Chapter 25

Toothless and Hiccup flew side by side, heading back to the island the next morning. His mother had been surprised when his ability was revealed to be healing, as she expected it to be more destructive. Nevertheless, she agreed that it would be incredibly useful when going up against Dragon Hunters, and that she would tell the King that he was ready to join their missions. 

"Hiccup?" Toothless asked as they flew, frowning at the direction they were headed,"Why aren't we heading towards the island?" 

"Because Johann should be close by today," Hiccup responded, having memorized the trader's routes. "I want to ask him if he's ever seen the Dragon Hunter's crest before." 

Toothless hummed in acknowledgement, "Does that mean that you need to ride on my back again?" 

"Yes," Hiccup sighed. "And my mother told me that you and I will have to practice flying with me on your back so that the Dragon Hunters don't learn about Dragonborn on our missions. We need to be able to fly as one, like my mom and Cloudjumper do."

Hiccup had only seen his mother fly on Cloudjumper once, when they first met. But even from that small moment, it was clear that the two of them had been working together for a really long time. She had even been standing on Cloudjumper's back as he flew, which Hiccup knew from riding on his brother's back could not be easy. 

"Wonderful," Toothless grumbled. "You know, you make my maneuverability a lot harder." 

"I know," Hiccup said, "but we have to do it." 

Johann's ship appeared in the water in front of them, just a tiny dot in the distance. Hiccup shifted quickly into his human form, landing on Toothless's back. He had gotten somewhat more comfortable riding on Toothless, so it was easier for him to mount him mid-air than it used to. 

"Hiccup, could you at least try to feel more natural?" Toothless suggested, moving his shoulders uncomfortably. "All this flying with you like a lump on my back is going to make my back tight." 

"How am I supposed to do that?" Hiccup asked. 

"I don't know. Just pretend you're flying yourself, or something." 

"Fine," Hiccup agreed. 

He leaned forward, spreading his body out more evenly across Toothless's back. His hands gripped loosely on Toothless's neck, and he tried to imagine that his brother's wings were his own. It was quite easy, really. Whenever he was in his human form, it always felt like his wings and tail were supposed to be there. So he just imagined that he was in his dragon form, making small adjustments to his muscles as the winds blew against them and Toothless made movements. 

"Whoa," Toothless said, his shoulders relaxing underneath Hiccup. "That is so much better." 

"Good," Hiccup said, relieved. "Now, let's get to Johann." 

Toothless cooed in agreement, and let his wings spread wide. He raced forward, Hiccup whooping in excitement as he pretended that he was flying too, following Toothless's movements and slight posture changes. Already, it was clear that this was easier for both of them, and Hiccup felt that he could enjoy it a tiny bit more. 

With a whistle filling the air, Toothless dove down towards Johann's boat, pulling up just before they hit the ship. The air whooshed beneath them as Toothless spread his wings out wide, Hiccup leaning backwards with him as they came to a stop above the deck. Johann, who seemed to be organizing his goods on deck, let out a surprised squeak as the two of them appeared. 

"Master Hiccup?" Johann asked, his eyes widening as he looked at him astride Toothless's back. 

"Yep," Hiccup replied, Toothless landing softly on the boat. 

"What happened to...?" Johann looked at Hiccup with confusion. 

Hiccup tilted his head, "What?" 

"You're-" Johann gestured to Hiccup, clearing his throat. "You look mighty different from the time I saw you a couple weeks ago." 

"Oh," Hiccup exclaimed, glancing down at himself. "Right. That."

"What in the world happened?" 

"Uh," Hiccup stuttered, scrambling for an excuse as to why he now looked like he was in his twenties. "I had a growth spurt?" he said eventually. 

"That has got to be one of the most fierce and swift growth spurts I have ever seen," Johann laughed nervously, and Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that the trader hadn't questioned him more.

"So what brings you aboard my most majestic vessel?" Johann asked, his eyes flitting nervously towards Toothless ever so often.

"I want to know if you've ever seen this crest on a ship before," Hiccup said, taking out a piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to Johann. 

The trader looked at it, before immediately gasping dramatically and dropping the paper in an effort to get away from it. 

"Oh, I've seen that crest before," Johann said fearfully. "It lies inked into the sail of none other than," Johann looked around, as though someone could hear them, then leaned in and whispered, "The Reaper." 

Hiccup glanced at Toothless, who couldn't understand what Johann was saying but looked both thoroughly amused and confused at the trader's actions. 

"The what?" Hiccup asked, turning back to Johann. 

"The Reaper," Johann repeated. "That boat lies inside of a ginormous ship graveyard, and is the most horrifying creation I have ever witnessed in all of the seven seas, for it is covered in traps and only the gods know what else. Only once have I ever attempted to step foot on its deck, and I barely escaped with my life." 

"Where is it?" Hiccup asked. 

"No, no, no, Master Hiccup," Johann said, panicked. "You must never go there! The fog beyond the Archipelago is dangerous, it is nothing like anything you've ever seen!" 

"The fog beyond the Archipelago?" Hiccup asked carefully. 

"Yes! Many sailors have tried to venture out of it, but rarely do they see light of day again," Johann said frantically. "To go into it would be madness! Especially the north of it, where The Reaper so dangerously lies." 

"Got it," Hiccup said, moving back towards Toothless. "Do not go to The Reaper in the north part of the fog beyond the Archipelago. Thanks, Johann!" 

