Hey! Next chapter! Enjoy.
Shout Outs!:
TheLastCookie23
No, it concludes in this chapter. only a little longer and then he'll be going back!
CartoonPonyDrawing
So conflicted with Johann and i loved those flashbacks! though it kinda made me mad that stoic said nothing to hiccup and while i understand from the point that rtte leads up to htty2 it freaking could have prevented his death had hiccup understood just who and what drago was sooner. but you know, pet peeves.
Hiccup sat on the floor of his cage, as far away from human contact as possible, with the blanket wrapped around him—wings included. It wasn't that he was cold, it had to be severely cold before he noticed, but the nippiness of wet clothing was getting annoying and the blanket helped to cut back on it.
His breaths and the waves against the hull of the ship were the only thing Hiccup could hear. After Viggo had left he hadn't seen anyone since then, no guards, no Viggo, no Ryker. And while he didn't mind it, he was just as happy not seeing them, it was getting unnerving—they had gone through this much trouble to catch him now they leave him without at least a guard? Either Viggo was very sure he wouldn't escape or he wouldn't try.
Sighing, eyes determined, Hiccup stood and stepped towards the cell door and inspected it. It looked like it could hold just about any dragon they could fit in it, there was simply no way of using brute force on it—not like he was planning on it anyway.
Forgetting the door for the moment Hiccup looked around the room. In the far left, entering the room, corner sat his cage and in the back middle was Viggo's desk with his shield and a couple maps. On the back wall was a giant map of, well, everything north of Scotland. Fascinated, Hiccup looked at the map long and hard, comparing the map he'd made and this one—they seemed to be pretty close. On the wall adjacent to Hiccup was an ornate shield and just below that was a chest along with a bloody spot, his broken and stained sword laid next to the chest. Then on the wall housing the door was nothing, floor bare bar a few barrels containing Thor knows what.
"Ok, helpful things, my shield and broken sword. The shield on the wall. Possibly whatever is in those barrels…although I'm not going to count on it. And the Dragon Claw which they thankfully haven't found." Hiccup quietly said to himself.
First off, getting out of this cage. The only thing he had with him inside or reachable from the cage was the blanket, useless. He growled at the nowhere he was getting.
Deep warning growls could be heard through the wall. "Toothless!" Hiccup cried worriedly.
A few garbled words accompanied the growl and then a plasma blast. Hiccup began looking around desperately. Toothless firing a plasma blast could mean many things, it merely could have been a warning shot, or a shot out of annoyance. But in their current situation he was going to take it for its worst meaning…and he didn't want to know what that could be.
Slipping the Dragon Claw off his arm he activated the single blade and felt for the lock. Inserting the knife he managed to pick it after a minute. Free from the cage he put the Claw back on and looked around, an idea forming.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*
Viggo stood outside the Night Fury's cage, intrigued. In their haste to catch Night Rider they had only tossed the Night Fury in the cage without any bindings or restrictions and by the time they finally had Night Rider under control the Night Fury was too awake to restrain. But that also left a singular opportunity to study the creature, as they knew next to nothing about Night Furies.
"Careful brother." Viggo needless warned.
Ryker grunted, the only acknowledgment that he heard Viggo as he tossed a bucket of water over Toothless.
Toothless shook himself and gave Ryker a warning growl before curling up in the far corner. His ears perked when he heard something grating on the metal bars and looked up, hissing as he saw an eel writhing on the floor. Before he could do anything, two more buckets of water were thrown on him. Undeterred by this he opened his maw and shot the demon creature—it frying instantly.
Viggo rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "So you can still use your fire even when your wet, fascinating."
Toothless looked at Viggo, pupils retracted, and hissed warningly—angered at being used like that.
They all turned when they heard a crash from the captain's courters. Ryker frowned and Viggo motioned for a few Hunters to follow him, there shouldn't be that kind of crash coming from the room.
Ryker unlocked the door and walked inside, going directly for the cage. He looked inside and saw a mass under the blanket. One of the other Hunters shrugged, "Well, he's still here."
Viggo walked to the cage and unlocked the door, something was off about this, and stepped inside. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it off, revealing a barrel and shield—propped up to resemble Night Rider.
They turned when they heard a thump and saw Night Rider shutting the door.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*
Hiccup nodded at his handiwork, shutting the cage door so it clicked, before 'tripping' over a barrel and flapping up above the door—jamming himself in the space above. The door opened and he held his breath, watching silently as they moved to the cage and Viggo went inside. As he reached for the blanket was when he quietly dropped to the ground and grabbed the door handle and slammed it shut.
