The Alpha is Rising

Placing Them in Order

"Hiccup! Hurry it up! Get the signs to the temple, now!" shouted Gobber as he, Sandy, and Gothi headed towards Drago.

"But how am I supposed to set them up?" Hiccup shouted back.

"Your girlfriend was on the right track!"

"She is not my girlfriend!"

"Seriously? Now is not the time to be arguing your relationship status!" exclaimed Astrid. But Hiccup had already turned to Merida, wondering about the more important issue at hand.

"What right track?" Merida glanced at him quizzically, but her eyes widened in realization.

"There has to be people holding the signs!"

"Yeah, but which people?" asked Eret.

"Well, Hiccup's one," replied Merida.

Hiccup gasped, "I know. Merida, Astrid, Eret, Ruffnut, MacIntosh, you're with me! Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, Dingwall, and McGuffin, I need you to cover us! We're going to have to make this quick!"

"Right!" came the unanimous reply. The teens split up, Snotlout's group steered their dragons towards Drago's army, while Hiccup's group went in low towards the temple.

"Stop them!" shouted Drago. Several of his men aimed for Hiccup's group, but Snotlout's group swooped in and engaged them in battle. "No! Stop them, you fools! Stop them! Ah!" Drago and his dragon were sent flying by one of Gothi's dragon's fireballs.

"Give it up, Drago, the prophecy states that we shall win," announced Gobber.

"Never! The Alpha shall awaken, and all dragons will belong to me!"

"Nope, not gonna happen," stated Gobber before he, Sandy, and Gothi re-engaged Drago in battle, primarily to keep him from getting to the temple. Meanwhile, Hiccup's group was making their way to the center of the temple. Hiccup's face was grim as he opened a pouch on his belt and handed out the six signs.

"Hiccup?" asked Merida.

"We, we have to stand around the stone and the tree with the signs." He glanced at each one with sorrow, "I don't know if we'll even make it out alive. If I could do this by myself, I would, but, I need your help."

"You know we're here for you, right?" asked Eret, placing a reassuring hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"We're in this together, Hiccup, for good or bad," remarked Merida.

"But, if we don't make it . . ."

"If we do make it, Merida officially becomes your girlfriend, you go out with her, no excuses, got it?" blurted Ruffnut.

MacIntosh eyed her, "You wanna help me make sure of that?"

"I like that idea."

"Ugh, let's just make it a triple date and be done with it! We've got to save the world first!"

"Astrid's right, and according to the poem, Fire stands between Earth and Lightning, Air is in between Lightning and Water, and Ice is in between Water and Earth." As he spoke, he situated each person in a place around the tree and the stone before taking his place between Merida and Eret.

"Uh, isn't something supposed to happen?" asked Ruffnut.

"Uh, yeah, I don't know what's wrong, I know I have everyone positioned correctly, Ice, Earth, and Fire are supposed to be in front of the stone, and Air, Water, and Lightning are in front of the tree. Maybe we're too far back? Everyone, take a step forward." Everyone did, and waited a bit longer, the temple trembling with the rising alpha. "OK, another step."