Okay so I'm really sorry I didn't post stuff for a few weeks. I had finals to prepare for and I had other stuff going on so I never fully got time to sit down and write like I used to. I think I'll be able to start doing weekly again, but if not, I apologize, I will update it when and as soon as I can.
"What happened?" Stoick whispered as he stood on the docks of Berk, watching as a small group of dragon riders were approaching. He could from a distance that two dragons were absent, but his mind wouldn't let him believe it until they finally drew close enough to where he could finally confirm that they weren't there.
"Where are they?" Stoick said, louder this time, but still just audible to those around him. Gobber looked at him with sullen eyes, understanding the situation. He knew the chief understood what happened, but that denial was still consuming.
"Where are they?" Stoick shouted loudly and angrily. Astrid only looked away, flinching at the words flung in their direction. She looked around her, seeing Johan just barely hanging onto consciousness, Hookfang showing visible pain from his gashed shoulder, Snotlout showing visible anger for everything he thought he did wrong, ignoring the pain from the several cuts and gashes along his body. Astrid looked down and felt her heart lurch forward as if it was going to burst from her chest. Stormfly had an arrow still lodged in her shoulder, causing her pain every time she moved her wings. Astrid had tried to remove it earlier, but it was just in such an awkward position that she feared she would do more damage than good.
A sharp stinging reminded her of the cut leading up her right eye. She tried going back for Hiccup and one outcast viking swung a sword at her, just barely missing her eye, but cutting her cheek and brow pretty badly. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, but blood still coating her face and neck.
"Why did Stoick send us? Why only us? Why no one else? Was it his pride that kept him from doing so? You'd think after all this, he would learn to trust his son, but...no...he...we just keep making one mistake after another like we just can't learn," Astrid thought to herself softly, "And now, Hiccup and Toothless are gone. Two of our greatest vikings and they were captured so easily. We were defeated so easily. I thought all those battles made me stronger. Defending Berk against Dagur...and his armies. Being around them made me want to be stronger...but...I'm no stronger than the day Hiccup changed."
Stoick paced the decks impatiently, keeping his eyes strained on the incoming dragons and their riders. He could see the horrible condition they were in. They had such low morale, so many injuries, and the absence of two specific dragons. The chief's heart hung low, realizing just how foolish he was letting his only two boys go off with such a small team of vikings. He knew better than anyone what Alvin was capable of. He knew what he could and would do. He knew exactly how dangerous he was. He wasn't Dagur. He didn't just kill, hurt, and cause destruction. He was methodical, he thought things through. He watched from a distance and saw all your weaknesses and when it was opportune for him, he exploited them for his own gain. He was manipulative, clever, and psychotic.
The dragons hit the decks as softly as they could, still hitting hard against it. Stormfly hit the deck awkwardly, sending her to the ground and Astrid into the wood hard a few feet away. The young viking got up and hurried to her dragon's side.
"Gobber!" Astrid called out, "Please help her!" Gobber hesitated for a moment, glancing over at Stoick, seeing the anger in his eyes replaced with guilt and torment. He knew he couldn't do anything to console his friend, his chief. Gobber quickly went over to Astrid, looking around at the deplorable condition the dragons and riders were in. They were in one hell of a fight. It's a miracle they only lost two and not all of them. Gobber felt guilty for feeling that way, but he had to keep positive at a time like this, even if it meant forgetting about the Night Furies for a moment.
The arrow lodged in Stormfly's shoulder looked awful. It was in at such a bad angle that one wrong move to cause serious damage. If he failed, she wouldn't be able to fly for several months, even with a dragon's healing, it wouldn't help in this case, the area was too sensitive. Stormfly hissed and coughed out in pain as Gobber touched the arrow, judging how to get it out safely.
"Damn it! That hurts like hell you know!" Stormfly nearly yelled out, barely able to restrain herself. Astrid got close, hugging her dragon tightly, wanting her to feel better.
"I know...I know, but just work with us here," Astrid said softly, rubbing her dragon's scales soothingly. There was a few deep breaths then a shallow nod.
"Alright, do it," Stormfly hissed out. Gobber took one last look at the arrow and grabbed it firmly causing a pained cry from Stormfly. Astrid hugged tighter and Gobber pulled the arrow out swiftly causing the dragon to roar loudly into the skies, breathing fire in agony. Astrid could feel the strong heat behind her start to sting at her skin before it dissipated quickly.
"Son of a bitch! You mother! God damn it!" Stormfly screamed out, clawing at the ground and pushing herself into Astrid.
"I'm confident I got the arrow out without causing further damage to your nerves and muscles," Gobber said, examining the wound, "Don't stress your wing for the next few days and I think it should be fine, but go see Gothi or Svelta soon, they would know more than me." Astrid nodded at the viking and thanked him. She put her head against her dragon's, helping to calm her down.
