Chapter Text
The day was unlike any other, dragons' shrill cries were heard over the waves crashing against the cliff line. (Y/N) yawned and stretched as they rose from their bed, a smile on their face. They had the feeling today was gonna be a good day. They looked up to see (D/N)’s head lolling over the skylight, her tongue hanging loosely from her mouth. Her leg and wing were healing well, and her form was slowly returning to its healthy weight, to (Y/N)’s pleasure. (Y/N) chuckled at the Changewing, until they had to dodge some of her acidic drool from falling onto their head.
A loud crash from afar made them jump, (e/c) eyes widened. (D/N) rose her head wearily, a low hiss arising from her. (Y/N) quickly got dressed and grabbed their satchel and dagger, then rushed to go see what the commotion was. (D/N) skittered behind them as she quickly followed (Y/N), her yellow eyes large and curious. The pair spotted all the dragons outside of the storage area and headed in that direction.
“Oh hold on, hold on.” (Y/N) heard Hiccup saying from inside. “No one is burning anyone at the stake.”
“Hiccup’s right. Let’s just throw him off the cliff.” Ruffnut said, causing (Y/N) to raise a brow and walk faster.
“Is everything okay in here?--” (Y/N) stopped in the doorway, and blinked rapidly. “Gustav??” The accident-prone child smiled and waved slightly past (Y/N) as if he had just lost his vision. He was a frequent visitor to them and Gothi, his clumsiness and just overall lack of awareness often got him injured or sick. It was a miracle the kid was still alive, in all honesty. Which is why it confused (Y/N) even more so to see him here, on Dragon’s Edge. “What’s he doing here?”
“Apparently, moving in.” Snotlout snapped, and (Y/N) almost dropped their satchel out of shock.
“Oh, Odin’s ghost tell me you’re joking.”
“Guys, I’m sure there is a simple explanation. Please tell me there’s a simple explanation Gustav.” Hiccup said, almost pleading with him.
“Yeah, very simple. By the way, do not look right into that sun sword thing.” Gustav said, rubbing his eyes vigorously, earning a questioning look from (Y/N) and a head shake from Fishlegs telling them not to ask. “Whoo! Anyway, you said when I was ready, I could join the Dragon Riders. Well, I’m ready and I’m here to join. Where’s my hut?”
A look of horror crossed everyone's faces. (Y/N) was lucky to never have to interact with Gustav outside of medical purposes, but now it seemed like their day of reckoning was here. ‘So much for a good day.’
…
Stormfly and Astrid took off to the arena, with Gustav close behind. The blond had been placed in charge of watching the teen while Hiccup worked on the Dragon Eye further. (Y/N) felt sympathy for her, they knew Gustav was a lot to handle, but maybe he would do well with her no-nonsense attitude. “I’m sure it’ll work out” (Y/N) said out loud, earning a grunt from (D/N) behind her.
…
How so much chaos ensued within a few hours was beyond (Y/N)’s comprehension. Astrid’s training session was ruined, the twins lost their beloved boar pit, Fishlegs’s topiaries were turned to ash, and now it was the medic’s turn to hold the torch of destruction. Hands on their hips, (Y/N) sighed and shook their head wearily as they stood outside their hut. Gustav and FangHook stood in front of them, looking around at the lush forestry in wonder.
“Okay Gustav, I just restocked and cleaned everything so I don’t need assistance in anything. How about I just… teach you about some basic medicine, yeah?”
“You got it, boss man!” Gustav said enthusiastically and winked. The medic shivered in disgust and led the two inside. The teen stared in awe at the thriving medicine stock, as the aroma of herbs soothed (Y/N)’s worries. They gestured to a seat for Gustav to sit on, which he happily obliged to.
“Alright, for this lesson you’re not going to be touching anything. I’m just showing you the herbs and telling you their purpose, understand?” (Y/N) said sternly.
“No touching, got it!” Gustav and FangHook nodded, and (Y/N) turned around to fish some basic calming herbs. Five seconds later, a loud angry hiss and a startled shriek filled the room. The medic whipped around to see FangHook reared up defensively and (D/N) cradling her injured wing with her teeth bared. Fanghook had stepped on the sleeping dragon's wing, and when she retaliated he quickly shifted his talons without moving his weight off the wing. They gasped when they saw that (D/N)’s wing had been wrenched even worse than before after the whole ordeal, and rushed over to her.
“Gustav, out!” (Y/N) snapped, gingerly trying to fix the bandages nursing the fracture and checking for any new wounds. “Go see if Snotlout needs any help.”
“But what about the lesson-?”
“It’s postponed.” (Y/N) said through clenched teeth. “I have to fix her wing before it gets worse, maybe we can try again once I get her patched up.”
