It was silent, dead silent. The only sound that was heard was the gentle breeze of the wind and the occasional grumble from Toothless, who looked at his rider and Astrid.

"I'll ask you again." Astrid said sternly, standing tall and firm. "Is that blood?"

Hiccup gulped, thinking about a good answer, he usually functioned properly under stressful circumstances, but this was different. "Don't worry." Hiccup said calmly, his hands in front of him like he was taming a wild dragon. "It's not mine."

It sounded a lot better in his mind.

"Well, if it isn't yours." Astrid began, her hands balled in fists. "Whose is it?"

"It's from a deer." Ragnar butted in, hoping to save his friend. "Hiccup just told me about his hunting trip."

Astrid looked at Hiccup with sceptical disbelief. "A hunting trip?" She asked, receiving a nod from Hiccup. "If that is the case." She began as she stepped forward. "Where is the deer?" She asked, pointing at the empty ground with her hands.

Hiccup gulped, it was a sin not to take your kill after a hunt, the meat was welcome and he was certain that Astrid wouldn't believe that he ate it all. He shot a gentle smile, hoping that it would be enough to satisfy her.

"He lost it." Ragnar said, causing Astrid to focus on him, he now realised how scary she truly could be.

"Did I ask you?" Astrid asked angrily. "Because I don't remember that."

Ragnar raised his arms in surrender, slowly taking a step back. It was truly like dealing with a wild, unpredictable animal.

Astrid turned back to Hiccup, who had also taken a step back, just in case. "Where is the deer Hiccup?" She asked.

The arena was so silent that you could drop a needle and the sound would be deafening, at least, that's how Hiccup experienced it.

"There is no deer." Astrid stated, shaking her head, anger dripping off her words. "Isn't there Hiccup?"

"It's complicated." Hiccup admitted, something that wasn't exactly a lie. "It's not something I can explain."

"Try." Astrid said with anger, flexing her fingers to keep herself from wrapping them around someone's neck.

Hiccup stuttered, muttering something about a storm and getting lost in a cloud. It was a shoddy story, and Astrid didn't believe a word of it.

Astrid sighed, loud and long. "Hiccup, if you want to keep the other leg you better start talking." She said as she reached behind her back and grabbed her axe. She knew he was at least a bit exhausted and was pretty that she had a good chance in beating him.

Hiccup stance visually changed when Astrid brought the axe into the conversation. He actually had a feeling things were going pretty well. He looked at Ragnar, hoping that he would help him out of the sticky situation. It looked like he was about to say something, but a glance from Astrid changed his mind. He could literally feel a cold blade against him, and Astrid seemed like the kind of person that would go through great lengths to get what she want. Ragnar didn't want to stand in the middle of that.

Besides, the two chasing each other through the village was funny as hell.

Hiccup looked at Ragnar with a look of disbelieve as he stepped back towards the bridge, his hands still raised in defence to show Astrid that he mend no harm. All hope literally sunk when he quickly turned around to jog across the bridge, heading off into the village.

It was a mean thing to do, but at least their newly acquired artefact was safe. He slowly signalled Toothless to back down. Angry or not, Astrid was into fair fights, and if he didn't use his dragon to run, she wouldn't use hers to make a pincushion out of him. At least, that was what he hoped.

"Alright." Hiccup said calmly as he carefully and as unthreateningly as possible reached for his sword. "I'll show you."

"Don't do something stupid." Astrid said firmly. "It won't end well."

"I feel like nothing will end well." Hiccup muttered softly as he slowly grabbed the hilt and lifted it.

"There's bad, and there's worse." Astrid snapped as she carefully observed Hiccup.

"Alright, look." Hiccup said as he held his sword in his open hand. He lightly pushed the button on the bottom, causing the green gas to slowly leak out. In the second that Astrid realised what he was planning he had already lit it, the small green cloud rapidly expanding into a large white mist. Thanks to the wind it cleared quickly, but when it was gone she could only see an empty spot in front of her. She turned around, seeing Hiccup heading across the bridge, running for his life.

"Haddock!" Astrid yelled as she gripped her axe and started her chase.

