Astrid circled above the shipyard, panic-stricken as she watched the Dragon Hunters take Hiccup, Heather, and Toothless captive. She wanted to get in closer and take out those soldiers and offer her friends a swift escape. But the Hunters aboard the ships surrounding the vessel onto which Hiccup and Heather had now permanently landed had their crossbows aimed up at her and the other Dragon Riders, preventing them from nearing at all.
"Come on! We have to do something!" she shouted, turning to the other Riders trailing behind her as they looped around, studying the situation and analyzing their surroundings for anything that might come to their advantage. She tried her luck again, only to move out of the way just in time as another arrow whistled by. "Urgh! I can't get in close enough!"
The familiar roar of a Razorwhip had Astrid spin around in the saddle to see Windshear slow to a hover in front of Stormfly, growling frantically at the Deadly Nadder. There was no doubt the silver-scaled dragon was worried about her rider, but at least she was smart enough to understand that a desperate rescue would be pointless.
"I knew this was a bad idea!" said Snotlout, dragging everyone's attention on him. "Dagur was totally right about this. Why didn't we listen to him?"
"It doesn't matter!" replied Astrid, scowling at him. "Hiccup and Heather are down there and we need to help them now!"
Hiccup and Heather were two of the most important people in her life. Astrid felt helpless to be sitting here, unable to help them out. She felt lost facing the situation. All she wanted to do was get in there, dragon blazing. But she wouldn't allow herself, knowing such reckless behaviour would only lead to the same fate as her best friends'.
"Astrid, don't," said Fishlegs, coming closer next to her as she studied the scene below her Nadder's wings. "There's too many of them. There's nothing we can do right now."
"So what? We just abandon them?" she snapped, her distress unmasked.
"If I may be allowed to have a say in the matter, it would appear that we are both outnumbered and overpowered against these fellow Dragon Hunters," said Tuffnut calmly, holding his index up matter-of-factly.
"Not to mention the treacherous environment made of a very steep concentration of rock formation, resulting in very poor flight maneuvers for combat," added Ruffnut, mimicking her brother's gesture.
"That is a very impressive observation, dear sister," said Tuffnut, waving his finger at her. "It would also appear that our fearless leader and Mr. Night Fury have been captured by these ruthless Dragon Hunters, along with our riddle-wrapped enigma, also known as Heather…"
"Which leaves us… wait, where does that leave us?" asked Ruffnut, turning to her brother in confusion.
"I don't know," said Tuffnut, frowning as he stared into the abyss dramatically. "It would appear that the subject matter rests in Thor's hands now."
"Which part?" asked Ruffnut.
"I'm not sure," said Tuffnut, uncertainly, his concern finally slipping through the humour. "All of it?"
Astrid pinched her nose bridge as the twins kept on blabbering, wondering if she ought to dive down into the shipyard to hear the end of it.
"Astrid, I hate to be the one to say it, but…" said Fishlegs hesitantly, dragging her attention onto him.
"Don't say it, Fishlegs," she said, turning away from him. She couldn't go with it.
"We have to retreat," said Fishlegs, shrugging his shoulders to express how much he hated the idea of having to leave their friends behind. "Come up with a better plan."
"Um, I'm pretty sure A here was clear that you do not say 'it'," chirped in Tuffnut. "Assuming that was 'it'."
"How?" said Astrid, meeting Fishlegs' sorry eyes. "How are we gonna get them back? The Hunters have them, therefore Viggo has them – the two people most valuable to him."
"Uh, ouch?" said Ruffnut at the back, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You know what I mean," said Astrid with a stern look. "Viggo could use them against us – all of us. And there's nothing we could do about it. Fishlegs, if we don't get them back—"
"We will," said Fishlegs, cutting her off before she went down that path. "But right now, we need to get back to the Edge – regroup. I know how you feel, Astrid. But according to my calculations, trying anything right now would be suicide."
Astrid looked back down through the fog, able to make out the Hunters and their downed Riders and Night Fury as the ship set its sail. She thought they could maybe try to intercept them once they were out of this fog, but there were too many Hunters for too few ships. The whole fleet would be impossible to approach even if they managed to follow it out of the fog bank and into the open. Astrid desperately wanted to rescue her teammates, but a third Rider captured would do no good at all. She tightened her lips, shutting her eyes. They would get them back, she promised herself that. She promised Hiccup and Heather that.
The shieldmaiden straightened up in the saddle and turned to her teammates. She grabbed onto her handles and pulled, turning her Nadder around to head back to Dragon's Edge with what was left of her team. They would be going home, missing two Riders and a dragon.
This was never meant to happen.
…
Hiccup caught himself with his forearms as he hit the bottom of the dragon-proof cage he was roughly shoved in, balling his fists and grunting as his elbows scrapped from the hard and cold metal beneath him. He looked over his shoulder, scowling to express his displeasure as the Dragon Hunter slammed the gate shut, locking him inside until further notice. He pushed himself back up on his feet with a painfully groan, holding his head high as he watched the soldiers work on the deck. It didn't take long and they were setting sail, moving out. He couldn't even see his friends hovering high above; the fog too thick to even see the top of the sea stacks. They were captured. This was not at all how he'd planned this mission to turn out. And he had a certain someone to partially blame.
Hiccup turned his back on the gate again and sat at the other end of the cage, pressing his back against the metal bars connecting with Heather's own prison. Heather sighed and slid her back against the bars until she hit the floor, pulling her knees close to her chest.
"Hiccup," she said, barely whispering his name. "Would you say something, please?"
Hiccup bit his lip, not even looking over his shoulder as he addressed her.
"We're supposed to be a team, Heather," he said coldly, striking her with another wave of pure guilt.
"I know, and I feel terrible about that, but…" she started, but Hiccup talked over her before she could continue.
"There are not 'buts', Heather," said Hiccup, and for a moment, Heather wanted to shrink to her tiniest.
Heather had seen Hiccup get mad before. Mad at the twins; mad at Snotlout; furious at Viggo and Ryker. And he had every valid reason to have been. And she could've dealt with it if he was mad at her. But she knew he wasn't. It was worse than that. He was disappointed. Disappointed in her.
"If it wasn't for your wild, reckless behaviour, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now," he continued, his voice bitter. "We might lose the war against Viggo Grimborn because of your selfish actions. Do you have any idea what he'll do to you when he has you all to himself? You were the traitor to the Dragon Hunters in his game of Maces and Talons. I don't know if you remember, but Viggo doesn't just play with game pieces. Everyone is expendable to him, and that doesn't exclude you and I."
Heather sighed a shaky breath, pulling her legs in even closer. She wished she could hold herself, but the bounds at her wrists prevented that. She didn't want to think about her fate. She brought her thoughts to the other Dragon Riders who were safe and sound, unlike them.
"You think he'll use us against the others?" she dared ask after a pause.
"I don't just think so," said Hiccup quietly. "I'm positive."
"But what about you?" she asked, looking at him over her shoulder. He hadn't budged at all. He sat still with his back resting against the cold bars. "What is he gonna do to you?"
He sighed.
"Probably question me to know everything there is to know before he engages the other Riders," he said, speaking the words like he knew exactly what was going to happen next in the story. "Then Berk. And all of our allies."
Heather couldn't imagine the end to be so close and this simple. She felt trapped in a nightmare; one she wished she could wake up from. But this was no dream. This was reality, and nothing could get more realistic than this.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered.
"Don't apologize."