:) Final installment. Enjoy
Shout Outs!:
Ohma flame
Haha! yup, welcome to insanity
Guest
Quite annoying at how Hic still being treated.. albeit not on purpose... sorta has felt like it's dragging on this part.
I will say still fun read so far! Just all the harrowing stuff for Hiccup feels run down and drag. Thor Bonecrusher has got to go and stay away! Haha
Or.. the true Thor and Loki appear hehe
Sorry, I tried not to let it but there were certain aspects from the episode I wanted in the chapter. Oh yeah, never again.
Eris
Thanks!
DragonMasterLoki
XD
My thoughts while writing the chapter
CHShiccstrid
Hehe. Yeah the original felt kinda like a let down when it came to Bonecrusher. I live to make them better! :)
Writer's Log Supplemental—18.3 "The Return of Thor Bonecrusher"
Hiccup smiled when he heard Toothless answer his call. His smile quickly fell into a frown though as he thought about how open he was—and how open an invitation that was for the bandits to find him as well.
He hobbled across the temporarily flat ground to a large rock and pressed against it.
The draconic chatter started picking up again and Hiccup's breathing quieted, though his heart raced. He stayed vigilant of anything that moved—as he felt he would for quite a while after this whole debacle was through—tensing whenever a shadow crept closer. And not relaxing even after he realized it was a bird.
He spotted some rocks a short distance away. They provided far better shelter than the one he leaned against now. He looked behind him again before hopping closer to the other edge of the rock and checking the field on that side. It was empty, so he quickly hobbled to the cluster of rocks. He pressed against them and looked over the edge of a rock, that came to about his chest, to the cliff-path—from where Toothless' answering roar had come from.
Something scraped against the rocks from the path, quickly followed by a heavy snort of annoyance.
Hiccup beamed and hobble-ran out from the rocks.
"There you are." An unknown voice said from behind him.
Loki turned his head and saw two previously hidden bandits running towards him. His eyes widened and he yelled. "TOOTHL—MHP!"
One of the bandits tackled him, slamming a hand over his mouth and seizing his left arm which was reaching for his dagger.
The other bandit ran over to them and gripped Loki's other arm tightly before twisting it unnaturally but not quite to the breaking point.
Loki screamed in pain and fury but it was muffled by the man's hand and the dagger dropped from his hand.
The one twisting his arm sneered. "Now, none of that."
The first bandit jerked his head to the side, Loki could see a small path that circled back to the docks. "Come on, we gotta get him to the docks."
The second glanced at the cliff-path, furious roars and scraping rocks growing louder—though the dragon himself hadn't breach the edge yet. "We better, not sure which would be worse facing."
Loki thrashed in their grip and flexed his left hand then closed it again.
The second bandit, who'd taken Loki's dagger, yelped. "What th-"
A second later the first screamed in pain, shoving Loki away before bashing him on the head so hard he would have hit the ground—hard—had the second not been tightly holding his arm.
Loki cried out in pain, from both the blow to his head and the added wrenching of his arm. The world spun.
The first bandit yanked Loki to him and grabbed his free arm, which was once again holding the dagger. He suddenly got an uneasy feeling in his stomach and turned to his partner. "Are you…?"
The man inspected his side where Loki had jabbed the dagger before glaring at said Viking. "It's not too bad. He couldn't thrust it in hard enough to do much damage."
He gripped his wound then looked hard at the dagger in Loki's hand. "How'd he get that?"
Disbelief was written on the first's face but before he could answer, a shriek filled the air and a small and low-powered plasma blast hit his hand that was holding Loki's wrist. He yelled in pain and twisted Loki's arm behind him—using him as a shield.
Smoke rose from both mouth and nostrils as Toothless took several steps forward, throat glowing purple again.
The bandit holding Loki snapped at his comrade. "Do something!"
"With what?!" He snapped back. "We came out here to catch him!" He gestured to Loki. "Not fight a Thor forsaken Night Fury!"
