Chapter 2: Dragon Hunters (Night of the Hunters Part 2) Riders, Dagur, and the Armored Hunter
(Astrid)
Fishlegs paces back and forth across the cell. "Dagur is here and Heather is with him? I don't believe it."
"Trusting her turned out to be a big mistake," Astrid mumbles shaking her head as she lays against the wall.
"Yeah, who puts loyalty to their brother ahead of loyalty to their friends? Yeah right?" Ruffnut rolls her eyes before looking at her brother.
"I heard that, sister!" Tuffnut exclaims totally missing what Ruff just said.
"The bigger question is who are these Dragon Hunters and what do they want with us?" Astrid pushes herself off the wall just as Heather and two hunters appear in front of the cell.
"You're about to find out," Heather says as she a Dragon Hunter unlocks the cell and Heather walks in. "Ryker wants to have a little chat with you." She pushes Astrid out of the cell and down the hallway.
"You're lucky these guards are here, or I'd take your head off," Astrid growls back at Heather.
"You'd try." Heather continues pushing Astrid down the hallway as a Dragon Hunter closes the cell door.
"After everything we did for you, took you in, taught you to ride, saved your life more than once."
"And I thank you for all of that, but I have to follow my destiny."
"Betraying your friends and joining these Dragon Hunter scum?"
"Hey. You don't know what it's like to be truly alone, Astrid. Dagur is my brother. I trust him with my life."
"You'll regret that. Believe me."
"Hm. Well, your concern is touching, but if I were you, I'd be more worried about myself." When they arrive at a door Heather steps to the side of Astrid and knocks on the door.
"Come." Ryker's voice sounds from behind the door.
Heather turns towards Astrid. "Ryker wants information, and he can be very persuasive."
A dragon hunter opens the door and Heather pushes Astrid through it. Inside the room Ryker sits at a table a chair across from him. Dagur stands to the left of him and once Astrid sits down in the chair Heather stands to the right. Astrid also notices that the Armored Hunter sits off in the corner of the room. Their focus on her as she entered, but quickly changed back to something in their hands.
(Hiccup)
Hiccup sits up in a stretch from where he lays on the beach next to Toothless. "Morning, bud.
Hey, Snotlout. You up?"
"Yes," Snotlout groans. "Somebody snores." Hookfang blasts a puff of fire at Snotlout. "Hookfang!"
Toothless walks over to Snotlout and drops two fish into his hands.
"Great. I am starving. We'll cook these up and…" just as Snotlout was going to stand up to build a fire Hookfang grabs one and eats it. "Okay. Okay, all right. Okay." Hookfang grabs the other fish and holds it in his mouth. "No. Stop it. Hey! Hey! Gimme that!"
"Looks like somebody's feeling better," Hiccup chuckles as he watches Snotlout's and Hookfang's antics.
"Stop that! Stop!" Snotlout continues jumping trying to reach the fish when he notices that Hiccup is looking at a map he has pulled out. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to figure out where the Dragon Hunters are headed." Hiccup marks where they faced the Dragon Hunters and the beach where Stormfly was captured.
"That's a bad idea. Even if we find them, they have those "one shot and you drop" poison arrows. What do we do then?"
"Well, I have no idea." Hiccup was not quite sure what they would do when they ran into the Dragon Hunters, but he knew they could not let the rest of the gang stay prisoners.
"I gotta be honest. That's not the answer I was hoping for." Hookfang puffs a blast of fire at Snotlout. "Hookfang! Okay, we always knew this could happen. The day has come. Hiccup's gone dry. It's up to Snotfang to come up with a plan. Just squeeze some brilliance out of this thick beautiful skull."
"I've got it!" Hiccup knew exactly what they were going to do. Though he knew it was probably for the best to not tell Snotlout till they got where they needed to go. "Come on, Snotlout, we've got some hard riding to do."
(Fishlegs)
"Astrid, are you okay?" Fishlegs asks as a pair of hunters shove Astrid back into the cell.
"Just tired. They questioned me all night. Wouldn't let me sleep," Astrid replies her voice lacking all emotion.
"They?" Fishlegs asks.
