Chapter Seventeen: It All Comes Together

Hiccup groaned as he climbed out of unconsciousness. His head was pounding and he could still feel the pain where the dart had hit. Hiccup peeled his heavy eyes open and saw that once again he was in a cell.

"Just great…" mumbled Hiccup. He looked around and saw that the others were there too. The dragons weren't there, meaning that they were probably somewhere else in the building. Hiccup sat up and leaned against the wall. The day couldn't get any better.

The other Riders were just coming out of unconsciousness. Astrid was first and she took a look around and realized where they were. She sighed.

"Great. We're in captivity. Again," she said. "How pleasant."

"How is this pleasant?" asked Tuffnut, completely missing the sarcasm.

"She was being sarcastic," said Ruffnut.

"Oh," said Tuffnut. "Right."

Snotlout stood up and kicked the cell bars. He howled in pain and grasped at his foot as he hopped backwards. "These things definitely aren't going to budge without a key," he said.

Astrid grasped at the cell bars and looked left and right. The entire hallway was filled with cells, but no one was in them. Their cell was the only one that was occupied.

"We need to find a way out of here while we still can," said Astrid. She turned to Hiccup. "Toothless had all of the cure ingredients, right?"

Hiccup nodded. "But they probably took the bag away when they captured the dragon's back in the forest."

Astrid nodded and sat down, tapping her chin in thought.

"I don't think escaping this place is going to be as easy as escaping Savage's men back on that other island," said Ruffnut.

"That's not what I'm thinking about," said Astrid. "One of those men looked familiar, but I can't place him…"

"Oh, oh! A prison game!" said Tuffnut excitedly. "Okay, okay, first, what does this guy look like?"

Astrid brightened. "I got it! The man was the guy that ambushed us in the forest back on the island where we were trying to find the Hedendra!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up," said Snotlout. "How are there two of these guys?"

"There aren't two of them, Snotlout," said Hiccup. "He's the same guy."

"But why was he on Hedendra/fake flower island with Savage?" asked Ruffnut.

"I think this was all one big trap," Astrid began to explain. "I mean, think about it. How did Savage suddenly break out of Berserker prison? I know that guy can't escape a room without some help."

"Astrid has a point," said Hiccup. "And Savage knew about the Inyitis outbreak on Berk, but how did he find out about it?"

"That guy must've told him," said Astrid. "Then he and Savage formed a short alliance to capture us."

"Okay, that makes sense," said Snotlout. "But how is this Ingvar guy connected to all of this?"

"Because he's the one who started the outbreak," said Hiccup with a solemn expression.

"WHAT?!" shouted Ruffnut and Tuffnut in unison.

"But that's insane!" exclaimed Ruffnut.

"It's impossible!" added Tuffnut. Then he paused. "Oh, wait, it is possible. I forgot impossible is I'm possible now."

Hiccup nodded. "Well, the chances of all of this actually working is pretty slim, but, yes. I think Ingvar and his men planted the virus on Berk to lure us out."

"But what did we ever do to these men?" asked Astrid. "I mean, sure we saved hundreds of dragons from the dragon hunters and destroyed a bunch of their bases, but these men were never there."

"I don't know," said Hiccup. "But they all seem pretty upset with us. And I'm guessing it probably has something to do with their dragon hunting career." Hiccup stood up and shook the bars. They didn't even move. Hiccup looked around the cell and saw that every wall was solid stone. There wasn't even a window.

"I'm open to ideas," Hiccup said. The Riders looked at each other.

"We could blow this place up," said Tuffnut. "But we don't have our dragons."

"We could do Astrid's plan again?" suggested Snotlout.

"They'll be expecting that," said Astrid. "That man that teamed up with Savage probably told Ingvar about what happened when we escaped."

"So what do we do?" asked Ruffnut.

Hiccup crossed his arms, deep in thought. What could they do? Hiccup began to pace around the room and the Riders' heads followed him back and forth.

"Why are we doing this?" asked Ruffnut.

"Eh. I don't know," said Tuffnut.

Hiccup ignored the twins and continued to think of a plan. Ingvar's men were nowhere in sight, meaning that they were probably somewhere upstairs. The young viking knew that making cacophonous noise and bringing them all down to the dungeons wouldn't make their situation any better. They'd have to fight them off to get the key, and right now, the Riders were in no condition for hand to hand combat.

The dragons had to be somewhere in the building. Hiccup hoped that they would stay put and try not to blast their way out. But Ingvar's men probably put muzzles on them. Hiccup sighed. He was out of ideas.

Or was he?

Hiccup's eyes suddenly widened and he snapped his fingers. "That's it! I know how we can get out of here!"

"HA!" Tuffnut suddenly stood up and pointed to his sister. "You owe me a new stuffed yak!"

Ruffnut crossed her arms. "Ugh. No fair."

"Uh, did I miss something?" asked Hiccup.

"The twins made a bet to see how long it would take for you to come up with a plan," said Astrid as she rolled her eyes. "You were so deep in thought that you didn't even hear them."

"I'm gonna get a new stuffed yak, I'm gonna get a new stuffed yak!" said Tuffnut in a sing-song voice as he danced around. Ruffnut rolled her eyes.

"So! What's the plan, Dragon Boy?" asked Astrid as she stood up.

"Do you still have the knife you hide in your boot?" asked Hiccup.