He ripped the dagger from Loki's hand again and held it to his neck, intent obvious to Toothless.
They backed away a few steps and Toothless leaned forward to match them.
"Ehp! Hold it right there dragon, don't come any closer and—ah!" He yelped in shock as the dagger vanished.
The bandit holding Loki yelled in pain, shoving Loki about an arm's length away from himself but still holding Loki's arms.
They stared in shock at the dagger, once more in Loki's hand.
The bandit not holding Loki frowned and grabbed the dagger from him. He turned around and held the knife at Loki's throat again—halting Toothless' approach, now only a couple leaps away.
The bandit holding Loki didn't draw him in close however, content to hold him at a distance.
Loki smirked. He flexed and closed his right hand.
The bandit didn't yelp this time but still jolted at its unnaturalness.
Toothless paused then sat down, watching their…interaction.
The free bandit took the dagger from Loki, again, turned to check on Toothless—praying to the gods it didn't get ahold of them—then jolting again as the dagger disappeared.
The process repeated twice more, Toothless watching in amusement as the bandit holding Loki grew more and more nervous while the other one tried in vain to use Loki's dagger against Hiccup-Loki.
Loki fixed Toothless with an exasperated stare. "You could help any time now, I'm sure Thor's on his way."
At the mention of he-who-shall-be-eaten-by-a-Snaptrapper, Toothless shot a plasma blast at the dagger offender—sending him crashing into the rocks. He groaned and didn't get up. Toothless fixed his gaze on the one still holding Loki.
The bandit saw him and moved Loki between them. "Easy dragon—I'm jus' doing my job."
Toothless charged a blast but didn't release it. He couldn't risk hitting Loki.
Said bandit smiled and backed away, Loki hopping backwards to follow.
"Excuse my good man." A familiar male voice stalled their exit.
"Would you mind releasing our brother?" A female voice asked.
"We'd like him back now."
Loki glanced back to see the twins hovering behind them, Barf leaking gas and Belch clicking sparks, threatening to ignite the cloud.
Astrid and Stormfly were next to them, she was livid and white-knuckling her axe, Stormfly's spikes up and poised. "I'm not gonna ask as nice as them. Give me back my boyfriend."
The bandit released Loki and he balanced on his leg before getting tackled by Toothless, the bandit running away with as much dignity as he left.
Loki stood and hopped over to Toothless' side and reached into the saddle bag and smiled as his hand grasped the wood of his prosthetic. "Finally."
Stormfly landed but Astrid didn't dismount, looking around instead. "Glad you're in one piece but, what happened to your leg?"
Hiccup rolled his eyes as he finished tying the knot around his stump. "Thor took it to try and keep me from escaping."
Tuffnut scoffed. "Well that seemed to have worked."
Ruffnut laughed.
"LOKI!"
Hiccup's eyes widened in fear as he swung himself onto Toothless. "Sky, NOW!"
Shouts erupted, Thor screaming at Loki in fury, and Toothless beat his wings furiously—Hiccup hugging him closely.
They broke through the clouds far above the island but Toothless didn't stop. Instead, he shot as fast as he could out to sea.
Hiccup looked back at Outcast Island, still large but growing rapidly smaller. "H-hey bud? We have to go back and help Snotlout, Alvin and everyone else out of that mess."
Toothless snorted, as if to say 'no we don't', but touched down on a sea stack well out of range of any bandits.
Hiccup dismounted and turned to Toothless who bumped his head into Hiccup's stomach. "Oh, I missed you too. Let's agree to never do that again, that sound good?"
Toothless cooed and licked Hiccup's hair, eliciting a cry and several choice words for said dragon. It didn't stop there though as Toothless proceeded to wash Hiccup, presumably from the smell of Outcast Island, though it was from Thor's as well.
Hiccup laughed and coughed between choking through globs of sticky dragon slobber.
A squawk interrupted Hiccup's impromptu bath, shortly followed by a light laugh.
Hiccup tried to curl up into a ball and shield his face. "Yeah, laugh it up. You don't understand this pain though."
