The second chapter of my Christmas double-bill.

Please tell me what you think. This is one of the turning points in Hiccups' life.

The Dragon Pirate.

As he flew on Toothless after the ship, Hiccup was trying to work out what he was going to do to get the supplies back. He knew it wasn't going to be easy to do it. The people on those ships, he had no idea if they were pirates, mercenaries, or just a group from a tribe who had simply run down on their own supplies, but either way, he knew diplomacy was not going to work.

But what truly bothered him was how they'd stumbled upon his little island, but after a few ideas, he simply pushed the problem aside as he tried to work out what he was going to do.

In the end, Hiccup decided to scare them into giving the supplies they'd taken from him back. It wouldn't be difficult. Toothless was a Night Fury and although Hiccup hadn't yet seen all of what his dragon friend could do, only an idiot would try to attack Toothless.

With that in mind, Hiccup leaned over the Night Fury's scaly body and spoke to him. "Okay bud," he said clearly even as they flew incredibly fast, "I want you to make that whistle as we get closer. Can you dive-bomb those ships and fire a couple of plasma bursts into the sea to shock them?"

Toothless warbled in agreement as he mulled the strategy over in his mind. Knowing the warble was an affirmative, Hiccup smiled and patted the dragon on the back of the neck gently. "Atta boy," he said.

Hiccup had made the strategy just in time because Toothless had arrived at the ships within seconds of him making it. Toothless rose high into the air before he dive-bombed the ships, and he began emitting the high-pitched whistle. The wind whipped into Hiccups' face and body, pushing into his frail body with the force of a shove.

If it wasn't for his body harness clipped into place on Toothless' own harness, Hiccup didn't doubt for a second he wouldn't be shoved off of the dragons' back. Grimacing as the drag pushed against his body, Hiccup bent down and wrapped his arms and body against Toothless' back. He closed his eyes until they squinted as the air made it difficult for him to focus properly. The high-pitched whistle from Toothless didn't frighten him as much as it had in the past, but it still sent chills down his back in a primal way.

Through his squinting eyes, he saw Toothless close in on the ships and fired the bursts of fire at the ships but making sure he missed before the dragon finally levelled off, dimly aware of the panicked shouting from the ships (Hiccup knew he was never going to do this type of flying again since it was too uncomfortable) and flew around the ships. Once he'd fully recovered, Hiccup guided Toothless as close to one of the ships as he could.

On the deck, he could see the massive hulking forms of the crew as they rushed trying to get ready for a fight. Many of them had noticed by now Toothless was flying close to their ships, but just out of range of the anti-dragon weapons each ship carried in the archipelago. The sight of the legendary Night Fury scared them, but some of them were keeping very still.

They reminded Hiccup of animals he had seen out in the forest of Berk when confronted with a predator. They would either freeze and hope they would not be eaten, or they would run.

"Give my supplies back!" Hiccup shouted as loud as he could, and it made him realise he should have brought something he could've used to make his voice louder.

On the deck of the ship, Hiccup watched as his voice carried to the nearby ship. The crew had been fairly quiet once the panic had died down, but when he shouted it jolted them with a start.

Finally, someone on the deck shouted out. "Who said that?"

Hiccup took a deep breath and lifted his head, knowing as soon as he did the Vikings on those ships would become hostile. "I did," he said as he lifted himself up. "You took my supplies. Give them back!"

Hiccup was expecting many reactions from the crews. He got them. "TRAITOR!" one of them shouted. Hiccup sighed. Vikings, they were so predictable.

"Heathen scum!"

"As if we'll give yer supplies back! Yer don't deserve 'em!"

The insults kept flying towards Hiccup until Toothless finally lost his patience with them. The dragon wanted action, and he wanted it now, though Toothless was willing to try Hiccups' method of diplomacy which was basically scaring them all to death so then they handed over what they wanted. But for that to happen they needed a little incentive. The Night Fury screeched and everyone shut up, and Hiccup leaned forward as menacingly as he could, hoping that the dim light hid his features since he knew he wasn't the most threatening looking person out there.

"Give me my supplies back, or I'll take them back myself!" Hiccup shouted, hoping that they were sensible enough to realise he held all of the cards on this one. It wasn't meant to be.

Hiccup would never know if someone decided to just take the initiative, was just tired of him, or was genuinely frightened of Toothless. But all he knew was there was a distant snap of a crossbow being fired and then he felt a terrible pain in his arm. The surprising impact of the crossbow bolt made him scream in pain.

