Chapter Ten: Captured

Hiccup stood in front of a cart full of random items that he found while walking around the snowy village. He sighed and turned to Toothless, who was waiting for the sign to initiate the plan.

"Are you ready for this, Bud?" asked Hiccup. "Y'know, there's still time to turn back."

Toothless grunted determinedly and Hiccup sighed. Toothless seemed just as upset as the others when they couldn't buy the berries because the stand keeper purposefully overpriced them. Hiccup gripped the handles of the cart and rehearsed the plan in his head once again.

Astrid was waiting by the stand where the berries were being sold. She was pretending to sharpen her axe so no one would expect what she was going to do once Hiccup and Toothless pushed the cart in the stand's direction. The twins, Fishlegs, and Snotlout were currently distracting the stand keeper by asking him questions that had nothing to do with what he was selling. He seemed aggravated and he kept trying to push them out of his way but the twins, Snotlout, and Fishlegs managed to bring his attention back to them.

Hiccup looked at Astrid right when she gave the signal. "Oh no! What is that thing coming toward here?"

"Okay, Bud. It's go time," said Hiccup. He and Toothless shoved the heavy cart down the hill straight towards the stand where the berries were being sold. The cart rolled down the snowy hill at alarming speeds, and the sight of it rolling toward the stand caught the attention of many villagers. They quickly ran out of the way, including the viking who was running the stand, and Astrid managed to grab a handful of berries, and rolled out of the way before the cart made contact with the stand. Everything fell over and Astrid ran to Hiccup.

"Come on, let's get out of here before we're suspected," she said quickly.

"Uh...I think we might already be," said Hiccup. He pointed behind her and a small group of vikings were ganging up on them.

"Hey, were you the one who pushed that cart?" asked one.

Hiccup looked around. "Are you talking to me?"

"Who else would he be talking to," said another.

"Well, I mean, there's Astrid here, my dragon, Toothless…"

"You know, stealing is considered worthy of ten years in jail here," said the shortest viking. "So you better return what you took."

"We didn't take anything!" shouted Tuffnut. "We're innocent!"

"Yeah! Innocent until proven guilty!" added Ruffnut.

"You, what's under your coat?" asked the tallest viking.

"Nothing," replied Astrid.

"You have five seconds or it's the dungeons for all of you," said the medium sized viking. The Dragon Riders looked at each other and then back toward the three vikings in front of them.

"We need a diversion," whispered Hiccup to Astrid.

Astrid nodded. "On it." She whistled to Stormfly who stood in front of the three vikings. She roared in their faces loud enough to leave them dazed.

"RUN!" shouted Hiccup. The Dragon Riders ran away from the village and toward where they had landed. They could hear the sounds of upset villagers behind them, and Hiccup hoped that they would escape before they were attacked by an angry mob.

"Everyone, on your dragons!" said Hiccup. The Dragon Riders quickly mounted and took the air. The village didn't seem to have any nets or arrows to throw at them, so the Riders were safe from danger.

"I can't believe we managed to pull that off," said Fishlegs.

"Yeah...barely," said Hiccup. "We're never doing that again unless we absolutely have to."

"Uh, guys?" said Fishlegs in a worried voice, but he was ignored.

"Come on, Hiccup. You enjoyed that as much as we did," said Tuffnut.

"No, actually, I didn't," said Hiccup.

"We should do this more often," Ruffnut said with an impish smile. "It's fun, chaotic, and fun. And also quicker than paying with actual money."

"Guys?" said Fishlegs once again, but he wasn't heard. Again.

"We're not thieves, we're Dragon Riders," said Hiccup.

Astrid nodded. "We only did that because we don't have the time to get ten more coins. Besides, yellow berries are like oxygen over there. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't miss a handful."

"Oh yes they would!" cried Fishlegs. The Dragon Riders turned around and saw several ships below. They were loaded with nets and arrows and HIccup sighed.

"You have got to be kidding. I told you we shouldn't have stolen those berries!" he said.

Tuffnut shrugged. "You didn't talk us out of it?"

"Yes I...oh, forget it," said Hiccup. Arrows and nets began to fly in their direction. One of the arrows almost tore through Toothless' tailfin, but the Night Fury dodged just in time.