"Wait, no! Master Hiccup-" 

Toothless launched off the boat, having gotten the signal from Hiccup's movements that mirrored the ones he would have took to take off himself. They bolted up into the cloudless sky, soaring away from the trader's boat. Hiccup almost laughed at how different the experience was now that he and Toothless were in sync. 

"So, what'd the trader say?" Toothless asked. 

"He's knows of a shipwrecked boat called The Reaper that sits in a ship graveyard in the northern part of the fog beyond the Archipelago," Hiccup responded. 

"So I guess that we're going there soon?" Toothless asked. 

"You know it," Hiccup said. "I'll ask my mother about it during our next visit, see if she knows anything more about it before we go after it." 

"What did the trader say about it?" 

"Johann said that The Reaper is incredibly dangerous, and filled to the brim with booby traps," Hiccup responded, looking back to see how far they were from the trader's boat. 

"Delightful," Toothless said, staying still as Hiccup leapt off of his back. 

"It sure will be interesting," Hiccup agreed as he shifted into his dragon form, sidling slightly up in front of Toothless. 

"Who will you take with you?" Toothless asked. 

Hiccup tilted his head in consideration, "Probably Barf and Belch. I'm betting they know a thing or two about traps. I'll take Sharpshot too, he'll be able to get into small spaces. Meatlug probably isn't the best choice for a boat where you have to watch your step, so she'll stay on the island. I'll need you to stay back watch the island too, you'll be in charge. Then I'll take Stormfly because she could smell anything off, and leave Hookfang, because he's most likely to cause a fire." 

Toothless gave him a look of surprise, "You're leaving me on the island? You almost always take me with you." 

"I always take you with me to visit my mother," Hiccup corrected. "Those count as diplomatic meetings, which is why I need my second in command with me. But when we leave on missions that don't require a lot of dragon power, it's your job as second in command to stand in and watch over the dragons that don't come with me on the missions." 

Toothless blinked, "Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. Have you always had that in mind?" 

Hiccup shrugged, "Maybe it's been in the back of my mind the whole time. But regardless, I'll take Sharpshot to fit into small spaces, Stormfly for her good sense of smell, and Barf and Belch for their probably booby trap knowledge." 

Toothless nodded, "That's wise. I will gladly stay behind at the island." 

"Thank you," Hiccup said gratefully. 

* * * 

"The Reaper?" Hiccup's mother questioned as they stood inside her den. "No, I'm afraid that I've not heard of it." 

"Johann said that it has the Dragon Hunter crest on its sail," Hiccup explained. 

"Well, it certainly would be worth checking out," Cloudjumper said. 

"Yes, we haven't had anything this large to look into in a very long time," Hiccup's mother agreed. 

"Great, when should we go?" Hiccup asked. 

"Slow down, son," his mother laughed. "We need to have some scouts check out the area first. We need to know what we're flying into beforehand." 

Hiccup considered, "That's probably good idea, but Johann has already told us what to expect. No sailors dare to enter the fog, so there will be no humans there to hurt us. The only thing that could cause any harm to us is The Reaper itself." 

"And do you fully trust what the trader says?" 

"Well," Hiccup said, "the guy does tend to over exaggerate a lot of the time."

"And I'm not sure that I would trust that human's every word," Toothless added. 

"Okay, you can send out some scouts," Hiccup agreed. "But make sure to tell them that they need to be very careful, and only to look at the area surrounding The Reaper, not the boat itself." 

She nodded, "Okay." She turned to Cloudjumper, silently asking him to go do that. 

Cloudjumper nodded, and took off out of the den. 

"Now," Hiccup's mother said, turning back to Hiccup. "I'd like to discuss your first mission."

Hiccup straightened, "Yes?" 

"So," she said. "The Hive Nights that I have circling the space that we believe to be the Dragon Hunter base have reported some strange activity. A messenger boat sailed into the area in a hurry, the crew looking incredibly excited and frantic. After that, a surplus of boats started sailing in the direction that the messenger boat had come in. The boats came out of the area erratically, seeming to be trying to make it unnoticeable to my spies. But because of the incredible communication that Hive Nights have, they were able to tell that something was off. The most noticeable part of this occurrence was that they spotted Ryker Grimborn on one of the boats, meaning only that something big had to have happened for Viggo to send his brother out with the crew.

"I've had a group of Singeing Singers following each boat that leaves the base, and every single one has reported that their ships have congregated with each other, all heading south. The King has ordered us to go after the place that the messenger boat came from before the armada can get there. He believes that a Dragon Hunting boat found something that Viggo desperately wants or needs, so he ordered all those ships to go out and escort that thing back to their base." 

Hiccup nodded, "Alright. Who in my Flight do you wish to come with?" 

"Your best fighters," she replied. "We fear that there could be bloodshed, so we need all the muscle we can get." 

"I don't like to leave the island unattended or under protected," Hiccup said, "but because we need a lot of dragonpower, I'll take more dragons than what I'd usually be comfortable with off the island. Toothless and Hookfang are obviously to come with, as well as Sharpshot staying behind. But because I'd like to at least leave on adept fighter on the island, I'll leave Stormfly behind. And I'll bring Meatlug for her incredible strength, as well as Barf and Belch because of their firepower." 

His mother nodded, "Okay, I will let the King know right away."

"When do we leave?" Toothless asked. 

"How long will it take you two to go back to your island and retrieve those of your Flight that will join the mission?" Hiccup's mother asked. 

"If we left now, we could probably be back by sunset," Hiccup said. 

"Then we leave at dusk," his mother said firmly.