The rain was relentless, it had been raining the whole night already and it didn't seem like it was going to stop soon. Gobber was standing outside the smithy, sheltered from the rain by the small wooden shutters which were open. He peered through the downfall, seeing a silhouette approaching him through the rain. "Gobber!" The man yelled. "Is he awake?" "Aye Stoick." The blacksmith yelled back. "And he's not a talker." The chief closed in on his friend, joining him underneath the small shelter. "Has he said anything useful?" Stoick asked his friend. "Anything about Hicca?" Gobber shook his head. "He hasn't denied that he knows her." The smith explained. "But he doesn't talk about it." "No." Stoick said sternly. "He knows something. I can feel it."

Gobber opened the door of the smithy, revealing a young man, sitting on a wooden chair, his hands tied in front of him. He looked at the two big men with one eye, the other one being swollen and thick. He had a bruised chin and he had seen better days. Stoick walked towards him and grabbed a chair for himself. There a small bit of dried blood at the side of his mouth. He sat down in front of the man and looked him straight in the eyes. The silence was terrifying. "So," Stoick began. "do you know my daughter?" Ray stifled a laugh, making him wince from the blows he had gotten to his chest, but didn't respond. "You better answer the man my lad." Gobber added, breaking the silence between the two. "I've seen him do things I wouldn't wish for my worst enemy." Ray glanced to Gobber, before turning back to Stoick. "You won't find her mate." He said, a chuckle escaping his throat.

Stoick, not being someone for patience or subtle approaches, immediately swung his arm, hitting their captive in the face. "That wasn't the question." He said softly, in a voice that could kill. Ray slowly moved his head back to Stoick. ""My apologies, I have a better answer." He said, before inhaling and spitting onto Stoick's boots, a thick, wet, red piece of saliva now resting on the nose of his shoes. Stoick stood up, ready to beat the young man to a pulp, but Gobber stopped him. "We can't get blood from a stone Stoick." He said as he tried to keep the raging man from range of their captive. "Just let me handle this." Stoick calmed down, realizing that this was their only lead to Hicca. "Fine." He said as he walked to the door of the smithy. "Teach him some manners while you're at it." He stepped out of the smithy and swung the door close with a loud thud, making the old building shudder.

Gobber sat down on the chair that Stoick had placed down in front of Ray. He sighed loudly, the brief clash with his friend was quite exhausting, for Stoick was a strong man. He looked at Ray, who had a grin plastered on his damaged face. "We know you know her." Gobber began calmly. "We want what's best for her." "Is that what you want?" Ray asked. "Or what he wants?" "He just wants his daughter back." Gobber sighed. "I want what's best for her." "There's the difference." Ray said fondly, a small smile creeping up on his face. "I got a proposition." Gobber looked at the young man, he kept quiet, indicating that he should continue. "I give you a chance to see Hicca." He began. "And you set me free." Gobber looked at him dumbstruck, shocked by the calm and polite way the lad spoke, especially after the way they had treated him. "And how would you propose we do this?" Gobber asked silently.

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Sithera was casually walking through the village, if casual meant sneaking through shadows and climbing on rooftops that is. She had a very simple task: Head to the beach, fire the flare, wait for the ship. Hicca met an old friend, Thuggory, a captain that they had guided through thick mist. He had also taken to the pirate life and traversed the sea with his small destroyed. Hicca had explained the predicament and he had agreed to participate in an extraction from one of Berks rocky beaches. Since time wasn't clear, they had agreed on firing a flare to mark the exact location. They would launch a powerful harpoon for the two to tie to a small rowboat that they would drop there the night before. A second flare would be shot to indicate that they had secured the rope and they were ready for reeling it in.