Hiccup heard the footsteps on the other side of the door and silently began to panic. He grabbed what was left of Endeavor and jammed it through the handle and into the wood, barring the door. He ran over to Toothless and grinned, "Hey bud."
Toothless grinned, "Hiccup! You're ok! Now get the keys so we can get out of this eel infested place."
Hiccup took a quick check of his surroundings and growled, where were the keys?! His heart stopped for a moment as he heard the door being slammed against, the wood and metal creaking tiredly. Activating the Dragon Claw, he began working on picking the lock.
Toothless looked worriedly at the door then back at Hiccup, "Hiccup, hurry!"
"I'm working as fast as I can!" Hiccup hissed through gritted teeth.
He felt the locking mechanism, just one small turn and—the door, more like his sword gave, and the Hunters poured through the door. Startled Hiccup jerked…and lost his place in the lock. No! Thor no! He was so close! He growled, eyes dragonic and narrow in anger, and stood to face the Hunters. He could already tell that the hatch was closed and no doubt locked. This feels strangely familiar…that isn't good. The first Hunter attacked Hiccup and he blocked him with the shield.
"Toothless, you've got to try the lock!"
"I've already done that!"
Hiccup deflected another Dragon Hunter and gashed him in the arm. "Then try harder!" He yelled at him.
Toothless stood at the back of his cage and gathered all his gas for one massive shot, the long, whining of death filled the hull before Toothless released it at the lock and it shattered under the force.
Hiccup grinned, "YEAH!"
He leapt out and tackled a Hunter before firing at another. The Hunter on top of Hiccup was shoved off by Toothless, "The hatch bud!"
He fired at it and Hiccup launched himself through, Toothless right behind.
Viggo was red, nearly vibrating in anger. "The Hunter who lets them escape forfeits their life!"
The Hunters paled and chased after Hiccup.
On deck was nothing like it was below deck…it was worse! The Hunters had obviously heard the ruckus below and prepared themselves for the escape attempt.
Toothless growled and opened his jaw to fire, only to find that he'd used it all up on the lock and hatch, mainly the lock. "Hiccup, I'm out!"
Somehow more and more Hunters were pouring onto the deck, "Sky!"
Toothless hit a few Hunters in front of them back with his tail and both he and Hiccup launched into the air.
Hiccup was about a yard in the air when something encased him. Panic rising again it took him until he hit the deck to realize that it was a net. Toothless screeched, terrified for Hiccup and enraged.
Hiccup was already being restrained by several Hunters even under the net. "No Toothless! Go get help, get Hawk!"
Toothless hovered just outside of their range for a moment before snarling at them, knowing getting Aileen would be Hiccup's only chance.
Hiccup watched in relief as his brother flew away, although that relief was short lived when he was dragged back to Viggo. Hiccup's face clearly read 'I am so dead' while Viggo's was a mix of too many emotions. He nodded back to the hatch and Hiccup was dragged back. Just before the hatch Ryker grabbed the net still encasing Hiccup and twisted it around his hand, trapping Hiccup next to him.
Hiccup grunted at the action but said casually, "You really think I'm going to be able to get out of this?"
Ryker glared daggers at him before leading him below, a limp prominent. Viggo and a dozen Dragon Hunters followed them back to the room where they were then left alone. Viggo again locked the door, it apparently not having been damaged much—much to Hiccup's dismay—before he turned his attention to Hiccup. "I must say Rider, I am disappointed that you would try something like this when you knew it was doomed to fail."
Hiccup glared, "I got Toothless out didn't I?"
"I suppose, losing the Night Fury is, slightly disappointing. But I trust that we will recapture it soon, with how closely it follows you, it won't leave you for long."
"Toothless is a he, not an it." Hiccup growled.
Viggo nodded, "Very well, he won't be gone long. But that still leaves your constant escape attempts."
Hiccup rolled his eyes and looked away.
"It's obvious that the cage won't hold you, you're too smart for that. Unfortunately, have no previous experience with Halflings, and if we did the knowledge of them was lost with the traitor and the artifact."
Hiccup's brow scrunched, he'd heard about that, what's so important about i? "Artifact?"
Viggo sighed, "You may be a dragon, Rider, but how much do you actually know about them? There are too many species of dragons to possibly remember everything about them. We created something that would hold all the knowledge of dragons we could possibly hope to know, and then some with the help of a foreigner. However he proved to be, distrustful, and stole the artifact. We've had to start all over, much of the knowledge is still lost."
Hiccup looked down, thoughtful. He must mean Bork…Hiccup was brought out of his thoughts by Ryker removing the net around him. Viggo walked up to him, face calm, "You seem to be in deep thought about something, Rider. Do you know who this traitor is?"