The day was pretty calm so far, Fishlegs had done well in the dragon race and was now calmly walking across town, visiting shops and gathering some supplies. It was a good day to treat yourself with something nice. He had gone to a bakery where he had bought some sweet pastries for himself.

All he now needed was a nice place to sit and eat his sweet lunch. Luckily, since the war with dragons ended the village had more resources to put into decorations and less important structures. This meant that there were now some benches and decorations around town. Fishlegs decided that the best place to sit would be at a bench at the far side of the Marketplace. Overlooking the entire square. From there he would be able to calmly rest and see the town and its people.

He sat down with a sigh, enjoying the soft breeze and the gentle sun that the day had given them. It usually cleared up after the first that had set in, and although it was still chilly the sun was amazing.

He closed his eyes, listening to the calmness of the town. People were chatting and bartering, arguing about prices and discussing the latest gossip. In the end, it was a normal day.

This changed when the people grew silent, listening to a sound that was coming from afar. Fishlegs also grew curious to this silence, since it would usually mean something bad. It could be a horde of yaks, released by the twins. Or it could be a wild dragon, agitated by something and now on a rampage.

It was something else though, and it grew clearer with the second. Astrid's war-cries were clear and recognizable. So the entire village knew what was up. Some poor sod was being chased around the village. The villagers continued their business, accepting the angry Hofferson lass as a default happening in the village. Fishlegs grew curious however, wondering what could make her so mad.

His answer came in the form of an auburn man, young adult, running for his life across the square. He quickly got his bearings and continued running, heading into a narrow street between some houses. It didn't take long for Astrid to appear on the square. She 'gently' asked a local merchant for Hiccups location, and he was all too happy to give it to her. She also disappeared into the street.

The yelling stopped, which either meant that Astrid had caught him, or she had lost him. Fishlegs guessed it was the latter, since he would probably hear Hiccup's yelling if it was the first one. He wasn't totally surprised when he saw the auburn man look down from a roof, sliding along the side and landing on the ground with a soft thud.

Hiccup quickly headed over to Fishlegs, who welcomed him on the bench and offered him a piece of his pastry. Hiccup politely declined, catching his breath on the bench.

"So what was that about?" Fishlegs asked calmly as he took a bite from his snack. "What did you do this time?"

"I didn't listen." Hiccup said, pulling his hood over his head and laying his arms relaxed at his side. "I don't advise it."

"I think you've managed to piss her off more than anyone else." Fishlegs stated. "And you've been away for five years."

"I know, I know." Hiccup muttered. He wanted to say something, but quickly changed his mind when Astrid walked back onto the square, her axe still in her hand.

She asked around, but no one could point her in the right direction. Fishlegs was stunned, either the people were tired of life, or they hadn't seen Hiccup sit on the bench. Astrid glanced around the market before running off into another street.

"She didn't see you." Fishlegs said in disbelieve. "Astrid has the sharpest eyes of the group, why didn't she see you?"

"It's a trick." Hiccup said as he removed his hood. "I didn't look like her prey."

"Explain." Fishlegs said, confusion evident in his voice.

"She was looking for an auburn guy, who's running away from her. So he would be tense and nervous." Hiccup explained. "Instead I am a relaxed hooded individual, who is calmly resting on a bench."

"Hiding in plain sight." Fishlegs muttered. "I like it."

"Like I said, it's a trick." Hiccup said as he scanned the square. "But it won't work forever."

Fishlegs nodded, thinking about what Hiccup said and why Astrid was chasing him. "Is this because you weren't at the dragon race?" He asked. "Because weren't cheering for us?"

"No." Hiccup answered calmly. "It's about what I was doing during the dragon race."

"Out on some dangerous adventure?" Fishlegs asked, interested in Hiccup's assassin background. "Fighting off evil and such?"

"Something like that." Hiccup muttered. "She didn't agree with this." He added as he pointed at the bloodstains on his clothes.

"You should talk to her." Fishlegs blurted out. "Explain it to her."

Hiccup looked at Fishlegs with surprise. "Are you nuts?" He asked. "She'll kill me."