"Dagur and Heather mostly. That Ryker guy and Armored Hunter don't say much. Ryker just stared. And the Armored Hunter just sat there for the majority of the time," Astrid says as she leans up against a wall.
"Yeah, but you hung tough. You didn't crack. You never talked. Way to go, Astrid," Ruffnut remarks angrily from where she lays on the ground.
"Actually, I did talk," Astrid states.
Ruffnut looks at Astrid with surprise. "Oh. Way to go, Astrid."
"I told Ryker what he wanted to know. The location of the Dragon Eye."
"They're after the Dragon Eye?" Fishlegs asks as he turns back to the riders.
"It's very important to the Dragon Hunters. They've been looking for it for a long time," Astrid emphasizes speaking in a bored sort of tone.
"And where did you tell them it was, looselips?" Ruffnut mumbles glaring at Astrid.
"Back at Dragon's Edge where it's being guarded by all the other riders we left behind," Astrid continues in her monotonous voice.
"What? No one's…" Tuffnut starts but Astrid quickly puts her hand over his mouth cutting him off.
"Supposed to know about it. I know." Astrid leans looking to see if any of the hunters say what happened.
Fishlegs suddenly realizes what Astrid is trying to do. "Yeah, Dragon's Edge is like a fortress. Lots of Dragon Riders."
"Under the command of 'Captain Gustav'," Astrid continues giving Fishlegs an appreciative look.
"Wait. 'Captain Gustav'? He outranks me?" Tuffnut questions.
Astrid turns back to the group once she is sure no one is in the hallway. "Only thing I could think of to keep them from sailing in and taking over Dragon's Edge," Astrid whispers.
"Ha! And they bought it?" Ruffnut laughs.
"For now. But eventually, Ryker will send someone down there to check it out."
"You bought us time," Fishlegs points out happy for at least a little time to come up with a plan.
"Exactly. We need to get out of here before they find out I was bluffing. Any ideas?" Astrid asks and they all start to think of ideas.
(Hiccup)
"Is that the island we're going to?" Snotlout points to the island that is below them to the left as they pass over it.
"No," Hiccup replies while still scouring the horizon. He knew that had to be getting close to it.
"How about that one?" Snotlout asks pointing to an island on the other side of them.
"Also no," Hiccup replies still looking forward. He was starting to get annoyed with Snotlout. He had been asking Hiccup for the last hour if an island they passed was the one they were going to.
"That one?"
"For the last time…" Hiccup turns around to look at Snotlout, but then he sees the island and realizes that indeed is the island they are going to. "Oh, yeah, that's exactly the one. My bad."
Snotlout peers down at it as they start to fly down towards it, his eyes suddenly goes wide. "Hiccup, I recognize these holes. Why didn't you tell me we were going to an island of Whispering Deaths?"
"Because I knew you would react exactly like this. Besides, this isn't an island full of Whispering Deaths. Somebody else lives here, too." Hiccup watches as a lard white worm like dragon appears out of one of the many holes that cover the island and flies around surveying the landscape.
"Oh, the Screaming Death? Why don't we wave him over and have him kill us?" Snotlout yells at Hiccup.
"Would you just relax? When he gets closer, he'll recognize us and calm down," Hiccup says as he looks at Snotlout before turning back around. "I hope," he mutters under his breath hoping Snotlout does not hear. Since the only way this plan may turn out as he hopes is if Snotlout does not freak out.
"Come on out to Screaming Death Island. We'll have a few laughs. Get killed. Worst plan ever. This guy hates us. Let's get out of here. Have you forgotten?"
"We reunited him with his mother," Hiccup says looking back at Snotlout just as the Screaming Death takes notice of them and comes zooming towards them.
"No, but it looks like he has," Snotlout screams catching Hiccup's attention who immediately sees they very angry looking dragon.
Hiccup and Snotlout start flying away from the island. "Come on, bud. Faster!"
"Or maybe he does remember what we did, and he just has a lousy relationship with his mom?"
"Head for those clouds. As soon as we enter, bank right," Hiccup shouts ignoring Snotlout's comment.
"The plan is, wait till he tires himself out then head home, right?"
"Nope. We're going back down there. There's something in those tunnels we need."
