Disclaimer: I own nothing

A.N.

Attention! This story is the sequel to Unexpected. I suggest you read that before continuing because it begins where Unexpected left off. If you have, then let's go!

Welcome back!

DreamWorks Dragons, Race to the Edge

Hunter and Prey

Chapter 1, Hide and Seek

The Berserker ship pushed through the ocean's waters as it slowly approached a sea stack. Dagur glared indifferently as he waited, twiddling his fingers on his crossed arms.

Behind the sea stack were Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs; their dragons clinging to the rock on a near vertical surface.

"Hiccup?" Dagur's voice rang out, but neither of the riders or dragons moved. "I'd love to continue our little game of hide and seek, but come one now. You can't escape my fleet!"

The ship was rounding the stack when Dagur spotted the Nadder's tail. Upon the ship's full roundabout, he watched as the dragon riders flew away before having to veer left to avoid more of his ships.

"Continue to follow them sir?" Savage asked.

"Yea," Dagur replied nonchalantly. "But don't shoot, just trail them."

Toothless, Stormfly, and Meatlug flew up higher where enemy weapons wouldn't reach. Not like they would shoot at them though, the armada had been following them for hours. It wasn't like they could keep up, it was simply because every time they thought they got away, more ships ended up coming from some random direction.

Obviously Dagur had groups posted throughout the Archipelago. And obviously, the dragons would still be able to get away if they flew above the clouds, but they still risked the Berserkers finding Dragon's Edge if they weren't careful.

"Hiccup, what now?" Astrid questioned wearily. "We've already doubled back from Volcanic Island."

"If we keep this up, our dragons will get tired. We need to lose them." Fishlegs added, feeling just as tense as Astrid.

"I know. We'll meet up with Snotlout and the twins and come up with a new plan." Hiccup announced, his voice a bit weak. His hand reached down to his leg before he grimaced. The pain hadn't subside. His calf felt swollen and it hurt to the touch, more so when he had to move it which was nearly all the time as he controlled Toothless' tail fin.

An hour later, the sun was beginning its set towards the horizon. Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs flew over another group of Berserker ships as they neared a small island. The island was surrounded by another larger group of ships.

Toothless shot a plasma blast into the air, it exploding into a ball of light. Moments later, Hookfang and Barch emerged from their cover and flew over to rejoin their herd. With all six together now, they flew off towards the setting sun hoping the light would blind the Berserkers seekers a bit.

The ships immediately left anchor and followed, but no attempt at firing occurred. Eventually, the dragons proved to be the better and they lost the two group of ships.

Hiccup and Toothless flew at the front, the riders forming a V-formation. He turned his head to announce to his friends.

"We'll fly half way to Berk," He informed them of his plan. His voice was lacking emotion, "Give them a reason to think that's where we're going. By that time, it'll be dark, so we'll be covered enough to head to Dragon's Edge without worry."

"Ugh, good, because I think I'm gonna fall out of my saddle soon." Snotlout retorted lightly.

Night fell upon the land and the moonlight gleamed off of the dragon's wings. They still flew in their V-formation above the clouds.

Hiccup's arms were sluggish, nearly hanging limply from their sockets as he focused ahead. He had to blink his eyes and rub them to keep them from becoming too heavy for him. A yawn was brought on and he did little to suppress it.

"No, don't—don't yawn—you're gonna—" Snotlout warned drowsily before yawning too. "You made me yawn."

"Sorry." Hiccup apologized.

Astrid groaned, "Ugh, how much further?"

"It shouldn't be long now…" Hiccup replied blearily.

"Hiccup, I think Ruff and Tuff fell asleep." Fishlegs informed him. Hiccup turned his head back to check on the twins. Sure enough, Ruffnut was drooling on her arm which rested on Barf's left horn and Tuffnut was upside down hanging from the saddle. His arms swayed a bit as he mumbled something about his blanket.

Hiccup groaned and pulled on Toothless' saddle bar. The dragon twisted around and flew back towards Barf and Belch. He circled the Zippleback before letting out a plasma blast. The explosion instantly jerked the twins awake with alert eyes.

"I'm awake!" Ruff shouted unconsciously.

"AHHHHHH!" Tuff screamed. One, because he was upside down and two, because he saw something far below them. "We're being attacked again!"

"Tuff, we're not being attacked. You two fell asleep." Hiccup corrected him.

"Oh," Tuffnut replied incredulously, lifting himself back up into the saddle—properly. "Then who's that?" He questioned whilst pointing down. Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows and followed Tuff's finger. Sure enough, three ships became visible as a portion of the clouds gave way.

Toothless growled at the small fleet as Hiccup noted something peculiarly familiar about them.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Snotlout roared in exasperation. They had already lost the Berserkers on their way back to Berk, successfully tricking them into thinking that was where they were going, only now to find their plan—yet again—had failed. They were almost to Dragon's Edge; the annoyance was felt by all except Hiccup.

"Wait," Hiccup stopped their assumption. "That's not Berserker ships." He concluded. Observing the sails, the symbols were not Skrills; they were crossed swords of fire. And there were only three ships, not the ten or more Dagur had for his groups posted throughout the Archipelago.