Astrid bit her lip though she was still smiling. "Yeah, Stormfly's more bird than dog, thank Thor…wow, I feel really uncomfortable saying that now."
"It's uncomfortable for you to say?" Tuffnut asked. Barf and Belch landed beside them.
Ruffnut shuddered. "It's uncomfortable for us to hear."
Hiccup was still curled into a ball so his reply was muffled, but they all clearly heard it. "Odin, please—next time Loki comes, don't let Thor come with him—I don't think I could look him in the eye."
They all nodded with varying degrees of enthusiastic agreement.
Astrid slid off of Stormfly. "So what's the plan? Do you have any idea on what Thor's plans are?"
Hiccup shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. He seemed to just make stuff up as he went along—to become their leader maybe? I don't know. Whatever it is, I think they're just about done. Those bandits who grabbed me mentioned taking me to the docks."
Astrid nodded. "Do you think Alvin and Snotlout might be there too?"
Hiccup gripped his chin in thought. "It's likely—we overhead the bandit's leader telling Thor that they had instructions to dump any prisoners overboard."
Astrid frowned but Tuffnut asked. "So do we go in and blow the docks sky high?!"
"Yeah," Ruffnut grinned, "that would be awesome!"
Hiccup shook his head, smiling ruefully. "No, I'd like to try and keep the collateral damage down for the Outcasts."
They pouted while Astrid shook her head. "So…?"
Hiccup turned and mounted Toothless. "Let's head back to the Outcast's encampment, I'd rather be there and have some knowhow of what's going on then try and plan it all without knowing what's happening. Speaking of, what happened while I was escaping? Heard some pretty big explosions."
*O*
Thor was fuming. Loki had managed to escape—single leggedly!—while all the bandits could do was watch on as he and that devil flew off.
The bandits who had almost brought Loki to him stood off to the side, stiff as boards to not show their trembling terror. Thor had very nearly taken off the head of the man that had released Loki and ran.
Thor paced, hands behind his back, and glared at the ground.
The-former-bandit leader rolled his eyes and approached Thor. "Is it really that bad? We have both the Outcasts' leader and the Dragon Rider. They'll be easy enough to use as shields and the Riders wouldn't dare attack."
Thor's head snapped up to meet the former-bandit leader's gaze. "Loki single handedly brought the fall of the Dragon Hunters as well as escaped—just now—with one leg, avoiding all of your men who are supposed to be professionals. And you think that he won't attack? Won't bring down your operation as well? You are a fool if you think that a few hostages will keep him at bay.
"The only assurance we had of him not causing mayhem of this operation was either while he was at my side or in your prison—and we know how well both of those worked."
The former-bandit leader looked annoyed but didn't respond.
Thor's face brightened a bit and said, "change of plans for the ransom."
"We're forgetting it and leaving now before we lose everything?" The former-bandit leader asked, relieved.
Thor glared at him. "No, we will have Loki deliver it," he smiled, "and ambush the Dragon Riders."
*O*
The dragons and Riders landed back at the encampment. Their welcome was an odd combination of cheers and questions as to where Alvin was or what was happening.
Hiccup and the others dismounted and tried to talk to the crowd but their temporary leader walked up to them and claimed their attention. "They've demanded another ransom."
Hiccup nodded. "I figured, I have an idea on how-"
"You're to deliver it." He cut Hiccup off, worried about what this could mean for the rescue.
Hiccup blinked in surprise but Astrid frowned. "No, absolutely not. Hiccup, you know that's a trap."
The Outcast glared at her. "They'll kill Alvin if he doesn't."
"So we just hand Hiccup over to them?!"
Hiccup gently grabbed her hand. "It's okay Astrid, I just need a minute to think."
Everyone was silent for several moments as Hiccup thought.
He looked up and scratched Toothless' ear. "Okay, I think my original plan will still work, just with some modifications.