The sudden scream agitated Toothless, and without Hiccup holding him back, the Night Fury flew into a terrible rage. The dragon screeched in fury, his ear plates flattened against his head and the back of his neck as he flew about higher in the air. Hiccup was more than aware of his dragon firing plasma bursts at the ships, but he was in too much pain and too desperate to remove the bolt from his arm to really do anything. It was virtually impossible as each move from Toothless made it difficult for him to pull the damn thing out!

Meanwhile, the Night Fury was too busy to pay attention to his rider though Hiccups' wellbeing was on the top of his priorities. The Night Fury was firing indiscriminately at the ships. The plasma bursts either set the ships on fire, or they simply blasted the wooden hulls to splinters. Hiccup barely noticed as he tried to pull the bolt out of his arm, grinding his teeth together until he was sure he'd be getting lockjaw on top of getting his arm skewered. Finally, with a harsh wrench and a stifled scream of pain, Hiccup was able to pull the bolt from his arm, slapping his hand to his arm, feeling it get slick with blood instantly while squeezing the wound to stop the bleeding and only getting more pain for his troubles.

Hiccup, hissing with pain and his head spinning from the way Toothless was flying around, looked down at the sight of the destroyed ships without much sympathy. While he was upset the supplies he had stored on the small island were probably lost, he wasn't very sympathetic towards the Vikings. In the dim lighting from the night sky and from the ships that were stubbornly clinging to the surface while they were on fire, Hiccup could see some of the Vikings on the surface still.

In the dim lighting, Hiccup saw something floating in the water. It was one of the small baskets wrapped in greased leather to keep it dry inside he'd had at the camp. Quickly retaking control of Toothless, Hiccup guided the dragon down, making sure Toothless saw the basket bobbing in the water, and the dragon snatched it up. It was a pity really, that this was the only thing he had to show for this latest mess he'd gotten himself into, but as Toothless dived down to snatch the basket from the water, Hiccup knew it hadn't been a complete waste of time.

The moment Toothless' wings beat the air to get higher and higher into the air, Hiccup winced at the pain in his arm. He ignored the insults shouted at him from the surviving Vikings even as the Night Fury flew higher into the air. He was done with the constant insults thrown at him, and as he flew back to the island, his arm now suddenly numb, Hiccup had only one desire. To get back to the camp and to tend to his injury before he packed up and escaped from the island.

There was no doubt in his mind whatsoever the survivors of that little fleet would head for the island. They had no-where else to go. There was enough fresh food and water there available on the island and they knew it, and there was enough wood there for them to build a ship or a raft to escape and carry on to wherever they were going for. Hiccup didn't care about them, and as they flew away from the wreckage he looked down at the sea, but the shock and the blood loss he'd suffered made him momentarily dizzy.

He almost fell off of Toothless' back, but Hiccup managed to catch himself just in time; sure, he was anchored into place on Toothless' back thanks to the harness, but if there was one thing he'd learnt during his time on Berk when he'd been experimenting with the tail-fin it was never to put too much faith into one part of the flying gear.

After righting himself, Hiccup took deep breaths as he automatically helped Toothless adjust to the wind blowing into their faces. The dragon, sensing his pain and his weakness, turned his head and crooned worriedly.

Hiccup smiled at his friend and patted him on the neck as reassuringly as he could. "It's okay, bud," he said, "I'll be alright."

Toothless was far from reassured but there was little for the dragon to do anything in the air, instead, he warbled and turned his attention back on the flight. The Night Fury made a mental note to coddle the boy when they arrived back at the camp.

When they did arrive on the island, Hiccup had to further reassure the dragon he was okay even if he wasn't. It took him a while but eventually, he managed to make Toothless see he was okay. Once he was done, Hiccup had Toothless fire a plasma burst at a small pile of wood and leaves. Once the fire began to burn, Hiccup waited until the wood was burning enough before he closed his eyes to gather his nerve. Picking up a small piece of wood, Hiccup gently rolled up the sleeve of his shot arm, wincing, before he placed the tip of the burning wood to his arm to cauterise the wound.

The scream that escaped him startled the Night Fury and made him roar with him, the joined sounds echoing around the campsite and further beyond, startling and scaring away any wildlife out there, not that they cared.

After what seemed like forever Hiccup lowered the burning piece of wood, dropping it back into the fire and looked down at the blackened injury. He was thankful it had stopped bleeding, at last, but he would need to keep an eye on it to make sure the injury didn't get too bad.

Hiccup took a few deep breaths as he tried to control the throbbing in his head and he looked at his worried dragon. "Let's get packing," he said, "we have a busy night ahead of us. We're leaving."

Happy Christmas.