The Skrill emerged through the clouds, lightning illuminating the sky. It shot a blast of concentrated lightning at Hiccup and Toothless. The lightning was so bright, I had to look away for a few seconds. I saw Toothless dive towards the water, avoiding the blast. I continued to follow the Skrill as it followed Hiccup and Toothless. The Skrill kept shooting at them as Hiccup and Toothless swerved and did barrel rolls. I wanted to step in, but stayed back. Hiccup and Toothless reached sea stacks for cover, but the Skrill was still shooting at them. I decided to help, and while I was still invisible, I rammed into the Skrill, throwing it into a sea stack and allowing Hiccup and Toothless to pull ahead. The Skrill shook the disorientation from his head and looked menacingly at the empty sky. He made eye contact with me, and I got ready to run. He narrowed his eyes, and looked away. I don't think he saw me. I continued to follow him.
The glacier came into view as I chased the Skrill that chased Hiccup and Toothless. Toothless dived into the cave, hoping the Skrill would follow. It stopped at the entrance and looked around. It spotted the rest of the riders on top of the glacier. Oh no. it knows, I thought. Still as a Changewing, I dove into the cave after Hiccup and Toothless. I found them circling the caverns underground. I nearly ran into them but Toothless stopped.
"Hiccup! It's a trap!" I yelled.
"I know! It's our trap." He said.
"No, the Skrill didn't fall for it! We have to get out of here!" I yelled as the cavern shook.
"Well this isn't good." Hiccup said, turning Toothless around towards the exit. I reached the first exit as a Night Fury, but it collapsed as I got there.
"Try the other one!" Hiccup yelled. He turned around and I followed him as the cavern shook again. I saw the Skrill near the exit as Hiccup and Toothless barrel rolled to escape. I followed closely behind them, but the Skrill shot the exit and it collapsed, leaving me trapped in a freezing cave of ice, illuminated blue by the light trying to get into the cave through the ice. I heard more yelling and blasts from outside. I shifted back into myself and cupped my hand over my mouth. I looked up at the ice boulders that blocked my exit. Another boom shook the cavern, and I figured they weren't doing so great out there. I shifted into a Whispering Death and tunneled my way out, just in time to see the Skrill charging Snotlout and Spitelout. I charged ahead, shooting rings of fire into the Skrill's face.
"That's for trapping me in an ice tunnel." I said. The Skrill turned away, allowing me to shift into a Night Fury. Hiccup and Toothless caught up to me as the Skrill chased us.
"You're falling behind!" Hiccup said jokingly.
"Sorry, brain freeze." I said, flying faster. A lightning blast flew right in between us.
"Okay, new plan." Hiccup said. I glanced at him. "I don't have one, yet, uh, for now, we just need to find safe cover. And I know exactly where that is! Head north!" Hiccup said as they turned to the left. I followed, dodging lightning as we headed towards a shipyard.
"Argh!" I exclaimed as a lightning blast flew directly over my head. Another followed, barely missing Hiccup and Toothless. I looked back as the Skrill, and noticed Toothless's tail on fire.
"Uh Hiccup, we might need to find a place to land!" I said to him.
"Toothless! Hold on! Hold on!" Hiccup yelled as they lost altitude quickly. They crashed onto an old Dragon Hunter ship. I landed near them and shifted back into myself.
"Alright well, that could've hurt more, I suppose, but only slightly." Hiccup said standing up.
"We've gotta get out of here. Do you have a spare?" I said walking towards them, pulling out my sword.
"Yeah. Let's have a look at that tail." He said to Toothless. Toothless moved his tail to his side. The metal rods were bent and the paper was completely gone. "Ok, yeah I'll get the spare." He checked the saddle bag. "Oh. Apparently that was the spare."
"Well, at least we lost the Skrill." I said. As if on cue, lightning rained from the sky, hitting all over the deck.
"He's trying to flush us out!" Hiccup said. "Let's see if we can find something to fix that tail." Hiccup ran over towards a barrel as more lightning rained down from the sky. I began to climb the mast to see if I could get some sail material. Lightning continued to strike, and the mast fell over. I was only about halfway up, so I just let go and landed back on the deck.
"Toothless look out!" Hiccup shouted as the mast nearly hit them. He pulled Toothless away as it landed. I ran over.