"No, killing is what she does when she doesn't get the answer." Fishlegs explained. "She's smart, she'll listen to a proper explanation."

"She wouldn't understand." Hiccup muttered. "We can't involve you in this."

"From where I'm standing I'd say we're already pretty much involved." Fishlegs said. "Two raids on the village, foreign enemies in Nordic waters."

"It's more than that." Hiccup muttered. "No one here would understand."

"Why is that?" Fishlegs asked curiously, happy that Hiccup was actually opening up a bit about what was going on. "You haven't even tried."

"Because," Hiccup began, silencing himself after he spoke the first word. He was explaining a lot to Fishlegs, and he wasn't the most reliable person to tell sensitive information. Sure he would keep his mouth shut if you asked him, but it was very easy for someone to pry it open and gain the information he was supposed to keep. "It doesn't matter." Hiccup said as he stood up, heading off into a random direction. "I'll see you around."

"Don't forget to talk to Astrid." Fishlegs reminded him, knowing he had pushed his luck with gaining information. "She knows where you sleep." He yelled after him, before calmly sitting down and continuing his pastry.

Astrid sat on a rock, carefully overlooking the side of the village. She was sharpening her axe with a rock, something she often did when she was angry or needed to pass time. Her keen eyes were watching the village closely, carefully observing the people who walked through the streets. He had to pass by sooner or later.

Even if he didn't, it didn't matter. She knew where he lived, she knew where his dragon was, and she knew he couldn't run. Rumblehorns could track him, easily even. And even if he had a faster dragon, they couldn't fly forever.

Astrid's thoughts were broken by the snapping of a twig behind her. She ignored it, it was probably some Terrible Terror that was looking for some spilled fish to snack on. She only realised that it wasn't a dragon when she heard a heavy sigh.

"Is that spot occupied?" Hiccup asked as he scratched his neck awkwardly while he pointed at the rock. He hoped that he could calm her down by being cute.

Whether she liked it or not, it did. The way he looked down at the ground and had his hand on the back of his neck triggered something. She didn't feel like chasing him anymore, at least not with anger as motivation. He looked like the little, nervous boy that he had been seven years ago. It was kind of adorable.

Of course, the blood on his clothes still spoke a different story.

"No." Astrid answered calm but sternly. "Sit."

Hiccup liked her tone, although it was still harsh and filled with anger, it was way gentler than the way she had talked to him at the arena. He could hear that she was angry, but he didn't feel like she wanted to wrap her hands around his neck and choke him to death.

He sat down next to her, looking at his feet in front of him. "I'm sorry." He softly said. "I should have explained myself."

"What happened during the race?" Astrid asked carefully. She wanted answers, but she knew she had to be careful not to scare him off. "I want to know."

"No lies?" Hiccup asked as he looked at her, his face filled with shame.

"No lies." Astrid repeated, looking back. "Only the full truth."

"Alright." Hiccup said with a sigh. "There is a reason Ragnar and I are in the archipelago."

"Templars?" Astrid asked, earning a surprised look from Hiccup. "I read about them in a book."

Hiccup smiled, he knew Astrid had done her research. "Yes, Templars." He said with a sad smile. "They never venture this far north, that's why we are here."

"You're just here to watch over some old enemies?" Astrid asked with a sad tone. "What are they even doing here?"

"We don't know it fully." Hiccup said, leaving Mjolnir out of the conversation. "But it's bound to be something bad."

"So, the blood." Astrid began. "It's from a Templar?"

"Probably." Hiccup admitted, looking back at the ground again. "At least partners of them."

"So it's not just Templars?" Astrid asked, slightly confused. "Also regular Vikings?"

"Not quite the regular ones, but yes." Hiccup explained. "It seems the order has Viking members."

"Just like you and Ragnar are Viking assassins?" Astrid asked for confirmation.

"Yes." Hiccup answered. "We're here as a counterweight."

"Two assassins against an entire army?" Astrid asked. "Seems out of balance."

"That's why we take it slow." Hiccup said. "Carefully planning our strikes."

