Shoutouts:

Massive HTTYD Fan (From Chapter 3): I can understand why you would see Viggo as OOC and I was honestly hoping that someone would bring that out. I won't spoil it now, but I do have reasons for Viggo using the Slavemark and wanting to kill Hiccup so much. But, that will be explained a little later.

Quotatic(Guest) (From Chapter 3): Thanks!

JChttyd (From Chapter 4): Thanks! I really appreciate it, sorry to keep you waiting.

Guest1 (From Chapter 5): He sure is. It still cracks my friend and I up whenever we read over the last scene.

JChttyd (From Chapter 5): Yer, it can see that last scene being a little confusing, but don't worry! All will be made clear very soon.

~O~

Forced Return

Chapter 7

Repercussions

~O~

With shivers running down her spine, Miara made her way through the unfamiliar caverns of the underground Outcast Island. She was on her way to meet the only man she knew who was stupid enough to infiltrate the Hunter's under the cover of a role he was not prepared to play.

His name was Kivu. The man was a dear friend of hers - as was his wife and two children. Hiccup and herself had met the man about a month after Hiccup had been captured in the Amber Slavelands. It was due to Kivu that Miara and Hiccup were still alive. If he hadn't been there to help them they both would have been wiped out by the plague that swept the Slavelands in towering waves.

And - while she would always consider Hiccup as her brother over Kivu - Miara had a special connection with Kivu. He was the only other one in their group who understood what it was like to be seen as a demon. Surviving through the torment of being 'crossbred', had helped Miara herself push through the deep cutting insults that were inflicted most days.

Taking one last right turn, Miara found herself facing a large wooden door. After checking behind her to see if anyone was following, she knocked.

Knock. Wait. Knock. Wait. Knock. Knock.

The silence stung Miara as she started to fear that she had followed the directions wrong and had knocked on the wrong door. Fear itched her insides as loud footsteps echoed from behind the timber. Maybe this was wrong. Maybe she should run before someone caught her.

"Ceojeko xizashu." Came the muffled masculine voice from behind the door. A bird will not fly…

A sigh of relief released all the tension in Miara. She really needed to stop stressing about these things.

"Haxiye muyetavuko vufosoxe be." Miara finished the saying quietly. …if its wings have been clipped.

Again, silence followed. Then, slowly - in a pathetic attempt at remaining quiet - the locks started to click. One click, another, another. Miara shifted her weight from foot to foot in anticipation. At any point could a hunter come down the corridor. She looked left and right, if Kivu didn't hurry up she would be caught and then the years' worth of planning would go to waste.

Then, just as distance clicks of footsteps reached Miara's ears, the door swung slightly inwards and Miara slipped inside.

"Pukihi fodisohafo zu?" No light? She questioned when greeted by blackness.

"Cekiije." Sorry. Miara looked up at the armoured man in front of her. "Mujetavuko." I was asleep.

Miara raised an eyebrow as a candle was lit and filled the room with dim light. She looked the man over, his tall form covered from the collar down in heavy iron. A helmet was held in his hand - one that he used to cover his 'demon-like' features.

"Mujetavuko ne haso zu?" Did you sleep in that?

"Jece." Yes.

Miara rolled her eyes.

Once the door was once again closed and locked, Kivu edged closer to Miara. His stature towered over her own - something that once made her stomach drop - but by this point, the Katalian had become accustomed to it. However - she did swallow when a severe case of annoyance radiated down to her.

"You're a day late."

"I am." Miara admitted. "I was… busy."

"You went to Berk, didn't you?"

"Jece be." Yes.

"Bakihi midvurisekohaki." We agreed not to go there.

"Cemuyehako Xe'unxe cepuone be." Xe'un needs to be with his own people.

"Guozatavuko ne zu?" Did they believe you?

"Jetahi ne be." They are here.

Had there been the time Miara would have been lectured at this point. Told that going against the plan could cost them. That she was wasting time travelling a day to find people who didn't have a place in their plan. Kivu would tell her that these things need to be discussed as a group. But, there wasn't time.

Instead, Kivu walked towards the bed he had been earlier resting in and pulled a thick notebook from under the pillow.

"This is everything I've been able to find." Miara ran her finger along the worn leather when it was passed to her. "Ship and weapon designs, some of the Hunters new personnel, and I was even able to get some more information on how the Hunters are going to attack."

"Anything urgent?"

"Xe'un is on Berserker Island. Many of Berk's allies have been taken over and they sent fake responses to the request for help that was sent after Berk received a declaration of war. Xe'un and Kink were shipped to Berserker Island in hopes of throwing us for a day or two."

Miara nodded.

"And there is a map of these caverns in the front." Kivu pointed at the book. "You might need it to get out of here."

"Thank you."

Kivu blew out his candle as Miara unlocked and slipped through the door again.

Don't go dying on us. Kivu listened as Miara's footsteps got quieter and quieter.

~O~

"Well, this was stupid." Snotlout deadpanned as the Riders came to another intersection in amongst the Outcast Island cave system.

For about half an hour now the Riders had been trying to navigate their way back out into open air.

They had been split up from Alvin when the group had decided that running around recklessly was a good idea. Well, decide was an understatement - it was more of an idea that they all acted on in the spur of the moment.

"I still find it hard to believe that every single one of us thought it would be a good idea to completely abandon Alvin." Fishlegs said hands on his knees as he caught back his breath. "I mean, if we had stayed with him, we would be out of here by now."

"It was a pretty stupid idea," the group spun around to find themselves facing an approaching Miara, "and that is saying a great deal when it comes from me."

"Where in Thor's name have you been?" Snotlout asked a bit too loudly. "As far as we were concerned, you had been captured!"

Astrid spoke before Miara could defend herself. "Will you be quiet? It's bad enough that at any time we could be spotted. We don't need you screaming."

