A/N: Welcome back! Thank you to all the lovely reviews you guys have left me! I'm glad you guys like the story so far! A lot of you seem glad that there's finally a plan - though a few of you are doubting it, or even doubting Viggo's plan... we shall see what happens...

Anyway, chapter 5!

This Time for Sure

Chapter 5: A Spark on Cinders

Hiccup felt his heart sink even further into his stomach as he heard the ransom demand that he had known would come. It hurt nonetheless. He heard Berk roar in anger and wished he could join in. He wished he had the strength and the power to. But he didn't, and that feeling was yet another blow to the gut. His own father and dragon surrendering to save his scrawny, useless butt.

But he hadn't been able to help raising an eyebrow at the lack of surprise of his dad's face. Stoick didn't look surprised to hear his own name. He didn't look worried. He didn't look furious at the idea of being forced to leave Berk behind leaderless. Something had changed since the last ransom. There was a twinkle of new determination in his eyes. One that made Hiccup frown in confusion. How can he see any light in this situation? How is this situation anything but hopeless?

But this time, there was another tiny voice in his head. It was quiet, but just loud enough for him to hear.

What if Viggo isn't quite as far ahead as he thinks he is?

He watched Toothless' ferocious growls that would normally make Hunters cower in fear. But now, they simply laughed as they muzzled him. The feared Night Fury now in Viggo's clasp. Not to mention the chief of Berk.

He glanced at Viggo, who was watching as the gangway was pulled in and the ship's sails billowed in the wind once again. His smug smile was full of confidence. The Grimborn turned around to face him, eyebrow raised. Hiccup could almost hear his voice whispering in his ear. 'What is Berk without its heir? What are the Dragon Riders without their leader? Who is Stoick the Vast without his son?'

But then he saw his father being marched across the deck, his wrists chained just like his own. There was a look in his eyes like he had seen all of this coming; like he had thought all of it through; like he had a plan.

And then he winked. It was a brief gesture just before he disappeared below deck but it was enough. Another voice joined the party in the back of Hiccup's mind: his father's comforting voice. 'No one messes with a Haddock without paying the price.'

And so once he was the only prisoner left on deck and the Hunters unlocked his cage to release him from the chains, Hiccup let the corner of his mouth twitch upwards in what was the closest thing he had got to a smile in a week. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Viggo's beady eyes on him as Ryker replaced the gag and chains with manacles and Hiccup supposed he had seen his slight smile because his eyebrow raised in a look of curiosity. He immediately knew he would be getting an early visit to his cell in the very near future. Whatever it was that Hiccup was thinking, Viggo would want to know.

So it was to no surprise that the man later appeared on the other side of the dragon-proof cell gate with an expression that was no longer plastered in doubtless pride. Viggo studied Hiccup's face as he glared at his captor with a reignited defiance, one that had seemed lost for days. Again, the Grimborn's eyebrow raised.

"Your defiance amuses me, Hiccup. I thought you'd finally learnt your lesson when it comes to accepting defeat," Viggo mused, looking down at his own fingernails in nonchalance that Hiccup was able to see right through. He knew the game of Maces and Talons and what it did to a player's head. Confidence was a complex factor – one that could strike doubt into the opponent's heart. Viggo wanted to see the spark that Hiccup appeared to have gained put out.

Unfortunately for Viggo, a spark on cinders was enough to restart the fire.

Hiccup allowed himself to smirk, faking the same nonchalance with surprising ease. Fake it 'til you make it, he thought to himself wryly.

"Everyone knows not to mess with Stoick the Vast. Have you considered that you might have committed suicide with that ransom?" Hiccup replied.

"There is an exception to every rule," Viggo responded.

"That means that there is also an exception to that rule, which would mean that maybe some rules don't have any exceptions," The Dragon Rider shot back. He felt a refreshing sensation as the words left his mouth, a relief at seeing that he still had his quip and sass.

He watched Viggo frown and held his gaze as the Hunter thought. Hiccup could almost hear the cogs grinding in his opponent's mind. It gave him satisfaction to see that he had perplexed the one who had him chained up day after day like a thrall.

It was when Viggo left without saying anything else that Hiccup's mouth curved upwards into a proper smile. There was a sense of determination that filled him, and he started to realise how low he had sunk in his week of captivity. It was refreshing to feel an inkling of hope come back.

It was a regular Hunter that brought him his food and water that evening, leaving Hiccup to wonder why the Grimborn brothers hadn't managed to attend to him themselves. The possibility that it had something to do with what he had said to Viggo earlier gave him another burst of satisfaction. Of course, in the back of mind, there was still always the slight doubt that he would ever set foot on Berk or the Edge ever again. But as the sky darkened and Hiccup's mind started to sink into sleep's unconsciousness, he relished in the feeling of a little refound hope.

