Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or Riders of Berk.
AN: Sorry for not updating earlier…my life is kinda busy right now…Thanks SO much for the reviews!
Update: Thank you to Freya Brookes for your review - I guess superstition and belief play a large part in their culture; most of that is from the episode though, so I'm just taking my cue from them!
Chapter 2:
"Well, this is…definitely depressing," Hiccup said to Toothless as he peered over the rocks that made up the craggy cliffs overlooking Drago's fleet of ships and armoured dragons. The heavy gloom that permeated the air was broken only by occasional croons of pain and the roars of angry guards, wielding whips against the scar-decorated scales of some poor dragons who had yet to be armoured.
Toothless let out an unimpressed noise.
Hiccup gently butted his head away. "Okay, not promising, I know. But I changed dad's mind. I can do it here too. Just…back me up?"
Toothless gave another unimpressed harrumph, but gave a short nod of his head.
Even from here, Hiccup could feel the immensity of the task that lay ahead of him. Stoick had been hard enough: a tough traditional viking through and through. But unlike Drago, Stoick didn't leave dragons to be tortured and weaponised; any dragons that were imprisoned in Berk were fed and used for training, but otherwise left alone.
"Alright. So how do you want to do it? Dramatic sweep in, or sneak in and pop out of nowhere once we locate Drago?"
Toothless tilted his head to the side, looking equally thoughtful. His eyes were narrowed in thought, claws scraping into the stone underneath.
Before he could give an affirmative or denial to any of the responses, there was a yell coming down from the fleet of ships.
Hiccup and Toothless peered down the cliff, careful to keep themselves out of sight.
A young man was being dragged onto a ship, alongside several others who appeared to be his crew. Beside the massive fleet of ships was a small less armoured boat, which appeared to have been attacked, if the burns and holes in the ship were any indication.
"Bud, let's get closer," Hiccup whispered to the dragon. "Those burns look like they came from dragons, doesn't it?"
Toothless gave an affirmative croon.
"Alright then," Hiccup got onto Toothless. With silent movements that only reinforced his species' name, Toothless clawed his way down the cliff and glided the rest of the way down, landing in a safe area close enough to overhear what was going on.
A hulking man, dressed in black and carrying a wicked looking spear of some sort, approached the young man, who was still yelling out. He was forced to his knees, hands bound, and nearly fell over on the larger figure's feet.
The young man looked up. "Drago, Drago, please!"
"I gave you enough time to get me more dragons," the figure says in a raspy voice. "And yet you bring me an empty ship."
"We were attacked by a flock of dragons!" The man tried to protest. "They let all the dragons free!"
"You are a dragon trapper," Drago growled. "Your job is to capture dragons. How difficult is it?"
The young man cleared his throat. "They were more organised," he tried. "They had some sort of human leader-"
"Human leader?" Drago questioned. His gaze darkened. "Another dragon leader?"
"Probably?!" The young man gasped out. He managed to raise himself to look up at the leader better. "They were dressed in a dragon outfit, head to toe. There was no way for us to find out who he was!"
"Hear that, bud?" Hiccup whispered. "Another dragon leader."
Toothless growled and shook his head. One dragon tyrant was enough; another one? This was just asking for trouble.
"At least we'll have a backup if this Drago thing doesn't work out," Hiccup murmured to himself. "After all, he looks like he has some anger management issues."
As he said this, Drago's spear suddenly dug itself into the ground, barely missing the young man. The wood splintered around the buried spear, causing the crew to flinch and the guards to tighten their grips on said crew. Several dragons gave out startled squawks, only to be hastily silenced by a fierce banging from one of the many armoured humans.
The young man yelped. "Drago, let me go, please! I can find you more dragons, just give me more time!"
"You know how I feel about excuses, Eret," Drago growled. "I have given you one more chance than you deserve."
"I know," Eret said quickly. "But we got you so many dragons already, they're getting harder and harder to find!" He swallowed, clearly trying to find his way out of this. "And I can give you information!"
Drago paused. "Information? You think you have information worthy of my knowledge?
Eret nodded hastily, eyes wide. "I-I hear things! And not just the dragon leader who attacked my ship! There are those further south. Villages full of tamed dragons! Another dragon army! A dragon leader who owns a skrill!"
Drago let out a raspy laugh. "A skrill. A ferocious dragon army is led by a skrill?"
"You don't have one of them in your army yet, right?" Eret asked desperately. "Let me go, and I can get you that skill!"
Drago seemed to consider this proposal for a moment, turning to stride away. Before he reached the end of the ship though, he shook his head. "I thank you for your kind contribution, but the south has nothing that I fear." His smile was dark, and Hiccup swallowed. That was not the smile of a man who could be reasoned with. "Send them to the dungeons. Maybe one of the dragons would want a snack."
"What? Drago, no-no, Drago, please! I can help you overcome the other dragon armies, I know where they are-Drago, no!" Eret shouted as he and his crew were dragged backwards by armoured guards. The one leading Eret gave another a nod, and the second grabbed a level nearby. A horrible creaking sound filled the air, which Hiccup realised - after craning his neck as far forward as he could - was the mechanism for an underground prison of some sort.
