Chapter 1: A New Enemy (Night of Hunters Part 1) Astrid, Hiccup, and Fishlegs

A/N: I just wanted to say these first two chapters are going to be heavily based off of the original episodes. Due to the fact that the Dragon Hunters are such a big part in my story, and I did not want to rewrite a whole new intro for them. So yeah…Hope you enjoy!

Astrid

Astrid and Stormfly are flying peacefully through the air when they hear dragons growling. As they get closer, they see that there are cages scatter all over the beach and people armed with weapons are walking around.

Astrid looks at the ship that is docked on the beach she immediately recognizes the insignia on the sail. With a gasp she says, "Those are Dragon Hunters, I recognize it from the Reaper. Come on Stormfly let's get a better look."

Stormfly and Astrid land on the beach and crouch behind a boulder just as a booming voice fills the air. "Get back to work! We haven't all day to get them all loaded up."

Astrid takes in the two new strangers who have just entered the beach. The first one, assumably the one who spoke, is a huge man. He has two swords strapped across his back and his shirt shows off his giant muscular arms. He has a small dark brown beard and brown eyes.

The other one is about the opposite of their companion. They scarcely seem like they are there. While the other person's steps boom and they are constantly yelling, this one seems utterly silent. Astrid could barely even hear their footsteps. They are cloaked head to toe in a midnight blue and black armor. Astrid had never seen anything like it before. They seem to be on the smaller leaner side compared to the other. This person seemed to be about a foot or more shorter. They were noticeably thinner. Astrid thinks about it for a second and realizes they looked about Hiccup's size and form. All other physical descriptions were impossible to figure out due to the fact that Astrid could not see anymore of the person.

The first man walks up to one of the dragon cages holding a Monstrous Nightmare inside. He bangs on the cage. "Quiet down, ya useless lizard."

Astrid curls up her fist all she wanted to do was punch this man, but she knew she had to get out as soon as possible. She starts to climb onto Stormfly when she notices that the person cloaked in armor in looking straight at her. They hit their companion on the arm and whisper something. The man looks in Astrid's direction before yelling "And grab that Nadder!"

Astrid hurries the rest of the way onto Stormfly's back. "Get us outta here, Stormfly," she yells as they take to the sky.

"Archers! Loose," yells the man. Soon arrows fill the air they try their best to avoid them.

"Come on, Stormfly! We gotta get Hiccup!" Stormfly shots some spines at the hunters, but at that exact moment and arrow makes contacts with Stormfly. Stormfly flies crazily until Astrid gets knocked off and plummets into the water. "Stormfly!"

A chain wraps around Stormfly and pulls her onto the ship.

"Move out," the big man yells.

The armored person continues to stare at Astrid before turning to the other. "Ryker, what about the rider?"

"We got the dragon. That is all that matters."

The ship starts to pull away and Astrid grabs some wood to stay afloat as the tide takes her out to sea. "Stormfly! I'll find you."

Hiccup

"Hiccup they still haven't returned," Fishlegs says as he walks into Hiccup's hut.

Hiccup walks over at looks out the door at the setting sun. "She's never been gone all day like this. Not without telling someone."

"Maybe they are out exploring and just lost track of time. You remember when she didn't show up for her own party 'cause she was setting up a defensive perimeter around Berk."

"Yeah," Hiccup replies still looking out at the ocean.

"Or the time, she decided to practice her late-night axe-throwing and surprised silent Sven in the woods."

"Yes, Fishlegs. I remember."

"You know I don't think he recovered from that. And there was that time…"

Hiccup interrupts Fishlegs there. "Thank you, Fishlegs for trying to make me feel better but this is different, there is something wrong, I can feel it."

Suddenly thunder echoes out in the distance as rain starts to fall over the edge.

Fishlegs places a hand onto Hiccup's shoulder. "You know if anyone is equipped to survive out there, it is Astrid."

"I know, you're right Fishlegs. But we're gonna find her anyway."

Soon the Riders are hovering on their dragons right over the ocean just off the coast of Dragon's Edge

"We'll all go in different directions. I'll head south," Hiccup remarks.

"No I should head south!"

Hiccup gives Snotlout and exasperated look, "And why is that?"

"Because Astrid likes to fly south, and she'll be expecting me to rescue her." Snotlout crosses his arms and smirks as he says this.

Hiccup turns to face a direction "Like I said, I'll go south."

Tuffnut crouches los down upon Barf. A mysterious tone fills his voice, "Rain, wind, all of us splitting up? Sounds like the perfect opportunity, for a rogue sea beast, to leap from the depths of the ocean, and pick us off one... by... one."

Hiccup complete ignore Tuff and continues on, "Alright gang, let's go find her." Just as he holds up his hand to signal them leave Snotlout interrupts him.

