Chapter 6: Captured

Toothless's friends raced back to the village. Stormfly had Haggis in her claws, the others were hot on her tail. Suddenly Meatlug slammed into her, making her drop the sheep. Barf and Belch grabbed it and flew as fast as they could towards the village. They dropped the sheep into the pen with its fellows.

"Yes, we win," said the Zippleback, bonking heads.

"Okay okay," said Stormfly. "Now lets head back to the Roost. I haven't eaten all day." So they headed up to the lighthouse. Moon was pacing in the yard, looking anxious. The Rescue Riders were around the fire with fish. Layla was writing in her diary, and Edelweiss was giving Eclipse a rub down. They all looked up when the adult dragons landed.

"Hey guys," said Winger. "Who won the dragon race?"

"We did," said Barf and Belch.

"I let them win," Stormfly boasted. "It's pretty boring to win every time." Moon came up to them.

"Where's Toothless?" She asked.

"Wasn't he with you guys?" Hookfang asked.

"No, he left to supervise you," said Moon. The dragons exchanged a worried glance.

"I hope he's not lost," Burple said.

"Toothless never gets lost," said Meatlug. "He must not know we're back yet and is still looking for us."

"I'm going to go look for him," said Moon.

"Someone should go with you," said Stormfly. "Someone who knows the area." Moon considered. She then went over to where Edelweiss was finishing up Eclipse's rubdown.

"Edelweiss can you help me look for Toothless? He's not back yet," Moon asked.

"Yes ma'am," said Edelweiss. She put her brush down.

"We'll help too," said Dak jumping to his feet. Moon opened her mouth to protest but, decided against it. Edelweiss noticed Moon was fidgeting nervously.

"It's ok Moon," she said soothingly. "We'll find him." The riders got on their dragons. They also brought Skullcrusher, but the rest of their group stayed behind.

They headed out over the island. Moon stayed really close to Edelweiss and Eclipse. Edelweiss patted her neck reassuringly.

"It's okay Moon," she said. "You have access to the best trackers in the world." Moon breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes I know," she said. At that moment Cutter paused in the air.

"Look I found something," he announced. They all followed him to the base of a tall cliff. Dak and Layla looked where Cutter was looking and picked up Toothless's tail fin. Moon looked close to tears.

"That's part of his tail," Edelweiss said. "Someone must have pulled it off." Dak was pulling the small leaver that opened and closed the fin.

"He must have gotten captured," said Winger. "But how? He's the most powerful dragon in the world." Edelweiss turned to Skullcrusher. He sniffed around and sniffed the fin. Suddenly he sneezed.

"I smell Dragon Pepper, he must have gotten hit with it," he said.

"Toothless must have been captured by pirates," said Summer. Everyone exchanged a nervous look. Dak handed the tail fin to Edelweiss. She examined it.

"Looks undamaged," she said. "That's good. That means all we have to do is get this back on him, and he can get himself out." She attached the fin to Eclipse's tail fin. "Let's get back to the Roost and get the others." They all agreed and got back on their dragons. As they took off Cutter spotted something else.

"Hey, down there," he said, alerting the others. They all looked and saw Magnus and Axle spreadeagled on the cliff above. The dragons all landed near them.

"What are Magnus and Axle doing out here?" Summer asked.

"I bet it isn't good," said Winger. "And I bet it has something to do with Toothless." Eclipse went over to the two Finks and shook them very roughly. They stirred and sat up.

"Magnus what are you doing out here?" Dak demanded.

"I, I was merely taking my Mechano Dragon for a test flight," Magnus said dramatically. "When that hideous Night Fury came and attacked us, knocked us out of the sky." No one was convinced.

"It's true," said Axle. "He was like a demonic shadow."

"Come on guys, lets get these guys back to the village then go save our king," said Winger boldly. They all took off, Eclipse grabbed Magnus and Axle in her talons. They headed back towards the village.

Once they dropped the Finks off at their house, the dragons and riders headed back to the Roost. The rest of the dragons were there waiting. They glanced up.

