A/N: I have no idea what my schedule will be tomorrow, so I'm posting this a day early!
To everyone I told this fic wouldn't have any interaction between feral!Hiccup and the other Riders, forget I said that. Back when I was writing this story, I was getting tired of it and the time it was taking from stories I was posting at the time, so I threw the ending together. I was never fond of it and wanted to change it, and everyone's enjoyment of this story prompted me to fix the ending! So, you've all been amazingly helpful without even trying. 0w0
Response to Random Fan: Hiccup is going to have this hanging over his head for years to come. XD Panic. A whole lot of panic. I guess I'll see you when I see you (figuratively). Just stay away from cliffs, 'kay?
Heather was panting as she slowly lowered the blowgun from her mouth. Her eyes never left the unconscious form sprawled in front of the dragons.
Hiccup? Alone and riding Stormfly? Heather didn't see Stormfly's saddle, and none of the other Riders had shown up. Not to mention Hiccup's odd behavior!
Heather's intent had been to "accidentally" spook the flock of Nadders so they had plenty of time to flee, but Dagur's ship had come up too fast and the flock hadn't noticed Windshear as quickly as Heather had planned. After the first couple dragons fell, Heather had noticed Stormfly attacking the boat and left her station to help.
Before she could do anything, Stormfly had been hit with a dragon root arrow. Windshear had landed on the upper deck in time to see Hiccup launch himself at Dagur. It was so unlike Hiccup that it had taken everyone a moment to react. When Hiccup had continued to act so… wild, Heather had been forced to use her sleeping darts -souvenirs from a secret little island she'd discovered a few months back- before someone really got hurt.
After a silent moment passed, Heather shook off her shock and ran to the main deck. She joined Dagur, who was at a loss for words for once.
"What just happened?" Heather finally asked.
Dagur threw his arms up. "Ask Hiccup! I think he's spent a little too much time around dragons. He thinks he is one!" Dagur smirked.
"It might just be a ruse," Heather said, scanning the sky. "We should get moving before the others show up."
"Well, let them come!" Dagur yelled at the empty sky. "Their plan failed and now we have their precious leader!" Dagur swiveled on his heel, voice dropping to his normal -still yelling- tones. "Well, why are you just standing around? Get these dragons into the cages and get this ship moving! The rest of the fleet's waiting!"
The crew jumped into action and started moving the dragons. They all gave Hiccup a wide berth, eyeing him like he might leap up and attack them.
"I'll lock up Hiccup below," Heather offered, seeing that Dagur was still focused on the sky. "I'll let you know when he wakes up."
Dagur waved her off, uninterested in his "brother" just then. Heather shrugged and called to a Hunter.
"Lars number one, help me with him."
Lars number one, a quiet Hunter, joined Heather beside Hiccup. He grabbed Hiccup's legs, and Heather looped her hands under Hiccup's shoulders. When the pair picked up Hiccup, Heather wondered at the light weight of him.
"Careful," Heather said firmly. "Dagur doesn't want him hurt."
Dagur probably wouldn't have cared too much if Hiccup was jarred around a bit, but Heather sure did. And from the scratches on his arms and dried blood in his hair, Hiccup had already been through some ordeal.
"Last I saw Hiccup, he was here," Astrid said as the Riders landed outside the small cave. "I don't know which way Stormfly flew, though."
"We can assume that they continued heading west," Fishlegs said.
"What if they went a different way to throw us off?" Snotlout asked not-so-helpfully.
"Hiccup had to have been going west for a reason," Fishlegs answered. "And what's to the west?"
"Trees," Ruffnut supplied.
"Rocks," Tuffnut said.
"Grass."
"Hi-"
"The Edge Nadder roost!" Astrid realized.
"And here I thought our biggest concern was dragon boy trying to fly," Snotlout said.
Astrid had her axe out and pointed at Snotlout in one blurred motion. "Call him 'dragon boy' one more time, and I'm calling you dragon food!"
Snotlout made the wise decision of not responding. He quickly put some distance -and Hookfang- between him and Astrid.
"We don't have any time to waste," Fishlegs interrupted. "If Hiccup really is headed for the roost, we might have to rescue him from the Nadders."
"But… if Hiccup acts like a dragon, I really don't think the Nadders would attack him," Ruffnut said.
"Brilliant idea," Astrid said drily. "So next time we face an angry dragon, we should crawl on all fours and growl."
"Yeah, that didn't work so well for Ruff last time," Tuffnut said with a snicker.
"It might work," Fishlegs admitted while the Riders mounted. "If Hiccup didn't act like a threat and has Stormfly with him, the Edge Nadders might be curious enough to not hurt him."
"They've tried to hurt him in the past," Astrid argued.
"Yes, but Hiccup also didn't have time to get close without Toothless coming to defend him," Fishlegs said.
Toothless gave a warning growl.
"I'm not blaming you," Fishlegs hurried to add. "I'm just saying that they might respond better to another Nadder than an angry Night Fury."