"So you take them down one by one?" Astrid asked confused. "What if they just recruit more soldiers?"

"We're trying to cripple their war machine." Hiccup said. "Sinking ships, blocking trading routes, that sort of thing."

Astrid was silent. Thinking about the entire explanation. "Why don't you tell your dad?" She asked. "He'll gladly help you fight."

"It would draw too much attention." Hiccup said. "We don't want their entire forced coming down on us."

"Okay." Astrid said softly. "I think I understand."

"Good." Hiccup muttered softly. "I really don't want to lie to all of you, we just don't want to involve you in this."

"Understandable." Astrid said. "But realise that Berk is standing behind you."

"I know." Hiccup said with a smile. "It sure feels different than before I left."

Astrid was silent, remembering the actions right before Hiccup disappeared. "Do you remember anything new from the last months?" She asked hopefully.

Hiccup looked back, surprised by the question. He thought about it. "I don't think so." He said. "I remember training with Toothless, my dad being angry at me and"

Astrid cut him off. "Anything in between those two?" She asked, hoping that Hiccup would remember the flight the two of them had shared.

"Before my father was angry at me?" Hiccup asked, earning a nod from Astrid. "I remember parts of a flight."

Astrid lit up, this was wat she was hoping for. "Where we discovered the nest." She said, hoping to refresh the memory.

"We discovered the nest." Hiccup said softly, before repeating it a few times. Every time he said it he was silent afterwards, he broke the sentence down. He remembered parts of the nest, the large dragon climbing upwards, trying to grab them. But something was missing. "We?" He softly asked.

"Yes, we." Astrid said with a smile. "Remember me dropping in on you and you taking me for a flight."

"Forcing you." Hiccup corrected her, remembering the moment of terror he felt when he found Astrid in the cove.

"Do you remember anything else of the flight?" Astrid asked, hoping that Hiccup would finally remember their goodbye that evening. "Maybe after the flight?"

Hiccup was silent for a while, thinking heavily. He remembered the nest, and the short flight back. But everything after that was a black blur. The next thing he remembered was his father yelling at him and Toothless being lifted onto the deck of a ship. "No, sorry." He said softly, trying to remember what happened afterwards.

"It doesn't matter." Astrid said with a smile. She was sad that he didn't remember, but he slowly started to remember more, and she felt like it was a matter of time before he remembered the full flight.

Ragnar sat in Hiccup's room, observing the strange cylindrical object that they had retrieved from the mysterious dragon rider. It was a strange item, one side had a small gemstone, probably decorative, inside a mouth of a dragon. The entire thing was covered with strange rotating strips, which were locked in place. Tied around it was a rope from which hung a key, simply made from a broken cast-iron key and a large tooth, tied on the front of it.

Ragnar had discovered that they key could fit inside a hold at the base of the cylinder, once unlocked, the rotatable rims became movable. The entire rotatable rims could also be removed, which would reveal that they were small discs with a crystal lens in the middle. But it did nothing else so far. The key could also be used to lock the rims again. Securing them in place.

The door opened, so Ragnar quickly hid the artefact. In the frame stood Hiccup. "Calm down." He said. "It's me."

"Sorry." Ragnar said as he took the cylinder out again. Showing it to Hiccup. "Here."

Hiccup took the cylinder, also inspecting it. "Any luck with it?" He asked.

"Well, it's not a spyglass." Ragnar stated. "If you look through it you see everything unclear and coloured."

"So, the lenses are broken?" Hiccup asked. "Or maybe clouded."

"No, they are all clean and in perfect condition." Ragnar explained. "There's not even a scratch on them."

"Grab a candle." Hiccup said as he grabbed his sword. It was getting late and the room had grown darker and darker. Ragnar leaned to the right, grabbing a candle from the far end of the table. He handed it to Hiccup, who lit it using the sparking mechanism on the bottom of his sword.

The room quickly filled itself with the soft glow of the candle. It lit the workbench and the edge of the bed, but not much more. Ragnar again observed the cylinder, holding it close to the candle to see everything properly. Meanwhile Hiccup was thinking about the object, staring at the other end of it, where a mouth of a dragon was made from some sort of metal.

