"I'm not talking to you, one-legged dragon loving scum." A snappy retort came from the tied-up trapper who hadn't even given his name. Glancing towards Eret and Astrid, I shrug.
"Guess Krogan's really inspired a sense of fear in them, either that or they truly hate dragons." I state. Walking closer to the others, I pull them into a large circle and look at each of them. "Any ideas, guys? He hasn't responded well to the nice way." I ask and I see Fishlegs smile.
"We could contact Alvin? Remember those bandits that captured him awhile back? He mentioned some old fashioned interrogation techniques he would apply." Fishlegs said and I was actually taken slightly aback.
"Fishlegs, are you suggesting torture? That's not really our way." I say, glancing to Astrid as she slightly nods to me. Eret moves closer to me and places a hand on my shoulder.
"True, it isn't your way. It's theirs. Drago, Khan, Ragnar; all of them revel in it. They've taught their men to fear it. Maybe we don't need to torture them, just make them think it's the next step." Eret suggests and I sigh. I am not fond of recreational pain nor causing undue suffering.
"Hiccup, these people are no ones friends." Fishlegs add and I nod, glancing to Astrid for some inkling of her opinion. She takes my hand and smiles.
"Whatever we do, we're with you. You did suggest leaving him in a room with Dagur. An angry Dagur is scary." Astrid reminds me and I laugh lightly remembering all those insane times. Nodding, I turn to the trapper and pull out Inferno. Approaching the trapper, he gazes up at me as I ignite the blade and hold it to his shoulder.
"I guess since you won't talk; there's nothing left to do but force you too. Which limb should I take first?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at the hunter. I was bluffing, Thor knows I was bluffing but hopefully he didn't. His eyes fell on the flaming blade that was mere inches from his face as he failed to answer, I shrugged. "Guess I'll pick, let's go with the food, maybe you can learn to live like me, with one leg." I state and lower the blade to his ankle as he struggles to pull back away from it.
"No, no. No! Stop! I can't say anything, Krogan'll kill me." He stutters as Astrid walks up holding her axe and rolls her eyes.
"Really, he'll kill you. What exactly do you think will happen here to you?" Astrid retorts as Eret comes up next.
"Maybe we should feed him to the dragons, or drop him on Changewing Island. They love humans." Eret suggests as I nod.
"With one leg." Snotlout adds with a smile.
"Oh, my Thor. I am loving this plan." Tuffnut interjects. "Sis, how can we make it more gruesome?" He says, turning to Ruffnut.
"Hmm, tough one. Maybe we go find Scauldy and have him melt off his flesh then drop him off at Changewing Island with one leg." She suggests and I'll admit that visual made me wince.
"All this is assuming he survives in a room alone with my brother, the Berserker Chief and his Triple Strike." Heather retorts with a shrug. I can literally see the fear mounting in this man's eyes and while I didn't like this train of thought, it at least seemed to be working.
"Alright, Alright! Stop! I believe you, put the blasted sword away!" the trapper shouts and I internally sigh. Were we any better than Krogan, Drago and the others? Using fear to get information out of this guy didn't sit well with me, Astrid knew it too as I felt her grip in my hand tighten.
"Go on, everything you know, now." I state as confidently as I can.
"Okay, okay. Since Krogan came back, he's been helping them trap dragons but not for their purposes. He's going after exotic species like the Silver Phantom and Slithersongs, the Doomfang. Khan, Ragnar and the rest are trying to organize their own dragon army like Drago had but they lack Drago's, uh, skills?" He states.
"Where is your base?" Astrid demands, holding up her axe.
"We have more than one, I only know of two myself. They keep them close to the chest in case we're captured. Bashem and Swallow. Khan and Ragnar split their forces up, I'm with Khan and we've been hunting the Doomfang. Ragnar is going after the Silver Phantom." He explains and I shake my head.
"Why, why these exotic and rare species? Their numbers are small and they are hard to find let alone capture. No chance of training them." I ask in a bewildered state.
"Not training. They want an army to take out Berk. You've become a threat they can't ignore, especially with your recent hits and the turncoat." He says, snapping his head to Eret who just laughs.