"It's over, it's over," Astrid said softly, "Just be glad its over." Stormfly growled angrily but quickly let it die. The dragon sighed softly and breathed deeply a few times, letting it all flush out of her system.
"It'll be over once we get Toothless and Hiccup back," Stormfly nearly whispered out, exhausted from everything leading up till then. It was weird, suddenly feeling so exhausted all at once.
"Lets go find Svelta, and get some rest," Stormfly said, shaking her head to maintain conscious. Astrid pulled away from her dragon and nodded, walking with her dragon back to their home. There was no use trying to stay and discuss what to do next, they were too exhausted to be of any help. If they wanted to be useful, they needed to rest and get their energy back. It was the only way they could get their friends back.
Stoick watched as Astrid and her dragon left the docks. He paced again for a few more moments before walking towards Spitelout. The veteran viking looked weary and defeated, something so uncommon for him. It caught the chief off guard and made him hesitate saying anything. He'd never seen his brother so, uneasy.
"Spitelout, what happened out there?" Stoick said, unable to restrain his voice. The curiosity and anxiety seeped into his voice. Worry, grief, and guilt were so easily painted across the chief's face that it made Spitelout almost angry, showing such weakness in front of one of his subordinates.
"We arrived without any problems. We surveyed the area for around twenty to thirty minutes when we were attacked. The Outcasts were there, and they were expecting us. It was an ambush, plain and simple," Spitelout said with conviction, "As we retreated, Toothless' prosthetic became jammed from an arrow and he fell back down to the island. He was unconscious on the ground and Hiccup went back after him and got himself captured as well. I swear Stoick, that boy is just as crazy as you were back then." Stoick nodded quickly, processing the information. They were expecting us.
"We have a traitor among us," Stoick said quickly, "Get back to the Great Hall. Gather all senior vikings. I'm taking whoever it is down." Stoick's voice began to falter as he went on.
"I swear to the gods I'll make sure whoever betrayed us pays. They have my boys, Spite. You know what they'll do to them. You know they'll break them down," Stoick said, beginning to get angry again, "Let's go, I'm not letting this happen anymore."
Astrid couldn't sleep for another night. It had been three days and still, nothing was being done about Toothless and Hiccup. She always tried to sleep, to get rest, but the fear kept her awake. This night, she wasn't in her bed like usual. She as on the floor, sleeping with Stormfly, curled up next to her with the dragon's wing drapped over her, keeping her warm and content. Even that warmth, that familiar warmth, that familiar scent, none of it would ease her ever active mind.
"At least Stormfly is sleeping fine," Astrid thought to herself, seeing her Nadder look so peaceful sleeping. The young viking wished she could dose off like that, but sleep was hard to come by these past few days. To make things even better, Astrid could see the sun starting to rise. She slowly slipped out from under Stormfly and made her way outside. The morning was unusually warm and comfortable and the air had a strange feeling. She didn't quite like the feeling.
Shouting in the distance attracted Astrid's attention as it drew closer and closer. She could recognize Stoick's voice along with several other senior vikings. They were heading towards the center of the village with Stoick calling to every viking, telling them to join him. The other senior vikings were showing their disapproval and shouting back in hopes to deter any group being formed.
Astrid walked towards the center of the village, hearing the sounds of Stoick as he shouted into the air, catching most of what he was saying.
"Arm yourselves vikings of Berk! Prepare an armada! We are attacking the Outcasts today! We are getting our vikings back! We are getting our dragons back!" Stoick shouted into the air, "We will not show weakness, cowardice, hesitance! We will show those damned Outcasts who we are! We will teach them to never mess with Berk vikings! We will send them screaming into the gates of Helheim!" Vikings around him rose with battle cries, gathering more and more men as the seconds passed by. Astrid could see the chief gathering together his best men and forming strategies. She could see the fire in his eyes, the burning desire for revenge. This wasn't just a display of power and dominance, it was the start of a destructive path that led back towards Hiccup and Toothless.
Astrid's chest tightened. She knew the chief was making a mistake, being so hasty with this sudden attack. Judging from the frantic faces of other senior vikings, they'd been discussing what the next plan was for the last few days. Finally, Stoick had enough and would take his boys back by force. Astrid starting walking, then running towards the chief, hoping, just hoping she could change his mind.
Stoick was yelling out orders and pointing to paper, making hasty marks and gathering diagrams of the Outcast island. His eyes still held that ferocity.
"Stoick!" Astrid yelled, receiving no response, "Stoick!" She yelled louder and yet her words seemed to past right through the chief. Finally, she took strong steps toward the chief, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at her leader. Stoick looked down, shocked to see Astrid of all people pointing a sword at him.
