Whatever had led to the dragons escaping gave Viggo enough time to get deep in the forest with Hiccup. He was not a man that liked to hide but he was out numbered and he had Hiccup with him, and while the boy had two functioning legs, he could only run so fast and tired easily. So did Viggo. The tranquilizer was still making his body sluggish but they couldn't stick to the trails. They had to forge a new path which was becoming increasingly difficult with the ran that had oh so conveniently began to fall. Thunder rumbled in the distance and lightning streaked the sky periodically causing Hiccup to jump and cry out. They had little choice but to find shelter.

It was not Viggo's first choice. A cave would have been safer but the nearest one was at least another three kilometres inland. He did his best to fight the effects of the dart but in the end they had to stop as the rain grew heavier. They were surrounded by trees with lightning overhead. It was a dangerous place to stop but Viggo made do.

Ryker always said he had book smarts but not quite survival skills, one of the few things Ryker would try to tease him with when they were children. But Viggo had proven him wrong on a number of occasions, the most recent being his escape from the volcano. Perhaps their skills sets were vastly different and perhaps Ryker was the better survivalist and warrior, not that Viggo would ever admit such a thing, but he knew how to take care of himself. He left Hiccup near a small tree with a large enough leafy canopy and the basic order to collect long branches while he went to find larger ones to build a make shift shelter. It wouldn't offer much protection but enough to both hide them as well cut back some of the rain. Once it was built, they both sat inside to wait out the storm. Hopefully it wouldn't be easily noticed by Krogan or his men.

This was not how he imagined his life right now. Viggo had planned on rejoining his tribe, continuing in the trade of dragons, learning the secrets of the Dragon Eye. He never imagined running for his life or sheltering a small child who had once been his enemy and near equal in intellect. Yet here he was with said child pressed against his side, both shivering and wet. This was a child who he could easily imagine as his own the longer they spent together. A child just as curious about the Dragon Eye as himself.

"Do you want to hear a story?" he asked, a little surprised with himself for asking Hiccup such a question.

The boy looked up with big eyes and gave a tiny nod. "Okay."

Viggo fished the Dragon Eye out of his satchel. "This is a very old, very valuable device as you already now."

The boy nodded again.

"Did you ever wonder why you found it before me? How you could claim it before anyone else?" He waited for Hiccup to answer but all he got was a shrug of small shoulders. Either Hiccup didn't remember finding it as a grown up or didn't know the answer. So Viggo continued. "I've been wondering that very question for quite some time and I think it all has to do with who you are. Did you know you're not the first Hiccup Horrendous Haddock?"

"I'm the third," the child answered, shifting to get a better look at the device.

"Yes, and come from a long line of great Haddocks, but none as great as the Hiccups, those thought to be mistakes and too small. They were the ones that led our people to greatness," Viggo explained, running a thumb over the Eye.

"Our people?" Hiccup asked, sounding baffled by the notion.

"Not all the tribes were always separate, many were once parts of larger tribes. Sometimes a family would leave and start their own. Other times people would be cast out and form their own tribe with like minded people." He let Hiccup take the Eye. "But that is neither here nor there. This device was created by the brilliant mind of the first Hiccup Horrendous Haddock. According to records he had a love for dragons much like you, and wanted to know everything there was to know about them. He began writing volumes upon volumes of his dragon knowledge hoping to teach the world about the beasts but not everyone loved dragons like him. As he got older and saw his teachings being used to destroy his beloved creatures he formulated a plan to hide his knowledge. He began the long process of inscribing his knowledge onto forged amber, each one holding secrets that could only be revealed with the help of specific dragon fires. He spent fifty long years on his masterpiece but it would over a hundred years before it was finished. Before he died he hid it away, trusting it in the care of his beloved dragon Wodensfang. It was kept a secret until another Hiccup happened upon it, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second.

"Hiccup the Second was a wild child. He had been abandoned at birth and raised by dragons. He had no knowledge of his human parents nor a care to meet them but he was a curious boy. He found the Eye in a treasure chest deep in the Wodensfang's cave and knew it was meant for him. He added to the knowledge, created his own stories but the secrets did not last long. He was captured by his human father and taken to grand palace where he was forced to be human and dragons were enslaved. Young Hiccup, just a young boy a few years older than you are now, fought for the dragons' rights and foolishly showed his father the knowledge of the Eye. He was called a traitor by his brothers was murdered for siding with the dragons. The Eye was nearly destroyed but his saw the wisdom hidden within it and he kept close to his chest, the only thing he had of his beloved Hiccup. He cast away his remaining sons then set sail with the Eye, never to be seen again…until Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third found him and the Eye."

"So it's mine?" Hiccup questioned, eyeing the device for a long moment.

