A/N: After writing the first paragraph of this chapter, I got stuck for probably a month. It was a fitting line to get stuck on, really. XD

Response to Random Fan: I enjoy writing them! 0w0 Dagur going sane is really my only complaint for Race to the Edge. XD Crazy Dagur is fun Dagur. It is! 0w0 She learned from the best!

Heather had absolutely no idea what she thought would happen, but Hiccup being on the receiving end of "the hand thing" wasn't it. And now that he was doing it, she didn't know where to go from there.

After a moment, Hiccup stepped away. He had a relaxed expression on his face, and his stance was loose as he plodded back to the cage wall. He continued his exploration of the wood, cooing softly when he found cracks.

"We have to get you back to the Edge," Heather whispered. She didn't want to think of what Viggo would do to Hiccup while he was like this.

Hiccup looked at Heather with a cocked head, making her laugh despite herself. He reminded her of her first time meeting Toothless.

Heather left the cell and returned to the stool to think. This new Hiccup was rather funny, but how in Thor's name was she supposed to get him away?

It was evening by the time Astrid and Snotlout returned with their dragons' gear.

"If we wait until it's dark, they'll never see us coming," Fishlegs said.

"They'll be expecting that," Astrid said, squinting at the distant ships.

"They'll expect us as long as they have Hiccup," Fishlegs pointed out.

"What if," Tuffnut started. "We don't go after Hiccup?"

"We aren't leaving him!" Astrid yelled.

Tuffnut held up a hand. "I never said we were."

"What?"

Tuffnut grinned. "See? See! It works!"

"Tuffnut," Astrid growled. "Not funny."

"Oh, I wasn't being funny. I'm completely serious this time," Tuffnut said.

"Why does everyone think we can't be serious?" Ruffnut asked.

"Because you can't," Snotlout said. "That wasn't even a plan."

"But it is!" Tuffnut insisted. "The Hunters expect us to directly attack the ship holding Hiccup, so the other ships won't be as on guard…"

"We distract them by attacking the wrong ship!" Fishlegs realized. "If it's dark enough, they might think we don't know which ship Hiccup's on!"

"And Toothless and I can sneak onto Dagur's ship and free Hiccup," Astrid finished.

"Well, I was going to say take out all the other ships, then free Hiccup, but I guess that works," Tuffnut said.

"So we have a plan." Astrid glanced at the setting sun. "Once it's dark, we attack."

"Here's the plan," Heather whispered to Hiccup later in the day. "Once it's dark, all the cages get mysteriously unlocked. You get onto Stormfly and fly back to the Edge, okay?"

Hiccup, gnawing restlessly on his nails, didn't respond. He'd started acting really dull, sprawling on the floor and not making any more noises. Heather hoped he was just bored.

"Stormfly," Heather whispered, going to the Nadder's cage. "It's up to you. You need to get Hiccup out of here."

Stormfly, at least, squawked and scratched the floor.

Heather nodded. "Good. Once it's dark, I'll be back."

Hiccup watched Heather leave. He heaved a sigh. He was tired and his head still hurt, but the thumping and Hunter voices made him jumpy. Stormfly had told him that Heather was a friend, but the other humans were bad.

"Hiccup?" Stormfly called.

"Hurt," Hiccup groaned back.

Stormfly cooed in concern. "Wait. Riders come."

"Riders?"

"Dragon friends. Like Heather. Astrid Rider."

"Astrid enemy," Hiccup growled.

"Friend. Hiccup see. Astrid help."

Hiccup grumbled, unconvinced. Astrid had been loud, pushy, and tried to take him from Stormfly.

Hiccup rose and paced around the small den. He sniffed where Heather had gone in and out, but couldn't figure out how to get the den open. He pawed at the sticks briefly, then went back to pacing.

"Hiccup?"

"Bad. Very bad. Need out."

"Patience, Hiccup. Heather free dragons."

Hiccup perked up. "Free?"

"Free. Soon. Wait."

Hiccup huffed out a sigh and sprawled on the ground to stare at the sticks.

Heather stood on the deck, watching the sky. It was dark; dark enough for the Nadders to make an escape. Only the patrols were on deck, and Dagur was hidden away in his cabin. Heather smiled and nodded. Time to put her plan into action.

Heather turned to the stairs, then an unmistakable roar broke the stillness. She spun in time to see one of the outermost ships get plasma blasted. Hunters yelled and rushed to put out the flames, then a second ship erupted into flames.

"Riders!" Heather yelled. "They're here for Hiccup!"

Hunters crashed onto deck and took their positions at the ballistas and ship railings with crossbows. Dagur ran onto deck, yelling at Hunters who hadn't reached their positions.

"I knew they'd come back!" Dagur yelled, eyes alight with the prospect of a fight.

Heather pulled out her axe, but none of the dragons were close to their ship. They seemed intent on attacking a trio of ships off to the left. Were they…

"They're attacking the wrong ships," Dagur said. He groaned. "Boy, without Hiccup, they are hopeless at this rescue thing." He shrugged. "Eh, just as well. Bring those dragons down, men!"

Heather leaned on the rail. The other Riders weren't that bad at rescues, right? Unless they intended to take out the whole fleet, but even then, wouldn't freeing Hiccup be the priority?