Astrid blinked, bemused. "Yeah. But why do you need it? I don't think you can pick this lock."

"Because," said Hiccup as he took the knife away from her. "I'm going to make it look like I'm trying to pick the lock. Once some men come down here, I'm going to pretend I'm picking the lock. If I'm correct, they'll react by opening the cage to punish me."

"And they'll leave it open long enough for us to break out!" finished Astrid with a grin. "Nice thinking!"

Hiccup smiled back. "Thanks!" He turned to the others. "You guys ready?"

The Riders nodded and Hiccup smiled determinedly.

Hiccup sat down. "Okay, now all we have to do is wait."

The Riders passed the time by playing a series of "Prison Games" invented by Tuffnut. Hiccup almost forgot that they were in a cell and it felt like they were back on Berk again. Joking around and having fun together.

It wasn't until they heard heavy footsteps coming from the left that the Riders stopped and began to put their plan into action. Hiccup immediately began to mess with the lock with the borrowed knife he had while the other Riders pretended to act like they were actually getting out. They cheered and hollered so loud that the men that had come with dinner ran up to their cell. As Hiccup predicted, the two men opened the cage to beat Hiccup to a pulp for attempting to escape, but didn't expect for the other four Riders on the inside to suddenly attack with all their might. Astrid side kicked one man while Ruff and Tuffnut threw their metal helmets at the second. The two men fell down with a thud and Hiccup brushed himself off

"They're going to feel that in the morning," said Hiccup.

Astrid tossed her braid behind her. "Yep. Now come on, let's find the dragons and then we can get to the bottom of this Inyitis case."

"Yeah, yeah, but first, can we eat this food?" asked Snotlout. He was holding a chicken leg that already had three giant bites in it. "It's actually really good!"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut split a slice of bread and bit into it. They nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad for prison food," said Ruffnut after swallowing.

"Come on, you guys!" said Astrid. She and Hiccup were already at the top of the stairs. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout ran up the stairs and followed Hiccup and Astrid out the door.

Hiccup realized that he and the other Riders were on a different island. Ingvar and his men must have moved them someplace else to make things more difficult for them to escape. Hiccup looked out the barred window. The building was made of stone and the ocean lapped at the giant boulders below. Hiccup made out a teeny tiny dot in the distance and guessed that it was another island. Hiccup decided that when he and the Riders found their dragons and flew out, they would land on that island and rest there for a while and leave when things were safe.

"Where could the dragons be?" asked Astrid.

"I'm guessing somewhere probably way down below from where we are," said Hiccup. He pointed to a door that had a lock on it. "I'm guessing probably down there." Hiccup walked up to the door and was happy to find that the lock was pickable. Hiccup poked the knife inside the lock hole and jiggledit around until the lock snapped off. Hiccup pushed open the heavy door and was met with a stone staircase with lit torches on the wall. Hiccup picked up a torch and began to walk down the stairs.

"Wait," said Astrid. "What if it's another trap?"

Hiccup thought for a moment. "Ruff, Tuff, Lout, you guys stay up here."

"Why us? Are you just trying to get some alone time with Astrid?" asked Snotlout.

"Hiccup, this isn't a time for you two to spend some time together," said Tuffnut seriously.

Hiccup facepalmed. "Guys, Astrid is the only one with an actual weapon. Other than her, we're all defenseless. And I'm going down because I got us into this mess in the first place. It's my fault that we're here right now, so I'm going to fix it."

Astrid turned to Hiccup. "Hiccup, this isn't your fault."

"Yes it is," Hiccup insisted. "If I wasn't longing for adventure so much, none of this would've happened! I know Fishlegs said it was a coincidence, but I still feel guilty! It was my idea to go out and search for the cure and it was my idea to go and follow these guys and now look where we are!" Hiccup leaned against the wall. "This is all my fault. If it wasn't for me, we probably wouldn't be here."

The other Riders looked at each other. Snotlout was the first to break the silence.

"You're right Hiccup," said Snotlout. "This is completely your fault."

Astrid punched his shoulder. "Snotlout!"

"No, he's right," said Snotlout. "If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have gone out to search for this cure. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have gotten this far. If it wasn't for Hiccup, we wouldn't have escaped the cell we were being held captive in." Snotlout turned to his cousin. "So, yes, this is completely your fault, but in a good way."

Astrid blinked. "Wow, Snotlout. That was...that was really nice of you to say."

Snotlout scoffed. "He's my cousin. I can be supportive when I want to."

Hiccup rolled his eyes but smiled. Astrid laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't believe these words are leaving my mouth, but he's right," said Astrid. "Hiccup, if it wasn't for you, we probably wouldn't have even left Berk to come and look for the Inyitis cure. You got us this far, Dragon Boy, and can take us even further."

Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut nodded in agreement and Hiccup smiled. "Thanks, guys. And this is all your faults too. If it wasn't for you all, all of this probably wouldn't have worked. We're a team. And you guys are the best I've got."

The Riders smiled and Astrid pecked his cheek, making the twins and Snotlout groan.

"There just had to be Hiccstrid…" griped Snotlout.

Astrid rolled her eyes and turned to Hiccup. "So, what do you say, Dragon Boy? We go down these stairs or what?"

Hiccup nodded and looked down at the stairs in front of him. "Let's do it."