Breaking Point 8

Once Skullcrusher had a good whiff of some Hiccup's belongings he set out to the north with Stoick determinedly seated on his back. The other riders followed in a V formation close behind, each keeping their eyes on the sea below in search of any familiar ships, Hunter or Berserker. They passed by a few but Skullcrusher held no interest in them and continued to push forward, refusing to even land on one of them regardless of Stoick's orders. He was on a trail and determined find his target no matter what. They flew for hours, past islands and icebergs, through icy winds and pelting snow until finally, finally they reached the familiar snowy shores of the Northlands.

"Arngrim Dammen," Astrid growled upon seeing the ice castle and numerous ships docked in the bay. "I should have known he'd be involved with the Dragon Hunters."

"Yeah, wish we would've brought some of those heavy furs he gave us when we were kids," Ruffnut called over to her, visibly shivering. "Please tell me this is just a snatch and grab mission and we're not sticking around to chitchat."

"Yeah, blast and dash," Tuffnut agreed, hugging himself while trying to hold Belch's horns.

Stoick gave a grunt. "We'll stay as long as it takes to find Hiccup and Toothless," he told them with a low growl, his own distaste for Arngrim Dammen rolling through him.

"On the plus side we can always raid their trade stock and steal a bunch of furs," Snotlout joked, cozy on Hookfang who was blazing all around him, keeping him warm. The other riders had moved closer to share in the warmth.

Fishlegs shivered. "Yeah but if your remember Dammen's camp was well guarded."

His chief gave a snort. "Not from us. Ruff, Tuff, blast away."

The twins gave a whoop of glee before breaking from the pack and swooping toward the ice castle. It was in an ice crater, shielded from the outside and harsh frigid winds but not so well protected from dragons. Many wild dragons captured from southern islands were in cages being prepared to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Dragons were naturally wild creatures and could not handle being caged. They cried and whined and threw themselves against the bars and the twins focused their dragon's firepower on them first, freeing those they could and shooing away the Vikings that tormented the others.

"Dragon proof cages!" Ruffnut yelled to the others.

"I hate those things," Tuffnut added. "Let's cause some mayhem and heat up this place!"

While the twins went on a destructive rampage with their Zippleback the other riders began searching the camp for Hiccup and Toothless on foot, the heat of multiple fires caused by the freed dragons and their Zippleback companion keeping them warm. As they searched they opened every cage they came across to free the rest of the dragons.

"Hiccup! Hiccup!" Astrid yelled, ducking to peer into one igloo after another.

"Hiccup! HICC-UP!" Snotlout yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth as he called for his cousin. He was getting a little fed up with this game of "find that Hiccup". When he finally got his hands on his younger cousin he was going to throttle him for putting them through this goose chase. Hiccup should know better than to take off on his own. Now he might be captured our Thor knew what and he was making Snotlout worry which Snotlout hated doing. "When I get my hands on you…"

Fishlegs yelled out Hiccup's name from the other side of the castle but he had about as much luck as his friends and was becoming increasingly fidgety. "Guys, I don't think Hiccup's here."

"Keep searching," Stoick ordered, following Skullcrusher across the arena toward a cage that was shelter under a canopy of melting ice and thick woven canvas. Instinctively he knew what was hidden underneath and without a second thought gave a Nightfury howl. He wasn't nearly as good at it as Hiccup but a howl returned to him and a sense of relief filled him. "Toothless," he breathed, pulling the canvas off the cage and throwing it aside. The ebony dragon bleated happily at him and bounced around inside the cage despite the muzzle keeping his mouth shut and preventing him from forming a plasma blast. Unfortunately, Hiccup wasn't with him. Nonetheless, Stoick opened the cage and welcomed the Nightfury with a comforting embrace. "You're free now, old friend," he cooed before stepping back and looking around. "Where's Hiccup?"

The dragon warbled sadly and hung his head. It was disconcerting and Stoick's heart dropped to his stomach. "We'll find him," he promised, stroking Toothless's head before turning away. "Dammen! Dammen, stand before me, you coward!"