"She's gonna be so sad, when you rescue her, instead of me."

Hiccup looks back at Snotlout a smile on his face. "Oh, don't worry I'll tell her it was all you."

Snotlout's eyes widen. "You'd do that for me?"

Hiccup's drops Snotlout clearly did not realize the face that Hiccup was being sarcastic. "No, of course I wouldn't."

Just as he says that he signals the riders to all head out.

Toothless scans the ocean using his echolocation to search for Astrid in the dark.

Hiccup pats Toothless's head. "Still nothing. She's got to be somewhere."

The continue looking and soon they see something in the ocean. As they get closer, they see part of it going under the water. Hiccup and Toothless dive down under the water and grab an almost unconscious Astrid.

Hiccup cradles Astrid in his arms as they head back to Dragon's Edge. "Astrid! Astrid! ASTRID!" He yells hoping she will wake up.

Astrid looks up and Hiccup a look of relief in her eyes. "What took you so long?" She whispers before passing out.

Hiccup hugs Astrid in relief. "Oh thank Thor. Whoo!"

Early the next morning

Astrid wakes up with a jolt. "Stormfly!"

Hiccup sits down next to her as the other riders stand in a circle around her. "Hey! It's okay, it's okay just try to relax Astrid, you had a tough night."

"No no no no, you don't understand, they were all in cages… and they have Stormfly!"

"Whoa whoah whoah whoah, wait slow down, …cages? What are you talking about? What happened out there?"

Astrid stares at Hiccup in shock. "Dragon Hunters," she whispers.

"Dragon Hunters?" Everyone looks at each other.

"A whole fleet of them."

"And they have Stormfly?" Hiccup asks hoping he misheard.

"Yeah, there was this small one just staring at me. And this big, ugly one, oh when I get my hands on him."

"And welcome back Astrid," Fishlegs mumbles.

Astrid jumps out of the bed and starts running for the ladder. "C'mon, let's mount up... Stormfly!" She suddenly realizes the reason why they need to mount.

Hiccup walks up to her and puts a hand on her arm. "You can ride with me!"

Astrid turns and smiles at Hiccup.

They decide to first search the beach Stormfly was captured for any clues the Hunters might of left behind.

They dig through all the stray cages, arrows, and crates.

"There has to be some clues here or somewhere, something." Astrid looks as if she is on the brink of tears or hurting someone.

"How many cages were there?" Hiccup walks up closer to Astrid hoping to calm her down slightly. Since if Astrid lost in the other riders would not be far behind.

Astrid looks up at Hiccup. "Remember all the cages we saw on Reaper?"

"Yeah?" Hiccup could already tell he was going to dislike her answer.

"Double it."

"We got nothing," Tuffnut shouts from the other side of the beach where he and Ruff are.

"I knew coming here was bad idea, what do you want to find anyway?" Snotlout stomps his foot in frustration right onto a Dragon Hunters arrow and lets out a scream. "Ow! Something bit me! I'm allergic to sand crabs, they make my toes fan out, ow, ow ow ow ow." Astrid rushes over to look at Snotlout's foot. "Woho hough, oh look at you, rushed right over to help me, didn't you? You know what that means Astrid."

Astrid yanks out the arrowhead causing Snotlout to scream again. She turns to Hiccup holding up the arrowhead. "This is Dragon Hunter arrow."

Snotlout lets out a sigh as he stands straight again. "Or... that."

Astrid walks over to Hiccup so he can observe the arrowhead. "Stormfly was hit by one of these before she was caught, I've never seen her act so out of control."

Fishlegs walks over to them and Astrid gives him the arrowhead. "Interesting…" he smells the arrowhead, "…unexpected…" he then licks the arrow head, "…mmhm tangy."

Hiccup and Astrid look at Fishlegs slightly disgusted and slightly confused. "Mind cluing us in on what tangy and unexpected mean?" Hiccup asks.

"I'm guessing it's refined dragon root, I've heard that in high concentrations, it can overwhelm a dragon's senses to completely, making it almost impossible to them to fly."

Astrid's eyes widen. "That's exactly what happened to Stormfly."

"Think of it, just one quiver of these arrows could decimate an entire flock of dragons."

"How are we gonna find her? We have no idea where they're going." Astrid asks worried her face showing the clear fear of losing her dragon.

Hiccup thinks for a second. "Maybe not, but we do know where they've been."

At the Reaper

"There's nothing here!" Astrid yells as she and Hiccup stand with in the captain quarters.

"Just keep looking. We'll find something." Hiccup reassures Astrid.

"What if we don't? What if we can't track them down? Hiccup, I'm-" Astrid starts, but Hiccup interrupts her.

