Heather did expect Viggo to be a worthy adversary. It wasn't exactly the first time she'd faced him in close-combat. She recalled her first confrontation. She'd underestimated Viggo, but now she knew what she was up against. Viggo wasn't simply a master in war strategies as well as psychological warfare, but also a very skilled combatant. Every swing she threw he dodged. She hoped there was still a part of the Hiccup she knew in the Rider shackled in the room with them to make use of the distraction and make a swift escape. But Heather noticed he was still with them from the corner of her eye.
"Get out of here, Hiccup!" shouted Heather, backing off as Viggo grabbed a dagger resting on the desk, ready to take her on with even odds. The Hunter had been able to hold her off with nothing but strategic maneuvers. She couldn't imagine what could happen now that she was on the defensive.
Heather cast another look at Hiccup in the corner of the room behind Viggo but quickly returned her focus on the combat at hand, moving out of the way as the Hunter swung the blade, missing her by an inch every time. The Berserker blocked her attacker's blow as best as she could until a swift swing cut the skin of her upper arm open, sending pain and panic shooting all throughout her body despite the minor injury. And just when she thought she was done for, raising her forearm to attempt one last block with her forearm plate made of Razorwhip scales, the dagger dropped to the ground with a loud CLING! and the young warrior looked up to see the Hunter being drawn back, a chain pressing against his throat. Heather watched wide-eyed as Hiccup pulled back with his arms, the chain linking his shackles and retraining him digging in the skin, forcing the man to withdraw from her. The Hunter grabbed the metal links pressing tight against his throat, trying to free himself. He tried reaching back to try and put his hands on the Rider but to no avail. Heather didn't hesitate in front of her shot and punched the Hunter in the heart of a fresh wound she had noticed earlier on the man's front, sending Viggo bellowing his agony. She had no doubt of it being Hiccup's doing. The Hunter fell to his knees, a hand clutching his shoulder while the other wrapped around the links marking his neck. The moment Viggo was downed, Hiccup released the pressure and shot for the corridor, exiting the room with Heather.
"Come on!" urged Heather, jogging across the corridor with Hiccup following closely behind. Despite having gone through so much in the past days, he still had some fight left in him and she admired that.
"I'm right behind you," he reassured, huffing and puffing from the lack of strength in his limbs. He was running on nothing else but adrenaline and with each stride he took, he felt like he might crumble. "Where are the others?"
"I don't know," said Heather, shaking her head sideways. "But right now we need to move. There's no way the guards didn't hear that collision."
"Whoa-whoa-whoa, back up a little," said Hiccup, halting. "What do you mean 'you don't know'?"
"I don't think you realize how much trouble you've stirred," said Heather.
"No, I don't, actually," said Hiccup, taking a breather and resting against the stone wall. Shouts echoed their way, and Heather grabbed Hiccup by the links restraining his movements, dragging him into one of the storage rooms plunged into darkness and watched as the two guards from earlier jogged passed them in the direction of their chief's quarters.
They shared a quick look.
"They know we're here now," said Heather, making sure no one else was coming running from the exit. "We have to move it or all of this will be for nothing." And with that, they sprinted back into the hallway and were quickly out of the underworld and back under the stars.
Windshear, having kept an eye out for her rider, descended from the night sky, the sharp flapping of her metal wings announcing her presence. The Razorwhip's talons met the ground and scarred it like anything else. She lowered her head for the Riders to climb up, which they did hurriedly. All three pairs of eyes snapped back at the entrance of the tunnel as shouts of men rung loudly, indicating their return. Shadows painted the curtain, letting them know time was up.
"We have to get you out of here and quick," said Heather, grabbing her handles. Windshear read her command and shot for the stars, leaving behind nothing but dust for the Hunters to catch.
Heather looked back over her shoulder, sighing in relief at the tight timing. She was surprised with herself at how easy this had been. She had to be honest; she did not fully believe this was going to work out in the end.
"Uh, Heather?" said Hiccup, hands grasping her shoulders for support. Heather looked at him from the corner of her eye, questioningly, and followed Hiccup's gesture pointing ahead of them. "I don't think we're out of the woods yet."