Arngrim Dammen was a large man, chief of a group of Dragon Hunters that Berk had run out of business after they had foolishly stolen Stormfly from Astrid. Hiccup had gotten the wild dragons under control and gathered all the hatchlings so it only seemed natural that Dammen would use the boy in such a way…if he had him. Stoick found the man yelling orders to his followers as they rushed to put out fires and capture the escaped dragons. Dammen didn't notice Stoick until the Hooligan chief was nearly on top of him. He turned only to get a right hook to the face that threw him to the ground. Before he could get to his feet a large battle axe was at his throat.

"Where is my son?" Stoick demanded, looming over him.

Dammen gave a snort and fixed his skull helmet. "Your son? Ah…the Hiccup boy. My apologies, Haddock, but he wasn't sent along with the Nightfury. I'm guessing that is his Nightfury with the missing tailfin? Not worth as much as an amputee but I have a client interested in his pelt. Argh!"

Stoick placed one heavy foot on his throat. "Who sent you the Nightfury?" he demanded, pressing down hard to show he meant business.

The Hunter grabbed Stoick's ankle as his throat was crushed and the Berkian let up just a little. "Hunters from the south. They sell me a new supply every few months. It's good business."

"Give me a name."

"The Grimborn brothers…if they have your boy then he's dead or has been sold as a slave by now. They don't keep what they can't make a profit off of." He gulped when Stoick put his full weight on his throat.

"Find a better business, Dammen, or next time we meet I'll kill you," Stoick warned before stepping back and letting the other man go, giving him a hard kick to the ribs for good measure. He turned to the riders. "Get those dragons free and in the air. We're heading back to Berk before nightfall."

. . .

Dirty water sloshed over the bucket as Hiccup ducked the rag into it again. He scrubbed the deck from one end to the other almost every other day now on his hands and knees, Ryker refusing to let him use a mop as a way to show him his new place amongst the Hunters…at least until he gave Viggo the information he wanted. Hiccup's entire body hurt and he couldn't really stand or walk for more than a few minutes anyway and washing the deck by hand wasn't much different than washing the floors of his hut back on Berk, or when he was in real trouble, the Great Hall. His knees stung but it was just one more hurt to add to the growing list. The bite of wood to flesh was made more unpleasant now that the knees of his trousers were torn but that too was ignored. He went about his duties with barely a word spoken to anyone, not even when the bucket was kicked over and water sloshed all over him. Some of the men taunted him and called him names but he ignored it, repeated over and over in his mind that the riders would find him, that his friends would not give up on him, even if he had been missing for over almost two weeks not and he had not seen a sign of any of them. He didn't even know where he was. All he knew for certain was that he was no longer in the Archipelago.

He felt eyes on him. There were always eyes watching him but he glanced up nonetheless and met Dagur's penetrating grass green gaze. Dagur was always watching him, whether he was awake or asleep and most definitely when he thrust into his sore and tender body. The last three days Dagur had been the only to touch him in such a way. Viggo had all but ignored him, letting Ryker order him about and treat him like a slave, lugging large buckets of water around to clean the ship, do the Grimborn brothers' laundry, help haul nets full of fish that threaten to pull him over board and whatever other supposedly demeaning task he could think of. The problem was Ryker thought Hiccup was some pampered prince. Yes, he was the heir to the Hairy Hooligan tribe, and sure, some heirs were rather pampered more so than others, but Hiccup had done most of these things since the time he could walk. Maybe it was a little more than he was used to on a daily basis but Hiccup was content that he could make it through all this as long as Ryker didn't touch him again. The odd beating he received when Ryker thought Hiccup was being sarcastic or snide was nothing compared to the brutal rape in the torture room. Hell, Dagur sleeping with him and waking him with unwanted sex was better than what Ryker had done. At least Dagur was outright trying to hurt him.

He broke the gaze he shared with Dagur and tried to focus on the task at hand, scrubbing the deck until his fingertips bled…again.

"Haddock!" Ryker yelled from the second floor, making Hiccup freeze with the rag in both hands, the right screaming in agony. He didn't dare look up. If he did he might be beaten again or dragged off to be raped even if that hadn't happened in days. "Get your filthy ass up here."

Hiccup felt himself hyperventilating and couldn't bring himself to move. It was as if every part of him was frozen in place, his muscles stiff and unwilling to obey the simplest order.

