Four: In Which a Fight Takes Place

Hiccup groaned as he slowly climbed out of unconsciousness. His eyes peeled open, and Hiccup found Lumina staring directly at him, a worried look in her golden eyes. Hiccup rubbed his head and sat up. What happened?

Then everything came flooding back. The swap, the Outcasts, the Skipta. Hiccup gasped and he looked around quickly. The other Riders were beginning to come to.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Hiccup. The Dragon Riders gave various sounds of yes and began to sit up as well.

"Man...I had the most messed up dream," said Snotlout. "I loved to read. And I couldn't seem to stop spitting out random dragon facts. What a nightmare."

"Actually, Snotlout, that wasn't a dream," said Fishlegs. "Our personalities got swapped, remember?'

Snotlout blinked. Then he blinked again. He stood up quickly. "Oh my Thor. I was...I was...a nerd?!"

"I wouldn't say you were a nerd," Astrid said after standing up. "Just full of dragon knowledge. There's nothing wrong with that."

"But...but I was Fishface the entire day!" exclaimed Snotlout. The Jorgeson shook his head furiously. "I refuse to let this slide so easily." Snotlout turned to Hiccup's direction and pointed at him. "This is all your fault!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Looks like Snotlout's back."

Astrid nodded in agreement and then flipped her braid over her shoulder. She walked up to Hiccup and picked up the axe that was lying on the ground in front of him and swung it around.

"Axes. Aren't they the best?" said Astrid. Hiccup smiled. Astrid was back too.

"Oh. My. Thor," Fishlegs walked up to Lumina and stroked her scales, shaking with excitement. "A real live Skipta?! Do you know how much I've wanted to see this dragon in real life? Think of all the training possibilities and the—-"

"We get it, Fishface," Snotlout said with a roll of his eyes. "You're back to normal too."

Hiccup turned to the twins. They were uncharacteristically quiet. Hiccup walked up to the two Thorstons and asked tentatively. "Are you guys back to normal?"

Tuffnut looked at Ruffnut and Ruffnut looked at Tuffnut. The two nodded affirmingly. "Yep. We're back to normal," they said in unison.

Hiccup sighed with relief. For a moment he thought that the Ruffnut and Tuffnut were stuck with the opposites' personalities. Hiccup tapped his chin and leaned against the wall. Now all they needed to do was escape Outcast Island without being caught. But how do six teens and a giant brightly colored dragon manage to escape into the night without being caught?

"Anything yet?" asked Astrid as she leaned against the wall next to Hiccup, her arms crossed.

"Not yet," said Hiccup. His eyes then widened. "Wait. Lumina can blend with her surroundings for a short period of time, right?"

"Correct, Hiccup," said Fishlegs as if Hiccup were his student. "The Skipta can blend in with its surroundings for small periods of time. That's how we weren't able to see it in the blizzard back on the mountain."

"You could have just said 'yes,'" said Snotlout.

Hiccup began to pace. The cogwheels in his head began to turn. A plan was being formed. After four more paces, Hiccup snapped his fingers, a smile appearing onto his face.

"I got it!" Hiccup said happily. The Riders turned to him with waiting looks on their faces. "Lumina is already set," Hiccup began to explain. "She can fly out and bring our dragons and hide with them not very far from the dungeon entrance. Then the rest of us just have to escape this maze of tunnels and get to our dragon and Lumina in time before we are caught."

Hiccup asked Snotlout for the dagger he had brought. He handed it to him and Hiccup began to pick at the lock. The clasp snapped off and the door opened once again. Hiccup turned to Lumina. The dragon walked up to him and huffed in his face.

"Lumina, we need you to go out there and find our dragons," said Hiccup. He gave the Skipta a scratch under the chin. "Can you do that?"

Lumina nodded and ran out of the cell. Hiccup watched as the Skipta ran down the tunnel. The luminous dragon then blended in with her surroundings, making her seem invisible. Hiccup knew that she was gone when her large footsteps faded away. The young viking turned to his friends.

"You guys ready?" asked Hiccup. Everyone nodded.

"What if this doesn't work?" Fishlegs asked worriedly.

"It will, Fishlegs," said Astrid. Her blue eyes met with Hiccup's green ones. "Hiccup's got this."

Hiccup smiled at the trust that Astrid was showing for him and then said, "Come on. Let's hurry before this place becomes filled with Outcasts."

