Chapter Five: The Getaway

"Ugh, are we there yet?" whined Ruffnut. "We've been walking for hours!"

"We've only been out here for ten minutes," said Fishlegs.

"Doesn't matter. I'm hungry, I think I'm dying, and I want my dragon back," said Ruffnut.

"You mean our dragon," corrected Tuffnut.

"No," said Ruffnut. She glared at her brother. "I mean my dragon. I want Barf, not Belch."

"But Barf and Belch are one dragon," said Tuffnut. "Except my head is so unique, you could consider him separate."

"No! Barf is the unique one! Belch is just a wannabe Barf!"

Tuffnut gasped, mortally offended. "You take that back right now!"

"And what if I don't?" asked Ruffnut challengingly.

Fishlegs rubbed his temples. Why did Hiccup partner him up with these two? They had been whining the entire time they were walking through the forest and Fishlegs was afraid that they'd be found soon if the twins kept on quarreling.

"Guys, we need to be cautious," said Fishlegs. "They'll find us if you keep arguing!"

Tuffnut scoffed. "We're not arguing. We're having a conversation."

"Well it sounds a whole lot like arguing to me," said Fishlegs. "Now hush."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Fine. Whatever." Then she whispered, "Barf is still better than Belch."

Tuffnut snapped his head in her direction and Ruffnut smirked. The two then got into a physical fight and Fishlegs sighed exasperatedly. They would never find the dragons at this rate and time was running out.

"Come on, you two! We need to focus!" said Fishlegs. The twins stopped their fighting and got up from the ground.

"Okay, okay, we're coming," said Tuffnut as he rolled his eyes. The three continued to make their way through the forest and came across the same clearing they had found the Hedendra in. They ducked behind some bushes when they saw three of the same people who had captured them earlier.

"We need to get them away from here if we're going to proceed," whispered Fishlegs.

"Don't worry," said Tuffnut. "I have an idea."

"You have an idea?" asked Fishlegs incredulously.

Tuffnut nodded. "I go in there and pretend I'm the boss of their boss, then they'll do whatever I say. Then I can tell them to leave and we'll be able to find the dragons in no time flat."

Fishlegs facepalmed. "You have got to be kidding me."

"This is why mom said I'm the smart one," said Ruffnut. "Here's what we do, we cause a distraction and then they'll be stupid enough to wonder what happned, and then we make our escape. Simple."

Fishlegs gawked at her. "That's actually a really great plan, Ruffnut."

Ruffnut flipped her hair. "Told you I was smart."

Tuffnut frowned at her. "You're just doing what Hiccup, Astrid, and Snotlout did back in the cave!"

"No I'm not!" retorted Ruffnut. "I took elements from that plan and inserted them into a different situation. So it's a totally different plan."

"Whatever! Let's just cause a distraction and find the dragons, okay?" said Fishlegs. The twins nodded and they walked to a pile of rocks that were sitting on the ground. They each picked up a few and looked at the men who were walking around the area.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. We'll—-" Fishlegs cut himself off when the twins suddenly burst out from the bushes and assaulted the men! The former dragon hunters turned around and drew their weapons, but before they could slash at them, the twins threw their rocks and each of them hit the back of their heads. The former hunters fell down, unconscious. Fishlegs gaped at them in shock.

"See? Totally different plan, similar elements," said Ruffnut. "Except, mine was better."

"Agreed, sister," said Tuffnut.

"Not what I was expecting, but, okay," said Fishlegs as he stepped out from the bushes. "These guys must have come from that direction. The dragons must be down that path."

Ruffnut snickered as she picked up the silver keys from one of the men's belt. "And they were stupid enough to bring the keys! What a bunch of idiots!"

"And Snotlout thinks we're the muttonheads," laughed Tuffnut.

Fishlegs took the keys from Ruffnut's hand and the trio made their way down the path. They soon came to another cave that looked similar to the one they were held in, but it was smaller and had less supplies surrounding it.

"Come on," said Fishlegs. "Let's hurry before more of them come back."

The twins and Fishlegs ran into the cave and down a tunnel that led to a row of cages. The dragons were on the floor sulking but when they saw the familiar Riders, they perked up.

"Barf!" cried Ruffnut. She petted the Zippleback head from outside the cage. "How dare they lock you up!" She turned to Belch. "Not so much for you though. You could probably stay in this cage."

"Belch is not meant to be held in a cage!" shouted Tuffnut. He turned to his Zippleback head and said, "She's just jealous because we're better."

"I am not!" shouted Ruffnut.

"Shush!" hissed Fishlegs. The sound of footsteps coming from the entrance made them all freeze.

"Quick! Into that open cage!" Fishlegs said quickly. They ran inside and shut the bars and hid behind a pile of crates. They smelled malodorous and clearly had been sitting there for a while. The twins and Fishlegs scrunched their noses, but kept quiet as four men dressed in black walked in.

"I coulda sworn I heard some noise coming from down here," said one.

The second man whacked him behind the head. "You're wasting our time! Come on, we have to get these dragons loaded on the ship before those blasted Riders get here first."

The four men opened the cages and the dragons walked out. Toothless whacked two of them across the face with his tail and both of them fell unconscious. The other two got out their crossbows and aimed them at the group threateningly.

"Come with us now, and no one gets hurt," said one. The dragons looked at each other, knowing that they wouldn't be able to fight without getting shot at least once. The men had muzzled them. They begrudgingly walked behind the two men and Toothless shot Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut a quick look before walking up to the surface.

"We need to hurry before they put them on the ships!" said Fishlegs.

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Tuffnut. He flung open the cage and the three ran out, grabbing whatever weapons they could find on their way up to the surface.