"Do I have your attention now?" She asked loudly. She held the sword out to her chief who hesitantly took it back, sheathing it and looking at this young viking angrily. The vikings around her were still shocked that should would pull such an act, one that could easily be called treason.
"Think about what your doing!" Astrid yelled, "You think this hasty invasion is going to work? You think just rushing it with a makeshift plan is going to solve anything? You're going to kill so many vikings like this! And for what? The hope that you might be able to get your son back? The hope that you could get your boys back?" Stoick stared at the girl, noting her opinions, but choosing to ignore them. He pushed past her and headed towards the dock, shouting out orders, one after the other.
"Ready the ships! Stock up supplies! Prepare yourself for war!" Stoick shouted. Astrid looked on, faltering for only a moment before she went after the chief once again.
"Use your head Stoick! Ask yourself what Hiccup would do! Would he really want you to do this? Act so hastily and endanger so many lives because you can't deal with the grief?" Stoick whipped around and glared at the girl so small in comparison.
"You think you know me girl? You think you know what I'm feeling? You think you know what its like to have the last of your family ripped away from you again because you were too stupid, too ignorant to realize just how dangerous the situation was? I lost her and I'm not losing him either! I'm not losing either of them!" Astrid stared at Stoick with almost as much intensity. She glared at him, thinking so little of him.
"You think I don't know what loss is? You honestly think I don't know what loss is? Did you honestly forget that I lost my greatest friend in the world? Did you seriously forget that I lost my whole world when my sister died? My role model, my hero, the girl I aspire so much to be like? You honestly think I don't know what its like? Or how about when my dad died? Huh? I watched as he was torn in half by a Nightmare! No child should ever have to see that! When my step-dad nearly got killed when Dagur first attacked? How do you think I feel knowing that two of my closest friends are out there suffering? Being tortured and hurt and I can't do a fucking thing about it! I haven't slept, I haven't eaten! I can't do anything with this fucking weight in my chest, fearing that I'll lose them too!" Astrid screamed out loudly, watching as Stoick's expression changed, "You honestly think you're the only one who knows what its like to lose everything?"
Stoick stared at Astrid, not entirely sure how to respond. He knew how selfish he was acting, he knew just how stupid he had been acting. He thought he could change, stop acting on impulse, acting like he was always right to hide his true feelings. He realized just how little he really had changed. He felt like he was the same man that almost killed Toothless. He felt afraid of himself.
"Stoick! Outcast ships are approaching!" a viking yelled to Stoick, rushing to his chief. Stoick snapped out of his momentary daze and looked at the viking with surprise.
"What?" Stoick shouted out, looking towards the ocean. Sure enough, he could see several ships heading towards the docks of Berk.
"Ready yourselves! Do not act until my orders!" Stoick barked out, running towards the docks. This was the last thing Stoick expected from the Outcasts, but he knew they were here to bargain. The question was, what did that want to bargain for.
Astrid's heart pounded as she watched the primary ship dock. She was only a few feet behind Stoick, at the head of the entire Berk army, but she felt so far away from her friends. She felt so powerless, yet powerful, breakable, yet unbreakable, confident, yet doubtful.
The ship hit the front of the docks hard, causing the wooden structure to shake under her feet. She could see several shapes moving on the ship in the distance. A figure hopped down from the vessel, one ragged and dirty looking man. From the one or two times she'd seen him before, she knew it was Alvin. He whistled and a dragon was thrown from the top of the boat. The Night Fury hit the ground hard, eliciting a harsh pained cry from the dragon. Astrid immediately recognized it as Hiccup and brought her hands up to her mouth.
Hiccup was picked up by the throat and dragged along behind Alvin. The Outcast chief stopped in his tracks, looking around at the Berk vikings glaring him down. He smiled wickedly and dropped the dragon in front of him.
Hiccup was coughing loudly, wheezing and fighting for air on the ground. He was chained and bound in so many places and ways. His wings were restrained, his arms were locked together behind him and his legs were chained together with his tail. It looked painful and horrible. Hiccup himself was in such a horrible state. He looked weak, and frail. His eyes looked sullen and defeated. He was breathing hard. He was covered with cuts, and gashes. He'd been tortured. Hiccup tried to speak, something, anything, but he hardly had the energy to do much. They didn't even bother to restrain his mouth. They knew just as well as he did how used and beaten he was.
Hiccup struggled to keep his eyes open, watching as the vikings around him looked at him with horror, anger, frustration, sorrow, and worst of all...pity. He couldn't stand being humiliated like this. Beaten, tortured, and so weak and put on display. He could barely manage words.