Toothless grumbled and launched.
The Riders quickly reached the roost, which appeared to be abandoned. Toothless landed lightly on the stone wall, then crept to the edge.
"They probably went fishing," Astrid murmured, peering over the edge of the rock wall.
"Which means they'll be back-" Fishlegs broke off. He squinted, then pointed below. "Is that a… drawing?"
The Riders looked at what Fishlegs was pointing. It did look like a small drawing in the dirt. It held the vague shape of a dragon with two legs, wide-spread wings, and a spiky head.
"Hiccup was definitely here," Astrid deadpanned. "Who else would draw a Nadder in a Nadder roost?"
Toothless churred, pleased. He'd been so amused by Hiccup's drawing when they met that he had mimicked it. His little talent was sometimes put to use when he and Hiccup met new dragons, as the drawing amused dragons.
Roaring caught Toothless' attention. He jerked his head up to see the Nadder flock headed back to the roost.
"Uh, we'd better go now!" Fishlegs said.
Toothless agreed with the jumpy Viking. He tensed to leap into the sky, then paused when he realized what the flock was saying.
"Hunters!"
"Humans! Humans fight!"
"Where Nightrise?!"
Toothless planted his paws, and the other Riders' dragons did the same. The Riders cried out and ducked low as the flock approached, but were ignored. The panicked flock flew right over the group without noticing them.
Toothless scanned the flock for Stormfly and his Rider, but didn't catch sight of either. He turned his head back toward the open ocean, snarling when he saw the distant form of a Hunter ship.
"Well… there goes the flock," Astrid said, lifting herself up. She tensed. "And there's the hunters."
"You don't think Hiccup…" Fishlegs trailed off.
"Hiccup was definitely here," Astrid said, sighing. "And right in the head or not, Hiccup wouldn't leave dragons in distress."
Snotlout heaved a sigh, rolling his eyes to the sky. "Come on, let's go save dra- er, Hiccup and Stormfly from the Hunters."
"Let's put him in here," Heather said, indicating with her head the cell furthest from the stairs.
Lars number one nodded and helped carry Hiccup into the cell. They laid him on the floor near the bars, then left.
"Go back to moving the dragons," Heather ordered as she closed the cell door. "I'll watch him."
Lars number one nodded and moved away. Heather left briefly to grab a bucket of water and a rag, then returned to the cell.
She was startled to find Windshear crouched outside Stormfly's cell. Her dragon didn't usually like to be around the caged dragons, but seemed determined to keep Stormfly company while she recovered.
"It'll be okay, girl," Heather whispered so no one but Windshear could hear.
She didn't know what had happened, but she was going to do her best to get Hiccup and the dragons free.
Heather pulled a stool up against the bars and set down the bucket. Keeping an eye out for Dagur or curious Hunters, Heather swiftly cleaned Hiccup's bloodied hair. By the time she finished, Hiccup was stirring.
Heather set the bucket and rag aside. She moved the stool back and waited. After a moment, Hiccup laid still. Heather watched him a bit longer, but he didn't appear to be conscious yet.
While she was waiting, Heather stood and picked up the bucket. She set it in the corner to dump later, then turned. She froze.
Emerald green eyes stared back at her, gleaming in the dim light.
Heather shook her head slightly and straightened. "Hiccup."
Hiccup didn't move, only continued to stare intently at her. Really, it was getting unnerving. His eyes had a… wildness to them.
"Hiccup?" Heather tried again. She took a step closer. "Hiccup, what are you-"
A growl stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes flicked down the hall, but the growl was coming from the cell in front of her. Very slowly, she took another step.
Hiccup drew his lips back, his growl rising in volume. His eyes narrowed.
"This isn't a game, Hiccup," Heather said, stepping right up to the bars.
The next second, Heather leaped back to avoid Hiccup's hands lashing out. His fingers fell short and, in his rush, Hiccup slammed his face into the bars. Hiccup clutched his face in his hands, growl turning into a whine.
Heather blinked at Hiccup, crouched on the floor with a miserable expression on his face. A second later, though, Hiccup realized that he was still being watched. He lowered his hands and started to growl again.
"What in Thor's name…" Heather murmured.
Remaining on all fours, Hiccup backed from the bars, never quieting his growls. His eyes darted around the cage. His hands started to paw at the floor.
He was acting like a trapped dragon. Exactly like one.
Heather backed away, stumbling over the stool. She crashed to the floor, the sound sending Hiccup into a frenzy.
Hiccup's eyes shot wide open. He spun and ran into the back wall, losing his balance and sprawling on the floor. Hiccup scrambled back to all fours and threw his head back to give a long, loud roar of distress that echoed through the hold.
Thumps came from the cages along the hall. Heather turned quickly as the groggy Nadders staggered to their paws and roared back.
Above it all, a high-pitched shriek from outside the ship answered them all.
A/N: If you didn't get the "Lars number one" joke, I'm referring to the Edge of Disaster episodes. XD
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!