Hiccup, Astrid, and Snotlout weren't as successful as Fishlegs and the twins were. They walked through the long, stone hallways with frowns on their faces. Savage was humming happily and Hiccup had to resist the urge to scream in frustration. They had been so close, but it was all a trick. They had been duped.

Savage led them to a room that also had a desk. It had three chairs sitting in front as if he knew that only three of the Riders would be captured. He gestured for them to sit down and the trio reluctantly did.

Savage sat on a rather misshapen chair and placed his hands on the desk. "Now, you may be wondering why I brought you here."

"Is it because all of your former bosses are on our side now and you couldn't seem to become a good guy yourself?" said Hiccup with a raised eyebrow.

Savage pointed a dagger at him. "Enough of your sass, 'Iccup." Hiccup closed his mouth but the unimpressed look never left his face.

"What do you want, Savage?" asked Astrid through gritted teeth. "We're in the middle of finding something that could cure the disease that's spreading on Berk and you just had to interrupt."

Savage shrugged. "I always do." The former Outcast walked around the three of them. "I did say earlier that I may know about the illness that is going through Berk right now. And I've decided to make a deal with you to give you the information that I possess."

"And what deal is that?" asked Snotlout.

"Train my dragons and I'll give you what you want," said Savage.

"We'd never train dragons for you," said Hiccup. "You're just going to abuse them to the point they'll get hurt."

"Well then, I guess you won't mind staying here a bit longer," said Savage. He walked to the door and said. "I'll let you think about it." With that, he shut the door behind him and locked it, leaving Hiccup, Snotlout, and Astrid alone.

"Obviously we're not gonna train his dragons," said Astrid. "Even if he does have information that we need, we don't even know how much of that information he possesses."

"You're right," said Hiccup. "But any bit of information would be useful right now."

Snotlout stood up from his chair and pushed himself against the door. The door groaned, but didn't budge.

"We need to get out of here," said Astrid. "But what if he knows something about the disease that could help us cure it?"

Hiccup sighed. Even if Savage knew the cure, they would still have to train the dragons he had captured. He hoped the twins and Fishlegs had found their dragons and were thinking about a way to free them.

At that moment, a loud explosion sounded outside making Hiccup, Snotlout, and Astrid smile. The twins and Fishlegs had found the dragons!

"We need to get out of here," said Hiccup. The trio began to push against the door with all their might, trying to bring it down.

"We're not strong enough!" said Astrid.

"Okay, on three, we all run into the door at full speed," said Hiccup. "One, two, three!"

The Riders charged at the old, wooden door and expected to make contact with it, but then the door opened and standing in the doorway was Fishlegs. Hiccup, Astrid, and Snotlout crashed into him and toppled to the floor.

"That was painful…" moaned Hiccup. The Riders got up and brushed themselves off.

"You managed to find the dragons, I presume?" said Astrid.

Fishlegs nodded. "Yep! Ruffnut and Tuffnut are currently blowing up everything in sight as we speak. We had to fight the other hunters to get to the dragons. They were going to ship them off to who knows where."

"Good. Now let's get out of here," said Hiccup.

"But what about the information from Savage?" asked Astrid. "If he knows something important, we need to get it out of him."

"Then we're going to have to bring him with us," said Hiccup.

"Are you crazy?" shouted Snotlout as they ran up the tunnel. "First breaking into Savage's office and now this?!"

"We don't have a choice!" Hiccup shouted back. The explosions were loud and it was difficult to hear each other over the sudden noises. The Riders eventually came to the main entrance and their dragons ran to their side immediately.

"Come on, Bud. Let's finish up here and then get Savage," said Hiccup. Toothless roared and shot a plasma blast at a tower of barrels. They toppled on top of a group of men who were aiming their crossbows at the twins. The twins blew up almost everything in sight.

"This is amazing!" shouted Tuffnut. "Let's blow this place!"

"Yeah!" yelled Ruffnut. Barf let out some Zippleback gas and Belch ignited it, causing five men to stagger back. Uproar alerted Savage and he soon came running from his office and into the main cave. He sneered at the sight of the Dragon Riders winning once again.

"Use your darts!" he roared. The men immediately picked out their darts and shooters and began to take aim.

"And that's our cue to leave!" shouted Hiccup. "But first…"

Hiccup and Toothless quickly dived toward Savage who's eyes widened as Hiccup and Toothless flew toward him. He began to run but the Night Fury grabbed the former Outcast in his paws and flew toward the exit. Darts flew through the air toward their direction and one managed to lodge its way into Savage's leg. He fell asleep instantly.

"Hey, thanks! This makes things so much easier!" yelled Hiccup to the men below. The Riders then eluded the cave and flew into the now dark skies and into the forest on the other side of the island. They landed and quickly tied Savage up to a tree before he came to. Astrid took away all of his weapons and handed them to the Riders.

"Since all of ours are back at the cave, we might as well make use of what he's got," said Astrid as she handed Hiccup a sword. Hiccup tossed it in his hand a couple of times before setting it down next to him. Ruffnut and Tuffnut returned from the woods with a handful of dry wood and placed them in the center. Toothless lit up the sticks and the Riders sat around the flame to keep warm.

"We can't keep this on for long," said Hiccup. "Savage's men might see the smoke."

"We'll leave once the sun comes up," said Fishlegs. "It's too dangerous to go out at night and Savage's men are probably on lookout for us right now."

The Dragon Riders leaned against their dragons and Hiccup began to rub his hand against Toothless' head. His hand moved slower and slower, until it stopped completely and Hiccup fell asleep. The other Riders fell asleep as well, but it was a light sleep for they needed to be alert for whatever was out there.


Author's Note: Wow! Three favs and three follows! Thanks to my one reviewer for this story too! I'm glad you all are enjoying this story so far! =D

Until the next chapter!

-BeyondTheMoon1203