Hello folks and welcome to day 9 of Snoggletog. It's flying in, and I cannot believe it's only three more days until it's over! I'm going to miss it haha. This has inspired me and reminded me of how much I adore writing fanfiction, so perhaps from Christmas, updates will become more frequent.

Anyways, here is the next angst two-shot,or perhaps even three-shot (I haven't planned that far ahead with this story yet haha). Set just after 'Ice Trap! Parts 1 '

Enjoy!

.oOo.

"He's got the Dragon Eye, Astrid! And more importantly, he has the Snow Wraith. Thor knows what he'll do to that dragon! What he's already done to that dragon!" Hiccup threw his arms into the air, agin and exasperated. "We cannot just let him get away with this. I almost lost my life to him. I almost left you guys as his bait. With both the Snow Wraith and the Dragon Eye, he will have access to all Dragon knowledge known to mankind. And each and every one of us here now knows he will not use it for good. We need to hit him when he least expects it, and hard."

"But we tried that last time, and look where it got us! Hiccup, you emerged from that ice half dad with hypothermia and a severe lack of oxygen. We cant risk losing you or-"

"Losing me is a lot smaller when you consider that we could lose all dragons now Viggo has that knowledge."

"But Hiccup-"

"Astrid we are Vikings. It's an occupational hazard. And we have dragons. We love dragons! What on earth would we do without them?"

"I don't know. But it's similar. I love you, and don't know what I would do without you," She paused. "You don't need to be heroic all of the time. We need to think this through, strategically and not rush head-first into things or one of us is going to get killed."

"I'm not trying to be heroic. But if we don't do something fast, there will be no more dragons."

"I know. But similarly, all of us will be dead if we make the wrong move," Hiccup sucked in his breath sharply, and Astrid placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Sleep on it. We'll decide in the morning, and whatever we decide to do, we do it then."

Astrid then drew Hiccup into a hug, and she felt a tear of his drip onto her armour. Over his shoulder, she watched as the fire crackled, emitting warmth which was now transferring through one another. Dreading going back out into the cold, she knew it had to be done and so she drew away, still holding Hiccup's head in her hand though.

"Everything is going to be okay, okay?" Hiccup nodded, and began walking towards the door of the clubhouse.

"Night m'lady," Hiccup nodded curtly at her, and began the stroll from the clubhouse to his hut. Toothless would be waiting there, probably already sound asleep on his slab.

Except it wasn't really a stroll, as he found every inch of his body tense and uptight, and his mind was whirring, so he was unable to take in the Snowy Snoggletog conditions around him.

It had been Snoggletog the day prior, so the Edge was still dolled up for the festivities. He regretted not being able to enjoy them this year, as Snoggletog was a time for family, friends and fun, and not one of those things was celebrated. He'd almost died, for Thor's sake! And then he had spent the rest of the night planning and recovering from the incidents which had unfolded.

He could just remember the water surrounding him, threatening to swallow him whole, the cold overtaking his body, his consciousness finally leaving him. His thoughts then very well could have been his final thoughts and he shuddered at the memory. No matter how bad the situation was with Viggo, he had to stay alive.

But he also had to keep the dragons alive. And if he was forced to choose, what would be more important?

Hiccup threw open the doors to his hut, and Toothless growled at the unknown intruder, before throwing Hiccup a look of tired confusion when he realised it was him.

Istead of going to bed, to sleep, or at least staying up to draw or write a plan like Astrid assumed he would, Hiccup immediately sprung into action, throwing weapons, armour, food and flasks of water into Toothless' saddlebag before he sprung up towards his Nightfury and began getting him kitted out in armour and all saddled up.

"We're leaving, Bud," Toothless warbled at him in apprehension. "I know it's reckless, and the plan would be far better executed if Astrid and the others were on-board, but there is no time. We need to leave. Now. Otherwise this nightmare will never end.

He steeped out of the wooden shack he stayed in and did a panorama with his eyes of the island. The fire in the clubhouse was already dying down, and with no one there to stoke it, the flames collapsed as suddenly as they had risen. The snow around him was only marked by the footprints of man and rider, and there was no slush in sight, every inch of it crisp and white.

Nervously, he mounted the dragon and attempted to hold down the nerves building in his stomach. They could do this. They had to do this. The fate of their dragons depended on it. The fate of everything depended on it.

And with that, they took off, flying into the abyss which was the dark night sky above them.

.oOo.

Astrid was ready for a fight, or a strong deliberation at the least. She understood Hiccup's views on the situation with Viggo, but she wholeheartedly disagreed that they should rush in to steal both the Dragon Eye AND the Snow Wraith without a set plan.

The rest of the riders had agreed to meet her in the clubhouse at first sunlight, and she knew Hiccup would be up at the crack of dawn, head swarmed with ideas anyway.

"So, may I ask why we are all here?" Fishlegs questioned, rubbing his eyes.

