Author's Note:
Hello everyone and here is the next chapter. This one once again has Toothless and Stoick but I'll have Snotlout in the next chapter as well as Hiccup and the others. Thank you for your continued support amd I hope you enjoy the chapter.
As always I own nothing.
Nightly Hunts and Dangerous Counter Plans
Toothless' night time hunts had been less than successful.
The human pack had proven to be far more alert than they had been before and their doubled numbers made moving through their territory undetected a major challenge. The weather was in his favour however since thick cloud was covering the moon and providing plenty of shadows for him to hide in, despite this his progress was still slow and he could find no trace of Snotlout's scent. All too soon dawn began to approach and he stealthily retreated back to his cave before the sun appeared over the horizon and he lost the cover of darkness.
He spent the daylight hours largely resting and feeding in order to prepare for another excursion that night and when darkness once again cloaked the island he set off into the territory of the enemy once more. As he moved deeper in he picked up a minute trace of the boy's scent and he followed it to its source. Its origin was a human who was definitely not the one he was looking for but he'd obviously been in brief contact with the young one recently. Noting this Toothless moved closer to him to memorise this man's scent planning to follow its trail to see where he'd been but this was foiled when he woke unexpectedly.
There was a brief moment where they both stared at each other until the human sprung into action yelling as he did so, "THERE'S A DRAGON IN THE CAMP!"
All around them humans woke and leapt to their feet while those on guard ran to the source of the commotion. Now discovered Toothless rapidly retreated with the shouts of the humans echoing behind him.
"WHERE DID IT GO?"
"WHAT KIND WAS IT?"
"HOW DID THE BEAST GET SO FAR IN?"
Darting from shadow to shadow the Night Fury managed to escape the area leaving confusion behind him as Outcasts and Berserkers ran hither and thither searching for him. He took a longer route back to his cave to throw off any pursuers and returned there confident that his hiding place would remain undiscovered. Knowing that he would be unable to resume his hunt that night he settled down and awaited the following evening to begin again.
Unfortunately the next night he couldn't even start searching since the humans had so many guards patrolling and checking every possible hiding place that Toothless wouldn't be able to get close without being spotted. Instead he searched for an alternate route in that was unguarded that he could use. He searched for much of the night and just as dawn was coming once more he located an old cave system that came out on a beach far from the human's territory. As far as the scents and his own sound waves could tell this cave was unused and potentially led underneath the human's territory and possibly up into it. Cautiously he entered the cave and pressed on into its depths.
As soon as he'd read Dagur's letter Stoick summoned a meeting in the Great Hall.
By the time they'd all gathered the chief had formed a beginning of a plan and he gazed gravely at the warriors assembled before him, "As you all know Snotlout and Toothless are missing and until now we didn't know what had happened to either of them. Just today I received a message from Dagur the Deranged who claims that he has Snotlout captive." There was a ripple of muttering and whispers from around the room and Stoick raised his voice slightly, "He has said that he will kill Snotlout unless I come alone to Outcast Island by sunset the day after tomorrow."
There was a clamour of voices and one of the Vikings managed to get his heard above the others, "It's obviously a trap Chief. There's no way Dagur will let you or the boy leave the Outcast Island alive!"
Many loudly agreed with the man and someone else put out their point, "But it if wasn't for Snotlout there might not be a Berk right now. He was the one who retrieved the Glacial Bloom and helped defend the village from pirates so we need to save him."
"Well let's go and storm Outcast Island and rescue him!" Another called out, "We can take on the Berserkers and Outcasts easily in a straight out fight. Dagur won't stand a chance!"
The Vikings began arguing loudly about what was the best thing to do forcing Stoick to raise his voice over the clamour, "ENOUGH! If I don't go then Snotlout will die! An all-out attack is out of the question since Dagur can kill Snotlout before we get to him. However I have a plan that might be enough to fool him."
At this many of the Vikings leaned forward eager to hear their chief's scheme as he outlined it, "While I attract the attention of most of Dagur's forces with my arrival from the side nearest Berk I want a team of our most skilled warriors and hunters to approach Outcast Island unseen from the opposite side. They'll hit Dagur's forces hard and fast and should catch them unawares. No doubt Dagur will have Snotlout close by when I arrive and the confusion caused by the ambush should enable me to grab Snotlout and retreat before either of us are killed, as soon as we're clear the ambush team should also retreat as quickly as possible."
From his position beside the chief Gobber voiced his concerns, "It's a risky plan Stoick for both you and Snotlout, are ye sure that it's the best option? Maybe we could get Hiccup and the other riders to provide additional support?"
Stoick shook his head, "We've no guarantee that any message we send them will reach them in time, our best option is to follow through with this plan and send them a message to call off the search. It's this or nothing as we have no time to come up with anything else, we need to all be in position ready before Dagur's deadline if this is going to work." He looked up at the warriors around him, "I will choose the ambush team myself and those I choose should be ready to leave by dawn tomorrow."
The rest of the day and much of the night was spent preparing for the dangerous mission as Stoick carefully chose his team and armed himself for his meeting with Dagur. Gobber had already sent off a Terrible Terror bearing a message to abandon the search to Hiccup and the others and the chief hoped it reached them before they did something reckless. As he packed some supplies for his journey the next day he found himself constantly looking at Snotlout's helmet which he'd kept a hold of ever since it arrived with Dagur's demands. He felt a stab of pain in his heart and he vowed that no matter what happened he'd make sure his nephew returned home safely.
Just before dawn the chosen Vikings for the ambush team gathered before Stoick at the docks and the chief gave them their last instructions, "Now you all know what you have to do but if things do not go as planned then your priority is to get Snotlout safely home no matter what happens to me. He is more important than I am."
They nodded solemnly in agreement and then boarded Berk's fastest ship and cast off, beginning their journey to the far side of Outcast Island. Stoick watched until their ship had vanished beyond the horizon before climbing into his own smaller vessel to follow. Provided things went well he would arrive just before sunset the next day and he hoped that his men would play their part in the risky plan he'd conceived.
PS-There we go and please let me know what you thought and if you enjoyed it.