Pained squawks emerged from within, silenced harshly with the second guard slamming his foot on the ground several times.
"No, no, no," Drago said softly, striding over. He glared down into the pit, and let out some sort of inhuman sound.
This time, pleading croons rang out from the prison, causing Drago to give a pleased smile. He glanced dismissively at the guards, who were beginning to look a little nervous themselves. "That is how you ensure they remain submissive to you."
The guards gave quick jerks of their head. Then the first guard shoved a still struggling Eret into the prison; the second guard cranked the prison shut right after.
"The crew?" A third guard asked, shoving one of them forward.
Drago waved them away with a dismissive sneer. "Drown them, for all I care."
Then he turned to walk away, heeding no mind to the terrified screams coming from the crew. Eret's indignant roars joined the screams in a horrifying symphony, but there was nothing he could do for the crew that was rapidly being dragged away.
Drago let out a quiet snort. "I will rule all the dragons," he declared to himself. "No matter how many dragon armies I need to destroy. I alone will rule them all."
Toothless' warble was worried, and frankly, Hiccup agreed wholeheartedly.
"Well, Drago is clearly off the list." His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Plan B it is - we need to find that dragon leader."
Toothless gave an exasperated huff.
Hiccup smiled and scratched his dragon behind the ears. "C'mon, Toothless. We can't go back to Berk, and Drago clearly isn't going to work out - this mysterious dragon leader could be the one we're looking for. They attacked Eret's ship when he was trapping dragons, so maybe they'll be willing to hear us out."
Toothless made a sound that could've been affirmative, but ultimately sounded more neutral.
"Let's go."
Finding Eret wasn't that hard; once Drago left the ship, the guards wandered off with the crew to torture them to their heart's content. Hiccup was tempted to go after the crew and save them, but the fleet and Drago's speech put reality in a terrifyingly cold context: he and Toothless were the only two people remaining who could free Berk. Drago clearly had no qualms about killing or 'ruling' over dragons, and Toothless was only one dragon. Night Fury or not, he could not hope to combat the other armoured dragons.
Hiccup slid off Toothless' back and peered into the prison. "Eret?" He tried.
"Who's that?" A suspicious voice immediately hissed back.
"Uh…just a friend. Interested in the information that you said you have. About the dragon leader who destroyed your ship?"
The voice was incredulous in its response. "Why do you want to know that? Who are you?!"
"Shhh!" Hiccup hissed back. "I'm going to free you, but you need to stay silent."
"…fine," a sullen voice replied.
"Okay, I'm going to open the prison now."
"Wait!" Hiccup immediately flicked a hand out to Toothless, who had started to nose the lever forward. "There are a couple of dragons in here with me. You gotta find some tranquilliser darts or something."
Despite himself, Hiccup couldn't help but bristle indignantly. "Are they attacking you?" He asked pointedly.
"Well. No. But. You know. To be safe. They're dragons," the voice said.
Hiccup sighed. "Look, you're going to be fine. Just trust me." He hesitated for a moment. "I have a dragon with me now."
"What?"
"I'm from Berk," Hiccup said in a rush. "Look, I know how to befriend the dragons, and trust me, throwing darts around never helped anyone. Just trust me."
"Why?"
"Because I'm the only chance you have of getting out alive," Hiccup snapped.
A resigned sigh. "Hurry it up, then."
Hiccup nodded at Toothless, who pushed the level forward. A tiny creaking sound filled the air, but the slower that Toothless went, the smaller the sound. Even so, Hiccup's breath caught in his throat and his heart was pounding by the time the dragon made enough of a gap for him to drop down into.
"Who're you?" Eret said.
Hiccup didn't turn around. "My name's Hiccup."
Eret snorted. "What kind of name is that?"
"The name that saves you," Hiccup kept his voice low and soothing. There were a few Nadders and a Monstrous Nightmare. He could work with that. Slowly, he reached his hand out, keeping his tone comforting and soothing. "Hey there, what are you guys doing crammed in such a small area? Drago really doesn't keep good care of you guys, huh? What do you say you come with me and Toothless?"
Eret cleared his throat.
"And Eret?" Hiccup tacked on belatedly. "It's okay, girl, I'm not going to hurt you." His hand slowly met scale, and he relaxed as the Nadder pushed her head into his hand. He was a little worried at how quick he earned their trust, until he realised that he must have seemed like a gods-sent gift compared to Drago's brutality.
"How…how are you doing that?" Eret asked, almost in a whisper.
Hiccup turned with a bright smile and beckoned him over.
Eret, hesitant but determined, approached.
"Give me your hand," Hiccup instructed, still in the same low tone.
Eret did so, though he did seem like he wanted to back away at the same time. At last, Hiccup gently placed his hand on the same Nadder, and Eret's face split into an unexpected small grin.