"Ruff, Tuff—you guys head down to the docks and rescue Snotlout. If he's not there, or even if he is, blow the ships with the ransom sky high. Then bring him to the ransom drop, we need to snap Fishlegs out of this."
They grinned and Tuffnut saluted him. "Your wish-"
"-Is our delight to execute." Ruffnut finished, face darkened with glee at the promise of destruction.
They took off for the docks and Hiccup turned to Astrid.
"You, Stormfly and Toothless will hang back—see if you can spot any bandits on the cliffs. When I give the signal, take them out. Hookfang and Meatlug will stay on the ground, just around the corner so they're out of sight."
Astrid nodded but still didn't look happy. "Try not to get kidnapped again?"
Hiccup chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I'll keep getting kidnapped at the top of my 'do not do' list."
She smiled and turned to mount Toothless. "Good."
Toothless, however, didn't budge—only looked at Hiccup flatly.
Hiccup rubbed his snout and said, coaxingly, "come on bud. I'm not asking you to stay behind, you just… won't be right next to me."
Toothless snorted and shook his head, standing and moving into Hiccup's personal space—staring him in the eyes challengingly.
Hiccup sighed, hand sliding down his face and glanced at Astrid. "Astrid, do you-"
She smiled. "Stormfly and I got this." She turned to Toothless. "You make sure Thor doesn't get him again."
Toothless gave her a 'what do you think I'm doing?' look.
Hiccup turned to the temporary leader of the Outcasts. "Is the fish ready?"
He nodded and gestured for Hiccup to follow.
Hiccup pushed the cart full of freshly caught Ice Tail Pike through the same valley as…earlier that day? Has it really only been a day? He shook his head and rounded the corner.
Toothless growled lowly, head whipping around or eyes gazing at different outcroppings—where bandits were hiding if Hiccup had to guess.
They turned the corner and saw Thor standing there, smug as ever, with several bandits and Alvin—Snotlout was nowhere to be seen.
Hiccup stopped several yards away. "Here's your ransom, now release Alvin!"
Thor frowned and looked around. "Where's the rest of your Dragon Riders? I didn't think they'd abandon you."
Hiccup said nothing, only glared at Thor.
Thor laughed briskly. "No, you have something else planned—ambushing us possibly? It would be in vain, brother. You are far outnumbered."
Loki shrugged. "Maybe, but that's never stopped us from trying before."
Thor laughed fully now. "We shall discuss it more later. For now, bring the fish and you can have Alvin."
Loki crossed his arms and stepped back from the fish, Toothless following—wrapped around him almost like the portraits Jormungandr encircling the world. "You know what, I think I'm good. I'll leave the fish here and you can send Alvin over—he has two working legs."
Loki smirked at Thor and his face soured. "Deliver the ransom fully, Loki, or else we can end this entirely."
Loki frowned and turned back to the cart. Once he was mostly hidden by the fish he whispered to Toothless. "Fire at the bandit holding Alvin on my mark."
Toothless snorted and Loki grabbed the handles and pushed the cart forwards. They walked a few yards closer before he hissed, "Now!" and shoved the cart at the bandits, or more precisely, Thor.
Toothless shot the bandit closest to Alvin and he shouldered the other as he stood.
From the cliff, explosions—one after the other—and shouts of terror echoed down into the valley. And from around the bend, Hookfang and Meatlug flew into the frenzy—firing at the collection of bandits, scattering them.
Loki turned to mount Toothless but had to duck back down as a volley of arrows sailed towards him. Toothless shot at the rocks above the arches and they screamed and scattered as rocks started falling on them.
Several bandits charged the pair, hoping to apprehend Loki while he was distracted with the archers. Loki, however, was not and grunted as he pulled his shield from the saddle, blocking a sword while Toothless swatted the bandit away with his tail a second later.
A war cry ran towards them and Toothless matched it's furry, leaping over Loki and firing a low powered plasma blast at Thor. Thor dodged it—an unlucky bandit behind him did not—and swung his sword at Toothless. Toothless reared back and evaded it easily, flapping his wings to make himself bigger and swatted at him with a claw. Thor caught it with the sword but missed the tail swipe his feet.