Heather's eyes snapped wide as the Titan Singetail grew bigger before them. The Flyer on its back was not a nice surprise either. Even with the remaining distance between them, both Hiccup and Heather could see the glowing violet in the Flyer's eyes.
"Oh, you got to be kidding me," whined Heather, furrowing her eyebrows. "I knew Viggo was a monster, but to do what he did to you to one of his own allies?"
"Yeah, actually, that might have been my doing…" said Hiccup, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"What?"
But before he could explain his last-resource tactic in his last attempt to escape on his own, hot flames shot right under the Razorwhip's wing, startling all three of them.
"Go, Windshear!" shouted Heather, doubling back around to escape the poisoned Flyer and his Titan. The Razorwhip flapped her wings as fast as she could, leaning low to gain speed, but the Singetail was already way faster without the effort. Hiccup looked back over his shoulder, frightful, to see Krogan was nearly biting their tail off.
They both watched frightfully as the Titan opened its mouth, the fire visible down its throat. They feared they'd soon be going down, but the apparition of a green cloud coming down on the Flyer had both of them confused for a second before quickly realizing what was happening.
"Down, Windshear!"
Just on time too, because the moment the Razorwhip's tail tip was out of the cloud, the Zippleback gas lit up, sending off a massive explosion that illuminated the whole sky. The Titan Singetail roared in agony at the fire blinding it and turned tail and ran, taking its flyer with it.
Heather brought back her dragon to a hover as they met up with the twins on their Zippleback.
"You guys! This is supposed to be an individual rescue," said Heather, sounding cross but truly feeling grateful for the help.
"Yeah, but you got our prize," said Ruffnut, gesturing to Hiccup who narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"The black sheep!" agreed Tuffnut, throwing fists in the air.
"Excuse me?"
But before any more explanation could be said, Barf and Belch flew above the Razorwhip, grabbing Hiccup by the upper arms, straight up kidnapping him from Heather and Windshear.
"Ruff, Tuff, you two put me down right now!" snapped Hiccup, his frustration to the lack of information on the situation aggravating more and more.
"No can do, poo," said Tuffnut, meeting him upside down, arms crossed over his chest with his legs crisscrossed around his half of the dragon's neck.
"What on Earth is going on?!" shouted Hiccup, kicking forward in an attempt to release himself from the dragon's firm grip.
"Well, you see, it's a long story," said Tuffnut all too lightly.
"Or is it a very short story," said Ruffnut, joining in the conversation, mimicking her brother.
"Yeah. Hey, weren't you there the whole time, though?" said Tuffnut, cocking an eyebrow at his leader.
"Well, except for that part, remember?" said Ruffnut, eyeing her brother as if it was meant to be kept secret.
"Oh, yeah…" agreed Tuffnut, smirking.
"Guys," interrupted Hiccup, disbelieving he was in this situation. At this point, he wasn't even as panicked as much as he was annoyed. "I hate to interrupt, but we got incoming."
At that very moment, arrows whistled past them. They were lucky not to have a single scratch considering how inattentive they were to the situation. The twins quickly swung back right side up and dove to the side, avoiding the whistling arrows like they'd done so many times. If it were up to Hiccup, he'd have the Zippleback gain altitude, but he doubted he'd have a say in this context.
"Yeah, we're on fire!" shouted Tuffnut, looking down at the Hunters still aiming at them from the ground. "Those lousy Hunters haven't even touched us yet."
"Are they just too lousy or are we just too awesome?" said Ruffnut to which Tuffnut stroke his imaginary beard, thinking.
"That's an excellent question, sis," he said.
Hiccup rolled his eyes.
"Hey, can you believe we're gonna win this thing?" continued Tuffnut, looking all too excited.
"W-wait, what thing?" asked Hiccup, looking up.
"I don't know," replied Tuffnut, meeting his eyes, the sparks of excitement all too bright for his answer. "But whatever it is, I'm liking it!"
They dodged another wave of arrows, twirling with excitement.
"Whoo, no one can stop me now!" shouted Ruffnut, zigzagging between the sharp tips like this was nothing but a training exercise.
"Except for me," said Tuffnut, redressing his helmet after bouncing off another arrow. "We're attached, idiot!"
