It is Christmas time my dudes

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH

He was too much in a state of panic to think. He was too scared to reflect. All he could do was force his legs to carry his weight as he ran across the underground tunnels of Dragon Hunter Island, sensing the weakness growing with every jog. He felt like he would collapse at any step. He was frantic, eyes wild as he scanned his surroundings, his rapid breathing the only noise echoing in his mind.

The wind was knocked out of him like a swing of a hammer in the stomach as Hiccup met the ground hard, scraping his chin enough to draw blood. He winced, the new pain stinging like a thousand needles poking him mercilessly. At first, he thought he'd tripped and fell from the adrenaline rush making his limbs feel weak, but he was quickly confirmed otherwise as a strong hand grabbed his shoulder and twisted him halfway around so he'd face the ceiling of the cave. Hiccup met Viggo's blazing eyes.

"You didn't think you could get away that easily, did you, Hiccup?" hissed Viggo, locking his hand on the Rider's upper arm, forcing him back up on his feet while keeping his blood-stained fist close to his chest. For a brief moment, Hiccup thought he might have been hallucinating for the impatience and anger in Viggo Grimborn's tone was one he'd never heard from the Hunter.

Hiccup thought he would immediately drag him back to the secluded cave he'd just escaped. He was ready to resist and keep the satchel of lenses as far away from Viggo's reach. But the Hunter was furious and needed to lash out. He threw the Rider back on the ground with much more strength than necessary. Hiccup met the cold and hard floor once again with a loud thud and a grunt, taking more time to recover than usual. He remained there, looking up through exhausted emerald green. He'd just used most of his energy to try and flee his enemy but to no avail. He had nowhere to go, nor the time or strength to do anything to save himself. He was completely at Viggo's mercy.

"Do you know what makes a great leader, Hiccup?" said Viggo, taking a step forward while Hiccup tried backing off, the Hunter's burning gaze digging into his. "It is the ability to instill fear in your subjects." He paused, exhaling loudly but keeping a straight face. "And then use that fear… against your enemies. So… I used you to instill said fear into the heart of your group. The one of them all who inspires hope, the one of them all who can change a heart, and turn hatred into love. I turned the hero of the story into the villain. It doesn't matter that you're here now. They are all terrified of you."

Hiccup bared his teeth at the words slipping out of the Dragon Hunter's mouth and pushed himself up quickly, hoping to catch him off guard. But before any other actions from the Rider could be made, Viggo grabbed him by the jaw violently and pulled him in close.

"I know you think I'm a monster, Hiccup," he continued, studying his face carefully as if he was nothing but a high-quality tool for his future projects. "But fear not. Everything I do always has a greater purpose. And you, my dear boy, will help me achieve it."

Hiccup attempted to pull away, but all that did was force Viggo to tighten his grip even more. An involuntary tear streamed down the Rider's discolored cheek, and whether it was from physical pain or emotional, not even Hiccup would know.

"You have nowhere to go, Dragon Rider," continued Viggo, narrowing his dark eyes on him. "Nowhere to go home to. Your friends are not coming for you. Thanks to your twisted tongue, you successfully managed to spill enough blood in the water for us to turn the tide. The game is over, Hiccup. You've lost everything."

…

The Dragon Riders had quite an easy time infiltrating the enemy's base. On many other missions of the past, such success was rare without at least having to knock out a few guards and almost compromising their location. Tonight was different, but it didn't surprise Astrid that much. She'd been through too much in the last few days, it felt like she'd skipped months. But Viggo's ultimate plan to poison their leader had only taken place a few sunrises ago.

Astrid crawled closer to the edge of the cliff she'd chosen as a primary lookout before setting out on their one and single goal, one they'd be flying individually for the very first time since the Dragon Riders were founded. Well, individual rescues had happened before, but never on purpose. Should anything go wrong, she could blame herself and her lame plan contrarily to other circumstances. She pulled out her spyglass, examining the sentries posted here and there on Johann's base.

"Just as I thought," she whispered, counting the total of guards she was able to spot. The amount was lower than previously. Which was good for them, of course. The fewer obstacles there were for this race, the better.

She quickly turned around and slid down the dusty ground to join the others who'd remained low and completely out of sight at the bottom of the hill, catching herself with a huff before putting away her spyglass.

"Alright," she said, holding the eyes of her teammates despite some glowering ones. "I know this is different from anything we've ever done, but I need you to stay focused, okay."

"Ha. This should be easy peasy lemon squeezy," commented Tuffnut, rubbing his palms together with a dangerous smile on his face.

"This is serious, Tuffnut," warned Astrid. "We'll all spread out and search for Hiccup on our own. This is a big island. He could be anywhere."

"But won't he still be under the venom's effects?" asked Fishlegs sheepishly.

"Yeah, how are we gonna rescue someone who might not want to be rescued?" added Snotlout, arms crossed over his chest.

"That's the thing, bro," said Tuffnut, reaching a hand up to his hip, still smiling. "This isn't a 'rescue'. It's a kidnapping."

"Yeah," agreed Ruffnut.

"The important thing is to get him out of there as fast as possible," said Heather, taking a step forward, Dagur at her side.

"You mean it's a race?" asked Tuffnut, even more excited.

"No—"

"Does everything have to be a competition-?"

"Yes!"

Astrid pinched her nose bridge, disbelieving this was happening right now. Stormfly squawked at her side, dragging her rider's attention onto her. Astrid patted her side and did not turn back around to look at her bickering team before hopping on and taking off to get the run started.

"Hey! Not fair!" shouted Tuffnut, but his voice was fading away as Astrid soared low over the trees. "You're supposed to give a signal!"

The other Riders rapidly climbed onto their saddles and quickly took off as well, going their own separate ways to search for their missing leader and friend. Well, all except for the twins.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut waved their hands dramatically before their faces after multiple wingbeats raised the dust off the ground. They shared a look when everything was quiet, watching their teammates' silhouettes fade against the night sky and dive down for the heart of the enemy base. They approached the edge Astrid had been scouting from previously and rapidly spotted their first targets made of a few guards scouting the area, oblivious of their presence.

They peeked down, Barf and Belch burbling behind them curiously.

"Ladies first," said Ruffnut, gesturing for Tuffnut to go down the hill with a malicious smile creeping on her lips.

"Age before beauty," challenged Tuffnut, mimicking her movements.

"No pain no gain," added Ruffnut.

"What pain?" asked Tuffnut, confusion painting his face.

Before he could even react, Ruffnut punched him square in the face, making him lose balance and sending him tumbling down the steep hill with a series of groans and shouts that had for sure alerted those guards, all while Ruffnut stood on the top giggling at her brother's pain.