"We need to agree on a plan to take down Viggo and his men, and quickly.

"Okay, so what are our options? Dive head-first into danger like we usually do or sentence ourselves to an inevitable death by falling right into Viggo's hands?" Snotlout complained, now joining them, taking his place on one of the stools and helping himself to a mutton chop, despite the fact that it was the early hours of the morning.

"No, no, my dear friend, Snotlout. I do believe-"

"We do believe."

"Yes, yes my fine sister, I apologise. We do believe that this time Hiccup will have a true plan which will help us defeat his sworn enemy-"

"Our sworn enemy."

"But is he really though? It's Hiccup he usually has the deal-io with..."

"Enough you two!" Astrid was developing frustration at the twins jokey mood towards it all. "Let's talk strategy. Hiccup?" She glanced around her, noticing he hadn't joined them, like she assumed he would have. "Has anyone seen Hiccup?"

Every member of the group shook their heads, and Fishlegs cowered backwards anxiously.

"You don't think he's gone after Viggo without us, do you?"

"No, Fishlegs, don't panic. He's not that stupid. He's probably just overslept after all of the chaos which had been the past few days." Even as she spoke those words of comfort, there was doubts in her mind. "I'll go get him. Put everyone's minds to rest."

As she clambered down the steps, and broke out into a light jog towards his still hut, she couldn't help but ask herself questions and consider every 'what if'.

What if Viggo and his men have taken him?

What if he went willingly?

What if they are torturing him?

What if they have killed him?

She shook her head in attempts to clear the thoughts.

He'll be in his hut, having just lost track of time doing his usual Hiccup-y stuff." She settled herself with this, and carefully opened the door.

"Hiccup?" She called inside, to no reply, so taking matters into her own hands, she entered.

His bed was made up, perfectly untouched as if no one had slept in it at all last night. Papers were scattered everywhere; all over his desk, on the floor, and even on Toothless' slab, where there was no sign of the dragon.

Various tails for Toothless were lying stray and everything was chaotic, something completely unlike Hiccup.

Rapidly, she searched around for any signs of her Dragon Boy, but after finding nothing, she hunted for a letter, a note. Just something to alert her of his whereabouts.

Nothing.

"Oh Hiccup. Where are you?"

All the questioning thoughts clouded her mind once again, and she ran from the hut, back out to where the others were waiting for her.

Because Hiccup was officially missing, and she couldn't help thinking that it was her fault.

.oOo.

"Just a little while longer, Bud." Hiccup lovingly scratched the underside of his dragon's chin as they continued on their journey.

They had been flying for hours, the sharp winters wind slowing down even the great wings of the Nightfury. Hiccup's already tousled hair was windswept and a look of determination and rage had settled on his face.

How dare Viggo take the Snow Wraith like that. Stealing the Dragon Eye is one thing, but taking such a magnificent dragon from the natural habitat just to bring it harm? It was the work of a monster. Except being a monster wasn't anything new to Viggo, and Hiccup assumed he must do thee whole 'capture and kill' thing on a daily basis, with his profession as a dragon hunter.

He had to get the Snow Wraith back. He had to get the Dragon Eye back. That's just the way it was.

"There! Down, Bud. Slowly..." When Hiccup finally spotted the island which Viggo and his men were hiding out on, the first thing he noticed was the weapons. Masses and masses of bolas, launchers, bows, and a vast array of close combat weapons too were all he could see as he watched the coast of the island carefully, in attempts to determine the best place to land. Tens of thousands of hunters patrolled the place, from the makeshift village to the abandoned areas of country no one was using. It was like an impenetrable fortress, which simply had to be penetrated. Hiccup just did not know if it was possible. Especially not alone.

Thor, he probably should have waited on Astrid and the others to give their opinions. He really did just rush into things, with no plan whatsoever.

But he was there now, so he vowed there was no turning back.

"Let's stop there, shall we?" Hiccup and Toothless swooped down to the one empty area of land he could see for miles, and the one-legged Viking rapidly dismounted, and scanned his surroundings, Inferno drawn and lit in caution.

Nothing.

It surprised him, just one possible area to land on the island, with no hunters patrolling it or standing guard. None of the intense weapons were even within his sight lines, never mind aimed at him, and his surroundings were completely clear.

Why would Viggo just leave one space on the island completely unprotected?

...Unless Hiccup had just flown into a trap.

"We've got to go," Hiccup spun around rapidly, and was prepared to run to his dragon, when a firm hand on his shoulder prevented him from doing so. He didn't even have to look to know who it was.

"Ah, Hiccup, so lovely to see you. We've actually been expecting you. Now, why such the rush to get away when you only just got here? In fact, I believe you should have prepared for a longer stay."

And before Hiccup had a chance to react, Viggo spun him around, forced him into a chokehold, covered his mouth and nose swiftly with a piece of cloth and everything went black.