"What does that make you?" Eret retorts as he grunts angrily.
"The way I see it, you have two real options going forward." Astrid states, walking closer to him. "Throw your lot back in with them and hope their forgiving; or, throw your lot in with us and as far as they can be concerned, you died at sea." Astrid reasons as we watch the wheels turn in his head.
"Offer is only on the table in this room." I add and he sighs.
"Well the choice is obvious isn't it. Whatever die by your hand or by theirs. I don't know anything else." He admits and his shoulders drop as I nod.
"Snotlout, take him to the cells, make sure their barred and get Sven to assign a watch on him." I state and Snotlout slams his fist into his palm.
"Oh, yeah. Can I rough him up on the way there? Maybe Hookfang accidentally drops him or lights him on fire… Like he always seems to do with me." Snotlout snaps towards his dragon who laughs as I shake my head.
"Just go." I state and Snotlout laughs, taking him with him. Turning to the others, I nod. "Okay, guys, get some rest. The A team is watching our waters for the night and we need to be rested when Dagur and my mother return." Glancing towards Astrid I smile weakly. "Go." I reaffirm and her expression softens.
"What about you?" Astrid asks as the others start heading off. I sigh and shake my head.
"I'll wait for Dagur, I've got a lot on my mind." I answer and I feel her hand take mine.
"We'll wait, together. Tell me." She says softly and I smile. She turns her head to Heather. "We'll catch up with you, help yourself to the mead and food." She says as Heather nods and flies off with Windshear.
Astrid and I walk to the perch overlooking the sea near the Academy and sit as our dragons play behind us, the moon high in the dark sky and the waters deceptively calm. Her arm snakes around my waist as I rest mine on her shoulder as her head rest on mine.
"So?" She says softly and I let loose a deep breath and nod.
"How are we any better than Drago, than Krogan or anyone else who viewed their people as expendable? I can justify intimidation or torture, it's just not me. Stoick, maybe. I'm just not sure I have what it takes; I can't be him. I'm afraid I won't be able to do what needs to be done." I admit, closing my eyes.
"You don't need to be, Hiccup. You're the one with heart, the most courageous yet gentle soul on Berk. Courage isn't not being afraid; it's fighting through it. Just like before with the singetails, you found a way. You'll find a way this time, it's what makes you, you." Astrid says softly and I smile lightly. It helped hearing it from her. "And you'll never have to do it alone; we're in this together, Hiccup." She finishes and I nod, turning my head as she leans in and our lips connect. She helped me find the strength I didn't think I had.
It always bothered me when I saw Hiccup go down that train of thought, that somehow, he had to be Stoick or something. It's all he's ever known as a Chief, even if the time at the Edge gave all of us valuable lessons, he still held himself to his father's standard which was different than his. Even if he knew he had to be his own person, I could see it when he questioned a decision based on what his father might've done. Not terrible things, but now, with an entire island of people and dragons relying on your every decision, his indecision would only cripple him.
Fortunately, that was where I came in. Where he had doubt, I helped him with confidence. Where he was afraid, I could help him find his courage. He didn't need me but having me there helps the both of us. He's not alone in this, he wasn't alone back on the Edge, and he won't be alone in the future. We will get through this together, no matter what it takes.
"What're you thinking about?" I ask softly amid our embrace. We had been gazing out into the sea for the better part of an hour since everyone else had left.
"The next step. We need to scout out these islands, maybe try to pick up intelligence on the other bases as well. We've never really traveled to these islands before beyond cursory flybys; and we know next to nothing about Swallow except that it is nearly impossible to pass with boats. Bashem is another Whispering Death nest." Hiccup states and I smile, he had gone into Hiccup Planning Mode and I just enjoyed listening to it.
"Bashem is north, which is the way the dinghies were headed." I add and he nods.
"You're right, Astrid. Maybe that'll lead Dagur and my Mother to that base, some recon of it and maybe we can take it out." Hiccup continues and I nod.
"It'd be nice to kick them out of our waters." I say and he nods.