And just before his eyes slid shut, he could faintly hear the sound of Viggo and Ryker arguing.

For the first time in a week, his sleep wasn't plagued by nightmares.

The first thing Hiccup noticed when he woke up was that the ship was no longer swaying. Weird, he mused, we haven't docked on land for days. He moaned quietly as the light shone on his closed eyelids. It had been the best night's sleep he'd had in a while yet the morning still seemed to come too soon. But slowly, he forced himself to open his eyes and look at the ceiling of his cell. I think I'll be able to draw every detail of that ceiling by heart once I get out of here, he thought to himself sarcastically, smirking at his own little joke. It was better to laugh than to cry, after all.

The second thing Hiccup was noticed was the commotion outside his cell. The flow of Hunters walking back and forth carrying boxes and crates of all sorts was unrelenting. Even on the rare occasions that they had actually stopped at a Hunter base, they had never offloaded anything. It had just been a pit-stop. So what was different now?

The third thing Hiccup noticed was the fresh bandages on his shoulder. He frowned. Had the healer already come and gone? Had his sleep really been deep enough to sleep through that? And how had the healer managed to rebandage his shoulder while he was lying on his back?

His morning thoughts, however, were interrupted when Ryker opened his cell with a creak. Hiccup sat up quickly, relieved for a moment that it seemed he wouldn't have to endure the older Grimborn brother's taunting. But the grumpy-looking man wasn't holding any jugs or bread or chamber pot, causing Hiccup to frown again.

The Hunter strode right over to him, making Hiccup scared for a moment that he would get another beating like he had the first few mornings. But Ryker simply grabbed his arm roughly.

"Up you get," He growled, pulling the Dragon Rider upright. Hiccup tried not to lose his balance on his bent prosthetic leg as he obeyed. Other Hunters started to enter his cell as well, one of them holding a dragon-proof metal chain. Without even knowing what it was for, Hiccup found himself inwardly groaning. But out of all the painful things he had expected to happen, he hadn't expected the chain to be hooked onto his manacles, or for Ryker to pull on them and lead him out of the cell and into the corridor.

"Uh, where are we going?" Hiccup dared to ask as he was dragged past dozens of bustling soldiers. Ryker chuckled.

"Where do you think we're going? We've docked at our base,"

"Really? This is the first time you're letting me off the ship though." He commented as he tried to keep up enough that the pull on the chain didn't jolt his wounded shoulder. He was marched up the steps onto the deck, where the bright sunshine hit his unadjusted eyes with a burning sensation.

"Viggo thought your little island might want a bit more time to adjust to not having a chief," Ryker chuckled, not for a moment looking behind him at Hiccup. "Besides, we have what we want… for now," Hiccup didn't need to see his captor's face to know he was sneering. The tone of his voice was sign enough. And as he was led off the ship and onto the shore of the Hunter base, he found himself searching for any sign of Astrid and Stoick. Surely Viggo would offload them too, right? Maybe one of them managed to escape between cells?

"Your friends aren't here, they're already locked in a cell on the island. You're the last living thing to come off that ship so you can stop hoping for a rescue," Ryker glanced back at him, giving the chain an extra tug for the fun of it. Hiccup grunted at the jerking of his shoulder, but let himself smile a little at the implication that no harm had been done to Astrid or his father.

His moment of relief and joy, however, was cut off as he was led into a cave, not unlike the one he and the Riders had been imprisoned in when they had tried to sabotage the dragon auction. Hiccup frowned. This wasn't where he had expected to be led. It was so dark he could barely see where the next bend in the tunnel was. But eventually, as they trudged along in silence, what appeared to be hollowed out room caught Hiccup's attention with the light emanating from it. It didn't take long for them to approach the opening and the moment Hiccup saw what was in it, his heart sank, pulled back down into his stomach by fear.

Viggo sat at a wooden desk, lit with the golden glow from the torches welded to the wall either side of him. Across the room, however, a metal loop in the wall glinted in the light as did the weapons in the crate in the corner. Hiccup met Viggo's smug gaze with a scowl but was forced to look away when Ryker jerked the chain towards the loop in the wall. With it securely attached, the Hunter backed off, smirking. Hiccup turned around to face the younger Grimborn brother, glad that the chain was long enough to not have to strain to do so.

"What do you want?" He demanded, venom dripping off every word.

