A/N: 'Ello! Guess who's back! Yes, it's me. And I'm glad to see that most of you also liked last chapter as much as I did!

Anyway, things are getting faster now!

Here's a nice long chapter 7! Enjoy!

This Time for Sure

Chapter 7: Hard to find, harder to kill

Stoick grunted as his sword met Ryker's with a loud clash for the umpteenth time. The Dragon Hunter growled, baring his teeth in fury. But the chief wasn't having any of it. This man had helped Viggo demand ransom after ransom, humiliating him, his son and the entire population of Berk. Enough was enough.

He and Astrid had been running down the tunnel towards where Stoick knew Hiccup was when the bastard Hunter had spotted them and attacked. They had been lucky that Astrid had been able to sneak past to get Hiccup, otherwise, they might not have got this far. But as it was, both warriors were slowly tiring, and Stoick prayed to the gods that Astrid and Hiccup would get here soon. He was nowhere near the point of giving up but he would be lying to say he couldn't use a hand. For now, though, he was on his own, fuelling his own anger as he remembered everything this man had done. The bounty, taking Berk's gold, trying to starve innocent people to force Hiccup's hand. No one, not one Hunter on this Thor-forsaken island, was going to compromise Berk's freedom anymore.

Stoick's sword seemed to swing towards Ryker's with increasing speed and vigour as pictures flashed through his head – all that suppressed anger and hate to everything the Hunters stood for. He understood why Hiccup had been adamant to fight these men – even if it did drag him to harm's way. But then again, when was he ever out of harm's way?

Speaking of the devil…

It was with a cry of anger that Stoick had never expected to hear coming from his son's mouth that Hiccup came up from behind and slammed the metal cuff around his wrist into the side of Ryker's head, watching him crumble to the ground and kicking him in the side with his awkwardly bent prosthetic leg for good measure.

"Son," Stoick breathed, his eyes flickering worriedly from the bruise forming on his check to the scab on his face to his bandaged shoulder to the bent prosthetic.

"Dad," Hiccup smiled, limping towards him.

"What have they done to you?" His hands rested on each of his son's shoulders, as he shook his head disbelievingly. "Oh I've missed you, Hiccup," Hiccup felt his father's arm flung around him in a tight hug, which quickly loosened after the air was squeezed out of his lungs.

"I've missed you too, dad," Hiccup said, smiling with relief until his features formed a determined frown. "Now we've got to get Toothless. There should be a spare leg in his saddlebag,"

"This way," Stoick pointed to the tunnel to their right.

"Right, let's go," Astrid agreed, speeding up to a jog. She stopped, however, when she realised Hiccup wasn't following.

"Um, guys?" Hiccup's voice was tentative and embarrassed as he pointed to his metal leg. By now, the metal was twisted so much that it was a wonder to Astrid that he had managed to walk on it.

"Right, sorry," Astrid mumbled, giving Hiccup an arm to lean on as they jogged down the tunnel.

They hadn't got more than a hundred metres, though, when voices from further down the tunnel echoed towards the trio.

"Great," Hiccup muttered sarcastically, hearing his father grunt in response too. Though he might have managed to walk around and even give Viggo a piece of his mind with his own sword, he was not looking forward to any fighting and running with a prosthetic that pinched his already bruising stump. The Hunters approaching, however, couldn't care less about that and raised their dragon-proof axes aggressively.

"Stay behind me," Astrid whispered, raising the sword she had stolen in preparation. She watched as Stoick tossed Hiccup a small flask of Changewing acid before he strode ahead of them offensively. "The minute we've got them distracted, you slip past and get Toothless,"

"But-" Hiccup began, but Astrid was not having any of his stubbornness.

"No buts. We'll be fine," She ordered, and Hiccup felt obliged to obey as he limped along. He raised the sword, ready to ward off any attacks. He had gained more than his fair share of injuries in the past week.

The start of the battle was announced with the clashing of metal as swords met axes and maces met blades. A Hunter took a step too close to Hiccup for his liking and received a blow from the flat side of his sword, body falling limp to the floor. But Hunters were closing in all sides and it was with considerable effort that he managed to stay balanced enough to weave his way out of the fight. He glanced at Astrid and Stoick as they both delivered blows to their assailants, wondering whether he should go or stay and fight. But a stern glance from Astrid told that if he didn't keep to her instructions, he'd pay the price later. After all, the sooner he had a fully-functioning prosthetic leg to balance with the sooner they could get out of these tunnels. And the quicker he found Toothless the quicker they could fly away from this island.