Ragnar looked closely at the bottom of the cylinder, where a small, clear gemstone sat embedded in the middle of the item. The flame of the candle flickered lightly, shining into the cylinder. The light passed through the other lenses and gems inside the item, which were carefully arranged by the stance of every individual disc. The light shone out of the other end of the object, coming out of the mouth of the dragon. It projected a weak and small image, cast against the dust that dwindled in the room, unclear to the human eye.

Hiccup looked at the flickering gemstone at the far end of the cylinder. "It's projecting something."

Ragnar looked up, seeing how a red projection shone against the dwindling dust. "It's a shitty projection though." He said.

"Maybe the candle is too weak." Hiccup said. "We need a stronger source."

"Maybe a flame of a dragon." Ragnar advised, looking at the sleeping Skrill in the corner of the room. "Bolt can't produce a steady fire, but Toothless can."

Hiccup blew on his whistle, and in a matter of seconds the large black dragon was trying to squeeze his body through the tiny window. It was a miracle that it fitted, and Toothless, once recovered from the tight hole in the wall, looked at his rider questioningly.

"Alright bud." Hiccup began. "Can you give me a slow burn on this gem here?"

Toothless looked at Hiccup questioningly, it was one of the most pointless things he ever had to do. Except for the one time he had used his plasma blast to heat a can of water for tea, but that would never happen again.

A small steady stream of purple shot from Toothless' throat, going inside the cylinder and exiting and the far end. Projecting a detailed map on the wall of the room.

"Wow." Hiccup said softly as he observed the map. It was a detailed cast of the north-east side of the archipelago. It had a few crossed marked on it, three in total. All on small uninhabited islands.

"What is this?" Ragnar asked as he observed the map. "It's amazing."

"It's a map." Hiccup said. "Marked with certain locations."

"I got that far." Ragnar said sarcastically. "But what could it lead to?"

"I'm guessing that, in the end, it leads to Mjolnir." Hiccup said softly. Observing the map. "Maybe the locations contain clues, or maps, hint, something along those lines."

"Looks like we're going to be busy." Ragnar said with a chuckle. "The Templars must be on to this too."

"Looks like we'll have to head out again." Hiccup said.

Suddenly the door burst open, startling the two assassins. Before they could look who had opened the door one person jumped on Hiccup, knocking him down onto the ground. "You're not leaving!" He yelled loudly. A second person jumped on Ragnar, who was distracted with seeing Hiccup taken to the ground. He was also quickly tackled down.

"We got them!" Tuffnut yelled proudly as he sat on Hiccup. He sat on his back, effectively keeping him on the ground. Beside him Snotlout and Tuffnut lay on Ragnar, who was buried beneath the two.

"We sure did!" Ruffnut replied with a just as energetic cheer.

"What is going on?" Hiccup asked from underneath Tuffnut. "What are you guys doing?"

"You know that very well." Tuffnut said with a stern voice, before faking a hurt one. "You were planning on leaving."

"What?" Ragnar said, his voice muffled by the two Vikings on him.

"Guys, I don't think they were planning on leaving." Astrid said from the doorframe, together with Heather. Watching at the rather amusing sight before her. All she could see from Ragnar were his feet, sticking out from underneath Snotlout.

Hiccup stood up, causing Tuffnut to fall to the side. "Can someone explain what is going on?" He asked as he looked at the group of riders. He heard a muffled sound from his left. "And can you get off Ragnar?"

"We thought you were leaving." Ruffnut said as she stood up, pushing Snotlout off Ragnar.

"Why would you think that?" Ragnar asked as he got up. "We're not doing anything like that."

"Astrid saw Toothless running over to the house." Fishlegs explained. "She thought you would leave, the thought scared her."

"It did not!" Astrid exclaimed as she punched Fishlegs, who was knocked into the workbench by the force of her punch. "I was worried for Stoick."

"Sure you were." Tuffnut said as he dusted himself off. "Because I remember it differently."