The Dragon Riders nodded and then ran out of the cell, following Hiccup to the exit.

…

Hiccup and the Riders ran. They ran as fast as they could, knowing that if they stopped the risk of them getting caught would become higher. Hiccup had memorized the path they had taken to get to Lumina's cell. The only obstacle was avoiding the Outcast soldiers that marched through almost every tunnel. There were several close calls, but Hiccup and his friends managed to use the many open cells, old barrels, and crates to hide in when the Outcasts came into view.

Hiccup was glad to be back to his normal self. While having Astrid's feistiness and warrior-like personality had come in handy during their mission, the Haddock was happy to be himself again. He wondered what Astrid felt like now that she wasn't stuck with his personality anymore, but Hiccup guessed that Astrid probably felt the same way as he did.

"How much further?" asked Snotlout. "I'm tired of running!"

"We're almost there," answered Hiccup. "We have one more turn to take, and then we're out!"

The Riders' broke into grins when after the last left turn, the exit came into view. They all increased their speed and made a beeline for the exit. Freedom was only a few feet away! Hiccup nearly laughed in triumph, but then a figure stepped into the entry way that made him skid to a stop. Hiccup's eyebrows narrowed as he stared face to face with none other than…

"Alvin the Treacherous," Hiccup growled. He put on a feign pleased expression. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you to 'iccup," said Alvin. The Outcast chief had his large sword sheathed to his belt. The sight of it almost made Hiccup gulp. He and his friends weren't well armed. The young viking fleetingly looked up into the sky. Where were Lumina and the other dragons? Hiccup didn't see any sign of the reptiles.

"I heard that you freed something that belongs to me," Alvin said.

Hiccup cocked his head. "Did I? I don't remember letting anything out recently."

Alivin sneered, "Don't try to fool me, boy. Now, where's the Skipta?"

"Skipta? What's a Skipta?" asked Tuffnut.

"We don't even know what that is, dude!" said Ruffnut from the back.

Hiccup crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. "See? We don't know what you're talking about. None of us want to be late for dinner, so if you would kindly let us go-"

Alvin cut Hiccup off by drawing his sword. Several Outcast soldiers appeared behind him and Hiccup took a step back. The Riders drew their inadequate weapons and stood in defensive positions.

"I'm only going to ask one more time," said Alvin slowly. "Where. Is. My. Dragon?"

Hiccup gripped his sword. "We already told you. We. Don't. Know. What. You're. Talking. About."

Alvin poked the tip of his sword. "Okay, 'iccup. You had your chance. I guess we'll just have to settle this the hard way." Alvin and his army let out battle cries and charged for the Dragon Riders.

"Uh, we're totally outnumbered right now!" cried Snotlout as the army slowly approached. "It's either fight or flight, and I'm thinking about going with flight right now!"

"No, we can't leave!" said Hiccup. "We have to stand our ground!"

Astrid held her axe closely. "He's right! If we leave, we're just letting ourselves and the dragons down."

So the Riders stood their ground, holding their old, worn, and pretty much useless weapons. They stood in a straight line, looks of determination, boldness, and bravery on their faces. They were going to fight, even if they would end up getting captured in the end. Hiccup was about to parry with an Outcast when a sudden plasma blast made the soldier stumble backward and fall. Hiccup looked up to the sky, and a look of relief washed over his face.

"It's the dragons!" exclaimed Fishlegs. The dragons landed beside their Riders, growling at the Outcasts. Hiccup lept onto Toothless back and smiled.

"Now this is more fair," said Hiccup. The young viking shouted. "CHARGE!"

The Dragon Riders took to the sky and began to blast down at the Outcasts below. Being up in the air was an advantage. Hiccup felt more confident now that he was with Toothless. The Riders were winning, and it wouldn't be long until Alvin lost once again.

But then the tables turned.

Snotlout told Hookfang to flap his wings at the dust below. The Monstrous Nightmare complied and flapped his large wings, creating a giant dust cloud. Alvin and his men below couldn't see a thing. Hiccup and the Riders flew above the giant cloud of dust, looking around.

"Do you think Alvin wants some more of us?" asked Tuffnut.

"Probably not," said Hiccup. He turned to the others. "We need to find Lumina and get out of here. This is our only chance."

