beating Sharpshot, and Meatlug losing to Stormfly after the Lava Grubber had volunteered to go up against her. After all of the results had been tallied, Hiccup announced that from the least adept at fighting to the most was Sharpshot, Barf and Belch, Meatlug, Stormfly, Hookfang, Hiccup, and then finally, Toothless. 

Hiccup was not surprised that Toothless had beaten him, as all the other Moon Sweeper had to do was actually get him on the ground before he could pin him down. What did surprise him was that Barf and Belch had come in second to last. When he was living on Berk, Hideous Zipplebacks had seemed so deadly, but since flying away with the dragons, all he saw was a dragon with two heads that had a fascination with blowing things up. 

"Okay everybody," Hiccup said to his Flight as they walked into their cave, "get some rest. We had a big day today, and we'll be having an even bigger one tomorrow."

"Have you decided who's going to go with you to get the map from that trader guy?" Sharpshot asked as he nestled himself onto his ledge. 

"I've thought about it," Hiccup said, "and I've decided that Sharpshot will stay here and fly to get us if something goes wrong, and Stormfly and Meatlug will stay here to guard the island. That means that Barf and Belch, Hookfang, and Toothless are going to be coming with me. I figure that Stormfly and Meatlug could defend the island well enough if need be, and I'm bringing Hookfang and Barf and Belch with me because humans are particularly afraid of their dragon species, so it'll be easier to get Johann to comply with us." 

Toothless nodded, "And do you have a plan to keep your identity as Dragonborn safe?" 

Hiccup blinked, "I don't think the thought really crossed my mind." 

"Well, we need to make sure no humans find out about Dragonborn," Hookfang said fiercely. "They have been merely legend among our kind for hundreds of years, and if humans rediscover them before they can rebuild their numbers," Hookfang left the end of his thought hanging in the air. 

Hiccup's brows furrowed, "Wait, do you think there are others out there?" 

"Well, since you're here, the chances are probably higher than we thought," Stormfly observed.

For a moment, Hiccup was dumbfounded. There could be others out there like him, other Dragonborn. 

"But we shouldn't worry about that right now," Toothless said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "We need to find a way to make sure that no one ever finds out about you being a Dragonborn. Ever." 

"Well," Hiccup said slowly, "that means that whenever we're around humans who are not friendly to dragons, I will either have to be in dragon form or human form. Obviously, I'll need to be in human form to communicate with Johann, but then we have no way to explain how I was able to fly with you guys. And even if we had a boat, it would take days for it to sail to Johann, whereas just flying would take an hour or two at most. 

The cave was silent for a moment, before Sharpshot spoke up, "Wait, why don't you just sit on one the bigger dragons' backs as they fly? Like in the myths about the ancient Dragonborn kingdom, where the humans bond with dragons and ride on their shoulders." 

"I suppose that could work," Hiccup said uneasily. "So who should I ride on?"

"Me, of course," Toothless said immediately. "I'm the one who made you Dragonborn, I'm your second in command, and I know you better than anyone else here. There is no reason why it should be anyone else but me." 

Hiccup nodded, "Okay, then. Now seriously, everybody go to sleep" 

The dragons muttered their assents as they snuggled into their spots, Toothless and Hiccup's plasma illuminating the room for a moment as they curled up on the stone. 

As Hiccup drifted off into sleep, his only thought was that after they had gotten that map, their lives were going to get a whole lot more interesting. 

* * *

"This feels really weird," Hiccup yelled over the wind from where he sat on Toothless's back. 

"You think this only feels weird to you?" Toothless said back, and Hiccup shifted uncomfortably where he sat, making Toothless growl at him in annoyance. 

"You need like a saddle, or something," Hiccup said.

"If you put a saddle on me, I'm going to throw you into the ocean." 

Hiccup rolled his eyes, and focused on not falling off of Toothless. Of course, he could just call on his wings if he fell, but if he fell into the ocean as they dove towards Johann's boat, not only would that be humiliating, but it would also definitely not convince Johann that he rode on a dragon on a regular basis. 

"Are you sure that we're going the right direction?" Toothless asked him.

"Yes, Johann always approaches Berk from the East, meaning that we have to fly at him in a westerly direction of Berk to run into him." 

"I don't think I understood a single thing of what you just said," Belch said. 

"Yeah, you're way too smart," Barf added. 

"There's nothing smart about knowing how cardinal directions work," Hiccup said dismissively.

"Well, we don't understand them, and we're super smart," Barf said. 

"No offense you two, but you really aren't," Hookfang said. 

