WARNING: RACE TO THE EDGE SPOILERS!
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I'm early.
Again.
But I know none of you are going to be disappointed that I didn't follow my release dates! :D I post everything too early...c'mon, why can't Dreamworks do that, too? XD I'm glad so many of you seemed to LOVE that cliffhanger on the last episode (pfffftttthhahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!), so I'm posting early! :D I love you all, and enjoy chapter 1! :D
Astrid paced back and forth, back and forth, across the dirty floor of her cell. Beside her, behind her, and all around her, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut sat moping. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were playing hangman in the dirt (though this quickly became a problem, as neither of them knew how to spell) while Snotlout had his head against the wall, and Fishlegs was sitting quietly in the corner.
"I can't believe Barreck betrayed us," said Snotlout, his voice amplified as it bounced off the cold brick walls of their shared cell. "After all we did for him, helping him, showing him the Edge...I even let him share my house! My dad's going to kill me if he finds out a traitor slept under his roof!"
"Then don't let him know," said Tuffnut offhandedly.
"And Barreck was the one who got me angry with Fishlegs in the first place!" said Snotlout. "He lied to me about something he said, and turned me against my friend! Ooh, if I ever find Barreck, I'm going to-"
"It doesn't matter!" said Astrid. "Nothing you threaten him with right now matters!" In the cell across the room, the dragons were coming out of their sedations, still dizzy and disoriented. "Barreck faked Hiccup's letter, too," she said lowly. "Who knows what that...that creep did to Hiccup…"
"Well, Viggo tried to kill Hiccup last time they met," said Ruffnut, "so really, we can't put anything past them."
Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Astrid glared at her.
"Or," said Ruffnut, "I can just shut up now."
"Yes, do that," said Astrid, and she resumed her pacing.
She heard the sound of the door leading inside the prison opening and shutting, and when she looked, she watched as Barreck approached. He was clad in entirely different apparel than he had been before; he wore a long-sleeved black shirt beneath gleaming silver jagged armor, and a black cape was draped around his shoulders and clipped loosely around his neck with a pin engraved with the dragon hunter's crest.
"Viggo and I would like a word with Astrid," said Barreck, pulling a ring of bronze keys from his belt and stepping forward to unlock the door. Astrid crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
"If this is an interrogation-" she began threateningly.
"This is not an interrogation," said Barreck. "We simply wish to have...a little chat."
Smiling coldly, he unlocked the door, seized Astrid's forearm, yanked her out, and slammed the door again before anyone could try and escape. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins dropped what they were doing and raced before the door, grappling the bars.
"If you hurt her, even a little bit-" Ruffnut threatened.
"We have no reason to harm any of you," said Barreck coolly; now that Astrid knew Barreck was a hunter, she realized just how much of Viggo he reminded her of. Barreck smiled even colder. "Yet," he added, and just like that, he clipped the keyring back to his belt, put his hands on Astrid's shoulders, and led her away.
"I can't believe you betrayed us," said Astrid lowly, glancing at Barreck over her shoulder as he pushed her out of the prison cell and back up the hallway with earthen walls and floors. "After everything we did for you…"
"It is not betrayal if you never intend to befriend, Astrid Hofferson," said Barreck. "When I supposedly 'washed up' on your shores, I did it with the mindset of betraying you. Thereby, in betraying you, I wasn't actually betraying you. I was simply being true to myself."
"I knew you weren't to be trusted," Astrid snarled. "I knew you weren't. And so did Hiccup."
"Oh, yes," said Barreck, nodding. "It is quite unfortunate, the lengths we had to go through with that boy...a rightful pain in the backside, he is. He discovered I was a dragon hunter shortly after his little 'outburst' in your Clubhouse."
"And what did you do to him then?" Astrid demanded.
Barreck shrugged. "He knew too much," he said simply. "You do not let someone who can rat you out to escape your clutches."
Astrid was about to call Barreck something very unlady-like, when they suddenly came to their destination: the circular room, which Astrid had now decided was the the Clubhouse of the dragon hunter base, so to say. Ryker and Viggo were sitting at a rectangular mahogany table calmly; two unoccupied chairs sat across from them.
"Welcome, Astrid," said Viggo, spreading his hands. "What an honor this is."
"The honor is all yours, Viggo," snarled Astrid.
"Please, sit," said Viggo, gesturing to one of the two chairs, and once Astrid had taken her seat (albeit reluctantly), Barreck took his own seat beside her and folded his hands over the smooth tabletop. "We have a few things to discuss. But to make it fair, Astrid, I am going to let you ask me a question first. We shall have an exchange. Go on. There must be something you want to know."
Astrid glared at him coldly, but she couldn't exactly deny that he was right. "How did you survive?" she said flatly.
"Ah," said Viggo, nodding. "Yes. That is a brilliant tale. Let's begin with directly after Hiccup's attempted murder, shall we? Let me think…"
He leaned back in his chair, tapping his chin in mock thought.