"Are you guys ok?" I asked when I spotted the sail hanging over the side. Hiccup looked at me and I pointed towards the sail.
"Well thank you Dragon Hunters." Hiccup said. I grabbed some sail and gave it to Hiccup. He started applying it to Toothless's tail.
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Toothless held up his tail to see the Dragon Hunters symbol on his replacement. He glared at me.
I scratched the back of my neck. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get that part."
"This should get us up in the air. How are we gonna take out that Skrill." Hiccup thought. I also began to think of some ideas. "Then again, maybe we don't have to," Hiccup said. I looked at him, wanting him to elaborate. "I bet those Dragon Hunters would love to see this guy in action." He said. A lightning blast hit near us.
"Alright. Let's get that Skrill to follow us." I said. Hiccup, Toothless and I flew away, the Skrill close behind.
"Wow he just doesn't give up!" I said.
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We dodged lightning left and right, finally seeing the Dragon Hunter ship.
"Alright just stay low, and they won't see us bud." Hiccup said to Toothless as we approached the ship. Hiccup looked over and nodded at me.
I nodded back and shifted into a changewing to be safe. "Yeah. not with that light show going on up there."
We continued to fly below the ship and hunters above clamored to be ready for the Skrill.
"This is it bud." Hiccup said. He and Toothless flew up past the ship, knocking over Dagur. I followed him, invisible. No arrows were shot in our direction, as all the hunters focused on the Skrill. I secretly flew up towards the Skrill, and shifted into a Skrill. The dragon stopped and looked at me. I looked back, and dived towards the hunter ship.
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"Wa-was that Hiccup? Why would he lead a Skrill right to us? It's not my birthday...Is it?" said Dagur from the ship.
Hiccup waited in the sky as the archers fired at the Skrill. An arrow hit and it fell towards the ocean, shooting lightning as he went. The Skrill crashed into the water and the hunter ship stopped abruptly.
"Ok sounds like the Hunters fell for it. Now let's go get him out of the water before they get there." Hiccup and Toothless dived towards the Hunter ship.
"Come on bud. If Dagur gets that dragon he'll be impossible to deal with. Now that he's a lot of fun anyway. The Hunter used a net shooting catapult to grab the Skrill out of the water. Hiccup and Toothless dove towards the rope with a sword out. The hunters shot the sword out of Hiccup's hands. And Toothless kept flying.
"Stay away from my Skrill, Hiccup!" Dagur shouted. "Hurry! Hurry! Bring him to me!"
More arrows were shot at Hiccup and Toothless as they flew away.
"Thanks for the gift hiccup! It will make an excellent weapon!" Dagur yelled.
"And if not, It's hide will fetch a hefty price!" Ryker shouted.
"What did I just do? I lead it right into their hands." Hiccup said. He and Toothless flew up towards Jackson, who was Still in the clouds.
"They got it. I couldn't stop them." Hiccup said. Jackson stared back, as a Skrill. "Jackson, what-?" Hiccup asked, but then looked at how the Skrill before him was staring at him and looking at the ship. Hiccup realized what had happened. "Oh, no!" He shouted. The dragon before him looked down at the ship, trying to think what that person had done for him.
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Hiccup and Toothless landed in front of the stables to see the rest of the Riders waiting for them.
"Hiccup! What happened?" Astrid asked.
"Where have you been? Where is Jackson?" Fishlegs asked.
"It's a long story." He said. "First things first, let's go into the stables to explain."
"What ab-" Tuff started but was interrupted by Hiccup.
"Tuff, just...go." He said. The Riders exchanged glances. They all gathered in the stables to hear Hiccup's story.
"You let the Dragon Hunters capture the Skrill, I mean, Jackson?" Astrid asked, confused.
"The plan was to let the Hunters take down the Skrill, so we could swoop in and grab it away. But they had this new net shooting catapult. Jackson had taken the Skrill's place, so they have him now." Hiccup said.
"We have to get him back." Fishlegs said.
"I agree. And Jackson is still pretending to be a Skrill." Hiccup said.
"So the hunters would probably be heading away from the storm because they think it's a real Skrill."
"And the storm was heading east, so we go west." Hiccup said.
"Exactly." Fishlegs said.
"Good thinking Fishlegs. There's a group of islands just west of where we were. Lots of secluded beaches and coves to hide in."
"Wait what happened to the Skrill?" Snotlout asked.