"Did you find him?" Hookfang asked.

"Well, we found part of him," said Edelweiss, pulling out the tail fin. "But the rest of him has been captured by pirates."

"Stupid pirates," said Belch. "Hopefully old T shows them a thing or two."

"So Toothless got captured again?" Hookfang said, rolling his eyes.

"Please!" Moon cried hysterically. "Can we hurry up and go get him?" She buried her head in her paws, followed by her wings. Layla put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry your majesty," she said calmly. "We'll get him back. We've dealt with pirates before."

"Yeah, I once outsmarted three pirate ships at the same time," Cutter barged. "Saved a Golden Dragon and her egg." The adult dragons exchanged a glance.

"It's true," said Winger. "Turns out pirates are not as smart as they think." The older dragon looked at each other.

"Well, lets see what you kids got," said Stormfly. Edelweiss held the tail fin out to Skullcrusher. He got a good sniff of it, then sniffed the air.

"I've got him," he said. "Let's go." The riders all got on their dragons. Edelweiss put the tail fin on the back of her saddle. Skullcrusher turned to Cutter.

"Why don't you be up front with me young Cutter," he said. "With my sense of smell and your sharp eyes we'll find Toothless in no time."

"My eye sight has never failed me," Cutter boasted, giving Skullcrusher a salute with his wing. The dragons all took off, following Skullcrusher and Cutter out to sea.

Huttsgalore was soon well out of sight. The dragons flew in a large V formation. They flew for a few hours, and so far there was no sign of the pirates. Cutter scanned the horizon with his powerful eyesight.

"So once we find Toothless, someone will have to get his tail fin to him," said Stormfly. Edelweiss pulled the fin out.

"Dak, Layla, why don't you two handle that," she said, but then she added. "If you want to."

"Sure," Dak said excitedly. Layla took the fin and examined it. She took the time to work out how the fin worked and how it would be attached to Toothless's tail.

"Guys I see something," Cutter announced. They all paused and hovered in the air. Cutter homed in on the horizon. He saw a large round wooden hut in the middle of a series of piers. He then saw the large pirate flag flying from the top of the hut. Cutter recognized it at once.

"What do you see Cutter?" Winger asked.

"Pirate Island," Cutter said. He then spotted a sea stack that was big enough for them all to land on. He led the way over to it, and they all landed. They looked down at Pirate Island. It was surrounded by hundreds of pirate ships. Cutter focused his eyes on the area below. He recognized the sailed for Svetlana the Sly, Eric the Wretched, and Waldando, but the others he didn't recognized. All the ships were armed with catapults, and bola launchers. There were barrels of dragon pepper, belzium cages and nets. Pirates were everywhere. Cutter relayed all that he saw to the others.

"Where's Toothless?" Moon asked. Cutter looked for the Night Fury. He soon spotted him chained to a cart made out of belzium and muzzled. A group of pirates were wheeling him towards the great hall in the middle.

"They're taking him inside," Cutter said. Hookfang looked at all the pirate ships.

"Looks like these pirates came prepared," he said. "But nothing we haven't dealt with before." Stormfly looked around at all the dragons and the three riders.

"Let's see," she said. "We've got two fire dragons, two fast dragons, two dragons that shoot spikes, two rock launching dragons, one Zippleback that can creates big explosions, one dragon that can cloak herself, one Rumblehorn, one Stormcutter and one water dragon."

"And three humans," Edelweiss added.

"Right," said Stormfly. She thought a moment. Cloudjumper looked at the water below, then looked at Summer.

"Perhaps Summer can take Dak and Layla in under the water," he said. "While the rest of us circle overhead and distract the pirates, make sure Toothless has a clear shot at escaping."

"And if Dak and Layla get captured, I'll go in after them," Edelweiss said. She mounted Eclipse and readied her staff.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Winger said boldly. Dak and Layla got on Summer's back. Dak held onto the tail fin. Summer took off and dove into the water. The rest of the dragons took off and circled over the pirate ships.