"Hey!"

"Rude!" 

Hiccup sighed as the bickering continued, and tuned it out as he gazed at the horizon, thoughts of the conversation in the cave the night before. 

The idea of there being other Dragonborn was strange, almost unfathomable. Hiccup had spent his entire life being an outcast, something different from everyone else. Even when he became Dragonborn, he was still different from other dragons. But if he found other Dragonborn, he could actually belong. 

But where could he find other Dragonborn? And they already had a mission to take down the Queen, so he couldn't just fly away on his own in search of others of his kind. Also, he was the Captain, he couldn't leave. The other dragons needed him; they had chosen him to lead them. Hiccup couldn't quite understand why they wanted him as their leader, but now that he had accepted it, he would fulfill his duties to the best of his abilities. 

"Hiccup," Toothless said, bringing him out of his thoughts, "is that it?" 

Toothless was looking at a small dot on the ocean up ahead, and Hiccup squinted his eyes to get a better look. 

"Yeah, I think that's it," Hiccup said. "Everybody speed up, and go higher into the clouds. We don't want him to see us coming and try to attack." Hiccup did not feel like getting an onslaught of random trinkets thrown at him.

The dragons tilted upwards slightly, until they were high enough in the clouds to be out of Johann's immediate view but they were still able to see the dark outline of his boat. Soon enough, they were hovering right over it. 

"Okay, Barf , Belch, Hookfang, stay here. Keep watch, and Toothless will call up to you if we need anything," Hiccup said, taking a deep breath to brace himself. "Okay, Toothless, go!" 

Toothless tilted forwards in the air, until Hiccup was holding on for dear life as they dove down towards the trader's boat. Closer and closer the deck approached, until at the last second Toothless pulled out of his dive and landed hard on the deck. 

Hiccup heard a sudden yelp as he regained his bearings as they looked around the boat, and he spotted Trader Johann cowering behind the mast holding a frying pan. 

"It's okay, Johann," Hiccup called out as he dismounted Toothless, earning another shocked sound from the trader. "We're not going to hurt you." 

"M-Master Hiccup?" Johann asked uneasily as he inched out from behind the mast. 

"Yup, it's just me," Hiccup assured him, but the trader didn't seem to want to relax.

"Why are you riding a dragon?" Johann asked, sounding crazed. "And why isn't it trying to kill you?" 

"He's my friend, Johann," Hiccup said sternly. "And we're just here to trade." 

"Trade?" Johann asked, now sounding interested and coming even more out from behind the mast.

"Yes, I just want a map and your silence," Hiccup said, further gaining his interest. 

"What kind of map? And silence about what?" 

"Well, I need you to never tell another soul that you've seen me," Hiccup said, "and I need a map of the archipelago." 

Johann blinked, "Well, I have plenty of those. What kind would you like? A map of the Viking islands, the uninhabited islands, the dragon filled islands, take your pick!" The trader now seemed to be completely at ease, and was pulling out maps left and right, all covered with intricate shapes and names, "Of course, the maps with the inhabited islands are most common, as that's what most villages have, but you can really choose any one you want."

"Do you happen to have a map of all of the archipelago?" Hiccup asked, and the trader's face suddenly became on edge again. 

"I do, but I do not share those maps with anyone," Johann said sternly. "I created them all by myself throughout my years of traveling, and they are my most prized possessions." 

"Well, surely we can work something out," Hiccup said reasonably, but inside he was panicking. How was he going to get Johann to part with his prized possessions? 

"Of course, you could buy multiple maps with different themes," Johann said. "You would have almost the entire archipelago by then."

"Why 'almost'?" 

"Well, I created none of those maps myself," Johann said haughtily, "so there are surely a couple of places that are missing from them." 

Hiccup's left eye twitched, "So, what could I do to get you to part with one of your personal maps?" 

"Nothing," Johann said angrily, "there is nothing in the world that could get me to part with my beautiful, glorious, amazing-"

"What about Night Fury scales?" Hiccup cut him off.

Johann stilled, and gave him an aghast look, "Night Fury what?" 

"Night Fury scales," Hiccup said, and Johann continued to give him a dumbfounded expression. "And if you're nice, I might even add in a couple of other special dragon things."  

After a moment, Johann broke out of his stupor, and a greedy look spread across his face. 

"What kind of dragon things?" 

Hiccup smiled, and whispered something in Dragonese to Toothless. The other Moon Sweeper nodded, and let out a roar. 

Johann yelped at the sudden sound, and then jumped back behind the mast again when Barf and Belch and Hookfang landed on the deck next to Toothless. 