"Wow," he murmured. "Aren't you a beauty?"
Hiccup nodded. "C'mon, let's go. Get on."
Eret paused. "What?"
Hiccup gestured to the Nadder. "Get on. We need to get out of here somehow."
It took a lot more soothing, but eventually Eret was clinging to the Nadder for dear life, looking like he sorely regretted his life choices until now. Which, to be fair, Hiccup thought, was fair considering his habit of trapping dragons and handing them over to a madman.
He whistled up at Toothless, and there followed a horrible screeching sound of the prison being opened.
The second it was open wide enough, Toothless leapt in.
"What is that?!" Eret demanded.
Hiccup didn't answer, sliding onto the Night Fury's back and then taking off. The Nadder launched herself right after them, closely followed by several others.
Surprised screams came from the guards, who immediately whipped out their weapons. Some had the good mind to head towards their armoured dragons.
Luckily for the fleeing group, their dragons weren't armoured. While that was significantly more worrying, this also made them much much faster and more agile. Eret turned a nauseating shade of green as he clung tightly onto the Nadder for his life, but the dragons managed to escape unscathed, and soon the flock of Nadders plus one Monstrous Nightmare, one Night Fury, and two humans were out of range.
Down below, Drago watched as the two escaped, eyes narrowed.
"Interesting," he murmured to himself.
"Well, that was something," Eret coughed as he slid off the dragon, trying to disguise his relief with nonchalance.
Hiccup grinned to himself, exchanging a knowing look with Toothless. "Pretty cool though, huh?"
Eret gave a shrug, but that was no hiding the small grin that was forming on his face. Exhilaration, especially by dragon, was impossible to hide. It was one of the reasons Hiccup had such a hard time believing that no one realised he and Toothless had been working together longer.
"So, where's this dragon army?" Hiccup asked.
Eret blinked. "Dragon army?" He parroted.
"The one you were telling Drago about," Hiccup elaborated. "Who freed the captive dragons?"
"You mean the ones who destroyed my ship and left my crew to die?" Eret scowled bitterly.
Hiccup sighed. "I'm sorry we couldn't save your crew."
Eret shrugged, though it was clear that it still bothered him.
"Maybe Drago won't kill them," Hiccup tried. "Your crew could survive long enough for us to go back."
Eret looked at him incredulously. "Firstly, have you met Drago? He's not the forgiving type. And secondly, what do you mean we're going back? I was lucky to get out of there alive!"
Hiccup frowned. "Okay, let's start over. Hello, my name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. I'm from Berk, which I'm looking to save, by finding some allies and dragons who could help."
Eret blinked. "You're from Berk? The island which - with the-?" He gestured with his hands, indicating frowning faces and what Hiccup presumed was a dragon.
Hiccup nodded.
"Then what are you doing all the way out here?" Eret demanded. "With a-with a…is that a Night Fury?" He asked in disbelief, finally getting a closer look at Toothless. "I thought those have been extinct with Grimmel's hunting."
"Who?" Hiccup frowned. "And…that's kind of a complicated story."
"I see…" Eret said slowly.
"Who's Grimmel?" Hiccup repeated.
"Night Fury hunter. Tracked down every last one of them. Or so he says."
Hiccup and Toothless exchanged another look, Toothless' looking more sad. Hiccup gently patted his flank. "I'm sorry, bud."
"Anyways, what are you doing near Drago's fleet?" Eret asked, voice a little softer.
"We were hoping Drago would help us free Berk," Hiccup said. Toothless let out a sceptical snort, narrowing his eyes. "Well, I was hoping," Hiccup amended. "But that's clearly never going to happen."
"Probably for the best," Eret muttered.
"You-you said something about a dragon army?" Hiccup asked. "Can you lead us to it?"
"There's no way I'm going there," Eret snarled. "They have some enormous ice spitter, and my crew nearly died when they decided to blow up my base."
"Ice spitter?" Hiccup frowned. He glanced at Toothless. "That's not in the dragon manual."
"It was enormous," Eret said emphatically. "Size of an island. And that's not even counting the dozens of dragons that was with it." He shook his head. "I'm not going back."
Hiccup glanced at Toothless, then slowly looked back at Eret. "Toothless and I have fought a dragon queen before," he offered. "We defeated her too. If it's safety you want, you're better off sticking with us."
Eret paused. "Sticking with you?" He echoed.
"It seems like Drago's got a pretty good grasp over this area, and he's sure to be mad that you escaped with some dragons," Hiccup said nonchalantly, bringing a hand up to check his nails. Toothless harrumphed in agreement. "Besides, a dragon's the safest and fastest way to get anywhere."
"Not near Drago," Eret murmured, but he seemed to be thinking it through. "I mean, we're going away from Drago, so…"
"It's a deal?" Hiccup asked with an eyebrow arched.
Eret sighed. "What do I have to lose?" He glanced at Toothless. "You're sure you two can protect me?"
Hiccup nodded firmly.
"Alright then. You have a deal."