With that, Gustav and the monstrous nightmare exited the hut, not before clumsily knocking some of the medic’s stock off the shelf with their exit. (Y/N) rubbed their temples and let out a groan. “I’m sorry girl, I know you were almost ready to start flying again.” (D/N) let out a low whine, huffing disappointedly. (Y/N) rubbed her head sympathetically, and smiled a bit at her. “Let’s get you patched up alright?”
…
Just when (Y/N) was starting to feel guilty for their outburst at the teen, Gustav went and lost all sympathy from her. The boy had stolen the Dragon Eye to explore a series of unstable caverns, and Hiccup had to go save him before he either fell to death or got crushed. All the riders stood in the clubhouse around Gustav, with irritated or disappointed looks on their faces. (D/N) peered down at the scene from one of the support beams above, refusing to get anywhere close to FangHook or his rider.
Hiccup paced angrily to and fro, his brow furrowed. (Y/N) had never seen the brunette this infuriated, he was typically the most level-headed of the bunch. Even so, he was still a viking, and by gods did Vikings have a temper in them.
“Of all the irresponsible, insubordinate-” Hiccup started, his balled-up fists gesturing as he talked.
“Don’t forget idiotic, imbecilic, inane,” Tuffnut said, counting the terms off on his fingers. The other riders looked at him unimpressed, to which he shrugged defensively. “What? I’ve heard a lot of terms for ‘stupid’. I mean come on, people say that more than my proper name.”
Hiccup ignored the male twin’s ramblings and continued. “Of all those kinds of stunts you could have pulled, this was the worst. Do you know what Dagur would do to get his hands on the Dragon Eye?”
“I just thought if I came back here with the treasure, you guys would accept me,” Gustav explained hopelessly.
“First of all, there is no treasure.” Hiccup started, closing in on Gustav as he spoke. “Second of all, we’ve already been there. And that entire island is honeycombed with the most unstable caverns we’ve ever encountered.”
“I’m sorry, I just–”
“You could’ve been killed, Gustav. FangHook could’ve been killed.” Hiccup said this at the teen's level, looking him in the eyes to stress the importance of how reckless his actions were. He straightened and turned away from him, “Look this isn’t Berk, Gustav. The rules are different out here. You have to be smarter than this.”
“I just wanted to prove myself.” Gustav crossed his arms, tears brimming in his eyes as he looked away.
“Oh, you have. You have proven that you are not responsible enough, you’re not mature enough, and you’re not trustworthy enough to be one of us.” With each word, Gustav’s face got darker and his jaw clenched in anger. “Now, it’s been a long day. We all need some rest. We’ll talk about this in the morning.”
An uneasy feeling settled at the bottom of (Y’N)’s chest as they observed him, Gustav wasn’t just going to give up. The other riders began filing out of the clubhouse, and (Y/N) followed slowly behind them. Gustav stayed where he sat, looking down silently. It was hard not to feel bad for him, the kid just wanted to be like his idols. ‘But at what point do you think the damage is enough?’ (Y/N)’s thoughts cut in, and they remembered (D/N)’s wing that was going to take now double the time to fully heal due to his carelessness.
A soft and warm muzzle nudged their leg and brought (Y/N) out of their thoughts. Yellow reptilian eyes peered up at them curiously, and a smile spread across their face. Rubbing her head and horns affectionately, the two made their way to the hut to retire for the night.
…
Things could never just be easy out here, could they? The next morning, Gustav was gone. He had fled into the night, leading an island-wide search for him to ensue. The whole place was turned upside down looking for this kid, and nothing. All the riders met back at the training dome, exasperated.
Hiccup landed and dismounted Toothless, looking stressed. “Anything?”
“I checked the clubhouse, your hut, even the stables. He’s not there.” Astrid said, dismounting Stormfly.
The twins and Fishlegs were the next to land, with no trace of success on their faces. “Nothing else is on fire around here, so he must be gone,” Fishlegs said simply.
“Well, we have to find him,” Hiccup replied.
“Or… do we?” Tuffnut inquired, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
“Yeah, why are we worried? Shouldn’t we be celebrating the fact that he’s gone?” Snotlout jumped in, shrugging his beefy shoulders.
“Not until we know he’s safe.” (Y/N) cut in. “You know how reckless he is, he could be hurt.”
“Well, we could ask FangHook,” Ruffnut said, earning a quizzical look from everyone.
“And, Ruffnut, how do you suppose we do that?” Snotlout asked snarkily, raising an eyebrow.
A smug grin was spread on her face with her arms crossed. “Turn around.”
As if on cue, FangHook came clumsily landing in the dome, a loud roar from his maw. Toothless rushed over to the dragon, sniffing and inspecting him. (D/N) and the other dragons understandably hung back a bit.
“FangHook, where’s Gustav, boy? Where’s Gustav?” Tuffnut spoke to the dragon similar to a dog, with his hands on his knees and all. All the male twin got in response was a grunt from the monstrous nightmare, and Tuffnut whipped around. “Ah! He’s not talking, you guys. He’s completely shut down. Typical.”