Hiccup shrugged as best he could with Ryker holding his arms, "It's not every day you learn someone knows more about dragons than you do. And no, I don't have a clue."
"Hm…" Viggo nodded, gesturing to the chair. "Yes, but it won't do you much good now. Though I believe you do know of him, Bork was his name."
"Bork the Bold?" Hiccup asked.
"So you do know him." Viggo said with fake cheerfulness.
Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Pretty much everyone in the Archipelago knows of him."
Viggo nodded, though he saw a certain light in Hiccup's eyes that suggested he knew more about Bork than that. "Though I am curious to know, where did you find this other Night Fury?"
"You think I'm going to tell you that?" Hiccup glared at him, chest rising and falling evenly in Ryker's arms as he dragged him to the chair. He began to struggle again as he was shoved down into it. Ryker growled, becoming highly annoyed with Hiccup and grabbed his wing roughly. Hiccup yelped and stilled for the moment, trying to keep his wings from feeling like it was going to be dislocated.
Viggo looked to Ryker and said calmly, not sounding like he truly cared, "Careful, we don't want to damage him."
"I do." Ryker growled, glaring at Hiccup.
Hiccup glared right back and was so focused on Ryker he failed to notice Viggo until he was right next to him and grabbing his wings. "What the-let go!"
Ryker rolled his eyes as he pinned Hiccup's hands to the chair while Viggo tied his wings closed, in much the same fashion the bounty hunters had. Flashbacks of that night filled Hiccup's vision and lashed out at Ryker, nailing him in his bad leg, and scrambled away from Viggo. The feeling of eels on his wings disappeared as did the vision as his back and wings hit the opposite wall.
The three of them sat or stood in silence for a moment, Ryker looking like he was ready to kill Hiccup and holding his leg—red seeping through the fabric and between his figures. Tremors threatened to rack Hiccup's body as he sat there, trying to think about what to do—he was effectively very stuck.
Viggo was the first to move. Walking straight over to Hiccup and grabbing his arm and hauling him back to the cage, which had been emptied of the barrel and shield, before slamming it shut. Hiccup went over to his old corner and sat down, wings pulling on the ropes that bound them, and watched as Viggo looped another chain over the door and lock. Unlocking the cabin door he ordered a Hunter just outside, "I want a guard at this door at all times, and if Ryker or myself are not in here I want a guard in here also."
The Hunter nodded wordlessly.
Hiccup buried his head in his knees. He grabbed the blanket that laid on the ground still and pulled it over his head, at least he wouldn't have to see the reminder of where he was at. Having some protection now, he let the trembles take hold of his body. Something warm ran down his cheek and he swiped at it, struggling to keep silent as everything built up.
He was trapped without Toothless…at least he got away. And as much as he hated to admit it, he was terrified. No matter what he tried, the Hunters—more specifically, Viggo—had stopped him. He felt like he was trapped in an eel pit with no escape…that's pretty accurate actually…dad, oh dad I'm sorry. "I just wanna go home…"
Hiccup's hands tightened around his legs as he thought of his father. He missed him, he really did. He missed those awkward conversations, his booming voice, Thor, he missed the constant fear of his father finding out what he was…why had he never told his father? If he had just pulled Stoic away sometime while he was alone he could show him, show him who he really was, show him Toothless…he wouldn't care…he hates dragons too much. Ever since mom—Well, I guess it doesn't matter right now. Aileen and Toothless will get me out of here, I just have to be patient.
*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*
Viggo stayed in the room with Night Rider while Ryker attended to the reopened wound. He didn't trust Night Rider to be alone anymore and he didn't fully trust his Hunters with him either, at least not while he was present. After he had made sure Night Rider couldn't escape again, he'd gone quiet—sitting in the cage with the blanket over him like a child.
He is a child, Viggo suddenly realized. It hadn't struck him before but now that he looked at him, he could see the blanket tremble slightly and heard a near silent sniffle. A slight pang of, well something hit him at the sight, but he brushed it off quickly. If he can cause this much trouble to business as a boy, he'll be even worse when he gets older. And I'm not about to lose to him.
Aileen sat on Amethyst's back urging her to go faster. "Come on Am, can't we go faster than this? Who knows what they're doing to Hiccup right now?!"
Amethyst cooed back gently, "We can go faster, the rest of the dragons can't. We have to stick with them, remember?"
Aileen sighed, "I'm sorry Am, it's just…I finally have someone like me, and I don't want to lose him, especially not this quickly."
"I understand, we'll get them back we just—is that…?"