"Perhaps in time," Viggo answered, taking the Dragon Eye back. "But for now it's mine."

The boy grumbled under his breath and folded his arms across his chest. "Why tell me the story and not let me keep something that belongs only to a Hiccup."

Viggo couldn't help but smile. "Ah…the mysteries of life."

"I don't like you."

"I don't like you either."

They sat in silence for a while as the rain beat on their shelter. They couldn't stay for much longer. It was only a matter of time before Krogan's men found them. Hiccup pressed against Viggo's side in an attempt to get warm.

"I'm hungry," the boy announced in a small voice.

"I know," Viggo responded, wrapping an arm around him.

"I'm thirty, too."

"Yes, I figured as much."

"I need to use the outhouse."

Viggo sighed. "There are no outhouses here. You'll have to go outside to do your business." He expected Hiccup to complain about the rain but what he said next was surprising even for him.

"I can't," the child said in a small whisper. "There's a Rumblehorn out there. I don't want him to see my bottom."

"A Rumblehorn?"

There no way there was a Rumblehorn just feet away, there would have heard it long ago. Then there was a loud crunch of something heavy landing not far from the shelter and Viggo's heart clenched. Leave it to Krogan to used a Rumblehorn to track them. He grasped the hilt of his sword, ready to fight but all of a sudden Hiccup was scrambling over him and darting out into the rain.

"Hiccup!" he yelled, trying to catch him.

"Hiccup!" another voice echoed.

Viggo froze at the edge of the shelter. He knew that voice even though they had never really spoken. No more than twenty feet from the stood the Rumblehorn Hiccup spoke of, his rider all ready dismounting to meet the four year old running toward him. Viggo hesitated only a moment longer before climbing out of the shelter to stand in the rain.

"About time you showed up, my dear Stoick," he snapped at the Hooligan chief, as if he had been put out by defending the child. "Do you have idea of the hell that child has put me through or what I had to go through to protect him from the likes of Krogan?"

For a brief moment Stoick the Vast almost overlooked the child and moved toward Viggo but then his anger vanished as he took a good look at his miniaturized son and heir. It clicked in rather suddenly that Hiccup was indeed a small child once more, unable to care for himself and that someone, as unlikely a candidate as Viggo seemed, would have had to take care of him. The fact the two were in the forest, under a shelter and no doubt in hiding would have to mean that Viggo's partner had turned against him and had ill intent for Hiccup. But the idea that Viggo would risk his own life for Hiccup seemed completely out of character for the Hunter chief. Stoick kept those thoughts to himself as he lifted his tiny Hiccup up in his massive arms.

"You're so tiny," he teased his son before embracing him tightly.

"Da-ad, ribs!" the child whined but hugged him as tightly as he could as well.

"You saved him?" Astrid asked, suspicious. "Why?"

Viggo grinned menacingly at her. "My dear Astrid, I can't simply allow a brilliant mind like his to be killed by someone as worthless as Krogan," he explained. His grin grew at the hatred in her blue eyes. He turned his attention back to Stoick. "I suggest you get him as far from this island as possible. Krogan is no doubt still looking for us."

"And what about you?" Stoick asked, adjusting his grip so that Hiccup could turn slightly.

"Your concern honors me, Stoick, but I'll be fine." He didn't say good bye to Hiccup, didn't wait to see the riders fly off. He made the long trek back to base camp, alone and lost in thought. He heard the flap of leathery wings moments later and knew he would never see Hiccup as a child again. It was both saddening and a relief.

"Where's the boy?" Krogan demanded when he reached the camp some time later. Viggo stared at him blankly for a moment, surprised when there were no weapons drawn on him like a few hours ago. Krogan must have noticed something was off to have waved his men down.

"Dead," Viggo said simply, hoping no one had seen the riders.

"Dead?" Krogan said in surprise before nodding to himself. "And the Dragon Eye?"

It was then Viggo noticed his satchel was gone and only he realized Hiccup had ran off with it when his father came for him. "Destroyed," Viggo answered, keeping his face blank. "He grabbed the bag to stop me from throwing him in the ocean. It hit the rocks and shattered along side his body."

The former bounty hunter didn't seem happy about this but a quick pat down of Viggo's body proved the Hunter chief was not concealing it. Viggo shrugged the men off once they were done.

"Since there is no longer a need for me here I will be taking my leave. Feel free to search my tent if you want anything," Viggo told Krogan as he headed toward the pier. It was time to leave. There was nothing left for him here.

He was surprised when Krogan didn't try to stop him and allowed him to board his ship in peace. But Viggo was no fool. The fliers would come for him. Death at sea was a common occurrence and no one would question it, be it the sea that took him or the fliers destroying his ship where no one could bare witness, and anyone who did would die as well.