"I know. I know. But we have to stay positive."

"I'm trying. But you didn't see Ryker. He actually enjoys hunting and caging dragons. And he has mine!" She throws her axe in anger at the shield that hangs on the wall.

"We're gonna find her, Astrid, and the other dragons, too. I promise." Hiccup places his hand on Astrid's arm.

"Hiccup, I don't know what I would do without Stormfly."

"Don't worry. We'll get her back. Now let's go see if the other guys found anything."

As they are about to leave Astrid pulls her axe out of the shield causing something to fall off of it. When Hiccup bends down to pick it up he immediately recognizes it. "Dragon Eye lens."

Toothless tries to light the dragon eye, but it only gives off a faint glow just like with the other dragons.

Hiccup stands up and walks closer to the others. "Well, none of our dragons work with this new lens."

"If we can't figure out what kind of dragon, we need..." Astrid starts saying upset.

"I know. I'm thinking," Hiccup says as he starts to pace the room.

Tuffnut walks over to the shield on the wall with a frown on his face. "Hm. Yep. It's either the inside of a yak, or a Changewing in a cage."

Fishlegs is about to say something but Hiccup speaks first. "Tuff! You're a genius!"

"I'm actually a "geologenius". That's a geologist who's also a genius," Tuffnut states looking immensely proud of himself.

"Looks like we're going to Changewing Island."

Later that day

"Would you just hold still, Snotlout?" Hiccup says to Snotlout who is squirming on the stool that he is sitting on.

After going to Changewing Island to get changewing acid. Tuffnut had somehow managed to catch a Changewing. Unfortunately that said changewing spit acid all over Snotlout helmet which led to this very moment here.

"Easy for you to say," Snotlout growls, "You don't have Changewing acid burning through your skull."

"If we take off the helmet, we'll spill the acid. Now hold still." Astrid helps Hiccup make sure Snotlout stays still as Fishlegs is observing the projection.

Fishlegs lets out a sigh. "This doesn't help. We've seen this map before."

"It must be a hunter port. And it's the closest to the beach where Stormfly was captured. Odds are, that's where they're headed. After that, who knows where?"

"Then we have to hurry!" Astrid says as she hurries to go find the twins.

"Yes, please. Let's hurry!" Snotlout takes off his helmet and throws it onto the ground.

"Uh, but how are we going to avoid getting shot with those dragon root arrows?" Fishlegs asks.

Hiccup starts to chuckle. "Funny you should ask, Fishlegs. For my plan to work, someone's gonna have to get shot."

Fishlegs face pales with worry.

Astrid

The gang finally find the Dragon Hunters. Astrid shouts down at them, "I'm here for my dragon!"

"A Night Fury!" Ryker's eyes light up and he lets out a chuckle. "Fire!"

Snotlout yells as arrows start flying past them. "Hookfang! Whoa, whoa. Is that all you got? Oh, no! Whoa. How 'bout a little heads-up, Hookfang?"

"There he is!" A dragon hunter points at them and Toothless before more arrows start shooting at them narrowly missing.

"You are sure your plan's gonna work? That was pretty close." Astrid asks as they were almost hit by an arrow yet again.

"Fishlegs! You're up!" Hiccup yells at Fishlegs, but soft enough that none of the Hunters could hear him.

Fishlegs leans forward and pats Meatlug's head. "Okay, girl, let's give it all we got." They fly forward until they get hit by an arrow. "Oh, Thor! We're hit! We're hit!"

"They got Fishlegs and Meatlug!" Astrid calls to all the riders as Meatlug and Fishleg hit the deck of the ship and a net goes over them.

Fishlegs

"Get up, girl! Oh, please! You'll be okay! You monster!" Fishlegs tries to struggle against the hunters as the grab onto him.

Ryker gestures to Fishlegs and Meatlug as the Hunters had towards a hatch. "Take 'em below and toss 'em in a cell!"

"Meatlug! Can you hear me? Oh, stay with me, girl! Get off me! Get off me!" Fishlegs continues to fake struggle as they are practically dragged across the deck.

Ryker continues to ignore Fishlegs and his focus is still totally on the dragons still in the air. "What I could get for that Night Fury?"

Inside

"Please, help us. There was dragon root on that arrow. Look what it's doing to her," Fishlegs pleads to the hunter who opens up the cell door.

"In you go." The hunter shoves them into the cell before closing, locking it, and leaving.

Fishlegs sees Stomrfly in the cell across from him. "Just try to be still. We'll be all right."

A Hunter walks into the room to make sure Fishlegs does not escape. "Help us. Please, I think she stopped breathing." When the guard ignores him, Fishlegs lets out a sigh, "You think your boss is gonna want his new dragon to die? And on your watch!"

