Here we go guys... Just one POV this week.

Hiccup was so disoriented.

Every time he woke, the stranger was there with that foul-smelling potion sending him right back to sleep.

He had no idea how long he had been on the boat for. It could have been hours, it could have been days. He had no recollection of eating or drinking since first waking up on the ship. His throat was constantly dry and he had little appetite and he wondered if that was one of the side effects of the drug. The nausea definitely was, or was it seasickness? Hiccup's mind was so disjointed he couldn't hold a string of thoughts together long enough to work it out.

Every time he woke he shifted, setting off another bout of retching and alerting his guard to his consciousness. He needed to stay still long enough to surface completely and figure out where he was.

He willed the queasy feeling away with slow even breaths. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. In through the nose. As he breathed, he listened for any sign of movement within the cabin.

There was nothing.

Slowly Hiccup opened one eye. Orange sunlight filtered in through the cracks in the walls but the cabin was still fairly dim. It was also empty of any other people. There were a few crates and some sacks sitting beside him, blocking his view of the door and blocking him from anyone who might wander below deck. He couldn't remember if those crates had been there before. He couldn't remember anything.

Hiccup let his eyes shut for a moment, the small movements had made him dizzy. He could feel the boat bobbing gently beneath him – the water was calm. There was the soft thud of footsteps on the deck above him. Voices - muffled by the timber - drifted down, the words indiscernible. Every few moments, in time with the bobbing of the boat, Hiccup could hear a soft thump and scrape.

In a moment of absolute clarity, both of Hiccup's eyes flung open.

They were tied up at a dock!

He sat up, ignoring the spinning in his head.

This was it. His chance to escape.

Hiccup took stock of his situation. His hands were tied together, but he was relatively free to move about. He hadn't been tied down to anything. His headache was a dull throb, easy to ignore. His feet…

His prosthetic foot was gone.

That made things difficult. He wasn't going to be able to run far. He huffed out a humourless laugh at that. He wasn't going to be able to run at all.

Hiccup's last concrete memory was of being with Toothless in the forest. Where was his Night Fury now? Hiccup desperately hoped his dragon was okay. If he could find Toothless they could escape together. Flying was probably out. Maybe they could swim? Toothless was a much faster and stronger swimmer than Hiccup. He could get them out of there.

Hiccup listened carefully for sounds on the deck above him. He could make out two distinct voices, neither of them sounded like Viggo Grimborn. In the back of his mind he still wondered if Viggo had even been there at all or if he'd imagined the whole thing.

Hiccup shook the thoughts away. His attention needed to be solely on finding Toothless and escaping.

He shifted onto his hands and knees, deciding that crawling across the floor would be quieter than hopping. The boards were rough on his hands. If it wasn't for the tough callouses that covered his palms from years of working in the forge, Hiccup was sure his fingers would be full of splinters.

His first task was to climb over the crates hiding him from view of the doorway. Hiccup pulled himself to his single foot slowly, peeking out over the top in case there was someone in the room with him.

The coast was clear.

Hiccup sat on the crate, swinging his legs over onto the other side. The movement sent the room spinning lazily. With a steadying breath Hiccup slipped back down onto all fours and crept silently towards the door.

There were three steep steps leading out of the room. Hiccup sat on the top step with his ear pressed to the door. As far as he could tell there was no one standing right outside. He gave the door an experimental push.

There were no shouts, no cry of alarm. Nothing.

Hiccup looked out through the gap.

The ship was bathed in the glow of the setting sun. That was good. It would be dark soon, making it easier to hide in the shadows. It also meant people could soon be returning to the boat for the night.

Looking out over the deck one thing was painfully obvious.

There was no Toothless.

Judging from the size of the boat, Hiccup was in the only below deck space. There was nowhere on board to hide his almost thirty-foot long dragon. Toothless wasn't here.

Was there another boat?

Hiccup's heart sunk. He didn't have time to search. If he was going to do this, he needed to do it now. Once he got to shore he could plan his search for his dragon.

The railing was so close.

With a quick shuffle, he was over the side.

Gods, the water was cold! The bite of the ocean made him suck in an icy breath that was mostly salt water. He fought to stay quiet and stifle the spluttering that would give him away. Hiccup clenched his teeth against the shivers wracking his body. His fingers were already beginning to go numb as he clung to the side of the boat.

The shadows were deepening across the water.

Hiccup edged towards the front of the ship and peered around the bow. If he could get to the dock he could hide among the rocks that jutted out into the water underneath. He wouldn't even need to swim, he could pull himself along all the way to the headland, find a beach somewhere or a cave to hide in, and then…? He'd figure it out when he got there.

Hiccup's right leg was incredibly heavy in the water. His boot had become waterlogged, making his movements even more difficult. He managed to bring his leg up and tug the burdensome footwear off.

