Astrid watched from her bedroom window as she saw men hauling Toothless off into the distance. When she was sure no one was watching, she hopped down onto the street below and tailed the men. As she crossed through the market, she coughed loudly twice before continuing on her way. She kept her eye behind her, making sure Snotlout got the message, and sure enough, he initiated his part of the plan. Snotlout was crucial as his father was within Stoick's inner circle and was to be an overseer of Toothless. The young dragon rider scratched his head and 'accidently' pushed his helmet off, landing to the ground with a loud metallic clank. Fishlegs saw the scene from his bedroom window and walked casually down the stairs to his mother cooking dinner.
"I'm going out mother, I'll be back before dinner," said Fishlegs as he waved to his mother. She smiled at her son and motioned to the hooks next to the back door.
"Don't forget your bag, just incase things get rough," she said with a wink. Fishlegs nodded and grabbed the small bag and headed out the door. He slammed the door shut, and walked towards the market. Ruffnut heard the signal and motioned to Tuffnut. They both exchanged grins as they took off into the sky with their Zippleback. The duo flew towards the harbor and started wreaking havoc in their own usual twinly manner which drew in an angry crowd of onlookers. The market quickly died out as worried vikings made their way towards the sounds of destruction. Taking advantage of the situation, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Snotlout made their get away unnoticed.
The trio used the growing darkness to hide their advances towards the Dragon Academy. Astrid took the lead as she kept a close eye on the men making their way with an unconscious Toothless in their grip. Fishlegs had the center, where he ran multiple scenarios in his head and made sure they had their way out of the situation. Snotlout took up the rear. He was tasked with making sure they were not being followed and to provide a distraction in case of being caught. Astrid brought up her hand and motioned for them to stop. She strained her eyes to the distance where the small team of men had taken Toothless.
"It looks like they put him in the cages where we used to keep the dragons. Two of them are standing at the entrance, probably going over security details. The other two are in the cell restraining Toothless. I don't understand why Stoick assigned only a few men to this," Astrid whispered back to Fishlegs. He looked down to his finger and counted down from six and reached into his bag.
"Okay, Snotlout," Fishlegs said and handed him a small sack of water, "Water yourself down some, you need to look like you just ran here top speed." Snotlout took the water sack from Fishlegs, eyeing it with a questioned look.
"And why do I need to do that?" Snotlout said as he opened the leather container. Fishlegs motioned for them to come in closer. Astrid rolled her eyes but did so anyway.
"Snotlout, I need to you run up to your father and tell him there is trouble in the village and that it could be an Outcast attack. He will likely respond quickly and will probably leave on his own, if we are lucky, with the other man standing guard. If it does come down to you and another viking Snotlout, wait for the right opportunity to take him out. Since your father is in charge of this small unit, it will be good for us to get him out of the way. Now, Astrid, thats where you come in," Fishlegs explained, motioning to Astrid, "Once we have entrance, all of us will enter, with you in the lead. We will hang back while you take out the remaining guards. What you'll need to do is walk straight in." Astrid gave him an irritated look.
"What do you mean, just 'walk straight in'?" responded an annoyed Astrid. Fishlegs motioned a finger to his mouth, telling her to keep it down. She cupped a hand over her mouth and checked to make sure no one had heard. When the coast was clear, she motioned back to Fishlegs.
"They will immediately know something is up and approach you quickly and with conviction. Be oblivious to the situation and keep a charade going that you don't quite know what's going on. That will aggravate them some, I'm sure. Snotlout and I will get behind them and take them out while they're bickering among themselves. We won't have long before more men arrive to aid the security detail. Stoick is smarter than to keep a small four man team keeping watch over a dragon, a Night Fury to add to that," Fishlegs explained and brought out paper to write out separate scenarios for the situation, "He is a small sheet for both of you incase things backfire or deviate from what I imagine." He handed both the young vikings their slips of paper and small blunt weapons before motioning the plan into action.
