Author's Note:

Hello and welcome to another chapter. We see quite a lot of Viggo this time around and I must admit I enjoy writing him. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

I own nothing.

Different Plans

Astrid had found out where Viggo's forces were.

They were all patrolling the waters around the island or focused at its central areas, she saw the signs and realised that they were building their defences as if in preparation for an attack. The knowledge that the base had far more people in it than they'd expected caused her to seek out Snotlout, knowing that they had to leave and form a new plan. She moved quickly and quietly but couldn't find the other teen anywhere, worry was seeping in and she began to fear that something had gone wrong.

The sound of several pairs of feet had her ducking into cover and she peeked carefully out.

Ryker was at the head of a large group of Hunters, behind him was Snotlout who was being half carried, half dragged by two men. He didn't look badly hurt but she noticed that his right leg seemed to be unable to move, hence why he was being half carried. The teen was struggling but the men holding him had a firm grip, making his efforts useless.

With there being too many for her to take alone, Astrid could only watch as they took Snotlout to, no doubt, Viggo. Her only option now was to get back to the dragons and return to Hiccup to form a rescue plan. As much as he hated to leave the younger rider behind, Viggo needed him alive to read the map, so he was relatively safe for the time being.

When the Hunters were out of sight, she stole away back to the dragons.

As he was taken further into the centre of the base, Snotlout saw that more and more of the Hunters were located there.

Several stopped and stared as he was taken past and most would mutter quietly to their neighbours, no doubt discussing him. They all moved swiftly out of Ryker's way and the journey was fairly swift, before long they approached a large central tent that was clearly where Viggo commanded his men.

The group of guards that had surrounded him were dismissed and Ryker seized Snotlout himself and pushed him inside, speaking proudly as he did so, "Viggo, I have something ye'll want to see."

Viggo himself was sat at his desk, intently studying something sat in front of him, he looked up with a flicker of annoyance that swiftly became a smile when he saw who his brother had brought, "Why Snotlout, I must confess I was not expecting you to appear so soon." He gestured to a chair in front of the desk, "Why don't you take a seat."

Ryker unceremoniously shoved the teen into the chair and the dragon rider glowered, Viggo leaned forward and placed the object he'd been studying in front of Snotlout, "Tell me, do you know what this is?"

It was a large, bowl shaped object, made from some kind of stone, its sides were decorated with strange runes and carvings indicating it as something of importance. The teen shrugged carelessly, "A weird stone bowl."

Viggo looked amused, "This is Jorgen's map and it seems that legend about it is true in that it can only be read by a Jorgenson, I have studied it long and hard, attempting every method I know to unlock its secrets but it still remains a mystery."

"Well, sucks to be you."

Snotlout knew that Ryker was getting annoyed but Viggo remained unaffected by the teen's comments, "Of course, I now have the only person who can read it so it's no longer an issue." He took the map back, "If you use this to lead me to the treasure then I give you my word that I'll let you return safely to the other riders, despite our ongoing…disagreements."

The teen snorted, "Well too bad, I have no idea what those runes say. I've never seen them before, wouldn't show you the way to the treasure if I could anyway."

Viggo sighed, "I had hoped you would be more reasonable than this but I expected you to be difficult." He nodded and Ryker hauled Snotlout to his feet, as the man dragged him away Viggo spoke once more, "There are many out there who want to claim Jorgen's treasure Snotlout and they know you're the only Jorgenson left, they're not as reasonable as I am. Sometimes the victory of one enemy is better than the victory of another."

Snotlout didn't answer as Ryker took him out of the tent.

"How could I let him outwit me again!"

Hiccup paced frantically around the clubhouse, venting his self-anger, "I thought myself so clever, that I could beat him this time and I stupidly gambled Snotlout's safety trying to do it!"

Astrid put her hand on his shoulder, halting his frenzied pacing, "Hiccup, it's not your fault, I shouldn't have decided that we split up on the island, I should've known better than to take such a risk in enemy territory."

The boy shook his head with a sigh, "But if I'd just listened to you and Fishlegs and taken him back to Berk in the first place…I should've just played it safe and not tried to be clever."

Tuffnut shrugged, "He does have a point, I mean, it was his idea to send Snotlout and Astrid to try and steal the map by themselves. You basically handed Snotlout over to him."