Their fight continued and Loki ran towards the bandit hoard, dodging a few grasping hands or swinging weapons.
Alvin kicked a bandit in the stomach then ducked under an axe of another and shouldered him in the chest. He glanced to the side and saw Loki running towards him and he grinned. "'Iccup! Took yer sweet time getting' back."
Hiccup smiled which faltered a second later. "Duck!"
Confused but figuring Hiccup had his reason, he did so.
Hiccup threw his dagger, it flipped end over end until just past Alvin where the hilt connected with the front of a bandit's helmet.
Alvin blinked, shocked as the bandit stumbled backwards—nearly falling over—dazed. The dagger clattered to the ground where it disappeared in a flash of green mist. He stood and staggered a step back and eyed the spot that the dagger vanished from, touched with fright—though he would deny it to anyone who asked.
Hiccup was at his side in a second with the same dagger, slicing his bonds.
Alvin rolled his wrists then grabbed a fallen axe. He turned to Hiccup, apprehensive. "Wha' 'ave ya been up ta since our treaty? Wha' witchery is this?"
Hiccup smirked and twirled the dagger before he ducked behind his shield, blocking a blow from a bandit and allowing Alvin to finish him. "Fishlegs called me Loki, right? Only right if I act the part."
Alvin looked at Hiccup warily, glancing at his dagger before pointing at it with his axe—then promptly swinging it at an oncoming bandit. "Tha' thing ain't normal—it ain't even natural. Nothin' shou' do tha'."
Hiccup chuckled and took several steps back as a bandit ran at him, yelling.
Amidst the screaming, shouting and yelling—twin, whooping, gleeful shrieks added to the craze. A cloud of green descended around them, separating Alvin and Hiccup from the bandits, then transformed into a wall of yellow and white hot flames.
Hiccup smiled up at them and saw Snotlout behind Tuffnut, pumping a fist into the air.
Thor and Toothless were still at each other's throats—though with varying thirsts for blood. Thor punched Toothless on the nose, hard, and turned to grab Loki. His face darkened as he thought about his brother's betrayal, though he'd expected nothing less, it still twisted his anger into fury.
I need to get Loki away from the influence of these Dragon Riders, they're poisoning his mind. Friendship, HA! What a ridiculous idea.
Toothless roared and pounced on Thor, who rolled and elbowed Toothless in the neck, smoothly moving to pinch the dragon's neck and knock him out.
Toothless saw Thor's movement and hissed, shooting him again in the chest—unwittingly pushing him closer to Loki.
Thor smiled, turned and charged at Loki and Alvin.
A green mist was spewed into his path then lit up. Cheers and cackles followed the explosion.
Thor spared a quick glare at Loki's annoying followers but didn't break pace. He jumped and tucked over the flaming wall, the flames licking at his leather tunic, and landed next to Loki and Alvin.
Alvin turned when something heavy hit the rock beside him but didn't have time to process who it could be before they punched him in the jaw—sending him to the ground, head spinning.
Loki's eyes widened as Alvin fell and brought his shield to bear.
Thor approached him, eyes hard and feet hitting the ground with solid thumps.
Loki gripped his shield, heart skipping a beat in fear and took a step back. He glanced behind him but the twins had inadvertently trapped him and Alvin between the flames and valley wall. "Thor, we don't-"
"I think we do, brother. It's time we leave, both this island and those pathetic Riders." He smiled and offered a hand. "This isn't you, Loki—I can give you what you truly want."
Loki's brows creased in confusion. "And what's that?"
Thor darted forward, still grinning. "Come with me and I'll show you."
Loki dodged, ducking under the outstretched hand and slamming his shield onto Thor's back.
Unfortunately, Thor knew what Loki was attempting to do. Thor grabbed Loki's arm and used his momentum to throw Loki over his back.
Loki yelped and hit the ground, hard. He coughed as air slammed out of his lungs.