"Evasive maneuvers, everyone!" ordered Hiccup. "Once you're clear, head to the clouds to take cover!"

The Dragon Riders nodded and began to perform basic evasive maneuvers. These vikings weren't as good at aiming as the Dragon Hunters, but good enough to nearly catch or wound their dragons. The Riders evaded each net and arrow with ease, but there were several close calls. The Dragon Riders eventually were able to fly into the clouds to take refuge.

"That was close!" said Astrid.

Hiccup nodded. "Now we just need to get out of here."

But right at that moment, an arrow flew through the air and lodged its way into Toothless' leg. The Night Fury shrieked and Hiccup and Toothless began to fall out of the sky. The Riders shouted their names but Hiccup and Toothless fell and hit the wooden deck of the lead ship. Two dark brown boots walked into Hiccup's line of vision.

"Take him to the dungeon," the man said in a deep, malicious voice. "And make sure he and the Fury are put in separate cages."

Hiccup sat up weakly. The fall had jostled his wounded leg. "All this...just for some berries?"

The man chuckled. "Oh no. We've heard of you, Dragon Master. And there's a rather large bounty for your head."

Hiccup clutched his neck. That bounty had been destroyed over a year ago. The news must've not gotten up this far north.

"Uh, actually, they already got Hiccup's head," Hiccup said. "I'm a different Hiccup."

The man shook his head. "I'm pretty sure the Hiccup I'm looking for rides a Night Fury." The man turned to his men. "Turn the ships around!"

Hiccup looked up to the clouds and saw no sign of the other Dragon Riders.

Well, at least they escaped, thought Hiccup. He turned to Toothless and hissed at the arrow that was lodged in his leg. Toothless looked at his Rider, pain reflecting in his green eyes.

"Okay, buddy. I'm gonna pull the arrow out, okay?" said Hiccup. Toothless nodded weakly and Hiccup gripped at the arrow.

"On three," said Hiccup. "One...two...three!"

Hiccup yanked the arrow out of the black scales and Toothless let out a short, pained roar. The wound was bleeding, but Hiccup didn't have any gauze to wrap it with. Hiccup took off his coat and pressed it against the wound.

"This will have to do for now, Toothless," said Hiccup. Toothless laid his head in his paws and Hiccup watched as they neared the village that they had just absconded. He sighed and rubbed his dragon's head comfortingly.

"Hopefully we manage to escape this place again," said Hiccup. Toothless only rumbled in response.

...

Hiccup grunted as he hit the cold, stone floor of the cell he was tossed in. The metal bars closed behind him, and the men left, laughing at how he couldn't escape them on his Night Fury. Hiccup sighed, frustrated, and looked out the small barred window. He couldn't see anything but snow.

Hiccup looked around his cell. It was small and was complete with a wooden bed with a thin blanket. A bucket sat in the corner and Hiccup had overheard the men saying that they gave their prisoners only one meal a day.

"Five stars for the best prison on earth…" mumbled Hiccup sarcastically. It was very cold down in the dungeon, so Hiccup wrapped himself with the blanket that had been provided to him, but it didn't bring much warmth to the shivering viking.

Hiccup shook his head and decided to distract himself from the cold by thinking of a way to get out of there. He knew the others would come for him. They were his best friends after all. But not only did he have to escape his cell, he would have to find Toothless. He hoped that his capturers had tended to the wounded Night Fury, but Hiccup knew that was unlikely.

Hiccup leaned against the stone wall and closed his eyes. He wished that he hadn't gone through with the plan of stealing the berries. But Astrid was right, they didn't have time to stay at the village and work to get ten more coins. He hoped things on Berk were going along better than things were going for him.

The cage door opened and Hiccup watched as the man tossed in a Terrible Terror. It had a note attached to its leg and Hiccup immediately knew it was terror mail. The man shut the door roughly and walked away. Hiccup scooped up the small dragon and it immediately began to nuzzle into Hiccup's chest for warmth. Hiccup sat back down on the bed and untied the paper that was attached to the Terror's leg. He unrolled it and read what it said, and Hiccup's breathing hitched once he finished the note.

His father had contracted Inyitis.


Author's Note: Welp...I have nothing optimistic to say.

Just kidding! Things will look up...eventually... =P

Until the next chapter!

-BeyondTheMoon1203