"When we planned to assassinate Hiccup," said Viggo, "Ryker and I also devised a backup plan should the Berkians triumph over us in the final battle. This backup plan was for me to fake my death, to give the hunters a reason to retreat that didn't seem cowardly. It also gave the Berkians and the dragon riders a false sense of security, as my men are nearly helpless without their leader."
"But that doesn't explain how you faked your death," said Astrid.
"Right, I suppose it doesn't," said Viggo, nodding his agreement. "In the fight, I made certain my brother sank at least one ship from either armada. Even if he had to sink one of our own ships. As I sank to the bottom of the ocean, I sank with another ship. Inside the ship, there was a large air pocket, which I took shelter and breathed in while the fight continued above. After the Berkians and the Berserkers retreated and went their separate ways, my hunters returned, fished me from the depths of the ocean, and we plotted our next scheme."
Astrid turned this new information around in her head. Yes, it made sense, and it was just the thing Viggo would think of.
"Now that you have had your question," said Viggo, "allow me to ask you one of my own. It is very similar to your question, in fact, Astrid."
Astrid looked up, teeth gritted. "What do you want?"
"I am interested," said Viggo, "as to how Hiccup faked his own death. On any account, he should have died the instant the dagger passed through his abdomen."
"You didn't hit any organs," said Astrid. "You should know, Viggo, that assassinating someone works a lot better if you stab them in the chest and not their stomach. It took a while, but the wound mended itself, and time healed it the rest of the way."
"Ah," said Viggo. "Not as clever as I had hoped it would be."
"Hiccup didn't fake his death," Astrid snarled. "You tried to murder him. He couldn't exactly plan that out for himself, could he?"
"Perhaps," said Viggo, shrugging, "perhaps not. Now, Miss Hofferson, it is your turn to ask a question."
"Where are you keeping Hiccup?" It was originally going to be her first question, but she didn't have the heart to ask it beforehand. "I promise on my life, Viggo, if you've hurt him in any way-"
"Let us remain on track," said Viggo. "We are questioning each other, Astrid, not threatening each other. There is plenty of time for that later."
"Where. Are. You. Keeping. Hiccup?" Astrid spat.
"Somewhere…" Viggo paused and tapped his chin again in the mocking way he did so often, and Astrid wanted to strangle him for it. "What would you call our little prison, Blade?" he asked Barreck offhandedly. "You gave a good description of it earlier. I quite liked it. What was it again?"
"I like to call it," said Barreck, "the watery grave."
"Ah, yes," said Viggo, turning back to Astrid. "Wonderful. That is where we are keeping Hiccup."
"That doesn't answer my question," said Astrid.
"I answered it in the way I saw fit," said Viggo. "Now let me ask you a question, Astrid. If I were to ask you to give me any inside information as it pertains to you, your island, and your dragon rider team, what would your answer be?"
Astrid didn't hesitate. "No way," she growled.
"Fair is fair," said Viggo calmly, waving his hand. "I didn't expect you to give in so quickly. Perhaps Hiccup would know more about it...yes, I'm sure he would...he's the heir of your home island, isn't he?"
"Hiccup will never talk," Astrid snapped. "You're wasting your time, Viggo Grimborn."
"I think not," said Viggo, smiling. "Because this time, I have the upper hand."
"Oh, really?" Astrid snarked, tossing her hair out of her face. "And what is that?"
Viggo smirked. "You," he said. "But in complete honesty, Astrid, Hiccup is not on the island at all."
Astrid's features instantly brightened. "He's not?" she said. Thank Thor, thank Thor…
"But of course," said Viggo, "that does not mean he isn't in a...predicament."
"What do you mean?"
"Watery grave, Astrid," said Viggo. "Watery grave. If Hiccup survives, the first place he will go is here, and when he gets here, I will get as much information out of him as I can, and then, I will kill him. But of course, if he doesn't survive, he's dead anyways, which saves me the trouble of trying to kill him again. Either way, Astrid, I win."
"You won't win," Astrid said, shaking her head. "Hiccup will never talk. There's nothing you can do to him that'll make him tell you anything."
"And perhaps you are right," said Viggo. "But he might have a bit of a looser tongue it meant sparing your life, or the life of your dragon riders." He nodded to Barreck. "That is all. If you do not mind, you may escort her back to her cell."
"Certainly," said Barreck, standing. "The pleasure is all mine." And he seized Astrid's forearm and shoved her forward, leading her back towards the prison cell she had left only moments before.
Viggo smiled. "Either way, I win in the end," he whispered, more to himself than anything. "I always win in the end."
When Astrid was thrown back into her cells, and after Barreck left, she was bombarded by questions from the rest of the riders.
"What did he want?" said Fishlegs.
"Nothing," said Astrid. "Just asked me some questions...I figured out how he faked his death." She recounted as much of their conversation as she could remember, and the others listened in silence, gasping when she finished.
"So, Hiccup's basically either going to die by drowning, or die by Viggo," said Tuffnut. "Honestly, I'd pick the drowning."
"But we don't know where Hiccup is," said Fishlegs. "Even if we could break out of here, we wouldn't know where to find him."
"Wherever he is," said Astrid, "he's definitely in danger."
She had never felt so helpless in her entire life.