"My dear Hiccup, do you really think so lowly of yourself to not expect me to want to extract some knowledge out of that intelligent brain of yours? I thought you might like to have a little chat about the island you call home. Did you know that in islands much further south than here, the word 'Berk' means stupid? And yet it has managed to produce people like you. Doesn't quite make sense to me," Viggo stood up from the chair he had been sitting on, walking around the desk to approach him.

"I'm not telling you anything," Hiccup growled, eyes narrowing as the man across from him used their height difference to look down on him. All the Dragon Rider wanted was to punch the living yak dung out of the Hunter and he found himself pulling on the chain attached to his manacles in order to stand closer to him. The two were mere inches apart as they stared each other down, Hiccup's determination shining like fires in his eyes. He knew he'd done enough hurt to his people by ending up as this man's prisoner and letting Viggo force Berk's hand. He wasn't going to let loose lips inflict any more pain.

"You can leave now, brother," The Hunter ordered, his eyes never leaving those of the teenager before him.

"Aren't I even allowed to-" Ryker began to protest, clearly not wanting to miss any chance of hurting the boy and Hiccup momentarily broke his stare to glower at him too.

"Your urge for revenge would cloud your mind. Now is not the time for relentlessness. One of my men is on their way as we speak," Viggo dismissed his brother's objection, finally looking away from Hiccup. Ryker growled as he stormed out of the cave, huffing loudly. "In the meantime," Viggo continued, his gaze returning to Hiccup. "You might want to reconsider your adamance. If I can persuade Berk to hand over ransom after ransom and even get Stoick the Vast to come aboard willingly, I can persuade you to open that mouth of yours and start talking, rest assured." Hiccup felt a sharp kick to the back of the knees that sent him to the floor and he made an effort not to grunt in pain as the gravelly floor beneath him tore the skin of his knees open. By the time Hiccup lifted his head again, Viggo had sat smugly behind his desk again and a Hunter towered over him, an ugly smile on his face that filled his heart with dread.

"Do you know who is second in command on Berk?" Viggo asked, hands clasped together thoughtfully. "As heir of Berk, I suppose you must. It wouldn't even surprise me if you own that position yourself. I certainly wouldn't put it past you, you are a rather brilliant young man. But what I really want to know is, who is going to be acting chief now, hm? Someone has to lead your people," But Hiccup only pursed his lips into a thin line, glaring up at the man. What he hadn't expected to come so soon, however, was a harsh punch to the jaw from the Hunter. Hiccup cried out in surprise, lifting his shackled hands to touch what would soon become another big, blue bruise.

"Come on, Hiccup, don't make this more difficult than it has to be," Viggo's voice came from the other side of the room.

"Even if I did know, why would I tell you? Do you think I'm going to help you go back to Berk and take away whoever is brave enough to stand up against you?" Hiccup retorted, glaring through narrowed eyes.

"I don't think, I know," The Grimborn brother stated simply, nodding to the Hunter who seemed all too pleased to give Hiccup a good kick in the ribs. Hiccup groaned on impact, struggling to keep himself from collapsing to the ground completely. But then another kick came to his back, eliciting another pained yell.

"Hiccup Haddock, here I was thinking you were smart enough to open your mouth when you needed to. Unfortunately, it seems I've been proved wrong," Viggo's taunts just kept coming, as the Hunter launched three punches at Hiccup's chest. The Dragon Rider gasped, heaving desperately to fill his lungs with the air that had just been knocked out. But the moment he had enough breath the talk again, he looked up at Viggo.

"If you're so smart, work it out yourself," He panted, sounding a lot less confident than he hoped he would. But it was enough to make Viggo's sly grin fall away.

"I think you'll regret not talking when I gave you the chance," Was all he said, almost looking disappointed. Hiccup wasn't about to back down though.

"Do your worst," He growled, silently vowing that whatever pain or torture Viggo had planned, he'd endure it. He pushed himself up to his feet defiantly despite the throbbing that had already started all over his body.

"I really don't need your invitation to do that, dear Hiccup, but thank you," Viggo grinned, pausing as if savouring the look of pained determination on his enemy's face. Hiccup expected him to walk over to the box of weapons, maybe order the guard to start whipping him. That he had mentally prepared himself for. But he wasn't at all prepared for the words that left Viggo's mouth instead.

"Bring in the girl,"

And Hiccup felt the blood drain away from his face.

A/N: We're getting somewhere, no? Or not? I'll let you decide that for yourself...

Hope you're all keeping safe (because Hiccup certainly isn't!), and I shall see you again on Thursday!

~httydfangirl123