The Night Fury could see the pure rage in his father's eyes. It didn't take a genius to see that. He let his father down. He felt like he failed him yet again. Always being beaten and tossed around like a rag doll because he tried to pretend like he was stronger than he was. He had hardly grown at all this last year. He was still that same scared boy who turned into a dragon. He was still a burden, he was still needing to be rescued. All he wanted to do was show he could be strong too...and he failed.
His body hurt and ached so much. His mind was fuzzy and it was hard to concentrate. The world around him was swirling slowly, making him understand the situation one moment, and forget where he was the next.
"Alvin!" Stoick shouted angrily, "You touch another scale on my son and I'll make sure you are the first of your men to die!" Hiccup could hear his dad yelling across the harbor. He caught most of it in his distorted state. He could hear Alvin laughing behind him loudly. Alvin whispered something, but he couldn't catch it. Suddenly, he was pulled onto two feet. His back was pressed flat against Alvin's stomach and he could feel something hard against his throat. It didn't quite register at first, but it soon dawned on him that a knife was being held at his throat. Hiccup could see every viking tense up and freeze.
"I suggest you start taking the situation realistically Stoick," Alvin said menacingly, "Drop him!" Another crashing sound echoed throughout the harbor as the other dragon was dropped onto the docks. Savage grabbed a hold of the larger dragon and dragged him over to Alvin and tossed him next to his chief before taking a few steps back.
Hiccup slowly looked over and saw his mate, in worse condition that he was. Toothless was unconscious and slowly breathing, chained up more than he was. They knew his strength and they took every precaution. They knew Hiccup was weak and they didn't worry too much. At least, that's what went through Hiccup's mind.
"Toothless?" Hiccup barely whispered out, "Toothless wake-"
"Quiet," Alvin hissed harshly, increasing the pressure on the dragon's neck. Hiccup winced at the pain, finding it harder to breath.
"Bring me the boy and the dragon," Alvin shouted out. Hiccup's head rung from the sudden loud noise so close to his ear.
"What boy?" Stoick shouted back in confusion.
"That boy Tatsuo and his dragon! Now! Or I will kill your son's mate over here!" Alvin yelled as Savage drew a sword and held it above Toothless' head. Hiccup's heart started to pound with what little strength it had. Out of it and dazed, Hiccup's fear of losing Toothless was to the point where he just couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't do anything.
There was a few minutes of nothing, but it felt like hours had gone by. Hiccup just wanted it all to end. This humiliation, this fear, it all had to end. He hoped no one could notice what they did to him. He hoped Toothless didn't hear back then.
Hiccup blinked and he thought he must have passed out because when he opened them again, he could see little Ryuu in the distance. He felt like smiling to let him know everything was going to be okay, but he couldn't move.
Astrid stared on, hardly able to contain her growing resentment and anger. The last thing she wanted to do was give these bastards what they wanted. How could they get Toothless and Hiccup back without giving up Tatsuo and Ryuu?
"Think Astrid, just think," Astrid thought frantically.
"Send them over and we'll leave peacefully," Alvin said, "And no, we won't hand over your dragons first. Give us the boy and his dragon and we'll leave these two right here."
Stoick was grinding his teeth together, hardly being able to stand dealing with these monsters. There was no one he could do this. These were his boys, but he just couldn't just sacrifice people for his own gains. He couldn't give up two Berk residents, he couldn't force them to leave.
"Mr. Hiccup! Mr. Toothless!" A tiny voice yelled out, rushing towards the two Night Furies.
"No! Wait!" Stoick shouted, reaching out for the little dragon, but unable to stop him. Quickly following him was Tatsuo, chasing after Ryuu in hopes to stop him and get him back to safety.
Hiccup's heart nearly stopped when he saw the little figure rush towards him. Hiccup's life nearly ended when he saw such an innocent little dragon get grabbed and thrown onto the ship, screaming out for Hiccup. His mind went blank as he saw Tatsuo knocked unconscious and thrown onto the ship roughly. His heart only had one reaction when he heard Alvin mutter out those two words.
"Kill him," he said under his breath, "We're taking this one back with us." Hiccup saw Savage raise the sword up quickly and go downwards. He wasn't too sure how it happened, but somehow he had found just enough energy to send a plasma blast into the floor below them. The next thing Hiccup knew, he was hitting the docks hard, rolling several feet before stopping a good ten feet away from his dad. He looked around weakly, seeing Toothless not too far away. He could see his mate breathing. He could see the boat leaving quickly. Finally, he could see the shroud of black quickly surrounding him, darkness overtaking him as the distant screams and shouts rang out into the sky, distorted and muted by his fading senses. Then his eyes closed.