Hiccup backed away from the fight, his sword still raised in case any Hunter noticed him sneaking away. He would get Toothless back as well as his prosthetic leg so that he could fight properly and get them all out of here. But then his back hit something. Softer than a wall and warmer than any stone. His right foot knocked something else that felt like a foot and once again, all the blood seemed the drain from his face.

His fears were only confirmed when a large hand pulled the sword from his grip, grabbing what remained of his manacles and twisting his arms behind his back. Hiccup groaned in pain as his healing shoulder was strained before opening his mouth to call out to Astrid and Stoick. But another beefy hand slapped over his mouth, causing whatever words would have left his mouth to be muffled beyond comprehension.

"You're not going anywhere, young man," Ryker growled in his ear. Hiccup scrunched his face up in disgust as the man's bad breath reached his nose. "Don't think Viggo will let you run away without what he wants," Hiccup felt the Hunter pull a disgusting gag out of a pocket and stuff it into his mouth, using the hand he'd just freed up to draw the sword near Hiccup's neck.

"Stoick!" Ryker shouted, watching in delight as both the chief and Astrid froze as they noticed what had happened. "Throw your weapons to the ground or I kill the boy," Stoick's eyes seemed to darken with enraged fire and if looks could kill, Astrid's would have killed the Grimborn brother one thousand times over. Stoick watched as Hiccup squirmed and struggled, clearly trying to pull his wrists free from the man's iron grip. So many times he'd watched similar scenarios. Alvin, Dagur, Viggo and now Ryker as well. It hurt every time and every time he vowed to himself never to let it happen again. And every time it did.

Stoick's eyes never left his son, desperately trying to work out what to do. Surrender and let them all be locked away ready for more torture and ransoms, or try to fight their way out but risk Hiccup's life. The sight seemed to morph before his eyes, and every time he blinked he wasn't quite sure whether he was seeing a 15-year-old threatened by Alvin the Treacherous or a 19-year-old threatened by Ryker Grimborn. He shook his head, squeezing his eyes closed and opening them again to try to clear his vision, but red was starting to cloud his sight again.

"Throw our weapons? Oh, I'll throw my weapon, alright," And suddenly, fuelled by pure rage, indignance and a burning sense of protectiveness, he threw his sword towards the Dragon Hunter, who tried to pull Hiccup closer to his body as a human shield. But the Dragon Rider stabbed his bent prosthetic into Ryker's foot. The burly man howled and let go, stepping back right into the path of the sword. The sword embedded itself into the Hunter's shoulder as Hiccup fell forward onto all fours, having lost his balance the moment he was released from Ryker's grip. The Hunters that had been fighting the two other Berkians had all stopped to watch the scene in front of them and Astrid didn't hesitate to punch several of them on the head, knocking them unconscious as Stoick rushed to his son, helping to his feet.

Hiccup spat out the gag and panted, looking back angrily at the Hunter who stared at his bleeding shoulder in fury.

"Thanks," He panted, standing up straight. "Where's Toothless being kept?"

"I heard a Hunter say he was down that corridor down there," He pointed further down the dimly lit tunnel, but then glanced down the corridor in the other direction. "But Hiccup…" He trailed off and the Dragon Rider followed his gaze to see another army of Hunters approaching, armed to the teeth.

"We need to get out of here, and fast," Astrid said, stepping over the limp bodies of unconscious Hunters.

"But we can't just leave Toothless here! And I can barely walk with this thing!" Hiccup protested, gesturing to the leg that he could just about balance on.

"If we stay here, we'll get recaptured and then we're back to square one," Astrid countered.

"We need to regroup, find a place to rest. I can fix your leg and we'll get Toothless back, son, but Astrid's right," Added the chief, offering his arm for balance. Hiccup gripped the support tightly, looking torn for a moment, but when the Hunters went from walking towards them to running, he nodded sadly and the group ran out of the tunnel. Around the corner, the light streamed into the tunnel and with sighs of relieved, the trio stepped out into the open. Hiccup allowed himself to take a deep relaxing breath for a moment, the fresh air enforcing the exhilarating feeling of near-freedom.

"Now what?" Astrid questioned, glancing behind her at the Hunters about to emerge from the tunnel they'd just left.

"We head for the woods. Find a sheltered place to set up camp and regroup," Stoick replied, and the other two wordlessly obeyed, Hiccup still using his father's arm to help him keep up.

It was only once they had been walking through the forest for a while that they realised that the trees were so sparse that they would never find a spot sheltered enough to be relatively safe. The forest was a big place for the Hunters to search, but the minute any of Viggo's men happened to pass through the area, they would be sitting ducks with only a sword each and a flask of Changewing acid reserved for freeing Toothless.