"It flew away." Hiccup said. "Right now, we need to get Jackson before the Hunters realize he's faking it."
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I stayed as a Skrill as the Hunters loaded me into a cage on their ship.
"I haven't seen you in forever! Are you excited! I know I am!" Dagur said through the bars. I snarled at him and turned around. Eventually, we reached land. The ship stopped, and several hunters carried me out of the ship and onto the island. I was put into water, about up to my ankles. I couldn't shoot lightning now, they must know that. I knew the Dragon Riders were probably on their way right now. I mean, probably. If not, I could just shift into a Fireworm and fly away. But this is a very rare opportunity I have, to be in the midst of the Dragon Hunters without them realizing it's me. I sat in the cage, my legs getting slightly cold from the water, until I heard faint shouts from the coast. Several hunters ran over to the noises. I saw Hookfang attack from the air and knew it was the Riders. Some Hunters near me went to help, while the other prepared for an attack. A sheet was draped over my cage by two Hunters. I waited and heard more sounds, including dragons approaching. The sheet was pulled from my cage to reveal Hiccup, and the rest of the Riders, except Snotlout.
"Jackson, is that you?" Hiccup whispered. I nodded, then growled at him. Hiccup nodded and continued to play his part.
"I know, you can't fire while you're in the water. Don't worry, we're here to help." He said. He began trying to unlock the cage. I saw Ryker, Dagur, and a lot of Hunters approach, so I growled a warning.
"All right pal, let's just keep it down or they'll hear us." Hiccup said.
"Oh, it's too late for that." Ryker said. Hunters aimed their bows at the Riders. A net was thrown onto Toothless, and the other dragons were surrounded by Hunters. Snotlout and Spitelout were brought in by two other Hunters.
"Told you he'd come back for my Skrill." Dagur said. "How could you, Hiccup? We've barely had time to get reacquainted." He leaned on my cage and chuckled evilly.
"Never mind that, Dagur. Just look at all the new dragons your friend has brought us. Cage 'em up. And muzzle the Night Fury." Ryker said. Hiccup was pushed back towards the Riders as Toothless was muzzled. Hiccup quickly ran towards Toothless, ducking under a sword from a Hunter and pushing the two in front of Toothless away.
"Toothless, the cage!" Hiccup shouted. Toothless ran towards the cage and pushed it from the back. It tilted, but didn't fall. He backed up and tried again, pushing the cage onto the shore. I used the lightning to free myself from the cage, now standing on top of it. I roared at the Hunters as lightning rained from the sky. I decided to have a little fun. I jumped off the cage and walked over towards Dagur. He slowly walked backwards, so did all the Hunters. I lowered my head to Dagur. He looked stunned for a few seconds, then started laughing. The Dragon Riders gasped.
"Well Hiccup, looks like my Skrill finally respects me." he said as he climbed onto my back. The Dragon Riders stared at me. "Up dragon!" Dagur shouted. I spread my wings, and looked up at Dagur.
"Hold on." I said to him.
"What the-?" Dagur started, but I took off into the sky, spinning and going in circles. Dagur shouted from my back and he struggled to hold on. I laughed to myself and landed back down in front of the Dragon Riders. Dagur fell off my back onto the sand.
"Jackson." Ryker said, spite in his voice. I shifted back into myself.
"Ryker, you wanna go next?" I asked. Hunters raised their bows towards me. "No no no, we are all going to leave. Or else I will turn back into a Skrill and blow this entire island to Valhalla." I said. Dagur and Ryker looked at each other.
"Oh, I don't think that will be happening." Ryker said. I pulled out my sword.
"I don't need to be a dragon to kill you." I said.
"No, but just in case…" He said, gesturing to a Hunter. The archer raised his bow and shot an arrow at me. I raised my wrists in front of my face and blocked the arrow, but instead of a normal arrow, it exploded blue powder in my face. I coughed it off and looked at Ryker.
"What the-cough-helheim was that?" I said through coughs.
"That was Viggo's idea. Refined Blue Oleander. To any other Dragon, it will just make them sneeze, or cough, but to you…" He gestured.
"Oh. Great." I said. I charged Ryker with my sword, and he pulled out his own. I swung overhead, and he blocked with one sword. He took his other and swung at my side. I pulled away and blocked. I stepped back and used my sword to block his attacks. I lunged at his stomach, and he blocked with one sword. I twisted my sword in my hands and disarmed his left hand by cutting his left hand.
