The Great Beyond

Chapter 7: Reign of Fireworms (Reign)

Wow, in writing this, I'm realizing with the exception of "Have Dragon Will Travel", Season 1 is really... uninteresting. Like I get having to establish the world but... jeez.

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I smiled as I closed my eyes and sighed, allowing a gentle, warm breeze to brush some of my red curls off my shoulders. Dragon's Edge had fallen completely silent, a rare moment around here. My feet dangled over the edge of the wooden platform where Hiccup and I had built our hut, swinging loosely beneath me. I hadn't felt this calm in a long while, so this moment was appreciated.

"'Morning." I turned my head just has Hiccup sat down beside me, wrapping an around my waist.

"Good morning," I muttered, scooting closer to him. "It's so quiet. I'm really enjoying this down time." A warmth buzzed in my chest as he buried his face in the crook of my neck.

"I have to admit, this is pretty nice. Sometimes, it's good to just have a moment where nothing is going wrong."

"Reign! Hiccup! We have an emergency!" I couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the moment. Hiccup groaned and rolled his eyes, lifting his head. I turned and leaned on one of my arms as Fishlegs landed on the platform in front of us.

"What's up, Fishlegs?" I asked. He didn't even bother to get off of Meatlug before he spoke.

"We may have a Fireworm problem..." he trailed off.

My eyes widened, and Hiccup and I shot up, whistling for our dragons and summoning the other riders to come with us. We followed closely behind him, letting him lead the way into the deep forests on the other side of the island. At first, I thought maybe Fishlegs just hadn't gotten enough sleep last night and was seeing things, until I noticed little flickers of fires in the trees.

"It began with one Fireworm, and as we were flying back, we kept seeing more and more," Fishlegs explained.

"Do you think they're migrating?" Once I offered that, I tried to think of more explanations as to what could be going on here.

"If they were migrating, the whole island would be on fire," Hiccup reminded us.

"Not necessarily." Fishlegs' slightly frantic expression relaxed ever-so-slightly.

"Here we go!" Snotlout groaned, rolling his eyes.

"When Fireworms migrate, they send out scouts to see if their migration route is safe. If this is a stop along that route—"

"An entire flock of Fireworms could be coming through here," I finished, dread settling like a rock in my stomach.

"Well, I say bring 'em on!" Tuffnut cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "I love those little scorchers." I shook my head, leaning down on Shriek slightly. The twins proved, more often than not, that they truly lived for chaos.

"Are you still gonna love them when they all land here and burn our entire island to the ground?" Hiccup shouted to the pair on the Zippleback.

"Yes!" Tuffnut hesitated for a moment, despite technically giving us his answer. "Wait, no. Wait, is that a trick question? Because it's pretty tricky."

"Fishlegs, how much time to do we have?" Astrid asked, trying to steer us back on track.

"Uh, it's hard to say," he shrugged. "If it's a full migration, the rest of them could be here as soon as next week." My jaw hung slightly open for a moment, shocked by the tight constraints of a short timeline.