Sithera was still going through the village, Hicca has asked her to do another thing while she was there, so naturally, she obliged. She was tasked with going to her old room, to grab a small box that should be somewhere near her desk, if her room was still the same at least. She gently picked the lock on the door to the Chiefs house and stepped inside, Thanks to the rain, her clothes were wet and dripping on the floor, marking her presence. She quickly walked towards the stairs, and silently climbed them. She had spotted the chief walking to the forge, so she probably had a few minutes. Upstairs she was met with more doors, she walked to the one that was Hicca's room and turned the doorknob. It budged, indicating that the door was locked. She grabbed the lock picks again and set to work on the door, quickly moving the pins to the right positions to let the cylinder rotate. She opened the door and stepped into the room, finding it exactly like Hicca described it, only with a thick layer of dust on top of everything. She hurried to the desk and quickly found the little locked box that Hicca had described, made from wood and steel, and probably harder to open than half the doors in this village. She stuffed the box in her satchel and moved back to the stairs, only to hear the front door of the house open.

Stoick was dripping wet, so it didn't surprise him that the ground underneath him was too, what did surprise him was the fact that the stairs and the floor towards them were. He followed the path of drops up the stairs where they turned left and headed into Hicca's bedroom. He was shocked, who would have the guts to enter his daughter's bedroom? His mind began to think about the possible suspects. Then it hit him, the gunner, it was too easy, it was a distraction. He stormed into the room, only to find the window open, he rushed to it, hoping to find the one who did this, but finding nothing. He glanced through the village, only to hear a heavy yell coming from the blacksmith, barely audible above the sound of the rain. And to see a young man running away from the building.

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Sithera waited quietly at the beach, after escaping through the window she had quickly fled the village and headed to the extraction point. She then saw Ray running towards her and quickly grabbed the flare gun. The flare screeched in the night sky, and emitted a red, chemical glow in the night sky. "What took you so long?" She asked as she shielded her eyes from the strong light of the flare. "I stopped to grab my gear." Ray said, breathing raspy and heavily. Out in the dark sea, a small flash was visible, and a large metal rod suddenly struck the beach with immense force. Sithera untied the rope from it while Ray flipped the small dingy that laid on the beach over. She hurried over to him with the thick rope, quickly securing it to the front of the boat. Angry yells and shouts were now heard from deeper in the island. "I though you would get them off you're back?" She asked as she tied the knot. "I knew I forgot something." Ray said back as he pushed the dingy into the water.

"Done!" Sithera yelled as she tossed Ray the satchel, they both jumped into the boat and Ray fired the second flare. Just as the Berkians arrived on the beach and opened fire. Sithera and Ray ducked down, hiding inside the wooden boat. Suddenly, they were both pushed towards the back of the dingy by the force of it being pulled back. Sithera looked back to see the beach moving away from the very quickly. "How fast is this thing?" She asked surprised. "Too fast." Ray answered as he pointed to the nose of the boat, which was slowly tearing apart.

They reached the destroyer very quickly, but the dingy didn't survive it. They were pulled out of the water by Thuggory's crew and were guided to the bridge, where Thuggory had already ordered for the movement to calmer waters, where they would meet with Hicca.

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The return was happy, Brynn was glad to see her boyfriend alive, but was more than a bit angry at how he looked. And had given was giving him a stern lecturing about how to act during interrogations. Hicca had received the box from Sithera and had put it down in the quarters. She was now talking with Thuggory, thanking him for his help. "Really, I can't stress this enough, thank you Thug'." She said as she shook his hand. "Is there anything I can do for you?" "Well, I do miss the days of the navy." Thuggory began as he rubbed the back of his head. "I heard you have a small fleet?" "It would be an honour to have you, Thug." She said as she extended her hand again, this time to sign an agreement. "Aye aye, Captain." He said, "Aye aye."

AN:

So, here it is, a little shorter this time. I'm currently quite busy with school but I'm aiming for updating at least once a week again.

An artist by the name of Adaliss made a fanart of my fanfiction, it's kinda like fanception. It's also the cover for the story! :D

The art can be found at Adaliss' deviantart page, it's called 'Take to the Skies'. You can find it by going to and smacking /art/Take-to-the-Skies-505405427 at the end of the URL.

I hope everyone is still enjoying the story, I can still take OCs, especially now that I have a new craft to fill. And I can also take other OCs. Like merchants, rivals, good guys, bad guys, maybe even dragons or some stuff like that. If I like it, I'll try to add it.

Stay sharp!

R4y