The trio had tried to walk as quietly as possible, with Hiccup biting his lip to avoid moaning at the biting pain in his left leg and Astrid walking a few steps ahead to kick any twigs in their path out of the way. Which made the sudden sound of something snapping even more worrying. Hiccup, Astrid and Stoick all froze, looking beneath them for any sign of a branch they'd forgotten to clear. But there were none.

"Are they coming?" Astrid whispered, straining to hear the voices she thought she could just about make out, despite a little voice in her head telling her that it was her growing paranoia to blame.

"We need to hide, and fast," Hiccup replied, clearly having heard it too. They glanced around them for any sign of refuge. After a few moments, Astrid's eyes lit up with an idea as she jumped up to grab a low beach of a tree, pulling herself up and reaching down to grab Hiccup's hand. He smiled as he climbed up after her. "Great idea!" He said, then frowned to look back down at his dad, knowing he was too large to hide in the thin branches of the tree. "What about you, dad?"

"Oh, don't worry about me son. You two stay quiet up there," His father responded, running off to find his own place to hide. Hiccup looked up to see Astrid climb a little higher into the tree but then silence fell as they anxiously waited for the Hunters to pass. They exchanged glances as the Hunters' voices came even closer. Any sudden moves or noises and they were done for.

"We can't find them, Viggo, sir," One Hunter said not too far off. "We've been searching for an hour now. Maybe they're not in the forest anymore. What if they got off the island?"

"The Night Fury is still secure. They would never leave without the dragon even if they could. They're here somewhere. And when you find them, bring Hiccup straight to me. Though you can kill Astrid, we don't need her anymore," Viggo's voice was loud, and Hiccup looked down to see the cuts he had given him had now stopped bleeding. But the Grimborn brother looked furious. And the moment he heard Astrid's name, his eyes widened. The Hunter wasn't playing games anymore.

Hiccup looked up at his partner in battle, lips pursed just as hers were. The minute the Hunters were out of sight, they would need to leave the forest if they all wanted to get off the island safely. His gaze trailed back down to the ground beneath them where the Hunters were dispersing into smaller groups in search of them. Viggo watched them go, lingering almost as if he knew that the Riders were hiding in the tree several feet away.

The Grimborn moved closer, pacing thoughtfully with his hands behind his back. And as if the gods above had suddenly turned their backs on him, Hiccup felt his foot slowly slipping off the branch. He paled, sweat started to trickle down the back of his neck as he strained to regain his grip. Viggo was now directly beneath Hiccup. Any sort of slip would immediately alert him to his presence. He silently prayed to the gods as he tried desperately to adjust his balance. But it wasn't working. He was truly slipping. In a few seconds, his foot would fall and even if he managed to stay in the tree, the noise would have Viggo looking straight up at him. Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself as his foot inched closer to the edge of the branch.

But just as he lost his balance and he thought he'd gone and got them all recaptured and killed, two hands gripped the back of his armour and held him suspended. Hiccup suppressed a gasp as his legs dangled down from the branch. He heard Astrid grunt with effort ever so quietly and quickly regained his own footing, shooting her a grateful glance. Boy, was he indebted to her!

Hiccup couldn't thank Odin enough as Viggo finally walked away in the direction of the base and he let out the biggest sigh of relief. He glanced up to Astrid, who had started climbing down to his branch already.

"I think it's fair to say you saved us both just there," He mumbled as he let himself slide down the tree and sit against the trunk. Astrid landed on her feet in front of him.

"Yeah, I probably did. But Hiccup, we need to get out of this forest. You saw those Hunters, they've all split up in search of us. And if they find me…" Astrid replied, and for the first time in a while, Hiccup saw the fear for her own life in her eyes.

"Don't you worry about that, lass," Stoick's voice came from behind them as he approached. "I think I've found somewhere secluded enough to keep us safe." Hiccup smiled at him in relief as he got to his feet, gripped Astrid's supportive arm and followed Stoick through the trees. But his smile slowly fell as he realised they were approaching the centre of the island.

"Uh, dad, isn't it dangerous to be this close to their base?" Hiccup murmured, looking around them cautiously.

"Not when you have little caves like this," Was his father's response, gesturing to what appeared to be a burrow. Hiccup frowned, the shape of the hole appearing familiar.

"Wait, isn't that an abandoned whispering death hole?" He whispered and released Astrid's supportive grip to limp towards it, bending over and listening for any sign of life.

