The two brothers walk back in, Ryker's face looking murderously evil. Even if it's always been. But now it was worst. And Hiccup didn't liked it.
Hiccup had tried listening to their far conversation, holding his breath to try to hear at least a word, but they were just too far. He looked up at them looking as careless as possible, Ryker crossing his arms, Viggo bringing them behind his back.
''We're going to need some information from you, Hiccup.'' Viggo purred, staring straight in the boy's green eyes.
When said, Ryker re-chained Hiccup, still using way much strength than necessary. Hiccup gave a gasp after having held his breath while the metal squeezed him painfully to the chair. And then, Ryker went back in front of their prisoner.
''There are two ways to do this, Hiccup'' Viggo explained, ''The easy way. Or the hard way. Which one would you like to be used on you?''
''Well, I guess the 'easy way' would be me telling you what you want to know just like that. And the 'hard way' would be me saying no, and then you would hurt me and beat me and everything until I tell you what you want to know...'' Hiccup said, rolling his eyes a couple times as he spoke.
''Exactly.'' Viggo said, almost sounding as if he was proud of the lad. ''So, I let you choose what you want to happen to you in the very near future.''
Hiccup stayed quiet for a moment, looking down at the ground, deep in his thoughts. If he went with the first option, he might not suffer much, but he would be a traitor to his friends and family, whatever information he gave. And if he went with the second one, we might get hurt, tortured, beaten, but he would hold strong and would at least protect those he loved.
Hiccup brought his gaze upwards. He made a decision.
''Betraying my friends would be wrong. And wrong isn't what I do. I want to do the right thing.'' Hiccup said of a clear tone. ''Whatever you want from me, whatever information you need... You'll get it over my dead cold body. ''
'You're foolish, Hiccup.'' Viggo almost whispered almost as if he was disappointed, and walked out of the room to leave his brother do his work.
...
The rest of the Dragon Riders flew above the clouds on the way to Viggo's base, flying in V formation, the first place in front, empty.
Astrid was the second in line on Stormfly along with the twins on Barf and Belch. Snotlout and Hookfang were behind her, and Fishlegs on Meatlug behind Ruff and Tuff.
They flew like that all the way, not a single rider daring to take Hiccup and Toothless' place. Not even Snotlout. Astrid promised herself that she would find him and bring him home, no matter what she would have to go through to accomplish that.
The gang had remained silence for most of the journey. They never really knew when exactly they would get there because none of them, not even Hiccup, had marked the island's location down on their map. All they knew was that they were flying towards it. After all, the Hunters' island wasn't really hard to recognize. Its appearance was unforgettable...
And speaking of Viggo's base, they had arrived.
Majority of them gasped at the sight of the not-so-deserted island. Except Astrid. She was too busy focusing on where to find Hiccup. She didn't care what was awaiting them down below. All she cared about was finding Hiccup and Toothless, grab them, and take them away from here.
They flew put, high above the enemy's island, the thick clouds no longer there, only a slight mist to hide in, which wasn't very useful... Not at all, actually. At least it was night, so they couldn't get easily spotted up here. From down below, if you focused enough, all you could really see would be four little flying figures, without really getting what they were.
''Alright, guys!'' Astrid whispered as loud as she dared. ''You all remember what Viggo is capable of, right?''
''How can we forget...'' Snotlout snorted, rolling his eyes.
''He's smart, he's fast, and can easily manipulate us. So we need to be quicker and smarter. Question every move you make. Every single one of them counts.'' she said, '' You guys,'' she gestured at the others. ''You need to hold off as many guards as you can. I'll figure out a distraction so they all come at the same spot at the same time. I'll go find Hiccup. He's probably held back by Viggo and Ryker. Once he's up in the air, we get out of here and head back to Dragon's Edge. Got it?'' she explained, sounding sure of herself that it'll work.
Fishlegs and the twins flew their dragons down below, dive bombing towards the forest to hide in until Astrid created the distraction.
''Are you sure it's gonna work? It sounds a bit... well, tangy.'' Snotlout said as soon as the others disappeared, the only one now left in the sky with Astrid.
''Why? Are you worried?'' the blonde girl asked smiling smugly. ''Are you worried something might happen to your dear, loved little cuz?'' she said in a sing-song tone.
''No! Stop it!'' Snotlout almost shouted, burying his face in his hands, not wanting to make eye contact with Astrid.
''Don't worry Snotlout. Everything should go fine.'' she reassured him. Well... tried.
''SHOULD?! '' he yelled, bending forward on Hookfang's horns.
Astrid glared at him furiously for raising his voice. Luckily, none of the men below them heard anything and kept doing whatever it was they were doing.
''You stay quiet.'' she hissed, ''Now go down there with the others. As soon as you see a high number of guards join all in the same area, you strike. Understood?''
Snotlout didn't say another word and dived towards the forest the three other riders were hiding in.
Astrid patted her Nadder's scaly neck and dived downwards, towards a field filled of dragon proof cages, keeping hundreds of wild dragons away from their freedom. It was heart-wrenching to see this, but she didn't have time for a heavy heart.
Stormfly landed behind a thick bush, her rider jumping off as soon as her feet touched the ground. She grabbed her double headed axe, taking a firm grip on the wooden handle as she race forward to unlock the cages and free those poor creatures. It would be a perfect distraction. When the Hunters will realize their catches had been freed, they'll all group here to figure out what exactly happened, and that's when the others would come in and hold them off so she could have a clear path and go find Hiccup.
So the young, blonde girl ran across the field, unlocking as many and as quietly as possible cages that held so many dragons. Nadders squeaked happily seeing the doors of their prisons unlocked, pushed it opened and took to the sky, roaring joyfully as they did. Nightmares set themselves on fire and Gronckles simply flew away, growling fiercely at anything in their way. Of course they set some ships and the camp on fire as they did. They weren't gonna leave without getting revenge on those Hunters that had caged them for so long.
Immediately, Astrid could hear the men clamoring and screaming. She saw two or three already running in her direction, followed by a whole bunch of angry Hunters, all armed to the teeth. The young rider gasped and ran back to where she had left Stormfly. She climbed on her back and as soon as the dragon felt her rider's soft hand pat her, she unfolded her wings and climbed up high in the night sky, and as she did, she could see the four other riders already going in, setting the released Zippleback gas around the men on fire.
Great. Now her path was cleared.
''You guys hold them off as long as you can!'' Astrid said flying close to the twins who smiled and rose up their thumbs to show they understood her order.
''I'm gonna find Hiccup...''