"Why can't you ever say yes?" Snotlout moans as the watch the Screaming Death enter the clouds looking for them.
(Ruffnut)
"Got it," Fishlegs says as he straights up from where he was sitting.
"How about this? We set our cell on fire and…" Tuffnut starts, but Fishlegs looks at him horrified.
"Uh, no!" Fishlegs moans worryingly.
"I have an idea, we…" Ruffnut starts she had a grand idea that was forming in her mind.
"How about psychological warfare? We learn our guards' names. Get them to like us, and then eventually they'll lower their guard and…" Fishlegs says happy with his idea.
"Boring," Tuffnut groans.
"What if…" Ruffnut started again. She just knew this would be an amazing idea if someone just let her say it.
"Acid!" Tuffnut suggests.
"Okay, fine. Shutting down the Ruffnut idea farm. No milk served here." Ruffnut had a great idea, but no one was listening to her. So she knew she would just have to do it on her own and prove that her idea was the best.
"But the Tuffnut idea farm has a mighty fine harvest. We use acid to cut through the bars!" Tuffnut states clearly not realizing she had an idea which showed at least they were not completely ignoring her.
"And where do we get the acid?" Astrid asks looking at Tuffnut bewildered.
"I'm still working that out," Tuffnut says as he sits back down to figure that out.
Suddenly the Armored Hunter appears right outside the cell making them all jump. "Ryker wants to see you."
"Me?" Fishlegs asks shaking slightly.
"No, all of you." Then they step back as the hunters unlock the cell and usher them out.
(Dagur)
"I am Ryker. This is my ship. You are my prisoners. And your dragons are now my dragons," Ryker says as he stands in front of the riders and three hunters. Heather stands on the other side of Ryker while he stands to the left of him. The Armored Hunter is behind the hunters just tailing the group.
"And how they get treated is entirely up to you," Dagur says in his joyful excited tone that he has grown to love.
They arrive at one if the cells holding the dragons. Dagur thinks for a second trying to figure out which dragon this was, but one of the riders spoke up once they say the dragon.
"Meatlug!" Fishlegs cried out and tried to run to his dragon, but the Armored Hunter pulled him back.
"This Gronckle is being very helpful," Ryker says gesturing to the dragon who is being feed rocks to make Gronckle Iron.
"Her name is Meatlug," Fishlegs growls.
"I don't care. All I care is that it makes me metal, all day and all night."
Dagur notices that the Armored Hunter seemed to shrink away from the group. As if they were frowning, but if their body portrayed it unlike their face. Which would make sense if they spent more time with their mask on they would have to come up with a way to express emotions not through the face. Though as the group starts walking again they took their normal posture back up acting as all was normal.
They made their way to the next cell housing a dragon. This time it was Astrid's Deadly Nadder.
A hunter pokes the Deadly Nadder in the side causing it to shake a spine at the wall which Ryker pulls out and looks at. "Hm, perfect. Razor sharp tips for our spears and ballistas."
"You can't do that to her," Astrid cries out at Ryker struggling against a Hunter's grip on her.
"Oh, I can. And I will."
Dagur notices yet again the Armored Hunter switched postures shrinking away from the group. Then once the group starts walking acting as if all was okay.
"Poor Barf and Belch. What torture are they enduring?" Dagur hears once of the twins say.
"I can't look. Because my hands are over my eyes," The other twin replies as the stop walking covering their eyes, but the Armored Hunter pushes them forward making them keep walking. When they finally open their eyes they see their dragon having oil being rubbed on them while they eat fish. "Well, this is more like it. Someone recognizes quality."
"He likes the fish," a random hunter states before going back to what they were doing.
The girl twin, Ruffnut, lended over to the hunter. "Hey, rub me down with some of that grease. I'm feeling dry,"she says before a hunter pulls her back.
"This hide'll fetch top prices in the Northern Markets," Ryker remarks with a sadistic smile.
Dagur sees the Armored Hunter's eyes widen at this. They stand up talk and seem to be almost disgusted by Ryker. Yet it is hard to tell with all the armor.
"Sure. It's soft and supple, the color... Oh, the col- Wait. What?" Tuffnut exclaims are he probably realized his dragon was going to be killed.
