Banished

Running over to the fire Delvin quickly saw the situation, gobbers shack on fire and toothless running out of the building like a guilty dog that had been caught with its head in the trash

"Snap-pine! Water!" Delvin shouted, gaining his dragon's attention and pointing towards a water trough nearby, there were one every few buildings or so, Berkians were VERY used to houses being on fire

Giving a cry the giant pinecone of a dragon lifted off, shooting towards the water like a ballistic missile before grabbing the trough with its feet and flying back, dumping the water onto the flaming building with a hiss of steam, he was about to order Snap-pine to do the same again but by then the others had arrived, each with a dragon and trough, putting the fire out quickly.

However they obviously weren't fast enough as the forge, armory, and dentist in one was already ruined, the fire had burned extremely hot due to the coal and monstrous nightmare gell stored within

"My house!" gobber cried as he ran into the remains of his house, sounding like a grieving widow "Bertha!" he sobbed as he saw his favorite catapult reduced to rubble

"Gerald!" his favorite axe had been crushed by the debris

"Sharpey!" his favorite mace had shattered due to having been exposed to such extreme heat and then water

The continuous yells of grief and outrage continued for the next few minutes, every time not failing to make hiccup who also had arrived too late cringe and make the already grumpy Stoick fume even further.

However, Delvin was too busy focusing on his encounter from before how the cloaked figure had disappeared and suddenly there was a fire? Also, who was the one who had yelled about the fire? The only people nearby were himself, Stoick, Gobber, and the other riders!

"Cindy! I guess your throat-cutting days are over!?" another yell sounded from within the shack, causing the chief to finally let out a sigh, turning to hiccup with a resolute face

"These dragons are causing too much damage," he said, looking at his son with a mixture of sadness and steel. He let out another sigh before placing a hand on hiccups shoulder and looking to the surrounding riders as well as the crowd of people that were now making their way to the destroyed forge with angry expressions "it's no longer safe. I want them off the island."

"What!?" Astrid, hiccup, and the others exclaimed, looking with shocked expressions at the chief as if they couldn't understand what he was saying. Delvin on the other hand just scowled, his grip on his halberd tightening until his knuckles were white

"Round them up and take them away!" Stoick ordered before walking away, trying to salvage any weapons he could

***

The next morning the riders set sail, their boat carrying the riders while the dragons flew from behind, following from the air

All except Delvin were on the boat, even as the ship set sail and Snap-pine flew after it he stayed behind. He'd given the reason that someone should stay behind, especially now that berk was left defenseless, all their weapons burned in the fire and since he was literally the only one who didn't store his weapons in the armory due to him using his Halberd as a walking stick, he was one of the few that was left armed

Of course, this had been a lie. In all honesty, berk was likely to be completely safe as long as Stoick remained on the island, that man could fight armies with just his fists.

But of course, he didn't tell them that, he had an investigation to do

Whoever that shadowy figure had been, they had been in the village the night where the great hall had been attacked and they had been around when the fire had been set. So while he wasn't entirely sure that they could be responsible, it was definitely worth checking out

No none ran and hid in the shadows unless they had to

He started at the same place he had seen them first, finding the small bush where he had originally found that lock of black hair, something he had in a small bag now. He had initially planned to have Snap-pine track the person through smell, but obviously, that was now off the table.

From there he went to the rough location that the voice had originated, that voice that had announced the fire but somehow belonged to nobody nearby, it was there he found another clue, footprints, facing towards the beach

And from there the investigation followed, Delvin followed the path of whoever was on the island, finding traces of their existence along a tracked path, a hair here, a piece of discarded food there, he tracked them across the island and all the way to the other end

Until he eventually reached an old house, the same that had belonged to the now late mildew, although it had fallen into disrepair in his absence.

But more importantly… someone was inside! The light of a small candle drawing flickers across the window pane. Lowering himself Delvin crawled towards the house, hoping to snatch a peek through the window

but as he was slowly sneaking towards the house he saw a figure exiting the old shack, draped in a cloak that covered their features. For a moment he just stood there, confused

Had the old ghost of mildew come back to haunt them?!

But it was then that Delvin saw what the person was carrying… a pair of boots and a staff. But not just any staff and boots, a pair made from the limbs of dragons!