"It's not?" Snotlout nearly cheered out of his saddle. "Oh, thank Thor."

"Those don't look friendly, though." Fishlegs observed, noting the strangely familiar metal cages the ship was carrying.

"Stay out of sight," Hiccup commanded. "We'll continue our flight back to Dragon's Edge."

But we'll have to remain vigilant out on the seas. He added in his own head, gazing down at the fleet discomfort.

"I wasn't lying about the letter, Gobber." Stoick's deep voice rang out as the two, plus Skullcrusher tailing behind, walked through Dragon's Edge. They had been checking the huts, but found no sign of the kids or their dragons. In fact, the only dragons they came across was Smidvarg and the gang.

"Yeah, well when you wake me up from a mid morning nap to say we're going to see Hiccup because he's being worshiped by a tribe of Vikings who see him as their Dragon God and that they are now our allies and we must go to their island to create a treaty, how was I supposed to know if that was real or a dream?" Gobber explained his small dilemma.

"Whatever the case, I'm sure my son will have a reasonable explanation for why we were called." Stoick stated right before opening the door to the twin's hut. Peering inside, they found the building still and dark. No one was inside.

"Still no sign of the kids. Gobber, I don't like this."

"Oh, here they come." Gobber stated informed lightly as he gazed up into the sky. Stoick lifted a hand to shield his eyes away from some of the sunlight as he scanned the blue sky. The V-formation of dragons was descending down towards Dragon's Edge. Stoick smiled at the sight, the uneasiness in his heart settling to form a warm smile.

But why did he still feel like something was wrong?

They walked up to the center platform where all of the rider's operations and group meetings were held and planned out. They arrived just in time to see the dragons land on the wooden deck outside.

"Haha, there you are." Stoick greeted, "I was just about to get Skullcrusher here ready to go track you down. What—" Stoick noticed their tired expressions and weak appearances. "What's wrong?" He inquired.

Hiccup slid off the saddle, but didn't put his left leg on the floor, he kept it up. The sight caused Stoick's mind to rethink his current priorities.

"Hiccup, what happened?" he asked again as he walked to his son and offered him support.

"Dagur..." At the sound of the man's name and the state his son was in, Stoick glared at the thought.

"He ambushed us a million times over," Astrid helped explain as she too dropped down to the floor. "We've been running from him all day."

"All day?" Gobber repeated in question, "You have dragons, they're ships could never keep up with you."

"Dagur managed to expand his armada, had groups posted nearly throughout the Archipelago. We kept running into them." Hiccup explained further.

"All of you, get some sleep. We'll discuss matters in the morning." Stoick commanded lightly. The teens didn't argue, in fact, some even moaned in relief—Snotlout and Fishlegs to be more precisely.

As the riders and their dragons retired to their huts, and Stoick helped Hiccup limp back to his hut with Toothless in toe, Gobber was left standing by himself.

"Uh, where do I sleep?" His voice asked to only air as everyone else was now gone.

The door to Hiccup's hut opened with a small creak as the man himself, Stoick, and Toothless hobbled on in; well, only Hiccup hobbled. Stoick helped his son over to his bed, standing aside for him to lay down. Hiccup groaned and placed his palms over his eyes.

Toothless sat his butt down on the other side of the bed, tilting his head as Hiccup let out his stress. Poor hooman, why must trouble chase him?

"Come on, let's take a look at it." Stoick ushered, but remained patient with his son in knowing very well how he was feeling. Hiccup leaned forward and lifted up his left leg. Careful to not touch the swollen calf, he removed his prosthetic and lifted the pant leg. A large bruise presented itself in full glory across the back of his leg. About the size of a grown man's hand, it painted the skin in purple and green with red surrounding the area. It looked horrible and felt just the same. Even Toothless moaned from the sight.

"Huh, good, it's just a bruise." Hiccup all but whispered in respite before returning his head down on his wooden bed, his arms now laying straight out.

"And a nasty one at that!" Stoick commented before gently pressing his finger to the discolored skin. Hiccup jumped and jerked his leg up, nearly hitting him in the face in doing so. Toothless almost jumped back from the sudden act, but instead, only twitched slightly and winced.

"OW!" He roared, scowling at Stoick for the action.

"That bad, huh?" Stoick asked rhetorically. His soft smile left when he saw Hiccup's frown. "What? I'm not Gothi." Hiccup dropped the façade and positioned himself right in his bed, laying his back up against the headboard.

"Do you think Gothi could make something so it doesn't hurt as much to walk?" He asked wishfully.

Stoick placed his hands on his hips, "I'm sure she'll have something, but it's anyone's guess that you need to rest. Getting weight off that leg will help."

"No argument there." Hiccup replied jokingly as he closed his eyes; Toothless following his lead as the dragon settled himself on his own bed nearby. As Stoick was beginning to leave, he stopped and turned around.

"Oh, one more question." Hiccup opened one eye for him to go ahead. "Where do I sleep?"

A.N.

Okay, so this chapter actually had a few re-writes, but I finally settled on something I liked. As always, I like to post two chapters for new stories, but the second chapter will be delayed a bit.

And remember, this is only the calm before the storm.

Thank you all! God bless!