"Ooh, Zippleback boots. I always wanted a pair," Dagur says but not nearly with as much flair as he wanted.
He then notices the Armored Hunter turn their gaze to him before shaking their head and slipping away from the group.
His attention turns back to Ryker when Ryker starts speaking again. "This is what faces all your dragons. Of course, they could get better treatment.
"Don't just leave me hanging. How?" Ruffnut asks Ryker.
"Start giving me some real answers! Tell me what you know about the Dragon Eye. Exactly how many riders guard your base?" Ryker barks at the riders, but they just shake their heads and look away. "Very well. Keep fattening this one up. More to sell."
Ruffnut runs up to one of the guards and grabs onto him. "Please! Please, don't hurt our dragon. I'll do anything."
"Then tell me what I want to know."
"Come on. Ruff. Stop. Thorstons don't beg. Except for food, or money, or housing. Or any other thing that we need," Tuffnut says before shrugging. "Hmm, you know what? This isn't a good argument."
"You want to save your dragon? Then give me some information."
"No, never!" Ruffnut pushes herself off the bewildered looking hunter. "Huh? Sorry. Lost my head there for a second." She fixed her helmet before going to stand by her brother again.
"Interesting. Something you and your dragon may soon have in common. Get them out of my sight," Ryker demands before leaving the room letting Dagur go do whatever he like for a bit.
(Snotlout)
Snotlout looked back through the tunnel trying to spy if the Screaming Death was still after them. "Did the Screaming Death look even bigger to you?"
"That's what I was counting on," Hiccup says as he is scouring the ground.
"Oh, really? Thanks for letting me know."
"Because if he grew that means he had to molt. And if he shed his skin, there should be old scales around here somewhere. Like those!" Hiccup and Toothless fly over and land next to a pile of while scales.
"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, I think your thinking is the worst plan ever."
"Well, I disagree."
"I stand corrected. There was that whole 'let Meatlug get captured' idea. That was genius. Really brilliant. A work of art," Snotlout says sarcastically.
"Come on. Let's get to work. We probably have an hour or two before the Screaming Death…" just Hiccup turns around the Screaming Death appears in the tunnel.
"Hiccup, stop acting like you're friends. You don't know this dragon and he clearly doesn't know you."
"Toothless and I will draw his fire. You try to make it outta here with as many scales as you can carry."
"Hiccup?"
"No, don't even say it."
"We're gonna die."
Suddenly the Screaming Death's mother appears in the tunnel flying between them and the Screaming Death. The Whispering Death roars at the Screaming Death who turns around and flies away.
"What just happened? Did we die?"
"No. The Screaming Death didn't remember us, but it looks like his mother did. Okay, we're good. Now get those scales together, fast!"
(Astrid)
Astrid peers though the cell watching as a guard passes by their cell. She turns back towards the others who are talking about tunnels or something like that. She had been trying to ignore their random talk and focus on get them out of there. "Listen up. I've memorized the guards' schedules and I have a plan. But we need a way to get this door open first."
"You mean like this key I stole from the guard?" Ruffnut says holding up a key from where she sits in the back corner.
"Wait. But, how did you..." Astrid starts.
"When I was 'begging' for our dragons lives I took the key out of the hunter's pocket. Everyone was so distracted no one noticed. You guys should try listening to me every now and again. Ruffnut idea farm. Back in business."
Astrid takes the key from Ruffnut. "All right. As soon as I take out the guards, we split up and get our dragons. Then we blast our way outta here."
"Okay, and go where?" Tuffnut questions.
"Straight up. Out of the range of those arrows." Astrid turns and unlocks the cell before waving her arm out to get the passing hunter's attention. "Guard! Guard! I can't take it. I want to save my dragon. I'll tell Ryker what he wants to know." Once the hunter steps in front of the cell she swings the door out knocking out the hunter before running off towards her dragon with the others following close behind her.
(The Armored Hunter)
The armored hunter watches as the riders left their cell and start to sneak around to free their dragons. They chuckle to themselves, 'if the riders were going to make a plan to escape, they should of made sure that someone was not standing and watching them.' The armored hunter had been standing in the corner of the hallway in the shadows for the last few hours.