"TOOTHLESS!?" Aileen cried out at seeing the other Night Fury.
Toothless flew up next to them and didn't spare a second. "Hiccup managed to get me away, but he's still back there. We have to-"
Swiftwind flew over and cut him off. "Hold on. We already have a plan, stick with Amethyst and Aileen and it shouldn't change."
Toothless nodded and flew next to Amethyst, "Ok, so what's this plan? And it had better be good. Viggo isn't fooling around."
*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*
The ships were just in view and Aileen signaled for the Gronkles. They dove beneath the clouds and flew straight for the rear ship, firing at it instantly. While the ship was under attack, and all the others were catching wind of it, Swiftwind flew beneath the clouds and close to the water and other ships. Weaving between and through them as he tried to catch Hiccup's sent.
Viggo sat at his desk studying a map of dragon migrations, he'd be moving ship positions soon to get the best of them. He looked up for the umpteenth time to check on Night Rider. The blanket had fallen off a while ago but he still sat there quietly, eyes moving around the room critically before closing them again.
Unbothered by this, Viggo returned to his maps when a Hunter barged in, "Sir! The rear ship is under attack."
"Dragons?"
The Hunter nodded, "Yes sir, Gronkles."
Night Rider's head lifted, curious and hopeful. Viggo scowled, "Any other's spotted?"
"No sir."
Viggo frowned, something wasn't right…he was ripped out of his thoughts as something rocked the ship with an explosion.
Night Rider stood, recognizing the explosion and the roar that followed it. "Swift." He barely breathed.
Viggo growled, "It's a rescue attempt. Get the bolas and catapults ready. Shoot anything that flies down and I don't care if its living or dead—except for the Night Fury, I want that alive." He turned his attention to Night Rider, "And you-"
*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*
"There's the signal!" Aileen shouted.
Toothless was already diving, "Come on already!"
The others followed suit. As soon as they were out of the clouds they were dodging every Dragon Hunter weapon. Despite his flight to find Aileen then the flight back, Toothless seemed to have fresh energy, dodging the weapons perfectly—almost as if they were nothing but a figment of imagination that could be moved at will. He was the first to reach the deck.
Aileen and Amethyst followed Toothless near flawlessly—just not as graceful as the lone Night Fury. Aileen rolled off of Amethyst as an arrow shot towards her and brought out her own bow, aiming for the Hunter that shot at her when Swiftwind hit him with his spines. Aileen smiled thankfully and Swift nodded towards the hatch, "Get Hiccup, we'll keep the deck clear."
They ran through the battle on deck, on the Hunters were losing rapidly—some were already jumping overboard at the odds of so many dragons. Toothless found the hatch, still blown to pieces, and jumped down—only to find just as many Hunters underdeck as there was above deck.
A deep, warning growl rose in Toothless' throat at the sight of them. Suddenly a large man broke through their ranks and stood in front of them. "Ryker." Toothless hissed.
Aileen remained on Amethyst, tightly clutching her bow and activating the switch on her mask so she could use her fire if need be. Ryker was the one to break the stale mate, "So, there is another Dragon Rider, you a Halfling too?" He asked spitefully.
Aileen only glared at him until Toothless shot directly into the wall of Hunters. "Hiccup's in the back room, Amethyst and I will hold these guys off…but I don't see Viggo."
Aileen nodded and dodged an incoming axe as she slid off of Amethyst. Toothless and Amethyst made a quick yet small path to the cabin door.
Ryker growled, seeing how fast their wall had been broken, "Where's the Dragon Root?!"
One of the Hunters not currently fighting a dragon pointed above deck wordlessly, unsure if he was more afraid of Ryker or the Night Furies. Ryker for his part growled, deeply annoyed, and ran into the fray.
Aileen had almost made it to the door when someone grabbed her from behind by her hair. "Going somewhere?"
She thrashed in Ryker's arms for a moment before deciding that if they wanted Hiccup back she might not be able to hide anymore. Seeing that most of his arm was bare she blew a short but strong stream of fire onto it.
Ryker yelled in pain and surprise as his arm was suddenly engulfed in flames and releasing Aileen immediately. She quickly ran to the door and opened it to find Hiccup, and Viggo.
Hiccup sat bound hand and foot in the cage with Viggo just outside it with a pleased look on his face. Aileen quickly replaced her bow with the Chakram and glanced at Hiccup. He wordlessly nodded to Viggo's belt and she saw a key hanging there, knowing what Hiccup meant.
Viggo drew his sword. "So you were the one shooting at me earlier."
Aileen frowned and separated the Chakram.
Viggo continued, "So, are you a Halfling like Night Rider, or just someone he happened to find?"
