SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER! :D I LOVE YOU GUYS! :D Shout-outs:
ShadowSpirit020: Yes, the golden question: Who is Knife? You will discover soon. :D
wikelia: Hahahahahaha! I'm glad you're enjoying it! :D We'll discover Knife's true identity pretty soon, I promise you that. :)
Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Yes. Things are beginning to get crazy for sure.
HappyPup1: I can promise a lot of awesome fighting. XD
Dimensional Girl: Sorry about all the tension. XD And it is a bit of a nod to "Total War". I'm glad someone caught that! :D We can definitely assume Viggo wants Hiccup dead. Let's find out what method he uses. :D
Animals Rule: I can't see the image, but I can definitely just write something on my profile to show it. :)
bella: Hahahaha, yeah, I love awesome!Hiccup, too (which is just about any Hiccup, XD). Go get Viggo, Hiccup! :D
SnivyDragon: YES! Something big is DEFINITELY about to happen! :D AWW, NO, YOU'RE AWESOME! :D :D :D I STILL LOVE YOU ALL! :D
LunarCatNinja: Definitely very high! :D
Hiccup and Toothless soared over the ocean, over tumultuous waves and churning waters. The moon sank out of sight, and the first rays of sunlight stretched across the sky; the winter's air blew cold in the shadows, but when Toothless glided into the sunlight, it was pleasantly warm.
"Come on, Toothless, almost there," Hiccup said. "We have until midday to make it to Fireworm Island, or it's over."
Toothless growled in acknowledgement and soared onwards, wings pounding against the early morning sky.
…
Ruffnut and Tuffnut paced back and forth in front of their hut on Dragon's Edge, Barf and Belch watching them in confusion. "This is stupid," muttered Ruffnut, kicking a stone off the wooden platform and into the ocean below. "Why does Hiccup get to do all the dangerous stuff?"
"I know, right?" said Tuffnut, crossing his arms. "He's the one who gets kidnapped by dragon hunters, targeted by Dagur, Viggo, Ryker, and now this Knife character. And now he gets to go to Fireworm Island, which has to be the most destructive island in the archipelago! Come on!"
"It's definitely not fair," grumped Ruffnut. "I mean, seriously. Hiccup gets to do all the cool stuff while we wait here on boring Dragon's Edge and do nothing!"
Tuffnut glanced over at the ocean, and then, suddenly, he paused. "Um, Ruffnut," he said, "I don't think Dragon's Edge is going to be boring for much longer."
"And why not?" demanded Ruffnut, looking towards the water, and then, suddenly, she frowned and gasped. "Oh no," she whispered. "Are those...ships?"
"I think they are," said Tuffnut. "Come on, we have to go tell Astrid."
The twins turned and raced off. The Berserker and dragon hunter ships approached startlingly quickly.
…
"ASTRID!" shouted Tuffnut and Ruffnut in unison, barreling into the Clubhouse. Astrid, Fishlegs, and Snotlout were present, Snotlout sharpening his sword with a piece of flint while Fishlegs read Bork's notes and Astrid stared at the wall. She, Fishlegs, and Snotlout turned their heads; Ruffnut and Tuffnut tripped over each other and landed in a heap on the floor.
"What?" said Astrid. "Look, if you guys burnt down your hut again, that's your problem. We're not helping you again."
"It's not that!" panted Tuffnut, getting to his feet and yanking Ruffnut to a stand beside him. "There...there're...war...war ships! Approaching from the...the...erm…" He pointed out the ajar door. "That general direction!"
"What!?" Astrid yelled, and she raced out the door, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins following in her wake. Astrid took out her spyglass and raised it; there were definitely ships approaching.
And there were a lot of them, at that.
"How many, Astrid?" said Fishlegs. "Is it Dagur or Viggo?"
Astrid swallowed hard and handed him the skyglass. "It's both," said Astrid. "Dagur, and Viggo. And...it looks like they brought their entire fleets."
Fishlegs raised the spyglass momentarily before lowering it again. "Oh no…" he whispered. "This is bad, this is bad...oh Thor…"
"Keep your helmet on, Fishface!" said Snotlout. "We've dealt with the hunters and Berserkers before!"
"We need to hurry," said Astrid. "We have roughly an hour before we're in range of their arrows and catapults. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, start setting up the defensive barricades. Fishlegs, Snotlout, make sure the Night Terrors and Changewings are in position."