A flash of pitch black on the dark water caught Heather's eye. She glanced toward the shadow, but it was gone. She looked back to the ships under attack. It was too dark and the dragons moved too quickly, so she couldn't tell if the rest of the Riders were really in one place. Maybe some of them were creating a distraction, so…

Heather blinked. A distraction! Intentional or not, now was the perfect time to free Hiccup and the dragons!

"I'm going to make sure the dragons and Hiccup are secure," Heather said. "It would be just like Hiccup to break out while the Hunters are fighting the rest of the Riders."

"It would," Dagur agreed. "Keep an eye on them, I'm joining the fight over there!"

Heather grinned at her luck, matching Dagur's reckless grin. "I'll meet you there, brother. If the Riders see us, they'll think the wrong ship is holding Hiccup."

"You read my mind!" Dagur laughed insanely. "Come on, Riders! Is that the best you can do?!"

While Dagur vaulted onto the deck of the next ship, Heather raced for the stairs.

Clattering caught Hiccup's attention. He stood and went to the bars, where he saw Heather running down the path. She stopped at each den and did something that made an opening.

"Free!" Stormfly roared. "Escape, flock!"

The other dragons picked up the cry. Heather moved faster, making nervous, distressed noises. Windshear followed her, growling at any Spike-Flinger that tried to attack their rescuer.

Soon, Heather reached Hiccup's den. She opened his den as well and made frantic motions with her paws.

Hiccup crept to the opening. Heather crooned, then made a happy sound when Hiccup put a paw outside the den. Abruptly, Heather spun and ran back up the path.

"Free!" the Spike-Flingers roared.

"Escape!" Stormfly roared. She stepped to Hiccup's den and dragged him fully into the path. "Run, flock! Fly! Free!"

"Follow!" Windshear roared, waving a paw at the Spike-Flingers.

The Spike-Flingers tramped after Windshear. Hiccup, caught in the excitement, forgot his aching head to follow the flock.

Windshear led the flock down the narrow path toward a wider space. Hiccup started to follow, but stopped when he noticed an opening in the wood above him. A group of even platforms too narrow for the larger dragons led toward the opening.

"Way out!" Hiccup called to Stormfly.

"Hiccup, no!"

"See Stormfly outside!"

Hiccup bounded up the platforms and leaped out of the dark, still den into the open air.

Heather stood nearby, holding an odd object and watching fires burn in the distance. Some Hunters were running around, but no one noticed Hiccup.

"Heather!" Hiccup roared.

Heather spun at the unmistakable sound of Hiccup's dragon-roar imitation. She groaned upon seeing him on deck. Alone.

"Hiccup, go!" Heather hissed.

Hiccup cooed at her. Heather glanced around, groaning when the Hunters noticed Hiccup.

"The prisoner escaped!" a Hunter yelled.

Hiccup snarled. Heather looked quickly around. Where was Stormfly? Hiccup needed to get away before anyone realized he was still acting like a dragon.

A dragon crashed onto the deck, but it wasn't Stormfly. A furious Toothless threw Hunters overboard with a sweep of his tail and blasted the other Hunters off the ship.

"It was a trick!" Dagur yelled from two ships over.

Heather sighed, wondering if she should have seen that coming. She raised her axe as Astrid slid off Toothless.

Hiccup hadn't moved from the stairwell and Toothless had landed across from Heather, so the three of them formed a triangle with Hiccup an equal distance from the girls.

"Don't come any closer!" Heather yelled, angling her axe toward Hiccup. She glanced at Dagur making his way closer to their ship. "It's over, Astrid, give up!"

"Not by a long shot," Astrid said.

Crashing caught the girls' attention as the loading doors exploded open. Edge Nadders scrambled onto the deck.

"Go, Hiccup!" Heather thought frantically, pretending to be totally distracted by the escaping dragons. "Go to Toothless and get out of here!"

Hiccup stepped toward Heather.

Muttering curses and apologies under her breath, Heather threw her axe. It sliced into the deck, inches from Hiccup's hand.

Hiccup flinched away from the axe, pain and confusion filling his eyes. Stormfly leaped into the open, roaring. Hiccup roared back at her, expression switching to betrayal. While Heather and Astrid watched unsurely, Stormfly leaped toward Hiccup, but the boy rolled away. He gave a distressed roar and ran forward.

Heather tensed, pretending to be too afraid of Toothless to go after Hiccup. Astrid stepped forward, reaching for Hiccup…

Hiccup ducked under her hands, ran past them all and threw himself over the railing.

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled.

Hiccup spread his arms and legs, stretching the fabric under his arms for makeshift wings that allowed him to glide across the water.

"What-" Heather started.

Toothless roared and grabbed the pedal on his saddle. Heather couldn't see what he did, but he then spun and leaped over the railing after Hiccup. Despite Toothless' unsteady flight, he quickly caught up to Hiccup. He snagged the boy in his paws, causing Hiccup to squawk and growl, then he swiftly turned toward land.

Back on deck, Heather and Astrid hadn't moved. Nadders launched behind them. A ship in the fleet exploded while two more burst into flame. Stormfly and Windshear went to their Rider and cooed.

It was Dagur, braced against the railing of the next ship over, who finally spoke. "What just happened?"