Aileen attacked without a word and he dodged, swiping at her but, not really swiping at her.
Hiccup watched as Aileen continued to press Viggo and worked at the ropes binding him. Managing to turn his wrist and arm a bit, he hit the Claw button and as it shot out of its sheath it cut the ropes. Hands free it was a quick swipe to get his legs undone. Free in that way he looked at the chains around his wings. The lock was smaller than it was on the cage, but it he worked it just right…
Aileen growled as she continued to try and get close to Viggo only to fail every time.
Viggo for his part was little more than amused at Aileen's attacks. He had a strong feeling that she wasn't everything she appeared to be, much like Hiccup. He spared a side-glance at Hiccup's cage as he heard something metal clatter and saw him free and running over to the lock on the cage.
Viggo frowned, he shouldn't have been able to get out of his binds. Ryker filled the door holding his arm and glaring daggers at Aileen. Deciding that the fight had carried on long enough he quickly spun his sword, nocking away Aileen's Chakram, and swiftly grabbing her—pinning her to himself. "As much fun as this has been, it must come to an end now. Ryker, if you please-"
Ryker shut the door, locking it, and both Hiccup and Aileen felt a feeling of helplessness begin to set in.
Ryker turned to Viggo only to reach out with wide eyes, "Viggo!"
It was too late, Aileen had already grabbed the key tossed it as best she could to Hiccup, landing it right next to the cage.
Viggo glared, "Stop him!"
Ryker moved to grab the key, or Hiccup, whichever was first, when Aileen shot a large stream of fire, barring his way to Hiccup. Viggo looked at Aileen with wide eyes, "So you are one of them."
Shoving her into Ryker's arms, who was very reluctant to take her—opting to hold her arms behind her instead of pinning her like he did last time. Viggo ran for the cage to stop Hiccup, but he'd already undone the locks.
He burst out and Viggo had to dodge the swing of the door. Hiccup reactivated the Dragon Claw and caught Viggo by surprise, slicing part of his forearm.
Aileen twisted violently in Ryker's grasp, enough to quickly blow a stream of fire at him. Not wanting to be burned, again, he released her. But blocked the door.
Hiccup dodged Viggo's grab at him and ran over to Aileen, she having regained her Chakram and his shield. They stood side by side, ready, until a loud whine echoed through the ship and Ryker was thrown off his feet and the door was no more. Amethyst bounded into the room and hit Viggo hard with her tail before running back out with Aileen and Hiccup on her back.
Back in the hold Toothless was taking care of the last of the Dragon Hunters when he saw Hiccup. "Toothless!"
Hiccup flapped off Amethyst and onto Toothless, who was trying to nuzzle him. Aileen looked back at the cabin and Amethyst said worried, "Greetings later, we got to get out of here."
Agreeing whole heartedly, Toothless flew out of the hold and straight up with Amethyst right behind. Once they were well out of range of the ships Hiccup laid down on Toothless. "I missed you bud."
Toothless cooed, "You aren't hurt are you?"
"I'm fine."
Amethyst flew next to Toothless and Aileen smiled, tossing him something black, "I think that's yours."
"My mask? Where'd you get this?"
"Found it on the desk with your shield." Aileen said.
Hiccup looked down, holding his mask, "Thanks Aileen, for the rescue and everything."
Aileen smiled sadly, "You don't have to thank me for that, you did the same for me. Halflings stick together. And even if I wasn't a Halfling I'd do it anyway. How are you holding up? I can't imagine something like that is, well, pleasant."
Hiccup laughed dryly, "I wish I could say I've been through worse. I just need some sleep and a lot of air time…no cramped spaces for a while."
Aileen smiled, "I don't think that'll be too hard to do."
Hiccup slid off of Toothless and glided, mask on again and relishing in his freedom.
Viggo wrapped his arm while Ryker tended to his burn. Both thinking. Viggo was pleased to learn that there was another Halfling, especially since her dragon traits where different than that of Night Rider's. What did he call her? Hawk? Ryker on the other hand wasn't so ecstatic to learn about Hawk, especially her trait—hurt like the dickens.
After they patched themselves up they began to clean up the ship. Viggo worked on cleaning his cabin alone, alone with his thoughts, who is Night Rider really?
So something about Aileen's mask i forgot to mention, Hiccup made it with a retractable moth opening-so that while their flying it protects her whole face but in battle she can use her fire.
And the way I'm going to work the dragon's fire in this is the shot limit is based on the lowest powered shot or fireball or whatever and how many times they can fire that without running out. So the larger the shot the fewer they have, goes for Aileen too.