"Looks like it," Astrid agreed, peering down. The tunnel seemed to vertically drop for a few metres but then quickly levelled out in what appeared to be a fairly roomy cave with narrow tunnels running outwards from it.

"It's secluded, hard to get down to for Viggo's men, looks strong and lets in enough light from outside. I just so happened to stumble upon it while searching for a hiding spot," The chief said proudly, smiling at the Riders' approval. He was the first one to jump down into it, landing on his feet with a grunt and reaching up to help Hiccup and Astrid as they too jumped down. The ground beneath them felt firm and soft, and Hiccup quickly gave in to the temptation and lay down on it, gazing up at the sky as he welcomed the rest while Stoick busied himself with checking the cave.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked hesitantly, sitting beside the Dragon Rider and watching his face fall. "Are you alright?" Hiccup looked up to meet her gaze.

"Sort of. I just hope we can get Toothless back. Viggo knows we won't leave without him, who's to say that he won't move his entire army to outside his cage?"

"We'll think of a plan, I know we will. Viggo's been messing with the wrong Vikings and he's only just starting to see it. I think we've injured half of his army when we fought our way out anyway," Astrid countered, squeezing his hand encouragingly.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Hiccup mumbled, then fell silent again. But Astrid watched his nervous eyes and knew he was hiding something.

"Hiccup?"

"What?"

"There's something else," Astrid said, wondering how difficult Hiccup was going to make it.

"Is there?" Hiccup asked, eyes widening as he tried to look innocent and clueless.

"You know what I mean," Their gaze met and Astrid stared at him sternly. It took a few seconds, but finally, he sighed.

"Okay, okay," He mumbled. "It hurts,"

"Your shoulder?"

"Everything. My leg, my face, my ribs, my back…"

"Did Ryker beat you?"

"And Viggo. He tried to make me tell him who would likely be taking over as acting-chief back on Berk. I didn't talk," Hiccup mumbled, avoiding Astrid's gaze as he saw his father sit down beside him too out of the corner of his eye.

"Good on you, son," The chief said quietly, eyes downcast at the knowledge of what Hiccup had gone through. "Viggo should know that no Berkian has loose lips. I'm proud of you," Astrid watched as Hiccup nodded half-heartedly, his eyes shining with self-doubt.

"Hiccup," She said, holding his chin up with her hand so that he had to meet her gaze. "Your father's right. You did all you could to help Berk and Viggo and Ryker will pay," Hiccup stared into her sincere eyes and smiled a little and Astrid smiled too, knowing that was the most she would get when it came to Hiccup being confident with him being this tired. Her hand returned to his and her fingers trailed over the cruel metal cuffs and shattered chain that remained on Hiccup's wrist.

"Chief?" She said suddenly, her eyes lighting up with an idea. "Could you pass me the acid?" Stoick looked at her curiously but wordlessly did as she said. Hiccup also looked up in confusion, eyeing the bottle that would bring Toothless' freedom if all went to plan. It was when he saw Astrid unscrew the top that Hiccup's eyes widened with realisation.

"Astrid, no, that's for Toothless, you can't-" He started, sitting up in a panic.

"Hiccup," Astrid stopped him sharply, grabbing his wrist and pulling it closer to her. "It'll just take a drop," Hiccup calmed down slightly and watched as she let a little droplet of the substance fall onto the remains of the shackles. The corrosive acid fizzed onto the cuff, dribbling down the sides and thinning the metal. Astrid gripped his wrist tighter, positioning Stoick's dagger between the skin and the cuff and then pulling suddenly. The weakened metal snapped, leaving Hiccup to gape at his freed wrist.

"Other wrist," She said, letting go of the freed wrist and grabbing the other one, doing the same until what remained of the manacles were two broken pieces of metal on the dirt floor. Astrid smiled as she watched Hiccup's shocked expression slowly change into a grateful smile.

"Son, you need to sleep. We'll get Toothless in the morning," Stoick said, his smile just as broad as Astrid's at the sight of Hiccup's delight at freedom. The Dragon Rider opened his mouth to protest, but when Astrid pushed him back onto the ground, his eyes started to droop.

And he fell asleep as a free man, with Astrid running her thumb over his wrist to remind him.

A/N: Pff, that was the longest chapter so far! Let me know what you think in the reviews (I've said it before and I'll say it again: they really do make my day!) and I will see you again for the last chapter on Thursday (*sobs quietly in the corner* - it's honestly hard to believe that it's been a month since I started uploading this story!)

See ya!

~httydfangirl123

P.S.: I hope you guys catch the reference in the chapter title. Let me know if you do, 'cause I like knowing :)