"Argh!" He exclaimed, holding his hand. Several hunters aimed their bows at me. I sighed and put away my sword, holding my hands up. I was escorted back to the rest of the Riders.
"Now what?" Astrid asked.
"I don't know. I can't shift." I said. Suddenly, the clouds lit up with lightning. The Hunters looked up at the sky, confused.
"Jackson, is this you?" Fishlegs asked.
"Uh, nope." The lightning struck around the camp, and the Skrill flew down from the sky, landing in front of my old cage.
"Huh. Looks like the enemy of my enemy,"
"Might kill us all?" Astrid interrupted me.
"Yeah, but he might also save us." I said.
"Uh, what's it doing?" Dagur asked.
"You tell me, it's your dragon!" Ryker said. The Skrill attacked the camp, scrambling the Hunters' defenses. The Riders rushed to their dragons as the Skrill gave us an opportunity to leave. Spitelout picked up a Dragon Hunter bow and aimed it at the Skrill. It was too busy shooting the Hunters that hadn't run away yet to notice. He shot their arrow and hit the Skrill, knocking it out of the sky. He celebrated with several gibberish grunts.
"He's saying, 'Spitelout, Spitelout, oy, oy, oy." Snotlout translated.
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We arrived back at the icey island with the Skrill in a net.
"Okay Fishlegs, a little to the left. Now a little to the right. All right. That's it. Lower him in." Astrid guided Fishlegs as he was putting the Skrill back into the cavern. I watched as it was lowered into the cave.
"Wait! We can't do this." I said.
"Sure we can. We drop him in, and then, boom, we seal it closed." Snotlout said as his dad nodded behind him.
"What he means is, we shouldn't do this." Hiccup said. I looked over at him.
"Hiccup, the Skrill hunted you and Toothless. It wanted to kill you. It wanted to kill you." Astrid said.
"Guys, it saved us! It chose to follow us and saved us from the Hunters." I said.
"And it risked it's own life doing it. If we do this, we're no better than the Dragon Hunters. We're just using a different cage. And he doesn't deserve that." Hiccup said. Astrid and Fishlegs lowered the Skrill down and I took out my sword. I approached the dragon and cut the net, freeing him. The dragon spread his wings and roared, approaching me, staring into my eyes. I stared back, unflinching. Lightning was going in between his teeth, I wondered if they had metal in them. The dragon stopped the lightning and lowered its head, similar to the way I had done to Dagur. I did the same, the rest of the riders following soon after.
"Why are we lowering our heads? Oh, are we checking foreheads? Is there something on my forehead?" Tuffnut said.
The dragon turned towards the clouds and summoned lighting, disappearing in a blue flash. A single, small bolt came down and hit Spitelout in the head, leaving him smoking.
Astrid walked up to me. "So you knew he wouldn't turn on us if we let him go, huh?"
I turned back to her, putting my sword away. "Yeah...Why not."
"Well my dad says he's very proud of us, especially me. His favorite son." Snotlout said, crossing his arms. His dad was behind him, glaring at him.
"I didn't say that." Snotlout turned around quickly. "Dad, you got your voice back. That's great!" Snotlout said nervously.
"Is it? We'll see about that." Spitelout said. "We've got a lot to talk about boy-o." Everyone laughed as we started to head back.
As we flew away, I began to think about what happened today. The Dragon Hunters have increased their technology. They have new weaponry, including new refined Blue Oleander, which I will be calling Dragon Flower Arrows. Refined Blue Oleander Arrows is just too long. But still, now with those arrows, the Hunters can knock me out of the sky in battle. It took about five minutes for me to get my powers back, which in a battle would be terrible.
Hiccup flew up to me as we were flying back. "That was pretty cool, what you did for that dragon. You earned it's trust."
"Yeah." I said, returning to my thoughts.
"You ok?" He asked.
"Huh? What? Oh. Sorry, I'm fine. I just was thinking about those Dragon Flower Arrows they used on me."
"That's what you're calling them?"
"Yeah. I'm just nervous about what they mean for my usefulness."
"Jackson, you are a very valuable member of our tribe. Don't worry. We will figure out what to do later." He said. I nodded as we flew back to the base.