Snotlout poured water onto himself and jogged a bit in place. He moved from his hiding spot, careful to keep concealed until he found a good position to appear from. He jumped from the bushes, a frantic look on his face as he ran to his father at the gate. The other viking pointed to Snotlout. His father quickly whipped around, an angered look on his face.
"Snotlout, what are you doing here?" Spitelout yelled at his son. Snotlout stopped short in front of him, pretending to catch his breath.
"It it it its the Outcasts! They've overrun harbor and are making their way inward. I don't know how much longer we can hold them off!" Snotlout said, pointing the direction of the village. Distant flames could be seen flaring into the darkening sky. Spitelout's mouth fell open as he pushed his way past his son.
"Johan, stay put! If things get rough, I'm sending someone back for you!" Spitelout shouted as he ran off into the distance. Johan looked down at Snotlout and back at the retreating back of Spitelout. Snotlout took this opportunity to kick him in the crotch, bringing him to this knees before he gave him a swift punch the face, effectively rendering him unconscious. Snotlout held up two fingers, which signaled the remaining two young dragon riders to come. Astrid lead the trio into the darkened Academy, she motioned for the two to take cover behind a weapons rack near the entrance to the cell holding Toothless. Astrid approached the two remaining guards, making sure she made her presence known. The two quickly approached her, assaulting her with questions.
"Young lady, do you have any idea how much trouble you are in?"
"Astrid, go home!"
The girl looked at both of them confused and took a step back, acting a bit scared.
"Look, look, I'm just here to get my axe I left," Astrid said, pointing over to a weapons rack. While the pair of guards both looked over at the rack, Fishlegs and Snotlout moved in and knocked them both out. Astrid opened the cage and ran to Toothless. It wasn't a pretty sight. small cuts trailed across his face, his back was treated the same only with larger cuts. Astrid gasped at the sight, quickly checking the dragon for any serious wounds.
"Oh my gods Toothless, what did they do to you?" She said. She put you hand on the dragon's nose, and felt his slow breathing. Fishlegs entered the cell and pulled a knife out of his back to cut any ropes that restrained the Night Fury. After that was through, he pulled out a lockpick to take off the heavy chains. He pulled them to the side and motioned to Astrid.
"Snotlout, get in here and help us carry him out," Fishlegs called out in a hushed tone. Footsteps were heard entering the cell. Astrid rubbed Toothless' nose when she felt a hard thwack over her head.
Hiccup felt himself moving as he slowly woke from his unconscious state. He tried to move his head around but felt himself restrained. He pulled and struggled against chains keeping him restrained to a table. He looked forward and saw his father in front of him. He looked around him as much as he could and saw viking men carrying him up on a large wooden board. Stoick, hearing the chains rattling, looked back and smiled at his son.
"Well it looks like you woke up just in time," Stoick said as he motioned towards the Dragon Academy, "We're almost at our destination." Hiccup tried to talk, but his mouth was being muzzled down with leather straps. His father noticed this and his smile slowly faded. He let out a deep sigh and walked back, unmuzzling his son. Hiccup shook away the straps and stared at his father's back as they continued to move forward.
"Where's Toothless?" asked Hiccup in a worried tone. Stoick didn't respond, but looked forward, picking up the pace some.
"What's at the Academy? Dad, why am I chained up?" Hiccup asked his father. Stoick didn't respond to any questions Hiccup threw at them until they reached the Academy. He motioned for men carrying Hiccup to set him down next to his Chief chair overlooking the once dragon slaying training grounds. He bent down next to his son and motioned over towards a cell at the far wall.
"I was going to make this a private event, but your friends decided to join the party regardless," Stoick said, and yelled out commands to the vikings below. They brought out Astrid, Fishlegs, and Snotlout in chains and set them in the center of the arena. Fishlegs and Snotlout looked at Hiccup with open mouths, trying to take in the scene before them.
"I knew he was weird, but this is something else," whispered Snotlout to Fishlegs. Fishlegs nodded and motioned towards Hiccup.