The dragon snarled and shrieked in protest behind him, his tongue slightly sticking out of his maw. The poor thing was clearly stressed, and (Y/N) couldn’t blame him. Talking to Tuffnut sometimes made her want to scream from stress too.
“Hey, hey, FangHook. Hey, it’s okay.” Hiccup said soothingly, his hands outstretched in a calming motion. “Easy boy, easy.”
FangHook settled as Hiccup approached him, leaning his muzzle against the boy's outstretched hand. Using the opportunity, (Y/N) did a brief examination of FangHook for any injuries. “Well, doesn’t look like he’s injured. Stressed and upset, but no physical injuries.” They said, studying the dragon's wild and sad eyes.
“You guys, look!” Fishlegs exclaimed, pointing to one of FangHook’s horns. A parchment of paper was tied with some yarn to it securely, which wasn’t a promising sign with a dragon this much in distress. Hiccup grabbed the note and scanned it, brows furrowed in concentration.
“It’s Dagur. He wants to make a trade.” The future chief said gravely. “The Dragon Eye for Gustav.”
…
Obviously, a plan was formed to rescue him. The riders couldn’t just leave him in the hands of that psychopath, who knows what would happen? It would’ve been simple if the letter hadn’t asked specifically for Hiccup to come alone. The chief was packing his saddle as the other riders approached him.
“I don’t like this, Hiccup.” Astrid was the first to say what we all were thinking.
“Well, we have no choice.” He responded, not stopping his packing as he spoke.
“You sure we have no choice? Like, none? Zip? Zilch?” Tuffnut asked, (Y/N) swore they were going to punch him. The lack of sympathy for a child this group had was almost concerning.
“This is all my fault anyway.” Hiccup said, almost to himself. A pang of pity went though (Y/N)’s chest, Hiccup did the most for everyone around here.
“Ninguno?” Tuffnut continued, making (Y/N) grit their teeth.
“I never even gave the poor kid a chance.” Hiccup stood, adjusting the saddle on Toothless.
“Ni Portugal?”
“Tuff, that’s really not helping at all.”
“Yeah.”
“If I wasn’t so busy tinkering with this thing, I dont know, maybe I could’ve kept him busy.” Hiccup shrugged regretfully.
“Uh, yeah, nobody can keep Gustav busy.” Fishlegs pointed out, and everyone nodded in agreement.
“At least let us back you up out there.” Astrid said hopefully as Hiccup mounted the night fury.
“Dagur was very clear, I have to come alone.” Hiccup sighed gravely, “We don’t know what he’ll do to Gustav if I don’t follow his demands to the letter. No, we can’t risk it.” Sensing the unease in the air at this response, he smiled a bit at the corners of his mouth at the blond. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”
With that, Hiccup followed FangHook into the sky, with the riders watching anxiously from below. They could only pray that Dagur keeps his word.
…
When Hiccup returned with Gustav and the Dragon Eye, relief swept over everyone. Then amazement as the chief recounted how Gustav managed to trick Dagur into going in the unstable caverns without his men and almost getting trapped. (Y/N) was actually impressed, even they didn’t like to mess with Dagur.
“Gustav, I–” Astrid stepped forward, probably about to tell him sorry and good job, but a small finger was placed on her lips.
“Uh-uh, stop right there sweets,” Gustav said cooly, puffing his chest out while Astrid glared at him with a stare that could kill him there if it was possible. “I can’t stay. My mom would kill me. She usually notices I’ve been gone after about three days.”
With that, Gustav turned around and strut toward his dragon, leaving a disgusted Astrid there. “Alright FangHook! Let’s go.” He took off into the sky, calling behind him: “You take care, babe. Don’t worry, Gustav will be back soon!”
Everyone rolled their eyes and turned their attention to Hiccup, who held a wooden chest in his hands.
“What’s that?” (Y/N) inquired, tilting their head to get a better look at it.
“Oh, just something I found at the bottom of that cave,” Hiccup said with a casual tone as he pulled out a lens with a think copper rim around it.
“A new lens!” Fishlegs said in awe, practically drooling at the sight and the thought of the possible knowledge on it.
“Yeah, there was treasure in those caves after all,” Hiccup said, examining it further. “The Dragon Eye was giving us clues on how to find it all along. We just weren’t looking in the right place.”
“And if there’s one of these out there, that means there has to be more!” Fishlegs said, getting more giddy by the moment.
“Huh. And to think, we never would’ve found that without Gustav.” Astrid said thoughtfully.
“Awesome, so let’s tell Gustav.” Hiccup said cheerfully.
“No!” Everyone said in unison, rapidly shaking their heads.
Everyone instead turned around to wave goodbye at the teen as he flew back to Berk. One could only hope that he’s come out of this knowing to be more diligent and to never give up on his dream of becoming a dragon rider.