Thor smirked and used his grip on Loki's arm to pull him up then twisted it behind Loki's back. Then, he placed his sword at Loki's chest. "Now, I believe you are coming with me."
Loki grabbed at the hand with the sword, eyes scanning the skies for help.
The twins with Barf and Belch arced around again after taking out a couple more retreating bandits and glared at Thor.
Loki locked eyes with Snotlout and shouted, squirming in Thor's grasp. "Snotlout! Do it, do it now!"
Thor jerked Loki towards the flames and Loki could feel the sweat beading on his forehead from the heat…even though they weren't especially close yet.
"Whatever your plan is Loki, it will fail."
Snotlout jumped from Belch, nervous but confident. "I don't think so. Sorry Thor."
He looked physically pained as he spread his hands to clap and Thor snarled, confused and dragged Loki to the flames.
Three quick and consecutive claps rang throughout the valley.
Thor stopped suddenly and Loki stopped with him. He blinked and looked at Snotlout then Alvin, who was rubbing his jaw as he picked himself up off the ground, and finally at Loki.
"Wh-what happened…oh Thor."
Loki was still gripping the hand holding the sword over his chest and looked back as best he could. "F-Fishlegs?"
"Hiccup! Oh my Thor, I'm so sorry!"
Hiccup shoved the hand away and stumbled back, breathing heavily. He eyed the flames oddly, wiping sweat from his forehead, confused. Sure the flames were hot but the forge was frequently hotter—it felt like he'd been in the forge all day hammering out Gronkle Iron. His stomach churned a bit as well, though he attributed that to nerves.
Hiccup smiled at him and rubbed his arm. "I'd be grateful if you didn't mention Thor for a while."
Fishlegs smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I think that goes for both of us. I'm sorry Hiccup, you were right, I really don't know him…"
Hiccup patted his arm. "None of us knew him, not that version of him anyway."
The twins landed and cheered, Tuffnut saying, "sa-u-weet! No mentioning you know who for a week!"
Ruffnut grinned. "Why just a week? Why not a month, or a whole year!?"
Snotlout frowned. "Okay now, hold on. Let's not get too carried away."
Alvin grunted and crossed his arms. "Speakin' of getting' carried away. I gotta bone ta pick with ya." He glanced at Fishlegs before glaring at Snotlout. "Both of ya, really."
Hiccup intervened, glaring at Snotlout who chuckled nervously and glancing at Fishlegs. "Oh we'll be having a nice, long discussion about all of this. Don't worry about that."
A strong wind blew by them, beating out the flames, to reveal Astrid and the other dragons landing.
"Hiccup?" She asked, looking at Fishlegs.
Hiccup smiled. "He's good."
She sighed, relieved. The nightmare was finally over.
Fishlegs squealed and ran over to Meatlug, Meatlug meeting him halfway. "Oh, I'm so sorry girl. At least I didn't forget about you like last time." Meatlug whined, happy he was back. "I promise, it won't be happening ever again."
Astrid spoke up. "We did a fly-by over the island. The Outcasts have rounded up the bandits and are taking them to the prisons. It doesn't look like any ships are missing, besides the few the twins sank."
They grinned and high-fived each other.
Astrid continued. "But you'll want to check on that."
Alvin nodded.
A couple hours later and they accounted for all the bandits but one with the same going for the ships. Hiccup and Toothless went out searching along with Astrid and Stormfly but they couldn't find it, or the bandit's leader.
They met back up in the prisons and found Alvin glaring at the bandits in the cells. Fishlegs and Hiccup walked up to Alvin looking at some of the bandits. "I remember trying to get some information about who they worked for, but they were tight-lipped."
Alvin chuckled. "Oh, don't ya worry. They will. I have a few old school techniques I'd love ta dust off tha' will pry those lips apart in no time."
Hiccup shuddered and frowned at the bandits, feeling a little sympathy for them. He glanced around, Fishlegs and Snotlout began talking about something dealing with his time as Thor Bonecrusher, and saw Astrid. She was sitting on a crate glaring at the wall in thought. He walked over, concerned. "What's up?"