Astrid nodded and pointed up ahead. "The dragons came from that direction. She's probably hiding somewhere over there."

"Then that's where we'll go," Hiccup said. He motioned for the Riders to follow him, but suddenly, an arrow broke through the dust cloud and impaled itself in what was left of Hiccup's left leg. The auburn haired viking cried out in pain, and found himself and Toothless falling from the air and toward the hard ground below. Hiccup and Toothless crashed loudly. The Night Fury put himself in front of Hiccup and the group of Outcasts that were making their way toward them.

"Give up, 'iccup!" Alvin shouted. "Just tell me where the dragon is and this will all end now."

"Never!" Hiccup yelled back. The young viking bit his lower lip and swallowed down a whimper as the pain in his leg increased. Hiccup grasped the arrow and yanked it out. It took all of his willpower not to scream. His pant leg was stained with blood, and the wound was still bleeding, but Hiccup didn't have time to patch it up. He needed to stop Alvin, and fast.

Toothless warbled with concern as he shot a quick glance back at his Rider. Hiccup looked up and saw that Alvin and his men were only a few feet away. It was only a matter of time before Hiccup and Toothless would be completely ambushed. Hiccup thumped his fist against his head, racking his brain to try and come up with a plan to escape.

And then, he had one. Hiccup looked up just in time to see the other Riders attempting to come to his rescue. Hiccup knew that they wouldn't last long, especially now that the Outcasts were armed with crossbows.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted. "Tell Ruffnut to spray some gas down here!"

Astrid looked bemused, but did what Hiccup asked. Ruffnut pulled back on Barf's horns and the Zippleback head sprayed a wave of gas around Alvin and his men. Hiccup nodded and then shouted. "Now, light it up!"

"What?!" shrieked Astrid. "Are you insane? You could get hurt!"

I'm already hurt, thought Hiccup, but he didn't say that outloud. He knew it would only make Astrid even more worried. "Just do it!" Hiccup yelled.

Before Astrid could protest, Tuffnut made Belch release sparks, and they made contact with the green gas. The entire cloud of gas exploded, and Hiccup could feel Toothless wrap his wings around him to protect him from the explosion. It wasn't enough though, because Hiccup fell unconscious soon afterward.

…

The Dragon Riders landed immediately after the dust cleared. The Outcast soldiers all laid on the ground, unconscious. The Riders looked everywhere and called Hiccup's name over and over again, but there was no response. There wasn't any sign of the auburn haired teen anywhere.

Out of all of the Riders, Astrid was the one who searched the hardest. Hiccup was her friend. Her best friend, and the thought of losing him made her feel things that she didn't want to feel. Astrid soon slowed her search and sank to her knees. Was Hiccup really gone?

Astrid shook her head and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. No. He had to be around there somewhere. Astrid felt someone place a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Fishlegs.

"Maybe we should go back to Berk and bringa search party," said Fishlegs.

"But we have to get Lumina back to her island first," said Snotlout.

"We can do that after we find Hiccup," Astrid said. She wasn't leaving Outcast Island until she found the Haddock and no one was going to stop her. Astrid motioned for Stormfly to follow her and Astrid picked up the sword Hiccup had dropped during the small battle. She held it up to the Nadder's nose and Stormfly sniffed it.

"Find him, Stormfly," said Astrid. Stormfly chirped and brought her nose to the ground, sniffing for Hiccup. It wasn't long until the Deadly Nadder caught the familiar scent of the young viking and began to follow it in a run. Astrid followed her dragon and ran even faster when she saw Toothless on the ground. Astrid slid down in front of the Night Fury and patted Toothless' head. Toothless grumbled out of unconsciousness and looked up at Astrid, his acid green eyes looking into her sky blue ones.

"Toothless, where's Hiccup?" Astrid asked. The Night Fury crooned and unfurled his wings. Astrid nearly laughed. Hiccup was okay! But then she noticed the Haddock's leg was bleeding. Astrid lifted Hiccup up and placed him on Toothless' back. The Hofferson mounted the Night Fury and shoved her foot into the tailfin switch. She patted Toothless on the head and turned to the other Riders when they finally arrived.

"You guys find Lumina and meet us back on Berk," Astrid ordered. The Dragon Riders nodded and set off to locate the Skipta and Astrid, Toothless, Stormfly, and Hiccup took off toward Berk.

Home.