Fishlegs glowered at the twin, "That is not very helpful." He looked at Hiccup, "You tried to end this issue before it escalated too far Hiccup, you had the best reasons to make the choice you did."

Astrid swiftly agreed, "He's right, you took what you believed was the best option and yes, it got Snotlout captured. However, we're going to come up with a plan to get him back safely, the way we always do."

Ruffnut raised her hand, "Though I would like to point out that this does seem to support mine and Tuff's theory that Snotlout is the most kidnappable person among us." She shrugged at their glares, "What, I'm just saying."

Astrid rolled her eyes and turned back to Hiccup, "One thing we do have in our favour is time, Snotlout won't just give in and read that map and Viggo will wait a few days before trying any drastic methods of persuading him. We can use that time to properly scout his base, find its weak points and then make an informed, fool-proof plan to rescue him."

Fishlegs nodded eagerly, "And then we can head straight for Berk and reinforce ourselves there for another shot at grabbing the map."

Hiccup sat down heavily, "And if Viggo already has a counter to our plan?"

Astrid sat gently beside him, "Even Viggo can't think of every single possibility, we only need one decent plan to beat him and we're going to take the time to find the right one. We'll get Snotlout back Hiccup."

The teen sighed then nodded, "You're right Astrid, thank you." He stood decisively, "Okay, we'll organise ourselves into scouting teams. We'll map as much of Viggo's base as we can from secrecy, in three days we should have a solid plan of rescue."

The other riders nodded and Hiccup began organising the scout teams.

Viggo sat in his tent, intently studying Jorgen's map.

He hadn't been lying when he said he couldn't work it out, the runes were unlike anything he'd encountered before and even what experts he knew couldn't identify or translate them. The legends claimed that a Jorgenson was the key, though even that bit of information he'd only discovered quite recently, though he didn't quite understand how they could read the map and no one else could.

Rustling tent flaps announced Ryker's arrival and he looked up at his brother, "Ah, brother, how is our potential business partner?"

Ryker snorted, "Locked up in one of the dragon cages, I've got men keeping a careful eye on him in case of any breakout attempts."

Viggo stood, "Good."

He began pacing the floor casually as he waited for his brother's expected question.

"Why don't ye force him to translate that map, why wait?"

He smiled as he answered, "The forceful methods you're considering may damage him, Jorgen would've considered the possibility of someone forcing one of his descendants to lead them to the treasure and no doubt planned accordingly. I believe some of the protections he's put around the treasure may only be overcome by a Jorgenson who's fit and healthy, we need Snotlout's co-operation."

"And if he can't actually read the map, as he said?"

"I'm certain that is not the case." Viggo's stopped pacing, "Even if he doesn't realise it, I'm sure he knows how the map works. Jorgen would've ensured that the method of doing so would be passed down, Snotlout's ancestors may not know what it was for but they would've remembered it." He smiled again, "I'm sure our Jorgenson friend will come around and agree to help us, especially with the right incentive."

Ryker frowned in confusion, "What incentive?"

The younger brother slowly made his way back behind his desk, "One of our ships spotted the dragon riders heading towards Berk, they thought that Snotlout was with them but we now know that he wasn't. It seems Hiccup took a few of them and attempted to act as a decoy, likely expecting an ambush from us as they headed home. Two of the riders were missing from his group and since we found Snotlout in our base, it's clear those two were attempting to steal the map, thinking that I was otherwise occupied. A rather clever plan and a good way to keep us from our goal. Since we only captured Snotlout then the other rider that was here would've retreated and informed the rest, Hiccup will not leave one of his own to our mercy."

A broad grin spread across the older brother's face, "They're going to try and rescue him and then we can capture them as well."

Viggo sat back down, "Indeed brother, having one of Snotlout's friends or even one of the dragons, will make him far more amicable to assisting us."

Any further conversation was halted by a Hunter bursting into the tent, "Sir! Enemy ship spotted approaching the island!"

Ryker shot his brother a look of surprise, "The riders brought back-up?"

Viggo frowned, "They couldn't have got a ship this quickly, it must be someone else who knows we have the map." He stood, "Defend the base, do not allow the ship to land on our shores." He strode out of the tent.

"Let's see who our unexpected visitors are."

PS-So the Dragon Hunters are under attack. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.