eachdraidh | ( ✈ FIFTH FLIGHT; VIDEO

[ The locket shows a huge, red-bearded man in a wide horned hat, scowling at Hiccup. ]

I've had enough of this! You're acting like a disgrace, flying off and abandoning the village at all hours —

You are not my father.

[ Hiccup, meanwhile, doesn't look too terribly affected by the illusion before him, at least not until Stoick steps aside to reveal a large lump covered in cloth, damp patches of blood seeping through. Stoick lifts a smaller clothed package off the tall one, and Hiccup backs up a step as his expression twists in suspicion and (yes, at last) real fear. ]

N-No, I don't want it.

Take it, Hiccup. This way, we'll set things right, son ... Go back to the way things were, the natural order.

[ Shoving the lump into Hiccup's arms, it's unwrapped tentatively as Hiccup's breathing turns shallow. The locket abruptly smacks the ground, a severed Night Fury leg splatting next to it as Hiccup trips in his horror, back-pedalling away. He screams for Toothless, wildly looking around (and elsewhere out of view, Toothless is doing the same thing), but all he can see is the hacked carcass when the rest of the mound is revealed. The ropes binding it are the ones that caused Toothless's scars, those from Hiccup's trap five years ago. ]

N-No ... I never — I never wanted that, I couldn't. I wouldn't hurt him!

[ Stoick smiles, the veiled dog's eyes glowing in his head as he scents terror. Softly, he rumbles in approval, ] Your first kill.

No, Dad ... please —

We'll have a feast for the new Chief! Cut out his heart just like you planned.

No! [ On his knees, Hiccup gags and stumbles to his feet as Inferno's fiery blade snaps out, rushing for the illusion of Stoick. ] Get off of him, don't touch him! You get away from my dragon!

[ A furious roar rips through the air, freezing the advance of Hiccup's not!father over the stricken Viking suffering a panic attack. The real Toothless, having just dealt with his own demons, races into view and shoots a plasma-blast that rocks the whole video as the locket fizzes so close to the violet-hued explosion, effectively blowing the dog right out of Hiccup's path. Another is fired at point-blank range as two huge black animals start to fight, and when the scuffle is won there are calls from both boy and dragon in the ensuing silence, the dull flare of the fire-sword shutting off in the cloudy mess. ]

Toothless! Toothless, to me! Come here, bud, c'mon! I'm right here, it's — it's okay now, he would never say that. Dad would never do that, I wouldn't let him. [ Hoarse and sobbing, the grainy view as the dust clears shows Hiccup scrabbling to clasp Toothless in a hug around a long neck, the similarly distressed dragon crooning in concern as a scaly arm (decidedly not severed) hooks around his boy's back to hold him close. ] I was so scared, I thought they'd hurt you ... Oh gods, I — I saw you ...

[ Still shaken up, Hiccup has to pull away just enough to retch on the grass outside the Station, knees shaking and a pegleg unsteady, hands trembling until Toothless nuzzles his side to help him balance (We have to get off the ground, bud). That's when Hiccup digs his fingers into the mud around the fallen locket and takes it back exhaustedly, snapping it shut in a fist. ]

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[It is rather pointless to ask are you both all right? so Waver doesn't bother. Better to be practical.]

Hiccup? You're at the Station right now, yes?

[ The feed clicks on from high in the sky, the sound of the wind buffeting past the fliers. ]

I'm above it, yeah. Sorry if you saw anything from my locket.

[ It's more embarrassing than anything, even as shaken as he is. ]

Don't apologise for it, it seems it isn't just you dealing with whatever it is.

[But that brings Waver to the point that he's concerned about.]

The monarchs have been asking those who can to defend the castles against these things. I suspect the same needs to hold true for the Station.

I'll do what I can, but they're not easy to take down and Toothless has a shot limit. [ Even if the Night Fury blasts every dog once, right in the head, he isn't sure it won't take a couple more shots to keep them floored. ] Are you coming to the Station or staying at the Barrel?

Staying here. If the monarchs are demanding increased fortifications, that means traveling on land is not the safest option out there.

[He breathes out, running through the options available.]

Are there other residents within that could help put up defensive barriers?