She looked up, frowning. "Well, the question still remains, Hiccup. What did the bandits want with these fish?"
Hiccup frowned. "They said that they were pretty valuable but… Well, I think gold is still more—and definitely easier to transport."
Astrid looked back at a wagon still full of fish. "Could it be Dragon Hunters? I mean, even though Viggo and Ryker are gone, they could still be functioning—in some capacity."
Hiccup's frown deepened in concern and thought. "I don't know, yet." He paused. "But maybe the Dragon Eye knows."
Though all his men were captured, the bandit's leader managed to get away amidst the chaos and confusion. Hefinally docked at the Dragon Hunter's island after two days of hard sailing.
A man with a red tunic and purple cape met him on the docks, a deep frown on his face. "Is this it? I don't see, or smell, any fish."
The bandit leader wrung his hands nervously. "There was a...set-back Krogan, sir."
"A set back?" Krogan tilted his head to the side, curious. "What kind of... set back?"
"Thor Bonecrusher and, more specifically, Loki. Sir."
"Thor and Loki? Here?" He chuckled lightly though its intonation was dark. "You expect me to believe the gods were here?"
The bandit leader stepped off the boat and followed Krogan as he began walking away. "Yes sir. There were, things that only Loki could have done. It was unnatural, magical."
Krogan snorted. "And what exactly happened?"
The bandit leader gave him a brief recapitulation as they walked through camp, heading towards the center of the island. They neared a larger, more ornate tent as he quickly wrapped up his report. He chuckled nervously—the tale still sounding impossible even to him. "So, you see, Krogan, sir, it was impossible to have seen what was coming."
Krogan rolled his eyes, nose upturning a bit—disgusted at the man's failure, no matter what might have happened. "Impossible, you say? And what say you?"
He looked up into the tent towards the current resident who was masked in shadows.
The bandit leader gasped as Viggo came into the light, face heavily scarred and disfigured.
Viggo frowned, looking at a map. "There will be a setback. The Ice Tail Pike are essential to our training program." He looked up from the map. "Tell me, was it really Loki? Loki Odinson?"
The man trembled and Krogan sighed, fighting the urge to roll his eyes once again. "Of course it wasn't. This man is making it up in an attempt to save his skin."
Viggo glared at Krogan. "I will be the judge of that."
"What is your interest in him to begin with? Even Thor himself could not stand in the way of our operations, we've both made sure of that."
Viggo's eyes hardened. "My fascination is that I have a death warrant on my head now, from him."
Krogan did roll his eyes. "Yes, yes, because you messed with his 'chosen'. I never thought you'd be one to stoop down to superstition, Viggo."
Viggo straightened, hands clasped behind his back. "We'll see how much you think they are superstition when he comes breathing down your neck—literally." He turned to look at the man again. "Now, tell me exactly what he looked like and what he did that was so unnatural."
The man stammered out a description of his appearance. "He looked a lot like the Rider's leader, I thought. But Thor Bonecrusher said otherwise. But his abilities. I saw him make his dagger disappear in a green mist then reappear in hand."
Viggo frowned, scoffing. "That's because it was the Rider's leader, Hiccup." He sighed in relief. "He isn't back yet, so we still have time. How is the search going? I thought the men should have been back yesterday?" He asked, though it really wasn't a question.
Krogan answered flatly, somewhat irritated at Viggo. "I'll have words with them when they return. Though I don't see what's so important about it."
Viggo looked at him hard for a second before looking back down at the map again. "I suppose you wouldn't. But, I personally would like some assurance for whenever he returns." He looked Krogan in the eyes. "And he will return."
Krogan scoffed and turned to look at the bandit leader, who was starting to cave-in on himself. "Have any suggestions for this one?"
Viggo glanced at him before turning and rifling through a few books. "Failures have no place in my army. The bar of success must remain at its highest. I'd throw him down a Whispering Death hole." He smirked. "But, that's just me."