The gently lapping of the waves against the wooden beams of the dock covered the sounds of Hiccup's splashing as he swam under the jetty. He paddled all the way under to where wood met rock. Here it was darkest and he had something to cling to.

Something sharp bit in to Hiccup's hand. The rocks were covered in oyster shells.

He braced his knees against the rocks, trying to hold himself in place as he rubbed the rope over the sharp edges of the shells. He slipped, not having enough purchase to stay on the rock, with a loud splash.

Hiccup waited, his breath held in case someone had heard the noise, then started again. After several minutes of sawing at the rope, he felt it give. With one final tug, Hiccup broke free. He tucked the rope into a crack in the rocks so it wouldn't float away.

Step one complete.

He still needed to get away from the boat before anyone discovered him missing. He had no doubt that they would search the surrounding water. He needed to be long gone.

The wooden decking of the pier hugged the coast for several yards. Hiccup pulled himself along undercover until he reached the edge. There were a few small rowboats tied to mooring buoys that he could maybe use for cover if needed, but they were too far from the rocks and Hiccup wasn't sure he trusted his one-legged swimming abilities.

The sun had set behind the town now, so Hiccup had the advantage of longer shadows against the base of the cliff. He sat in the water for a few more breaths. He needed to go now.

Hand over hand, he pulled himself along. The was the quietest way to move. Swimming full strokes would mean splashing which would only draw attention to himself. It was hard going. His muscles ached already from cold and disuse, the cut on his hand stung fiercely from the cold water.

On the plus side the chilly dip had eliminated the last traces of the drug from his mind and he finally felt awake.

The current buoyed him along, further and further away from the boat he had woken on. Hiccup was so close to the end of the headland. He pushed himself to go faster. Faster.

"Where is he!" The sound carried over the waves.

Hiccup froze.

"You absolute fools! You were supposed to keep him asleep until we got there!" There was a splash. Someone had tumbled overboard.

Hiccup hadn't imagined Viggo at all! He couldn't afford to turn and look at the boat he had to keep going. He started moving again. He was almost there.

"Search the island! He can't have gone far; he only has one leg!"

Hiccup slipped around the headland. The current was much stronger here. The cliffs protected the bay from the more ferocious tides.

He no longer had much control over where he went, using all his energy to keep from smashing into the rocks.

A wave crashed over him, sucking Hiccup down under the water. He was tossed around in the surf, unsure of what was up or down. He managed to surface long enough to gulp down a breath of salty air before the next wave crashed down on him.

He was going to die if he couldn't get out of the water.

Hiccup needed to aim for the rocks. Somehow he needed to time it so that he reached the rocky shore between breaking waves, otherwise he was sure he would be smashed to pieces.

It was going to be difficult. The headland loomed out of the darkness. A black mass of jagged rocks and swirling water. The moon was only just beginning to rise, its light glinting off wet surfaces.

Hiccup had never been a particularly strong swimmer and though the surf wasn't particularly powerful, the ocean could be unpredictable. Every so often a wave would come through, bigger than the others to toss him around. Hiccup would have to time it to hit the shore on one of the smaller breaks.

His arms felt like lead as he treaded water, waiting for the right moment. He felt the water surge and he paddled hard. He didn't quite want the wave to pick him up and carry him to shore. He wanted to get there between it and the next set of breakers and avoid being pulverised.

His hands brushed the seaweed growing around the rocks. The wave broke. Water rushed back out to sea. Hiccup was pulled backwards. Slimy weed slipped through his fingers as he desperately tried to hang on.

Hiccup kicked hard. His right foot struck something solid underwater. Another wave was rushing towards him. The swell picked him up, dragging him across the rocks.

The water sucked back out again. Hiccup clung to the rocks against the pull of the tide, his fingers dug into the cracks and the crevices looking for anything that would give him purchase on the smooth-worn surface.

The sea released its grip on his body as the water rushed out away from the shore. Hiccup knew this meant another wave was coming. He didn't have time to glance behind at the ocean. He scrambled up over the rocks in a half crawl, ignoring the aches from the bruises he'd gained in the ocean. The only thought on his mind was to go go go!

Hiccup clambered up onto a platform, eroded flat by millennia of wind and rain.

The ocean roared behind him, as the waves pounded the coast. It was a thunderous sound, like the water was screaming its fury over having lost its prey.

Energy spent, Hiccup lay on his back gasping for breath. He could feel the salty spray from the breakers, but he was far enough away that the waves couldn't reach him. His whole body hurt. Hiccup decided that if he over got home to Berk he was never going swimming again.

"You know Hiccup, for a moment there, I wasn't sure you would make it."

Hiccup's eyes sprung open.

OOOOOoooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

All that work! And for what? Damn Hiccup, you just can't catch a break!