"What do you need, Captain?" Hookfang asked.

"Yeah, do we need to blow something up for you?" Belch asked enthusiastically. 

"Actually, I was wondering if you guys had anything I could give to Johann," Hiccup said quietly, not wanting Johann to hear him speaking Dragonese. 

"Uhh, Captain, I don't think I even have any possessions," Barf said.

"Me neither," Belch said. 

"No, I mean like natural dragon things," Hiccup said, but was still met with blank looks. 

"Umm, Master Hiccup-"

"One second, Johann," Hiccup said quickly to the trader, before turning back to the dragons. 

"So I offered some of Toothless's scales, since no one's really ever seen a Night Fury, so what rare things of yours could I offer him?" Hiccup asked quickly. 

"Uhh," Belch said, and looked at Barf.

"What things are useful to humans?" Barf asked. 

Hiccup sighed, "What natural things in or on your body do you use on a regular basis that are super useful?" 

They thought for a second, "Ooh, when we explode things," Belch said excitedly.

"Yeah, that's awesome!" Barf said.

Hiccup thought for a second, "Okay, could I have some of your gas, Barf?" 

"My gas?" Barf asked weirdly.

"Yeah, the stuff you breathe out to blow things up." 

"Sure, I guess," Barf said, sounding slightly disgusted. 

Deciding to ask him about why he was uncomfortable later, Hiccup turned to Hookfang.

"What about you?" Hiccup asked the Blaze Builder, "Anything of yours I could use?" 

"Well, maybe the stuff that lights me on fire," Hookfang said uneasily. 

Hiccup gave him a surprised look, "What lights you on fire?" 

"It's this gooey stuff that's all over Blaze Builders' bodies," Hookfang explained. "We just need to ignite it like any other kind of dragon fire." 

"Okay," Hiccup said, giving them all thankful looks, "thank you, guys." 

Then Hiccup turned around to look at Johann, who was staring at him with the most stunned, bizarre expression he had ever seen.

"Why did it just look like you were conversing with the dragons?" Johann asked, not seeming to believe his own words. 

"Don't worry about it," Hiccup said offhandedly. "Now, about those dragon products. Would you be interested in trading one of your maps for Night Fury scales, Zippleback gas, and," Hiccup thought of what to call it for a moment, before picking the first word that came to his mind, "Monstrous Nightmare gel." 

Somehow, Johann managed to become even more stunned, "H-How much of those products are you offering?" 

Hiccup shrugged, "As much as you want." 

Johann's eyes glittered, "Well, for that, Master Hiccup, I will give you better than just a map of the archipelago." 

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked confusedly.

Smiling, Johann beckoned him below deck, "Come with me." 

Gesturing to the dragons to stay where they were, Hiccup cautiously followed the trader as they climbed down a ladder to get below deck. Johann led Hiccup through a maze of different trinkets and oddities, before finally reaching a door. 

"Right through here are my captain's quarters," Johann said dramatically, "where I store only the most valuable of my possessions." 

Johann opened the door wide, and then led Hiccup inside. Looking around the room, Hiccup spotted the normal things, a bed, a bookshelf, a desk, and some random severed body parts in jars. They didn't look human, though. Hopefully. 

Then Johann guided Hiccup towards the desk, and pulled out a scroll from inside of one of the drawers. Slowly, Johann unfurled the scroll, and Hiccup nearly gasped at the sight. It was a map, as Johann promised, but it was the most magnificent map Hiccup had ever seen. 

The map was covered in intricate drawings and shapes, making it seem as though the map had taken years of meticulous planning and sketching and drawing. But what really made it so spectacular, was what the map depicted. 

Hiccup's father had had his own personal chieftains' map that he used for meetings, and Hiccup used to think that the map was incredibly valuable because it had every single one of the Viking islands on it, which ones were allies, and which ones were foes. But that map was nothing compared to the one Johann presented to him. Johann's map not only held the entirety of the archipelago, but Hiccup also saw islands beyond it. 

Surrounding the archipelago were islands that continued to get bigger the farther away you got, until the islands turned into a ginormous landmass covered in mountain ranges and lakes. Hiccup noticed how the landmass was divided by little colored lines, and inside of each section were names spelled out in different languages and sketches of powerful looking buildings and monuments.

"Woah," Hiccup whispered.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" Johann said, and caressed the map like one would a lover. 

"How?" Hiccup asked, not knowing what else he could ask without bombarding the trader with questions.

