"So the Dragon Hunters captured Hiccup Haddock, drugged him into obedience, and then ordered him to attack you?" summarized Mala, sitting at a table in their Great Hall with her hands folded into one another. Puzzlement was left unmasked on her face, although everyone sitting around her could relate to the struggle.

"'Attack' is being kind," corrected Fishlegs, holding up his index matter-of-factly. "More like 'trying to wipe us all out using Astrid's ballista'."

"Don't forget when he almost strangled Heather," added Snotlout, his sentence growing louder as he said it.

"And used his sweet voice to try and tear us all up from the inside," pointed out Tuffnut, standing next to Ruffnut who nodded her agreement, no smile on her lips this time. Both twins wore concerned looks. "Metaphorically speaking, of course."

"Although, literally could've been an interesting alternative," said Ruffnut, crossing her arms over her chest and turning to her brother.

"Yeah, except for all the bloo—"

Astrid met Tuffnut's gaze, a displeased look on her face that told him he'd better cut it off right there.

"Sorry," he apologized, holding up both hands guiltily. "Didn't mean to put that image in your heads."

Astrid sighed and shook her head, uncrossing her arms as she turned to Mala again, carrying on with their discussion regarding Hiccup and everything that had happened with the Dragon Hunters. They had shared as much as they could pull out of it. Any help was better than no help too. And as Defenders of the Wing, Astrid hoped they could offer some guidance and perhaps even some assistance.

"He's been under the effects for several days and we couldn't snap him out of it no matter what we tried," said Astrid, a pinch of a cry for help in her tone. "All that was left for us to do was wait for the venom to wear off. That's when the Dragon Flyers attacked. They must've known what Hiccup would be capable of causing under the venom's influence and decided to attack at our lowest point."

"Yes," agreed Mala, nodding slowly and meeting the young shieldmaiden's blazing blue gaze. "I wouldn't put it past Viggo Grimborn. He has always proved… resourceful."

"So what now?" asked Dagur, taking a step forward from where he rested against the stone wall of the Great Hall. "There's no tactical advantage to this invasion for those baddies. What could Krogan want with the Edge?"

"He wasn't after the Edge," clarified Heather, holding her palm up as if a miniature version of Dragon's Edge laid in her hand as visual support. "He was after Hiccup."

"But why?" asked Snotlout, leaning forward on the bench where he sat, widening his arms as if daring the answer to his question to come and face him. "Nothing about this makes sense."

"Not unless Viggo plans to stretch this operation further, and not only drive us off the Edge but our allies as well," said Astrid, realizing at the same time as the words exited her mouth. She received puzzled looks from her teammates and Astrid took a deep breath. "We've all seen what words can do. We've lived it." She looked at each and one of her friends individually. "And we all know the damage they can do. We're a team, we've always worked perfectly together. Our trust is what makes us strong. If Hiccup could tear us apart the way he did back there, how much worse do you think he can do to lose our allies' trust and alliance against Johann and his army of Flyers and Hunters?" She paused, blinking several times as countless of scenarios played in her mind. "That could mean the end. No dragon or Viking could ever be safe."

Silence filled the large room as everyone exchanged long looks of concern. They couldn't let this happen. They just couldn't. And they wouldn't.

"So what's our next move?" asked Heather, holding Astrid's gaze. Astrid could see the fire slowly returning in her friend's green irises and the confidence settling back in her core. "If the enemy has Hiccup, we can't let them turn him against us again."

"Well, we can't just fly in dragons blazing either," said Snotlout. "They'll be excepting us."

"Wow, way to point out the obvious," mocked Tuffnut, snorting.

"Hey!" complained Snotlout.

Astrid reached a hand to her chin thoughtfully, eyes darting right and left rapidly. She lit up, meeting Snotlout's gaze.

"Or will they?" she said, a small smile stretching on her lips.

"What do you mean?" asked Heather, coming to her side.

"The Flyers just hit us at our lowest point," explained Astrid, gesticulating quickly. "Our division is what made it easy for them to take the upper hand. I mean, we've seen how this battle went down. We're not all here for no reason. None of us were in harmony. And without Hiccup, we can easily be compared to a flock of wild Night Terrors without a leader. To them, we're divided."

"Well, aren't we?" asked Tuffnut, shrugging uncertainly.

"Yes," said Astrid, shoulders dropping at the reminder. They were far from ready to fly a perfect mission together, especially one as important as this one. "But we've flown hundreds of missions independently. Yes, we are stronger and more powerful together than alone, but we all still have our own strengths and set of skills that help us survive. We've learned to be independent of one another. But they don't know that. Those Dragon Hunters follow orders blindly and I bet Viggo believes we're the same type of soldiers. Well, in a way. But we're not. That's why they won't be expecting us. They don't think we have the spirit to do it."

Snotlout huffed. "That's a long shot."

"It's better than nothing," argued Astrid, frowning down at him. "It's only a matter of time before Viggo moves out again. We need to strike now if we want to hurt him."

Heather put her hand on Astrid's shoulder blade, bringing her friend's attention on her. "You're sure about this?" she asked, doubt painting her face but still showing a smile that she trusted her best friend's judgment no matter what.

Astrid dropped her gaze for a moment, considering everything that was at risk and scanning the list of possibilities this idea might indeed go south. She had nothing to base her facts on, only her hopes. But she raised her gaze again and met Heather's, returning her smile.

"I follow my gut."