Of all people, they knew looks could be deceiving. Ryker may think that the riders were nothing to worry about, but they had the feeling that Ryker would eventually regret underestimating the riders.
Though the armored hunter did think that they should give the riders a chance to escape. After all they were nothing but a fair player.
(Riders on boat)
(From within Meatlug's cell)
"Meatlug! Oh, I missed you too, girl." Fishlegs runs up and hugs the smiling groncle. "We're getting out of here. Just let me check on something first. Gronckle Iron, I knew it! They must have the formula. Hm, now what was that guy feeding you?"
(From within Stormfly's cell)
"Hey, girl. You didn't think I'd leave you here, did you?" Astrid runs up and hugs the Deadly Nadder before looking down at the chains. "Hm."
(From within Barf and Belch's cell)
"Barf, Belch. We are here to save you," Ruffnut says heroically.
"You heard her, you pampered lizard. We're here to rescue you, so let's go." Barf and Belch look at each other before going back to eating fish. "Looks like somebody forgot who the boss is."
"Yeah! Wait who's the boss?"
(The Armored Hunter)
They get to the number 180 in their head. 3 minutes enough of a head start to get their dragons and start to leave.
The Armored Hunter pushes aside part of the wall and pulls on a string that hangs inside. They can start to hear bells sound all over the ship. That wait as hunters run pass them before turning and head up to the deck. What came next was going to be very interesting.
(Riders on boat)
(From within Barf and Belch's cell.)
"Uh-oh," Tuffnut states when he hears the alarm start to ring through the boat.
"Come on! Come on! We're trying to save you." Ruffnut pulls on Belch's head trying to get them to move.
"You're gonna get us caught."
Two hunters appear in the doorway to the cell. "Hey, what are you guys up to?" Ruffnut says before the hunters grab the two of them.
(From within Meatlug's cell.)
"If I could just find out what the last ingredient was." Fishlegs digs through the barrels of rocks trying to figure out the final ingredient of Groncle Iron. He hears an alarm go off and a hunter appears behind him. "Oh."
(From within Stormfly's cell.)
Heather appears in the doorway. "You're not going anywhere, Astrid," she says as she uses her axe to close the door.
"Maybe not. But I'm really going to enjoy this." Astrid turns and holds up the one chain she had managed to get loose off of Stormfly.
"Oh, I doubt that."
(Dagur)
"Did I, or did I not warn you about them? They never quit. Annoying. Ryker, Rykey, Ryker-man. Can we please just work together on this? You know dragons. I know Dragon Riders." Dagur tries convincing Ryker if he got closer to Ryker maybe he would get more information about him and it would help Heather and him with their plan.
"And?" Ryker looks at him to see what Dagur thinks they should do.
"Send a message. Throw one over the side. It'll be so fun. Ooh." Dagur rubs his hands together in anticipation.
"An excellent idea. Unless, of course, you think the Dragon Hunter Chief might want to question them personally about the Dragon Eye. I have a better idea. Why not put them to work?" Heather suggests causing the Armored Hunter and Ryker to turn towards her.
"I'd prefer to go overboard," Tuffnut pipes up from where he stands with the rest of the captured riders on the deck below them.
"Uh-huh," his sister adds.
"Split them up so they can't plot any more escapes. And make them serve you, as their dragons do," Heather continues.
"That sounds like an excellent idea indeed, but I do see some flaws in it," the Armored Hunter adds as they turn to look off into the distance.
"No problem with going ahead with it. After all they are just dragon riders without dragons what could they possible do," Ryker states looking at the Armored Hunter before turning to some Hunters who stand behind the riders. "Put 'em to work! But the next one who tries to escape goes over the side." As the hunters take the riders away Ryker turns back towards Dagur. "Well, it's obvious who got the brains in your family, eh?"
Dagur lets out a half hearted laugh. "Oh, I get it, that's a…" he starts but then notices that Ryker and the Armored Hunter have both left. He turns to Heather. "What was that all about, sis?"
"I was protecting you, brother. From what I have heard about them, I doubt the Dragon Hunter Chief takes kindly to losing valuable property. If anything happens to the riders, let Ryker be on the hook for it, not you," Heather says looking at him with a look that says he should of know better.