"Get him up here!" Ryker snarled, not pleased.

Two men grabbed Hiccup and dragged him up the steps, depositing him before their leader. The boy tried to compose himself but couldn't do any more then stare at Ryker's boots as he tried to think of something to say. Normally he would have some witty remark on his lips but he knew the punishment if he spoke so disrespectfully. Beating or rape. Beating or rape. Oh please be a beating, he prayed. He could deal that. It would hurt and he may spend time in the infirmary but it was so much better than Ryker pounding into him.

"After nearly two weeks you still disrespect me," Ryker growled, his voice echoing throughout the ship for all to hear.

This was going to be bad. Ryker was making a public display this time. Hiccup's breathing became rapid and it was a struggle to calm down. Why wouldn't the man just kill him and get it over with?

"I came to my knowledge when Dagur first joined us that he spent several years in prison because of you," Ryker said, his voice now casual.

Hiccup looked up in surprise and caught a glimpse of Viggo watching the proceedings off to the left. He wasn't usually present when Ryker went about punishing him.

"Three years," Dagur corrected, stomping up the stairs to stand behind Hiccup. "What of it?"

Ryker gave a dark chuckle. "Of all people you should appreciate the irony of this. Haddock here is essentially going to spend the rest of his life in captivity much as the Outcasts had planned with you. He is a slave now and it's high time he looked the part."

Ragged dirty clothes didn't count? Hiccup wondered absently, but the fear grew as he tried to figure out just what the man had planned. He had already threatened to make Hiccup a whore and maybe hand him around to the crew. The way the men acted toward him made it a very real possibility.

He was jerked back to reality when Ryker grabbed the back of his hair and yanked his head down until he faced the deck and his neck ached more than it already had been the last few days.

"It seems many of our Northern brethren still hold to the old ways where hair shows status and might," Ryker boomed to the audience of Hunters and Berserkers.

Hiccup's eyes widened in realization. "No!" he cried, trying to pull free.

There was a whoosh and the pressure to the back of Hiccup's head was gone only to move to the top of his head. He grabbed for Ryker's hand and desperately tried to stop him but the man would not be deterred and a moment later another chunk of hair was looped off. After the third cut Hiccup gave up and watched in despair at the growing pile of auburn hair falling to the deck. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he stared at the two braids Astrid had put in his hair as symbols of her affections for him. It made it all clear to him then. He was a slave now and would never become chief of Berk.

"Now you're nothing," Ryker spat at him, pushing him away with his boot.

"How dare you!" Dagur snapped as Hiccup was dragged away and back to his chores. He stared after his rival with mixed feelings at the new look, having a hard time seeing his Hiccup with short spiky, uneven hair. It simply wasn't right even if it fit the punishment. "Hiccup belongs to me. ME!"

Ryker rolled his eyes. "You obviously know nothing about breaking people."

Dagur snarled, his hands balling into fists and eyes narrowing. "He belongs to me," he repeated.

"Calm yourself, Dagur," Viggo said soothingly, strolling toward them. He placed a hand on Ryker's shoulder and a silent exchange passed between them before the elder of the two nodded and walked away. "As chief you must understand that to defeat an enemy is to strip them of all they hold dear."

"And yet you gave him a dragon to play with and no doubt train," the Berserker countered, his rage still boiling.

"Think, Dagur, what will he do to protect that creature?" Viggo hummed softly as he walked to the rail and watched Hiccup struggle with mopping the deck, his emotions no doubt getting the best of him. "Worry about your little sleepovers and let me worry about prying information out of his brain." At Dagur's shocked look the older man grinned. "Nothing happens on this ship without me knowing about it. "Don't worry a haircut isn't going to change what's between his legs." He continued watching Hiccup, his grin growing as Dagur stormed off. "Doesn't change a thing," he mused. He would grant Hiccup one more day of rest before he attempted to pry information out of the boy once again. He was sure it wouldn't take much more to break the boy but just in case he had plans to make.

NOTE: for those who didn't recognize the ice castle and Arngrim Dammen that from the graphic novels, book 3. And thanks to Hiccupissexy111 for the suggestion of chopping Hiccup's hair and the dirty clothes…even if it's just Hiccup's usual outfit.