The bandit leader started to tremble and Krogan placed a hand on his shoulder, saying comfortingly, "relax. There will be no Whispering Death hole for you."
He breathed a breath of relief.
"If I did that, I wouldn't get to see you suffer." Krogan grinned and the man paled. "Then that would take all the fun out of it."
He clapped and two guards appeared to take the man away. He started pleading, desperate, though he knew it fell on deaf ears. "No! Come on. No! No, no!"
Krogan turned to Viggo. "Now, Viggo, how do you plan to retrieve the Dragon Eye? Your plan didn't work out so well last time."
Viggo turned to glance at Krogan. "I was just assessing that myself. I have some…thoughts."
Hiccup walked into his hut, still tired from the Bonecrusher incident two days prior. He and Toothless finished night patrol and he wanted to get a few ideas down for his project before he forgot them.
Some time later the twins ran in, beaming. "Hiccup! We have some ideas we want to run by you!"
They stopped and shivered, rubbing their arms. Ruffnut chattered, looking at Hiccup who was sitting at his desk calmly. "It's f-freezing in here."
Tuffnut hugged his sister's arm, trying to get what little warmth from it that he could. "D-didn't you start a fire you got back? Don't you see the frost outside?! Good Thor, put a cloak on, my good man!"
Hiccup blinked at them then glanced outside. "Hu, I guess I really didn't notice that…I was a bit distracted. I had some ideas for the project I'm working on—didn't want them to slip away." He turned to Toothless who was curled into a ball by the table. "Hey bud, could you…?"
Toothless lifted his head and shot a small blast into the fire pit, the twins flocking to it.
Ruffnut frowned after a second as she realized Hiccup wasn't joining them. She walked over and grabbed his arm, dragging him to the fire.
Hiccup smiled and set down his pencil, allowing her to drag him along. He stopped, however, at the edge of the more intense circle of heat that the fire produced—feeling slightly nauseous.
Ruffnut frowned. "Are you okay Hiccup?"
Tuffnut turned around and scrutinized Hiccup. "You do look a bit pale, even for you—and you've always looked pale."
Hiccup frowned and stepped away from the heat. "I don't know." He paused for a second, unsure. "I felt like this back on Outcast Island, just before Snotlout woke up Fishlegs."
Tuffnut brightened and Ruffnut nodded, pointing at him. "Yeah, you two were right by the flaming wall."
Hiccup nodded. "Felt the same then. I thought it was strange 'cause I'm used to the heat of the forge and it's way worse than that, or this. Maybe I'm getting sick with something…"
They all frowned at that idea and Tuffnut pointed up to the loft. "Alright, no more drawing, planning or plotting, mister. Up to bed with you. Hey sis, have Fishlegs make some of his awesome," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "chicken stew, it's great for when you're feeling sick."
Ruffnut grinned, flashing him a thumbs-up. "No problem, and I can get him some tried and true Thorston family medicine."
Hiccup really paled. "Guys, I'm really not that sick!"
"Ah-ah!" Tuffnut waggled a finger, shoving Hiccup towards the loft. "No arguing from you! Up to bed! I gotta get some blankets for you, it's like you're made of ice." He rubbed his hands together after pushing Hiccup then turned to Toothless. "Make sure he gets into bed."
Hiccup glared at Toothless, arms crossed. "Don't you dare. I'm not that sick."
Toothless chuckled throatily and gave Hiccup a knowing look.
They held each other's gaze for several moments before Hiccup sighed, uncrossing his arms in defeat. "Fine, but just for today. There's too much that needs to be done and if I'm feeling the same or fine tomorrow you're not stopping me."
Toothless gurgled again, challenging Hiccup to keep that promise.
Welp, that's a wrap for this segment.
I have a question for y'all. I've had a couple people, for other stories, ask me to illustrate scenes or characters occasionally. Would you all be interested in something like that?
Well, anyway, have a great day!