As Miara opened her mouth to speak, Ruffnut added to Astrid's comment. "You may as well just yell: 'Hey, Dragon Hunter's, we're over here come! Come find us!"

"Now my dear sister, that seems very counterproductive."

"That's not even a word." Snotlout said.

"Like you would know."

All the while, Miara stood with slumped shoulders and a deadpanning face. Were all Vikings like this? She understood that friends fought over very silly things - she had been the cause for many useless arguments - but was now really the time?

"Counterproductive:" Came Ruffnut's 'as a matter of fact' voice. "The act of having the opposite of the desired effect."

"You just made that up."

After pinching the bridge of her nose, Miara took a deep breath, composed herself, and stormed forwards pushing the arguing Twins and Snotlout apart.

"If you want to fight over a word, that is fine, but do not do so when we could be captured at any time." When the fighting trio went silent Miara continued. "Come on, a friend of mine said that they sent Hiccup to Berserker Island. Apparently, the Outcasts isn't the only one of your allies that has been taken over."

Satisfied that her point had been put across, Miara started walking straight ahead.

"Wait. Where are you going?" Astrid called after her.

Raising a piece of parchment with what looked to be a map of the cave system into the air, Miara called back. "Everyone thinking you are a demon can have benefits."

Fishlegs and Astrid exchanged glances quickly and then followed Miara, the Twins and Snotlout followed suit.

Astrid stared at the back of Miara. How did she get that map? If she and Hiccup had been attacked, surely the Hunter's knew that she wasn't a demon. Or, that's what she had claimed. And who was this friend? Did she mean someone who had infiltrated the Hunter ranks? That couldn't be, Viggo and Krogan were way too smart for that, right?

So many things were going unanswered, and Astrid didn't like that. She was fine with following a plan that made sense, even if it was from someone she was still learning to trust, but she at least needed to know what the end goal was. And from the way Miara was acting, that wasn't information she was going to get any time soon.

Shaking her head, Astrid focused on the road ahead. When they were back up in the air she would ask Miara. Besides, if the foreigner was so intent on working with them, there should be no problem sharing the plan.

Right?

~O~

Hiccup was roused from a restless sleep once again by the sound of a yelling crew member bringing around the days' worth of food.

He sat up hugging his knees and leaning against the far wall of the cell as a loaf of bread and one water canteen was thrown into the cell. He had once thought that was a pitiful amount to supply prisoners. But, as the past two weeks had stretched on, he soon learned that to complain only left the next day with nothing at all.

Hiccup wasn't sure how long it had been since he had seen daylight. The privilege of being allowed to stand out on deck - even if it was to do chores - had been confiscated when the ship had docked to pick up more 'passengers' - as the captain liked to call them. He had taken advantage of his unbound wrist and jumped into the water. After several minutes of agonising swimming, he made it to shore and ran.

For someone who had eaten nothing but a loaf of bread a day for a week, he got considerably far. He had made his way through the town that he couldn't bother find a name for in hopes of finding a dragon to train. However, his plan was cut short when he been hit in the head with a brick and sent unconscious. He could still feel the lingering effects of a concussion.

Since then, he had woken in a cell that he could touch both walls by standing in the middle, and there he had stayed. His legs ached from lack of movement, and the increasing heat of travelling south made him sweaty and uncomfortable. He didn't know where he was and he doubted the Riders did either.

Hiccup found himself once again dosing into an uneasy sleep. He was only shaken from it when the helpless cries of a young woman came from above. She was causing quite the commotion - much more than what he had heard anyone else on this ship put up. The sound of things falling onto the wood above - whether they were objects or people Hiccup couldn't decide - got softer to only get louder again as the woman was bought underdeck.

It stabbed Hiccup so many times to hear someone so desperate. For his whole life, Hiccup had been told that only those who had committed crimes so heinous that even death was too merciful received the Slavemark. But he was wrong. So very much wrong.

Hiccup had witnessed children thrown into cells. He had heard the terrified cries of some of the women down the far end of the ship as some of the crew stripped her and took away the one thing that could secure a woman a family in the Viking society. It made him sick that such a thing happened and no one knew.

The woman's cries - which Hiccup had previously thought to be muffled by the timber above - now showed evidence of being in a tongue that he didn't recognise. And, as the woman and men handling her came into view, the reason became obvious.

For a brief moment the two locked eyes. One - a pure green - was filled with instant terror, and the other - a deep abyss black - displayed sorrow and a sheer helplessness. Hiccup started shaking as he examined the rest of the woman. She wore thin furs that only covered her from her shoulders to her knees, which, in turn, showcased the deep brown of her skin.

Demon. Hiccup's mind whispered.

What were these men thinking to bring a demon onto the ship? Hiccup could deal with deadly, fire-breathing dragons, he would get over the confinement of his cell, but he could not handle the pure evil of a demon spirit. They cursed people, controlled them, and made others see things that didn't exist. So why, in anyone's right mind, would they capture and allow a demon onto the ship. It would kill them all!

One of the guards who had been handling the other-worldly lifeform noticed Hiccup's fear and gestured towards him. His partner smirked and led the demon towards his cell. While one held the struggling 'woman', the other man stepped forward and unlocked the cell door.

Hiccup knew what was going to happen.

He pressed himself against the furthest wall as the demon was thrown inside and the cell door locked. Not sparing a moment, the stranger pushed herself up and starting banging and pulling and pushing on the cell door while screaming words of abuse which no one understood.

Hiccup sat as far away as he could wishing it where possible to disappear through the wall. And then, after a few minutes of trying to force her way through, the demon gave up. She sank to the ground, and much like Hiccup, pulled her knees to her chest. Then - to the Berkian's utmost belief - she started to weep.