"Guys! This is not the time!" shouted Hiccup from down here. Just as predicted, their luck went out and a Dragon Root arrow met the flesh of the Zippleback's forepaw. The dragon's grip on his forearms rapidly loosened and Hiccup grabbed on to the dragon's talons as if dove down. He could hear the shouts of the twins, a mix of excitement and fear as the ground grew nearer. He knew they'd be fine when they'd crash, but from down here, those trees looked extremely scary. And as if someone had heard his prayers, he felt a pull from his belt, forcing him to let go of the Zippleback. Everything was happening so fast, and Hiccup wouldn't be surprised if he were passing out every ten seconds. The air was knocked out of him as his stomach met a scaly surface on which he slid on for a moment. He felt thankful to have been pulled out of that situation, but when he looked up and saw Krogan, thankfulness was the last thing he could come to feel.
"Oh, you got to be kidding me," he said, pushing himself up from the Singetail's large scaly back that was wide enough for the two of them to stand.
"You're all mine, Hiccup," said Krogan, tightening his fist as he looked down at him, eyes glowing brightly against the starry background.
"Not unless I have a say in it!" shouted a voice Hiccup had longed for. He only had time to look to his side when he saw the large talons of the Deadly Nadder aim at him. And just like moments before, he was grabbed by the arms and carried away from his previous kidnapper.
Hiccup looked back under his arm and expected Krogan to be chasing them, but instead, he saw Snotlout on Hookfang.
"Uh, excuse me!" shouted Snotlout as if he were now the enemy.
"Stormfly, dive!" shouted Astrid, leaning down on the saddle as her dragon did exactly as she instructed. Hiccup didn't know how he saw it, but he could've sworn he'd seen Snotlout and Hookfang tangle midair with Krogan and the Titan while Astrid flew off to safety.
Hiccup was starting to wonder if this was a rescue at all.
When he returned his attention to the situation at hand, he was surprised by how fast they were flying down and looked up to see an arrow stuck in the Nadder's side.
"Easy, Stormfly! Easy, girl!" said Astrid, pulling on the saddle's handles as the dragon fought the Dragon Root's effects, flying all over the place and coming down a little too fast. At least she still had a good grip on him. When they were close enough to the ground, the Deadly Nadder gave in to the Dragon Root and crashed on her side in the middle of the stone arena of Dragon Hunter Island. Astrid met the stone floor hard as did Hiccup. Everything was still for a few seconds. The dust slowly settled back down. Hiccup could hear the Nadder's steady breathing as it slept under the root's effects. He tested a few fingers before giving it a shot to the rest of his body. He was lucky nothing was broken. He worried for Astrid, but the sound of her grunting in frustration reassured him fast.
"Hiccup! Are you okay?" she asked the moment she was back on her feet. Hiccup pushed himself off the gold and hard ground with a groan. The shieldmaiden was at his side in a matter of seconds, hugging him tightly.
"I'm okay," he assured, parting to see her face painted with long-worn worry.
One hug wasn't enough and she wrapped her arms around him again, digging her face in his neck. Hiccup couldn't remember anything. With all the hints Viggo, Heather, and the twins had dropped, not to mention the situation they currently found themselves in, he could confirm he'd missed a lot.
They parted again and Astrid stood still for a moment, shifting her attention from one eye to the other like she was making sure they were the same color as the last second she'd looked at them. It was him. The true him.
"It's good to see you," she simply said, cupping his smoke-stained face.
It was a sweet moment, but the loud and startling sound of chains and gear turned it bitter. Both Riders' attention snapped to the sky as they watched the chain ceiling drop down on them, trapping them in the arena like wild dragons who'd wandered too far from home.
Their eyes shifted wildly as Hunters positioned themselves all around the arena, crossbows aiming down at them like they were nothing but fish in a barrel. They pressed their backs against one another, watching out for any triggered weapon to come down on them. Astrid already had her ax pulled out and ready to block whatever might come their way. Everything stood still for a moment until the familiar slow clapping of hands echoed all the way down in the center of the arena.
"Well, well, well," said Viggo, retrieving his hands to his back with a smirk worn on his face. "What do we have here?"