"Got it," said Snotlout with a nod, and he ran off.
"I'm starting to think the dragon hunters lured Hiccup away for some reason," said Tuffnut, scratching his chin.
"It doesn't matter what their plan was," said Astrid sharply. "Hiccup can take care of himself...I hope...but what matters now is we defend the Edge until he gets back! They're here for the Dragon Eye, which is still hidden, which is good."
"Are you going to tell us where you hid the Dragon Eye now?" said Tuffnut eagerly, rubbing his hands together.
Astrid frowned at him. "Go put up the barricades," she ordered flatly.
"Yes, Astrid," said Ruffnut and Tuffnut in unison, and they raced off.
Fishlegs approached her once everyone had left, twiddling his fingers. "This doesn't make sense," he said. "Why would Viggo lure Hiccup away to the Berkian archipelago, and then attack? I would have thought Viggo would want to attack Hiccup personally."
"Me too," said Astrid. "Maybe Viggo thinks it'll be easier to take the Dragon Eye from the Edge if Hiccup was out of the picture."
Fishlegs swallowed nervously. "And is he right…?"
"No," said Astrid firmly, taking Fishlegs by the shoulders. "He's wrong. Go help Snotlout with the dragons. I'll take Stormfly and wait here, to give you guys as much time as I can."
"Okay," said Fishlegs uncertainly, but he didn't look reassured. "Be careful, Astrid, alright?"
"You know I will be," said Astrid, "now go."
Fishlegs nodded and headed off. Astrid raised the spyglass to her eye once again and watched, anticipating the ships' arrivals. Stormfly stepped up beside her and growled at the approaching enemy ships.
They weren't too far away now...
…
Toothless touched down on the sandy shores of Fireworm Island, just as the sun rose directly above them, indicating midday. Hiccup leapt off Toothless' back and drew his sword, looking around warily.
There was no sign of Knife. No sign of attack. No sign that there would be a fight at all.
Hiccup straightened up. "Huh," he said, and then, he called, "I'm here, Knife!" as loudly as he dared without attracting the attention of nearby Fireworms.
"I know you are," said Knife, and he stepped from behind a boulder, sword raised. "I was beginning to think you had forgotten about our little agreement. I was wondering whether or not you were coming."
"Well, I came," Hiccup said. "Now tell me. Why are we doing this? Why all these tasks? What is Viggo planning?"
"I am not allowed to tell you," said Knife.
"Why not?" said Hiccup. "Who are you, really? A Henchman? An ally? A Berserker? Hunter? Who are you behind that mask?"
"I am not allowed to tell you," repeated Knife like a broken record.
"Yeah, right," said Hiccup. "That's what I thought. You're forced to bend to Viggo's will, aren't you? Somehow, you're forced. I don't know how, but you are."
"Enough!" said Knife, raising his sword. "Today, we fight for the final task! Moreover, the final task you will be attending with me. Succeed, and you will move on, whilst I step back and let Viggo finish the game."
"Why?" said Hiccup. "Does Viggo not need you after this? He's using you, Knife. You know he is, don't try to deny it."
Knife remained silent and still, refusing to answer the questions, mask still hiding any of his facial features. "Tell your dragon," said Knife, "to back down during the fight. You must promise he will not interfere during the competition."
Toothless snarled, teeth unsheathed, clearly giving his own answer, but Hiccup stepped in. "Hold back, Toothless," Hiccup said, and Toothless pouted. "No, I'm serious, bud. Hold back." Hiccup glanced at Knife. "He's not going to kill me."
Knife swung his sword. "I'm waiting, Hiccup," said Knife.
Hiccup straightened up and stepped forward again, sword drawn, shield strapped to his back. "Knife," Hiccup said, "if you tell me who you really are, we can stop this. I can help you defeat the dragon hunters."
"No you can't," said Knife. "If I tell you who I am, and Viggo discovers I did, bad things will happen. Not only to me, but to others as well."
"So you are being bribed," said Hiccup.
Knife raised his sword and charged. Hiccup parried the first blow easily; Toothless watched on, looking ready to pounce at any given moment. Knife swung his sword, and Hiccup met the blow, twisted his wrist, and stepped back again.
"You aren't doing it out of your own free will," said Hiccup. "That much is plain. If you just tell me who you are, I can help you. I want to help you."
