The ocean looked still from how high they were. Ashley, a lover of flying on her dragon, loved nothing more than being on Barf's saddle, the clouds around her and the wind in her hair.
"That vacation was awesome, we should do that again some time."
Ashley said, as she looked over to Tuffnut who already had his eyes on her.
"Yeah, agreed. We really should get away from Berk every once in a while, cut Hiccup some slack, you know."
Tuffnut replied, a grin appearing on his face, making Ashley rolled her eyes.
"You realize Hiccup needs us on Berk. We are the two other higher ups that can keep Berk safe from Drago or what other scoundrels are out there wanting to stir up trouble."
Ashley looked over on her side, spotting something in the horizon as Tuffnut's voice faded off into white noise. She stared hard at the shape and saw it was no boat or ship she hadn't seen before, till it came to her thoughts.
"T-Tuffnut?"
Ashley stammered, as Tuffnut stopped talking and looked over at her, confused.
"Yeah? Did you even hear a word I said?"
Ashley shook her head and pointed over at the vessel, which made her skin crawl just by the sight of it.
"It's a boat, who cares."
Ashley sharply turned to him, his expression of carelessness dropping, which changed into concern.
"Is something wrong?"
He asked, bringing Belch closer to Barf as he reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"We...need to warn Hiccup."
Ashley said as she demanded Barf and Belch to fly faster toward Berk. As they arrived, passing the large statues that presented them into Berk, they looked around seeing the village filled with Vikings, who awaited their return. However, when they landed near the stairs that led to the Great Hall, everyone expected them to announce themselves, but they were quickly worried that maybe something bad happened on Nepenthe that needed Hiccup's attention. Hiccup sat on his chiefly throne with Toothless sleeping beside him. As Ashley and Tuffnut barged in, Toothless's ears shot up, as he awoke from his slumber. He grumbled seeing the brunette jogging over with her partner beside her.
"Haddock? A word alone, please?"
Hiccup frowned his brows as he sat up quickly and walked over to her.
"Yeah, come on."
Hiccup replied, escorting Ashley and Tuffnut out of the Great Hall and toward his house. The fire created a faint glow as Hiccup walked back and forth, trying to put together Ashley's encounter with the ship she saw.
"A mysterious boat, that's strange."
He said, placing his hands down on the table, as he sat down in his father's chair.
"It looked awfully familiar, that's why I needed to warn you."
Ashley crossed her arms, seeing Hiccup look down at the table then take his book out, opening it to reveal the large map.
"Now, where in the archipelago would they be?"
Hiccup asked as he looked up at her, watching as she walked closer to the map. She eyed the vast open water, and pointed to an area just south-west of Berk.
"Do you know why I told you to go around that area, Hiccup?"
Hiccup looked at her questioningly before raising a brow. After seeing his expression, she continued.
"Cause that's where they are, on an island, however they aren't on it long. They return after their food is low, stock up, then they're off again."
Hiccup took his pencil and hovered it over the spot, before looking up at her.
"Name of the Island?"
Ashley thought about it, then she remembered.
"Bog Burglar Island."
Hiccup widened his eyes then began to write it in the area she had pointed at. After he finished, he placed his pencil down and examined the map.
"They are awfully close to Berk, but far away from Maltosa, at least an hour or 2 more to get there."
Ashley nodded.
"Yes, but they're determined to take back what they want."
Hiccup stared at her confused and wondered what she meant by that.
"Wait, what?"
Ashley looked at Eret, who returned the exact scowl before he spoke up.
"You see, after we arrived on Earth, they wanted the island for themselves, as they had discovered it DAYS before. After they saw that we had stolen "their land", they declared war and stopped at nothing to take what was rightfully theirs from the start."
Hiccup stared blankly, taking in every word.
"They almost had us, but we fought with everything we had, every man, every dragon."
Ashley added, which made Hiccup shiver at the sight of it.
"Most of our men were injured, or they almost died. Our dragons were nearly massacred. It was a grisly sight, Hiccup."
Hiccup couldn't believe what he was hearing. Tuffnut grimaced at the mere sight of a dragon being murdered.
"Gods, Ashley I... I'm sorry that you had to fight that war alone."
Ashley sighed, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head, trying to rid the thoughts from her mind.
"We need to get the gang together in the Great Hall and talk about this further, Berk isn't safe. Because if Bertha finds out you're one of our alliances, she will send her female warriors here to burn everything to the ground."
Hiccup stared widely at Ashley and thought about Berk once more being destroyed, but this time his people being killed, and the dragons being slaughtered.
"Sounds like something very serious, worse than Drago, Alvin, Viggo and Dagur combined."
Ashley nodded, making Hiccup become more alert than ever in his life. The fate of Man and Dragon was once more at stake, but now on the chopping block. He needed to come up with a plan, and quick.
"Alright, let's get everyone together."
Hiccup said, as everyone walked out of his house and toward the Great Hall.
Sammy Alle