The dragon hunter opens the gate but is quickly taken down by Meatlug. Another hunter comes in after hearing the commotion. Stormfly shoots her spines and pins him to the wall

"Hey!" The dragon hunter exclaims.

Fishlegs walks up to the hunter tapping his finger on a spine. "I wouldn't make a sound if I were you. Stormfly can shoot a flea off a yak's tail from 20 yards."

Suddenly Fishlegs felt something metallic touch his throat and the hunter against the wall goes pale. A deep raspy sounding whisper fills his ear, "And I wouldn't move if I were you. Right now I can kill you with a flick of my wrist. Tell the two dragons to stand down."

Astrid

"Fire!" A dragon hunter yells, and more arrows shot up towards the sky

"Look out!" Hiccup yells and Toothless dodges the arrows, but the force of one of them turns causing Astrid to slip off. "Hang on, Astrid!"

"Hiccup!" Astrid calls out to Hiccup.

"Come on, bud, dive!" Hiccup and Toothless dive towards Astrid. "Grab my hand!" Suddenly a chain shoots towards them and wraps around Astrid. "Astrid! No!"

Astrid hits the deck and immediately hunters surround her. Keeping her arms locked behind her back. "Hey! Come on! Let me go! Let go of me!"

"Oh, feisty one, aren't you? I like her spirit. Throw her in a cell," Ryker barks at a few hunters.

"You're gonna be sorry! You're messing with the wrong Vikings." Astrid continues to struggle against the hunters' grasps.

"Well, so are you."

Just then Stormfly and Meatlug come running out from below, but Fishlegs is no where to be seen.

"Stormfly!" Astrid yells.

"Now!" Hiccup and the rest of the riders dive down to get everyone out.

"Fire," Ryker orders. Meatlug and Stormfly are immediately caught.

Hiccup stares shocked. "It didn't work." He shakes his head to focus again. "Evasive action! Now!"

Barf and Belch get hit by a arrow and start tumbling towards the water.

"Not good!" Tuff exclaims.

"Getting worse!" Ruff yells.

"We're going down!" They yell as they plummet into the water and a net scoops them up.

An arrow pierces Hookfang's scales and they start to fall. "We're hit! Whoa! Hookfang! Help!"

Toothless catches Hookfang by the tail and they start to fly away.

"Your pathetic tricks won't work on me. I'm a Dragon Hunter! I know that Gronckles are immune to dragon root," Ryker shouts with a chuckle. "I used your worthless escape plan to lure your friends in closer."

Hiccup stares down at the ship trying to figure a way to get everyone out. "Hiccup! We need to leave!" Snotlout shouts.

"Whoa!" Hiccup manages to dodge an arrow that hand reached their distance.

"Hiccup!"

Hiccup shakes his head before looking back at the gang. "Get us outta here, bud."

A few minutes later

As the riders enter the hull of the ship Astrid sees the armored hunter leaning against a post in the hallway. They are sharpening what looks like an already very sharp dagger. Astrid then notices that in the cell across from them is a very scared looking Fishlegs. They are probably the reason that the plan went haywire. They stand up and unlock the cell as the hunters pushes the riders inside.

"Where are our dragons? What did you do to them?" Astrid yells at Ryker as the door comes banging down.

"Oh, if I were you, I'd worry about yourself." He nods to the armored hunter. "Admiral, you are needed on deck."

They nod before leaving, but at that same moment Heather walks in front of the cage.

"Heather?" Astrid asks slightly confused.

Heather looks over at the riders in surprise.

"Run!" Astrid shouts at her.

"Surprise!" Dagur appears right besides Heather. "Did ya miss me? Of course you did! Oh! Do you know my sister?" He points at Heather. "Wait a minute, sure you do! You guys were little pals and buddy buddies." He laughs wrapping an arm around Heather.

Heather looks at him before saying, "Hey, family is family."

Astrid looks at Heather astonished. "I can't believe this, Heather."

Heather shrugs as she walks and places her hand on the cage door. "I know it's not Dragon's Edge, but it'll have to do. Enjoy your new home, Astrid. You're gonna be here a while."

Then Heather and Dagur turn and leave in the direction that Ryker went.

A/N: I hoped you all liked. Please leave any comments for any errors you see. Or if there is anything you see that does not make sense.

I was just wondering if anyone thought this chapter was too long. If so, please comment. I never liked long chapters so I may end up just splitting future chapters in half so that they are shorter.

Just to prevent any future confusion. The armored hunter will be referred to as THEY until it is revealed what gender they are and then it will say their real gender but only in the armored hunter's and the people who know's points of view. Same with there name.

Next Chapter: Dragon Hunters (Night of the Hunters Part 2) Riders, Dagur, and the Armored Hunter