"You don't understand," said Knife.
"Then help me understand," said Hiccup.
"I can't!" said Knife, and he raised his sword again. Hiccup met the blow as he had before, reeled back, and paused, sword poised to strike. Knife circled him, and Hiccup circled back, like two wolves waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Your voice," Hiccup said, and Knife froze. "I can't recognize it, but for some reason it sounds...somewhat familiar. Have we met?"
Knife raised his sword again, and Hiccup met the blow, once, twice, and then, a third time. Knife was clearly becoming furious; that, or he was desperate to get Hiccup to stop talking, so he wouldn't have to answer to all these questions.
"Stop asking questions!" snapped Knife. "Fight me!"
"I don't want to fight you!" said Hiccup, and when Knife arched his sword over his head, Hiccup met the blow with a parry and leapt backwards out of grasp. "I don't need to fight you!"
"Yes you do!" shouted Knife, poising his weapon to strike again. "Even if you refuse, I cannot! Viggo has threatened me! I cannot refuse him no matter how badly I want to, or people will die!"
"Viggo never has to know you refused him!" said Hiccup desperately; Knife swung the sword, and Hiccup met the blow again. "You can tell me what he's planning, who you really are, and we'll move on and pretend we didn't tell each other anything!"
"It is not that simple!" said Knife.
"But it could be!" said Hiccup.
Knife raised the sword. Hiccup met the blow, but this time, with a quick twist of his wrist, he disarmed Knife. Knife's sword flew out of his hand and hit the ground nearby; when Knife made to race towards it, Toothless knocked the weapon back further with his tail, and Hiccup tackled Knife to the ground to ensure he didn't try to escape.
"Who are you, Knife?" Hiccup asked threateningly.
Knife didn't answer, and Hiccup only had one other option.
He grabbed Knife's mask and yanked it off his head.
Hiccup had been expecting a lot of things.
But the one thing he hadn't counted on was who was actually behind the mask.
Long black hair spilled over Knife's shoulders, and two green eyes blinked dazedly up at Hiccup, full of horror, fear, and most of all, sorrow.
Hiccup's eyes went wide.
"Heather?" Hiccup whispered.
The girl - not boy - beneath him swallowed thickly. "I'm sorry, Hiccup," Heather whispered, her voice no longer muffled and indistinguishable by the mask. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to, I didn't mean to - Viggo threatened me, he said he would kill my brother if I didn't-"
"Heather!" Hiccup said, so thrilled to see her again that for a few moments he forgot the conditions on which he was seeing her. He quickly got off her and pulled her to her feet. "Where have you been? We looked for you all over the place!"
Heather looked at the ground and shut her eyes tightly. "Viggo…" she whispered. "Viggo kidnapped me...he has Dagur, I didn't have a choice...Hiccup, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…"
"It's okay, Heather," Hiccup said. "I know you didn't have a choice…"
"Dagur doesn't even know," Heather said desperately. "I didn't want to do it! I wanted to tell Dagur to leave, to get away from Viggo, but...but...Viggo said he'd kill Dagur if I told him…"
"I understand, Heather," said Hiccup, "you didn't have a choice. You were protecting your family. I would have done the same thing-"
"NO YOU WOULDN'T HAVE!" shouted Heather. "You don't understand what I did, Hiccup! You don't! I betrayed you!"
"What?" Hiccup said. "How...how did you betray us?"
"My job was to distract you," said Heather pleadingly, desperately, as though she hated herself for what she had done. "To keep you away from the Edge so Viggo could attack…"
"The Dragon Eye is hidden, Heather," said Hiccup. "Viggo can't get to it."
"He doesn't want the Dragon Eye, Hiccup!" said Heather. "Don't you see? This entire thing was never about the Dragon Eye! He's going after the other riders to use them as bargaining chips for the Dragon Eye! He's probably attacking the Edge as we speak!"
Hiccup stepped backwards, trying to take this in. "Oh no…" he whispered. "It was a trap. All of this…"
"I'm sorry," Heather said. "Please, you have to believe me-"
"I do, Heather," Hiccup said. "I know you would never betray us. I understand. Come on, we have to get back to the Edge. You can ride with me on Toothless."
Heather swallowed thickly. "We have to hurry," she said.
"Right," said Hiccup. "Come on, let's go!"