Astrid shot an angry glare at the male twin, who quickly said. "Or maybe I didn't."

Everyone's attention turned towards Snotlout though, since he now had a strange metal and wood object in his hands. "What is this?"

Hiccup quickly stepped to him and grabbed it from his hands. "Nothing you want to know."

"Nothing he wants to know?" Tuffnut asked slyly. "Or nothing you want him to know?"

"Excellent question brother!" Ruffnut exclaimed as she turned to the assassins.

"Nothing you need to know." Ragnar snapped as he stood before Hiccup, which allowed him to carefully stuff the cylinder into a satchel.

"Nothing we need to know?" Ruffnut asked.

"Or nothing you need us to not know?" Tuffnut added.

Ragnar sighed heavily, remembering the countless times that Hiccup had warned him for arguing with the twins. Their arguments were always so strange and faulty that it was impossible to bring something against it.

"They are not going to stop until they know what it is." Astrid added as she watched from the side.

Hiccup sighed. "Fine." He said. "It's an artefact we managed to acquisition from Templars."

The twins stood still, frozen in their track. Thinking about the meaning of the sentence Hiccup had just said.

"Again please." Snotlout said, breaking the silence. "And in our language please."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, clearly irritated by the twins. "Something we stole from baddies."

Snotlout was content with the answer, feeling like he had pried the information from their locked lips. The twins however wanted more.

"What does it do?" Tuffnut asked, before Ruffnut quickly added. "Does it have treasure?"

The two barraged the assassins with a large wave of questions, before finally ending together with one. "What is it called?"

Hiccup and Ragnar looked at each other, they hadn't given it a name yet, but it was a good idea. They were silent for a moment, before Ragnar began. "It's the dragon's."

"Eye." Hiccup added. "It's the dragon's eye."

"Cool." Tuffnut muttered softly. "What does it do?"

Hiccup looked at Astrid, hoping that she, as unofficial leader of the group of riders, could call the wild dogs back, but she wasn't feeling like cooperating.

Ragnar looked at Hiccup, the two understanding that they weren't going to get out of this situation.

"It projects a map." Hiccup said with a soft sigh. "We don't know what the map is for."

"Can we see it?" Astrid asked from the door. Although it appeared like she wasn't actively helping with the interrogations. Her blocking the only door sure left a message.

"Sure." Hiccup muttered as he dug in the satchel, grabbing the now called Dragon Eye. He held it in his hand, motioning Ragnar to extinguish the candle. The room was filled with darkness, but soon enough it was lit by the soft burn of Toothless' plasma beam. A large map appeared on the wall, a dark purple colour thanks to the mixture of the purple light and the red gemstone lenses.

Astrid watched with awe, she had never seen something like this. But it wasn't a surprise that Hiccup of all people would discover such a thing. The map was detailed, and covered a large part of the archipelago.

"What are the crosses?" Fishlegs asked curiously. Causing the two assassins to freeze.

"We don't know yet." Ragnar admitted. Signalling Hiccup that he should stop the projection and relight the candle. "But we intent to find out."

"More fishing trips?" Heather asked from beside Astrid, a smug grin on her face.

Ragnar shot a quick glance to her, he hoped to signal her that she wasn't helping, but her reply was a mean smile. He sighed. "No, we have agreed that we will tell you when we're heading out."

"No more lies." Hiccup added.

"Can we come with you?" Ruffnut asked.

"Yea, that would be awesome!" Tuffnut added.

"No." Hiccup said sternly. "It's too dangerous."

He could see how the word dangerous triggered something in her, and before he knew it she had said it. "We're coming with you." Astrid said with an even sterner voice. "Whether you want it or not."

"There's safety in numbers." Fishlegs added, curious to the new adventure.

"Fine." Ragnar said. "We'll think about it."

AN:

I HAVE INTERNET!

So, here it is. A bit shorter again but that's because I simply don't have too much time to write. The reason it's late? I don't have internet all the time. But anyway, here it is.

I hope you all like it and are still enjoying the story. Thanks for all the reviews and for the support with the story! I love you all!

Take care!

R4y