"I've never read that in the dragon manual before," whispered Fishlegs. Stoick heard the duo and yelled at them, telling to keep quiet. Both the boys looked down quickly. Astrid remained concentrated on the ground in front of her.
"Bring out the Night Fury!" Stoick's voice rang out. Several viking men opened the center former dragon cell and brought out Toothless who was struggling against his chains.
"Toothless! What did they do to you bud? " Hiccup shouted. Hiccup could see the multiple cuts covering the bigger Night Fury's body. Hiccup looked on in horror, wondering how his father could have let this happen.
"Dad, what did you do to him?" Hiccup shouted in distress. Stoick looked over to his distressed son, confused.
"I gave him a little pain, son. He was the reason you suffered and screamed in agony for several long minutes, and I can't let that go unpunished," Stoick said with a dark look on his face. Hiccup didn't know who he was looking at anymore. The man he knew, the father he trusted, the Chief he looked up too, he wasn't there anymore.
"Dad, how could you do this...this...this isn't you!" Hiccup said to his father. His father looked away, an ashamed look in his eyes.
"I had your best interests in my heart Hiccup! Having that dragon around already cost you a foot! What else was he going to take away from my boy?" yelled Stoick, his anger growing. Hiccup looked at him in disgust.
"And what have we gained? Dragons and Vikings co-existing together, in harmony! We defended Berk against the against any threat that was thrown our way! We learned so much from them! All the violence and hate we held in our hearts as Vikings dissipated each day the dragons were here dad! They've done so much to help us! They've done so much and opened our eyes, my eyes! Where did this all come from?" yelled Hiccup at his father who took no time to respond.
"It came from the curse that my son was burdened with because he befriended the unholy offspring of lighting and death itself!" Stoick said as he raised his hand, signaling a large and scary looking viking to position himself next to Toothless who could only look on in silence as a muzzle kept him from making any sounds besides low whines. The viking who currently stood to Toothless' side wielded a large axe, holding it over his shoulder. Hiccup struggled against his restraints, screaming and roaring.
"Dad what are you doing?" Hiccup yelled in distress. Stoick looked down at his son, giving him a hard look.
"The Elder gave me her wisdom. She said that to break his unholy curse, we need to kill the dragon that set it in place, and for the victim to witness the dragon's death," Stoick said monotonically. A large pit formed in Hiccup stomach as he stared wide-eyed at his father.
"Woah, Chief, you can't do this!" yelled Fishlegs as he struggled against his cuffs.
"Stoick what are you thinking?" yelled Stoick's nephew Snotlout, "Do you even care what Hiccup thinks?" Stoick glared down at the young dragon riders, effectively shutting them up.
"I do what is best for my boy, nothing less!" Stoick's voice boomed around the arena. Toothless looked on, his pupils becoming slits as his aggression rose, struggling against his metal restraints. Astrid kept quiet the entire time, working a lockpick into her cuffs, and lucky for her, Stoick yelled as she heard her cuffs make a 'click' as they unlock.
"If anything happens, Toothless, Hiccup, I'm here to stop it," Astrid thought to herself as she stared at the executioner, ready to take action if necessary.
"This isn't what I want! The safest place for me is with Toothless dad! Don't do this!" screamed Hiccup, scared out of his mind. Stoick, looked away, afraid he'll lose his nerve if he makes eye contact with Hiccup. Stoick raised his hand and pulled it down quickly, signaling for the executioner to commence. He lined up his axe and slowly raised it.
"Okay Hiccup, fire!" Hiccup quickly tried to make himself spit a plasma blast. Nothing happened as the axe went higher and higher
"Oh my gods, hurry, hurry! He's been there since the beginning for you, don't let him down!" Hiccup pushed harder and harder, feeling a spark ignite in front of him. The executioner reached his peak and was going to swing down at any moment. Toothless closed his eyes with a whine and accepted his fate. Astrid made her move, trying to reach Toothless in time, screaming as she ran along.
"No, no, no! No!" Hiccup screamed as he saw the axe swing down, "This can't happen!"