"You are my sister, aren't you?" Dagur hugs Heather wondering how he managed to get such a good sister.
(Hiccup)
"That's amazing. You're almost done already. And Snotlout, your workmanship..." Hiccup says admiring the armor made out of the scales that Snotlout had been stitching together.
"My mother taught me everything I know."
"Well, if this works, remind me to thank her. All right, next step, find those Dragon Hunters."
(Astrid)
"Dragons sighted off the starboard bow. With riders! It's Hiccup and Snot-hat." Astrid looks up to see what the Dragon Hunter was talking about and she indeed sees Hookfang and Toothless flying towards them, but something is off about them.
"Stand by catapults. Archers at the ready. Wait till they're in range," Ryker commands the hunters on deck.
"Oh, look at! He's coming straight in! Suicide run! I-I didn't think he had it in him!" Dagur exclaims from the upper deck.
"The fool," Ryker shakes his head laughing.
"Hiccup is no fool. What is he up to?" Heather asks.
"Well, I'll be sure to ask him after I knock him out of the sky! Hunters, fire at will!"
"Oh, oh! Look!" Dagur exclaims when he sees an arrow hit Toothless, but then realizes the arrows bounce right off. "Uh, what is going on? They're wearing some sort of dragon armor!"
Realizing it was now time to get their dragons while the hunters were distracted she turns towards Tuffnut. "Now or never."
They run towards the hatch when she sees the Armored Hunter run up to Ryker who now stands at the bottom of the stairs to the upper deck. She pauses for a second trying to her what they were saying.
"If you don't let me. We will not be able to beat them," The Armored Hunter says.
"No, not yet. We need to save it for when we are closer to our big goal," Ryker replies and starts to walk away. Astrid quickly ducks below deck before she is spotted.
(Hiccup)
Hiccup sees Tuffnut and Astrid go below deck assumably to get their dragons and probably the other riders. As Toothless spins, Hiccup suddenly notices some of the armor fall off.
"He's lost some of his armor. We've got him now!" Someone cries out who looks a lot like Dagur.
"Men! Concentrate all fire on the Night Fury," Ryker calls to his men, but as the continue missing Toothless he grabs a bow from a nearby hunter. "Looks like I'll have to do this myself."
Just as he aims Astrid flies out with the rest of the riders from below deck causing Ryker to fall backwards and miss fire the arrow.
"I told you, you were messing with the wrong Viking," Astrid yells at him.
"Yeah! Whoa!" Ruff and Tuff both yell from Barf and Belch's back.
As they fly away Hiccup looks at the gang. "Did I see Dagur on that ship? Is he with the Dragon Hunters?"
"Not just Dagur!" Ruffnut says.
"Hiccup, we have a lot to talk about," Astrid says causing Hiccup to sigh since whatever news they had was not going to be good.
Fishlegs starts examining their dragons' armor. "Screaming Death armor? Yeah, makes sense. Thickest scales of any dragon. Though it looks heavy. Maybe we should try a set made out of Gronckle iron, now that I have the formula."
Hiccup smiles at least one thing good came out of them being captured, but it does not make up for the fact that now they have a new enemy. "Well, we might need to do just that. I'm pretty sure we've not seen the last of the Dragon Hunters."
(The Armored Hunter)
"Now what are we to do we are no closer to the dragon eye then before," Dagur grumbles from where they stand on the ship.
The Armored Hunter turns and grins at Dagur though no one would be able to see it. "Do not be so sure. I believe that we're one step closer to finally obtaining the Dragon Eye once more."
A/N: So those were the first two chapters I hope everyone liked it so far. The next chapter should clear up some confusion about the Armored Hunter and you will learn a little bit more about who they are.
I was writing this chapter and I was writing the Armored Hunter's character and I kept giving the facial expressions. It was not till I was rereading it to check for errors that I realized they have a mask thus meaning they cannot have facial expressions. So that was fun trying to figure out how a character could show emotions without facial expressions. I will probably have Dagur be the character who can decipher them the best.
This next chapter takes place during Snow Way Out, but it is what Dagur is doing during that episode.