"Well," Johann said, and Hiccup recognized the trader's storytelling voice as he got into the zone, "when I first started trading, I had a dream to map out the entire world, so that's what I did. I set out across the high seas to explore all this world had to offer, leaving my home and my family and surety. And I traveled, oh I traveled so far. And I mapped out every inch of it. I saw monstrous mountains, glorious rivers, and beautiful kingdoms. And there were kingdoms. Oh, yes, I traveled to the farthest of places that were ruled by benevolent kings and beautiful queens. 

"I have seen and mapped as far out as I possibly have been able to," Johann sighed sadly, "but I have not been able to reach the end of the world. I have sailed for days of endless ocean, but have had to turn back because I simply could go no further. This map continues to be my most esteemed work, but I will never be able to achieve my goal of mapping it all." 

Silence filled the room, before Hiccup spoke up, "And you're offering this map to me?" 

Johann nodded. 

"Why?" Hiccup asked, "This is your life's work, why would you give it to me?" 

"Well," Johann said, "you offer very valuable things, all I want is to please you. And besides," he smirked at Hiccup, "I'm a business man. For all you know, I have twenty different copies of this map, and I told you that story just to get you to buy it." 

Hiccup laughed, "I guess I'll never know."

Johann laughed along, "No, you will not." The trader rolled up the map, and began guiding Hiccup back up deck. 

"You okay, Captain?" Hookfang asked when Hiccup approached, and Hiccup nodded in return.

"So," Hiccup said, "how much do you want?" 

"Let's see what you have to offer, first," Johann said. 

"Okay," Hiccup said. "Do you thing I could have a couple jars?" 

"Of course, Master Hiccup," Johann said, and went to retrieve a couple jars.

After the containers had been acquired, Hiccup gave Toothless the job of getting as may scales off as he could by himself before turning to Hookfang. 

"Could I have some of your flame goo, please?" Hiccup asked the Blaze Builder.

Hookfang rolled his eyes, "That is not what it's called."

"Well, then what is it called?" 

Hookfang sighed, "Just brush it off of my scales."

Hiccup smiled and began to drag the gel into the jar he was holding, before repeating the process a couple of times. 

"Alright," Hiccup said, turning to Barf, "your turn." 

"Okay," the right Vapor Spark head sighed, "let's get this over with."

"Why do you seem uncomfortable with this?" Hiccup asked him. 

"I don't know," Barf said defensively, "it's just strange, having a human harvest my gas." 

"I'm not human," Hiccup snarled, his anger surprising both Barf and himself.

"Right, right, sorry," Barf said quickly, his and his other head lowering slightly.

"No, I'm sorry," Hiccup said, taking a deep breath. "I know you don't feel very comfortable with this, and I don't know why I lashed out. But I kind of need you to help me right now. I don't even need to do anything, I can just put the jar on the ground so you can breathe your gas into it. Sound good?" 

Barf nodded hesitantly, and Hiccup set the open jar on the ground before sitting back to let the Vapor Spark head do his thing.

"Alright," Barf said, and stuck his mouth to the jar and started releasing his gas. 

Johann had been watching Hiccup's process with fascination the entire time, but when a little bit of Barf's gas seeped out of the jar, he backed up more than a couple of feet. 

"That's good, Barf," Hiccup said after a minute, and quickly closed the jar closed before any of the gas could escape. They repeated the process a couple of times, until they had the same amount of Vapor Spark gas jars as they did Blaze Builder gel jars.

"Okay, Toothless," Hiccup said, turning to the Moon Sweeper who was itching at his chin, "what've you got?" 

Toothless showed the pile of black scales that he had accumulated, and they all managed to fill up a full jar. 

Hiccup smiled at his haul, and then turned to Johann, "What do you think?" 

Johann hummed, inspecting each of the jars closely, "I understand the exploding Zippleback gas, and the rare Night Fury scales, but what I don't understand is this Monstrous Nightmare gel." 

"Monstrous Nightmare gel is what allows them to set themselves on fire," Hiccup explained, "so the stuff is extremely flammable." 

"Interesting," Johann muttered, before looking up at Hiccup. "Master Hiccup, you have yourself a deal." They shook hands, and Johann handed the intricate map to Hiccup. 

"Thank you, Johann," Hiccup smiled, "and remember: you never saw me. You don't even know I exist outside of Berk."

"Oh, of course," Johann laughed, "I wouldn't want to get between you and your dragons now, would I?" 

The trader continued to chuckle, but he let out a sudden squeak when the dragons snarled at him in response.

"No, Johann," Hiccup said, still smiling as he mounted Toothless. "No, you would not."