"More than that, I want them to be done. If we can cripple their operations, they will have no choice but to leave and give up this trade." Hiccup states and my face softens, he feels it and glances down at me. "What?"
"I'm just reminded of what you said before. There will always be evil people capitalizing on the weak for gold or power. How do we fight an idea like that; it's not like we're fighting another tribe or flock of dragons. We're fighting an idea. A bad one, granted." I add and I feel him sigh.
"I know, and I don't know. There is another way, there always is.." He reaffirms and I smile, turning my head to kiss him again. Suddenly we hear a group of wings that pulls us from our kiss, and we see Dagur and Valka overhead. His mother just smiling as Dagur gazes down.
"Not what I expected to see when we got back but awesome!" Dagur exclaims as they land and approach us.
"News?" Hiccup asks and Valka nods.
"Oh, aye, son. Isle of Bashem, they have a base in a cove with half a dozen ships, dozens of dragon cages on their decks and even more in the caves. It looked like Whispering Death tunnels retrofitted to be theirs; no signs of the native dragons." Valka explained
"That matches up with what our trapper told us. We picked up a trapper floating at sea and… convinced him to talk." Hiccup stumbles to say, scratching his neck. He still wasn't comfortable with how we did that.
"Oh, my, how?! Did my little brother actually get gritty with a trapper? I'm so proud!" He exclaims and hugs Hiccup and I can see the turmoil within him as he laughs awkwardly with Dagur.
"Ha, haha, yeah, not exactly but anyways. They have a base on Swallow as well. Tomorrow we'll do more recon on Bashem. Krogan is hunting exotic species to weaponize against us. My thinking is they want species that don't usually conform to an Alpha and will therefore ignore Toothless's call." Hiccup explains.
"Aye, makes sense. We've gotta stop 'em, son." Valka says and Hiccup nods.
"We will, mom. Tomorrow. For now, both of you go get rest. We'll go over everything with the Riders tomorrow and form a plan." Hiccup states. "Dagur, you're welcome at my house, Heather is already there." He adds and Dagur shrugs.
"Truthfully, I'm not tired and I'm thinking Sleuther and I will circle again and find a nice cliff ledge to crash on. Thanks though. Breakfast at the Great Hall?" Dagur adds and we laugh lightly and nod. The duo takes off in different directions, leaving us alone again. I pull Hiccup into a deep hug and feel him ease just a bit, he was tense, I could feel it in his back.
"Don't worry about it, Hiccup. You don't need to be anyone's Viking but your own. You're not Dagur. You're not Stoick or Eret. You're not a Jorgenson, thank Thor." I say softly and feel him laugh lightly.
"To think, you and Snotlout were almost cousins." He retorts and I audibly groan which prompts him to laugh.
"Just one more reason to hit him." I say with a sigh before letting myself laugh. I feel his embrace around my waist soften as he pulls back to look at me and soon our lips were locked again. It was the moments like these that truly mattered the most to me. Stormfly and Toothless playing in the background, under the moon and in the arms of Hiccup with our bodies together and lips locked. If I could freeze this pane of memory in time I would, for it always felt perfect.
"Come on." He whispers against my lips. "Let's go get some sleep." He finishes and I smile, nodding.
"I can't think of a better place to be than falling asleep in your arms." I say softly, cornily, he laughs lightly.
"Never thought I'd hear such a cheesy line come out of a Hofferson." Hiccup retorts with a soft smile and I shrug.
"It's amazing what you do to me, you see sides of me no one has before and will since, save you." I answer and he tightens the embrace. I'd like to say I don't know why, or that I couldn't explain how Hiccup makes me feel the way I do about him, but it'd be a lie. I love him, pure and simple; I think deep down, I have for years and I just didn't know how to express it.
It wasn't long after that when we arrived back at our house, our. Heather had already made food and went to sleep, and we were soft footed in our movement. Making our way up to the room, we shredded our clothing and slinked into the bed and soon I felt his arms wrap around my waist and pull me close. His breath tickling my neck as he kissed it slightly and our legs intertwining. I let loose a long content sight and closed my eyes, letting sleep overtake me.